Title: The Nighthawk Interview
Author: Nodakskip

Beta by: Theo

Disclaimer: I own nothing. "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" belongs to Joss. And Mutant Enemy, WB, UPN, Fox, Sandollar etc. etc. ad infinitum."BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by R&D TV and Sky TV in association with USA Cable Entertainment LLC.

Author's Notes: This story is set during the episode 2.08 "Final Cut", with Lucy Lawless (Xena!) playing one of the few surviving news people. The speech at the end is from the ep as it aired, and so it too does not belong to me.

Summary: A tiny fic crossover, if Buffy was a show that took place in the Battlestar Galactica universe.

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Excerpt from report on the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA by D'Anna Biers, for the Fleet News Service.

Interview from Viper Pilot "Nighthawk"

Real Name: Alexander Harris

"Pilot Harris," D'Anna started. "You're listed as one of the many conscripted pilots from the fleet-"

"Hey, now, I wouldn't say either conscripted or drafted," Xander stopped her. "I was selected, and after some soul searching I decided to join up willingly."

"Can you tell us details regarding how you did join up, then?" the reporter asked.

"Sure," Xander said, as he relaxed into his chair. "I'll just start at the beginning, I guess-"

"Always a good place," D'Anna added, the blond woman using her reporter instincts to her advantage.

"Yeah, well…" Xander said, as he began his tale. "Okay. My friends and I grew up on the northern continent of the Picon Colony. Sunnydale township, to be exact-"

"Sunnydale? I don't believe I've ever heard of it," D'Anna commented with a frown.

Xander nodded. "Unless you lived within a few hundred miles of the place, chances are you wouldn't have. Anyway, my friends and I had just graduated from a…hellish high school," the young man said, carefully avoiding the entire Hellmouth topic. "And a group of us were on board the 'Rising Star' passenger starliner, on our way to Caprica for summer vacation, when…"

As he trailed off and looked down, D'Anna filled in the blanks. "When the Cylons attacked?"

"Everything we knew, just about everyone that I'd ever met - is gone," Xander wiped a tear away. "My friend Buffy's mom came along as a chaperone, that's why she's the only one of our parents that survived. I mean, I hated my family, but I never wanted them to get nuked by those damn walking toasters!"

"Okay…" D'Anna gave him a moment. "So, then, how did you make the leap from passenger to viper pilot?"

"The recruiters came to 'Rising Star' one day with the simulators," Xander answered. "Anyone who wanted to, they could try out. I thought it was just luck at first, but I was one of only two people that got past Level 7-"

"Which I've heard is very impressive, for a non-military trained citizen."

"Yeah, so I've been told," Xander smirked, remembering an…incident from when he'd been 17 years old. "Well, I was asked if I wanted to transfer over to Galactica…and I can honestly say, that that was the hardest decision I've ever had to make!"

"It meant leaving all your friends behind," Biers understood.

"More than just my friends," Harris admitted. "See, my ex-girlfriend was part of our little group - after graduation she was going to stay on Caprica, to try her luck at acting. Her and me…well, you know that old saying, 'not even if you're the last man on the planet?'"

"Yes."

"That just about sums up the situation between us, at the time! Cordelia and I had had a very nasty breakup months before, which was all my fault I have to admit..." Xander adjusted his dress uniform jacket. "But we were kinda friendly again towards the end of the school year, and after all that death…"

Harris stopped for a moment. "We...ah…we sorta got back together, because there was nothing else left of our old lives to cling to. It's like, one moment we were just barely-civil friends, and then we find out all our family and friends back on Picon were very dead…"

"I assume you still keep in touch," the blond reporter guessed.

"Of course," Xander said right away. "I do at least five video letters, every other day. Cordy, Willow, Buffy, Oz…even if he doesn't say much."

D'anna suddenly asked, "What were Cordelia's feelings regarding your signing up?"

"We talked for hours about it," Xander responded simply. "I thought Cordy would be totally 'no way in hell', but oddly enough - she was all for it, if I was."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Xander laughed briefly. "Cordelia was having trouble sleeping most nights…a lot of people have, after the attacks. But she told me she would be able to sleep better, if she knew I was one of the ones out there protecting the fleet."

"That's a little different from what most military wives I've met say," D'Anna commented.

"Well, I guess no one likes to think of their loved one fighting and dying on the front lines," Xander said. "Cordy, though…she's different. Basically, our little gang went through a lot in high school. It's hard to explain."

"Alright," D'Anna said switching topics. "Now, you were one of the brave people in Captain Lee Adama's unit that stopped the Cylon boarding party a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah - and boy, was that was a level one nightmare," Xander told her. "It came so close…but it also felt so good to blow those bastards' heads off…" Harris shrugged. "I have to give a lot of props to the captain. He kept us together, and saved the day at the end. I'm proud to be in his fighter wing."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," D'Anna said with a smile. "Our time is running out, Pilot Harris. But I did want to congratulate you on the events your last shore leave."

