Sunnydale, California
Joyce was sitting at the kitchen table with Giles, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia waiting for Buffy. She had called Buffy's friends so they could hear the news aswell. When Buffy entered the room Joyce told her to sit so they could talk. "Buffy, I have tried everything I could think of to get you back into school but I wasn't able to, I'm sorry."
Buffy nodded sadly and looked down at her hands "So what now?"
"I called your father." Buffy's head shot up shocked "Buffy, I think you need to get away from Sunnydale for a while and well your father is willing to help. I want you to go and stay with him at least for this year. Considering you had a 4.0 GPA before you were the slayer and were set to graduate early anyway. Who knows, with him around you will most probably finish your senior year early then you can come back." Buffy friends all turned in shock none of them had know that Buffy was that smart "You had a 4.0 GPA when you were in L.A?" Willow asks her best friend shocked, before Buffy could answer though Joyce spoke up "Buffy was top in her class in everything, was even gifted in mechanics helped her father rebuild an old car when she was 7."
Xander's jaw dropped while Oz just grinned "Cool."
Buffy who was still in shock turned to her mom "Mom, I can't just leave. What about the Hellmouth?"
It was Giles who answered the question "Buffy, another slayer is on the way, so you don't have to worry about the Hellmouth. What you need to worry about is yourself. Buffy, the council found out who your real father is. A man that powerful, with access to that many weapons, the council will try to use you to get to them. And if you don't help them they will declare you rouge and have you killed."
"What!" Everyone screamed except Joyce, who Giles had already informed and Buffy who was still too stunned to do anything. Giles ignored the teenagers' outburst and kept going "Buffy by being in Malibu around your father. The council won't be able to touch you. The only reason they think they can now, is because you live here and not around all that press and security."
Cordelia at this point looked at Giles confused "But I thought Buffy's father was a lawyer. How much power could he actually have?"
Joyce sighed "Ok what we are about to tell you all, never leaves this room is that understood?"
The group all look at each other before nodding "Buffy do you want to tell them?" Joyce asks her daughter.
Buffy looks at her friend then nods "My father is not Hank, he is my step-father. My real father is...Tony Stark."
Everyone's jaws' drop of all things they had been expecting that was not it. "Tony Stark as in billionaire genius?" Xander asks
"Yeah... that would be my dad."
"Oh. My. God! Your rich like really rich. Like you could buy a private island. I bet your trust fund is huge!" Cordelia is literally jumping up and down in excitement, causing everyone to roll their eyes "I'm not rich, my dad is rich not me."
Willow turns to Giles "Giles are you sure that Buffy is in that much danger?"
"Unfortunately yes, the council has a black ops team trained to deal with rouge slayers. The sooner you go the better. They also can't find out your going, which means pack light and drive there don't take a plane. The council has eyes everywhere."
Buffy looks at her friends with tears in her eyes and nods.
After deciding that Buffy would leave the next day Xander and Willow decided to stay the night and help Buffy pack. The next morning Buffy puts her weapons chest and her suitcase into the car. After an emotional goodbye with her friends and Giles, Buffy and her mother jump in the car and head for Malibu.
Malibu, California
"So your daughter is moving in here, with you, because she got expelled from her school in Sunnydale?" Pepper asks Tony. After several hours yelling at him, Tony had started to tell her about Buffy and what she was like. "Yes."
"And why did she get kicked out of her school in L.A?"
Tony lets out a small laugh "Well, she kinda...burnt down her school gym."
Peppers jaw dropped in shock "Oh, my she really is your daughter. When does she get here."
"She should be here any minute her mom is driving her up."
"Yes, what about you and Joyce, was it a one night stand, what?"
"No, well, sort of...I don't know. We were friends, really close then we meet up one time and had a few drinks and well..."
"Okay, so you guys are on good terms."
"Yes."
Pepper sighs then sees the grin on Tony's face "Your excited."
Tony doesn't look at Pepper and tries to avoid her gaze, luckily Jarvis's voice draws the two's attention "Mr Stark, Miss Stark Summers is here."
At that Tony literally ran upstairs to the front door where Buffy and Joyce now stood. "Hey." Buffy said awkwardly as Tony watched her and Joyce. Before he could say anything though Joyce turned to Buffy "Buffy I have got to go. I have to get home and deal with the gallery are you going to be alright?"
Buffy sighed "Yeah, I'll be fine mom."
Joyce smiles and gave her daughter a hug and told her she loved her before heading back to the car and driving off.
