2

Katniss sat impatiently at the foot of the bed, her fingers distractedly playing with her hair tie, watching Cinna do his thing.

She wasn't entirely certain what his thing was though.

He had his palm flat on Peeta's forehead and there was a weird purple halo around him that made her miss the warm glow of Effie's magic. The dark purple seemed a little menacing to her but she wasn't versed enough in magic to really feel anything about it, not the way Peeta or Haymitch seemed to be able to, it was just a feeling.

Haymitch hadn't kicked Cinna out after what he had done to Effie earlier though, so she supposed there was that. She still wasn't sure she wanted to trust him but, right then, he was their only magical expert.

Peeta was still asleep and she let her grey eyes roam on his relaxed face, hoping and dreading that he would open his eyelids and look at her. They had been so full of hatred for her earlier. She wasn't sure she could bear to see that again.

Finally, when the waiting became too hard, she untangled her braid and redid it properly, just to keep her hands busy. She was just finishing tying it up when the glow of magic vanished and Cinna reopened his tired eyes. They weren't all black anymore like they had been next to the Hellmouth but the rim of white was almost inexistent, which made her shiver despite herself. Her Slayer's instinct told her the warlock was powerful and dangerous. And the smudged golden eyeliner did little to lessen that threat now.

If she was exhausted from the last few days – counting the one the others hadn't lived through – Cinna looked almost as bad as she felt.

"I have good news and bad news." he announced.

Katniss sighed. It couldn't be simple. It couldn't be easy. "Okay."

As if he knew perfectly what she was thinking, the warlock's lips twitched into a sad smile. "The good news is that I cannot feel any kind of coercion spell on him, his mind is his own."

That was a relief and her shoulders sagged a little. "What's the bad news?"

She was half ready for Cinna to tell her she needed to go find an antidote or something but the warlock only winced a little in sympathy. "The sort of compelling magic that was cast on him is aggressive and it lasted a long time… That's traumatic for an untrained mind like his. He might remain confused for a little while. It will pass, Katniss, but you will have to be patient."

She licked her lips. "Define confused."

Cinna hesitated. "He might not know what's real and what's not anymore. You may have to remind him."

He might try to kill you again.

Cinna didn't say it but she heard it anyway.

"But it will go away?" she insisted. "He just needs to rest or something?"

Again Cinna hesitated. "I cannot say anything for sure until he wakes up but… It will go away or he will have to learn how to live with the discrepancy in his mind. Magic might also help but I'm reluctant to add another spell given what happened to him. Minds are fragile things."

She didn't get half of that and she really wanted Effie's opinion so she decided she would wait for the witch to wake up and then let her decide what they should do, if more spells were needed or not.

"Okay." she sighed.

"Are you good to stay alone with him?" Cinna asked tentatively. "I apologize but I really need to lie down now if you want me to be of any use later on."

"Sure." she agreed without thinking about it, her eyes automatically darting to the alarm clock.

It was three pm.

That seemed even more surreal than the rest.

There wouldn't be a lot of daylight left though. If they wanted to use the advantage of sunlight…

"Don't untie him." the warlock advised. "Not even if he wakes up and acts normal. Let me examine him first, just to be on the safe side."

She nodded, her mind wandering out of the room and to the major problem nobody had addressed yet.

She would wait for Gale to come back, she decided as Cinna left the room, and then she would rouse everyone and they would make plans.

One thing was for sure: Snow had to die.

°O°O°O°O°

Haymitch startled awake, alarmed to have dozed up.

He had broken in cold sweat and he was shivering but when his fingers touched his forehead, it felt hot.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He glanced at Effie, who hadn't moved a finger, and then at the clock. Three thirty pm. He dragged himself out of bed but had to grab the dresser because the floor swayed under his feet.

The bottle of moonshine was right there, in front of him, and he grabbed it by reflex, brought it to his lips only to pause at the last second.

If a drop of liquor touched his tongue, he wouldn't stop at a mouthful. He would drain the bottle and then find another. He just knew it. His eyes drifted back to Effie.

Small consolation, he could see the soft rise of her chest now. She seemed to be breathing a little better, which was good.

Really good.

He put the bottle back on the dresser and staggered to the bathroom right in time to drop to his knees and throw up. Or gag and heave rather because his stomach was empty. Once he was sure he was done trembling over the toilet, he hauled himself up with difficulties and rinsed his mouth. He splashed water on his face and washed off as much of the sweat as he could without actually stepping into the shower stall.

He felt a tiny bit more freshened up but it didn't help him feel more human.

Still, he changed his clothes.

They were dirty and stained with blood – some of it his, some of it demon blood – and took a good long look in the mirror. The man that stared back at him looked old, yellow and unsteady on his feet.

He would have to do, though.

After checking one last time that Effie was breathing well enough, he dragged his feet out of the room. He stopped on the guest room's threshold but Katniss didn't see him so he didn't step inside. The girl was standing at the window, distractedly playing with her braid, her shoulders slouched in defeat… The boy still looked asleep and was still chained up so Cinna probably hadn't deemed it safe to release him yet. That worried him, he hadn't thought the backlash of the brainwashing spell would be that bad, he needed to talk with the warlock.

