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AVENGERS MANSION, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Sam and the rest of the team finally arrived in New York where the Avengers Mansion is located. He towered over the whole place and it didn't take long before the lawn opened up and Sam immediately landed the quinjet on the underground hangar.

The Avengers Mansion is the new headquarters of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Instead of having a compound or a tower, they thought it best to design the new general headquarters as a mansion to make it feel more like home. The mansion was three stories high and three stories underground, and it was located on a seperate man-made island Tony bought in Manhattan, New York. T'Challa supplied enough Vibranium to make the mansion's foundation stronger and Shuri designed a protective barrier to keep it hidden from the rest of the world. Tony made sure that there were enough rooms to accommodate every hero that may come and go, and he made sure that there was enough space for all their equipments, for their experiments, for their training, and for their get-togethers. The topmost floor—also according to Tony—belonged solely to the original founding members of their team, making it unavailable for everyone but them. It looked like a ghost town most of the time since none of them stays long enough for it to be occupied.

The six Avengers exited the quinjet and they were quickly met by Maria Hill. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. still worked closely together but their contact has been quiet. S.H.I.E.L.D. now lets the team operate on their own and would only instruct them to go on missions when necessary. Maria Hill became the bridge between these two parties and Nick Fury hasn't faced any of them ever since Tony's funeral.

"I need you to contact Thor or the Guardians for any information about a guy named Abaddon," Sam immediately ordered as they all started to make their way up the mansion.

"Already did. As of now, they're separated—Thor's in New Asgard and I can't get ahold of the Guardians. I already tried everything but I got nothing," Maria said inside the elevator.

"Is Thor coming?" Bucky asked.

Maria shook her head, "He can't right now. He's handling important matters in his kingdom and Valkyrie needs the help," she informed him. "But he told us he's coming as soon as he finishes but that would be like after a week or so."

"Contact the wizard, too," Rhodey said who is now out of his suit. "He's more likely to know who this Abaddon guy is."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Peter spoke up, "Should we contact them now?" he asked Sam nervously, pertaining to the six originals, and all of them awaited his answer.

The six originals has been under the radar for the past year except for Thor who has been going back and forth to Earth to check on New Asgard while regularly joining the Guardians of the Galaxy on their missions in outer space. They were still members of the team but preferred to be called in only when vital. They didn't think that they were more important than the New Avengers who served the world now but they were trying their best to live the normal lives they wanted. Clint Barton was finally living the quiet, serene life with his family and Tony has been doing the same—but being the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and 'Earth's Best Defender' he is, it was harder to tone down the interest the media had on him, Pepper Potts-Stark, and Morgan Stark. Bruce Banner has finally opened up a little clinic funded by Tony in India, and although the latter insisted on building a hospital, Bruce insisted he wanted to keep a low profile. Being able to transform back into the doctor and the Hulk made his life easy but the hold he has on the other guy was no longer as strong as the one he had before. He has his temper in check now but if deliberately angered, he'd lose control the way he did before. As for Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, they're living a genuinely happy life together in Steve's apartment in Brooklyn. They still haven't identified what their relationship is but it was obvious to everyone anyway. They're one of the agents S.H.I.E.L.D. often calls on missions and those are the only battles they choose to fight for the past year—and getting those calls were rare occurrences. It took a while for Steve to let Natasha join him on assignments because he was worried she might need to use her new abilities but she eventually convinced him, reminding him of the promise she made to everyone about her powers she would never attempt to use. Steve occasionally calls to check up on the latest missions of the Avengers, too—after all, he is still the Captain—but he lets Sam takeover. Those calls were usually short and straight to the point and it always ends up with the Captain America telling the Falcon to just contact him if things get out of control. It wasn't easy for him to slowly give up control and to step back when he knows he can help or do something but he slowly learned to keep his emotions under control with the help of Natasha.

Sam shook his head as the elevator opened up, "No. Unless we find out who this Abaddon really is, we don't contact them. They serve more like a backup now—and unless we're sure that we need backup, we don't tell them. You know how firm they've been with this deal."

"You talk as if we didn't just call Thor," Maria said with a smirk.

"Thor's case is different. He's a God and he's from outer space so he must know about these weird creatures that's threatening us," Bucky explained as he gave her a pointed look. "Besides, he's the most active among all of them."

"He did tell us to go to him immediately when these sorts of things come around," Pietro added as he leaned on the metal wall of the elevator.

One by one, the Avengers started exiting the elevator once it opened until Maria is the only one left. Sam looked back at her, "Just notify us on Thor, Strange, and the Guardians, Hill."

"Duly noted," she said right before the doors closed.

The Black Panther and the Falcon were making their way to the common area when Shuri appeared in front of them. Sam smiled at the girl while she nodded at him in acknowledgement.

"We have to get back to Wakanda now. Okoye's already here," she said as she crossed her arms.

"All right, go," he said and the sister followed, disappearing from their sight. He faced his teammate and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Sam nodded, "Hill will just notify you if anything comes up."

The Falcon sat down on one of the huge sofas upon the King's departure as he massaged his tense muscles when a picture of the New Avengers that was placed on the table caught his attention. He removed the hand on his shoulder and a soft grunt escaped his lips when he reached for the frame. In the picture, T'Challa was doing an X with his arms as a small smile graced his lips. Peter was next to him who was full on grinning goofily while Bucky has his arm around the kid and whispered something Peter and Rhodey heard. Rhodey was in a salute pose but his expression was of pure confusion and disbelief as he stared at Bucky, freaked out by what he just said. Sam was on the other side of T'Challa, his arm around the King's shoulder while he used his free hand to ruffle Pietro's hair who was standing next to him, causing the young lad to scrunch up his face. That was the day the Captain America announced who the new main members were going to be—and by main he meant those that were going to most of the missions—so to treasure the moment, Shuri demanded a picture to be taken.

A smile slowly took over his face as he stared at their photograph.

From the photo, you'd think that they had an easy start but that wasn't true at all. At first, that's what they all thought but it turns out they were wrong. They all had different styles of fighting and it was easier for them to work on their own. And even if they were working with someone, these weren't the people they were used to fighting alongside with. It took some time and a whole lot of patience from one another but they all learned to adjust to each other's fighting styles in the long run which ultimately lead to their becoming as a team. They knew each other's limitations and learned how to use each other's strengths as assets. And now, they can confidently say that they wouldn't want to work with anyone else.

He was just putting back the picture frame on its proper place when he heard a loud crash not so far away from the Mansion. Sam immediately stood up from his seat and made his way outside where Pietro and Rhodey was already waiting in his War Machine suit.

"Any ideas as to what that may be?" Rhodey asked before his face plate went on.

"No," Pietro answered before smirking at them. "But let's find out, shall we?"

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