WHENEVER Aella stepped foot on any kind of train her body was quick to engulf her senses with anxiety. The second the station came into view her fingers started to tremble at her sides. While she was boarding, she cracked the joints of her trembling digits and peered around the carriage vestibule anxiously. She was thankful she was trailing in the back aside from the Peacekeepers that marched behind her to ensure she didn't try to run away.

The dark interior of the train incited fear within her, sending her back six years as she was forced to recall the moments following her reaping. She remembered crying on the lavish grey sofa as Clio embraced her soothingly and when she barely looked up for a second she saw Drew watching her intensely from his position in the arm chair across the room. The way his eyes had caught hers and glimmered in a way she didn't understand.

Now, she was forced to re-live the horrors of what happened to her when she was last reaped as a tribute. They both pained and infuriated her at the same time. She was brought to recall how unfairly she was treat by President Snow and his order of court. The memories set her veins alight in fury and her fingers itched to feel something sharp between them.

The fear had long disappeared and instead her mind sharpened with razor like focus. The Games had officially begun and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to play them right. She had to collect her cards and in order to do that she couldn't spend her time falling into fear-induced panic attacks and rocking back and forth in the corner of a room.

She followed the Peacekeepers into the lavish living quarters of the train. The same grey sofas were sitting where she remembered them to be. There was a mahogany table off to the left of the room and behind it stood a small drinks cabinet. She headed straight for it as Drew lowered himself into the same arm chair he had occupied six fateful years prior, his movements tense as he watched Aella through narrowed eyes.

The young woman pondered over the liquor available to her as two Peacekeepers stationed themselves at the doors leading to and from different areas of the train. The two Tributes were yet to meet their official Mentor but Aella knew exactly who she wanted it to be.

Her eyes darted over a bottle of aged whiskey. The lavish bottle design made it appear expensive and she plucked it from the cabinet to examine the label more closely. She recognised the make from deep within the richest crevices of the Capitol and hummed to herself in approval. They offered it regularly within the viewing quarters during the Games that mentors, escorts and rich Capitol socialites gathered in to watch the gruesome fights that were shown and she'd acquired quite a taste for that particular brand.

She reached for a glass and pulled the lid from the bottle, listening as the cork popped in satisfaction. She poured herself a generous measure, eyes on the sparkling glass and while doing so said to Drew, "Care for a drink?"

Drew's brows furrowed sharply as she spoke to him. Granted she didn't look up from her activity but she would never have voluntarily asked him a question and hearing her do so shocked him.

He took too long for her liking to answer however and she stopped pouring, looking up at him with an icy cold glare. She quirked her neatly plucked brow and said, "Well?"

He shook his head stiffly in response.

She shrugged, "Suit yourself." Was her response.

He watched her put the bottle away and grab something from the table nearby before walking by him to set herself upon the sofa she had sobbed on six years ago. He couldn't help but think of what had become of her in those years. From that innocent thirteen year old to the ruthless killer she'd become, he didn't know it was him that became her undoing.

Aella took a sip from her drink, the bitter taste burnt her throat as it slid down her windpipe. She set the drink on the coffee table separating them wordlessly and sat back, putting her focus into the letter opener she'd found lying on the desk. It wasn't as pointy as she'd hoped for but it had the same desired effect. She toyed with it, spinning the golden handle between her fingers in an almost artistic way. He had taught her how to do that on her last night before she entered the arena. She had practiced it all night and she continued to prefect it while she hid out in the arena.

Her lips pressed together at the thought of him. Her stomach bubbled with anxious anticipation but she managed to push her feelings down and hold them at bay. It would catch up with her eventually but she refused for it to happen when eyes lingered on her frame.

She twirled the blade between her thumb and her index finger, the edge not sharp enough to pierce but enough to mark. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Drew tense in his seat and her lips curved into an almost sadistic smirk. He fidgeted in a way she never had seen him before but she could sense the anxiety rolling from his body.

"Nervous?" She mused, her eyes still set on the blade.

Drew hesitated and as he cleared his throat her smirk broadened further, "No."

