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Disclaimer: BtVS and Stargate or NCIS characters do not belong to me, and I claim no rights to these copyrighted materials. I don't know where the story is going but right now it is a Stargate crossover.
Chapter Three: Disillusionment.
'Everything was going to be alright'
After talking with Willow, Buffy went back to her room to try to catch some sleep. A slayer could function several days without sleep but she couldn't remember the last time she laid in bed for the whole night. The whole ordeal with the First left her agitated enough that she couldn't sleep more than three hours a night. However right now, after the battle, even after the relief of having talked to Dawn, Willow and Giles, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was not going to be a walk in the park. She lifted her shirt to inspect her bandaged middle, wincing at the bright red that stained it. Shrugging, she put down her clothes deciding to change it tomorrow. She was feeling weary and hot as if she was burning from inside. Curiously, rather than feeling pain from her two-entry wound, she felt as if a fire was burning more and more inside of her but that could be ignored like she has done so well today. Unfortunately, she couldn't do the same about the other situation. Her unease was not only caused by the rejection of her friends, it was also about her ability to lead them. Are they expecting her to lead again? She wasn't sure she could…
Now that the happiness caused by Willow's apology was beginning to wear off, she was also unsure about the whole president thing. Was she ready for that? Working with the government before was a really bad idea, but she was not completely blind to the fact that the situation changed. Working without its support was going to be hard if not impossible. Giles was going to have to meet with The Queen and the Prime Minister to be granted access to the Council Fund as they were blocked until further notice. And she wasn't going to deny the fact that working without the support of the President of the United States would be adding to the difficulty of gathering the newly called Slayers and training them. The painful headache she was having right now was enough to convince her not to think about it until after a good night's sleep.
Sighing, the blonde slayer felt her eyelids growing heavy and welcomed the darkness that overcame her so quickly.
Nowhere near California, at Cheyenne Mountain, SG1 was bringing bags of books, trinkets and weapons from another planet. It was by far the most fruitful mission done in years, rendering it slightly suspicious. Doctor Jackson nearly jumped when Jack was trying to help him carry all the books which were all very old in appearance. While waiting for the debriefing, Daniel was already nose deep in a collection of legends about a mythical warrior who appeared across the Earth. The book was in a variation of Sumerian that was lost to the world but he was able to approximate the meaning with smattering of Ancient and a modern version of Sumerian. The most amazing thing was that it was found on a deserted planet with nothing more than a few temples and pyramids.
The weapons were already in Sam's lab. They were to be analyzed to figure out how to use them against the Goa'uld. She was at the moment sorting the weapon to 'organize' her lab for research, meaning she was planning to stay all night figuring out their functions.
General Hammond sat in the briefing room waiting for the remaining members of SG1. Jack was playing with his chair, Daniel acting like a possessed man, furiously turning the pages and taking notes.
Sam finally came in as Jack was beginning to make paper balls and was about to throw them at Daniel - annoying the linguist being his favorite pastime. The General straightened up as Teal'c followed after her, coming back from an after-mission check-up in the infirmary.
"Well we can begin at last!" To say that the General was relieved to see them would be a understatement. He wanted nothing more than to finish with this and go home for the night. President Hayes wanted to see him personally in Washington DC tomorrow and he had no idea why.
"Report Colonel!"
"Yes sir! We brought several artifacts back from that boring planet, Daniel had his fix in boring things and Sam collected every technology she could find. I watched the two suns and made sure Danny didn't drool too much over the books. Teal'c here was his usual stoic self, securing the perimeter, not that there was anything to secure…"
General Hammond couldn't even pretend to want to reprimand the Colonel. He was sad to say that he had gotten used to the way Jack did things. He felt his lips twitching as he responded.
"Well, I am happy that the mission to X57645 was… uneventful! I want details about what you found. And I want your individual report for the day after tomorrow. I will be going to DC at 0700 to meet with the President."
Captain Carter straightened and addressed the General.
"Yes sir! Permission to speak freely?"
"Go ahead."
"The main artifact that we found is some sort of rock. I don't know yet the purpose of the rock. But there are some runes on the base; I would like Daniel to take a look later today."
