Chapter 7

Livewire

Tony

If I think about it too hard, I can still feel the welts on my backside. When Rhodey's dad told mine what we did … I literally thought Amp and I were going to die.

It was my idea – of course it was. "I don't think we should, Tony," Amp said quietly. Story of his life.

"It will be okay – they grow back," I said, and handed him the trimmers. We spent the next ten minutes very clumsily cutting off flowers from my parents' garden, gathering them up into two awkward bouquets. The little neighbor girl seemed to like hers – Pepper just kind of looked at hers, like she knew what was coming. Which she probably did – she's four years older than me and was smart enough to know that, whether they grew back or not, the adults would not be happy when they saw our handiwork. Honestly, I was too – but I never let the fear of adult wrath stop me from doing something I really wanted to do. Amp and I came into the kitchen, traipsing mud everywhere on top of everything, while she was still washing dishes for her mother. She just looked at the flowers and the muddy tracks for a while, then sighed and stood on a chair to reach a vase to put the flowers in. "Thank you Tony. It's the thought that counts I guess," she said shortly and went back to work. That rejection hurt much worse than the spanking I got later.

For a time, there were seven kids all living under the Stark family roof – from oldest to youngest, there was Pepper, Rhodey, me, Amp, Pepper's twin brothers Dill and Thyme, and Rhodey's sister Cale. Dad was determined he wasn't going to lose any of us – and he bent some laws to try to ensure it.

Hiring a champion swimmer from District 4 was relatively easy to justify – recreational swimming was well known in the Capitol, and it wasn't like the Arena was the only place in Panem where we could conceivably encounter a large body of water, so no one blinked when a rich victor with more money that the President pulled strings to bring someone in to be a swim instructor for his kid and his servants' kids. Maybe they were even a little sympathetic considering he almost drowned, and was known to be unable to go anywhere near a body of water larger than a bathtub. He already had the plant expert from District 11 – Rhodey's dad taught us, completely in secret since we weren't supposed to train and District 3 had never been loyal enough to justify the Capitol looking the other way like they did in 1, 2, and 4, how to drink dew off leaves and pull up roots for food and what plants were edible and which would kill us. If anyone from the Capitol had asked, we would have said we were banned from climbing the trees in the back lawn – it was actually quite the opposite.

The weapons experts were a bit harder to justify – we weren't supposed to have anything bigger than a kitchen knife, after all. But my parents hosted huge parties every year – victors and important Capitol people alike showed up for them, and there were enough people around that Marty, the crabby old man from District 7, Silver from District 1, or Tide from District 4, could slip away unnoticed to show us how to swing axes, fire an arrow, or fight with broadswords, either to repay Dad for an uncharacteristically charitable gesture towards their tributes or because he outright paid them.

The most elaborate one was the cave-in training – Dad was working on some kind of robot to help with mine rescue and brought in people from 2 and 12 to "consult" on the project. Part of it was real, but they took it in shifts – most of them would be in talking to him and his engineers about soil type and rescue behaviors, and a few would be in the backyard, burying us kids alive in the interests of teaching us to dig ourselves and/or our allies out. Everything else was a game until then, when I was buried alive eight times. There's nothing quite like having loose dirt pouring into every orifice while you desperately try to remember what your coal miner instructor told you about moving your head back and forth to try to make an air pocket or frantically shoving rough rocks aside to get to your best friend to make you start to question the sanity of every adult around you. No one was exempt from it – not even Cale, who was five.

It was only the second time with the dirt, but Pepper and most of the little ones were already hysterical. "Don't make them do it again," Amp pleaded softly. "They can just watch …"
"Mr. Stark was very specific. I know it's not fun – but your life might depend on it," said the woman from District 12 who was preparing the box contraption that had been set up to bury us for another round. She was sympathetic, but she didn't want Dad's wrath to fall on her, and she probably actually believed she might be saving our lives.

Again and again we did it – each of was buried four times in loose dirt, four times in rocks. By the end, we were all in tears, and Pepper was a wreck. I dug her out the last time – she was supposed to be helping from underneath but she was just shaking, crying, and staring at nothing. I moved a rock away from her face but her legs were still trapped. "Pepper? Are you okay?" I asked, but she didn't answer – just kept staring right on through me, until I took the rocks off her legs. She seemed to snap to life for a second and stumbled out quickly, stripping off the armor that protected us while the rocks fell (the miners were very, very sure to emphasize how unrealistic that was) and walked away from the rock pile and collapsed to the ground, then didn't say another word.

