A/N: The finale! Thank you for reading. :)

...

It was a battered, depressed group that left the Cornucopia.

They'd gone there to regroup, and see if any other allies would make it to them. It didn't seem a good sign that none did. Wiress had been killed by Gloss, but not before Katniss was able to work out her clues about the nature of the arena: that it was a clock.

Of course, that was when the gamemakers had decided to shake things up – literally. They'd been swung around on the Cornucopia, until Finnick had to swim out and fetch Beetee. No doubt that would help slow down the man's recuperation. They were just lucky that Katniss – the only person who had no idea what it was for – had thought to retrieve the wire from Wiress's body.

They set up a camp on the beach, no one certain what to do yet. At the moment, mapping the arena seemed like the best idea, but no one wanted to venture too close to find out what was lurking in the other sections. Whatever dismembered people was best left alone. And he wasn't sure that he personally could face blood rain.

Katniss went into the jungle to forage, and Haymitch left her to it. Finnick had gone with her, and he could help the girl much more easily than an old drunk. No, Haymitch was best off staying on the beach with Beetee and seeing what the other man had to say about his wire.

Whatever Beetee did have to say though, Haymitch didn't get to know, because they all froze at the sound of a girl's voice screaming for Katniss.

"Prim?" he said, dumbfounded. What could her sister be doing here? It had to be a trap, a trick. More screaming sounded from the jungle.

The three of them got to their feet, Johanna with her axes out already. Haymitch retrieved his spear. He knew this must just be a recording, designed to make Katniss careless, but he was worried it would work. And besides, he knew how awful it was to be helpless as you heard your loved ones suffer.

Only a few metres into the tree line, Johanna hit an invisible barrier, slamming backwards into the ground as her own momentum worked against her. For a moment, Haymitch thought she'd been electrocuted, but she was fine. Just bruised and angry. They tentatively touched the invisible barrier. It wasn't a force field, not like the others, but it was stopping them from getting in for some reason.

Or stopping Katniss from getting out? Haymitch just hoped Finnick alone would be enough help to her.

The two arrived looking distraught, but otherwise unharmed. On Haymitch's side, they tried to warn then about the barrier, but the sound was completely blocked.

That was when the birds swooped down. Sickness clawed up his throat as he thought for a second that he might see Katniss die in exactly the same way as Maysilee Donner. Then he realised what the birds were, and where the sound had come from.

Finnick was already huddled in a ball on the floor, while Katniss tried to shoot down every bird hopelessly.

Haymitch clawed at the barrier, trying to get through, to help stop what he knew she must be hearing – the sound of every person she loved, being hurt, screaming for her. It was a sound he had heard many times in his head, but never out loud. His loved ones had been killed as example, but he'd never seen it happen. They were already dead when he returned from the Games, their bodies waiting for him.

"They'll have used the voices from interviews, and digitally altered them to make these sounds," Beetee explained, concerned but rational. He seemed to be trying to figure out a way to disable the barrier, while Haymitch and Johanna just hammered on it uselessly.

Katniss was huddled on the floor now too, so close that Haymitch could have touched her – hugged her, slapped her. Anything to remind her of what was real and what wasn't.

It seemed the ultimate cruelty, that Finnick and Katniss – who still had people they loved out there – were forced to listen to them in pain, while Haymitch and Johanna, had no one. No one but the people they were watching suffer right now.

It went on for such a long time, to the point that Haymitch had shouted himself hoarse, even though he knew it was pointless. Johanna's knuckles were bloody from pounding on the barrier. And then, it finally dropped.

Haymitch carried Katniss back to the beach, while the other two took Finnick. It took a lot of coaxing to bring her back to the real world, and he just held her while she trembled and whispered to herself.

"They weren't really the voices of your family," he explained, calmer than he felt. "The Capitol would have used the voices from their interviews and altered them to upset you."

"It's quite a simple process, really," Beetee added.

"But what about Peeta?" Katniss pleaded. "I heard him too! What if they're still angry about the berries? Or what if I did something wrong in here? What if he did? What if they're torturing him right now?"

She babbled questions as they tried to calm her, almost not noticing the silver parachute that fell down to them. Its package was a golden locket decorated in a Mockingjay, the same one that Effie had given Peeta. His token, the sign that they were a team.

