top of page

Chapter 4

Buffy and Steve stood in the back of the plane that Natasha and a restored Agent Barton were flying.  They were en route to New York City where the party had already started.  A gaping hole in the sky was the doorway for the army of creepy alien guys flying on their mopeds of doom.  They were flying through the city, shooting at civilians and destroying everything they got near.

“Stark, we’re on your three, headed northeast.” Natasha said.

“What?  Did you stop for drive through?” Tony asked. “Swing up Park.  I’m going to lay them out for you.”

Natasha and Barton did as Tony asked and began firing at the aliens.  Steve and Buffy braced themselves.  The plane hovered over Stark Tower where Loki and Thor were going at it. “Nat?” Barton said.
“I see him.” Natasha said.  She turned the plane around and began firing, but Loki shot his staff at the plane, knocking out one of the engines.  The plane began to crash and Steve and Buffy were thrown about in the back.  They grabbed onto anything they could hold and tried to brace for impact.

Buffy lost her grip on the pole she was holding and Steve caught her, holding her tightly against him.  The plane hit the ground, sending debris everywhere and people scattering.  Steve held onto Buffy as they were tossed around some more.  Luckily they were both pretty resilient and got to their feet.  Steve grabbed his shield and Buffy made sure her scythe was at the ready.  The back of the plane opened as Natasha and Barton joined them.

They ran out into the chaos and saw the aliens flying overhead. “We gotta get back up there!” Steve said.  They stopped in front of Stark Tower and stared up.  What looked like a massive metal manatee was coming out of the portal in the sky.  From out of the manatee, more aliens came popping out and climbing the buildings around them. “Stark, are you seeing this?”

“Seeing.” Tony replied. “Still working on believing.”

“Welcome to my world.” Buffy said.

“Your world is crazy, sweetheart.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“Where’s Banner?  Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?” Steve asked.

“Just keep me posted.”

Natasha and Barton took cover behind some abandoned taxis in the street.  Steve and Buffy joined them. “We’ve got civilians still trapped up here.” Barton said.  Above them, aliens flew overhead on crazy looking hovercrafts, shooting their lasers at anything and everything.  One of the hovercrafts contained….

“Loki.” Steve said.  Cars on the street below them exploded in all different directions.  People ran for their lives. “They’re fish in a barrel down there.”

Natasha stood up and shot at some oncoming aliens.  Barton moved over to another taxi just as the aliens climbing buildings dropped down near them.  Buffy looked over at the people running for their lives and then back at the oncoming aliens. “We got this.” Natasha said to her. “It’s good.  You guys go.”

“Do you think you can hold them off?” Steve asked.

“Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure.” Barton said.  He stood up and shot his arrows at the aliens.  Natasha stood up and joined him, shooting her guns.

Buffy and Steve exchanged glances and stood up, dodging the laser fire.  They jumped over the edge of the overpass and down onto a bus.  The lasers exploded behind them and Buffy dove off the side of the bus.  Steve stayed straight, jumping onto an SUV just before it exploded.  Buffy caught up to him and they ran towards the huddle of police cars.  She dodged around the cars while Steve jumped over them.

When he glanced over at her, she said, “Show off.”

They finally made it to the police, startling them with their sudden appearance.  Steve looked around. “You need men in these buildings.  There are people inside and they’re going to be running right into the line of fire.  You take them to the basements or through the subway.  You keep them off the streets.  We need a perimeter as far back as 39th.”

“Why the hell should I take orders from you?” One of the cops asked.  Two aliens came flying around the corner and attacked.  Steve and Buffy each took one on, displaying exactly why the cops should take their orders from them.  Steve ended up taking one of the laser guns off an alien’s arm and shooting it in the face while Buffy beheaded another with her scythe.  The cop turned around and started shouting, “I need men in those buildings!  Lead the people down and away from the streets.  We’re going to set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th Street.”

Buffy glanced up at where Natasha and Barton were outnumbered by aliens.  She decided that’s where she was needed at the moment and ran back over.  Just as she was jumping up to the overpass, Steve appeared beside her.

“It’s just because you’re taller than me.” She commented as they climbed.

“I wasn’t always.” Steve said, taking her hand and throwing her over onto the overpass before leaping over.  They both jumped into the fight back to back, taking on the aliens as best they could.  Natasha and Barton held their own and the four of them created a box of alien destruction.  Suddenly, multiple bolts of lightning struck the aliens around them and Thor appeared, landing with a loud thud.  He’d given them a momentary break from the onslaught.

Buffy looked over at Thor.  He looked a bit worse for the wear and he was bleeding from a wound in his abdomen. “Are you ok?”

“I will live.” Thor said.

“Good to know.”

“What’s the story upstairs?” Steve asked.

“The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable.” Thor said.

“Thor’s right.” Tony said over their earpieces. “We gotta deal with these guys.”

“How do we do this?” Natasha asked.

“As a team.” Steve and Buffy said.

“You two are getting scarily in sync.”

“I have unfinished business with Loki.” Thor said.

“Yeah?” Barton asked. “Well, get in line.”

“Save it.” Steve said.

“Loki’s going to keep this fight focused on us.  That’s exactly what we need.” Buffy said.

“Right.  Without him, these things could run wild.  We got Stark up top.  He’s going to need us to….” Steve trailed off when they heard a motorcycle approaching.  Everyone turned to see Bruce Banner riding up to them.

“So,” Bruce said. “This all seems horrible.”

“I’ve seen worse.” Natasha said.

“Sorry.”

“I blew up my high school and then turned my town into a crater.” Buffy said. “So, yeah.  This isn’t so bad.”

Natasha nodded her agreement. “We could use a little worse.”

“Stark, we got him.” Steve said into his earpiece.

“Banner?” Tony asked.

“Just like you said.

“Then tell him to suit up.  I’m bringing the party to you.”

“Aren’t you just so sweet?” Buffy said sarcastically.

“Only for you, sweetheart.” Tony appeared around the corner followed by one of the giant metal manatees. “I know how you enjoy a good party.”

“I don’t see how that’s a party.” Natasha said.

Bruce turned and watched the metal manatee come up the street.  He started to stroll towards it. “Dr. Banner,” Steve said. “Now might be a really good time for you to get angry.”

Bruce kept walking. “That’ my secret, Captain.  I’m always angry.” He started to turn, his skin changed to green and his muscles exploded outward, ripping through his shirt. 

The Hulk turned and smashed its fist into the metal manatee’s nose.  The two of them skidded to a stop, tearing up concrete around them.  The metal manatee’s backend flipped up and over its head and the tail started to crash down towards them.

“Hold on!” Tony called, flying in and shooting a missile at the tail.

Steve grabbed Buffy to him and they crouched under the cover of his shield.  Natasha and Barton dove out of the way, finding their cover behind a taxi.  Thor backed up and held his arm up to shield himself.  The metal manatee exploded all around them and the aliens scaling the buildings all shrieked and snarled their anger.  The Hulk roared back at them as Tony landed and the seven people making up the Avengers Initiative formed a circle.

They looked up at the portal where two more of the giant metal manatees were flying out.  They were surrounded by more of the aliens on the flying death ray machines. “Guys….” Buffy said.

“Call it, Captain.” Tony said.

“All right, listen up.” Steve said. “Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment.  Barton, I want you on that roof.  Eyes on everything.  Call out patterns and strays.  Stark, you got the perimeter.  Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.

Barton looked at Tony. “Can you give me a lift?”

“Right.” Tony moved towards him. “Better clench up, Legolas.” He grabbed Barton and flew off.

“Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal.  Slow them down.  You got the lightning.  Light the bastards up.”

Buffy smiled brightly at Natasha as Thor spun his hammer and flew off. “Looks like the girls get to stay down here and play with the big boys.”

“I can get down with that plan.” Natasha said.

“We need to keep the fighting here.” Steve said. “And Hulk….” The Hulk turned a growled. “Smash.” It smiled and jumped up and away to scale a building, taking out the aliens on its way.

Buffy heard screams coming from down below and she raced over to the edge of the overpass.  A familiar figure had caught her attention and she groaned. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What?” Steve asked, joining her.

“That’s my little sister down there.” Sure enough, Dawn was helping lead people out of the way of danger and inside the buildings while offering medical assistance to those who needed it.

“What’s she doing here?”

“I don’t know.  She was supposed to be visiting our cousins in Chicago.” Buffy jumped off the overpass and ran over to Dawn, fighting off the aliens that attacked on her way.

“Oh my god!  Buffy?” Dawn yelled as her sister made it over to her. “What are you doing here?  And what are you wearing?”

“You’re supposed to be in Chicago.”

“They decided to visit New York instead.  Bad timing, huh?”

“Very.” Buffy turned with a throwing knife in her hand and shoved it into an oncoming alien’s face, killing him.

“I thought you were in London with Giles.”

“I was, but he sent me here for an end-of-the-world thing…. Not this one…. A different one…. I was going to surprise you after I stopped it, but I got offered a job.”

“Um…. Is that Captain America coming towards us?”

“Yeah.  That’s Steve.” Buffy used the throwing knife and threw it into an alien’s neck before it could sneak attack Steve.

“First name basis?  What, are you dating him?”

“He’s my partner.”

“Partner?  Like he’s your partner in the superhero police force?”

“Something like that.”

Tony flew overhead with aliens on his tail. “Oh, and I suppose you’re friends with Iron Man, too.” Dawn said with a laugh.

“Summers, quit socializing and get back to work.” Tony’s voice came in her earpiece just before he landed next to her.

“Shut up, Stark.  This is my sister.”

“Oh, two Summers women!  My night is looking promising!” Tony nudged her playfully before taking off into the air again.

“Gross, Tony!” Buffy shook her head and looked at Dawn’s shocked face. “You need to get inside.”

Dawn shook her head and the shock turned to determination. “These people….”

“You can help them inside.” Buffy pointed up at the portal. “You’re the Key, Dawn, and I don’t need Loki to find out that you’re right here.  He might try and open up more of those things.”

“Who’s Loki?”

“Someone very, very bad.  He’s the reason this is happening.”

Steve finally made it to Buffy and Dawn. “We need to get back.  Natasha is up there by herself.” He smiled at Dawn. “You must be Buffy’s sister.”

“Wow….” Dawn looked up at Steve with big doe eyes. “I, uh…. I….”

“Yes, you’re Dawn.  Close your mouth.  And now you’re getting inside with everyone else.” Buffy took her sister’s elbow and ushered her towards the nearest building.

“But….”

