Coriolanus Snow X Reader (The Hunger Games)

Part 17

ONE DAY BEFORE THE 10TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
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Coriolanus Snow jogs throughout the halls of one of the Capitol buildings, making his way to the room he was supposed to be in 7 minutes ago, but like usual he was running late. When he enters, Mr. Highbottom is there waiting for him. "What took you so long? We don't have much time." He grunts. "Dr. Gaul wanted to speak with me." Coryo responds, and this was true for once. He's directed to his station where Y/N was waiting for him on the other side of the table. Plopping down onto the hard chair, he notices Y/N's hands were cuffed; all of the tributes's hands were. "Why'd they cuff you?" He asks, frowning. "Guess we're too untrustworthy." Y/N shrugs, then smirks at Coryo. "Maybe because they can't even trust a certain mentor." She chuckles. "Hey! I just had a long talk with Dr. Gaul and I believe I've earned her trust. Mostly. She wanted me to recite the rules to her and ask me all these questions about the games like I was going to be the next President or something. How stupid is that?" Coryo shakes his head while smiling. "President Snow, I like the sound of that." Y/N replies jokingly. She knew he was too good of a man to fight to keep the games in place. She was sure he wanted them to end just as much as she did. The only thing Y/N liked about the games was the fact they met each other through them. Otherwise, she couldn't see herself nor Coryo killing someone. She couldn't help but wonder about Aaron's mentor, Sejanus. He seemed so adamant about ending the games as well, but his plan is to do it with more violence? Have more tributes, including herself, killed? There had to be another way.

The Dean clears his throat. "You will have 15 minutes to sit here and discuss strategy with your tribute. Afterwards, you will be taken to tour the arena. You may begin." He tells everyone before turning around and chugging a small bottle of some kind of liquid. "So, what's our strategy, Mr. Snow?" Y/N asks her mentor, still in a bit of a joking mood. "You run. You hide. Only kill someone if they tried to come at you first. You've got plenty of donations so I'm not too worried about food or water, you just have to keep a sharp eye on the entire time you're in that arena." Coryo tells his tribute. "Okay. But, say everyone, especially Aaron, wants to go after me right as the bell rings. And I'd have no weapons and we both know I'm not strong enough to fist fight them. Then what?" She tilts her head, curious as to what his advice would be. "You won't have to worry about that. I'll have it covered." He replies in a whisper. Y/N's expression turns serious and she leans in to whisper as well. "Coryo.. you're not planning on cheating, are you?" She asks with an eyebrow raised. "Like I said, don't worry about it." He whispers back. "No, Coryo, you could be killed if they find out. Why would you risk your life for me?" She didn't understand. "Because, I love you, Y/N. And if anything happens to you in that arena it'll be my fault. Which is why I won't let that happen. Trust me." Coriolanus says, biting his lip. Y/N looks deeply into his icy blue eyes for a few seconds before nodding, and the two press their foreheads together as a symbol of trust.

     "Enjoy the show!" A robotic voice echoes throughout the arena as tributes and mentors enter. The arena was smaller than Y/N had anticipated, and it looked very old. They must've used this place prior to The Hunger Games, who knows for what. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, anyway. The rock walls had cracks in them and looked as if they'd come crumbling down with one flick of a finger. The ground was composed of hard, dry sand that made it feel like they were walking on flat rocks. It was so structured that their footprints barely left an imprint in the sand. Might as well be like falling on concrete, Y/N thought. She reaches her hand out to Coryo, who grabs it immediately and she can't help but smile at his little squeeze of reassurance. The duo of mentor and tribute survey the arena, both looking for places Y/N could hide. They couldn't really find anything, the arena was just a dome where a bloodbath was going to be inevitable. Y/N suddenly gets a wave of anxiety, her pulse and breath growing rapid. "Coriolanus.." she gulps. "I'm going to die here, aren't I?"

