Tony looked up as his lab was breached by two cute little girls. "Aren't you grounded, Suzette?"
"My mom's off yelling at my real dad," Larissa said with a shrug. "We wanted to ask you something, Mr. Tony. Please?" she begged. She did her best begging look, which Suzette was mirroring.
Tony groaned but sat down. "What's up? I can't help you prank anyone. Pepper will be mad."
Suzette took his arm to hug and Larissa got the other side. "There's a charity 10K run next weekend and we need adults to go with us. We're going to ride our bikes but it's *important*," Suzette said, staring up at him.
"I don't think I can do that. I can donate. I know there's sponsor stuff for a few bucks each mile you go," he offered, staring at them.
"You could ride on one of those scooter thingies that they give the veterans with amputations," Larissa said, bouncing some. "Please, Mr. Tony? It's for the veterans home and for them to get replacement arms and stuff that need it. We're going to ride our bikes and we need adults to go with us in case something happens."
"They give vets gyroscopic scooters?" he asked them. Steve walked in nodding. "Why?"
"For ease of movement so they're not confined to a wheelchair. There's a tour group in DC that uses them too."
"I can gladly donate."
"But they need to know more than money," Suzette said. "It'll make them feel better to know that guys like you are behind them. That you appreciate them like you do Mr. Rhodey."
"You can ride a bike with us if you need to, Larissa said with a smile. "Or get a robot to help you run it."
He groaned, looking at Steve. "I got talked into it too," Steve admitted. "It would look good for a few members of the team to be there. The average soldier needs to know the exceptional ones are behind them too. It boosts morale."
"I can't.... 10K?" he demanded.
"They're running a 5K at the same time, Stark."
"I..." The girls both stared up at him, pleading. He got free and walked off. "Let me think tonight."
"Then you'll talk yourself out of it," Larissa said, following him to the back work area. "If you do that then all they'll get is a donation and money's a cheap gift. It makes you feel bad. If you go they'll know you want them to get back to normal and maybe they'll try to ask you about how to make better fake hands and legs and stuff. I'm sure you could do a lot with it. Some of them still look like pirate hooks. Though I wasn't supposed to watch that movie; my mother would be mad if you tell her. Please don't?"
"I won't tell your mom you're watching pirate movies," he sighed, staring at her. The other begging one was staring at him from Dum-E's grasp. "Dum-E, let her go." The robot let her go and she ran over to hug him and give him begging looks. He sighed. "Fine, I'll do the 5K." They cheered and bounced into him for hugs then ran off to find the others. Suzette said not to bother Bruce but otherwise they hit all the other Avengers. He looked at Steve. "You're teaching her to be manipulative."
"She gets it from her mother."
***
The girls ran into the gym and each one picked a target. Larissa got Clint, Suzette getting Natasha to pounce. They both caught the girls to stare at them.
"There's a charity 10K run next weekend," Suzette said, staring at her auntie. "They'll feel good that we're going to help. Will you come run with us? We're riding our bikes."
"Aren't you grounded?" Clint asked her. Larissa wiggled her way onto his back and was hugging his neck.
"Well, yeah, but Daddy said we could ride together in it because it's for the veteran's house and to help them get the fake hands and stuff they need. It's really important that they know we're behind them," Suzette said. She looked at him then at Natasha. "Please?"
"Please?" Larissa begged in Clint's ear.
He looked back at her. "Yeah, I guess I can do that if I'm not on a mission," he sighed. She squealed and squeezed his neck, giving him a hug. "Who else is going?" he asked as he pried her off him.
"Uncle Tony said he'd do the 5K part," Suzette said. She stared at Natasha. "Please?"
She huffed. "I am not prepared to run a 10K, girls."
"You can run the shorter 5K, I think that's shorter," Larissa said, smiling up at her. "Soldiers and veterans would like pretty girls sticking up for them, especially if they're tough girls who could fight beside them. Soldiers like girls like that. The movies say so," she said, scowling at Clint when he laughed. "They do," she said with a foot stomp.
"They do. Soldiers love it when girls can fight beside them," he agreed with a grin for her. "Especially really talented ones like Natasha."
She looked at him. "I will finish this sparring match later," she said in Russian.
"Great, can we watch?" Suzette said back in Russian, smiling at her. "We need to know how to do it at the bigger girl levels and we can talk about the running thing while you two spar."
Natasha stared at her. "I forget you speak Russian." Suzette beamed at her. She sighed. "I will run the 5K, girls." They squealed and hugged her too, then sat down to watch them spar. Clint smirked at her. He knew she was going to make him pay for that but it would be fun to do.
***
That night at dinner, Suzette looked at her last uncle. "Uncle Thor?" He put down his fork to stare at her. "Will you come do the charity run with us next weekend? Larissa and I are going to ride our bikes during it but a lot of the others are coming and it'd be great for the people to know that you guys supported the veterans and them getting replacement hands and stuff."
Thor looked at Jane, who explained what it was. "Girls, why him?" she asked.
"Because I'm sure he can run 10K," Larissa said with a smile. "He's really strong and really tough so of course he can run that far. Just like Mr. Steve can."
"They've talked me into the 5K with Romanoff, and Barton's doing the 10K with them and Steve," Tony said then stuffed his mouth.
"I figured you and me could do a drink station," Darcy said with a smile for her.
"We're going to Tampa."
"That's in four weeks, Jane."
"Oh." She nodded, considering it. "I can help hand out water and stuff, yeah." She looked at Thor. "That means jogging for 10 kilometers. Or 5 kilometers if you do the shorter version."
"It's in the park," Darcy said, pulling up the information on it. "So it should be safe enough. It's for the local veterans home and for a charity that helps people get prosthetic parts."
Thor read it over, nodding. "I can see me doing the shorter distance." He looked at Jane, who smiled at him. "I may try the larger one but I may not make it. I do not tend to run like most Midgardians do."
"That's okay, even a tiny bit will help," Larissa said, eyes wide. He smiled and patted her on the head. "Thank you, Mr. Thor. Can I have more chicken please?" They let her take some and gave Thor some more too. They talked about how you dressed for something like that and if the girls' bikes needed to be checked first. They could do that and Darcy would send in the registration the next morning before anyone changed their minds.
***
Before the run, Suzette ran into a reporter. She knew her father had told them about her. Her father was somewhere else talking to the guy who gave out numbers. She smiled at the reporter, who looked confused. "Of course I'm here today. Soldiers need to know that we're behind them and that we support them getting better."
"That's very true," the reporter said with a smile. "Are you running?"
"Larissa and I are riding our bikes with the extended group. My dad's running with us." She pointed at him then bounded off to hug Larissa and her classmates that were riding with them.
"Oh, that's Suzette Rogers!" she said, realizing it when Steve walked over. She hurried over. "Captain?" He looked up and smiled slightly. "You're doing the 10K?"
"Suzette and Larissa mentioned it and that they wanted to support this charity by being here. They've got sponsorship from some of the people at Stark Industries and talked most of us into being here."
"That's sweet of her." She smiled. "Your classmates, girls?" They smiled and nodded. "I hope you all make it to the finish lines, kids. Good luck and have a pretty ride today." She smiled at the father. "She's a good girl."
