Imagine: The List
Fic posted by members of Vo's Imaginings YahooGroup


Xander walked up to someone before the battle, hitting him with the DVD in a paper sleeve. The guy stared at him. He stared back. "We found a few new sources on Thanos," he said quietly. The guy smiled and tucked it inside his uniform. "They copied the sections, should be easily played by Stark or someone."

"Thank you," he said with a nod. "Who're you?"

"Xander. I'm just an extra scruffy one so no one recognizes me. For some reason the Coven can't put a glamor on me." He rolled his eyes. "They're like that about me though." He looked at the demons showing up. "Half of them aren't evil. Hmm."

"If you go talk to them they'll know it's you. There's agents watching," Natasha warned as she walked past them.

Xander nodded. "That's why Buffy thinks I'm bait." He walked over that way. "It's great that so many beings have decided to help protect the peaceful communities," he said in one of the demon languages. "And others." They stared at him. He shrugged back. "Morals, yay," he muttered in english. A few grumbled. "We welcome any help to protect everyone against evil," he said in english. "Even if some of you look scary."

One of them sniffed him then stared oddly. "Why do you look like a Mugwai?"

Xander grinned. "Because I'm about to go full on gremlin on them." He patted that one on the arm. "Ethics suck sometimes."

"We know," the demon agreed. "We would not want our young to be killed as they want the slayers to be."

"Neither do we. We honor and adore all the peaceful communities. Be safe today. We can't afford to lose anyone peaceful in this world. We're already missing too many."

The demon nodded. "We agree. Be at peace. We honor the slayers and you hunters as well." He patted him back. "Go guard them." He looked over. "Many might be able to see through that."

"We blew poker debts so they're being evacuated if they're injured or just after the end of the battle. My daughters are looking forward to fussing over someone." He walked off to get with the agents that were gathered around the girls. "We set?" he asked quietly. They all nodded. The agents sighed but nodded too. "Pair up for now. That way if they pull something weird you're prepared." They picked out their agent helpers for this battle. "Thank you, guys, for not being like the other ones." He stared at one, going to interrupt him. "Hansen," he sneered. "Why is the Initiative here?"

"We're here to help defeat it. We know we're not slayers but we've all got experience helping defeat demons, Harris," he said, staring at him. "That beard looks fake."

"All mine actually. I trimmed it so I didn't look like a young Santa." He smirked. "Don't go near the slayers."

"Not an option I want to have happen." Xander nodded, getting out of the way. He looked around. "Many helpers from the PC."

"Yeah, they don't want to fall either. I already thanked them."

"Thanks. Go get ready." He went back to his team. Xander went back to his. He looked at the others, who all grimaced. Harris had...rumors about him from Africa. He hoped they weren't true because that guy turned into some weird warrior during battles.

The head demon showed up to announce his queen and they got shot by the agents. The queen stomped over to deal with the humans who dared shoot her herald. "Go," Xander called. "The minions are shootable, the higher up is beheading and then fire," he yelled. They rushed up to handle the battle. That demon queen screamed and called up more of her army. Members of the military showed up. Xander paused one. "Minions are shootable, higher ups take beheading and then fire." The officer nodded, calling that in. That helped their side a lot. Made a lot of mess they had to wade through to get to the still living ones trying to come through.

One military team showed up with a bomb. "We can blow the portal."

"Put it on that side!" one of the slayers yelled at them. "It has to take out the thing holding it steady and it's on the other side!"

"No barrier that we've seen," Xander called. "Just set it and throw it to the left! The caster's there!" The team apparently didn't hear, they tried to set it off there and ran. It dented it. Slowed down the trickle through the portal. Xander groaned. The slayers moaned. "Get me something before they set up a shield spell. They've got more magical people coming," he ordered, staring around. No bigger military weapons. Stark was there. He ran for him. "I need something higher heat to hit them before they set up a shield spell over the portal. The guys with the bomb didn't hear us."

"They probably didn't listen. I've got Rhodes coming with something bigger, kid."

"It goes to the left," he said with a point. "That's the casting team." Stark nodded, going to fire on them. Xander beheaded a minion and moved up, going for one of the higher ups that was in the open. He got her and the queen screamed, rushing over. "I feel the same way about my daughters, that's why you can't stay," he quipped. He tried to get her neck but she pulled up her scales to cover it better. "Fuck!" A few of the slayers and agents ran up to help them.

"She leaves on a fire or she runs home," he ordered. The girls nodded, stepping in with the agents helping them. Xander tapped two agents and they took on the guard unit trying to get to their queen and heir. They let the slayers work. One fell and Xander winced but sucked in a deep breath and pulled up his inner asshole so he wouldn't fall over soon. He took out two of the guards and then grabbed a falling agent's sword to replace his, which was getting dulled. That new one also had a hand grip so he wouldn't lose it to sweat slicking it up as easily.

"I want my damn axe," he muttered, cutting one of the new guards on the chest to make him back up. That one tried to flip and kick him but Xander got him in the crotch and he fell down screaming. That worked on most species that had a crotch. The queen died with a scream and the guards went nuts. Xander got pulled out of the way by one of the slayers, who shot the higher weapon she had stolen off the military people. "Laser weapon?" he demanded.

"No, big gun. Weapons," she said with a point.

He ran to get one and hit the casters. That stopped new ones from coming. The rest tried to surrender but the military and agents weren't having it. Xander walked his girls off, pausing to gather the one that hadn't been removed. She was dead so that explained why. He got them back by the SHIELD people.

"We can watch over her," one of the agents said.

Xander stared at him. "Her family would be really upset with the enhanced autopsy someone would want to do," he said quietly, making that one flinch back. "Many of the girls are orphans but not all of them and we're their family if they are orphans. So, no thanks." He looked at the witches showing up. "Get them," he ordered. "Then me? For a change?" They nodded, grimacing at the dead one. "She'll be buried with honors, the same as the others that have fallen." They sent them all back to the Council house and they could get to the portal from there. Xander got there last with his burden, heading through. The portal shut behind him and he put her on a table, making sure she wasn't bleeding on anything anymore. "Did we all make it?" he asked quietly.

"All but one that fell earlier and she showed up," Giles said, patting him on the back. "We'll work on getting her laid to rest tonight, Xander. Thank you."

"No one deserves that," he said, looking up. "I'm exhausted. My daughters good?"

"Fairly so. A bit bossy of the tiny ones but they handled them for me." He patted him again. Xander nodded, going to find an open spigot so he could hose off the sweat. Giles got the other watchers in there to set up that poor girl for burial. Xander was out in the trees later, with his girls. They let the Council do what they needed to do without their help since they weren't part of it yet.

***

Stark looked around at the end of the battle. "This is almost as bad as New York's but less than London's." Steve Rogers nodded he agreed, taking a bottle of water someone handed him to gulp. "Let's get us back to safety." He looked at his teammates. "Let's go," he called. "So people can clean up the mess we made." He made sure everyone made it back to the quin jet and back to the tower for now. They could go hide from there. He spotted a few people he knew, but they just waved him off so they got to flee the press and angry people. He came out of getting out of the suit, flopping down. Steve held up the dirty paper sleeve with the DVD inside. "What's that?"

