And we start the 8th and last episode of the first season... I hope you enjoy it!

What you Sow

1.

Katniss was transfixed by the stranger and, if Peeta hadn't grabbed her arm and pulled her back, she would have remained there, vulnerable. He could have pulled out a stake and stab her straight to the heart with it and she still wouldn't have moved.

"Cancel that compulsion spell, right now." Effie's voice thundered behind her.

She turned in time to see the witch barreling down the stairs, Haymitch slower behind her but armed with a hunting knife. Prim and Madge were hugging each other at the top of the stairs.

Effie was a sight. She was wearing the frayed washed-out blue shirt Haymitch used for sleeping sometimes and not much else. Her hair was curling all around her head in a wild disheveled mane, her face was hard, focused, and the fireball in her hand seemed to burn brighter than usual.

For the second time that week and despite what the woman herself had to say about it, Katniss thought she would have made a good Slayer.

The stranger's eyes stopped on her with some amusement before moving behind them to the Watcher only wearing hastily pulled on sweatpants.

How impressive their little team must have looked, Katniss mused, with half of them half-dressed and dazed… She was calm despite the imminent danger, despite the fact that her sister was right there in the open, despite Peeta's fingers digging hard in her upper arm to prevent her from going right back to the man…

"Haymitch." the stranger said with a nod and a small smile.

"I won't say it again." Effie growled.

"Calm down." Haymitch ordered, reaching for her shoulder.

He had relaxed, Katniss noticed. But maybe he was under a spell too. Like her. She was certain she was under a spell. She might not have any particular talent to sense magic, not the way Haymitch and Peeta seemed to be able to, but she knew herself well enough to know she should have been panicking right about now. And kicking asses.

"Remove that spell, now." Effie repeated, moving her free hand in the air. She murmured something in a weird language with harsh consonants and a shimmering blue wall flickered to life in front of her.

A shield of some sort.

The man was now examining her. "I suppose the protection wards on the Village are your work, then? Impressive." He took off his sunglasses and slid them in the pocket of his leather jacket, revealing dark eyes that seemed somehow… Wrong. Too deep. Too… She wondered if that was why he used golden eyeliner, to distract people from how wrong his eyes looked. "I apologize for barging in but time is of the essence."

"Yeah." Haymitch scoffed, squeezing Effie's shoulder and walking past her despite the witch's barked demands for him to come back behind the shield. "Time's been of the essence for fucking weeks. I've left hundred of messages. Where have you been?"

"Do you know him?" Peeta asked, uncertain. "Tell him to let Katniss go. He's got her under a compelling charm."

The man didn't wave his hand or utter a word or do anything that Effie did when she casted or cancelled a spell. He barely even looked at her.

But when Katniss took her next breath the calm that had washed over her disappeared and her panic set right back in. "Madge, take Prim back to our room!"

"Everyone, calm down. We're safe. He's not a bad guy." Haymitch grumbled, finally reaching the stranger who had yet to cross the threshold. They stared at each other for a long hard minute and then Haymitch outstretched a hand, a rare genuine smile on his mouth. "Cinna."

"Haymitch." the man answered, taking the hand.

And then they were exchanging a manly hug.

"Oh." Effie said, closing her fist on the fireball to make it disappear. Another weird sentence and the shimmering shield vanished.

"That's new." Peeta commented with some anticipation.

"It's showy but not really reliable." the witch explained, walking down the last three steps to stand next to them. Her blue eyes assessed the two of them and she pursed her lips. "Haymitch?"

"Yeah." the Watcher sighed, tugging his friend inside the house and closing the front door. "Everyone, this is Cinna. He's the warlock who helped Maysilee lock Snow away. I've been trying to get in touch for close to a month."

There was clear reproach in Haymitch's voice but the stranger didn't show any particular emotion regarding that. His dark unsettling eyes had stopped on Madge who was still at the top of the stairs, protectively standing in front of Prim – and for that Katniss felt a surge of affection because it was clear the girl was afraid but she was still playing the human shield for her sister.

The warlock's face softened a little. "You look very much like your aunt. She was a fierce little thing. I loved her a lot. I'm sorry I couldn't save her."

He was talking to Madge, there was no mistaking that, but Katniss felt the truth of his words right inside her chest in a way that was anything but natural.

"You're not human." she accused, her hands itching to find a weapon.

Peeta was still holding her upper arm and that would be a bother in a fight. She suspected he had forgotten he was doing it so she didn't tell him off about it just yet.

"He's a warlock, that means he's half demon." the boy whispered. In the silence though, he might as well have shouted.

"Like Ripper?" she asked, directing her question toward Haymitch.

"Not quite." Her Watcher shook his head. "But I trust him. He's a friend."

"And a legend." Effie blurted out. She was staring at the man with a mix of wariness and unabashed interest.

The man broke into a smile that completely transformed his face. He didn't look so dark and threatening when he was smiling. "There's been some exaggerations over the centuries, I promise you, but thank you."

"Centuries?" Prim repeated, peeking behind Madge's body.

