Title: All The Difference
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Has references to all Stargate series seasons. Buffy to the end of Season 3
Rating: MA
Disclaimer: Don't own SG1, Buffy or any other character from a recognised series.
Summary: SG1 gets some help from an unexpected source… The future.
" " denotes speech, ' ' denotes thought.
AN: Deviates from just after Learning Curve in season 3 (1999).
Major Sam Carter, dressed in civilian clothing, sat at a small coffee shop in the tiny town of Oxnard, slowly sipping on her coffee while she waited for Tara Maclay to approach the motel opposite the coffee shop. Miss Maclay was expected to check out tomorrow evening, and SG1 had been observing her for the last two day to figure out the best way to contact her. Both Sam and Daniel used this coffee shop, Daniel having been told too after he almost missed Miss Maclay leaving the motel because he was browsing in the bookstore on the corner. Janet used the bookstore as her post while the Colonel used the hardware store down the street. Right now the rest of the team were back at the only other accommodation in Oxnard, a small Hotel on the other side of town.
Taking another sip of the coffee that was marginally better than the SGC's commissary, and nowhere near as good as the special blends that Daniel stocked, her being the only other person allowed to touch it, as one unlucky scientist found out, Sam finally spotted Miss Maclay coming along the street. The first indication of trouble was the squeal of tires as the white minivan screeched around the corner behind Miss Maclay and pulled up between the young woman and Major Carter. Sam moved instantly, standing from the table while pulling her cell phone out of her leather jacket pocket.
"Sir, something's going down. A white minivan just kidnapped the target outside the motel heading west. I'm in pursuit." She said before hanging up, pocketing the phone and jumping on her rental motorbike out the front of the coffee shop.
Just before she took off after the van, Sam activated the tracking device they had installed on the bike. After about two blocks the van had slowed down to within the speed limit. Sam followed at a careful distance so as not to give herself away. She growled softly to herself, she was unarmed except for a 9mm Beretta in a holster at the small of her back. She seriously wanted to harm these agents. In her mind there could only be one group behind this grab, the NID. The minivan took a meandering route through the small town before pulling into the garage of an unassuming suburban house on the outskirts. Carter pulled up the bike at the corner of the block, behind cover of a house and waited, watching the house.
A few minutes later, a car pulled up next to the bike.
"Sit Rep." Colonel O'Neill ordered.
The doors burst in, followed quickly By SG1. Jack and Daniel came in the front door, Jack with an MP5 while Daniel covered him with a Zat. Sam led in the back door being covered by Janet. One NID agent went down in the first three seconds to a burst from Sam's silenced MP5. As they quickly searched the lower level of the house, two more NID agents fell, one to Jack's MP5 and the other to Daniel's Zat. Once the ground floor was clear, Jack and Daniel headed upstairs while Sam led the way down to the basement. Sam saw the situation even as she moved down the stairs. Tara was tied up and gagged while an NID agent stood off to her left, just turning towards the stairs. A quick burst from the MP5 cut down the agent. Sam did a quick scan of the room while Janet rushed to Tara, removing her gag. Seeing nothing immediate, Sam started to walk towards Janet and Tara, the doctor asking if the young lady was alright. A slight creaking sound alerted Carter, but she knew she could not turn fast enough. Tara's eyes flicked to something behind Sam and she said a single word with all the authority in the world.
"Immobilis."
Sam was surprised that she managed to finish turning. Almost as surprised as when she saw the agent with the pistol aimed strait at her, not moving as if the air around him had solidified.
"Magic?" Janet asked.
"Y-Y-Yes." Tara stammered.
"Guess I'll never question future versions of myself again." Carter said semi-disbelievingly.
"Carter! Everything ok down there?" Jack called from the top of the stairs.
"Clear, Sir. Miss Maclay is safe." She called back.
"Ok. Let's get her back to the Mountain, Major." Jack said. "Refec staff lost a bet. Tomorrow we get a two foot high Homer Simpson made of Jello."
Janet chuckled softly while Tara looked confused.
"He's harmless." Sam said. "Major Samantha Carter. You can call me Sam. We have, I guess you could call it a job offer, for you."
Private Xander Harris sat rigidly, as if at a seated form of attention, as his eyes skirted around the briefing room. He had no real idea why the flyboys wanted a private just out of boot in their top secret base, hell he had done more paperwork reading and signing the non-disclosure forms than he had in High School. Not that he had done much work in School.
