I Warned You

Summary: Follows I Won't Lose You. Despite Coriolanus' efforts, Sejanus is far too stubborn for his own good and continues helping the rebels. It all comes to a head when Coriolanus has to kill again to protect the two people he loves.
Warning(s): Severe spanking with a belt; spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes; AU; violence
Pairings: Coriolanus Snow/Sejanus Plinth; Coriolanus Snow/Lucy Gray Baird; hints of Coriolanus Snow/Sejanus Plinth/Lucy Gray Baird

###

Coriolanus shoved the rifles into the arms of the surviving rebel, ordering him to take the weapons and hide them somewhere no one would find them. He then turned to Lucy Gray, clasping her shoulders and ordering, "You go back and join the rest of the Covey on the stage. No one can know you left. Do you understand?"

She stared at him, eyes wide with shock. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't hesitated to kill, or if she was in shock about the path the events had taken. It didn't matter, really. He watched to make sure she nodded in understanding, then let go of her and watched until she went back to the rest of the Covey...holding his breath until she was out of sight.

"Coriolanus, I..." Sejanus started.

It was just the two of them left now. Coriolanus felt safe in walking over to Sejanus. He grasped the other's arm, turned him to one side, and delivered a hard smack to his backside.

Sejanus yelped and his hands flew back to rub at the spot that Coriolanus had just swatted. "I didn't mean to...!" he started.

"Didn't mean to what?" Coriolanus kept hold of Sejanus' arm, even though he didn't smack again. "Didn't mean to disobey my orders? Didn't mean to get two people killed? We agreed that you would stop helping the rebels." There was a hot pit of anger in his stomach; too strong and powerful for him to safely deal with Sejanus' actions right now. He walked Sejanus to the corner of the room and turned him to face it. "Don't move until I come and get you," he ordered.

Sejanus said nothing, but his shoulders slumped dejectedly and he let his head drop gently against the wall.

Taking a deep breath, Coriolanus stepped away from Sejanus and looked at the two limp bodies. He was going to have to move them. He needed to make sure their deaths couldn't be linked back to any of them...although he couldn't shake the feeling that the Peacekeepers would discover the truth. The guns might not be hidden well enough to escape being found. Even if they were, it wouldn't change what he'd done. That he'd killed, to protect both Sejanus and Lucy Gray.

Glancing once towards Sejanus' slumped form, Coriolanus moved over to the bodies and began the long, tiring work of moving them to make it look like they'd been killed somewhere else.

###

Coriolanus had been too angry to deal with Sejanus after he'd taken care of moving the bodies. They'd spent an uneasy night in the barracks and woken to the Peacekeepers in a frenzy, trying to find who had been responsible for the dead bodies. Coriolanus had already had to make sure Sejanus stayed out of it, so that he didn't end up confessing his part in everything. But the Peacekeepers were out for blood...and eventually, they'd find a culprit.

And it wouldn't matter to them if that culprit was guilty or not.

Coriolanus had met with Lucy Gray and realised that, even if the Peacekeepers found someone to punish for the deaths, the three of them wouldn't be able to live peacefully. They'd always be waiting for the crimes to be uncovered...and neither Lucy Gray or Sejanus would ever be safe.

So they'd agreed to meet under the hanging tree. Now Coriolanus just needed to keep Sejanus from doing something else stupid long enough for them to get safely away from District 12.

Returning to the barracks, Coriolanus couldn't help feeling a slight sense of relief when he saw Sejanus there. The other man looked miserable, like he hadn't got any sleep at all...but he was still in one piece. None of the Peacekeepers had arrested him, so they didn't know of his part in the deaths.

And even if that was discovered...the three of them would be far away from District 12 and the Capitol's reach.

Coriolanus moved over to Sejanus and looked around, towards the door of the barracks, before he spoke in a soft voice. "We'll be meeting Lucy Gray at the hanging tree tomorrow."

Sejanus' eyes widened a fraction. "We're leaving District 12?" he whispered.

