A/N: For the purpose of this story, Joyce's death has occurred much sooner than it did in season 5 of BtVS. The Council has yet to make it's visit to Sunnydale to question the Scoobies and try to exert their control over Buffy.
********Avengers in Sunnydale********
Previously on Avengers in Sunnydale:
Buffy looked at the box. "You're not mounting a box of poop on your suit, are you?" she asked, knowing his coolness factor would drop significantly if word got out.
"Of course not," Tony replied. "This was just a proof of concept. The actual version will have cells of these stashed throughout the suit linked by fiber optic cables fed to a lens," he told her.
"What will the bacteria being feeding off of?" Willow asked.
Tony shrugged and slid the slot close on the box. "The suit has a waste recycling system in case I have a long mission," he stated.
Buffy realized what he was saying and held up her hands to stop him. "Too much information there, Uncle Tony," she said.
********Avengers in Sunnydale********
Chapter 4
Tony chuckled at Buffy's playful banter. It felt good to have family again. Before their big fight, Tony had bantered with Joyce the same way. Still chuckling, Tony walked down the hallway connecting the dining room to the front foyer and put the gaslight gun down on a bookcase nestled against the wall. He then ducked into the hall restroom to wash his hands.
With clean hands, Tony returned to the dining room to join his guests. Everyone was seated and were waiting patiently on their host. "Don't wait for me, dig in," he ordered, flashing his trademarked smile. As he sat down, his attention was focused on the smile Pepper was giving him and not on the pained faces everyone but Anya were sporting. Still not noticing the Scoobies, Tony spooned some of his dinner into his mouth. As soon as the food touched his tongue, Tony's attention was yanked away from Pepper. He politely grabbed his napkin and spit his food out into it. "Um, does anyone else's food taste like..." he started to ask and glanced over at Dawn, "like what powers the gaslight gun?"
Relief seemed to wash over the table. Giles quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and grabbed his water, draining the whole glass. Xander let his mouthful of food spill out onto his plate and scrubbed his tongue with his napkin. The rest of the Scoobies except for Anya had reactions somewhere between Xander and Giles. For her part, Anya was digging in with gusto, a broad smile on her face. She shoveled more food into her mouth and then noticed everyone staring at her with a mixture of awe and revulsion. "What? It's really good," she stated and went back to eating.
Buffy saw the confused and somewhat horrified look on Tony's face. "She's an ex-demon," she explained.
Tony nodded once and then looked up at the ceiling. "Jarvis, would you mind telling me what's up with food?" he requested.
A disembodied voice came from concealed speakers. "My apologies, Tony," Jarvis replied. "I processed all of the books I could find online in regards to vampires. Several of them mentioned that garlic was a natural way to repel the undead," the artificial intelligence explained. "Since I had no way of knowing whether or not any of the people your niece had invited along were alive or dead, I added the equivalent of two cloves of garlic to each plate," he admitted.
"Warn a guy next time," Tony muttered angrily. He looked over at Buffy and Giles. "So, does garlic actually work against vampires?" he inquired.
There was a silent second before everyone but Tony and Pepper started bursting out laughing. Giles was the first one to regain his composure. "I'm... I'm sorry, Tony, but that's one of the myths that never seems to lose it's comedic value," he chuckled while wiping away a tear from his eye. "During the middle ages, garlic was considered the remedy for just about everything, alas repelling vampires is not one of its properties," he explained.
Pepper frowned at Giles explanation. "Most myths are based in some sort of truth," she stated. "Why would so many people be under the impression that garlic kept vampires away?" she asked.
Buffy made a show of pushing her plate away from her. "Have you ever had to be near someone who has eaten waaaay to much garlic?" she asked and cast a quick glance at Anya who had cleared her plate and had started in on Xander's.
Pepper followed Buffy's glance and felt sorry for the young man named Xander. She had noticed the definite "couple vibe" coming him and Anya. "To be truthful, no I haven't," she replied. "I usually find a way to get upwind from them as soon as I can," she admitted. Her eyes widened as she made the connection.
Buffy nodded towards Pepper. "Yep, and vampires have a sense of smell several times more powerful than a human's," she said. "Unless a vamp is really hungry, they will usually go find a better smelling meal," she stated.
