Destiny Up For Grabs

by Sheilynn

BtVS Stargate xover. Sunnydale’s gone, so where do we go from here? Buffy and Co. thought they’d have time to decide, now that the Hellmouth was permanently closed, but the PTB have other plans for them. (Full Summary Inside)

6. Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Destiny Up For Grabs

Summary: BtVS/Stargate xover. Sunnydale's gone, so where do we go from here? Buffy and Co. thought they'd have time to decide, now that the Hellmouth was permanently closed, but the PTB have other plans for them. A Slayer's destiny never takes a vacation, but it can change, especially when their original line of destiny was broken by death. Buffy's destiny is up for grabs now, and even the PTB doesn't know who will get to control it.

A/N: I know I haven't responded to many of the reviews for this story, but I wanted to let everyone know that I really do appreciate them…they give me a lot of warm fuzzies, and definitely motivate me to continue on! :)

I will try to respond to those reviews that bring up similar questions requiring a response (like the character analysis, which was due to multiple reviews that questioned the portrayal of certain characters), but will probably be in a generic format, and may not name a particular reviewer…other than that, please know that, while I may not respond, I do read your reviews, and ponder over suggestions and call-outs of mistakes.

To that end, there are answers to common review questions/comments at the end of this chapter.

Now, on with the show…

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Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

WHAP!

WHAP!

He was good.

WHAP! WHAP! CRACK!

Very, very good.

WHAP! WHAP! THUD!

But still…not good enough to beat a Slayer.

"Hold!"

Buffy lowered her staff to the floor.

"You are very good, BuffySummers of California – I can see now why Teal'c suggested I spar with you."

Buffy grinned at him. "And I can see why Teal'c holds you in such high regard, Master Bra'tac…you're one sneaky little bugger – you almost had me a few times."

It had surprised Buffy when the older Jaffa had approached her and requested a sparring match, but she was a little hesitant over accepting, since she was trying to 'lay low' in respect to how many people knew about her being a Slayer.

She only accepted his challenge when Hammond convinced her that Bra'tac should know, in the off-chance that her skills may be needed in the future – after all, Bra'tac was one of their main contacts for information about the Goa'uld, not to mention that the older Jaffa occasionally worked with SG-1 and the SGC if any action was taken based on his information.

"You are a very skilled fighter, BuffySummers, but you are young, and still have much to learn."

"There's always something new to learn, Bra'tac – just because I know how to fight, it doesn't mean I'll win every battle. Knowledge is power, and it can come from anywhereor anyone – even Jack might have some tidbit of knowledge to impart, however unlikely that might seem."

"Hey!" Jack looked offended.

Daniel snickered, while Carter, being more professional due to her military mien, tried to hide her smile.

Bra'tac gave the small blonde a speculative look. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a squeeze, a pleased expression crossed his face.

"If you truly believe that, then you are a true warrior, BuffySummers – for all true warriors know that they have not learned everything they need to know, and never will."

Buffy paled.

"I-I'm sorry, Bra'tac...I have to go."

"Is something wrong?"

"No…you just reminded me that I have a long-overdue apology to make to someone, for something I said in anger."

Bra'tac watched the distressed young woman rush from the room.

"So, Bra'tac…how's it feel to get your ass kicked by a pint-sized blonde?" O'Neill asked with a smirk on his face as he approached the older Jaffa.

"There are few warriors I know of who can defeat me, O'Neill…it is no shame that one such as she is now counted among them. Her eyes speak of many battles and untold losses, yet her heart stays true in that she still enjoys what life has to offer. But…" Bra'tac used his staff to sweep O'Neill's feet out from under him. "…the day I lose a battle to you, Ha'shak, is the day I will fall on my own knife in disgrace."

Jack rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat as he listened to his co-workers laugh.

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"Giles?"

Hearing the unhappiness in his older Slayer's voice, Giles immediately became worried. "Buffy, what's wrong?!"

Buffy sniffled. "Nothing…everything."

"Buffy?"

"I-I'm sorry, Giles…I'm just…sorry…for everything," Buffy sniffled loudly. "I-I was just sparring with someone, and he said something that made me remember something I said to you a few months ago, and it made me realize that I never said I was sorry, and it was really mean, too, and I knew I needed to call you to say I'm sorry, even if it's too late, and then I realized that I have lots of things to apologize to you for, and I hope you'll forgive me for everything, because I don't know what I would do if you never wanted to see me again, but I'd understand if you didn't, because I know I'm not the nicest person in the world, and you could do better having someone else as your friend…"

"Buffy! Buffy!...slow down," Giles interrupted in bewilderment. "I-I won't have a clue as to what you're speaking about unless you tell me slowly – you know I have difficulty with your American lingo."

Buffy gave a soggy giggle.

"I'm sorry, Giles."

"That's better, luv. Now, tell me, what all the waterworks are for…you said something about sparring with someone? And that they said something to you?"

"Yeah…h-he said that I was a true warrior because I understood that I haven't learned everything I need to know, and that I knew I never would. It reminded me of…"

"Oh."

She knew that Giles had just remembered the painful scene where she had shut her bedroom door in his face after telling him she had learned everything she needed to know from him…basically telling him he was of no use to her anymore.

"Yeah…I-I was wrong, and-and stupid, and I don't know why you didn't just break down the door, throw me over your knee, and give me a good spanking."

"Er…um." Giles cleared his throat.

Even through the phone line, Buffy could tell that he had turned red in embarrassment.

"OK, Giles…that was meant in the 'petulant child' way, not the 'let's have a little S&M party' way," Buffy said, amusement coloring her voice.

"Well…uh…yes, o-of course."

Buffy giggled for a moment, then sobered. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm really sorry for saying that, and sorry that I closed the door in your face. You will always be able to teach me something new…whether as a Slayer, or as a person – I just wanted you to know that."

"For what it's worth, I apologize too, Buffy. I should have trusted your instincts."

The two spoke for a long time afterwards, re-hashing the last battle, and the months that had led up to it. There were several apologies, and many tears, but both were left with a sense of closure on that particular dark period of their life.

"Giles?"

"Yes, Buffy?"

"Can we do this again? Talk, I mean…there's a lot I want to say to you, and many, many more apologies I need to make."

"Buffy…you don't need to, luv."

"Yes I do, Giles. It's not just for me…it's for you too. There were a lot of things I did and said that we never talked about – I think we need to talk about them now, if we're ever going to re-build and strengthen our friendship again."

"If you think we need to, Buffy, I'd be happy to make this a regular occurrence."

"With coffee, and tea…and maybe a little biscotti and scones on the side?" Buffy sounded hopeful.

"That sounds delightful, Buffy…and I know of a quaint little coffee shop nearby that serves everything you mentioned. Shall we make a regular date of it then?"

"No! No dates! Get togethers, yes…meetings and gatherings, you bet…but absolutely, under NO circumstances whatsoever, will there be dates!"

Giles chuckled. "Still twisting Destiny's tail?"

"With a vengeance!"

This time, Giles laughed loudly, making Buffy smile at the sound she heard so rarely from the reticent man.

"I'm pleased to hear that, luv."

"Giles? What's with all the 'luvs'? That's, like, the third time you called me that. You've never done it before."

"Well…erm…I-I suppose it's because I don't have the Council looming over my shoulder, stipulating the forms of propriety I must show towards my Slayer. I-if it bothers you, I will endeavor to desist…"

"Woah there…Stuffy-Watcher alert! I don't have a problem with it Giles – it's actually kinda…nice…makes me feel like the distance between us isn't so…distant."

"A very small crevice, if I do say so myself."

"An itty-bitty gap."

"Very miniscule."

Buffy could feel the warmth of his tone through the connection, and it made her happy. Hugging that feeling to herself, she changed the subject before they got too mushy.

"How's Dawn's training going?"

"Do you have several hours?" Giles bemoaned.

"That bad, huh?"

"I do believe I mentioned that she is more rebellious than even you were – let's just say that that's an understatement."

"Do you need some help?"

"Actually, I do need to speak with you about taking over Dawn's training for a few days."

"Oh?"

"Yes…I just received a call from the Council lawyers the other day. I was informed that the items within the Council's facility survived the explosion – apparently, there were several spells placed upon all the books and objects within the building that protects them from everything up to and including an apocalypse."

"You're telling me that the Council was smart enough to put spells into place that protected the books, but they didn't think to put it on the whole building?!" Buffy asked incredulously. If it wasn't for the appalling loss of life, she would have laughed hysterically.

"Well…erm…I may have said that the Council possessed extensive knowledge about the mystical world, but I never claimed them to be intelligent as individuals. Be that as it may, I need to fly to England to take care of some paperwork that will enable me to take control of the Watcher Council's assets and executor power, and I'll need to make arrangements for the items to be shipped here…somewhere. I was hoping to do it soon, before the demonic activity picks up around here. Will you be able to take over Dawn's training, and possibly patrol with her until I return?"

"Sure, Giles. Actually…" Buffy's voice turned wicked, "I'll train her exactly the way I'm being trained. Jack's been helping me out with my form, since I can't exactly get up and down the mountain to train with you without bothering someone to drive me there."

"Jack?"

"Colonel O'Neill…he's a black-belt in several disciplines," Buffy explained. She grinned evilly into the phone. "And if you want, I'll train Dawn into submission for you…Jack-style. His way is tough, and he won't take crap from anyone – I should know, when I turned to say 'Hi' to someone during our training session, he landed me on my ass, put his foot on my neck, and said 'We train my way, got it?'…I could tell he was ready to walk if I said 'No'. If it works on Dawn, I'll let you know…not that you need any help if you decide to let Ripper out to play."

"Well…erm…"

"I want her to survive, Giles…do what you need to do to make that happen."

"I will, Buffy."

The two tentatively made arrangements for Giles' departure and Buffy's coverage within the next couple of weeks – she was a little uneasy about staying overnight at the house, since she hadn't spoken with Xander the entire time she was gone, but decided that she would just have to see how things worked…if they didn't, she'd figure something out.

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Something was wrong.

Something important, but not conspicuous enough for others to notice…well, except maybe by Jack, but even he didn't know what it was exactly.

Teal'c was a lot more silent than usual, if that was possible. For the past two days, Buffy had been surreptitiously watching the large Jaffa as he interacted with the others. While not outright unfriendly, he was more distant than usual…not to mention excessively controlled – Buffy was starting to miss all his eyebrow raising.

And it wasn't just the lack of camaraderie with his team members…Teal'c had also stopped joining Buffy in the mornings for Tai'Chi, not to mention their martial arts lessons. There were no excuses, no mention as to why…he just stopped showing up.

Buffy sighed…she knew why, though.

The guilt had set in.

And Teal'c, with his oh-so-anal warrior code, was apparently trying to make it so that he wasn't even more dangerous to the others than he already was – both physically and emotionally.

Setting her chin, Buffy stomped off towards Teal'c's quarters to nip the whole thing in the bud before it damaged anything or anyone.

So set on her path, she didn't notice the Colonel, who had seen her from one of the side-corridors. Curious as to her expression of irritation and the stubborn set of her jaw, he followed her, and was surprised when she burst into Teal'c's quarters with barely a knock.

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"All right, Buster…you and me are gonna have a little talk."

Teal'c stared expressionlessly at her from his position on the floor surrounded by candles.

Buffy slammed the door closed again at his lack of reaction, not noticing that the force caused the door to bounce open a couple of inches – a fact that a certain Colonel took advantage of, as he leaned against the wall just outside the door, interested in why a certain temperamental blonde was angry at the ever-so-respectful Jaffa.

"And don't give me that look…we're gonna talk about your attitude if I have to pin you to the floor with your own staff weapon!"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Outside the door, O'Neill mimicked his expression.

"That's better." Buffy hopped up on the table and folded her legs Indian-style, placing her arms on her knees as she leaned forwards. "Now…I know why you're being all avoidy with me, Teal'c…not to mention the lack of warm-fuzzies with your teammates. Oh, it may not be as apparent to the others, but it is to me. I've been watching you very, very closely Teal'c…ever since you pulled through that Rite thingy. Do you want to know why?" Seeing no reaction, Buffy continued. "It's because I've gone through the same thing myself."

Teal'c cocked his head at her.

"Oh, I'm not talking about the 'life flashing before your eyes' thing, though I have gone through that a few times – no, I'm talking about believing that your life is different than you thought it was…being so sure the other life is the right one…believing in the lies! I've been there, Teal'c, and I know what you're feeling now – a big, whopping plateful of guilt, with a side-dish of self-flagellation.

