Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Homecoming
Haymitch
Chilling morning breeze welcomed me as got off the train into the familiar District Twelve's platform, while putting pressure on my stomach that still ached from the axe that was plunged into it. Each step I took brought attention to my newly acquired scar. As the skin around it was still healing, I could feel it stretched and it itches like crazy.
The platform looked the same as I recalled - with rust and smell of coal dust that covers everything. That place, Although if you’re ask me before the hunger games, I would never have described as "beautiful" - but right now, to me it was now the most beautiful place in the world, ten times more beautiful than the entire Capitol or anything that it created.
And that place my home, I was back home! I let out a sigh of relief, My lips trembled a bit in the process.
Ma, Sid, Lenore dove - I’m almost there, just one moment more and I'm back at my rightful place held tight by your embraces.
I walked as fast as I was could in my current situation, in the pathway that led to the seam, which crossed the square where the Merchants shops were located. the monumental Justice building square from where I was unjustly reaped to the games that turned my life upside down.
The sweet shop stood out among the other establishments - The name ‘Donner’ was written in colourful cursive letters on a red background and the storefront was decorated with drawing of peppermints.
Oh, Maysilee. Sister of mine - How wrong is it that I’m the one standing here, in front of your home, while you are lying in a wooden box and left abandoned on the platform?
Sadness accompanied me on my journey, while I kept grunting like an old guy from the pain in my gut. It took sometime before I scanned my surrounding and found myself back at the seam, locating both the McCoy’s resident as well as my own house in the distance.
As I passed the McCoy's, a thought crept up in my mind - about how, eventually, I will have to pay a visit to them and how I would be bound to give some answers. Im sure they don’t know what really happened to Louella or how she truly died; there was no one left who knew what really happened other than me… and Snow. Even the people that set in the audience of the chariot parade probably already forgotten what happened.
Should I tell her parents? Am I allowed to? Would it give them some well deserved peace or it will just lead them down the fast path to their death? It’s a decision I’ll have to make up my mind about soon - but not at the moment. Now, I have something urgent I need to check of off my list.
While Im trying to Bury any thoughts of guilt and of anything related to the hunger games, I crossed the threshold to my home.
I almost forgot what it looks like.
As I scattered the living area, everything felt … off. It was so surreal – even though the rug, the dinning room table and every casual object, even the smell of stale water and standard detergent from the Capitol store almost made sense.
But I didn’t felt right. I almost felt like I was out of place, as if I do not belong here anymore. Is it still my home if I wasn’t the same person anymore?
“Ma? Sid? Im home” I called after a while and it immediately triggered a metallic sound that echoed through the house, accompanied by a gasp. “Ma!” I called and ran towards the sound and outside, in our back yard, I found Ma standing next to a large pail of mining overalls and our metal bucket she used to transfer water from the Cistern was on the ground. Ma’s face were pale and haggard, as she finally met my gaze.
"Haymitch? Is that you, my boy?” the sound of her voice, trembling and disbelieving - made this situation tangible , almost unbearable but somehow the truest thing I felt in so long; her voice give me the push I needed to move my stiff limbs in a running motion towards her embrace as I let the tears I kept inside burst out .
“You are home now Haymitch, you are safe now” Ma said as she caressed the back of his head and waving her simultaneously callouses and delicate fingers through it.
Was I now? When president Snow always watched my every move and threatened to eliminate you if I came out alive?
Don’t think about him now, not at this precious moment – right now I'm in my mother’s arms and her hand ruffling and playing with my hair, sending pleasant shivering down my spine - I could imagine that I was somehow a little kid again, just a kid from District Twelve.
A kid, not a tribute, not a rascal, not a rebel, not a victor - just a kid, safe and sound in his mother’s embrace.
Ma releases me from her grasp but kept moving her hands from my shoulders to my face, cupping and stroking my cheeks, wiping my tears away.
“Let me have look at you” She examined me from head to toe as began to preen invisible particles of dust from my suit - one of many that Effie Trinket brought for me to wear, for the endless number of parties that occurred over the past two weeks, in which I was forced to play along with Snow's humiliating antics for my family's safety - for this moment, I try to remind myself.
