Notes from the creators:

This work has branched off from the Marvel/Hunger Games crossover called "In the End You Always Kneel." If you've read it, you know that it recently ended - and if you haven't and want to know what we're talking about, you can look to our profile for a quick summary and/or link.

So, at the beginning of 2016, when "In The End You Always Kneel" was still a work in progress, a few of us writers (particularly of the Team Awesome flavor) got together to speculate about what we thought was going to happen. The only one who knew the endgame was our leader, NicKenny, so this was all just pure "what if" stuff, which, honestly got kicked off as a way for us to make an end game to finish our chapters. Of course, but… Somehow it ended up becoming its own thing, taking on its own life. It allowed us to really explore the Avenger Games universe and our characters to their fullest potential while we were in between rounds.

Now, with the end of "In the End You Always Kneel" and the ending that none of us saw coming, all of those "what if" plans are of course complete fabrications, since the next round will be DC characters only (which, sadly, invalidates ALL of our theories). But they were still really, really fun to write, and it seems a shame not to share, though we decided to sit on our hands and wait until the epilogue went live before we shared in case we hit too close to home and accidentally spoiled ourselves for what was to come. Seeing as that's not the case, here we are, with pages and pages of stuff that is now totally invalid to the narrative over there.

So to be clear, this is an AU of an AU, just us sharing something that got us through the days of having no idea where we were going and just having fun. We'll be tweaking what we started out with a bit to reflect how Logan won (when we started out, we had plans for a four-person brawl between the Final Four because that was all we knew at the time) as well as the logical emotional fallout from there.

Of course, the beginning chapters will also need to be slightly tweaked. We wrote most of this back in April-Julyish, so we had the final fight being between Kate and Logan. Clearly, that's not what happened, so we have to do a bit of rewriting to reflect that, but those are the ONLY changes we will be making. Everything else will be just a better (read: not written at three in the morning while giggling at each other's drunken spelling) draft of what we wrote all those months ago when it comes to the Tahiti program (we saw that mention and we ran with it to its logical extent) as well as Fury's plans (since we didn't know them; we made up our own) as well as, I kid you not, we picked out 24 tributes we wanted to see in the next round and wrote them into the Tahiti program after their own Games. We even had multiple timelines with ideas as to what would happen for different victors. Maybe one day we'll show you some of those, but it is not this day. :P

We…. we wrote a lot, guys. It was at least a million words. I'm not even exaggerating. It was probably closer to 2 or 3 million. When we stopped working on it and got distracted by other projects, we were almost a decade's worth of material into this sandbox. Our teenagers were fully-realized adults looking toward lives and families after everything they'd been through. There were Tahiti revelations. Hydra plots. Government upheavals. **is the hype woman for this fic y'all.

Now, since none of us knew about the DC twist until the Epilogue went live on November 15 (we found out with all y'all who read along with us), there is NOTHING from the epilogue in this. In fact, we're going to start you out in the immediate aftermath of the last day of the Games, and have a bit of editing even from the end of Logan's last chapter of ITEYAK. Forget what you've read about Ra's and HIVE and everything else - we're sticking only with Marvel for this one because that was what we knew when we started the "Great Writing Frenzy of 2016." And besides, we're kind of huge Marvel fans. This is our playground.

Anyway, let's start out in the Capitol and take a peek at how the Games have been affecting our mentors and stylists, and then you'll see our plans from there. Because seriously, while we were waiting for the epilogue, I kid you not, there were VOLUMES of speculative fiction being written. We have plans. We have plans WITHIN plans. Strap in, y'all, for the alternate, Marvel-only, "what we wrote when we had no idea what was happening" version of the Avenger Games. We hope you enjoy seeing where our brains took us while we were hanging out in this playground, and hey, we might even continue it beyond just what was in our original sandbox. Who knows. The Marvel universe is huge, after all.

