Flames to Embers

31- The 75th Hunger Games

This chapter was so hard haha. I don't do well writing action. I would much rather write angst and sadness. Unfortunately, action is a major part of the Hunger Games so here we are.

I barged into Haymitch's room close to one in the morning. I had to wait for Katniss to fall asleep, and for several fear-filled hours, I was afraid she never would.

Haymitch was still up, as well. He sat in a chair in the corner, the phone to his ear. When he saw me, he hung up, slamming the phone down on the receiver. "What?" He demanded. But I could tell by his expression that he knew exactly what I wanted. He took my silence as confirmation. "I can't just speed the process up, Odair. I have no control over the situation."

"Why not?" I asked. "You're high up in the ranks, aren't you?"

Haymitch shrugged. "Plutarch isn't answering my calls. I've tried everything to reach him."

"You just can't contact-"

"Thirteen? No. My only connection is through Plutarch."

I sat down in a chair next to him. "Haymitch, we need to get her and Peeta out."

He looked at me. "Did you know? About the baby?"

I shook my head.

"I didn't either. But it's real? Peeta didn't just make it up to stop the Games?"

"They're real. She's eight weeks in."

Haymitch sighed, rubbing a hand tiredly across his face. "You know, if she told us these things earlier, then maybe we could have put together a plan to get her out sooner."

"I'm just as pissed about this as you are. More so, in fact. But we both know Katniss, and we both know she would never say anything." I told him.

"How did Peeta know?" Haymitch asked me.

I shrugged. "Apparently when she found out, she just needed to tell someone. And he was there."

"But you weren't? Didn't you live with her for the past few months?"

"It was just a few days after I left for the Capitol."

Haymitch sighed again, but didn't say anything. I briefly considered telling him that she knew about the rebellion—and probably more than she let on, too—but I decided to let that slide. We would be going into the arena in just a few hours alongside Peeta and all our closest friends. Prim and Gale were long gone, probably well on their way to District 13. I gave them brief directions, and encouraged them to talk to Haymitch, so hopefully they would be arriving soon. My family was still in District 4, but I couldn't imagine they would get hurt by Katniss knowing about the rebellion. District 13 would be working on extracting the families, anyway, as well as most of the victors. It simply wouldn't be safe. It would probably even help the cause if the Victors were siding against the Capitol.

"As much as it pains me to say it, Odair, you've become almost as important to the cause as Katniss." Haymitch said. I frowned slightly. "Obviously, Katniss will be our first priority, but you're right behind her. You know as well as I do that without you, she's going to be practically useless to the cause without her emotional support hubby."

I knew he was right. Katniss was fiercely loyal to her family. I hadn't been around when her father passed away ten years previously, but I had heard from Prim that it was an especially painful time in Katniss's life, as was expected. I had also heard the way their mother had reacted, completely shutting down, becoming unresponsive.

Katniss was raised mainly by her father—or who she believed her father to be—so she was most like him, but I couldn't help but wonder if she might have inherited some genetic qualities from her mother. Such as how pain and loss would affect her. If Katniss became detached, like her mother did, it would do the revolution no good. District 13 would not be appreciative.