TITLE: The Power of XION
DISCLAIMER: All things BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, Green Lantern, ION, Batgirl and any other mentions of DC characters belong to DC Comics ok? All I own is the twisted idea.
RATING: FR18
SPOILERS: Anything from the Halloween episode onwards. I plan on taking the story through to the bitter end of Buffy. Anything up to The Power of ION series, issue 150 of Kyle. So the fall of OA, Parallax, Oblivion, all that stuff. Stargate, Episode 318, Shades of Grey.
"Guy's, I think we need to have a talk about something." Xander said as he walked in the library and dumped his bag on the table.
"What's up Xan?" Faith asked, turning to face him with Buffy and Giles.
"It's about last night; I mean how did Kakistos get the better of you? I mean, I gave you both rings and you know how to use them, I guess I'm a little surprised that he managed to get the better of you both." Xander muttered the end; he didn't want to upset the girls but was a little angry that he'd had to step in again.
"I understand what Xander is trying to say," Giles came to Xander's defence thankfully, "those rings should have been more than a match for anything Kakistos attacked you with. Was he using sorcerers as well as vampires?"
"No, it was just him and his lackeys; I guess they just got the better of us." Faith said, her voice a little too carefree for Xander's taste.
"Which is what I'm saying, guy's, those rings should be easily more than a match for any group of vampires you come across, even master vamps like Kakistos." Xander explained as he dropped into a chair next to Faith and held her hand.
"I don't know Xander, I guess we're just not used to using them yet, I mean it took all my energy just to keep my shield up when he was attacking me, I couldn't even concentrate on finding a stake or something to attack them with." Buffy explained.
"Which is what I'm saying, why were you hunting around for a stake when you could just 'will' another weapon to hand and carry on the fight?" Xander said, turning to Faith first and then Buffy when Faith looked away.
"I didn't think of it like that." Buffy said in a small voice, looking to the floor as she blushed.
"Look, the rings aren't limited to one construct at a time; you can have as many weapons as you need as well as your shield. You just need to keep concentrating on them." Xander explained, "Do you want to meet up tonight to go through some more training or something?"
"I think that would be best for you both, I don't want to send you out on patrols if you are not a hundred percent sure of your weapons." Giles said, sending a soft smile to each of the girls as they nodded at him.
"Right, we'll meet up tonight at the junkyard on the north of town. Is that alright for you Buffy?" Xander asked, smiling when she nodded. "We'll work on your weapons as well as your shielding."
"What's wrong with the shields? I mean, they protected Buffy well enough last night Xan." Faith said, trying to think of anything to defend how they did last night.
"Even through the shield Kakistos managed to knock Buffy unconscious, that shouldn't have been possible. These shields are powerful enough to protect you as you fly through a star, a punch, even a punch from a master vampire shouldn't have done anything to you." Xander explained, he knew he was pushing hard but the girls needed to learn everything they could about the rings, he couldn't always be there for them and he didn't want another incident like where he found Buffy drowning in The Master's cave.
"Right, tonight at the junkyard then." Buffy repeated, her jaw set in a sort of 'resolve face' of her own. "I've got to have dinner with my mom first, but after that I'll be right over."
"Fly over, might as well get as much practice in as you can." Xander said with a grin as Buffy grinned back.
"Right, flying." Buffy grinned, the feeling of flying was amazing, a bit disconcerting at first but she'd been practicing all last night. In her room, hovering above the bed and practicing moving up and down and around the room. All in all she thought she was getting pretty good at it.
"Right, I've got to go, the Art teacher wants to see me before lesson starts, something about a college course next year that she thinks I should take." Xander grinned, last year college hadn't even entered his thoughts, he would have been lucky to have even passed his GED, and now teachers were coming to him about college courses that he should take and advising him on how to apply for college loans and things.
"Way to go Xan, getting a full education and everything." Faith grinned while Giles smiled in a face that was full of pride.