"You see…a couple of years ago, I was stabbed by this demon. Don't ask what it was called, 'cuz a lot of demons have really weird names…this one sounded like gurgle cashmere-neck, or something like that. Anyway, I was stabbed…and it had this really fun 'alternate reality' poison that made me think that my life was some kind of self-created fantasy – that, in my mind, I imagined myself to be a superhero, action-hero best-friends and irritating sister purchased separately. In my so-called real life, my mom was still alive, and both she and my dad were still married. And me?...I just happened to have been stuck in a mental institution for six years, living out my superhero life in my head.

It was so real, Teal'c…everything was explained away with some medical mumbo-jumbo, and my parents seemed so happy that I was on the road to recovery. My life could be normal, and perfect, and-and my mom would still be alive…there was just one little thing I had to do in order to cure myself…to make that life really real…I just had to kill my friends…and my sister. So simple, eh, Teal'c? In order to have that perfect life, I had to destroy the other one…this one." Buffy dropped her gaze to her lap, as she whispered out, "And I almost did it…I was so close."

Outside the door, Jack blanched. When Buffy's voice dropped to a mere whisper, he leaned closer to the door in order to hear the rest.

"We had captured the demon that stabbed me, because the only antidote was the skewer it used to inject the poison. The doctor in the other reality convinced me that I had to get rid of everything that helped keep the hallucination alive…my friends…my sister...I had to kill them in order to get well. I…I knocked them out and tied them up in the basement, then…then I set the demon loose on them – watching as it attacked my friends…Dawnie…all while my mother encouraged me to let them go. Then she said something…my mom…she said 'You've got a world of strength in your heart. I know you do. You just have to find it again. Believe in yourself.' – and I knew I had to choose."

Buffy fell silent for a long moment, prompting Teal'c to quietly ask, "And what did you choose, BuffySummers?"

"I'm here, aren't I? I chose this reality, because life is also about pain, loss, and things you wish didn't exist or happen…but, you know, all of that's OK when you have the love of your friends and family. Yeah, the other life was perfect…but it was too perfect to be real. And that's something that you would have realized too, Teal'c. It may not have been right away, but there would have been something that made you question that life – something Jack, Daniel, or Sam might have said, or maybe looking at the face of your son and seeing the truth shine from his eyes…just…something. And that perfect world that Apophis created would have come tumbling down."

Buffy uncrossed her legs and hopped off the table.

"It wasn't really you, Teal'c, just like it wasn't really me. So, I say to you…you've got a world of strength in your heart, Teal'c. I know you do. You just have to find it again. Believe in yourself. You have your real life to live again – but you have to choose to go on, just like I did. I chose…I killed the demon, and I begged my friends and sister to forgive me." Buffy laid a gentle hand on the large man's shoulder. "You know what they said, Teal'c?"

Teal'c raised his eyes to hers.

"Some things you don't need to ask forgiveness for, because it's already given."

From outside the door, Jack smiled and walked away, knowing that things would be all right now.

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'One down, one to go,' Buffy thought as she exited Teal'c's room.

Checking her watch (standard issue for the SGC, which only came in big and bigger, much to Buffy's dismay), she saw that she still had another 30 minutes before she was due in the science labs for her last day of postings.

That gave her just enough time to hopefully pin down the elusive Dr. Jackson…OK, he wasn't so much elusive, as he was always surrounded by someone, which didn't do her much good in trying to find out what he had really wanted to ask her three weeks ago.

Taking the elevator up to Level 18, she quickly made her way to Daniel's office.

Pleased to see that he was alone, she moved to the side of the table opposite him, and climbed up onto an empty stool. Propping her chin onto her hand, she watched as the archaeologist continued to work with an intense concentration that made him oblivious to his surroundings…including his blonde-haired visitor.

Knowing she didn't have all that much time, she cleared her throat, grinning when Daniel's head popped up with a befuddled look in her direction.

"Buffy! Sorry, I…uh…didn't hear you come in." Daniel gave her a sheepish grin as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I could tell. Are you always so absorbed in your work?"

"When Jack's not popping in to bother me every hour, yes."

Buffy laughed.

"What can I do for you? Or is this just a friendly visit?" he smiled as he leaned forward on his forearms.

"Weeeeeell…I'm visiting…and I like to think that I am friendly, but there is something you can do for me, Daniel."

"And that is?"

Buffy crossed her arms on the table as she also leaned forward. "You can tell me what you really wanted to ask me three weeks ago."

A slight flush crept up Daniel's cheeks as he stood up straight. He looked down at his desktop and fiddled with several items as he said, "I don't know what you mean, Buffy…"

"Oh, don't give me that! You squirmed!"

"Huh? I what?"

"Squirmed…fidgeted…wriggled…pick a verb that describes your physical reaction to telling a fib."

Buffy smirked as she watched the archaeologist squirm exactly like he did three weeks ago when he said that he had wanted to ask her about demons.

Daniel opened his mouth to respond, but was brought up short by Buffy pointing a finger at him.

"Ahhhh! You're squirming again, Daniel. Don't even try to lie to me now – I'm onto you."

Daniel appeared to deflate as he let out his breath, his shoulders drooping in defeat.

"Come on, Dr. Jackson – it can't be that bad!" Buffy cajoled with a friendly smile.

"I…um…well, I was hoping you would…uh…" Daniel trailed off, cheeks flushed, as he looked down at his feet.

"You were hoping I would…?"

Daniel looked up as he heard someone pass by his office. Walking to the door, he looked out both ways, then shut the door.

Looking back at Buffy, he slowly approached her again, his hands digging into his pockets as he stopped uncertainly a few feet away.

"I…uh…"

"Daniel? What is it?" Buffy gave him a concerned look.

There was a moment of silence before Daniel finally said, "What do you see when you look at SG-1? I mean, as individuals?"

"Well…ummm…a Colonel who's a good fighter and leader, a Major who can not only kick ass, but is a really smart scientist, a Jaffa warrior, and a really intelligent archaeologist/linguist."

"And what is the common factor of three out of the four?"

Buffy thought for a moment before saying, "Well, unless you're talking about the fact that Jack hides his intelligence from everyone, the only thing I can think of is that three of them are trained to fight."

Daniel ducked his head.

Buffy's eyes widened as she made the connection.

"Oh! Oh, Daniel," Buffy shook her head sadly at him. "Is that was this is all about? You think you're the weak link? Don't you know that the rest of them think of you as a vital part of the team?"

"I know that! I know that I'm an important part of the team…but I also know that every time we step through the gate, all of them feel that they need to protect me." Daniel ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I just feel that I need to do something, so none of them have to go to such great lengths to watch my back, my front, my sides…"

"I get the idea, Daniel. You want to learn how to fight, so you can hold your own, right?"

"Yeah." Daniel looked down at his feet in embarrassment.

"Hey, hey…eyes up, Daniel! There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn to protect yourself," Buffy said with a gentle smile as the archaeologist met her gaze. "But I'm guessing you want to learn something that can be used right away…like, how to fight dirty."

"Well, since I'm sure any form of martial arts takes time, it would be nice to know how to disable someone in the mean time…but I'd like to learn both."

"How come you didn't ask Jack to teach you?" Buffy asked. When she saw him blush and duck his head, she realized why. "Nevermind – I think I know. It would be like me asking Giles to teach me how to read other languages…you admire them so much that you're embarrassed to show them your fumbling attempts."

Buffy grimaced at the thought of how many times she mispronounced the names of demons in her friends and Giles' presence…with their numerous eye-rolls, it got to be that she didn't even try to correctly attempt it anymore, only saying 'it sounded like' before pronouncing the name phonetically.

"Yeah," Daniel responded quietly, before the rest of her statement registered. He looked at her in surprise. "You want to learn languages?!"

The small blonde squirmed in her seat before she finally said, "Yeah…it would've helped a lot in the research, but Willow was so good at it, and then Dawn…"

"…that you were embarrassed by your fumbling attempts?" Daniel asked softly.

"Yeah."

The two were quiet for a moment before Daniel broke the silence.

"Want to help each other out?"

Buffy cocked her head at him. "I teach you to fight, and you teach me how to read another language?"

"Languages…plural…I know several."

"Fighting styles…plural…I know several." Buffy grinned at him.

"Touché." Daniel grinned back. "OK…how about Goa'uld and Latin for…?"

"Krav Maga and Jujitsu."

"Krav Maga?"

"A lethal form of street fighting that's easy to learn – and for what you need, probably a lot better than most formal disciplines…at least in the short term."

"Huh…never heard of it."

"Well, I never heard of Goa'uld until I came here, so we're even."

The two grinned at each other.

"Well, it will take me a little time to get stuff together for you…all my college texts are still packed away in boxes."

"You kept all your college texts?!"

Daniel blushed as he muttered that he liked to keep them around to reference, and had also kept the workbooks, answer keys, homework, and tests too.

Buffy laughed. "You and Giles are like two peas in a pod, Daniel…pack-rat peas. But, since it's going to help me out, I'm not complaining."

"I'll clear a shelf in here and put them in order for you – actually, I'll put all my books in here and get clearance for you…that way, if you want to work on any language when I'm not here, you can still get to them. I've heard you don't get much sleep."

"Ain't that the truth." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"I'm afraid that I'll have to teach you most of the Goa'uld language myself, though. I've put together a dictionary of terms, but I don't have formal instructions on the language structure yet. Teal'c's been helping when he can, but until he gets permission to access the computer systems, he has to work through me, and I've been pretty busy these days."

"Speaking of Teal'c, would you mind if he knows about me training you?"

Daniel looked reluctant.

"I'm only asking because the best time I can train you is in the morning, after I work with Teal'c. It's either that, or let Jack know, since I train with him after he finishes work for the day. You know Teal'c won't say anything, Daniel."

He let out a breath. "OK, but only Teal'c."

Buffy crossed her heart and held her hand upright, palm out. "I solemnly swear."

"…you're up to no good?"

The blonde woman looked startled for a moment before laughing.

"God Daniel…if you can make a Harry Potter reference, and I can get it, we both need to get a life."

Daniel chuckled as he watched her slide off the stool.

Buffy made her way to the door and opened it before turning back and saying, "0600 Daniel…don't be late."

He nodded his head then cringed as he realized that he was going to have to change his work habits…no more all-nighters, if he was going to take this seriously.

Daniel looked around his work-station then, pushing up his sleeves, began to clear some of the scrolls and books away, so as not to be distracted by them, which would inevitably lead to him whiling away late into the night.

He was seriously serious.

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"She took it apart into an additional six pieces, sir!"

Hammond looked surprised. "I was under the impression that Dr. Lee fully disassembled a unit prior to sending one of them off to Area 51 for further study."

"I know! I thought so too, but when I congratulated her on finishing, she gave me a funny look and said she wasn't done. I think her enhanced eyesight enabled her to see where the pieces met, like the tripod."

Having just completed her disassembly testing session with Buffy Summers, Sam had immediately rushed off to the General's office in excitement over the discovery.

"How well did Ms. Summers do with disassembling it at the specific juncture?"

"At first, she went to take it apart in the most obvious, but incorrect, sequence, sir…but she stopped almost immediately. After she disassembled it correctly, I asked why she didn't do it the other way…she said her 'spidey senses tingled'. Buffy seems to think it's one of the new skills she was given."

Hammond looked pleased. "That's excellent news, Major! Do you have any ideas for the best way to utilize Ms. Summers' skills?"

Carter's shoulders slumped.

"If she knew how to name or describe the components, I would have said to have her work on her own, but…well…I think it would be best if she worked with both myself and Dr. Lee at this point. We could set up microscopes and cameras to film anything she disassembles, and add commentary at a later date – either verbal or written. Buffy could provide additional information, such as difficulties or specific sequences."

Leaning back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face, the General asked, "Would the technical aspects be something that she could learn quickly?"

"It depends on how well she picks up on it. Are you thinking about the educational program we discussed, sir?"

"Possibly, Major. Would you be able to obtain some books for Ms. Summers to get a feel for how well she could grasp the concepts? If she does well, we can see about creating some kind of work-study program for Ms. Summers."

"Yes, sir. I'll see if I can get a hold of the texts they use at the Academy."

"Excellent, Major. And, if possible, I'd like to have your report by the end of the day today for the briefing tomorrow at 0900 hours."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed." Hammond nodded his head her.

As Sam left the General's office, a slight frown marred her face. While the testing had gone extremely well, Sam couldn't help feeling a little disappointed – Buffy had instantly been at ease with the rest of SG-1, but had been quite subdued in Sam's presence…she would even go so far as saying that the small blonde had been uncomfortable.