"Are you one hundred percent sure he's safe?" Katniss asked Haymitch. "Because he came here and used spells."

"And it was rude of me." the warlock apologized, slouching a little. "I'm afraid worry has robbed me of my manners." He turned to Haymitch, his features becoming hard again. "I haven't been ignoring you, my friend, I was on a hunt of my own. When I got your messages… I think our problems might be linked."

"We should…" Effie hesitated. "We would all be more comfortable in the library. I will make tea."

"That would be great." Cinna nodded gratefully. "I have a lot to tell you."

Katniss frowned suspiciously. "About the Careers?"

"About a Reaping." the man corrected. "And the witch who's supposed to perform it."

"Okay." Haymitch clapped his hands, looking at all of them. "Prim, sweetheart, go back to bed, yeah? Madge, you can come down if you want."

His grey eyes studied Katniss, taking in the shorts and the loose ill-fitted red tee-shirt, then moved to Peeta and his bare chest, lingered on the boy's ruffled hair, went back to Katniss… She had the feeling he knew exactly whatthey had been doing before all this. In the end, he looked at Effie who appeared to be trying not to smile. Mercifully, he didn't say anything out loud, he simply muttered something about regrouping in the library.

She pretended really hard her face wasn't burning.

°O°O°O°O°

Peeta followed Effie to the kitchen instead of going to the library with everyone else. If the heated discussion in the hallway was any indication, Prim was complaining about not being allowed to listen in. Katniss and Haymitch weren't very understanding of her rational arguments though.

"You're alright?" he asked the witch point blank because she was a bit… She looked tense.

"Can you feel his power?" she replied, lowering her voice. She shut the door behind Peeta so they wouldn't be overheard and then moved to the counter to prepare the tea. "Sit down. Close your eyes. Focus."

He did as he was told.

It wasn't the first time she had him performing that particular exercise. The idea was for him to find some state of perfect calm and look down inside himself to locate his own power, to understand it. She had confided she hated doing trances and hardly ever managed but Peeta actually liked it. It wasn't that hard for him to find a peaceful state within himself.

Instead of looking inside though, he tried to expand his senses, to feel for foreign magic…

The house was bathed in magic – the whole Village was bathed in magic thanks to Effie's warding spell – and he couldn't really tell the difference between magic in general and specific magical signatures.

He took his time breathing in and out, anchoring his mind to his body before reopening his eyes. He made a face. "I can't really feel anything specific."

He must have been under longer than he had thought because the water was already boiling and Effie was tossing teabags in different mugs.

"It will come." she reassured him. "You are barely getting a feel of your magic, I should not expect you to be able to sense others' so soon…"

"You can sense his powers even without going in a trance?" he asked curiously.

She pursed her lips, carefully placed the mugs on a tray to keep her hands busy… "I suppose without meaning it… You have to understand witches are territorial people by nature. I suppose I accidentally claimed the Village for myself ." She sighed. "He is very old and very powerful and it feels like an itch at the back of my throat because he is a threat to my territory."

"Oh…" Peeta rubbed his eyes, shivering a little. The kitchen was cold. "But you don't think he's really a threat though, right? Haymitch looked very cool with him."

"Haymitch has acquaintances and friendships the Council would not approve of." she replied, pouring the water in the mugs. "This being said, I was not exaggerating when I said he was a legend. He marked History. He's been alive at least three hundred years as far as records show." She reached in the cupboard for the sugar. "He will make a good ally. This could tip the scales in our favor… Do you remember what I told you about warlocks?"

"They don't do magic, they are magic." he recalled. "I could feel that. When he casted, it was like he breathed magic instead of…" His voice trailed off but she gestured at him to go on so he shrugged. "Instead of bending it to his will like you do."

"Very good." she praised. "Now, go put on a shirt before you catch a cold." He chuckled, not bothering to mask the open affection on his face when he looked at her. It made her laugh too. "Am I mothering you too much, darling? I apologize, you are old enough to know if you are cold or not, I suppose."

He stood up to grab the tray before she could try to carry it, daring to drop a kiss on her cheek while he was at it. "I like you mothering me. And I'm cold."

She shook her head at him, her lips stretching into a teasing smile. "You will like me mothering you a lot less when I sit you down to talk about proper protection."

"Protection?" He frowned, his mind flashing back to the shield she had conjured earlier.

"For sex, Peeta." she clarified. When he groaned, mortified, she only grinned harder. "If you are old enough to sneak around in the dark with Katniss, you are old enough to hear about condoms and respect."

"I don't…" He made a face.

"Of course, you can always hear it all from Haymitch instead." she hummed.

He didn't know how to answer that or how to escape that conversation quicker so he winced even harder and retreated toward the door. "You know what? I'm really cold so… I'm just going to…"

"Flee." she granted, laughing. "But you will not escape that conversation forever."

Fleeing for his life seemed like a good option though so he did just that.

This episode will mark the end of the season! I hope you enjoy it! Buckle up... It's going to be a wild ride :p

Let me know your thoughts!