Hello everyone, quick note from me.

Really sorry about the delay, was away for a few days and have exams starting Monday :S Not my longest chapter, for which I apologise, but I had to end it where I did otherwise the next chapter wouldn't work; you will see!

Thank you so so so much for your reviews and continued support. I am so grateful, and ask that if I take a bit longer to update you please stick with me. Reviews mean so much and keep me going!

More soon hopefully, and I know that there isn't much Effie but it will all kick off after the end of this chapter! Thanks and happy reading!

Chapter 14

'How...' stuttered Katniss, 'how could we let this happen?'

'We didn't think that they could reform so quickly,' Gale answered gruffly, looking down so as not to catch her eye. Very few people were left in the office. Only those of the highest rank had not been dismissed, as they tried to work out what exactly had happened and what they could do about it.

'We need to act quickly,' General Atkins stated, laying out the Capitol maps on the table and weighing down the corners. With a rough black marker she began to outline the areas which had already fallen, which seemed scarily vast for a first attack.

'There are thousands of them,' countered Gale, 'we haven't got our forces mobilised.'

'Well then we need to get them sorted, don't we?' growled Haymitch, moving up to the table and allowing his eyes to dart over the images before him. Somehow, he knew that Effie was there. Somewhere within the fighting, amongst the broken candy coloured streets, she was there waiting for him and it made him even more determined to find her.

'Realistically, when can we go?' asked Katniss.

'30 hours,' Atkins decided immediately.' If we contact the other districts and set off at midnight tomorrow, then we can be in the Capitol by morning. We need to work out where their main strongholds are. Obviously the government building will be their best defended headquarters, but I am guessing that they will have a number of smaller bases around the perimeter of the Capitol.'

'It's too soon,' Gale argued, shaking his head.

'No,' Haymitch said, agreeing with General Atkins, 'if we wait too long, then they will settle and put their defences in place and we won't stand a chance. We just have to go for it.'

'Fine,' muttered Gale through gritted teeth, 'Atkins, get onto the other districts and Katniss and Peeta you can organise our own forces. Haymitch, I need you here.'

'Thirty hours,' Haymitch said quietly, to no-one really but himself. Thirty hours, and he would set off for the Capitol to save Effie; he could only hope that she would hold on for him.

Xxx

The walls shuddered, causing small fragments of cement to fall from the ceiling and cover Effie in a thick layer of grey dust. She had been lying on the floor, unmoving, for almost two days with her arms wrapped around her trembling body. Effie refused to let her eyes close for even a minute. Even as the dust stung her eyes she would not allow herself to do much more than blink in fear that her nightmares would take over her mind and body. The dreams of Haymitch, of her death and of those she loved turning away in disgust; she couldn't bear them anymore.

The room shook again, a distant booming echoing even through the many layers of concrete between her and the Earth's surface. Effie took little notice. Even when the force of it rocked her and the sound rang in her ears, she would not move. It didn't matter – nothing did.

One of the two Peacekeepers posted outside her cell opened the small slit in the door and peered in, looking for any sign of movement. Sighing in frustration, he slammed it shut again. Gray Freeman walked down the corridor looking worn, his uniform dirtied by mud and blood spatters.

'What's she doing?'

'Hasn't moved an inch Sir,' the Peacekeeper replied.

'How long has she been lying there?' hissed Gray.

'Almost two days,' he said, 'we've tried everything we can think of, but we can't get her to move.'

Gray took out his keys and opened the door angrily, slamming it behind him.

'Listen to me you dirty little whore,' he spat, 'you better tell me where the hell that Mockingjay is or so help me I'll turn you black and blue before the bombs have time to blow you to hell.'

Effie didn't say a word. She could hear him clearly, every word which fell from his disgusting lips, but her mind couldn't process them. She shut herself off from him. Whatever he could do to her would not be enough. It wouldn't be close to what she deserved.

'Answer me!' screamed Gray, swinging his foot back and smashing it against her back with all of the energy he could muster. Other than a reaction from the force of the impact, she didn't move a muscle. His tired frustration was growing stronger.

'SAY-SOME-THING!' He kicked harder until he was breathing heavily, taking his anger out on the only person who could never fight back.

