[AUTHORS NOTE]

Who's ready for the games?! I'm actually so stoked to write about it! You guys are in for a few surprises, some that you may or may not hate me for :}

And a new, VERY IMPORTANT character is mentioned in this chapter =) keep an open mind about District Twelve ;)

Stay classy and enjoy!

_____

Quinn felt like she was going to lose her dinner from the night before. Her stomach was in tight knots, and her entire body was fidgety. The anxiety in the air between herself and Ciruss was practically tangible and it was suffocating. It felt like it was twisting and warping its way around her throat and pressing her against the cool glass of the wall of the elevator. She felt like she couldn't move, and the silence between the two of them was deafening. She kept her eyes moving, taking in every corner of the elevator-- trying to keep her mind off of the games as much as possible-- which wasn't much.

I'm Quinn Maverick, I won the seventy-third Hunger Games. Orion Snow helped me run away from District Four. I made it to District Thirteen. I went back to the Capitol to help Katniss Everdeen. I was sent back to Four. I was chosen as the Capitol Favourite Victor. Quinn listed things off in her head. She knew there was a possibility that she was be dying soon, she also knew there was a slim chance that she could escape the games. And she wanted to remember as much as possible, she wanted to try to keep a tight grasp on whatever sanity she had left.

The elevator came to a stop, and the familiar sound of a hovercraft echoed through the hall. At the end of that hall, she'd leave Ciruss and get on the ship with the other tributes, she'd get her tracker...then she'd be taken to the tubes. Everything sounded like it was underwater, she could hear her own breathing as she walked with Ciruss towards the end of the hallway. With each step her feet began to get heavier and heavier.

"Ciruss," she started, her voice coming out as nothing more than a whisper. "Right now would be the perfect for any last minute advice."

Ciruss glanced down at her as they neared the end, and the hovercraft got closer. The two of them stopped, and turned towards each other instead of the ship. Before Ciruss said anything, he pulled Quinn into a hug, and she hugged him in return.

"Whatever you do," he began while he was still hugging her. "Don't stop breathing." he stated as he let go of her.

She sighed and looked towards the ship with peacekeepers waiting for her.

"Ciruss,"

"Don't say anything, I'll see you on the outside again."

"But-"

"Trust me." he assured her, "Okay?"

She sighed heavily, and nodded. And then with that, she turned and began making her way towards the waiting ship. Again, every step made her feet heavier. Once she got to the ship, a peacekeeper held out a hand and took her right arm. With his other hand her used a thick needle and injected her tracker. It left a burning feeling as it settled in, the metal glowed for a moment, signalling that it had been activated. Then she was allowed to step onto the ship.

She found her way on, next to the open seat next to Orion. They waited for a few minutes as two more tributes for their way on. The doors sealed as everyone fastened their belts on. Nobody spoke, nobody looked at anyone except their allies. Quinn's eyes traveled down the seats opposite of her until she found Finnick. Finnick's eyes were looking down for a moment, until finally they met hers. They didn't need to say anything to confirm their alliance. Her eyes then kept going until she saw Peeta and Katniss. But they were too far to make any sort of eye contact.

Quinn felt a jab in her side, and looked over at Orion. His hair fell losely, from having absolutely nothing put in it. His piercings had both been removed, it wasn't difficult to see the anxiousness and nervousness that was etched onto his face. Quinn had avoided him, she knew he had chosen a different alliance-- not because he thought it would be better for him, but because Kelsey had advised him to take District Sevens' offer. And if Katniss ended up seperated from her own alliance, there would be a slight chance they would find her.

Quinn sighed and leaned her head back against the seat. She sat inbetween Orion and Cashmere-- she knew Orion wouldn't turn on her, but even though Cashmere had been nice to her...she knew if Cashmere was given the oppritunity, she'd kill Quinn right away. Quinn wouldn't have a chance against her, she wouldn't have a chance against most of the Victor's.