"I think … that's enough," the man from 2 who had taken over by then said softly, but really they just couldn't stand to do it to us again.

"Um … thanks for helping us," Amp said, the only one of us who managed politeness at that point. Rhodey picked up Cale and stormed off to the house with Dill and Thyme right behind him. Pepper didn't move.

I helped Pepper to her feet, and felt her hand shake in mine. She put her arm around my neck and I basically supported her on the way back to the house. "Pepper? Are you going to be okay?" I asked as Amp opened the back door for me and I led her in.

"I'm fine … I just … I'm actually sort of embarrassed I panicked the way I did …" But she was still shaking.

"Nah it's okay, it was really bad," I said, trying to shake it off.

"I'm the oldest and I should … I should have been better."

"It's okay it's just … people are scared of stuff, like Dad with water," I said trying to play it cool.

"Your dad has a very good reason to be afraid of water, Tony. I was just …" she started to cry but tried to pretend she hadn't. Amp and I dropped her off with her mother, who was wringing her hands nervously waiting for us to come back.

I took off for Dad's offices right away. "Tony? What are you doing?" Amp called after me. I didn't answer, but he followed anyway.

It was either a bus ride or a fairly long walk to Dad's offices from the house – I walked it in half the time I usually did. I stormed past the front desk, with dust still clinging to my clothes, hair, and skin. "Anthony, your dad's with …" his secretary tried to call to me. I ignored her and ran right on through. He was talking to Obadiah and the miners who weren't on shift training us.

"Tony? What are …." Dad started. I couldn't stand the sight of him. I rushed forward without a word and shoved him as hard as I could, knocking him back against his desk and sending some papers flying.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded. "We could have died today."
"I made sure that would not be the case," he answered evenly. I tried to punch him but he caught my wrist and grabbed the other before I could even try with the other hand.

"The little ones were crying and Pepper just …"
"It wasn't meant to be fun."
"You're so paranoid and you think we're all going to be drawn and you think …"
"I don't know what will happen, Tony. All I know is that if one of you is drawn, I will be damned if you don't have a shot. I've done everything I can to give you and your friends a chance to survive if the worst comes to worst. I don't care if you don't like me – I care if you're killed." I had a hard time believing that – I didn't even think he liked me very much.

"You just … you don't … you probably just like to torture us …"
"I'm busy right now, Anthony. We'll discuss this later," he said, and marched me to the door.

"I'll take him home, Howard," Obadiah offered.

"I don't need a babysitter," I protested.

"Yes you do," Obadiah whispered sharply as he practically shoved me out the door.

We walked about half of the way home in silence. "Everything that man does is for you, Tony," Obadiah said softly.

"Sure it is," I said skeptically. I had already accepted long ago that I would never have my father's affection and only his attention when I had screwed up or if we happened to strike on a topic in engineering we were both interested in.

"The day you were born, he broke down in terror because he couldn't stop thinking about you being reaped." I was probably never supposed to know that story – ten-year-old me stopped walking, stunned by the revelation that Howard Stark had breakdowns. "Every birthday it's the same, and it gets worse every year." He disappears for several hours every year on my birthday, and he's hung over worse than ever the next day. I always thought … it was because he didn't want me. "And if you ask me, the day you stand in your first reaping is going to be the day a rebel is born."

"We're not supposed to talk about that anywhere," I whispered worriedly. Not even out here in the seemingly open air with no one else around. Or at least I wasn't allowed – I knew Mom, Obadiah, Beatee and the others have a safe meeting place somewhere. It was probably the only rule for my household I actually followed – I was old enough to understand what would happen if I blabbed about the things I overheard. My whispered warning was ignored. "He'll look at you in the crowd and have to accept you could die even with all he's done, and he has no control over it. And things … things happen to victors. The Games make survivors, not winners, and he knows he can't do anything about that. Howard can't stand not to be in control, especially when it comes to protecting people he loves," he said seriously, then gave me a smirk. "It's a weakness," he said and laughed, and I had no idea what was funny. "I hope this isn't the case, but you might find yourself very grateful for these lessons one day."

