a brief, unwilling foray into crime, Miguel aided the Avengers West Coast, and then joined the team. During his tenure with the Avengers West Coast, he teamed with heroes such as the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, Darkhawk, and Spider-Man. He battled villains such as Arkon and Thundra, the second Hangman, the Night Shift, Satannish, Death Web, Professor Power, and the Magus. Alongside the Avengers, he participated in the Kree/Shi'ar War. He eventually decided to become an Avengers reservist while attending college. While he occasionally serves with the team, Miguel gave up active membership to concentrate on his studies. For a time, Miguel and his fellow Avenger Quasar manned a deep-space monitoring station. Their powers enabled them to travel back and forth to Earth without difficulty. Miguel took advantage of the isolation to study. The Great Lakes Avengers (GLA) invited Miguel Santos in order to recruit him in their team. During the meeting, he turned them down, explaining that he'd attended thinking the team's acronym GLA referred to the Gay/Lesbian Alliance. With his explanation, he inadvertently revealed that he was gay to GLA member Flatman. During the Civil War storyline, Miguel joined Captain America's Secret Avengers as one of twenty new members who opposed the Superhuman Registration Act. He worked with the team out of a series of safe houses set up by Nick Fury. He was part of the final battle between the two main sides. After Captain America surrendered to the authorities, Living Lightning became an Initiative recruit, joining the Texas Rangers. During the Secret Invasion storyline, Living Lightning was with the Rangers when they, 3-D Man, and Ant-Man III were fighting a Skrull that was posing as Lobo. After the Dark Reign storyline, Living Lightning was doing private security work for the Avengers; notably protecting the family of Avengers Academy student Striker. Living Lightning was with the Rangers when they come into conflict with Kaine alias Scarlet Spider in Houston, then they joined forces with him to battle a monster made of pure energy. He has since left the Rangers and was inducted in the FBI, where he goes on several undercover missions. During the Avengers: No Surrender story arc, Santos was the one responsible for making the Grandmaster back down and surrender the Avengers he had captured as part of the latest game through a daring bluff; by provoking the Grandmaster into a game of poker, Santos