"Late night?" Buffy asked.

"Trying to figure out who's been poking at our files," Dawn replied. "Pass the coffee, please."

Willow passed the pot over to Dawn. "You could have asked me to help."

"Bwah ha ha!" a toddler called out from the seat next to her as Oz tried to feed his son Alex pancakes.

"Excellent evil laugh," Giles said with a smile as the dark haired boy tried to feed his father the pancake he was supposed to be eating.

"You have more important matters to attend to," Dawn said with a grin at the excited little boy.

"What'd you find out?" Willow asked.

"It's someone high up in the US government," Dawn replied. "They hit all our records but really went to town on Xander's."

"Xander!" the little boy cheered.

"Why would they be looking so hard into Xander's records?" Buffy asked.

"They probably found his body," Willow said sadly. "A hiker might have stumbled over it. It has been a few years."

"But why… He probably had weapons on him," Buffy realized.

"We do carry things that make us look like serial killers," Oz pointed out.

"Cereal!" the young boy demanded.

"Cereal," Oz agreed, and started moving things around so the young boy could have a bowl of cereal.

"We kind of are," Willow pointed out.

"Yeah, but the things we kill need killing," Buffy said.

"Most serial killers would say the same," Oz replied, amused.

"That is such a Xander comment," Willow told her husband.

"Thank you," he said.

A butler entered. "You have a visitor from the states, a Mr. Coulson."

"Thank you, please send him in," Giles replied.

The butler nodded and left.

"Who is he?" Buffy asked.

"No idea," Giles replied, "but if he's going to interrupt breakfast he can join us."

"Give Alex more targets, smart," Buffy said, snagging a muffin out of the air.

"He's got quite the arm on him," Giles said with a fond smile.

"He has Willow's aim," Dawn said.

Willow stuck her tongue out at her.

"Sir Giles," the butler announced, "may I introduce Mr. Coulson."

A fit man with a slightly receding hairline was ushered in.

"He's a fed," Buffy said.

"Buffy you can't just- He's a fed," Willow agreed on seeing him.

"We wear the suit for a reason," Coulson said with a pleasant smile. "It's better than most forms of ID. However, I'm not with the FBI."

"You found Xander's body," Dawn guessed.

"Yes," Coulson agreed. "He was frozen in a block of ice and I have some NDAs for you all to sign before I can continue." He caught an orange as it was speeding towards his face and began to peel it.

"NDAs?" Buffy asked as Alex began grasping at the air towards Coulson.

Coulson passed the peeled orange to Oz who gave it to the young boy. "Yes, I can't say anything more until you all agree not to spread what I'm going to tell you."

"He's not a serial killer," Willow said firmly, leaning back as a slice of orange went flying by that Buffy caught and ate.

"NDAs first," Coulson said, before an orange slice flew into his mouth which he calmly ate while Alex laughed.

Buffy looked around, silently checking with everyone and receiving nods. "Okay, pass them out."

Coulson reached into his jacket, pausing as everyone's focus on him became dangerous, before slowly pulling out a folder. "Here," he said, passing it to Giles.

Giles pulled out his glasses and put them on before looking over the NDAs and passing them out. "They are straight forward with no hidden clauses," he said and signed his own.

Coulson waited while they were all signed and passed back to him, checking them over before putting them away. "Alexander Harris was dosed with something he described as fish steroids while in high school," the agent began without preamble, "side effects of which included certain proteins in his blood that are normally only found in fish at the poles."

"You are talking about Xander in the present tense!" Willow exclaimed, drawing everyone's eyes to her and then back to Coulson.

"He was found frozen in ice," Coulson continued, "and used to test a possible way to revive individuals safely from a similar fate. Of course we didn't know about the fish steroids so there was a rather large side effect."

"But he's okay? He's alive?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"He's alive and well past okay," Coulson said.

"Why isn't he here?!" Willow demanded.

"He said showing up out of the blue looking like the Jolly Green Giant's younger brother would 'not be of the good'," Coulson quoted.

