Summary: New Slayers, new friends, new enemies, new wackiness. Just another day in the Buffyverse.
Crossover: Highlander, Stargate SG-1
Notes: Boy, but did this take a while! Had a bad case of writers block. I believe the technical term is gas passimus brainimus. More colloquially known as a brain fart. Anyway, due to work, health, and the fact that I couldn't quite get a grip on where this story was going, it took me for frelling ever to get back into it. Been wanting to do a Stargate crossover for awhile, finally had this brainstorm. Hope ya like it. Please make with the feedback, I'd love to know what you think of it! ;)
Disclaimer: Once again I dabble in worlds that belong to Others Wiser Than Myself. They must be wiser. They're gettin' paid and I ain't. So please make not with the lawsuit.
DID SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING ABOUT NOT FADING AWAY? PART III
By screaminheathen69
Prologue
May 2003...
...In the town of Sunnydale, war was being waged. Nothing new about that, especially in Sunnydale. Seemingly, it would be just one of countless wars being fought at any given time, in any given dimension, or on any given world. Good versus evil and all that. Always somebody fighting somebody (or something) over something (or somebody). Been going on, well... forever. And will continue on long after humanity is but a footnote in the annals of history.
But this particular battle, in this particular war, well this one was different. Special. Got the attention of a great many of those 'Higher Beings' types in a big ol' hurry. Elders, Powers That Be, Gods, Assholes, whatever name you care to give them. Even the One Above All, that Being known by many names, God, Jehovah, Allah, and my personal favorite, I Am that I Am, just to name a few, was paying close attention. They were all paying very close attention indeed. Not that they thought, even for an instant, that an entity as ancient and powerful as The First Evil could be destroyed. No, that one would be around to foment grief and destruction for the duration of this universe and the next. And while this was certainly a battle of truly epic proportions, one that many songs would be sung about for generations to come (once the truth finally got out), the battle itself wasn't the focus of their attention.
No, that honor went to one young woman. One year ago, they had witnessed her journey into the Dark, and many had trembled at the power they saw her wield. Now, they bore witness to her power once more, but this time in awe. For this young woman was finally starting down the path that was her True Destiny, a destiny foretold millenia ago, but unknown to all but a few of those 'Higher Beings'.
She was starting down the path that would transform her into a Goddess, and quite possibly the greatest force for good that this world (or any other) will ever know.
Not that Willow Rosenberg had the slightest clue about any of that. She was rather occupied at that particular juncture. She was trying to channel more magic than ever she had before, even when she had gone all dark-and-veiny after Tara's death. She was scared out of her gourd. No thoughts of godhood here, nosirree.
But she succeeded in tapping into the esscence of the Scythe, and in so doing, finally tapped into the esscence of Gaia herself. And into so very much more, something wondrous, but that, that is a story for later. As she worked her spell and the Potentials power awakened, the balance was at long last turned (if only ever so slightly) in the favor of Good.
On all the worlds that humankind could be found on, Slayers awoke. A confused lot, to be sure. How would you feel if between one second and the next you suddenly had super strength and the irrestible urge to stake vampires? Yup. Confused. And so began one of the more unfortunate side-effects of Willow's spell. They'd figured on having to find the new Slayers, certainly, but on other worlds? Not so much. Complications, they do keep life interesting, now don't they?
Now, where was I? Oh, right... The Higher-So-and-So's looked on, the battle raged, Slayers rose up, etcetera, etcetera. Many of these new Slayers discovered their power quite by accident, and in rather interesting ways. One that always pops immediately to mind is the young girl that drove in the winning run for her softball team by hitting a five hundred yard home run. Bit of a shock to the opposing team, don't ya know.
And then there's young Cassandra Fraiser of Colorado Springs. Seems her uncle Jack was giving her a lesson in self defense right about the time her powers activated. Poor fellow was thrown twenty feet across the room, thoroughly destroying the cabinet full of excercise equipment that he landed in. Well, went through, actually.
