Chapter 2 – Working Man

It took a whole two days before Xander was promoted to foreman of his own five man clean-up crew. Have security clearance and having FEMA recognize his name cleared up a bunch of paper work. After Sunnydale the Scoobies had been visited by the government, and been made quasi-legal. Usually he ignored all of it, but for once having his name pop up as a good guy was nice.

He stood there, hard hat in his hand as he wiped his head, sweat soaking his shirt, and muscles complaining. Fighting kept him in shape, but all day hard labor stretched and used different muscle groups. It felt good. He had told the Council he was staying for a while, they owed him, and he wanted to build and help for a while rather than destroy.

Amazingly, no one protested, not Buffy or Willow. Safira was on her way here, to make his sixth person in the crew. She was a girl he had found in Africa. Her parents, extended family, and the rest of the village had been killed by the demon. before she killed it. He found her and saved her from her wounds. As far as she was concerned her existence in life was to protect him, vampires and demons were a distant second. He actually looked forward to having her here, he could use the muscle. Even if she would hover.

Speaking of muscle, he glared at a stubborn piece of concrete that was causing issues. Too big for anyone to move, but was slowing down the removal of the rest of the debris. It would fit in the dumpster, but he couldn't get it there.

"Great, guess I get to practice my hammer skills." He muttered. Slayer strength now would come in handy, knocking that into bits would have been fun for Safira.

With a grunt he put his hat back on and turned around, almost running into the man standing behind him. Instantly, he stepped back taking a defensive posture.

How the hell did he sneak up on me?

Then the identity of the man standing there registered. His mind locked down on a loop of Captain America is standing next to me, and he didn't know how to address him. Finally the old soldier memories, which still managed to save his ass more than he wanted to admit, kicked in.

"Sir." He nodded as he assessed the figure in front of him. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a baseball cap shaded his face.

A half-smile tilted the man's mouth. "I was told you had room on your crew for another person as you were missing one?"

"Yeah, she won't be here until tomorrow, planes are still grounded." Xander looked at him and sighed. "You incognito or just trying to not draw attention."

"A bit of both, but I'm here to work. So," he shrugged still with that half smile.

"So use you?" Xander's voice was dry as he looked at the man, and was aware of the assessment the man gave him back. For the first time in a while the he remembered the patch covering his eye, it had become a part of him, but the man lingered on it eyes seeing more than Xander would have preferred.

"Sure." A hint of wariness in the voice made Xander arch an eyebrow, but he shrugged and walked over to the truck he had been assigned by FEMA, with all the tools grabbing a twenty pound sledge. He could swing this for a while, but after about an hour he was exhausted. Safira would do three hours without much strain, but then even she began to hurt. Who knew what Captain America's limits were?

"This is the heaviest hammer I've got. If you hit it right, you should be able to stress fracture that chunk there, then we can get it out of the way."

A grin lit up Rogers face, Xander had figured that was the best way to think of him. Captain made him want to salute, and he didn't know the man well enough to call him Steve.

"I can do that."

Xander handed him a hard hat, and at the questioning look Xander shrugged. "Just cause a brick hitting you in the head would cause the brick to crumble to dust, doesn't mean I need to deal with hot heads whining about why you don't have to wear one, or OSHA being more of a pain than they already are with a volunteer work force. Wear it."

A low chuckle came out of Rogers. "Yes, sir."

"Don't call me sir, I work for a living." The automatic response left a funny look on Rogers face, and an embarrassed one on Xander's.

"You serve?"

"Not exactly." Xander offered his hand. "Call me Xander."

"Steve."

"Yeah, no. How about Rogers?"

"Why no Steve?"

"Cause that makes it seem like I'm friends with Captain America, and that just - while cool as hell - is a bit too much like lying."

The grin was blinding, and Xander knew if Dawn was here she would be wiping drool from her lips. "Rogers it is. Now I believe I have a chunk of concrete to deal with."

Hours flew by with Xander directing people, lifting things and basically working his ass off. His watch went off at seven pm, and he blew a sharp whistle that grabbed his crew's attention. "You guys and gals," he nodded to the current lone woman on the crew, "amaze me. You've done an awesome job today. Thank you so much for your help, but you've done enough for the day. The bar on the corner," he nodded at an Irish Pub that had only lost their glass windows, so was open for business, "has beer or cider waiting for you, courtesy of me. Thanks everyone. Hope to see you tomorrow."

There was a muted cheer and his small crew wandered off. Xander sagged down on to the tailgate of the truck.

"You're a strange man."

Xander looked up to see Rogers looking at him with an odd look on his face.

"I think I'm worried considering that is coming from a man that hangs around with gods, assassins, and your own personal wrecking machine." Xander smiled as he said that.

"Point. But you didn't blink at working with me. And you take good care of your people."

Xander shrugged opening the cooler and pulling out a bottle of water and tossing one to Rogers.

"I've known some impressive people. But I'm just a guy trying to help."

"Most men don't pick up a Chitauri weapon, figure out how to use it in under thirty seconds, and then start killing them without so much as blinking."

The soft feminine voice came from his blind side, and he flinched as he turned his head to see Black Widow, in civilian clothing, standing there looking at him. Her face neutral.

"Ma'am." Xander took a swig of water to delay, but it didn't help him with any answers. "Is that a complaint, a compliment, or an accusation?" He just sat on the truck tailgate, no reason to try and do anything. From what he had seen even Buffy might have a serious issue trying to take out this woman, he sure as hell knew he had no chance.

"None of the above. It is an observation."

"Okay." He gave her and Rogers a half shrug. "So, I'll see you tomorrow Rogers? Though I might have my sixth by then, but I can always use you and her."

"Yes. I'll be here."

"Great." He jumped off the gate, closed it, nodded to the Black Widow, and then clambered into the truck and drove way. Watching the two Avengers stare after him via the rear view window as he drove away.


"Do we know who he is?" Natasha asked as she watched him drive away.

"Um, Xander?" Steve answered confused.

"Any man that reacts like he did is more than he seems. Do you know anything else?" Her voice remained thoughtful as she watched the truck make its way down the cleared street.

"I was told his name was Alexander Harris by the FEMA organizational crew. Don't know anything else other than what I've observed today." Steve commented as they headed towards Natasha's bike to go back to the tower.

"And what observations would those be?"

Steve sighed casting her an aggrieved look. "That he's a good man? Works hard and treats me like a person? Not sure what else you are looking for. He has some combat training, and some military somewhere. But more than that I can't tell you. But I wouldn't mind him as a friend." He finished as he got onto the back of the bike. Nat didn't let anyone else drive her bike if she was capable of it.

"That in and of itself is interesting. I'll ask Jarvis to run a background."

"If you think it's necessary. But you know, there are people that are just good people."

"And there are people who seem to be good people." Her quiet voice held a wealth of experience, and Steve subsided. He put his hands gently on her waist and closed his eyes. She scared him with her driving.

Authors Note: These will come up slowly, as I think I finally have the hang of how Fanfic formats... maybe... not the best formatting but... hope you come visit me or look for my books under Mel Todd. The first one is called No Choice. Enjoy!