AN:
Sorry for huge times between updates but I had an encounter with a bad virus that rendered me computerless and internetless for a month. Remember God does not have an email account and you should avoid any trouble… stupid roommate!
As for the story there has been confusion with the timeline. This is set before the fall of Sunnydale, there are no extra slayers, and Buffy will probably not make an appearance. Consider her busy saving the world. SG1 timeline is around season 8 but with the inclusion of Col. Mitchell, who I find dreamy!
Here's an extra long chapter for you… On With the Show!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xander stands in the open doorway staring at Jack his eyes filled with compassion and anger, his body is rigid with tension and Jack can only stare at the gun jammed harshly into his son's temple. Then a deep voice commands.
" Drop the phone, lose the gun or he dies twice."
---------------------------------------------
Jack wishes he could forget the cold agonising feel in his gut the moment the doctor had told him Charlie was dead. Wishes that there could have been days when thinking about that moment hadn't brought back that feeling, that tight, hollow, disgusting feeling in the pit of his stomach that foretold the end of his world. He had not been prepared for the loss of his son, no Father could ever prepare themselves for such an agonizing loss.
He had not been expecting the news that day, and sometimes he wondered how could he have not? But Jack was a soldier and he had seen people survive some horrific injuries, had seen men cling to the smallest scraps of life and refuse to let go. He had thought his son would do the same. Sometimes when he had indulged in a drink too many he had often demanded of his son ' Why didn't you fight?'
The phone slips from Jack's hand and breaks apart as it hits the kitchen floor, small pieces of plastic shattering and scattering to the four corners of the room. A single black fragment continuing to spin long after the others have fallen still is unnoticed by all three men in the room, the inanimate dance of plastic is the least of any of their worries. In the time it did take for the plastic to slowly rotate to a stop however, Jack had snatched his weapon from the kitchen counter and stepping to his right had moved into a better position. To get a clear view of the man holding his son as a hostage.
" Drop the gun." The voice commands again. From Jack's new position he can now see that the speaker is a middle aged white man with a greying crew cut in a plain jet black suit. The man is wearing dark glasses and Jack automatically looks in the man's eyes. To see if he can decipher what the man is thinking but all he can see in the lenses is his own reflection. Weapon drawn and held steady and calmly out in front, pissed as hell.
" I said drop the gun!" The man commands again this time with a shout and a jab of his own weapon into the soft flesh of Xander's temple. Jack's heart pounds against the inside of his chest and his stomach knots in fear and nervous tension but the man can't see this. On the outside Jack still looks super calm. Still looks like someone in control.
" He's all by himself." Xander says speaking for the first time, ignoring the pain of the barrel bruising against the tender skin of his temple. He's trying to undermine the man's confidence and encourage Jack to act, all the time wondering if he could move fast enough himself to avoid catching a 9mm slug with his head.
" You have to the count of three then I shoot the boy." The man states his voice gravely, the product of smoking too many cigarettes. The man jams the gun barrel into Xander's head again to try and steady his hostage because the young man is shaking his head. With each wild movement the Man knows that he is exposed to the expert gunman standing only a few feet from him.
" He's all by himself, he's a lackey, a patsy and he's not going to shoot me Jack! He's going to shoot you if you put the gun down!" Xander warns Jack as he stops moving.
" I know that." Jack says the irritation in his voice not aimed at his son and he pulls the trigger.
There is no time for the man to react to the sound of the shot, but his body does as the bullet slams into his forehead blowing out the back of his head. Showering Xander with a fine mist of blood. The gun falls away from the side of Xander's head as the man, now dead is knocked back and falls to the pavers outside the back door with a thud.
Xander turns and looks at the body as Jack moves quickly out the back door and into the yard. His weapon is still drawn and his eyes sweep the backyard from right to left, an old soldiers trick forcing his brain to concentrate on looking for further possible threats.
Behind him on the ground the man's vacant eyes stare up at nothing, as blood oozes from the mess that once formed the man's skull and pools in a puddle on the patio. Xander can tell from the colour of the blood and the fresh smell of death that the man was human. Confused he looks away from the body and back at Jack who takes one last look around the yard before tucking his weapon into the back of his pants, within easy reach should any further threats invade the scene. He is moving now, quickly towards Xander and Xander watches him arrive with a strange sense of admiration.
" Are you all right?" Jack demands grabbing Xander by the shoulders and staring into his son's eyes and Xander nods.
