Chapter 5: A Puzzle

*******The Hellmouth: Oberlin, OH*******

The Hulk was perplexed and very angry. These human-like creatures kept trying to bite him. He tried to destroy them, but they kept getting up. They had disappeared when the sun came up. However, he didn't recede and let Banner take over. There was something about the energy of the place that kept him enraged and in control. The next night he came across another group of the strange creatures. They attacked him; he kicked them hard. He knocked some down. Finally, he finally grabbed one in his hand and lifted it up, its arms pinned. The creature bared its teeth at him.

He yelled, "Awwww!" at it and then ripped its head off. When the creature dissolved into dust, he frowned in confusion. He didn't understand these creatures and was getting angrier by the minute. His foot kicked out in frustration and knocked it into the air. Tiring of these creatures, he turned and ran toward the forest, knocking down trees in his wake.

*******At Buffy's*******

Buffy finished telling Giles about her encounter at Stark Industry.

"I just can't believe the guy, Giles!" she complained.

"Well, Buffy, Tony Stark is a man that has always had the means and the talent to pretty much do whatever he wants. His mind is one of the greatest alive today, and I would imagine it needs constant stimuli. He sees you as a puzzle. A puzzle his intellect will demand an answer for," Giles said reasonably.

Buffy sighed. "I suppose you're right. But he's a bit insane, Giles! Three times! Three times in less than a full twenty-four hours!" she exclaimed.

"It does seem a bit excessive, but Tony has a well-documented history with impulse control issues," Giles said. "I do believe, however, that he's been much better since he gave his company over to Ms. Potts to run. Having Iron Man as an outlet for his energy has also helped him, I'd imagine."

Buffy hated it when Giles was so sensible. "Well, I'm not going to go into work and be experimented on every day!" she insisted. "Oh, and now he's got Xander drinking his Kool-aid!" She shared Xander's new job description.

"Hmm. That's unexpected," Giles said thoughtfully. "But it could open up some amazing doors for Xander."

Buffy threw herself down on her couch. "I know," she said glumly. "But I worry. Tony isn't exactly known for his self-control or good judgment."

"I'm more concerned about your encounter with S.H.I.E.L.D," Giles said. "I don't want them trying to recruit our slayers."

"Well, having paying jobs stopping crime could be a good thing for some of them," Buffy pointed out.

"Maybe for some that have learned to control their power. Any slayer not fully trained could be disastrous for all of you," Giles pointed out. "You, on the other hand, may find it something worth pursuing. Being a bodyguard may be a bit tedious for someone of your gifts."

"I love tedious. I'm due some boredom! Past due, I think!" Buffy replied. "And I have no desire to work for that one-eyed giant. He doesn't know how to smile. He was like a Watcher on Xanax. Not cool. Not fun. Principal Snyder all over again! No, thank you!"

"Well, now that you're on his radar, I'm sure you'll be hearing from him," Giles cautioned.

"I would never accept a job that'd have me going all over the world. Been there. Done that. Not gonna do it again!" Buffy said firmly. "Nor do I want to work for some clandestine government agency. I'll leave that to the Rileys of the world!"

Giles chuckled. "Well, what are you going to do? I'm not sure it's a good idea to leave Xander working alone so closely with Tony Stark," Giles said.

"Will is there, too," Buffy said reluctantly.

"Yes, but she'll have her hands full with her own division," Giles pointed out. "I'm so impressed that she was given such responsibility. It's an amazing opportunity for her."

Buffy sighed in defeat. Giles so knew how to work her. "Fine. I'll go back. But I'm not going to be his guinea pig!" she insisted with a pout.

"I'm sure if you'd spend some time letting him get to know you, he'll relax. Satisfy his insatiable curiosity," Giles advised.

"Is that possible?" Buffy pointed out with a laugh.

Her front door opened, and she looked up. "Xander's home. I'll keep you posted, Giles," Buffy said.

