Chapter 24: "Dark Phoenix"

It was getting dark by the time Scott was nearly back to the hiding place where Clara and Kamala were. He had taken the last patrol before they would get moving again, and he was looking forward to moving on and trying to find something new after hiding from the sun all day — when he spotted the flash of something red at the top of the ridge and paused. That wasn't the kind of red that was common to the desert.

"Scott?"

He paused and relaxed his grip on the staves Clara had given him the slightest bit. If someone was going to attack him, he wasn't entirely sure they would announce themselves like that. Not to mention he was sure he recognized the voice. "I'm not a fan of hide and seek," he said carefully.

Jean let out a little breath of a laugh. "Me either; it's awful," she agreed as she came a bit closer, looking totally relaxed before she stopped short and stiffened up, glancing around the area with a small frown. "Are you alone?"

"Not exactly," he said, though he couldn't help but grin her way. "So you left the Careers?"

"I said I would," she replied. "Who are you with now?"

"Come on, I'll show you," he said with an easy smile. "You're welcome to join the group."

"Oh, I don't know … that blonde district partner of yours really didn't like me very much," she said, looking a bit shy. "I should probably just … go."

"She didn't think you'd really leave the Careers, that's all; it's fine," Scott assured her, climbing up part of the ridge her way. "You shouldn't be out alone anyway, especially not if you left them behind," he added. "Are you okay? They didn't follow you or anything?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. She glanced behind herself at the way she'd come and wrapped her arms around herself at the elbows. "Would … would you help me make sure no one followed me? I don't want to lead them to your friend."

"Sure," he agreed, smiling easily as he cleared the top of the ridge. "I'm supposed to be patrolling anyway."

She grinned broadly at him. "Thanks."

But before they could head out, Clara's voice rang out. "Who's out there?" She sounded exactly opposite Jean — confident, challenging even.

"Don't worry, Clara," Scott called back. "It's just Jean — I told you she'd find us."

"I don't think you've thought this over, lover boy," she called out as she stepped out into the moonlight. "Why doesn't she come down here and sit with me?"

"We'll be right down," Scott promised. "Just gonna check and make sure no one followed her," he added as he patted Jean's arm almost without thinking about it in a consoling gesture — since she seemed a bit nervy on hearing Clara.

"Scott, that is a really dumb idea," Clara called out.

"We'll be right back," he insisted, and from where Clara was standing, she could see his head and shoulders disappear as he pulled back from the edge of the ridge and started back with Jean.

Kamala had poked her head out of their hidden cove by that point as well, curious about the half-shouted conversation, and when she saw Clara glaring up at the top of the ridge and already starting to head up after Scott, she wrinkled her nose. "What's going on?"

But before Clara could answer, the two girls were suddenly surrounded on all side of the ridge — the rest of the Careers had apparently come with Jean, and all three of them looked ready to fight.

"Scott!" Clara called out as she pushed Kamala behind herself, "They're here!"

When there was no answer from the top of the ridge, Kamala glanced up at Clara for a moment before she shakily pulled out the dagger Scott had given her. "I'll take… the idiot one," she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

"You just try to keep from getting hurt," Clara said at nearly a growl, stepping in front of Kamala and glaring at the ambush in front of them. "You're faster than them."

Of the three Careers, Amora was the only one with much in the way of real combat training, and she had a bone to pick with Clara anyway. She unsheathed her sword, which glinted in the dimming evening light, and took a few steps forward. "Still protecting the little waif, I see," she sneered.

"Still hiding behind a forced alliance I see," Clara replied. "So much for leadership skills."

Amora bared her teeth at Clara and rushed forward, her sword drawn. Kilgrave tried to circle around toward Kamala while Amora held Clara off — but what he and Amora didn't know what that Clara was wearing the gloves Creed had sent her. What Amora had mistaken for an unarmed combatant ... was simply not the case.

