Title: A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 4)
Author: thecrystalkey
Summary: A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.
Spoilers: Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

Disclaimer: All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

By four o'clock that afternoon Jack was thoroughly bored.

But Daniel seemed to be in research heaven so he made no move to suggest they leave and come back later.

Whenever he got really bored he'd go out into the hall and call Colorado to get an update on the background searches he'd ordered. He'd even requested one on Principal Snyder just because the man rubbed him the wrong way.

The only one that had come through so far was the one of Snyder. The rest of them had something blocking any official files so that even Carter couldn't get into them.

The only thing they'd been able to access so far were the teenagers' medical records, which Carter had said were weird. She was having Dr. Fraser go over them, but she wouldn't explain anything. Said she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Except for the fact that they were hiding something, and that they were at school voluntarily on a Sunday, they looked like perfectly normal teenagers to Jack.

The blond girl, Buffy, had made a snack run about half an hour after lunch and was now snoring gently on the open pages of the book she'd been reading. Xander kept reading. It didn't escape Jack's attention that not all of the books were in English.

The boy and Willow exchanged occasional amused glances when the other girl let out a particularly loud snore but let her sleep.

"Ooh, hey, I think I've got something!" Xander said, sitting up straighter in his chair. He'd said it quietly but the excitement in his voice was there.

Willow and Daniel both raised their eyebrows as they looked at him. He held the book up to Willow.

"That's them," Willow confirmed after a moment.

Jack and Daniel both made aborted lunges for the book. A look from Xander said he'd noticed, but Willow was oblivious.

"What does it say?" Willow asked after they had called Giles in.

With an exasperated look he woke Buffy before letting Xander begin.

"Um, here. 'These glyphs are different from the usual hieroglyphics found on Ancient Egyptian artifacts. They are similar to a subset described in Goldblum 1891, that he claimed to have found on a number of religious artifacts, both in conjunction with the more usual hieroglyphics and on their own. His claim that they represented the language of the gods has never been proven because he never showed that these particular glyphs even existed.
"The artifacts he claimed to have found them on disappeared almost immediately following his first publication. They were never found and in the absence of evidence Goldblum's claims were dismissed. It is this author's pleasure to be able to report that such glyphs do seem to have existed (Image Plate 65) and from a comparison with the hieroglyphs they were found with, have been partially translated by this author. A full translation will be published when it has been completed.
"It is clear from the work already completed that this is indeed another form of the Ancient Egyptian language. Possibly even some earlier form of the language that became considered the language of the gods after its common use had been replaced…' yadda, yadda yadda. The best part is that he included the partial translation he'd already completed." Xander said triumphantly.

"We don't have a copy of the full translation?" Willow asked with a frown.

"No," Giles said. "That is Mauritius isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Xander said. "Why don't we?"

"Because he died before he could complete the translation," Giles explained. "The artifacts he was working on disappeared that night, so one else ever continued it. Since he wouldn't let anyone else near the things, it was decided that he had made them up in order to prove both himself and Goldblum, his idol, correct."

"And no one was the least bit suspicious?" Buffy demanded incredulously.

Giles made a face and shrugged. "He wasn't well-liked either."

"So no one cared," Xander said, frowning.

"That's so sad!" Willow exclaimed.

"More to the point," Giles said bluntly. "It's a pain."

"Why?" Daniel asked, nervously.

"Because we'll have to complete the translation," Xander said with a sigh. "I hate Ancient Egyptian. They couldn't have just used normal letters? What?"

This last was addressing the looks of dismay or amusement on the faces of the others.

"Never mind," Giles said. "You need to do your homework first anyway. You and Buffy both. How's it coming Willow?" he asked over their groans.

"Actually I'm close to done," she said cheerfully. "How's your research going?"

"I think I've managed to trace the history of the artifact," Giles said.

"So? Give," Buffy said.

"It was found somewhere in Egypt by Napoleon and brought back to France. There were several attempts made to get it open, none of which worked. Any attempts at translating the writing on the sides have been lost, assuming there ever were any. When Napoleon was exiled the sarcophagus was given to the Musée Nationale, or whatever it was called then. The government sold it to a private collector in Paris during World War I for a tidy sum.
"When France was invaded during World War II, the artifact fell into the hands of the Nazis. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the thing open themselves they turned around and sold it for a small fortune to a private American collector who supported the cause."

"Bad man," all three teens muttered.

"Indeed," Giles agreed. "Very bad man. But very rich. He originally lived in New York, where he had made his fortune. His sympathies were never made public, fortunately for him. As he got older he became more and more interested in the occult, as some people do when they get closer to death. And he wanted to get away from his many greedy relatives, so when he retired he moved to Sunnydale."

"Because where else would a Nazi sympathizer who wants to live forever move?" Buffy asked rhetorically.

"I hate this town," Xander said, dropping his head to the tabletop. Willow sighed.

"At least he's dead," Willow offered. "He is dead, right?" she asked.

"Of course he is," Giles said.

The girl didn't look very convinced. Then again, neither did the librarian.

"Well, yeah. I mean, would he have let something that big and…and gold out of his sight if he weren't?" Xander asked.

