She was done looking at the boy across from her. She hated looking at him. Instead, she fiddled with the ring in her hand it was more tolerable than the younger boy who sat with her. Trenton Landson. He looked like a tribute from 12. He clearly didn't work in the mines, he was too small for that. He had brown shaggy hair, sunken in eyes and cheeks, skinny arms, and tattered clothing. Here he was at fourteen years old just staring at her as if she was about to tell him everything was going to be alright. Which she wasn't.

But instead, he spoke first. His voice small and clearly not have yet reached the point of puberty where it gets deep.

"Your brother...he was reaped three years ago."

Emeree blinked and then answered him "Yes." She answered and then returned to the ring in her hands. Her father and mother were still in twelve more than likely mourning her loss already. They had two children, three years apart and three years ago they had lost the older of the two.

Brutus Olberman has been selected and the district's first hope for a champion since the Quarter Quell ten years prior. He was large, muscular, and had been working in the coal mines for years; on top of that, he was eighteen years old.

He had made it to the to the top six and was taken out by a small girl from seven that he was trying to protect.

Her uncle had been reaped as had her cousin. Neither survived the first night.

But now it was Emeree's turn. She had not volunteered, she had not angered the peacekeepers in her district, and she rarely traded her chances for food. She was just an Olberman. And Olberman's got reaped.

Her district got silent when her name was called. The only noises heard were gasps and the sound of her father's growl. Her goodbye was brief, her father pushing her brother's ring into her hand with one line of advice. The same line he gave her brother three years prior. "Give 'em hell, kid." And without another word, Emeree was on stage, fixed onto the distance before she was ushered into the train.

And now she sat with Trenton silently waiting for their mentor. The only mentor available for tributes from 12. Haymitch Abernathy. He was an anomaly alright. A tribute from 12 had next to no chance at winning and he did. A Quarter Quell at that. Double the opponents, double the chances of his failure.

But that was twelve years ago and the Hamitch Abernathy that came into the room was no sight of golden glory. He looked irritated, seemingly at the pair of them for even being there. His eyes darted around the compartment before he half fell into his seat next to Trenton who jumped and slid away from him.

"That's a good sign." Abernathy sighed, his eyes rolling and his hand reaching for the glass bottle of amber liquid in front of him.

"Well what else do you expect with you storming around like that?" Another voice sounded from the entrance. It was one that was dreaded in 12, Titus Carpenter. The man who chose and managed the tributes from their district. This man looked absolutely...alien.

He had a beard consisting of a mixture of dark and light blue hairs and a wild mustache that matched his eyebrows, both were an icy blue that made him look frozen. His hair was shorter than Abernathy's and quaffed, blue and white feathers woven between the strands. If it wasn't for his gold and black suit, Emeree would have sworn he was made of ice.

"No. The kid is jumpy because he was told he had to fight other children for his life, Titus." Abernathy said factually, downing a gulp of alcohol straight from the bottle.

"And you. Another Olberman." He said, chocking down the liquid, pointing at Emeree with the bottle itself.

"Yes." She answered plainly, realizing that this man had seen Brutus up until he went to the place he died.

"Your brother was a damn good kid." He reported and Emeree felt her heart skip. "Broke my heart when he was done in."

"Haymitch!" Titus gasped "How dismal can you get? Don't be bribing something like that up to the poor girl!"

"Oh right, because she's not thinking about it already." Abernathy scoffed before looking to the dirty blonde girl sitting across from him "I'm sorry, were you not already thinking about your dead uncle, cousin, and brother? I didn't mean to bring up the blatantly obvious."

Emeree shook her head slowly before answering "No. I was already there."

"See?" He said, dramatically using his arms to gesture to her, looking directly at his capital counterpart.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked the boy next to him who immediately looked down.

"Trenton." He muttered out making Haymitch raise an eyebrow.

"Alright, Trenton. Word of advise, eat something. You're gonna need it and learn to speak up kid or you'll be marked as easy pray."

"Haymitch!"

"Titus! See? I can yell your name too." He said before standing up "I'll be right back. While I'm gone. The two of you think of something charming about yourselves." He directed before leaving the room, Titus following closely behind.

The minute the two men were gone, Emeree grabbed the bottle of booze Haymitch had been drinking and took a swig.

"Want any? It's whiskey." He offered the younger boy who shook his head quickly declining the offer. "Normally I wouldn't want to offer someone your age any but honestly... I say do what you want while we're in this mess."

A small smile creeped onto his face but he shook his head again so she put down the bottle.

"Woah there, Princess. Let's not get carried away." The blonde man appeared once more, now holding a plate of food and sliding it across the table at Trenton. "More food is coming out soon but I figured you could get started now." He added.

