Author's note: The time has finally arrived! The superhero AU I've been promising for months! I hope you like fake relationships, too...
All chapter titles will be Newspaper headlines and I'll try to tease the next one at the end of each chapter. The title of the story is inspired by the Paramore song Now. Go check it out!
Much thanks to my beta and bestie writingbutunpublished! Go read her stuff and tell her she's awesome.
Come find me on Tumblr (booksrockmyface) for updates, previews, and musings.
Happy reading!
Indestructible
Superhero AU
Chapter One:
Mockingjay and Nightingale Save the World Again
It was full dark. Katniss squinted up at the sky but the lights from surrounding buildings and street lamps completely blocked out the stars. That was one of the things Katniss hated about living in the city. She'd grown up in the country and learned all the constellations and the names of a lot of the stars. She gave up her search of the sky and started to look at street level for her partner.
The shadows of the alley shifted and she said softly, "I was about to start the patrol without you."
Gale slid up beside her, his gray and dark blue suit looked all black in the shade of the buildings. He tugged at his collar. "Sorry, Prim was trying to help and my stuff was still in the dryer." He reached down and adjusted his crotch. "We need new costumes. I feel ridiculous. I'm not a dancer. I don't like how this fits."
Katniss laughed. "You feel ridiculous? Every time someone catches a picture of me, they talk about how sexy it is. At least they talk about your muscle definition. There was a headline the other day that said, 'Mockingjay equals hot, Nightingale equals strong.'"
"Then we should try to find a designer. Or get your boyfriend to draw something."
"Peeta's not my boyfriend." She snapped. "Come on, we have some patrolling to do."
Katniss shouldered her bow and stunning arrows and stepped out of the alley. Gale followed, lifting his crossbow from the hook on his utility belt.
He consulted the device he'd programmed to monitor specific points around the city they had charted as crime hotspots. It let out a low beep and he clicked around on the screen.
"Where's the action?" She asked.
"Next block over." Gale pressed a button and the screen came to life with a camera.
Katniss moved closer as they watched a gang making their way toward a young woman walking down the road. She had short hair combed down around her ears and was wearing a button down shirt and a skirt that stopped at her knees. She pushed a pair of glasses up on her nose as she looked around nervously.
"Let's head them off." Katniss said as she started down the road.
Gale quickly followed, stuffing the device away. Katniss took out an arrow and stuck it in the string of her bow to ready it. Gale armed his crossbow.
He had engineered the arrows to inflict an electrical pulse similar to a Taser. They would incapacitate without major harm. They hurt like hell and made Gale pass out on more than one occasion while they were still perfecting them.
They heard the commotion before they saw it. Several young men dressed in baggy jeans and t-shirts, were harassing a single woman. She tried unsuccessfully to get away. Every time she broke through, the men quickly surrounded her again.
"If you boys are really that hard up for a date maybe you should try Tindr." Katniss called as she raised her bow.
One of the young men looked over and laughed. "It's the fucking Mockingjay!" He tapped his hand against the arm of the guy nearest him. "Look who came to save the day."
The boys all slowly started to turn. The woman saw this as her chance to run and took it. But she was grabbed by one of the quicker members of the gang, probably the leader by the way he started calling out orders.
"And you ain't goin' nowhere, cutie." He said with a growly voice, wrapping one arm around her neck and using the other to pin her arms down. "Don't give two shits about Sexyjay and Nightfairy."
"No, dude, you can't say that." A guy in a ball cap said. "They can kick our ass in two seconds. I'm out." He walked away and several of the others followed suit.
The young woman blinked a couple times. Something about her told Katniss that she could probably hold her own if it was a one-on-one fight. And there was something familiar about the set of her mouth.
Katniss moved forward. "Let her go and follow your buddies and no one has to go to jail tonight."
The man tightened his grip and twitched his head at the bigger of the two. "Just get her already."
Before he lifted his foot, Katniss released an arrow and he was down screaming in agony. The second guy tried to advance, but Gale was faster. The other two men held back, their eyes darting between Gale and Katniss. They helped the two off the ground and ran in the direction their buddies had taken.
"Can't threaten good help these days." The man sighed, tightening his grip on the woman. And then he let out a loud yelp.
Katniss noticed a root from a nearby tree had somehow come up from the ground and wrapped around his ankle.
"What the fuck?" He released the woman who rubbed her neck.
"God, what an asshole." She said. "Can't even keep your own people around to help you assault an innocent girl." She waved her hand and a branch dropped from the tree to wrap around his body, pinning his arms to his sides.
"Gaia." Katniss breathed as she lowered her bow. That's why she was familiar.
