Convincing S.H.I.E.L.D. to be inconspicuous around the Compound wasn't that hard, especially after Steve had spoken to their Director, explaining what it was that they were trying to do. Most of their quinjets had taken off hours before the 'guests' were to arrive, leaving a skeleton complement of Agents.

Lavender had taken charge of the main arrangements, ensuring that the large room that they would be using was decorated appropriately and that catering was taken care of. She'd had one half of the room left open with long tables along one wall for the food, a smaller table against the back wall for drinks, both hot and cold and a large open space in the middle for people to mingle in. The other half of the room was where the 'formal' part of the day's talks were to happen, thus, there were tables and chairs set up to hold as many as fifty, all facing a podium at the front.

The Avengers, of course, had been the first to arrive and, while there was the usual banter between them, there was an undertone to their words and expressions that told the real story, showing their knowledge of how important that day and the next couple were going to be.

"Woah, this place is nice," Scott Lang said, looking around as Sam ushered him through the door. "I mean, I knew it looked pretty great the last time that I was here, not that I had much time to look around, mind you."

"That tends to happen when you rob places," Sam countered.

Scott stopped, looked at him and held up a finger.

"I never 'rob people'," he stated. "I 'burgle' them. No violence. No one ever got hurt. There's a difference. Besides, I don't do that any more."

"I don't know, man, the bruises I had after the last time you were here told a different story," Sam replied, rubbing his chest with the memory of that encounter.

"I said I was sorry!" Scott protested. "No one was supposed to be here. I was told that this was just an old storage facility."

"I'm guessing that you're Scott," Steve said, joining them with a smile, his had extended to shake.

"Oh, wow, you're Captain America," Scott gushed, enthusiastically shaking hands.

"I know," Steve smiled. "Call me, Steve. Glad you could be here."

"Thinks for thanking of me," Scott replied before frowning. "Thanks for thinking of me."

"We're all in this together," Steve said. "Make yourself at home,"

"But not too at home," Sam added quickly. "No just picking up stuff and walking off with it."

"Not even if it's a pastry and a cup of coffee?" Scott asked as they wandered in that direction.

"You know what I mean," Sam replied.

ooo00ooo

A sleek, black jet hovered over the Compound's tarmac for a half minute before slowly descending to land. Tony, Nat and Clint found that they didn't even have to move as it'd rotated so that its rear was facing towards them. That meant that when the ramp descended for those inside to come out, they were already facing them.

Tony blinked upon noticing that there were more than just the wheelchair-bound Xavier and the five X-Men that he'd met just the day before.

"Welcome to Avengers Compound," he said. "You'll find it a little different from your place, for one, your jet will still be in one piece after the talks and for another, there's a lot less kids running around."

"I apologise for Joflinn," Xavier said. "He's still new at the school and his ... instincts from the streets are very much still with him. He'll come around."

"Until then, he's going to find himself getting very fit," Logan stated. "The kid couldn't even run all the way home last night."

"Logan, you had him do a five kilometre run, go through that torture chamber of an obstacle course that you created – twice, I might add, and do a full hour's worth of calisthenics before having to make the five k run back to the mansion," Jean stated disapprovingly.

"But it'll teach him a lesson," Logan shrugged.

"Sounds like something our S.H.I.E.L.D. instructors would put us through," Clint added.

"If you add in the time on the weapon's range," Nat agreed. "Natasha Romanoff and this is Clint Barton."

"Thank you for inviting us. I am Charles Xavier, and this is Logan, Scott, Jean, Ororo, Hank, Bobby, Kitty and Warren."

"Cool wings," Tony stated, eying the huge, white wings that Warren had.

He flexed them, stretched them out and then folded them back against his back.

"Thanks. It's not often that I get to let them free," Warren replied.

"Well, the party's this way," Tony said, indicating the direction.

"Are many expected or will it simply be the Avengers and the X-Men here today?" Charles asked.