The General nodded to show his approval, giving Dr Jackson photos of the runes in question.
"I assume the samples taken of this rock, show that its origins are extraterrestrial?"
At the question, Sam looked hesitant. Jack leaned forward, feeling that the conversation was going to be more interesting. Teal'c raised an eyebrow questionably.
"Actually, sir… No. The sample I took seemed to show it to be originally from Earth."
"What?" Jack cried, expressing the general opinion when he shouted out loud.
The General calmly told her to resume her explication.
"Explain yourself please Major Carter."
She took a deep breath.
"I don't know enough yet. I am not far enough in my research to pronounce with absolute certainty but I can tell you already that the rock is from Earth. To be exact based on the composition of the soil and coloring of the rock, it is from Western Africa. The rock is Old… really old but at the same time it seems unmarked by time, I had to use a laser to extract a small amount of powder from it to study. It is quite fascinating."
Daniel jumped excitedly.
"This means that when the Goa'uld took humans from Earth making them slaves, they took this artifact with them for some reason… It could be important. I have to translate this. The only one I recognize from memory is 'Protector' or 'Guardian'."
"The rock is old, but that's not possible! If it had been on that planet that long it would be dust today or at least have some part of it start to decay. Even if the Rock is simple earth from Africa, its composition has some component that protects it from the ravages of time but even that cannot withstand millions of years in the same climate. It must have been thousands of years that it was there no less no more. Besides …"
She brought another photo and showed it to Daniel. He looked at it and took out his loupe to examine the writings. It was a photo of the base of the Artifact, there was a carving in the form of a hand and…
"That's Fascinating… but impossible. It would mean someone knew we were coming…"
She nodded vigorously, eyes brightening like every time she found something to figure out.
"That's what I thought too! But look!"
She pointed out something more completely forgetting the others, making Jack even more frustrated.
"What are you talking about? I swear when you two are in the same room…"
He shut up suddenly when Daniel passed him the photo. His eyes bulged comically as he stared again at the writings just below the hand carving. He passed it to Teal'c who merely raised the other eyebrow and looked at O'Neill who was still in shock.
"Are you kidding me? Tell me you are kidding…"
"Colonel what is this about?" The General Hammond demanded, feeling more and more impatient.
"Colonel you might want to see this and report it to the President."
"Why?"
He put on his glasses before accepting the paper from Teal'c. He read quickly and raised his eyes with surprise.
"It's in English! Explorers of the faraway planets, among whom there is a man whose gene is one of the Ancient: For the Chosen one, savior of the Earth, this is to give."
They all stayed quiet for a moment, before the General spoke again.
"Do we have a breach?"
His question was addressed to Carter.
"No Sir! I think someone put it there for us years before any of us knew about the Stargate. I did not observe any anomalies to the system, the self-destruct protocol is still in order and there would be traces if they did enter. It is extremely difficult to hack into the SGC. And the alarm would…"
She was interrupted by the blaring sound of an alarm that went off noisily. They rose quickly and ran swiftly to the Control room. Major Carter sat in front of the main computer and began tapping furiously. She then announced, her expression turning worried.
"Sir, we do have a breach!"
*A few hours earlier.*
Waking brutally, Buffy grasped her womb struggling to breathe. She was burning, it was worse than before, much worse. She tried to stand on her trembling feet, falling to one knee before taking hold of a chair to stand up again. Taking shuddering breaths, she was able to reach the bathroom were she put herself under the cold water of the shower. Taking off her clothes, she became progressively calmer, her breathing becoming more stable.
After a few minutes, the burning sensation lessened enough to allow the slayer to inspect her wound. She was actually worrying about having opened the stitches. But when she took off the dressings…
Her eyes opened widely.
"What…" Buffy said weakly. She hesitantly touched the angry red but otherwise unscarred skin, not believing it.
She reached to touch where the entrance wound should be on her back and inspected her hand for blood. Nothing…
'What is happening to me?'
