Chapter 1: More Fragments 9
Chapter 2: Yet More Fragments 68
"That is a lot of food," Clint said as they took a seat in the SHIELD cafeteria, Xander sitting across from him with two trays piled high with food.
"I am starving," Xander said, "It's been nearly five years since I've eaten, plus I seem to be going through a growth spurt lately."
Clint chuckled and took a bite of his burger while Xander demolished several of them. "We have people working on finding your family, shouldn't take them more than an hour or two, though we'll hold off on contacting them until we make sure you aren't going to melt or anything and have signed all the NDAs."
"I can't think of any family members I'd want to see," Xander said. "My friends were my real family."
"Give me a list and I'll see what I can find," Clint promised.
"Good-" Xander paused and shivered. "She's standing behind me, isn't she?"
"We're almost ready to defrost Rogers," Natasha said, making Xander jump a little and shake the table.
"Give us a couple of minutes," Clint said, amused at Xander's reaction to his partner.
Xander quickly finished his first tray and started on his second, acutely aware of the red head behind him.
"We aren't in that big of a rush," Clint said.
"We get to see them revive Captain America," Xander said, "this is… historic."
"I know," Clint says, "but the scientists aren't exactly quick about these things, too much is riding on it to screw up because they misplaced a decimal."
"Point," Xander says before finishing his second tray. "So… I have time for one more?"
"Half a tray," Clint said, before finishing his own burger.
Xander nods and quickly goes to refill a tray, backing away from Natasha for several steps before nervously turning and going.
"Most men aren't afraid of me until they see me in action," Natasha noted.
"He's got a finely tuned danger sense," Clint replied as Natasha took a seat next to him.
"Probably something that's useful in a demon hunter," Natasha noted as Xander returned.
"Demon hunter?" Xander said, looking confused. "What's that?" He sat down and started eating once more.
"Wow, you have really nailed the clueless look," Clint said.
"It's a gift," Xander said, before devouring a couple of burgers.
"Fury tagged you as a demon hunter fairly quickly," Natasha said. "All Shield Agents know about the existence of the supernatural, we have teams who are specifically trained to deal with supernatural occurrences."
"I don't recall seeing any in Sunnydale," Xander said.
"The town in California that sank into the earth?" she asked.
"That's the one," Xander agreed.
"Is there a reason they should have been there?" she asked.
"About a million of them," Xander replied. "We had a huge vampire infestation problem for one."
"That, at least, has been dealt with," Natasha said as the two finished their meal and returned their trays. "While I don't specialize in the supernatural, I did have my share of run ins with vampires in the past, and according to the reports I have read, all vampires on Earth spontaneously turned to dust… around the same time Sunnydale sank."
"All the vampires are gone?" Xander asked hopefully.
"That's what was reported," Natasha agreed.
Xander opened his arms to hug her, changed his mind, and hugged Clint instead.
"Ribs!" Clint gasped out while trying not to laugh.
"Sorry about that, still getting used to the strength," Xander said. "It's just… my second most hated things in all the world are gone and I am immensely happy!"
Clint rubbed his ribs. "What's number one?"
"Nazis," Xander replied as they walked down the hall.
"And three?" Natasha asked, amused.
"Clowns," Xander said firmly.
"Hey," Clint complained, "some of my best friends were clowns."
Xander shrugged. "All the clowns I ran into were evil."
"I'll introduce you to some decent ones later," Clint said as they reached the lab where a plethora of scientists were rushing about, with a revival team standing by, and dozens of agents standing watch.
"Final checks!" someone called out.
'Laser calibrated," a woman added.
"Vita ray projector ready," a bald scientist said before they all turned to the one eyed director, a question visible in their eyes.
"Do it," Fury commanded.
Buttons were pressed and four lasers sprang to life, cutting away large swathes of ice from Rogers and causing them to fall to the floor, shattering against the deck.
"Activate the heat lamps," the lead scientist said, her eyes glued to the scanners as the temperature in the room climbed to over a hundred degrees, the thin layer of ice surrounding the soldier slowly melting.
"Activating the vita ray projector," another warned.
"Core temperature rising."
