Of Their Past
Disclaimer- None of the characters belong to me, I just like playing with them and promise to return them in relatively good condition (hey, what can I do? Buffy's got a temper).
Note- Sorry for the extreme lateness of this update, I didn't realize it had been this long since I last updated. So, because I've been so slack (and because they finally showed S8 and are now showing Stargate: Atlantis in Australia) this chapter is double my usual length. Plus I already have chapter 12 written I just have to type it, it should be up by the end of the week.
Note 2- Now I've done the apologizing I'll skip straight to asking for a favour. I need someone who is a complete SG-1 nut to help me with this story. I'm talking knowing the episode titles, picking up errors in the books, arguing with the computer screen when somebody gets something wrong. Sadly the time in which this story is set I'm a little fuzzy on, so someone that I can e-mail for answers to the questions that bug me would be great, or if people know excellent sites that they could direct me to… Please?
xxx
Chapter 11
Wesley rubbed his wet hair with a towel as he made his way down the stairs for a second time, this time ensuring that he was fully dressed before he faced his friends and the Summers women. He rubbed a hand over his freshly shaven face with relief, he had be starting to get a bit itchy. Years in the Watcher's Academy and later in the Council itself had given him a preference for being cleanly shaven; some of the most backward thinking people in the Council grew beards and Wesley did not want to resemble them even in such a tiny superficial manner.
Wesley walked towards the front door and peered out. The sun was quickly setting, there were perhaps one or two hours of dull afternoon sunlight left. He yawned, his jaw popping with the pressure. After that nap and a warm shower he felt almost back to normal. He hated doing major ritual magic like that; he didn't have the reserve of magic like Willow, nor did have the ability to call upon major powers in order to raise that amount of power like Giles had and he had no where near the experience that Willow and Giles both had. Wesley's experiences with magic had been broadened during his time in L.A., mainly through necessity rather than for the pleasure of it; before that his experience with magic had been supervised by the Council and rather limited.
Wesley combed his fingers through his short hair, the damp towel dangling from his hand. Still, even with his limited experience and power, he could understand why some people could become addicted to magic. The state it had left Buffy, Angel and Cordy in, well it was better than any drug available. Had he been more energetic when the spell was cast, and had it not taken so much out of his already depleted system and if he had not been so concerned for his friends, then he was sure that he would have taken more enjoyment out of the powerful magics that coursed through his veins.
"Wes, is that you?" Cordelia called from the kitchen.
Wesley walked into the kitchen, damp towel still held in one hand. "Is there a problem?"
Buffy smiled up at him from the table. "No problem, Willow and Xander just called. They're thinking of taking out Xander's military buddies on patrol tonight, let them really see Sunnydale as it were. You up for it?"
Wesley raised an eyebrow at Buffy causing her to blush and the others to quietly snicker behind their hands. "I wouldn't mind patrolling tonight."
Buffy beamed at him and clapped her hands together. "That's great! I'll call Wills. Mom and Giles are going to look after Connor while we're out."
Joyce smiled. "It'll be nice to have a child around for a little while. Beside I don't think Rupert will be able to do anything to strenuous."
Buffy scrunched up her nose. "Eeew. Never mention that word in connection with Giles in my presence ever again. It's just… yuck."
Joyce's eyes sparkled. "So it's okay for you to have sex but it's not for me?"
Buffy paled. "No, it's… gross!"
"I don't see why," Joyce argued, enjoying making her daughter squirm. "Rupert is after all very attractive-"
Buffy clamped her hands over her ears. "La la la la. I'm not listening!"
Cordelia looked from the pale, chanting Buffy to Joyce, who was smirking into her coffee cup. Cordelia's brow rose in admiration. "I should be taking notes. This is good stuff. 'How to punish Connor.'"
Angel bit his lip, suddenly worried. He looked at his son. "Do you think we'll have to?"
Cordelia snorted. "Of course we'll have to. He's going to be a teenager one-day, he's related to you and he's growing up around Faith, Gunn and Spike. There's going to be a lot of disciplining."
Angel's eternally smooth brow wrinkled. "You're right. Maybe we should kick Spike out?"
Wesley pulled out a chair and sat down, keeping one eye on the pouting Slayer. "I've already tried that, it doesn't work. He just comes back. I swear he would survive an atomic blast."
