Disclaimer: Avengers, Hunger Games, and all other elements belong to their relevant owners; I merely borrow them to write this story
Feedback: Always a pleasure to receive.
AN: Back to Katniss, as each side learns a bit more about each other and Anya goes through an unexpected change…
Falling Hope, Rising Threat
As far as 'first contact' went, I was unsure if what had just happened should be considered a success or a failure. On the one hand, we'd met the residents of Mount Weather and immediately engaged them in a fight before we'd had time to really learn what they were doing, but on the other hand, we had managed to rescue the daughter of Callie's friend and get some useful hands-on insight into what was going on.
Besides, as Peeta had noted, if people started shooting at someone just for talking to them, then it was a safe guess that they weren't going to be on our side. We might only have Clarke's word regarding her identity, and what we'd seen suggested that things were and Anya were strained at best, but since Clarke couldn't have known that we'd made contact with Callie already, I was willing to take her at face value at the moment.
The thing that really puzzled me right now was how those last few guards from Mount Weather had managed to get so close to us at the end. I acknowledged that Peeta and I were still learning how to use some of the technology that we'd either inherited from the original Avengers or received from the various Districts- every District able to make a contribution to the Avengers was keen to do so, even if we were working on becoming self-sufficient in terms of our resources and skills- but Steve in particular should know enough about the hovercraft's sensors not to miss a platoon of advancing armed guards.
"They must have had some kind of cloaking system to deflect our scans," Steve speculated when I brought the issue up, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation as he lay on a bed at one side of the ship, the woman Clarke had identified as Anya on the opposite side as blood pumped from his veins into hers to replenish what she'd lost, the transference taking place in a system of tubes hanging from the ceiling to prevent Anya damaging them if she woke up before we were ready. "Keep in mind that they probably don't know what the Ark's capable of now that it's landed, and we know for a fact that they don't know about us as we'd have detected any attempt to access those old networks, so they most likely wanted to make sure that they could get around without anyone finding them…"
"And they came up with that this quickly?" Clarke asked, looking around us in surprise. "We only landed a few months ago, and we've never used anything more advanced than guns and bullets-"
"Wherever they're from, they've had time to prepare and adjust; we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking they're primitive just because they've been isolated for a while," Steve said firmly, as the medical computer let out a sudden beep to inform us that the transfusion was over.
"Isolated?" Clarke repeated, looking curiously between the three of us at that comment, realising something she clearly hadn't had time to think about so far. "You mean… you're all from somewhere else on Earth? You're what they were 'isolated' from?"
"We're from the main area of this continent, and we've lived here all our lives," I explained, smiling slightly at my own casual acceptance of this knowledge; I'd barely even known that the ocean existed a few months ago, and now I was discussing the geography of our world so casually I couldn't quite believe it. "The area where your 'Grounders' and Mount Weather are located were subject to particularly heavy bombardment during the nuclear war that decimated Earth. Our… leaders… were able to build radiation shields that protected us from the worst of the fallout in our part of the country, but everyone assumed that anyone still in this area when the bombs hit was dead and that was that."
"Based on what we've heard about these 'Grounders' of yours, there must have been a few survivors on the outskirts of the blasts that everyone else missed," Steve continued, looking thoughtfully at Anya as she lay beside him. "With most of their resources lost, they probably regressed to a tribal mentality just to cope with what was left, and eventually… well, here we are."
"Oh," Clarke said, looking at me curiously before she looked at Steve. "So… if you're Captain America… I mean, I'm sorry for being blunt, but-"
"How am I still alive after this long?" Steve finished for her with a slight smile. "Further suspended animation after a particularly brutal beating, a few artificial substitutes for my more damaged organs, and the super-soldier serum that made me this way making sure that I keep on ticking at peak human potential."
