God, Xander hated hospitals. Some of his worst memories included time spent in a hospital room. When he had been younger, a visit to the hospital wasn't exactly a rare occasion. The drunkard that he called father saw to that quite often. But in the later years, his memories took a whole new turn for the worse. As horrible as his visits had been as a child, when he had been visiting in high school it had not been because he needed treatment. No, that would have been preferable. He was there visiting his friends and loved ones. Those he felt as though he had let down, those he was not able to protect.
He had visited Willow while she lay in a hospital bed on more than one occasion. When she had been hurt so badly that she had been in a coma, he had felt as though he was drowning. Breathing had become a problem, and if it hadn't been for his friends, he never would have kept his sanity.
When Buffy had been in the hospital, completely out of commission, it had been one of the worst, yet best, experiences in his entire life. Seeing Buffy in such a helpless state, all the while contemplating the events that had transpired for this situation to have occurred, was by far one of the worst experiences he had ever faced. Blocking the entrance to her room, and all out challenging Angelus to enter, well that had been one of his best experiences. Especially since, in the end, Xander was still standing in the doorway, feeling more terrified than he had been in his entire existence, just to watch as one of four members of The Scourge of Europe shove some flowers in his chest with a parting shot, while retreating with his tail between his legs. He had never felt so proud, so right. But in the end he still hated hospitals.
This place may not be an actual hospital, but that sure wasn't helping any. Xander had laid in his bed, for how long he didn't know, just staring in the semi darkness. There was a faint background noise, consisting of soft humming and muted beeps, from the medical equipment. Some of that same equipment also gave off a faint glow that illuminated his surroundings somewhat. There was also a shadow that passed by the glass panels in the doors at the entrance, signaling the airmen at his post guarding the door. But Xander disregarded all of this and simply thought long and hard about his current situation.
He had come to a simple conclusion just moments before they left. He wasn't going to be telling any of them anything that they didn't already know. No matter what they did, or threatened him with, he was not going to betray his loved ones. That little revelation did nothing to improve his situation; if anything, it made it far worse.
He knew that these people were serious, and part of him wanted to tell them about vampires and demons, and simply leave his friends out of it. After all, the blonde woman, Major Carter, had been attacked by one. He didn't want to think what type of emotional trauma that might cause her, especially without being able to put a label on the 'monster' that had attacked her. He had been tempted to tell her about what had transpired in the alley and hope for the best, but the fact that they already had files on him told him that they would not let the subject go after that. A more thorough investigation would be done. And with the proper information, finding out about the 'Scoobies' wouldn't be that hard. And he was not going to put them in danger.
The next thought that had occurred to him was to get in touch with Riley. However, that was not going to happen because, for one thing, he didn't have his contact information. And there was no way he was going to get on a phone to get it, lest he lead these people back to his friends. And secondly, there was no way he was going to betray Riley and his team, who most likely didn't exist, by allowing these people to run whatever traces, or whatever they may do, and possibly out his friend.
So what was to come? Were they going to go to any length to get the information they wanted from him? He didn't think so. For one thing, someone had classified the information in the first place, and while he had no delusions that the US Government was strictly against torture to gain Intel, he was fairly sure that this situation wouldn't warrant it. There was also the fact that he had in fact saved Major Carter's life. He just hoped they didn't forget that. He was slightly worried about what tactics they might use to interrogate him, but he was more worried about them locking him up in some dark hole while they decide what to do with him. Or, for them to throw him in some dark hole should they ever find out what he knew. Well, a dark hole, or a padded cell, depending on who was in the loop.
Xander closed his eyes and groaned internally as his life came crashing around his head. Perhaps he deserved this fate for leaving Anya at the altar just hours, or perhaps a day, before. But, he didn't want it. His life may not have been a perfect one, but it was his, and he still wanted whatever he could salvage from it. He knew that he and Anya were done for good, but he still had his friends who were now more a family than even his own blood relatives. And now, it seemed, he may have lost it all. He opened his eyes and looked around him in a state of despair. He tried to let out a calming sigh, though it came out as more as a slight whimper. He took a few calming breaths that only served to lead him to the beginning stages of depression when a soft, feminine cough brought him out of his reverie.
He looked over, a bit startled, to see Major Carter standing just a few feet away from him. 'How long has she been there?' He didn't remember seeing her there a moment ago. He was either really loosing it, or she was just plain good at entering here without being noticed.
Standing at about 5'9," she was looking down at him. He stared into her eyes for a moment. He could feel the concern radiating from those blue pools. That concern was entwined with an ever-present curiosity and an underlying desire to solve whatever problem she was facing. All in all, their eye contact helped him to calm down.
He gave her a small lopsided smile. Her concern seemed to diminish slightly, but was still present. Her curiosity seemed to grow with each passing moment. After an indeterminate amount of time had passed, she finally spoke.
"Can we talk?"
He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.
"Sure, as long as it has nothing to do with what happened earlier tonight. Also, Major," He looked down and studied his hands. "There may be some questions I'm unwilling to answer. I hope you can understand that."
She looked at him for a moment before nodding. She walked away for a moment and returned with a chair that she placed by the bed as he toyed with the bed until he was in a sitting position. He wasn't about to have a conversation here while lying down. When they had both finally settled, it was Xander who spoke first.
"So, Major, what is it that you want to talk about?"
She gave him a smile of her own. "First of all, please call me either Sam, or Carter. You don't have to call me Major."
He smiled and nodded. "Ok Sam, shoot."
xxxxxxxxxx
Hammond and The President walked out of the room they had occupied for the past several hours. The information in the folders had been secured. The information in the briefcase would be further reviewed tomorrow, especially that tape.
Hammond glanced over to the man who was quickly approaching them. "Walter, please have a VIP room made up for The President and some others for his people. They will be our guests for the night." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, our guests for the morning I suppose." Walter simply nodded and made to leave.
Hammond looked over to The President and sighed. "I'll get on the phone with Groom Lake now and have SG-1 escort Mr. Harris to the base as soon as possible."
The President gave him a warm smile. "Good, I look forward to meeting the young man." And with that he left with his men to get some much-needed rest.
Hammond had to stifle a yawn as he walked over to the phone. He picked it up while realizing that he was about to wake up Jack O'Neill at an early hour in the morning. Quite a few thoughts passed through his mind about waking the Colonel up. He shook his head. There was only one sure thing about waking the man up this early in the morning.
'Boy, Jack is not going to like this.'
