Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, this will finally bring an important Avenger into the mix. Hope you like it.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 19- Captain America Returns
I sigh as I rest against the wall in the kitchen of an abandoned home. Today has been a rather boring day, to be honest. We shot a brief propo of us taking out a pod, but it went by very quickly. It's now late afternoon.
It's been two days since our fight with Abomination. Once Vision returned with the special bonds, made of a metal I've never even heard of, Abomination was bound up and then put on a train back to District 13. Coin had already had a special cell built for Abomination that she says is guaranteed to hold him.
The team has been a little on edge. It's been about 60 hours since Abomination made his appearance. All of us feel another appearance by members of the Cabal is overdue at this point.
Suddenly, I hear noise. I shoot up, concentrating to see if I can place it. A second later, I recognize it as an approaching truck.
Boggs seems to hear it right at that moment. "Everybody! On your feet!" he says. Everyone gets to their feet and grab their weapons if they have weapons.
Lieutenant Jackson quickly gets on the radio and says, "Squad 451 to base. We have a truck coming in on our position." After several moments of silence, she repeats herself. This time, I can hear a faint reply, but can't make out what the person on the other end is saying. However, a moment later, Jackson says, "Stand down, everyone. It's friendly."
We all head out of the building and watch as the truck trundles over the ruined street towards our position, stopping about twenty yards away. After a moment, the driver and guy in the passenger seat hop out and go around to the back. We all watch as they open the rear doors, and it looks like they help someone out of it. A second later, they come around in view of us again, with Peeta between them.
I quickly whip out an arrow and fit it to my bow, while taking a moment to examine Peeta. He bears no sign of the Capitol's torture. He's not wearing a rebel uniform, but instead the red, white, and blue uniform of Captain America, with the legendary shield strapped to his back.
As he approaches, I see he's muttering something under his breath. I feel the urge to draw back my arrow just in case, but at this point, I trust Robert enough that if he trusted Peeta enough to start training him, maybe he's well enough to be out here. Still, I can tell from his manner right now that he's not fully stable.
"Stop right there," Boggs orders, and Peeta comes to a stop. Boggs looks at him intently for several moments then says, "Jackson, cuff him." He then turns and walks back towards the building where we're staying.
Jackson walks up to Peeta, holding out some cuffs. Privately, I'm not sure what Boggs is thinking. With his strength enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum, I don't think he'd have any problem breaking out of the cuffs.
Jackson stops in front of Peeta and says calmly, "Don't worry, soldier. This is just a precaution until we get things straightened out." Peeta nods and doesn't protest as Jackson slips the cuffs on.
We all head back to the building and wait while Boggs is on the radio. When he finally gets off the radio, he comes back into the room where the rest of us are. He looks around at all of us before he says, "They want us to add him to the propos. They want to show that he's one of us now. And Coin knows the stories of Captain America. She wants to see if Peeta can have the same inspiring effect on the rebels."
"This doesn't make any sense. Peeta's hardly been trained, and he's still too unstable," Gale says.
"We'll put an around the clock watch on him. Rotate every two hours. And at least one Avenger in every rotation," Jackson suggests.
"Give me a watch," I say.
Jackson and Boggs both look at me. "And if it really came down to it, do you think you could shoot him?" Jackson asks.
"I wouldn't be shooting Peeta. It would be shooting a Capitol mutt," I say.
"I'm not sure that comment qualifies you for the job either," Jackson says.
"Put her in the rotation," Boggs orders before he walks out of the building.
A minute later, I decide to follow Boggs out of the building. I walk up to where he's standing, and wait a few seconds before I ask, "He's not fully stable again. He may look like he is, but I can tell he isn't. He's probably gonna try to kill me. All that's going on, it could set him off."
"We'll keep him contained. We have plenty of Avengers. If it comes down to it, we have several people capable of handling him," Boggs says.
"Why would Coin do this? She knows Peeta's still not fully ready to be Captain America, and he's still unstable. So why would she send him here?" I ask Boggs.
Boggs turns to face me. "Here's what I know. It was Peeta she wanted rescued from the arena. She never liked you. She doesn't like anybody or anything she can't control. You becoming an Avenger only made it worse. It's a miracle she allowed the Avengers to be reformed at all."
"So, she'd put my life in danger? Especially when I'm the Avengers' leader?" I ask.
"She'd deny it, but…" Boggs says, but trails off.
I notice his hesitation, and ask, "What?"
"One way or another, this war is gonna come to an end. They promised a free election. Maybe she's starting to see you as a threat," Boggs says.
"Nobody would think I'd be a leader," I say.
"Don't be so sure. There would be a lot of people that would support you running. And even if you didn't, you're the symbol of the rebellion, and leader of the Avengers. At this point, whoever you supported for president would be almost guaranteed to win. Who would you throw your support behind? Would it be her? If your immediate answer isn't yes, then you're a threat. And if she became president, and you didn't like her, with the Avengers behind you, you could overthrow her," Boggs replies. He pauses for a second, then says, "She doesn't need you as a rallying point anymore. And to her, the Avengers could get by without you. One of the others Avengers could lead them. One more easily controlled. There's only thing you could do to add more fire to this rebellion."
