So, here it is. My first Hunger Games multi-chap fic. It's written from Katniss' point of view, but focuses mostly on Haymitch (and their relationship).

Imperfect timeline, but the story takes place sometime between 74th and 75th hunger Games. I'm staying close to the canon as far as the main plot events are concerned, but I might change the details along the way, so don't be surprised (but please do let me know if you feel that I forgot about something important). It's settled mostly in the book universe, except for the fact that I can't stop picturing Haymitch as he was portrayed in the films (because Woody Harrelson rocked).

I'm not sure how long this story is going to be yet, so let me know if you're in for a ride.

Also, I apologise for all mistakes - English is not my first language and I don't have a beta-reader.

In case anyone was under the impression that I own Hunger Games, I'm sorry to disappoint - I was disappointed myself when I finally came to therms with that.

That being said... enjoy.

It was a crispy, sunny day when Katniss finally worked up her nerve to ask her friend the question. They were sitting in the mayor's living-room, drinking hot milk and eating cookies, when Katniss' eye caught sight of a small, framed photograph standing on the mantle. It showed two identical girls dressed in their best Sunday dresses, their blond hair braided neatly and tied with ribbons. They looked unmistakably similar to Madge, their faces betraying a familiar bond clearer than any signature could and Katniss knew it had to be a picture of Madge's mom and aunt, probably taken when they had been in their early teens. It struck her that she couldn't even tell the girls apart and guess which twin was the tragically deceased one, and which was still alive.

She knew the story, of course. Not the details, but the general outline of it, which was enough for her to guess that she didn't want to know the rest.

Something was bugging her, though, ever since she came back from the Victory Tour. It was something Caesar said during one of the interviews. Something about the pin.

The pin. The Mockingjay pin Madge had given her before she'd been shipped off to the arena and which everyone in Panem seemed to recognise now. The one that once upon a time belonged to Maysilee Donner, the forgotten fallen tribute from District Twelve and the aunt Madge had never gotten the chance to meet, but whose face she saw every day when she looked at her mom.

"…and the famous pin, that returned on the arena, this time as a sign of victory…"

That one word. Returned.

Had Maysilee been wearing the pin during her Games?

Katniss wanted to ask Madge many times, but somehow, she always lost her courage at the last possible moment. This time, though, with the clear-eyed girl looking at her from across the room from the photo, Katniss finally got out the question.

"I thought you knew," Madge said, thankfully not upset about Katniss asking. "Yes, it was her token. Didn't your mom, or Haymitch, tell you?"

"No, why would you think that?" Katniss asked taken aback, but also intrigued by the question.

"Your mom was friends with aunt Maysilee. You didn't know?"

"No," Katniss said surprised and thoughtful. "She never mentioned it."

"Perhaps it was too painful for her," Madge suggested. "I know it is for my mom."

"Probably." Katniss nodded. "And Haymitch?"

It was hard to imagine Haymitch being friends with anybody, but she suspected it must not had always been so. She also knew he'd been the only mentor in Twelve for a long time, though she wasn't sure if he was old enough to be Maysilee's mentor as well. For all she knew they could have all been school-mates, which raised a curious question of what her mom remembered of that time…

"Well… It was… the same year. You know. The Quarter Quell."

The realization hit Katniss with a nauseating force.

The Hunger Games. They've been in the Hunger Games together.

"I didn't do the math," Katniss whispered stunned. "He didn't… I mean, do you know if they…" she swallowed, "…met there? They didn't fight, did they?"

Did he kill her?

„Oh no, nothing like that," Madge reassured her quickly. "Quite the opposite, in fact. They were allies. They made it together quite far into the Games."

Katniss shuddered. She knew that having allies at the Hunger Games was a tricky business. One that always made you feel like you lost in the end – that is, if you lived long enough to get there.

"How did she die, then?" she asked giving in into a morbid curiosity.

"I don't know exactly. Mom once said that the arena killed her. She was very bitter with the gamemakers about that. Because someone must have… you know? Make that call. Decide that it was time for her to go, even if no-one attacked her."

They fell silent for a moment.

"I watched her games," Madge confessed suddenly. Katniss looked up sharply. "Not all of them. I didn't want to see her die. Just the beginning. As far as I was sure it was safe." Madge laughed humourlessly. "Well, you know what I mean. I know I probably shouldn't, but mom rarely talks about her, and I wanted to… I guess I wanted to get to know her, and as horrid as it sounds, that was my best chance to do so."

Strangely, Katnisss understood.

Madge hesitated before she spoke again:

"You know, if you'd like to see it, I…"

"Absolutely not!"