Cassie stood there, bug-eyed, as Samantha and Daniel ran over to see if Jack was alright, or breathing for that matter. She turned slowly to the tall, stoic man standing next to her. His eyebrow was raised, which to those who knew him meant that he was surprised. Expressive fellow, that Teal'c.
She stood there through the pandemonium as the medics rushed in to haul Jack off to the infirmary. Again. Finally, she shook herself into motion and followed Teal'c to the infirmary to see if she'd killed O'neill or not. Wow! she thought, what was that?
Somehow, someway, she knew everything had changed. And for the first time since her adoptive mother had been killed, she smiled.
My turn now!
Chapter the First
Back to 2004...
Good God, they take longer to pack than I do! Buffy tried to rein in her impatience as she waited on Spike and Angel to finish packing. "Come! On! You! Two! We are so gonna miss our flight!" She realised she was tapping her foot and forced herself to stop.
Spike popped his head out the door. "Blame Peaches, pet. Keeps tryin' ta tell me what ta take."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Shut up!" Buffy took a breath in the silence following her bellow. "Really startin' to think this was a bad idea..."
"Oi, don't forget yer product there, Cap'n Forehead. Gotta keep that hair standin' at attention..."
"You just worry about your peroxide, boy. Your roots are starting to show..."
"Sod off..." A pause... "They're not, are they?"
Buffy collapsed into a chair, hand to her forehead. A migraine. I swear to God, I'm getting a migraine... She let out a yelp when her cell phone started ringing. She dug it out of her pocket and answered in an all suffering voice. "Pre-Adolescent-Vampire-Sitters inc. How may we be of service?"
"Er, yes Buffy, it's Giles. Is there something wrong, dear?"
"Spike. Angel. Together. Migraine."
"Oh. Yes. I recommend aspirin. And scotch. Especially the scotch. Lots and lots of scotch."
"Good plan. What's up, Watcher Man? Just calling to wish me luck?"
"Er, no. Something's come up, as usual. I've had a call from Riley. He's on his way here, and he's bringing company with him. It did sound rather important, Buffy. I'd appreciate it if you'd round up the rest of the group there and head over here. They should be here in a couple of hours."
"Okay. Did you say company?"
"Yes. He did vouch for them. Said I'd be surprised at how good these people are at keeping secrets. Which doesn't necessarily engender trust, but still..."
"Right. In other words, here we go again. Be there as quick as we can. Love ya." She smiled as she clicked off, imagining the blush that Giles was sporting right now. She walked over and looked in on Spike and Angel. They were squared off, each gripping the others collar with his left hand, right hand drawn back to deliver a haymaker. "Boys!" They both froze, looking at her from the corner of their eyes.
She leaned against the doorframe and made a 'go ahead' gesture. "Go on, go on, don't let me stop ya. Ready for the entertainment. I'll even go get the oil. But please keep in mind that we hafta be at Giles' in an hour, so let's keep the damage to a minimum, alright?"
Spike and Angel traded glances, then stepped away from each other. "Don' wanna."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Vampires!"
Chapter the Second
They had gathered up whoever they could find and called the rest, then headed for Giles'. They were just pulling up in front of the house when it finally hit Buffy.
Angel, Spike, and Riley.
All here.
In the same place.
In the same room!
She found herself wishing for an apocalypse. Something. Anything. Could be worse, I s'pose. I mean, at least Parker isn't here. Oh crap, shouldn't 'a thought that! No jinxing! Get ahold of yourself, girl. Stiff upper lip. Yeah, that's it. She knocked on the door. What the Hell does that mean, anyway? 'Stiff upper lip'? That has got to be the dumbest, most stupidest thing- "Hi Giles. Reporting as ordered."
"Hello Buffy, everyone." Giles hugged Buffy, Faith, and Dawn, nodding a greeting to Illyria, Connor and Nina as they came past. Spike and Angel stood just outside the door. Angel cleared his throat. Giles turned. "Hmmm? Oh, sorry, do come in, both of you. And do try not to break anything."