"Yes, please do," he replied. "And Buffy, don't be afraid to trust someone new. Tony Stark is exactly the mentor I'd have for you. He can be someone that will understand you and some of the things you've gone through. Don't be so quick to reject his offer of friendship."

"I won't," she said. She said goodbye and hung up.

"Was that Giles? Is everything okay?" Xander asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I was just venting," Buffy said. She laid her head down on his shoulder. "What would I do without you?"

"Learn to fix things yourself," Xander said dryly.

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, right!" she said. "You know you can't ever leave us, right? If you meet a girl, she's got to love us, okay?"

Xander debated on whether or not he should confess his new relationship and decided the timing wasn't right. "I'm sure she will!" Xander said. "Just so you know, Tony is very sorry. He told me he'd come and apologize in person. I told him to let you cool off!"

"Good advice," Buffy said. "I don't know, Xander. What do you think?"

"I think you'd be an idiot to quit such a cushy job," Xander said unhesitatingly. "Tony is the most amazing man on the planet."

"You're just saying that 'cause he wants you as his new side kick," Buffy said sourly.

"Well, since I lost my eye, I lost my other side kick gig," Xander said pointedly.

"You're much more than my side kick!" she quickly said.

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I know, Buff. But this is the most exciting thing to happen to me in a long time. Please, let me enjoy it," Xander said.

"I'll try. Where's Willow?" Buffy said.

"She wanted to finish up some things. Since she has her own car now, I took the train home," Xander said.

"I could've come and got you!" Buffy said, flashing him a guilty look.

"No biggie. I rode in with Will in her fancy new company car," Xander said. "I don't mind takin' the subway."

"Mr. Moneybags will probably give you your own car, too," Buffy said, flashing him a grin.

"So what's for dinner?" Xander asked.

"I don't know. What are you cooking?" she asked with a wide smile.

Xander sighed and got up. "I'm going to tell Tony to build me a robot cook! That would totally rock!" Xander said.

*******The Hellmouth********

Faith and Robin were battling vampires while her other slayers were engaged with some others nearby. A loud roar was heard. Faith paused in her fight and looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw the largest demon she'd ever seen appear. It was green and very angry.

"What the hell is that?" Faith asked incredulously.

Robin staked the vampire that was about to attack her. Then he turned to look, and his eyes widened. The vampires they were all battling all paused to stare at the newcomer. The creature roared and began flinging bodies. Some of Faith's team shot their crossbows at him. The arrows bounced off his chest like he was made of rubber.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Faith declared as she charged the new threat. "You picked the wrong town!"

The Hulk looked down at his newest challenger and frowned. The girl smiled at him before she ran and kicked him. The kick barely registered, but he still roared his displeasure. Since the girl didn't try to bite him, he didn't try to rip off her head. However, he did kick her back, and she went airborne. His eyes narrowed in on a familiar creature with fangs. He reached out and grabbed it. After roaring his anger at it, he ripped off its head.

Faith picked herself up in time to see the demon tear apart a vampire. "What's his deal?" she asked Robin.

"He must have a low IQ and doesn't know enemy from ally," Robin guessed.

Faith figured it didn't matter. He was a monster, and she was a monster slayer. Her job description was simple.

*******Back in New York******

They had just finished dinner, and Willow was filling them in on her very first job interview as boss. She was glowing with excitement and enthusiasm. Buffy smiled fondly at her, glad to see her so happy.

"I'm glad one of us had a good first day," she said to Willow.

"You know Tony came to see me. I told him you would expect a lot of groveling," Willow shared with a grin.

Buffy laughed. "I'd love to see that! Somehow, I think his version of groveling won't exactly be mine," Buffy said.

Xander felt compelled to defend his hero. "Hey! You should be glad he wants you back! We both know he doesn't really need a bodyguard," Xander said.

"Right now, I would say he needs someone to keep him out of trouble more than to protect him. He needs a wrangler! Pepper can only do so much!" Buffy said.