Clara dodged around Amora's strike and rushed her. An instant before she made contact, Amora saw a flash of shining silver in the low light, and before she could process it …. Schrrrrip! Five tear marks drew themselves across Amora's chest, ripping her wide open from the first hand full of claws. Her other hand slashed downward across the girl from Four's face, and blood simply began to pour from the tribute as she screamed in horror.

Both of the Career boys drew back on seeing what had happened to Amora, though neither of them seemed particularly inclined to help her either as the blonde sank to her knees and then fell to the ground, the blood quickly pooling around her as the sand just seemed to drink it in, pulling to moisture into the ground.

Clara didn't wait for her to react before she spun again and slashed at the girl's neck to finish the job … turning to take a ready stance to guard Kamala from whichever boy was stupid enough to try it.

But the two boys seemed to at least have a sense of self-preservation, and both of them turned tail and rushed away from the scene. They were still within sight when a loud boom echoed the night, and Kamala just clutched harder to Clara's arm when the cannon went off, whispering, "That was for her, right?"

"It better be," Clara muttered. "We need to go find our idiot leader."

Kamala nodded, her eyes wide as, almost as soon as the two of them started up the ridge, the anthem began to play for the night's death recap.


The darker the sky got, the more Miles started to pace, and it was agitating even Gwen as she watched him. He kept making little laps in the sand, glancing up at the sky and rubbing his arm with a growing look of dread.

There hadn't been a cannon all day, and the two of them hadn't seen any sign of any other tributes, either. Neither of them believed that the poison would be a 'random' selection, and it was clear both spiders were worried that, without a kill for the day, their happy fun-times joke camp would get hit. After all, neither of them were likely to get involved in the big, bloody battles that the Gamemakers probably wanted.

"You're making me dizzy just watching you," Gwen finally grumbled his way, which got Miles to glance up, mutter a quick apology, and sit down … though he started pacing about two minutes later when there still hadn't been a cannon.

"C'mon, c'mon…." he muttered under his breath. "What's the point of having psychos in the Careers and Ten if they're not…." He trailed off. "Oh. Man. That's not what I meant. At all," he said quickly, his eyes wide as he glanced at Gwen, one hand over his mouth. "I don't … I don't usually think things like that, I swear. I'm in camp 'No One Should Die', personally."

"I get it," she assured him, though she wasn't meeting his gaze, either. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking along those same lines, wishing that someone out there would kill someone so they wouldn't have to… Even though she really didn't want some of the kids in these Games to die.

Miles resumed his pacing, glancing up at the sky intermittently before, finally, a cannon went off in the distance, and he stopped outright, staring over the top of the valley. "I heard that, right? I didn't just imagine we were saved by the bell?"

"You heard that," she agreed, looking a bit brighter herself.

He melted into a seat on the nearest rock, all his breath coming out in one big rush. "Oh man," he muttered, rubbing both hands over his face — though neither of them had time to process their relief as the parade of faces started up shortly thereafter.

"Cutting it close," Miles muttered under his breath as the anthem played, though both of them were wide-eyed when they saw that it was Amora, from Four, who had joined the fallen. By the time the sky had cleared of all the faces, Miles glanced over at Gwen and just had to shake his head. "Who the heck is killing Careers — and can we ally with them? As long as it's not crazy lady from Ten, I'm game."

"I don't know who else it would be," Gwen admitted.

"Well, that girl from Seven's pretty tough, and Twelve could probably eat Careers for breakfast if you made her mad," Miles offered. "Or… or… maybe they're killing each other off? There were a lot of them at the beginning, and there's only, what, four left?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Gwen agreed, counting them off in her head. "And all the big ones are gone. It's just … the smaller ones."

"Hey, we little guys are pretty dangerous," Miles pointed out, illustrating his point by shadow boxing the air, and she had to smile at his antics. "Seriously, I learned some pretty good moves back in the Capitol. I bet I could take on … a smaller Career. Maybe. On a good day."

"Be careful what you wish for," she warned him, both eyebrows raised.

"I'm just saying, watch out for the little guys. We're not to be underestimated. Like… you and me! We could probably take on anybody if we put our minds to it."

