Coulson was up when the notice of visitors hit the fence. He looked at the security system. "Someone get Xander up." The girls ran that way to pounce him. "Watch his shoulder," he reminded them. He hit the intercom for the gate security box. "Sir, please drive slowly and carefully up the driveway so you do not hit any of the protected creatures here." He let them inside. Fury's car wouldn't come and he winced. "I forgot he set the wards so you couldn't come in, sir. If Agent Hill is there she may." Fury's swearing was loud enough to be heard through the closed windows but he did get out. Xander stumbled in rubbing his face with his hands. "Get dressed. O'Neill and Fury are here."
"That's going to be a nice meeting outside," he said dryly.
"Hill's in the car too, Xander."
"Fine. Let me get some coffee first." He went to do that on his way to shower and put on clothes. He came out to find Dawn had gotten Fury in. He gave her a look and she shrugged.
"This time only," she said. "It'll still block him out." She looked at her boss and shrugged. "I did some of the protections."
"I guess that makes sense." He looked at Harris. "Just now getting up?"
"We had nightmares all night," Xander said bluntly. "So I had to calm down twenty-nine girls." He slumped down and nodded.
"Specific ones?" Dawn asked.
"Thunder storms. We had a good one that shot the power out for about ten minutes. Freaked some of the younger out and some of the older had flashbacks to being attacked."
"I can see how that happens," O'Neill said. "They okay?"
"Mostly. A few are probably hiding in the gym but they'd never let us see them during school hours because they know I don't let them skip unless it's critical." He looked around. "Melinda?" Nothing. "MELINDA!" he shouted, making her jump and stare at him. "Go tell the ones skipping that it's too late to drag them there and if they skip lunch I get to spank."
"I was busy," she whined.
Xander stared at her. "Not like the puzzle's going to run away." She huffed. "Then go tell Tony and Steve we need to see them?"
"Fine." She walked off looking very unhappy.
"You can go back to your puzzles after that," he reminded her. "Though I really wish you'd want to go play."
"I like my puzzles!" she complained, staring at him, hands on her hips. "You're mean!"
He gave her a look. "You need to do more than puzzles."
"So?"
He snorted, sipping his coffee. "Just for that, go change clothes and go play in the mud." She whined and shifted her feet. "I told you I wanted you to do more than puzzles this week and that means playing and doing homework. So go play. You have an hour of mandatory playing time." He pointed. "Outside please after you do those two simple things I asked you to do."
"Can we go play?" another of the younger girls asked, bouncing around. "Please? Pretty please?"
"Change into things you can get muddy in," he said patiently. They cheered and ran up to change, dragging Melinda with them. Another girl ran to tell the big girls and the two Avengers. "She can do things," Xander reminded that one when she came back. "That was her chore."
"So? She's upset, Xander." She went up to change.
Kelsey waved from her spot. "We have my appointment this afternoon."
"Yup, we do, which means you won't have time to study." She grinned. "Go play."
"No!" she said, starting to sound frantic, shaking her head. "Not dirt, Xander! Please!"
"Then go check the flowers and the animals." She sighed in pleasure and went to do that. "Just spend at least an hour outside."
"It'll take that long to find all the bunnies." She went to change shoes to do that. She smiled at Steve. "I'm going to check all the bunnies."
"That's a really big job," he said with a grin back. "I hope you can find them all."
She hugged his leg. "You're nice." She went out to do that, umbrella in hand in case she needed it. She hated being wet or dirty.
Xander looked at the two higher ups. "She's a bit OCD," he said quietly, finishing his coffee and getting up to get more. "Marta, do we have more coffee made?"
"It's brewing now, Xander, and I'll bring it over." He went back to his seat. "I've got lunch started for the girls too. Including a picnic one for the hiding ones."
"Thanks. How many?"
"Six skipped but they're the ones you found curled up in a corner of the gym." He nodded at that. She went out to watch over the kids in the mud. They were good kids, even if they were having a lot of messy fun.
Stark sat down, looking at Fury and Hill. "Dawn let you in?" he asked. Fury grimaced but nodded. "I agree, you don't need near the slayers. Especially not the tiny ones."
"The girls have great manners," Steve said with a grin. "They apologize for burping, excuse themselves from the table, all that."
"Marta helped a lot with that," Xander said. "Including mine." Tony grinned at him. "She did. I admit I didn't grow up with people who thought manners mattered." He shrugged. When he heard the coffee pot ding he went to get it and bring it back. He glanced at the oven, nodding at the nice roast. The girls would enjoy that later. He went to the gym, staring at the group of girls. "You're hereby punished to one hour of playing in the mud with the minis for skipping," he said dryly. "You're also to eat lunch with them." They relaxed. "I realize it was a bad night. Still....." They nodded they understood they should not skip. "Good. Go." They ran out to change and go outside to play. He went back to the table. "Sometimes being the big brother is a really big job," he said at the looks he was getting.
"With the nightmares last night, I'm surprised most of them made it to class today," Coulson said. "I helped a few." Xander grinned at him. "We'll help them get over that trauma. Maybe Thor could help."
"Maybe. Not sure. Kelsey's due in at three so we've got to leave about two."
"Leave a bit early, traffic's messed up in that part of Manhattan," Hill said. Xander nodded at that. "We noted yesterday that you seem to run a lot of the Council, Xander."
"I do," he agreed. "Giles is a research guy and I'm one of the few field guys we have." He sipped his new cup of coffee. "Someone's got to run it."
"You put Dawn under O'Neill."
"They were doing things she would find interesting and it'd be safer for her there. Instead of the people here who hate witches getting her."
"Point," O'Neill said with a slight smirk. "So not planned?"
"No. It's happy coincidence that she and John decided they're mutually hot." Dawn grinned a bit but was blushing. "I did approve of him right off. I could tell he wasn't a dickhead."
"Most of the time," Dawn agreed.
"Everyone has those days," Coulson said.
"The digs?" O'Neill asked.
"We've been doing those on and off for centuries. When Willow heard there had been some and why, she looked them over, asked about those areas and how safe they were, and when she found out a few slayers were near there if they could be casually guided to helping the digging going on. Since we weren't really open in those days, some of the girls in college recommended their friends in certain programs get the hint about ancient cities and they introduced them to the other slayers to help protect them. The fact that three out of the four yielded at least a village, and the fourth was off by a mile but when it was corrected they found a *city* was a good thing to us. Now that we're more open, the kids doing the digging can get a lot more notice and credit for it. By the way, one found proof for Dr. Jackson so they quit sneering at him. She's presenting next month."
O'Neill winced. "We're still classified, Harris."
Xander grinned. "You sure about that? Considering Newsweek had something about Gou'ald in a museum."
"I hadn't seen that," O'Neill said, looking it up with Dawn's tablet. She found it for him. "Why wasn't I told?"
"You ask like I read minds," Xander said dryly. "That's not my skill. My superpower is actually common sense and being able to pay attention to things."
"I remember when that was a great power," Tony said. Steve nodded he did too. Tony looked at the article then smirked, calling up someone else's webpage to show him. "You might want to talk to him. He proved Dr. Jackson's work repeatedly."
Jack look at it, wincing some. "Is he more accepted?"
"Yup. And there's a few that are looking for Jackson."
"Great," he complained. "Fury, can we borrow Dr. Foster to look at our wormhole?"
"We'll see." He looked at them. Then at Rogers. "Does this mean the whole team's now buddy-buddy with Harris and the slayers?"
"It's been good for everyone that we've recovered here," Steve said. "It's helped the girls, because we can teach them things that we know that can someday help them with their duty. It's helped us because helping them has helped us calm down with the post-battle nerves and the like. Xander's let us each do what we need to do to heal. It's safe here so we don't have to worry about the picketing people in New York having a fit on us if they see us out and about."
"The gym here has helped a few of them work out their stress reactions," Tony agreed. "Xander was brilliant when he asked me to build it." Xander grinned at him. "I've finally finished the one for Cleveland."
"They'll enjoy that, though Buffy hates to make the girls workout."
"Sometimes it's necessary," Natasha said as she walked over to them. "I see you made the girls go play."
"Yup. They have an hour outside, unless they get chilled and need to come in." She nodded, smiling slightly. "They need time outside."
"They do," she agreed. "It's good for children. Why does the upper level of the slayer gym not work for us?"
"Because I turned that shit off," Xander said bluntly. "It has lethal responses and none of you are trained to deal with a mass staking event of vampires." He stared at her. "We've had girls that needed the ER after that and I'm not turning that on."
"I understand, we were simply wondering. The other two levels are very good. It's the first good workout I've had in years." She walked off to get something to snack on. "Should I turn down the oven?"
"Marta's outside," Xander said with a point and a grin. "I barely know how to use the oven."
She checked then went to talk to Marta, who came in to check and turn it down. Natasha went out to sit and watch the girls. She could use some time in the weak sunlight as well.
