A Score of Eleven
(40 years old)
"You told her to shoot an arrow at the Gamemakers to impress them?" Finnick asked, walking next to him.
"Of course not," Haymitch muttered. "You're absolutely sure about this, though? This ain't just some Capitol melodrama, yeah?"
If there was one thing that he could rely on in the Capitol, it was information that came from Finnick. The information Finnick extracted from his clients were mostly reliable.
And right now, said information was both making him smile with pride and wince at the same time.
"My client was there. One of the Gamemakers…"
Haymitch nodded. "How did your boy do?"
"Guess we'll find out tonight," Finnick shrugged. "All she would talk about yesterday was your girl."
That meant that the other Gamemakers were no different. Katniss must have been the center of their conversation during deliberation. He wasn't sure he liked it. It was too much attention and attention was a double edge sword – both good and bad.
"Thank you for your consideration," Finnick chuckled as he walked out of the elevator at the fourth floor. "She's got guts that one."
Haymitch caught a glimpse of Cinna down the hallway with several dresses slung over his arm and instead of greeting that stylist, Haymitch made his way into his room. He sat heavily on the bed, his thoughts occupied with the information from Finnick.
Katniss was exactly the sort to act first and think later. She was driven purely by instinct and he wondered where she got it from because her father… The Aspen he knew wasn't that way, except, he only knew Aspen for first 16 years of their lives.
He ran his hand over his hair. Ever since Katniss was reaped, Aspen had frequently been on his mind and it agitated him so Haymitch forced himself to focus on the present.
He thought he knew what pushed Katniss to that. He had years of experience to know that year after year, his tributes were hardly given the time of day since they were the last district to be called in for evaluation. The ignorance of the Gamemakers must have frustrate and stroke her temper. His other tributes were not Katniss and they would not have dared to grab the attention of the Gamemakers the way Katniss had. Hell, he thought, they were all probably relieved to not have any attention on them. Not at all of them had the skills the Gamemakers would deem worthy to evaluate.
If it was quiet when he came into the Penthouse earlier, it was no longer the case. Effie's voice was dominating the scene and it was rising by the second, sharp and shrill.
"How about it's just bad manners, Cinna? How about that?"
Effie must have had it bad, he mused. There was no doubt that by now, a Game Official must have paid Twelve a visit for an official complaint against their district and to give a warning for their team to control their tributes and the ones in the future.
Since he had not been around, then Effie must have been on the receiving end of the stick. It was no wonder she was losing her head. She was used to getting complains about him, not their tributes.
He supposed, it would be best to go out and handle the situation.
"Well, finally," she snapped when she caught sight of him. "I hope you noticed we have a serious situation."
Oh, he noticed it. Of course, he did.
His mind was also going through the possible repercussion said serious situation could entail. But, instead of giving Effie more reason to be worried, he gave her a reason to be annoyed. At least that would keep her attention away from the problem.
With a grin, he gave Katniss a thumb's up, a reaction nobody expected. Effie pursed her lips in irritation, nostrils flaring. Katniss was clearly surprised by it but it did carve a rare smile on her face.
He thought that he would to pretend not to let his worries show but he didn't have to. He was proud of her. He was proud of what she did when no one else dared to. Not even him during his evaluation.
"Nice shooting, sweetheart," he praised and he meant it, too.
Katniss was obviously relieved that he, at least, was not going after her head. Effie was a different matter entirely. She was pacing in circles behind the sofa. Peeta smiled at him.
"Thanks for your… Thanks for your consideration… Genius! Genius," Haymitch exclaimed because that was the perfect clapback for the Gamemakers.
"I don't think we are going to find this funny if the Gamemakers decide to take it out on…"
"On who?" he interrupted Effie. "On her? On him?"
It made Peeta looked away, uncomfortable.
"They already have. Loosen your corset, have a drink."
Effie was not wrong.
The Gamemakers would take it out on them but she harping on it would serve no purpose other than to make the kids worry even more. Peeta was already approaching the Games with his eventual death in mind so Haymitch waved Effie's concern away, refusing to make a big deal out of it in front of everyone.
And Effie…
How quickly her worry vanished when Katniss' score was revealed. She jumped to her feet, drink in hand as did the stylists. Haymitch remained seated.
The implication of eleven was so very clear to him. Not even the Careers this year had an eleven. In fact, the Games had not seen a score of eleven for a few years now… which would explain the exuberant mood the stylists and Effie was showing. It was their district after all that broke the draught.