She returned to the bedroom, searching the bags of clothes they bought last night at the local shops. Quickly putting a big t-shirt on was the only thing she could do before suddenly being overcome by an intense desire to sleep, Buffy staggered to her bed, dropping asleep immediately as if nothing had happened. She couldn't resist it...
Going unnoticed by the Chosen one, at the end of the bed, lay the weapon that chose her to be their savior and its bearer. The Scythe's handle near its stake end was a bright red as if it would burn any person besides its owner who dared to touch it…
When she came back to herself, one look at the clock told her that she did not sleep more than four hours. Damn Slayer metabolism! So after a quick shower, she decided to go see if Willow or Dawn were already up. Faith had gone to L.A to see Robin and the wounded. Most of the new slayers left to see their parents, Giles probably saw to that, only Kennedy and Lisa remained. The first for obvious reasons and the latter because she wanted to go to New York so she was going with them. But coming from a wealthy family, Kennedy already had new clothes and money brought by her driver.
Buffy felt weirdly rested despite the short night of sleep. She did ask Willow to search the Initiative's remaining files about any other secret project that they should worry about. Until they could find a way to track all the new slayers, Willow would not have much to do. But that was not going to be too long, after all the Council found them one way or another.
What has happened the night before freaked her out therefore she chose not to think about it until she was able to have some answers. The incident seams far in her mind. She just didn't need another thing to worry about. It would have to wait until the situation was less complicated…
She stumbled into the lobby where she was relieved to see Willow in one of the couch occupying the Hall of the hotel. Buffy did not want to go to her room with Kennedy in there. The red haired Wicca raised her head from the computer at the sound.
"Ah! Buffy, I found something!"
The slayer sat beside her and looked at the screen, waiting for the explanation.
"What? Is there some sort of military raising demonic monsters of Frankenstein? Or is it some sort of unlimited kind of black ops project?"
Willow grinned at her bored tone and answered.
"I don't know about that, not that it would have surprised me, but I only have two names of similar black ops projects. First, buried so deep that I had to hack into the not so secret military database in the Pentagon, there is a phantom agency that founded a big part of the Initiative. It is the NID which is some sort of National Intelligence Department. They have a lot of Rogue branches, though. Their goal is to… officially… collect important artifacts and technologies which I suppose is the cover story only. The other is Deep Space Telemetry which is the cover name for a military command named SGC. I don't know yet what it is. I was about to hack into their database when you came in."
Buffy took an apple and leaned back.
"Go ahead."
For the next ten minutes, using a combination of computer skills and magic, she watched as Willow tapped calmly on her laptop while eating her own apple. Occasionally, Buffy would hear her say something like 'oh! They spotted me… Opps', she would then take another bite of her apple before tapping a little more on the computer. Finally, after a while, she put her luminous hands on top of the laptop and then set it down on the table.
"Done!"
"Did they know you were there?"
*A few minutes ago*
"Sir, we do have a breach!"
Major Carter was struggling with the system's security protocols and couldn't find a clear trace of the intruder nor what they are interested in. It was as if they were not there. Whoever hacked into government secure systems must be really skilled but this was beyond belief. The breach was made in their system in no more than a few minutes, the firewalls and protocols did not even slow them.
"Sir I can't find anyone! I don't know…"
She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence when the alarm stopped and the security protocols shut down. Everything was back to normal in less than 2 seconds. A green highlighted message appeared on all the computers causing the staff to relax. Sam could only look at the screen helplessly.
"False alarm! What… I don't believe this! "
Willow looked a bit sheepish.
"They have a strong security system, an alarm that goes off at every suspicious activity. But I covered my tracks, no big. It won't be a problem anymore; I took everything so it is going to be a while till we have something concrete."
"Ok. I am going to wake Dawnie and Lisa to prepare for the flight. Keep me posted!"
