Chapter Two: Into The Lion’s Den

Summary: Coriolanus realises that Sejanus has left. Since there's only one place he could have gone, Coriolanus heads to the Capitol. But to get the man he loves back, he'll need to deceive Doctor Gaul...and join forces with a man who has every reason to hate him
Warning(s): References to spanking (no actual spanking in this chapter); violence to children and death of minor characters; descriptions of experiments on humans and animals; AU; spoilers for the whole of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

###

When Coriolanus woke up, he realised he was cold.

The blanket was haphazardly covering both him and Lucy Gray. But there was an empty space between them; an empty space that should have been filled by Sejanus. He wasn't there...and with how cold the sleeping mat was, it seemed he'd been gone for a while.

Lucy Gray stirred, her eyes opening to narrow slits, and peered at Coriolanus. "Why is it so cold?" she mumbled.

"Sejanus isn't here."

Her eyes opened wider and she quickly sat up. "Did he leave?"

That hadn't occurred to Coriolanus...until she said the words. And then he couldn't think of anything else. He reached out and placed a hand on the cold space between them. "He's been gone a long time. If he just went out for breakfast, or to talk to someone...it would still have retained some of his body heat." He got up off the sleeping mat and began to pull his clothing on.

Lucy Gray got up and moved over, placing her hands on his. "If he has gone...he'll have sneaked into the Capitol. Won't he?" she asked, her eyes wide and worried. "How much danger will he be in?"

"I need to check if he actually has gone. Maybe he is just outside. Talking to Cutter or one of the others. Getting breakfast." Coriolanus didn't really believe that, but he wasn't going to let himself panic until he was absolutely certain or not. He walked quickly to the door of the hut and slipped outside, with Lucy Gray following him.

It didn't take long to discover that there was no sign of Sejanus. District 13 was small, even with the lake they could catch fish from. It was easy to see every person who lived there...and very easy to tell who wasn't there.

"You're going to bring him back?" Lucy Gray asked quietly, once it was clear that there was absolutely no sign of Sejanus. She stood close to Coriolanus, clearly worried. "I should go with you."

"No." He placed a hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes. "I can't risk losing you too," he whispered. "You need to stay here. I need to know that you're safe."

She nodded, then leaned in and kissed him quickly. "You probably should have spanked him properly when you caught him earlier," she mumbled against his lips.

He didn't respond to that. Spanking Sejanus wasn't something he enjoyed doing, but he'd thought that he'd been able to avoid being harsh with the other man. If he'd followed through with his threat, though, perhaps....

There was no point in thinking about what he hadn't done and what he should have done. Sejanus had left anyway, walking right back into danger. Coriolanus had to worry about bringing his boy home...and then he'd worry about what he was going to do to make sure Sejanus didn't leave again.

"What sort of danger is he facing?" Lucy Gray asked again, moving back enough to look into his eyes.

"Doctor Gaul, for certain." He frowned as he thought about it. "I don't think she'd make an outward move against him, though. Not unless he draws attention to himself." Saying the words, though, his stomach sank. How could Sejanus avoid drawing attention to himself? "The Plinth family are well known. And any Peacekeepers he runs into are going to recognise him," he said out loud.

"He doesn't know how to keep hidden, does he?" Lucy Gray whispered. "How to avoid the cameras, how to avoid their eyes?"

"I need to go straight to Doctor Gaul. If she doesn't have Sejanus already, she'll have eyes on him. I can convince her I'm on her side." At least, he thought he could. He hoped he could. He headed over to the weapons cache and opened it.

"Give her a location." Cutter had approached. She stood by, watching, as Coriolanus found one of the Peacekeeper guns they'd brought with them from the cabin.

"A location?" Coriolanus repeated, as he positioned the gun on his back. "A fake one for District 13, you mean? So that she believes I pretended to infiltrate you?" He couldn't say that the idea was a bad one. However.... "What if she sends Peacekeepers to check?"

"We'll make sure there's enough 'evidence' that she believes it was in use, even if it appears to be abandoned." Cutter removed a map and unfurled it, then pointed to a specific set of coordinates. "Tell her these ones."

Coriolanus nodded quickly, then turned back to Lucy Gray. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, she wrapped her arms around him and clung on with a fierce, tight embrace. "Bring him home," she whispered.

"I will."

"And be careful." She pulled back to look into his eyes. "Don't let her get in your head."

"I won't." He stroked the side of her face; cupped her chin and kissed her  tenderly. "I have you to come back to," he whispered against her mouth. "I won't abandon you. And I'll bring Sejanus back. I promise." He held her for a few more moments before he finally, reluctantly, let go of her. Then, he turned back to Cutter. "I don't know how easy it will be to get out of the Capitol once I've retrieved Sejanus."

