"Gold tokens?" is the first thing he said when he entered her bedroom.
As usual, she's chain-smoking her battered pack of cigarette. There is a half empty bottle of vodka on her nightstand. Her eyes are sore from crying.
"…not tonight, Haymitch", she pleaded.
She's too tired and frayed to argue with him. Jewelries are not his thing so it's normal if he's going to be annoyed she gifted him with a gold bangle.
"You scolded Cinna for being reckless with his mockingjay dress and you flaunt to the Capitol your gold wig to match the rest of us? You trying to get yourself killed, princess?" he asked.
Oh, she thought. He's not mad about the bangle. He's mad because she's telling the Capitol she's part of the team, that her heart is with her team.
"We're a team. I am with my team", she answered firmly.
If that's going to kill her then, she thought it will be worth it…to die for something she strongly believes in. She can think of worse ways to go or shallow reasons to die. Giving up her life for her team seems to be a good way to go. One look at Haymitch, she instantly regretted pondering that thought in front of him because she knew he saw in her eyes what she's thinking about. His face hardened.
"Don't even dare thinking about dying, Effie", he growled.
When he uses her first name, he's not joking around. She forgot what her death will do to him but at this point, she is lost as to what's going to happen next. She knows something is coming and that Haymitch and the rest of the people around her are involved.
"Sorry. It's been a long night", she chuckled at that, "It's been a long couple of months really. I'm tired…in all sense of that word", she muttered sadly.
He closed the distance between them and took the cigarette from her fingers before pulling her in his arms.
"The tokens…that was stupid. It was touching but stupid. You will rarely hear the girl say thank you so you know we all appreciate it but fuck princess…you can't just do impulsive things like that. That is not you. You're the cautious one, the rational one, remember? I am the one who makes reckless decision in this team…well, aside from Katniss but you get my point", he explained.
If they try to get to her before they can start the plan…he does not know what he's going to do if they hurt her. The plan is nearly complete. Once everyone is in the arena, Plutarch will maneuver the game to gather every Victor in one location. He will disable the defenses and then cause a media blockage before they will extract the Victors from the arena through a hovercraft that's meant to pick up dead tributes during the game. Once that's done, they will proceed in transferring to another hovercraft along with the people on their lists. That's when Effie will be, but the timing has to be perfect. It has to be flawless so Snow will not suspect anything.
"Everything is going to be alright, Haymitch", she lied.
It's the first lie she said to him since the Quell started. They both know it's a lie.
"Of course, sweetheart", he rode along.
They watched the kids survived the Cornucopia along with some of their friends. The arena looks different from the previous years but that's to be expected for Quarter Quell games. Everything has to be top-notched.
Effie began hustling Sponsors left and right while Haymitch…well, she has no idea what he's been doing with his time. She's too busy working either to ask him why he's not helping her. When she spared the time to glance on the screen, she saw the golden bangle she gifted Haymitch around Finnick's wrist. She stopped talking. What is going on?
She marched back to the penthouse and found him yelling over the phone before slamming it down when she walked in.
"Why does Finnick has your token?" she asked.
He sighed and rubbed his temple.
"It's for the girl. She wouldn't be convinced that she can trust Finnick if I hadn't made the boy wear that thing. Katniss will believe that I want them to be allies if she saw that", he glanced over the TV and saw them travelling together, "Guess it worked", he answered.
She does not know that because…he does not tell her much these days. She's always in the dark and it's always too late for her when things blown up on her face.
"You could have told me", she muttered.
"It's a last minute thing and got a lot in my head right now", he explained.
He did not even apologize for keeping things from her.
"Of course, you do", she breathed out before making a beeline to the bar and getting herself a drink.
She settled on the couch and savored her glass there. It's not proper to remove her shoes in the living room but her heels are killing her so she kicked them off and let her feet breathe for a moment.
"Aren't you going out to get some Sponsors?" he asked when she made no attempt in leaving.
"I've been doing that since this morning. I am tired. Don't let me hold you back. I'm sure you got other things to do", she answered without looking at him.
She knows he's just trying to get her to leave the penthouse so he can resume yelling at whoever it was on the phone earlier.
"Princess…" she felt his breath at the back on her neck. She had not heard him move closer to her but then again, he's a Victor. He can be stealth if he wants to. "Trust me please", he pleaded as he nuzzled her neck.
It instantly made her relax. She had long learned to read through his words and decipher his breathing and gestures when talking. Haymitch is not good with expressing his emotions with words so she's gotten so good in reading him some other way. She understood that there are things that he cannot tell her not because he does not trust her but because he's protecting her. It's the only thing that tops their vow to be honest to each other. When it's her safety on the line, he would choose to lie to her to keep her safe. That's his default. He is asking her to trust him because he cannot tell her anything yet and he doesn't want her to lose faith in him…not now.
"I trust you. You know that", she muttered.
He wrapped his arms from behind her and pressed a kiss on her cheek in relief.