She barely nodded to herself and the two were thrusted back into a tense silence once again. Aella spent it glancing to him fleetingly, examining his posture and mannerisms closely enough to figure out she was making him all kinds of nervous. Their silence didn't last long as the train doors slid open, capturing both their attention and they saw Clio walk in with Daniel Amor following her closely. The curve in Aella's lips loosened slightly as she made fleeting eye contact with Daniel. His presence soothed her.

Clio's eyes found Aella's immediately after she pulled them away from Drew and, for once, she didn't know how to perceive the unfamiliar gleam within her blue irises. She cast her gaze fleetingly to the letter opener in her hands and the glass of whiskey on the table and pressed her lips into a thin line. A deep silence fell over the four of them and it lingered for the longest time. No one knew what to do, where to look or what to say.

Daniel's eyes roamed over Aella's glass of whiskey and momentary relief washed over him. He left Clio's side, heading for the expensive drinks cabinet himself, pulling the same bottle Aella had from the shelf. Like she had, he poured himself a generous measure and put the bottle back down on the table before finishing his drink in one gulp.

A relieved sigh escaped his lips as his shoulders loosened and as he worked to pour himself another he eyed his two tributes and said, "It seems we've got a lot of work to do."

• • •

On the twelfth floor of the tributes living quarters the once Victors of the seventy-forth Hunger Games—now tributes of the seventy-fifth Hunger Games sat surprisingly close to one another. Their drunkard mentor stood before the large television mounted to the wall. Effie Trinket sat quietly on the end of the sofa, unable to move as much as an inch in her extravagant gown.

Their focus was directed to the television as Haymitch pressed play. He pushed his shoulder length hair out of his face dramatically before he began, a drink in hand, and looked to the screen to see two blondes hand in hand as they waved at the crowd. They shared striking similarities despite the different colour of blonde. They were from District One. They looked expensive and they looked intimidating—no, they were intimidating. Their fierce grins made Peeta's stomach churn. He hated Career Tributes and not just because the Career pack in his Games had led him astray, turned on him and left him for dead.

What the male wore was significantly better than what his counterpart wore and though they looked young Katniss knew they weren't. If she had to guess she'd say late twenties, early thirties. They were both built like machines, even under the woman's thick leather-look jacket Katniss could still see her strong frame.

"Cashmere and Gloss," Haymitch introduced them, "Brother and sister. District One. They won back-to-back games. Capitol favourites, lots of sponsors. They will be lethal." He warned them both, "Gloss volunteered after Cashmere was selected."

Short and sweet, that was all the brother and sister duo needed, he could see from Peeta's tense shoulders that he'd said enough. They weren't even the worst of the tributes either. He pressed for the next video using the remote in his hands and looked back up to the screen as it changed. A different man and woman thrusted their joined hands in the air while they shouted and cheered intimidatingly. They too seemed older than they looked, especially when the cameras closed in but the male Tribute was built even stronger than Gloss.

"The other half of the Career Pack," Haymitch introduced, "Brutus and Enobaria."

"What's with her teeth?" Katniss asked.

The camera panned in on Enobaria as she worked the crowd and they all looked at her razor sharp canines. She seemed to hiss at the crowd, growling almost as she displayed her fangs for all of Panem to see.

"She had them filed into fangs so she can rip people throats out." Haymitch responded matter-of-factly.

"She's committed I'll give her that." Peeta remarked bluntly.

"I wouldn't even give the Career packs a second of your time," Haymitch advised. His eyes lingered on Peeta for a few seconds too long, "They'll try to kill you the second that cannon goes off. They're only interested allying with their own."

Their own being Cashmere and Gloss. Katniss doubted they would be bothered about an alliance with District Four. They were, after all, a Career District but it wasn't often that the Tributes from Four ever joined the Career packs.

Katniss and Peeta nodded in understanding and Haymitch took it as his cue to move on. The screen changed again as he walked to stand at the other side of the television. The scene before them charged drastically. Long gone were the threatening smiles and triumphant cheers.  Instead, the Victors—no, Tributes—before them were standing there with empty expressions on their faces.

