Chapter 4
Giles Place
That Afternoon.

"So they decided to test her anyway?" Xander asked.

"Yes, I am afraid so," Giles replied sadly.

"Where would they be likely to do it?" Xander again asked.

"Probably a warehouse somewhere in the older part of town, they need to have a darkened space for the vampire," Giles answered. "They use Hunter teams to capture one, then they torture it, starve it, then finally offer it freedom if it can kill the Slayer."

"That is barbaric," Whispered Willow.

"Too right," Giles agreed, sadly expecting that his Slayer was already dead.

"Let's go, people. We have to find her and stop that test!" Faith practically screamed.

"Right! Giles, Wills, let's go," Xander snapped out.

The four rushed out of Giles' house and piled into the car. Burning rubber, Xander headed for home. He whipped into the driveway, and almost rear ended Rhodey's big SUV.

They jumped out of the car, and followed Xander into the shop, but got very worried when they heard Xander's cry of dismay.

"Noooooooo!" came the anguished voice.

When the others rushed into the shop, they found Xander holding up a dismantled gauntlet, an expression of dismay on his face.

"What's going on, Xander?" Deidre asked in her distinctive accent.

"The Council have Buffy, they've neutralized her Slayer powers, and they're testing her abilities by putting her in with a vicious, starved vampire. We have to save her," he answered, almost in tears.

"Xander. Calm down. I brought the new model suit, you can use it," Tony said as he entered Deidre's shop.

Rhodey came in behind Tony and laid the case on the bench.

Deidre opened the aluminum briefcase and started checking the parts out. As she finished inspecting the left boot, she handed it to Xander.

Xander set it on the bench and started to take his clothes off.

Willow looked over at him and yelped. "Xander!" she cried, mortified.

"Calm down Red. He ain't naked, he still has the chest piece on," Faith smirked at the blushing redhead.

"What exactly is going on here?" Giles asked.

"Tony, could you fill Giles in on the situation?" Xander asked, not wanting to be distracted as he dressed.

Stark pulled Giles outside and explained about Xander's injuries, the chestplate, and the suit.

Willow, in the meantime, stood stunned, watching as Xander put the boots on and then pulled up the leg covers.

"Xander?" Willow asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Later, Will. Buffy's in big trouble, and I gotta help her," her oldest friend replied.

Deidre handed Xander a gauntlet, which he donned. He pulled the arm cover up to snap to the chest plate, but he couldn't get it to line up properly. Faith stepped in and helped connect it. He pulled the other gauntlet on as Giles and Tony stepped in.

Deidre was checking out the helmet, and trying to talk to Xander.

"Everybody, quiet down! Xander, listen to me!" she snapped, and everyone shut up. "There have been some modifications to your equipment that you have to know about. There is a lot more flight time in the boots now, over twice as long as you had previously. There is now a low level laser built into the left gauntlet. It's that pencil sized opening on the back of the gauntlet. It is triggered by the firing stud to the right of the one that triggers your repulsor."

As she paused to hit a few keys on the keyboard and check the helmet readings, Giles and Willow looked at each other.

"You're that 'Ant Man' that Buffy was talking about, aren't you?" Willow said suddenly.

"Got it in one, Red," Faith grinned.

"So, you've known about this all along?" Willow accused.

"Yea, but it wasn't my secret to tell, Red. I was just helping out Xan," Faith calmly replied.

"On the right Gauntlet," Deidre continued instructing Xander, ignoring the others' minor squabbling. "You will find a trigger stud to the right of the right hand repulsor. Hold your hand out away from anything, make a fist and press it."

Xander did as he was asked, and with a kind of "schwing! " sound, a metal blade about a foot long popped out of the back of the gauntlet. Everyone jumped back in surprise when it happened, and Xander looked at it carefully.

"It's partly wood," he observed.

"Correct, the blade itself is an Admantium alloy, and the center pieces are notched and dovetailed teak. That blade will punch through a car door, and the wood center will allow you to destroy a vampire, I am sure.

"So what is the low level laser for?" he asked as Deidre handed him the helmet.

"From talking with you, Faith, and Rupert I've learned that vampires are somewhat flammable, so that laser should be able to ignite them, without offering too much danger to the surrounding area."

"Cool!" he replied with a wide grin.

"Wicked cool." Faith added.

"WHAT is going on here?" came a voice from the door to the shop.

Xander looked up and saw a somewhat distraught Joyce, obviously looking for Buffy.

No one knew what to say, but Joyce didn't stop either.

