10/14 ~ Cavalry
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Apparently, being Soldier Guy, whatever that was, meant that they weren't going to drug him anymore which was good. The last of what they'd given him had thankfully worn off after he'd confessed his long-ago dream, meaning that he'd refused too say any more and the world was starting to feel real to him again. They'd all moved to a library. The blonde and the redhead, Buffy and Willow, were hunched over an atlas at the other end of the room while the pirate, Xander, kept a close eye on Jack, holding a large axe in his relaxed hands with an ease that suggested long familiarity.
"How much do you remember?" he asked suddenly. "From the dream?"
"Bits and pieces," Jack shrugged. "You?"
"Same," said Xander. "Basic training, Iraq... a weird gold pyramid landing in the desert." Jack tried not to wince. "You wanna explain that last one?"
"It's classified," Jack told him as Willow started to mutter in a foreign language, her hands held palm down above the book.
"Figured as much," shrugged Xander.
"Nice try," Jack comforted.
"Worth a shot," said Xander as Willow's hands started to glow.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Jack, straightening up to get a better look. The light faded, leaving a small spot on the pages open in front of Willow glowing brightly.
"Colorado," Buffy announced as Willow stopped chanting and it faded.
"Who are you people?" demanded Jack.
"We're your worst nightmare," Xander reminded him as the girls started rifling through the pages of the atlas again. "Remember?"
"I never said you were my worst," Jack said irritably as Willow started chanting again. "Don't think you're my worst! Freakiest, maybe," he admitted as Willow's hands started to glow again.
"Thanks," said Xander. "I think."
"Cheyenne Mountain," announced Buffy.
"Crap," Xander scowled. "NORAD."
"Seriously!" Jack exclaimed. "Who are you?"
"Alert the slayers," ordered Buffy. "We hit 'em hard, we hit 'em fast. Non-lethal force only so tell them to leave the weapons at home. Where's Dawn?"
"What?" demanded Jack, his heart suddenly cold.
"Wasn't she trying to hack into the Pentagon?" Xander asked as the door opened and the doe-eyed brunette who he hadn't dreamed about before rushed into the room. "Ah! Speak of the devil!"
"Buffy!" she gasped. "There's a helicopter landing on the lawn!"
Jack smirked. At last. The cavalry.
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Their story made her head spin. Aliens, invasions and technology... Faith kept her mouth shut and listened closely. She might not understand everything they said but, damn! They'd kept this secret for eight years? The tour ended in the 'Gateroom. After all the hype, the Stargate was almost a letdown.
"What do you think?" Daniel asked eagerly, his eyes anxious.
"It's big," allowed Faith, grateful that she'd gotten the chance to change back into her own clothes. "Kinda shiny. And you guys use it to explore other planets?"
"Yup," said Carter, smiling fondly as she looked up at it.
"Wormhole X-Treme is real?"
"Technically," Daniel admitted through gritted teeth.
"So I owe Andrew another five bucks?"
"Indeed."
"And you've been fighting evil snake aliens for the last eight years?"
"Coming up nine now, actually" Daniel informed her. "Ten, if you include the first mission to Abydos."
"Damn..." Faith said respectfully. "How's that workin' out for ya?"
"Uh..." Daniel said. "Surprisingly well, actually. We recently defeated the Replicators..."
"Sounds nasty," commented Faith.
"My people have rebelled against the Goa'uld and formed the Free Jaffa Nation on Dakara," Teal'c informed her.
"Good for them," Faith encouraged.
"We've managed to establish regular contact with Atlantis," added Carter.
"Atlantis?" Faith asked, startled.
"An Ancient city-ship in the Pegasus galaxy," Daniel explained. "We sent an expedition there a year ago."
"The Atlantis?" Faith asked, double-checking.
"Well, it was on the ocean seabed when they arrived," said Carter, her eyes dancing.
"No way!" said Faith.
"It's true," Daniel told her with a smile.
"You're shitting me!"
"We are not," rumbled Teal'c.
"Damn..." mused Faith. "Wicked cool!"
"Indeed," agreed Teal'c.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Faith asked them. There was a startled silence from SG-1.
"I guess... we haven't really thought about it," Daniel said eventually.
"The Goa'uld still need defeating once and for all," Teal'c pointed out.
"There's still an awful lot we don't know," said Carter.
"Hey, didn't mean to put you on the spot," apologised Faith. "Guess I really should get going, anyway. Gotta call off the cavalry before it arrives, y'know?"
"Not really," admitted Daniel.
"That's it?" Carter burst out as she walked away from them. "No explanations? You don't even return General O'Neill? Nothing!"
"Trust me," said Faith, twisting round to face them as she kept walking. Backwards. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And General Jack'll be back..."
"Faith," warned Daniel. "Watch-" Faith collided with something large, warm and squishy. That went 'oof'. Daniel winced. "Out," he finished.
"Sorry," Faith apologised to General Hammond. "Gotta learn to watch where I'm walking."
"How's the tour going?" wheezed General Hammond.
"Faith was just leaving," Daniel told him.
"Ah," said the General. "Actually I was hoping to have a word with Miss Lehane before she went."
She'd known it was too good to be true, thought Faith. "Long as you promise to stop calling me Miss Lehane," she said easily. "Makes me start looking round for my dead mother."
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The cavalry was apparently a grey-haired guy wearing tweed. And glasses. Not that Jack had anything against glasses. One of his best friends wore glasses. Watching the way his captors quailed as the man approached, Jack grinned. Glasses were good.
"I knew I forgot something," Buffy whispered to her friends. "I was supposed to call him back..."
"Buffy!" he exclaimed as soon as he got in range. Apparently, the cavalry was also English. Jack's eyebrows rose as the man continued to speak, "What on Earth is happening? You don't answer any of my calls and then I get a phone call from a frantic Robin, telling me Faith never made it out of LA?"
"Oh, she made it out, Giles," Buffy said grimly. She'd produced her red almost-axe from somewhere and, worryingly, was stroking it. "She's currently being held in Cheyenne Mountain."
"Where?" asked Giles, frowning as he caught sight of Jack, still handcuffed. "And who's that?"
"NORAD, G-man," explained Xander. "And this is Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, two l's. Also known as Soldier Guy."
"Don't call me that," Giles chided, taking off his glasses to squint at Jack. "Soldier Guy?" he said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and polishing his glasses. "Good Lord."
"Quite," Jack said mockingly.