"Yeah, I really enjoy it. It's something that I'm good at and Miss Catain thinks I've got a real shot at getting on the course." Xander smiled at Faith, kissing her softly before jogging out of the door.
"And what about you two, have you given any thoughts about college? This being your final year at school." Giles said, turning to Buffy and Faith.
"I don't know Giles, I'm having a hard enough time with school, I don't know if I'm ready for college." Faith grinned.
"Or of college is ready for you." Buffy countered with a grin.
"Yes, well, and you Buffy? Have you given any thoughts as to your choices?" Giles pushed through, he wanted both the girls to go to college and do the best they could, these two slayers were the first slayers in history that actually stood a chance of having some semblance of a normal life, something that would never have happened if it wasn't for Xander.
"I don't know, Mom's been having some problems lately with the gallery, it isn't making as much money as it used to. I mean, money's not tight or anything," Buffy quickly covered up. "But I don't know about college or anything."
Before either Giles or Faith could say anything more Buffy walked out of the library, the doors closing quietly as she left.
"She ok?" Faith asked, turning to look up as Giles who was looking at the closed doors with a thoughtful look.
"I don't know Faith, I don't know."
--/\--
"You wanted to see me?" Xander asked as he walked into the Art classroom.
"Yes, please take a seat Xander." Miss Catain replied, her Irish brogue still strong even after several years in America. "I wanted to talk to you about your course options for next year, I know you said you didn't really have the money for a full college course, but I came across this which might interest you." As she finished speaking she handed Xander a white leaflet.
"What's this? An internship?" Xander asked, flicking through the first few pages of the leaflet.
"Yes, your first year will be done at Sunnydale college on the popular arts course, after that the rest of the course is held in New York at the company headquarters where they train in advertising and other art styles." Miss Catain has a funny smirk when she finished off the sentence than caused Xander to raise his eyebrow in question.
"What company and what 'other art styles'?" Xander asked, it sounded a bit too good to be true.
"The reason I'm recommending you for this course is after seeing your sketchpad; I thought these are the sort of people you would enjoy working with." Miss Catain smirked again as she paused, leafing through Xander's sketchbook.
"I'd been looking for that, thought I'd left it somewhere." Xander muttered, he thought he'd left the sketchbook in the library or that Buffy had got hold of it and seen all the sketches of her dusting Angel.
"You left it here after Tuesday's lesson, when I was flicking through it I came across your character designs for your comic, after seeing those I thought you would be perfect for this course." Miss Catain smiled, admittedly some of the subject matter was a bit off, but super heroines fighting vampires and zombies in skimpy outfits would always go down well in the comic industry.
"So who runs the course?" Xander asked, wondering if she was avoiding the question for a reason.
"Dark Horse comics." Miss Catain said with another smirk. "It's actually run by a subsidiary of theirs who work on the advertising side of it and then with the artists primarily working on 'pilot issues' of new comics. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in working on?"
"No way..." Xander was gobsmacked. "So after a year at college, which they pay for, I'd be moving to New York to work in the comic and advertising business?" Xander was floored, it was exactly the sort of thing he would be interested in, and the fact that Miss Catain thought he was good enough to do it... well, it was just amazing.
"I take it your interested then?" Miss Catain said with a grin. "If you'd like I can fax over some of your character designs to a friend of mine that works in the internship building, she could give you a better idea of what sort of things they're looking for and whether or not it's the sort of thing you'd be good at."
"Yeah, I'm interested." Xander grinned, eyeing the sketchbook in her hand and trying to remember exactly what sketches were in that particular pad, his brain was racing at the moment though and every thought that went through was derailed by the thought of him actually working in New York and getting paid for something he loved doing.
"I thought you'd be interested, I'll fax over your sketches today and hopefully you should hear something in the next day or so." Miss Catain smiled as Xander grinned at her.
"Thank you; I don't know what to say... I mean..." Xander spluttered out, this was the first time anyone had every done anything like this for him, it was amazing to think that she actually thought he was good enough to do something like this for a living.
"Xander, I don't think you know how far you've come in the past few years, I look at your work from two years ago and compare it to the work you're doing now and I can't believe it's the same student. Your sketches are amazing and you show a real talent for working on the human form, especially the female form." Miss Catain smiled and winked at Xander to show she was kidding, well partly at least. "I know the other teachers have accused you of cheating in some areas, but Art isn't a subject you can cheat at, so I know that all of the work here is your own honest hard work, and that is the sort of drive that will see you through into working in this area."
"Wow, thanks." Xander blushed, still not used to receiving this sort of praise.
"Now, I understand that you are staying with Doctor Giles at the moment because of some problems at home?" Miss Catain half asked, half stated.
"Huh? Doctor Giles?" Xander asked, he didn't know G-man had a doctorate.
"Yes, the librarian, I only ask because there is a comics convention in New York in a fortnights time, and I believe that it would be a good time for you to go and show your work to some of the artists there, to see what they think and get an idea of the sort of work you'll be asked to do on the internship." Miss Catain explained with a smile.
"Uh, yeah, I'm staying with G-man, I mean Doctor Giles. I had some problems at home and my dad kicked me out, Doctor Giles was kind enough to let me stay with him until I can sort something more permanent out." Xander explained, the words 'Doctor Giles' still sounded weird on his lips.
"Well I must say that Doctor Giles must have been a positive influence on you, I recommend you go to the convention if you can make it, I could speak to Doctor Giles on your behalf if you want, explain to him about it." Miss Catain smiled at him as she leafed through his sketchbook again.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Xander said, still amazed that this sort of thing could actually be in his future, and that people thought he was good enough to do it.
"I'm glad that's settled then, if you'll excuse me I have to start planning for this morning's lesson; we'll be working on shading and background work today." Miss Catain smiled and moved off to start arranging the classroom into a more circular fashion so she could teach easier.
"Yeah, right... thanks a lot Miss Catain." Xander smiled and backed out the door. "Me? Working as a comic artist?" Xander muttered under his breath as he walked through the corridor, a huge grin plastered on his face.
--/\--
"So, how was school today?" Joyce asked as Buffy got into the car after placing the bag of groceries in the boot.
"Fine." Buffy answered shortly before turning to look out of her side window, effectively ignoring her mother for the moment.
"Just fine? Is there something wrong Buffy, are you in trouble again?" Joyce asked, concern evident in her voice.
"No, it's just Giles was asking us about college today, and I don't know what I want to do about it." Buffy admitted, she had been giving her mother short answers about school and life in general the whole time they had been shopping together after Joyce had picked her up from school, a few hours later and it had just worn thin on Buffy now, who was as sick of giving one word answers as Joyce was of hearing them.
"Do you want to go to college?" Joyce asked as they stopped at a red light, turning to face her daughter she could only see the back of her head as she was avoiding the situation again.
"I guess, I just don't know, I mean with money and everything..." Buffy started.
"I know money is tight at the moment dear, but if you want to go to college we will find a way for you to do it, we could always ask your father I suppose, or I could give up the gallery..." Joyce dropped off; it had been so long since she had actually had to be job hunting herself she wouldn't know where to start.
"No mom, I just don't know, I mean its college, and I always just assumed I'd go, but no I don't know... I just don't know anything." Buffy muttered the last under her breath; everything had changed in the last year. So much had happened and so much had changed that she didn't even know where she stood anymore, she was The Slayer, that much was certain, but with the new Ring she had been given, it changed everything.
"Buffy, college is a big step, and if it's something that you want to do then you should do it. We'll find a way somehow of getting the money together." Joyce smiled at her daughter, noticing as she was playing with something in her lap.
"I know, I just don't want to make things hard I guess, I mean everything's tight at the moment, how is me going to college going to help anything?" Buffy asked as she ran her fingers around the insignia on the top of the ring, such a tiny piece of jewellery and it had changed so much already.