Cordelia grinned. "Spike the cockroach."
"Spike's a what now?" Buffy had returned to the land of maturity and removed her hands from her ears.
"A cockroach. Unfortunately they don't make a roach motel big enough for Spike." Cordelia grinned widely.
Buffy laughed. "Why do you think I left him with you? I mean the part where it bugs Angel is fun and yeah the Initiative were getting too close, but still the pain in the butt factor was pretty big."
Angel looked at Buffy dourly. "Thanks, you know I'm really feeling the love lately. In between you, Faith and Cordelia I'm surprised I don't explode with happiness."
Buffy reached over and poked him in the stomach. "We're just here to keep your head from getting too inflated, what with all those damsels in distress that L.A. holds and the 'oh, Angel's'."
Angel grimaced and looked over at Cordelia, who refused to meet his gaze. "You've been talking to Cordy, I see."
Buffy shrugged. "It came up in conversation."
"I bet," Angel muttered under his breath.
Cordelia shot him a glare.
Buffy leaned back in her chair and smiled. For a long time she had thought that she would never get over Angel leaving, that she would never get over loving him, but on that trip to drop off Spike those few years ago she was surprised that it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. She was glad that she got the opportunity to know the new Angel and the new Cordelia Chase, not to mention being very glad to meet the new Wesley, their time in L.A. had been good for them. She was thankful that she could look at them now and count them amongst her friends. Buffy's eyes slid over to Wesley. Friends and perhaps more.
xxxxx
Doctor Daniel Jackson had a not so secret addiction. It was something that nearly everyone at the base knew about and it was one that a few people had tried to exploit. Daniel shook his head; some of those nurses were ruthless.
Daniel rubbed his head as he stumbled into the kitchen. Coffee. He needed coffee and lots of it, in fact if someone could just hook an IV up to his arm that'd be great. Daniel yawned widely, his jaw popping loudly. Grumbling to himself, Daniel rubbed his jaw and headed straight for the cabinets. He opened one and frowned, no coffee cups.
"Two to your left."
Daniel stumbled to his left and opened the cabinet door. Success! He pulled one out and groped for the source of the oh-so tempting smell that had drawn him from his comfy position on the couch.
"Just to your right."
Daniel fumbled around until he felt the warm pot of coffee. With an ease that comes from years of practice Daniel poured the coffee into his cup without spilling a single drop.
Eyes barely opened a crack Daniel returned the coffee pot to the machine and stumbled into a chair. He raised the cup to his nose and breathed in deeply.
"Have a good sleep, Danny?"
Daniel forced an eye open and looked at Jack. Jack's wide grin faded as he saw the lines of exhaustion on his face and how bloodshot the eye was.
"Geeze, Space monkey, you look like you've been on a bender."
"Indeed, Daniel Jackson. You do not look well."
Daniel rested his head in one hand. "Thanks, Jack, Teal'c. That's just want I wanted to hear."
"You are welcome, Daniel Jackson."
A light giggle drew his attention away from his teammates. He forced both eyes open and looked to the red head sitting next to Al across the table from him. Daniel looked around the kitchen then down at the cup of coffee in his hands. A light blush spread across his cheeks.
"Sorry."
Willow waved a hand airily. "It's alright. Xander's already filled me in about the coffee thing. I wouldn't worry about the fatigue; magic tends to drain a person's energy, especially if it's your first time. And that was a pretty big spell."
Daniel's brow furrowed. 'Xander? Who was Xand- Oh, right, Al.'
Daniel studied Al as he sipped at the coffee. There was something that man was not telling them, he could feel it in his bones.
Xander relaxed against his chair, meeting the archeologist's gaze head on. He quirked an eyebrow, a useful trait he had picked up from Teal'c. "You going to be okay to do a patrol tonight, Daniel? A couple of hours, a couple of cemeteries, a few vampires, maybe The Brozne?"
Willow shook her head sternly at him. "No Bronze. You nearly got us kicked out last time, throwing that vampire onto the table like that."
"He was going to bite that girl!"
"Xander, you destroyed half the bar! It was a little excessive."
Xander tensed and shifted in his seat, now unable to meet her eye. "There were circumstances."
Willow's lips thinned. This was something that had obviously been brought up before. She pushed her chair back abruptly. "I have to check on Tara and Jonathan, and Amy needs her cage cleaned out. It hasn't been done since you got home."
Xander pushed his chair back. "I'll do it."
Willow had started to walk out of the room, at his words she stopped but didn't turn around. She nodded once and continued to walk out, leaving three of four males at the table mystified.
Xander opened up a small cupboard and pulled out a small brush and a container of pellets. He could feel the stares of his friends on his back. He knelt in front of Amy's cage, running a finger down her back. He started to clean out the cage, filling up the pellet dish, replacing the water and removing the unpleasant stuff.
"It was just after that battle." He knew they wanted some kind of explanation, even if they wouldn't ask for one. "I took leave and came home."
They nodded slowly. They all knew how difficult that battle was for Al.
Jack shifted his weight; all the tension in the room was starting to get to him. "You know, there's something that's been bugging me."
"What, sir?" The question came a little harsher than normal.
Jack ignored it. The kid was having a tough enough time.
"Why, on earth, do you have a rat in your kitchen?"
xxxxx
Buffy was sorting through the large weapons chest in the middle of the lounge room. She hummed happily to herself as she shifted through the axes, swords and assorted stakes. For patrol they needed weapons, lots and lots of shiny, pretty weapons.
Needless to say she was still slightly feeling a buzz from the ritual. Grabbing axes, swords and many, many stakes she shoved her weapons into the bag she had set aside for slaying years ago.
Buffy looked at the bag, really looked at it for the first time in years. Her brows arched and the corner of her lips quirked. It looked like a doctors bag! She started to giggle wildly.
Wesley stopped in the doorway, staring at the giggling slayer in concern. "Buffy, are you all right?"
Buffy held her stomach. "It looks… like…a… doctor's bag!" The sentence was broken by giggles.
Wesley studied the black bag at her feet. He titled his head to the side. He supposed it did rather resemble a doctor's bag, perhaps a little on the large side, but it was the same shape and style all the same. "And this strikes you as amusing?"
Buffy shrugged, getting her giggles under control. "I never noticed it before."
Though the giggles were gone a wide smile remained and Wesley was glad. During his short stint in Sunnydale as her Watcher he had rarely seen her so happy, yes she had smiled and laughed (usually at him) but even then she couldn't have been genuinely happy. It was a good look for her.
A knock on the door made Wesley clear his throat and shift his feet. Buffy jumped to hers and bounded to the door.
"I'll get it!"
Buffy yanked the door open to reveal a sullen Willow, an exasperated Xander and four very confused and slightly bemused people.
Buffy's smile dimmed. "Hey, guys. Mom, Angel and Cordy are in the kitchen."
Without a word and with a backwards glare at Xander Willow stormed into the kitchen, leaving the others still standing in the doorway.
"Okay, what did you do?"
Xander turned to look at Buffy. "Nothing." He fidgeted under her glare and the hands on the hips pose Buffy had perfected. "All I did was bring up the Bronze!"
"Oh." Buffy looked over at Xander's teammates. All four had discreetly their eyes, carefully studying the wall.
Jack looked into the lounge room, a glint of light catching his eye. "Hey, look, weapons. Let's go have a look."
Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and dragged him into the room. Sam and Teal'c followed at a more sedate pace, a small, amused smile on Sam's face as she watched Daniel frown in confusion at Jack.
Xander scrubbed a hand through his regulation short hair. "Well?"
"Well what?"
Xander sighed. "Are you going to tell me what an idiot I am and what I did wrong?"
Buffy looked down at her shoes. "You scared her, Xander. You scared me. You were so angry. I've never seen you like that before. It was like watching you-" Buffy cut herself off.
"My father." Xander completed dully. "I reminded her of my father." He became stiff with shock. "I'm not him, Buffy. I refuse to be anything like him."
Buffy rested a hand on his arm, surprised at how tense he was. "I know, Xander, but you have to admit that that night you were intense. And it's not just that. Willow's told me about the scars and the nightmares. You're scaring her. She's worried about you and you just keep brushing it off."
"I don't-" Xander let out a sound of frustration. "There are certain things I can't tell her. My work is highly classified."
"That's bull, Xander, and you know it."
His eyes flashed. "My work means a lot to me, Buff. We can't all be like Riley."
Xander didn't see the fist swinging towards his face, but boy did he feel it. Xander stumbled back against the wall, blood dripping from the skin that had split across his cheekbone.
"Al!" Sam had turned at the exact moment Buffy's fist had connected with Xander's face.
Xander shook off his teammates hands, hauling himself to his feet. He gratefully accepted Wesley's handkerchief and pressed it against the injury, hissing at the contact.
Joyce, Angel, Cordy and Willow had rushed out of the kitchen at the sound of Xander hitting the wall. A horrified expression replaced the worried one on Joyce's face. With mother's eyes she quickly spotted the guilt on Buffy's face.
"Buffy Anne Summers! You apologize to Xander this minute! I cannot believe you. I raised you to better than this!"
"It's okay, Mrs. Summers," Xander cut in. "I deserved it. I shouldn't have attacked Riley like that."
Buffy winced as he pulled away the cloth. "That's probably going to scar."
Xander dabbed at it and shrugged. "What's one more to the list?"
There was an awkward pause, no one knowing quite what to say.
Wesley cleared his throat. "It's getting dark."
Everyone looked towards the window.
"Right," Buffy said uncomfortably. "We should get going soon."
Joyce nodded; lips still pursed, and held out a hand towards Xander. "Come into that kitchen, Xander. I'll patch you up before patrol."
Xander shook his head. "I'm okay, Mrs. Summers."
Joyce placed her hands on her hips, something that Buffy must have learnt off her, raised her brows and tapped her foot in a measured pace. "Xander."
Xander sighed. "Yes, Mrs. Summers." He trailed after her into the kitchen shoulders slumped.
"Huh," Jack said as he watched Xander get tended to. "And here I thought it was the Doc that made him so…"
"Compliant?" Sam suggested.
Jack grinned. "Well, she does have those needles. And she is overly fond of them."
"If you say so, sir."
xxxxx
Jack clapped his hands together. "So how does this work?"
"Well," Buffy said as she pulled weapons out of her bag and started distributing them. "Giles and Willow usually go through the obits and the morgue reports and come up with a list of potential vamps. We check them out, patrol a bit, occasionally ran into a demon or two."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"Yep. It's no use sneaking around and making goofy hand signals around here. Most of the time they already know you're there, what with the superior senses and all."
"Goofy hand signals?"
"Yeah." Buffy titled her head. "You know, like that one that looks like you're pulling the thingame on a steam engine." Buffy demonstrated. "Choo choo."
Sam giggled, there was something about Al's friends that were extremely entertaining.
Jack mock glared at her. "Carter."
"Sorry, sir."
Buffy tapped a stake against her palm. "You two done?" Without waiting for an answer Buffy continued. "We're too big a group to go together. We should break up into three teams."
She ran her eyes over the group assessing them. "Okay, Doctor Jackson and Murray?"
Teal'c nodded, his arms behind his back; the short sleeve black shirt that he wore emphasizing his massive frame and clashing with the black beanie he had not taken off since leaving the mountain.
"You two go with Willow and Xander. Major Carter, you're with Cordelia and Angel. And Colonel O'Neill, you're with Wesley and me. Will's, you and Xand go thata way; Cordy, you and Angel to the left and we'll go straight through the middle. We meet back here. Any questions?"
She was meet with silence.
"Good. Let's get going. Those vampires don't slay themselves, you know."
Daniel leaned towards Xander. "Is she always like this?"
Xander grinned easily, anger over the punch already forgotten. "Nah, sometimes she's bossy."
The teams started to move out. Jack wasn't too thrilled that both himself and Carter were split from the rest of the team, but there was nothing her could do about it, besides he knew that Carter could take care of herself.
'Xander?'Xander stopped as Buffy's voice rumbled through his mind.
'I'm sorry I hit you.'
'It's okay, Buffy. 'S not like it was the first time, probably won't be the last either.'
Buffy chuckled.
'What am I going to do, Buffy? She won't talk to me, won't even look at me.'
Buffy sighed. 'You could try telling her the truth?'
'Buffy.' He warned.
'Sorry.' She didn't sound it. 'Apologize, profusely; grovel; beg for forgiveness?'
'Begging and groveling. I can do that, after all I dated Cordelia, didn't I?'
Buffy laughed. 'We questioned your sanity.'
'Hell, I questioned my sanity.'
For a minute or two there was silence and Xander realized that he had been blindly following Willow through a cemetery, paying no attention to his surroundings. He berated himself; he had just broken one of the cardinal rules. You always had to pay attention to your surroundings, you never knew where the next attack was coming from, no matter what world you were on.
'Xander?' Buffy was back.
'Yeah, Buff?'
'You'd tell us if they were hurting you, wouldn't you?' There was suddenly a little girl quality to her voice. 'I saw what they did to Riley. I don't want them to do that to you. I don't want Willow to go through what I did.'
Xander was shocked, he never knew the thing with Riley and the Initiative had affected her so much. 'Buffy, I promise you if I ever think that the Airforceis trying to drug me you'll be the first I tell.'
'Good.' She paused again. 'Get your back, Xander. Don't let it fester.'
'I won't. Now get back to patrolling.'
There was a chuckle. 'Yes, sir!'
Xander looked around once more to find that he had fallen in step with Teal'c, something he had done on many a mission, and that Teal'c had been keeping an eye on him while he had that little mental heart to heart with Buffy.
"Thanks, T."
Teal'c inclined his head. "You are welcome, Captain Harris."
Xander looked ahead. Willow was leading them through the cemetery to one of the fresh graves. Daniel was trailing after her, the unusual headstone and statues catching his attention and occasionally drawing him off the path. Subconsciously Xander and Teal'c had moved to bring up the rear, weapons clutched tightly in hand. They weren't P-90s or a staff weapon, but they were reassuring and familiar all the same.
Xander studied the back of Willow's head, the dark turning her hair to raven wing. Back when they were six years old and he gave his crayon to her, it was her hair that drew him to her. He had never seen anyone with hair that colour before, had never seen anyone with quite that shade since.
He drew in a deep breath. 'Willow?'
xxxxx
"So…" Cordelia cleared her throat. She had no idea what to say to this woman. What was Buffy thinking putting her with them? She could have at least teamed them up with the yummy Doctor Jackson.
"You work with Xander?"
Cordelia shot Angel a thankful glance.
Sam smiled tightly. "Yes."
"In Colorado, doing… Deep Space Radar Telemetry?"
"Yes."
"Must be interesting," Cordelia commented dryly.
Sam chuckled to herself. If only they knew. "You'd be surprised."
"Actually, I'm kinda surprised Xander had stand it. It sounds like a job for the Wesley's and Fred's of the world, no offence."
Sam's lips quirked. "None taken." Especially since she didn't know who 'Fred' was.
"It's just," Cordelia continued. "This life can get addictive and he's been doing this since he was sixteen. I can't really see him just standing around guarding inanimate objects or doing paperwork."
Sam was quick to defend her friend. "Al's very good at his job."
"Oh, no doubt. When Xander puts his mind to something he gets it done, but I've known Xander a long time and he won't sit idly by."
Thinking back to that last few months (God, had it really just been months?) with Al Sam had to admit that Cordelia was right, he always liked to be in the thick of it when the chips came down. But she couldn't very well tell these civilians that Al had helped save Earth and several other planets and had saved each of their lives.
So she changed track instead. "You've know Al since he was sixteen?"
Cordelia laughed. "Oh no, Angel's known him since he was sixteen." She stuck a thumb at the dark vampire that was scanning the cemetery, giving no signs of paying attention except the twitching of his ears. "I've known Xander since he was six, hell I even dated him for a while."
"You dated Al? But I thought that he and Willow…?"
"Xander was an idiot in high school."
Angel snorted and muttered lowly to himself.
Cordelia glared at him. "She had a crush, he saw her as one of the guys. They didn't start dating 'till Xander was a cadet and Willow was in college."
"Sounds like something out of a cheesy romance novel."
"Yeah, with vampires, demons and the forces of darkness."
"I'd read it."
Cordelia laughed, she was starting to like this woman.
Sam turned to the silent Angel. "So, you're a vampire?"
Cordelia grinned. Oh, yeah, they'd get along just fine.
