Chapter 10 is a very long chapter so I divided it into two parts (like i'm prone to do if you know me by now) which is why you get a Wednesday mid-week update. The second part should be up as normal on Sunday. :)

Chapter 10
Part 1

The sun was setting down, swallowed gradually by the tall high-rise buildings of the Capitol. The only way one could admire the sun setting in this City was to get to an open space or a roof top. He remembered being there with Effie, not that they came up for the sole intention of watching the sun set, but he needed to talk to her away from the bugs.

"We inserted needles into your fingers, not your toes. Walk faster," Philo barked when Haymitch lingered behind, catching glimpses of the city from the windows. He wouldn't know when else he would get the chance.

"Annie? Annie," Johanna called out suddenly, stumbling in a bid to reach the door.

They let her in. Haymitch followed and once he was inside that was when he saw Peeta in the adjacent room, separated by a two-way floor to ceiling window, like he had been separated from Johanna earlier.

"Make yourself comfortable, it's going to be a long night," Fox grinned and beckoned the Peacekeeper who had a gun pointed at Annie's head out of the room.

Annie rushed towards them, pulling Johanna away from Haymitch's side to hug her fiercely. Johanna struggled and winced but eventually leaned against her. Annie staggered from her added weight so Haymitch carefully manoeuvred both women to the only bed in that room.

"You're bleeding," Annie gestured to his finger and his head.

"It's nothin'. I'm fine. Are you hurt? What did they want with you? What did they do to you?"

"They only wanted me here for Peeta. I don't know wh - what they're doing to him. Please, Haymitch, please help him. He makes me frightened."

There was nothing for him to do to help. He had an inkling that they were here to watch, just as he was made to watch Johanna.

"Johanna's been electrocuted multiple times," Haymitch told Annie. "You can smell it, yeah? The burnt hair?"

Annie nodded, her eyes darted from Johanna's hair to the bruises on her hands. She brushed her finger against Johanna's cheek only for her to jerk back, glaring at Annie.

"I'm fucking fine, Annie. You just got to open your big mouth, right?" she spat at Haymitch.

He ignored her. His eyes were trained on Peeta. He had no idea what was going on and he absolutely despised this feeling.

Peeta's eyes were unfocused and glazed, and from the moment they entered this room, Peeta had not even raised his head to acknowledge their presence.

"Why is he watching his first Games?"

"I don't know. They … They injected him with something. It made him scream. It made him mad and I think he's afraid. They made him watch things and he talks to himself," Annie hid her face on Haymitch's chest, whimpering quietly.

Nothing added up. Haymitch could make no head or tail out of Annie's account. He didn't even understand what Fox was doing with Peeta, whispering in his ears and pointing to Katniss on the screen where was sitting on a tree, sawing off a branch that held the tracker jackers' nest. That felt like a long time ago but it was vivid in his memory. He was sober and wanted nothing more than a drink. Effie was there. He recalled her sitting close to him, her arm pressed against his, her knee bumping into his.

He wanted her. He needed her here. He couldn't protect all three kids alone. He was tired, exhausted and in pain.

He wanted her warmth. He wanted to bury his face in her hair. He wanted a gentle touch; not one that would hurt him like Fox or a frightened touch in need of his comfort like Annie.

Knowing that this wasn't the moment to be weak he took a deep breath and shoved all thoughts of Effie aside.

They were there for a very long time.

Whatever Peeta was seeing, he saw it, too. Johanna and Haymitch glanced at each other as photos of Katniss' flashed quickly across the screen in random. What puzzled them was that between photos of Katniss, there were photos of the wolf mutt from Peeta's first Games.

Peeta's fingers clenched and unclenched against his metallic restraints and he was struggling, eyes bloodshot red and spitting mad.

"What the fuck?" Johanna cursed under her breath. She limped over to the window, trying to get a better look. "He's either fucking angry or scared as shit. I can't tell."

One second, it felt as if Haymitch had only just been recently transferred into this holding cell and the next, Annie told them they had been there for days. Haymitch refused to believe her. With shaky hands, she pointed out that the guards had changed shift several times and she had been watching.

"I think two days. They've given us food twice, too," she pointed to the two trays on the floor.

Whatever they were doing to Peeta, they had been going at it for as long as Haymitch was in that room with Johanna and Annie. They had taken breaks, of course, letting Peeta prowl the room but the boy had terrible tremors. Haymitch had mutely pointed to the floor, asking him to sit before he crashed.

They communicated with hand signals now since the glass window between them was soundproof.

During that time, Johanna's skin had turned blue and black. Haymitch's fingers had gone numb and slightly bent. Annie was growing more agitated with the state Peeta was in. Peeta's eyes were always unfocused. He was pale, had sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes.

Johanna joked that Peeta looked as bad as he did during his withdrawal. Annie didn't find that amusing at all. She pressed her face against Haymitch's shoulder and tried to sleep.

Annie wasn't like Johanna or himself. They had established that earlier and it was even more apparent by Annie's need to touch people to feel grounded. He learnt that when Johanna told him to put his hand on the small of Annie's back to bring her back when she slipped that one time, rocking back and forth, and blocking everyone out.

Haymitch sighed, sitting quietly with Annie nodding sleepy against his shoulder.

"I'll keep watch," Johanna nodded at the adjacent room where Peeta was. "You might as well sleep."

He must have dozed off at some point because when he opened his eyes, he saw Johanna on her feet, talking to Peeta.

