Raven felt like his skin was on fire, he walked along the long hallway, tugging at the collar around his neck with discomfort as Johanna trailed beside him. "I swear they want us to die before we even step foot into that arena, this outfit is gonna kill me".

He tugged at the collar after he spoke, and Johanna smiled "you're a tree, gosh I hate our stylist I swear she puts us in these outfits on purpose. Half the other tributes look ridiculous but we're far worse".

Raven laughed as he walked towards their carriage, the horses let out soft breaths as Raven ran his hand along their fur. "These guys don't even have to look ridiculous like we do, and they're horses".

Johanna sighed as she watched Raven grow tense when the woman from district 2, Enobaria approached them with slight steps. He had a bad history with half of the other victors, seeing he was drunk and couldn't remember if he was inside that arena or not.

Safe to say he tried to kill Enobaria once and the woman didn't take it lightly, he wouldn't be surprised if she ripped his throat out. He could see the smirk on her lips, see the ends of her teeth poking out as she glared at him. Her eyes meant with Johanna for a second as she hissed and then chuckled.

Raven felt his body tense up even more, felt the rage slipping into his skull as the hiss engraved itself into his eardrums. The woman's laugh was taunting and loud as she walked off to get a good look at the other victors who were all slowly getting ready.

Johanna saw the way Ravens fists clenched together and his lip twitched with anger. "Rave, don't...". She didn't have enough time to grab his arm, to stop him from running after Enobaria with quick footsteps.

Katniss didn't want to be here, especially when she could feel the gazes of the other tributes on her. Every second would walk past her and get a good look at her, she was nothing more than prey.

Someone they'd kill the moment that timer hit zero, she'd suffer by the hands of others who once were in the games just like her and Peeta. Her train of thoughts faded away when just on cue another Victor walked past her, this woman looked more scary.

She remembered at least half of the tribute's names thanks to Haymitch, Enobaria was one he had told her to be careful of. Of course she didn't think she'd watch the woman be pushed into the ground.

Blood coating the side of her head as the fist collided with her flesh with such heavy swings. Katniss couldn't believe her eyes, she gasped as she ran forward to stop the fight all together.

Raven had never felt more relaxed in his entire life, the second his fist collided with Enobaria's face, the smirk was wiped right off of it. He felt his knuckles ache at the impact right away, felt the small droplets of blood that hit his cheek with such force.

He wasn't a violent person, gosh he hated himself right now for even hurting someone. He hated himself for being so paranoid that in his mind he was back inside that arena, that he had felt the blood of innocents coating his flesh as he tried to make the world around him stop spinning.

He could hear the cannons so clearly, could see the way the person below him was that stupid boy from district six who had punched him until his nose broke. He could hear the boy's laughs as he taunted him by letting him just watch the knife lower towards his throat, it never made contact with his skin.

Gosh no... he didn't wanna remember what happened,  he felt his body shutting down as his fist started to burn and split itself apart. He saw Johanna's lifeless body in front of him, heard the cannon the second he saw that smirk rise on Enobaria's lips.

He wasn't there... oh god he wasn't in the games, Johanna wasn't dead and he was safe. Yet his mind kept spinning and he felt dizzy and fuzzy as he kept hearing laughing from that boy from district six.

He could hear the cries of that little girl he killed from home, feel the blood that ran down the cracks of his fingers after he let the ax fall out of grasp.

He must've shut down at this very moment, he didn't feel anything anymore, he was terrified and stuck inside that damn arena all over again. Every single moment slipping into his brain as he felt his breath leave his lungs, he kept muttering to himself.

Kept begging for this to be over, he kept hearing the screaming and the crying. It made his head pound as he pressed his hands over his ears.

He could feel his nose break all over again as that boy looked down at him with a smirk. Everything triggered him, and he hated it, why was he like this? He was a freak, someone who deserved to die in that arena the second the timer hit zero.

His eyes widened in horror when someone gripped his face, he heard the cannon and felt his body fall into an endless stream of panic and death.

"Rave... it's okay, you're safe" he felt warmth as his eyes locked with Johanna's. She looked distressed as blood ran down her nose and lip. He blinked slowly as he looked past her at Enobaria who looked pissed off.

A bruise was on the side of her cheek, but there wasn't any blood on her face. Just her hand and that same smirk was on her lips when she saw Raven.

He felt himself snap all over again as he stood up, he ignored how light headed he felt as he pushed Johanna behind him in a protective manner.

He didn't move this time, his head was clear on one thing and that was on keeping Johanna safe. There wasn't any point in letting himself slip back into the darkness, he'd likely kill Enobaria the second he did.

Enobaria looked at him one last time before she was escorted back towards the front. Raven let out a shaky breath as he turned "I'm sorry... I... I got confused".

He rubbed at his face Johanna wiped the blood off her face with a tissue Finnick gave her after he walked past to see Katniss. "You didn't hit her by the way... I was the one who did, you sorta just stood there and she was going to hit her, so I hit her first".

He touched her lip slightly "she hurt you, if I hadn't blacked out... If I was seeing clearly I could've just ignored her and stayed behind with you".

Johanna didn't look upset, she just chuckled weakly "it's fine Raven, it was kinda fun. She deserved it anyways". She grabbed a hold of his arm slightly as she helped him walk back towards their carriage.