The first thing he had noted was the pair of SF's at the door to the corridor and at the stairs, his Sunnydale instincts heightened by his training, seeking all possible exits.
At the head of the table was a stocky, balding Air Force Major General, Hammond his nametag declared. Beside him sat a shy seeming civilian, a pretty young woman who seemed overwhelmed by her surroundings but had a deep, almost hidden, sense of calm and power. Across from him was a greying Full Bird Colonel with a sardonic grin, a stunningly beautiful blonde Major, her eyes possessing the glint of extraordinary intelligence he associated with Willow, a civilian with short brown hair and glasses that reminded him of Giles and a large black man, whose bearing suggested military despite the complete lack of rank insignia, with a gold emblem on his forehead who gave off something similar to demony Hellmouth vibes.
Dr Jackson, the younger Giles, explained about the Stargate Project. Evil parasitic snakes with a superiority complex, small teams saving the world on short notice, sometimes by the skin of their teeth. Sounded just like High School. Did explain the weird vibe from Teal'c, the big black guy, who had a larval bad guy in his stomach.
He wondered again why he was here, then he took another look at the young woman next to him. She was the key, with her long flowing skirts, the hidden sense of power and the lingering scent of lavender and incense. She had to be a Witch. Sounds like this command ran into something Demonic and figured a Sunnydale alum and a Witch were the answer.
"General, Sir. Why exactly have I been given clearance for this? I take it you don't inform every new Marine Private of this project. I have a few theories, but some things just don't add up." Xander said, semi-formally.
"Send them in." Hammond said to one of the SF's.
Two people walked in, one was a Marine Lt Colonel who grinned as soon as he laid eyes on Xander, while the other was a young Latin woman in her mid thirties. The Colonel was instantly familiar, looking like pictures of his Maternal Grandfather, who everyone said Xander strongly resembled.
"You can take the boy from the Hellmouth." Xander muttered.
"But you can't take the Hellmouth out of the boy." The colonel replied.
"At least I age gracefully." Private Xander Harris said, earning a chuckle from Colonel Alexander Harris.
Tara watched from behind her hair, a trick that hid her own facial expressions while allowing her to observe freely. She was nervous about being around so many men, judging by the example of the men in her hometown, most were violent, cruel and hateful. The young man seated next to her was the only man in the room she was comfortable with, having caught a flash of his aura when they had first met at the surface. He was a sentinel, a guardian. He would die to save a stranger, but he would gladly march into hell help a friend. True sentinels were a rare thing. Something felt off, and she did not just mean the uneasy feeling she got from the larval symbiont in Teal'c pouch, not fear but more a natural aversion, like racial enemies from ages past.
When the two newcomers enter she immediately sensed what had been off. They were out of time. The woman was also a Witch, and dieing of Cancer, the blackness of the infection permeating her aura, as well as the residual magic from the purging of toxins that cause secondary symptoms. She recognised the new man as the future version of the sentinel. After a quick byplay with his younger self, the man started to turn towards the assembled group, but when the Witch opened her mouth, he put a hand on her arm, stopping her from speaking.
"We are here to kick start Humanity's role as the Fifth Race." Skipper announced.
"That's what the Asguard said we could become." Jack said.
"Oh yeah. Speaking of the Asguard. File Omega-Three-Six on the computer needs to be sent to them. Tell Thor that the password is 'What his Hammer Guards'. He'll understand." Skipper said with a slight grin.
"What is it?" Carter asked, intrigued.
"We believe it is the answer to the problem with their cloning technology. Also something that General... I mean, Major Carter came up with to stop the Replicators." Min added.
"The who-li-whats??" O'Neill asked, confusion evident on his face.
"Not important. Needless to say it will make they will be grateful to us for saving their little grey butts... again." Skipper added. "But back to the topic. Tara... Miss Maclay is, or rather will be, the head of an independent force of trained Magic users, who by their nature are immune to being taken host by either Goa'uld or Tok'ra. Private Harris, after going through OCS, is to be given a position overseeing the construction and operation of, to start with, Home System Fleet."
Everyone in the room, except for Min, stared at Skipper in disbelief and awe.
"All the documentation is in the computer, signed by the current President." He added. "Should have seen his face when we asked his to sign an executive order when he had been out of the White House for over thirty years."
Min chuckled slightly at that. She had been there.
TBC
