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Chapter Text

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PROLOGUE

Somewhere in the hills of eastern Panem, a moth awakened from her daylong slumber to see moonlight shining brightly through the branches above. The predatory bird calls of the day had quieted into the soft chirping of crickets, and it was now safe to leave her well-camouflaged branch and resume her nightly search for a mate. (This search had, in fact, begun only two days ago with her exit from the cocoon, but the moth had no memory of that.) She shook out her dusty brown wings and took off into the night. The August air was thick and suffocating, even at this hour, and the still-drowsy moth spent several minutes bumping into tree trunks and snaky vines until she finally found her balance and fluttered her way out of the woods and into the open sky.

Strange, rhythmic vibrations shook her delicate wings as she got farther away from the treeline. The whole world felt slightly unstable. In the distance, the moth saw a faint yellow light and began to move towards it. The steady, purposeful motion calmed her, somehow. She could feel dark shapes moving below her like sapling trees in the wind, emitting small gusts of air at strange intervals, but ignored them in her struggle towards the light. She could see its warm, flickering brightness growing nearer and nearer. 

At just that moment, an giant owl swooped in out of nowhere and swallowed the moth whole. And the world changed forever.

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PART 1: THE BIRD

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Chapter One

Coriolanus and Sejanus hurried down the dirt road that led back to base. They could hear cheers emanating from the Hob as Maude Ivory's song ended and Lucy Gray resumed the stage. Yes, there were the faint chords of a song Coriolanus recognized from before, the one about Cupid being just a baby, another one of her many Billy Taupe numbers. He was starting to wonder himself what kind of mess Cupid had gotten him into.

Mayfair would tell, all right. If she hated Lucy Gray enough to send her into the arena, she would lose no opportunity to have the girl hung for being a rebel conspirator, if she could do so without implicating her own boyfriend in the process. And Coriolanus would hang, too. He had no idea where Billy Taupe and the mayor's daughter were now. They had disappeared sometime during the commotion at the shed, and by now they could be back at Mayfair's house blabbing to her daddy. He should have shot her when he had the chance. The peacekeeper rifle was sitting right there; he could have easily grabbed it and taken aim if that damned owl hadn't flown in and knocked over the lantern. It only took a moment for Spruce to shoot the owl dead and for Coriolanus to stomp out the flames that were beginning to catch on the hem of Lucy Gray's dress, but that moment was all it took. Billy Taupe and Mayfair were gone and their lies with them. There was only one thing to do now. They had to reach Commander Hoff before the Mayor did.

"What are we going to tell him?" asked Sejanus, slightly out of breath.

"You don't tell him anything. Let me do the talking. You've caused enough trouble for one night."

"I'm sorry, Coryo. I didn't mean for you to get involved in this. You know you're like a brother to me."

Coriolanus suddenly felt glad to be an only child, if this is what sibling relationships entailed. He was about to give Sejanus a stern, brotherly lecture about using some common sense for once, but they were now in earshot of the base, so the two walked in silence up to the main gate, where the armed guard punched in the numbers to let the young men enter. There were so many weaknesses in this fortress, so many ways the rebels could enter, with help from the inside. Even just a code. Coriolanus thought of the jabberjay remote and wondered what ever became of that bird.

They crossed the yard as quickly as they could without drawing suspicion, then slipped down a freshly mopped hallway. Coriolanus began banging on the metal door marked Officer's Lounge. The senior peacekeepers generally didn't like to mingle with privates during their off-duty hours, so they had their own private rec room. Bug had once been assigned to scrub the floors, and came back with tales of a beer fountain and a TV the size of a wall. (Bug was also prone to exaggeration.) 

Commander Hoff opened the door with a scowl. "Private Snow. Private Plinth. What is the meaning of this? You know this wing is forbidden to recruits."

"Yes, sir. I'm afraid this matter is urgent. We just overheard a rebel plot while we were down at the Hob and came back to report it to you immediately." Coriolanus had always been good at speaking to people in authority. They were like butter in his hands. The commander's face softened and he gestured the pair into the rec room (which did in fact have a giant TV. The beer fountain was apparently Bug's own invention.)

Coriolanus went on to tell the commander about the rebels' stolen weaponry and the plan to break out Lil. He did not mention Sejanus, who sat quietly, staring at the commander's glossy shoes.

"Who all is involved in this plot?"

"Fellow named Spruce. Billy Taupe, a former member of the Covey. And his girl Mayfair. Mayfair Lipp."

