They had been back at Jack's house long enough to drop their bags and collapse wearily onto the couch when the phone rang. Without thinking, Buffy picked it up and said, "Hello."
"Where the hell have you been?" Came a familiar voice over the line.
"Oh, hey, John," she said sleepily, leaning against Jack.
"Oh, hey, John? You go missing for two weeks without a word, I can't get a hold of anybody and all you can say is 'Oh, hey, John'?"
"Sorry, it's been a long two weeks."
"Doing what?" He irritably asked.
"Killing alien vampires." She felt Jack's chuckle through the rumbling in his chest more than she'd heard it.
"Alien vampires?" John skeptically asked.
"Some old god temple on another planet, stupid ritual… became vampires. Thor asked for a favor, I gave," she said through a yawn.
"Amazingly I understood all of that."
"So how have you been?"
"Bored, bored, a little more bored, oh, and, of course, frantically worried about you," John said, a hard sarcastic tone coloring his voice.
"That's so sweet. But I warned you that high school was going to be boring."
"Yeah, I should have listened to you."
"Wanna make your life un-boring?" She asked.
"How?" He asked after a moment.
"I happen to have some friends in the evil fighting business who'd jump at the chance to have someone like you work for them."
"You mean the Watcher's Council with the people who betrayed you and stabbed you in the back?" He asked incredulously.
"Yeah, those people," she said, getting sleepier by the minute. Jack running his fingers through her long hair wasn't helping matters.
"I thought they didn't know where you were."
"They do now," she said simply.
"Do they know about the stargate?"
"Nope. See, I can keep a secret."
"Have you cleared it with them?"
"I told them that I had a young friend who might come by and that they should trust them," she said, snuggling closer to Jack.
"Did you tell them the truth about me?"
"Nope, I figured that was your story to tell and how much you wanted them to know."
"And what would I do at this New Watcher's Council?" John carefully asked, the interest clearly heard in his voice.
"Dunno. Told them to give you some sort of a field position, that you don't do well behind a desk."
"Neither do you," he said softly.
"I think they finally figured that out," she said, the small smile evident in her voice.
"Good. It's about time," he said grumpily. "So, do you really think I should?"
"Only if you want to," she replied. "It's just another option for you to consider."
"And you're okay?"
"All healed up."
"So you were hurt?"
"Not badly."
"And everyone else who went?"
"Clean bill of health. Barely a scratch on them."
"Good… good. I'll let you get some sleep."
"'Kay," she said through another yawn. "Night."
"Sleep well," he said before hanging up.
Buffy handed the phone to Jack, who placed it back into the cradle. Without a word, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the hallway. She looked up when he stopped and saw that he was hesitating between their two rooms. With a smile, she laid her head back on his shoulder and he grinned as he walked into his room, shutting the door behind them.
XXXXXXXXXX
The next morning, Jack woke to find himself curled around Buffy's sleeping form. He inhaled her soft vanilla scent as he nuzzled her hair. Sometime during the night, his hand had slid under Buffy's shirt and he took a moment to gently stroke the soft skin he had found, causing Buffy to shift slightly in her sleep.
A lazy smile crossed his lips as he continued to caress the skin under his fingers. This was a nice change from the past few weeks. Once he had convinced Buffy that the others wouldn't condemn her for sleeping next to him, they had frequently woken like this. Only difference was this time they were alone and in his bed rather than on the hard ground with their teammates just a few feet away.
They had nothing to do that day other than just enjoy each other's company. Nothing short of an apocalypse or aliens invading could stop him from pampering Buffy that day. Sure, she'd protest, but he knew she'd secretly enjoy it.
Besides, she deserved it. She'd had a lot thrown at her over the past two weeks. Her secret identity wasn't so secret anymore, Sam hadn't been very cooperative, and she had to lead two teams to kill some alien vampires – one of which nearly caused death number three. And really, Jack didn't want to find out if three really was the magic number.
Buffy shifted again, only this time her eyes fluttered open. She arched slightly into his touch as she stretched her body in a manner that reminded Jack of a cat. The tiny blonde turned so she could look up at him. "Mornin', you."
"Morning, yourself," he said, dipping down to kiss her softly. After a moment he broke the leisure kiss.
"What's the plan for the day?" She asked, playing with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.
"You are to do nothing," he said gallantly.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And what are you going to be doing while I'm busy with this nothing?"
"Taking care of you."
"Jack," she whined.
"Buffy," he whined back. Then seriously he said, "Please, indulge me. I want to do this for you."
She chewed slightly at her lower lip. "Fine, but only today. I know Hammond gave us a few days off, but you should spend some time relaxing, too."
"Oh, I plan on it," he said with a grin, kissing her deeply again.
XXXXXXXXX
Buffy's laughter could be heard as she emerged from the event horizon. Her boot clad feet barely made any noise on the metal grate as she walked down the ramp. "Sharon had you pegged from the start," she told Dave. She handed her P-90 to the waiting SF.
"And she's used that particular tactic to get her way ever since," he said with a suffering sigh.
"Face it, Dave. You're a better man because she keeps you in line," Buffy teased.
"She rules with an iron fist," Jeff said as SG-13 headed out of the gateroom and made their way to the infirmary.
"And wait until you meet her, she's no bigger than you," Simon added.