“I’ll find you later.  Go.” Buffy gave Dawn a final push and she and Steve headed back over to the overpass, killing aliens on every side.  They made it back to Natasha just as she finished off one of the aliens.  Natasha took a deep breath and sat down on the hood of a car.  Buffy was looking up at the portal. “You know…. None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don’t close that thing.” She said.

“Our biggest guns couldn’t touch it.” Steve said.

“Well, maybe it’s not about guns.” Natasha said.  More aliens landed a little ways away, turning to attack them.

“If you want to get up there, you’re going to need a ride.” Buffy said.

“I got a ride.” Natasha pointed at Steve. “I could use a boost, though.”

Steve backed up and Buffy moved out of the way. “Are you sure about this?” He asked.

“Yeah.  It’s gonna be fun.” Natasha backed up, took a running leap off a nearby car, and used Steve’s shield and his upward momentum to fly up in the air and catch onto the next alien death ray flyer.  One of the approaching aliens took a shot at Buffy and Steve.

“And then there were two.” Buffy said, taking her scythe off her back and getting into a defensive crouch.  She and Steve began moving around each other, taking out alien after alien.  Tony appeared in the sky again, shooting energy out of his hands.  He landed next to them and joined the fight.  Steve grabbed Buffy behind him and turned his shield to Tony.  Tony used the energy from his hand in a steady stream against the shield, destroying anything in the ricocheted energy’s path.  He then took flight, knocking down aliens scaling the wall after Barton.

Buffy grabbed Steve’s shoulder and pulled him down to the ground just as an alien shot at them.  Their limbs got tangled and she ended up rolling on top of him.  They both blushed and looked away.  Steve got his knee between them, grabbed Buffy’s hands, and swung her up into a flip, sending her feet into the nearest alien’s solar plexus.  Buffy turned and helped Steve to his feet and they both looked around.  The aliens’ numbers had doubled. 

Buffy lost track of time as she waded into them, taking them on two or three at a time.  She and Steve each kept an eye on each other, making sure the other didn’t get bogged down.  Unfortunately, Steve ended up getting taken down as he was fighting off one of the aliens with a laser staff.  Buffy beheaded the alien in front of her and turned, shoving the end of her scythe through the alien holding Steve down.  She gave him a hand up just as Barton’s voice sounded in their ears.

“Summers, Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison.  They’ve cornered a lot of civilians in there.”

“Barton, is that where….” Buffy started.

“Yeah.  Your sister’s in there.”

“We’re on it.” Steve said.  He grabbed up his shield and took off after Buffy.  She was making short work of any of the aliens that came near her.  Steve finished them off if she didn’t, before following her jump up into the second story window.  She was already on the back of one, pulling out one of her throwing knives to stab it in the face.  It tried to throw her over the railing, but she held onto its arm.  She swung herself back up and onto the railing, throwing the alien over with a knife in its throat.

Steve was taking care of the other alien, so Buffy turned on her perch and yelled at the crowd, “Get out!  Move!” A third alien came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist.

“Buffy!” Steve yelled as the alien slammed her against the wall, holding her there by her throat.  He was being held himself by an alien with its arm around his throat.  He managed to flip backwards out of the alien’s hold, losing his mask in the process.  The alien holding Buffy shot at Steve, but hit the alien he’d just managed to release himself from, killing it.  A loud, incessant beeping broke through the chaos and they both realized it was a bomb.

The alien holding Buffy realized how close it was to the bomb and released her.  She suddenly realized that the ground was a lot further down than she’d thought.  The alien had been holding her over a broken section of the balcony.  Her fall to the ground was accompanied by the explosion of the bomb above.  She landed painfully on the marble, her shoulder yanking out of place.  Her head hit a piece of debris and the world went black for a moment.  All around her, people were rushing out.
“Buffy!” Dawn’s voice came from far off. “No, that’s my sister!”

“Dawn, I’ll make sure she’s ok.  You get somewhere safe.” Buffy looked around from her position on the floor and saw Steve helping her sister into the hands of a firefighter before running up to her and sitting on the floor.  He lifted her up in his arms and gently checked her head wound.  His glove came away stained with blood.  She groaned at the pain in her shoulder. “You need a medic.” He said looking at her shoulder.

“No.  It’s ok.” Buffy struggled to sit up with Steve’s help.  She placed his hand on her shoulder. “Hold it tight.” His grip tightened and she gritted her teeth, braced herself against Steve with her other arm, maneuvered herself into the right position, and pulled.  Her shoulder went back into place with a loud and sickening pop.  She let out a yelp that echoed in the now empty space, placing her head on Steve’s chest as she waited for the pain to subside.  He gently held her to him, stroking her back.  When her shoulder stopped throbbing, she realized her head was pounding.  She leaned back and realized she’d bled on Steve’s suit. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” He said. “I’ve got plenty of mine on it.” Gently wiping the blood off her forehead, he let out a small hiss. “That’s a pretty nasty cut.”
“It’ll heal.” The sounds of explosions came from outside. “We need to get back out there.”
“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I’ve had worse.” Steve helped her to her feet and she retrieved her scythe. “Let’s finish this, shall we?”

“Ladies first.” Steve said, following her out. 

Thor landed in front of them and the three of them took on the aliens around the area.  Steve got hit by one of the lasers from a staff and he went down hard.  Buffy and Thor surrounded him, keeping him safe while he recovered.  Thor used his hammer to throw a car at the aliens, effectively smashing them underneath its weight.

Buffy helped Steve to his feet. “Are you ok?”

“I’ve had worse.” He said, giving her a grin.

“Are you ready for another bout?” Thor asked them.

“What, are you getting sleepy?”

Thor let out a breath that almost sounded like a chuckle and held out his hand for his hammer.  Buffy and Steve’s earpieces crackled and Natasha’s voice sounded. “I can close it.  Can anybody copy?  I can shut the portal down.”

“Do it!” Steve yelled.

“No, wait!” Tony’s voice came over the earpieces.

“Tony, are you crazy?  These guys are still coming in waves!” Buffy said.

“I’ve got a nuke coming in.  It’s gonna blow in less than a minute.  And I know just where to put it.”

“Stark, you know that’s a one way trip.” Steve said.

“Tony?” Buffy asked, looking up.  They spotted Iron Man holding the nuke and flying overhead.  His thrusters sent him up towards the portal.  He disappeared into it and a moment later, the aliens around them all collapsed.  The giant metal manatees fell from the sky, crashing down on the buildings.  An explosion could be seen through the portal, but Iron Man wasn’t visible.

“Close it.” Steve said sadly.  A long moment past, but the portal began to close.  At the last minute, Iron Man appeared, falling from the sky. “Son of a gun.”

“Uh….” Buffy watched Tony free fall. “He’s not slowing down.  Thor….” Thor was already twirling his hammer and preparing to take off.

Suddenly, the Hulk appeared and caught Tony out of the sky.  It gripped him tightly as it scaled down the building and skidded to a stop a few feet away.  Buffy, Steve, and Thor all ran over to where the Hulk dropped Tony.  They flipped him over onto his back.

“Is he breathing?” Steve asked.  Thor ripped the face mask off the Iron Man suit to reveal Tony’s face. 

Buffy leaned down to check for vital signs. “I can’t tell through this damned suit.”

The Hulk leaned down and roared in Tony’s face.  Tony startled and opened his eyes, gasping for breath.  The Hulk roared in triumph. “What the hell?” Tony said. “What just happened?  Please tell me nobody kissed me.” His eyes landed on Buffy. “Ok, tell me that you kissed me.”

Buffy slapped Tony’s forehead and he groaned. “We won, you idiot.” She said.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “All right.  Yay!  Hurray.  Good job, guys.  Let’s just not come in tomorrow.  Let’s just take a day.  Have you ever tried shawarma?  There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here.  I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it.”

“We’re not finished yet.” Thor said.

Buffy looked up at Thor and knew they still had to go after Loki. “Buzz kill.”

“And then shawarma after?” Tony asked hopefully.

 

 

A couple of days later, Buffy was in a pair of jeans, knee high boots, a comfy white sweater, and a black leather jacket that went down to her knees.  Steve stood next to her in a pair of khakis, a blue plaid shirt, and a brown leather jacket.  They’d ridden to Central Park on a motorcycle that Tony had given Steve.  The rest of the Avengers had assembled in Central Park with Thor holding a chained Loki.  Buffy and Steve had both been offered full time positions with S.H.I.E.L.D. at their newly built headquarters in DC.  Since there wasn’t much else for them to do, they’d accepted with the terms that they remained partners.

The scientist named Selvig joined them with a gold and glass tube.  Tony had the Tesseract in a metal briefcase.  He and Bruce carefully removed the Tesseract and placed it in the tube.  Thor took the tube from Selvig and walked over to Loki.  Loki rolled his eyes and grasped one of the handles.  Thor nodded at his fellow teammates before turning his handle.  He and his adopted brother disappeared in a blaze of blue light.

“Summers, it’s a pleasure to see you out of uniform.” Tony said.

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. “You’re lucky I like you.” He held open his arms and Buffy sighed, letting him give her a hug.

“How’s your sister?”

“I talked to her this morning.  She’s ok.  She’s going to head to Chicago with the cousins tomorrow.”

“Tell her to call me.  I’ll give her my jet.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Nope, I don’t.  But I am.  Because her sister is a good friend of mine.” He winked at her and turned to Steve. “Captain.”

“I’m not hugging you.” Steve said.

Tony held out his hand. “Didn’t want you to.” They shook hands and clapped each other’s shoulders.

Buffy walked over to Bruce. “Back to Timbuktu?”

Bruce chuckled. “Calcutta.  But I may stick around here for a while.  Help Mr. Stark out a bit.”

“Nice.  Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“I’d like that.” Bruce gave her a hug and went over to speak with Steve.

Natasha walked up to Buffy with Barton. “So, are you sticking with S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“That’s looking like the plan.” Buffy said.

“Good.  I look forward to working with you some more.  Maybe you can show me some of those moves with that scythe of yours.”

“I’d be happy to.”

Steve walked up to Buffy. “Are you ready?”

“Where are you guys going?” Barton asked.

“We’re gonna road trip it to DC.”
Natasha smiled at Buffy and Steve. “We’ll see you two later, then.” She and Barton got in their car and drove off.

Buffy turned to Steve as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “I really hope it doesn’t rain.”

“The forecast is clear for the entire east coast for the next three days.” Steve assured her.

“Ok.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to see your sister one more time before we leave?”

“Yeah.  She’s busy cleaning up and packing today.  I’ll call her from the road and tell her about Tony’s offer.” Buffy looked at her watch. “We’d better get going if we’re going to make it to DC before dark.”