"Yes. You need to pack anything you can't leave behind. Anything you can easily carry. But we'll need to move fast." Coriolanus moved over to his own few belongings, quickly beginning to gather them up. He continued speaking to Sejanus in a low voice. "Make sure you don't talk to any of the other Peacekeepers. If they ask you anything, tell them to talk to me."

"Coriolanus...." Sejanus swallowed visibly. "Are you going to...?" His eyes shifted towards the belt around Coriolanus' waist.

"Yes." Coriolanus answered the question without hesitation. "But not yet. I'm still too angry to deal with you right now."

"You don't sound angry...."

"Trust me. I am." Coriolanus began sorting out the items he needed to take with him...which wasn't all that much. "I will be dealing with you. But not here and not now. It'll be once we're safe and I don't need to worry about you getting yourself killed because you have no sense of self-preservation." He finished figuring out what he needed to take with him and then stretched out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling...knowing he should sleep, but unable to relax enough to.

"I'm sorry," Sejanus whispered.

"I wish you'd listened to me, rather than ignore me and risk yourself yet again." Coriolanus didn't look at Sejanus as he spoke. The bitter taste of fear, that he'd felt when watching Lucy Gray trying to survive in the arena, was in his mouth. If Sejanus kept talking, Coriolanus thought he might just punish him now...and he wasn't in the right headspace to do that. Not with how angry he was. If he tried to deal with Sejanus now, he'd likely take the skin off of Sejanus' backside. "We're not talking about this now," he said quietly. "Try to get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"I don't know if I can sleep knowing you're angry with me."

Coriolanus reached across the bed and took hold of Sejanus' hand. The feel of their hands clasped together calmed and settled something inside him, even if it did little to cool the hot pit of anger still in his stomach. "I can't lose you," he whispered. "Tomorrow is going to be hard. But it's something we'll get through, because we'll be together." And that was the important thing. Getting to safety with Sejanus and Lucy Gray. Nothing else mattered.

Sejanus didn't say anything. He didn't voice any apologies, or try to make any excuses. He just gripped hold of Coriolanus' hand and breathed slowly and deeply...like he was trying to avoid letting himself panic.

"Get some sleep," Coriolanus repeated. "Don't think about tomorrow. Just focus on getting through tonight. Without doing anything else stupid." A stern note slipped into his voice.

Sejanus nodded and lay back on his own bed, although he was careful not to pull his hand out of Coriolanus'. "I love you," he whispered.

Coriolanus breathed in deeply. He didn't respond to the words. He didn't pull his hand out of Sejanus'. He just gripped onto the other man tightly and closed his eyes.

Despite how tired he was, it took Coriolanus a long time to be able to fall asleep. His mind was working overtime, trying to plan for every possible thing that could go wrong for them before they finally managed to escape from District 12.

###

By the time Coriolanus and Sejanus had met Lucy Gray, the Peacekeepers had found two men from District 12 to blame for those who had been killed. And those men had been executed, in front of everyone in the District. 

Yet it was impossible to relax, or to assume the worst was over. There was still the possibility that the weapons would be found. And once they were, tracking them down to Coriolanus and Sejanus would be easy. There wasn't any choice other than to leave and try and carve out a safe haven for the three of them.

Right now, they'd found a cabin to shelter in from the rain. Lucy Gray moved over to the door, looking outside, before she then turned towards Coriolanus and Sejanus. "We'll shelter here until the rain stops...and then try and find District 13?"

"Are you even sure it exists?" Sejanus asked. "We were told that the entire district was destroyed. How could there be anyone left?"

"We don't know for sure," Coriolanus allowed. "But that's the only idea I have right now. If we get there and there's no one, or no leads to follow, I'll figure something else out." They'd succeeded in getting out of District 12, and even though they weren't out of danger yet, the success so far had helped to settle him. He was no longer too angry to deal with Sejanus and the other man's actions...and given the way Sejanus had been looking at him and how on edge he was, Coriolanus didn't see any reason to put things off. He caught Sejanus' eye and said, plainly, "I'm going to deal with your actions now, Sejanus. There's no point in putting this off anymore."

