Captain America – The Halloween Soldier

by Oxnate

Disclaimer: Do not own Buffy or Captain America.

Summary: Challenge response. They saved the world but lost a hero in the process. Where do you go to find a new hero?

Challenge from AlecMcDowell: After Xander dresses as his hero Captain America for Halloween, one important thing sticks around- his memory of where the plane went down. With the help of a locator spell and a trip to the Arctic Xander brings Steve Rogers out of the ice more than a decade before Tony Stark becomes Iron Man. With nowhere else to go Steve returns to Sunnydale to adjust to the modern world and help the Scoobies fight demons.

-SHIELD cannot be aware Captain America is free until after Iron Man 1 occurs.

-Steve will remember the events of Halloween

-Can take place after season 2, when Buffy is missing or after Graduation.

-If Xander does or does not retain any Super Soldier abilities is up to the author, though having a second, secret ally with the same skills could be handy for Steve when he eventually comes to SHIELD's attention.

-Xander and Steve can either develop a brotherly relationship or a romantic, I am not opposed to slash. (I don't do slash though I think there will be some funny innuendo in this one)

Chapter 1. Teaser

A group of very beat up looking teens, and one adult who looked like he lost a fight with a can of whoopass, met in the grassy area at the front of Sunnydale high school. "Willow, are you sure you should be out of bed?" Giles, the adult in the group, asked. It was a valid question as her boyfriend, Oz, was pushing her in a wheelchair.

Willow looked up from said wheelchair. "Look who's talking."

"Yes." Giles gave a wry smile and shrugged. Given his druthers, all of them deserved at least a week off after what they'd just done. Instead, they were all required to get up early the next day and attend school/work as if it were any other day.

"Any word?" Cordelia asked. Everyone knew what she was talking about.

"You guys haven't seen her either?" Xander confirmed. He was very worried about their friend. But memories from Halloween this past year told him that soldiers in a war like this sometimes fell. He was more worried about the Hellmouth. Kendra was dead, both Angel and Buffy were missing. There was now no Big Gun to cover the Hellmouth. Any creature of darkness that was strong enough could just waltz right in and open it up. Then, hello Hell-on-Earth.

"No." Willow said sadly.

"But we know the world didn't end, 'cause... check it out." Oz pointed out that the world was still spinning when it might not have been had Buffy lost.

"Well, we, uh... we went back to the mansion. I- it was empty, um... and Acathla was, was... dormant." Giles told them what he knew for sure. Anything else was speculation at this point.

"I think the spell worked. I felt something go through me." Willow said with hope. Willow happened to be a witch who had recently performed a curse to put a vampire's soul back into his body. She did this for her best friend, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so she could have her vampiric boyfriend back. That she did this while in the hospital mere hours after waking up from a coma is either amazing or terrifying, depending on your point of view.

"Plus the Orb did that cool glow thing." Cordelia added.

"Well, maybe it wasn't in time. Maybe she had to kill him before the cure could work." Xander was trying hard not to hope for that outcome and failing.

"Well, then, she'd wanna be alone, I guess." Oz was, as ever, the epitome of the understatement.

"Or maybe Angel was saved, and they want to be alone together." where her boyfriend went for understatement and sarcasm, Willow was the very beacon of hope.

"Perhaps." Giles hedged. He was also hoping that Angel was no more, but was a bit more delicate in expressing those views.

"Well, she's gotta show up sooner or later. We still have school." Cordelia pointed out. She was a bit miffed that Buffy got to skip a day while the rest of them all had to attend. Willow was here in a wheelchair even.

"Yeah. She'll be here in a while." Alright, at this point we're going to have to assume that someone at the hospital replaced Willow's morphine drip with liquid hope. It's the only explanation that makes sense.

They all turned and headed into the school. Across the street, the heroine in question watched them as they headed off without her. She leaned back behind the tree that was hiding her again when Xander stopped and looked back across the street at her. No, not at her. There's no way he could see her, right? In the shade, behind a tree, and across the street. Just in her general direction. Maybe he could sense her watching him, or maybe this is just the most likely spot for a Slayer to eavesdrop. Either way, she could see him sigh before he turned and walked back inside.

Buffy also turned and started walking towards the Greyhound station.

From the shadow of the doorway, where even a Slayer's excellent vision couldn't penetrate with the sun in her eyes, Xander Harris watched as his hero walked away from the fight. He didn't try to stop her. At some point, every soldier reaches a point where he or she just can't take it any more. One of those points is often the losing of a good friend and/or lover. Where do you go to find a new hero? he wondered. Except he already knew where to find a hero. Thanks to Halloween, he knew where one was 'just chilling', so to speak. Waiting for the time to be right to take up the fight again.

Two more weeks. One week of school and then finals. Then he would be free. He had a little bit of money saved up. What it was for depended on his mood. Sometimes it was for a trip out of here, sometimes it was for an apartment in LA, sometimes it was to start his own machine shop. But it looked like the decision had been made for him and it looked like he might be using it for a trip. He heard the arctic circle was nice this time of year.

(Cue the opening credits.)