Clint strolled out, nodding at them. "Marta, are there any more granola bars?"
She tossed him the box. "Go eat them outside. Like the children, you need sunlight and fresh air, Clint." She stared at him. "Or else I'll let the girls all pounce you." He shivered but went outside to sit with Nat and have his snack. She grabbed a few of the bars from the box for her own nibbling. Marta updated the grocery list with a smile. "Xander....."
"Kelsey has an appointment later, we've got to leave a bit earlier than usual."
"Good. You could use the sunlight too."
"I know. I'm a pasty white guy again." He looked at the higher ups. "The only dig I pushed for was one in an area I spent a good bit of time in down in Africa, guys. That one I figured out there was a huge problem there and not what. We needed to find out, we talked Willow into sending some of her people, who had experience, and they took some younger students with them to train them. They found what I had sensed within days and why I sensed it, because it was a radiating hell gate.
"They got it shut down and the village that had been part of the cult that guarded that shrine was a huge find that the local government flinched a bit about because it meant an earlier history than they were used to. When we noted we were Council, one of them asked if I had sent them and they called so we talked. They liked that we had handled the problem that was there and dismantled it, plus were going to make sure nothing there might relate back to more demons. We tried to tell them about demon civilizations but they didn't want to hear it."
"Pre-Ancient ones?" Dawn asked.
"No, later. Post stone age village. Barely into farming." She nodded, looking that up. He looked over. "Other one. That's Hallie's friend's dig." She found it and he nodded, relaxing again.
O'Neill took the tablet to look at, grimacing. "Weapons?"
"No, historical cult to a God-King, well, a God-Queen actually, and important that way. We do social research as well."
"I guess you guys would," Hill agreed, taking it to look at. "Interesting."
Xander leaned over and pointed. "That's their God-Queen. We talked to Illyria and she remembered her fondly. She was a healing goddess and a fertility goddess." He got comfortable again. "She also apparently had a temper and that hellgate was her way of throwing out the bad in their society. It sent them back to her original realm, which was pretty nasty and in decay at that time."
"We'd like more information on the various realms," O'Neill said.
Xander nodded. "I've asked. It's not like I can barge in there and demand they hand over their libraries. They have their own societies and their own rules. All I could do was ask. I think one's all but agreed. One of the other sources consider humans like ants so they might not but those with magic might be more successful so I had Willow ask if they had anything on the ancient demon societies and their original realms. Them I've heard from and they came to see why the Council was still going.
"There was a slight attack but we proved we weren't the same and the one girl that got injured they healed before I blew up their king." He sipped his coffee. "They agreed we were worthy of knowing since we were looking. Then Willow showed up and nearly huffed it all to death." Dawn grimaced but nodded. "It got fixed though and they're going to send a representative to Coulson to have him set up a meeting so they can ask."
O'Neill looked at Coulson. "Jackson," he said bluntly.
"He was on my list as well as a few better known researchers in some of the upper level colleges in the world. That way it's not hidden and won't cause such a huge bit of stress."
"That's fine. It can't out the project."
"Your project is pretty well outed in the theoretical, General," Coulson said. "There's been more than one researcher who's come up with the same conclusion Jackson has, especially with the few attacks we've had down here. The Council has 'no commented' each time they come to them, even the Research Council, and said it wasn't their part of the duty."
"So we're theoretically blown open," Dawn said.
"Yes. Last month, one of the Egyptian researchers found a Gou'ald tomb while they were being interviewed by the local news. The crew shouted about it and he ran to check, and woke her up." O'Neill winced. "The charming interview was confiscated by the government."
"Welcome," Xander quipped.
"But the tomb was well seen by many people and they can't hide it for very long," Coulson finished. "Especially since it had a section that told a story about a meeting with the Asgard over the Chappa'i gates."
O'Neill winced. "That's going to be bad."
"The researcher was warned that people didn't want to know. The government made sure he knew that people would be disturbed by this. They handed him to another researcher who was in jail for causing a riot by telling people what he had found out. And that one told him where he had found it so he snuck off to go looking. I'm told the guards that saw what he had found and opened, because apparently he did have a tiny ATA gift, freaked out to put it mildly. The president himself showed up to see and said that wasn't in line with their religion but he knew that they didn't cover all history and he'd think about letting this out. I'm fairly certain that the people over that were being questioned as to what they actually know."
"Great. When were we going to know?" O'Neill asked.
"He found it the same day as the battle," Coulson said. "I only went looking at my usual sources for problems last night. I was unfortunately rather dead when they found that information, General." Fury flinched slightly. "The generals in the know over there will probably be calling soon."
He called his assistant. "It's O'Neill. If someone from Egypt calls, put them through immediately. Tell Jackson to call his sources as well." He hung up. "This is going to be bad."
Xander shrugged. "Somewhat. It could be worse. At least you have proof you've been defending the earth, not just hiding all this."
"Maybe. That might save us being skinned." He looked at Fury. "You got blown open too." He nodded. "Are your people all right?"
"A few protests, a few shouting matches from foreign governments who didn't think we were real. Nothing too horrible yet." He looked at Xander then at Coulson. "Is there?"
"No, sir. Not yet. General Ross is going to try something."
"Let him," Xander said dryly, finishing that cup of coffee. "He's tried to order us to hand over a slayer a few times. Not only has the court refused but told him to grow the hell up. He was warned if he tried again he was going to be in deep shit. Him and the NID both. Area 51 got the same warning when they started to hunt slayer genes. I have *no* problem calling in some favors to have demons start to nest up their asses in one fashion or another."
"Area 51 is important," O'Neill said.
Xander stared at him. "Then I'd give them a leash. They tried to take one of the slayers in college in New Mexico. Thankfully she fought them off and ran to get help, and a few students helped her." O'Neill winced. "She called me while they called the FBI. We've since got her under better monitor just in case. So do they. If I had known who they were then, I would've handled it differently but she didn't know until the FBI agents told her the next day."
"I hadn't heard anything but we're only associated," O'Neill said. He called someone. "Connect me to the red line."
Xander shrugged. "I could've called if you wanted."
"You know the president's office number?" Fury asked.
Xander nodded. "He demanded so we can inform him if there's going to be a huge problem. We send weekly updates on any future problems we're seeing. We fax it but we have had to call in a sudden 'oh shit' call to warn him."
"That's sensible, so he can handle it as it's going on and order support," Steve said.
Tony nodded. "Very sensible. Did you call him during ours?" Xander nodded, smirking at him. "Thanks."
"Welcome."
O'Neill shook his head as he was connected. "Sir, Fury, Harris, Coulson, and I are talking. Not only has the Stargate program been theoretically outed, but I have to report that Area 51 tried to kidnap a slayer the other day in New Mexico." He listened. "Yes, sir, I need to know what you want to do about both topics and if we need to do something about the geek squad." He listened and nodded once. "I can do that. He's right here, sir." He put him on speaker.
"Harris, can we give Area 51 some blood samples?"
"The slayer spirit isn't going to be found that way," Xander said. "It won't do them any good, just frustrate them and make them want to capture a whole one more. Which I'll destroy them for."
"I know you will and I'd expect you to do no less." The president cleared his throat. "Have I gotten notes on the outing?"
"I just found out last night, sir," Coulson said. "Egypt's not sure what they want to do. I've been working on a comprehensive report on the depth of the light being shined this morning. I was going to send it later tonight to both my director and you."
"That's fine, Coulson. I know you're healing. Get it to me as soon as you humanly can. I've told the yahoos at Area 51 how a slayer is called and noted. They don't like mystical things."
Xander laughed. "They're shit out of luck then because it's all mystical and higher powers in that case. And if they come near Dawn and Willow, there's going to be a battle. A very short, very messy battle."
"Agreed," he said. "I want Summers and Rosenburg both to be extremely safe. Is she there?"
"Yup," she said.
"When do you go back to the city?"
"Next week. John thinks he found plants from Area 51 and the NID, sir."
"Have him end them and go home sooner, Summers. We don't need you harmed or losing your temper over things."
"I can do that, sir."
"Thank you. O'Neill, she is a precious resource and you are to guard her with your life if necessary. There's special things you don't know about that I barely know about and they're damn scary."
"We're still not sure of some of them," Dawn said. "I wasn't going to test it and get noticed for it."
"GOOD!" he said firmly. "I like that!" She laughed. "Does Sheppard know?"
"He and McKay both know, just in case. So does Evan Lorne in a lesser manner because he caught us talking about it. I have not and will not tell Dr. Keller but Dr. Lam knows that I'm not the average girl and knows I have magic."
"Good. Even better. Go home as soon as you can, dear. We need you safe."
"Kennedy's been made Willow's protection slayer," Xander said.
"I heard why. What a cluster fuck." Xander grinned at the phone. "Okay, we'll handle it. Why are we meeting and where?"
