You Don't Always Get What You Want. by Voracity2

You Don't Always Get What You Want.

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Steve looked over as Bucky gasped and hopped up, staring around the room. He stared back when the other man focused on him. "Are you back?"

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Somehow you got retriggered. After four days of trying to protect you and having to fight you to do that, Xander gave up. He called. He's moving your stuff with his."

Bucky considered that then shook his head. "I was undoing a few memories."

"I wouldn't tell him that since he's vowed to kill whoever did that to you. Considering how injured he was...it'll take him a few days to get to it." Bucky winced, finding Steve's phone to text his protege. Wouldn't go through, came back as no such number. "He changed it?" Bucky nodded. "We'll find him."

"Maybe. He can hide. It took me six weeks to find him that first time." He sat down, running a hand over his hair. "I need to go straighten that out now."

"He'd probably forgive you."

Bucky snorted, shaking his head. "No he won't. That's like a betrayal, Steve." He stood up again. "Any idea if he's still in the city?"

"No clue. Ask Clint?"

"I can do that."

Clint knocked and came in a few seconds later. "The video surveillance said he was up and asking about Xander. He's not in the city. He might not be in the US. I know he's really pissed off at whoever did it." He stared at him. "You nearly killed him at least twice."

"He should've let me go."

"So he would have to save you again?" Clint snorted. "Really?" He stared at him. "I'm sure that would've went over great with you, and then him being even more mad." He looked at Steve. "I think he's heading to Canada. No one's sure. I doubt anyone will be sure. He was muttering about worse than Rosenburg. Though that demon was killed by Deadpool in the park eating muggers." He left them to talk.

Steve shook his head with a sigh. "Okay, so we have a mess to clean up." Bucky was rubbing his head. "Headache? He said you got some whenever we talked," he said quietly.

"Little bit." He looked at him. "I screwed up."

"Yeah, I think so. I'll help you fix it. You know that. Xander could use all the support he can get sometimes." He stared at his oldest friend. "He's like your son in some ways."

"He'd hate that comparison. His parents were shitbags." He sat back down. "What's in Canada?"

"I don't know if you don't. I barely know the kid."

Bucky nodded. "I try really hard to but a lot I can't get into." He got up to pace again. "I need to go back there, see if he left any clues. He usually would leave me one."

"We can do that." Steve stood up. "Grab a shower first? Change clothes?" Bucky looked at himself then went to do that.

***

Bucky stomped into the bar where Xander sometimes went to talk to others, especially that damned costumed one. He hauled Wade up as he walked past him, hauling him out back. "Where is he?" he demanded coolly.

"Did you lose the guy that's been taking care of you?" he shot back, staring at him. Steve shook his head. "He was. Again."

"He didn't even leave a message so who has him? He always leaves a hint where he's going."

Wade stared at him then looked at Steve. "Do you have any idea what's been going on with your buddy and his slave? Because yeah, some of us watch Forger. We've seen him protecting Bucky, we've seen him keeping him from being recaptured." He looked at Bucky. "We saw you meditating before you went down and there weren't any HYDRA people near there. I'm not the one that told him that though. One of the others told him that little tidbit. As for where he's going? Somewhere he can heal. Let's face it, a non-serum guy kept you in check and safe for four days. Even though his liver's not working right, still." Bucky was growling. "All we know is north. Though I'm pretty sure he's going to run into Logan. He's hiding up that way and guys like that are drawn to the kid. Maybe he'll get to relax and destress, as long as Logan doesn't take him as a threat. None of us can get hold of him to warn him not to touch the kid."

"He is a bit paranoid," Steve agreed with a sigh at the end. "So he hiked off?"

"Yep. Something about betraying his trust. Something about it had taken a year but he knew you'd do it anyway." Bucky took a swing at him but Wade ducked it easily. "Something about taking care of your stupid ass and this is how you repay him, should've been born a girl came up." He stared at him. "Good luck with that." He went back inside.

"Can you tell us if you hear from him?" Steve asked quietly.

"No. I like Xander. He's a good friend to have. And hey, he'll be out of the way when you and Stark finally blow each other up." He went in to get a beer.

"Now what?" Steve asked, staring at Bucky.

"I need to find him to apologize."

"Can you find him?" Steve asked. "I'm not sure if he wants to be found."

"People notice the one-eyed guy." He looked around then at him. "I'm going to Canada. Call me if you need me for something?"

"Fat chance. You're not in any shape to go hunting your protege."

"It's my duty."

"And mine is helping you."

"No, it's not. You have missions and world saving things to do."

Steve stared at him. "Maybe knocking you around would help fix whatever loose wire's in your brain." Bucky winced. "Let's go find your protege. I'll actually talk to him first so you don't make him react and summon another demon to eat bad people."

"I got told that." He stomped to the car, getting in to drive. Steve made it inside though so that was going to happen he guessed. He headed north. "Do you know that Logan guy?"

"Yeah, I do. His phone's off so I sent a text message."

"That's good. Xander doesn't need more hell in his life." He rubbed his forehead.

"Maybe I should drive while you have the headache."

"The boys pulled that on me all the time," he growled. "I'm fine."

"Okay, if you're sure." Steve stared at him until Bucky huffed and let him drive instead.

***

Xander looked up from settling in the motel of the night, sitting outside to check his knives for sharpness, when he heard someone walking. He stared at the guy. "I recognize you from the comic book in my original world, Logan. I'm not here to bother you, upset you, or get into your face. I'm just getting away from an abusive boss. So just...don't. Okay?"

"Who're you?"

"Forger."

"Never heard of ya."

"Great." He shrugged. "That's your shit. I'm not getting in your shit. You and all the other costumed ones can go the fuck away for a while please." He went back to sharpening that knife.

"Big words for a punk no one's heard from."

Xander smirked at him. "Just because you're hiding up here in the middle of nowhere doesn't mean I'm not known. It means you're hiding and haven't talked to anyone." A claw came out. Xander shrugged. "Yay you. I can summon something to eat your ass before you can stab me."

"You're one of Strange's contacts?"

"No. He hates me. I got forced from my realm, where I was hunting demons to save humanity, to here." Logan shuddered, stepping back. "Sometimes though, it's a good use of the energy that's infecting me to bring something that'll save me work. Unless you'd like to not become work? Because I'm not here to deal with anything you're dealing with. I'm just getting away before I kill someone. Which you're interrupting."

"You ever talk to Xavier?"

"No. Why would I want to talk to the mind fucker that killed a whole team on purpose because they might've saved the right people?" Logan flinched. "He's not a totally good guy. Frankly, I trust Magneto's methods more than Xavier's. At least he's honest about what he wants. I can't agree with his ideals but at least I know where he stands. Others? Not as much. You're more than welcome to keep both mind fuckers and the idiot one-eyed bicycle *far* away from me. Like I said, you guys were comics to my world." He smiled. "I've seen him go bad too." He went back to his next knife.

"Who trained you?"

Xander let out a bitter laugh. "Hunting with a slayer for seven years. Then going to train others that got activated." He looked up. "I spent three years doing that before being shoved over here. It was a *great* early birthday present that HYDRA did by summoning me. Thankfully they're dead."

"All of them?"

"No, but those ones are dead. If I run into more, they'll be dead." He shrugged. "I protect humanity from bad things. Including them." He went back to working on the knife. "You have a great night at the pub. I'm going to rest and move on in the morning."

"Don't go further north. There's a group up there that'll want to take you in."

Xander looked at him again. "I know." He smiled. "I doubt they're going to manage it without nearly killing me but I know." Logan nodded, hiking off. "Have a better night, dude." He finished up that knife and checked his pistols then went inside for the night. This motel had been abandoned so it was safe enough for now. No one was nearby outside a few hunters and one crazy guy in the woods, who was probably Logan.

He'd move on in the morning to find something better to do. Woods brought up bad instincts and he did not want to hyena out.

At the bar, Logan checked his phone for messages, finding one from Rogers. He sent back a 'too late' and a town's name. They could track the kid from here. He sent messages to others to find out about that punk kid. Maybe it was a bad thing, maybe not, but he hadn't been here about or for him. He got back something from an odd source but they were trustworthy. He was right, the kid was angry and a punk but damn good at what he did.

***

Xander rolled his eyes when the bar behind him went into fighting mode. He paid for his beer, smiling at the bartender. "Thank you."

"You passing through?"

"Yeah, I'm on a road trip to get away from some people I thought I could trust. Turns out I was wrong." He sipped his beer, nodding. "Tastes better up there than in the US." He took another sip. Someone grabbed his arm. "Let. Go." He stared at the guy. "Now please." The man sneered but backed up. "I'm staying out of you boys' fun times tonight. Can't you honor that?"

"I think you're a poacher," the drunk guy sneered.

"The last time I hunted wildlife for food I was in a village in Africa and the whole village ate on it for nearly a week. I've never hunted for shits and giggles or a head on the wall. That's highly disrespectful. Anything else you want to ask?"

"You sick or something? I noticed you rubbing your side."

"My liver got damaged a few years ago during a fight." He shrugged. "It happens. It still works."

"Should you be drinking?"

"Yeah. I don't have a problem with alcohol and a beer every two weeks was recommended by my doctor to clear out my kidneys. Tastes better up here than the same stuff does in the US. Must be better made. Beyond that, I'm just driving to deal with issues right now. My issues shouldn't become your issues and I won't stop if you try me. Do we understand that warning?" he asked, staring him down. He finished his beer. "Go play little boy games with your friends. I'm not the tourist you want to try." The guy sneered again and took a swing at him. Xander hit the guy in the throat and made him fall down choking.

"I've faced down warlords," he told the guy on the ground. "I spent three years in Africa protecting people. You ain't shit to handle but I didn't want to handle anyone tonight. So go play, little boy. I'm not here for you." He looked at the bartender again. "Plenty of guys like that where I grew up. Pity. The world could use some more real men." The bartender tried not to laugh but did serve him a second beer. "Thanks." He sipped it, listening to the group as they argued and picked on the guy he had hit. It'd be another attempt later but Xander could handle them and not kill them. He was that good. He finished the beer, put down a tip, and headed for his car. A cop car was out there. "I'm not drunk. Not even close to impaired."

"I can breathalize you, sir."

"Please do if it makes you feel better." The officer pulled the machine out and Xander blew .0013. Xander grinned. "I had drunk parents who made sure I could function above legally drunk but I've only had two beers and I'm going right to the hotel." He pointed at it. "Am I safe?"

"I suppose. You hit that guy?"