"I doubt it," I said defiantly. Amp had just listened the whole time. He tried to take my hand, but I refused – I was still angry and I thought I was getting too old to be holding hands and stuff with other boys. (Because double standards hadn't occurred to me yet.) We went home in silence, with me still stewing.

But as soon as Dad came home that day, I was there to meet him. "I'm sorry Dad. I know … I know you're just trying to protect us …" I could only think about my conversation with Obadiah, and I threw my arms around him, one of the only times I'd ever hugged him since I was little. To my surprise, he returned the hug and patted my back, and we didn't need to say anything else.

Three days out from Finnick's wedding, we fly out again – it might have been quicker to fly out by myself in the suit, but the powers that be always insist I bring my little crew, so we hitched a ride with the supplies we're sending from District 11 to the rebel base. On orders from higher up, Rhodey, Pepper, electricians Cadmium and Wu, Cornelius my obnoxious stylist, and two cameramen in camera-encrusted suits follow me everywhere. Cressida didn't find the footage captured by Dad's camera balls to her liking, and we're only using those when it's way too dangerous to bring in the actual camera people, and they're a surprisingly brave bunch so that's not very often. We're in District 1 today, not 3 – we're in spitting distance of the Capitol surrounded by people who are less than friendly. If I had my way, Pepper would be sitting at home, safe and sound. Well not at home, since home is almost as dangerous as here. At base. But she insists she wants to help – she says she owes it to the rebels for getting her family out safely just before the Arena force field blew. Like it wasn't one of Dad's conditions that they get all his house staff so the Capitol couldn't use them against us, and they didn't need him so desperately they did it. Besides, she's been personally recruited by Sir Harps-A-Lot to be my personal prison warden – I guess he figures I'll like it better coming from someone I've known all my life than him. I don't, really – either I'm so into what I'm doing that I don't care or I'm trying to have a good time and Pepper comes along and makes me feel like crap about it.

I'm glad to have Rhodey though – he's been practicing in a flight suit I built for him, and I know he'll have my back.

It's dead quiet in the plane and I try to sleep – I don't sleep much any more. Unfortunately, Cornelius has decided not to let me. " I just don't know how they expect me to get along without my team," he said with a dramatic sigh. "I suppose that's why they put me with you … you've got a camera ready face, Tony, just a little make-up and …"
"I know. My Dad panicked about it when I was ten." Pepper was fourteen, old enough to start dating, so Mom put full make-up on her for the first time on her birthday. I got jealous of the attention and asked for some too so Mom lined my eyes and Dad … Dad did not like the sight of either of us.
"Why on Earth would …"

"Probably has something to do with what happened to the good-looking victors," I say casually, and I watch him squirm. He was never a stylist for the Games, all though he apparently applied for it – did he know the seedy side of the job he applied for? Either way, he doesn't bother me anymore, and I fall asleep.

I don't dream on this flight – that's very lucky for me.

"Wake up Tony," Pepper says gently and shakes me by the shoulder. I lift my head and know we're on the ground.

"Will you think about just staying on and going home?" I ask.

"Not a chance."

"Of course not," I say wryly, and swallow an energy pill with the help of an open beer. She looks at me disapprovingly while I do. "Why are you so worried over me? I should be worried about you." She gives the bottle a pointed look.

"My only one today." By then Cornelius has descended on me to redo my make-up – even though my face will be hidden by my mask for most of the mission. He starts with my eyes – he's learned to do it fast, so he's got my eyes lined and my lashes extended out and coated in mascara before Pepper and I have exchanged more than a few words.
"Fine but you're going out into a really dangerous situation and I am not telling your mother you died. If you make me do that, Tony Stark, I'll …"
"I'll be dead, what will you do to me?" I ask, and try not to grin. She sees it anyway and smacks me with her clipboard.

"Do you have Beatee's download?"