"I got Fury into the training center this one time," Dawn said. "There was a feeling that Xander may be sucking them into a secret organization he's running behind the Council."
The president burst out laughing. "I thought that for a bit too and then I found out how things just happen around him. I wouldn't mind if he did, but he's not." He hung up.
Xander looked at O'Neill. "If I was, Dawn wouldn't have been the first line I'd send at you. I would've had active spies there and possibly a few slayers." He poured himself more coffee and handed Tony the pot.
"You have passive spies?" Fury asked.
"He has contacts that tell him things," Tony said. "Like the kitten poker circuit. He even heard stuff about my kidnaping by Ten Rings." Fury stared at him. Xander nodded. "It kept Pepper calm."
"I need an agent in that circle," Fury said, looking at Xander.
"You have two who play kitten poker but they're not well liked so no one talks to them." He looked at Hill. "You tried really hard."
"I did. They thought I was very uptight and possibly a government plant to try to figure out demon societies. Then one figured out who I was and asked if I worked with Coulson." He smiled slightly at that. "You play?"
"I have now and then for information. Usually if we're on a mission and something's very odd."
"So that's how you knew about Antigua," Fury said. Coulson nodded. "Wonderful. Play more often."
"I can start doing that when I'm local, sir."
"Thank you." Fury looked at O'Neill. Then at Xander. "Him?"
"He's got a few partial demons on his base in a few different capacities. They were very paranoid about what he was going to bring onto this planet. So far they've been impressed but they're still wary and don't like humans having that technology. They don't consider us advanced enough yet because we can't see that there's more than one method of powering the universe. Not the magic vs science split but other ones. And no, I don't know exactly what they meant. I'm not a science guy."
"I've talked to a few and introduced one to Rodney," Dawn said. "They like him. Called him a rude asshole but they liked that some humans were discovering things. We're now at the level of cats instead of ants. They hadn't really looked in the last decade."
"So we're pets?" Hill asked.
"To many species," Dawn said with a nod and a grin. "A lot of them like human slave pets." Hill shuddered. "The ones that were paying attention to our evolutionary level, they do know more about Ancients, I asked. I introduced a few to John, without telling him first. He got a bit upset with me but understood why when one of them recognized which Ancient had been in his family history." O'Neill sat up straight, staring at her. "We sent in a contact report, you ignored it, sir."
"Carter probably."
"No, I sent it to you."
"Damn it," he muttered. "Do they like John and the city?"
"They love the city. They hate the wraith and blame the Ancients for them. They thought John was a good step in the right direction. He told them about some of the things you guys had handled and that's why we're at the level of cats instead of ants."
"Good," he decided. "Very good. Does that make them more likely to share information about the Ancients?"
"Nope." She shook her head. "They actually quoted the prime directive at me." Xander burst out laughing. "They said it was one of the few things they liked of human entertainment, that and Mexican wrestling. Though they did enjoy Italian food." She pushed her hair back behind her ears. "Rodney got dragged into a discussion of rugby but he had to admit he didn't really follow sports because he wasn't that sort of guy. They thought he should be more well rounded but Rodney told them what well rounded meant to humans and they accepted the Greek ideal more. Overall, they're happy we're evolving but we're still at the level of cats."
"Okay, can we talk to them?" O'Neill asked.
"Probably not unless they show up."
"How...."
"Showed up," Dawn said. "This was their decade check and spotted me, so came to see what I was doing there. They only noted me as a fairly strong source of magical energy," she told Xander, who nodded. "They didn't recognize what type of magic, the source, none of that, just that I had some."
"You told Giles?"
"Yup. He said that was a nice thing and that we had moved up the scale. Perhaps in a century or so we'd be able to speak to them."
"Maybe two," Xander said. "There's still a lot of people who think the moon landing was faked."
"We talked about them, or Rodney did anyway," Dawn said. "They said each culture has their people that pull back to the old ways. We have the Amish, they have their group that study their bellybuttons as they put it. He told them about Buddhists and they liked them a lot, even if they couldn't agree with their dogma. Said they sounded familiar. John moved from there to the martial arts versions when they asked if they were all like that. They kinda liked the thought of that and Rodney offered to get someone they could talk to, like Van Damme."
O'Neill moaned. "That would have gotten everyone in trouble, Dawn."
"He decided that no one would miss him for a few weeks and we could alter his memories so he thought he had a really high fever." Xander stared her down. "Not me! Keller can do it with a plant we found up there. I saw what she did and hated it just as much, Xander. You know that."
"Just making sure," he said dryly, taking a sip from his new cup of coffee. The girls all trooped in and up to showers, mostly shivering. Kelsey was shivering a bit too so he hugged her. "We're leaving at one-thirty because traffic's a pain today." She nodded, heading upstairs to shower and get dressed back in good clothes. He leaned back again, staring at the muddy little girl still standing next to him. "Hug?" he offered.
She smiled, holding up a garden snake. "I found it. Can I keep it?"
"Absolutely not," Marta said firmly. "No snakes in the house. Go throw it into the woods." She pointed. "Now please. I do not like snakes, Miriam." She sighed but ran out to put it nicely into the woods then upstairs to shower and change clothes. She looked at Xander. "See what you let get started with the bunnies?"
Xander looked at her, grinning some. "At least the bunnies are protective pets."
"Fine." She checked on lunch and pulled out the roast to cool. It'd make good sandwiches.
Xander looked at the others, shaking his head slightly. Fury was smirking. "They are very protective. That's why you're about to be bitten."
Fury looked down, seeing about ten bunnies and a few ferrets, all with glowing eyes, staring at him. "Call them off, Harris."
"I don't tell them a damn thing, Fury. They protect the girls and apparently you were thinking unhappy thoughts about them. I just noticed them sneaking in."
Coulson looked down and snapped. "Leave him be," he said sharply. "He's here peacefully this time. Next time you can attack him." Most of them settled down and quit glowing but they still stared. Dawn picked up one that wouldn't settle down to pet in her lap. "Thank you, Dawn."
"I've always liked the demonic bunnies. They're great pets." She smiled at Fury. "They're *very* protective of the girls."
"Yes they are, and they carry them everywhere," Steve said, reaching down to pet one by his foot. "I didn't notice you either."
O'Neill checked, none around him. He sighed in relief. Xander pointed so he looked behind him. There was a ferret staring at him from the bookshelf behind him. "I'd never hurt the girls, ferret. I want them to have a normal girl life for a very long time and never have to patrol or slay anything." The ferret curled up to watch him but he wasn't looking as aggressive.
One of the ones skipping school leaned in and grinned. "We don't like you anyway, Director Fury. You're an asshole and you think we're pawns. So yeah, I'd watch out for more than the bunnies and the ferrets. Because some of us got hit with demon blood too, not just Buffy and Dawn. Being telepathic sucks ass but it can happen now and then." She smiled sweetly and ran off.
"Eat. Something," Xander called after her. "Now please. And watch your mouth!"
"Thank you!" she quipped, grabbing stuff from the counter to make a sandwich. Marta handed her a glass of milk too. "Thanks, Marta." She ran off with her lunch. That way she could eat in peace and not help with learning stuff.
"She went fully telepathic in Times Square thanks to a demon pouncing her to take her out while she was out for kiddy shots," Xander said. "We were not happy we had to hunt another one down to kill them so we could grab their heart for the reversal potion." He took another sip of his coffee.
"At least mine was mostly active in the house," Dawn said. "Though I heard thoughts I did not want to hear all too often from the older slayers. Including Faith thinking about how much potential you had way back when. And Giles thinking about Mom. Because, eww."
Xander grinned. "I know he's like your dad at times but even Dads have sex."
"Yeah, Buffy said Mom told her he was like a stevedore. I did not need to know and damn if John can't beat all that and then some."
"A good sex life is an important thing," Xander agreed. "It's good he's good to you. It means I won't have to kill him in a horrible manner some day." He smiled.
She smirked back. "Don't even try. I'll call on Anya's successor before you, Xander."
"Fine, whatever." He waved his cup around. "I'm sure you could have a lot of ideas."
"Probably. Including cannibal sewer goldfish."
Xander shuddered. "I remember seeing those things. Talk about gross."
"Canni...." O'Neill shook his head. "I don't want to know unless my colonel suddenly disappears. Can we get back on target?"
"Sure," Xander agreed. "What were we on?"
"How to integrate the slayers into the demon and earth saving when it's a problem that requires all three agencies," Coulson said.
"Maybe the leader of that supposed agency is Coulson and Xander's just his right hand," Fury joked with a smirk for his agent.
"I could do worse than that job," he joked back, barely smiling.
Gwennie snuck over to poke him, making him look down. "You need to smile more or your face muscles will lose all strength, just like arms do when you don't move them, and then what'll happen when you have to smile because you have babies?"
He smiled at her. "I don't plan on having babies and I never smile in public. It makes people worry."
She snorted, waving a hand in the air. "Who cares what people think? They're all stupid anyway for the most part."