“I thought my eyes were deceiving me, I’ve missed you so much and I am so… so proud of you, my boy” Ma smiled at me, and I fell into her arms again, crying profusely. “I want you to know that regardless of everything that happened out there - you will always be my boy, you hear me?” Her voice crackled a bit as she whispered those words in my ear, she hugged me even tighter and whispered again “the games didn’t not change who you truly are, son. No matter what happened, I know that inside you are still the kindest most wonderful young man - and I need you to know that too.”
I never thought how relieved I would be to hear those words from her. I wanted to reassure her that I understood but instead all I could managed was another wave of tears.
I can cry here, I'm safe here.
But it wasn’t the first time I heard those words, right? Effie said something similar - that she knew who I was, she knew I wouldn’t hurt her. She said that to me before I needed it the most, it was touching the open, gushing wound and healing it and said that even though I was handcuffed treated like a dangerous beast
Both women are trying to tell me the same thing - that the games did not change me, that Snow didn’t take the one thing that's is worth keeping - myself.
He didn’t manage to change me and he never will.
I heard quick tapping on the wooden stairs as Sid came running down to the living area, screaming my name with Urgent enthusiasm.
“Haymitch! You came back; you came back!” He thrusted himself onto my back and wrapped his arms around me, I'm overwhelmed with joy that I barely noticed that my brother was pressing hard on my aching wound. “You won, I knew you would!” I brought one arm to my back to wrap it around him.
And now my heart was almost full again, just one special someone left to make it all right.
”I need to see Lenore dove, nobody knows I’m here yet and…” I mumbled but Ma cuts me off as if she had other plans for me. “Nobody is awake at that early time of day, especially not the covey. Besides, it seems like the Capitol has all this food and feeds you none of it - how shameful. Go take a bath, I’ll prepare you something to eat.”
I missed Ma ordering me around, especially when she had a good point to make. Besides, I cannot go see Lenore dove in the state that I’m in – and oh boy how much I've wanted to go see Lenore dove right now – I needed to wash the Capitol and the shame of off myself first.
Also the sweat and blood combination did not produced a very pleasant Fragrance.
At the bathroom, I filled the tub halfway with lukewarm water and began to remove my suit. I rubbed the fine crafted piece in between my fingers - It was made of velvet, embroidered with green and lavender threads that looked like vines with grapes growing from them, my performance attire for the Capitol.
For a brief second, my first instinct was to throw it on the ground as far away from me as I could and as finish my business, the intrusive thought to take it outside and burn it creeped into my mind. Burn the garment to ashes or tear it apart, into the upmost tiniest of shreds until nothing is left, leaving it all behind like the rest of the Capitol and forget the shit show that was the quarter quell has ever happened in the first place.
But on a second thought, I couldn’t bring myself to treat that suit in any other way but with the upmost delicate manner.
When Effie entered their assigned apartment with buckets filled to the brim with charm and an endless assortment of garments for Lou Lou, Wyatt, Maysilee and myself, it was the first time we felt like we had a fair shot at this thing - that we had some sort of hope that someone might just find us intriguing enough to sponsor.
And I indeed felt immensely grateful to her, for her quick thinking, for her generosity, for her compassion. So taking my frustration out on a borrowed heirloom suit, Wasn’t the right thing to do.
It wasn’t something Haymitch Abernathy would do, that would something a really shitty person would do.
Ma and Effie have this idea in mind that Im not a bad person, I might as well prove to them that they were right to have this amount of faith in me.
So, while I hanged the suit on the door and remove the blood stained undershirt, I made a mental note to go with Sid to the lake, fill the cistern with the best quality water and to ask Ma to wash it – so when I‘d see her again, I would give it back to her In a fresh, clean and pristine state as it was before I wore it.
That’s what I’ll do, that’s the honorable thing to do .
But then I remembered that she wasn’t actually working in the games. That fact that she was there, dressing me, was a fluke caused by Magno’s incompetence and Proserpina‘s hysteria over her grade.
I felt very glum all of a sudden.
Ma knocked on the door carrying clean clothes for me, clothes that she had sawn herself, just as I wrapped myself with a towel. She chocked a hiss as she took a glimpse of my scarred abdomen, her eyes filled with sadness, but she didn’t seem surprised thought – probably because of the showoff Ceaser Flickerman made me do in the interview.
She handed the clothes to me and told me to come downstairs when I’m ready as she prepared breakfast. The soup Ma made was warm and comforting, Full of lentils and dill, so good I devoured the whole bowl in minutes. Only after the second bowl, when my stomach stopped making weird noises, I’ve noticed the stern look that adorned M’a face. Did I do something wrong? Did I ate too much? Has the time in The Capitol turned me into a person that dares to act so inconsiderately ?
“Sorry, I… should have saved some for Sid” my heart filled with shame as I shyly apologised, but Ma shook her head, the look in her eyes suddenly looked very sorrowful. “Don’t worry about it, Sid went to eat at the Everdeens and you can - and should - eat as much as you need to.” She reassured him, but then she placed her hand on mine and squeezed “there is something I need to tell you… about Lenore dove. She was arrested the day the score the game makers gave you was announced. From what I’ve heard, she was arrested under the charge of causing public disorder.”
I became stiff, but forced myself to stay calm. I tried to forget how sorrowful the voice of my girl sounded as we spoke using Plutrach’s phone. “Yeah, I know, she was released a long time ago” I spoke without thinking, but Ma didn’t reply and didn’t even asked how I knew about the arrest in the first place, she would have noticed that missing piece of information otherwise.
Oh no, This is bad, this is very bad.
“They released her, right?” I asked again, I felt as if I was about to vomit. All this time when I thought she was safe - she was still under the Capitol’s hold. What was I suppose to do now? I needs to go there and get her out, to make sure she was safe, I need…“
“Haymitch, Haymitch Abernathy!” Suddenly I heard my mother's voice shouting my name, which pulled me back to reality from the maze in my head. “I have to get her out of there, who knows what they’ll do to her because she is associated with m…” I got up and was willing to run towards the peacekeeper’s base but Ma held a death grip on my hand, forcing me to stay where I was. “There is nothing to be done at the moment, you cannot go and fight with peacekeepers at your state. Besides, your involvement or anyone else’s won’t do her any good. Even her uncles with their money and blacksmithing skills, were unable to save her from arrest, You and I both aware it’s not her first offense.”
I was panicking at that point “but I can’t just leave her to rot in there! Ma please, you don’t…” Her face were serious and deferment as she cut me off “Burdock told me she have a hearing today, Let the system release her on its own, any Any distraction could come back to her. You, young man, don't have the ability to help her right now, so what you're going to do now is to go upstairs, rest and take care of yourself and let Lenore Dove deal with her own problems for a change, am I clear?” I tried to protest But Ma taken both of my hands, brought them to her lips and whispered softly “just until you can walk without too much pain, okay? By then, I’m sure Lenore dove would be back home until then. Please son… I beg of you to reconsider.” I hate to admit that she's right. I'm exhausted, my body hurts all over and the worry is eating me alive. Right now I have no control over anything. No matter what I do, Lenore Dove won't get out of there before the hearing. When I manage to put some sense of into my fevered mind, the realization hits me that there's a big chance that my presence will only do more harm than good.
So I let out a sigh of surrender, walk up to the bedroom with heavy steps, and with creaking, painful movements, lie down on the bed, and despite the anxiety and despair that surround me, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
************
Effie
A wave of people in purple robes covered the academy's courtyard as the fresh new Bachelors of the Architecture department crossed it on there way to their assigned sits. Rows upon rows of folding chairs began to fill - with guests filling the back seats while the seats in front of the stage that were reserved for the graduates.
