Of Vampires and Gods
Welcome to Sunnyhell
The team moved down the stretch of highway that lead to the small town out of Los Angeles. Sam viewed the small sign welcoming them with a raised eyebrow.
"Welcome to Sunnydale!" had been somewhat modified to read: "Welcome to Sunnyhell! Teal'c stared at the sign confused as to why the change was made; the team dismissed it to local vandalism. The midday sun shined on them as they entered the limits.
Jack pulled the rented vehicle into the mostly empty parking lot of the Sunnydale motel at the edge of town. Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c were all in the van with him, they viewed the town with disinterest. He could tell things caught their attention, as had his. They had viewed many cemeteries, too many for such a small town. Daniel found interest in the museum the town had, fairly large for its size.
He parked and turned off the vehicle, he turned to his teammates with a smile on his face. "Well, were here. Let's check in and then we'll go see the girls. They should be expecting us." Said Jack.
They walked to the small office, the man behind the counter was a pale skinny man dressed in a white undershirt with a bright Hawaiian shirt over it. His slacks appeared to be a dull grey from what they could see. Jack was wondering how much business the man received from the somewhat startled look he got looking at them. Maybe they just make the minimum to keep open. He thought. The man stood straighter.
"Hello!" he greeted cheerfully. "We're interested in renting 4 rooms for a few weeks." The man nodded, he turned and pulled out four keys. "How much will it be for the week?"
"For a week it'll be $125 dollars per room, sir." He looked at them trying to identify the accent. "You aren't from these parts, are you?" He said as he handed them the keys.
"No, sir." Jack replied. "We're from Colorado. Visiting family."
He nodded and looked at them warily. "Don't be out after dark. There areā¦gangs. If you have to be, don't go alone." He said looking slightly nervous. The team nodded and paid for a week. They left the office and headed toward their rooms. After placing their luggage inside they again headed toward their rented van. Their car moved through the street; it looked like a quaint small town. How dangerous were the gangs? Judging from the town's condition, it wasn't much.
They pulled into a residential area, the housed showing a quaint middle class. They stopped outside a two story home, a mailbox in the front yard proclaimed the name "Summers". This was the home. They headed toward the entrance.
It was a confused entry, a redhead, who clearly didn't know Jack let them in. She was in her early twenties. "Hi!" She said nervously. "I'm Willow, I'm a friend of Buffy and Dawn. I'll go get them." She walked them into the living room. Entering the room they sat somewhat packed on the sofa.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Willow walked into the kitchen, the gang had retreated in there with the 'bot. "Their here. Alright Dawn, are you ready?" She said looking at the younger female. Dawn nodded but she was wringing her hands together, a nervous sign. The Buffybot stood, a smile on her face as she looked at Willow waiting for orders. "Okay, Giles will be here in a little while. Anya is going to run the shop again today."
"Okay, Buffbot, remember what I told you?" She said. Xander was next to Tara; both were looking into the living room from the entryway.
"No talking about demons, magic or robotics." She stated cheerfully.
"Yeah. Okay troops let's head out!" She said trying to support the group.
Dawn walked out first; they trailed her as she went into the living room. She saw Jack and three other people, she vaguely knew of them but only from correspondences.
She plastered on a smile, which was felt easier to accomplish as Jack got up and with a wide grin on his face. "Dawn!" He called warmly. He rushed to her and pulled her into a hug. "God, I've missed you. Been a while hasn't it?"
"Hey, Jack!" She felt emotions rush her as she returned the gesture full force. She wouldn't cry.
They others had gotten up and waited to be introduced. The Buffybot stood patiently with a smile plastered on her face. He walked toward it after letting her go. "Buffy!" He called.
"Hello!" She said in her artificial way.
He moved to hug her, the bot stood still and reacted like Dawn, and Dawn was glad her learning program was very useful.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack felt something odd about Buffy as he went to hug her. She was too hard to the touch and didn't feel right. She hesitated for a moment before she returned the gesture, which felt mechanical. Her hands pushed a bit too hard for his comfort. As he tried to pull back he found himself unable to, pinned by her surprisingly strong arms. Dawn quickly moved to his side.
"Buffy, let Jack go!" Her sister did so. Jack pulled back quickly. Buffy still had a smile on her face. "Sorry, Jack. She's just over enthusiastic at the moment."
"Yeah, well she's got quite a grip on her! What do you do?" He asked Buffy.
"I'm made that way." Buffy responded in an odd tone.
The only male from their group quickly smiled and wrapped his arm around Buffy as he laughed. "All of them are strong girls, they are!" He grinned and looked at Jack. "I say they get it from Joyce. Yep, never underestimate these gals. Kick your butt three ways from Sunday."
"Xander!" The other girl chastised. She gave a small smile at him. "Hi. I'm Tara." She let out her hand for a handshake. He took it and gave her a firm grip.
The boy offered his next. "Xander." He raised an eyebrow at that. "Alexander Harris, I don't answer to Alexander." Jack nodded.
The redhead waved, Willow was her name. Jack pointed to his team members. "Samantha Carter."
"Hey." She said raising her arm and waving her hand left to right before place it back down.
