Sunnydale General Hospital.
Joyce, with Dawn sitting right next to her, was in the same ambulance as her injured older daughter. The both of them were holding onto Buffy's arm while Giles and the others were waiting for another two ambulances to take away Willow and Riley's dead bodies. Tara and Xander were kneeling next to Willow while holding her hand; the blonde witch closed her eyes and mumbled a prayer in Hebrew while Xander could only wipe tears away from his eyes with the back of his hand as he stared at Willow's face after having pulled back the white sheet provided by the paramedics. In the meantime, Giles and Anya walked up to Xander and lay a hand gently on his shoulder while the newcomers- Colonel O'Neill and the others, were standing around the body of the demon.
Giles glanced at them, and then back to Xander looking back at him with tears continuing to welling in his red eyes despite constantly wiping the liquid away. "Xander, I need you and Anya to follow Joyce and Dawn to the hospital," Giles said gently. The young man was about to say something when Giles pleaded again. He then assured him that Willow's body would not be alone.
Xander then looked back at the redhead while more sirens could be heard in the distance, and slowly got up to his feet. He then nodded at Giles before saying that he wanted to burn the demon that did this; Xander hissed that the demon had to pay and that it was their right to burn it to ashes.
"The demon's already dead, Xander," whispered Giles with a hand on Xander's shoulder, "now….," Giles's voice broke a little as he looked away from Xander and stifled a sob while trying to pull back the tears that were gathering in his eyes. He then sniffled, shook his head, and looked back at Xander before continuing, "now we have to make.. make sure that the dead are looked after with honour, and that the living are safe and sound. Buffy's still in danger, and she'll need us to pull through. Joyce, Dawn, and Buffy will need all of us."
"Go, Xander, Anya" Tara whispered while she looked down at the redhead, "I'll… I'll stay with… with her."
It would be moments later that Xander nodded his head whispering at Willow that he would be seeing her soon once again at the hospital. Xander then got up and left with Anya who was remaining silent as she tried to process the needless, and violent deaths, all around her. She glanced at the dead body of the 'demon' and tried to rack her brain for any knowledge on what species it belonged to. But despite her over thousand years of demonic knowledge, Anya did not have a single clue. Looking back at Willow's body, Anya shook her head and then rushed off with Xander.
While Xander reversed Joyce's jeep onto the main street, Colonel O'Neill was looking down at the body of the Nocturna before looking up at the Major, Teal'c, and Daniel.
"T? You sure the Goa'uld have nothing to do with this?" asked the Colonel.
"I am unable to say, O'Neill," Teal'c replied while Daniel watched Xander drive off, and then turned to glance at Tara and Giles over the body that the paramedics had placed on the grass. Beside the blonde kneeling down on the grass, next to the body of the redhead, was the body of an unknown male covered in a white sheet as well. He then turned back to Teal'c who continued, "if the Goa'uld created this weapon, O'Neill, then there would be an invasion. This is just one creature."
"One alien creature that appeared in our sights after the cargo ship entered our atmosphere," the Major added.
"Indeed," Teal'c said.
"I want Fraiser to run an autopsy on the thing," said the Colonel as the Major crouched down and stared at the body riddled with bullet holes. She reached down and brushed her hand against one of the scales before looking up and telling the Colonel and the others that the scales covering the body had cracked, while a few others seemed to have been shattered.
"But Zats didn't affect these things," said Daniel.
"No," the Major whispered while looking back down at the body again, "I won't know until we run tests on the scales, but my hypothesis is that its unique properties prevent the Zat beams from affecting the flesh underneath. Maybe it's like biological chainmail armour. Like I said, we'll need to run tests on it."
"How long will it take Jacob to get here?" asked Daniel.
"Twenty minutes with a full team," the Colonel said before he looked at the bodies lying on the grass, "they're just kids."
"What are we telling them, Colonel?" asked Major Carter as she stood up.
"I'll contact Hammond," said the Colonel as he looked back at the Major, "an animal attack is out of the question. Honestly? I don't know what we tell them. If it was on the run? Then we could have gone with the animal attack scenario, but these people lost two people… and the one sent to the hospital was badly injured."
Before the Colonel could continue speaking, everyone looked up at the sky as a military helicopter flew towards them before hovering overhead. The Colonel squinted his eyes as lights were being shone on them, and then at the group watching over the two bodies. He then gruffly asked, "what the hell?" as seven people rappelled down to the street. Three of them upon landing on the ground, and the helicopter flying off, rushed over to where the bodies were laid with Giles and Tara getting up to their feet; the older man demanding to know what was going on. In the meantime, the other three men, led by a man in black tactical gear with brown hair, rushed up to SG-1.
