7.

Haymitch's fingers were restlessly drumming on the wheel and it was driving Katniss crazy.

Peeta caught her eyes and looked away fast but it was enough for her to know he shared the sentiment. They were both in the backseat of his SUV, working on cramming pieces of clothes into bottles of liquor. They didn't know how much they would need so they had opted for bringing as many as possible just to be on the safe side.

Katniss tore up strips of cloth and Peeta thrust them into the bottles. They had a good rhythm going on.

The car was rushing past the meadow when their hands accidentally brushed. Katniss didn't pay it any attention but Peeta cleared his throat.

"Everything will be fine." he promised, grabbing her hand with a bit more purpose. "We'll get Prim back."

She caught Haymitch glancing in the rear-view mirror but she didn't understand why he was smirking like that so she ignored him.

She didn't let herself think about Prim too much because she would have gone crazy with worry if she had. She had to believe the plan would work.

"You will be safe." she answered, squeezing his hand. "Just remember the plan. I distract them while Haymitch gets Prim out. The moment they're out, you start tossing."

"And then you get out." he added. "Right?"

"I get out once I'm sure the bitch is dead." she corrected, taking her hand back to give him another piece of cloth.

Haymitch didn't look happy with that either but he didn't say anything. Probably because there wasn't much to say.

Cashmere needed to go down. Not only because she had gone after her sister but because they couldn't let her try to open the Hellmouth. He might not have had time to give a full lecture on it but she wasn't dense enough to not understand it was the kind of mouth that was better left closed.

"Katniss…" Peeta breathed out with entirely too much… She wasn't sure what it was but she found she couldn't look at him anymore. Something was gripping her heart and squeezing it tight. It was confusing and she didn't have time for confusing right now.

Fortunately, that was also the moment Haymitch stopped the car, saving her from the odd tension.

"That's as far as we go with the truck." he announced. "We need to finish on foot. You're sure you know where the cabin is?"

She didn't even bother offering an answer. An old cabin next to the lake deep in the woods… There weren't many and she and Gale had found that one out years ago. They had used it as a hiding place once or twice even. It was a good spot when you wanted to hide from the world. There were only two empty rooms full of dust – and, apparently, vampires.

She took the lead, carrying as many bottle as she could. Haymitch and Peeta followed closely behind her and she couldn't help but cringe at how loud they were being. Haymitch, at least, was making an effort but Peeta was hopeless. Animals could hear them coming from miles away. It was a good thing they hadn't waited until nightfall to attack.

As it was, they reached the cabin without any trouble at all and they all flattened on their bellies at the edge of the clearing to study their surroundings. The cabin was entirely made of planks and was situated on the short amount of flat land between the shore of the lake and the border of the trees. A little too close to the forest for what they had in mind, maybe.

"Try not to start a forest fire." she advised.

"So… No pressure, right?" Peeta joked.

The windows of the cabin were boarded. She wondered if vampires slept during the day or if there was one of them on watch… Most of the ones she had met tended to be stupid so she hoped the ones inside would prove to be of the same variety.

She made sure her bow was ready to use and then she turned toward Haymitch. He had a hard look on his face and she wondered if he would mourn her if she died that day. She hadn't gotten the feeling he was really pleased to be her Watcher. He had treated the whole thing as a chore since the very beginning. How had he put it again?

I've been sent to help you until you kick the bucket and someone other than me draws the lucky ticket to coach the next dead girl to be.

"Don't look so glum, Haymitch." she taunted. "Look on the bright side. If I get myself killed you can go back to drinking full time."

"I don't drink full time." he denied and then rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, I drink full time but I also freelance as a demon hunter when I don't have to play babysitter to arrogant little girls who think they know better than everyone else just because fate flipped them the finger."

"See?" she snorted. "You'll be happier when I'm dead."

"You are a strangely dislikable person." he deadpanned and then softened a little. "But you do have your virtues. Try not to get killed so soon. It'd look bad on my resume."

"Fair enough." She smiled. "Try not to get killed either. If you're the best Watcher they've got, I'm scared of who they're going to send next."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your weird bonding moment but if nobody could get killed, it would be great." Peeta cut in.

"You be careful, boy." Haymitch ordered sternly. "Stay out of troubles."

"Okay." Katniss took a deep breath. "Haymitch? One last advice?"

"Stay alive." he retorted without hesitation.

It was a good one, she decided.

And then she was running.

Haymitch was behind her to her left, much slower than she was. She brought the door down with a powerful kick and she didn't wait for the surprised scream inside to register. There were three vampires in that room, two of them were already smoking from the sunlight. She shot two arrows and they burst into dust, the third one moved at the last moment and she missed the heart. She threw her leg out and sent him flying just when Cato, Cashmere and another of her minions rushed out of the other room, stopping short of the long stripe of light that stretched between her part of the room and theirs.

Another well launched arrow took care of Cato but it also cost her the advantage. The vampire she had missed earlier jumped on her from the side. Her bow clattered to the ground and she fought him out, trying to pull out her stake.

"Go close the door, you idiot!" Cashmere ordered to the other minion.

Katniss wasn't sure what happened next. She thought Haymitch must have made his surprise entrance because there were fighting noises and when she risked a peek, she saw her Watcher slamming a stake through the vampire chest.

It left Cashmere between him and the other room where Prim was presumably hidden…

"Wanna dance, lady?" he taunted, falling into a fighting stance he had tried – and mostly failed – to teach her. "Ain't much into blondes but for you I'm gonna make an exception…"

That wasn't the plan at all.

Her vampire was stubbornly refusing to die - well, to die for good. They traded blows and she herded him toward the streak of sunlight but it was a slow process and Haymitch wasn't fairing well. He had rushed on Cashmere with a war cry and ended up hitting the wall when she swept him off with her arm like an annoying fly. He slid down to the floor and Cashmere lifted him back up by his collar. Her features morphing into her demon face, she opened her mouth...

