Between Lives: Disciplining Katniss

(41 years old)

Haymitch Abernathy was furious.

He crushed the earpiece in his fist and shoved it deep inside his pocket. He stalked down the hall with a scowl on his face, oblivious to the women scurrying out of his path until one called on him.

"Haymitch. Haymitch! Oh, do slow down."

It took him a moment to register the familiarity of the voice but when he did, he slowed down until she caught up with him.

"How was Katniss in District – Are you alright?" Effie asked abruptly when she caught the look on his face. "What did she do?"

"She's impossible," Haymitch spat.

He quickened his pace and was somewhat glad to see that Effie, without her heels, was doing well in keeping up with his strides. Haymitch entered his compartment and threw the thin white earpiece on the table.

"Haymitch…."

"I tried to warn her but she wouldn't even let me finish and off she went doing what she think is best," Haymitch went on. "Disobeyed me."

Effie took a sit at the edge of his bed, hands folded neatly in front of her as her eyes tracked his pacing back and forth in that small room.

"Is she okay, Haymitch? I did not see her coming back with you in that hovercraft," Effie asked instead before coming to a conclusion that made him roll his eyes. "She has to be if you're here ranting."

"We had to take off because of the danger. She came later in a cargo plane with Boggs and the others. She's fine – I made sure. She's in the hospital right now gettin' treatment."

"Good, then," Effie nodded in satisfaction. "I'm glad that you are both back here in one piece. I shall pay her a visit."

"You do that, sweetheart, 'cause right now, I can't look at her without wantin' to strangle the life out of her."

"What did Katniss do to have you so riled up?" Effie asked. "Tell me."

She reached out to touch his hand and there was something about her touch that calmed him. He pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the throbbing in his head and let out a breath before taking a seat next to her on the bed.

Haymitch told her a play by play of what went down in District Eight.

"We were explicit. Get back on the hovercraft but she turned around and I knew what she wanted to do but she also knew that I'd try to stop her so she yanked her fuckin' earpiece off. Broke the connection – couldn't talk to her and no way to know if she was…" he inhaled shakily.

Katniss might not realised it but she had scare him. The pilot had pulled the hovercraft and they had taken off or risk exposing themselves, and that was exactly how it had been when he lost Peeta at the arena. He thought he was going to lose her, too.

"She made it back, Haymitch," Effie spoke softly to soothe him. "She made it back."

"It could have gone wrong. She needs to learn to listen. There are people who know better."

"You are partly furious because Katniss is incapable of following instructions and has a certain disregard for authority?" Effie queried but the tone in her voice made him glance at her. "Well, Haymitch, that sounds too much like someone I know."

Haymitch scowled.

"It's not funny, Effs. This is serious. You think Coin will take these things lightly? She'll have Katniss in for insubordination if she knew."

"Then do not tell her," Effie advised. She rubbed her thumb soothingly over his knuckles. "She was not there. She does not need to know. Protect Katniss, Haymitch. It is our job."

"That's exactly what I was trying to do, yeah? How am I supposed to protect her when she runs head on into danger?"

"Talk to her, make her understand," Effie counselled. "This is not child's play. We're in a war."

"Yeah," he nodded, suddenly exhausted. "We got the footage at least. That better be good."

"Let me check on that. I will go down to the studio immediately and then to the hospital. Do not worry. You have done enough for today."

She ran her thumb across his brows and made to stand up but Haymitch grabbed her wrist lightly. He gave her an expectant look which made her stoop down with a smile to press a quick kiss on his lips.

Came morning, during the meeting in Command, Katniss and Gale were already present when he walked in. He made certain not to look in her direction or talk to her to make his displeasure known. He supposed it must be working since she gave him a furtive glance. The sardonic, deadly smile he threw her way while they were discussing about sending her back to 'combat' was passive-aggressive enough that he was certain she would try to avoid him for the next few days.

But, Haymitch was no whistle blower so throughout the meeting, he kept the incident with the earpiece to himself and also, because he remembered Effie's words – 'Protect, Katniss.'

