Xander Harris let out a long breath as he let himself drop into the leather couch that featured prominently in his apartment. "Computer, give me the heads up on the Walsh project."
The computer didn't reply, it just sent the information he had requested to the screen.
Xander leaned forward, watching the huge flatscreen in front of him and frowning. "Computer... Pause."
The computer paused the screen.
"Go back three pages."
The computer flipped back.
Xander stared at the screen for a long time, then frowned and sat back again. "Get Tony on the line."
"Yes, Sir." The computer replied, initiating the dial.
A few minutes later the screen split into two parts, one with the Walsh data, and the other with Tony Stark staring back at him. "Yes, Xander?"
"I'm reviewing the data on that project you sent me over here for..." Xander said.
"Yes? Is something wrong?"
"Maybe." Xander shook his head, "You remember that I told you Walsh gave us her own schematics for the installation?"
Tony nodded, shrugging. "Saved us the trouble of designing it to Stark Code... The Government had already signed the contract, so it's not like we had to discount the job over it."
"Yeah..." Xander frowned, "But I'm not sure I like what I'm seeing here."
"What is it?" Tony leaned forward a bit, then coughed.
"Are you alright, Tony??" Xander looked concerned.
"I'm fine." Tony coughed a little more, "My treatments are just a little rough on the lungs at the moment. What's bothering you?"
Xander frowned at him, but nodded. "Computer... shoot him over the current page."
"Yes Sir."
Xander waited a moment for the file to arrive, then continued. "Have a look at the lower left hand corner... Tell me that isn't a trunk line being redirected to a cavern that links out into the cave network..."
Tony squinted at the page, then sighed and sat back. "Someone's playing games with us."
Xander nodded, "That's what it looks like. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that they have a right to their secrets, but I don't like the fact that this is a massive hole in *our* security design... if something screws up..."
"The Stark Enterprises gets the blame." Tony sighed, nodding. "Alright... I'll bring this with the contractors... At the very least I'll make them sign a waiver on this... I'll also bring some pressure to bear on the military over this. I don't like them playing games with my people."
Xander nodded, "Sorry to drop this on you, Tony..."
Stark shook his head, "That's the job. Yours and mine, Xander. If some Governmet hack screwed up the security additions and something happened, we could have lost billions. It's a good catch... Good job."
Xander nodded, keeping his face as controlled as he could. Tony hadn't been terribly happy with him for a couple months now, not since the incident in L.A. with Cordelia. But, from the looks of it, Xander figured he might have finally climbed out of the doghouse with his boss. It felt good to hear Tony's approval again. "Thanks, Boss."
Tony nodded, the started coughing again. "Damn it..."
"Jesus... Tony..."
"I'm fine." Stark insisted, "Don't worry about me."
"I'm part of your security detail, Tony. It's my job." Xander smiled.
Tony nodded, smiling. "I know... How is Cordelia?"
Xander blinked at the sudden shift, his mind whirring as he shifted gears. Finally he clicked in, and smiled slightly, "She's doing fine. Even has the Nano-gas under control... most of the time."
Tony smiled, "I remember some of Hanks early... mishaps. And Janets."
Xander chuckled softly, "Yeah... She accidently activated it in class once... That could have gotten real nasty, but luckily it was during a presentation and no one was looking at her. And those new clothes she got from Janet are a god send."
Tony laughed, "Right. Like you weren't a little disappointed by *that* particular change?"
Xander shrugged, smiling widely. "I have to admit... Normal outfits had their... ummm... upside."
"I'll bet." Tony grinned.
Xander's laughter petered out, and he sighed heavily. "I'm just glad that she'll be able to continue living a normal life."
Tony nodded, "I understand."
"I almost ruined her life, Tony..." Xander said after a long pause, for the first time breaching the subject with his boss. He didn't know why he chose to do it now, not when he was finally getting out of the doghouse with Tony, but he just needed to say it. "She could have been... like that forever."
Tony nodded, not softening the blow. He knew that Xander had been holding that in for a long time, and he also knew that it was best to make a clean sweep of the wound. "Yes you did."
Xander flinched as if he'd been hit.
"But she's going to be alright... If not normal, then at least in control." Tony said, relenting. "You screwed this one up by the numbers, Xander... But I've been watching you since, watching very closely..."
Xander looked up, his eyes confused.
"And you didn't let it become a pattern." Tony said, "Some people would have gotten rattled by the one mistake, and they would have started making more. You haven't."
Xander was silent as Tony went on, "You locked down, did your job, kept your grades up, and managed to be there for Cordelia when she was being treated... That's impressive in my book."
Xander shook his head, but Tony cut him off before he could say anything.
"Xander. You screwed up. But you've worked damn hard to fix it. In the end, that's all that can be expected."
Xander shook his head, but slower this time. "Maybe you're right Tony... But I keep thinking about how it could have gone and..."
"I know." Anthony Stark said, nodding, "I know."
"Excellent form, Darling."
Cordelia landed nimbly on the balls of her feet, sweat beading on her face and neck. She turned and smiled at her 'teacher'. "Thanks Janet."
Janet Van Dyne walked up, taking a drink of a large bottle of sports drink, then tossed the ice cold drink to Cordy. "Here, drink this... You need to replenish."
The Queen of Sunnydale High caught the bottle in mid air and took a long pull from the bite valve. When she was done she nodded, "Thanks again."
Janet Van Dyne, fashion designer extrodinaire and retired crime fighter, tipped her head at the young cheerleader. "You've done marvelously, you know? You picked up the form in record time."
Cordelia shrugged, "It's like dance... I can learn a new cheer after seeing it just once... It's the same thing."
Janet laughed out loud. "Oh, that is rich. Comparing fighting to cheerleading. Logan would be furious."
"Who?"
"Never mind." Janet smiled again, then her face became serious. "Still, the Kata is one thing... but I do hope you won't take it to the streets anytime soon."
Cordelia looked at her, her lips curling. "Oh please. I'm not the brawling type."
"Good. I hope you mean that." Janet said, "Because merely learning the Kata doesn't mean you know how to fight. Fighting isn't about the techniques... not primarily. It's about commitment."
"Hey, I already told you, Janet, I'm not a fighter." Cordelia said, her voice not entirely ringing true.
"Xander told me that you patrolled with him last year."
"Xander has a big mouth." Cordy frowned.
"Perhaps." Janet smiled, "But I'm serious about this, Cordelia. I tought you the Kata to help center your emotions... not to train you to fight vampires."
"I know that."
Janet's mouth quirked as she read the younger woman's emotions and learned exactly what she needed to know. "You're not going to listen to a word I've said, are you?"
Cordelia Chase just shrugged and smiled.
Janet sighed theatrically, but smiled inside. "Oh very well. If you insist in being stupid, I may as well be an idiot as well."
Cordy looked up, confused by the statement. "Huh?"
Janet smiled, nodding her head. "Come with me..."
Cordy followed Janet out of the small training room and into the huge open apartment that the older woman kept in L.A. They went into the living room, and stepped up to a large book case.
"Computer..." Janet said clearly, "Access Armory."
"Confirm Identity."
"Van Dyne, Janet." She said clearly.
"Voice print confirmed."
The book case slid open, revealing a room from in behind. Cordelia frowned, not understanding what she was seeing.
In the room, there was a single object. It was a rather flimsy looking costume that made Cordy's cheerleader uniforms look like snow suits. She looked at it with skeptical eyes, "What is this all about?"
Janet smiled, "I want you to have it."
"Have what?" Cordelia asked, her voice disbelieving. "That peice of lingerie you wisely keep where no one could EVER see it?"
Janet smirked, "That piece of 'lingerie' is bullet proof, weather resistant, insulated to minus thirty and change, not too mention a few other useful things..."
Cordy's expression didn't change.
"And," Janet lifted up the deep purple material, showing Cordelia a device that was part of the costume's arm, "It's equipped with these."
"What are those?" Cordelia asked, becoming curious despite herself.
Janet smiled, "Bio-electric blaster... One on each arm. And I can tell you this from personal experience, it works wonders against Vampires."
Cordelia forced down the flash of interest with brutal discipline. "I... I'm really not interested. I'm Sorry, Janet."
Janet Van Dyne frowned, wondering if she had misread the girl. She hesitated, "Why did you patrol this summer past? Xander said..."
"Xander wasn't here." Cordelia snapped. "Xander doesn't know anything."
"Then how..."
"Because that bottle blond hussy couldn't keep her mouth shut, that's how!" Cordelia turned away from the older woman.
Janet watched, confused by the abrupt change in the younger girl. Cordelia had never been open, but there was always a strength about her that was omnipresent, though often disguised by the girl's haughty attitude. Now though, that same strength was stretched so thin that the firl seemed ready to shatter at the slightest provocation.
"Cordelia... I..."
"I don't want to talk about this summer." Cordy said, her voice tense and taught with emotion.
"Why not?"
"Because he was DEAD." Cordy snapped, turning around. "Don't you get it? The only reason I ever went out after vampires was because of Xander. Because I knew that's what he would do if he was still alive."
Janet fell silent, her mouth drying. She'd heard some of the story about the summer past, but not much from Cordelia or Xander. And Tony hadn't known about any of this. "Dead?"
