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Other Lives Lived. FRT
Xander has past lives. Five past lives. They come to visit him for sanctuary...

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Xander looked up from explaining the various insurance options when someone came off the elevator. "Morning."

"At least there wasn't a charming name this time," Fury complained.

"There's a kid in the room. Don't make me cover her ears." He grinned at Hill. "Or for you, dear."

"Shut up, Xander."

He smirked. "You sure you want to say that before new weapon day?"

"SHIELD gives me all I want."

"New smaller weapons this year." She huffed but sat down. "Slayer insurance policies?"

"I gave up," she told Steve, who gaped. She shrugged. "I'm doing my duty another way."

"Which is why I nearly had your boss eaten," Xander quipped with a grin for her. "Suzette, come meet a big slayer."

She bounded over, staring at her. "Hi, I'm Suzette. I'm five."

"I'm Maria Hill. I work with your Uncle Clint at SHIELD." She shook her hand, getting a delightful smile from the girl. "Where did we find you?"

"Near the Black Sea," Xander said. "Visily called."

She nodded once. "We had hoped it was something minor he called you in for, not something huge like a little girl." She giggled and ran off.

Xander sighed and marked the form. "Look at those. We can go over them by phone if we have to."

Steve grinned, putting that into the folder for new slayer parents. "There's a lot of information. She and Tony looked at beds online so she found one she liked."

"Buffy taught her how to shop like a slayer," Xander quipped.

Fury shuddered. "That poor kid."

"Hey!" she complained and pounced him, making him fall into a chair. She grinned. "Don't be mean to little girls. We're important and special and pretty. We make the world better to live in. You should never upset that sort of person." She got off him and wandered over to her father. "Do you have more books?" she asked.

"All I have are big people books. We can look for some when we go pick out your bike tomorrow." She squealed and hugged him then bounded off again.

Xander sighed. "Hey, Suzette, let's do your daily stretching since you've got a big slayer here to help you."

"Okay. Miss Maria, can you watch me to make sure I'm doing them right?"

"I can," she agreed, going over to help her. It was modified yoga for flexibility and strength. She taught her how to do a handstand too when she asked. She liked that. She figured out how to hold herself up and then how to walk on her hands, making her giggle as she walked over to show her father. He tickled her, making her fall but run off laughing. Stark had handed Fury the folder from the lab. Maria looked at the kid. "Did you have sugar for breakfast?"

"No, why? Am I very sweet?" Suzette asked with a grin.

"You are," she agreed happily. The girl hugged her then dragged her off to the kitchen to teach her what things were and how they worked. Stark followed because it was his kitchen and some things worked a bit differently. Like the toaster that took voice commands for the extra-sleepy people they had sometimes.

Fury looked over the file, shaking his head. "Any idea when?"

"How long could they keep it?" Steve asked. "I haven't been dethawed that long."

"They didn't have IVF technology until the seventies sometime," Xander reminded him. "As for cryo, it's done a lot but I'm not sure how long they can last. Or what sort of failure rate they were looking at."

Steve nodded once. "Okay. So... I've only been out of the ice now for three years." Xander nodded. "Is there super aging? Though I don't think I've put out a sample anywhere. Or during the war."

"What about to Erksine?" Fury asked.

"I... Yeah, I think he wanted one. Not sure why."

"How hard is it to make viable sperm from any dropped cell?" Xander asked. "Like hair or skin?"

"You can let it start to split and take it but it's not that easy," Fury admitted. "We've seen it done starting about ten years ago. Tissue samples can be frozen that long with only minimal external damage. You sure?"

"The only idea I had unless they used magic," Xander said with a slight shrug. "Which I never rule out but I don't know who would be working on that side."

"A severe whackjob," Clint said as he walked past them. "Who claimed the lab?"

"Private lab with government grants. Everyone's playing 'we didn't authorize that' and 'how dare they do that'. They're the same people that deny ever having trained kid spies though so we all snorted and gave them looks." Suzette ran back out with some toast and honey, settling into her father's lap to eat them. He looked at Clint, who grinned. "The last few things we have," he said, pulling open his case. "Are hers to train with. Hers to train you with. And things that are just odd that most slayers find useful." He handed over two boxes and a book. "Useful is the book."

Steve looked at it, flipping through. "That's an odd bunch of facts. Kitten poker?"

"Some species eat kittens instead of peoples," Xander quipped with a grin for him. "They've come in real handy over the years for information and sometimes other things. And once for boyfriend elimination because he had just tried to beat the ever-living crap out of his girlfriend. She called a poker buddy from the ICU and told him she couldn't come pay him the money she owed him and why. He took the boyfriend for a week to train him into a better human instead." He grinned. "Very handy."

Steve nodded. "I expect that could be." He looked in the top box.

"Ooooh," Suzette moaned, touching the weapon with a hand that had honey on it. Steve stopped that before it touched and licked the fingers off, making her giggle. "They're pretty, Uncle Xander."

"They are. Those are for your father to help him train with you. I'm pretty sure he's going to want to help you learn self defense so you know how to get away from things and all that." She looked up and Steve nodded. "That is this year's kit of smaller weapons. Andrew's still working on a practical hand-held laser weapon but I'm pretty sure he'll be getting it done this year. Girls traditionally get new hand-helds every two to three years and things like swords or bigger weapons every other year because they're hard on them." Steve nodded. "The bottom is her training ones. They're not sharp. They're not pointy. They're to get her used to holding things and how to not swing them around. I got them for you early, three years early, because I figured you're the sort of parent who'd have her in self defense within a month."

"I am. Probably starting in hand-to-hand."

"She's good at that. She's learned how to pounce offensively and trip. She tripped two slayers that were arguing in the hallway for waking her up one day." Steve grinned. "Remember, her mind is her best weapon, and when she's sixteen she'll get a memory download of a whole lot of weapons and fighting skills but that's like knowing and not doing. So she'll need muscle memory." Steve nodded. "Until then, just make sure she's safe, happy, healthy, all that. We can handle the rest as we move on. Also, remember, long term project. You don't have to do everything this week." He grinned. "Seen that a few times."

"I started making lists last night until I realized I had time to do stuff with her."

"Yup, you do."

"Roller coasters?" she asked, eyes wide as she looked up at him.

"Do you like roller coasters?"

"They look like fun, Daddy," she said solemnly.

"Yup, all the minis are thrill junkies," Xander quipped. "We have one that lied about her age to go skydiving right before her activation. Her mom, not all that thrilled. I swear we could hear her screaming a few miles away and she's usually a really calm mom."

Steve grinned. "Thanks for the warning."

"She tried the backyard zipline a few of the girls put up to train for the rainforest patrol. She squealed the whole way down it, then ran to the bathroom and came back to do it again."

"It was fun but scary the first time," she said. "Then it just got fun." She grinned at Xander then at her father. "Have you done that?"

"No, I haven't. I like to climb. Do you like to climb?" She nodded quickly, grinning and licking honey off her thumb. "We can climb this afternoon. Clint and I have an obstacle course that has climbing parts."

"That's so cool," she breathed, hugging him.

"Finish your toast before the honey goes everywhere, silly." She laughed and did that then got down to go talk to Maria while she licked her fingers clean.