Dawn looked over. "Is your last name actually McKay?" she asked with a grin.
"Who?"
"Someone I work with who has the same viewpoint about people." She hugged her. "Guys like Phil, they don't smile or show a lot of emotion so people don't know what they're thinking. It's like body armor for your face and mind."
"Oooooh." Gwennie looked at him. "You still need to practice more before you have babies."
"I still don't think I'll be having babies," he said.
"Sure you will. We need kids to play with who are smart and since Xander likes you so much yours will be good to play with." She grinned and bounded off again.
Xander looked at her then at Phil. He shook his head. Tony was laughing. "She has a point," Tony said. "Any kids of yours would be good playmates for the slayers."
Phil scratched his ear but nodded. "They would be. If I have children some day they'll be more than welcome to have friends among the slayers."
"Awww," Fury and O'Neill said sarcastically. Then yelped because the bunnies bit them.
"Down," Dawn ordered. They backed off and went back to glaring at them.
O'Neill rubbed his ankle. "The next meeting we have, it needs to be somewhere the rabbits aren't."
"The bunnies go everywhere with us," Miriam called from the next room.
"Why?" Hill asked.
She leaned in to grin at them. "Because they protect us. We're not big enough to beat up on bad guys if they get around Xander or whoever's with us. That way we're still protected. Xander, she has to go soon. She's staring at the clock and muttering minutes already."
Xander got up to get dressed and came down to get Kelsey and her file to take with him. "Let's go. If we're a bit early we can stare at the people." She nodded, she liked to watch people.
Fury opened his mouth then shook his head and closed it. "Being a parent has to come first sometimes," Jack O'Neill said quietly. "That's actually a great thing to me."
"I'm just happy he didn't use the paralytic this time," Hill said.
"He only brings it when he visits SHIELD," Tony said dryly. "This time you came to visit. If he wanted you knocked out that much he'd turn on the house's security system." She nodded at that. "How is your last bite?"
"It's healing well."
Fury looked at his ankle then at her. "Poisonous?"
"The ferrets yes, the bunnies no, sir. Not really toxic but it does make healing the wound difficult."
"Good to know." He and O'Neill shared a look then he stared at Coulson. "How do we handle it if it's a demon apocalypse?"
"The next one's in LA," Tony said. Dawn pulled up her copy of the battle plans. "He's got them done?"
"He handed them to Giles yesterday and Giles made sure I had a copy in case another attack on the main house happened." A few of the older, skipping girls leaned in to stare at her. "The old liners wanted Kennedy in charge because she's easily led."
One nodded. "No way in any hell dimension I know of."
Dawn smiled. "Buffy, Faith, Rona, Gwendolyn, Maria, used to be Kennedy but she's now Willow's personal slayer protection detail."
She looked at the others, who shrugged, then back at Dawn. "Can we suggest Perri? She's good."
"You can and I'll suggest that to Giles. It has to be a girl who can lead battles and houses."
"Perri could probably do that but she's more small group than the whole of all the slayers. She does good with the ones that aren't patrolling though." Dawn made that note. "If not, maybe Beth-Beth?"
"Bethany's a good girl, and she's a great leading slayer," Dawn agreed, adding that. She sent it to Buffy's phone. She got one back almost instantly so Buffy was probably watching soaps. "Buffy said Bethany's now behind Maria." She smiled. "Perri's got special leadership skills but not the whole thing so she's behind Amelia and Ems."
"We could like that," she agreed, going to tell the others. They liked that and someone told Beth, who sniffled and came in to hug Dawn then went back to the gym.
"Who runs the Council itself?" Miriam called.
"Giles, Xander, me and my boyfriend, two of the guys I work with, then Morrison," Dawn called. "They all forgot about me being Xander's heir," she finished sarcastically. The girls laughed at that. She smiled at O'Neill. "So if I have to run off suddenly....."
"You're probably there or here," he said. "That's fine, Dawn. Something like that is just as important as what we do. They like Sheppard?"
"Yes. Xander agreed he'd be good and he can fill in for my weak spots. Perkins and then Evan Lorne are both good leaders when they want to be." O'Neill looked confused. "Perkins got higher because his half-sister is a slayer."
"Oh." He nodded once. "That's reasonable I guess. I'll keep that in mind for city staffing and make sure at least one of them's always back here. I know Perkins is right now."
"Atlantis hates him anyway," Dawn quipped. "She keeps shutting off all his lights and water on him."
"I heard. Sure, he can stay for a while." He made that note to his assistant to remind him later. "Rosenburg?"
"Head researcher," Dawn said. "She likes it, she can't lead battles, she agreed that was her favorite spot."
Fury nodded. "I like her there as long as you keep her out of the weird books that might make her do more bad things."
Dawn shrugged. "How else do you look up what's going to happen during an apocalypse battle?"
"Good point," Hill agreed then sighed and looked at Coulson.
"She's vowed not to do more harmful spells without warning people and it being necessary, plus usually asked for by Giles or someone. She's not slipping again."
"Good," Hill agreed, smiling slightly. "I like that idea better."
"Willow's been doing the card catalog recently since we had all those probated estates to handle." Dawn pushed her hair back again then floated over a pen to do it up. Tony stared at her. "What? I don't have a magic addiction, thank you."
"I know that. I know why too." She smiled. "Working on the tiny things?"
"Yup. It helps at times." O'Neill looked at her. "I'm really strong magically. I can't pick off hairs with it, but I can probably grab a helicopter for a few minutes so it can't take off." He shuddered. "Which is why we wanted Belinda to test the magical weapons, because she's got pretty weak magic and she might need it."
"She might," he agreed. "I don't disagree with that. Though Carter's about to have your ass over it, Summers."
"We sent in reports. Apparently someone's either interfering with them getting to her and you or they've been happily ignored. Daniel's seen them because he comes to check on our progress."
"I heard." He looked at Hill and Fury then at her. "When we help with LA's upcoming battle...."
She showed him the battle plans and what they knew so far. "This is the current plan, subject to tweaking if new information comes forward."
He looked at it. "It's very open."
"It's in the middle of a park," she said. "Not much cover. Lots of room for them to escape."
"Good point. The locals?"
"Have already been warned. We warn anywhere that we know one will happen with a credible threat notice and then to call us. The notice has the date and probable location." She looked over as a steady beeping noise grew louder. "Where is it?" she called.
"New Orleans went early," one of the upper girls yelled back. "Dumbass witches."
Dawn stood up. "Let me go handle that shit before they destroy the city. Give me a few minutes." She disappeared and put up a shield between them. "Isn't your city already damaged enough from Katrina? Did you really need to do more destruction when it's barely getting back on her feet?" They glared at her. She stared back. "Hi, Dawn Summers, I'm with the new Council." She put her hands on her hips. "I don't want to have to evacuate your whole damn city because you two can't work out things like adults. Have some goddamn tea and talk about it, ladies. Or I'll tell Rosenburg to come make you kids!" They backed down but she had felt Willow appear. She looked at her. "Cute."
"I was doing a pampering thing with Kennedy," she said, grimacing but checking her face masque. "Ladies, she's right. We've been trying to get you two to talk this stuff out for weeks now. Why can't you?"
"You're not one of us," one of them said. "We don't follow that coven bullshit. Magic's from the family lines."
"Then explain mine since no one in my family had any," Willow shot back. "Sometimes it's not. And for that matter, the Devon Coven is only mentoring, not an overlording body. Mostly they handle the ones that have went dark."
Dawn frowned, looking around. "What the fuck was that?"
"What?" Willow asked. "I didn't feel anything."
"Huge power surge." She pointed, looking that way. "Oh, fuck." The demon blinked in and out of view as it ran toward them. She threw up a shield, grabbing Willow's hand to suck from her. Willow squeaked and helped. So did the other two witches. The demon screamed but oh well. Dawn hit her necklace. "Mayday code Alpha. Huge demon, New Orleans, phasing in and out of view, level destruction Beta," she noted calmly. A few slayers appeared thanks to Willow and the coven and they attacked the demon they could feel. Dawn and Willow helped, and the demon did die. Dawn ran over to one of the slayers that was down and bleeding. "We need an ambulance now," she ordered. Willow was calling that in. Dawn concentrated. "Willow, healing spell?"
"I can't, you know that, Dawn. I lost that gift."
One of the older witches pushed her way through and came to help. "I'm not much good at them but I can sure as shit help," she said quietly. "Thank you, child."
"It's what we do," she said weakly, staring at Dawn. "Do not let him mope."
"You die and he's going to pull your ass back to kill you," she said. "You're not allowed to die."
"I know but sometimes you gotta break rules." An ambulance showed up. "Get Nevaeh. She's injured and I'm bad."
The paramedics split to get both of them. "You're in really bad shape."
"She's one of the slayers," Dawn said quietly.