But without any further ado…. *presentation hands*

Chapter One: The Fallout

Day 14 of the Games, July 19

Capitol Building: 4th level: Mentor and Stylist Watch Room

The viewing room was almost completely silent by the time the Capitol feed showed the hovercraft taking away Tony Stark's body, the image of the short, stocky tribute on the screen watching Stark leave the only thing playing on multiple screens. They were near the end of the Games, so gone were the multiple angles. All that mattered was the action. Kate Bishop, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner — they were nowhere to be seen, at least for the time being, though that didn't mean they weren't in danger. It just meant the Capitol was playing up the drama of its finale, weaving a single storyline.

For a moment, all eyes in the room were on Rhodey, the youngest and most recent victor. It was the worst-kept secret in the Capitol that James Rhodes had been hoping Tony would win, if for no other reason than he wanted to have the next victor in his district, to return the favor of helping him transition that the other mentors had granted Rhodey after his own Games.

The mentors were deadly silent. They had all lived the Games, and they knew that the finale was only going to take its toll. But the Capitolites in the room, the stylists and the escorts — they were chatting quietly, some about their bets as their own tributes were long out of the game and others living and dying with every second their kids were still breathing.

"Is it bad that I'm glad it was him?" Jubilee asked Noh-Varr at a whisper. It was her first year styling for the Games, and all of the stylists had made a point to keep an eye out for her, since Logan was her tribute, and it was clear he was going to be at least in the final rounds since fairly early on. The Games were emotionally taxing for first-time stylists who didn't know enough yet not to get emotionally invested in their tributes, though even a few of the older crowd still made that mistake.

"If it is, I'll have to apologize to Johnny Storm for being glad when Elektra died," the older stylist replied with a sigh. He was the stylist for Twelve, and despite having been through a few Games already, he was glued to the screen rooting for Kate. "It's the same every year. You get used to it."

"I hope not," she said as she blew her bangs out of her face.

He reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Well, you don't get used to it. But it gets easier, in a way."

Jubilee turned to look up at him for a moment, and with the driest expression she could manage, she just raised one eyebrow. "Noh-Varr, you are a terrible liar."

He matched her raised eyebrow with one of his own. "You'd think I would get better at lying in a profession like ours," he said with a bit of a teasing tone, though the conversation went quiet once more as the cameras followed Jubilee's tribute — the angles and the lighting the Capitol's editors were using making it clear another confrontation was building.

They hadn't spoken about it, not yet, because they had been close friends even before Jubilee got the District Seven stylist spot, but both of them were dreading the confrontation between their own two tributes. Noh would be lying if he said he didn't want Kate to win, and Jubilee… it was clear she was devastated for Logan already even with his amazing ability to survive. So there was almost a palpable breath of relief shared between the two of them when it was Bruce Banner, of Six, who met up with Logan in the arena, though it didn't make the danger any less pressing.

"This isn't good, is it?" Jubilee said quietly as she took a hold of Noh's arm.

In answer, Noh couldn't help but glance at the District Six victor, Johann Schmidtt, whose eyes were glinting with excitement and malice. He'd made it clear for years that he wanted another victor from Six, a boy, not the redheaded girl that was his own daughter, and even with Bruce's radiation poisoning, he was enjoying the show, knowing the Capitol doctors might even be able to fix Bruce so Schmidtt could mold him to his own image.

"No. No it's not," Noh said at last, sounding almost weary as he just pulled Jubilee almost into his lap. Some of the other stylists looked their way with disapproving little tuts, especially the uppity one from District One, but neither of them was going to apologize for having actual attachments to these kids or to each other. They couldn't help it, really.

They watched together as Bruce Banner and Logan fought, and with every hit — regardless of which tribute it was — Jubilee flinched.

"I'd say you don't have to watch, but I know you won't leave," Noh whispered, his face almost in her hair as he was just trying to hold her steady. His escort counterpart, Ian, was shyly offering the same to Darcy Lewis of Six for Bruce's sake, but she looked more furious than anything else - since her tribute was coming into this fight poisoned. She was still mad about that, convinced it was some kind of punishment for Bruce saving another tribute's life instead of taking life.

