Notes: Oh, look. The trend of cute, happy chapters is continuing. How strange to see in a Hunger Games universe omg. In our defense? It is between the Reaping and the tour? So. breathing room. Also. these marshmallows could NOT handle it otherwise. Mkay?


Chapter 52: "Spring Is In The Air"


April 3

Fashion Arena, Capitol


With April nestled halfway between the victory tour and the Reapings, the Capitol was sure to have some kind of event to keep the Games at the forefront of everyone's minds, particularly Thanos, who seemed to be impossible to deal with unless there was something Games-related going on.

So, during the first weekend in April, the stylists did what they did best — they put on a show, showcasing their latest designs as well as announcing the teams for this year's Games, since there were always a few who were dismissed or who quit in such a high-pressure job.

Everyone related to the Games attended, including the victors, though some of them were actually entertained by the frenetic energy of some of their stylists. It was always fun to watch Eight's entire prep team — not to mention the hilarity of Noh and Jubilee pretending in the least convincing way that they weren't flouting the rules by already dating before he had even technically quit. Dazzler's displays were always a show-stopper as well, and really, the whole thing was the most light-hearted part of the constant Games reminders, so most of the victors were just running with it by that point, doing their best to enjoy the show that their clearly-excited stylists were putting on.

Of course, as with any party in the Capitol, there were politicians, rich higher-ups, and the usual crowd of Capitolites that no one wanted to deal with, but that was par for the course at this point.

The tables at the venue were relatively small — supposedly to encourage conversation among the guests so that they could flit from table to table and engage with some of the stylists, so when Rhodey and Sam dropped into the two seats across from Jess and Logan, they filled up the table. The other victors were more spread out, with Quill of course with the high-powered types and Creed far from the others with his group of weird admirers. Bobbi was at a table with Viper and Osborn, though Logan could see the two women sharing glances that meant both of them wanted to stab Osborn, so likely the conversation wasn't going well.

Rhodey and Sam both were listening to Jess recount how the little stylist team in Eight had actually kicked Norman Osborn out of the suite when he got in the way of their work — she was very proud of GoGo in particular — when Rhodey spotted a familiar face in the crowd and smirked a bit.

"Wonder who she's looking for today," Rhodey said, nudging Sam in the shoulder, and his friend looked up to see the tall blonde woman chatting easily with some of the escorts who had come for the show.

"No telling," Sam said with a light shrug, though now that Jess had followed their gazes, she had a look on her face. It wasn't disgust or annoyance, just… mild frustration.

"You meet Seraph yet?" Rhodey asked Logan, tipping his head toward the blonde woman.

"Briefly," he replied.

"She's what we in the business like to call 'weird,'" Sam said with a small smirk.

"Pretty sure that's the whole crowd," Logan pointed out.

"Ah, but this one is nice to us. For no reason," Rhodey countered. "Weird."

"Everyone has a reason," Jess told the two victors with a sigh.

"Yeah, and her reason is she's an eccentric," Rhodey said, shaking his head lightly. He leaned over to Logan as he added. "You know one time she bought out a whole week with me just to ask me to teach her how to fly an antique plane? Whole week in a cockpit."

"You're creepin' me out with your euphemisms, Rhodes," Logan said dryly.

"No, it was a bomber from one of the wars before Marvel," Rhodey said with a wide grin.

"Yeah, you can stop anytime."

But Sam just smirked. "Handled like a dream too," he supplied helpfully.

"Got it. You both got a thing for cougars," Logan concluded, his focus firmly on his whiskey.

Sam and Rhodey just shared a look and smirked even wider. "You'll see," Sam told him.

"I hope Nebula takes an interest in both of you," Logan shot back.

Both of them made faces at that. "That's a horrible thing to wish on a person," Sam said, shaking his head.

"Especially when you factor in her other half," Logan said. "All yours."

"See, this is what we get for trying to help," Rhodey said, shaking his head.

"You're not trying to help, you're wishing a crazy woman on me," Logan defended. "I'm just doing the same."

"Nah, we just know she'll come find you eventually," Sam said with a shrug. "She makes it a point to meet all the victors, drink tea, and chat. It's downright personable, and it creeps me out. So we thought we'd give you fair warning about the weird Capitolite coming your way."

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, wishing the stupid party would be over with. This wasn't his thing, no matter how many they made him go to.

The conversation had turned, though, since both Sam and Rhodey were pilots and seemed to be trading stories about some of their favorite Capitol-sanctioned flights — neither of them were dumb enough to mention anything else in public — and Jess had gone to get another round of drinks when, in fact, Seraph did make her way over with a genuinely pleasant-looking smile.