Tony nudged her with a foot and pointed. "Bathroom's right there." She ran to wash her hands. He looked at Xander. "She's very polite."

"Not my doing. I only had her for two weeks while things were settled and her DNA tested." A box twinkled and he caught it before it thumped. He looked at the note on top. "Here, Hill. It's your year for longer and pointy and your new hand-helds are in there. Including the new scythe-like weapons you requested." He handed them over.

Suzette came jogging back out and over to help her unpack them so she could look them over. "Wow," she breathed, touching the sword. "Sharp and pointy but pretty and shiny."

Xander grinned. "It's pretty universal. Most of the girls prefer weapons over jewelry. Though there's been a rash of butterfly hair things recently that's confused Buffy greatly."

Steve nodded. "We can work on all that. Will she be okay?"

"Yeah. She'll be fine. She heals a bit faster even before activation. She's hyper because that's just slayer energy, they all have it for things like battles." Steve nodded. "She's smart but doesn't always show it. I've been showing her how smart women were great instead of Buffy acting like an airhead. She'll be fine. You can't really ruin her since I don't think you're the sort to hurt her in any manner on purpose," Xander said, staring at him. "And anyone you found doing that would probably be handled before they could harm her too." Steve nodded.

"I can tell you the thing that makes her wibble and cry as a punishment is actually sticking her in an area with absolutely nothing to look at or do. That's also pretty common because having to sit still drives them batty. We have one parent who complained she couldn't spank for big things and that her daughter was weird about grounding so we figured all that out fairly quickly. Bored is bad and inactive is worse. Sitting on a stool in a room with nothing seems like torture to them."

"I don't do bad things, Uncle Xander," Suzette pouted.

"All kids do bad things sometimes," Xander quipped back with a grin. "It's part of being a kid."

"I try."

"Most of you do. One of your yearmates got screamed at for stealing candy the other day. The mother was on the bulletin board to rant about it."

Fury shook his head. "Most of the girls could probably get away with it when they're older," Fury told Steve. "They've got better stealth training and better skills and speed to go with it."

"After activation and some training," Xander agreed. "Most of the girls at the main house use it to sneak off to the mall that's up the road for dates." He grimaced. "I was so mean." He grinned at Fury and Hill. "The girls were acting up all day. They weren't paying attention. They were all grounded to the house. They tried to sneak off so I electrified the fence with the safety protocols. Every single one of them got caught and Buffy got to play Mom again. I just sat out there with a paintball gun to get any that tried a second time, and three that tried a third. They were not amused but they dealt with it and pouted back inside. We do try to take very good care of the girls."

"No you don't," Suzette said. "There's not hardly ever dessert."

"That's because you didn't get to the cookies before the big slayers did," Xander shot back with a grin.

"I need to be sneakier?"

"Or charm Andrew into saving a few for you."

"Andrew was so cool. He did magic stuff and tech stuff and said someday he'd take over the world like his friends had wanted to do. Then he'd name stuff after them and make classes on comic book characters mandatory for all geeks." She grinned at her dad. "They'd have yearly comic book conventions everywhere and all the geeks would be happy and take over everything."

"It must've been the anniversary of when Warren and Johno fell," Xander said quietly. "I'll call him later," he said more loudly when Suzette looked at him. "You should always respect Andrew."

"Because he puts up with the big slayers all the time?" Suzette asked.

"That too but Andrew runs the house. Including doing the laundry, all the cooking stuff, all that comes from Andrew. The girls would go nuts without Andrew and a few haven't appreciated that but he got them back for it. They did not like having barbie clothes."

"What did he do with their original clothes?" Stark asked.

"He charmed them so as soon as the girls touched them they shrank." He grinned. "The girls soon learned to appreciate Andrew. The few that were picking on him about being the house mother got picked on and lectured until they did too. After an apology, Andrew let their clothes be fixed by Willow, who turned everything bright pink. Even Buffy said that was too much pink." He laughed.

"Wow," Stark said. "I didn't know magic was for pranks."

"It's not. Andrew has great control of his gifts and his mind. Willow...not so much. She said they accidently turned pink. Which is possible, there's a two word difference in the spells." He grinned. "Willow has *mentors*. So do all the young witches we've seen."

"Do I get to learn with them?"

"Yep, some show up at the Council to train with the girls."

"Cool. That could help." She looked at her father.

"I'm sure you'll have a lot of help." She snuggled in again.

Xander's phone beeped. He looked at it. "Crap, what did Sydney do this time?" he muttered, getting into the text message. "Uncle Xander, I opened up an artifact by accident and released not only the ghosty ghost inside but also the demon." He groaned. "Let me go rescue the precious nine-year-old pre-slayer. I'll see you in a few months to check on you?" he said to Steve, who nodded. "You have my number?"

"I do. If I need help I'll call."

"Cool." He looked at Suzette, who ran over to give him a hug. "Be good. Write me emails if you want to talk. Your dad's an excellent good guy so learn to like him?" She nodded with a grin. "Good girl." He hugged her. "Let me go save the mini tornado of chaos." She giggled and ran over to climb up Maria to play with her weapons again. Xander went down to pack and hit an airport. He left her stuff there, including all her hair things he had in his bag. Cabs were easy to find and they knew where the airport was.

"It sounds like we have a lot of stuff to go over," Clint said. "Including insurance stuff."

Hill took it and checked a few. "Those. With the option of the anti-cloning policy." She handed it back. "The most useful with the best deductible and they're geared toward parents who have higher risk jobs and can't get it regularly for their family."

"Thanks, Hill," Steve said. He tucked it into the folder. "Have you went over these?"

"After the mass calling, they had a few watchers going around to tell us. Xander was in Africa then. Then he came back and kicked two of them out of the Council and probably off the face of the earth in one case because he was trying to revive the old ways of the girls being handed over for lifetime training. He was not pleased. The slayer they were with was in awe of the guy who worked with the slayers and only had one eye."

"One?" Stark asked.

"One was glass," Clint said.

"Oh." Stark nodded. "It's good he can still do that with that sort of injury."

"He's stubborn, Stark. He's all together too stubborn for his own good. The sort to get off an ER gurney and go back to the fight because the girls need him." Steve winced. "Then again, half the slayers are like that. Some feel it's a duty and some feel it's a calling. Some of us do our service in other ways."

He nodded. "I get that. Do you know the active girl in the area?"

"Beth? Yes I do. She's a tiny bit of an airhead but she's got a good mind and good future plans. She plans on retiring from nightly patrols when she graduates and going to battle backup status, which is easier when you're working a normal job and have a normal boyfriend. He's taken some of the accessory classes they have for spouses and hunting partners. She's got a solid 'B' average at the moment because this year's battles were horrible and in Mexico right before finals last semester." Steve nodded at that. "Every spring."

"Great," Clint agreed. "At least we can count on that."

"Some in the fall," Fury said. "Usually quieter, around Yule or Halloween, usually human caused. Every four, five years or so."

"We can deal with that too if they come for the sprout," Clint said.

"Why am I green, leafy, and taste bad?" Suzette asked.

Clint patted her on the head. "It means a small plant too."

"Oh, okay, I can like being a small plant. Some day I'll be a big plant. Maybe a tree." She went back to cooing over the sword.

