3.

Katniss wasn't hiding in Haymitch's classroom. She had simply made the judicious choice of removing herself from the rest of the school before she killed someone. She had a free period and she didn't want to have to witness another brawl between two boys fighting over a girl or having to get involved because one of the football players thought it was perfectly okay to assault girls in the hallway. One of them had groped Madge that morning and Katniss had almost broken his arm.

She wasn't sure what was happening to boys but they had been even stranger and more annoying than usual for close to a week. Every time she met Gale he made more or less covert remarks about Peeta and every time she met Peeta he asked if she had seen Gale and if she wanted to hang out as if he didn't have dozens of other friends he could spend time with.

Even Madge thought the male population was acting really weird. They had even caught the principal giving flowers to his assistant.

"I've been trying to reach her for a week." Haymitch snapped. He had been on the phone when she had come in but she had still taken a seat, figuring that if he wanted privacy he would tell her so. As far as she could tell, he had been kept on hold for a while. "Look, I want to talk to Mags Cohen. She ain't answering her phone at home. I know you keep track of your Watchers… If she's missing…"

On the phone with the Council, then. Katniss propped her head on her hand and watched him get more and more agitated, wondering if she should get a headstart on her homework because after school there would be training and patrolling and she wasn't really keeping on top of the grade situation. Not that she cared much. There were more important things in life. Like making sure Prim had everything she needed and that the vampire population remained under check.

"What do you mean she ain't missing?" he spat. "She's eighty. Don't tell me you sent her out on a mission at eighty?" He paused for a long time and then snorted. "Yeah, good. Get President Coin on the line. Finally. I've just been asking for twenty minutes." He glared at the phone and then looked back at her. "They've put me on hold again."

"Who's Mags Cohen?" she asked.

He hesitated and then shrugged, bringing the phone back against his ear. "She used to be a Watcher. She's a very good friend of mine. And I wanted some information…" He placed his hand on the mouthpiece, which seemed a bit overkill since he was on hold anyway, and frowned at her. "You're avoiding the new Art teacher like I told you, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. For a whole week she had been making unnecessary detours while stealing a peek at the woman every time she could get away with it. She didn't really see what the big deal was because the woman wasn't a vampire and she looked harmless – and totally ridiculous, she spoke loud, laughed a lot and twirled her hands in the air when she talked in a theatrical way. And that was without mentioning the clothes. She was always wearing at least one item in a blinding bright color. "Ever gonna tell me why I'm avoiding her?"

Haymitch studied her for a while and then shrugged. "Training exercise."

That was a lie and she scowled at him. She didn't like being manipulated or lied to. "You…"

"Yeah, I'm here." he suddenly said into the phone. "Yeah, Alma, I know there's a time difference. Sorry for your tea time." He didn't sound sorry at all. "I can't get a hold on Mags." A pause and then an angry expression twisted his features. "You really think I need a reason to want to talk to Mags? I check in with her every other week, it ain't normal I can't reach her." There was a long pause and then anger turned to worry. "What do you mean a stroke? Why didn't anyone call me?" Next thing Katniss knew, he was on his feet and pacing the length of the room, almost growling into his cell phone. "I'm her fucking next of kin! And why didn't Finnick call me, then? I've got a right to…" He abruptly shut up and then rubbed his neck. "How bad is it? I could catch a plane tonight…" More silence on his part then. "Yeah. Right. I know I can't leave my Slayer alone, thanks. Okay. No, everything's fine here, we don't need any help. Tell Finnick to call me or I'm gonna strangle him next time I see him."

He cut the call off and tossed the phone on his desk but he didn't stop his pacing.

"Is your friend alright?" Katniss asked. A stroke sounded bad.

"Stable." he grumbled. "Once I get a hold on that little peacock, though… Last week and nobody called me yet?"

She had never seen him that agitated. He wasn't really forthcoming about his past and she never pried because… She understood wanting to keep some things close to one's chest. She wouldn't have liked people asking questions about her parents, her sister or her home life and she appreciated that Haymitch never directly inquired about it. Oh, he had ways of figuring out what he wanted to know, of course, but he never confronted her about that stuff. He gave her her space and she was grateful for that.

