The Game

Something was happening and it made Effie nervous.

Haymitch had been on edge for close to a week – hell, he had been tense for the last month or so and she had been scared it had to do with the pregnancy but he assured her it was about something else but wouldn't tell her what; she believed him because Plutarch was also being shifty and anxious. It had to have something to do with Thirteen, she mused, sitting behind her desk, munching on one of the crackers she kept hidden in the first drawer for when she got too nauseous. The situation in Thirteen was volatile at best, with Coin clinging to power when other leaders were pushing for her to resign…

She got grilled about it during every press briefing…

Whatever was happening must have been over her clearance level. Which said a lot given her position. Still, it annoyed her not to be in the room.

Haymitch had been locked in his office since well before dawn – he had been called down before her alarm had even beeped – with Plutarch and Lyme. People were coming and going, in and out. Soldiers mostly, high-ranking Peacekeepers…

The whole Mansion seemed to be holding its breath with nerves because it was never good when the President disappeared in his office with top-ranking military officials while the Press Secretary and Panem's High Attorney were kept out of the room. She and Seeder had had their own very sad senior meeting staff all by themselves at mid-morning in Effie's office. A memo had come at noon, right before she went in front of the press, to tell her there was a concerning shortage of fish in Four and it would be great if she could bring focus to that. The handwriting had been Plutarch's and the instructions had been stupid.

But she served at the pleasure of the President so she had obeyed.

And she had gotten grilled for it. Because, naturally, the press had taken that as an opening to address the issue of pollution that they had sworn they would tackle during the campaign but hadn't yet really had time to truly do anything about…

No, Effie decided, finishing her cracker, the press briefing hadn't exactly been fun. And neither was sitting there, waiting for something to happen – or, given the grave faces of people going in and out of the President's office: not happen.

Whatever was going on… It wasn't good.

There was a knock on the door and then Katniss was in her office, not waiting for her to call her to come in. Effie pressed her lips in irritation but the girl either didn't notice or didn't care.

"You're needed in the office." the girl said. She had her leather jacket on and her messenger bag tossed over her shoulder.

Effie frowned, glancing at the clock. It was early afternoon. "Are you leaving? Do you feel ill, dear?"

It wasn't like Katniss to leave early unless she was sick, and even then. Katniss may not be as polished as a President's personal assistant ought to be but she had a work ethic to rival Effie's own.

The young woman shook her head. "I've got to go to Two. Haymitch wants some papers hand-delivered to the commandant of the Nut. Like there aren't a hundred Peacekeepers in this place who could do it… Hovercraft's leaving in half an hour. I'm staying overnight. Don't let Peeta work too late."

There was a protest from the desk outside her office and Effie stood up and left Katniss and Peeta to argue in peace, making her way to the President's office, as unhurried as possible while very much hurrying.

Finnick fell into steps with her after about two seconds.

Unlike Gale, he didn't spend his entire time in the break room…

"I don't know what's happening but something's definitely up and it's big." Finnick said without a trace of his usual flirting.

"I do not know anything yet." she answered.

He fell behind when they reached Haymitch's inner office. His secretaries were busy bees, answering phone calls, putting people on hold… Security had been increased, she noted. Boggs wasn't there but there were two Peacekeepers when there was usually only one.

She waited until one of the secretaries gave her the all-clear before walking into the office. One step inside was enough to take in just how serious the situation was. Haymitch was sitting behind his desk, his suit jacket and tie had been discarded at some point, his sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows and he looked agitated. Lyme was standing almost at attention behind a corner of the desk, reviewing a handful of papers another Peacekeeper was handing her… Boggs was standing behind Haymitch, in front of the big window, but she wasn't sure if it was about guarding the President or about something else because he was regularly checking his phone as if he was sending instructions… Plutarch was pacing.

It was really Plutarch's state that clued her into the severity of whatever was going on.

Plutarch was always impeccably dressed.

