Heroes Assemble!

Welcome Home

Happy Hogan, Head of Security for Avengers Tower looked up at the big, black, bald man standing in front of him. The guy's muscles were bulging under his shirt and the expression on his face was more than a little intimidating. Nevertheless, Happy knew his job and, even if his boxing skills would probably come off second best if they were needed, he was determined to stand his ground.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I cannot let you up," he stated firmly, having dismissed Diane to deal with this problem himself.

"And I'm telling you that you're going to. Those guys up there know me, I've 'worked' with them before," the man retorted.

"Regardless of your claims, absolutely no one without proper security clearance is allowed to enter the private section of Avengers Tower," Happy replied, determinedly sticking to his guns.

"Do you have any idea who I am? I'm Luke Cage. They call me the Hero of Harlem. I'm bulletproof, for crying out loud," Luke stated.

Happy's eyes widened as a hand appeared on Luke's shoulder and the big man spun around, faster than he would have expected, his fist cocked and flying. Fortunately, the shorter, white, scruffy-looking guy had the better reactions and simply swayed out of the way.

"Hey, calm down, I don't mean any harm," the new guy said.

"Then you shouldn't go sneaking up on me when I'm in a bad mood," Luke snapped.

"Fair enough," the blonde stated, his hands raised, obviously showing that he meant no harm. "I just thought that I could help, is all."

"Help? How?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"Hi, my name's Danny Rand. I'd like to visit the Avengers, please, um, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Mage, Squirrel Girl, we've all met, if that helps," Danny said.

Happy's eyes widened. Rand. He knew the name. One of the wealthiest companies in the world, although obviously not as rich as Stark.

"A lot of people have met the Avengers," Happy replied, holding his ground.

"Perhaps this will help?" Danny suggested.

Happy watched as the man extended his fist over the desk before it unexpectedly began glowing a brilliant yellow.

"Sweet Christmas!" Luke breathed.

"And ... and you said that you're bulletproof?" Happy asked Luke, his eyes still glued to the glowing fist. "And you've both met the Avengers? I'll ... I'll call up and see if they're willing to see you."

"Thank you," Danny replied, pulling his fist back as it stopped glowing.

His hand fumbled for the phone and Happy was forced to look down to find it and then to press in the right code.

Could this day get any weirder? he wondered.

ooo00ooo

Maria waited by the elevator for the two unknowns that Happy was sending up. Only the fact that they, according to Happy at least, had abilities and had met some of the others, had convinced Maria to allow them access to the Tower at all. Judging by exactly which members of the Avengers had been mentioned, she suspected that these two had been met during one of the New York patrols that Peter and Matt liked to do.

Unfortunately, none of them had been in the Tower when the call came through, leaving Maria to let them in until some of the others could arrive.

The doors sliding open revealed the two that the security monitor had showed – a tall, dark-skinned man and a shorter Caucasian with curly, dirty-blonde hair that was almost more unruly than Harry's.