It took twenty minutes for him to give up, grunting as he administered one last blow and shutting the door behind him as he left her to bleed.

'Nothing,' he mumbled to the Peacekeepers.

'What would you like us to do, Sir?' one of them asked.

'Give her a day,' Gray said bitterly. 'Tomorrow night, if she hasn't said anything useful then I'll cut her throat myself.'

Xxx

It was late afternoon, less than 12 hours before they were due to leave for the Capitol. Haymitch and Gale pulled the finished plan before them, a map of the Capitol and the surrounding area with every known enemy base marked. They knew which were the most heavily guarded, which were vulnerable to an air attack and which were enemy strongholds. If they were going to regain control of the Capitol, their first few moves were going to be critical.

'We need to decide where to hit first,' Gale started.

'Our best chance is to take out some of the smaller bases with aircraft before we send the soldiers in; we can launch a secondary air attack when we have taken more land,' Haymitch reasoned. Gale nodded in agreement. 'Once the first bomb is dropped they will quickly be able to work out what is happening and organise a counter attack, which is where we have to be prepared.

'Question is...which one first?' Gale asked.

Haymitch looked across the various coloured markers representing buildings where enemy leaders were based. His eyes darted to a two storey compound on the west boundary of the Capitol. It was small, but weakly defended with no aircraft hangars or armouries close-by. Although far from the city centre, it was close enough to make an impact.

'That one,' Haymitch said finally, pointing to the red marker he had decided upon. Gale froze, his face turning a worryingly pale shade of grey. He moved back a step and his eyes were alight with an emotion which was not quite fear, but something deeper.

'What?' snapped Haymitch, angrily.

'I don't think that we should hit there first,' Gale replied weakly, trying to cover up his true motives.

'What are you talking about?' hissed Haymitch, 'it's perfect! Discrete, not heavily guarded; we can make an impact with this place, we can come out fighting.'

Gale ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted nothing more than to agree with Haymitch, to give the order and worry about the consequences later; but he couldn't do it. He couldn't pretend that he didn't know what he did. Gale knew that he could not be responsible for destroying a man he deeply respected.

'Haymitch,' he said quietly, 'trust me, we cannot destroy that building, not yet.'

'Why?' pushed Haymitch.

'You don't need to know,' said Gale evasively. Haymitch moved closer to him, his expression both frustrated and threatening.

'Tell me,' he growled through gritted teeth.

'You won't want to know,' Gale breathed changing his answer, his eyes begging Haymitch not to ask.

'Now,' Haymitch insisted, leaving Gale with no choice.

'We know what that building is used for,' he sighed after a moment. 'It's an enemy containment facility.'

It hit Haymitch full on in the chest, as if a bullet had pierced his flesh and embedded itself in his bleeding heart. He knew what Gale was saying.

'What?' was all that he could muster in way of a reply.

'We know that Snow's forces have taken prisoners there,' Gale continued quietly.

'Is Effie there?' asked Haymitch almost desperately.

'We can't know for su-'

'IS EFFIE THERE?' screamed Haymitch, anger burning in his veins.

'Yes,' Gale said frankly. They could never be completely sure, of course, but it had been unanimously agreed amongst the District 2 commanders that if she was still alive, then this was where she would be.

'How long.'

'Haymitch-'

'How...long...' Haymitch spat.

'A few days.'

'You left her there,' he shouted, 'knowing what she was going through, knowing that we could help her-'

'We didn't have a choice,' Gale tried to explain, 'when we found out where she was, we couldn't...'

It was as if Haymitch was no longer in control of his limbs. He took Gale by the scruff of his shirt and forced him back against the wall, their faces inches apart.

'I...I didn't mean...' choked Gale.

'Not good enough,' snarled Haymitch.

'Haymitch stop!' cried Katniss as she walked into the room to see Gale pinned against the wall by Haymitch's fist, seconds away from a hard punch to the face.

'Get out of here princess,' Haymitch shouted.

'No,' Katniss insisted, walking up to Haymitch and forcing him away from Gale, 'what are you doing?'

'This doesn't concern you!' he said dismissively.

