"Buffy, Xander, thank god. Acathla, did you stop it?" Giles asked, worriedly but happy to see the two together again.

"All dealt with Giles, Acathla's dead, so is Angelus." Xander smiled as he untied the roped holding Giles to the chair.

"How did you… what happened Xander?" Giles asked as he stood up, rubbing his wrists with his hands.

"It's a long story, one best left alone for a bit until I sort it out myself. Come on; let's get you out of here." Xander grinned as walked over to a door and opened it, allowing the sunlight to stream into the room.

"Here here!" Buffy said with a smile, walking out of the mansion.

"Xander!" Faith shouted as she ran along the road.

"Faith!" Xander shouted, running up to her he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. "Dad!" he said, noticing jack stood at her side.

"What happened? One minute you were in the hospital bed, the next…" Jack trailed off, the relief evident in his voice.

"I finally chose." Xander said with a smile on his face. "Come on." Xander grinned, as he smiled a green bubble surrounded the group, lifting them into the air and carrying them back home.

"Hey, where's T?" Xander asked as he walked in the door.

"I sent him back to the base, after you were in hospital I didn't know how long I would be here so…" Jack slipped off, not wanting to think about what would have happened if his son hadn't woken up.

"Its ok, dad, everything's ok." Xander smiled as an awkward grin appeared on Jacks face.

"Well, I think this is cause for a celebration. World saved, no deaths, sounds like an excuse for a party if I've ever heard of one." Jack grinned, turning from his sons eyes.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Faith grinned as she wrapped her arms around Xander's waist.

"Xander, could I talk to you for a second first?" Giles asked, stepping towards the kitchen.

"Sure, be right there." Xander smiled, kissing Faith on the forehead before moving into the kitchen. "What is it?"

"Buffy told me about what you did with Angelus." Giles said simply, watching Xander's face for any reaction.

"So? I did what I had to do, what any of you would have done." Xander defended himself, not wanting to cause an argument.

"I'm not saying what you did was wrong, I just want to know… Xander… you said you're powers have grown, that you have fully embraced the Ion powers. What does this mean exactly?" Giles asked, worry now showing on his face.

"It means I've just got access to more of his powers, before… after Kendra's death… I tried to shut away those emotions, tried to forget it ever happened. I realized that I can't do that, that I can't be afraid of using my powers. If I do that then I might as well not have them at all." Xander tried to explain.

"But… your powers… before, you told Jenny they were growing. Xander, what sort of limitations do you have now?" Giles asked, turning round and clicking the kettle on.

"I don't." Xander said simply.

"I'm sorry I… I don't understand." Giles said, turning back to look him in the eye. "You don't what?"

"I don't have limitations anymore, I can slip in and out of the time stream at will, teleportation, constructs, anything. They all come at a blink of an eye now, I can't explain it Giles. Please, all I'm asking is that you trust me."

"I do trust you Xander; I'm just worried about you. You say you don't have any limitations now, what is stopping you from doing whatever you want?" Giles said, worriedly.

"I am. I'm not going to go back and rewrite history; I'm not going to change the world. I'm just me, a bigger, demon ass kicking version of me." He smiled as he saw the look of worry ease on Giles' face. "Look, I can't promise I won't mess things up. I can't promise I won't make mistakes, but I can promise that I will do what I can to help people. I'm not going to fix the world, you showed me that, but if I can help people understand what is out there… then maybe I can do some good."

"Thank you Xander, I believe you have come a long way from that brash young man I met two years ago."

Xander just smiled, looking at the man that had helped him through all of this. "Now, can we party?" He asked, causing Giles to roll his eyes.

"Go, go on. I will stay here; you, Buffy, Faith and the others go out and enjoy yourselves." Giles smiled at him as he walked out the door.

"Come on guys, Bronze?" he asked, walking into the room where Buffy and Faith were talking quietly in the corner.

"Bronze." Faith agreed instantly. "B, you up for it?"

"Not for me, I've got some things to sort out first." Buffy smiled at the group before slipping out the door.

"What about you, dad? Not too old to be seen with a group of teenagers are you?" Xander mock taunted, causing a wild grin to appear on Jack's face.

"Old, I'll give you…" the rest of Jack's sentence was cut off as he was enveloped in a bright white light.

"Dad!" Xander shouted, diving for him. He wasn't quick enough though; the light vanished, taking his father with it.

"Thor, buddy, what's going on?" Jack asked as he appeared on Thor's ship.

"Greetings O'Neill, you are onboard the Beliskner, I have come seeking your assistance." Thor said, walking over to him. "This ship has been overrun with replicator's, we are still some distance from your world but I cannot alter the trajectory of the ships path."

"Replicator's? What are you talking about buddy?" Jack said, looking about the room he was in.

"Replicator's are the beings the Asgard are facing, they are a threat unlike any you have in your galaxy. I came seeking your assistance, hoping you would be able to help us in some way." Thor explained, moving over to a control panel on the wall and moving some of its 'stones'. "This is a replicator O'Neill, they are self replicating technologies, and their only purpose is to replicate more of themselves to…" Thor's explanation was cut off then Xander appeared in their midst, a rifle construct in one hand and a ball of glowing green energy in the other.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my dad?" Xander shouted as he appeared.

