August 9 - Logistics
Title: Logistics
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Avengers (movieverse)
Characters: post “Ultron” Avengers, Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg
Rating: FRC
Word Count: 2256
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy The Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of The Avengers belong to Marvel, etc. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended
Notes / Warnings: KIDFIC! Please suspend disbelief now. Also, this was written in bits and pieces throughout the day when I could fit it in at work and it's getting late, so... not proofread. No idea if it makes sense.
Summary: The kids are cute and all, but where will they sleep and what will they wear?
Logistics
By Beriaearwen
Steve POV
As we headed out of the gym, Buffy stopped and asked, “You're not going to eat lunch in that are you?” I had to smile a bit at the way her nose crinkled when she made a disapproving face.
“Sure.”
“No,” she commanded. “Just no. Wills! Xand! They're going to wear work clothes to lunch.”
“Best not to do that,” Xander advised from where he rested in Natasha's arms. “She doesn't like it.”
Willow just nodded in agreement.
Exchanging amused and exasperated looks with the team, we altered direction slightly toward the locker rooms. “Vision, why don't you stay with the kids while the rest of us change.”
“Of course,” he replied, altering his appearance to more 'normal' clothes.
Buffy eyed him closely and nodded approval.
I headed toward the locker room when I felt her tug on my hand. “What?”
She motioned me down closer than stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. When I stood, her nose was crinkled slightly again. “Better take a shower, too,” she recommended.
“Yes, ma'am,” I replied smiling and chuckling softly. “I suppose we all should.”
Rhodey coughed into his hand and sounded suspiciously like he said “Whipped.” He and Sam were laughing quietly until Buffy turned and looked at them. I have no idea what the expression on her face was, but it must have been something else because they both stopped laughing immediately and began to look at little panicked.
“Yeah, so... shower,” Sam said before dodging into the locker room.
Rhodey was backing away from Buffy and pointed at her. “Yeah, that. That's not right or fair. You keep that to yourself.”
Xander and Willow started giggling and Buffy turned around with a brilliant smile on her face before also giggling.
“What just happened?” I asked confused.
“Don't worry about it, Steve,” Wanda said as she passed Willow to Vision, a smile on her face that he didn't understand.
Natasha and I exchanged a look, confused as to what had just happened before turning to look at Wanda.
“Mommy, I'm hungry,” Xander chose to chime in at that moment, startling Natasha into betraying a look of shock. I'd never seen her look shocked before.
“Right. Food.” Looking at the three children once more wondering what we were getting ourselves into, I looked at Buffy. “Just wait here with Vision and I'll be back shortly.”
After a stop by the locker rooms where Vision watched the children while everyone else showered and changed, the group headed off toward the cafeteria.
The base still wasn't 100% complete and it was frequently easier to take lunch in the cafeteria with everyone else than to make our own. It also didn't hurt to mingle with the other personnel on base. It got them over the starstruck awe most of them had at first and allowed them to see the Avengers as people. That is an important part of our success. It's what made the Howling Commandos work so well, they saw me as a person with some extra abilities, not as the hero many others did.
Coming out of the shower, I hadn't even thought twice about taking Buffy's hand as we walked a little slower than normal toward the cafeteria. Little legs just didn't cover ground as well as ours did.
We entered the room as a group - Buffy holding my hand chatting away at Sam who was next to me, Xander holding onto Natasha's hand and Willow back in Wanda's arms. What I didn't notice at first was the complete silence that fell across the room at our entrance. It wasn't until I felt Buffy's hand slip out of mine that it registered something was different.
Looking down. Buffy had tucked herself behind my leg and was holding onto it, hiding her face. Immediately I started looking for a thread and realized that everyone was staring at us.
“Nothing to see here,” Rhodey called out, stepping to the front of the group. “Enjoy your lunch.”
After another second or two, everyone turned back to their lunches and conversations, though many still shot looks at our group when possible.
Reaching behind me, I stroked Buffy's back and coaxed her into letting go of my leg before picking her up and tucking her into my side. As I stood, I noticed Natasha doing the same with Xander and Wanda rubbing Willow's back.
Following Rhodey, we moved forward to gather our food. It took a little coaxing, but Buffy eventually chose her food and we were able to finish and head toward an empty table. After placing the tray on the table, I put Buffy into one seat and settled myself in another.