"Thank you for taking care of this… thing, but I'm afraid you'll have to come back with me for a debriefing and…"
"It is proper to introduce one's self, first," said the Colonel dryly as he stared at the middle-aged man.
"Sorry, I'm Major Ellis, US Army."
"Colonel Jack O'Neill." Major Ellis looked on surprised at the Colonel as he introduced himself while wondering why it was that the Air Force had sent officers to an HST, Hostile Sub-terrestrial, call originally made by Riley. He knew that this was supposed to be an Army operation and that the Air Force had no jurisdiction. The Major recalled having seen the hollow meteor, but no sign of the former Agent who quit the Initiative over a year ago. It was then that they received a call from their supervisor at the Pentagon about the 911 call dealing with an animal attack on the residence behind them.
"Sir," said Major Ellis after the Colonel finished introducing Daniel, "I'm sorry but you'll still need to be debriefed on what you've seen. And we have been authorised to take the creature with us. Again, we're thankful for…"
"Yeah," the Colonel shook his head upon hearing that the body of the alien was being taken out of their hands, "that's not happening."
"Sir," said the Major while another man rushed out to them just as two ambulances arrived to take away the bodies. The other man interrupted the Major while the Colonel looked at Major Carter with an expression that conveyed, 'can you believe this?' before turning his head back to the newcomer telling Major Ellis that "Agent Finn was dead."
Major Ellis looked on in disbelieve at the man, Graham Miller, and nodded his head before asking him to accompany the ambulance to the hospital where Riley's body was to be extracted by helicopter to the Sunnydale Army Base for an autopsy. Graham then nodded his head before making a call to the helicopter that brought them to the Summers house, telling the pilot to meet them at Sunnydale General. He then rushed off to the bodies, and offered his condolences to both Giles and Tara before telling them that he was one of the people that Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles had saved from the Initiative Incident. While he was talking to Giles as Tara followed Willow's body into one of the ambulances, Major Ellis turned back to Colonel O'Neill and apologized for being blunt.
"Sir, I admit that I have no idea what you and your people are doing here," he said, "but you've just stumbled into a classified op that's meant to protect national security. I need to take that creature away and…."
"Carter," interrupted the Colonel as he looked over his shoulder at the blonde Air Force officer, "call Hammond, I want to know exactly what's going on."
"Sir," said Major Ellis with an exasperated look on his face while Major Carter took out a phone and contacted the SGC, "I doubt any of you people have the clearance to be read into this op."
"Sir?" said, Major Carter, as she handed the phone to Colonel O'Neill before saying that General Hammond was on the line. The Colonel then spoke to the General and explained the situation for a few seconds before handing the phone with the surprised General on the other line to Major Ellis. The Colonel looked on as Major Ellis repeatedly told the General that he was under specific orders to not let anyone recover the creature; that they were supposed to neutralise it, and then recover the body before destroying it.
"General Hammond," said Major Ellis as the ambulances drove away, leaving an empty house, a bloody section of the street where Riley's body use to lie, and a bloody patch of grass. "I'm afraid I cannot follow that order… yes, sir… no, sir… I…."
The Colonel and the others listened in as Major Ellis was surrounded by the remaining people who rappelled out of the helicopter, behind him. Major Ellis then gave the General a number to call before nodding his head and closing the phone. He then handed the phone to Colonel O'Neill and said that the General would be calling back in a few minutes.
And he did.
"Jack," said the General as the Colonel put the phone to his ear. The Colonel could tell from the General's voice that he was doing his best to be calm, "I just talked to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And before you say anything else, apparently Major Ellis' mission is need to know. Even I don't need to know, all I've been told is to hand over the body."
"Sir, I…."
"I wasn't happy about it either, son," the General said, "but while he didn't tell me which organization Major Ellis belongs to, or his mission in Sunnydale; the Chair did say that information on the crashed ship and the alien leaked to Kinsey. Someone showed him the news feed about the alien attack in Sunnydale. He wants another investigation into the SGC, meaning another suspension of off-world travel. The Chairman explained that by handing the body over to these people, the alien won't be connected to the SGC. The crash of the cargo ship and this creature won't be connected. And Kinsey won't have a leg to stand on."
