Dawn of the Tok'ra
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Thanks must go to Tim, who has worked long and hard to fine tune this story. His advice and suggestions have made this story a hell of a lot better than it would have been without his input. In fact, look out for his Omake's as the story progresses.
Last Time:
"You leave Buffy alone and leave her friends alone," demanded Joyce.
oOoOo
Chapter 10
Jack O'Neill was not in a very good mood as he made his way to sickbay. Military aircraft were not built for comfort. The seats were always hard and played merry hell with his bad knees. Worse there was no stewardess to get food and drinks from, not even a movie to entertain people with. He briefly wished he was down at the lake fishing before pushing open the door, he immediately spotted the group of teenagers and changed direction to walk toward the short blonde.
"Hey, we would have appreciated a lift back to the base, flying on the military's dime is very uncomfortable," complained O'Neill as she turned her head to look at him.
"Maybe you should try to get on the mile high club then," snarked Xander from the corner of the table everyone was sitting at.
Buffy glared at the older man, "Yeah well I'd appreciate the military leaving us alone. I would have thought you'd have learned to keep your stupid army boys out of it after your last little adventure in Sunnydale. You would think the death toll would have helped."
Jack glared right back, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Sure you don't," replied Buffy "Adam ringing any bells? How about HST's or Maggie 'mad professor' Walsh? You know the initiative project?" Buffy's tone made it clear that she wasn't expecting an answer.
"Don't have a clue. Maybe you can explain how you managed to have an NID team tied up in your basement. Regardless of their motives they were Federal...urk."
Jack suddenly found himself once again pinned to the wall by the small blonde, her hand around his throat. Seriously, he wanted to eat whatever cereal she was eating in the mornings.
"You and your wannabe Initiative crew went after my sister, my younger sister. You're lucky I didn't tear their heads off, or just stake them," hissed Buffy.
"Buffy no!" exclaimed Willow. She knew aggravating the military would not end well.
Two SF's had their side arms out as they moved toward Buffy, "Release him please."
Teal'c was also moving toward his teammate, but with appropriate caution. He had seen the one called Buffy move, and she was fast and strong; too strong for a Tau'ri of her size. Se would have made an excellent mate if he had been looking for a wife.
"I think everyone needs to calm down," said Daniel from the doorway doing his job as the peacemaker of the team.
Buffy took a deep breath and let O'Neill drop. She really did not like him.
O'Neill waved away the SF's as Teal'c moved to stand by his teammate. They both holstered their pistols and slowly move back to their standard guard positions.
Buffy continued to glare at O'Neill until she became aware of Teal'c presence. The tall, buff black man was giving her a very weird vibe. In fact it was very similar to Dawn's new tenant. Even though he was a hunk of salty goodness, so with her usual tact, she asked; "What are you? Because you are really giving me the wiggins."
oOoOo
"What precisely is a slayer?" asked Hammond.
Joyce glared at the older man but didn't say anything. She knew she had already said too much as it was.
Hammond tried to hide his sigh, " Please look at it from my point of view. I'm not your enemy Joyce, but I need to understand what is happening here. I need the facts. Hard data so I can work a plan out."
Joyce didn't respond, and Hammond glanced over at Doctor Fraiser who shook her head slightly. "Very well Missus Summers. I think perhaps a break may be needed. Doctor, will you please escort your patient back to bed."
Once Joyce was wheeled out, and the door had closed, General George Hammond sat back and tried to work out what exactly had just happened and how to proceed. God forbid all the paperwork that would be needed to make his superiors happy with this situation.
oOoOo
Hammond cleared his throat as his best team; SG1 took their seats at the table, "So opinions? Ideas, complaints?"
"They are hiding something, protecting something or someone. They really don't like the military at all. It's as if they had run-ins with black ops members in the past." said Carter.
"Something besides one of them being a teenage Tok'ra?" Daniel asked as he looked around the table.
Teal'c frowned, "Buffy Summers may be a Hok'tar. She moves like an experienced warrior, and she lifted O'Neill off the ground with one hand and held him there effortlessly. He is not a light man."
"Given their size difference I wouldn't have thought that was possible," said Carter.
O'Neill sighed as he rubbed at what he just knew was going to be a bruise, "Okay so something hinky is going on here. I think we need to know exactly what we are looking at. I mean this could be a foothold situation. And T, that's not fair. I work out all the time, plus with the running we do with Danny getting captured all the time. I'm in great shape. Muscles weigh more than fat."
Hammond cleared his throat, pulling his premier teams attention back to the head of the table, "I've contacted a few of the people I trust, that are briefed in on the Stargate and have the clearance, but I haven't got anything solid yet. Major General Byron from Special Operations Command, seemed to recognize the term initiative. But he said he would need to get back to me. He needs to check his sources."