That's when I noticed the first problem. Buffy could barely see over the table top. It didn't seem to bother her too much as she moved to kneel, but it got me thinking about other things like where they would sleep, what they would wear, where they would stay when we were on missions, education and much more.
Some of it was easy. There were two currently unoccupied rooms in our wing that could be given over to the kids - the girls could share and Xander would have his own room. Since training had been canceled, we would make a run out to the mall to pick up some clothing and pick up sheets and things. Most likely we would need to get them some toys or something to entertain them.
“Cap?” Rhodey asked, breaking into my thought process.
“Sorry, just thinking of some logistics. We'll need to get them clothes and toys. There are the two rooms in our wing that we can let them use temporarily. We'll also need to figure out something to do with chairs here for meals.”
“Just stack one chair on top of another,” Xander suggested, his attention shifting back to his applesauce.
Sam got up and snagged an empty chair. I lifted Buffy, who protested only slightly at her lunch being interrupted, and watched him stack the new chair on top of the one she had been using. When she was settled on the small stack of chairs, she was able to sit almost normally at the table. Looking at the chairs, I thought they looked a little unstable. It would work for now, but they would all need something a little more sturdy until they were taller.
As these thoughts were going through my mind, a throat timidly cleared behind me. Turning, I spotted the head of facilities and the watch commander. “Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you, but the children...”
I felt myself tense. The two behind me must have noticed because they're eyes grew wide.
“We'll need to tell everyone something and make sure Friday has them in her databases. Also, we'll need to tell everyone something or nothing will get done,” the Watch Commander rushed out.
Looks were exchanged around our table before I turned back. “We'll have something for you after lunch,” I assured.
The facilities manager hesitated and then spoke. “If you have time during their nap, there are some concerns we need to address with regard to access and the facilities in general.”
“No nap!” Willow demanded causing everyone to look at her. She crossed her little arms over her chest. “We're big kids. We don't need naps!”
Vision was about to respond when Sam jumped in with, “Oh, good. Then you can stay up and take care of things while the rest of us nap.”
That gave the little redhead a moment's pause, as if she suspected a trap in the words before she relaxed her stance and nodded her head. “OK,” she agreed.
The rest of us exchanged looks as we tried to figure out what we were going to do about naps. None of us had even thought of them. We were definitely going to need advice.
We agreed to meet with the Facilities Director and Watch Commander during nap time. I was sort of dreading trying to convince the kids to rest, especially after Willow's outburst, but by the time we reached the area of the complex where our rooms were, all three of them were sound asleep.
Moving to the first of the empty rooms, the one closest to the common room, Vision stepped in ahead of us and turned down the blanket on the queen sized bed. Very softly he advised, “I would place all three in the same bed right now. That way they will not be alone in a strange place when they awake. Having someone in the room to watch over them would be a good idea as well. Perhaps myself, Rhodey or Sam since we are not the ones they selected as parents and therefore will have less to worry about.”
“I'll stay,” Sam volunteered. “I have a feeling Vision's already read up on laws and care and such.”
“I have,” Vision confirmed.
Placing Buffy on the near side of the bed, next to Willow and with Xander on the other side, I nodded my agreement as I stroked my hand over her head. “Agreed,” I said as we moved away
Once we settled into our common area, we contacted the Watch Commander and Facilities director to stop by. They were there moments later and we began to get a run-down of their concerns - things we hadn't thought of, but which, apparently would need to be addressed.
Forty minutes later they left us with a list of questions for which they needed answers, far more questions to ourselves on our ability and desire to take on this challenge and the knowledge that we desperately needed a lot of expert help.
“Call Clint,” Natasha recommended. “Ask if he and Laura will talk to us.”
“Good idea,” Wanda agreed.
Rhodey reached quickly dialed and put the image up on the large screen.
“Barton.”
“Clint,” Natasha returned. “We're going to need your help with a... special project. Specifically both your and Laura's help.”
That pulled him up short and we could all see him going on guard. “Tash...”
Before he could get any further, the door to the common room opened and a sleep-touseled Buffy came wandering in, rubbing her eyes and yawning as she made her way to me. I picked her up once she was within arms' reach and smoothed her bed-head down as she leaned back and snuggled in.
Clint actually looked shocked for a moment before a grin split his face and he nodded. “Let me get Laura.”
When he stepped away, Vision entered with still sleepy Willow and Xander who immediately went to their chosen adult and climbed on their laps. When Clint came back on screen with Laura, he laughed and she smiled.
