The relief they felt when the tributes finally got the spile was short lived. Effie doesn't think she has ever gone through something as terrible as this moment : watching Katniss hum softly for Haymitch as his breathing gets more and more difficult. He keeps repeating her name like a prayer Effie can't answer to and it is killing her. Haymitch is a proud man, she has never seen him cry or break even after all those Games. But right now… He would never allow himself to show such vulnerability if he were in his right mind. He's the shell of the man she knows and loves.
"Peeta, he is dying" she says, feeling strangely disconnected from the situation.
Katniss cradling Haymitch reminds her of what happened the previous year with the little girl from District 11, except it's a hundred times worse because it's Haymitch. The girl is obviously a wreck but is trying very hard to hide it and she's failing spectacularly. Finnick is sitting with Mags, under their weaved hut, a dejected look on their face.
Effie doesn't feel anything. She's… empty.
She can hear Peeta raging in the background but his words don't really register, nor do Caesar's comments and speculations about Haymitch and her.
"Sweetheart…" Haymitch whines on screen.
"I'm here." Katniss is biting her lower lip to keep herself from sobbing. "I'm right here, Haymitch."
Would Effie say something different if she was actually in Katniss' place? The girl is doing him a kindness, trying to soften his last moments… How much time does he have left, now? A few minutes?
"It should already be there, Plutarch." Peeta shouts in the strange phone he has taken out of his pocket. It's not the regular one, it doesn't belong to the Training Center, but Effie doesn't ask any question. "I don't care what your orders are."
"I love you."
Can you hear a heart break? Does it make a sound? Effie's heart rips apart with those three words he has never actually said to her. Those words, in his mouth, are a goodbye as well as a vow of love, she knows.
"I love you too." Katniss sobs, unable to refrain it any longer.
There is a second, a terrible second, when she thinks it's over but Caesar's streaming commentary informs them otherwise. Haymitch is still breathing albeit more and more laboriously. It's a tragic and painful way of dying according to Caesar.
"Plutarch, listen to me." Peeta snarls, his eyes on the screen. "I'm calling it, right here, right now, if Haymitch dies and Katniss finds out you could have done something to prevent his death, she won't want to have anything to do with you. Now, I don't care who orders you what. You send the shipment or you don't bother calling me again. There's a thousand way to light a spark. Katniss may be your mockingjay but you should not underestimate me."
"Peeta, please." Katniss whispers, offering her face to the sky and the cameras. "Please."
"That's it."Peeta growls in answer to her plea. "You…" As if in a dream, Effie stands up, skirts around the couch and snatch the phone from Peeta. "Wait, Effie, you can't…"
"Hello, Plutarch. Effie Trinket speaking." She knows Plutarch quite well because they attend the same social events but they're hardly friends. She has seen him with Haymitch a few times, though, she thinks they are friends. "I don't really care what Gamemakers have planned for the next round, I sponsored a shipment and I want it delivered in the next few seconds or I am going to hunt you down, never mind Katniss or Peeta. Haymitch left his knife behind, did you know?"
She hands the phone back to an incredulous Peeta before Plutarch can even answer. She's not interested in his explanations or excuses. She's not stupid, despite what everyone seems to think. It's obvious Peeta made some kind of deal with Plutarch and it's also obvious lots of people know more than she does, Cinna and Portia for instance. This isn't strictly about the Games, it can't be. So it must have to do with the rebellion no one ever talks about in the Capitol. Well… Capitol or rebels, no one will stop her from taking drastic actions if Haymitch dies before her medicine reach him. That will give her parents something to talk about, at least : their failure of a daughter becoming a crazy mass murderer.
"That was… very impressive." Peeta stammers after he's hung up. "If not downright scary."
"When someone pays for something, you have to deliver." Effie points out, sitting back down. "Common courtesy."
"Dear viewers, I'm being told a generous sponsors has sent something to District 12 tributes!" Caesar says, his face appearing again in the bottom right corner. "What unexpected turns of events surrounding Haymitch Abernathy, today…"
The camera follows the slow fall of a silver parachute, Effie closes her eyes, so relieved she can barely breathe. She's quite sure she will have grey hair before the end of this ordeal.
