Time disappeared and the days flew by faster than he could grab in his hands. His phone was always charged and by his side. The messages from Safira were just enough to keep him from panicking, for all that he pretended he wasn't concerned.
"You're and excellent liar," Pepper said.
Xander jerked his head up to see her standing in his office door.
"what do you mean?" Xander saved the proposal for the bar, there was a sub-street level shop that never recovered from the invasion, and focused on her. Pepper was many things, flighty or random was not among them. IT meant she had a reason for stopping by.
She moved all the way into his office and settled herself into one of his two visitor chairs. Dressed in a sleek skirt suit, she radiated call. And she hadn't broken anything lately.
"How are the tea ceremony lessons going?" Xander asked, making himself comfortable.
Her face lit up with a smile. "Surprisingly well. After I broke the first ten-cheap- cups, we've moved up to decent porcelain. It was an excellent idea, as was sparring with Safira."
"Ah, you did take that up. I wasn't sure as she didn't say."
Pepper arched a brow. "You mean she doesn't tell you everything."
"No, thank the gods. The last thing I need is details about her sex life. But unless it directly affects her slaying, we agreed to let each of us have private lives. Granted if I had asked she would have told me. But more most of our conversation since Christmas has been on Jolie, Steve, college, and patrolling. She isn't crazy enough to ask me for help with her homework and she has quite a bit." Xander smiled with soft joy, which faded as the knowledge she was missing classes reasserted herself. "If she has to drop this semester, I'm taking it out on both Nat and Steve."
"Yes, that. That is why you are an excellent liar. Everyone things you are calm and collected. Even Darcy is fooled believing you have full faith in what our absent three are doing."
"Faith yes. Am I worried? I'm terrified. But I can't do anything right now except watch and wonder if praying to Thor would make a difference."
Pepper blinked. "Why Thor?"
Xander shrugged. "Most gods pay way too much attention if you ask for help, Thor I've at least met and I don't think he'd take offense if I prayed to him. Besides the two of us still need to go out drinking at some point, we have lots of to talk about."
Pepper opened her mouth, closed it, gave him a hard look, then shook her head sharply. "And that goes under 'things I don't want to know about. Back to our wayward three. Are you sure they are okay?"
The tension in her voice had his head whipping back up to look at her, the mouse creaking ominously in his hand. "Do you know something?"
Pepper sighed and glided into the small office, settling herself into one of his two chairs. "Not a blasted thing. Tony is climbing the walls, Bruce is twitchy, and I didn't realize how much joy Safira brought with her. I want all three of them back safe."
Xander closed his eye and sank back into his desk chair. "Me too. Last I heard they were following up a lead. Something about an old base and a scientist? She's texting me mostly in code, so I'm not positive."
Pepper tensed. "Texting you? Even in code that's risky."
Xander snorted. "I dare anyone who's not a Scooby to decrypt this. Even Jarvis didn't have a clue." He pulled up his phone scrolling up for the past three messages as he never did more than respond with a heart.
*Divebombing swoops chasing our personal grimoire.*
*Need to find Initiative.*
*Frat house located, Babylonian translation incoming.*
Pepper arched a brow at him. "That does sound a bit like nonsense."
"It's the best encryption you can get. Things that only mean something to someone that lived through it. Basically they touched base with Sam, have gotten a lead on a military or government base and located the entrance. That last one was only an hour ago, so I'm waiting. And she is sending it from a phone with both Jarvis watching it and Willow enchanted it. I'm not sure it can be hacked or spoofed."
"Oh, please don't tell Tony that. He'd take it as a personal challenge." Her body relaxed. "That does make me feel better. I suppose I shouldn't be worried. Nat and Safira are almost as tough as Steve. They can handle almost anything." She looked at him for reassurance and Xander forced a smile.
"That's what I keep telling myself," he said, but his phone buzzed in his hand before he could finish the thought. While her phone calls rang out with "Battlefield" by Pat Benatar, text messages just buzzed like the rest. Which meant he looked every single time.
*Moloch here. He activated self-destruct incoming. Sorry. Love you Papa.*
The words struck with the force of a hammer to his heart. "Jarvis!" He all but yelled the word as his body went ice cold. "Did a missile just launch?"
"Yes, Xander. It is headed for the decommissioned Army base. Impact in 45 seconds."
Xander hit the favorite marked Red Witch on his phone.
"Answer willow, answer willow," he chanted. "I need a time display." He was barking orders and aware of Pepper's wide green eyes watching him even as her face had lost all color. A display appeared on the one-way glass that let him view the waiting area. Normally it had a picture or could be used as a TV. Now it had the number 30 glowing on it.
29
"Willow answer!" He screamed at the phone.
A click and a sleep voice. "Xander, what is it? I was-"
He cut her off. "Find Safira, now. Protect her. A missile is incoming." He said the words so fast they tumbled over each other.
22
"What? What do you mean a missile? Where?" Her voice sharpening and he could hear her fumbling with her sheets trying to focus.
19
"Willow can you protect her?"
Thor if you can hear me, protect my daughter, I offer you everything, my life, my soul, protect my daughter.
"Xander where is she? I need to get to my supplies to find her." He could hear power slipping into her voice. "Is she near you?"