Buffy turned to Tony who was watching her intently, she shifts awkwardly, they had not really spoken since she had become the slayer and she was different now. She had no idea what to do. Tony watched his daughter carefully then noticed that she only had one bag and a wooden chest with her which seemed to be padlocked. "Is that all you brought?"
Buffy looks down and shrugs "It's all I need." Tony frowns slightly then picks up the bag while Buffy carries the chest and Tony takes her to her room. "I had Jarvis set you up in the second largest room in the house."
Buffy looked confused for a moment "Jarvis? Isn't that the A.I you were designing a few years ago?"
Tony nods "Yep finished him almost two years ago now. He pretty much runs the house."
The two enter Buffy's room and her jaw drops "Holy—this room is bigger that my entire house in Sunnydale."
"Yeah. You may have to go shopping to fill out the wardrobe by the way." Tony told her before putting down her suitcase and walking over to another door which opened to reveal as huge walk in wardrobe. Buffy could not think of anything to say except one word "Wow!"
Tony laughs slightly "Come on. There is someone you need to meet."
Tony leads her down to garage as he does Buffy looks around at mansion she had forgot how big this place was. When they get down to the garage Buffy sees a red headed woman in a white pantsuit standing by the desk. Pepper turns to see Tony and a small blonde girl coming down the stairs "Hello, you must be Buffy." Buffy smiles nervously at the woman "It's lovely to meet you Buffy, I'm Pepper Potts."
Before Buffy can say anything Pepper's phone starts to ring, causing Pepper to sigh "Tony I have to go. Obadiah needs some files about the Jeriko Missiles." Pepper leaves the room quickly leaving Buffy and Tony alone. There is a awkward silence between the two but then Buffy spots the 1967 Chevy Impala in the corner of the room "Is that what I think it is?"
Tony follows her gaze to the car and smiles "Yep got it two years ago. Rebuilt it my self." Tony watches Buffy examines the car "So do you want some pizza or something?"
Buffy shakes her head "Actually um, I think I just want to crash you know."
Tony nods his head slightly disappointed "Sure. I'll have Happy come over tomorrow, he can take you shopping if you want."
"Thanks. Goodnight Tony." Buffy gave him a small wave before heading off to her room. Tony sighed sadly, him and Buffy had not been close for a while and after L.A they had barely spoken. She had changed so much and he had no idea what to do.
S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters – Location Unknown
Director Nick Fury watched the footage in front of him. Buffy Summers, air to the Stark fortune was the slayer, he had know for a while, had been watching her for years. And from what he had seen she was the best slayer to ever had lived. She seemed to be able to pick up fighting techniques, gymnastics and weapons techniques faster than any previous slayer. She would be a valible asset to his team. Now that Ms. Summers was keeping her distants from the watcher's council, it would be easier for him to keep an eye on her. Fury knew that he couldn't send in agents to shadow her, the girl was too good for that, she had seen it last time, when he had Barton shadow her in L.A and she had not been so happy about it. He knew he would have to come up with something.
At that moment Agent Phillip Coulson entered the room "Director. The files on Miss. Summers you asked to be buried. It's done. Once she is outed to the press they will not be able to gain access to any of her history."
The director smiled "Good. Thank you agent Coulson." Fury watched the screen and leaned back in his chair trying to think of how to handle the slayer situation next.
Malibu, California
For the past few weeks Buffy and Tony had managed to avoid each other, things were still awkward for them. The only time that they really talked is when Buffy comes down to the garage and works on the old motorcycle Tony had ordered for her. One of the longest conversations they had was about Buffy's education, they had made a deal that Jarvis would home school her so she doesn't have to go to private school. By the progress she has made Tony expects that she will be done with her senior year within the next two months. It was now Sunday morning and Tony was heading back down to the garage when he heard some noise coming from the gym. He quietly opened the door to see Buffy balancing on a wooden log in a handstand. She slowly started to raise her right hand when he knocked over a lamp by the door causing Buffy to fall. "Sorry." Tony said as he entered the room.
"It's ok. I've had worse." Buffy shrugged as she got up from the floor and stepped over to the wall where a set of throwing knifes lay.
"What are you doing?" Tony asked, then froze in complete shock as Buffy threw the knifes with perfect accuracy at the opposite wall "Damn."
Buffy laughs slightly "I am more traditional with weapons. Unlike you."
Tony smiles "Be careful I don't want to have to clean blood off the floor." Buffy raises an eyebrow at him before he leaves the room.