" Nice shooting Tex. " he states breaking the tension in the yard with an ill placed joke. Not looking back down at the body and he lifts a hand to wipe away the spray of blood that is clinging to the right side of his face.
" I'm just going to wash up." He explains to Jack before moving into the kitchen and practically sticking his entire head under the running faucet to get the blood in his hair to wash away. The feel of someone else's blood on his face, in his mouth and the corner of his eye making him feel sick to his stomach.
Still standing over the body Jack watches as Xander hangs his head in the sink and lets the water run through his hair. Jack can't bring himself to do anything else as Xander scrubs at his face with his bare hands, rubbing his palms harshly against the right side of his face. Jack looks away feeling a strange sense of remorse, not for the man he just killed but at the fact his son had to bear witness to the act. Shaking his head to dislodge the thoughts that invade his mind Jack crouches down and inspects the pockets of the man he just killed.
" No I.D!" Jack has to shout to be heard over the roar of the taps and hearing this Xander turns the tap off. Shaking his head to dry the water from his hair like an oversized pup, sending water flying throughout the kitchen where it hits the kitchen window and showers the floor and Jack who had taken a step closer.
" We don't have to look past the hair cut to tell the guy was military Jack." Xander tells his Father, who is wiping his own face dry now.
" I don't know, we don't have to have a stupid hair cut to be in the Air Force." Jack says with a smile before realising that standing over the body of a man he'd just killed probably wasn't the best place to be cracking jokes with his son.
" What's your excuse then?" Xander fires back with a wink and Jack lifts a hand to his hair and is about to reply when the shrill screaming of sirens enter the air.
" Is that the police?" Xander asks surprised and Jack looks at him without saying anything
" What?" Xander asks, " They're just quick that's all. I was just commenting on how fast they are." He babbles as Jack watches him with a slight trace of amusement.
" What do we do?" Xander asks looking down at the dead man then back up at Jack.
" Let me do the talking." Jack states and Xander stares at him in shock.
" We're staying?" He demands and Jack nods.
" Of course we're staying, I killed a man and I'm sticking around to explain that." Jack explains casually removing the gun from his waist band and tossing it on the kitchen counter where it comes to rest next to his own weapon left on the counter when neither of their lives has been in danger.
" And how exactly to you intend to explain a dead man in your ex-wife's house? That you killed? And how are you going to explain why we are here in the first place? Or who I am? Or why the NSA is looking for me?" Xander demands calmly and Jack looks across at his son.
" I fully intend to lie about the answers to a lot of those questions." Jack states heading back toward the front of the house.
" He's gone mad!" Xander mutters to himself, eyeing the open back door for a second before allowing his gaze to linger on the gun on the counter. Xander snatches it up before he can think of a reason not to and following Jack up the hallway with a shake of the head and a sigh mutters. " And what's my excuse?"
The sirens come to a stop outside in the street and Jack and Xander can see the police cruisers pull to a stop as Jack steps out onto the porch and Xander follows him.
The policemen hurry forward drawing their weapons and holding them ready. They remind Xander of an episode of Law and Order or Cops. They come towards the pair standing on the porch and though it appears that neither Xander nor Jack is armed, the guns of the officers are still held at the ready. Better safe then sorry, being the real motto of the police.
" We had a report of several gunshots coming from the house Sir, is everything all right?" A middle aged patrol officer asks, dark glasses stick awkwardly out of his shirt pocket and two stripes on the uniform over his shoulders indicate he is a Sargent.
" Yes Officer. It is now. My Nephew and I disturbed a burglar, he drew a weapon and I was forced to shoot him to defend myself." Jack explains calmly and the police officer nods his weapon aimed at Jack now.
" You still in possession of the weapon sir?" There is a name patch over the officer's shirt pocket that reveals his name is Winters.
" No sir, I left it in the kitchen with the man's body."
" Ok Sir, we'll check that out." Sargent Winters turns to two officers behind him and motions to the rear of the house and they brake away and head around the side pathway.
" Is this your house?" Winters asks as he comes up the stairs holstering his weapon while a female officer who accompanies him keeps hers drawn.
Jack shakes his head.
" No, it's my ex-wife's house. She's on holidays with her Father and she asked me to collect her mail while she was gone." Jack lies easily and the policeman nods looking both Jack and Xander up and down carefully.
" If you could turn around and stand with your legs apart and place your hands on the side of the house there sir." He instructs politely and Jack turns to assume the position against the side of the house.