"Daniel Jackson." Daniel gave a small smile before offering his hand to them. They all shook it.
"Finally, this is Murray." Teal'c gave them a head bow.
"Let's sit down and talk." Tara suggested. Every one agreed, this was becoming more awkward than anyone could have predicted. Buffy still had a grin on her face but it slipped off as she observed everyone's behavior.
"Okay, so what do y'all do?" Jack asked them.
"I go to UC Sunnydale." Willow stated smiling at them. "I live here now with Buffy and Dawn."
Tara spoke softly. "I do too. I stay with Willow here." Jack felt himself stare at the boy, did he stay here too? Over protective, that was his weakness. He knew Buffy was an adult now but she was still his niece.
"I sometimes stay over but only if it's too late to go home. I'm a construction worker."
Daniel spoke up at that. "Is it because of the gangs? The motel manager said there was a problem with gangs after dark."
Some private joke seemed to come over them, as Dawn was the next to say something. "Yep, gangs on PCP." Jack frowned, the kids took this very lightly, and he remembered one of the messages Joyce had said when Buffy was in high school.
"Didn't a gang on PCP ruin Parent-Teacher night, a few years back?"
"Yeah. Two people were killed. Buffy took care of them though." Xander said looking as though it was a normal situation.
"Two people killed? That must have been awful! Where any of you there?" Sam spoke looking very shocked.
"All of us except for Tara." The way they spoke worried Jack, it wasn't normal behavior for them to act so casually to an act of violence.
"Yeah, mom hit Spike with an ax!" Dawn said looking wistful. "He was all over Buffy then WHAM!"
"Did they apprehend any of the culprits?" Teal'c asked.
"What? Are you kidding me? Sunnydale police didn't get there until everyone had fled!" Willow said laughing lightly.
"Well, then how common are these gangs?" Jack asked. They couldn't be too careful.
"Very, but don't worry you aren't bound to run into any one them in the day time."
"They can't come out during daylight." Buffy suddenly spoke. He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because they're harmed by it!" She stated so obviously.
Dawn quickly followed her lead in conversation. "Yeah, you'll know who they are and they'll get arrested! Most of them get away at night. You'd see them perfectly in daytime." Buffy frowned but shrugged it off and went back to a neutral face.
"Okay, do any of you want anything to drink?" Willow asked.
"Coffee." Daniel replied.
"I'll have some too, if you have some." Willow nodded.
"You Jack? Murray?"
"I would like nothing at this moment. Thank you for the offer."
"Have any pop?" He asked.
"Yeah, Generic Coke and Sprite." She said with a slight laugh.
"Coke." Weird kids.
"Buffy." Willow ordered, it sounded too much like an order to Jack to be a call. Buffy looked intently at Willow. "Come help me with the drinks."
"Yes, because that would make me a good host." Buffy said getting up and following after Willow as she made her way to the kitchen.
The afternoon continued as they tried to warm up to each other. It was approximately an hour later when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Buffy said again in her odd tone. Jack was wondering what was wrong with her.
She made her way to the door. A few moments later she returned with an older man who appeared to be in his forties. He looked at them, and Jack sensed despite his clothing, which made him look like an intellectual that there was something dangerous about him.
"Hello." He greeted to them, a crisp British accent acute in his voice. "I'm Rupert Giles." Jack stood and made his way to greet him. He shook his hand. A firm grip surprised Jack; he didn't expect him to have such a strong one.
"I'm Jonathon O'Neill." SG-1 introduced themselves once again. He caught the slight recognition in his face when Daniel introduced himself. "So, Mr. Giles, how do you know the girls?"
"I was their librarian in high school."
"Giles tutored us and we all got along great. Became our mentor." Willow offered. All right, that made sense. Suddenly Daniel looked very alert as something came over him.
"Are the Rupert Giles who was curator of the British Museum?" Great, another "geek". He thought.
"As a matter of fact, I am."
"So what made you go from the museum to high school?" He asked curiously.
"I thought I needed a change, a brake from the academic field."
"So you became a high school librarian?" Samantha asked looking oddly at him.
"Yes, it was ratherā¦invigorating. A change from the usual scene." Why did it feel he was missing something?
"So, Dr. Giles, it would be. Am I right?" Daniel asked. All of the children suddenly looked at the former curator/librarian.
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"You never told us you had a doctorate, Giles." Willow stated.
"Yeah, G-man, or should I say, Dr. G-man?" The older man glared at Xander.
"Xander." He said warningly.
"I know, I know. Shutting up, now."
"That is so cool!" Dawn said.
"It figures, no matter where I go, they'll be eggheads."
"Jack!"
"Sir!"
"What do you mean?" Tara quietly inquired.
"Danny here has a few Ph.Ds, as does Carter." Carter glared at him.
"Well, sir, you have a Masters." Jack merely shrugged at it. Xander looked at them, not failing to notice their speech.
"So, you guys with the army?"
"Army? Nah. We're Air Force. Well, me and Carter are. Danny is a civilian consultant and is Murray."
"Carter and I, Jack." Daniel corrected.
"I know that!"