"Katniss, look!" Finnick shouts, pointing a finger at the parachute. Mags stands up too but Katniss is trapped under Haymitch and can only watch as Finnick jumps to catch it tears the casing apart and offers the small electronic device to Katniss and Mags' inspection.
"Oh, clever, really clever…" Caesar says, clearly impressed. "Haymitch must have wealthy supporters… Or… Shall we say, admirers?" He laughs between explaining to the audience what the engine is and how it works.
"It looks like a beetle." Katniss says, clearly confused. "How does it work, do you know?"
Finnick only shakes his head but Mags takes it from him and signals to Katniss to hold Haymitch. Effie bites her lips when the old woman forces him to swallow the device.
"Let it work" she prays.
"It will." Peeta says, with his usual positivity.
"Will it cure him?" Katniss asks Mags but the woman only shrug in answer.
At that point, Haymitch starts trashing. It takes Finnick and Katniss' combine strength to keep him from hurting himself. It lasts a few minutes and then…
"What happened?" Katniss says, her legs still trapped under his head. "Is he breathing? Finnick, is he breathing?"
Effie's nails claw at the couch.
"He is sleeping, I think." Finnick seems relieved. "His pulse is stronger." Mags mumbles a long sentence that no one understand but Finnick. "She says the device is fixing the internal damages but it will take time. We should try to get some sleep. I will take first watch."
The scene stops being interesting to watch for the people of the Capitol and the image quickly switches to Johanna Mason's little group of survivors who are suffering from thirst.
"Crisis averted." Peeta sighs. "You should go to sleep, Effie, I will wake you if anything…"
"You made a deal with Plutarch Heavensbee." It's not a question and Peeta only rubs at his face tiredly.
"Trust me" he requires.
She's not sure how to meet his demand. She wants to trust him but she can't forget his first loyalty goes to Katniss. She has to think of Haymitch because nobody else is going to.
"Effie, I'm looking out for them both." Peeta pleads, as if reading her thoughts. "Trust me."
She searches his eyes for the slightest trace of duplicity but she only finds earnestness, worry and pain. If Katniss shares similarities with Haymitch, Peeta is like her. The parallel is so striking, at that moment, that she can't help but be a tad nervous. She would stop at nothing to protect Haymitch – hadn't she nearly sentenced Peeta to death in her thoughtless attempt to save him from the arena? – and she's sure Peeta won't let anything stop him from saving Katniss. They're in the same boat as long as saving one doesn't mean condemning the other, because after that…
What sort of deal did Peeta make? Rig the games to make Katniss the winner? Impossible, not with President Snow breathing down the neck of every sponsor rooting for District 12. It must have to do with the rebellion. And if it has to do with the rebellion… Is it possible that Peeta intends to save both Haymitch and Katniss? But how? How are they going to rescue them?
"I don't think I have a choice." Effie says slowly.
"The less you know, the better it is." Peeta whispers. "Do you understand?"
The answer is so obvious she feels stupid for not seeing it before: they will try to rescue them directly in the arena. This is utterly impossible. "I think I do."
"Good." the boy sighs. "Then, all we have to do is keeping them alive."
Haymitch startles awake to the echoes of toiling bells and is about to mumble to Effie to send them all to hell, when Finnick's voice makes the comforting illusion that he's back in her bed vanish. "I counted twelve."
Finnick. The arena. The force field. And something about an excruciating pain in his chest…
"Mean anything, do you think?" Katniss asks, from somewhere above him.
Above him? It occurs to him, then, that his head is cushioned on something soft that can, in no way, be a pillow – they never give you pillows in the arena. There's fingers petting his hair absent-mindedly and an arm casually thrown on his chest.
"Why are you cuddling up to me, girl?" Haymitch growls. "Do I look like the cuddly type to you?"
The surprised yelps are disturbing given that he entrusted his safety to them while he was sleeping – he must have fallen asleep. He doesn't remember much past the point when they decided to make camp.
"Haymitch?" Katniss sounds disbelieving and relieved all at the same time. "How are you feeling?"
He tries to sit up because, really, he's not a giant teddy bear she can hug on a whim but when he pushes on his arm, it gives under him and he ends up right where he started, slumped upon Katniss' legs, hurting all over.
"Did you let a train run over my body, Katniss?" he asks. He wouldn't put it past her. It feels like he got run over.