Still, she was a little curious. "Finnick's your brother?"

He had mentioned a brother once and if that Mags was his next of kin… Well, it wasn't a huge leap to take.

Haymitch stopped pacing and stood frozen, as if she had struck him.

"My brother's dead, sweetheart." he said quietly. "Finnick's… a close friend."

His voice was calm but she could tell he was anything but. His tone was too controlled, too neutral… Haymitch was hardly ever neutral. Sarcasm was his default answer to everything and anger a close second behind that. When he wasn't sarcastic or angry, he was bitter. Neutral was… bad.

"Like Mags?" she hesitated.

She wasn't the only hesitant one. They were on treacherous ground, here.

They weren't in a habit of exchanging confidences like that.

"Yeah, a bit." he finally offered. Another beat of silence and then he licked his lips and started toward the window, turning his back on her. "Mags raised me. My house… It was hers. She gave it to me when my first Slayer was called. Maysilee."

The way he said it was odd, a little dreadful, as if he was waiting for her to connect some dots. He had been raised by a Watcher…. He had said he had known seven Slayers in all but only trained five, herself not included… Were the two Slayers Mags had been responsible for the Slayers in question? But how had Haymitch ended up raised by a Watcher?

"Look, if you want to go to England, you should. I can deal with vampires by myself for a few days." she offered. What was the worst that could happen? The rumor that there was a Slayer in town had started to spread anyway, vampires were being a little more careful. Lately, on patrol, she mostly found fledglings or very reckless ones.

He turned around and stared at her, his arms folded in front of his chest almost as if he was hugging himself in a weird display of vulnerability. He seemed to be considering it, which told her that Watcher was really important to him because she was pretty sure nothing else would have dragged him away from his duty.

He might always joke about it and claim he had never wanted to get another Slayer but he was as dedicated to being her Watcher as could be. At least when he wasn't drinking himself into a stupor – that had happened twice so far as she knew of and, to be fair, he hadn't been expecting her to show up either time.

She wasn't sure what he would have said if Peeta hadn't barged into the classroom right at that moment, looking out of breath.

"Ah good! You're here!" he exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Have you heard about Woof?"

Haymitch rolled his eyes. "What has he lost now?"

Katniss smiled although she tried not to. Mr Woof was always losing stuff – his marker, his car keys, the solution to his math problems… He was a bit old and the question of his retirement was a recurring joke.

"His clothes." Peeta deadpanned, looking at her and Haymitch in turn.

"Good for him." Haymitch snorted. "That makes one of us."

That was a piece of information she hadn't needed and she glared at him.

"And his heart." Peeta added with a cringe.

Haymitch made a face. "Tell me this is a figure of speech."

"I wish." he answered softly. "It's all over the school. They found him in his classroom. The police is about to take the body away. I couldn't get close enough to see if there were bite marks on his neck."

Haymitch scowled and then bitterly snorted. "Guess this settles that. Ain't going anywhere, Katniss." Then he strode toward the door and Katniss automatically bolted out of her chair to follow, Peeta falling into steps next to her. Haymitch kept mumbling to himself. "Wouldn't be bite marks… That ain't a vampire M.O."

"Then what?" Katniss frowned. She struggled to keep up with him, the corridors were crowded with curious students and Haymitch had to bark three times for them to go back to their respective classroom before they managed to get through.

"Demon. Cult. A serial killer. Your guess is as good as mine until I can get my eyes on the body." he muttered.

It occurred to her that it was where they were headed: to see Mr Woof's body and she stopped dead in her tracks. She liked her Math teacher. She didn't want to see him naked or heartless or dead.

There was a small group of people in front of Woof's classroom. Heavensbee, some police officers in uniforms and a couple of teachers…

Peeta had noticed her hesitation but Haymitch hadn't. Not that it mattered much anyway because she didn't see how they were going to sneak into a crime scene to get a peek at the body…

"Stay back." Haymitch murmured. "I'll try to get a closer look."

"There were a lot more cops earlier." Peeta explained in a low voice. "I think there are only those two left."