"Just get to the gates." Cutter handed him a small, black, oblong object with a button on the side. "There'll be an extraction team ready. Once you press that button, they'll arrive to pick you up."

"Thank you." He turned back to Lucy Gray, and gave her a smile he didn't really feel. "I'll be back before you know it," he promised. Then, he went to gather the rest of his necessary supplies.

###

Stepping back into the Academy building felt strangely alien to Coriolanus. He'd put on the Peacekeeper uniform, but it felt loose and ill-fitting now. Really, everything about being back in the Capitol felt different. Wrong. But the place was on his list of areas where Sejanus could be. Coriolanus knew it wasn't a very high possibility...but the Academy was a starting point. And it was a place that made sense for him to visit, in the role he was currently playing.

He'd picked his time deliberately, heading to the Academy after most of, if not all, the students had gone home. As he entered the Academy and strode through the corridors, doing his best to exude an air of confidence and like he belonged there, large screens on either side of him played through images of the tributes for the eleventh Hunger Games. There were a couple of very young children with pale, gaunt faces; a girl about the same age Lucy Gray had been, with wide dark eyes and a thin elfin face; a boy with a dark, brutish look on his face and the gleam of tears in his eyes.

"I'm surprised to see you back here, Mr. Snow. Hoping to reclaim back some of your former glory?"

Coriolanus blinked at the familiar voice and found himself focusing on Dean Highbottom, who was standing only a few feet away from him. The man's posture was tense, his tone bordering on hostile.

Of course, given how their last meeting had gone, Coriolanus couldn't exactly blame the older man for being hostile towards him, even though it was going to make this so much harder for him.

"I have information for Doctor Gaul. Important information." Coriolanus drew on the long practice he'd had at pretending his family was still rich and proving that they still deserved respect. He allowed his upper lip to curl into an arrogant sneer, playing to the Coriolanus Snow he was sure the Dean saw him as: spoiled, arrogant, needing to be taken down.

Certainly not worrying sick about his best friend turned lover.

Dean Highbottom just looked tired. His hands were shaking as he glanced towards the screens, now showing an older boy with a face marred with what looked like birthmarks...or scars. His body was shaking, like he was going through withdrawal effects from morphling. "He wasn't called at the Reaping." The Dean's eyes narrowed.

In spite of himself, Coriolanus followed the direction of the Dean's gaze. There was something familiar about the curl of ths boy's hair; about the build of his body. But the feral snarl as he bared his teeth did nothing but make Coriolanus' skin crawl, and he tore his eyes away from the image of the male tribute. "Does it really matter?" he asked. "One tribute is much the same as the rest. The only difference is in how much they stink." He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. The words helped to sell his role, but when he said them, all he could think about was Sejanus' dark eyes...looking at him in hurt and disappointment.

Eyes identical to those belonging to the tribute Dean Highbottom had said wasn't part of the Reaping.

As soon as that thought, that observation, went through Coriolanus' mind, the screen changed. Another tribute's face flashed up, this time belonging to a younger girl.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Coriolanus' eyes were still fixed on the screen, willing the image of the boy to come back. His suspicions couldn't be correct, could they? Surely Doctor Gaul hadn't forced Sejanus into the games? Just because the male tribute had the exact same eyes as the man he loved.... "Have you seen Sejanus?" He blurted the question, then winced. It hadn't come out anything like as casual and rehearsed as he'd planned it to. He was going to have to word that question differently when he spoke to Doctor Gaul.

"The Plinth boy?" Dean Highbottom sounded surprised. "The last I knew, he was stationed as a Peacekeeper with you. Shouldn't you be more aware of his whereabouts than I could be?" Looking away from the screens, he continued, "Of course, I have no doubt you'd only make sure you had that knowledge for as long as he was useful to you. The moment he loses that...." He stopped talking, as if that was the end of his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Coriolanus grit his teeth and tried not to put voice to his initial reaction. No good would come from correcting Dean Highbottom, even if the older man was inclined to believe him.

"Mr. Snow." Doctor Gaul's voice sounded from behind Coriolanus. There was the faintest hint of surprise in her tone, but none of that showed on her face as she stepped in front of him. "What brings you back to the Capitol?"

Coriolanus pulled his gaze away from the Dean and instead focused on Doctor Gaul. "I was planning to speak to you," he said. "I have information I need to share with you." He paused, then glanced at Dean Highbottom and made a point of lowering his voice. "It's about District 13."

"District 13 was destroyed," Dean Highbottom said harshly. "It was razed to the ground. There's nothing left of it." With hands that were shaking a little, he reached into his box and pulled out a tube of morphling. He opened it and raised it to his lips, quickly drinking down the contents.

