The Steel Handshake: Part One

by DarkMark

The Avengers and the X-Men had a common joke just before their meeting. They hoped both of them wouldn't end up fighting each other.

It was, approximately, only half of a joke. Twice, when the old X-Men team had met the Avengers, they'd wound up in a battle. The first time, it was a misunderstanding. The second time, Magneto had been controlling the mutants' minds. They'd met two other times besides that, at the Richardses' and Pyms' weddings. They'd had to knuckle-dust villains on both occasions, but didn't fight each other. Just to make sure, though, Professor X promised to monitor the area for hostile mind-control attempts.

The last thing he wanted, while premiering his brand new band of X-Men to the earth's mightiest heroes, was for them to have a bad start.

The meeting took place, by invitation, at the Xavier mansion and seemed to go well, at first. One of the major reasons: Hank McCoy, the Beast, was the first one out of one of the limos that stopped in front of the place. He bounded out of the car and leaped, in three bounces, to the porch, just in place to hug the devil out of Cyclops and Jean Grey. "Scott. Jean," he said. "It's great to be back! And without the Secret Empire arranging it, even!"

Cyke smiled and put an arm around the Beast. Jean was hugging her old teammate back, as well. "Good to see you, too, McCoy." He flashed on how Hank and many other mutants, good and bad, had been kidnapped by the Secret Empire for a plot that had ended in a White House suicide. The X-Men, Captain America, and the Falcon had been there to save them. "Now stop crushing my ribs!"

"Sorry, fearless former leader," said the Beast, and let both of them go.

Jean straightened her slightly mussed hair. "Hank, I missed you," she said. "So you're becoming an Avenger now? I didn't know about that part."

"Oh, all the jots and tittles haven't been jotted down yet," Hank admitted. "But I've been in on several cases, and I'm a provisional member. You should have seen that number we just did on Roxxon. Parallel worlds, serpent crowns, everything to make a big hairy hero feel at home. We're going to have a big membership meeting to sort things out soon, but I think I'm going to make it."

"Well, if you ever want to try the team again, let me know," said Cyclops. "Just be sure and send me a dictionary first, so I'll understand you." He smiled.

"Thanks, Scott," said the Beast. Then he turned to the Professor, who was the only other one on the porch. "Professor, as always, an honor." His big blue paw engulfed that of Charles Xavier's.

"Indeed," said Professor X. "I am gratified that you're continuing your career as a superhero, Hank. Should they require a reference, I insist you have them call me."

"Will do," Hank replied. "Where's Bobby and Warren? Are the new folks inside?"

"Hank," Xavier said, gently, "Bobby and Warren are no longer with us. And yes, the new members are inside. We'll show you to them as soon as the others arrive."

"Oh," said Hank. "All right."

Scott and Jean hoped they could wait until later to tell Hank about their decision to leave the team. In fact, Jean wasn't officially an X-Man anymore, either. But Scott was, and she wasn't leaving him.

The other Avengers were out of the cars by then: Captain America, Moondragon, Hellcat, Thor, the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, and a wan-looking Yellowjacket and Wasp. Cap took point and went up the steps to Xavier. "Professor Xavier," he said.

"Captain America," returned the Prof, and both of them shook hands.

"We're eager to meet your new unit," Cap said. "On behalf of the Avengers, I'd like to thank you for the invitation."

"And on behalf of my X-Men, I will welcome you." He paused. "Isn't there another one of you active right now?"

Cap looked back. "Yes, there is. He's getting out right now."

And he was.

Iron Man stood beside the opened door of the limo, hesitated a moment, then shut the door and stepped towards the mansion.

His iron boots made distinctive noises on the gravel.

-C-

At first, the meeting went fairly well. The Banshee, especially, welcomed Captain America with open arms. He had been one of the mutants rescued from the Secret Empire by Cap and the Falcon, and was still grateful for same. He was even more glad to know that Cap was back in his costume, after a stint of having abandoned his Captain America i.d. for one as the Nomad.

Sean guessed, correctly, that the White House suicide was the reason for Cap's initial abdication. But when he asked why the American icon put his stars and stripes back on, Cap simply said, "I'd rather not discuss it now." The Banshee left it at that.

Wolverine, a Molson's in one hand, stuck out his other one for Captain America to shake. "Been awhile, Cap," he said. "Name's Wolverine."