Angel grumbled a greeting as he walked past Giles. Spike, being Spike, offered the two-finger salute. Giles sighed and looked at Buffy. "Tell me again how it's a good thing that I haven't killed that pillock yet?"
Buffy snorted. "Still workin' on that one myself. So, what's the what?"
"Won't know until they get here, I'm afraid. He did say that he was bringing a Slayer with him, as well as a group of people he felt we should become aquainted with. I've also called Duncan. He, Kate, and their Watcher friend should be here in a few hours."
"Oh. Well, oughta be interesting, then." They paused in the entrance of the dining room, which had become the meeting room for tonight. Spike and Angel were already arguing again, this time with Xander added to the mix. Illyria was poking about the various antiques spread throughout the room, with Willow and Dawn trying to keep her from breaking anything. Faith was in Robins lap, and both were oblivious to the rest of the room. Nina, Connor, Gunn and Kennedy were standing off to one side, trying not to laugh. Andrew was trying to referee everyone at once. Vi, meeting Giles and Buffy in the hallway, took one look at the scene, turned and ran the other way.
Buffy just stood there. "Giles?"
"Yes?"
"Scotch?"
"Kitchen."
"Good. Means there'll be snacks. C'mon..."
They quietly made their way to the kitchen. Where the scotch and the snacks live. 'Cause sometimes, even the strongest of hearts need a little extra courage. Or maybe anesthesia. One or the other. Both maybe.
Giles got out the good single-malt and two tumblers. Six minutes and six slugs each later, they were both feeling a bit more mellow. Buffy held her glass out for a refill. "Hey, Giles?"
"Yes, dear?" He refilled both tumblers. "Salut!"
They tossed back another shot. "What the Hell does it mean, anyways?" She concentrated on holding her glass steady as Giles unsteadily poured another shot.
"What does what mean, Buffy? Specificity, if you please," he said, giggling slightly.
"Betcha can't say that three times real fast," Buffy giggled, downing another shot.
Giles scrunched up his eyes, thinking about it. " Specificity, shpefipity, speffifity... Bloody Hell! I do believe you're right!" He downed another, chuckling.
He refilled the glasses again, then paused. "Er, what was the question again?"
Buffy had to think about it for a second. "Oh. Yeah. Wait... oh yeah. 'Stiff upper lip'? For all us poor un-British slobs, let me just say; huh?"
Giles sat there stock still for a minute, then finally shrugged and downed his scotch. "Haven't a clue."
"So you're clueless."
"Without clue." He nodded sadly.
Buffy grinned. "Kewl. So we're both clueless. Let's get back to the party." She finished her scotch, then stood up. "Whoa, who made the house all swaver-y?"
"Dunno. Must be something wrong with the Earth. Spinning off its axis. Or something."
Together, they wavered off down the hall to the dining room, and the raucous group that hadn't even noticed they weren't there.
Chapter the Third
It had been her uncle George who'd finally figured out what had happened to Cassie. After his promotion, he had access to a great many secret files and projects that he'd heard rumors and whispers about for years, but had never been able to confirm until now. As they had studied her new abilities, as well as the reemergence of some of the powers she'd exhibited due to Nirti's genetic manipulation, they'd assumed that her new abilities were simply an extension of that same manipulation.
Not only did she have Slayer strength, speed, and reflexes, but she exhibited telekinetic abilities, as well as being able to channel limited amounts of heat and electrical energy. She could take multiple hits from a zat without even slowing her down. She wanted to see if she could withstand a blast from a staff weapon, but Jack and Sam both firmly put their foot down against that idea. Other than that, Cassie was having a ball. She quickly discovered that she was stronger than Teal'c, and with some additional training, she was mopping the floor with him.
