A Grey Justice on the Horizon

by Shadow Master

(BtVS/Young Justice/DCAU/Marvel Comics) Ever dress up for Halloween intending to be one thing only to be seen as something else by those that saw you? The Scoobies certainly do because thanks to the chaos spawned by the spell of Ethan Rayne they will become people who are quite different from what they'd intended to be. A difference that will echo throughout the world.

11. If two is good, then four must be better

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would appreciate it if no legal action were taken against me.

Note: Sorry for taking so long but when it comes to writing I am a slave to my muse and it's easier to work on a new plot idea that has my blood singing with excitement. However given the popularity of this story I decided to come back and write more. The fact that they're coming out with a Season 3 of Young Justice helped too.

Note 2: Because I kind of like the idea I've gone through the various actors and actresses in Hollywood and picked the ones I feel would be best to fill the roles of heroes/villains. I recognize that we all have our own opinions so please understand that these are MY choices.

Knockout = Aviva Baumann

Big Barda = Natalie Dormer or Bridget Regan

Cassandra Cain = Sola Aoi

Ra's al Ghul = Liam Neeson

David Cain = Josh Brolin

Naturally you'll have to imagine how these actors would look if they were the age of the comic book characters as specified either in canon or as I've written in previous chapters. So if one of the actresses above are twenty-something at the moment just imagine how they likely looked when they were the right age. I tried to choose actors and actresses who'd be the right age at this point in time in BtVS canon but for a few I just chose those actors/actresses I thought did a damn good job as the fictional character.

The Rented Cottage of Alexander Lensherr

Two Weeks Later

Xander's POV

"Why are we doing this again?" Knockout asked from her position in front of a post with four arms, each of which had something different attached.

"Was she like this during Fatal Fury training?" he asked from his chair in the backyard of the property he'd rented.

"No, but back then if you complained about your training you got stomped into the ground," Barda said from her position in front of her own multi-limbed post.

Point.

"Alright, I'll explain one more time. You and Barda are here on Earth because your old life doesn't mesh anymore with who you are now," he explained, hoping that it'd be for the last time. "The thing is if you want to stay alive you need to hide from your former allies and that means blending in with the locals and not drawing attention to yourself. You look human enough that a change of clothes is all you'll need to fit in. The problem is that you're a lot tougher and a lot stronger than anyone else. If you want to keep a low profile you need to keep from breaking everyone and everything you touch."

He'd learned out pretty quickly in the first week of their stay that the two ladies were used to people and things that could hold up to superhuman level strength. In the first week he must've gone through twenty doors, half the handles in the cottage, and replaced the contents of the fridge every other day. It wasn't that they weren't trying, every mistake gave them a reason to be gentler on the next attempt, but unless he wanted to draw unusual attention from the locals that needed to change. So on the eighth day of their stay he'd put together the posts they were using and designed them to be able to take some punishment from super strong people. Three of the 'arms' had a different type of handle, with the last one having an artificial hand attached to it. Beneath the surface of each appendage was a pressure sensor meant to measure how much strength Knockout and Barda were putting into their grip, with the upper limits of the construct being the max output of an industrial hydraulic press. Fortunately with Magneto's tech knowledge and some jury rigging, he'd been able to keep each invention small enough that it wouldn't be easily noticed by someone passing by.

Not his best work but so far he'd only had to replace the sensors or repair the posts three times.

"The pressure sensors beneath each handle and the fake hand are calibrated with the upper limits of what a human hand can handle before bones break. The light goes green you're good. The light goes yellow you need to ease up a bit," he said, continuing his explanation. "If it goes red it means you've either crushed the handle or turned some human's hand into pudding."

"And when bits and pieces fall out of the sensor?" Knockout asked after opening her right hand to reveal that that was what'd happened with her latest attempt.

"It means I need to take out one of the spare sensors," he said as he got out of his chair and walked to the box that contained those spare sensors.

Taking out the sensor he went over to the post and began the process of taking out the remains of the crushed one and installing the functional one.

Hearing the sigh from Knockout, he could tell that she was getting exasperated with the training and, while he could understand this, he also knew that this was just the beginning. Being able to grasp things without destroying them was only Phase one. Phase two would be performing the top twenty or thirty most common civilian actions without looking like anything other than a normal human being; opening doors, limiting what you lifted to what someone of your body type could do and making sure that when you did something like slapping someone on the back that you didn't send them flying across the room. It'd likely take a level of control that neither lady from Apokalips had ever been trained to attain since those that might require such a gentle touch didn't warrant such concern. Nevertheless, it was necessary if Barda and Knockout were going to blend into human society without generating waves that'd draw the wrong eyes their way.

"Now remember, Knockout: apply pressure just up to the point where you can feel the initial contact with the handle. That's when you land in the green," he said as he finished his work. "It might not feel like you have a good enough grip on it but you do. When we can get through ten days straight without a single red light, we can go onto stage two of the training."

"Stage two?" Knockout asked, sounding like she instinctually knew she wouldn't like it.

"Daily activities and not putting people into the hospital every time you smack'em upside the head," he replied as he sat back down into his chair. "Not pulling the doors off the hinges and crushing everything your hands wrap around is good but it won't mean much if you go through everyday having 'accidents'. Good in practice is one thing but good in daily life is where it has to work."

He could see a glimmer of understanding in Knockout's blue eyes but mostly there was annoyed reluctance at having to go through even more tedious strength training. This was definitely a girl who preferred to do things more active and exciting rather than something that was tediously necessary. She was the party girl, the fight fanatic and someone who looked at chaos as something that was interesting rather than a problem. Still, the training was necessary and from the looks of things Knockout was willing to follow his lesson plan for a little longer before she'd consider blowing off classes for something more interesting.

Personally he believed that the same discipline that made the two ladies warriors would help them stay the course with the training. So long as he did something to help Knockout with her excitement fix, she'd keep doing as directed. As for Barda, she didn't quite have the same NEED her younger war sister did and was as focused on the strength training as she likely was with a real fight. Nevertheless he knew he wouldn't be able to draw things out too far before both of his roommates wouldn't be willing to stay cooped up in the cottage any longer.

That, of course, had led to him beginning their introduction to human culture, laws and customs using what tools he had available to him. Television, movies and the internet were the primary sources of information he used, with him incorporating voice commands into each in order to save money on remote controls and keyboards. Of course he needed to be close at hand so he could put what the ladies saw in the right context. He had to separate fiction from fact, what was real and what was a form of entertainment, so that they didn't get the wrong idea about how they could act among other humans. The experience so far was a roller coaster ride, going from simple things to things that he had to outright avoid talking about aside from the most basic of descriptions.

Knockout particularly liked bringing up those things but he was sure that this was more to see him squirm than her having trouble understanding what she'd seen.

THANK GOD he managed to rig both the TV and the computer to lock out the adult entertainment stuff.

The doorbell rang, causing them to all look away. "I'll get it," he said just as he was about to get comfortable again. "Keep trying to get green, not red."

Entering the rear door of the cottage he made his way through the building to the front, wondering who it could be. His closest neighbors were over a mile away and this was a little off the beaten path for door to door salesmen, so he doubted that either of them were ringing his doorbell. It was possible, he supposed, that it was someone connected to his low key business since he was still going through his Magneto science know how to see what could be safely released. He had one or two ideas for new products and was just in the middle of penning the schematics that he would submit to the patent office before handing it all off to the factory he'd contracted to make his 'inventions'. If his visitor was business related it was probably some company rep looking to hire him on officially to make things exclusively for that company. His holo-wrist computer was a big hit even if wasn't available to the general public, so it was only natural that certain C.E.O.s would want to exclusively receive the profits from any future inventions he came up with.

