Problems Hunters Handle With A Sigh.
Xander looked up from getting a beer when the others who had been at the battle for the Queens bridge stomped in. "Hey, guys. I paid Weasel enough for a round for all of us." He waved his glass.
"Avoiding the nagging still?" Cable asked, accepting his drink. Xander put down another twenty when he got stared at. Weasel walked off to finish filling drinks.
"Yup. Brad called up to nag me about not letting him know so he could fill in for Penny. I told him we had plenty and I would've called so he could come from that side if we needed reinforcements." He sipped his beer. He was getting that slayer alert feeling but wasn't sure where it was yet. "The other girls are all huffy and apparently it's PMS week at the house." Wade punched him on the arm. "That and I'm avoiding leading the guys who're wearing the wrong patches for what they say they do." He grinned slightly. "We'll have to fix that in a few minutes. So good beers, guys." He finished his and put the glass down on the table. "Let me go get nagged."
"We can help," Wade reminded him.
Xander patted him on the arm. "TNW and Piotr are with the girls who were too young to fall in. That way they weren't vulnerable to idiots."
"What about the spell?" Cable asked, looking concerned.
"Um...yeah. Ask me that tomorrow. I need to find out what happened since those ones seem to be able to see the house." He got up and walked off, going to deal with the idiots who wanted his girls. He walked in and found a few in there. Only one of the slayers and he sliced her plastic cuffs open then handed her the dagger. "Shoo. Make sure the others are fine." She ran off before they could grab her this time. Xander looked up. "Hey, Asa?" A demon appeared, making all the men there back away in fear. "Hey, can I call in that debt?"
"Now?" he demanded. "Right now?"
"Yes, right now. Just three little things." He hissed in his ear. The demon moaned but nodded and cast that debt he owed the hunter and handed him a bulletproof jacket. Which Xander tossed to TNW when she came down the stairs. "Thanks, great poker buddy Asa."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Harris. This could be bad."
"Yeah, it could be." He looked at his special axe, patting it. "You go to Bruno, little one," he said quietly. "Okay?" It wobbled. "Good boy axe." He pulled his special one that had survived Africa with him, running a hand over the head. The demon fled. Xander took a deep breath, letting the axe head cut a line on his arm. Then a second deep breath. Then a third. Then he turned and one of the idiots tried to shoot him because they looked amused at his battle preparations. Xander was about halfway to hyena. Just enough to help his battle state.
The ten guys were a mess and Xander had a few grazes and one actual wound to his bad thigh. Oh well, had to be handled. Xander got the last one. TNW and Piotr were both injured. "Go hit a safe room, kids," he ordered. "The big shit behind these is coming." They limped off to hit a safer area. Xander had looked like a cold, merciless warrior.
A man in robes appeared, his eyes charcoaled around, his hair blowing in a breeze, pulling up magic. "Oh, one of you." He smirked and called his wand to him. The guy attacked the wand and Xander blew him back with a blast of magic that broke the guy's shields. The axe went onto his back and Xander picked up the staff he had picked up on his cross-realms trip with the other him, twirling it a bit. "So," he said. "Why attack the slayers? You're not even on my radar of evil things."
"I will end that abomination," he sneered.
Xander could tell he was slightly controlled so he got to argue with himself. Then he cast a killing level blast at that sorcerer, making the guy flee before it hit. Xander followed him to the park, staring at him. "So.... here we are." He waved his free hand around. "And you're still not worthy of me killing you, sorcerer. So who has the bright idea?"
"You'll never win," he sneered. "You're barely trained and I've studied for years."
"Yeah but not the right things since you're kinda possessed. Pity but that means the power is using you not the other way around." He cast a blessing curse at the sorcerer. The guy screamed as the thing possessing him fled. Xander leaned on the staff, staring at him. "It's nice that when I asked for that poker debt to be paid one of the things I asked for was to know what exactly had happened and who." He tipped his heard. The guy was on his back on the grass, panting in pain and trying to sit up. "No, stay." He walked closer, staring down at him. "Who broke the protections on the slayer house? If you tell me I'll only torture you. You lie and I'll get you twice and him once." He stared down at him.
"I did."
"Lying," Xander said, shooting a minor pain curse at the guy, making him scream. "Dude, I didn't even scream that way when I was shoved into a plasma portal. So damn weak. Who broke the protections on the slayer house?" he demanded less calmly.
"I did!"
"No you didn't. You don't have the power to have done that and the one who was possessing you doesn't either. So who broke the protections on the slayer house? This is your last chance."
The sorcerer panted, staring up at him. He could save the one good thing, do one good thing, so their order would continue. This one would end him. "I did."
"Uh-huh." He lifted his staff. "Lying. Again." He cast a curse and the spell was blocked by a shield. "Ah, there you are." He shoved the minor sorcerer back home and cast the blessing curse that way. The rest of the sorcerers screamed as they grabbed their ears at the shrieking the demons were doing as they were blasted into nothingness. The windows at the Sanctorum all broke inward and showered them with glass. Xander 'saw' it happening but they were free. He looked at the sorcerer, who was moaning in pain.
"Never, ever fuck with my girls. I don't do nice anymore." He considered it. "I should destroy you for helping them attack the slayers. No prison will hold you. No other mages or sorcerers want to deal with you. Even though you tried to protect the demon in him, you're just slightly evil." Two people ran over but he held up a hand. "He broke the protections on the slayer house so they could be attacked." He stared at the guy. "You attacked little girls for being born. Give me one good reason why I should let you go?"
"It's wrong to take him out for that," a male said as he stomped over.
"No it's not. It's safety for the slayers." He waved the staff. "Let your debts be called in. So mote it be." The sorcerer screamed as hands grabbed him and pulled him down. Xander looked up then disappeared back to the house. He winced at the spell that came down but he could handle it in a minute. He ran up to check on the others. TNW was down and injured. Piotr was pretty badly off. Xander concentrated on the spell holding over the house, but he was exhausted.
"I should've asked for enough energy to handle the incident and the aftermath," he sighed, sitting down. He summoned a phone to call. "Giles, me. The house got attacked. I know the girls are down there, Giles. I blew a few poker debts to make sure all the slayers in the area got to the main house safely. Right now, we're locked in the house. Can't even walk out the door to get to an ER sort of shield. I need it broken. Because the two who were protecting the girls before they could be evacuated need a healer more than I did last week." He looked up. "Someone's trying to strengthen it." He nodded. "Thanks. Yeah, an hour maybe. Thank you. No, I let his debts take him.
"I was fairly merciful because he decided his own punishment that way. Giles, one of the girls was taken later because the demons moving them didn't think they'd try a two-year-old slayer. He came back to kill the guys who were going to rape and kill her." Giles shuddered. "Exactly. I got that note as I came home with the warning about two minutes before then. Thank you." He hung up. "Hey," he said, nudging Piotr awake. "I need to know if you have any special problems for medical care, Piotr. Allergies? Anything?" He slowly shook his head, using his less injured hand to hold it. "Okay. It'll be about an hour."
"I'll heal. Ellie may not," he said.
"Oh, so that's your name," he said with a grin for her. She snorted but held her ribs. "Not groping, just checking." He checked her over, nodding. "Broken, dear. I feel at least four broken." She groaned. "Stay still. We don't need to turn into a punctured lung." She nodded, shifting some. "Okay." He got up to get pillows, his first aid kits, and some water. That would help until they were unsealed.
"I swear, if any of you need a headstone I'll avenge you and make them all regret everything they've ever done." She glared. He stared back. "I will." He got her comfortable and sipping water slowly. Piotr got some water and pillows too. His left arm needed a lot of bandages and his side had a wound from a large caliber weapon that was on the side crease but about two inches deep. He got that bandaged and cleaned as much as he could. Xander sipped his own water and treated his own injuries.
"What did you ask the poker debt for?" she asked quietly.
"The strength to last through this incident, the knowledge of what caused it and who, and the spell to stop the idiot magic user that had to be behind it since they broke the fidelus. Not too bad for a poker debt." She groaned, putting her head down. "That's magic going on. I hope it's Giles or the coven." It took another half-hour. "Up here," he called. "They need an ambulance for a healer."
Tara came rushing in. "Who did that spell?"
"Probably the sorcerer I unpossessed because they were behind this attack and broke the fidelus." She winced. "Help me get them up and out."