Fury chewed on the end of his cigar and had to stop himself from lighting it as he watched the scientists scurry around the lab, one of them signally for the revival team to get ready.
"Core temperature reaching ninety-six degrees. Shutting down the projector," a scientist called out, before the last of the ice holding up Captain America fell away and he began to fall over.
The revival team surged forward, catching the American Icon before he could fall and moving him onto a medical bed while stripping him of all his gear.
Steve Rogers couldn't be seen because of all the medical personnel around him, but just over two minutes later they peeled away, leaving a single doctor checking his vitals while a heart monitor beeped with comfortable regularity for all involved.
One of the doctors handed Fury a clipboard. "His vital signs are strong and getting stronger. He could wake at any time."
"Damn, they're fast," Xander said quietly.
"We have good people," Clint said with a smile.
"Show's over people, back to work," Fury called out.
"Come on, let's see if we can find your friends," Clint said.
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"Your friends are a strange lot," Clint said, as he brought in the report on what he'd been able to discover.
"So they survived the destruction of Sunnydale?" Xander asked, perking up. "I was really trying not to worry about it."
"Dawn and Buffy Summers were formally adopted by Rupert Giles just after Sunnydale bit it," Clint replied. "They are running the Watchers Council with Daniel and Willow Osborn. There was a death certificate for Daniel filed… and then rescinded a little over a week later a couple of years ago, followed by a wedding certificate."
Seeing that Clint was waiting for a response, Xander shrugged. "It happens."
"Joyce Summers has two death certificates over a month apart and as far as we can tell she actually is dead," Clint said.
Xander winced. "Not sure why she would have two."
"But you know why Daniel would have two?" Clint asked.
"Yeah," Xander agreed, but didn't elaborate.
"Cordelia Chase is in a private hospital in LA, she's been in a coma for over a year," Clint said.
"Damn," Xander said, "that sucks. Still, it's a lot better than I feared."
"And they probably won't freak out about you having been declared dead since it seems to be a common occurrence for them." Clint shook his head.
"I'll need you guys to tell them," Xander said, "No way am I approaching them, back from the dead out of the blue, looking like my father was the jolly green giant."
"Yeah… Demon Hunters would probably take that the wrong way," Clint agreed. "I'll see what I can do about getting evidence we can share with them and sending it their way."
"Thanks man, I really appreciate it," Xander said. "I have no idea what I'm going to say when I see them, but at least I won't be trying to figure it out with a sword at my throat."
"You've got at least a week before we clear up all the paperwork dealing with your legal status now that you've got a pulse again," Clint said, "and God only knows how long the medical tests are going to take. You'll have plenty of time to figure it out."
"You guys are the most helpful secret spy group ever," Xander said.
"You say that now, but wait until you have to fill out all the paperwork," Clint said. "Ready to do some physical tests to see how fit you are?"
"Sure," Xander said cheerfully. "Be nice to see what's changed. I know I'm stronger, but how much stronger?"
"Let's find out," Clint said eagerly.
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"Report," Fury said as he reviewed all the data they'd managed to dig up on Mr. Harris.
"He's probably not in the Hulk's weight class, but it's hard to tell because our equipment only goes up so far," Clint reported.
"He's suspicious, but hiding it," Natasha added. "He appears to trust easily, but it's a lie, he's learning all he can so he knows which way to jump when the other shoe drops."
"What's your personal opinion?" Fury asked, pausing to light his cigar.
"I like him," Clint said. "Good sense of humor, easy to get along with."
Fury gave him an unamused stare. "As an agent."
"Needs training, but understands OpSec better than some of the agents we already have," Clint said. "Even without the enhancements, he'd be a promising recruit."
"He's dangerous," Natasha said with approval. "We can teach him everything else."
"Good," Fury said, "I want him as part of the Avenger's Initiative. See to it."
"We'll have to find someone he can trust," Widow said.
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Steve Rogers awoke with a start, looking around himself in a panic before he took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in a hospital of some sort, though the equipment was unfamiliar it was easy to tell what it was for.
He wasn't strapped down, which was a very good sign.
A tall colored man with an eye patch stepped into the room.