But then the dreams had begun. Strangely prophetic dreams, that more often than not came true, in one form or another. And then, while walking home one night after a movie with Sam and Pete, they were attacked by a group of vampires. The fledgling Slayer instinctively new what to do, and breaking a wooden slat from a nearby bench, she proceeded to dust three vamps in rapid succession, running off the other two.
Now, Samantha Carter, being the scientist she is, found the very notion of vampires to be laughable. But then again, there was no arguing what had just happened. Her goddaughter, whom she loved as her own, had just slain three vampires right before her eyes. She was shaken right down to her toes. The discovery of the Stargate, and all that had come of it, had been an affirmation. She'd always known that we weren't alone in the universe. But this, this was pure fantasy! It began to sink in for all of them that there were after all a great many more things yet to discover about our own little corner of the universe than they'd ever imagined.
Upon hearing about the incident with the vampires, General George Hammond remembered something from one of the files he'd read shortly after his promotion. He'd passed it off as fantasy, but now had second thoughts. So he went to his office and dug out the rather large file about the Initiative, and the even thicker file on Sunnydale. After eighteen hours straight of reading and watching various video files, he went home, poured himself a large glass of Jack Daniels, and tried to get a grip on what he'd discovered. Two days later, he packed up all the material he could find on the subject of Vampire Slayers, demons, and things that go bump in the night and headed for the SGC.
But first, he placed a call to one Special Agent Riley Finn.
Chapter the Fourth
Buffy and Giles stood in the door to the dining room, swaying slightly. Both of them knew that getting half lit right before what was likely to be an important meeting wasn't necessarily the brightest thing to do, but they were both having trouble giving a damn right about then. Connor was between Spike and Angel, threatening to stake them both if they didn't shut up. Illyria and Willow were faced off on the other side of the room, Willow having had enough of the former God-Kings put downs. Dawn was building up her energy reserves just in case it got beyond the name calling stage. The various lookers-on were making bets as to who could kick whose ass. And Robin and Faith were still completely oblivious.
Buffy threw a bleary glance at Giles, then tried to whistle. Her lips didn't seem to want to work right, though, so she hollered instead. "Hey! Children! Company's coming, so chill out or you're all goin' ta bed without any supper!" Everybody in the room froze and turned to stare at Giles and Buffy. "Good. Quietness. Now siddown." She and Giles stumbled over and sat down at the head of the table.
Spike took a good look as she slumped into her chair. Drunk Buffy was a rare sight, but one that he remembered quite well. "Well, well, bugger me if the Slayer ain't pissed."
Buffy tried to focus on Spike. "Hunh? 'Mm not mad."
Spike rolled his eyes. "No, ya daft- pissed as in drunk, not pissed off."
"Oh. More British phashool...phraseo...umm...stuff I don't get."
Dawn walked over and stood next to her sister, hands on hips and frown in place. "Drunk? You pick now to get slozzled? What the Hell were you two thinking?"
Giles roused himself from his stupor. "Hold on there. We needed a break. So we took a break. Have you lot ever stood back and watched yourselves? Well, we have. It's enough to drive a man to drink..."
"Or a woman..." chimed in Buffy.
"...Quite right. So shut up, sit down, and try to look respectable. Illyria, put that down!" Illyria sat the ancient vase she had been studying back where she found it with a sheepish expression.
Dawn sat down mumbling. "Respectable, he says. They're drunk, and he wasnts us to look respectable." Connor, sitting next to her, just grinned.
Willows cell phone started ringing, so she stepped out of the room to answer it. Muffled words could be heard, and then a bright light flared briefly in the hall. She walked back in a few seconds later followed by Duncan, Kate, and their new Watcher. Duncan nodded a greeting to the surprised group in the room. "Hello all. We ran into some delays, so Willow here was good enough to 'port us on over. Otherwise it'd have been sometime tomorrow night before we could have gotten here."
He started to make introductions, but Angel and Gunn were already on their feet. "Kate?" Duncan's wife started to reply when she realised that Angel was actually speaking to the blonde Watcher standing next to her.
