Chapter 60 : Until The Very End

Haymitch had dragged her halfway up the stairs before she had stopped screaming in alarm at the engine noises and the orders rebels shouted to each other.

They heard the front door being kicked down further down the house and Haymitch cursed under his breath and pushed her in the library's direction.

"Go." he told her. "You know what to do."

She froze, her eyes wild, when she understood what he meant. "I am not leaving without you."

"Sure, you are." he countered, glancing over his shoulder because they didn't have time for this. "You always were. Come on, sweetheart…"

It was him they would really be after. The traitor victor. And they would snatch her too if they could catch her because she was his lover and had worked for the Games for more than half her life but they might not chase after her if they got him first.

"Haymitch." she growled, her eyes hardening.

He kissed her hard, slipping the golden bangle off his wrist and forcing it on hers while she was distracted. If he kept it with him, it would only get lost. "You go through the library's secret passage. You get to the woods. You grab the money and you get as far away from the city as you can. Lay low. You know what to do."

"I am not…" she argued.

"It's not open to discussion." he cut her off. "The last ten years… I did everything to keep you alive, sweetheart. Ain't going to stop now. So, you go. If you love me, you go."

"That's not fair." she whispered, her eyes darting over her shoulder in fright when she heard the echoes of boots on the stairs. "I hate you! Why would you do this? Why would you…"

"Because I love you." he interrupted again. "And if you do too, you're gonna do as I say. I wanna know you're safe. I wanna know you're alive out there. Come on, Princess. We had ten years, it was a good run."

Her eyes filled with tears. "The best."

"The best." he agreed, coiling his hand around her nape and pulling her into a hard kiss. The last one. It was maybe worse now than it had been ten years earlier.

He pushed her away, turned around and went to meet the rebels, hands raised over his head, hoping it would be enough not to get him shot.

The squad of soldiers in black that had just reached the landing seemed surprised and even a little bit suspicious of his easy surrender.

"In the name of the free government of Panem, you are under arrest." one of them spat, his gun never aiming away from his chest.

"Free government of Panem…" he repeated. "That's a mouthful."

Still, he didn't resist when they grabbed him and tied his hands behind his back. He hated being tied up. He hated it so much. They dragged him to the lobby and left him to stand there under guard while he listened to them destroying his house… He heard broken glass, broken furniture… He was sure it would be properly ransacked once they would be done? Had Effie been wearing her sapphires? They would be lost now…

"The house's clear." one of the soldiers told the leader.

"What about Effie Trinket?" the man in charge answered.

"We didn't find anyone else."

And Haymitch breathed a little bit easier.

He refused to tell them where she could be.

"I don't know." he kept repeating. It didn't matter how many punches to the stomach he got for it. He was almost joyful when he uttered the lie. "I don't know."

She would survive and that was all that mattered.

Eventually, they gave up and tossed him in the back of a truck where a few other people were waiting, just as tied up as he was. A couple of them had been shot in the leg or the shoulder, a few had been beaten worse than him… The ones who had been clever enough not to try to flee or resist sat there with a dazed frightened look in their eyes.

He knew them all by names but no greetings were exchanged.

He had nothing to say to the Gamemakers, escorts and stylist crammed in there and he was sure they had nothing to say to him. He tried to catch a last look of the house he had lived in for the last ten years, where he had been happy…

They were taken to a grey building that could only be a prison where they were told to strip and put on a white prisoner uniform under the vigilant watch of a few soldiers. The Capitols all complained about privacy and changing in front of other people, screaming in fright when the rebels answered their protestations with fists and kicks.

Haymitch didn't bother trying to talk it out and was left alone.

He had been through worse than being forced to get naked in public.

The cell he was led to wasn't as bad as he had feared it would be. It was small but clean with a narrow bed, a toilet and a sink. Sure, the bars made it impossible for him to hide what he was doing from anyone and he had an open view of what his neighbors were up to. But there again, it wasn't the worst he had been through.

He sat on the bed and waited for his turn, watching the Gamemakers being taken away to be interrogated one after the other and coming back worse for the wear. He heard whispered tales of forced confessions they had signed under duress, of requests for lawyers being denied, of how outrageous being treated like that was… Those people didn't seem to understand they were on the losing side.

He was glad Effie had been spared that indignity, though.

When it was his turn, they escorted him to a room that was empty saved from a chair they shoved him on and a steel table riveted to the floor. There was no need to force him to sign anything.

He confessed to it all and it was freeing.

Had he been part of the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games' rebellion? Yes.

Had he betrayed the rebels? Yes.

To the best of his knowledge who was responsible for the failure of that rebellion? Coin.

Had he helped the Capitol track and capture known rebel cells? Yes.

Had he been under duress at the time?