"Are you sure, sir?" asked the surprised Colonel.
"I don't like this either, Jack," General Hammond said, "but this is the best way to keep Kinsey out of the SGC, at least until he finds that he has something else to complain about. Hand them the body. I've just told Major Ellis we're a special ops team working on behalf of DARPA, and that they are bound never to reveal they ever met you or your team. In fact, they never talked to any of us."
"Understood, sir," sighed the Colonel.
"There's a boat waiting to take you and your team out to the crashed ship," said the General, "I want to know who was on that ship, why it crashed, and who released that alien. Get to it, Colonel."
"Yes, sir," said the Colonel before he put the phone down and put it in his pocket. He then turned to Major Carter and the others before telling them to stand down. Just as the stunned blonde Major was about to ask for an explanation, the Colonel then turned to Major Ellis and said that the creature was their responsibility now, "but, we're working on some classified armour for our boys and girls, so we need to get a sample of the thing's skin."
"I…."
"Or would you like to take to the Chairman again?" asked the Colonel. Major Ellis looked at the man for a few seconds before nodding his head. The Colonel then had Major Carter take a few of the scales while Colonel O'Neill then turned back to Major Ellis and thanked him for his cooperation.
Major Ellis nodded his head as Major Carter stood up with several of the scales in her hand. She said that she was done and then Colonel O'Neill, along with SG-1, walked around the Nocturna. Almost immediately, the members of Major Elis' team surrounded the creature while one of the them contacted a retrieval unit to take them away. Major Ellis, in the meantime, approached the Colonel and said that he and the others still needed to go leave with him to be debriefed
"I tell you what, Major,"; said the Colonel as he glared at Major Ellis while Daniel and Major Carter looked on. "How about you call the Chair of the Joint Chiefs again and ask him if we need to be debriefed. We'll wait." While Major Ellis was calling the Chair of the Joint Chiefs on his own secured phone, Daniel was standing on the street as he looked out at the lit windows of all the houses. He saw various people standing outside in their driveways looking worried before he turned around and looked down the other side of the street. While Major Ellis was being told that there would be no debriefing, Daniel looked on confused as he looked down both ends of the entire street a few more times, before looking at the house behind SG-1 and the newcomers.
He put his hands on his waist as he went deep into thought while the Colonel, Major Carter, and then Teal'c walked up to him while saying that they now had to wait for General Carter to come by in his convoy to pick them up.
"Jack," said Daniel as he looked at both sides of the street again, "what do you see?"
"What's wrong?" asked Major Carter.
"What do you guys see?" asked Daniel again.
"People not being able to sleep because of the noise?" asked the Colonel as he noticed the people standing out in their own driveways or looking out their windows, "I mean people did call 911 for a reason. Maybe they're still terrified to go back to sleep? Or something? Is that the answer you're looking for?"
"The other houses were not attacked," Teal'c said in a matter-of-fact voice. Everyone looked at him while Daniel snapped his fingers on his left hand before saying that it was strange that the other houses had people still alive.
Daniel continued to say, "this alien had so many people, on this street alone, to attack. So why did it attack this one place in particular?"
"Are you saying this was a targeted attack?" asked Major Carter as she looked at the house, and then back at Daniel. She then turned with a quizzical look on her face to Colonel O'Neill who was staring at the blood on the street and then at the lawn. "Sir?"
"If this was a targeted attack, we need to know why," the Colonel said, keeping his voice low. "When Jacob gets here? Daniel, Teal'c, I want you to go to the hospital and talk to the people who live here. Since these Army guys are taking the body of this… thing.. it's out of our hands. If asked, we'll tell the owners of the house that we received an emergency transmission while conducting a fight test."
"How about the ring transport?"
"They were stressed after what happened," said the Colonel, "the ring transporter is really an elevator with an accompanying light show that's meant to distract the bad guys from finding out how many people they'll be facing… it's a whole tactical thing."
"That's going to work?" asked Daniel with an arched eyebrow.
"It's worth a try," the Colonel said as they stood on one side while Major Ellis and his team went to work.
Sunnydale General, thirty minutes later.
With Sheila and Ira Rosenberg identifying their daughter, Joyce was seated in the waiting room with Dawn holding onto her as she rested an arm on her younger daughter's shoulder. Joyce glanced at Xander, who wanted to be with both Buffy and Willow until Giles explained that the redhead's parents should be with her for that moment in time with Tara, while he was sitting down next to Anya with his head staring at the floor. Joyce then looked at Giles who was pacing the floor and then looked away and to the floor in front of her.