He backed away in the corridor as silently as he could but, before he could head downstairs, he heard the muffled sobs coming from the girls' bedroom. With a small sigh, he let go of the banister and made his way there, focusing on walking straight and trying to ignore the terrible feeling he was going to be sick again.

The door wasn't closed all the way. He stood there for a whole minute, fist lifted and poised to knock, only to finally simply nudge the door open. Prim was curled up on her bed, sobbing her heart out.

It broke what was left of his.

"Hey, sweetheart…" he said awkwardly, sitting on the bed. "You're okay?"

That was a really stupid question but Prim sat up anyway, her usually rosy cheeks pale and bathed with tears. "I'm so sorry, Haymitch… Everything's my fault and now everyone's dead… And… And…"

"Wow, wow, wow…" He frowned, reaching to tug on the half-unmade braid on her right side. "The fuck you're talking about? Nothing's your fault."

She shook her head. "If… If I hadn't gone…"

"Yeah." he sighed. "That was a bit stupid and I expected better from you." He softened that by cupping her cheek, wiping the tears off with his thumb. "But you're a kid and you're bound to make mistakes, Prim. That's life. That's okay. Just don't do something like this to me again, okay? Cause I know I'm bad at saying it but if anything happened to you…"

He shook his head, unable to word the rest, and not only because of the drill in his head giving him a headache.

"I'm sorry." Prim repeated. "I'm so sorry! They're all dead… They're all…"

"Come on, sweetheart, that's not on you." he muttered, opening his arms to her. She didn't hesitate one second before hugging him. "It'd have happened anyway. The whole thing."

Well, maybe not the part with Snow escaping because maybe they would have gone for the witch first but… Would they have? With kids being slaughtered, wouldn't they have tried to protect the innocents first?

He couldn't say anymore.

He couldn't tell.

All he knew was that his kid was sobbing her heart out, hard enough that she would make herself sick if she didn't stop, and that made him sad.

"I saw Alyssa…" Prim told him. "Her throat… And… And poor Mrs Kilbert…"

She was too old for that but he pulled her on his lap like a much younger child anyway so he could hold her tighter. She clung to him like he was a lifeline and babbled about all the atrocities she had seen that day. He let her, petting her hair and listening since that was what she needed.

Eventually, she exhausted herself crying and fell asleep mid-sentence. He carefully laid her down and tucked the comforter around her as best as he could. He pressed a kiss on her forehead when he was done and told himself he didn't love that kid half as much as he did. Because if anything did happen to her, he was pretty sure it would kill him for good.

By the time he staggered into the kitchen, it was almost four and he was sweating like crazy again. He dropped the sweater even though standing there in only a shirt made him cold enough that his teeth were chattering together.

He needed to call the Council.

He needed to warn them.

But the thought of having to explain himself made him want to puke.

They would fire him this time, he knew it. Coin had already told Effie to take charge weeks earlier. What had happened that day was worse than failure and Haymitch would get fired and since Effie wasn't in any state to stand up and come to the phone – or even to lead…

They would send another Watcher.

And that Watcher would take over, take Katniss from him and…

He couldn't think straight.

He needed to call the Council.

He knew he needed to.

But what he did instead was stumble to the counter, gather all the bottles in sight and pour them down the drain before he could give in to that particular temptation.

He couldn't afford it.

He couldn't afford to be less than at his best and sharpest.

Snow would come for him.

Snow would come for them all.

He would never have survived back in the days if he had been doing the job drunk.

"You picked the greatest time to go sober." Katniss sighed behind him and he startled because he hadn't heard her come in. "Sit down." He wanted to protest but his legs were barely supporting him and when she grabbed his arm and guided him to a chair, he found himself flopping down. "Are you sure you want to do this? Cause when we started this thing, you said I shouldn't interfere with your drinking."

"Can't afford it." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Push the heater on a bit, yeah?"

She made a face. "Put your sweater back on. It's winter, you know, you shouldn't be walking around without sleeves."

"Too hot for sweaters." he objected.

Katniss' scowl deepened. "Do you need a doctor?"

He shook his head. "No time for doctors."

"I can help." Cinna offered, rounding the corner into the kitchen a second later. "I can't magic you sober but there are potions that will help a lot more than any medicine can. It will speed up and lessen the withdrawal process but it won't take away the cravings, Haymitch."

Speeding the withdrawals up sounded like a good thing because it felt awful and he was very aware he hadn't reached the bottom yet. "Great. I'll take that."

Cinna nodded. "Effie has most of what I need in her cupboards. I'll start on it right away." But before Cinna could go start on anything, the front door opened and closed. Haymitch sat straighter, already going for the knife at his waist, while Katniss tensed a little, but the warlock waved his hand. "It's your friend. The other boy."

And, a few seconds later, Hawthorne did step into the kitchen and tossed a couple of paper bags on the table. They had Sae's brand logo on them and smelled like burgers. His stomach churned with simultaneous hunger and disgust.

Disgust won and he barely had time to bolt out of his chair and to the sink before he was sick.

A great start to the evening, no doubt.

Soooo Peeta's still tied, Prim is having an overdue breakdown, Haymitch should probably have that drink and poor Gale was actually being thoughtful for once, bringing dinner, look how that turned out! XD Hope you liked this chapter! Let me know!