“Who's that, Daddy?” Buffy asked, pointing at the screen and looking up at me.
“Those are good friends of our, Clint and Laura Barton. They have several children and we thought they might help us out with everything we need to take care of you.”
“Maybe a quick trip down here would be a little easier,” Laura suggested. “Do you have seats for you jet?”
Those of us at the base exchanged looks. I could most of us had no clue what she meant. “We don't have anything,” Natasha finally replied. “Shopping was on the schedule for this afternoon, but then we discovered there were other concerns with regard to the children on the base.”
Clint had a soft smile on his face as he looked at Nat with Xander on her lap. “Definitely come down to the farm. Pack for overnight. We have things the kids can wear tomorrow.”
“From what Clint's told me of how your area is set up, you're going to want to make changes,” Laura advised, “not to mention figuring out the legal aspects.”
“Might want to see if Pepper has time to help out,” Natasha mentioned.
I bit back a groan, not because I didn't want Pepper's help, she would be of great assistance, I was sure, but where Pepper went Tony was sure to follow. “What if I'm not ready for them to meet 'Uncle Tony'?” I asked, which had the unfortunate effect of causing all three children to perk up.
Laura laughed lightly at the scene. “Why don't you head down here first and we'll work from there? But, first, would you introduce us?”
“Of course,” Natasha replied. “This little scamp is Xander,” she introduced tickling Xander's side lightly and making him giggle. “Wanda's little clone is Willow and Steve's little darling is Buffy. Children, the people on your screen are Uncle Clint and Aunt Laura. You'll meet their children when we reach their farm.”
“We'll see you in an hour or so,” Clint acknowledged after the greetings were exchanged.
Signing off, I looked down at Buffy who met his gaze evenly. “Ready to go see a farm?”
“I don't know. Am I dressed OK? How's my hair?” Buffy rattled off, looking down at her clothes before reaching up to pat her hair.
I smiled wider and hid a laugh. She sounded so much like the girls on the tour.
Before I could reply, I heard a very uncertain Willow ask, “There won't be... frogs, will there?”
“Or clowns?” Xander asked sounding almost as nervous as Willow.
Oh boy. This was going to be interesting.
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Avengers (movieverse)
Characters: post “Ultron” Avengers, Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg
Rating: FRC
Word Count: 2256
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy The Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of The Avengers belong to Marvel, etc. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended
Notes / Warnings: KIDFIC! Please suspend disbelief now. Also, this was written in bits and pieces throughout the day when I could fit it in at work and it's getting late, so... not proofread. No idea if it makes sense.
Summary: The kids are cute and all, but where will they sleep and what will they wear?
Logistics
By Beriaearwen
Steve POV
As we headed out of the gym, Buffy stopped and asked, “You're not going to eat lunch in that are you?” I had to smile a bit at the way her nose crinkled when she made a disapproving face.
“Sure.”
“No,” she commanded. “Just no. Wills! Xand! They're going to wear work clothes to lunch.”
“Best not to do that,” Xander advised from where he rested in Natasha's arms. “She doesn't like it.”
Willow just nodded in agreement.
Exchanging amused and exasperated looks with the team, we altered direction slightly toward the locker rooms. “Vision, why don't you stay with the kids while the rest of us change.”
“Of course,” he replied, altering his appearance to more 'normal' clothes.
Buffy eyed him closely and nodded approval.
I headed toward the locker room when I felt her tug on my hand. “What?”
She motioned me down closer than stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. When I stood, her nose was crinkled slightly again. “Better take a shower, too,” she recommended.
“Yes, ma'am,” I replied smiling and chuckling softly. “I suppose we all should.”
Rhodey coughed into his hand and sounded suspiciously like he said “Whipped.” He and Sam were laughing quietly until Buffy turned and looked at them. I have no idea what the expression on her face was, but it must have been something else because they both stopped laughing immediately and began to look at little panicked.
“Yeah, so... shower,” Sam said before dodging into the locker room.
Rhodey was backing away from Buffy and pointed at her. “Yeah, that. That's not right or fair. You keep that to yourself.”
Xander and Willow started giggling and Buffy turned around with a brilliant smile on her face before also giggling.
“What just happened?” I asked confused.
“Don't worry about it, Steve,” Wanda said as she passed Willow to Vision, a smile on her face that he didn't understand.
