A/N: Well here it is. Part 3. It's taken me ages to write cause I've had flu and kept passing out/getting a little high from my medication. It's some good sh-. Haha. But anyway, I hope you guys like it. It's longer than I originally planned. I tried to cut it down but I took so much out already and I couldn't force myself to remove anymore. Don't know about you guys, but I love long chapters anyway! Now, I don't know if people are expecting something graphic, but if you've read anything else I've written, you'll know it's not my style. I'm not just gonna full on describe a sex scene. It'd take a hell of a lot of requests. I like to keep it a little classy. As for spellings in this, I try to cater to a majority, the majority of my readers being American. You'll find that I mostly use American spellings/words rather than British (i.e. Pants instead of trousers.), but sometimes I may slip up. I'm British so it's natural for me to say "trousers", use the letter "u" in words like Favour/favor, etc. Please overlook any small mistakes like that.

I'm just gonna do some shameless self-promo right now. Forgive me. Could you guys do me a favor and read my story "C'est la vie, c'est la mort" please? I re-posted it after an edit and it's only had like 85 views. Quite disappointing, as I am rather proud of it. I'm debating adding it to this fic, since it is a Hayffie one-shot, but I don't know.

Final thing (I think...), an announcement! I have been working on rewriting a story of mine "Things that.." blah blah. I have decided to basically write all 3 HG books from a Hayffie perspective. I'll be going through each book, chapter by chapter. I'm gonna write 4 or 5 fics in total. The early years (Pre THG), which will be my old story improved, and all 3 books, possibly an additional for post-mockingjay. I've even got titles and everything. I'm so damn excited to share it with you all! I've written a lot of it already, but not in order, so bear with me. I'm currently finishing up the mockingjay and post-mockingjay lot. Watch this space! I want to start posting before the British summer holidays end, so in the next 2 weeks. It's exciting! I've been working on it for a while. :) AN IMPORTANT THING IS that this 3 part elevator series WILL be included in the CF book, but extended with a few extra exciting things that I can't tell you guys about. Let me put it this way, something really cute and awesome happens in the morning after this chapter, but I'm not posting it for you yet. You'll have to wait. :D This is your sneak peek.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Please let me know what you think. Sorry for the long author's note, but I had a lot of announcements today. Humor me - if you read this and are planning to review, try and work in a Lord of the Rings quote somehow (I was watching it earlier) e.g. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" :P That's my challenge for you. I wanna see how many people actually read my stupidly long A/N. I also thought I'd share with you all that I'm a moron cause I tripped and face-planted my bed earlier on just before I uploaded this. It hurt. I bit my tongue on the end and it bled. :( funny though. I'll shut up now. Enjoy. :D

-Ellie.

"Haymitch and Effie join us, looking pleased about something." - Part 3.
Strategy and a late night meeting.

"Katniss, wait!" The girl disappears down the hallway and we hear her door slam shut.

"Leave her boy." I put my hand on Peeta's shoulder to stop him running after her.

I give Darius a nod of recognition and a small, sympathetic smile, which he returns and quickly averts his gaze. Poor kid.

Effie goes off to freshen up and check her room. I let my eyes linger on her behind for a few seconds as she walks off. Nice. I turn to Peeta.

"Peeta, I know it's early days, but I want you and Katniss to keep in mind who you might want as allies. I have a few potentially lined up for you. My friend Chaff and his District partner, Seeder. Told them we'd sort it out. You up for that?"

"Well, that's fine for me, but as for Chaff, that's up to Katniss. I think he'll need to apologize for earlier."

I sigh. "Sure. He'll do that, but you gotta realize that's just the kinda guy he is. Always after a laugh. Mocks me all the damn time about E-… well… anything."

That was a close one, idiot.

"Well… I'll talk to Katniss about it, but you know she's not gonna jump at the alliance."

"Alright kid. Listen, I'm gonna go talk to Effie then run and update Chaff. Go freshen up, alright?"

