Avenger Assembled

"Fools!" Arachnos boomed imperiously, Archeville's powerful blast shattering into a thousand fragments against his armored chest. "YOU MIGHT HAVE STOOD AT MY HAND AS I UNIFIED YOUR WORLD! INSTEAD YOU WILL TASTE THE AWESOME FURY OF...ARACHNOS!" He rose to his feet as his armor began to whine, two glowing balls of power shaping inside his open armored hands.

The leaves overhead were many beautiful colors when Stesha stepped out of an oak tree on a quiet corner of Freedom College's campus, her position sheltered from view thanks to the bulk of the nearby utility building. The buildings at Freedom College were mostly brick and ivy, a deliberate attempt at recapturing a collegiate past that the party school had drifted away from in recent decades. She had a little while yet before she was due to show up at the convention, plenty of time to meet up with her friends and walk around the campus as necessary.

Jack told Phantom his plans for the evening. Though some of them involved travel, none of them required leaving the beach, assuming they were careful about the soft sand that squished between their toes in the water. They were also the sort of plans best-carried out in the dead of night, by two people skilled at keeping themselves from being seen or heard.

"I suppose we should, at that," agreed Jack, rising to his feet. He wound up getting a lot of hugs and handshakes as he went, the genuine emotion in the room sharp enough that for a moment or two he almost didn't want to leave. "Nice seeing everyone again!" he called as they left. "I'll visit again sometime!" When they were outside, he murmured to Taylor, "Thanks for inviting me to that."

Jack presented his own present last, a carefully-wrapped big box. "My big present to you comes later," he said, relaxed enough that he left himself open for the chuckles that remark earned from Jackson and some of Taylor's more playful relatives. The new DVD player inside was a prosaic enough present, but obviously top of the line; Jack had evidently done some shopping. "For all our late night movie pleasure," he said with a grin.

Jack winced, almost imperceptibly. "It would be better if I skipped it," he admitted, not wanting to get into the fine details of his condition with his lover. "But I could make the reception, depending." He slipped an arm around her, too, the comfortable warmth of her body enough to get him to relax again. "So how far extended? Am I finally going to meet your famous uncle?"

"Try it with accountants for parents," murmured Jack with a small smile even as he felt that usual inner twist. "Of course, then it was not being able to get out of math homework..." He laughed a little bit, circulating through the family before coming back to Taylor. "Everybody looks really happy for you," he murmured to her, happiness and awe in his quiet voice. "Are all your family events like this?"

Not for the first time when dealing with Taylor's mother, the face of Jack's own long-dead mother flashed before his eyes. "I've been a little under the weather lately," he 'admitted', "but I'm doing much better today." He grinned. "Saving space for the feast I've been promised later." For all that he could have been an awkward giant among these people, Jack blended in with the perfect smoothness Taylor had seen from him almost everywhere. With the easy way he shook hands and exchanged greetings, he might almost have been part of the family.

"I'm doing just fine," said Jack with a big grin, shaking Jackson's hand firmly. "How's every little thing, man?" He clapped Taylor's brother on the arm, carefully stepping inside the house where he felt oddly like a giant amidst all these short people. Despite everything, he was really very happy among this bustling family. He gave a cheerful wave to Taylor's family as he stepped inside. "Hey folks!"

A black Lexus finally pulled up in the parking lot near the ladies, and Jack stepped out. The tall, elegantly-dressed men in the perfect black suit was a sharp contrast to the grim, crouching Avenger, but he walked right up to the two women with a confident look on his face. "Lynn. Taylor. Nice to see you." His arm went around Taylor's waist automatically, and he planted a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for waiting for me." He shot a wary look at Lynn. No crosses. Good. "So, I understand you have some concerns."

Mark relaxed as he ate his odd meal, making a strange appearance in his jeans there at the fanciest restaurant in town. But James was used to that sort of thing from Mark, who generally seemed nearly immune to the reactions of the people around him. When they were done, he left a tip while James paid, and got up to join him for the trip out. "I've only been teleported a couple of times," he said as they went out of the restaurant, "so this should be pretty cool. What's it like on the inside?" he asked. "Is it like that one French hero, where if you open your eyes you go crazy inside?"