He hesitated at that last question. But eventually answered that he had been given a choice – which was true, he could have sacrificed his loved ones and done the right thing – and he had chosen in full knowledge of the facts.

His readiness to own up to his actions didn't save him from an angry beating but he barely felt the sticks they hit him with. He barely felt anything. He was finally seeing the light at the end of a very long road and it made him feel detached.

Soon, it would be over and he would be free.

He wasn't sure how many days he spent in that cell, listening to the sobbing and pleading of the other detainees. They all swore they weren't responsible or tried to bargain for their lives… A few of them seemed to have understood that it was useless.

It wasn't long before a rumor started going around that the rebels were planning on executing them all. Haymitch wasn't surprised. He almost welcomed it.

And when soldiers came into his cells and dragged him down the corridors to the same room he had signed his confession in, he thought that maybe it was it. Maybe he was done.

At least until he spotted Peeta pacing around the room. His first instinct was to worry that they had somehow arrested him too but the fine clothes and the air of authority around him made that probability very thin. The younger man dismissed his escort with a nod and it confirmed every suspicions Haymitch had been harboring for months now.

Peeta was involved in that rebellion.

For a long moment, they stared at each other, taking in the obvious differences from the last time they had seen each other. The bruises on Haymitch's face, the way the boy carried himself… No, not a boy anymore. He hadn't been a boy in a long time.

"Still wearing it, I see." Haymitch eventually said, nodding at the golden pin on the lapel of Peeta's jacket.

The mockingjay looked a little worse for the wear, the gold a little tainted. It was fitting given that it had once been a symbol of unity for their team.

"She would have loved to see what is happening." Peeta answered with a small shrug. A sad smile floated on his lips and Haymitch wondered if he still loved her as strongly as he used to or if the younger victor was just clinging to the embellished memories to go on. Haymitch had been there. For twenty-five years he had been there. "I'm sorry I couldn't come before. There were a lot of things to do and I was trapped in Four for a while…"

Haymitch dismissed that with a shrug of his own and took the chair, trying to remember the last time he had had a real conversation with his former tribute. A conversation that didn't revolve around how fucked up Twelve's chances were that year or what the weather was like.

"It's nice of you to visit." he offered. "How's Prim? She's alright, yeah?"

"Oh, yes!" Peeta grinned with obvious pride. "She's with the medic team. Saving the world one person at a time, you know."

"Sounds like my girl." he smirked with fondness. He was a little sorry he wouldn't get to talk to the kid one last time – if a twenty-three years old could still be called a kid. "You tell her she makes an old man proud, yeah? Tell her… I don't know, I hate goodbyes. You'll think of something nice…"

"If I have my say, there won't be a goodbye." Peeta sighed. "I read the confession you signed. It's rubbish. Why didn't you tell them everything? I had the road paved for you, Haymitch. I told them everything. You just had to…"

"I told the truth." he growled. "Don't start making excuses for me. I did everything they accused me of. I'm a murderer and…"

"And you're willing to bring Effie down with you?" the younger man cut him off.

Cold dread ran down his spine and curled in his belly. "Effie's gone and I don't know where she is."

If this was a trick to make him tell them… He had heard the guards talking. The rebels wanted everyone who had ever been involved in the Games to be exterminated.

"Effie surrendered herself to a rebel compound in One once she learned there would be trials and certain executions ." Peeta told him quietly. "She's been held in a detention facility for the past two days."

"You're lying." he accused. But even as he said that, he closed his eyes.

"She asked me to tell you she knows you will be angry with her decision but that what she said on the roof all that time ago still stands." his former tribute offered. "She also said you would understand."

Tough luck because if you die, I die. Don't you dare think I wouldn't. If you kill yourself, I will do the very same thing. Is that what you want?

He couldn't live without her because she was the only thing keeping him afloat. And she had always claimed the reverse was true.

They had gone from toxic to co-dependent.

"Can you help her?" he heard himself ask in a soft desperate tone. Did Peeta have enough weight to do that? How important was he to this rebellion?

"Well, she didn't sign any confession so it's making my life easier." the younger victor joked. It fell flat. "She also forbade me to do anything to help her until you are out of the woods. She seems to think it is the only way you will do the clever thing and stop trying to play the martyr."

"I'm no martyr, boy." he growled, angry both at him and at Effie for being so stupid.

"Good." Peeta approved. "Because I have arranged for your trial to be a private one and General Valus will preside himself."

"Who's that?" he frowned.

"Only the leader of the rebellion." the other victor replied. "And hopefully our next President once we can organize elections." Haymitch listened to how the guy had apparently formed a coup, killed Coin and taken over in Thirteen and then almost single-handedly started another revolution. Peeta was clearly in awe of the man and thought he had hung the moon. "He is a good man and a fair one. All you have to do is tell the truth, Haymitch. The whole truth."