Sejanus shot him a wild look. True, Mayfair wasn't directly involved with the plot. But she would be if she had known about it. She would follow Billy Taupe anywhere. And this little white lie would keep Lucy Gray safe from suspicion.

"How are they planning to get on base?" the Commander demanded.

"They said..." 

Coriolanus was interrupted by a frantic Sejanus. "They said they were going to take out the guards at the front entrance with a sniper rifle. Smash the code lock. Then leave the same way they came in." Noticeably absent was any mention of the fence behind the generator.

"Is this true, Private Snow?"

Sejanus gave him a pleading look. Well, once the accused rebels were all in custody, the fence would be a moot point. And if Sejanus did find a way to break them out, Coriolanus would have nothing to do with it. He planned on spending the next few days far away from the walking disaster that was Sejanus Plinth.

"Yes, Commander. At least that's what they said."

"Good. Thank you, gentlemen. You've done Panem a great service tonight. Have a cold one before you go." Commander Hoff stood up and slid open a hidden door in the wood paneled wall, revealing Bug's infamous beer fountain. Coriolanus laughed. The little bugger wasn't crazy after all. "I've got to go make some phone calls," the commander said, "but Lieutenant Stone here will get you all fixed up." 

The two boys heaved a quiet sigh of relief as they put the day's troubles behind them.

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Four phone calls were made that night.

The first was from Commander Hoff to his officer stationed down at the Hob. The peacekeepers on duty quietly diverted Billy Taupe and Mayfair from the stream of audience members leaving the building, and  had them cuffed and secured in the back of the van before the band had even finished scraping all the coins from their battered instrument cases. All the way to base, Mayfair kept screaming something about Lucy Gray's new boyfriend, but they were both obviously drunk. "Aw, shut up about them, May," shouted Billy Taupe. "You're my girl now. That girl don't hold a candle to you." 

Another group of peacekeepers found Spruce in his own kitchen, with an oven full of owl and a pile of guns covered in snowy white feathers.

The second call was from Commander Hoff to President Ravinstill, who was still seated at dinner, thanks to the time zone difference. Hoff suggested that the president might want to consider appointing a new District 12 mayor, since Mayor Lipp's daughter had been conspiring with the rebels and the mayor himself was now suspect as well.

The third call was from the mayor's wife to Commander Hoff. Hysterical with tears, she revealed that her daughter Mayfair was in fact pregnant with the mayor's first grandchild and therefore should not be punished.

The fourth call was on a secure, private line from President Ravinstill to the laboratory of one Doctor Volumnia Gaul. Gaul was just unloading a copter full of jabberjays when her pager started flashing. "Finish these birds up. We should have had them done three days ago," she barked at a lab worker. "I want them all factory reset and put in long-term storage." And the tired, overworked lab assistant erased all the birds and went home.

Chapter Text

Coriolanus and Sejanus spent Sunday morning with a hangover. "Hey, why'd you bail on us?" asked Smiley at lunch. "You missed the best Hob show yet." Coriolanus would be surprised if any of them actually remembered the performance, but he kept his thoughts to himself. 

"Did you hear about the rebels they caught last night?" asked Beanpole, with a mouth full of pancakes. "Three of 'em. One is the mayor's daughter. That's why we're on lockdown."

"No, I hadn't heard," said Coriolanus.

On Monday morning, Coriolanus and Sejanus were called into Commander Hoff's office. "Well, gentlemen, it's certainly been a weekend, hasn't it?" The two looked at each other warily. "There's a hanging this afternoon and I want you both to be in the front row." 

"Who..." started Sejanus.

"The three rebels you intercepted. Spruce. Lil. Billy Taupe. Not the mayor's daughter, not yet. She's got one in the oven, so we have to wait." Coriolanus grasped his meaning, and tried to push unwelcome thoughts of Billy Taupe's previous relationship from his mind. "Funny," Hoff continued, "they all tried to bring you down with them. Said you two were in on it."

Coriolanus' breath caught in his throat.

"Of course, that's how all these rebels are. Throw the first punch and then blame it on the one who was hit. Well, they'll get the pleasure of seeing your smiling faces while they hang."

That afternoon, Coriolanus scanned the crowd for Lucy Gray, but she wasn't there. He hoped she was okay, just home sick or something, and hadn't been implicated in the plot as well. Spruce and Lil were silent and dignified as they were led to the gallows amid tears of friends and neighbors. Billy Taupe struggled against the guards the whole way. His last word, as the platform dropped, was, "Lucy!"

And Sejanus kept his eyes closed the whole time.