"We thought he was dead." Cordelia said after a long pause, her own voice flat. "He just vanished, then... then we got word that he had died..."
Janet watched as the haughty young girl trailed off, then visibly got herself under control. Janet could actually see Cordelia's defenses come back up from where they had briefly faltered. The socialite knew that if she gave the girl half a chance, she'd never learn what she needed to know.
"How did you feel when you heard he was dead?"
Cordy whitened, her face becoming a mask of fury. "How did I feel!? How the hell do you THINK I felt!?"
Janet flinched, almost perceptibly, but didn't respond as the fury washed off the cheerleader.
"I felt like HELL!" Cordy kept raging, "I felt like I should have done something.... *anything* to keep him from leaving. Or that I shouldn't have done some of the things I... I..."
Cordy paused, falling in on herself as she slumped where she stood. ""I used to say some aweful things to him... Hell, I still say some nasty things... I..."
"You blamed yourself?" Janet asked, her voice gentler this time.
Cordy nodded, her face setting again. The weakness that had come through was rapidly vanishing as she regained her composure.
"What did Xander say?"
"About what?"
"About this."
"Are you kidding me? I didn't tell him about this! I ripped Buffy apart for telling him that I was patrolling over the summer!" Cordy snapped.
"You should talk to him about it." Janet said, sighing. "Until you do, you won't be able to get past this... either of you."
"Tell him what??" Cordelia asked, "That I went out and killed a vampire two days after he 'died', without any backup at all?? That I did the same thing every night for a week before Buffy found out?"
Cordy shook her head, "No. No, I won't do that."
Janet frowned. "You need to talk to someone... I've seen people in your position before, Cordelia... If you don't get a handle on this it'll come back on you later. In spades."
Cordelia just rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious, Cordelia." Janet frowned, her voice snapping hard. "I've seen people burnout before. I've seen what happens when they start to go... and the stronger they are, the more powerful they are, the more disastrous their mistakes."
"I don't have that problem."
"Oh no?" Janet looked at her, "Have you tested your limits lately? Did you know that you keep almost all of your muscle strength in your shrunken strength? Have you ever considered what kind of damage you could do with that strength in a smaller package?"
Cordy rolled her eyes again.
Janet sighed, "Cordelia... Please..."
She paused, then calmed herself down. "Could you tell me?"
Cordelia shook her head slowly, "Janet... Look... I..."
"Please, Cordelia. Please." Janet couldn't believe that she was actually *begging* a child to tell her a sob story. But the wealthy socialite had grown to like the haughty cheerleader over the past couple months of training and bonding, and she was worried about her.
Cordelia, for her part, was silent. She could hear her own heart beating as she considered the request. She couldn't tell Xander this, she couldn't talk about it with Buffy... Not after what happened, not that she ever would have. She was about to say no, but she looked at Van Dyne and abruptly began speaking.
Cordelia Chase left the Chase Manor well after dark, ignoring two years of survival lessons in one second of insanity. She was carrying one wooden stake, and old cross, and not a damned thing else.
She took a left from her drive, heading away from the areas that she knew Buffy would patrolling. The last thing she wanted to hear was some self righteous rant from the Queen of the Undead. Not now, not ever again.
She'd walked out of her neighborhood and was heading toward one of the ever so slightly lower class areas when the first sign of trouble made itself clear to her. For most people that might mean that they heard someone following them, or maybe saw something moving in the shadows. For Cordy the first sign of trouble was when a lone vampire stepped right into her path less then three feet in front of her face.
Cordy screamed.
Not from fear, at least not exactly. She screamed because the bastard startled the hell out of her.
"You ASSHOLE!" She cursed, the shock of the occasion loosening her normally sharp tongue to a blunt instrument.
The vampire actually jumped himself, he was used to his victims screaming, but usually they waited until *after* he attacked them. He vamped out from the shock, landing back on his heels, and held his chest as if to still his unbeating heart. "Christ, girl! Don't DO that!!"
"Bastard!" Cordy smashed the vamp over the head with her purse, forgetting about the stake stashed in her pocket.
"Ow! Ow! Hey! Cut that OUT!" The vamp grabbed her arm, suddenly yanking her close enough to smell his stale breath. His other hand grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her face even closer to her. "That *hurt* you little bitch!"
Cordy tried to swallow, her mouth suddenly dry, a sharp comment about his breath dying on her lips. Her heart suddenly stopped beating a mile a minute and she felt oddly at peace, staring up at the yellow eyes that stared back with her Death written plainly in them.
The vampire snarled, his fangs glistening in the light of the street lamps as he started to bend down to her neck. Then, suddenly, startlingly, he pulled back.
On his face was a look of incredulous betrayal as he staggered backward, then slowly, almost glacially, vanished into dust. Cordy looked down at the stake in her hand, not remembering how it had gotten there, not remembering how her hand had moved to end the demon's existence. She stared at it for one long, unending, minute after another. The simply picked up her purse, slid the stake into the faux-leather bag, turned around, and went home.
"You know..." Cordy spoke after a long moment, "I don't remember walking home after that. I don't think I even saw my house or bed until I woke up the next morning. I was just on autopilot."
Janet swallowed deeply, uncertain what to say. Cordelia was describing someone who was in serious need of help. Either personal or professional. The simple fact that the girl was alive was proof enough that she had gotten it, from who or what, Janet didn't know.
Finally she spoke slowly, "That is... was... a very dangerous thing to do."
Cordelia nodded. "I know. It was... Oh hell, let's admit it. It was suicidal. I don't know what I was thinking, Janet... I honestly don't. I know I wasn't planning on killing myself... I *know* that. But..."
<But...> Janet frowned, "Maybe some part of you was hoping the vampires would do the job for you?"
"No." Cordy shook her head, "No! I... I would *never* do that. NEVER."
Janet nodded, listening to the emphatic word being repeated. "Ok... Then what?"
Cordelia sighed, "I don't know. Are you happy? I. Don't. Know."
Cordy fell silent for a second, then abruptly changed her mind. "Revenge maybe. I don't know."
"Revenge? Did you think vampires had killed Xander?"
"No. No. But it wasn't just about Xander..." Cordelia sighed, "It was everything. My life was complicated all to hell... I... Vampires, or rather a Vampire, had driven him away... but I blamed myself for that too... And now I couldn't look at the world around me without seeing them... They hid in every shadow, I heard them around every corner... DO you know what it's like to live in fear?"
Janet hesitated, then nodded.
Cordy shrugged, "I just wanted them dead. Gone. I wanted my life back, but they wouldn't let me have it. I have a friend... her name's Harmony... She saw vampires a dozen times, and the next morning she said... she honestly *believed* that they were just some freaky kids with acne. God I hated her for that... for being able to ignore the things that had stolen my life..."
Janet nodded again, knowing how hard it was to suddenly realize that there was more to the world then you believed. And how much worse it was to not be able to go back to the comfort that you're friends and peers still enjoyed. She hesitated for a long moment, then spoke softly. "Do you think you'll be able to be like your friend now? Can you go back?"
Cordy started to nod, her lips forming the words 'Hell Yes', then she stopped. She hesitated, thinking hard. Finally she sighed, shaking her head. "No..."
Janet nodded, "Come here then... I'll show you how these blasters work."
"You did WHAT!?"
"Calm down, Hank." Janet Van Dyne said easily. "You know that I can't use it anymore... Not while the cumulative effect of the Nano-Gas continues to erode my motor control."
Pym looked at her sourly, "You wouldn't have to worry about the cumulative effect if you didn't keep using the gas to show off like you did when you met this girl."
"I had to convince her didn't I?" Janet sniffed, "Besides, I needed to show her that I had a stake in this... something that mattered. Otherwise she wouldn't have allowed you to examine her."
Hank nodded reluctantly. The examinations of Cordelia Chase's physiology had helped a great deal with his attempts to remove the Nano-Gas from Janet. It was even possible that he might be able to cure her at some time in the future. But that still didn't explain this particular decision.
"Damn it, Janet. You can't just go giving a teenager Stark Enterprises prototype weaponry!"
"Since when does the Wasp suit belong to Stark?" Janet frowned, "You developed it, Hank. We both know that."
"Yes I did," Hank growled, "But Tony co-founded a lot of the technology involved, and you know THAT."
Janet shrugged, "I think Cordelia will make good use of it."
"How do you know she won't use it like any teenager would!?" Hank glared at his ex-wife. "I hate to think of what I'd have done with that kind of technology at 17."
"Men." Janet smirked, "I don't think she'll be using it to sneak into the boys locker room."
Hank rolled his eyes, "Right. Janet, I'm serious here. This is reckless... even for you."
Janet glared at him, "Oh, coming from you that's rich, Hank. It's done."
"It's NOT done."
"Yes it is," Janet smiled, "I already gave her the suit."
Hank smiled right back, "Oh yeah? And I suppose you know how to tune the suit to key into her neural paths?"
Janet's mouth became a thin compressed line as she glared at her ex husband.
Hank smile grew, "Ah... so that's why you came to me."
"Hank..." Janet said in a low, wheedling tone.