"You don't need to convince me, Spider boy," Gwen replied.

He just grinned before he ran over and gave her a very quick side-hug. "Best alliance ever. I'm so, so glad Four died so they didn't break us up," he told her honestly, and he looked so sincere about it that she couldn't help but hug him right back.


Scott woke up with a groan, the back of his head throbbing where someone must have hit him as he pushed himself up. He was already nursing a few bumps and scrapes and bruises from having been dragged to… where was he?

It was darker than usual — the desert had plenty of moonlight even in the middle of the night, so it wasn't usually pitch black like this, but as Scott pulled himself to his feet and his eyes adjusted, he saw the tall walls on all sides of him, and his heart sank as he realized he was at the bottom of a deep, rocky pit.

"Oooh, lookit 'at, love! We've got a live target!" Trevor called out delightedly from where he was sitting far above Scott's head, at the top of the pit. "Make sure you call for your little friends real clear like, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's not happening," Scott bit out under his breath, looking around the walls for something he could use to pull himself up and mentally berating himself when he realized he didn't have the staves Clara had given him. The Careers must have taken those too.

Clara was going to kill him ... if he got out of this alive.

"Come on," Kilgrave shouted, the glee evident in his voice. "If you do a good job, we'll make this quick."

"I'm not going to perform for you," Scott shot back, glaring up at the two Careers above him. "Where's Jean?"

The two young men shared a look and simply started to laugh. Scott glared up at them both with his chin tipped up — until the third member of the Careers arrived and Jean called down to him with what looked like a torch in her hand: "Oh, I'm right here," she almost sang out.

Scott felt his heart fall as he looked up at her. He'd been hoping she had been followed, that he hadn't been set up. But now it was impossible to ignore the fact that she had tricked him — that she was still with the Careers and he'd let her drag him here like the idiot he was. "Jean…"

But Jean wasn't smiling warmly at him, and the shy persona was completely gone. "Just do as we ask and call your little friends in. We owe them one. Or two."

"You know I won't do that," he said, ignoring the two boys and speaking directly to her, his tone almost pleading.

"You don't have much of a choice," she replied matter-of-factly.

He met her gaze for a long moment, but there was none of the gentleness she had shown him in the Capitol, or earlier that night. "Then you're just going to have to kill me," he said quietly. "I'm not going to play."

"Scott," she said softly, almost pitying. "That's going to happen anyhow."

"Then at least it's just me," he decided.

"No," Kilgrave called out. "They'll come looking. That little tracker of yours will find you sooner or later."

"She won't," Scott argued, running his hands over the walls as he thought he found a good handhold. "She knew it was a trap — she won't walk into a second one."

"You underestimate her," Jean said as she drew back her bow, taking aim as best she could in the dark with the flaming arrow. "No leaving before we're done now." With that, she let the arrow fly, and it all but erupted in a shower of flames nearby — though she didn't hit him.

He threw up his hands instinctively to shield his face, but when he saw how off-target she was, he nodded once to himself. It was dark enough that he could avoid her — he just had to keep moving. He didn't have much of a plan beyond getting up and out, but it was better than sitting there, and with that decided, he grabbed the handhold and started to pull himself up.

She started to walk toward him, along the rim of the pit, trying to get a bit closer. When she saw he was climbing, she quickly lit another arrow and let it fly, and though that one did get closer, it still wasn't near enough to do damage to him.

He just kept right on climbing, hand over foot, his jaw tightly clenched as he didn't risk speaking to give her a better shot at his position even as she was trying to bait him into it. He could hear her talking about how easy he was to trick, how he should really just cooperate with them, how convenient it was for them to have someone they didn't have to kill until the next evening — to prevent one of them from dying to the "random" poisoning. He didn't have much of a plan beyond getting to the top, and from there… he could at least have a better leg up. Being a sitting target wasn't exactly the way he wanted to go out.