Coriolanus didn't bother responding to the Dean's words. Instead, he focused on Doctor Gaul and waited to see what she would say.

She stared searchingly into his face, like she could see into his very soul and lay all his secrets bare. He refused to allow himself to flinch, or even break eye contact with her. Any hint of weakness and she would pounce on it. If he had any hope of finding Sejanus...of bringing his lover back home...he had to convince her he was on her side.

"Come with me to my lab. We can talk there." Doctor Gaul glanced at Dean Highbottom, but dismissed him as she turned and began to walk away.

Coriolanus quickly began to follow her.

###

Doctor Gaul didn't say anything as she led him into her lab. It didn't look that much different than the last time Coriolanus had seen it, with different experiments in various stages all around. Some of them, he could recognise the goals behind. Other experiments, he wasn't sure even Doctor Gaul knew what her end goal was...apart from causing as much death and suffering as it was possible to.

"I like you, Coriolanus Snow," Doctor Gaul said, pausing in front of a cage that contained a mutilated animal. Whatever it had once been, it was now covered with a mixture of fur, scales and feathers. And it wasn't moving, instead laying on the bottom of the cage. Its eyes were a large, emerald green that seemed dull and lifeless.

Picking up a syringe from next to the tank, Doctor Gaul removed the lid and positioned the needle into the creature's body. As she depressed the plunger in the needle, she continued speaking. "I recognise a lot of myself in you. Truthfully, I'm not really surprised or disappointed that you cheated in the games. I think your actions prove just how similar we are to each other."

Coriolanus found his attention fixed on the animal that Doctor Gaul was injecting. It was easier to focus on it, rather than risk his face showing his distaste at the idea he and Doctor Gaul were similar in any way. "If you think we're so alike, why did you let me get sent away to join the Peacekeepers?" he asked.

"Because you had to learn about the world outside. About the Districts." She glanced at him as she continued, "The person who will become my apprentice needs to understand the world outside, not just the Capitol. They need to be prepared to work with me to develop the games into something that the whole of Panem will be invested in. And a lot of your ideas got the citizens here in the Capitol to watch the games and care about the outcome." She removed the syringe and closed the lid of the tank. "I'm interested to know, Coriolanus. I asked you earlier what you thought the point in the games were. Have you changed your answer now?"

"Yes." He didn't agree with her, but he thought he had an idea of the kind of answer she was looking for. The answer he put voice to was the answer he would have given if he'd chosen a different path; an answer he would have given and meant, rather than voicing it as a tool to get him where he wanted to be...and who he wanted to reunite with. So he said the words...and did his best to sound confident, to sound like he meant it...as much as she expected him to sound, at least. "It's not because of any of the reasons I originally thought. I believed it was about punishment at first; about instilling fear. But now I know better." His eyes drifted towards the creature in the tank.

Something was shifting. There was movement under the animal's skin, like it was rippling. And he could see it start to breathing.

"Go on," she urged him.

Swallowing, he pulled his gaze away from the animal that seemed to have miraculously come back to life. And he answered her question. "I know that the point of the games is that the whole world is an arena. And their purpose is designed to show that to the rest of the Districts...and to the Capitol."

She smiled at him, and it made his skin crawl and his stomach clench. "Very good," she said. "I've been looking for someone with the same vision that I have." She turned and began walking over to a different part of the lab, speaking over her shoulder. "You wanted the funding to further your education. That was why you focused on the Plinth prize." She stopped next to another tank, this one with a tiny creature covered with marks that looked like it had been in a fight. "But you don't need to worry about the Plinth prize. I will be responsible for furthering your education. I will be your mentor."

Coriolanus opened his mouth to respond, but before he could do so, he saw a long, forked tongue escape the now living creature's mouth. The tongue spat a globule of thick green liquid against the glass of its tank, which immediately began to smoke and disintegrate.

"It spits poison," she said. "Unfortunately, its body can only handle spitting the poison once before its heart will stop. I can restart it again, as you saw, but it's not exactly a useful skill to immediately die after it releases its poison."

"Why do you still have it, if it's useless?" He walked over to stand next to her, looking at the animal in the tank.

"I have found that the animals I create often have uses other than those I created them for." She shrugged. "As long as I can still learn from them, I will keep studying them." She looked up at him. "But I'm especially proud of this piece of work." She gestured towards the animal in the tank.

Coriolanus glanced towards the animal, a small frown touching his lips. It didn't look like much, with its marked skin and staring eyes. "It doesn't look like much," he said out loud. "Can it spit poison as well?"

"No." She picked up a small test tube and opened the lid of the tank, dropping the test tube into it.

Immediately, the creature erupted. Snarling viciously, sharp fangs bared, it launched itself at the test tube. With fangs and claw, it ripped the tube apart...resulting in the animal left with a mouth bloodied from the broken glass.