"Yes, Pepper. Already got it memorized." I have to shut up for a minute because Cornelius coats my lips in what I think is way too much lip gloss.
"Good. You have the maps?"
"Yes. And clean underwear," I say when I'm allowed to speak. She smacks me again. "That one was just spiteful." Cornelius finishes my make-up by adding just a tiny bit of almost flesh-toned blush to my cheekbones. I know it's not a lot but I feel like a clown with it.

"I am trying to make sure you have everything you need to not die."

"I've got it, honey, don't worry."
"Don't call me honey. People will talk."
"I call everyone honey," I protest, not sure why that suddenly makes her angry.

"You've got emergency rations too?"

"Yes and first aid and my tracking device and the nightlock …" The mention of the last one makes her grimace, but she thinks I can't see it.

"Don't use it unless you have to." That one rubs me the wrong way. Like I don't know, of all people, what it does …
"Thanks, Pepper, I would have just popped it like candy if you hadn't told me," I say, more sharply than anything else.

"Just, be careful, is what I'm saying," she says gently.

"Thanks Pepper, I love you too," Rhodey says with a smile as he disembarks.

"You're not an idiot, I don't have to tell you anything," she calls after him. Before I can say anything, she takes me by the collar and pulls me close. I think she's going to kiss me for a second. "I mean it, Tony. Do not do anything stupid. I'm not standing at your funeral the way I stood at Amp's, you understand me?"

I'm surprised by the heat of the words and the reference to Amp. I don't remember how she was during his funeral … I just remember how I was. "Yeah. I get it. I'll be careful," I say, and I try to say it roughly but my façade doesn't quite hold up.

"Go get us back on the air," she says and kisses me. I don't even know how to react.

Shale was in the hangar, focused, with her head bent over the plans from Beatee. "Yo Five," I said loudly, just to be a jerk. She jumped about a foot.

"Damn it, Tony," she snapped. I was breaking her concentration, but also hopefully her nerves. Her training was in geology, but Beatee's instructions were detailed enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of tools could follow them, and Dad and I would both have a line directly to her to help her figure out anything unexpected. It was a far more useful skill in this line of work that she was quiet and sneaky – way quieter and sneakier than I could ever be, even once I finished the arc reactor and got away from this big stupid battery. "I need to focus!" she added when I laughed.
"You've probably got those plans memorized by now – and anyway you'll have them to look at."

"I'd like to not have to look at them – it wastes time and I run the risk of leaving them behind if I have to retreat," she said evenly. She tried to keep her face blank, but I saw the way she pulled away from me. I wanted to kiss her, but I knew she didn't want it and it hurt, because I hadn't wanted any one girl so much ever before in my life.

"You've still got the hovercraft ride." She was going to District 6 today, and it was dangerous. I thought it should be left to the actual special forces, but the higher ups thought it was stable enough to send her – District 6 is not exactly a hotspot of Capitol loyalty.

"I do."
"So … just relax a little bit here …" I tried to lean in closer but she pulled back, and I realized I was only making her more nervous and decided I better leave. Which meant getting the cart with my battery moving, which was always a pain. I started to maneuver it, trying to be cool and not show the hurt – physical or otherwise – and she put a hand on mine over the side of the cart, then nervously shifted her hand to a different spot on the cart. I was mad at myself for liking that touch so much.

"I'll help you with it …"
"It's okay, I've got it, don't put yourself out," I said, more roughly than I meant to.

"It's not … I don't mind."

"That's funny … I got the impression you didn't want me around," I said, and I managed to smile. She looked me right in the eyes and didn't hesitate on what she said next.

"I'm not going to be just another conquest. I'm not going to be just an item on anyone's list." I was speechless – I wanted to tell her that she wouldn't be, but I couldn't find words that didn't sound blatantly insincere. So I just nodded. "What does that even mean?" she asked, annoyed with me.

"I … have never felt this way about anyone," I said lamely, knowing full well it sounded like a line, and she gave me a look that said she was thinking that too. "I know what that sounds like but I mean it. I'm … I'm … I'm never at a loss for words with women, unless that woman is Shale Montgomery in which case I suddenly become a complete idiot." She was still looking at me skeptically. "Look … what if we just … hang out? And maybe hold hands or something and maybe kiss if you feel really frisky … but we won't do anything more until you know that I mean it, and you're one hundred percent ready to go there with me?"