"I thought they hated me," Katniss said in a surprised tone.
"They must have liked your guts."
They must have 'liked' it so much they wanted to see her be preyed on.
"This would mean sponsors, right?" Katniss asked him quietly just before she retired for the night.
The girl was worried. He could see it and it was not without cause. She was rubbish at making herself well-liked and she was not good at making friends but an eleven was an impression. Effie could work with that, just as she could work with Peeta's eight.
"Yeah," he nodded. "It'll give you a chance at sponsors."
He lingered by the hallway until Katniss shut the door and then he went to his room. He was lying on his bed, drink in hand when he felt himself being watched.
Effie was standing by his door, blue eyes on him.
"Did you not promise to be sober for them?"
"No. I said I'll mentor if they leave me to my drinking," he retorted. "I'm pacin' it. Quit worrying."
He turned his head towards her when she remained where she was. Haymitch raised an eyebrow in silent query for her continued presence. That was when she turned and walked off, glancing once over her shoulder at him.
It drew a sigh from him. He knew her long enough to be able to understand her without them having to exchange words so he pushed himself off the bed and followed her to the rooftop.
He caught a shimmer of the forcefield as he came to a stand next to her. Effie was staring at the streets below, quietly taking in the scene of Capitol citizens partying throughout the city.
"An eleven…" she finally said. "What does it truly mean? Do not try to patronize me by telling me that it is a good score. Eight is a good score but an eleven… We've never had anything more than a nine."
"You know, I had a ten…" he said teasingly. "What do you make of that?"
"Haymitch," she sighed. "She shot an arrow at the Gamemakers. I had to endure a lengthy lecture from Lucia about breaching protocol. I expected a low score. I expected them to take it out on Katniss by giving her a score that would be so unfavourable in the eyes of any sponsors."
"They are taking it out on her, just not in the way you or any other Capitols here expect. They gave the girl an eleven, Effs. They've painted a fuckin' target on her back."
"Sponsors would give their money to an eleven," Effie argued. "How is that punishing … I do not understand."
"You're thinkin' the way sponsors would, puttin' yourself in their shoes, choosing the tributes with the best odds and the best score to place their bets on - thinking like a Capitol, basically," Haymitch sneered. "That ain't the way, sweetheart. Think like a Career here for a second, like Brutus and Enobaria. Think the way Gloss and Cashmere would. Picture yourself watching Caesar announcin' the scores, imagine yourself now with the knowledge that there's another tribute with a score higher than what your tribute got… What sort of advice will you give your tribute now?"
"I do not have to imagine. We had that year after year, tributes with better scores than our own. I'll tell them to stay away."
"I said Career. You're thinkin' the way mentors of outlying district would. Let's try again, as mentor in the District One, what will you tell your tributes tonight before they go to bed? What will you tell the boy from District One who's got a nine when Katniss from District Twelve, has an eleven?"
"Take out the threat and he might put himself back on top…"
"Exactly," he snapped his fingers together, "and right now, sweetheart, Katniss is a threat to the Careers which makes the Games even dangerous for her. You can bet that after the bloodbath, they'd go straight into huntin' her down."
For a long while, there was only silence. Haymitch said nothing to allow Effie a moment for that information to sink in.
"Well," she breathed out and plastered a smile on her face. "It is spilled milk. Katniss did what she did and she has been evaluated. There is nothing we can do now and I'd like to believe that with a score of eleven, it will balance the odds for her. I have to. We must always look at the bright side of things, Haymitch. Always look at the bright side… We can work the score for sponsors. We must."
"I don't look at the bright side of things, sweetheart. That's why I have you. My job's to assess the situation as it plays out."
Effie angled her body towards him.
"We will still try, won't we? We have a chance, Haymitch. A small chance but a chance all the same to get one of them home. They are different – Katniss and Peeta. I know you are not blind to it. I will work the sponsors. It is what I do best."
Home.
Hadn't Aspen asked him the same so many years ago?
"… you'll do all you can to get her back home alive."
He had stormed out of his house but here he was put in a position where he could actually try to grant his old friend one last wish but what would also mean sentencing the boy to die. That boy whom he first met the night Aspen died, the same boy who offered comfort to countless of people with his words.
For the first time in his mentoring duty, he felt a sudden desperate surge to bring them both home. He did not want to have to choose between Aspen's daughter and the boy who loved her.
Aspen asking Haymitch to get Katniss home is in Extracting A Promise and Haymitch first meeting Peeta during the mine explosion is in Goodbye, Old Friends of this fic.