She looked livid as the boys began to rush toward the edge, ready to use his own weapons against him if he managed to breach the edge of the pit. Jean moved closer still, but this time, she took her sweet time and adjusted for where the other arrows had gone wrong.

When the flaming arrow arced across the sky, the three Careers seemed to hold their breath as they watched it burn, and when it hit, it still wasn't a tag on him — but it did blow up less than a yard from his head, throwing bits of flaming napalm-like goo right into his face.

He hadn't been fast enough to shield his face, and he let out a cry as he released his hold on the wall, sliding back down to the ground as he scrubbed both hands over his face and eyes, trying to relieve the burning somehow. The worst part was that he knew he was playing into exactly what they wanted from him as he hit the ground and couldn't stop the scream when he tried to open his eyes again and see the way out — and it hurt that much more.

He grabbed two handfuls of sand and pushed his hands on his eyes. It was enough to keep the fire from spreading any worse, but the burning sensation didn't leave, and the skin around his eyes was nearly black from the extreme burns.

"I think … we can sit back and wait now, boys," Jean said. "He's not going anywhere that we can't follow, and that beast of a girl will be here soon, I'm sure. If we kill her now, that's one death for today, and we'll keep this one in our back pocket for the next time."

Scott could hear the boys at the top of the pit chuckling as if this was the best thing that had happened all day, and he gritted his teeth, furious with himself, with the whole situation … until the laughter faded and silence took its place. If he strained, he could still hear the quiet murmur of voices, but it didn't sound like they were at the top of the pit anymore.

Well …. he wasn't going to sit there and play bait for them.

Carefully, slowly, Scott pulled himself to his feet and felt along the edges of the wall until his fingers found purchase. It was a stupid, reckless idea, climbing blind, but it was the best thing he had — and with a deep breath, he started to pull himself back up the side of the pit.


Capitol Building for the Mentors


While Scott was being tortured by the creepy little pack of Careers, Logan watched with his arms crossed and his jaw locked down tight. What the hell was he doing? He couldn't help but let out a disbelieving huff when the redhead from One started shooting flaming arrows at the kid. Because of course she would. It wasn't good enough to just kill him. She wanted to drag it out.

But when she couldn't pull it off, and she didn't seem able to hit the broad side of a barn if she was standing in it, Logan narrowed his eyes and took a step closer, watching carefully to see what kind of damage the kid had going on. He didn't have to wonder too long what the prognosis was, though, when Scott was clutching dirt to the bad burns at his eyes.

And to add to Logan's irritation, the chatter in the room began as the other victors started to speculate on what kind of shape Scott was in.

"She might as well have killed him," Sam said quietly, frowning at the display from the Careers as the group of them gloated over their plan to break up the largest non-Career alliance out there.

"Even if he managed to shield his eyes… they'll be damaged," Henry frowned.

Victor Creed was chuckling to himself, but for the first time since the start of this year's Games, Logan wasn't rising to the bait, still focused on the young man trying to find his way on the screen.

"You okay?" Jess asked over his shoulder, her frown deeply settled, especially when she saw that he wasn't fighting with Creed.

"Fine," Logan said quietly. "Gotta see what he's gonna do with this."

"Does that mean you're not giving up on him?" Viper asked from across the room with a tone of sheer disbelief. "He's dead. That's it. He can't go any further."

He barely spared her a glance before he turned his focus back to Scott again.

"He can't last if he can't see," Rhodey had to agree, looking apologetic — seeing as his own tribute had been part of that whole mess.

"I'm not giving up on him," Logan replied, sounding totally unconcerned.

"It's a lost cause," Bobbi said, unconvinced — though as the chatter in the room was already moving toward whether or not the other two members of Scott's alliance would come for him or be able to rescue him for however long he could last after that damage, the young man on the screen had started to climb.

"He's not a lost cause until he's dead," Logan replied her way, though he didn't even look away from the screen to glare.

"Won't be long," Viper shrugged. "As soon as he reaches the top — if he reaches the top — he's finished anyway."

