Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & SGA: post-03x17: Sunday.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Author's Note: Written for Day 25 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N 2: This story was not intended to be an anti-Elizabeth fic, it just... happened.
More than three weeks after Buffy's meetings with Colonels Caldwell and Sheppard and Dr. Weir she was fully healed with not even a tiny scar to show for it. Caldwell had sent back his recommendation to Earth that same day, and two days after that a contingent from Atlantis had gone through the Stargate back to Earth, leaving the commander of the Daedalus temporarily in charge of Atlantis in their absence.
They had been met in the SGC's embarkation room by contingents from both the IDC and the IOA, all of them had looked upset, and most of them had directed their annoyance at Elizabeth Weir. Although a few had glared at Buffy, and General Landry had looked unhappy to see Colonel Sheppard. Although Buffy was relatively certain the latter was unrelated to the current events.
Dr. Beckett had been brought straight to the infirmary before he had been transported to a more appropriate facility for further aid with his burns. Everyone else had also gone to the infirmary for the standard checks before they had reconvened in the conference room.
Buffy and Colonel Sheppard represented Atlantis. General O'Neill and General Landry did the same for the SGC. Giles and Dr. Helen Taylor were there on behalf of the IDC, and Richard Woolsey and James Coolidge for the IOA.
Dr. Weir had presented her case and tried to convince everyone that she had the greater good on her side and that it meant her actions were justified. The major problem for her was that the only person who fully supported her actions was Coolidge, and to a much lesser degree, Landry. General O'Neill had made no attempts to hide his disgust with her actions, especially after the surveillance video had been shown. Not even Sheppard did much to defend her, and he mostly looked disappointed.
Buffy knew Weir had gone to bat for Sheppard, back when the Expedition had re-established contact with Earth after the first year, and she was guessing that was on the forefront of his mind now that her career was on the line. Despite that, he did very little to help her and did nothing to try and defend her actions. It was in line with how he operated in Pegasus, loyal but not stupid. She would not win this and everyone knew it. The best she could hope for was a mild sentence.
Everyone had agreed it was a legal case, but given the secrecy of both the Stargate Program and the International Defender's Council, that wasn't going to be easy. Except it turned out there was a classified section of the court system used for trials within super-secret programs the military ran. Dr. Weir would be tried there.
The time between then and now had been used to prepare the case and for the juridical system to become available for their use. Which brought them to the present where Buffy was currently in one of the IDC's non-descript safe houses with General O'Neill.
His keen eyes were studying her with intent while he was standing casually with his hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like he was just going to nip down to the store to buy a few things. Buffy gestured him into the living room and then told him to get comfortable before she left the room for a few moments.
It was starting to get dark outside, so she figured her choice of 'refreshments' could be excused, and carried a bottle along with a couple of glasses back to the General. The safe houses didn't usually have alcohol in them since many of the Slayers were too young to drink, but given the situation, she had gotten Giles to make an exception. It helped that no one was currently staying in the house.
She placed everything on the table and O'Neill raised a surprised eyebrow. "Not what I was expecting." His eyes narrowed, "What's going on?"
"We've decided that someone high up in the Program needs to know about us, and those who have been working with you and the SGC nominated you to get to know the secret, and me to spill the beans."
"Should I say I'm honored?" He was a smart man and clearly didn't think it was an honor, which made Buffy like him more.
"No, and when I'm done you will understand why telling people is a bad idea and you won't be happy knowing the big secret either."
He looked towards the strong liquor on the table, "Is that why you brought that? You believe I'll need it?"
"If our research into you and your morals are correct then yes, you'll want it. Unless we've misjudged you, in which case there will be consequences." Buffy really, really hoped their judgment of this man was right. If it was and they could get him to cooperate then the political landscape would be much easier to navigate both for her and the rest of the IDC. If not... Well, they would have to burn that bridge if they got to it.
General O'Neill nodded once. "Okay. Hit me with it."
Buffy studied him for a few moments, then, because it was necessary she began, "Prerequisite disclaimer because I'm going to sound crazy: I'm not making any of this up, and if you want I can prove part of it to you later."
"Okay," he sounded a little wearier than he had a moment ago, "Disclaimer noted."
Given their own inclusion in the Stargate Program, the introduction spiel had to be changed a little for those who were already aware of that program. "The world is older than you know, back in early humanity, we're not sure if it was while the Ancients were at their early stages here or if it was our second evolution of humans, although we're guessing the latter. Demons walked the Earth..."
As she spoke she kept a sharp eye on his facial expressions, his body language, and his heartbeat. O'Neill's body language changed almost immediately although his face remained calm and intent. His heart rate sped up a little.
Buffy briefly explained that the Shadowmen had made the First Slayer, although not how it was done, to fight the demons for them. She explained that when the First Slayer was killed a new girl received her powers, then the next, and the next, and the next. Until Buffy was Chosen in 1996. She explained in broad terms the Old Council and the changes the IDC made when they took over. The highlights of her time in Sunnydale, including her deaths, and how there were now several hundred Slayers around the world.
