Prompt : pensez-vous à faire une suite quand il découvre que tout le monde est sauvé sauf Effie et que Portia est exécutée?
Translation : Could you do a sequel when he (Haymitch) finds out everyone is rescued except for Effie and Portia is executed.
Leverage
In the aftermath of Peeta's mad attack and Katniss being rolled to another room on a gurney, Haymitch is torn between his natural instinct to follow the girl and his need to make sure the boy will be alright. He doesn't know what is going on. Plutarch looks just as lost as he is but he is quicker in securing the attention of a doctor and demanding answers that no one in Thirteen can give for certain. Annie is certainly not forthcoming with explanations and Johanna has been taken to surgery.
Meanwhile, Peeta is strapped to a bed, sedated, while Katniss is being seen to and Haymitch doesn't have the slightest idea where to start or what to do. An emergency briefing is called but no one has a clue about what is going on and everyone is talking at the same time, making suggestions and venturing theories.
"My escort?" Haymitch asks Boggs in a low voice.
The soldier simply shakes his head no. "No trace. We didn't hit all the levels. She could have been somewhere else."
Of course, it's the moment Beetee chooses to roll his wheelchair in Command, interrupting the monologue of one of the doctors.
"You will want to see this." Three's victor says.
Haymitch doubts he wants to see anything his friend has to show and he's all the more confident of it when, after a few seconds of Beetee pushing various buttons on a keyboard, the huge screens spread around the room, flare to life with the Capitol's seal.
"They announced it fifteen minutes ago." Beetee explains. "They will execute rebel hostages in retaliation for the victors' abduction."
"Abduction?" Boggs repeats with a frown.
"That's what they're going with." Plutarch explains.
Haymitch tunes them off as soon as he glimpses the first supposed rebel hostage.
"That's Lina." he says quietly. "She's part of Peeta's prep team."
She screams and begs when they put the bag over her head.
"She's Capitol." Plutarch says, his voice strained. "Are they broadcasting this in the Capitol?"
"No." Beetee refutes. "Districts only. It wouldn't do to show Capitols fighting with the rebels, would it?"
There is disgust in Three's victor voice. Haymitch's jaw clenches when someone, off-screen, pulls the trigger. They bring the next hostage. Tio used to try styling Haymitch's hair when he was done with Peeta's. The man looks just as ridiculous as always, purple skin and silver hair, eyes wide and terrified, disbelieving. He doesn't move when they put the bag on his head.
Haymitch wants to look away. He can't.
By the time the third member of the prep team is killed, a religious silence has fallen on Command. He doesn't think anyone in the room truly cares for the Capitols being killed on screen but it is shocking none the less. Fulvia gasps when Portia is dragged in front of the cameras.
The stylist has clearly seen better days, she's bruised and bleeding but she is defiant still and she doesn't flinch when they put the bag on her head. Haymitch's hands clenched into fists but it doesn't stop nor hide the shaking. He knows who they will bring next. He knows.
Plutarch's eyes search for his but he can't look at the Gamemaker. He can't avert his stare from the screen and the collapsing body of Portia.
And he waits.
And he waits.
It's funny how a few seconds can feel like a lifetime. His lungs are burning, there is a lump in his throat and his mouth is parched with the need for a drink. He will need a drink when they bring Effie out. He will need a bottle when they put a bag on her head to hide her pretty face. He will need a barrel when they pull the trigger.
The Capitol seal appears again and Haymitch lets out a long breath that is neither relieved nor reassured. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean they won't kill her in a few hours.
Slowly, the conversations and theories about Peeta's condition start again, coupled with a few suggestions to counter the hostages' execution with propos of their own. Haymitch can't focus on much of anything.
Plutarch pats his shoulder at some point, in an attempt at comfort, but it does nothing to relieve the terror gnawing at his guts. Katniss is fading under the weight of the Mockingjay, Peeta is mad, Effie is gone and Haymitch doesn't know what to do.
He simply doesn't know what to do.