Chapter 7 ('B' version): The Plan

A/N: Just so I don't have to have italics through this whole chapter, I'm telling you that this is all mental communication between Buffy and Giles. None of it is out loud, 'k? It will be marked like {this} to remind you.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Seth's compound

SG-1 arrives…

Trying out their new, mental 'talking', Buffy inquired while studying the new arrivals, {What do you think…military or Feds?}

Startled by the sound of Buffy's 'voice' in his head, Giles decided, {Well, the older one might as well be wearing a military uniform, but the other one looks more like an academic to me.}

{Yeah, like a mini-Giles,} Buffy teased, almost laughing when she felt him glaring at her. When more people stormed in the front door, she almost grabbed the zat still tucked in her pants. {Whoa! The other three are setting off my spidey-sense, Giles. The blonde chick, not so much, but the black mountain I think is a Jaffa and the bald guy feels like Set did,} she explained.

Giles' eyes narrowed at the last one. {Another Goa'uld?} he asked.

She knew it was basically a rhetorical question, but she still replied, {Not sure.}

They listened a little longer before Giles picked up something he wanted clarification on. {Who are these Tok'ra they are talking about?} He hoped the memories of the false goddess would have something on them.

Buffy and Bast had to practically force it out of Bastet 'cause she was hoping Buffy would just kill first, ask questions never. {Umm, they are a small group of Goa'uld that don't like the way the rest of them behave. Huh, they're like a resistance against the main group,} Buffy theorized.

{Then they would be our allies. At least they could be,} he corrected himself. Allies would be very nice, considering they were going into this battle almost blind. Sure, they had Bast, but she wasn't a physical ally – except for enhancing Buffy's abilities.

Feeling unusually cautious, Buffy asked, {Do you mind if we wait before revealing ourselves to these people? I'd like to check things out first.}

Proud that Buffy wasn't rushing into revealing their secret, Giles agreed, {Sounds like a sensible plan to me. Do you have any ideas of where to start?}

{Well, we could either go to Bastet's homeworld…} Buffy started to say before Bast interrupted her thoughts, {or there's a planet of creatures that Bast helped once upon a time. She gave them some abilities – like the cloaking – to help them fight against the Goa'uld. It's been a long time since she checked in on them, but it might be the safer of the two options.}

Giles liked the second choice better already; sounded like more allies – and one that was familiar to at least one of them. {How would we get there?} he questioned.

Before she could answer, the people in front of them provided them with it. Buffy mentally smiled at her Watcher. {Hmm, sounds like they have a way. This gate they're talking about is what Bastet calls the Chappa'ai. Gateway to the Stars or something like that. It connects different world that are – or have been in the past – habitable to humanoid species. A race called the Alterans were responsible for making them and putting them around the galaxy. Bast says they died out a long time ago…sort of.}

That sounded strange to the Watcher. {What does she mean 'sort of'?}

The whole thing was freaky in Buffy's opinion, but she explained anyway, {They don't need their bodies anymore to exist; they're energy now.}

{Why haven't they stepped into take care of these Goa'uld then?} Giles wanted to know. Then he had another thought and asked, {Can they not affect the physical world anymore?}

{They can, but don't 'cause they are worried about being viewed as gods themselves,} Buffy replied, actually agreeing with their reasoning, but still angry at their hands-off approach.

Giles hadn't considered that just yet either. They would have to tread carefully in their dealings with these beings. {Something we should keep in mind when we are getting rid of these demons. Especially if they have people worshiping them.}

{Yeah. Even Bast doesn't want to be worshipped – and she is a goddess,} Buffy agreed. She was proud of the being sharing her mind and body for that attitude; it obviously wasn't shared by all the gods. {Well, one way we can take care of being seen as gods is not be seen at all. When we go to a world that has Goa'uld on it, we just remain invisible.}

Since they were basically just waiting for the people in front of them to decide what to do next, Giles wanted to discuss their plans for the war they were about to wage, {The demons themselves are easy enough to deal with. Does Bast have an idea how to take care of the hosts and Jaffa? Didn't Bastet say they can't live without the demons once infected?}

{The demons act as their immune system. Gotta admit, it's pretty sneaky of them to do. Keeps everyone dependent on them,} Buffy said, sickened by the thought, yet somehow impressed by their cunning.

