I DO NOT OWN THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO SUZANNE COLLINS. I WAS INSPIRED AFTER SEEING THE FILM AND LOVING THE PERFORMANCES.

District 12. Authoritarian Democratic Republic of Panem. January 2, 2047.

Coriolanus Snow trudged through the woods that lay just at the edge of District 12. He felt as though he was at the end of his freaking rope. His future, his hopes of getting back to the Capitol where he truly belonged, it was all gone. He silently cursed his late friend: Sejanus Plinth in his mind. When Coryo had encouraged him to make a difference, he was just trying to give the boy something to live for, something to strive for so that he didn't get himself killed on some foolish crusade of redemption. Sejanus cared too damn much about the people in the districts. Coryo knew that caring too much about too many people made you weak and ultimately would get you killed.

Coryo only cared about and loved 3 people: his grandma'mm, his cousin Tigris, and his lover: Lucy Grey Baird. It just wasn't fair, Coryo had so many plans: get through officer training in District 2, get back to the Capitol, make some connections so he could get into politics, restore his family's fortunes, and eventually bring Lucy Grey and make her his. Fuck it all now. If the peacekeepers hadn't pinned him for killing the mayor's daughter, they would soon enough. His prints were on the gun that slew Mayfair and once they found it, his next stop was the hanging tree. His only chance for survival was to go with Lucy Grey to find a way out of Panem.

Lucy Grey had decided to go North up through the remains of District 13. Maybe some survivors had formed some kind of colony somewhere. To be honest, it was a shot in the dark, but it was the best option they had. They didn't have a boat and it was uncertain if any other countries were still in existence; which ruled out the idea of a sea faring escape. Coryo decided to go with her; partly because he loved her, but partly because he was a marked man to be.

His fingerprints were all over the rifle that had slain Mayfair Lipp. There was no coming back from gunning down the mayor's daughter. Even if the Snow family was as rich and powerful as it had once been, it wouldn't have saved him. Best case scenario, a insanely large bribe could have downgraded him from the Hanging tree to life in a district 12 prison.

He had to leave Grand ma'mm and Tigris behind, he couldn't put them in the position of having to shelter him from the law. All that he had now was Lucy Gray Baird. He had earned her trust, but now he had to keep it.

3 days earlier.

Coriolanus and Lucy Gray were resting by the lake after getting a good swim under their belts. He had expressed his fear that she might still have feelings for Billy Taupe: the fool who had two timed on her with Mayfield Lipp. Why he had cheated on such a beautiful songbird with a entitled cunt like Mayfair, Coryo would never know. Lucy Gray insisted that even if Billy still held her affection, her trust in him was dead and buried.

"Trust is everything." Coryo said, assuring her that he would never betray her with another woman.

"It's everything to me, more important even than love. Without trust, you might as well be dead to me." Lucy Gray warned Coryo, making clear the terms of their relationship. She could see his concern and her anger softened. "You can trust me. I promise you that. If you can trust anyone in this world, you can trust me."

"You can trust me too." Coryo whispered as they locked eyes. He felt conflicted as he made that promise. Coryo knew that she shouldn't trust him not to do terrible things in the name of survival, she shouldn't trust him not to long for the capitol, she shouldn't trust him to want the life she wanted. But she could trust that he would never desire any other woman than her. Lucy Gray could trust Coryo to be faithful to her, but nothing else.

"Sure will be nice not to have to kill anyone else up north, though, huh?" Lucy Gray asked, bringing Coriolanus out of his flashback. They had been talking about people and the struggle between good and evil that existed within them. They'd both done evil things to survive. The difference was that while Coryo tried to excuse his misdeed with good intentions, Lucy Gray had resigned herself to being a killer; albeit an accidental one.

"Three's enough for me." Coryo remarked thoughtlessly as he searched for large branches. "I'm gonna make a walking stick, you want one?"

"You killed three?" Lucy Gray asked in confusion. "Who's the third?"

"What?" Coryo asked innocently, inwardly cursing himself for letting such a thing slip from his lips.

"Person you killed, Coriolanus." Lucy Gray growled as she glared at him with suspicion. "You said you killed three people. I only know about two; do not lie to me."

"Can you help me get this out?" He pleaded, hoping that she would let it go until he could think up something.

"There was Bobbin in the arena and Mayfair; and who's the third?" She asked as his heart skipped a beat. For a second, Coryo considered telling Lucy Gray that he was referring to himself, his capitol self that he had killed so that a new Coriolanus could be reborn from the ashes. Coryo knew that if the tables were turned, he wouldn't believe such an excuse; and if he didn't believe it, he knew Lucy Gray wouldn't either. He thought for moment until a burst of inspiration came to him. The best kind of lies had the truth mixed in.

"Sejanus...I killed him." Coryo said solemnly as he felt genuine pain at the loss of his friend.

"No...Sejanus...he was hung, you didn't kill him." Lucy Gray muttered with confusion.

"It's my fault he's dead." Coryo said as he unleashed the lies. "Someone recorded Sejanus talking about breaking out a rebel. My superiors knew how close we were, so they brought me in for questioning. I told them the truth: I didn't know anything about it. Then..." Coryo started to stutter as a tear rolled down his cheeks. He forced himself to cry by remembering his friend crying out for his mother before his neck snapped.

"What happened Coryo?" Lucy Gray asked tenderly as she touched his cheek. She was believing his pain.

"They knew that I was spending time with you...they knew that your song was about me." Coryo replied as for second, he cracked a small smile as he remembered hearing Pure As The Driven Snow. Singing was Lucy Gray's love language and he knew that she loved him deeply.

"Did they threaten me?" She asked, connecting the dots that Coryo had put in front of her.

"They said that...Mayor Lipp was already convinced you'd killed Mayfair. They were going to send you to the hanging tree." Coryo said as the tears fell with great ease. It was easy to see that she was believing his lies. "I couldn't let them kill you, Lucy Grey. I can't lose you! I told them what they wanted to hear. I said that Sejanus had joined an underground rebel group and that he was helping them plan an attack on the barracks. I killed him Lucy Gray!" She wrapped her arms around her capitol boy as his tears became mixed with her own.

"Coryo...they shouldn't have forced you to choose between me and Sejanus. If you had picked him... I would have understood..." she assured him as she looked in his eyes.

"I would never sell you out, not for anything." He declared as he held his songbird close. "You're all I want, you're all I have!" He wept loudly as the 2 embraced tightly, sharing the pain.

"Coryo...I understand what you did, and why you did it." Lucy Gray whispered as she gently kissed his tears away. "I forgive you Coriolanus and I know that Sejanus would forgive you too; you were his best friend."

"I love you Lucy Gray Baird." Coryo said as he was thankful that she had brought the story. He hated lying to her, but he would do whatever he had to do that she would remain his forever. Lucy Gray was his and his alone. She would never belong to anyone else.

"I trust you, Coriolanus Snow." Lucy Gray replied as it meant more than telling Coryo that she loved him; since to her, trust was more important than love.

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