"Buffy, if you want to go to college then you should, we'll find a way to make it work." Joyce smiled at her daughter, watching her as she played with what looked like a piece of costume jewellery before slipping it back on her finger.
"Thanks mom." Buffy smiled as the SUV pulled up into the drive of their house, dusk had just fallen so she had about an hour before she had to meet Xander and Faith at the junkyard, plenty of time for dinner. As the SUV stopped Buffy unbuckled, ready to grab the bags and help her mom into the house with the groceries, sometimes Slayer strength was extremely useful.
"Slayer!" A growl came from behind her as she got out of the car, instincts taking over she span round quickly to come face to face with three vamps.
"Uh, is there any chance we can't do this now?" Buffy quipped quickly before spinning in a roundhouse kick sending all three vamps sprawling to the floor.
"Buffy!" Joyce shrieked from the other side of the car, as Buffy span round she saw two vamps moving to grab her mom as the three on her side started to get up.
"This isn't going well." Buffy muttered to herself, creating a quick sword construct in her hand and dispatching the three vampires on her side she quickly ran round to where the two vamps were holding her mom. "Let her go." Buffy shouted, holding the sword construct as tightly as she could and trying to think up ways of how she would explain this to her mother.
"Buffy!" Joyce shrieked again, eyeing the sword her daughter was holding that was glowing bright green and trying to reason what was wrong with the mugger's faces and what they had called her daughter.
"This is your last chance, let her go now." Buffy said, her voice low and dangerous as she created another sword in her other hand.
"Buffy how are you..." Joyce's question was cut off as the vampire holding her lent down and bit into her neck.
"Mom!" Buffy shrieked, dissolving the swords instantly and lashing out with two beams of pure power, dusting both vampires instantly and leaving her mom unharmed in the center of the falling dust. "Mom, are you ok, you're bleeding!" Buffy said, quickly moving over to her mom and creating a wad of tissues in her hand and pressing them against the bite.
"Buffy, how did you... what did you... Buffy, what is going on?" Joyce stuttered out before finally settling on one question that should answer all of them.
"Mom, are you alright?" Buffy asked again while she tried to figure out how she was going to explain this to her mom.
"Buffy," Joyce started again using her 'mom tone'. "What is going on?"
"Let's get inside, I'll explain everything then." Buffy said, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to think up ways to explain this away. "Xander, get your ass over here now." She said softly into the ring as she walked over to where the groceries had fallen and started to put them back in the bag.
"Ahh!" Buffy quickly span around again at the sound of her mom shrieking again, thinking some more vampires had decided to attack while she was distracted.
As she turned she saw the end tail of the flash of green light that signalled Xander's arrival, and sure enough he was stood there in full costume with Faith by his side, clad in her version of the Green Lantern uniform.
"Subtle Xan." Faith said with a grin as she dissolved the crossbow construct in her hand.
"Ah." Xander said simply as he watched Mrs Summers feint to the ground, quickly creating a bed of soft pillows for her to collapse onto he turned to Buffy. "So, guess it's time for explanations then? How much did she see?"
"Well, it was just me and five vampires, not to mention my sword thing and some energy blasts, but then you and Faith appeared in plain view, so I'm guessing everything." Buffy said with a smile, she'd thought of telling her mom several times, but didn't know how to explain it all; this was as good time as any.
"Right, everything then." Xander muttered. "Let's get her inside and figure out exactly how we're going to do this." Levitating the pillows up with Miss Summers he started moving to the door where Buffy had unlocked it and was carrying the groceries inside.
--/\--
"Doctor Jackson, Colonel..." General Hammond started as the group entered the gate room before being cut off.
"General." O'Neill interrupted with a smile and a nod. "So, who's coming?"
"The transmission was from the Tok'Ra." General Hammond explained, nodding to Sam and Teal'c as they entered the room.
"Great, just what we need." O'Neill complained, slumping his shoulders as he looked at the spinning gate, a visit from the Tok'Ra wasn't on his list of fun things to do today. "Did they at least say why they were coming?"