Sejanus' eyes widened a fraction and he looked towards Lucy Gray, swallowing visibly. "In front of Lucy Gray?" he asked, in a small voice.

Lucy Gray moved away from the door and closer to them. "What are you going to do?" she asked Coriolanus.

"I'm going to punish Sejanus for continuing to work with the rebels, even after I warned him not to and punished him for doing that earlier," Coriolanus replied. "You don't have to leave if you don't think it will make you uncomfortable."

She looked at him...then looked towards Sejanus before nodding. While she didn't say anything, she didn't make any move to leave the cabin. She just stood there and waited.

Coriolanus didn't ask her to leave. He didn't try to tell her that this might upset her. After all, she'd seen death through her whole life. Watching someone receive a deserved punishment would hardly be more traumatising than the rainbow of death Doctor Gaul had unleashed on the arena.

Sejanus turned his gaze back to Coriolanus, his eyes wide and pleading...although he didn't say anything. He must have seen in Coriolanus' eyes that he wasn't going to ask Lucy Gray to leave. He lowered his head, staring at the floor, shuffling his feet like a child who'd been naughty and was being scolded. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, in a small voice.

Coriolanus didn't respond with words. Instead, he walked over to Sejanus. He reached out and took hold of the other man's shoulder, turning him to face the wall. "Put your hands on the wall," he directed. "And stick your bottom out."

Sejanus looked worried...maybe even scared...but he didn't try to argue. Instead, he followed Coriolanus' orders: placed his hands on the wall to brace himself, and arched his back so that his bottom stuck out...an easy target for punishment.

Coriolanus undid the belt from around his waist and doubled it over in his hand. Stepping forward, he placed a hand on Sejanus' lower back and brought the belt back before letting it snap forward, striking the fullest part of Sejanus' backside with a loud CRACK.

Sejanus drew his breath in sharply and a soft yelp escaped his lips. His whole body tensed up and he cringed away from the belt...but only for a moment, before he was pushing his bottom out once again.

In response, Coriolanus brought the belt down a second and third time. Each stroke brought a yelp from Sejanus, although after his first shifting, he didn't try to move away from the belt again. As Coriolanus continued to bring the belt down hard, covering Sejanus' entire backside twice over, he could hear the other man beginning to sniffle.

Pausing in the strapping after the second circuit, Coriolanus reached out and hooked his fingers into Sejanus' trousers. He tugged those down, easing them over the other man's bottom and down around his legs. There was still a thin protection over his bottom from his white underwear, but Coriolanus could see the pink staining his backside through the white cotton of his underwear. The belting had clearly hurt enough even through two layers of protection...but Coriolanus intended to make this a lesson that would stick, since the previous punishments had done little to change Sejanus' behaviour.

Drawing the belt back, Coriolanus snapped it down, putting a bit more force behind it. He heard Sejanus' sharp intake of breath and saw him stamp his feet in response, but he stayed in position...and continued to do so as Coriolanus carried on bringing the belt down. His reactions became more pronounced when the belt landed against his unprotected thighs and he slumped forward, his forehead resting against the wall as he breathed in heavily.

Coriolanus didn't look to see how Lucy Gray was reacting to this. He waited, belt dangling from his hand, for Sejanus to straighten up and move back into position. He didn't need to ask to know that submitting to this punishment was hard. Sejanus was letting himself be hurt, letting himself be punished. Coriolanus expected him to submit, but he would give Sejanus time to pull himself together and offer himself up for discipline.

With a soft whimper, Sejanus straightened up again, pushing his bottom back out again. He was trembling and whimpering softly, holding his body tense, but didn't protest the continued punishment...or ask for it to stop.

"Good boy." Coriolanus gently rubbed Sejanus' back, letting the other man feel his approval. He continued to gently rub, even as he resumed bringing the belt down.