But, right then, Plutarch was a little red in the face, he had taken off his own jacket and his tie was loosened a little…

Effie didn't let herself waver as she strode into the rood, jutting her chin up a little because… "You asked for me, Sir?"

There was no trace of the playful glint in Haymitch's eyes at that word.

His eyes were heavy and serious when they met hers. Worried.

"They're about to get me down to the bunker." he said flatly.

Her breath caught in her throat for a second as a thousand scenarios ran through her mind.

"Is there a security threat in the Mansion?" she asked, automatically looking at Boggs. But Boggs wouldn't look at her.

"We need you to distract the press, Effie." Plutarch answered without really answering. "Leak news of the pollution bills."

She frowned. "Weren't we waiting until we were sure we had the votes? Coastal companies won't be happy about it and…"

"It will kick a fuss and that's what we need right now." the chief-of-staff cut her off. "I want you on top of it. Answers questions, give quotes, go on TV…"

"But it will torpid the bill…" she insisted. They weren't ready to have it out now. Big companies would band together, there would be pressure on local District representatives… It would be…

"Pardon the pun but we have bigger fish to fry." Plutarch retorted. "I need this bill on every channel in the next hour. Can you give me that?"

She opened her mouth to protest again and then closed it. The bill was important and Haymitch wasn't saying anything so… Whatever they wanted to cover up, it was warranting sacrificing it. She swallowed hard, schooled her features in a professional mask and nodded. "Of course. I will set up a press conference for tonight."

"No." Haymitch cut in, rubbing his face. "Get the story out there, then you're going down to the bunker."

Lyme's head shot up, her eyes darting between the two of them. "Respectfully, Sir, if the Press Secretary disappears, there will be questions."

"I don't fucking care." Haymitch snarled. "Boggs, tell your boy. I want her ass down in that bunker in an hour top."

Boggs hesitated a second and then nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Mr President, that sends the wrong message." Plutarch argued.

Lyme agreed again, both of them talking over the other…

"Shut up!" Haymitch snapped and then let out a deep shaky breath, rubbing his face. "Sorry. Look, Effie's coming down. It's not up for discussion."

"All due respect, Sir… This is why there are controversies." Lyme commented. "We need our Press Secretary right now and…"

"If I want your opinion, General, I will ask for it." Haymitch growled.

"What is going on?" Effie heard herself ask, even though, really, she shouldn't have. It was clearly over her pay grade and…

"We need the press nicely distracted." Plutarch sighed. "That's all you need to…"

"Thirteen's got their nuclear missiles aimed straight at us, ready to fly." Haymitch cut him off.

It took a second for the enormity of that statement to permeate her mind.

"Coin?" she asked, her voice strangled.

Plutarch clearly wasn't pleased with the disclosure of state secrets but stopped his pacing long enough to cross his arms in front of his chest. "Of course."

"She is threatening us?" She almost scoffed. It was… It was…

"Not as such." Lyme waved a hand. "They claim it's a malfunction."

"Yeah… But coincidentally they're also asking us to rethink their Panexit thing." Haymitch snorted without any sort of amusement. "We're in touch with a few people in Thirteen. The District's on complete lockdown. She's holding her own people hostage. It's insane."

"It's a coup." Effie corrected softly.

"I would say it is both." Plutarch shook his head.

"We are sending a team." Lyme reluctantly explained.

"We're taking her out." Haymitch corrected more plainly. "And we don't want any hint of this on the news. So far she hasn't been playing the press card. My guts says she's gonna keep it on the down low until she got what she wanted or everything blows up…"

She nodded her understanding. "I will make a few calls. Give me half an hour and the news cycle will be saturated with the pollution bill."

She turned to leave but a hand wrapped around her wrist before she could actually reach the door. She frowned up at Haymitch who… didn't look pleased.

"Get the word out and then Odair's gonna take you down to the bunker." he ordered.

She was hyper-aware that even though everyone in that room was suddenly busy doing something else, they were also all listening.

