6.

Haymitch's mood hadn't improved by the time Trinket handed him a cup of coffee at the talent show rehearsal the next day.

"I do hope Katniss can carry a tune or this will be a complete disaster." she sighed.

They were standing at the back of the auditorium, watching the kids set up. The show would be taking place the following night and they were out of time for everything that wasn't figuring out who had summoned the wish demon. They hadn't found its tracks the previous night but there had been another body in the morgue that morning – he had checked.

"Better hope she can find out the culprit." he countered, his grey eyes traveling over the various groups of students.

Trinket pursed her lips and took a sip of her own cup of coffee, observing them too.

"Peeta almost spent the night in his car last night." she said very casually.

That caught his attention and he frowned at her. "What?"

She didn't turn her head toward him, she kept on watching the kids. "He did not volunteer details but you might want to make it clear to him you are not angry with him to the point you would ever refuse him shelter should he need it again."

"I ain't angry with him, really." he denied. He had been furious the previous day and he had taken it out on everyone – Katniss and Trinket had complained about it a lot during patrol – but the one he really was angry with was Hawthorne. Angry but not surprised. He should have seen it coming. "Shit, he was really gonna sleep in his car? You took him home, right?"

She spared him an annoyed glance. "Of course, I took him home. I was not about to leave him in the streets. I told him he was welcomed back tonight if he needed a place to stay but he claims he will be going home."

"We're gonna need to check he does." Haymitch pointed out, rubbing his face. "Or that he finds somewhere else, at least. He can't sleep outside. Ain't safe." He downed half of the tepid coffee. "Speaking of safe… I want you to be careful with Hawthorne."

The fact that that stupid ill-conceived half-cooked plan of his had involved tossing the Slayer's line back on Trinket hadn't been lost on him. Neither had his hatred of magic and, right then, in the teenager's very limited scope of the occult world, Trinket was the embodiment of that.

"Are you implying I cannot hold my own against a child, Haymitch?" she retorted. She sounded amused but there was a touch of irritation underneath it.

"I'm implying anyone can take a knife in the back and not see it coming until it's digging deep, sweetheart." he countered, reaching for her arm and giving it a squeeze. "Look… I just… Be careful, that's all I'm asking. The kid ain't taking this whole thing very well and I don't think he considers you to be totally human."

Her features were schooled in a neutral expression that soon turned into her usual bubbly mask. "Do I detect concern? Am I growing on you, Haymitch?" A wicked grin stretched her lips and she leaned a little closer. "Or is it this nasty little illness again?"

He felt his mouth stretch into an answering smirk. "Nasty's the right word, Princess."

"Is it now?" she teased. "I can do nasty."

He chuckled. He couldn't help himself. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Cook." she deadpanned.

He didn't think she was entirely joking. Before he could do something foolish – like offer to be the judge of that or maybe offer to cook for her just to rub her nose in the fact that he could – Glimmer approached them with a haughty sneer on her face.

"Miss Trinket, when are you going to fill in the last act?" the girl demanded more than she asked. "The show is tomorrow."

"I already filled it." Trinket answered in a sweet innocent tone. "Katniss will be singing."

"Katniss?" Glimmer almost choked on the name. "Are you kidding?"

"I am afraid not." She smiled and offered a small shake of her head. "Wait until you hear her sing. It is divine." Under her breath and for his benefit alone, she added. "I hope."

Glimmer stormed away in a rage.

"We both know she's the one, yeah?" Haymitch asked after a few seconds.

"Naturally." she hummed. "I thought we were waiting to see if the children would figure it out by themselves. Weren't we?"

"Yeah." he confirmed, finishing the last of his coffee. As long as nobody else got hurt and if they worked it out before the end of rehearsals, before the demon attacked someone else. "You've got the counterspell ready?"

"I already gave it to Peeta." she huffed, vexed. "Who do you take me for? A beginner?"