"I can call Katie in with her buddy," Clint offered. Steve nodded. He called her as he walked off. "Kate, me. No, not an emergency. We had Xander Harris here being a stork." She moaned loudly. "Exactly. He suggested she meet your friend Beth." He grinned. "That'd be fine. Thanks, Katie." He hung up. "She's off classes in about an hour and Kate's skipping today so she doesn't have to do the history test." Steve shook his head.

"Why do we study history?" Suzette asked.

"So we can figure out what's going to happen based on what happened before," Stark said.

"But things have changed. We're not like when they had knights and horses everywhere."

"Humans don't change. Even if the technology does, humans don't change all that much."

"Oh. Okay. I guess that makes sense even if history is icky." She picked up the hand scythe but Maria took it back. She pouted. "I'll be careful."

"I'm sure you will but it's sharp. You have one in your training case that's not sharp." She climbed down to get it and look through the box until she found it. "Sometimes the unlimited spells are a bit weird," she said at Stark's odd look at the smaller box. "Usually we empty them quickly so Willow's magic can't accidentally snap." They emptied both boxes. Steve's went into his room. Suzette was busy playing with her new weapons. She did so adore sparkly weapons.

***

Xander showed up four months later looking like he had taken a train to the torso and face. He was limping a bit and looked unhappy. He was out in public so the kid wasn't there. She was in school. Xander hauled Steve into an alley of the farmer's market without warning. He stared at him. "There's a brother for her." Steve stiffened. "No one is sure where they moved him. They're sure he's a full brother." Steve swallowed and nodded.

"He's eight so still not a little brother. I know that one of her parents is an agent. I don't know which one because half the time they list you that way as well and I'm not sure if they're talking about you or not. That's all MI-5 found that was shareable. Even if you asked. I wasn't going to have Fury pull strings." He handed over an envelope. "That's all they found on the boys, who are in some sort of special training school. That came from another contact who said it's mythical and no one knows where it is except people who went there. By referral only."

"Would Natasha know?"

"Boys school."

"Oh." He looked inside the envelope then at him. "Anything concrete?"

"No. I've asked all my contacts. Even the demon ones haven't heard of the school and they're pretty well everywhere. Even the demonic mafia, who is in bed with the Russian mob, doesn't have a clue. Though one of them did say Suzette was adorable and he hoped some day she'd be a big slayer that handled big things so they had someone to look up to outside the ones they already have. We've been busy handling things they don't want to deal with."

Steve nodded. "Thank you for telling me privately. Are you going to see her today?"

"I don't want the minis to see me this way. Minor injuries yup. Looking like I went twenty rounds with a gang of boxers and swearing at the fractured hip? No. Not really." He smirked a tiny bit. "They know injuries happen but they don't need to know about the bad ones yet. Even if the minis do know that sometimes slayers are hurt badly on patrol. Especially with the one that died in Japan the other day. Buffy told them it was a car crash."

"I read the bulletin board with her. We saw that. It wasn't?"

"No, it was her boyfriend, who had been turned." Steve winced. "Exactly. So yeah, she doesn't need to see this. She okay?"

"She's good. She's happy in her school. Has a few friends. We have an agent we can lean on if we're all out on a mission. She likes her. Asked if we could date." Xander smiled. "She's adjusting well and Bruce talks to her about stuff to make sure."

"Okay. I'll pop around next month sometime, and call first, to do a routine check." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I hate flash visions. Let me go handle the thing trying to get Bethie's sister. Have fun shopping." He limped off, getting a cab to where he needed to go. He got out after paying and hiked up her many stairs to pound on the family's door. The father opened it and his eyes went wide. "Spot vision. Beth, go find your middle sister." She hopped up to run and find her. She yelled that she was outside. Xander followed her, getting a few new injuries against those demons. Beth was hugging her sister. Xander killed them and walked over the corpses. "She good?"

"They said I'd make a good bargaining chip," the little one said, staring at him. "I know you. You're Xander."

"I am. I got a spot vision of them coming for you." The girl hugged him. "Go back upstairs. We'll go handle it. They won't try this again." She nodded, letting her sister take her upstairs to hand over and grab them weapons. Beth came back down, handing Xander a short sword. She could drive them to where the gang met. She knew of that gang already. "Have you met Suzette?"

"I have and she's adorable," she said with a grin. "I heard you had to be a stork."

"Yup. She's settling in okay from what I heard earlier. I'm just glad I was local to help."

"Me too. I might've freaked out." Xander patted her on the arm. "Are you okay to do this? I heard about the battle."

"I'm great. Just limping a lot." She smirked at him but found a place to park and they walked up the street like it was theirs. The other demons in the neighborhood stared, a few running to tell the elders. Xander nodded politely at one. "Spot vision of some taking a kid for leverage."

"I pity their family, Knight," the elder said.

Xander grinned. "So do I but someone was on the funny drugs." He opened a door and Beth stomped in first. Xander locked the door after following her. Then they got down to beating the stupid out of some beings.

***

Steve got home, smiling at the two grumpy Avengers on the couch. "What's wrong, guys? They cancel your favorite show again?" He carried the food into the kitchen.

"We got woken up from our naps by a loud, long squeal of pleasure," Clint said dryly, sipping his coffee.

"I have no idea why she was that happy but it echos down by the gym."

Steve looked at the clock then at them. "She shouldn't be home yet."

"Maybe she skipped?" Clint guessed, looking at Stark.

"No, the school has security teams to make sure they're not taken hostage. That's one of the good points of that school." He drank half his cup of coffee. "JARVIS, please tell Suzette her dad's home."

"I have, sir. She and her friends are busy playing. I have let them call their families to come pick them up as the school bus had a tragic case of breaking down thanks to the demon eating the engine," the AI said. "She led them all here and got them inside, then up to the gym. The squealing you heard was one of her classmates, not Suzette. They're having quite a lot of fun on the obstacle course."

Steve sighed, heading that way. He ran into Suzette in the hallway by the gym. "Hi." He grinned. "You're back early. I was buying you veggies."

"The school lost all power and water because someone got stupid and ran into a light pole."

He frowned at her. "That could have been an accident." Sometimes she was judgmental and he wasn't sure if it was her age or something else.

"He got out screaming that he wanted his wife to die from it but she was okay. The paramedics got her separated from him for her own safety. My classroom looks out on that pole. Then the pole fell on him and banged him up really badly. The ambulance people didn't look happy. Then the utility truck broke the pavement when it set down to lift the pole back into place. All of us were on the playground and got to see the huge fountain of water that came up."

Steve nodded. "Then you're right, he was a bad person." She hugged him. "Did they all get to call their parents?"

"Yup."

"Are you okay?"

She looked up. "Why would the demon eat our school bus?"

"I don't know. I can ask Xander if we can get pictures." One flashed on the nearest virtual screen. "Can you send that to Xander please, JARVIS?"

"I can and have, Captain. He said it was probably wanting to mate. That sort only eat metal for that reason and it was not because of any certain young lady. That it needs about twenty pounds of metal to do what it does with its eggs."

"Interesting." He looked at her. She grinned. "We can tell people that."

"Okay." She walked him into the gym. Other parents were showing up and smiled at Steve. "I asked someone I know and they said the thing that ate the engine was trying to lay eggs. He said it takes a whole lot of metal to do that. Something about twenty pounds of metal."