Logan let out a slow, metered breath, largely ignoring her, though it was clear he was still waiting for something. One way or the other.

But it was a product of the Careers' overconfidence — and the fact that they were clearly thinking along the same lines as the rest of the victors, that Scott was a lost cause — that when Scott finally reached the top of the wall, no one noticed. The other three tributes were too wrapped up in building their fire and gloating together over their good plan to pay attention to the pit.

The young man seemed to hold his breath as he pulled himself over the edge, listening hard before, carefully, Scott shielded his eyes with his hands as he would have done on a bright, sunny day and quickly peered around, only keeping his eyes open long enough to see which way the Careers were before he simply couldn't anymore. He bit down hard enough to draw blood to keep from making a sound, closed his eyes again, and took in a few deep breaths before he gathered himself to head away from the gathered Careers.

Logan straightened up on seeing the motion and turned to get down to work. Scott wasn't blind. He wasn't giving up. That was all Logan needed to know — what to send him.

A few of the Capitolites looked surprised to see him out working the room, seeing as his tribute was, they all thought, a lost cause. They were waiting for him to die, really — but here Logan was, still working.

"You're collecting for the Creed girl now, right?" one of them asked, shaking his head.

"Not yet, no," Logan replied, already starting to pour on the charm. "Kid's got heart — just needs something so he can protect his eyes, and I'll bet that little redhead will be at the top of his list."

The man shook his head in pure disbelief at that. "That's a little optimistic, don't you think?"

"I'm really not much of an optimist," Logan replied. "And I wouldn't waste my time if I thought for one second I was wrong about him."

The Capitolite frowned for a moment before he laughed. "Good luck with that," he said. "If he's still around tomorrow, maybe I'll bite, but I'm not wasting my money on him."

Logan smirked and nodded his head. "I wouldn't either — not without some proof."

That seemed to draw the man's attention. "And you have proof?" he asked, one eyebrow arched.

"You said it yourself; wait until tomorrow. I'll be here," Logan replied easily. "And if he's not — then yeah … I'll be helping Clara."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow to back the right tribute, either way," the man said, looking almost smug about it as he walked off.

The story was the same for most of the people who spoke to Logan — they simply didn't think Scott would survive long. But he told them the same thing: that he wasn't collecting tonight, only making it known that he was still working for Scott and that they should wait until the next morning, when he'd be back at work.

"You really don't know when to give up, do you?" Seraph asked as she sauntered over, shaking her head.

"I've never understood that phrase," he replied with a raised eyebrow as he watched her approach.

"Personally, I'm just waiting for you to start working for Clara alone," Seraph admitted. "I hate giving money to Victor Creed. I try not to if at all possible."

"So don't," Logan said with a shrug. "Plenty of other kids more deserving — and Clara's doing fine."

"I take it you have a few favorites — if Scott doesn't last, that is."

"It's tweakin' Shmidt that his girl is in the middle of my kids," he agreed. "That's fun. And .. a couple others."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Everyone always has a favorite. And the victors don't usually say it out loud until after the Games are done — but their favorites aren't always the ones they were assigned. Poor James doesn't know what to do with his."

"What difference does it make as long as it drags this out?" Logan asked. "That's what they want anyhow."

"But you always work harder for the ones you like," she said, smirking at him. "This Scott must be something special."

He tipped his head to the screen nearby before he tipped his glass back. "He doesn't know when to quit either."

"I can see that." She watched the screen for a moment as it followed the stumbling young man trying not to make a sound to alert the Careers not too far from him. "You two share that in common." She took in a breath and settled her shoulders. "So. You're still asking for sponsorships for him?"

He nodded slowly once. "Kid's got heart."

"Mmm." She seemed to have her attention split between him and the screens as she thought it over. "I'm not sure you've convinced me. Heart is nothing if he's a sitting target. A blind boy can't win the Games."

Logan shrugged again and relaxed his body language. "He's not blind," he replied. "But it's hard to catch. Gotta watch him for when he stops and takes a minute to reorient himself."