"What do you do, if I may asked?" Dr. Giles asked. He didn't fail to catch the caution in the voice.
"Deep Space Telemetry." He replied automatically.
"So, what does Daniel and Murray do exactly then?" Willow asked.
"We travel from place to place. Daniel, here, helps, in several things, he speaks over twenty languages, and he helps us communicate with the locals. Murray is from out of the country, helps us interact with certain people." Carter said, with years of practice the lie came out as easily as it ever would.
He was relived when they relaxed and appeared to buy the lie. "We are unable to disclose any more information about the project." Teal'c declared seeing as they appeared to want to ask more.
"So what do you plan to do here in Sunnydale?"
"Spend time with Dawn and Buffy, catch up, the usual family reunion." Jack said. Looking Dr. Giles in the eyes. He nodded seeming to agree with his answer.
Xander suddenly looked at his watch. "Wow, look at the time! I got to go to work, or I'll be late. Nice meeting you all." He said looking at them. "See you guys later!" He called as he headed toward the door. Everyone called out his or her goodbyes.
"I must be getting back to the shop. I must say this has been an unusual meeting, good bye." Dr. Giles declared, going after Xander. "Xander!" he called, as he shut the door behind him.
Jack sighed and couldn't help but feel relieved. He was glad to see Dawn and Buffy had found someone they could trust here after what Hank had done to the family. The other young adults appeared to be attached to him as well and he held him in some respect for it.
Dawn stared at him before talking. "What are you going to do tomorrow? Want to go the museum?" Willow and Tara looked at each other before they excused themselves and headed up the stairs.
"Sure. Guys?" He asked. The others nodded in agreement as they could not find any excuse not to.
"Great!" Buffy suddenly exclaimed. Jack nearly jumped; he'd nearly forgotten she was there. "We'll do normal things at the zoo. The zoo is where they store animals." She said sounding very dull witted.
"Yes, normal things. How long are guys staying in town?"
"Two weeks." Jack replied.
"Great." Dawn said though he felt somewhat hurt as he caught the false enthusiasm in her voice. Dawn seemed to notice and smiled. "It's just dangerous here at times. I don't want any of you to get hurt." She said. He smiled at her.
"Don't worry Dawn, we can take care of ourselves. Besides what can a few kids do?"
He heard something mumbled like "You, have no idea." From Dawn. He frowned once more.
"Do you have school tomorrow?" He asked.
She smiled. "No we're on vacation."
"Want to stay for dinner?" She invited them.
"I'll make the food!" Buffy said. "Dawn doesn't make good food. She makes odd combinations." Dawn frowned and hurt appeared on her face.
"Buffy, I'm sure Dawn makes perfectly good food." Carter smirked and added.
"Good food, sir? Apparently odd taste funs in the family. You should see some of the things, he comes up with." She told them. Daniel smiled and added on.
"Yes, the last thing he made us didn't look edible at all. I must say though I would never have thought to add relish to a steak." Teal'c's lips twitched slightly.
"I would rather have one of O'Neill's culinary experiments than help him try and catch fish in his pond."
"What's wrong with my pond?" Jack defended himself.
Dawn nearly laughed as they bantered.
"Sir, there are no fish."
"Mosquitoes everywhere, and like Sam said, no fish."
"Indeed, O'Neill, it is in abundance of the blood sucking insects."
"It isn't the actual capture of fish, it's the art of fishing that is relaxing. I've been trying for years to get you guys to see that."
"Maybe next time I should take you guys to a lake? How's that?" He said, a gleam in his eyes. "With real fish. We'll do the entire experience. Fishing, cleaning them, gutting them, chopping their heads off, and finally cooking them."
Daniel looked a little green in the face. "No thanks, Jack."
"I will be visiting my brother, sir."
"I will visit my son, O'Neill."
"Suit, yourself." He said, he turned to the girls. "What about you two?"
"I have never fished." Buffy stated. "I will learn how to fish before then."
"Sure, Jack but I'm sure Buffy will want to stay." Dawn said looking at Buffy.
"Yes, I will stay. I have work to do here. Willow will want me to help."
She received odd looks from SG-1. "Okay, Dawn and me it is."
Dawn looked at the time. "Wow, it's getting late. You guys better head back to your hotel. Straight back, with no detours."
Jack frowned, they had offered dinner but suddenly changed their minds. "Sure." He looked at them. "Come on guys, well be here tomorrow bright and early."
"Right." They left, Dawn and Buffy showing them out. Buffy once again had that smile on her face. It was when he looked her in the eyes that Jack nearly froze in place. There was nothing present in here eyes. Dull, like glass.
"See you tomorrow!" Dawn called as they entered the van.
"That was certainly different." Carter said.
"Yeah, no offense Jack but Buffy was really weird." Daniel said.
"I too noticed the odd behavior of the older girl."
Jack couldn't help but agree. "Something is definitely wrong with her. Dawn was acting odd too but not as odd as Buffy."
"I'm starving. What do you guys want to eat?" He asked as they headed toward the downtown. The sun was starting to set in the sky and crimson streaks bled from the encroaching night.
On the second floor window, Willow looked toward them as they left.