Katniss took it with fumbling hands, seemingly unsure whether it was a trap, and her hands popped the catch, opening the windows. Inside, were pictures of her family, and Gale.

"See?" Haymitch said, trying to make his voice light. "Peeta's telling you he's alive, and your family too. It was just a trick, that's all."

She looked at him uncertainly, and he knew that she was considering that they'd taken this locket from his body. After all, hadn't she jumped to that conclusion when Haymitch gave his token to Finnick? He twisted the bracelet round his wrist, hoping she wasn't falling towards a breakdown.

It was Johanna, of all people, who brought Katniss back to her senses. "Like the Capitol's going to do anything to the precious little sister of the Girl On Fire, she scoffed. Or Peeta, part of the tragic Star Crossed Lovers duo. Imagine something happening to them, there'd be riots in the streets! And we wouldn't want that, would we?!" The last sentence was a furious yell at the cameras.

Katniss stared at her in shock, and it seemed to shake her out of her despair. Haymitch eyed Johanna with concern. That was twice now that she'd let her anger get the best of her, come a little too close to their true purpose for being here together and allying. If killing her was what it took to make sure she didn't reveal anything, then he'd do it, but it would mean risking Finnick's allegiance, and Haymitch knew he couldn't take both of them. In honesty, he didn't want to have to try. He liked these people. But they'd all come into this arena knowing the stakes.

They made camp on the beach, and another parachute reached them. This one with 24 bread rolls of the same type. To represent 24 hours, Haymitch was certain. With the district meaning the day? Now he knew when their escape had to be made. He met Beetee's eyes and saw that the other man had realised it too.

Haymitch sat down next to Katniss, handing her some bread as he wolfed down his own. He felt unbelievably tired and a little twitchy. Aside from a brief nap after Johanna and District 3 had joined them, he hadn't slept since he entered the arena. He doubted he'd be able to sleep tonight though, and tomorrow would be too late.

While they ate, they received their daily update on who was alive and who was dead. Haymitch was relieved to see that Chaff had survived this next day, but if he was alive, why hadn't he come to the Cornucopia? Why hadn't he joined the alliance?

"Haymitch..." Katniss began, stroking Peeta's locket. "I think I need to go."

He looked up. "What?"

"I can't kill these people," she said softly. "And I don't want to watch them die, not another one. Especially not you. It's best I just go it alone." She added quickly, "You don't have to worry about me, I took care of myself alone during my last Game."

"Well, aside from the burn cream, and Rue's antidote to the tracker jacker venom," he pointed out snappily. Why was she bringing up this insane idea now? When they were so close? "Look, sweetheart, you can't leave now. Just stay a bit longer, until Brutus and Enobaria are dead. Then you can roam the arena to your heart's content."

"It might be too late by then," she said uncertainly.

"Please. For me." He placed a hand on her shoulder. There was more tenderness in his voice than he'd probably ever shown her before. He gave a shaky laugh. "I'll go nuts if you're out there with District 2, on top everything else that's screwed up in this arena."

She frowned, looking at him curiously. "Did you mean what you'd told Caesar Flickerman? About feeling like me and Peeta are your kids?"

Haymitch looked away. He didn't want to talk about this, not on camera. It was something that could be used against him, or them. Wasn't it enough that the Capitol had taken his family and girlfriend from him as a boy? But looking into her earnest eyes, he knew he couldn't lie. It might be the last chance to ever say it, for her to realise that protecting her wasn't just about the rebellion.

"Of course I meant it," he said, feeling every word. Katniss nodded. She would stay.

...

The lightning tree was their destination, and Haymitch had felt his eyes drawn to it all night. Beetee's plan sounded like a fairly simple one – wrap his wire round the tree, run it down to the water and electrocute Brutus and Enobaria on the sand. It didn't sound like anything that would affect the force field, but Volts could hardly say anything about that out loud.

There had been no sign of the District 2 tributes for a while, which was making Haymitch uneasy. They weren't in on the alliance, and could mess things up easier than anything the arena clock had to offer. There was nothing that could be done about that though, so he just set to work on the wire with everyone else.