“All right.” Steve hopped on the bike and helped Buffy on behind him. “Let’s get going, then.” Buffy wrapped her arms around his waist and he revved the bike.

Chapter 3

Fury walked into Bruce Banner’s lab where Bruce and Tony were relaxing. “What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Fury demanded.

“Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Tony retorted.

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

“We are.” Bruce countered. “The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now.  When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.”

“Yeah, then you get your cube back.” Tony said. “No muss, no fuss.  What is ‘Phase 2’?”

Buffy and Steve walked in carrying the HYDRA weapons they’d discovered in the bowels of the Helicarrier. “Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons.” Buffy said. 

Steve looked at Tony. “Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for us.”

“Rogers, Summers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract.” Fury said. “This does not mean that we’re making….”

“I’m sorry, Nick!” Tony said, turning his monitor around to show a weapon’s blueprints. “What were you lying?”

“I was wrong, Director.” Steve said as Thor and Natasha joined them. “The world hasn’t changed a bit.”

Bruce looked at Natasha. “Did you know about this?”

“You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” Natasha asked.

“I was in Calcutta.  I was pretty well removed.”

“Loki is manipulating you.”

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?”

“You didn’t come here because I batted my eyelashes at you.”

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.  I’d like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

Buffy crossed her arms and looked at Fury.  Despite her small stature, the threat was clear in that one movement. “I think we all would like to know that.”

“Because of him.” Fury pointed at Thor.

“Me?” Thor asked.

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town.  We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned.”

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.”

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you?  And you’re not the only threat.”

“Uh, hello!” Buffy waved a hand. “I’ve been handling those ‘other things’ pretty well the last sixteen years.”

“Not well enough.”

“The world’s still here, isn’t it?  Pretty sure that means well enough.”

“The world’s filling up with people that can’t be matched, that can’t be controlled.”

“Is that why you brought me on?  To control my Slayers through me?”

“I told you when we met that I didn’t want your Slayers.”

“Then why even bring them up?”

“I didn’t.  You did.”

“‘The world’s filling up with people that can’t be matched.’  Your words not mine.”

Fury sighed. “We don’t want your Slayers, but they are a factor that needs to be closely monitored.”

“Why?” 

“You destroyed an entire town and your record isn’t exactly squeaky clean.  Now there are hundreds, almost thousands, of girls with strength and abilities like yours?  They make me nervous.  If any of them decide that your buddy Faith is a good role model….”

“You are walking on some seriously thin ice.”

“They need to be monitored.  They need to be controlled.”

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve asked.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies.” Thor said. “It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.”

“A higher form?”

“You forced our hand.” Fury said. “We had to come up with something.  A nuclear deterrent.”

“Because that always calms everything right down.” Tony said.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark.”

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep…” Steve started.

“Hold on.  How is this now about me?” Tony asked.

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?”

“Guys, stop!” Buffy said, getting between them.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Thor said.

“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury snapped.

“You treat your champions with such mistrust.”

“Are you boys really that naïve?” Natasha asked. “S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats.”

“Captain America’s on threat watch?” Bruce asked disbelievingly.

“We all are!”

“Wait, you’re on that list?” Tony asked Natasha. “Are you above or below angry bees?”

“Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack….” Steve threatened.

“Threat!  Verbal threat!  I feel threatened.”

“Oh, stop it!” Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

“Summers, you need to take care of your partner before he steps into Crazytown.”

“Show some respect!” Steve snapped.

“Respect what?” Tony asked.

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos.” Thor said.

“That’s his MO isn’t it?” Bruce asked. “I mean, what are we, a team?  No, we’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos.  We’re a time bomb.”

“You need to step away.” Fury said.

“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony demanded.

Steve slapped Tony’s arm away from him. “You know damn well why.  Back off!”

“Stop it!” Buffy said, staying between them.

“I’m starting to want you to make me.” Tony threatened.

“Yeah, big man in a suit of armor.  Take that off, what are you?”

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you.  I’ve seen the footage.  The only thing you really fight for is yourself.  You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.”

“Always a way out.  You may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

“A hero?  Like you?  You’re a laboratory experiment, Rogers.  Everything special about you came out of a bottle.” Buffy was now squished between the two men holding them apart.

“Put on the suit.  Let’s go a few rounds.”

Thor laughed. “You people are so petty and tiny.

“Enough!” Buffy yelled, throwing Tony and Steve across the room on opposite sides and effectively ending the argument as they landed in heaps.  Everyone was staring at her in shock. “This is stupid!  It’s nothing but a pissing contest in here.  We are in real danger.  So, how about we focus on that?  If Loki is trying to get Bruce to go all Hulk, then Bruce….”

Fury nodded. “Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his….”

“Where?” Bruce snapped. “You rented my room.”

“Bruce.” Buffy said. “Chill.”

Fury said, “The cell was just in case….”

“In case you need to kill me.  But you can’t.  I know.  I tried.” Everyone in the room was dead silent. “I got low.  I didn’t see an end.  So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out.  So I moved on.  I focused on helping other people.  I was good.  Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk.  You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff?  You want to know how I stay calm?” Without realizing it, Bruce had grabbed Loki’s staff off the table.

Natasha’s and Fury’s hands went down to their guns. “Dr. Banner….” Fury said. “Put down the scepter.” As Bruce looked down at it in his hand and started to calm down, the computer began a frantic beeping. “Got it.  Sorry, kids, you don’t get to see my party trick after all.”

“You located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I could get there fastest.” Tony said.

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard.  No human is a match for it.”

Tony was already walking out.  Steve grabbed his arm. “You’re not going alone.”

Tony slapped Steve’s arm away. “You’re gonna stop me?”

“Put on the suit.  Let’s find out.”

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit.”

Buffy stepped between them again and glared up.  They realized she would throw them across the room again and backed off.  The computer was still beeping, but Bruce’s face was what caught Buffy’s eye. “Oh my god….” He said.

Just then, an explosion rocked the Helicarrier.  The fire spread and blew up into the room they were standing in.  Natasha and Bruce disappeared out the window.  Buffy, Steve, and Tony landed in a heap near the door.  They were the first ones up.

“Put on the suit.” Steve said to Tony.

“Yeah.” Tony allowed Buffy and Steve to help him up and out the door.  They maneuvered their way down to where Tony’s suit was being held.  They could hear everything going on in the control room in their earpieces.  They were directed to go to engine three where the explosion had happened.  Tony pointed them off to the engine while he turned a corner to get to his suit. “Engine three.  I’ll meet you there.”

Buffy and Steve headed off, but Natasha’s voice came on the earpiece. “Summers, I may need some extra muscle down here.”

“What’s going on?” Buffy asked, confused.  Natasha didn’t seem like the type to ask for help.  Then she remembered that the red head had been blown out the window with Bruce. “Steve, I’ve got to help her.”

“Go, I’ve got this.” Steve said.

“Please don’t kill Tony.”

He smiled slightly. “I’m not making any promises.”

Buffy shook her head and raced back to the lab.  She jumped through the broken window down into the room that seemed to house all the duct work and a lot of very large computers.  It was clear that the Hulk monster had been here.  She listened for the signs of destruction and heard them not far off. 

Running in that direction, she saw Natasha running away from the Hulk monster while he smashed through the computers.  Since she was faster, she ran around the chaos and came out in front.  Buffy grabbed Natasha out of the way and shoved her to the side.  She grabbed the nearest pole and swung around to kick the Hulk in his chest.  Natasha watched in amazement as the Hulk slammed into the far wall from the tiny blonde’s power.

“You ok?” Buffy asked Natasha.  Natasha just nodded, clearly rattled.  Buffy turned back to the Hulk as it was raising its massive fist.  She braced for the fight, but suddenly Thor was there tackling the Hulk through the wall. “Men.” Buffy rolled her eyes and headed over to the hole in the wall.  They’d landed in a large hanger-like area.  The people that had been working there were all running away.  Thor was getting to his feet, keeping his eyes on the Hulk. “You know, I had it.” She called to him as she climbed through the hole.

The Hulk turned its attentions on her.  It grabbed what looked like a Zamboni and threw it at her.  She dodged out of the way and Thor came around to stand beside her. “I thought perhaps you might need some assistance.” They both dodged the colossal fist headed their way.

“You know,” Buffy shoved the Hulk back a few feet. “Usually I’d say I can handle it, but,” Thor grabbed Buffy up and swung her around so her feet connected with the Hulk’s chin. “Not when I’m up against something this big.”

Thor caught the next fist and held it. “We are not your enemies, Banner!” He said, straining. “Try to think!” The Hulk lifted Thor off the ground and punched him back through some hard plastic containers.

The Hulk turned to Buffy and she decided speed was her best option.  She ducked, dove, and weaved her way around the Hulk, using the containers and Zamboni-things to her advantage.  There was a loud banging noise from where Thor had been thrown and Buffy’s attention was diverted.  She was grabbed by the waist and turned around to stand behind Thor as he appeared with his hammer, swinging it up into the Hulk’s chin.  The Hulk flew backward across the hanger, landing against a plane and smashing it.

Buffy let Thor go after the Hulk.  She pressed her hand against her ear, activating her earpiece. “How’s it coming down there boys?”

“Almost done, sweet cheeks.” Tony said.

“That just earned you a slap in the face, Tony.  Whoa!” Buffy ducked out of the way of the flying plane wing that the Hulk had thrown at Thor.

“Are you ok?” Steve asked.
“Oh, I’m just dodging airplane parts flying at my head.  Another day at the office.  I think Thor’s got this covered.  I’m on my way back to you.” She turned and headed back through the ship, following the signs to the engine.  The wind was howling when she got to engine room three where the explosion had happened.  Two commandos were sneaking out and she could see that Steve hadn’t spotted them yet.  Silently, Buffy snuck up behind them and knocked the first one to the ground.  The second one turned and pointed his gun at her, but she grabbed it and yanked.  The gun went off loudly behind her and she heard the bullet ricochet somewhere inside the Helicarrier. 

The first one threw a grenade, but Steve was there, swatting it out into the open air.  He took on the first one while Buffy took on the second one.  She didn’t want to hurt him too bad since he was just a human under Loki’s spell, but her instinct kicked in when he pointed another gun at her face.  Lifting her leg, she kicked the gun to the side and the man lost his footing.  She tried to grab him, but he fell off the platform and out into the empty space below.

