Standard Disclaimer Applies

AN: Big thanks to my shiny new beta reader Lori! Thanks for all your help!

The Man looks out over the smoldering remains of the forecourt of the old mill. There is a flash in the corner of his eye, and he turns slowly to the men who have just appeared. "I dont know what to say...," The Man starts, and one of the two men holds his hand up to silence him.

"You have failed."

"I will get you the boy."

"Time has run out. We will deal with this ourselves."

"I know O'Neill. I can get what you need," The Man argues, and he is silenced again.

"This isn't about manipulating a man into a suicide mission anymore. This is about a bigger cause. The boy is the key. He must be brought in now. We will discuss the repercussions of your failure later."

The light flashes again, and The Man is once more standing alone. His heart hammering in his chest, he hangs his head and closes his eyes. Waiting.

The room stills and Jack takes a breath, trying to figure out what to make of his son who now seems to be doing a good impersonation of a sociopath. Before he can speak, the intercom on the table shrills loudly and Walters voice filters into the room.

"General, there is a call from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff on line one." Jack turns back towards the phone.

"The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff?" Mitchell wonders out loud.

Jack shoots Xander a final questioning look before ducking into his office.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Xander tells Willow on the other side of the country.

"Give the poor guy a chance," Xander, his best friend tells him in return.

Daniel pushes away from the table and walks over to where Xander is stoically staring at the steel blast doors, seemingly oblivious to the other people in the room.

"Go easy on him, Xander," Daniel starts, and Xander pulls his gaze away to regard the archaeologist.

"You were pretty well known in the world of history, weren't you?" Xander asks suddenly.

Daniel starts in surprise. "You've heard of me?" he asks, incredulous.

"I had a friend studying Anthropology, and your name came up in conversation once. Something to do with Aliens carrying off the great pyramids, or something?" Xander turns to give Daniel his full attention, and he observes silently how Daniel pulls his glasses off, hastily, to rub his eyes.

"Ah, it was actually kind of the reverse, but . . . yeah, that would be the general drift of things."

"So, Alex! Tell us a bit about yourself," Mitchell interjects suddenly, and Daniel shoots him a not-so-subtle look of thanks.

Xander looks between the two thoughtfully, internal gears in his brain whirring in thought. He looks back at Mitchell.

"Well, for starters, I prefer to be called Xander," Xander explains.

Mitchell raises his eyebrows and nods. "Okay, Xander, then. What do you do?" Mitchell continues.

"I'm a carpenter."

"That's cool. Build anything recently?"

"Ah, I fixed Sara's garden seat. But apart from that . . . ," Xander trails off and changes the subject. "Do you think that I could go see her?" He muses, looking at the closed door of Jack's office.

"Soon," Sam assures him, and Xander looks towards her, where she's still seated at the table.

"Have you known Jack a long time?" Xander wonders.

Sam nods. "Yeah, about 10 years. Daniel's known him for about fourteen. He's a good man, Xander. A very good man."

At the same time that Sam finishes her reassurance the door to Jack's office flings itself open, and Jack walks out looking harried.

"Alex, the General would like a word," he says in disbelief.

"What?" Xander asks, dumbfounded.

"Line One," Jack continues, as the rest of the team members manage to pull their assorted jaws off the floor.

Xander doesn't move; he's just standing still in the middle of the room in disbelief. Wondering why the Chair of the Joint Chiefs would ever want to talk to him.

"Probably shouldn't keep him waiting," Sam suggests helpfully, after a moment of frozen silence.

"Huh?" Xander asks, snapping out of a dazed expression and grabbing the phone off the conference room table.

"Hello?" he asks nervously, very aware that all eyes in the room are currently on him. He twirls the phone cord around his finger.

"Ah, no Sir. Um, I'm actually kind of just visiting, Sir," Xander explains in response to a question, shooting Jack a look as he does so.

"Well, that part's pretty complicated, and I'd rather not go into the specifics." Xander bites his lip as he listens further.