The young woman smiled and pressed her finger to her lips. "I don't know who you're talking about." She moved away from the captured man. "He's all yours." She stopped in front of Gale and pressed something into his hand. "Call me sometime, hot stuff." She sauntered down the sidewalk and none of them could keep their eyes off her.
Katniss broke out of the trance first and shook Gale's arm. "Holy shit, we just met Gaia."
"She gave me her number." He lifted up the card and looked down at it. "That's her real name and her day job?"
The prisoner called, "Can you let me go? I didn't really do nothing."
Katniss looked up. "You assaulted someone."
"She assaulted me." He tried to break free. "Look!"
With a sigh, Gale put the card away and replaced it with a pair of handcuffs. He walked over to the man encased in tree limbs and looked at it in concentration. "Are we gonna have to chop this up?"
Katniss looked over it a moment and then rested her hand on the limb so she could lean over and examine it better. It started to slowly unwrap at her touch. They all watched in stunned wonder as it released the man. Gale quickly slapped on the cuffs on before he had a chance to run.
"That was so cool!" Katniss said as the tree returned to its original state.
Gale put in the call to the authorities and they waited for the arrival in silence. Except for the criminal yammering on about his innocence.
After giving their statements, Katniss and Gale continued on their patrol. Katniss was more than happy to leave the man behind. But she was still reeling at the thought of meeting Gaia. Ever since the superhuman had surfaced, Katniss had looked at all the information she could find online. Having no powers meant that her best friend Peeta and her sister Prim worried about her every time she went out. Recruiting Gale, her other best friend, was the only way either of them stopped making a fuss.
There was no more activity as they finished up their rounds.
Katniss looked at her watch and sighed. "Almost four. I have to be to work at ten, so I should go get some sleep." She said.
Gale said, "A couple hours of sleep would probably do me some good."
Katniss gave him a sympathetic look. "You've got to be in court tomorrow, don't you?"
"Yep." He nodded. "I meet with my client at eight. Courtroom opens at nine."
She clapped him on the shoulder. "Then go home. We reset all the alarms, so no need to patrol tomorrow unless something gets tripped. In fact," she held out her hand, "give me the monitor and I'll call you if I need backup."
He handed it over. "Thanks, Catnip. Get some sleep."
She smiled. "Yeah, you too."
They parted and Katniss made her way through the city. She stopped in front of the bakery and saw Peeta placing the first donuts in the display. She waved and he unlocked the door.
"Do you have a jelly filled?" She asked as she dropped her things and slid into a chair at the back corner table.
Peeta handed her a cup of coffee. "I haven't done any yet. But I have chocolate with sprinkles."
"My second favorite. I'll take it." She sipped the coffee and let out a sigh. "Can you join me for five minutes?"
He sat the donut in front of her and propped his hip against the table. "I got bagels and croissants in the oven, so I only have a minute."
She smiled and adjusted the mask on her face and then took another sip of her coffee.
"Was it a successful night?" He asked.
"A gang was bothering a woman. Most of them ran. We tazed two, but they got away. And Gaia got one." Katniss took a bit of her donut.
Peeta dropped into the seat across from her, a stunned look on his face. "Gaia? The Gaia? The woman who can manipulate plants? That Gaia?"
She swallowed and nodded. "One in the same. Gale got her number."
Peeta chuckled. "That's so cool. I can't wait to hear what Prim has to say." He paused and sniffed the air. "Need to get stuff out of the oven." He stood.
It fascinated Katniss that he could tell the perfect doneness by smell. It was like his own superpower. She nibbled her donut as she waited for him to return.
He came back in and slid two large pans into the display case. "By the way, someone was here sniffing around yesterday. About how Mockingjay comes in here a lot. They asked if I was dating you. And I kind of panicked and said I was."
She choked on her latest bite. "Dammit, Peeta, why would you do that?"
"They were asking and I didn't think it would be good to deny it." He slowly walked around the counter.
She took a drink from her coffee. "You said you were dating Mockingjy or Katniss?"
"Mockingjay." He said. "You come in here every morning after your patrol for coffee and a donut dressed in uniform before sneaking off to change. You had to have known someone was watching. They always watch you."
"Yeah." She finished her donut and coffee and stood. "In case someone is watching now…" She grabbed his face and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Then she whispered, "Talk about this with me out of my suit and you'll pay."
He smiled as she pulled away. "Don't worry about it, Mockingjay." She stepped toward the door and he called, "Will Katniss need coffee?"
"Katniss will need all the coffee. She'll be down in a couple hours." She said before she stepped outside.
Katniss snuck around to the back of the building and up the stairs to her apartment. Inside, she quickly shed the mask and body suit, hanging them up in the back of her closet. She pulled on an old shirt and collapsed in bed. She fell asleep very quickly.
Up next:
Mockingjay Spotted Kissing Local Baker