"Wiress and Beetee," He introduced. The man and women were significantly older than the Tributes of District One and Two. The woman, Katniss noticed, looked slightly worse for wear as her eyes danced around while his focused, "Not fighters but brilliant... and weird. Real tech savvy. He won his game by electrocuting six tributes at once." Haymitch explained to them both.

He skipped forward with nothing else to say about them and he looked to see the District Six tributes on the screen instead of District Four. He sighed to himself and cursed under his breath, hitting the remote in his hand but he carried on anyways. He cast his attention back to the screen and looked at the man and woman dressed in black with dark circles under their eyes and pale faces, "The Morphlings," He introduced, "Masters of camouflage. Basically won their game by hiding until everyone else was dead. Self medicating ever since, which I applaud. Not a threat."

Finnick Odair was next to grace their screen after Haymitch managed to skip backward. They all watched the man raise his hand into the air, his lips curved into a soft yet all knowing infamous smirk as he glided smoothly across the stage. He worked the crowd before him with grace, something deadly and intimidating about the way he did so. Peeta swallowed thickly and leaned forward slightly. Finnick was once of the few Victors he knew of.

"Finnick Odair, right?" Katniss asked before Haymitch even had the chance to speak.

"Yes," Their mentor nodded, "He won his Games at fourteen. One of the youngest ever. Extremely humble."

"You're kidding?"

"Yes I'm kidding. He's a peacock. A total preener," Haymitch said, flicking his hair backward from his face, "But he's the Capitol darling they love him here. Charming, smart and very skilled in combat. Especially in water." He warned.

Peeta rested his elbows on his knees while looking at Finnick carefully. There wasn't any way he or Katniss would be able to kill him. Not in face to face combat. If they stood any chance at surviving against Finnick they'd have to exploit any potential weakness. That was Peeta's train of thought as he asked, "What about weaknesses?"

"One." Haymitch responded but he grimaced immediately afterward and instead said, "And a half...maybe?"

Effie shook her head from the side of the sofa and she drew Katniss and Peeta's attention to her, "Two." She said to them both calmly, "Two weaknesses."

Katniss raised her brow as confusion swept over her face. She and Peeta exchanged a fleeting glance, one of silent conversation before they both turned back to Haymitch. Whatever it was it was complicated. How could Finnick harbour two weak spots when he seemed so physically untouchable? He appeared to be more of a threat walking across the stage with a smirk than both of the Careers did.

"Mags," Haymitch introduced as two women appeared on their screens. The woman on the left was young, Katniss noticed, with fiery red hair and the way she had broken down made it seem like she had been the one who had just been reaped. The woman stood next to her was significantly older, the oldest Tribute to be reaped thus far. She had long, curled, grey hair and an ageing face but her eyes were the window to love. They all watched the clip as she raised her hand in the air and pointed to herself with determination on her face, a gesture that touched the hearts of many, many, people, "She volunteered for Annie. Mags was his mentor and basically raised him. If he's trying to protect her in any way, it exposes him."

"A guy like that has to know she's not really gonna make it." Katniss said bluntly, sitting back in her chair, "I bet when it really comes down to it, he won't protect her."

On the screen, Finnick brought Maggs into a tight embrace and he placed a kiss to the crown of her head. It's was sweet to watch and for a second the people of Panem got a glimpse of the real Finnick Odair, not the Capitol Darling.

"Well, Katniss, I just hope when she goes, she goes quickly." Haymitch said sorrowfully, his eyes cast to the floor fleetingly before he added, "She's actually a wonderful lady."

He changed the screen again and displayed the new Tributes of District Five as Peeta sat back again. Haymitch's words enticed sorrow to pull at his heart with regards to the older woman who had volunteered. He'd decided he'd seen enough by that point. It was all starting to get overwhelming but he knew he had to continue until the end.

