Notes: Aww, Silz, darling! That was such an awesome one-shot. It really, really was.
Chapter 7: "How to Make Friends… And Enemies"
Morning of July 3: First Day of Training
District Seven Suite
It was exceedingly quiet in the suite when Scott came out of his room to get a quick cup of coffee before the day's worth of training. It was early enough that nothing was planned for a few hours, and he took the coffee to the wall of windows at the far end of the suite to watch the dawn sky for a while. He hadn't had a morning this quiet since… well. Since he and Alex had been separated after their parents died.
It had been great to see Alex again, even if it was clear Alex didn't remember him. Over ten years, and the kid looked like he'd end up being just as tall as Scott was if he kept up at that rate, though he wasn't as skinny as his big brother.
Alex had told him about his family in Nine, his foster parents and the good life he had back there, and honestly, Scott was glad. Alex seemed happy. It was just… almost unfair that he was happy without Scott. Not that Alex knew any better. Alex didn't really remember their family, and even though Scott had tried to tell him some stories, it was clear Alex was happy where he was, with his new parents. And that was good for him. Really.
So Scott settled into the couch as he pulled up the footage from the parade to rewatch it. He knew he and Alex had played right into Tivan's narrative, so now the question was how to use it, turn it to their advantage… it would probably get them sponsors...
It had been a long night for Logan, and likely one of the last he'd have to put up with the Capitolites quite like that until after the Games were over anyhow. Fury had promised him an actual mission for the next night, seeing as the Capitol expected the mentors to be well … mentoring. Whatever that meant. So far, none of the other victors had bothered to tell him what the hell he could actually do.
At any rate, he was worn out from playing nice to creepy higher ups that Gamora told him had been 'patiently waiting' for months to spend time with him and trying to not crack a few well-deserving people in the face. As it stood, he only had to try and be approachable for the kids for a few hours before they disappeared into training and Jessica came around to drag him to wherever he was supposed to be for the time that they were occupied.
He wasn't expecting anyone to be awake when he finally slipped into the suite — seeing as it was just now dawn, but he was a bit surprised to have spotted Scott on the couch before he silently pulled the door shut behind him. "You're up early," Logan said as he stepped inside, wondering what Scott thought he'd been up to all night.
Scott glanced back at him. "I'm always up this early," he said, though he had to frown at the sight of Logan. "You were out late."
"Too late," Logan agreed. "Hazard of being here."
"You look like crap."
Logan let out a little chuckle. "Don't I know it."
Scott gestured toward the kitchenette in their suite. "There's coffee. Moira showed me and Clara how to make it yesterday."
"Great," Logan said as he finally stepped a bit further into the suite. "But if you're not too opposed — I'm going to go wash up before anyone else gets moving." He didn't wait for an answer as he headed off to leave Scott with his thoughts, though he did at least make a mental note to try to get back from the mission earlier.
District Five Suite
Luckily for Peter Quill, neither of his tributes were early risers, so when he returned to his own suite, there was no one waiting up for him — though by the time he'd showered, there was someone in the living room. Jessica Drew had shown up to check on him.
"I thought you'd be taking care of your pickpocket today," he said with a little crooked smile. "The joker he left in my pocket was real cute, Drew."
"He's just … making friendly," Jessica said with a smirk. "How are you hanging in there, joker?"
Quill waved his hand at her but didn't meet her gaze. "Oh, you know. Getting really good at milking the 'lord' title."
"The science babies offered to send you something to take the edge off," she told him. "But I told them you didn't want to take the chance at letting anything slip."
Quill actually looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, my, uh, one of my tributes already liberated some of the alcohol stash from the train, but I was mostly sober for anything that counted, I swear." He grinned crookedly at her. "She'd get along with yours."
"You think so, huh? He seems to be dedicated to flirting with everyone around him. Everyone."
"So what's he hitting you with, huh?" Quill asked with a little smirk. "And is it working?"
"Ah, the worst pickup lines I've ever heard — and no," she said with a little laugh. "Though he did manage to trick his district partner into giving him a kiss. The kid is shameless."
"How'd he pull that off?" Quill asked, leaned against the wall and fully entertained now.
"How'd you get that joker in your pocket?" she countered. "Apparently, the bet was that he wouldn't pickpocket anyone — so he started putting things in their pockets instead. She only kissed his cheek, but the gloating was still really ridiculous."