"Lyme is right. It would look strange if I disappeared in the middle of a media storm." She shook her head. "I will give you a distraction. That's…"

"Effie. There are nuclear weapons pointing straight at us." he snarled, his grey eyes full of fear and dread and… They left her face, rested on her stomach… She lifted her hand but aborted the move before she could rest it on her belly. It would have been a tell-tale move if she had touched the barely noticeable budge there. It was easy to hide beneath clothes for now. But it was there. Their secret. And… "Please."

He didn't often use that word.

And it broke her heart to have to deny him.

She licked her lips. "I have to do my job."

"Fuck your job." he growled and then made a face. "You can do whatever you need to do from the bunker. I need…"

"Mr President, it is not just my job, it is my duty." she cut him off, gently prying her wrist free from his fingers.

He searched her gaze for a long, long moment.

"Yeah… If it was just you, that'd be easier to stomach." he scoffed softly, hopefully too low for the others to catch it. He cleared his throat. "I'm staying topside too."

"Absolutely not!" Lyme exclaimed.

"No, Haymitch." Plutarch snapped.

"Not happening." Boggs scowled. "I'll sedate you if I've got to."

Haymitch rolled his eyes, and glared at them all, an expression of pure challenge on his face…

Effie did the unprofessional thing and cupped his cheek, forcing his head to turn so he was looking at her again.

"You are going to that bunker. You are the President of Panem. We need you to be safe." she argued.

"I need to know you're safe." he hissed. "That the bean's safe."

"Sir." Boggs said firmly, stepping away from the window, his hand pressing on his earpiece. "We're clear for transfer. We need to go now."

"Hold your horse." Haymitch spat. He tried to glare at his bodyguard but Effie still had her hand on his cheek and prevented him from turning his head. He let out a frustrated sigh and leaned into her palm. "Effie, please."

"Mr President." Boggs insisted coming closer. "I'll get her down to that bunker myself if we reach a point of non-return. I swear. Now, we need to go."

Haymitch wasn't going to move.

She saw it.

He had his stubborn face on.

"Everybody, close your eyes." she demanded. She didn't wait to see if her orders were being followed – and she doubted Boggs would follow them anyway – before stepping into his space and locking her arms around his neck. He immediately hugged her back. "Get down to that bunker and be the leader this country needs, Haymitch."

"Can't do that when you're up there with the bean." he muttered.

"Yes, you can." she argued. "Boggs told you. He will come get me if it takes a turn. Tell me truthfully, are we at the point when we could be obliterated off the map any second?"

He reluctantly sighed.

Because while the threat was real they were not at that point.

She had no doubt the Capitol's own nuclear weapons were aimed at Thirteen and ready to fire.

Mutual annihilation wasn't a great political pitch so Coin was probably just bluffing.

Probably.

"If I send for you, you come down." he insisted.

"Yes, Sir." she whispered.

"And you won't argue." he added.

"Of course not, Sir. I have a vested interest in keeping the bean alive too, you know." she joked. Then, she licked her lips. "But I am taking Peeta with me."

"Well, obviously." He snorted. "Sent Katniss to Two. Prim should be safe in Four with their mom…" He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Should call your sister. Suggest a trip out of the city with the boys. Right now."

"Sir." Lyme protested, almost shocked.

He rolled his eyes. "So much for privacy." Duly chastised Lyme pressed her lips together hard. Haymitch drew back a little from the hug to meet her eyes. "Don't tell them anything but get your family out of the city. Threat's real enough, sweetheart."

"Yes, Sir." She forced a small brave smile.

He detached himself from her, his hand accidentally – or not quite so – brushing against her stomach. "No heroics, Effie. I'll sneak out to come get you if I've got to and that's gonna piss Boggs off."

"It will." Boggs confirmed, laying a heavy hand on Haymitch's shoulder. "We need to move now, Mr President."

"Stay alive." Haymitch commanded.