However he had no intention of getting tied down to a company or be tied up in legal requirements to produce something he wouldn't have complete control over.

Another less liked possibility was that somehow, despite his best efforts, someone had managed to track down the source of the electromagnetic disturbances he'd caused. To his knowledge he hadn't left anything behind that'd connect him to them but there was one person who might be able to take several different incidents and create a trail that could be followed.

Batman.

At least it's daytime, so if it is the Bat he'll be in disguise, he thought as he reached out for the door. If he knew for a fact that I was responsible for the attacks on the League of Assassins bases or the E.M. flare ups, he'd bring some other heroes along as backup.

With the turn of the doorknob and a pull, he opened the door, expecting to see some guy wanting to ask him a few questions ranging from unremarkable in appearance to something intimidating.

What he got… well, it was safe to say it wasn't even in his top one hundred possibilities.

Maybe not even in his top one THOUSAND.

What he saw waiting for him on the cottage's porch was a fourteen year old Asian girl roughly five feet tall wearing a short sleeved white T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Her hair was short, going no further than halfway down her neck, and he could just imagine Cordy reading the girl the riot act about proper hair maintenance.

There were two things that caused him to throw out his original theories about what was going on.

First was the videotape the girl held out for him to take, the words 'Alexander Al Ghul: Watch Me' on it. Since the only people who knew about his connection with the Demon's Head was Ra's, his bio-dad's most trusted people, Talia and Artemis, they had to be the source. The archer was out of the question since she didn't have the resources to track him down and, even if she had possessed them, she would've come herself. His half-sister had the resources but again she likely would've come herself rather than send a messenger as young as this.

That only left Ra's himself but at least the butthead had sense enough to send someone else rather than come himself.

That wouldn't have ended well.

The other thing?

Are those natural or is someone sick enough to make a fourteen year old get implants? he thought as his took the videotape on autopilot.

He would later reflect how fortunate he was that neither Willow nor Buffy were around since he was sure that they would've somehow figured out where his mind had gone and BOY would they have made him pay.

The Living Room of the Cottage

Five Minutes Later

Big Barda's POV

"So who is she?" she asked, pointing to the girl a few years younger than Alexander who knelt patiently on the floor a few feet from the young man, a leather sack by her side.

"A messenger from a man named Ra's Al Ghul," Alexander replied as he turned the television on along with the VCR. "My biological father."

"Your biological father," she said, analyzing each word. "A cold term for one who contributed to your birth."

"I didn't know he was my father until just recently," Alexander explained with a truly chilly tone. "I also don't care if half my DNA comes from him. I want nothing to do with him or his organization. The only reason I'm watching this is because if I don't he'll try something more 'aggressive' to get his message across."

While this was not as plentiful with the details as she would've preferred, it at least provided her with a rough framework from which to judge what happened next. A new variable had recently entered Alexander's life and it was determined to be an unwelcome one that the young man sought to ignore. However this variable, this Ra's Al Ghul, would not accept that and had sent this girl with a message that the owner of the cottage believed would be heard one way or another.

Even if it was heard, I have to wonder what might happen if the reaction Alexander provides is not what his father hoped for.

A few seconds of snow filled static and then he saw the face of his sperm donator looking as arrogant and aristocratic as always.

"Good morning, Alexander. I trust the day finds you well," Ra's said, sounding polite and fatherly in the expected upper class manner. "As you can see I have fully recovered from our last encounter and I extend my congratulations on your victory. While I am disappointed that you have chosen not to aid me in my quest, I can respect that you wish to chart your own path. However, as I am sure you realize, choosing to live a separate life from me does not necessarily keep you safe from certain… complications.

"During the course of my lifetime I have made many enemies; enemies who I wronged in pursuit of my goals and others who simply want that which I possess," Ra's Al Ghul said, taking on a more serious tone. "While the more admirable amongst them will choose to target me specifically, others will construct plans that rely upon striking at the people, places and things I hold dear. Including you."

"What?" Xander asked with lack of comprehension.

"While it is true that only those involved in my search for you are aware of our connection, albeit to different degrees, that is not to say that there aren't those who could learn of it. It is, after all, to be expected for there to be spies in ones ranks, both known and unknown," Ra's explained, sounding like he'd anticipated the question. "Some are outsiders answering to one of my enemies while others are ambitious underlings looking to take my power for their own. Also, as I am sure you recall, there were those in the League of Shadows who were willing to go so far as to artificially create a successor. Therefore it is indeed possible that you may become a target given the right motive.

"The young lady who provided you with the videotape is Cassandra Cain, age fourteen, who is something of a prodigy in my organization. She is the sole successful graduate of a very difficult program that grants her a level of body reading ability that is quite close to precognition. Combine that ability with a level of martial arts mastery that far outshines her apparent age and she is to be your bodyguard from this day forth."

"Like hell she is!" Xander exclaimed, apparently refusing to accept anything from his biological father.

"While I know your initial instinct is to reject Miss Cain's protection services, you may wish to reconsider given the depth of your obligation to her," Ra's said with great confidence in his tone. "You see, when you attempted to get my attention months ago to discuss my actions against Miss Crock, you killed a great many of my subordinates either personally or by dropping that rod from orbit. Two of those people were Miss Cain's mother and father. Thanks to your actions, she is now an orphan."

She didn't even need to look at Alexander's face for more than a moment to understand that while peripherally the young man might've considered the consequences of his actions, no deep thinking had been done. It was a common enough thing amongst warriors stepping onto the battlefield for the first time after completing their training to be caught off guard by the realities of war. However all through her career as a Female Fury it had been made clear that there was to be no sympathy, no compassion and no mercy shown to the enemies of mighty Darkseid. They were all to be fought, beaten and likely slain in his name, with anyone showing even a little hesitation being beaten until they started thinking of things in the proper manner. Therefore she was a little confused as to why Xander would be so shaken at hearing that his actions had such consequences. Death was a part of any warrior's life, whether they gave it or one day received it. If Miss Cain's parents were worried about leaving their daughter alone, then they should not have taken up a weapon in the first place. If the girl was conceived after they had come into the service of Xander's father then they have only themselves to blame for the current circumstances.

"Before your mind considers the possible hidden motives I might have and the grip her instruction as a member of the League might have on her actions, I will remedy the problem," Ra's said before turning to the right as though he knew precisely where Miss Cain was kneeling.

What followed was a long series of sentences in some language she was unaware of but it looked like Xander understood the basics of what was being said.

"There. I have just told Miss Cain that as of now no authority, not even my own, is higher than your own with regards to her loyalty and her obedience to orders. From now on I could order her to do anything but she would only follow that order with your expressed permission," Ra's said immediately after giving the orders. "However I would advise that you be clear and concise with your orders so that there is no room for misinterpretation. No order from you will be considered unacceptable. I have made sure that all who train to become capable members of the League know that orders and the obedience of those orders is absolute. An ill made order could have consequences you do not approve of."

This was a bold move Ra's had just made but it would settle the matter of knowing whether or not Miss Cain could be trusted. Assuming the discipline and obedience in the man's organization was anything like what existed on Apokalips, then it would not matter how costly or how horrible an order Xander gave the young woman would carry it out. Indeed, if white haired young man ordered the girl to slit her own throat on the spot, she would likely obey. At the same time, though, feigned defections from one faction to another weren't unheard of back on the world of her birth, so this could be one of them.

