Since Peeta's father, Mr. Mellark and Katniss's mother, Mrs. Everdeen, weren't given actual first names, I've named them Neil and Raina respectively, for this fic. It's the first of many I hope to write about Haymitch. Hope you guys like it!

HAYMITCH

I dreamt of her. Again.

It started out like any other ordinary day in my life – the life of a seventeen-year-old runaway, struggling to earn a living in the Seam. I had just woken up a few minutes before and was blearily rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I heard it. Actually not it. When I heard her. The sound of her voice was mixed in with the clatter of pots and pans and a sharp sizzling of something on the stove. Chicken by the smell of it. Careful to make little sound, I slipped out of bed, curiosity urging me to pick up the pace and take a look at this stranger in my kitchen. As I pushed open the door into the small room brimming with early morning sunlight, I saw her. Standing in the midst of a white cloud of delicious steam, she sang as she carefully tended the meat, her thick auburn hair pulled back into a loose knot. Her musical laugh echoed in my ears and her clear blue eyes lit up like stars, as she finally saw me standing near the door.

I tried to move. Grab her and run. Run like the wind and never ever come back to this cursed place. But I knew there was no point because I had tried running before, each and every time. My legs wouldn't move.

Just as she took a step towards me, I saw the first spark flame up behind her. I was screaming now, yelling at her to hurry up, to take my hand, to do anything except smile at me with that serene expression on her face. As if to say nothing was wrong, that I'm going to be alright. As if I didn't have to witness my own sister lighting up like a human torch, as I stood there watching helplessly. The last thing I remember were her eyes, glowing like sapphires from amongst the smoke, as my whole world was engulfed in flames.

"Mitch! Haymitch!"

"Maybe we should try the cold water again. It worked beautifully last time and he wasn't even angry. Much."

My nerves were on fire. I was still there screaming at her, screaming with her as she writhed and we were both burning and burning…

"Oh for God's sake – HAYMITCH!"

I jumped up from the bed, my head slamming into something, convinced that there was nothing left of me except charred skin, smoke, and ashes. There was just so much heat…

"You were dreaming! It was a dream! A dream Abernathy! Now calm the hell down before you take someone's eye out! You probably gave poor Raina a concussion, and she was the only one stopping me from dousing you in a bucket of cold water." Neil. I'd recognize that mocking, sarcastic voice anywhere. Relief poured through me. There were times he could be an arrogant jerk, but Neil would never let me burn.

"Next time I'll let you soak him, that I can promise," muttered a voice from near my bed.

Having assured myself that I was in reality not a crispy critter, I managed a slight smile in Raina's direction. Keeping a safe distance away from me, she slowly pulled herself into a sitting position managing to throw a deep scowl in my direction in the process. I braced myself.

"Haymitch Abernathy, I have a BRUISE because of you. And Neil will you stop braying like a donkey and drag Haymitch down for breakfast. He looks like he's seen a ghost." If only you had any idea how right you are, I thought, as she stormed out of the room.

Once she was gone, Neil sprawled onto my bed, not even bothering to take off his shoes as he put his feet up on my pillow.

"So. When are you going to tell her about your dream?"

"I'm sure she already knows", I said, trying my best not to sound defensive.

After seventeen years of practice at trying to maintain a neutral, indifferent demeanor, secrets and lies were almost second nature to me. But this last week had been especially hard because it was years since I had last kept a secret from Raina.

Raina. From afar, Raina appeared to be the ideal image of a girl raised in District Twelve – clear gray eyes, a slim body, and thick dark curls that perfectly framed her delicate face. Now I repeat the words "from afar"… because once you get to her, the girl was the opposite of perfect. Stubborn in the extreme, with an attitude that could annoy the devil himself; with a smile, I realized she was a prettier, feminine version of myself. She was also the object of Neil's affection.

"Mitch. Look at me. You should tell her," said Neil, rising from the bed. He was a few inches shorter than me now; during the past few weeks I had outgrown him. "We only have three days before the games begin. In case you forgot, we still have to be there. And she deserves to know in case something happens…"

"Two days," I corrected automatically.

His voice trailed off into an ominous silence, as the despair that emanated from thoughts of the games hung over us like a fog.

The Games. The reason why I had spent fourteen years of my life living under the care of an abusive father; why I still had nightmares of my sister as she burned herself to death; why I was now a teenage runaway trying to scrape a living in district twelve, rather than a kid going to prep school in three. The onslaught of memories makes me shudder. I had spent three months living as a fugitive, trying to survive on stolen scraps and the occasional game in the forests, hiding from every living person as I made my way across nine districts. I had finally managed to crawl into the borders of district 12, where Raina and Neil eventually found me at the edge of the forest, in an unconscious state, and took me to the others. I owed my life to these people – my people – who risked their whole district by keeping me safe and raising me as their own. That's why stealing from the Peacekeepers feels so much better; I pretend that I'm paying them back by robbing the people, who are responsible for their unhappy state.

"It'll all be over soon," whispered a voice, gently near my ear. I knew who she was even before she tugged my hand and pulled me around to face her. Placing the breakfast tray on my bed, Raina looked into my eyes, easing the tension in my shoulders, as the three of us assembled on the sheets, trying not to dwell too much on our fates.