One of the parents nodded. "I've seen one doing it before. They live by an abandoned train station uptown."

"Can't our slayer take care of that?" one of the other parents complained.

"They'd only go after harmful things," Steve said. "It's not nice of it to scare the kids but they go after the things that take out people. I asked one." She huffed but nodded. "I can tell them so they can go talk to them at least."

"Please. It's disturbing how many of *them* there are on the island."

"Some of them were here first," Steve said with a shrug. "Nothing we can do about our neighbors as long as they're peaceful and not causing harm."

"I suppose so." She hugged her daughter, who was bouncing around. "Did you build her this huge jungle gym?"

"Actually it's mine for training. She likes to climb on it. It's good for her to climb."

"Wow, I'd never let my kid on adult climbing gear."

"Before I got her, she had been ziplining and things."

"Oh, she had *that* sort of parent."

"Ziplining's fun," Suzette said with a smile. "The big girls all watched me just in case. They had it set up in their backyard because they were going to the rainforest."

"There are a lot of zipline tours down there so they don't disturb the native wildlife," Steve said, patting her on the head. "Go play." She ran off. "At least the kids were all safe." The mothers nodded, taking their kids with them. He waited until all the kids had left, which the last one was after dinner. He and Suzette went up to get sandwiches and go do their nighttime ritual stuff like homework, bath time, and bedtime stories.

***

Steve was having scary adult thoughts after the next fight the team got into. Not that he didn't feel like an adult but he had seen how his daughter had looked at his bruises and it worried him that she'd see more. Or worse. So he needed an idea. He went to see Tony since it was three in the morning and he was the only one up. He was in his lab staring at an idea for a suit modification. "I'm having scary adult thoughts."

Tony looked back at him. "I have those a lot. Then I talk to Pepper because she has all the answers." He smiled. "Speaking of, she won't be out for a few extra days. Something went 'twang' as she put it and then the power went down in Malibu. She's yelling at people to find out why."

"You think she'd be able to help me with this?"

"I think she can. She's got all those scary adult thoughts down pat." He dialed the phone and handed it over. "Here you go, Capsicle."

"Thanks, Tony." He walked off, listening the breathless woman answering the phone. "Pepper, I'm sorry it's so late. Am I interrupting? Tony said I should talk to you about ideas on how to handle a few things." She said something about rushing from the treadmill. "Thanks." He found a quiet, empty room and sat down in the desk chair. "I'm having scary adult thoughts. Suzette saw my bruises earlier and gave me a slightly scared look. Will, no, I don't have one," he admitted. "Yeah, that's a great thing," he said when she explained what he needed one for. He didn't have much stuff but he could say who got his daughter.

"Do we know anyone who can help with that? And maybe things like setting up a trust fund for her? I know the other slayers get a stipend but I don't want to depend on that." He relaxed. "Thanks, Pepper. That'd be great. I'd probably ask the guys. No, she's still wary around Natasha because she had a bad reaction at first. She plays with Clint all the time. She and Bruce talk and he's teaching her more yoga and meditation stuff. She and Tony talk sometimes and she sneaks down to play with his robots on him." He listened to her ideas. "That'd be great, Pepper. Thank you. Yes, please call your friend for me. I don't think they have places like where I went when my mom died," he said quietly. "Clint said the current system isn't all that nice." She said a few more things and he nodded. "Then I definitely need to do that. Thanks, Pepper. Yup, see you when you get out here soon." He hung up and sighed in relief. Tony was right, Pepper had the answers to all the big adult questions.

***

Steve got his first call to a parent-teacher conference and happily went. He smiled at the teacher, shaking her hand. "Hi, Suzette's mine. Has there been a problem?"

"Not really but she's been oversharing about her self defense classes." She stared at him. "Why is she already in them?"

"Because people might use my daughter to get near me. Or any of the other Avengers."

"You're...oh." She blinked a few times. "I didn't recognize you without the outfit."

Steve grinned. "Sometimes it's better to be less noticed. Half the time I'm carrying my shield somewhere, someone panics or there's press people."

"That's reasonable. And why she's in self defense." Steve nodded. "We had pizza earlier. Is she allergic to something in it?"

"I'm not sure if she knows what it is. There's some things in her past history."

"Her mother had problems?"

"We have no idea who her mother is. She was found in a training facility." The teacher stared. He nodded. "I don't think they gave her pizza, ma'am. I know that we haven't ordered takeout in a while at the tower either so she may not know what it was. I can ask. Suzette?" he called. She leaned in, grinning at him. "C'mere." She ran in and hopped on his lap. "What was the problem with pizza?"

"It's not good for you. I need to eat good for me stuff."

"You do but sometimes things like pizza are a treat."

"Then I can't talk Uncle Tony into making dessert because I've already had one."

Steve grinned. "You're allowed to eat pizza. It has cheese and that's good. The crust is good carbs. You can't have it every day but for special things you can have pizza."

She grinned up at him. "Can we have tacos?"

"I'll see. I have no idea what we were going to do for dinner. Bruce isn't cooking and Clint's on a mission. Tony's in the lab." She huffed, looking pouty. He poked her on the side. "Your teacher said you were talking about self defense class? Was one of the kids talking about it or did they need some?"

"She needed some. Her big brother gave her a black eye so I told her how great self defense class was and how it was good against brothers too because I was learning how to block hits and it could help her. Then we talked about hair."

"That's not a bad reason but you should suggest she talk to her parents about that," the teacher said.

Suzette looked at her. "I think they let him do it." She slumped. "She said they did." She looked at her father. "Can she sleep over tonight?"

"You can ask her to sleep over Friday night, that way she has time to ask her parents." She winced. "What did you do, little devious one?"

"Um...she's kinda...."

"Ah. Okay. She can call her mom from my phone to ask. If her mom says yes then she can stay over."

"She said her mom's in Aspen."

"Then who's with her at home?" Steve asked.

"I think just her brother."

Steve sighed. "The problem is that if she doesn't have adult permission I'd get in trouble. So would you two."

"Oh." She grimaced. "Can I help her run away?"

"Why don't you encourage her to tell the teachers?" Steve suggested. "They can help her." The teacher nodded.

"She said he's a boy so they're sure he's supposed to be that way," Suzette said quietly. She hopped up and went to find her friend, dragging her back into the school. "My dad's here."

"That's cool." She ran back out to get her bookbag then back inside. "My brother's here. Hi, Mrs. Toliver."

"Andrea, what's happened? If you tell me things, we can see if we can fix them."

"He's a boy."

"So am I but I never would've hit a sister," Steve said. She stared at him. He smiled. "Hi, I'm Suzette's dad." He held out a hand.

"I'm Andrea." She shook his hand. "You're Captain America."

"Sometimes. Sometimes I'm just Steve." She giggled and blushed. "Why don't you tell the teacher about this and we'll see what we can do to help? I can let you stay over but one of your parents has to agree. That's the law."

Andrea nodded. "I understand that." She looked in the hall and pointed.

Steve glanced out there, seeing a young punk's reflection in a glass case. "Hey, Suzette, is any of the artwork out there yours? Show me, my little devious one." He got up and let her take his hand so she could show him. He smiled at the punk. "Afternoon."

"You're..." He swallowed. "You're Captain America."