"Not of the good… He's alive!" Giles exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"Jolly Green Giant?" Oz asked with a frown as he managed to get a spoonful of cereal in his son's mouth.

"What? Like the Hulk?" Willow asked. "Did you bombard him with gamma rays?"

Coulson turned to her, his jaw falling open as he briefly lost his composure. "How?" he asked as even the scientists involved hadn't realized what the Vita Ray Projector was until they'd tested it.

"Big and green says Hulk," Willow replied.

"We've talked to Bruce," Buffy added. "I tracked down the Hulk to make sure he wasn't a threat and his story came out."

"Yes, well… he received a small bombardment of gamma radiation during the revival process," Coulson admitted, "which turned his hair green and made him a foot or so taller and a bit heavier."

"He doesn't transform, does he?" Buffy asked.

"No, he appears perfectly stable and is remarkably hard to anger," Coulson replied. "He's still undergoing testing, but wanted us to contact you before showing up."

"Where is he?!" Buffy demanded.

"At a secure facility," Coulson said. "I'm here to make sure it's safe to bring him to visit you."

"You know who we are," Giles realized. "Who do you work for?"

"I work for SHIELD," Coulson said.

"Good or bad guys?" Buffy asked Giles.

"They're spy guys," Willow butted in, "supposed to be the good guys but since they're spies… you know how it goes."

"Depends on the agent and the op," Oz said while cleaning milk off his son's face.

"And the op!" the little boy called out.

Coulson opened his mouth, considered his answer, and nodded. "Yeah, we try to be the good guys, but sometimes we get bad intel or have to do things that are bad to prevent worse things from happening."

"Trolley problem," Dawn said. "When can we see Xander?"

"Is next Thursday good for you?" Coulson asked.

"Sooner would be better," Dawn said before anyone else could say anything.

"If we can arrange sooner we will," Coulson promised. "He's a bit impatient to see you all as well. He's still playing it cool, pretending nothing is wrong while he feels us out to see if we're a threat."

"Yeah, he'd totally do that," Buffy realized.

"He's only been awake a short time, right?" Dawn asked with an evil grin, which was interrupted by a cheerio smacking her cheek. She turned and stuck her tongue out at Alex who giggled and clapped his hands.

"Yes, he's only allowed us the past week because we were running tests to make sure he was safe to be around," Coulson replied.

"Tell him… Tell him that Dawn would like to point out that she is now older than he is," the brunette young woman said smugly.

Coulson considered that and nodded. "Pass code?" he guessed.

"No, but it will work as one as it proves you have kept faith with him and contacted us," Giles offered.

Coulson nodded. "I'll be sure to tell him then. Is there anything else you'd like to pass along?"

"Just that we're anxious to see him and Willow is probably going to put him through a lot of tests to make sure he's him," Buffy said.

"Is part of the delay because you're re-establishing his identity?" Dawn asked before Coulson could turn to leave.

Coulson nodded. "We don't want him to draw attention to himself by getting arrested for having a fake ID and the procedures used for fixing the 'errors' takes a bit of time. It'd actually be faster to manufacture a new identity for him, but that's not good in the long run."

Giles nodded. "We'll be ready to welcome him home whenever he calls."

"Thank you for your time," Coulson said, the butler appearing to show him out.

"Do you think it's really him?" Willow asked.

"This is just the sort of thing that would happen to Xander," Dawn pointed out, "and if they were trying to slip in a ringer they'd use a more believable story."

Buffy groaned. "I'm going to look even shorter now!"

"Not many people know about the fish proteins," Oz offered.

"And fewer still know I managed to identify which ones he has in his blood," Willow said with a bright smile.

"I'll hold off on any off color comments considering the present company," Dawn said, trying to sound prim and proper.

"I appreciate that," Giles said gratefully.

"I meant Alex," Dawn said, gesturing to the boy who waved back.

"Oh," Giles said, embarrassed as the girls giggled.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Push it," Xander said, "just two more."

Steve pushed the bar up, the bench creaking slightly under pressure as Xander stood ready to grab the weights if he faltered or the bench broke.