"An ambulance is coming," she soothed. She looked around. "I like this old hotel." He grinned. "The rooms are nicer than the old one." She went to get the paramedics. "Two mutants who were helping guard the girls."
"None of the slayers?"
"Just Xander. The girls got evacuated by a poker debt Xander had." They nodded, following her up.
"Guys, TNW has at least four broken ribs and a dislocated collarbone. Piotr has a lot of injuries on his right side and a head injury. I've bandaged what I could, including the huge divot on his side."
"All right," the head paramedic agreed. "We know the healers have a hospital now. They have an ER?" Xander and Tara both nodded, they had helped bless it. "Good. That'll save some problems." They got them moved and came back for Xander, who was flat on his back. "You need to go too."
"Mine's mostly small cuts I've already bandaged and exhaustion," he said quietly. "I can handle that. Take them." The paramedic nodded and left him with Tara, who looked like she nagged. She could make him eat and rest.
Xander blinked at her. "I need to make a report." She found his phone and handed it over. "Giles, me. Thanks for the breaking. I did. I called in Asa to use an owed poker debt. I asked for the strength to last through this whole incident, the knowledge of who and why, and the spell to end the magic user behind it. Since I appeared and the house had almost all been cleared except for Sarah, who I set free. There were idiots here who were wearing fake ID patches that weren't even close to right, nineteen of them actually.
"No, I had been having a beer when I got the 'oh shit' magical alert, Giles. So I landed in the house. Then I patted my blessed axe, picked up my special one that I got back in high school, brought up the hyena like the shaman had taught me so I was halfway there and she could be of help during the battle, then I blacked out. I came out to bodies." He grimaced as he shifted.
"Then the sorcerer behind it got here. And I dealt with him and made him admit who had broken the shield. And I depossessed that one, which is who put the shield on the house that meant we can't walk in or out. Thank you for breaking that so the ones I had guarding the minis while we fought for the Queens bridge could be taken to the ER." He lost feeling in his hand and the phone fell. "Oops, sorry, hand went numb."
Tara took the phone. "Giles, we broke the shield for the doorway but not anywhere else."
"That might be handy," Xander admitted. He blinked but ended up passing out. He was so exhausted.
Tara tested his pulse but sighed. "No, he just passed out, Giles. He refused. He said he's got cuts and exhaustion. Well, one part of the wish was to get enough energy to manage the problem." She checked him over. "I think he's more cut up now than he was when he got free of Egypt," she said quietly. "Please do. I have no idea. Haven't seen an officer. Just the paramedics. Thanks." She hung up and shifted to grab some of the pillows to prop up the injured guy for now. She heard someone running in and flinched but pulled up magic to protect them. Then someone she knew leaned in. "Wade!"
"What the hell happened!"
"Guys who wanted the slayers. They had a sorcerer break the spell for them." She sighed. "Xander had to call in a poker debt. He's just exhausted," she said when he stood up straighter. Another guy leaned in. "I don't know you."
"That's Cable," Wade said. "From the future, back here to fix some screw ups."
"Ours?" she demanded.
"No!" Cable said. "Though I used to be amused by the stories history told about the Chaos Knight there." He looked. "Let us clean up the bodies."
Wade nodded. "Those aren't the right patches for the mutant police idiots who lock us up for defending ourselves. They're not square and they're the wrong color."
Cable nodded at that. "Okay. Let's dispose of the bodies. Fire?"
"Works for me," he agreed, taking a few to drag out back. Cable got a few more. They could burn the idiots if the police didn't stop them. Which they'd try but they agreed that wasn't the right patches, they were worried that the slayers weren't going to be okay, and the police nearly freaked out about the whole thing. So they let them clean up the bodies. Wade went to check on Xander, getting him to his shower to clean up. Tara made him some broth to drink. They'd handle it.
***
Six days later, Kara walked into Piotr's hospital room, handing over a largish pad of sketch paper and a box of pencils. "Here. I know you'll want to think while drawing." He smiled at her. "Get better, Piotr." She almost kissed him on the temple but stopped herself and left again.
He slumped, looking at the paper. She had remembered his favorite brands and had gotten him more than enough to think while drawing with. He missed her. It was his fault though, his former girlfriend that had screwed her up, and he was not good for her. He heard an explosion and winced, getting up to look. No sign of her but he could see the little car she drove to class in the parking lot. He pulled the IV line and rushed off to check on the situation. It's what a hero did.
"Get back in your bed," the nurse yelled after him.
"Someone tried to blow up the emergency room." He ran down the stairs, rushing outside. There was a mess of a former person on the ground. There were two people being held off by Xander with a gun. "Xander!"
"Piotr, evacuate the area, get Kara inside." The teen nodded, trying to get down to pick her up but he couldn't. His injuries weren't going to let him. He got to his knees, hoping that would help but a nurse came running to help him. "Clear the area," Xander ordered. "These two both have the same sort of backpack."
"I ...my husband gave me mine!" one of the two Xander was holding off shouted. "I didn't ...I don't.... Officer, help!"
"Same backpack," Xander said with a point of his free hand. "Clear the nearest sitting area."
"Let me check your pack, ma'am," an officer ordered. "Hands to your side with at least five inches from your waist, hands flat." She did that and stood with her feet apart too before he could order that. He checked the bag's outside then the zipper. He used a knife to cut it in case something was attached to the zipper, finding a block of explosive through the hole. "Yes you do." He waved and the bomb squad guys came over.
"My husband gave this to me last night, had me wear it today to match with our daughter, who's inside. He thought it'd be cute," she told the officers swarming her. "I didn't do this! This isn't me! My daughter's in there!"
"We'll move your daughter out of the way to protect her," an officer told her calmly. "Don't move." She went still again. "The other one?"
"Smirking hard and fingering the switch," Xander said with a point. He looked back. "Hey, nurse?" he called. One leaned out with a security guard. "She has a daughter?"
"We put her in a room off to the side and cleared around it," the nurse said. "When we were checking her sore stomach, we found a wire attached to her stomach and the pack so that's why we called and security got the woman out here stopped."
"Damn glad the protections held," Xander told her. "Kara? My slayer?"
"She's.... it's not good. The one with her is fighting with us."
"That's her recent ex," Xander said, looking at her. "She was dropping off something for him since he's up on four." She nodded, going to make Piotr go back to his bed. Xander looked at the officers, who waved him off. "Thanks, guys." He went inside, being taken to Kara's little room. "Okay, how bad?"
"Her skull is fractured," the nurse told him, sponging off Kara's head. "The healer's on her way, Harris."
"Thank you and her." She nodded, leaving to tell the healer what she had found. A healer who looked ancient walked in. "Ma'am," he said with a nod. "You honor us by helping my slayer."
"Hush for now, Knight. Let me work." He got out of the way. She gently touched her head, shifting her fingers. "Hmmm." She laid a finger on one area, the rest above them, and the other hand on the top of Kara's head. "Yes, that's necessary." She closed her eyes and chanted. Kara looked better but still wouldn't wake up. The healer stepped back, wiping off her hands. Xander held out a hand. "It is not necessary."
"Take some of my energy to heal yourself," he ordered quietly. "It's rude of us to wear you out that way." She snorted and swatted at his hand but he still held it out. She took some to make him quit but it did make her sigh in pleasure and look less pale. "Thank you for helping Kara. She would say the same."
"I healed most of the fracture but it'll be months probably. Even with slayer healing. I did end the bleeding." Xander winced but nodded. "She may be missing memories. I can't be sure."
"I can send her to a healing house. The Bahamas? She could use some sun time." The healer smiled. "I'm assuming she can't fly though." The healer walked off shaking her head. "Sure, we can make plans." TNW walked in and sat down. "Can you watch her for ten while I go settle up with the nurses?"
"Yeah. Go for it."
"If she wakes, she might be missing some memories from the bleeding and skull fracture."
"I can handle that delicate problem." He grinned and left after kissing Kara on the temple.
Xander walked out to the check-out desk. "Not sure if they're keeping her overnight but let me pay the bill," he said quietly, pulling out the slayer credit card.
"She is and it's going to be a hit on that card." He winced when she showed him the bill. She smiled. "She'll be in observation by the orders, Knight."
