Chapter 14

Avengers Assemble

Katniss

I know what's going to happen before it does – I see the look on Spruce's face. He doesn't even look like the boy I know – I shudder as I remember the madman who took his place while we were being attacked by the mutts and the creature who tore through the Peacekeepers on the other side of the wall two days ago. He's down on all fours, obviously in pain, alternating between a grimace and all-too-eager grin, and his watch is going off fast and loud, and his eyes have gone from dark brown to green. I don't know if he switched personalities and then his anger triggered the transformation or his fear did and the pain caused the switch – I don't guess it matters.

I can't just lay here and watch him – I make sure Cedar is down and then I get into a kneeling position, my bow and arrows at the ready. I don't dare use an explosive or an incendiary – not in the forest. So I notch a regular arrow and look for the direction of the sniper, and quickly realize that's far from my only problem. Gale's trading shots with multiple people standing in almost the exact opposite direction as the sniper fire. It's an ambush – exactly what Gale was afraid of.

I almost panic, but I force myself to think. What's the biggest threat right now?

The sniper – he or she must be a long way off but they were less than half an inch away from taking Spruce's head off. I scour the trees, looking for any advantage point and find the possibilities almost unlimited, given the tall, tall trees. How many of those have branches near the top that could hold a human? As my eyes scan the trees, trying to narrow them down, I see it – a glint of sunlight on a scope, several hundred feet out, in a huge pine tree.

I act as though I haven't seen it – if he's still aiming at Spruce, he won't be aiming at me, and I think Spruce is already pretty invulnerable. I look to a spot a little ways away, and keep the place where I saw the glint in the trees in my peripheral view, and I take aim quickly and fire. I hear a sharp cry and I know my aim was true, and now I can help Gale. I go to his side and put my back to him, looking for more Peacekeepers from the opposite direction. Sure enough, I find them.

"It doesn't make sense … they could have bombed us to oblivion by now," he whispers. He's right, but I don't have time to think about it – I hear an inhuman roar and I know Spruce is gone for now. I hear thunderous footfalls on the ground behind me and I grab Gale by the shoulder and pull us both out of the way as the Spruce creature … I think it calls itself the Hulk … races by, a green blur of muscles and fury. I almost feel sorry for the Peacekeepers he's about to land on. Almost.

Gale and I roll to our feet and turn back to the Peacekeepers on the other side – they got braver ones this time, either that or they think the heavy artillery they have with them will work on the Hulk, despite the fact it didn't at 11. Maybe they don't know about that yet. But Gale's right – they could have bombed us into oblivion, and they could be using those artillery pieces on us to turn us into something with the consistency of pudding. Something's very wrong, but I have no idea what.

I hear a very familiar engine roar and the thud of a landing behind us, but I don't really believe it until I hear, "Need some help, honey?" It strikes me as wrong, even though it's his father's pet name for me, but he says it playfully, not as hatefully as he usually says anything to me.

"I will fire an incendiary arrow somewhere you won't like it, Stark," I threaten, but I smile a little. "I don't know if those big guns will actually do anything to Spruce but …"
"Right, on it," he cuts me off and takes flight once again, and I don't mind the curtness. Tony blasts Peacekeepers left and right, and there's a break in the fire. I hear marching and shouting and the roar of truck engines and I know it's only temporary.

"Gale, take Cedar to cover," I whisper, now that I have someone else to help me with the Peacekeepers. He shoots me a look, but he takes a few steps back to the understandably frightened man who was our guide and helps him to his feet, and they run back down the hill towards the tent with heads down. "You might want to take off as well," I tell my camera crew.

"Not a chance," Castor calls back.

I stand my ground with Tony – we're back-to-back, and take Peacekeepers from all sides. I see the way Hulk throws things into the crowd of Peacekeepers swarming him with heavy artillery, and I realize it doesn't look like he wants to hurt any of them so much as just lash out. Huge bullets bounce off bright green skin and leave ugly welts. I can only do my best to help, but honestly it doesn't look like he needs much help from us.

