Disclaimer: I don't own Angel, I don't own Stargate SG-1.

Thanks to Starway Man, my beta-reader

I'd like to thank my long-time sponsor, caffeine, for this chapter. I'd also like to thank my new sponsor (cheap caffeine) as well, without whom this chapter would not yet have been released.

I've mentioned in a few of my fics before that I have a tumblr semi-dedicated to my Fanfics, with occasional writing updates, chapter excerpts and meta-discussion of my fics, the fandoms and themes in fanficdom of the given fandom(s). It fell into disuse for a while, but its back in action. If anyone is interested, it is at alkenifanfiction . Tumblr . Com (without the extraneous spaces, obviously)

On there, you can find a full discussion (well, fullish) of my views on 'Wesley as Victim' in the reality of the canon (rather than what I think Wesley thinks of himself) and a bit on the whole 'Straw Skeptic Sam Carter' phenomenon in Buffyverse/Stargate-verse crossovers.

I'm not sure why this didn't get posted here when I posted this on TTH. You might have to go down a bit on my tumblr to see the Wesley-related post, but its there.

Old Friends: A New Direction

By Alkeni

Chapter 8

May 9th, 2002

Tellis, P5X-194

"You return." Agata said as the outworlders walked into the Hall of the High Powers, guided once again by Jaresh. "I wondered if you would." She looked at them, the way she walked still making it look as though she was floating. "And you have brought another with you."

Daniel nodded. "We have. Sister Agata, this is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." He gestured from Wesley to Agata. "Wes, this is Sister Agata, the Voice of the High Powers."

"A pleasure to meet you, Sister Agata." Wesley said softly, looking the alien woman directly in the eye.

Agata nodded to him, "I welcome you to Tellis, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Give me your hand." The shift in tone, from soft and airy to one that, while still airy, held a note of command was almost a little jarring.

Nonetheless, Wesley obeyed without debate. Holding it firmly in her own, the way she had with Daniel some days before, Agata spoke after a few moments, "Your injuries will be eventually be headed, Scholar. The High Powers have a plan for us all, and they can eventually restore all to what it should be, given world enough and time."

"That is...feasible, perhaps." Wesley muttered, trying to repress the note of sudden anger in his voice.

"You do not agree?" Agata didn't seem offended by his attitude.

"If the entities you refer to as the High Powers are the same as the higher beings which I know of..." Wesley considered his words for a moment, and Daniel wondered what was going through his friend's mind. "Well. Let's just say that their benevolence has not been...universal, in my life and in the lives of those close to me, and leave it at that."

"In my experience, the High Powers act in their own manner and for their own reasons. All we can do is accept their gifts and use them as we see fit." Agata returned softly. "Why have you come here, to this world? Are you here for the Trinium, as Daniel and his friends are?" From her tone, she didn't seem to believe the answer to her question was yes.

"Not exactly." Wesley replied. "I'm here in no small part indirectly because of the Trinium, but it is the Nightwalkers themselves that I am concerned with."

"I see." Agata released Wesley's hand, and he took it back, slipping it into his pocket. Agata watched Wesley's gaze move around the large chamber, eyes falling on the tapestries containing images of the warrior women. Daniel saw his friend's eyes widen at some of them.

Now, why's he doing that...?

"May I ask why it is that the Nightwalkers draw you here? They are a danger to be avoided, after all, not a prize to be sought after." Sister Agata added softly.

Wesley turned from the tapestry he'd been looking at and back over to Agata, then he gestured to Jaresh. "Please correct me if I am mistaken, but Jaresh here goes seeking Nightwalkers. Those alone, or asleep in their hideaways, but he still goes seeking them."

"It is my duty, as Lord Defender, to protect the people at the risk of my own life." Jaresh replied tersely. "It is not an obligation I particularly relish, but still a responsibility that must be carried out."

"The fight against the forces of darkness is rarely a job to be relished, I agree." Wesley replied. "But it is one that I engaged in on my own world as well." He paused. "Earth does in fact have its own Nightwalkers, though this is not a fact which is widely known."

Agata looked at Wes in astonishment, as if she couldn't understand what he'd just said. "If that is true, how is it possible that your planet has any human life at all? If any of our people ceases to follow the ways of protection, which have been handed down through the generations, then they fall prey to the Nightwalkers within one or two seasons. Often times even less."

"The, ah, Nightwalkers...we call them vampires on my world...they're far less feral than yours. They are capable of blending into human society, and they often act to preserve that status. To maintain the secret they limit their feeding and killing, generally speaking. And there are those who stand against the undead, such as myself." He gestured to the tapestries. "Which brings me to my next question. Who are these women? Do they depict specific people of your past?"

