TW: Gun violence and depictions of battle scenes.

October 24th 2427

Day Twelve of the Hunger Games

District Three

23:30 hours

While Panem is distracted by the thrilling finale of the annual Hunger Games, The First Renegades have launched a surprise attack on District Three. This has put a slight dent in Kate's and Conrad's plan to reach the library of New Alexandria by midnight.

Rain has started to patter down overhead, dousing the fires that engulf New Alexandria from the battle that rages overhead between the First Renegades and The Capitol. Although, to Conrad, the rain feels distinctly like acid rain. Still, it makes the path ahead to the library clearer from the ash-covered skyline.

(The First Renegades and the other rebel factions arrived at the city first to fight the Capitol for control of it and to prevent them from getting their hands on the "weapon" they have been digging up under District Three. But Conrad's fight is at the library with Saskia's champion, and he already knows deep down who that will be.)

(If he wins the duel, the Inner-Table have to agree to their terms. The Hunger Games end, Darrah and all rebel prisoners go free and democracy is to return for the first time in hundreds of years. But if he loses, Kate and the captured rebels will be executed and the Inner-Table will be free to do as they please with their new "weapon".)

(The battle made getting to the library to have the duel an almost impossible task on its own.

But somehow, the boy from the streets of Six persists. Somehow, he survives.)

All of a sudden, static noise begins buzzing in Conrad's comms. Kate's voice echoes in his ear. "C-Conrad? Are you there?"

(She's never called him by his first name before. Something must be wrong.)

At first, he doesn't know the answer to that question but eventually, he answers - "I'm here."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Thank God, I haven't been able to reach you or Grey for hours. You do realise that you have thirty minutes left. We're all waiting here," she stammers.

"I'll pick up the pace," he answers softly.

"Where's Grey? I still can't reach him."

Conrad breathes in. "They got him a few blocks back," he replies, trying to make his voice monotone.

When they were flying in, the trio came under heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns around the capital of District Three. So, Kate was forced to leave Conrad and Grey by the edge of the city and find her own way in.

Grey was picked off by one of the assassins. There was nothing Conrad could do about it; like always.

There is a silence that follows from the other end of his comms. Kate did know Grey for the longest, after all.

"Alright, I'm coming to get you," she insists.

"Negative. I'm on the home stretch now," he says. His eyes narrow in on the library.

Thirty minutes left. Conrad has thirty minutes to reach the large wooden doors directly in front of him at the top of the stone staircase. If he doesn't make it or if he fails to reach it by midnight, or loses the duel, then Kate, Darrah, and everyone else will die. He has to keep going. He has to find a way… like he always has.

With a deep breath, Conrad edges forward to the library - one step at a time.

Suddenly, an assassin leaps out from behind a pile of rubble. The masked man swipes at Conrad's neck. Sweating and exhausted, Conrad tilts his head back to avoid the swing, sweeps the assassin off his feet, and shoves his gun into the killer's skull.

His finger tickles the trigger.

(With each life he takes, he seems to lose a piece of himself.)

If he's not careful, he'll lose himself entirely.)

(Beckett reminded him of who he truly was. He allowed him to be the brother that he never got to be. It's the reason he survived in the first place.

So, if he's going to save his friends, then maybe being that person is the only chance he's got, it's what's got him this far, after all.)

"But I refuse to die as some show, some theatre, like a puppet on strings. That's why I'm so carefree. You may think I'm in denial, I'm not. I'm just determined to go out on my own terms," Beckett's words echo through his head.

He promptly flips the gun and strikes the assassin across the head with the handle - knocking him out cold.

A heel slams against Conrad's body - sending him flying to the ground. Another assassin is standing over him, blade in hand. But his face suddenly contorts violently and blood erupts from his mouth. The assassin's body drops to the pavement with a knife sticking out of his back.

Tatiana stands in the man's place, her face as empty as a vast desert. Her icy eyes lock with Conrad's. At first, the two of them are frozen in silence. Conrad has to be the one to break it. "Two," he greets.

"Six."

Conrad wipes the sweat from his brow. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I-I thought you'd prefer to die in the hands of a friend rather than an enemy," she responds, dragging him up to his feet by the hand.

"Is that what we are? I didn't realise friends locked each other in burning rooms and left them to die."

Tatiana sighs. She averts her eyes away, momentarily. "We've been bound against our will in this war from the beginning, unable to kill each other at the cost of others. We're cursed, my friend. Cursed to destroy each other's lives, together."