Steve grabbed her and pulled her down just as a third guy with a gun showed up.  Buffy felt the bullets whiz past her and Steve.  She spotted a large hunk of torn metal and grabbed it.  Steve released her and she threw it at guy number three, but he dodged back.  Before she could get her balance, Steve pulled her up and jumped back to where he had been before.  By the time the third guy recovered, Steve had grabbed a gun and was shooting back at him.

“I hate guns!” Buffy yelled as she started to climb up to get over the third guy.  Suddenly the Helicarrier leaned sideways as another engine went out.  Steve yelped as he lost his footing and fell off.  Buffy let go of her hold and slid down back to the perch.  Grabbing onto the grating with one hand, she caught Steve with her other.

“Nice reflexes!” He yelled.

“Hang on!” She looked around for something to brace against, but there was nothing.

“Cap, hit the lever.” Tony’s voice came over their earpieces.

“I need a minute here.” Steve said back.

“Lever!  Now!”

Buffy summoned up all of her strength and hauled Steve up, throwing him at the big red lever.  He pulled it and reached around to grab Buffy before she flew off.  They were holding on tightly since the Helicarrier was still leaning.  The third gunman showed up again and aimed, but Tony was suddenly there tackling the guy away.  The Helicarrier righted itself and Steve helped Buffy up.

“Are you ok?” He asked her.

Buffy looked at the graze on her thigh where a bullet had whizzed past. “Thank god for Kevlar.”

Steve leaned down to examine the graze. “Nice suit.  It didn’t even penetrate.”

“If the mask is made of the same thing, maybe I’ll give it a second chance.”

“You two wanna stop flirting up there?” Tony asked, appearing in the doorway. “It’s making me jealous.”

Buffy shook her head at him. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“I’m sure I could talk her into a three way.”

“Even if you could, which I highly doubt, you’d have a hell of a time talking me into it.”

“Agent Coulson is down.” Fury’s voice suddenly said on their earpieces.  All three of them froze, looking at each other in shock.

“A medical team is on its way down to your location.” An agent said.

“They’re here.  They called it.”

 

 

Buffy, Steve, and Tony sat at the table on the bridge while Fury stood at the head.  Tony was in his civilian clothing while Steve had just taken off the top of his uniform and Buffy had taken off all the weapons on hers and detached the breastplate.  The mood in the place was somber as they all thought about the loss of Coulson.  Riley was back at his station, but he wasn’t working.  Buffy looked at him and pulled her knees in tighter to her chest.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket.” Fury said, holding on to the Captain America trading cards Coulson had had so much pride in. “I guess he never did get you to sign them.” He tossed the bloodstained cards in front of Steve.  Steve looked at them sadly, picking them up. “We’re dead in the air up here.  Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor…. I got nothing for you.  I lost my one good eye.  Maybe I had that coming.  Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract.  I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier.  There was an idea…. Stark and Summers know this…. Called the Avengers Initiative.  The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more.  To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.  Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea.  In heroes.” Tony stood up and walked out. “Well, it’s an old-fashioned notion.”

Buffy looked up at Fury.  She hated being backed into corners.  She stood up and Steve looked up at her, surprised. “Sometimes a little old-fashioned is what’s needed.” Buffy quoted Coulson before following after Tony.  Steve got up and went after her.  They ended up in the containment area where Loki had trapped Thor, dropping him out of the Helicarrier, and killing Coulson.  Buffy stepped gingerly over the pool of blood where Coulson had died and moved up behind Tony. “You ok?” Tony just shook his head.

Steve stood on the other landing and leaned against the railing. “Was he married?”

“No.” Tony said. “There was a cellist, I think.”

“I’m sorry.  He seemed like a good man.”

Tony looked up. “He was an idiot.”

“Why?  For believing?” Buffy asked.

Tony moved past her and walked over to the blood stain. “For taking on Loki alone.”
“He was doing his job.” Steve said.

“He was out of his league.  He should’ve waited.  He should’ve….”

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.”

“Right, I’ve heard that before.” Tony started to leave the room.

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a solider?”

“We are not soldiers!” Buffy put a calming hand on Tony’s bicep. “I’m not marching to Fury’s fife.”

“Neither am I.”

Tony looked down at Buffy. “Hey, I march to my own fife and my own drum for that matter.  Hell, I have my own marching band!” She said. “And if you ask me, Fury’s got Coulson’s blood on his hands just like Loki does.  But right now, we’ve got to get past that and we’ve got to finish this.”

Steve moved up behind Buffy. “Loki needs a power source.  If we put together a list….”

“He made it personal.” Tony interrupted.

“That’s not the point.”

“That is the point.  That’s Loki’s point.  He hit us all right where we live.  Why?”

“To tear us apart.”

“Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?  That’s what he wants.”

Buffy caught on to what Tony was saying. “He wants the credit and to get that, he has to have an audience.  He has to be seen defeating us.” She turned to Steve. “Look at what he did in Germany.”

“That was just previews.  This is opening night.  And Loki, he’s a full-tilt diva, right?  He wants flowers, he wants parades.  He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered….” Tony paused. “Son of a bitch.”

Buffy knew exactly what Tony was saying. “Stark Tower!”

Tony grabbed Buffy up in a spontaneous hug. “My god, you’re a smart one!” He kissed her forehead dramatically. “And here I was thinking you were all beauty and muscle and no brains.” Buffy punched Tony in the shoulder just hard enough to leave a minor bruise. “Ow!”

“You’re lucky that’s all you’re getting for that comment.  Let’s go!” She turned and started out of the room, but turned back. “And don’t call me ‘sweetcheeks.’”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah.  Warn me before you hug me next time.”

“Sorry.  I promise I’m not trying to spoil your crush on the Cap here.” Tony said, following her.

“Shut up, Stark.” Steve said, but it was lacking the bite.  Apparently Buffy wasn’t the only one with a bit of a crush.

Chapter 2

Buffy shifted a bit uncomfortably in her uniform as she stood next to Steve on the plane en route to Germany.  The thing was made of what Coulson said was like “stretchy Kevlar” and it clung to almost every inch of her body.  It started out midway down her neck in a mock turtleneck and went down her arms in tight long sleeves and down her legs to her ankles.  The whole thing was black with silver lines making up the seams.  She was wearing two inch, thick heeled, knee high boots that looked like leather, but were actually a thicker version of her “stretchy Kevlar” suit.  The attached breastplate, which looked weirdly enough like a corset, was made of the same thicker “stretchy Kevlar”.  Honestly, she felt like she was wearing a leather Catwoman costume.  All she was missing were the ears.

On each forearm she had wrist launchers that, when activated, gave her six inches of a deadly blade that was made out of some kind of metal that didn’t easily break.  Strapped across her back was a specially made harness for her Slayer scythe.  When she needed it, she just had to pull on it and the harness would release it easily into her grip.  When she didn’t need it, the harness automatically latched onto it and held it in place.  Only she could take the scythe from its harness.  It was coded to her DNA.  On each hip was a line of four throwing knives attached to the wide belt.  And hidden inside her left boot was Mr. Pointy.  Just in case.

She caught Steve looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “I drew the line at the mask.”

“It looks nice.” Steve said.
“It looks ridiculous.”

“Can you move in it?” Natasha asked from the pilot’s seat.

“Yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I feel silly in this thing”

“That thing will help keep you from getting shot, stabbed, or seriously injured.  And,” Natasha turned her head to look at Buffy. “You look hot.” Buffy’s eyebrows shot up and she flushed bright pink.  Steve didn’t help by clearing his throat and looking everywhere but at Buffy.  It just confirmed what Natasha had said. “You guys ready?  We’re almost at the drop point.”

“Wait, we’re jumping out?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you in as close to the ground as possible.”

The back of the plane opened and Steve pulled Buffy against him with his shield at her back, lifting her off the ground. “I’ve got you.” He said.

“I feel like a rag doll.” Buffy said.

“A well-armed rag doll.”

“Go!” Natasha said.

Steve jumped out of the plane and Buffy clung to him as they dropped at least 60 feet.  He landed with a thud in front of an older man, blocking the bolt of energy from Loki with his shield.  He made sure Buffy was ok as they stood up and looked over at Loki.  The bolt had ricocheted and hit Loki, knocking him to the ground.

Buffy turned to make sure the old man was ok as Steve said to Loki, “You know the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”

“We gotta work on your punning.” Buffy said to Steve.

Loki stood up with a smug look on his face. “The soldier.” He looked at Buffy. “And the man out of time brought the famous Slayer with him.”

“He’s not the one out of time.” Buffy said, joining Steve.  She looked up at her partner. “Now that was a good pun.”

“Duly noted.” Steve said.

Above them, Natasha positioned the plane with weapons drawn and pointed at Loki. “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” She ordered over the PA system.  Loki shot a bolt of energy from his staff at the plane, but Natasha maneuvered away from it easily.  Steve used the distraction to throw his shield, bouncing it off Loki.  Buffy moved in, rolling under the shield, and popped up to kick Loki in the chin as he was righting himself.  He stumbled back, looking shocked at her strength.  She took the advantage, pulling her scythe off her back, and laid into him, easily blocking the staff with her scythe as he tried to hit her with it.

Steve stayed back, watching the petite blonde take on the alien god.  He was stunned but impressed at her strength, speed, and stamina and at the skill with which she used her special weapon.  He honestly hadn’t believed that someone so tiny could be so deadly, but she was proving him more and more wrong by the second.  Suddenly from the PA system above them, loud rock music began blaring.  He, Buffy, and Loki all looked up in confusion.  Loki took the distraction and hit Buffy upside the head with his staff.  She rolled back, landing in a crouch on one knee, holding her scythe in one hand, and shaking her head.

Before he could hit her again, Iron Man himself flew in and shot Loki backwards a good distance.  Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, held up his arms and tiny missiles appeared on his shoulders and forearms. “It’s not nice to hit women, Reindeer Games.” Steve helped Buffy to stand, making sure she was ok, and they walked over to stand with Tony.  Loki glowed golden and his armor disappeared as he held up his hands in surrender.  Tony lowered his arms.

“Mr. Stark.” Steve said.

“Captain.” Tony said.  As the plane landed behind them, Tony looked over at Buffy. “And you…. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Summers.”

“Call me Buffy.” She said, replacing the scythe back in its harness.

 

 

Loki was chained and sitting down on the plane while Buffy, Steve, and Tony stood guard.  Natasha was flying the plane back to the Helicarrier.  Fury was on the radio asking if Loki had talked yet. “Not a word.” Natasha said.

“Just get him here.  We’re low on time.” Fury said.

Steve turned his back on Loki. “I don’t like it.” He said.

