Citizen Harris II
Sequel to Citizen Harris
Disclaimer. BtVS belongs sadly enough not to me. Neither does StarGate.
Beta: Keith

Part 2 Convincing preparations

Two weeks later

At sixteen, Monica was the lead Slayer of Xander's team. She was chatting with the youngest of Xander's team, Jenny, when she heard a quick rap on the door. Too anxious to wait for a response the door swung open, slamming into Jenny's face. "Ouch," Jenny said as she rubbed the sore patch on her nose. At fifteen Lizette was the smartest of the team. Everybody had been assigned to another to watch their backs; Monica watched Lizette, Lizette watched Jenny's and Jenny watched Monica's. Xander watched them all.

"Sorry, Jen," Lizette responded, without much guilt.

"What's up, Liz?" Monica spoke calmly.

Lizette placed her finger on her lips. "Sst." Lizette carefully closed the door.

"What's the rush?" Monica asked again, more like an order this time as she had placed her hand on her hip and stared at her.

"It's Xander."

"What's with him?" Jenny asked, immediately worried. Monica smiled a little. Jenny was twelve with a huge crush on Xander. However she couldn't suppress her own worry for their missing leader. She and the others hadn't missed how much Xander had been keeping his feelings to himself and how much of his humor had faded away the last two weeks. She had him even seen drunk and he'd brushed her objections away like it didn't matter. But she knew better. Something was wrong.

"I dunno for sure. I just heard that he might gonna leave us."

"Who told you this?" Monica asked.

"Dawn."

Monica winced. Dawn was the one of the inner circle who kept a close eye on Xander and his team. Not to mention she kept them informed about him. If someone knew that something was wrong with him then it was her. "How? Why?"

"There's some military chief that has invited them over for tonight. I tried to hack into their database, but couldn't get it done. Willow said that if there was something up she would find it out tonight," Lizette explained. "I think she was pissed."

Lizette was one of Willow's students in studying watcher-research stuff. Monica knew Liz was good at it and that her friend wanted to become a Watcher herself. Something most Watchers consider as something unheard of. Load of holier than though bull Monica thought of that. Why can't a Slayer be a Watcher? Anyway, if Willow was pissed than the rumors must be true, because Xander was Willow's best friend.

"Xander can't be leaving us," Jenny exclaimed. "Andrew gave me this shirt for him," she said as she jerked at her shirt to emphasize her claim. In doing so she stretched the picture of a weird looking alien, making it look funnier than it was suppose to be. The blackness of her shirt was an interesting contrast to the bright yellowness of her skirt. Jenny looked nervously at her, unaware of her eye roll, as the girl spoke the words, "H-He needs us."

"He knows that," Lizette said. But her words lacked conviction and her eyes were filled with doubt. Monica sat down on her bed and sighed deeply. "We need him," Lizette spoke softly.

Monica nodded slowly as she saw a tear rolling over Jenny's cheek. "I really don't want someone else as our Watcher," the little girl said. Monica felt the same. Because the Council needed to be rebuilt quickly, Mr. Giles couldn't be too strict when attracting new Watchers. Some were cowards. Some were assholes who thought about Slayers as nothing more than tools. And some were way too British. Xander was constantly annoyed with them or them with him. "He's so funny," Jenny continued. Monica had been with several other Watchers before she was assigned to Xander's team and she hadn't liked any of them until him. She supposedly had a big mouth. Bah! They simply couldn't handle her natural leadership skills. Lizette was too smart for them and Jenny, well, she was Jenny. Okay, she knew, there were a lot of Watchers who weren't bad. Some were even cool, but they weren't Xander. He had no right to leave them just like that for some obscure secret military mission. He was theirs.

"Why would he leave us?" Jenny murmured through her tears.

"Jenny." Monica stared at the girl intently, which impressed Jenny as she gazed back at her, the big blue eyes gaping at her as if her young life depended on it. If Xander didn't need her or Lizette, she was certain he still needed his firm love for Jenny. "Even if we have to kick all their green Barrett asses, Xander won't leave us. We are gonna follow them tonight and drag Xander back into our fold." As their leader, Monica would make sure of that. She would make sure that they would bring back one of their own the way Xander had taught them. "Let's get the others."

Jack grinned with his hands in his pocket like a little boy as he watched how a construction crew worked at the finishing details of the interior at one of the base's largest rooms.

"You don't think this is a little exaggerated?" Daniel asked.

Jack didn't react. He was in the moment. The moment he deserved. It was what he and the SG deserved.

"Sir?" Carter asked.

"You think this will improve our relationship with our allies?" Teal'c asked.

Jack smirked a little. "Yup."

"Sir?" Sam asked again.

"Hey, it's my base. I can do whatever I want."

"Within reason, sir."

"Oh, c'mon, Sam. We need a little fun around here."

"This has to do with the man with the eye-patch, doesn't it?" Daniel asked.

Jack sighed. It was true that the young man was the trigger, but as he had thought about it, it wasn't a bad idea. "Sort of. I invited his friends and they need a tiny little bit of persuasion," he explained.

"But three bowling ball lanes? You don't think that's the least bit too much?"

"I am certain that Bra'Tac will find it a most challenging sport," Teal'c said.

Jack wasn't sure if the Jaffa was sarcastic, but he would be sure that Teal'c would see the greatness of the sport soon enough. "See? Thanks, buddy."

"You're welcome, O'Neill."

"Sir," Carter looked doubtful, "if what you say about Xander's friends is true, they won't let him go so easily. I don't think a bowling evening is enough."

He knew she wasn't wrong. But, hey, at least they would have had a fun evening. And he didn't buy those bowling shoes in vain. "Well, it's a start."

"About Xander's friends. I-"

"Daniel, it's true."

"I never found something in the ancient texts that-"

"It's true." Jack stared at his friend's face and he knew that there was more on Daniel' mind. Something he normally would have just said, but didn't because Daniel knew that Jack had no choice. He couldn't stand it anymore. "Oh, c'mon, Daniel, just say it. We can't force Xander into our world."

"It's not that." Jack saw the denial in Daniel's eyes and waited for him to continue. "Well, it is. We don't know anything about these Slayers and their heritage. We don't know anything about the dynamics and structure of this group. We don't have the right to pull one of them away for our needs."

"And what makes him so special for them?" Jack asked.

"Well, he's a normal guy for example, but he hasn't a problem with their power in any kind of way. That's important for a teenage girl," Sam elaborated.

"He carries the sign of a warrior, gained in battle while protecting them," Teal'c added. Jack knew that The Jaffa was referring to Xander's eye-patch. "He carries that sign with honor."

"Which reminds them that a normal person can be trusted to watch their backs," Daniel explained.

"Indeed."

"Not to mention the social implications," Daniel continued.

"They were a team. No one can even begin to understand what they went through together, what they mean to each other. We of anyone knows how that feels. If he was one of ours, I wouldn't care how important he was somewhere else. I'd rather have him with us."

That's it. Sometimes Sam, he groaned, I hate to love you. "Xander agreed with me," Jack defended himself. It was not entirely the truth, Xander wasn't sure either, but it wasn't a lie either.

"It's a whole new situation for them. For thousands of years only one Slayer has managed to save the world on a regular basis, without recorded history knowing about it. Everything changed last year and Xander doesn't know his own role in the total picture," Daniel explained.

It wasn't a lie. "He understands it more then we do." Daniel rolled his eyes. Jack sighed. "We don't know if they need him more than we do. All I know is that we need him. That is all I need to know. So, be nice tonight and work a little with me. That's an order."

It was the soldier who spoke and Daniel grimaced, but nodded. That was all Jack needed to know. He and Daniel have had their differences before, but when it came down to it, Daniel would always follow his orders, even if the civilian had to bend a few rules. That was why he needed Daniel.