Prompt: She doesn't tell a soul, but people aren't taking lightly to Effie's refugee status—the insults, threats on her life, attacks, etc. steadily grow worse and worse unnoticed until one day, she's listed as a patient in the infirmary, and Haymitch notices.

Live With It

Haymitch didn't bother being startled when Effie rushed in the briefing room as if she was being chased by a pack of wild dogs. Effie Trinket was always in a hurry : schedules to keep, places to be… He was used to it.

She paused when she realized he was alone in the room though, muttered something under her breath about people not being able to follow a timetable even when it was inked into their skin, and dropped her notepad on the table. To be honest, it had been a shock to Haymitch to arrive first, he was rather used to being late, but Plutarch and Cressida were even worse than he was – the former Gamemaker tended to make the rules rather than follow them and the young director was a free spirit. Besides, those weekly reunions Effie insisted upon regarding the propos didn't have much purpose.

"Good morning to you too, sweetheart." he called out after a few seconds of her muttering in her corner.

She didn't answer, pretending to peruse her notes which, he was sure, she already knew by heart.

"Okay, I will bite." he sighed. "What's up with you?"

She took the bait, hook, line and sinker and he almost regretted tossing it.

"What's up with me?" she hissed. "I will tell you what's up with me, Haymitch. People, in this hellish place you had me abducted to, are simply rude beyond measure. I thought you were the most uncivilized uncouth foul man I would ever meet but compared to them, you are almost a saint."

His eyebrows shot up. "Someone stole my title? My heart is broken."

"Of course you would joke about this." she replied. "If you were in my shoes…"

"They're rude, so what?" he cut her off. "Just don't talk to them."

"Oh, I don't talk to them. They talk to me." she huffed. "Everyone in this District has some words for the escort, it seems."

He heard the bitterness under the irritation but he couldn't quite sympathize. "That's what you get for playing the Capitol drone all those years."

She dropped her eyes. "I'm trying."

"I know." he offered, more gently. "But that won't erase thirteen years of you pulling names out of a bowl. Not for them." He shrugged. "And I told you to keep a low profile. What do you do? You wear weird clothes… You're sticking out like a sore thumb, sweetheart."

"I refuse to be a sheep." she snapped.

He rolled his eyes. "Coming from you, that's rich."

She glared and he smirked, wishing he had a glass of liquor to toast her with – or to gulp it down, both worked for him.

"I know why they hate me. I know they have a right to." she whispered after a few seconds. "I don't mind the words so much usually, it's nothing worse than what I tell myself at night. It's just that, earlier, that man grabbed me and…"

"Grabbed you?" he frowned, already on his feet.

She seemed surprised by the swiftness with which he walked around the table and pushed her sleeves up, one after the other. There were no marks, no bruises. That was good. He wouldn't get involved for a few insults sent her way by desperate people who had seen her reap their children on TV for years but he drew the line at physical threats.

She cautiously pried her arms away from his probing hands. "It's alright, I don't think he truly intended to hurt me." A quick smile flashed on her lips. "They wouldn't dare. They're scared of you and Katniss."

"They should." he grumbled. "Nobody touches our escort."

She winced at the term, as accurate as it was. "May I be your friend instead?"

"Friend with… What was it? An uncivilized uncouth foul man like me?" he teased.

She pursed her lips. "Well, you are but I find I do not mind so much anymore. You have… endearing qualities."

"Endearing." he repeated, slightly mocking.

"Never mind I was obviously mistaken, you are insufferable." she scoffed, going back to perusing her notes. She was fighting a grin though.

"Your crush on me is cute, sweetheart." he taunted.

She almost choked to death in surprise and then scowled at him. "I do not have a crush."

"No?" he smirked. "Then you have the hots for me. Less cute but way better." He looked her up and down in a very suggestive way that earned him a whack on the arm with her notepad.

"Behave." she chided him.

"Make me." he challenged.

Their eyes locked in a fierce battle of will. Haymitch lost first, glanced at her lips, the strange idea that he could kiss her entering his mind.

The echo of voices coming from the corridor made her jump away before he could act on it.

"Sorry we're late." Plutarch said good-naturally.

Cressida didn't bother with apologies but she waved cheerfully at both of them.

"It's no trouble." Effie sent them a charming smile, as if she didn't care at all for the lateness even though Haymitch could tell she was very annoyed because of the pointed comments she kept making all along the following briefing.

He caught her before she left the room with Cressida to go prep Katniss.

"Let them talk all they want but anyone try to lift a finger on you, you come straight to me, yeah?" he murmured, low enough that the others wouldn't hear.

He knew the chances of that happening were more than slim. Thirteen was as safe as could be given that she had immunity.

Yet it never hurt to be prepared.

A quick word of meta: I had several prompts like this one and I considered them all. While I disagree with the stance the movie took regarding Effie in Thirteen (everyone being so accepting even with her weird outfits that serve as a constant reminder that she is Capitol) I think highly unlikely that anyone would attack her physically because if she is allowed to stay in Thirteen so freely, it must mean she has immunity. She is a political refugee and Thirteen has a strict military policy that probably gives her the same rights and protection as any other citizen. This being said consider what you risk for taking a piece of bread out of the dinner hall (cf Katniss' prep team in the books or THE scene that should have been there and wasn't) now imagine what you would face if you assaulted another citizen. I don't think anyone would risk that for the relative short pleasure of beating a woman that doesn't even look like a Capitol parrot anymore and, as such, already looks vulnerable and defeated.

Now I also do think it is very plausible she has to face latent hostility and probably even insults. I sincerely do not think Haymitch would intervene. I know a lot of people enjoy the "knight trope" coming to rescue the damsel in distress but I truly do not think that if someone from Twelve or another District calls her out on her past – someone who had suffered much more than she ever had – he would tell them to shut up and take her defense. He might if the insults became too personal or if the situation became too serious but I don't think he would tell someone who had stood in front of that stage for years after years, watching her grab a ball that might or might have not been their kid's name, to shut up, that their suffering is less important than her being called out for her own mistakes. He would more than probably simply tell them it's enough and to walk away or he would take her away. The people from the Districts are entitled to their resentment. I think what he would do is tell her afterwards that she should just not listen and carry on, that she changed and that's the important part, that he knows her and her friends know her and that all those people will learn but now is not the time. We're in the middle of a war in that timeframe and she isn't making it any easier by acting so Capitol. The reconciliation District/Capitol comes after the war. It has to.

Now, this being said, I also do think he would never allow her to be in any danger and he would probably step in and make it understood she's under his – and Katniss' – protection from the very start which might really well be enough for most of the people actually. And I kind of feel sorry for anyone who tries to actually lift an hand on her because there will be no time for him to be arrested and brought to a cell, Haymitch will be there first, but for insults, names-calling and hostility? I do not see him getting involved.

It might be a unpopular opinion, I don't know. I have trouble with how they dealt with Effie being in Thirteen. I do not think book!Thirteen would have allowed her to thwart the uniform so easily and I love book!Thirteen. I do not think Gale would be as accepting as he is in the movie but Gale is often used as a "District indicator" so it tends to prove everyone is happy with her being there even though we now know from the deleted scene she kinds of act like she is queen of the bees. Notice the Thirteen citizens in that deleted scene don't even open their mouth to protest. I don't know I have a lot of problems with some aspects of Thirteen in the movie!canon and it impacts directly with the question of the way Effie is being treated and how Haymitch would react so… Yeah. The meta rant ends here.