Timeline: BtVS: Post-The Gift and not decided for SG1.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse and the Stargate 'verse belong to other people.
Author's Note: Written for Day 20 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Any suggestions on where to place this in SG-1?
They arrived in Colorado Springs with little fanfare. Sara O'Neill was picked up by military transport and driven home. Buffy and Jack were given transport of their own and brought straight to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex where Buffy would be tested to see if she was Jack O'Neill's daughter and if she was possibly from another reality/dimension.
After being brought through multiple checkpoints they entered an elevator that took them down to what Jack called Sub Level 11, where they had to get out and change to another elevator which would take them further down to Sub Level 21 where the Infirmary was located.
Buffy looked around as soon as the second set of elevator doors opened. "Oh, look! More drab grey walls!"
Jack smiled at her, "Yes, we had a fabulous decorator. Come on, it's this way to the needle-happy doctor."
Several hallways later and they walked into the base infirmary and a short, female doctor came out of an office further in. "Hello, I'm Dr. Janet Frasier, and you must be out new mysterious guest." The doctor gave a friendly smile.
"Buffy Summers. College student and interdimensional traveler, at your service." She quipped.
"Okay then. I'm guessing you either have the answer to why you're here or a theory of some kind?" The red-headed woman somehow managed to usher Buffy onto one of the hospital beds and at the same time stopping Jack from asking questions and kicking him out of her domain, despite him most likely being her superior officer. Buffy liked her, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Deciding to go for blunt while Dr. Frasier took her blood, she replied. "I know how and why I'm here, sort of, but not why I share DNA with Jack and Sara O'Neill. They're nothing like my real parents, even if they seem to think I could've been Elizabeth's identical twin."
When Dr. Frasier removed the needle from her arm and was about to use a cotton swab to stop the trickle of blood she startled, and Buffy was sure she knew why even before looked at her arm. If she healed deadly injuries in under two days, then a needle prick would be healed as soon as the needle was out of her arm. The good doctor refrained from commenting though, and that meant an interrogation later.
A thought just struck her, she needed to see a picture of Elizabeth O'Neill to see for herself if the physical similarities were that high. Given people's reactions to her, she most likely was a doppelganger and that could easily become a problem later on. Particularly among anyone who knew the O'Neill family.
The doctor kept doing her tests as they spoke. "And how did you get here and why?"
"The 'how' was a highly unstable portal or wormhole or whatever they're called. It should've either killed me or sent me somewhere extremely unpleasant, but instead, I ended up here. The 'why' part is unclear since I don't know what you're doing here."
"I can't tell you that, you need clearance."
"Jack said he'd gotten me clearance before we left Tampa, but he couldn't explain anything on the plane or in the car." She wanted to know, the suspense was killing her because there was no way they did normal military-type things down here. Not when the PTB had decided it was a great idea to send her here like a lost package.
Dr. Frasier gave her a kind smile. "I'm sure Colonel O'Neill has a dramatic explanation in mind, so just be patient for a little while longer." There was genuine emotion in her eyes, "I promise it will be worth it."
Buffy exaggerated a pout, "Fine. Be tight-lipped about the interesting stuff so you can be all doctor-y and stick me with your needles."
She chuckled and continued her examination and tests. In between, they conversed and asked questions that sometimes got answered and sometimes not.
-
"According to her test results, Buffy Summers is a partial genetic match to Colonel O'Neill and his ex-wife. She also has DNA from an unknown female and an unknown male. Presumably her parents from her original reality." Dr. Frasier looked at General Hammond and all of SG-1, and Buffy. "She shows no trace of ever having been a host."
"Were you able to confirm she's from an alternate reality?"
"Yes, General. However, Miss Summers seems to believe she comes from an alternate dimension, although she declined to explain why." All eyes turned to Buffy, waiting for her to say something, preferably something that made the situation make sense.
"Look, I know you're curious and all, but all you need to know is that I came here through a highly unstable portal, or I think the technical term is a wormhole. At least that's what a friend of mine called it once, but it doesn't matter. It was a one-time thing and it can't be replicated."
"So, you're stuck here?" Asked Jack, from beside her.
"Yes."
"That sucks, but how do you know for sure?"
"This dimension or reality or whatever, seem to be a lot like mine, but there are many unseen differences. Differences you are unlikely to have known about even if you had been there. And you don't need to know about them." She was rambling and even she knew it. "My point is, those differences are the reason I ended up here, but since you don't have those things I can't be sent back." Even if there was a Key here and the timing was right, she wouldn't have done it.
Jack looked at her with suspicion, "You seem to have gotten information at some point between now and when you first got here."
"I have," Buffy replied. "Don't ask about that either, it was a one-time thing and pretty vague."