"On that, we agree," Conrad deadpans.

Tatiana turns back to her former friend with a deep sigh. "Why do you persist, huh? You think winning will grant you freedom? You are wrong. You wanna know why? You live for revenge, for death, it gives you purpose. Without it, you'd be lost."

Conrad doesn't entertain a response. Maybe she's right. Maybe Taliesin is right. Only time will tell.

Together, they peer up towards the clock - fifteen minutes to go. But a host of assassins are in between them and the entrance to the library.

"But tonight, the curse ends," Tatiana mutters.

In unison, they charge forward, battling their way up the stairs in the process.

"So," Tatiana begins, dodging out of the way of a sword. "Can I ask you a question?"

Conrad turns to her from the other staircase, evading an attack from another assassin. "Can I say no?"

Tatiana ignores him and proceeds with her question. "If I win, if I kill you, then how do you wanna be remembered, huh?" She ducks under an assassin's blade then spins around them and kicks them down the stairs. "If I die, then I want to go down as the girl who changed the world," She pauses and stares off into the distance with dreamy eyes. "I wanna be learned about in history books, for better or for worse, it doesn't matter - as long as my ideas mattered."

Conrad disarms his assassin of his dagger, then tosses him over his shoulder, sending him tumbling down the stairs.

He then joins Tatiana at the very top, and they freeze in front of two final assassins who are guarding the doors; they have thick, black armour covering their entire body, including their face, and two swords in either hand - The Table's elite assassins. The ones that chased them in that underground railway all those months ago.

Conrad flips his sword in his hand, and glances at Tatiana; they are both panting heavily and red in the face.

"You go left, I'll go right," Tatiana mutters.

Conrad nods before lunging at the assassin on the left. Shortly after, Tatiana follows suit to the right.

The battle is much faster than they had expected; Conrad parries the assassin's attacks, disarming them soon after. He manages to slip around the assassin and squeezes their neck against the blunt side of the sword until they are unconscious.

Conrad darts his eyes up to meet Tatiana's. She has just impaled her assassin's chest behind her with a sword. They drop dead.

Next, Conrad's attention turns to the old clock on the bell tower above the library. Three minutes to go, more or less.

Tatiana wipes the blood of the assassin from her face and raises an eyebrow at her counterpart from the streets of Six. "Better not waste any time, we've got an appointment to get to, haven't we?"

Conrad steps forward, reaching for the handle to the library, but suddenly, he pauses and glances back at Tatiana. "A loving big brother," he murmurs.

"Hm?"

"You asked me a question. Well, that's my answer - a loving big brother. It's how I'd wanna be remembered." Then he smiles to himself. "Would you do that for me, Tatiana?"

Tatiana's eyes fall down. "Of course," she says softly.

They both step to the door, facing each other.

"Together?" Tatiana asks.

"Together," Conrad repeats.

They each give their respective doors a hard shove which swing open with more weightlessness than expected.

Before them lies a vast hall, supported by a row of huge concrete pillars on either side. The hall gradually descends upwards in a staircase, under a single blood-red carpet.

At the very end is a huge ornate table that stretches the entire length of the room.

The Inner-Table… so it's actually a… table? Who knew? Conrad muses to himself.

The hallway of books is only lit up by dim, old-fashioned, burning torches on either side. It is then that Conrad notices that, standing in front of them, are hooded figures shrouded in red robes, and motionless as statues.

The two champions march together up the stairs to the table. Kate is at one end. Her cheeks are flushed red and her eyes are decidedly concerned. Conrad had never truly seen the stone-cold warrior from Four look worried before.

On the other side of the table sits Estaban. His eyes pierce Tatiana with a cocky and sadistic tint to them causing her to recoil with a gasp.

"Where's The President?" She demands.

"You're staring at him," Estaban shoots back. "President Storm fell while you were away, and unfortunately was unable to recover…"

"Impossible."

It doesn't make a difference to Conrad who is in charge, he ignores the President and heads straight to Kate, who is standing with wide eyes at him.

"Talk about in the nick of time," she pulls Conrad into a hug. With her hand, she traces the cuts and bruises on his face.

"Sorry I came alone," Conrad says.

"Make him proud," Kate affirms.