"You heard about that, huh?" Xander asked, amused. "Yeah, Cordy and I got married then, along with our friends Willow and Oz. It was a double ceremony." He looked to the camera and added, "And I hope she can understand why I can't wear the ring, whilst on duty."

"I'm sure she does, Pilot Harris," D'Anna told him. "Thank you for your time."

"Glad to help out," Xander told her, as he took off the small microphone.

The screen then cut to D'Anna in different clothes. "On a more interesting note, it should be noted that two days after filming his interview, Pilot Harris learned that his wife was pregnant with their first child. Happily, that brings the fleet-wide pregnancy number up to 37 so far..."

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Luxury Starliner 'Rising Star'

Cabin 39B, Deck 4

Cordelia Chase-Harris, along with Daniel (Oz) Osborne, Willow Rosenberg-Osborne, Buffy and Joyce Summers, plus Rupert Giles sat around in the cabin and chatted amiably with one another.

Cordelia had a hand curled over her stomach protectively, as Buffy glanced at her with hidden envy. Ever since they had learned that there were only 47,978 humans left in the…ragtag fleet following the Galactica, there had been a big emphasis on procreation not to let the species become extinct.

Buffy, in the past three years, through all the good times and the bad - had had only one man in her heart. Someone who could never give her children.

Angel.

The blond girl's eyes threatened to start watering again, as no one knew where that guy was now - or even if he had survived the destruction...

"Are you feeling all right, dear?" Joyce asked Cordy, for maybe the fifth time in the past hour.

"Yes, I'm fine!" the brunette teenager almost shouted, before calming down. "Sorry. Pregnancy hormones…"

Willow looked at Oz. "If I ever get like that, you'll tell me - right?"

The male teen looked at her calmly. "That mean you want us to catch up with Xander and Cordy, right away?"

The redhead blushed adorably, "Well, I-I-I…" Oz suddenly smirked, a very rare thing, and just kissed his new bride to hide her embarrassment.

"Buffy? Are YOU feeling all right?" Giles, her pseudo-father, suddenly asked his charge as he noticed the way Buffy was staring at the happy couple.

The female teen shrugged. "Yeah, Giles. I just miss HIM a lot, but there's not much any of us can do about that…"

Joyce looked away, the guilt silently eating away at her; knowing that if she hadn't done her best to make Angel break up with her daughter and leave Sunnydale, right now the dark-haired guy would be right here with them in the room - and her little girl wouldn't be in constant misery over his loss…

Suddenly, they all shut up and watched the large TV screen, as the news report came on.

It featured Xander's interview, amongst others. And in the end, D'Anna's voice talked over a long sequence of clips showing the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, "I came to Galactica to tell a story. In all honesty, I thought I knew what that story was, before I ever set foot here. How an arrogant military had let their egos get in the way of doing their job, safeguarding the lives of the civilian population..."

She went on, "But I found the truth was more complex than that. These people aren't Cylons. They're not robots, blindly following orders and polishing their boots. They're people. Deeply flawed, yes, but deeply human too. And maybe that's saying the same thing."

D'Anna's voice paused for less than a moment. "What struck me the most is that despite it all - the hardships, the stress, the ever-present danger of being killed - despite all that, they never give up. Never lie down in the road, and let the truck run them over. They wake up in the morning, put on their uniforms, and do their jobs. Every day, no pay. No rest. No hope of ever laying down the burden, and letting someone else do the job. There are no relief troops coming, no Colonial fleet training new recruits every day. The people on Galactica are it. They are the thin line of blue, separating us from the Cylons."

The reporter continued, "Lieutenant Gaeta told me a remarkable statistic. Not a single member of Galactica's crew has asked to resign. Not one. Think about that. If you wore the uniform, wouldn't you want to quit? To step aside and say, "Enough. Let someone else protect the fleet." I know I would. But then, I don't wear a uniform. Most of us don't, most of us never will. The story of Galactica isn't that people make bad decisions under pressure. It's that those mistakes are the exception. Most of the time, the men and women serving under Commander Adama get it right. The proof is that our fleet survives. And with Galactica at our side, we will endure."

She showed up against a black screen. "This is D'anna Biers, Fleet News Service-"

Cordelia shut off the TV screen, as the others stared at her. She then spoke to her unborn child, "Listen up - I want you to be proud of your daddy, okay? He's one of the heroes now. Heck, he's always been that - but at least nowadays, Xander'll finally get some recognition for what he does, unlike what happened in high school!"

The others nodded, thinking back to the vanished remains of Sunnydale; and what the uncertain future would hold.

The End