I'll have to keep a close watch on this young woman, she thought, drawing up a plan to do so in her mind. While I do not believe that either I or Knockout will be staying with Alexander forever, avoiding unnecessary complications would be preferable.

Her adopted sister, after all, had a habit of getting carried away in the heat of battle and doing more than she should.

Depending on what was sent against Xander it could all but send up a flare for their old teammates to find them.

The Cottage of Alexander Lensherr

The Following Morning

Xander's POV

"Mmmmm…" he moaned, rising to consciousness. After a night of uninterrupted sleep he wondered what the day ahead would be like.

Obviously there'd be more strength training for both Barda and Knockout since they still had a ways to go before they'd be able to mingle with normal humans without incident. Then, of course, he'd set aside an hour or so to go over his Magneto memories to ponder what new technological innovations he could patent that couldn't be turned into weapons. Aside from that he'd be helping Cassandra settle in, all the while trying to fish for her true motives. As far as he was concerned his bio-dad didn't have a single altruistic bone in his body. Everything that that man did was for the advancement of his cause, it poisoned everything he did, and nothing would ever change that. Cassandra was there for a reason other than being his bodyguard, that was just a cover, and he would find out what that was sooner than later. If it turned out to be some sort of mind game to once more bring him around to the 'right way of thinking', then his sperm contributor would be waiting a long time.

Opening his eyes, he beheld the familiar sight of his room but the few fragments of his old slacker days had him roll over in an effort to get even a few more minutes of rest. Too bad his stomach would have none of that and it voiced its position with an audible growl that would not be ignored. While he could safely say that his powers didn't really do anything to increase his appetite no matter how much he used them, that didn't do anything for the appetite he'd always had.

Thus he reluctantly opened his eyes once more and prepared to get out of bed… only to find someone kneeling on the floor next to his bed, looking at him with unwavering eyes.

It took a couple of minutes for him to recognize it as Cassandra but she was not clad in the civilian outfit that he'd first met her in. This time she was wearing an outfit that could only be considered a ninja outfit, with a sword that he believed was called a ninjato strapped to her back. It consisted of black boots that reminded him of the socks Miss Sakamoto often wore when she stepped outside to get the morning paper, with a separate niche for the big toe. Next came pants of the same color but they weren't poofy like the ninjas had, but rather tight in some places but looser in those areas where tightness would hinder her range of movement. An equipment belt of some sort went around her waist, with pouches that he could tell had stuff on them as well as metal rings indicating that additional gear could be clipped onto it. Next came a sleeveless shirt that was only kept up by the part that wrapped around Cassandra's neck while also likely being secured at her lower back. Add a mask that covered the lower half of her face, gloves that had metal bits protecting key spots and armguards then you had quite the intimidating picture to wake up to.

"Cassandra… have you been kneeling there all night?" he asked calmly since he couldn't work up the energy to be more enthusiastic with his inquiry.

She nodded at him, indicating she had.

For a moment he considered asking why she'd do that when she had a perfectly good bed to sleep in but then he remembered that she'd been sent here as his bodyguard. As such that would require that she remain close enough to him to take action should a threat to his wellbeing present itself. Also she probably needed to be close so she could send detailed reports on him to Ra's that the man would then utilize to formulate a strategy for neutralizing him should he become a 'problem'. At the same time it made him a tad uneasy to know that there'd been someone watching him sleep the entire night.

"I'll buy some security cameras and put them up around the house," he said, figuring it was the best compromise that his groggy mind could come up with. "You can watch them all from your room, okay?"

For a moment it looked like the girl might protest and insist that she needed to physically be with him the entire time but eventually she nodded, albeit with some reluctance. It was a reasonable course of action and, given the size of the cottage, he doubted very much that it'd take her very long to go from her room to wherever it was that he happened to be in a pinch. Plus it wasn't like he was defenseless.

Indeed he was far from defenseless.

With his growing mastery over Magneto's powers it would take someone quite skilled or powerful to back him into a corner. Already he was getting to the point where he could effortlessly manipulate objects, ranging from a pebble to something as big as he was, and complex flight patterns were also getting easier. Extracting substances that were particularly responsive to magnetism was proving to be a stubborn nut to crack but he was confident that in time he'd be able to master it. Like anything else mutant powers just took time, effort and determination to master. True, he did have a bit of a cheat sheet compared to most mutants in the form of Magneto's memories. Whatever the case progress was nonetheless being made and eventually he would be as good at utilizing his power as the real Master of Magnetism could.

Getting out of bed in his sweatpants he walked over to a nearby chair to pick up his 'laze about the house' shirt and slip it on. Walking towards the door to his room, he could hear Cassandra falling into step behind him and whimsically wondered if this was the way it was going to be from here on out. Going everywhere and anywhere with a second set of footsteps matching his own as well as a blade ready to strike at whatever tried to do him harm. Honestly he was a middle class boy through and through, so all this stuff that came from being the son of someone powerful was completely alien to him.

Perhaps in time he'd get used to it but not anytime soon.

It didn't take him long to get downstairs and, much like it'd been the previous days since he accepted Barda and Knockout as tenants, they were each going through their morning routines. Knockout was on the couch watching TV, uttering the occasional command to either change the channel or adjust the volume. Barda was in the kitchen with the newspaper, using her father box to translate English into her own language. It was something that he'd have to talk to her about, though. While he knew nothing about Apokaliptian technology, he couldn't help but wonder if that device was something that the Female Furies could use to track their deserting ex-sisters. Could the sisterhood track it down like police could trace a phone call or a radio signal? If so then they'd need to destroy the father boxes or at the very least place them someplace far away from where they actually were.

If they couldn't be tracked… they'd still need to be careful with the father boxes.

If he was an evil tyrant of a planetary empire he'd definitely make sure that every piece of tech used by his soldiers had a surprise inside that could be used to his advantage.

"Good morning, Xander," Barda, said looking up from the newspaper.

"Sleep well?" Knockout asked with an amused look on her face.

"I take it you both knew Cassandra chose to guard me while I was asleep?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I was aware that she didn't stay in the room you gave her," Barda replied, looking genuinely unaware of what the bodyguard had done. "However I did not know she'd gone to your room."

"I did but I figured it only made sense since she'd do a better job of protecting you if she was in the same room," Knockout said, sounding as amused as she looked. "Did nything interesting happen?"

Judging from her expression and what he'd come to know of the redhead's personality, the possibilities dancing around Knockout's brain were probably fresh from the gutter. Not that he thought she was a nymphomaniac or anything but rather that she figured that that would be the most humorous possibility. Shaking his head at being a source of amusement, he went about his usual kitchen routine without pause. As an afterthought, though, he prepared a small plate of food for Cassandra since the serious girl would likely not eat until she was sure he was safe and only a little bit to minimize any window of opportunity. Add to that the fact that she'd likely gotten little if any sleep…

I'm definitely going to have to convince her that I'm not defenseless, he thought as he took both plates to the table before setting the first in his usual spot while putting the second where he figured his bodyguard would stand. Otherwise I'll never get any alone time and she'll probably get sick from lack of sleep and food.

It was then that an idea came to mind.

"Hey, Knockout? Howsabout we try something different today instead of the usual strength training?"

"What do you mean?" Knockout asked, turning away from the TV.