"I am. This is Suzette. If you're related to Andrea, the girls wanted to have a sleepover. I was going to let her use my phone to call whichever reasonable adult is staying with you."

He shook his head. "I'm old enough to babysit."

"Kid, by law you have to be eighteen in this city if it's more than six hours," Steve said quietly. He slumped. Andrea leaned out. "Want my phone?"

"Please?" He tossed it to her. "It's a Starkphone."

"Tony keeps adding apps to it too." He walked over to unlock it and got into the dialing pad for her. "There you go. Go ahead and call." She did, going back into the classroom. "Here for the parent-teacher conferences?" he asked politely.

"No. She wasn't home yet so I came to drag her home because she probably forgot."

Suzette smiled at him. "We were playing."

He looked down at her. "She knows she's supposed to come right home."

"When does she get time to play? You don't get to play when you're an adult so playing is really important for kids. Otherwise we forget we're children."

"All that's for other kids. She's got grades to maintain. Our mother said she has to come right home and do her homework." The teacher came out to walk him off and talk to him about things. Steve spotted the officer and pointed in the classroom then up the hall. The officers nodded, one going each place. Suzette ran to get the phone then came back to show off her picture.

"It's a nice use of color but you need to work on your shapes a bit. We can do that Sunday." She smiled and nodded, hugging him around the waist. Steve looked back at the officer. "My daughter wanted her to come over tonight."

"We'd like to find her parents."

"I heard Aspen."

The officer smiled. "Thank you, Captain."

Suzette looked at him. "Does that mean she can stay over?"

"I don't know yet, sweetheart. We'll see. If not, maybe this weekend?" Suzette ran to hug her friend, who was crying but it was a good crying so it would be okay.

Steve waited until the teacher came back. "Suzette's being comforting," he said quietly.

"That's fine. It's a great thing." She smiled at the officer. "Thank you."

"Welcome, ma'am. Things like that are what we're supposed to handle." Suzette bounced out to pounce her father.

"Captain, has she been tested for something like ADD?"

"She's got great stamina and she's a bit bouncy but it's all natural kid bounciness. She has no trouble paying attention, she just needs to run and play more often."

"Oh. I'm hoping it won't come out in the classroom."

Suzette stared up at her. "I know how to behave in a classroom, Mrs. Toliver. I'm a good girl and the ones who raised me taught me how to pay attention."

"That's fine. We'll watch things like your sugar intake."

Steve shook his head. "Her diet's exceptionally healthy. She hardly ever gets sugary things."

"I traded some of my carrots for a nutty buddy," she admitted.

He grinned. "I used to do that for other things." She hugged him again. "You still have to eat your own lunch."

"Point."

"Thank you."

"She had carrots, two apples, and some dip," the teacher said.

"She picked it out and didn't want a sandwich. It was fully three servings of fruit. We have protein for breakfast and dinner. Snacks are sometimes carb heavy but they're mostly fruit smoothies and the like. She's good on her scheduled eating."

The teacher nodded. "That's very wise but most children won't eat that."

He looked at her. "Didn't you eat it?"

"I did, but I had too many carrots so I traded those for something sweet." She grinned. "The apples were sour."

"That happens." He patted her on the back. "I'm on a fairly regimented diet due to my physical needs. She follows a lot of it but she eats fewer carbs and more protein than I do because she's growing and doesn't need the extra energy."

The teacher nodded. "You two talked about that?"

"With the people who found her for me."

"Ah. You did see that some things weren't allowed?"

"I did. She doesn't like peanut butter anyway. Other nut butters but not peanut butter." The teacher nodded, going back into her room. "Homework tonight?"

"Two things," she sighed.

"We can handle that." She grinned and climbed up him. "I'm not a tree," he teased, but he was smiling.

"Yes you are. You're really tall and so are trees. Your hair moves in the wind and so do leaves. You seem to grow and stretch in the sun like a tree. You're a tree." She grinned and cuddled his neck. He put her up onto his shoulders. "Cool! Now I'm really tall too." The officers were smiling at her. "So can she sleep over?"

"Not tonight, but I think she can this weekend," the officer with her friend said. "Tonight she's going to be talking to us and we'll get her dinner."

Suzette looked at her friend. "Is that okay?"

"Yup, that'd be neat," she promised.

Steve squatted down to look at her. "If you need me to help, you tell her and I'll come help," he said quietly. "Never be afraid to tell adults when something's wrong. Even if they're like Tony and get huffy, sometimes they just don't see the wrongness. Okay?" She nodded and hugged him then went with the officers and her brother, who was under arrest. Steve stood up. He looked in the classroom. "Did we have more to talk about?"

"No, not really. Thank you, Suzette. You were very helpful for her."

"Friends should be that way." The teacher nodded. Steve grabbed her backpack and took her out to the waiting car. She looked down at him. "She's still sad."

"But it's being fixed. Hopefully she'll not have to be too sad for very much longer."

"That's good. I don't like my friends to be sad." She hugged his head. "Daddy, can we have tacos for dinner?" He pulled out his phone to call Stark, who said no one was cooking. She let out a happy hum as he lifted her down so she could get into her booster seat. He swung by a food truck he liked and got them dinner and then went home to go over things.

***

Suzette walked up to her father a few months later on a Saturday afternoon, looking serious. "They were lying to us."

"Who were?" he asked, dropping the weight back into the rack.

"Uncle Xander and them."

"About what?" He sat down on the floor, staring at her.

"About bad things happening to slayers."

"Some of that's adult stuff and they didn't want you to worry. I saw Xander a few weeks ago and he had been in a pretty bad fight but he said he didn't want you to see him that way because it'd upset you."

She stared at him. "Slayers get hurt sometimes," she said.

He nodded. "Sometimes. Sometimes I and the others do too. Then we get patched up and we take the time to heal, and we figure out what we did wrong so we don't do it again."

"Then what does the girl that got thrown off a building by a vampire do?"

Steve winced. "The bulletin board?"

"I was talking with Bethie when Kate rushed in to tell her. I guess she didn't realize we were on the phone." She sighed.

"Everyone can get hurt in a fight. That's why you train. Slayers take on bigger things so normal people don't have to as often but some girls also don't go on patrol. Some people aren't meant to go on patrol and do battle duties. You don't have to even wonder which way you'll end up until it activates in you when you're sixteen."

"It can't happen sooner?"

"Not that I know of. You can ask Xander that question." She nodded, giving him a hug. "We don't tell you about the bad things so you can't worry about them," he said gently.

"What happens if you're in the hospital?"

"Then one of the Avengers will take you in." She looked at him. "If not, then Xander gets you. I put that into my will."

She nodded. "I can do that I guess." She cuddled in again. "I haven't gotten to meet Pepper yet."

"She couldn't fly out. The company had a huge problem. I can call and see if she's around soon."

She grinned up at him. "Can she take me shopping since I'm too big for most of my clothes?"

"I can do that."

"Daddy, you're not a girl."

"Good point. We can see if Pepper will go with you." She grinned and put her head back down, letting him cuddle. These moments were precious and he knew why she worried but it was for the best that she didn't see the worst things. He had agreed with Xander about that. He pulled out his phone to call. "Pepper, Steve. When are you coming this way? Suzette still wants to meet you and she just told me I'm not a girl so I can't help her get clothes that fit." He grinned at her. "That'd be great. No, I'll go with you. That way she can show me and I can agree she looks cute. Thanks, Pepper. See you then." He hung up. "She'll be out tomorrow." Suzette grinned. "You two can meet after school."

