41.
It took a whole hour for Effie's head to get clearer and for her to feel like she was in control of her body once again. However, that didn't mean she relaxed.
The hum of the engines, the closed space, the numerous hushed conversations, the fact that everywhere she looked she could see guns… Johanna had long left her seat to pace the length of the hovercraft's hold. A few other people were wandering around so Effie figured they were allowed to stand up and move around but she didn't dare try to unbuckle her seatbelt. She had struggled too much to secure it.
Annie was asleep, curled up in her seat, apparently unbothered by the weirdness of being thousands of miles up in the air…
Effie tried not to think about that.
Maybe she would have enjoyed it if she had been able to look through a window but stuck in that hold with all those people… Flying felt dangerous. She wondered if she used to do that often before and if she had liked it or if it had filled her with the same kind of quiet dread she currently was experiencing.
It was late, she supposed, because a lot of people were taking advantage of the flight to catch up with some sleep. Effie couldn't do that. She knew if she fell asleep she would wake up screaming.
It was just too…
Prim.
And all those children.
And Finnick.
And…
Johanna dropped back down on her chair without any ounce of gracefulness. "Got Katniss' stuff from our room, it's in my bag. She's always looking at this shit. She's gonna want it when she wakes up."
Effie didn't know what Katniss' stuff was but she appreciated the thought that Katniss would wake up. Because if the girl died too…
The girl is ours.
It was one of the first things Haymitch had told her after she had woken up. One of the first things she had felt with such urgency that…
"What happens after we land?" she whispered.
She was anxious about that.
She had been born in a white world and ripped away from it into a chaotic grey one. And then there had been the hospital room and then Thirteen and then routine and now…
She didn't know if flying into the unknown made her sick with excitement or dread.
She had wanted to leave, she reminded herself, she and Haymitch had talked about it so often… And she wouldn't have to live underground again. It would all be above ground and…
"Ain't a psychic, am I?" Johanna scoffed. "How would I know?" The young woman was silent for a few minutes and then kicked at the bag shoved under her seat. "Hopefully, Thirteen doesn't screw us over. I know Haymitch's got his hold-ups and Coin's done questionable things but… It's got to be better than Snow anyway."
She didn't know.
She didn't remember that Snow character.
But he had just ordered dozens and dozens of children assassinated so…
"I hope so." she offered because it was clearly what Johanna wanted to hear.
"I hope they get what's due to them." Johanna added, her face turning a little scary. Bloodthirsty. "Snow, the Gamemakers, the fucking Capitols… I hope they all get what's due to them." It sent a chill down Effie's spine. Johanna must have picked up on it because she glanced at her, something like reluctance passing on her face. "You deserve it too, you know. Haymitch can sugarcoat it all he wants but you deserve it too."
Because she is an escort, murmured a little voice she didn't often get to hear. She thought it was her old self. But her old self was often erased by the fog.
The thought didn't vanish though.
Why would it? She already knew what she was, who she used to be.
She just didn't want to think about it or remember it. Not one second of it.
The implication only was enough to encourage the itchy sensation at the back of her mind, to increase the light headache pulsing behind her eyes…
"I hate you and you deserve it." Johanna insisted, spitting the words out, as if to make sure it was penetrating her thick-skull. "But you've got plenty of victors in your corner. You should be fine."
Was that supposed to be reassuring?
Johanna started pacing again and Effie found it easier to pretend she was sleeping for a while.
She wasn't sure how long the flight from Thirteen to the Capitol lasted. They landed at some point – at least that was what the disembodied voice on speaker told them – but took off again almost immediately after more people had come on board. More medics. Those ones looked tired and battle worn.
It wasn't long after that.
A couple of hours maybe.
The hovercraft touched ground, the huge cargo door lowered down and natural light flooded in to replace the harsh neon lights. People hurried outside but Effie took her time unbuckling her seatbelt, dragging her bag from under the seat... When she finally stood up, her legs didn't feel very steady and her first few steps were uncertain.
She followed Annie and Johanna outside.
It was cold. Very cold. And she burrowed into her too thin uniform jacket.
Dawn was breaking across the horizon. She knew what dawn was as a concept but to witness it… The sky was a mix of pink and yellowish orange. But then she noticed the smoke rising in pillars, the grey unnatural clouds, and she wondered how much of that orange color was dawn and how much was from fires…
Her first impression of the Capitol wasn't impressive.