It took some strength on the Peacekeeper's part to make him move, she saw that. And his grey eyes remained on her right until he was finally dragged out of the room, followed closely by Lyme.

There was a command center in the bunker, she believed, they would relocate everything down there and…

Plutarch lingered a second, watching her with an almost amused expression. "What is this bean you keep referring to?"

"Exactly how much do you want me to antagonize the companies?" she deflected.

Plutarch's glance darted down to her stomach. It was quick enough that she could have pretended not to have notice. Something changed in his demeanor. She couldn't say if it was renewed focus or, on the contrary, some relief at the confirmation of his suspicions… She wasn't sure she even cared.

"Enough to cause a huge scandal." Plutarch answered. "Not enough that we cannot come back from it. If all goes well, there will be a story tomorrow about Coin's attempted coup and we won't have to worry about it." He took two steps toward the door and then paused, reaching to squeeze her shoulder. "I second Haymitch, Effie. No heroics. If it does reach a point of no-return, you need to come down at once. We can't take any risks with your survival. If this go south, we will need him at the top of his game."

And if she got herself blown up he wouldn't be.

She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or offended by their blatant belief she would defy orders when her safety was in jeopardy… She was in no hurry to put herself in danger without a good reason.

She let the chief-of-staff leave and then shook her head, forming a plan of attack about how to go about what she had been tasked with doing. When she walked out of the President's office, Finnick shadowed her again. She slowed down her steps enough to indicate he should walk with her and not behind her.

"Tell your wife to get as far from the city as she can. Right now." she said quietly, barely above a whisper.

She shouldn't have said even that much.

Finnick, to his credit, didn't say anything to show he had understood. But the moment she was back at her own office, he disappeared, his phone already to his ear.

"So? What's going on?" Peeta asked, with a frown of his own.

She gestured at him to follow her into her office but only spoke once he had closed the door.

"I am going to need the steepest tea you can brew me." she ordered. "Then, I need you to make a few phone calls. We are leaking the pollution bill. It needs to go through enough back channels that it won't come back onto us. Once it hits, it will be all hands on deck. We are going big and loud, Peeta, do you understand?"

The boy frowned harder. "Won't that torpid the bill?"

She sighed regretfully. "Yes, it will. Any other question?"

There were hundreds of questions in the boy's eyes but he shook his head. "I'll get your tea."

The moment he was out of the room, she called her father.

Either she was lucky and she had caught him between meetings or he had learned from the last time she had tried to call him.

"I hope this is not about another divorce, Euphemia." he said instead of a proper hello.

Effie walked to her window, leaning against the glass panel to watch the city. She finally let herself touch her stomach like she had wanted to since she had stepped in Haymitch's office. "You have businesses in Two, don't you?"

There was a small silence on the other end of the line. "This is relevant because…"

His sentence trailed off, half-curiosity, half-irritation.

"It would be a great time for you to go and inspect them. Perhaps take Mother, Lyssa and the boys with you." she answered calmly, quietly, as if nothing at all was the matter. "You know how much they enjoy tourism. I can even get them a private tour of the Nut. Why, the President's assistant is there right now… I am sure the drop of my name would be enough to get you entry. Assuming the interest spikes, of course."

She wasn't sure her father would get it but the silence stretched longer and harder.

"I see." Tadius said quietly.

"You should go right now, Father." she insisted, her throat closing.

"Are you also going to visit the Nut, by any chance? Perhaps we could meet up." he asked lazily, following her lead. It was a bit stupid to talk in codes, she figured, nobody was listening… But she wasn't supposed to say anything. She could get in trouble. Haymitch could get in trouble since he had given her tacit permission to do so.

"No, I do not have time for a vacation, right now." she countered.

"You stay close to your President then." he demanded, his voice wavering. Perhaps because he knew that was the safest place to be in Panem but still.

"I always do." she replied cheerfully. "I have to go. Goodbye, Father."

Tadius cleared his throat. "Goodbye, dear."