"Hi Angel. Gunn. Been a while. And I go by Kaithlynn these days." Kate Lockley wasn't quite sure how she felt about running into Angel. There were parts of her life that she had tried very hard to forget about. Yes, he had saved her life. Several times. But he had also been instrumental in starting her down the path that had nearly destroyed her. But then he had saved her again. And that was when she finally started believing that there was something more to this life, that she was meant for something more.
For his part, Angel almost hadn't recognised her. Her hair was longer and wavier than he remembered, and the haunted look was gone from her eyes. She looked as though she were finally at peace with herself.
Duncan was studying them closely. "Sooo... I take it you folks know each other?"
Kaithlynn shook herself from her memories. "Yeah, from back in LA. Old, um, friends, I guess."
"Oh. So you're that Angel, then?" Duncan asked, turning to look Angel in the eye.
"Yeah. Guess so," Angel said warily.
"Good. Then I owe you my thanks for setting our Kaithlynn here on her new path. She's been a Godsend these last few months." He offered his hand to Angel, who shook it with a relieved expression. He really didn't want to get into a fight with an Immortal. They were just too damn good with that whole lopping off of the heads thing...
Kate (the Immortal. Sittin' here remembering my gripe about too damn many people in the sci-fi world having the same damn name.) was looking at Giles and Buffy. "You two alright?"
Buffy turned her bleary gaze on the Immortal. "Hunh?"
Kaithlynn cocked her head and studied the tipsy twosome. "Oh, I think they're alright. Three sheets to the wind, but alright."
Buffy tried to look indignant. "So not three sheets. Two maybe. One-and-a-half."
"Four," chimed in Dawn.
"Shut up, you. 'Mm not that bad. Do ya see Cave-Buffy anywhere? No! So hush."
Giles giggled. "Cave-Buffy..."
Willow, still standing in the doorway, jumped as her cell phone rang again. "Um, hello? Oh, hiya Riley. You guys almost here? What? Move three steps to my left? Why? Okay, okay, moving. How come... Eep!" She jumped back even further as a brilliant white light flooded the room and then faded away, leaving seven people standing there.
Riley Finn smiled sheepishly and waved at the frozen assemblage. "Hi guys. Umm, surprise!"
Chapter the Fifth
Spike was the one that broke the silence. Of course. "Oh, look. Captain Cardboard's learned a new trick. Ow!" Buffy bounced a book off his skull.
"See? Not three sheets. Hi Riley, Sam. Who'ssh- I mean, who're your friends that you brought with you in the shiny bright light? And by the way, what the Hell was that?"
"Umm... long story."
"Shorten it."
"Asgard transporter. Beamed in from the Prometheus."
That earned him a great many blank looks. Buffy's eyebrows were trying to hide somewhere up beyond her hairline. "Err... okey-dokey, maybe the long version would be of the good after all."
Giles was sobering up fast. Amazing how having a group teleport into your dining room could cause ones head to clear up. "Err... yes. Won't you all please sit down? And perhaps Riley would make the introductions?"
"Sure. Most of you know my wife Sam," he gestured towards the woman standing to his left. She nodded a greeting. "And this is General Jack O'Neill, Col. Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c. And then we have Cassandra Fraiser, the Slayer I was telling you about."
Buffy had known Cassie was a Slayer the second she walked into the room. And she could also tell that there was something different about Teal'c. He put off a vibe that felt familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. And then she looked at Daniel. Whoa. I know him. How do I know him? Don't recall ever visiting any secret military programs. Well, except for the Initiative. Great, now this is gonna bug me 'til I figure out where I know him from. She mumbled a hello as Giles introduced the rest of the group.
Cassie nodded, but was staring at Angel and Spike. She was getting a weird vibe from Illyria, but didn't know what to make of it yet. "You guys do know that there are two vampires sitting here with you, right?" Jack did a double take and started trying to figure out who the vamps were. Teal'c just quirked an eyebrow. Carter and Daniel were both reaching surrepticiously for the stakes they had hidden.