"When he tried to hit me first." He shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. The officer tensed up. "Relax. I'm not armed. I'm just keeping myself from hitting the one trying to sneak up on me." He nodded back that way. "Apparently they were bored enough to want new prey and I'm really bad at being prey." One tried to pounce him so he moved and kicked him on the way down. "Not your toy," he repeated. "Dumbass." He looked at the officer. "Let me go nap. I'm on a roadtrip to get away from an asshole supposed friend." He pulled out his keys and got into the old station wagon he had, heading over to the hotel. He checked in and locked the door before alarming the room and laying down. Drunk idiots weren't that big of a deal to him. He could hear the officer yelling at them though. It was sweet one was his son.

***

Steve ran into Logan on purpose. "Logan."

"Rogers." He shook his hand. "I have no idea where the kid went. He shacked up in an abandoned motel for the night then left the next day. Went westish but a bit south. "

Steve nodded. "Anything that way you think he might want to stop in on?"

"Not that I'm aware of. All I got from the kid was he's mad. Real mad."

"Yeah, I get that." He looked back at Bucky, who was filling up the sedan. He looked at Logan again. "Long story."

"I got that from Cable. Who said he's usually a nice kid but your boy there fucked him up worse. For all I know he's heading to Vancouver to watch all those tv shows tape. He seemed like a geek."

"He is. Mostly. Thanks. Let us know?"

"If I hear, yeah." Steve nodded, going back to the car. Logan watched them go, shaking his head. He sent a text to Natasha, he adored that girl, and then one to a few contacts. The kid had been noted at a bar brawl so he told Rogers that. Maybe it'd help the kid be less angry.

***

The next day, Steve found out where the kid was, he was on the news handling a huge demon. It had been covered. "He stole your ball cap," Steve said, making Bucky look over. Bucky groaned, shaking his head. "Let's see how far off that is."

"They said it was near a reservation. He's probably going to talk to the shaman. He trained with a few in Africa."

"Maybe," Steve agreed. "I'd want out of that area before they figured out who I was."

Bucky shook his head. "Most people are freaked out by demons. They'll thank him for that." He stood up, coming closer to watch the replay. "We can get there by tonight?"

"Few hundred miles," Steve said after looking it up. "Tomorrow morning if we go straight through." He looked at Bucky. "If he's still there."

"He'll be near there." They packed up and left again after getting more gas. He hated chasing Xander but it was sure that Xander wasn't going to come back without them pulling him.

***

Clint called Xander's phone, hoping he'd answer. "Did you store anything large in New York?" He listened to him say 'find a sword'. "A sword!" he demanded. "Beheaded. And the head's in the neck area." He winced. "He's out of the area, kid. Oh. Great. Yeah, if we can blow it apart we can do that. Stark said he can't. Take out the red glowing thing. What red glowing thing?" He put on his sunglasses as ordered. "Oh, that red glowing thing. Guys, there's a red, glowing thing around his waist," he called. "If we take that off we can blow his neck off." Natasha looked back then nodded, leading the first attempt with Stark. Hulk caught Stark when the demon batted him back. Hulk lunged at the demon but it was stronger than him. Clint blew an explosive arrow trying to destroy the glowing amulet.

Dr. Strange showed up and summoned the amulet then handed over a glowing sword to Natasha, who beheaded it. "Where is the irritating boy?" he demanded dryly.

"Hiding from the assholes who used him," Clint said. "Like a sane person would." Strange winced. "Somewhere up north."

"I'll find him later to get the new potion to him." Strange looked at the demon. "You could probably burn it but it appears the belt pouch has something in it." He left with his sword. He had to talk to that boy again apparently. When he meditated toward him and found him on the spirit plane, he understood and agreed he needed a vacation.

***

Xander woke up and stared up. "Don't tell them where I am. Thanks." He got up to leave. He came out of the bathroom finding a potion on the bed. "Thanks." He took it with him. He could take it and puke up magic later. Wherever he ended up. Hopefully far away from Bucky before he treated him like a demon and smited him. Or was it smote? He'd have to ask Thor the next time he ran into him about that piece of grammar. He walked out to his car and sighed at the guy leaning against it. "What?" he demanded.

Steve stared at him. "I left Bucky back at the diner, Xander," he said quietly.

"Good. That means I won't kill him." He stared at him. "I'm done. I don't care. Okay?" He went to get his other things, coming out to find Steve looking at the potion. "That's to remove some of the magic that infected my liver. Thanks." He took it back and got into the car. It wouldn't start. Steve smirked. "Put it back. Please."

"Can you just talk to us?"

"No. I've done enough. Thank you anyway."

Steve moved closer. Xander glared. "I'm not threatening. Just trying to keep it quiet and the others out of it, Xander." Xander snorted. "He wants to talk, to apologize."

"I went through hell helping him. I'm not sure there is an apology that great."

"I'd at least listen. What does that hurt?"

"Ask that to an abused wife, Steve." He looked at his engine then sighed and took a few bags and the potion with him, walking off. He disappeared into the woods.

Steve followed but lost the kid. Xander trained a lot in woods apparently. He called Bucky, but he couldn't track him either. Steve looked at him. "He doesn't want to let you apologize. Compared you to an abusive husband."

Bucky winced. "I didn't mean to go back down. I really didn't."

"Well, now we gotta help find him. Before something happens."

Bucky stared at him. "Just because he draws trouble doesn't mean he wants to."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"You sounded like those girls." He huffed, grimacing as he looked around the woods. "Let me get his stuff sent back to New York." He stomped off to handle that then he'd look for the kid. He looked at Steve. "I never taught him anything about the woods."

"You think he might've picked it up in Africa?" Steve asked dryly. Bucky winced but nodded. "We'll get this back to the tower." Bucky nodded, calling a contact to do that for Forger. They wouldn't do it for him but Xander was a favored playtoy of their boss. He also noted they had a fight and he was looking for the kid but he had just run away into some woods. That minion promised to tell his boss, who could find him and baby him for a bit.

***

Two weeks later, Xander was finishing the large demon he had been called on to kill, wincing at the poison that was soaking into his scratches and cuts. He looked back. "I need the blue bottle from my pack," he ordered. "It's got an anti-toxin." The officer who had gotten him there looked and shook his head. "Shit. I don't have that one." He looked himself, wincing as the poison started to work.

"Well, I'm mostly immune to it, but I'll have to go hide while I go primal for a bit." He gathered his two packs and hiked off wiping off his favorite battle axe with his t-shirt. He almost went to the motel but no, that would be a bad idea. He might hurt someone. He headed out of the town, up into the mountains. That was probably safer. He found a good cave before his mind totally left, covered his packs with branches, and then went to splash off in the local stream. It was ice cold but it happened. He felt his mind slip back into the hyena and mentally sighed. He'd come out of it soon. Probably.

***

Steve and Bucky got to where Xander had been about two hours after he had hiked off. "Where's the guy that handled it?"

"He went into the woods. He wanted an anti-toxin he didn't have," the officer said. "We think he's fine since he said he was immune to it."

Bucky shook his head. "It'll probably turn him into a primal hunter instead of anything else. He's immune but it can still make him sick. Any idea where he is in the woods?"

"No. There's a few streams. We were worried but figured he knew how to hunt like normal folk."

Steve nodded. "He spent three years in Africa. Do you have a map?"

"Sure, I can run you guys a copy." He got it off the wall to copy for him. "Here you go. I hope he's okay. He was like one of the superhero types you see in New York City."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, he can be. He's a nice guy too." He left, telling Bucky what had happened. They got rooms at the motel so they could park there and headed into the woods. They oriented themselves and headed up one of the streams. No signs of anything but animals. Another stream crossed into that one so they followed it. Slight signs of humans but nothing that looked fresh. The higher stream, near the top of the mountains, had more signs of people. Multiple people. They considered the tracks. They were all heading in one direction. They followed, hoping it was just hunters. No, it was an assault team. A SHIELD assault team. Steve and Bucky shared a look then nodded at each other. They took down the team and put them into a cave they checked first. Steve blocked it with some rocks. It wouldn't last long but for a while.

Bucky pointed, then followed the tracks. "Combat boots," he noted quietly. Steve held up a hand, listening. A low pitched growl. Bucky shook his head. "Probably a mountain lion." They moved on and something pounced them, then ran off after biting Bucky hard on the neck. "Never mind, I was wrong." They chased after Xander, Steve finding his hiding cave by accident. Xander wasn't in there but the packs were. Xander was in a tree.

Bucky watched around, spotting a nesting area but not the kid. "There," he said with a point. "He's that way." They carefully went that way, finding Xander's hiding spot up a tree. He was growling. Bucky handed Steve the pack he had picked up, moving closer slowly. "Xander?" he asked quietly. "Come down here please?" The growling got more deadly sounding. "Please?" The boy climbed some. "Don't make me come up there."

"Don't," Steve said. "You'll make him attack you." He put the packs down, moving under the tree. "Xander, come down please," he said more firmly. "It's not safe. We want to protect you." Xander stared at him but no go. They heard the other group get free, they were swearing loudly about the rocks. Xander looked and sneered then they went up in a burst of flames. The fires died out before they spread but the few agents who had been out of the cave were now crispy piles. "That was not a good thing." He got into his pocket, holding up the meal bar. "Food?" Xander batted at it and got into another tree and tried to disappear. They followed, finding he had somehow disappeared again.

Bucky looked around. "Tell me that's not a fairy ring?" he demanded with a point.

Steve looked, shrugging some. "Looks like a ring of mushrooms, like the stories your Ma told us."

A tiny being flew out to stare at them. "Are you the owners of that one growling one?"

"He got poisoned while taking out a demon," Bucky said. "And people don't own each other anymore. We're looking for him to bring him home if that helps."

The fairy shook his head. "Not really. Looks like he was getting away from you two." He flew back in and told the other guards that. They decided to send him where he felt like. He told the angry ones that and then sealed that portal for now. Humans could be so bitchy at times.

***

Bucky started to call around as soon as the fairy told them they had delivered Xander somewhere else. "Not in New York," he complained.

"That town he's from?" Steve guessed. They picked up the packs and snuck past that team, heading back into town. They overnighted at the motel while gathering intel. Steve got an answer later from Natasha. "Africa."

"That makes sense in a few ways," Bucky said. "Is he safe?"

"No. They called him Warrior?"

"Yeah." Bucky grimaced. "Did he let himself be captured?"

Steve glared at him. "Do you really think he would?"

"I'm not sure what a hyena would do."

"We can figure that out on our way there. She'll pick us up and send an agent to take the car back to New York for us." They gathered what they'd need and caught the helicopter outside of town. The locals would wonder but oh well. Had to happen.