She had just hung up when Peeta walked back in with a steaming mug. She took a grateful sip of the tea even if it burned her tongue. She would have preferred coffee but…

"Let's do this." she told her assistant.

They made it happen.

Before an hour had passed, the news cycle was all over the bill that had been leaked, wealthy businessmen were out for blood because of the money they would lose and all sorts of activists were after them either in support or because the bill was too tame.

Effie and Peeta answered phone calls all day, gave quotes, precisions, details… She called a press conference and went out there to fend questions for a whole hour…

Every time interest started to wane, she stirred the pot.

It was dusk by the time it finally all calmed down…

She had been on her feet for ages and she was starting to feel the exhaustion. Warnings from her doctor about overdoing it were flashing in her mind but what else could she do but try to hold the fort?

She stayed at the office until half past nine, at which point almost everyone else had gone home and she was at a loss for what to do. Peeta didn't argue when she told him he should sleep on the couch in her office that night. It was a comfortable couch, she had spent enough nights on it, and she wanted him close just in case.

"How is Annie?" she asked when she started the long torturous climb of the stairs that led to the residential floor.

"Her train just arrived in One." Finnick told her. "Thanks."

"Just help me trap the cat…" She sighed. "That's all the thanks I need."

Because it had occurred to her there was no way she was going down to a bunker and leaving her cat behind… Rascal, however, wasn't exactly pleased at being forced into his carrier. The only times he was ever forced in there was to go to the vet and it wasn't exactly an experience he enjoyed. By the time they had managed to force him into the plastic box, both of their hands were scratched and Effie was completely exhausted and not really feeling well.

"I need to lie down." She winced, rubbing her belly.

She was terrified she would feel cramps or…

"You need to eat too." Finnick argued, helping her up and to the couch. They both ignored Rascal's hissing and the way his paw kept darting through the holes in the carrier door to try and get one of them. "Annie was always feeling faint when she was hungry at first."

Effie shot him a look. "I have no clue what you are talking about."

Finnick rolled his eyes, his lips stretching into his trademark grin. "I am not just a pretty face, you know."

And he was with her pretty much nonstop. Like her own shadow.

There wasn't any hiding anything from bodyguards.

"Fine." she surrendered, curling up on her side on the couch. "I suppose I could eat."

"And try to relax too." Finnick advised. "Stress isn't good for the baby."

It was strange to hear it put so plainly.

The baby.

She and Haymitch always used euphemisms or they called it the bean so nobody would know what they were talking about…

"No…" she hummed, a stupid smile playing on her lips even as she laid a hand on her stomach. "Stress isn't good for the baby…"

Finnick frowned at her as if she was being weird but then shrugged it off and picked up the phone. "What do you want to eat?"

"Pizza." she answered without thinking.

Being pregnant apparently made her want junk food.

"Won't argue with that." Finnick grinned, tossing her the TV remote. "Find something fun to watch. No more stress for you."

Apparently, Boggs had given him orders. He was to stay with her until the crisis was over in case she needed to be brought downstairs in a hurry. That or maybe Finnick felt bad for her worrying all by herself.

In the end, they called Peeta up too and made a party of it. They settled on watching a stupid reality TV show and ate pizza on the couch – well, she sat on the couch, the boys were on the floor like ruffians – and surprised themselves by laughing a lot.

That was how Haymitch found them when he walked into the room, close to midnight.

He smirked when he saw them. "Don't know how I feel about you having sleepovers with boys, sweetheart…"

He looked dead on his feet but his shoulders lacked that tension he had been carrying around for the last few days. Peeta and Finnick were quick to excuse themselves and left them alone.

Haymitch dropped on the couch next to her, stealing one of the last slices of pizza the boys hadn't devoured – those two could eat, as Effie had discovered.

"Is it over?" she asked tentatively, muting the TV, knowing he probably wouldn't care for the shenanigans of rich Capitols on a pseudo reality show.

