Author's Note: Written for Day 02 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N 2: I can't concentrate, so sorry if this makes no sense.

Buffy was getting increasingly restless. As a Slayer sitting still wasn't really an option, at least not for long. It was one of the issues she'd had back on Earth. Giles wanted her to be front and center with the International Defender's Council, speak with people, allies, politicians. But it wasn't her, it never had been. She wanted, *needed* the fight and the kill and all the adrenaline that came with both.

Sparring with Teyla and Ronon had taken the edge off for a while, as had testing the Marines, but she wasn't allowed to hurt them. Killing any of them was completely out of the question, which meant she needed to get off-world and find Wraith or something else fast and strong. Except, she wasn't done with her evaluation, not even close. No one here knew what she was or what she needed, it was frustrating.

Still, she had managed to half demand and half plead her case to go with AR-1 on their next mission since Dr. McKay kept failing his evaluation. The planet wasn't suspected to have Ancient technology, and the people living there hadn't advanced much beyond basic farming. It was a follow-up mission from about two months back on a trade agreement. Nothing exciting, but she needed the experience since she had been slotted in unexpectedly fast to leave on the Daedalus, and that hadn't given her the opportunity to get some off-world experience in the Milky Way first.

Buffy fussed with the P-90 submachine gun, both Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard had made it crystal clear it wasn't negotiable. Neither was the handgun strapped to her thigh. Same with the Atlantis uniform, which meant she was wearing grey pants, a black t-shirt, a grey jacket with red triangles on the front, and a tactical vest. She felt kind of ridiculous.

"Ready?" Colonel Sheppard gave her an amused smirk, clearly noticing her discomfort with the BDU's she'd been forced to wear for the occasion.

Steeling herself for some good-natured ribbing, she smiled back. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go."

Soon after Dr. Weir gave the order to dial the Stargate and it whooshed to life. It was impressive and she felt her heart rate go up a little in anticipation. She had arrived in Atlantis after spending 18 days on a spaceship because the SGC refused to use the extra power to open the Gate for intergalactic travel. That was almost three weeks with no proper exercise, not able to really run, and nothing to do but read mission reports and other paperwork. That had been followed up with three weeks in Atlantis where she had to very, very carefully pull her punches so as not to cause any permanent damage to anyone.

Going through the Gate was a strange but not uncomfortable feeling. It was however a little disconcerting to distantly feel herself being deconstructed and then reassembled on the other side. She was pretty certain she wasn't supposed to be able to feel or remember that.

"Okay there, Summers?" Sheppard's keen eyes didn't miss much when he was actually paying attention, and his eyes had furrowed a little.

Her smile wasn't as genuine as it normally was, but she pulled it up regardless. "Fine. That was my first time going through a Stargate. It was weird."

He laughed a little at her, "You'll get used to it soon enough and you won't notice the weirdness. Just a completely normal step from one planet to the next." He indicated his head towards the east. "The settlement is that way."

"I think I'll have a look around, starting with the forest. Go ahead, I'll catch up in a while."

"Are you sure? This planet had been checked and declared safe, but we should stick together." The suspicion was back again.

"Don't worry, I just want to look around a little. I won't be long. Half an hour, tops." At his unconvinced frown, she added, "I'll be on the radio the entire time if it makes you feel better."

He argued a little more but he began walking toward the little village soon enough with his two team members in tow. Both of whom were giving her suspicious frowns.

Buffy turned resolutely and power walked in between the trees, and as soon as she was certain she was out of their sight she began running at top speed. The wind against her face felt wonderful, her instincts told her where to place her feet so she wouldn't stumble or get hooked on anything. The P90 was ruining part of her fun as she had to hold it close to her body so it wouldn't snatch on anything.

Just over twenty minutes later she was back at the edge of the trees and set a brisk tempo to get to the village. The run had taken some of the edge off her need, but she really needed to kill something. Soon.

Three hours later they were all back in Atlantis and now she had a military commander who was side-eying her, and half his team looking at her like she was up to bad. Buffy sighed inwardly.