"I'm jealous, Drew. All I've got are a couple of monosyllabic kids who know how to drink my booze." He dropped into the seat beside her. "Good kids, but the conversation is so, so lacking."
"I'm sure you'll get someone fun to talk to before too long," she said with a little smile. "Patience."
"Yeah, I'm not in a hurry. At all. To go anywhere. It can stay today for as long as it wants." Quill shook his head and let out a sigh. "Oh, hey, by the way." He sat up a bit straighter and pressed a flash drive into her side where the cameras wouldn't see. "Palace security's amping up. Again. For the Games, the wedding, the whole nine," he said, this time in a much, much quieter tone — and far more serious.
"Not surprised at all," she said with a nod.
"Woulda got it to you sooner, but I am today's hottest soon-to-be-former bachelor, so…" He shrugged at her and looked down at the ground. "Just tell the science babies to hurry up and find something that takes the edge off without letting me slip, because this job is getting nuttier every day, Jess. And I am not against getting one of those suicide implants at this point?"
"No kidding," she agreed. "Everyone is saying the same thing. We've got fights going on already, by the way. Thought you might like to hear that one."
"Yeah? Who's playing?"
She grinned but made it a point to let out a sigh all the same. "Officially, the story is that Creed made a play at the girl from Twelve and she defended herself with a throat punch and a gut shot. All he got was a handful of hair before our little friend in Seven choked him out."
"And what's the unofficial story?" he asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.
"She had an axe to grind, and he coached her on how to drop him fast. Lied fast to cover her — and the Creed girl played along."
"She did? Well lookit that." Quill shook his head. "His own family doesn't like him. Why am I not surprised?"
"If I didn't want to tick him off, I'd point out that the girl looks like she's got a crush," Jess laughed.
"Aw man. A Creed and Logan? Yeah. Yeah… no. I can't… I can't wrap my head around that one. At all."
"She's cute," Jess said with a laugh and a shrug.
"Still weird." Quill shook his head quietly before he leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "You doing okay, by the way? I didn't ask."
"Yeah, I'm .. you know. I'm fine. I'm always fine." She shrugged up one shoulder. "It was just socializing with idiots for me last night."
"Hey, same here. Only my idiots come in blue and green and seem to think scarring me for life is funny," Quill joked lightly. "How are the Capitolites that aren't kissing royal butt? Quarter Quell got them as excited as Fury wants 'em to be? All nice and distracted?"
"So much drama," she said, closing her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. "They love it."
He leaned in, looking more serious than usual. "Good, 'cause someone tripped a security alarm last night, and I'd hate to think what would've happened if they weren't distracted when it went down."
"I'm sure we'll hear about it on the other side," she said at a whisper, her hair covering her face enough she wasn't too concerned about the cameras.
He smirked at her for a second before, all at once, he jumped to his feet and offered her a hand up. "Well, nice of you to stop by, but we've got some kids to look after. And hopefully some Z's to catch."
"Yep," she agreed. "Good luck. I'm sure there are questions to be answered from the new guy. He's not acting like a new guy. Yet."
"Well. We'll see." He flashed her a thumbs up as she left and then, as soon as she was gone, more or less passed out asleep on the couch to wait for his late-rising tributes.
Capitol Training Area for the Tributes
Miles' district partner wasn't really much of a talker, which was a bit of a let-down, because he really wanted to make friends. But no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get her to laugh or anything, and finally, by the time they hit the training room, he had pretty much given up. Maybe he could talk to someone else.
Monet went to the tree-climbing station, which Miles had actually wanted to go to… but maybe he could try hand-to-hand? Yeah. He could totally try that.
There was only one other person at the station when he got there, and Miles waved at the little blonde with the tips of his fingers. "Oh, hello, other spider!" he called out. "I liked your outfit last night at the parade. You so deserve the nod more than me. Much better coming from you."
Gwen turned to face Miles with a surprised expression on her face, but she seemed to relax on seeing that he was entirely earnest. "Thanks, I think," she said with a little smile.
"I'm Miles, by the way," he said. "Miles Morales."
"Gwen Stacy."