"Forget it." Hank Pym said seriously. "You want that suit retuned, you call Tony. Have him do it."
"Tony's not feeling well." Janet continued in the same tone. "You wouldn't want him to exert himself would you?"
"Don't you try that with me, Janet." Hank smirked at her, "Don't forget, I know that tone better then anyone. Afterall, I was married to you."
"Oh? And how do you think you wound up married to me?" Janet asked, smiling sweetly at him.
"Funny." Hank curled his lips up at her. "But the answer is still no. And you don't have any cards left to play."
"Oh no?" Janet smiled at him again, "It seems to me that you do owe Cordelia a certain debt after all."
"Not that much of one." Hank muttered. "Besides... How do you know she'll use it properly?"
"She reminds me of me." Janet replied simply.
"I hadn't noticed." Hank muttered, his voice sarcastic.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Let's see..." Hank started to tick off his fingers, "She's arrogant, stubborn, self centered..."
Janet's eyes widened and her mouth opened to object, but he continued on. "She's spoiled, a classic brat, and her concept of 'wit' would be classified as a weapon in any civilized society..."
Janet smirked, "The Wasp has to have a sting."
Hank threw his hands up, "You're impossible, You know that Janet?"
"So? Will you do it?"
"What are you going to tell Tony?"
"Nothing. It's none of his concern." Janet shrugged. "He doesn't own the suit, I do."
"And Harris?"
"Xander? What about him?"
"Don't be dense, Janet. It doesn't become you." Hank frowned, "He'll have to be told something... probably everything, and you should have thought of that."
Janet sighed, "I don't think Cordy is going to like that."
"You don't have much of a choice." Hank said flatly, "And neither does she. He knows about her sizing ability, so you can damn well bet that if some micro-vigilante starts popping up he's gonna figure it out. Tony doesn't hire idiots to be his sector security chiefs."
Janet nodded, "I'll talk to Cordy about it."
Hank sighed, "I don't like this, Janet."
Janet smirked at him, "When have you ever, Hank?"
"... Xander."
"Yes Computer?"
"Mr Stark is on the line."
Xander looked over his shoulder at the flatscreen, "Put him through."
"Confirmed."
An instant later the screen flickered to life and revealed an image of Tony Stark's bedroom. The Multi-billionaire was laying back in bed, looking terribly pale.
"Tony..." Xander faltered, putting on a false mask of humor. "You look good."
Tony smiled wanly, "I've fired men for less, Xander."
Xander smiled in return, "What's up?"
"Rhodey's people in L.A. have a lead on the culprit in the break-in from two months back. He's a known thief, goes by the name 'Gambit'."
"You want me to go and liaise with the cops?"
Tony shook his head, "No. If our intel is right, this guy and the people he's working with are out of the cops league. It's a job for Iron Man."
"Is this really necessary?" Cordy whined slightly as Janet attached the last sensor pad to her spine.
"Yes." Janet replied curtly.
Cordelia frowned, letting out a growling sigh.
"Ok, Cordelia," Hank Pym walked in. "Janet has talked me into tuning this suit to your nervous system... against my better judgement I might add..."
"You're not the only one." Cordy said feelingly.
Hank looked between them, his eyes widening. "Janet..."
"Oh do get back to work, Hank." She smirked at him. "We have a lot to do."
Hank Pym sighed, shaking his head. "Alright... Cordelia, please... Get on the treadmill and start running..."
The cheerleader groaned, but climbed onto the treadmill and began a slow jog.
Hank looked over the readings, nodding and hemming slightly to himself.
"So?"
He looked up at the sound of Janet's voice, his eyes widening. "Huh?"
"So? Can the suit be tuned to her?"
"Huh? Oh... Yeah. Yes, of course." He said, frowning. "Her nervous system has excellent response times... maybe even better then yours did."
Janet smirked at him, "Gee, you know how to make a girl feel special."
"What?" Hank shrugged, shaking his head. "Never mind. Anyway... Yeah, I can do it."
"So what are you waiting for?"
"I said I *can* do it." Hank leveled a serious gaze on her. "I still haven't agreed TO do it."
"Hank..." Janet growled warningly.
"No, Janet. Not until I have a talk with Cordelia." Hank said calmly. "This is a lot of power to give a teenager."
"You gave it to me."
"I loved you. I barely *like* her."
Janet actually smiled, "Well, now I do feel special."
Hank swallowed as she stepped closer. "Ummm... Let's talk to Cordy."
Janet rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Ok."
Xander Harris turned away from the open door of his armory, "Computer... Seal Armory."
"Confirmed."
As the heavy doors slid shut, leaving a seamless wall behind him, Xander fitted the Red and Gold helmet over his head. When he spoke again, his voice was the tinny, unrecognizable voice of Iron Man. "Computer, open skylight."
"Confirmed." The computer replied instantly. As the skylight scrapped open above, the computer added, "Good hunting, Sir."
Iron Man looked up, "Thank you, Computer."
With that he fired his boot jets and lifted out of the apartment, fists held aloft, and fled into the inky darkness.
With Cordy gone, and Angel patrolling with Buffy, he had some time on his hands and Xander was determined not to let his Armor Combat skills get rusty. That was actually a serious problem though, given that vampires were a joke against the Iron Man armor. Normally Xander would consider that a good thing, but he'd been slapped upside the head by more then one thing out there that *was* a match for the armor, and the last thing he wanted was to become complacent.
Tonight, he was lucky. Or not. Xander smirked at the thought. It may be the weekend, but his job wasn't the nine to five kind of thing, as he kept having to remind Buffy. That meant that Xander Harris, in the guise of Iron Man, had business in L.A. tonight.
The City of Angels was about to get a visit from The Invincible Iron Man.
"Cordelia..." Hank started slowly.
Cordy looked up, sweat beading on her neck and face as her chest heaved. The gamut of tests he had put her through had been trying to say the least. Even as fit as she was it wasn't an easy run. "Yeah?"
"I want to know what you think of this." He said, "This whole thing."
"What? The superhero gig?" Cordy asked irreverently, "I know someone who does the whole save the world thing once a week... Frankly it looks to be a drag."
Hank hid a smile, but nodded. "It can be. Are you sure you want to take that on?"
Cordelia hesitated, then looked him in the eyes and spoke frankly. "No."
Hank didn't hide his smile this time, "Well then... There's hope for you yet."
"What are we going to do?" Cordy asked.
"Well, I have you're neural readings now..." Hank shrugged, "So really it's just a matter of uploading it into the micro-weave processors in the Wasp Costume. Just give the word."
Codelia hesitated again, thinking about it. She looked over at where Janet was watching her from. The Socialite smiled at her encouragingly, and Cordy nodded. "Ok... Do it."
The skyline of L.A. appeared rapidly in the distance as Xander cranked up the speed. He had blown past Mach One some time earlier and the ground beneath him was little more then a blur, even to the enhanced senses of the Armor.
Laid out over the Armor HUD was a groundlevel map of LA, computer adjusted so that the landmarks on the map cooincided with the actual positions of the same landmarks below him. Xander's mind rebelled at the very *thought* the math required to make that work.
He forced away that unproductive train of thought and focused his attention on the urgently flashing red dot that indicted where the best Stark Intelligence placed the current location of the Thief, Gambit, and his 'cohorts'.
It was those cohorts that was bothering Xander. He'd seen enough of Gambit to know that this wasn't some run of the mill thief that he was dealing with. No, the man was dangerous, at least potentially. And, from Xander's experience, one dangerous individual tended to attract others. The Slayer attracted people who were very nearly as lethal as she was. Angel, Giles, Oz, even Willow. They may not start out that way, but just being around someone like that changed you.
Xander had to admit that he himself was a prime example.
So, whether or not this 'gambit' fellow was the center of his particular group, Xander was quite certain that he wouldn't be the only one with unusual and potentially dangerous habits.
That thought high in his mind he geared up the armor to it's highest alerts and leaned forward, accelerating toward his target.
A red light start blinking on the security console to Hank's left, attracting the attention of the three occupants of the room.
"What's that?" Cordy frowned.
Hank and Janet exchanged glances before looking back to the board.
"It's a Stark Enterprises Security Alert." Hank said slowly as he moved from the terminal he was working on and rolled his chair over to the security console. "Class Alpha One."
"Class what?"
"Superhuman combat alert." Janet said, tense. "It means that somewhere in town, at least two very dangerous people are about to be duking it out."
Cordelia Chase winced, "Damn. Does it say who?"
Hank looked over the console, nodding slowly. "Stark Security Chief is going up against that thief that hit us a couple months ago... the alert is because the thief is expected to have compatriots."
"Theif?" Cordelia whitened, "You mean the guy who caused the trouble that got me SHRUNK and in this mess I'm in!?"
"Cordy..." Janet said, trying to calm her friend.
"No!" Cordelia batted away the attempt along with Janet's arm. "Is the suit ready??"
Hank spun around, "Cordelia. This is NOT a good idea?"
She just stared him down, "Is it or isn't it?"
He didn't answer, so Cordy looked at the terminal for herself. Luckily, perhaps, the software was user friendly. There was a green progress bar that read 'neural programming 100% complete.' Cordelia smiled nastily and pulled the suit from the alcove with a victorious flourish.