"Only that they had uncovered some technology and needed our assistance with it." General Hammond explained as the gate exploded in its usual whoosh of energy.
"They want our help, huh." O'Neill finished off suspiciously, every dealing they had had with the Tok'Ra had gone pear shaped so far, there was no reason to doubt this one would be any different.
"Receiving Tok'Ra IDC General. Opening Iris." Silers voice came over the PA as the iris slid open to reveal the active wormhole underneath.
"Shoulda kept it closed." O'Neill muttered with a wry grin as a single Tok'Ra stepped through the event horizon.
"The Tok'Ra high council sends it's greetings to the Tau'ree of Earth." The Woman said as she reached the bottom of the ramp and stood face to face with General Hammond.
"Welcome, I'm General Hammond," He paused for a second, motioning to each of the members of SG1 in turn. "This is Colonel O'Neill, Doctor Jackson, Major Carter and Teal'c."
"You may call me Anise, it means noble strength." The Tok'Ra explained, as she looked around the group.
"So, what's in the box?" O'Neill asked with a grin.
Opening the box in her arms, Anise revealed three pieces of technology that looked roughly like bracers, designed to fit on human arms. "These arm bands were recently discovered in some ancient ruins on a planet at the edge of this galaxy, they belonged to a race known as the Ataniks, they are rumoured to give the wearer incredible speed and strength."
"Wow, they would certainly prove useful against the Goa'uld then, have you tried to activate them?" Daniel asked, running his finger across the top of one of the arm bands where ancient script flowed across the design.
"Unfortunately we have discovered that the armbands are not compatible with Tok'Ra physiology, we presume that is it something to do with the naquadah released by the symbiote into the blood stream that makes the devices inoperable." Anise explained, her alien voice echoing through the gateroom.
"It is probably that they will not work for me either then." Teal'c explained, nodding at the armbands.
"We assumed as much, that is why we only brought three of the devices." Anise explained, closing the lid on the box and holding it tightly. "But this was not the only reason I came, I was requested by the high council to request a meeting with Ion and to facilitate the negotiations of having the Tok'Ra put under the Guardians protection, would it be possible to meet with Ion so that I might request this?"
"I will speak to Ion personally and make your request known." General Hammond nodded before leaving the gateroom.
"I would like to begin testing the devices while General Hammond makes his request, Colonel O'Neill; I believe you would be the best subject for the first trial." Anise said, turning to O'Neill and opening the box to retrieve one of the armbands along with a triangular shaped metallic device. "This is a medical sensor, it will monitor any physiological changes you go through and transmit the readings to this sensor pad."
"Right, whatever, shouldn't we have the doc take a look at these things first?" O'Neill asked with an irritated smile as Anise moved over and planted the sensor device on his chest.
"Every precaution will be made." Anise snapped before placing the armband on O'Neill's arm before he had chance to object.
"Hey!" Pulling at the armband O'Neill turned to Anise and sent her a dirty look before returning his attention to the armband. "It won't come off."
"I believe the device is acclimatising to your physiology, it will be able to be removed once it has adapted to your body." Anise explained as she read the sensor readings off the pad. "Feel free to move around as you normally would, the biosensor is capable of retrieving the data over a significant distance."
"Colonel O'Neill to General Hammond's office." O'Neill turned as he heard his name being announced over the PA system.
"Right, whatever." He made on last effort to pull the armband free before slapping it lightly. "Got to say, not feeling like leaping any tall buildings." He announced with a grin before walking out of the gateroom and making his way to General Hammond's office.
--/\--
"So, how we going to explain this one Buff?" Xander asked as he walked around the kitchen, trying to figure out how they were going to explain everything Joyce had seen.
"Why don't we just tell her the truth?" Faith asked from where she was sat outside the back door smoking.
"Could she handle it?" Xander asked, turning to Buffy before they were interrupted by the sound of motion from the living room.
"Hope so." Buffy whimpered softly before walking into the living room, followed by Xander and Faith.
