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).

AN2: HayNSW2711, I know that, you know that, but Carter didn't. It was at a private party and the guys wanted to play so they fibbed. Besides in the story she would have been back in the states before ANZAC Day.


"Colonel, we have four people coming in through the Lowell House entrance." One of the technicians said. "Three are in Marine combat uniforms and the fourth is Captain Finn."

"Security teams scramble." The Colonel ordered before leaving the control room to go and meet the new arrivals.

The elevator opened revealing Xander, Fox, Mother and Riley. Fox and Mother both had their weapons up and ready, aiming them at the security team, who also had their weapons levelled at the elevator. Xander had his sidearm holstered and his assault rifle hanging from a strap as he calmly stepped out of the elevator and handed a piece of paper to the Colonel.

"Colonel, new orders. I, Captain Harris, am hereby relieving you of command." Xander said.

The Colonel waved to the security team to lower their weapons as he read the orders, allowing Fox, Mother and Riley out of the elevator.

"These orders say you are in charge Captain. How does a Marine Captain get put in charge of a top secret Army project?" The Colonel asked.

"One, in this town what you are doing, not that secret." Xander replied. "Two, because I know a hell of a lot more about what you are dealing with than you do."

"That is insubordination, Captain." The Colonel said.

Xander just pulled out his phone, hit a speed dial and passed the phone to the Colonel.

"Hello… Yes, Mr President. Understood sir." The Colonel said, stiffening to attention when he realised who he was talking to.

"Tell him we said hi." Fox said casually.

"Umm… he wants to speak to you, Captain." The Colonel said, handing the phone back.

"Hi, Sir." Xander said into the phone, getting some shocked looks at the informality. "Fox and Mother say hi too. Yes Sir, I'm sure Mother would have but it was Fox who asked. Yes, Sir. I would have to ask, but I can't see any problem. Sir? Of Course sir, we'll arrange it when I get back to the Yard. Yes, Sir, I will pass that on. Say hello to the kids for me. Bye."

Xander hung up the phone, getting incredulous looks from everyone but Fox and Mother, who only looked curious.

"What did he think I would have done?" Mother asked.

"Swore in your greeting." Xander replied.

"Fucking right." Mother replied.

"By the way, Margret and Jennifer asked if you two, and Tara, wanted to go shopping."

"That would be fun. Been a while since I caught up with the First Lady." Fox replied. "Plus Jennifer needs to get out more. Can't be good for a teenager to be cooped up in the White House."

"Alright, let's see about the security of this place, because Murphy is coming and he always brings a big stick." Xander ordered.

Xander started towards the Control room when Mother interrupted.

"Paladin. What did the Pres want that you had to arrange back at the Yard?" Mother asked.

"He wanted a trip on the Damocles. He had so much fun last time with Scarecrow."


Xander, Fox, Mother, Riley and an Initiative scientist were walking down the cells so Xander can inspect the prisoners.

"Vampire, terminate." Xander ordered at the first cell.

The cell door opened and Mother fired a small, compact stake launcher at the vampire dusting it.

"Kenomat Demon." Xander said at the second cell. "Non-Hostile. Release it."

"Captain." The scientist said. "We are to study and find defences against these unknown enemies."

Xander spun to face the scientist.

"Then read a fucking book." He growled. "Almost every species of Demon have been known for several hundred years along with their weaknesses and weather they are a threat. There is a reason why the legends exist. Also, you could just fucking ask the experts. Now free this illegally detained prisoner or I will personally help her in retribution as authorised under the peace treaty of 1523 B.C."

The cell door was opened and Xander began speaking to the newly released Demon in another language. Mother and Fox were glaring at the scientist when suddenly the lights went out and were replaced by emergency lighting.

"Mother, take Kilmantes here and help release her clan-mates. She says there are at least four in here. They will fight with us. Fox, call in the reinforcements, deployment Gamma Six. Finn, rally the initiative troops." Xander ordered.

Then the cell doors opened. Kilmantes took two steps and then snapped the neck of a Fiarial Demon, while Mother reached for the first weapon she could lay her hands on and fired from the hip at the Vampire coming from further down the hall. That weapon just happened to be her Maghook, which completely caved in the ribs and passed through the Vampire, completely pulverising its heart, and then continued on to strike the head of a large hairy Demon with enough force to send it flying, resulting in it landing against a wall with a broken neck and a pulverised spine.

"Fall back to the main hall." Xander ordered, firing into the approaching Demons.

Kilmantes charged into the Demons with a bellow, which was answered by a second bellow from the side where a second Kenomat joined the fray. A second answering bellow from nearby sounded, followed by a third from further away.

"Mother, stick with us. Kilmantes, good hunting." Xander called.


"Defensive circle." Xander ordered to the Initiative troopers, before switching to his radio. "Damocles, Paladin. Deploy reserves to my beacon."

"Paladin, Damocles. Deploying in five seconds." Came the reply.

"Initiative troopers, be aware. Reinforcements incoming, do not target flashes. Repeat, do not target the flashes." Xander yelled.

Groups of flashes appeared around the hall, and fading to reveal groups of Fleet Marines in the fully enclosed Space Combat Armour. Each group contained eight Fleet Marines in two concentric circles, the four outer Marines down on one knee, and a single Order member. Picking their targets, the newly arrived Marines set up a devastating crossfire in support of the Initiative Soldiers, while the order members generally threw fire at the deamons. The Initiative solders had formed a defensive barricade in the centre of the room with Paladin, Fox and Mother, the latter screaming obscenities at the Demons.