Sam couldn't think of any reason why Buffy acted so differently around her – at least, she didn't think she did anything to make Buffy uncomfortable. Actually, she had gone out of her way to try and make Buffy feel welcome in her lab. When the small blonde continued to be withdrawn, well…to be honest, it hurt a little.

Entering the lift, Sam's hand hovered over the buttons before finally pressing the one for Level 18. 'Maybe Daniel will know,' she thought.

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"I'm sure she'll warm up to you soon, Sam," Daniel said sympathetically. "Maybe you shouldn't try so hard."

"But why is she so comfortable with the rest of you? I mean, she has less in common with Teal'c, but she's still relaxed around him."

Daniel was at a loss how to respond to that.

"Helloooo…am I interrupting?"

Colonel O'Neill ambled in, hands in his pockets as he gave the two a quirky smile, which changed to a look of concern at Sam's dejected expression.

"You OK, Carter?"

"She's a little…upset…that Buffy doesn't feel as comfortable around her as she does the rest of us, Jack. Sam seems to think she might have done something wrong." Daniel smiled faintly.

"Carter? Nahhhh! Summers is probably just a little intimidated…give her some breathing room, and she'll be your bosom buddy in no time." Jack bounced on the balls of his feet as he grinned at her.

"Intimidated? Why should she be intimidated…she can wipe the floor with me." Carter looked confused.

"Ahhh, but you're not just a soldier, Carter." O'Neill removed one of his hands from his pocket, and tapped his forehead. "You're also a brilliant scientist."

"But why wouldn't she have the same problem with Daniel? He's intelligent too, just in a different field."

"Daniel's not female."

"Sir?"

"Come on, Carter…put the pieces together. You're both female and can fight – granted, she's stronger and faster, but you can hold your own too. But take a look at the other stuff…you're exceptionally brilliant, and were probably encouraged throughout your entire educational experience…"

"…while she was discouraged, insulted, and ridiculed. So, while she may be confident in her fighting skills, she's not with her intelligence." Carter shook her head sadly as she made the connection. "She's comparing herself to me, and finding herself lacking."

"Got it in one."

"But I was under the impression that one of her friends is a genius."

"They're also the same age, and met when they were 15. Face it, Carter…you're the type little girls look up to, and want to grow up to be. Summers isn't immune to that yet…she's still kinda young."

Carter blushed and looked down in embarrassment.

Daniel and O'Neill exchanged grins.

"Just be yourself, Sam…I'm sure something will break the ice – you just need to let it happen naturally," Daniel said soothingly.

"And if that doesn't work, we'll get her drunk…no one can be uncomfortable when they're drunk," Jack added with a grin.

Carter rolled her eyes.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

He'd never felt so unsure of himself as he did now, watching two experienced warriors having it out, holding nothing back.

Daniel shifted uncertainly as he stood to the side of the closed door, a few minutes before 0600…the time Buffy had set up for his first training session. Seeing the precision both Buffy and Teal'c showed in their swift movements, he felt like an uncoordinated geek next to them and, for the hundredth time, questioned his decision to learn martial arts.

It was too late to change his mind, though, as the two combatants called a halt to their mock fight, which was no less dangerous in its intensity as a real one. They bowed at each other before turning towards the quiet archeologist.

"Hey Daniel! Glad to see you made it!"

"Good morning, Buffy…Teal'c."

"DanielJackson, I am pleased to see you have chosen to improve your fighting skills – it is a wise man who recognizes his own weaknesses, but it is a strong man who takes steps to defeat them. I am honored that you have allowed me to know this." Teal'c gave him a deep bow.

Daniel was both flattered and embarrassed. "Um…you're welcome?"

Seeing that Daniel felt like a fish out of water, Buffy hurried to get him started before he changed his mind.

"Sorry if it looks like I'm terrible at time-management, but I actually wanted to overlap things, so you could be part of our warm-down routine, which is the same one we use to warm-up with. It's a mid-level Tai Chi routine that stretches and loosens your muscles."

She gestured him to a spot next to her.

As Daniel moved to where she indicated, he hesitantly said, "Shouldn't I start out with the intro-levels?"

"Nah…that's for people who aren't very coordinated with their own bodies. With the intricate work you do, you're more in control, and aware, of every movement you make – if you weren't, you'd be breaking stuff left and right," Buffy replied, waving a dismissive hand in the air. Giving him a smile, she gestured at herself. "Just follow what I'm doing, and don't worry about getting it perfect…the movements themselves will help you to loosen up your muscles. I'll teach you the routine over the next few days."

Daniel gave her a sharp nod, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"Relax, Daniel…you're not going to be graded." Buffy gave him a soft smile, which made the man relax a bit.

She began the routine, and Daniel did his best to follow. It was challenging – and though he didn't move as gracefully as the other two, he didn't do too badly.

"Pretty darn good for your first time, Daniel," Buffy grinned at him.

Daniel grinned back at her, feeling pretty relaxed by that point.

"OK, so here's what I was thinking…first I'll teach you one or two moves from the Krav Maga discipline, and we'll practice those for most of the time left, then finish off with the Tai Chi routine again. We won't start on the Jujitsu for a while, at least until you've got the Tai Chi down pat, and can do it in your sleep – it should help you get the feel for some of the movements used in martial arts. Sound OK, so far?"

He nodded.

"I hope you don't mind, but Teal'c is going to stick around for the Krav Maga stuff – you don't exactly find Jaffa in my size, so he's going to be the 'dummy'," she snickered at the larger man when he lifted an eyebrow at her. "Don't hold back on any of the moves…it'll be my responsibility to stop you before you make contact on certain ones, and since Teal'c can handle a lot of damage, he doesn't want you to hold back on the others."

Daniel looked hesitant.

"Do not worry for my safety, DanielJackson. We will be reviewing each move extensively before any attempts are made, so no harm will befall either of us," Teal'c said.

"If you're sure, Teal'c."

Teal'c gave him a small bow. "I am sure, DanielJackson."

Both men turned towards Buffy, indicating they were ready to begin.

"OK, now that that's settled, let's get started. The first thing you need to know, Daniel is that you won't be leaving this room unbruised. Krav Maga is as ugly as it sounds…it's simple and efficient, but brutal and nasty. You'll learn how to quickly end a fight by either injury or death…"

Daniel listed with both interest and horror as Buffy described just what his training would entail, and wondered if he would survive it intact…both physically and mentally.

I

I

I

"Knock, knock…you decent, Daniel?"

whimper

Buffy chuckled.

"Moan if you're at least clothed enough not to embarrass either of us."

moan

Buffy entered the locker room, stifling her laughter. The room was small enough so that she immediately caught sight of the archeologist, who was sitting on the bench, hunched over his legs. He wore only his boxers, and drops of water from his shower still freckled his skin.

"I brought you a present," she said, a slight smile gracing her lips.

Daniel only grunted in response.

Taking pity at the sight of a few bruises beginning to form, not to mention the man's apparent exhaustion, Buffy set her 'present' down and immediately got to work.

Unscrewing the top of the jar, she scooped up some of its contents, and began to massage it into Daniel's skin, paying close attention to the muscles she had forced him to use during their training session.

When the heat of the balm began to penetrate into his muscles, Daniel let out a sighing moan, causing Buffy to smile.

"I should warn you that you're going to feel this way after each lesson…at least for a while, until you get used to using the various muscles."

Daniel whimpered.

Chuckling, Buffy continued, "But you'll be surprised how quickly that'll be. And until then, I'll be here after your shower with my," Buffy paused the movements of one hand to pick up the jar and read the label, "with my Icy Hot and a massage, so you can at least move for the rest of the day. Deal?"

He gave a soft moan of pleasure as Buffy managed to relax a particularly stubborn knot in his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes'," she giggled.

No other words were spoken as Buffy completed her massage – covering almost every available inch of Daniel's body with the fragrant balm, including hands and feet.

Finishing up with his left hand, she gently dropped it onto his knee. "There…all done – and now you smell minty-fresh."

Grabbing a fresh towel, she wiped as much of the slick balm off her hands as she could, and dumped it in the hamper.

Daniel watched her with eyes barely cracked open, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Are you capable of speech yet, Daniel?" Buffy laughed.

He gave a non-committal 'mmm'.

Buffy laughed again. "Well, you have approximately 10 minutes before you make your usual appearance in the Mess for coffee and breakfast. If you don't want Jack to get suspicious, I'd keep to your normal routine if I were you."

Daniel sighed, but nodded his head. He slowly got to his feet, surprised that he could move with more ease than he thought he would be able to.

"Ahh, the wonders of specially formulated pain-relieving balm, eh?" Buffy smirked at him.

"The massage wasn't too bad either," Daniel smiled. "Thanks, Buffy."

"No, prob, Daniel…I could tell you really needed it."

The small blonde picked up the jar, and made her way to the door. She paused before opening it, and turned back towards the silent man.

"You did really well today, Daniel…even Teal'c was impressed," Buffy said with a smile, then exited the room.

Daniel beamed.

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"I think you're gonna be scrubbing toilets…what do you think Daniel? Doesn't she look like a toilet scrubber?"

"Hmmmm….I think I'd have to go with dishwasher. How about you, Sam?"

"Light-bulb changer."

"Light-bulb changer? That's kinda blah, Carter."

"Well, the world is getting tired of revolving itself around you in order for one of you guys to do it."

Buffy laughed, her cheeks flushing brightly over the guesses being made for her future duties at the SGC. She was enjoying the ribbing.

"It is of my opinion that none of the suggested duties would make use of BuffySummers' skills." Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"That's the point, T!"

Teal'c cocked his head, then nodded slightly.

"If that is the case, then I believe her duties will consist of being stationed on Level 11, to raise and lower the lifts in the event that the power to the elevator fails."

After a moment of shocked silence at hearing the Jaffa actually joke, they all burst out laughing.

It was into this amused atmosphere that General Hammond entered.

O'Neill and Carter stood at attention, but were unable to stop grinning.

"At ease, Colonel, Major," Hammond responded as he took his seat. "May I ask what's so amusing?"

As the two officers re-took their seats, O'Neill quipped, "We're just speculating on Summers' duties, General…Teal'c beat us all, hands-down."

Hammond quirked an eyebrow.

"Elevator failsafe, should we ever lose power."

The General chuckled.

"I'll be sure to note that suggestion in her file, Colonel. But, as it is, there are more important places Ms. Summers will be of better assistance."

"Let me guess…it's not the kitchens," Buffy drawled with a grin.

Hammond coughed to hide a chuckle. "I'm afraid not. Not after the…incident with Airman Trujillo."

"Ooooo…incident? How come we haven't heard about 'The Incident'? Do tell, Summers." O'Neill looked at the blonde woman sitting next to him in interest.

"He was…hovering…over my neck. I politely told him to move…several times. He didn't. Not my fault his face was in the way of the back-swing of my meat tenderizer."

O'Neill's jaw dropped.

Carter choked on a laugh. "Broken nose?"

"…with multiple indentations." Buffy grinned at her. "I apologized, but the Sergeant in charge thought I was distracting the others, anyway. We parted on good terms, so I'm not banned from the entire mess hall…just the kitchen portion."

Hammond hid his grin behind one of his hands. Little did Ms. Summers know that, on the one day of posting she was in the kitchens, there were several officers and soldiers who had complained about the food being under-cooked, over-cooked, or burnt beyond recognition…the only edible item that day had been the coffee. Distraction, indeed.

Opening the folder in front of him, the General scanned the list of possibilities.

"Well, considering we had set that posting up prior to knowing about your assembly and disassembly skills, it would have been a waste of your talents. As it is, there are several departments that would welcome you back, Ms. Summers, though I am confused as to how the armory was added to the list."

"Uh…well…since I had a free day after the kitchen fiasco, Jack was nice enough to set up a session where I could practice re-arming the weapons…but I didn't know the soldier-guy was going to write a report on it." Buffy looked confused.

"That would be my doing, General. I asked Sergeant Eddison to fill out a report to be added to Summers' weapons assessment," O'Neill offered as an explanation.

Hammond nodded before giving a brief smile. "I must say, it's quite…glowing."

"I knew the Sergeant was impressedwith Summers, but glowing?" O'Neill moved to read the report, which the General turned to allow him to review. Grinning as he finished, he turned to Buffy. "Looks like you made another conquest, Summers."

Buffy grimaced. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Aww, come on…he really likes you. I thought I saw him flexing his pecs when I came by."

"Shut up, Jack."

"Prancing around like a peacock…must be true love." Jack fluttered his eyelashes at her.

"Shut up, Jack."

The others shook in silent laughter.

"You two would be so cute together, Summers."

"Shut up, Jack."

"Awww…ain't young love grand!" Jack clasped his hands together, pressing them against his chest.