"It's my new serum," Doctor Gaul explained. "It scrambles the appearance of a person. And it scrambles their mind, too. So they will attack anything that comes into their vicinity...even if attacking will cause them pain."

The tribute with Sejanus' eyes rose unbidden to Coriolanus' mind. The marks...they were the same. An unrecognisable face; a vicious snarl that made him look more beast than man.

"Yes." She answered the question he hadn't asked. "The Peacekeepers caught Sejanus Plinth sneaking into the Capitol. No one knew he was here, not even his parents. He arrived at just the time I needed a live test subject."

"So you put him into the games." Coriolanus carefully kept his voice modulated. Behind his back, his hand curled into a tight fist. Just how was he going to get Sejanus out of this mess? He might have gone into the arena during the previous year's Hunger Games, but that had been with Doctor Gaul making sure the Peacekeepers turned a blind eye, and that the cameras were turned off.

She wouldn't be giving him any aid this time.

"I need to see how well the serum works on a person. A human," she clarified. "Will it twist his nature so completely, causing him to kill without reason or remorse?" She stepped away from the tank as she spoke. "I've already made arrangements for the Plinth family to discover he was tragically killed during his training. It's a good thing you're here. I'm sure having their son's best friend close in their time of grief will help them to get over the tragic death of their son," she commented.

"Then there's no cure?" He asked the question as casually as he could, keeping an iron control over his voice and face.

She still cast him a sharp glance. "I thought you would be pleased that I removed your rival. You might even be such a comfort to his parents, you could take their son's place. Not officially, of course," she added.

"I just want to make sure he's not going to be able to come back and cause me problems." He forced a smile to his lips, trying to mirror her. "After all, if there is a cure, there's always the possibility that someone can bring him back to himself."

A smile touched her lips. "I can guarantee that brute force will not be winning anyone the games this year. You just saw how the serum affects the mind. He'll keep on going even if he's bleeding out."

"And that's exactly what I'm afraid of. If he can continue even if he's harmed, even if he's bleeding out, there's still the chance he'd be the last tribute standing." He looked back at the tank, picking his next words carefully. If there wasn't an existing cure, he had to make sure she made one...before he went into the arena to get Sejanus back. He was going to need to take the cure into the arena with him, since the only way he was going to get his lover out was by making sure Sejanus had full control of his own mind and was able to cooperate.

"What do you think would be worse for him?" Coriolanus looked up, making eye contact with Doctor Gaul. "Forcing him into the games and forcing him to kill people, knowing that he'd never do it in his right mind, but letting him die without realising what he's done? Or bringing him back after he's taken their lives...and have him regain himself long enough to realise what he's done?"

She stared at him, once more looking like she could see into his very soul; like she was able to pierce through all of the layers that made him up. But the smile on her lips finally grew and she said, "I didn't realise just how much you hated Sejanus Plinth. You hid it very well."

"You have no idea," he whispered, staring at the creature in the tank once more. "So do you have it? A cure?"

"I have a cure," she confirmed. Walking towards a desk, she waved him over to follow her and then took out a tiny key from her pocket. She unlocked the bottom drawer and opened it, pulling out a small, grey metal box. She unlocked that too and opened it, revealing a small glass vial with a clear liquid in it. "He just needs to swallow it," she said. "It'll return his mind to him. Of course, it won't do anything to heal it from the horrors he's faced...but if he's out of the arena, you'll be able to do whatever you want to him." She closed the box and locked it, then closed the drawer and locked it once more, then turned towards him. "Now, you had information about District 13...."

###

By the time Coriolanus was able to leave Doctor Gaul's labs, he couldn't help but feel tense and on edge. He was pretty sure he'd convinced her that the coordinates really did belong to District 13...and he had to believe that Cutter would leave enough clues in that location to make it look like it was in use if she did send Peacekeepers there to investigate. He was reasonably sure she didn't suspect anything...and he knew he would easily be able to break into the drawer and the locked box to retrieve the cure.

That wasn't what worried him. What truly worried him was how he was going to get into the arena. How he was going to stop Sejanus and give the other man the cure.

Coriolanus made his way to the screens at the front entrance of the Academy. He stood there, watching, as the games began. Doctor Gaul hadn't even bothered to give Sejanus a pretend identity. All she'd done was christen him as the Butcher...a name that was fitting, given the bloodbath at the beginning when he went for anything that moved.

The serum hadn't just scrambled Sejanus' mind and appearance. It had also given him enhanced strength. He hadn't gone for any of the weapons. He hadn't needed to. Now, he sat in one corner of the arena, hands and mouth covered in blood. Some of it was his own...most of it belonged to the three tributes he'd ripped apart.

