Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & SGA: post-03x12: Echoes.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Author's Note: Written for Day 11 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.

Buffy got her mail from the databurst and spent the next hour reading through carefully worded reports from Giles, Willow, Xander, Dawn, and some other people from the IDC. Her sister and the Scoobies had also sent her personal emails to catch her up on some personal stuff without going into too much detail. They all knew there were quite a few people monitoring everything going to and from Atlantis.

There was also an email from General ONeill, which confirmed her suspicions about who Colonel Sheppard had contacted in an attempt to get read into her secret project. He also informed her that Dr. Weir had been sternly told to stop harassing her and just let it go. O'Neill had worded it differently, but it was essentially what he meant.

She smiled, but couldn't help but wonder who he had been talking to and if it included anyone in the IDC.

Another hour passed and then a third, and there were no attempts by either Dr. Weird or Colonel Sheppard to contact her in regards to the situation. It should've felt good, but instead, she felt a sense of foreboding. Elizabeth Weir was not a person who was used to being to no, at least not over a period of time.

Nothing really changed over the next few days, except that Dr. Weir was visibly sulking in her office when she thought no one was paying attention. Colonel Sheppard, on the other hand, seemed to have decided that asking questions he wasn't going to get answers to was a waste of time. She did however get another summons to his office, but this time it was just the two of them.

As soon as she arrived and had sat down, he began talking. "I'll make this short. General O'Neill has made it an official order not to ask about why you have your abilities and that nothing is to be done without your knowledge and consent."

He looked at her and she simply nodded in confirmation. It was in line with what had been in her own email.

"He didn't get into what you're actually capable of, and I'm guessing that's because your organization doesn't want that on record." She gave a second nod, and she could see where he was going with this.

Sheppard leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "Can you tell me anything about what you're capable of so I can better include you where your specific skills are useful and needed?"

Buffy studied him and his casual and partially forced sprawl. They had been given a lot of information about the leadership in Atlantis, including Sheppard's unredacted file. Officially he was a chopper pilot with authority issues, but unofficially he had a much more interesting file. One that explained a lot about him as a person and his actions in Atlantis, particularly those he had displayed during the Siege in the Expedition's first year.

More importantly, it meant he was more than capable of keeping secrets.

"Are there cameras or other surveillance equipment in here?"

He blinked once. "No, there's a camera right outside the door. Anything you tell me about your skills will be off the record and I won't tell Elizabeth or anyone else without your permission first."

She listened carefully to his heartbeat and breathing. It was something she had learned over the years as her senses became increasingly more heightened. Anyone could learn to control their body language, their face, and even their breathing to a certain degree, but your heartbeat would always give you away. He was being honest.

Buffy nodded. "I won't go into details since it isn't needed, but to get to the point. I'm faster, stronger, more resilient, heal faster than normal, and have heightened senses. My fighting skills are better than Ronon's and I'm both stronger and faster than Teyla. So, not to toot my own horn here, but anything you think they can do, I can do better."

The man actually snorted in amusement at the last comment. "So, if you and one of my marines received the same kind of injury at the same time, who should we work on saving first and why?"

That one was easy. "The marine. My innate healing ability will ensure I am okay and don't get infections or anything. Rushing me to a doctor is a waste of time and resources."

Sheppard nodded. "Heightened senses?"

"Excellent vision, day and night. I can smell what's in my food including drugs. If I can see you, chances are I can hear anything you say."

It was just a small portion of her powers, and depending on his imagination her answer could be dissected in a lot of ways. While she was sure he was aware his eyes had widened there was an excellent chance he had no idea she could hear his heart rate speed up.

"So, no privacy?"

"Nope. Sorry." Then because it wasn't fair to anyone she added, "I can't control it, so if you need something to truly be private you need to be far away from me, preferably with several closed doors between us." Her eyes glinting with humor she said, "Or, you know, on another planet."

Sheppard actually laughed a little at that. "Not sure how comfortable I am with you being able to listen in on just about all conversations in the City, but it could come in handy off-world." He looked thoughtful.

"Your paperwork says you're here to evaluate everyone's fighting skills and to help out with fighting the Wraith and other enemies. It has also been made clear you can join whatever team you want, either permanently or just for however many missions you want." She nodded again when he seemed to be expecting a reaction from her.

"You've been out with Lorne's team more than any others. Do you want to become a permanent member of his team or another one?"

"No," Buffy replied. "I like AR-2, but I'd rather just tag along when them or whoever when it seems right."

She thought it over, "But I wouldn't mind being part of any rescue teams if there's a good chance I'd get to fight." He raised an expressive eyebrow and she fought the urge to roll her eyes like the teenager she hadn't been in years.

"I get restless. Think of me as a much smaller, female version of Ronon that can do a lot more damage if I don't get an outlet."

A light appeared to go off above the Colonel's head. "That's what you've been doing on all the missions when you've gone off by yourself; You've been burning excess energy by running through the forest where no one can see you."

Oops. She smiled a little sheepishly. "Busted."

He just shook his head. "Right. I'll put you on the more high-risk missions, and place you as a backup to any missions that have a high chance of encountering Wraith. When I've worked up the new schedule I'll send you a copy so you can change anything that won't work. Sounds good?"

"Yeah. I can live with that. Just make sure you keep what I've told you to yourself."

His smile this time was more genuine than it had been before. "I will."