Manel

I feel so alone. I know I'm not. I'm surrounded by peacekeepers guarding me from any potential rebel attacks. But they're bodyguards, not moral support. As much as I'd love to bring Eidolon here, I can't let the rebels know how much I care about him, just in case they use him against me.

I might never see him again. They might drag me away as soon as the treaty's signed. But it would be worth it just to keep him safe.

My loneliness makes me feel vulnerable. I tell myself I have nothing to worry about. The rebels know that, if they harm me, my peacekeepers have orders to kill Ramona. If I harm them, their army will attack the Capitol.

But my gut tells me that Fawkes will bring trouble with him, like he always does.

The three of them all walk in together, the rebellion's head, its face and its muscle. Alma Coin sits directly across from me, the treaty in her hands. She frowns at me, her face severe.

Fawkes sits next to her. For a second, I can't breathe. He's just as perfect and polished as he always is. He walked in with a gold-headed cane but, somehow, it just makes him look more elegant. His eyes harden behind his glasses when he realises I've been staring.

"I like your suit," I say.

"I like yours," he says.

Lumas Taffeta is the only one who shows a sign of weakness.

"Where's Ramona?" He asks. He looks like he hasn't had a wink of sleep last night.

"She's just outside," I say. "I'll bring her through when the treaty's signed."

"Can't I see her?" Lumas asks. "I want to know if she's still alive."

"I want to get this treaty done," I say.

"He has a point," Fawkes says. "This should be easy, Lumas."

Lumas scowls and sits down. He keeps fidgeting, adjusting his tie. He's nervous.

Coin clears her throat to speak. I take the leap.

"I have one condition," I say. "There's one thing I want to happen before I sign the treaty."

"You're in no position to make demands, Mr Lobos," Coin says, grimly.

"I am in a position to have Ramona Hirose shot," I say. "So I get one demand."

"We'll do it," Lumas says.

"You don't even know what it is yet," Fawkes says. "What is it?"

"Eidolon Wrack gets complete immunity," I say. "Whatever you were planning to do to him, I want to make sure he's kept alive, in an environment where he feels safe and happy. That's it. That's the only reason why I wanted this treaty."

"That's it?" Fawkes asks. His eyes light up. "That seems fair. Is he okay? I haven't heard from him since the Quell."

"He's getting better," I say. I don't know why I say it. Fawkes just seems genuinely concerned over Eidolon's wellbeing. "He still can't speak but he doesn't want to die anymore. I'm worried he might lash out if you have him arrested or take him somewhere unfamiliar."

Fawkes nods. He looks like he understands. Coin doesn't.

"Eidolon Wrack is a very dangerous individual. What if he's an assassin?"

"He's not," Fawkes says.

"How do you know?" Coin asks. "Why else would a president care so much about a tribute from the Quell? Why else would he arrange this meeting just to give him immunity? Isn't that strange?"

Fawkes smiles, knowingly. "I don't think it's strange at all."

My blood runs cold. Fawkes knows. He must've figured out I'm in love with Eidolon from what I've already said.

Now he can either use that knowledge against me or save it for another time.

"Sometimes, when you know you can't save yourself," Fawkes says. "You want to do one good thing, just to show the world you're not a monster. Saving Eidolon is Manel's one good thing. And I'm going to make sure Eidolon's safe."

"On whose authority?" Coin asks.

"Mine." Fawkes says.

Coin doesn't argue. I realise that, during the war, my ex-boyfriend has become a very powerful man. I wonder what it means for me.

"If he wanted to be kind, he'd just let Ramona go," Lumas mutters.

"He'll do it once we get this treaty signed," Fawkes says. "Let's move on."

I have to hide my relief. Everyone seems to have accepted Eidolon's immunity. I've accomplished what I set out to do.

Coin starts reading off the treaty. "You and every citizen of the Capitol will be tried for any crimes against Panem that might've been committed. Most citizens will face nothing more than a small fine. Those who have committed more severe crimes will face imprisonment or execution. We will take over the city peacefully but we have the right to arrest or shoot any citizen who resists violently. All governing power will be handed over to us. And - this is the final thing - there will be a final Hunger Games containing Capitol children to make up for every district-born child who died in the arena."