"Really? You'd let me set the pace and you'd be happy not doing anything?"

"Happy might be a strong word," I said, and caught her look. "Yes. I would be okay with that."
"And I mean really not doing anything because if that was what we were doing and I caught you with someone else, you'd be very sorry." I pretended to be considering for a moment, and she rolled her eyes.

"It won't be any different from what I'm already doing. I wasn't all that eager to try to figure out how to maneuver around shrapnel wounds and a car battery at first … and now I'm so busy watching you I don't care about trying to figure it out with anyone else." Her eyes softened, and then she threw her arms around me and kissed me on the lips. Our lips parted and it became a French kiss. Short but sensual – I could tell she had some experience with kissing and I sure didn't mind. It was like sparks flew – I always heard that and thought it was cheesy but it's true.

"I'll hold you to it," she said, trying to sound stern but her face broke out in a big grin. "Now, leave me alone so I can focus. I'll never learn these things if you're in here."

It took me a minute to say, "Okay," and turn to leave, still a little stunned as I struggled with the cart.

The electricians, the camera guy, Rhodey, and I make the rest of the way on foot to the first tower where we need to switch wires and add a bug, while the plane takes off to the nearest rebel camp to make the supply drop. It will be back as soon as everything is unloaded – Pepper will actually help, Cornelius will hide in the plane the way I want Pepper to, in case there's a raid on the rebel camp while they unload. The plane went out of it's way to skirt Diamond City, the largest city in District 1 (and yes they all have stupid names like that) and all the little towns around it and drop us as close to the tower as it could get safely. It's not a long walk.

I know all the plans by heart, and I have Jarvis on the line to tell me anything I need to know if I'm overestimating my familiarity with the plans. He may be "just" a butler but he knows the wires almost as well as I do, and I trust his voice. I'd rather have Dad, but Dad is actually flying a hovercraft for a supply drop in District 5 today (and I won't stop worrying until Jarvis tells me he made it back to base, not that I'll ever admit that).

The first tower is mostly hidden – they made it look like a hill of some kind, so that it didn't stand out as a target for attack or curiosity from locals. It must have been a terrible fake at first, but over time, dirt has gathered on it and it looks very real until you get up close to it. It's very flat here, so really the fact it's a hill stands out more than anything. I wonder how many kids played on it just for that. We go into stealth mode when we get close and stay back until I hear Jarvis' voice reassuring me that the coast is clear. "I believe you will find an entrance at the southern base of the tower." We make our way to the southern base, the side which faces the city, unfortunately, with Rhodey and I using invisible paneling and the camera guy being painfully conspicuous despite camouflage, but if there's no one there it shouldn't matter.

I find a handle on the south entrance and expect to have to struggle to open the door, but to my surprise it opens – the lock is already broken. Our special forces wouldn't have done that, so I'm already on alert.

The inside is almost as dusty as the outside – my first thought is that I have doubts about the state of electronics in such a place, and my second thought is alarm at the fresh footprints on the ground. "Jarvis?"

"I see it, Tony, I'm trying to locate any possible source based on the readings from your suit …"
"Tony – cover my back while I go first to the control room?" Rhodey says, seeing the footprints lead up the terribly rickety looking wooden stairs.

"Sure thing – Cad, Wu, … camera guy …"

"Thaddeus."

"Yeah, all of you follow Rhodey." Rhodey heads up the stairs with guns at the ready, the electricians and Thaddeus walk up the stairs after him. I follow, walking backwards, with my eyes peeled and listening for word from Jarvis. We make our way up the long, winding stairs, which creak under our weight (especially mine and Rhodey's, if we didn't know there was a possible threat, we would have left our armor downstairs). My heart races … but most of that is from the pill I took starting to kick in. We're near the top, with no sign of anyone when I hear from Jarvis.

"Sir, I'm picking up a heartbeat in the control room."

"Noted, Rhodey … Be careful opening the door, Jarvis just confirmed we've got company in the control room." Cad, Wu, and Thad (his name is now Thad whether he likes it or not for easy rhyming purposes) stand to the side and let me pass.