They would also have to find a way to get the culprit to read the counterspell so the demon was sent back where it came from. All in all, it should be a lesson for Katniss. He couldn't always give her the answers. She had to learn to figure it out.

It didn't mean he wouldn't be ready to intervene if things went wrong.

He didn't ask why she had given the spell to Peeta instead of Katniss. She probably hoped the kids would talk it out and make up. He kind of hoped the same.

"I hate girls like her." Trinket sighed, her eyes tracking Glimmer's progress through the room.

It was a good thing he had finished his coffee because he would have choked on it. "What? Blond, beautiful, arrogant and bitchy with a liking for magic?"

His mocking tone must have clued her in because she narrowed her eyes at him, tilted her head to better glare and then stormed away with a huff in the exact same way Glimmer had just done, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention and get that last rehearsal on the road.

Haymitch remained where he was and kept smirking.

Oh, but she was hot when she was annoyed. And annoying her was fun.

°O°O°O°O°

Katniss twisted her hands one way and then the other, wishing for her bow and something to kill. Everyone backstage was looking at her, some of them were glaring, and while she refused to do anything else but jut her chin up and glare right back, it was unnerving. She didn't want to walk out on that stage and she didn't want to sing. It had been years since she had last sung. Since her father's death.

She had never really sung in public except perhaps in kindergarten and she had had no intention of ever doing it.

"Hey."

She glanced at Peeta and immediately felt the need to redo her shoelace if only to waste time before confronting him. She was wearing one of the pair of pants she had hauled out of Effie's throw-away boxes and they were a little snug on her. She spared half a second to hope it wouldn't burst at the seams but with her luck…

Peeta let out a small sigh. "Katniss, please… I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she snapped, aggressively redoing the knot on her boot.

Peeta hesitated, ran a hand in his hair… "I had… have stuff going on. I know it's no excuse, it's just… You and Gale looked like you had everything under control and… I don't know. I felt like I should keep my distance. And then, he talked to me about this stupid idea and I wasn't sure if you knew or not… I wasn't sure how to tell you about it."

She stood up and took a good look at him, noticing for the first time the dark bags under his eyes and the way he kept on nervously tugging on his sleeves. Peeta didn't really look good and it tugged at her heartstrings.

It wasn't really Peeta's fault if Gale had been behaving like an ass, no matter how pissed off she was in general. Unlike Gale, Peeta had always done what she had told him to on patrol and had never tried to put himself between her and a monster – not because he didn't care for her safety but because he trusted her to take care of things. He had never implied she couldn't do her job or made her feel like she was somehow abnormal for wanting to do the best she could…

"Okay." she accepted.

"Yeah?" Peeta asked hopefully. "So… We're good?"

"We're good." she confirmed. "But don't hide something like that from me again."

"I promise." he smiled. And that smile made all the difference. It seemed to transform his whole face. Suddenly, the exhaustion that had clung to his features faded. He took a step toward her, a little hesitant, his arms opening… He stopped there, not quite sure if the hug was welcomed or not. That was something she appreciated. Not being forced into it.

Katniss wasn't much of a hugger but she rolled her eyes and humored him anyway, surprising herself by relaxing in his embrace.

"I'm sorry too." she admitted tentatively. "I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that."

"It's fine. Don't worry." he promised.

She hadn't planned on the hug lasting more than a couple of seconds but it lingered. Right until Glimmer loudly scoffed behind them.

"You're making a mistake, Peeta." the girl warned. "You think she's special? She's just a good-for-nothing rat."

Peeta stepped back and glared at his former friend. "Jealousy makes you look green, Glimmer."

"I thought that was envy." Katniss remarked, once the other girl had stormed back to where Marvel was watching with his arms crossed. The insult slid off her. She had faced worse than Glimmer in the last couple of months.

"Katniss, if you would?" Effie's high-pitched voice called from the audience.

She sighed.

"You'll be great." Peeta said, with such confidence that it made her feel a lot better.

