Notes: *giggles* Yes, good, O. I like that idea wonderfully. Moar Young Avengers. :D


Chapter 38: Speak Now, Please Don't Hold Your Peace


July 18

Presidential Palace


Security had never been tighter at the palace, and every single person going in had to go through a whole barrage of searches and scans before they were allowed through. Coulson had held his breath watching Logan go through the metal detector, but Fitz's little device sewn into his jacket had done the job to scramble the signal and let the kid through.

As it was, Bobbi looked more nervous watching him than the boy himself, but that faded out very quickly once they were past security and the victors were all herded over to Quill's side of the gathering. Not that any of them wanted to mingle with the royals' side.

The very worst of Capitol supporters were gathered up. It was easily compared to a large school of sharks the way those people were moving among themselves and watching the other wedding guests, especially those on Quill's side. Unlike the quiet, nearly mechanical victors, though, the Capitol side of the wedding seemed to be in full celebration mode, chatting among themselves and practically gloating.

At the front of the large banquet hall, which had been converted for the occasion, it was clear to see that the only thing keeping Quill upright was the hand that Drax had under his elbow. The young man wasn't looking at anything in particular, just staring ahead and clearly willing himself to stay put. MJ had done a good job making him look presentable, but all the styling in the world couldn't hide the look on his face as the last of the guests started to take their seats.

"You know," Coulson said as he sat down in the seat next to Fury, "two quick calls, and we could just…."

"Phil," Fury said in a weary tone that implied that this was not the first time that they'd had this conversation. "You know we can't do that right now."

"I'm just saying — everyone we need and want, all in one place…" Coulson gestured toward Quill. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind a change in plan."

"You know why we can't do that, and you know why we can't discuss it right now either," Fury replied.

"Who's discussing anything? I'm just throwing out hypotheticals while you shoot them down. Not a discussion by any definition I know," Coulson said, clearly annoyed with the situation in general and Fury in particular.

"This will be over quick enough," Fury replied. "And we can get back to work."

"No need to worry about the bridegroom who looks like his life is ending in the meantime, right?" Coulson muttered low out of the corner of his mouth.

Fury let out a sigh and turned toward Coulson with a glare. "What do you think would happen to him if he refused right now? Even if we had a way to stop this — you think they don't have a means to put him in the ground if he tries anything?"

"Look at him, Nick. Look at all of them," Coulson shot back, tipping his head at the victors. "What will be left of your army by the time the fight even starts?" he added that last part low enough that Fury almost didn't catch it.

"I know," Fury said consolingly. "They're all wondering who's next," he agreed. "But it's not going to go on for that long. We need him inside. And I'll move the moon to get him out too."

Coulson nodded quietly at that. He'd already heard Fury say that very thing, but watching Quill right now… he needed the reminder. And he honestly needed to make sure Fury knew just what Coulson thought of the whole fiasco.

But there wasn't much more time for argument after that as everyone in the room stood when the doors opened to admit the president, looking more smug than usual on the heels of the Games and about to send a strong message to all the victors about just who was running every aspect of their lives.

And then, finally, came Gamora, clad in all black and looking pleased with herself as she all but strutted down the aisle.

It was painful to watch, really, as the official ceremony went on. There was very little that was personal about it — and Coulson suspected that was a specific choice made to limit what participation Quill had in the whole thing, since even standing seemed to be an issue. It took the pale young man a couple tries just to get out the "I do," and the official kiss was all Gamora as she more or less pulled him into it.

The Capitol side of the room burst into applause, of course, as the new couple was presented. But from there, if anything, it was slightly easier for Quill, since now it was time for the eating, drinking, partying — the stuff he usually had to do with Gamora anyway. He could just go into automatic pilot for most of it, and watching Quill, it was clear that's exactly what he was doing.