"Okay. Means we get to send you right up to surgery." He helped lift her with the witches help and they transported the other girls with them. They were all bruised and cut up.
Willow looked at the remains of the demon, setting it on fire. "I have no idea how it got here." She looked at the two warring factions of witches. "Any clues?"
"One of the local idiots was trying to summon a soul wrong recently," one of them said.
"No, not allowed," Willow said. "We don't need the First Evil again." They stared at her. "I know how it happened," she defended. She rubbed a hand through her hair. "I need to tell Buffy, Giles, and Xander." She called them. Xander's phone was off. "Buffy, me. We stopped the witch war but there was a demon summoned. Huge one. Dawn called in for backup. One of the girls is in really bad shape and going right to surgery. His phone's off, Giles. Yeah, that's what we think. I can do that. Thank you." She hung up and looked at them. "I'm being stationed here with Kennedy until we can figure out what happened and make sure it's the only one. Dawn can tell me later if there's a gateway open or something." She rubbed her forehead, grimacing at the flaky clay that fell off. "Let me head home and I'll be back tonight? And if you guys want to have tea with us and talk we can do that?" They both snorted but waved her off. She left to get a shower, get changed, and pack with Kennedy.
The witches looked at each other. "Maybe we should talk," one side decided.
The other nodded. "Might be helpful before that weird one interferes. Or the Key." They nodded and walked off to have a good old fashioned picnic and talk. They could figure out who had called that demon and end them too if they had to. Girls like Willow worried them since she wasn't a bloodlined witch. They were always trouble.
***
Dawn appeared next to Xander, who flinched, staring at her. She nodded at the therapist. "Sorry."
"Who?" Xander asked quietly.
"She's out of surgery. They're both out of surgery but one's got a few pins. Molly's got a lot of intestinal stitches and is missing some now." Xander sucked in a breath but nodded. "So we'll be moving them up to the center's infirmary tomorrow as long as you have a doctor there now."
"I might be able to ask Banner. If not, I'll call one of the ones from Cleveland. Who?"
"No clue. The witches were fighting and it showed up. I called it in, we handled it, Giles moved Willow and Kennedy down there to handle the city in case of other issues. They're families."
"Which means they're going to look at Willow like she's a kid playing dress up cowboy with real guns."
She nodded. "They recognized me. One muttered it." He shrugged. "Okay. Want me to talk to Bedford?"
"No, I hate her. She's not exactly a fussy doc sort. The girls will want fussy. I'll ask Banner when I get home and if not, I'll go talk to Dr. Herrs. She's just retired but Molly likes to listen to her when she won't Bedford."
"Okay." She hugged him then disappeared.
Kelsey looked up at him. "Huge demon?"
"Yeah. They had two warring witch families in New Orleans and one showed up."
Kelsey nodded. "Did they summon it?"
"Nope."
"That's good then. Then maybe they're good witches instead of bad ones like the chaos guys that get us on Halloween." She looked at the therapist. Who was scowling at Xander. "We don't let him sugarcoat things on us. He might not give us details but we know the bigger slayers get hurt and we know he protects us until we can do it on our own. We yell and fuss when they don't tell us things. We worry more if we don't know."
Xander nodded. "The girls threw up a holy fit about us not telling them things when the other girls got hurt," he said quietly. "So we have a happy medium of 'bad things happened to some of the older slayers' and leave it there unless it's someone very close to them and then we'd give them details."
"There's a spell so even if they're talking about it in front of us, we never hear more than who's hurt and why," Kelsey said. "Willow said it was easier than trying to get privacy to talk about that stuff in the main house."
Xander nodded. "I so yelled about that," he muttered, rolling his eye.
The therapist cleared her throat. "How does that work?"
"I get to hear who got hurt and that they're okay or not. Xander told me the rest. He's not covered by it because he was in Africa then and Willow didn't think." He gave her a look. "What? She didn't!"
"Whatever. You know better."
"I know. She's a senior member of the Council and we have to give her respect for her job title even if we find her creepy and weird."
Xander nodded. "Yes you do."
"You said it."
"I have. You're not an adult."
"Good point." She looked at the therapist. "We have rules."
"Rules can be good if they're fair. They have to respect her?"
"They have to respect her position," Xander said. "They all, every slayer but Buffy and Kennedy, find her creepy. It's not the magic, it's what she's done with it. They can sense that she had problems earlier on and they don't like to be around her. That works out okay because Willow has no idea how to handle kids or what they need. Then again, her parents are book writing shrinks."
"I've seen children of other therapists in the past," the therapist agreed. She looked at her. "Does that worry you? Does it make you do things when you worry about Willow and what she's done?"
"No, mostly she makes me hide. I saw her get mad at Buffy and Faith and turn them into puppy dogs once. I'd hate to be a puppy dog."
Xander shook his head. "I so spanked Willow," he muttered, rubbing his forehead.
"Good," the therapist said. "Does she have someone like me?"
"There's a whole bunch of old lady witches who pay a lot of attention to her," Kelsey said with a grin. "The Devon Coven love to hover over her." Xander nodded quickly. "They're good to us sometimes though. Some of them bake and stuff."
"Some are like the old liners in the Council who considered the girls expendable," Xander said. "The Coven tends to stay away from the slayers until it's a huge battle. Giles had a talk with them about how they were upsetting the girls."
"It sounds sensible." She looked at Kelsey. "Which dolly did you bring today?"
"I didn't bring any dollies. They're for studying," she said, her eyes wide. "I'd never bring one out to not study."
"You can study things outside. Like trees."
Xander shook his head quickly. "No, she can't."
"I tried and it made me cry and panic. I hate dirt," Kelsey said. "Dirty is bad. Even if the other girls like the mud it's nasty."
"Okay, I can see that. Do you get time to water the garden plants?"
Xander nodded. Kelsey smiled and nodded. "I do. I never dig with them but I'm one of the ones that goes to check on all our demon bunnies, demon ferrets, and the few frogs we have. The animals all like me so they let me check on them. The girls on punishment have to clean up the yard. Even after the unicorns and they poop a lot more than a bunny." Xander rolled his eye and shook his head. "They do."
"The bigger the creature, the bigger the poop," he reminded her. "I know you realized that when you were helping me with Melissa the other day."
"I did. She doesn't poop as much but she eats less and she's tinier."
"She's...."
"Her mom's in jail for abusing the abusive boyfriend back," Xander said. "She's one of the older slayers."
"Ah! That's a nice thing."
"She drools a lot," Kelsey said.
"Babies do that, mine did," the therapist said. "Let's go over some of the things Xander and others have noted that you do when you're doing things." She nodded, curling up against Xander's side to go over some of those. At the end of the appointment she let Kelsey go outside alone. "Any idea why they started?"
"I know she was living with her grandmother until she was two, then she got attacked. The Bringers missed her but a few of the slaver demon clans found her house. I know that Grandma spotted a demon, because we had already introduced her to the new Council and all that we could do to help her protect her. She called and I know Dawn went up to stomp on the demons. Grandma was pretty old and she talked to Kelsey about things. She decided to give us custody because she couldn't move well.
"Kelsey was already doing some of that then. Or at least when I first saw her she was doing the doll thing for different types of stories and patting doorways. Numbers started to come up more often recently. She talks to her grandmother every few days over the computer. Her grandmother's wheelchair bound right now, she's recently had a small stroke. She's still pretty spry but Kelsey went to visit her and that may be around the same time that numbers started to matter to her. The studying thing is new because we only really started on firm learning in the last year. Before then it was more hidden in things," he said.
"That's a good way and it works on most toddlers and preschool aged children," she agreed. "Do we know the source of any of them for sure?"
"No. The doll thing may have been from an uncle. She mentioned once that an uncle gave her the first doll, which is in her closet and safely stored away from all harm. I offered to put her into the vault so she couldn't get hurt even if there was a fire but she said there was no air and the doll would suffocate. We've checked and the doll isn't possessed so I'm not sure where the exact start was."
"Okay. There have been?"
"Back in high school, Buffy, Willow, and I ran into a possessed puppet during a school talent show."
"That's really weird." Xander smiled. "I think we can desensitize her from them."
"She starts school next year and we've been working on the five-hours-thirty-five-minutes of studying. We've reminded her a few times that during the school day you take breaks and have lunch. It took us a while but that time limit was what the local kindergarten kids had for their whole day, but she's only talked to some of them in the park or the bookstore."
"That's helpful and we can start there. We can work on the dolls too, that way she doesn't have a problem in class."
"The principal's already talked to us about all the kids going next year. We've been trying to help her for over a year now and couldn't find anyone that could help her without making her panic and go into fits. Most of them wanted her to stop the habits immediately and cold turkey. She had a fit so big on one we ended up replacing his office furniture. He wanted her on drugs but we pointed out he had made her panic and have a hissy."
"No, I'd never do that. It's not helpful at all." She frowned. "I saw their notes that you had as part of it. The fit was mentioned. I don't think she needs drugs."