The abrupt change in topic somewhat threw Agata, Jaresh and Daniel, but after a moment, the female Voice answered. "Unfortunately no. They represent a woman of legend, a Promised One. A warrior that will one day come through the Great Ring, to carve a swath through the Nightwalkers that will be felt for generations to come. The High Powers promised our ancestors that she would eventually come to help us."

"I would disagree, the Promised One – otherwise known as the Sacred Warrior – is a myth. She is not real. Merely a story our ancestors created, to give themselves hope that the Nightwalkers would not kill them all." Jaresh said. "Most of us believe that if she truly were to come, she would have done so by now."

"The High Powers' information has never proven to be false before, Jaresh." Agata scolded him. "This too will come to pass. So long as we keep the Great Ring open and unburied, one day the Sacred Warrior will come. She will come, Jaresh."

"Well, I'd say it's certainly possible. Because if I understand you correctly, you're talking about the Vampire Slayer." Wesley said after a moment. Agata, Jaresh and Daniel all looked at him, shock on their faces, albeit for different reasons. Looking at them, he explained for the two natives. "The Slayer is a young woman, chosen by the Powers That Be, or fate, or something, to fight the vampires on Earth. When one falls, another takes her place, somewhere else on my world. Her strength, speed and senses can be equal to that of even some of the oldest vampires – Nightwalkers, by your parlance."

"This 'Slayer' you speak of – the Sacred Warrior – she truly is real?" Jaresh still sounded skeptical.

"She is indeed. I've met two of them, actually." Wesley told the other vampire hunter. "While I would not ascribe to them the status of...sanctity, as do you, a Slayer is nonetheless a formidable warrior, more than capable of slaying many vampires in battle."

"I believe you. But – if there is only one on your world at any time, then the Sacred Warrior cannot come to us." Agata said after a moment, looking crestfallen, "I would not rob your world of its protector in favor of my own."

"I would, perhaps." Jaresh muttered, but then added a soft 'sorry' upon a steely-eyed glare from Agata.

"This is possibly true." Wesley granted, although Daniel noticed the slightest...something in his friend's words. "If there is one thing I am certain of, none of us can be sure what the future may hold. But your Promised One does exist. That much I can assure you is true." Wesley turned away from the tapestries and back to Agata and Jaresh.

"In any case, we've drifted away from the previous topic. I think I should like to spend some more time speaking with the two of you, in regards to the Nightwalkers, and the way your people have developed their way of life, your techniques for fighting them and resisting their encroachments. I take it I'm correct in assuming you have driven most animal life in the immediate vicinity into death or flight?" Wesley raised an eyebrow.

After a moment, Agata nodded. "It is far from a complete process...but to our shame, it was a technique that proved very effective in the early days, before our defenses and organization were sophisticated enough..."

"Even now, if enough animals were to come back to near our lands, we'd need to kill them. We cannot afford to have the Nightwalkers well-fed, Agata." Jaresh countered, and once more, there was a note of the familiar argument between the two. Probably common threads across the world.

"We will likely never know, Jaresh." Agata pointed out.

"Actually, I'm afraid that I have to agree with Jaresh." Wesley said softly. "From everything I've heard, the low-food supplies of your vampires is what makes them so feral – incapable of higher thought, and so unable to blend into your society in order to feed and kill from within the shadows. Your people would still be able to better resist such vampires than many on my world – but your losses would sharply increase, I believe."

"Mayhap you are right. That doesn't make the happening of it a happy one." Agata replied sadly. "Murder of any kind is never a good thing."

"I think we can all agree with that." Daniel interjected, speaking for the first time in a while. "Wesley is our expert on the Nightwalkers. If we are to make a trade to work the Trinium mine, we will need the capacity to defend it."

"I was hoping to take in the lay of the mine tomorrow." Wesley told them. "We've brought some weapons with us that should make fighting the Nightwalkers much easier. I think it might be productive if you were to come with us, Jaresh."

"Going into the mine is a dangerous risk I see no reason to undertake." Jaresh replied. "No matter what your weapons."

"We brought flamethrowers, Jaresh." Daniel said. "I think you can guess their function from the name." Daniel had grown to respect the ingenuity and capacity to understand advanced technology of the more primitive worlds they came upon. Still, the people of P5X-194 – which apparently had no name other than 'here' or 'this place', according to the natives they'd talked to – were even more so than most.

Jaresh nodded after a moment. "I suppose I can at that." There seemed to be an almost...covetous look in Jaresh's eyes at the idea of a weapon that could 'throw flame'. Daniel wasn't sure he liked seeing it – and wondered if the 'Lord Defender' would want such weapons in trade for access to the Trinium mine.

We don't arm the people of other worlds. It's SGC policy, and it's a damn good one. But would the presence of Trinium convince someone at the Pentagon, or even the White House, to change that policy? Especially given the...other circumstances pertaining to this world? And if they changed it here...

I hate to use the words 'slippery slope'...but they could definitely fit here, no doubt about it.

"I want to see the weapons demonstrated in some fashion before I agree to go into the mine. Still, I will admit I am intrigued." Jaresh looked out the window into the afternoon light, out onto Tellis. "In the mean time, however, you are welcome to stay in Tellis, behind the threshold of a residence."

"They can stay here." Agata told him. "The Hall has sufficient spare beds, often reserved for traveling warriors. And what are they if not traveling warriors, in a fashion?"

"I'll have to talk to Jack, but I think he'll be fine with that." Daniel said, gesturing to Wesley to follow him. "Thank you, Sister Agata."

May 9th, 2002

Tellis, P5X-194

While Daniel and Wesley were inside the Hall of the High Powers, Jack, Sam and Teal'c had stayed outside. Neither Teal'c nor Sam were all that surprised by the Colonel's order to hang back.

"So, it's verdict time, I think." Jack said after a moment. "What do we think of Wesley?"

"He is a determined fighter, one who will serve the SGC well." Teal'c said with his trademark stoicism. "Either in combat, or with the knowledge of his mind."

"From what I've seen, Colonel, Wesley's not quite as good as Daniel with a pistol – at least not against human-shaped targets that aren't meant to be vampires." Sam commented, then clarified. "But he's a lot better than most of the civilian consultants when they start out, and his actual hand-eye coordination is off the charts. Daniel's just got more experience with the weapons we take on off-world missions, and that pays off for him. And he's just as smart as Daniel is, I'm pretty sure of that." She frowned "Not as...curious as Daniel, though, in a lot of ways." There was more than just 'curiosity' contained in her words, though she wasn't quite sure how to get them out in the best way. Because Sam herself wasn't entirely sure what she meant.

Even this long into the program, Daniel still retained a certain sense of wonder – she felt it too, from time to time, but Daniel had her beat by miles. Every new culture, every new script, every artifact that passed across his desk – they were a treat for Jackson, some new puzzle to be solved.

She'd only been around Wesley a little bit, granted, but she saw much less of that in the British man. She saw hints of it, and from what Daniel had told her of his and Wesley's earlier friendship at Oxford, he'd obviously had once had a lot more of it.

But from what she could tell, Pryce was...harder, now. Like some her fellow soldiers at the SGC, who came out of years of combat much, much harder men. Not to the same degree, but definitely the same kind. When she'd watched Wesley at the shooting range – well, he'd actually come across as a dangerous man. Something she'd never really picked up from Daniel, no matter that he'd grown to be quite effective in a fight.

"That's not what I meant." Jack pointed out.

"He has the trust of DanielJackson." Teal'c pointed out simply.

"Yeah, and normally that'd be good enough for me, but Daniel has been wrong before. Once in a while." Jack pointed out. "Okay, fine; I'll admit that counts for a lot with me as well. But Hammond wants input from the rest of us, too – like, do we recommend Wesley for a slot on an SG-Team after this, or not? Is he going to be able to deal with that?" Even as he said that, Colonel O'Neill figured he honestly wasn't sure if that was an option. Certainly on his skills alone, Wesley would be an excellent asset to any team that got him. But it was more than just skills – working on an SG-Team required the right mindset.

Including the ability to trust your team members with your life – and for your team to trust you with theirs. Personally, Jack wasn't certain if Wesley would be able to trust anyone that way anytime soon. He'd seen men and women acting the way the Englishman did before; and while O'Neill didn't know what had gone down with Wesley and his friends in Los Angeles, he could tell it had affected Wesley deeply.

"In my opinion, sir, he won't be able to just slip into an SG-Team like some of the civilians that get brought into Stargate Command – Wesley's simply not used to the environment." Sam pointed out. "And I think he'll have some trouble being a team player for a while." Though Major Carter didn't know it, she was echoing Jack's thoughts of moments before. "All things considered, though, if he wants to join one of the SG-Teams – well, I don't think it'll take Wesley long to get over his current issues. There's really only one way to find out either way, anyway."

"This is true." Teal'c agreed. "The only way we will have any ability to judge WesleyWyndamPryce's fitness will be to see him in action. I reserve final judgment until then."

"That's kind of where I was going too, T." O'Neill agreed. "All right, then. I guess we'll see after we check out the mine. Again." He let out a long, slow breath. He really wasn't looking forward to going back down there.

May 10th, 2002

Trinium Mine, P5X-194

To say that Jaresh had been...impressed by the brief demonstration of the flamethrowers earlier that morning would be something of an understatement. The Lord Defender had been all but hypnotized by the way the weapons worked. Daniel hadn't missed the latest covetous look that had passed across the man's face after Teal'c had demonstrated how the weapon functioned, either.

Indeed, along the way towards the mine, Jaresh had asked numerous questions regarding the flamethrowers, how they worked, and what it would take for his people to reproduce them, or something like them. He'd been directed to Sam, who'd done her best to stress the potential dangers of such weapons – how unstable they could be, for example – and provided general answers. She hadn't lied, so far as Daniel could tell – and he doubted she would have anyway, especially given that the Trinium was simply too important to upset Jaresh and his people that way.

But they'd gotten to the mine without incident – unsurprising, given the bright sun in the sky – and now here they were.

"You ready, Teal'c?" Jack asked the Jaffa.

"I am." Teal'c carefully began to turn the flamethrower on. The SGC had had a few on hand, even though the United States military had largely abandoned the use of such weapons back in (Daniel thought) the 1970s. Given the...odd things the SGC came up against, though, Hammond had apparently had a dozen stashed in the base's armory, as a 'just-in-case-we-need-it' contingency plan.

And I suppose we did, as it turns out.

"Now, I've never actually seen one of these used in action against a pack of vampires." Wesley admitted. "I have used a lighter and an aerosol can of hairspray, but the scales are rather different in both ends." He nodded to Sam and Jack, who had their P-90s at the ready. "You'll want to shoot at the vampires as well with those weapons, to keep them off of Teal'c."

"Headshots and kneecaps?" Jack offered.

"If you can aim well enough against mobile targets, those are the best spots." Wesley agreed, unsurprised that the Colonel had taken his words of a few days before to mind. "Even feral vampires aren't stupid. They're not going to charge in head-long against someone that can burn them to a crisp from a distance, at least not after the first few have been eliminated that way. They'll scatter and spread throughout the mine. Going in after them would be..."

He paused, briefly. "Ill-advised, at least not without greater numbers and other equipment." Wesley finished.

Jaresh nodded. "If you give them the chance, they'll attempt to ambush you, flamethrower or not. For the long term, I'd suggest starving them."

"Yes, but unfortunately, that would take far too long. If the flamethrowers work as well as I suspect they will, there are a number of other innovations...as well as some other ideas I can think of, which will allow us to chase off the vampires and keep them out once mining operations are established..." Wesley trained off, frowning as he said that, as if he didn't like his own thoughts.

"Wanna share with the rest of the class?" Jack offered, checking one more time – not that he needed to – that his P-90 was loaded.

"Not as such, no. Or at least not yet." Wesley replied. He saw the look on O'Neill's face, and took a brief breath. "It's not out of an effort to be mysterious, Colonel. Rather because this particular idea is one I'd very much prefer not to suggest, and I'm rather hoping this sortie goes so utterly well that I won't need to suggest it." Wesley gestured to the mine entrance. "Shall we?"

"Alright." Jack said after a moment. "Teal'c, you have point." The Jaffa nodded and went into the mine – behind him a few feet and on either side were Sam and Jack. Wesley, a stake in one hand and a pistol in the other, was behind them, alongside a similarly armed Daniel and Jaresh took up the rear, holding his crossbow.

"I feel I should mention that I'm convinced enough to watch what happens, but I still think that all this is a rather insane plan." Jaresh murmured.

"We've blown up a sun." Daniel replied. "We blew up two Goa'uld motherships from the inside. They," Daniel gestured to the other three members of SG-1, "Crashed a replicator-infected ship while they were on it. Into the ocean." Despite himself, Daniel laughed for a second. "Insane plans is half of what we do."

Jaresh raised an eyebrow, then looked to Wesley, who just shrugged.

"Yes, well, I can't deny I've been part of my own share of insane plans." Wesley admitted.

Granted, only a few of them were actually my insane plans, and many of them didn't actually work out in the end...

Like stealing Angel's son...

Wesley forced that thought away – luckily, for the moment, he was able to do that much. It wouldn't stay absent from his mind for long, though, he knew from grim experience. He'd pick the thought up again and run with it – follow it down, down, down the rabbit hole of his inner thoughts and doubts, second-guess himself, map out every other scenario – and watch each one end up in just as much disaster...