But then something about Bruce changed, mid-fight, and the tides looked like they were turning in his favor as he started just thrashing Logan. Schmidtt leaned into the screen closest to him, all but blocking out the view of some of the other victors who were watching with him, until Ophelia Sarkissian lazily drawled out a soft complaint that he was going to make her miss the best part, and Jubilee shuddered a bit at the nearly predatory grins the two victors shared with each other in anticipation.

"That woman's the worst kind of snake," Jubilee muttered quietly, though she wasn't even blinking as she stared at the screen.

"Tivan would agree; that's why he called her Viper after her Games," Noh whispered back, watching the others more than the fight just to glare at anyone who looked to be judging the youngest and newest stylist for how much each blow was costing her before the finale was even set.

"If you're going to cry, do it somewhere else," Shiklah, One's stylist, sneered Jubilee's way. "You'll ruin the finale for the rest of us."

"Relax," Sarkissian all but purred out. "Enjoy the show. They've both gone to the trouble of losing their shirts. Delicious." She trailed her long fingernails over her lips as if she was enjoying a snack.

Schmidtt was on the verge of celebrating when Bruce just .. stopped as one of Logan's claws pierced through his leg. The change was so quick it didn't look like either tribute quite knew what had happened right away, but from the change in the room, it was obvious those watching had caught on a bit quicker, especially if the soft sound Jarella let out was any indication. The green stylist was riveted to her screen, apart from Schmidtt and Darcy and just… still.

The fight ended quickly from there, and when the screen flickered with Bruce's name and district number, Jubilee let out a little bit of a rush of breath for just a moment. "This is so much worse than just watching it at home — without knowing them," she said softly as she watched Jarella get up and quietly excuse herself from the room.

"That is the only way the Games could possibly go on," Noh told her in his lowest tones. "If we knew them, we'd never…" He seemed to trail off and check himself. "There would be some other system."

The moment of reprieve was short-lived, however, as almost as soon as the anthem had stopped playing for Bruce, the screens flickered with a new image, this one of Kate making her way through the streets. The light was dimming by then, so it was hard to tell how much earlier or later this was from the fight they had just shown, but now it was Noh's turn to half hold his breath on seeing his own tribute at the finale.

Jubilee tried to give him a reassuring squeeze, biting her lip as she watched, looking every bit as nervous for Kate's well-being as he was, while Victor Creed seemed more engaged in this fight than the last two, leaning forward with almost a smirk.

There was a bit of a murmur from the gathered Capitolites when the camera panned to reveal Kate's opponent. It was no secret that open betting had been taking place on the outcome of what seemed to be an inevitable confrontation between Kate and Logan, and when they saw that it was Steve Rogers… well. Their murmuring began in earnest.

"Must be saving her fight with Seven for the finale," muttered Obadiah Stane, the other victor from Three. "Damn Capitol drama. All the technology they have to use and it comes down to one kid with a stick and string and another one that's barely one step above the animals." With how quiet it was as everyone watched the finale, it was easy to hear his commentary, and Jubilee and Noh both glared his way.

"Dinnae listen tae him, lass," Moira, the Seven escort, said softly over Jubilee's shoulder as she came a bit closer to the two stylists. "He's jes' cross."

"He's not wrong — about the finale, that is," Noh said quickly. "My Kate can take this so-called captain."

Jubilee nodded but just looked that much more at odds with herself as she glanced over to Creed, who looked just positively tickled with the showdown. "She's fierce," Jubilee said finally.

It seemed that was the consensus in the room, as already several of the victors were shooting halfway consoling looks Peter Quill's way. It was no secret Quill had been pulling hard for his tribute, and Steve was well-liked, but this far into the Games without a kill made it hard for Quill to get any sponsors. The odds were just not in his favor.

So it was shocking to the point of bringing a hush over the increasingly excited gathered group when, after Kate had gotten the first few hits in, Steve nearly broke her arm — and the tone of the fight had clearly shifted. No one had expected this.

Jubilee watched in total shock, one hand firmly over her mouth as the fight waged on. It was dirty and not at all as one-sided as some of the victors had assumed it would be as Kate gave it to Steve with every ounce she had.