"Relax Captain Rogers, your last mission was a success, but you've been asleep for a very long time. I'm Director Fury, welcome to SHIELD."
"Asleep?" he examined himself.
"You were frozen in ice," Fury explained, "It's been over half a century."
Rogers stared at him in disbelief as a pair of medical personnel came in and started checking him over.
"Fifty years?"
"I'm afraid so," Fury said. "The war is long over, we won by the way, and you have a lot to catch up on."
"Your bedside manner needs some work," Rogers said before quickly adding a belated, "Sir."
Fury chuckled. "Sometimes there is no way to break it to them gently. In those cases I prefer a hard truth to a comforting lie. But if you can think up a way to break the truth of your situation to someone gently, let me know, because I would genuinely like to hear it."
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Xander stretched and twisted, making his muscles work against themselves as that was the only way he'd found to actually get a workout.
He'd been here for nearly a week… well, four days, so almost a full work week, and he was getting a little antsy. The medics said he appeared stable, but wanted to wait a week and redo the tests before they'd give him a final verdict.
Clint had been very helpful on getting him caught up on all the movies and cartoons he'd missed, but Xander knew he was a company man, trying to put their best foot forward and with Xander's new abilities, he was a prime recruit prospect. He didn't want to be ungrateful, but he was pretty sure he wasn't the spy type. SHIELD seemed like it would be a poor fit for him.
"So, I hear you're the latest model."
Xander looked up and saw a blond man had entered the gym. "I'm pretty sure you have to be a bit thinner to be a model, not to mention girls tend to drool over pre-pubescent pretty boys these days. At least that's what I hear."
"I have no idea what you just said. I mean, I understand the words… but the way you've put them together confuses me."
"That's fair, I confuse myself at times," Xander said. He offered his hand. "Alexander Harris, my friends call me Xander."
"Steven Rogers, my friends call me Steve," the blond man introduced himself, shaking his hand.
"You're Captain America," Xander said. "I heard you'd woken up, it just took you a little longer, but then you were frozen in ice a lot longer than I was."
"You were frozen?"
"For about half a decade," Xander replied. "Went out in a blizzard to rescue a girl. Saved the girl and got turned into an icicle. They used me to test out the equipment before they thawed you out."
"But I only survived thanks to the super soldier serum," Steve said. "How did…"
"I was considered dead," Xander said, "they didn't expect me to revive at all. I was a convenient corpse that could help save one more person."
"Thanks," Steve said awkwardly.
Xander laughed. "Don't mention it. I just got lucky, but even if I didn't, I would have approved of using my body to save someone else. It's why I signed my organ donor card."
"Organ donor card?"
"Mid 80's they added a little box on your driver's license that you could check so that if you died, the hospital could use your organs to save others," Xander explained.
"That's incredible," Steve said. Nothing he'd read had even mentioned that.
"I know," Xander agreed. "We live in an age of miracles and no one seems to see it."
"A lot has changed," Steve said sadly.
Xander shook his head. "We have always lived in an age of miracles, you just have to look around. It's a great time to be alive and it always has been.'
"I just found out a man walked on the moon yesterday," Steve said, trying to explain how much everything had changed.
"And one day… in a couple of decades, but hopefully sooner, we'll all be able to say that about Mars," Xander replied.
Steve considered that. "Science was leaping ahead in my day, it seemed new things were being invented every day. The war kept me so busy I missed a lot of it."
"Being human is to always be playing a game of catch up with everyone around you," Xander said. "Life is change, you'll adapt and then you can take for granted all the miracles around you like everyone else seems to."
"That's strangely comforting," Steve said.
"So why did you think I was a male model?"
"A male model?" Steve replied, before realizing what he meant. "Oh, I actually was referring to cars, as in a new model rolling off the assembly line."
"That does make more sense," Xander said. "Actually… that makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it."
"So you are a super soldier?" Steve asked.
"I was exposed to an enhancement formula some crazy Russian guy came up with when I was in high school," Xander said. "Only two of us survived and we both had complete blood transfusions, but it left me with proteins from some fish or other in my blood, which is how I survived being frozen…"
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Fury watched the two interact on the monitor with a pleased smile. All the pieces were coming together.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel
