A/N:  A lot of you have guessed werewolf, but I'm afraid that's not the right answer – there would be too many conflicts and I would have to go completely AU (like, how could Buffy babysit Oz if she was a werewolf too?)

Adam, 1st – what is MKUltra? I hope the rest of the story will catch your interest better

Darien Lambert – Thanks, I hope you keep reviewing!

Iceflame55 – Sorry, no werewolf Buffy – but if you don't mind Buffy/Faith read the story Tornado of Souls (ill post the address in my writer profile)

Anna Bade – you don't sound impatient, so review more now!

Caribear – Is buffy insane or not?  That's a good question – and one of the main themes of the story. Be patient and all will be revealed, grasshopper

Lil badass – lol – I wouldn't want my readers to go insane (though by reading this story I can't guarantee that)

Wolfheartx – wow! That was brilliant, and also very right! Unfortunately you were the only one to guess the double meaning – but because you did it so eloquently I decided to double update anyway!

Everyone give thanks to Wolfheartx, who because he guessed correctly (and with such eloquence) I decided to do a double update.

Chapter 6 – The Gathering

Joyce awoke the next morning, surprised to find herself on the couch instead of her bed.  Realizing she had fallen asleep waiting for Buffy to come home, Joyce hurried upstairs to her daughter's room.

The bed remained untouched.

Fear and anger warred within her.  She dialled Rupert Giles' number, hoping she had checked in with him, or had stayed the night.  Mr. Giles role in her daughter's life still rankled, but Joyce was beginning to accept the man whom Buffy placed so much faith.

Joyce winced as she recalled the face of another man who had Buffy's trust and love.  And as the phone rang, she wondered if Buffy's face would lose that look of love in the same way it no longer showed faith and trust.

******************

Willow sat on her bed while working on her laptop.  She was angry with Buffy, who hadn't bothered to phone last night, and more than a little worried about her friend.  The hacker had done a search for Jack O'Connor and had only been able to find listings from three years ago. 

What Willow couldn't understand was how Buffy had met someone who had worked as the head orderly at a mental hospital?

After that, all records of Mr. O'Connor disappeared.  No credit cards, loan applications, anything.

Remembering Xander's comment that Mr. O'Connor had a military bearing – an after affect of the Halloween incident – Willow hacked into the military personnel files.  When the name 'Jack O'Connor' revealed nothing, the hacker used his photo ID from the hospital files and did a search for a matching photo. 

Will was somewhat surprised when she found a match.

Wow, Xander was right.

Jack O'Neill, former black ops, was a current resident of Colorado and worked for Norad on Deep Space Telemetry research. 

Willow frowned.

According to his files, three years ago Jack O'Neill was in Iraq on a deep undercover mission.  But, at the same time Jack O'Connor was working as an orderly at a high security Los Angeles mental hospital.

Willow began searching for clues in the hospital database.  By accident, she stumbled across patient records associated with Jack's file.

A gasp of shock escaped the girl's lips.

"Oh, my god."

************************

SG1 and General Hammond were gathered in the Debriefing Room.  Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a small, grey alien appeared.

"Thank you for coming, Thor," Hammond said.

"It is my pleasure, General Hammond.  As per your request, I have located Colonel O'Neill."

Carter leaned forward.

"So quickly?" she asked.

"Yes.  As a result of holding the knowledge of the Ancients in his mind, Colonel O'Neill's brain waves now operate at a slightly different frequency than that of normal humans.  I was able to isolate this frequency."

"So…where is he?" Daniel asked.

"In a city the locals refer to as Sunnydale, in what I believe you refer to as California."

SG1 turned to their commander.

"Sir, permission to retrieve the Colonel," Carter asked.

"Granted, Major.  Thor, we cannot thank you enough."

"If you have anymore need of my assistance in this matter?"

Hammond was about to decline when Daniel interrupted him.

"Actually, knowing Jack, he won't stay in one place too long.  So we probably don't have much time…" Daniel trailed off suggestively.

"I believe I understand your meaning Dr. Jackson."

******************************

Faith growled under her breath as she stalked the streets of Sunnydale.  Accustomed to sleeping until noon, the dark slayer was not amused when she was awakened at nine o'clock by a phone call from Giles.

Miss Straight-lace had apparently not come home the night before, nor had she arrived fro classes.  Faith had made her standard sarcastic comments but deep down she was worried.  So now here she was, wandering around looking for her sister slayer – again – hoping their Slayer connection would kick in. 

Idly, Faith wondered if the older slayer felt the connection as well, or as strongly.  Both slayers shied away from the intimate topic.  Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach. 

"Finally," she muttered. 

So engrossed in her thoughts, Faith was surprised to find herself at the school.

"All this hassle, and B was just late for school," Faith groaned in irritation and relief.

The dark slayer's senses went off again, but she passed it off to her close proximity to the other slayer.  She didn't notice the large white van parked out front or the men talking to Principal Snyder.

The dark slayer walked into the library to find not only Buffy and the Scoobs, but also the blond girl's 'groupies'.

Buffy was standing off to the side with Jack, while the other seven 'groupies' were scattered around the room – two noticeably guarding the door behind the dark slayer.

Faith frowned at the scene, picking up on the tension from the Scoobies.

"So, what's going on?" the younger slayer asked, making her way slowly to the table but keeping everyone in view.

"Buffy was about to explain her recent behaviour, " Giles stated, glancing accusingly at Jack.

"No, Buffy, was going to tell you that she's going to be out of town for a while," the blond girl replied sarcastically.

The statement was met with silence.

"Buffy, you can't just leave!  You have classes, and the hellmouth, and most importantly we need you!" Xander cried.

"Jack and my friends need me more," she replied emotionlessly. 

"But he isn't who you think he is," Willow said desperately, "he's really a colonel and he's done something to you, he's brainwashed you, or is controlling with military science or…"

Jack just chuckled as the red head continued to babble.   

"And he placed you in a hospital …"

The older slayer looked sharply at Willow, silencing the girl's ramblings.

"Not another word, Willow."  In response to Buffy's statement, the others straightened causing the gang to see their concealed weapons and glared.

Faith looked into Buffy's eyes and saw the dark look that had passed through the other slayer's eyes before – only now it seemed to be a permanent resident.  There was no doubt in the dark slayer's mind that Buffy would hurt Willow to keep her silent.  Or the rest of them. 

Watching the scene, Jack wondered what else would go wrong.

The doors opened, revealing the other three members of SG1.

"For crying out loud!"

TBC

It's short but stayed tuned, we're going to do it again! Now, on to the next chapter!