Tony pushed his plate away as well. "And what happens if the vampire is really hungry," he inquired.
Buffy turned towards her uncle with a shrug. "I think they just hold their nose while they feed," she stated.
Giles coughed politely to draw Tony's attention. "I promise we will answer what questions we can, but I for one have a question that is begging to be answered," he stated. Tony gave him a welcoming hand gesture suggesting Giles continue. "What sort of spirit is 'Jarvis' and are you sure you can trust a bound entity to prepare your food?" he inquired. "It's been my experience that binding a spirit or elemental to this plane can result in dire consequences for the spell caster," he added.
Tony opened his mouth to speak and then shut it when he couldn't find the right words to answer. Like his father and grandfather before him, Tony was a man who dedicated his life to the development and application of cutting edge science. He was finding it difficult to make the mental shift to thinking of things in mysticals terms.
Pepper tried to hide the grin she got at her boyfriends sudden lack of words. Deciding to throw him a lifeline, she answered for Tony. Shifting in her chair to look at Giles she said, "Jarvis is an artificial intelligence Tony created to be his personal assistant. The AI takes care of running the home Tony is in, filtering information from Stark Industries, and working as the operating system for the Iron Man suits."
Willow's eyes grew wide as she stared at Tony and Pepper. "Oh... my... goddess! You actually got the AI fully operational?" she shrieked excitedly. Willow blushed as she realized everyone was staring at her now. "I read an article about it in Advanced Cyber Technologies Monthly last year," she explained.
"I remember that article," Tony said. "That was probably the most awkward centerfold I have ever posed for," he chuckled.
Those who were familiar with scientific journals laughed with Tony while those who weren't had varied reactions. For her part, Buffy rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the visual, Uncle Tony," she moaned sarcastically.
Anya looked up from Xander's now empty plate. "Yeah, thanks Tony," she agreed. "I'll be thinking of you nude while I have sex with Xander tonight," she told him in her typical blunt fashion.
This time both Tony and Pepper were at a loss for words. They were given an extra moment to mentally reboot by Willow. "I've always wanted to ask, what does JARVIS stand for?" the red headed witch asked.
"I stand for truth, justice, and keeping Tony afloat in the chaotic maelstrom that is his life," Jarvis replied from the hidden speakers.
Pepper slapped Tony's arm while he laughed silently behind his napkin. "Laugh it up, Tony. Either you adjust his humor algorithm or I will," she threatened. "This morning he talked about us having noisome simian coitus," she told him with a frown. This only caused Tony to laugh out loud.
Willow saw Xander's confused expression. "Loud monkey sex," she whispered.
"Oh... thanks," Xander replied.
After regaining control of himself, Tony put down his napkin. "Jarvis isn't an acronym," he told Willow. "Jarvis was the name of the butler who helped raise Joyce and I when we were kids," he explained. The smell of the food hit him again. "Jarvis, send in the twins to clear off the table and then order the usual Friday night dinner," he ordered.
Dawn looked down at her plate of foul smelling food and then up at Tony. "What do you normally eat on Fridays?" she asked, not really sure she wanted to know.
Tony chuckled at again. "The uh... people I hang out with when I'm in New York always get together on Friday nights and we have pizza delivered," he replied. He wanted to learn more about his neices and the world they lived in before he explained his new friends. Tony smiled as he watched his youngest niece's shoulder relax. He knew no healthy teen could turn down pizza.
Within a minute, two yellow industrial robots rolled into the dining room. One was holding a trash bag as far from it's little boxy body as it could. It followed it's twin which rolled up to the table and started picking up plates and dropping them gingerly in the trash sack. Giles blinked a few times when he looked closer at the robots. The one picking up plates had what looked like a gas mask duck taped over what he assumed to be some sort of sensors. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a cloth to let his brain have time to process.
Once the twins had cleared off the table and rolled back through spraying air freshener, Tony decided to broach the questions he was dying to ask. "While we're waiting on the pizza guy, let's go ahead and talk about what's going on here in your quaint little hamlet," he suggested.