Beside him, Katniss perched forward as the new Tributes played on their screen, she analysed the man and the woman closely, recognising them from their Victory Tour. The tension between the man and woman—even through the screen was almost palpable, as was the murderous gleam in her eyes. The man stood beside her was stiff, his eyes wide in alarm as she offered to shake his hand and when the scene cut again they were back to standing side by side, staring out at their District.

Her shining onyx hair and lavish yellow dress matched her skin tone just right. She was easily the most beautiful Tribute they had seen so far. She oozed power and grace to a point where it passed intimidating and became threatening and all she did was stare ahead at her District. Katniss and Peeta each studied her hard. Her frame was well built, tall, lean and strong. She looked physically fit and the youngest of them all excluding them both.

"I remember her from the tour." Peeta said, hands clasped together lightly, "She's young."

Haymitch nodded, his stomach twisted inside as he looked at screen to her. It showed her face when she realised that she had been reaped, how her eyes widened fractionally in what only her closest circle of friends knew to be paralysing fear. He'd seen it a few times in the many years he'd known her and still it wasn't any easier.

"You'll both remember Aella Barnes no doubt," He said to Katniss and Peeta, "She shares the title with Finnick Odair for winning her Games at fourteen, though she was thirteen when she was reaped. She only turned fourteen in the Games, so really she is the youngest. She's a real underdog... the Capitol's Golden Girl. They absolutely adore her here."

"How did she win so young?" Katniss asked in bewilderment as she frowned at the screen. She remembered the words she'd said to her about how she had killed the District Five tribute in their Games and frowned, "Finnick I can understand but her?"

Haymitch pressed his lips together and shot a fleeting glance at Effie, "She had help." He said, "Her story is.. complicated, famous, too. I'm surprised you don't know at least one of them."

"Why would we?" Peeta asked him, a frown set on his face.

The cameras panned to the male tribute and Effie Trinket looked away from the screen in sheer disgust, her lips curling. The horror weighed heavy on her shoulders. She and Clio Acton had been good friends—real friends—and the night Clio told her of Aella's situation in confidence was still far too raw. All Aella had been was an innocent child, far too naive for the world they lived in and she had been dragged to hell and ruined. Effie's heart had been in pieces for days, weeks even. She couldn't look at the young child without tears forming in her eyes for a long time.

Haymitch merely waved at the screen behind him dismissively, refusing to look back at the man who took agonisingly slow steps forward. Katniss and Peeta saw the way Effie had glared at the unfamiliar man with such fire in her eyes.

"That's Drew Lopez." Haymitch pointed towards the male tribute as he spoke with hatred, "He's as good as scum and everyone knows it. He was Aella's mentor but instead of teaching her how to survive he was sexually assaulting her. Clio Acton, the escort for District Five approached Effie and I the day she found out and she asked if I could help teach her the basics of survival."

An uncomfortable chill swept over the apartment. Peeta's brows furrowed in slight familiarity, the story only recognisable. He'd never had the opportunity to analyse her last year, he was too busy trying to stay alive and she never offered her congratulations to either of them following their win. If she was the Captiol's Golden Girl why was she never around? Why was she never at the extravagant parties swooning the crowds?

Katniss' eyes widened as she looked at Haymitch, "She won her Games because of you?"

Haymitch shook his head and he pressed the re-wind button, Finnick Odair's face emerging on the screen again for them to see. It was slowly starting to fall into place and Katniss sat back in her chair again, "Finnick helped her more than any of us. Over the years they've grown to be pretty close friends. Finnick can't kill her and she him."

"So you'd say he's a weakness of hers?" Peeta asked.

Haymitch nodded though a small part of him felt as if he was betraying Aella by disclosing what he was to his Tributes. It was no secret though, everyone knew Aella and Finnick were best friends.

Katniss and Peeta shared a fleeting look, one that confirmed they were on the same page as one another. They knew they were grossly out of their league. Between the Career packs and years old friendships, their fellow Tributes would have alliances formed in seconds, if not instantaneously but perhaps there was a way around it all?