He nods and walks to his room. I follow him down the hall and stop at Effie's door, giving it a heavy, "disrespectful" knock - got to keep up appearances after all. I hear her chipper Capitol sing-song voice and cringe a little.

"Come iii-iin!" I open the door and poke my head around to see her fixing her make-up in the mirror of her vanity. She's humming cheerfully to herself. I let out a little chuckle and her head snaps in my direction, her face immediately breaking out into a wide smile.

"Haymitch! Do come in!"

"Hey, sweetheart. You got a minute to talk strategy?" I close the door and stroll over to lean against the vanity at the side of her. She frowns a little.

"Oh. Strategy? O-of course… Sure." I chuckle and peck her on the lips.

"Don't frown. We've still gotta talk work every now and then, Princess."

She sighs. "Fine. Sure." She sits up straighter. "What do you wish to discuss?" I notice she's immediately shifted in to Business-Effie, but her cute frown remains. I smile as I watch her.

"Alliances. I'm gonna arrange some and I want your opinion."

"I see. Whom did you have in mind?" She gets out her planner and scribbles as I talk.

"Well, specifically those who can keep the kids alive." She raises her eyebrows at me and I quickly add "for as long as possible, of course."

"Have you discussed alliances with the children or other Victors at all, as of yet?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking obvious choices are Chaff and Seeder. We know they're on our side. They wouldn't hurt the kids until absolutely necessary. I trust them, and Chaff is in better shape than he looks. Other choices would be Finnick, Johanna and Beetee. You know, brains and brawn? A good mix of knowledge makes a good alliance - a mix of skills. With those I guess comes Mags, Blight and Wiress, but I can't imagine they will all be alive for the whole Games. We'll just have to see who's alive after the bloodbath. You can guarantee 1 and 2 will be acting as normal. Typical Careers. The good thing is, they're all Victors and they're all killers, so technically, they're all Careers… and ours are the youngest and strongest. With Finnick and Johanna they'll be unstoppable." She finishes her furious scribbling and looks up at me, concern on her face.

"I can't help but worry though. What if one of them breaks off the alliance early? Or Katniss!? You know she's not exactly one to be friendly. What if, for instance, Finnick approaches her at the Cornucopia, and she hasn't agreed to be allies beforehand? She'll just shoot him. She knows how good he is and you can pretty much guarantee there'll be an oh-so-perfect trident right there for him. Or Johanna? She's… temperamental, to say the least. If she gets annoyed at one of our kids, as she more than likely will, and decides to let an ax fly, what do we have then? A dead tribute and broken alliance. We need to find a way to keep them all in check. We have to make THEM want the alliance, somehow. We mustn't go out asking for them. If they want it enough, they will make it happen and they will stay in line."

I watch her in awe as she says her little speech, a grin plastered on my face. When she's finished, she looks up at me shyly and hesitates.

"At least… that's what I think." She shifts her gaze down to the floor. I lean down, lifting her chin gently with my fingers, and give her a soft peck on the lips.

"When did you get so smart, Princess?" I smile at her and she beams back.

"You're right, sweetheart. Of course you're right. Beauty and brains, huh? Who'd have guessed?" I smirk at her and she slaps me playfully on the arm, giving me another soft kiss. She leans in closer and lowers her voice to an almost whisper.

"So… are you coming to see me tonight?" Her expression is hopeful. How could I ever say no to her?

"Of course I am, sweetheart." I breathe back. "You better believe it." I kiss her again and stand up straight, returning my voice to the usual volume.

"Right. I'm gonna quickly go down and let Chaff know about this alliance plan. I said I'd try and sort it, so I'll go tell him that we're taking requests during training. How's that sound?"

"Yes. Very good. Be back for dinner. It would be… unprofessional and plain rude to miss it." She smirks at me and I grin back.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, sweetheart." I wink at her and walk to her door, opening it and slipping through. I quickly poke my head around the door again.