And as for Noh, the normally eloquent blue stylist had gone simply silent. Of the two of them, everyone in the room had assumed Jubilee would be the first to start to cry over her tribute, but that simply wasn't the case as the fight dragged on. The outcome was inevitable as soon as Kate's leg was broken, but it went on, and even though Noh was trying to be discreet about it, Jubilee could feel his shoulders shaking behind her. He'd only beaten her to the emotional punch by maybe a few seconds, though, as the youngest stylist simply started to cry on her behalf as well.

They weren't alone, either. Even the Capitolites, who were so used to flitting through the Games, were glued to the screen as the two tributes inevitably trudged slowly, painfully onward. Honey Lemon had of course been a mess for days now since her tribute, Peter Parker, had died, but even Nine's stylist, Warren, let out a noise that sounded like it simply couldn't be held back when Kate first mumbled Logan's name.

Though ... it was the scream at the end that broke most of the room, the emotion palpable in the air as even those whose tributes had been long lost were just still. Noh had all but collapsed against Jubilee, shoulders shaking, completely abandoning any pretense at restraint, and Black Bolt… Black Bolt simply stood up and walked from the room, though not before giving Creed a look that could have killed.

Jubilee had no words as she tried to comfort her friend, ashamed of herself that she was, in fact, a bit relieved that at least Kate didn't have to deal with Creed at all. It just wasn't an option. And it wasn't a choice that Logan had to weigh out anymore.

Creed, for his part, looked like someone had just snatched the shiny toy he was waiting for, but he was still engaged, knowing that all that was left was the two boys going into the final showdown.

"Typical," Stane grumbled as Kate's face and district number flashed on the screen. "Play up the drama and she can't deliver. Remind me again why we even have these little girls in the Games."

"Lasted longer than your little whelp," Creed half growled out. "Or was he wearin' a skirt instead of chasin' em?"

"Really, boys," Sarkissian said smoothly. "Put the rulers away until after the finale. No one wants to listen to that right now."

"What's your problem?" Creed directed at Viper. "Still got a whiny little frail in the final two anyhow. Look at 'im. Even Twelve had bigger balls than that."

"He's still clothed too," she sighed out without missing a beat as she watched the camera following Steve. "We were teased with so much more."

"Yeah, that would have been a good final fight. Twelve and Seven half-dressed and going toe to toe? Ratings miss," Johnny Storm said with a little shake of his head.

"Shut up, Johnny," Quill muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm just saying - when's the next time we'll have a shot at something like that on prime time?" Johnny asked with a grin. Before Quill could correct him, Jessica Drew reached out and slapped Johnny in the back of the head without a word spoken.

"Still got my money on Seven," Ross said with an unconcerned shrug. The Eleven escort looked entirely relaxed and even a bit annoyed by some of the muted sniffles echoing the room from that last fight. Honey Lemon in particular was a mess but didn't want to miss the end of the Games, sticking it out "for Peter," she said, because she wanted at least one member of his alliance to survive. And Noh of course was just gone.

Jubilee looked around the room quickly and seemed as if she was holding her breath. She wanted to tell Noh they could leave, but she couldn't quite tear herself away from the final fight.

When the final confrontation between Steve and Logan began, it was pretty clear that although the fight wasn't edited, they were being very careful to only use angles where you couldn't see that the boys were talking much. But it was painfully obvious that whatever was being said had both of them increasingly more angry, and by the time the first punches were thrown, they were livid.

"I despise when they edit out the conversations like that," Charles Xavier said softly. "What harm could it do, honestly, to let them be heard?"

"Depends on what they're saying," Quill said with a bitter edge that didn't quite sound like him until he seemed to check himself. "Could be unfit for kids to watch, the mouth Seven has."

Jubilee and Moira shared a glance, knowing there was some truth to that, but also sure that there was nothing that Steve could have done outside of what they'd seen to tweak Logan that badly.

"They have to be talking about Kate," Charles reasoned.

"And if they are, why edit it?" J. Jonah Jameson piped up with a deep frown as if he was annoyed by this turn of events. "Built up that whole thing for days. Be nice to have some return on this drama if we're not going to get that finale."