"Well, I know you're getting bored and frustrated doing the same the thing every single day so I figured why not try something different?" he replied, making things casual. "I need some combat practice with my powers and more experience with Female Fury tactics. Care to help a guy out?"

"You did well against them the last time you fought them," she replied, sounding a little puzzled.

"Last time they didn't know who or what they were dealing with and they didn't count on Barda switching sides," he explained, remembering the battle well. "Next time they'll be ready and probably bring some of those Parademons you mentioned. I need to be ready. Besides, Cassandra's never fought them and you see how seriously she takes her duties. She needs to see firsthand what she could be up against."

He had no doubt that the young woman could probably kick the ass of just about every human out there, he doubted Ra's would've sent anyone less skilled than that, but it was a whole other ballgame when it came to beings with superpowers. Having experienced firsthand the power the Female Furies possessed he knew he'd likely be able to handle what came his way but without any info Cassandra would likely be killed easily. Even if she learned how the Furies fought there was no guarantee that she'd be able to survive an encounter with them. If the difference in speed and strength and skill was too great, then he'd have no choice but to order her not to engage them.

If the young lady proved to be as stubborn as Buffy, she wouldn't like that and the only thing that'd have her obeying would be her training in the League of Assassins.

Still, it was anyone's guess how long that'd last so he might want to start thinking of a way that Cassandra COULD hold her own against the average Female Fury.

Maybe some sort of armored suit?

Not Iron Man armor but something that would complement her fighting style while providing her with enough protection that she could take a couple of hits from a Fury and still fight. Maybe something more like what was in some of those Japanese Anime he sometimes watched with Knockout. While there were of course giant ones, there were also ones that resembled old fashioned knight armor with a bit of sci-fi added on to up the cool factor. If he could create something that would bring her mobility and strength up to the point where it could match a Fury, it'd drastically increase the odds of Cassandra surviving.

He'd begin working on basic design that night, work on the more technically detailed schematics over the course of the next week and then find a way to order what he'd need to make it after that. Some of it would probably need to be bought and channeled through shell companies since there were people who'd probably monitor such materials and equipment. Once he had them, though, there'd be the whole process of seeing if what worked on paper could work out in real life before making the inevitable adjustments to deal with the things that didn't work.

Even if he devoted his time to R&D of a suit for her, it'd probably be a few months before he'd have a prototype ready for field testing but then he had nothing but time.

So long as no surprises popped up to force him to put the project on hold.

"I'm game if Barda is," Knockout said, looking like the cat about to play with the mouse.

Considering the color of his hair, the analogy fit.

"I would feel more confident of our next encounter with the Furies if I knew Xander could handle them even if they were prepared," Barda admitted, nodding in favor of the new training.

"Then finish your breakfast, gear up and meet me by the lake in thirty minutes," he said as he devoured another mouthful of his morning meal.

Time so see if the fight with the Furies really was luck or if he was powerful enough to hold his own against the likes of them.

The Area by the Lake

Thirty Minutes Later

Knockout's POV

"Okay, just so we're clear: first I'll attack you and you'll do your best to evade or block. After that you'll go on the offensive while I focus on defense," Xander said, standing a little over twenty yards away. "Then to top it all off we'll have a free for all that'll end once there's only one of us still able to fight. No killing, no permanent injuries. Being unable to fight means being immobilized or too tired to even throw a weak punch. Got it?"

"Yeah, and in the end I'll have you, too," she said, limbering up a bit for what was about to happen.

It was definitely going to be a whole lot better than practicing how to grasp something without breaking. Oh, sure, she'd gotten it pounded into her head often enough that it was necessary but that didn't change the fact that it was boring as hell as well as frustrating. Therefore when she heard Xander propose this little bit of combat training, she almost praised almighty Darkseid for sending such a gift except she knew that if the ruler of Apokalips was involved it'd have been a lethal gift. Regardless, she'd gotten geared up in the clothes she'd worn from albeit with some makeshift mending done where it'd been damaged during the escape. Barda had her armor on with her, along with her Mega-Rod and other equipment so they were both fully prepared to put Xander through his paces.

First, though, they would see what kind of moves 'Magneto' had before showing off some of their own.

"Yeah… sure," Xander said, choosing to ignore the other ways her words could be taken. "Now get ready because I'm going to be going all out. You two being big and tough Apokalips girls should be able to handle that, right?"

"Fortunately for you I like it rough," she said with a feral grin. "Bring it!"

"Consider it brought!" he said before little fragments of metal erupted from his cape, heading her way.

She remembered these little blades from the fight with the Furies and chose to see whether or not they could keep up with her. With short but quick hops to ensure maximum maneuverability she evaded the projectiles, not worried in the least about whether or not Barda was faring well. She'd seen her 'big sister' fight countless times and if she wasn't being pressed too hard to evade the blades, then Barda'd be treating it like dodging floating feathers.

It was kind of fun for the first few minutes but she soon started to feel the tinge of boredom.

"Is that all you got?" she asked in a somewhat condescending manner. "Can't you do better?"

"I was just warming up," he replied, a grin on his face. "This is where I bring the heat!"

With only a second or two of warning energy concentrated in the air a foot or two in front of Xander before, with some crackling, a blast of electricity zapped out towards her. THIS forced her to actually take things seriously since, with the speed it possessed, instinct was the only thing that kept contact to a graze. Nevertheless, even with her natural durability, the crackling energy stung, causing her to wince, further causing her to double her efforts to evade his attacks. For a moment she thought that the buildup of the energy charge would allow her time to anticipate it, increasing the odds for successful evasion. However her theory proved to be in error when Xander fired off successive bursts of electricity at both her and Barda.

This definitely kept the two of them on their toes.

Barda changed things a bit when she took out her Aero Disks, attached them to her feet, completely airborne at speeds beyond what she'd been managing before on foot. She grimaced in annoyance that she hadn't been able to acquire a set of her own before escaping Apokalips and the gear the Furies left behind didn't include a single intact pair. Fortunately the change in Barda's maneuverability looked to be commanding more of Xander's attention, so the pressure on her from the electrical blasts went down proportionally.

She was certain that her 'sister' had taken into account when she'd pulled out the Aero Disks.

"Better, Xander. If you can keep up this rate of fire and improve your accuracy, most of the Furies will find it difficult to get up close with you," Barda said as she flew about in a pattern that was hard to predict. "Just remember that they'll have Aero Disks like mine and others will have abilities that will allow them to evade even discharges as quick as these easily."

"Adapting to surprises on the battlefield is something any warrior learns quickly," Xander said, firing off a few more blasts of electricity before electing to try something else. "Let's see how you do."

With a single arm pointed at Barda, she saw… something… shoot off from it but it was barely visible, so she couldn't properly identify it. Her sister, however, apparently perceived it enough to partially evade it but the surprise came with what the glancing blow did to the armor of the former leader of the Female Furies. It didn't result in serious damage but even from where she was she could see signs of the metal distorting somewhat. Given what she'd seen so far it would be easy enough for Xander to fix afterwards and she had a feeling that he was holding back most of the power the attack normally had.

If he'd aimed the blow better and gone all out, a large chunk of armor would've been destroyed, to say nothing of the damage done to the flesh beneath.

Impressive.

Considering how many of the Female Furies wore metallic armor, Xander could seriously injure any one of them with a direct hit.

Time to return Big Sis' favor from earlier. She adjusted her evasion to make her harder to ignore by figuring prominently in his field of vision.