"See you at dinner, Miss Trinket." She rolls her eyes at me and laughs.

"Yes. I shall see you at dinner, Mr Abernathy." I grin at her once more before closing her door and walking to the elevator.

I stand at the bar of the penthouse, searching for a bottle of something nice. Eventually, I find a bottle of Effie's favourite wine. It's over-the-top Capitol junk, bright pink in color with weird sparkly glittery things floating around in it, but it tastes nice enough and she likes it, so it'll do fine. I grab two of the nicer glasses and head down the hall to her room, Chaff's words echoing in my head.

"Hey, Mitchy."

"What?"

"Enjoy your 10 o'clock appointment."

I smile at my friend's teasing. I'm sure I'll enjoy my "10 o'clock appointment" very much. Dinner and the recaps were rather hard to get through. We were obviously more reserved when we were watching the recaps. Being on open sofas accompanied by the entire District team meant we couldn't even touch, apart from the odd subtle brush of our hands. Dinner was a different story. She sat next to me, as she always seems to. I had to get through the entire ordeal with her hand oh-so-innocently running up and down my thigh, and, of course, accidentally brushing other more sensitive areas. I have no idea how she can do that and keep a straight face, especially when we're sat with the stylists AND the kids. Cinna and Portia are annoyingly astute. They figured out that there was something going on between Effs and me practically straight away. Something about "sexual tension", so they said. Needless to say, we didn't have to really hide anything around them, but the kids are another matter. The woman amazes me. She can sit there smiling and talking non-stop about anything and everything with the kids over dinner, while I'm sat there practically choking every time her hand drifts a little too high. It's been a long evening.

I knock on her door softly, holding the wine and glasses carefully in my other hand. I hear her over-sweet, melodic Capitol voice, obviously put on incase it's someone she's not expecting.

"Who is iiiit?" I smile at her sing-song reply.

"It's Haymitch, sweetheart." Her voice immediately drops an octave and her accent fades a little.

"Oh! Do come in, Haymitch!"

I open the door quietly and slip into her room, gently closing the door behind me. She is sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling at me. She looks beautiful in her natural, normal state, with no make-up and her blonde hair falling loosely just past her shoulders. Her soft, pale skin is lit up by the pinkish glow from the lampshade on her bedside table and she's still wearing her dress from earlier. I notice her eyes drift to the hand carrying the wine and glasses and her smile falters.

"What's wrong?" I place them on her vanity and walk over to sit next to her on the bed. She turns her head to look towards her window, so I gently place my hand on her cheek and pull her back around to face me.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? Tell me." My voice is soft. Her eyes flicker away briefly. She's clearly trying to find the right words to say. She opens her mouth to speak, but closes it again and sighs, shifting her eyes back to mine.

"I just… it's nothing, really. It's just…" She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, most likely building up courage. "Haymitch, do you really need alcohol to spend the night with me?" Her sentence comes out in a rush of air, so fast that it shocks me and takes me a second to figure out what she actually said. How could she think that? I mean, sure, I always bring some wine with me, but that's for us to share. It's so we can relax after a tough day and just enjoy each others company. She takes my hesitation as a sign of my guilt, as if I'm confirming her thoughts. She pulls herself out of my loose grasp and turns away, but not fast enough to hide the tears that slip from her eyes.

"Okay. Well I'm sorry I'm so unbearable to you. Maybe you should just go."

"Wait. Effie. No, of course I don't need it. I love spending time with you. I love talking to you, being with you. Hell, I just lo-" –ve you. I let my sentence trail off, but my mind finishes it for me. Effie just shakes her head lightly and still refuses to look at me. I repeat my actions from earlier, reaching out to gently turn her head to face me.

