Requested by marizpe: Well I have another prompt, I know that I must wait a while, but here it is: Haymitch cuts his hand and need stitches, so he went to the Everdeens house for help, there he saw Iris, Aspen and baby Katniss, and before Haymitch leaves, Aspen made him promise that if one day Katniss or his future children were reaped he is going to save them, Aspen also told him that he is going to teach them how to survive and hunt but in the arena Haymitch must do watherver it takes to save them.

Extracting A Promise
(27 years old)

Haymitch was propped on a chair with his right hand bleeding from a cut he sustained from a broken glass. His breath smelt of liqour and his eyes were slightly unfocused. That was until Iris brought the cloth to his skin and he cursed in pain, suddenly quite alert.

Raising his head slowly, Haymitch turned this way and that, taking in his surrounding and trying to understand what was so familiar about this house. Had he been here before?

Flashes of memories filtered through his mind; him when he was a child, peeking through a slit in the wooden planks to see if his friend could join him to play; him sitting on this table doing someone else's homework; him begging for help because his brother was starving and him sitting forlornly on the front steps, missing his father desperately as Aspen tried to comfort him.

His eyes widened and he turned his head slightly. His gaze landed on the person he was thinking about. Haymitch turned his gaze away when his suspicions were confirmed fully intending on ignoring him until Iris was done doing whatever it was she was doing on his hand.

Aspen on the other hand was watching him as he stood against the wall with his arms folded together. His face was taut and his body was tense, and Haymitch didn't need to be a genius to figure out it was because he was here. The rift between them was wide, and Haymitch on his part made no effort to reach out to him. Eleven years was a long time and between then and now, a lot of things had changed. If Haymitch ever needed any proof that they were two different people and that their lives had taken on two different paths despite their childhood friendship, all he needed to do was to look around him.

Aspen was married now with a kid who was at the moment studying him with obvious curiousity. The little girl's dark hair was neatly braided and her grey eyes were alight with wonderment at this stranger she had never met before. She clutched the fabric of her father's pants, curious yet distrustful.

Haymitch cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at her. She hid behind her father's leg.

"Her name's Katniss," Aspen voice shattered the silence and with a hint of pride, he added, "She's my girl."

"Yeah, I figured," Haymitch snorted. "Got that Seam look down a pat."

Aspen's chest puffed out slightly at that, and he smirked at his wife, teasingly.

"How old are you, Katniss?" Aspen nudged her forward. "That old man wants to know but he ain't gonna open his mouth to ask it himself."

Katniss lifted up three fingers, looking up at Aspen for affirmation. He nodded and patted his daughter's head.

"Same as Nolan's little girl, yeah? Did you plan it together?" Haymitch taunted.

Although to be honest, he was actually surprised he remembered that small detail about Nolan's daughter. Between being slightly inebriated and meeting his new escort the previous year, he didn't expect to remember something as insignificant as the age of the mayor's daughter.

Aspen laughed. His eyes were bright as he shook his head at Haymitch, the way he often did as a young boy when Haymitch said something amusing. For that split second of time it felt as if they were fourteen again and sitting behind the school after class, throwing marbles.

Iris cleaned the cut once more before preparing to stitch his wounds. He hissed at the stinging pain when the needle went through.

"You've seen Hazelle's boy? The kid's four… Maybe five now," Aspen told him.

"No," he gritted his teeth as he tried hard to ignore Iris stitching him up.

"You would if you leave the house once in a while," Aspen chided him.

"Don't plan to," Haymitch mumbled.

"Gale's as fierce as his father," Aspen went on and for a wild moment, Haymitch had a feeling that he might be trying to distract him from the pain. "Toby's already planning on teaching him a thing or two about snares once he's old enough to understand."

"Oh, yeah? That's a good skill to know for the Games – might help him survive a day or two in the arena. Hell, the boy could even sell his skills for sponsors or I could play it for the mentors in other districts for an alliance," Haymitch commented without a thought.

He realised too late the effect his words would have on Aspen and Iris. This was the lengthiest conversation Aspen and Haymitch had since Haymitch's self-imposed isolation and evesince he became a mentor, his brain was wired to automatically work out how a child's strengths and weaknesses could benefit or kill them.

The temperature in the room plunged. Aspen snapped his mouth shut. Iris paused, hands stilled in the mid act of tying the knot on his stitches before she exchanged an uneasy glance with her husband.

Katniss's eyes sparkled and she took a step towards Haymitch. "Game? Are you playing a game? Can I play too?"

Haymitch sucked in a breath at the question.

"Fuck," he cursed.

Katniss scampered back towards Aspen when she heard the tone in Haymitch's voice.

There were many reasons why Haymitch chose to keep to himself but amongst those was the fact that he was incapable of holding a normal conversation with people in this district without him saying something that could potentially make them uncomfortable.

What was he supposed to talk about? The mines? He never had to work in the mines. Was he supposed to sit around and talk about the living conditions in Twelve because the Capitol put him up in Victor's Village, gave him money which he spent on alcohol mostly and there were always enough food for him. Effie Trinket had also taken to sending him clothes even though she had only just started working for Twelve. His life was not the same as the rest of them here in Twelve and no matter what he said or how much he tried, they would always think he was better off than them. Eventually he stopped trying.

He had one foot in the Capitol and for a long time now, he had not felt like he belonged in Twelve either. He was lost.

Haymitch pressed the heel of his good hand on his eyes. "Look, I didn't mean – "

He broke off, unsure what he was supposed to be apologising for exactly. Sorry for being a mess? Sorry for being a mentor? Sorry for not being able to stop thinking like a mentor who only saw district children as likely tributes?

"Will it increase her chances?" Aspen said suddenly, jerking forward.

"What?"

"If I were to teach her to hunt; use a weapon, make snares. Teach her how to survive…"

"How are you gonna do that, Aspen? Take her to the woods? You're gonna train her like some Career?"

"Will it increase her chances if she's reaped, Haymitch?" Aspen insisted on an answer.

"She's not in the Games. She's not in the Games," Iris whispered and touched her husband's hand.

"Yeah, Aspen," Haymitch sneered. "Your kid's right there. She's not in the Games."

"Her name is going to be in that bowl, Haymitch. She could be reaped. The odds… " Aspen ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly agitated. "I'll teach her all I can but you gotta promise me, Haymitch, that you'll do all you can to get her back home alive. You promise me, please," he begged suddenly, desperate for his daughter's life. "If any of my children – "

Haymitch stood up abruptly, his chair flying back.

"Haymitch, wait," Iris pleaded. "Let me just – "

He moved his hand out of her reach and fixed Aspen with a stare. "Don't ever try to get me into making that sort of promises. Don't ever do that," he hissed. "You don't know what you're asking of me. You don't know what it's like…"

Haymitch stopped, breathing heavily.

"The Haymitch I knew would help me if I ask, just as I'd give him my help," Aspen said.

"Yeah? Then where were you when I needed you?"

"That's not fair, Haymitch," Iris frowned. "You pushed him away."

He stared at them. His lips twisted into a sardonic grin and then he laughed bitterly. He ran his hand down his face. Now that the effect of the alcohol had mostly dulled, he could feel everything more acutely; the throbbing in his hand, the ache in his bones, the exhaustion that was constantly present. Without another word, he moved towards the door only to pause in front of Katniss.

He looked at the girl. She stared back, brows furrowed together.

"Let's just hope you make it past your eighteenth birthday without Trinket calling your name, kid," he mumbled and left.

I was going to title this as "Meeting Katniss Everdeen" but I'll save that "first" meeting when Katniss actually remembers him, and he has a conversation with her. What do you think of this?