"Most of the time. She's presently grounded but it's important." He smiled as he walked off. Her camera man caught sight of most of the other Avengers warming up to jog. They caught sight of that guy that had been in DC and was now Council. He was helping the class. They caught sight of Dr. Foster kissing Thor and then going to help carry drinks to a station up the way with another young woman. This was a huge bit of gossip news. She was so happy she had caught it first! She even caught Pepper giving Tony a last minute pep talk before going to help hand out water with the other two women that were with the team. Though they had no idea who the brunette was. Yet.
Her supervising editor would squeal in delight with all this.
***
Steve bent down to catch his breath at the end, looking at the two tired girls. "We need a milk shake after we clean up." The girls cheered. Most of their classmates had given up at the 5K mark but a few had stayed with them. Their parents came rushing over to gather them and their participation certificate. "We should get treats for that," he told them.
"Yes we should," one agreed, smiling at her daughter. "You deserve cookies."
"I love cookies." She hugged the others and they walked off, her mother pushing her bike for her.
"Anyone coming with us?" Larissa asked. Only one kid shrugged, he was still looking around for his parents. The others promised to see them in class Monday. That one was pouting. Larissa hugged him. "We can find your parents."
"They're probably reading in the car." He took his certificate with a smile. So did Larissa and Suzette. "Mr. Rogers?"
"We can stay until they pick you up, Bryan." He smiled and nodded. They moved out of the way to cool down and meet up with the rest of the team.
Natasha waved them over. "Stark sprained his ankle so Pepper's babying him."
"That happens," Steve said. He sat down, wiping off his forehead with the tail of his shirt. Darcy bounded over to hug the kids and talk to them. Jane was following more slowly but she had met up with Thor so they were talking about it. People were clearing out. Steve let Bryan call his parents with his phone. No answer. One of the watching officers sent out an announcement for his parents to find him. Still no answer. The officer took him to look for their car and there they were.
"Mom, I do not need a sibling!" he called loudly. The car had a 'thump' and then she scurried out of the car to hug him. "My bike's back with Mr. Rogers."
"I can go get it, dear." She smiled at the officer. "Thank you," she mouthed. "Sorry." He nodded and walked off. She walked her son off. "So you did good?"
"I did okay. I came in just over a hundred."
"That's great." She smiled. "You know, I'm not going to give you a sibling."
"Are you sure? You doing stuff to make one and Larissa said hers are kind of annoying at times. They have messy, stinky diapers and they're greedy attention hogs."
"Yes, all kids are, that's why I only have you, dear." He smiled at her. "Oh, that Mr. Rogers," she said, straightening out her hair. "Sorry, Captain. My husband's just back from a mission," she said quietly, blushing some.
"I've done some of that myself," he said with a smile. "He did good. He was right behind the girls for the most part. This is his." He handed over the certificate with the picture. "I think his back tire's going flat though."
"That's expected after that long of a ride. Thank you for watching over him for me."
"Not a problem. He's a good boy." He smiled at the kid. "Have fun."
"You too." He walked his bike off. "Mom, they're getting milkshakes. Can we?"
"We're having sundaes at home," she said. He cheered and danced a bit but leaned against her.
Steve stood up, stretching up. "Larissa, where's your mom?"
"No clue," she admitted, trying to call her again. "No answer. Or my dad," she said after trying him. She huffed. "Damn it." Steve scowled. "Sorry but she should answer!"
"She should. You may come have milkshakes with us," Natasha said. "Are we having them out or at the tower?"
"Up to everyone," Clint said from where he was resting. He and Natasha had raced and he had barely won so she got the worst part of their next mission. He smiled. Having longer legs was good for something.
"Stark said that we have milkshakes waiting. Pepper made them," Darcy said, putting up her phone. "Larissa, I left a message for your mom to pick you up at the tower." She nodded and they walked toward the minivan they were using today. The bikes went into the back. The girls got the backseat with Natasha and Steve got in to drive with Bucky beside him. Clint, Thor with Jane on his lap, and Darcy squeezing in next to the door got the center row.
***
Larissa woke up on the couch when someone touched her head. She blinked at Natasha. "Is my mom here?"
"She was in the ER with your youngest brother."
"Oh. Him again."
She stared at her. "It is not his fault he is ill."
"No, it's his fault he's an attention hog."
"Babies need more attention and you could help her with them."
"Nope. I didn't make the baby, I'm not helping with the baby. I told her that with the last one. I'm never having more than one kid."
"Saying that means you'll have twins," Clint quipped from the kitchen.
"At least they can amuse each other then. Like kitties do." She sat up. "Is she coming to pick me up?"
"In a few hours. They're still seeing what's wrong with him."
"He hates his formula. It makes his stomach explode," she said. "Mom doesn't seem to get this but each time she feeds him he pukes." She sighed and found her phone to text her mother that. She huffed and sent back that Suzette was supposed to be grounded so she couldn't really sleep over. She heard a phone ring up the hall and winced. "She shouldn't wake people up."
"It's only ten. Steve's not asleep yet," Clint said, coming out with some coffee for him and water for Larissa. She smiled and took it to drink.
Steve came out, nodding at her. "You can nap on our couch, Larissa. Your mom will pick you up in the morning."
"Sure. Thanks, Mr. Steve." She followed him, going to take another shower and borrow some of Suzette's jammies for now. Maybe she'd call Mr. Sam to talk to him about her mom. He understood about those things. He helped slayers all the time. She could tell Uncle Xander but then he'd talk to her mom and make her cry. She didn't want that.
***
Suzette watched her best friend stomp off crying and followed her. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, giving her a hug.
Larissa sniffled. "My mommy thought my eyes were green!" she shouted.
"They're blue," Suzette said, staring at them to make sure. "Right now they're kinda red but they're mostly blue." She cuddled her. "Maybe she's possessed. We should try an exorcism. We got taught one at summer camp." Larissa smiled, staring at her through her tears. "We can do that. We tie the bestest knots of any mini slayer." Larissa nodded and they ran to get some rope and make some holy water then went to tie up her mother and try the exorcism.
"What are you doing?" Steve demanded when he came in.
"She didn't know what her daughter's eye color was, so she's gotta be possessed, Daddy," Suzette said. "We're helping get it out."
"Uh-huh," he said, nodding slowly. "Sure. I get that. Maybe she's just really tired. She's been up all night."
"You'd never forget your daughter's eye color," Larissa said with a pout. "It has to be a possession."
"Yeah, it's gotta be," Steve agreed, hugging her. "Why don't you two go call Xander. He's got a book full of them and I'm sure he can find the right one. Then go ask Darcy *nicely* to make you two some toast and eggs? I'm out." They ran to do that. He looked at her. "She's had that complaint a lot," he said quietly. "And I have no right to step in the middle." Xander appeared with a sigh. "I'm sure you talked to her?"
"Yeah, and over the last few days. Andrew said she's a bit depressed too." Steve nodded, leaving to let him handle it. He stared at her. "You've stretched yourself too thin." She started to cry. "It's obviously a problem so let's figure out how you're going to fix it so I can untie you once you're 'cured'. Okay?" She nodded. One of the kids started to wail for food. Xander called Andrew to send him something. That worked and the kid slurped it like he had never eaten before.
"He's got a milk allergy."