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Tuesday morning Sejanus was not in his bunk. Must be off sulking somewhere, thought Coriolanus, and thought nothing of it. Later that day, he noticed Sejanus had not marked off any of his chores on the mess hall sheet, and went to the infirmary to see if Plinth was ill. "Nope, haven't seen him all day," said the nurse. 

He didn't show up for dinner either. "Where is that boy?" Smiley muttered. "Bullseye would never miss hash." After clearing the dishes, Coriolanus left the mess hall through the back door and scanned the yard. All clear. He walked casually over to the generator and peeked behind it. Sure enough. Bent fence. Tracks in the mud. Well then, he'd really done it. Sejanus Plinth was gone.

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By Wednesday, the officers had noticed Sejanus' absence and questioned Coriolanus. "I haven't seen him since Monday, after the hanging. He was in his bed when the lights went out, and the next morning he was gone." The truth. Every inch of the base was scoured for clues, and finally someone found and fixed the gaping hole in the fence. Coriolanus wondered how Sejanus was faring, out there in the wilderness. At least, hopefully that's where he was, and not holed up somewhere in 12 where he could cause any more problems.

Three days passed with no word about Sejanus. Coriolanus wondered how Lucy Gray was doing. He hadn't seen her since last Saturday at the Hob. He wondered how she was taking the death of Billy Taupe. Had word gotten back to her that her name was the last word on his lips? Coriolanus knew he could never compete with a ghost. Dead men do no wrong. But the Covey would be singing at Commander Hoff's birthday celebration tonight, so at least he would know soon.

That night, Coriolanus slipped backstage after Lucy Gray finished her first number. She ran up to him and hugged him. "Oh, Coryo, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"I'm fine." He smoothed her hair with his hand. "Are you okay?"

"Well my best skirt is singed, and Billy Taupe is dead, but all in all I guess I'm alright, considering."

Coriolanus pulled away, glanced around the empty prep room, and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Did you have any trouble after... you know, the shed?"

"Well, they called me in for questioning. Said Mayfair kept talking about me, so they had to do it, just for safety. But that girl was drunk as a skunk, so nobody believed her. And after the hanging, well, then the whole town knew Billy was still sweet on me, so I guess they just figured that girl was trying to slander me for jealousy."

What Coriolanus really wanted to ask was if she was still sweet on Billy Taupe, her dead lover, but he decided not to. He remembered Sejanus. "Did you hear about Sejanus?"

"Yep. That boy came rappin' at my door earlier than the birds one morning. Said he was going off North and wanted to say goodbye. I gave him some food and some cooking knives. Not much of a weapon, but it was all I had."

Coriolanus had seen Sejanus throw a knife, and while his aim was not as precise as with a gun, he estimated the boy could achieve some damage if things came down to it. He was slightly miffed that Lucy Gray got a goodbye and not him, after all he had done for that Plinth boy. But good riddance. 

The chords of Maude Ivory's song began to draw to a close. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" he asked her.

Lucy Gray shook her head. "Nope, nothing playing. But if you're free, I thought we might go to the lake again." He gave her a quick kiss of assent and settled back into his seat as Lucy Gray took the stage. His bunkmates never even noticed he was gone. The next song was clearly written just for him. It even mentioned his name, Snow, and he felt himself relax even deeper. There was no question of where Lucy Gray's affections lie. Maybe she was right, they really did belong together, written in the stars. This life wasn't so bad after all. It wasn't University, but it was something.

The next morning at breakfast, he realized he no longer had a partner to leave base with. Smiley and Bug would have the story about Gent and and his singer all over base by Monday, so Beanpole was his only option. The Capitol boy had never said anything about recognizing Lucy Gray from the arena, so maybe he didn't even watch last month's Games. They still weren't that popular. So Coriolanus was probably safe. Beanpole said he was up for an adventure, so the two of them were just about to leave base when two guards stopped them and said the commander would like a word with Private Snow.

"What was that all about?" asked Beanpole fifteen minutes later, when Coriolanus emerged from the commander's office with a bunch of aides all patting him on the back.

"Officer's school," he said, looking slightly shaken. "I think... I'm going to officer's school."

"You think?" said Beanpole. "Well I think some celebration is in order! Where are we going today anyway?"

Coriolanus thought of Lucy Gray, waiting eagerly for him at this moment. Where indeed?

Chapter Text

Neither peacekeeper had thought to bring a raincoat, so they were drenched from the unexpected downpour by the time they reached the Covey house. Barb Azure opened the door. "Hey, we've got visitors." 