Less than an hour later, after a quick shower, with her duffel bag, she was knocking on Dawn's hotel room door which she knew she was sharing with Lisa. The new young slayer had impressed Buffy greatly in the last battle, she knew she had martial arts training beforehand but her concentration and intelligence when in battle were really good. She was extremely focused during the fight, handling an axe like she had done so since she was four. The only thing that worried her is that she did not really make good friends with the other potentials. She was quiet, focused on the mission but she reminded Buffy too much of Kendra. Without attachments, the desire to remain alive is not strong enough. The only thing she noticed is that now that the fight was over, Lisa was more relaxed and stayed near Dawn. They got along…
Unsurprisingly, Lisa opened the door to let Buffy in. No verbal invitation, good girl…
The room was pretty much like hers; the only difference was that there were two beds rather than one and an old TV put on a small table. Buffy grinned with malice as the sight of Dawn's sleeping form. That was an open invitation to a prank. OK! It was vengeance time… She went to the bathroom and took a glass of water before spotting Lisa on the door with a large bucket. She smiled widely at her before taking it from her. She started the freezing cold water in the shower and waited impatiently till the bucket was completely full. She went back into the room, finding that Lisa had deserted the area.
'Devious little thing!' Buffy thought. But despite that fact, Buffy fought the urge to laugh, she was happy that Lisa was connecting to someone even if that someone was her and her sister. God knew Dawn could use some friends of her age!
She prepared herself at last.
'Sorry Dawn but you were asking for it!'
She lifted the bucket easily with her strength and emptied it on her sleeping little sister. Dawn let out a screech so loud that it left her inner ears ringing for a few minutes. She jumped up from the bed, furious.
"Buffy!"
The only sound that could be heard was Buffy's snickers and her sister's loud shrieks.
An hour later the three of them, Buffy, Dawn (still mad at them, she discovered that Lisa had a part in the prank) and Lisa were in the hall to say their goodbyes. The two sisters were going for a few weeks and Lisa was to be in New York until she was informed of what was to be done with the new slayers. The Scythe was already in the Taxi in an enchanted bag, courtesy of Willow. Performing magic seemed so easy now that she was filled with white magic, the red haired woman still tested the boundaries without rush.
Buffy's smile disappeared slowly as she saw Xander's glares. And beside him was another man she had never seen before. However, even if she did not know him, she could recognize a watcher everywhere.
'Why me…'
"Miss Summers I presume…" The stranger said, the English accent being a dead giveaway. He marched her way.
The two sisters responded.
"Yes!"
He smiled tightly at the younger Summers.
"I was addressing The Slayer, Young lady. I am Richard Preastly, I am one of the few remaining members of the Board of the Council. I trust you know what I am here for…"
Buffy continued to stare at him coldly before spotting Giles coming from the reception. His eyes widened at the sight of his Slayer with one of his old acquaintances from the Council. No doubt, the little snake was hiding in the States when the Council's main quarters were destroyed. He narrowed his eyes and approached them carefully knowing from the look on Buffy's face that she was about to explode.
"What is happening here?"
Preastly turned to address the newcomer, recognizing him right away.
"Rupert Giles! I was led to believe you were dismissed from your duties? I did not expect to see you here, I am sorry to say it."
"Ah Yes… It's quite alright. I am here on my own recognizance. Now what are you doing here, Richard? I believe you are quite far from your… usual standard of hospitality. The last time it was a Castle in France, I believe. How is unemployment treating you?"
"The Council is not gone; it is merely waiting to take control of the Slayer line again. Now I believe, my business is with Miss Summers here." The old Watcher answered, his eyes narrowing dangerously, choosing to ignore the accusations.
They paused a moment in stupefied silence. Suddenly, they heard Buffy begin to laugh hysterically. She continued for a few moments, approaching the Council member at a brisk pace. That morning, she did not dress to strike fear into someone, she was in a black and white dress with comfortable shoes. Her hair was in a high ponytail and she was sporting only a little make up. However, at that moment, to the others she looked downright scary; her blackened eyes were burning with fire, anger and resentment. Just in front of him, she stopped, still smiling with a maniacal gleam in her eyes. The man struggled not to back off. Showing his strength, he stood proud, knowing he had to show her who was controlling the situation.
"So? What now?"
Surprised, the Watcher didn't even have time to respond.
"You want control, is that it? You want me to what… Drop everything and go with you?"
At that, he had the grace to look pompous.
"It is your duty after all!"
She let out a bitterly cold laugh and approached closer, causing him to back up this time clearly frightened. She regarded him seriously.
