"No you didn't." That was the first thing out of his mouth. "You couldn't have. I would have known you." He said incredulously. He would have remembered her, as pretty as she was.

"You wouldn't have." She said softly. "I was much younger than you, Haymitch."

"I don't believe you. How old are you?" He asked quickly.

"You're not supposed to ask a lady such things, manners Haymitch." She was back to laying on her side. Face to face with him. It was quite entertaining to see how stunned he was. It wasn't every day that she was able to one up him.

Annoyance flared in his eyes, "Damn it Effie. You can't tell me you were born in District 12, and then beat around the bush."

Effie's eyes softened, though still red from crying. "How old were you when you won your Quell?"

"15, I suppose." He said off handedly. "That was a long time ago, why does it matter?"

"I was just about to be 5 when you won. Tell me how many teenage Victors care about the whereabouts of an 5 year old girl? You wouldn't have known me, Haymitch."

"Jesus, Eff… I'm 36… That makes you…" He screwed up his face as he counted.

"25.. For now.. next week.." Effie said softly.

"No. No way. You look way older with all the crap on your face."

Effie smiled a little, "Make-up has a way of making you older or younger, Haymitch."

She watched him grapple for the next thing to say. "I would have seen you Effie. Plain as that."

"I lived in town with my parents. My dad owned a shop that helped outfit the miners. Made helmets and other things. He visited the mines often. One day he didn't come back. I was 5. I didn't know what happened, just that my mother was so sad. There was a mine accident, of course." She said solemnly. "You know what winter is like there. Brutal. My mother got sick a few years later and I was a scared little girl when she died in the dead of winter. I didn't have anyone. No relatives living. My mother was unstable. She alienated us after my father died, let the store fall apart, wouldn't let me go to school. No one came knocking or looking for me."

Haymitch just listened, god was this all true? Effie Trinket, Capitol barbie was in fact not a Capitol barbie? She was a poor shop owner's daughter from 12. "I'm sorry, Effie."

She waved it off, "That was a long time ago, Haymitch. It hardly makes me sad anymore."

"How'd you get here?" He was hooked on the story she told.

"I was starving and cold. Trying to find food around the edge of town. I was so shy and timid back then. This Peacekeeper saw me, and I guess I was lucky. He was nice to me and took me to the justice building. I had told him my parents were dead, and he tried to help me. I remember the mayor saying, 'There are many orphans in district 12. We are a poor District, families can't feed their own let alone caring for an orphan. She'll have to wait like the others.'" Effie picked at the edge of a pillow as she talked. 'A man from the Capitol was leaving the Mayor's office and knelt down by me. He gave me his warm jacket, and told the Mayor "Well she'll be one less to worry about. I'll be adopting her.'" Effie smiled softly.

"Just like that?" Haymitch asked.

"Yes." She nodded quickly. "I didn't find out until later that my adoptive parents weren't able to have children and were so heartbroken. They aren't like most Capitol citizens. They've been so kind to me."

Haymitch just watched her in silence, Effie was so greatly different in his eyes now. Knowing all she just told him. "So that explains the accent then." He said slyly.

"I'm an excellent actress, I learned to mimic the accent here." She looked over at him, "Do you see why it makes me mad when you call me Capitol barbie? I can see on your face that I'm not the monster you make me out to be."

"You're not a monster, Effie. Not like the others here." Haymitch added.

"You're being nice, but let's not pretend you haven't called me such over the past years." She let out a tired sigh.

"I was terrible in the past." He offered and brushed back a piece of hair that fell over her shoulder.

"So was I." She admitted. "Now you know who I am. I act a certain way for my job, but it's not really who I want to be."

"Why'd you pick a career like this?" Haymitch blurted and looked at her for an answer. She didn't seem like a cruel enough person to truly enjoy reaping children.

She yawned, "That's a story for another day."

Haymitch frowned and admitted defeat. Tugging the covers up and fell quiet. Effie was instantly out and he lay awake for many more hours thinking of many things. Effie, District 12, his family's graves, and the Capitol. All of those parts of his life used to be so compartmentalized, now it was one big tangled mess.

**I'm sure I'll get some flack for making Effie in her late 20's. But is there really even concrete evidence that she's a certain age? I've always imagined her quite a bit younger than Haymitch. All I've ever seen online is estimations for her age. **