Miles nodded at her with an almost awkward smile before the trainer, Danny Rand, set them up to show them a few of the basics, so they fell out of conversation for a while, both of them focused on trying to learn what the tall barefooted blonde was teaching.
But as soon as Danny stepped away to help another tribute who came by the station — the little girl from Six — Miles turned back to Gwen with a wide smile. "Hey, so — do you know, like, any of this stuff? Because I'm sort of shopping for a new district partner while mine is…" He gestured over at the tree-climbing station, where Monet was, of course, excelling. "It's not even fair. She's just like that. And she's the youngest out of all of us."
"Well, my district partner seems to think he can flirt his way out of everything."
"How's that working out for him? Is it an effective strategy? Because if it is, I'm gonna have to start taking notes." Miles grinned at her. "Every little bit helps when you're small and skinny and all you know how to do is advanced math and bad jokes."
Gwen looked completely taken back for a moment. "I am intimately familiar with that coping mechanism."
"Oh good. I knew I picked a good replacement partner," he said with a little laugh. "We can scare all those big scary guys with pre-calc and our super buff muscles." He flexed an arm for the full effect.
She still looked taken aback as she watched him. "You are so much like the original Spidey it's not even … well. It is kinda funny. Like you're some kind of … clone or something."
Miles looked honestly surprised. "Clone? Me?" He shook his head, though he started to laugh despite himself halfway through the motion. "Oh yeah. I can so see the family resemblance."
"Not with the looks, of course," she said with her eyes narrowed a bit. "But the personality? The jokes? Oh. Yeah."
"Is that… I'm hoping that's a compliment, right?" he asked a bit nervously. "Not a come-on? I mean, I know you dated the guy…"
"You wish, spider-brat."
Miles raised both hands. "I was just checking. I am way too young for you."
"Want to try another station? Maybe the poisonous plants?"
"I was actually thinking about snagging the climbing when Monet's done," Miles admitted. "There were a couple really good climbing trees by the school where I grew up, and hey, if there's a station for it, it must mean climbing is actually good for our survival, right?"
"Well … that actually makes some sense. Partners?" She looked a bit hopeful as she offered her hand to him.
He broke into a huge grin and took her hand, then pulled her into an outright hug. "Oh, yes! Yes, we so have to partner!"
"Team Spiders, apparently."
"Yeah, I still don't know why my stylist did that," Miles said apologetically. "Shoulda just been you. I didn't mean to step on… anything..."
"She met him. You're like him. All the stylists talk." She gave him a warm smile. "It's a compliment, really."
"Oh, okay. As long as it doesn't… it doesn't bug you, does it?" He paused. "And I so don't mean that like a pun."
"It's really nice to hear that brand of humor again," she said with a smile. "Even if you're totally off in calling an arachnid a bug."
"Great! At least someone gets it."
"I hope you get a second to meet my stylist. She'll love you," Gwen told him. "She appreciates that sense of humor too."
"Hey, that sounds great. I'd love to get out, stretch my legs, meet spider-fans."
The two of them were almost to the climbing course when another tribute joined them. The little girl from Six came all but sprinting over, half hiding behind Gwen for a moment before she straightened up. "Oh. Hi. Sorry I just… can I join you? I don't want to be in hand-to-hand. Alone. With the creepy girl from Three."
"Oh, yeah, she's kind of something else, isn't she?" Gwen looked over to Miles with a little smile. "I'm Gwen."
"Kamala Khan," the girl said brightly. "And you are?"
"Miles." He grinned at her. "We're going to climb trees — you wanna join us?"
"Sure, why not?" Kamala said with a shrug, her gaze on the hand-to-hand station for just a moment longer before she slung her arms around both Gwen and Miles' shoulders. "Just pretend we're best friends now so I don't look like a target, okay? She looks like she wants to kill me."
"Most of the kids here—"
"I know I know," Kamala said, cutting Gwen off. "But I have the Red Skull for a mentor. I am getting really good at recognizing the psycho look."
"Oh, yeah, you've got a bad one," Gwen said, cringing. "Not like I'm much better off, though. Ol' Osborn."
"Oh, but I saw how he was being so nice to you before…"
"He's … trying to make up for Peter dying last year," Gwen said in a rush. "He was Norman's favorite back in Eight. He was best friends with Norman's son, Harry ..."