"Uh, I can assure you that, if it was at all related to the situation that occurred before, then I would of course tell you immediately," Xander lies, thumping a closed fist into his forehead.

"Ah. No, they're not. Most of them are still where they were, at the time when that incident occurred at that place, that one time."

"Not deliberately confusing, Sir. No. I was aiming more at 'subtle.'" Xander looks around. Jack has his hand pinched over the bridge of his nose and looks almost in pain. The rest of the team members are shaking their heads with amusement and awe.

"Um, Okay, will do," Xander utters and hangs up the phone, breathing a sigh of relief.

The room is silent and, as Xander turns around, he can see that they are waiting for an explanation, but he's not about to offer one. What would he say, anyway?

"Nice chat?" Jack deadpans.

Xander just looks at him, completely at a loss for what to say. Honestly, he was beginning to feel as though he was losing control of the whole situation.

"I guess what I'm asking, " Jack continues, "is why the most powerful man in the United States Military just called me to demand why we were investigating the past of one, Alexander Harris. And why he then ordered that, under no circumstances, would there be further investigation of that same Alexander Harris."

Again, Xander is speechless.

"Alex!" Jack demands, and Xander shrugs his shoulders, helplessly.

"I can't really go into it, Jack," he mutters apologetically.

"You can't go into it?" Jack repeats, his eyes darkening.

"It's classified, " Xander mumbles and sinks into a chair that he had been standing next to. Then he adds, "This is all getting just a little weird." He sighs as he rests his head in his hands for a moment.

Then, forgetting where he was for just a moment and getting a little confused, he concludes, "No, just me."

"What?" Sam asks, not following the apparently random statement.

"Huh?" Xander asks and frowns. "Did I say that last bit out loud?"

Mitchell and Daniel nod, and Xander bites his lip.

"Sorry, it's been a really long day."

From behind him Jack sighs and wanders over to his own chair. Falling into it he sighs again and looks at his son.

"I wish you'd just tell us what the hell is going on," he muses, and Xander looks up at him wearily.

"Feeling's mutual, Jack," he replies. "But it's classified. On both fronts. Which puts us both at a bit of an impasse."

The two fall into silence again before Jack sighs heavily.

"If I get Carter to fill you in on the Trust, will you let my team take the lead on questioning them?" Jack bargains.

"Doesn't sound like a fair trade at all, Jack," Xander replies honestly, feeling frustrated.

"You honestly think I'm going to let you come along? Last time I did that you nearly caught a bullet with your head!" Jack exclaims, and Xander rolls his eyes.

"Stop being so dramatic. Take it from the Joint Chiefs, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Xander lies.

"You want to go down that path?" Jack demands, and Xander throws his hands up in the air.

"Dammit, Jack!"

"What? You're asking me to put you at risk, and I won't do it!" Jack shouts back.

"No. I am asking you to let me make my own decision. For crying out loud, I'm 22 years old, Jack!"

"These people. The Trust. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. And until we know what that is, I don't want you anywhere near them," Jack pleads.

Xander starts to rebut, then stops. He knows what it's like to lose someone you love. He remembers how he felt when Buffy fell from the tower. The overwhelming sadness that struck him when he looked at her lying broken in the rubble. Knows how he felt when Buffy came back from the dead. How a tightness would develop in his chest every time she went out to patrol, afterwards. Was it like that for Jack? Did his stomach clench with fear? Fear of feeling that same horrible, haunting loss again. Buffy was his family, sure, but that couldn't compare to losing a child, could it?

Looking at Jack, he can see the lines of tension around his eyes. His mouth is set tightly, jaw clenched. Hands fisted on the table. A perfect portrait of stress.

"You'll tell me who they are?"

Jack looks slightly taken back by the sudden change in attitude from his son, but he nods anyway.

"I'll tell you anything, if you just stay here where you're safe," Jack agrees.

"Fine, Jack," Xander says quietly. "If it's what you want, I'll . . ."

There is a flash of light, and suddenly, a woman in a long white gown is standing beside the window.