When Beetee instructed the girls to take the wire down to the water, Katniss seemed reluctant to be going with Johanna, but she didn't complain. Haymitch was relieved to see them take off down the hill. What Beetee was doing with the force field would be dangerous, and if it did backfire, they wanted to make sure that Katniss wouldn't be implicated. It was a slim hope, since Snow was looking for any reason to kill her off meaningfully, but that was better than none.

While Finnick stood guard, Haymitch said to Beetee, "This doesn't seem like enough."

"It isn't," Beetee replied. "This is just to make sure we are able to harness the lightning. I'll need a conduit to finish off."

Haymitch recalled his own Hunger Games, throwing the weapon into the barrier. He wasn't sure whether the force field had charged the weaponry, but surely a metal weapon could conduct enough electricity through the wired tree and into the force field?

He handed Beetee a knife, hilt first. "Make sure you get it in their heart."

The smaller man gave him a smile. "Brutus and Enobaria won't know what hit them."

Haymitch chuckled at that, and the thought of the Capitol masses salivating with excitement, waiting for them to electrocute Brutus and Enobaria. They would get more than a little surprise when their broadcast of the Games was severed.

As soon as the force field was hit, they'd have moments to act. The trackers had to be cut from their arms, and whatever means the rebel insider had for getting them out, they would have to reach it. Considering the terrain, Haymitch assumed it was some form of aircraft, but he wasn't certain if there was a real sky outside the pretend sky above. What if they were underground? Even mentors weren't privileged to know the location of arenas.

Haymitch was watching the other end of wire – the one that Beetee wasn't holding – bob up and down as it was unravelled further down the hill. For a moment, it was pulled taut. And then there was a scraping noise as it came shooting back, whipping against the trees.

"Down!" he yelled, and the three of them dropped. Beetee cried out in pain, and the wire crashed back into the clearing, smacking into the tree as it automatically coiled up.

Haymitch scrambled over to Beetee, where the other man was bleeding from the wire's slash.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he said, clutching a hand to his wound.

"It must be Two!" Finnick yelled. "They've gone after Johanna and Katniss!"

"Go!" Haymitch ordered, before turning back to Beetee. "You make good use of that knife."

The other man nodded, and began winding a bit of wire around the blade. Haymitch knew he could be trusted to do his job, but he needed to make sure that Katniss was here, and alive when that force field fell.

Haymitch took off down the hill, not sure if he was following the same route as the girls – or even Finnick, for that matter, but he kept pressing forwards. That sick feeling rose up in him, the winded breath, but he ignored it and looked.

He could hear Finnick now, shouting for the girls, but there was no reply, so Haymitch didn't go to him. They might be around here somewhere, injured but alive.

The sounds of a fight reached him, and he tore through the undergrowth, locating the source of the noise. He burst through a clearing into the scene of Johanna and Brutus facing off. The girl was fierce, but he was much older, and had trained to kill since he was a young child. Not only that, but Johanna already had a set of bloody teeth marks on her throat, and Haymitch realised that Enobaria was – or had been – here for the fight too.

As Haymitch readied his spear, Johanna swung an axe towards Brutus' leg. The Career blocked it with his sword, bringing his fist down hard against her face. Johanna staggered backwards, looking dazed.

Haymitch charged forwards with his spear. He didn't have any proper training, the most exercise he'd done until the announcement of the Quell was walking from his house to the Hob to buy more drink. He also had the priority of protecting Katniss, but he knew he couldn't run from this fight. Even if guilt wasn't driving him on, he knew that if he ran, Brutus would kill Johanna and then cut him down. So he fought.

He thrust the spear towards the shoulder of Brutus's sword arm, but the man twisted his body out of reach with remarkable speed. Brutus returned with a swipe from his sword that would have taken Haymitch's leg if he hadn't stumbled backwards and caught his foot on a root, falling out of range.

As he jumped back to his feet, Johanna imbedded her axe in the shoulder of Brutus' offhand arm. He howled in pain, and dropped his sword, reaching for Johanna's neck, inadvertently smacking her head backwards into a tree. This time when she dropped, she didn't get up.

Haymitch lunged for the sword while Brutus was distracted, and as he backed away with the weapons, he felt a sudden weight crash into his back, bringing him down. Teeth buried into the skin where his neck met his shoulder. He cried out in pain, twisting round and slamming the end of his spear into Enobaria's thigh, breaking the metal tip off as he did so.