All four of them looked a little more re-assured at that thought.

It was the kind of question Jack would have expected about the owner of the sarcophagus at the SGC, not in a small town's high school library.

While he was thinking about that, and wondering if Carter had anything yet, Giles had sorted the teenagers out. Willow was back to messing around on her computer and Buffy and Xander had switched from 19th and early 20th century books to high school textbooks. Both of them looked a lot more unhappy than they had with the other books.

Seeing that Daniel had buried himself in another book Jack decided that now was a good time to call his 2IC.

--

"Tell me you've got something," Jack pleaded as Samantha Carter answered the phone.

"I've got something," she said, sounding amused. "Just not much. And it's not nice."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Janet says that the hospital records of all three teenagers are consistent with a pattern of systematic abuse. Especially Summers and Harris. Most especially Harris." Carter's voice was unnaturally even. Jack knew it had upset her. It upset him.

"Those kids don't act abused," he protested. "I've talked to abused children before and except for voluntarily being at school on a Sunday these kids don't act abused."

"I'm just telling you what Janet said, sir," she said. Her voice was still too even.

"If it's true why hasn't anyone at the hospital noticed anything?" Jack demanded. "I thought they were supposed to be trained to spot these things. And why especially Harris?"

"Alexander Harris' records go back much farther than either of the girls. He's been treated for broken bones and internal bleeding with extensive bruises since he was about 6 years old. He has a record at every hospital and clinic in Sunnydale.
"It becomes less frequent after age 10, Janet says he probably found a really good hiding place or something, tapers off altogether around age 14 and then he begins to come in again just after Christmas break in his sixteenth year. That coincides with Miss Summers' arrival in Sunnydale. Miss Rosenberg's hospital visits also become more frequent after that."

"You think Buffy is beating them up?" Jack asked, not quite believing his ears.

"No, sir," she said. "I'm just pointing out the coincidental timing. Janet says that the other explanation is that they joined a gang or something. In fact, she said she thinks it's the most likely explanation for everything except Harris' early years. We've been able to access Buffy's records from high school in LA.
"She was suspected of being involved in gang activity there and was accused of burning down a number of school buildings. The only one they had evidence for was the school gym because it happened during the Spring Fling, an annual dance. After that she was asked to leave the school and she and her mother moved to Sunnydale."

"She's five foot three and she dresses like she just stepped out of one of Cassie's fashion magazines. And the school librarian just bullied her into doing her homework," Jack pointed out.

"I can only tell you what I've found out so far. I still haven't been able to access much of anything in Sunnydale itself," she said apologetically.

He sighed into the phone. "Which is weird all by itself," he acknowledged. "There's something going on here Carter. I don't think it's gangs but I do think those kids, and at least two of their teachers, are involved somehow. Or at least, know what's going on."

"At this rate, you're more likely to find out what's going on there than I am from here. All the information that's available points to what you're telling me are the wrong conclusions."

"Well, keep working on it. I find out anything important I'll let you know." Jack said, preparing to hang up. Then something that had been said during lunch hit him.

--- Flashback ---
"It would be a matter for the police to deal with," Giles said.

The teenagers looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Because the police are so effective," Buffy murmured sarcastically.

"It would be their problem, regardless," Giles said firmly.

--- End Flashback ---

"Wait," Jack said before Carter could hang up. "Something they said earlier just hit me and it occurred to me that maybe they were a vigilante group. Would that fit?" he asked.

"I don't know…Vigilante teenagers, sir?" Carter sounded like the idea was causing her pain.

"There's something going on in this town, Carter. And I don't think it has much, if anything, to do with that sarcophagus," Jack said. "They've implied more than once that the police here are useless at best. Maybe it's a 'Take Back the Night' kinda thing. As far as I can Harris and Giles are the only two guys involved."

"It would fit the facts," she said thoughtfully. "If Harris was a victim himself when he was younger, he might have decided to deal with it by protecting others."

It didn't explain their apparently common use of obscure historical sources to research…whatever it was they usually researched. And Jack was sure those books were there because they were used often for research. It did, however, explain a lot.

The archaeology club thing was probably a cover, but there might have been more truth to it than Jack had first thought. It fit all the facts, he mused as he said goodbye to Carter, but it still didn't feel right.

His gut was telling him that something was rotten in Sunnydale and these people were at the center of it.

--

When Jack got back to the library Daniel was still buried in his book. He seemed to be finding it fascinating. He was actually taking notes.

Jack settled back down on the stairs, knowing he couldn't tear Daniel away now. Giles was working on translating the symbols and Jack knew he should be trying to stop the guy, but they were trying to keep a low profile.

They couldn't move until they knew for sure that this was a Goa'uld sarcophagus and that there was a Goa'uld in it. Hammond was working through channels to try to get possession of it, but they couldn't risk blowing their cover by having military personnel retrieve it. Not yet anyway.

Buffy sighed, closed the book she was reading and began lightly banging her head against the closed cover.

Her friends just looked amused. Giles came out of his office to see what the noise was. His lips twitched into an affectionate smile and he went back into his office, shaking his head.