"No, there's a few others, some of them coming from pretty far away," Nat replied.

ooo00ooo

Harry looked on, amused, as Daisy kept pacing from one side of the room to the other, looking over to the blank space in the room every other step.

"I really thought that they were coming," she said. "They said that they were coming."

"Give them time, love, it's not yet ten," Harry replied.

She opened her mouth to say something when a flash cut her off and spun her around. Harry, at seeing the newly arrived group, pushed off from the wall and stepped across to stand beside her.

"You're here!" Daisy exclaimed.

"We did promise," Medusa smiled before continuing for her husband. "I have discussed these 'Accords' with Karnak and my other advisors and have decided that as King, it is no less than my responsibility to take part in these talks, to speak up for all Inhumans, whether they live in Attilan or here on Earth."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me, to all of us," Daisy replied.

Black Bolt held up a hand and continued talking through Medusa.

"There is one thing that I will require of you."

"Name it," Daisy promised.

"You mentioned that each group of humans will have two chairs at the conference in Geneva. I wish you to sit at the table with me. One voice from Attilan, one voice from Earth, for all Inhumans."

"Me? I'm no diplomat?" Daisy protested.

"And once upon a time, you weren't a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or an Avenger either," Harry pointed out. "Besides, I think you'll do great."

"I agree," Karnak stated. "These talks are for all people to help bring balance. Perhaps a room full of politicians and diplomats doesn't ensure the best outcome."

"That's settled then," Medusa smiled after Daisy had nodded her agreement. "You remember Gorgon and my sister, Crystal? And this is Triton, Black Bolt's cousin."

"Nice to meet you," Harry nodded at the green skinned man.

"Lockjaw's house broken, right?" Daisy asked, looking at the behemoth of a dog.

"He is but he won't wander far if we let him outside while we have these talks," Crystal smiled.

"Great! Then let's get him settled and then we'll introduce you to everyone else," Daisy said.

ooo00ooo

"When are you gonna build us our own plane, egg-head?" Ben asked as the borrowed quinjet, came in for a landing at the Compound.

"I'll get around to it," Reed replied. "I've been a little busy getting the lab up and running."

"Well, when you do, make sure that it's got a little more room than this thing," Ben stated.

"And fast, it's gotta be fast," Johnny added.

"Do you boys want it to be invisible as well?" Sue asked sarcastically.

"Not a bad idea, Sis," Johnny nodded. "Do that, too."

Reed simply shook his head. "I'll add it to the list. Alright, we're here. Let's all play nice, shall we?"

"I'm always nice," Sue said as she unbuckled and headed towards the rear ramp and the Avengers standing on the tarmac waiting for them.

"She's got you there, Reed," Ben grumbled a laugh.

"You didn't grow up with her," Johnny mumbled.

"I heard that, Johnny!" Sue called over her shoulder.

ooo00ooo

The informal part of the gathering had lasted over an hour as groups formed and reformed over food and drinks. Steve had originally planned for a much shorter time with people milling about, getting to know each other but there were many that needed that extra time to become comfortable enough to leave their normal groups and to begin talking. Lavender, of course, kept the caterers running smoothly, ensuring that new urns of hot water were brought out and that fresh platters of food were available for those who were hungry.

Finally, though, the gathered crowd made their way across to the tables and chairs and Steve stepped up to the podium.

"Thank you all for coming today, especially on such short notice," he began. "You all know why we're here: the Sokovia Accords. These Accords, developed in secret by the United Nations are expected to be ratified by that body two day's from now. While our lawyers are still going through it – it's a thick document, one that I sure couldn't read in the timeframe that we were given – we know the highlights.

"Everyone that is not considered a 'normal' human, is to be registered with the Panel that will 'oversee' us. DNA samples, fingerprints, a full analysis of our powers and what we can do – rated on some arbitrary scale, mind you – and we'll also be expected to wear a monitor/tracker at all times, just in case 'something' happens. As has been pointed out, that is nothing less than the most hardened criminal is expected to comply with.