Buffy made a 'pffft' noise and waved a hand towards the vampires in question. "That's just Spike 'n Angel, don't worry about it. They've got souls." Spike and Angel sat there looking uncomfortable.
Jack leaned toward Daniel. "They've got soul?"
"Souls. They've got souls," Daniel muttered back.
"Oh. So?"
"How should I know?"
"Oh. Never mind." He stepped over to the table and shook Giles' hand. "Pleased to meet ya. Heard a lot about you guys, figured we'd come on over, give you a chance to set the record sraight." He said it a good natured way that had Buffy liking him in spite of the fact he was military.
"Quite thoughtful of you." Giles said dryly, then introduced the rest of the group. Everybody found a place to sit while Carter set up her laptop.
He cleared his throat to quiet everyone down. "Perhaps you'd care to explain what's going on, Riley?"
Riley looked at Jack, who nodded. "Well, I think first we'd better let you guys in on the background. I only found out most of this stuff myself a couple of months ago, so I'll let Col. Carter fill you in about the Stargate program." He nodded to Carter, who stood up and cleared her throat.
"Hi. What we're about to tell you is classified. We're not too worried about telling you folks this, since you seem to be pretty good at keeping secrets, but this cannot leave this room."
"Matter of utmost national security, right? Heard this speech before, Colonel," Xander intoned tiredly.
"Well, more like global security, but you get the idea." She typed a command into her laptop and turned the screen where everyone could see it. A picture of the Stargate was displayed, followed by several still shots of the gate. "This is the Stargate. It's one of thousands in a network of Stargates spread thoughout this galaxy, and in at least two other galaxies that we know of." She tapped another key, and a clip of the gate activating started playing. "What you're seeing is the event horizon of a wormhole. You step through the gate here, and step through the other side on another world. We've traveled to hundreds of different planets, met dozens of species, and made some good friends. Unfortunately, we've also made some very powerful enemies. We are currently at war with the Gou'ald, a race of parasites that inhabit human hosts, and have used humans for slave labor for thousands of years."
Giles' eyes were about to bug out. "The Gou'ald? They're real? Then this Stargate, it would be the chappa'ai?"
Carter nodded. "Yes. I take it you've heard of them before?"
"Only as myths, legends. I assumed they were demons, in fact, the few references to them that I've ever found referred to them as demons."
Daniel leaned forward. "They're often called demons. Ten thousand years ago, the human race didn't really have a concept of alien parasites."
Willow was craning her neck, trying to get a better look at the screen. And trying not to drool. "How does it work? You said wormhole? How can it be a wormhole, 'cause I thought wormholes were inherently unstable? And the power requirements! I mean, the juice just to create a wormhole, let alone sustain a stable one must be astronomical! And what's with all the symbols on the gate? Giles, those look familiar. Where have I seen those before? Oh, wait. I know, they're astrological signs! For constellations, right? So they're what, part of an address system?" Riley was grinning at the expressions on SG-1's faces at their first exposure to Willow-babble.
Jack poked Daniel in the arm. "Took you a whole week to figure that out, Danny. What's the deal?"
"Shut up, Jack," Daniel grumbled. Jack just smirked.
Duncan stirred in his chair. "Methos told me a story a while back. Had trouble believing it at the time, but now I'm starting to wonder. Did these Gou'ald have a gate in Antarctica?"
Carter nodded. "Yes. That was the second gate we found. The first was found in Egypt back in 1928. We didn't know about the Antarctic gate 'til a few years ago." She and Jack shared a look. Neither of them had fond memories of that particular adventure. "Why?"
"As I remember it, he got caught up in a group that had been rounded up to serve some god or somesuch. He led the revolt that stopped them, said the gate got buried by a cave in. I'd have to call him to get more details, it's been awhile since he told the story, and we were pretty drunk at the time."
