A/N: I wanna apologized for the long wait for the next chapter, I have to admit that this story wasn't completely thought out when I first started writing it, so I had to take the time to properly plot it, then I was struck with several nasty cases of writer's block, then I lost motivation for this story while working on others, but now I'm working on it again and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

That night in Sunnydale, after Thor had departed for Asgard to see if he could find help there, Tony was laying on the sofa in the hotel suite where he and the other Avengers were staying while Steve explained what they had learned about Buffy and Sunnydale's nightlife.

"Wow, Ton. Not even 40 yet, and you have two superpowered teenagers. How ya gonna handle that?" Clint asked. from his seated position on the counter top by the well stocked liquor cabinet.

"No clue yet, but I have to figure out a way to help Buffy." Tony buried face in his hands. "And I thought just having kids at a young age would be hard. Buffy hasn't even met Peter because we haven't talked much since she was 15."

Bruce gave his friend a supportive pat on the shoulder as he walked by the sofa. "Well at least you have help with them." He offered with an optimistic tone before taking a sip of his herbal tea to keep his nerves calm; since being informed of what really happens in the seemingly sleepy little town, Dr. Banner had been a little rattled.

"And when you find Buffy, you'll bring her to New York so she can meet her brother." Natasha announced as she walked out of the kitchen with a beer in her hand.

"You're right." Tony said upon sitting upright. "And screw what Joyce has to say about it." He announced, earning a concerned frown from his super soldier boyfriend.

"Um, Ton-" Steve started but was cut off by Tony who was furiously shaking his head.

"No! Joyce kicked her out, she told Buffy not to come back. If I want to take my daughter to New York so that she can get away from the bullshit going on here but not be alone then that's exactly what I'm going to do. Buffy needs to be with people who care about her, not all on her own somewhere."

"Don't you kinda need Joyce's permission to do that?" Steve asked his boyfriend with the whiskey brown eyes. He understood that Stark was angry, but that didn't mean he wanted him getting into some kind of custody battle just for wanting to make sure his only daughter was safe and happy. "You might not want to talk to her until you're a little less heated."

The billionaire inventor let out a loud and frustrated sigh. "Fuck!" He shouted, startling the others. "Where's my damn phone?!" He continued shouting only to stop when the blue eyed super soldier reached into his pocket and handed him the phone. "Thanks babe."

"Who are you calling?" Clint asked with a brow raised.

"The mother of my child." Tony snapped before he started dialing Joyce's phone number.

XxX

The next evening in Los Angeles, A nervous Lily was resting in Buffy and Pike's apartment waiting for the duo to return. Earlier that day, Lily had come by the diner to ask for Buffy's help; her boyfriend had gone missing and she was getting worried. Buffy had been a bit reluctant to help, but she agreed to help and they were joined by Pike.

During their search, Buffy noticed that Lily was starting to get tired and Pike had let Lily rest in their apartment while they continued to search for Rickie.

Unable to sit still for any longer, Lily paced around the apartment while nervously chewing on her thumbnail until her eyes landed on Buffy's stuffed pig and picked it up. Holding it close to her, the tall blonde continued to wander around until she heard the locks turning on the door.

Wearing matching grim and sympathetic expressions, Buffy and Pike walked into the apartment and their eyes landed on Lily who put the pig down and stepped closer to the duo when she noticed their expressions.

"Did you find Rickie? I thought of... Well, he likes to go to this movie house, you can get in around the ba-"

"Lily…" Buffy interrupted, she really didn't want to have to deliver this kind of news. "I-I think he's dead." She revealed, the reluctance was clear in her gloomy tone.

Lily took on an expression of loss and sadness. "B-but... he takes care of me." The taller girl's eyes were quickly filling with tears. "He can't be dead…" She said meekly and sat on the edge of the bed, unable to keep herself standing any longer.

"I'm sorry." The empathetic tone was clear in Buffy's voice.

Lily shook her head, refusing to believe that Rickie was dead. "We're gonna get a place. His cousin can get him a job at the car wash."

"Lily, there's something else…" Pike let out a short exhale and sat across from the teary eyed girl. "The person that I found was old, h-he looked about eighty." He said a bit unsurely.

"Well then that can't be Rickie!" Lily exclaimed, desperately clinging to a small bit of hope that they were wrong.

Buffy softly shook her head, she knew exactly the turmoil that Lily was feeling but she didn't know how to help. "I'm sure it was. I-I don't know how, but I- I saw his tattoo…" She trailed off having to think of how to explain Rickie's death. "It was like something drained the life out of him."

Confused, Lily asked if Buffy meant something like a vampire, but the green eyed Slayer revealed that vampires could not accelerate the aging process before a thought crossed her mind, theorizing that something was done to Rickie the last time he and Lily went to donate plasma.

Lily shot to her feet and moved away from the other blonde, growing more and more upset with each passing second. "I don't understand. Maybe it's not Rickie, okay?!"

Buffy frowned and shook her head. "Lily, this is something you're just gonna have to deal with." She said, ignoring the irony of that statement when paired with her situation.