{Bast suggests that we just merge the symbiote to the host or Jaffa – after we neutralize the part of the demon that is evil; you know, like a supernatural lobotomy. The people still get the benefits of the little snakes without having them take over. Hopefully it will give us enough time to wean the Jaffa off the idea that the Goa'uld are gods.} Her tone turned regretful then, {Eventually they'll run out of snakes to use, though. How much time does a society need to change one of its basic beliefs?} she asked.

Giles knew this would hurt his Slayer – he had a hard time not thinking of her as that, even if she wasn't one anymore – but refused to sugarcoat the truth. {Some of them will never let it go. It's horrible to think, but there will be causalities from doing this,} he warned.

{Is it right to do it then? Who are we to make this decision for them?} she demanded, semi-rhetorically. The protector in her mourned any death of innocents, and this sounded like it would be more than she had ever seen before. After all, it was basically full-scale war they were talking about.

Finding her hand, Giles gave it a comforting squeeze. {We are fighting demons, Buffy,} he reminded her. {You know that there are humans that worship vampires as well, but that doesn't stop us from slaying them.}

Buffy sighed in resignation, {I know. It just bugs me that we have to do this 'cause some god played a practical joke and let it get out of hand.}

{I agree, dear girl. There's a reason Janus is the god of Chaos,} he pointed out.

Then Buffy brightened at the news Bast gave her. {Well, it helps that he's getting his god-butt reamed out by the other gods for this. Bast says they are even considering making him human for a while to punish him.}

Having some idea at the loss of life they were going to face, Giles didn't feel bad for the god in the slightest. {By the time we're done with this task, we might be cheering that decision.}

{Hey, I'm cheering it already.} Just then the group they were watching came to a decision that it didn't sound like they wanted to make. They had to report this to their boss. {Oops, they're getting ready to go. We should follow so we can use their gate; I'm assuming that's where they are going now.}

Cheyenne Mountain

{Seems you made quite the impression on these people,} Giles remarked dryly, conveniently forgetting his role in subduing Set's followers.

But Buffy wouldn't let him forget why she knew about Set in the first place. {Hey, it's your buddy, Ethan's fault I got snake-girl in my head. How could we know that they knew about her?}

{Well, we should get out of here before we cause any more problems for them. But it would be best if you left them a note about our intentions,} he suggested.

{Just what do you suggest I say? 'We leave in peace'?} Buffy asked incredulously. What could she possibly tell them that wouldn't cause them to freak out even more?

Giles mentally glared at her. {Not in those words, but the sentiment isn't a bad one. You may want to add why we aren't talking to them right away,} he added.

Buffy had to admit he had a point with that last bit. {M'kay. Then Bast wants to go visit the Nox – the race of creatures she helped out before,} she clarified.

{Has she explained how to work the gate? Somehow I don't think they will assist us in leaving,} Giles remarked, looking at all the computers and such that they used to run the place. Even if Jenny and Willow were here, he doubted they could get very far before they were discovered. That was if Jenny were even still speaking to him.

{Yeah, it's one of the powers she gave the Nox. I just have to think of the symbols for their homeworld and it will open the portal. Then we just have to step through and we're on our way.} Buffy sounded hesitant when she asked, {Will I disappoint you if I admit that the idea of going through it scares me almost worse than facing the Master?}

{Not at all,} Giles comforted her. {It's only sensible to be nervous – despite Bast's assurances that this is safe. We can only hope that it gets better with time. Will we be able to come back to Earth this way or will we need to procure a ship?} he suddenly wondered.

Buffy had a mental chat with her goddess. {They have a shield-thingy, but Bast says she can get around it. We may want to do the ship though. At least until we're ready to talk to these guys about fighting together. Glad we already said our goodbyes to the gang,} she said sadly.

Knowing that it hurt more to drag it out, Giles said, {Let's get this over with.}

Looking the symbols of the Nox homeworld in the order Bast gave them to her, Buffy softly said out loud, "Goodbye, Earth." She dropped the note she had written just before stepping through.

A/N: Next…The Nox.