"Oh." Kamala fell silent as she looked Gwen over. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's fine," Gwen said with a little nod and a put-on smile. "It just doesn't help me much when he keeps promising he's doing his best — like he did for Peter."
"Well, Spidey got really far last year, though," Miles pointed out. "And he did get the tracker jacker thing."
"Yeah, we'll just have to see how it goes," Gwen said with a shrug.
Scott had tried to suggest to Alex that he try working with knives, but Alex wanted to try the swords instead, and he just didn't listen to anything Scott said to the contrary. Finally, Scott had to give up after Alex snapped at him. "I got along just fine without you — stop trying to boss me around!"
"I'm just trying to look out for you," Scott argued, but Alex glared at him.
"I'm fine. Stop being so controlling. You're not in charge of my every move."
Scott glared right back before he just threw up his hands and moved toward one of the more useful stations. He might as well make sure one of them knew enough not to eat poison plants or something.
He headed to the plants station, but as he crossed the span, the girl from Ten passed him by, slamming her shoulder into his as they passed too closely, and she spun on her heel to hiss "baka" at him with her eyes flashing.
"Sorry about that," he offered with a small smile, but she simply jutted her chin out at him before she spun on her heel and stalked off.
Scott sighed, shook his head, and moved on to the plants table. At least there no one was yelling at him — it was relatively quiet as everyone was just studying the plants and memorizing the differences. He was about halfway through the section on how to identify cacti that held drinkable water — as opposed to the kind you did not want to drink from — when someone else joined him at the station, and he looked up for just a second to see that it was the redhead from One. He gave her a little smile before he went back to his studies, not really in the mood for another person getting on his case.
"Could you … explain this to me?" she asked with a little smile. "I don't see the difference between the two different cacti." She leaned closer to him before he got to answer. "You look smart enough to explain it."
He was honestly surprised, especially since she was a Career, but he moved over so he could see her book and shook his head. "They're both toxic — there's only one type that's not, and these aren't it either," he said, pointing her attention at the barrel cactus further down the page.
"Well, aren't you a quick study?" she said as she glanced up with a little smile at the corner of her mouth. "What else can you show me?"
"I just pay attention to detail is all," he said, a little taken back by the smile and not sure what to do with it.
"I catch details too … just not the same ones. Like—" She took a breath and held it before she surprised him again and picked up his hand. "Like these calluses. You're a hard worker. Good with your hands, right?"
"I'm a wood carver," he said, suddenly self-conscious as she kept hold of his hand and he noticed that her own hands were softer and light. "Thus, you know, the attention to detail."
"I'm sure," she said with a widening smile.
"What about you?" he asked, sitting up a bit straighter.
"I'm not trained at any of the training centers," she said with a shake of her head as she finally let go of his hand. "I was supposed to go in last year. Just trying to set it right."
"But every year in One, it's a volunteer. Don't you just… expect that?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"It was a mess last year," she said as she leaned in closer so she could whisper. "There were two volunteers for me last year. The girl that volunteered first spent just about every day of the last year … being awful to me. I just had to get away from it." She let out a little sigh. "It was like torture."
Scott's eyes widened, and he leaned a bit closer. "So you're throwing your life away?" He shook his head. "That seems like a waste."
"No, I'm going to fight. I'm not a total idiot," she said before she brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I just couldn't listen to her another day. She kept telling me how if she'd gone in, One would have had it in the bag."
"I wasn't trying to say — I don't think you're an idiot," he said quickly. "I'm sure you can…" He took a breath and cleared his throat and tried very hard not to sound like an idiot himself. "If you want any help at the stations, or anything else, let me know."
"I might just," she said, her smile returning a bit before she let her voice drop to a whisper. "I'm really not Career material."
"So ditch them," he said, matching her whisper.
"Is that an offer?" she asked, eyes wide.
He shrugged. "Why not? If you're not a Career, makes sense to ally against them. As long as you don't mind helping me look out for my kid brother."
She looked over her shoulder and watched the room for a moment. "I like that," she said, nodding. "But … maybe it would be best if we kept it quiet until after the Careers meet. Maybe I can get an idea of who they think is a threat."
"That's not a bad idea," he said with a thoughtful nod. "If you could try and sway them away from us, too…"
"Of course," she replied, smiling crookedly. "Can't let anything happen to those pretty brown eyes."
