Her district partner was a joke. Soft eyed, smooth palmed, he obviously hadn't had to work for anything. Not to say that he was spoilt, but not experienced enough to survive long.

She could last until the end. He saw the survivors instinct in her. The way she held herself, entire body tense, fingers drumming against the table top. She couldn't seem to sit still, her small frame coiled as though prepared to strike. He felt something bubble in his chest when looking at her. Not fear exactly, more like respect. Few would give up their lives for a sibling. He himself had none, and didn't know how someone could feel that strongly about another human being.

Or he hadn't until he met Rue. The small angel with bright eyes, within the first hour he was mad about her, and within the first day, he knew he wouldn't be going home. Rue was the priority. Which is why he couldn't stop looking at district 12. She was a danger to Rue. He had two choices, enemy, or ally. The girl glanced around the hall, dark eyes flitting across everyone, when her eyes landed on him she paused. Grey met brown. She quickly broke eye contact and her eyes landed on Rue, her formerly analysing stare disappeared as the girl's eyes softened. In that moment, Thresh knew, she was an ally.

Pushing off from his chair he caught Rue's hand, the girl's wide eyes gazed up at him and he tugged her gently off her seat, then, swallowing the nervousness in his throat, he approached district 12's table. Katniss Everdeen's eyes followed their every move warily. Rue squeezed his hand and smiled, having already expressed her longing to ally with the girl from 12 during their first meeting. As they halted in front of the table, the boy looked up, startled, but his surprise quickly turned threatening as he noticed that the two from district eleven were looking at his partner.

"Katniss?" Rue chirped, and Thresh bit back a smile, "can we talk to you in private?" The girl looked at them measuringly for a few moments before clambering to her feet. The boy grabbed her arm and looked at her worriedly, but she merely shook him off and walked over to Thresh and Rue, the latter of whom glanced at Thresh, obviously deciding he would be doing the talking. He cleared his throat as Katniss' intense gaze landed upon him, as though she was trying to understand a complex puzzle.

"Rue and I are planning to stick together." He said, the girl nodded, unsurprised, people of the same district tended to ally together, "and we were wondering if you'd join our alliance." The girl bit her lip. He watched, fascinated, as her eyes showed her inner turmoil. She absent-mindedly fiddled with her long, dark braid. Finally, her eyes landed on Rue and she nodded.

"I'm in" she said, and Thresh realised with a jolt, that it was the first time he'd ever heard her speak, her voice was smooth and it took him a moment to comprehend her response. A grin formed on his face,

"Good." He said, " we split in the final 5. No backstabbing. We're not careers, after all." She smiled at him, and his breath caught in his throat. If she smiled like that at the cameras, she was going to get a hell of a lot of sponsors, that was for sure. She turned and began to walk back towards her table, Rue seemed to sag in disappointment, obviously hoping to talk more to the older girl.

"Aren't you going to sit with us?" She called, Katniss turned and met the small girl's eyes.

"If you want..." She said, her eyes met Thresh's, asking silently for his permission, he shrugged. She slid into a spare seat on their table. Rue smiled scarily wide and began to chatter about her brothers and sisters back at home. Katniss nodded and smiled, talking softly to the small girl. By the end of the meal, Katniss glanced in his direction and he saw the decision in her eyes. As they filed into the training all, she muttered into his ear,

"the little girl's going home." Thresh nodded, seeing the determination in his new allies eyes. She, too, had fallen under the little angel's spell.

"seems we have a common goal." He whispered. She nodded and smiled sadly,

"she's too young to die." She whispered, My eyes met hers and my unstated comment lingered on the air,

"aren't we all?"