Meeting Johanna Mason
(38 years old)

"She's scary," said Finnick.

Haymitch, who had been slouching in his seat, crossed his arms and turned his gaze towards Effie.

"As Finnick put it, she is scary," Effie nodded in affirmation. "I would also include rude into the list of adjectives to describe her. Her lack of manners could rival yours. She threw a vase at my head – at my head – and all I've ever done was to visit her. Can you believe that? I must say, I immensely regret taking up your suggestion to go with Finnick."

"You must have said something real dumb, didn't you, sweetheart?"

"I did not," Effie huffed. "She hates me on sight. She said I'm an escort."

"You are an escort," Haymitch deadpanned.

Finnick interrupted and added, "We thought it was a bad time so we said we'll come back tomorrow. Do you know what she told me? She said if I don't come back with an axe, she will….," he trailed off.

"She'll do what?"

"I didn't let her finish," Finnick admitted.

"You didn't…" Haymitch gave a bark of laughter. It was rare but his eyes lighted up in amusement. "You and Effie ran from the room?"

"If you were there you'd understand," Effie told him.

"Exactly," Finnick jumped in. "You should see her for your –"

"Alright," Chaff strode out of the elevator and into the Penthouse, joining their little group. "The kid's right. The girl's one of a kind; her mouth's a spit fire. Bet you didn't like her, Trinket. She seems like the kind that'll drive you up the wall."

"All of you drive me up the wall."

Now Haymitch was curious. Effie tended to overdramatize situations and with Finnick around, those two tended to collaborate and go against him, for reasons he had not figured out yet. Chaff's words, on the other hand, was something that would hold more weight.

"She's just scared," Haymitch said.

"That's no reason to throw a vase at me!" Effie exclaimed, touching her wig gingerly.

"Got a feeling that you're gonna like her," Chaff chuckled, throwing Haymitch a look as he snatched a bottle of whiskey on his way to the sofa. He flopped down and stretched his legs on the coffee table only to have Effie pursed her lips in annoyance. She moved to stand in front of him and glared. Chaff put his legs down. "She nearly gave Mags a second stroke."

"I don't see how that is even remotely funny," Finnick snapped at Chaff with a frown. "I talked to a nurse and she's going to be discharged tomorrow which means, she'll be back in Seven's suite. You should go see her."

"Is it a thing we do now?" Haymitch grumbled. "Visit Victors that isn't from One and Two?"

"Those are the Victors that need a friend the most."

It wasn't Chaff or Finnick with their experience to account for it who said that but Effie, which surprised him.

"It's just something I observed," Effie told him.

XxX

Her entire body language told him that she was defensive and aggressive. Her arms were folded in front of her with her fists clenched tight. She watched every move he made as if she was preparing herself for the moment when he would strike and attack.

"You're Twelve's mentor, right? What are you doing here? Why do people keep coming to?"

Haymitch ignored the questions and casually sat on the sofa uninvited. He remained quiet and the silence unnerved her which was his purpose.

"Did that stupid blonde boy - Finnick, right? – brought my axe?" she asked. "Do you have it?"

"Do I look like I came bearing gifts?" Haymitch turned his palm upwards for her to see. "Finnick ain't here. It's just me, sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart or I'll show you exactly how I won my Games."

"I'm a mentor, sweetheart. I saw how you won your Games. Great cover by the way with being all weak. I applaud that strategy. Sneaky and manipulative, aren't you? In other words, you're clever. And you know what the Capitol does to clever people?"

Johanna only glared at him harder.

"You ain't that tough, you know. Bet that's a cover, too. Deep inside, you're fucking terrified," Haymitch goaded her before he softened his voice. "I've been there, I know."

"What do you want?"

"To talk," he said. "You didn't give Finnick and Effie a chance at all, did you? We have this thing amongst us mentors, not my idea, but we pay a visit to the newest Victors."

"Why's that?"

Haymitch leaned back in his seat, a smug grin on his face. "Well, see… Like it or not, we're gonna be spending a lot of time together. You're coming back next year as mentor, yeah? Take it from me, kid, you're going to want to have someone you know when you're mentoring. It helps keep the pressure off."

"You're offering to be my friend?"

"Did I say that?"

"I killed your tribute," Johanna pointed out. "She was my… She was my first victim. You shouldn't want to talk to me. I killed her."

In his mind's eyes, Haymitch could almost picture Effie wincing from the memory that would evoke if she was here. The Games Headquarters had fell silent when Johanna crept out of her hiding spot, gripping an axe that for the first half of the Games had been uselessly wasted on her and swung it across Twelve's female tribute.

Haymitch had been furious. He had thrown the phone across the wall as he growled under his breath, "What did I say? The entire fucking thing was fishy. Nobody would publicly expose themselves as being weak especially in the Games."

Johanna was still watching him, waiting for a reaction to the mention of his dead tribute but Haymitch's expression remained stoic.

"She would have died anyway. If it wasn't you, it'd be someone else," Haymitch admitted. "You made it quick for her but that's not a guarantee with another."

She approached him slowly and sat on the armchair across from him.

"You see her face when you close your eyes?"

Johanna hesitated and then she nodded. For that brief second, Haymitch saw the vulnerable eighteen years old before her face hardened and she snapped her head up again. The moment was over and he steered the conversation to a territory he – and he supposed her as well - was much more comfortable with, one that did not involve emotions.

"So listen, it could be us – me or Chaff or Finnick, hell even Beetee and Wiress – or you could come back next year and try to figure all the shit out on your own."

"Or I could make friends with someone from other districts. What's so special about you and your group of friends?"

"You could," he shrugged. "But even outside the arena, One and Two tend to form a pack, and they aren't the friendliest sort especially with an underdog district who bested their tributes, their districts – that's you and that's me. They aren't bad, not really. Gloss is a good man and Enobaria's bearable when she's got something to drink but they're tight. They're exclusive."

Johanna said nothing.

"You could go with Six and Five, sure, but they aren't all there most of time. Self-medication," he explained. He paused briefly before he said, "I get it actually - Finnick's about your age, He's nineteen, I think – Chaff and I are old and why would you want to spend your time with us, yeah? Hell," Haymitch chuckled and swept his hair out of his eyes, "I wouldn't be friends with me either."

"You're fucking confusing. You've got a damn odd way of making friends with someone. Do you want us to be friends or not?"

"I don't care much about making friends and I don't imagine you and I will be one. But we got a group – us, mentors – and I'd thought I'll extend that to you since you're a greenhorn. An acquaintance of sorts, you know?"

"Mentors?" she snorted. "Why's the escort hanging around then? She don't fit."

"She's one of us."

"She's Capitol! How can she…" Johanna tilted her head thoughtfully. "You're screwing her, right? And now she's hanging on to your every word like some fucking love sick bitch."

"Like I said," Haymitch said through gritted teeth, "you can try to make it on your own."

"We ain't gonna sit around and talk about each other's Games."

Haymitch snorted.

"That's the last thing any of us want. We're all messed up after our Games enough. We don't need to talk about it," Haymitch told her. "We all know what it's like and it ain't much but it's something to know there's someone as fucked up as you are."

Finnick or Effie could probably have said it better than him but if he concerned himself with such trivialities, he would be as annoying as Effie.

When Johanna said nothing, Haymitch stood up. He would leave the girl to her thoughts.

"You don't need that, right?" he gestured to the bar cart. He swiped two bottles of bourbon and left. At least his trip down wasn't wasted.

XxX

"We didn't think you'd want to be alone tonight!" Effie trilled. "Especially since tomorrow's a big, big day for you!"

Johanna stood at the doorway to Seven's suite. Her brown eyes were wide in disbelief as she took in the group standing in front of her. Chaff raised his stump and waved; Johanna gritted her teeth. Finnick grinned at her and her nose flared. Effie waited to be let in, smiling happily. Johanna searched for Haymitch, standing at the back of the group, a reluctant member. He raised a shoulder in a careless shrug.

"Are you ready for your interview tomorrow?" Finnick asked once they have all settled into Seven's suite. His attempt at small talk fell flat because Johanna kept quiet. So he tried again. "I saw your mentor. He's running around trying to make sure everything's okay for you. He's worried about you being alone so we offered to keep you company."

"I'd rather be alone," Johanna sneered.

"Why's that?" Chaff asked. "So you can brood and worry yourself to death about what's going to happen at the Crowning Party tomorrow?"

Johanna leveled her gaze with him. "I can do whatever I want when I'm alone."

Effie shot Haymitch an uncomfortable look. She opened her mouth to apologise for imposing when Johanna pulled the tails of her shirt up and over her head in one fluid motion. The act was so unexpected that nobody told her to stop.

Effie gasped loudly and for the first time, the group heard Johanna laugh.

"If you all insist on hanging around here to babysit me, as if I had invited you or something, then you won't mind me doing what I'd do if you all hadn't been around, right?" she taunted, unclasping her bra and letting it fall to the floor.

Haymitch and Chaff was staring at her, both men at a loss for words. Finnick was staring too but unlike Haymitch, he quickly averted his gaze, keeping his eyes firmly on the ceiling. Finnick let out an exasperated sigh.

"The weather in Seven can get fucking hot. I don't like wearing clothes. I feel freer, you know what I mean?" she gestured at herself.

Effie picked up her shirt and tried to hand it to her but she slapped Effie's hand away.

Chaff was laughing. "Told you she's something, didn't I? She's got some guts this one."

"Stop staring," Effie hissed angrily at Haymitch. "Johanna, dear, please, put on your clothes. This is inappropriate. Preserve your modesty! There are three men in this room."

Johanna raised an eyebrow and slipped out of her pants to antagonize Effie further. Finnick still wasn't looking at her.

"What's the matter, handsome," Johanna mocked, "do I make you uncomfortable? You've never seen a naked girl before?"

"I've seen plenty and when I came here offering my friendship, I didn't expect you to do that," Finnick told her angrily. The usual wolfish grin and pleasant face was gone as it morphed into one of displeasure. "I can't go anywhere without someone using their sexuality against me!"

He stomped out of the suite.

"Is he overreacting?" Chaff asked before he nodded to himself. "He's overreacting. Teenagers," he rolled his eyes.

Finnick leaving the suite in that manner was enough to make Johanna falter momentarily.

"What the fuck's the matter with him?" she asked. "And what did he mean by that sexuality bit?"

Haymitch sighed.

"You do that often?" Chaff asked out of curiousity. "I get it if you walk around at home naked in front of your family but do you strip naked in front of strangers often?"

"Only if I don't want them around," Johanna retorted and Haymitch knew that answer wasn't the truth.

"We apologise," Effie said hastily, pulling Chaff and Haymitch up. "We should leave. We will… We'll leave you be."

"Why is he so mad?" Johanna pressed for an answer.

"Maybe someday," Haymitch said, "Finnick will tell you the reason himself."

Johanna's about eighteen when she won her Games so to me, at that age, she would already have some of the personality we've known her to have but with a a little more vulnerability and little less anger because her family hasn't been killed yet.

I really, really, hope you like this chapter. Please drop a review and let me know!