Author's Note: A slightly slower and slightly shorter chapter than last week's in the aftermath of the first day of the Quarter Quell.

….

Vigil

Chloe and Coral departed the Mentors' Centre and went straight to the morgue where they would meet Mags' body on arrival. Noah had decided to wait for a while, leaving the two women to spend time with Mags alone, just as they had been able to do for decades. As difficult as this loss was for him, he could not imagine what Chloe and Coral were feeling, having lived in Mags' pocket, as her daughters for over forty years.

As the others returned to their floors, Noah remained in the Mentors' Centre with Lyme and Liev. District Two's woman would sleep when she knew it would not be long before Cleo or Petran returned to man Two's station. Seven's victor could not bring himself to sleep, unable to process what had happened to Blight.

"It was too quick. One second, he was alive, running and reckless, the next he was dead on the floor. I never thought it would happen like this."

"It's the Games," Lyme replied.

"I know that. But it's Blight. I expected him to go down defending Johanna, Finnick even. In a fight against your pair. Not running into a bloody forcefield that his friend could control."

"His friendship doesn't mean anything at this point. He's getting the job done."

All three victors in the room understood the subtext of what Lyme was saying. Plutarch Heavensbee was doing the job of Head Gamemaker remarkably and annoyingly well. He was simultaneously doing his job as a rebel leader well too, putting the cause before individual loyalties. Despite the emotions involved, the victors knew that.

"So, we do our jobs too," Noah announced. "Mags has gone," his voice cracked. "But we carry on. She'd be furious if we didn't. Blight too and we know that underneath it all, Claudia wants this to work."

"After all of this, if he ruins it, if it all goes to shit and with Mags gone, I'll be in the queue to break his neck," Lyme said sharply. "She deserved more than this. They all do."

"All of us here do too. Years of all of this, mentoring, sponsorship and alliances, pulling strings, all the danger. Noah, you will take care of Chloe, won't you? I can't bear to see her like this."

"Of course, we will. She'll appreciate your company too, once she returns. Go and get some sleep, Liev. Sawyer and Linden will need to swap with someone."

"Sawyer won't be here for a few hours yet. Linden will be helping Poppy."

"Then he'll need to sleep too, so get your rest now. If Linden comes down here with Poppy, I'll tell them to go back upstairs if nothing is happening. Claudia's injury looked nasty, and Poppy won't want to see it."

"She's tough," Lyme remarked.

"She is. But we can't risk breaking her."

Liev agreed with Noah, "She doesn't need to see it. Blight either. I'll go down later. I'm not saying goodbye whilst he's covered in that blood."

….

Chloe and Coral waited in the corner of the morgue. Neither of them would manage any sleep so they decided it was not worth returning to their floor. Besides, they wanted to give Noah his space too. He liked to process alone before joining the rest of them so they would let him do what is best for him.

So, they waited as a blood-soaked Blight arrived and was cleaned up by the diener. He had no obvious injuries to fix so his body was ready and the coffin available to view by the time Mags arrived.

They knew there would be no wounds or signs of violence at the hand of another victor, but the arena had certainly been violent towards Mags. Chloe and Coral knew from watching the aftermath of Mags' passing that it would be possible to clear up the damage left by the fog, so they would not have to return her to Four in the state she would be delivered to them.

As they waited, they steadied themselves, clutching onto each other's hands when they heard the tell-tale signs of the hovercraft landing. The doors opened and their beloved Mags was wheeled into the morgue in a body bag. It was an image neither Chloe nor Coral was entirely prepared for, and they struggled to keep themselves together in front of the Capitol medics and the diener who was watching on, throwing them sympathetic glances when his Capitol peers were not looking his way.

The body bag was casually placed onto the table, unzipped and the diener was given a summary of the fatal injuries. There was significant damage to Mags' lungs and nervous system but only what was visible needed to be addressed. The diener swiftly dismissed his colleagues and approached District Four's victors.

"I can show you what to do if you would like to take care of her yourselves."

Coral nodded, indicating both of their agreement as they looked on as the bag containing Mags' lifeless form was completely unsealed and the scale of the damage from the fog became clear. The wetsuit had offered little protection and her hair had begun to fall out. But Chloe and Coral would look after Mags. Somewhere within them, beyond their hopes for her survival, there was part of them that knew they would have to perform this task, and such was their loyalty to Mags, they would do so without thinking or questioning. They would not permit anybody else to look at her or touch her in this state either. She was theirs and they would do right by her.

They were shown to the side room where they could take care of Mags in privacy, the diener briefly showing them what to use and demonstrating on an exposed patch of shoulder where the wetsuit had disintegrated. Then he left, allowing Chloe and Coral to complete the task in privacy.

They delicately brushed along Mags' skin with the solution provided and watched as the aggressive marks and blisters left by the fog began to fade. Then they covered the damaged skin with a salve and allowed her skin to repair until it became clear they could do no more. The worst marks could be covered.