He let that sink and then shook his head. "Look, all I care about is Effie. Get her out of there. You know she's a good person. You know…"

"Effie's trial won't be any time soon and I made sure she was as comfortable as possible given the circumstances." Peeta countered. "We have to worry about you first."

"I'm not important." he dismissed. "I just want Effie…"

"You're every bit as important as Effie." the younger man snapped. "Don't you get that? I'm not going to watch you die, Haymitch. I'm not. Either of you. So, shut up and do what I say. You will tell them the whole truth. You will tell them you were trying to keep us all alive, that they were threatening you."

"Peeta…" he sighed.

"You're not in charge anymore." Peeta cut him off. "You want Effie to survive? You save your own ass so you can testify at her trial. That's how we get her out of this mess."

And damn her for having thought of that too.

Always trying to force him to stay alive.

So, for her, he did what the boy had asked.

When the time came, he put on the suit Peeta brought him and he sat in an interrogation room that had three tables pushed together and he faced the three men that would decide his fate. The one sitting in the middle had the unmistakable military attitude that marked him as the general Peeta liked so much.

Haymitch couldn't get a good read on the guy. The soldier was too good at keeping a straight face.

A list of his alleged crimes was read and there was not a single one he could refute. He had collaborated with the enemy. He had helped capture rebels and had been paid for it too. He had betrayed the original rebellion.

Peeta talked for him, presenting the story of his life in such a way that Haymitch felt pathetic and weak. When time came for him to explain himself, in his own words, all he could think about was the missing bangle on his wrist and the wife he had never been able to publicly acknowledge.

So he told them everything in a flat voice, without passion or anger. Flat and detached and so, so tired.

And when he was done, when Peeta was done pleading his case again, they waited in silence in the hallway, guarded by soldiers who didn't spare them a glance.

"Please, whatever happens…" Haymitch mumbled once they were called back inside. "Whatever she says… Save her."

Peeta nodded once.

He felt relieved when he stepped back in what had been his courtroom. One way or another, it was ending now.

He had expecting everything from immediate execution to a life sentence.

What he hadn't been expecting was for him to be effectively exiled by being placed on house arrest for the rest of his life.

It was better than prison.

At least if Effie was eventually allowed to come and join him.

They didn't waste any time in getting out of there and back to the estate he had lived in for the last ten years. A fence had been put in place to clearly mark the perimeter and guards were regularly patrolling it. The gardens were a mess, the geese were missing and the inside of the house had been turned upside down. He didn't dare check if they had found the secret passage that led to the woods. Not yet.

"Home sweet home." he muttered to himself as he walked into a far too big empty house.

It was almost like being back in Twelve.

Peeta visited him regularly, keeping him supplied with cigarettes and news of the outside world that were more accurate than what he could see on TV. Prim had applied for a right to visit him but it hadn't been granted yet.

It took weeks before it was Effie's turn to stand on trial and, by then, it didn't look good. Haymitch could count on one hand the people who hadn't been executed and on two fingers those who had been released.

He was exceptionally allowed out of the house to testify at her trial, whatever good it would do her given their personal relationship and his own sentencing. She looked much older sitting in the accused booth, her blond hair tied up in a simple bun, pale in her navy blue suit. Their eyes met as soon as he was introduced in the courtroom and he wasn't able to look away all the time he spoke.

When it was time for him to step down so Peeta could take his place, he found himself rooted to the spot.

He wanted to run to her, hold her and never let go.

Walking out of the room, right to the car and back to the estate was the hardest thing he had ever done. Leaving her… He was out of practice at leaving her.

He paced in front of the house, chain-smoking, waiting for news… Peeta and Prim would call once they knew. His former tribute had promised as much.

He heard the car's engine, heard the gates creaking open once the guards had granted passage, and his heart sunk in his chest. If it had been good they would have called at once. If they wanted to tell him in person…

He couldn't live without her.

That was a fact. It was decided even before the question even arose.

If they had killed her…

The car came to a stop a few feet away from him and he stared at the tainted-window, heart beating hard in his chest, wondering how he was going to do it… No more sleeping pills available but he could find another way. He could be creative. He was nothing if creative…

The driver's door opened first and Peeta stepped out. Their eyes met but before he could call out to him, ask him what the fuck was going on, the back door of the car opened and…

They were far too old for that sort of dramatic reunion.

And yet before he understood what was going on he had tossed the cigarette and he was running. Effie met him halfway though, throwing herself in his arms without a moment of hesitation.

"You're an idiot." he accused even as he planted a kiss on her lips. "You're a fucking idiot."