"That's pounded rice and corn grains with goats milk. It's not bothering him and a lot of kids with milk allergies can still drink goats milk." She slumped, staring at him. He stared back. He took the bottle and burped the baby, and no wailing. He let him have it back and he finished it while fussing for more. Another burping and he drifted off content. The other one got some cereal Andrew brought up to help him eat. "Thanks, 'Drew."
"Welcome. I used to need special milk too. I think I was born with an ulcer." Xander ruffled his hair, earning a swat. "Behave." He fed the older little one, making him happy. Then he went to help cheer up Larissa and Suzette. Xander helped a lot of the parents do better with the mini slayers. He was good at it.
***
"We don't need no education," the girls sang together.
"Yes you do, you just used a double negative," Darcy called.
"It's a song, silly," Larissa said, giving her a hug. "Mr. Tony's computer was signing it." The girls bounded off together to hang out with Andrew.
Darcy shook her head. "Great, the girls like Pink Floyd. We'll have to get them some music for the holidays." Darcy went back to figuring out recipes that wouldn't get her complained at by parents. One had complained she had used real butter in a recipe. When Darcy had pointed out it was an all natural product and better for the children, the mother huffed about it being an animal by-product and they didn't eat those. So Darcy had quipped she could substitute all the chemicals in margarine or shortening if she wanted but it wouldn't taste as good.
She decided on a nice veggie dish and a fruit cobbler with oat topping. No flour needed for that so the one kid would be safe and no eggs needed so the other would be okay. She baked something to test out that new potato-based thickener that had come out but didn't like it as much. She looked online to find out if cornstarch was gluten free and it turned out a few brands were so she ran out to get some of that and make sure the recipes were good.
If Stark would eat it, kids would eat it.
She brought down a plate, making him smile at her. "Am I your test subject again?"
"Yup. For the kids."
He took the plate to eat, humming in pleasure at the cobbler he ate first. Then he ate the vegetable dish. He wiggled his head back and forth while chewing. "Bit solid still and kind of bland."
"I'd generally use a spicy cheese mix but we have one kid whose mother hates animal by-products."
Stark shook his head and ate the rest. "Figures. Spices?"
"Six different ones. Including some cayenne."
"You can't taste that. Must've cooked out instead of cooking in." He finished and handed back the plate. "Thanks, Lewis."
"Welcome and thank you back, Stark." She went up there to tweak the recipe. Steve was eating the rest. "Cheese in the ice box."
"I added some," he said then smiled and ate another bite. "Usually you use some spicy cheese."
"One of the kids can't have animal by-products."
"That's an allergy?"
"No, that's his mother being like that."
"Oh." He ate another bite but nodded. "Make it both ways with a tiny bit saved out for him without cheese."
"Yeah, I can do that." She made a real one for dinner and more of the cobbler. "No wheat products at all."
"Wonderful. The kids will love that." He grinned at her busy hands. "Jane busy?"
"Jane's on Thor somewhere in the city."
He laughed, but nodded. "They're cute."
"They're very cute." She saw Cordelia fading in looking like she had gotten into a brawl with a group of fists. Her clothes were torn, her hair was messed up, she looked like she had been crying. "That huge of an issue?" she asked. "Should we call Xander? Xander!"
He appeared, staring at Cordelia and frowning. "What happened? They get overthrown?"
"They had a fight," she said, staring at him. "Not because of your ex, but some of the ones they bet with decided you were cheating."
"Because of the wish?"
"No, having you around was cheating."
He stared at her then smiled. "They're going to try to kill me?"
"Yeah, you really shouldn't be anywhere you can be found."
"Who?" She leaned over to hiss in her ear. He snapped and did the charm to take him to his storage area. He handed her something with an evil smirk. Then he winked and took it back, going up there. He threw it at the usurping ones. They screamed as it ate them. "Howdy," he said with a smile. "You guys made me this way. You should be proud." He stared at the Powers, who were gaping. "The shit you find when you fall into the holes they're shoved in," he quipped. He stared at the usurpers, smirking evilly. "Hi." One screamed as she came at him with a knife. He fought her off and got a few cuts but then she died by her own knife. "Next?" They attacked and he did his best. They went down. He was critically injured but the others were freed. His ex stepped in to prove she was a warrior and the daughter of warriors. They died and Xander was nearly there. He was gasping for breath.
She took his arm. "Thank you, Cordelia, for making that daring rescue move," she said. She took Xander with her. "Not only were you injured on a non-physical plane but you're nearly out of time, sweetheart. That's not good." Steve was calling their med team to come up. Darcy took him from her. "Good. Thank you. He'll last long enough for a surgeon to get to him."
"Thank you, Goddess Inana."
"Welcome, Darcy." She smiled. "I can see why they compared us." She disappeared as the med team got there.
"He was off fighting with a higher being," Darcy said firmly. "Probably stabbed instead of shot by the cuts." They nodded, putting pressure on the most immediate need. "His breath is whistling too," she said, letting Steve pull her out of the way. They rushed him off. "Oh, god," she muttered. She looked up at Steve.
"I'm calling Bucky. You're not telling Suzette until he's out of surgery. That way she can't worry but it'll give her time to fuss. Or if she comes home with Larissa tonight they can fuss. Call Andrew." She nodded, diving for her phone to do that while he made the hard call. He listened to the ring and it was answered on the third one. "Xander got pulled to help fight for the Powers That Be," he said quietly. "Inana brought him back pretty badly off. He's in our med unit at the tower. Yeah, you need to be here, Bucky." He hung up and followed with Darcy and as it turned out Clint. "Hey."
"I'm glad we don't have a battle soon," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Steve looked at him. "They'd take the opportunity of us being gone to try for him, Steve."
"Point. I just called Bucky. Darcy got Andrew."
"That's good." They walked in. "Good news?" he called.
"No," one of the doctors called back and shoved Andrew out. "If that's all true, he's probably belonging on the team."
"It is," Andrew said.
Bucky appeared, stomping in there. He took the file from Andrew to add to the one he had. "This is what's in his blood, it's highly confidential because it will get him hunted. And yes, the med report is right."
They stared at it then at him. "How!" one of the doctors demanded.
"He's like that. Just fix the stabs?"
"We are," another doctor said, not looking at him. "Should we route him to any specific hospital once he's out of surgery?"
"No," Stark said as he walked in. "He's staying here so we don't have to go there to guard him from blood hunters." He took the reports to look at. "Nothing since I ran it. Great." He led Bucky out of the room. "Just fix him. The slayers will beat us all to death if he dies." They nodded and got to work on the most serious things while the surgical suite was readied. When it was, they rolled him in there to start the tedious stitching project.
Andrew plopped himself down and stared in there until they came out to tell them something.
Darcy gave him a hug. "Surgery's nasty, Andrew," she said in his ear. "Come upstairs to wait so you can tell Giles or whoever."
"I yelled it." He looked at her. "I need to be here."
"He'll be *fine*. Stark hires the best. That's why he got Jane and me." She nodded. He sighed but nodded. "Good. Come help me warp recipes for Suzette's class. One kid can't have eggs, another wheat, and one's no animal by-products by order of his mom."
He snorted. "I hate them." He stood up and walked off with her, letting her hug him until he calmed down. He made them something to drink, that had some rum in it, and got to work on some of the slayer recipes. They had one with gluten intolerance so he had to warp some of them already. It kept him busy and his hands from twitching.