"I could meet her during school so I don't have icky math class."

"Sorry, math's important." He smiled. "Even I had to take math."

"Shoot." She sighed. "We need candy."

"We don't *need* candy. You want candy. Big difference."

"Shoot. Can we want candy really hard?"

"We can do that after we sort out the clothes that don't fit. That way they can go to a resale shop." She frowned up at him. "So other kids can buy them."

"Oh. I didn't know you could do that. I threw away a pair of panties. They had huge holes. I don't know what bit them in the drawers but I couldn't find any demons or even ants."

"We can figure that out." He stood up, carrying her up there. They talked about how to give back to the community and good it made you feel. She could like that and Pepper could shop for her at the resale shops. And maybe a few new things. They needed something for the pictures Tony had threatened to have them take.

***

"Are you mean to Uncle Tony?" Suzette asked the new woman who had come off the elevator. She had to be Pepper. Uncle Tony had said she had really red hair and she was cute.

She smiled. "Did Uncle Tony tell you I'm mean to him? Because I'm only mean to him sometimes, when he needs me to be mean to him." She sat down and smiled. "You must be Suzette."

"I am," she said with a grin, shaking her hand. "You must be Pepper. Uncle Tony said you had red hair and you were cute."

"I am." She smiled. Steve came out of the kitchen, handing Suzette a mug of smoothie and Pepper some ice water. "Thank you, Steve." She pulled the girl up next to her so she could get to know her. Being a vicarious aunt was a great thing. The girl needed more softness in her life being surrounded by guys and Natasha. "What did you want to do today?" Pepper asked.

"I need to shop. Daddy's not a girl so he doesn't understand about needing clothes that fit." She looked so serious.

"Sometimes guys do but Steve doesn't always do that. Sometimes he gets himself really tight t-shirts," Pepper agreed, making Steve duck his head and blush a tiny bit. "I can help with that. Does your school have a uniform?" Suzette shook her head, slurping more of her smoothie through the straw. "That's pretty good then. What do you like to do all day when you're not in school?"

"I go to self defense and I climb on Daddy's jungle gym with him and Uncle Clint, and sometimes I go ask Uncle Bruce really hard things because the teacher thinks I'm smarter than I am, and sometimes I sneak in to play with the robots when Uncle Tony's not looking so they're not bored." She beamed. "I taught them to play catch."

"You did better than Tony has then. He can't do that and they're his robots." She put her ice water down on a coaster. "Do you like pants or skirts?"

"Pants please. Skirts are good for some things but they get in the way of self defense or playing."

"I'm sure they can." She cuddled her. "Do you like t-shirts with pictures?"

She grinned. "I can't wear those to school." Steve had a copy of the dress code he handed over. "You're really good at all the paperwork stuff, Daddy."

"I try really hard. Thankfully you don't have a lot to be done yet."

Pepper looked at him. "From the adoption people?"

"Longer story," he sighed. "Didn't Tony tell you?"

"Muttered some things and yelled others. I didn't get more than you had gotten a daughter."

"She's mine," Steve said with a smile for Suzette. He looked at Pepper. "One of the people at the Watchers Council found her in a training facility."

"Theirs?" she asked with a wince.

"Not then. When she's older," he said quietly.

"Oh." She cuddled the little one. "At least it's not what it was."

"No, and Xander's pretty decent. He said he'd show up later this week to do her every few months check-up." Pepper nodded. "We've done pretty good getting her a good fit into our lives."

"That's a great thing." She smiled at the girl, who was staring up at her. "What?"

"You don't like slayers?"

"I like slayers just fine. I think it's sad any girl has to be a slayer. It's a lot of hard work later on when you could be playing instead."

"Oh. I guess it would be. Sometimes self defense class breaks into my playing time too." Steve nodded, smiling at her. "But he's right, I might need it. And it helps the other girls in the classroom too. Because sometimes they need help with stuff like bullies."

"Which is why she's suspended for two days," Steve quipped. "For getting into a brawl on the playground to protect a classmate from a much older group of bullies."

Pepper nodded. "I did the same thing," she told the little girl, getting hugged for it. Pepper hugged her back. "I think you're neat." She stood up, looking at her. "C'mon, Steve. You can tell her how cute she looks in things." He nodded, following once he had his wallet. Girls were expensive and he already realized that. Thankfully Pepper had sense and understood why he wanted to go with normal kid clothes and even some from thrift stores. It was good for her to learn those lessons.

***

Suzette came in sniffling from her first day back at school, earing a hug from Clint. "The girls hated my t-shirt and said only poor kids shopped at thrift stores."

"No, smart kids do because you outgrow stuff so quickly," Clint said. "It's smart to do that so you don't spend tons on clothes you'll only be able to wear for a few months." She looked up at him. "Did the teacher talk to them?"

"I think she agreed. She overheard me talking to one of the other girls on the playground." Tony came off the elevator. "Hi, Uncle Tony."

"Hey, sprout." He patted her on the head. "Why are you crying? Is there a mean kid? I'm pretty sure we can help you make them sorry."

"Some of the girls were down on her for going thrift store shopping," Clint said.

"I think it's pretty smart. In the next six months you'll probably change sizes three times," Tony said. "Even I got some thrift store stuff sometimes." He patted her on the head again. "Point out it makes good fiscal sense since you're growing so fast and the really expensive clothes are for really expensive things, like award dinners and charity events." He smiled. "Your dad has one to go to in a few days." He walked off.

"Why?" she asked Clint.

"I have no idea. I'm glad I don't have to dress up in the monkey suit and go."

"Monkey suit? Does it have a tail?" she asked.

"It's a saying, it means a fancy suit or tuxedo," Clint said. "Tony made sure your dad has one that looks nice on him."

"Oh, then that's good I guess. It'd still be more fun with the tail."

He nodded. "But then girls would try to grab onto it to keep him. We'd have to fight them to get your dad back."

She lifted her head to look at him. "I can help with that."

Clint grinned, cuddling her. "I know you can, Princess. You're going to be great at it." She grinned and snuggled in again. "Homework?"

"I hate math."

"I know. I did too." She patted him on the chest and got comfy to rest for now. Cuddles were vitally important at her age and her uncles gave great ones. Tony came out so she switched to his lap to hug him then back to Uncle Clint because Uncle Tony was a bit stiff and didn't really understand about cuddles yet. His parents must've been weird to not have taught him about cuddles.

Clint grinned at that mumble from the sleepy kid. Then at Tony, who rolled his eyes but smiled a tiny bit. He had heard. Steve came off the elevator. "She thinks you should have a tail on your tux."

"It'd mean all those women tried to keep me," Steve said, tipping his head to look at her. "You're tired?"

"She had a rough day," Clint said. "Some bullies who didn't like that she thrift shopped."

Steve snorted. "They're just dumb. Not everything has to be shiny and new. Sometimes used clothes are better and more fashionable." He walked off.

"Is she going to the charity thing with you?" Tony called after him.

Steve came back out of the hallway to their apartments, shaking his head. "I don't want the press to get hold of her. They'll follow her around and people might hurt her for it."