'Willow, Riley, and Buffy,' thought Joyce to herself as she held back a sob, and the feeling of a lump rising in her throat, 'this thing chased us and.. and it attacked us. It wanted me and Buffy. It injured her, and killed her best friend and boyfriend. Oh dear God, this is my fault. My fault.'
Joyce sniffled before leaning back on the chair and looking up at the ceiling to keep her tears at bay. She then lowered her head and looked into Giles' eyes. She could see that Giles still didn't fully believe her… she knew that Giles was still searching for a supernatural explanation for what happened. However, Joyce wanted to ask him about the Order of Dagon, she wanted to know why he was so surprised after she mentioned their name. Giles was about to open his mouth when he heard hurried footsteps from behind.
Expecting that it was the surgeon coming to give them an update on Buffy's condition, Giles turned around only to see two of the four people who had earlier shot down the demon. He frowned before looking back at Joyce who narrowed her eyes looking at the two men before looking up at Giles once again. She saw the shorter, younger, man turning to the taller dark skinned man who was wearing a woollen cp over his forehead. The taller man nodded his head before remaining behind while the younger one walked towards them with his hands in his pocket.
"Dawnie," Joyce whispered while Dawn continued to hold on to her tightly while Giles stepped out of the waiting room and into the hallway, "I'll be right back."
"Mom?" asked Dawn as she looked up with tears still in her eyes, along with trails that ran down her cheeks.
"I'll be right here," said Joyce as the stranger approached Giles. Dawn nodded her head as Joyce got up while asking Xander to sit with Dawn. The young man nodded his head before he and Anya got up form their seats and sat next to Dawn. Joyce kissed the top of Dawn's head before walking towards Giles and the stranger.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your friends," said Daniel as he stood a few steps away from Giles as Joyce soon joined his side. Daniel then turned to Joyce and asked if Buffy was going to be alright.
"She's in surgery," Joyce said, "thank that woman… Sam, I think it was, for me."
"I will," said Daniel before introducing himself. After introducing himself, Daniel noticed the questioning look on Giles' face as he introduced himself before introducing Joyce. Putting the odd look to the back of his mind, for now, Daniel then explained that the Air Force was testing a classified air craft when they intercepted a call from the emergency services. He explained that the equipment they were using was classified and highly experimental, "but we got the call and our commanding officer ordered us to go out to your address. And when we saw that animal attack, we had to intervene."
"However you and your people intervened, thank you," said Joyce managing a small smile before looking over her shoulder at Dawn, and then back at Daniel while a suspicious Giles was asking him if he really was Dr. Daniel Jackson.
"Yes," Daniel replied while Teal' was staring at a sign in the hallway.
"Rupert?" asked Joyce while noticing the look of doubt on his face.
"I'm sorry, you share the same name as a discredited archaeologist. But the last I heard, he died in Egypt."
"Well, there are a lot of Daniel Jackson's in the world," chuckled Daniel before he stopped and apologised while saying that this wasn't the time to be laughing. He then began to explain, before Giles could ask any more questions, while at the same time making a mental note to himself to check his notes on a Dr Rupert Giles. "We noticed that the animal avoided all the other homes, and instead attacked your home. I was just wondering if, there's no good way to ask, but would you happen to have any idea why this thing targeted your home?"
"It's an animal, Dr. Jackson," said Giles while wondering if the man in front of him knew about demons and the supernatural. He believed that the demon did target Buffy, while Joyce and Dawn just happened to be in the way, 'Buffy is the Slayer, and the demon was after the slayer. The demon must have tracked Buffy to the hospital, and then to her home by scent. That has to be the explanation, but it still doesn't explain Joyce's altered memories of being born on another planet, or that Buffy is her supposed niece, and it does not explain how Joyce knows about the Order of Dagon.'
"There's no way to know why it attacked us," Giles continued to say while Joyce was looking past Daniel, and to Teal'c who was now standing with his back to Joyce and the others while looking out the window at the night sky. She glanced over at the man as he looked around at his surroundings, with Joyce looking away when he turned to check if anyone was behind him. Joyce glanced back at him while Daniel and Giles were still talking and noticed he had taken off his woollen cap, turned it inside out, and then put it back over his head.