"Ah," Clarke said, simply staring at him for a moment before she smiled uncertainly and held out her hand. "Well… it's an… honour to meet you; Callie told me all about the Avengers when I was growing up, and…"
She chuckled in an embarrassed manner as Steve took her hand. "It's kind of silly, but I… I always admired how you kept on trying even when it seemed like you couldn't do anything."
"Before I got the serum, you mean?" Steve asked.
"That, and… well, what you did when you were on the team," Clarke clarified, shrugging awkwardly at him. "I mean… you were the leader of a team that included a god and the Hulk; I was always just amazed that you managed that."
"I just did my duty," Steve said, his expression becoming solemn for a moment before he indicated me. "These days, Mockingjay here does most of the fieldwork; I'm too old to be anything more than a coordinator."
"Oh," Clarke said, looking at him in silence for a moment before looking back at me. "So… how did you get this job?"
"A long and complicated story involving me triggering a revolution against a corrupt government and Steve deciding that I was what he was looking for in the new Avengers," I explained; talking about the time-travel elements of our 'debut' right now would just make everything far too complicated. "The important thing is that we're here now; Peeta and I are two of the current Avengers, and we have three more new members back at our main facility… along with Thor, of course."
"Thor?" Clarke repeated, looking at me with an incredulous grin. "As in, the Thor? The one who was a member of the original team? He's still alive?"
"He… had a crisis of faith for a while, but he's back in the game now," Steve confirmed, smiling briefly at Clarke's grin. "He's got more responsibilities back on Asgard than he had in the past, so he doesn't participate in all our missions, but-"
Further conversation was cut short when Anya suddenly woke up, her eyes scanning her surroundings with a sense of urgency that only became more panicked as she took in the tubes connecting her arm to Steve's.
"NO!" she yelled, yanking the tubes out with one arm as she broke the straps that had been holding her down to stop her rolling about during the flight.
"Wait-" Steve began, quickly removing the tubes from his own arm as he stood up to look anxiously at Anya, only for his jaw to drop as he took in what was happening. Even as Peeta and I watched her, my eyes widened in shock as I saw her growing larger and her skin turning green, clothes stretching and tearing as her muscles expanded within them.
"She's a Hulk?" Peeta said, looking sharply at Steve. "Why wouldn't we have-?"
"It's my blood…" Steve said, before his eyes narrowed and he turned to slam his hands down on the hovercraft controls, bringing the ship to a halt mid-air as he opened the rear hatch. "Peeta, get her outside and down to the ground, ASAP!"
"On it!" Peeta said, grabbing his helmet and putting it back on before he turned back to Anya. As she broke the last of the straps holding her to the examination table, Peeta's repulsor jets fired and he charged towards Anya, grabbing her in his arms and hauling her out of the hovercraft before Clarke could say anything.
"What the Hell-?" Clarke began, turning to look indignantly at me.
"If you've read anything about the Avengers, I assume you know about the Hulk," I interjected before she could say anything, giving her a moment to nod in confirmation before I continued; I wasn't entirely sure what had happened here myself, but as the leader of the Avengers, I had to at least imply that I knew what was going on. "In that case, you know that what was happening to Anya made her a potential danger to everyone here, so it was better to get her out where she couldn't break anything until we can get her to calm down-"
"But that's just going to make it worse!" Clarke protested, looking indignantly at me. "Please, you have to get me down there; I might still be able to calm her down!"
For a moment, I looked assessingly at Clarke, trying to judge how much of that belief was genuine and how much was just desperation, but in the end, I concluded that I had to at least let her try; with the best will in the world, Peeta's armour would be no match for an enraged Hulk, so I had an obligation to explore an alternative if one presented itself.
"OK," I said, standing up and looking over at Steve. "Stay in position; we'll call you when we're ready for extraction."
"Sure thing," Steve said, adjusting the craft's controls as I stepped up next to Clarke, waiting for her to wrap her arms around my neck before I leapt from the craft's rear door. Adjusting Clarke's position so that she was hanging only my back, I drew my shield and held it below me, waiting for a few moments as we hurtled through the air before we struck the ground, the shield absorbing the impact as Clarke leapt from my back to stare in shock at the fight now being waged between Peeta and the large creature that Anya had become.