'It does if you want to batter Gale to death; we are all supposed to be working together here,' she argued. 'Now what happened here?'

'He knew,' breathed Haymitch, 'all this time he knew.

'Knew what?'

'He knows where Effie is,' he explained, 'has done for days.'

Katniss wasn't sure how to feel. She could not pretend that Effie was her top priority, but she knew that Gale was in the wrong. However much or little it meant to her to find Effie, it meant so much more to Haymitch. Gale knew how he felt about her, they all did, and he had knowingly kept her whereabouts from him; she knew how hurt and betrayed Haymitch would be feeling and felt for him.

'Why didn't you tell him?' asked Katniss, trying to keep a level head.

'We needed to get the Wastelands attack out of the way,' Gale said, still trying to catch his breath after being released from Haymitch's grip, 'we didn't have time for an expedition to the Capitol just for the sake of one woman.'

Haymitch lunged at Gale again but he was stopped once again by Katniss.

'Don't you ever-' he started but Gale held his hands up.

'Sorry,' he said quickly, 'but you see what I mean.'

'I've waited,' Haymitch mumbled, 'I've done everything you asked, and I can't trust a word that comes out of your mouth.'

'It wasn't personal,' Gale tried, 'but I couldn't afford to lose you, not to someone who you couldn't help.'

'And now?' he replied. 'How can I help her now? She's on her own, suffering God only knows what in the middle of a fucking warzone.'

'We're going in tonight,' Katniss reminded them, 'surely there is some way-'

'I'll go,' Haymitch interrupted, 'just tell me how to get there and I will find her when we land.'

'It's not that simple,' Gale told him.

'Then make it simple,' growled Haymitch threateningly.

'She isn't a high priority Haymitch, she's a Capitol prisoner and we don't even know if she's alive.'

'She is alive,' Haymitch dismissed at once, 'and don't you dare tell me that she doesn't matter. Everyone matters, and by God she matters to me.'

Haymitch stopped himself, as if realising what he had just said, and moved away kicking a chair violently in his anger.

'Can't you give him something?' hissed Katniss to Gale so that Haymitch couldn't hear.

'It's too dangerous,' he argued.

'He won't give up,' she assured him, 'and he won't co-operate. You know how he feels about her, this is tearing him apart. Just...just let him try.'

'Fine,' Gale huffed, 'I can't offer you much, Haymitch, but I can let you go your own way when we land in the Capitol.'

'I'll need medics,' said Haymitch, 'at the very least.'

'I can get you maybe two or three at best, but not much more; we have a war to win. You go your own way, find her, and then they will follow.'

'Where can I get her to a hospital?' Haymitch asked.

'I don't know,' answered Gale honestly, 'but we will definitely have a field hospital set up if we can't get her out of the Capitol altogether. Now if you don't still have a burning desire to kill me, then I have a war to plan.' He turned to Haymitch before he left.

'I can make sure they don't attack it first, but I can't promise anything after that. If you don't get her out in the first hour or so, I don't know if you will be able to.'

With that, Gale left and Katniss and Haymitch stood locked in a tense and foreboding silence. Haymitch took a bottle from the side counter, taking a long swig as he walked to the door.

'I know that you don't care,' he said sombrely, 'but do you understand why I have to do this?'

'I do,' nodded Katniss. 'Just...don't do anything stupid.' Haymitch let out a bitter laugh.

'When have I ever done that?' She smiled back at him.

'It's not that I don't care,' Katniss added as he reached the door, 'I'm just not sure what to believe anymore.'

'I know,' admitted Haymitch, 'and I'm not asking you to forgive her, but I am asking you not to condemn her.'

'After what they did to Peeta I could never condemn someone to them, not even someone I despised.'

'You love him?'

'Yes.'

'Then you know how much it hurts,' he said finally, leaving the room without a second glance.

Xxx

'What am I doing here?'

Elpis Snow was sitting in the front room of her grandfather's old mansion, listening as she heard bombs raining down from the sky above her. Gray had found her early that morning, when the sky was still dark, and taken her to the crumbling mansion which had been abandoned for over a year without an explanation.

