(A/N: Welcome back! Here's District Two's train ride chapter, with both Jet and Rhymer's POVs! Completely revamped! n_n R&R, readers, and thank you kindly for both R'ing & R'ing!)

~Jet's POV~

I almost forgot how hot it was as the Peacekeepers lead me to the door and allow me step back out of the cool and shade of the Justice Building. The midmorning glare is enough to make me have to shield my eyes. As my pupils begin to painfully contract and better accustom themselves to the light, I see that the crowds had been ushered into position with haste. On either end of the marked path leading from the steps of the Justice Building to the opened bay doors of the stationed train, crowds had amassed to watch this year's chosen tributes, me and Rhymer, make District Two's traditional 'Walk of Fame'.

From right to left, Rhymer is standing at the far end of the Justice Building's top step. Alto is beside her. I get into my place beside Alto, and the only one we're waiting on now is Pyra, since Laylark is most likely already in the train. The three of us positioned on the steps wait patiently in place for the second of this year's two mentors, but I couldn't help but wonder where she was.

"Sorry!" her loud voice called as she jogged out of the Justice building with a heavy unmarked bottle of red liquid in her hand. At least it looked heavy. Pyra was hefting the mighty jug with ease. "Sorry, sorry! Was just grabbing refreshments!" she announced as she got into position on my other side.

Pyra turned her head to Terra, who was standing off to one side beside the Justice Building steps. She gave her a nod, and Terra nodded back as she brought her whistle to her lips and blew into the shrill instrument. On cue, trumpets begin blaring, and after five seconds exactly, they all stop for another five seconds before performing Panem's national anthem. This is our cue to start moving, and the audience's cue to start cheering as the proud District Two representatives - again, me and Rhymer - make their way down the path.

Traditionally, the tributes are supposed to remain calm and look only at the train as they make their way down the Walk of Fame. Keeping their eye on the prize, so to speak. Rhymer, however, has either forgotten, is ignorant of, or is ignoring this custom, taking every opportunity to scream out her excitement to the crowd and look around and wave at the people, who gladly wave to her back. She's keeping pace, so I have to give her that, but the way she's behaving unnerves me quite a bit. I've worked myself to the bone, as hard as I possibly could, to get to where I am, and I'm humbled by the Programmers' decision. She doesn't seem humble in the least…

…Does she really deserve to be here? Or… is she just that good that she feels she doesn't have to be humble? That she had this on lock? …No. No one's that good. There's one every decade; a Tribute who seems like the right choice at the time but ends up being horrible and going down early in a massive upset. I'm pretty sure Rhymer's that one…

Not even in the arena… Not at the Capitol… I'm not even in the train yet, and in my mind, I think I've already made one enemy in the Games. Not that it matters. She won't last long. And one less tribute that's a threat means only 22 possible enemies. The odds are looking more in my favor already.

When all four of us are in the train, we turn back toward the crowd. Now is an okay time to wave to the audience, since the Walk of Fame is over. I spot my brothers and sister a short ways away in the crowd, and I smile and wave to them. They see me just in time to cheer and wave back before the bay doors close.

"What the hell was that, Wellwood?" Pyra growls as soon as the doors were closed and the train started moving. "Do you even know what the Walk of Fame is all about?"

"Do you even know what ADHD is all about?" Rhymer retorts, which I don't see coming at all… The annoyance I feel toward her begins to ebb away.

"Yeah. For you, it's a scapegoat for bad behavior!" Pyra throws back, setting her heavy-looking jug on the table. Rhymer shrugs.

"I can't help it sometimes, alright? You can't expect me to fully conform to every strict rule and regimen you throw at me!"

"I don't." Pyra sighs. "I expect you to try, though. I've seen what you can do when you focus, Wellwood. What's it going to take to make you listen? To make you try to be the best?"

I'm confused… I would've thought demonstration was a stronger factor when deciding on tributes rather than potential..

"Ugh… Aren't you supposed to be Jet's mentor?" Rhymer groans with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't know. Am I?" Pyra inquires skeptically before turning her perturbed eye upon Alto. "I was unaware that mentors had been assigned already. I thought that was, you know, my job, since I'm kind of the superior Programmer."