Bucky turned to watch them go then looked at Steve. "What happened?"
"Cordelia showed up looking like she had been mugged by a group of fists," Steve said. "Clothes torn and all." Bucky winced. "She said something about a group the Powers bet with hating Xander existed. He got called and took her then Inana brought him back like that. I'm guessing they got mad."
"Probably. Xander can piss you off faster than anyone on earth at times. Usually on purpose so you go away." He sighed, looking around Steve at the man appearing. "Whistler."
"The ones they bet with thought having Xander was an unfair advantage so they were going to remove him," he said. "He showed up with a god eater demon. Said he found it in a hole they had stored it in." Bucky smirked at that. "You knew that?"
"Did he take him or her?"
"Him," he sighed. "I don't need to know." He stared at him. "They attacked him."
"Figures. Who won and can I come help?" Bucky asked.
"Injuries on a non-physical plane may not heal like others," Whistler said. Stark moved closer to him and he suddenly realized he was around some very angry people who were just as bad as Xander was. "It may because it's him. The first cut may not and she may have lined the blade with poison."
"We can watch for that," Bucky said. "Can I come beat them?"
"No. They're dead now. The Powers are complaining that those ones forfeited. They didn't really want their realm to lord over as well. Too much work." He sighed. "We're all pulling for Xander. Summers will rip my ribcage out to wear me as a hat."
"Dawn? Yes, she will," Bucky assured him. "How do we fix the poisoning?"
"We have no clue."
"Get me the knife," Stark ordered coolly. "I can find a way." It appeared and Stark snatched it, walking off to test the blade. The others were waiting on him. Two poisons and one they knew how to counter. The other...no one had any clue.
Whistler looked at Bucky. "Looks like you're in charge for now. The others are clueless at times that Xander does a lot of the real work."
"I knew that. I can handle it."
"Good." He disappeared. "Too bad he wasn't turned, then slayer blood would've cured him," he said once he was gone.
"Yeah but he's not a vampire and he'd hate that," Bucky said bluntly. "He'd stake himself." He looked in there. Then he held up a hand and went to Xander's storage area. "Anything healing in here?"
"Mohra demon gem," he said with a point at the box. "Two holy things I cannot touch. Neither can you. Only the pure."
"Anything like an anti-poison?"
"Mohra gem would," Cordelia said, appearing next to him. Her clothes had been repaired and the bruises were healing. "You can filter his blood over the stone and it should help but there's no telling what it'd do against the mermaid taint or anything else." She looked around. "The other two are too holy to use on Xander. They're for people like monks."
Bucky grimaced. "Anything that would work?"
"Mythical healing elixir that no one on this plane makes?"
He stared at her. "Uh-huh. Can you get me to that special...." The imp squealed and ran off to get something, bringing it back. "That's a stone."
"That's a philosopher's stone. How.... Never mind. It's Xander. He probably farted it out one night after too many pizzas." She disappeared but a book came flying off to hit him. He caught it, looking at it.
"Thank you. Anything made off this?" The imp shook his head, looking down. "What did this come from?"
"Special bag."
"Get me that bag and the other healing things." The imp got them for him, putting them into a box. "Thank you." He disappeared. He walked into Stark's lab, putting the book down next to him and the stone more carefully. "Philosopher's stone?"
"Holy fuck," Bruce said, staring at it then at him. "Where?"
"Xander. Somehow. There's a healing elixir off it." He put down the other two. "Two holy objects that heal and one mohra gem stone. You can filter blood over it but no one's sure what'll happen against the mermaid taint."
Stark blinked a few times. "Yeah, I want to look at his storage area."
"There's an imp that runs it."
"Take me?"
Cordelia appeared, shaking her head. "If Xander dies, the imp'll take everything in there. You don't want to be in hell, right?" She looked at Bucky.
Bucky summoned the imp and picked it up by the neck, staring at him. "Swear your loyalty to Xander's heirs as you do him," he ordered in a growl. The imp was shaking. "All his heirs. Before I send you home and get a different imp to do your job."
"I swear," he moaned. "I don't want to go back."
"Good. Xander's heirs are myself, Kate, Dawn, and Andrew." The imp nodded and disappeared, going back there to make sure he wouldn't get recalled. Bucky smirked a tiny bit. "Interesting book on the uses of imps in history." He went back to the infirmary.
Cordelia pointed. "Too holy for anyone, including any of you, to touch. That one too. Mohra demon gem stone." She looked at them and shrugged. "Mermaid taint will burn."
"We'll figure it out. Know anything about those poisons?" he asked with a point.
"Ask Andrew. That's more his area. Or Dawn." She smiled and disappeared.
He looked up. "JARVIS, I need Dawn Summers immediately on the phone or in person."
She appeared, blinking at him. "You beeped a 911?" she demanded. He pulled her closer to tell her what had happened and show her the poisons. "I can help with a healing spell. I can feel Andrew and Darcy. That'll work." She got free. "Thanks, Stark." She stomped off, going up to the kitchen. Andrew gaped, staring at her. "C'mon. We can help." He nodded, dusting off his hands and following her. She was much more sure in the magical stuff than he was. They needed a third for balance but wouldn't think about anyone in the Devon Coven or the other covens they worked with. They all really thought Xander had too much control over the girls because he went a bit too far in the big brother act.
Kate Bishop stomped in and nodded, holding out a hand. "Take mine, Dawn."
"You don't do magic."
"So?" She stared at her. "I can be a battery."
"We need a third magic user."
"Ask Thor." Andrew smiled at her and hugged her. They got Thor to come back with Jane, who went to comfort Darcy. Thor came in to help them with the healing spell. He wasn't great at them but he had helped his mother a few times, as had Loki. It was something that he had inherited without actually using. He settled with them and Kate helping them. The healing spell was well crafted and went to Xander with their help. It helped all the injuries but one of the poisons remained.
Thor walked outside and came back with a healer a few minutes later. "Thank thee," he said quietly.
"We have heard much of the slayers, Thor, and this one guides them to a better path of a healthier warrior," the old man said. He walked in there. "Let me see the infected tissues." He moved to read them and nodded, writing down the cure. "This is what you use."
"We don't know what half of that is," the surgeon said. "Would someone like Andrew Wells? He's in the next room. He's a magic user."
"I know not." He walked out. "Thor, help me translate." He went to find Andrew, nodding at him. "We need this, young magic user."
He looked at it, writing the notes on the various formulas. "I don't have that," he said. "Or that one. That's almost mythical."
"Stark had a philosopher's stone on his table," Dawn said. The healer smiled and went to get it while she and Andrew got the healing potions they had made. That left one ingredient. The tears of a true Mother. They stared at them. She looked at the healer when he came back. "What type of mother? One who's had a child or just any mother?"
"A true mother doesn't necessarily have to have children," Thor said, frowning some. "JARVIS, send Darcy down." She came in a few minutes later. "We need the tears of a true mother."
"I'm not one, Thor. I've never had a child."
"You are a true mother to both young warriors." She sniffled and nodded. "It must be about the injured one though."