Dawn took the initiative and spoke first. "Tony, a lot of what we are going to tell you is going to seem pretty unbelievable so try to keep an open mind," she requested. She was trying to decide if she should let her uncle in on the secret that until quite recently she had been a floating ball of energy instead of a human teenage girl. Before Pepper had picked them up, she had discussed it with Buffy who told her it was her decision whether or not to tell Tony. Dawn was hoping Tony's reactions to the others would help her make up her mind.
Tony smiled at Dawn before answering. Sharing a building with the other Avengers had stretched his weirdness envelope far beyond what a normal person would tolerate. Sharing living space with a Norse god, a 70 some odd year old super soldier, a guy who turned into a raging, indestructible beast when angry, and a pair of super spies can really broaden a person's horizons. "Don't worry, Dawn," Tony replied. "I've been told I'm a pretty opened minded guy," he assured her.
Pepper cocked her head to the side with a mischievous grin on her lips. "In fact, I think those are the exact words the Women's Brazilian National Soccer team used to describe you," she teased Tony.
For an instant, Tony had a dreamy smile on his face as he remembered that particular weekend. He shook himself out of it and muttered under his breath, "I'm in a committed relationship. I'm in a committed relationship. I'm in a committed relationship." He noticed Pepper staring at him. "You're never going to let than one go, are you?" he asked Pepper. Pepper shook her head no. "Come on, you and I weren't even dating back then," he pleaded.
Pepper's eyes narrowed dangerously. "At least half of the team still sends you their panties every year at Christmas," she reminded him.
It was Xander's turn to have dreamy smile. "Now I know what I'll be thinking about when I have sex Anya," he muttered. Xander sensed everyone was looking at him. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" he inquired sheepishly. Everyone nodded silently.
"I don't even like soccer," Anya chided Xander.
Tony verbally stepped in to avoid a fight. "Let's start with magic," he suggested. Pepper had texted him on the way to the castle and briefed him on what the people were going to discuss.
Since Tara had been practicing magic the longest, she was the one to speak first. "Magic is what we call the energy that is given off by all living things and permeates all matter," she said.
"I thought that was the force," Xander joked. "Owe!" he yelled as both Willow and Anya slapped him across the back of his head.
Tara gave Xander one of her few angry glares and went on. "As I was saying, this energy field is something that some people have the ability to tap into. By the use of rituals and focusing techniques, the magically sensitive can use that energy to affect things around them," she explained.
To demonstrate, Willow pointed her finger at vase full of flowers in the center of the table. She concentrated and got the vase to rise off of the table a few inches. She lowered the vase back to the table a muttered a spell in an ancient language. The roses in the vase transformed into tiger lilies. Willow reached across the table, plucked a lily out the vase, and then tucked the flower into her lover's hair above her ear.
Tara smiled shyly as she gently touched the flower in her hair. "Ta-da, magic," Willow said.
Tony leaned over to Pepper and hid his mouth behind his hand. "Bruce is going to have a nerdgasm when we tell him there's another type of energy he hasn't had a chance to study yet," he joked. Pepper playfully swatted Tony on the arm.
Buffy looked at her Uncle's lack of confusion. "So Mr. Scientist, you ok with magic?" she challenged.
Tony pointed towards the vase full of transfigured flowers. "Matter is simply cohesive energy," he said. "It's not that hard to accept that over millions of years some humans have evolved a part of their mind that allows them to connect with this energy field and allow them to manipulate it," he stated with a shrug. Giles smiled at the way Tony had phrased things. It was very similar to how he had phrased his senior thesis at the Watcher's Academy.
Tony pointed towards Anya. "Since they said you were an ex-demon, I guess you're the resident expert on demons," he stated. "What are they, where do they come from, and am I going to need to upgrade my armor to defend myself and my friends?" he asked.
Anya took a moment to think about his multi-part question and decided to tackle the first part and second parts together. "Demons are what humans call extra-dimensional entities that come from either tangent or lower dimensions," she replied. "Entities from the higher dimensions are usually referred to as angels or if they're powerful enough, gods. I usually just call them stuck up pricks," she added.
Tony nodded his head in understanding. Buffy again saw the lack of confusion on his face. "You followed that?" she asked in disbelief.