"Watchers have lost their way. I am not saying all of them did, Giles is a good example of how a watcher should be… The duty of the Slayer is not to be a toy for men to play with! Oh! Let's put her here then lets relocate her there… oh why not test her on her 18th birthday to make sure she doesn't survive."
Buffy raised her voice progressively before shouting the last part, throwing her duffle bag down violently. She resumed her monologue interrupting his attempts to talk.
"And why not take her from her family? After all, she shouldn't have any distractions or desire to stay alive. Of course, every slayer has a death wish. So! Why the hell not make her situation even worse? She should go out at night and hope not to survive the night, because she is an expendable tool. One dies another is Called… Bid deal!"
"I… Miss Summers! Can you p…please calm down! Traditions are what make the Council, The same Council of Watchers that existed ever since the Slayer was created! Without traditions… I don't even want to consider what the Council would be like."
"Well you know what? We don't want a Watcher's Council like that! Our Council should be one that offers council and ACTIVE help to slayers; one where watchers and slayers help each other and where they actually receive funding to survive on other things than flipping steaks in a burger shop; where they get education, support and clothes! I say the New Council should be one of Watchers AND SLAYERS."
"Well said!" Surprisingly, it was Giles that said it.
"NO!"
The scream of anger came from Preastly.
"Generations of watchers can't be changed because one slayer doesn't see fit!"
Buffy smiled watched him riling himself up.
"That's where you are wrong and your information is out dated! You believe that you can still overpower The Slayer despite the very few watchers remaining. But you are wrong!"
"What do you mean? Cease immediately your childish attitude, we have a lot to do!"
She circled him, watching him become more and more agitated.
"You see… I don't think I am going to tell you. No… You'd be too scared."
"W… What?"
She whispered in his ear: "More than a thousand Slayers in the world and more are awakening every day. And before you think of making your pass at the New Council who will be in the hands of Rupert Giles; you might want to think of the thousands of memories of the watcher's Council from the past slayers_ including me_ these girls get when they are called. Trust me; they don't want to be treated like the slayers before them. If you resort to violence, you will have thousands of slayers coming for you."
At that point, the man was shaking. Buffy didn't know if it was fear or anger. But it didn't matter anymore; she reached out with one hand and hit him on the back of the neck. He was unconscious in one movement. Xander stilled with surprise.
"What do you think you are doing? Slayers are not supposed to hurt humans!"
She turned to look at him, disappointed in him. He really thought the worst of her… She pushed her hurt away and looked stubbornly away fixing a point in the wall.
"Slayers are not supposed to kill humans, not defend themselves… That's all I am going to say, Xander."
"How is this defending yourself?" Xander cried.
"Why Buffy? You know better…" Giles said it sounding so disappointed that Buffy felt her heart break. They still didn't trust her judgment. Even Giles whom she thought was now supporting her in her decisions… She thought their friendships were healing… She thought everything was going to be ok…
Feeling tears threatening to fall, she turned her back on them and started to walk toward the exit, Dawn after her. She paused a moment in the threshold and addressed Willow who was looking at the scene with deep sad eyes.
"Willow, I think it's best for everyone if this man forgets about the New Slayers and thinks that I am dead or on the run… I can't let him go after them… better me than them. Some things are just too important."
The last past was said softly but the young witch felt her tears falling on her cheeks. She nodded and hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry! I will take care of everything… enjoy yourselves."
The two sisters left, Lisa trailing behind. The young slayer approached the fallen Watcher. She took his hand in hers and showed it to everyone. In his hand, still clasped tightly was a syringe of pink liquid. Giles gasped for air as he recognized the drug from the Test that Buffy had passed on her 18th birthday. He knew then that he had made a horrible mistake.
"I don't know about you but I think he wouldn't have accepted no as an answer."
Lisa took the duffel Buffy left and exited the room to join them in the taxi. The driver was ordered to take off as soon as she sat in the car.
Not looking back, Buffy did not stop the taxi when she heard Giles and Xander calling her name.
'Everything will not be alright'
END OF CHAPTER