***

Natasha got information from her contact, paying in US cash for it before coming back to the hotel. She handed it over to Steve. "He fought hard. They tried to take him down and could not. The drugs they tried to sedate him with didn't work." She unwrapped her hair, looking at them. "They're willing to kill him instead of use him to bait you back there, Bucky. They're aware he has special skills but not sure what they may be."

He nodded. "He's got a few. Including irritating others." He looked out the window. "We have surveillance teams."

"That figures," Steve agreed. "Can we handle this on our own?"

"Yes," Natasha said. "There's not that many agents but more may be coming soon."

Steve and Bucky looked over the intel they had. "How much of a chance it was compromised on purpose?" Steve asked.

"Likely," she admitted. "It was all I could get."

Steve patted her on the wrist. "You're good at it and I know you can back us up." She smirked at him. "The last we knew he was in some sort of primal, animalistic mode."

Bucky rubbed his neck. "He bit me."

"He bit many of the agents," she said. "He ripped one's throat out." Bucky smiled, shaking his head slightly. They figured it out. She called in a report, pissing Clint off because they couldn't wait for him to get there. He got shown what they had so if he had to he could rescue the rescue team and Xander.

They gathered to go in, taking out the teams trying to herd them there on the way. They didn't need more agents behind them.

***

Steve came off the quin jet first, stomping in. "Bruce." He hopped up, turning to stare at him. "We could use your help."

"Sure. Is he all right?" he demanded, following him out there. Xander was strapped down and growling. He was covered in blood. He had a few cuts, one really deep one that was bandaged. "What happened?"

"He got poisoned by a demon he was taking out and then HYDRA managed to capture him," Bucky said, looking at his hands. "The fairies decided to hand him back to a shaman in Africa instead of us."

"I'll hear that story later," Bruce decided. "Any other problems beyond the obvious?"

"Not that we know of," Steve said. "We destroyed that lab. That's the only thing he growled that was intelligible."

"We wouldn't have the same versions of diseases they had. Help me get him to the infirmary." They carried the stretcher down there with Natasha limping behind them.

She paused in front of Clint, dropping her body camera in front of him with a look. Then she finished her limp down there.

Clint took it to run on his laptop, staring at the faces. "I didn't know they were HYDRA." He ran into one and grimaced. She was alive. "She was undercover. Please let her have been undercover," he mumbled. He sucked in a breath and kept going. A few more agents he would've sworn were good. He called Coulson's system, getting him on video chat. "Please tell me my ex was undercover," he said quietly.

"You know I can't divulge that."

"She was at a lab that got taken down." Coulson winced. "Was she undercover?" Coulson nodded slightly but looked to the side. "Natasha had on a body camera." He hung up and went to tell her that. "Coulson confirmed she was working," he said in her ear. She relaxed. "Do I need to make arrangements?" he asked quietly.

"He sniffed her and let her go after knocking her out. We weren't sure why."

"Any idea what possessed him?" Bruce asked.

"Hyena," Clint said. "He noted one a few times during casual talks."

"That's good to know." They got to work stripping Xander out of his clothes, no matter how much he fought back. Clint walked over, slowly moving into Xander's personal space. The younger guy sniffed him then let out a small chatter. Clint leaned on him, letting Xander sniff him as he moved them against the wall. It let Steve strip him off and then Clint got him nested on a bed. Xander tried to chew on the IV tube but Clint stopped him. Xander looked around then chattered toward Natasha, getting up to go sniff her again. He leaned on her shoulder, sniffing better.

She patted him. "I'm not your pack. I'm an independent hunter." He chattered and lapped her neck then strolled back to the other pack member.

"I'm a good pack member," Clint promised, patting the bed. "Come rest." Xander climbed back up to sniff him again, and Clint let him as long as he didn't do more than sniff. At the first lick, Clint moved away. Xander lounged on his pack member, making happier noises. Bruce upped the sedative in the IV, looking at Clint. Clint grinned. "He's cuddly."

"He seems like it. Can you get him shifted so I can check the injuries?"

Clint shifted himself, which made Xander move too. Stark came in with a plate of meat, letting Clint have it. "Thanks, I was hungry." He nibbled on a piece of meat. Xander's head nudged it so Clint let him have it instead. The boy nibbled, sniffing it until he picked one to pick up with his teeth. "Sure, that works too. Can you let the healer look at your sores?" He fed him another bite of meat. Then Xander hopped up to go growl at Thor. "Hey, he's good, part of the pack, Xander. Let Thor in. He's fine. He's a good pack member."

Thor waved a hand. "He is obviously possessed by a primal spirit."

"Former one, a demon's poison brought it back up," Steve said. "He ripped a lot of people up."

Thor walked Xander back to the bed, letting him eat some more meat when Clint offered it. "He'll be fine. We can test for the demon poison."

"I can't draw blood," Bruce said. "He's got some sort of protection that means no one can draw blood right now."

Thor grimaced but nodded, looking the boy over. "Here, we need to trim this line," he said with a point at something that looked like a fancy scar. He took the scalpel to trim that line, which let Xander calm down, Bruce take blood, and Clint get napped on. "He has many subtle protections that you would not expect if you weren't looking for them. It's well done." He patted the boy on the head. "He could use bathed as well." He looked at Bucky. "I know of you as Steve's friend. Are you better?"

"Yeah, I'm a lot better. Thanks."

"It is no issue." Thor left them to it. He did not want to imagine too many demons down here.

Bruce ran the bloodwork, shaking his head at what was coming up. "I'm sure there's an anti-toxin."

"He's out," Bucky said quietly. "I know he can brew them but I don't know how to do it myself."

"We can figure that out if you can find me a reference," Bruce said.

"It's in storage in the boxes," Steve said.

"Which is in my spare closet," Clint said. Steve went to look for that set of books while Bucky's injuries got looked over.

A youngish woman walked in, looking constipated. "What happened?" Maria Hill demanded. She looked at Clint. "You called Coulson?"

"I spotted his ex at the problem we just handled," Natasha said simply. Hill huffed. "Even when he was out of his mind he still managed to nearly take down the base."

"Why was he captured?" Hill demanded.

Clint stared at her. "He got poisoned by a demon he was taking down, Hill. It happens to some of us." She glared at him. He stared back. "Why are you in here anyway? You're not involved in any of the other heros in the city. Which the kid is. So bug off." Xander woke up with a yawn, blinking at Clint then around. He sniffed toward her then snarled. She backed up.

"He ripped someone's throat out," Natasha warned. "With his teeth." Hill retreated to the doorway. Bruce shut the door in her face and got back to work. Natasha smiled. "Is he looking better?"

"Somewhat. He might be able to come out of it soon. The poison's not that strong in his system."

Clint tipped the boy's head up to look in his eye. "Can you wake up? It could help." Xander put his head back down after picking up a piece of meat with his teeth. "Okay, sure, you avoid things." Bruce looked over so he pointed at where the super soldiers had been sitting. Bucky was in the bathroom. Bruce nodded, moving Bucky to a more private area. Xander relaxed some and drifted off again after trying to bite the IV cord again. Thankfully Clint stopped him so he didn't get a mouth full of fluids one shouldn't swallow.

***

Clint was gone when Xander woke up. He blinked up at the ceiling then looked around. Bruce stared back. "Shit," he said.

"You went primal."

"My hyena is really nice." He sat up with a wince. "Why did I go primal?"

"Demon poison."

"Oh, yeah, that thing. If I had taken the antidote I didn't have it would've prevented that." He looked at himself then at him. "Did I go another three rounds with his highness?"

"No. You somehow stumbled into a fairy ring and they sent you to Africa, where you got captured by a HYDRA lab." Xander winced. "It got destroyed. Natasha made sure."

"That's nice of her. I'll buy her flowers for that. Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Turned ankle. Few cuts." Bruce came over to stare at him. "You bit someone's throat out."

Xander grimaced. "Yuck."

"Very."

"Did I pick up some sort of scuzzy asshole STD?"

"No. Not that we can tell." Xander grinned. "What happened? I've heard rumors but what caused the problems?"

"Is my liver worse?"

"No. It's actually went up a bit. The poison didn't cause any other problems." Xander nodded. "Were you immune?"

"Partially. Mermaid taint."

"That's still weird. Though testing it is making the system groan."

"Did they get any samples?"

"That lab's in a smoking wreck."

"Good!"

"With what I found in your blood? Yes, it is." He stared at him. He was used to others who talked around a problem, he was one himself. "What caused the problems, kid?"

"Which problems?"

"The ones with your mentor."

"He went back there."

"He said he was meditating and slipped."

"He has a code to break that. Has had one since I merged him with his Ka spirit again." He sat up straighter to stretch. "Can I go hide?"

"No. Not yet. You still need more fluids and food." He stared at him. "That potion in your bag?"

"Magic removing."

Bruce shook his head with a sigh. "Does it help with everything else?"

"No. It makes me puke up sparkly rainbow looking stuff but it removes some of the leftover black magic I carry."

"Do you always take it?"

"I usually need to take it before I start to draw things. That may have been what brought that demon there. I'm not sure."

"From the news, it came to try to gather the sacrifice some mother had made." Xander nodded once, relaxing again. "You're safe here but Sam or someone will try to make you talk about why the fight happened."

"Because I was feeling like the abused kid he had," Xander said bluntly. "I didn't need that shit again. I had enough of that with the slayers."

Bruce nodded. "I don't think getting out of a toxic relationship is ever a bad idea," he said. "Are you sure it is?"

"Yeah. It was pretty bad before then when he was blaming me for Willow sending magic at me from across the realms and it making me sick. I don't need the nagging. I don't deserve the nagging. I can't handle it. I'm sorry but Steve can help him finish healing while I handle things that need to get done. There's a few of us who handle the smaller things."

"I'm sure you will as long as you finally heal." Bruce stared at him. "I'm going to draw extra blood in case they managed to get a sample," he said quietly. "That way I can process for antidotes." Xander sighed but nodded. "Thank you for doing sensible things."

"I do have common sense, but sometimes you gotta do the big things."

"Good point." He drew more blood for that processing, starting it into the system. "Steve and Bucky wanted to talk to you."

Xander shook his head. "No. I....no. Not right now. It's ungrateful of me but I can't."

"I don't blame you for that response, Xander. I really don't. For now, just relax and rest. You can handle all that stuff later. Also, all your stuff that was in the car is now in Clint's spare closet."

"I'm sure he took good care of my artillery for me."

"Probably." Bruce smiled a bit, getting back to work. "Hungry?"

"Nauseous so no thank you." Xander laid back down. "How long am I trapped here?"

"At least another day."

"Okay." He drifted off into his mind. It wasn't a sleeping state but at least he could rest and react if there was a problem.

Bruce checked on him then got back to work on the antidotes. It could become very important sometime soon.