"But he didn't do anything!" The taller blonde cried as even more of her tears fell.

"Lily, these things happen all the time. You can't just close your eyes and hope that they're gonna go away. I wish that was how things worked but it's not and there's nothing we can do to change it." Buffy's voice was heavy with emotion as she spoke.

Lily sent Buffy an accusing look. "Is it 'because of you?"

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked, her tone carrying a mixture of confusion and anger. "I'm gonna need you to walk me through that." She said with a bit of edge in her voice.

"Lil, I know you're upset, but you can't just blame Buffy for what happened." Pike said as he stepped between the girls, acting as a physical barrier between the two of them.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest and turned her attention to the red headed young man. "Why not?" She asked sharply. "You guys know about monsters and stuff. She could have brought something with her."

The Slayer looked at Lily with outrage in her green eyes. "I didn't bring anything with me. And I certainly didn't ask for you to come to me with your problems. I just wanted to be left alone. If you can't deal, fine, but don't lay it off on me!" Buffy snapped, the anger was dripping from her voice.

Unable to take the harshness of Buffy's words, Lily held up her hands in a feeble attempt to deny what she was hearing and hurried out of the apartment.

Buffy let out a deep sigh, immediately regretting raising her voice at the girl who just lost the person who was taking care of her for who knows how long.

"That was a little harsh, Buff." Pike said as he looked at his friend.

"I know… I'll go find some leads, you wait here in case she comes back." Buffy said before leaving out the door as well, not giving her friend any chance to argue.

XxX

Down the street, Lily stopped walking and leaned against the iron gate that was pulled across a storefront; the fragile blond unable to keep herself from crying any longer. She couldn't believe Rickie was dead, he was all she had and now she was alone with no idea what to do next.

The poor girl was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Ken walking over to her.

"Are you okay?" Ken asked with a gentle tone as he approached Lily, only for the girl to shake her head; barely able to stop her tears from falling. "Hey, it's okay. Maybe I can help." Ken offered; his tone was soft and friendly but Lily shook her head, telling him he couldn't help her.

"Look, I know you all think I'm a big nerd handing out leaflets about hope. But hope is a real thing, just like despair. and hope can fill up a part of you that's missing."

Lily let out a soft little sniffle. "But Rickie's-" She started but was cut off by Ken.

"Rickie? Say, are you Lily?" The tall brunette man asked with a bright smile on his face. "Right! He was talking about you, he sure seems to love you."

Lily looked up to face him. "You've seen Rickie?" She asked with a clear hopefulness in her voice which got a nod from Ken who went on to say Rickie was at Family Home. "But they said he was dead."

Ken quickly shot that notion down, telling Lily that whoever told her that Rickie was dead must have been mistaken and he was very much alive. With a warm smile, Ken managed to convince a hesitant Lily to come back to the shelter with him.

XxX

Meanwhile in Sunnydale, after having Jarvis get the contact information for Buffy's friends, Tony learned that the Scoobies had decided to take up the task of patrolling until Buffy was found so he sent Clint and Natasha to join them.

This left Tony and Steve alone to meet with Giles in the Watcher's apartment since Bruce decided to stay in the hotel.

Steve looked around admiring the cozy decor of the apartment while Giles retrieved a tray with tea and crumpets from the kitchen. "Nice place you got here Mr. Giles." He said as he and Tony took a seat.

"Yeah I'd say you're doing pretty well for yourself, does the high school pay well or do you get a fat check from the Watcher's Council of yours?" Tony asked with a small bit of snark to his voice, only to have his thigh swatted by his boyfriend.

"Be nice." The blond super soldier said with a pointed look which made the younger male roll his eyes and let out a short huff.

"So what brings you gentlemen by this evening?" Giles asked, choosing to ignore Stark's comment.

Tony let out a short breath. "I wanna know more about this Slayer stuff. How did my daughter become one, just how dangerous is it, and how do I help her?" He asked, suddenly taking on a serious very serious demeanor.

In that moment, Giles saw a glimpse of his Slayer in Tony. "I see where Buffy gets it from." Rupert said with an amused little smile on his face.

"Where Buffy gets what?" Tony asked with an inquisitive brow raised.

"Her take no shit attitude and her drive to protect others," Giles said with a small smile. "As for how she became a Slayer, Buffy was activated the moment her predecessor died. This calling is very dangerous, but Buffy is one of the best I've seen. She's been through a lot and has grown with each new experience she has had. I am not sure you can help her, the things Buffy battles are mystical in nature, for example vampires can be killed by wooden stakes to the heart, is there anything you can make that incorporates that?"

"Modified widow bites, maybe." Steve offered with a contemplative tone, trying to be helpful.

"Widow bites, what are those?" Giles asked.

"Small round tasers that shoot from a compact wrist mounted cannon using compressed air." Tony answered distractedly as he pulled out a Stark pad and began looking over the designs for the widow bites to see if they could be used. "How large does the stake need to be?"

"Large enough to pierce the heart and it needs to be made of wood." Giles answered immediately.