"Oh, I did sort of promise Tony that as soon as I staff my department, I'd sit down with him an answer all his questions about us," Willow said.

"I suppose I should just go in there tomorrow and lay it all out for him," Buffy said with a sigh.

"Why don't you call him and put him out of his misery?" Xander suggested.

"Why would I want to do that?" Buffy said with a grin.

"I think you're being stupid," Dawn said with her typical bluntness. "That's the best job you could ever hope to get. You can mingle with real life superheroes. Maybe you'll get to meet Thor! He's so hot!"

Xander frowned. "He wears a skirt!" he insisted.

"Hey, he does have a hammer no one else can wield. He could be your soulmate!" Willow teased.

Buffy laughed at the thought. "I have had my fill of egotistical demi-gods or hell gods or whatever he is!" she said.

The doorbell rang, and Dawn got up to answer it.

Buffy and Willow turned and saw Dawn welcome in the very guy who had attacked Xander at Tony's biding. She stood up, frowning. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Clint gave her his best smile and held up his hand. "Please, forgive the intrusion. I came to apologize," he said quickly.

Willow eyed his beautiful companion with interest. "Who's your friend?" she asked, standing next to Buffy.

"This is Natasha Romanoff, my partner," Clint said.

Willow stepped forward and extended her hand. "I'm Willow Rosenburg. It's nice to meet you," she said, smiling warmly. She pointed around the room. "That's Xander, Dawn, and Buffy."

"So did you bring someone else to try test my reflexes?" Buffy asked sourly.

"No, I really did want to say I'm sorry," Clint said sincerely. "Tony wanted to show you off. I hope you won't hold it against me."

"I guess being a mindless drone means you have bigger problems than me," Buffy said disdainfully.

Natasha grinned and elbowed Clint. "Guess she's holding a grudge," Natasha said to him.

"You think?" Buffy said sarcastically.

"I understand," Clint said reasonably. "However, our boss, Nick Fury, would love to meet you officially. He is very intrigued by your special skills."

"SHIELD looking to recruit the Buffster," Xander said with a grin.

"Not interested. Ever. Tell him that," Buffy said coldly.

"You're like a crime fighter, right?" Natasha asked. "Why wouldn't you want to work for the government?"

"Why not? Maybe because I like free will, can think for myself, and don't enjoy never having a life of my own," Buffy said pointedly. "Not to mention, I'm not a crime fighter."

Natasha didn't appreciate the jab and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't know the first thing about being a SHIELD agent!" she said.

"I know that the government is always looking out for its own best interests. They don't care who they hurt if it's in their quest of the nation's best interest. I don't care to prove to a bunch of men that I can kick their asses all day. I don't like to lie every moment of the day pretending to be someone's friend to get information out of them," Buffy said with more than a hint of snide.

Natasha took offense and stepped forward, aggression in her stance. "Look, you may think you're tough, but I've fought aliens and all kinds of scum. I've been in countless battles and more than one war. I'm not just some pretty doll that lies on command!"

"I'm sure you're not. I'm sure you can think of your own lies just fine," Buffy said with a smirk.

"Hey, we didn't come here to fight!" Clint said, pulling Natasha back and giving her a look. "We want to be friends."

"I have enough friends," Buffy said crossly.

"I don't," Willow said with a cheeky smile to Natasha.

Natasha was confused by the redhead's friendliness in contrast to the blonde's open aggression. However, she focused on the target. "I don't want to be your friend, but you may prove useful to us," Natasha said carefully.

"My goal in life," Buffy said dryly.

Natasha finally lost her temper and stepped forward again. "Look, Buffy—if that's your real name because, face it, no mother who loved her child would name them that—I don't know why you're being so hostile," she said sourly.

Buffy stepped forward, enraged at the crack at her mother. "You dare insult my mother? My dead mother? Who raised you? Wolves?" she asked in outrage.

Dawn hadn't appreciated the crack either. "Seriously. That was way below the belt," she said with a disapproving frown.