"I came home to pick up a painting for a customer, and I find the front door open, and the living room looks like a major battle occurred there. I can't find Buffy, and…." she paused. "I don't know what else to do, so I came here to ask for your help finding her."

Dawn appeared behind Joyce, looking both scared and curious. "She left Mr. Pointy," the small brunette said, holding tightly onto the stake.

Everyone there knew Buffy would not go anywhere without her favorite stake.

"That does it! You're all set, Xander!" said Deidre as she unplugged the leads for the helmet and handed it to Xander.

The former Zeppo started to put it on, then paused and looked at Giles.

"So you think the old warehouse district, huh? You going to follow?" he asked.

"That is the only place they could hold it, other than the old power plant, but they know we are aware of the power plant. It would have to be somewhere dark, and where else is there?" Giles asked, as he slowly slipped into 'Ripper' mode.

"You going to follow me?" Xander smiled, the idea of Ripper meeting the Council representatives appealing greatly to him.

"Too right!" Giles glared.

"I say again, WHAT is going on here?!" Joyce cried, almost in full panic.

"Giles will explain in the car, Joyce. Don't worry, everything'll be okay," Xander said as he snapped the helmet shut and the armor powered up.

He peered out the door to see if anyone was looking, then stepped out into the yard. Seeing no one, he triggered the boot jets and started flying toward the "wrong side of town"

Deidre grabbed a bag off the bench and started handing headsets out to everyone, including Dawn, a fact which made the young girl smile.

Rhodey jumped into his SUV and Giles steered Joyce into her Jeep Cherokee passenger's seat, snagging her keys. Faith and Dawn quickly climbed into the back, not wanting to be left behind..

Giles hurriedly put the headset on and started the vehicle.

\\ "Xander, where are you?" // he asked, pulling out into the street.

\\ "Crossing James Street and heading towards the old warehouses. Jets are shutting down now, so I have to let them charge, so I'll be running." //

\\ "Do we know what kind of vehicle the Council is using?" // Rhodey asked as he pulled up behind Giles.

\\ "Something that would seat 4-6 people, as that would be what they would normally use in this situation. I was unconscious when they left and I didn't see how they arrived," // Giles responded.

He was trying to explain to Joyce what was going on, and drive at the same time. Faith was helping, by commenting on what she knew, but to Buffy's mother, it was not enough. She broke down and started sobbing, fearful for her elder daughter's life.

\\ "I'm airborne again, and heading for the roof of the old Valley Produce building, guys. I want to be able to look around, // Xander informed them.

\\ "Roger that, we will hold at the edge of the warehouses till you give the word." //

Inside a Dark Warehouse

The blonde Slayer just sat watching the huge vamp as her head cleared. She didn't feel right, at all; she was weak, almost nauseous.

Slowly, she looked around for a weapon.

"Glad you are awake, Miss Summers," came a voice from her left. She looked over and saw a man in a tweed suit walking out of the shadows.

"Why am I here?" Buffy demanded, though it didn't come out very threatening.

"This is your Cruciamentum, the traditional ritual for a Slayer who has come of age. Normally it's held on your eighteenth birthday, but your Watcher kept stalling, so I came to administer it myself. Quentin Travers, representing the Watchers Council, at your service," he said.

"What is it? What do I have to do?" Buffy asked, confused.

"It's really very simple Miss Summers; you just have to survive," replied Travers.

"Huh?" She asked, still not understanding.

"Using a combination of drugs and magic, we have stripped your powers. Now, all you have to do is defeat Ivan here to pass the test. If you can't pass it, well, another Slayer will be called, perhaps one better suited to slaying than you," said the Watcher with disdain.

Buffy was thinking as fast as she could, trying to decide to decide how to get out of this mess.

Travers turned and walked into the shadows once more. When he was gone, there came a terse sentence.

"Good luck, Miss Summers, and have fun, Ivan."

The vampire jumped at Buffy right away, leaping the table with inhuman speed.

The chair Buffy started to swing at the vampire wasn't even close.

He hit her with a powerful backhand, sending her flying across the room into the far wall, then followed her like a lion stalking his prey. The young blonde started to sit up and noticed a small opening in the wall, most likely used for pipes or wires. She was sure she would fit, but knew the vampire would be too large to make it through.

In a flash, she skittered down the wall and slipped through the opening. The vampire wasted several precious minutes trying to make himself fit through the hole, before looking for another way into the room.

Outside in a florist's van, several of the Watchers team viewed the proceedings this through remote cameras.

