Author's Note: Hey Guys! I'm posting this chapter a little bit later than I was originally planning to, but it's here now. Yay! :) I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games series or characters, I just like playing with them.

Hiraeth

Chapter 5

I didn't want to get up for training the next morning. Training just made it all so much more real, not to mention the fact that I was still quite tired from a restless night filled with more nightmares.

"Katniss, come on, it's time to get up!" Haymitch called, pounding at my door. I still had thirty minutes to get down to the training center, so I didn't rush.

"Katniss, get out here, now!" He demanded, slamming his fist even harder on the door.

I sighed and got dressed, taking my sweet time of course.

Haymitch cursed, and stormed down the hallway. I could tell Effie wasn't letting him drink. She'd been trying to wean him off lately. It turned out that the hangover tonic could also get rid of nearly all of the symptoms of withdrawal, except having to face reality.

The door creaked open and Peeta peaked inside, looking a little nervous.

"Did Haymitch send you to get me?"

"Yeah," He said with a chuckle, but there was something else, I could tell.

"What's going on, Peeta?" His eyes darted around to the walls, ceiling…

"I… can't." He said. It was clear. He couldn't talk with all the cameras everywhere, which only made me want to know what he had to say even more.

"I understand." I said. He nodded, stood there for a moment, and then left.

Effie led me and Haymitch to the elevator, but didn't take us all the way down at Haymitch's insistence. When we got there, there were only a few other people in the training center. Some came in much later, others didn't show up at all.

"Remember," Haymitch said seriously. "Make some friends."

I rolled my eyes at the back of his head as he walked away. I was terrible at making friends even when we weren't being thrown in an arena where we all had to kill each other. It almost seemed pointless.

I looked around at the stations and made my way over to the edible bug station. Seeder from District 11 was there and she seemed friendly enough.

I spent the day going through each of the stations that seemed mostly empty and make small talk with the other people at the stations, which was a struggle for me. Though I did really enjoy spending time with Mags, the sweet old lady from district four.

I was making my way over to the fire making station where Beetee and Wiress from District 3 were when Haymitch intercepted me.

"Alright, Sweetheart, you're coming with me." Haymitch growled, he grabbed my arm and the next thing I knew I was being marched over to the rope course training station where Chaff from 11 and Brutus from 2, were.

"What you do in here, the allies you make, could be the difference between life or death and I'm not going to let you screw it up."

"You can make your allies and I'll go it myself. I made it out of the last Hunger Games just fine." I said, ripping my arm out of his grasp. I didn't move, though, his expression was dangerous and sent shivers up my spine.

"This time will be different. These are all experienced killers, Katniss. You aren't going into an arena full of children. Allies are your only chance at even having a shot of making it out of there alive." His tone was urgent, final.

Haymitch brushed a straw colored strand of hair out of his face, turned, and started walking towards the rope course.

With a sigh, I followed him. Haymitch was usually right when it came to the Games, though I would never admit that I thought that to him, of course.

"Ooh, not bad, my friend." Chaff said to Brutus who had finished the rope course. He leapt to the ground landing perfectly.

"You want to have a go?" Brutus asked him. Chaff shook his head, waving his arm that ended in a stump.

"I don't want to lose the other one." Chaff turned to me, a mischievous smile on his face.

"What about you, girl on fire? You want to show us your moves?" There was something about the way he said those words that disturbed me.

I had little desire to go up on the rope course, it had always seemed much too dangerous to me. I was able to climb trees when I had to, but I didn't like dangling from ropes.

"I'll go." Haymitch said, stepping forward. I was grateful, all the attention was now on him.

"Ay, there's a good man!" Chaff laughed and patted his back.

He climbed up on the platform and scaled the ropes that led to the ceiling where there was a large rope net.

I could tell it was something he had done before.

Haymitch swung, moving quickly across the net as if it was just the monkey bars at school. He was good at it, he was even better than Brutus had been.