"Peeta?" he jerked awake.

"They let him in," Johanna said with open mistrust. "Something's not right."

"Hey, kid," Haymitch approached him, ignoring Johanna completely. "You okay?"

Peeta stared at him.

"Haymitch... Haymitch," he mumbled and then he frowned, rubbing the heel of his palm on his forehead. "Katniss Everdeen..."

It was Annie who stepped forward and led him towards the bed where he sat, looking at each of them carefully. Haymitch knelt in front to him a small frown gracing his feature. It was the way Peeta had said Katniss' name - odd and confused, like it was an unfamiliar name on his tongue - that had Haymitch peering at him worriedly.

"They told you something about Katniss?" Johanna pressed for answer. "What is it? If it's got to do with the rebellion, tell us."

"Katniss... Is she - is she a good person?"

There was a startled exchange of look between him, Annie and Johanna.

"That's not a question I was expecting from you. Shouldn't you know that better than us, loverboy?" Johanna snorted.

"Is she, Haymitch?"

"Yes," Haymitch answered sternly. "What's the matter with you?"

"It can't be. It can't be. She tried to kill me. How can she be good when she tried to kill me? It makes no sense, Haymitch. It makes no sense."

Haymitch readily agreed with that assessment. Nothing made sense to him. Peeta repeating his words made no sense to him. Peeta acting as if he didn't know Katniss made no sense to him.

Next to him, Johanna was chuckling. "Your boy's losing his mind."

"Shut up, Jo. You're not helping," he snapped at her. "Listen Peeta, why are you actin' like you don't know her. You know her. She's your - " he paused. "You love that girl. You told me that, you remember? You'd do anything to protect her."

"Do I? Love her, I mean. I'm not sure," he ran a hand through his hair, looking distressed. "I'm not sure - I'm confused. I - I shouldn't be trying to protect someone who's trying to kill me. I shouldn't. I'm confused, Haymitch. Why would I do that?"

"There's nothing for you to be confused," Haymitch growled. "Get a grip, Peeta! She's never tried to kill you. You came to me that night of the - "

"Time's up!" Fox sauntered into the room. "You like what we did to him? He's got a few more sessions to go - it's going to be great, just you watch. He's going to be a masterpiece."

"What did you do to him?" Annie asked quietly.

"Ah, Annie," Fox took a step towards her. "If I tell you, I'd have to kill you. I don't want to kill someone as sweet and as innocent as you," he chuckled and then he swooped down, kissing Annie on the lips.

Johanna swung her hand just as Haymitch pulled Fox off Annie which meant her fist connected with the side of his jaw. Laughing, Fox retreated towards the door, beckoning Peeta to come with him.

Peeta gave them a frightened backwards glance but he hurried after his captor when Philo raised his gun threateningly.

This happened a few more times over the next few days. Peeta would be taken away and then returned, and then taken away again. Each time he was gone, he came back even more unhinged then before, leaving Haymitch, Johanna and Annie helpless to do anything except to watch through the glass window.

"They're making him afraid," Annie commented as they watched the distorted images of Katniss appear once more. "He can't recognise Katniss when they've made her that way. You have to talk to him like Finnick does with me. Remind him of the Katniss that he knows."

He took Annie's advice and decided to give it a try. During a rare night that Peeta was allowed to spend the night with them in the room, he started talking.

"Katniss Everdeen is seventeen years old, just like you," he spoke as he lay on the hard floor in the dark with his arms folded across his chest. "She was reaped for the 74th Games."

"By Effie Trinket... Is she evil like Katniss?"

"No. Let's get this straight, Peeta. Katniss is not evil. Neither is Effie - she loves you and Katniss both."

"She called my name," he argued. "She sent me here."

"The Capitol took you and brought you here," Johanna muttered from the other side of the room. "You, me, Annie and Haymitch. It's not Trinket's fault."

Johanna Mason speaking up for Effie Trinket, Haymitch mused to himself, never thought I'd see the day.

"You love Katniss - told me yourself that you liked her for the longest time but she never noticed you. That's why you wanted her to win the Games."

"But there was a rule change, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Haymitch answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a very long night. Digging up the past had never been pleasant in his experience.

"She... The berries - it was her idea. It was her idea, Haymitch. She caused all these problems. It's true, isn't it? I saw it. I watched it."

"It's not like that."

"Stop lying to me!" Peeta shouted without warning.

It shocked not only Haymitch but Annie, too. Haymitch had never seen Peeta lost his temper, never seen Peeta like this. He propped himself on his elbow, frowning at the tone of Peeta's voice.

"Listen here, kid," he began only to thrown back, the wind knocked out of him when Peeta attacked.

"Twelve burnt! Twelve was destroyed and you didn't tell me!" he screamed, spittle flying everywhere. "They said you knew! They said you watched it just like I did and you must have seen it again through that," he pointed to the glass window, "and you didn't tell me about it. Not once. You're a liar!"

His fingers were in Haymitch's hair and his knee on Haymitch's throat as he pressed his body weight on it. Peeta grabbed Haymitch's head and slammed it on the floor. Hard.

Haymitch's vision was beginning to blur but he saw Johanna with her arm locked around Peeta's throat, trying to pull him away.

"Stop it. You're going to fucking kill him! Get off him, Peeta!"

Why is it always my head?

That was the last thought he had before he blacked out.

Haymitch - everyone's punching bag (except Annie). On the bright side, all four of them are together, sort of.

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