"One more," Xander called out, ignoring Coulson as he entered, waiting until Steve finished and rested the bar.

"How much was that?" Steve asked tiredly, sweat dripping down his face.

"A little over half a ton," Xander told him.

"Not going to tell me how much?" Steve asked as he wiped off his face with a towel.

"No, you're doing better without math being added to your workout," the green haired teen told him.

Steve chuckled. "I was always pretty good at math, but I suppose one subject at a time is a better way to train."

Xander grinned and turned to Coulson. "So, what did they say?" he asked nervously.

"I told them I'd bring you by next Thursday. They said sooner would be better as they all want to see you and Dawn said to tell you that she is older than you now," Coulson said and waited for the response.

"Older than…" Xander burst out laughing. "Yeah, she would say that."

Coulson nodded as if confirming something. "Also I'm told Willow would have many tests for you."

Xander sighed softly with a wistful smile on his face. "She would. Well, I'm satisfied you actually talked to them. Now what?"

"We're currently getting your status updated and adding some medical reports to your files saying you had a pituitary problem that caused a massive growth spurt and sent you into a coma," Coulson replied. "After that gets approved you'll be legal again."

"Excellent," Xander said and strummed an air guitar, much to Steve's confusion and Coulson's amusement. He suddenly stopped. "Is she behind me again?"

The two turned as Natasha stepped out from behind him. "I still can't figure out how you can sense me," she said with a small frown.

"Perfume?" Steve guessed.

"I don't wear any and take care to remove all foreign scents when on the clock," she replied.

"Pheromones?" Clint suggested.

"Clint," Xander said, surprised. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," he replied as Natasha's frowns increased a slight bit more. "Three quarters of a ton? Nice."

"I was benching how much?" Steve asked, surprised.

"Dude," Xander groaned out.

"What?"

"I've been keeping how much he was benching a secret since he thought his limit was twelve hundred pounds," Xander explained.

"But I heard one of the scientists say my theoretical maximum was just a little over that," Steve said, examining the weights.

"Which is why you never pushed past it," Xander guessed. "You are a super soldier, whatever that actually means, and they often get things wrong, so I've been working on increasing what you can lift a bit each day," he explained. "Maybe your limit was twelve hundred, but every time you work out you break down your muscles and rebuild them a little stronger. Hell, I'm pretty sure this isn't your limit, it's just close to your current one."

"I never considered that," Steve admitted. "So, I'm getting stronger?"

"A bit," Xander said.

"A bit for you," Clint said, "it's a huge amount for us."

Xander just shrugged, keeping Natasha in the corner of his eye.

"It's time for lunch and some more catch up on pop culture," Clint said. "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

"You'll love it," Xander told Steve.

"Alright, let me shower real quick and I'll meet you in the lounge," Steve said before leaving, feeling his biceps as he left to try to figure out if there was any noticeable change.

"Come on, we can catch some more Simpsons you missed while waiting for him," Clint said.

"Cool," Xander said, cautiously moving away from Natasha as he followed Clint out of the gym.

"Still can't figure out how he knows when you're near?" Coulson asked, not putting it past Natasha to have figured it out but kept it a secret from Xander.

"No," she said, "and I find that concerning."

Coulson nodded. "A psychic ability maybe?"

"His psi score was very low," she said, "and he wasn't able to intentionally tank his score the way he was with the magical proficiency test."

Coulson nodded. "Still think releasing him to his friends is the best way forward?"

Natasha nodded. "With vampires no longer an issue, the Watcher's Council is more a ceremonial job and the boredom will set in. Clint can talk him into helping on a few rescue missions and his need to help others will be validated."

"That's what his psych profile says," Coulson agreed. "What's your personal feelings on the matter?"

"He's very much like Rogers," she replied, "while he'd make a poor assassin, that's not exactly what Fury wants him for is it?"

Coulson smiled, not answering the question which was almost rhetorical. "We could use more men like the Captain around."

Typing By: Abyssal Angel

Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows