A/N: This story is set in the middle of Mockingjay but before Peeta, Annie, and the others are rescued. This will probably just be a one-shot, though I usually write multi-chaptered fics. This is not supposed to be a romantic fic between Katniss and Finnick, just friendship, though if it's written nicely, I do approve of a romance between them. This was inspired from Finnick's confession at what the Capitol does to "desirable" victors and Katniss has a musing that people would pay a lot to have a night with the girl on fire. I hope you enjoy! Sorry if Katniss seems OOC, but I thought that under the circumstances she was in, she would have a slight change of character. All mistakes are my own.

I remember the day when President Snow called Thirteen. Coin had me come into the command center to receive it and it turns out that Snow wanted to make a deal. He said that if both Finnick and I return to the Capitol to be sold to the wealthy citizens, it would ensure the safety and release of Annie and Peeta. If we completed a certain amount of jobs (which would be determined by Snow) then he would us all return to Thirteen safely. Snow showed us a beaten up Peeta and a whimpering Annie to prove his point further. We had no choice, we had to go, even Gale and Haymitch agreed that there was no other option.

Finnick and I arrived at a Capitol hotel where we would share a room. Snow didn't even bother setting guards up at the hotel, he knew that we wouldn't do anything to anger him or else he would take it out on our loved ones. According to Snow, each of our clients had to send him a letter to confirm we did our job. Our only pay was the safety of our loved ones. Each client only got a certain time slot, they couldn't hold us after their time was up. If we were late to an appointment, the client had the choice to either continue as planned or reschedule. No one could book us twice.

Our hotel room wasn't too extravagant, all it held was a king sized bed that Finnick and I would share, a bathroom, two windows that looked out onto the building where the tributes were held before the games, and a few dressers to hold our belongings. I guess this was going to be an extended stay. We put our clothes away in silence and then sat on the bed next to each other. Finnick had out his rope and was making a particularly complicated knot. I wished that I had the rope he gave to me in the bunker, but I left in in Thirteen.

I had been trying to speak to Finnick, awkwardly opening and closing my mouth, fiddling with my fingers, until I said shakily, "Finnick...I'm scared. I don't know how these clients will treat me and I don't want to...submit myself to their whims. I...I'm still a virgin. I don't want to be taken by a random stranger who has no care in the world for my safety and well-being. I know we need to do this to save Peeta and Annie, but I don't know if I can do this! What do I do Finnick?"

I was crying now, sobbing into my hands at the realization of what I was going to be doing. Finnick stopped fiddling with the rope and set it down on the bed and turned to me. He pulled me to him in a comforting hug, rubbing soothing circles on my back. He seemed to struggle with his words a bit before he said, "It was hard for me too Katniss. It made me feel terrible and worthless. It really depended on the client on how well you were treated. I have this bad feeling that since you're a girl, especially the girl on fire, the men aren't going to treat you well," he paused for a moment, then his eyes lite up with hope, "Katniss, I have an idea! I'll follow you to your appointment and when they are about to...you know...then I'll come in and either knock them out or say that you're needed somewhere else! Then we could forge the letter and send it off to Snow. He wouldn't suspect a thing!"

I pondered this for a while, wiping away my tears, thinking it was a great idea until, "But what if you have an appointment the same time I do? What would we do then?"

This seemed to stump Finnick for some time until he snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Then I cancel appointment and ask for it to be rescheduled for another time. You could do the same for me, interrupt the appointment and get me out of there. It seems perfect! It's that or you have your first time with me. If you don't think the other plan will work, that may be your only option. I don't want you to have your first time with a stranger, it should be at least with someone you trust..."

"Just can't keep your hands off the girl on fire, can't you?" I laugh sarcastically, "But thanks for being willing to do that for me. No wonder Annie loves you. We should try the first option out before we have to...you know...".

"Alright, when is your first appointment?"

I got up and walked over to the dresser where our schedules have been placed. I scanned over it really quickly and said, "Tomorrow from seven to nine at night. And your first appointment is..." I picked up his schedule and looked it over, "from ten to midnight. This should work!" I exclaimed happily.