Looking at the large green woman currently wrestling with Peeta, I was actually surprised to see that the transformation had left Anya looking reasonably proportionately similar to what she'd been before. Unlike Bruce and Snow, whose transformations into the Hulk had left them with significantly broader chests and muscular arms, Anya actually seemed to have a fairly similar build to her appearance when she'd been normal, apart from being at least two feet taller and with her skin a vivid green colour.
"Oh my God…" Clarke said, staring in awe as the new Hulk suddenly knocked one of Peeta's arms away before following the attack up with a powerful punch to his chest. "She… that's a Hulk?"
"Close," I said, trying to process possible solutions for stopping Anya if Clarke's theory didn't pan out; I might have killed the Maestro with an explosive arrow to the head, but with Thor currently absent, and no Hulk to help us hold her in position, this wasn't going to be simple if we had to repeat that feat…
"Close?" Clarke repeated, looking curiously at me as Peeta regained his balance and launched a series of punches at Anya; until I knew how this fight was going to go one way or the other, I wasn't ready to risk Clarke's life by taking her into something like that when Peeta could still hold her down.
"Believe me, a fully-powered Hulk would have won this fight already," I said, trying not to wince as Anya grabbed Peeta's arms and slammed her forehead into his faceplate, leaving it dented as he staggered back.
If we didn't end this soon, we might have to rebuild the Iron Man armour sooner than anyone had been planning…
"OK," I said, looking back at Clarke as Peeta tried to counter with a blast from his chest repulsor that only succeeded in sending Anya back a few feet. "If you think you can stop her, go ahead; just give Iron Man a chance to get out of the way first."
As Clarke nodded in response, I pulled out an arrow, checked that I'd made the right choice, and fired it at the combatants in front of us. One of Beetee's newer contributions to my arsenal, the arrow exploded as soon as it came within a metre of the two fighters, generating a brilliant burst of light that struck both of them in the eyes. Peeta's armour automatically filtered out the light to a level that he could tolerate, but Anya reeled backwards, hands over her eyes at the sudden blindness. According to our training, Peeta should have flown to safety as soon as the flare was triggered, but Anya's leg struck him in the chest as she reeled back, causing him to strike the ground with a badly-dented chestplate. For a moment, I began to move towards them, determined to help my fellow Avenger, but then Clarke appeared before them and I stepped back to watch; she'd taken advantage of the distraction to get into position, so now I had to give her the chance she'd come down here to take.
"Anya, calm down!" Clarke protested, standing between the woman who had become what I could only think of as a 'She-Hulk' and the fallen Iron Man, her hands raised defensively.
"You!" the creature that had once been another human said, glaring at Clarke as she raised her arms in a combat posture. "You betrayed-!"
"Steve Rogers was giving you blood; he wasn't taking it!" Clarke insisted. "Anya, I dragged you out of Mount Weather despite everything you'd done to my people because I believed you didn't deserve what they were doing to you in there; I swear, I wouldn't let them take you back after all this!"
For a moment, as the new 'She-Hulk' glared at Clarke and Clarke returned the stare, all I could do was watch, praying that Peeta wasn't too badly injured and that she wouldn't do anything to Clarke before I could react…
Then, as I watched, I realised that the She-Hulk's appearance was already starting to change, her body becoming gradually thinner and shorter right in front of me as she stared at Clarke in an uncertain, yet thoughtful manner. After a few moments of silence, she had returned to her human appearance, her clothes ripped from the strain of her transformation but still intact enough to maintain Anya's privacy.
"You… OK?" Peeta asked the Grounder, raising his faceplate as he slowly sat up, staring at Anya all the while. I hurried over to help him to his feet, but a quick glance confirmed that the suit's arc reactor was still intact; Tony might have left Peeta instructions on how to maintain the armour, but the power source was one thing none of us wanted to recreate unless we absolutely had to.