Buffy hooked a leg around Jack's chair and pulled it away from the table then, using her foot, she shoved him in the direction of the General's office.

The chair rolled swiftly across the floor, a surprised Jack holding onto the arms, and shot through the opening, rebounding off the office door, pushing him further into the other room. The force of the occupied chair hitting it caused the door to bounce shut behind him.

Daniel began laughing hysterically, and even the General and Major couldn't help themselves, as they burst into loud chuckles. Teal'c's eyes danced as he gave Buffy a small grin.

"Remind me never to play pool against you, Buffy," Sam laughed.

Buffy flashed her a smirk before giving the General an innocent expression. "I must regretfully decline Sgt. Eddison's offer to help 'oil his tools', General."

Carter gave her an incredulous look. "He actually said that?!"

"I think he thought he was being subtle," Buffy snorted.

The door to Hammond's office was flung open, and O'Neill stalked out with an annoyed expression on his face, rolling his chair in front of him.

"Funny, Summers…very funny," he ground out as he reached the table and flopped back into his chair.

Buffy smirked at him.

Hammond cleared his throat as he bit back smile. "I believe it's safe to say that your talents would be wasted in the armory also, Ms. Summers. I've reviewed the reports of each department you were posted in, and have chosen those which would best suit the needs of this base. Unless you have any objections, I would like you to divide your time between working with Major Carter, Dr. Lee, and Ms. Dreher, depending on current needs and work-loads."

"Ms. Dreher?"

"Chloe," Daniel explained.

Buffy's confused expression cleared, and she smiled at the thought of working with the somewhat shy woman.

Hammond continued. "These positions will focus on the technology that is brought back from missions. With Major Carter and Dr. Lee, you will be filming the dismantling of items, and provide commentary when you can – Major Carter will explain the position in more detail later. And with Ms. Dreher, you will provide assistance in assembling the items that arrive in pieces, as you did before."

"Hey…build me another weapon, Summers – one that I can test here," Jack cajoled as he gave her a nudge.

Buffy grinned, looking pleased with the General's choices.

"But before you start, Dr. Frasier would like to spend a couple of weeks training you first. As we discussed before, the doctor would like you to be a back-up to the field medics, in addition to when they are short-handed here."

"Summers is gonna have access to needles?!" O'Neill yelped.

Buffy gave him an evil grin. "Better be nice to me Jack."

Jack blanched as the others chuckled.

"Do you have any objections, Ms. Summers?" When the small blonde shook her head, he continued. "Excellent. We'll review your progress in two months, and make changes or adjustments as necessary."

"Aren't you going to tell her the good news, sir?" Carter smiled.

Hammond smiled at Buffy. "Congratulations, Ms. Summers…you're cleared for gate travel, and will accompany SG-1 next Wednesday on their mission to P4X-552."

Buffy grinned, looking excited.

"Yeah, congrats, Summers…I get to order you around." Jack flashed her his own evil grin.

"Abuse it and I'll whup your ass…ets." Buffy glanced briefly at the General, making sure she hadn't just committed a faux pas. Seeing him chuckle, she relaxed. "By the way, what's with the alphabet-number soup names?"

"Some binary…thing," Jack responded, waving a hand in the air.

"Nerd numbering?"

"Nerd numbering."

"Bleh."

"My thoughts exactly."

Sam and Daniel rolled their eyes.

"Well, I'm surprised the doc cleared me…she's still shoving food down my throat."

"While you haven't reached her target weight, Dr. Frasier is satisfied with your progress. As long as you continue to follow the set dietary rules she prescribed, at least until you reach and maintain the target weight, the doctor has no objections to allowing gate travel," Hammond explained.

"Summers gained weight? Where? She's still so tiny," O'Neill mocked.

"What…am I supposed to hold them out for inspection?" Buffy raised an eyebrow.

With that remark, the Colonel couldn't help it as his eyes flickered down briefly, a slight bit of red crossing his cheeks when he saw that Buffy had noticed his unintentional glance. Flabbergasted, he extolled a heavy breath, and looked anywhere except at the small blonde sitting next to him. "So, Summers is cleared for gate travel…"

Buffy pressed her lips firmly together to keep from laughing, as she noticed the others doing the same.

"Is this not cause for celebration, O'Neill?" Teal'c cocked his head in question.

"Oh Yeah! Beer, food, and pool at O'Malley's anyone? Say…0900 hours?"

The others, minus Hammond, agreed enthusiastically.

"I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain-check, Colonel…family obligations, you understand."

"Of course, Sir. Hey, T…why don't you take Summers with you, and I'll handle Daniel."

"I can drive myself, Jack."

"If there's beer involved…no you can't."

"He a light-weight?" Buffy asked curiously.

"All Danny-boy has to do is smell beer, and he gets drunk."

"That's not true!" Daniel looked disgruntled.

Buffy sniggered.

Chuckling, Hammond called the meeting to a close.

"Ms. Summers, Colonel O'Neill, I'd like to speak to you further in my office. The rest of you are dismissed."

Everyone rose from the table, and Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c gave Buffy their own congratulations before leaving the room.

O'Neill gestured the small blonde woman into the General's office before entering himself and closing the door behind him.

Hammond waved the two to the chairs in front of his desk, waiting until they were seated before speaking.

"I wanted to speak with you further about your future here, Ms. Summers. I have a few ideas of how you could best contribute to the SGC besides the duties we just discussed. At the moment, they're still tentative, and will depend largely on both your agreement and Colonel O'Neill's assessment."

Buffy and O'Neill exchanged glances.

"General?"

"Although you will be accompanying SG-1 to get gate-travel experience, it will only be a temporary posting, Ms. Summers. Placing you permanently on SG-1 would be a waste of your skills, both as a fighter and as a leader. Taking into account the results of your assessment tests, your experiences as a Slayer, and the skills you've displayed with alien technology, not to mention your ability to manipulate shadows and whatever other talents you have yet to discover…I would like to create another SG team that would revolve around the abilities and skills you have shown."

Both Buffy and the Colonel looked surprised.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sir? I thought we were trying to keep Summers' under wraps as much as possible?"

"We are…which is why part of the decision depends on whether or not Ms. Summers agrees."

"Huh?" Buffy looked confused.

"I was informed that two particular individuals recently turned in applications to join the SGC, but am unsure how you would feel about working with them," Hammond said as he slid a folded piece of paper towards Buffy.

Buffy opened the slip of paper and scanned it. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Graham's here?!"

"Who?" the Colonel asked, confused.

"Captain Miller is currently stationed at the Fort Carson Army base, as is Lt. Templeton."

"Who's Captain Miller?" O'Neill tried to interrupt again.

"Captain?! Last I heard, Graham was a Lieutenant…go Graham! Not sure I know Lt. Templeton, but he might have been part of the group that Riley hung out with…the name Jay sounds familiar, but it's been a whi…mmmph."

O'Neill covered Buffy's mouth as he bit out, "Who…is…Captain…Miller? And Lt. Templeton…and Riley, for that matter!"

Buffy narrowed her eyes in irritation, then licked his hand.

"Ewww!"

Quickly removing his hand, O'Neill wiped his palm on his pant leg as Buffy smirked at him.

"They're all part of the Initiative, Oh Impatient One…or is that were in Graham and Jay's case, General?"

"I am of the understanding that both Capt. Miller and Lt. Templeton are no longer with the Initiative, Ms. Summers. Their files make no mention of their previous activities beyond an exemplary commendation from General Markson…there was no reason given for their transfer either."

"Probably got tired of living in the middle of the jungle, where there's none of the three B's in sight." Buffy laughed at their confused looks and held up her hand, ticking off each word with her fingers as she spoke them. "Bathrooms, beds, and babes."

Both the General and Colonel chuckled.

"Do you think you can work with them, Ms. Summers?"

"As I was trying to say before," Buffy gave a quick glare at Jack, "it's been a while. Graham was a pretty decent guy, if a little on the repressed side – he was supportive during my brief stint with their group, though, and it didn't seem to bother him that I was the better fighter. If he hasn't drastically changed, I think we could work together. But, I'm afraid I don't remember much about Jay."

"I will be holding a personal interview with them tomorrow afternoon – which I expect you to attend, Colonel – I'm sure we can get a general feel of how well they'll fit in here."

"Oh joy…interviewing newbies." O'Neill made a face. "So who's going to head the team, and just what kind of team will it be?"

"As I mentioned, everything is still tentative, but I believe Ms. Summers' skills would be of most use in a combination covert ops and rescue team."

"Covert ops?! We don't have enough intel for that kind of team to be of any use, even with what the Tok…no…No!" The Colonel scowled as he realized just who the General wanted the new team to work with. "If you tell them about her, you might as well tattoo 'guinea pig' on Summers' forehead!"

"It would only be Jacob, Colonel…and it would also get a foot in the door to be involved in more of their underground network, which would be a hell of a lot more information than we're getting now!"

"But if you involve Jacob, you involve Selmak too! Do you think she's just going to sit quietly by and let someone with Summers' skills go unnoticed by their scientists?!"

"I grant you, there's a chance that Selmak would feel the need to inform the Tok'ra council, but I'm sure Jacob can to convince her that the benefits of having someone like Ms. Summers working with them far outweighs scientific research that would reveal nothing."

"But someone like Anise won't accept that!"

Buffy looked back and forth between the two arguing men.

"Um…hello? Is anyone going to ask for my opinion?"

Having forgotten for a moment that Buffy was sitting right next to the scowling Colonel, both men started at her interruption, and turned to see her waving at them.

Once she saw that she had their attention, she voiced her own concerns. "As interesting as the thought of being part of a covert ops team is, I have to go with the Colonel on this one, General. I've read about Jacob, and can understand why you'd trust him – he's Sam's dad, after all – but Selmak's another matter…her loyalties are going to be with the Tok'ra first."

"Exactly!" O'Neill said, pointing a finger at Buffy as he looked at the General.

"And I understand that may be the case," Hammond said calmly, before giving O'Neill a pointed look. "Which is why I said tentative, Colonel. I will need to speak with both Jacob and Selmak first, to see if an agreement can be worked out to make Ms. Summers' skills available to the Tok'ra, but without revealing her secrets and, if possible, her identity to the entire Tok'ra community. When I said only Jacob, I meant only Jacob."

The Colonel still looked skeptical.

"Well, I'm not exactly keen on another person knowing about me, but I can see where you're coming from – the Tok'ra are more involved than the free Jaffa in knowing the whereabouts and movements of the System Lords," Buffy said slowly, her own skepticism showing on her face. "If you really think working with Jacob is the best way I can help, then…OK, but only if it can be restricted to Jacob and Selmak."

Hammond nodded his head in agreement before continuing, "There are still a lot of things to work out, but, given both your history and that of the ex-Initiative soldiers, you already have the cornerstone of the skills necessary to make an effective covert ops team."

"And that's where Jack comes in, right? He's gonna be the one to train us, then say 'yea' or 'nay' on whether or not we can cut it."

"That's correct."

Buffy sighed. "Geez, with all the assessing Jack's doing on me, I feel like he's gonna start criticizing my dismount and hold up score placards."

The two men chuckled.

"So, who's going to head the team, if you don't mind my asking?" O'Neill raised a questioning eyebrow.

The General cocked his head at Buffy. "Given the proposed candidates for the team, I don't believe you would accept either as the CO, Ms. Summers, will you?"

"To be honest, I'd rather not, General. They may be good guys, and excellent soldiers, but their methods are too 'rules' based…if the team is going to be covert ops and rescue, rules have to be bent, broken, and re-written – I don't know either of them well enough to know if they will do anything to win if they're in charge. I'm sure neither of you got to the level of General and Colonel by sticking strictly to the rules," Buffy looked Hammond in the eye with a look that was far too old for one of her years. "You know that sometimes you have to fight dirty and get your hands bloody in order to win."

Without breaking their locked gaze, the General nodded sharply. His heart felt old and heavy at hearing the young woman's words echoing those of the Secretary of Defense…he still had a hard time separating the youthful appearance of Buffy Summers with that of the battle-hardened veteran he knew her to be – one that had a hell of a lot more battle experience than most of the soldiers stationed in the SGC.

"I would rather have my team hate me for making them do something against the rules, than have them dead from following them," she said softly.

The General sighed heavily. "I'll take that into account when I make firmer plans, Ms. Summers."

"Not to be the voice of dissent, sir, but…leaving out her age for the moment, you know having a civilian CO is going to create some waves around here – especially for the type of team you're thinking of. There are at least two SG team members I know of that have been requesting to head their own team – I don't think they're going to take it lying down."

