once upon a time • finnick odair

xv. from the beginning?

Haymitch couldn't believe how stupid he was.

Of course, Plutarch wouldn't have wanted all the victors to escape. After all, in his view, no matter how many he had, it was good either way. Suppose he had many victors, good. It would show how powerful the rebels were. If he had little, like right now, that was also fine. It showed how ruthless the Capitol was and how they didn't uphold their promises of victors being safe for the rest of their lives after the Games.

But in times of desperation, Haymitch clutched onto the man like a fucking lifeline, when in reality what he had caught was ripped pieces of his clothes that had no value.

Haymitch should have protected Peeta and told Lucian to stay as close to Katniss as possible no matter what. He should've told Devon about the plan he had made ... Hell, done something to protect them, instead of letting them be shipped off to the Capitol.

He should've done something.

He should've done more.

The regret in his chest gnawed on his heart like a fucking wild animal trying to escape its cage but Haymitch held onto it. He could do nothing while he wallowed up in regret and questions about how he should've acted better. He needed to push it down, hide it, and do something else to save this situation.

And when he heard about how Katniss was about to go into District 12 to see the ruins, he wanted to go. He could swear that he wanted to, but Coin restricted him, saying that his withdrawal symptoms wouldn't help.

Even though he had quit drinking before the Games, Haymitch had inevitably taken a sip and regrettably, gone back to drinking once more.

However, in 13, that didn't work out so nicely.

Still, Haymitch tried to find a way to make himself useful and prove that he could do something and find a path to get everyone back, but he couldn't.

Without alcohol or one of the herbs that Devon had somehow known could help withdrawal symptoms, he couldn't do anything.

He was helpless.

So maybe it was predicted that he would burst out in a hysterical fit of laughter the moment he saw the interview between Caesar Flickerman and Peeta.

Ceasefire? Ceasefire?

The reactions flying around the entire room were predicted.

"You're a puppet!"

"Hang him!"

These kinds of reactions were on the milder side. Haymitch could hear curses in creative ways he'd never thought about, and ways that he knew that even Devon couldn't have thought of, involving a whole lot of bombs and profanities.

Haymitch noticed Katniss running out of the room and knew that she wasn't hearing half of it, but still felt worried. Not that he had the bravery or the nerve to get up to her face during this kind of situation to ask her if she was okay, especially when he was the one who couldn't protect Peeta through dangerous times.

"I want everyone to stop the senseless violence. This is not the path to change," said Peeta, sealing his image in District 13. "It's not the path to justice."

"Traitor!"

"Kill him!"

"He's the Capitol's dog!"

Haymitch laughed amongst the chaos, both in futility and laughter at the situation laid out before him.

Victors being forced to make speeches for the Capitol, and 13's people just hating and hating on that fact.

Believing them to be traitors, because they didn't know the reality behind the Games.