    The mentor stops in his tracks and steps in front of Y/N, leaning down to be eye level with her. He places both hands on her shoulder firmly and shakes his head. "Y/N, listen to me." He says and Y/N tries to avoid looking at him, Coryo quickly directing her eyes back to his by gently lifting her chin. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you in here, or anywhere. You got that? You're going to win this. We're going to win this. No matter the cost. Okay? I prom-" he's interrupted when the sound of guns firing erupt in the arena. Coriolanus barely has time to look at the anonymous troop of rebels entering the area, killing each Peacekeeper they see in order to get inside. In the matter of seconds, everything changes. The rebels start shooting at the tributes and mentors who have no where to run as there were also rebels blocking the entrance/exit. Coryo watches in horror as two of his fellow mentors fall to their ultimate doom; one of which was his class partner. "Y/N! GET BEHIND ME!" He yells, sliding in front of his tribute and acting as a body shield to her. A tribute- the girl from 2 goes down. Bullets buzz by Coryo's ear, one coming so close he had to push Y/N over to avoid either of them getting hit. He lays on top of her, looking into her frightened eyes.

     The rebels bring in a set of heavier guns, however they were not aimed at the people inside the arena, but rather at the arena itself. They fire- the large, heavy bullets flying just a few feet above Coriolanus and Y/N before hitting their target. The already unstable walls make a crumbling sound, and soon enough each wall had been shot at. The walls rumble for a few seconds before they come crashing down, a cloud of debris and dust filling the small space. Coryo still lays atop of Y/N to keep anything from getting on her. Y/N was trying to wiggle away from her mentor, as she didn't want him to get hurt because of her again. However, she was no match against his weight. The least she was able to do is put her arms around his head and hold it tightly against her chest. The two got lucky and the debris missed them. However, another tribute wasn't so lucky and had been struck and killed. Just as they thought it was over, Coriolanus hears that same rumbling sound above them. Y/N hears it too, and they both look up to see the cause. The rebels had shot one more round at the roof before fleeing. Now, much larger debris was falling directly towards them. They had to move now. Coryo quickly lifts himself off of Y/N and helps her to her feet. "Run." He says deeply.

     The pair race towards the door which was now unblocked. Coryo glances behind him every few seconds to make sure he still saw Y/N, and he did all the way up until he made it to the gate. When he turned around one final time, Y/N was 12 steps behind him and being tackled by another tribute. There was no time to think, he takes off back towards her just as a large piece of the roof falls on top of Y/N and the other tribute. The force of the crash caused another enormous dust cloud to sweep through the entire arena. Coryo was by the worst of it; dust got in his eyes, his nose, and his throat. He muffles a cough and blinks a few times until he could see again. His heart raced as he lifted pieces of the roof off of Y/N until he could safely pull her out. The only injury he could see was a gash on her forehead. He would've used his red jacket if it didn't have dust all over it, instead he pulls out his father's handkerchief and presses it firmly against the wound. He didn't care about the blood getting on it, he was too worried about Y/N, who's eyes were still closed.

     "Y/N? Y/N??" He calls to her but wasn't getting a response. He wipes some of the dust from her beautiful face so it didn't bother her, shaking his head in fast motions as it all went up his nose. Coryo inhales and takes a moment to bury his face in his elbow and let out a sneeze. "Bless you," he hears a small voice say, immediately turning his attention to where it came from. Y/N was alive. He carefully lifts her into a sitting position, checking for any other injuries. "I'm okay, just scratched me up a bit. I think he got the worst of it.." she motions to the other tribute who was piled under the debris and wasn't moving, and most likely never would again. Coryo sighs in relief, wrapping his arms gently around his tribute, just being thankful that she was alive and wasn't hurt too bad. The gash on her forehead would need a few stitches, and she'd probably have a headache for the rest of the day. Coriolanus would take care of her, though. He stands, swooping Y/N into his arms and carrying her out of the arena bridal style.