"I see that look in your eyes," Haymitch said to them both. They turned to face him both again and he shook his head, "Whatever you're thinking about her, stop. She is deadly," He warned, "Do not underestimate her. Under all that makeup, under that pretty face is a woman who will torture you in ways you've never imagined before she kills you."

A chill washed over them as they contemplated their options and Haymitch switched to the next slide, "Last in the Deadly Trio Pack," He said, officially branding Finnick, Aella and this other unnamed Tribute. It forced Peeta to swallow thickly as a woman with short black hair appeared before them, her face was set in a stony expression while her eyes screamed murder, "Johanna Mason..."

•   •   •

The newly built living quarters within the heart of the Capitol were more than extravagant. Aella had never seen a compound like it before. She was impressed by how fast the lavish building had been erected and furnished. Large and fourteen storeys high the Capitol had left no stone unturned. It was clear that they expected great things from these Games. It was after all a best of the best—the ultimate battle to see whom of Panem's finest, most agile, Victors would emerge victorious from the most technologically advanced Games yet.

Everyone had upped the ante. The stakes were set very high.

It seemed that the Capitol had gone to every length to make sure that twenty-three of the reaped Victors last days alive were extravagant. They had spared no expense, all in the name of the Quarter Quell.

The minute Aella stepped off the train and into the new living quarters she was ushered away by her stylist team, Cayenne and Flax gushing over her as they always did. She didn't even get the chance to properly admire the quarters but from the quick glances she managed to steal she was definitely impressed.

Every Tribute was in the same boat. The second they landed in the Capitol they were whisked away by their stylists and prep teams and readied for the upcoming events that transpired in the lead up to the Games. Trains had been arriving all day—many of the districts travelling through the night following the reaping.

They were all anxiously anticipating each others arrival. Had it of been the normal circumstance of Games they would have gathered and reacquainted with one another long before now. The mentors had always been known to congregate in one of the many fancy bars within the quarters and they would catch up with their closest friends and their mere acquaintances. It was almost a tradition within the Games—just not an official one—and with the usual mentors now tributes none of them were able to socialise with one another and it was forcing anticipation to build within them.

Aella's leg bounced in rapid succession as she stared at herself in the mirror. Over the course of the hours she'd watched her prep team make her into someone unrecognisable. It had been a long time since she'd been so heavily caked in makeup and had her hair styled so extravagantly. She was never normally the centre of attention and if she was anywhere near a camera she opted to keep it subtle—something to usually clear up the dark circles under her eyes and add some colour to her unusually pale face.

She really didn't recognise herself, not with the way Cayenne had lathered her face in an assortment of products and cosmetics. She'd lined her eyes in a sharp cat-eye look with black liner and smoked it out using a brush before applying a gold shimmer to her lids. Her eyebrows had been plucked and filled in to create a crisp brow and her cheeks were contoured, a heavy highlight dusting her cheekbones.

Cayenne was just finishing painting her lips an ombré of burgundy into a deep blood red while Flax stepped back and stared at the artwork he'd created with her hair. It had been years since Aella had ever done anything with it, never once cut it or coloured it. All her prep team had ever done was use an array of products to fetch a healthier colour to it. The sleek black shade no longer looked dead and unhealthy. It's colour had been restored and it's shine was bright—something she'd not seen in a long time.

Flax had worked hard to do her hair, curling the entirety of the long length which had taken over two hours in itself. He had then proceeded to braid the front of her hair loosely in two sections and join it together at the crown of her head, the braid joining and carrying on down her back. Gold glitter had been dragged through her roots to match her glittering eyeshadow.

Once they had proclaimed themselves as artists and finished their latest masterpiece it had been over to Aella's stylist Palex to dress her. It had been a combined effort to design her dress by Palex, Clio and herself—all her dresses for the following events, actually had been a joint effort.

The gown she had slipped into was a deep capri shimmered colour around the top that then blended into a rich purple. It was all about representing her District and this way, the colours of her dress matched that of electricity. The plunging v-neck was tight on her body, intimidating to those who didn't know her, she oozed power and beauty in the gown especially with the line-stoned bodice and the silver diadem that sat delicately upon her head intwined in her hair.