“What?  Rock of Ages giving up so easily?” Tony asked.

“He’s right.” Buffy said. “It’s never that easy.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure.  I saw you kicking ass down there.  You’re a tough little thing.  What’s your secret?  Pilates?”

Buffy shrugged. “Destiny.”

“So nothing we could market and sell.  Bummer.”

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said to Tony.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.”

Outside the plane, a storm began brewing.  Natasha looked out at the lightening in confusion. “Where’s this coming from?”

Steve noticed Loki looking a bit worried. “What’s the matter?  Are you scared of a little lightening?”

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.” Loki said.

“Thank you, Mr. Cryptic.” Buffy said.  Something hit the top of the plane and everyone looked up.  Tony put his Iron Man helmet back on and opened the rear hatch. “What are you doing?”

A tall, seriously built, blonde man with a hammer appeared on the hatch.  Tony moved to shoot him, but the guy hit him with his hammer.  Buffy dodged out of the way so the metal suit wouldn’t take her out.  The big blonde guy grabbed up Loki before anyone could get to him and dove out of the plane.

“And now there’s that guy.” Tony said, getting to his feet.

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha asked.

“That guy’s a friendly?” Steve asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Tony said. “If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.”

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan.  Attack.” Tony flew out of the back of the plane.

Buffy grabbed up a parachute and started strapping it on.  Steve decided that was the best course of action and started to strap one on himself. “I’d sit this one out, guys.” Natasha said.

“I don’t see how we can.” Steve said.

“These guys come from legend.”

“Yeah?  So do I.” Buffy took a deep breath and jumped out of the plane.  She was suddenly glad that Xander had convinced her to go skydiving with him that one time.

“They’re basically gods.”

“There’s only one god, ma’am.  And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” Steve grabbed his shield.

“Cap!”

“Besides, what kind of partner would I be if I left Buffy to fight on her own?” He ran and jumped out of the back of the plane.

On the way down, Buffy had time to realize who the big blonde guy was.  He was Loki’s brother Thor.  She had learned about them in her mythology class back in college.  They came from Asguard and were apparently very, very real.  Sometimes her life took some seriously strange turns.  As she came in for a landing, her parachute got stuck to some tree limbs.  With a sigh, she dislodged herself from the chute and dropped down to the ground.

The sounds of a major fight came from directly ahead of her and she ran towards it.  Thor and Iron Man were going at it pretty heavy.  She came in low and tackled Thor away from Tony by his waist.  They rolled and Buffy came out on top.  Thor looked really confused for a second, but quickly recovered.  He went to throw her off, but she was already flipping to her feet.

“Calm down, big guy.” She said, holding her hands up. “I think we’re on the same side.”

“I’ve come here to put an end to Loki’s schemes.” Thor growled.

Steve appeared behind Thor, walking towards him. “Then prove it.” He said. “Put that hammer down.”

“Uh, yeah.  No.” Tony said, walking up to stop Steve. “Bad call.  He loves his hammer.”

Thor swung the hammer and Tony went flying back.  Buffy had to dodge out of the way yet again and Thor turned to Steve. “You want me to put the hammer down?” Thor jumped, bringing the hammer in an arc.  Buffy had just enough time to duck and cover before the hammer met Steve’s shield.  A shockwave emanated out, blowing down trees and throwing Thor backwards like an explosion.

Tony made it to his feet first and walked over to help Buffy up. “Are you all right?”

“Anyone else hear a really loud dentist drill in their ears?” Buffy asked, shaking her head.

Steve looked over at Thor. “Are we done here?”

 

 

Back on the Helicarrier, Buffy, Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Natasha all sat around the large round table in the bridge.  Thor stood off to the side.  On the table’s screen, they were watching Fury interact with Loki down in the containment cell built for the Hulk.

“In case it’s unclear,” Fury said. “If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass,” He fiddled with a few buttons on his screen and a gaping hole opened up underneath the containment cell.  It led straight down out of the Helicarrier. “It’s 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap.  You get how that works?” Fury shut the gaping hole. “Ant.  Boot.”

Loki chuckled. “It’s an impressive cage.  Not built, I think, for me.”

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.”

“Oh, I’ve heard.” Loki turned and looked directly at the camera. “A mindless beast.  Makes play he’s still a man.  How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?”

“How desperate am I?  You threaten my world with war.  You steal a force you can’t hope to control.  You talk about peace, and you kill because it’s fun.  You have made me very desperate.  You might not be glad that you did.”

“Ooh…. It burns you to have come so close.  To have the Tesseract.  To have power…. Unlimited power.  And for what?  A warm light for all mankind to share.  And then to be reminded of what real power is.”

Fury turned and walked away. “Well, let me know if ‘real power’ wants a magazine or something.”

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce said.

“You realize that Loki will drag this out.” Buffy said. “Thor, can you tell us what his game is?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri.  They’re not of Asgard, nor any world known.  He means to lead them against your people.  They will win him the Earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army.” Steve said incredulously. “From outer space.”

“Trust me,” Buffy said to him. “That’s not the weirdest thing that could happen.”

“So he’s building another portal.” Bruce said. “That’s what he needs Eric Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor asked.

“He’s an astrophysicist.”

“He’s a friend.”

“Loki has him under some kind of spell.” Natasha said. “Along with one of ours.”

“I want to know why Loki let us take him.” Steve said. “He’s not leading an army from here.”

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki.” Bruce said. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats.  You could smell crazy on him.”

“Have care how you speak.” Thor said. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard.  And he is my brother.”

“He killed 80 people in two days.” Natasha said.

“He’s adopted.”

“I think it’s about the mechanics.” Bruce said. “Iridium…. What do they need the iridium for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Tony said, walking in with Coulson.  They were apparently in the middle of a conversation. “I’m just saying, pick a weekend.  I’ll fly you to Portland.  Keep love alive.” Coulson nodded and walked off. “It means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.” Tony looked at Thor. “No hard feelings, Point Break.  You’ve got a mean swing.” He patted Thor on the arm and kept walking over to Fury’s four screens. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.  Raise the mizzenmast.  Jib the topsails.” The workstation people looked up at him in confusion. “That man is playing Galaga!”

Steve looked around in confusion. “It’s a game on the computer.” Buffy explained to him.

“He thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” Tony put a hand over one of his eyes. “How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns.” Agent Maria Hill said.  She was Fury’s second in command.

“Sounds exhausting.” Tony started fiddling with the screens. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily.  The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density.  Something to kick start the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?”

“Last night.  The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers.  Am I the only one who did the reading?” 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked.

“He would have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce said.

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Tony said.  Buffy caught Riley’s eyes and knew they were thinking the same thing. “What am I missing?” Tony asked, somehow not missing the exchange and looking between Buffy and Riley.

“Loki can’t hear me, right?” Buffy asked.

“No.” Agent Hill said. “Why?”

“My sister is the Key.  Her blood unlocks portals to other worlds.”

“I’ve heard of the Key.” Thor said. “It was hidden away millennia ago by the monks of the Order of Dagon but it and the monks disappeared little more than a decade ago.  The key wasn’t human, though.” 

“Right.  No.  She used to be just a big blob of energy, but those monks turned her into a human using my blood and sent her to me to protect.  They changed my memories, my friends’ memories, everyone who had ever met us to believe that she was my little sister Dawn about 11 years ago.  They’d done it to keep the Key away from Glory.”

Thor moved a little closer to Buffy. “Glorificus?”

“The one and only.”

“You faced her and lived?”

“Well…. I faced her, but I didn’t exactly live.  She had a henchman that made it to Dawn before I could.  While I was fighting Glory, he was opening the portal with my sister’s blood.  When I finally put Glory down…. I sacrificed myself to save my sister.  Her blood opened the portal, so it was only when her blood stopped that would close it.  Since the monks used my blood… I jumped in the portal and stopped my blood.”

“I’m confused.” Tony said. “You’re a zombie?”

Buffy chuckled slightly. “I look good for a corpse, huh?”

Tony nodded appreciatively. “I’m not disagreeing.”

“My friend Willow is a witch.  A powerful one at that.  She brought me back from the dead.” Buffy looked at Thor. “Loki knew who I was and if you know about the Key, then he has to know too.  My sister….”

Thor placed a hand on Buffy’s shoulder. “Do not fret.  I believe your sister is safe.  I did not know she was the Key, so I doubt that my brother could know about her powers.”

“You didn’t know he was alive until recently.” Natasha said. 

Agent Hill looked at Buffy. “We’ll make sure she’s safe until this is over.”

“Thank you.” Buffy said. “So, hoping that my sister isn’t in this little equation, what about Selvig stabilizing the tunnel thingy?”

“Well, if he could do that,” Bruce said. “He could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

“Finally!  Someone who speaks English!” Tony said, gesturing to Bruce.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked Buffy.  She just shrugged, not speaking science talk either.

Tony shook Bruce’s hand. “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. “Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled.  And I’m a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

“Tony!” Buffy scolded before she could stop herself.

“What?” Tony asked. “It was a compliment.”

“Thanks.” Bruce said.

Fury walked into the room. “Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube.  I was hoping you might join him.”

“I would start with that stick of his.” Steve said. “It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube.  And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do!” Steve said excitedly. “I understood that reference.” He looked around, but no one seemed impressed.  Buffy smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Shall we play, Doctor?” Tony asked Bruce.

“This way, sir.” Bruce said, leading Tony out of the room.

Fury turned to Buffy. “We’ve got a team on their way to keep an eye on your sister.  She won’t know they’re there, but she’s got eyes on her 24/7 until this is over.”

“Thank you.” Buffy said sincerely. “She’s supposed to be leaving for Chicago today to visit our cousins.”

“We’ll keep her safe.  You don’t need to worry about that.”

Buffy nodded. “Speaking of worrying…. I’m going to go make sure Tony doesn’t cause any trouble.  I get the sense that’s his favorite pastime.”

“I’ll come with you.” Steve said, joining her as she walked out the door.

“You just want to ask me about being dead.”

“No I don’t.”

Buffy smiled. “It’s ok.  Everyone does when they find out.”

“I was going to ask about your sister.”

“Oh.”

“How old is she?”

“She’s 26 now.  Going to school for a medical degree.  Actually, I’m glad this job came along because now I can contribute to her medical school fund.  At least one of us actually finished college.  Mom would be proud.”

“You went to college?”

“For a little while.  When my mom died, I had to quit to take care of Dawn.”

Steve looked at her. “Your mother died?”

“When I was 20.  It was an aneurism from a brain tumor.”