Before Wesley could think any more on that, he heard two things almost simultaneously – the familiar snarl of angry vampires about to attack, and the sound of the flamethrower lighting up.

Wesley watched from his position as the clustered horde of vampires – apparently thinking the lack of a staff weapon made them safe – got a face full of fire. He couldn't help but smirk to himself upon hearing the screams of pain, as the undead were engulfed by the flames and crumbled into dust moments later.

Proving his point about vampires not being stupid, they immediately fell back and began to try other tactics. They tried to move around the flames, but Teal'c moved the end of the nozzle, spraying the mineshaft, and well-aimed shots from Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill made the task even more impossible.

Once all was said and done, Wes figured it probably took two minutes (at the most) for the vampires to give up and run away. Run away deep into the mine and away from the deadly weapon that their blood starved minds couldn't even remotely comprehend, most likely.

Wesley couldn't make an accurate estimate as to how many of the soulless demons had actually collapsed to dust, and how many had managed to limp away, covered with burns and probably doomed anyway. And how many might, if given time and blood, might recover.

In some ways, we've helped the prospects of the vampires that are left. I suspect there can't be too many of them left in the mine – there's only so many of the undead that can survive in a place like this, with such limited food supplies but the lack of competition might actually help the survivors. Darwinian selection, and all that.

Of course, Wesley wasn't prepared to lay money on that – and he suddenly realized that if this planet had burrowing or subterranean animals that were at least partially compatible with a vampire's diet, his estimates on the number of remaining vampires could be noticeably off.

It's a brand new environment in which to study the undead, and I have neither the manpower nor the time to take full advantage of that. Wesley wished he had at least a half-dozen assistants, a grant from the Council and roughly the next year or so to undertake such a study. Still, even assuming he ended up in a purely research role with the SGC – something which a part of him was actually in favor of – Wes doubted they'd let him simply live here on P5X-194, and devote all his time to studying the differences between vampires on this planet and those on Earth.

Now I suppose I know how Daniel feels. The archeologist had told him of several planets he'd so very much wanted to spend more time on – but what with limited resources, and the sheer number of planets throughout the galaxy, the SGC just couldn't spend more than a few days on most worlds they visited, no matter how fascinating they could be.

Take all the notes you can, record whatever you have time and space for, and try not to despair over what you can't get a hold of.

That had been Daniel's advice, and Wesley found himself wishing he'd had the presence of mind to bring a video-camera, or even a dictaphone. But he hadn't, and by now, it was too late. The vampires were gone, and Teal'c had already stopped firing the flamethrower at them.

"Alright, everybody!" Jack called out over the still audible screams and hisses of the fleeing vampires. "Out! Now!" He gestured toward the entrance to the mine and everyone quickly left, though in much better order than had likely happened when SG-1 first fled them.

Once they were all outside and safely in the sunlight, Teal'c divested himself – again, very carefully – of the flamethrower and Jack handed him a canteen, which the Jaffa emptied in a few quick gulps.

"So," Jack said after a moment, "Verdicts? Myself, I'm going with 'vampires, extra crispy'."

"Assuming I understand your meaning correctly, I must agree." Jaresh said, with a look of sheer wonder on his face. Wes could easily perceive how the native vampire hunter's entire world view must have been irrevocably altered just now, but wisely remained silent.

"The weapon's effectiveness has been proven." Teal'c nodded. "I would advise using staff weapons and wooden stakes as a follow-up, upon pursuing the enemy in future engagements." He paused, as if getting his head around the odd sentence he'd just uttered.

"I agree. Sir, given our superior firepower and with the right tactics, I think we can clear the hostiles out and commence mining operations here. Well, eventually." Sam said to Jack. Unconsciously, her hand went up to where she'd been bitten. "Granted, we're still taking all kinds of risks..." She shrugged, "But if we tried to avoid risk, then we'd never have activated the Gate in the first place." She shrugged.

"You already know my vote." Daniel added. He looked over to Wesley, "Looks like we're on for starting up production of Trinium from the mine."

"But not quickly, not simply." Wesley replied, looking briefly pained. "The flamethrower didn't work well enough for that."

Daniel shrugged and turned to Jaresh, "How soon would you like to start the negotiations?"

Wesley interrupted before the native of P5X-194 could say anything. "There's one thing I'd like to suggest first, as a potential long-term aid to the vampire problem on this world." He looked to Colonel O'Neill – and then reluctantly, wishing he'd never gotten the damned idea in the first place, he said, "However, before I get into that, there's a question I must ask. Just how badly does the United States military want this Trinium located here?" Because this idea requires would require approval all the way to the President's office...