"That's good. I can do that." He called Giles on the video calling. "Hey. We're here in the ER with Kara, who got blown into the side of the building by an idiot who wanted to blow up the ER for the healers."
"Oh, dear. Is she fine?"
"The healer was a rock star, Giles. Healed the fracture mostly, stopped the brain bleeding." Giles winced. "I think she could be moved to the healing house in the Bahamas if you wanted but she can't fly. She'll be in overnight."
"I can arrange that but I'm not sure how."
"Hell, cruise ships come up here and we can send someone with her to watch her for problems then fly them back." Giles grimaced. "They said she'll be missing some memories," he said quietly. "Also I called because we need the higher limit card to pay the ER bill." He handed her to the nurse, making mental plans. He took the phone back when the nurse handed it back. "So...."
"I like the idea to send her on a cruise ship. They would have an on-board doctor to handle an emergency and someone watching over her would be useful. One of the other girls?"
"Or one of her friends and we can fly them back after they get her settled for at least a few weeks," Xander agreed. He took the papers to sign then walked off. "Thanks. I only carry the shopping card with me. Thankfully we were here so Kara could deliver a get well present to Piotr for the girls."
"Are they still spatting?"
"He's worried that his life will hurt her," Xander said dryly. Giles rolled his eyes. "So anyway, she'll be in here tonight for observation."
"That's reasonable. I'll figure out how to do that. Most cruise ships seem to have double rooms so that should be handy. Are you sending two with her? I know she's said her best friends are a pair of charming young women and a single one."
"Not sure." He went to look in there. "Hey. We're sending her to the Bahamas to rest."
Yukio had shown up and squealed a bit but grimaced when she looked at her girlfriend, who looked a bit less happy. "Oh, passport." TNW grimaced but nodded. "Okay. Sorry."
"Rogue?" Xander guessed. They texted her getting back an agreement. "Okay, so Rogue's going with her, Giles. Oh, this is TNW and her girlfriend Yukio. Who you were aware of."
"Hello, ladies. Pleasure to meet you but I wish it wasn't in an emergency department. All right, Xander, we have them booked in three days on a ship leaving from New York to the Bahamas." Xander winced and rubbed his head. "Oh, dear." Xander flapped a hand. "Bad?"
"The house down there is about to be hit by lightening. Get them insulated and put on a rod?" he said, swallowing hard.
"I can do that tonight. They've had a few close calls. Thank you for the warning and I'll send you an email with the numbers she'll need to board." He hung up to call that around. The watcher over the budget came in to complain so Giles told him why. He couldn't deny that Kara needed a rest and that people with skull fractures shouldn't fly so that was fine. The fact she was bringing a friend to watch over her wasn't liked so much but he decided that was mostly reasonable. Xander cold get her flown back up to New York after a few days rest.
***
TNW looked up from her phone at the new groaning. "Don't move," she said quietly. "You're in the ER. The healer's already treated you. You're probably staying overnight." Kara rolled her head to look at her. "First, what week do you think it is?"
"Um, right before school started?" she guessed.
"Shit, you're missing four months of memories, girl." She shifted to look at her, Yukio shifting on her lap. "You got blown into the corner of the ER here at the demon hospital." Kara winced but nodded slowly. "The healer was a super rock star by stopping the bleeding so fast."
"That's sweet. I need to buy her flowers or something." She stared at her. "You look weird."
"Um..." She and Yukio shared a look then they looked at her. "You and Piotr are..."
"Split," Yukio said quietly. "His ex showed up and mind whammied you both." Kara slumped but nodded.
"Otherwise everything's about the same as it was. But I don't want you to get your hopes up there at the moment," TNW admitted.
"Thanks, Ellie." She squeezed her hand. "No Xander?"
"Settling the bill and stuff. He said you're going to heal in the Bahamas."
"That's a nice compound. Four small houses together." She yawned and drifted off again. The girlfriends shared a look but settled in to go back to watching netflix on Yukio's phone. The nurse came in and they stared at her.
"Did she wake up?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, and we let her know she's missing some memories so she's not expecting her boyfriend to show up tonight." The nurse smiled and nodded. "She dropped off pretty fast again."
"We expect that. We'll be moving her upstairs in about an hour. We need to have someone make up a bed." She tucked Kara in then walked off so Xander could sit with her again.
Xander came in and sat down. "Thanks, girls." They grinned and left to check on Piotr. Xander leaned back to stare at his slayer. The older girls could handle a few hours without him tonight. He did send out a note that he wasn't on patrol tonight thanks to Kara being in the hospital. So the girls could handle whatever tonight.
Yukio walked into Piotr's room to kiss him on the temple with a smile. "Kara will be fine but she is missing about four months of memory," she said quietly. "We have let her know the status between you two so she does not get her hopes up. She'll be in observation all night." He nodded. "Then being moved to the Bahamas to rest for a bit."
"I...will write her an email later. Thank you, Yukio."
"You're welcome, Piotr." She kissed him on the temple again. "Rest. No one scowls at the young students like you do." She left after her girlfriend put down a coffee mug with things to suck on in it. Piotr unwrapped a piece of toffee and stuck it in his mouth while he thought. He looked at the sketchbook but he had such evil thoughts. The girls brought him a more standard, weaker sketch pad and left again. That paper was worthy of bad thoughts instead of beautiful things. Yes he could sketch out the bad thoughts he had.
***
TNW walked into the house rolling her neck around to pop it. "Rogue, call Xander," she yelled at the living room area. "He'll let you know when you're going."
"Thanks." She came out. "Is Kara all right?"
"The healer rocked. She had brain bleeding and a skull fracture. The healer did a great lot of work. But she's missing four months." Rogue winced but nodded. "I warned her about the breakup stuff and told him about it too since he's still there for the next few days."
"I can handle that. We can buffer her on the way to the Bahamas for a long rest and healing."
Hank McCoy walked up to them. "Who's injured now?"
"There was a few idiot humans who tried to blow up the demon hospital. Caught Kara as she was walking out and blew her into the building. The healer did spectacular work. She's missing some months but otherwise she'll heal. Xander's arranged for her to heal in the Bahamas for a few months. Rogue's going to watch her on the way down, get a few days then fly back."
"That's a nice trip," Doctor McCoy agreed, nodding at that. "You have a passport?"
"I sure do," Rogue agreed happily. "It'll be fine. I know to baby the headache from concussions already." He nodded, patting her on the covered arm. "Thanks, Doc. Let me call Xander and then pack." She jogged off.
Yukio looked at the doctor. "We paused to check on Piotr. He'll be fine."
"Good. It's a shame they broke up that way."
"Some girls are psychos," Logan said as he walked up to the group. "Kara good? It's all over the underground."
"The healer fixed the bleeding and skull fracture." Logan winced. "She's going to rest in the Bahamas."
"Pretty area," Logan agreed. "Rogue going with her? I saw her bouncing off."
"For a few days."
"That's fine. She'll enjoy the beach." He walked off shaking his head but smiling. The kids had so much life in them some days.
Hank smiled at them. "Dinner's soon, girls. Did you do your homework?" They sighed but went to the library to do that. He went to make some notes. He'd have to check Piotr when he got home.
***
When Rogue got back she was all smiles and had a good tan going from her week-and-a-half off. "Evening," she called as she walked into the school. Her buddies came out to greet her, a few getting bouncy as they demanded details. "No, it was great! She had a slight headache on the way down but it ended by the end of the first day. The four days down there were calm. The ship was kinda full of old people but only a few glared at us for being giggly girls in the pool.
"And when one accused us of being together, well, Kara kinda sneered back at the old biddy. Told her some of her best friends were lesbians but she was on the ship because you couldn't fly with a skull fracture and next time she'd let a city fall instead of protecting it. The woman gasped and nearly fled back to her old, deaf husband who just patted her and kept reading when she complained. The crew smiled at us for it. Then we went back to pretending to be frolicking nymphs."
"How is she healing?" Yukio asked as she got around someone's arm. "Is she healing?"
"She's fine, Yukio." Rogue grinned at her. "She's just fine. Her head's healing nicely. The other slayers are taking her onto the beach most days. We got flirted with by some native guys, who all got happy that we were single." She patted Yukio on the arm. "She's good. She's got her phone back, I kept it from her for a few days, but she can email." Yukio smiled and nodded. "Ask her about the flirty guy at the beach bar. She needs to giggle. One of the others down there is having screaming nightmares most nights and kept waking us up."