"We, of course, and really anyone who took the time to think, would know that we are not the only people out there with abilities, be they mutates, mutants, magicals or Inhuman. And there are some of them that will never comply with these requirements, simply because they are criminals. On the flip side, these requirements are written in such a way as to stop us from doing our job, of keeping the civilians safe and making sure that the world keeps turning.

"Personally, this reminds me too much of what I fought against back in World War Two. The Nazis took a dislike to people, simply because of their ancestry and forced them to be rounded up, locked away and many were executed. These Accords are one small step away from that being done to us.

"That's why we've worked to ensure that, before these Accords are signed, there will be a round table conference where representatives of each different type of human gets their say in how they and those like them get to live their lives from this day forward."

"Who gets to be at this table?" Reed asked.

"That is part of what we need to work out today," Steve replied. "Right now, I can tell you that there will be twelve seats in total – two representing each people: mutants, mutates, magicals, Inhumans, normals and the 'super-normals', those of us like Tony, Bucky and Sam who use tech to fight the good fight."

"What's the mission, Boss? What's our goal for these talks?" Nat asked.

"To be honest, my goal is for us to simply continue living our lives without feeling as though just being who we are is considered criminal by the rest of the world. I want the people of the world to see that, despite our differences, we're all human," he replied.

"People have been fighting for millenia over the smallest difference," Hank, the blue-furred X-Man said. "As laudable as your goal is, I cannot see it being achieved."

"You're right, it probably won't be at these talks. But it has to start somewhere," Steve replied.

"And what better place than at the very top, in the arena of the United Nations where the macro laws are debated and put into place," Charles said.

"Black Bolt asks how large of a population of the world are considered different, one of the groups represented here?" Medusa asked.

"That is a very hard question to answer," Charles replied. "Using Cerebro, a device that enhances my own telepathic ability, I am able to find and locate mutants. Possibly it would allow me to differentiate between others as well, but it has never been calibrated for that. Therefore, speaking only of the mutants, I can reliably tell you that there are a lot more than one would imagine, and even more that have the potential. And every year, I see that number growing, whether that is simply in response to the number of humans on the planet, then I am unsure."

"Give us a ball-park figure," Reed asked.

"My estimate would be two percent of the world's population that either are or who have the potential to become mutants," Charles said.

"Two percent ain't much," Ben stated.

"Perhaps not, but almost identical to the same percentage of people in the world with green eyes," Bruce stated, "and there aren't any laws being proposed against them."

"And when you add in the rest of us, that number only rises," Steve said.

"What happens if we don't do what they want? I ain't too keen on the idea of having my blood and DNA taken – seen too many ways for that to go wrong already," Logan stated. "Are they gonna be building giant sentient robots to hunt us down or something?"

"Nope, they can't do that, it's against their own laws to build or create AIs," Tony stated quickly.

"One of the problems, I fear, is our own existence," Vision stated. "Our strength is something to be valued but it also brings challenges, those who want to test themselves against us, to prove that they are either just as powerful or even more so. We have seen this evidenced in the last few years alone. The Avengers were created as a team to fight the fights that ordinary humans couldn't and HYDRA also created their own team of powered individuals."

"And we took them down," Peter called.

"Indeed," the Vision nodded. "Fortunately, you did so and even more fortunately, you did it in the middle of the jungles of Brazil where there was little collateral damage. But Secretary Ross reminded us here just yesterday of the many places where there has been conflict where the innocent has been hurt, affected or killed."

"Are you saying that we caused all of that?" Steve asked.

"Not at all, Captain," Vision replied. "But our strength has created challenge; challenge brings chaos and chaos breeds catastrophe."

"And how much more chaos and catastrophe would there be without us doing our best to protect the world?" Charles challenged. "I know how many times my X-Men have fought and bled to keep the world safe from those who would do it harm and I have seen the Avengers do the same. None of us seek these conflicts but we are the line between disaster and keeping the people safe."

"We are the shield for the people," Clint added with a nod.

