"So you're..." Joyce stumbled over the words, not daring to even voice her concerns as her hand shot up to the crucifix dangling from her neck, cradling in gently in her hands as Xander finished explaining what had happened to him, and what he was.
Xander paused, shaking his head slightly. "I'm not sure what I am, but I don't think I'm a God Joyce." He laughed nervously; he hated this part of the explanation.
"It... its all real, isn't it?" Joyce asked again, finding her feet in the conversation.
"Yup," Xander nodded slowly, watching her to see her reaction while Buffy sat next to her, nervously fiddling with her hair and waiting for her mom's attention to turn to her.
"The other girl, Faith?" Joyce asked, checking the name then smiling when Xander nodded. "Where did she go?"
"That's a bit complicated," Xander grinned. "I think we should wait to see how you're coping with slayers and Green Lanterns before we go any further down the rabbit hole." Xander smiled as Joyce nodded slightly, almost afraid to ask what could be worse.
"Faith's a slayer," Buffy explained in a small voice. "Like me."
"I don't..." Joyce stood up, a bit shaky on her feet for a second before she turned to look at Xander who was watching her carefully. "Who did this to my little girl?" She demanded to know, staring at Xander.
"I don't know," Xander said honestly. "Slayers are called; we don't know who calls them."
"Could you," Joyce paused, thinking about what she was about to ask. "Could you change her back?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.
Buffy jumped to her feet, about to protest and yell at her mother for even asking such a thing but was stopped when Xander held his hand out to her cautiously, stopping whatever she had been about to say.
"Why would I?" Xander asked, staring back into Joyce's eyes. "You want me to take away what Buffy is, she is a slayer now, she knows about the world, the real world, just like I do. If I took away the slayer powers, do you honestly think she would be able to just stay in side? To just sit back and do nothing while vampires and demons killed people? I couldn't, I know Buffy couldn't, could you?" His eyes demanded an answer as he stared at Joyce, Buffy now turning to see what her mother would say.
"I just want her to be safe," Joyce explained, a lone tear dripping down her eye for a second before Buffy rushed in and hugged her tightly.
"I am," Buffy said, choking on her voice as she nearly broke into tears as well, "The ring Xander gave me, it's already saved my life, yours as well." The realization that if she hadn't had the ring, her mom would have died bringing her back to reality.
"You can keep her safe?" Joyce asked, looking over her daughters head at Xander, who nodded slowly.
"I can," Xander paused for a second, his eyes staring into Joyce's and his power meeting with the fierce protection of a mother for her daughter. "I will." He stated firmly.
"Then tell me everything," Joyce said firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument or second guessing as she sat down on the couch and crossed her arms, staring at Xander intently.
"Here goes," Xander muttered as he started to explain everything that had happened in the last year.
--=/^\=--"Hey," Jack grinned over to Daniel as he walked into the lab and saw him leaning over the desk with a magnifying glass, obviously trying to read an ancient manuscript or some old dusty tome. "Anything yet?"
"I still don't feel any different," Daniel paused from reading the book to run his fingers around the armband for a moment. "How is Faith doing?"
"Last I heard they were still alive, so that's gotta count for something," Jack grinned, thinking of all the things Faith could do to Anise if she pissed her off.
"Did she say why Xander couldn't make it himself?" Daniel asked, he'd actually become used to having Xander around, he'd made a sort of peace knowing that the most powerful being on the planet was a high school student, and Jack's son no less.
"Nah, just said that he was busy, dunno what that means though, probably facing something scarier than aliens though if I know him." Jack smiled, thinking about all the things that Xander could be doing or fighting right now, especially dealing with demons, vampires and the forces of darkness, it was a strange comfort to know that he had that much power and was still using it for the right reasons, god forbid if he ever got snaked or something like that, he'd had more than one nightmare about that and it never ended well. Unwrapping another candy bar he started munching away, deep in thought about what his son could be doing right now that was more important than whatever they were doing here.
"Developing a bit of a sweet tooth Jack?" Daniel asked with a smirk, nodding to the candy bar Jack was quickly demolishing.
"Yeah," Jack grinned back, picking up one of the old books off the shelf and flicking through it, moving faster and faster until the pages became a blur to anyone watching as he read page after page at amazing speed. "You know; just trying to keep my mind busy, don't want to be thinking about what Xander's doing right now."
"Yeah," Daniel muttered, a bit bemused by what Jack had just done. "I'm sure he can handle it, did you just read that?" He added, nodding to the book that Jack was putting back on the shelf, the fact he was putting it away and it the correct place being an amazement on itself.
"I guess." Jack grinned back, looking at the various titles on the shelves. "I don't suppose there's another book around that explains this book."
"What reason did Hobbs give for the fall of the civilization?" Daniel asked, watching Jack carefully in case this was some sort of practical joke he was playing to keep his mind off Xander.
"Failing agricultural infrastructure," Jack replied seriously, still looking over the shelves for any books that actually interested him.
Daniel nearly dropped his own book in amazement that Jack had actually read the book and understood it. "Jack, that's unbelievable!"