"This is a really bad idea." Hank said, standing up. "Revenge isn't the..."
"Oh relax." Cordelia smirked, "I don't want to kill him... I just want to.. Sting him a little."
Janet actually smiled at that, nodding in approval from behind Hank. "You'd better get dressed then."
"Janet!"
"Oh hush, Hank. She wants to test herself... what better way?"
"Let's see," Hank held up his hand and started ticking them off on his fingers. "The obstacle course, the firing range, the..."
By this point he was alone in the room as both women vanished into the next room to properly outfit Cordelia. He groaned and slumped back into his seat. "Tony is going to have my hide for this."
Iron Man flashed down into the industrial sector of the city, his boot jets flaring only briefly to occasionally correct his nearly ballistic approach.
Ahead of him, his sensors were beginning to register the occupants of the old warehouse, quickly tallying the group to a total of three. Not bad odds. He hoped.
"Computer, query intelligence for confirmation of suspect Gambit's location." Xander commanded quietly, starting the final approach.
"Location confirmed. Suspect and two companions are located in the approaching buiding."
<Good.> Xander smiled as he allowed the armor's fall to take him past the point of no return. He quickly reoriented his descent and hit the warehouse skylights boots first.
"I look like a hooker." Cordelia scowled, checking herself out in the mirror.
Janet scowled, but chose to ignore the comment. "Activate the suit."
Cordelia sighed, but nodded and followed Janet's directions. She was VERY shocked when a vibration passed through her entire body, like a mild electrical charge, and the suit tightened and conformed itself to her shape, actually providing... support... for things that needed it.
Cordy looked at the results in the mirror and her jaw dropped. "Oh great. Now I look like a hooker in body paint!"
"It's not that bad." Janet smiled slightly.
"Says you!"
"Hank, what do you think?" Janet asked.
Hank just shook his head, "Oh no. I'm in this deep enough already! I'm not gonna get cat scratches across my flanks on top of it all!"
"You look good." Janet assured the younger girl.
"Of course I do! I look naked!" Cordy snapped back.
A sound suspiciously like a snicker came from behind them.
"If you're going to stay out of it Hank, STAY OUT OF IT!" Janet growled over her shoulder.
"Sorry." He grinned, "But you know that's what I always sai..."
"Stay out of it, I said!"
He shut up, recognizing that tone of voice.
"Ok," Janet said, sighing. "Try shrinking..."
Cordelia sighed, but nodded. "Ok..."
She closed her eyes, focusing, and suddenly she was gone from sight. When she opened her eyes, Cordelia Chase yelped in shock to find herself very high in the air, from her perspective, and hovering on a pair of nebulous wings. "Whoa!"
"Very good." She heard Janet's voice continue calmly. "Now try flying around."
At first it was disorienting, almost like trying to move her legs and have her arms respond or vice versa. But after surprisingly few moments, Cordy had gotten the hang of relatively level flight. And what's more, she loved it.
"This is COOL!" She actually gushed, feeling weightless as she moved through the air.
"And now you know why the suit is so tight and revealing." Janet smirked. "If it were looser, your aerodynamics would be even worse, and those wings don't have a high enough load for armor plating. What's more, loose clothing wouldn't hold you up as perfectly as the suit does... and would tend to... bind up in uncomfortable places."
Cordelia rolled her eyes, but decided to let the suit thing slide for a moment. She reluctantly shifted back to her full size, glancing over her shoulder. "Hey... where'd the wings go?"
"Nowhere." Janet shrugged. "They're still there... tucked away in the suit's fabric at their regular size. They aren't built out of unstable molecules, so when the suit's fabric shrinks... they don't."
"Oh." Cordy nodded. "Cool. Now come on, I've got to go..."
Cordy was already headed for the door before the other two could react.
"Wait! The blasters!" Hank objected.
"I'll pick them up." The Cheerleader said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Then she frowned, "Hey... shouldn't I have a mask or something?"
"You've read too many comic books." Janet sighed, "Besides the suit scrambles any cameras, film, or digital systems close enough to get a good shot of you."
"Great. But that doesn't do me any good if the person knows me!"
"What are the odds of that? This IS LA, Cordelia." Hank Pym said with confidence.
"I guess." Cordy frowned, "We need to work something out though... if I'm going to keep using this thing. For now though, I've got to get to... where am I going?"
Janet and Cordy turned their gaze on Hank, who groaned and shook his head. "A warehouse down in the industrial district. I'll drive."
The man called Gambit spun on his heel as a crash sounded behind him, his eyes widening as he saw an armored figure out of a dream, or nightmare, crash through the skylight and slow to a feather light landing in the center of the huge warehouse.
"Well, well... Mardi Gras come a little early dis year." Remy said, smiling at the figure.
"Remy Lebeau, AKA Gambit..." The Red and Gold figure intoned, "You are under arrest for breaking and entering the Stark Enterprises facility in Los Angels on the date of..."
Gambit let him go one for a bit, before calmly shuffling the deck of cards in his hand. "And if I don't want to go?"
The armored suit actually seemed to *smile*.
"Then we do this the hard way."
"Then we do this the hard way."
Gambit smiled lazily, flipping an ace of spades into his hands and applying a charge to the card with his mutant power. "Sounds like fun, Mon Ami."
He smirked almost casually, then his hand flicked out like lightning and sent the over charged playing card on its way.
Xander smirked right back, though it wasn't visible because of his helmet, his hand coming up with fingers splayed as he triggered the repulsor in his palm. The low yield energy blast detonated the card before it could cross half the distance, causing it to explode.
Xander shifted his stance, twisting his wrist about and casually flicking two fingers in a 'come and get it' expression.
"Not bad..." Gambit conceded, "For a pile o' tin. Let's... turn up the heat, shall we?"
Xander was about to respond when his HUD warning lights went off and he half turned to see a fireball defy the laws of physics as it came ripping around a corner and enveloped him.
<External temperature variance is approaching thirty percent of estimated tolerance.>
Xander frowned, activated his active scanners as he located the source of the unusual fireball. Penetrating scans located a human form wearing a portable flame unit hiding behind a wall a short distance away.
"Cute." His mechanized voice emerged from the fireball as he took a stride toward the wall and drove a single punch through the cinder block construction.
On the other side, the mutant who called himself Pyro jerked around as the armor shod fist collided with his jaw and snapped his head around hard enough to knock him unconscious. Without his focus to direct the flames, the surreal fireball died a natural death.
Xander turned back to his quarry and began to advance on the Cajun thief who was still calmly shuffling cards as he leaned against the far wall. As he got halfway there his HUD beeped another warning, but this time though it detected a human approaching it didn't register the figure as a threat.
Xander kept his focus on Gambit as he walked, "If you come quietly I'll inform the police of your cooperation."
Gambit smiled at him, looking thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "No, mon ami, I think not."
Abruptly Xander's HUD screamed a warning and he spun around to see that the formerly human figure approaching from his side had changed into a metallic monster of a man. He didn't quite get his guard up as a metal shod fist slammed into his mask and drove him back off his feet, crumbling the cinder blocks where he struck the wall.
<Warning! Impact strength was 67% of Estimated Tensile resistance!!>
Xander shook his head clear as his vision slowly came back, and he saw the metal man calmly standing in place, fists clenched, but making no move to attack.
"Let me guess." Xander muttered, climbing back to his feet. "You're the tin man, and the Cajun over there is Dorothy?"
"I object, mon ami." Remy said, smiling slightly. "I would be one of the flying monkeys."
Xander snorted, "Figures."
"You may call me Colossus." The big man said, his accent a thick Russian brogue.
"Of course I can." Xander worked his jaw lightly under the mask, making sure everything was in place.
"Leave now and I will not be forced to injure you."
Xander shook his head, taking a few steps closer. "Naw. Can't do that. You see, you're pal over there is a thief who broke into my employer's property. My employer doesn't find that funny."
"I assure you, you will not find this funny either." Colossus told him, taking a half step forward as he lifted his enormous fists.
Xander matched his stance, smiling slightly under the helm. <Well... I wanted a challenge.>
Xander moved first, stepping close with a lightning motion and jabbing past the big man's defenses. Metal met Composite Armor and the room rang with the impact. Colossus was driven back a half step, stunned by the blow, but recovered quickly enough to come back to a heavy haymaker.
Xander took it on the jaw again, but this time was prepared for it and allowed the armor to both absorb and brace the blow. Still it drove him have two steps, and set his ears ringing. He paused long enough to run his gauntlet over the almost unnoticeable impression that had been left on his helm.
"Nice." Iron Man intoned, his metallic voice filled with humor. "My turn."
Iron rushed forward, his motion boosted by a short blast from his jet boots as he through the full power of the armor servos into the blow. The heavy right hand shot landed on the Metal Man's jaw and lifted the imposing figure clear off the ground and blew him through the wall behind him.
The Armor's sensors picked up three more crashes as his blow sent Colossus through another three walls and out into the street beyond. When the noise had died down, he turned back to his quarry, who was still leaning against the wall with outward calm. Still, the display had it's effect, as Iron Man's sensors detected his heartbeat elevate as he approached.