My world stops, just like it did when I heard the news of my mother's death. Another Hunger Games? More death and suffering?

"No…" I say. "No, you can't."

"It was voted for," Coin says. "By over half of the available victors and survivors of the games. I merely proposed the idea."

"And you two voted for it?" I look between Fawkes and Lumas, wondering who I hate more.

"I didn't," Fawkes says. "I tried to convince all the other victors not to. They just-"

"They all listened to me," Lumas says. His voice is hollow but there's a sick smile on his face.

"You!" I roar. "You voted for another Hunger Games! After everything that happened to you!"

He laughs. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to make you suffer, Lobos. I've been stopped at every opportunity to twist the knife. Fawkes is too soft on you. He's willing to let you get away with just a bullet to the head. But this is the one thing I could get past him. So now you can sit in your cell and know that the Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games are going to happen and they're going to happen because you didn't give me my girlfriend when you had the chance."

"I'll give you your girlfriend, alright," I snap.

Something inside me is broken. I don't care about the treaty anymore. I just want to make Lumas Taffeta suffer. If he won't let me walk away, I won't let him walk away.

I press a button on the bottom of the table, signalling the peacekeepers to bring Ramona in. They push her through a door, wrapped in chains. Her eyes light up when she sees Lumas. I never told her he'd be here.

"Lumas!" She cries.

"Ramona!" He runs for her but my peacekeeper bodyguards grab him.

"What's happening?" Ramona asks. She turns to me, wild-eyed. "You said you'd let me go."

"I will," I say. I feel a little guilty. She doesn't deserve this but she's the only weapon I have against Taffeta. "There's just something you need to know before I do."

Her eyes flicker from Lumas to me. They're full of fear.

"What did he do?" She asks. Then she turns to Lumas. "What did you do, Lumas?"

"You don't want to know what I did," Lumas says. He looks at me with pleading eyes. "Just let her go. I'm the one you're mad at. Hurt me instead."

"A word of advice, Taffeta," I say. "Don't vote for another Hunger Games while I still have your girlfriend."

Ramona gasps. "Lumas, you… voted for another games?"

"It's with Capitol kids only."

"That doesn't make it any better!" Ramona cries.

Lumas seems to realise what kind of mistake he's made. Tears fill his eyes. "Ramona, I'm sorry. I'll fix things, I promise. I'll make things better. I'll do any-"

"It's too late," I say. "She'll never forgive you."

Lumas seems to pick up on the edge in my voice. "No!" He cries, struggling even harder to break free from the peacekeepers. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"He's right," Ramona says. She doesn't even try to break free from the chains holding her. She just closes her eyes. "Forget about me, Lumas."

"You're not going to kill her, are you?" Fawkes says. "You promised you let her go and you don't have a weapon. It'll ruin the peace treaty. What about-"

"I said I'd let her go, I didn't say I'd let her go alive. And I have a weapon," I say. "Lumas knows."

I reach for my tie and start to undo it.

"No!" Lumas cries. "No! Don't you dare, Lobos!"

"What will you do?" I ask. "Put me in your Hunger Games?"

"It doesn't matter what I'll do. Just stop! Stop, please!"

I smile at the sight of the man who killed my mother so desperate. Then I stand behind Ramona. She doesn't even flinch.

"I spent three months in that cell," she whispers. "You should've shot me on the first day. That would've been easier."

Maybe she's right. Maybe I should've just given up on the first day.

All I can do now is sigh and wrap the tie around her neck.


Fawkes

It's chaos.

I knew this was going to end badly the moment Manel and Lumas started yelling at each other. Now Lumas is screaming swear words at Manel. Manel is strangling Ramona. She's not even struggling. Coin and I just sit there.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"Nothing," she says.

Ramona slumps against Manel's body, unconscious. She doesn't have long left.

"We have to do something," I say. "She's dying."

"It doesn't matter," Coin says. "We've still won the war."