"Yeah, well," Jack grinned, shrugging his shoulders, quite happy to slip back to his old ways and blend back into the crowd; it was what he was good at and happy there, not to be noticed. "Guess it's just another one of those armband thingies, yours not working yet then?" He grinned as he watched Daniel try and flick through a book, his eyes blurring over the pages before his limited dexterity caught up with him and he fumbled the pages, dropping the book to the floor.
"Want me to read it to you?" Jack grinned, reaching down and picking the book up.
"Funny," Daniel quipped back, snatching the book away from Jack and putting it back on the table. "Do you think Faith will say yes to Anise, I mean, give the Tok'Ra Xander's protection?"
"Dunno," Jack shrugged, not even contemplating what must be going through Xander's head right now. "Maybe, it's up to them."
"Could he?" Daniel asked in all seriousness. "I mean, we've all seen what he's capable of doing, but that would mean spending more time in space, or with the Tok'Ra, what about school, and Faith and Buffy?"
"I'm sure he could," Jack paused before continuing, letting Daniel know he was in one of his rare serious moods. "The question I'm asking is, should he?"
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, trying to see the argument from both sides as he always did. "If Xander has the power to help and he doesn't, doesn't that make him just the same as the Tollan?" Daniel added the last, remembering how fervently Jack believed that people with advanced technology should share it to help other races survive.
"He's a kid for crying out loud Daniel, he's seventeen, he should be in school, gearing up for college, enjoying time with his friends, not worrying about war's and aliens and other races asking for his protection. I wouldn't let him kill Apophis, I won't have him have murder on his conscience, and he shouldn't be involved in this!" Jack shouted the last, slamming his fist down on the table where in left a sizable dent in the metal military issue furniture.
"I think he wants to be involved." Daniel said in a small voice, awe creeping into his tone as he looked at the large dent in the table while Jack examined his fist for any bruising or cuts.
"That's what makes it worse." Jack said in a small voice before walking out of the room in silence, leaving Daniel to run his fingers over the arm band and consider the implications of the power that was now attached to him, it wasn't as great as Xander or Faith's, but it was power none the less, and power like this should not be trivialised.
--=/^\=--"So again," Faith grinned, pacing around the small room and smirking as she watched Anise try and follow her movements with her eyes. "You ask for our protection and you ally yourself with earth, but what have the Tok'Ra done for earth?"
Anise stumbled over the question again, this was the third time Faith had asked it and she was no closer to figuring out what the girl wanted her to say than she was the first time.
"Have you given them technology? Ships? Weapons? Anything to help them?" Faith asked, her tone now getting more than a little annoyed as she found out more and more about the Tok'Ra. "Well?" Faith asked, hopping up on the table and staring down at Anise.
"It isn't our place to help the Tau'ree in their fight; we have been fighting the Goa'uld for thousands of years." Anise's tone had slipped back into the holier than thou tone as she stood up and faced Faith directly. "And you will offer us protection."
"I will?" Faith almost broke out in laughter at Anise's petulant tone. "It isn't your place to help the Tau'ree, so why is it our place to help you?" Faith watched as Anise's brain ran over the conversation and tried to figure out a way around what she had just said. "Look, Ion's willing to help out, hell, he's probably got his own plans for the snake guys, but if you want his protection I've got to tell him something that will help him make the decision." Faith paused, she did want to help, despite an overwhelming urge to punch the alien woman stood in front of her, it sounded like they were fighting the same war Jack and the others here were, so why couldn't they just share technology and plans and all that and get it done a lot quicker?
"I will have to return to the council and explain to them what you have said." Anise finally folded.
"Fine, do what you need, but seriously, if you want to talk to Ion, drop the 'I'm better than you' crap, because, trust me on this sister, you don't want to piss him off when it comes to stuff like this, he won't give you another chance." Faith explained, standing up and hoping that Xander would be here to take care of this when Anise returned. Fighting aliens and vampires was all well and good, but playing host and all this dignitary crap just wasn't her, she was a front line girl, not someone who ironed out the paperwork and alliances from the back lines.
"Please tell General Hammond I wish to return through the Stargate to talk to the High Council, I will return in two of your hours." Anise explained, moving to the door and pausing with her hand on the door handle. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?" Faith asked, cocking her head to try and understand what Anise was asking.
"That Ion, he took Apophis' arm for raising it against him?" Anise seemed to almost shake as she asked the question.
"Yeah," Faith looked down to the ground, unable to meet Anise's eyes as she explained. "He cut it off for using one of those hand thingies against his friends."
Anise just nodded, unsure as to what to say before she opened the door and stepped through, closing the door behind her and leaving Faith alone with her thoughts.
--=/^\=--"Aliens?" Joyce's voice rose another octave as Xander nodded slowly at her while Buffy seemed to smile sheepishly. "Aliens are real?"
"You'll believe vampires but not aliens?" Buffy grinned at her mom who was now pacing the room while she tried to absorb everything she'd been told.
"You've met aliens?" Joyce asked again, looking at Buffy and then at Xander when she nodded.
"Yeah, not what I expected either," Xander grinned, creating a quick construct of ET. "Nothing like that, but then," Dissolving the construct of ET he made another one of a Xenomorph from the aliens movies. "Nothing like that either, so I figure we got off light."