"I would advise you to surrender for your crimes, Mr Lebeau." Xander said steadily. "Things will go easier on you if you do."
Gambit didn't reply, he didn't have to.
As Xander approached him, there was a chill wind that seemed to penetrate even the cutting edge technology of Iron Man's armor, causing Xander to look around as half his sensors when erratically insane.
"And what would you know of hardships in life," A booming voice growled out, "You technologically enhanced example of human inferiority??"
"Whoa!"
"What is it?"
"Our entire LA grid just went poof!"
"That's not possible."
"I'm telling you, we're deaf dumb and blind anywhere withing twenty miles of the industrial section."
"Jesus Christ. What could do that?"
"A nuke?"
"Get the boss on the line. Now."
"Yes Sir."
Jim Rhodes walked into Tony's office, a worried expression on his face.
"I know that look." Tony Stark said weakly from where he was seated behind his desk.
"Damn it, Tony. What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed for Christ Sakes!"
"Just tell me whatever it is you have to tell me, Jim." Stark said hoarsely.
Jim Rhodes sighed, scowling around the room for a moment. "We lost positive contact with the kid."
"What??"
"A relay station in Frisco just reported the LA surveillance grid went haywire for twenty two seconds, then died. We've got nothing going in or out of the city right now."
"Holy hell, Jim." Tony said, starting to get up.
Jim got to him fast, pushing him back into his chair. "We can't from anything from here, Tony. You know that."
"But I just sent the kid in on a mission! What the hell could have done that??"
"I don't know." Jim said honestly, "But whatever it was... Iron Man will have to handle it."
Tony fell back into his seat, his eyes searching the room as his mind searched itself for a solution. After a moment he looked back up, "The NRO sattelites."
"What?"
"They should have a bird over L.A." Tony said, "Tell them we need one."
"Tony, you're talking about borrowing a Reconnaissance satellite..." Jim said slowly, "That's not going to be easy."
"I don't..." Tony broke down coughing, long hacking coughs that wracked his body. "I don't care, Jim. Just do it."
Jim Rhodes sighed, nodding. "Alright... I'll see what I can do..."
"Call Nick." Tony urged, "He owes me a few."
"Alright. You've got it."
Hank groaned as his car engine sputtered to a halt, the expensive Mercedes Benz sedan rolling to a stop some distance from it's destination, "Damn it. What the hell is going on??"
Cordy rolled her eyes, "What a piece of junk."
"Hey, little girl," Hank half turned, snapping. "I'll have you know that this is a brand new company Mercedes. It's not even off waranty!"
"Should have bought American." Cordy smirked as she opened the door.
"Where are you going??"
"The place is just down the street." Cordy said, taking deep breaths. "I can fly there."
"Be careful!" Hank shouted to thin air as she vanished from sight.
He turned to look his Ex-Wife and shook his head, "I should have known better then to let anyone you recommended use that suit."
Janet just smirked at him.
Colonel Nick Fury, Field Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. hung up the telephone and frowned at the wall of his office for a long moment. Finally het got up and opened the door, yelling out into the control room. "Hey! Get me one of the NRO Birds with a clear view of L.A! Something fishy just happened down that way!"
As men and women leapt to the task, Fury just kept scowling as he watched them move.
<What in the name of all that's holy could knock out a Stark Enterprises security grid??>
The cold voice drove a shiver up Xander's spine, and he turned in the direction it came from. He swallowed under the armor as a floating form appeared through a massive holes in the far wall, the metal man floating along behind him.
Xander quickly set his inboard computer system to evaluating the newcomer in the hopes of determining his threat level. He wasn't encouraged when the computer replied in short order, Threat Level Unknown.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Xander steeled himself, glad that the armor covered the shivers he felt. "And you are?"
"You may call me Magneto, human."
"Human, huh?" Xander shrugged, "I've taken on plenty of demons before... fancy name or no, so I recommend that you back off. My only interest is in the Cajun here. He broke into my employers labs, and he IS going to pay for his crimes."
"I'm no demon, you armored imbecile." Magneto replied, still floating arrogantly some distance away. "And *I* sent Gambit on that mission."
Xander tensed, frowning under his helm. <This guy is WAY too calm.> Outwardly he took a step toward Magneto, "Then you have to answer as well."
"I answer to no one, fool." Magneto sneered, "Least of all some pitiful..."
Xander suddenly grunted as Magneto's hand came up and his armor leapt in response to some outside force.
"Excuse..."
Xander's vision went black as he was slammed into a cinder block wall, shattering the blocks with careless ease, then throw clear in the other direction.
"For a human." Magneto finished, his hand waving casually to bring Xander's flight to an abrupt halt and suddenly force him, armor and all, into a mockery of a crucifix in mid air.
"Nnnnghhhhhh!" Xander groaned, his face and lips white with strain as his beleaguered combat computer tried to give him updates.
<Warning! Warning! Stress exceeds estimated armor tolerances by thirteen percent!! Fourteen!! Fifteen percent!!>
Xander tried to speak, but couldn't so he mentally prodded the armor's neural interface as best he could to relay commands. It was clumsy, the interface wasn't meant for direct commands but rather for fine tuning motor controls, but it worked.
As Magneto calmly floated up to him to gloat in his face, Xander waited, and waited, and waited. And when the floating menace was at his closest approach and directly in front of Xander, Iron Man fired his chest repulser on full.
Cordelia Chest, now in the guise of the Wasp, was almost to her destination when she was startled by a deafening crack from the building ahead. Her eyes widened as she saw a figure with a flowing cape crash through the wall, and out into the street. He hit the pavement hard, bounced twice, then smashed into a fire hydrant and broke it off like it was a drinking straw.
"Whoa."
The next thing that happened shocked her even more.
Iron Man blazed out of the warehouse, his thrusters blazing at full power as he set his armor on the figure he had just sucker punched.
<Whatever happens,> Xander thought desperately to himself as his armor shod fists struck out at the recovering figure, <do NOT let him recover!!>
And Iron Man did just that, laying into the stunned Magneto as fast and hard as he could, desperate to keep the figure from recovering enough presence of mind to once again utilize his powers to their full effect. Unfortunately, he seemed to have an unconscious control over them that kept up partially effective shield up at all times, and Iron Man's blows were less effective then they should have been.
Still, Xander used ever dirty trick of infighting that he had learned from Rhodey and from the soldier memories that halloween, kneeing the figure in the face as Magneto doubled up, then slamming an axe handle blow into his back.
And it worked. At first.
Then as he moved to strike one more time, Magneto's hand flew up in a last ditch defense, and Iron Man was flung back like a rag doll as magnetic energy washed over him like a tidal surge.
"Holy mother of god." Nick Fury whispered as he watched the megalithic fight on the huge screen of the Ops Room.
"Who are they??" One of the techs muttered.
Nick shook his head, <the guy must be new.>
"The armored guy is Iron Man." Another one whispered, "He's chief of security for Stark International. They call him the Invincible Iron Man in counter terrorist units world wide."
The newbie tech blinked and his jaw opened slightly, "So who's the guy he's fighting??"
That one Fury himself fielded in a gruff voice. "Eric Magnus Lensherr. AKA Magneto. Terrorist of the highest order, his jacket is classified Omega Nine."
Everyone in the room swallowed hard enough to be heard.
"Jesus. What a smash."
Nick had to admit that the tech had that comment right. He himself hid a wince as Iron Man was slammed into a wall with nothing more then a wave of Magneto's hand. <This is bad>
"What the hell did he do?? How??"
"Classified." Fury snapped instantly, "Is the Patch to Stark active?"
"Yes Sir."
"Get me Tony Stark." Fury said, retreating to his office.
"What the hell is going on, Tony!?"
"I... I wish I knew." Tony stated simply, fighting back another bout of coughs. "I sent Iron Man after a thief... Not... not this."
The scene on the screen had shifted, showing that the momentum of the battle had again shifted and now Magneto was again in control of the situation. Iron Man was being held by invisible force as the battered terrorist walked up to him.
"You're man is in real trouble, Tony." Fury said coldly, "You should have left this to S.H.E.I.L.D."
Tony Stark grimaced, but didn't reply as he watched the screen.
Magneto spit out a broken tooth as he glared at Iron Man's frozen form. "I'm currently jamming your armor's servo units... Pardon me if I don't fall for the temptation to look you in the face again."
Xander didn't bother to reply, he just prodded a few more circuits, but in vain.
"Your technology is impressive, human." Magneto said softly, "I'll be certain to destroy it and all it's analogues after I've killed you."
Xander didn't reply, still straining against the locked servos and frozen armor.
Magneto waited a moment, then shrugged expansively. "Very well, if you have no wish to talk, we can forgo the customary last request."
He glanced to one side and a section of the road ripped apart as a steel spire was ripped from it. The torn and sharpened end of which bent and twisted until it was pointed at Xander.
"Good bye, human."
The steel rebar ripped completely free of the ground and flashed toward Xander's chest, smashing into the armor just below his chest repulser and cut through into Xander's much softer flesh within.
Cordelia watched in horror as the caped figure committed cold blooded murder, and reacted on instinct rather then any form of logical thought. "NO!!"