"Likely because it doesn't speak to this love triangle they had going for so long," Charles said. "Though I'd love to know what triggered the re-route." He was looking toward Creed as he said it.

"Kids are fickle," Tony Masters said with a wave, leaned back in his seat with a glass of whiskey. "Can't be that hard to play up their angle. Clearly, it pissed off Seven enough to get him pounding."

As the fight wore on, parts of the tributes' conversation that had to have been from earlier in the fight were put over the action, revealing the boys comparing who was the worse person for their trouble as Rogers got Logan on the ground and was levering his claws toward his throat.

"Nice move for a frail," Stane said with an obvious glance Creed's way, more or less just annoyed at having been called out by Creed than actually rooting for Steve.

"Yeah, all he's gotta do is follow through now," Creed agreed without a bit of bias either way. "What's he waiting for anyhow?"

"Harder to kill your boy than it was to kill Twelve," Masters observed with a small, wry smile.

"Just want Five to get it over with," Creed said. "My boy's got nothing left."

Jubilee had to try hard not to throw something at Creed when, almost on cue, Logan managed to kick Steve away, and the two young men got back down to it, though markedly slower on both sides. It still looked like it was leaning more toward Steve finishing the job though, and the last bit of the battle was certainly scraping by, the advantage shifting one way then the other until Steve lost his shield and Logan didn't even try to play fair at the last few blows, not wasting his opportunity.

Still, when he seemed to pin Steve to the concrete with his claws through the taller boy's back … it was silent in the room filled with Capitolites and victors for all of about thirty seconds.

Then the roar started up outside the walls, the same roar of cheering that followed the end of every Games in the Capitol. Several of the stylists and escorts were on their feet joining in the celebration of the end — others were half shielding Peter Quill as the Five mentor had lost all of his usual spark.

Jubilee was in shock as she turned to Noh and just blurted out, "I'm so sorry."

"No, no," he said, clearly trying to compose himself for her sake as he finally lifted his head from her shoulder. "No ... you should celebrate. Join the parties downstairs. That's where everyone else will be."

"I don't … really feel much like doing that," she admitted.

"No?" He met her gaze for a moment, watching her and raking his gaze over her expression curiously. "He won. I thought you'd be relieved." There was the slightest tone of bitterness in his voice, but she knew it wasn't directed at her.

"I am. Really, I am … but what they did to him," she said very, very softly. "You didn't see it all."

He frowned the slightest bit, and without moving his head, she could see his gaze sweep the room, finding the ever-present cameras with a stylist's eye for detail.

She caught on quickly and just threw her arms around his neck in a hug to cover the pale look on her face. "I'll tell you a little later," she promised.

"The parties tonight make even the loudest of conversations hard to hear," he replied low in her ear. "I know from experience."

"After that then," she said in response. "But I have to tell you."

"Alright," he replied slowly. "Later."

As the two shared their quiet words, all around them, the mentors, stylists, and escorts were in a flurry of movement, most of the Capitolites headed downstairs to join the parties, along with a few mentors like Sarkissian and others who simply hadn't been as invested as the rest.

Then there were the others who, like Jubilee, didn't seem to feel much like celebrating. Honey Lemon had thrown her arms around Quill's neck in what was probably meant as a consoling gesture, though he ended up more consoling her than anything else, and a few of Quill's friends from the victor pool hovered nearby. Even Groot, who was technically from Seven, was giving Quill his full attention.

Jubilee took one look at Quill and made her way over to Mary Jane, Five's stylist, and gave her a sad little look before she threw her arms around her and apologized, though MJ just had to smile at her.

"It's part of the job," MJ told her. "It's okay."

"It's hard for everyone the first year," said Alison Blaire on her way out the door with a little wave at Jubilee. "Don't read so much into it. It's not like you were fighting MJ or something."

"You're such a tool," Jubilee said with a frown, gaining back some of her fire all at once.

Alison paused and gave Jubilee a bit of a glare. "Lighten up. It's just the Games."