"He's complaining so he must be fine." Finnick jokes before bringing a bowl of water. "Here, drink some."
He reluctantly lets Katniss and Finnick help him sit up and swallow a few mouthful of water. "Say, when have we found water again?" The last few hours are blank in his mind. He vaguely remembers Katniss humming and calling out for… "Katniss, did I… Do they know about…"
He doesn't need to explain further, regret is all over her face already. "I'm sorry. You mistook me for her, you said her name several times… You were dying, Haymitch, there's no way they didn't show that. Everybody must know by now."
"Dying…" he repeats. It rings a bell. Dying. He thinks he remembers something like that.
"You have some generous sponsors rallying behind District 12." Finnick comments offering him some nuts. "It's been some time since I've seen something so expensive."
An impressive lightning bolt strikes a towering tree in the distance giving way to a lightning storm of some sort. Between them, Katniss and Finnick agree to switch guard duty so that Finnick can get some sleep. Mags pats Haymitch's shoulder, clearly glad to see him live another day, before going back to the hut.
"Do you want me to help you get there?" Katniss suggests "It will be more comfortable…"
How long has she been freezing her ass off on the hard ground for his sake? Well… Freezing may not be the right word. The air is damp with humidity.
"No, thanks." Bracing against the pain, he manages to drag himself to the hut and sink unto the weaved mat. Katniss escorts him, hands held out to prevent an eventual fall. "You don't need to hover like a mother hen, girl."
She purses her lips in a hard line that can only mean annoyance. "Try not to die on me again, would you? It's been twice today, I could do without a third."
She turns around abruptly and begins to stalk the camp perimeter, bow at the ready. He carefully lies down besides Mags and Finnick. He feels exhausted but doesn't really manage to go back to sleep, he drifts off mostly until the sound of the cannon releases him of his slumber. He sits up, still aching all over, and catches Katniss' eyes across the campsite.
She tenses up without warning and he's on his feet without even thinking about it, knife in hand, sure she has identified a danger.
"Wake up!" she shouts, just as an unnatural fog reaches them. "Run!"
It takes only seconds for Haymitch's skin to start blistering. Finnick tosses Mags on his back and dashes through the jungle, trying to outrun the fog.
"Haymitch, come on!" Katniss screams, waiting for him further down.
Running, he doesn't think his body can do that when the smallest of movement is torture. Of course his survival instinct has something to say to that and it's shut up. The fog claws at his skin and he's off because between two kinds of pain, he will take the natural to the chemical one any day.
He's slow though and he keeps stumbling on roots and rocks. He doesn't see the others anymore and he doesn't dare turn his head to see where the fog is because he can feel its bite around his ankles. And just when he thinks it's over and the fog is going to take him over, Katniss dashes between two trees, grabs his arm, all wide eyes, and propels him forward. He tries to push her away, to tell her she's a fool to come back for him, but his words are lost to her unending verbal abuse and threats. She would die for him, he realizes then, just like he's prepared to die for her. He should have known but he didn't and he feels like an idiot because of course she would. They're survivors but they're also family. And neither she nor he would ever turn their back on their family.
Finnick's voice guides them through the trees but the fog is still racing them and it's winning.
"Go." Haymitch pleads, panting. "Go, Katniss."
He can feel his right side twitching where the fog is thicker and Katniss doesn't seem to fare much better. Too focused on making him move faster, she trips on a root and falls right in a pool of those mist tendrils. He tries to help her up but he's barely able to stand, never mind haul her to her feet. Finnick is there, all of a sudden, having doubled back when they didn't catch up and he grabs her arm but she's twitching all over now and she doesn't take two steps before falling again.
"Take her!" Finnick shouts at him, eyeing the body of the fog with dread. "Come on!"
Haymitch tries. He really does. He grabs her under the arms but her legs aren't working so he throws her over his shoulder with a pained cry and for a while, he thinks they're good. He's slower than Finnick but they manage to keep several yards between them and the compact mist. His skin burns, he feels dizzy but he carries on. Until his left leg collapses under him and sends them both rolling on the ground.
He struggles to get up, crawls on all four and uses the vines dangling from a tree to stand up. Finnick is already near Katniss.
"Take them both." Haymitch shouts. "I will catch up."