"Die," I state the obvious answer.
"That's not gonna happen under my watch Katniss. I'm planning for you to have a long life," Boggs says.
"Why? You don't owe me anything," I say.
"Because you've earned it. And contrary to what Coin thinks, the Avengers need you," Boggs says.
(That night)
I am quiet as I stare at the opposite wall. I'm currently on the watch over Peeta with Flint.
"We've been here before, you know."
I turn my head towards Peeta, who is now suddenly wide awake. "Where?" I ask.
"That look. I've seen that look," Peeta says. He then sits up and says, "You're trying to decide whether or not you should kill me."
"I never wanted to kill you. And I don't now unless I have to," I say.
"I saw it with my own eyes. In the first Games," Peeta says.
"In the first Games, I though you were trying to help the Careers kill me," I shoot back. I pause, and then say, "After that, I always saw you…as an ally."
Peeta is quiet as he looks away from me. Then, he begins to say, "Friend. Lover. Victor. Fiance. Enemy. Target. Mutt. Avenger. And now ally?" His voice gets a little bit higher at the end as he looks back at me. He holds that gaze for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I'll add that to the list of words I use to try and figure you out."
I look away from him for a moment. When I look back, I see he's looking down. Right as I look back at him, he says, "I'm sorry. I just can't tell what's real or what's made up anymore. I mean, the Serum has helped a little, but so much is still confusion."
"Then ask. That's what Annie does," Finnick says from across the room.
"Ask who?" Peeta asks.
"Ask us. We're your team," Flint says.
Peeta is quiet for several moments before he slowly turns towards me and asks, "Your favorite color is green. Is that real?"
"Yes. That's real," I say. I pause, then say, "Yours is orange. Not bright orange. Soft, like the sunset."
Peeta considers that for a moment before he says, "Thank you."
A moment later, I suddenly feel my mouth open and information begin to flow out, "You're a painter. You're a baker. You always sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double knot your shoelaces."
It's after that last one when I manage to stop myself. After a moment's silence, I say, "You were right. I can't do this." I then walk out of the building, needing to get away from Peeta."
(The next morning)
"Everyone up!"
I shoot up out of my sleep, as does everyone else who's asleep. I look around, and see Boggs standing in the middle of everybody, with a very urgent look on his face.
"What is it Boggs?" I ask.
"It sounds like the Capitol knows where we are, because we have reports of three Cabal members bearing down on our location. They apparently smashed right through a platoon of our troops and are headed straight for us," Boggs says.
"Which ones?" I ask.
"Sabretooth, Whiplash, and Electro," Boggs says.
I run through what I know of those three, and who of the team is present. Everyone but Haymitch is here. Even Vision is here. He'll be sticking with us the rest of the time we're in The Capitol.
"We can handle them. Everyone, gear up!" I say.
"Do you want Peeta in this fight, or not?" Boggs asks me.
I look over at Peeta. Thankfully, he's not looking at me.
"No. Not yet. Keep him nearby, in case we do need him. But I don't want him a part of this yet," I say. I then look around at everybody and say, "Alright. Move out."
As we move out of the building and onto the street, I say, "Gale, you, Vision, and Cressida handle Electro. Castor, you and Pollux work with me on Whiplash. Flint, you, Finnick, and Johanna handle Sabretooth."
Everyone nods. We stop partway down the street, waiting for the three Cabal members to arrive.
After just a minute, they appear around the corner. All three of them. They look just like the images provided by our spy in the Capitol. However, Sabretooth looks even more intimidating and savage than in the photographs.
As they get closer, I say bravely, "If you think you'll fare any better than your teammates that we've already fought, think again."
Sabretooth laughs loudly. "Oh, we will. We will tear you all apart!" he yells before he charges right at us.
The rest of the team around me charges towards the three Cabal members. Electro releases massive blasts of lightning towards Gale, Vision, and Cressida, but they manage to evade them.
Meanwhile, Flint charges right at Sabretooth. Sabretooth charges to meet him, fangs bared and claws extended, but Flint flips over Sabretooth, kicking him in the head in the process. As Flint lands behind Sabretooth, Johanna tackles Sabretooth to the ground.
I refocus my attention on Whiplash. Pollux, who's flying ahead of me, dives towards Whiplash, but the man lashes one of his whips towards Pollux. Pollux barely manages to avoid getting hit by the whip.
I draw an arrow and fire it at Whiplash's head. However, he lashes his other whip out, which swats the arrow out of the air.
Castor shrinks down and charges towards Whiplash as I fire two more arrows in rapid succession. Whiplash swats the first out of the air with a whip, then blocks the second by holding up his arm, letting it hit the armored attachment on his arm that holds the whip. Whiplash then lashes one of his whips at me. I leap back to avoid it, but a bolt of energy discharged from the whip flies out and hits me, knocking me flying back.