She looked at Emma as she walked up to them. "Hey, Miss Frost." She grinned. "Kara will be fine. She's healing well. She giggles at the guys who try to flirt with her. And had a small headache from having to kick one around who didn't understand his native language since he was American and an idiot who thought she just really was playing hard to get.
"Then she pushed her hair back and huffed off to go back to her tanning. The other slayers down there have talked her into planting some fruit for them. They're abusing her being more mobile greatly by making her do the shopping and stuff too. That way she's out and about and not stuck with them all day." She shrugged. "It's good for her."
"I'm sure it is," Emma Frost agreed, smiling at her. "Did you have fun?"
"A ton." She beamed. "We got hit on a lot by beach guys. Some were even cute. And one had a speedo that made us both giggle but blush. I've seen less built guys on dirty movies. I had thoughts good girls don't have. He just winked at us and strolled off to rub lotion on his two girlfriends."
Emma laughed. "I've met a few of those, dear. It's good you didn't fall for it."
"Nah. I thought about one of them but why addict someone when I can't be there for more than a few days." She shrugged, smirking at her. The girls laughed and hauled her off to help her unpack so she could share pictures.
Piotr knocked and walked in. "Are you back?" he asked, smiling at the girls. Roque smiled and nodded. "Was it nice?"
"Very. Near the beach, about twenty minutes walk from one. She's been asked to plant some fruit stuff for the other girls since they don't walk real well. She's met some people. We got flirted with by some beach guys." He raised an eyebrow. She grinned. "Seriously, some cute damn guys but not my type." He nodded. "Pictures?" She let him have her phone when the others had gotten done with it. She heard him growl but that was him hating himself for breaking up with his woman. Who did look fine in some of those beach pictures she had taken. She had made sure Kara looked fine enough to be a meal when she had taken them.
He handed the phone back and went to talk to Logan again. No Logan, so he hit the next best thing, Emma. She looked up as he walked into the classroom she used. "I..."
"You're jealous and feeling possessive but you can't do that if she's not yours, Piotr." She smiled at him. "Do you really want to become a stalker?"
"Nyet." He sat down, making the seat creak. "I am...."
"Jealous. The word you're looking for is jealous." He looked up at her. "Would it do anything if you talked to her again?"
"I...I do not know. I hurt her." She nodded. "It is not rational that I feel jealous." He looked at his hands then up at her again. "I miss her friendship."
"Nothing says you can't stay friends with her."
"I...I am not built for that. I don't think I could restrain my urges to ...." He huffed. "I need to talk to her." He stood up. "Thank you."
"Welcome. Do you know where she is?"
"Xander would help me."
"Quite possibly," she agreed, smiling at him. "But I believe you should probably ask how long she'll be down there."
"Months probably." He patted her hand then walked off to find a way to the Bahamas. He didn't like to fly in regular planes but.... Of course, an alarm went off. He looked up then at the kitchen, getting a shrug back. Logan walked past frowning. "Is it an attack?"
"I have no clue," he admitted. He paused to look at him. "Get directions from Rogue and flee before they find you and give you something to do," he said quietly. He tossed him his motorcycle keys. "I can pick her up from the airport."
Piotr nodded, heading out then. Rogue would give him directions once he was at the airport with his ticket. When an officer at the airport came up to him he stared at him. "Yes?" he asked.
"Sir, it was noted you don't have luggage and you only have a one-way ticket."
Piotr shrugged. "My girlfriend is in the Bahamas healing after someone tried to kill her and I was an idiot to let her go. I need to go beg at her feet." The officer smiled and nodded, getting out of the way. He got onto the plane, in an uncomfortable seat, and nodded politely at the people around him. He had bought a sketch book and regular pencils at the airport and spent the time down there drawing Kara over and over. His seatmates were looking unamused but it was not his fault the airlines caged them in worse than the animals in the made-up PETA videos were.
Piotr got off the plane and got to the car rental counter. They had a scooter at least since he wouldn't fit in the economy cars. He did get a message from Rogue with directions, sending back a thank you then going to the beach they hung out on. He spotted her and two boys flirting with his woman. She blinked at him when she spotted him, getting up to walk over. He stared at her for a minute. Then he pulled her over to kiss her. "I miss you and I am stupid and stubborn," he said quietly.
She sniffled. "I..."
"We will talk?"
"Yeah, we can talk. I'm still confused."
"I'm aware you're missing memories, I will tell you what happened and how I will fix the problems I had. It was my fault."
"Rogue said it was your ex-girlfriend. That's her fault, not yours." She swatted him on the arm, getting a sheepish look back. "Quit feeling guilty over something you didn't do and were the victim of too." He pulled her closer to hug her. She snuggled in. "We can talk for dinner."
"You must eat to heal. I will not have you missing meals. Your body is very fragile, even when you're not injured." He looked at her. "I will drive you home so we can talk while we make dinner?"
She smiled, sniffling some. "Yeah, I...." She ran off to get her stuff and came back.
He drove her to the compound, waving at the other slayers so they'd leave them alone. He settled in to prepare the vegetables for their grill while she got some chicken ready. He paused in the middle to kiss her again, making her moan. "I am sorry I was so stupid."
"Hey, I could've...."
He tipped her face up. "I was stupid and pushed you away to protect you."
"I can protect myself."
He smiled. "Which is one thing I admire about you. You don't want to be rescued and you fuss when I have." He took another kiss. She looked up at him, giving him that dumbass look. "I dreamed of that look last night." She sounded amused but did get back to the chicken. They settled in to eat and then they'd talk while watching the sun set.
And if the other slayers all sighed about the noisy sex later at least it was a happier thing that kept them up that night.
***
Charles looked around the table. "Where is Piotr?" he asked casually.
"The Bahamas," Logan said. He stuffed his mouth and firmed up his mental shields.
Yukio smiled and nodded. "It's a good place to take a vacation from the pictures Rogue has."
He looked at her. "Why were you down there?"
"I was escorting an injured slayer down to the small house they have down there to heal her skull fractures."
"Oh, I see." He scanned her thoughts then sighed. "When can we expect him back?"
"No clue," Logan admitted. "Didn't ask. Maybe he's taking a long vacation from the team. Things have been stupidly active recently."
Charles nodded he agreed with that. "That is true. What of the other slayers?"
"The house is still under a spell so you can't get in or out magically. The fidelus over it is rebuilt and stronger. The sorcerer that did that is now unpossessed and is busy replacing all his windows thanks to the spell that depossessed him," Emma said cheerfully, smiling at him. "The girls will be fine. They were evacuated in time, even though Bethy fought to get Sarah to go first. Which she was right to do but they got her down there in time. The ones in that same group have been mostly arrested before they decided to attack the demon hospital, and the last few are being hunted down by the FBI for that incident."
"Normally they wouldn't care," TNW said. "But they endangered the city." She ate a bite of carrot.
"Bit cynical, dear, but too true," Emma agreed. She ate a bite of meat and chewed, staring at Charles, daring him to say something with one raised eyebrow. "Beyond that, there's now film of Xander Harris fighting like he had to in Africa. I have no idea how he's merged that possession and his battle self. It's an interesting case. I'd love to study his mind but I don't want the hyena to attack me." She ate another bite of meat and chewed.
Jean Gray looked at her. "Do we think they're getting back together? Piotr and Kara I mean?"
"Probably," Logan said. "It'd make him quit moping. He's been slinking around like a girl that just got broken up with." He shook his head quickly. "It'd be nice to see him happier again."
Wade bounded in and patted Logan on the back with an evil grin. "Magneto actually asked for a mutant meeting." He handed over the note to him. "I don't know why but one of his people came up to me and handed it to me so I could bring it to you. No clue otherwise." He smirked at the twosome. "Hey, Yukio," he said in a cute voice.
"Leer at my woman again, I'm chopping off parts," TNW said with a grin for him.
"Awww, kitty cat claws! I'm so happy you guys are that way together!" He hugged her. "No Piotr?"
"Bahamas."
"So....we think?"
"We're hoping," Rogue said. "Why else do you look so happy, Wade?"
"One of Xander's ex's is in town and he's only into drugs and guns so maybe they'll screw and we'll see Xander back to normal too!" He smirked at her. "We could all use Xander being back to normal. It'll mean less work for the rest of us." He left again.