"What are they like?" Joyce asked in a small voice, her inner voice arguing that she didn't want to know against her curiosity that was begging to know what sort of things her daughter had seen and done.
"His dad calls them 'snakes'." Buffy quipped with a grin. "But I've never seen one."
"But... wait, you said you'd faced them, and your dad Xander?" Joyce asked, turning to both of them with separate questions.
"My dad," Xander smiled proudly. "Works at the military complex where they fight these things, remember the Stargate I told you about earlier, he goes through that and explored the galaxy, Tony," Xander's tone dropped to dangerously low levels before he forced a smile back onto his face. "Tony was never my real dad."
"They use people as hosts' mom," Buffy answered the question that had been posed to her. "Jack says their like snakes that get inside people and take over," She paused, shuddering. "I'm sure there's nicer ones though, right Xander?"
"Yeah," Xander grinned, creating a construct of Thor. "This is Thor, or an image of him anyway, he's grey really, not green, he's from the Asgard, I really have to talk to Daniel, that's one of the people my dad works with, he's the brain box there, about the relationship between the Asgard aliens and the Norse myths one day."
"Oh, what about the giant robot spiders?" Buffy grinned, excited about actually being able to talk about stuff like this with her mom at last.
"Replicators, weird things," Xander grinned before Joyce interrupted him.
"I think I need a drink before I learn anymore," Joyce explained before standing up and walking into the kitchen.
As Xander watched Joyce leave the room he walked over to Buffy and smiled at her, hugging her tightly. "It's going better than I thought it would."
Buffy nodded happily before her ring beeped at her. "Huh?" She asked in puzzlement, raising the ring up to stare at it and figure out why it was beeping.
"Mean's Faith is trying to contact us," Xander smiled, waving his hand over the ring as an image of Faith's head appeared in the middle of the room, slightly transparent and glowing with green energy. "Hey, everything going alright?"
"Xan, you gotta get over here, the aliens, these Tok'Ra, they want to ask for your protection." Faith babbled out at a speed Buffy was sure even Willow would be hard pushed to match.
"Whoah, slow down Faith, what did you tell them?" Xander asked as Buffy smiled at her mom who was watching from the door to the living room.
"I said they'd have to back up their request with some help for earth, she's gone back through the Stargate now to ask her bosses about it, Xander, you've got to help me here, I'm not a paperwork kind of person."
"You're doing fine," Xander smiled reassuringly at her. "If she says that she'll share tech with earth then I'll agree, on provision that I meet with her sometime, it is a her right?" He paused as Faith nodded. "Right, so tell her to hammer the details out with General Hammond and he can contact me if he thinks it's a good idea."
"So yes if they're willing to share, and if they're not?" Faith asked, a worried pause filled the air.
"They're advanced enough, from what Daniel told me anyway, they have spaceships and stuff, if they're not willing to share with earth then I'm not willing to 'share' with them." Xander said in a cold tone that made both Joyce and Buffy stare at him. "I can't be in space dealing with them all the time Faith," He explained as he saw the worried look on Faith's face. "If they're willing to help earth then I'm willing to help them, but if they won't play nice then I don't see why I should."
"I'll pass the message on." Faith said in a small voice. "But next time you're dealing with all this buster!"
"Deal," Xander grinned as the image vanished and Buffy's ring stopped glowing. "Can't believe it," Xander shook his head as Buffy and Joyce turned to him for an explanation. "I'm barely passing math and they want me to protect an entire alien race."
"With great power..." Joyce smiled at him.
"Yeah yeah, great power, great responsibility." Xander shrugged. "Heard it all before from Giles."
"Giles, the librarian?" Joyce asked. "You talk to your high school librarian about this?" She turned to Buffy with an annoyed look on her face.
"He we go again," Xander muttered before Buffy launched into an explanation of Watchers and how they train slayers.
--=/^\=--"Hey," Faith grinned as she walked into the room where she could faintly see Sam working on something. "You want the light on or is this a dark room experiment or something?" Faith grinned as she saw Sam look up from the microscope and squint at her.
"Sorry," Sam muttered, blinking her eyes furiously. "How is it going with the Tok'Ra?"
"Just spoke to Xander; he says if they're willing to help earth with some of their technology then he's willing to help them. Do you mind?" Faith asked before flicking the light switch on.
"Oww," Sam closed her eyes tightly as she shielded them from the glare of the main lab room lights. "That's bright."
"Yeah, it's called light, guessing you don't get much down here with the giant mountain overhead and all." Faith grinned as she watched Sam blinking to adjust her eyes to the light, then frowning as her vision adjusted much quicker than it should have done. "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"I'm just running some tests on the armbands that Anise put on us," Sam smiled, her eyes quickly darting to the ring that she could see on Faith's finger and the fact that she was still wearing the skin tight costume that seemed to be her variant of Xander's 'Ion' costume. "It's a metal I'm completely unfamiliar with, I can't even isolate the compounds that make up the band itself, though I'm sure there must be an organic compound somewhere inside it, I just can't figure out what it would be."