"Look at me, Effie." She lets me turn her head, but avoids eye contact. "The whole reason I bring alcohol is just so we can relax. Every day is stressful during the Games, and I know how much it affects you, sometimes more than me. You cry when tributes die, even if they aren't ours. During the bloodbath, you cling to me so tightly that it hurts, but I never stop you because I know it's just what you need. I also know that sometimes, during a hard day, you like a glass of wine to help relax you. Now, if you notice, I only ever bring wine with me. Only ever your favourite. Do you really think that I would bring some fancy, girly Capitol wine with me if I were trying to get drunk? I bring it for you, for us to enjoy together – slowly. Not because I want us to get drunk, but because I know it helps you relax." She looks into my eyes, searching for any hint of a lie, but she'll find none. I kiss her lightly and she lets out a sigh of relief against my lips.

"I'm sorry, Haymitch." She kisses me softly. "I shouldn't accuse you of things like that. You're a better man than people give you credit for. I've just been stressed lately, with the Quell and everything else, and then I've been confused lately about my… emotions, and I just… I'm sorry. It seems I'm an emotional wreck." She looks down at the floor, giving me a weak smile, and her voice comes out a whisper. "You're so good to me. I certainly don't deserve you." I lift her chin gently with my fingers.

"Hey. Come on sweetheart, we both know that's not true. If anything, I don't deserve you. I don't deserve someone so beautiful and caring and amazing. You're an incredible woman, Effie. You're perfect, and you deserve better than me." She smiles at me and shakes her head slightly.

"I'm far from perfect."

"Maybe, but you're perfect to me."

In the next second, she all but jumps at me and crashes her lips against mine. I respond immediately, sliding my hands around her waist to pull her closer while her hands find my hair – as usual. There's something about the desperation in this kiss that's different to any we've shared before, but I can't put my finger on it. She suddenly pulls away, but our faces stay close together, our foreheads and noses lightly touching. We're both panting for air, but I gasp when I hear her next words, whispered against my lips. She looks into my eyes and her hand comes up to stroke my face affectionately.

"I love you, Haymitch." She bites her bottom lip as her eyes search mine for any kind of emotional response, her nervousness clear on her face. I can't help the wide, stupid grin that finds its way on to my face. I even let out a laugh of sheer joy. My heart feels like it's soaring and fluttering and beating a million beats per minute all at the same time. I feel a warm feeling spread through my entire body.

Effie pulls back a little and frowns at me. "You didn't have to laugh at me."

I silence her with a deep kiss.

"Shut up, damn it woman."

"W-" she begins, but I hold my finger up to her lips. She looks torn between being confused and scolding me for my awful manners. She settles on a mixture of both, resulting in a child-like pout. This does make me laugh. I move my finger from her lips, sliding my hand up lightly to caress her face, still smiling at her like a fool. It's now or never.

"I love you too, Effie." She looks shocked but elated by my admission. She smiles a wide, breathtaking smile that makes her eyes sparkle. "Damn it, I love you." She gives me a deep but soft kiss on the lips, pushing me to sit further back on the bed. I oblige and she moves to straddle me, her arms draped loosely around my neck.

"You love me?" her eyes are full of hope, and still glistening with happiness.

I nod. "I tried not to, but you were right, sweetheart. I can't resist you. I never really could." I reach up to gently twist a strand of her soft, blonde hair through my fingers. "I mean, just look at you, Effie." I move my hand to caress her cheek. "You're so beautiful." She makes what I can only describe as a "swooning" noise, before closing the space between us yet again. This time, it's slow and passionate, yet deep and full of desire at the same time. My hands find her waist and I pull her closer, moving so I'm lying back on the bed with her on top of me. Somehow, she manages to still talk to me at the same time as kissing. Never could shut this woman up.

"I love you, Haymitch… so much… I have for so long."

"I love you too, sweetheart." I deepen the kiss even more to try to shut her up, and I'm successful for a few seconds.

"I never thought th-" I sigh and flip her over. She gasps, causing her to cut off her own sentence.