"I've never seen aggression to that level before. Even in the first games." Dean Highbottom's voice broke the silence that had descended.

Coriolanus glanced at the older man, but couldn't make himself respond how he knew the Dean expected. He felt too heartsick; too lost in the problems he was going to have to find a way to solve.

Dean Highbottom moved over to stand next to him, watching Sejanus on the screen. After a few moments, he spoke. "You had a reaction to that tribute. The one who wasn't part of the Reaping. Did Doctor Gaul tell you anything about him?"

Coriolanus glanced at the Dean, unable to hide his confusion. "Why are you talking to me?" he asked. "You hate me."

"Actually, it's your father I hate." Eyes still focused on the screen, Dean Highbottom continued, "Not that you've done much to make me think you're much better than your father."

"I feel like there's a but coming," Coriolanus muttered.

"You asked if I'd seen Sejanus."

"That's the but?"

"I didn't realise, but you sounded worried. Scared." The Dean was quiet for a few moments before he said, "Perhaps it wasn't fair to accuse you of using him."

It was probably the closest thing to an apology Coriolanus would get from the Dean. But an apology wasn't really what he needed right now. "I know where Sejanus is." He muttered the words without thinking them through, because he had literally no one else there he could talk to about it.

"If you were looking for him, why aren't you with him? Or why isn't he here?" Dean Highbottom asked.

"Because he's there." Coriolanus pointed to the screen.

Dean Highbottom looked towards the screen, then focused on Coriolanus. "Do you mean he's trying to break into the arena again? Are you waiting to go and retrieve him later?"

"I wish it was that simple." Coriolanus closed his eyes and sighed, taking a deep breath. "She gave him a serum to change his appearance; to turn him feral. Then she put him into the arena."

There was silence for a few moments. Dean Highbottom just stared at Coriolanus. Then, he asked in a flat voice, "Do you really think I'm stupid?"

"It'd make my life easier if you were," Coriolanus muttered under his breath. "There's a cure. Doctor Gaul showed it to me. She's got it locked in a box inside a drawer. I can get to it easily. That's not the problem. The problem is breaking into the arena, giving Sejanus the cure, and getting him back out again." And getting them both back to District 13, of course...but his first goal was to get Sejanus safely out of the arena and back with him. Then he could worry about returning them both to where they belonged.

Dean Highbottom was staring at him. "I think you might actually be serious," he said finally. "I don't understand why you're telling me this, though. We aren't friends."

"You don't like the games either. I don't know why," Coriolanus added. "You're the one who thought them up in the first place."

"I thought them up," Dean Highbottom agreed. "But I was never the one who put forward the idea. It was never supposed to see the light of day. But your father thought differently. He submitted the idea and put both of our names on it...and of course, since he's the one who's now dead, all of the credit for the idea goes to me." He reached out for another tube of the morphling, opening it and raising it to his lips.

"I'm going to need you sober if you're going to help me," Coriolanus said.

"I never agreed to help you," Dean Highbottom pointed out.

"You're right," Coriolanus agreed. "You didn't. But Sejanus thinks the same way you do. He doesn't agree with the games. And when you knew that Marcus had been captured and put into the arena, you warned me to make sure Sejanus had a seat close to the door. I know that you like him. You don't like me, but I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to help me save the person who came here to try and put a stop to the games."

Dean Highbottom was silent for several long moments, just staring at Coriolanus. Finally, he said, "I just have one question."

"Go on."

"Why did you let him out of your sight to come here?"

Groaning softly, Coriolanus tipped his head back. "I didn't," he replied. "I thought I'd stopped him from leaving. I thought he'd agreed to stay away. And then I woke up and he was gone...there was only one place he could have come to. And Doctor Gaul confirmed it."

"So you decided to come after him...on your own?"

"I thought I'd just be retrieving him from the Capitol," Coriolanus admitted. "I never thought that he'd end up captured. How could I have done? Doctor Gaul might be crazy, but I never even dreamed she'd target him specifically." Belatedly, he realised he was breathing hard and heavy...that he was nearly panting. The thought of losing Sejanus...of not being able to save him.... "I can't lose him." He whispered the words rather than shouted them, even if he wanted to scream right now. If he could reach in through the screen and drag Sejanus out...drag him home where he could keep him safe...he wouldn't hesitate to do so.

"How long do you think we have?" the Dean asked. "How long do you think he's going to last for?"

"If she put him into the arena without injecting him with the serum, he would have gone underground...or as near to it as he could." Coriolanus couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen. It wasn't logical, but he couldn't help worrying that if he looked away from the screen...if he wasn't watching...something would happen to the man he loved. He needed to be there with Sejanus. "He wouldn't have stayed out in the open like that."