"Stay with me for a moment…just a moment", she requested.
He did not say anything, just walked around the couch and sat next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Together they watched the game. His presence is enough to get her to pace with her drinking. He's all she needs to stay sane.
She must have dozed off because when she opened her eyes, Haymitch had put the TV on mute which her heart raised.
"What happened? Why is it on mute? The children?" she asked in panic.
It barely registered to her what's happening on the screen. Katniss, Peeta, Finnick and Mags are running for their lives but she couldn't see them in fear.
"They're fine. They're going to be fine", he answered and pulled her close.
She watched closely and saw that they're all on the ground groaning in pain. Her hand found the remote and put the volume back on.
'It's okay, boy. It's okay' Mags said to Finnick.
He's been carrying her since the game started.
'No. We can make it. Come on, get on my back' the boy insisted but he looked like he's ready to crash soon.
He felt her tensed in his arm.
'I love you, boy…have always loved you like a son' Mags said before she ran straight into the acid smoke that's threatening to kill them all.
Haymitch had pulled Effie to his chest right before she can see Mags ran to her death. He's quick to put the TV back on mute once more to spare themselves from hearing Mags' scream and Finnick's cries. He knew that Mags figured out that the acid smoke will not stop chasing them until one of them is dead or all of them. As expected, Snow is after Katniss and wants her dead inside the arena. Mags sacrificed himself for all of them and also for Finnick. She knew the boy has bigger chance to survive without her on his back every single time. He felt his own tears rolling down his face as he watched Finnick gets destroyed on the screen. Just like him, Mags is like a mother to him. She had taken him under her wings after he won his game. She's done that to everyone she cared about.
Effie sobbed on his chest. She knew what happened despite not seeing nor hearing what happened to Mags. Her brain couldn't catch up as fast as she would like. Mags is dead. How in Panem is she going to reconcile with that? How can she face Finnick after that? Will she have the chance to see the boy again? Only one Victor will emerge from the arena. It's getting harder to focus. Something is going to happen, right? Something has to happen.
"Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe", he whispered as he brushed his fingers down her spine.
She can hear the sniffle in his voice. She knows he's crying too but she chose to bury her face on his chest because she knows he will hide his emotions if she's looking at him. He does not like crying when there's people around.
"I trust you, Haymitch. I trust you…" she muttered.
He knows she's talking about whatever it is he's doing behind her back. It's her way of telling him that she wants him to get the kids out of there, to get their friends out of the arena.
"I will, sweetheart. I will", he responded.
A lot has happened since Mags died. Johanna, Beetee, Wiress, and Chaff had joined Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta. They're all that's left aside from the Career Victors. Soon enough, the gamemakers will find a way to get the two groups in one place to start killing each other. Whatever it is that Haymitch is doing, he is running out of time.
Then, things started heating up inside the arena. She just got back from the bar when she saw them plotting a plan against the Career Victors. Beetee is rolling out a wire that will serve as conductor from the lightning to the sea in the hope of electrocuting the remaining Career Victors. She noticed that Wiress is no longer with them which means she's gone too. Most of them are injured and scraped.
Hell broke when the Career Victors found them and started attacking them. Johanna had knocked Katniss down for some reason before baiting the Career Victors to follow her. Effie figured it is to save Katniss since she's the real target. After a few minutes, Katniss came to and went back to the tree. Beetee is knocked out along with Chaff and Peeta and the others are nowhere to be found. The wire is laying on the ground alongside her bow and arrow. She picked her weapon up before aiming behind her.
'Whoa, Katniss it's me!' Finnick said immediately with his hands raised. Effie had to hold her breath because for a moment. She thought the girl is going to shoot Finnick right then and there. That was until Finnick flashed the bangle around his wrist and told her, 'Remember who the real enemy is…'
That got through Katniss and instead of shooting Finnick, she picked up the wire and wrapped it around her arrow. The boy tried to convince her to leave it alone since the lightning is almost there and it will kill them all if they don't run but the girl refused. She's actually waiting for it. When the lightning hits the tree, Katniss looked straight into the camera, aimed her arrow into the sky and took the shot.
Everything went black after that…
"Oh god…" she breathed out.
Nothing has appeared on the screen for several minutes. She tried calling Cinna and Portia but they're not answering. Haymitch is out somewhere and she has no idea what happened inside the arena because they stopped broadcasting.
A moment later, Haymitch came bursting through the elevator with a panic look on his face.
"Haymitch, thank god! Did you see—"
"It's time. It's not time but she moved too soon. We don't have…don't pack anything. Go to your apartment and head straight to the roof. That's where we'll pick you up", he ordered.
She understand a thing or why or where he's taking her but she didn't ask question. She trusts him completely. She pulled him close and pressed her lips onto his.
"I love you", she saw him trying to move his lips, "You don't have to say it back. You can tell me later, yes? Be careful", she said before letting him go.