The press was allowed only in certain areas — and those that were there were snapping photographs at a rapid fire pace, since this was the first time anything even close to this had happened. The victors all steered clear of them — not one of them stupid enough to try and go on record when they were all just doing all they could to not look too sick. Even some of the 'worse' victors were shaken by the whole thing, and Jess was sure she'd heard Osborn muttering something about the state of things under his breath while the cameras were far enough away.

As a mark of how dire it really was, not one of them was touching the alcohol either. The stakes were too high that one of them might let their guard down, and something too honest might come out.

Hours passed, and finally, once the hubbub had slowed a bit, Fury found his way over to congratulate the groom. "A private word?" he offered with an entirely serious tone.

Quill glanced over at Gamora, who was wrapped up in conversation with Ronan and Nebula, before he very quickly nodded, though that was all he did — he didn't quite trust himself to speak.

Fury took a moment and made a point to shake Quill's hand very carefully, slipping something to him. "We're going to move as quickly as he can," he said low, with his back to the cameras. "They are identical. But the one I handed you just now..." Quill glanced down and quickly switched his new ring for the one Fury had handed him. "...will cover all your bases. There is a panic button if everything goes irretrievably wrong." The two men met gazes in an instant. "Do. Not. Push that damn thing right now."

Quill looked almost disappointed before he managed to ask in a low whisper, "Monitoring?"

"Always," Fury promised. "You'll be the first out when it all goes down."

Quill nodded. "This thing come with a mic?" he asked. "And can I turn it off?"

Fury just nodded quietly. "But I wouldn't if I were you. Built in scrambler to work around everything that even Stark has in development. If something changes, I'll make sure you get the message."

Quill let out a breath. "Just… do me a favor and get rid of the recordings of anything that isn't useful."

"No one wants to hear that," Fury said with a scrunched up face.

"That's why I asked about the off switch. Don't need to unnecessarily scar anyone else," Quill said with the ghost of his usual self in an almost-smile.

"First out," Fury replied. "Team is already raring to go."

"Sure I can't just push the button now?"

Fury sighed. "If she makes a move to kill you, yes. Anything short of that? No."

"With all due respect sir, hurry up."

Fury just smirked at him as the groom was pulled back to his new wife, and the director started to head toward the exit. The festivities were almost over, and it would be time for him to get back to work very soon.

As he understood it, Essex had already been working nearly around the clock to get their first candidates prepped and ready to start the final procedures, and he had to get the reports on if they had enough vibranium to do the job. If there wasn't — then there needed to be a very good, very fast mission to Eleven to get more.

In addition, he had to get his other operatives squared away. Bobbi was going to need to have a long talk with him before she went back to work, and the others involved in Tahiti had some debriefing to do before they were allowed near the kids again. He also wanted to have a word with Logan, but for the time being, the kid was untouchable with the Royals watching him. He'd already had to go a round with Ogun about not doing any training until things were settled, and he hoped that the kid hadn't lost what he'd learned, or the old man was going to beat the crap out of him.

Fury scrubbed a hand over his face as he reminded himself of what he knew — that his plans were coming into place, even if the players weren't necessarily happy about it.


July 20

Tahiti Medical Wing


The Tahiti doctors had been working on bringing back some of the tributes since the day they were killed, so for Jessica Jones, it had been almost two weeks' worth of work — most of it prep — before she was the first to come back from this year's Games.

There were a lot of stab wounds this year — stab wounds and blood loss seemed to be the main causes of death, in any case. Charles had heard Hank mention as much while he looked over the preliminary notes. This year would be fairly repetitive for the doctors — except for the tricky cases where venom and poison was involved. Essex had already expressed his confidence that the toxins wouldn't affect the process, though even he had to admit that there was a large enough margin of error that there was room for concern.

Charles considered the many children that were on the list for this year's showing. It was far more than usual — and he had to admit that he was concerned about the expedited process. He knew it was important to get all of the operatives up and at least started on their training before the revolution began, but since Peter Quill's wedding, it seemed everything was being rushed.