"About his injuries, that is what must make you cry," the healer agreed after checking her. She looked in there and started to sniffle and cry. They gathered them for the mixing and the healer taught it to them. Then he went in to pour it on the affected area. Some went down Xander's throat. He seized once then settled down with a groan of pain. He helped the surgeons clean up the mess, nodding at their work. "You stitch more neatly than my daughter. That's a fine thing," he assured them. He directed healing energy into the boy's body. The mermaid taint irked him some but he could work around it.
Xander would live.
Even when the two mini slayers ran in and tried to help by climbing up to check on him. The surgeons stopped them but Suzette kicked one and cried on him. Both girls gave energy out that he gathered to heal with. They fell asleep so he let the father and mother take them. He finished up and the surgeons relaxed, nodding. "That works well," the healer decided. "He will heal and be just as stubborn." He smiled at the surgeons. "You do well at your limited levels. Do none of you do energy healing?" They shook their heads, taking him to rest, get some coffee or tea, and talk to him about that idea.
The others settled in to watch Xander sleep. The girls got put onto a couch so they could nap off the strain. JARVIS was watching them.
***
Willow showed up, scowling at Andrew. "Why are you up here? Are you bothering these people talking about stupid comic book stuff?"
"First, stupid comic book stuff gives us ideas of what we might have to prepare for, so yeah, we're pumping him for it," Stark said, sitting up. "Second, you'd think you'd care that your *supposed* best friend nearly died earlier." She gasped, shaking her head.
"Someone attacked the Powers over Xander so Cordelia came to get him," Andrew said quietly. "He brought up stuff to solve it but they had to heal a few poisons and a lot of cuts. Thankfully Stark's a genius who hires other geniuses and Thor was here to get a healer from Asgard to help with the stuff we couldn't heal with the healing spell and surgery." She gaped. "Yeah, me, magic, Willow. Without having to take over the world yet."
"But..."
"Just....go," Andrew said quietly but firmly. "We don't need it right now. We're all exhausted. Just...go home. Please? The girls can eat takeout tonight if no one else cooks."
Bucky came out of the elevator, staring at her. Willow backed away slowly. "They had to stitch ten stab wounds, Rosenburg. Leave Andrew and everyone alone. They did a healing spell to help earlier then worked with the Asgardian healer." She slumped but nodded and disappeared. He looked at Andrew. "You need a vacation."
"I know. But if Xander's not there, no one else can handle the girls."
"Am I chopped meat?" he asked.
"You can't cook."
"The girls can cook. You taught most of them. Maybe they should prove it once a week." Andrew stared, mouth open. "Yeah. That way they know how to handle things better. Steve and I could when we were orphaned."
Andrew swallowed. "I might like that. Can you go talk to them before Willow has a hissy?"
"Done," Dawn said, calling down there on her phone. Stark snatched it and put it onto the main screen. She waved at the girls staring at the screen. "Xander's out of surgery. Andrew and I are fragged from the healing spell. Some of you know how to cook thanks to Andrew so can you guys handle it tonight and maybe for breakfast?"
"Of course!" one of the girls said. "What happened to Xander! Buffy! Faith! It's Dawn!"
"The Powers got jumped by their competitors," Dawn said. The girls all groaned. "They thought the Powers having Xander on this realm was cheating." A few sneered. "So Xander got brought up to help. They got into a physical brawl. Thankfully we could do a healing spell and Lord Thor got a healer from Asgard to help with what we couldn't and the surgeons were going to be fighting with. He'll be fine."
"They're keeping him asleep for a few days," Bucky said. "That way they can make sure the stuff in his blood won't do funny things like change colors or anything." They all nodded, the two senior ones staring. "He'll be fine, ladies, but we're making Andrew and Dawn rest for the night. I suggested some of you learned how to cook and could do something?" They nodded as a group. "Good girls. Thank you for easing the stress right now."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"The Powers and their betting partners thought Xander was *cheating*," Cordelia said as she appeared. "They bet the other guys that they couldn't take out Xander to provoke them into invading and trying to take him out. Xander took them out with a god eating demon while they fought with knives." Buffy shuddered. "He'll be fine. Thor's exceptional and those of us who do the real work are going to be rewarding him somehow. Including making Xander do an inventory. Or making him turn over the philosopher's stone he got somewhere into Stark's safe keeping."
"It's in my safe and no one can get to it," Stark said.
She smiled at him. "Let Thor."
"Sure," he said, staring at her. She glanced toward Jane and Darcy. He gaped. She smirked. "It's a reward we can offer. Also, have fun going through the bag. Think about emptying it *gently* and don't rip the bag or it all disappears." She looked at the girls. "You're safe because of it." They nodded.
"Xander always makes sure we're safe if he can," one said quietly. "Will he have to retire?"
"No, just rest a lot for at least a month," Cordelia said.
"I was going to start on his rounds of checking minis soon anyway," Bucky said. "We were going to split it."
"The girls like it when you two show up together," Faith said. "Some of the minis have serious crushes on Xander. You sure he'll be good?" she demanded, staring at the camera.
"Yeah, he'll be good," Cordelia said. "That'll also bypass the demands that the Powers wanted him to mate with people who weren't flirting with him."
"What about that chaos mage?" Bucky asked.
"They're friends," Cordelia said. "Which we pouted about. She's seriously the best chance at Xander having a real partner. Too bad her God got in the way." She smirked and disappeared after a wink at Thor.
"That one swears to my brother," Thor said. Bucky nodded. "I'll see if she'll come visit."
"That's fine," Stark said. He stood up. "Let me get into that bag." He walked off. That was very interesting and he wanted to know what was so special about it. Since he opened it and found a goat sleeping the sleep of the sedated it was very weird. He pulled it out. It slowly shook off the sleep spell or whatever and started trying to eat one of his robots. A good force field kept it from trying to eat him when he tried to pull it away from things. "Yeah, what are you?" he demanded. "JARVIS, ask Thor if he knows anything about baby goats?"
"The myths do say he had a few pulling his chariot," the AI said. He cleared his virtual throat when Thor walked in. "Lord Thor, sir."
Tony pointed at the goat. "It tried to eat a robot and me."
Thor looked at it. "I know of that species. It will eat anything that can fit in its mouth. Including people. Only very strong warriors dare to fight with one as a test of manhood." The goat tried to bite him but he held up his hammer. It tried to chew on it but it zapped it. The goat shook his head and tried again. "It is persistent. May I send this home, Stark?"
"Give it to the healer as a present," he said with a hand wave. "Cannibal goats might be a bad idea."
Thor looked at the bag and took it gently to turn over and shook it gently. "Please divest yourself of your contents gently so nothing breaks." Things started to slowly fall out of it, making a huge pile. Thor looked up it then shook a few things loose. One took a hand to pull out but it was a spear. The bag finished emptying and he handed it back to Stark with a smile. Thor fashioned a muzzle for the goat and walked it off. The healer stared at it. "It was in the bag Bucky brought from Xander's warehouse."
"I know what they are. How did one find itself down here?"
"I know not," Thor said with a smile. "It was inside a bag of keeping."
"Interesting way to keep it from eating people. Don't get near it, people. It will eat people as well as anything else." It was chewing on the corner of a desk at the moment. He smiled at Thor. "Thank them for the present for me, Thor."
"I will. Have much fun with it." He left, going back to the lab. "He was most delighted, Stark, and sent his thanks."
