Please carry on understanding! It is so good please can you carry it on? I know your probably have tons of prompts though x

Understanding was Chapter 39 :) Although to be fair, I think this one is my worst one ever. I wasn't much inspired sorry.

Vigil

Finnick dragged a chair from the other side of the room and sat on the side of the bed that wasn't cluttered up by beeping machines and Haymitch. Thirteen's medical wing wasn't the most welcoming, the wall, the floor, the ceiling… Everything was white and it made him feel like all the colors had been stuck of the world and left a huge void behind. White was a crueler color than white in his opinion, white was the absence of everything.

Effie was very white.

Her skin was pale to the point of being almost transparent, her blond hair was lank, the white blouse they had put her in didn't improved the matter in any way. He couldn't remember ever seeing Effie wearing white. She was always a bundle of colors.

"How is she?" he asked Haymitch quietly.

He had never seen Haymitch as worn out either. It was more than just the stress of the rebellion, it was Peeta and Katniss – whose present predicaments he was responsible for – it was Coin's growing mercilessness, it was Effie's unknown whereabouts… He had been looking for her for months, Finnick knew, although not because the older man had told him. Haymitch hadn't been talking to him since they had arrived in Thirteen. Haymitch hadn't been talking to many people, even his friends – he knew that too because Twelve's victor didn't have many of those left and now that Chaff was gone, Finnick was probably the closest he had; after Effie that was.

Earlier on the hovercraft landing ground, for a minute he had thought Effie was dead and that it would be the last straw for Haymitch. He had thought that she would be the loss that would finally break him for good. That was the thing with Haymitch… Losing his family had shattered him, losing tribute after tribute had brought him down, but he had never truly broken. He was just damaged like they all were. But Effie's death… Finnick was sure Effie's death would do it just like he was sure Annie's death would kill him.

"Not good." Haymitch rasped out at last, his eyes never swaying from the escort's sleeping figure. "She should make it. They said she should…" He let his sentence trailed off and Finnick didn't insist. "She's been tortured."

And that was their fault, Finnick thought. They should have taken more precautions, made sure she would be safe… "She didn't know anything." he said, sick to his stomach. Annie, at least, had been left alone. "They should have realized and…"

"They did." Haymitch shrugged. "It wasn't about her."

It was about Haymitch. It was about punishing him, hurting him through the only person they had their hands on… Had they know how much she meant to him? Was that why they took her in the first place? They must have known… Anybody could have picked up on the chemistry between them.

"It's not your fault." Finnick lied because that was what friends did sometimes. They lied to make you feel better. Wasn't that precisely what they had done to Effie? Keeping her in the dark and promising her time and time again that they knew what they were doing? "She's safe now, that's all that counts."

"Safe for how long?" Haymitch snorted. "You know Coin's going to throw a fit sooner or later."

"And when that happens you will stand up for her." Finnick said. "And so will Johanna, Annie and I. I'm sure your Mockingjay will be glad to help too." He forced a grin on his lips. "Nobody touch our Trinket, Haymitch."

Haymitch's sullen eyes turned from Effie to him, they were bitter. "Except for the Capitol apparently."

"Haymitch…" Finnick sighed, rubbing his face. He wanted to be out of there all of a sudden. The atmosphere in this room was oppressive and it made him yearn for the sea. That was his greatest wish at the moment : feel the rolling waves on his sun-kissed skin and swim until he couldn't see the shore anymore.

"They had to sedate her." Haymitch explained. "She kept screaming my name, calling me for help even though I was right here… What's if she's… What's if she's not totally there anymore?"

What is she had gone crazy he meant and Finnick almost laughed out loud at that one because who was he to answer that? He was in love with a person who was insane half of the time but she had already been like that when he had started to fall… He knew what he was going in for. Annie wasn't Effie.

"What of it?" Finnick taunted, a bit disgusted by what Haymitch was suggesting. "You want to get a new toy because your last one isn't perfect anymore?"

Haymitch didn't move but Finnick got the impression he was restraining himself from bolting out of his chair and jumping on him to beat the shit out of him.

"Effie is not a toy." Twelve's victor growled so low Finnick barely heard him. "Say that again and I kill you."

It wasn't an empty threat, friends or not. It was never an empty threat when you were dealing with a victor. "So you're not going to leave her even if she's gone cuckoo?" he lifted an eyebrow in challenge, making sure to keep his voice light.

"Don't play stupid, Finnick." Haymitch spat. "She's mine to protect. I failed once, it's on me. I'm not going to let anything happen to her again."

Finnick lift his arms and let them fall. "There you go, then. Problem solved." He got up, knowing Haymitch didn't really wanted him here in the first place. He wanted to be alone with Effie and Finnick could understand that, he had just wanted to know how she was doing. "Take care of her."