13
"No. I don't – where Jarvis?" He stood staring at the numbers decreasing. The phone on speaker. He flipped back to text.
*break the stake*
"Miss Safira is in upstate New York at the decommissioned Camp Lejeune Army base."
The little green bar moved across the screen, then a red exclamation popped up. Unable to deliver.
8
"Looking," came her voice, but Xander had quit breathing as he hit the "Try again" button.
5
"Impact imminent." Jarvis said the words in a soft tone. The door to the outer office banged open. But Xander didn't even look to see who might have come in.
2
"Please?" He begged, not sure if he was begging Willow or Thor or the gods themselves. He couldn't lose her like this.
0
"The missile has impacted, seismic reading registering it. Destruction widespread."
"Xander? What?" The power had snapped out of her voice, her concentration broken.
"Too late. Thank you Willow." He disconnected as he stared at the 0 flicking on the screen.
"Harris? What is happening?" Tony asked even as Darcy's arms wrapped around him.
Xander couldn't reply, his voice gone as his heart searched for his daughter. "I lost her. She's gone. She's a slayer, not Wonder Woman." It was a stranger's voice issuing from his lips. "I'll destroy them. I'll destroy them all."
He heard the soft conversation between Pepper and Tony, Darcy holding him tight, but he couldn't think of anything except the gangly twelve-year-old covered in the blood of a demon and her village, staring up at him, hope in her eyes. A hope he'd never wanted to let down.
Running steps and a half sob cry broke through his haze. "Xander? Jarvis said to come. What is wrong?"
He blinked a wet eye and looked at his slayer, his tiny, abused slayer. "I, I think," his voice cracked and he pulled away from Darcy to sink to his knees. "I think the bad guys got Safira."
"She's dead?" Jolie's voice quavered and Xander opened his arms. Jolie slammed into them, and there in the office, with Darcy standing next to him, hand on his shoulder, Pepper in Tony's arms, Xander wrapped Jolie in his arms and left grief and rage flow.
The mood was somber and Darcy stepped into the outer office to talk to Jarvis.
"Xander, Jolie, can we help?" Pepper asked. Tony had white lines around his mouth and looked older than Xander had ever seen him. But right then Xander felt like his body had turned to ash.
"I need to contact the council and work on recovering her body." He swallowed down the words. "And Nat's and Steve's if they are there too."
He could see the thought slap both of them as they remembered. They had been together. Tony went gray around the edges and Pepper, ever the stronger of the two, guided him to a chair.
"Capiscle dead?" His voice hoarse.
Xander shrugged but it slowed on the down slope. Maybe.
"Xander?" Jarvis voice had Xander spinning, a cruel spark of hope in his chest. "Miss Rosenberg is on the line."
Before Xander could say anything Willows voice filled the room, much clearer than on his cellphone speaker. "Xander what happened?" Her voice sounded scratchy and he could hear her running.
"A missile was dropped on her location. Can you sense her?"
"Oh goddess," her voice cracked, but she kept breathing and thumping down stairs—probably to her workroom. "My grasp on her was broken, I couldn't figure out what snapped it but a missile hitting her physical location. Is," Willow cleared her throat, "is she dead?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that." Jolie leaned against him, her focus on Willows voice as much as his was.
"One minute, searching now."
He stood, locked in hope and fear, Jolie's hand sinking into his thigh leaving bruises and he didn't care.
"She's alive."
Xander hit the ground, his knees refusing to support him. "Is she okay? Hurt?" The words spewed out of him.
"I can't tell. She's alive, that is all I can tell. I'm sorry." Willow took a breath. "I can teleport there, but if she isn't someplace safe-" she broken off and Xander didn't need to fill in the rest. If the situation were dire, she might have to pull harder than she wanted and that might trigger Darth Willow, which would put everyone in danger.
"No. Thank you. We'll start with mundane methods. I'll let you know. I love you Willow."
There was a sucked in breath on the other end. "I love you too. Be careful. We can't let you get hurt. Let the others do the rescue."
The words said with love, still cut into his soul, but he didn't let it reflect in his voice. "I won't get hurt. I'll let you know." He hung up before either of them could say anymore. Some wounds couldn't heal, not without help.
"Can we get people, machines out there-"
"Xander, Sir! I have a signal from Miss Safira's phone." Jarvis interjected and Xander whirled, scrabbling for his phone where he'd dropped it. It took forever, eternity for him to bring up the text app, at least seven seconds.
*Are you okay? Terrified.* He hit send and stared, holding his breath, waiting for his hope to be destroyed.
The little typing icon appeared and his heart hung in the balance. *Duck and cover good, no master here. Headed for swoops, Shacklebolt worked for Kakistos. Three amigos looking for a musketeer.*
He read the words out loud and Pepper and Tony looked at him while Jolie danced around the room with Darcy, both of them whooping in joy. "They're okay!"
"I'm so going on a baking spree for those three when they get back. They can't do this to us," Darcy said, a smile splitting her face still wet with tears.
I've finished this story and will be posting slowly - and starting on the Age of Ultron. But the big news is book 4 of Twisted Luck is up for Pre-order - at amazon dot com/dp/B08ZL6NB79