She felt truly opulent and she looked it too.

She towered six inches higher in her sleek black heels and the sound of them clipping off the polished vinyl floor echoed with every step she took. She moved swiftly with prestigious grace. It forced Clio and Daniel to step back and watch her. Neither of them could believe her change in her mental status. It was like she'd swept all her demons under the rug and dived into an alter-ego. Her alter-ego.

The Golden Girl had grown up and become a woman and she was ready to show the Capitol just who she could be.

Malice had danced in her eyes since they had left District Five. It was as if she was royalty and everyone else was below her. She certainly looked the part, especially now as they made their way to the Avenue of the Capitol where the parade was held. She walked with such elegance and held her posture yet her chin was dipped ever so slightly and she looked through her full lashes in an intimidating way.

Only Daniel and Clio were to accompany Aella and Drew to the ceremony of the parade. It was the official opening of the Games—where everyone would meet the tributes and watch as they presented themselves to President Snow. Aella knew the back stage area well but it had been years since she'd dragged herself up on to a carriage and paraded herself around.

The elevator doors opened in front of Aella and Clio, Drew and Daniel already ahead and the two women stepped out silently. Aella gathered the skirts of her dress in her hands as she walked through the back of the building, passing masked Peacekeepers as they moved.

She could already hear the loud noise of the crowd cheering in the distance and she looked upward when her name started to echo wildly. In the ceiling above a large open circle allowed Capitol residents to look down and view the tributes as they arrived to the parade. She didn't look up, she merely fixed her gaze ahead and walked toward the holding area where twelve carriages sat waiting in a perfect line for them.

She didn't make it that far however, as Clio's fingers slipped around her wrist and pulled her back against the crevice of the dark walls.

Aella turned with a confused frown on her face, her lips curving to ask her what she was doing but she didn't get the chance to ask. She merely caught sight of Clio's mischievous grin on her face and watched as she pressed her finger to her lips and walked away, leaving her standing there alone.

She looked around with a deep frown before she fixated her eyes on Clio's retreating figure. She watched as she lightly embraced the escort for District Four while continuing to stick to the dark wall, partially covered by the shadows. She was almost about to leave until she saw him walking towards her as causally as ever.

At the sight of his blond messy tresses and full rounded lips that curved into a soft smirk, her heart began to pound erratically in her chest. Her shoulders sagged forward fractionally and the walls of her persona began to crack. She suddenly understood why Clio had pulled her out of the crowd and away from the prying eyes now and she was eternally grateful for it.

It seemed like forever until he was standing in front of her admiring her form and when he was within an arms reach she wrapped her arms around his body tightly. Citrus fruit and sea-salt engulfed her and she relaxed.

Aella didn't even process his naked torso save for the necklace of seashells around his neck. She was too focused on him. Her heart had been calling to him since the second she watched the reaping tape and now that he was standing in front of her she didn't want to let go.

"Fin." She exhaled deeply.

Finnick's muscular arms curled around her torso tightly as he pulled her into him. His head dipped between the crevice of her throat and her shoulder as he inhaled deeply before saying, "Ella."

From the distance, Clio watched them embrace as a light well of tears gathered in her eyes. Only she knew how much Finnick Odair meant to Aella Barnes and for years she had wanted nothing but a happy ending for them. Knowing that they had been forced into the Games together destroyed her entirely.

Aella pulled her head out of Finnick's chest and she searched his ocean eyes, seeking the everlasting comfort that came from deep within the swirling mix of sea-foam green and teal blue. His eyes were enchanting, they always had been, and they drew Aella in deep and held her captive. She had been stuck under his arrest for years, unable yet unwilling to escape.

The mischievous aura that graced his presence had disappeared. He wasn't Capitol darling Finnick Odair when he was with her, he was Finnick—another broken Victor who ran around President Snow's hamster wheel twenty-four-seven. His eyes were soft yet the glimmer in them never died, it just grew softer.

"Why are they doing this to us, Fin?"

