Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & SGA: 03x17: Sunday.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Author's Note: Written for Day 15 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N 2: I spent too much time deliberating if I should save Carson or not, so this is blah.

In an attempt to give the people of Atlantis some time for recreation, Dr. Heightmeyer had instituted a mandatory rest day. It gave everyone the chance to relax and wear something that wasn't the obligatory uniform they normally had to wear. Or in Buffy's case, exercise clothes. She had taken the opportunity to put on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved deep blue blouse. It made her feel more like herself, although she would've preferred something a little more feminine.

Of course, as they were in Atlantis, a military base in another galaxy, and things had been relatively calm for some time, at least on the actual base even if there had been some unfortunate action on the drilling platform below recently, then things went boom. Literally.

Buffy had been all the way down on one of the piers, just trying to familiarize herself with the outside of the city since she finally had a day off. When the bomb went off, she could still feel the vibrations from the ground beneath her, and she saw part of the light show from the corner of her eye very briefly. She was running towards the nearest transporter before she had even finished processing what might have happened. The closest one wouldn't open its doors, and neither would the two she tried next. Which forced her to run. There were a lot of stairs in the City, and they seemed to multiply and lengthen since she was in a hurry.

Still, she made it to the blast area right after Ronon and a civilian clad Colonel Sheppard got there and the latter had begun questioning Dr. Beckett about what happened. The next thing she saw was an unconscious Teyla being rolled away on a stretcher followed by a worried Sheppard questioning if she would be alright.

Rather than get involved in the chaos since there was nothing for her to fight, she chose to stay on the sidelines. Following the Military Commander at a distance seemed to be a good idea since he would want to know what happened. Which was why she unashamedly eavesdropped while he questioned Dr. Radek Zelenka, one of McKay's favorite scientists, although he would probably never admit that to anyone.

The bottom line turned out to be that he didn't know. When McKay radioed Radek and ordered him to come to his lab she followed along. Sheppard noticed but didn't say or do anything to stop her, and neither did his Satedan teammate. Zelenka was too focused on trying to understand what caused the explosion to realize they were not alone.

As usual Dr. McKay had found the answer, which turned out to be explosive tumors. And... Buffy shook her head in slight disbelief. Of course, the Ancients would've tried their hands at biological warfare, and, of course, some haphazard scientists had found the machine and turned it on without knowing what it was capable of. The only small mercy was that Dr. Hewston hadn't quite reached inside the mess hall before the bomb went off.

Three people were dead, but if Hewston had been in line waiting for food or at one of the tables, the list of fatalities could've easily been much higher. As it was there were a dozen people, including Teyla who had been blasted off their feet by the concussive wave. All of them had either been brought to the infirmary or had managed to get there on their own two feet for a check-up.

It turned out that Dr. Hewston had not been alone when the unknown device had been activated, a Dr. James Watson had been there as well, and he was currently in the infirmary. Specifically, he was on the operating table for a leg injury he had gotten by being a little too close to the explosion.

Colonel Sheppard got on the radio and ordered an ordinance disposal crew to contain the explosive tumor/bomb. Meanwhile, Doctor Beckett insisted on operating on the man and proceeded to lock down the entire level the medical bay was on. If the situation hadn't been so dire she would've complimented the doctor on taking his oath so seriously.

"Colonel," Buffy said into the tense silence in McKay's lab. He turned to look at her. "I'm going down there to see if I can help. Radio me when he unseals the doors."

She powerwalked out of the room without waiting for a reply. The only reason she had informed him was a courtesy as it otherwise would have cost them time when the ordinance crew began questioning why she was there. As soon as she was out of their field of vision she began running, but she still heard Sheppard's, "Be careful and don't get yourself blown up!"

Buffy caught up with the ordinance disposal crew not long after, and thankfully Sheppard had done what she had hoped he would do and radioed ahead because they didn't question her presence. One of the men, a man in heavy protection gear, had some kind of large storage device on a pallet jack.

They came to a halt in front of the first locked door, and predictably each of the men attempted to pry the doors open, an action that wasted time they didn't have. She waited impatiently for each of them to try, but before she spoke up. "Gentlemen, please move aside and let me do this. It'll actually get us inside."

She had tested them all during the evaluations, and there was no doubt that they had heard about her skills off-world, but they all looked at her with a healthy dose of skepticism. Sometimes being petite and female worked against her.

"Ma'am," one of them began, and she glared. He closed his mouth and moved.

"Thank you," she said politely and stepped up to the doors. It took a few moments but she found leverage for her fingers and then she pushed outward. The door ground in protest as the locking mechanism broke under her brute strength. As soon as she had enough room she placed her hands around each door and continued pushing outward as far as she could.

The two closest Marines gaped for a little while before they snapped back to it and moved forward to each take a side of the doors and forced it all the way back so the pallet jack could be taken through. Then it was go, go, go!

The two Marines who had helped with the door remained on the side they were on, and only the one in the protection gear moved forward with her. Just as they came up to the second door it opened and five seconds later she had Sheppard in her ear telling them the coast was clear.

"Copy that," Buffy replied as she hurried through. "I got the first door open, and I was almost to the second. We'll be in the infirmary in a few minutes."

Then she heard the sound of careful footsteps and as she rounded the corner she saw Carson Becket with a red and white donor box held gently in both hands.

"East there, Doc. The thing inside there is trying to kill us all."

"I know, luv."

The man in the protective gear, Simmons, she thought his name was, hurried forward and took the box from Dr. Beckett.

As soon as he had turned around and begun walking away his hand went up to the headset, "I just made the handoff. So far so good." Buffy could hear the reply despite the distance.

Then something in the air or a basic instinct or who really knew, made her grab the Scottish man and begin running. She didn't get very far before the tumor exploded and the concussive wave threw both of them forward and everything went black.