"Functionally blind, then," she said dismissively. "A few seconds of sight won't help, and you know it. So why keep going?"

"I'm sure the lab rats can figure something out to shield his eyes," Logan said. "But I have to wait to see if he's improving at all in the morning."

"Something like that won't come cheap," Seraph pointed out. "The research funding alone… you'd have to get as many backers as Mr. Banner received last year, and that was helped by your massive — albeit temporary — alliance and the spectacular win against that robot." She waved toward the screen. "This — this is not spectacular. Stirring, perhaps. But not dazzling."

"Then I guess we'll have to wait and see," he replied. "The girls'll find him. Then I'll be able to answer you better."

Seraph smiled at him and nodded thoughtfully. "I'll find you in the morning," she told him.

"I'll be here," he agreed, still looking relaxed and at ease, though he was most definitely forcing himself to look as such. He knew it was down to him to help Scott, or the other victors and sponsors were right — a blind kid didn't have much of a chance out there.


In the Arena


Clara was following the very obvious trail by moonlight — and it was so obvious. It was as if elephants had conspired to lay a trail down, even if the drag they used was only a certain six-foot-tall, fearless idiot.

The further they got, the closer Kamala stuck to Clara, but at least she wasn't trying to ask questions as they crept through the desert. It didn't take them too long to find the idiot Careers — though the headcount wasn't right, and it had Clara on edge as they skirted around the fire and the jovial tones that the three of them were making so much noise with. Three of them, not four — so Scott wasn't with them.

"Idiots are scared of the dark," Clara muttered to herself. "If I wasn't looking for Scott, I'd go give them a reason to be."

"Well, where is he?" Kamala whispered, her eyes wide.

"Not with them," she answered. "But he can't be dead, or there'd have been a cannon." The two girls edged around the camp until they came upon the big hole in the ground that Scott had been in — though that far away from the voices joking around near the fire, it was a lot easier to see in the dark, and they didn't miss the little rocks and crevices that covered the landscape.

"Let's look around the edge of this thing," Clara suggested. "I'm not going down in there."

"I could do it," Kamala offered. "I'm not scared of small spaces — or the dark."

"You will not," Clara nearly hissed.

Kamala quickly held up both hands. "I was just… we know he's hurt. What if he's down there? You heard him!" She bit her lip and pulled slightly on the end of her hair as Clara shifted slightly to look a little less sharp. She knew Kamala had been pretty shaken up when they'd heard Scott screaming — and even if she'd managed not to show it, it had shaken her up too.

She shook her head hard. "Yeah," she told the younger girl, "but I don't think he's stupid enough to lay there and feel sorry for himself, either. At least, he better not be, or I'll kick his sorry butt."

"Which… is probably why I should go," Kamala said. "Or you'll end up pounding him for being stupid."

Clara let out a sigh. "I'm not going to hit him if he's hurt," she said before she brushed her hair from her face — again. The braid had come loose, and the tie that was holding it together was broken. "I'll give him a hard time, sure …"

"You'll have to," Kamala said with a small smirk. "Or he might do something stupid again, and then where will we be?"

By that time, they had gotten to the far side of the pit, though they still couldn't see any sign of anyone at the bottom. Clara could see Kamala starting to work up the nerve to go ahead and climb down there anyway, and she was about to pull her back when both of them heard a little noise off in the distance — away from the raucous Careers. "Think that's him?" Clara asked, relieved at the timing, since she didn't want to have to deal with Kamala and Scott being stubborn.

"Oh, please let it be," Kamala said, her hands clasped in front of her chin and fully stepping back from the edge of the pit, to Clara's relief.

"One way to find out, right?" Clara replied as the two of them carefully headed toward the sound — though Clara was still looking for some sign that their lost teammate had walked through there to be sure it wasn't part of the Careers' trap. Kamala kept her gaze up — watching for the boy himself — and it was by sheer luck that they heard him let out a little grunt when he accidentally knocked his shin on a rock not too far away, but around another rock formation where they wouldn't have seen him otherwise.