She flashed in, impossibly fast for something her apparent size, her arms coming up, fists balled into tight knots of white knuckled rage. Her rage and anger fed into the suit's neural network and suddenly she was firing the bio-blasters fast and furious at the figure.
"What!?" Magneto roared, half in shock and half in pain, as he was suddenly assaulted by a continuous stream of pelting energy.
He tried to shield against it, but some component he didn't recognize kept the bursts tantalizingly out of reach. So he fell back, stumbling from the sudden pain and flurry of stinging blasts.
Even as he stumbled though, Mangus' sharp eyes spotted what was assaulting him. He didn't quite understand it, but he knew that it was the source, and he lifted his arm to shield himself.
"Pest!" He roared, "Pyro! Burn it down!"
"Wit pleasure, boss." The newly reawakened mutant grinned, flipping a chewed toothpick away and igniting his flame unit. With a roar the flame units poured a blazing inferno into the air from both his arm mounted throwers, and then the dangerous mutant reached out with his power and gathered the fire into a living thing.
Cordelia's eyes widened as the rage was burned away by the sight of a huge flaming bird sweeping down at her. She flashed to one side on instinct as the bird flashed past, trailing embers and smoke, but saw it wheel about and came back for another pass.
She fired into it, her blasters working furiously, but to no avail or effect. At the last instant she threw herself clear once more, then turned her focus to the source that fed the flames.
Pyro threw his arm up in defense as she flashed in, firing at him, breaking his focus on the wheeling phoenix. It died in a sudden spread of ash and smoke, it's source of life stolen by the distraction of it's master.
"Ow ow ow!" he yelped as the tiny figure flashed in and blasted him across the face and arm, huge welts bubbling up from the blasts as he was driven to his knees and finally into unconsciousness by the bursts.
Cordy flitted above the figure for a moment, smirking smugly down. "Serves you right, you pyro."
"That IS his name." A heavily accented voice said from behind her, and Cordelia pivoted in time to see to crushing hands smash together around her.
"Did you get the pest?"
Colossus nodded slowly, his expression somber as he let his hands come apart and the tiny figure fell from them and wheeled to the ground in an uncontrolled spiral.
"Good." Magneto muttered darkly. "More humans and their feeble attempts at matching Homo-Superior. She must have been a test subject for the project I sent Gambit after."
Colossus nodded, still staring at the ground for a long moment before he straightened and turned back to Magneto. "Yes."
"Come," Magneto said, "Gather Pyro... we should leave here before it becomes too public. Now is not yet the time."
Colossus nodded, throwing the unconscious mutant over his shoulder casually before he turned to follow Magneto. As they waled away they were joined by Gambit, and the four of them vanished into the night.
There was a decided hush in the Ops Room when Fury walked back out, his face white as he looked at the scene on the big screen. Then a sudden murmuring began to float around the room.
"Holy shit."
"What the fuck was that guy?"
"So much for the Invincible part, huh?"
Fury's fist clenched, he and the tin man had had their run ins in the past, but he didn't like to hear anyone talking about him like he was some washed up has been. Not even S.H.E.I.L.D. had figured out a way to subdue Magneto, and Iron Man had gone up against him blind according to Tony. He hadn't stood a chance.
That was when a second hush fell across the room, and Fury's eyes went back to the screen.
He fought back a grin as everyone watched the armored figure suddenly come back to life, levering itself to it's knees as one of it's armor shod hands found the rebar that had skewered it from front to back.
"Holy fuck." One of the techs blurted in shock as Iron Man suddenly wrenched the long metal bar from his body, it's long length coming out agonizingly slowly as they watched. Using the NRO's most advanced satellite system they could even see the dripping blood that coated the bar as Iron Man ripped it free of his body and jammed it into the ground to keep from falling over.
"And *that*, ladies and gentlemen," Fury said, satisfaction dripping from his voice, "Is why they call him the Invincible Iron Man. He's been beat down hundreds of times, but he never EVER stays that way."
Xander's eyes were nearly bugging out in pain as he sent the command to the armor to pressurize the breeches and initiate it's injury protocol.
Inside the armor an inflatable pad filled with a liquid solution composed of water, medications, antibiotics, and other short term battlefield medicines. As the pad filled in specific places it pressed against the wounds on either side of Xander body, forming a semi-permeable compress to staunch the bleeding.
Xander groaned as the pressure built, but kept to his feet by leaning heavily on the rebar, and waited. It took a few moments for the medicated solution to begin to seep through the one way permeable patch, and then the first level local anesthetics took effect.
He groaned again, but the pain was a lot less now, and began to move across the street, using the rebar as a walking stick.
One corner of his HUD played back the same scene over and over again. His mysterious savior being crushed by the massive metal hands of the monster named Colossus. Xander gritted his teeth, he didn't know for sure, but he was almost certain that his savior was Janet Van Dyne. No one else had that technology.
And so he moved slowly across the street, ignoring the battlefield like destruction around him, to the point where she had fallen.
"Janet?" He ground out, searching the ground ahead of him incredibly carefully as he moved. "Janet... I can find you. You have to return to normal size."
For a long moment he thought that she was dead or unconscious, because nothing seemed to happen, but then a female form appeared in front of him, growing as if from the earth itself. And then Xander's jaw dropped.
"Cordy?" He whispered softly, his mind reeling as he took in the injuries of the barely conscious girl in front of him. <Oh hell.>
"What the hell?" Tony Stark muttered watching as the figure appeared in front of Iron Man. Then he sort of leaned back, his face half amused and half concerned. "Damn it Janet... You can't keep doing stuff like this. It'll put you in the bed right next to mine."
Perhaps not such a bad fate... for him, Tony thought, but Janet should know better then to risk her health like that. She wasn't a teenager anymore and...
Suddenly Tony leaned closer, frowning at the image on the screen. Something wasn't right. Her face was palid, but something wasn't right about it other then it's apparent health. Tony suddenly realized what it was in a sudden hammerblow that knocked him back into her bed.
It wasn't Janet. The image was close, damned close. But the face on the screen, even from as far away as the NRO Satellite was located, was obviously not Janet Van Dyne.
And that left only one person it could be.
"God damn it, Hank." Tony thought in a flash, knowing that only two people alive could have recoded her suit, and knowing with equal certainty that is wasn't HIM that did it. "What were you thinking??"
"Jesus. Who the hell is that?"
Nick Fury frowned thoughtfully at the screen, choosing not to answer the tech's question. The Wasp was an inactive agent, had been for over a decade. What the hell was she doing back in the mix now?
The entire ops room watched as Iron Man tossed aside his 'walking stick and slowly bent down to pluck the injured woman from the ground. Then he suddenly lifted off, his boot jets flaring as he cut an arcing path through the sky and headed for the closest Star Enterprises compound with all due haste.
Nick frowned as the image pulled back to watch the flying figure, but was unable to refocus fast enough to keep up. It didn't matter, Fury already knew precisely where they were going, and wished them all the best getting there.
"Shut that down and give the NRO back it's satellite." He ordered, turning away from the screen as it went dark and returning to his office to greet the call he knew was coming.
"What the hell was that man, Nick?"
"Don't take that tone with me, Tony." Fury growled over the comlink. "You stepped in it, not me. And I sure as hell didn't push you this time."
Tony Stark settled back in his office chair, his bed having been temporarily abandoned because weakness wasn't an image you projected when dealing with Nick Fury. "Goddamn it, Fury... If you don't tell me, you know what I'm going to do to find out."
"You try and I'll have your medicated ass in prison, Stark." Fury returned, serving notice that the chair wasn't fooling anyone.
"As if you could catch me. Even in my current condition." Stark returned with equal venom.
And, Fury had to admit, there was something to that. If Stark wanted into his files, there was a good to excellent chance that he would get in. His company had designed most of Fury's computers after all. Besides, in this case it wasn't really a matter of security, Nick decided. Stark had a high enough clearance level for this information anyway, and Congress was seriously considering asking for a Stark bid on the government initiative to counter Magneto and his bad boys.
Nick Fury sighed, then nodded. "Alright... I'll give you what I have."
"This is Stark Enterprises Security Chief," Xander broadcast ahead of him, "I need a full medical team to the courtyard in two minutes! Trauma unit, EMT, the works!!"
He didn't wait for a reply, but continued on, "And someone find Doctor Pym and get him to the medical facility. NOW!"
Then he stopped broadcasting, knowing that his armor's priority codes would have been added to the signal in order to give his demand a hell of a lot more weight.
He was right. By the time he landed, the courtyard of the Stark compound was buzzing with people, and his boot jets flared as he gently touched down near a gourney and softly laid Cordelia into the medical bed. She was awake by that time, weak, but awake and her head turned to look at him.
"Hey. Guess I was right and you were the good guy, huh?" She smiled through the pain.
"Yeah." Iron Man responded, his tinny voice filtering most of the emotional content of Xander's voice out. "Yeah. You were right."
"Good." She whispered, her eyes closing for a moment. Then they opened again and she frowned, her hand reaching out to touch the place on his armor where his blood had covered the lustery red and gold. "You're hurt."
"I'll live."