"Sweetheart, I'm not trying to be rude or bad mannered or whatever, but please stop talking." I place a light kiss on her lips and smile at her. She smiles back, looking a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy. I find that when I'm happy I can't help but just go on and on. You know it's re-" I chuckle and force my lips against hers again. She lets out a little sigh and melts into the kiss, and I smile at my victory. I pull away for air, grinning a smug grin at her.

"Finally. A way to shut you up."

"You know that's rather rude, Haymitch." She's smiling but I can tell she's just itching to scold me for my lack of manners.

"It really bothers you when I interrupt you, doesn't it?"

"N-no. I can handle - " I cut her off again with a kiss, and pull back grinning. She takes in a deep breath and slowly exhales. I can't help but laugh. I kiss her again; gentler this time, and I can feel her smile into the kiss. When I pull away, her voice comes out a whisper.

"At this point in time, I really don't care about manners." I smirk at her.

"Really? Effie Trinket, Miss Prim and Proper, doesn't care about manners?" She smirks and rolls her eyes, slapping me playfully on the arm.

"As long as you keep kissing me all night, your manners can be as terrible as you damn well please. Tonight is not a time for manners." She reaches up to cup my cheek in her hand and gives me a soft kiss. She lets her hand slowly drag down my neck, chest, lower and lower still, causing me to shudder and suck in a sharp intake of air as my body instantly reacts to her touch. She murmurs against my lips. "Tonight is about me showing you exactly how much I love you," Her voice drops to a whisper, "and how much I've wanted you all evening."

I suppress a groan as her hand lightly brushes across my body.

"God… Eff…" She gently places her finger on my lips.

"Sssh. Just kiss me." I oblige instantly, closing the space between us, causing her to let out a soft moan against my lips. I hear her huff in annoyance as her fingers fumble with the buttons of my shirt, attempting to remove it to no avail.

"Damn it!"

I grin and sit up to help her just lift the damn thing over my head, before she throws it carelessly to the floor. She smiles, triumphant, and pulls me back down towards her, running her hands freely over my now bare chest.

"Cursing now, are we, sweetheart? Where are your manners, Miss Trinket?" I smirk at her and she grins back.

"It was irritating me. Stupid shirt... Your shirt is stupid, Haymitch." I chuckle and kiss her.

"Noted." She smiles again and pulls my lips to hers.

"Good. Now shut up." I chuckle against her lips, but return her kiss eagerly. Without warning, she flips us over so I'm on my back and sits up, straddling me again. I raise my eyebrows at her, slightly shocked.

"Jeez, woman." She may be small, but she's certainly got some power. She is definitely to be feared – small yet somehow extremely mighty. She looks down at me, smirking.

"I'm stronger than I look, Abernathy." She leans forward, her lips practically touching mine, but not quite. Just a bit closer and… Ouch. Damn it. She jabs me in the chest. "And don't you forget it." I smirk and my eyes widen slightly at her. She just grins back at me and leans back a little to allow her eyes to quickly survey my chest upwards, humming in mock-thought. I nudge her a little, just lightly.

"What?" She smiles wide before nodding.

"Yep. I could definitely take you." I laugh at the thought of someone as small as her trying to beat me up, and she giggles too, slapping me lightly on the chest. "Don't laugh. I could!"

"Sure. Whatever you say, sweetheart." I sit up and shift so she's essentially sitting on my knee, but I hold her close, placing a light kiss against her lips.

"What do you say we get this pretty dress off you before it gets ruined?" I reach up to play with the top button, just below the V-neck, and she giggles.

"Oh, yes, because you're so clearly bothered about the state of my dress."

"As a matter of fact, I happen to think it's very… sexy. On you, at least."

"Is that so?"

"Definitely." I smile, but look down in confusion at the button that won't seem to release. Effie looks down at my hand, still trying to pry open the button, with a smirk on her face.

"Having any luck?" I lift my head to look at her and her eyes meet mine. She's grinning but biting her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing, and I come to a realization. My face drops immediately.