Kamala rushed over without hesitation and nearly tackled Scott with a hug filled with relief, though it was clearly not as happy a reunion for Scott at the moment. He went down with a muffled cry and tried to get free almost immediately, pushing Kamala back at the shoulders defensively.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked at a whisper as she reached out on seeing him scrambling, though she didn't touch his arm. "What did they do?"

It seemed to take Scott a second to get his reaction back under control — Kamala had clearly startled him — and he shook his head lightly, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry," he said quickly as Kamala looked at him wide-eyed. "I didn't see you."

"What are you talking about," Clara said with almost a laugh. "You're far enough from the fire to be fine. Just open your eyes."

Scott frowned and paused for a good long time before he did — and then almost immediately closed them again, unable to quite stop the wince. "Sorry," he muttered. "I can manage it for a few seconds, but…"

"What happened?" Clara pressed.

"Some kind of accelerant," Scott said, letting all his breath out in a sigh. "It was on her arrows — she lit them on fire. She didn't hit me, but I got some of it on my face." He gestured with one hand as he was trying to return Kamala's hug with the other arm to make up for trying to push her off of him, though she was sitting next to him on the ground with her expression caked in worry.

Clara stared at him for a moment, leaning closer to try to see how bad it was, but even with the bright moonlight, it was hard to see the full extent — and it looked more like shadows than anything else. "We gotta get you out of here. It'll be dawn before you know it. You can't be out in the open like this."

"I figured that much out for myself, actually," Scott said.

"Yeah, but you can't see enough to get more than a couple hundred yards away from them on your own, stupid."

Scott pressed his lips together for a moment but let the comment fly as he tipped his head Clara's way. "I'm not going to argue getting out of here — especially if it takes us away from whatever trap the Careers were planning for you two." He gestured with his open hand. "You got a place in mind?"

"Anywhere but here," she said as she took a hold of Scott's arm and pulled him up to his feet. "Hold onto me. We'll get you tucked away somewhere nice and dark."

"You don't have to — the Careers are looking for you two to lure you out," Scott told her. "I'll slow you down."

"Well they really don't want to find me," Clara replied. "I want to get you and Kamala tucked away, then I'll go back and see how well they can fight me, seeing as they want to try it so badly."

Kamala nodded as she took hold of Scott's other arm. "Yeah, you missed the part where she killed Amora."

"Apparently, that's my thing," Clara said with a little smile. "Killing Careers."

"You should stay with me and Kamala," Scott suggested. "If you go back alone, they'll just—"

"I'll get blood in my hair," Clara said flatly. "I promise, it'll wash out eventually."

"You two can argue about this when we're all settled, right?" Kamala asked. "I mean, it's sweet you're both so concerned about each other, but can you be sweet when we're not out in the open?"

"I can if he can," Clara said, already pulling him along. "Don't fight me; I'd hate to accidentally cut you. These claws are crazy sharp."

Scott peeked one eye open for a second and let out a little whistle. "I'll follow you until we get somewhere," he said. "And you can take those off."

"Are you listening to this guy?" Clara said at a whisper. "He's back five minutes and already setting terms."

"You're the one who promoted him to leader. I blame you," Kamala pointed out.

"I take it all back," Clara said, though she was gently steering them toward a cluster of caves that didn't look too far out.

"Yeah, but that means you'd have to call him Scott," Kamala pointed out.

"Oh no," Scott deadpanned.

"Oh, I'm sure there are at least … two different things I can call him outside of Scott," Clara said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Actually, 'fearless leader' was my favorite so far," Scott admitted with a small smirk.

"Then we need to restore you to your station, fearless," Clara replied.

"And risk the blind leading the… whatever you two are?" he teased.

"Beautiful, Summers. The answer is beautiful."

"I'd say that… but for all I know, you're both all dirty and sweaty and gross," he said with a smirk.

"And yet still a more welcome sight than anyone else in this godforsaken arena."

