Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & SGA: post-03x17: Sunday.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Author's Note: Written for Day 19 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.

The walk and transporter ride to the level McKay's office was on was done in complete silence. Still, Buffy could feel Caldwell's calculating eyes on her regularly, and not just because he was checking if her condition remained the same. Like Dr. Weir, he was a good person on paper, but he was also career military, and that meant he cared less about single individuals than the whole.

Sheppard slowed his pace to match hers without making a big deal out of it, while Caldwell had dropped back. It made her a little uneasy to have someone unfamiliar and unfriendly behind her, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it unless she wanted to cause a scene. And they were in populated hallways with people walking in both directions, either coming to the labs or leaving them.

Buffy could've faster if she wanted to, but giving these people more ammunition against her seemed unwise. Walking slower also aggravated her healing less. Besides, they were expecting her to be in a lot of pain due to her still healing burns. It did hurt, particularly since whatever cocktail Dr. Keller had used no longer had any effect, but it was manageable. Which reminded her, the next time she was on Earth she needed to stock up on some of Willow's witchy wonder potion stuff. She rarely needed it, but she had a feeling it would come in handy if she were to stay on Atlantis. And it wasn't like she could just drop by one of their safe houses to get a bottle.

Buffy heard McKay's loud voice as soon as the door to the transporter slid open, but it took another corridor before the two men heard him as well. She saw Sheppard smirk in her peripheral view, for some reason he seemed to get a kick out of McKay yelling at people half the time. Those two had a very strange friendship.

John Sheppard had a laid-back attitude most of the time, preferring to observe, but was fiercely loyal to those he considered friends or his responsibility. Rodney McKay, on the other hand, was arrogant, loud, and very much preferred to be the center of everyone's attention.

The rant, however, was unrelated to what they needed, so Sheppard stepped in and handed his favorite scientist a cup of lukewarm coffee before asking about the surveillance video from the infirmary. The unfortunate scientist used the distraction to flee the lab for parts unknown.

"She didn't attempt to remove it or delete it or anything." McKay sounded honestly a little baffled, "I would've seen it immediately, of course, and finding the original file would've been easy. But she has to know that as soon as the IOA sees this she's done. No more Atlantis or Stargate Program or doing international diplomatic stuff. Elizabeth can kiss her freedom goodbye."

Clearly, he had taken the opportunity to watch it first. "How about we all get to see it, Dr. McKay?" She could relate to Caldwell's impatience.

He turned wide blue eyes on her, "You're going to use this to ruin Elizabeth, aren't you?" Surprisingly, he sounded conflicted, and not just angry and scared as she had expected.

"This isn't just an ethical problem, Dr. McKay. Dr. Weir, like the rest of the Atlantis leadership, signed a contract in regards to the IDC before my arrival, and among the things included was a list of things none of you are allowed to do to or against any members of my organization. One of the things on that list is medical experimentation. By attempting to circumvent that contract and my direct refusal to allow any testing, she broke that contract. The IDC has to act on this or the consequences for us can be catastrophic."

Colonel Caldwell managed to beat McKay to retaliate. "Surely it can't be that serious. I've asked around, and no one even knows the IDC exists, let alone what the hell you're doing."

Buffy looked him straight in the eye, "Just because you don't know what we're doing it doesn't mean it isn't important. Some things belong in the shadows and this is one of them. We protect people, but to do that we need to keep our abilities secret so we won't be taken advantage of. Because that's what you're trying to do here; take advantage of someone you think you can bully into getting your way. It won't work."

Sheppard had clearly had enough and broke through the argument. "Let's just watch the video so we know what we're actually arguing about."

In an atypical move, McKay pushed a few buttons to get the video to play without saying anything.

The recording began with Dr. Keller and an assortment of medical personnel working on Buffy. The angle wasn't very good, but it couldn't hide how horrific the burns looked. Even Buffy herself was a little surprised. It wasn't her usual kind of injury, something that probably added to the shock factor.

Once Buffy was stabilized they rolled her bed next to where Teyla was resting after her own abdominal surgery. A privacy screen was put up around Buffy's bed. Several minutes passed where nothing of note happened before Elizabeth Weir arrived and began speaking to Dr. Keller who came into view from out of camera range.

The conversation went pretty much as Teyla had replayed to Sheppard: Weir asked how Beckett and Buffy were doing, Keller replied with status and an overview of their injuries. Then Weir asked Keller to do an additional set of tests on Buffy, claiming she had approved them before the explosion. Keller agreed and had just turned when Teyla interjected and informed Dr. Keller of Buffy's refusal to do any kind of testing. When Dr. Weir defended her choice, Teyla's hand went to her headset and she could clearly be heard contacting Colonel Sheppard.

While the two women argued in polite voices, Keller was left looking confused and increasingly upset as she realized what the civilian commander had almost had her do, and probably thinking of what it could've cost her.

When Sheppard arrived and he was brought up to speed, he became visibly angry, reminded Weir of the contract they had ALL signed, and as he had told Buffy, it got ugly after that.

All in all, the surveillance video lasted for just under 20 minutes. Buffy wasn't a lawyer, but even she knew how damaging that video would be if shown in any court of law.

"I was really hoping it wouldn't be that bad, that there would be some kind of reasonable explanation for this. But, it just looks like she did it because she can't handle being told no, and she genuinely believes that there won't be any bad consequences." Buffy was disappointed but she couldn't, wouldn't let this go. If she did, there would be another chance for Weir to try something, or for someone else to try and get a blood or hair or skin sample in an attempt to make their super soldiers. It wouldn't work, but who knew what else they could use it for, and how it would eventually affect her.

Allowing Weir to walk away from this without punishment was guaranteed to backfire on them spectacularly.