She took a deep breath and slipped past the red dusty curtains that separated the stage from the backstage area. It was blinding up there, spots in her eyes, the hush of all the other kids sitting on the plastic chairs, waiting for their turn to rehearse and looking bored…

"No accompanist?" Effie asked. Katniss shook her head no. If she was doing this, she would be doing it by herself. The Art teacher didn't look convinced and tossed a glance at Haymitch who shrugged and smirked in encouragement at his Slayer. The witch pursed her lips but forced a smile. "Very well, then. In your own time."

In her own time would be preferably never.

She took a deep breath and went for the first few notes of Deep In The Meadow.

Nothing came out.

Not a sound.

She gripped her throat, tried to speak, started coughing…

"Dear, are you alright?" Effie asked in a worried tone.

She tried to answer, she did, but her voice was gone.

"She choked." Glimmer called out from the audience, triggering a round of laughter from her friends. "That's why you don't give the star spot to amateurs."

Katniss was so busy glaring at her that she startled when Peeta's hand grabbed her shoulder. She lifted her arm to hit him and only aborted the move at the last second when she recognized him. She felt strangely vulnerable up on that stage, her throat scratchy for no good reason. She tried to talk again, she tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Peeta's thumb was running soothing circles on her shoulder, his blue eyes on Glimmer.

"You know what? She's been after the star spot since the beginning of the week…" he whispered slowly. "You don't think…"

She shot another look at Glimmer and now that he said it she really did think it.

That witch.

She started heading toward the narrow steps that led down the stage and into the audience but Peeta held her back. "Wait, wait… We need proof. We can't just accuse her without proof. She must have a magic book or something."

"Katniss?" Effie insisted in a tight voice. "Are you singing or do you need a minute?"

Katniss waved her off angrily and stormed back downstage, barely listening as Glimmer volunteered to take her place. Of course.

Gale immediately descended on her from where he had been hovering toward the back of the set, his arm still strapped against his chest. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

She hoped her glare was answer enough.

Peeta winced. "Look, I know you want to help…"

"Oh, you know, right?" Gale sneered. "Don't think I won't get you back for yesterday. You threw me under the bus to make yourself look good and you know it."

Katniss really didn't feel like being ignored right at that moment. She stepped in between them and shoved Gale back, careful of the injured arm and her strength. It didn't physically hurt him but pain passed on his face all the same.

You're the one who screwed up, she wanted to shout so badly.

She deliberately turned her back on him, hoping the message would go through clearly enough, and stared at Peeta, lifting her eyebrows in question. It was a long minute before the boy stopped looking over her shoulder to meet her eyes.

"Okay. Where would a girl hide a book she doesn't want anyone else to see?" he asked. She shrugged her ignorance and he made a face. "She must have it here, right? I mean… I guess she could keep it at home but it all started here with Livia so… Think. Where do you hide your Slayer stuff? Your bag?"

She only used her bag to carry her textbooks and her school stuff. Sometimes dead rabbits or birds if she went to hunt in the woods – something she hadn't indulged in for far too long.

With her hands, she mimed a door opening and closing.

"Her locker!" he exclaimed after a few seconds and then nodded. "Yes. Yes. Let's check that."

He grabbed her hand and tugged her along despite the fact she was perfectly capable of following him by herself. She was temporary mute, not deficient.

The hallways were empty, which suited them just fine. Peeta guided her to the right locker and then looked left and right while she discreetly broke the lock and tear the door open. There were a lot of glittery stuff in there but no matter how much she rummaged through the contents, she couldn't find any magic book.

"What are you doing?" Glimmer shrieked, heading straight toward them, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor just as aggressively as Effie's always did. "That's it! I'm going to talk to Heavensbee about you! You thief!"