I haven't moved from the bay doors yet. I haven't seen any reason to. I've got a full view of the action right where I am, and I don't want to draw away any attention from it by moving or speaking.

"Hey, don't badger Alto!" Rhymer growls, stepping between the two Programmers. "I picked him! He didn't pick me! Besides, you were late for the Walk of Fame by about a minute! You've no right to preach to me about doing your best! Get over yourself, would you?"

For a moment, it looks like Pyra would lunge for Rhymer and strangle her, but Alto is quicker, sidestepping past Rhymer and holding Pyra back.

"Hey, hey, hey, Pyra… Can I talk to you in the other car for a minute?" he asks, directing the superior Programmer toward the adjacent car. Pyra grabs her hefty red jug as she disappears through the auto-door into the next car down.

"Yeah… Sorry you had to see that." Rhymer chuckles to me, scratching the back of her head, as if she was embarrassed about what just happened. "Pyra and I have a very… unique relationship."

"Never would've guessed." I say with a smile, sitting in one of the chairs. She seems content to stand.

"I'm Rhymer Wellwood, by the way, in case you might've missed it somehow." she tells me, extending a hand.

"Jet Hapler." I respond, taking her hand and shaking firmly. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She smiles and nods, almost a completely different person from the raging lunatic I thought I saw no less than thirty seconds ago… Never underestimate ADHD…

"Well, I'm going to go find my room and hop in the shower. No peeking." she sighs, turning and heading to the door opposite the one Pyra and Alto exited from.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I reply coolly, even though I did for a moment or two.

"Oh, please!" Rhymer scoffed, turning her head back to me with an amused grin. "I saw you this morning out of the corner of my eye during that little timing incident with physical inspection. Your nose gushed like a stopped-up faucet."

Damn, she got me… I open my mouth to try and retort, but no words come out… Her grin widens and she steps through the door into the next car up. Smooth, Jet. Smooth.

I heave a sigh and lean back in the chair, staring out the window as District Two zoomed by us at well over 200 miles an hour. I turn my head over to the rear of the car when I hear muffled sounds coming from the door that the two Programmers stepped through a little while ago.

I'm not a snoop, by nature, but I think I hear Rhymer's name being said, and just the idea that th two of them were talking about Rhymer is enough to get me out of my seat and creep silently to the door. I don't even have to get close enough to turn off the auto-function in order to hear pretty clearly what they're saying. I think the last thing said was "Alright, now that you've had your drink, can we talk about Rhymer?", which is what got my attention.

"I still think it was a mistake recommending that little brat. She's got no discipline whatsoever!" Pyra's voice says loud and clear.

"You told me that she was the best in her year and she was just barely trying." Alto responded.

"She's got potential. But we don't select tributes on potential. We select tributes on demonstration. And, apparently, recommendation…"

Wait… Alto recommended me… and Rhymer? How does that work, and why would he do that..? I keep listening, hoping those questions would be answered…

"Why'd you want her to be this year's girl so badly anyhow? It better have been for professional reasons and not personal, or I swear, Alto, I'll-"

"Pyra, relax. I had a reason." Alto responds calmly. "It came to me during that… physical inspection walk-in incident. Every other girl in the room was screaming and going crazy and whatnot, except for Rhymer."

"Yeah, so?" Pyra scoffed, obviously still irked over the whole event. "She has her sober moments."

"She was looking at me. Completely and entirely focused on me." Alto explains. I'm more confused than ever now…

"What are you trying to say, kid? You think you have some kind of control over her or something?" Pyra suggests.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Alto answers quickly. I almost gasp. Whatever he's talking about, it sounds sinister, or at the very least, fairly malicious. "I bet I can persuade her to behave herself. Not only that, I can probably get her to quit holding back what she can really do."

"Oh yeah?" Pyra growls, the skeptical edge still evident in her voice. "How?"

"Leave that to me. Just trust me, Pyra. I can straighten her out."

I don't like the way he said that last part… I back away from the door, still trying to make sense of what I just overhead. With a shake of my head, I decide to head to my compartment on the train. It won't take long at all for us to get to the Capitol, since District Two is closest. Might as well give myself as much rest as I can before then.