The hovercraft had landed on a military field of some sort. There were more of them around. Some with Thirteen's images plastered on them, some with another picture. There were barracks in the distance, people marching around, orders being barked, supplies being unloaded.
Not everyone was wearing a grey uniform though and she found that interesting.
"Okay…" Johanna said slowly, pausing to study their surroundings, apparently a little overwhelmed too by the organized chaos around them. "There should be a car for us."
"Johanna!" someone called to their left.
The three of them turned at once and Effie breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Gale. He looked worse for the wear: his arm was in a sling, there were dark shadows under his eyes and a few cuts and scratches all over his face.
"Good to see you made it, Hawthorne." Johanna offered once he was close enough.
Gale nodded at her, completely ignored Effie, and went straight to Annie. "I'm so, so sorry… He saved all of us. You should know that. He was…"
"I know." Annie said, not unkindly but in a tone firm enough to indicate she didn't want to talk about it.
The boy must have understood because he nodded once in acknowledgment and pointed at something in the distance. A bulky car. "Abernathy sent me. I hope you're ready for a long ride. It's not pretty out there."
They had taken all of five steps in the direction of the car – Effie struggling with the heavy bag – when soldiers cut off their path, a whole platoon of them. Their eyes were riveted on her and she didn't like that.
"Euphemia Trinket?" one of them asked.
Euphemia…
She frowned. "My name is Effie."
I will never understand why you insist on shortening a perfectly respectable name, Euphemia… The familiar voice, the familiar words, flashed through her mind and were immediately swallowed back by the fog, leaving her to hiss at the sudden spike of her headache. The familiarity was immediately forgotten.
Euphemia.
It didn't ring any bell and…
"You need to follow us." the soldier demanded. "We have questions."
"Like hell she does." Johanna cut in before she could say anything. Suddenly the young woman was in the leader's face. "She's got a pardon. She's on Haymitch Abernathy's and on the Mockingjay's lists."
"We have orders to arrest and interrogate all Games staff members." the soldier in charge answered without even a blink. "She…"
"She is the Mockingjay's escort." Gale interrupted. "And I've got orders to bring her back to the Mansion. My order comes from the top."
The leader's eyes turned to Gale. "Can't go higher than mine, soldier."
"Well, tell Coin to fuck off." Johanna spat. "Trinket's with me." Her lips twitched in a vicious little smile as her brown eyes landed on one of the soldiers behind the man. The platoon was a mix of grey uniforms and more… casual outfits. "You're from Seven, right? You work at the mill?" The woman she had addressed almost seemed shocked to be recognized but she nodded. "Good. Then you know me. You know what I can do. You want to tell your little friends why it's a very bad idea to piss off Seven's favorite victor?"
The woman cleared her throat. "Mason is pretty good in a fight."
"Against a whole platoon?" the man in charge – wearing a grey uniform, not quite surprisingly – retorted with a scoff.
"Well, I did win a Hunger Game and survived a Quell… But, please, try to make it a challenge." Johanna hissed. "It's been a while since I got to kill someone."
"There's no need for any of this." Gale cut in again, getting between Johanna and the man. "Look, I'm taking them to the Mansion anyway. Trinket's staying with me. Let's say I've taken custody if that makes you feel better. They can sort it out there."
There was violence in the air.
Effie could almost taste it.
And she wasn't dumb enough not to notice everyone around them were tossing them looks. She didn't like the sound of getting arrested – would they put her in a cell again? She might die if they did – but even if Johanna managed to tackle a whole platoon all by herself… Well, she might get hurt for one thing and there was a whole base ready to come to the platoon's help for another.
She didn't want anyone to get hurt on her behalf.
And Haymitch would find her anyway. She had the golden bangle around her wrist to prove it. He had promised.
"Maybe it's better if I go with them?" she reluctantly suggested.
"No." Annie dismissed immediately. "We stay together." She studied the man in charge. "I'm Annie Odair, I'm Four's victor, my husband just died and I'm pregnant. And if you arrest her, I insist on going with her."
"Arresting a pregnant crazy victor who just lost their husband won't look good!" Johanna cackled. "I wonder how much Coin's gonna like that press when the rumors start…"
"You've made your point." Gale snapped. "Look, I'm arresting her, okay? Trinket, you're under arrest. There. Now let me get them back to the Mansion where the people in charge can actually have their pissing contest in person."
It took a little more convincing on Gale's part but, eventually, they were ushered to the waiting car. There was a soldier driving the car and Gale took the passenger front seat, leaving the three of them to pile up in the back seat with Johanna in the middle.