Cap looked at him curiously as they shook. "Have we met before?"

"Nice day," said Logan.

"...so, in effect, in my land, I was worshipped as a goddess," Storm was saying.

"Oh," Moondragon replied, coolly. "You, too?"

Nightcrawler scuttled up to Thor. "Guten tag, mein herr. Kurt Wagner is my name. Are you Donar?"

"Thy accent appears to be Teutonic," said Thor, with a smile. "In thy land, I suppose I would be known as Donar. Well met, Herr Wagner." He shook hands with the German X-Man. Nightcrawler looked curiously at the hammer.

"May I? Er..."

"Touch it? Aye."

Kurt's two fingers reached out, hesitantly, and brushed the head of Mjolnir. It didn't shock him to death. That was reassuring.

"I'm sorry to hear you lost one of your students, Professor," said the Wasp to Xavier. "So quickly out of the gate, that must be rough."

Yellowjacket rolled his eyes behind his visor, but Xavier only said, "It was a loss, Wasp. A great one. But it impressed upon us even more greatly the need for the X-Men to exist. I believe this team will, in time, prove as honored and capable as its predecessor."

"You've got a good start, Professor," said Henry Pym. "More power in the membership, for one thing. Not that your old team were pushovers...trust me, I know."

"Yeah," said Janet. "I was there both times we fought `em."

"But I like the internationality of it," Yellowjacket went on. "We've got a few members from other countries in the Avengers...Wanda and the Panther, of course, and Quicksilver, who used to be with us. You could even count Thor and Hercules in that. But other than that, we're a very Americanocentric group."

"Well, all American hero teams are," Xavier allowed. "Even we were, until now."

"Is it all right to ask why the Angel and Iceman left?" asked the Wasp.

Xavier sighed. "Because they wanted to be on their own. Also, because they felt the team was too large and unwieldy with them, and...because, perhaps, they did not agree with what it had become."

"Oh. Okay."

Four of the guests had not mixed. One of them took note of part of the problem, and went to solve that part. Captain America approached Nightcrawler. "Excuse me. My name is Captain America. And yours is?"

Kurt attempted a smile. "They call me Nightcrawler here."

"You like being in the States?"

"It is not dull." Kurt waited.

Cap pulled up a chair and sat down. "So. What's the problem, Nightcrawler?"

"I was not aware there was one," said Kurt, looking away.

"A man doesn't live as long as I have, or go through a war as I have, and not know when someone has a problem with him," said Cap. "I don't have one with you, to my knowledge. And you, with me?"

Kurt hesitated. "I am not certain how I should relate to you. Or you, to me."

Cap waited.

"After all," said Kurt, looking squarely at Cap, "I am a German."

Cap nodded.

"There were..." Kurt looked away again. "Many soldiers killed. In the war."

"There were," said Cap. "On both sides."

Kurt waited, this time.

"And I killed some of them," said Cap. "Did you have family members who served?"

"I believe so," said Kurt. "But I do not believe you killed any of them."

"Nice to know," said Cap. "Nightcrawler. Do you think you could have justified what Hitler was doing, back in that time? Even if you were German?"

"Justify, no," said Nightcrawler. "I would have been too busy trying to avoid a death camp, Herr Kapitan. If persons of color, or of different faiths, were not welcome in my homeland, can you imagine what would have become of one such as I?"

"Oh, I know what would have happened," said Cap. "I helped liberate one of those places before. Don't ask me about it."

"I won't," promised Kurt.

"Is your problem that you think I hate you for being German?"

"Not exactly," said Kurt. "Are you suspicious of me, for being a German?"

"No," said Cap. "Do you mistrust me, because of what I am? Because of what I did in the war?"

"I just...I do not know how I should react, Kapitan," admitted Kurt, clenching his fists. "I would like to be a friend, certainly not to be an enemy. But there is still...there is still the image of the man who stood atop a mountain of German dead."

"I never did that, my friend."

"Just...symbolically," said Kurt. "And I know what Germany did, back then. Still, there is...there is that."

"But there is also this," said Cap. "The present. The future. The one we fight for, every day of our lives. The one I've fought for, thirty years and more. Where all men are free of oppression, no matter where they live, no matter who they are. And that freedom must also be extended...to mutants."

Kurt looked at the man in red, white, and blue for a long moment. Then he extended his hand. "Call me Kurt, Kapitan. Kurt Wagner."

