Chapter 2: Testing the New Hires

******Stark Industries******

Tony rewatched the Top-Secret military video JARVIS had found for him in his search to uncover what secrets his new employees from Sunnydale were hiding. He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around it. Meeting Thor and Loki and stopping an alien invasion had changed his world view quite a bit. However, the possibility of alien life was something all scientist contemplated at one time or another. But this—this was an entirely different matter. The file on The Initiative showed the United States military experimenting with demons and other supernatural creatures.

Tony sat back in his office chair stunned. He had arrogantly told Willow magic didn't exist naturally on Earth. Now he was finding out that the Earth had a lot of ancient demons and other creatures. The video wasn't the best quality, but it showed Buffy and a few other humans battling the creatures fearlessly. He didn't know if she was simply gifted like Natasha or if she was an inhuman. However, he was going to find out.

He grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of uncovering the truth. This was going to be fun!

******Hours Later******

Buffy and Willow were filling Xander and Dawn in on their whirlwind day.

"So he's, like, telling Pepper to pay us whatever we want," Buffy said with a grin.

"Seriously?" Dawn asked in surprise.

"But Pepper vetoed that," Willow added with a grin.

"She can do that? Isn't Tony, like, the boss?" Dawn asked.

"Well, I don't think it works like that with them. It seemed to me that Pepper was in charge," Willow grinned. "He worships her. It was so cute to see!"

"He did tell her to pay us 10% more than the normal rate for our positions and to give us both company cars and a company credit card," Buffy boasted.

"It's not fair! Why do all the exciting things happen to you guys?" Xander complained.

"So they gave you a car, too?" Dawn inquired in disbelief. "Does that mean I get yours?"

"Well, it means you can drive mine more!" Buffy said with a happy grin. "Look at us, Will! We gotta Skype Giles and tell him our good news. He's not going to believe this!"

"He'll probably lecture you on showing your skills so soon to Pepper," Willow said.

There was a knock on their apartment door. Xander got up to answer it. His mouth fell open in surprise to see the very man they were discussing at his door. "Uh, hi. Mr. Stark, what...I mean, how can I help you?" Xander finally spit out.

Tony's eyes zeroed in on a familiar face. The guy wore an eye patch, but he looked like one of the men in the video he saw fighting demons. Curiouser and curiouser. Always one to love a puzzle, Tony pointed to the eye patch. "Is that an affectation or do you need it?" Tony asked, ignoring the social niceties with his bold question.

"Well, since I got my eye gauged out, yeah, I kind of do," Xander replied dryly. "I guess I could get a glass eye or something."

"How about a robotic one? I'm working on one in my lab, as a matter of fact," Tony said as he stepped through the doorway. His eyes spotted Buffy and Willow. He waved at them. "Sorry to barge in unannounced."

Both women jumped to their feet in surprise. Dawn looked on in fascination. Tony stepped toward her and held out his hand. "You must be Dawn, Buffy's little sister. I'm Tony. It's nice to meet you," Tony said.

Dawn took his hand, surprised by his straightforwardness. "Uh, you, too," she said.

Tony looked at Xander. "Sorry, I should've introduced myself to you first," Tony said apologetically. He held out his hand to Xander.

"Xander Harris," Xander said, feeling awkward. "I..uh..actually, I am one of your employees."

"Really?" Tony said in surprise. "What department?"

"Construction. I work for your construction company," Xander said.

"Well, that's great!" Tony said, smiling. He turned to Buffy and Willow. "I came by to give you your keys to your company cars." He held out two sets of keys. "They're hybrids, so they give good gas mileage. But use your company credit cards for any car related expense as well as all your meals and clothes during working hours. Keep the clothes purchases sensible, though. Not that I care. But Pepper gets worked up about those kinds of things. Your cards should be ready by tomorrow."

Dawn couldn't help but laugh at the billionaire playboy turned superhero. Willow was right. Pepper really did call all the shots. Tony turned his too intelligent gaze on her, and she gulped nervously.

"So how about you? Do you need a job? I got lots of places you could work," Tony offered.

Buffy finally found her voice and said, "No, she's still in school. She's not done with her degree," Buffy shared.

"When you get ready to do an internship, let me know," Tony said. "Your sister saved Pepper's life. Anything you need, you only have to ask."

Dawn grinned. Buffy gave her a look and turned to Tony. "That's not necessary, I assure you," Buffy said.

"You didn't have to come here to give us this," Willow said, holding up the keys in bemusement. The day still seemed like a dream. She still was having trouble wrapping her mind around the amount of money Pepper said she was going to make. Now this.

"Well, since Buffy here is going to be my personal security guard, I thought we should get to know each other a bit more," Tony explained. "Can I take you guys out for dinner? Have you eaten yet?"