An hour after Mags had arrived and as Chloe and Coral were finishing their work, Noah tentatively entered the morgue holding the clothes Mags had picked out for this sombre occasion. He locked eyes with both Chloe and Coral and the three held each other as Mags lay next to them, wrapped in a white sheet, the hair that Chloe and Coral had managed to save delicately fanned out around her shoulders.

Noah released himself from the two women's grip and sat next to Mags, holding her hand and talking to her, reassuring her, and Chloe and Coral, that Finnick was alive and that he would hold himself together. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were both alive too and still at Finnick's side, the girl showing no more signs of wanting to attack or leave the alliance. He updated her on who else was alive and the other victors who would be joining her, although, he supposed, Mags would know that already and would be ready to greet them with open arms as they left the arena.

He stood aside and gave Chloe the clothes he had collected and waited at the door as the two women dressed Mags as if he was standing guard, maintaining their privacy. Nobody else would enter, he knew that, but it was important. The others would arrive to bid Mags goodbye later and there was only the diener, by now working on hiding Claudia's injuries, who was aware of their presence, but it felt like the right thing to do.

After they had finished, Coral ushered Noah back inside and handed him the small bottle of nail polish and told him to help with what he could. She would apply the light make-up Mags had chosen whilst Chloe was trying to delicately fix Mags' hair into the style she most preferred. The three victors worked quietly and peacefully, their silence interrupted by one of them occasionally retelling a story from Mags' long, eventful life until she was ready.

They each chose to spend a few moments alone with Mags, confiding in her, feeling as if she was still there to listen and reassuring both her and themselves that all was going to work out as they had planned. The breakout and their escape from the Capitol was fast approaching.

….

Their duties complete, Chloe and Coral returned to Four's floor to try to sleep whilst Noah returned to the Mentors' Centre to sleep on one of the sofas, unable to bring himself to stay where Mags and Finnick should both be. Upon his return, he found both Lyme and Liev still in their seats, as they were when he left, only now they too were sleeping.

Noah tried to sleep but he was restless, unable to stop reliving Mags twisting and falling into the fog and Finnick stumbling through the jungle without her. After about an hour of fruitless attempts at remaining asleep, Noah returned to watching the screen where he found that Finnick too was awake, staring blankly ahead into the skies of the arena as Twelve's tributes slept beside him.

Noah watched as tears silently fell down Finnick's fog-marked skin as he cried quietly, trying not to wake his sleeping allies. He watched as Finnick picked up handfuls of sand and watched as it fell aimlessly through his fingers, back onto the shore.

"I'm sorry, Mags," he whispered.

From the Mentors' Centre, despite knowing Finnick couldn't hear him, Noah replied, "No, Finnick. It's not your fault. Mags made a choice."

"I should have tried harder, pushed on," he continued from the arena.

"Oh, Finnick," Noah sighed. "You couldn't have done any more. Mags would never expect it of you. She's proud of you. We all are. Nobody blames you."

….

Linden startled as he emerged from Poppy's room to find Max sitting on the sofa in District Six's living room.

"Don't mind me," Max said. "Have either of you managed any sleep?"

"A little. Poppy's still sleeping. How about you?"

"Enough for me. But here," Max said, gesturing to Linden to sit alongside him.

"I've had enough rest to get me by. My days are numbered anyway. I don't need more sleep," Max whispered, conscious that Capitol ears could be listening in.

"Of course. You're on your way out too."

"It's the best way. I feel dreadful for leaving her, especially now. It seems like everyone is leaving her. But it would be too much of a risk for her to take me with her, I'd only slow her down."

"She's upset, but she understands."

"She's good like that," Max said. "Which is why you aren't leaving her. Don't you go dying on her when everyone else is."

"I don't plan on it," Linden replied.

"Good. Stay alive with her, for her, whatever it takes."

"Are you asking me to go to Six with her?"

"Not unless that's what you both want. I know you're needed in Seven, as Poppy is in Six. But whatever you do, find a way back to her."

"I will do. I can't let her down."

….

Morning broke and the victors gradually filtered into the Mentors' Centre where the avoxes had cleared away the mess caused by the previous day's events as Lyme and Liev slept in their seats and Noah remained in a one-sided conversation with Finnick. The room was quieter, calm, but the mood was as uneasy as they left it a few hours previously.

Content that most of the tributes were either still sleeping or not in harm's way, most of the victors decided to visit the morgue to pay their respects and say goodbye to their fallen friends. Chloe and Coral checked on Noah and confirmed that Finnick was functioning before returning to Mags' side before the other victors took their chance to spend a final moment with her.

The pair were followed out of the room by Lyme who had taken it upon herself to be the first to say goodbye and have a moment with Mags, in private, before the others decided to join. She walked behind Chloe and Coral into the morgue and let them go straight to Mags as she stopped alongside the rest of their deceased friends.

To Seeder, Lyme simply said, "I'm sorry and I know he's sorry too," before closing the lid and moving on. She did not want to dwell on the fact that it was Brutus who had killed one of the most respected victors.

As she reached Claudia, the message was different, "I underestimated you. I'm sorry. You've made me reconsider a lot about you since last night. You did the right thing. Poppy and Max are proud and Haymitch is very grateful."