"And I'll handle that when the time comes. At the moment, there are too many variables that could change the outcome of my decision, not to mention the fact that I'm reluctant to leave it as a 3-member team, no matter how good you are Ms. Summers," Hammond said, holding up a hand to stave off the protest he could see coming. "There will be plenty of time to come up with alternatives, since Capt. Miller and Lt. Templeton would need to go through the requisite training and gate-travel experience if they're accepted into the program, not to mention the additional training Colonel O'Neill will need to provide you as a potential covert ops team."

"What kind of time-frame are we looking at?"

"Anywhere from 4-6 months from now, Colonel."

O'Neill whistled. "That's pretty quick, if you don't mind my saying so."

"And we need it to be – you know as well as I do that we've been flying blind on our trips through the gate. We need to start being more pro-active in knowing where our enemies are…if tying ourselves a little more closely to the Tok'ra will do that, I think we need to look into that possibility."

"Um…can I ask a question that's a little off-topic?" Buffy raised her hand tentatively.

The two men turned their attention to the small blonde.

"Yes, Ms. Summers?"

"I know that everything's still kinda tentative, but if we're gonna be secretly poking our noses around in places that I'm sure the Goa'uld aren't gonna want us to be, well…" Buffy paused a moment as she tried to think of the best way to ask her question, "…uh…if we should happen to come across some interesting items, did you want us to have…um…'sticky fingers'?"

Hammond and O'Neill exchanged surprised glances.

"I mean…most of the stuff that's being picked up has been abandoned, right? A lot of the items seem to be missing pieces, or are broken…why not snag a few things that you know will work?"

"I've considered that, Ms. Summers, but as a covert ops team, you can't be weighed down by unnecessary items."

Buffy and O'Neill exchanged a grin.

"Not a problem, Sir. Summers has a fanny-pack that has some interesting qualities to it."

Hammond raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask me how it works, but it opens up into a really big sub-space pocket about the size of a 10x10 room – I can fit tons of stuff in it, and large items are magically modified to re-size itself to fit through the opening," Buffy said, grinning at the stunned look on the General's face. "And once I put it on, no one but me can remove it."

"Told you she had a rocket launcher in her fanny-pack, sir," O'Neill chuckled.

"How..."

Buffy waved her hands in front of her. "No, no, no…don't know any answers to 'how' questions – some combination of magic and science that's way over my head. Willow or Giles might be able to explain it to you…all I know is that it requires a lot of power, and a deep understanding of how magic and science work separately and together, to make it. Why do you think I only have one of them?"

The General shook his head – if he didn't know better, he'd think Ms. Summers tried to shock him on purpose…but that was the Colonel's m.o.

"I'll…keep that in mind when I make my decision. Is it too much to ask if there's any way to make more?"

Buffy grimaced and shook her head. "Willow was completely wiped out for a couple of weeks after she made it, and swore she wouldn't do it again. Besides, she…uh…isn't…"

At the brief flash of sadness that crossed her face, O'Neill picked up where Buffy trailed off. "Buffy's friend has temporarily left their group for personal reasons."

On the word 'temporarily', O'Neill gave Buffy a firm look. She gave him a small smile in return.

"I don't know of anyone else powerful enough, much less willing, to make more. Sorry."

"I thought that would be the case. No worries, Ms. Summers, we've made do without for the past 4 years." Hammond sighed. Looking down at the papers on his desk, he moved a few around before picking one up. "When I have a firmer idea for the proposed team, we'll discuss it further. Now, I'd like to turn this discussion back to Ms. Summers' duties and allocation of her time. Based on what was selected, I've put together a tentative schedule."

The General handed the piece of paper over to Buffy. She looked it over carefully, the Colonel leaning over to read it also.

"Overall, you will be reporting to Colonel O'Neill, but, due to the scientific aspect of the work, Major Carter will be in charge of your schedule, what you will be working on, and the reviewing of your reports."

"Aw man! You've cut my time with her by half!" O'Neill grumbled.

"Just be lucky he didn't cut it all out, Jack," Buffy smirked. "What are these 'work-study' time-slots, General? They take up almost half the schedule."

O'Neill's eyes flicked up towards the General, and noted the composed expression on his face – it was going to be interesting to see how Hammond would handle the situation regarding Buffy's education.

"While you may be able to assemble and disassemble alien technology, it would be beneficial to everyone involved if you could work on your own at some point in the near future. To that end, you will need to be able to identify and describe, in technical terms, the various items and parts that you assemble and disassemble – and, in order for you to do so, you will need time in which to learn said technical terms."

'Smooth,' O'Neill inwardly smirked.

"What, you mean like…school?" Buffy asked, confused.

Hammond clasped his hands together on the desk in front of him as he pierced Buffy with his gaze. "I'm going to be straight with you, Ms. Summers…regardless of the fact that the President himself ordered that you be allowed to work with us, I felt it necessary to have a complete background check of you for our files."

The General held up a hand at the dismay on Buffy's face. "At ease, Ms. Summers – we understand the reasons behind your police record, and have taken measures to ensure that it is cleared of all charges. Unfortunately, the LAPD is insisting on an interview with you regarding the destruction of Sunnydale – we're holding them off for the moment, but we'll have to come up with some cover story for them since they are convinced you were in Sunnydale just before it collapsed."

"Me and my friends felt several earthquakes, officer, and were nervous that something bad was going to happen when it got up to 3 or 4 of them a day – so we decided to pack up some of our stuff and stay with a few friends in L.A. for a while. And it was a good thing, too, huh? I'm no geologist, officer, but everyone from Sunnydale knew the city was riddled with underground passageways," Buffy waved a hand in the air, an innocent expression on her face, "maybe the earthquakes caused them to collapse."

Hammond and O'Neill exchanged amused looks.

Clapping his hands, O'Neill smirked. "Bravo! A touch too much innocence, and the dismount was a little wobbly, but I give you a 9.7."

Buffy laughed.

"It's a plausible story, Ms. Summers, which I'll pass on to the Chief of Police. But, to get back to our original discussion, one of the things that came to light in the background check was your having to forego your college education for personal reasons. The U.S. military encourages the betterment of all their personnel, whether civilian or enlisted, and I would be remiss if I didn't offer you the same opportunity. If you wish your studies to count for a degree, the Air Force Academy has stated that, due to the time constraints and classified nature of the work you will be doing for us, they would be willing to accept you as a non-traditional student, and will forego the enlisting requirement."

Buffy looked stunned.

Hammond felt a deep pleasure at being able to make his offer to the young woman before him, especially when he knew she had gone through so much badness in a short amount of time.

"Before you decide, you need to understand that it would be a highly unconventional education, Ms. Summers – you would basically be teaching yourself, but your college transcripts lead me to believe that you could do it. There are several personnel here that have indicated they would be willing to help should you have any trouble, but for the most part, it will be up to you. Furthermore, while you would not be required to attend the standard classes and lectures, the Academy insists that all testing be done at the campus. Considering that you will still need to learn the technical information, I would highly recommend…"

"Yes."

"Pardon?"

"Yes…I want it to count as classes," Buffy said shakily, swallowing past a lump in her throat. Her eyes were wide, and moisture slowly gathered in them.

Seeing that the young woman had a very tenuous hold on her emotions, Hammond snagged a folder and held it out to her.

"Excellent choice, Ms. Summers. If you wouldn't mind filling out these forms and returning them to me as soon as you can, I'll see about having someone start the process of putting a schedule of subjects together for you in the mean time. We'll discuss it further as soon as I receive something more concrete."

Buffy accepted the folder with shaking hands as she stood.

"Dismissed, Ms. Summers…and congratulations."

"Thank you, sir," she said in a choked whisper before quickly slipping out the door.

The two men grinned at each other.

"You know, Jack, there are some things you get to do in life that make you feel really, really good."

"And this was one of them, eh, George?"

"Definitely."

They grinned again.

O'Neill stood, grabbing an item from the General's desk.

"Well, considering that Summers doesn't really know anyone here, I think I'll go play the part of the friendly towel…I need to change my shirt anyway."

Hammond chuckled as he heard the Colonel whistling as he left the office.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

O'Neill knocked on the door, but heard only silence that was occasionally broken by sniffling.

"I know you're in there Summers, open up!"

The door clicked open slightly, allowing the Colonel to push it open and enter.

Closing the door softly behind him, he watched as Buffy walked over to the table and placed the folder down on it.

"You OK there, Summers?"

"Yeah."

She sniffled again.

"No you're not."

Jack walked over to where she stood. Leaning a hip against the table, he held out the box of kleenex.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Summers…"

Buffy looked up briefly at him, before looking back down at the folder.

Jack shook the box of tissue under her nose, and she reached out to snag one, delicately blowing her nose before tossing the used tissue in a nearby trashcan. She snagged another.

"It's just…I…" Buffy broke off, then took a deep breath. "Things haven't exactly been…good for the past few years. Th-there's been a whole lot of bad…too much of it, really – death, sacrifices, death, too many responsibilities, death, badness, people trying to kill us all, death, death, and a hell of a lot more death," Buffy blurted out as she waved the tissue around. "And now…now I have someone else to help keep an eye on the Hellmouth, a job that sounds interesting, fun, and pays a hell of a lot more than minimum wage, new friends that don't expect me to be able to handle everything, just because I'm a Slayer…"

The small blonde trailed off, but the Colonel kept quiet, knowing she wasn't finished. He also kept the tissue box handy…Summers was trying so hard not to cry that it was plugging up her sinuses.

"Now, this…y-you don't know how much this means to me, Jack," she sniffled as she stroked a hand over the folder. "I wasn't exactly the best student, and really didn't care much for academics at the time, but…after having a taste of the only jobs you can get without a degree, well…I want more – I don't know exactly what, just…more…but I-I never thought I'd be able to go back. It's all just…just…"

"Overwhelming?" Jack softly supplied.

"Yeah," Buffy replied as she blew her nose again and tossed the tissue. "A-and with all this good stuff that's happening, well…"

"You're waiting for the other shoe to drop?"

Buffy nodded her head, sniffling. "A really butt-ugly 70's clog that screams badness in all its amazing technicolor glory."

"Come here," Jack stifled his chuckle as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

The small blonde held herself stiffly within his arms for a long time before finally relaxing and tentatively returning the hug – Jack got the impression that Buffy hadn't had a comforting touch, much less hug, by anyone in a long, long time.

"I won't lie to you, Summers…it's gonna be tough working here. More often than not, you or one of your teammates will come back through the gate injured. But, the one thing you will always have is the support, and friendship, of the people who work here…you just have to let everyone support you and be your friend. You're not gonna be fighting alone anymore, remember that."

When he felt her take a deep calming breath a while later, Jack thought it was time to bring a little levity back into the room and, hearing another sniffle, he held up the box of kleenex he had snagged from the General's office.

"I don't mind you if you decide to soak my shirt with tears, Summers…just don't wipe your boogers on it, OK?"

Buffy laughed.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"So?"

"So…what, Daniel?"

"Come on, Jack…you know what I'm talking about! How did she take it?"

O'Neill grinned. "She used up a whole box of kleenex."

Daniel looked confused for a moment before he understood. He grinned.

"I take it that means she was happy about it?"

"Very."

Daniel laughed.

"So she's OK with the subjects she's going to study? I know we're not giving her much choice, but…"

"Hammond didn't get that far."

"Why not?"

Jack's briefly glanced over at the younger man before he said, "She just about lost it at the thought of being able to go back to college."

"Oh."

"Hammond let her go after giving her the application forms to fill out…probably to let her have her dignity."

Daniel was silent.

"I was a towel."

"Huh?"

"A friendly one, though."

"What the hell are you talking about, Jack?"

"Summers doesn't know anyone else on the base…I thought she needed a friend, so I swung by her quarters."

"Hence the friendly towel remark."

"Yep."

"And the used up tissue."

"Yep."

"Do you like her, Jack?"

"She's cool."

"No, I mean like her, as in like her, like her."

"What…are we still in grade-school, Daniel?"

"Just answer the question, Jack."

"I'm old enough to be her father, Danny!"

"That's not an answer."

"I don't exactly fit her age criteria."

"That's not an answer either."

Jack fell silent for a moment before quietly saying, "It hasn't been all that long since the zatarc test."

While he wasn't positive, Jack was pretty sure that Daniel knew about the test…probably from Carter.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

The two men were silent for a while as they continued to drive towards the city, where they were to meet up with the others at O'Malley's.

"How about you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you like her, like her?"

Daniel gaped at him, his face flushing.

"You do!"

"Jack!"

"And you fit the age criteria."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"How do you know?"