"Ditzy blonde," Jubilee muttered before she turned her attention back to MJ. "Later?"

"Come find me at the party. I'll buy the drinks if you feel like that sort of thing," MJ promised.

"I guess I better try to go look presentable then, huh?"

"I can help with that," Noh said with a small smile. "If you promise to help me do the same."

"Please," Jubilee said with a breath of relief. "My favorite stylist." She looked at MJ quickly. "No offense."

"None taken," MJ said. "Good luck finding privacy though," she added with a smirk. "You're on the Seven team. You're a hot commodity right now."

"Yay," Jubilee said, twirling one finger in the air. "Go team. Never thought it would be this … weird on the winning team." She gave MJ a final wave as she and Noh headed out to freshen up, the roar of the celebrations outside still ringing in their ears.

July 19

Secure SHIELD facility

"I know you wanted Rogers to win, but look at it this way - you'll have much more unfettered access to the kid down here," Fury said.

He and Agent Coulson walked together deeper into the recesses of SHIELD's underground facilities, past several retina scans, a fingerprint and DNA check, and at least three passcode-encrypted doors for which the password changed every three days, with armed guards at random checkpoints along the way that had no qualms about stopping even the director and putting him through the paces.

Two weeks' worth of Games, and behind those doors was the result of an entire year's worth of research into the potential tribute pool, careful planning, and millions of dollars of manpower and man hours. Already, some of the tributes who had died early on were in development, and the head of the department, Claire Temple, looked up from her work when the two men entered to rush over.

"Those last three are in rough shape from the preliminary reports I'm getting from the transport," she said with a frown. "And I'm still a little wary of testing out the process on Banner's head injury. We don't know that we can revive the brain as easily as the rest if we have to rebuild it. I can't guarantee he'll be the same even if we do manage it."

"I told you before, Ms. Temple," Fury replied. "If it doesn't work, we can deal with it then. But if there's a chance it can work, we really could use Mr. Banner's creative mind."

"And I'm telling you it's his mind I'm most concerned for," she replied, shaking her head. "I'd like to try the process on Wilson first. Put Banner on ice until we can be sure we won't cause severe dissociation."

"If that's what it takes, do what you need to," Fury said after a long moment of thought.

She nodded and turned her attention for a moment to her assistants and called out the necessary instructions before she rearranged herself the slightest bit and looked over the director and Coulson. "Other than Banner's injuries, we should be able to save everyone on your list," she reported. "Unless you've changed anything, we should have the first few up and ready to be reintegrated into the land of the living by a week from now."

"No, the only change to my list is your addition of Wilson as a test monkey," Fury said dryly.

She smirked the slightest bit at that and nodded. "You have my objection to Romanoff on your record, right?"

"And I have my reasons to myself," he said as he reached over and tapped the clipboard in front of her. "So I'm not going to repeat myself."

Claire just gave him a look for a moment but bit back what was probably another objection to his program — she had long ago given up on that. She let out a bit of a sniff and turned her attention to Coulson. "If you have anything specifically in mind, any specializations or specific programs for this new batch, you'll need to speak to Essex before he gets started reintegrating the first few."

"I'll keep that in mind, but as far as I'm concerned, it's time to get back on track," Fury replied before he gestured to yet another door for Coulson to follow him through, leaving Claire to continue her work prepping for the last few tributes' arrival.

Through that area, some of the harder cases were already being revitalized. Not every death in the Avenger Games was the same. Some, like Wagner, were easy enough. A simple stabbing was something they had long ago learned to fix. Others were far trickier.

There were cases like Potts, who would have to have limbs reattached if they had any hope of bringing her back. Thankfully, hers was an early death, and they already had her in a Genesis tube to monitor her, make sure her body didn't reject all the changes they'd made in such a short time — and taking readings to see if this particular project was even possible.

Others were simply mutilated and needed to be pieced back together long after the worst of the damage was done. Kasady had done a number on the little Munroe, not to mention the chunks missing from Barton or the lacerations that left Parker nearly unrecognizable.