Since 'Trinket' begins with 'T', Im suppose to sit slightly in the back of the divided area. But since I was on the Dean's Honor List for the fifth year in a row, I was moved to the front row, so the faculty staff on the stage wouldn’t have to wait for long in between each graduate. I sit on my chair, wearing my own purple rob, playing with my nails while waiting for my name to be called.
As of today I shall be known as architect Effie Trinket.
This five-year journey that began when I was fifteen years old, armed with the brain, the ambitious and positive attitude for miles on end, comes to a wonderful end today, two months before my twentieth birthday – and form here I'm stepping straight into the professional league with a secured internship at the Crane architectural company.
And thank Panem – and my excellency - it is not in the hunger game division, which most of the graduates find themselves in, unless you actually take part in the dirty work of actually being present in the construction sight, which is another word for a shit show if I would believe to this one guest lecturer who worked there as an intern .
Even if it somehow ended in success in Haymitch’s victory - My accidental involvement with the hunger games in the second quarter quell was enough of a taste to understand it was not a field I want to pursue.
Im still carrying the uneasiness I felt throughout the game season, somehow all I can think about is how the tributes I dressed just four days before the games - are now dead.
Maysilee with the long beautiful lashes that adorned a pair of natural blue eyes and with her sharp, brutal yet clever comments. Wyatt and his skills with numbers and Louella, who I didn’t managed to have much of a conversation with, but was so young and full of life with that snake around her neck.
"Miss Euphemia Trinket" a female voice announced my name, pulling me from my thoughts. I get up and makes my way onto the stage to receive my diploma and shake the hands of the faculty's professors.
I came closer to the last member of the faculty in the line - Professor Vitruvius 'Vitru' Agrippa, the dean himself. He gently took my hands and shook it with both of his. He gave a warm celebratory look and said "you are leaving a grand legacy behind you miss Trinket, and not just in terms of the academia. You are destined to do great things my dear!"
I smiled warmly at him while offering my immense gratitude – professor Vitru was the one who accepted me into the program at the first place despite my family reputation and my young age, while serving as my listening ear throughout the durations of my studies.
"I truly Couldn’t have done it without your support, professor!" I replied as he gave me a warm fatherly embrace while sliding something into the large left pocket on the side of my ceremonial robe. I glanced at him suspiciously and try to pull whatever it was he put in my pocket – but my old professor grabs my wrist before I do and whispers in my ear "don’t pull it out here don’t tell anyone and do not open it until when you are alone."
The surprise on my face was probably as obvious as day, because he let go of my wrist and smiled at me again "and Don't forget to give your great-aunt my warm regards!"
I played his games, nodded hesitantly and stepped off the stage, simultaneously clutching my framed diploma as if my life depended on it, until my knuckles turned white.
Hats were thrown in the air, enthusiasm resined among the groups of young bachelors and the joy that they would never have to study for a test on brutalism again was almost contagious.
But I had a bad feeling about this that I couldn’t shake.
“Didn’t I said I have the most brilliant sister in Panem?” Prosie said as she gave me an enthusiastic bearhug. “If I remember correctly, It‘s Vitus was who referred to me as ‘brilliant’ but I don’t mind you taking the credit from him - i‘m your sister after all!” I couldn’t help but tease her. Even as children, Proserpina was always the sweetest little girl who wanted to be the centre of attention and I never minded giving it to her, it made me happy.
Proserpina jokingly overly pouted “Well it’s not any day that one of us is getting into an elite internship!” She poked my shoulder teasingly “and you didn’t have to make friends with anyone of the Crane family to actually…” something made Prosie stop.
“What is it?” I asked, puzzled.
“I think Plutarch Heavensbee is eavesdropping on us” Prosie whispered as she touched my arm. I’ve turn around to see the older man leaning against a marble wall, his body is turned to where my sister and I stood but his eyes looked only at me.
And the bad filling did not go away.
With a slight nod, Plutarch signals me to come towards him. Something in me knows that no matter what he wants to tell me - it won't end well. I remembered his behavior during the games - the sneaking around with Haymitch, his courage to speak in ways I would never dare speak anywhere, his connection to the President and just the fact that he's part of the most senior family in Panem after the Snows - all of these set off every alarm and warning in my mind to run away from there.