***

The next morning when Bruce came back to the infirmary there was a post-it note on Xander's bed that said 'thank you' and nothing else. Bruce shook his head but got back to work on the boy's problematic blood results. Either Bucky had him again or Bucky could run out to find him again. One of the two.

Stark leaned in. "One of Hill's thugs tried to get in here to talk to him so he escaped."

"That's not why I figured he had escaped. Did he make it past them?"

"Yup. Somehow." Tony grinned. "Anything good?"

"I'm making antidotes for his version of the diseases he had." Bruce looked at him. "Not only are they dead strains but they're slightly off our version."

"How did he do that?"

"No idea. I didn't get to ask." He shrugged. "The dynamic duo?"

"Sam laid a bit of truth on him that made him pouty."

Bruce took off his glasses while turning to look at Tony better. "Xander said Bucky had been nagging him about however that witch had nearly killed him. Compared it to an abusive relationship."

"That's gotta be the soldier they made him into. I doubt Rogers would've put up with that." Bruce nodded that was true. "I can go point that out. The kid be okay? We apparently need someone who can handle demon emergencies so we need to get someone trained."

"Clint might be able to. Swords are different from bows but still ancient weapons."

"I was thinking Romanoff. She's good with the one Strange handed her." He walked off considering that. He ran into most everyone in the kitchen. "Romanoff, we need someone who can handle demon problems. Can you take sword lessons? You looked better than even Hawkbutt did."

She looked at him. "It's too early to ask those sort of questions and I do know some. I had to learn a bit of fencing for a mission." She sipped her tea. "Is Xander even here?"

"No, he got away when Hill's thugs came for him."

"Any idea where he is this time?" Clint asked. "His artillery probably misses him."

"Is it sentient?" Stark asked, looking confused.

"Who knows since he deals with weird things," Clint said. "I like the guy a lot. I've been reading through all the demon books, especially the field manual." He looked at Natasha. "Beheading comes up about forty percent of the time."

"Most things can't function without a brain."

"One has two heads, one on each end, and has a backup brain in the ass end." She shook her head with a sigh, drinking more tea.

"Good, you two learn that so we're not leaning on him until he's healed. Bruce said his liver's not any better and that's a bad thing." He looked at Steve. "Where's your buddy?"

"Off trying to find him to talk to him."

"Considering Bruce said the kid told him your buddy had been nagging about stuff he had no control of?"

Clint nodded. "Xander said he felt like his abused kid." He used his spoon to point at Steve. "Why would Bucky blame Xander for being harmed by someone in another realm that was mad at him?"

"She could have been confused or trying to help him," Natasha said. "I asked that mage. One of the bindings she used would've kept him from harming anyone."

Clint looked at her. "Which would've gotten him dead. I'd only take self defense from someone if I was really mad at them."

"She's a young woman," Natasha reminded him.

"Bobbi wouldn't have done that either."

She nodded. "Yes, but Bobbi has never been the genteel sort that girl apparently tried to pretend to be." She stared at him. "He said she was trying to protect him from turning into a monster."

"Uh-huh. Still sounds like she wanted him dead," Clint said.

"Perhaps but she might not have used anger, just sad feelings."

Clint nodded. "Point. I still say she's not right in the head so she's mad in the other definition."

She nodded. "I can agree with that diagnosis. She's clearly not well wound."

Steve blinked at them. "Bucky nagged him about that?" They nodded. "Why?"

"Why did he not retrigger his memories for however long?" Natasha asked. "Forcing Xander to deal with him. It seemed a good way to drive him off."

"It certainly worked," Stark agreed. "He's disappeared again."

"I'll find him later and hand him back his weapons as long as he's got a safe place to store them," Clint said with a wave of his spoon. "Plenty of people track Xander. Not just because he's a bit weird but for other reasons. A lot of people think he's fun to watch."

"I'm sure he would be," Natasha agreed. "I'd like to see you workout with him with regular weapons." Clint smirked at her. "You do good enough with a staff, you should be able to use a sword as well." She finished her tea, getting up to start more water boiling and some toast.

Stark shook his head. "You looked like some fantasy pinup girl with one," he teased with a wicked smirk. She glared at him. "All you needed was the fantasy armor."

"I don't think I want to be admired for that."

"Let's hope someone doesn't send us to a realm like that," Clint said. "You and I would survive but Stark would be lost without electricity."

"Magic does drive me nuts," Stark agreed. "Bruce too." He got more coffee and started another pot. Outside Natasha and Bruce, everyone else was a coffee whore in the tower. An empty pot was a sign of war.

Steve looked at them. "Can I help them straighten that out?"

"No, he has to apologize for himself," Clint said. "You doing it for him is like sending your mom or girlfriend to apologize for something."

"I'm not either of those for him but I guess that's a good point."

"No, it was Alex who nagged Bucky back into better health," Clint said dryly, smirking at him. "He even threatened to have his cat fur up the metallic arm a few times from what I heard."

"That would suck. You can never fully get cat fur out of anything," Stark said. "Especially out of delicate electrical materials."

"Does that mean we can get a dog to watch the tower when we're all gone?" Clint quipped.

"No. I'll build you a robotic dog to play with but it won't have any fur to get into everything. I don't have time to vacuum dog fur out of my suit." He drank some of his coffee as he walked off.

Clint grinned at Steve. "Maybe we can train it somehow too?"

"Maybe. I've seen other K-9's in the field. They were real handy." He got up to get more coffee then went to talk to Bucky. "Any luck finding him to apologize?"

"No," he complained. He looked up. "I wasn't that bad to him."

"Did you nag him about that magic attack?"

Bucky frowned. "He said he had protections."

"From ones doing it from here. Probably not from powerful magic users in another realm that used to be his friend." He took a sip of his coffee. "He told Bruce he felt like your abused kid."

Bucky winced. "I...I wasn't that bad."

"Why not trip the memories again?"

"I tried, it didn't fully work. Which means I need to meditate to talk to myself or whatever that was."

"I have no idea how that works so try it now. That way we can go find your protege. Before someone else wants him."

"With any luck he's found a few of his former dates and they're babying him. We'll never find him if he's with them but they'll protect him."

"Does Xander really need that much protecting?"

"He's injured."

"Yeah, according to Bruce his liver's been injured for years, Bucky." He stared at him. "You might ask him that. I'm not sure if he'll tell you since that's private medical information. It might help so you don't push him away again on purpose."

"I didn't realize I was doing that."

"That's why it's called an unconscious action. C'mon, let's go ask around. Maybe someone knows." Bucky followed him out into the city to find his young protege.

***

Natasha went to the demon bar the boy played poker at, settling at the bar. "Is there someone here I could talk to about Xander?"

"A few of us know him, pretty lady. Who're you?"

She smiled. "Natasha Romanoff."

"Hmm, the one who's nearly as good as a slayer," the bartender said, smiling at her. She stared back. "You can't bend metal bars."

"No, I cannot, but I've thankfully never needed to." She shifted to cross her legs. "I think it would do better if someone like his mentor understood that Xander can handle things. They've had a few problems."

"We weren't sure if Rosenburg had spelled him from that realm," the bartender admitted. "It seems like what the girls did to him." She smiled. "If you know the right sources, there's a better tv show in another realm."

"Do you know who I can get copies from? Are they fictionalized or like reality tv?"

"There's only one realm that uses us as reality tv," he said. "Do they tune in over there? I'm not sure. I know who you can ask. I can tell you how to get to their shop."

"Please. Xander seems to be very helpful most of the time and even if Bucky doesn't realize it, the rest of us need some training by him to handle swords."

He nodded. "I can see that point. We've had some migration from his original realm thanks to them getting scared of the Red Witch." He stared at her. "I can tell you they won't be all nicey-nice with you. They'll expect you to be a bit...softer. You should also show up in better armor before they put you in girly armor."

"Seeing Sif's armor means that I know other women wear things that aren't chainmail bikinis," she said dryly.

"Yeah, but she earned their respect for her badass moments even in that fully covering armor. They don't know you yet." He grinned. "Even if they were watching our battles."

"There's many men who don't understand the strength all women have. Otherwise humanity would've died out when men had to bear children," she said with a one-sided shrug.

He laughed, nodding. "Too true. My own Ma's egg laying was horrific the one time I saw." He walked off, coming back with a piece of paper. "Here's his shop. Don't go alone. If you can get Lady Sif, that'd probably help a lot. The merchant has a crush on her. If not, try to bring Xander."

"He disappeared from the infirmary and no one knows where he is."

"Do you blame him?"

"No," she said. "I would have left sooner." He nodded. "Is he local?"

"No clue. He's hiding. He's probably pouting about his artillery babies and his favorite battle axe not coming with him."

"Clint would give them to him when he asks," she said, standing up. "Thank you."

"Welcome, Great One." She smiled, leaving to see if she could find someone to go with her. He shook his head, sending a text message to that merchant. That was an interesting question. The bartender's face switched back to demon guise, making him smile. "At least they'll learn how to appreciate him. It was a very interesting wish Andrew prompted Buffy to make." He disappeared with the bar before more humans found it.

Natasha went back to the tower and to Thor's suite, tapping on the door. He opened it, staring at her, hair tie in his mouth while he pulled the rest back. "I have the address of someone who can get us film of what Xander has done over there. I was warned to bring someone like Lady Sif as the merchant has a crush on her and the rest of us strong women he expects to be chainmail bimbos."

Thor smiled, taking the hair thing out to tie up his hair. "She is not down here but I may go with you, Natasha. It would be interesting to see."

"Thank you. He said the merchant was impressed by her skills, that's why she's expected in real armor while he expects the rest of us to be in fantasy armor."

Thor shook his head. "They are much like those clubs full of scanty girls down here to us. A fun pasttime but not for real." He grabbed his jacket and boots to put on then went with her. He had heard much of this community but had never seen any of them. He pointed. "Is that not Xander?"

She looked then shook her head. "No, it's not. It looked like the other one, Alex." She frowned, chasing after him. It wasn't but he did look a lot like him. They went to the merchant's shop and stepped inside, which brought them across a portal into a bazaar. Natasha was the most dressed woman there. She nodded at a staring guard. She held up the paper. "Is he here?"

He pointed with his mouth open. "We don't get many like you here, human."

"There's not many like me anyway. Thank you." She walked off with Thor. The men around them were giving her too interested looks that were annoying her. One tried to touch her so she broke his paw. She stared at him. "Not a toy. Thank you anyway." She let him go. They continued walking. A few of the men were following them but Thor's look back at them made them back off. They found the right booth and she stepped forward. "A bartender sent me to you to learn more about a new compatriot," she said quietly. "May we speak?"