"Harris said they found some new books."

Stark took it to run, frowning at what they saw. "I like the comic book version better. He looks easier beat in the comic book version. Less tacky too."

Steve reread it, frowning at it. "We'll have to go for incapacitation since immortal is literal this time." He looked at the others coming in. "Harris found a few more sources."

Natasha sat down to read it over, grimacing. "That's going to be nasty."

"Yes it will be," Stark agreed. "We'll probably need more hands."

"The slayers may help but I'm not sure they'll be able to help too much," Steve said. "But we can let them handle anything breaking out during it." Stark nodded once, slumping in his seat. "I'm pretty sure there'll be panicking among the various communities, including the human ones." He looked at Bucky as he came in, pulling back his damp hair. "Harris found new sources."

Bucky paused to stare at it, slumping a tiny bit. "That's not going to be a weapons battle?"

"Higher level weapons," Stark grunted.

"So I'm going to be needing some explosive arrow tips," Clint said as he walked in. "Or ones that can destroy a stone." He looked at Bucky. Who nodded that may work. "Destroying the glove possible?"

"I hope so," Steve said. "Maybe if we can destroy it we can get the stones away from him without problems." He cleared his throat. "Let's go over the battle earlier."

"Military people quit listening after the initial orders," Stark said. "And they ignored those after a higher up got there."

"I heard one get countermanding orders about shooting the demons," Steve said. He cleared his throat again, taking the bottle of water Clint handed over. "Thanks. Harris gave some orders."

"He's a field commander," Bucky agreed. "It's in his file."

"Along with the links to youtube videos of things he's handled," Natasha said. "Coulson uploaded those recently when he heard they were around and not restricted. Some of those....I'd rather not resee even in video form."

Clint grinned at her. "At least it gives us reasons to look at higher weapons."

"Yes, but I'd rather not have to wonder how many times they tried to use a lesser one and it didn't work," she shot back. "Or how they did it before grenades were created."

"Swords," Steve said with a nod. "A lot of swords from what their histories say." He sipped the water. "How many videos?"

"Smart phones exist in Africa," Stark said. "By statistics, there's more smart phones than there are toilets in this world." He hacked in easily enough, finding that file, and the hidden one behind it. "His actual file is messy." He let Natasha have that on a virtual screen while they watched the videos that had been linked to the profile. The second one had him climbing the couch to get away from it. "What is that?" he demanded.

"The title says an ascended demon," Natasha said, swallowing hard. "It's certainly large and has some sort of gaze related power."

"The thing's the size of a small house," Bucky said. The head finally got blown off by someone who had tried to argue with Xander. "Huh. So beheading again. Just a really big head."

Steve nodded slowly. "Damn glad we never ran into one of those before." Bucky nodded, going to get a beer. He switched videos but this one was a huge demon king of some kind, he was wearing a pretty crown, and then they realized he was actually a she, or at least giving birth to the toothy things that were trying to eat the local peoples. Those ones died by fire. Makeshift flame throwers worked well enough. Steve tipped his head to the side. The main demon died by fire too but it took something that burned for a while being thrown on her to finally take her out. "Wow." He pointed. "That's one of the mini slayers."

"She was here," Stark agreed. "She's cute." A video call came in and split the main screen. "Hey," he said with a nod. "Problems, General?"

"Was the Council there?"

"They fought about it but they have some ethics left," Steve said. "So said Buffy Summers when I ran into her before the battle."

"Was Harris there?"

"Yup," Stark said with a nod. "He gave the military guys orders."

"Oh, that was him. He looks different with the beard." He grimaced. "He removed a dead body."

"One of the slayers fell during it," Clint said. "I heard him say her family wouldn't want to see what happened during her autopsy."

"I can see that point. Not one I wanted to see either." He sighed and nodded. "Our next one is in two weeks?"

"Eight days," Natasha corrected.

"Great. Thanks for the warning. Will you be there?"

"Probably," she agreed. "We'd hate for humanity to fall." Stark started the next video and it was fully disgusting and made her have to force down the vomit. "Stark."

"Sorry, didn't realize it was that nasty." He paused it on the demon eating a kid and her dog. With a slayer rushing into view with a weapons tube. He looked at the general, who was shuddering. "We're going over the videos linked to Harris' file to see how bad they can get."

"There's probably worse, but I'd hate to see it," Steve said quietly.

The general looked at him. "Me too. All right, let us know anything you find out about the upcoming ones." They nodded so he hung up. Stark started a different video. He hoped they never had to run into something like that.

"Thanks," Clint said. "So damn disgusting." This new one was blowing ectoplasm everywhere to poison and contain people. Slightly better but not a lot.

***

Xander walked away from the people who wanted him to give himself up to the agents who were complaining that they had rescued the slayers from them, shaking his head as he walked outside to work with the minis again. Buffy followed. He glared at her. "They have a point. You made the mess."

"I'm not liable for that, Buffy."

"The president is having fits about the last one giving you a free pass to create that sort of mess."

Xander sneered at her. "Sure, let me go back and not rescue them. Would that make you feel better?" She shook her head quickly, backing away from him. "Beyond that, they can't charge me anyway. Only two states have laws that could charge me." He smirked. "DC and Virginia aren't either one."

"What?" she demanded.

"Mermaid taint," Giles said from the doorway. "We could use such a move to start rebuilding a truce with them, Xander."

"Like hell I'm going to leave my daughters to be raised by that horrible bitch," he said, pointing at Buffy. "I don't know *what* ate her brain this time but I'll be damned if she passes it on to my girls or my daughters." Buffy huffed. He glared at her. "Yay, bitch. I'm not letting you anywhere my girls."

"I can ban them from watcher training," she said smugly.

He shrugged. "I'll teach them to help me in the field if they want to. I've already done a lot of that with what we ran into as we got to Asgard." She glared back, stomping a foot.

"Enough!" Raisa shouted. "What horrible friends you are, Buffy Bitchy One Summers. For that matter, you're not getting our dad arrested. If you wanted the minis dead that much you should've let the Powers That Be do it for you because no one in *this* family is going to support torturing anyone! If you don't like it, go fucking retire." She pointed. "You have fun with that but get the fuck away from the mini slayers and the other girls. They don't need your shit." Giles cleared his throat. "The minis are all traumatized, worried, and upset. They don't need her shit telling them that they should've died, Mr. Giles. Be damned if the girls need to see that. Or us!" She looked at her father.

"I'm not going anywhere but to help with the battle on Asgard," he said, pulling her over for a hug. "We won't let them hurt any of the minis, Raisa. If I have to, I'll keep them on this realm for a few years. Most of their parents would want them to be safe." He looked at Buffy. "Shoo! Before I summon back spirits." Buffy stomped off. Faith kept her from going near any of the minis. He looked at Giles. "I can go back to Africa," he promised.

"I think that's a bit drastic," Giles said patiently. "I think we need to make a new truce. Too many things could get the girls hurt."