"Now and then I do have to give her benadryl. Most slayers have horrible sleep patterns. There's a wide swath of insomnia near any upcoming problem. That's how we know one's coming. The older ones start first and it slowly trickles down to the younger and the ones that can't fight."
"There's some of those?"
"There were ones that were marked genetically or however that could never do battle. There's one in a coma that gets restless brain waves whenever there's an upcoming battle. There's one in jail for murder and she gets the same thing. We've talked with her and the warden there about those things and other issues that she might have. We have two with Downs Syndrome that are in a great life course program nearby. The girls all fuss over them. They worry a lot and the girls make sure they don't need to."
"That's sweet of them." She stared at him. "You don't have children."
"I'm probably infertile," he said. "They're like my little sisters."
"That's good. What about if something happens to you?"
"There's people behind me and they know some of them. We're working on adding more people around the training center; I've been trying to find the right people for a year or so." She nodded. "They know who they can lean on, including some that aren't officially with the Council but help. Like the liaison we have with SHIELD. They really like him."
"That's good. But you are trying?"
"Yeah, I am."
"That's good. Which school?" He pointed at the cover of the folder. She smiled. "I hadn't noticed that. It's supposed to be a pretty good school."
"It is. We've only had one problem teacher in all the time we've been there and she went off her meds recently."
"I've seen that happen. How often do you think she'd be comfortable working on things?"
"I'd say at least every two weeks. Kel, how often do you want to see her?"
"Two weeks is good," she agreed. "That means I don't miss out on game days."
"Not like I'm going to keep you from playing, Kel," he reminded her. He smiled. "The girls had mandatory punishment playing in the mud time earlier. She went to check on the animals."
The therapist smiled. "That's probably a really good idea. Okay, we can do two weeks for now." She made his next appointment and they went home. She liked the tiny slayer. She was blunt and practical but still believed in fairy tales and princesses. It was sweet.
***
Xander flopped down across from Coulson once they got home. "Doctor Herrs is showing up tonight." Bruce looked at him. "Two slayers got injured in New Orleans. One with pretty good intestinal injuries, the other with pins in a limb." He winced but nodded. "You're more than welcome to help her, Dr. Banner." He looked at Coulson again. "The therapist said it might be worrying her that there's so few adults here."
"I've got a few I could suggest," he admitted. "Including Agents Romanoff and Barton." Natasha looked at him oddly from where she had been reading. "The Avengers are presently on hiatus. As are you two until things calm down and they quit flashing your picture on the news."
"It'd be nice if they quit flashing us on the news," Clint said, sliding down some in his seat. "I've already gotten one call from someone who thought it was a great thing that they now know who I am."
"Did you report that?"
"Gave it to Hill before she and Fury left."
"Good." He stared at him. "It will be at least two months before Stark Tower is refinished."
"Three," Tony said. "Pepper and I talked to the contractor earlier. That will include fixing things so you guys each have space," Tony told them. They nodded. "I'm going back to Malibu in a few weeks at the latest. I miss my lab." He looked at Bruce.
"I can do that for now. I heard General Ross mentioned earlier?"
Xander grinned. "He really wanted a slayer. He didn't like it when we made him take 'no' for an answer." Bruce smiled. He looked at Coulson. "If they want to stay the girls would like that. They like talking to them and learning from them."
"That's fine but I'm not sure if I can handle children," Natasha said. "I've never really been around them."
"I only learned how in Africa," Xander said. "They're like my little sisters."
"That is a good way of looking at it. I'm pleased I don't have to remember how I was trained."
"No, I've heard some things about foreign training academies and the like. I'd kill everyone."
She smiled. "Thank you."
"Welcome." He looked at Coulson again. "You could stay until you're cleared."
"I can," he agreed, smiling some. "It's looking like it'll be a while before I'm cleared for duty. That means I only have to handle things if and when the Avengers are needed."
"He tried to give us to Hill and we all snorted and walked off," Tony said dryly. "I'm not being ordered around in a battle by Agent Stick-Up-My-Ass Hill."
"Ditto," Bruce said.
Steve nodded. "I'm sure she's competent but I've never seen her management style. It might be counter-productive to the unit."
Coulson smiled slightly at them. "I'm still the team's handler, Captain." Steve grinned at that. Stark relaxed. "Barton, Fury said you have to pass field clearance yourself."
"I know."
"He wanted you to start that soon."
"I will."
"He was willing to partially clear you and send you to Atlantis for a bit if you wanted."
"I'm not sure if the bow and arrow approach will work on the mutant people eaters," Xander quipped.
"People eaters?" Natasha asked.
"I cannot comment," Coulson said.
"Good thing I can," Tony and Xander said, then smirked at each other. Xander pulled out stuff to brief them on what O'Neill did.
"That's not assassination work, sir. That's a full scale 'fuck you back' battle," Clint said dryly. "Nat and I would be in the way."
She nodded. "Quite a lot." She closed out the video of the wraith. "We will make sure they cannot get here if they get past O'Neill."
"Definitely," Bruce agreed. "I'm not sure if they could feed on the Hulk or not."
"I can make armor, and I'll talk to O'Neill about armor," Tony said, staring at where the video had been. He shuddered. "Yuck."
"Definitely not something I want to see down here," Steve agreed. He looked at Coulson. "How likely is that to happen?"
"Very narrow and they have a full city that can help us defend ourselves."
"Yes, Atlantis. I really want to visit," Tony said with a grin. "Help get her back into shape." He shifted, crossing his legs. "She's got some of the brightest geeks I would've recruited on her. Including McKay."
"The screaming asshole primadonna?" Bruce asked. Everyone stared at him. "We were in the same graduate program. He was always right, even if he was wrong he was right. We all expected him to either have an early Nobel nod or an assassination within a few years."
"Probably both," Stark agreed.
Coulson nodded. "By his files, yes." They smirked at him. Xander laughed.
***
Dawn slid into Rodney's lap. He stared at her oddly. "What are you doing? This is a lab, not a trashy club and I believe you're taken."
"John told me to come dick tease you because he loves it when you go into that hissy fit mood," she said with a grin. "He told me to come sit on your lap and tell you a few things that have happened recently on earth."
Rodney smirked. "Go ahead then. Be a dick tease if you must. It's not like you do much for me as you're not my type."
She poked him on the shoulder with a grin. "Well, let's start with there was recently a conference. Well, let's start back farther. There was recently a battle on Earth, in New York."
"The slayers all right?"
"Wasn't ours." She smirked a bit meanly. "It was SHIELD's."
"Those crackpots," he snorted.
"And their new super response team. Which happens to include Iron Man."
He stood up and dumped her on the floor. "Stark?"
"Hmm, yup. Him and a Doctor Banner....."
"I saw the mess he made the last time he went into a battle."
"Considering they were fighting space aliens and their whale ships, it was a good thing and yeah, New York's a mess." She stood up. "It also included Captain America."
"They found him?" he demanded, mouth starting to flop open. He sucked in the drool. "The original?"
"Yeah. SHIELD found him, defrosted him, all that. He's a really nice guy. The slayers all love him and his manners. Xander's letting them all defrag at the training center with the two assassins that helped with the battle." She smiled. "Including that redhead you occasionally have nightmares about making good on her threat to castrate you." He shivered. She strolled closer with a grin. "There was a conference due to that. Since we handle aliens, and SHIELD sometimes does, they had to talk, and SHIELD sometimes overlaps with the girls so Giles and Xander got invited."
"I hate those crackpots in SHIELD," he snorted.
"So does Xander. He tends to use paralytic gas whenever he runs into Fury." Rodney smirked at that, moving to a board. "So they worked out how to handle the overlap during the second talk, which was at the training center. I had to specially allow Fury in for a few hours. But... Xander and Coulson were going to tell the Avengers, the special response team, about us."
Rodney turned to stare at her. "Now you're a dick tease. Stark?"
"He doesn't make weapons anymore but he is specializing in armor and energy sources. Plus Dr. Banner is very good at nuclear physics. Even if they did mess up his experiment on him while he was trying to remake the super soldier formula." Rodney shuddered. "And.... Xander told me to tease one last thing. There are real Asgard."
"Not the alien ones?"
"Alien but human looking. Thor is dating one Jane Foster." Rodney stiffened, staring at her. She grinned. "He's home but she's somewhere inside SHIELD."
Rodney moaned. "I want them."
"Talk to the bossman," she quipped with a grin. She held up a DVD holder. "On the battle they had in New York. Plus the rest of the stuff from the digs." He took it to run, watching it on fast forward. He let out a few moans but he was a geek too. Geeks mostly loved superheros. She leaned against the table. "John is still down there because he thinks you wanted him to talk to O'Neill about visitation requests."
"Hell yes," he said, looking at her. "Any other good news?"