Right then, Castor flies up at ant size and punches Whiplash, knocking him over. Pollux whips out his pistols and fires a volley of bullets towards Whiplash. However, Whiplash lifts his arms over his face, and the bullets all ricochet off his arm attachments or off his chest plate.
I get back to my feet and draw an electric arrow. As Whiplash gets back to his feet, I fire my arrow at him. It hits his chest plate, temporarily shorting out his systems. Castor then delivers another blow, knocking him flying. As he hits the ground, Pollux flies down, grabs Whiplash by the leg and sends him flying into the side of a building. I then draw an arrow and fire it at Whiplash's head. Before Whiplash can move, the arrow buries itself in his eye.
Me, Castor, and Pollux are still for a few moments before I say, "Pollux, you help with Electro. Castor, you and me on Sabretooth."
They both nod, and Pollux flies off towards Electro. As I look in that direction, I see Cressida get hit by a jolt of electricity and fall to the ground, crying out in pain.
I manage to refocus my attention on Sabretooth, right as Sabretooth manages to grab Flint by the leg and slam him up against a car.
I draw an arrow and fire it. It hits Sabretooth right in the eye. He stumbles back, then, to my shock, he pulls the arrow out of his eye. Within seconds, the blood stops flowing.
"Okay," I mutter. I remember Robert telling us that he had a healing power, but it's slightly unnerving to see it in action. It makes me wonder what it will take to kill him.
Finnick charges forward with his trident and stabs it towards Sabretooth's chest. However, Sabretooth easily deflects it and slashes at Finnick. Finnick manages to avoid his claws and strike at Sabretooth's arm with his trident, successfully open a gash on his arm, but it quickly begins to close. Sabretooth then slashes at Finnick's leg, opening several large cuts. Finnick lets out a cry of pain before Sabretooth kicks in the chest.
Johanna rushes to attack him, but Sabretooth ducks under her blow, grabs her by the arm, and spins around once before throwing her about 15 feet.
I'm about to fire another arrow, when I suddenly hear a war cry. I turn my head to the side, and to my shock, see Peeta sprinting towards Sabretooth, with the shield on his right arm. Sabretooth sees him coming and charges to meet him. But, Peeta holds up his shield to block Sabretooth's claws, which slash across the metal without even leaving a mark. Peeta then bashes Sabretooth in the chest with the shield.
I feel shocked, wondering how Peeta got free. Then, I see the cuffs around his wrists, and realize he pulled them apart. I feel my unease about Peeta being here start to ease up as I realize he's entirely focused on Sabretooth right now.
Then, an idea comes to me. Regardless of Sabretooth's ability to heal, if his brain is damaged, even if he has the ability to heal it, it will probably stun him for a moment. And regardless of his healing powers, I highly doubt he'd be able to withstand having his head completely taken off.
"Go for the head!" I yell to everybody.
Peeta, again charging towards Sabretooth, seems to hear me, as he swipes his shield towards Sabretooth's head. Sabretooth dodges the strike, only to receive a powerful blow to the head from Johanna's fist. At almost the same instant, Castor, at ant size, punches Sabretooth in the chest and knocks him back.
Right then, Finnick, who's still feeling the pain from the gashes on his leg, leaps forward, and ignoring the pain in his leg, drives his trident into Sabretooth's head and through his brain.
To my surprise, Sabretooth is still moving slightly. That is, until Flint leaps onto him and, with a couple slashes of his claws, beheads Sabretooth. Sabretooth's body continues to move for a second, then finally goes still.
All of us look down at Sabretooth's corpse for a moment longer before the sound of a lightning bolt distracts us. We all look over to where the rest of the team is fighting Electro, and see Pollux desperately avoiding Electro's bolts.
Gale flies in and blasts Electro with one of his repulsors. Electro stumbles back, but then blasts Gale with another bolt.
Gale falls to the ground about twenty feet from Electro, his back to the villain. Electro releases another bolt of lightning at Gale. However, as he does, I see a circular device deploy from Gale's back, and the lightning is absorbed into it. I realize what he's doing a split second later as several attachments deploy from Gale's back as he turns around, and fires repulsors from his hands and the attachments. The bemas hit Electro and send him flying across the street and through several buildings.
Once Gale ceases his attack, we all stand there for a moment before Finnick calls out, "Kind of overkill, don't you think?" Several of the team laugh in response to that.
Gale flies off in the direction he blasted Electro. He flies back moments later, Electro's body in hand. He drops it in the midst of the assembled team as he lands. Everyone is quiet before Gale says, "Alright. Only three left, everybody."
I then look over at Peeta, wondering what caused him to join this fight. We look at each other for several moments before I ask him, "What made you help us?"
"I don't know. I saw Sabretooth throw Johanna and then cut Finnick, and I realized you guys needed help. I don't know what drove me to help, but next thing I knew I broke the cuffs and was running to help," Peeta says.
I don't respond. I just consider Peeta's words, wondering whether or not he is fully trustworthy yet.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked this one.
So, next chapter is actually going to cover the incident when everything went wrong. The fight with the last Cabal members will be the following chapter. And you'll understand why I separated them when you read next chapter.
Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, leave a review, and stay tuned!