And then it happened.

The rope that Haymitch grabbed onto gave way slightly and he slipped. He fell, catching his leg on the sharp edge of the training station platform, then he crashed to the ground.

"Haymitch!" I ran over and knelt beside him. He was muttering obscenities under his breath.

"Haymitch! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he groaned, "Sweetheart."

Haymitch worked on standing back up, but it was clear his left leg wasn't up to supporting him. It was then that I saw the red quickly staining the torn leg of his pants.

I slung his arm over my shoulder, ignoring the worried glances, derisive chuckles, and curious stares. It's a good thing I was strong, because Haymitch was heavier than he looked. Chaff also rushed over to help. Still Haymitch did his best to carry his own weight. He winced with every step

I knew the Capitol's medical people wouldn't help him. They only stepped in if someone was injured to the point that they wouldn't be able to survive long enough make it to the games, because they wanted all of tributes in the Games, of course. But otherwise, they viewed it as the weak picking themselves off.

With Chaff's help, I was able to get Haymitch onto the elevator. Then I got him up onto our floor, and settled down on the couch. The distant look on his face scared me.

I propped his leg up on the sofa next to him, tucking a towel underneath it to catch the slow but steady flow of blood.

"Peeta!" I called, my voice must have been frantic enough, for he rushed out to the living room immediately.

"Grab me the steak knife. Kitchen table." I said as I hung a tea kettle, filled with water, on the hanger in the fireplace. As strange as my request must have sounded, Peeta didn't hesitate.

"Thank you." I muttered distractedly. Haymitch eyed me warily as I grabbed the knife but he didn't flinch when I took it and used it to cut away at the left leg of his pants. I knew I could've taken his pants off, but I'd really rather not…

"Guess I'm…" He winced as I felt his leg to assess the damage. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

The cut wasn't bone deep, but deep enough to require a few stitches. The bruising, however, was pretty bad. It didn't seem like his leg was broken though, that was good.

Oh, where was mom and Prim when I needed them?

"I used to be able to-" He started.

"Shh, I know." I said, cutting him off.

The water reached boiling with some herbs I had Peeta find. I poured it into a pan with a cloth and let it cool for a few moments.

I pressed the cloth to his wound to disinfect it, expecting him to wince, jerk away, something. But he didn't. He just lay there looking more tired than anything.

"I'm not that frail, Sweetheart." He said quietly, noticing my gaze.

I took the needle from the first aid kit Peeta had set on the coffee table and I sewed up the jagged cut running down his thigh.

He was a good patient, as good as they come, but that's what worried me. Haymitch was never the good patient type.

I slathered the medicine I found in the kit generously along the cut and blossoming purple and brown bruises. When I was content with my work, I wrapped a large, sanitized cloth bandage around his leg.

Despite his previous words, that was the first time I ever really thought of Haymitch as breakable.

He leant his head back against the sofa and closed his tired, veined eyelids. His leg shook slightly, but other than that he was still.

That was the first time I really felt scared for him. I'd been so caught up in saving Peeta that I never stopped to think that I might lose Haymitch too. There was no way to win.

I watched the fire crackling, dancing, crimson flames leaping in the grate.

I hated the Capitol.

I hated the Games.

But most of all, I hated President Snow. That snake of a man would be the only one I would ever fantasize about killing.

"Katniss," Peeta's voice rung out softly, breaking me out of my thoughts. He knelt down beside me and brushed his thumb over my cheek. He caught a stray tear I hadn't even noticed had escaped.

"I'll watch Haymitch, you need to go get some rest." I nodded jerkily and got up.

I turned back to Peeta, there was so much brimming on the tip of my tongue, so much I wanted to say.

"Just… make sure he drinks a lot of water." I settled with. Peeta nodded.

I didn't tell him that I didn't want to go rest.

I didn't tell him that I didn't think I could face the nightmares alone again without him.

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! :D Let me know what you think and leave a review!