Haymitch Abernathy was a complicated man. He was sarcastic for the most part, as well as a drunk but he also could be incredibly kind and paternal when he wanted to be. And that paternal instinct was precisely the reason why he had given up his drunken role, at least 90 percent of the time, for the last four months. Katniss Everdeen was one of the most battered and broken survivors of the war, as was Peeta Mellark. Being their old mentor, Haymitch felt as though he had an obligation to protect them and to comfort them in any way that he could in the past months. He had, after all, been assigned to be Katniss' escort home and guardian now that her mother was officially deemed too depressed to look after her and had fled to district 4.

On a particularly dreary autumn day after returning home from a visit to the Everdeen's house to make sure the young couple were doing well still he found himself sinking into the cushions on his sofa, his whole house now incredibly clean and odour free thanks to a new housekeeper he had hired, nursing a cup of mint tea and attempting to relax his sore muscles after a day of helping to rebuild the district. Again, this was not something he would usually take part in but he felt required to do so since he had effectively been the brains behind the rescue mission that had gotten district 12 bombed in the first place and with no alcohol to numb his guilt, he felt he had to do something.

A soft pitter patter of rain could be heard against the window of his home as he stared at the raindrops chasing each other down the glass, the occasional golden leaf blowing into it and sticking before being blown away again. He closed his eyes feeling exhaustion come over him and listened to the rain on the window for a few moments before a loud ringing went through the house due to the doorbell. Cursing the disturbance to his peace he got up and opened the door only to find someone he did not instantly recognise standing on his porch positively soaking wet. It seemed as though the young girl had been in the rain for quite some time.

She looked at him with emerald green eyes, bloodshot with a haunted look in them before staring down at her tiny hands that were twisting together in a nervous habit. "I – I'm not really sure why I'm here... I just... I didn't know where else to go," the girl said, her voice trembling in a high Capitol accent. Haymitch studied her for a moment. Her ash blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and secured with a silk ribbon, her dark jeans and skyscraper midnight blue heels with matching t-shirt made of silk and the way in which her eyes were now staring at him in a pained expression. It all seemed so familiar to him. Yet, he was quite positive he had never seen this girl in his life.

The girl's face quickly turned into a pained expression at the obvious rejection on Haymitch's face, a blush instantly colouring her cheeks as she realised that he was not going to let her in. "I'm sorry, Haymitch, I shouldn't have come here... I don't know why I did... I'll just... go."

Haymitch's eyes widened in sudden realisation as he registered the voice that did not match the girl in front of him. "Effie?" he asked, feeling bewildered. Effie Trinket had certainly changed. She bit her lip, her blush darkening as she nodded her head slowly. He couldn't for the life of him comprehend that it was the same woman stood on his porch as the one he had left in the capitol all those months ago. "You look so..."

"I know... I didn't... Can't really be... Capitol right now... I'm sorry, Haymitch, I'm wasting your time... it was bad manners for me to show up without calling first, I just... I should go..."

Haymitch shook his head. She may not want to be Capitol material but she certainly still had the mannerisms of the old Effie Trinket. She hadn't changed completely. "Sweetheart, where are you going to go?" Effie looked down, not knowing the answer to that question before Haymitch sighed and stood aside for her to come into his house.

"Thankyou, Haymitch."

"Sit down on the sofa, I'll get you a blanket so you don't freeze to death or drip water on my sofa." Effie smiled, seeing the old Haymitch for the first time since she had knocked on his door. She clearly wasn't the only one who had been changed by the war.

She shuddered at the thought of the war. Horrible images flashed through her mind of her holding cell and she felt a painful twinge on her shoulder where she knew was a scar from her tortures. It felt like every inch of her body was live with electricity again, causing her to shudder and gasp as she tried to push the horrible feelings away. Pulling her knees up she wraps her arms around them tightly and buries her head into them, trying to push away the images, the nightmares.

"Effie!" she hears someone shout, but it sounds as though they're underwater, too far away for them to reach her in her own personal little hell hole. "EFFIE!" they call again, this time much closer. She squeezes her eyes shut before opening them again to see Haymitch stood there, a worried look on his face and a blanket in his hands. She also notices a new cup has made its way to the table in from of her. "Thought I'd lost you for a moment there, Princess," he growls. Effie just stares down at her knees, feeling shame overcome her. Haymitch sighs and wraps the blanket around her shoulders. "There is a shower upstairs on the left if you want to go clean yourself up. Get into some dry clothes before you catch a cold."

Again Effie blushes. "I don't really have any other clothes, Haymitch," she whispers, her voice breaking a little at the end.

Haymitch sighs running a hand tiredly over his face. "C'mon, Princess. Let's get you cleaned up. It's late, you can stay in the spare bedroom and we'll talk about why you're here when I'm not going to collapse from walking dead syndrome."

Effie smiles a bit and gets up, cup of tea in hand, and follows Haymitch up the stairs and into a pristine bedroom. She had to admit, she was impressed by the hospitality. She remembered the last time she had been here was to wake Haymitch for the reaping of the 74th hunger games and the smell and general uncleanliness was disgusting. He let her there for a moment before coming back with one of his shirts, boxers and a towel for her. "Put your clothes on the radiator when you're done in the shower, they'll be dry by the morning," he says before turning to leave the room.

"Thankyou, Haymitch," Effie says softly, never one to forget her manners. Haymitch just nods and leaves her alone, shutting the door to his own room behind him before falling on the bed and allowing his mind to race over what in the hell just happened.

AN; okay so i know this is rather... uncharacteristic and OOC of them but their canon characters will come out soon, promise.

As always, i love a review and i would appreciate feedback/what you liked about it if you alert/favorite it :D