I'm back everybody! Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews and the follows and favorites! You guys are seriously the BEST! This chapter is a bit shorter and a bit of a filler, but I thought it would be best to split it up from the next one, so sorry in advance!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

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It took us a few tries to find the right door, but eventually we found Haymitch's room. It was extremely dim, the curtains all drawn shut and the lights off. I'm not sure how – he had only been on the train for a few hours – but the room smelled foul as well. After a minute of searching, Katniss found the light switch and flipped it on. Finally we could see Haymitch. He was sprawled out across his bed, his sheets tangled and stained with who knows what, and a bottle of whiskey dangling from his hand.

Katniss was standing beside me now, her hands planted on her hips and her eyes glaring daggers at our "mentor". She stalked over to him and gave him a hard shove. "Wake up." He didn't stir. She shook him harder. "Haymitch, get up." Still nothing.

"Let me try," I said. Katniss said nothing, but backed away to allow me to step over to Haymitch. I searched around the room for a glass, but it appeared Haymitch preferred to drink straight from the bottle. Instead, I grabbed a flower vase, dumped the flowers onto the floor and filled it with icy water from the bathroom. When I returned, I stood with it poised over Haymitch. "Here goes nothing," I muttered.

I dumped the water on Haymitch's head and it instantly did the trick. He jumped out of bed, blindly swinging a knife I hadn't known he was holding. I just barely jumped out of the way in time to keep him from slashing me across the stomach.

After another minute of him spluttering and swinging blindly, Haymitch finally calmed down enough to realize what was going on. "What the hell is wrong with you two?!" he bellowed. "You got a death wish or something?!"

"Actually, quite the opposite," I said. "That's why we're here. You're our mentor, now start the mentoring."

Haymitch glared between the two of us. "You're kidding, right?"

I glanced at Katniss. As tough as she had been talking earlier, she now seemed to be at a loss for words. I spoke up again. "No, we're pretty serious. We want to make it out of this arena alive, and, like it or not, it is your job to help us. So, are you going to do your job or are you going to keep laying in your own filth like some kind of animal?"

Haymitch gave me a dangerous look and took a menacing step toward me. He leaned forward until he was right in my face, close enough that the alcohol on his breath overpowered my senses. "You really want to live kid, then I suggest you bite your tongue and never pull a stunt like that again."

I had a response on the tip of my tongue when Katniss reached out a hand and shoved Haymitch away from me. "He's right, you're supposed to help us survive, now I suggest you start doing your job," she spat at him.

Haymitch took a step back so that he could glare at both of us. We all stood in silence for a good while, locked in an intense stare, before Haymitch finally broke into a small grin. "I'll be damned," he said. "Looks like I actually got some fighters this year."

"We want to live," I repeated.

Haymitch's smile dropped. "Yeah, I got that." He ran a hand down his face. "Look, you want my advice? Fine, I promise I'll stay sober enough to help you kids out."

I felt the tension release from my shoulders, but it didn't last long before Haymitch spoke again.

"Only on one condition."

Katniss folded her arms across her chest. "And that would be?"

Haymitch gave us a firm look. "You both stay out of my business. If I want to get drunk one night, you let me. And you sure as hell never dump another pitcher of ice water on my head."

Katniss and I exchanged a glance. Her expression seemed doubtful, but what other choice did we have? I had a feeling that that was the best we would be getting out of Haymitch. I turned back to Haymitch. "Deal. When do we start?"

"Not right this second, kid. Relax. Let me get cleaned up and I'll meet you both out in the dining car."

With that, Katniss and I walked out of his compartment, leaving him be. Once we were back in the hallway that led to the dining car, Katniss brushed a hand to my arm. "Peeta," she said.

I stopped and turned toward her.

"I, um, just wanted to say…" she trailed off.

"Just wanted to say what?"

Katniss stared at me for another moment. When she spoke, her tone had changed completely, suddenly defensive and cold. "I just wanted to remind you that only one of us can come out of those games, and I think it would be best if we both kept that in mind."

I felt my jaw clench at the sudden harsh tone in her words. What was with her? One minute she had been all blazing anger, then she had frozen up in front of Haymitch, now she was fiery tempered again? "Trust me," I said, "I know." Then I spun on my heel and stormed back into the dining car.

A minute later Katniss followed and once again took her seat beside me. I was trying to ignore her, but it was pretty hard to ignore how her hand shook as she reached for her water glass. Effie was no longer anywhere to be found, and the tension in the air was so thick I could feel it practically suffocating me. After a few minutes I could no longer bare it. I turned on her. "Do you have a problem with me or something?"

Katniss looked genuinely taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

"I mean, one second you're totally calm, then the next you're screaming at me. I mean, I know we're going into the games soon, but we're from the same district, we're supposed to be allies. What did I ever do to make you so mad at me? Was it because I never thanked you?" I didn't mean to say the last part, but I guess it was my guilty conscious shining through.

"Thank me? For what?"

Embarrassed, I wanted nothing more than to look away and change the subject. But I held my gaze with her. "For saving my life," I clarified, my voice gentler. "I never thanked you."