"That makes sense," Tony agreed. "I didn't have to go to any until I was nine." Steve grimaced. "Stark charity event so we all had to go." He finished his water and looked at the sleeping kid then at Steve. "Call her off self defense?" He nodded, going to do that. Tony got up and held out his hands. Clint handed her over carefully and Tony took her to put her to bed. Then they went back to their regular afternoon things. She'd come find them when she got up. Or Steve would be nearby and hear her.

***

Steve looked at his bouncy daughter the next day, tipping his head to the side to stare at her pretty dress. "First, that's outside school clothing regs, Suzette. Secondly, don't you have an all day gym class? You won't be able to do anything in that, like the jumping rope thing you were looking forward to." She grimaced and went to change into jeans and a nice enough t-shirt, still the new stuff Pepper had gotten her. "Does that match?" She shrugged. "Go ask Uncle Tony if that matches." She ran off to do that. He and Tony had talked last night about how to get her around the snobby brats at school quickly so she quit having problems.

Almost no one knew she was his daughter, and that might give her more problems with some of the kids. She ran back up in a different t-shirt, a black Stark Industries one that had 'trainee personnel' on the back. Steve hugged her and gave her breakfast. "Remember to wear your older sneakers. Your new ones will rip up doing all that running. You can bring them in your bookbag just in case." She nodded and hummed while she ate then ran to get her homework to make sure it was done. She had twenty minutes. Her dad checked it for her and frowned at something but pointed at the two errors. She crossed that out and corrected it, getting a hug. "Have a good day today, Suzette."

"You too, Daddy. Don't let the bad guys win." She shoved everything into her bag, letting her father repack it for her. She didn't know how to pack things properly yet. Then he handed if back with a grin and she ran off. She ran down to the garage, letting Happy take her to school today. Usually she took the school's special bus for the kids uptown and someone dropped her at the bus stop. Today Happy drove her and she got to get out and smile and wave at him. "Thanks, Happy!" She ran inside. The kids were staring at the limo, smirking driver and all. She grinned back at him and he waved something. She ran back to grab her lunch and then back into the school. He drove off. She grinned at the teacher. "I'm here!"

"I can see that. And that you're happy." She looked at the words on the back of the t-shirt then at her. "What are you training for?"

"I don't know yet but Uncle Tony said I'd be great at a few things by the time I'm big enough to earn a paycheck since I'm starting so early." She grinned. "Uncle Thor comes back this week we think."

"That's great, Suzette. Go put your bag and lunch up." She ran to do that. She looked at the two staring little heathens she had and one's sister. She smiled. "Her father works with Mr. Stark." They huffed. Suzette came back. "We have that all day gym thing today so we're going to be out here. Did you all remember sunscreen?"

"I don't burn," Suzette said. "I spent all day Sunday in the atrium and I didn't burn. I should be okay." The teacher stared at her. She pouted. "I'll sit down if I get one?" The teacher nodded. "Is there some in my desk kit?" She went to check and came out with it, getting a nod from the teacher and her putting it on. She let her best friend have it too since she didn't have any on. The teacher couldn't stop the kids from swapping that but she'd make sure Suzette knew not to share medicines with other children later. When the other kids had to go in, she gathered hers together with the gym teacher, who was testing their physical fitness. Suzette blinked at some of what they wanted her to do. "Like Dad's PT stuff?" she asked, after raising her hand.

"Yes, just like what he did in PT. Is he military?"

"He used to be in the army."

"That's great." He smiled. "We want to make sure all you girls are fit and able to stay fit. This way if we need to help you correct anything we can work on that now, before you get old enough to need it." The girls all sighed but nodded. A few of them really liked some of the stuff, though everyone hated the push up test. The jumping rope got a lot of happier girls and the running test too. Though they found one kid had asthma that they didn't know about. Suzette spotted it and got her sitting down and breathing between her knees before the teachers got there. They got her to the school nurse and Suzette got to run her lap again, she asked to since she didn't get to finish.

***

The teacher smiled when Steve walked in to grab his daughter for the short talk. "She's exceptional."

"Yes she is," he said, hugging her. "Problems today?"

"Two. Her pants split so she had to change." She pointed. Steve looked and nodded at her back up clothes pack she had put into the school. She looked at him. "I have to ask an indelicate question, Mr. Rogers." She licked her lips then decided to blurt it out. "Is she in any way....special like you were made special?"

"We don't think that had any affect on her but she is a future slayer," he said very quietly. "Which will mean no sports."

"Ah. That's also reasonable. I had to let the gym coach in on her parentage because he was drooling over his future track star." Steve shook his head.

"I can't play sports?" Suzette asked.

"I don't think it's fair to the other kids," Steve told her. "Kids can't live up to what girls like you and Beth can do."

"Oh, that stuff. So no sports?"

"You can do sports for fun but not for medals. So pick up games but not for medals or for the school." She came over to hug her. "You can still play for fun in the park and stuff."

"I can do that," she said. "That makes sense." She grinned up at him. "I need a new bottle of sunscreen because I shared mine."

"That's fine. We can pick you up one."

"Though we did have to have a talk about her sharing medicines. Technically I'm not supposed to let the girls share things like lotions because someone could be allergic," the teacher said. Suzette nodded. "Hand sanitizer is fine, but not lotions or anything that's got scents or dyes."

"I can do that," she promised.

"Thank you." She looked at Steve. "She's in amazing shape. Though he said she has an awkward gait at the moment. She starts off weakly from what he said and it goes on for a bit."

"We can work on her running," he said, grinning at her. "We jog. You can come with me and Natasha."

"Outside?"

"No, on the inside track. Every time Natasha jogs outside someone tries to pounce her and she hates to hurt them."

"That's weird." He nodded. She grinned at the teacher. "Did I have bad marks on anything else?"

"No, you're in the exceptional group with two other girls." She paused then looked at Steve. "Should I be worried about their futures?"

"I think the Council finds all their girls somehow but there's a mole on one shoulder." He showed her Suzette's. "I can call someone if you think they need me to."

"I can do that." He wrote down Xander's number. "Thank you, Mr. Rogers. She has homework yet again." She pouted. "It's a critical thinking exercise based in math."

"I saw that earlier one and got confused."

"You're over thinking it," she said with a smile. "It's meant to work on their level. If she has problems, just facebook me tonight and I'll give her hints."

"We can do that. Thank you." He shook her hand and walked out with Suzette. Who decided to climb him once they got outside. He grinned up at her. "You're a little monkey today."

"Yes I am." She grinned. "It goes well with you in your monkey suit."

"I do have one but you're right, it could use a fun tail. I just can't have one because the girls would try to keep me." She giggled and hugged him around his head, letting him put her down beside the car so she could get into her booster seat. He got her buckled in then got in to drive. She waved at a schoolmate that was waiting on her parents as they drove off.

***

Suzette blinked at the girls that surrounded her the next morning when she came in. "What's wrong?" She was a bit nervous.

"You were with Captain America yesterday," one sneered. "Slumming?"

"He's my dad," Suzette said. "No, he's a really nice guy. I'm glad they found out he was my dad when the people found me." The teacher came over to break it up. "Why don't they like my dad?"