He looked up from reading his comic, smiling at her. "Of course we can, Agent Romanoff." He put the comic down, leaning closer. "Can you tell that jackass that he ruined Andrew for me?"

"If we can find him, yes. Should I give him your name?"

He smiled. "Jonathan. I was brought back specially for this talk by Andrew moping." He waved a hand around. "What do you want from our realm?"

"I want to know more about the boy's battles and attitudes, especially once he was out on his own."

"Xander's always been on his own. Jesse was a good anchor but he and Willow couldn't be there all the time. They weren't twins. Thankfully. I can't imagine what would've happened if we had lost Xander and not Jesse." He handed over a boxed set of DVD's. "Should play in your realm." He handed over a few comic books. "Those are mostly on the slayers but he does show up. Ignore the 'him and Willow' stuff. It's a bit more fanciful but has the thread of truth." He patted a black case. "That's almost precious and I need the slayers to look at it."

"Can I get copies?"

"I'm not sure if I can or not." He looked at Thor, who smiled. "I know about you, Lord Thor, and all those who've held your hammer when you weren't worthy for a bit. I have no idea why something whispered in your ear did that but it's nice Jane became you for a bit. Oh, and she needs a mammogram. Today." He nodded a bit. "Before it's too late. The hammer just makes her die faster."

Thor cleared his throat. "I will bring my beloved there as soon as we get home. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled. "I thought Darcy would do better but I guess she's not the same sort of pure spirit." He shrugged and looked at Natasha. "If I could copy them I would." He looked back at a demon. "Don't bother the pretty agent lady that takes out alien warlords, guys. It's not nice to make her fight you." They ran off. He grinned. "Sometimes men are pigs. In his species' case, literally."

"Is there some way to see if they can be copied?" she asked. "Or is there a way I can get another copy?"

"I doubt they want you to pay them," he said, but he did pull out his phone to call, speaking in another language that sounded slightly musical in cadence. He huffed then said something else. Then he hung up. "They think you're amusing. You're a movie series to them." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Higher beings, yuck. Though they were placing bets on you and Brucie getting together." Another set, larger this time, showed up. "Is that all of it?" he asked, looking at the extra cases. "Huh, stuff so the slayers won't nag." He handed them over then leaned over to kiss her quickly. "Always wanted a warrior woman to hold at night. I guess you're good enough since you needed me for a bit." He winked and the stall disappeared.

She carried the DVD's while Thor got the comic books. She looked at him. "That was weird."

"Yes it was but he was a spirit. I'm not sure who sent him."

"Could that matter to the tapes?"

"If they taped what actually happened, I would think not," he admitted. They went back through the same portal and came out in a time when New York was a forest. They went back through and looked. "How do we get back to our right time?" They reset it for them. "Thank thee, warrior." They went through and found Clint waiting outside in th car. "Well timed."

"Been two hours," he said, looking at Natasha. "You freaked Steve out." He turned the car on and they drove off once everything was inside. The three of them took over the movie theater Stark had installed to watch the videos. The first few seasons weren't much different from what they had seen. The third, they felt sorry for those stuck in it. While they agreed some things were important, Clint wasn't having any of the 'but he's not a monster' thoughts. "No, he is. You're blinded by your emotions and I'm sorry but stake him in the daylight."

Natasha patted him on the hand. "I'm sure that's not the end of it." He snorted. "Young women are like that sometimes. She was taught to care."

"Point but still!"

Thor nodded. "Some warrior women have to deal with that problem." They kept watching, all of them wincing at the battle at graduation. "That sucked," Thor announced. "How did no one see him doing that?"

"Some people want to ignore things," Clint said. "Like demons."

"Mayhap but still!" They went to the next season and it explained why Xander didn't like being around military people and a few references he had made. Natasha did snort happily at the point where Xander mentioned he had stripped.

At the end of that season, Clint looked at Natasha. "Maybe they have a head vacuuming machine over there?"

She shook her head. "I doubt it." She put in the next disc so they could watch that. It didn't get much better. By the end of the series, they were all morose and upset for the children. "I'd go to Africa too," Natasha said quietly. Thor and Clint nodded to agree. She sighed and put in the next one. "Xander's Wacky Adventures," she read of the title screen. They saw Xander coming out of the airport in Africa and being pounced by a crying demon. Who he helped. The tape skipped around some but it covered the important events instead of everything.

Clint climbed the back of the chair, trying to get away from something on the screen. "Damn!"

"That is worse than a bilgesnipe," Thor said, eyes wide.

Natasha paused it and both of them calmed down. "I think it found the camera and was trying something. Shall I fast forward?" she asked as she did that. She put it back in normal play mode once it was Xander killing it with a slayer, or some other sort of girl who could use a sword.

Thor nodded. "We warriors would appreciate women with such skills." He frowned. "What is that?"

The sudden demon grew and Xander fired on it without looking then finished the first one. That one died on top of the slayer, making her shriek and complain until he got it off her. Then she kicked and spit on it. Which revived it so she got to kill it this time. Xander looked up and shook his head with a sigh but the film skipped to another incident. It was more goofy. It was Xander dancing with some kids around a fire at what looked like a celebration. The adults looked on fondly and the slayer, or girl with the sword in the last incident, was laughing at them. It was cute.

Stark sat down at the end of the couch, staring at it. "Wow." They all glared at him but he shrugged and they kept going through those. A few more made Clint want to find holy water to bathe in. Thor too. Stark was grimacing. "He needed better weapons."

"The skill is in the user, not the weapon," Thor said. "Though many of those I would rather have your suit's weapons instead of my hammer to defeat."

Stark nodded. "Definitely. Legolas?"

Clint looked at him. "If that's the truth, I'll bow to the kid. I'm not that sort of warrior and he's a bit crazy."

Natasha nodded. "Quite." They finished those out, and it did cover what happened HYDRA had pulled Xander and Andrew. She shuddered at that scene. Clint was curled up in a tiny ball in his seat. Thor was hunching over as well. Stark was shuddering and trying to curl up a bit. She turned them off. "We have comics that glorify the slayers as well."

Stark looked at her. "Anything that bad?"

"They had another true battle without him there," Thor said quietly. "An invasion was mentioned but not covered." They got into those comics to share around.

Stark looked at the one on the invasion. "We need to make sure this can't happen here."

Natasha took it to read, nodding. "Yes, we do." Clint took it and went to call people to make sure of it. She looked at Thor. "We should ask Xander about some things to see how true they were."

"It looked like hidden camera taping," Stark said quietly. "I'm pretty sure it's not a movie." He looked at her. "We underestimated the kid."

She nodded. "I think others have as well."

"They're sulking in Steve's room. Cue up the first one?" She did that and he snorted at the title of the regular show. Steve and Bucky came down at his texted order. They settled in and Stark watched it with them. Bucky nearly exploded at the graduation battle but Stark only laughed at the love spell incident. Stark looked back at the swearing in Russian. "It gets worse. Save it for a few years worth." He got them into the other things. Steve seethed that his army had done that sort of thing over there. Bucky growled at the stuff in the first disc from Africa. Until that same demon that made them curl up showed up. Then Stark left them to watch the rest alone.

Steve waited until the end to say anything. "I'm going to quote Nick Fury: Mother Fucker."

Bucky stared at him. "Seriously?"

Steve stared back. "You underestimated him?"

"Hell yes!"

"Well, now we know so we won't do it again."

Bucky paused then nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Any idea where he is?"

"No."

Bucky got up to pace and think. "We can go to the demon bars to ask." Steve nodded, getting up to tidy things up. Bucky paused to look at the screen then at him. "I guess that's how he met Deadpool."

"I'd guess so," he agreed. "He looked good defending everyone from that huge intergalactic demon." They headed out, handing Natasha the DVD's. "It might help Bruce."

"It may, or it could disturb him a lot. Clint's not sleeping yet and can't make himself eat." Steve shuddered, heading down to the garage. "Oh, Bucky, Andrew's friend Jonathan said to yell at you for ruining Andrew. Apparently he's not the same sort of geek."

Bucky grimaced. "He needed it to survive but I'm sorry I ruined him that way. I hope he can compress them together." He walked out thinking about that. Andrew had been a strong willed but weaker emotioned geek then. Then he had taken Xander's skills for that battle. Andrew was very different now. He hoped he was all right. Though he felt lighter about not having warped Xander into a cold killer. At least he hadn't done that damage.

***

Deadpool walked up to where Xander was resting on a bench in the demon poker hall, staring down at him. "If I had a couch I'd offer it to you."

Xander flapped a hand without opening his eyes. "I'm okay here. I'll get up in a while to play some more for new weapons."

"What happened?"

Xander opened his good eye to stare at him. "Do you want the 'shit happened' explanation or the longer, realistic one?"

"The shit happens one works for me."

Xander sat up with a moan, holding his side. "Let's just say it started with me accidentally stepping into a fairy ring, they decided I should be back in Africa so put me in that village I nearly went to get help in, and HYDRA had set up a lab base there after they had destroyed the village in case I showed up." He stared at him. "I was in hyena land so there were suddenly dead fucks."

"Dead fucks are some of the best fucks there are," Deadpool said dryly.

"Squealing fucks are the best fucks there are because you know they're enjoying it." Xander grinned. "Anya used to squeal and I try to make sure all my present dates do too."

"True, squealing fucks are a lot of the best there are." He looked down at him. "The Dynamic Duo are looking for you." Xander shrugged. "Word was that they found some sort of show that showed you over there."

"Wow, maybe the slayers should watch it so they quit underestimating Andrew," he said dryly.

"Not you?"

"No, Wade. I know I can't go home," he said quietly, staring up at him. "So I've got to make the most of it and make new friends here." Wade grinned. "But if the should-be-fucking-by-now duo watched that I'm probably going to get angsted to death by one of them. I should hide better."

"No full humans get in here," Wade reminded him dryly. "Only mutants and demons." Xander grinned. "Which one do you fall under?"

"With the mermaid taint? No clue."

"Huh." He walked off. "The pretty redhead asked about you earlier. That's how they got whatever show." He looked back. "I overheard something about Jonathan."

Xander hopped up. "That's a bad thing. The First Evil killed him. That means she's back."

Deadpool stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. Shit."

"We can get a message to Andrew for him to check," one of the higher demons sighed. "Though he was in a demon bazaar and said a higher power sent him back so he could nag Andrew." He looked at Xander. "If so, how would we solve it?"

"We could destroy the seal before she opens it. Where is it?"

"There," the demon said. "Still." Xander grimaced. "In that realm."

"Can you get Andrew a short message?"

"I can mail it."

"Please." He wrote out a message and sealed it for the demon to mail for him. "Thank you." He slipped him a few bucks. "For postage or whatever."