And when he did, she caught a glimpse of a reflection on the window. She had seen the symbol on his forehead reflected in the window. It was for just an instant, but she saw it. She then glanced away and looked at Daniel, and then back at the bald man with surprise in her eyes. Joyce remembered being taught the legends of how their people were led to freedom hundreds of years ago by a young woman who named their new home after herself, Asherah.
Joyce remembered her mother drawing her a symbol, the very same symbol that had been on the dark skinned man's forehead, and told her that Asherah wore that symbol. It was a symbol that Joyce hadn't seen in real life on a living man or woman until now. And it made her wonder about who the man was, and if he was related in any way to the woman who freed her ancestors. Joyce remembered her teachers telling her and her fellow classmates that Asherah led them to freedom in the cover of night through what they called the Great Ring to their new world.
'At least that's one of many stories,' thought Joyce to herself as she glanced at Teal'c who was standing still and looking out the window. She looked at Daniel again and asked about Teal'c. Daniel looked over his shoulder and called Teal'c over before introducing him as Murray and explaining that he felt that they would feel crowded if the both of them spoke to her and Giles.
"But that's why we had to come back and talk to you," said Daniel "we were curious to know if this was a targeted attack. So you've never encountered this animal before?"
"No," said Giles shaking his head.
"Are you certain?" asked Teal'c as Joyce looked up at him.
"I am, I mean… whatever that animal was? I would have noticed it earlier. That's not something any of us would miss."
"Yes," Joyce said while wondering at the same time what it meant if the man with the golden tattoo on his forehead was like her, a being from another world. Joyce didn't know if she should say something in case they think that she's crazy or worse. Joyce was afraid that they would take away her and her daughter so that they could run experiments on her. It was then a part of Joyce was telling herself that the golden tattoo on the man's forehead could have been a prank gone bad. But another part of Joyce was telling herself that, if it was a prank, then the chances of the man picking out a symbol that represented Asherah was astronomical. "we haven't… I mean we haven't encountered that creature before now and…."
"Mrs. Summers?" asked Daniel as the woman stopped talking before shaking her head and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She then took in a deep breath while trying to settle both sides of her psyche that were duelling in regards to hoping that the man with the tattoo was like her, and alien, and that Daniel knew about it. She knew the risks to Buffy, Dawn, and herself; but there was an additional concern growing in her mind.
That there was another of those creatures out there on Earth, and it was coming for her and her daughters.
"I... I've seen that thing before," said Joyce as Giles turned to Joyce before holding her shoulder and whispering in her ear that they needed to talk in private.
"This is about Dawn and Buffy's lives," whispered Joyce before she looked back at the waiting room and saw a saddened Dawn looking at the floor while Xander had his arm around her shoulder while Anya rested her head on his shoulder. "This is to keep them safe."
"Mrs. Summers?" asked Daniel, "is everything alright?"
"I…."
"Joyce," whispered Giles shaking his head.
However, before Joyce could say anything, they heard more footsteps walking towards them from another adjacent hallway. Joyce turned her head and saw a doctor in a green top with a mask hanging off his neck walking towards them.
"Mrs Summers?" asked the doctor as he stopped.
"Dawn," Joyce called out. Dawn and then others got off their seats and approached Joyce and Giles while Daniel and Teal'c took a few steps back to give the group some privacy. They heard the doctor saying that Buffy had no internal bleeding and that any bleeding from her injuries had been stopped.
"She's stable now and we'll be wheeling her out to her room in an hour or so," said the doctor as Dawn held onto her mother.
"Can we see her?" asked Joyce.
"She's unconscious," the doctor said, "we're dressing her wounds right now, and we'll be giving her some blood. You can see her once she's been taken to her room."
"But she's alive," said Xander.
"She's alive," the doctor reassured them. He then nodded his head at Joyce and Dawn before saying that he had to get back to the operating theatre. Once the doctor began walking away, Xander said that he would go to Tara and give her the news. Giles nodded his head as the young man rushed off while Dawn hugged Joyce tightly, tears flowing down their cheeks at hearing the good news. All the while, Daniela and Teal'c were standing against the wall, the archaeologist whispering that Joyce seemed to want to tell them something.
"Indeed," said Teal'c as they watched the group. They looked at Joyce glancing back at them while hugging Dawn. As the two members of SG-1 waited for the group to disperse, and Joyce to approach them once again; ten breaches opened up in space with twelve Goa'uld Ha'tak class ships exiting hyperspace. The ships flew closer to Earth while targeting several areas of the planet, including Cheyenne mountain.
TBC.