The Gift of a Family Chapter 7. The Geek Stuff.
Thank you to my sister Blue Bird for beta reading this chapter for me.
Buffy's mind was racing a mile a minute as she looked at the handsome man on her porch and smelled the delicious food he had brought with him. Her mind and heart debated the wisdom of letting him into her world and letting him help her.
Ever since she was first called as a slayer and Merrick had thrown the knife at her he had pounded into her mind the dangers of letting people know about her secret. It was dangerous for her, her family and her friends, not to mention it would be dangerous for Daniel to know.
But, then, her family was all dead or off with his secretary in Spain or doing whatever military types did. There was no family close enough to her to endanger with her secret. Her friends and Giles were off in various places as well. They would not be in danger from Daniel's knowledge. That only left her and Daniel to worry about.
Danger was nothing new to her. She put her life on the line every night she went out hunting. Granted some nights were worse than others. But then, her life was always in danger, that was what life was like as the slayer. She didn't mind so much anymore. The constant danger helped her to really live her life. Granted it was a lot harder to live now that she knew what it was like in heaven but she didn't crave death like she used to. She wanted to live, and be happy if at all possible.
Even so she knew her life was always in danger. It was her calling, the natural order. Yes, it was dangerous to let Daniel in but how dangerous would it be really? She still had Paul she could turn to for help with the military. Besides she had the whole new apocalypse danger to consider. She really did need help with the research and if the choice was between some risk to herself and a risk of an Armageddon it was kind of a no brainer which choice would be the right one.
So now the only things left to consider was did he want to take the risk? The Chinese food he was holding was also a consideration. It smelled really good and it looked like there was a great deal to share.
All of these things and more (how cute and desirable he was) went through her mind in almost the instant that she saw who it was that was standing on her porch. She had fortunately only been staring at him for just a moment.
I can warn him off after lunch. She decided. It would hardly be polite to send him away with all that food. He would be eating left overs for weeks. Seriously it looked like he had brought enough for the entire gang of Scoobies after an apocalyptic event!
"Daniel, This is a surprise." She stated with a smile.
"Hey, Buffy. I know you declined my offer to help but I figured by now you were probably hungry." He smiled hopefully. "I always get too busy with stuff like that to eat. I was also hoping maybe I could convince you to change your mind and let me help. Do you like Chinese food?" He asked with a worried look on his face.
Buffy smiled at how nervous he sounded it restored her self confidence. His near babble reminded her of Willow and the way he adjusted his glasses nervously reminded her of Giles. Only Daniel was way too good looking to be confused with her best friend or mentor. So with a sly smile she stepped closer to him.
"Oh yeah, Chinese food is of the good." Buffy stated as she lightly brushed his hand in a caress as she took the Chinese food from his hand. She watched his face closely for his reaction and was not disappointed. His reaction made her feel much better about how he acted when she mentioned the books this morning. Maybe she hadn't completely lost her touch after all?
Buffy felt like laughing. Her kitchen counter was completely covered in little takeout boxes of different kinds of Chinese food.
"What did you do? Buy everything on the menu?"
Daniels face blushed once again at her question. "I...um...Wasn't sure what you would like."
Buffy smiled brightly. "It's alright, but I'm just amazed that you did all of this." Stepping forward she started filling her plate with all her favorite dishes and a few she had never tried before. "Before you came I was drowning in bad translations and starving. You are like a hero with food come to save the starving masses. Only I am the only masses there are here." She stated thinking of Xander. He was always bringing the food to the research sessions. "It really brightened my day to see you actually." She stated but turned quickly so he wouldn't see her blush.
Daniel perked up quite a bit at this. Things weren't going so bad after all, and if he played his cards right she might let him get his hands on some of those books he had noticed in the living room. Together they walked into the dining room and sat down.
"So what is the story with you and the General coming to town?"
Daniel blinked confused. General? General Hammond was still in Colorado Springs. Oh She must mean... "You mean Jack? He is actually a Colonel not a General." He corrected her. "Sorry, The military has this thing about keeping ranks straight. It's..."
Daniel trailed off at the part where Jack would have interrupted to get him back on track. "Sorry, you wanted to know what we were doing in town. We are on leave and Jack came to look up his daughter. Apparently she never got to know him. He seemed really excited to get to see her at last but then last night happened and we got a little sidetracked."
Buffy froze for a moment fear and hope both stirring within her. Was it possible? Could Jack be my... Ruthlessly she squashed down all the hopeful feelings that had suddenly bloomed within her. If he were my father he would have said something about it last night. Wouldn't he? It can't be because I sent that letter a long time ago. If my father were interested, he would have responded then. No, my real father is probably just like Hank. Nothing to get excited or hopeful for. Besides I have Giles. He is more like a father to me than either of the men who could claim to be my father.
Yet, she couldn't avoid the slight twinge of jealousy for whoever the lucky girl was. Jack, even for being in the military, had truly impressed her last night. She knew in her heart that he was a good man. She was just nervous about trusting him because of her past. Well, that and the whole being in the graveyard at night thing.