Like most rookies, the closer something or someone dangerous was. the more focus was provided in combat situations. By shifting Xander's mind in her direction, his ability to aim and fire anything at Barda would go down. decreasing the chances of a direct hit. Seeing him fire off a few of the nearly invisible blasts in her direction, she immediately veered out of the way even if she knew she'd likely get hit with a glancing blow herself. Still, what she was wearing had precious little metal in it due to it being the outfit of a prisoner on death row and a disgraced Female Fury recruit. As a result she didn't expect it to be harmed overly much since Xander's powers were magnetic in nature.

"It's not a good idea to make assumptions," Xander said, a serious look on his face.

She only had a second to wonder what he meant before her side exploded in pain and muscle spasms causing her to screw up her the landing from her latest evasive jump. Crashing to the ground, she had to ask the obvious question: what the hell had just happened?

"My magnetic ray blast might be good at destroying metal but it can also mess up living things, too," Xander explained as though he'd been reading her mind. "Living things generate their own bio-electric field and electricity can be influenced, if not controlled, by magnetism. Basically even if you don't have a scrap of metal on you, my powers can still do some damage."

"How much damage?" she asked as she forced her body to do what she told it to despite the pain.

"Let's just say you'd have one more hole in you than nature intended if I'd hit you with a full power blast dead center," he replied with all due seriousness.

"Good to know," she muttered, stepping up her evasive maneuvers to make sure she didn't get hit again with a magnetic ray blast.

Even with the pain, even with being limited to defensive action, a feral smile blossomed on her face. THIS is what she lived for, the intoxicating thrill of battle, and she could only imagine how much better it'd be if none of them pulled their punches. When she'd originally found out what Earth was like she'd been worried that there wouldn't be any real challenges, no warriors worthy to pit herself against, but the fact that Xander existed meant that beings of strength did exist on this planet. Perhaps the strong ones were outnumbered by the weak that made up the majority but they did exist.

Best of all she got the feeling that if they ever came across some that checked all the wrong boxes with Xander then he'd fully endorse literally tearing them limb from limb!

She could hardly wait!

That Evening

Cassandra Cain's POV

It was an honor.

Even before her former master had first met with his son, work had begun to select an appropriate bodyguard for the heir of the Demon's Head. While Ubu and those that had come before him were traditionally tasked with guarding the heart of the League, there had been no clear candidate deemed capable of performing the same task for Ra's Al Ghul's son. As a result a tournament was held among the twenty members who were both the most skilled and who possessed the necessary skills for bodyguard work. While all members of the League of Shadows were trained to be the best with virtually all sorts of weaponry, most were assassins. Their experience was with killing targets, often alone, while prioritizing the success of their mission before everything else. Also some of them would be too obvious in their affiliation and skills, making it easy for those targeting Alexander Lensherr-Harris to plan effectively.

She was one of the candidates submitted by her father David Cain to participate in the tournament.

This competition, however, did not just evaluate their combat skills but also their ability to blend in with any civilian population and conceal the full breadth of their skills. They were transported to a variety of locations around the world and tasked with fulfilling specific goals while not deviating from certain operational parameters. While some deviations could be permitted in small numbers, there existed those that, if perpetrated, resulted in the immediate disqualification of the candidate and a reconsideration of where best to deploy their talents for the benefit of the League of Shadows.

It'd come down to her and the daughter of one of her father's chief rivals for League assignments. She had been urged to make her victory decisive and so she had used every bit of her technical knowhow and learned strategies to make it clear who among the two of them the superior candidate was. However the poison user had proven to be more skilled than she'd thought and had been able to sporadically confuse her ability to read her. It wasn't perfected but rather the actions of someone who'd only learned of the basics of her ability a short while ago and had put together a countermeasure on the spot. She'd had several close calls and during the second last exchange she'd received a grazing strike from her opponent's poisoned claws, but her foe had underestimated her father's efforts during training. The man who'd raised her had not only trained her in how to fight but had also taken steps to ensure that the favored tools of potential enemies would have their effectiveness reduced.

Poison being one of those tools, of course.

As a result her foe had been taken completely by surprise when she hadn't just dropped dead and she had pounced on the opportunity to deliver three decisive blows. Two went to key nerve bundles, one in each arm, causing the limbs to go limp and unmovable for a good while. The third went to the one spot guaranteed to render a person unconscious in one hit, provided it was done perfectly.

If the blow was executed imperfectly, it would kill the one on the receiving end.

One might think that killing her foe would be the decisive win her father desired but she knew the truth. It was one of the iron rules of being an assassin that you couldn't get bogged down fighting every person who crossed your path. You needed to prioritize so you did not wind up failing your primary mission. Therefore you only fought those you needed to, utilizing non-lethal methods against those that could delay you and lethal measures against those that stood a chance of actually killing you. By executing the last blow perfectly and merely rendering the poison user unconscious, she sent the statement 'you are not good enough to be considered a threat to my life', adding insult to the victory.

Thus she had won the right, the honor, of being the bodyguard of the son of the great Ra's Al Ghul!

Still, her father had warned her that her foe might try to arrange a failure in the future and so she should maintain optimum awareness of her environment at all times.

She heard and she obeyed.

She hadn't been certain what to expect beyond what she'd been told during the briefing but what she'd seen so far made her wonder what could truly hurt Alexander.

She had carefully witnessed the training session between Alexander and his two companions, so she knew of what she spoke. Control over metals and all objects affected by magnetism meant that ideally in an urban environment, Alexander would be nigh unbeatable. In areas where metal or magnetically affected materials were scarcer, there might be a problem if there was no time to gather the necessary ammunition, so she would need to do advance recon of any place Alexander wished to go. If he insisted on going someplace with little if any suitable sources of ammunition, she'd have to arrange for a truck loaded with suitable materials was brought along or voice her concerns to him. Hopefully he would recognize the tactical disadvantage going to his desired location would place him under and reconsider.

As for Alexander's companions, Knockout and Barda, they held the potential to be significant allies or terrible enemies depending on how the future unfolded.

As allies they would be able to add considerable tactical strength should a hostile party attack. Both possessed superhuman physical abilities as well as a resiliency that would make it difficult for foes below a certain threat level to harm them. Even if they were hurt, her observations indicated that they would heal much quicker than a human would and, being warriors, might be able to continue to fight respectably even if injured.

However if they turned out to be enemies she would be hard pressed to protect Alexander. All her weapons were designed to work upon humans and these women clearly were not human save in appearance. If she fought them head on she might be able to seriously injure one of them but she would likely die before being able to do the same to the other one. Therefore her best odds for success would be to detect the signs of their impending treachery in advance in order to stack the odds more in her favor. Poisons, toxins and tranquilizers administered through various means might kill them or at the very least weaken them to the point where the playing field would be more even.

All relied on her being able to detect the evidence of their alignment in relation to her current master in time to take the action she desired.

That was why she watched from the position she had chosen that would give her the best angle to keep solid watch on Knockout and Barda while still being able to shield Alexander in an instant. So far she hadn't seen any sign of danger but both ladies had proven themselves to be warriors capable of taking action with only a moment of warning, so she resolved to stay on her guard.

"So, we gonna do more combat training tomorrow?" Knockout asked, sounding in favor of the possibility. "I'm game."

"Nope. Back to strength training," Alexander replied with a shake of his head. "I know how much you liked it earlier but good times are the best every once in a while, not every day. But I'll tell you what: when you manage to get green again and again with two of the grips, we'll have another sparring match."

"Fuck!" Knockout griped, slumping in her place on the couch.