"Guten tag, Kurt," said Cap. "Call me Cap." And smiling, he took his hand.

There was a spattering of applause from those who had seen the incident, and Xavier smiled, slightly. .

Colossus was speaking with the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. "Your form is so human, my friend," Peter said to the former. "Is this truly the state of American technology?"

"No more so than your armored form, sir, is representative of Russian biotech," the Vision replied, in his spooky voice. "Mine was the product of two individuals, one a robot. It is well we are met."

"Da," said Colossus, clapping a hand to the android's caped shoulder. "And you, Miss Witch, I understand you know our professor as well."

"Yes, I do," said Wanda. "I used to fight the old X-Men team when I was with Magneto. But that was a long time ago. Pleased to meet you." She gave a small smile when she said, "But your country still better stay out of Transia."

Peter, confused, said, "This is a joke, yes?"

"It's meant as one, and I apologize," said Wanda.

"What has become of our other member?" asked the Vision. A look of concern passed through Wanda's eyes.

"I'll go check on him," she said.

A few minutes later she came back, leading him by the hand. It would be hard, well-nigh impossible, to tell his feelings through the helmet he wore. But his body language spoke some embarrassment.

When they saw him come through the door, Cyclops and Jean Grey broke off their conversations immediately and moved to greet him. "Iron Man!" said Jean. "It's good to see you again!" She gave his cold-armored form a hug.

"Thanks...Marvel Girl, am I right?" asked the Golden Avenger.

"That's me," said Jean, smiling up at him as Cyclops shook his hand. "Don't think we've ever forgotten what you did for Angel. We never will, either."

"Agreed, on all counts," said Cyclops, pumping Iron Man's red glove. "It's good to see you again, Avenger."

The Angel incident was the first one in which an X-Man-in fact, all the X-Men-had met a hero from the "outer world". Warren's mind had been corrupted into villainy by a chance radiation exposure. He had come into conflict with Iron Man, and the latter had risked his life to return the Angel to normalcy. In return, the Angel had saved Iron Man's life. Afterward, the electronic warrior had met with the rest of the working team, who were grateful for what he had done, and that he accepted them as heroes, not mutants.

"Faith, so this is the Man of Iron," said Banshee, ambling over, pipe in hand. "`Tis a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm the Banshee. If ya can't tell where I'm from by me brogue, ya best tune your receptors a wee mite."

"Good to meet you as well, Banshee," said Iron Man, offering his hand for a shake. As Tony Stark, he'd had to glad-hand politicians, workers, union heads, other businessmen, and Just Plain Bills. It came back to him almost without effort. "I've been in Ireland as well. Stark has a number of plants over there. Enjoyed it."

"Ah, and here we thought ya was the bashful boy!" smiled Sean. "It's good to be knowin' ya, Mr. Iron."

Professor X was next to wheel up to him for a shake, and most of the rest came in his trail. Iron Man wondered if the Prof was giving them mental cues, but decided they were just acting properly. "Iron Man," he said. "I am Professor X. On behalf of the old team and the new, welcome to our mansion."

"Thanks very much, Professor," said Iron Man. "We've met briefly at the Richards's wedding, but I never got the chance to do much more than say hi. I hope our teams can continue their practice of working together, no matter how the membership of both of them changes."

"Well said," replied Xavier. "Let me present my new X-Men. This is Storm, formerly of Africa."

"How do you do?" said Storm, extending her hand.

Iron Man took it and bowed a bit, politely. Storm's eyes widened, then she smiled. Underneath the tin suit, he was a gentleman. Jean saw it and stifled a chuckle.

"And behind her is Nightcrawler, late of Germany," Xavier continued.

"Guten tag, Herr EisenMann," chirped Nightcrawler, extending the three-fingered hand of his which wasn't clutching a beer stein. "You, I am proud to meet. Many times we heard the tales of your battles against...well...of your battles. With the state of our land, you may know why you were a hero to us."

"I'm honored, Herr Nachtgleiskette," Iron Man replied, taking Kurt's hand.

Kurt's mouth opened in surprise. "In Deutsche! Mein Gott, Herr Professor, he knows Deutsche! Phantastich!"

Xavier slightly smiled and said, "Iron Man, like his employer, is a hero of international standing, Kurt. Now, if you'll pass him along to our next associate? This, Iron Man, is our Canadian newcomer, Wolverine."