"Don't worry, she doesn't have a chance. Even if Ivan fails, we still have another dozen in the basement to let loose on her," Travers said, lighting up a cigar.

One of the council members didn't like what he heard, but Travers was in charge. He dared not disagree with the Senior Council Representative.

Several Blocks Away

Xander was walking slowly around the edge of the roof of the abandoned warehouse, the audio pickups of his helmet turned up as high as they would go. He had turned off the radio, so no one would call him and deafen him.

He was just about to give up when he heard a crash and a grunt come from the old Hormel Meat plant, four blocks over.

He lifted off with the recharged boot jets and flew cautiously closer.

Landing on the roof of the building in question, he listened. He heard more crashes, a muffled scream, and then laughing.

Xander ran over to the edge of the roof and looked down. There were a couple of tweed wearing guys watching something inside of a florist's van and they were laughing.

"Ohhhh, that had to leave a mark," said the oldest one.

Xander was so mad he almost jumped on them, but then he heard a crash from inside and he flipped the radio back on as he ran to the skylights.

\\ "Found 'em. The old Hormel Meat Plant. The Watchers are in a florist van parked in front on Main Street. I'm going in, sounds like Buffy is getting hurt." //

\\ "Be careful, Xander. You never know what Travers might try to do," // Giles warned.

\\ "Got it, G-Man." // Xander said, then he jumped.

As he leapt, he sealed the suit, making sure no glass, wood or dust would endanger his eyes. He dropped like a stone toward the floor, triggering his boot jets and drifting down slowly, arms crossed across his chest.

By now, the vampire had found and caught up with Buffy. In the middle of the room, a huge vampire was holding Buffy off of the ground by her neck, the blonde too weak to fight him off. There were fang marks on her neck, and the vamp had blood on his lips.

"I will beat you into the ground, robot!" the vampire snarled, his Russian accent thick.

The huge bloodsucker tossed the Slayer away as if she were a discarded beer can and walked toward the 'Robot'.

Xander was trying to decide whether to use his laser, or try out the new stake. Then the vampire grinned and a bit of Buffy's blood ran down his chin.

\\ Okay, that makes it very simple. I'll pound him a bit first, // he decided.

As the vampire closed the distance, Xander fixated on the blood on the vamp's chin. When the undead demon was only ten feet away, he pounced on the vampire, swinging a hard right to the thing's unprotected chest in a classic heart punch.

His anger must have been greater than he thought, because to both Xander's and the vamp's surprise, he punched the creature's heart right out through his back. The vamp dissolved to dust around his arm.

Xander backed off in surprise as the dust drifted to the floor of the old warehouse.

He paused for only a second, then quickly darted over to Buffy's side. He used his scanners to check her out; her breathing was shallow, pulse weak, but she was partially conscious.

"Take it easy, Buff. I'll get you out of here," he said soothingly.

She looked into his eyes, all she could see through the mask and spoke. "Xander?" she said softly.

"Yeah, Buff. It's me. Just thought I'd give you a hand," he replied softly, brushing her hair back out of her face.

Outside

"What the hell was that?" asked a very irate Quentin Travers. "Where did it come from?"

"I don't know, sir, it just dropped in through the skylight," replied the other tweed dressed man.

Travers grabbed the remote control out of the camera operator's hand and pressed the button.

"The rest of them should be able to kill both of them," he smirked.

"If my Slayer dies, you Bloody daft wanker , I will kill you myself," Giles promised as he stepped up to the open doors of the van; his face a mask of rage.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Do you think 'The Ripper' scares me?" Travers replied.

"It bloody well should, you wanker," Giles stated flatly as he drew a gun and pointed it at Travers' head. "If Buffy Summers dies, I will put you down like the dog you are!"

One of the men at the back of the van began to pull out a HK MP5. He didn't quite make it as Faith quietly moved up behind him, slammed his head against the door frame and took the sub-gun from his now-limp hand. She handed it to Tony Stark.

Rhodey came up on the other side of the van and enthusiastically tapped the driver on the side of the head with his modified HK USP.

Faith disarmed the remaining conscious thugs and tossed the guns out in the street.

"Where are they, G-Man?" asked the dark slayer.

The other tweed wearing man, Leonard McMasters, turned to Giles. "They just released a dozen more vampires in the building."

"Shit!" Faith swore, as she turned and sprinted into the building.

Rhodey started to follow her, but Tony called him back. "Jim, they know what they're doing. Don't try to help, you'll just end up distracting them."

Rhodey turned and walked back to the van full of Watchers. One of the Watcher team looked at him and smirked, so, with a wide smile, Rhodey laid him out with a hard right, then looked at the rest, daring them to make a move.

