Prompt : I totally understand if you don't want to do this because I'm not even sure how hayffie centric it would be but in one of your fics (maybe quite a stretch but I'm not sure) you mentioned that it was 11's escort who had denounced Effie? Could you maybe write something about her hearing Effie was being tortured because of what she'd said Or maybe she and Effie bump into each other after the war ... Or maybe both? I don't know. Thanks if you take any of this on board :)

A Phone Call Away

The shrill ringing of the phone disrupted the heavy silence that always surrounded the house and Haymitch couldn't quite suppress a groan.

He was regretting the time where the device was torn off the wall. It was a necessity nowadays, though. Plutarch had made sure his phone was in working order before the hovercraft bringing Katniss home had even left the Capitol. It had its perks too.

Haymitch checked the clock without needing to – it was eight p.m., it was always eight p.m – and pushed himself off the couch.

He grabbed the phone and a chair to sit on. "Hello."

"You're drunk." came the accusation without another word of greeting.

"Hangovered." he grumbled. "Good evening to you too, sweetheart."

"My apologies." Effie sighed at the other end of Panem. "Good evening, Haymitch. How was your day?"

"Very productive. I slept, drank and slept some more." he snorted, wedging the phone between his cheek and his shoulder so he could reach for the bottle of liquor left on the kitchen table. "You?"

Once, she would have given him hell over his choice of activities. He almost regretted it. She tended to be reserved now, detached.

There was a silence at the other end of the line but it didn't alarm him. She needed a few minutes sometimes, to collect herself or to reassure herself she wasn't in the Capitol cells anymore. She was doing much better than after her rescue but it still wasn't great.

"I visited Peeta today." she said at last.

He didn't point out that she did that everyday. She needed the routine, the scheduling. It helped or so she said. Visiting Peeta after her session with her own psychiatrist, calling him every night… She was trying to gain back some stability.

"How was he?" He took a mouthful of wine and winced at the sour taste. It could be used as vinegar but not as much more, he figured, pushing the bottle away.

"Better." she offered and he could hear the smile in her voice. There were noises and could perfectly imagine her kicking off her shoes before stretching on her couch. Perhaps he should invest in one of those handy videophones that allowed to see the other person… He wouldn't mind seeing her when they talked. "He says they're talking about allowing him to come back to Twelve."

"That's great news." He didn't hide his surprise. Peeta coming back would be a good thing if he truly was able to control his episodes. For one, it might coax Katniss out of hiding and for another, he might even get bread again. "When?"

"Nothing is fixed yet." she replied. "But soon I think. He is truly doing better. He asked about you and Katniss. How is she?"

"Not dead yet." he snorted.

Effie sighed and he could almost feel her frustration but it was the best he could give her. He hadn't seen Katniss ever since he had brought her back a few weeks ago. Truth be told, he hadn't seen much of the District ever since he had come back. She was hiding in her house and so was he. Cowards, the both of them. Graesy Sae and her granddaughter kept him informed and fed. The old woman also brought wine if he asked nicely enough.

The conversation was at an end and it was generally the moment when Effie would remind him to eat something before wishing him a good night. Yet she remained silent. Her breathing was heavy on the phone and a tad too quick.

"What's wrong, Princess?" he frowned. He could tell. Even at the other end of the country he could tell. He could always tell. "Is it a bad day?"

She had those. The days were the memories were too much, the terror too overwhelming and the nightmares so vivid she couldn't figured out if they were real or not. He was painfully acquainted with bad days.

"I… When I was visiting Peeta, in the ward… I bumped into Viola." she said, her voice shaking.

"Viola?" he repeated, confused. "Chaff's Viola?"

Viola had been Eleven's escort for almost as long as Effie had been Twelve's and the feud between them was legendary.

Some escorts and some Gamemakers had escaped Coin's purge just as Effie had, either because they knew important people or because they had a lot of money to spend. Corruption was never slow to breach any political system.

"Yes." she whispered. "Her father is a lawyer, he… He got her out. She's… She's undergoing therapy just like me. She said her imprisonment was a very traumatic experience and…" Effie's voice broke and truly wished he wasn't so far because it broke his heart. He always hated it when she cried. "She said I couldn't understand, Haymitch. She said…"

"Who cares what she said?" Haymitch growled. "She's a bitch, always has been."