"Done. You should find a better hiding spot."

Xander shrugged. "I'll find one later. Since I'm up, I can win more artillery. I'll probably need it." He paused by one demon to stare at him. "Did they see me taking out that Higher?" The demon nodded, not looking at him. "Great. So they know I have status." He walked off scowling.

"You knew?" one of the other demons demanded.

Xander smiled. "Anya *did* explain those things to be, guys. She used to fantasize about taking out a few who were dicks to the vengeance demons. Then we'd screw on their consecrated altars or thrones. I learned a whole lot from those." He grinned. "Anya was a fount of information. I learned a lot about how to kill the higher demons." He made it to the bar and put down cash, getting a bottle of milk. "Thanks." He went to play a few hands until he could sleep again.

"There's human officers staring at the building," one bouncer announced from the doorway.

"There's no law saying you can't bet for cats or anything other than money," Xander said without looking up. "I'm sure there's a liquor license for those few things you guys serve, and I'm pretty sure all the weapons in here are legal." He hid his own.

"They might react because they see them as physically deformed mutants," Deadpool warned.

Xander pointed at someone, who puffed up but smiled. When the officers rushed in that demon started to put out his mind altering smoke. Most of them wandered off but a few weren't caught.

An officer glared at Xander from beside him. "Are you one of those powered mutant sorts?" he demanded.

"Nope." Xander looked at him. "Not in the least. I'm a protector of this city's inhabitants, including these ones." He stared at him. "Personally I feel great pity for the ones I have to beat for harming people for how they were born. I didn't like it when it was about race, I sure as hell don't like it when it's about a birth defect like a fin. Then again, birth anomalies like fins, scales, and alternative breathing methods aren't as tragic as ones that give you Down's Syndrome or blond hair. Also mutations." He stared at the officer. "Beyond that, why would it matter if we're not doing anything wrong?"

"You exist. That's wrong." The officer pulled his gun. Xander was up before it cleared the holster and had him pinned to the ground. "You won't win. The others will get you."

Xander leaned down. "If I die here so be it. So will your whole realm when I don't get something stopped." He grinned. "I'm the guy that takes out those huge problems." The guy shuddered, trying to get away from him. "I don't think any of us were bothering you by existing. If so, that means your existence isn't really worth anything. If it can be bothered by others existing that means you're just a placeholder and someone more important, who could've done good for the world, would've been born. I pity you that knowledge. At least I've saved the world, even if I only had a sword." He let him go. "Now, have a nice night, Officer. Though that looks like a rental uniform." The man stomped off. "Let us know if they try to burn it," Xander ordered.

The bouncers nodded, watching the humans have a hissy fit across the street. They even called them in to 911 as a group of officers stating they were going to raid a place to kill everyone inside due to being mutants. A few more officers showed up to talk to them and arrested the group for not being officers. The bouncers smiled when they got stared at. One of the officers shuddered, moving away from there, but humans were like that.

"I'm hoping that's not the same group that willingly and knowingly burned their own kids for being born mutants," Deadpool said from behind his cards. "If so, I hope like hell they die for it." The demons muttered but nodded. One looked that up online and went to show the officers that. He was mute anyway and none of them wanted to look at the screen. Deadpool came to the door. "That's tape of them killing their kids in a ritual manner." The officers looked at the film, growling at it. "Thanks. We don't like those." He escorted the tiny demon back inside and went back to his poker table. Xander came over to hug the demon then him. "No hugging, Xander. I don't do boys."

"Pity. You'd be fun in bed." He went back to his bench and laid down again. He had a new gun, that was a good thing to help him have good dreams. It made a great comfort snuggle.

***

"Maybe if we summon a demon he'll have to show up," Steve said the next morning.

"Don't you dare," Bruce ordered. "Xander's still sore and needs to rest for the next few weeks."

"Sorry, just thinking out loud," Steve said. "We couldn't find him."

"He was defending a demon poker hall last night," Clint said from making coffee. "Some anti-mutant people decided to rent uniforms and bust in one."

"Where?" Bucky demanded.

"The Six Gallon." Clint looked at him. "Only demons and mutants in there."

"I'm guessing his mermaid taint or something got him in," Bruce said. "Anyone else of note?"

"I doubt Deadpool's going to help you guys." Clint went back to fixing his cup of coffee then came to sit down. "The demons in there are peaceful."

"Are there any in town that might help?" Steve asked.

Clint shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I haven't been hanging out down that way in a few months."

"Thanks. Let us know if you hear he's out and about?" Bucky asked more quietly. Clint nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. I heard he got mouthy on one of the bigots."

"Good. Thanks." Bucky walked off thinking about that.

Steve looked at Natasha, who shrugged. "There's always some in town but I'm not sure who could unless Logan's back in town."

"He ran into Logan, told him to mind his own business," Steve sighed. "But thanks." He walked off texting that one. Maybe that old guy knew someone in town who'd be an intermediary.

***

Across town, two mutants got the same text message and one agreed she'd go there that night to talk to the young guy. She had seen him fighting a demon and it was impressive but scary. She put on civilian clothes instead of her uniform and headed that way casually. It meant she could get dinner too, which was nice since it was her night to cook for the group. She walked into the demon bar, getting noticed by most everyone.

Deadpool waved a hand. "He's sleeping. Let him."

She shrugged, sitting down at his table. "How did you know why I'm here?"

Deadpool smirked at her. "Because the dynamic duo of moping are like that, Rogue."

"Point." She looked over at the other human in there, shaking her head. "I saw him in a battle with a demon. It was scary."

Deadpool nodded. "Yes it is." He patted her on the covered arm. "He only likes them dangerous and he's more likely to go for Remy than you." She laughed, swatting him with a gloved hand. "Seriously."

"That's fine. I'm not looking for a trade-in deal. I got plenty dealing with the problems."

"I hear that," Deadpool agreed. Xander gasped awake, looking around. "You out of the vision?" he called.

"Fucking Powers," he muttered, heading to the bathroom then back to the bar to get a cup of coffee. He wrote down what he saw, handing it to Deadpool as he walked behind him. He paused to stare at the new girl, sipping his coffee. "Who're you?"

"I'm Rogue. Logan asked me to play messenger."

"Hmm. I'll have to talk to them eventually but not right now." He took another drink. "They need to get right with each other first. Then they can deal with others." He went back to the bathroom, coming out while adjusting his fake eye. A few demons grimaced. "Not my fault her minion popped it and gave me visions."

"Speaking of, have you met him yet?" Rogue asked. "He seemed weird."

"Long story there," Xander admitted. "And yeah, just the once in the park when Alex got to head home." He sat down at the same table, antying in. She played a hand while Deadpool explained the special rules since this wasn't regular poker. She won a tasty kitten but she'd take it home instead of eating it, which made the demons pout at her.

Deadpool reread the vision. "I should drop that on them."

"I can do that on the way home," Rogue said. She looked at Xander. "They're worried about the moping."

"Yeah, well, I was feeling like the abused kid so that's fine to me."

She nodded. "I can see that point. You ever come by the school?"

He stared at her. "In my original world you're a comic book, Rogue." She winced. "I've seen plenty of things that state I want to be *nowhere* near the head fucker. Either head fucker really. Or his pathetic lap dog that changed sides a few times. The rest of you I admired and I put you up as role models to my slayers. But I don't want to go there."

"You don't like telepaths?" she asked with a grin.

"As far as I can tell the comics have been right and did you know he killed a team to protect someone's death?" She gaped. He stared at her. "I don't need to handle that. I handle non-peaceful creatures from other realms." He waved a hand around. "Unlike these guys, who are all peaceful." He put his cards down. "I have no problem with any being as long as they're peaceful and not out to get me. Fuzzy, funny colored, scaled, bad breath, and all. I'm used to a lot more weird people than mutants."

One of the demons nodded. "Spike comes to mind."

"Don't remind me," Xander sighed, looking up. He frowned at the demon face, waving at it. "Hi. Huge problems?" It dropped something from its mouth. Xander read it over and nodded. "I can do that but all that stuff's in Clint's closet. Is it right now?" The demon head nodded, looking interested. "Okay, I can handle that. Thank you for letting me know. Are the slayers okay?" The head wobbled side-to-side. "That's fine. Thanks, man." He frowned and concentrated, pulling weapons to him. "There, let me go handle the thing in the park that's going to eat this realm." He looked at his cards then at Deadpool. "Play it for me please." He took his new gun friend with him too. "Nice to meet you, Rogue." He got into his jeep with the weapons, heading for the park.

Deadpool looked at her, shrugging some. "He's like that during problems. He's still healing a lot of injuries too."

"Should I tell Rogers?"

"No, I'll tell Rogers." He took the vision back with a smirk. "Have a better dinner."

"Fine." She left, going to watch the kid in the park. Vision, the new metallic Avenger guy, showed up but Xander had it well in hand. Nothing seemed to harm the little cute looking demon but then Xander pulled out an axe and the thing grew. Xander killed it quickly enough, just a few more injuries. Then he threw down something and left with what he had left. She went to report to the others. Having a weird guy like that wasn't the same as having Deadpool but they apparently could work well together.

Deadpool finished both hands, tucking Xander's few bucks into his pocket on the way to the tower. He ran into Stark, holding up the vision. "It woke the kid up."

"Is he all right?"

Deadpool stared at him. "Probably. No idea with what he just fought off." He walked off. "Have fun with that. Let me know if I need ta help."

"I can do that." He read it over, grimacing. "That's going to be bad." He took it up to Thor's room but he was in the common area. He handed it over on his way to coffee.

"I wonder how correct he is," Thor said, grimacing at it. "That will be nasty."

Stark came back. "Yes it will be. How do we stop that since it's your area instead of science?"

"I know not yet. Let me think on it." Stark nodded, leaving him alone for a bit. Thor scowled at the vision. When the android floated in, Thor nodded at him. "We have a foreseen event coming."

Vision read it over. "I saw that one earlier. He was taking on something in the park. I could not identify the species."

"A demon?" Thor asked.

"I do not know that category of being, Lord Thor."

"That's fine. Did he win?" Vision nodded. "Thank thee. I need to find out what this being is." He went to write a letter home. It said they had nearly a year and his father would answer before then. He hoped.

Vision went to tell his progenitor about that fight in the park. It was interesting yet weird. That boy was very weird.

***

Xander was at a fast food place when he had his next vision, moaning as he grabbed his forehead. He sipped his drink, bundling his burger into his pocket so he could wander off to suffer in peace and aloneness. He didn't need to draw attention to himself today. He had to go back for his jacket but that happened when he was distracted. He made it to the alley before he heaved, leaning against the wall.

"Hey," a female said. "You okay?"