But I can't just sit there and let Ramona die. There's only one thing I can do.

I snatch the treaty out of Coin's hands and leap onto the table. My right leg almost buckles under me but I manage to keep my footing.

"Everybody stop!" I yell.

Manel looks at me, stunned. He loosens the tie around Ramona's throat.

I hold the treaty up and start tearing it apart.

"If you kill Ramona," I say. "You don't get a treaty. We just get to march in here and attack the city. And I'll try to protect Eidolon but I can't make any guarantees. So let's try something else. Let's just forget about the whole war. You're not in our districts anymore. You're not doing us any harm. And I know you're going to undo everything Snow did to the Capitol. You're going to end the Hunger Games and liberate the avoxes and everything. So why don't you just keep this city. Let it be an independent state."

Manel lifts the tie from over Ramona's head. She almost falls to the ground but he catches her by the shoulders and sits her down in a chair.

"I like that idea," he says.

"Is she alive?" I ask.

Manel checks her pulse and nods.

I smile. Manel and I have an understanding of sorts. Neither of us have mentioned the breakup yet. That's not what's getting in the way of signing a treaty and we're never going to let it get in the way.

Then Coin grabs my arm and drags me off the table.

"Can we talk for a second?" She asks.

She doesn't wait for an answer. She just tugs me into the corridor. I have to try not to cry out with pain.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hisses. "You tore up the treaty! You ignored the votes of all the victors who wanted the games to go ahead! You almost cost us the Capitol!"

"Most of the victors who voted the games were rebels," I say. "They'd probably rather save the woman who killed Snow than have another games. Especially Lumas. He probably wouldn't have made that speech if he'd known Manel would try to kill Ramona for it. And as for the Capitol, it means nothing! It has no resources. It's just a collection of buildings, really. We can base our new government wherever we want. It's not worth sacrificing Ramona's life for. If she dies, a little bit of the people's faith in us will die with her."

"Then how are we going to punish Lobos?" Coin asks. "Are we going to put the city under siege, starve him out?"

I shake my head. "He's still got Ramona. If we starve him, he'll starve her. We're going to let him have everything he wants. Then he can realise how hollow it all is. He's trapped in the Capitol. Do you know what that means?"

"No," Coin says.

"All those city lights mean that he'll never see the stars again."


Lumas

I can't look away from Ramona.

She's slumped in a chair. I can't tell if she's breathing from here. Her entire torso is wrapped in chains, pinning her arms to her sides and hiding the rise and fall of her chest. Lobos said she's still alive but he could be lying.

"What are you going to do to her?" I ask. I've given up on fighting the peacekeepers. Maybe I can talk Lobos into letting me go.

"If Fawkes' independent Capitol idea goes ahead?" Lobos says. He looks exhausted. "I'll probably just keep her. I need insurance."

"Let me talk to her," I say. "Please. I just want to talk to her before you take her away again."

"Fine," Lobos says.

The peacekeepers let go of me. I run to Ramona and wrap my arms around her. She lolls forwards, chains clinking. I take her face in my hands and stare at it.

"Wake up," I say. "Please wake up. Talk to me."

I can't forget the look on her face when she found out I'd voted for another games or the way she'd just given up when she'd realised that Lobos was going to kill her. Her lips had been moving just before he'd wrapped that tie around her throat. She'd been whispering something too quiet for me to hear.

She's shutting me out. She's drifting away from me. And I deserve it.

Ramona begins to stir. Her eyelids flutter open. She looks at me with those beautiful brown eyes and I almost break down.

"Lumas…" she croaks.

For a moment, it's just me and her. There's a small spark of joy in her eyes. I remember I used to dream of waking up beside her, of watching her wake up and smile at me before the weight of the world came crashing in. It was always unlikely, even when we had a chance of being together. She's a morning person. I'm not.

I don't think it'll ever happen.

The weight of the world comes crashing in. Hard. Ramona looks down, realises she's still chained up and makes a hoarse, sobbing noise.

Then she looks at me and she sees everything I've done.