We come to the door – there's no way they haven't heard us, but they haven't come out guns blazing. I'd like to say that our reputation precedes us … but I'm more concerned that they've left behind one of the especially dedicated idiots to blow himself and us sky high when we get in. Rhodey decides to call in even though they've surely heard us by now. "This is the URF! Come out now with hands up!"

"Prove it!" a little voice comes from inside – I would guess the person inside is anywhere between eight and twelve, probably a boy but maybe just a girl with a husky voice. "Prove you're with the rebels!" We look at each other – we don't relax any because we know the Capitol's willing to use child soldiers.

"This is Tony Stark. You've probably heard of me." There's a long silence.

"Prove it, let me see your face."

"I don't know, what will you do when you see me?"

"If it's really Tony Stark, I won't shoot." That makes me feel a bit better – if he had a bomb he'd threaten that, not the gun, and I doubt he's a good enough shot to get my face on the first try before my face plate is down.

"Okay – I'm coming in," I say, and Rhodey opens the door slowly. I raise my face plate and step in slowly, with my hands raised – I don't want to startle the kid.

The … probably a boy, but I'm not entirely sure … is sitting in the far corner, holding a Peacekeeper's gun awkwardly (his or her arms are way too short to hold it properly) and shaking. He or she sees my face and drops the weapon. "It is you!" He … I'm pretty sure he's a he now … stands up and runs to me, and I brace myself. He wraps his arms around me – I remember I'm supposed to be a symbol of hope or something and try not to grimace since Thad is surely taping and I pat his back. He's got short dark hair, which I ruffle a little too, to try really hard to look fraternal. Stephen makes it look so easy.

"Yeah it is, I'm here," I say, trying to find a tone and coming up with confusion.

"I was hoping someone would come … I didn't think it would be you …" Pretty sure he's a he … the voice says boy. I would say the haircut too, but in the inner districts the girls sell their hair to wigmakers and the people who chop it off don't always do a great job of making it look like a feminine cut … The kid is thin enough for me to believe she might need to sell her hair …

"Yeah we … we came to get the rebels back on the air," I say. By now the electricians are in, and Rhodey is standing guard at the door just to be safe. "What are you doing here?" He steps back and points to the place where the bug, remarkably, is still attached. The Capitol men wouldn't have left it.

"I tried to fix the wires to get you back on air … I always played at the hill, I knew what it was … after we got spots from the rebels, I knew they did something, so I broke in and looked around …" That explains the broken lock. "I saw the bug – I knew it wasn't part of the original wiring so I started keeping my ear out … when I heard they were on their way to repair it, I ran up here and took the bug … I tried to reconnect it once they were gone, but I must not have done it right since we didn't get the signal back …"
"The bug is installed correctly, Tony," Cad says after taking a quick look at it while Wu quickly starts doing other rewires.

"That's not all …" I choose the masculine pet name I generally use, since I figure a girl would be less bothered by it than a boy would be by being called "honey." "Buddy. We have to make other adjustments, but the bug is most important. That takes the longest." And it saves us a bug to use somewhere else – he's done good. Or she. But he's lucky he didn't get himself killed. Or she.

"Oh. Damn, I wish I'd known that, I would have paid more attention …"
"You would have brought Peacekeepers down on yourself if the signal had come back," I say quickly. "You were stupid to do what you did."
"But I wanted to …"
"I know you wanted to help. But you're a kid, okay?"
"Captain America isn't much older than me." Is that what they're calling Stephen now? Ugh.

"He's almost fourteen now, and he's had treatments that made him stronger. You're … what, eight?"
"Ten!" the kid says indignantly.

"You look eight. I don't want you anywhere near this tower again, you understand? Once the signal is live, this tower will be crawling with Peacekeepers, and …"
"Yeah, I get it. I'm not stupid," the kid says, but he … or she … I have to figure this out … is really giving me the stink eye about it.

"Hey, when's the last time you had a good meal … what's your name?"
"Harley," he says, and loudly ignores the first question. I take that combined with how thin he is as "a long time" and take some of the emergency provisions from a compartment in my suit. Even if we get stranded, I can stand to lose a lot more weight than he can.

