GARRETT CASTLE, ENGLAND

"So it's all mine again?" Dane stood in one of the castle's great rooms, staring out at the English countryside with unabashed glee.

Miriam Ross, his personal attorney, smiled. "Yes indeed, Mr. Whitman. Your ancestral home was willed to you by the late Ms. Victoria Bentley. Upon her death, the castle - as well as a sizable settlement - was bequeathed to yourself. While her death is obviously a great tragedy, perhaps some good can come of it."

Dane's heart dropped somewhat at her words. He was starting to think that no good could ever come from death. He'd seen too much of it in his lifetime - both in his stint during the Crusades and in the twentieth century as well. "Well, Victoria was a good friend. It's hard to accept that she's gone." He looked over at the attractive brunette and noticed that she was returning his glance with obvious enthusiasm. A smile began to spread once more over his features - no matter what the situation, Dane Whitman had always been popular with women.

"Well, I am sorry for your loss. I'm also apologetic that it took so long to get into contact with you. You're a hard man to pin down. If someone at our firm hadn't had contacts with Oracle, we might never have discovered that you were working there."

Dane nodded at that. "Well, I was...away for a time. But I'm no longer with Oracle, actually. We parted ways recently."

"Ah. So you will be staying in England, then?"

"Yes." He stepped towards her and offered his hand. As she stood close, he could smell her perfume. "Thank you for everything, Miss Ross. I appreciate all the work you've done for me. Now I've got to start moving my things inside. It's been years since I lived here."

Miriam took his hand and squeezed. "I noticed quite a few large boxes and such...you're a scientist, aren't you?"

"Amongst other things." Dane took a deep breath. He knew she was flirting but he really wasn't interested - despite her attractiveness. After everything that had happened with Crystal and then Sersi..."I've taken a position with Sycorp - I start tomorrow. Now, I really do need to get settled in..."

Miriam's eyes shone with disappointment, but she nodded. "Of course - I'm sorry for having kept you. Enjoy your return home, Mr. Whitman. You have a full staff on the payroll so you should have plenty of help getting settled in. Good day."

Dane watched her as she walked out, admiring the view but knowing he'd done the right thing. The last thing he needed right now was a romance. Not with all the changes in his life - becoming the defender of Avalon*, returning to England, and now moving back into the castle that had once belonged to his uncle Nathan.**

* (see the recent Heroes For Hire series - Barry)

** (Nathan Garrett was the evil Black Knight who fought the Avengers - Barry)

He thought back to the day, all those years ago, when Nathan had begged him to redeem the name and legacy of the Black Knight - like a young fool, Dane had accepted the task. But after all that had happened, he sometimes wondered if it had been the right decision. Dane looked at his new surroundings, feeling like someone who had awakened from a very long slumber. For the first time in a long time, he had a place to call home.

The Blade felt wonderful in his hand, almost like it was an extension of his body. Sir Alec Drake swung the Ebony Blade in a graceful arc, a smile spreading across his face. "It's marvelous. Simply marvelous..." His voice was tinged with a note of awe.

The hooded figure at his side nodded. The figure smelled horribly, his hands and face wrapped in concealing bandages. Drake had no idea if the man were deformed or not, though from the smell he doubted that the man had bathed in recent months. "I told you, good sir," the hooded figure purred. His voice was hoarse and old. "And the Gilded Man never lies."

Drake grunted, regretfully putting the blade back down on the table top. The two men were in Drake's study, the door to which was safely locked to prevent Drake's nosy maid from entering. Drake himself up to his full height, preparing himself for the talk of money to come - he hated doing business with commoners, especially ones with such terrible hygiene. "Well...how much do you want for it?"

The Gilded Man shook his head, holding up a hand to silence Drake. "No... no money is required. Think of it as a favor only."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "A favor? You bring me a priceless mystical artifact and you expect me to believe you're just going to give it to me?"

"It is a favor, good sir. And, in return, you shall do a favor for me someday..."