Logan passed the note down. Charles took it to read. "I'll see what he wants to have a peace talk about," he decided. He put it beside his plate. "Wade is actually a breath of fresh air tonight."
"He doesn't smell like mexican food tonight," Rogue agreed. "But hey, he's usually trapped in spandex all day. We *all* stink after a sweaty day in our armor and uniforms." She went back to eating.
"Too true," Logan agreed. "And he has a horrible diet." He dug back into his food. "Let me know if you need our help for the meeting." He finished up and went up to his room to hide from all the complaining going on. The professor looked pissed. Emma looked amused at him being pissed. Jean looked pissed that her plotting didn't work. The other kids were going to run if they knew what was good for them.
"I don't like that he's dating a non-mutant," Jean said finally.
Rogue looked at her. "We should rename you Loki," she announced. "Because you bring chaos for your own amusement. Bless your heart, because the rest of us want to bury your ass for your meddling that nearly got them both killed by his unstable ex-girlfriend. Especially since she tried to have all the slayers attacked." She stared at Jean. "I thought we were all for supporting mutants, not screwing them up further." Jean got up and stomped off. "Let us know if you're going to come after any of the rest of us, Loki Gray!"
"Rogue!" Charles complained.
"Well, she's right," Emma said dryly. "But not tactful, Rogue. No one wants you to turn into me instead of a good girl."
Rogue snorted, staring at her. "Since when do we allow such low self esteem in this school? We're all fabulous and if you're not feeling that way, I can ask someone to see where the better spas are so you can have a day off."
Emma laughed but nodded. "I could use some, yes. Thank you for reminding me about self esteem dips as well. You should finish up." She gave the other kids at the table a pointed look. They all fled, two taking refilled plates with them.
Charles huffed. "That was still rude," he told Rogue.
"Well, if it's something that gets you dirty you shouldn't do that. Can't roll with the pigs in the pen and stay clean." She got up and strolled off. "Let me help her by finding her name change paperwork."
"That is an interesting comparison," Emma decided. She finished up. "You have a better night, Charles." She walked off, sending a text in warning to Piotr's phone. Then she went to have some fun. She was being much too respectable here with all the kids around. She hadn't even gotten to get nasty in a while thanks to all the kiddies. "Logan, give you a ride to pick up your motorcycle?"
"Please." He left with her. She dropped him off and went to the club. She had missed her club.
Charles sat and seethed a bit. This is not what he wanted.
***
Maria Hill looked at the people she had gathered for the second annual talk with the mutants in the area. "Let's get down to business," she said to break up some talking. "We have had some problems that have brought stress. We need to discuss how to get past that."
"Plenty of us know who our allies are," Xander said, getting up and walking off. "That's all I need to know. My girls aren't involved in that outside the few who're dating and the few who're both." He waved.
Maria walked after him and hauled him back to put into his seat, staring at him. "We *all* have to work on this, Harris. Before it impacts your girls."
"No, you and SHIELD have been *fantastic* about letting everyone know where my girls are. That's why someone tried to raid their school." He stared at her. She stepped back at that. "That's how they got the address for the idiot sorcerer to break the fidelus on the house as well. I really do hope that some day your kids are some of ours, in any manner there is." He got up and walked off again. "I've got kids coming home from school in an hour and no food in the house. They'll panic if I'm not home and pout about needing food."
Maria Hill sighed, looking at the others. "We have no idea who gave that information out but we're searching for them." She looked at the others. "We do have to figure out how to work together on larger battles. Like the one we have in four weeks. Did anyone else get briefed on it? He hasn't told us anything beyond the vision." A few shoved down their notes. She read them over then projected them. "All right. That's more than we knew before. He has nine slayers...." she muttered, looking at it. "Not his usual slayers."
"They're not at the house right now," Logan said, leaning back. "Kara's healing a skull fracture. Penny's pregnant. The minis are all home schooling at one of the girls' houses this semester due to all this. The older ones were going to switch around last week but that was paused thanks to the attacks on the house up here and the local minis. Even Bethy's out of the area and can't tell her father where in case someone's tapped the lines again."
"Was Kara injured in that battle on the bridge?"
"Nope. Was at the demon hospital and got blown into a corner of it."
"Oh, shit," Maria Hill muttered. "So she's fine?" Logan nodded. "You sure?"
"The healers were super."
"Good." She looked at the notes she had. "All right. Beyond that, we need to make plans for the upcoming one since they're addicting if they touch you and you have to behead them."
"Long distance weapons?" Steve Rogers suggested. "It'd be safer."
"If we can," Maria Hill agreed. "That may not be totally possible. We know they're related to the ones that tried New Orleans last year." A few nodded at that. Remy Labeau among them. "How did your people stop them?"
"Large weapons," he said. "They're like the twats on tv. We got tired from staring at 'em." He said something in French-Creole. Logan burst out laughing.
Steve smiled at him. "Girls like that do confuse and annoy men," he agreed. Remy smiled at him. "I learned French from the Commandos." He looked at Hill. "How many more groups like what attacked he slayers are there?"
"Seven that we know of. The FBI is now tracking three of them for threats." A few others rolled their eyes while Logan snorted. "We are trying."
"Any idea on how we can remove the shield over the slayer house that's preventing them from leaving sometimes?" Logan asked casually. He didn't look down the table.
"He attacked a sorcerer, who admittedly was an evil man," the Sorcerer Supreme noted. "In public."
"To prove the errors of his ways so he could free the rest of you," Logan shot back. "Don't try the slayers, Strange. You'll lose." He looked at Rogers. "He's back on patrol."
"Someone's got to but I hate that it's so dangerous. There's plenty of days I really wish that the slayers only had to worry about the normal things like muggers."
"Don't wish," Hill reminded him. "There might be a wish demon. Even they're tired of the attacks on the slayers too from what we've heard."
Logan nodded. "A lot." He shifted. "Did anyone go pick up the statue garden of vampired Hand ninjas?"
Steve giggled. "Clint showed me pictures. At least they're not a threat anymore." He leaned on the table. "How did he take down nineteen?"
"He was stupidly injured," Logan said. "Including a dislocated shoulder. He had to get Wade to do a few stitches on his back."
"That sucks. We have an infirmary and they can treat him too," Steve said.
Logan looked at him. "Like you, he's a boy who has ideas about being where he's not wanted."
"True. We have to work that out. The girls need good medical care. Especially after huge injuries or like Penny and her kid."
"The healers are great," Logan reminded him.
"But they're farther away. Nearer to where battles seem to happen recently, but farther from the house." He frowned a bit. "Are there plans to add onto the hospital they run?"
"No clue," Logan admitted. "I know it's real expensive to get healed. Yukio saw the bill for Kara's healing and overnight. The council paid about ten grand." Steve winced. "But healing is more expensive. Faster and easier but more expensive."
"It's dangerous," the sorcerer admitted with a sigh at the end. "And it wears out the healers." He looked at Steve Rogers. "As far as we know the healers in Manhattan aren't going to start their own intake facility but they are thinking about building a larger clinical building." He nodded at that, smiling at him for that information. "I have no idea if they'd break their aversion to treating mutants. Most of the ones here in this area of town won't. Which is why most of them go to Brooklyn or Queens." He looked at Maria Hill. "It would be advantageous to have human doctors who would work with mutants in town if you know any who want to set up."
"A few I know will but only the very standard things," she told him. "There's a few specialists who handle mutants with some bigger mutations. The shape changers and the like, one specialist has both a veterinary degree and a medical one. One has a chemistry background in metallurgy for mutants like Colossus. He's in LA at the moment. The one that has dual degrees is actually up at Rutgers at the moment teaching." That got a nod and Logan made those notes for himself. "I'd like to see it turn into a speciality. Like they do with neurology."
Stephen Strange shook his head. "Most medical professors wouldn't consider it. They're mostly older and hidebound asses. Six different medical schools are blatant about not accepting mutants and if they find one in there they kick them out. Another twelve are less blatant but will do the same thing for specious reasons."
"Out of how many medical schools?" Steve Rogers asked.
Stephen looked it up. "According to Google, one-hundred-forty-one schools and thirty osteopath programs." He put his phone up again. "Only one of the top ten medical schools accepts mutants but they have a one strike policy about removal."