"It'll be something to look forward to, Knockout," Barda said from her chair to Knckout's right. "Plus it'll give us time to think up some tactics that'll have him running like a scared mouse."

THAT put the smile back on Knockout's face with a bit of playful maliciousness that was enough to make her make note to monitor their actions for the immediate future. She would deduce the nature of the tactics they would develop and pass on that knowledge to Alexander immediately so he could come up with tactics of his own.

"WELLLL…. when you put it that way," Knockout said, looking directly at Alexander. "I guess I can show some effort tomorrow."

"Good. There's a lot to be said for training with the motivation," Alexander said with a lopsided grin.

It was true that, provided with the right incentive, a person's performance could increase but it could also make them more impatient. Based on her observations during the training earlier, Knockout was bold, bordering on reckless, in how she approached a fight. The redhead fought more like a force of nature rather than a skilled master of the battlefield. With such a personality, having a reward dangled in front of her might actually lead to her progress in the strength training dropping rather than rising.

This would be good since it would give her time to learn what her master might be facing once the next combat training session was scheduled.

With enough time any foe could fall to a carefully constructed strategy.

One Week Later

Mid-Morning

Xander's POV

"KNOCKOUT!" he yelled in anger at the mess he beheld.

"It was an accident!" Knockout fired back in defense of herself. "Besides, it's her fault for not dodging! Some bodyguard she is."

"It's a little hard to dodge what you don't see coming," he said, pointing out a universal truth.

Sure, there were some warriors, some martial artists, who possessed uncommon awareness of their surroundings to the point where catching them by surprise was almost impossible. However this level of excellence was not perfect and even those who managed to reach the height of what humans were capable of in this regard it was still possible to surprise them.

Though for someone taught in the League of Shadows, you'd think that Cassandra would be able to evade the contents of a mixing bowl.

It'd been a momentous day yesterday when both Barda and Knockout had managed to get not two but three of the grips to stay green after twenty-five separate attempts. As a reward for this he'd decided to cook them a congratulatory chocolate cake this morning since, as far as he was concerned, something sweet and completely unhealthy was the perfect reward. When Knockout and Barda had seen him working in the kitchen they'd been naturally curious about what he was doing, so he'd explained. This had led to them volunteering to help him out and, since he couldn't really think of a good reason not to accept the aid, he'd agreed. It'd started out well enough, with him assigning them tasks to perform and, thanks to their progress with the strength training, there hadn't been all that many accidents.

The problems began when Cassandra had begun to inspect the work of both Knockout and Barda a little too thoroughly.

After the first few times he'd asked her what precisely she was doing and, in rather broken English, she'd replied that she was inspecting it for poison. This had offended both Barda and Knockout, causing them to deny that they'd ever do such a thing, but that had only caused a suspicious look to blossom on Cassandra's face. This lack of belief had added fuel to the offended duo, both of whom then fired some sharp but subtle words at the bodyguard along the lines of the young Miss Cain being a more likely threat to his life. Surprisingly enough Cassandra just turned up her nose in dismissal before resuming her inspection with her usual dedication to perfection.

However it'd been when Cassandra had dropped to one knee to get the right implement from one of the drawers that things had taken a turn for the worst. In anger Knockout had grabbed the bowl holding the batter for the cake and, in one passionate movement, had launched the contents at Cassandra just as the Asian girl was rising back up.

"You should probably change out of those clothes and take a shower, Cassandra," he suggested while thinking about what could be used to expedite the cleaning of the mess. "I'll take care of things down here. It might take a bit longer now but we'll still have the cake ready in time for supper."

For a moment his bodyguard seemed reluctant to do so but then nodded before striding off as swiftly as she could, no doubt intent on minimizing the time he was without her.

"Look you two, I know Cassandra's not exactly great when it comes to getting along with people but she's just doing her job," he said, trying to get the warriors to cool down and be understanding. "I mean, she hasn't even been here a month so she hasn't gotten to know either of you well enough to know you wouldn't try poisoning me. Just give her a bit more time, okay?"

Neither young lady said anything but he could tell that their anger at being accused of trying to poison him had dimmed a bit with the truth of what he'd just said.

Looks like I'll have to wait until round two to finish this, he thought as the doorbell at the front of the house rang. At least it'll give me time to think of more things to convince them with.

Hopefully, though, the visitor was just someone he could brush off with ease so he could get back to the day's schedule. It was the most likely course of action since, aside from Ra's, no one else really knew he lived there and, since he was off the proverbial beaten path, it'd take someone pretty determined to see him to come out all this way.

It didn't take him long to reach the door but when he saw who was on the other side, he had to admit he was a little surprised.

"Not a bad place you got here, sugah," Cordy said, standing on the front porch. "A little too Johnny Appleseed for my liking but it suits you."

"I like to think so," he said with his lopsided grin firmly in place. "So what brings you to my quaint little abode?"

"You're the one that gave me your address and phone number," she replied, taking the napkin he'd used that day out for her to see. "I figured today was as good a day as any to see if you'd picked up any of Erik's good taste. Looks like you've got a ways to go."

"Just because I've got some of the last Magneto knocking around inside my head doesn't mean I've changed that much," he pointed out as she stepped aside and gestured for Cordy to enter. "I'm still Xander at heart."

"And ain't that a shame," she said with the same expression she usually had when they'd verbally sparred.

"Alexander? Who is it?" Barda asked, sounding closer than the kitchen.

"Just an old friend come to visit," he replied offhand without a lot of thought.

"Really? Sounds like someone I want to meet," Knockout said from even closer.

It was at this point that he remembered one very important fact that had somehow escaped his notice up until then: How the two young ladies from Apokalips tended to dress when they weren't training.

Due to the fact that he hadn't judged them prepared enough to mingle with the common humans of the planet Earth, the two had a very limited choice of clothing to wear. They had the outfits they'd worn while fighting the Female Furies soon after their initial arrival, they had their Apokaliptian version of undergarments they sometimes strutted around in and, when necessary, he lent them some of his clothes. Knockout was a little big in places and Barda was a little taller than him so they weren't perfect fits but he'd judged them to be good enough for indoors or in the backyard.

The problem?

What was perfectly acceptable from his point of view might not be so from someone else's, especially if they'd had poor experiences with the opposite gender. Cordy, for all her rich girl attitude and confidence, hadn't had the best of luck when it'd come to dating back in Sunnydale. She had everything going for her, from money to looks to overall popularity. Unfortunately, because of her status as the queen of the school's social scene, she'd only accepted requests for dates from equally popular people. That meant star jocks or simply the guys every other girl in the school were after. However such people who looked good did not necessarily have the best personalities and neither did they have any desire for a serious relationship. Some were just looking to score some rep points with their friends while others were just looking to score period before abandoning the girl once she'd been checked off their list of desirable conquests.

Cordy had likely had no too few encounters with less than honorable dates but, even though she'd come out of it okay, it'd no doubt colored her opinion of men, possibly to the point where certain scenarios instinctively caused her to believe the worst of men.

"Well now… ain't this interestin'," Cordy said with her Southern accent getting stronger. "Startin' yer own personal harem out here, sugah?"

"Of course-" he exclaimed, intent on denying the outrageous idea.

"-He is!" Knockout said, wearing only one of his borrowed dress shirts and the bottom half of her usual undergarments. "After all, out here in the middle of nowhere who's going to know? No one, that's who. At first it was just me and him but when we caught Barda peeping we decided the more the merrier. Interested in joining?"