"Not a problem. I owe him a lot of thanks." He was looking at things, sorting out the weapons. "Here, give that to Darcy and Andrew. It's a cookbook." He took it up to them. Stark had a lot of things to look through. Including some weapons that were a bit futuristic. "A hand laser, cool." He figured out how to use it fairly easily and how to make it better just after that.
***
Steve answered the phone the next morning. "Yes, Principal?" He listened. "I thought the girls were there. Let me check. Xander's in the tower infirmary due to a knife fight with some gods." He hung up and went down there. The girls were reading to Xander and each other. They were reading their history books at least. He cleared his throat. "You two are supposed to be in school."
Suzette shrugged. "Uncle Xander needs fussed over. We're taking turns with Dawn." She smiled. "It's good for him to have some fussing."
"They've got him on medicine to keep him asleep."
"That could make the hyena lady come out instead," Larissa said. "We're making sure he wakes up as a good boy like he usually is instead of her." She went back to reading. "Why do we have to study this stuff?"
"Because nothing's ever truly unique in human history," Steve said dryly. "It keeps repeating."
"Oh." She nodded and they went back to reading him sections. "We're okay. We're being good, Mr. Steve."
"Does your mother know you're skipping school?"
She looked at him. "My mom might not realize I'm not home right now. You know how she is. Whatever possessed her came back."
"Sure," he said, walking off. He called the principal back. "Both Suzette and Larissa are reading Xander their history books while he's being kept sedated," he said. "Yeah, I'll excuse her absence and call Larissa's mom to get her to talk to her daughter." He hung up and called her with a sigh. "Hi, Larissa's mom. It's Steve Rogers. No, she's not in school. She's here reading to Xander while he's sedated in our infirmary. A knife fight with gods. No, she didn't see any of that. They came in after he was out of surgery." He listened. "She's been here for the last six days," he said. "She wasn't sure you knew that or not." She said something and asked her boyfriend, who wondered when she suddenly had a daughter. She mumbled something and hung up. He sighed but nodded. He went back in there. "Larissa, your mom will call the school to okay skipping *today* but you have to go back tomorrow and I'm pretty sure you're going to be picked up tonight. Did you know she has a boyfriend?"
"I've seen him twice but I don't like him," she said with a shrug. "He's not good enough for my mom." She grimaced. "He's kind of a dick."
"Bad word," Suzette chirped. Larissa sighed and put some change into the jar beside the bed. Suzette handed over a dime. "She's right, Daddy, her mommy's boyfriend is a huge dick and he gives me creepy feelings."
"You two have a swear jar?" he asked dryly.
She smiled. "Yup, for charity."
"I like that idea and I'd wish you didn't have to give away so much change, daughter."
"I know, daddy. I'm trying."
"Try harder, both of you." He looked at Larissa. "If you're at home and something bad happens, you run back here. Got it?" She nodded. "Even if Suzette and I are in DC or something, come back here. The others will help you."
"I can do that," she said with a smile. "Or go to Cleveland."
"That's good." He left, going to talk to Andrew. He was in the kitchen with Darcy. "They've skipped school to read to Xander."
Darcy smiled. "That's sweet. Taste this." She held up a spoon.
He ate it and shrugged. "Not as good as your usual."
"I can't use butter with that one kid." He nodded and left them to work on it. She looked at Andrew. "Can you make pastries with rice flour?"
"I don't know," he admitted. He looked it up online. "There's a multi-grain one and one using rice flour," he said. She looked over his shoulder.
"Millet, sorghum, and oat blend?" she asked. "Where do you get that?"
"Yuppie food stores," he said. She nodded and they looked those up. There was one not that far away. New York was full of people on fashionable diets and gluten free was the latest fashionable one. They ran out to go find that store and look at things. When she explained what they needed and why the 'foodie' in there got them what they needed and a recipe book. They went back to the tower to work on that. Stark was eating the apple pie filling. Darcy rolled her eyes. Andrew smiled. "We can't use real butter. One kid's mom is against animal by-products."
"I know a few people like that. They're kind of miserable," Stark quipped. "Still nice enough." He looked. "You can make pastry crust without wheat?"
"Apparently. We're going to try it to see," she quipped with a smile. He nodded and let them be food magicians. He had the magic of science to go through and more things in that bag to wonder about. Including the pretty gem stones that weren't from any earth. He had no idea what they were but they were interesting to him and Bruce.
***
Xander blinked awake, staring at the woman at the end of his bed. "Hey," he said quietly, glancing around. "Out of my body?"
"Waking up, doofus." She stared at him, head tipped to the right. "Why?"
"Better the evil overlord you know instead of the one that'll cause more problems," he said quietly.
She snorted but smiled. "Yeah, true. They said thank you and they'll let you live until Stockholm in three years if you manage it."
"Thanks for the head's up." He stared at her. "Not that I won't go after them." He grinned.
"We know." She punched him on the foot. "Thanks."
"You were mine, I'm still a bit protective of what's mine. Means I haven't given up yet."
She smirked. "Sure. You say that now. What if I have to give you bad news?"
He smirked back. "With your bosses, it's all bad news."
"Where's the other one?"
He smiled. "Don't worry, I won't let it eat you or Inana."
She rolled her eyes but left. The Powers were trying to pull things back together. Only one stared at her. "He woke up and I gave him your message about Stockholm. He said thanks for the warning without a vision." She went back to where she and Whistler hung out off-duty to rest. He looked up from staring at his hat to stare at her. "He woke up."
"He's stronger than they like," he warned.
She leaned down with an evil look that used to make cheerleaders and jocks flee her. "Do you think he won't do the same to them?" she asked quietly. He moaned, staring at her. "We made a war. He may have taken them out because they were going to bother the slayers. Or as he put it better the evil overlords you know than the ones you don't. With Stockholm coming up in three years, what do you think he'll do?"
"He doesn't know."
"He has the visions for the Council," she said bluntly. She was aware they were being listened to. She smiled. "He had Stockholm two years ago, Whistler." He moaned, wincing some. The brim of his hat was being crushed. "He may allow for multiple deities, but his definition of those is a bit slimmer than the ones they use. They're not Gods. Only Inana's a goddess."
Whistler swallowed. "They'll hear you."
"They already know. Not like they don't snoop in our heads." She shrugged. "They know they started the war with Xander. They had Jesse be taken. They had him turned. They knew slayers needed some backbone a few years later. They found one and the Powers don't like it. But hey, I was scrying on that huge mirror and saw a Xander that's actually got a history of being a part-maenad."
Whistler shuddered. "That's an evil thought."
"Yes, it is," she said with a smile. "From a strong hunting family too." Whistler went pale, shaking his head. "Yeah, that one. It was so cute. He changed gender to go taunt people who needed to be taken out." She sat down with a twirl onto the couch and put her feet up with a smug look. "I saw one that was a redemption child too. Ours isn't the strongest Xander out there. Those ones may join this one though if he needs them to."
Whistler swallowed, slowly shaking his head. "Please don't wish that on anyone."
She grinned. "Me?"
"Please, Princess. Just...don't." She giggled and got comfortable for a nap. Whistler moaned, thinking about how bad that could be. The Powers that heard were scrying those Xanders and they were horrified. Theirs was nicely strong enough and meeker than some of them. They did not want those Xanders here. Ever! They would not put up with those other, stronger Xanders. They felt great pity for their Powers.