He blinked at her. "Kate Bishop." She scowled. "I'm Forger."

"Oh, hey. You okay?"

"Vision."

"The guy?" she asked, looking around.

"No, like the brain ripping vision." He sucked in a breath and finished his soda, then let out a sigh. "That's not good." He blinked at her. "Sorry, I hate those things."

"It's okay. Clint told me about you." She smiled. "Need walked back to wherever you're hiding?"

"You're busy."

"No I'm not."

He pointed. "Explosive arrows. You're busy. I can get there."

She stared at him. "Wait right here and I'll deal with that then we can all run away. Okay?" He gave her a look. "Seriously. I'll tell Clint otherwise." He groaned, clearly having another. She went to handle the stickup going on then came back to find him heaving for real this time. "That's nasty." He waved a hand. She helped steady him while calling in help. She had no idea what to do about visions. Clint knew though. Natasha showed up a few minutes later in Clint's car. She led him to it, knocking him out when he struggled. "He had a second one while I was handling the stickup he pointed out."

"Get in." She climbed in the front while Xander laid in the back. Natasha drove them off. "What smells like food?"

"He tucked his burger into his pocket. I was getting a post-school snack and spotted him." She looked back then at Natasha. "Think he's going to be all right?"

"Probably. This isn't the first one he's had." Xander moaned. "Xander, is it this realm?"

"Only one of them and they're coming here anyway," he moaned. He sat up, holding his stomach and leaning his head forward. "I'm in a motel near the river."

Natasha glanced back at him. "Bruce wants to scan your brain after that and check on your liver. He overrules you because I'm scared of him and not you." She parked inside the tower and they got out, Kate helping Xander up to the elevator. "Just to the infirmary," she promised, pushing the button. They walked in and found Bruce glaring at someone. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

Bruce looked at her. "Yes. This is a SHIELD agent."

She sneered. "Are we certain? He could be HYDRA."

"He's been studying mutants," the agent said coldly. "We're very interested in that."

Xander walked in and stared at him, backing the guy against a wall as he advanced. "Unless you want me to beat you until your body is fully broken and then feed you to something I play poker with, stand the fuck down," he hissed. "I'm not in the mood for you. I'll see you eaten. Now, scoot before you piss Dr. Banner off."

"Who're you?" he demanded.

Xander smirked. "Forger." The man shuddered, shrinking away from him. "I said go. And I mean now please. Before I have to figure out how many weapons I'm carrying. I can already guess at four and a grenade." He pulled it out to smile at it then him. "And it's a gas grenade. Let's see." He patted himself down, coming up with another one. "Aw, that's explosive. That's a pretty baby pet." He stared at the agent.

"You're insane," he sneered.

Xander hit the guy, making him fall down. "No, I'm angry. And you're pissing me off more. How nice of you." He smirked. "You were going? Before I have to remember I'm carrying at least three guns?" The agent scrambled to his feet and ran off. Xander groaned, shaking his head. "I hate morons. It's bad enough some of them are people that want to date me."

Kate took the grenades to look at. "That's a gas grenade?"

He nodded, leaning over to point at something. "That's the same as the pin. Push that, count to three, then throw." He grinned. "It's a holy water grenade." He took it back.

Bruce cleared his throat. "How's the liver? And disarm while you're in here, Xander."

"I'm fine. I just had a few visions. The ladies overreacted to me holding my head and groaning."

"I wanted to see what they did to your brain," he said with a smile. "Let the young one babysit your guns and things." Xander huffed but let Natasha disarm him since she wanted to. Bruce looked at the small pile of weapons then at the boy. "Is that all of them?"

He grinned. "Probably."

"I'll have to put you in the CT machine for a few minutes. So nothing metallic."

"Small problem." He held up his pendant. "It keeps the hellmouth taint inside. That will probably kill your machine."

Bruce stared at him. "We'll take that off last. Strip. Let me check your liver too." He got a needle and strap. Xander sighed but sat on another bed once he had mostly stripped down and was eating his burger. "That's not good for you."

"No, it's cheap and I didn't do great at poker last night." He ate another bite. "It's food and it does the job."

Bruce shook his head. "Probably not as good as it should be."

"Men who live on salads are to be pitied, Doc."

"There's other foods." He drew the blood and started it running then came back to probe around his right side. Then his kidneys and pancreas got gently felt up. Then his head. "Have you tried Indian food?"

"I grew up in lower Cali, Doc. We had mexican."

"Less spicy," he admitted. "More beans."

Xander smiled but nodded. "I like Mexican food but I'm sick of it for the moment. Plus, hey, cheap."

"Yes it is." He looked in his eye. "Your other one needs cleaned."

"I ran out of saline and I keep forgetting to pick it up. It's only been a week."

"You have goo around the edges."

Xander took it out to look at, grimacing. "What is that?" He sniffed it then delicately tasted it, making Natasha shudder. "Oh, that's where that one thing sprayed when she got off in the poker hall. I can make a kick-ass aphrodisiac out of it." Natasha took a large swab to the eye to get that. "Want the recipe?" he quipped.

"Yes." He wrote it down for her. She looked. "What's that?"

"It's a type of scale shell that's been ground a specific way. It smells like dried poop but it's really strong when diluted with alcohol. Or mixed with these two it turns into a gassy substance that can make you hallucinate." He pointed with the pen he had stolen off Bruce. "This one's a normal thing. There's another two normal things, and I usually put it into coffee when a past lover wanted to play around with it while I was taking a healing week off."

She blinked, staring at him. "We saw film of you in Africa. Very few of your boyfriends though."

He smirked. "Great."

"You did insane things that none of the rest of us would've done," she said, staring at him. "I'm hoping you don't have to do it here?"

"By the second vision, one of the demons there is going to try to merge the realms to try to get away from Willow," he said quietly. "I hope not too."

"Write that out for us?" Bruce ordered. Xander sighed but did that. Bruce smiled at the young one. "Which one are you?"

"Kate Bishop. I'm the other Hawkeye." She smiled. "Clint told me about him."

"That's wonderful. I think he's upstairs."

"I can wait in case the vision has to do with me."

Xander looked at her. "You're about as old as some of the slayers. Maybe you can speak their spoiled bitch language?"

"I go to school with a bunch of them so I can translate," she quipped.

He grinned. "Cool!" He looked at Bruce. "Am I done?"

"No. We still need to see what the vision did to your brain." He looked over. "Stark, check the machine for his bloodwork while I run this."

"The radiation will warp your machine," Xander warned again.

Natasha took off his pendant. "I'll hold this while we scan it." Bruce took him into the CT room while she let Stark scan that for them. Bruce came rushing out and Xander came out to grab two weapons and shot at the machine. She leaned in there. The CT now had teeth, it was trying to eat anything on the sliding bed, which was apparently its tongue, and it was growling. "Stark?"

He came in to look then shot a repulsor blast at it. It died. Stark looked at Xander. "What would a sword do?"

"It's what I grabbed. I've handled worse with a sword."

"Uh-huh. Brucie?"

"I got one scan," he said. Natasha handed back the necklace. Xander put it on and the lights overhead quit trying to wiggle around. "Let's see if I can do it with the necklace on." He walked Xander in to do something else.

Clint strolled in, handing Kate a cup of coffee on his way in there. "Bruce, for some reason I seem to suck up his hellmouth radiation. Let's see if we can do it that way?"

"I would but we'd have to use the MRI, which will take at least a half-hour," he said. "The CT is down until we find a new one that won't bite."

Clint looked in there then at Xander, who shrugged. "Can you hold on for a half-hour?"

"Yeah, if I must."

"You must." They moved in there and Clint took the shielding necklace to put on, just outside of the range of the magnets. Xander's radiation was drawing into him so it helped. The MRI didn't start to growl until they were nearly done. Then Clint got Xander out of there and handed him back his necklace.

Bruce came out of the command area, staring at Xander. "Can we weed that out?"

"Not unless I dump it to make a new one." He groaned, holding his head. They got him back into the MRI while Clint helped again.

Stark looked at the young one. "I've heard about you, Bishop. How did you find him?"

"He was having lunch and had a groaning, grabbing his head moment then went to heave in the alley. Then he had another one while I handled a stickup."

Stark nodded once. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. It's kinda what happens sometimes." She shrugged but grimaced at Natasha scanning the fake eye. "I think it's just an eye."

"You never know. I've known spies who carried explosives in theirs," she said.

Stark looked at her. "That's hardcore." She nodded. "Huh. The idiot he ran off?"

"Bruce said a supposed SHIELD agent who wanted into his research on mutant skills."

"Forger totally alpha dogged him," Kate said with a smile. "I need to learn how to do that."

"He handled many large demons," Natasha said, looking at the young one. "You will hopefully never have to handle something that's skyscraper sized with a battleaxe."

"No, I'd rather not," Kate agreed. "That's when you beg any listening God for weapons."

Natasha nodded. "Yes he did." Stark smiled. "I would have as well."

"Me too," Stark agreed. "Even Loki."

Clint came out with Xander, who was still holding his head. He tucked him into a bed. "Bruce will come out to put in an IV with painkillers."

"Nothing works," Xander moaned. "Ever."

"We'll see if ours are different. We don't have the same things you guys do," Stark said. He found an IV and Natasha laid it while Bruce ran the scans. "Bruce, where do you keep the good stuff?"

"Blue cabinet," he said, tossing the keys. Stark got something and Natasha picked out something to insert into the IV tubing.

Xander whimpered. "Nice stuff but still a headache. Don't let them get me?" he begged Clint.

"No one's gonna get near you here," he promised, stroking over his hair.

"Not even the scowling ones?"

"No, not even Bucky and Steve," he promised quietly. "We'll block 'em." Xander nodded, passing out. He looked at Natasha. "You're never that generous with me."

"He needed to be unconscious. You don't usually." She made notes for Bruce and they settled in to wait. Bruce brought out the copy of the newest vision. She grimaced. "He said they'd be coming."

Steve leaned in. "Huge problems? Oh, hey," he said with a smile.

"He asked us to protect him from you two," Clint said. "And we need to talk to Alex. They're apparently coming to visit with demons who're running from them."

Steve blinked. "He doesn't need protected from me."

"Don't know but he's unconscious," Kate said. "He had visions."

"He has some sort of tea to help with those," Bucky said from behind Steve. "I think he's out though." He walked in and looked at Xander then at the pile of weapons. "He's missing some."

"They may be at his motel room," Natasha said. She handed the key in the pile she had pulled off the boy to Clint. He nodded, going to check on it for him. "He ran a SHIELD agent off."

"Good," Steve said. "Was it a problem one?"