They watched Haymitch approach the group with a – fake or not, it was hard to tell with him – concerned expression on his face. He was welcomed into the group easily enough. Miss Tigris was sobbing and Heavensbee was awkwardly trying to comfort her, greeting Haymitch with something akin to relief… There was a lot of talking between the teachers and the cops…

All in all, it was lucky Miss Trinket erupted in hysterics at that moment because, otherwise, Katniss didn't see how Haymitch would have managed to go in and out of the room undetected. Lucky for them, Trinket's breakdown seemed to last just long enough for him to slip in and out without being noticed.

"Do you think she's alright?" Peeta worried. "I hope she's alright…"

Katniss took a look at the woman and decided she simply liked having the spotlight directed at her. She really didn't see why Haymitch didn't want her to go anywhere near her.

It took Haymitch ten more minutes to extract himself from the group and walk back down to them. He didn't look happy but, then again, he had just peeked at the dead body of someone he was used to meeting every day in the staff room.

"Someone clawed his heart out. I'm gonna say demons." he sighed, looking grim. "We're gonna need to hit the books."

"Can I help?" Peeta immediately asked.

Haymitch seemed to hesitate but Katniss rolled her eyes.

"He's just going to show up anyway." she told her Watcher. "And he's good at research."

Peeta beamed at her and it was Haymitch's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay. Fine."

"I'll bring donuts." Peeta declared

"A little less cheer, kid." her Watcher chided. "There's still a dead body." He paused for a second and then added. "Grab some of those chocolate croissants you brought on patrol the other night if you can, yeah? Those were good."

°O°O°O°O°

Katniss was turning into a promising fighter but she was hopeless when it came down to research.

Haymitch had her practicing knife tossing in a corner of the library just so he wouldn't have to listen to her sigh over dusty books any longer. He was also keeping an eye on the clock. With something that ate hearts on the loose, they would need to patrol extra hard that night. He was toying with the thought of separating to cover more ground but he didn't like the idea of leaving Katniss without backup.

Or at least a backup who wasn't a sixteen year-old boy without any demon fighting training but who seemed to be a fixed addition to their future. It was odd being three. Watcher and Slayer, that was how it worked usually, although Haymitch's experience had never really followed that pattern… First there had been him and his brother and Mags, and then there had been him, Mags and Mabel… He and Maysilee had worked in close quarters with a warlock for quite a while… It had been a tandem with both Alina, Cecelia and Jo but, of course, with Annie there had been Finnick…

Thinking about Finnick made him think about Mags and he shut down that train of thought quickly enough. The younger Watcher had yet to call him back and worrying about it… Worrying about it wouldn't bring him anything.

He washed that thought down with a gulp of his flask, ignoring Peeta's disapproving blue eyes. Katniss didn't seem to mind his drinking habits much but the boy had that judgmental spark in his eyes every time he drank some liquor in front of him. Mostly, Haymitch tried to ignore him. When Peeta had buried as many people as he had and seen as many horrors as he did, he could come and judge him all he liked. Until then, Haymitch would keep on drinking. Besides, he was sober enough. He always stayed sober enough when his Slayer needed him.

He closed the Maleficum and dragged Hellish Beasts And Other Demons toward him, hoping he would have more luck there.

For a while, the only sounds in the library were the regular noise of Katniss' knives hitting the target. She tossed the knives, retrieved them, tossed them, retrieve them… A weird clock in herself.

"I think I got it." Peeta said suddenly. Haymitch looked up and Katniss left her practice to swiftly join them around the big round table. The boy turned the book around so they could both see the not so nice illustrations.

"Gross." Katniss cringed when she saw the pictures. The demon didn't look nice and what it was doing to those people was even less so.

"Succubus…" Haymitch read out loud, taking the book from the kid's hands. Yeah, that could fit the pattern… He had never seen one himself in all those years. They were rare.

"They say it's a demon who can look human outside of feeding times." the boy summed up. "They go on a feeding spree once every few years. The succubus preys on men and tears their hearts out during coitus."

"Coitus?" Katniss wrinkled her nose.

"It means sex." Peeta helpfully offered.

"I know what it means, it's just… Disgusting." she replied. "So what? This demon just shows up and…"

"She seduces her victims." Haymitch cut her off, his eyes skimming the text. "When the feeding period begins, her pheromones tend to make the general male population around her obsessed with sex… More than usual, at least."