"Yes," said Mark flatly, softening at the look in Mike's eyes. "But, just, keep doing what you're doing. Like I said, keep up your thing with Alex and have a good time with that. And keep up with your training, too. I understand what it's like to have powers you can't fully control." He kept his jaw set. "Just keep in mind that when people like you and me make mistakes, it's a lot more dangerous than when other people do it."

He is out of fiats. Want to skip to the end, or keep pummeling?

Jack came around the car and slipped his arm around her waist, beaming down at her with a warm look in his eyes. "I'm sure we'll all have a fine time together." He kept his arm around her as they went, warm against the cold nights from things he had a feeling Taylor wouldn't want to know about. He'd wanted to make sure he was perfect for her and her family, after all. "Happy birthday again, by the way," he added with a smile. "I'm just glad they've never asked me how old I am."

Edge's eyes were round behind his goggles as he listened to the adults talk. Oh man, it's like Romeo and Juliet! Or Tony and Maria from West Side Story. "We should definitely help you guys stick together," he said with absolute pure belief in his voice. "You know, maybe if we just go to your parents and tell them how you really feel about each other, that'll smooth things over. And with superheroes backing you up, they'll have to believe in you!"

Patrick Irons replied to Stesha's email quickly, letting her know what she'd need to do at the con. He assured her that campus security would be out in full force, so he didn't expect that she'd actually have to do any hero work while she was there.

"Mike..." Mark looked down at the book in his hand, then shoved it back on the shelf. "I know you're already in training to control your temper and your strength. I think it would be very unfriendly of me to rag on you for a problem I know you're trying to fix." He smiled, slightly. "Next time you have a thing for a girl I'm dating, by the way, just let me know ahead of time. You probably didn't enjoy hearing me talk about going out with her."

"We'll talk when I get there," Jack told her reassuringly. "There's no point in hashing this out over the phone." He wasn't about to spill his guts to her from either direction, but there was no point in hashing _that_ out over the phone, either. "Just stay right there, and I'll be there to join you and Taylor momentarily. Talk to you in a minute." And with that, he hung up.

The words were on Mark's lips, poised, easy acceptance and deflection. "I..." Suddenly he was in the air again, his friend's face before him, strong hands pulling his shirt tight around his neck. "It wasn't your fault. I heard about what Daisy tried to do to you." What she _did_ do to you, I mean. "I heard Bolt put her up to it because she's trying to get in his pants because he's on the Next-Gen. He hasn't liked me for years."

"That's true," replied Jack, his voice all perfect, composed smoothness. He opted not to explain Avenger's style to Grim, with any luck she'd figure it out on her own. "I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. I understand you have some concerns." He was already in his car, speeding quickly towards Taylor and Grim.

"Sure," said Mark, turning and working on his own bookshelf as if to make sure he wouldn't have any accidents there. "What's on your mind?" he asked Mike neutrally.

"Heeey, Grim," said Jack, a trifle uneasily before he found his feet. Talking on the phone while he went was going to slow him down, but he was confident of his ability to get there fast. "Nice to hear from you. How's every little thing?"

"On my way," said Jack quickly. "I can be there in a couple of minutes. Just sit tight, or port her over here if you need to get here in a hurry. Everything okay on that end?" he asked carefully.

Jack picked up with admirable promptness, his voice a cool, familiar presence on the other end of the line. "Hi, Taylor. What's going on?" he asked her. "You usually don't call at this hour." Well, except for booty calls, but he had an intuition this wasn't an evening for that.

Avenger disappeared into the darkness ahead of them, falling away from sight, sound, and all forms of view for several long seconds before reappearing just around the corner as they came up behind him. "Apologies. Will stay in view." He led the way in sight now, creeping almost invisibly. He was silent at first, until finally a gentle, grating tune came rising from him. "Eye of the zombie, eye of the zombie, sneaking through the grass on leopard feet silently..."