~Rhymer's POV~

"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh…"

I groan puerilely and clutch my stomach as I pace around the room after putting on my flower dress again. I can't deny it anymore. I'm hungry. Normally, I'd have no qualms with stuffing my face with whatever was available, but Terra told the female class about a week before the Reapings that it's best to keep an empty stomach until after the opening ceremony with all the chariots and trumpets and junk… Which means ignoring the meal we get on the train…

The kicker, though, is that she implied that we'd be throwing up at some point beforehand… I hate the feeling of throwing up, and throwing up after a meal is even worse! That's the only thing keeping me from indulging in the delicious food that I'm almost positive I can smell from here!

I lean up against the wall and wring my fingers through my hair. Ugh… Maybe just a little food. A roll or something, I don't know. Just something!

With a sigh of defeat, I unknot my hands from my mane and stamp toward the door, stepping through as it opens for me automatically and starting down the hall toward the dining car.

"I've got to say, I'm disappointed in you, Rhymer." a familiar voice stops me. I gasp and turn to see Alto, who was leaning beside my doorframe… D-Did he hear my moaning and groaning? What did he think I was doing in there?

"W… What?" I ask him, turning my back to the dining car to face him.

"You heard me." he threw back, his lovely blue eyes now unnervingly chilling as they look me over.

"Y-Yeah… Why are you disappointed? What did I do?" I inquire. My brows start to crease. What did I do?

"You acted pretty childish earlier." he said, pushing himself from the wall and standing straight up. "Towards Pyra, that is. Why is that?"

"It's complicated." I answer, scratching my head. I'm… a bit confused. He was all nice and flirty earlier. Suddenly he's acting like… a mentor.

"That's not an answer, Rhymer." he sighs, never taking his eyes off me.

"Look, it doesn't matter, does it?" I blurt brashly, something I do when I'm being pressured like this… I lose my bearings for a moment before flipping the switch from defensive to flirty. "I don't have to worry about Pyra. I have to worry about you."

Rolls don't sound that good anymore. I'm craving Alto all of a sudden, I realize as I start toward him. He doesn't budge… He keeps looking at me sternly, and it's… really unnerving. What happened to him digging me earlier? I slow to a timid and awkward stop before I've closed much distance between us."

"I don't know, Rhymer." he sighs with a shrug. "I had thought that you were a lot more mature than you showed me. I thought you were a woman, not a little girl."

I start to shrug away… "But…"

"I don't mentor little girls, Rhymer. Jet's shown a lot more maturity than you have. He listens to direction. He tries his best. He respects his superiors. Maybe I should mentor him inst-"

"No!" I screech before he finishes. Adrenaline surges through me and I sprint up to him full speed, throwing my arms around him in a panic. He stumbles backwards slightly. "I can, Alto! I can! I can listen to direction! I can try my best! I can respect Pyra! I can!"

It takes less than a second for him to break my bear hug and grab one of my arms. He pushes me up against the wall until I stop squirming. I look into his hard cold eyes, which look unflinchingly back into mine, and a shiver runs up my spine. Slowly, his frown flips into a cool smirk. One of his hands rises and squishes my cheeks together, forcing me to pucker my lips.

"Can you?" he asks me lowly.

"Mm hm." I muffle, unable to speak coherently with the way he has my face in his grip.

He brings his head close to my face, and for a moment, I think he's going to kiss me, but his lips change direction nanometers from mine and come to my ears to whisper icily, "Show me."

His grip on my arm is rough and cold, but the longer he holds me like this, breath tickling my ear and broad chest pressed to mine, the more I start to pant from the heat that's rising in my own chest. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, he lets me go and backs away, watching as my legs give out from under me and I slump to my butt on the floor, still panting.

Alto shoots me a wink before he sticks his hands into his pockets and strides casually to the next car down. Suddenly, I'm not that hungry for anything anymore…

(A/N: There you go! District Two's train ride chapter! What a chapter it was, hm? :3 Please leave your honest reviews! How am I doing so far, and can I do anything to make it better? My inner author lives and breathes for you guys! n_n

District Three will be up soon! That one's going to be a bit harder to pull off since there's a lot more to change, but bear with me!

Until then, this is SH10, wishing you happy reading! d-(n_n)z

Seeya!)