For a few moments, the only sounds in the cabin was the crack of leather and Sejanus' soft whimpers and cries. He managed to stay in position for the next two circuits from the belt...and then Coriolanus paused and prepared to tug Sejanus' underwear down.

"Coriolanus...." A sob was torn from Sejanus' throat.

"I warned you." Coriolanus kept his voice stern, rigid, unbending. "I told you what would happen if you disobeyed my orders. If you continued helping the rebels. I'm not going to go easy on you. I can't go easy on you." His voice dropped to a low, haunted whisper. "You coud have been arrested by the Peacekeepers. You could have been hanging there today."

"I'm sorry." Sejanus' voice broke, like he was going to break down completely. He didn't say anything else...didn't ask for the strapping to continue. He just squeezed his eyes shut and waited.

Coriolanus proceeded to pull Sejanus' underwear down to join his trousers. He then raised the belt and began to land it in hard stripes over Sejanus' naked backside, quickly turning pink skin to a bright, burning red.

It took a few strokes to bare skin before Sejanus began to sob, hard, like the cries were being wrenched from his throat. He didn't pull away from the strokes, but his body slumped forward and it looked like he was only holding himself in place with supreme strength.

Coriolanus kept his hand on Sejanus' back, continuing to bring the belt down...although he had to lessen the force he was using. No matter how much he wanted to make sure Sejanus remembered and thought next time...he wasn't immune to the other man's tears or pain. This wasn't what he wanted to do...but if he didn't do something, he was going to lose Sejanus. And that wasn't something he could ever allow to happen.

He hadn't said the words to Sejanus before, when Sejanus had told him his feelings. He said them now, though. Because he hoped that they would make a difference in Sejanus' behaviour and that he wouldn't need to do this again. "I love you."

Sejanus had already been obviously crying, but at Coriolanus' words, his crying became audible. He still stayed in position, bottom out for the strikes from the belt, but he was no longer holding himself tense. His body had relaxed, accepting the punishment.

Coriolanus stopped the strapping and took a deep breath. He felt close to tears himself, but forced them back. He dropped the belt and reached out, wrapping his arms around Sejanus and hugging him close and tight.

Responding to the embrace, Sejanus turned and burrowed into Coriolanus' arms, his shoulders shaking from the force of his sobs. He was all but clinging onto Coriolanus, like his own legs wouldn't support him right now.

Lucy Gray appeared at their side, holding a green plant in her hands. "The sap from this plant will help soothe the burn," she said. "Unless you want him to still feel the punishment's full effects while we're here."

Coriolanus held Sejanus close as he thought about it. The strapping had been severe. By the time he'd finished the punishment, it was obvious there would be bruising and welts. He felt that the severity of the punishment had been necessary...but it wasn't necessary for Sejanus to continue experiencing the full pain from the strapping. He gave Lucy Gray a nod of permission.

She nodded and moved round behind Sejanus, beginning to rub the sap into his naked bottom.

Sejanus whimpered softly and clutched more tightly at Coriolanus, hiding his face against his shoulder. "Burns," he whispered, his voice rough with tears.

"It needs to. You need to understand how serious I am about not losing you. And if I have to punish you again, I'll be cutting a switch and the punishment will be outside, where anyone will be able to see it." Coriolanus' voice wasn't nearly as stern as he wanted it to sound. He nuzzled the side of Sejanus' face and then kissed his cheek. "Don't make me do this again," he whispered hoarsely. "I can't lose you. I won't lose you."

"I'm sorry," Sejanus whimpered.

Coriolanus sighed. He thought perhaps he should scold Sejanus a bit more, but he couldn't bring himself to. Sejanus was warm and solid...he was alive and not hanging from a noose, or shot by the Peacekeepers. And he'd just been punished thoroughly. For now, all Coriolanus wanted to do was hold onto Sejanus...and take a few moments of peace with him and Lucy Gray before they had to continue running.

The End