'It's started,' he said gruffly, 'and we need to make sure your pretty little head doesn't get damaged before we win.'

'What's started?' she asked, feeling dreadfully misinformed.

'The war,' Gray replied simply. 'You didn't think that they would just let us take the Capitol without a fight?'

The first light of dawn was kept out of the room by heavy black curtains. The aerial attack had begun moments ago at the very beginning of the morning, and Gray was seething. They knew more about their layouts then he had anticipated, and many good bases had gone down. He was sure, however, that wherever they landed they would be met with the full force of his army. They didn't stand a chance.

'Get every soldier we have to the city circle,' Gray barked at the nearest Peacekeeper, 'any man not guarding a stronghold.'

'But Sir,' he replied, 'what about Trinket?'

'Oh yes,' Gray said, smiling grimly. 'Lock her down and leave her there; I was only going to kill her anyway. It's almost kinder to leave her to the mercy of those who never bothered to try and save her.'

'She won't even have a chance,' Elpis whispered, her thoughts running away with her and slipping from her lips.

'No,' spat Gray, 'not that she deserves one. Bitch. Made my life hell one too many times and not worth it for only a half decent fuck. I was looking forward to slitting her throat myself, but there are more important matters at hand. What do you care anyway?'

'I...I don't...' muttered Elpis, putting the mask she was forced to wear back on – Snow's granddaughter, face of the new Panem...it was her idea of hell.

'Get Nooka,' Gray shouted, 'I need to make sure that he knows what is going on.' He turned to Elpis.

'You stay put,' he ordered, before leaving the room. Elpis had no such intention. With the sound of the bombs still ringing in her ears she opened the door, slipping almost silently into the corridor. She wasn't going to be the poster-girl for a regime which she despised, or live up to the reputation of her despicable grandfather. Not while she still had the choice.

Xxx

The Capitol was slowly coming into sight through the aircraft's window, the black smoke like taloned fingers reaching up into the sky.

'You know the route?' asked Gale. Haymitch nodded, unable to take his eyes off the burning ruins which had once been the birthplace of a new and free country. He was armed with only a simple shotgun and a basic uniform which would do little to protect him against attack, but it was all that he would need.

'Hopefully this will be over soon,' Gale continued. 'The heavy attack at dawn has caused their forces to scatter, and if we get to them before they can reform then we stand a good chance. If not...well I don't know, but at least we have our secret weapon.' Gale had spoken of this weapon very little. All they knew was that it was a contingency plan, something which they could use if they were backed into a corner. Haymitch didn't really care. He only had one thing on his mind.

Katniss clutched Peeta's hand in hers for a moment beneath the table where they both sat so that no-one else could see. He was the only one who knew how much she feared going back to war, and he was the only person who ever would. Her expression was flawless, betraying not a glimmer of her underlying fear, but holding Peeta's hand in her own kept her strong. It kept her going.

She had her sheath of arrows and bow ready on her back, and a suit made from thin material but one which was moderately resistant to both fire and bullets. Katniss' orders were to find a high spot and fire when she could, keeping moving and not letting the enemy see her. She was too much of a target to fight out in the open but she didn't mind; it was all she could do not to refuse to go in the first place.

Katniss looked at Haymitch. His eyes were almost as void of emotion as hers, but there was still something lying beneath the steely grey. He had suffered, he had fought, but he had no-one to hold his hand even if he wouldn't admit that he wanted someone. It was clear to her now that he didn't just want Effie to be safe, he needed her in order to feel safe himself. She was something that had been missing for his entire life, and just as he had realised what he could have she had been taken away.

Slipping her hand from Peeta's, Katniss walked over to Haymitch as they landed on the deserted streets of the West Capitol.

'You'll find her,' she whispered assuredly.

'I intend to,' he replied.

'Can I tell you something?'

Haymitch nodded.

'She's always liked you.' He snorted as if to laugh at her suggestion.

'I'm serious,' insisted Katniss, 'I could see it in her eyes every time she talked about you, even when she was telling you off. Even back then, when she worked for the Games and escorted us to the Capitol, she would always watch you when you weren't looking and blush if you held her gaze; little things, but important nonetheless.'