"They need to fix their shit so we can do that," Raisa told him bluntly, staring him down. "Because they're just in danger right now." She looked at her father. Who shrugged back. "We've talked with a few of the agents who aren't worthless or horrifying. They think they can't do anything to stop that mess."

"I'm pretty sure they can but they won't," Xander corrected. "It'd cause inter-agency strife."

"Can we call back Strife or someone like him?" she asked, grinning up at him. "We could build him a nice shrine."

"It's DC, I'm pretty sure there's probably at least one to many chaos gods there. Just like there is in LA."

She grimaced. "Can we give a nice offering to call them back?"

He smiled at her. "It'd be fun to watch but hell for the regular sorts. Otherwise, I'd be looking up proper rituals to call them back right now." He noticed Buffy coming back. "Where are the cats?"

"In the trees." She pointed. "Oz really is a way up high cat. Our hunting buddy is napping on a low branch for now. The other two are cuddled with the kids sleeping up there."

He nodded. "That fits. Cats like to climb." He let her go, getting pouted at. "I thought you wanted to cuddle Valerian."

"I do but she's asleep." She bounced off to cuddle the minis, who were sniffly. "Hey, no water works," she said with a smile. "It's all scary and stuff but there's no way my dad is going to leave us all at the mercy or someone like the idiots who don't help you girls or the mean ones." She patted a few on the head. "We'll figure it out. You're not going to be in danger."

"I wanted to see my sister soon," one pouted.

"We'll see if we can scry or something," Raisa promised. "That way you can talk to the family." She nodded, cuddling the others. Raisa had on her weapons so they knew not to cuddle her.

Xander looked over. "We can do that later. My phone has skype, Mimi." She nodded. "I asked King Kitty Cat to check on her when I ran into him during that meeting." She grinned. He looked at Giles again. "Thankfully I inherited this house from the girls' aunt." He walked off, going to look up more information in their limited library. Some things weren't adding up in the upcoming battles he had foreseen.

Buffy glared at Giles. "I agree with him," he told her. "Nor would I support anyone who wanted to hurt the minis in any manner." He walked off to talk to the other watchers. They were hidebound asses. They were going to upset the girls so he had to stop them before the girls revolted and sold them to various demons that might be around there. One of the girls had already been found to be talking to the local demon community. She was five and had been having tea with one of them. He wasn't sure if she was going to turn mean to them or not.

Xander looked over at the minis. "No selling the hidebound asses," he said quietly. "If they get sold, I'm going to use them to get higher weapons we'll need." They giggled and cuddled together to read.

Buffy stomped off to seethe some more. People were blaming all the girls for the messes that Xander had created. They needed to make sure no one wanted to arrest them that same way. She found Xander's phone and called someone she had met in the Cleveland newspaper. One of the minis heard her and went running so Xander came in to grab his phone from her and walked off shaking his head. "It's your fault we had to hide," she sneered.

He turned and backhanded her. "The reason we had to hide was because agents kidnaped twelve mini slayers and five of my daughters," he said firmly but coldly. "I'll be *damned* if I'm going to let *anyone* torture those girls for being born and chosen before they were born!" He pointed at the girls outside. "Your job is to help make sure they're raised as good young women, the same as mine is, and you're horrible at it. So sit down and shut up and become a real woman instead of a horrible monster that the girls have nightmares about." She stomped off sniffling. He looked at the other watchers. "They already had nightmares about most of you." They shrank away from him. "The girls are *children* and should be raised as if they're normal children who have a problem coming in their future. The Council is supposed to be here for the girls, not their own benefit." He walked off. "Ladies, let's get back to homework. A working mind is the best weapon ever."

"I don't have any yet," one of the under-five minis chirped, smiling at him.

"Then we can teach you how to read, Natalie." He settled in with them to go over their letters and numbers.

Giles took off his glasses, nodding as he cleaned them. "I agree and that is our job," he said. "I have no idea what's infected Buffy but our job is to protect and make sure the future slayers are good young women who care about those they're protecting." He looked at them, seeing a few horrified looks but the rest were nodding. "I am not going to let anyone harm any of those children."

"We have many," one started. Giles glared at him. "I'm not suggesting we let anyone experiment or anything but we could submit to blood tests."

"People like General Ross were wanted to gift the girls' abilities to soldiers so they had more like Captain America," Xander called from outside. "They can't do that from our blood or our bodies."

"I hadn't thought of that."

"He was involved in that whole Hulk debacle from what I remember," Giles agreed. "Beyond that, they unfortunately have samples of many of the girls' blood and tissue samples as well."

"I was hoping that they'd give up if they could verify what we've told them," that watcher said.

"Zealots never give up," another watcher said quietly. "The annoying toad of a young man is correct." Giles scowled at him. "I have real problems with how Harris acts most of the time. He's very...jumpy."

"He needs more caffeine to handle the hyperactivity he's always had," Giles said sarcastically. "Plus some of that is worry. He tends to pace and the like when he's thinking while worried but now that would upset and worry the slayers."

"He went to plant things in Africa's safehouse when he was worried," Watcher Cresida said from his seat in the corner. "Those girls all realized when he was worried or stressed. One of them even kindly called one of Xander's ex-girlfriends from his phone when he couldn't break out of it. She was not amused but it turned out that they needed some of her contacts but the boy didn't want to ask for the help. Harris just blew them up to fix that problem. His girlfriend got to move up a bit in status for it. Before some other arms dealing group took her out. Though the boy did avenge her death somehow because they went down to demons a few weeks later."

"That was her son," Xander called. "Not me. He didn't even ask me to ask someone. He went to the poker hall and asked them."

Giles shook his head with a sigh. "I've seen the youtube videos of the battles in Africa." Xander giggled. "And some were quite disgusting."

"Half of them are locked," Xander called. "You have to be a registered user and signed up for that site. Youtube got requested to remove them from general view by a few different governments. You need to look at Charlie's site to get most of them in the unfiltered or unedited format."

Giles went out to get his phone, coming back to look at the boy's bookmarks. He probably had most of the most useful sites bookmarked so that was handy. He found that site, then searched by Xander's name. He found his profile and settled in to read it, grimacing. The others gathered to read that nice, long profile about how insane Xander could be when pushed toward it. Or when necessary. A few came with video examples of their points, cut from larger battles mostly. And once when Xander had a gun to a guy's head and was pushing the mini slayer behind him so she was protected. "Xander?" he called. "What were you doing with Aria to protect her?"

"He was possessed and was going to sacrifice her in a few gross, bad ways," he called. "I'm being delicate because of delicate ears. "Then we find out he was unpossesssed a few days earlier but still wanted to do horrifying things to her. He was trying to claim rightful ownership of her. The village elders were fighting against him but he had gotten guards to help him. Pity. I hit them with a bat. Him I was going to be super special. They cut out the rest of that when I had to free the other three girls he had." He poked that girl and pointed.

She ran inside and looked up at Giles. "He protected me and a few other girls in the village from being put on an altar and hurt a whole lot then slowly killed as he skinned us. His brains were icky but diseased and he needed to be put down before he hurt more girls. All of us adore Xander for protecting us." She ran back outside.