"After that trip to 1969, I looked it up in your file…I knew you couldn't be 36, and I was right!"

"Oh."

"You lied."

"Yes, Jack, I lied."

"Why?"

"I was still intimidated by you…I didn't think you would respect me if you knew I was barely over 30."

"Big fat liar."

"Yes, Jack, I'm a big fat liar."

"So, do you?"

There was a long pause.

"It hasn't been all that long since Sha're," Daniel said softly.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

The two men fell silent again, and stayed lost in their separate thoughts until they reached their destination.

Jack parked his truck a ways from the restaurant, the busy street of downtown being crowded, even at 1900 hours, forcing him to park on a side-street a few blocks away.

Daniel reached for the door handle. Before pulling it to open the door, he looked over at the older man with a small smile.

"But I think I could."

Opening the door, Daniel moved to exit the vehicle, but was stopped by Jack's voice.

"Yeah."

Daniel chuckled in response. That one simple word was so Jack – saying nothing, yet saying everything…if you knew him well enough.

They exited the vehicle, looking across the seats through the open doors and shaking their heads wryly at each other.

"She's dangerous."

"You got that right."

The two men slammed the doors closed in unison.

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"Oh Damn…not a Fyarl demon!" Buffy groaned.

"Um…what's wrong with Fyarl demons?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"They have 'The Mucous'," she pouted.

"What about the mucous?"

"It paralyzes…and they shoot it through their nose. I so do not want paralyzing snot shot at me."

Daniel gaped at her.

"Paralyzing snot?" Jack said incredulously. "And I thought we were the only ones to encounter weird crap."

With the combination of both Buffy and Jack's track record of attracting trouble, it was inevitable that something big, bad, and ugly appeared just as they had taken a few steps away from their vehicles (Teal'c having parked behind O'Neill's truck).

"Stay here…unless one of you wants to take on the horned snot monster?" Buffy raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"No, no…feel free to confront the horned snot monster yourself. We'll just stand here and…not get snotted on," Jack smirked.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but approached the lumbering beast.

"Hey ugly! Where do you think you're going?"

The Fyarl demon stopped in its tracks and glared at her. It yelled out, and pounded on its chest.

"Oh, now that's scary…not!" Buffy scoffed.

The demon garbled out something else, stamping its feet and pounding on its chest again.

Buffy glared at it.

"That is so not true!"

Again, the demon said something, and used various caveman-like gestures to make its point.

Buffy looked affronted. She drew in a huffy breath, then let it out in a short stilted version of the same garbled language the demon spoke, pounding her own chest and stamping her feet. She pushed the demon for good measure.

The demon looked surprised at first, then extremely angry. He shouted out more garbled language, then pushed her back.

Neither Jack, Daniel, or Teal'c knew what to make of the scene, and their faces held various expressions of disbelief that the tiny woman was actually arguing with a 7 foot demon instead of just kicking its ass.

Jack leaned over to Daniel and said, "She speaks Fyarl?"

"Apparently so," Daniel responded absently as he tried to translate what they were saying, but was having a hard time with all the gargling sounds that apparently made up most of the language.

Buffy looked pissed.

The demon was making wuffling sounds, and Jack wondered if it was preparing to blow snot all over the blonde woman. Obviously Buffy thought so too, as she gave it a big thump on the chest and yelled out more garbled language.

The thump caused the demon to choke, and some unidentifiable gook dribbled out of its mouth. Through the choking, the demon garbled something back and stamped its foot.

Buffy whipped out her scythe and chopped off its head. As the body dropped to the ground, the head falling next to it, she snarled out, "I am not!"

Giving the body a kick, she stomped back to the group who was looking incredulously at her. Jack was the only one who seemed to have enough of a connection between his brain and mouth to ask any questions.

"What the hell was all that about?!"

Buffy scowled, "He insulted me. Then he had the nerve to mock me…with Monty Python!"

"What did it say?" Daniel asked, flabbergasted that an inhuman being actual knew a British comedy, much less was able to quote from it.

"From what I could make out, I'm pretty sure he said I wasn't meaty enough to eat, and that I was so much skinnier than a wafer-thin mint, I couldn't make a stuffed fat man explode if he ate me," Buffy said, looking hurt.

They all looked at her for a long moment, wide-eyed, before Daniel and Jack burst out in laughter. Teal'c looked a little confused over the reference, but still managed to catch the humor in the statement, and his lips twitched.

Buffy pouted, "It's not funny, guys."

When the two men continued to laugh, she huffed and stalked away.

As soon as they caught their breath, they hurried to catch up, still chuckling merrily. Jack slung a friendly arm around her shoulders, bringing her to a halt as he grinned down at her.

Daniel ran his gaze over the rapidly melting decapitated demon, but it was too far gone to make out any distinguishable features. He raised his eyes in time to see Jack bend down and whisper something in Buffy's ear that was too low for him to hear, then wriggle his eyebrows at her.

Buffy whacked the older man on the chest and tartly said, "That's gross Jack!" before stomping off.

Jack bent over in half, partly in laughter, and partly to catch his breath from the solid punch.

Daniel walked up next to him. "I can't tell if Buffy's amused or mad…what did you say to her, Jack?"

"You really don't want to know, Danny-boy," Jack snorted in amusement, rubbing his chest as he straightened up.

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Buffy stomped into the restaurant, and scanned the large room. Catching sight of Sam and Janet in a private table back behind the pool table, she swiftly made her way over.

Both Sam and Janet noticed the expression on her face.

Throwing herself into one of the seats, Buffy exclaimed, "Men!"

The other two women exchanged glances.

"What happened, Buffy?" Sam asked.

"Jack!"

"What did he do?"

"He's such a…a…guy!"

Before either of the women could probe that statement further, the three male members of SG-1 arrived, Jack still rubbing his chest, a smirk on his face.

Buffy scowled at him.

"You left that one wide open, Summers" Jack said as he took a chair opposite her.

"Didn't mean you had to take it!" If anything, her scowled deepened.

"What did he say?" Daniel asked, a little miffed that Jack wouldn't tell him.

The Colonel snickered.

"A typical guy-type comment – and that's all you need to know," Buffy said as she kicked Jack under the table.

"Ow!"

After taking her irritation out on Jack's shin, Buffy whipped out a cell phone, pressed a couple of buttons, then held the unit up to her ear. After a few seconds, the call apparently went through.

"Giles? It's me. Thought I'd give you a heads up that the demons are starting to move in…you might want to start packing some sharp steel for the next few weeks."

(pause)

"Yeah, I did…a few minutes ago. Just one, though."

(pause)

"Your brother," Buffy smirked.

Though the others couldn't make out the words, they were able to pick out the sound of irritation when Buffy held the phone away from her ear as Giles' voice became loud.

Buffy moved the phone back to her ear and snickered into it.

"Sorry Giles, couldn't resist."

(pause)

"Yeah, I'll make a sweep later tonight and see if anything else comes up."

(pause)

"You be careful too. Bye."

Disconnecting, Buffy replaced the phone back into her pocket.

"What was that about?" Daniel asked curiously from his seat next to the young blonde woman.

"I needed to let Giles know that the demons were starting to migrate into town, so he and the others were prepared. Things have still been pretty quiet, and this is the first demon we've seen since moving here – I think we'll start seeing more, though…at least until they finish fighting over living spaces."

"Living spaces?"

"Sewer tunnels, crypts, abandoned buildings…basically, wherever people aren't. Though, with the number of basements in this state, we might even hear about some of them taking over a rarely used lower-level of a house or office building. Just keep your eyes and ears open for weird explanations of a death or injury."

"Gangs on PCP? Exploding make-up kit?" Jack smirked.

Buffy grinned at him as she nodded.

"So how did you learn Fyarl, Buffy?" Daniel asked eagerly.

"Ex-boyfriend," Buffy replied with a closed expression.

The archeologist understood immediately that the 'ex' was not open for discussion, so moved on to ask about the language itself.

"Are you fluent with that particular language? I couldn't understand a word of it, so it must not be based on any known human language…" he trailed off with a questioning look.

"I only know enough Fyarl to insult one of them – humans don't have enough phlegm in their lungs to speak much of it anyway…at least that's what Spi…" Buffy broke off from that bad memory, and quickly moved on to answer his second question, "I don't think many of the demon languages have any basis in human languages – old, current, or otherwise – but you'd have to ask Giles about that. Most of the information about demons is written in various human languages, though – Latin, Ancient Sumerian…God, even Druidic runes sometimes!"

Before Daniel could continue his questioning, they were interrupted by a waitress who came to take their drink orders.

"Celebratory beer, Summers?" Jack asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"No, no…no beer for Buffy!" She shook her head adamantly.

"Bad memories?"

"Bad beer…tainted beer…not going there again," Buffy shuddered. "I'll just have a margarita."

After the attendant left, Jack turned back to the small blonde woman.

"I'm hearing a story behind that statement."

"Long story short…bartender got tired of snot-nosed college kids, mojo-ed the beer, turned everyone prehistoric. So not fun."

"And just how were you involved? Prehistoric or prehistoric ass-kicker?"

"Prehistoric…had the beer and went one million B.C. Buffy, complete with accessories."

Daniel and Jack perked up, both blurting out, "The Rachel Welch fur bikini?"

The two men exchange grins, but the women roll their eyes.

"The tree-branch club that I used to hit people with, which I'm thinking I should try and find again," Buffy scowled. "Needless to say, that situation turned me off drinking beer in most public places."

"Awww, come on…that's it? There's got to be more to it than that!"

"Not unless you want me to describe the bad hair, bad teeth, and the funny stick-people I drew on my dorm wall with lipstick?"

"I think I'll pass."

The drinks were brought by that time, and conversation was held off until the waitress left with their food orders. Jack tried to cajole Buffy into telling them one of her 'stories', but after she firmly stated that the majority of them were too gross, and that she didn't want Daniel vomiting all over her, he let her off with a warning that he was expecting her to continue later…after their food had a while to digest.

When Buffy gave him an evil smirk, Jack wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.

I

I

I

"…that's when I got an up-close look at their shudder-worthy joker-esque harlequin grins…way creepy."

SG-1 and Dr. Fraiser sat enraptured as they listened to Buffy telling them about the time the entire city of Sunnydale had lost their voices, occasionally taking a sip of their drinks to moisten their throats.

"So me and Riley have to fight through their straight-jacketed Quasimodo-like minions to get to the box that holds everyone's voices. We finally got to the upper levels where the box is surrounded by…ew…the five hearts they'd already harvested. I got pinned down, but was able to finally get Riley to understand that he needed to smash the box, so he did – when our voices were returned, I played the part of the princess, and screamed." For dramatic effect, Buffy paused and took a sip of her margarita.

"Wha' happened then?" Daniel asked, slurring his words a little from the effects of the beer in his system.

"They shook like crazy, and tried to cover their ears. After a few seconds, they went rigid, and their heads popped…like a zit."

"Popped like a zit?! Eww!" Jack paused the hand that was lifting his beer up to his mouth, a look of disgust on his face.

"Well, maybe not a zit…their innards were kinda yellow – maybe more like an infested wound that you squeezed to get the puss out."

"Gross, Summers."

Suddenly looking very green, Daniel shot up out of his chair so fast he knocked it over, then ran towards the restrooms.

"Oops…I forgot that Daniel's stomach isn't exactly 'entrails-friendly' after eating," Buffy said looking a little amused as she watched his hastily retreating back.

Jack snickered.

"You know, it's funny, though…Giles never told us what would happen if they had gotten all seven hearts. I'll have to remember to ask him."

"That was one of your milder stories?!" Dr. Fraiser asked incredulously.

"Um…yeah. Minimal death and no world endage as far as we knew. On the apocalyptic scale of one to ten, I give it a low two, and that's only 'cuz of their grins and floatiness."

"A two?" Both Sam and Janet said as they looked agog at her.

"I do not understand this scale you speak of, BuffySummers," Teal'c said as he turned his questioning gaze towards her.

Grateful that the Jaffa had given her a way out of trying to explain why a situation that caused five human deaths only rated a two, Buffy quickly answered him.

"It's a simplistic way of rating a battle, Tea…uh…Murray. A rating of one would be where, even if it was a hard battle, it won't leave you with nightmares – a ten would be if it's something that will haunt you for the rest of your life, whether you're awake or asleep."

"And have you ever encountered a battle which rated the highest on this scale?"

For all his years, the large man was relatively innocent – at least to customs on their planet – and Buffy couldn't fault Teal'c for asking such an obvious 'next' question, but with the memories it brought back to the front of her mind, it still hurt.