"When did this happen?" asked Daniel.
"Back in the Middle Ages, I think. I'm not real sure."
Daniel leaned back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "That would fit with what we've discovered about that gate."
Jack smiled. He knew that Daniel and Carter would happily get into the history lessons and techno-babble 'til the wee hours if he let them. Time enough for that later. "Okay, campers, here's the short version. We'll be happy to discuss this at length later. Gou'ald, they're the bad guys. There are humans spread out all over the galaxy, some of them still slaves of the Gou'ald. We're trying to free them and take down the Gou'ald. We have allies. The Tok'ra. The Asgard. A few others. There are also other bad guys out there. The Replicators for one. Very bad news. We've been fighting the Gou'ald for eight years now, haven't been doing too bad a job of it if Ido say so myself. Understand you guys have been fighting some serious badness for the last eight years or so yourselves. A year ago, you did something that made Cassie here a Slayer. Which, considering the fact that she comes from another planet, makes me wonder how many more there are out there."
Cassie found herself on the recieving end of a great many surprised looks. Xander quirked an eyebrow. "Funny, she doesn't look like E.T."
"She's human. Just from another planet. And apparently, thanks to whatever the Hell it was that you guys did last year, also a Slayer. Complete with prophecy powers. We've also confirmed three other Slayers in the SGC, and the Tok'ra have confirmed two amongst their ranks. Haven't had a chance to check with all the Jaffa rebels, but we're already getting word back that there are definitely Slayers there, too." Jack paused, looked at SG-1. "Anything else?"
Carter smiled. "Yeah, but I think we probably ought to talk about her latest batch of dreams. That's why we're here after all."
"Oh. Right. Cassie?" He made a 'next' gesture and sat down.
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, hands clasped in front of her. "Umm, yeah. Well, it's like this... if we can't figure out what my dreams mean, and what to do about it, then it's pretty much gonna be the end of the world..."
She was somewhat taken aback by the tired groans that came back at her. Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Again?"
Jack studied the group with a practiced eye. He'd always been good at reading people, and could tell that beneath the sarcasm, they were genuinely concerned. "Soo, I take it this is nothing new, then?"
Buffy sighed. "I wish. It's not Tuesday is it?"
"Thursday, actually," said Giles.
"Oh, goodie. We're probably safe for a few days then." She turned to Cassie. "Maybe you'd better fill us in now. Always glad for advance notice on the latest apocalypse."
"Okay. Um, there were lots of vampires, and what I guess were other demons in it. And there was at least one Gou'ald. I think he'd formed a demon army. There was a mother ship doing the orbital bombardment thing, and lots of Jaffa with the demons. And there was a lot of weird stuff that we couldn't figure out that Riley thought I should talk to Willow and Giles about. Oh, and most of you were in there, too..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
Xander leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "What were we doing? The normal kicking of the demon butt, I presume?"
Cassie squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. "Umm, no. You guys were, well, dead. All of you. And all of us." She gestured at SG-1, then pointed at Dawn. "Except you. I don't know what they did to you, but you turned into this big glowy ball of green energy. They had you near something I can't quite explain. I always get this image of a giant mouth with big, nasty, sharp teeth. And then I get this view of Earth from space." She took a breath, and then finished quietly, "It was burning."
"Burning?" asked Giles.
"Yeah. It was like watching a match. It just sorta went whoosh, right around the planet. And then everything was burning. Even the oceans."
There was a long pause as what she had told them sank in. They all had horrified expressions. And then Spike spoke up.
"Well, bugger that!"
To be continued
I'd kinda lost my way by the end of part two, and it took me a long time to sort out where I wanted to take this story. I'd been thinking about an SG-1 crossover, and finally got a brainstorm. Now, if I can just survive the Holidays and keep my health in check, maybe I can keep going on this.
Peace in the valley and all that good stuff!
later ;)
'To thee no star be dark'