A more lengthy detour was made when she began explaining the Initiative, their purpose, Dr. Maggie Walsh and her pet demon hybrid, Buffy joining as a civilian consultant/contractor, their testing of her, her involvement with Riley although she skipped the personal stuff and their messy split. She downplayed the magical part of the final showdown, but yeah, basically she admitted that three people in their early twenties and a scholar took down a secret military program, all without financial backup. She might've rubbed that last part in, just a little.
He grabbed the bottle when she began speaking of how young the girls in question were, usually between 14 and 16, and how short and brutal their lives usually were.
"Our abilities are mystical. There are no medical procedures to prove anything. Even if Dr. Weir had managed to successfully get Dr. Keller to perform the tests she wanted, she would've gotten nothing. A blood transfusion would've done nothing more than what a regular transfusion would've done."
O'Neill emptied his glass and rubbed a hand over his face, "You were right; I didn't want to know that. And the SGC, IOA, and Joe Blow can't know either." He cursed in a low voice. "Elizabeth can never know. She's a good person, but her perception of right and wrong is really off in this case."
"That's my conclusion, too." She watched him as he stared intently at the floor while he tried to work through all of the new information he'd been given. "Do you think Sheppard should know?"
General O'Neill sat back up again before he leaned into the couch behind him. "I don't know. Is there a good reason for him to know?"
Was there? "Not really. As far as I can tell he has accepted that he doesn't get to know where my abilities come from and is instead trying to make the most use of what I can do for Atlantis."
O'Neill nodded again, "Good." He made direct eye contact. "Did you read all of the paperwork you got on the Atlantis personnel?"
A little puzzled she told him yes, she had. His unredacted file was much more interesting than the public one.
"Then you also know, Elizabeth is a big part of the reason why he was promoted and was able to officially become the Atlantis Military Commander." Buffy simply nodded. "Sheppard owes her, and now she's the one about to be thrown out."
"True," it was. "But, from all accounts, Sheppard has done a very good job, and he deserved the position he got. If he hadn't taken over after Colonel Sumner, then the next officer in line was a Lieutenant who didn't have the training or know-how to do the job."
No one had been able to explain to her why a Colonel had had a Lieutenant as his second instead of a Major, and why those two had originally been the only officers on the Expedition. They were lucky Sheppard was so curious and that Beckett was in a mood to show off that day, or things probably would've gone a lot worse than they had.
"But he no doubt feels like he owes her for what she did for him, and now he's all but throwing her to the wolves."
"I know, this entire situation is so messed up. If she had just been able to corral her curiosity we wouldn't have been in this situation." If only there was a way to fix this mess, or at least make it less of a mess.
"We both know she isn't going back to Atlantis, so the question is, will the IDC attempt to get one of their people into her former position?"
Well, if that wasn't the million-dollar question. Giles had asked her much the same question. "As of right now, we're not planning on it, but it kind of depends on who gets nominated to take over. If it's someone we find highly objectable then we might try something, or at least force a change, but we don't want to take over Atlantis. Or any other part of this Program. We have more than enough with our own problems, we don't need this on top of everything else we're dealing with."
Not to mention they were short on people who had the proper qualifications, and even if there were any chances were they would not be interested. Taking over a research/military base was one thing, but to do it in another galaxy? Not bloody likely, as Giles would say.
"Does the IDC intend to send more Slayers or other people from your organization to Atlantis?"
"Not right now, but we might put up a rotating schedule or something in the future if this thing with Weir doesn't make Atlantis into a problem area for me and/or the IDC." She smiled a little, "There are a few people who would really like a turn." Her little sister for one, and Willow actually wanted to work with McKay. Buffy still wasn't sure if that would result in something amazing or in a major catastrophe.
"Do you intend or want to stay in Atlantis?" O'Neill was looking at her much more closely now.
"Yes. I don't think my job there is done. I have evaluated everyone, except those who came on the Daedalus right before the explosions, but there are still many people who need to get both their fitness level and their fighting skills up to an acceptable level. That will take time, certainly more than a few months."
"And then?" He inquired. "Are you going back to Earth when you're satisfied and you've gotten someone else to take over the training?"
Buffy thought about it, it was something that had been on her mind for some time. "I'm not sure. Right now my business there is to get people up to an acceptable level to defend themselves and to fulfill a Slayer Dream, so I'm going to stay until both of those are done. What happens after that kind of depends on how well the people in Atlantis take Dr. Weir's dismissal as the Expedition Leader and my part in it. I don't want to stay somewhere I'm clearly not wanted."
General O'Neill nodded to himself, "I can understand that. For what it's worth, most of the reports I've gotten on your work have been good. Sheppard's report after he saw you fight Wraith for the first time was practically gleeful."
Buffy couldn't help but smile at that. His reaction in person had been even better, all little boy meeting a superheroine grin. If he hadn't been in the middle of a bunch of though Marines he would probably have been bouncing. It had been kind of adorable.
O'Neill got up from the couch, "I believe you promised me some proof of what you've told me. Presumably, this involves you, a wooden stake, and a cemetery?"
Buffy got up from the armchair she had been sitting in, grabbed the bottle and both glasses before she returned them to the kitchen. "Sure. We might have to visit several, because not all of them have fresh graves, and even if they do they don't necessarily have undead people in them."
He stood in the doorway, watching her rinse the glasses before she put them in the dishwasher. "I've got time."