Inside

Faith ran through the junk of the abandoned warehouse as fast as she could, trying to get to Xander to help. When she finally found him, he was standing in a corner, Buffy leaning up against the wall behind him, as he 'toyed' with the remaining nine vampires.

As she watched, Xander let loose with his right repulsor, sending a vamp flying across the room. Without even a second's respite, he lit a second vamp up with the laser sight and triggered the new low level laser, igniting the surprised bloodsucker that was his target. A puff, a flame, and then a moment later, there was a soft poof! as he dusted.

Faith walked over to the one he sent flying and staked him as he tried to get up. She stood there, watching the one sided battle, then was forced to jump out of the way as Xander launched another one toward her.

"Hey, watch where you're tossing out the garbage, Ironman!" she called out.

"Sorry!" he replied as another one lit up, and dusted.

Faith staked the one nearest her, then moved closer to the remaining vamps.

Three lunged at the armored man at once, and Xander was glad for the practice that Faith had given him. He had learned enough to be really helpful in hand to hand fighting.

Xander pounded a straight right into the chest of the vamp on his right, and the wood centered Admantium blade dusted the vamp.

He then grabbed the one on his left by the throat and squeezed, snapping its neck. He tossed the vamp toward Faith, who staked the creature in mid air.

The last one grabbed him and tried to slam a head butt into the forehead of the Iron Man, but when he was met by the fast rising metal helmet, he only managed to cave his own head in. His brain, stunned from both the force and the damage, shut down. He fell backwards, flat on his back, where Faith drove her stake into his chest. He never knew he was dusted.

"Faith?" Xander asked, cocking his head to the side indicating he was asking her a question.

"Nothing, I-Man," she answered, letting him know there were no more vampires near them.

They had been working together long enough now, to be a very good team.

Xander turned and gently picked the blonde Slayer up and started to carry her out of the old warehouse.

\\ "Got her, Giles. She's lost some blood, and is pretty beat up. Can you get Joyce here with a car?" //

\\ "I'm already here, Xander." // he heard Joyce answer.

Faith pushed through the old doors and held them open as Iron Man exited with his precious cargo. Joyce flew out of her car and to her daughter, even as the man in the black metal armor gently carried her to the jeep.

Dawn looked on in fear as she saw her normally strong and forceful sister carried like deadweight. She looked into Xander's eyes, saw the smoldering fire there and knew that whatever happened, the Watchers would no longer be the same.

They put the injured Slayer in the back seat, Xander sending Faith to hold her along with Willow, and had Joyce drive to the hospital a few blocks away. He promised that he and Giles would be there soon, once they straightened a few things out.

Xander strode over to where Giles held a gun on his superior.

"Well, Quent, you really screwed the pooch this time," Xander said, his voice masked by the helmet electronics.

Gently taking the gun from the angry Watcher's hand, he spoke to the Watcher. "Giles, she'll be okay. She's strong, and I got here soon enough."

"I don't think you realize the trouble you are in right now!" Travers sputtered, not knowing what to call the armored man. "When the Watchers Council finds out that you have interfered with one of the time honored trials of a Slayer, there is no telling what will happen."

"You can call me Iron Man," Xander said, holding up the gun he had taken from Giles. He slowly started to squeeze, the sound of protesting, rending metal coming from his fist as he gradually crushed the weapon the same way a normal person would crush a soda can.

When the gun was nothing but a piece of deformed metal, he tossed it to one of the Watcher's muscle men, who dropped it as fast as he could, the heat of the metal being crushed too much for his bare hands.

Travers looked at the 'Iron Man' and leaned against the van.

"Young man, the Watchers Council has existed for centuries, and during that time, we have dealt with many people who have interfered with our policies. You are no different," he said arrogantly.

Xander stepped up to the man and held his fist in the Watcher's face. With a soft 'schnick', the Admantium blade popped out. He laid the blade on the Englishman's cheek gently.

"Have you ever heard how Dr. Walter Freeman, who used to do lobotomies in the late 40's and 50's? Well, he used to shove an ice pick-like object up someone's nostril, punching through the skull, in the same manner that the ancient Egyptians did to remove the brain from someone being prepared to be a mummy. Well, once Dr. Freeman did this, to a live patient, he would swirl the point around in the brain a little. This was known as a frontal lobotomy." Xander's watching the History channel actually paying off.

He stepped back a bit.