Traumatic experience, his ass. She had been confined along with all escorts and Gamemakers in a lovely building for political prisoners with all possible comfort.

It had nothing to do with Effie's stay in the Capitol cells. Nothing at all. Nobody had hurt Viola on purpose, nobody had beaten her for information she didn't possess, nobody had terrorized her.

"She said she's a cleared woman because she faced a trial and won." Effie continued, trying and failing to hide her sobs. "And that everybody knows why I am free…"

"You're free because you didn't deserve to die. Stop it, Effie." he ordered.

But she didn't stop. "She said I'm free because I'm your tramp. She didn't use that word of course but you know how vulgar she is… Even Johanna couldn't hold a candle to her vulgarity."

"Other victors vouched for you." he argued. "We all vouched for you. Let them talk, sweetheart, what does it matter?"

The sobs were heart wrenching. He opened and closed his hand several times in an attempt to calm down.

"It doesn't." she murmured at last, so low he barely heard it. "I know it doesn't."

"Good girl." He closed his eyes and relaxed back in his chair. It was at the tip of his tongue to offer to visit but he knew he couldn't. Not yet. Katniss was officially in his care, it wouldn't do to be seen in the Capitol so soon after her release.

"She's writing a book about it." she spat after a few seconds. Her voice was stronger, irritated or irked, he didn't know. "Her traumatic imprisonment." That was sarcasm and it made Haymitch smirk. "She's been asked to host a show in the fall. People still want to see her on TV. They still love her."

And they didn't love Effie anymore. There laid the crux of the matter.

Effie would only lose either way she played it. She was an escort to the Districts and a traitor to the Capitol. She hadn't gone on trial, she hadn't been publicly thrown to the wolves, she had been pardoned in the safety of Coin's office. Viola might have risked her life with a trial, but it had cleared her in front of Panem. She had faced justice.

"If you want to go back on TV, ask Plutarch." he advised. "I'm sure he can find you a show or something."

"No, that's not…" She sighed, clearly frustrated. "I don't want to be a public persona again. What happened to me… I just want to be left alone."

It was probably best. "Then what?"

"I miss you." she said out of the blue. "I just… I miss you."

"I've only been gone a few weeks." he countered to hide the hole the words were digging in his chest. Truth was, he was missing her too. More and more every day. It wasn't the same since those months in Thirteen, wondering if she was dead or alive. Being apart, ever since he had found her again, was difficult.

"I know, it's just… She upset me." she confessed "She upset me and all I wanted was for you to take me into your arms and… You weren't there and I couldn't breathe. I miss you."

"I miss you too." he answered before he could think twice about it. Admitting to missing her was the first thing he had said to her when she had woken up after her rescue and to this day it probably was still the most romantic exchange they had. He wasn't good with expressing feelings. He could show her with gentle touches and soft kisses but putting them in words was difficult. "You should come."

There was a sharp intake of breath at the end of the phone. "To Twelve?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, trying to keep it cool, casual. In truth, his heart was hammering in his chest. "I can't come back for now but you could… visit." Or stay.

"Maybe when they release Peeta I could… escort him back." she suggested. "And I could stay a few days to make sure the children are alright."

"Or a few weeks. You know, better plan large just in case." he smirked.

She laughed. It was brief but genuine and he hadn't heard her laugh ever since the war so it made him strangely happy. "A few weeks seem a good idea."

"Good." he chuckled. "Maybe I should thank Viola."

"Let's not." she scoffed. The amusement slowly left her voice. "I wish you were here tonight. It's lonely."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." he snorted, looking around the cold empty kitchen. "You're okay now?"

"I suppose." she sighed. "I will call you tomorrow."

"You do that, sweetheart." he smirked.

She wished him a good night and hung up, leaving him to listen to the long beeping of a cut off line.

He put the phone back in place, trying not to let the sudden silence get to him.

He was craving her presence so much it was a physical pain.

He wondered if Katniss was feeling the same. Knowing the girl like he did, even if she was yearning for Peeta, she wouldn't understand it.

He wished they would hurry back all the same.

They needed the other half of their team.

Phone calls could only do so much.