"… What the hell!" Xander finishes, as several of the members of SG1 leap from their chairs.

The woman turns and looks upon Xander with a smile.

"I had feared that I would be too late, Alexander. I am grateful that I have reached you in time," she says pleasantly, and Xander's eyes open wide in shock.

"Excuse me?" he manages in a feeble voice, and from behind him the noise of the safety being taken off a weapon can be heard.

"There is no need for alarm, Cameron Mitchell. I am not here to harm you, " the woman says gently, but when Xander turns to look at Mitchell he can see the military man hasn't backed down at all.

"If it's all the same to you, " he states, "I'll just keep this at the ready."

"Who are you?" Jack demands.

"My name is Gabrielle," the woman says with a small nod of the head.

Daniel leans further around Teal'c to ask, "Sorry, did you say, 'Gabrielle'?"

Gabrielle nods

"And you're an Ancient?" Daniel asks again. All the team members shoot him a look, and Jack indicates Xander with his head, as if to say, 'Ixnay about the Ancients-way.'

"I was. Once." Gabrielle offers, and again turns her attention to Xander. "These days I am more closely affiliated with the Powers That Be," she informs him.

"Damn, and I thought you were such a sweet, nice lady," Xander shoots back in a deadpan. He turns to the group around him. "I'm sorry, but this lady just popped out of nowhere. Am I the only one surprised by this?" He asks incredulously.

"I'm kind of surprised," Mitchell replies.

"You get used to it, I think," Daniel offers.

"Daniel!" Jack snaps, and Xander looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Daniel asks, and then turns to indicate Xander. "It's not like he was overly surprised, himself."

"Now all eyes are upon Xander, and he swallows and turns away, back towards Gabrielle.

"Sorry, you were saying . . . ?" he prompts, and Gabrielle smiles at him, a smile that reaches her eyes and makes her cheeks brighten. She looks around at the inquisitive stares in the room and waves her hand gently through the air. Dismissing the mere mortals seated at the table.

"I have come to warn you, Alexander. There are men coming. Men who wish to use you for their own purpose. I have been sent to help."

"Thanks, all the same. But I've had some dealings in the past which would indicate that I might just be better off without any interference by the PTB at all," Xander says with a shake of his head.

"We have been searching for our Champion for some time, Alexander. We have been searching for you for many years," the woman counters, and Xander moves away shaking his head.

"I'm not a Champion. You want a Champion, go ask Angel. Go ask anyone who's not me!" He argues

"We do not choose our Champion, any more than you choose to be a Champion," the woman offers.

"That's just great," Xander mutters.

"Sorry," says Jack, standing and moving over to his son, "But would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I could tell you everything," Gabrielle says sweetly, "But there would be little point. You will retain no memory of this conversation. It was meant only as a message to Xander."

"What message?" Xander asks

"There will come a time when you must make a terrible choice. This message is only to remind you of your past. Of the life you have lived. Of the lives you have saved. Not of the life you might have once had."

"That's a shocking message!" Xander begins, glad of a chance to flex his sarcasm muscles, but there was no point. Mid-mockery, the light shone again and Gabrielle was gone.

Mitchell swivels his head around, gun still drawn, and looks at his team members, one after another. "Okay. Everyone else saw the lady in the white dress too, right?" He asks nervously, and Daniel nods.

"I can remember her being here, but it's the darnedest thing . . . "

Sam cuts him off, to save time. "You just can't remember what she said?" she asks, and Teal'c nods gravely from the back of the room.

"But what's the point in popping in, if no one remembers why she was here afterward?" Mitchell questions, holstering his side-arm.

"Someone remembers what she said," Jack announces, indicating Xander who had wandered off to look out the windows again.

"So?" Jack continues, and Xander turns to look at him, obviously distracted. "So? What did she say?" Jack demands

"Someone's coming . . . ," Xander starts, and behind him a siren starts to wail.

"Unscheduled Off-World Activation!"

"… Scratch that. I think they might already be here."

TBC

R&R