9.

Katniss barely had time to break Effie's fall, glaring at Cinna all the while. Haymitch was there in a flash, taking off his sweater to press against the gaping wounds on her forearms, knowing she had lost too much blood and she would… There was no coming back from something like that, not if…

"Stay with me." he begged, vaguely aware Peeta had kneeled behind her head and Madge was fumbling with her phone, probably trying to call 911… Katniss had taken off her own shirt and was pressing on her other arm, trying to contain what little blood was left in her. "Stay with me, sweetheart."

Her eyelids fluttered open and closed.

"Her powers will kick in." Cinna said casually, as if she wasn't lying there dying…

A wave of hatred like he had rarely known made it hard for Haymitch to breathe and he vowed that the moment she would fade away, Cinna would die. And painfully at that.

"Effie…" Peeta pleaded, his voice breaking into a sob.

The girls were both crying although Katniss was trying her best to swallow back her tears…

Haymitch bent down to press a kiss on her lips. "May the odds be ever in your favor." The good luck spell didn't do any good, probably because he had no real power to speak of and he had never been good at casting in an emergency anyway… "Effie, please…"

Her fingers started glowing gold first. Then the light slowly spread to her palms and her wrists… The moment it hit Haymitch's hands, he could feel her magic was much more brutal than usual. Unchecked. It hurt.

"Move back." he ordered Katniss quickly and his Slayer let go without a moment of hesitation.

Haymitch straddled Effie's thighs so he could maintain pressure on both arms, gritting his teeth against the burning pain in his fingers. He had to fight an instinctive urge to snatch his hands back, to protect himself.

It was slow going.

Too slow.

"Help her!" Katniss ordered, grabbing Cinna's arm and pulling him down on the floor with the rest of them.

Haymitch got only a glimpse of his blood soaked arms and he had to repress the urge to roar with anger.

Cinna looked dazed, almost high, probably because what the magic he had just used was as dark as it got and black magic had its drawbacks. It was better than a shoot of cocaine, from what he had been told.

"I am not quite gifted with healing spells." the warlock warned.

"Stay the fuck away from her." Haymitch countered. The last thing he needed was Cinna butchering what her magic was trying to do. "Read that fucking book and you better hope she pulls through or you're dead meat."

"Haymitch…" Cinna winced, a touch of genuine regret in his voice. "I…"

"Fuck off." he spat. "There's no forgiving this."

He kept his eyes on Effie's pale face because he didn't know what he would have done if he had looked at Cinna right then. Peeta already looked murderous and Katniss… Well, he would probably have to fight her for the honor of killing the warlock.

Effie's eyelids fluttered open.

"Effie, you've got to hang on." Peeta said, gently brushing her hair away from her pale face. "You can't leave me. You can't…"

The golden halo had spread to both arms up to where the cuts ended now and Haymitch finally breathed a little more easily. He dared decrease the pressure on the wounds, lifted the soiled shirts to check…

The slices were mending.

"Good job, sweetheart." he praised through the lump in his throat. "That's it."

His heart was racing in his chest when her gaze finally became less glassy and more focused. She blinked a few times, staring at Peeta who was bent over her head before finding his eyes…

"Don't sit on me." she croaked.

Haymitch laughed.

He laughed with relief and he pretended hard that the tears that burned his eyes were from that relieved mirth.

It was still several minutes before the wounds were closed and she felt well enough to sit. Peeta helped her, sitting behind her, encouraging her to lean on him… Madge rushed to the kitchen to grab something sugary…

She was clearly still dizzy and a little out of it when Haymitch and Katniss, finally convinced she was going to live, stood up to confront Cinna.

"Don't." Effie's whisper stopped them before they could do something hasty – like try to take on a warlock who had been around for centuries and get their asses kicked in the process. "He did what we needed. It's alright."

"I am sorry." Cinna offered, barely glancing up from the spellbook. It was enough for them all to see real anguish and regret on his face. "I lost control."

"A word of warning would be nice next time." Effie joked, turning her head to look at Peeta. "Help me up, dear, I feel better."

"There won't be a next time." Haymitch growled, helping her up himself before the boy could. He was careful when he led her to a chair. If he had had his way, he would have carried her upstairs and forced her to remain in bed for a while but he didn't even suggest it, knowing there was no way she would accept. "Take it easy." He grabbed the bottle of soda and the glass from Madge and poured her a generous amount. "Drink. Peeta, go get the good cookies in the pantry. And chocolate. She needs chocolate."

"She needs for you not to hover like this." Effie grumbled.

"You bled out on me so, shut up and let me take care of you." he accused.

"I'll go get something to clean this up." Katniss muttered, gesturing at the blood.

Cinna winced and waved a hand.

It was like nothing had happened. The blood disappeared from the floor, their shirts were immaculate… Except for Effie leaning a little too heavily against his side, it was like he had dreamed the last ten minutes.

Katniss wasn't happy until the witch had drunk two full glasses of soda and Peeta forced her to eat a few cookies. Haymitch personally made sure she had a large portion of chocolate. Madge hovered, asking her if she could do something, anything…

Haymitch could tell they weren't helping any, that what Effie wanted was calm, but… He couldn't stop himself and the kids were shaken…

"Honestly, I am fine!" she finally snapped, lifting both hands in the air to make her point. "Slightly dizzy from the blood loss but my magic is working on it as we speak… One healing spell or two and I will be right as rain."

"Except you used so much magic we shouldn't risk you spending more today." Haymitch remarked, low enough that it wouldn't carry to the children.