She laughed in the middle of the kiss, tears rolling down her cheeks, her arms looped so tight around his neck. "You started it. You should have come with me."

"Turning yourself in?" he insisted, kissing her again just because he could. "Seriously?"

"And what did you do?" she retorted, burying her face in his neck. "God, Haymitch, I was so afraid I would never see you again…"

He closed his eyes and pressed his nose against her hair. "They released you, then? You're free?"

"Not exactly." she whispered. "I bargained for… I knew I wouldn't escape without at least some years of prison, that it was the optimistic outcome so… I made a bargain. A lifetime of house arrest in our home did not sound so bad compared to other possible scenarios."

He drew back a little and frowned at her. "You're trapped here too?" He looked behind her to Peeta who was leaning against the hood of the car, hands in his pockets. The boy nodded once, his face a bit grim as if he had hoped for a better option. "You could have run, sweetheart." he sighed. "You could have…"

"What is the point of running without you?" she dismissed with a bright smile. "I made a promise over an old malfunctioning toaster and I intend to keep it until the very end."

He brushed his thumb against her finger. The iris shaped ring was missing.

In the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter.

"Until the very end." he repeated, breathing the words out so she would be the only one to hear them.

"That's the spirit, darling." she grinned before kissing him again.

She wasn't pleased with the state the house was in and he wasn't surprised she declared they would start cleaning it the very next morning. He couldn't bear to leave her side for a second. He barely noticed when Peeta left them to their exile, too busy watching her, touching her, making sure she wasn't going anywhere…

When he stepped out of the bathroom that night and couldn't find her anywhere, he panicked, half certain he had dreamed the whole thing and that she was lost to him or worse… He ended up sitting on their bed, his head in his hands, staring at the blue covers and wondering at which point he had started losing his mind.

He startled badly when she walked in the room and could only stare as she discarded the sweater she had clearly borrowed from him, leaving her in pajamas bottom and a frilly tank top.

"Where the fuck were you?" he scowled. "I've looked for you everywhere. I…"

"I went to retrieve something." she cut him off, crawling on the bed to sit at his side.

She was beaming. She hadn't stopped beaming ever since she had climbed out of that car and he wondered if she really realized that they were in prison. A nice one, granted, one they loved. But a prison nonetheless. He was about to confront her when she opened her hand to show him.

"How?" he scoffed in disbelief when he saw the golden bangle and the iris shaped ring on her palm.

"I knew if I was arrested…" she whispered, losing her cheerfulness for a moment. "I did not want to risk losing them so I hid them in the passage." She gently took his hand and slipped the bangle back around his wrist, where it belonged. "I am not an idiot, Haymitch. I know this is not ideal. But… I do not care if you are to be the only face I see until I die. I will take a lifetime of house arrest with you over spending the rest of my life alone in a heartbeat. I would do it again. You are my husband and I love you and whatever the future holds, boredom or another trial, I want to face it with you."

She didn't meet his eyes, afraid maybe of what she would find there.

He knew it wasn't about a fear of her feelings not being reciprocated, they had long been past that… But perhaps she was afraid he didn't want to share his prison with her.

And even as he thought that, he relaxed.

It could be worse.

He deserved worse.

So, he would have to spend the rest of his life trapped in a huge estate, trapped with the woman he loved… Really not the worst fate.

"There's no point to anything without you." he acknowledged quietly. He fingered the iris shaped ring for a second before placing it back on her hand, hardly able to believe it had been a decade since the last time he had done that. "Let's see the bright side… We're gonna have a lot of time for sex."

She laughed and it was the sweetest sound.

It always was the sweetest sound.

And if it was the last one he ever heard he would consider himself a lucky man.

The End

Here we are at last! The last chapter of the angst story to kill all angst stories! I'm a bit sad to see this one go... There was a lot of controversy about it (mainly on AO3) but writing it was a guilty pleasure of mine and it was a real pleasure to explore something dark and try to stay true to it. It's also the first complicated banner I ever did for a story!

No execution but no real freedom either... I tried to stay true to the general tone of the story and I firmly believed it would be unrealistic for them to just end up in Twelve like in canon. I almost had them executed to be honest but I couldn't resolve myself to it. So... House arrest. Old school. At least they are together and they can find the happiness in the sorrow. I think it kinda sums up this story anyway ;)

Don't miss my next stories! "The Greatest Show" (a 60s ish circus au I hope everyone will enjoy) as well as the "Katniss, the vampire slayer" series. Both stories should be up on the second week of September (yeah, I know it's a short hiatus for chaptered stories but I want April Showers finished so we can start again with a clean state and then I want a week off).

Please, do let me know your thoughts on this chapter or on the story itself! What part did you like most? Will you miss it? Are you happy with the ending? Will I see you again for more stories?