"Science, not my strong suit." Faith shrugged, looking at the armband that was strapped tightly to Sam's forearm carefully. "Looks fragile though, you tried pulling it off?"
"The Colonel tried, he couldn't get it off, I think it must be using some sort of molecular adhesive to stay attached to the skin, and I'm hoping it will come off once it's finished what it was designed to do." Sam explained, tapping at the armband and frowning at the hollow metallic sound that echoed through the lab.
"You're sweating." Faith noted. "It's not that hot in here is it?"
Sam frowned for a second, reaching up and wiping her fingers across her forehead. "I'm running a slight fever, Anise is monitoring our vitals though, I'm sure if there was a problem then she would let us know."
"Anise went back through the Stargate about twenty minutes ago," Faith explained. "I think you'd better see the doc."
"You might be right," Sam confessed. "Can't you do something with that ring?" She asked, now wanting to know exactly what the rings were capable of and how they could be used.
Faith paused for a second, thinking about it. "I could, probably," She shrugged. "But since you've already got alien stuff stuck on you I don't want to risk it, go see the doc, if she can't find anything wrong then I'll try scanning you with the ring."
"Alright," Sam conceded the point, with her being unsure how the alien device on her arm operated she could see why Faith was nervous about introducing more alien technology into the mix, though was the ring alien technology? It was made on earth, from Xander, but that didn't explain where Xander got his powers from, he was from earth but that just left more questions.
"Go, see the doc," Faith's voice pulled her out of her musings. "I'll go talk to Xander's dad, see if he's running a temp like you are, if he is I'll send him down as well, then onto Daniel."
"Fine," Sam smiled at her before moving to leave the room. "One question though."
"Shoot," Faith grinned.
"Where did Xander get his powers from?" Sam asked, her eyes watching Faith's eyes for any give away signs of lies.
"Magic," Faith answered with a smirk before leaving the room and wandering the halls to find Jack.
--=/^\=--"So Giles' knows about all of this?" Joyce asked in disbelief at everything that he daughter had kept from her.
"He knew about it before any of us," Xander explained. "He helped me more than anyone else, I trust him, and he's more like a father to me than Tony ever was." Xander practically spat the name of the man that had raised him out as it crossed his lips.
"I want to talk to him." Joyce's voice was firm; much like Buffy's when she wasn't going to budge over something. The decision had already been made as Joyce moved over to the front door and pulled her coat off of the hanger and started putting it on. "Now, or shall I come into school with you in the morning and do it there?"
Buffy paused, nearly whimpering at the thought of her mom yelling at Giles in front of everyone at school, not to mention the obvious fact that her mom didn't seem to grasp the idea of the secret identity thing because she was too upset at having such a huge part of her daughter's life being kept from her.
"I'll take you; can you go and help Faith?" Xander paused, staring at Buffy to let her know that he had a plan to calm Joyce down.
"Take care of her Xander." Buffy said with a smile before moving over to kiss her mom lightly on the cheek before Xander waved his hand in her direction and Buffy disappeared in a bright green flash.
"You want to yell at Giles right? To shout at him for keeping all this from you?" Xander didn't even break stride as he walked past Joyce and opened the door, walking out into the fresh air outside as Joyce followed, speechless over what had just happened. "You're asking yourself if he did the right thing, training Buffy to be who she is, helping her fight, and helping her survive." Xander paused, turning to face Joyce. "I don't want Buffy to see you argue with him, simple as that."
"He shouldn't have kept this from me, none of you should." Joyce stated firmly.
"Buffy told you once," Xander said simply as the both stood on the lawn outside, the cool night breeze blowing around them. "You had her committed."
"She told you?" Joyce gasped, she was sure that Buffy had repressed that, that she had tried to forget everything that had happened that summer when she had been put in an institution for nearly seven months.
"Summer, nineteen ninety-six, you read her diaries, she'd just seen her first watcher killed at the hands of Lothos. She'd been kicked out of school, was dealing with being a slayer with no one to talk to, no one who would believe her, and you had her committed." Xander said in a low tone, unable to even look Joyce in the eyes.
"She told you." Joyce stated in a whisper.
"No, she didn't, I don't think she even remembers it herself." Xander said, now looking up to face Joyce and stare into her eyes. "That summer nearly broke her, she was attacked in the hospital by some sort of demon, and because she was medicated, under the doctor's orders and authorised by you and her father, she was nearly killed protecting the other patients."
"I couldn't have known," Joyce said, her voice breaking as tears started running down her cheeks, "I just wanted her to be my little girl again."
"She still is," Xander tried to reassure Joyce. "She'll always be your little girl, but she's something greater as well, she's fighting for everyone on this planet, she does it because she cares, because of who she is, because of who you raised her to be."
"How did you find out?" Joyce asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. "If she never told you, if she doesn't even remember, how do you know?"
"It's just a memory Joyce, nothing more." Xander said simply before walking off into the night, pausing after a few steps to make sure that Joyce was following him as he used his powers to locate Giles; he was down at the coffee shop on the main street. They'd make their way there before heading back to Giles' place, hopefully Joyce would have calmed down a bit before then, hopefully.