Her big black purse was dangling from her arm and Katniss' eyes narrowed. The fact that she didn't use her bag to hide her stuff didn't mean other girls didn't. She shot straight at her and Glimmer shrieked again – in fear this time. She snatched the bag and upturned it on the floor. School books, tampons, pencils, a pink-cased phone and a lot of knick-knacks scattered on the ground. Katniss dove for the books, checking they were really textbooks and not spellbooks in disguise.

"We know it was you." Peeta accused, distracting the gaping girl from Katniss' search. "You summoned a wish demon."

"I summoned a what?" Glimmer repeated, clearly baffled. Then she rolled her eyes and pushed Katniss away, crouching down to toss everything back into her purse, glaring at her all the while. "I don't know if this magic stuff is the latest fashion where you come from but let me tell you it's so retro it's lame. First Marvel, then you…"

"What?" Peeta frowned. "Marvel?"

Glimmer rolled her eyes again. "He was all about that book he found at that antic store his mother dragged him to last week. So lame. Do I look like I have time for this childish games?" She glared at Katniss. "I'm not done with you. I will report you."

Katniss rolled her eyes. Report away, she thought. She looked up at Peeta who nodded. The coincidence was too big.

"Where's Marvel now?" he asked.

Glimmer snorted. "Why? You want to break into his locker and upturn his bag too?" She waved it off, as if she was entirely bored with the conversation now – which she probably was. She headed up to her locker, scowled when she realized the door was broken, and eventually located a lipstick inside that she started applying on her lips. That was probably why she had come over there in the first place. "He said he wanted to work out."

One look and she and Peeta were running toward the gym. Katniss hesitated only a second in front of the boys' locker room before barging in after Peeta. Lucky for her, Marvel was already wearing shorts and was slipping a tee-shirt over his head – there were things she didn't want to see.

She shot past Peeta, grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall of lockers.

"What the…" he spat.

Then he tried to shrug her off.

Good luck with that, she thought with satisfaction,

Slayer against regular teenager boy, no matter how strong, wasn't an even match.

"What the fuck!" Marvel snapped. "Mellark, get your watchdog off me! Freak!"

"What were you thinking, Marvel?" Peeta snapped, right back, heading straight to the still open locker. He rummaged through clearly dirty clothes and came up empty-handed. "Where's the book?"

"What book?" the other boy challenged.

Katniss slammed him against the wall again. Not too hard but hard enough to bruise.

"She means the magic book." Peeta replied. "You know? The one you just used to steal her voice?"

Marvel glanced at her, a glint of fear in his eyes, but it was Peeta he was really looking at, as if she wasn't the serious threat in the room. "Come on, man… That's bull, you know. It's just for fun. Don't tell me you believe…" She really wasn't that nice when she slammed him against the lockers for the third time. "Okay, okay! It's in my bag!"

It took Peeta a few second to locate the bag and then upturn it like Katniss had done with Glimmer's. Eventually, he lifted up a thin black book in triumph and wedged it into the back pocket of his jeans tugging a piece of paper from his other pocket.

"You have to read the counterspell." Peeta commanded. "And you better mean it if you don't want the demon to come and pop your head off."

"You're crazy." Marvel spat. "Demons don't exist. It's just…"

"So you didn't wish Livia had warts and Fanny would break her leg and you didn't wish Katniss lost her voice?" he mocked.

Katniss would have growled if she had been able to produce sound.

"It's just crazy coincidences, man." Marvel shook his head, battling at her wrists. She didn't loosen her grip. "Glimmer wanted the last spot so bad… But I didn't do anything. It was just for fun…"

Katniss glanced at Peeta and rolled her eyes, nodding at Marvel so he would get a move on.

"Read the counterspell." Peeta urged, holding the piece of paper in front of his eyes.

Marvel stuttered the required sentences in what sounded like a very approximate Latin to Katniss' ears. She felt the rush of something she was starting to associate to magic a second after he was done. She took a deep breath and growled. This time, her voice worked.

"Asshole." she spat. Just because she could.

"Bitch." Marvel replied without missing a beat, a sneer on his lips.