"You look like you'd rather be, well, anywhere but here," she observed as she glanced over at Logan before she smiled at the other two victors as well. "Sam, James — how are you?"

"Same old," Sam replied with a shrug.

"How's the plane treating you?" Rhodey asked.

Seraph grinned at him. "I love it. I'll have to ask one of you over later, though — I think there's a sputtering in the engine that I just can't figure out."

"Rhodey's better at the inner workings," Sam admitted. "Guy likes to take stuff apart."

"Well, everyone needs a hobby," Seraph said with a little shrug. She looked up to see that Jess was returning with drinks for the group and stood up from the chair. "I didn't mean to steal your spot."

"You didn't," Jess said, eyeing her warily.

Seraph shrugged at that before she turned to Logan. "Would you mind if we took a walk outside? I'm not asking to parade you in front of the cameras — we can take the back way. I just need to get away from all this…" She waved her hand to indicate the entire building. "It's stifling."

He glanced around the room to see where Fury was and wasn't disappointed to find him watching. The director very subtly nodded his head, and Logan tried very hard not to roll his eyes as he got to his feet with a sigh. "Lead the way."

She grinned and took him by the arm, headed out through a side door where, as she'd said, there weren't cameras to crowd them. Almost as soon as the door had closed, she let go of his arm and shook her head, letting the smile fade away into something that looked more genuine, with one corner of her mouth upturned.

"Thank you," she breathed out. "I really needed the excuse. Worthington has been following me all day wanting to talk business, and I can't stand him."

"If he's pestering you, I doubt I'll be much of a deterrent," Logan pointed out. "He didn't mind taking up time talking to me the last three or four parties I had to go to."

"Yes, well, Sam and James are nice, but they're useless around him too. I thought I'd take my chances, and Jessica doesn't seem to like me very much." Seraph let out a little laugh. "In fact, she'd probably throw me under the bus."

"I doubt that somehow," he replied.

She just laughed at that and gave his arm a little squeeze. "I'm Seraph, by the way. I don't think I ever introduced myself — sorry about that."

"We met before," Logan said, watching her carefully.

"That wasn't really a meeting," she said, waving her hand. "At the time, it had looked like you and Jessica were having a rough moment, and really, with everything else going on, I didn't think you needed that on top of it. She can carry a grudge, you know. James told me stories."

"She's not the only one," Logan replied.

She waved her hand at him for a moment before she let out a breath and fell silent, seeming to enjoy not having to talk to anyone for the time being as they walked over the deck that lined the entire building and looked out over the gardens. It was some time before she said anything at all, and when she did, it was simply, "You don't mind keeping me company, do you? I'm really not much for conversation right now."

"I don't believe that, but no, I don't mind."

She smirked his way for a second. "Well, you're really not much for conversation, but I was trying to spare your feelings. My mistake."

"That seems to go against the general thought process around here," he commented.

"What, silence?" She chuckled. "But then how would you know every dim-headed little thought in their shallow minds?"

"I'd rather not."

"Then that's where I'll have to disagree. It's much more refreshing to know where a person stands than to wonder," she said. "Even lies are telling. How do you think I've survived in the business world so long?"

"Couldn't tell you," he said with a light nod. "I don't know your business."

"Oh, where to start," she said, shaking her head. "I've bought out so many failing companies, I don't think I have one business anymore, but I let my accountant deal with most of it."

"All the better to free you up for the parties," he said as he kept his gaze to the gardens.

"Yes, I'm starting to see the flaw in the logic," she had to laugh. "I do actually enjoy them sometimes. But when I have to deal with certain people, it's just… It stops being fun very quickly." She turned to face him suddenly. "How is Peter?" she asked. "Really."

He frowned at that and narrowed his eyes slightly. "You should ask him yourself," Logan said.

"I can't — his fiance has him on a tight leash," she said with a look of disdain.

"Then I guess you have your answer."

"Just tell me he doesn't have plans to do anything drastic. I saw the picture in the paper," she said. "Anyone with eyes can see he was a few seconds away from fainting."

"I don't talk about the others," Logan replied. "If you want to know about them, they're all here."

"That's fair," she said, though she clearly sounded disappointed. "But you don't talk about yourself much either."

"Nothing to say."

"See?" she said, gesturing at him. "Not much for conversation."

"Good thing that's not in the job description."

"The only thing in the job description is the requirement that you kill children and then come out and smile for us," she pointed out.

"Well I got half of it."

"Is that why Nebula didn't keep you?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye, then quickly held up one hand. "You don't have to tell me anything that would get you in trouble. I'm just curious."