"…still have the recording. It's not just the Games, but the interviews, too."

"No, Madge, thank you, but I really don't think that's a good idea. I've had enough Games for the rest of my life. Besides, I can't imagine that Haymitch would be happy if I watched his Games."

Madge shrugged.

"I don't think he can blame you for that. I'm not going to talk you into it. It's not pleasant to watch, to be sure. But don't you think you should know what happened back then, anyway? You know, with you being a mentor next year?"

Katniss grimaced.

"I don't really like to think about that."

"I can only imagine. But remember that it's going to be another Quarter Quell year this season."

Katniss felt a chill running down her spine. She hadn't even thought about that. As if being a mentor for the first time wasn't a gloomy enough perspective.

"Yeah," she said dejectively.

"You know what? You don't need to make that decision right now. I'll just give you the copy and you do with it whatever you like. Watch it, don't watch it… I won't even ask."

- and before Katniss could say anything, Madge darted out of the room and came back in a minute with a small, flat package, trusting it into Katniss' hands.

"Here," she said. "Just in case you change your mind."

Katniss opened and closed her mouth.

"I… I don't even know what to say. Thank you, I guess. Though I really don't want to watch it."

Madge nodded in understanding and they didn't talk about that anymore.

On her way back to the Victors' Village the package seemed to be burning a hole under Katniss' jacket, but she went home convinced that she would never use Madge's offer and she stuffed the recording deep into her closet as soon as she walked into her room. In fact, she didn't think about it at all for the rest of the day, not even once, her mind seemingly shutting it out as effectively as the closet door that she placed the package behind. It was only after she had already prepared for bed that she found that sleep just wouldn't come to her, no matter how much she tossed and turned. She lay wide awake, in the dead of the night, staring at the ceiling. And then her mind started to wander, flooded with unwanted thoughts.

Her head was spinning.

She thought of Maysilee, the girl who must have been her age when she had died and who had apparently been her mother's best friend which the latter had never told her. She thought of Rue, her own ally, whom she'd held in her arms as she had bled out. She thought of Peeta, the one who had miraculously escaped the fate so many tributes before him had succumbed to and had left the arena as the second victor, for the first time in the Games' history.

Surprisingly, though, most of all, she thought of Haymitch.

Had he known? Had he recognized the pin? How could he not? What must it have been to him, to unexpectedly see it again?

She fervently tried to remember his reaction to her when he first had had a good look at her on the train after the Reaping, but all she could recall was that he had seemed to ignore her up to the point when she had almost stabbed him with a butter knife. He hadn't even met her eyes until then.

Was that part of the reason for his extreme – even for him – rudeness and the impressive – again, even for him – amount of alcohol he had managed to consume without killing himself that first day of their journey? Or maybe quite the opposite – in a roundabout way, had it been what made him take notice and ultimately take a chance on her? Because he certainly had done that, Katniss knew that much.

Haymitch might have been an obnoxious, cynic drunkard most of the time, but he had taken responsibility for the two of his tributes and when push came to shove, he really came through for them, especially her. He had been a pain to interact with, but he had done a good job as a mentor, both with coaching her and giving advice, and with monitoring her progress on the arena and sending her help and subtle clues at the most crucial moments. Peeta had always thought that Haymitch had been favouring Katniss, betting on her to win the Games and therefore investing more in helping her on the arena, but she had rejected that theory before, since judging from Haymitch's sour attitude toward her, he didn't seem too fond of her, so instead she chose to believe that he had just known that she had been more likely to understand his coded instructions and therefore make a better use of them for both of their sakes. Now she wondered, though…

She was quite sure that if he had recognized the pin, it must have hit a hidden spot inside him, and that it must have hit it hard. Plus, they were surprisingly alike in many ways, almost disturbingly so – she couldn't deny that.

She sighed and tossed again.

Had it been the fact that she reminded him of Maysilee? Or that she reminded him of himself? God knew that would be a reason enough to both hate her and feel for her.

She cursed quietly and got up from the bed. She couldn't take it anymore. She paced the length of the room a few times, to and fro, until finally, she opened the closet and took out the package. She held it in her hands carefully, as if it was made of glass, and stared at it for a full minute in the moonlight, before slowly opening it.

What am I doing? – she asked herself incredulously, but she didn't stop as she crept across the room, put the recording into the right slot and switched the sound to the headphones. The room filled with faint, bluish light and Katniss flinched slightly as she saw the Hunger Games logo coming into the view. The whole thing had a dreamlike, unreal quality to it.

She hit play.

How did you like the premise?