"Buffy! Oh my god, what happened, what were those things out there? Xander, what are you doing still wearing that Halloween costume? And who are you?" Joyce babbled out as she strode over to embrace her daughter in a tight hug before turning to look at Xander and Faith for an explanation.
"I think you'd better sit down Mrs Summers, this is a long story." Xander started as he sat down himself.
"Hi, I'm Faith." Faith said by way of introduction before moving over to sit down next to Xander as Joyce and Buffy sat down on the other couch.
"Buffy, what is going on here?" Joyce asked again, frustration evident in her voice.
"Uh..." Buffy paused, looking around the room for help with where to start.
"Giles might actually be better at this than us." Xander said with a smile.
"No, we can do this. Mom, you know how you're always asking me about the blood on my clothes, or asking why I'm always sneaking out late?" Buffy asked sheepishly.
"Oh god Buffy, you're not in another gang are you?" Joyce asked with an almost panicked tone as she thought back to how Buffy had been kicked out of Hemery for fighting.
"No, no gangs." Buffy quickly explained.
"Then what? You can tell me anything Buffy." Joyce said with a smile, putting her arm round her daughter to reassure her.
"Those things outside, the people that grabbed you." Buffy paused, mentally preparing herself for the fallout of what she was about to say. "They were vampires."
"What?" Joyce's shriek could be heard three streets over as the teens in the room covered their ears.
--/\--
"Sir." O'Neill nodded as he entered General Hammond's office and sat down.
"I wanted to talk to you first before making the Tok'ra's request to Ion, what do you think his response will be?" General Hammond paused, looking at the armband on O'Neill's arm with mistrust.
"I don't know, he didn't seem exactly enthusiastic about them when Daniel explained what they were, I'd say ask him and see what happens." O'Neill replied honestly.
"I see Anise has her experiment in full swing now, are there any noticeable effects yet?" Hammond asked, eying the armband with caution.
"Nothing yet, Anise thinks it needs some time to adjust to us or something, I was about to go and spar with Teal'c, see if there's anything after that." O'Neill explained, a bit wary of the armband himself.
"You go do that, but be careful, I'll contact Ion and see about arranging a meeting." General Hammond smiled as O'Neill stood up from the chair. "Dismissed."
"Sir." O'Neill smiled as he saw Hammond reach for the glowing green phone on his desk, would be nice to see his son again, especially seeing him when they weren't under attack or anything. Maybe they could finally go out and have a meal together and spend some time as a family.
--/\--
"It's not a joke Mrs Summers, Vampires are real, Buffy and Faith are Slayers." Xander said, stepping in-between Joyce and Buffy who had stood as they started arguing.
"What did you think they were mom? Or how did they turn to dust?" Buffy yelled, trying to get her point across.
"There are no such things as vampires Buffy." Joyce shouted back, adamant on her view.
"Want me to go and get one so you can watch us dust it in front of you?" Faith quipped with a grin before falling silent at the looks she received from the group.
"It's the truth Mrs Summers, I've fought them myself." Xander said, trying to calm everyone down.
"So, what, are you a 'slayer' as well?" Joyce spat at him, the obvious sarcasm around the word 'Slayer' was felt by everyone in the room.
"No, I'm a bit different." Xander said before levitating himself a few feet of the floor with a fort green glow.
"I think I need to sit down." Joyce said before practically collapsing on the spot, luckily Xander had expected this and had created a soft green chair construct for her to fall into.
Faith just watched this and sat down again with a smile, at least Buffy's mom had people to explain it to her. She couldn't even remember what her mother looked like, the council had taken her at such a young age, and then she had run away from them onto the streets, she'd never had a proper mother like Buffy had. For a moment she felt a wave of jealousy before she reminded herself of how Xander and Giles treated her now, like a family.
"Yeah, this is where it gets a little complicated." Xander said with a grin as he watched Joyce examine the glowing green chair she was now sat on.
"This... this is all real?" Joyce finally said, her voice soft and wavering with doubt.
