Disclaimer: the usual applies

Chapter 36

Effie rapped her knuckles against the door and waited. A few minutes passed and she began rocking on the balls of her feet as she waited nervously. Effie tried peering into the gaps of the curtains but the house was dark and she couldn't make out any movements.

She strained her hearing to catch a voice saying "I'm coming," or a shuffling of feet but the house was eerily quiet. Just as she was about to leave, resolving to come back another day, someone came from around the house, slightly out of breath and spoke to her.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Effie stopped in the middle of the pathway, turned around at the familiar sound of the voice and met the surprised expression of Fabius Crane.

"Little Effie?"

She cringed at the name. It had been so long, what seemed like a lifetime ago since Fabius had addressed her as such. She had since grown, learnt and experienced so much of life that the simple endearment sounded like an insult to her.

"Just Effie," she answered, walking slowly up to him.

He nodded and gestured towards the house. "Please, please come in. I was just at the back, clearing some… Well, do come in."

His house was stuffy; the dust raised and swirled in the air the moment Effie sat on the sofa by the window. It was with a great degree of self-control that Effie managed to resist the urge to open the windows and curtains to allow some fresh air in. Lucky for her, those raised in the Capitol had been taught to always ensure that their guests were comfortable and treated with the highest hospitality, and it was with those manners ingrained in him that Fabius shuffled to the window. His movements were slow and heavy and Effie wondered briefly what had happened to him. Fabius pushed the window open, allowing just enough light from the afternoon sun to shine through.

He excused himself to the kitchen, coming out moments later with a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"How have you been?" Effie asked once he had stopped fussing over the tea.

"Good," he replied with a gentle smile. "Better than I have been all these while."

Effie tilted her head and mulled over his words, trying to understand what he meant. Fabius leaned forward and took a biscuit off the plate, nibbling on it before he spoke.

"Free for the first time in years."

"We're in exile," Effie pointed out and nearly slapped herself for being rude.

"Still, free. Not in all sense of the word, of course. But I was taken from my family, Effie. Forced to work for Snow, to experiment on humans and fed lies about my family's well-being whenever I dared to ask after them. I couldn't even go to Seneca's funeral, did you know? They showed me pictures of his body, those despicable creatures, to remind me of what would happen if I dare to disobey them." He gave a bitter laugh. Effie detected a flutter of sadness in his voice at the fate of his only grandson.

"There was no funeral," she informed him quietly. She would have known if there was one but his death had been kept a secret and she wouldn't have known if Haymitch had not told her.

"Ahh, another lie then," he said, leaning back against the chair. Waving his hands, he continued, clearly trying to steer the subject away from his grandson even though he was the one who brought Seneca up. "When your friends took me to Thirteen, I was imprisoned. I was brought back to the Capitol to stand trial when Snow fell. They found me guilty, of course, but took into account that I had been kidnapped, forced and threatened to commit the crimes against my will. I escaped the firing squad and was sentenced to prison."

He paused and Effie frowned. She didn't push him. If she knew Fabius Crane as well as she thought she did, he would continue his narrative at his own pace. He poured more tea for her which by now had gone rather cold.

"Well, as you can see for yourself, my sweet girl, I'm an old man. The new president of Panem - she is just and fair, from what I can see. She asked the tribunal to take my age into account and I was deemed unsuitable for prison condition and sent here instead."

He trailed off and his eyes glazed over, as though recalling the memory of his trial. Effie waited and after a while, he seemed to snap out of his trance.

"More biscuits?" he asked, pushing the plate towards Effie.

"No, thank you."

They lapsed into silence. Fabius stared out of the small opening in the window and watched the people walking up and down the pathway. Occasionally, he would point out certain individuals he knew from memory that were there with them in District Thirteen.

Effie observed him silently. His eyes were still yellow from the enhancement, his skin taut from whatever surgery or chemicals he had injected into himself while he was younger, all in the name of vanity. His hair was white and the more she studied him, the stronger was Effie's belief. It was true what he had told her. He seemed to prefer it here in District Thirteen. He looked calm and serene.

"I'm… I'm glad you're here," she spoke cautiously. Part of her was glad for his presence, but another side of her had not forgotten what he had done to her. Even if he had been under orders, she still had not fully forgiven him, yet. It was beyond his control and he gave you food. Or have you forgotten? "Instead of prison, I mean. You're the only one I know who's here and…It's good to meet someone familiar."

He turned to look at her, an amused smile playing on his lips. Effie saw traces of the man she knew, and had come to love like her own grandfather. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. At all."

"Sorry? What do you…" Realisation sank in and she raised both eyebrows in surprise. "You're exiled for life?"

XxX

Effie had grown rather adept at making simple meals since she arrived at District Thirteen. Food had never been a problem for her before the Third Quarter Quell. Her salary as an escort meant that she could afford to always eat out and when the Games were in session, food was provided as part of the job. But now she had to cook or she would starve. Julianne had taught her some new recipes while she was helping out with the children and she put what she had learnt to good use.

