Hayffie prompt, if you like. :) Post Mockingjay, Effie is in 12 - but lives on her own in one of the house of the Victor's Village - when the 76th Hunger Games are announced. So she immediatly goes to Haymitch, in shock, because she has nephews and maybe the children's father was a Gamemaker. (Haymitch didn't know about the existence of the kids. I hope he wouldn't say 'yes' if he did...) Thank you, and sorry if it's a bit long.
The Road To Hell
The banging of the backdoor and the desperate sound of high heels racing on tiles made Haymitch bolt from his armchair in alarm. He had barely taken two steps in the direction of the corridor when Effie barged in the living-room, eyes wide and terrified, tears running down her cheeks, her blond hair freely bouncing on her shoulders…
"What's wrong?" he frowned, instinctively meeting her halfway. "Did you have a flashback?"
It wasn't unheard of for her to run out of her house and into his after a nightmare or a panic attack. Katniss had Peeta, Peeta had Katniss and Effie had more or less declared Haymitch was to be her anchor in her time of need. She had requisitioned one of the other empty houses from the victors village – nobody wanted to go near them even though the Games were long gone – and she had come to stay under the excuse of taking care of the kids.
She threw herself in his arms and he held her because she was shaking like a leaf. "You have to do something." she begged, her nails dug painfully into his shoulders. "Please, please, please… You have to do something."
"Something about what, sweetheart?" She didn't make any sense but that wasn't unusual either. "What happened? You…"
She pushed herself back to search his face, the tears still falling and then she ran a hand in her hair and tugged a bit, messing up the curls she always put three hours making sure were perfect. "You don't know. You… For the love of everything holy, Haymitch, would it kill you to watch the news now and then?" She went to rummage around the bottles, magazines and papers cluttering the coffee table for the remote.
"The news?" He didn't like the sound of that. "Effie, just tell me…"
But then she switched the TV on and it would have been hard to miss what had made her so upset. Plutarch's laughing face on the screen, Paylor's sterner one and, of course, the rolling banner on the top of the screen, red letters on gold background, announcing the last Hunger Games.
"What the hell?" he whispered. He snatched the remote from her shaking hands and turned the volume up. The banner said it all though : after a long deliberation the 76th Hunger Games were to happen, all the people having played a part in the original Hunger Games were to be held accountable and have a taste of their own medicine to put it in Enobaria's own words.
"You have to stop this." Effie pleaded, wiping away the tears rolling on her cheeks but more took their place. "It can't happen again. You have to stop this."
He barely heard her, his heart was racing too fast for him to fully grasp what Plutarch was explaining and when it finally sank in he breathed in relief. "You're safe." he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing to reassure himself just as much as to reassure her. "They won't take adults. You're safe." He immediately felt ashamed. They were talking about sending kids back in there and there he was, thinking only of Effie Trinket, full grown adult and far from being innocent. But he couldn't help it. Not after the hellish months in Thirteen wondering if she was even alive, not knowing if he would see her again, not knowing if…
"Do you really think I care about that?" she snapped, wresting her hand away. She hugged herself tight. "They will reap from people's families, they will reap innocent children, Haymitch. It can't happen again. It can't. You have some weight in the Capitol, do something. Get Katniss in front of a camera, get Peeta, get Annie or Johanna… Get whoever you want but do something."
He licked his lips nervously and avoided her eyes to look back at the TV and Paylor's grave face. They hadn't told him. They had kept him in the dark and he could easily guess why.
"I have nephews." Effie said, swallowing back her tears. "Alegro is eight and Gaslin is twelve. What if… What if…"
She couldn't even say it. He didn't move when she leaned against him, scarcely remembering to put an arm around her as a gesture of comfort. That couldn't be happening. That wasn't supposed to happen.
"You never said you had nephews." he replied. How stupid of a comment was that? "I don't think they will go after your nephews. You're on my list. You're safe. They should be safe too. We could work on that." It was the deal he had made with Coin and later with Paylor : Effie's life in exchange for his work during the rebellion.
"Their father was a Gamemaker." she whimpered against his shoulder. Haymitch closed his eyes. "Do something, please." It was a strained whisper. "You have influence. Call Plutarch, do…"
The door banged again and angry stomping was heard throughout the house. He wasn't hugely surprised to see Peeta marching in his living-room closely shadowed by a subdued Katniss. The girl's eyes were red.