"Are wooden stakes the only way to kill vampires?" Tony asked, the intrigue was clear in his voice as he looked up from his tablet.

"On the contrary, vampires have a number of weaknesses that can be exploited in battle. Wooden stake to heart, beheading, fire, sunlight, and religious paraphernalia, Buffy has used all of these methods in her time as a Slayer." Giles explained as he refilled Steve's tea.

"Thank you Mr. Giles." Rogers said with a friendly smile as he accepted the beverage. "I do have to ask, why is this kind of responsibility on a young girl who's still in high school?"

"That's a good question?" Tony asked, looking up from his Stark pad; he wanted to know more about Slayers and how his daughter got involved in this whole mess, but there was no time for the Watcher to respond as Jarvis spoke up from the tablet.

"Apologies for interrupting sir, but I believe I have located Miss Summers-Stark." JARVIS announced, capturing the three men's attention.

"What, where?!" Stark asked, attention immediately going back to the tablet.

"I have come across several videos of Miss Summers-Stark being hit by a truck and running off without any sign of injury." The A.I. announced as he played several videos from when Buffy had saved the homeless from being run over, the videos had been posted in the past 24 hours. "I have also managed to locate a live security feed of Miss Summers-Stark breaking into a plasma donation center in Los Angeles. She appears to be searching for something." Jarvis said as the three men gathered around the tablet.

The security feed showed Buffy looking through several patient files, when a doctor walked in. There was no sound, but Tony recognized the look of anger and determination in his daughter's eyes as she confronted the doctor, even going as far as to using a display of superhuman strength to frighten the doctor.

Tony shot to his feet. "Jar, keep track of Buffy, I'm gonna get her." He said, his tone was filled with determination as he made his way to the door after summoning his Iron Man suit from the hotel.

"Mr. Stark, don't be too hard on her." The Watcher said with a concerned tone before he made his way over to his house phone so he could inform the Scoobies.

While Tony had yet to decide how he felt about the Englishman, he could tell Giles genuinely cared about Buffy; that earned the Watcher some brownie points in Stark's book. He nodded with a subtle smile on his face before turning his attention to his boyfriend as the Iron Man suit assembled around him.

"Do you want to come?" He asked, there was a slight hint of nervousness in his tone as he looked into Steve's blue eyes. He reached for his boyfriend's hand out of instinct, and in return the super soldier interlocked their fingers.

"No, I'll go with Giles to let Joyce know what's going on." Rogers said when saw Tony start to pout. "Come on, don't pout, you know someone has to tell her."

"You're right." Tony nodded, knowing Steve had a valid point. "Be safe babe, I'll be pissed if a vampire bites you… that's my job." He joked which got the blond to playfully roll his blue eyes.

"You better be safe too, we'll be waiting at Joyce's house." Steve said sweetly and gave Tony a quick goodbye kiss before the billionaire flew away.

XxX

In the realm of Asgard, Thor had been walking through the golden halls of the royal palace with a homesick smile on his face. The blond god loved Midgard and the little family he had made there with the Avengers, but he would be lying if he said he didn't miss his home realm.

There had been a celebratory feast in honor of Thor's return, and being surrounded by his Asgaurdian friends and family filled his heart with joy. He wished he could come back more often, but when he proclaimed himself as a protector of Midgard, that became his primary home; while he wouldn't trade the life he's building on there for anything in the world, that wouldn't stop the small pang of homesickness he felt sometimes.

"So brother, what really brought about this visit home?" Loki asked as he joined Thor on his walk through the palace halls.

"Well, it would appear that Stark is the father of a Slayer, and she has run away from home…" Thor trailed off, knowing his baby brother would be able to tell where he was going with his answer.

"And you came home, knowing one of us would be able to find the Slayer." Loki said, sounding a tad bit hurt as he tucked a lock of dark hair behind his ear.

Thor stopped in his tracks and gave Loki a soft smile. "That's not the only reason, I missed home as well, I want to be able to come back more often."

"You should, father mopes endlessly when you're away." The God of Mischief said with a teasing grin, earning a soft chuckle from the God of Thunder. "Come on, let's find this lost Slayer." Loki said as he led Thor to his personal chamber.

It was there that Loki set up a heavily detailed map of Midgard. "Okay, I learned this spell from the goddess Thespia, it will show the focus of the spell as a light on the map and will show us where the focus of the spell is going." Loki explained and Thor nodded showing he understood.

Closing his eyes and holding his hands over the map, Loki began silently casting the spell and the result was something that neither brother could have foreseen. "Well this is unexpected." Loki said, a slight look of shock on his face.

"Truly surprising." Thor said in just as much shock as Loki as they both looked down at the map of Midgard, watching as three lights moved towards Sunnydale.

A/N: Not sure how accurate this is, but my understanding Asgard from the comics is that is in a pocket dimension, so that's what I'm going with. Also for personal reasons I can't write Odin (or Howard Stark) as an abusive parent, I can do emotionally distant but working to be better.

I hope you guys liked the new chapter, let me know what you think.