Finnick gave a triumphant smile and laid back on the bed, "We should go to sleep, it's late."

I climbed into the bed next to him, laying my head on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling. "Fin... you do know that we both are going to have nightmares, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he sighed in defeat.

"Maybe it will be easier tonight since we have each other. Whenever I have nightmares, I'm usually alone. Here, give me your hands."

He flipped over to face me and extended both of his hands out. I took his hands in mine, feeling the callouses and burns from the constant rope knotting, but they were warm and comforting. I placed our right hands directly above our left hands. We laid with our faces merely inches apart, our knees inches apart as well. The only part of us that touched were our hands which we held in a firm grip.

I looked into his sea-green eyes and thought that in another lifetime, I would probably have fallen madly in love for Finnick Odair. He certainly was handsome and he had a vulnerable side to him that showed he would deeply care for anyone he chose to fall in love with. Speaking of love... I still needed to figure out my feelings for Peeta. Of course I cared about him, but I didn't know if I loved him. My natural instinct was to protect. I protected my mother and sister from starving, I protected Gale from being whipped, I protected Rue and Peeta in the Hunger Games.

Somewhere in the midst of my musings, both of us fell asleep. Whenever one of us had a nightmare, we would grip the others hand tightly. With all the horrible things happening in the day, we at least could comfort each other while we slept.

I walked down the dark, winding streets of the capitol, searching for the house I was supposed to arrive at. It was chilly out, I had a deep red cloak on to keep out the cold. Though nobody else would notice, Finnick trailed far behind me, dodging from lamppost to lamppost, dark alley to dark alley, keeping a safe distance from me. Finally I arrived at a sky blue house that was common in the capitol, extravagant but uniform.

I knocked on the door tentatively and bit my bottom lip in nervousness. The door almost immediately swung open to reveal a man in his early to mid twenties with startling red hair that was spiked, neon green eyes, and gold lightning bolt tattoos covering his face and neck. He gave a smirk and motioned me inside. I made sure that he didn't lock the door.

"So, I guess I should be honored that I am the girl on fire's first client, I'm Taff. I guess I should be courteous since this is your first time doing this," he said in a voice much like Finnick's before the Quarter Quell. It held a large dose of sarcasm and a hint of mocking. He bowed to me in a gentlemanly manner, tipping his imaginary hat towards me. "Anything you want to discuss or do before we proceed?" he asked innocently, giving me a suggestive wink.

"Why not have a few drinks?" I asked. My plan was to get him as drunk as possible so maybe he would forget this whole appointment.

"That would be lovely," he smiled devilishly as he walked toward a cabinet to retrieve some alcohol.

His place was simple, he had a medium-sized kitchen tucked away in a corner, a circular table with a glittering lamp hanging overhead to serve as a dining room, a living room that had a large screen TV and a few couches, his bedroom probably laid behind a doorway that hung numerous multicolored beads, and his bathroom was down the hall. The upstairs was probably reserved for guest rooms.

He came back with two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. Haymitch would love this man. Taff poured our glasses full of the fiery liquid, raised his glass to me and said, "Bottoms up, love! Cheers for a good time."

He automatically chugged his drink and then reached for the bottle to fill his glass once more. I cautiously sipped at my drink, feeling the burning sensation roll down my throat and course through my veins. I detested alcohol since I got drunk with Haymitch in the Victor's Village. Keeping up appearances was more important though, so I kept drinking away, feeling slightly dizzy with every sip.

After knocking down a third drink, Taff got up somewhat clumsily and said with a slur, "We should get this show on the road, we don't have that much time together and I want to make it count."

He grabbed both my wrists after I set my glass down and pulled me towards his bedroom, ignoring my protests. When we entered the bedroom, I noticed a letter on the dresser, it had been signed and everything, except my "performance" part was still left blank. I presumed he was going to fill that out later.