"We do what is right, not because it is easy, because, believe me, it isn't, but we do it because it is right," Harry stated. "The easy solution is to give in, to do what they want, to sacrifice our freedom to live our lives normally. Or to run and hide, to go underground like my own people did over three hundred years ago, to disappear off the face of the planet, away from those who might harm us."

"My own ancestors did something similar," Black Bolt said through Medusa. "They gathered as many Inhumans as they could find and they left the planet altogether to create a safe haven to live close by. But by doing so, they denied themselves their birthright. Generations of Inhumans have looked to our sky to see the Earth above us and to know that it wasn't our home any more, regardless of how much we desired it to be."

"We shouldn't have to run and hide or take the easy road," Steve said. "If we're honest, we shouldn't even have to be the ones that are the shield between whatever wants to cause chaos and catastrophe and the innocent, everyday people. But we are who we are. We can do what we can do and if that means placing ourselves in harm's way, then I don't think any of us begrudge that fact. What we do begrudge, though, is that they want to take our choice away from us, to decide what we can and cannot be."

"Only together can our voices be heard and this round table sounds like our greatest opportunity in history to declare that we, regardless of our differences, are a part of this planet, that we are still human beings," Charles stated.

"That's what the old man's always preaching around here," Tony said. "Together we can do anything."

"That's what we need to do, go into these Accords with one goal in mind, all of us together, to demand that our voices be heard, to make the people see that together, all of us, whether normal, magical, mutant, mutate or Inhuman, that we are all humans and all deserve the same rights and privileges and, if the law if broken, we all deserve the same punishment," Steve stated.

Applause broke out, quickly spreading from person to person until all there were nodding and even standing at Steve's speech.

"Sounds to me as though we're in agreement," Steve smiled. "I think all that's left is to decide who should be sitting at the table on Tuesday."

ooo00ooo

"This is a document of fear!" Matt declared, slamming the volume closed with such force that it made the entire table shake.

"Yeah, well, what'd you expect?" Foggy asked. "It's written against anyone who doesn't conform to what was once considered the human 'norm'."

"It goes against the very basic Human Rights, the ones that the United Nations themselves declared that all people should have," Jennifer stated. "We don't even have to go past the first two before these Accords breaks them! 'We are all born free and equal.' 'Don't discriminate.' These are so fundamental and they're blatantly breaking them with this document."

"Ah, there's the rub," Foggy said. "You said, 'human rights'. It could be argued that mutants, mutates, Inhumans and magicals fall under a different category."

"This is not time to be playing Devil's Advocate, Foggy," Matt bit.

"Isn't it? Because I think it is. If we're going to walk into the United Nations ... tomorrow," he said, after checking his watch and seeing that it'd just past midnight again, "then we need to be prepared for whatever they throw at us."

"You think that they'll claim that basic human rights only apply to people without any changes in their DNA?" Karen asked.

"Makes sense. They don't apply to chimpanzees," Foggy replied, "and there's not a whole lot of difference between human and monkey DNA."

"But we're talking about something much closer. Mutants for example only have a single extra gene," Karen stated.

"And Inhumans have the DNA from another species in them," Foggy countered.

"But they're still human, we can see that," Matt stated.

"Not if you look at Doreen or Melati or that blue guy from the X-Men. They even look fundamentally different," Foggy argued.

"How's that different from regular people with different coloured skin or eyes?" Jennifer asked.

"I know it's not," Foggy said, "but they'll argue that it is."

"Could we argue that basic human rights should be applied to all individuals who live on Earth?" Karen asked.

"It could be a tough sell, but I don't see why we can't," Matt stated.

"And if we can do that successfully, that should mean that we can argue against the mandatory DNA swaps, fingerprints, power analyses and ankle monitors," Jennifer said.

"And people's rights to keep their identities secret if they want," Matt added.

"And we all know how close that one is to your heart," Foggy smiled.

"Alright, we can work with that," Matt said. "The other stuff, though, I'm not sure that we can do anything about that in such a short amount of