But I couldn’t, it’s not a free country. If I won’t do it now - it will come back to hunt me down and I cannot afford it, Somone have to look after Prosie.
Positive attitude I reminded myself it never let you down before.
“Mister Heavensbee, it’s been a while! How have you been?” I greeted him with a polite kiss on each cheek, which he returned as custom. “Im very well miss Trinket, congratulations on your achievements, you must be delighted!”
From my achievement? Definitely
From his presence? Not so much, but she couldn’t let it show, not in her social status in compare to an elite. “How might I be of assistant?”
“Well, it wasn’t announced to the public just yet but Im sure I can trust you not to spread it. You remember Drusilla Sickle, the District Twelve’s escort?”
I nodded, because I did remember that woman - with a fashion sense of a hovercraft high of toads, a personality of a Plucked cat with bedbugs and no class or tact whatsoever - I was appalled that someone put her to be in charge of anyone, especially not of tributes in the hunger games.
Besides, the way she talked to Maysilee… i wouldn’t dare talk to anyone like that, it was almost abusive.
“So, unfortunately she had this…collision with an escalator that caused her to break her pelvis, which means she won't be back for the next season of the Games.” He said it so casually, as if this type of injury Can’t make someone permanently disabled.
Well if there is someone who deserves that…
“Oh no! That is horrible!” I reacted as expected, but I still wondered what it had to do with me. “And as you know, Magno was fired for negligence” I nodded again.
Where was he going with this?
“They were desperate for someone to fill their part, since the victory tour is about to start just two months from now. So, I’ve given them my official recommendation and they were thrilled! They were especially impressed by the fact that you came up with a whole wardrobe in just half and hour, brilliant organization skills if I may add!”
Wait, what?
“Im not sure I understand” I played coy, because I don’t thing… I didn’t understand what he just said, because if I did…
“As of today, you are to take on the part of District Twelve’s Escort! During the victory tour you’ll have to double down as a stylist as well, but for the game season you’ll be sure to assigned a new one.”
So I understood it just right, then.
Plutarch probably didn’t even noticed the shock I'm in right now as he kept on talking “Im pretty sure you’ll be sent you everything needed for you to be able to organize the tour - but I still have to let you know that we need to keep Haymitch looking his finest!” Suddenly, Plutarch leaned forward and whispered in my ear “Just as instructed in the paper my old friend Vitru gave you.”
As if I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore then I already was.
“Well, what we wouldn’t do for Panem?” I said with fake positivity, holding myself so I wouldn’t punch him by any chance.
He chuckled, stepped away and offered his hand for a polite shake “You are patriotism at its best. Good day to you miss Trinket, Looking forward to working with you! See you on the train.” Plutarch turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, barely processed everything that had happened in the past five minutes.
When Prosie and I got home all I wanted to do was sit in my room and cry. When Plutarch Announced the thrilling news that I was going to be the new District Twelve Escort, I knew that there is a precedent for this role - the games and the patriotic duty to the Capitol comes before everything.
The moment it will be known - the Crane’s will have to let me go. Oh who am I kidding? They will gladly let me go! They will claim that they “released me” to go and fulfil my patriotic duty.
At that moment I’ve picked up my diploma, who had the honorary symbol that indicates that I was being legible for the dean honour list when I remembered the paper professors Vitru gave me.
I picked up the rope from the floor and rummaged through my deep pockets until I found it.
On the small piece of paper were written words that were by far the most surprising, shocking and chilling part of the evening. Words that would have an impact on everything I will ever do, every decision I’d would ever make and it will change the way I looked on my experience in the second quarter quell and also how I viewed Haymitch’s experience in the game.
In a purple pan on cream wrinkly paper was written in neat hand writing “your job is to keep Haymitch Abernathy and his loved ones alive. Snow almost killed Them all but I’ve managed to convince him otherwise. If Haymitch will slip out in the open - his family is the first to go, make sure it doesn’t happened. Burn this when you’re done reading. -P.H .”