Effie pursed her lips and pointedly turned to Cinna. "Tell me this little scene was worth it. What do you have?"

Cinna, it seemed, had been waiting for that very question. "Details on how to perform the Reaping. Your mother was right, the ritual is in here."

"Yeah, well, since we don't want to actually perform a Reaping, how about how to stop one?" Haymitch snarled, glaring at the warlock.

"Do not be rude." Effie chided.

"What, you mean like when Cinna sliced your veins open?" Katniss deadpanned. "That kind of rude?"

The witch was clearly too exhausted to deal with their Slayer's sass, she returned her attention to Cinna. "What can we use?"

"Well…" the warlock hummed, his blood soaked finger following a line of that gibberish text on the page. "The Reaping is a human sacrifice as we suspected. Children. A lot of them. They have to be bled out directly over the Hellmouth so we know where they will strike…"

Children.

Haymitch felt the chill run down his spine.

"Once the Hellmouth is watered enough, the witch can open the door to the demonic dimension of their choice…" Cinna continued.

"Do you have a timeframe?" Katniss glared at him. "Like… Something that's actually useful? And that justifies what you did to Effie?"

"The Reaping has to take place when the sun and the moon kiss." the warlock answered, unperturbed.

They were all silent for a moment.

"Dusk?" Effie suggested.

"Or dawn…" Haymitch corrected.

"Or…" Peeta had gone white and he swallowed hard. "Or an eclipse?"

Both he and Effie went rigid.

"An eclipse?" he repeated, dread pooling in his stomach. "Who the fuck said there's going to be an eclipse?"

"Every media for the last week?" Madge hesitated.

Effie placed a hand on his shoulder and exchanged a quick look with Cinna but Haymitch didn't care because… This was it. It had to be.

Eclipses…

Shit always went down during eclipses…

How had they missed that?

"When?" he asked.

"Today." Madge answered and then checked her watch. "In less than an hour."

Haymitch bolted to his feet. "Get weapons. We need to get a move on."

He was already walking toward the weapon trunk, Katniss was ahead of him, Cinna was helping Effie to her feet – and Haymitch had something to say about that but…

Madge and Peeta shared a frightened look.

"There's something else." the boy said and they all stopped because he sounded… "Prim…"

"Fuck, yeah… Right." Haymitch rubbed his mouth, blaming himself for not thinking about that. But there was a solution. "Madge, you know how to drive, yeah? Take Effie's car. Go get her and…"

"No, Haymitch, it's her field trip." Peeta cut him off. "It's about the eclipse, she told me this morning…"

More silence.

A deadly one.

"What?" Katniss said softly, too softly. It came out like a quack.

"And you didn't find it important to mention it?" Haymitch shouted, losing the meager control he had on his temper. Watching Effie almost die and then learning that the apocalypse was less than an hour away and that children were at risk would do that to him. And now, not only that, but his child was at risk?

"I didn't know it was important!" Peeta protested, immediately turning to Katniss. "I thought she had cleared it with you and Haymitch! He signed her permission slip!"

Katniss' growing anger was quickly redirected toward him.

Haymitch looked at Effie, a bit lost… He only vaguely remembered signing it.

Fuck, but he needed a drink. Or three. Or a bottle. Or…

"You did." the witch confirmed.

"I didn't read it. She didn't say it was about an eclipse, I would have connected the fucking dots sooner." he spat. "But… That's fine, alright? Madge will go get her wherever they're having this thing…"

"It's in the meadow." Madge said, ruining all his hopes that he hadn't hopelessly blown it. "Next to the Capitol Hotel. I know because Gale's brother is going too. He told me last time I saw him."

"Oh, fuck." Effie said.

And that was how he knew they were in deep shit.

If his unshakable polite English witch was swearing…

"I'm going." Katniss said immediately, swinging her quiver over her head.

"No, no, no…" Haymitch refused, lifting both hands to stall her. "We ain't rushing into this without a plan."

"We don't have time." Katniss snarled.

"No, we don't." he agreed. "That's why you're gonna listen for two minutes." He took a deep breath, locked eyed with Effie… She didn't look ready to assume command though. She looked ready to collapse. This whole thing was on him. He had dropped the ball. He should have… He should have stayed on top of things and not get distracted by pretty witches with blue eyes and terrific legs. He should have… "Peeta, Madge, load the car. We need stakes, holy water, swords… Anything we can use. Cinna, when we get there, I need you to take point on the magic front. Stop your girlfriend from opening the Hellmouth. Effie, once we're there, you get the children away, there must be a bus or something… Katniss… You and I, we're taking the Careers out."

"No." Effie protested. "I will help with the Careers. I can fight. I am fine."

"No, you ain't." he scoffed. "And we don't have time to fight about this so…" He turned toward the kids who were already grabbing as many weapons as they could carry. "Madge, when you're done loading the car, I want you to lock yourself in here, alright?"

"I'm coming." the girl said, surprising everyone. "I can't fight but I can help get the children away." She stopped on the threshold and glanced at Katniss. "You should call Gale. Rory is there too."

"We could use another archer." Peeta reluctantly agreed.

It wasn't ideal but… The truth was, at this point, they could use all the help they could get.

"Fine." Haymitch said. "We leave in two minutes. If you've got to pee, now's the time to do it. No bathroom break during the apocalypse."

His joke fell on deaf ears and it wasn't really funny in the first place.

The last thing he did before leaving the house was grab his mother's sword…

If Snow ever managed to rise…

Well, he would try to take his head off with it.

It would be a fitting end.

*snickers* Well... thoughts?