Natasha and I exchanged a look, confused as to what had just happened before turning to look at Wanda.
“Mommy, I'm hungry,” Xander chose to chime in at that moment, startling Natasha into betraying a look of shock. I'd never seen her look shocked before.
“Right. Food.” Looking at the three children once more wondering what we were getting ourselves into, I looked at Buffy. “Just wait here with Vision and I'll be back shortly.”
After a stop by the locker rooms where Vision watched the children while everyone else showered and changed, the group headed off toward the cafeteria.
The base still wasn't 100% complete and it was frequently easier to take lunch in the cafeteria with everyone else than to make our own. It also didn't hurt to mingle with the other personnel on base. It got them over the starstruck awe most of them had at first and allowed them to see the Avengers as people. That is an important part of our success. It's what made the Howling Commandos work so well, they saw me as a person with some extra abilities, not as the hero many others did.
Coming out of the shower, I hadn't even thought twice about taking Buffy's hand as we walked a little slower than normal toward the cafeteria. Little legs just didn't cover ground as well as ours did.
We entered the room as a group - Buffy holding my hand chatting away at Sam who was next to me, Xander holding onto Natasha's hand and Willow back in Wanda's arms. What I didn't notice at first was the complete silence that fell across the room at our entrance. It wasn't until I felt Buffy's hand slip out of mine that it registered something was different.
Looking down. Buffy had tucked herself behind my leg and was holding onto it, hiding her face. Immediately I started looking for a thread and realized that everyone was staring at us.
“Nothing to see here,” Rhodey called out, stepping to the front of the group. “Enjoy your lunch.”
After another second or two, everyone turned back to their lunches and conversations, though many still shot looks at our group when possible.
Reaching behind me, I stroked Buffy's back and coaxed her into letting go of my leg before picking her up and tucking her into my side. As I stood, I noticed Natasha doing the same with Xander and Wanda rubbing Willow's back.
Following Rhodey, we moved forward to gather our food. It took a little coaxing, but Buffy eventually chose her food and we were able to finish and head toward an empty table. After placing the tray on the table, I put Buffy into one seat and settled myself in another.
That's when I noticed the first problem. Buffy could barely see over the table top. It didn't seem to bother her too much as she moved to kneel, but it got me thinking about other things like where they would sleep, what they would wear, where they would stay when we were on missions, education and much more.
Some of it was easy. There were two currently unoccupied rooms in our wing that could be given over to the kids - the girls could share and Xander would have his own room. Since training had been canceled, we would make a run out to the mall to pick up some clothing and pick up sheets and things. Most likely we would need to get them some toys or something to entertain them.
“Cap?” Rhodey asked, breaking into my thought process.
“Sorry, just thinking of some logistics. We'll need to get them clothes and toys. There are the two rooms in our wing that we can let them use temporarily. We'll also need to figure out something to do with chairs here for meals.”
“Just stack one chair on top of another,” Xander suggested, his attention shifting back to his applesauce.
Sam got up and snagged an empty chair. I lifted Buffy, who protested only slightly at her lunch being interrupted, and watched him stack the new chair on top of the one she had been using. When she was settled on the small stack of chairs, she was able to sit almost normally at the table. Looking at the chairs, I thought they looked a little unstable. It would work for now, but they would all need something a little more sturdy until they were taller.
As these thoughts were going through my mind, a throat timidly cleared behind me. Turning, I spotted the head of facilities and the watch commander. “Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you, but the children...”
I felt myself tense. The two behind me must have noticed because they're eyes grew wide.
“We'll need to tell everyone something and make sure Friday has them in her databases. Also, we'll need to tell everyone something or nothing will get done,” the Watch Commander rushed out.
Looks were exchanged around our table before I turned back. “We'll have something for you after lunch,” I assured.
The facilities manager hesitated and then spoke. “If you have time during their nap, there are some concerns we need to address with regard to access and the facilities in general.”
“No nap!” Willow demanded causing everyone to look at her. She crossed her little arms over her chest. “We're big kids. We don't need naps!”
Vision was about to respond when Sam jumped in with, “Oh, good. Then you can stay up and take care of things while the rest of us nap.”
That gave the little redhead a moment's pause, as if she suspected a trap in the words before she relaxed her stance and nodded her head. “OK,” she agreed.
The rest of us exchanged looks as we tried to figure out what we were going to do about naps. None of us had even thought of them. We were definitely going to need advice.