“I’m sorry.  I know how that feels.  My mother died when I was 19.  Pneumonia.”

Buffy looked back up at Steve with a slight smile. “I think Fury did his homework before he partnered us up.”

Steve smiled back at her. “It’s only been a couple of days, but I feel like we could be great friends.  Don’t die on me.”

She shrugged. “I’ll try not to, but lucky for you I never stay that way for long.”

Up ahead, they heard Tony talking to Bruce in the lab. “Well, I promise a stress-free environment.  No tension.  No surprises.” Steve and Buffy walked in just as Tony jabbed Bruce with a small electric shocker.

“Ow!” Bruce exclaimed.

“Hey!” Steve said, walking up to them.

“Nothing?” Tony asked, looking at Bruce closely.

“Are you nuts?”

“Jury’s out.”

“I’ll say.” Buffy said.

Tony kept looking at Bruce. “You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you?  What’s your secret?  Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?”

“Does he look like Matthew McConaughey to you?” Buffy asked. “Leave him alone.  I personally would not like to have to face his Jolly Green Giant in a flying death trap.  No offense.”

“It’s all right.” Bruce said with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

“You’re tip-toeing, big man.  You need to strut.” Tony said, pointing at Bruce.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve snapped.

“Do you think I’m not?  Why did Fury call us in?  Why now?  Why not before?  What isn’t he telling us?  I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.”

“You think Fury’s hiding something?”

“He’s a spy.  Captain, he’s the spy.  His secrets have secrets.  It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?” Tony gestured at Bruce.

“Uh….” Bruce looked up from his work on Loki’s staff. “I just want to finish my work here, and…”

“Doctor?” Steve asked.

Bruce sighed and took his glasses off. “‘A warm light for all mankind.’  Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube….”

“I heard it.”

Bruce pointed at Tony. “I think that was meant for you.” Tony offered Bruce his bag of food he had been munching on. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the Tower, it was still all over the news.”

“Stark Tower?” Buffy asked. “That big, ugly building in New York?” Tony gave Buffy a snarky look and she just grinned back at him.

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source.” Bruce said. “That building will run itself for, what, a year?”

“It’s just the prototype.” Tony said. “I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.  That’s what he’s getting at.”

“So, why didn’t S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project?” Buffy asked.  Tony rewarded her with one finger on his nose and another finger pointing at her.

“What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Bruce added.

“I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secure files.” Tony said, holding up a small, see through tablet.

“I’m sorry, did you say….” Steve started.

“Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge.  In a few hours, I’ll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide.  Blueberry?” Tony offered the food pouch to Buffy.

“And you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around?” Buffy asked, accepting the pouch.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?  Historically, not awesome.” Tony gave Buffy a hard look. “And Buffy, you of all people…. I’m surprised S.H.I.E.L.D. even wanted you in the mix.”

“Why?” Steve asked, ready to defend his partner and new friend.

“Because this girl brought down a secret government agency called the Initiative after she discovered their dirty little secrets.  Hey, how did you destroy Adam?”

“How do you even know about that?” Buffy asked. “It was all classified information.  Especially that bit about Adam.”

“I like to hack in my free time.”

“You’d get along with Willow, then.”

“Is she hot?”

“You’re not her type.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.  I’m a sexy tech-smart guy with fast fingers.”
“Key word that makes you not her type: guy.”

Tony shrugged, getting the hint. “Well, we can’t all be perfect.” He winked at her.

“Just keep trying, Tony.  Eventually you’ll get to my level.”

“I like you, Summers.  You’re spunky.”

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up.” Steve said, getting them back on track. “This is a man who means to start a war and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed.  We have orders.  We should follow them.”

“Following’s not really my style.”

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

“Of the people in this room, which one of us is A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?”

Buffy smacked Tony’s shoulder, causing him to wince, and she turned to look up at Steve. “Steve, you honestly can’t tell me that this doesn’t seem fishy to you.”

“Just find the cube.” Steve turned and walked out.

“That’s the guy that my dad couldn’t stop talking about?  I’m wondering if they should’ve kept him on ice.”

“He’s not wrong about Loki.” Buffy said, turning and going after Steve.  She caught up with him and fell into step beside him.  He glanced down at her and gave a little sigh. “Hey, don’t get all huffy with me, bub.  I don’t want Tony to be right about S.H.I.E.L.D. either.  Riley is a good man and I don’t want him mixed up with yet another bad government agency.” She paused. “And I don’t want to be mixed up with another one either.  The last time that happened, they tried to kill me and my friends.  More than once.”
“Well, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is dirty, then I’m glad you’re on my side.  Obviously you won the last time.” Steve paused. “Unless you didn’t and you died.”

Buffy laughed. “No.  I won that battle.  I’ve only died twice.”

That stopped Steve in his tracks and he turned to look at her. “Twice?”

“Told you I don’t stay dead.”

“How do you keep coming back?”

“Well, the first time I drowned, but my friend Xander did CPR on me and brought me back.  I was only dead for a minute.  The second time…. Well, I told you about it.”

Steve shook his head. “You are one interesting dame.” Buffy lifted an eyebrow at him. “Woman.” He amended. “Sorry.”

She smiled at him. “Never been called a dame before.”

“I didn’t mean to.  It was something we said back then….”

“No, I know.  I wasn’t offended, so there’s no need to apologize.” They smiled at each other and she shook her head. “Ok.  So, where are we going?” Buffy realized that as they’d been walking, they’d encountered less and less people.

Steve leaned in close and lowered his voice so only Buffy could hear. “We’re going to see if there’s anything hiding down here.” He turned and led the way down into the bowels of the Helicarrier. 

They stopped at a large metal door labeled Secure Storage 10-C.  There didn’t seem to be a way in unless you had a code, so Steve reached out and started to force the door to open.  Buffy joined in and their efforts caused a loud screeching as the metal bolts tore off and the door slid open.  Silently, they walked into the storage area.  A couple of people could be heard talking somewhere above them.  Steve walked over and jumped up to the next level.  He reached out his hand for Buffy, but she was already up beside him.

After going through every box they came to, finally they hit pay dirt about two hours after they’d started looking.  Buffy held up an odd shaped metal tube. “What the hell is this?”

Steve held opened up a large metal box to reveal body armor and face masks with a strange symbol that looked like a creepy octopus on them. “That’s the HYDRA symbol.” He said, opening another metal box.  This one held weapons similar to what Buffy was holding. “These are powered by the Tesseract.”

“Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. need anything like this?”

“And why would they use HYDRA marked supplies?”

Buffy sighed. “I think there’s at least one person on this ship who knows why.”

“Fury.”

“Let’s go pay him a visit.”

The Avengers

Chapter 1

Buffy sat in the interrogation room and looked around, checking out the handcuffs holding her to the metal table in front of her.  They could easily be broken, but she was curious about her captors.  She’d come to New York City to visit Dawn before she went to Chicago and to deal with some end-of-the-world type deal going down that Giles had informed her about.  She’d hunted down the Hytarga demons causing the hoopla as soon as she’d landed in the city.  Just as she was about to take them down, some commando types showed up and interrupted her.  They’d shot up the demons and taken Buffy in for questioning.  Obviously they weren’t normal commandos, but they weren’t Initiative people either.  That program had been shut down and absorbed.  Maybe this was the agency that the Initiative had been absorbed into.

The door opened and a tall, dark, bald man with an eye patch and scars walked in carrying a file.  He was dressed all in black and leather.  It would’ve been intimidating if Buffy hadn’t already been there done that.  The two of them sized each other up as Eyepatch shut the door and dropped the file on the desk.

“Buffy Anne Summers.”

“Eyepatch.” Buffy shot back.

He turned with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry about the handcuffs.  Your reputation precedes you.”

“Demon killer or menace to society?  Government agencies have me listed as both.”

Eyepatch sat down and opened the file. “You’ve got quite the record.”

Buffy shrugged. “If you say so.  Look, if you’re going to charge me with something, then please get to it.  Otherwise, let me out of these cuffs.” To her surprise, Eyepatch produced a key and undid the cuffs.

“We’re not here to charge you with anything, Miss Summers.  We’ve been looking for you for a long time.  You’re a very hard person to pin down.”

“There’s a reason for that.  Why am I here?”

“I think you would make a good addition to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Shield?  What the hell is that?”

“The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.” Buffy just blinked at Eyepatch. “That’s why it was shortened.”

“And you think I would be a good addition…. Why?  The last government controlled ‘division’ I dealt with tried to have me killed.  More than once.”

“The Initiative.  We know all about that.  Some of those soldiers were joined up with our agency when it was officially shut down.  In fact, your ex-boyfriend is the one that recommended you to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Riley?”

“Agent Finn, yes.”

“Why would he recommend me?  He knows I don’t play well with others.  And I don’t take orders.”

“He mentioned that as well.  You wouldn’t be part of his section, though.  You’re more qualified for our…. Special abilities task force.”

“‘Special abilities task force’?”

“It used to be called the Avengers Initiative.  It got shut down a while back, but I’m looking to bring it back.”

“Uh huh…. So you’re looking to recruit more like me, then?”

“Last I checked, there are no more like you.”

“When did you last check?” Eyepatch didn’t answer and Buffy sighed. “Like I said, I don’t take orders.  So, if you’ll just point me in the direction of the exit….”

“I can offer you a steady income.  Your very own apartment right here in the city.  You won’t have to take orders.”

“What’s the catch?”

“The catch is, we may need to send you on missions to save the world…. A lot.  Consider it the same thing you’ve been doing, but with a paycheck.”

“You seem to know everything there is to know about me, but I don’t even know who you are.”

“I’m S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury.”

Buffy stared him down for a long moment. “I want to know: Why me?”

“Because you’re one of the best.”

“Does this have anything to do with wanting to control my Slayers?”

“Nope.  I don’t want them.  I want you.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Why don’t you think about it in your apartment?” Fury produced a set of keys and tossed them to Buffy, testing her reflexes.  She caught them without even looking at them.  He nodded. Fury set down a large envelope. “This is your debriefing packet.  It’s all the information on the others in the Avengers Initiative and everything you need to know about the first mission I’d like to send you on.”

“What mission?”

“Consider it a test a run.” Fury stood up. “I look forward to hearing from you, Miss Summers.” He walked out and Buffy sighed.

The door opened again a minute later and a medium height balding man walked in. “Hi.” He said, grinning at her.

“Who are you?” Buffy asked.

“Agent Phil Coulson.”

“Uh huh…. And why are you grinning at me?”