"Xander, I'm over here." Jack called from behind him. "Thor, you've already met my son, Xander. Xander, this is Thor, supreme commander of the Asgard fleet."

"Whoa." Xander muttered, dissipating the constructs and walking over to his father. "When you disappeared I just…" he trailed off, looking at the alien.

"Greetings." Thor said simply.

"Uh, yeah. Hi?" Xander said sheepishly. "Sorry to transport aboard like that, I was just..."

"It is quite alright, I transported O'Neill here to help me with a problem on board. The replicators have taken control of this ship and are on their way to earth, I transported O'Neill here to see if he could help us in defeating these beings." Thor explained.

"Ok, replicators, and they are?" Xander asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Allow me." Thor said, manipulating the controls on the wall again.

"Ah!" Xander shouted as a metallic bug shimmered into existence in front of him.

"This is a replicator; the ships computer has created a holographic simulation of one of the beings. It will act as a real replicator would, but it is harmless." Thor explained, moving round to observe the hologram.

"Ok, bug's. Why did it have to be bugs?" Jack muttered softly.

"Simple question, you're an advance race. Don't you have ray guns or something to deal with these things?" Xander asked, raising his eyebrow in a Teal'c fashion.

"Indeed, we do have 'ray guns' as O'Neill has called them on many occasions, but they are ineffective against replicators. They adapt to any weapon we have created, we are in need of assistance to deal with this threat before they wipe out the Asgard race." There was true worry in Thor's voice, not emotion as such but a tone.

"Right, and the ships on a direct course for earth, is there any way we can stop it?" Jack asked, looking at the little purple mechanical bug cautiously.

"There is not, the ships controls are being rerouted by the replicators. I have no means of subverting their control." Thor said, changing a control on the wall again causing the replicator to disappear.

"Ok then, how tough can these things be? Can't we just transport them off the ship? You know, beam them into space or something?" Xander asked, looking at the little grey alien.

"I am afraid not, the replicators cannot be transported by and known means, my ships computer cannot get a lock on the individual signatures." Thor explained as he moved to a door on the wall, opening it he stepped through.

"What about guns? Explosives? Anything like that?" Jack asked, following the Asgard.

"I am afraid I do not have access to those forms of weaponry on this ship O'Neill, if we could get to a control room I believe I could set the self destruct on the ship but the ships corridors are infected with replicators. I do not believe I would be able to make it." Thor explained.

"Ok, plan B then. Xander, can you get us off the ship? Push it off course or something?" Jack said, turning to his son.

"I don't… I don't know… this ship, it's huge, transporting you off is easy but dealing with the ship?" Xander said, thinking about it. "No, I don't know if I could deal with the ship." He said finally.

"Ok then, we need to get to that control room. Xander, can you get us some guns or something? Something real to use against these replicators." Jack said, a plan forming in his head.

"I think I can do that, anything you had in mind? I could just transport back to the stargate and tell the general what's happening, he could order a nuclear strike or something." Xander said, thinking if he could teleport them off the ship and warn to government, maybe they could blow up the ship from earth.

"Wouldn't work, the Asgard shields are strong enough to stop anything we have. We need to blow up the ship from the inside." Jack explained. "Go back to the SGC, warn Hammond about what's happening and ask for a standard foothold equipment locker. He'll know what to give you, come back here with it and we'll go from there ok?"

"'K, back soon." Xander grinned and flashed out of existence again.

"You have most interesting offspring O'Neill." Thor said, pausing as he used a control board to do something.

"Wait 'till you meet his girlfriend." Jack muttered under his breath.

"General!" Xander shouted as he appeared on the table of a conference room.

"Ah!" a few members of the table shouted, jumping back in their seats.

"Can't wait, Dad's stuck up there on an Asgard ship. It's heading this way, out of control. Thor said it's filled with these bug things, the enemies of the Asgard or something." Xander shouted, barely pausing for breath.

"Calm down son, O'Neill is with Thor at the moment?" Hammond asked as the other groups of people on the table moved away from the being stood there.

"Yeah, spaceship, somewhere by Jupiter I think. Anyway he said to ask for a foothold locker or something, said you'd know what he meant." Xander said, stepping down from the table.

"I do. Airman, I need one foothold locker to be brought here immediately." He barked the order to one of the guards on the door. The man just saluted crisply and marched out the door.

"I'm sorry about just appearing general; this was the only place I knew I could do it safely." Xander apologized, walking over to the Hammond.

"Quite alright son, is O'Neill safe? Does he need the rest of SG1 so come with you?" Hammond asked, curious as to what predicament O'Neill had found himself in this time.

"He's ok; he's with Thor at the moment. He wanted me to get this stuff and bring it back to him, something about a plan." Xander smiled, hoping his father's plans weren't anything like his own.

"Well I'm sure he will be ok then son, the equipment should be here shortly, can I offer you a drink of water or anything?" Hammond asked, pouring himself a drink.

"No, thank you general. I'd just like to get what he asked for and get back up there." Xander said, a bit worried now about his father. If the Asgard fancy weapons couldn't defeat those things, how much of a chance did he stand?

"Understandable… a here we are." The general smiled as Teal'c entered the room carrying a large metal container.

"As you requested general, might I enquire as to the nature of O'Neill's predicament?" Teal'c asked, raising an eyebrow at Xander's new uniform.

"Something to do with the Asgard and bugs, something called a replicator." Xander smiled as he watched the eyebrow rise even higher.

"Indeed." Teal'c commented.

"Well, got to dash. Get these goodies back to pop's, see you both soon." Xander grinned before he and the box disappeared in a bright green flash.

Teal'c just stood there, nonplussed as the general looked at the space where Xander had just disappeared from.

"Well, now I've got some explaining to do with the oversight committee, seeing as he appeared in the middle of a conference." Hammond grimaced, heading back into his office.

Teal'c just bowed before leaving the room. The Goa'uld may be evil but even they had yet to invent politicians, those beings were pure evil on a scale the Goa'uld couldn't even imagine.

"Xander, good!" Jack smiled as he appeared. "Ahh… Goodies as well." He grinned, opening the box and pulling out a P90. "Just what the doc ordered."

"Think I'll just stick with the energy blasts if you don't mind, I was never that big on guns." Xander smiled as he summoned an energy ball in his hand, it wasn't quite as effective as a pure energy blast, but it was a lot easier to contain and control, after all, he didn't want to over judge and blow a hole through one of the ships outer walls.

"Suit yourself, Thor?" Jack grinned, picking up a M16.

"I do not believe any of those weapons will be suitable for me to use O'Neill, I will wait here until you have reached the control room. When you are there use this," Thor handed jack a small white stone, roughly the size of a Zippo lighter. "It is a communications device. Contact me and I will transport there and set the self destruct."

"Cool." Jack grinned as he loaded the P90. "Right, you ready?"

"Yeah, Vampires, aliens, what's the difference?" Xander smiled at his father.

"Same old song and dance, let's go save the world, you know you love it." Jack grinned, opening the door. "Clear!"

"Ok, see you soon Thor." Xander smiled with a sloppy salute to the alien before disappearing out the door.

"Intriguing," Thor said, reading the display on the wall.

"Anything?" Xander asked as jack poked his head round another corner.

"Nothing, quiet so far, Thor said at the end of this corridor take the transport and press the blue button, that should take us to the control room." Jack said, waving his hand to beckon Xander forward.

"Got it." Xander smiled, it was weird. The alien space craft really didn't feel human at all. He'd seen all those sci-fi movies and TV shows, but in those, even the alien ships looked human. This ship didn't, it didn't feel anything like human, it was alien, truly alien.

"Watch out!" Jack shouted, taking aim and firing off at a replicator.

"Whoa, chalk one up for human technology. Gun's, one, alien ray guns, nil." Xander quipped as he saw the replicator burst into pieces.

"Looking good, behind you!" Jack shouted the last, spotting a replicator crawling down the wall behind Xander.

Xander just smiled, spinning round he threw the energy ball at the replicator, expecting the same effect as the gun did.

"Oh shit!" Xander shouted, jumping back to Jack as the energy ball passed through the replicator harmlessly.

Jack didn't waste any time, he quickly took aim and blew the replicator apart. "Thought that was supposed to work, didn't look like much to me."

"Ak, Alien bugs, immune to energy balls. Check, solid constructs, let's see." Xander grinned evilly as a construct of a minigun appeared in his hands. "Watched T2 a week or so back, don't ask."

"There!" Jack shouted as he saw three or four replicators coming round the corner.

"My turn!" Xander said, firing the gun.

Neither of them were expecting the fallout from that, the gun fired bullets in the dozens per minute. What Xander lacked in aim he made up for in pure ammunition. The bullets shredded through the replicators, causing them to turn into piles of what looked like ash. When the threat was over he smiled over at jack, waiting for the whir of the gun to stop.

"Think it'll do the trick?" he said, smirking at the look on his father's face.

"Smart ass," Jack grinned, was nice to have some power on their side for a change. "Come on, you take the front and I'll cover the rear, ninth door on the right."

"Got it," Xander grinned as he walked down the corridor, keeping his eye out for any bugs. "Can I get danger pay for this shit?"

Jack just laughed as the approached the door. "Don't think so, might want to ask though, see if you can get put on the air force pay role."

"Shit, forgot to tape the Simpson's." Xander muttered, as he opened the door.

"Don't worry, got it on DVD. You can borrow it sometime if you like." Jack grinned; maybe he was more like him than he thought.

"Sure, never want to miss an ep, bugs!" Xander shouted, warming the gun up again and firing into the room.

O'Neill's gun soon joined him; the room was full of replicators. They were crawling out of holes in the wall, crawling on the wall and trying to get to them.

"Retreat!" Jack shouted in between bursts. He let Xander go first so he could cover the door, closing it quickly he ran to catch up. "Back to Thor, and on to plan C."

AN: I've written, and rewritten this chapter a half dozen times and I'm still not completely satisfied with it...

Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always good :)

M