We agreed to meet with the Facilities Director and Watch Commander during nap time. I was sort of dreading trying to convince the kids to rest, especially after Willow's outburst, but by the time we reached the area of the complex where our rooms were, all three of them were sound asleep.
Moving to the first of the empty rooms, the one closest to the common room, Vision stepped in ahead of us and turned down the blanket on the queen sized bed. Very softly he advised, “I would place all three in the same bed right now. That way they will not be alone in a strange place when they awake. Having someone in the room to watch over them would be a good idea as well. Perhaps myself, Rhodey or Sam since we are not the ones they selected as parents and therefore will have less to worry about.”
“I'll stay,” Sam volunteered. “I have a feeling Vision's already read up on laws and care and such.”
“I have,” Vision confirmed.
Placing Buffy on the near side of the bed, next to Willow and with Xander on the other side, I nodded my agreement as I stroked my hand over her head. “Agreed,” I said as we moved away
Once we settled into our common area, we contacted the Watch Commander and Facilities director to stop by. They were there moments later and we began to get a run-down of their concerns - things we hadn't thought of, but which, apparently would need to be addressed.
Forty minutes later they left us with a list of questions for which they needed answers, far more questions to ourselves on our ability and desire to take on this challenge and the knowledge that we desperately needed a lot of expert help.
“Call Clint,” Natasha recommended. “Ask if he and Laura will talk to us.”
“Good idea,” Wanda agreed.
Rhodey reached quickly dialed and put the image up on the large screen.
“Barton.”
“Clint,” Natasha returned. “We're going to need your help with a... special project. Specifically both your and Laura's help.”
That pulled him up short and we could all see him going on guard. “Tash...”
Before he could get any further, the door to the common room opened and a sleep-touseled Buffy came wandering in, rubbing her eyes and yawning as she made her way to me. I picked her up once she was within arms' reach and smoothed her bed-head down as she leaned back and snuggled in.
Clint actually looked shocked for a moment before a grin split his face and he nodded. “Let me get Laura.”
When he stepped away, Vision entered with still sleepy Willow and Xander who immediately went to their chosen adult and climbed on their laps. When Clint came back on screen with Laura, he laughed and she smiled.
“Who's that, Daddy?” Buffy asked, pointing at the screen and looking up at me.
“Those are good friends of our, Clint and Laura Barton. They have several children and we thought they might help us out with everything we need to take care of you.”
“Maybe a quick trip down here would be a little easier,” Laura suggested. “Do you have seats for you jet?”
Those of us at the base exchanged looks. I could most of us had no clue what she meant. “We don't have anything,” Natasha finally replied. “Shopping was on the schedule for this afternoon, but then we discovered there were other concerns with regard to the children on the base.”
Clint had a soft smile on his face as he looked at Nat with Xander on her lap. “Definitely come down to the farm. Pack for overnight. We have things the kids can wear tomorrow.”
“From what Clint's told me of how your area is set up, you're going to want to make changes,” Laura advised, “not to mention figuring out the legal aspects.”
“Might want to see if Pepper has time to help out,” Natasha mentioned.
I bit back a groan, not because I didn't want Pepper's help, she would be of great assistance, I was sure, but where Pepper went Tony was sure to follow. “What if I'm not ready for them to meet 'Uncle Tony'?” I asked, which had the unfortunate effect of causing all three children to perk up.
Laura laughed lightly at the scene. “Why don't you head down here first and we'll work from there? But, first, would you introduce us?”
“Of course,” Natasha replied. “This little scamp is Xander,” she introduced tickling Xander's side lightly and making him giggle. “Wanda's little clone is Willow and Steve's little darling is Buffy. Children, the people on your screen are Uncle Clint and Aunt Laura. You'll meet their children when we reach their farm.”
“We'll see you in an hour or so,” Clint acknowledged after the greetings were exchanged.
Signing off, I looked down at Buffy who met his gaze evenly. “Ready to go see a farm?”
“I don't know. Am I dressed OK? How's my hair?” Buffy rattled off, looking down at her clothes before reaching up to pat her hair.
I smiled wider and hid a laugh. She sounded so much like the girls on the tour.
Before I could reply, I heard a very uncertain Willow ask, “There won't be... frogs, will there?”
“Or clowns?” Xander asked sounding almost as nervous as Willow.
Oh boy. This was going to be interesting.
End