Written for the Fall Fandom Free-for-All on livejournal, run by oxoniensis

Prompt was Buffy/Teal'c

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It's never good when your ex calls.

When Angel called it was usually the end of the world. But for Riley to call... even worse.

Because when the government comes knocking at Buffy's door, she knows damn well it's not the census.

In this case it was a matter of several worlds, not just this one. She tried to tell them that her power came from the earth but there was some scientist and some archaeologist who assured she would kick plenty of ass on the newly discovered planet full of vamps. Who were once humans. On earth. But then they weren't on earth.

Buffy didn't quite follow that part. That Daniel guy was cute but damn did he drone on and on.

She wished Willow was here. Willow always did take good notes.

And she was totally going to rub it in Xander's face that she got to meet an alien. He would be totally jealous.

And Teal'c seemed pretty nice. A little bit like Angel even. Stoic at first, the kind of guy that could seem standoffish if you didn't look past the surface. And her instincts kicked in when he avoided her questions about his past. So... trauma in the past. Possible dark secrets. Maybe he was less noble at some point than he is now. So maybe more than a superficial similarity to Angel.

But he had a dry sense of humor. Kind of like Giles.

And he seemed to think much of human culture is a bunch of silly and arbitrary conventions. Like Anya did. Or Spike. Or ... pretty much any former human. Or any being that was never human. Or any human that read a lot of books, like Willow.

But when Major Carter asked her to demonstrate her hand-to-hand skills, Buffy had sparred against Teal'c. And then she saw who Teal'c was really like. It wasn't just that he was strong and fast, and it wasn't even that he adapted his tactics to his opponent (her) as quickly as she did to him. It was that thing Buffy had seen inside the future slayers, in Kendra and even in Faith.

Teal'c was a warrior. He had respect for the opponent he was fighting, for her grace and power and skill and intelligence in the fight. But he also had respect for the fight itself.

Battle. The defining aspect, and the very core, of beings like Buffy and Teal'c. The protectors who use their capacity for destruction to give life.

Just a sparring session. A good way to train, a good way to know your new team member's skills, a good way to build trust. But for the two of them, as one or the other leapt up after being knocked to the ground, as they circled each other yet again, eye to eye, imitation weapons raised, they recognized each other.

And despite her suspicions of any secret military unit, and despite his caution for any new team member, they both soon realized that their mission to the vamp planet had the best team possible.

The two of them. Their hands, their feet, their brains, and their hearts.

They couldn't help but smile at each other when the sparring session was over. After Carter expressed her hearty approval and went to relay the information to the General, Buffy grinned as she said to him, "I think between the two of us, the vamps would be better off sunbathing."

Teal'c gave just the smallest of smiles back. "Indeed."