Lucy Gray smoothed her skirt and came over, casting a wary glance at Beanpole and then grinning at Coriolanus. "Hey, you made it. You look like a drowned rat." Maude Ivory giggled uncontrollably. "We're kind of rained in, so no lake today. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, that's Beanpole. He's no trouble." Raindrops were still rolling off of Coriolanus and sinking into the unpolished wooden floor all around him. Lucy Gray ran over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and returned, tossing them each a towel. Coriolanus could feel her eyes following him as he removed his drenched t-shirt and wrung it out on the doorstep before patting himself dry and putting it back on. He shot a slight smile in her direction and she looked away, blushing, pretending to fix her hair. 

Why did she choose today, of all days, to look so beautiful? He didn't want this moment to end. The warmth radiating from the woodstove. His girl looking at him with desire. And... grubby district faces squealing as they watched an actual rat dart across the uneven floorboards and into a crack in the wall. He was surprised no one suggested eating it. Did any of the tributes try to eat the rats in the zoo? 

The Covey pulled out their instruments and began to practice one of their numbers, one with those infernal harmonies he so loathed. Beanpole seemed to actually be enjoying himself. Coriolanus gritted his teeth and smiled until it was over. What would 20 years of this feel like, when he could barely tolerate two minutes? He laid a hand softly on Lucy Gray's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Is there someplace we can talk alone?"

She gave him a bemused look. "What, like another room?" She glanced briefly around the one room shack and then into his eyes, slightly embarrased. "I told you this is no president's mansion. But I do know one other place that's dry. Come."

She grabbed a bent umbrella from beside the door and ran out into the rain. Surprisingly, it was wide enough for them both. They walked quietly for several minutes, Coriolanus holding the umbrella while Lucy Gray held out her hand and let it fill with raindrops. They passed a primrose bush in bloom and he thought about picking one for her, just like the rose at the train station. She would probably eat it again, the silly girl. And then he would kiss her and tell her that she tastes like roses. But it was too late for that now. It would just be driving the nail in harder. Would she write songs about him, telling all of District 12 what a bad boyfriend he was after he was gone? 

Lucy Gray started humming a melody he vaguely recognized. "Are you, are you, coming to the tree?" Not Billy Taupe again. Well at least she would have her ghosts to keep her company. She pointed to something up ahead, and he saw they were at the hanging tree.

The tall grass was dark with rain except for one dry patch under the platform. Coriolanus closed the umbrella and crawled underneath the wooden stage gingerly, pressing his palms into the dirt. How much blood was he touching right now, district blood, rebel blood, seeping into his palms, contaminating him? He felt something wriggling beneath his fingers and flung the worm away with disgust. Lucy Gray laughed and continued humming. Well, at least it was dry under here. And there was no birdsong to mimic her on repeat. They must have all been hiding from the rain. 

"I know you're leaving," said Lucy Gray, before Coriolanus could even form the sentence. She looked at him. "You're going off to find Sejanus."

Well that wasn't exactly it, but it was basically the same, as far as she was concerned. "How did you know?" 

She played with a clump of grass near her feet, twisting it into a tightly coiled rope and then letting it unwind. "I could feel it in the air. In the way you touched me just earlier. I went walking one day and my pretty birds told me, Lucy Gray, you're going to lose every man you ever loved, so you better be strong and just do what we birds do. Keep on sing, sing, singing their song, long after they're gone. To remember them by. That's all I can do."

He didn't really have anything to say to that. "So you're not mad at me... for leaving?"

She sighed. "I am very, very mad at you, Coriolanus Snow. But I can't cage you. I tried to hang onto Billy Taupe after he had a mind to go, and look what happened to him."

He didn't have anything to say to that either. So they just sat and listened to the raindrops on the platform above them, for what felt like hours, until it slowed to a soft drizzle. "Well, I guess we best be heading back. They'll be wondering where we got off to." Lucy Gray crawled out from under the platform and readjusted her skirt. It wasn't the colorful one from last night, the dress from the arena. Just gray. A little gray bird. Coriolanus followed with the umbrella, closed this time. There was a distance between them now. 

Lucy Gray hummed quietly to herself the rest of the way back, as Coriolanus let his thoughts stray to officers' school. The hovercraft was coming tomorrow morning to take him to District 2, in the mountains. Sejanus' home district. Surely Plinth wouldn't be stupid enough to try and go back there? Whatever memories it held weren't worth the risk of capture. But then, he secretly doubted that Sejanus had ever really been happy anywhere. A pitiful thought. Maybe he would take the marble heart from Sejanus' box and leave it somewhere in District 2, as a final goodbye to that boy with the gumdrops.