She got into her email, smiling at the one she translated. "They hate that Xander sends all Council business in a demon language that nine out of ten down there can't translate and the other one thinks it's Latin or Ancient based, which it's not. But basically, we've got another gateway event coming up, which is on that file, and the girls said hello. And the two that want to be science geeks just like you have glomped onto Bruce and Stark for now but they sent you copies of their recent projects so you could critique and give them ideas on where they went too kiddie to dumb it down. Xander's offered John and Evan spots at the training center. He'd give you one but it'd have to be private research." She paged up. "Oh, and Bruce remembered you from grad school. Called you an asshole screaming primadonna who he expected to hear Nobel news or an assassination about."
"Both actually," he said dryly. "The one that was nominating me earlier than necessary tried to have me assassinated since my later research would discredit his. That's how science goes though." He stared at her. "Any other dick teasing news?"
"They think Coulson really runs an agency behind everything to keep things in control and Xander's one of his senior agents."
He snorted, but grinned. "I can see that. When I ran into Agent Coulson during an attempt on my life he was rather bland and unassuming. I supposed that had to do with his job instead of his intelligence."
"It did. He's our liaison to SHIELD and Fury just found out he knew about all this stuff during the first meeting, where the President let Xander give them a headache."
"He's excellent at it, like you are," he taunted.
She smiled. "You say the sweetest things, Rodney." She pinched him on the cheek, getting swatted for it. "Write the happy colonel about who you want to come visit." She looked over as the door opened. "Doctor Keller. Just telling him things that John wanted him to hear."
"We need to do some testing, Summers."
"Um, no. You're not allowed to take blood from me. You know very well O'Neill told you not to touch my blood unless I was needing critical care and then you were not to experiment, look too deeply into, or otherwise touch my blood."
"Orders have come up...."
Dawn shook her head. "No, it's not. We talked about it before I left. Him and the President both, then they asked me about a few things that General O'Neill hadn't known and wasn't supposed to know. The president let it slip accidentally and had to explain some things but he agreed that it is not worth endangering everyone here to do strange tests on my blood. Since I don't go on a field team to travel there should be almost no reason for me to end up in a critical care situation." She pulled up her special email to send to Xander. He sent back a 'calling' and then a minute later one popped up from O'Neill. She read it and held it out. "From the general himself."
"The gateway's not open," she said.
"Yes, I know." She smiled. "I'm amazing part of the time but the Council magicked it for me in case of emergencies."
"Magic isn't real," she sneered.
Dawn floated her up and smiled at her when she was making squeaky, gasping noises. "Really?"
"Put her down," Rodney ordered. "Before she becomes more hot for your blood, Dawn." Dawn gently put her down. "No, you may not test her blood. We don't want to know if something in it could cause us problems that would mean the Council had to show up to help." Doctor Keller stomped off. Dawn waved at her back. "That could backlash," he warned quietly.
She looked at him. "I'd miss you horribly when I was in the Mountain." He patted her on the arm. "Anyway, Sheppard said to let the other geeks know about the battle, he thought it might tickle them and they could use some levity." She walked off. John came out of the gateway a bit later and she was waiting on the stairs, smiling at him. "Have a nice trip?"
"No. Not really." He looked at her. "You okay?"
"I'm good. I'm staying in a lot of company just in case. I told Rodney like you told me to, he was even pleased at the dick teasing news." She grinned.
"Stark said he wanted to visit and talk about body armor. Him and Banner both."
"I'd like to see the Hulk against a wraith," Dawn said casually. He smirked at that. He had the same thought apparently. She stood up and walked over. "Keller's hovering," she said quietly. "She sneered so I floated her."
"That's what I'd expect you to do." He winked and walked off. "Doctor Keller to my office for a packet of mail," he ordered over the comms. He headed up there while Dawn left the gate room. "Dinner?" he called.
"Waiting on your greatness to finally get here," she quipped back.
"Great." She smirked at him before getting into the transporter.
John looked up from putting down his necessary office supplies he had carried back, tossing her an envelope. "From O'Neill."
She read it, grimacing. "She could be useful."
"She's very useful. She's the one gathering information from other spots in the city and on digs that some of the Council people are sponsoring. That is her job and she's very good at it," he said bluntly. "Even the president said to leave her the hell alone, Keller." He stared at her. "You can't replicate it, you can't do more than hurt others with it. So don't try."
"If she's that dangerous or contagious...."
"She's not. But things are attracted to her blood. The same way odd things are attracted to other members of the Council. That's why people have tried to kidnap her. If I find out you disobeyed that order, even earlier after it was emailed, I will kick you off this city and start court martial procedures. Am I clear?"
"Fine." She stomped off. She had the samples she needed anyway. Transporters were wonderful things.
John went down to the transporter, finding Dawn in there unconscious. "Security, go arrest Dr. Keller. Immediately." They ran off while he got her to the lab. Rodney could help more. Rodney looked over and helped him get her into a chair. "I have no idea. She was in the transporter."
"You can use them to take subtle samples," Rodney said. He went to the infirmary to see what sort of samples. He was hoping it wasn't an organ or a brain tissue one. It turned out he'd be disappointed. There was a tissue sample but it was reading as part of her pancreas. "You could have killed her," he shouted, glaring at her. "How dare you call yourself a doctor!" She was struggling so he hit her. "Take her now," he ordered. He looked at one of the other doctors. "She's in my lab." They went to grab her and bring her in to treat her. John Sheppard was now in a foul mood. A severely foul mood.
***
Xander got woken up by his phone, which he hated. "'Ello?" he muttered into it. He sat up. "She okay?" He listened, nodding some. "I'll call immediately. Thank you for letting me know. If she needs to rest, we have the infirmary." He nodded. "That's fine then. Thanks." He hung up and called the base in Colorado. "I need to speak to General O'Neill now please. I know what time it is, yes. Because I just got notice from one of his projects screwing up with the Council's people. I'm Xander Harris, second head of the Council and one of ours just got hurt."
They transferred him to the night head. "It's Harris. Where's O'Neill?" He listened. "No, that's not. Because Keller decided she was going to find a way to breach his order to leave her alone and took organ samples. Yes, that Summers and O'Neill specifically ordered, with the president, to leave Dawn alone. Well, your choice is we talk to O'Neill in the next reasonable time period or we go up to Atlantis to get Dawn, and yes, we can. There's demons who can make more stable wormholes than you guys and your gate does."
The guy choked and spluttered. "Now please. Sure, I can wait." The guy put him on hold and hung up on him. Xander smirked and nodded, calling someone else. "Go grab Dawn, Sheppard, Lorne, McKay, and anyone else she or Sheppard said to evacuate them before something comes for Dawn's blood please. Thank you." He hung up and waited. No call from O'Neill. He could talk to him in the morning. By then, Dawn would be there.
***
Sheppard looked up as demons appeared. "Why did you guys do that?" he demanded, hand going toward his sidearm.
"They hurt her, they want her back," he said bluntly. "We're evacuating before something comes."
"I can agree to that," Sheppard said. "I know Xander would protect her."
"You, McKay, Lorne, whoever else she stated," he said.
"No, if we're going to be attacked, my place is here."
"You are. There's demons coming that can travel through the time continuum." Sheppard winced. "We need to go, Colonel."
"No. If the city's attacked, I need to be here to defend her. Take Dawn and Lorne and go."
"Fuck no," Evan said from where he was waiting. "If we're attacked it's my duty too." He looked at the demon. "Take her to safety, take these three," he said, writing down names. "To the mountain if you can or wherever he wanted Dawn. They'll need to be safe. They're all pregnant." The demons nodded, taking them with them. He looked at Sheppard. "Did he overreact?"
"No, probably not." He called in an alert. That way they knew when the demons got there.
***
The demons took the four people to the mountain's infirmary. Xander had said once it was safe for Dawn here. "Doctor?" She looked and ran over to help. "We were asked to evacuate them from the Holy City."
"Why?" she asked, glancing at them then looking at Dawn. "Who attacked her?"
"She was in the infirmary and we see her as being weak of blood and a few injuries. Harris had her evacuated before the demons came for her blood. He wanted others but they said they had to protect it."
She nodded. "Thank you." He nodded and left. She called the General out of bed. He was not happy. "What. Happened?"
"This is the first I'm hearing of anything," he said, looking at the three female scientists. "Any idea?"
"Some demon grabbed us and brought us here," one said, hand on her stomach. "I know nothing else, General."
Dr. Lam looked and smiled, tossing over her phone. "It's got Council spells on it. It might reach someone up there. It usually does."
He tapped out an email with a priority message and sent it then called Harris from it. "What did you do?" Xander told him bluntly what he had been told. "Doc, Keller's in the brig. She took organ and blood samples form her." She got a hand-unit to scan her with. "That bad? Time traveling.... Fuck," he muttered. "Okay." Xander said something else. "No, he wouldn't. I wouldn't, you wouldn't, you should've known better. Oh, to do a spell to let them be on the same level. Sure, if you can get Rosenburg up there. Thank you, Harris. Here, yes. We'll protect her or we'll send her to you." He hung up. A few minutes later, Rosenburg was glaring at him in a flowered nightdress and matching bathrobe. "Can you get to Atlantis?"