"You'd have to ask her," he replied. "I didn't get the checklist on what she did and didn't appreciate."

"I really, really don't want to ask her," Seraph admitted, then sighed heavily. "You are no good for satisfying my curiosity, you know that?"

He smirked her way. "Also, not in the job description."

"I can't even argue that," she said. "Which is a little disappointing. I have to admit, I liked Peter when he came through, and I just — didn't expect Gamora to move that quickly. I'm dying to know what happened, but those two…" She shook her head. "I don't scare easily — not anymore — but the princesses disturb me. I'm not going anywhere near them if I don't have to."

"Good policy, I'm told."

"It keeps most of us alive, yes," she said with a little nod. She paused and seemed to consider something. "I did have an ulterior motive asking you to come out here with me. Which, at this point, I don't think should surprise you."

"Not even a little," Logan replied, still not looking her way.

"I bought out a bit of time with you," she admitted openly. "I know you're supposed to wait to be formally told, but I wanted to get to know you first before you came over expecting… well. How the game is usually played."

Logan crossed his arms and waited for whatever it was she had to say, clearly uncomfortable.

She sucked in a breath and looked sincerely apologetic. "I'm sorry to corner you like that."

"Gettin' used to it," he said through his teeth.

She watched him for a moment and looked suddenly uncomfortable herself before she let out a sigh. "Sorry — I'll let you go back to your friends. I've stolen enough of your time."

"What do you want?" he asked, half glaring her way. "Really."

"I told you," she said. "I just wanted to get to know you. Not because you were told to talk to me or anything like that. I simply want a little honesty."

"Sounds like a load," Logan replied. "Honesty. Is that all you got outta this?"

She stopped to consider it. "That, and you don't appreciate being lied to either," she said at last.

"I don't know of anyone who does," Logan pointed out.

"But you can spot it better than most people," she said. She paused again before she added, "And you're loyal to your friends. That much is obvious too."

"For the circles you run in — that's common knowledge. On both counts."

"The circles that I run in are full of lies," she said. "For all I knew, you just read the financials closely." She had a bit of a twinkle in her eyes. "That particular story is getting more entertaining with every retelling in the financial circles."

"I'm sure it's worth a laugh."

"As for loyalty… I just had to see for myself." She leaned forward as Logan bristled. "For the record, if you had told me about Peter, I would have made sure to tell him and his friends not to trust you."

"Maybe I should then."

"See? The second reaction is always more calculated," she said. She gave him a little smile as she turned to leave. "Thank you for talking with me."

Logan glared at her retreating figure, then let out a breath as he returned to the railing. Even the most benign of Capitol parties was filled with double talk and people looking to take advantage. The fact that he couldn't simply ditch it was positively depressing.


April 5

Briefing Room in the Tahiti Wing


"I hope you can keep this professional," Coulson said as he looked at the expressions on Kurt and Kate's faces. "This is not an opportunity to go sight-seeing."

"Oh, definitely. We can definitely be professional," Kate said, though she was grinning widely and nodding more times than was strictly necessary.

"Good," Coulson said, trying to keep the smirk from getting any bigger. " I need bugs in all the areas that people know are safe for more free speech."

"How long are you giving us?" Kate asked with her best attempt at a straight face.

"You have a terrible poker face," Coulson told her, though he wasn't doing much better at schooling his own expression. "I'm allowing a full night for each district."

She grinned even wider and glanced over at Kurt, who was doing a little better at keeping a straight face, since he didn't know what Kate did — which was that District Twelve was small enough that it wouldn't take long at all to get everything set up… and then go sight-seeing anyway. "Sounds good to me," she said.

"Goes without saying — Don't be seen by anyone," Coulson repeated for what had to have been the third time. At least. "No secret messages to anyone. No communication at all to anyone in the district. I'm putting myself on the line for this, but I think you're the best ones to handle your own district."

"Come on, Van Helsing," Kate said with a wide grin. "Would we let you down?"

"Especially when you've been so good to slay vampires for us?" Kurt asked with a crooked smirk.

"You better not," he replied, ignoring Kurt's commentary all together.

The two of them turned the full force of twin smiles his way. "So, when do we leave?" Kurt asked, leaning back in his chair and pulling Kate's hand with him as she was clearly thrilled to pieces to get to go home, even for a little while.

"As soon as you're ready," Coulson said. "On your way out, send in Rogers and Ororo. They're going out too."

"Five or Eleven?" Kate asked curiously.

"Yes," Coulson replied.

Kurt brightened up at that. "So, when are we going to Nine?"