"That needs to change," Maria Hill agreed. She made herself some notes and looked at them. "Do we have any idea on any other upcoming problems?"
"Magneto wrote a note saying he wanted a meeting," Logan said.
She grimaced. "That's weird. I'll put that in. Any idea when?" Logan shook his head. "Okay, thank you." She looked at the others. "Anyone else heard of any problems?"
"I heard we could have one but not sure when," Steve said. "We're still on finding out when."
"We've been looking at those. All we know is not this year." They all nodded. She heard the sound of something jogging up the hall and looked then had to get out of the way of the goat by sitting on the table.
"Goaty," Steve said with a snap, pointing. "Come pet me." It ran over to get petted, letting him take the note off the collar. "Thanks, Goaty. Go play with Pepat?" The goat made it's mooing-like sound and got petted, then ran off without trying to eat anyone.
Maria Hill stared then at him. "How did you do that?"
"Wanda did a compulsion." He grinned. "It won't eat us. Anyone else...." She just nodded. Steve looked at the others. "So how do we help the girls?"
"We're hoping that Xander's ex who was in town made him happy for a few hours at least. He was getting bouncy and dangerous," Logan quipped. "He's handled patrols fine. The girls are due back next week sometime."
"That's fine. Let us know if we need to help," Steve said. "It's not right that the girls do it on their own with just Xander. They need more help."
"Hey, they're hiring watchers," Remy quipped. "Two of my kin applied. Assassins make pretty good watchers as long as we can remember all the demons."
Steve looked at him. "I didn't think about that. Yeah, that would be a lot of help. Sneaking skills, fighting skills, knowledge of weapons. Huh. I'll have to ask Natasha and Clint if they know of any."
Logan grinned. "I've suggested it to two mutants who have fighting skills. One's accepted and is learning the book stuff, but was told not to learn from Harris because the old liners hate his methods, and the other's in review. He's got a current warrant."
"Anything on that self actualization group of vampires?"
"Still around," Logan complained. "They're not really killing to feed so they're low on the list."
"There's a what?" Maria Hill asked. Steve pulled up the site the vampires used. She put it on the room screen so they could all see it.
"One of the earlier versions of that group was helped by a girl that went to school with the Sunnydale team and was a cheerleader," Logan quipped. "They were bring two, eat one back then. Harmony's a Sunnydale vampire." He pulled up her page on the site. "Back when Harris was dating a cheerleader, the kids were all teenagers, and before they had to blow up an ascended demon."
Maria Hill shuddered. "Sure, we can keep a watch on them." She turned off the site and its annoying music. "Has to be from California." She walked off shaking her head. "Have a better day, people."
Logan looked at Remy. "Do the slayers stationed in New Orleans have the same problems we do?"
"Nah. Little old Bayou witches watch their back and make sure *everyone* leaves 'em be," he said, looking amused. "They can't even get none during Mardi Gras when the rest of us do." Logan laughed. "The duo of girls are sweet little hellions who will bite if you make 'em but will pet every single dog being walked they see. They even blushed when they took out the supernatural brothel down there. Don't know why anyone wanted to screw zombies but...."
"Eww," Steve Rogers agreed. "That's kinda sick." Everyone nodded and left to talk in smaller groups. Though they all avoided the dragon and goat pair that was hanging out by the elevator.
***
Xander pointed at the area in the park for the annoyingly stubborn mini slayer who was with him. She had gotten herself back via Amtrak because she wanted to see her dad, which he understood. Xander was humoring her but would pull her out of that park by her arm if he had to so she was protected.
She grinned and waved then sped off to the meeting area that had been set up in a tent. She noticed when a few spotted her and grinned. "I wanted to hug my dad. Bite me." The growly one stared at her. She smiled and waved. "You have knots again. I should tell the sibs so they can help you with that. How else are you going to get a cranky princess who puts up with you and helps you do manicures on your nails like Belle would?"
"Not cute, Bethy."
"Yes I am." She grinned. "Where's Dad?" He pointed. "Thanks, Uncle Growly." She ran off, pouncing her father and making him shriek. "Ha! Got you!" she said in his ear. He grabbed her to hug her. "I'm okay. We're all okay, Dad. Even Sarah. The demon that evacuated her got there in time," she said quietly. "And Xander got them back I think."
"I certainly did but I got there before him because he had to drive," Pietro told her. "Why are you out of the safety fall back?"
"Because I wanted to cuddle you. You're looking scowly and you'll never get another girlfriend again." She grinned and waved at the others. "Hey. I wanted to cuddle my dad." She went back to her cuddles. "Uncle Xander brought me to the park and he'll evacuate me if I have to," she said when someone stomped over. She blinked at them and grinned, waving. "Hi. How're you?"
"Who're you?" he demanded.
"This my dad, Dude, and I wanted a dad cuddle. Therefore I snuck up on Amtrak." She went back to her cuddle. "I missed hearing you nag about my hair." Pietro snorted but walked off to cuddle her in more private. "How's Auntie? She hasn't answered any emails in days."
"Someone was trying to hack the tower," he told her. "You can see her in a bit. Are you staying?"
"Nope. Xander made sure I knew I had a week. It's not safe enough yet." She smiled and waved at someone. "Hi!" She hummed when someone stomped over. "Dad, do you know the scowling guy with wings?"
He looked then at her. "That's Falcon."
"Oh, hey."
Sam Wilson tipped his head to look at her. "You okay? You're acting like you're upset, kiddo."
"I'm fine. Just...really bored. I hate school stuff and the other slayers around my own age are boring girls who really want to drool on boys, and I don't do that. I hope I never do that the way they are. They're kinda like Auntie Buffy but I'm not into that. And my sibs are mostly with the tinier slayers so I had to sneak to get us all together for a play date. Which Xander agreed was a good idea. So I'm bored and I'm worried that Dad's going to be hurt, and I'm really so stupidly bored at the house.
"So I came up to check on Dad." She looked in the other direction, smiling and waving. "Hey." Magneto huffed. "Suck it, dude. I've got both. Deal with it and move on because my pretty ass is going to be fantastic some year soon." She snuggled in again. Her father patted her on the back. "I got faster, Dad," she told him. "I made it a mile in under two minutes."
"Congratulations. Don't force it though. Grow with your powers, Bethy. Otherwise you can hurt yourself and stunt your gifts."
"I know," she sighed. "Still weird according to the other girls." She shrugged. "I don't care what they think and the slayers have all reminded us that we're slayers even if some of us are mutants too. That just meant we had to do more training than the normal slayers. They all gave me sorry looks for it." She shrugged but grinned up at him. "They're boring girls."
He patted her on the back. "I can come visit you later."
"Nope. I'll be evacuated if I have to but otherwise nope." She heard someone complaining about Xander sitting nearby and reading a book. She hopped down and walked over to the whining one, poking him hard on the side. "Shut the fuck up, you whining idiot! Uncle Xander's here because I'm here because I wanted to see my dad." She pointed at Pietro. "You're a whinier brat than the teenage slayers who think they need a diet! Damn! Get over yourself. Uncle Xander's a mutant too. He just saves the world, unlike you." She sped off to hop on her father's back again.
Pietro looked back at her. "You have manners," he reminded her. "Quit calling people who deserve it cunts." She hugged him around the neck with a grin.
Magneto looked over. "She is truly a mutant who has slayer skills?"
"She is truly a slayer that was born a mutant too," she countered, staring at him. "Being a slayer is a calling given to us by some higher douchebags who hate us and treat us like pawns in a huge chess game. Being a mutant is a birthright gift we're blessed with." He smirked at her. "It just means that I can kick ass better when I'm older and it's my turn to save the world."
"Good point," Magneto said, nodding some. "It's a specialness that should be trained well."
"Can't get much better training than the guy who saved two countries by himself with a sword because he didn't have anything else." She smirked. "Can you?"
"No, I can't actually. Fine. Your father can be excused at the moment."
"It's fine. I have to learn how to negotiate anyway. Some day I'll be the senior slayer in the area and I'll have to work on peace treaties and the like." She shrugged but grinned. "You can have my dad. I'll get cuddles and learn at the same time. I'm that talented." Logan and Remy stared at her. She grinned and waved a hand. "The other girls in my age are drooling over boys. I'm *so* damn bored with the great sleepover. I about introduced cute anime boys so they'd talk about something other than boy bands."
