Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13

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"Subtle much?" Buffy asked as she moved to stand beside JT.

"Ya think? Besides, your little knife trick wasn't exactly low key. Next time warn me." His arms wrapped around her.

Buffy grinned. "But then it looses its effectiveness. It's not as if I had a vampire handy for show and tell. Would you have preferred me challenging Teal'c to an arm wrestling match instead?"

"No, Carter has dibs on that." He dropped a kiss on her head.

Xander watched the exchange in disbelief. Dr. Langford had been looking slightly awed, now she looked more appalled than anything. He didn't blame her. He hadn't seen Buffy like this for a long time. It was if she had reverted to her high school persona. And JT? Mental age of sixty-something? Sixteen, maybe. If he was the clone of a colonel, the Air Force was in a lot of trouble.

"Who the HELL are you?" The couple turned to face a really pissed Air Force Major.

"Last year's science project?"

"Mini-Jack?" That was from Daniel.

Teal'c went for the obvious, "O'Neill's clone is but a boy. Was a second clone created?"

"No, just me as far as I know. As of this morning I was a teenage version of Jack O'Neill but things got a little weird."

Daniel tried processing the information. He sounded like Jack. Daniel looked at the man. The eyes did look like Jack's but the long hair and beard? Jack was military through and through. Hell, he used to rib Daniel about his hair and it was never that long. And the touchy-feely stuff? That was just wrong. He knew Loki had created a defective clone, maybe Thor hadn't fixed him as well as he thought.

Carter paled. It couldn't be. It was just too cruel. Not with her Colonel frozen in Antarctica. She fled the room but her teammates were so focused on mini-Jack that they did not miss her.

Xander followed Carter out to the back porch. "Are you okay?"

"What," Carter turned to the newcomer. "No, this just isn't right." Her arms wrapped around her middle as if in pain.

"No kidding. My best friend goes out for a run earlier today and comes back two years older with a new 'friend' who is apparently the clone of some military guy involved it classified stuff."

Carter tried to focus. "Two years older? JT is about fifteen years older than he's supposed to be. What happened?"

"They went on a little trip through a dimensional portal. Time doesn't run at the same speed there. From what Buffy and JT have said, he got sent there this morning and she followed a couple hours later."

"He was sent to another dimension? That's crazy."

"In a world that includes slayers, vampires, and demons what's a dimensional portal or two?"

"That's crazy too."

"Hey, I got a pretty good look at your friend Teal'c. He isn't exactly human is he?"

"That's classified."

"Of course. Just like the stuff in the Council's world is classified. Info is on a need to know basis and most people don't need or want to know." Xander leaned against the porch rail. "Outside of the conspiracy nuts and the just plain nutcases, people ignore or rationalize stuff they can't explain. I grew up in a town where lots of people died or disappeared on a regular basis. Gangs of vampires translated to gangs hopped up on PCP. I was fifteen when I first found out what was really going on. A group of vamps took over the local hotspot and killed a few people before Buffy took them out. Even though there were dozens of people who saw the vampires, none of them were willing to admit what had happened. The next day at school the talk was all about a weird looking gang and how Buffy seemed to know them. It wasn't until graduation day that everything came out in the open and the survivors promptly repressed everything by the next day."

"You and the Council had something to do with the school exploding didn't you?"

"Your team has been busy. You are only half right though. The Council, which remember was the old Council, sat on its collective ass and was probably unaware of what was going on at that point. The Mayor had this longstanding plan to morph into a giant demon snake. My class was to be his first meal. Buffy and I armed the class while Giles and the rest of the group filled the library with explosives. We also had the help of Buffy's ex-boyfriend, an ex-Watcher, and a few other people. We got the Mayor and most of his minions but still lost a lot of people. Okay, my turn for a question. What hell is up with JT? I mean, he seems kinda immature for a colonel doesn't he?"

"And your Buffy isn't?" Carter relented. "Colonel O'Neill is different. He could be an awful tease but he was always there for us. We were a close team, probably the closest."

"Past tense?"

"There was an incident a couple of months ago. We haven't been able to revive him."

"I'm sorry. That's why you came outside isn't it?"

"Yes. To see him but its not him..." Carter paused. "They've been together for a while haven't they?"

No question as to who 'they' were. "Yeah, seems that my favorite slayer was rescued by JT. One of her plans didn't come together, assuming that she actually had a plan. They got pretty close before they managed to escape. I'm not sure how its going to work out but I think that he may end up joining our team."

"What?"

"Well I can't see Buffy joining the military again."

That got a ghost of a smile. "Let me guess, it didn't go well the last time."

"No it didn't. But why don't we go back in and see how things are going?"