"I'm sorry." Buffy said, moving over to embrace her mother.
"And you're a vampire slayer?" Joyce asked, looking down at her daughter as she just nodded mutely. "And you are?" Joyce looked over at Xander with a raised eyebrow.
"This is where things get complicated, you remember last Halloween?" Xander asked, waiting for her to reply. "Well I dressed up as this character..." He paused for a second.
"What's up Xan?" Faith asked, puzzled as to why he had stopped in his explanation.
"It's General Hammond, he needs me for something." Xander explained, standing up and smiling at Joyce. "You'll love this." He grinned, imagining her face when she would see him teleporting away.
"Oh no you don't!" Buffy exclaimed, standing up and facing Xander directly. "You're staying here to help explain this to my mom."
"Buffy..." Xander started, only to be interrupted by her again.
"Faith, can you handle whatever General Hammond needs?" Buffy asked, turning to glare at Faith if she said no.
"Sure, as long as someone tells me how to get there." Faith grinned.
"Right, you send faith to the SGC, we'll stay here and explain things to my mom." Buffy said, her tons leaving no room for argument.
"Ok, just use the ring if you need me alright?" Xander said as he watched Faith's costume whip around her in emerald energy.
"Sure thing hun, you just get me there, I'll do the rest." Faith grinned and kissed Xander softly on the lips.
"What..." Joyce started to ask as she stood up, not quite believing what she was seeing.
"I'll explain in a bit." Xander said with a smile as he waved his hand and teleported Faith to the SGC. "As I was saying, Halloween..."
--/\--
"Ok... not Ion." O'Neill muttered with a grin as the green flash subsided leaving Faith stood in General Hammond's office next to him.
"Yeah, Xan's busy so he sent me instead, what's up?" Faith smiled as she looked around the office. "Not more aliens is it?"
"No, well yes actually." O'Neill said with a grin as he sat down in one of the chairs and motioned to Faith to do the same.
"Hey, if it's another invasion I'll get Xan and Buffy geared up, we can take care of it before you know it." Faith said as she stood up, cracking her knuckles.
"Actually miss, it's a bit more complicated than that. One of our allies, the Tok'Ra, have asked for a meeting with Ion to discuss putting themselves under his protection like he has done for Earth." General Hammond explained.
"Right, huh?" Faith said, trying to wrap her mind around what Xander had been doing here so she wouldn't mess up and spoil it.
"It's complicated, which is why we wanted Ion here to explain to them why he couldn't do it." O'Neill explained.
"Jack, why don't you go and see how Teal'c and Daniel are doing with Anise while I fill in..." General Hammond paused, waiting for the young lady stood in front of him to fill in her name.
"Faith." Faith said with a grin.
"Faith then, with the current situation." General Hammond finished off with a smile as he noticed the ring that was currently decorating her finger.
"Right, I'll go play with the alien then. Catch up with you later and you can tell me how Xander's doing." O'Neill smiled before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
"So, Xander charged the ring then?" General Hammond asked, nodding towards the ring in question.
"Yeah, gave B one as well, said it would help out." Faith explained. "So, these alien's, they want us to protect them as well?"
"Yes, it seems since Xander stated to the Tollan he had put Earth under his protection, the Goa'uld found out about it through their spies, and the Tok'Ra found out about it through their spies in the Goa'uld. Now they are requesting the same protection."
"Is there any way we can stall them until Xander's finished up, he'd be better at this than me." Faith said, uncharacteristically nervous about the situation.
"One of the Tok'Ra high council is here conducting tests on some alien technology they found, she requested to speak to him today." Hammond explained as he tried to think of a way to stall Anise without her growing suspicious.
"Right, so I speak with her, explain that Xander's busy at the moment and arrange a meeting for a later date?" Faith said, it seemed reasonable to her.
"We could try that, but the Tok'Ra aren't the most reasonable of people, they see their 'mission' to defeat the Goa'uld as being of higher priority than anything else. They can come across as a bit arrogant because of it and have crossed with Colonel O'Neill over it several times." Hammond finished off explaining, not wanting to be in the room if Anise tried forcing Faith into an alliance.