Tony smirked at Buffy. "I'm a fast learner," he replied. She had no way of knowing one of his good friends was one of those so called gods Anya had spoken of. Tony and Thor had discussed something similar to this after the battle of New York, but the 6'04" walking L'Oreal commercial had referred to individual species by name rather than lump them together as demons. He looked back to Anya. "How big of a threat do the demons you encounter pose?" he inquired.
For a brief moment, Anya looked embarrassed as she remembered all of the misery she had inflicted as a vengeance demon. "Demons range from everyday people looking to just have a peaceful spot to raise their spawn to violent, evil, unstoppable creatures like Glory," she replied.
Pepper saw the collective flinch around the table at the mention of that name. "Who's Glory?" she asked.
Buffy raised her hand to stall any further questions along that line for a moment. "We'll talk about the blonde bitch later," she told Pepper. Buffy looked over at Giles. "We're up," she said.
Giles folded his hands in front of his chest and eased into lecture mode. "Tony, to answer your questions about your niece I should first explain that some demons are only able to exist in this dimension by inhabiting a host. Vampires are one such type," Giles said. "Once a human is turned, their soul is replaced by a demon which gives them their abilities and altered dietary needs," he stated.
"You mean the whole drinking blood thing?" Tony asked for clarification.
"Unfortunately, yes," Giles replied. "The demon half is also what causes the vampires to be nearly invulnerable except for sunlight, wooden stakes to the heart, holy water, fire, and decapitation," he explained.
"Yeah, Buffy gave me a similar rundown when we fought the bastards down in the industrial district," Tony told Giles. "What I would like to know is how my niece got involved with fighting vampires and how someone who can't weigh more than 110 pounds can lift half a ton like it was just your average baseball bat," Tony said.
Giles turned in his chair to face Tony better. "Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight thevampires,demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer," Giles recited. "Before written history, many demons roamed the Earth, subjugating the human population," he said. "A group of sorcerers were able to harness a dark power and instill it in one girl," Giles stated. "That girl was given enhanced speed, strength, and senses in order to fight the demons. The sorcerers designed the binding so that when the girl died, the powers were passed onto another girl so that the fight could continue," he said. "The sorcerers had their sons watch over and direct the newest girl in the line and those sorcerers had their sons watch over the next, etc, etc," he explained. "The chosen girls were able to drive back the demons to the point were the only ones left were the vampires. Ever since then, the vampires have been at war with their greatest threat, the girl they named the Slayer," he said. "Over time, the sorcerers who watched over the girls became known as the Watchers Council with every Slayer being assigned a personal Watcher to help guide them in their duties," he told Tony. "I was assigned to Buffy," he said, a bit of pride in his "daughter" evident in his voice.
"Do the girls have a choice in whether or not they become this so called Slayer?" Pepper asked pointedly.
Buffy shook her head sadly. "Nope, the bouncing ball lands on whatever girl the Powers That Be feel like screwing with at the time," she complained.
Tony frowned and clenched his jaw as he picked up on a word that had been used several times. "You keep saying girl instead of woman. I would like you to explain that," he said coldly.
Giles looked down at the table, unable to meet Tony's eyes out of shame. "The girls are usually chosen in their early teens and most don't live to see their 18th birthday," he said softly.
The scrape of a chair against the stone floor startled everyone as Tony's chair flew backward as he stood suddenly, his hand darting under the table. Before Giles could react, he found Tony's right hand wrapped around his throat. Tony's left hand was encased in a red gauntlet raised above his head. The palm of the gauntlet was glowing a bluish white. A high pitched whine could be heard from the gauntlet as Tony overpowered the repulsor emitter. "No one screws with my family," Tony hissed.
Tony felt his left arm being pulled back with surprising force causing him to spin around and face Buffy. "Trust me when I tell you no one hates the Watchers more than me, but I won't let you hurt Giles," she told him firmly. "The Watchers Council fired him after he refused to toe the company line and admitted to them that he cared for me as if I was his daughter," she explained.
The high pitched whine wound down as Tony deactivated the repulsor. He nodded to Buffy who let go of his hand. Tony turned to face Giles again. "Sorry for almost blasting your face off, Giles," he apologized.