"Thank you." Effie said once they were all sitting.
"Don't thank me, it makes me sick." Gale muttered. "Katniss may like you but if we're serious about building a better country justice should be the same for everyone."
"Agreed." Johanna snorted. "But, you said it, this is a pissing contest. Now… Tell me what the fuck happened?"
Gale gave her a very brief account of the last few days. Effie barely listened, she was too busy staring through the window.
It was a long ride, the boy hadn't lied. They weren't in the Capitol, as it turned out, but far enough on the outskirts that by the time they finally entered the city proper the sun was bright in the sky but barely shone behind the thick grey clouds of smoke.
The destruction was massive.
Sometimes she saw something that made the itch impossible to ignore but it was hard to pinpoint anything over the pits in the ground that the car had to carefully drive around, the still fuming collapsed buildings, the people in bright clothes walking around looking all haggard… Drawings of a bird taking flight out of a circle had been painted on every available flat surface… There was blood everywhere too… On the ground, on some of the buildings… People in grey uniforms, casual outfits, bright clothes or white armor… They all lied down in the streets, dead, and nobody had collected their bodies yet…
Annie had closed her eyes and refused to look.
Johanna was grim, half-jubilant and half…
Effie didn't know.
After a while, she found it easier not to look either.
They passed through an unassuming metal gate and the car stopped at the side of a massive building.
"I hate this place." Johanna spat and then shoved her until she climbed out of the car. Her legs were even more unsteady than after the hovercraft ride. She grabbed her bag – was it possibly that it had gotten heavier since the last time she had lifted it? – and followed after Gale.
There were checkpoints. More people in grey than any of the casual outfits. Soldiers glared at her every time she had to give her name…
"Why did he call me Euphemia earlier?" she asked Johanna after another checkpoint. A bit late but better than never.
"What do I know?" her friend scoffed. And that was the end of that.
Gale led them all the way to what he explained was the Mansion's VIP hospital…
"Haymitch!" she shouted, the moment she spotted him pacing back and forth at the end of a corridor.
She dropped her bag and ran without thinking twice about it, simply happy to see him. Startled by her cry, he turned their way just in time to open his arms and catch her. Still, she had been running fast and the momentum made him take a step back, twirl her around once so they didn't crash on the floor.
Once he had them steady again, he let out a round of weak chuckles. "Shit, sweetheart… Ain't you a sight for sore eyes."
Something heavy hit her in the back and she screeched, whirling around to glare at Johanna who had just tossed the bag she had abandoned at her.
"Any change?" Gale asked before the two of them could have a fight.
"No." Haymitch shook his head. "Aster's with her. It's still touch and go."
Katniss…
"Touch and go?" Effie repeated, trying out the expression. But… She frowned. "What does that mean? Meaning, Haymitch. Use words that…"
"It means we don't know if she's gonna make it yet." he cut her off quietly. Annie walked forward and hugged him. He hugged back and when he drew away, he gently cupped the other woman's cheek, studying her. "You need some rest. We're all staying in the Mansion. I've told them you and Jo would share."
"Yeah, yeah…" Johanna grumbled. "We've got it. Some soldiers tried to arrest your escort the moment we landed, by the way."
"What?" Haymitch growled.
"If they had truly been serious about it, they wouldn't have let us go." Gale cut in. "Maybe if you hadn't made a scene…"
"Fuck you." Haymitch spat. "You of all people don't get to…" He cut himself by what seemed to be cheer force of will but didn't lose his thunderous look. "Get Annie and Jo to their room and then go lie down before you fall, for fuck's sake. I told your mother I'd keep you in one piece. I'll send word if there's any change, good or bad."
"You should know they tried to stop her from leaving Thirteen too." Jo added as an afterthought before they followed Gale out.
That didn't improve Haymitch's mood.
"Peeta?" she asked the moment the others were gone.
"He's alright. A few scrapes, nothing concerning. I've got him in one of the suites. He's resting." He picked up the bag Johanna had tossed at her and groaned. "How come you've always got so much shit…"
"Language." she chided, wrinkling her nose. "And most of it is yours." And she didn't care one bit about the content of the bag. "How is Katniss, really?"
Haymitch sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. "Come here." He led her to the side of the corridor and slid down, sitting on the floor. She only hesitated a second before doing the same. It seemed a bit undignified but what did she care about dignity when her girl was hurt? "She's badly burned. They've got her in a tank… It ain't pretty."
"Pretty is irrelevant." she dismissed.
"Well, now I'm sure you've lost your memories." he scoffed and then seemed to think better of the bitter snide remark and made a face. "Sorry. Sorry…" He let out another sigh. "It's been… Prim…"
"Johanna told me." she said quietly, looking down at her hands. The lump reappeared in her throat. "But I don't understand what she was doing there. She was supposed to be safe. You said…"
"Yeah." He laughed but there was not a hint of amusement in his voice. "I'm stupid. I should have figure it out quicker." He shook his head. "She was the perfect bait."
She frowned, trying to figure out what he meant. "But… How did the Capitol know…"
"Wasn't the Capitol." he snapped and then clamped his jaw shut. A second later, his head was on her shoulder and he had grabbed her hand. It was natural to link their fingers together. "She saw Prim. I had a visual. I was tracking her through the security cameras… She saw her sister and she ran and…" He scoffed. "If it was just the injuries… But she saw her sister die, sweetheart. I'm not sure she's even gonna want to pull through. And Aster… I had to tell Aster. Had to be me. And…"
He stopped talking, choking on the words.
She did the only thing she could do, she turned a little so she could hug him, as awkward as the side-embrace was. "I'm here now. I will help."
He snorted but lifted his head long enough to peck her lips. "You're already helping."
They stayed like that a very long time.
Effie's butt was growing numb, she was cold, starving and she really wanted to sleep by the time Plutarch showed up.
She couldn't say what looked different about the man at first but then she realized. He wasn't wearing the grey uniform anymore, he was wearing a complicated layered suit in various shades of dark blue that actually suited him much better than the shapeless grey pants and shirt. Also it looked warm and Effie was a little jealous about that.
He looked a bit hesitant to approach and Haymitch, for some reason, was glaring at him. But Haymitch was exhausted and the glaring lacked heat.
"I know I am the last person you want to see right now and I understand." Plutarch offered preemptively. "But I wanted to check on her. Is there any news or…"
"Like you don't have spies ready to report the slightest change." Haymitch sneered.
Effie frowned and whacked his arm lightly. "That's rude, darling."
The admonishment softened him a little or maybe it was the pet name she couldn't remember after it had rolled off her lips. One day, she would make him tell her what it was so she could use it consciously. It was frustrating to forget every time she uttered it.
"No news yet." Haymitch grumbled with a little more civility.
Plutarch nodded, not really surprised it seemed. He studied their uncomfortable sitting arrangement on the floor and gave them a smile that wasn't very amused. "You could have asked for chairs, you know. If there is one thing this place does not lack, it is chairs. Some of them are centuries old even, I have been told."
"What do you want?" Haymitch asked tiredly, his grey eyes tracking the other man's every move.
"I did not know she would use Operation Hummingbird like this." Plutarch said. "It was supposed to be a contingency plan. Certainly not directed at children. Certainly not to be used to further her personal political agenda."
Haymitch grew tense next to her, his whole body coiling as if he was preparing to jump on the other man and… Instinctively, she wrapped both arms around his to hold him back. He didn't answer her questioning look, he didn't even glance at her. And his body didn't relax.
"Part of you must have known or you wouldn't have kept me out of the loop." he retorted. "You, Beetee and Hawthorne can make all the excuses you want to help you sleep at night, you knew what sort of monstrosity you were making."
Plutarch pursed his lips but didn't dispute the point, whatever the point was – Effie was unclear.
"You should get some rest." the other man advised. "You have not slept in a while. I will send word if anything happens."
"That would imply I trust you to do what you say." he spat.
"And what can I do to regain your trust, Haymitch?" Plutarch sighed, sounding immensely tired.
"You can start by explaining why soldiers are trying to arrest my wife." he growled. Plutarch's eyebrows shot up when his eyes darted back and forth between Haymitch and Effie. Effie herself felt a bit stunned. He must have realized what he had said because he rubbed his face. "Fiancée. Escort. Whatever. We had an agreement. From the fucking start we had an agreement. Effie's…"
"Effie should be just as untouchable as I am." Plutarch interrupted. "More so, actually, since she is on Katniss' list and that list is public."
Haymitch wasn't placated. "Then why is Johanna saying soldiers tried to…"
"Perhaps because you publicly swore to expose Alma?" the other man interrupted, not without sarcasm. "You threatened her. Is it surprising she is threatening you back?"
Haymitch's face closed. "Funny. Thought using people as pressure points was Snow's style."
Plutarch shook his head. "No, you did not. You are smarter than that. I will smooth things over with Alma, remind her Miss Trinket is out of bounds." He nodded at her and Effie forced a small smile even though half the conversation was happening over her head. She hated it. She hated not having the context to understand it all. But she got the gist of it. Coin was trying to use her to force Haymitch to do… something. "I suggest you get some sleep, Haymitch. You will think with a much clearer head once you are rested and you will realize that screaming threats at the top of your lungs in front of her generals and close advisors was not the way to tackle this particular problem."
"Oh, so you want to tackle this problem, yeah?" Haymitch scoffed. "Cause last I checked you were her number one lackey."
"I did not bring down one government to replace it with the very same rotten structure, but the middle of a corridor is not the place to discuss that." Plutarch countered. He glanced at Effie again. "If you will not get some rest for your own sake, then do it for your fiancée. If she will forgive me for saying so, she looks ready to collapse."
She did not forgive him for talking about her as if she wasn't there and she didn't appreciate being used to maneuver Haymitch. "I am perfectly fine."
A very obvious lie that Haymitch saw through the moment he actually took a real look at her.
"Fine." he grumbled. "But I wanna know the second something changes with Katniss."
"Of course." Plutarch promised.
And then, just like that, they were moving.
There were a lot of windows on their way but she didn't dare look out too long or too attentively. The sky was dark now. It could have been the smoke but she thought it was more likely that evening had arrived…
Haymitch seemed to know where he was going. The corridors, the whole place, felt familiar somehow. The itch was trying to tell her she knew it, she was sure, that there were things she ought to remember.
"I don't know when was the last time I ate anything." she confessed at some point because she felt faint and it felt like her stomach was trying to eat itself. It had been more than a day, she thought. Too long in any case. She was very thirsty too.
"Me neither." he admitted. "Maybe there's a fruit bowl in the room. There are always fruit bowls everywhere in this place…"
When he said room, she pictured something like their compartment in Thirteen. That was her only frame of reference. But it turned out that, here, room meant…
The word was a suite, she thought after some thinking.
She stood in the entrance and barely dared touch anything.
It was all so huge and imposing with its dark polished wood panels on the walls, plushy rugs and gleaming furniture… There was a sitting room, a bedroom with a big bed and a bathroom with a corner bathtub that could have easily fitted three people. And the shower… Even the toilet looked…
"This is…" She slowly turned on herself, trying to take it all in and failing. "This is so beautiful!"
She loved it instantly.
Forget Thirteen and its grey walls and concrete floor and ceiling. This…
"Yeah… That's your world." Haymitch commented flatly before being distracted by a knock at the door.
She hoped it was news about Katniss even though that would mean leaving the room they had barely spent a minute in to go back to the hospital but it turned out Plutarch had anticipated the food problem.
It was only soup but it was nothing like Thirteen's soup. This one had flavor and texture and… She finished her plate in record time. "This is delicious."
Haymitch was watching her with a smirk.
She had the feeling he was mocking her and she pursed her lips. "What is it?"
He shook his head indulgently. "Just thinking… It's gonna be good for you to be back in your… natural habitat."
She wasn't sure what that meant but she shrugged it off. "Is it only five minutes of hot water here too or can I indulge?"
"Indulge away." he invited, piling his empty plate on top of hers. "Mind if I join you?"
"In the shower?" She frowned. They had never done that before, really. But then again it was hard to share a shower when all you could get was ten minutes of hot water if you combined your time. They had washed quickly together the last time they had fooled around but the water had been cold and it had been very perfunctory. With hot water…
And that bathtub…
She wondered what they could do in that bathtub.
"No funny business, princess, I promise." he teased, sounding tired. "I don't wanna wait for you to be done, that's all. I'm about ready to crash."
He did look like he was ten seconds away from lying down and sleeping on that very comfortable rug…
"I do not mind funny business." she hummed in a way she hoped was flirty.
He smirked back but didn't really take the bait.
His movements were clumsy by the time they reached the bathroom, he got rid of his clothes quickly and tossed them in a ball in a corner. Her own uniform smelled ripped so she didn't think too much of it when she kicked it over his before joining him under the blissfully warm water.
There was no fooling around aside for a couple of quick kisses.
It was all they could do to towel themselves dry and collapse on the huge bed, still naked.
Effie was asleep before her head even touched the pillow.
That was a very looong day but look at that Effie managed not to get arrested yet! And you say I never do anything nice for hayffie! I hope you liked this chapter! As always let me know!