"So, let me get this straight. These aliens, have a 'mission' to kill the other aliens, and are asking us for their protection, even though they generally think their 'mission' is more important than us?" Faith grinned; this might be more fun than she thought.
"That sounds about right." Hammond nodded.
"And I'm one of 'Ion's' Lieutenants who he sent to negotiate with her because he had better things to do." Faith finished off with an evil grin, having some fun at the expense of aliens who thought they were better than humans could always be fun.
General Hammond just laughed out loud, startling Faith for a moment. "I can't see that going over well with Anise, but it will certainly make Colonel O'Neill happy."
"Right, is Faith alright for a name, or should I pick out something more exotic?" Faith grinned, messing with people was definitely her idea of fun, and it definitely beets hanging around for Buffy and Xander's explanation of what goes bump in the night to Buffy's mom.
"I'm sure Faith will be fine, do you want to meet her now or do you need more time to prepare?" General Hammond asked as he stood and made his way to the door.
"Nah, now's fine, as long as I'm alright to put her in her place if she gets bitchy about it." Faith smiled as she followed the General through the door and down the stairs.
"Well as you are both alien dignitaries representing different cultures, procedure states that we cannot interfere in your negotiations." General Hammond finished off as they started walking along the narrow corridor towards the medical bay.
"This should be interesting." Faith muttered as they entered the medical bay, spinning round she could see tons of equipment, most of it she had no clue of what they did. On one bed was Teal'c with a doctor hovering round him taking his temperature.
"Is Teal'c fit for duty?" General Hammond asked as they approached the bed.
"I'd say so, he was only unconscious for a short while and the blow from Colonel O'Neill didn't do any serious damage, the bruising and swelling will be taken care of by his symbiote so I can't see any reason why he can't be discharged." The doctor explained turning to Faith and holding out her hand. "I'm Doctor Frasier."
"Faith." Faith said with a smile as she shook the woman's hand. "What happened to Teal'c?"
"It seems Colonel O'Neill got a bit too feisty during a sparring match, he managed to knock Teal'c unconscious." Doctor Frasier explained with a dirty look towards O'Neill.
"Whoa, how'd you manage that?" Faith asked, turning to Colonel O'Neill.
"These armbands, Anise said they would enhance our strength and speed, guess they work as advertised." O'Neill grinned before taking a large bite out of the candy bar he was holding.
"Right, alien tech." Faith said, dismissing the rest of the explanation before it even started.
"See, she gets the idea." O'Neill grinned.
Faith just grinned back for a second before turning her attention to the blonde woman stood in the corner of the room who was looking at her disapprovingly. "And you are?"
"I am Anise of the Tok'ra, are you the one the Tau'ree call Ion?" Anise asked, her voice cold and dripping with a 'holier than thou' tone.
"Nope, I'm Faith, Ion's second in command." Got to get used to calling him Ion not Xander, Faith reminded herself. "Ion's busy with something else at the moment, he asked me to come and see what all the fuss was about."
"I had asked to speak to Ion." Anise said in a petulant tone. "Not his second." Her voice was practically filling the room with disdain as she looked Faith over appraising her.
"Well it's me or nothing." Faith said coldly, crossing her arms and levelling a glare at Anise that could melt steel.
"Then you will have to do." Anise finally folded, averting her eyes from Faith's glare.
"Glad we got that settled; now do you want to do this here, or shall we find somewhere more private?" Faith asked, not letting her glare subside one bit.
"We will use one of the conference rooms General Hammond has put aside for us. Follow me." Anise finished off before walking out of the room.
"Oh what fun." Faith muttered, following Anise out the door, causing O'Neill to snigger in response.
--/\--
Woo hoo, another chapter done :D
Big thanks to whoever nominated this fic for a COA, and whoever nominated me personally for a COA... I have no words :D
M