2 Weeks later - Las Vegas
After the video about Tony Stark's history finishes the crowd clapped and Rhodey steps up to the podium "As liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark." The crowd all begin to clap "Tony?" Rhodey calls after a few minutes when he does not appear. Rhodey looks over at Obadiah who shakes his head, before getting up and moving towards the stage. "Thank you, Colonel." Obadiah says as he shakes his hand, taking the award and holding it up "This is beautiful. Thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful. Well, I'm not Tony Stark. But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honoured I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award. Tony, you know...the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He's always working."
Meanwhile downstairs in the casino Tony is playing blackjack; he rolls the dice. "Work it! Come on!" He yells when the dice show he has won again. When one of the women next to him lean against him he smiles "We should just stay till the morning."
"You are unbelievable." Rhodey tells him as he walks over to Tony and Happy.
Tony sighs "Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?"
"Nobody roped me into anything!"
"I'm so sorry."
"But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honoured."
"Of course I'd be deeply honoured. And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?"
"It's right here." Rhodey hands Tony the award "Here you go."
"There it is. That was easy. I'm so sorry."
"That's ok."
"Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else. I don't have any of those flying around." Tony hands the award to the brunette woman next to him and turns back to the dealer "We're gonna let it ride!" he holds out the dice in his hand towards the woman "Give me a hand, will you? Give me a little something-something." The woman smiles and blows on the dice, Tony then looks at Rhodey "What about you."
"I don't blow on a man's dice."
"Come on, honey bear." Rhodey knocks the dice out of Tony's hands causing them to roll "There it is Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And..." The smile on Tony's face fades when two ones appears "That's what happens." Rhodey tells him.
Tony just shrugs "Worse things have happened. I think we're gonna be fine. Colour me up, will you?" He asks the dealer and then continues to play.
"I thought you were supposed to be on your best behaviour now that a certain small blonde is living with you." Rhodey says to Tony as they walk to the exit.
Tony turns to him "Well that blonde is currently in Malibu with Pepper, while I am in Vegas. I promised to be on best behaviour when I'm around her. By the way she does want to see you."
Rhodey smiles "I'll stop by soon." As the reach the exit Rhodey shakes Tony's hand "This is where I exit."
"All right."
"Tomorrow, don't be late."
"Yeah, you can count on it."
"I'm serious!"
"I know, I know."
When Tony walks by a man dressed as Caesar he passes him the award Rhodey gave him "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. There you go."
Happy and Tony exit the casino and head towards the car. Happy opens the car door for Tony but before he can get inside a voice from behind them calls his name "Mr. Stark! Excuse me, Mr. Stark!" Tony stops "Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair magazine." She tells him "Can I ask you a couple of questions?
Tony turns to Happy "She's cute." Happy informs him
"She's alright? Ok."
Tony turns to face the blonde woman "Hi."
"Hi." She responds
"Yeah. Okay, go."
"It's okay?" Tony nods and steps towards her "You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"
"Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint."
"And what do you say to your other nickname? 'The Merchant of Death'?"
"That's not bad. Let me guess. Berkeley?"
"Brown, actually."
"Well, Ms. Brown, it's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."
"Rehearse that much?"
"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."
"I can see that."
"I'd like to show you first-hand."
"All I want is a serious answer."
Tony shrugs and crosses his arms "Okay, here's serious. My old man had a philosophy, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy'."
"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks."
"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."
"And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering."
Tony takes off his sun glasses to look at the woman properly "Tell me, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs military funding, honey."
The woman smiles "Wow. You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?"
"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."
The next morning Christine wakes up in Tony's bed in Malibu to the voice of Jarvis, "Good morning. It's 7:00 a.m. The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52 a.m."
Christine walks down the stairs and into the large living room "Tony? Hey, Tony?" She continues to walk around the room looking at the photos and the frames on the wall, she looks slightly confused when she sees a photo of Tony and a small blonde girl standing by a Motorcycle, while he carries the girl on his back. She stops in front of the electronic devices on the wall and turns the dial but jumps back when Jarvis speaks "You are not authorised to access this area."
"Jesus"
"That's Jarvis. He runs the house." Says Pepper Potts as she stands in the living room holding a garment bag, as she watches the blonde. "I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go."
Christine walks towards Pepper "You must be the famous Pepper Potts."
Pepper smiles hoping to get the woman gone before Buffy wakes up "Indeed I am."
"After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning."
"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires, including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?"
At that moment Buffy comes down the stairs with her head phones on and her tracksuit, as she heads down to the garage to work on the bike. Buffy comes to a stop when she sees Pepper and Christine. She turns to Pepper "He's back." Pepper nods "Where?"
Pepper smiles at the petite blonde "Where do you think?"