Giles nodded. "I would have been less gentle if I had the skills he has." The others all agreed. He looked at Watcher Cresida.

"That was three weeks before he ran into me," he admitted. "I only heard rumors. That's why I put out knowledge of me hiding down there. I couldn't discount that one since they had film of it showing on a local news station. The others I had hoped were false. I'm afraid I wasn't hopeful enough for it to be true." Xander burst out laughing. "You're the one that took on six demon priestesses in the nude with a sword, boy," he called.

"They got me out of the shower! Didn't give me time to dress. It was the thrill of their lives before they got banished. Thankfully the military guys who came to grab me from my shower managed to get a blade and had some other supplies on hand. Though the priest was very confused and annoyed."

"Why were virgin priestesses coming for you?" Faith asked from her seat, looking out there. Xander was blushing. "Seriously?"

"They were allowed to break their vows twice and heard Anya's stories," he said dryly, grimacing at her. She blushed back and ducked back inside. "Yeah. That reason."

Giles looked out there then at Faith. Then he sighed and cleaned his glasses again before putting them back on. "Oh, dear."

"Probably not the first with the way she bragged and nagged," Faith quipped, still blushing.

"No. Comment," Xander called. "Especially not in front of impressionable daughters."

"Daddy, we knew you slept with bad girls," Daisy quipped with a grin for him. "We met some of them. That's how we got to Asgard."

"Point," he agreed, nodding slightly. "Back to homework. Then you girls can have a winner gets dessert tickle fight." The girls got back to the books and lessons. Finally they gave up and pounced each other to start the mass tickle fight. The tiny ones ran over with a squeal to join in, making the older ones be more gentle. Daisy got Raisa's wife Valerian into it by pouncing her and chiding her for being too serious. Xander settled back to watch them do it. He wasn't going to join in, the girls would be brutal to him for making them do homework. The younger ones ran in to get the older slayers into it too. They could all use the stress relief. Though they did ignore that Buffy existed for the minute. They weren't going to play with her, she was being a mean bitch.

***

Xander finally reappeared on Asgard, handing Sif the key structure for the ship. "Use it well," he told her with a grin. "Raisa's on there with Valerian. Don't crash it, I promised Stark could look it over when the evacuations were done." She tipped her head and smiled, going to gather those who needed evacuated that way. Odin cleared his throat so Xander looked at him. "Greetings, Odin. I'm letting her use the space ship I won to evacuate the vulnerable and those who shouldn't be near a battle."

"There won't be a battle, Xander."

"Bullshit. I saw Hela last night when she remembered she had flirted with me on Svartlheim." Odin gaped in horrified awe. He grinned. "Bad girls do love a Xander." He looked at Thor, who was newly back and had shorter hair, and Loki, who was sneering at him. "Keep it up, Princess." He held up the bag. "Thor, I brought you presents." Odin stomped off. They could find him later. "Including one that will help when you need it most." He handed it over with a grin. "How else can I help?"

"Can you distract her?" Thor asked.

"I wish but probably not enough unless I run up to her and drop her into a kiss and then sex. Then it'd only be a temporary diversion." He grimaced. "And I doubt she'd fall for it."

"Probably not," Thor said with a sigh. "Thank you, Xander."

"You're welcome, Thor. Whatever I can do to help I will. Including...." He pulled out a letter to hand to Loki. "From a mage down there that got disgruntled at the slayers being squealy girls on the realm they're hiding on."

Loki opened it with a frown, reading it. "We do not have such structures," he admitted.

"Could one be made before the battle if it'll help?" Xander asked.

"No, it would take years, but it may help if we have to rebuild." He tucked the letter into his pocket. "We have many warriors, Xander."

"And I'm a great one, that's why I'm letting Sif evacuate the vulnerable." He stared at him. "I'm also a seer, Loki. Especially of apocalypse battles. Did you get all eight visions?"

"Six thereof," Thor admitted. Xander handed over his phone so they could read that file from it. "Oh, dear." He blinked, looking at Xander, who shrugged slightly. "That is good to know, Xander. What of my father's problems?"

"They're all in his head," he said, taking the phone back to slide into his pants pocket. "Always have been. He's the one that demanded that the prophecy be read in public so it could be acted on. It made people panic and react in a way that caused no end of problems for you guys. Frankly, I don't want Odin cooties from his throne, Thor."

"Good. What if we have to move?"

"Then you're the Crown Prince or the King if we can't find Odin." Xander shrugged again. "I don't want a realm. The girls would hate being princesses. They might even go evil and start to cast spells to get warriors for the slayers to date so they get some peace and quiet while they're studying."

"Are the slayers safe?" Thor asked.

"Hopefully. They're still hiding on the daughters' natal realm." He grinned. "It helped." Thor nodded that would, walking off. "So where can I help?"

"You can go aid Sif with the evacuations," Loki offered. Xander pulled his staff to him, grinning some. "You have...." Loki walked closer to look at it. "Where did you get that?"

"A dragon dropped it on my head by the hellmouth portal in Africa." He grinned. "It's kinda handy. And it does like most of the daughters."

Loki touched it with a single fingertip then nodded as he walked off. "We're making battle plans now, Xander." Xander followed, his staff thumping on the floor. Thor stared at it. Xander grinned. "A dragon gifted it to him."

"It was probably moving it from the next and dropped it on my head. It was by the hellmouth portal." He nodded at one of the warriors in there. "Hey, Korg."

"Xander," he said, smiling and shaking his hand. "Well met again."

"Thanks, man. I let Sif have the ship to evacuate people." He nodded at Heimdall. "I left most of the daughters at home but Raisa and Valerian promised to help Sif with her duties."

"That's wise. They're good at protecting an area and Sif is good enough to protect them all if necessary," the Guardian agreed. Xander popped his neck. "How soon?"

He looked outside and pointed. "I saw that tree in flowers. One of the views that started in six out of the eight visions started from that window."

Thor went to look out there. "That courtyard would be a good place to start a battle from," he admitted. He checked the tree. "We have days. This is about to bloom." He went back to the plans, letting others put in input. Xander noted that they had three senior mages nearby that could help or they could be evacuating people. So far they were packing books. One of the warriors went to talk to them about helping. Thor stopped Xander before he could go rest for a few hours. "How horrifying?" he asked quietly. "None stated an aftermath."

Xander nodded, grimacing. "You'll need a way to evacuate the remains of your people," he said quietly. "I haven't seen one yet when the city survives, and most of them I saw the land crumbling as it died, Thor. Not from the battle but to stop Death, one must pull up an element against it. Or one that overpowers it."

"Ragnarok," he said. Then he nodded once. Xander nodded. "Those ...gifts?"

"They're all artifacts with some uses to this battle. A few are stronger weapons that can destroy whole groups if thrown into them. One is to open up elemental powers." Thor relaxed but nodded, clapping him on the arm. "I'm yours until I have to go back to the girls in six days."

"Thank thee, Xander." He walked off considering that. Heimdall had the bag and handed over the various things for him to look over. That one was powerful, he could feel it radiating. He put that aside for later. He looked up at the man who had helped mentor him. "Heimdall, he saw the land crumbling," he said quietly.