The short, yellow-and-blue-costumed mutant left off from picking his teeth and stretched out a hand, nonchalantly. "Meetcha," he said.

"Likewise," said Iron Man, taking it.

Professor X looked around. "Ororo, where is our last member? We have one more for him to meet."

"Oh, I'll go get him," said Storm, and went to do just that.

"It's perfectly all right, Professor," said Iron Man, in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone. "I intended to cut this short, anyway. Business back at Stark's. I'm still a working stiff."

Xavier looked at him curiously. "Of course," he said. "But still, there is one other among our new associates, and I would have you meet him."

Cap, Thor, and Yellowjacket looked at Iron Man, individually. With him and the Wasp, they made up the Old Guard of the Avengers. They knew how to gauge his moods, and they were now alert.

For his part, Iron Man stood there, looking down at the patterned rug below his metal boots, his gold-armored arms crossed before his chest.

Storm came back in a moment, pulling Colossus with her. He was in costume, but still in human form. He was coming reluctantly. The conversation dwindled among all present.

"Piotr, this is Iron Man of the Avengers," said Storm. "And Iron Man, this is the X-Man we call Colossus."

After a moment, Iron Man sighed and, with an effort, stretched forth his hand. "How do you do?"

Piotr Rasputin, who had been making an effort not to look at him, stole a glance at him and then turned his head away. He stood that way for a long moment and made no sound. Storm looked at him with concern. "Piotr," she said.

"Piotr, Iron Man has offered a greeting," said Xavier. "He asked how you are doing."

"I am fine, thank you," said Colossus. "Professor."

"Ach Gott," said Nightcrawler, from behind Jean Grey, in a whisper.

Captain America moved to take Iron Man's wrist and drag him closer to Colossus. "Hold on, both of you," said Cap. "If there's some difficulty here, we need to work it out. Now."

"There's some difficulty here, all right," said Iron Man, flatly. "Of thirty years' standing."

Storm and Cyclops were flanking Piotr, trying to turn him towards Iron Man, and succeeding at least in keeping him from walking away. "Rasputin, you are not going to make a mess of this thing," said Scott, with a commander's voice. "This man is our guest, and you are going to shake his hand."

"This man is an enemy of the State," Colossus said, as loudly as anyone had spoken that afternoon. "This man is an enemy of my homeland. I will not shake his hand."

Dead silence.

Then:

"If that's the way you want it, Ivan," said Iron Man, "that's the way it'll be."

Thor was in front of Iron Man in an instant, and he did not look pleased. "Avenger, you misspeak yourself," he declared. "This is not a gathering of politics, but an assemblage of heroes. You will apologize to this man, at once."

"In view of what's been said to me, I think I'm owed an apology," Iron Man said. "But in view of Professor X's courtesy and my wish for our cooperation between our fine teams, I'll apologize if he will."

Moondragon, standing near the Wasp, remarked sotto voce, "This is needless. I could change both their minds with a simple mental pressure."

"You'll do nothing of the sort, dearie," said the Wasp. To her credit, Moondragon subsided.

Banshee and Nightcrawler clustered around Colossus as well. "Piotr, ye're makin' the team look bad," Sean whispered. "I dinna give a hang about yer politics, this is about what we do!"

"Regrettably, Sean, it is about what he has done," said Piotr, bitterly. "I was among the millions who watched his unfair tactics when he stole victory in battle from Comrade Titanium Man. Do you recall that, Tovarisch Iron Man? Did the American television carry your illegal use of a weapon given to you after the battle was underway?"

"Oh, they carried it," said Iron Man, almost snarling. "Did the Russian hookup show you how my friend Happy Hogan almost died doing it, when your precious Titanium Man blasted him? He did that to an unarmored man, without a second thought. It took Happy months to recover from that, and he got turned into a rampaging freak temporarily in the process."

"There was no such activity shown," said Colossus, in defiance.

"They didn't let you see it," retorted Iron Man. "Did they let you see those cute little booby traps that your side had rigged for me on the field, and somehow neglected to let our side know about beforehand? Or did they edit those out, too?"

Piotr looked at him in stunned silence for a second's pace, then said, "That is only what you say."

"It's the truth."

"Is it also the truth that you corrupted our heroes, and led Comrade Crimson Dynamo to his death? That Comrades Black Widow and Unicorn were led to defect, and work for your side, because of your propagandizing?"