'Why are you telling me this?' he asked.

'Because you need to tell her the truth,' Katniss said as the doors began to open and the soldiers disembarked to the sound of burning buildings and gunshots. 'You need to tell her, in case you never get the chance to again, because I know that Effie has always loved you even if you couldn't see it.'

Without giving him the chance to reply, Katniss reached up and kissed his cheek before running from the open door with Peeta. Haymitch didn't know if it was true, or if it was too much to hope for. Did she love him? No, surely not. They had always done nothing but fight, arguing over every little thing; how could she have had any sort of feelings for him? He remembered what he had said to her, the night when he had come so close to hitting her...he owed her. He owed her everything. And that was all he thought about as he began to run.

He ran through broken streets, past houses where families had once lived without a worry and shops where they used to make their living; everything was little more than dust and rubble now. Haymitch could have worried about them, but he couldn't afford to care. He only had one thing on his mind, and he couldn't waste a second of the precious little time he had.

He would tell her. Even if she turned him away, he would have to. Haymitch would tell Effie how he couldn't live without her, how she made his heart ache with happiness. He would tell her how much he loved her.

Xxx

The world was a blur as Haymitch made his way through the back streets of the Capitol, dipping in and out of alleyways as he tried to avoid the worst of the fighting. He heard the sound of gunfire thick in the air as the bombs became quieter and the true battle began. Once or twice he came close, running past a Peacekeeper who grabbed at his gun a second too late; someone shot him in the back before Haymitch had even realised what was going on.

He was aware that time was running short. Haymitch had been searching for more than half an hour, and even when he quickened his pace his need for caution meant that he was wasting time. It seemed to take forever, but when he turned the final corner and saw the small grey building standing before him he didn't give it a second thought.

The two medics he had ordered to follow him had not yet arrived, but Haymitch could not bear to wait another second longer. Knowing that the building would not be heavily guarded, he took his gun in his hand and ran inside.

There was not a single guard to greet him as he opened the door. Not a soldier, not a Peacekeeper...no-one. Haymitch's heart was thumping in his chest, louder than the sound of shouts and gunfire; if there was nobody here, then had they taken Effie somewhere else? Even so, he had to check.

The offices to his left had only recently been vacated, Haymitch noticed, and the surveillance cameras were still running. He looked at them desperately, though none portrayed images of anything more than long corridors and thick steel doors. Aware of the time he was wasting, Haymitch thought quickly. If she was here, then they would have taken her as far down as the building allowed.

Haymitch quickly found the nearest staircase, a small spiral succession of steps which led to the deep unknown, and ran down two steps at a time. The place was eerily silent, as if inhabited only by the ghosts who had never been given the opportunity to leave, and as chilling as a graveyard at twilight. The concrete walls were damp with condensation, and the entire building smelt of mould and decay; it was the stuff of nightmares.

When he reached the very bottom, two or three floors below where he had entered, Haymitch was met by a very long corridor, which was claustrophobically small with only a few thick metal doors lining either side. To his left was the only office on that floor, one which belonged to Gray Freeman; the name alone made Haymitch's blood boil even in the icy chill.

The first two doors he came to were locked, bolted shut, and when he called out he received no reply. Haymitch saw a spatter of blood on the floor, fresh enough to glisten in the dim light of the flickering bulbs hanging overheard, and would not allow his mind to wonder if it was Effie's. The last door he came to was engraved, two letters carved into the metal by someone who had a lot of time to wait and do nothing. ET.

He knew it. He just knew. He could almost sense her presence, as though his heart knew she was there, and it pounded against his ribcage. Haymitch opened the door with ease, glad to find that it was unlocked, and was met with the stench of death. Blood covered the floor, dried and fresh alike, though it was too dark to see the true horrors which lay within that dreaded room.

'Effie,' he screamed, forcing his way through the smell and stumbling forwards, falling to his knees. He received no reply. He never would. The room was empty.

Hope you liked the chapter and please leave a review!

Sneak peak: Haymitch and Effie reunite, but something goes very wrong. Nooka returns, and the Capitol is on the brink of falling.

Hope it was okay, took me a while to write...many times over! Thanks for all your support.