"I agree, they need better males to dream about in that case," Pietro said. "We can find a few you can bring to them so they listen to better music." He walked into the meeting tent, letting her give the ones she knew their own hugs then she came back to cuddle him again.
Logan looked at her. "You can go distract Xander."
She looked out there. "I think his panty friend is distracting him just fine. And if that's a bad guy plan to get us all I'll run off really fast to go back to the new house. We already talked about that stuff, Uncle Logan."
"That's fine. As long as you remember that. The last time you didn't follow orders and you had a bat."
She grinned. "And it worked too." Pietro swatted at her leg. "Yes, Dad."
"Thank you. You're too young to do more than escape."
"Yup. I can do that this time."
"Thanks." Logan looked at the others. "I've seen her and her sister beat the living fuck out of someone who was threatening their father." She grinned and nodded, waving a bit. Pietro swatted her for it again.
Charles shook his head. "She's a very strong young woman. How is her training with her mutant skills going?"
"I'm growing into them," she quipped. "I'm getting faster most days with odd hops due to hormones and other nastiness that mean I'm growing up. Pretty soon it'll be boobs and bras I have to take into account. Gross."
Logan grinned. "Talk to someone when you get there so you get the right kind. The girls at the school struggle with that sometimes." Bethy nodded and grinned at him. "I don't mean me."
"Hell no. You don't wear one, Uncle Logan. Why would I go to you about girl clothes when you don't wear girl clothes?"
"Thankfully. The sideburns would look weird," Remy said. He got out of hitting range by sidestepping. He heard shouting but it was Xander's boyfriend complaining at him. Then Xander growled something and the guy stomped off. "Looks like he'll get to read again." They got down to the meeting about the groups that were threatening all the mutant kids. Magneto wanted them gone. Charles wanted them arrested or gone. They could work together on that battle. Then people outside came rushing up and Xander blew them away with a rather large gun.
"No, I don't think you who take in mutants to sell as slaves get to take anyone in there. Thanks though," Xander called with a wave and a grin. "Fuck ya all since I hate having to go rescue your hostages. Pity I do but damn do I hate it."
Pietro leaned out there. "When was that, Xander?"
"Last week." He grinned and waved. "They hate me like hell. And the ex who I'll never touch with anyone's ten foot pole since he can't get a clue. He *knows* I hate people sellers. You guys do your thing. SHIELD's coming." They went back into the tent.
Bethy looked at Logan. "We need to find Uncle Xander a better boyfriend."
"We've all tried," Logan assured her. She gave him another hug for that.
Magneto looked at Charles. "Are things this insane at the school?"
"Not usually. The children have their dramas but usually not people sellers."
Bethy raised her head, frowning as she sniffed. "There's someone coming in," she told her father.
Logan sniffed then frowned. "That's Jean. Guys, Jean Gray's coming in. Not sure why."
"I doubt she's a threat, Logan," the Professor said dryly.
"I don't." Logan went to meet her. And got blasted out of her way. Remy went to help. Bethy ran off to the car so her father could help. Sam Wilson came out too. Thankfully he could fly back when she threw them.
"Oh hell no," Xander growled. She tried to shove him and he stared at her. She shrieked and tried to attack him. "Wow, so much weaker than Rosenburg but the same red hair." He waved her on. "C'mon if you're coming, little girl." She threw another blast of telekinesis at him. He barely moved. She sneered and tried to get into his mind then screamed as the hyena attacked her.
Xander attacked her, making her scream and get away from him, still holding her head. She went limp but it wasn't a real giving up. Logan came over and she got up to attack him, trying to take over his mind to make him attack Xander for her. Logan fought it but Xander knocked him out. "Wow, no one else has to mind fuck someone to fight for them. And you're on a response team?" She tried to hit him but he swatted her punch off. "Uh-huh. Hell, my five-year-old mini can beat you, Jean."
"I'll make sure they're trained well when we take them from you and the other evil things." Xander flapped a hand, looking bored. She tried to attack him again. Until a bo staff hit her on the back of the head and knocked her out.
"Thanks," Xander told Remy. Who just grinned back. "Do we have something that will block her gifts for a few days while someone tries to fix her broken mind?"
"Not really," Logan said. He shook his head, groaning as he got up. "You hit pretty hard, Harris." He grinned at that compliment. Jean groaned and tried to move so he knocked her out again. "There, that should hold her for about a half-hour." He looked back. "Anyone got any idea?"
"Hank said she's having a jealous fit," came from inside the tent. Pietro looked out. "I called and he said she stomped off after hearing that Kara and Piotr had worked things out at least for now. They're still talking but have agreed to start dating again." He looked around. Xander pointed. "Did she make it to the car?"
"I damn sure hope so. I hate having to kill people to rescue my minis." He looked at the SHIELD agent. "Bethy hit the car?"
"She's been pulled into our special SUV since it's shielded from even telepathy," the agent said. "She fought but we called Agent Barton to talk to her. She's calmed down and we'll let her out when it's safe."
Pietro walked that way. "Let me check on my offspring."
"She's got a curfew of about half an hour after we get done here," Xander called. "So probably eleven."
"I can remember that and make her go to bed by then, Xander."
"Thanks." He grinned. "If she needs the house, go ahead. She's got keys."
"Even better if I don't take her to the tower to hug her aunt."
"If that's what you want, you're the dad." Xander looked at the others, shrugging and grinning. "That's his job, he's her dad."
"Too true, and she's lucky he's stand up enough to be a dad," Logan agreed. "Some kids aren't that lucky." Xander nodded. "What're we doing about her?" he asked.
"We're going to confine her and work on her mind," Charles said as he rolled out. "We can get her back to the school."
Xander looked at his phone, sending a text message. "Um, no you can't. Scott's been out on patrol near there because he sent me a message earlier saying he was due to a vampired cheer team from the local high school near you guys. He said he had it so I agreed that was fine. When I texted him he said it's not safe." He handed Logan his phone.
"No, that's not safe. The school's under quarantine, Professor. Army people on the border and in town." He handed the phone back, looking at Jean. "Anywhere we can stuff her until we can go free the school?"
"We're not set up for it," Xander admitted. "We have an infirmary that we use ourselves and sometimes a healer uses if we can get one to come in after incidences. We're still working on that. Oh, and we're looking for a female nurse sort to run the infirmary so she can talk to the teenage girls about girl things before Dawn has to keep giving female talks like she learned from Anya."
Logan looked at him. "I don't want to know."
"Probably not. I had to teach Anya then she learned from Cosmo. And she had a thing for toys so she taught Dawn a lot about that. Thankfully Dawn's a bit more ...standard about their talks."
"I'll see if we can find a nurse," Logan told him. "Before all the girls start looking like hoochy mamas."
"For slayers, that's called club hunting," Xander said with a grin for him. "Can't bait vampires in a club in pants."
"Don't remind me," Logan complained. "I've seen strippers wearing more than them some days."
"Yeah, me too, and I make them change when I catch them doing it. I blatantly tipped one since her g-string was above her skirt. She pouted all the way up to change into something better for school that her boyfriend might still think was cute. I...well, I had a talk with the boyfriend. He decided he liked her in tightish jeans. So much better." He grinned. Jean groaned. "Make me drug you, woman. Stay down." He felt the tickle of a mental touch and glared around. "I know that's not hers. Stop it. I can't keep the hyena from attacking you." He looked at one that he thought it might be coming from. Then a SHIELD agent screamed and held her head. "Hhmm. Warned you." He looked at Remy then at Logan. "So?"
"We'll get her back to the center soon enough," Logan told him. Xander nodded and strolled off. "Hey, the upcoming battle?"
"Take the head off somehow. Watch out for the purse dogs. One has a demonic lion breed as her pet. Don't let 'em touch you because it's still addicting even with a healing talent. It'll only last for about five years for each touch with a healing talent."
"Great," Logan agreed. "Thanks."
Xander shot him a grin. "I've gotten a gatling gun. We're setting it up on a roof."
"Could help," Remy agreed. "We did about the same in New Orleans." He kicked Jean when she groaned again. "No. I don't want you in my head. Stop it."
"Do a diversion shield," Xander called.
Logan laughed. "I've heard Emma complaining about that one. He has cows screwing he can pull up to make people leave his mind alone if they get past the hyena."