"I am… fine," Anya answered, looking uncertainly at Peeta, Clarke and I as we gathered around her while she held up her hands, staring at them in wonder. "How could I… do that?"
"If I'm right," Steve said, walking up beside me as he looked at Anya with a thoughtful smile, "I think you're a descendant of Jennifer Walters."
"What-?" I began, looking at him in shock.
"To answer your question, I landed the ship back there once I saw that the fighting had ceased," Steve said, indicating another open area a short distance behind our current position, before he continued talking. "And to answer your second question… Jennifer was Bruce's cousin."
"Wait; Bruce?" Peeta repeated, wincing as he clutched at his side. "As in, Bruce Banner?"
"Anya's a descendant of the Hulk?" Clarke asked, her expression torn between shock and awe as she looked at Anya.
"Who is… the Hulk?" Anya asked, looking at Clarke with a new sense of certainty in her manner.
"He was one of the world's greatest heroes before… well, before everything went wrong," Clarke explained, grinning as she looked at Anya. "He was a normal man who was exposed to… some weird stuff, I don't remember what exactly… that mutated his body to allow him to… well, basically, when he got angry, he could do what you just did."
"And, like I said, I think you might be a distant relative of his through his paternal cousin, Jennifer Walters," Steve explained, stepping forward to continue the explanation. "Bruce and Jennifer lost touch some time ago, but given their relationship, I'm thinking that it's possible that Jennifer inherited the same genetic fluke that allowed Bruce to become the Hulk without the radiation just killing him immediately."
"And… she passed that 'fluke' on to Anya?" Clarke asked, looking at Steve uncertainly. "But… why would she just become that now?"
"Because of the transfusion?" Peeta asked.
"Most likely," Steve confirmed. "Bruce's original transformation into the Hulk was the result of him being exposed to gamma radiation and earlier versions of the serum, and Snow dropped a few gamma bombs in the early stages of the war, so when Anya received my blood, the combination of the serum, the radiation and whatever gene sequence in Bruce's family allowed him to become the Hulk must have come together to trigger… well, what we just saw."
"I… see…" Clarke said, nodding uncertainly in the manner I recognised as my own manner when faced with something I didn't quite understand but wanting to avoid further questions until a better time.
"Are you saying that… you… know someone who could do this?" Anya asked, looking apprehensively at Steve. "And… I am descended from them?"
"I knew two people who could transform in the manner that you just did," Steve confirmed grimly. "One was a man of peace who sought to protect that power from those who would abuse it… and the other was a complete psychopath who inspired me to reassemble my old team to defeat him after he took over the country."
"And-"
"You're descended from my friend," Steve interjected- evidently he didn't want to have to lie to Anya by letting her finish that question- walking over to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "He was a good man, Anya… and from everything I've heard about you from Clarke, I have faith that you'll live up to his example if you're given the chance."
As he looked solemnly at the woman who'd just been trying to beat Peeta to death a few moments ago, I was once again struck by the natural charisma Steve possessed. This woman looked like she could hold her own against Steve in a fight even without her new abilities, and he was still able to talk to her with a simple confidence that she wouldn't do anything to hurt him in response.
"How?" Anya asked, looking shakily at Steve after a moment's silence. "How can I… I was so angry…"
"Help us learn more about Mount Weather's experiments, and we can give you what help we can in controlling what's happened to you," Steve said, still looking solemnly at her. "Clarke's told us some details, but we need to pool all of our resources together if we're going to make this work; this just confirms that you'll have something to contribute beyond local knowledge."
I wondered at the implications of that last sentence, but as Anya nodded in tentative agreement, I decided that now wasn't the time to tackle that issue.
I might be our field commander, but Steve still had final say in whether or not the Avengers would gain any new recruits; if he could help teach Anya how to control her transformation, she could make an interesting asset to the team…