Buffy's expression quickly became neutral, and she dropped her gaze to the drink in front of her, her hand turning the stem around and around as she said, "Yeah. The others might have rated some differently, but for me…at least four times."

Jack's gaze quickly looked back and forth between Teal'c and Buffy. On seeing that Teal'c was about to innocently make the dreaded request to have Buffy tell him about these horrific battles, not to mention that the ever-curious Daniel was on his way back, he jumped in with a quick subject change.

"So, Summers…are you ready for your little trip next week? You know I'm gonna make you sing for your supper, don't you?"

Buffy's shoulders relaxed and she shot him a grateful glance.

"Not unless you want to hear me sing off-key."

"Well, considering what we have to eat, that's acceptable."

"What do you eat?"

"Chicken."

"That's it? Just chicken?!"

"Well, sometimes it's labeled as macaroni and cheese."

Everyone laughed, and the conversation turned to lighter topics.

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Both Hammond and O'Neill couldn't help but be impressed by the two ex-Initiative soldiers…even though they were Army.

The two younger men had, at first, been politely vague about their previous posts, but when they found out that the two USAF officers were fully aware of the Initiative program, and its outcome, they were able to relax a little during the interview, giving the General and Colonel more insight into their personalities.

That didn't mean they wouldn't test the two younger men further, though.

"Captain, Lieutenant…we were recently shown the security tape of the final battle within the Initiative's underground complex, in which a young woman – blonde, early twenties – was seen to have turned the tide of the fight. We are aware that you are acquainted with this woman, and would like you to provide further information about her."

"I'm sorry, sir…that's classified."

"Both the Secretary of Defense and General Markson have given us clearance for everything involving the Initiative program, Captain Miller. Do you wish for me to call him to confirm that for you?"

"No, sir. Even if they confirm it, she is still classified."

"I must insist, Captain."

Captain Miller and Lieutenant Templeton abruptly stood, eyes hard and faces completely blank.

"If the purpose of this interview is only to find out more information about the young woman, than I believe this meeting is over, sirs."

The two younger men turned to leave, but were halted by the General's quiet words.

"At ease, gentlemen. That wasn't the point of this interview, though it was part of it. If you would return to your seats…"

Miller and Templeton exchanged glances, but slowly sat back down.

Colonel O'Neill grinned at Hammond.

"I'm sure Summers will just love to know that two Army officers are willing to risk a reprimand to protect her…might even make her feel all girly."

Hammond chuckled at both the Colonel's remark, and the expressions on the two younger officers' faces when they realized just what the Colonel's words implied.

"She's here?!" Lt. Templeton blurted out.

"If you're talking about Buffy Summers, yep…in all her glory – strength, speed, fighting skills…not to mention the attitude, snarky remarks, lack of respect for authority…"

"…and the fact that you're still irritated that she used you as bait in one of her tactical plans," Hammond interrupted with a look of amusement in the Colonel's direction.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Not on your life."

The two younger men kept quiet during this exchange, but were keenly aware that their comments indicated they knew Buffy's secret.

"So you know that she's…um…" Templeton hesitated at saying the word out loud, just in case they didn't know.

"The Slayer?" O'Neill said casually.

The two younger officers didn't know whether to be worried or relieved.

Seeing their dilemma, Hammond explained.

"She's here of her own volition, gentlemen – her employers requested that she work with us…and she agreed to, once she understood what goes on in this facility."

Miller slowly responded, "Soooo…she'll be working here? Using her skills as a Slayer, I assume?"

"That is correct."

Miller and Templeton looked at each other again before abruptly standing again, coming to attention, full salute and all.

"Permission to work on Buffy's team, sir!"

Hammond and O'Neill exchanged surprised looks.

"You don't even know what we do here!" O'Neill said in exasperation.

"Permission to speak freely, sir!"

"Go ahead, son," Hammond agreed, somewhat amusedly.

"Whatever Buffy Summers will be involved in is probably going to be…interesting, sir. Most likely, she will be fighting, saving the world, and the odds will be stacked against her. If she's working with the military, you can add 'being shot at' to the list."

"And you want to work with her, knowing all that?!" the Colonel shook his head in confusion.

"Buffy is also known for beating the odds – she's a survivor, sir…and does everything in her power to make sure her team survives too. And the fact that her three civilian friends, who have been helping since the beginning, are still alive says a lot…sir."

Hammond looked at them thoughtfully, before asking the one key question that worried him.

"Would you accept her as your CO?"

There was no hesitation in their answer.

"Yes, sir!"

The General waved for the two men to re-take their seats, a pleased look on his face, and drew the interview to a close.

"I believe we have all the information necessary to make a decision, gentlemen," the General began, "though I wish to discuss a few points with Colonel O'Neill before giving you a final answer."

"Sirs? What exactly do you do here? When we asked to transfer to a unit that was actively fighting but closer to civilization, all we were told was that this program would be a good fit for us," Miller asked curiously.

"Until you are formally accepted into the program, I'm afraid I can't reveal that, Captain," Hammond replied.

The two men nodded in understanding.

"Would you care to see Ms. Summers before you return to your base? I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on."

Both Miller and Templeton nodded their heads again, faint smiles on their faces.

The General reached out a hand to pick up the handset of the phone to his right. Punching in a short sequence of numbers, Hammond simply said, "Send Ms. Summers up," into the receiver before placing it back into its cradle.

Gathering his folders together, the General stood, O'Neill and the two younger men quickly following suit.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen. We'll contact you once we've reached a decision."

"Yes, sir!" Miller and Templeton said clearly as they saluted both the General and Colonel.

They continued to stand at attention until the older officers left the room. Once left alone, the two young men exchanged looks before sitting back down as they awaited the Slayer they hadn't seen in almost three years, but were no less protective of.

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"So, what do you think, Colonel?"

O'Neill looked into the conference room through the small specially tinted windows, which, on the other side, were innocuous pictures within the room itself (not a 'stupid looking mirror that's obviously a one-way window' commonly used by the police, no siree).

"They said all the right words, General, but watching their interaction with Summers will tell me a lot more," he replied as he observed the two younger men waiting patiently for Summers to appear. "And while they may be good soldiers, I'm not sure they've got the instincts for covert ops – I mean, they barely took notice of anything in the room, except us."

Hammond made a sound of agreement as he, too, watched the young men.

Minutes later, Buffy entered the room, and the two men jumped up, meeting her smile with large grins of their own.

O'Neill and Hammond chuckled at the comments made as the three exchanged greetings, and were momentarily surprised with the astute observations made by the two younger men, which was confirmed by a laughing Buffy, who unerringly walked up to the 'window' Colonel O'Neill stood in front of and made a face, waved and smiled at the one Hammond peered through, then took a seat at the table, turning her attention back to the two men she hadn't seen in a long time.

"I don't think their instincts are going to be your problem, Jack," Hammond chuckled, taking delight in the fact that his 2IC was getting a taste of his own medicine.

O'Neill sighed.

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"Graham!" Buffy exclaimed with a smile. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has," the young Captain replied, a large grin on his face at seeing the young woman alive and well. "You're looking good, Buffy."

With a smirk, Buffy cocked her head. "Do we hug?"

Graham laughed. "I think we can manage that."

The two not-quite-friends exchanged a short embrace before stepping back.

"You remember Lt. Templeton…Jay?" Graham hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the other man.

"You look familiar, but I'm not sure I quite…" Buffy broke off as she stared at the other man for a moment, then a large grin crossed her lips. "Agent Jay?! The one we gave such a bad time when we all kept asking if finally he got his flashy memory thing?"

Graham laughed as Jay rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's me…and before you ask, no, I haven't gotten one yet. It's good to see you again, Buffy."

"It's good to see you too, Jay," Buffy chuckled as she shook his hand. "So, I hear you guys have been grilled by the head cheese-men, how'd ya do?"

"I'd comment on that, but I wouldn't want to talk out of turn since they're still listening," Graham replied with a slight smile on his face.

Buffy lifted an eyebrow at that, but knew he was right since she'd felt the presence of both the Colonel and General behind one of the walls. "How'd you guess?"

"I've never seen pictures actually embedded in a wall instead of just hanging," Graham lifted an eyebrow in question.

"Not to mention the not-so-well-hidden mic wires running along the baseboards," Jay added, "Dead give-away."

Buffy laughed as she walked up to one of the pictures, the one she instinctively knew the Colonel was behind. She made a face at the picture, wishing she could see Jack's expression at her little display of insubordination. Waving at the other 'window', she smiled, before returning to the table.

Gesturing the others to sit, she waited until they all got settled before asking, "So, catch me up on what's what. The Initiative still in Nepal? Why'd you guys leave? How's Riley and Sam doing?"

At the last question, Graham and Jay exchanged grim glances.

"What?" Buffy asked confused, then paled as a thought flashed through her mind. "Th-They're not…?"

"No! No…they're still alive, Buffy," Graham rushed to assure her, but hesitated a moment. "They're alive and well…physically, at least."

"Graham?" Buffy whispered, still somewhat ashen.

"They're why we left."

Buffy sat silently as Graham explained, alternately becoming angry and saddened at his words. When he finished, she sat there silently for a moment.

"Is there anything I can do? Should I…should I try to contact them? Or see them? Maybe I can talk some sense into them," she asked in a fervent tone.

"They're beyond that, Buffy. Besides, it would probably do more harm than good, since you…" Jay broke off and looked down in embarrassment.

"Since I what, Jay?" Buffy looked between the two men, neither of which would meet her eyes. "Graham? God dammit, tell me! If it was something I did, maybe I can fix it!"

"You can't fix it, Buffy," Graham said reluctantly, "It's not because of something you did, it's because of something you are."

"What? A total relationship screw-up?! Because I didn't have my own perfect relationship to ruin, I had to go and destroy someone else's?!" Buffy angrily stood up and stalked away to stare at one of the blank walls, trying to regain her composure. Hugging her arms around herself, she quietly asked, "What is it about me that changed them, Graham? What am I?"

"A hero," he replied softly. "At least that's what Sam thought."

Buffy spun around and looked at him in disbelief.

"A hero? A hero?!" she laughed, and laughed, as she fell back against the wall and slid down it until her butt hit the floor. She looked up at the two men, who had stood in concern, and bit out with a twisted smile, "God, that's rich! I guess no one ever told her about my year of self-destruction, my affair with Spike, and the how I became such a Neo-Nazi bitch-monster my sister and friends kicked me out of my own home. God, I'm so far from being a hero, I wouldn't be surprised if they have a place in Hell with my name engraved on it. "

Graham silently walked over and squatted down in front of her. "No, you're not a hero, Buffy. Hero's are overly-dramatized, lily-white, never-do-wrong men and woman who usually end up dead because they won't cross the line to win. But you are a champion. Don't blame yourself for Sam's misconception of you, or her need to compete with your past-relationship with Riley. She wanted to push your memory out of the 'Superwoman' shoes, and trained herself to the point where she was the top fighter in our group."

Buffy leaned her head back against the wall as she gave him a rueful smile. "Riley didn't take it so well, did he?"

"No, he was never good at accepting women who were superior fighters than him," Graham gave her a sad half-smile. "He trained himself too, until he was better. And, before you know it, the 'search and destroy' missions became a game of 'one-upmanship' between Riley and Sam. Jay and I left when their risk-taking started costing lives."

Shutting her eyes, Buffy sighed. "And when will they know who wins? When one of them dies?"

"Yeah, but then they'll find out they actually lost. Don't blame yourself for their shortcomings, Buffy," Graham said as he stood and held out a hand to her.

Buffy accepted his help, and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

"I've tried to stop blaming myself for things I can't control, Graham, and I'm getting better at it. I'm not taking the blame for their actions, it just sucks that I'm the reason for this particular cluster-flop."

He squeezed her hand before letting it go.

"Well, before the men in the suits with sparkly medals decide that I need a psych evaluation, maybe we should sit back down at the table instead of crawling on the floor like some de-evolved humans," Buffy smirked as she gestured at the table.

The two men chuckled as they re-took their seats.

Buffy took a moment to look at the pictures again. Waving a hand, she cheerily said, "It still looks like an ink-blot, Jack, and it always will – but if you say it's a butterfly (mock whisper) I'll trust you on that."

She grinned at hearing a slight bang coming from the picture, as if someone had smacked their forehead against it.

Flopping back down in her seat she gave Graham and Jay a large smirk. "Oh, by the way, did I mention that, when we destroyed the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, it opened up one here in Colorado Springs?"

The two young officers dropped their heads into their hands and groaned.

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"God! Doesn't she ever get a break?!" O'Neill scowled.

"Apparently not."