“I’m a big fan.” He gestured for her to follow him.  Buffy picked up the envelope and followed him into a hallway. “I was hoping to be the one to come recruit you, but Director Fury thought it best if he handled it personally.”

Buffy shook her head. “Are you part of this team he wants me for?”

“No, no.  I don’t have any special abilities.  I’m just here to assist.”

“Uh huh.”

“You’re going to like your apartment.  It’s next to Steve Rogers’ apartment.”

“Who?”

“Captain America.”

Buffy stopped walking and looked at Coulson. “That World War Two soldier that got frozen in the 40s and thawed out a few months ago?”

“The very one.  He’s part of the team.  Or rather, he will be once Director Fury speaks with him.  That’s where he was headed.  To meet the Cap at the gym.”

In the large SUV on the way to the apartment building, Buffy sat in the passenger’s seat going through the files.  Tony Stark, the eccentric billionaire who was also known as Iron Man, was in the files.  That would excite Willow and Xander.  There was also a scientist named Bruce Banner who turned into the Jolly Green Giant.  The last file was on something called a Tesseract that had been stolen by a guy named Loki.  Her first assignment, should she choose to accept it, would be to go after Loki with Captain America and get the Tesseract back.

“Tell me, Coulson,” Buffy said. “Cause you seem to be like a trustworthy kind of guy.”

“I am.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Personally, I would love to be asked to be a part of the Avengers Initiative.” Buffy gave Coulson a hard look. “Agent Finn believes in you.  He speaks very highly of you.  Director Fury wouldn’t ask you if he thought you couldn’t handle it.  There are very few people that he’s sought out for this program.  I think you should accept.  You could do a lot of good.” Coulson pulled the SUV over. “We’re here.” Buffy looked out at the building.  It was tall, probably about 15 stories, and in a nice neighborhood near the new Stark Tower.  They got out and she followed him to the elevator and up to the tenth story. “That’s the Cap’s apartment.” Coulson gestured to the door at the end of the hall before opening the door directly across from it. “This is yours.”

When he turned on the lights, Buffy nodded her approval. “Pretty.”

The place was decorated in light colored neutrals with dark colored accents.  The living room furniture looked fluffy and comfy.  The kitchen was big enough for two people to move comfortably around.  The bedroom was done in white, black, and crimson.  The bed was king sized and sunk gently under her hand when she pressed on it.  The master bathroom was once the second bedroom from the size of it.  It had a large jetted soaker tub and a standing shower with a rain shower head and six body jets.

“This place is nice.” She said.

“All of it’s yours if you accept the offer to join us.  I will tell you, the benefits package is the best you’ll find.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Coulson tossed her a cell phone. “When you make your decision, just hit 1.  Have a nice night.” He gave her one last grin and closed the front door behind him.

Buffy looked at the phone for a moment and then headed over to the window.  There was a fire escape outside that could be used as a balcony.  She grabbed the envelope full of folders and stepped outside, climbing the stairs for the roof.  She walked to her right and sat down on the edge of the roof overlooking the city.  With a sigh, she started flipping through the mission file.  If she accepted, then she would be joining the Captain in retrieving the Tesseract and arresting Loki.  Loki was apparently a demigod.  Buffy nodded.  So that’s why she’d been chosen.  She’d fought a god before and won.  They were hoping she would do it again.

“Oh, sorry.” A voice said behind her. “I didn’t know anyone else ever came up here.”

Buffy turned to see Steve Rogers standing on the ledge to her left, across from where she’d come up.  He was a lot bigger in person and even more handsome. “I like having a view to think to sometimes.” She said to him.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“It’s ok.  You might as well join me, Steve.”

His face darkened. “How do you know my name?”

“Besides the fact that you’re pretty famous?  You know, being Captain America and all.” She held up the file on him. “I got kidnapped tonight, offered a job, given a swanky new apartment, and…. If I choose to accept it…. A mission to go with you to retrieve this Tesseract thingy from Loki.”

Steve hopped off the ledge and walked across the roof towards her. “Who are you?”

Buffy turned and hopped off the ledge. “Buffy Summers.” She held up the phone. “And if I hit 1 on this cell phone, then I’m the newest member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and your partner.”

Steve looked her up and down. “No offense, ma’am, but you don’t look like you could hurt a fly.”

“I only take offense to the ma’am thing.  Makes me feel old.”

“I’m sorry for offending you.”

“Manners.  Refreshing.  Thank you.  And just for the record, I’m a lot stronger than I look.” Buffy noticed Steve had a file too and gestured to it. “Come up here for the same reason I did?”

Steve nodded. “It gets stuffy in my apartment after a while and I like the view up here.”

Buffy turned and headed back to her perch.  She moved her legs over the edge and leaned back slightly for balance.  A moment later, Steve joined her.  He took a deep breath as he looked out over the city.  Stark Tower loomed over them and they both stared at it. “It’s a bit gaudy, isn’t it?” She asked, gesturing at the tower.

“A bit, yes.” Steve looked over at her. “You said you were kidnapped tonight?”

Buffy nodded. “I was taking down a couple of Hytarga demons that were trying to break into the Natural History Museum.  They needed some crystal for some ritual to try and end the world.” She shrugged. “I stopped listening when Giles got all rambly.”

“Giles?”
“He’s my Watcher…. Mentor.  Well, not anymore.  Mostly he’s just my friend now who sometimes gives me orders.  Not that I always listen to them….” She shook her head. “Anyway…. So, I was just about to snap the neck on the first demon when these commando creeps came out of the woodwork.  They shot the demons and came after me.  Next thing I know, I’m being handcuffed, tossed in an SUV, and driven to some headquarters where this guy with an eyepatch is telling me that my ex-boyfriend recommended me and they’ve been trying to locate me for a while to bring me on their team.”

“They handcuffed you?”

“Well…. I did kind of take out six of their guys.” Steve gave her a shocked expression and she shrugged. “I don’t take it well when guns are pointed at me.”

That elicited a small smile from Steve. “I don’t either.”

Buffy looked down at his file sitting on his lap. “Wanna trade?”

“Hmm?”

“Files.  Wanna trade?  I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?”

“I haven’t looked it over.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not sure I want to accept this mission.”

Buffy nodded. “You know what’s sad?” Steve looked at her expectantly. “I don’t think we have much of a choice.” She held up her envelope. “This Tesseract thing sounds bad and in the hands of this Loki guy?  It sounds like it’s even worse.”

“The Tesseract should never have been pulled from the ocean.  It should’ve stayed hidden.”

Buffy nodded. “That’s what I thought.” She looked him up and down. “My friend Xander is a big fan of yours.  He made me read the comics and I actually paid attention in history class when they mentioned you.  And from what I know, you don’t strike me as the type of person who can just sit by and watch the world be destroyed by the bad guys.  I think you’re like me.  I think we’re the type of people who get in there and fight to save the world even when we don’t want to…. Because it’s the right thing to do.  And I think that’s why this Fury guy wants to make us partners in this.” Steve was staring at her with an unreadable expression.  Many different emotions flashed through his eyes. “Well, Steve…. Can I call you Steve or do you prefer Captain? ”

That elicited another small smile from him. “Steve is fine.”

“Well, Steve, at least we won’t be in this alone.” Buffy looked out at the night sky. “I usually am in these kinds of deals.”

Steve was silent for a long time, staring at her out of the corner of his eyes.  Finally he looked at her full on. “Who are you, Buffy Summers?”

Buffy hit one on the cell phone. “Happy to have you on board.” Agent Coulson said on the other line. “There will be a car waiting to pick you and the Captain up tomorrow morning.  I look forward to working with you.”

Coulson hung up and Buffy looked over at Steve. “I’m your partner, Steve Rogers.” She smiled at him.

Steve looked down at his envelope. “Wanna trade?”

 

 

Buffy sat next to Steve on the plane as they flew over the Atlantic Ocean.  They were both looking at a tablet with the same information that had been contained in their packets.  Agent Coulson was across from them talking to someone on his headphones.  Steve and Buffy had spent most of the night on the roof talking about their past experiences and trading stories.  Steve didn’t have any friends.  He was quite lonely separated by time from the people he’d cared about almost 70 years ago. 

Finding Buffy could actually relate to him and have some kind of empathy for his situation, it had really brought him out of his shell a bit.  She was also incredibly easy to talk to.  Most women that he’d talked with these days started out mooning over him and he didn’t really know how to respond to them.  For him, it was only a few months ago that he was telling Peggy to reschedule their date.  Now this new world he was living in was throwing him off at every turn.  Buffy had said something to him on that that had really stuck with him.  It was also a flash of the wisdom beyond her years that she possessed that made him really like her.

“Funny thing about time?  It doesn’t mean much when you’re dead, but it sure is a crazy mistress when you’re alive.”

Coulson stood up and walked over to Buffy and Steve. “So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?” Steve asked him.

“A lot of people were.” Coulson said. “You were the world’s first superhero.” Buffy cleared her throat and Coulson nodded. “Ok, the first known superhero.  Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine’s original formula.”

“Didn’t really go his way, did it?”

“Not so much.  When he’s not that thing, though, the guy’s like a Steven Hawking.” Steve gave Coulson a blank look.

“He’s a super genius.” Buffy translated.

“Oh.” Steve said, nodding gratefully at Buffy.  She was a good translator for modern references he didn’t understand.

“I gotta say….” Coulson started. “It’s an honor to meet you officially.  I’ve sort of met you.  I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.”

“That’s not at all creepy.” Buffy said with an amused grin on her face.

“I mean…. I was present while you were unconscious from the ice.” Steve glanced at Buffy and returned her amused grin as he stood up and walked over to look out the window. “You know, it’s really just a huge honor to have you on board this….” Coulson turned and looked at Buffy. “To have both of you on board this team.”

“I hope we’re the right ones for the job.” Steve said.  He looked at Buffy. “If you don’t mind me speaking for the both of us.”

“There’s that polite thing again.” Buffy said. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“So, we made some modifications to the uniform.” Coulson said to Steve. “I had a little design input.”

“The uniform?” Steve asked. “Aren’t the stars and stripes a little old-fashioned?”

“With everything that’s happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned.” Coulson turned to Buffy. “We’ve also come up with a uniform for you.”

Buffy’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she started laughing. “I’m sorry…. I thought you said that you’ve got a uniform for me.”

“I did.”

“Yeah….” Buffy stood up and moved towards Coulson.  He backed up a step and bumped into the pilot’s seat.  Steve snickered and looked away. He found it funny that someone so tiny could actually be so intimidating. “I don’t do uniforms.  The last uniform I wore was when I worked at the Doublemeat Palace and I still have nightmares that I smell like the inside of a 400 pound man’s stomach.”