Scott blinked at her openly as he didn't know what to do in response to that. He finally just cleared his throat. "Okay, so ... cacti. Probably better to just avoid them altogether, since only one isn't toxic. Got it?" he said, turning back to the book.
"Got it," she said with a decisive nod a moment before Clara walked up and dropped an arm over both of their shoulders.
"So. What's the story over here, district partner?" Clara asked, one eyebrow arched up. "Keeping friends close or enemies closer?"
Scott gave her a crooked smile. "Both."
"I'm going to hope you don't mean me as the enemy then," Clara said. "I'd hate to show you my bad side."
Scott shook his head quickly. "I didn't mean either of you," he said diplomatically. "I know better than that," he added Clara's way.
"I'm sure two days with both Creeds has taught you a few things," Jean had to agree with a bit of a glare Clara's way.
"Yes, I'm sure it has. Like not to cross us," Clara replied with a bright smile that bordered on predatory. "I could give you a crash course on that if you're confused. A little one on one time, you and me. Show you what I do have in common with my big brother."
"I'll just get the notes from Scott," Jean replied with a fire in her gaze.
"I'm sure you'll get whatever you can from whoever you can," Clara replied smoothly. "You'll need it."
"Clara," Scott broke in with a frown.
"Scott," she replied with both eyebrows raised his direction as she tipped her chin up and straightened up, looking both taller and more formidable at once. "Something on your mind?"
Scott glanced at Jean and then let out a sigh. "I'll tell you later," he said to Clara almost under his breath.
"Perfect," Clara said before she went one better and, simply to screw with Jean, she popped up on her toes and gave Scott a kiss on the cheek. "See you later, partner."
Alex wasn't the only one who had gone right to the swords station — though after the initial rush for the swords had died down when it was clear they were harder to use than they looked, Betsy made her way over almost cautiously.
She didn't have any illusions about being good at fencing or being able to master swordplay in just three days, but she couldn't help being curious about the station. Brian was trying his hand at archery after all — and completely failing — so she might as well try something new herself.
The trainer, Duquesne, showed her the basics once she'd picked out a sword that felt right in her hands. He seemed surprised as he took her through a few of the movements, and something like a smile flitted over his expression. "Have you ever used one of these before?" he had to ask.
But she shook her head 'no.' "I didn't ever train back home," she admitted, and Duquesne looked that much more impressed as he had her take up a sparring position, just to test out how quickly she could learn.
Duquesne's style of teaching seemed to be very much in the vein of sink or swim, as he would explain a move once and then immediately run her through it, but to his surprise — and Betsy's — she was actually getting the hang of it.
By the time Duquesne had to give his attention to some of the other kids clamoring for attention with their own sword training, he had declared her to be a natural, and he left her to practice several of the moves she'd just learned as he went to where some of the younger kids were just trying to pick out the best swords for themselves.
Betsy was surprised by how easily the training came to her, though she didn't have much time to process it, as one of the other Careers, the blonde from Four, had seen her progress and made her way over with a smile that looked a little forced. "And here I thought you had no propensity for the killing arts," Amora said, shaking her head. "If we're going to be allies, it's a relief to know you at least can fight."
"I can hold my own," Betsy replied. "But I wasn't aware that it was a required team-up."
"It's expected," Amora said, waving her hand airily. "For the sponsors, for the training — it's easier to just do as expected and avoid politicking even if the pickings aren't so ... " She glanced toward where Brian had clearly given up on archery in a fit of annoyance. "Mmm." She let the sentence dangle, unfinished.
"That is no way to win my favor or my loyalty," Betsy said. "Expected or not."
Amora turned Betsy's way with a false smile. "Oh, he'll be part of the alliance too, of course. But you have to admit that we women have a much better selection this year than our male counterparts."
Betsy glanced past Amora to her hulking shadow and raised one eyebrow. "I can see how you would mistakenly come to that conclusion."
"Skurge is a means to an end," Amora said, waving it away.
"Well Brian is my brother — and after watching the disaster from your district last year, you should know blood is thicker than water. Good luck," Betsy said before she simply ignored the girl and went back to her practice.
Amora stayed there for a few more moments before she let out a bit of a huff, turned on her heel, and stalked away.
