This is a really simple prompt so make of it what you will: Effie's panick attacks :)

In one of the Oria's os I mentioned that Effie had a bad panic attack at some point when Oria was still a baby and someone asked me if I would ever write it and this prompt seems like a good place to do it ^^

Also, I had a message about Haymitch being OOC in my OS with Oria, I would just like to say that while I accept and encourage constructive criticism, I tried to show character development where Haymitch is concerned, he didn't become a great father from one day to the next. Most of the chara development is dealt with in Kicking the Odds and I try to keep all Oria-related story in a consistent universe, so stories might go back and forth on the timeline but Haymitch, as well as Effie and the kids, change with time. They're not the same when Oria is a baby as when Oria is fifteen for instance and they certainly are not the same as in THG. Years have passed and life happened.

Keeping Them Safe

Haymitch didn't know what woke him up precisely. He pricked his ears for the baby's cries but couldn't hear anything other than the wind raging outside. Somewhere downstairs, a shutter banged close twice in a row – probably in the kitchen, he had meant to have a look at it and had never found the energy. The bed felt cold. He outstretched a hand to the other side, surprised Effie hadn't snuggled against him to keep warm already, but his fingers only met crumpled sheets.

The last remnants of sleep left him completely then. He listened harder but the house was eerily silent aside for the shutter regularly banging against the wall. He pushed the covers and slipped out of bed, shivering slightly when the cold air assaulted him. He didn't bother with the lights, long accustomed to navigate around his house half-drunk in the dark so now that he was sober it wasn't a real challenge. His first stop was the nursery but Effie was nowhere in sight.

Perhaps she had gone down to block the shutter, he mused, stepping in the room anyway to check on Oria.

The crib was empty.

It had been a long time, years maybe, since he had felt such a deep, gut-wrenching stab of panic.

A thousand scenarios flashed through his mind : someone had broken in while he was sleeping and had taken his family away; Effie had run away in the dead of night with the kid because she had realized just how shitty a father he would make; they were dead somewhere in the house…

He turned around, intending to search every room before running to Katniss' and beg the kids for help when his eyes caught Effie's dark figure in the pale moonlight. He stood frozen in place for a second, the instant relief at seeing her safe and sound quickly turning to dread. She was huddled in the corner behind the door which explained why he hadn't spotted her before, the two months old baby nestled in her arms, and she was rocking back and forth in a way that clearly wasn't meant to be soothing. More worrying was Oria's silence.

He took two steps forwards and Effie's head snapped up before she tried to cower a little more against the wall, pressing the baby against her chest and half turning her body so she could shield the child.

"Sweetheart…" he called softly.

Her breathing was quick and he wasn't certain just how awake she was. Her nightmares were still violent sometimes and it was very possible she had suffered from one and hadn't managed to completely snap out of it. His concern was the baby she was holding too tight.

Slowly, he walked closer, careful not to make any sudden move. He crouched in front of her but didn't reach out just yet.

"Sweetheart, it's me." he said quietly. "You know who I am?"

Her eyes darted from him to the rest of the room.

"Haymitch." she breathed out tentatively after a few seconds. Her voice broke. "Haymitch…"

He did reach out then, placing a hand on her arm. She flinched.

"Yeah." he confirmed. "You know where you are?"

"The Capitol." she replied without hesitation, she curled up tighter and Oria started wailing in protest at being jostled – Haymitch breathed easier because he had been scared that… "Shhh. Shhh." Effie rocked the baby way too abruptly compared to her usual gentle technique to get her to sleep. Oria only wailed louder and Effie's face grew more desperate.

"You're in Twelve, Princess. You're safe." he said, squeezing her arm. "It was just a nightmare. You need to come back."

She didn't answer. She kept on rocking and shushing the baby, holding her close to the point Haymitch was starting to be concerned she would hurt her without meaning to. He didn't dare try to take Oria away though. Effie looked too feral.

"Sweetheart, why don't you give me the kid so you can go back to bed?" he suggested, moving his hand from her arm to the child slowly.

She recoiled, her eyes wild. "No, no, no. They want to take her away. They want to take her away, Haymitch."

"Nobody is taking her away." he countered. "There's no one here but us. Snap out of it, Effie."

She blinked quickly but her eyes were still glassy and whatever the nightmare had been about, it was still holding her captive in its clutches. Downstairs, the shutter banged and she almost jumped out of her skin. Oria's wailing was starting to get hoarse with displeasure.

"You trust me, yeah?" he asked, switching tactics. He cupped her cheek, waiting for her initial flinch to subside. She leaned against his hand after a few seconds. "Give me the baby, sweetheart."

"I need to protect her." Effie argued feverishly. "I need to keep her safe. They're coming for her. They will take her away from me. They will…"

"I can protect her better." he lied. "Let me take her."

She hesitated and for a brief moment he thought she would accuse him of trying to steal the child too but, in the end, she handed him Oria. He didn't lose a second before snatching the baby and putting a reasonable distance between Effie and him. He rocked their daughter, humming her favorite lullaby terribly off-key and kissing her brow until she finally fell quiet, asleep once more. She didn't seem hurt, just annoyed at having her sleep cut short – which was just precious since she had no qualm about waking them at odd hours because she was hungry.

"Haymitch?" Effie asked in a small voice.

"Yeah?" He carefully put Oria down in her crib and made sure she was warm enough.

"Did I hurt her?" she sobbed.

There were tears rolling down her face and she still had that faraway look in her eyes, as if she didn't know if she was awake or dreaming.

"No, she's fine." he promised, holding out his hand to her. He helped her to her feet and hugged her close. She clung to him, shivering and sobbing in turn.

"Are you sure we're not in the Capitol?" she asked.

"Yeah." He pressed a kiss against the side of her head. "We're home. You're safe. Both of you."

It took a little convincing but after checking on Oria one last time, he managed to get her back in bed. She was still shaking when he ventured downstairs to finally deal with that banging shutter – he didn't think the sudden noises were helping her remain calm at all, if anything it might have started the flashback and the panic attack. He made her tea while he was in the kitchen, the one she claimed always soothed her nerves. She was completely lucid when he came back upstairs, wrapped in their bed's blankets with her back to the headboard and her forehead resting on her knees. She accepted the cup of tea with a small "Thank you.".

"Feel better?" he asked, climbing back into bed.

She shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine." he shrugged. "You should have woken me up, sweetheart."

"I didn't even see you, I was…" Her sentence trailed off and she took a sip of her tea, clearly trying to collect herself. "I was certain someone was coming to take Oria away from me. I…" She fell silent again, chewing on her bottom lip.

He wondered how long it would take before she gave in and go to sleep in the rocking chair in the nursery.

"I could roll the crib in here…" he suggested. "You wanted the kind with wheels, it should be for something…"

She didn't truly relax until he had rolled the crib right next to her side of the bed. It took two hours before they settled down again though because Oria had decided that the constant agitation around her meant she needed to be fed and then she simply wouldn't go back to sleep.

Dawn was looming when Effie finally lied down next to him, her hand firmly latched on the edge of the crib. He spooned her and pressed a kiss against her nape.

"She's fine." he promised for the hundredth time. "Nobody is ever going to take her away."

"How can you be so certain?" she whispered.

"'Cause I will kill any son of a bitch who tries to harm her, sweetheart." he said very directly. "Or you for that matter."

"You will keep us safe." Effie breathed out, burrowing into his warmth.

He tightened his hold on her waist and dropped another kiss on her neck, his eyes naturally resting on the crib and the sleeping baby in it.

He had failed his family once, it would never happen again on his watch.

"I will keep you safe." he sworn.