"Is that why I hear mooing?" Charles demanded.
"Yup."
"That boy's mind is too weird." He rolled off. "Let me get the jet."
"Oh, let us," Clint said as he walked over. "She can sit in the Avengers infirmary unconscious. You guys have all your students in our gym anyway. And Bethy's with her aunt and dad." He leaned down to hit Jean with a needle, making her moan but go totally limp. He capped the needle to put into a pocket, looking at Logan. "I talked to Summers. He didn't get the vampires. He couldn't get in to evacuate the kids. McCoy did it and got them to us. All junior X-Men are in uniform but staying to protect the kids. I saw the Storms out so I sent Johnny to help Summers." He nodded at Storm, the female mutant. "The kids all evacuated with the pets. Stark was amused that one carried in her fishtank until she told him it was her sister and they had to change her back."
"We don't think it's realistic, just her fantasy," Storm said.
"We asked, Wanda found magic."
"Oh, crap," Logan complained. "Seriously?"
"We called Tara. She said she'll be over tomorrow to check the fish. And the cat we think might be a stuck shape changer. They apparently didn't get the hellhound but we know that'll come where the kid it protects is so they're not worried."
"That'll work for us," Logan agreed. "Summers?"
"Grumpy. The vampires flirted so he didn't get to stake."
Logan walked off shaking his head. "Let me help Summers. We all know he's still being led by his dick."
Clint looked at Remy then behind him. "Yo, she's going to Avengers tower." SHIELD agents came up to get her. Remy went to ride with her just in case. Clint looked at Magneto, who was staring, and shrugged. "We can handle it. We'll hand Logan the info on the groups we're all tracking so you guys can hear about them too. Two are just yahoos with pickup trucks and guns who hate anyone not them. Including slayers. I gotta get that group from Xander's records but he might've taken them down by now. Not totally sure." He walked off. "Give you a lift, Storm, or do you wanna fly?"
"I can ride," she said, following him. "It'll save my energy for calming down the children."
"Rogers went in to talk to them so they're all glomping on him to talk about hero stuff." He grinned at her. "He's pretty good at it too."
"That's good. They are bouncy children," she said dryly. "Most every day."
"They're kids." He grinned at her. "They're all like that sometimes. It means they're happy and healthy."
"True." He let her into the car and walked around to drive.
Charles looked at the others. "You three," he said with a point. "Go follow Logan. Then check the school and let us know." They ran off to do that. "The rest, let's go calm the children down. We'll handle Jean later."
Magneto looked at his people. "We should probably hear how to defeat demons if they come for mutants again."
"Beheading works a lot," Sabertooth told him. "But the local ones have been great to the community. Their healers treat us and they protect some of the orphanages."
"I like and appreciate that," he agreed. "But we know that the slayers will end up losing some day and we should be ready." The others nodded. "We can ask them for a training manual."
"I'll have the kid ask his daughter to get us one," Sabertooth agreed. "If not, Logan would probably hand over theirs."
"That's fine." He walked off considering it. This was a weird situation but handy if they all figured out how to stop it before more innocents died.
***
Cable showed up that night, looking slightly pissed off. "The school is under quarantine thanks to idiots."
"We have a few spare rooms," Xander quipped. "All the girls are out right now so find one, man." He waved a hand and went back to the tv. "The only slayer locally is Bethy and she's with her dad tonight."
"Thanks, Xander." He grimaced. "What are you watching?"
"The bad ideas that are influencing some of the slayers that we need to combat." He looked up. "I can't fight the vapid times if I don't know where they're getting it from. Frankly, that family is enough to make me never date a woman again." He changed the channel. "We have sports, we have the pimple lady, and we have game show network, or food network, or the animal network."
"So a lot of shitty shows?" Cable guessed.
"Actually I kinda like the pimple lady." He changed it to that so he could see a few minutes.
"So she's ...wow." He leaned against the couch to watch her remove the big blob of fat. "That's gross."
"Yeah but it's like popping pimples and I learn a little bit in case I have to handle something in the field."
"I can see why. That's still gross."
"Yup." He grinned. "There's one with plastic surgery too but it doesn't get as in close and personal with most of them." He changed and found the episode on was one he hated. "Oh, *this* lady," he sneered. "She took shots to change her skin tone."
"Excuse me?" The show went over her first appointment on the show and how she used to be a artificially mega busty and blonde German woman and was now an artificially brown and artificially mega busty German woman who thought it had changed her race. "What the fuck?" he demanded.
"Yeah." Xander looked at him. "I think someone should throw a protest over that shit but it's not my job to do it."
"Tell Cage."
"I'm thinking about it." He grinned. "So someone can complain to God that this exists."
Cable shook his head. "I'm glad Wade doesn't usually watch this shit."
"Is Wade back in an apartment? Last I knew he was on Blind Al's couch."
"I think he's on Weasel's couch tonight."
"I have three free rooms but if you're here when the girls come back you have to be a house parent that has good teachings."
"Yeah, we can avoid that. We're not really role models, Xander." Xander smirked at him. "Let me go rest." He went upstairs to do that. The bed was a bit small but nice enough. Clean sheets, no Wade ass stink, all the important things. Including idiots who yelled when they broke in somehow. Then Xander yelling at them and the sound of a gunshot that got him up to go help the kid.
Xander stared down at him. "Willow told them where we were so he could come hit on me. So he shot himself when I told him I'd never be with a people seller."
Cable looked. "He's not dead."
"I know. I'm stopping myself from doing that." He hauled the guy out by his arms and threw him outside. But he kept his weapons and wallet. "I need it to go buy myself some fun." He went to his room. "Night. Let me write Willow an email stating I'm going to kill her ass for letting a people seller into the house."
Cable went upstairs, opening the window when he saw Wade. "There's other rooms. Xander's in his room being pissed off at the people seller who got let in by Rosenburg to date him."
"I can go tell Xander I'm hiding in a closet. Not literally but to nap in." He jogged down to Xander's room, knocking and leaning in with a grin. "Can I hide?"
"We have a few spare beds. Don't use a taken one. Clean the uniform, Wade. You're muddy."
"Yup, I can do that." He ran back upstairs to shower, wipe off his uniform, and fall asleep in his boxers. He'd steal some of Xander's clothes in the morning. Though he found out Xander really didn't have any clothes. "I thought I was the only one that had four outfits," he decided, putting on his uniform again to go down to eat breakfast. Xander grunted and pointed at the bag on the counter. Clean boxers and a t-shirt. "Thanks. Pants?"
"Steal some but bring 'em back." He ate another bite of cereal.
"I tried, you're out."
Xander grimaced. "Damn. I need to do laundry." He ate another bite but went up to get his basket so he could throw them in the wash. "I'm doing laundry if you need to throw something in," he yelled. Cable brought down his dirty t-shirts and pants. Wade went to change so he could throw in his boxers. It about filled out a load.
Cable looked at Xander. "Why don't you have more clothes? You live with women."
"I get flashbacks thanks to Buffy. She used to drag me to the mall and abuse me horribly so she had a shopping buddy. I get literal headaches going into a mall anymore." He walked off. "We have eggs, cereal and milk, and some bread but not a lot."
"Thanks, kid." He went to make himself breakfast. He had heard how the girls had dragged Wade's former girlfriend shopping all the time. Apparently it wasn't something Xander could handle. Cable wouldn't say anything, everyone had their phobias and he hated shopping too.
Wade walked in shuddering. "Anything decent that'll take bad thoughts out of my head?"
"Nope. No beers either."
"Damn it." He got the first plate of eggs and toast, walking off to eat and not look at Xander.
Cable shook his head. Wade was so weird sometimes.
***
Wade walked into the bar, slinking into a seat. "Give me something to take the bad thoughts out of my head."
Weasel looked at him. "What happened now?"
Wade looked up. "Blind Al hit on Xander."
"We knew she could be dangerous."
"They played strip poker and she won."
"What would strip poker do for a blind woman?" Weasel asked as he poured Wade a rather large scotch and handed it over.
"I almost asked that and Xander just grinned at me." He gulped the scotch. "Damn it."
Weasel got his own drink and went to drink it away from Wade. He didn't want to know what Blind Al had done to win strip poker with Xander. Some things were not meant to be known by mortal men.
TBC....
Story notes:
Here's the list's present for Christmas.