Not that Charles couldn't understand the need for expediency. He just hoped that the kids' mental well-being wasn't ignored in the meantime.

He only had a short time to spend in the Tahiti Wing; Miss Chavez was expected to make her return the following morning, and he would be expected to join the rest of the victors for her interview and the days' worth of parties afterward. He was just glad that the timing worked out that he could be present for Jessica's awakening.

She didn't wake up peaceably, either. Instead, the young woman in the medical room seemed to panic, her heart rate high before she'd even fully come out of her sedation — and Charles quickly slipped into the room to make sure she couldn't work herself up into a frenzy too quickly.

"Please, Miss Jones, calm down," he said in his gentlest tone. "You will come out of the sedation more easily if you relax."

Jessica didn't relax at that at all, though. Instead, she seemed to panic more, until Charles took a different approach.

"If you cannot relax, you will have to be restrained before you can hurt yourself," he said. His tone wasn't sharp, but factual. He had been through this enough times with enough children that he knew not all of them reacted well to waking up — though he had to admit that he hadn't expected Jessica to be one that would need to be restrained. Not with everything he had read in her profile.

Still, it worked. Jessica almost immediately stilled, and while her heart rate was still high, she was no longer trying to get up before her muscles were ready for it — which was good. Charles had been half worried she would fling herself off her bed and hurt herself.

"Now then," he said as the young woman finally focused on him. "I'm sure you're frightened, Miss Jones, but believe it or not, you're completely safe here. No one is going to hurt you here."

"Well, that's just a lie," she spat out his way with as much energy as she could so soon after waking up.

"I assure you, I'm not lying to you," Charles told her earnestly, though Jessica just looked him up and down and clearly dismissed him with only her gaze.

"So, what's this then?" she asked at last. "Or do I even want to know?"

"This," Charles said, gesturing around the room, "is a hidden facility, underneath SHIELD, that very few people know about."

"That just screams warm and fuzzy," Jessica drawled out in a sarcastic tone.

"We're trying to form a revolution against the Capitol. Unfortunately, not every part of revolution is warm and fuzzy," Charles told her outright.

"Or believable. What's really going on here?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't waste your time or mine by lying to you, Miss Jones," Charles told her. "I meant what I said — we're bringing tributes back from the Games, and if you want to help us dismantle the system that put you in that arena, you're welcome to help."

She watched him carefully, clearly not trusting much of anything he was saying. "Do I have a choice in the matter? No offense, but I'd like to do a little of my own research before signing up."

"The choice is entirely yours," Charles assured her. "And if you choose not to help, we will help you to find a new life." He looked apologetic for a moment. "The only thing we can't do for you is restore you to your old one. You did die, after all, I'm afraid."

"But … it would be a life that you people ... whoever you are … choose for me," Jessica said slowly, that same look of distrust painted over her features. "So you can watch me and make sure I'm staying in line, right?"

"You can choose your own path; we'll just help you by disguising you, giving you the tools you need so that the Capitol won't find you." Charles watched her for a moment. "Of course, that's if you decide not to fight with us, though I sincerely hope you will."

"I'll think about it," she said, looking down her nose at him.

"While you're deciding," he said, glancing toward the mirror, "perhaps you'd like to see more of this facility? There's no rush to leave just yet, and you can make your decision when you're ready — and well-informed, I'd hope."

"Can I have computer access?" she asked with a frown. "I'd like to check my horoscope."

"We do have some access and computer classes, but for the secrecy of all of the others here, you won't be able to have access to anything sensitive."

"I'm sure," she said with a totally unamused expression. "So, what, am I supposed to climb up and you show me around?"

Charles smirked the slightest bit. "Actually, there's a far more capable tour guide who can show you the ins and outs of the program better than I can. He's been part of it for three years himself." He glanced once more toward the mirror, and this time, Luke poked his head in, taking the cue from Charles.

Jessica stopped just short of doing a double take before she looked him up and down slowly. "Alright. I guess I can try the upgrade."