"We ain't about to get blown up anymore, if that's what you're asking." He sighed, finishing his slice in a few quick mouthfuls. "But there's gonna be a fallout."

He stole the remote from her and switched to a twenty-four hours news channel.

Surely enough, there was a breaking news headline… Alma Coin was dead, circumstances weren't clear… Briefing to follow…

Effie groaned. "I need to go back downstairs, don't I?"

"Afraid so, sweetheart… Plutarch already called back the staff." He frowned. "Unless you're too tired." His hand found her stomach. "If you're tired it can keep."

She was tired.

But it couldn't keep.

"Brief me." she mumbled, scooting to a corner of the couch and propping her feet in his lap.

"She tried to seize power, a heroic Thirteen Peacekeeper shot her as she was about to detonate nuclear missiles… We were aware of the situation but kept people in the dark for safety reasons… Hostages and all that jazz…" He waved a hand. "Long story short: we're the good guys, she was the bad guy."

His hand wrapped around her ankle, kneading it gently.

She watched him quietly for a few seconds.

"You had to give the order, didn't you?" she asked softly.

He licked his lips. He didn't meet her eyes, he kept them riveted on the TV.

"I'm Commander in Chief, princess. Kind of goes with the job in this sort of situations." he deadpanned.

"Haymitch…" she chided, keeping her voice gentle.

"She was gonna do it." he said. "We had a video chat. I saw it in her eyes. She was gonna do it. Blow up the city. Start a fucking war…" He shook his head. "She had all the other representatives arrested. It was Peacekeeper against Peacekeeper down there. Her militia against our guys. There are casualties. No civilians, thanks fuck, but…" He swallowed hard. "She was gonna do it. And you were up here. With our bean." He glanced at her, shrugged. "Yeah. I gave the order."

She wanted to say good because Coin was… Well, she had been a problem for a long time and she had no troubles thinking that, yes, she would have done it. But she knew he wouldn't appreciate that.

Because taking a life never sat well with him.

There would be nightmares in the days to come, she knew, and he would spiral down into self-loathing and…

She swung her legs off his lap and snuggled close to him, almost relieved when he immediately embraced her. If he wasn't pushing her away, there was hope it wouldn't be too bad…

"I love you." she offered because that was the only thing that would matter at this point.

She kissed him.

It took him a moment to kiss back but he did kiss back.

At least until Rascal's hisses finally registered and he drew back to look at the cat carrier on the armchair with a small frown.

"Why did you pack the cat?" he asked.

"In case we needed to relocate to the bunker, of course." she dismissed.

"Good thinking, princess. We might have a food shortage at some point…" he mocked.

She whacked his arm. "You should let him out."

"I'm not going anywhere near this thing." He snorted. "Don't wanna lose a hand."

She made a face and showed him her poor clawed fingers. "You would rather the mother of your child loses hers?"

He rolled his eyes to let her know he knew manipulation when he saw it but he still stood up and carefully freed Rascal from his cage. The cat bolted out, hissing and spitting, and disappeared in the bedroom, probably to hide under the bed.

"I need to go back downstairs." He sighed, tired. "There's a briefing in…" He checked his watch. "Five minutes ago. I need to give a speech first thing in the morning. You know how I love giving speeches. But I need to call the families first. For the Peacekeepers we lost."

"Which means I have to write a speech. And quickly." She sighed right back, forcing herself to stand up. "Let's go."

He studied her. "Are you sure you're…"

"I am tired and I want to sleep." she cut him off. "And, yes, I probably should have something healthier to eat than a pizza if we are about to work late so if you want to do something nice for me you can take care of that… But I lied down for a while, I feel alright. And I need to get in front of a camera within the next half hour. The Mansion has been silent too long as it is. You know how the game works."

"I know the game." he confirmed. "I hate the game."

Sometimes, she had to admit she did too…

Because this didn't really feel like a victory at all.

Ding dong the witch is dead XD I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know your thoughts!