Daniel was looking longingly at the books in the living room and didn't notice Buffys distraction. "So since you mentioned having problems with translations I wonder if you might reconsider and let me help you? I promise I will be discreet."
That got her attention. "Do you mean that?" She asked pointedly. "You're not going to go report all of this to your chain of command? Anything you learn about me would be in the strictest confidence?"
Daniel hesitated for a moment. The way she said that made him a little nervous. We have kept secrets from everyone else before. Of course then it was to protect aliens from the NID but surely we could protect this girl as well?
"I am not officially in the military so I cannot be ordered to say anything. I promise that so long as you are not a threat and so long as my keeping the secret wouldn't put anybody in danger I will keep your secrets." Daniel stated.
"Well the only way I would ever be a threat to the military is if they were doing something that they shouldn't again...Something that has to do with what I deal with every night. So you tell me, am I a threat?"
Daniel blinked. That was interesting. "I certainly don't think so, but then I didn't think you were a threat before when I said that."
"I really could use some help. So if you still want to help me I will trust you." Daniel grinned like a kid at Christmas.
"But, there is one more thing you need to know before you decide. My life is dangerous. That means the people close to me are in danger too. The more you know about my world the more danger you will be in. You got a small taste of that last night. You came close to becoming a permanent part of it as a vampire or dying. This isn't something to take lightly. This isn't some tv show where all the problems are resolved in a half hour. People die. I try to stop it. I do everything I can but I can't always save everybody. Are you sure you want to continue on this path?"
"Buffy." Daniel stated at length. "Not knowing about the dangers around you is far more dangerous than knowing. Either way you are in danger. Ignorance is not bliss, at least not for me. Knowledge is power and while curiosity can be dangerous and has led me into all kinds of trouble in the past, it has also led me to some of the best moments of my life. My curiosity led me to meet my first wife. While losing her brought me great pain it also brought me to the life I have now. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. Life and death go hand in hand. You can lock yourself in a room to try and stay safe, but then you would be hiding from life; only death will find you anyway. I myself would rather live and take the risks that come with living."
Daniel blushed again as he wondered if she understood what he was trying to say. He hoped he didn't come across the wrong way.
"All right then if you're sure. I really do need help. You are probably thinking what could be so dangerous about sitting around and researching but trouble often comes knocking when you least suspect it, or jumping though your living room window to attack you as sometimes happens around here. I guess I should start by giving you the rundown on the slayer. Giles does this a lot better than me." She mumbled as she prepared to bare her secret.
The beep of her fax machine sounded in the silence distracting her from the speech she was about to give.
"Finally!" She couldn't help saying as she went in to collect the pages Giles and Willow had finally sent her.
Jack stood looking at what was left of the phone. Well there goes the security deposit. he thought looking at its remains. He hadn't been this angry in a long time and he longed for something to take his frustrations out on besides the innocent phone.
He couldn't help how angry he was. His daughter was in some kind of major trouble and Uncle Sam was giving him the 'it's out of your jurisdiction' crap. He would have thought that after all the times he saved the world that would count for something. But no. He couldn't call in his team for backup.
Besides dealing with strange things was what SG-1 did. Vampires certainly counted as strange to him. As far as Jack was concerned they were a lot like the snake heads and right up SG-1's alley.
Apparently the president didn't agree. He had been told in no uncertain terms that the only reason he and Daniel were being allowed to remain was that they were on leave. Apparently they already knew about the vamps and had a group that dealt with them. He was told that the only way the president would change his mind and allow Cheyenne Mountain to send backup was if the person in charge in Sunnydale were to ask for assistance.
He wasn't even able to find out who the head honcho in Sunnydale was so he could...convince this person to let Jack's team in. So the one bozo who could help Jack couldn't even be contacted by Jack. This was defiantly not his day! Jack was told to go visit his daughter and leave the work to the people who knew what they were dealing with.
His daughter. Jack shook his head in wonder and renewed anger. He needed to know what was going on with her strength. He needed to protect her from whatever was doing this to her.
He needed to tell her the truth. But now, that he had delayed telling her, he really didn't know how he was going to do that.
Finally after many deep breaths Jack went in to see what Daniel was doing and to let him know about the latest upset from Washington. What he found, however, was a note from Daniel saying he had gone for lunch and to visit with Buffy to offer his help with her research.
Jack couldn't stop the smile that came to his face. Maybe Daniel had the right idea...if you can't beat them, join them. It was the only way he would be getting his answers about Buffy. If she will let them help her then he could watch her back.
It wasn't much of a plan but it was better than nothing. And so with a bounce to his step he decided to join his daughter and Daniel with the geek stuff.
A.N. Sorry it'll be a few weeks, at least, for the next update as I am trying to get my story for the Summer fic a thon done. I think my dear readers will like it. (At least I hope so.)
I don't think it will turn into a long wait though. I am looking forward to the big fight stuff. It is still a few chapters off but it is coming. My story won't all be just romance and emotional bonding but I do so love fluff and seeing what motivates my characters actions.