Heroes Assemble!

As The Old Man Said, Together

Convincing S.H.I.E.L.D. to be inconspicuous around the Compound wasn't that hard, especially after Steve had spoken to their Director, explaining what it was that they were trying to do. Most of their quinjets had taken off hours before the 'guests' were to arrive, leaving a skeleton complement of Agents.

Lavender had taken charge of the main arrangements, ensuring that the large room that they would be using was decorated appropriately and that catering was taken care of. She'd had one half of the room left open with long tables along one wall for the food, a smaller table against the back wall for drinks, both hot and cold and a large open space in the middle for people to mingle in. The other half of the room was where the 'formal' part of the day's talks were to happen, thus, there were tables and chairs set up to hold as many as fifty, all facing a podium at the front.

The Avengers, of course, had been the first to arrive and, while there was the usual banter between them, there was an undertone to their words and expressions that told the real story, showing their knowledge of how important that day and the next couple were going to be.

"Woah, this place is nice," Scott Lang said, looking around as Sam ushered him through the door. "I mean, I knew it looked pretty great the last time that I was here, not that I had much time to look around, mind you."

"That tends to happen when you rob places," Sam countered.

Scott stopped, looked at him and held up a finger.

"I never 'rob people'," he stated. "I 'burgle' them. No violence. No one ever got hurt. There's a difference. Besides, I don't do that any more."

"I don't know, man, the bruises I had after the last time you were here told a different story," Sam replied, rubbing his chest with the memory of that encounter.

"I said I was sorry!" Scott protested. "No one was supposed to be here. I was told that this was just an old storage facility."

"I'm guessing that you're Scott," Steve said, joining them with a smile, his had extended to shake.

"Oh, wow, you're Captain America," Scott gushed, enthusiastically shaking hands.

"I know," Steve smiled. "Call me, Steve. Glad you could be here."

"Thinks for thanking of me," Scott replied before frowning. "Thanks for thinking of me."

"We're all in this together," Steve said. "Make yourself at home,"

"But not too at home," Sam added quickly. "No just picking up stuff and walking off with it."

"Not even if it's a pastry and a cup of coffee?" Scott asked as they wandered in that direction.

"You know what I mean," Sam replied.

ooo00ooo

A sleek, black jet hovered over the Compound's tarmac for a half minute before slowly descending to land. Tony, Nat and Clint found that they didn't even have to move as it'd rotated so that its rear was facing towards them. That meant that when the ramp descended for those inside to come out, they were already facing them.

Tony blinked upon noticing that there were more than just the wheelchair-bound Xavier and the five X-Men that he'd met just the day before.

"Welcome to Avengers Compound," he said. "You'll find it a little different from your place, for one, your jet will still be in one piece after the talks and for another, there's a lot less kids running around."

"I apologise for Joflinn," Xavier said. "He's still new at the school and his ... instincts from the streets are very much still with him. He'll come around."