"That's a weird name for District 1," I say as I hand him the provisions. And it gets me no closer to deciphering the kid's gender, crap. Wu glares at me over her shoulder, but this Harley kid has balls … perhaps not literally but figuratively this kid is putting us all to shame. He or she doesn't need to be handled with kid gloves.

"Yeah," the kid says, and doesn't elaborate.

"That took a lot of skill to put the bug back," I say instead as he tears open the package of bread and starts to eat it hungrily. I will never stop hating watching kids eat that way.

"I just … I like building and fixing things. I guess I got it from my grandfather. He built motorcycles in District 6 … Guess it skipped a generation, because all my dad was good for was loading and unloading trains and getting local girls pregnant." And that explains the name – the most likely explanation is he's named after his dad, since it doesn't sound like his deadbeat dad was around long enough to name him. And now I'm pretty sure he's a he. Like eighty-nine percent sure.

"That's good. We can use skill like that. When all this is over, you can come to District 3 and learn from Beatee …"

"Only if we win."

"Don't be an idiot, we're going to win," I say forcefully.

"You're so sure – only real battle so far has ended in a tie," he points out.

"But you chose our side for a reason right?"
"I know who I want to win," he says. "I'm sick of starving. I'm sick of watching kids like me get killed by the kids my district sends to act like freaking savages." I've never thought it would be like to be a non-Career in a Career District, watching the ones from your district torturing little kids to death and laughing, knowing your whole district was painted with that brush. I watch him start in on the horrible vegetable hash that I wouldn't touch unless I was already starving to death. I notice he's left half the bread, half the jerky, and hasn't touched the flash dried fruit and tiny bar of chocolate despite that being the best part yet – I know he's got someone he's looking out for. I take all my other provisions out and hand them to him – he smiles and tears open the dried fruit from the first pack I gave him.

"Is that wise, Tony?" Cad asks. I ignore him.

"Who are you saving food for?" I ask Harley.
"My sister. I've been able to get some of the donated tesserae grain for her and I make a little bit sweeping the shops on Bubble Street …" Ugh, the street names are as bad as the town names.

"Where's your mom?" his face falls, and he doesn't answer, so I don't ask for anything more.

"She worked for a watchmaker," he says after a while. "I was hoping he'd give me a job or at least help for a little bit … instead, he threatened to call the Peacekeepers on me just for asking more than once. So I went to the training center to volunteer … they said I wasn't strong enough so they gave me some grain and sent me home instead." Of course – they scout for potential tributes from a much younger age. I remember I was surprised when I found out what the people in charge of the training center in District 1 do with the grain their volunteers take on the tesserae – they sell about half of it for very cheap to recoup at least some of the cost of training, and they give the other half away to the poor children of District 1 too young to take the tesserae. And they count the best part of a victory to be the fact all of the kids get treats for another year – they really, genuinely, want to make their district stronger, all of it. Our messages to them have been focused on convincing them they shouldn't have to sacrifice at least one child every year and usually two to do that.

"What happened to the Careers being savages?"
"There's only two volunteers and several dozen kids in each class. I thought you'd be better at math." I smack him in the back of the head – lightly, not enough to hurt even a little.

"Look, take the packages, those will give you a few good meals, and take care of your sister as best you can. But don't come around here any more – it'll be crawling with Peacekeepers."
"But …"
"Our people will focus on taking it and the other towers back so we can get the signal out. I want you to worry about staying alive." I look at his face, and I know he's not going to take that. "You know … we need a representative from District 1 on the Avengers. I mean, we've got three from District 12 … and most of the districts don't have anyone on the team. You wanna come with us?" He looks up at me skeptically, but when my expression doesn't change his eyebrows furrow.
"What about my sister? Can we go get her?"
"Tony – we don't have the time or the resources," Rhodey says before I can say yes.

"Then I have to stay to take care of her," Harley says without hesitation.

"And you can protect her by not coming around here anymore," I say quickly.

"But …" I see the look on his face and I know it's not sitting well with him, so I decide I have to be brutally honest.

"You know my friend, the Hulk?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says with a nod.

"You know he was held by the Capitol. They didn't just hurt him – they hurt people from his village to try to get to him. You don't want the Capitol to hurt your sister do you?" He shakes his head. "So you won't come back?" He nods. But I like this kid, and I don't like the thought of him going away totally unarmed, since he surely leaves the Peacekeeper's gun which I've avoided asking about here, since he can't exactly hide it under his jacket. So I take a small device from my suit and toss it to him.