Winters checks first that he is being covered by the other officer, then with professional hands he runs his hands over the pockets and waistbands over Jack's clothes. Then uses the back of his hands to quickly check for a weapon concealed somehow on the inside of the legs. Winters finishes with Jack and Xander holds his arms out ready for his search, his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of the revolver stuffed down the front of his pants. A call comes over the radio and Winters sweeps his eyes up and down Xander for a moment before moving away to answer the radio call.
" I'm going to get you to wait here a moment sir." The officer instructs Jack indicating with his head that the pair will wait with the female police officer who tucks her weapon away and moves to the opposite side of the porch. Giving herself space to move, now alone with two potential suspects. The officer is five four or so, young with blonde hair and an athletic build and Xander smiles at her.
" You like being a cop?" He asks and she shrugs.
" It's ok, I guess. What about yourselves? What do you do?"
" I'm a carpenter, Jack's in the Air Force." Xander replies politely still smiling and the pretty cop raises an eyebrow.
" You work up at the mountain?" She asks Jack who nods.
" You could say that, I'm General O'Neill, It's my base." Jack explains and the pair can see the officer struggling internally as to how to process that bit of information.
" Excuse me. " She finally says and wanders away from the duo, grabbing her shoulder radio as she walks and hissing something into it.
It's not long before Winters re-appears and takes the steps up to the front porch two at a time.
" You got some I.D?" He asks brusquely and both Jack and Xander fetch out their respective wallets. Winters doesn't bother to check Xander's he just glances hurriedly at the name on Jack's.
" You could have mentioned that from the start, General." Winters continues,
" There any reason the perp was trying to break into your ex-wives house wearing a suit?"
Xander glances at Jack and tries to resist the urge to vault the porch railing and run away down the street.
" I dunno, probably thought that if someone saw him breaking in they would just think he was a guy coming home from work who'd lost his keys. " Jack explains craning his neck slightly to look at something that interested him in the street.
Winters turned to look at what Jack suddenly has become interested in, four hummers were cruising down the street. The porch fell into silence for a moment as Winters watches the Hummers cruising towards him.
" Sounds good to me General. You'd let me know if I needed to jump to another conclusion?" Winters asks and Jack nods.
" Of course." Jack assures him and Xander shook his head slightly, no wonder the military invaded Sunnydale so quickly. The doors to every hummer sprung open and 16 soldiers unfold themselves from the cars with practiced ease.
The first hummer contained a blonde lady with short cropped hair. A brunette man wearing a bandanna and glasses and a man nearly three times the size of the average human. A second brunette man accompanied them and although he shared a resemblance to the first brunette they were not related. The four members of General O'Neill's top tactical team, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Mitchell.
All four were wearing a tactical assault uniform, Camouflage BDU's with tight black t-shirts and a bulletproof vest. The uniform complete with Kevlar helmet with goggles attached. They all held P90s at the ready and Xander could make out extra clips, side arms and even daggers strapped to their thighs. These were people dressed for war.
" General!" The blonde lady calls out as her team approaches Jack. The other three teams hovered around the hummers, appearing relaxed but more then obviously ready for anything.
" Please excuse me." Jack explains to Winters and trots across the lawn to meet with the team, leaving Xander behind on the porch.
Winters sent the group on the lawn a dirty look before walking through the house to deal with the dead body. Xander sighed not exactly knowing what to do. Did he stand here and wait to be summoned over by Jack? Was he even going to be summoned over? What was Jack planning on telling the military about him?
Most importantly though, there was a knot forming in his stomach. Where was Sara? Who had her and how was Jack planning on getting her back? Driven by these un-answered questions Xander sucked it up in terms of his fear of the military and stalked across the lawn towards Jack.
He was maybe half way there when he realised two things. That the huge man Jack was now talking to wasn't human and that Jack obviously trusted him. Xander stops dead. Two vampires had come to Jack's house, and he'd killed a vampire guarding the recently forcibly vacated house of Sara. It was night, conceivably the man could be a vampire but that wouldn't account for the massive size of him, the most notably unnatural thing about him, he must be… Oh Shit! A demon!
The revolver presses into the skin of his stomach and Xander's hand inches towards it. After all they'd been through today, Xander sure as hell wasn't going to let a demon get Jack. Xander looked at the firepower the soldiers had, took a deep breath and reached for the gun.
TBC
AN: You like? You don't like? Well tell me now! Found a mistake? Then point that out as well.