Fabius was sitting on the steps outside his house, watching something in the distance. Effie handed him a plate of sandwiches she had just prepared and settled down beside him.

"Thank you," he murmured and took a bite. "How are your memories, Effie?"

She chewed thoughtfully and balanced the plate on her knees. "Intact, I should hope so. They came back, trickled in by bits and pieces. I could remember most of them and Haymitch – you remember him, don't you?"

Fabius nodded.

"He helped me a lot. But, it's different now that he's not here. When I remember something about him or Katniss, I can't clarify or validate them with him. He…he used to paint a clearer pictures of my memories; he'd tell me what happened before the memory took place and what happened after. His help was invaluable."

Effie glanced down when she felt Fabius's fingers close around her hand. When she looked up, his eyes were watering and his lips trembled as he tried to hold himself together.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Effie," he managed to choke out. Fabius pressed the tips of his fingers to his eyes, his head bent low. Effie watched helplessly, a stunned expression settling over her as his shoulders shook.

She moved closer to him, and when she felt his arm around her shoulder, she leaned against the old man who was overcome with grief.

"It's okay, Fabius. You had no choice. It's okay, please. I forgive you. I'm alright, I'm okay."

And she meant it. For the past couple of days, as she lay awake at night, she had thought about what the venom had done to her, thought about Fabius and the pain he had to inflict on her and to many others. Effie remembered the last time she saw him at the hospital here in District Thirteen. Fabius had begged for her forgiveness but she had been too angry and too shocked by the information that she had turned her back on him. She couldn't reconcile the image of the loving man with the one who had created the venom that wreaked havoc on her memories. He didn't release the venom in my veins, it wasn't him. Adrian Fox did that and he did so gladly.

Effie had given it a long hard thought and she forgave him because truly, how different was his role from hers? He was forced into those experimentations while she picked children to die. They were both paying for their crimes, making it pointless for her to hold on to grudges of a past era. He was the only familiar face in District Thirteen and she had come around often enough to notice that Fabius was as alone as her. While she made an effort to be friendly and make acquaintances, Fabius, on the other hand never left his house. He had a bad knee due to arthritis, as Effie was informed one evening and he wasn't keen on venturing out to meet other people.

He kissed the top of her head and Effie heard him mumbling another apology. They stayed that way for the rest of the evening, with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her head tucked under his chin. Effie blinked away the tears. She missed her family, for the first time in years, she missed them very much. She yearned for her parents and her grandfather. You have Fabius now, she reminded herself and he was as close a family she would have.

"You could write him, couldn't you?"

Effie looked up questioningly at the random question.

"The boy you're in love with – Haymitch, was it?"

Effie turned scarlet. "No – no, it's not like that…He's…My colleague, my friend. He doesn't … It's not like that, Fabius."

His yellow eyes twinkled in amusement and Fabius chuckled. "Then there wouldn't be the need for such zealous denial. Write to your friend then, whenever a memory crops up. It wouldn't be much different from how he has been helping you all these while."

"I – Yes, I think I'll do that. It's never crossed my mind before," Effie admitted.

XxX

When Effie returned home that evening, there was a letter with an official seal at the back of the envelope. She slid it open and took out the letter as she walked into her house, the same seal could be seen as a watermark covering the entire length of the letter. Effie collapsed heavily on the sofa, staring at the sheet of paper in her hand.

The room began to spin and she clutched the letter so tightly it ripped into two. Effie let the papers fall to the floor, crossed the room to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. She propped her hand on her hips and leaned against the kitchen counter, gulping large amounts of the cooling drink.

She wondered if she could drown drinking tap water while hyperventilating because then,\ her nightmares would end.

How long had she been serving her exile? Weeks? Months? The calendar hanging on her kitchen wall told her it had been barely one and a half months and already she had been served with a subpoena calling her to testify against the one man she loathed.

She knew the day would come but she had lived with the idea of testifying against Fox and it seemed so distant that Effie managed to shove it aside while she settled down in District Thirteen. But, with that subpoena which she had accidentally ripped into two, it was as real as ever and it frightened her.

It was her fault, none but her own. Plutarch had written to her a week ago to inform her that his trial had commenced and that there were other witnesses before her. That letter had meant to prepare her but she had been so occupied with the presence of Fabius and her new job, and that the importance of the letter had taken a back seat.

There had been a deal and she had not taken it. Instead, in a moment fuelled by the need to do right, Effie had agreed to testify against Adrian Fox and she would honor that promise no matter how shaken she was.

There was no escaping it. Effie Trinket would be returning to the Capitol in a week's time.

We should be at the end soon! In an estimate of five chapters, i should think.

Anyway, do review :)