***
Xander blinked up, staring at the ceiling. "I heard that." The Powers quit thinking so hard about Xander. He smirked a tiny bit and got comfortable again. It was nicer without them having *ideas*. Though being part maenad seemed like it might be fun. He didn't want to change genders that way but it sounded like it might be fun otherwise. Plus strong hunters on that world.
Bucky walked in rubbing his head. "Why did I just get a slight vision of other versions of you?"
"The Powers were thinking too hard," he quipped. "Cordelia told them about them." He smiled. "They don't want them here." He groaned and grabbed his forehead. "Fuck!" he growled. "I already had this vision!" It changed and he moaned. "And this one. It's two years old!" A new one, one he hadn't had, showed up.
Bucky went to get a nurse. "Vision." She ran in to help him. He got the vision tea started. He carried a pack of it in his wallet just in case. Xander took it with his eyes squeezed shut, gulping the nasty mix. "Sorry it's cold." Xander gagged but drank it anyway. Once the vision stopped he leaned closer to his ear. "What did you see?" Xander shook his head, patting him hard on the head. It passed over and suddenly Bucky knew how a vision headache felt. "Damn," he muttered, rubbing his head. He stood up. "If I get one of those ever again I'm going to go destroy the Powers That Be myself." He wandered off to Stark's labs, going to write down the vision and finding the small box, put the paper in it. It disappeared once he closed the lid. Then he wandered off.
"What was that?" Stark demanded, getting up to follow him.
"Vision. Xander shared," he moaned.
"JARVIS, get him to Rogers," he ordered, sitting down. He looked at that box and scanned it. It was clearly magical and had a little letter on the front of it. "Huh. It's inter-realm mail. I wonder if Jane could tune that to Asgard when Thor's up there."
Steve got woken up by a persistent buzz, getting up to open his door. Bucky was just getting off the elevator. "What happened?"
"Xander shared his vision."
"C'mon, you can have my bed," Steve soothed, leading him to it and pushing him onto it. He took off Bucky's boots and shirt but let him sleep it off. Visions looked nasty each time he saw one. This one didn't look much nicer. "Do we need to know?"
"There were at least six Xanders there," he said, opening one eye slightly. "If we're at that, we'll be Xander'd to death."
"Yeah, I can hide from multiple Xanders." He went to sleep on the couch. The girls were in Suzette's room. Larissa's mother hadn't called back. Thankfully the last time Larissa had went home she had shown up with a bag full of clothes for herself. That was weird and they really had to talk to her mother in person soon.
***
Steve walked off the elevator at noon the next day, staring at Darcy, who was making Jane's lunch. With Thor apparently since it was a huge amount of sandwiches. He stole one with a weak smile.
She stared at him. "Bad meeting with Larissa's mom?"
"I don't know what's wrong with her. It's like she doesn't even miss her daughter. She said she'd make sure she got home tonight and they'd be talking about her running away habit."
"I don't think she's running away," Darcy said dryly. "I think she's fleeing the stupid."
"I think so too," he admitted. "When I called, her boyfriend asked if she had a daughter." Darcy groaned. "Yeah, that's about my feelings too. I have no idea what to do."
"We talk to Andrew."
"I can talk to Andrew," he agreed. "Though I don't want her to have to go to Cleveland already."
"Maybe she's got sensible relatives or another slayer family up here can adopt her."
"Maybe," he agreed. "He still here?"
"Went back this morning." Andrew appeared, giving her a hug. "You okay?"
"I heard my name mentioned in that 'better not tell Andrew way'," he quipped with a smile for her. "I'm not trying to take over the world today so I figured it was a bad thing."
"Larissa's mom," Steve said.
"Oh, that bad thing. Sometimes parents get freaky about having a baby slayer."
"Her boyfriend asked if she had a daughter. He didn't remember seeing her," Steve said. Andrew winced. "She also forgot what color her daughter's eyes were, which was when Xander talked to her about it. I had to call Larissa off school yesterday so had to talk to her. She said she was sure Larissa was safe and okay here."
"Yeah, that's bad. I'll talk to her. You're thinking another slayer family?" Steve shrugged. "I know it's not totally safe here with what you guys do, Steve. All right, let me talk to another slayer family first. How long was she here?"
"Six days this time," Darcy said. "She had been home overnight after a week."
"She brought clothes this time," Steve said.
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, that's well past time to fix it." He sighed. "Let me cab over." He walked off texting someone. He ran into Bucky, who looked pissed off. "You good?"
"Huge problem?"
"Larissa."
"Yeah, the girls snuck out, Steve," he called. Steve leaned out of the kitchen. "They're at the zoo by Suzette's tracker. I called over there and they had no idea the girls had left. Though her substitute teacher did say that Larissa had been sniffling all day. She looked upset so she figured it was something like being punished. They weren't missed for an hour."
"Some agents," Steve said dryly. He walked off. "Go with Andrew in case her mother throws a fit?"
"I'll find her a good stepmom," Andrew said. "Then we'll figure out what to do." They left together.
***
Steve found the girls in the zoo's security office. "Guys, what did my sneaky little girl and her best friend do?" he asked with a smile.
"The one that's not yours burst out crying," the security guard said. "They were up a tree cuddling and she was crying."
Steve nodded. "They skipped school because of it. Are they in trouble?"
"Not unless their school yells a lot."
"They didn't notice it for an hour," Steve said dryly. "They can't yell as much as I will be at them." The security guard let him into the room. He stared at them. "Okay, I want a *good* explanation."
"Her mommy said she's going to Cleveland tomorrow," Suzette said. "She's really upset and the school's not exactly good on mushy stuff so we were spending some last few hours together."
"First, bull crap on her going to Cleveland. Andrew didn't know that." Larissa stared at him. "I talked to Andrew and he's going to talk to your mother and see if one of the other associated families in the area would like to take you in." He squatted in front of her. "The tower is not all that safe. Bad guys attack us all the time," he said quietly.
"I know," she sighed. "Can she still visit?"
"Yeah, once she's not grounded for sneaking out of school again," he said, looking at his daughter.
"I knew you stuck me with the tracker thingy, Daddy. We were totally safe."
"Is the bus system really all that safe?" he asked.
"Yup. The guy sneered at us so I used my allowance to take a cab." He scowled. She shrugged. "It's safer than the subway!"
"Not much of an argument, Suzette. Though I do admire the sentiment and I'd have done the same thing if Bucky was being sent away." He sighed, looking at Larissa. "C'mon. We'll go wait on Andrew and Bucky to show up."
"Bucky went to talk to my mom?" Larissa asked, eyes wide. Steve nodded, standing up. "Is he going to threaten her? Because I don't want to have him do that even if it'd be cool."
"He can be subtle," Steve assured her. He held out a hand. The girls took one each and they went to look at things before going back to the tower. Andrew and Bucky needed time to work. Or threaten. Threatening would work for him. He had seen some parents who ignored their kids way back when but nothing this bad. They ran into Kate Bishop, who picked up Larissa. "Hey."
"My dad is really happy that I'll have a little sister." She stared at her. "Especially one I'll be helping instead of going out in a costume." She walked off with Steve and Suzette. "Bucky suggested I ask some of the ones I knew better than they did. My dad asked why so Bucky told him. He was horrified and gasped and insisted you come home and become a Bishop, Larissa."