Buffy rolls her eyes then turns to the blonde who is addressing her "Hello I don't believe we have met. I'm Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair magazine."
Before Buffy can say anything Pepper turns to Buffy "Buffy why don't you head down to the garage, I'm sure Tony could use the company." Buffy nods and turns to the blonde giving her a small smile "It was nice to meet you Miss. Everhart."
Christine stares at the small blonde confused as she leaves the room. Then remembers the photo she found. "Oh, my god. Does-It that-Tony has daughter?"
"It's best you leave now." Pepper says before walking Christine to the door and sending her on her way.
Buffy heads down the stairs to the garage and opens the door seeing Tony working on one of the cars "Hey" Tony turns to see Buffy and gives her a small smile
"Saw your bike engines coming along nicely."
"Thanks. So how was Vegas?" Buffy asks raising an eyebrow as she moved to sit her the bike.
Tony cleared his throat "I'm guessing you met um-...oh..."
"Christine." Buffy offers.
Tony clicks his fingers at her "Yes that's it. Sorry."
Buffy shrugs "It's cool. It's your home. It's not like I expected you to stop living your lifestyle just cause I'm here. So... do you need any help." Tony smiles at his daughter and nods "Sure." he says then asks her to pass him the head bolts . She hands him the parts as she sits next to him and starts on the engine.
As they work Tony looks at the screen in front of them "Give me an exploded view." He tells Jarvis
"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low." Jarvis tell his.
"Log that." Tony tells Jarvis before handing Buffy the screwdriver. They continue to work as Pepper enters the room turning down the music "I'm gonna try again, right now"
"Please don't turn down my music." Tony says not looking away from the engine.
"I'll keep you posted." Pepper says into the phone before hanging up. She stops behind Buffy and Tony and smiles at the sight before focusing on Tony "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."
"How'd she take it?"
"Like a champ. Also she knows about Buffy."
Tony sighs "Why are you trying to hustle me out of here? I am spending quality time with Buffy here, which is what you wanted."
Pepper sighs while Buffy laughs slightly "As lovely as that is, your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."
"That's funny, I though with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."
"Spoiled douche" Buffy coughs under her breath causing Pepper to chuckle while Tony's eyes narrow at the blonde
"You know I can still send you to private school right."
Buffy swallows the lump in her throat which appeared at that comment and went back to focusing on the engine but then Jarvis addressed her "Ms. Stark it is time for your lessons." Buffy sighed and said goodbye to Tony and Pepper before heading upstairs "Karma!" Tony yelled at she left the room.
Pepper tried to draw Tony's focus "Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door."
Tony stands and turns towards Pepper "Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"
"Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. So you want it? Yes or no."
"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"
"No. The Springs was actually the neighbourhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season."
"So?"
"I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly overpriced."
"I need it. Buy it. Store it. Also have a private gym built for Buffy with all of that medieval weaponry crap. She's good with that stuff."
Pepper smiles and gives him an odd look before continuing "Okay. The MIT commencement speech..."
"Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down..."
"They're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes."
"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me."
"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."
"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"
Pepper holds out the paper and the pen towards Tony "As a matter of fact, I do."
"I don't like it when you have plans."
"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."
"It's your birthday?"
"Yes."
"I knew that. Already?" He asks giving her a skeptical look.
"Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year." As Tony signs the papers he smiles "Get yourself something nice from me."
"I already did."
"And?"
"It was very nice."
"Yeah." Tony says grinning
"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."
"You're welcome, Miss. Potts."
Tony hands Pepper the pen and takes a drink of his expresso before starting to get ready to go.
Sunnydale, California
Meanwhile in Sunnydale Giles, Xander and Willow are chasing Oz, who is now in werewolf form. "He went this way!" Xander yells, the three of them run into the clearing only for a four person to run into them, knocking them all down. Giles turns and gasps in shock "Bloody hell." Xander and Willow look up to see Angel. He has blood on his mouth and looked feral. He moves towards the three but then runs off when he hears a wolf howl. The three look at each other stunned, Angel was alive. They all quickly got up and went after Oz and decided they would talk about what to do next about Angel, after one crisis was done.
Tony Stark's Mansion – Buffy's room.
Buffy is in the corner of the room hitting a punching bag that Tony helped her put up there earlier that week. She had had a short nap after her lesson and had the dream again. Angel and her were on the beach and then he told her that she had killed him. Buffy shook her head and gave the bag one more punch breaking it. After unwrapping her hands she decided to go down to the beach and relax for a while. She hoped she could get some peace from her guilt.