General Hammond watched Riley Finn's team bring in a struggling vampire in full game face, snarling at everyone. The turn of events had thrown him as much as anyone else but he had not got to where he was by being hysterical when things got unusual. He had sat down and thought about this problem logically and practically. Vampires? Imagine what else existed out there. And here he was running teams that made contact with other worlds when he didn't even know what this world contained. A quote flashed through his head "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio" but he couldn't place who said it. He turned his attention to the room below him.
He, Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c and Spike were in the observation booth. Buffy was in the centre of the secure room watching as Riley brought in a vampire who was obviously suffering badly from blood lust.
"When did he last feed?" she asked as Riley tied him down to a chair. The vampire sat quietly, simmering with rage, waiting for his moment to strike.
"Early last night."
"Great thanks." Buffy eyed the vampire who was watching her through slitted eyes. She wondered what he saw, how he saw her. Did he see the Slayer, a strong young woman who could beat him easily? Did he see the tired person that she was, tired of all this responsibility and all the fighting. She pulled off her jumper and warmed up some of her muscles, leaning her head either side, stretching her arms out and jumping up and down to get the blood pumping
Riley stepped away from the vampire and moved towards the door.
"You OK with this?" he asked suddenly. She seemed smaller, more delicate than ever and he longed to know what had changed her from the sharp talking, quick witted girl he had once loved to this lonely quiet woman.
"Oh please, I do this every night. Get your butt out of here Action Man." She threw her top at him and he laughed, and closed the door, locking her in with the vampire.
O'Neill stifled a laugh as he heard Buffy answer him. He was looking forward to this. He wanted to see what this girl could do, what she was capable of. Buffy moved behind the vampire and pulled his bonds loose. The vampire stood slowly, watching her like a cat.
"The deal is this. You catch me, you get me. OK?" she asked. The vampire grinned evilly.
"You don't stand a chance little girl. Who do you think you are? The
Slayer?"
He rushed her and Buffy, prepared for this, simply moved out the way, allowing the vamp to run himself into the concrete wall. He turned and growled at her and she moved towards him moving easily into the fight, completely unafraid, cool and calculating, knowing how he was going to move and already sliding under his guard. She punched him hard, sending him staggering back until he hit the wall and then slid down. He blinked at her dazedly.
"Something like that" she said and knelt over him, plunging a stake into his heart. He exploded into motes of dust and Buffy sat back on her heels, glancing up at the observation booth. Spike looked proudly at the others who stood in stunned silence. Buffy stood herself up, brushing the dust from her top.
"That's how it's done Colonel. Want to try?"
An hour later, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c sat in the infirmary looking dejected. O'Neill had an ice pack to the side of his face and was wincing in pain as Dr Fraiser prodded his bruised leg. Teal'c's left eye was swollen up and he had slash marks across his neck. They both looked sorry for themselves. They had not expected to be beaten quite so easily. O'Neill saw Buffy come in through the door and hesitate before joining them.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"Fine and dandy thanks for asking." O'Neill growled back at her. She frowned at him.
"Hey, don't you get mad at me. It's not my fault they don't teach you to fight properly."
"Why you little…" O'Neill would have been quite happy to wrap his fingers round her neck. Teal'c interrupted him, not wanting the Colonel's to get the better of him.
"I think his pride is more bruised than anything else, Buffy. But I thank you for your timely intervention" Teal'c smiled at O'Neill who subsided grumpily.
"How do they compare to the vampires you fought on the other planet?" Buffy asked, all business again.
"The creatures we fought before possessed similar speed and strength" said Teal'c, tipping his head to allow Dr Fraiser to check his eye out.
"Well, that's good. At least we know what we're dealing with.
No offence guys but how did you beat them before?" asked Buffy curiously "Cos you didn't get your asses kicked on that planet did you?"
"No we didn't" Teal'c said slowly "We used our zat guns and I used my staff weapon"
"No wood or fire involved anywhere?" asked Buffy.
"The weapons discharge a small but intense burst of energy. I suppose it could be termed as fire." Teal'c was trying to follow Buffy on her train of thought. Buffy screwed her face up in thought but she kept hitting a wall. And it was a big wall. How did you exterminate a planet full of vampires?
"Listen, I'm going to get on back to Spike and Xander. They can't stand each other, god knows what they've done to each other by now." Buffy grinned at Teal'c who was having his wound cleaned by a pretty nurse.
"I'm gonna tag along with her" said O'Neill nodding at Teal'c who inclined his head in return.
O'Neill and Buffy wandered companiably through the complex in silence until O'Neill's stomach gave a sudden and unexpected rumble. Buffy smiled at him.
"Are you hungry?" he asked "Do you think the others can refrain from killing each other while we grab some food?"
"Sure. I'm starved."