Giles rolled his neck as he massaged his throat. "I would have acted the same way concerning both of the Summers girls," he conceded. "I think you and I will get along quite well, Tony," Giles added with a half-grin.
As Tony took off the gauntlet, he looked at it longingly for a moment before putting it down in the table. "These Watchers and I are going to have either a very long or very, very short talk whenever I find them," he promised.
Giles grin became predatory. "Does next week work for you?" he asked Tony politely. Before Tony could answer, Giles explained. "The head of the Watchers Council will be here on Tuesday with a team to determine if Buffy is worth receiving their help in regards to a rather troublesome demon named Glory," he said. Tony matched Giles' predatory smile with one of his own and nodded once.
Buffy looked first Giles and then Tony in the eyes. "No one lays a hand on Travers until after I get the first punch in, got it?!" she demanded. Both her uncle and surrogate father agreed reluctantly.
As Tony and Buffy returned to their seats, Pepper pressed on for more information. "This is the second time someone has mentioned Glory," she pointed out. "Who or what is she?" she asked.
Giles took off his glasses to clean them again. "Glory is an extremely powerful demon that has arrived in Sunnydale recently," he replied. "Buffy has fought her on a few occasions and each time Glory has merely toyed with her," he said. "I fear that in a real one on one battle, Buffy doesn't stand a chance," he admitted sadly. "We are hoping the Council can offer us some insight into how to defeat her," he said.
The loud gong attached to the front door knocker rang loudly interrupting the discussion. As soon as the echoes died down, Jarvis spoke. "Heat sensors and video feeds indicate a living, human male wearing a pizza delivery uniform at the front door, Tony" he announced.
Tony stood up and made his way down the hall to the front door. He paid the delivery boy with a hundred dollar bill he had crammed in his slacks pocket and told the young man to keep the change. As Tony walked back to the dining room, he yelled out, "Who want's meat lovers?"
While they were eating, Tony's mind was racing along several different tracks. One part of his mind was marveling at how his petite nieces were devouring a whole pizza each. Another part was processing everything Buffy and her friends had told him. The final part of his mind was going over ideas of how Pepper and him could christen the master bedroom later that evening. When he was done eating, Tony had come to several conclusions: one - he needed to make sure Jarvis increased the food orders for the castle, two - he and Pepper were going to try out page 48 in his Kama Sutra book, and three - he needed to place a call to New York.
Tony stood up and walked to a large painting hanging on the wall of the dining room. "Jarvis, put me through to the Tower," he ordered. Willow gasped as the painting flashed once and then showed a large living room / den set up. The video resolution on the screen had been so good, no one had noticed it wasn't a real painting.
On the screen, Buffy saw several people huddle close together to get them in all in the frame. She saw a tall blonde guy with long, gorgeous blond hair that she was slightly jealous of, two guys with military style haircuts, a woman with dark red hair, and a disheveled guy who looked like he had been having a really rough week. The disheveled guy spoke first. "Tony, how are you holding up?" he asked in concern.
"I'm hanging in there," Tony replied. Out of all his teammates, he had grown closest to Bruce. "I appreciate the concern, but something has come up," he said. "Something that might take the whole team to clear up. I need you guys to get here as soon as you can," he told them. This caused the people on the video screen to pause. The last time they had needed all of them together had been the battle with Loki in New York.
Thor responded for the team. "We shall indeed be there as soon as the others get the flying conveyance at the top of the tower prepared," he assured Tony. "So long as you say the words of course, friend Anthony," he added.
Tony looked annoyed. "Come on, that's stupid," he stated. "It sounds like something Steve would say," he complained.
Thor shook his head. "We can not come to your assistance without you saying the words," he reminded Tony with a straight face.
With a deep sigh, Tony looked at the floor and muttered, "Fine, you win." While Tony's eyes were cast down, Thor held out his hand and Steve pulled out a twenty from his pocket and handed it over.
Though she was sure the words Tony spoke next were not magical in any way, they still sent a shiver of power down Willow's spine. Tony looked up into the video screen and in a commanding voice ordered, "Avengers... Assemble!"