He made sure that Plutarch kept it to himself, too. Boggs was not going to admit that he lost control of Katniss when he was on the ground with her so there was that understanding.

Just because he was shielding her, it did not mean that he would let the matter rest.

He walked into the hospital after the meeting ended hoping to have a talk with Katniss only to find her asleep and Effie sitting next to her bed.

"She just went to sleep. I think it is the medication. Whatever talking down you wish to do - "

"I'll wait," he declared and showed her his wrist. "Nothing to do."

"How lucky. I do not have that much time. My presence is required at the Studio in ten minutes. I just came in hoping to say hello but she is asleep."

She let her gaze wandered to the things he was carrying in his hand. He had borrowed it earlier from Weaponary to make a point.

"I do not want to know," Effie said when he raised his hand and opened his mouth to explain. "If she were to ask me, I could deny ever knowing."

With a smirk, Haymitch dragged a chair from the nearby bed and set it next to her.

"You've been taking her side," he pointed out. "Somethin' I should know about?"

Effie busied herself smoothing out Katniss' blanket and did not answer him immediately. Haymitch didn't push.

"We've already lost Peeta..." She said after a stretch of silence. "Katniss... Katniss is here."

"Ah," he leaned against his chair. "Yeah, I get it."

"I will see you at dinner," she said, brushing her hand across his shoulder as she passed.

Haymitch waited, legs stretched out and resting on the empty chair Effie had just vacated. He crossed his arms and watched Katniss sleep.

To be perfectly honest, he couldn't blame her for what she did, not truly. He understood why she did the things she did. It was what made her Katniss.

He would like to think that he would have done the same. That he would have ignored a command asking him to stand aside and watch as a hospital was bombed.

But that was beside the point.

Katniss needed to learn to follow instructions. It wasn't her disregard for him that made him angry. He was used to being disregarded and cast aside. It was the fact that here, in District Thirteen, President Coin demanded that every person adhere to the rules and the laws set up. He could protect Katniss this one time but he could not guarantee the same if she were to continuously disobey a command. Coin would think her out of control.

Haymitch nodded at the nurse wheeling in the food for the patients. She dropped a tray for Katniss.

He was scheduled for lunch but he thought of going to the dining hall did not appeal to him at the moment so he pulled the tray onto his lap and after making sure no one was there to witness it, he ate the stew.

When Katniss finally did wake up, she startled at the sight of him.

He wasted no time in going straight to it. Haymitch pulled the wire from his pocket and held it up for her to see. She recognised it for what it is and he tossed it on her bed near her feet.

"That is your earpiece. I will give you exactly one more chance to wear it," he kept his voice low and the warning clear. "If you remove it from your ear again, I'll have you fitted with this."

He bent to pick the item he had retrieved from Weaponary earlier – an audio contraption fitted around the head. It looked very much uncomfortable.

"It's an alternative audio unit that locks around your skull and under your chin until it's opened with a key. And I'll have the only key," he patted his breast pocket, which admittedly, was empty but Katniss did not need to know that. "If for some reason you're clever enough to disable it -"

The headgear followed the earpiece on the bed. Next, he extricated a small silver chip, holding it between his thumb and forefinger for Katniss to see.

"I'll authorize them to surgically implant this transmitter into your ear so that I may speak to you twenty-four hours a day."

"I'll keep the earpiece in."

"Excuse me?" Haymitch asked, leaning forward with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll keep the earpiece in!"

"You sure?" he asked snidely, "because I'm equally happy with any of the three options."

He wasn't lying. He wasn't the one at the losing end, after all. He'll be the one doing all the talking while she had to listen.

He caught the headgear when Katniss threw it in his direction. Satisfied now that Katniss had properly been discipline, he rose to leave.

"While I was waiting...I ate your lunch."

"I'm going to report you."

"You do that, sweetheart."

He had not reported Katniss' insubordination earlier and Katniss knew it. She would know to return the favour.

At dinner, when Effie asked, he said, "She got the message – loud and clear."