O'Neill headed off down a different corridor and they soon reached the canteen. Buffy gave the food a distrusting look before heaping her plate full of pasta. O'Neill followed her example, guessing that she was giving him the opportunity to ask her anything he needed to know about the group before they got serious with this task.
She picked a table in the corner, two walls at her back and in plain sight of the door. O'Neill settled himself opposite her and tucked in.
"Tell me about Willow" he invited, never being one to beat around the bush.
"She's had a rough time recently. She's still recuperating. Her girlfriend got killed in an accident and she hasn't really got over it."
"But that's not all is it?" Buffy carried on eating but gave him a quick assessing look.
"What do you mean? There's nothing else to Willow. She's smart, clever, she can read in about 8 different languages, she's got a thing about frogs and she's gay. What else is there to know?"
"I want to know what you're protecting her from. I saw the look she gave you in the briefing room." O'Neill was now sure there was something Buffy wasn't telling him. "I need to know if there is something wrong. I need to know I can trust them."
Buffy put her fork down and glanced around the canteen. It was empty apart from them. She leaned forward and began to talk in a low voice.
"It was about a year ago, we came against this thing, she was a god called Glory. She performed a ritual which broke down all the barriers between all the dimensions. All the barriers, and most dimensions don't like humans if you know what I mean. There was only one way to close it, to jump into the hole she had made. So I did it and it killed me."
O'Neill gestured for her to continue, uncharacteristically remaining silent.
"I was somewhere safe, somewhere peaceful. And it was Willow who brought me back. She thought, they all did, she thought I was in a hell dimension and thought she was saving me. She did some pretty intense magic, really dark magic. Giles was so mad at her."
"For bringing you back?"
"Not so much for that. For putting herself in so much danger. She didn't understand. None of us did, not really. Anyway, things went from bad to worse. I was having trouble adjusting to being alive and looking after Dawn. I didn't really notice how she was slipping away from us. Tara did though. Tara was a Wicca too, powerful in her own way but nothing in comparison to Willow. She was still wonderful though. She was so forgiving and so wise about everything." O'Neill saw the tears glimmer in Buffy's eyes. "I miss her."
"So what happened?" he asked, fascinated by the story.
"Tara left Willow. Forced her to make a decision, to understand what she was doing. For a while it worked and Tara went back to Willow. The next morning there was an incident at the house, a guy I'd fought the night before and beaten came over all big and macho with a gun. He shot me, and he hit Tara as well. Willow was so angry. She went absolutely insane."
"Death will do that to you" said O'Neill "Sometimes you do things you regret."
Buffy looked up at him and saw the pain in his eyes. He gave her a quick understanding smile before gesturing for her to continue.
"You have to understand, Colonel, that Willow is not a wild person by nature. When I first met her she was quiet, shy, you wouldn't look at her twice."
"That's how it goes with those kind of people. They get a tiny taste of power, of being bad, and they can't stop."
"That's pretty much what happened" admitted Buffy "except she didn't get a tiny taste. She got a mealful."
"What happened?"
"She tried to end the world." Buffy carried on eating but watched O'Neill try and get his head round that.
"She can do that?" he asked eventually "like, poof and we're all history?"
"Yep."
"Wow. Remind me not to piss her off." O'Neill thought about the quiet young woman who looked like she wouldn't say boo to a goose.
"There's a lot of stuff going on. Probably wise you don't even mention I've told you. I just thought you ought to know." Buffy finished her meal and leaned back in her chair, gazing at Colonel O'Neill with thoughtful eyes.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" he asked.
"It's all fairly straightforward. I'm the Slayer, Dawn's my sister, she was called the Key, it was through her that Glory broke down the barriers . Anya was going to get married to Xander until he stood her up at the altar. Now she's a vengeance demon again. Willow's a Wicca. Willow used to fancy Xander. Xander used to fancy me. I've just finished a relationship with Spike who, by the way, has spent the last 4 years trying to kill me. Giles is my Watcher."
"And what about him?" Colonel O'Neill asked. Buffy seemed to have no juicy gossip on the tall Englishman.
"Giles is Giles. He's Giles. He's pretty knowledgeable about stuff, he knows about magic, he trained me to fight." Buffy tried to frame a coherent sentence which would explain her Watcher.
"Giles has a wild side to him. You don't want to see it." She grinned at O'Neill who had now finished his meal.
"Sounds like a group ready for therapy" he said bluntly.
"You have no idea" answered Buffy. "Listen I better get back. Xander and Spike have probably ripped each other apart by now."
"Thanks for telling me all of that" O'Neill stood up and looked down at her "My team are relatively straightforward by comparison. There's no traumatic history between us." He didn't look at her as he said this and hoped that she didn't notice. He wasn't lying…just not being entirely truthful. There were undercurrents in his team - but they were all kept well under control. He thought of Carter for a moment before realising Buffy was talking to him.