One of the EMT's followed Cordy's hand and his eyes opened in shock, "Jesus, Sir! We need to get you into treatment!"
Cordelia Chase watched as the armored figure was led quickly away from her, or perhaps she was being carried quickly away from him. It didn't make much difference to her battered mind at the time. All she could think was that, as far as Super hero initiations went, this one sucked.
Hank's phone rang just about the same time as his car decided to start again.
"Shit." He muttered, pulling the phone out of his pocket and answering it.
Janet Van Dyne watched as his face tightened in shock, and his eyes widened. When he closed the phone and set it down, she finally spoke up.
"What is it?"
Hank floored the car, spinning it around in an hundred and eighty degree turn, and headed back the way he'd come.
"Hank! Cordelia is back there!"
"No." He said, his face tight. "No, she isn't."
"What?" Janet whispered.
"Iron Man just arrived at the compound medical facility." Hank muttered, "He's badly injured... and he had a badly hurt young woman with him. He also demanded that they get ahold of me as quickly as possible."
"Oh lord." Janet's hand went to her mouth. "What could they have possibly run into? I thought... I thought..."
"You thought that with Iron Man on the scene, it would be a nice safe op to drop Cordy in on." Hank finished. "Afterall, he's the best."
Janet nodded.
"So did I." Hank let out a shuddering breath. "God alone knows what hit them, but it obviously wasn't that cajun thief."
Jim Rhodes stood silently, watching the medicos working feverishly inside the sealed clean room. He was wiped out but not, Jim figured, near as bad as Xander who was laying on the table inside the room. The kid was again going under the knife for Tony Stark, and it hurt to be Tony's proxy for this visit.
He knew that Stark would have been here is he could, and he knew that Tony felt all the worse for not being here. But his condition had pinned the head of Stark Enterprises down in his home offices, much to the man's disgust.
Jim had spent three hours on a SE jump jet, roaring across the country to get here for two big reasons. The first being that someone had to do a first hand check on the kid and the armor, if only to see exactly how bad things had gotten. The second was because the kid was a friend of his and Tony's, and one thing that neither of them would do is abandon a friend.
By the time he'd gotten here the kid had shucked all the armor except his helm, and was already sedated and laying on the table he now occupied.
Jim Rhodes shook his head, he was no stranger to injury, in fact he still limped slightly from the broken ankle the kid had inflicted on him to save his life an eternity ago. But still, this was something else.
No mere steel rebar should have been able to pierce the suit. That was a fact. Whatever had thrown it at the kid had to have somehow shored up the metal's structure and prevented it from bending or splintering. And even then, the force it would have taken staggered Jim's mind.
No, Jim Rhodes AKA War Machine, thought this was a very disturbing situation. He only hoped that Tony had a miracle up his sleeve.
Cordelia was the first to wake up, the pain that wracked her body dulled to a dim fire by the medication drip that was inserted in her arm. The first thing she saw upon waking was the concerned look of Janet Van Dyne's face as she sat by her bed.
"Hey..." Cordy said weakly.
"Hey yourself." Janet smiled at her, "How are you feeling?"
"Like a swatted fly." Cordy said, forcing a wan smile.
Janet chuckled slightly, nodding. "I know the feeling."
"So, how about you tell me how I'm doing?" Cordy asked, wincing.
"Well... you've got the mother of all bruises." Janet said flatly, "But no broken bones. The Doctors want to keep you here for at least another couple days... They're worried you might have gotten a concussion from the impact."
Cordelia nodded slowly, "I understand. Janet..."
Cordy paused and Janet leaned closer, "Yes?"
"Tired." Cordy said, breathing deeply.
"I think that's the medications." Janet said soothingly, "They have you on quite a cocktail."
Cordy nodded, her eyes drooping. "The guy in the armor?"
"Iron Man." Janet said, "They won't let me in to see him, but I've been told that he'll live."
"How? I saw him take that pole through his chest..."
"Iron Man is a tough guy to kill." Janet said, a slight smile forming on her lips. "One of the toughest. But I've been told that you probably saved his life with your distraction... The bad guys might have finished him off if you hadn't diverted them."
Cordy shook her head, "I don't know about that. I wasn't thinking... it was stupid."
Janet smiled at that, "Undoubtedly. But Stupidity and Heroism are often separated by a very fine line."
When light returned to Xander Harris, it returned with a vengeance.
"Ohhh... shit!" He groaned out, lifting his arm involuntarily to block the bright lights around him.
"Hang on, kid." He heard a familiar voice say as the lights dimmed slightly, "Sorry about that. We had the doc in here checking sutures a while ago."
"Rhodey?" Xander groaned out, "Damn... I didn't need to wake up to your face."
"Funny." Jim Rhodes said, hiding his relief. If the kid could make a joke, then he'd probably bounce back pretty quick. "You took a nasty hit there."
Xander nodded, "Yeah... Tell Tony I'm sorry. I guess I messed up again."
"Not likely." Jim snorted, "Tony is beating himself up over sending you in blind like that."
"What?" Xander opened his eyes again, this time only wincing slightly. "That's crazy."
"So's you blaming yourself for bad intel." Jim replied. "You did as good as could be expected when you were going up the self proclaimed 'master of magnetism."
"Arrogant bastard."
"He is that and a while lot more." Rhodes said, leaning forward. "I've seen his jacket... you don't want to know how bad this guy really is."
Xander closed his eyes, "Give it to me, Jim."
Rhodey snorted lightly, but nodded. "You asked for it. He's an international terrorist. Warrants in the US, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. He's wanted for murder in at least three other countries, and is the suspect in about a dozen various espionage crimes in this country and others. Interpol assumes that he's some kind of mercenary, but the real deal is a lot scarier."
Xander sighed, pushing his head back into the hospital pillow. "What?"
"He's a fanatic." Rhodes said, sighing. "He's got a cause that he believes in, and what's worse he has some moral justification to prop himself up with."
"What are you talking about?" Xander asked, his face puzzled.
Jim took a deep breath, "Have you ever heard of mutants?"
Xander shrugged, "I almost was one."
"Huh??"
"My swim coach in highschool played around with DNA stuff... really messed up a lot of the other guys. He turned them into some kinda fish monsters." Xander said, shrugging. "That's mutating isn't it?"
Jim shook his head, "Not the same thing."
"Then I guess... no. I haven't got a clue what your talking about." Xander said, half smiling at Jim.
Rhodes smirked for a moment, then turned serious. "Well, join the club. No one else much has either. Mutants are some kind of evolutionary offshoot of humans as best anyone can tell... There aren't many of them, but they are starting to become more common. Magnus is a mutant."
Xander groaned, "If all mutants are like that I don't want to meet any others."
"They aren't, thankfully." Jim said, sighing. "But I have to say that what I'm reading about them isn't promising. Too many of them are unstable emotionally, and prone to violence. The worst of it is that I can understand why... their powers tend to kick in around puberty, and they don't have anyone to look to for help."
Xander winced, nodding. He tried to imagine Buffy or Faith without the benefit of Giles and Linda. With a grimace he gave it up, the possibilities didn't bear thinking on. "Shit."
Jim nodded, "Yeah. And Magnus is a particularly tragic case. His power first came to light while he was under the tender care of a Nazi concentration camp... Suffice to say, he hasn't got much respect for humans."
"No shit." Xander's lips curled in disgust. He remembered nights at Willow's place when her grandfather would visit. The poor old man was one of those who survived Nazi Germany, physically at least. Mentally, Xander wasn't so sure.
"Don't get too sorry for this guy, kid. He's at least as bad as anything he claims to hate." Jim advised, "The Nazi's may have hurt him, but they also molded him in their own image. Don't forget that."
Xander thought back to the massive bruising he'd seen forming on Cordy's body as he picked her up in his arms, and then he slowly shook his head. "I won't. Jim... Cordy?"
"Is gonna be fine." Rhodes assured him with a smile. "Some pretty heavy bruising... but she's already sitting up in bed and bitching about the food and the hospital gowns."
Xander smiled, nodding. "That sounds like Cordy."
"And she worried about you too." Jim said, as if conceding something.
"Me? She knows I'm...?"
"No... no, she's worried about Iron Man I should say." Jim smiled, "I gotta admit, I like her. I think Janet could have done worse in choosing her successor."
Xander grimaced, "I'm going to have to have a little chat with Janet."
"Now, don't get like that." Jim said, "It's not like you're a picket fence kinda guy eaither."
"It's not that." Xander frowned, "If Cordy wants this life, then fine. But if I find out that Janet pushed her into it... then that's something else."
Jim nodded, "I hear you. But don't worry about that, Tony has already had some stiff words with Janet and Hank. And I think that you're girl made her own choices, for what it's worth."
"It's worth a lot, Jim." Xander said, sighing. "Ok. Tell me more about this Magneto and his 'mutants'."
Jim nodded, thinking about the file he'd read. "Well we've got some limited information on several of them... but what worries me most are the younger elements."
"Oh?"
Jim nodded, "The government has a very few of them under surveillance under a 'terrorist watch' umbrella. So far they've been pretty controlled, but their 'teenage angst' issues brings a whole new level to the concept."