"He wouldn't have been covered in blood, either," Dean Highbottom said.

"The surviving tributes will either form a group to try and take him down, or they will wait and kill the tributes who are easier to take on." Coriolanus shook his head. "Either way, we won't have long to get him out."

"There's nothing we can do for the rest of the day," Dean Highbottom said. "You should go and get some rest. Make sure you get hold of that cure. I'll see what I can do about getting you into the arena."

Coriolanus stared at the screen. He knew he needed to tear his eyes away from what was going on in the arena. He knew there was nothing he could do to help Sejanus right now. But it still took him longer than it should have done to force himself to stand up...to step away...to head out of the Academy.

###

Tigris had been happy to see Coriolanus when he'd returned to their home. Coriolanus had spent some time talking to both her and their grandmother, but he'd been careful not to reveal too much information to either of them. His grandmother would never even dream of leaving the Capitol...and the less Tigris knew about where Coriolanus was really living and what his plans were, the better.

Still, when Dean Highbottom had advised him to go and get some rest, Coriolanus had headed to see what remained of his family. They didn't know, but it was going to be the last time he saw them...at least until he could get Tigris safely out of the Capitol and to District 13.

Coriolanus hadn't got much sleep, since every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Sejanus' warped face...and the blood on the other man's hands and face. The handful of times he'd managed to doze off, he'd woken with his heart pounding, images of Sejanus' dead body swimming in front of his eyes.

At least he could be certain that Lucy Gray was safe.

By the time dawn's light had come, Coriolanus had given up on trying to sleep. He'd joined Tigris and his grandmother for a quick breakfast, then walked with his cousin to the front door of the house...preparing to step outside. Before he did, though, he paused and turned to hug her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"Coryo?" Tigris sounded confused, but she hugged him in return. "Is everything okay? I heard you crying out in your sleep..." she added, worry making her voice hitch.

He winced at hearing that his nightmares had kept her awake and hugged her a bit tighter, wishing he could tell her the truth. She'd always liked Sejanus...and she cared about the Districts. She'd be happy to hear about where he was now, he was certain of that.

But there was every chance that, once Doctor Gaul discovered Sejanus was gone...and that he'd left too...she'd assume that Coriolanus had gone into the arena to rescue the other man. And she'd assume that he would have confided in his family...or his cousin, at least. So he had to make sure she stayed ignorant, even if he could have really used her advice.

"I'm okay," he whispered. "There's just...a lot going on right now. That's all." He pulled back slowly from her. "Make sure you stay safe, Tigris. Okay? No matter what happens. I love you."

Her eyes widened and then filled with tears. "You never said that before," she whispered, reaching out and touching his cheek. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm sorry." He wanted to stay; wanted to let her take care of him, as she had when they were children. But now that they were older, their roles were reversed. He was going to do his best to take care of her, as she had for him. He forced a smile to his lips, so that she wouldn't worry about him. "I'm okay," he repeated. "Just make sure you stay safe. You and Grandma'am. I'll see you soon, all right?" Hoping that he wouldn't be shown to be a liar, he walked away from Tigris...he walked away from the house he'd grown up in.

Unless something drastically changed, this would be the last time he'd see it.

###

Coriolanus met Dean Highbottom just outside the Academy steps. The older man clearly saw something of the worry Coriolanus was feeling, because he was quick to voice a reassurance. "I checked in this morning," he said. "There hasn't been any change. No one's attacked Sejanus. No one's attacked anyone else."

Releasing an audible sigh of relief, Coriolanus' shoulders slumped. Rubbing a hand acros his face, he asked, "Have you found a way to get me into the arena?"

"I've bribed the Peacekeepers on duty to turn a blind eye." Dean Highbottom was walking into the building as he spoke, Coriolanus quickly walking next to him. "I can arrange for the cameras to have technical difficulties...long enough for you to get in and get Sejanus out."

"Okay." It was better than Coriolanus had hoped for. The other problem he had to deal with, of course, was getting the cure into Sejanus...getting close enough to the other man to get the cure into him. But getting into the arena itself was the first problem he'd need to deal with, so he was happy the Dean had managed to deal with that.

"There's something else as well," Dean Highbottom said.

"What is it?" Coriolanus paused, hearing the serious note that had crept into the older man's voice.

"You can't take anything into the arena with you," the Dean said. "The Peacekeepers might be prepared to turn a blind eye, but they will search you. You need to make sure you don't carry anything into the arena with you." He paused, then added, "I'm sure that will make it difficult to smuggle the cure into the arena."

"I'll handle it." Coriolanus reached into his pocket and pulled out the object Cutter had given him. "I need you to take care of this for me. Keep it safe. Don't press that button on the side."