"You know, I'm beginning to like these 'Powers' less and less. They can't seem to keep their incorporeal hands out of any aspect of her life."

"I think this is more a case of 'human fallacy' than it is divine intervention, Jack."

O'Neill scoffed.

"Free will, Jack…this Sam they're talking about chose to be dissatisfied with the skills she already possessed, and in her pursuit to better herself – for the wrong reasons, I might add – her husband chose to feel that his masculinity was threatened. Ms. Summers may have, unknowingly, been the catalyst, but it was Sam and Riley's choice to let it affect them negatively."

The two officers smiled at hearing Buffy refuse to accept the blame, and watched as she was drawn back up to her feet.

At Buffy's comment directed towards the Colonel, which blatantly implied that Jack had had his own visits to the 'shrink', O'Neill let his forehead fall against the window with a slight 'bang'. He turned his face towards the General, whose eyes were dancing with suppressed humor.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

"I believe it's called karma, Colonel."

"You're enjoying it, aren't you?"

"Immensely."

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"She did what?!"

"She grabbed his…uh…package," Daniel coughed into his hand, a slight flush on his cheeks. "Then told him to play nice, or she'd rip them off."

O'Neill stared agape at the younger man.

"I swear that's what happened, Jack!"

"Who told you?"

"Janet, she came in at that point."

"So…what happened then?"

"She asked Buffy if she was giving him a prostate exam."

"Uh huh. And?"

"Buffy said 'Sure…turn your head and cough, Major, unless you'd rather have me give you an anal probe with a staff weapon'."

"What'd he do?"

Daniel's flushed cheeks became a little bit more red. "He asked her to move her fingers a little, to take care of an…uh…itch he had."

Jack barked out a laugh. "And then?"

"She laughed."

"That's it?"

"Yeah…except Janet stuck him with a needle at that point – pretty hard, I guess, since he asked Buffy to kiss it better."

"What'd Summers have to say to that?"

"If you want me to kiss your ass, Major, you need to have a much better reason than being stuck with a needle."

Jack burst out laughing.

"Summers and Ferretti…never thought they'd actually hit it off."

"Me neither - he's not exactly…friendly with new civilians. Personal experience, you know."

"That's because you weren't a good-looking female, Daniel," Jack chuckled.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

The two men were waiting for the rest of their team in the Gate Room – Daniel, for once, being one of the first to arrive. O'Neill thought it might be empathic excitement for Summers' first trip through the gate…Daniel got excited over rocks, after all.

Teal'c was the next to arrive, and stood silently next to the other two men. They didn't have long to wait for Major Carter and Buffy Summers…an inadequately attired Buffy Summers.

"Summers! Where's your gear?!" O'Neill barked out with a scowl.

"Back in the locker room," Buffy replied tartly. At Jack's glare, she rolled her eyes. "Even after everyone's extensive teaching, explaining, planning, yadda yadda yadda, no one thought to see if the gear would fit."

"It's the smallest we've got!"

"Well, it's still too big! Unless you really plan on having me to walk around like I'm in a puffy-Xander suit, and not be able to move my upper body!" Buffy stuck her chin out at him.

"She's telling the truth, sir…it was the same one Cadet Hailey used, and it still didn't fit. Buffy's a lot smaller than she looks."

"Should we start calling you Mini-Me, Summers?"

"Not if you value your life." Buffy glared at him.

"General Hammond gave the OK for Buffy to go without, sir. Besides, the M.A.L.P. and UAV showed no signs of any dangerous life forms, so everything should be OK."

Buffy stared at her with wide eyes. Leaning towards the Colonel, she mock whispered. "Did Sam just jinx us?"

"Yep."

"Damn."

Carter rolled her eyes. Opening her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by the sounds of the chevrons beginning to lock into place.

Buffy turned eager eyes towards the Stargate, and she watched it spin, then pause as it locked another symbol into place before beginning to spin again.

"Scared yet, Summers?" Jack smirked at her.

Without even looking at him, she replied, "Nah, scared is facing an open Hellmouth ready to spew out thousands of Turok Hans. This? This is the tingly feeling you get when you're about to get on the 'Rollercoaster of Doom'."

Jack turned to stare at her, and caught the smile of delight as she watched the never-changing 'kerwoosh' of the connecting wormhole.

"SG-1, you have a go," came the voice of General Hammond over the speaker. "As do you, Ms. Summers…good luck."

Buffy gave him a thumbs-up and a grin.

"Let's move out, kids!"

Teal'c, Daniel, and Carter walked up the ramp, followed by Buffy and O'Neill. As soon as the first three walked through the even horizon, Buffy stopped abruptly, spun around, and slowly began walking backwards as she spoke.

"I want to thank all the people who got me to where I am today – family, friends, except you, Ferretti, and everyone in the whole wide world. Thank you for your reception to me, and SG-1, on our first trip through the Stargate together – if we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work ain't been in vain for nothing. Bless you all!"

Buffy began blowing kisses, until she was grabbed by the back of her shirt and dragged backwards through the event horizon, laughing.

Her laughter was abruptly cut off as she disappeared.

As soon as the wormhole disengaged, Ferretti chuckled and looked up at Hammond in the Control Room.

"Twenty says she drives the Colonel nuts, sir."

"No bet, Major…that's a given."

That, of course, didn't stop other bets from being made – and, while ever vigilant, the remaining security force in the Gate Room began a lively wager.

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Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c were a little startled to hear laughter behind them, and turned to see a giggling Buffy being held at the scruff of the neck by a slightly irritated Colonel.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked, a slight smile gracing his lips.

"Summers wanted to thank all the 'little people' before she left," O'Neill grumbled, not really as irritated as he looked. While Summers was still laughing, he was pleased to note that she had been instantly alert for trouble, the moment she set foot on the stone platform at the other end of the wormhole.

"It was my first trip…I had to make it memorable somehow."

"Well, I'm sure you did that, Lina."

Buffy laughed again, her eyes continuing to scan the area.

"So, how do you feel, Buffy? Most first trips tend to make people nauseous," Daniel asked as he looked at her in concern.

"I'm OK…felt a little bit of a stomach drop at the end, but no big," she shrugged. For some odd reason, Daniel looked a little disappointed. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll try to throw up on you the next time."

"No, no…that's all right!"

O'Neill chuckled at that – he actually wasn't that surprised Summers didn't feel anything…she was used to moving more quickly than most humans, what with her Slayer speed.

"All right, time to move out!" the Colonel barked out. As he moved forward, he called back over his shoulder, "Welcome to P4X-552, Summers."

The others dropped in line behind him, taking their standard formation. And though Buffy didn't like it, she accepted her place in the center of the group – except for Teal'c, she didn't know how to work with them in a fight, after all.

"I'm kinda disappointed…I was expecting something like purple trees, or red grass - it looks more like Northern California."

"A lot of them usually do…the others look like Nebraska or the Sahara Desert."

"There's a difference?"

"Yeah, one has…shrubbery."

"And rabbits with big, sharp, pointy teeth?" she gave a half-smile at the Colonel's back, and laughed when he made the Monty Python 'dangerous bunny' sound.

Carter and Daniel chuckled at their antics. Even though there weren't any signs of technology or ruins, at least the trip wouldn't be boring with Buffy and O'Neill to keep them entertained.

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"Unscheduled off-world activation! Unscheduled off-world activation!" the voice of Sgt. Harriman intoned over the base speaker system.

Knowing there was no one due to return to base for another four hours, General Hammond hurried to the Control Room.

Upon entering, the General barked out, "Any IDC, Sergeant?"

Harriman paused for a moment before replying, "It's SG-1, sir."

"Open the iris!"

The sergeant placed his palm on the scanner, activating the opening of the trinium cover over the Stargate.

Moments later, Daniel and Sam rushed through, followed closely by Buffy and Teal'c. They all looked behind them, and watched as Colonel O'Neill came through backwards, his P-90 still pointing towards the wormhole.

"Close the iris! Now!"

Harriman rushed to comply. The iris closed, and not a moment too soon, as they all heard one 'thump' before the wormhole disengaged.

"What happened, SG-1?! You were gone for less than two hours!"

As his gaze roamed over the group, he was relieved to see them all uninjured. But, to his confusion, both Ms. Summers and Major Carter were flushed almost beet-red, and the younger of the two was fanning herself while she tried to hide her smirk, Daniel couldn't look anyone in the eye, and was having difficulty keeping a straight face…and even Teal'c almost seemed to be grinning. The only one who didn't look like they were about to burst out laughing was the Colonel…he just looked pissed.

"Well?"

Daniel cleared his throat. "Well…uh…General. Jack had a…uh…little bit of a problem. The flora was a little aggressive toward him, and the fauna was…well, um…extremely…amorous."

Hammond looked bewildered. "What the hell are you trying to say Dr. Jackson?!"

Buffy couldn't help herself and blurted out, "The plant-life kept attacking Jack, and one of the local animals kept trying to hump his leg."

The Colonel glared at her.

"Thank you for sharing that with everyone, Summers," O'Neill said with an annoyed tone.

"You're welcome, Jack…but I thought you'd be more flattered – I'm sure it's not every day that you get an offer from some furry four-legged animal wanting you to be its bitch."

Carter excused herself with a breathy 'Sir', and quickly left the Gate Room, unable to look her CO in the eye. Buffy followed right on her heels.

Seconds later, uncontrolled feminine laughter could be heard coming from outside the door.

Daniel struggled to stifle his chuckle as he clapped a hand on the older man's shoulder. "Well, at least they found something to bond over, Jack."

"Yeah, but did it have to be my humiliation?" he scowled.

Up in the Control Room, Hammond chuckled as he shook his head. "Only SG-1."

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If you can't figure out what Jack whispered to Buffy, let me know (via an email or your review), and I'll post it at the end of the next chapter. I'm hoping it wasn't too subtle to figure it out, though. (grin)

Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, I kinda hit a wall on one of the scenes, and couldn't move on until I worked out the kinks. Unfortunately, I also don't always feel like writing, so that sometimes delays things even further.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I still have hopes that one day I'll be able to get back to the '10,000 words is a good chapter size' happy place. (groan).

Please review!!

Answers to commonly seen review questions:

1) The "pairing(s)" – I will not announce any pairings, as I feel that it ruins the story to some degree. 'Destiny' is not about who ends up with who in the end…it's a journey of self-discovery, characters finding their 'place in the world', the merging of two different groups fighting two different wars (with one character bridging both groups), and acceptance (eg. good with the bad, a person's flaws, destiny of course, etc.), among other things. Feel free to continue guessing and/or requesting your preference, but please know that there will not be an actual 'announcement'…it will happen when it happens (but I know who it iiiiis, I know who it iiiis…lol).

2) Buffy as part of SG-1…didn't say if she will be, didn't say if she won't be – at this point, all I've said is that Buffy will be accompanying SG-1 on a few missions to get gate-travel experience. You'll just have to wait to see what's going to happen…(grin). Jack is not obsolete with Buffy's appearance, nor will he ever be…with all Jack's experience (measured in decades, not Buffy's years), he will never be obsolete when compared to Buffy. Besides, there is no way in Hell I'd write Jack out of the story…it's too much fun to write about him! LOL

3) Willow will return…but I won't say when, how, or why. It may be a long time in coming, but at this point, I don't know…I just know that she will be back – I mean, how can I be true to BtVS without all the main characters, eh?!

4) Where's 'X character'?...wow, I never realized how difficult it is to write a story with so many characters in it! With just the main characters (and commonly seen supporting characters) of both shows, there are 9 main and 3 supporting characters that I need to write about! No matter how long my chapters are, I can't get everyone in them. Right now, I'm concentrating on Buffy settling into the SGC, but will bring back the Scoobies (to some degree) very soon…if only to touch upon what they're doing. I'm trying not to forget anyone, but feel free to keep reminding me about who we haven't seen in a while (like Andrew, Xander and Willow).

5) I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the seasons would be skewed in this story. In 'real time', S8 Buffy would be S7 Stargate, but I wanted to write this story in the S5 (and beyond) timeline of Stargate. I know it will throw off some of the episodes (like 2001 and 2010), but I hope to be able to work around them, even if it's only superficially. Please feel free to let me know if there are any other episodes that would be affected by this skewing.

6) This is not going to be a BtVS/SG-1/AtS crossover! There will be references to AtS, and maybe a few scenes here and there with the characters of that show – most of the characters were a part of BtVS at some point, so I don't feel that I can just ignore their existence – but they will not be an integral part of the long-term storyline for Destiny. Even with that said, it's too early in the story to make anything definite but, at this point, I don't have any plans on integrating any of the AtS characters into this story.