"Knockout! You-" he tried to say in an effort to stop the tall tale from getting any bigger, but the redheaded warrior clamped her hand around his mouth, silencing him.

As a side note it didn't really hurt indicating that her control was indeed getting better.

Had it not been, she likely would've broken his jaw and that would've sucked.

"Now, now, Xander, you don't need to be shy about this. Quite the opposite, really!" Knockout said with a smile that implied things of a naughty nature. "After the fun the three of us had last night, you have more right than any man on the planet to brag. I popped so many times it's a miracle I can still walk!"

Great! Feeding Cordy's idea that I'm in a relationship with two women. He turned to Barda, hoping he more mature one would defuse the situation.

The small, amused grin on the dark haired woman's face made it clear that he wouldn't be getting any help from that corner any time soon. Worse than that, the grin could be mistaken as confirmation that something steamy had happened last night when in truth it hadn't. Turning back to Cordy, he could tell that she'd come to the conclusion that painted him in a poor light, causing her mildly threatening expression to turn angry.

"Oh, really? Why do I have a hard time believing that?" Cordy asked rhetorically, anger seeping into the pores of her words. "This is the guy who got turned down by every half decently pretty girl in high school and the one girl that he might've stood a chance with decided to date someone else instead."

"Just proves that all those other girls were a bunch of superficial, self-centered and rather shallow people who didn't know they were passing up a diamond in the rough," Knockout said, making a show of how much contempt she felt for the fictional other girls. "Everyone with half a brain cell knows that the things you have to fight for, to look for, are MUCH better than the things that are already shined up and ready for you. But something tells me that you don't have much experience fighting for anything or looking for the good stuff."

…Oh hell.

"Leave it to a slut like you to mistake a piece of cheap glass for a diamond!" Cordy fired back, having had her discerning eye insulted. "As for fighting for something, I worked my ass off to be the queen of the social scene back in high school and, as for looking for the good stuff, I never settled for less than the best!"

"Then you need to get your eyes checked, 'cause you definitely missed the grand prize with Xander here," Knockout said with a bit more of an edge to her words than before. "Of course maybe you just need a good… pumping… to see things clearer. You can go up with Xander to the bedroom right now in fact. It's still WARM!"

"PLEASE! The day I need Xander for ANYTHING other than dealing with freakiness is the day the world comes to an end!" Cordy fired back with her high school socialite venom back in full force. "Besides, unlike you, I don't do it anytime, anywhere and for anyone!"

"Probably explains why you're so tense. Your standards are too high," Knockout said with a smarmy smile on her face. "Cherry's probably still in one piece, too. After all, who could possibly have met YOUR standards long enough to ram it on through."

"Standards are a sign of class and you clearly don't have any!" Cordy yelled, looking like she might try to throw a punch if things got any more heated.

Reaching up, he used all the strength he could muster to pull Knockout's hand off of his mouth so he could try to reason with the two ladies before his cottage got demolished. He was a bit surprised that he managed to pull it off but guessed that the young warrior's strength training was doing better than he thought if he was actually managing to move her hand off his face.

"Now we all need to calm down!" he said, glaring at both ladies while maintaining a calm voice. "Cordy-"

"Stay out of this, Xander!" Cordy yelled, returning his glare plus interest. "This is between me and the bitch here!"

"Don't worry, lover, this won't take long," Knockout said, sounding completely confident in her eventual victory. "Then maybe once she's gone we can have ourselves a little victory party upstairs. I'm ready for round two if you are."

"That's it!" Cordy bellowed before bringing back and launching her right fist and Knockout's face.

It was at this point that several instincts came forward that didn't require consultation with the brain whatsoever. The first was to protect Knockout because, while he might not have known her for very long, he knew enough to know that she wasn't all that bad a person. Maybe a bit reckless and impulsive, plus prone to getting really carried away during a fight, but all in all not that bad. Then there was the fact that he had made the choice to help them get settled in on Earth and it'd be something of a violation of that choice to let her get KOed by a former classmate.

The second instinct was to tap into his powers to erect a barrier between himself and the oncoming source of pain and potentially fatal injury, seeing as how Rogue had the strength to put holes in tank armor with ease. Needless to say that any punch that could do that would definitely pulverize flesh on contact, so getting a magnetic barrier between himself and the fist would be of the good.

The last bit of instinct was weakest of the bunch and so typical of his gender that anyone who claimed it could be suppressed had obviously never experienced it. This instinct was, of course, lust and the desire to actually see if he COULD convince Cordy, Knockout and Barda into a foursome with him in the bedroom. Fortunately the time he'd spent with Willow growing up had resulted in a counter instinct to suppress this and Buffy had only reinforced it by possessing the ability to pound him into paste if he gave his inner pervert too much free reign.

What he did in the privacy of his room, however, was his business in no one else's.

Since everything was happening on an instinctive level, his effort to erect a magnetic barrier between himself and the oncoming fist was not as quick or as efficient as it would've been had he conscious willed it to happen. As a result, when the punch reached the point of no return, the magnetic energy present had not yet solidified into something capable of deflecting or stopping it. Therefore, while the attack had been slowed, it had not been stopped, so he suffered the fate most men did when they tried to get in between two fighting women.

He got punched.

HARD!

He was a little fuzzy on what happened next other than suddenly being airborne, crashing into something and then landing on the ground, but once he stopped moving his mind began to recover.

"XANDER!" three voices exclaimed, aggravating his head a bit but also aiding in clearing it at the same time.

It was as his vision cleared that he beheld the sight of Cordy, Knockout and Barda rushing towards him, looks of concern on their faces, albeit at different degrees of intensity. A part of him was happy about that since it'd hopefully lead to the three of them being a bit more reasonable and give him a chance to explain the true situation rather than Knockout's bit of fiction. Thus the potential fight between three and the utter destruction of the cottage was averted.

BAM!

Ka-POW!

SLASH!

And there goes the match lighting the fuse once more, he thought as he beheld a moment slowed in time of Cassandra appearing out of nowhere.

In the space of three moves she'd managed to land a blow on each of the advancing ladies before doing a backflip, no doubt intended to place her in front of him with her ninjato at the ready. It was really rather impressive but at that point he realized that his bodyguard must've been caught unprepared by the violence because all she'd been clad in was a bath towel wrapped around her middle. He used the 'she had' or 'she'd' because, as a result of her acrobatics and attacks, the bath towel had come loose so, just as she touched down on the floor, it fell to the floor under gravity's pull.

As a result she was now as naked as the day she was born, with a ninjato in position to attack or defend, either unconcerned about her present state or unaware of it.

The only saving grace being that it was her back to him so he could fool himself somewhat into believing that she was just wearing a VERY tiny bathing suit of a color that matched her skin tone.

However, given the expressions on the faces of the three ladies was a combination of surprise, incredulity and, unless he was mistaken, a little bit of envy.

He tried not to dwell on that last one.

Cordy's POV

"So let me get this straight…" she said, sitting down on the chair she'd chosen. "Knockout and Barda come from another planet and escaped here to so that the redhead wouldn't be executed. You fought off the people who followed them but you figure they'll be back. You're also trying to help them blend in with human society with strength training and exposure to mass media but you haven't taken them into the city yet. Is that about right?"

"Pretty much," Xander said with a nod. "I mean, from the way they talk about it, Apokalips might as well be a hell dimension, so if they want to live here instead then I'm gonna do what I can to help them out. They're making some pretty good progress with the strength training and thanks to TV they're at least getting the broad strokes of how humans act. Once they're able to blend in I'll give them some starter money like I did with Raven and then that'll be that."