Finnick shakes his head, eyes shining in the moonlight. "My arms aren't working. Take her, Haymitch. Take her."
He staggers forwards, manages to reach Katniss who's trying to get up despite the tremors twisting her body and tries to haul her up again. She tries to help by clutching him but it doesn't work. His muscles are too tired, his nerves too damaged and they end up right back on the jungle ground after only a few steps.
"I'm sorry." Finnick says softly, behind him.
Haymitch lifts his head, ready to tell him he's done more than his part and he shouldn't feel guilty for running away now, when he sees Mags kissing him soundly on the mouth and heading straight into the fog. She collapses immediately and trashes on the ground. The cannon booms out a few seconds after.
Finnick doesn't look back. He manages to throw Katniss on his back and dashes off through the jungle, leaving Haymitch to follow, in a daze, stumbling from tree to tree. He can't process what just happened because it makes absolutely no sense. No tribute ever sacrificed himself for another tribute. It's unheard off. Except if the plan is to get Katniss out of the arena, give the mockingjay to the rebels… Save Katniss at all costs.
How long do they run this deadly race? At some point, Finnick just collapses, Katniss rolling off him in a heap and Haymitch just stops running and falls down beside her because there's no point going on without her. Save Katniss. He has to save Katniss, he promised Peeta.
She crooks something that must mean that the fog stopped because a few minutes pass and they're still breathing. Hurting but breathing. They all crawl further away to the sandy beach surrounding the Cornucopia. Water laps at Haymitch's hand and it hurts so much, a seething burning sensation that leaves him panting all over again.
From the corner of his eye, he sees Katniss rolling into the water and he thinks she has gone completely off her rocker before catching sight of the milky substance that seems to be absorbed by the water. Of course, it has to be painful, of course. Bracing himself against the pain he crawls to the salt-water and cleans his wounds. It's agony and then bliss because the pain gradually disappears and his body stops twitching unexpectedly.
He recovers first and concludes whatever device they used to heal him earlier must still be at work because Katniss is still splashing the poison away when he goes to help Finnick who seems happy to lie face-first against the sand. He's not strong enough to drag him into the water yet. Katniss brings shells full of water while he's still considering the problem and begins to soak Finnick's arms. They're badly burned but they are all in a right state. After a few minutes of working together, they manage to bring him closer to the water-line and clean his wound.
The longer they're in the water the better it is. After a while, Haymitch feels mostly normal again.
"I'm going to try to tap a tree." Katniss says when they're sure Finnick has recovered.
Haymitch lets her go, first because he knows how ill-at-ease she's with wounded people and then because he has a few questions for Finnick. He keeps an eye on the girl while Finnick splashes around like some kind of sea-animal, she has found a tree about ten yards from the beach and she has her bow in her hand, ready to use. Good.
"I'm sorry about Mags" he says, quietly.
Finnick stops diving to float lazily on his back near him. The boy doesn't try to hide the devastated look on his face. "It's my fault she was here in the first place."
"No, it's not." Haymitch closes his eyes, happy to let the water soothe the aches away. "None of us should be here."
"We're getting out of this." Finnick asserts softly, so softly Haymitch thinks he imagined it for a second.
"I'm all aboard that plan." he snorts. "We should check on Katniss. I don't want her alone out there."
"And you were the one calling her a mother hen…" Finnick teases but he waddles to the beach and Haymitch does the same. They grab the weapons they have discarded before going in the water and head toward Katniss.
They're just on the edge on the jungle when they see Katniss move closer swiftly and steadily, an arrow ready to fly. She slowly signals them to stay where they are and not to say another word. Haymitch catches the first glimpse of the monkeys at the same time Finnick does, but it's alright, he figures, Katniss is good at hunting, she knows how to move soundlessly.
She's not far from them when a shrub quivers on their right and they all seem to hold their breath. Haymitch takes out his knives slowly while Katniss steps steadily forward again.
Everything would have been fine, he thinks, if District 6 hadn't chosen that moment to turn up, wildly running, arms flying behind her. She freezes when she sees them and Haymitch wonders, for a heartbeat, how she's handling morphine's withdrawal – alcohol has been far from his thoughts since he stepped in the arena – time seems to stop for a second and then…
All hell breaks loose.
