prompt : So I really hope I'm doing it right this time! ;) Ok so please write an chapter when Chaff dies during the CF. Thanks!

By His Side

Effie was sitting on a chair while everyone else in the hovercraft moved around. She didn't know if she was angry at Haymitch for forcing her to get onboard or relieved that he hadn't left her behind. She didn't know if she was terrified out of her mind or excited at the prospect of seeing the children again – all the children, because Finnick and Johanna despite their age were still very much young in her eyes. She didn't know how to feel or what to do so she remained where Haymitch had pushed her, after threatening to have her sedated if she caused any trouble, and kept her eyes riveted to the large screen.

Haymitch and Plutarch weren't truly following the live feed, more focused on a three dimensional map of the arena. When Johanna attacked Katniss, Effie didn't react. It was all part of the plan, she supposed. All pretense.

When Brutus attacked Peeta and Chaff appeared suddenly behind District Two's tribute, Effie bolted to her feet. That, she could guess, wasn't the plan at all.

"Haymitch."

Her voice wasn't very loud, she hadn't meant to shout by any mean, but it was enough that everyone fell quiet. Haymitch followed her eyes and cursed right as Chaff and Brutus started a deadly dance.

"Fuck." Haymitch spat. "Fuck!"

Effie had watched enough Hunger Games to know how it would play out and, sure enough, it wasn't long before Brutus' knife found Chaff's throat. The kill was messy but quick. For all his flaws and unlike others, Brutus didn't have a taste for unnecessary violence.

He also didn't have the good sense to distrust apparent vulnerability.

She averted her eyes when Peeta jumped on him and finished him after a short shuffle.

The camera panned out on Chaff again and she could hear Haymitch's sharp intake of breath. His fists were clenched, he was looking at the screen with an expression of utter hatred on his face and she briefly wondered how much of that hatred was directed against himself. He was trying to figure out what would have happened if he had been in that arena with Chaff in Peeta's place, she knew.

Slowly, people started talking and moving about again.

Not Haymitch. He kept staring at the screen.

Plutarch moved as if to clap his shoulder comfortingly but Effie was quick in placing herself between them, careful not to touch Haymitch – he wouldn't appreciate human contact right now and it seemed for all her uncertainties she had made her choice after all : always his escort, always shielding him. The Gamemaker seemed to understand because his arm dropped and he nodded once.

"How far are we?" Haymitch snapped before she could try to talk him out of his self-loathing.

"Fifteen minutes." Plutarch answered.

"We need to go quicker." he replied, turning back to the map. He didn't pay any attention to her but she remained next to him and brushed a tentative finger against his knuckles. He didn't spare her a glance but it was enough for his fist to unclench so she counted that as a victory.

There was no time to rejoice or to grieve for Chaff.

The arena exploded and everything seemed to happen at once.

She couldn't tell how much time passed between the moment Katniss released her arrow and the arrival in Thirteen. President Coin's not so welcoming speech, the appraising of District Twelve's status, the endless list of rules a soldier droned out, the grey clothes that Haymitch almost forced on her back despite her protests, the arguing about what should be done for his withdrawal…

She remained next to Haymitch through it all.

Stay close, he had murmured right before they walked out of the hovercraft so that was what she did. She stayed close, never wandering more than a few feet away from him – to Coin's greatest annoyance. And when they threatened to lock him up in an hospital room the time necessary for the worst of withdrawal, she stubbornly sat on the bed and refused to move.

The nurse was clearly aggravated by their behavior and left with a huff, slamming the door shut behind her.

"They're great with patients' care." he snorted without any form of amusement once they were left alone in the brightly lit room. The neon light was the only bright thing, though. Everything else was grey : the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the equipment, the sheets… Them. It was like being thrown in a world devoid of colors.

Effie wasn't sure she could bear that.

Haymitch sat down next to her on the bed with a deep sigh and then he flopped down without any apparent hesitation, dropping his head in her lap.

"Peeta, Jo and Annie are gone." he said, as if she needed a recounting.

"We will get them back." she promised because that was what he expected of her. She was the optimistic one in their team. He was the pragmatic. They balanced each other.

"Chaff is dead." he whispered.

All the optimism in the world wouldn't change that.

She wasn't sure what he wanted her to say so she kept silent and combed her fingers through his dirty hair, tugging gently when they staggered on a knot.

She wanted to say she was sorry because she was. She and Chaff had never seen eye to eye but she respected Eleven's victor, he was a nice man and a good friend to Haymitch. The best, perhaps. Yet, she couldn't quite grieve properly for now, her feelings were all over the place. She was frantic to get news of Peeta and distressed over Katniss' catatonic state… Too much had happened, too much was happening…

His hand crept on her leg, coiled around her knee.

"I know you're angry but you're here." he stated.

She heard what he didn't say : you're with me.

"I'm here." she hummed softly in agreement. It seemed to bring him some comfort because he relaxed enough to close his eyes.

At least she wasn't lost like Peeta or dead like Chaff, she mused. She was right where she was needed. By his side.