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: I appreciate that this is a bit late (life got in the way, along with other projects), but while I was too busy to post this immediately after the event, I write this chapter as a belated farewell to Stan Lee, the man who taught us all that superheroes could be as flawed as anyone and still get the job done

Falling Hope, Rising Threat

"Captain Rogers?"

Looking up from his desk, Steve smiled at the sight of his old comrade, weathered but still as fighting fit as he had been when he joined the original iteration of the Avengers, standing awkwardly in the door.

"Thor," Steve smiled back at his friend, indicating the chair in front of the desk he had recently acquired in his 'office' in the Avengers' compound. "How was Asgard?"

"As awkward as one would have expected," Thor replied, as he sat down opposite the only remaining original Avenger. "I have been forced to face some… difficult past mistakes."

"Like abandoning the Ark?"

"You heard," Thor nodded, after looking grimly at his former team leader.

"Why didn't you tell us about them after we killed the Maestro?"

"As far as I knew, there was no way for you to get up to the Ark to help them," Thor replied solemnly. "And… I will confess, I had forgotten about it over the years since I retrieved Loki."

"There was no reason for you to keep it in mind after you left the Ark," Steve nodded in understanding. "I get it, Thor; do you think I never failed to save people when I was with the Howling Commandos?"

"You were unable to save people when you were facing the greater threat of Schmidt and HYDRA; that is not the same thing as my choosing not to save the people of the Ark-"

"Like Peeta said," Steve cut Thor off, "you were in a very bad place after the Maestro killed Clint and nearly killed me and Tony. It might not justify your decisions, but I can understand why you were acting like that."

"And you are not angry?"

"I moved past being angry at Bruce for what Snow was doing a long time ago," Steve smiled solemnly. "I decided long ago not to let Snow's actions now taint my memory of the hero Bruce could be when he was the Hulk; when you're actively trying to atone for your mistakes, I'm definitely not going to judge you for them."

"Even when so many people have died because of them?" Thor asked. "Even when my actions have had such consequences for my own niece?"

"If this world was perfect, people like us wouldn't be needed; it's why we can't stop trying to be better," Steve replied solemnly. "And as far as Octavia goes, it's not like you knew about Loki's family and decided not to give a crap about her on purpose; you didn't know she even existed until she triggered her powers."

"It doesn't change the fact that my own hubris forced her to live a life far harsher than she should have," Thor stated. "I had been resigned to the idea that I had no family left in the world, and then to learn that my brother sired a child with a human… there simply are no words to express my shame."

"I would have to agree with you, if only because I could never imagine Loki being a father," Steve replied. He paused for a moment and then sighed. "Tell me… was I being arrogant?"

"Arrogance?" Thor looked at Steve in surprise. "Of the two of us, I believe I am the one who has more often been accused of such a trait-"

"I mean in bringing the Avengers back together," Steve clarified, looking solemnly at his old friend. "It was basically just a name to rally the Tributes behind when I was preparing to go up against Snow; I thought it was a convenient label for what I was trying to do… but did I do the right thing letting them stay together?"

"I believe the danger the people of Panem and the Ark are facing right now speaks for itself-"

"Maybe I made the right call bringing them together, but was it right to give them the name?" Steve clarified. "I could have called them anything I wanted, but I decided to give them the name of the team who'd already failed to protect the world once because I thought that it was time to redeem the name…"

"You sought to redeem a legacy that meant a great deal before we were subject to exceptional circumstances that would have driven anyone to breaking point," Thor nodded reassuringly at his captain. "That is not behaviour to be ashamed of."

"But burdening them with all those expectations…"

"You stated yourself that the world was not perfect, and you must acknowledge that the Avengers were never a perfect group," Thor smiled. "As Banner observed, we were a diverse collection of elements that created chaos, but Colonel Fury recognised that we were more than that even when we were not aware of it ourselves. What made us heroes was not that we were perfect beings who could do no wrong, but that we were flawed beings who used what we could to help others whenever we had the opportunity to do so. The events that led to Banner's transformation into the Maestro were a tragedy, but I have learned to accept that; we cannot blame ourselves for what others drove our comrade to become. Blame General Ross, blame the men who were unlucky enough to kill Natasha, blame the likes of Blonsky who reinforced his fear of what others would do with his power if it was harnessed and controlled and thus drove him to isolate himself, but never blame yourself."

"I've never blamed myself for what happened, but after everything that happened to us… do the new Avengers need that burden of responsibility?" Steve looked at Thor. "They've already got to deal with the burden of the Games-"

"And they have chosen to use the team you reformed to use those skills in a positive manner," Thor cut Steve off. "They are young, but they are old enough to acknowledge the good and the bad that we accomplished as Avengers and choose to acknowledge the good we accomplished before we lost Agent Romanoff rather than fixate on how we failed after her death. That you respect and mourn her loss is a credit to you, but do you believe that you have single-handedly manipulated all of these people to see you as some infallible figure? Even Clarke Griffin and Callie have shown respect for what we stood for, and we may be certain that their views on us were never coloured by your attempts to exert such influence."

"Point," Steve smiled thankfully at his friend.

"You may doubt many things, Commander Steven Rogers, but never doubt that you have created a worthy group of heroes," Thor said firmly. "Mockingjay, Mariner, and the She-Hulk are allies that we would have been proud to invite to join us back when you and I were on the team, and Iron Man, Black Widow and the Falcon are worthy heirs to the examples set by Stark, Romanoff and Wilson; you have chosen well, and I have faith that they and others will continue to live up to the expectations you have set for them."

"…Thanks," Steve said, before he looked at Thor with a new sense of curiosity. "On the topic of what we stand for as Avengers, are you sure you're OK with Katniss-?"

"As I have assured Mockingjay, Captain, I have no trouble following her orders when we are out in the field," Thor smiled at the old man. "I will offer my expertise when we face a threat where I have greater knowledge than yourself or Mockingjay, but I am as content to follow her orders as I was willing to follow yours when you led us."

"Really?" Steve looked at his friend in surprise, suddenly ashamed to realise that he'd never asked Thor about that part of his role in the new team.

"Mockingjay has helped me to remember that we cannot judge others by one specific tragedy, but must judge them by how they face adversity on a wider scale," the God of Thunder replied with a solemn smile. "We have all faltered, but we always got back up afterwards to continue the fight; Mockingjay reminds us of that every time she wields your shield."

"You… uh… You'd better get going," Steve said, blinking awkwardly for a few moments even as he looked at Thor with warm understanding. "Clarke and Katniss went to a lot of trouble convincing Anya to go along with this scheme; she's going to be annoyed if you're not there to back them up."

"I shall," Thor said, placing Mjolnir on the desk as he looked at Steve. "Bring that with you when the main attack begins."

"You'll get it back soon," Steve affirmed.

"I shall never give you reason to doubt that I will," Thor replied solemnly, before he left the room to rejoin the rest of the team.

Looking at the hammer, Steve smiled as he remembered those dark days after he'd first regained consciousness following the Maestro's first declaration of his new identity, able to do little more than stare at the abandoned hammer as Tony struggled to put together the components needed to restore them both to some semblance of mobility, bringing him out of his coma long enough to explain the situation before sticking him back 'on ice'.

Back then, seeing Mjolnir had been a reminder that the two most powerful Avengers had fallen, but now it was a symbol of how the team had come back together, as the lord of Asgard entrusted the first Avenger with the symbol and source of so much of his power.

As his organic hand reached out to touch the strap, Steve smiled at the thought of what was to come.

Mount Weather won't know what hit it.