"What's this?" he asks.

"It's a sonic paralysis inducer. If anyone tries to mess with you, you push this button," I put my hand over the button but don't press it. "To put them out of action. Make sure you have your ears covered when you do." Rhodey and the electricians still have theirs – I can do without mine for this mission.

"Cool, thanks," Harley says as he takes it and puts it in a little leather bag along with the three ration packages I gave him.

"We've got it," Cad says, which was expected because, with the bug already attached, they could split the remaining work among themselves and the rewiring was always the smaller task as it was.

"Okay – you need to go first."

"Why?"
"In case someone's watching. We'll watch your back as you go," Rhodey explains, and Harley gets up to go.

As soon as he's down the stairs, Rhodey turns on me. "Why did you give him a weapon like that, Tony?" Rhodey asks.

"So he's not defenseless if the Peacekeepers come after him or …"
"You're giving him permission to try something stupid!"
"I was arming him so he's not helpless if the idiocy goes to him. It's done now, anyway. Come on – we said we'd watch his back, and we've got four more towers to reconnect just in Diamond City." He rolls his eyes, but we make our way down the stairs.

A couple of weeks later, I've barely finished the final tower outside of Ruby City (I told you they were all stupid names) when I get the orders. General Fury's voice takes over for Jarvis in my head. "Stark – you ready for some real action?" he asks.

"Define real action," I say cautiously.

"You need to get to District 7 now. You think you can make the flight?"
"Sure but that's not very specific."
"I trust you have a map somewhere in your fancy suit?"
"I do." He gives me some coordinates, and I pull them up by voice command. To my surprise, the coordinates give me a result I don't like.
"Muleshoe? Isn't that Spruce's village?" I ask. It was burned and everyone in it was massacred – why I am I needed there? They're not expecting me to show up and cry are they? They're more likely to get anger if they expect me to walk through the ruins.

"Just make your way there, and quickly." Fair enough, I've been chewed out enough for not following orders.

"Rhodey, I'm being called somewhere else," I say quickly. "Just me."
"Take this then," Wu says, and hands me her sonic paralyzer. I had almost forgotten I gave mine to Harley. "You'll find more use for it then I will."

"Thanks," I say. I wish Pepper was here – I'd like to tell her goodbye one more time before I take off. But she's in town, unloading supplies for the rebels who are trying to turn the tide here.

"I'll let her know about your mission, sir," Jarvis tells me comfortingly, and I'm glad to have him back.

"Thank you," I say as I take flight.

Author's Note

Oh my gosh flashback overdose … but I feel like every one was necessary. If you think this could do with some trimming, let me know in the comment section/reviews. At least one of them is like really important for foreshadowing but I won't tell you which one (you can probably guess).

I think District 1 is somewhere in what used to be Nevada, which is why I made it dry and flat. For fun, Diamond City is probably built on the ruins of Las Vegas.

I was tempted to add Harley all along, since Harley was my absolute favorite part of Iron Man 3 (which I honestly didn't otherwise care for) but had decided against it until I got a specific request for Harley. Even then I wouldn't have done it, except I figured out a way to incorporate him in a way that is more than fanservice (we'll be seeing Harley again, she said in an ominous voice).

I may have pulled a muscle stretching to justify the name Harley.

Tony's confusion over Harley's gender is a nod to several things. Harley appears to be loosely based on a little girl who appeared in the Iron Man comics, and I get the impression that role was actually written for a little girl – that whole "I'm cold," thing to try to get Tony to stay seemed more like something a little girl would do (my Mom did research on learned helplessness in gifted girls for her master's degree and I see it everywhere lol). I wouldn't be surprised if the script called for a little girl but someone was blown away by Ty Simpkins' audition or work in another film and it was rewritten specifically for him. In fact, at least one tvtropes user willfully ignored all evidence to the contrary to insist Harley is in fact a girl. (Cue the Harley Quinn and Kevin Smith jokes.)

I'm probably going a little Draco in Leather Pants on the career districts. I just really wanted to make them not pure evil.