Emeree shot the older man a sharp look before sitting back and looking at Trenton who was tearing into the food on his plate.

"Alright so here's the deal. Obviously, the games aren't exactly designed with District 12 in mind so for the two of you to have a fighting chance I need to be able to convince people to give you money and supplies while you're in there. Sponsors." He explained, grabbing the whiskey and taking another solid gulp before continuing "So what am I working with?"

Neither of them said anything and instead just looked at one another as if waiting for the other to speak.

"Alright...how about you, Trenton? What do you have going on?" He asked.

"Um." The boy thought a moment, opening his mouth as if to speak before closing it again a few times before finally saying "I'm good at keeping myself alive and pretty fast."

"A seam kid, huh?" Haymitch asked reviving a nod of confirmation "Resourceful. I can work with that."

"How about you, Olberman?" He asked "Other than you affinity for drinking my whiskey?"

Emeree thought a moment. She remembered all the coverage about Brutus and how well he was expected to do. She wasn't strong like Brutus or particularly gentle like him either. She wasn't 6'2" and she didn't work in the mines. Everything that made Brutus a favorite, she didn't have.

"Come on, you have to be good at something. I can only get so far on the looks thing." He commented making Emeree furrow her brow.

"She's scary." Trenton spoke up "And super smart."

"Scary, huh?" He asked, not the slightest bit convinced.

"Yeah. She walks around the seam by herself at night and everything and-"

"I thought you said she was smart."

"She is! I'm just saying like people know not to mess with her and when guys follow her and stuff she beats them up."

At that Haymitch smirked, clearly amused "Alright and apparently you're smart. So Trenton here is young so that'll get you some sympathy along with scrappy and resourceful. And I've got another Olberman which the Capital is already all over who has a bit of a temper and some brains." He pouted and nodded a few times. "Yeah that works. Welcome to your new identities."

And with that he leaned back, looking satisfied, bottle still in hand.

"What do you mean?" Emeree finally spoke up as Titus came in followed by a few others who were wearing strange head gear, each one setting down a different plate of food before leaving, Titus taking a seat a few feet away from Emeree.

"What I mean is that while I'm sure the two of you are super special and incredibly complex, the capital doesn't have time for that shit." He said, sarcasm lacing every word "We have a few days to convince them the two of you are worth the air you breath so rather than you be yourselves, you're going to be who they want you to be so that maybe they feel so inclined to keep you alive a bit longer to give you maybe a chance." He said bluntly, holding up a hand to keep Titus, who was clearly trying to interject quiet.

"When we get to the capital I need you, Trenton to be nothing short of adorable. A young kid just starting life that will just be too lovable to kill. On top of that, you're going to really play up the fact that you are just as clever as they come. You'll be the inventive little brother the capital will just eat up. You, Princess, you are going to be a bit harder."

"Why's that?" she asked, taking a bite of hen that was in front of her.

"Because you already have a story. You come from a family of tributes and Brutus was the capital's gentle giant. But we can't just have you be another Olberman. Apparently you have this tough girl thing going so you need to play on that. Be the badass Olberman here to take everyone else down, like you've been waiting for this. Maybe throw some winks and stuff around because I'm not going to lie to you, you've got an attractive edge that's going to help you a lot there."

"I'm not going to parade around and-"

"Yes you are." Haymitch interrupted harshly "I get it, you don't want to flirt your way into support. I'm willing to bet Trenton doesn't want to pretend to be some little kid to get sympathy. But you're both going to do it, or die your first night. Not really my problem." He then stood up, took another drink of whiskey and left, bottle in hand.

••••

Most of the remaining train ride went smoothly, mostly because the only two who had spoken since their lecture from Haymitch were the tributes themselves who dispute their awkward start were getting along rather well. The two of them had found their rooms, taken showers, changed their clothes and looked batter taken care of than either had been in years.

Trenton had just started showing Emeree how he made slingshots back home out of average materials when Haymitch Abernathy returned to the car. He still looked irritated, but this time on something other than the two in front of him.

"We're about to roll into the capital. Get yourselves together." He said, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

Emeree wasn't sure what she expecting, but the Holland and cheers from outside the train weren't it. Her eyes widened and Trenton jumped as the crowd's volume penetrated the side of car and into the compartment itself.

Titus was standing at the door already, clearly anxious to finally return to his normal capitol atmosphere and show off his newest pair from 12. Of course having an Olberman meant lots of publicity and attention.

When the train came to a stop, so seemingly did time. Neither Emeree or Trenton moved but instead stared at each other before an agitated Haymitch grabbed them by their shirts each in turn, pulling them to their feet.

"Let's go!" He said, shoving the two of them toward the door.