15.

They dropped Sejanus when they reached town.

Gale watched him disappear in the darkness between two streets, frowning.

"This doesn't sit right with me." he grumbled.

If Katniss' face was anything to go by, it didn't sit right with her either but she shrugged and turned away to continue her patrol. Gale followed, hands buried in his pockets, his bow and quiver heavy on his shoulder.

They were silent for a while. It wasn't quite comfortable but no vampire jumped out to ease the awkwardness.

At least, Gale mused, the Seam was alive again…

"Do you think Mellark is gonna be alright?" he heard himself ask, worry plain in his voice, before he could stop himself.

Katniss shot him a surprised look but the expression on her face softened. "You saw him tonight. He's getting there. He went all the way to the fountain this afternoon…"

It took him a while to resolve the discrepancy between what he meant and what she was talking about. Then he rolled his eyes. "I meant my Mellark."

She shot her eyebrows up, a teasing smile playing on her lips for a second but then swallowed it back, probably figuring out he wouldn't exactly respond well to teasing right then. She squeezed his arm instead, trying to comfort him.

"You said you were there two days but it's only been an hour or so for us… Maybe time snapped back for them too…" she suggested.

Which wouldn't make anything better at all because then that just meant they would be under siege with no Abernathy to save the day… And that meant they would all die.

He shook his head, trying to get that whole world out of his mind but also knowing it would take a long time to forget. As it was, he couldn't wait to see Posy, hold her, kiss her forehead…

"I'm sorry I was an ass." he reluctantly offered.

"Yeah…" Katniss sighed. "I feel like we had this conversation a few times now."

"Yeah, well…" He sighed too. "Let's just say I've got a new perspective now."

His best friend – maybe former best friend – studied him for a second and then shrugged. "Okay."

"Abernathy says I should try a crossbow." he told her, for no other reason than to lighten the mood.

She groaned. "Those things are too heavy and too bulky." She tilted her head in contemplation. "Might work for you, though. It's more about strength than speed…"

He shrugged. "Told him I would try."

It was a concession, a show of good faith, and she clearly got it because she made an effort to keep the conversation easy during the rest of patrol. When she dropped him off at the trailer park, she even gave him a quick hug.

"I'm glad you're okay." she whispered before silently sneaking away like the predator she was.

Hazelle wasn't happy with the hours he kept and started ranting at him the moment he was through the door. The murders at the Capitol were still too fresh in parents' minds all over town. She seemed so surprised when he interrupted her with a kiss to the cheek that she stopped talking altogether.

Posy slept in their mother's room to save space; he sneaked in there, just to watch his sister sleep peacefully for a few minutes. He just needed to make sure she was alive. He just needed…

He didn't head straight to the room he shared with his two brothers after that, he headed back to the front door…

"You are not going out again. There's school tomorrow, Gale." Hazelle snapped, although they both knew that he would do whatever he pleased because, at the end of the day, even though he loved and respected her, he did as much as she did to put bread on the table.

"I'm just going on the porch. I've got to call someone." he promised.

His mother frowned. "At this time? Who is that mysterious person who can't wait for tomorrow?"

He could have lied or deflected but he was too tired. "Madge."

"Oh…" Hazelle watched him for a moment and then flashed him a smile. A small knowing thing. "You should bring her around to the diner sometimes… I would love to meet her."

Around to the diner, not around to the trailer they lived in… Because she was the mayor's daughter and…

Madge wouldn't judge, he didn't think, but… Yeah…

"Maybe." he muttered and slipped outside before his mother could start asking him questions he didn't want to answer. He closed the front door shut behind him and sat down on the rusty steps, careful to scan his surroundings first. Sitting on the porch wasn't exactly clever when vampires were wandering around but his free hand closed around the stake in his pocket and he felt sufficiently protected…

Besides, it was the only place he could get some privacy.

Madge answered after the fifth ring and she sounded all sleepy. "Gale?"

"Hey." He was a bit uncertain and he made a face, feeling like he had been apologizing all night. Not a pleasant feeling. "I'm sorry about lunch."

He shouldn't have fought with her over Abernathy.

She sighed and he heard shuffling. She wondered if she was in bed. And what she was wearing.

And stopped right there.

"I'm sorry too." she offered. She was the first one that night who had bothered to apologize back and he felt the tension leave his shoulders.

He snorted. "So… Wanna hear the craziest story ever?"

She chuckled. "I've seen one or two crazy things, you know. I'm not sure it's going to be the craziest…"

"Oh, just wait for it…" he challenged.

°O°O°O°O°

Haymitch found Effie sitting on his front porch, wrapped in her pink fleece blanket again, rolling a cigarette between her fingers. He closed the front door behind him even though Prim had gone upstairs to bed and Peeta had already crossed the street to go back home. He wasn't sure why he wanted privacy. Maybe Hawthorne's words were just fresh in his mind.