"The buttons don't open do they?" She bursts out laughing, shaking her head. I sigh in exasperation. "What the hell is with you Capitol people and your stupid fashions? Buttons that don't actually open? Seriously?" She finishes her little laughing fit, which I smile at because I love seeing her genuinely laughing.

"I'll have you know, buttons are the in-thing at the moment… as well as gold and Mockingjays, of course. Being the fashion icon that I am, my buttons just so happen to be gold." She gives me a cheeky grin, which I have to smile at.

"Fucking buttons… really…" I shake my head in disbelief. Stupid Capitol people, hyping over buttons. "Right. How the hell do I get this damn thing off then?"

"Eager are we, Mr Abernathy?" She gently takes my hands and pulls my arms to wrap around her, leaning in so we're less than an inch apart and lowering her voice to a whisper. "It unzips on my back, you fool." She smirks at me and I roll my eyes, reaching up to find it. I unzip her dress and run my hands up her bare back to her shoulders, where I gently push the dress down off her body. I grin as I see the black and gold lace I caught a glimpse of earlier. She notices me staring, yet again.

"Oh you like these do you? Yes, I thought you might. In fact, I was very much counting on it." I look up at her and she's smiling seductively at me. I waste no more time in claiming her lips with mine. Her response is immediate and eager. She melts into the kiss, pressing her body against mine, letting out a soft moan. I pull her back down to lie on top of me and she kicks her dress off and down to the floor, her hands reaching down to fumble with my belt. I flip her over, propping myself up above her to make it easier. She makes quick work of my belt, pushing my pants down as far as she can reach. To her annoyance, her reach isn't that far, so I reach down myself to finish the job for her. When I'm finally free of them, I throw my pants down to the floor with the rest of our hastily removed clothing. I bet she'll go mad when she sees the mess in the morning.

I sit up a little, taking a minute to just look at the beautiful woman below me. I let my eyes and hands gently roam over her body, taking in the sight of her. The black of her underwear contrasts with her pale skin while the gold compliments it nicely. Her eyes close and she bites her lip as my hand caresses her thigh and continues up her body. My eyes follow my hand upwards to land on her face. She looks beautiful without her wig and make-up, her blonde hair splayed out messily on her pillow around her naturally pretty face. Her eyes are closed, but she tilts her head slightly to kiss my hand when she feels it resting on her cheek. I smile. Her icy blue eyes open and immediately lock with mine. When she smiles and her eyes sparkle, my heart feels like it's soaring. She's perfect. I lean down and kiss her, whispering against her lips.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my entire life." Her hands gently stroke my hair in what feels like a loving way, and she looks into my eyes, hers twinkling with happiness. Her whispered reply is simple, but holds so much meaning for the two of us - just three words that tonight have changed everything between us, taking us to a level we can never go back from… and I would never want to even if we could. Her lips brush mine lightly as she whispers the words – "I love you".

I feel a wave of pure joy wash over me, and the smile that I can't keep off my face must be wide enough to rival the one she uses daily for her Capitol mask.

"I love you too, Effie. Too much." If it's possible, her smile widens and I swear her eyes are watering a little. She closes the infinitesimal space between us, pulling my lips to hers. I kiss her passionately. We've wasted too much time. I need to show her how much I love her; how much I need her. I need her to be mine. I allow my hands to roam, caressing her body, and she responds with soft moans and whimpers. I pull away and we both work to remove the final barriers between us. Neither of us can wait any longer. Our bodies mash together and we become one, losing all sense of time and reality as the fire flows through our veins. The fire burns, intense, eventually exploding and enveloping us completely. She falls asleep in my arms and I lay awake, thinking.

I've slept with a fair amount of women, pining after a Victor, but the only woman I could ever make love with is the one asleep in my arms. I kiss the top of her head and she cuddles up closer to me. I lay there smiling until I drift into a peaceful sleep.

She's the only thing that could ever truly keep the nightmares away.