"The knowledge isn't going to jump into your head if you beat the book up, Buffy," Willow pointed out with a smile.

"What time's sunset?" the blond asked.

"5:32," Willow and Xander chorused.

At the look Daniel gave them Willow smiled and Xander shrugged.

"Uhn," Buffy said. "What time is it now?"

Xander looked at his watch. "Five," he said with a sigh.

Buffy's eyes widened. "I have to call my mom," she said, getting up. She went over to the counter, reached over the top and pulled up a phone.

"Hi mom," she said cheerfully. She bit her lip. "Yeah. I'm really sorry. I just totally lost track of the time." She listened some more, then smiled. "Yes, we did eat lunch… Pizza…Yeah, I'm still at Willow's…. It's just, I'm really struggling with the math and we have that test tomorrow. I was wondering if you'd mind if I just..." she trailed off, listening.

"Sure. She's right here," Buffy said beckoning frantically at Willow. The other girl was laughing as she got up and headed over to the phone.

"Hi, Mrs. Summers," the redhead said into the phone. "Yes, she's been doing her homework… Uh huh…Well, we were hoping to be but Ms. Calendar just assigned her and Xander this extra credit project and we've been working on that and it's been taking longer than we expected it to…Yes, Mrs. Summers, we know it's a school night…I'll make sure she leaves on time…"

Willow listened for a little while longer then said goodbye and handed the phone back.

A series of "Yes, mom" s later Buffy was hanging up the phone.

She rolled her eyes at her friends as she sat back down. "I have to be home by seven. One report of sleeping in class and all of sudden school night curfew gets stricter," she said.

"You're just lucky she thinks Snyder's a troll as well," Xander pointed out. The blond girl smiled and perked right up.

"You're right," she agreed. "I love my mom."

"I should call mine, too," Xander said with a sigh. He got up and went to the phone.

He drummed his fingers on the counter as the phone rang. He breathed a sigh of relief when the machine picked up.

"Hi. I'm still at Willow's. I'm staying the night. I'll get to school from here," he said into the phone. Then he hung up.

Jack felt his eyebrows go up as he listened to Xander's message to his parents. The girls didn't seem to think anything was odd about it. He remembered what Carter had said about the kid's medical records.

He felt a slow burning anger build at this evidence that she was right. He began to think about what he could do about it.

"Don't you need to call your parents?" Daniel asked Willow.

She shrugged. "They're in New York."

And couldn't care less where I was even if they weren't, Jack silently filled in the rest of that sentence. The unhappiness buried in her voice and expression gave it away.

Her parents might not have hit her, Jack decided, but they seemed to have done their own damage.

"So, um, why not tell your parents where you actually are?" Daniel asked. "I mean they couldn't object to your studying in the library, could they?"

The teenagers looked at each other and then all three looked at Daniel like he was completely clueless and should be pitied for it. Jack chuckled.

"Oh," Buffy said. "Like my mom would believe that. If she knew how much time I actually spent in here she'd get suspicious. And then she'd drop by."

Buffy's tone made it clear that that was the worst possible thing in the world.

"And also," Xander said. "Then they might actually know where we were. How could we hold our heads up around other teenagers if we didn't lie to our parents?"

That had the girls laughing and agreeing.

"Does Mr. Giles know you're lying to your parents?" Jack asked.

"I wasn't comfortable with it at first," the man himself said from the doorway into his office. "But on the whole I've decided I prefer it. The truth would make them suspicious of my motives. This system works for us. Besides, as Buffy said, if they knew the truth they might decide to drop by."

"What's to stop them calling Willow's house and realizing no one's home?" Daniel asked.

"I have the phone forwarded to here," Willow said casually. "No one ever calls here, so if the phone rings we know it's either someone who knows we're here or someone calling my house."

--

Jack had gone to get in touch with Carter again.

She had no new updates to report. Or at least nothing good. He wasn't too disappointed since he had called mostly to ask her to find information on the kids' parents.

He now thought he understood at least part of Giles' reasons for involving himself with these kids. And his taking responsibility for their doing their homework. He obviously felt a level of paternal affection for all three teenagers.

Harris and Rosenberg didn't seem to have anyone in their home lives that cared if they did their homework and, while Summers did, Jack got the impression that she might have blown it off anyway. For all of her mocking comments about his car and dress sense, the blond girl seemed to respect the older man and would do her homework because he'd told her to.

As he was heading back to the library he heard voices that sounded like they were standing near the library's door.

"…get home, convince my mom I'm going to bed early and then patrol." Buffy was saying.

"You will be careful?" Giles asked. "Spike is still out there."

"You worry too much," the girl said breezily. "I'll be fine. When I get back, I'll be able to concentrate and Wills will be free to help me with the math."

"Alright," the older man agreed. "If you need help…"

"I'll call," the young woman sounded amused but affectionate. "My cell phone's fully charged and everything."

There was the sound of footsteps moving off down the hall and then Jack heard the library doors open and close. There was definitely something weird going on. His vigilante idea seemed closer and closer to the truth.

He just had to work out what such a seemingly-staid British man was doing involved with a bunch of teenagers who spent their Sundays in the school library and then lied about it to their parents.

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