She didn't even feel the slightest bit bad when she knocked him off. She was just careful not to hit hard enough to leave lasting damages.

"Won't you get in trouble?" Peeta winced.

"You think he is going to tell around that he got his ass kicked by a girl?" she scoffed, leading the way out of the locker room. "What is it with boys who think girls can't do stuff by themselves? I don't like Glimmer much but I don't think she'd be happy to get the star spot just because her boyfriend handed it to her."

"Boys can be stupid when they like a girl." Peeta sighed and, because she tossed him a suspicious glance, he added. "I guess."

"Boys can be very stupid alright." she snorted. "Do you think Gale will try something?"

Worry pierced through her despite her best effort. Haymitch had ranted long and hard enough the previous night on patrol for her to figure out any attempts at removing her powers would backfire spectacularly.

"I don't know." Peeta hesitated. "We could try to talk to him. Explain again. But… Maybe not with Haymitch present."

Haymitch really wanted to strangle him and she couldn't blame him.

The thing was… She had explained things to Gale until she was blue in the face. She didn't think anything else she could say would make a difference.

"He really was looking into a way to get rid of my powers?" she insisted, still disbelieving.

Not being the Slayer… She didn't remember what it felt like. She had been miserable before Haymitch had walked into her life. Despite the vampires, despite the destiny and the limited lifespan… Now, she had enough money to take care of Prim like her sister should be taken care of, her mother had a good doctor and she was doing a little better, she had a purpose… And she had Haymitch. It was new and she was still getting used to the idea that she could plainly rely on someone, but she trusted Haymitch more than she had trusted any other adult in a very long time. She had made new friends, good friends…

What did she have before? Evenings spent roaming the woods in hope of catching dinner so her sister didn't go to bed with only cereals in her belly? She had only been able to rely on Gale then and maybe that was what the other boy couldn't stomach. Now she didn't need him as much anymore.

Being the Slayer might have been a curse for some but for her… For her it hadn't been all bad.

As long as Prim remained safe and happy, she could deal with anything.

"I'm sorry." Peeta offered again.

They were reaching the auditorium and she shook her head. It really wasn't his fault.

She joined Haymitch at the back of the room. Her Watcher looked ready to bash his head against the wall if only it would take him out of there quicker. He brightened up a little when he spotted them. "So?"

"So, it's taken care of." she answered and he smirked.

"Glimmer, right?" he asked.

"Marvel." Peeta corrected.

"Yeah?" Haymitch's eyebrows shot up. "Didn't see that one coming."

"Apparently the school is full of boys who know better than girls what is good for them." Katniss deadpanned.

"Hear, hear." Effie sighed, joining them. "Is it done?" They caught her up and she beamed. "Very well done, dears. Isn't it very well done, Haymitch?"

He rolled his eyes but humored her by patting Katniss on the head. She batted his hand away with a glare. She wasn't a dog.

"Good job, girl." he praised anyway. Then, his eyes fell on Peeta who had been avoiding his gaze and generally looked very ill-at-ease. "You too, boy. So, you're back on the team full time or what? I need help with the research."

Peeta's smile, Katniss decided, could have lit up the whole room. She flushed a little as she thought that and cleared her throat.

"Alright." Effie declared, her voice rising up a notch in excitement. "Now that this is settled… Katniss, you are up next. Warm up."

"What?" Katniss asked, a little strangled. "But it's over! I don't need…"

"I am still missing a star act." The Art teacher dismissed, placing her hands on her shoulders and steering her toward the stage. "Think of it as a reward. You earned it."

"Earned it?" she screeched, twisting her head to look at Haymitch and Peeta, pleading for help. Neither of them moved. Cowards.

Effie wouldn't listen to her well-funded objections and she wasn't happy until she was up on the stage.

She also had the nerves to tell her not to scowl because it would give her wrinkles.

so it wasn't Glimmer after all ;) Next week we have a talent show and show overdue conversations! Let me know your thoughts!