--=/^\=--"They all have significantly raised body temperatures." Doctor Fraiser explained to General Hammond as she handed her notes over from examining each member of SG1 that was wearing the armbands.
"Are they in any sort of danger?" General Hammond asked as he flicked through the papers that had been handed to him.
"All the symptoms are indicative of the presence of a virus in their system, but without Anise here to corroborate this I can't be certain, for all I know this is how the armbands are supposed to work." Doctor Fraiser explained, standing in the office and waiting for General Hammond's decision about what they should do.
"Anise should be returning soon, she said that the Tok'Ra council are normally quick at making decisions like this, until then I suggest you..." General Hammond stopped in mid sentence as a bright green flash in his office signified the entrance of anther one of their allies. "Xander?" He asked, blinking to try and clear the spots in his vision.
"Nope, just me." Buffy grinned as she looked down and noticing that she was wearing her Green Lantern outfit. "Damnit Xander, stop playing with my clothes when you do that."
"Is Xander coming also?" Hammond asked, curious as to why Buffy had come when they already had Faith on the base. "He should be, sometime, he's just dealing with my mom, she found out about all this," As if to explain she waved her hand over her costume then around the room. "So he's trying to calm her down."
"I see," Hammond said, frowning at the thought of another civilian knowing about the Stargate project. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Nope," Buffy chirped back up. "Like I said, Xander's dealing with it, well Xander and Giles, I'm just here, you know, I don't really know why I'm here, but I figure Xander must want me here for a reason."
"Well I believe Faith is in the cafeteria if you wish to see her, I can have someone show you if you'd like."
"Offworld activation," The announcement rang through the base as the red lights started flashing around the office, startling Buffy as she swirled around to check they weren't under attack or anything.
"It's just the Stargate, probably Anise returning from her meeting, Doctor, would you show our guest to the cafeteria and then have them both brought back here please." General Hammond smiled to reassure Buffy that this was all normal procedure on the air force base.
"Of course," Doctor Fraiser smiled at General Hammond before turning to Buffy. "This way please."
"See ya soon," Buffy grinned as she followed the Doctor out of the office and down the maze of hallways.
"So, what's going on?" Buffy asked, trying to get a feel for the situation as she followed the Doctor around the base.
"Well, while, I'm sorry, I didn't get her name." Doctor Fraiser stumbled in her explanations.
"Faith," Buffy smiled. "I'm Buffy."
"Janet Fraiser," Janet introduced herself. "Well, while Faith was in meeting with Anise she was trying an experiment out with some alien technology that they had uncovered, I believe it's introducing a virus into the bodies of the people wearing them and produces abnormal levels of adrenaline while boosting their physical and mental capabilities."
"Huh?" Buffy asked, trying to follow what the doctor was saying in her head. "So some fancy alien technology makes people stronger and smarter?"
"I don't know about smarter, but stronger and faster definitely." Janet explained as they reached the cafeteria. "Faith should be just inside; I'll wait here and take you back to General Hammond's office once you've talked to her."
"Right, be back in a sec." Buffy grinned back before pushing through the doors and looking around the thankfully empty cafeteria to find Faith sat at an empty table with a class of coke. "Hey, the General wants to talk to us."
"Buffy, thank god," Faith exclaimed, standing up from her table, her glass of coke long forgotten now. "I'm not cut out for this negotiation stuff, is Xander here?"
"Nope," Buffy frowned, unused to seeing Faith unsettled like this. "He wanted to talk with mom and Giles alone, so he sent me here."
"Rough," Faith shook her head. "We've got to wait for alien chick to come back anyway before we can do anything, did The General say what he wanted?"
"Alien chicks back," Buffy grinned at Faith's terms. "That's what the red flashy lights were for, now The General wants to see us all together."
"Sweet," Faith grinned before making her way towards the doors. "Come on; see what the aliens have to say."
"What do you think?" Buffy asked, not moving from her spot next to where Faith had been sitting.
"What about? The aliens?" Faith asked, twirling round to see Buffy nodding at her. "Yeah, I think we should help them, they're just like us, fighting the snake aliens, maybe they don't want to give us fancy ray guns or whatever, but from what Xander said the grey aliens won't give us alien technology either, and Xander's willing to help them, just seems like if we can help we should."
"I agree," Buffy smiled. "Now we just have to bring Xander around to it."
"He didn't like it?" Faith asked as they both made their way to the doors.
"He doesn't like the fact that they won't share with us, but keep asking us for help, I can sorta see what he means, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't help if we can." Buffy explained how she saw it. "Besides, if we do help then we get to go to their planet," Buffy bounced excitedly as they walked through the doors to see Doctor Fraiser waiting for them. "Hey, do alien planets have malls?"
"I don't think so," Faith laughed. "Besides, from what I saw of Anise's outfit, I wouldn't go shopping there anyway."
--=/^\=--Giles' voice rang out from the coffee shop as Xander and Joyce approached it, accompanied by the soft sounds of an acoustic guitar they both paused, seeing if they could recognise the song being played. "In search of some rest, in search of a break. From a life of tests where something's always at stake. Where something's always so far..."