He sat down on the step next to her, nodding at the unlit cigarette in her hand. "It's been a while since I've caught you with one of those."

She glanced at him but didn't answer immediately. She took a second. "All those months in Hell… My body stopped craving nicotine." A humorless smile played on her lips when she clicked the finger of her other hand. Nothing happened. "I lost my lighter when I fell into the Hellmouth. It feels like a sign… Like I should not start smoking again until I can light it with magic. If ever." She clicked her fingers again but there was no spark. "It's stupid."

Maybe.

Maybe not.

"You've still got your magic." he pointed out, quieting his voice a little. "You stopped that shelf from crushing the boy."

She shook her head, her gaze getting lost in the distance in the direction of her own house. But he didn't think she was seeing any of it. Not the empty street, not her house where a light shone bright in Peeta's room…

"It was raw power. Unfocused." she answered after a moment. "A reflex. It was nothing and it took so much out of me I felt like I was carving my heart out." She had cleaned her face but he could still guess at where the blood had crusted on her upper lip. She let out a deep breath and then flashed him a self-deprecating smile. "I am not joking, you know. It exhausted me so much I do not think I can make it home without collapsing in the middle of the street. Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?"

The question slipped out before he could think twice, a touch bitter. "In my bed or on the couch?"

She flinched a little. He felt her staring at him, felt her burning gaze on his cheek, but he kept his eyes averted, studied the bike abandoned in the driveway and told himself he needed to remember to check it over because it had been making a strange noise when he had taken it to school that day.

"Are we at the point where it is more awkward for me to sleep in your bed than it is for me to sleep on your couch?" she asked quietly, a bit hesitant.

He wasn't even sure why they were talking about the couch since there was a guest room and the point was moot anyway. He would give her his bed before he let her sleep on the couch…

"You tell me." he replied, forcing his voice to sound less bitter but not succeeding much. "You're the one who decided we needed a break."

She kept watching him, studying him, but he still wouldn't look at her.

Eventually, she turned her head and watched the bike too, absent-mindedly turning the cigarette over between her fingers. "I have always known I would be an awful Slayer…"

"Except not, turns out." He snorted. "Seems like you did fine in that wish world."

"I was not a Slayer." she corrected. "And that is my point exactly. I have always known I would make an awful Slayer but I have also always known that I would have magic. Even before I realized I had hidden powers, even when I was just dabbling…"

"You were never just dabbling." he interrupted again with another snort. "The moment I saw you do magic, I knew. I felt it, sweetheart."

"Be that as it may…" she hummed. "What I am trying to tell you is that… Magic has always been a part of me. Even when I thought I would only ever be a mediocre witch, I knew magic would always be here to fall back onto. I don't know what I am without it, Haymitch. And that has nothing to do with you. Or us. What happened in that hell dimension…"

"I know." he offered, shaking his head. He reached for her hand, covering it, stopping her from playing with that cigarette. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just… I keep thinking I fucked it up 'cause you said… You said what you said and I can't… I can't say it back but that doesn't mean…"

"I know." she whispered. "You made your feelings clear, Haymitch. As clear as you could. I understand."

"Do you?" he insisted. "Cause…"

"I need space to find out who I am without magic. Outside of us." she reminded him. "And you… You need to decide if you are ready for us to be an actual us."

He wanted to say he had already decided because that was the easiest decision of his life.

But…

It wasn't, was it?

Because the rest hadn't gone away. Snow was still free and that meant she would be a target if the vampire figured out his feelings. And he was still carrying all his baggage. It was…

As if she could read his conflicted mind, she turned her palm and entwined their fingers.

His grey eyes drifted to their linked hands and he licked his lips, speaking before he could stop himself again. "When you were in that comatose state after the Peacekeeper… Cinna had me on potions to dry me up, you know?" He waited until he saw her nod from the corner of his eye before he went on. "I saw Mabel."

Her thumb stroked the back of his hand soothingly. "Was she a hallucination or a vision?"

Wasn't that the hundred million dollars question?

"Not sure." He shrugged. "She didn't try to tell me I was responsible for her death, though, and she's the one who tipped me about Slayer blood, so I'm leaning toward vision. At least, I want to think she was real…" He waved his free hand in a dismissive way. "She said… stuff."

She leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

It could have been because she was tired.

It could also have been her way of trying to comfort him without letting it show she was comforting him because she knew he would make a fuss over not needing it.

"What kind of stuff?" she asked.

His mouth was parched like always when he was anxious and it was a good thing that she was holding tight to his hand because he was sure his fingers were shaking. He let his head fall on top of hers because, willing to admit it or not, he needed the comfort.

The words took a long time to come out. "That she was at peace. That death was her gift."

