Chapter 20.
I was very surprised by the positive reaction I got to my take on Maggie. Thank you.
Please review! Compliments make me write faster; criticisms make me write better.
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/ Xander's thoughts /
% Jolinar's thoughts %
#"Tok'ra or Goa'uld voice"#
All through the day Xander had to hide a smile whenever he saw Willow. The poor girl was positively bouncing off the walls.
"Willow, did you have caffeine today?" Xander asked as they walked the halls.
"No. I'm just so excited. I got up early and worked on some more rectifiers. It's just so exciting!" Willow exclaimed.
Xander smiled serenely. "I hear ya. I remember the night after Halloween, I didn't sleep a wink. I had so many thoughts running through my head that sleep was completely impossible. I filled half a notebook with theoretical physics that night."
"Oh my gosh, Xander. Can I see?" Willow was already giddy. The thought of looking through Dr. Samantha Carter's notes on... any topic could only make her slightly more giddy.
"Fine, but I'm taking them back tonight." Xander answered. Willow's face fell so he explained, "If I leave them with you, you're not going to sleep for the next three nights."
Willow knew he was probably right so she acquiesced with a soft, "Fi-ine."
"I'll bring the notes when I come to your house after school. I have to show Giles the car I'm trying to get him to buy to support our cause first." Xander explained.
"How does him buying a car help our cause?" Willow wondered as they entered the library.
"When it's a car that I acquired from one of our toothy friends." Xander smiled.
"Xander!" Willow was shocked. "That's... wrong. Isn't it? It's probably wrong."
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked as they got to the table.
"Xander's stealing from vampires." Willow explained.
Xander shrugged. "I don't see the harm in profiting just a little from our dearly dusted friends. And it's going to a very good cause."
"What cause?" Buffy asked.
"A healing device." Xander replied. "You get injured and you're healed before you even go home. And if you want... we could even heal Ford."
Everyone was silent for a moment before Buffy snapped the spell first. "Ford. As in, tried to kill me and a lot of other innocent people, Ford?"
"Well him, or Ford, your friend who's dying and scared out of his mind, Ford. If we find either one alive, we should be able to cure him. You can even beat the snot out of him first if you want. The machine can heal that too." Xander finished with a smile.
Giles came out of his office where he'd been listening. "What Xander's offering is quite amazing, Buffy. I understand if you feel betrayed, the truth is that we'll need a test subject once the device is done, and there could be no one better. Someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Not to mention the fact that his death wouldn't cause us any guilt or be able to be traced back to us in any way. And while I'm not sold on the idea of getting a new automobile, I'm beginning to like his new idea about radios and staying in communications." Any thing that kept his Slayer safe.
"I feel betrayed because he tried to betray me." Buffy sniped. "And you're getting the car. I can run faster than your- that thing you call an automobile. If we're going to do the radio thing, then you need to be able to get to me before sunrise."
Giles rolled his eyes. "Maybe," he allowed. "I'm going with Xander after school to look at it."
"Actually we should all go." Xander insisted. "You can drop Willow and me off at her house, then we need you to go around town and mark some landmarks on maps for Angel and I. If you're ever in trouble, Angel and I need to know where to go and pre-marked locations are great for that."
Giles nodded. "Xander, that's quite a good idea. What map shall we use though?"
"Wish I could take credit. That's Carter and Jolinar's idea. I just came up with putting them on a map. And I figured we'd use the one in the front of the phone book. It's pre-broken into a grid pattern for us." Xander explained.
"I think you sell yourself short, Xander." Giles smiled.
"Great. And while you guys do the map thing, Xander and I will work on the healing device." Willow agreed.
"Is there a name for the healing device?" Buffy wondered.
"There's a name, but it just translates to 'healing device'. I can't think of anything good to call it. Heal'o'matic just falls short." Xander gave an 'aw-shucks' snap of his fingers.
"Well we'll think of something. In the meantime, I'll start looking for Ford again." Buffy assured him.
"Don't forget your radio tonight and take Angel's for him too. We'll start on channel 7 and switch to 12 if anyone else is already on it." Xander ordered.
Xander was able to get lessons in a couple of the advanced moves that Giles agreed to show him before break was over. Buffy complained that Giles hadn't shown her those moves and Giles argued that Buffy had yet to master the basic techniques, so there was no point in teaching her. The look of determination on Buffy's face at that comment would have melted steel.
Samantha Carter sighed in relief to finally be home for real. That virtual reality world had been a literal hell. Forcing Jack and Daniel to relive their most painful memories over and over again. It was painful for her as well. She didn't like to see her friends hurting like that. She was ashamed that she was so relieved that she hadn't had to experience the most painful memories of her own past. She wasn't sure if she could have survived that.
After the briefing, Hammond had ordered them to take a couple of days off. Off as in 'off the base'. Sam was a little disappointed. There were several experiments that she wanted to run during some down time. But she supposed that working on restoring her Harley would just have to do. It was almost finished. She'd probably sell the Honda and buy a new bike to work on once the Harley was running. Unfortunately, riding a motorcycle in Colorado in November was not a smart move.