It was a question that they both knew the answer to but she asked it regardless. It seemed to hit them on a deeper, more personal level. It wasn't just them in a singular context, it was them as in them together. Perhaps that was why they were doing it, she thought but then no one was to ever know. No one did know aside from Clio of the true extent of Finnick Odair and Aella Barnes' friendship. They were careful all the time because of Finnick's promise to President Snow and Aella's everlasting curse of losing everyone she loved to him.

They cared too deeply for one another to be messy. As much as it pained them to sometimes have to sit across from one another in a room it was always for the best. It hurt her that she couldn't fall asleep with him by her side. It killed him that he couldn't hold her through her nightmares but they had no other choice. They limited their phone calls and their letters and they died inside everyday feeling empty knowing that the one person they wanted, they couldn't have.

It was abundantly clear to one another of the feelings that lingered but they were never acted upon out of sheer fear.

"We both know this isn't personal, Ella." He responded.

"Isn't it?" She asked lowly before she looked around and said in a whisper, "Katniss Everdeen has sparked riots everywhere. This is President Snow's way of taking contol, Finnick, and he's using us as collateral. We both know he doesn't care for any of us. He's happy to see us going back into that godforsaken arena, especially the likes of Johanna and myself."

Finnick shook his head as he looked at her, "Don't say that."

"It's true!" She exasperated loudly until she realised how loud she had been. She looked around quickly to see if anyone had heard her before finding Finnick's eyes again and repeating in a hushed tone, "It's true."

Finnick pressed his lips together before he eventually sighed. He lowered his gaze to her shoulders and the bodice of her dress before he stepped back look properly. His eyes danced over her garment, something unfamiliar fluttering in his stomach as his words failed him. He had never seen something so well suited toward a person like her. A dress that symbolised electrical power also symbolised her entire personality. She was fiery and short tempered when she wanted to be and as she'd grown she carried this aura of power with her. It was intimidating—even to Finnick but for an entirely different reason.

He took her hand gently and span her under him while saying with a soft smirk, "My, my."

Aella rolled her eyes softly, "Shut up."

Finnick shrugged, "You truly are a sight of beauty." He complimented, ethereal beauty, he thought.

Under the thick layer of makeup, Aella's cheeks burnt and her body flushed. She wasn't used to compliments of that nature, especially when they were from him.

She readied herself to respond but a voice over the tannoy interrupted them, "Five minutes until launch."

She peeled her eyes away from no where in particular and met his gaze again. Finnick squeezed her hand gently and she found herself responding to the action, running her thumb over the back of his calloused hand.

"You go first." He instructed her.

She only nodded once, feeling her heart quickening in pace at the thought of ever having to leave him. It was hard to force herself to let go of his hand and even harder when Finnick was reluctant to leave go. She turned on her heel away and took a few steps before stealing one final fleeting glance at him. He leaned casually against the wall, a sugar cube in his calloused fingers. He rose it to his lips and pressed them against it suggestively before popping it into his mouth.

Dizzy, she forced herself forward and walked over toward the carriage designated for she and Drew. Her heart pounded in her chest with every step she took and she longed to search for him in the crowd but she knew she couldn't. She had to keep their secret no matter how hard it was.

Finnick had been there when no one was. He was the sole reason she was still alive, the reason she survived the Games and lived to tell her story. She might've matched him for the youngest person to ever win but it was a title he had never minded sharing with her.

She didn't look around until her hand grazed over the majestic black horse rigged up to pull their carriage and when she did she found him by Katniss Everdeen, his naked back to her. She watched the way his slabs of muscles moved under his skin, admiring him from afar with a neutral expression on her face.

"What are you staring at?"

She turned her head and glared at Drew silently as he stood beside her. The air around them thickened quickly as the tension grew and from afar, other tributes, mentors and escorts turned to look at them.

Aella was unpredictable. She always had been ever since the first day she arrived in the Capitol six years ago. Many of her fellow tributes had watched her mentor over her years, they'd listened to her rage-filled protests when someone she had mentored died or had lost in an unfair fight. They'd witnessed her firsthand tell her story and they'd watched how it had shaped her life and personality into who she was today.