"That's entirely true," he had to agree.

The little group did indeed get to the caves as the sun started to warm the colors in the sky, and by the time they were tucked into one of the deepest, largest caves, there was no way that the Careers could have realized which way they'd gone — which meant they could finally relax.

The girls got Scott settled in, and while Kamala was trying to get him more comfortable, Clara was already digging out the first aid supplies to see what they could use to help him.

"Alright, I've got the claws off, so I promise the chances of me clawing your face off have dropped substantially," Clara said. "But .. this might sting while I clean you up."

"You can hold my hand if you want to," Kamala offered with a shy smile, and Scott couldn't help smiling her way too before he nodded.

"Can't be worse than being in that pit again," he pointed out with an attempt at a joking smile that had Kamala shaking her head as she seized one of his hands with both of hers.

"Yeah, we're going to forget about the circumstances that got you there so I don't get mad," Clara said, already getting started and very gingerly cleaning up the area around his eyes first. A lot of the skin there was quite simply dead — black and raw-looking — and she shook her head to herself as she worked. "These burns are awful, Scott."

"I didn't notice," he said straight-faced.

"Okay, smartass," she said sitting back on her heels. "I just meant I don't know how much good our supplies will do you. We need … something."

"Yeah, don't waste it if it won't help," Scott agreed quickly.

"That is the … ugh," she slapped his arm. "That is not what I meant!" She let out a huff and narrowed her eyes at him. "It's not a waste. I'm using everything we've got, and if I have to wrestle you to the ground to make you use it — I will."

"You can't use it all on me," Scott argued, though his glare didn't have as much bite as he likely wanted it to when his eyes were screwed shut, his eyebrows pushed together.

"Watch me. Oh, wait. I'll need to use it first." Her tone was totally dry as she went right back to work on him.

"You and Kamala need supplies too," Scott insisted.

"Be quiet, or I'll make you be quiet," Clara said.

"Then you'll just have to waste more supplies on me," he countered.

Clara let out a sigh and shook her head. "Scott ...how can you be so smart and so stupid all at once?" she asked before she leaned forward and kissed him square on the mouth. "Now be quiet."

It worked, too — Scott was stunned completely silent, though Kamala dissolved completely into giggles when she saw his reaction. His mouth was open in an 'o' shape, and he clearly had no idea what to do with himself.

Clara finished her work a lot faster once he got quiet and quit arguing with her — and deny it all he wanted, the medicine they had in the kit really did make it feel much better; even Kamala could tell he was improving because he wasn't screwing his eyes quite so tight or wincing away from Clara as much.

She was putting the supplies back in the bag when Kamala said, "I'm not sure if it works with burns this bad, but wouldn't water help? If we can find some?"

"It would," Clara said. "At least, it would make it feel better."

"Let's look for some later today, then," Kamala decided, though almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, there was a loud boom — and it wasn't a cannon blast, either.

Clara turned toward the mouth of the cave and headed forward, watching the desert outside as the first few drops of rain fell — and then, all at once, a sheet of rain simply dropped out of the sky, torrents of water pressing in on the desert. "Well, there goes my big plan to go back for those three idiots." She turned and made her way back over to Scott and dropped down carefully next to him. "I guess you're stuck with the two of us watching over you for a while, Fearless."


24. Monet St. Croix, District Eleven Female, Killed by Arkady Gregorovitch

23. Jessica Jones, District Five Female - Killed by Zebediah Kilgrave

22. Skurge, District Four Male - Killed by Clara Creed

21. Brian Braddock, District Two Male - Killed by Giuletta Nefaria

20. Giuletta Nefaria, District Three Female - Killed by Elizabeth Braddock

19. Alex Summers, District Nine Male - Killed by Brock Rumlow

18. Brock Rumlow, District Six Male - Killed by James Barnes

17. Arkady Gregorovitch, District Ten Male - Killed by Remy LeBeau

16. Amora, District Four Female - Killed by Clara Creed