Xander smiled wryly, "I can imagine. We have files on them?"
Jim nodded, but hesitated to continue. "You should be resting."
"I'm fine, Jim. Give." Xander ordered.
Jim nodded, "Alright... First off we've got what looks like it might be a training camp for a militant group of these mutants. It's located in a pretty sleepy place called bayville, but the compound's security is as good as anything Stark Enterprises has, so we have to wonder whose funding them."
Xander nodded. Security like that was expensive, and normally meant that there was a heavy infrastructure in place to protect. "Suspects?"
Jim nodded, "Yeah. The list starts with a known moderate in political arena's however... Professor Charles Xavier. Could be a good sign, could be a bad sign... Wouldn't be the first time a lunatic looked to be the sanest guy around."
Xander nodded tightly, thinking again about his WW2 history. "Hitler was like that."
"Right on." Jim nodded, "Came on real smooth until he started to gather power... then he gathered his fanatics like a master."
"What does Tony want to do?"
"Right now? Nothing." Jim replied, "The government is still watching, but the word is that they're about to authorize the organization of a group that can counter any mutant threats that might arise... Tony is putting a bid together now."
Xander nodded slowly, "good."
"Run!!"
The lead figure was in a panic, scrambling and stumbling along the ground as he tried to evade his pursuer.
Whatever maniac was chasing him had wreaked carnage behind him and Jason Brinks could have sworn he felt the hot breath of the devil himself on the back of his neck. Behind him ran what was left of his little group, the three survivors all in a terrorized route as they ran through the Sunnydale streets.
It had happened so fast that they were still in shock. Everything had been great, then suddenly everything went to hell.
Snap.
Just like that.
The three of them rounded a corner at breakneck speed, looking over their shoulders as they ran.
"I think we lost it!" Jenna said, panting.
Jason paused, just long enough to do a real good check over his shoulder. "Keep running anyway!"
"I'd really rather you didn't." A calm voice smirked at them from thin air, just ahead of them, "All this perspiring and wind ruins my complexion and hair."
Jason skidded to a stop as the figure of a woman appeared out of nowhere just ahead, lightly touching down on the ground and smiling at him as she pushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes. His eyes widened as he took in the skin tight bodysuit she wore, and he barely had time to open his mouth as she lifted her right arm in his direction.
There was a soft electrical noise, almost inaudible, and then Jason felt a pressure in his chest. A pressure that was quickly converted in pain as he felt it spread across his body unchecked. A few moments later and Jason Brinks, up and coming Vampire Master, was nothing but dust in the wind.
Cordelia Chase checked her nails carefully as she watched the other two vamps out of the corner of her eyes. She smiled lightly at their open eyed horror, casually taking a cleansing breath. "Bio-Electric blasters. Gotta love them."
The two barely had a chance to process that before she dropped her left arm and fired off two more full charge bolts that finished off the last two vampires from the gang that had just tried to turn the Bronze into a blood bath.
Then Cordelia Chase, aka The Wasp, sighed and glanced back in the direction of the club in some distress. "That's the third one of a kind dress I've lost this week. You'd think that just ONCE someone would find it and turn it in to the lost and found, but noooooo.... It'll be gone before I get back."
Cordy sniffed slightly, "It's just not fair."
"Life rarely is."
Cordy spun on her heals to see a familiar form descend from the skies on whispering jets of flame. "You!"
"Me." The form said in it's tinny voice, though Cordy thought she could hear a smile there. "Nice work by the way."
"Thanks..." Cordelia said uncertainly. It had been over three weeks since the night she'd charged into a fight after seeing the armored figure take a pole through his chest. "I'm glad to see you back on your... uh... jets."
Iron Man laughed lightly, "thanks to you."
Cordy actually blushed lightly, "No... I didn't..."
"You did." Iron Man said firmly, "You distracted them from checking to make sure I was finished. Of course, I would have been finished if not for the armor. But that's another story. I owe you my life, Cordelia Chase."
"You know me, huh?" Cordy frowned, not certain if she liked that or not.
Iron Man chuckled again, nodding. "Yeah. Your name came up in a lot of high level memos at Stark Enterprises. Mr Stark wasn't especially happy that you'd been given prototype weaponry with him being consulted."
Cordy bristled, "Yeah well Mr Stark can go..."
"Ah ah ah..." Iron Man wagged a finger in the air, "No bad mouthing my boss. Especially since He withdrew his complaints after the way you handled yourself that night. He does have a responsibility to make sure that weapons like your body suit don't fall into the wrong hands."
Cordy nodded reluctantly as Iron Man tilted his head to the side and looked at her.
"You look most becoming in it, if I may say so, by the way."
That caused the haughty teenager to blush to the roots of her hair as she heard the almost affectionate smirk through even the tinny distortion of his voice. She quickly tried to recover by growling and glaring at him, "Gee thanks, and your opinion means so much to me too. Do you have a reason to be in Sunnydale, or are you just here to make fun of me?"
Iron Man threw up his hands, laughing lightly. "Whoa, hide your stinger Wasp. I wasn't being snide or sarcastic. You do look good."
"Thanks." Cordy replied, only slightly less sarcastic. "Reason??"
The Armored figure sighed, but nodded. "Reason. Right. I thought you'd like to know that Xander Harris is back in town."
Her eyes widened, Cordy hadn't heard from Xander except for a couple phone calls in weeks. Every time she or one of the others tried to find him, the most they ever got was from Xander's AI computer system, and all that would say was that Stark Security personnel had been recalled to increase security in light of the attack on their Security Chief, Iron Man. "He's back??"
Iron Man almost seemed to smile, "Yeah. I'm back on the job now so all the sector chiefs are back to the daily grind."
"I've got to see him."
Iron Man shrugged, "Don't let me stop you."
Cordelia nodded, automatically activating her shrinking power and hovering in mid air for just a moment. "Thank you!"
Then she flitted off, leaving Iron Man to shake his head and grin under his armored helm. "Don't mention it."
Then his boot jets flared and he took off in the same direction as she had, but considerably higher and one hell of a lot faster.
Cordy slowed her approach with trepidation as Xander's apartment came into sight.
<Oh crap. Damn it! I don't have any normal clothes!> She groaned internally, seeing the light in the upper window.
She looked over her shoulder toward her house, which was fairly close, then back at the apartment light. As she struggled over the decision a shadow crossed the room above her and Cordy sighed.
"Just a quick peek..." She whispered to herself, flitting upwards. "Then I'll go get some proper clothes... just a quick peek."
She arrived at the window to see Xander lounging back in his leather couch, the big screen on the wall playing back an old episode of Star Trek and she smiled despite herself. Then her smile was replaced with a scowl. <He didn't even visit me in the hospital!>
<Ok... so I wasn't there very long... but that's not the point!> Her inner debate went on, <He should have come to see me...>
<He was busy.> Her own mind countered, <His job needed him... and I wasn't badly hurt.>
<He still should have come... just once...> The petulant side of her complained.
Finally she sighed, staring in the window for a long moment.
"I believe that Miss Chase is at the window, Xander."
Xander's eyes flicked over, but he didn't turn his head. "You sure?"
"Not completely, but there is a small source of motion and heat that would fit with the information on her abilities." The computer replied concisely.
Xander nodded, thinking for a while. "Open the window."
Cordy flitted back in shock as the big round window rotated open. <What??>
"I know you're out there, Cordy." Xander's voice came through the crack, "So you may as well come in from the cold."
She hesitated for a moment, then summoned her will and flew in through the window. Once inside, she reversed her size and returned to normal.
As her feet touched down on the hardwood floor, Xander got up from the couch and turned toward her, a smile touching his eyes. "Hey Cor."
"Hey yourself." She responded, waiting for him to talk.
He walked around the couch, his smile sort of sad. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to see you at the hospital."
"Yeah well... you were busy." She said, her voice neither entirely flat, nor entirely forgiving.
Xander nodded, "Yeah. I was. But that's no excuse. Believe me, Cor... if I could possibly have made it, I would have. I swear it."
A flicker of a smile appeared on her face and she nodded, almost shyly. "Thanks..."
Xander finally let his eyes roam over the Wasp bodysuit and allowed an ever so slightly leering look cross his face. "You look... good, Cor."
Cordy blushed again, for the second time of the night. She was used to the vampires leering at her now, but they never lived long enough to do it twice. She still didn't plan on being seen by anyone else, but now it had happened twice in the same night. "I look like a hooker."
Xander's eyes twinkled as he saw Cordelia Chase turn all bashful and hesitant on him, letting her hair fall over her eyes as she stared at the ground. In some girls that might be par for the course, but when it was Cordelia Chase who acted that way it was absolutely alluring and incredibly sexy.
He couldn't help it, he stepped up to her and lifted her face with a gently hand under her chin. "You look like you could turn a million bucks green with envy."
The laughing light danced back into her eyes as she playfully swatted him, "That would sound a lot better if the cash wasn't already green, you goof!"
Xander chuckled, accepting the light swat as his due and then reached around her and hugged her to him. "That aside, I'm serious. You look great."
"I know." Cordelia smirked, and Xander let her go as he laughed.
Oh yeah, that was the Cordelia *he* knew and loved.