1. Be on time to the training center.

Sandy was supposed to be the one to take them down in the elevator, but Bunny was the one who got in the car. Ava took a half-step behind Jack. He threw up a protective arm and backed them both slowly into a corner.

Bunny's ears curled down. Jack watched him warily.

Bunny pressed the button to send them down to the training center before retreating to the opposite corner. He was still far too big for the small space, but at least he was as far away from them as possible.

The doors slid open. Jack kept himself turned so that he was between Ava and Bunny the whole time they were edging toward the door.

The second Ava was through, Bunny grabbed Jack's arm. He tried to twist free, but Bunny's grip was too tight, and the door was already closing behind him. Frantic, he kicked out at Bunny's knee.

He needed his staff. He wasn't used to fighting without his staff.

"Easy, kid. I ain't gonna hurt you." Bunny lifted his hands placatingly.

Jack spun for the control panel. The doors, he needed to open the doors -

Bunny stepped in front of them. Even if he punched the button, he'd still have to get past the six foot rabbit, and he didn't like his chances.

Bunny's hands were still raised. "I just wanna talk."

"Then talk." Jack kept his hands up where he could defend himself easily.

"Your arm," Bunny said. "What happened?"

Jack's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "You don't even remember? Wow." Jamie would have -

He shut that thought down quickly.

Bunny crossed his arms. "Just tell me."

Jack shrugged warily. "You remember a couple years back when the snow was still thick on the ground in early spring?"

"Easter," Bunny muttered.

Jack's eyebrows contracted. "What?"

"Easter. It was Easter."

Whatever he said. Jack wouldn't argue with him when he didn't have to, at least not in an enclosed space. "My sister was sick. We couldn't afford to pay for food and medicine. So I went rooting through people's trash cans. Only most people couldn't afford to throw anything out, so I snuck out to Victor's Village."

If he didn't know better, he'd say that Bunny looked horrified.

If it bothered him to hear how the rest of them lived, so much the better. Jack pushed on. "There wasn't much food in there, and most of it was splattered with paint. That's when the door opened and those weird egg things that show up some springs started marching out. I tried to grab some, and, well, you know the rest."

"It was dark," Bunny said in growing realization. "I thought Pitch was making an early grab for them this year."

"Pitch?"

Bunny winced. "Doesn't matter. Look, kid, the point is, I'm sorry."

Yeah, Jamie's dad had been real sorry too. Jack didn't care. "Can I go now?"

Bunny slowly stepped away from the door. "We're not your enemies, Jack."

"You're not my friends either." He slammed his hand on the button to open the doors and darted through it. Ava was waiting outside it, tiny fists clenched.

Jack grabbed her wrist and took off for the training room doors.

Pitch. The name stuck in his mind as he ran.

It seemed like a suitable name for the shadowy man that had taken Jamie. That his sister and remaining friends would now have to face alone.

"Jack?" Ava whispered.

He was scaring her. He slowed down momentarily and smiled at her. "Bet I can beat you to the doors." He let go of her wrist and took off.

"Cheater!" she shrieked, running after him.

Everyone stared at them when they burst through the doors, but Jack didn't care. Ava was still laughing and that was all that mattered.

(Failing that, make an impression.)

2. Start training as soon as possible.

Terence walked the perimeter of the room, slowly cataloguing the inhabitants. He'd watched the Reapings carefully. Each name had been carefully imprinted into his mind.

Henry Jones had found a whip somewhere and was trying it out. So far he'd mainly hit himself in the face, but he hadn't given up. Marion Ravenwood was heckling him.

A green-faced Diana was at the edible plants section. She didn't seem to be doing well. Beside her, Gilbert was doing a little better at starting a fire.

Bob was wrecking merry havoc, running around and throwing things off the shelves as fast as the trainers could fix it. Edith was examining the axes with a fascinated grin.

Connoire was practicing throwing knives with Emma and Charles, and -

His eyes slammed to a halt on Ella and Rhys. The girl, at least, had the look to her, and the boy might.

"There's a lot of us this year," said a voice by his ear.

Terence turned to see Puck hanging upside down from the netting on the ceiling.

"Your highness," he murmured.

Puck's face screwed up. "Your grace," he muttered back like it tasted foul on his tongue. "Wasn't sure if I should believe it when they said there was a new duke of Avalon." He changed the subject quickly. "Have you seen Rowan yet?"

Terence followed his prince's gaze to the archery station. A girl with crooked legs was beating Will but only barely. He couldn't see her eyes from here, but it wasn't hard to guess based on those shots. "Faerie blood." He kept looking around the room and frowned. "Where's your fiancée?"

Puck scowled. "Ex-fiancée. She's upstairs."

Terence raised an eyebrow. "That's allowed?"

Puck shrugged. "We'll find out." He didn't sound particularly concerned.

Terence kept looking around. He froze when he got to Jack. "He's been touched by Unseelie magic."

"I know." Puck's voice sounded grim for the first time. "He's not one of us, though."

"That must be where their court settled," Terence murmured. "Whatever was left of it."

None of the rest of the tributes had the look, although Caspian was handling a sword surprisingly well for a beginner, and judging by the traps Susan was setting, he didn't think she kept as far out of the woods as she was supposed to. McGee was fairly useless at the physical things, but Kate dominated the wrestling mat.

That just left Joseph and Alicia. Both careers, both chatting and laughing as they sparred. There was something . . . Terence's eyes narrowed.

"You should go shake their hands," Puck said.

Terence eyed him. "What will happen if I do?"

Puck scowled and shook his hand out. "I don't know, but it still stings like crazy."

There was too much magic. Terence's skin crawled with it.

The bows were calling him, but there was one more thing to settle first. "The arena?" he asked Puck without looking at him. "The Seelie court can't afford to lose either of us at this point, but - "

"That's not an option," Puck interrupted. He finally let go of the netting and flipped down to the ground. "I don't play well with others," he admitted. "But if you stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours."

Terence gave the slightest hint of a bow. Puck went a little red.

"May the odds be ever in your favor," Terence said with a small smile.

Then he ghosted away.

(Some things need to be sorted out first.)

3. Discuss your performance with your mentor.

McGee was still trying to impress Abby when they got out of the elevator. Tony grinned when he saw Kate's exasperation. "How'd it go, Kate?"

She shrugged. "Not bad." There might not be a girl's wrestling team at school, but there was one for boys, and her brothers had taught her before pneumonia claimed them two years back. She had stayed in practice, and it had paid off. She frowned. "It was kind of weird, though. There were two guys from different districts that seemed to know each other, but we all know that's not possible."

Gibbs looked up sharply from his spot by the counter. Tony shared a glance with him before turning to Kate. "Yeah, about that," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Let's talk." He steered her towards the living room and turned the volume up on the television as high as it would go. He sat down on the couch and tugged on her arm until she joined up.

He leaned in close before he started talking again. "Listen, Kate, before I went into the Games, Gibbs warned me about what would happen, but I just thought he'd been drinking too much. It wasn't until it was nearly too late that I realized he was right."

She frowned. "Right about what?"

She could barely hear him over the sound of the Games analysts screaming from the television. "The Games aren't played live. They're on an hour's delay."

That made a certain kind of sense. That way, they could censor anything they didn't want seen. Still - "How does that affect the tributes?"

Tony's eyes were locked on hers. "Some of the tributes are . . . weird. I'm not talking McGoo weird here. I mean like ghost story weird."

She let out a startled laugh. "You're joking."

But Tony's eyes were serious. "You remember how I got burned really badly in my last fight? Didn't you think it was weird that the Capital would only shoot fire at me, not the other guy?"

She shook her head in denial. "They didn't want you to win. They were trying to punish Gibbs."

He smiled grimly. "Well, you're not wrong, but that's not what was going on. It wasn't the Capital who was shooting it at me. It was the Career. A kid from the same district Seph and Leesha are from." Seeing her confused expression, he adjusted quickly. "Jospeh and Alicia. I've been talking to their mentors, but that's not the point. The point is, there are some districts you need to let wear themselves out before you face them."

Kate wasn't sure she believed him, but she couldn't think of a reason he would lie to her either. "Like . . . mutts?" she suggested, trying to make sense of it. "Is the Capital experimenting on kids from other districts?"

Judging by the expression on Tony's face, that was a possibility he spent long nights trying not to think about. "I don't know. I just know you have to be careful. I'll tell you everything I know, but it might not be enough. That's where this come in." He pulled a bracelet covered in dull grey paint from his pocket. "Meet your new district token."

She picked it up carefully. It was cool on her skin. "It's heavy."

"It's cold iron," he said. "It won't help with all of them, but if all else fails, try it." He looked around nervously and then lowered his voice even further. "Just don't tell anyone else that. If the Gamemakers knew it could be used as a weapon, they wouldn't let you have it."

Somehow, calling the little bracelet a weapon made everything he'd just said a lot more real.

So did the blood filled stories he told her in a hushed whisper for the rest of the evening.

(There might be more important things to discuss.)

4. Don't discuss secrets where there might be bugs.

Hastings had been staring at him all through supper. Seph was getting a little unnerved.