"Just as well - we have enough personality problems to cover the entire base" Buffy joked, following him out the door and heading back to the room where Spike and Xander were working.
He, Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c and Spike were in the observation booth. Buffy was in the centre of the secure room watching as Riley brought in a vampire who was obviously suffering badly from blood lust.
"When did he last feed?" she asked as Riley tied him down to a chair. The vampire sat quietly, simmering with rage, waiting for his moment to strike.
"Early last night."
"Great thanks." Buffy eyed the vampire who was watching her through slitted eyes. She wondered what he saw, how he saw her. Did he see the Slayer, a strong young woman who could beat him easily? Did he see the tired person that she was, tired of all this responsibility and all the fighting. She pulled off her jumper and warmed up some of her muscles, leaning her head either side, stretching her arms out and jumping up and down to get the blood pumping
Riley stepped away from the vampire and moved towards the door.
"You OK with this?" he asked suddenly. She seemed smaller, more delicate than ever and he longed to know what had changed her from the sharp talking, quick witted girl he had once loved to this lonely quiet woman.
"Oh please, I do this every night. Get your butt out of here Action Man." She threw her top at him and he laughed, and closed the door, locking her in with the vampire.
O'Neill stifled a laugh as he heard Buffy answer him. He was looking forward to this. He wanted to see what this girl could do, what she was capable of. Buffy moved behind the vampire and pulled his bonds loose. The vampire stood slowly, watching her like a cat.
"The deal is this. You catch me, you get me. OK?" she asked. The vampire grinned evilly.
"You don't stand a chance little girl. Who do you think you are? The
Slayer?"
He rushed her and Buffy, prepared for this, simply moved out the way, allowing the vamp to run himself into the concrete wall. He turned and growled at her and she moved towards him moving easily into the fight, completely unafraid, cool and calculating, knowing how he was going to move and already sliding under his guard. She punched him hard, sending him staggering back until he hit the wall and then slid down. He blinked at her dazedly.
"Something like that" she said and knelt over him, plunging a stake into his heart. He exploded into motes of dust and Buffy sat back on her heels, glancing up at the observation booth. Spike looked proudly at the others who stood in stunned silence. Buffy stood herself up, brushing the dust from her top.
"That's how it's done Colonel. Want to try?"
An hour later, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c sat in the infirmary looking dejected. O'Neill had an ice pack to the side of his face and was wincing in pain as Dr Fraiser prodded his bruised leg. Teal'c's left eye was swollen up and he had slash marks across his neck. They both looked sorry for themselves. They had not expected to be beaten quite so easily. O'Neill saw Buffy come in through the door and hesitate before joining them.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"Fine and dandy thanks for asking." O'Neill growled back at her. She frowned at him.
"Hey, don't you get mad at me. It's not my fault they don't teach you to fight properly."
"Why you little…" O'Neill would have been quite happy to wrap his fingers round her neck. Teal'c interrupted him, not wanting the Colonel's to get the better of him.
"I think his pride is more bruised than anything else, Buffy. But I thank you for your timely intervention" Teal'c smiled at O'Neill who subsided grumpily.
"How do they compare to the vampires you fought on the other planet?" Buffy asked, all business again.
"The creatures we fought before possessed similar speed and strength" said Teal'c, tipping his head to allow Dr Fraiser to check his eye out.
"Well, that's good. At least we know what we're dealing with.
No offence guys but how did you beat them before?" asked Buffy curiously "Cos you didn't get your asses kicked on that planet did you?"
"No we didn't" Teal'c said slowly "We used our zat guns and I used my staff weapon"
"No wood or fire involved anywhere?" asked Buffy.
"The weapons discharge a small but intense burst of energy. I suppose it could be termed as fire." Teal'c was trying to follow Buffy on her train of thought. Buffy screwed her face up in thought but she kept hitting a wall. And it was a big wall. How did you exterminate a planet full of vampires?
"Listen, I'm going to get on back to Spike and Xander. They can't stand each other, god knows what they've done to each other by now." Buffy grinned at Teal'c who was having his wound cleaned by a pretty nurse.
"I'm gonna tag along with her" said O'Neill nodding at Teal'c who inclined his head in return.
O'Neill and Buffy wandered companiably through the complex in silence until O'Neill's stomach gave a sudden and unexpected rumble. Buffy smiled at him.
"Are you hungry?" he asked "Do you think the others can refrain from killing each other while we grab some food?"
"Sure. I'm starved."
O'Neill headed off down a different corridor and they soon reached the canteen. Buffy gave the food a distrusting look before heaping her plate full of pasta. O'Neill followed her example, guessing that she was giving him the opportunity to ask her anything he needed to know about the group before they got serious with this task.