Heimdall nodded. "Other seers have as well, Thor. We will do as we must."

"We must have a way to move the remaining ones if we have to flee at the end."

"We have methods," he assured him. "Including that ship from the Skaar."

Thor relaxed again, nodding. "We will lose much but I see no way around it."

"All warriors expect death each engagement. It is the wages of war."

"True. Though I will miss some we'll lose greatly."

Heimdall patted him on the arm. "It could be much worse. We could lose everyone by not acting."

"Good point. Thank thee for that counsel."

"As always I serve the people." He smirked a tiny bit and walked off to find Xander to talk to him.

Thor went to stare at the courtyard for now. This was going to be horrifying. Asgard may lose because he was not Odin and not many could defeat death.

***

Xander limped off the ship, nodding at the others staring. "People, Asgard was destroyed. These are the ones resting while going to another realm." He nodded at Giles, who nodded back. "Hela," he said quietly.

"Was she defeated?" Giles asked.

Thor stepped down, nodding as he walked. "She was defeated. Hopefully permanently." Xander looked and handed him the eyepatch he was wearing. "I need it not, Xander."

"You do. Yours is gunked up, Thor." Thor shook his head but smiled slightly.

"He's right, it is," Steve Rogers said, pushing past people. "Thor, are you all right?"

"I need to settle my people somewhere safe." He shook his hand. "I'm as well as can be, Steven. Thank thee for asking."

"Welcome. How can we help?"

"We just need rest for a few days while we recharge the engines. The ones that Lady Sif brought?"

"They're on another of the realms but not down here," Giles said. "Raisa told her sisters, Lord Thor. They're safer." Thor smiled. Giles looked Xander over. "It was that bad?"

"Um, yeah. Thor ended up having to let the physical realm go." Giles moaned, shuddering. "But we won. That's what's important. Thor and his people can rebuild."

"True. That's always best." He walked over. "If myself or my slayers can help, let us know, Lord Thor." He stared up at him. "There was a time in my youth that I swore muchly to your father while I worshiped his service," he said with a slight smile. "While I've grown up, I'm still beholding to your people, as many are."

"Nay. My father had his faults and his means but we don't need people to worship us at this moment."

"Unless it's a girlfriend," Xander quipped. "I could use a girlfriend or boyfriend that would baby injuries."

Thor laughed, patting Xander on the head. "That would be a warrior's reward for winning a war and you helped us win many, Xander. Go rest with your daughters. I'll make sure Raisa lets you know which realm she wants to settle on for now." He looked at Giles. "We just need to recharge for a few days."

"We can get you food and water stores," one of the military people waiting there offered. "Medical help as well."

"Many of us have injuries but most have been treated."

Xander looked at him. "Yeah, they could use a nurse who cleaned injuries but most things were healed magically or stitched if we had to." That one called that in and a military healer showed up with Maria Hill. Xander gave her a pointed look then looked at Thor. "If you need me, let me know before I get a vision?"

"Gladly. Visions are painful," Thor agreed. "We are mostly fine, Agent Hill."

"That's fine but it's best to have bandage changes and make sure nothing's infecting, Thor. I'll be there with her to help."

"Then I cannot complain about that."

Maria Hill looked at his face. "Your ...injury appears to need cleaned as well," she said quietly.

He adjusted his patch with a sigh. "It was a sacrifice I had to make so we won."

"I understand such things," she assured him quietly. "We can help you clean it."

"Saline solution," Xander said. "I learned how to do that very well and I showed him how to do the eye wash they taught me." Hill nodded, not looking at him. He looked at Thor, smiling some. "I'll be with the girls. Hopefully they'll not be hogging the bathroom this time."

"We expanded it so you have five bathrooms now, Xander, and only the minis and your daughters," Giles said, giving him a pointed look. Xander smirked. "We'll let you heal, Lord Thor. Just let us know if you need us."

"Aye, I will. Skalds will be writing on this war for generations." He let the nurse onto the ship with Maria Hill. "Xander, I'll see if we can find where your axe is."

"It's underneath Hulk's butt again. Apparently it was trying to tease him so he sat on it."

Thor nodded. "That makes much sense. It does like to tease him. And to trim his toenails."

"Hey, gotta be something sharp and big to do it. Not like scissors will," he quipped back. "Hulk, I need my axe," he called. "Please quit sitting on it." It flew out a minute later. Xander leaned on it like it was his cane. His staff came out in three pieces. "Yes, I'll fix you too, staff." He tucked it into his pocket, looking at Giles. "Let me go get a shower. Call, Thor." He limped off, leaning on his axe. A military person got in his way so he stared at him. "Move. Now please."

"Sir, we need to make sure you're not going to bring any germs or things from another realm."

"Thor's been here many times and he hasn't. The elves that invaded London didn't. I didn't with the other six times I've been to Asgard. Thanks though." He gave him a pointed look. "Have a better day?" The man got out of his way but called that in. Xander limped off shaking his head. "Let me go nag my daughters." He felt someone running up on his blind side and ducked the grab attempt, pulling his axe up to swing at the person.

"Xander, that's Brenda," Giles called.

Xander paused. "Don't sneak up on me!" he complained. She hugged him. "OW!" She let go some. He sighed, patting her on the back. "I'm fine, Brenda. Really, I'm okay. I just need to go shower and rest and eat."

She looked up at him. "The girls are at the house with us. You can come back so our med team can check you over." She led him off to the car. Giles followed with a nod to the military person who tried to stop them. Brenda looked back. "I don't think even if he brought back stuff, it'd infect others. His hellmouth taint means that he's not like everyone else." She got Xander into the car and fussed over him like one of his daughters would. She had won the betting rounds against the minis because they didn't need to see post-battle injuries yet. She grinned. "We played slayer rummy to see who'd get to baby you. The minis tried to win but we know you'd want them to remain a bit more innocent. So I won." She grinned sweetly at him. "And if I have to use handcuffs...well Faith said they're fun." He snorted but smiled and shook his head. "Good boy." She patted him on the hand. Giles got in to drive.

Thor shook his head, looking at Steve. "He is the most unusual warrior but he is one that will make sure many things are won. Even if he does have some strange methods to his ways. Without his help we would not have as many survivors as we have. Even my brother learned to appreciate his madness in the heat of battle." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You can come visit if you wish. We have much to talk about. We have found more on Thanos for when he appears down here."

"Will it be bad?" Steve asked.

"Worse than we had wanted. Worse than what we just faced." Steve nodded, following him onto the ship. He saw Hulk and patted him. Thor smiled. "He was most beneficial on our team. This is Valkyrie. She was a mighty warrior for us as well." She nodded at Steve. "This is Steven. He is the one with the shield that my brother swore about." She grinned. "It may have helped muchly if we had my battle mates down here during our battle but we probably would have lost them." He walked Steve off to the area he was bunking in to share that information. Loki was laying semi-comatose in the next bunk. Thor looked at him. "He was mighty in battle as well."

"It's good that he could protect your peoples."

