A Baird and the Snow

The Hob

"It's time to move out!"

Coriolanus felt Lucy Gray jerk awake, causing her to lose her balance, but his firm grip around her waist held her up. Her eyes were alert as she stood up straight, paying attention to what was going on around her.

Coryo could feel his heart pounding in his chest. This was really happening and there really was no turning back now.

Lennox was navigating the crowded hoverplane, making his way to the front so he could command his team. "We'll be landing in less than a minute, so wake up and be prepared for anything. We all know what the Capitol is capable of," His hard eyes met Coryo's and then Lucy Gray's. "Let's not forget it," he said before turning around to face the doors of the hangar.

The general was much different when he was on a mission. He lost the gentleness that he always embodied while around his wife and he no longer had the smile on his lips that accompanied her presence. His ease vanished with the calm environment of the base and instead he became focused and determined, his body language demonstrating his readiness.

Coriolanus looked away to find Lucy Gray pulling a pistol from a holster on her hip. She began loading it with a kind of expertise he hadn't seen before. He watched curiously until she paused under his gaze and met his eyes.

"What is it?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He just shrugged. "I didn't know you could— did Lennox teach you that?"

Lucy Gray nodded with a small smile. "When you were recovering," she said, poking him in the ribs. Then, she spun the gun around her finger before holstering it again.

Coriolanus found it weirdly attractive, especially when she grabbed his gun from his hip and started to do the same thing. But the urge to kiss her disappeared when the entire ship shook from the landing and Lucy Gray shoved the gun back into his holster as the hangar doors began to open.

He could already see people from 13 running off the hoverplanes— the ones that had landed before them— and the air quickly filled with shouts and gun shots that got louder and more consistent with each passing second.

The hangar was empty in seconds, leaving Coriolanus and Lucy Gray standing in the back, both of them holding their breath. He could tell she was feeling the same fear coursing through his body but he was pulled out of it when suddenly Lucy Gray grabbed the lapels of his uniform and pulled him in for a fast, hastened kiss.

"Don't die, Coriolanus Snow," she whispered against his lips. "If you die, I swear I'll kill you again, you hear me?"

He couldn't help it— he laughed softly. "The same goes for you, Lucy Gray Baird," he said, kissing her temple. "Stay nearby. No matter what." she nods and then they just let themselves be in this quiet moment.

They both took a deep breath and then she broke the silence. "Let's go."

Coriolanus swung the rifle on his back into his hands, cocking it and holding it up to his face as he ran down the ramp, staying close to Lucy Gray.

•••

Chaos. Complete chaos was the only thing that Lucy Gray could see from the moment she stepped off the ramp.

Capitol peacekeepers littered the floor, their pristine, white uniforms stained red from their bullet wounds. Their own lay on the ground, sitting in a pool of their own blood. Some were still alive, moaning and crying out for help from the pain.

Lucy Gray felt her heart in her throat, in her stomach, everywhere at once and she felt sick. Suddenly she couldn't move and she couldn't breathe. The smell of iron was filling her lungs and it was making her dizzy.