Katniss had seen the entire thing and when she tried to stop it, Finnick had pulled her back. He had made her look away all together when she asked what was wrong with Raven, it was definitely a sore subject.

He looked even annoyed when she asked what was wrong with the man. He was on the ground just shaking as Johanna punched Enobaria with one good hit to make the woman not attack Raven.

She had seen the way he had snapped out of it when she looked that way again. Watched how he looked at Johanna with such confusion and worry. Katniss looked away not wanting to be rude by watching, she looked at Finnick "are they a couple?".

She looked surprised when Finnick gripped her shoulder and moved her slightly away from a set of peacekeepers who walked past. "Again, don't ask anything about Raven, it's not smart".

Katniss scoffed as she moved back "what's it to you? He's just some guy who will likely freak out when the games start. It's obvious they're a thing... Did you see the way he looked at her? I mean....".

Finnick looked serious for once "just drop it Everdeen, if you're as smart as you are, you'd understand why I don't talk about Raven and Johanna, especially with listening ears around every corner. Not everyone gets a beautiful love story for the capitol, let's just say... Ravens not as lucky as you are".

He smiled before he walked off and Katniss understood what it meant when she watched Johanna and Raven walking away. She could see the way Johanna let the man's arm go when peacekeepers walked past, and the way Raven moved away from her like he didn't even know who she was.

"Who are you looking at?" she turned at the sound of Peeta's voice "no one". The boy looked in the direction and then at her "they're from district seven right? Raven and Johanna, Haymitch mentioned them to me, apparently Raven still thinks he's in the game, he like blacks out or something, and the girl is just mean, let's stick clear of those two".

—

   Raven pulled at the collar around his neck as he walked behind Johanna. She looked annoyed as she hit the elevator button with a harsh hit "stupid thing, I'd rather take the damn stairs".

The doors slipped open and Raven grew tense when he saw Katniss inside. He started to turn towards the stairs but Johanna dragged him inside before he could even move back to escape this awkward moment.

"Carry on" Johanna smiled weakly as she pulled the bracelets off her wrist with annoyance. "You guys look amazing" Raven sighed as he leaned into the wall. Katniss smiled weakly at Johanna "thank you".

Raven had never wanted to be punched more in his life, if he was lucky maybe he'd pass out and this moment would just go away.

Johanna groaned in annoyance "my stylist is such an idiot, district seven, lumber. Trees". She rolled her eyes as she pulled her boots off with a swift movement. Raven grunted when she pushed them into his chest, he held onto them as he sighed.

"I'd love to put my ax in her face" Raven chuckled as he leaned more into the wall. Johanna pulled her hair away from her back as she turned slightly to look at Peeta and Katniss "so what do you think? Now that the whole world wants to sleep with you?".

Katniss looked offended and annoyed "I don't think that the whole world...." Johanna chunked "I wasn't talking to you". Katniss rolled her eyes as Raven covered his mouth to hide his laughs.

"Will you unzip?" Peeta smiled awkwardly "uh sure" Raven watched as Peeta unzipped Johanna's dress. The boy's eyes widened when Johanna started to strip right in the elevator.

Almost immediately everyone looked away, Raven moved forward as the doors chimed open. Johanna smiled "thanks, let's do it again sometime". She walked off as Raven grabbed her clothes off the ground "just pretend that didn't happen".

He chuckled awkwardly before he walked out of the elevator chasing after Johanna. "You're gonna be the death of me Jo" he pushed his jacket over her shoulders as she laughed. "Did you see the looks on their faces? It was priceless".

He tugged at the collar around his neck when she pushed open the door for their suite. "Seriously you should've just taken that stupid outfit off in the elevator, wouldn't have bothered you so much".

He sat down on the couch as he pulled the shirt over his head, he let out a breath of relief when he threw it onto the ground. "Well I didn't wanna traumatize three people on an elevator, I'm not that evil".

She chuckled as she sat down beside him, he sighed as he looked at her "you should put clothes on before someone comes in here, with our luck they'd think we're going at it on this dingy ass couch".

She rolled her eyes "we're being sent to our deaths, I'm sure they wouldn't give a shit if we were having sex right now. You can relax Raven, no one is around to care about what we do anymore".

He leaned into her shoulder as he sighed softly "that's the thing, no one will care if we die in that arena, and snow won't give a shit if we won either, he'd likely kill the winner just to prove a point to everyone".

Johanna held onto his hand tightly as he leaned into the couch "training tomorrow, which means we have to be prepared for anything that can happen".

He smiled softly "I'll just hide in a corner, that'll be expected of me, because I'm district seven's delusional Victor, just like Annie from District four, only worse and a lot more paranoid and pathetic".

Johanna sighed "you're not any of those things Raven, and who cares what other people think about you, we're gonna show them we're not weak, we're survivors just like you tell me all the time".

—
authors notes:
I need to go outside and touch grass, and I don't care if it's 4:47 AM, I seriously need to go outside and just touch grass, because there's no way I say here and wrote this shit without blinking once. I was gonna write the intro part and then next thing I know, I got the whole chapter written. I was gonna keep writing and make it longer but I had to stop myself so I could sleep, anyways enjoy a double update!