Thinking about things like that, she made her way home. There was a package on her front step, too big to fit in the mail slot. She carried it inside and was about to open it when she noticed the return address: 'Samantha Carter and Rupert Giles, Sunnydale, CA'. It was even a reasonable facsimile of her handwriting. She really wanted to believe that there was nothing dangerous in this box, but regulations prevented her from opening it here. It was from an unknown and potentially alien source and it could be dangerous. She hopped back into her car to drive back to the SGC. On the plus side, her car was already warm.
"Captain Carter. I was sure I gave you a direct order to take some time off. Away from the base." Hammond pointed out from behind the glass of the containment room observation deck.
Samantha straightened. "Yes sir. You did, sir. But when I got home I found this package. It came from Sunnydale and that seemed suspicious, so I brought it here to be opened safely."
Hammond sighed. "Very well. Proceed." More strange stuff from Sunnydale was not something he needed.
Sam put her fingers in the gloves of the containment box and she and Dr. Fraiser carefully opened the box. X-ray's and MRIs were negative so she was fairly sure that whatever was in here wasn't harmful, but it didn't pay to take chances with unknown objects. Inside was just one object. A sealed plastic baggie containing some gray dust with the words 'Vampire Dust' scrawled across the front.
"Captain?" prompted the general.
"It say's its 'Vampire Dust' sir. With your permission, I'd like to run some tests." Carter requested.
"Dr.?" Hammond asked for his Chief Medical Officer's opinion first.
"I'm not sure I believe in vampires yet sir, but there should be no danger as long as we maintain proper containment." Dr. Fraiser assured him.
"Run your tests then." Hammond ordered before leaving. There was no further need for him to be there. They'd let him know the results soon enough.
There was a dent on the hood where Buffy had slammed a vamp down on the car. But otherwise the car appeared to be well maintained. Though Giles seemed to disagree.
"It's older than my current car." Giles complained.
"Yes, but your car is a '66 Citroen with a small engine putting out less than 100 horsepower." Xander admitted. "This is a 1960 Desoto Adventurer. It carries a V8 and puts out 330 horsepower. Your fuel economy will drop, but for over 3 times the power, it's a tiny drop. And it's a convertible. Which is good for diving into while being chased by things that go bump in the night.
"Giles. You have got to get this car." Buffy insisted seriously.
"It is a really nice car," Willow added.
#"Did Miss Calendar not try to take you to a car race of some type? I believe that would indicate her enjoyment of cars. A car like this would certainly impress her more than your current automobile."# Jolinar added.
Giles sighed. Even the alien was against him. "Very well. How much do you want for it?"
"It's worth $40,000, but I'll give it to you for $30,000." Xander answered.
Giles sputtered. He had been expecting 5, maybe $10,000. He offed Xander $15,000.
"Giles. I can get $35,000 from a dealership, even with the dent." Xander shot a glare at Buffy.
"Hey! How was I supposed to know?" Buffy countered his glare.
Xander supposed she had a point and shrugged to show that he admitted that point before going back to Giles with a counter offer. "$32,000."
"Xander, you're negotiating the wrong way." Giles informed him. "How about $20,000?"
"You know, Miss Calendar really likes cars and knows what they're worth. Plus she knows about us and is probably a better driver than you. She might be willing to pay me $35,000 for it." Xander wondered as he countered.
"You're a very poor negotiator, you know that? Fine. $30,000." Giles met Xander's original price. "I trust you'll allow me to make payments?" Giles said a little tersely.
"Yeah, I trust you." Xander agreed. "Let go to Angel's place. I left the paperwork there for safe keeping."
At Angel's, they walked in and shut the door to the sunlight behind them. They gave the signed title to Giles for him to register as his. After they were finished, Xander explained the radios and asked if Angel wanted to train now while Buffy and Giles took his new car around to mark landmarks. Angel agreed, but then Buffy didn't want to leave. She wanted to watch the boys spar. Giles and Willow decided to stay as well.
After warming up, Xander and Angel had a quick bout. Both were trying to impress the others watching and went harder than they normally did. Xander gave a good showing, but realized just how much Angel had been holding back. And with a "Stop!" he was forced to give up.
Buffy was certainly impressed by Angel's prowess and went to tell him so while Giles and Willow thought that Xander had fought well.
"That was really good Xander." Willow assured him.
"Yes, that was surprisingly good. Most human's don't stand a chance against supernatural foes especially one of Angel's caliber and you gave him quite a challenge." Giles agreed.
"I'm not quite up to Captain Carter's ability yet. A couple more months and I'll be there. But I can see that it won't be enough against master vampires. They're just too strong and fast to take on without a stake. But Jolinar wants a shot now." Xander told them.