"Lumas," she repeats. It sounds like she's in pain.

"Shh," I say. "Don't say anything if it hurts."

"You should've let him kill me," she says. "Living hurts."

"No, Ramona," I say. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of there. It might not be today but I'm not going to stop fighting-"

"That's what I'm scared of!" She rasps. She starts coughing violently.

"Don't be scared, please," I beg. I want to kiss her but I'm scared she won't be able to breathe. "I love you."

And I hope that those three words make a shield around her to protect her for as long as she needs them to. That's all I can do.

"You shouldn't," Ramona says. "I can't love you anymore. You've changed. You're not the same guy I fell for."

My heart breaks. After everything I've done, she doesn't love me anymore.

And I've caused this.

I take a step back, just to give Ramona some space. I don't think she wants me to be near her anymore.

"You knew," I say. "You knew when you fell for me, I do stupid things when I'm angry. And I was angry when I voted for the games."

"I know," Ramona says. "Now let that anger go."

"I can't," I say. Ever since I was eight years old, anger kept me alive. I don't know who I'd be without it.

"There's nothing to be angry about. Your district is free."

"But you're not."

"Then accept it. I'll always be here. You are never going to save me, Lumas. So let me go. Turn your back on me and walk away. That's the only way you're ever going to be happy. You can't live like this."

"Neither can you," I say. I can't believe Ramona's given up on our love. I want to convince her that she'll be free one day, that I can fix things between us, that everything will be okay. I don't want her to lose hope.

But she's already lost it. I can see it in her eyes. They're empty.

"I know," she says. "But you're the one with the way out. Save yourself, Lumas. If you ever loved me, let me go and save yourself."

Before I can answer, Coin and Fawkes walk back in.

"We've made a new agreement," Coin says. "A new treaty will be drawn up. The Capitol will become an independent city-state. The district will supply the Capitol until it becomes self-sufficient. You can continue being President of the Capitol. There will be no Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games."

Lobos smiles. "I think that's a good agreement. But I'll need insurance that you won't attack me. I'm going to keep a hostage in the Capitol. If you bomb us, they get blown up. If you starve us, they starve. But… it doesn't necessarily have to be Ramona Hirose. Any high-ranking rebel will do."

"I volunteer!" I yell.

"No!" Ramona cries.

"Soldier Taffeta can't. He has vital work to do," Coin says.

"What vital work?" I ask. "The war's over."

"You'll learn soon. I will only accept Ramona Hirose as your hostage. You already have her. If you let her go, you'll only have my word that you won't be attacked."

"Why?" I ask. "Why her? Why not me or Fawkes or anyone else?"

"You'll learn soon," Coin says.

"Okay," Lobos says. "It's a deal."

For a second, I consider getting Ramona out of here. I consider picking her up and running away with her in my arms until we're both out of the Capitol. Then I could find a locksmith to break her out of those chains and we could work on fixing things between us.

But, before I can act, the peacekeepers grab her and drag her towards the door. It must be because she doesn't need to be here for us to have the new treaty drawn up and signed. We all know that Lobos has her and what he's willing to do with her.

"Lumas!" Ramona cries.

I lock eyes with her for one final time. I want to tell her that I love her but I don't have the strength to speak.

"You were a wonderful guy," she says. "One day, someone else will love you like I did."

She tries to smile, just to offer me some comfort, but she's gone before it can reach her eyes.


I really need to stop writing depressing chapters. The treaty really fell apart, mostly due to the feud between Manel and Lumas. They're both very angry and impulsive so that results in a lot of bad decisions. Luckily, Fawkes is there to hold things together. He saved Ramona's life and stopped the Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games from going ahead but he also cost the rebels the Capitol.

Then there's the breakup between Ramona and Lumas. That was hard for me to write. This whole AU only exists because they realised they were in love. But the war tore them apart. When I was writing this scene, I realised that Ramona wouldn't accept what the war has turned Lumas into. He's changed so much from the guy who walked her to the Control Centre. They'll only fall back in love if Ramona is set free, which is looking unlikely right now.