Reasonable enough.

It was in keeping with Xander's habit for helping girls in need and, besides that, if they learned enough to blend in then they'd be harder for these Female Furies to find. More than that, though, it'd mean they'd part company from Xander and that made her satisfied. They weren't friends, at best they were sparring partners, but she did respect him to a certain degree. Anyone who could put up with terrible parents, daily torment from bullies and then fighting the forces of darkness deserved at least some respect. Seeing as how he now had the power of Magneto under the hood as well as a healthy amount of the scientific knowhow, his approval rating had definitely gone up.

Still, this was three girls he was helping in less than a year and, if he kept doing it, eventually he'd wind up helping someone that'd take advantage of his kindness for malign purposes.

"And this girl is a bodyguard sent by your biological father, who's the head of a global group of assassins. He thinks you might get assassinated or something because of what he does," she said, pointing to the now-clothed Asian girl.

"Yep," Xander said, nodding in confirmation with her words.

This was something that she'd have to see some proof of this scary organization before she'd believe it, she did have to wonder whether or not having abusive deadbeat parents was preferable. On the one hand, while they did terrible things to you, at least they didn't make a living off of the deaths of whomever they were hired to kill. On the other they still treated you like their own personal punching bag and, if present circumstances were anything to go by, the assassin boss was leaving Xander alone aside from sending a bodyguard.

All in all she'd almost be willing to say that the latter was preferable.

That is if the girl hadn't proven herself to be without modesty a short while ago AND seemed prepared to follow whatever order Xander saw fit to give her. With a setup like that it'd only be a matter of time before the dweeb gave into his guy impulses and started ordering her to do all sorts of pervy things, ranging from dressing her up in pervy clothes to… to… servicing him when he got the itch. Oh, he'd deny it if she confronted him on it now but she'd learned the truth about guys a long time ago, so there was no question of what would happen. Just like Harmony couldn't be anything other than a pea brain who'd put out at the drop of a hat, guys were incapable of resisting certain impulses when presented with an opportunity to indulge in them.

Then, of course, there were the two girls from the alien planet that acted like, while they'd seen how humans were supposed to act, weren't about to stop being who they were just to fit in. Knockout acted like your typical wild child party girl and, while it was possible that it could all be a front, it also looked like she viewed sex like most people did a get together at the local teen club.

That, of course, being something perfectly ordinary that could be done with anyone you took a liking too regardless of whether you'd known them for a while or had just met that night.

Barda seemed to be more reserved than her fellow alien but she did get the impression that she'd been taught the same mindset as Knockout had, so who knew how freely she'd agree to a roll in the hay. From the moment she'd stepped inside the cottage, the dark haired girl had just watched the proceedings from a distance but, when Xander had looked to her for backup, she'd just grinned. Did that mean that Barda just wasn't as forward as Knockout was on the matter of putting out? Was she one of those quiet ones that were mousy one second and a cat in heat the next? She didn't know. She had too little information to make a conclusive call on that front.

Taking everything into account, there was only one sensible choice to make.

"Well, I hope you've got room for one more here 'cause I'm movin' in sugah." Her tone was one that made it clear she had chosen a course of action.

"Huh?" Xander asked, a dumb look on his face.

"I. Am. Moving. In," she replied, spelling it out for him. "Yeah, I know I'm being a little pushy but let's face it: you're a guy. Put in the same house as three beautiful teenage girls and it's only a matter of time before you start thinking with your dick instead of your head. Not that there's much up there to begin with."

And there is the offended look that came before the attempt at denial.

"If I just left you alone, whatever self-control you MIGHT have would evaporate quicker than spit in the Sahara," she said, continuing her mission statement. "Since Buffy and Willow aren't here I guess I'll have them owe me one by keeping an eye on you for a while."

Then just to make sure he couldn't throw her out without feeling like crap, she went for the coup de grace.

"Besides, it's better than staying at the homeless shelters every night," she muttered offhand, turning away from him halfway through her sentence.

"What?" Xander asked, taken aback by what he'd heard.

"It's not like I can work thanks to my powers. You think anyone'll hire someone that has to be covered up from head to toe?" she snapped with the necessary amount of bitterness. "Besides, I didn't even finish high school so I don't even have a diploma. Not that there're a lot of jobs that pay good for someone with just a high school diploma these days."

There! With such a sob story there was no way that he wouldn't let her stay.

Xander might've never set foot in a homeless shelter before but he'd probably seen depictions of what they were like in movies and television shows. Those were, from what she'd learned firsthand, toned down versions of the truth. She was pretty sure that if the public knew how things really were at the homeless shelters they'd be taken aback. Sure, there were fundraisers for them and, sure, a lot of money was raised, but no one really had any inkling of just how many homeless shelters really existed in America alone. Even with the donations made, it was no better than a drop in the proverbial bucket, in fact it was a pointless act that only served to make the donators feel good about themselves. It cost a lot of money after all to keep the homeless shelters up to the local health standards AND try to have enough supplies to tend to whoever walked through their doors.

The places she'd stayed at after leaving Sunnydale hadn't been completely decrepit but it was clear that the owners had to pick and choose every month where to devote most of their funds. Things that could be left unattended to for a while longer were set aside for those things that had to be maintained on a month to month basis.

"But don't you still have your money from your savings account." Xander said, sounding a little puzzled.

Damn. Leave it to him to find the one hole in my story. "No. All the money I have is going to paying for my parents' stay in the hospital. I didn't earn the money in my savings account, Xander. Every dime came from my parents and I don't have access to their accounts. Only the family lawyer does."

"Then why isn't he paying the hospital fees?" Xander asked, looking and sounding a little confused.

"I'd ask him that myself if I knew where to find him," she replied bitterly at the memory that sprang forth. "He's NEVER at his office, his secretary refuses to give me a phone number to reach him at and I'm no detective. Money gets deposited into my account every once in a while but only enough to pay off the next batch of hospital bills for keeping my parents alive."

This was more of a half-truth than an outright lie because she really didn't have any idea how to get into contact with the family lawyer who did have the only legal access to her parents' money. The money making it into her account actually contained a little more than what was necessary to pay the medical bills but it was still barely enough to afford a room at a roach motel and some simple meals. Considering the fact that her clothes were custom and needed upkeep every couple of weeks, she knew that some of it had to be directed there. With what remained there wasn't enough for both food and a room so she spent it mostly on food, leaving homeless shelters as the only place he could stay at to sleep.

Seeing the expression of someone who was debating the pros and cons, she waited for Xander to reach a decision but she was pretty sure he'd rule in her favor.

"Fine. But I expect you to do your best to get along with the others and NOT destroy my cottage," he said in a serious tone. "I might be making decent money off of my patents but I'm not Bruce Wayne. I have limits."

"Not a problem so long as SHE doesn't try to start anything," she said, pointing at Knockout, since she knew that the redhead would be the big problem.

"Hey I can play nice with anyone," Knockout said, trying to sound perfectly likable. "Right, Barda?"

"It depends on which version of 'play nice' you decide to use," Barda replied casually, a crack of unease on her face. "I don't think he'd appreciate the kind of 'play nice' you used with Lashina."

"Well, I've been learning lots of new things since we came to Earth," Knockout said, not sounding bothered in the least. "I'm sure I can learn a new version of 'play nice'."

Why did she have such a bad feeling about that?