"Yes. How is Dawn?"
"She'll be fine. Our doc, who she likes, said she'll be fine, Willow. Just a few bites for a sample collection and she's already healing that and the missing pint of blood they took."
Willow grimaced. "Buffy's not going to be happy."
"I know that. Xander nearly had the others pulled out too."
She nodded, going up there. The demons stared at her. She snorted and flicked a hand at them, sending them off. "Butt munchers." She walked off, finding Dawn's boyfriend. She pulled something out of her pocket to hand to him. "There's two. They do the same thing those demons do. We had to use them in the past when they came for Buffy to kill her. They're assassins." She stared at him. "Who hurt Dawn?"
"Our head doctor. She's in the brig and facing charges."
"Good. Before I have to tell Buffy." She looked back at someone appearing. "Agent Barton?"
"Xander had me sent." He held up something. "He found the one he kept." He put it on. "They're assassins, not soldiers. We're a bit sneaker," he told Sheppard.
Who smiled back. "I figured you guys were. Welcome to Atlantis."
"She's beautiful. Let's make sure the demons don't change that. Xander said they can't really change history but they can go back about twenty minutes if necessary to try to kill you again."
"I blocked them out from before I got here," Willow said. "So once I leave they can try it again." They nodded and put on the necklaces. When one demon popped up they could follow him to kill him. Willow went home to tell Buffy the bad news. She had heard, she was throwing a fit at the phone. So apparently Xander had done the bad telling this time. That was great, it meant Willow could go home to Kennedy.
***
O'Neill got to his desk before his assistant the next morning. He was looking over it for notes and found one from the night shift guy not to let Harris call through. He went to find the night shift commander. He held up the note. "No, he is *always* to get through to me. Because he deals with humanity ending things."
The guy slumped down. "Including one of our researchers being attacked last night by one of the doctors." He shrank down further. "I'd transfer and hide like hell from everyone here. I really would." The guy got up and stomped off. O'Neill went to the infirmary. "How bad? Anything new pop up?" Lam handed over the notes she had made. He read them and grimaced. "She's....."
"In the brig but they're under attack by demons who can move themselves backward in time by twenty minutes," she said. "Harris got them help and sent someone else up to help as well."
"Great! I'd like to know more as soon as I can." He walked off scowling. He called Xander to assure him Dawn was going to be okay, she was getting good care, and that he didn't need to storm the base. He knew what sort of overprotective big brother Xander was. Jack had been like that over his own kid. He set up a meeting later to talk about it and hopefully get a sit rep from Atlantis.
***
Dawn woke up and blinked at the man staring at her. "You are not the one I wanted to wake up to, Stark."
He grinned. "Tough. Sit up, drink some water." He helped her sit up. "Xander's around here somewhere."
"Figures." She sipped the water he handed her. "What happened? All I remember is getting on the transporter to head to my room to pull out dinner and then there was a flash of pain. Malfunction?"
"Nope," Doctor Lam said as she walked over. "I'm damn glad she didn't take anything vital as a sample." Dawn glared. She nodded. "She's in the brig."
Dawn looked at Stark. "He had me brought here?"
"He said you're safe here and this doctor likes you."
"She does," she agreed with a grin. "John would worry too."
"He's already worrying. He's in the office." Stark tried to send a text. "I forgot we're that far underground." Xander strolled in. "Thankfully he has big brother super senses."
"Yes I do." He hugged her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. I think."
Doctor Lam nodded when they looked at her. "She is, yes."
"Want her to come back to the training center?" Xander asked the doctor.
"That's up to you."
"We have the two girls showing up today," Xander told Dawn.
"Then you should be fussing over them."
"I will when I get back. I left them a note. When did she do this?"
"After I showed her the email from O'Neill and floated her up when she got bitchy. That was after John got back, he had called her up to the office."
"She knew she was in violation of the rules," John said as he walked in. He looked at her. "You'll be okay but resting for a few days." She pouted. "You can work from bed."
"Bed at home?"
"Up to the docs," Xander said.
Doctor Lam shrugged. "No working for a week, even from whichever bed you want, Atlantis or the training center."
She sighed, looking at John. "I'm going with you," he said with a smirk. "I'm to guard you."
"I like you guarding me. Is everyone okay?"
"They almost got Miko but she managed to move and one of the other geeks shot him." Dawn relaxed and yawned. "Rest. We'll be around." They waited until she was asleep then John looked at Xander. "Training center. I'll follow."
"Okay." He looked at the doctor, who nodded that was fine. "Doctor Herrs is back in for a few days. We're looking for a new one too."
"I'll call a few people I know." She smiled. "The general want him?"
"Nope. The general is going to introduce McKay and Stark to each other and let them babble about the power issues we have."
"Someone told me about them but I didn't understand a damn thing," Xander told Tony. "I know it's not like yours and it's kinda like a void portal or something." He shrugged. He called. "Marta, me. Have Dawn brought back please. She's got a week of bedrest and I'll be right behind her." Dawn disappeared. Doctor Lam sent the medical records over by fax while Xander, Tony, and John Sheppard walked off together talking about things. They ran into Rodney, Evan Lorne, and Clint Barton in the office. "Dawn's in bed fussing for a week," Xander said.
"That's fine, Xander. We appreciate Dawn and all the wackiness I'm just learning that she's brought into our lives. When she comes back I want a report on all that wackiness so I can see how much of it is applicable here."
"I'll look it over and tell you," Rodney said. He looked at Xander.
"There's a few rooms in the guest house," he said. "Or the secondary guest house I've never decorated or done more than clean up."
"That'll work," they decided. They got sent off together by the coven before O'Neill could ask nosy questions.
Xander walked down to the infirmary, hugging the other two. They pouted. "Dawn got samples taken by a doctor against her will." They groaned. "Then they were attacked."
"You needed to baby her more," one of them decided. She shifted to let her leg feel better. "Doctor Herrs, can I please have some advil?" She got given a shot instead and sighed in pleasure. "Oh, so much nicer than the little orange pills," she moaned.
Her roommate pouted. "Me too please?" She got one too. "Thanks, Doctor Herr." She grinned at Xander. "Go pounce Mr. Tony or something."
"Going. I'll check on you after dinner." He looked at the doctor. "Please help us find someone to replace you if you don't come back?"
"I've talked to a few, Xander. Shoo, let them rest." He nodded, patting them all before going back up to the living room. The girls were staring at John in awe.
McKay looked at the girls then at John. "You really can't turn that off, can you," he said dryly. John swatted him, making the girls giggle and mob him.
"Ladies, that's Dawn's boyfriend," Xander said as he walked up the stairs. There was a mass 'awww' about that and he got extra cuddles. Apparently he was a man that Xander approved of. They had to learn what they were like when they could date.
One of the really minis, who was about four, looked at Tony. "Why can't you be a boyfriend? Are you a bad guy?"
"No, I'm not a bad guy. I'm not a boyfriend because I like science and Xander doesn't."
"Oh."
"I'll a good boyfriend to someone else. Someone who likes science too."
"Oh!" She nodded, smiling at him and patting him. "Maybe some day you'll be a good boyfriend for Xander." She went back to hugging the nice guy. "Hey, my turn!" she said, swatting one of the older girls.
"No hitting," Xander said from the kitchen, without having to see it happen. He knew how the girls were. "He's a good boyfriend but not for me," he told that one when she pouted at him. "I need someone who wants to read comics and help me with my battle axe, not go work on building new stuff. He needs someone like Moira."
"She's pretty," the girl told Tony.
He grinned back. "I'm sure she is, but I'm old enough to be her dad."
"Shoot."
"Maybe I'll have a kid and he'll be a good boyfriend for you."
She smiled shyly. "I'd like that." She ran off to talk to the guy that was being ignored. "Do you like weapons?"
"Not really. I like science and building weapons." Her eyes went wide and she stared at him then at Tony then back at him. "That's why I'm here to talk to him."
"Wow," she said. "Xander?" He hummed. "Is he a good boyfriend?"
"If you like science and you're old enough, yes. You're not old enough."
"Huh. Well, maybe some day then." She skipped off. "I'll introduce you to my favorite bunny."
"Sure," Rodney said, looking at Xander, who shrugged but smiled. "She's adorable," he told Xander. "I haven't seen too many girls that would flirt with me that way." She ran back in with two bunnies, handing one to one of the others so they could sit and pet her while talking to Natasha. She was a big girl who could do slayer things and that was great to them. She was like a step-sister in a way.
Xander grinned, watching his girls flirt and get to know real people. It was great when the girls knew what they wanted, even if they were too young to get it.
The End.
The Ones They Want.