"I could hit you right now!" Peeta yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Haymitch. "Both of you!" The boy glared at Katniss who only lowered her eyes.
"Haymitch didn't know." Effie protested, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve and taking a protective step in front of him. It was always stunning to see the transformation each time she was in front of the children. She could have been bawling her eyes out a second earlier, once the kids were in the room, Effie was back to being the rock that keep them all on track. Haymitch was the only one privy to her sadness and broken self. Because she trusted him. He felt like a fool about to lose everything he didn't even know he had. "Really, Peeta, being upset is totally understandable but we need to focus on the…"
"Haymitch knew, Effie." Peeta spat. "He had the decisive vote."
A heavy silence fell on the room.
"I apologize, I don't understand what you mean." Effie said at last. She sounded so calm… Haymitch couldn't see her face but he knew, because her Capitol accent had become so strong, that she was upset and trying hard to hide it. She had done that a lot when she had still been an escort.
Peeta glared at Haymitch and Katniss in turn. "There was a meeting, right before Snow's execution, about the possibility of a last Game. Easy really. Annie, Beetee and I voted no. Johanna and Enobaria voted yes. So did Katniss. It was down to Haymitch. Want to guess what he voted?"
Effie's eyes first fell on Katniss and then she turned to Haymitch. The hurt and betrayal he saw on her face made him want to throw up.
"Tell me it isn't true." she requested.
"It's more complicated than that." Katniss finally ventured. "It wasn't about the Games. We were…"
"Tell me the boy is lying, Haymitch!" Effie shouted, covering Katniss' clumsy explanations. The kids were both startled by that. Effie had never raised her voice in their presence before, not like that anyway.
"It is more complicated than that." He breathed out, echoing Katniss. He reached out for Effie but she avoided his touch, horror and disgust slowly invading her eyes. "Effie, I didn't vote yes to the Games, I…"
"So Peeta is lying." she cut him off. Did he imagine the slice of hope in her voice?
Peeta miraculously stayed silent.
"No." Haymitch didn't even know where to begin. "Katniss was planning to take Coin out. I said…"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Peeta snorted. "You did this, Haymitch. I warned you. Katniss or Coin have nothing to do with this. You had the decisive vote and you said…"
"He said yes so I'd know he approved of my decision." Katniss sighed. "You don't understand, Peeta. You don't… You don't understand Haymitch like I do. He wasn't saying yes to start more Hunger Games. Neither was I."
Peeta's eyes finally widened in understanding and he gaped a little, sudden sadness overcoming his face. "You two must always have your little secrets, don't you?" he chuckled bitterly. "Couldn't you just talk about it after the meeting? You know, like normal people do?"
"You're not helping, Peeta." Katniss hissed.
"Good!" the boy replied "Because I'm not trying to! I'm angry, Katniss. You have no idea how angry I…"
"Oh, I do!" Katniss shouted back. "I killed Coin. I made sure those Games wouldn't happen. Don't you understand? This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Katniss got the guts to do what needed to be done, boy." Haymitch snapped. "It's easy to be all self-righteous and talk about right and wrong but fact is, war isn't won with lovely speeches."
"Stop." Effie said quietly and they all stopped shouting at once. It occurred to Haymitch she had been a bit too silent in the past couple of minutes. At least she wasn't crying anymore but he wasn't sure that was a good sign.
"Effie…" he tried because he needed her to understand. It wasn't to the 76th Hunger Games he had agreed to… It was to Katniss' half-cooked plan he knew nothing about. But he knew Katniss, they were so much alike. He knew her. When she had said she wanted to accept for Prim… The bombs on the children… He hadn't wanted to believe it at first but Plutarch hadn't lied well enough and… He had understood what she was saying, what she was really saying. So he had stood by the Mockingjay and he didn't regret that decision. But he had never, ever, wanted another Game.
"All those years…" Effie laughed but it was an odd laugh, it made him think of broken glass. "All those years, you told me I was a murderer, you told me I was sending those children to their death… And I was, of course, I was responsible but you… You called me a heartless monster, you called me a pervert, you…" She pinched her lips in a straight line and he didn't dare interrupt her. He didn't dare… "All the children who are going to die now in those Games and all those that will follow – because you know like I do, there will be more, blood calls for blood – you killed them, Haymitch. You are the heartless monster." Her eyes flickered to Katniss and she shook her head. "You both are."