Thor nodded. "It did help mightily." He sat down and pulled out the scrolls they had found before the main battle had started. He handed them over. Steve leaned against a wall to read them, grimacing at what he saw. "Indeed."

"Okay. So really horrifying." He looked up. "Thank you, Thor. I hope your people settle safely and easily wherever they end up."

Thor smiled. "It should not be too hard. There are still eight other realms." Steve clapped him on the arm and left to tell the others. Thor laid back, calming himself down again.

A female voice yelled out 'hello'. "Slayers Council people here to help," she called. "Raisa told us how to make a proper warrior's meal and we brought lots of water too. Come get food, people. You can't heal if you don't eat."

Loki moaned, holding his head. "They radiate."

"That's the hellmouth probably." Thor got up to get them both food. Loki needed it just as much. The slayer smiled up at him, handing over two large boxes. "For my brother as well?" he asked politely.

She grinned. "I'm Slayer Kinella, Lord Thor. I'm the senior girl in England at the moment. I was also sent to tell you that your former girlfriend is safely in Scotland at the moment. Lady Darcy is in New York assisting Stark find out he's a human." Thor smiled. "Sorcerer Supreme Strange would like a copy of the battle's tales so he can preserve it for the future generations. Also, we at the Council would like one so we can keep a memory of it. The last message was that it's safe. The president has said that you may stay here for as long as two weeks so your people can get medical treatment and food supplies." She handed him a second set of boxes and pointed. "Bottled water in huge jugs. All spring water since purified water can taste nasty and we're not sure if it would hurt anyone."

He smiled. "Thank you, Slayer Kinella. I will make sure those sources get a copy of the battle's tale." She smiled and handed over two plates of cake. He grinned, taking them back and coming back for mugs of water. The others on the ship came to get their own food.

"It's a great thing that we made eight hams. You guys need more food than we do because you're taller than we slayers are." She smiled at one. "You're ...."

"I'm Korg."

She held out a hand. "I'm Slayer Kinella. Head slayer in England."

He shook it. "Well met Slayer Kinella." He looked. "Is that food?" She handed him two boxes and a slice of cake. "Thank you. It's very kind."

"We slayers are warriors down here. We know what other ones need, even if we're all girls." He patted her on the head, smiling back before walking off so others could get food. Kinella looked at the military person coming up the ramp. "We're feeding them."

"That's fine, Slayer. I'm sure you know what people in battles need to eat to recharge. We have two other nurses here to help treat injuries."

"Agent Hill...." She came out so Kinella pointed. "More nurses?"

"Please," she said. They got let in to come help bandage injuries. She got some water and went back to helping the nurses. They could use the water too.

***

Xander woke up in the infirmary, blinking at Ophelia and Atlina. "Raisa's fine."

"Good. You're not," Atlina said with a smirk. "We're *so* going to fuss over you like you would us, Dad." He groaned but shrugged and winced.

Ophelia hugged him. "In so much trouble for nearly dying and leaving us to Mr. Giles."

"My will leaves you to someone else so he doesn't get overrun by you girls." They scowled. He grinned. "You would."

"Probably," Ophelia agreed. They fussed over his sheet and pillow then at his bandages. The nurses came over to run them off but the girls scowled at her until she huffed off again. "He's our father, lady. We're just like him only with boobs and both eyes." She smirked and waved. "Have fun." She got the soup from Daisy and settled in to make him eat it. "Here we go."

Daisy looked at her father. "Damn." Xander rolled his eyes again but let the girls fuss for now. They'd throw fits if they weren't allowed to fuss. He had some girly girl daughters, even with all the training.

Natasha Romanoff walked in, staring at them. "Ladies, can we get a report from him?" she asked politely.

"No, he's eating," Ophelia told her. "He has to eat before he dies on us and we're left to someone."

"I left you to a group of people and the only one remaining is Heimdall," he said dryly. "That way you guys could lighten up his life. I need to make a new list. Maybe I'll leave you to Thor so he can counter that stupid prophecy." Daisy snorted, shaking her head as she walked off. "It's that or he'll find you a boyfriend."

"I doubt that. I don't think either one could find a good boyfriend for themselves first. We'd have to see proof that they could find nice ones."

"I believe Thor is straight," Natasha said with a slight smile for the young one. "He used to date Jane Foster."

She shrugged. "That doesn't mean he's not bi or pansexual. There's all sorts of beings in the worlds so maybe he likes them a bit furry or something with giant brains so she mostly fit."

"That's a weird thought," Xander called after her. "Go play outside!"

"Fine!" she shot back. "Ladies, Dad banished me outside for weird thoughts about the pansexual and non-human body types throughout the universes. Let's go play tag." The minis squealed as they ran for the backyard.

Natasha looked at the remaining daughters. "Do all of you have those?" They grinned and nodded. "I suppose that makes you more philosophical in some ways."

"Did you meet Korg yet?" Xander asked.

"I did. He's a mighty warrior from what Thor said." She looked at the nurse. "Can we debrief him about the battle?"

"If the girls will let you. They won't let us near him."

"Hell no!" quipped with a grin and a wave for her. "We're a bit paranoid about his former lovers and you look like Dad's type of slightly evil."

The nurse smirked back at her. "I'd never go for Xander, ladies. I remember when he first ran away from the slayers to go to Africa."

"Still, he needs reformed evil or slightly less than evil, not hell goddess evil," Ophelia said, not looking at her as she let her father have more soup. "By the way, we can all tell. We have warning spells up." The nurse gasped so she smiled at her. "I'm going to tell Mercada. She is Dad's mini me." The nurse puffed up and disappeared.

"She was a good nurse, girls, and now I'll have to work overtime," the other nurse complained.

"We can take care of Dad and fuss over him. You only have two others to take care of."

"I can do it myself," Xander said.

"Fat chance, Dad," both girls said.

"We have the right to fuss over you when you've been in a war," Atlina said patiently. "You would fuss over us if we came in that injured."

"Thor made sure you couldn't go fuss over them?" Xander quipped.

"Yes they did," Natasha agreed patiently. "How did you defeat her?"

"Thor dissolved Asgard. Asgard itself is dead so she won but she lost as nothing got gained by her. Pyrrhic victory in the literal meaning. He won but it destroyed things."

She nodded. "That's about what he said but he didn't want to give details. We're hoping that her ...lover will react much the same as she does during battles."

"No, he's a mind fucker who only wants power," Xander said. "We found some things before the final battle in the main library's back shelves that weren't cleaned out."

She smiled slightly. "We got those." He nodded. "Would anyone know more?"

"Loki. He got tortured and mind screwed by Thanos."

"I hadn't asked him but Thor is highly protective."

"Yeah. He's the last of his family. Would you demand answers from a torture victim about the one that hurt them?"

"No," she admitted. "Though we do not see him that way."

"Because you only saw part of the story. Think of him like Barnes."

She considered it then nodded. "I can see that point. Could he give us more information?"

"I don't know. You might have to get him under hypnosis or something to get more details."

"I'll ask Thor if he can do that," she decided. "Anything else you've heard anywhere?"

