A/N: Update 06/04/2018 - I have now posted revised versions of Chapter One through to Chapter Thirteen. The revisions mostly involved correcting typos and improving phrasing.

Chapter One has been replaced with a completely new chapter, and shows Haymitch and Katniss journeying back to 12 after Coin's assassination.

Thanks to premadora girl and lha1 for their continued patience, enthusiasm and suggestions while this story underwent numerous changes.

I hope you enjoy the story.


Chapter One

Haymitch

Plutarch gone, the hovercraft takes off. They sit in silence until they're back among the clouds.

Katniss stirs, looks at him for the first time in an hour. 'So, why are you going back to Twelve?' Her voice is blank, giving no hint of what she hopes his answer will be, if she has any hopes at all. There are dark shadows under her eyes, and her cheekbones stick out unnervingly. The doctors told him she hasn't eaten in two days.

'They can't seem to find a place for me in the Capitol either,' he says at last.

She absorbs this without reaction. He wonders what she's thinking, if she resents him for coming with her, or if she's relieved she won't be alone. Or maybe she isn't thinking anything.

Finally she says, 'You have to look after me, don't you? As my mentor?'

He shrugs. It had been his choice to come. It was the only way he could see to get her out of the Capitol, back home to 12. Whether he'll manage to look after her properly is doubtful; he knows himself too well to feel any assurance on that account, so he says nothing.

She swallows. 'My mother's not coming back.'

'No,' he says, hating himself, looking away as a suggestion of grief wells in her eyes. He waits a minute, then reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out an envelope, passing it across to Katniss. She turns it over in her hands, tracing the letters of her name on the paper. He explains that her mother is in 4, helping start up a hospital. She stares down at the envelope, saying nothing, and he wishes he had a message from her mother to give her, words that weren't hidden away in a letter. But all Mrs Everdeen had said when she'd given him the envelope was a choked, 'Thank you. Look after her,' before she'd hurried away, heading for the nearest train out of the Capitol.

'You know why she can't come back,' he says at last, gently. Immediately he feels a sting of regret as Katniss's face freezes over. He pauses. 'Do you want to know who else won't be there?'

'No. I want to be surprised.'

She's staring at the letter, and doesn't see his pained smile at her retort. Getting up, he goes to the mini refrigerator and gets out a ready-made sandwich, passing it to her. 'Eat.'

She looks at it dully. After a minute, sensing that he won't stop standing over her until she starts eating, she picks it up and takes a bite. He retreats to his seat, watching covertly to make sure she finishes the sandwich. Once she's eaten, she closes her eyes. He can tell she's not sleeping, but lets her be.

When the alert flashes up saying that they'll be landing in two hours, he gets up to go through every compartment on the hovercraft, checking in cupboards, under seats, until he's found every last bottle of liquor, stowing them away in a bag. Hardly anyone lives in 12 at the moment, and liquor will be impossible to come by. He intends to be prepared.

They land at night. Half the houses have lights in the windows, including his own and Katniss's. They walk across the snow together in silence. Her front door is unlocked, and he closes it behind him as she treads down the corridor to the orange glow coming from the kitchen. He moves to the threshold, sees Katniss already sitting in the rocking chair before a small fire in the grate, clutching her mother's letter. She's staring into the flames, oblivious to his presence.

'Well, see you tomorrow,' he says. He waits for several long seconds, but she doesn't look up. At last he turns away, bottles clinking in his bag, leaving her to the silence.

In his living room, he manages a call to Greasy Sae, telling her they've arrived, thanking her for the fire in Katniss's grate.

'Poor girl,' says Sae. 'I'll be there tomorrow morning, like we agreed, and every morning and evening after.'

He thanks her again and rings off, staring into his empty fireplace, wondering what will happen now.


A/N: Thanks for reading. Please leave a review :)

I have also written a couple of Haymitch/Katniss oneshots and have published a steadily growing number of Haymitch/Katniss music videos on YouTube, several of which are AU videos using films other than The Hunger Games. If you're interested, I suggest checking out 'Oh Miss Believer' and 'Tango', both of which use the four Hunger Games films, and 'Kiss Me', my most popular AU video in terms of likes per view.

You can find all my Haymiss vids in the Haymitch/Katniss playlist on my YouTube channel, Vogue Elf. I also have a Tumblr page with several Haymiss-related posts: vogueelf394.