They reached the Covey house and Coriolanus could hear Maude Ivory's clear soprano ringing out from inside:

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side.

Coriolanus reached for the door handle, but Lucy Gray stopped him, grabbing his hand, pulling him towards her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard. He savored it. Finally she pulled away. "That was for old times' sake. Auld Lang Syne."

"What?"

"Another song. Never did get to sing you that one. But as they say, the show's not over till the mockingjay sings." She gave him a wink, and went back in the house, the screen door banging behind her.

And that was the last time he ever saw Lucy Gray Baird.

Chapter Text

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PART 2: THE MOTH

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Chapter Four

A weak December sun rose over the Capitol, spreading its thin rays across Coriolanus' old bedroom. Thick layers of frost covered the window so he could barely see the fresh white blanket covering the Corso. But he already knew that University classes had been cancelled from the television sounds drifting in from the other room. The first snow day of the year. But then, wasn't every day a Snow day?

Bacon smells wafted in from the kitchen. Ma was at it again. Must be a fresh shipment from District 10. Supply chains were opening back up, and Coriolanus couldn't be more pleased. He rolled out of bed and gently touched each item on his nightstand before getting dressed for the day - his family photos, his father's compass, and his mother's powder compact. This was his ritual. This kept his world in order. And each day the compact smelled a little more like rose powder and a little less like rat poison. No one suspected him for the death of Dean Highbottom. That man was too miserable for this world anyway. Coriolanus had basically done him a service. 

He grabbed a few slices of bacon and a cornbread muffin from the counter where Ma was already started on lunch, and wolfed them down as he headed for the front door. He stopped at the coat rack, donning a long black wool coat that came down past his knees. His father's. He topped it off with his old orange scarf and checked himself in the mirror by the entry. Classy. Like a Snow.

"No school today, didn't you hear?" Tigris was still in her bathrobe and slippers, curled up on the new couch with a mug of hot chocolate, getting ready to watch her favorite weekday morning fashion show that she usually missed because of work.

"I know. Going to the lab." 

"Okay. Have fun. Don't get eaten."

Coriolanus gave her a choice finger, flipped the scarf over his shoulder, and strode out of the apartment. The elevator and the lobby had both been recently remodeled, thanks to an influx in funding from the Plinths. He flashed a charming smile at the receptionist and then walked out into the deep snow. Despite it being his family name, he didn't really like the white fluffy stuff too much. It reminded him of those dark winters during the war. Luckily Gaul's lab was just a short walk down the Corso.

Just last month, Coriolanus had been given his own key to the lab when Gaul assigned him to a special project involving mutant battle sharks. The sharks weren't there yet; their embryos would be shipped in later from District 4. And he wasn't even really going to work with them. He was just the strategist. He would assign the objectives, and the genetic coders and animal trainers could work out the details later. Honestly that mess was beneath him anyway. Not that the lab workers weren't smart. He actually found most of them to be pretty stimulating company, on the days when he wasn't attending University classes. But the animals themselves bothered him. He didn't relish the thought of being alone with that menagerie of horrors, which is almost certainly what he would face today, since none of the other lab assistants would be at work on a snow day. But he would suck it up, for his career. Maybe leave a little timestamped note on Gaul's desk just to prove he'd been there. Besides, what other plans did he have for the day? Stay home and watch fashion shows with Tigris? He could literally feel his brain shrinking at the thought of it.

The first thing that registered each time he entered the lab was the smell. Fecal. Chemical. Revolting. Next came the undecipherable chorus of bestial sounds emerging from its maze of corridors. He didn't like the idea of there being languages he couldn't understand. Anyone could be discussing him at any moment, leaving him no way to jump in and defend himself. Luckily he had never encountered any such language barriers in the human world, unless he counted the antiquated speech of the Covey. But there was no way of telling which animals were silently judging him from behind their beady eyes as he worked his way through each corridor, turning on every light in the building, even the desk lamps in empty side offices. A wasteful habit, Tigris would say, trained by the war, but he needed to make sure nothing was lurking in the corners, waiting to jump out and bite him. Like Clemensia.

He hadn't seen much of Clemmie since he got back from 12. They didn't share any classes, even though her advanced-track poly-sci/history curriculum was bound to overlap his at some point. The only time they'd exchanged words was last week on the quad when he'd done a double take, seeing her walking arm in arm with Festus Creed. "What are you staring at, Blondie?" said Festus, then turned to give Clemensia a quick kiss before disappearing into a lecture hall.