"There's others that are going to be in danger because they know about the stones. I've heard they're going to be sent this way by a plot."

"Interesting. We'll be looking out for warriors from other cultures."

"One's human," Ophelia said with a grin. "He's a jackass but he's human. Raised up there or something."

"I can look that up. Thank you, Xander, and you ladies as well." She nodded. "Get better, Xander."

"I probably will, once they quit fussing." Both daughters swatted him and fussed over him some more. Natasha walked off smiling. He looked at them. "I really can drink my own soup."

"Suck it, Dad."

"Fine, Atlina." He sighed but let them do what they wanted to do. They were stubborn just like he was. They'd just do worse while trying to be subtle about it. It would drive everyone nuts.

***

Xander finally made it back to his house, and training center. The few minis he had were waiting on them. "When did you guys get here and did you have a sitter?" he asked.

The girls pointed. "We had a sitter and he told us how to defeat magic using idiots who were going to cause him problems."

Xander looked at the storage room. "Hey, Doc."

Doctor Strange walked out scowling at him. "I'm not a bunny."

Xander grinned. "But Bugs was cooler than being a surgeon."

"Possibly." He smirked a tiny bit at him. "The girls were good last night when they got sent back with me watching them. The ship?"

"Raisa and Sif. They're settling people somewhere."

"That's fine. Stark will pout."

"Stark can pout, it was more important to get people evacuated."

"It was," the sorcerer agreed. "I was looking over the artifacts. You gained three more?"

"I evacuated two of the three, the other floated after it. I'm going to throw it at Thor on his coronation day."

"They leave in three days."

Xander grinned. "We can do that." He looked at one daughter, who grinned back. "When did you get back?"

"Two hours ago. The ship's back in orbit."

"We can get it landed," Doctor Strange offered. "Stark would have somewhere."

"He still isn't allowed to tear it apart. Look, yes. Rip apart, no."

"I'll let him know. We can land it." Xander nodded, taking him to the ship, and letting him summon Stark up there. "You can land it, you may not rip it apart," he warned. "You can look, and touch, but not remove."

"Fine," Stark agreed, nodding. He settled into a seat, moving the ship down to a warehouse he had. He got up and called his lab to bring him people, some monitors, and a few other tools.

Xander walked him to the engineering department, and the sorcerer looked smug as he followed. "That is not allowed to be touched," he said with a point, looking at Stark. "It's a stone's piece."

Stark nodded, looking in the containment chamber. "I'll figure out how to make a more efficient engine anyway, Harris. Thanks for that."

"It's highly radioactive. So if it's breached...."

"We'll know and stop it as soon as it happens," he promised, looking at him. "You look like hell."

"The girls fussed so I didn't get many naps." He grimaced. "I'm about to go nap in my own bed while the girls handle each other for a few hours."

"They're going to get the minis into helping fuss over you. They'd miss you if you were gone." He walked off to look at the mystical systems. Xander got himself sent home and smiled at his daughter, who was married and dressed up in white and gold. "I'm proud. And you're still spending time down here."

"Yes, Dad."

Valerian smiled at him. "Of course. Neither of us can cook and training the slayers is important." She adjusted her collar. Her vest/corset was also white with gold embroidery. The skirt was split but longer in the rear than the front. The back fell to the floor and the front only went to her knees. Her hair was done up. Raisa was wearing a similar outfit but with the back of her skirt only being a few inches longer than the front. The three artifacts were in a presentation box. They were wearing ceremonial armor boots and their swords. Raisa took one of the parts of his staff to bring them to the ship. She walked forward, nodding at the officials there. "Valkyrie, we have things that followed us home. May we present them?" she requested.

"We're not that formal, child."

She smirked. "You'd be shocked at times. There's a ceremony for many things. Some of us have to follow them or shame our ancestors." The warrior woman rolled her eyes. They grinned at her. "Is our King here?"

"Thor?" Valkyrie called.

He came to the doorway, smiling at the girl. "You found a place for the refugees?"

"We have and Sif is monitoring the setting up," Raisa said. "My father sends these back. He protected two and one that followed the other two home." She bowed. Her wife bowed and held out the box.

He came down, taking the presentation box to put onto the table out there. He lifted the lid and smiled. "My mother's crown," he said quietly. "Where did he find that?"

"The Hall of Warriors," Valerian told him. "Your mother earned her spot and gave many of us women who battle hopes to join her and make her proud." Thor smiled at her. The next one made him mad.

Raisa looked then shrugged. "Dad thought it was important that the last sapling of the Life Tree was saved. Was he wrong?"

"No," he admitted. "He was not wrong. We can put it in the new town." He opened the last box and swallowed, nodding. "I... Where did he find it? Did he find my father's body?"

"He found his body and sent him off properly," Raisa said, moving forward to touch his bicep. "Dad said he went with the warriors that were lost in the first battle," she said quietly. "He said he sent you a note but it never got to you. So he honored him, even though he hated his ass for trying to make him take over the throne from you. He saved it so you can claim the seat, if not the cooties it held."

He burst out laughing, hugging them both. "You're both excellent young warriors, ladies. Thank your father for me."

Valerian smiled. "My father also sent something, Lord Thor," she said with a smug look. "He and the Asgardian ambassadors who went with the refugees and vulnerable are prepared and willing to work with you once you appear there. They said they will not burden you with a traditional ceremony for you to take over for a year. Though some probably want that year to take your measure, the rest are more than willing to work with you. So said the new Head of the Council of Asgard, my father."

He smiled at her. "Thank thee, Valerian. You do your line proud." He patted her on the cheek. "Not being part of that ceremony will take much stress off me for that first year and I thank them for it." She grinned. "Are you two coming to help?"

"Someone has to set up training areas to beat the snot out of the warrior wannabes with no sense and too much energy until they figure out they should be training or building things," Raisa said with a smile. "Plus there's children who need things to learn so they don't become the first uneducated generation of New Asgard. We both excel at those tasks."

He smiled and nodded. "You both do your trainers proud, ladies. Thank you. I will meet you there?"

"And Sif, Thor," Raisa said with a tiny little smirk. "We'll be going up to spare her temper with the wannabes."

He nodded. "That would be wise before we need to breed more sons." He carried them inside. "I will see you up there, ladies."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison then winked at Valkyrie before disappearing.

Thor looked out at her. "Raisa, the darker haired one, is Xander's daughter. My father found them together in his garden and demanded they marry. Then told her father four days later. He has agreed that they may stay wed since Raisa likes Valerian enough. They are both in training as warriors and quite good at beating the young warriors into being less egotistical. And Valerian once threw Loki out a window when she was eight and he was annoying her. Her father is a Councilor, and her mother was one of the healers. She is quite the young woman and Raisa plays at being shallow but isn't. She has quite the mind that has many twists and turns. She is much like her father in that."

"I learned to respect Xander during the battle," she said. "I will test the girls to see where their training is and if I can add to it." He smiled and nodded. "That may be the defeat of that prophecy."

"Xander is a highly overprotective father. If I even flirted with one of his daughters, he would make sure I am honorable at sword point in the middle of the night." He went back inside.