Taff pressed me up against the wall, staring straight into my eyes with his neon green ones. His eyes unnerved me, they held an untamed hunger in them. He gave me an evil smirk and a suggestive wink before he started to kiss me roughly, his hand working my hair out of the tight braid it was in. I hit his chest with my hands in a desperate attempt to keep him at bay, proving unsuccessful. My attempts only led him to slip his other arm around my waist and pull me flush up against his body.

"You're mine now, girl on fire," he grunted, kissing and biting my neck. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he took his hand that was entangled in my hair and placed it around my neck, keeping my head in place. He kissed me even harder, biting and nipping at my bottom lip. His tongue forced its way into my mouth. I bite his tongue hard in the hopes he would stop. He hand on my neck only increased its pressure, starting to choke off my air supply. His hand that was around my waist started to work up my shirt along my back, sending scared shivers down my spine.

"STOP!" I screamed in desperation, "Just please stop!"

"No, I paid for you, I get to have you-" his harsh words were cut off by a loud bang that reverberated throughout the house. Suddenly, Finnick was behind Taff. Taff whirled around to face him, his hand still tightly gripping at my neck. He gave a look of pure surprise and astonishment before Finnick raised his hand and punched him square in the nose. Taff fell to the floor almost immediately, unconscious. Finnick scooped him up and dropped him on the bed, ruffing up his clothes to give the illusion that he and I had sex.

I was still leaning up against the wall, rubbing my neck where Taff had left bruises. Finnick slowly walked up to me and laid a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Are you okay?" I gave him a look that said do I look okay? He sighed and gently brushed my hair out of my face. I appreciated the comfort he gave, so I fell into his arms in tears, letting my build up of emotions out. He hugged me into his chest, rubbing my back in soothing circles, whispering, "I'm here, Katniss. You're safe, nothing can hurt you."

"I'm so mad at myself Finnick, I can't do this one stupid thing to protect the ones I love and care about. I'm so weak, so pathetic." I cried.

"Katniss, you are not weak or pathetic. You are a survivor. You are used to protecting your family, you're used to making sure the ones you love don't starve, you are used to hunting and killing animals, and humans only when necessary. Did you really expect that you would be fine being thrust into a situation where you suddenly have to be very intimate with people you don't even know? Of course not, you think with your head, not your heart. This reaction, this feeling is perfectly understandable, even natural for you. It doesn't make you weak, it makes you human. This is exactly how I felt, how I feel when I have to do this thing." he said with such sincerity. I looked up into his sea-green eyes and knew that he meant every single word.

"Thanks Finnick," I whispered, sniffing a couple of times which made him chuckle.

"Well, we'd best send his letter to Snow."

"But he hasn't finished it yet and I'm not too sure he would oblige to do it now."

"That's why I'm here," Finnick said, giving me a "I'm up to no good" smile.

He strolled over to the dresser where the letter was. He found the pen that Taff used to write the letter and started writing.

"What are you doing?" I whispered loudly, sure that he was ruining the letter.

"Shh, you'll find out...and there!" he said happily, holding up the letter for me to examine.

The writing in the section that Taff left blank matched perfectly to the rest of the letter. Apparently the famous Finnick Odair was also a excellent forger. The letter read in Taff's curvy letters: Ms. Everdeen was quite the pleaser, she was cooperative and gave an excellent performance. Seeing my astonishment on my face he said vaguely, "After practically living in the Capitol since the age of fifteen, you learn to pick up a few skills."

"Well done, Finnick, well done," I said, clearly impressed.

He bowed to me in a very animated way, saying in his best Capitol-imitation, "You are quite welcome, Ms. Everdeen, it seems the odds were in your favor tonight!"

"And I hope they are in yours, Mr. Odair!" I said in my best Capitol-imitation voice, "But we should go, I don't want you to be late for your appointment. I mean, this may be the only time I get to save Finnick Odair's butt from swooning Capitol women!"

After we dropped the letter into the a mailbox on the corner, we headed off down the street, into the dark night once more.