It was likely Rogers and Bishop would end up here, too — the final few always did. Banner would go through here eventually, once Claire okay'ed him. But for now, the top scientific minds in Marvel were working away on Barton and Parker. The Tahiti process had improved in the past year, so they were hopeful, but it was still up in the air as to how much they could fix.

"This is a bad time, gentlemen," Hank Pym said without really looking up from his adjustments to the equipment. "I have two Genesis tubes to prep and another two operations to set up for. I don't have time for status reports."

"Don't let us slow you down," Fury said. "We're just passing through. Wanted to see the progress for myself on my way to Essex. Finalize the order."

Pym waved a hand at them distractedly. "Come back when I've got Hank and Reed to help me when they're done with their soirees. This will go so much faster with extra hands that are capable."

"Shouldn't be too long for either of them," Fury said. "Now that the parties are going."

"Depends on who won - I haven't watched. Been too busy," Hank said, again with that same distracted expression as he tweaked some controls on the tube prepped for Parker.

"That's the other reason we're here," Fury replied easily. "Final tributes are on their way inbound now. Expect some pretty nasty damage on Rogers."

"You're trying to send me to an early grave. I saw the scans on the last few."

"Look at it this way, Pym," Fury replied. "If we do, at least we know how to get you back."

At that, Hank looked up at Fury with a dry look. "That's not funny."

But Fury just smirked the slightest bit and went back to looking over some of the reports for the incoming tributes. "Stab wounds, arrow holes. General disarray," Fury muttered. A lot of it was fixable, but with the push they wanted from this year, he was hoping for a return on the heavy investment in new equipment for Essex, Pym, and everyone else working on this project.

Hank just nodded distractedly, now working on Barton's Genesis tube and not really paying attention to Fury. "Plenty of stab wounds this year. What, one of the kids get a trident? The three-pronged pattern is pretty repetitive."

"He made a set of claws out of rebar. Strapped them to his arms," Fury replied. "Did a good job on found weaponry, really."

"Do me a favor and tell me that one's not coming through here. I don't need another case where Essex is lecturing me on padded rooms and found weapons."

"No, Seven won this year," Fury said with a little smirk. "Named Howlett."

"Seven?" Hank's head came up and he actually gave Fury his attention before he just let out a breath. "Been a while since I heard that name. Condolences to the kid. Stuck with Creed."

"I think he can handle Creed just fine," Fury admitted. "They seem to have a regular feud brewing up. Broke Creed's nose before the Games started."

"Good for him." Hank was smirking the slightest bit as he nodded. "Someone ought to give it back to him. He was a nightmare my year. Trying to make a mark with his first mentee. Not that Jan was having any of it — I think she lived in my room for most of our time there." He shook his head and settled his shoulders before he waved them toward the door. "Essex should still be in his office — he's drooling over the latest files from the final kids."

The two men left Pym to his work and crossed the threshold into Essex's playground, where the strange scientist was indeed pouring over a handful of files with a delighted expression on his face.

"You've really done the thing properly this year, director," he all but crowed as he didn't even look up from his files. "This level of manipulation in the Games… Mojo was never this creative."

"We got the job done," Fury said with no tone of amusement in his voice.

"With you being the director of Games this year, we'll have to deviate from our normal pattern," Essex said as if he hadn't paid Fury the least bit of attention. "They'll associate you with what was done in the Games, and I need them to trust me. We'll need to push back your usual introductions until they're more stable."

"How long until the first one is ready to start working?" Fury asked. "I think I'd like to make sure that Xavier is part of the process this time out. Hopefully add a little more stability to them."

Essex looked thoroughly disdainful at the suggestion as he finally looked up to Fury. "Let him work your precious victor and leave the rest to me. If this is what the fallen are like," he said, gesturing at the files, "I imagine he has his work cut out for him." He gave Fury a silky smile. "Or do you doubt my ability to get results?"

"I'm sure you can get the job done, but if the past stability of these ex-tributes is any indicator, you need help."

Essex made a face. "Silver Fox was not my mess. I can't fix what is physically damaged, and that, director, was a botched Tahiti operation if ever I saw one, not to mention the trauma endured before the Games, as we now know."