None of them saw who she was trapped within the four walls of her house surrounded by ghosts. They didn't know she was utterly broken inside. All they saw was her rage and anger pointed toward the Capitol and President Snow for doing this to her.

Their conversations had ceased, even the one between Katniss and Finnick as she lost interest in what he had to say. Instead, she looked at Aella Barnes over his shoulder and watched as she clenched her jaw tightly while her blue irises swirled with such icy fire.

'She's deadly. Do not underestimate her.'

Finnick followed Katniss' gaze and his eyes found Drew Lopez's frame. His shoulders tensed with immediate anger as he ground his teeth together seeing him standing so close to Aella. He remembered vividly the way Drew's nose crunched under his fist after Aella had gone into the Games. It had taken three people to pry him from Drew and if he hadn't, he probably would have killed him.

Rage made the hairs on the back of his neck rise as Drew leaned closer to her but before anything could ever happen Daniel Amor planted himself firmly between the two. He placed his hands on Drew's chest as he pushed him away from her with deep routed anger swirling in his irises as Clio pried Aella away by her shoulder.

It was harder than ever keeping them separated and Aella at bay. Knowing that her opportunity to kill him was rising was making her reckless. He found a way to push her buttons and she retaliated all the time. There was only so much Daniel could do to hold her off.

"Aella," Clio scolded her quietly as she guided her up to the carriage, "People are staring."

"So what?" The young woman responded, rage shimmering in her eyes, "Let them."

"Don't give him the satisfaction." Clio said to her.

"Tributes mount up." The voice over the tannoy announced slightly earlier than planned, "Tributes mount up."

Aella eyed the white roses lining the chariot and she forced down the urge to vomit. The putrid scent overwhelmed her but she forced the disgust from her face for the sake of her Capitol reputation. She looked anywhere but at the roses in front of her, focusing on the carriage in front of her as Drew mounted up beside her.

He was closer to her now than what he had been in years and she didn't like it. It made her uneasy, it took her back to those dark, fearful, days and she felt her fingers twitch at her side. This wasn't the time, she reminded herself. She needed a clear mind for this.

"Remember," Clio said to Aella from the side of the chariot, "You're their Golden Girl."

Aella only nodded, her jaw clenched firmly together as she tried to ignore the stimulus around her. Between the scent of the white roses and Drew standing beside her she felt ready to break, her walls were cracking deeper by the second. She squeezed her eyes together, clenching her fists and digging her nails into her skin, half-crescent moons shaping her pale palms. She recited the Districts in her head over and over again, feeling her grip on reality beginning to slip until she caught sight of those familiar sea-foam green eyes.

Her heart slowed down and her chest wasn't hurting as much anymore. The panic was starting to dissolve.

Finnick held her gaze seeing the way her body had tensed and he nodded once at her. His eyes soft in a way no one else would recognise. He had to turn back to face the front after a few lingering seconds but he hoped it was enough for her to gather her thoughts and pull herself together.

And it was, for while she was cursed to breathe in the vile stench of white roses and forced to stand next to a man who had completely and utterly exploited her Finnick was just in front of her. He was never far and that brought an unparalleled sense of comfort to swarm through her body. It allowed her to gather a relatively good grip on her mind to be able to preform.

She was able to wrestle the best smile on to her face and wave to the residents of the Capitol, blowing them kisses. More importantly she was able to preform in front of President Snow and he watched her with fiery eyes as she plucked a single white rose from the glorious bouquet before she crushed it in her fist and threw it on the ground with the deepest, most murderous gleam to her eyes anyone had ever seen.

Aella Barnes was out for blood and if these were going to be her final few days on this earth she was going to rebel in every imaginable way possible. If she was going to go, she was determined to go out with a bang and she'd be damned if she didn't bring her President down with her.

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A/N; this is the longest chapter I've ever written but we got to meet Finnick so it's okay. Next chapter will be out Wednesday with more Finnick!