Once again, a huge thank you, to my beta; Capo!

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. Just playing around with it)

Chapter 1

Haymitch was being propped up by two Avoxes flanking him on each side; his head lolling like a marionette on a puppet master's strings as they dragged him across the penthouse towards the couch.

"Just leave him there," Effie directed, pointing to a couch. "Place him on one of those." They unceremoniously dumped him on the couch and made their way out.

Effie sighed, went to the kitchen to fill a glass with water and walked back towards Haymitch. She stood over him with the glass in her right hand hesitating for only a fraction of a second before she dumped the contents of it on his face.

His reaction was instantaneous and almost, almost comical that Effie had to stifle a laugh. He jerked and sat up, looking wildly around while his hands frantically searched the sofa for his knife.

"Haymitch!" she hisses threateningly.

That seemed to catch his attention and his eyes snapped towards her face.

"You are a despicable man, Haymitch Abernathy," she shook her head disapprovingly.

"Please sweetheart, if you want to talk to me, at least lower your voice. It sounds worse than having your ugly orange nails scratching against a chalk board," he muttered tiredly, wiping the water off his face.

Effie let out a long breath and settled down next to Haymitch on the sofa.

"Haymitch, I have a list of spon-"

"Thought I was a despicable man, Trinket? What are you doing sitting here next to me? Seems like only a second ago that you hated me." His lips twitched in a sardonic grin.

"Must you?" she frowned, annoyed. "I don't... I don't hate you, Haymitch. Yes, you lack proper manners but..."

"So you don't hate me? You just don't care about my existence then?" he baited.

She huffed in annoyance. "I don't hate you. I do care about you, even if you find that difficult to believe."

He threw her a sidelong glance and made a grab for the remote to switch on the television. It flickered to life and suddenly there was Katniss with the girl from District 11.

Rue.

"What does Chaff thinks about this alliance they've formed?" Effie asked quietly. Haymitch shrugged. She couldn't tell if he didn't know the answer or he was brushing Effie off, annoyed with her.

Effie had been working with Haymitch for close to ten long, insufferable years. He was not the easiest of men to work with, given his...charming and overly easy nature, but all men and women have their own demons to deal with.

While Haymitch Abernathy drinks to forget, Effie Trinket immerses herself in her endless schedules to keep going and try; to try and suppress the guilt she felt every time she draws two names from the bowl. To try and maintain a semblance of normalcy in a world where everything could go to hell in a hand basket. Every time she picked out two names to send to the slaughter as Tributes, the roiling guilt she feels in her core tears her up, and one of the only ways she had to deal with it was to lose herself in her work because that was the only way she knew how to forget. Even if it was only temporary.

She smiled wryly to herself and allowed herself a peek at the drunkard sitting beside her intently staring at the screen with his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled together resting on his upper lips. This drunk, strange as it seemed, was the only person she had in all of Panem.

Her family were all dead, every last one. Father succumbed to cancer when she was only 15 and Mother was never quite the same after. Mother followed suit barely 5 years later. Effie became an Escort after her mother's passing.

She had friends, though. Friends who were too concerned with the latest fashion trends emanating from the Capitol or the newest style of beard Seneca Crane was sporting. Effie felt like they were oceans apart.

Effie felt alone. There she was, wrapped in the horror of the Games witnessing innocent children brutally murdering each other and her friends were the epitome of all the things that the people of the 12 Districts expected them to be. Shallow, misguided, ignorant Capitolians, so fond of dressing like ostentatious clowns.

Or at least, that was Haymitch's opinion of the people of the Capitol. He told her as much that one night they were both up during her 2nd year working as an escort for District 12.

"Quit staring at me, princess Haymitch chided her, "can't you stare at your clip board or something? Prepare a schedule for tomorrow or the day after or whatever it is you always do."

She didn't even realize she'd been staring intently at the drunkard and blushed. Thankfully, Haymitch's attention was still focused on the TV.

"They're all prepared..." She trailed off.

"Should have guessed. Never miss a thing, do you?" he teased.

She ignored him.

Effie fell asleep on the sofa. She couldn't remember dozing off. She must have been really exhausted then. There was a blanket draped over her. Haymitch, she thought.

That was a side to him that not many knew existed. The gentle and caring side. He masked it well but one did not work together side by side for nearly ten years without finding things out about each other.

She glanced towards the kitchen where Haymitch was still searching for a bottle.

"Where'd you hide my stuffs, princess?" he asked without glancing at her, continuing his search.

"Not telling. Besides, you promised to stay sober for them."

"They're not here, are they? They're there," his thumbs jerked toward the television, "in the arena, fighting for their lives."

"Come back here and sit with me, Haymitch." she said and patted the seat next to her.

She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and waited for him to make his way to her.

He gave up his search and plopped down on the seat next to her. She leaned in towards him. He stiffened before he slowly relaxed and placed his left arm loosely around her shoulders. His ran his fingers through his messy hair with his free hand.

They got closer over the years. A strange sense of familiarity borne out of a need for human contact and a place to share their desolation after having to watch their tributes die year after year.

But that was all it had ever been. Small familiar touches here and there, her leaning against him as they sat on the couch, his hand on her knees, her gripping his hands as they watched their tributes die.

They both had barely enough sleep with all that had been going on; Katniss running from the fire, Rue dying inKatniss's arms, the rule change and now here they were watching Katniss trying to help Peeta with the wound he sustained from his brief time with the Careers.

"Why won't you send him some medicine, like you did with Katniss, Haymitch?" Effie asked, chewing her bottom lip worriedly, "He won't make it if you don't give him some medicine. It looks bad."

"Only one will make it, Eff." he said quietly.

"But the rule"

"Just a ploy! Can't you see it! All these years, the Games has never seen a rule change, why would this year be any different?" his voice rising steadily and at the end of his tirade he threw the nearest object, a small vase at the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Effie flinched and pulled away. She was used to his temper tantrums but he still managed to surprise her sometimes.

The lack of contact from Effie's body seemed to calm him down and he turned towards her, reaching out for her. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just-"

"I know. You look like you need a shower. And maybe some sleep."

He chuckles, "You look like you need to reapply that make up, sweetheart. And oh, are you blonde? I seem to see a lock of..."

She raised her hand frantically to her tilted wig, finding out that a lock of her golden blonde hair had escaped her normally immaculate applied wig. Mortified, she stood and made a dash to her room. Well, as much as a dash as she could manage in those heels of her.

She could hear Haymitch laughing in the background. She stood in front of the mirror and surveyed her smudge make up.

"Dear God, I looked like that? In front of Haymitch, no less?"

Reviews would be wonderful!

A/N: This was supposed to be a one-shot but, it looks a little too long, so my beta suggested breaking it up into two parts. The second chapter should be up by Friday night (it's already written I am on GMT +8, to anyone who wants to know.)