A mediator with a long grey beard opens a large parchment scroll and begins reading it aloud. "The terms are to be settled by combat per the old laws. Unless in the case of a surrender, the fight will proceed until only one party remains alive. Then, the victorious party's terms will be met. The combatants are challenger Conrad Martell against The President's champion - Tatiana Emery. Both combatants may select their weapon of choice and a backup weapon from the arrangement. The duel may now commence when the combatants are ready."

The survivor from Six turns back to his opponent and removes his overcoat, jacket, and any other weapons. Tatiana does the same. However, Conrad intentionally leaves his gun loaded and places it down so the handle is facing Kate.

Both Conrad and Tatiana happen to be wearing almost identical plain white t-shirts underneath their jackets.

"Let's get this over with," Conrad says, calmly.

Behind the table, there is a small area surrounded by racks that contain a variety of weapon choices - steel axes, swords, knives, maces… it's like they have been presented with a cornucopia of sorts. Conrad runs his hand along the rack until it settles on a simple short sword and shield.

Tatiana steps in front of him on the concrete battle square armed with a razor halberd spear, and a dagger in her belt as her backup weapon.

Whilst Tatiana's eyes are poised with determination and fury, Conrad's are calm and mellow like a waveless sea. In fact, he's almost smiling back at the girl from Two. No matter the outcome, he has nothing to fear.

A battle is about to conclude that's been six years in the making, ever since Tatiana held her sword up to Conrad in that castle courtyard before the ground opened up beneath his feet and he was whisked away from her grasp. The games never truly ended for either of them; not until tonight, at least.

(Conrad knows deep down that whatever happens, he's going home. And he knows that wherever that is, it'll be before the rebellion, before the games, before the pain. Beckett will be there and so will his parents, and he'll finally be able to meet them.

Because a loving brother is what he lives as and it's what he'd die as too. So it doesn't matter to him.)

Confused by her opponent's calm demeanor, Tatiana lunges forward, jabbing at his torso with her halberd; however, Conrad moves his shield in the way to block. The metal head of the halberd clangs three times against the metal shield until finally, on the fourth, it gets stuck.

Tatiana grits her teeth as she violently jolts her arms to free her weapon but Conrad is quick to twist the shield, and bring his sword down across the wooden handle of the halberd - severing it in half. Tatiana stubbornly holds onto the head of the halberd, which is still stuck to Conrad's shield.

Eventually, she gives in, and with a last jolt, she tosses both aside. The shield scrapes across the concrete floor, coming to a halt several feet away, the head of the halberd still attached to it.

Conrad stands strong with just his sword in both hands now. The room is filled with intense silence and everyone at the table is on their feet, watching in anticipation.

Realizing that she's at a significant disadvantage, Tatiana's eyes desperately dart across the room to the head of her halberd lying on the floor. She un-sheaths her dagger and hastily tosses it at Conrad's head like a lightning strike. Conrad manages to deflect it, but the distraction allows Tatiana to leap for the head of her halberd. She furiously rips at the shield until her weapon is free and in her hand again. As she turns, Conrad swings directly at her head! The young woman manages to roll under the attack and slash the young man across the leg simultaneously. However, Conrad returns the favour, and catches her shoulder with his sword.

Both duelists now have open wounds with blood dripping down to the floor. Tatiana staggers up to her feet, regaining her composure.

But suddenly, Conrad lowers his sword to his side and relaxes his muscles.

(Does he want it? He could let go now. He could allow himself to be free at long last. Maybe that is the only path to freedom. His only path to his parents, and to Beckett.)

(But his friends are still out there - Kate, Darrah and I. They are relying on him. So his freedom will have to wait, for now.)

With a last battle cry, she brings her weapon down upon Conrad with incredible force. Conrad's mind returns to the present, he steps back, avoiding all of Tatiana's swipes to his body. He continues this process until, out of frustration, she lunges too hard, allowing Conrad to sidestep and slice her arm.

Tatiana's weapon hits the floor again! Conrad wastes no time. He kicks what remains of her halberd across the concrete, this time far out of her reach.

Tatiana charges forward again with no weapon but her determination. She strikes her opponent three times across the face with her non-injured arm. Conrad stumbles back, then hastily impales her right leg above the knee joint to stop her relentless assault.

Tatiana cries out in pain. Her body buckles and she collapses down at his feet with her head down, clutching both her bleeding limbs.

"It's over," Conrad breathes, panting heavily. "Surrender." He raises the sword to her throat and the entire room watches in anticipation.

