Gift of a Family Chapter 8. et Semel Ascendi Interfectrix.
A.N. Please forgive my Latin, I don't speak it, I don't know it. I can only do the best I can with what I have...which is an English to Latin dictionary. Sorry.
Also I want to thank Sulien for being my new beta reader. You are wonderful, thank you so very much! This chapter is for you. Sorry, I didn't get all of your requests in but I think I got most of it.
Daniel decided to give Buffy a moment to look over her fax and took the plates to the kitchen and put the Chinese food into the fridge. He couldn't help frowning at the empty fridge. No wonder Buffy was so skinny. Either she lived like he did when he was away from the mountain and ordered out all the time, or she was having pretty bad financial difficulties. Daniel knew what that was like. He remembered Catherine's statement when he first met her that everything he owned were in those two bags. It had been true.
He couldn't help feeling a lot better that he had brought so much Chinese food with him. At least she would have leftovers for a while. Now he better understood the awed and shocked look in her eye when she was looking at all the food. At first he thought it was just because he had gone so overboard with the food. Admittedly, that was probably a large part of it, but now he had a feeling that there was more to it than that.
He was about to go join her in the living room when he noticed a pile of unopened bills on the kitchen counter. He hesitated a moment; Buffy would probably be angry if she caught him snooping. Once again, however, his curiosity won out and he quickly leafed through looking at who had sent them. There were hospital bills, bills from the mortuary, utility bills and one from what he assumed was the plumber.
Daniel set the bills down and had to take several long and calming breaths. He didn't completely understand why he was so upset, but his protective instincts were suddenly in overdrive. He really wanted to help the tiny blond. He instinctively knew he would have to tread carefully. Maybe he could find someway to help her anonymously? That way, she wouldn't be angry at him if she thought it was charity or something. She seemed like the kind of girl who would hide how difficult things really were for her. Not only for her pride, but also because she didn't want to be a bother or be beholding to anyone.
Alarm coursed through Daniel when he walked into the living room and looked at Buffy. She was sitting on the couch and seemed to be staring off into the great unknown. She had a troubled look to her eyes, though the moment he entered it was like someone flipped a switch and turned on a light. She was instantly bright and perky. She was acting like nothing in the world was wrong. If he hadn't seen her a moment ago he wouldn't have known that something was bothering her. Now, he could see the slightest trace of worry around her eyes. She was really good at hiding her pains and worries.
She smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry, I was about to give you the lowdown on my secret when that fax finally came."
"That's fine. If I might ask, what was in the fax?" He was sure it had to be the fax that caused her so much worry.
"Oh, just info on the big bad in town who is in charge of those vamps who jumped you last night. He calls himself the Dragon. They say it's because he has red and gold dragons tattooed on his arms, but personally I'm betting he has bad breath."
Daniel cocked his head to the side. She kind of reminded him of Jack there for a moment. It was the glib way she made fun of something that most people would find frightening. Something told him that there was more to this woman than met the eye. There was something about her that seemed to be made of stronger stuff. In this moment he realized that she was a fighter, maybe not like Teal'c, but like Jack, Sam, or even himself. How was it that this tiny and delicate civilian woman seemed to have such a warrior spirit?
She must have seen the question in his eyes. Somehow she knew what he was wondering, because she resumed telling him about her secret.
"So you know that vampires exist, I gave you and Jack the rundown on those last night." Daniel nodded although it wasn't a question. Jack and he had discussed the similarities and differences between vampires and the goa'uld this morning between the hospital and the hotel.
"Vampires and demons are real and they frequently try to end the world, or release hell on Earth. Mostly, though, they just try to eat or kill the people around them. That is where the Slayer comes in to play. "
"Wait, the Slayer is real?" Daniel asked his heart racing as a wild and excited light came into his eyes. "They actually exist and you know who it is?"
She had a concerned look in her eye instantly but couldn't help the wry smile from curving her lips. He had that kid at Christmas look in his eyes again. "You have heard about the Slayer?"
"I don't know a lot. I have come across a book with stories of heroic deeds and a few references on some artifacts I have studied." Daniel had thought that perhaps they were some friendly, advanced alien race like the Asgard, or something. The artifacts had references to make him believe that they had participated in the revolt against Ra on Earth. "The Slayer is a warrior who has special gifts to help them fight...um, some snakelike creature."
"Sounds like the old Mayor."
"Huna?"
"During my highschool graduation the Mayor ascended during his speech. He became a 50 foot long demon snake."
I think we have different definitions on what being ascended means. Daniel thought to himself.
"What happened?" Daniel asked intrigued.
"He ate our principal and a few other unfortunate people. The class all fought back. We knew it was going to happen and prepared ahead. I had the snake chase me through the school to where we had some explosives set up. I jumped out the window just before the school was blown up with the snake still inside." She saw the look in his eyes and couldn't help adding. "It was the only way we could think of to kill it. The last demon like that we know of took a volcanic eruption to stop it."
"How was it that you got involved in all of this?" Daniel asked. His protective instincts were kicking in again. It made him angry that Buffy was the one to lead the snake through the school. "Why were you the one to have to play bait?"
"Well, let me explain some more about the Slayer, and I'll get back to that. The Slayer is a mystical champion chosen by the Powers That Be. She is given strength, accelerated healing, prophetic dreams and a crappy life with a short life expectancy. Basically, or as Giles would say, as long as there have been vampires there has been the Slayer, the one girl in all the world with the gifts and abilities to fight them. When one dies another is called. I received my calling when I was almost 15."