Drake grunted. "What sort of favor?"

"You have applied for membership to the Hellfire Club, Mr. Drake?"

"Yes..."

"Good. I have a feeling that you shall be accepted in due time. When you are... I shall come calling. There is much that a member of such a fine group could do for me."

Drake poured himself a glass of brandy while watching his guest. "Acceptance into the Club isn't the same as acceptance into the Inner Circle. There would be limits to what I could do..."

The Gilded Man nodded. "Of course, of course. All that I ask is that you remember me, my friend. That's all that I want - and, in the meantime, you have a priceless treasure. One that could grant you great power..."

Drake sipped his brandy, staring at the Gilded Man with obvious disdain. When he lowered the glass, he nodded curtly. "Fine. Then our business is done. The Ebony Blade is mine..."

"...and this is your lab. Will it do?" Franklin Wright's voice actually contained a note of curiosity when he asked - which simply floored Dane Whitman. His new laboratory at Sycorp was, to put it bluntly, gigantic.

Dane nodded. "I think I'll manage." He moved into the lab, running a hand over the counter-top. It was clean as a whistle. He checked out the microscopes and the computers next, marveling at them. He hadn't been in a lab setting this impressive since his time with the Avengers - and, even there, he hadn't had the time to really enjoy the equipment around him.

Franklin, a thin man with a perpetually harried look to himself, remained at the doorway. "All of us at Sycorp are genuinely thrilled to have you onboard, Dane. I read your treatise on Micromechanics a few years back and was absolutely floored by the possibilities. It's that kind of fresh thinking that a growing company like Sycorp needs..."

Dane smiled. "You don't have to sell me on it, Franklin - I've already bought into the company line, hook and sinker."

Franklin nodded, chuckling. "Very well - my apologies. But I'm serious in my enthusiasm for the place, Dane. I've never encountered a research company that was so... well, diehard in its appreciation for science. It's very heartening, let me tell you."

"I agree - I was between jobs when I received my invitation to join the staff and to be honest, I never expected Sycorp to live up to its reputation. Who runs the company?"

Franklin shrugged. "Don't know and don't care, to be honest. I've heard rumors that Sycorp is actually a subsidiary of another corporation but I haven't investigated - and Sycorp isn't a publicly traded company right now so they're fairly secretive about the higher-ups. Still, with as many government contracts as we have, we must be clean - otherwise the government wouldn't deal with us, right?"

"I suppose you're right..." Dane looked away, his instincts warning him that this didn't sound kosher... But he ignored them for once, telling himself that he was, once again, being paranoid. There didn't have to be supervillains running about every corner, after all...

Dane rubbed a hand over his weary eyes, trying to soothe away his aches. He was still in the lab, long after most of his associates had gone home - he was lost in the world of science, enjoying the chance to cut loose in a way that didn't involve swords or energy blasts.

He was so lost, in fact, that it took him a moment to notice that he was no longer in the lab. He blinked down at himself and saw that he was now in his armor, his Sword of Light sheathed at his side and the Shield of Night slung over his back. He glanced in front of him and saw Her. The Lady of the Lake, looking beautiful and ethereal. She was so wonderful, in fact, that it literally pained the Black Knight to make eye-contact with her.

He knelt before her, his head bowed. "My Lady..."

Her voice, like the tinkling of a thousand bells, rang out. "Arise, my gallant Knight. I would warn you of dire things to come..."

Dane clenched his fist. "What do you mean? Is Avalon at risk?"

"It soon shall be, Knight. An old enemy of Avalon is marshaling its forces. It seeks nothing less than the destruction of my home."

"Who is it? Tell me and I'll go after them!" Dane found his heart going out to the beautiful woman before him. In a way he could never explain, Dane Whitman loved the Lady of the Lake - not in an earthly way, but in a far more spiritual manner.

The Lady smiled softly. "Its name is not known to me yet - sometimes the future is a shadowy thing. But you must be vigilant, for I have seen that the hand of evil hangs heavy around you."

