Heroes Assemble!

Secrets Revealed

A/N – As of this chapter, Heroes Assemble! is moving to an update schedule of every second week. The 'off' weeks will be used for posting the sequel to Muggle-Raised Champion, the first chapter of which will be posted next Thursday. For any who missed the Heroes Assemble! companion story that was posted last week, it's a single chapter stand-alone entitled Ghost of Bengalla.

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Alex stared down at the thick, gold chain on his wrist. Ordinarily, it wasn't something that he'd wear but what it represented ...

Pushing himself to his feet, he looked across at where Nico and Karolina were curled up on a couch together, talking quietly to each other and then in the opposite direction where Gert and Chase were currently locked at the lips.

Yes, he nodded, now was the perfect time.

"I'm going to head to New York; see if I can pick up any news about the 'rents," he said casually.

"Why?" Nico asked, her head up and twisted to face him. "Bobbi promised that if they heard anything, that we'd be the first to hear."

"Yeah, man, not a smart idea," Chase added. "Your folks hired Jessica to find us; there's no telling who else they might have paid."

"I still can't believe that they tracked us to New York in the first place," Gert stated. "I was so sure that we'd covered our tracks so that they couldn't find us."

"Maybe they just got lucky?" Alex shrugged.

"Who got lucky?" Molly asked as she came into the room via the stairs.

"The parents," Gert replied. "With how they managed to track us to New York."

"You sure your dad didn't invent some kind of tracking device and plant it on us, Chase?" Molly asked.

"Nope, we're clean. I checked. Twice. And Stark checked us over as well," Chase replied.

"And we know that Old Lace doesn't have a tracker implanted in her either," Gert added.

"As I said, they must have just got lucky," Alex said, reinforcing his idea once again. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

He'd never done this by himself before, although after the two times that he'd been through a portkey ride, he at least knew what to expect. Holding up his arm, he stared at the chain.

"Curried Apples," he stated firmly and instantly felt that nauseating jerk like a hook had just grabbed him behind his navel and yanked. Hard.

His world spun into a whirl of multicolour that seemed to last an eternity before he was deposited, spinning like a top into the lounge of Avengers Tower. The ground rushed up hard and he landed hard on his hands and knees, panting, his eyes closed as he fought with his stomach. Thankfully, this time, he actually won that battle.

"Hey, kid, something you need?"

Alex looked up to see Tony Stark standing behind a bar, his wife seated on a stool on the opposite side of it and both of them looking at him.

"Ah, no thanks, Mister Stark, I'm good," Alex replied as he scrambled to his feet.

"It's Tony, remember?" Stark replied.

"Right. Tony. Sorry," Alex nodded. "I'm, ah, just heading out into the city. You know, to stretch my legs a bit."

"Yeah, the Island's good but a bit lacking, isn't it?" Tony nodded.

"Just be careful," Misses Stark insisted.

"I will, Ma'am," Alex smiled.

Once the elevator doors had closed on him and he was on his way down, he sighed. He hadn't been able to get away by himself for a while and he'd been getting antsy.