Most of the flight was silent and perfectly fine. Until Ophelia Hunter, from District Ten completely lost it. Which was understandable. Her games were brutal, they had been set in a desert with only one small lake. The cornucopia was on the opposite side of the tributes...but rumor was that Ophelia had completely lost it. Her sanity was none existant-- but Quinn didn't believe it. The few glances they had with eachother-- Quinn could see it in her eyes. She could see something there. But towards the end of the flight, Ophelia broke-- a stream of tears, a few whimpers-- nobody said anything.

Once the hovercraft came to a complete stop, the door opened, and the Victor's filed out. As soon as they stepped off of the hovercraft, they were escorted away from one another so they couldn't talk to each other. Two peacekeepers walked with Quinn down a long corridor, and then finally stopped in front of a door, and let her inside.

The room was fairly small, but there was a bench in the middle of the room. On it sat Lace with Quinn's clothes folded next to her. Lace stood up, and Quinn walked over to her and pulled her into a hug herself before Lace could. Lace would be the last person she saw, outside of the arena. Quinn looked down over Laces' shoulder, and looked at the material. It looked similar to what had been worn a few years earlier, in the seventy-second Hunger Games-- the only other Victor that had won from District Twelve besides Katniss and Peeta who had Haymitch as a mentor. Her games had been a swamp land, based on the swamps of Ancient North America. They looked like they had the texture of fish scales.

"We should get you ready," Lace said finally and let go of Quinn and picked up the one piece suit that was mostly grey with black and blue details. On the shoulder, instead of a number, there was a C.

Quinn slowly began to pull off the clothes she had put on that morning, and then stepped into the new suit. It was tight, but not tight enough she couldn't move. Then Lace handed her a pair of shoes, Quinn turned them over in her hands and after a moment finally pulled them on. Then on the bench where her suit had been, were two sleeves to add on. Lace held them both up and then tucked them under her arm before digging in her pocket just as there was a knock on the door to the room. After a moment, a dark skinned woman with short black hair and silver eye-makeup on, stepped inside. She wore a simple suit, similar to what Madam Kelsey wore.

"Good morning, Ms. Maverick," she said as she walked towards her with her arm outstretched. But Quinn didn't move to take it. It wasn't a good morning. And the last time that someone came into the room before the games, Damien had been turned into an Avox and shipped off to work for the mayor of District Four. Quinn's eye's bounced to Lace, she'd done nothing, really wrong to cause any sort of trouble. Would Snow do something to her? The woman cleared her throat, "President Snow wanted to wish you luck." she said simply as she held out a small box, "Since you don't have a token, he thought you might like his daughter-in-laws old pin,"

"I don't want anything from him." she retorted as the woman opened the box to reveal a silver pin in the shape of a rose.

The woman shifted on her feet uncomfortably, "I was given specific orders to bring it to you." she said as she held it out to Quinn. But when Quinn made to motion to take it, she simply turned and put on the bench.

The reason behind giving her a rose pin, it was just to scare her. But it was his daughter-in-laws, and he wanted her to have it? It wasn't something she should have had. If anyone should have had it, it should have been Orion. Did he even know it existed? The woman looked at Quinn and then to Lace, who didn't look too happy to see her either. After a moment, the woman turned and left-- the tension that had begun to settle quickly vanished. Quinn decided to turn away from the place where the new pin had been placed. She didn't want it, she didn't want to see anything from Snow-- that pin wasn't a token for good luck. It was something he wanted to use to taunt her with, a reminder that he put her there.

Lace took a few steps towards her, and pulled out the bronze Mockingjay pin that she had gotten for Quinn. She pinned it onto Quinn's suit, on the left side of her chest. Then she pulled on the sleeves.

"You can always use these for bandages," Lace sighed, "So they could come in handy."

Quinn smiled a bit, "I wouldn't have thought of that." she said simply.

Lace didn't say anything and she looked towards the top of the tube that Quinn had been avoiding looking into. Bright sunlight shinned through the tube, giving the room even more light. Lace let out a long huff of air as she gave Quinn another hug.

"Did Ciruss tell you? About..." her voice drifted off, she spoke quietly as if they were being watched closely. So by the way she asked the simple question, Quinn didn't need clarification.

So she simply nodded.

"Sixty seconds until launch,"