The Black Knight placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "If anyone threatens you or Avalon, my Lady, they shall find me more than a match for them."

The Lady of the Lake nodded, her form shimmering softly. "Your words do you justice, sir Knight. Be safe."

The Black Knight found himself back in his laboratory, his heart in his throat. A threat to Avalon... Silently, he swore that whatever it was, it would fail. Avalon was under his personal protection...

The hero known as Union Jack perched on the cathedral's rooftop, overlooking the busy city of London. It was late and a chill hung in the damp air. It was enough to make Joey Chapman wish that he were at home with a cup of hot tea in his hand - or something a bit stronger, for that matter.

The flapping of wings made him look up and for a moment, Union Jack thought he was looking into legend. The Black Knight circled overhead, his winged horse Strider finally coming to a landing nearby. The Knight swung down from his saddle and smiled. "Hello, Joey. Glad you could meet me..."

Union Jack shrugged. "Hard to turn down an invite from a guy with a flying horse. What brings you to this side of the pond?"*

* (Union Jack and the Black Knight met during the Marvel UK Knights Of Pendragon series - Barry)

"Actually - I'm living here now. In the old Garrett Castle."

Joey flinched. A castle. How wonderful, he mused. Thoughts of his own dingy flat came unbidden to his mind. Choking down a fresh batch of envy, he said, "Oh, wonderful. A castle for a Knight. How appropriate."

Dane didn't seem to notice the sarcasm. "It is nice, now that you mention it. But you're probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you - well, I know that Excalibur has disbanded so I figured that the only superhero I was liable to run into on a regular basis might be you -"

Union Jack shook his head. "Doubt it. I get the feeling you and I won't be traveling in the same circles, mate. You'll be fighting Dr. Bloody Doom and I'll be getting my throat ripped out by vampires..."

The Black Knight frowned somewhat. "I invited you here as a gesture of goodwill. I was hoping that the two of us could exchange information and work together from time to time..."

"Look, Mr. Black Knight - I appreciate that you wanted to have a chat with me before you moved in. Good neighbor policy, I know - but you and I don't have much in common..."

"You have the power of the Pendragon, Joey - and I'm the defender of Avalon. I'd say we have a whole hell of a lot in common."

"I don't think so. You have your world and I have mine. You own a bloody castle, for God's sake! I have trouble making my rent from month-to-month... You're a member of the Avengers. You travel the whole galaxy. I fight vampires and werewolves and things that shouldn't even exist."

Union Jack's voice had risen in volume and he found himself staring angrily into the eyes of the Black Knight. For some reason, he found himself both jealous and spiteful of the Knight - he had everything that Joey himself did not. He was handsome, brilliant, respected by everyone... while Union Jack, a noble legacy if there ever was one, was lucky to hit the back page of the London Times.

Dane felt his temper beginning to slip away from him, but he reigned it in with a sigh. "Joey...I'm going to forget that we ever had this conversation. I'm going to go home and pretend that you and I are still friends..."

"We were never friends."

"...and the next time we meet, I want it to be as allies."

Union Jack rolled his eyes. "How gallant of you."

The Black Knight turned, moving to mount his steed. "Good-bye, Joey. If you need me, you know where to call."

Union Jack watched him go, a frown on his face. "Not bloody likely." He stood there for a long moment and then let out a groan. "Good move, Chapman. As usual, your winning personality has carried the day..." He moved away from the rooftop, disgusted with himself.

The Black Knight flew on, carried aloft by Strider. The day had not been total success (his conversation with Joey had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt), but overall he was happy for the first time in months. It was a new beginning, one unfettered by old ties or commitments. And he would make the best of it.

In Black Knight # 1: The all-new Black Knight series kick off! Look for the return of Dane's lost love, Sersi, and more on the mysterious Alec Drake! Plus: Mordred the Mystic arrives on the scene!