Effie tensed. "Isn't that what Annie Cresta…"

"Yeah." he confirmed with a sigh. "She also said that…" His jaw clenched for a moment and he had troubles swallowing the lump in his throat. "She said that my fate's always been linked to Snow's… That my fate's all tangled in the Slayer's line or some shit. And that yours… That yours is tangled with mine."

She remained quiet for a long minute. "I hate cryptic prophetic proclamations."

He snorted. "Don't tell me. It always sounds like a lot of bullshit."

"But it also makes sense." she amended, nuzzling his shoulder once as if to soften the blow. "When Maysilee was Called, it could have been me and chances are you would have been involved one way or another. And then, there is the small embarrassing crush I have been sporting for you most of my life…" There was enough humor in her voice that he didn't feel too bad about chuckling. Or about dropping a soft kiss on top of her head. "There is the fact Mags sort of mentored me at the Watcher's Academy… Or that I mentored Finnick who then came to work with you…" She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. "And we are both linked to the Slayer's line… Our fates are entangled. Maybe it was always meant to be. You and me here to fight Snow… Maybe that's what it will take to help Katniss win."

"Yeah…" he said slowly. "I don't think she meant it quite like that."

"What do you mean?" she asked. He could hear the frown in her voice.

"She said I'd need you. That you're important. Not 'cause of magic." He added the last part preemptively before she could remind him she wasn't good for much lately. "She said… She said it was okay to lean on someone. To… love them."

He spat the L word like it had personally offended him.

Effie drew back, lifting her head so she could look at him. Her face was blank but there was a tenderness in her blue eyes… "Are you saying we are soulmates?"

Her tone was teasing.

He scoffed and looked away.

"I ain't saying shit. I'm telling you what Mabel said." he grumbled. "Draw your own fucking conclusions."

"Language." she chided. "And my own conclusions won't help us to put duty first, will they?" She sighed and laid her head back on his shoulder. Her free hand coiled around his wrist where their fingers were still entwined. "Haymitch?"

He grunted but didn't say a word. The tips of his ears were burning and so was his nape.

"That was a very important conversation and I do not want to sleep on the couch." she whispered. "But…"

"Yeah… No sex. Space. All friendly. I know." He sighed. "Just saying… I kinda already know where I stand on the us front."

"I know where I stand on the us front too." she hummed. He let out another sigh and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. She retraced the length of his thumb with hers. "I really need to get to bed before I crash."

It took will to untangle his hand from hers. "Go ahead. I've got to wait for Katniss to come back from patrol."

She didn't sit up straighter or make an effort to stand up. "Yes… Slight problem, here… I think you will have to carry me. I was not kidding when I said I felt like collapsing…"

He frowned, craning his neck to try and see her face. "Are you alright?"

He so wasn't watching her battle through a magical coma for the third time…

"I will be after I sleep." she promised. "My mind is clear. My body is just… not cooperating with me right now."

The moment he slipped away from her to stand up, her body indeed tilted. It was a matter of a moment to scoop her up in his arms.

"You know…" he drawled out, eyebrows raised, once he had made sure his grip was secure. "If I'm gonna carry you anyway, I could just get you to your own room…"

She hooked her arms around his neck with obvious difficulties. Her head falling on his shoulder once more… "Yes but if you carry me to my room and we sleep in separate beds we won't be able to cuddle."

"I don't cuddle." he countered and yet he still carried her inside his own house and up the stairs.

"Of course you don't." she mumbled, her voice muffled by his shoulder. Clearly, she wasn't really set on humoring him. "I miss cuddling with you."

What was he supposed to answer to that?

He laid her down in bed, took off her shoes, made sure she was all tucked in on her side of the bed… He didn't go as far as undressing her or helping her into pajamas since everything was supposed to be all friendly and platonic and he had his limits…

She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, leaving him to go back downstairs and pace until Katniss came home, covered in vampire dust and unhappy because it had started raining at some point and she was drenched.

Covered in vampire dust, drenched but alive. He counted his blessings.

He crawled into bed, exhausted but happy that the bed was warm from Effie's body heat, happier still when she sleepily rolled over and burrowed into his side, her head pillowed on his shoulder, her leg hooked over his hip…

"We're gonna have to do something about the wards…" he mumbled, not sure if she was awake enough to hear him or not. "Can't bear it much longer…"

She hummed but didn't provide a firm answer.

He closed his eyes and decided that was a problem for another day.

The End

And it's the end of this cursed episode ;) I hope you all enjoyed it! Please do let me know your thoughts!

KTVS wise, I'm currently writing the next episode, I'm not going to give a date because it went soooo well last time I did that (yes it's sarcastic lmao) but I'm hoping I can make good time on it. I'll have it up as soon as it's finished.

In the meantime, I'm not sure what I'm going to publish next but I have a few short things that could come up on Sundays so... Keep an eye out and I'll keep you informed on tumblr anyway ;)