Katniss couldn't wait anymore. She leaped away from her opponent and tackled the blond vampire. Haymitch fell back down with a thud.

"Get Prim and get out!" she ordered, herding the two vampires away from him.

Cashmere snarled. "I was going to kill you quickly but now I'm going to make it last. I really don't need a Slayer poking in my business…"

Katniss wasn't aware of much past that point. The fight took her whole focus. She took more hits than she gave and she was relying on instinct more than on training. She did glimpse Haymitch rushing back out of the cabin, her sister tossed over his shoulder, but she couldn't tell if she was alive or dead or injured or…

Cashmere's foot sent her flying across the room. She rolled in the dust and came back in a crouch. She spotted her bow a few feet away and leapt in that direction just as the second vampire tried to grab her. A lucky backward hit with her elbow hurled him directly into the narrow pool of sunlight that separated the main room of the cabin in two. He burst into flames and, at first, she thought he was responsible for the sudden explosion.

Then, of course, she realized Peeta must have began the next phase of the plan.

And it was working a little too well.

Flames were catching quickly. Smoke burnt her throat and Katniss dashed toward the front door but Cashmere blocked her path, far much quicker and deadlier than anything else she had ever seen. Far more dangerous than the fire that was raining down on the cabin roof, thanks to Haymitch's liquor stash.

"You think you can stop us?" Cashmere hissed, baring her fangs. "When the others will be here, you will regret this. They will bring Him back. He will rise and may the odds be in your favor then!"

The flames were running up the walls now. The cabin was turning into a deadly trap.

The heat was unbearable, Katniss couldn't help small coughs. Her eyes were watery. She nocked an arrow and let it loose, not entirely surprised when Cashmere simply sidestepped it. The vampire looked mad in the dancing light of the surrounding fire. The flames tossed changing shadows on her skin, her yellow eyes seemed to glow…

"You will all burn." the vampire laughed.

"If we burn…" Katniss retorted, the effect a little lost in the coughing fit. "You burn with us."

She needed to get out and now, the ceiling was about to collapse. Cashmere was blocking her way to the door so she needed another way out. She did the only thing she could think of: she dropped her bow, took a long-run and cannonballed into the wall where the flames were the thickest, shoulder first.

If the wood was as rotten as it had looked, she would be fine.

If it was solid, she was done for.

It turned out that bursting through a wooden wall on fire was painful... But she did go through. She landed badly but rolled with it anyway, ending up on her back in the grass, gulping down air only to cough it out.

"Katniss!" Haymitch called and, before she could try to even think about moving, he was pulling her up. All she could do was try to put one foot in front of the other while he dragged her away from the cabin that was quickly being swallowed by the flames. She heard Cashmere scream but then there was only the sounds of her own blood throbbing in her ears and her Watcher's panting.

He only slowed down once they were in the middle of the woods and only because he tripped on a root. Katniss seized the opportunity to sit down for a second even if she knew they should keep moving because forest fires could move quickly.

"Prim?" she asked once she managed to get her parched mouth to form a coherent sound.

"She's alright. I told the boy to get her to the car and to call the fire station." he explained, offering her a hand. When she simply ignored it, he waved it in front of her face until she let him haul her up again. "You sure like the old school method. Girl on fire."

"Don't call me that…" she grumbled and then coughed some more.

"We need to get you to the hospital." he commented and he sounded worried.

"I'm fine." she lied.

"Sure, you are." he humored her, forcing her good arm around his shoulders so he could support her better. With their height difference, it probably looked ridiculous. It certainly wasn't very efficient.

"I'm sorry you didn't get a better Slayer." she muttered, as they were nearing the car. Her eyelids were drooping, her chest felt very tight and she was pretty sure something was very wrong with her shoulder this time.

He tightened his hold on her. "What?"

"You were disappointed…" she mumbled. "I'm not as good as your other ones…"

"No. Fuck, sweetheart… No." he breathed out. "You've got to understand… My Slayers… They all ended up tributes in a fucking hopeless war… They were heroes. And so are you. And you ain't dying on me right now so quit talking like you are." He was almost completely carrying her by now and she could see the rear-end of Peeta's truck. "You'll be a great Slayer, Katniss. Thing is… I'm a bitter old drunk. I wasn't sure I had it in me to play mentor one more time, that's all."

She didn't ask if he had come to a decision on that point.

Some things were better left unsaid.

"Katniss!"

She caught a glimpse of blond disheveled hair and then her sister was crashing against her and Haymitch, making them both lose their balance.

She blinked and she was lying on the ground, Prim's face hovering over her.

"Little duck…" she whispered but it didn't sound very coherent to her own ears.

She blinked again and Prim was gone. There was only the blue sky above and clouds that looked like the bird on the pin Madge had given her.

"Get her in the car. She needs a doctor and fast." Haymitch was saying.

She blinked and she was cradled against someone's chest. She was in a moving car. It was going fast. Prim's frightened face looked back at her from the passenger front seat. A hand brushed her hair away from her face.

"Hold on." Peeta's voice murmured in her ear. "Hold on. Hold on. Hold on."

She smelt the appetizing scent of bread just taken out of the oven. It was in her head, she thought, but it made her feel safe. Happy. Nothing bad could happen if there was hot bread nearby.

"Katniss. Stay awake." he urged. "Haymitch, go faster."

She let her head roll on his shoulder and she closed her eyes.

The last thing she saw was Prim's lips forming her name.

Prim is aliiiiive! That wasn't a given XD Will Katniss make it? Did you like her attempt at being heroic? Let me know your thoughts!