The Dean took the object and raised his eyebrows. "Do I want to ask what this is for?"

"It's probably best that you don't know," Coriolanus replied. "What you don't know, you can't reveal, whether intentionally or accidentally. Just keep it safe," he repeated.

The Dean nodded. "Do you have the cure?"

"No. I'm going to retrieve it now," Coriolanus answered. "Just let me know where I need to meet you."

The Dean stared at him for a few moments before he finally shook his head. "I truly hope leaving collecting the cure until now was not a bad idea," he said quietly. "The entrance to the arena is in this location." He gave Coriolanus the coordinates. "Just make sure you aren't caught. Make sure you don't draw attention to yourself," he warned. "We only have one chance to get into the arena. And even that might fail if one or the other of us missteps."

"You say that like you expect us to fail," Coriolanus said quietly. "We won't. We can't. Failure is not an option. I won't allow it." He forced a grim smile to his lips. "I'll see you outside the arena. With the cure." Not giving the Dean the chance to respond, he quickly began walking towards Doctor Gaul's labs.

###

When he met the Dean outside the entrance to the arena, the first thing Coriolanus saw was the two Peacekeepers stationed outside. He didn't recognise either of them...and wasn't sure if they recognised him. He paused next to the Dean and waited for the older man to speak.

Instead of saying anything, the Dean walked over to the two Peacekeepers and pressed a tube of morphling into each of their hands. Then, he waved Coriolanus forward.

Coriolanus moved until he was standing directly in front of the two Peacekeepers. Then, he stood there, arms outstretched, as they ran hands over his whole body...checking every part of it. Any possible place he could have hidden something, they checked. One even checked down the front and back of his trousers, while the second checked his shoes.

Finally, though, they were done. The two Peacekeepers moved out of his way, then turned and walked into the streets.

"They'll be gone for the same amount of time as I can have the cameras switched off for," Dean Highbottom said. "You have thirty minutes. Make sure you don't waste them."

Coriolanus just nodded, keeping his mouth shut. He stepped into the arena, walking through the gate, listening to the familiar words. Enjoy the show.

As he stepped into the arena proper, the first thing that struck him was how quiet it was. It was as if the whole of Panem was holding its breath, waiting for the next tribute to die. It was nothing like when he'd been in the arena for the first time, with Lucy Gray and the other tributes, when the bombs had hit and left him needing to be treated at the hospital.

Maybe that had been the moment everything had changed for him, when he'd begun to realise just how deep his feelings ran for Lucy Gray. Of course, it had taken him longer to realise how he'd felt about Sejanus...but this time, he was walking into the arena with the only goal of retrieving the man he loved.

Sejanus...at least the marred, changed version of him...was in the same place he'd been when Coriolanus had seen him on the screens the previous day. Much like the animal infected with the serum, Sejanus wasn't moving. He barely looked like he was breathing. His eyes were open, but they didn't seem to be seeing anything. 

Coriolanus picked his way carefully across the floor of the arena, looking around slowly as he did so. It was potentially too early for any of the tributes to be moving around if there wasn't any immediate danger. If none of the other tributes appeared, it would make getting Sejanus out of the arena so much easier.

As he moved closer to the other man, Coriolanus could see the moment Sejanus became aware of his approach. Eyes snapped towards him, and he could hear a low growl escaping Sejanus' lips.

The movement from the other man was enough to take Coriolanus by surprise, despite having seen how fast the mutated animal had moved. Sejanus barrelled towards him, letting out an animalistic roar.

Immediately, Coriolanus ducked and rolled to the side, quickly coming up behind Sejanus. He jabbed the other man in the back and then darted back, out of reach when the other man turned on him, growling again.

Coriolanus began to circle round Sejanus, quickly darting from one side to the other to avoid the strikes and grabs the other man aimed at him. He had a distinct advantage over the mutated man: Sejanus wasn't capable of thinking things through, so he wasn't capable of feinting. Coriolanus knew where he would strike or grab.

The problem was that Coriolanus was tired. He hadn't slept well the previous night...and his reactions were slower than they should have been. One wild blow from Sejanus' fist caught him in the chest and he stumbled back, a tiny bit of liquid escaping from between his clenched lips.

Swearing silently, Coriolanus moved back, struggling to catch his breath. The punch had hurt; not quite enough to send him down, but enough that he knew he wasn't going to be able to survive another hit.

There wasn't even a hint of recognition in Sejanus' eyes. He followed Coriolanus, raising both fists high above his head.

Darting to one side again, Coriolanus came up between Sejanus' fists as the older man brought them down, just about missing colliding with his head. Before the man could attack him again, Coriolanus covered Sejanus' nose with his hand, pinching the nostrils closed. Then, he covered Sejanus' mouth with his own, using his tongue to force the liquid in his own mouth into Sejanus'. As he did so, a hard punch collided with his spine and he slumped, falling into the other man.