“I think you’ll like this one.”

“Wanna bet money on that?”

“$20?”

“You’re on.” Buffy shook Coulson’s hand and looked out the window. “Whoa.”

“I second that.” Steve said, looking out the window at the massive aircraft carrier floating on the ocean.

“What is that thing?”

“It’s called a Helicarrier.” Coulson said. “It’s our HQ in the sky.”

The plane came in for a smooth landing like a helicopter and the back opened.  Coulson led Buffy and Steve to the exit. “Stow the Captain and the Slayer’s gear.” He said to the men coming to meet them.  A woman a little taller than Buffy with medium length red hair walked up to them.  Buffy recognized her as Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. “Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers and Buffy Summers.”

“Ma’am.” Steve said.

“Hi.” Natasha said.  She looked at Coulson. “They need you on the bridge.  They’re starting the face trace.”

“See you there.” Coulson nodded at Buffy and Steve and headed off.

Natasha looked Buffy up and down. “What?” Buffy asked.

“You’re shorter than I expected.”

“I get that a lot.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you.  I love your work.  That business with the Immortal in Italy was impressive.”

Buffy shrugged. “He pissed me off.”

Natasha smiled slightly. “I think you and I are going to get along.” She looked up at Steve as they started to head in the same direction that Coulson had. “It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice.  I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.  Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

“Trading cards?” Steve asked.

“They’re vintage.  He’s very proud.”

Up ahead was a man that Buffy recognized as Bruce Banner.  He was the one that turned into the giant green rage monster. “Dr. Banner.” Steve called.

Bruce turned around and walked over to them. “Yeah, hi.” He shook both Buffy’s and Steve’s hands in turn. “They told me you would be coming.”

“Word is that you can find the cube.”

“Is that the only word on me?”

“The only word I care about.”

Bruce looked at Buffy curiously. “You’re very…. Small.”

Buffy smiled. “It’s from my mother’s side.  They’re not very tall.  My little sister got the tall genes.  She takes after my dad’s side of the family.”

Bruce chuckled slightly. “I meant…. Well, I thought you’d be bigger from the stories I’ve heard.”

“I should start collecting money every time someone says that.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok.”

Bruce looked at Steve. “It must be strange for you…. All of this.”

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve said, watching a group of troops run by in formation.

“Gentleman and Miss Summers, you might want to step inside in a minute.” Natasha said. “It’s going to get a little hard to breathe.”

A voice over the intercom announced for the flight crew to secure the deck.  Below them, the deck started to shudder and a loud mechanical noise mixed with churning water sounded from over the sides of the deck. “Is this a submarine?” Bruce asked. “Really?  They want me in a pressurized, submerged, metal container?”

Buffy and Steve led the way to the edge of the deck and looked over.  From out of the water, giant turbines appeared.  They were spinning at full force and the entire ship started to lift off.  The force of the wind from the turbines hit them and Buffy was pushed backwards a few feet.  Steve had to grab her arm to keep her from falling, laughing slightly at her.  She gave him a dirty look and he quit laughing.

“No, no…. This is much worse.” Bruce said.

“So, which way was that bridge?” Buffy asked, holding onto Steve’s arm.

“Follow me.” Natasha said.  Bruce, Buffy, and Steve turned away from the turbine.  They made their way through the maze inside until finally they walked through a set of doors into a large room that was half window.  There were workstations everywhere below them a half level down.  People in blue suits were working at every workstation and some were walking around and supervising.  Steve walked over to the railing and looked around the place appreciatively.  Bruce made his way to the back of the room where a large circular door was being guarded by two men.  Director Fury was standing on a platform overlooking everything.  His hands were occupied with the screens around him.  Behind Fury was a large round table.  Buffy decided to make her way over to it and leaned against it, crossing her arms.

After Fury made sure the shields were up, he turned around to the table.  Bruce and Steve had made their way over as well. “Gentleman.” Fury looked at Buffy. “And lady.” Steve walked over to him and handed him a $10 bill before walking over to the screen Fury had been messing with.  Fury shook his head and walked over to Bruce. “Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking nicely.” Bruce said. “So, how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the wind.”

“Where are you with that?” Bruce walked over to where Coulson was standing.

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet.” Coulson said. “Cell phones, laptops…. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not going to find them on time.” Natasha said from a little ways away where she was looking at a workstation screen.

“You have to narrow your field.” Bruce said. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“Call every lab you know.  Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays.  I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition.  At least we could rule out a few places.  Do you have somewhere for me to work?”

Fury nodded. “Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please?”

Natasha walked over. “You’re gonna love it, Doc.  We got all the toys.”

Fury walked back over to Buffy and mimicked her stance, leaning against the table. “Glad to have you on board, Miss Summers.”

“Well, Coulson said the benefits were the best.” Buffy said. “Can’t turn down good health insurance in my line of work.”

Fury chuckled. “I suppose not.  What do you think of our little operation?”

“It’s a little over my head.  I’m used to being pointed in the direction of the bad guy and handed a weapon.”

“That time will come.” Steve joined them and leaned against the table on Buffy’s other side. “How are you two getting along?”

“Pretty decently.”

“I look forward to seeing what we can do in the field.” Steve said.  He hooked his thumb at Buffy. “This one has a bragging problem.”

“She’s got a right to brag.  The world owes her a serious debt of gratitude for how many times she’s saved it.” Fury said. 

Coulson walked up and motioned over to one of the workstations near the front of the room close to the massive window. “You’ve got a friend on board that I think has been dying to see you.”

Buffy looked over and spotted Riley looking their way.  He smiled and gave a little wave.  She glanced at the men before walking across the room. “Riley!” He scooped her up into a hug.

“How you doing, Buffy?” Riley asked.

“Oh, I’ve upgraded jobs, I think.”

“Pretty neat stuff, huh?”

“When did you join S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“About six years ago.  The Initiative became obsolete when you made all of those Slayers.  There’s not as many demons or vampires to kill.  So we got absorbed back into the government, but a few of us ended up being recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D.  It’s a great job.  We’re doing a lot of good.”

“Fury says that you recommended me.”

“They knew about you already.  You’ve got a pretty big file thanks to the Initiative.  When they realized our connection, they asked me about you.”

“How long have they been trying to track me down?”

“About three years.  Every time they got close, you’d give them the slip.  Why do you have doppelgängers?”

“Xander’s idea.  I’ve made a lot of enemies since Sunnydale.”

Riley glanced up at Steve Rogers. “So, they paired you with Captain America?  What’s he like?”

Buffy glanced back at Steve and he smiled at her.  She gave him a little wave and turned back to Riley. “He’s sweet.  Very old-fashioned, but that’s to be expected.  I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do out there.  Xander is going to go all fanboy when he finds out.”

“How is everyone?”

“They’re good.  Dawn’s working on getting a medical degree.  Willow runs the magic division of the new Watcher’s Council.  Giles is the head of it.  Xander is the head of training and dispatch.”

“And what about you?”

“Technically my title is Head Slayer, but I’m really just a consultant.” She walked over to the edge of the window and looked out. “I’m not really needed anymore.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Everyone’s got their place in the world.  And me…. I’m not special anymore.  There’s hundreds of mes out there.”

Riley laughed. “Buffy, there’s only one of you.  S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t want Faith.  They didn’t want any of the other Slayers you made.  They wanted you.  You’ve got the experience and the training and you’re the best there is.”

Buffy let that sink in for a moment.  She decided to change the subject. “I would’ve thought you’d be on a task force or something.  What are you doing behind a computer?”

“That was Sam’s doing.”

 “How is Sam?”

“She’s great.  She’s at home with the kids.”

She turned and looked up at Riley with wide eyes. “Kids?”

Riley smiled and walked over to his workstation.  He grabbed a small picture frame and showed it to Buffy. “That’s Kailey.  She’s five.  And that’s Chris.  He’s two.  We’re talking about having a third when Chris turns three.  They’re the reason I’m not on a task force.  Working intelligence is a lot less deadly.”

Buffy nodded and handed him back the frame. “They’re beautiful, Riley.  I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Agent Finn.” A man near Riley’s workstation called. 

Riley gave Buffy an apologetic shrug. “I’ll see you around?”

“Of course.” Riley returned to work and Buffy walked over to where Coulson was talking with Steve.

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.” Coulson was saying.

“No, no.” Steve said. “It’s fine.”

“It’s a vintage set.  It took me a couple of years to collect them all.  Near mint.  Slight foxing around the edges, but….”

“Hey, Buffy.” Steve said, seeing her walk up. “Is everything ok?” It was obvious he was ready to escape Coulson’s conversation.

“Oh, uh…. yeah.  Great.”

“Friend of yours?” Steve gestured at Riley.
“Sort of.  He’s my ex.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”
“Did he upset you?”

“No.  It was actually nice seeing him.”

“You seem a little down, though.”

Buffy sighed. “Well, a little…. Yeah.”

“I don’t mean to pry.”

“It’s ok.” She watched Riley for a moment before turning away and walking over to the table.  Sliding up onto it, she let her legs dangle.  Steve leaned against the table next to her. “He has kids now.” She finally said. “With a wife that is really great.”

“I’m sorry.”

Buffy shook her head. “That’s not what makes me sad.” Steve was obviously a bit confused. “The first man I ever loved…. He was a vampire with a soul…. Long story…. He left me so I could have a shot at a normal life.  So, I gave it the old college try with Riley over there, but I completely blew it because I’m not normal.  He spent a lot of time trying to keep up with me and it nearly destroyed him.  It took me a long time after he left and going through a really dark time to finally accept the fact that I will never be normal.  But every now and then…. Like seeing my ex with a life we might’ve had if I wasn’t me…. It makes me sad that I will never have a normal life.”

Steve looked down at her and Buffy got the feeling that he knew exactly what she was talking about.  Before he could say anything, one of the workstation people said, “We got a hit.  A 67% match.  Wait.  Cross match, 79%.”

Coulson walked over to the workstation. “Location?”

“Stuttgart, Germany.  28 Konigstrasse.  He’s not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, Miss Summers.” Fury said.  Steve and Buffy turned to look at him. “You two are up.”

“Let’s get you two suited up.” Coulson said.
“Coulson….” Buffy started as he walked out. “I like you.  I do, but if the uniform makes me look like one of those crazies at a comic book convention, I’m gonna throw you out of a plane with no parachute.”

All stories are written by BuffyL. I don't own any of the Buffy/Angel/Marvel characters. If you want to use my work, please ask me.

bottom of page