Willow and Buffy exchanged a glance. "I guess that'll be okay," Buffy said slowly. She wasn't quite sure how to take her new boss's interest in her. Something told her that his too penetrating gaze was assessing them all very carefully. "Should we change?"

"Nah. We'll just get some pizza. I know a great place," Tony said. He turned to walk out. Their apartment didn't seem out of the ordinary. No weird voodoo dolls or crosses hanging all over the place. His research into witchcraft had uncovered some weird stuff, so he wasn't sure what to believe. However, Tony was determined to uncover every secret his new employees had. He found it interesting that one of their friends or boyfriends was already working for him. Tony was a bit surprised by the guy's career choice, however. Anyone that could fight monsters as a teenager had to be extraordinary in some way. Interesting. Another puzzle. Tony bet the story of how he lost that eye would be equally interesting.

A short time later, he sat at a large round booth. He and Xander both were drinking beers while the ladies drunk sodas. The pizza was hot and delicious as always.

"Tell Hank thanks," Tony said to the waitress.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," the waitress replied with a smile.

Xander was battling his desire to quip with his desire to stay employed. Finally, he couldn't contain himself any longer. "So, I'm a bit surprised that a guy with all your bucks would choose a run-of-the-mill pizza place," he said.

Tony took a bite of his pizza. He chewed and swallowed before answering, watching Xander take his own bite. When Xander's eye widened in surprise, Tony grinned. "This is no run-of-the-mill place. The pizza is the best!" Tony said. "I've been trying to get Hank, the owner, to let me buy his place and make chains of it, but he refuses."

"It's so good!" Buffy said in ecstasy.

"You shouldn't have brought me here! I don't have Buffy's metabolism! I'm going to gain so much weight living in this city!" Willow complained.

"Nah. I'll keep you too busy," Tony replied with a smile. He looked at the girls and then Xander. "So which one of the Summer girls are you dating?"

Xander instinctively moved away from Dawn, who he was sitting next to, and gave Buffy a guilty glance before quickly looking away. Tony, of course, noticed. He was surprised, though, when Xander said otherwise. "Neither. I've been best friends with Willow since I was six. Buffy moved to Sunnydale our sophomore year of high school. We're all just close friends," he explained. He tried to ignore Dawn's hurt look, but Tony made a mental note. Looks like a romance was brewing with little sis and the other girls didn't know yet. Tony grinned but said nothing.

"Do you all live together?" Tony asked.

"Xander and I are roommates. We live in the apartment across the hall from Buffy and Dawn. We'd live together if this city wasn't so expensive. A four bedroom anything would be beyond our means," Willow said.

"Not anymore," Buffy said, smiling at their new boss.

"You're a lucky guy," Tony said to Xander.

Xander smiled. "Yeah, I know," he said, giving his girls a fond smile.

"Sunnydale was full of a lot of challenges. It bonded us," Buffy explained.

"The earthquake destroyed the entire town. We were some of the last to escape the place," Willow shared.

Dawn decided to brave a question of her own. "What's it like to fly?" she asked him.

"It's pretty amazing," Tony admitted.

"I heard you gave up your suit. How could you do that?" Dawn wondered. "Doesn't that make you normal now?"

"Am I normal?" Tony asked, smiling.

Dawn blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I mean, you won't have the superpowers," she said.

"I realized that I didn't need the suit anymore. I am Iron Man and Iron Man is me," Tony replied simply. "Most of them were destroyed in my last battle. I'm sure I'll make some more. I can't help making things. It's what I do. I'm making a suit for Pepper right now. I don't want her to be unprotected ever again. I almost lost her recently when someone was trying to hurt me. Today with the mugger was just further proof that she's too vulnerable."

"Sometimes you can't protect those you love no matter how hard you try," Buffy said sagely. "Sometimes death has a way of finding you."

"Our mom died of a brain aneurysm," Dawn explained.

Tony actually knew that since he'd done extensive research on the family. It was a good sign that they weren't trying to be too secretive. "I'm sorry. I lost my father too soon, too. It's not easy," he said. "But sometimes evil finds a way to take those we love before their time. Those kinds of things we can stop. Or die trying."

Buffy looked at Tony and felt a connection. Here was a man who knew about sacrifice and expectation. He refused to do what he was told and forged his own path, defying the government and any who dared to curtail him. This man was truly someone she could admire. Getting to work for him was going to be a real treat.

Tony was determined to learn more about his two new hires and had planned something to find out what they were made of. He wanted to test their response to a sudden threat and had Happy set up a surprise attack when they left the restaurant and were walking to the car. A gang of thugs had been paid to stage a mugging. Tony stood aside to watch as Dawn was grabbed. She let out a predictable scream. However, she stomped hard on the attacker's foot and elbowed him in the side. Tony motioned for her to come to him. He had made it to his limo across the street. Instead of following him, Dawn turned to watch out for her friends.