Everyone exchanged looks around her, but she chose to ignore it. Telling these people that her dead mother came and told her everything in a dream wasn't going to make them believe her, or see her as trustworthy. Not that the current conversation was helping.
The bald man in charge found his voice first, "You seem to imply you intend to work with us?"
"Yes," Buffy sighed. "My source was much with the vagueness, but it was implied that I was going to work the same place as Jack and that it would be prudent of me to change my major to linguistics. More specifically, I should study ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Norse runes." Eyes widened all around, telling her she had hit the jackpot, so to speak.
She gave all of them a searching look when no one spoke up. "Anyone want to enlighten me as to why I need to understand dead alphabets to work with the military in a bunker far, far underground?"
Everyone exchanged looks again and she was starting to get a little annoyed about that but kept quiet. Super-secret, classified things always had people who could communicate like that. She'd even done it with her friends back home.
Dr. Jackson had just opened his mouth to hopefully finally answer her questions when an alarm began blaring, loudly. "Unauthorized off-world activation!"
Buffy grinned in amusement because that was perfect timing. "I guess that's one way to let the alien out of the bag."
"Oh for cryin' out loud!"
Half an hour later they were back in the conference room as it had just been a team arriving back a little early after an uneventful stroll off-world. And wasn't that just something else?
"So," she began when they were back. "The United States Air Force has a doorway to other planets, and it even comes with an interplanetary doorbell."
It brought laughter all around, just as she'd hoped. A little humor could go a long way.
"You don't look shocked at all, Miss Summers." General Hammond commented.
"Weirdness is kind of what I do. Taking a walk from a deep underground bunker and onto a whole other planet is new though. And interesting. And my source was right, I definitely want to do this!"
"Getting a little ahead of yourself there, aren't you?" Dr. Jackson interjected. "You can't just come here and say you want to join a team. You need credentials and other stuff." He raised both eyebrows. "A valid identity."
She sat up straighter. "I obviously don't have any paperwork, legal or illegal, but I guarantee you," and she looked at the bald general, "That I am the best fighter in here. Even against the so-not human mountain over there." And she indicated the man who had been introduced as 'Murray' at the beginning of the meeting.
"What makes you think he isn't human?"
"I have other abilities aside from my nifty ability to heal almost anything. Like great strength, speed, and fighting skills. I can also sense non-humans like him, even if I can't identify what he is because I have nothing to compare him with. Major Carter doesn't come off as entirely human either, but it's weaker and she doesn't have the double resonance he does."
'Murray' spoke into the silence. "I am Teal'c of Chulak, a free Jaffa." He gave a partial bow while lowering his eyes in some kind of greeting, before making eye contact again. "I would be honored to test your ability as a warrior."
"Excellent" She was looking forward to this, especially if he was as good a fighter as he looked. "Name the time and place and we can get to it. I've been itching for a fight since I recovered from the fall and the journey here."
"Wait a minute!" General Hammond ordered from the head of the conference table. "There will be no such thing."
She studied the alien who returned it in equal measure. "It's fine, general. I promise not to break him." Then she turned back to Hammond. "Maybe bruise him a little, but I'm sure he'll be fine."
In her peripheral view, she saw the other four people stare at her in astonishment. Turning to them, she added innocently. "Didn't anyone tell you that size doesn't matter?"
The next twenty minutes were spent arguing over her claims, whether or not she should be allowed to spar with Teal'c, and if it was responsible to allow her on a gate team without knowing much of anything about her. Their discussion was interrupted by SG-9 before anything was agreed upon. SG-9 was the team who had arrived early, and now they were ready to be debriefed.
Buffy and SG-1 were ordered to leave so the general could attend to his duties.
It left her alone with her alternate reality 'father' and his team plus the base doctor. "Any chance of that sparring match?" She asked hopefully, looking between the two women and three men. She was summarily outvoted and escorted to the guest quarters she would be occupying for the foreseeable future.
Dr. Jackson followed her inside. "It was decided I should be the one who explained the Stargate and give you an overview of what's out there. The meeting with General Hammon will reconvene tomorrow."
"Can I spar with Teal'c tomorrow? I meant it when I said I'm itching for a fight." He just stared at her. "Come on, Dr. Jackson. What's the worst that can happen? Dr. Fraiser knows I heal fast if he somehow manages to harm me, so that's not the issue. And I already promised not to hurt him too much."
He put a hand over his face and rubbed it. "First, it's Daniel. And second, who you spar with isn't up to me."
"Okay, Daniel, but you can put in a good word? I need some violence therapy and the average homo sapiens isn't going to do it for me." Buffy wrinkled her nose, that came out wrong but the man in front of her didn't seem to have noticed.
"I'll try, but I won't promise anything."
"Yes!" She was all smiles until he continued.
"But for now you need to sit down, we have a lot to talk about before dinner."