There was a quiet, choked gasp from Sejanus and then he was whispering, "Coriolanus?"

A low, relieved sigh escaped Coriolanus' lips and he straightened up slowly, wincing at the twin bruises on his chest and his back. "Are you back with me?" He focused on Sejanus' face, taking in the familiar appearance of the man he loved...along with the fact his eyes were clear and completely focused on Coriolanus.

And, of course, there was the fact that Sejanus was no longer trying to attack him.

"What...what happened?" Sejanus was looking around, a confused, almost dazed look on his face. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" He focused on Coriolanus. "The last thing I remember...Doctor Gaul had me. She injected me with something."

"She put you into the arena." As he said the words, Coriolanus felt a hot pit grow in his stomach. "You handed yourself right over to her...and she put you into the arena after giving you a serum to turn you against your nature. You are so lucky I realised you were gone."

"You came after me," Sejanus whispered, focusing on Coriolanus again. "I...I knew you would," he admitted. "I...I'm so sorry. I don't know what's happened...." His voice trailed off and he raised his hands to his face, looking at the blood staining his skin with wide, shell-shocked eyes. "What have I done?" he whispered.

"We don't have long before the cameras come back on. We need to get out of here. Now." Coriolanus reached out and grabbed Sejanus' arm in a tight grip. He began to tug the other man back towards the arena exit.

Sejanus followed without protest, though he did whisper, "Did I hurt someone? Did I hurt you?"

"Hurting me is the least of my problems," Coriolanus muttered. "They're likely to have put a tracker in you. We're going to need to get that taken out before I call the extraction team."

There were eyes on him. Coriolanus froze in place, looking backwards and forwards, until his eyes were able to pierce the shadows enough to see two small figures standing there, holding hands. As his eyes adjusted further, he could tell that the two youngest tributes were standing there...watching him and Sejanus as Coriolanus was preparing to take his lover from the arena.

"Coriolanus...." Sejanus whispered, a slightly pleading note creeping into his voice.

"No," Coriolanus replied firmly. "I only came here for you. I can't rescue anyone else."

"I know I don't deserve to ask you for anything." Sejanus' voice was soft, but the pleading note was stronger in it. "I know I've messed up. I screwed up. And I don't blame you for being angry with me. But please...please don't let me coming here be in vain," he begged. "They're too young to be here. They'll be slaughtered."

Coriolanus squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't have enough time to argue with Sejanus. More than that, he didn't have the heart to argue with the other man. He was going to have to get the tracker cut out of Sejanus anyway. Was it really too much of a problem to add two more to that?

"Let me make this very clear, Sejanus." Coriolanus pulled the other man closer to him, so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "This isn't me saying that what you did is okay. I'm still going to punish you, once we get back to District 13. So don't think this is me telling you that what you did was a good thing." He kept eye contact with Sejanus, waiting for the nod of understanding, before pushing Sejanus towards the arena exit. "There's no one guarding the exit, but that's only for the next fifteen minutes or so. Get out. I'll join you in a few minutes." 

"Thank you," Sejanus whispered, a note of gratitude in his voice, as he took off running towards the exit.

After watching to make sure Sejanus had left, Coriolanus took a deep breath and walked over to the two children. He held a hand out to each of them. "Come on. I'll get you out of here as well."

Hesitantly, they each grasped a hand, looking up at him with wide, trusting eyes. Looking at them, Coriolanus couldn't help but think about Wovey...and her pleas to go home that had been answered with death. Remembering her made the decision far easier than it had already been.

Still, he didn't have much time to get them all out.

Quickly running towards the exit, Coriolanus lifted first one child and then the other over the barriers before he followed them over, then walked over to meet Sejanus.

"What do we do now?" Sejanus asked softly.

Without a word, Coriolanus quickly walked over to where Dean Highbottom was waiting. "Do you have any doctors you can trust?" he asked quickly.

Dean Highbottom's eyes went to Sejanus and the two children and his eyes widened. "I thought you were just going to get Sejanus out. Not rescue two of the tributes. Doctor Gaul won't let this go," he warned.

Coriolanus gave a tight-lipped smile. "That's why we need to get the trackers cut out. Take us to the doctor who supplies you with your morphling."

Dean Highbottom stared at him for a few moments before saying, flatly, "I still don't like you, Coriolanus Snow." He took a deep breath, his eyes shifting over Sejanus and the two children, then shook his head. "But I hate the games even more. Let's just hope that you can get out of the Capitol without drawing any attention to yourself," he said, before turning to lead the way from the arena.