"Wow," Joyce paused at the entrance to the coffee shop, her eyes glued on Giles who was sat at the front of the shop, perched on a stool and quite happily strumming away at a guitar and singing the unfamiliar song. "He's good."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, smiling as he noticed Jenny making her way over to meet them. "I didn't even know he could sing."
"What about the moon and stars? What about soldier battle scars, and all the anger that they eat?" Giles continued to sing, smiling and nodding gently at Xander and Joyce as they watched.
"How long's Giles been doing this?" Xander asked in a whisper as Jenny managed to find her way through the crowd to stand with them.
"About once a week, he comes down here for the open night sessions, it's his 'grown up time' I think." Jenny suppressed a laugh thinking about how Giles was always spending all his time around students, having an hour or so a week to unwind like this must seem like heaven to him.
"Sorry," Xander grinned, forgetting Jenny and Joyce didn't know each other yet. "Jenny, Ms Calendar, teaches Computer Sciences, this is Joyce Summers, Buffy's mom, I'm doing the 'real world' speech for her."
"Ah," Jenny grinned sheepishly.
"You knew as well?" Joyce asked, her earlier anger coming back, how many people actually knew about this while keeping her daughter's life secret from her?
"Jenny kind of got caught up in it the same way I did," Xander said, waiting for Jenny's nod for him to continue and share the secret with her.
"So you got turned into your costume as well?" Joyce asked, remembering how Xander had explained how he got his powers.
"Afraid so," Jenny nodded, pulling a ten cent coin out of her pocket and holding it in her fingers. "And like Xander," She paused, effortlessly bending the coin over in front of Joyce's eyes before pressing it together into a small metal ball. "It stuck with me."
"She-Ra?" Joyce asked, a bit stunned at this latest revelation.
"Supergirl," Jenny explained with a blush. "Xander's been helping me adjust, I don't know anyone that knows more about what I am now, and how to accept it, how to do normal things again without, well, you get the picture."
"I'm starting to," Joyce smiled, understanding now that Xander had helped each of them come to terms with things and they had all helped him, it was amazing to think how much power there was in this room alone, but if what Xander had said about the aliens was true, then she was thankful they had it.
"What about aliens? What about you and me and... What about gold beneath the sea? What about..." Giles continued to sing, smiling as he watched Jenny and Joyce talk while Xander fetched them all a drink from the counter. He knew one day it would all come out to Joyce, and she seemed to be handling it well, but he just couldn't figure out why Buffy and Faith weren't with them, they must be on patrol or something, it was a weight off his mind just knowing that Xander was watching them and keeping an eye on them through their rings, knowing that he would back them up if needed, not that they should need any help with the rings that he had given them, but it was always nice to know he was there anyway.
"Here you go," Xander smiled as he handed a coffee to each of the women while keeping a can of coke for himself. "Giles shouldn't be long, then we can go back to his and you can talk to him about all of this, he can probably explain it better than I can."
"Actually, I needed to talk to you as well," Jenny said, biting her lip in embarrassment as she wondered how to phrase what she was going to ask.
"Shoot, what's up?" Xander asked, opening his coke and taking a mouthful.
"Can we," Jenny paused, looking around the crowded coffee shop where everyone was still paying attention to Giles' singing. Nodding her head to the back entrance to the shop she smiled when Xander nodded.
"Private talk, right." Smiling he guided Joyce to a table and threw his jacket over one of the chairs. "We'll be back in a sec; Jenny just needs to ask me some questions."
"Questions about what?" Joyce asked, suspicious about being left out of the loop again just when she thought she was becoming part of her daughter, and her daughter's friend's lives.
Jenny grinned, leaning down to whisper something in Joyce's ear and was rewarded by Joyce blushing bright red and nearly choking on her coffee. "Xander has the answers, I think aside from the people who wrote the character, only he knows about stuff like this."
"Right, now I'm worried," Xander quipped with a grin before leading Jenny outside the back of the coffee shop to the back ally where they could talk privately.
"I don't really know how to say this," Jenny began, running the words over in her mind as she tried to figure out how best to phrase what she was trying to ask.
"I'm guessing this has something to do with your powers then." Xander said with a smile. "Well I lent you all the comics I've got; I thought that should have answered most of it."
"Oh, it did, I've got a handle on the x-ray vision, heat vision, all that stuff, it's the involuntary stuff that's getting in the way." Jenny explained, trying to give Xander a gentle nudge in the direction that she needed him to go.
"Ok, like sneezes and stuff?" Xander asked, figuring that was what she was talking about. "Well, I guess that might be a problem, I mean, your lung muscle is a lot denser now, you could probably blow a forest fire out if you needed to."
"Not exactly, but now that you mention it, I haven't sneezed since the change, do Kryptonians sneeze anyway?" Jenny asked, letting her brain get sidetracked on this little irrelevant detail.
"I don't know," Xander shrugged. "I don't think it was ever actually covered in the comics." He laughed, trying to picture Superman with a cold. "Ok, so it wasn't the sneezing, what then?"