"Sorry," Natasha said. However, she didn't seem to mean it. It was almost like she was wanting to goad Buffy into hitting her. She took a fighter's stance as if prepared for Buffy's attack.

When Buffy stepped forward with violence in her mind, Willow quickly reacted. An invisible shield fell down between them that Buffy hit and bounced off of. She barely kept herself from landing on her butt. She glared at Willow. "Will!" she scolded.

"Sorry, Buffy, but I don't want you to hurt her. She has such a pretty face," Willow said with an open look of admiration.

"Don't assume it's my face that'll be hurt!" Natasha said with a glare.

"Oh, that's what'll happen. You're just a human," Willow said matter-of-factly.

Clint stared in bemusement at the women. Then he glanced at Natasha. Words weren't necessary between them most of the time. She nodded and stepped back, eying the witch warily. "So, it's true," Natasha said.

"What's true?" Willow asked.

"You're a witch," Natasha stated.

Willow grinned. "You've heard about me?" she asked, a note of pride in her question.

"Somewhat," Natasha said.

"How about we break up this love fest?" Buffy said. "Tell your boss I'm not interested. Maybe I know some people that may someday be interested. However, not without my okay, so he better back off. I'll make my own judgments."

Clint eyed her thoughtfully. He couldn't help but be impressed by the girl who stood so confidently in front of them. She was the polar opposite of Natasha. He doubted she knew how to act or ever wasted time on pretense, and he found her forthrightness refreshing. Too bad she was still pissed at him. However, any day that allowed you to live to fight another day was a good day in his book. "Will do," he said easily. He stepped forward and held out his hand to Buffy. "I hope you'll consider accepting my apology."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," she said pointedly, ignoring his offered hand. Instead, she crossed her arms across her chest and looked toward Xander.

Clint glanced at Xander, who had remained silent during the exchange. The guy was obviously used to allowing the ladies to run the show. He could respect a man willing to put ego aside so easily. He held out his hand to Xander. "I apologize for hitting you. I hope you'll forgive the insult," Clint said.

Xander smiled easily and took the offered hand. "No big deal. It's not the first punch I've taken defending the ladies," he said.

Clint grinned in appreciation at the man's words. He and Natasha turned to leave. After they stepped outside, Clint turned to his friend. "Well, I guess it could've been worse," he said.

Natasha smirked. "That girl is easier to rile than Banner!" she said with satisfaction.

"And what did you learn?" he asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Not as much as I'd like," Natasha replied. "She's a powder keg. She reminds me of someone."

Clint grinned. "That's exactly what I thought! She's like a female version of Thor. Blonde, deadly, and quick to get riled and quick to defend," he said. "I wonder if she's Asgardian?" He frowned, speculating.

"What about the witch? I don't think I've ever come across a true one before. Have you?" she asked.

"Loki used magic," he said.

"That was more like smoke and mirrors," she said. "I'm not sure he had true power. Not like this girl. She seemed to wield it effortlessly. I wasn't sure who was in charge. Were you?"

Clint thought a moment as they headed to the elevator. "Buffy seems to be in charge. She's too quick to speak. She's obviously used to calling the shots. However, she yielded easily enough to her friend. Either she respects her friend's power or she's not as temperamental as she appears," he said thoughtfully.

"We need more data," Natasha said.

"I don't think either of us will get anywhere with Buffy. She's too hostile right now," Clint said. "You could seduce the guy."

"Maybe. But I may have more luck with the witch. Did you see how she looked at me?" Natasha asked with a grin.

Clint chuckled. "You're braver than me!" he said, shaking his head. They stepped onto the elevator. "What do you think she meant about others who may be interested?"

"I don't know. But I'll find out," Natasha said determinedly. She'd never met a man or woman she couldn't crack eventually.

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

I hope I'm doing okay with Clint and Natasha. I've not read any of the comics, so forgive me if I veer away from your own vision. I'm basically writing based on what we know from the Marvel movies.