She shoved herself off him, clawing at the metal that was imbedded in her leg. Haymitch struggled to his feet, hands scrabbling in the grass for the fallen sword, as Enobaria limped off into the trees, following the shouts.

Shouts!

Just as his searching fingers reached the sword's hilt, Brutus punched him in the face. Haymitch reeled backwards, slashing with the sword to try and keep the Career at bay. If Brutus was afraid at all though, he didn't show it. Instead, he charged like a raging bull, and Haymitch thrust the sword forwards as he regained his footing.

The blade punched into Brutus' abdomen, but he didn't stop, using his momentum to crash Haymitch backwards into a tree. The wind was knocked out of him, one hand still clamped to the sword, the other reaching up to try and claw at Brutus's hand as it enclosed his throat. How was the man still so strong with a sword sticking out of him? Haymitch realised belatedly that Enobaria wasn't the only victor to have themselves surgically altered by the Capitol.

Haymitch thrust his thumbs into Brutus's eyes, and the man howled with rage, smacking Haymitch's head backwards into the tree until he stopped. His vision was swimming so much, he couldn't even see if he'd managed to blind him. Brutus's fingers closed tighter, and the air Haymitch was trying to gasp stopped reaching his lungs. He struggled for the sword, but it was jammed between them. He was going to die here, and he didn't even know if Katniss was still alive, never mind if she was out. He could just make out a pink sky in his dimming vision. Still in the arena. He'd failed...

Hot red blood splattered Haymitch's face, and the pressure on his neck ceased. He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe in ragged gasps. He could make out Brutus reeling away from him, one hand clamped to his throat as blood streamed through his fingers, the other yanking the sword out of his own stomach. Brutus took a few lurching stems towards Chaff – burned, bleeding, grim-faced Chaff – before collapsing face-forward into the dirt.

Chaff immediately came to help Haymitch up. "Are you alright? I'm with you, friend. What do you need me to do?"

"Go," he gasped. "Go – help Katniss – she has to – get – out."

Chaff squeezed his shoulder and darted back into the trees, and Haymitch felt like laughing hysterically. He didn't know whether he was glad that Chaff hadn't turned on him after all, or whether it was the air in his lungs again, or maybe he was just going mad.

A moment later, the most beautiful sight in the world assaulted his senses. A deep reverberating boom sounded as lightning struck the high tree that was their battery, and a moment later, the force field shook. Then it fell. The metal dome that had been hidden by the fake sky was visible now, falling in on itself, chunks of metal screeching as they parted from the ceiling and crashed into the arena.

Through the din, he heard the blades of a hovercraft, and the dark shape filled the growing holes in the arena's roof.

Haymitch moved over to Johanna, checking her pulse. Still alive. He slapped her face lightly, trying to bring her back to wakefulness. She struggled groggily, and he yanked her up to her feet. He wasn't even sure if he could get them back to the hovercraft, they'd come so far, but they had to try and get out somehow.

"Wake up!" he yelled at Johanna, as he half-dragged her over the jungle's undergrowth, towards the hovercraft. "The force field's down and we're getting out of here!"

That broke through. "The trackers! We have to get them out!"

She was right. He grabbed one of the knives from her belt, and began digging it out of her arm. It was bleeding and he was making a mess, but there was no time. Wherever they went with those trackers in, the Capitol could follow. As hers came out, they started running towards the hovercraft, which was suspended by the lightning tree, its cable claw descending. Haymitch tore at his arm to get his own tracker out.

He managed to work the thing free just as something caught his foot, slamming him into the forest floor and dragging him backwards. He twisted, but it was locked tight around his foot, like one of the snares Katniss used for hunting.

As he lurched to a halt, he saw the guns trained on him, heard Johanna's shouts as she struggled. Soldiers bled out of the jungle like ghosts, surrounding them. There was no escape.

As he looked up from where he lay in the arena, he saw the small body the hovercraft's claw was clutching, and he knew instinctively that Katniss was cradled within. She was out. She was going to the rebels, and with any luck, Peeta was in there with her.

Haymitch smiled, seeing his little Mockingjay soaring into the sky, content with the knowledge that it might be the last thing he ever saw. He had succeeded. The revolution had begun.