"Explains why all the boys have been acting crazy." she commented, looking at them suspiciously. "But… Wouldn't you two have noticed? Why didn't you say anything?"

He and Peeta exchanged a look. A look was all it took to confirm they had both probably been hornier than usual lately. Men didn't need to discuss those things.

At least, it explained some things. Like why he had been feeling like a teenager again. His hand had been cramping from all the wet dreams he had been having.

"At least Woof died happy. Poor man." he muttered.

"How do we kill it?" Katniss asked, bringing the conversation back on track. She was also tossing them disappointed glances as if she had been expecting much better from both of them.

"Pretty much everything will do…" he answered, after having looked the text over again. "Wouldn't go with just a bow though… Better bring knives too, to be safe."

"Great." she deadpanned but she also looked impatient for battle. Vampire activity had been slow lately and the thrill of a fight was in a Slayer's blood.

"But how do we find the succubus?" Peeta asked. "If she looks human, it could be anyone…"

That stalled them all for a second until Haymitch figured it out and snorted.

"I'm a fucking idiot." he spat.

"Nobody is going to dispute that…" Katniss muttered under her breath.

He shot her a glare but leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "I knew there was something weird about that woman… Thought she was a spy from the Council, that's why I was trying to reach Mags…"

But maybe it had just been his instincts warning him and his current paranoia about Coin's policies had clouded his judgment. What had she said? That she had come back to the States to be closer to her family? When her family lived in Los Angeles? It was probably the Hellmouth that she wanted to get closer to.

"Who?" Katniss frowned and then realized. "The Art teacher? That's why you wanted me to avoid her?"

"Miss Trinket?" Peeta cut in with a desolate face. "But she's so nice… There's no way she can be a demon. I mean…"

"Think about it, boy." Haymitch rebuked. "I don't know about you but for me the whole horny-thing started the day she arrived. And, like I said, she's fishy. Besides she's…"

He let his sentence trail off but he could tell from Peeta's expression that he didn't need to finish it.

"She's what?" Katniss insisted, apparently not on the same wavelength.

Hot. Beautiful. Sexy. Feisty enough to be interesting. Take your pick.

"She looks like a sex demon would look if she was human." he said as diplomatically as he could.

It took almost a whole minute for Katniss to decipher that one. And then she scoffed. "You think she's attractive."

He shrugged. "Sweetheart, demon or not, she is attractive."

"And you think so too?" The question was directed straight at Peeta with the velocity of one of her arrows and the boy almost ducked behind one of the pile of books.

E tu, Brute, Haymitch couldn't help but think with a smirk.

"She's… She's…" Peeta stuttered to a stop and turned toward Haymitch. "How do we check for sure she's a demon? It's just… She's really nice."

"Yeah, right until she fucks the heart out of you." he snorted.

Katniss made another disgusted face. "Peeta's got a point. I can't just go killing her if she's not a demon."

"You think?" He rolled his eyes. "It's fine. I'll be bait. When she turns into an ugly demon, you can come to the rescue."

"You'll be bait." Katniss repeated dubiously.

"Are you sure?" Peeta said, just as dubiously.

He lifted an eyebrow at the kid. "What? You want to do it?"

It was mostly a rhetorical question because there was no way Haymitch would have let him do it but the boy still took a second too long to refuse. And his blue eyes darted to Katniss before coming back on him, his cheeks a little red.

"No. Obviously not." the kid mumbled. "And she's not that attractive anyway. I mean…"

Katniss' expression was dark and Haymitch chuckled.

"Quit while you're ahead, boy." he advised wisely. "Alright. We've got a plan, that's good."

"How are you going to play bait when we don't know where she lives?" Katniss asked. "Do you know where she lives?"

"Do I look like a fucking phone book to you?" he scoffed.

"The school." Peeta said. "I mean… They'd have her address on record, right? If we can get into Cardew or Heavensbee's computer…"

Haymitch checked his watch again. It was late enough that the high school would be empty or close to it. He shrugged. "Well… It's been a while since I last broke in somewhere."

Of course, it was never that easy.

There is a succubuuuuus! Did you enjoy this chapter? Is the school outing going to work out? What do you think will happen? Let me know your thoughts!