Buffy laughed even harder. "Oh my god! No wonder you took the knowledge of my slayer abilities in stride."
"Watch it, midget, you're no match for Sharon. Especially when she gets that 'look' in her eye," Dave said with a shudder. He scowled when Buffy only laughed harder.
They stepped into the infirmary and Buffy's laughter was cut short. Her face paled and she froze in place.
As one, SG-13 followed her gaze and an unsettling feeling settled in the pit of the stomachs as they saw the source of Buffy's distress. Jack was laying unconscious on one of the beds.
Dave slipped an arm around Buffy's slim shoulders. "I'm sure he's fine, Summers. There aren't any wounds and Carter is in the same state."
The tiny slayer mutely nodded her head. Simon grabbed a chair and positioned it so Buffy could sit next to the bed. Trembling, she reached out to take Jack's hand. Behind her, she could hear Dave talking to Dr. Fraiser.
"What happened?"
"We don't know," the petite doctor said. "Teal'c brought them back like this."
"Where's Jackson?"
Janet hesitated before explaining. "There's something else wrong with Daniel. We think that somehow he's had several personalities imprinted onto his brain. He's currently in isolation."
The tiny doctor moved over to Sam and began a brief examination. "Her pupils are still dilated. It's as though they were struck with a powerful zat weapon."
Buffy's heart began to race as Jack began to shift. "Janet!"
"Oy," Jack said as Janet came over.
Janet looked at one of the orderlies. "Inform General Hammond that the Colonel is awake," she said as she moved to the other side of his bed.
Jack squinted up at Buffy. "Hey, you."
"Hey, yourself," she said softly, unshed tears shining in her eyes.
He looked over at Janet. "Hey, Doc."
"How are you feeling, sir?"
"Headache, bad," he said, squinting against the bright light.
"I can take care of that, but first I need to know if you're feeling like… well, like yourself."
Buffy frowned as she looked across the bed at Janet. "That's an odd question," she said.
Janet nodded briefly at her, before saying, "Just answer the question, Colonel."
"Other than this nail through my head, I'm fine. Why?"
"I'll explain later. Teal'c managed to get the three of you back through the stargate from the ship."
"Carter and Daniel?" Jack asked as he looked around.
"Sam is still out," Buffy said.
"Janet," came a pain filled voice from behind Buffy.
"Or not," the slayer dryly corrected herself as Janet went back over to Sam.
"How did your mission go?" Jack asked, squeezing her hand.
"Apparently better than yours," she said. "I still haven't been checked out yet. You guys kinda have the high priority at the moment."
"Can't imagine why," he said with a grimace.
General Hammond walked in and was pleased to see that the two members of SG-1 were awake. "Colonel, Major? How are you feeling?"
"Got a nail in my head, sir."
He smiled at Jack, comforted that at least the Colonel's humor was intact. "That sounds like our Colonel O'Neill."
"Their EEG's show normal brain activity, sir. They appear to be unaffected."
"Unaffected? By what?" Jack asked. He looked around and noticed someone was missing. "Where's Daniel?" He asked, trying to sit up.
"Jack, I don't think you should be moving yet," Buffy said, placing her free hand on his chest to stop him.
"I'm fine," he protested.
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Are you now?"
He winced and pressed his palm to his forehead. "Ow… No, I'm not," he said, lying back down.
"Can you be in here every time he gets hurt?" Janet teased. "I've never seen him give in like that."
"Very funny," Jack said. "Where's Daniel?"
"We have him in isolation for the moment," Janet said gently. "And now I have to give some post-mission examinations."
Jack uncovered an eye and looked at Buffy. "I think she's talking about you."
Buffy pouted. "Shouldn't I stay here and make sure he doesn't try to run off?"
"I'll let you go first," Janet relented.
"Then let's get this over with," Buffy said with a sigh. The rest of SG-13 that had been silently waiting followed the two petite women.
What seemed like an eternity later, but was really just a short time, Buffy slipped off the bed after her examination. "Thanks, Janet," she said over her shoulder before making her way quickly back to Jack's side. He was already looking considerably better. "How's the headache?"
"Better. More like a push pin instead of a nail," he said, smiling as she took one of his hands. "Doc give you a clean bill?"
"Fit as a fiddle," she chirped, and then frowned.
"What's wrong?" He asked in concern.
"I was just thinking…."
"Uh oh," he teased.
She stuck her tongue out at him before continuing. "I never understood that saying. What makes a fiddle fit? It's not like it could gain weight or get clogged arteries…"
Jack laughed and then groaned as a hand went up to apply pressure to his forehead.
"Sorry."
"Not your fault. I should've known better than to laugh," he said, the tension leaving his body as the pain subsided again.
"So what happened? I thought you weren't scheduled for another mission until next week."
"We weren't. They were checking some of the addresses in the database when they picked up a distress beacon. So we set out to see if we could help."
"What did you find?"
"A crashed ship full of frozen people."
"Frozen people?"
Jack waved his free hand in a vague gesture. "You know that cryo something or other. They weren't dead, well, at least, not all of them. Just asleep for some crazy ass long journey."
"Gotcha. So if they were all asleep how did you get knocked out?"
"It might have been an automated defense," Sam supplied from her bed. "And it's called cryogenic sleep."
"See, the cryo thing," Jack said with a grin.
Buffy smiled as she saw Sam roll her eyes in response.