Tatiana's sunken eyes travel up to Conrad's. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Conrad shakes his head. "Please don't make me do this."

"You won, you should claim your victory in the right way. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. I was supposed to lead Panem into a better future." Tatiana's voice is now empty and dreary, seeming to have lost all purpose.

"You were used."

Tatiana's face falls into despair as the realization seems to dawn on her. "Still, I'd rather go out on my feet than live to rot in my failure, you understand, right?"

(What about Conrad? Can he not go out as himself? Not what The Capitol, The Table, Tatiana, or Taliesin made him?)

(A loving brother was all he wanted to be.)

The scarred face of Taliesin fades in behind Tatiana. The dead boy from Four begins strolling up and down with his hands behind his back.

His voice echoes in Conrad's ears. "You know what you have to do. It's the only way. It's who you were born to be."

A single tear runs down Conrad's cheek. But then, he lowers his sword, and in doing so, he won.

The grin disappears from Taliesin's face and he fades away into nothingness, and Conrad knows he'll never see him again because he finally beat him.

Conrad won.

All of a sudden, Estaban steps out in front of the table, grabbing one of the peacekeepers' guns from the holder.

"I'll make it easier for you." Estaban promptly fires a shot into the old mediator's chest before turning it on Conrad. "Nobody's gonna know otherwise."

Just as Estaban is raising his gun, Tatiana musters her remaining strength and leaps up in the way.

BOOM

Her eyes turn wide as the bullet impacts her shoulder. She collapses down, clutching her bleeding wound.

Everything descends into chaos. Kate jumps into action. She leaps across the table at the gun that Conrad left, seizes it into her hands, and fires a shot into the arrogant President's head. Estaban drops down dead almost immediately.

"Hope you enjoyed your reign," Kate quips. She then turns her sights on the two peacekeepers that were guarding Estaban and puts a bullet in each of them.

A firefight ensues all around them. Conrad ducks behind the table, bullets grazing past his head.

Tatiana crawls next to him, with her hand still on her bullet wound. "Does this mean we're even now?" She coughs.

Conrad smiles. "I'll think about it." He presses his hands on the wound. "Just keep pressure on it," he says.

Then he rolls, under the gunfire, to Kate's bag, and rips a bandage out before tossing it to Tatiana. Conrad turns his head away briefly to assess the deteriorating situation, and when he turns back, Tatiana is already standing by the door. She sends him a nod and then she is gone, like a shadow in the night.

Conrad doesn't know if he'll ever see her again, but he knows that their business together is done.

"Now what?" Conrad calls over to Kate.

Kate has taken cover behind one of the concrete pillars, still with only the use of one of her arms. She fires two shots back in the direction of the gunfire. "Well, you're still alive, that's a bonus," she calls back. "Time for Plan B. Chop-chop."

Conrad rolls under a flurry of gunfire to the pillar that Kate is behind. "There's a Plan B?" He muses.

"There is now."

Peacekeepers have surrounded the entrance, blocking off their only exit. But a battalion of rebels from the First Renegades enter the library and begin engaging the Peacekeepers.

Conrad and Kate peer through a corridor that leads deeper into the library. They lock eyes and realize the same thing - it's their only path.

A brief pause in the gunfire finally arrives, allowing the pair of them to charge further into the library. The rows of books on either side erupt into smoldering flames, which Conrad doesn't mind so much.

Smoke rapidly fills their lungs causing their chests to erupt in fits of coughs.

But then, they stumble across a single hidden door at the end of the building. The pair barge their way through it, coughing profusely.

As Conrad looks up, he notices two new figures approaching them - a young woman and a young man. They do not look like Peacekeepers or First Renegades; they are clad in old ragged clothes that resemble neither.

Conrad and Kate look between each other wearily.

Well that brings Conrad's arc full circle from something I started 3 years ago. I can't believe I've been writing this character for 3 years. Since this is probably my last story on here for the foreseeable future, I wanted to go all out with the subplot and go out with a bang. Rb I hope you had a good-bad time with this chapter. Also hope you guys enjoyed the arc I gave Tati too, we may be seeing her again in the epilogues, we'll see. Sorry for killing off grey, I felt like the good guys had to lose someone and he was the best candidate. I have got nice things planned for Conrad in the epilogues where I wrap up everyone's story arcs, trust. See you then!