"What?" said Clemensia. "Don't look at me like that. Festus is a good guy." Coriolanus narrowed his eyes at her. Clemmie was probably the only girl he had ever met who was smarter than he was. As for Festus... well, he wasn't sure what Festus' actual major was. But he was definitely minoring in posca. 

"I wasn't going to say anything. I mean... as long as you're happy with him."

Clemensia sighed. "Coriolanus, a girl's gotta relax sometime or she'll go insane. You know what I'm like. To be with someone of that same intensity 24/7... our same intensity..."  Her snake eyes locked with his. She lowered her voice to a whisper, unblinking. "You know I love a competition, Coryo. Always will. But sometimes..." By now her words were a barely perceptible hiss. 

"Sometimes it's nice to know who's on top."

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Coriolanus worked on the shark plans until well after lunchtime. Deep in concentration, he could no longer even hear the lab animals' chatter as he fleshed out the final phase of his strategy. He hoped Dr. Gaul would be pleased with his proposal. He had even snuck in a mention of her three C's.

His stomach gurgled and he began to pack up his things. Ma's cooking was calling, and then maybe a good game of chess with Strabo in front of the fire. 

He went around turning out lights, saving the primate corridor for last. This was his least favorite part of the lab, even worse than than the aviary. This morning he had been distracted, replaying last week's conversation with Clemensia. But now, with hunger and fatigue beginning to set in, the row of glass cages stretched long before him. 

Whoever had wired this building must have been on morphling, because not all of the light switches were in logical places. Some became obscured by closet doors as soon as they were opened. Many were crooked. One lay unaesthetically close to a heating vent, which made Coryo's eyes twitch. And the sole light switch for the primate wing had been placed halfway down the corridor.

He tried not to look at the faces pressed up against the glass as he made his way down the hall. They reminded him of tributes in the zoo, with their dark eyes staring, uncannily like his own. Despite these cages being made of bulletproof glass, Coriolanus couldn't help thinking of Arachne Crane, and maintained as much distance as he could between himself and the apes. Finally, the switch.

Now it was black, except for one tiny red exit sign to orient him back the way he came. He could never decide if no longer being able to see the animals made things better or worse. He kept one hand on the wall opposite the cages, for balance, and began walking slowly towards the dim light. The darkness was suffocating, and the tiniest sounds seemed to echo like cannon blasts. An ape scratching itself. A creak, somewhere in the distance. 

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side.

No. The last thing he needed was a brain bogged down with music. Especially that irritating song. He breathed heavily, barely able to contain his growing anxiety.

And he was not the only one.

Coriolanus froze. He could hear it now, a husky breathing, coming from somewhere else in the corridor, somewhere outside his own chest. He took in one last lungful of air and then waited, listening. The other thing stopped its breathing too. A chill raised the flesh on his arms. One of Gaul's unnatural mutts, then. Smart. Cunning. Stalking him in the darkness. And he, completely defenseless against it. Terror overwhelmed him, and he broke out in a mad run for the door.

Right into something big and hairy. 

Chapter Text

The thing let out an inhuman, high-pitched shrieking sound, and Coriolanus could hear his own screams answering at an octave nearly as high. This was worse than the arena. Worse than the fight at the Hob. Animal instinct took over. He threw a wild punch and then kicked at the being's legs, knocking it to the ground. The sound of broken glass. Sharp teeth like needles sank into his arm and he cried out in pain. He tried to wrest his arm free, but there was nothing to break away from, so he spun wildly and fell backwards onto the floor. The dark shape resumed its footing and lumbered towards him. He leapt up and pressed himself flat against the wall. The teeth were still in his arm, seemingly disembodied from their host. He shoved the large, hairy creature to the ground again and began kicking with all his might. It let out a groan. The teeth pulled themselves from his forearm and something latched onto his face, scratching and biting, blocking all vision. He yanked the hairy thing away and flung it across the room where it landed with a wail. He could see the exit sign. How far was the door? Too far. Groping the wall frantically, he searched for the cursed lightswitch. When his hand finally hit plastic, Coriolanus shut his eyelids as tight as possible, and flipped the switch.

For a moment he stood there, afraid to open his eyes. He could still hear the larger animal breathing on the floor, but nothing else seemed to be moving. A drop of blood trickled down his forehead, tracing the line of his nose. When it reached his lips, he licked it off, grimacing at the coppery taste. Well, it was now or never. Whatever was there, he would face it like Crassus Snow.

