Author's Note: Jack's thoughts begin while Xander is speaking his last
bit in Part 12, in case anyone's wondering. Also, the conversation as
a whole is going to be longer than expected - although it's not as long
"real-time" as it is on paper, since I'm including various characters'
thoughts. Anyway, on with Part XIII.

A/N 2: The point has been raised that "Buffy" really is the Slayer's legal name... however, in real life, it is also a nickname for Elizabeth, therefore... I have invoked my artistic license and made "Buffy" - for this fic - a nickname.


Part XIII:





Okay, this kid has about five minutes before I start coming down hard. How the hell could he know about that code, and Goa'uld… and why did he mention Kawalsky? He seems to know a hell of a lot of other things he shouldn't, so why did he think that Carter was still a captain? Something is definitely off.

The kid – Xander – seemed to focus on the sounds coming from the kitchen. Is he making sure that we can't be heard? If he's worried about that, why are we here and not somewhere a little more secure? For a moment, Jack's eyes met Xander's… and in that second of shocking clarity, Jack realized that though he may look young, Harris had been through years of hell. This man knew what it was to fight in defense of everyone he loved. O'Neill acknowledged that… but out of concern for his own team, refused to relax his guard.

He was about to speak to Harris again when a noise caught his attention – and Xander's. Oblivious to the extra people sitting at the table, a teenage girl wandered out of some sort of back room – bedroom or den? Jack realized that she was probably still half-asleep, and he focused his attention on the interaction between the girl and this… unusual… young man.

Xander stood and approached the younger woman. "Dawnie," he whispered, "you should still be asleep."

"Huh-uh," she mumbled. "Woke up, and you weren't there, and I didn't feel safe anymore. You're the only one who knows what the trouble is, so you're the only one who knows how to keep us safe. Wouldn't worry so much if it were vampires or demons… no big."

Xander, after a quick glance at SG-1, put his hands on her shoulders and gently directed her toward the kitchen. "Giles is fixing breakfast now, short stuff. Why don't you go see if he needs any help, ok?"

"Mm-hmm… sure."

After she had disappeared through the kitchen door, he turned back around to face the team. It was only then that Jack noticed he was barefoot and realized just how early they had come knocking – not that losing a little sleep mattered next to getting rid of a Goa'uld.

Jack saw that the younger man – silent again – was scrutinizing him, looking for something in his expression. "What?"

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Pretty much everything, Harris – demons, vampires… got it."

"Ok… most people would be shocked by a comment like that."

"Well, most people don't have access to Congressional Oversight Committee records related to you, this little group, and an interesting little project known as the Initiative."

"Point." He sat down again, apparently a little less tense than he had been. "Do you believe what you read?"

"I have to admit, it was a little freaky." Daniel couldn't quite hold back a snicker, and Xander thought there had to be a story in that. "A little freaky," O'Neill continued, "but I've seen worse. What I'd like know is how someone without any kind of clearance is aware of this stuff."

"That, Colonel, is a very long story… and I know you need to hear all of it, but so do some members of my group. That, and I need to make sure that certain people are out of hearing range."

"We're up, Xan-man," Buffy said from somewhere behind him. "We were lured out by the smell of something resembling food. Where's Dawn?"

"In the kitchen with Giles… and Spike."

"Ah… the ears you don't trust."

"He's useful, Buffster, but – if he still had one – he would sell his own mother to get that chip out of his head. I can't let him hear the things that are going to be mentioned today."

"Oh, that's not a problem, Xander." O'Neill raised an eyebrow at the woman behind the Vampire Slayer. He didn't remember seeing a photo of her in the file. Hmm. "I'll take him to my apartment," she continued. "We can watch Passions and mock the characters. They aren't supposed to be typical examples of humanity, are they?"

Xander's mouth twitched, almost turning up in a smile. "No, Anya, they aren't. Although, if you really want to watch a show with people you can mock, you should try to see when the next episode of Jerry Springer is on. If ever there were people begging to be ridiculed… man…"

"Ooh, I'll have to remember that. Thank you. I'll go grab Spike now and take him out while there are still some shadows and things and we can get to his car. Come on, Spike," she yelled, venturing into the kitchen.

Gathering from the conversation that Spike was definitely a security risk – and possibly a vampire, he thought – Jack waited for the few short moments it should take to get him elsewhere. At least, he hoped they were short. His fingers started tapping on the table, and if it weren't for the fact that there was a kid in the kitchen, he might have started cleaning the P-90… just to give his hands something to do, of course. Instead, he chose to contemplate the other unfamiliar person in the room – Elizabeth "Buffy" Summers, the Vampire Slayer.

She was… shorter… than he'd expected, and didn't look like she'd be able to take down Daniel, much less a vampire. However, he knew better than to underestimate a potential threat… or to underestimate Danny, for that matter. And what I've read about her says she's anything but a push-over. But what I've read about Harris doesn't match what I'm seeing. Who wrote these reports, anyway?

Shaking his head, he took another look at the Slayer. Cute… young enough to be my daughter, and there's no possible way she could be as intelligent as Carter, but cute. There has to be something more to her than that, though. There has to be something more about all of these people that the reports just don't touch.

He ran through the checklist in his head – Buffy Summers, already scrutinized… sort of.

Rupert Giles – Danny has a point there. Why is a former museum curator – fascinated with history and probably Daniel's damn rocks – running a magic shop? The reports called him a father figure for the group, but if that's all he is, then I'm a spacemonkey's uncle. Jack chuckled for a minute before getting back to his thoughts.

Willow Rosenberg – That must be her coming into the room now… the redhead. She's as easy to underestimate as the Slayer, noted as being the research expert of the group. The file said she belonged to a campus… Wicca?… group. Wonder if that's what I think it is, and if she's still in it? That particular part of the report is a little out of date, after all.

Xander Harris – Well, I've already discovered that the reports don't tell me Jack-shit of consequence about him – nothing on family, little on what he does in this group. Even that, given what I've seen just in the last few minutes, is completely off base. Hell, the other two people mentioned in the check – Dawn Summers and Tara Maclay – were barely more than footnotes – complete unknowns. This is gonna be a riot.

Part XIV