"It's like you were saying, the muscle thing, all my muscles are like that, ALL of them." Jenny explained, putting emphasis on the word 'all'. "And, well, it's starting to get in the way for me and Rupert."
"Whoah, whoah there, now I see where you're going and it's quickly heading into TMI land." Xander gave an exaggerated shudder with a grin. "So, what you're saying is, you and Giles can't, you know."
"Exactly, because the 'you know' muscles are too strong for his 'you know what'." Jenny blushed, trying to word this as sensitively as he could for the teen.
"Gah," Xander covered his ears with his hands and pressed his eyes shut as tightly as he could. "I so didn't need to know that."
"Well, you're the only one I can come to for this." Jenny confessed, blushing from the state of the conversation she was having with the seventeen year old. "I never thought I'd be coming to you for sex advice either, if that's any consolation."
"Right," Xander started pacing about the ally, trying to figure this out logically. "It looks to me like you've got three options. One, abstinence, and from the glare you're sending me, I'm guessing that's a no."
"Right," Jenny laughed at him.
"Two, kryptonite, I could see if I could create some small amounts of it, maybe just enough to weaken you, it would be painful but might give you enough time for, well, whatever you want to do that I so don't need to know about." Xander muttered, shaking his head desperately trying to clear all the mental images this was bringing up. "It would have to be small, and close to the muscles you want weakened, but too much exposure could kill you."
"And the third option?" Jenny asked, pinning all her hopes on this.
"Magic," Xander said simply. "Magic affects Kryptonians just like it would normal humans, that's why Angelus could bite you, he's a supernatural being and his teeth were demon teeth, so he could bite you like your skin was normal."
"Makes sense," Jenny nodded.
"So, Giles needs to do something that would strengthen his muscles, or weaken yours, either way, I'm guessing weakening yours would be the best bet, though I can't think what he could use." Xander explained, thinking this though to make sure there weren't any other options he'd missed. "Oh, one other option, red sun radiation, under a red star you're just like a normal human, if we could somehow simulate the radiation given off by a red star then you would be normal while in the range of it, Sam, the scientist that works with my dad, she might be able to help there, I'll ask her next time I'm there."
"But until then?" Jenny asked, happy now at this ray of light for a normal life.
"Until then, just do what you have been doing, but don't tell me, because I really don't need the nightmares about that." Xander shuddered with a grin again as he moved to go back into the coffee shop.
"Is the thought of me naked and sweaty really that bad nightmare material?" Jenny whispered to Xander with a laugh as they made their way back inside the coffee shop.
"I so didn't need those images," Xander frowned back at her as they made their way back to the table where Joyce was sat paying rapt attention to Giles who was just finishing up his song.
"What about when buildings fall? What about that midnight phone call... The one that wakes you from your peace? Well, I am not, I am not, I am not in need." Giles finished his song with a final strum of the guitar, smiling to everyone as they started applauding and asking for an encore. "Not tonight, sorry, I have some friends waiting for me." He smiled as he put his acoustic guitar back in the case before leaving it on the counter as the crowd dispersed to get their own drinks and start talking amongst themselves.
"Nicely done G-Man," Xander quipped as Giles took his seat next to them. "I didn't know you could play."
"Yes, well," Giles smiled as he took a mouthful of his tea. "I did used to be in a band, back in London, 'Mucous Membrane' John named the band, he was the singer who started it, this was back in the late seventies though, Beano on drums and Lester on bass, I was the guitarist, I suppose I never got out of the habit, though I prefer a bit more melody these days as opposed to the punk rock that we sang back then."
"Punk? Giles, you rebel." Xander teased with a grin, trying to imagine Giles in a leather jacket and playing punk rock.
"Yes, well, it was John's fault, he was the one that got me into magic after all, but I digress, I believe we have more pressing issues here than my sordid history in the punk rock music scene." Giles smiled at Joyce who had been sat watching the interaction between the two men. "Might I assume that Xander and Buffy have filled you in with all the necessary history?" He smiled when she nodded, still a bit unsure of what she actually wanted to say to the man, the anger than she felt before just wasn't there anymore, replaced with a more simple curiosity about what had actually been going on under her nose in the world. "Speaking of, where are Faith and Buffy tonight?"
"With my dad, something about his work needed attention, nothing major, they're dealing with it." Xander shrugged, not wanting to say anymore in the quiet coffee shop now in case they were overheard.
"And I assume you are keeping an eye on them?" Giles smiled when Xander nodded simply. "Then we can continue, I assume you have questions." As Joyce nodded mutely Giles' smiled and turned to Jenny. "And from your blush I can assume that Xander has answered your questions."
"Yeah, didn't need to know about that Giles." Xander grinned, finishing off his coke and crumpling up the can before throwing it in the trash.
"You have an answer then?" Giles seemed more interested in this now than Joyce.
"Three or four actually, but I'll let Jenny fill you in, bad choice of words," He grinned as Jenny nearly spat her coffee over the table. "I think we need to deal with Joyce's questions first."
"I agree," Giles nodded, finishing his tea before moving to retrieve his guitar case. "And I believe more comfortable answers will be found back at home, so shall we retire there for the evening?"
"Sounds good to me," Xander smiled as he checked with Joyce.