The large group of demons that had been charging faltered at the devastating fire coming from both Initiative and Fleet positions.


The Army Colonel, to his credit, had stayed when the alarms sounded as he had been packing, had taken command of a squad of Initiative troopers and had managed to seal several of the access points out of the cells, completely isolating some groups of demons and funnelling the others into a few avenues of approach to the main floor, but was now cut off. His men had managed to make a barricade of tables and various other furniture but he knew it was only a matter of time before his men were killed. That bothered him more that dyeing, having his men killed. The next wave of demons, mostly vampires, approached. They had all learnt to shoot at the necks of vampires.

"I'm out." One of the troopers said.

"Last one." The Colonel said, tossing the trooper his last M16 magazine.

His own rifle went dry and he switched to his sidearm. He saw three of his troops drop their now empty rifles and pull out either combat knives or retractable batons. Then they were upon them. Things got chaotic. Flashing images. Shooting a vampire in the eye and it going down. A vampire dusting and the trooper who killed it going down in a spray of blood to the demon that waded in through the vampire dust. Then a demon was all over him, its claws starting to rip into his chest.

'So this is it.' The Colonel thought, regretful at the loss of his men, when the demon's head jerked suddenly and violently to the right.

The demon's carcass was hauled off the Colonel to reveal the grinning face of another demon.

"Knight send. We help." The Demon growled in barely comprehensible English.

The demons that attacked had broken and fled down a corridor. With a bellow, the demon that had saved him and three others, all sporting wounds, charged after the fleeing demons with what could be called glee, pouncing on the stragglers and ripping them apart.

"Paladin, come in, over." The colonel said.

"Colonel? Glad to hear you are alive. What's your status? Over." Paladin's voice came back over the radio.

"We isolated about half the cells and funnelled the rest through the western corridors." He replied. "My team is pretty beat up, we need medical assistance. Over."

"Can you give precise co-ordinates? Over." Paladin asked.

"We are just outside room 386, sector G7. Over."

"Rodger that. We have medivac on way. Paladin, over and out."

"Alright boys, medivac's coming." The colonel began and was stopped by a flash of light.

"Somebody call for a medivac?"

The light had faded to reveal six people, five of whom were dressed in fatigue. Three were clearly medics, who instantly went to work on the wounded men, two were a security detail with their weapons trained down the two corridors. The sixth, the one who had spoken, looked like a twenties banker, right down to the glasses and the parted hair. While he looked like a banker, he handled the pistol in his hands with an air of familiarity and, when a lone vampire came around a corner, was able to fry it with a fireball before the security trooper could react.

"Three are critical, we need to get them to medbay ASAP." One of the medics said.

"Alright. Williamson to Damocles, fifteen to beam directly to medbay. Over." The banker said, before smiling. "I've always wanted to say that."

Then the world disappeared into a flash of white.


Four of them walked down the formerly concealed corridor to the entrance of the secret lab.

"War Mistress, please set up a one way kinetic barrier just on the other side of the door. Fox, Mother, cover her." Paladin ordered, earning nods from the three women.

Xander waited until Tara had raised the kinetic barrier before stepping though the door.

"Who are you?" the human/demon/machine hybrid asked.

Xander simply raised a thin barrelled gun and fired with a puff of compressed air.

"Damocles, execute." He ordered.

Adam sneered and started to change his hand into a machine gun when he abruptly disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Clear." Xander called, and the three women entered the room. "Well that was easy."

"Hey Paladin, where the fuck did they send him?" Mother asked.

"Into the heart of the sun." Xander responded, whistling as he walked out.


"You want to say goodbye?" Xander asked.

"You don't mind?" Riley countered.

They were sitting in a hummer outside Giles' apartment.

"No, I don't mind. I get why you did what you did. So does the president, which is why you got the deal, but you still deserted and leaked classified info. Intel on the Initiative program hit the president's table the day Giles called me, so we would have moved anyway." Xander replied. "Besides, Buffy deserves to have you say goodbye. Her father never did when he walked out."

Riley simply nodded and the two got out of the truck and walked up to the apartment, and were both hit by flying Summers women the instant they were inside the door. Buffy clinging to Riley and Dawn clinging to Xander.

Giles and Tara looked up from where they were both sipping tea, while Willow and Oz were sitting on the couch, Willow with red eyes from crying.

"Let me guess, Willow tried to break through your wards." Xander said, extricating himself from Dawn and earning a nod from Tara. "Day's done. You can let down the wards. And Wills, Tara is not called the War Mistress for nothing."

"Why did you lock us in here?" Buffy demanded.

"One, this mess was made by the military, so the military cleans it up. Two, you would have gotten in the way." Xander replied, holding up a hand to forestall Buffy's protest. "You're way is fine for you, Buff, but in the battle we just had it would have gotten you killed. By our side, not theirs. A military operation is just not something you are trained to handle. Now, I have to leave in twenty minutes, and Riley has to come with me. Do you want to spent that time saying goodbye to him, or yelling at me?"

Buffy pouted and glared, but went off to say goodbye to Riley. Xander drifted over to Tara and Giles, with Dawn following him.

"Any problem?" Xander asked.

"No." Tara replied.

"Recommendation?"

"No. We'll send someone to supervise." Tara decided.

Xander knew what that meant, but he reluctantly agreed.

Giles looked confused for a second, but then Dawn spoke.

"So, why do you think Willow is not suited for the Order?" Dawn said quietly.

"Dawnie, when you turn eighteen, if you want, come see me. We can always use perceptive people in the Fleet." Xander responded.

TBC…