"Yes," Bruce said. He looked at the liver function test, grimacing. "That's not good. His liver's stuck at about fifty percent again." He sighed. "We need to help him heal that."

"How did that happen?" Kate asked. "Demon byproduct?"

"Witch going suicidal," Natasha said. She smiled at her. "You're only mentioned in one of the visions." She let her see them.

Kate pointed. "Unless we're getting a Valkyrie, I'm about the only female archer down here that's in a uniform." She looked at her. "I can help."

"We'll allow you to." She smiled at the young one. "For now, don't you have homework?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "But it's vacation for the next week. I have time to write an essay on current world politics as it pertains to mutant rights." Stark shook his head quickly. "I've already gotten it half written. I just have to polish it." She hopped up on the foot of Xander's bed. "Isn't he used to younger female warriors?" They all nodded. "Think he'd work on some of my weapons training?"

"If you asked," Natasha said. "He's taught a few people about swords."

"Cool." She looked at him, patting his foot. "Just me, Xander. You're safe and Bucky's not here." He glared at her but Xander went back to sleep. She stared at him. He walked off in a huff. She smiled at Steve. "He didn't want him here. Patient's rights."

"Fine. We'll come back when he's awake," Steve said, following Bucky.

Bruce shook his head. "He'll probably escape by then," he muttered, getting back to the bloodwork results and the scans. He squinted at one, enlarging it. "That's got to be vision damage." Stark came over to look, pulling up comparison scans to Clint's brain and Bucky's scans. It was interesting how they compared, especially Bucky's. It might help them with his memory problems. Or keep it from happening to anyone else.

Stark took notes on that problem in case they ran into it later, or someone wanted to study it. Kate went over the various weapons while Natasha explained what the young one didn't know. Clint came back with a few things and a battle axe. Stark looked over. "Is he moving in?"

"I had to run two supposed agents off. Unless he had stuff hidden magically." He nudged Xander, getting an almost-blink. "There were agents by your room so I moved stuff," he said in his ear. "Was there anything hidden?" Xander mumbled something and put something in his hand. "Okay, I'll bring Kate to check it. Your battle axe is on the foot of your bed." He moved back when Xander kicked it and caught it to cuddle. Clint smiled. "I do that with my bow too." He patted him on the shoulder. "Lets go, mini me."

She snorted. "You just wish you had my great hair, Clint."

"Not likely. I'd look weird with girl hair." They walked out together.

Natasha shook her head with a sigh. "Now there's two of them." Stark smiled, looking over the bags. She got the weapons out of there. Xander made grabby hands at the assault rifle so she let him have that too. "When did you get that?" He mumbled something. "That's an interesting poker winning. You rest. I'll protect you." He mumbled something. "I'm not nice but I'm decent." He grinned, falling back asleep cuddling his babies.

Bruce looked over, taking a picture to save down. Then he got back to work on the boy's health issues. He had plenty.

***

Bucky snuck back into the infirmary and found it empty. He huffed, going to the storage areas and office area to find Bruce. No luck. He was in his lab though. He tapped on the window before walking in. "Where did my student go?"

Bruce looked at him. "I left him sleeping up there." He took off his glasses. "Did he sneak out again?"

"Apparently."

"Friday, where's my patient from the infirmary?" he asked.

"He is taking a shower under Thor's orders," the new AI said. "They were going over the visions he's had."

"Is he going back to bed?" Bucky asked.

"I can not determine that," the AI said.

Bruce got up and went to the changing area by the gym. He looked at the boy. "We need to talk before you disappear or go back to bed."

Xander winced, looking at him. "The visions?"

"Have caused huge amounts of problems." He pulled up the scan on his tablet, letting the boy come out of the shower to look at it. "That dark spot? That's brain damage," he said quietly. "Your liver's stuck at fifty percent still." Xander grimaced. "Your bloodwork looks weird for some reason we don't know. It may be exposure to the demon blood or goo that you took off your eye." Xander sighed, going back to his shower to finish rinsing off then came out with a towel wrapped around his waist. Bruce looked at him. "Can you take care of that exposure?"

"That's probably where I was without my hellmouth blocking necklace for a bit."

"I took the blood before we did that," Bruce reminded him.

"I was without it for an hour last night while I was getting the chain fixed," Xander sighed. "I can do the demagicing potion. I'll end up heaving forever and that'll make whoever made me dinner mad."

"We can do that tomorrow if you stay tonight."

"I don't think we need to have that fight here," he said quietly.

"He did come looking for you just now. Asked me where you were." Bruce stared at him. "The only other option is really going to whoever did Deadpool's problems and have them test on you so you get self healing gifts too."

"Actually, that taint may be from him. I was stitching one of his cuts closed the other day because it was too deep to heal correctly without a few retaining stitches." He considered it. "Are we the same blood type?"

"No," Bruce said.

"Hey, thinking that I did the impossible with the mermaid taint," he said, shrugging at the end. "You never know how it'll work around me."

Bruce considered it. "We can distill the antigens for self healing. Let me think about that tonight?" Xander nodded. "Good. Go back to bed. We'll do the potion in the morning."

"I still don't want to have that fight with him here. He's your buddy."

Bruce shook his head. "He's Steve's friend. He barely speaks to me." He stared at him. "You managed to last four days."

"I used a paralytic on him a few times. A few times with magical traps. I need to pay to get some more made." He sighed. "That's going to suck."

Thor shook his head. "I did not know those happen."

"Yeah, they do." He looked at Bruce again. "I guess but...."

"I'll make that clear to him. I can also sedate you so you sleep tonight."

"Um, no. That's not a good idea."

"I can see why."

"I got woken up by that same agent," Xander said quietly. "And Coulson."

"I must've been at dinner. I'll stop that." Xander grinned. "You, go back to bed. Let Thor finish debriefing you about the visions." Thor nodded. "At the end, go to sleep. We'll do the potion in the morning if you have it." Xander nodded. "Good. Go." He let Thor walk Xander back up there. Bruce went to talk to Bucky. "Do not stress him out. At all. You're damn lucky he survived four days of handling you." He stared at him. "He doesn't need it with the way his health is." He walked off again, going to find Clint. "Can you talk to Deadpool?"

"I have," he admitted, looking up from playing cards against Steve and Kate. "Why?"

"Xander's not sure if he can do what he did with the mermaid taint with his blood and there's a strange exposure-related enzyme in his bloodwork. He was doing a few retaining stitches for him."

"So you think he sucked up the essence of the asshole in spandex?" Clint guessed.

"I'm hoping if he did, he got his self healing talent. With the vision damage, we're going to need to look into ways to fix it."

Clint nodded. "I can ask if he'll donate blood. He and Xander are buddies." He pulled out his phone but Kate took it and pointed outside where they could hear an explosion going off. "That might help too." He got up to look out there. "Wade!" he bellowed. The hero looked up and waved with his sword. "Get up here for a few when you're done! It's important! Xander's having more of those things he has." Another wave of the swords. Clint came back to get back to his card game.

"Thanks," Bruce said. He went to wait on him by the elevator. Deadpool came off. "Two points we need to talk about," he said quietly. "Xander's had three visions today." Deadpool shook his head with a sigh. "Two of them about the slayers' realm coming here so some higher demons get away from the witch."

"I'd like to run from her too," he admitted. "What's the second?"

"We're not sure if Xander sucked up some of your blood when he did those stitches."

"Like demon taint?"

"We're not sure what it is. There's a strange enzyme. Can I draw a half tube of blood to test?"

"Yeah, I don't care about that. I'm hoping he got my healing gifts. He takes way too much damage to not have a healing gift. Then he limps off cracking jokes while telling you it's nothing."

"Me too," Bruce admitted. "The vision damage was ...let's just say it's not good. I can't say more without his permission." He heard a growl and sighed, looking in there. "Thor, can you go smite the CT that his hellmouth taint made carnivorous? Apparently it came back to life after whatever Clint did to it earlier." Deadpool looked in there then shook his head with a sigh. Only Xander, it seemed to be a universal sigh of complaint.

"Of course." He went to look with his hammer. One good strike and it bit him. He hit it a few more times, destroying it. A few smaller pieces were still trying to bite him so he smashed them too. He came out pushing back his hair with a sigh. "It is fully smote."

"I was wondering if that was the past tense of smite," Xander quipped. "Not sure if it was smote or smited."

"Smote," Thor said with a smile. He nodded at Deadpool. "You can visit with him. I have heard the visions." Xander handed them to him.

Deadpool read them. "Can I run?"

"Yeah, you can run and help the demons run," Xander quipped. "I'll have to face down the judgmental one I guess. It looks like another standoff. So hey, maybe less liver damage this time."

Bruce looked over. "Please, before you need a transplant." He came to draw the blood then looked it over. "Not the same enzyme. Crap."

"Sorry," Deadpool said.

Xander grinned. "If I had to suck up someone's essence at least you're cool."

"Thanks, kid. How long you in here for?"

"Tomorrow sometime," Bruce said without looking. "We're demagicing him again." He looked back. "It's not related to the goo you pulled off your fake eye. Any idea what this is?"

"We didn't really do chemical analysis on the things we had to hunt," Xander said. "Nor were we like the Initiative."

"I saw that. I would've destroyed them," Bruce said.

Xander grinned. "We sure did try."

"Good!" He looked at the blood again. "You may have sucked up some of his healing gift. The tissue sample I took is healing. Huh."

"Mermaid and healing together turned it weird?" Xander guessed. Bruce hit himself on the head, running an internet search on mermaid taint. "I have a tooth in my gear," Xander said, getting up to dig through it until he came up with it. "Here. I kept one to remember that by and in case we had to test against it if I suddenly changed form into Swamp Thing like they did."

Bruce tested it and grimaced. "Not exactly," he said after a minute. "It is that and the healing gift."

Xander sighed. "So no more talk of liver transplants and brain damage?"

"Only if it heals it," Bruce said.

"It should," Deadpool said. "Sorry, Xander."

Xander hugged him. "If I had to suck up someone's essence it's great it's you. It's even better than sex sometimes." Deadpool laughed, hugging him back then left. "Let me know if you hear from Alex please?" he called after him.

"Yeah, if I do, I'm going to tell him to call about that scary vision. Three hundred teenage slayers is a dangerous thing. Especially to my sanity." He disappeared again.

Bruce smiled. "He's a breath of fresh, Mexican food laden air."

"I liked Mexican food," Xander quipped.

Thor smiled. "It is good it may help you." He left.

Xander laid back down when Bruce looked at him. "I'm being a good boy."

"I'm sure you are. We can protect you." Xander nodded, snuggling and going to sleep for now. Bruce got back to examining that and the mermaid taint. It was so weird. And possibly something Clint would stumble into some day.

***

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