"When did I…? Wait, you mean when we were kids? And I gave you some spare bread? I would hardly call it saving your life."

"Well I would, and I never thanked you for it. So, thank you."

Katniss looked down at her water glass again. "You're welcome."

We sat in silence for another minute until I couldn't hold in my question anymore. "If that isn't it, then what is?"

Katniss looked at me, her mouth open to respond, but before she could, the door to the compartment opened, and Haymitch walked in. We both turned toward him expectantly. I had a questioned poised on my tongue, but before I so much as even opened my mouth, he held up a hand. "I'll answer your questions, but first, let me get a cup of coffee."

We both watched him impatiently as he took his time, pouring a cup, placing in it two lumps of sugar, a dash of milk, then finally he sat down. I opened my mouth to ask my question, but he held up a finger to stop me. He blew at the steam rising from the top, took a slow sip, and set his cup down. Leaning back in his chair, he said, "So, what can you do? Other than mouth off, I mean."

We glanced at each other out of the corners of our eyes, both unsure exactly what he was asking.

With an exasperated sigh, Haymitch clarified. "What are you good at? What talents do you have that might be helpful in surviving the games?"

I cleared my throat. I'd always been uncomfortable bragging about myself, but he had to know everything in order to help us. "I can shoot. A bow and arrow, I mean."

Haymitch rose an eyebrow at me. "Really? You learn that from one of your Seam friends?"

I looked down at my hands. I broke the law every time I went under that fence, and again every time I picked up my bow. And by admitting I knew how to shoot, I had just confessed as much to Haymitch.

Haymitch shook his head. "Don't worry about it, kid. Once you get into the games they won't care how you learned to shoot, they only care about good entertainment. Now, how good are you?"

I shrugged. "I'm decent."

Katniss scoffed beside me.

Haymitch turned his gaze on her. "You got something you want to say, sweetheart?"

Katniss didn't look at me as she spoke. "He's much better than decent. We trade for his squirrels, and he shoots them right through the eye. Every time."

Haymitch nodded. "Not bad. Anything else?"

I shook my head, but Katniss spoke up again. "He won the wrestling match at our school the last two years."

I glared at her. "I can speak for myself, thank you very much."

Katniss returned my look with just as much malice. "Apparently you can't, or else you would be telling him everything."

"He doesn't care that I won a wrestling match against a bunch of untrained, starving kids," I shot back.

"Will you two shut up?" Haymitch spat. "Now, I don't know what the hell is going on between you two, but you better figure it out!" He closed his eyes and took a slow sip from his coffee. "Now," he said, much more calm. "What about you, sweetheart? You got any tricks up your sleeves?"

She hesitated, clearly not as willing to brag about herself as she was me. Finally, she said, "I can throw knives."

Haymitch looked doubtful. "Really?" She nodded. "Care to prove it?"

Katniss picked up a steak knife and backed away from the table until she was as far from the opposite wooden wall as she could be. She took a slow, steady breath, then, with one delicate flick of her wrist, the knife soared across the room and embedded itself between two boards.

Haymitch and I couldn't help but stare. Katniss was a very petite girl. If someone didn't know her and how strong her tongue was, they would probably even describe her as fragile. But there was no doubt that, had it been a person she was throwing that knife at and not a wall, that knife would be hilt deep in their chest.

"Now I know you didn't learn that in town, sweetheart."

Katniss took her seat again, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "My father taught me." She glanced at me. "He used to go out in the woods when he was growing up. He knew how to hunt, but he stopped when he met my mom."

Haymitch was nodding. "Knife throwing is a good skill to have, but its range is pretty limited. You got anything else?"

She was shaking her head no, and before I could stop myself, I spoke up. "Her mother owns the apothecary shop. She knows every plant out there. Even how to make some medicines."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "That won't help me win the games, Peeta."

"You never know," I shot back.

"He's right," Haymitch added. "Every year, at least a few kids die from eating something they shouldn't, or infection. Knowing how to avoid those things can be what keeps you alive." Haymitch took another long, slow gulp from his coffee. "Now, there is obviously something going on here," he gestured between us "and I think we better figure it out. Soon. So, would either of you care to explain?" Neither of us spoke. "Come on now, don't be shy." Silence. "If you want my help, we need to figure out what the hell is going on, so one of you needs to open your damn mouths." Still nothing. Haymitch slammed his hand on the table. "That's it, Peeta, you go to your room, and I'll come get you when it's your turn. Katniss, you stay here. If you two won't talk in front of each other, hopefully you'll be more willing when you're separated."

I glanced at Katniss, unsure about this odd development. Her expression matched my uncertainty.

"Now, would be nice," Haymitch spat at me.

I stood quickly and took off toward the car where my compartment was located, glancing back over my shoulder once more before the door closed behind me.

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So, for everyone who had been asking what Katniss' talent will be, there's your answer! What is the deal with Katniss? What is she telling Haymitch? Let me know what you thought in the reviews! I will do my absolute best to update next weekend, but I have a research paper to do, so no promises. As always, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you loved it!

Love always,

YesIWriteForFun