"In case you're confused, this is not up for discussion," Fury said frankly.

For a moment, Essex's eyes flashed before he let out the slightest of sighs. "I expect you'll be able to at least integrate Wagner and Danvers within the week. No stability issues there, and I understand the operations took no time at all. From there, it's only a matter of getting their physical strength back, but that's not my department."

"Thank you, Dr. Essex," Fury said with a little nod. "The last group should be here any minute."

"Then you're really just taking up space, aren't you?"

"I was planning on watching them come in," Fury said shortly.

"I had no idea you were sentimental." Essex tipped his head the slightest bit, something gleaming in his gaze. "You've never been this interested before. Or is it just that there are so many more in the program this year? Or perhaps you're interested in our strides in fixing even the worst cases?"

"Why don't you do your job and we'll keep out of your way while you do," Fury said.

"My dear director, that's what I was doing when you came in."

The two SHIELD men shared a glance before they left Essex' office, though they weren't far down the hall when Coulson shook his head. "If I shoot him, you'll demote me, won't you?"

"Only if you do it in front of witnesses," Fury replied flatly.

Coulson just shook his head again and let out a sigh. "Just looking forward to when those tributes are on my secondary team and not in his playground. I think he enjoys it a little too much, and it's always a rocky transition to the way I run things."

"Which is why I'm bringing in Xavier," Fury said as they stepped through the door that led to the hangar. "I think Essex has had too much leeway over the years."

"No arguments there," Coulson agreed as they watched the last of the hovercrafts approaching with the final three tributes. The last fights had taken place in a close enough time frame that the transport had them all together, though Coulson noted the cryogenics team on standby for Banner as opposed to the usual procedure for the other two.

Incidentally, it was Banner that was offloaded first, and the cryo team moved quickly to clean him up and decontaminate him before they could start their process up. They kept to a far removed corner of the hangar to avoid exposure to anyone else, and even at that, they were switching out workers every ten minutes.

The other two were just as dirty and bloodied, but the focus was on getting them clean for surgery, with Claire Temple arriving with her usual lack of fanfare as she and her team looked over the fallen tributes. It was a little jarring to hear her rattling off their litany of injuries.

"Collapsed lung, massive internal organ damage," she was calling out to the nurses as she looked over Bishop while Cecilia Reyes was with Rogers. "Broken ribs, shattered knee, concussion…"

"Multiple stab wounds, severed cardial artery, not to mention the anterior spinal artery - those lungs need cleaning up too," Reyes called out. "And a concussion on this one as well."

"Not surprised," Claire replied. "Pretty sure that's going to be the case for most of them."

The two doctors continued their back and forth, already discussing which injuries — and which tribute — to start on first as Fury and Coulson watched the last two tributes from this year's Games being wheeled down the hall.

"The things we do to children in the name of revolution," Coulson said softly, almost under his breath.

"At least we're bringing them back," Fury said in response, every bit as quiet. "Otherwise they'd just be gone."

Coulson raised an eyebrow at Fury but didn't fall back into their long tired-out argument. "The president will want to know your plans for next year. Quarter Quell."

"Yes he will," Fury agreed, nodding his head and looking more and more thoughtful. "And it's not a conversation I'm looking forward to."

"You know what you're going to tell him? I know Hill had her own ideas."

"She had some ideas, but after this year's Games, I'm not real excited about more head games," Fury said.

"You make that decision before or after Essex nearly fainted over your files?" Coulson asked with a smirk.

"Believe it or not, before, he just cemented it," Fury admitted. "All that we did is going to make it hard to deal with the one that lived through it, let alone the rest of them."

"So, you're going more for desperation from the tributes than punishment for the victors," Coulson surmised.

"In most cases, yes," Fury agreed.

"Let's just hope Thanos agrees. I understand he wasn't too pleased with the

heroics this year. That should help at least throw alliances off balance."

"We can hope," he said as the two of them headed back the way they'd come - more or less. The Games were over this year, but for the two of them, it just meant the real work was only beginning.