"You're the Slayer?" Daniel asked his eyes going wide. "And you have been fighting vampires since you were 14?" Daniel was incredulous. Then another thought occurred to him. "You're the friend that saved Jack and I from those vampires last night?"
Buffy nodded hesitantly.
The academic within Daniel was intrigued, there was so much he could learn. Once again he had been shown that even with as much as he knew, he still didn't know anything. His desire to learn and understand had flared into a smoldering inferno.
The man within him didn't know what to think. He still felt this desire to be protective of her and yet, she didn't seem to need it. The revelations didn't change anything as far as his desire to get to know Buffy better. His desire to see if there could ever be anything between them romantically was as strong as ever. He didn't understand how she was able to make him feel so strongly for her in such a short time. It was so fast. Even with Sha're it had taken longer than this, and for that he felt a little guilty.
Another aspect of Daniel was simply impressed. He had become something of a warrior for the light himself over the years as a member of SG-1...well a pacifist-warrior. He wasn't like Teal'c, or even Jack, but he was no longer the sneezing wet-behind-the-ears archaeologist who had first stepped through the Stargate.
Those vampires were as strong and possibly stronger than Jaffa, and this tiny woman had saved not only him but Jack as well. He promised himself that he would get Buffy clearance to learn about the Stargate. He had no doubt he could if she were the Slayer. Especially since past Slayers were the ones who lead the rebellion against Ra. Only getting permission from Buffy to talk to Hammond about her was going to be tricky. He decided to wait a while before testing those shark infested waters.
"That's...incredible! You have been fighting these things since you were a teenager?"
"Pretty much nightly, except for a couple vacations when I tried to get away from everything and a few times when I was wounded and recovering. So, now that the whole Slayer thing has been explained are you ready to help with the research?"
Daniel smiled in response, he was more than ready. He was dying to get his hands on some of those books.
"Ok, we are looking for information or prophecies concerning the Hortoss or Horcoth ritual. I get the names mixed up. If you find one and it talks about bathing in yack spit to keep werewolves away it's the wrong one."
Suddenly the one-sided conversation he had overheard made a little more sense.
"The ritual we are looking for is a blood rite to release some hellbeast, or if you see a prophecy about the slayer who won't stay dead or the et Semel Ascendi Interfectrix we will want to look at that too."
Daniel's eyes grew wide and he could feel his shock deep within.
"The Once Ascended Slayer?"
"It's kind of a long story."
I'll bet! Daniel thought to himself. He suddenly realized why she seemed so familiar, why her eyes held a little bit of heaven and hell. Now he knew why he felt so drawn to her. She had been ascended too. He never talked about it, but he felt a great longing to return. He wished he could remember what it was like, the things he had learned.
"After I came back from my second death, Giles found a prophecy about me, that was what I was referred to as."
"Exactly how many times have you died?"
"Counting the 1st time when Xander revived me using CPR and the last time when I flat-lined on the operating table for a moment, three."
"And the second time?"
Buffy flinched and looked away for a moment. "It's hard for me to talk about. I don't remember everything, but what I do remember..." Her voice cut off thick with emotion.
"I'm sorry Buffy. I didn't mean to pry." Daniel always thought that his memories had been taken as a punishment and to keep him from re-ascending, but what if it was to help him so he wasn't torn between his life on Earth and returning?
Buffy nodded, accepting his apology. She wasn't normally this emotional, certainly not with someone she had just met, but she could feel her tears threatening to pour out. "I think I was in heaven." Buffy managed to say, just as the first tears fell.
Daniel didn't hesitate. He pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried on his chest. They stood like that for a long time. It felt so right holding her, but seeing her so distraught was tearing him up inside. He wanted to take all of her pain and throw it away for her.
Daniel gently lifted her into his arms and was amazed at how light she was. He turned and sat down on the couch, still holding her on his lap. He gently ran his fingers through her hair as she snuggled into him and her tears stopped. They held one another for a long time, until the warmth of solace was slowly being replaced by a different warmth.
He gently lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. He longed to tell her that he understood, more than anybody else in this world could, just what she was missing. But, as she looked into his eyes she seemed to get the silent message he wanted so desperately to convey to her, even if she didn't understand it.
Buffy once again found herself feeling like she had found a little bit of heaven again. She was amazed to find understanding looking back at her as she looked into Daniel's eyes. She was surprised that she didn't feel shame for having let him see her weakness. Normally she would have, normally she wouldn't have expressed the depths of her feelings like that. But with Daniel she felt warm and alive, something she didn't think she could feel anymore.
Daniel gently brushed her face with the tips of his fingers and instantly the warmth she was only just starting to feel with him flared up like a brush fire.
She blushed and Daniel couldn't help blushing as well.
"Thank you. I'm sorry, I really don't normally act like this." Bufy whispered and pulled away. She really wanted to kiss him. That scared her more than anything. She shouldn't feel so strongly for him so soon. A part of her wanted to blame it on some kind of love spell, but she knew that wasn't it. These were her feelings she was feeling. They had been buried under a facade of strength, now they were newly awakened and wanted to run from one extreme to another.
Daniel smiled at her, still blushing. "I guess we should probably get going with the research. Why don't you show me what you have so far?" Daniel had been looking forward to getting his hands on those books all day. Now that didn't seem as desirable as it was before. He would take Buffy over the books any day.
A.N. For those of you who are wondering Jack should be in the next chapter.
Oh, and if you haven't yet please check out my other ongoing Stargate and Buffy story Urgos Return.
And as always please review! Thank you!