Slowly, he opened one eyelid. The apes were huddled against the back wall of their cages. A tiny brown monkey lay dead at the other end of the corridor. And at his feet, curled up and shaking in the fluorescent light, was a woman in a fine fur coat.

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Oh shit, he thought, frozen in place. I've just killed Doctor Gaul. But the woman on the floor was still breathing, and thankfully, he noted, was much too young to be Gaul. She sat up slowly, wincing, and Coriolanus quickly realized that this person's expensive coat was the finest thing about her. Beneath her furs, the girl was slightly chunky and wore a set of ill-fitting white scrubs. She was not much older than him, obviously one of the lab workers, though not one he had met before. Her hair was sloppily cut, chestnut brown and unremarkable except for a garish streak of lime green on each side. Her nose was puffy and red. What river did Gaul drag her out of? Coriolanus wondered, as his heart rate slowly returned to normal.

The girl fumbled around on the floor, searching for something, then squinted up at him in confusion. "Who are you?" she asked warily. "Where's Xeros?"

He set her first question aside for the moment to address the second. "Xeros?"

"My copy monkey." 

Oh, you mean the little demon that attacked my face? Coriolanus wanted to say. "I'm... afraid he didn't make it. He's over there. Gave me a good scratching."

The girl followed his gaze. "Poor Xeros. He does that. Or did. He was my trained protector, you know, as well as a superb copyist. I never let him touch the coffeepot though. Too many hairs. And I didn't need a hyper monkey." She looked around. "Have you seen my glasses?"

Coriolanus lifted his foot. So that was the sound of breaking glass. In his state of terror he'd irrationally thought it was the cages. "Um... it looks like I wrecked those too. Zero for two today." 

"It's alright," she said with a sigh. "I have another pair at home. Pretty much blind without them, though." 

Her brown eyes looked perfectly normal to him, except for a few green flecks that matched the streaks in her hair. Maybe she was just faking it for attention. "Sorry," he said. "I wasn't expecting anyone else in here today, with the snow and all."

She squinted up at him again. "Oh, I have a project I've been working on. Not for Gaul, just on my own. But it looks like it's not going to happen today. Or at least, not until I can train another monkey." She looked down the hall towards Xeros. "Say, do you think you could... help me clean all this up?"

Coriolanus sighed. That meal in front of the fire was growing ever farther away. He carefully scooped the dead monkey onto a stack of file folders, making mental note to take it to Gaul's freezer of snake food on the way out. He knelt down and helped the girl gather up her papers, eager to leave. And that's when he noticed her ring.

Set within a silver shield was a stylized moth with emeralds for eyes, wings outstretched beneath a crescent moon. He could not make out the letters etched below, but Coriolanus would recognize that crest anywhere. It belonged to Opellius Vern, Ravinstill's Secretary of Commerce. Vern was old money, probably the third or fourth richest man in all of Panem. And that meant that the haphazard being before him could only be one person - Vern's daughter Cessily.

He recognized her now. Cessily Vern had been in Tigris' class at the Academy, though she had obviously packed on a few pounds since graduation, and the green hair was new. What she was doing working in Gaul's lab was hard to say. But Coriolanus realized it might be beneficial for him to try and make a good impression on someone with her powerful connections. Or at least, as much of one as he could salvage after beating her up, breaking her eyeglasses, and killing her monkey.

He rose to his feet, dusted off his pants, and cleared his throat. "I just realized, we haven't been formally introduced yet. Coriolanus Snow," he said, extending a hand to help the disheveled creature to her feet. 

"Thanks. I'm Cessily," she replied, taking his hand in her own.

And once again, the world shifted ever so slightly.

Chapter Text

When they finally locked the laboratory doors and exited the building, snow was coming down so thick that Coriolanus could hardly see his own boots. The only thing visible was a row of hanging streetlights receding into the distance, tricked on by the deep blue cloud cover of an early nightfall.

"Well, bye," said Cessily, and started shuffling down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" he said, still trying to process everything that had just happened. He couldn't read her flat demeanor at all. If Cessily went home and told her father some story about the Snow boy being a fumbling idiot in the lab... "Don't you have to... What was it you came to the lab for?" She held up her stack of manila file folders. "Oh."

The soldier plods ahead, while an officer is quick to divert the troops. Evaluate the situation. Change of plans. He held out an arm. "Walk you home?"

Cessily piped cheerily over her shoulder, "No, I'm fine. I do this all the time."

"Without glasses?" She shrugged. "Really," said Coriolanus, "I insist."

She turned to face him. "Okay, but it's a long way. I live in the south quarter."