Then I hear it – screaming from the direction of the tent. "Gale!" I say out loud, and I lose my breath – then I remember everyone else who is there, those already wounded and dying. At least they have Gale and Johanna – Gale has his gun and his amazing aim and Johanna's no shrinking violet. Tony curses as he takes off and I follow, but we're not alone – the Hulk runs past us so quickly we feel the wind rush past.

"I … I hadn't seen him … not in person …" Tony says, and I hear his voice shake.

"Suck it up, Stark," I say sharply. I need cocky Tony right now.

We make it into the clearing and my heart stops – Stephen is here too, I don't have time to question why or when he got in. He and Gale are standing in front of the tent. The tent's closed now – bullets hit it and I realize it's not as flimsy as it looked. Through the slit in the tent, I can just make out Johanna and my stylist standing just inside, ready to kill any Peacekeepers that get past the boys and try to open the tent. The Hulk protects the other end of the tent – and he seems to be winning. He tears huge limbs from the trees and uses them like a club – knocking Peacekeepers left and right, sending them flying to the ground with blood spattering and limbs landing at unnatural angles. It's a frightening sight, but the line is far back and the tent is safe on his side. Gale's got the only true ranged weapon – or so I think until Stephen throws his shield and it disarms a Peacekeeper before bouncing right back to him. Johanna's got an axe at the ready, and the stylist's arms shake as she holds them out, and I wonder what she thinks she's doing. But I don't have time to worry about it – I'm terrified for the tent and its defenders and I kneel behind a tree that provides some cover to take fire at about the same time Tony lands in the Peacekeepers who are trying to get past Stephen and Gale.

That's when the hovercrafts show up. They've got invisible paneling, but it's not as good as ours – they still have to uncloak to fire and if you have the time, you can see their outline. Not that I have time to look for their outline now – I can't worry about them firing either because I still have the ones on the ground. Tony has to take the aerial battle alone – that doesn't sit right either. Why did they wait until Tony showed up to bring in the hovercrafts? Gale's right, something is very, very wrong.

The Hulk is trying to lead the fighting away from the tent – he's protecting everyone inside, and doing a better job of it than we are. They can't exactly ignore him so when he runs a good distance from the tent, they follow.

Despite my initial panic, I realize we're doing our job – we're winning. We're hideously outnumbered, but we're not outmatched. Peacekeepers fall, and I try not to think about the one that fed Clint when he was a little boy or the ones who have secret families like Drusa's mother …

Suddenly, most of the Peacekeepers pull back. I don't relax at all, because this seems too easy.

I keep my bow at the ready as I look in the opposite direction from the retreat just in time to see a huge figure moving so fast it's almost a blur smash into the Hulk, and the monster we've started to think of as invincible goes down like glass. The new figure pounds relentlessly on the Hulk, and I see it's as big as he is but its skin is the color of sickly human flesh, and it's got spikes and bones on the outside and no apparent nose, ears or male parts … it almost looks like it got turned inside out. It's the most horrible thing I've ever seen.

The Hulk fights back – it looks like they're matched in strength but not in skill. This creature has been trained for combat. The Hulk can't even stand up – every time he tries, the inside-out one knocks him down again.

The fight goes on for a sickening moment while we hesitate, now spectators in the battle with the Peacekeepers sidelined. For every hit he lands, the Hulk receives two or three and they're swift and brutal. The green beast makes terrible cries of fear and pain. Childish cries, I realize, and I want to help with everything in me but what can I do?

The other monster pins the Hulk to the ground and yanks him up from behind. The not quite flesh-colored beast gets his arms around the Hulk's neck, and we know it's over. We spring into action trying to help – we know if the Hulk goes down we all do, and that was probably the intent. Besides, Spruce is in there somewhere. Tony hits the other monster with his thrusters, but it turns on him and swats him away in one swift, brutal motion, without releasing the Hulk. I hear the clank of the armor and I know Tony's safe inside, but it's still a sickening sound. Stephen throws his shield, and the thing turns on him and all I know is that I have to stop it from getting to the boy and I react without thinking …

An incendiary arrow lands in the back of the creature's neck. I wasn't sure it would even stick but it was already burning enough that it starts to burrow into that sickly flesh. The monster freezes in place for just one sickening moment, and then it starts to thrash desperately. The smell of burning flesh fills the air …

Suddenly I'm not in District 7, but in the woods between 12 and 13, pushing my terrified neighbors on through the woods and carrying Brand Whitley, while bombs fall all around and people scream, waiting for Phillip to come back …

"Focus Catnip!" Tony yells, drawing me back into the present.