"Would my dad mind?"
Kate shrugged. "I'll fire a message arrow at him later." She grinned and hugged her. "Now, there's still going to be rules. You'll still have to do good in school. You and Suzette can still play when you're not grounded and stuff. My dad's a pushover about some stuff but not schoolwork. Understood?" She nodded, staring at her. "It'll be cool. I can help you shop for school clothes since those are too small." She smiled at Suzette. "You can help."
"When she's not grounded," Steve said. "They snuck out of school for one last day together because Larissa's mom said she was going to Cleveland."
"She told the teacher," Suzette said. "The teacher said he'd miss her when she was in Cleveland."
Steve let go of Suzette and walked off to swear for a moment then came back calmer but texting Bucky. He could tell Andrew.
Kate smiled at him. "I do the same thing around the minis." They walked off together. She spotted a reporter. "Pap, left, ten o'clock," she hissed.
He looked and shrugged. "They can report my daughter likes to cut school."
"If they didn't miss her for an hour...doesn't she go to the SHIELD kids school?" Kate asked them. They nodded. "Wow, what weak agents." She snorted, looking at Larissa. "I'll teach you how to do it better like I did when I ran out to go meet with my teammates." She grinned, hugging her. The reporter rushed up. "I'd stop that," she warned.
"That's Captain Rogers. Are you working with the Avengers? Is that your daughter?"
"First, Larissa's like eight," Kate said. "I'm not old enough to have an eight-year-old daughter. She's going to be a little sister. She's a best friend to Suzette, and the girls are grounded so don't you *dare* take their picture or else I'll let my father buy your news rag." The reporter backed off, nodding quickly. "Thanks. They snuck out of school to go to the zoo." She smirked. "I'm retrieving her. Now, shoo. Right now." She waved a hand. The reporter didn't follow them but she also didn't get to take pictures of the kids because her camera broke without any visible reason. It just fell apart. Andrew met them at the entrance to the zoo with Bucky. He took Larissa from her. "She good?"
"Her mom signed papers your dad sent over." He smiled at her. "You looking forward to staying with Katie?"
"She's a great big sister. She's already proved that," Larissa said, staring at her.
"Nothing changes, kiddo. I'm just going to use you to distract our dad." She smiled. "That way I can get back to target practice." Larissa giggled. "When I can't sneak you out to go with me." They got driven home by Bucky. Steve and Suzette came so Suzette could help Larissa unpack her stuff and meet Kate's dad.
Suzette looked at the man in the doorway. "Hi, I'm Suzette. I'm her best friend."
"It's good she has such a good friend, but I will object to you leading her astray by skipping school, Suzette."
"Dad gets mad at that too," she sighed with a point at him.
He smiled and shook Steve's hand. "I'll need your number so we can keep track of those two are."
"Of course. She's got an emergency phone of her own but I can give you mine and Bucky's, Mr. Bishop."
"It's fine, Steven. I'm Arnold."
"Pleasure to meet you. Kate's one hell of a daughter and she's a great girl, always has been like a big sister to Suzette and Larissa."
"I like that about her, even though her extracurricular activities are going to drive me to drink." He looked at his daughter, who smiled angelically. "You can give her your bow, Katie."
"We'll see. She's not old enough for my bow yet, Dad." He rolled his eyes. "She's still learning a crossbow." The girls hugged her and they finished putting clothes up. "We'll go shopping next week, Larissa. Your shirts are all too small."
Suzette looked up at her father, smiling at him. "I know," he sighed. "We can let you go with Kate. But only if you're good."
"I'll be good, Dad." She grinned at Kate, who smirked back. They hugged Kate's dad then Andrew and Bucky, who were helping set Larissa up properly here. Suzette and Steve went home to tell Darcy what had happened. Darcy sent over recipes for her.
***
Xander came off the elevator singing 'I'm free' over and over, hugging everyone and kissing Darcy and Suzette on the cheek.
"Keep your lips to yourself," Stark ordered but he was grinning.
"You sure?" Xander quipped with a grin. "Because you have some of my stuff down there and you're playing with it. Most people that toy with my stuff are flirting with me."
"Yup. I sure am. You can have it back when I figure things out."
"It's magic, not tech."
"I found some tech and that's fine. Gives me a headache so I'll figure out the tech versions sooner. Plus your little mailbox thing is really handy. Jane said she wants to make one."
"I can get the spell for her." He looked at Jane, hugging her. "It's multi-realm, not to Asgard. The one Xander from there isn't on this realm and he doesn't tend to live up there. He lives in Colorado in a training camp." Thor's mouth opened and he stared at him, standing up. Xander grinned. "Easy, big guy," he said in old Norse. "He's your nephew in his world." He stared at him, smirking some. "He's a fully mated, in control of a lot of things, Protector of Humanity with his spouse, who is over heros."
Thor moaned. "That is ...how?"
"Mead with his mom, the River Goddess," he quipped.
Thor moaned and sat down, hugging Jane as a shield. "Please leave him there? It would confuse many."
"Yeah, probably. Unless something huge happens. Then we might have to move somehow." He shrugged and pounced Bucky since he had relaxed, kissing him on the cheek too. "I'm free! Let me go flirt!" He disappeared after rubbing his necklace.
Bucky sighed, checking his watch. He called someone. "Xander's free and flirting." He hung up. A few minutes later he got a message from an unknown number. "Oh, Miss Beldane has him flirting with her. Sure." He wrote back that he was barely out of the hospital, had surgery to seal a bunch of knife wounds, had to be healed and a spell used too. She asked why. So he told her. She said she'd take good care of Xander. Xander sent a 'thanks'. "Beldane has him well in hand."
"I'm sure a chaos mage can handle his leftover bored moments," Darcy quipped.
"He gave me and Larissa gift certificates for taking good care of him," Suzette said with a smile.
"You have fun at Godiva, kiddo," Darcy quipped with a smile. The little one gave her a wicked grin.
"With limits," Steve ordered patiently.
Stark shook his head. "At least I didn't bill him for it."
"We did learn a lot," Bucky said.
"Yeah, we did and still are," Jane agreed, looking at Thor. "How would he have made that mailbox?"
"No idea," he said. "I am not one of the magic using ones in the family."
"Can you ask?"
"I'll see if anyone knows. If not, perhaps you can send a letter to them introducing yourself and why you wanted to know." She smiled, working on that letter. He gave her a fond look but the thought of Xander being an Aesir was almost enough to cause a migraine. He could definitely see him as Loki's son for many reasons. Especially with the way he used chaos against others.
Stark got up to go back to the lab. Suzette knocked him down and dragged him back to the living room. "It's nearly dinner and you have to eat," she said patiently. "I helped cook so you have to eat tonight. You and everyone else." She stared at him. "I promise Natasha didn't poison any of us, Uncle Tony." She had her hands on her hips and one foot tapping.
He smiled at her. "You look a lot like Darcy when you do that." She blushed but smiled at him and pounced Darcy for a hug. "How soon on dinner?" he called.
"Ten minutes. Someone needs to set the table," Natasha called back. Clint obediently went to do that for her. Suzette got Bruce up there by having JARVIS lock him out of his lab until he came up to eat with them. It was a good family dinner.
The End.
Congrats, You're a Good Friend.