Sea green eyes

9 - A Spectacle, that's all.

"This isn't going to work-" Johanna drawls from beside me, bored eye drifting over the meeting room of Victors. It's the next midnight, and I'm impressed to see everyone has shown up again. "Everdeen doesn't trust any of us, I can see it in her eyes. Perhaps we freaked her out a bit too thoroughly at the start."

I cross my arms as Plutarch leans forward in his chair, rubbing his temples exasperatedly.

"It's not about trust. It's about who we can get Katniss to co-operate with and not kill each other. It's really not-"

"Yeah we got it," I snipe, cutting him off. "Who can we trust least and work our way back from there blah blah blah." I turn to Haymitch, who has been surprising quiet so far. "Who do they want as allies?"

Haymitch winces.

"Beetee, Wiress and Mags." I blink, Beetee making a small, shocked noise beside me. Mags, across the table, claps her hands and grins. "But I'll work on that. No offense you guys but you're not exactly the most... intimidating force of defense."

"I may have a solution," I say, and Haymitch meets my gaze. "Do you have sway with the girl on fire?" He nods and I lean forward, nodding at Odair. "Well, 4 and I already have an alliance, along with Johanna. We could help protect them, under the guise of wanting to protect Mags."

Haymitch leans back, considering.

"That could work." Plutarch is smiling now, and spins to Haymitch. "That could definitely work. Johanna, Finnick and Kasia are enough to defend Katniss and Peeta."

"There will be four careers out there," Seeder reminds him and I snort.

"Katniss isn't too shabby with a bow, and Peeta could defend himself if it came to it." I spit, staring down Plutarch. "Stop underestimating them. They both survived the games, remember? Just like everyone else here."

"We don't really need your opinion, five. You weren't even meant to be here, so just shut your mouth and let the professionals handle it," Blight snaps, glaring at me.

"I wasn't meant to- what? Odai-"

"So, how will we get Katniss to trust us?" Odair cuts me off. "If we just show up and ask for an alliance she'll shoot us before we can finish that sentence."

"Just... leave that to me," Haymitch nods. "I'll figure something out. In the meantime, just keep your heads down during training, prepare for your private sections and interviews, and just please god don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself! This must stay hidden." The Victors around the room nod, and I know, out of everyone in the world, the people who most want Snow dead right now are the very people in this room, even if they won't be there to see it.

---

Life before the games continues on like normal for a while, Izack and Rachel chattering away in dinner about who knows what, another day of training goes by without incident, and before I know it, I'm in the training hall for the final time before my individual training.

Two days until I'm back in the arena. Two days until I could be dead. I could be on the ground, bleeding out in a desert, or forest, or even snow caps. My fingers slip on the rope, and the carefully curated knot I've spent a good hour tying unties.

"SHIT!" I yell, throwing the useless thing onto the desk, my hands starting to shake. "I can't do this." I sigh, rubbing my temples and pick up a simpler knot I actually managed to finish. I'm starting to study it when arms come around my sides, grabbing the knot I abandoned and fixing it in a way that makes it look simple. I turn, glaring, and meet the smirking face of Odair.