"So until we can earn a bit of trust, here we..." O'Neill trailed off, as a nervous looking Walter came in with a secure satellite phone.
"Sir, he insisted," said the Air Force Sergeant as he held out the phone.
"Hammond."
"..."
"Yes, we do Mister President."
"..."
"I understand sir, if I may, the situation here is somewhat strained."
SG1 watched as Hammond listened intently to their Commander in Chief.
"..."
"I see, yes sir! I will. Do I have your permission to brief SG1?"
"..."
"Understood. Sir, Hammond out," replied Hammond before lowering the phone and passing it back to Walter. "Seal the room Sergeant, no one is to enter until I give the all-clear. I don't care if it is an attack or an invasion. I want this room sealed tight. Oh and Sergeant, all recording equipment is to be turned off."
Hammond looked around the table his expression grim, "Alright we have a Colonel Hawthorn en route to brief us in on a project that was called the initiative. Also called purple lilac. Suffice to say we now know why Miss Summers has a strong distrust of the military."
SG1 shared glances as Hammond seemed to pause to regain his composure.
"There was a black book Army project being run in their hometown," Hammond held up a hand to stop Daniel asking his question. "That's all I know about the project at this point. Buffy Summers was nearly killed under the orders of the leader of the project. The Project shut down with 99.9% casualties. That is what she meant by death toll, Jack."
"My god," whispered Daniel.
Even Teal'c reacted, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting that," admitted O'Neill. "So we don't have any other context yet sir?"
Hammond shook his head, "The President only said that the project and its civilian leadership went way off the reservation. The project was a massive failure that resulted in a high casualty rate I mentioned earlier."
"Could this initiative have been linked to the NID? Or even the Goa'uld?" asked Carter.
"The President didn't say, Captain. I'm not sure he even knows."
"Okay, so we sit here, bunker down and wait for Hawthorn," muttered O'Neill.
"One more thing, the President made it clear that he considers Buffy Summers an important asset. So we are to do what everything in our power that we can to help her."
O'Neill snorted, "A seventeen-year-old asset, what could she possibly be? She is barely old enough for ROTC training. I think someone is playing a practical joke on us, Sir."
Teal'c leaned forward, "Whatever she is Colonel O'Neill, she is a warrior. Her movements, her awareness, she has fought before. Such skills cannot be hidden if you look at her and ignore her apparent youth. You can see the signs, with the way her eyes watch every movement. The way she does not stay in one place. She is always moving, like a predator. When you combine that with her apparent skills and strength, she should not be underestimated."
"Sir, what about Dawn Summers, have we heard anything?" Carter frowned as she mentally ran through what sort of testing she could do on both the Summers sisters. She knew a few tests of the top of her head that could be run, just with what equipment she had in her lab.
Hammond shook his head, "I don't know Captain. I'm hoping your father can build up a picture for us."
"It is rather odd," muttered Daniel. When he realized the others had heard, he quickly cleared his throat and spoke up. "I mean both Dawn and Buffy seem to have abilities outside the human norm. Heck outside even what the Tok'ra have shown."
"And a distrust of the military," added Jack quietly.
"I don't like where that line of speculation is taking us, we have gone off on a tangent," said Hammond. "We need more information. Doctor Fraiser has confirmed that Joyce Summers will not be released until tomorrow evening, so we have a bit of time."
"Unless Dawn decides to just leave, Its not like we can actually do anything to hold her here," said O'Neil.
oOoOo
Omake by Tim
What the president actually said.
"Hammond."
"This is the ruler of the plan…...errrrr the President. I'm sure you understand why I'm calling."
"Yes, we do Mister President."
"Good, Good, I hear that you have the situation all handled right? I'm sure you do."
"I understand sir, if I may, the situation here is somewhat strained."
SG1 watched as Hammond listened intently to their Commander in Chief. Jack was making funny faces at Carter while Daniel tried to not laugh.
"Strained eh, well don't you worry about it. I will take care of everything, with a bit of presidential power here and there, we will have everything handled properly. And I will make sure that the proper channels send you the data on this darn initiative fiasco."
"I see, yes sir! I will. Do I have your permission to brief SG1?"
"Well, I don't see why not George. SG1 has saved the planet a few too many times to doubt them now. I want this handled quickly and quietly. And tell everyone that our main asset, in this case, is ms. Buffy Summers. She may have a name that sounds like someone's dog, but she is important to the U.S. George."
"Understood. Sir, Hammond out."
oOoOo