She moved onto Blight and shook her head, "Damn shame this, Blight. You stood a chance of making it out. But Johanna will, there's enough of us to make sure of it."

After moving away from Blight's coffin, Lyme approached Chloe and Coral and took her place beside Mags, taking hold of one of her hands. Four's women stood aside to allow Two's victor time with the friend she admired so much.

"You brave, brave, wonderful woman. I think we both knew that something like this was bound to happen, but it doesn't make this any easier. I know you'd be telling me to get on with things, and I will do, you know me. But I needed to say goodbye, properly," Lyme began before remaining quiet for a few moments.

"Finnick is alive. He'll cope. Deep down, he knew this would happen too. He just needs to move past the shock and get on with the job, like you'll have told him. He'll do anything you've told him to, so don't worry about that. We'll get him out alive. You've always done so much for us, so we'll do this for you. Like we will the rest of it. It's going to work. Pluto and Halley are confident.

But this is your life's work, and I am so angry with Heavensbee for allowing you to be the sacrifice. You're one of a kind, Mags. You knew the impact you had on all of us and now look at us. Me in here, getting emotional. The others want to come to see you too. Finnick is in shock, and I dread to think about Shai and Annie in Four. Rowan and Song will support each other. Here, Noah is refusing to sleep, and Chloe and Coral can't bear to let you go. But we all have to. So, this is goodbye from me, your ally and loyal friend from Two. Always on your side, and don't you forget it."

It was not long before Petran and Cleo stopped to say brief farewells, followed by most of the victors from District One. Gem was the last of them to arrive, determined to visit alone. She had a few short words for Mags that needed to be said when nobody, other than Chloe and Coral, could eavesdrop.

"I know I took my time," Gem started. "I wasn't the easiest to deal with at first, but you know my mind is made up now. I'm on your side, old girl. We'll make it work."

She was followed shortly afterwards by Maria who echoed many of the words said by her peers. Her visit was also short. She had made peace with Mags' passing and was anxious to return to watching Adan, who was by now awake and on the move through the jungle.

So, she too took one of Mags' hands and said, "It's busy here, you know what it's like. Only now it's now or never. It's really happening, finally. But we've got it, me and Lyme. What we agreed. As many of us as possible out of here, and the arena, alive."

Porter also made a brief trip to check on Hal and to bid Mags farewell before returning to watching Luna so she was soon followed by Pluto and Halley, who were also anxious to return to watching their pair as they faced the jungle with only Johanna Mason for company, in an alliance that was fraying rapidly.

By the time they bid Mags farewell, Poppy and Max were standing in tears over Claudia's sleeping form, letting her know that they were proud of her. That she had done what she wanted and made a worthwhile contribution. They hoped she would finally find her peace and be reunited with Levi and their children.

Both Sawyer and Linden were trying to hold Liev upright as the man almost collapsed at seeing Blight in the morgue. Nothing could prepare him for the sight of seeing his youngest victor dead. He had helped pull him from an arena alive almost twenty years ago and Liev could not believe that it had ended like this for Blight. He was broken by the knowledge that they had lost Blight and that Johanna was struggling in the arena carrying an alliance with tributes physically and mentally weakened by the Games. This was not what they had planned, and Liev was completely devastated, so much so that Chloe tried to help comfort her longtime friend despite her own grief.

The final victor to sit alongside Mags was Haymitch who waited until there were enough people back in the Mentors' Centre to watch over his pair and Finnick as they woke up on the beach and tried to source food. He could barely look at Chloe and Coral as he passed until Coral interrupted his thoughts.

"Haymitch, look at me. This is not your fault. Don't go blaming yourself."

Haymitch forced himself to look at the women from Four and see the pain written across their faces before he replied, "Doesn't make this any easier. She had my back when I was in the arena, and I couldn't have hers."

"It's really not your fault, Haymitch. Mags wouldn't expect you to do more than you already are. You're about to take on so much for this to work," Chloe said as Haymitch reluctantly accepted their words and went to visit Mags for the final time.

"Oh Mags," he sighed as he looked at the older woman lying peacefully in front of him.

"I never wanted this to happen. You deserved to get out of there. To show them in the east who's really in charge. You're about the only one I listen to anyway, so that means you're in charge regardless," he laughed softly.

"But I guess this is it. We've all got to finish the job and I know that for some reason, you trust me. So, I'll need to get this right, if the girl doesn't ruin it of course, and she's trying my patience already. But you think she'll come good too, so for my sanity, I'll try to believe it.

Finnick is alive. That's important. He'll learn to cope. He's finding his head again after last night, we all are. I'll look out for him when we get there. After the shift he's putting in with my pair, someone will need to be there.

We're really doing this though, Mags. It's really happening. Twenty-five years after you wondered whether I'd start something, I guess we have now, good old District Twelve. Good old Four too. This would never be happening without you, and I guess everyone else has said that already, but you know that.

What I'm trying to say though is thank you, Mags. For everything. I'd be more of a mess than I am now without you keeping me in check. You stay well now Mags and I'll try to do the same here. Look after them and let someone else look after you, wherever you are, you deserve the best."