"Many fathers are that protective but they also become overbearing. At least his daughters get to grow up normally with normal restrictions and expectations."

***

"Hi-yah!" one of the minis yelled, waking Xander up. He blinked, looking around his room. No mini fighting. He looked under his bed, nodding at the two sleepy girls down there. "I think it's time to get up." He heard the battle yell again and sighed, going to see who they were attacking. Coulson. "Ladies," he warned. "We don't want him to hate us."

"They're adorable," Phil Coulson said patiently. "They were staff fighting and managed not to get me once."

"We know you're not a threat or else we'd have shoved you in the dumpster," one of the minis quipped with a grin for him. She looked at Xander. "You told us to practice in here."

"I did." He leaned on the stair railing. "For now, don't get the agent dented. His people are SHIELD and kinda weird." They sighed, going to the official practice room with their staffs. "Thanks." He slowly walked down the stairs, staring at him. "What's wrong now?"

"I came to check on you to make sure you're all right. Plus to get an official debriefing."

"Didn't Natasha do that?"

"No. She was working for Captain Rogers." Xander rolled his eye as he walked off to the kitchen.

"Dad, we made scrambled eggs and coffee," Cygyn called. "Sophie's getting new notebooks and we have a dart on her to make sure she's not kidnaped or anything. We let you sleep in because we wanted to play with makeup and stuff before battle pratice."

He frowned, leaning into the room she was reading in. "I don't care if you girls play with makeup, though yours is a mess." She pouted. "It really does look nasty." She held up a magazine. "Yeah, you can't pull that off, daughter. We'll see if someone can teach you how to do it properly, or just wear it like you did on Asgard that time. That looked subtly nice." She grinned, going to wash her face and start again. "And if the minis want to wear makeup the age is puberty plus a year."

"Yes, Dad. Thanks."

"Welcome. Just dress like a human earthling instead of an Asgardian mini warrior please. No more bra tops without a shirt."

"Yes, Dad," she sighed. All the older girls went to change and put on better makeup. They were teenage girls and things like that were important to them. Though none of them understood why teenage American girls squealed so often or lived on the phone.

Xander looked at Coulson, getting his breakfast. "They were being sneaky but sweet."

"It seems like it." He stared at him. "Your daughter and her wife presented Thor with things?"

"Artifacts the staff noticed and sent to safety before the last battle."

"Ah. Important ones?"

"His mother's crown? Probably. One was his father's crown. I found his father's body and he never made it to the honoring ceremony."

"I'm sure that would upset him. Some of the world leaders there to talk to him about things heard a quip from that one female...."

"Valkyrie."

"Valkyrie then. That they may be the cure to the prophecy that you'd take over the throne?"

"They're teasing Thor that he needs to find a decent wife someday soon. Kings need heirs. There's still the blessing on her that if she gives me grandkids they'll be just like me." He grinned sweetly at him while the agent shuddered. "Exactly." He ate a bite of eggs. "At least Loki can brew a calming potion. Valerian might be talked into giving him an heir without wearing his ring because she's married but they'd still be a great, wild thing."

Coulson nodded. "I can see how that would be a bouncy child."

"And stubborn," Atlina called before walking in. "Dad, I can't get my hair up," she pouted.

He turned her around to brush it and put it up in a sideways braid around her head for her. "It's like french braiding only sideways," he said quietly.

"Thanks, Dad." She plucked the hair that had fallen into his eggs off, skipping off again. "Can I go hit on one of the warriors?"

"No. They need time to calm down and resettle," Xander called after her. "Right now they'd probably be a bit overly hot from the remaining battle stress. Give it a few months."

"Yes, Dad. One's down here."

"Bring him in here. I'm dressed in jammies but I'm good enough." He plucked out another hair and ate another bite, nodding at the warrior. He was a young guy, looked nervous. "I'm not that mean of a father," he said. "You wanted permission to ask one of the girls out?"

"Yes, Lord Xander. I wished to ask our Raisa."

"You know she's married, right?"

"Our people will need children."

"Which they can do," Xander said dryly. "Your healers and the doctors on Earth can both make sure they have children."

"I could father them."

"Tip, kid. Valerian won't ever let a man touch her." The guy slumped. "And you won't be breaking them up probably. They're pretty happy together."

"But we'll need heirs."

"And they can do that while still together," Xander repeated. "I won't have them broken up." The warrior glared. Xander stared back. "I don't know why you hate them being together, kid, but the answer is no." The warrior attacked him so he moved out of the way and kicked him onto the kitchen counter. The guy tried to grab a knife so Xander got his wrist and got him turned around, pulling the knife hand up behind his back. He sighed. "You had to do this while I'm in jammies," he said dryly. "I'll be back, Coulson. Ladies?" he called. "Let me escort him home."

"They're on Aflheim," Raisa called. She walked in and paused. "Oh, him. Yeah, he hates lesbians." She got some coffee and walked off. "Have fun letting Thor kick his ass."

"Yup." Caught the part of his staff, letting it carry him there. He sighed as he walked the guy up to where Valkyrie was guarding the doorway. "He wanted to date my daughter Raisa so she wasn't with her wife. Claimed it would hurt them breeding."

She grimaced. "It's too bad he was saved when more worthy warriors were lost," she said.

"Yup. Thor?"

"Sleeping," she said.

"Loki?"

"Annoyed anyway," she admitted, going to get him. They came back out.

Xander handed the guy over, still holding the knife but his arm in a painful position that was paralyzing it. "He believes that he should break up lesbians so they can be bred."

Loki grimaced. "Our healers can make one of them carry a child between them."

"I pointed that out." Xander shrugged. He handed the kid over. The kid got free but Xander kicked him on the hip, knocking him over. "You're not worthy to stand in his presence. Or hers."

"She's just a warrior," the boy sneered.

"She's one of the reasons we won against Hela, kid. She's thousands of times better as a warrior than I am or you can ever hope to be." The kid hopped up and she knocked him back down and out this time. He took his kitchen knife back, looking at Loki. "It was give him back or bury him in the backyard. The girls might sniffle over that." The staff wouldn't take him back. "Crap. Are you out of residual energy?" he asked it. Loki groaned and powered it to let him go home. "Thanks," he called, looking up and smiling with a wave. "Didn't want to find a cab in jammie pants." He went back to the kitchen. The knife got tossed into the sink and he got back to breakfast.

Coulson put up his phone, which was showing live video from the site. "Who is that one?"

"Valkyrie."

"Is she native Asgardian?"

"As far as I was told, yup. You'd have to ask her for her back story. All I know is that Thor found her on Skaar or something like that."

"Huh. Interesting." He made that note for himself. "Is she staying?"

"Nope. She's helping Thor rebuild."

"That's fine. Does she get along with Sif?"

"No clue. I don't know if they've even met yet."

"Huh. I know the girls look up to Sif."

"They should. She's a great warrior who has more than that to her name. She lives a pretty normal life between battles and is someone that the slayers should look up to."

"I feel the same way about some of my female agents." He stared at him. "Are you really all right?"

"I'm fine. The only thing I need to do is an eye wash."
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