She picked a table in the corner, two walls at her back and in plain sight of the door. O'Neill settled himself opposite her and tucked in.
"Tell me about Willow" he invited, never being one to beat around the bush.
"She's had a rough time recently. She's still recuperating. Her girlfriend got killed in an accident and she hasn't really got over it."
"But that's not all is it?" Buffy carried on eating but gave him a quick assessing look.
"What do you mean? There's nothing else to Willow. She's smart, clever, she can read in about 8 different languages, she's got a thing about frogs and she's gay. What else is there to know?"
"I want to know what you're protecting her from. I saw the look she gave you in the briefing room." O'Neill was now sure there was something Buffy wasn't telling him. "I need to know if there is something wrong. I need to know I can trust them."
Buffy put her fork down and glanced around the canteen. It was empty apart from them. She leaned forward and began to talk in a low voice.
"It was about a year ago, we came against this thing, she was a god called Glory. She performed a ritual which broke down all the barriers between all the dimensions. All the barriers, and most dimensions don't like humans if you know what I mean. There was only one way to close it, to jump into the hole she had made. So I did it and it killed me."
O'Neill gestured for her to continue, uncharacteristically remaining silent.
"I was somewhere safe, somewhere peaceful. And it was Willow who brought me back. She thought, they all did, she thought I was in a hell dimension and thought she was saving me. She did some pretty intense magic, really dark magic. Giles was so mad at her."
"For bringing you back?"
"Not so much for that. For putting herself in so much danger. She didn't understand. None of us did, not really. Anyway, things went from bad to worse. I was having trouble adjusting to being alive and looking after Dawn. I didn't really notice how she was slipping away from us. Tara did though. Tara was a Wicca too, powerful in her own way but nothing in comparison to Willow. She was still wonderful though. She was so forgiving and so wise about everything." O'Neill saw the tears glimmer in Buffy's eyes. "I miss her."
"So what happened?" he asked, fascinated by the story.
"Tara left Willow. Forced her to make a decision, to understand what she was doing. For a while it worked and Tara went back to Willow. The next morning there was an incident at the house, a guy I'd fought the night before and beaten came over all big and macho with a gun. He shot me, and he hit Tara as well. Willow was so angry. She went absolutely insane."
"Death will do that to you" said O'Neill "Sometimes you do things you regret."
Buffy looked up at him and saw the pain in his eyes. He gave her a quick understanding smile before gesturing for her to continue.
"You have to understand, Colonel, that Willow is not a wild person by nature. When I first met her she was quiet, shy, you wouldn't look at her twice."
"That's how it goes with those kind of people. They get a tiny taste of power, of being bad, and they can't stop."
"That's pretty much what happened" admitted Buffy "except she didn't get a tiny taste. She got a mealful."
"What happened?"
"She tried to end the world." Buffy carried on eating but watched O'Neill try and get his head round that.
"She can do that?" he asked eventually "like, poof and we're all history?"
"Yep."
"Wow. Remind me not to piss her off." O'Neill thought about the quiet young woman who looked like she wouldn't say boo to a goose.
"There's a lot of stuff going on. Probably wise you don't even mention I've told you. I just thought you ought to know." Buffy finished her meal and leaned back in her chair, gazing at Colonel O'Neill with thoughtful eyes.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" he asked.
"It's all fairly straightforward. I'm the Slayer, Dawn's my sister, she was called the Key, it was through her that Glory broke down the barriers . Anya was going to get married to Xander until he stood her up at the altar. Now she's a vengeance demon again. Willow's a Wicca. Willow used to fancy Xander. Xander used to fancy me. I've just finished a relationship with Spike who, by the way, has spent the last 4 years trying to kill me. Giles is my Watcher."
"And what about him?" Colonel O'Neill asked. Buffy seemed to have no juicy gossip on the tall Englishman.
"Giles is Giles. He's Giles. He's pretty knowledgeable about stuff, he knows about magic, he trained me to fight." Buffy tried to frame a coherent sentence which would explain her Watcher.
"Giles has a wild side to him. You don't want to see it." She grinned at O'Neill who had now finished his meal.
"Sounds like a group ready for therapy" he said bluntly.
"You have no idea" answered Buffy. "Listen I better get back. Xander and Spike have probably ripped each other apart by now."
"Thanks for telling me all of that" O'Neill stood up and looked down at her "My team are relatively straightforward by comparison. There's no traumatic history between us." He didn't look at her as he said this and hoped that she didn't notice. He wasn't lying…just not being entirely truthful. There were undercurrents in his team - but they were all kept well under control. He thought of Carter for a moment before realising Buffy was talking to him.
"Just as well - we have enough personality problems to cover the entire base" Buffy joked, following him out the door and heading back to the room where Spike and Xander were working.