Iron Man strove to keep his hands from clenching in fury. "Vanko, your `comrade', died saving me from the second Dynamo," he said, in a tight voice. "The Black Widow was nearly killed by your own operatives. She was brainwashed, but she broke through that because she loved Hawkeye. And as for working for our side, isn't that what you're doing now?"

"I serve humanity, not America," snapped Colossus, already in Iron Man's face.

"Maybe they think of it that way, too," retorted Iron Man.

Wolverine kept on the outskirts of the scene, but was ready to wade in if it looked like a good fight would come off. Thor had his hammer in hand. The others were in stages of preparedness, and Cyclops dully realized that the old hero-fight tradition looked like it was holding full sway again.

Piotr Rasputin, almost involuntarily, activated his power.

To the Avengers, who had never seen it before, it was an awesome sight. His normal flesh was replaced in three seconds' time with plates of organic steel, gleaming in the electric light of the chandelier above. His mass grew to over a ton. He stood there, fully the equal in strength (or at least, seeming to) of Iron Man.

He had become Colossus.

"I do not think of it that way," said Piotr, in an evil whisper.

Almost without volition, Iron Man took a step.

"NO!"

Captain America threw himself between the two and shoved them both in opposite directions. Cyclops and Wolverine grabbed Colossus and held him. "You stay, Petey," said Wolverine. "Just stay."

"And that's an order from me," declared Cyclops.

Iron Man found Thor in front of him again, his mighty arm extended as a bar. Even the Golden Avenger couldn't match the thunder god power for power, but his armored frame still quivered with tension. "Stand fast," ordered Thor, and did not add "Avenger" to the end of it.

"This has been a most disgraceful exhibition of poor taste on our part," said Captain America. "On behalf of the Avengers, I apologize, Professor."

"On behalf of the X-Men, I tender my apologies as well," said Xavier. "Especially for the poor performance of behavior on the part of Colossus." He was looking straight at Piotr as he said it, and Scott knew that look. It was one none of the crew had dared brook in the old days, and Colossus knew enough not to try it, either. He stayed silent.

"If it makes you feel any better, Colossus," said Yellowjacket, trying to pour oil on what waters he could, "a lot of us were `enemies of the state'. Thor fought Communists. So did I, as Ant-Man and Giant-Man. So if you want to get mad, you can get mad at some of the rest of us as well."

"Almost all the older Avengers, including I, have fought Communists at times," said the Scarlet Witch. "With good reason. There is much you have not been told about us, Colossus."

"And perhaps much vice versa," muttered Piotr.

"That will be enough, Colossus," said Professor X, sharply.

"Look," said the Wasp, stepping up to Colossus. "They called you Piotr, right? Well, Piotr, this isn't about Communism and Capitalism here. It's about super-heroing. It's about banding together, pooling our unique powers and talents, working on the same side. And it's 1975, not 1964. They tell me you did really well in your first missions as an X-Man."

"Da," said Colossus. "I am proud to serve as an X-Man."

"Oh, I'm so reassured," commented Iron Man.

"Avenger," warned Thor.

Professor X spoke up again. "We seem to have an impasse, Captain America. But I have a solution in mind. And for both our sakes, I suggest we implement it."

"I can guess what it might be," said Cap. "Go ahead and float it."

Xavier said, so that all might hear him, "I propose that Piotr be lent to Tony Stark for a week's time, during which he will work directly with Iron Man, as an assistant. He will be accepted back among us at the end of that time, but not before it. Is this agreeable to you?"

"With Stark?" said Colossus. "No!"

"Now, wait a minute," said Iron Man. "There's top-secret work going on at Stark, even if we're not making weapons anymore. We can't agree to that!"

"You can define what areas of the plant are off-limits to him, and keep him out of them," said Cap. "But he can work with you in other areas. And if you don't go for that, Avenger, I'm warning you: despite our upcoming membership meeting, you'll face a month's suspension."

Iron Man took Cap's measure for a moment, but no more than that. "All right," he said. "Mr. Stark will hit the ionosphere when I tell him, but...all right."

Cap turned his gaze to Colossus next. "And you, big fella? What about you?"

There was another pause, long enough for a bomb to fall from a plane to a target. They waited through it.

"Da," said Piotr. "I will do it."

[next part]

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