That wasn't right. The Vern mansion was just over there, on one of the tree-lined streets behind the President's mansion. The south quarter was just... nowhere. Nowhere anyone lived, anyway.

He frowned. "Are you sure?"

She laughed. "I think I know where I live."

Divert the troops, he thought with a shrug. Besides, the long walk would give him a chance to assess this person and avoid having to show Tigris his monkey scratches. "Alright," he said. "Lead the way."

-----------------------------

Xeros was one of four monkeys living in Cessily's private apartment, he quickly learned (shudder), and the animal would need to be replaced immediately. "My cleaning monkey can't do office tasks, and I need to save Hairless Max for the kitchen. Roberta is just for laundry."

"Don't you have domestic staff?"

"No," she chimed, and continued plodding through the ankle-deep snow covering the sidewalk.

"But your father surely---" Oops. That was a social gaffe, implying that he knew or cared about her parentage. Hide your position well, your knowledge of the enemy's position better.

"Oh, my father has plenty of staff," she waved. "But I don't live with him. Not anymore."

And why should she? Opellius Vern owned plenty of apartment buildings in the city (though many called it a conflict of interest due to his cabinet position). It would be easy enough to give one to his daughter. Though why she would want to be so damn far from everything... his wet socks were already starting to chafe inside his boots, and they had barely left the city center.

"I don't think I could stand living with animals," he confessed. "Plants are enough work. So needy."

"Ha," said Cessily. "Try humans."

"My staff aren't too bad," he fibbed. "Just an older couple. She cooks and he... manages the household." He made a silent apology to Strabo Plinth and reminded himself to never invite Cessily over for dinner.

"Hmm," she said, still staring ahead into the snow. "I've never had anything but bad experiences with servants. Or fathers, for that matter."

He knew he should say something sympathetic, but reverted back to the monkey business instead. "Well, I've never had anything but bad experiences with animals. I still don't know how you can trust them to not destroy your house. There's a reason Gaul's cages are bulletproof."

"Well, I love animals. I bred and trained the monkeys myself, so they're no problem. I also had a cat once and she was sweet. I mean, she did destroy stuff, but nothing too valuable." 

The Grandma'am actually didn't mind cats too much. Coriolanus recalled how she used to let Tigris feed a stray tom in alley beside their building, but it stopped coming around shortly after the start of the war. Probably met the same fate as the maid. 

"What happened to yours?" he asked. "I mean your cat?"

"Staff."

He turned to her, startled. Her own staff? Not cannibals, but close. He fumbled for a reply. "Well, I mean, I guess a lot of people were hungry during the war."

Cessily looked confused.

"I mean animals," he quickly corrected. "People too busy fighting to feed their animals... and stuff. I don't know. I was pretty young." Young and stupid. Stupid, stupid.

She shook her head.  "No, no, no. This was later. A lot later." 

He waited.

Cessily sighed. "So when I was a kid, we had this cook from D7, and she had a granddaughter who lived with us because she had nowhere else to go, I guess. And Limber and I, that's the girl, would play together all the time. Just dolls, hide and seek, normal kid stuff. I mean, I never had any siblings and Mother was too frail to leave her room, so I guess my dad thought there wasn't any harm in it. She was a year older than me. But then her grandma died and she had to become the new cook, so we didn't really talk much after that."

"What about the cat?"

Cessily skirted around a trash can that had tipped over and then looked at him, hesitantly. "Well, I had my sweet sixteen party. I think your cousin was there..." 

Ha! Faux pas, Coriolanus thought to himself, glad he wasn't the only one stumbling over the social graces tonight.

"...and Limber was supposed to cook for it of course. But the day before, she got a telegram saying that her father was dying back in District 7 and she needed to go see him. And my father said absolutely not, you are staying here to cook for the party." 

"Okay," he said, trying to remember to ask Tigris about it later.

"So the morning of my sixteenth birthday, I wake up and feel something dripping on me. And I open my eyes and there's this huge writing on the wall above my bed, and my cat is just lying there dead..." She paused. "And it's written in her blood."

"What is?" He looked at her, a little concerned. She was barely holding it together, not that Cessily Vern seemed very together in the first place.

"DIE, CAPITOL BITCH." 

Coriolanus was stunned. He'd heard of servants rebelling, but... "What happened to her?" he asked. "The cook?"

"She ran away. My dad tracked her down and shot her."

"Good."

She looked at him. "Why?"

"Because she hurt you. And your cat."

"But she was also my friend."

"No she wasn't."