"As soon as you're done with Twelve," Coulson replied, unable to stow his own smirk at seeing how delighted she was.

Kate took one look at the huge grin on Kurt's face then rushed over and gave Coulson a kiss on the temple. "Thanks, Dad," she teased him. "We'll obey all the rules and be back for curfew."

"Go on — don't do anything to make me regret this," he said with a little wave that hid the incredibly pleased expression only half as well as he meant it to.

The two of them grinned all the wider, though that really shouldn't have been possible, as they headed out to the hangar to prep, sending Steve and Ororo to Coulson with promises that "you're going to like this one."

They were both geared up and ready to go in record time, sure to stop by the lab to get some of the bugs from Hank before they left, since the little miniature, moveable cameras were quickly becoming SHIELD's best source of intel, as they were unlikely to be noticed.

Still, it was clear that both of them were ready to get moving, and all the way out to Twelve, Kate was telling Kurt about her home in great detail.

"We probably won't see my dad's house at all; no one goes to the merchant center to talk because there's too many pro-Capitol ties there," Kate said. "You know— the mayor, my dad, a few other sleazy types." She grinned and shrugged it off. "But that's fine with me. I never really liked that place anyway. Best spots are where me and my friends patrolled, so honestly, we might actually have to be careful not to get caught, because we basically ruled those streets."

"I thought you spend most of your time over the fence," Kurt said, his chin in his hand as he was smiling to himself watching and listening to Kate gush about her home.

"Well, I did, and so did America, but the others were more in charge of things like getting the food out, making sure no one starved or froze overnight — or if they did, that they were moved somewhere kids wouldn't see, that sort of thing," Kate said, and Kurt had to pause and frown a bit, wondering if Kate knew exactly how depressing that sounded.

But she didn't seem to realize it at all, going on to tell Kurt about the ingenious system of food delivery that her friend Nate had figured out and the time Billy and Teddy almost got caught out after curfew, and were saved only when Teddy successfully impersonated a Sentinel's voice and kept the interested officials away from discovering their illegal hunting catch.

She beamed her way through telling her stories all the way up until the drop point, and Jan waved them off with a reminder that she would be back to pick them up at dawn.

As soon as Jan had taken off again, Kate looked over at Kurt and grabbed his hand, the excitement written all over her face. "It's nice to be home," she said, glancing around at the trees surrounding them. Even in the dark, it was easy to see that spring was starting in earnest in District Twelve. The flowers were poking out of the melted snowbanks, and petals were already strewn over some of the paths, falling from the magnolia trees and dogwoods.

Kurt grinned and allowed Kate to lead him through the forested area, thick with brush and taller trees. It was obvious that no one from the district was supposed to be out there by how thickly the flora grew in places, as if no one had been through there in years. But Kate seemed to know the path by heart, even pointing out places where Kurt might have fallen into trouble himself — a hidden drop obscured by gnarled tree roots, a stony area where the footing was a bit unstable.

She had a good hold of his hand for most of the trip just in case he lost his footing — and also because she was so excited to introduce him to her home. As they moved, Kate pointed out a few other markers, faded strips of fabric that meant her friends had laid a trap, and other paths that she thought Kurt should know about. Like the one that led up to a lake that Kate promised they absolutely had to go see once they finished up in the district.

They finally got closer to the fence line, and Kate signalled to Kurt to be quiet. She hardly gave him any warning before she pulled him to the ground, though he didn't argue, sure that she had seen something he hadn't.

Sure enough, a dark figure passed by them in the woods, far enough away that Kurt could only see her as a silhouette, though he had heard Kate describe America Chavez enough times that he was fairly sure that's who it was, based on the frizzy hair and the way she moved. The fact that Kate was watching with an almost forlorn look sealed the deal, and as soon as America had moved on to check other traps, she let out a sigh.

"I miss her. I miss all of them," she admitted to Kurt at a whisper.

Kurt watched her for a moment before he reached over and tipped up her chin toward him to give her a quick kiss. "Then let's get going. You still haven't shown me your district and the home you and Cassie are always talking about."

The two of them slipped through the night to the fence line, and as they followed it, Kate told Kurt about the first time she had ever gone over the fence with America — and how they had to be rescued after getting stuck upside down in the tree.

"Bad start?" he asked with a little smirk.

"Bad start," she agreed before she came to a stop, right in front of where one tree had partially overgrown the fence line. She had her hands on her hips as she frowned up at it. "Okay," she said. "Here's the thing. Now we have to get up there."

"I thought you did this all the time."

"Yeah, but I had America on my team, and no offense, but she's way stronger than you."

Kurt had to smirk at that. "I'll try not to be offended until after I meet her."