"I have no idea," the teacher said. "We can talk about it inside." She led the others into the classroom. "Girls, explain yourselves." Suzette sat down at her desk.

"She's slumming to try and prove she's got status." One of the other girls nodded.

"No, she lives with her father," the teacher said. "I've talked to him a few times."

"Then she shouldn't be here," another one said. "That's dangerous."

"Most people don't know I'm my daddy's daughter," Suzette said. "That's why he doesn't usually pick me up and I take the bus most days." They stared at her. "Yesterday I was running a bit late and Uncle Tony wanted me to have a ride in. The t-shirt was because the two of you nagged me about wearing clothes that weren't absolutely new." She shrugged. "I'm growing really fast right now and I'm changing sizes too much to worry about fancy things."

"A lot of children do that," the teacher agreed. She looked at the girls. "Beyond that, some of your parents knew about hers."

"The bus got attacked and we were inside Avengers tower because I led them in there so they were safe," Suzette said.

The teacher smiled. "Yes, you did, and it was good thinking, Suzette."

"Thank you, Mrs. Toliver." She looked at the girls. "Some of you were in there playing too."

"That was Avengers tower?" one of the girls asked.

"Yup. That was Daddy and Uncle Clint's climbing stuff."

"Oh," she said, sounding tired. She looked at the teacher. "Is it going to make bad guys come here?"

"No. That's why only a few of you realize who she is." They all nodded. "I'm going to call a parent-teacher conference with your parents."

"Add in Stephanie's," one of the girls said quietly, glancing at the others. "Her parents hate all the Avengers and all that stuff." She looked over. "You know Uncle Xander?" Suzette lit up and nodded, leaning over to hug her. "I saw the mole," she whispered.

"That's so cool. He's supposed to check on me soon; he's the one that found me and found out that my daddy is him." She let her go. "Uncle Xander is really nice. I had to stay with him for two weeks at the main house when I got found."

"That's neat." She smiled. "You need to meet Halla. She's in sixth grade."

"I can do that. I like friends. Do you go to the summer camps?"

"Nah, my parents send me to do other fun kid things with my grandparents at their house on Long Island. They have a tiny beach and a pond." Suzette nodded and grinned. "Can I go tell Halla?"

"Later. Quietly and later," the teacher said with a smile. "Not Yura?"

"No, she's mean," Larissa said. "Even though we're not supposed to be."

"That's fine. Introduce each other after school." She looked at the other girls. "Do you girls have any other concerns?"

They shook their heads. "No, Mrs. Toliver," one said quietly. She looked at Suzette. "Do you play like normal girls?"

"Yeah, all the time. There's almost no girls around though. Only Natasha, who is a bit weird, and Auntie Pepper, who sometimes is in Malibu but is the greatest girl auntie I have." She grinned. "She got me my first doll."

"That's cool," they agreed. They hugged and went outside to play.

Larissa pulled Suzette over to Halla's group. "Hey, Halla, can I have a minute?"

She looked back and smiled. "I heard about you." She shook her hand. "Halla."

"I'm Suzette." She grinned back.

"Larissa and I get together once a month to play. You can come."

"I'd like that. Let me know when so I can tell Daddy?"

"Of course." She patted her on the head. "It's line up." The girls ran off to line up for their class. Her friends, who all *knew* because she had been having a bad day and vented, nodded back. They could watch over that fragile little one too. Halla had a talk with Yura that night. She was about to break out so she was acting grumpy and unsettled. Yura met her after school and Suzette made her grin and laugh so it was a great thing.

***

Mrs. Toliver looked at the parents in the room, smiling. "We had a slight talk this morning with your daughters. They expressed some questions about another student's father."

Most everyone looked at Steve, who shrugged. "Suzette is mine but we're keeping it very quiet to protect her."

One parent grimaced. "Won't that bring bad people here?"

"No, it won't," Steve said. "Not unless someone goes on the news and tells everyone she's here. We were assured the school had security measures to evacuate all the students if necessary and to protect them if someone tried to get one."

"We had to use them last year during a nasty custody dispute that had a parent trying to hire kidnapers to get her daughter," Mrs. Toliver said. The parents winced, they had heard. Steve had been told about it when they assured her of Suzette's security. "The girls are all safe here, though two did decide to be down on Suzette because her father is practical and got her some second-hand clothing due to her current growth spurt. Which is what led to Mr. Stark's t-shirt?" she asked Steve, who nodded. "We all thought it was charming she's a future employee." She looked at the other parents. "We soothed their worries earlier but I know they still have some questions and it's best to get them out in the open when the parents can help." She got the girls in there. Suzette had to be gotten from the playground with a few other girls. "Larissa, I see your mother."

"I introduced her to Suzette." She smiled shyly at Steve, who grinned and held out a hand. "I'm Larissa. I know about Uncle Xander too." He hugged her and she blushed but giggled and ran out.

"We can play this weekend I think," Suzette called after her, then stared at her father. Who nodded and let her settle in his lap. "Thanks, Daddy."

"Welcome my devious little one." She giggled and poked him but cuddled in. "Homework?"

"Yup, shoot."

"We can work on it later," he promised. He looked at the other parents.

The girls settled in beside their parents, only one daring to sit on her mother's lap, and talked about things like what Steve did and how he did huge things but also simple things and how they weren't in danger from it. It calmed everyone down but one parent still hated the Avengers and withdrew his child just in case.

***

Xander smiled as he sat up the principal's chair, looking at the girls that rushed in to hug him. "Hi, kids." He cuddled them both. "It's good you two found each other." The other two in the school walked in. "Halla, Yura, want a hug?" They shook their heads. He settled in to go over what they were doing in school, and hand out new inserts for the classification manuals. The girls giggled over some of them. Especially the snot puppy demon. There was one of those that sometimes wandered into the playground. It made the guards freak out but the girls all liked to put flowers on it and pet the poor, slimy thing. They went over a few more things then he released the girls to go back to class.

Suzette stared at him. "Some of the kids found out who my daddy is," she said quietly.

"We'll help him protect you, Suzette. You never have to worry that someone won't help you protect yourself." She grinned and hugged him then ran off. He looked at Yura. "Few days probably," he said quietly. She pouted. "All the girls get that." He gave her a hug, making her go limp against his shoulder. "Your parents are probably waiting."

"Probably. I told mom it was coming and she cried for the last week."

"Parents are supposed to be upset about things like the duty. You still have a long time before you even hit a training patrol so unless something major happens that hits the main house, you're still safe. We'll talk to her." She got her parents in there and cuddled up to him again. He smiled and shook their hands. He did the drop test in front of them, nodding. "Starting to come open." He looked at the parents, then pulled out their options for right now. She could still go to school here. The school had protections around it. That's one reason why the Council recommended them.

They also knew about slayers so it was safer. The parents went over everything and agreed she could start taking the classes online and then go to the main house the next year. That way she got a full year of training before she tried a practice hunt. Until then, Xander had protections for their apartment. He had stencils to paint around her room and their doors and windows. He had a few new recipes Andrew had concocted to share. Yura relaxed and they were happier but still worried, but that's what parents did and Xander assured them he was just as worried about all the girls. They were fragile things. Only bad parents didn't worry and Yura's were great parents. All his girls would be okay if he could make it so.

The End, Kinda.
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