She made a move as if to exit the room and he reached out instinctively. He grabbed her arm. Stupid move of course. She struggled free from his grip and glared at him.
"You don't touch me." she spat. "You repel me. I can't believe I let you kiss me. I can't believe I let you…" She made a disgusted face.
Haymitch had often wondered if he still had a heart left in him after his Games, he knew at that precise second that it had been a stupid fear. He knew because he felt it shattering in his chest. "Effie, please." he begged, not caring about how pathetic it sounded or how embarrassed he would be later. "Try to understand…"
"Understand what?" she snarled. "Did you even think of me?"
"Of you?" he yelled back, angered by that comment. "Did I think of you?" He burst out laughing. A real, genuine laugh that startled them all but he couldn't stop. It was hysterical. Did he even think of Effie Trinket… "Did I think of anything else?" he finally manage to answer. "Coin wanted you dead. How long do you think the influence from the drunkard victor from Twelve would have protected you? Katniss offered a solution. I took it."
"Oh, no, you don't." Effie hissed, pointing an accusing finger at his chest. "Don't you dare put this on me. I am not your reason. I am not your excuse. I…" Her small hands clenched into fists and she took a deep breath. "I can't look at you right now. I can't…" she shook her head and turned her heels.
"Where are you going?" he barked. He was so desperately afraid and fear in Haymitch always turned to anger.
"Home." she snapped before glancing back over her shoulder. "My true home. The Capitol. Congratulations, Haymitch. You just started another war."
"Don't…" He started to follow her but Peeta blocked his path. "Get out of my way before I lose my temper, boy."
"Haymitch, stop." Katniss ordered, grabbing his arm to hold him back. Her voice was unsteady. "It's probably better to let Effie cool off for a while."
"Yeah…" Peeta snorted. "Because you can cool off from something like that. I'm going to see if she's alright. Try to figure out a way out of this mess."
Good thing the boy left because Haymitch could have hit him. It was never supposed to happen. Why couldn't they understand that?
"I thought we were doing the right thing." Katniss sighed, leaning against him a bit. "I thought…"
"I know, sweetheart." he replied, hugging the girl close. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
AN : Hi again ! So that wasn't very happy XD I just wanted to add a note to that story because when I read MJ, it was very, very clear to me Haymitch wasn't saying yes to another bunch of Games. I don't think Haymitch would ever agree to that. In the book there is a series of events that happens in that particular order (SPOILERS) : Katniss goes to see Snow, Snow hints Coin is responsible for bombing the children and thus Prim's death, Katniss goes to Haymitch who's drunk and says some things that make her flee, some time passes during which what Haymitch does/finds out is anyone's guess but my opinion is a) he already knew about Coin being responsible for the children's death and that's why he went back to alcohol b) he found out while Katniss was huddled away in a corridor, after that during the meeting Katniss votes yes and add "For Prim", then she looks at Haymitch and Haymitch is thoughtful for a while, Katniss then say something along the line of "that's the moment when we find out how alike we are, Haymitch and I" (I'm quoting from memory so it may not be the exact sentence). Given just what Katniss had thought just before about how the last Hunger Games had come to be decided and how things hadn't changed after all, I'm sure she wouldn't want another Games either, ergo when Katniss says "yes, for Prim" she plans on acting on her revenge meaning killing Coin.
Haymitch and Katniss always understood each other without words, they're veeeery alike, so yeah… I think Haymitch probably guessed what Katniss was doing and said yes to tell it was okay and he would stand by her no matter what. He says "I'm with the Mockingjay" (again from memory) which hints two to things : first he stands with the symbol of the rebellion, the symbol of freedom, so it hints at him standing by the very idea of freedom and Coin is the opposite of that; second, he, himself, has contributed to create the mockingjay, so he takes his responsibilities in that, he's saying he will be with her until the end of the line. End of rant but to sum up: Haymitch didn't say yes to another Hunger Games just to get his revenge, he has seen enough innocent children die when he was helpless to do anything for them.