Kate chuckled at him and then seemed to study the tree before she looked over at Kurt. "You know what? You're taller than America... let's try something. Gimme a boost."

Kurt raised an eyebrow for a moment before he simply made a stirrup with his hands, and Kate clambered up until she was standing on his shoulders. She gave a small cry of triumph when her hands closed around the tree limb, and for a moment, she shifted around, so that now she was hanging upside down. She reached out and grabbed him by the wrists, and he swung his legs up as well. With Kate pulling and Kurt using his every muscle to try and hook his feet over the edge, they finally managed it.

Panting, they both slid down the other side of the tree, though Kate paused to examine one branch in particular.

"This is where I stashed my bow," she said, pointing. "I wonder what's happened to it now."

Kurt took Kate's other hand. "I'm sure America's taking very good care of it. From what you've told me, I'm sure she realizes how important it is to you."

Kate nodded, her gaze lingering on the tree for a while longer before she grinned again and pulled Kurt along.

Kate was already placing bugs as she went, since the district was small, and she knew that most of the best places to meet in secret were on the outskirts anyway, and they worked quickly as Kurt tried to take every opportunity to look around the small, clearly very poor district. The ramshackle buildings hardly qualified as houses, and there was sort of a dreary feeling of malaise lingering over the streets, as if the whole thing might collapse at the slightest provocation.

Which really only made her sunny disposition all the more amazing.

Kate beamed his way as she pulled on his hand to lead him around, still setting bugs in what Kurt thought were strange places but what Kate assured him were good drop points for her team and therefore places where people gathered. "That's where Tommy lives," she said, pointing to one of the shambled homes. "I mean, that's where he lives when he's not in trouble with the Sentinels."

They continued along through what seemed to be the worst part of town, and Kurt noticed that some of the houses were barely standing and seemed almost to be leaning against each other for support. She called out another house where Billy and Teddy lived, but still they pressed deeper into the dingiest streets until she stopped outside toward what could only charitably be called a shack.

"And this," she said quietly. "This is our headquarters."

Kurt simply had to stare at the small space, remembering all the stories that Kate and Cassie had told about their little group in Twelve. There weren't many names, but he was sure Cassie had mentioned actually living there with a few of their members. But it hardly looked like there was enough space for three people to stretch out, let alone live. He wondered if the cellar door he could see gave them any more space — or if that was even livable, considering the state of the rest of the shack.

He wondered if Kate was aware of exactly how small her district was. Even back in Nine, things had been… more livable. A little brighter, less dreary.

"It's not much," Kate said, seeing the look on Kurt's face, "but it's more of a home than my house ever was."

Kurt smiled and squeezed her hand. He decided not to ask how on earth she managed to find such brightness in a place like this and instead asked, "Anywhere else we should go?"

She squeezed his hand right back for a moment and shook her head. "Just the school, and then we should head back. If America's out tonight, the rest of the team may be too."

The two of them made quick work of things, placing their bugs at the aging school before they headed back to that same tree at the fence line, again boosting each other over the lightly humming fence and making their way through the trees, though Kurt couldn't help but notice that they weren't taking the same path that they had taken to get there.

"Where are we going?"

"To go see if the lake is clear tonight."

"And if it's not?"

She shrugged. "Then we'll find somewhere else. But I'm really hoping no one else is at the lake."

Kurt nodded, smiling to himself at the excitement in Kate's voice, though he had to admit that he wasn't expecting the long trek out to wherever this lake was. Though he had to admit, when they climbed over the edge of a ridge and he could see the lake for himself — it was worth it.

The lake was a perfect sparkling blue, wide and untouched and quiet. A small rushing noise told him that there was some kind of river or creek feeding into the lake, but he couldn't see its source.

"Well?" Kate was beaming at Kurt. "What do you think?"

"I see why you like it here," Kurt said with a grin. "It's…peaceful."

Kate nodded, leading him down the ridge to an outcropping of rock where they could see out over the entire lake. She folded her legs up underneath her and then released his hand so that she could lean back on her arms, looking up at the night sky. "I used to come here all the time. Sometimes with my friends, sometimes by myself." She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "It's the perfect hideaway. Nothing can touch you here — not the Games, not hunger, not Sentinels…" She sighed.

Kurt scooted closer until he was side by side with Kate, their arms touching, and he looked up at the sky as well. "You know," he said, bumping her shoulder slightly, "there's probably a line here about the stars and your eyes or smile or something, but for the life of me, I can't think of one. I'm too tired."

She grinned. "I guess we'll just have to stay here until you get your second wind or come up with something clever."