Buffy had been surprised to be in the middle of a mugging for the second time in one day. The Latino males each carried a knife and demanded their money. Xander laughed. "You chose the wrong group of people, boys," he told them. He reached for Dawn and pulled her back behind him. Buffy easily disarmed two teens while Willow immobilized another with a spell. The other two guys ran off.

"Interesting," Tony said to himself as the boys ran away. All but the one Willow had frozen. Tony crossed the street toward them. "You can let the guy go. They weren't going to really rob you. I just wanted to witness your amazing skills for myself." Pepper had not exaggerated.

Buffy's eyes, though, blazed fire as she stepped toward him. "You put my sister and Xander at risk! Are you insane? They had a knife. Anything could've happened! You had no right to do such a thing!" Buffy exclaimed angrily.

Xander eyed their new boss warily. "Relax, Buff. We're all okay. No harm was done," he said to her.

"You sacrificed your eye, Xander! Never again! You've given up enough!" Buffy said to him.

Tony found her remark very curious. "What do you mean he sacrificed an eye?" he asked.

"He was trying to fight my battle. Someone I pissed off took his eye to punish me," Buffy shared grimly. Caleb had done so with joy in his heart. That had been one of the worst days of her life. The guilt she felt every time she looked at Xander could never be completely abated.

"That's awful!" Tony said with sympathy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, but Pepper said you and Willow were amazing. I had trouble believing in the magic claim. The scientist in me wanted to see for myself. It was just a little test."

"You could've just asked," Willow admonished. "I would've given you a demonstration. A test that endangered Dawn wasn't necessary." She waved her hand and released the teen who ran off in terror.

"I guess I could've, but I wasn't sure if your powers were like my friend Bruce's, whose powers only come out when he's in distress," Tony said.

"Well, I don't have any superpowers," Xander said. "I wish I did. Maybe I'd still have my eye."

"Come to my lab tomorrow," Tony said to him. "I want to show you what I'm working on. I wasn't kidding when I said I could give you back your eye. It won't be quite the same thing. It'd be so much better."

"Uh, I have to work at the site tomorrow," Xander said, looking unsure.

"Tell your foreman I need you for a special project. I'll have my secretary call him and verify when you come in and give her your supervisor's name," Tony said.

"Okay," Xander said in bemusement. The man was like a whirlwind, changing everything in his path.

Later, after he'd taken them back to their apartment building, they discussed the evening.

"He has to be the sexiest and coolest boss ever!" Dawn gushed.

"I have a small man crush myself," Xander admitted with a grin.

"He's too smart for his own good," Buffy said with a frown. "He was watching us a little too closely. At this rate, he's going to find out I'm a slayer by the end of the week!"

"What's the big deal? He seemed okay with me being a witch. He's not one of those guys who doesn't like strong women," Willow pointed. "You saw him with Pepper."

"Not to mention, he's very grateful for what you did," Dawn said.

"I hope you're right," Buffy said. She had her reservations. However, she knew they'd never get a chance like this again. Tomorrow, she'd start her new job and test the waters. Hopefully, she wouldn't regret taking the job.

Driving back to his place, Tony asked JARVIS if he'd gotten the video.

"Of course, sir," JARVIS replied. It appeared on the screen in the back of the limo.

Tony had seen the events firsthand, but he had wanted a recording to analyze. None of the four seemed truly frightened of the sudden attack. Even the little sister who had screamed wasn't experiencing true terror. His one-eyed employee, Xander, seemed to relish the violence that was about to unfold and stood guard in front of Dawn, calling out words of encouragement to his friends. Violence was obviously something he was used to confronting. The crime stats Tony had read about their hometown was a bit alarming. There was a steady number of deaths and violent attacks all the years the three had been at school in Sunnydale. Tony, of course, didn't believe the official reports that were constantly blaming things on a growing drug and gang problem. Too many eyewitness reports of their high school graduation turning into a massacre had leaked out. A few had even claimed the town's mayor had turned into a giant snake and ate the principal. Of course, that was ludicrous, but it was obvious the town was hiding something. It wasn't quite normal.

Tony didn't know what was true and what was an exaggeration. However, he knew that Buffy and Willow had extraordinary gifts. Buffy could handle herself in a fight without losing control. She'd disarmed the teens without causing them serious injury. Tony couldn't help but wonder how she'd respond to a real threat. Fascinated by his discoveries, Tony looked forward to unraveling more of his new puzzle. Tomorrow, he'd have Xander in is lab. Maybe Xander would reveal something that would shed some light onto what secrets Buffy Summers held.

******Chapter End******