The huge monster starts to run in a panic, thrashing terribly trying to rip out the arrow. Much to my horror, the forest is going up with it. "Good one, Catnip," Tony hisses as he lands by me.

"Well what would you have had me do?" I snap back.

"Literally anything that didn't involve setting the forest on fire. Ugh, I hate nature." The Hulk is stumbling to his feet, obviously shaken but not quite done yet. He sprints off after the other monster – which is impressive considering the beating he just took.

Stephen sprints to my side and covers us both with his shield while Tony has our backs. I take aim over Stephen's shoulder, hoping that none of the Peacekeepers break off from us to go back to the tent, and Tony takes aim with his blasters. While we were distracted by the monster battle, we were surrounded – again, we're doing great, aren't we? Some team we are.

"Did you get all the hovercrafts?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Tony says. If not he'll have to take to the air and Stephen and I will be vulnerable …

We may be goners as it is. We're outnumbered, and without the Hulk we don't have enough of an advantage to make up for it.

Two of the Peacekeepers fall forward with arrows in the back – before I can process that, the sky comes alive with lightning. "You kids want some help?" a familiar voice calls. I have never been happier to hear Haymitch Abernathy's voice in my life.

"Yes, yes oh Drunken Master come bail us out with your lightning stick!" Tony calls and he's still trying to be funny but I hear the desperation in his voice. The thing is I almost laugh because I understand both.

The last few hovercrafts are downed instantly by the lightning, now Haymitch is working on fixing my mistake, attempting some kind of complicated dance with Thor's hammer. I'm not sure if the fact that he appears to be in his typical state of drunkenness is a help or a hindrance to this task. "Come on, come on Meow-meow! I need the rain, not just the lightning!" I know that's not even close to what the hammer's called but it's not like anyone is worried about correcting him right now. It starts to sprinkle, but I have a feeling this will be next to useless in putting out the fires.

But the most pressing concern right now is to deal with the Peacekeepers who are left and get to the Hulk and give whatever back up we can. Which really, is probably not a lot.

I focus on the first task, firing at weak points in the armor …

Then I see him. I almost call to him but I don't want to call his attention away from what he's doing … both for his safety and for Tony's. It wouldn't be possible for my heart to race any faster than it already is, but now I am fighting another distraction for focus – why the hell did they let him come?! They really sent Clint into the field, and not just into the field, but into an active war zone with Tony?! Now I'm not just terrified – I'm angry at my own side.

I'm very glad when, as soon as we're covered on all sides, Tony takes flight in the direction that the Hulk ran after the other monster – as long as he's out of sight from Clint, I'm happy. As soon as he takes flight it starts to pour – thank you Haymitch.

The few remaining Peacekeepers get wise pretty quickly and surrender a few moments later, the tide totally turned by the arrival of reinforcements, especially Haymitch. Most of my comrades go forth to secure their weapons and take them into custody while I take stock of our reinforcements for the first time. Besides Haymitch, our reinforcements include Peeta, Thresh, Danvers, and most of the "Avengers, senior division" – Finnick, Cashmere and Gloss, Duke (who only has a bow and arrow like Clint), Blight, Chaff, Silver from District 1, Oleum from 5, Hops from 9, and Tack from 10. At least, with the exception of Clint and Duke, they all have guns – at this point I wouldn't have been surprised if they had sent them all out with only the weapons they used in the Arena.

Clint stays in the game – he takes two guns away, unloads them in a box in the jeep they came in (we can't afford to waste bullets), and then locks them. I want to run up to him – I want to hug him and tell him that I'm sorry I hurt him but happy he's here now …

But there are cameras there and I couldn't tell him the whole truth and I hate it.

Besides – it's not over yet.

I run into the forest, ignoring the pouring rain, while Clint's back is turned.