"Now, I'm not threatening you at all, in any way. I am *Promising* you. If anyone from the Council ever tried to cause any problems for Buffy or Faith, I will perform one on you. And *I* will really swirl this," Xander stated with complete sincerity, the anger visibly coming off him in waves, that was felt by the others right through the armor.

Travers just looked at him with disdain and turned away in dismissal. He stopped and turned back to Giles.

"By the way, Rupert, consider yourself discharged. I'll send your replacement immediately," Travers said.

He stepped into the van and pulled the door shut, and just as quickly found the door missing. Xander had yanked it off the side of the van and tossed it back down the street with a clatter.

He started to reach inside for the Watcher, but Giles stopped him.

"Let it go, Iron Man, he is not worth the effort," Giles said sadly. "Men like him have always hidden behind a superior attitude and tradition. Nothing you could do would make a difference."

Xander stopped his rush, but stood there angrily.

"Perhaps there is something I can do, Rupert," Tony interrupted.

The head of Stark International stepped up to the stuffy Brit and looked him in the eye.

"My name is Tony Stark. I'm the head of Stark International." Travers' eyebrows lifted at that.

"I have come to know Giles, Buffy, Faith and some of the others quite well recently, and have learned the story of the Slayers and Watchers. I must say that I am disgusted with you, sending teenage girls to fight vampires alone, or with only their Watcher to help. I think it is time for some traditions to be retired."

"Now listen here…!" Travers started.

"No! You listen. I am going to take the tapes from this trial and give them to a good friend of mine, Nick Fury. I am sure you know about S.H.I.E.L.D, and probably know about Nick, as well. I am also going to talk about you to a few of my contacts in MI6, about your treatment of these young girls."

"But you can't, the Slayers have always been the property of the Watchers Council," sputtered Travers.

"The Slayers are no one's property, glared Stark.

"I am going to put the full backing of Stark International behind these two girls here, and support then in any way I can. I guarantee that we will provide them with better weapons than sticks, crossbows and swords."

Tony took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Now, get out of here before I lose my temper completely and decide to ruin you personally," Stark told the shaken Watcher.

Iron Man just turned away and lifted up on his boot jets, swiftly zooming away from the others.

~~~~~ ***** ~~~~~

Sunnydale General Hospital

The rest of the crew quickly returned to Deidre and Xander's place, where they picked him and her younger brother Sean, up and headed for the hospital.

The six people rushed through the emergency entrance and scattered, looking for Joyce. Sean found Dawn first and rounded up the others.

Joyce was walking out of the examination cubicles, talking to a doctor. She noticed the rest of them there and pointed Xander out to the doctor

"He was the one who got my daughter away from the animals that did that to her," she said.

The doctor shook his hand and congratulated him on a great job in getting her away before any permanent damage could be done.

Xander, as usual, muttered something about it being nothing, and tried to divert attention away from himself.

The doctor left to get Buffy's discharge papers ready, leaving the gang to themselves.

Dawn rushed up to Xander and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks for saving my sister's life again, Xander!" she whispered.

Joyce had hugged the younger Slayer at nearly the same time.

"Thank you for everything you did, Faith," said Joyce.

"But I didn't.." Faith started.

"Yes, you did. You disarmed those watchers, then you rushed into that warehouse without any thought to yourself. You did your part to help both Xander and Buffy," Joyce told Faith.

Joyce turned to Giles, Tony Stark and Rhodey. Each man in turn received a hug and a kiss on the cheek, along with her thanks for their part in saving her daughter.

Willow stood watching her friends and felling slightly left out when both Xander and Faith put their arms around her shoulders. Both kissed her on the cheek, sending the redhead into a blush that nearly matched her hair.

"What was that for?" she sputtered.

"Just for being our friend, Will, just for being there," Xander said. Faith nodded her agreement as she saw Buffy being wheeled out of her room.

The brunette stepped up to the other Slayer and knelt by the wheelchair. Taking her hand, she spoke to the young blonde.

"Are you okay, B? Really okay?" she asked.

Buffy nodded her head. "Yes, Faith, whatever it was wore off on the way here and my Slayer healing started kicking in." She held up her right arm, encased in a bright blue cast.

"I should be pretty much healed up by morning, 'cept for this, but it should only take like a week or so to heal completely," she said.

The gang followed her out of the hospital and saw her safely loaded in Joyce's jeep.

Before they could shut the door, Buffy gestured for Xander to come over to her.

She hugged him for a moment, then looked deeply into his eyes as she spoke.

"We *WILL* be talking about this Xander," she said as she pulled the door shut.

TBC