Disclaimer: See Prologue.

A/N: Just a quick note. I know the line used in the title was not said before Graduation, but it'll be used later in the story.

CHAPTER 1

Buffy woke slowly, groggily. She knew that something was wrong, but precicely what escaped her. Hot. It's really hot. Did I land too close to the fire? That thought caused her to wake fully. She remembered tripping and the explosion, but nothing else.

She opened her eyes to a completely foreign landscape. On three sides of her location the only features were sand and dunes. Behind her lay the walls of a city, walls as yellow as the sand and probably made of stone. Rising from within those walls was a huge stone pyramid, though just how huge she couldn't tell. She had no sense of scale.

Looking around herself, Buffy saw nothing that would aid her survival. No water, no food, nothing. Cities meant people, and even she knew that in the desert, people didn't build where there was no water. For desert people, water was worth more than gold.

So she started walking toward the city, praying to anyone who might be listening that the city wasn't a ghost town, abandoned and dry. When she saw the glider overhead, she didn't think she'd have to worry about that. After all, if a plane was flying that low, it had to be based near by, right? Then she wondered what she had gotten herself into when she saw the small craft settle to the ground directly in her path. The cockpit opened to reveal something she'd never seen before. the being hopped out of the glider and walked over to her position.

It was like something that should have been in a history book on Egypt somewhere. A man in a linen kilt who had the head of a snake. But the snake's head seemed mechanical, artificial. It was meant to scare, but if there was one thing that you could count on, it was that Buffy Summers was not easily intimidated. He finally reached her position and said something in a language she didn't understand, pointing the end of his staff in her direction. Weapon, she thought. Well, maybe he was just this place's version of a cop. She held up her hands in a non-threatening kind of way and said, "Sorry, didn't see the no trespassing signs."

The snake-man changed his question to her language. "I did not say you had trespassed, though you may have. I asked you who you are."

Leaving her hands where they were, she answered him. "Name's Buffy. Don't know much else, though. I couldn't tell you how I got here, or even where here is. I'm just no-clue-girl for today. Say, do you have any water, 'cause I am completely parched."

The snake-head had no facial expressions, which was really annoying. He said, "I don't carry water with me. Still it would seem that you have not intentionally breached any law. Come with me. The second seat is empty. I will take you back with me and we will see what must be done with you." He swung the business end of his staff up so that Buffy was no longer in danger from whatever it was. Lines about little dogs and Kansas skittered through her head as they walked toward the plane.

As they reached the eagle-shaped craft, curiosity got the better of her. "So what's your name?"

"Bra'tac."

Bra'tac brought the strangely dressed girl with him to the training camp after landing his glider. He knew nothing about her, other than her name. And what kind of name was Buffy, anyway? How had she ended up in the desert with no knowledge of how she had gotten there? She didn't even know her location. She only knew the basics, like desert and hot. She was like no woman he had ever met. Her manner of speaking was entirely odd. She wore a dark red leather garment over simple black clothing and black boots, which he could tell contained a knife sheath. She had straight golden hair which she had quickly twisted into a knot on top of her head and secured with a strange yellow stick. She was small, even for a woman, but he sensed something strong about her, like fire snapping in her extraordinary green eyes.

Bra'tac, upon arriving at the command tent, removed his snake head, revealing his face to the young woman. She said, "Cool!" smiling widely. He raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. Um, cool is usually a good thing." "Especially in the desert." She chuckled. Just then, one of Bra'tac's young Jaffa trainees came into the tent to give his report. "Ah, Teal'c, how go the exercises?"

Sparing a glance for the strange woman, Teal'c answered quickly. "They go well, Master Bra'tac. All are improving greatly."

"Good, good. Teal'c, this is Buffy. I found her in the desert, and she does not seem to have any knowledge of this world. We would know it if she had come through the Chapa'ai."

"Perhaps she lies."

Buffy stood up. "Excuse me? You've never even met me before and you want to start accusing me of lying?"

Teal'c was young, just eighteen, but he was big, and he had two full heads of height over Buffy, but she was not intimidated in the least. Interesting, thought Bra'tac.

"I do not know you, Buffy, therefore I do not trust you. There are many who are jealous of Master Bra'tac's position and would gladly kill him to get it. How are we to know that you are not a weapon planted for him to find?"