Finally, after dinner, Hastings stood, eyes still locked intently on Seph. "A word."

Leesha glanced up from the piece of chocolate cake she'd been playing with. "I thought you were supposed to be my mentor," she said with an exaggerated pout.

Seph would buy that look a lot more if he hadn't seen her train as viciously as he had.

Hastings shook his head dismissively. "That doesn't mean I can't have a word with Seph," he pointed out with deceptive calm. "A word. Now." He turned and stalked from the room.

Seph glanced at Linda for guidance. She bit her lip but nodded for him to follow Hastings.

As he left the room, he could hear her say to Jack brightly, "Jack, why don't you tell Leesha what happened last year at dinner?"

Ellen laughed. "That meal seriously damaged your image of impeccable mentor."

Jack groaned.

Seph shook his head as he walked away. By the time they got back, Leesha wouldn't even remember that she had been upset.

Hastings had disappeared into one of the bathrooms of all places. Seph could hear the faucet running. He stepped back a bit to wait for him.

Hastings poked his head out the door, annoyed. "Hurry up." He disappeared back inside, and the shower started blasting water at its heaviest setting.

Oh. It was like at the Career Training Center when Jason had cast charms to keep Dr. Leicester from hearing him rant about the Games. He'd always made sure there was some other source of noise nearby to amplify the spell. Hastings was powerful enough Seph wouldn't have thought it was necessary, but then again, the Capital probably had better than average bugs.

He slid into the white tiled bathroom nervously. Hastings was leaning against the opposing wall, muttering the end to an anti-eavesdropping charm.

Seph had been looking for similarities between himself and his parents for as long as he could remember. He could see the same traces now that he always had, but there was nothing of himself in the dark intensity in Hastings' eyes.

Then again, that might have more to do with his father being a victor than anything. Maybe he would have eyes like that if he survived.

There could only be one reason why Hastings wanted to talk to him alone. "Linda told you."

Hastings started to reach out as if to touch him, but he pulled his hand back quickly and crossed his arms instead. "Yes. Finally," he said shortly. "When did she tell you? Right after the Reaping?"

Seph shrugged. "She confirmed it. My foster-mother told me the truth from the beginning."

Hastings closed his eyes. "That . . . explains some things," he said in a strained voice.

Like the fact Seph had a bad tendency to lose control of his magic and cause small inconveniences like dive bombing birds when Hastings came to the inn.

When Hastings opened his eyes again, they were darker than ever. "I wouldn't cooperate with Snow after my Games. Within a year, my brother was dead, my sister was dead, my father was dead, and my mother was as good as. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Part of Seph, the part that had watched his father's face for years for signs of anything more affectionate than an almost forgotten tip, felt like it had finally fallen into place.

The part that had watched Jason die and that would have rooted for Leesha had things turned out differently pointed out the problem with this. "That's going to be hard to promise if you're Leesha's mentor," he pointed out.

"That makes it easier to promise," Hastings countered. "We've put the two of you down as allies. That means the money sponsors send will go to both of you. We can control the split."

"That's not fair to her," he blurted out before he could really think through it.

"Fair?" Hastings scoffed. "There's a twelve year old girl in the arena this year. Another tribute has two legs that broke and never healed right. You and Leesha are both wizards, there's a sorcerer named Rhys from another district - The Games are never about fair. They're about making sure you're still alive to complain about it." He pushed himself off the wall. "District Twelve has easiest access to the roof, but there's a stairwell up to there. Come on."

Seph hurried after him. "What are we going to do on the roof?"

"Training," Hastings tossed over his shoulder. "The kind you can't do when there are cameras watching." He slowed down a bit just outside a door that Seph assumed led to the stairs. He laid a hand on Seph's shoulder. Even through the cloth of his jacket, Seph could feel the heat of his father's magic. "You're going to be all right," he said, and there was so much power in his words, Seph almost believed him.

(At least cast up some spells first.)

A/N: A few points of clarification:

In Gerald Morris's The Squire's Tales, people who have faerie blood have a certain look in their eyes that others with the blood always recognize. I've borrowed that here.

Due to Terence's age and the barrier that normally prevents Puck from leaving his district, Puck and Terence are meeting face to face for the first time. However, they do know each other by reputation and would be able to sense the other's power.

The Seelie courts are a smashup of classic legend, the Sisters Grimm, Squire's Tales, and my own spin on things, so if you're trying to figure out where someone fits into it, feel free to ask.

Seph, Leesh, and Indy are referred to by formal names throughout this by people who wouldn't know their nicknames; I apologize for any confusion.