#"What say you, Angel? Care to spar with me now?"# Jolinar challenged.
Angel agreed and the non-combatants cleared the floor again. Xander watched from within his own head. The extra strength and speed the symbiote provided, along with the training they'd done certainly made the difference. At a guess Jolinar was now as fast and as strong as when they had merged before. Xander wondered just how strong they might be if they merged again. The fight was over much quicker than the first and stopped when Angel was forced to cry 'uncle'.
% You know, I never had the urge to beat another man senseless before I met you. % Jolinar observed.
/ You're welcome. / Xander replied as they were congratulated. Then added. / You were almost as strong as we were when we merged. /
% I know. I was still weak then. You're going to want to merge again? % Jolinar guessed.
/ We have to know. / Xander reasoned.
% Only after the healing device is complete or we run out of funds to work on it. I don't want that interrupted by us running around the city like a hyena. % Jolinar cautioned.
They left Angel his radio and drove both cars back to Giles' apartment. Giles drove his old car and Xander drove the Desoto with a promise not to scratch it. Xander stopped by his parents' house to pick up that notebook for Willow and was able to make it back to Giles' apartment in one piece. Buffy insisted that they take the new car that day as the convertible would make it much easier to spot landmarks. Xander had the feeling that Buffy would have found any number of excuses to take the Desoto over the other car. He and Willow were then dropped at her house and Giles and Buffy left to scout the town.
They worked until sundown when Xander turned on his radio. "Check, check. Everyone got their radios on?"
"Yeah, Giles' and I are finishing up with the map." Buffy answered.
"I'm here." Angel answered next.
"Okay, it's your first time out with radios. I would suggest everyone on patrol check in with their position every 15 minutes. What do you think, Giles?"
There was silence for a moment before Giles came on. "Yes that sounds like a good plan. If anyone fails to check in, the other two will converge on their last known position." Giles agreed.
Sam was a bit concerned. It certainly looked like cremated human remains under the microscope. She had sent several samples off for DNA testing. They should have the results back in a week or so. Until then, SG-1 would be shipping out for P3R-636 tomorrow.
The next week passed quickly for the Scoobie gang. They fell into a rhythm. School, Willow went home to work on the healing device, Xander and Angel would train, then at sundown, Xander went to help Willow while Angel left to patrol with Buffy. As far as they could tell the soldiers were no longer tracking Buffy. Xander even came out and took a look around with his night-vision for them. After the first night, they decided that half-hour checks would be fine. Also anytime anyone human spotted a vampire or Buffy spotted three or more.
Giles was able to sell his car for a decent price and made his first payment on the Desoto. Which allowed Xander and Willow to keep working and also afford a third set of radios. One for Willow and one for Jenny. Though Jenny didn't use hers much as she liked to go out with Rupert. Jolinar had been right about Jenny liking nicer cars. Both times Xander went to go check Buffy's six, he had also checked on Giles and found him and Jenny in each other's arms. Only the fact that they were still dressed had allowed him to keep his lunch down. Instead he had called over the radio in his bad British accent, "Oi, stop snogging you two."
Buffy came on the radio first. "Xander! Were you spying on us?"
Giles fumbled for his radio and came on a second later. "Xander. This is a private matter." Then realized that Xander might have been talking to Buffy, "Buffy, were you kissing Angel?"
"Were you kissing Miss Calendar?" an amazed Buffy shot back.
This was incredibly funny, but Xander had to step in before feelings go hurt. "Okay. Everyone stop. This is what we're going to do. All four of you are going to go home right now. I don't want to know what you do once you get there. Jo and I are going to finish the patrol tonight. We will call you if we need backup. And from now on, everyone keeps their head in the game while patrolling." Xander ordered. "I'm finally understanding the army's 'no fraternization' policy."
"You tell 'em Xander." Willow piped up over the radio. She liked to be included like that.
The next week passed slowly for SG-1. They fell into a rhythm. Wake up, work, eat, work, beatings, work, eat, work, work, pass out. Calling it sleep would be too generous. Passing out due to exhaustion was more accurate. Day followed day in a daily grind. The only thing to break the monotony was occasional extra beatings whenever Teal'c broke one of their shoddy tools.
When Daniel came in wearing royal robes and talking about a feast, Sam was sure that Jack was going to beat him to death in front of the guards.
When Daniel finally did get them out of there, she had never slept so good on an infirmary bed. Then there was all the fun and excitement of Daniel's withdrawal from the effects of the sarcophagus.
By the time the weekend rolled around she had entirely forgotten about the DNA samples she had sent out for testing until the results arrived on her desk.
A/N: Giles' car was listed in the Internet Movie Cars Database. Thank you for your help. The stats were looked up on Wikipedia and Google. The car that the vamps drove wasn't listed, but the headlights and grill seem to match the 1960 Desoto Adventurer. So that's what I went with. Spike also drives a black Desoto.
P3R-636 – Need. Gave a quick summary for those who don't remember.