"'Cause that would be really bad tactics? I mean, I woe up in the middle of the desert. Are they just gonna hope he finds me and not some other pilot? It's a little too bizarre to be an evil plot, don't you think? Not to mention the only weapon I have on me is the knife in my boot, which I'm pretty sure Bra'tac noticed the moment he saw me. I am not in any position to be a secret weapon, mister!"

Bra'tac chuckled. "She has a point, young Jaffa."

"It is wise to be cautious, Master."

Buffy said, "Caution is all to the good, but paranoia isn't. Paranoia can make you miss something."

Bra'tac said, "However, for someone who claims not to be a weapon, you know much of strategy."

Buffy snorted. "I never claimed I wasn't a weapon, just not a secret one, and I'm not against you. You picked me up out of the middle of the desert, even though it's got to be bugging you that I'm such a mystery, instead of leaving me out there to dehydrate. No one could make me a weapon against you."

Bra'tac nodded. "Good enough. So where are you from? I've never seen clothing like this, nor heard people talk the way you do."

"Well, I'm not really sure how to answer this question. I mean the gravity of this place seems kind of high to me, so I'm guessing that this is either a different dimension or a different planet or both. You might not have any idea what I'm talking about if I tell you about home."

Teal'c said, "Perhaps you should explain what happened."

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good. It's pretty complex, though. We could probably do with some food and water for this discussion."

"Agreed. Teal'c, if you would call for refreshments?"

The discussion took all night. Buffy explained about her world and the events that had led to her arrival, and they explained that they were in the service of the god Apophis. Buffy knew that the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. Should have paid more attention in class, Buff. It seemed strange to her, the way that the two warriors explained their service to their god. "You mean they put a baby god inside you guys?"

"Yes, an infant. They must have a host to survive the first part of their lives. Then they take a host body and the Jaffa receives a new infant to protect."

"This is probably really rude, but I promise I'm just curious. Can I see one?" Something about this whole story was freaking her out, and not just the gross medical part. It smacked of something sinister, but she couldn't prove anything. She wanted to give her instincts a better go at it.

Bra'tac sensed her caution. Teal'c, still young and zealous, did not share it. He had grown up with the situation and saw nothing wrong. That would not happen until he witnessed some of the atrocities that the System Lords were capable of.

Meanwhile, Bra'tac nodded and lifted the leather jerkin he wore under his armor up and over his head, revealing the pouch where his symbiote resided.

Buffy's Slayer sense was activated by the little beast, just as she'd been afraid it would, but as an incipient danger, not an active one. It was a "kill it before it becomes a problem" kind of feeling. She looked at Bra'tac's face, wondering how he dealt with having that thing inside him.

Buffy knew that she couldn't say anything about it, so she just thanked Bra'tac. She would talk more with the older Jaffa when Teal'c had left the tent.

As Teal'c left, Buffy addressed Bra'tac. "So what's the truth about those things? I get the young-stupid-loyal vibe off Teal'c. You know better."

Bra'tac nodded. "You are correct. Teal'c is too young to see the truth about the System Lords, but once he has seen what they are capable of, I have faith that he will wish to fight against them. The System Lords and all their race are called the Goa'uld. When the infants mature, they take a human host and submerge their personality. They do not die, but are forced to watch the atrocities that their bodies commit.

"The Goa'uld are parasites, and they are thieves. All the technology they have was gleaned from the races they have conquered or destroyed . And the Jaffa are no more than incubators and canon fodder to them. Humans are cattle. They care nothing for their faithful servants. They are cruel and vicious, and they are often willing to destroy whatever lies in the path of what they want."

"So this is slavery you're talking about."

"Yes. Slavery disguised in religion and fanatic devotion."

"From what you say, there are no true demons in this universe as there are in mine. I fought against being the Slayer when I was younger 'cause I didn't want to loose my normal life. Later, I fought so that at least someone could have a normal life. And now I don't have a life at all. I'd like to feel I'm doing some good by existing."

Bra'tac smiled. "You are a weapon without a weilder, a warrior without a cause. Would you care to join ours?"

Buffy grinned. "Why not? I'm always up for kicking ass and taking names." She looked at his staff weapon. "Do I get to play with the shiny toys?"