"I just want to know who did this to my daughter, who decided that she would be..." Joyce started but was cut off by Xander when he realized what she was going to say.
"As we said, back at home, you know, secret identity being an issue here, we don't want a repeat of ninety-six, do we?" Despite the puzzled look Giles and Jenny gave him Joyce paused and lowered her eyes to the floor. "So, back home, you'll get your answers there."
--=/^\=--"We'd like to get a better read on exactly what these things are doing to you." General Hammond explained as he sat at the briefing table with SG1, Buffy, Faith and Anise.
"They have introduced a virus into your bodies, I've isolated it in your blood workup but I can't identify it yet." Doctor Fraiser explained. "I think the armbands may be having a narcotic like effect. Wearing them may become addictive; it's just one of the things I would like to rule out."
"See, playing with alien tech is bad," Buffy noted with a smirk.
"Please, take the armbands off." General Hammond requested firmly, ignoring the looks of SG1 as they started to protest. "Are you refusing to comply with a direct order?"
"Come on," Faith said. "Take the toys off, then we can talk with Anise about the Tok'Ra protection." Faith then frowned as she saw Anise look away from her gaze as the members of SG1 tried to take off the armbands.
"Err…having a little problem here sir," Jack muttered, trying to slide his fingers under the armband to pull it off of his arm. "Having a hard time complying."
"Oh for god's sake," Buffy muttered, reaching over and tugging at the arm band.
"Hey, watch it there; you nearly pulled my arm off." Jack shouted, pulling his arm back from Buffy's grip.
"Oh this can't be good," Faith muttered.
"Doctor Fraiser, take SG1 down to the infirmary and see what you can do about removing the arm bands." General Hammond stated
"Follow me please," Doctor Fraiser said as she stood up and made her way out of the conference room.
"You know, you should have told them everything about the arm bands before you started this experiment." Buffy said as she watched the group leave the room, leaving just her, Faith, Anise and General Hammond at the table.
"I am sure that the arm bands will remove themselves once they have adjusted to the subject's body." Anise stated, still not meeting Buffy or Faith's gaze.
"And what if they don't?" Faith asked, now a bit worried about what Xander would do to her if he found out that she had been performing a dangerous experiment like this on his father.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," General Hammond stated. "But you should know that Ion thinks of Colonel O'Neill like family." He paused, letting Anise wrap her head around that before continuing. "Now, to the subject matter at hand, Faith told me that Ion requested that you share some of your technological advancements with earth as a gesture of good faith between our races, and then he would consider your request for protection. What have the High Council said to this?"
Anise seemed to visibly wilt under the attention as both Slayers focused their gaze on Anise, waiting for her answer. "They refused." Faith blew out a breath that she had been holding, muttering something under hear breath that made Buffy nod in agreement, though Anise and General Hammond couldn't hear it. "They said that if Ion does not take the Tok'Ra under his protection then the Tok'Ra will no longer class Earth as an ally, and will cut all diplomatic ties."
General Hammond just shook his head; this was possibly the worst news he'd had since they had started the SGC. "Is there nothing you can do to convince them?"
"I tried," Anise said, her tone conveying that she really didn't want to be the one telling them this. "If I could talk with Ion directly, make him see that..." Whatever Anise was going to say was cut off when a bright green flash at the far end of the table signified Xander's arrival.
"You are." His voice echoed through the room and Anise seemed to wilt even further as Xander stood there, his palms stretched out on the table as he lent over, his body shining with green energy and his eyes practically on fire with rage. "I've been listening to it all, you request my help, then conduct experiments on my friends, you think that you can bully me into helping you by threatening to remove earth from your list of allies, you think you can just treat me and my friends like that and then expect me to protect you from anyone else in the galaxy that you deem in an enemy of yours?"
Anise tried to speak up as she stood, desperately trying to swing the balance of power back to her favour where she liked it.
"I don't think so," Xander cut her off before the words even left her lips. "Also," He waved his hand and with a green flash a Tok'Ra data pad appeared on the table before Xander's eyes glowed and the data pad melted into a puddle of sticky goo. "I did not authorize you to scan my friends, or the weapons I have given them." Even Faith and Buffy seemed to be pissed off at this revelation.
"But I..." Anise tried to explain her motives, that she only wanted to understand how they were able to do what the SGC claimed they could do.
"No, you wanted to figure out how my weapons worked so you could build your own. Not. Going. To. Happen!" Xander bit out each word. "You can go back to your 'High Council' and tell them this, Earth is under my protection, if you want to remove alliances with earth, that is your choice, but if you do so then I will never offer you the protection you so deeply want, now, this meeting is over."
"But..." Anise tried desperately to speak up, to get Xander to agree to put the Tok'Ra under his protection, now that she had seen a glimpse of his power she was more confident than ever that with the Tok'Ra under his protection they would be able to overthrow the Goa'uld.
"I said it's over." Xander stated and with a bright green flash Anise found herself stood in front of the Stargate three levels below where she had been. All data pads and technology removed from her person. "Send her home." Xander said simply to General Hammond as he got up to leave.
"Son, wait..." General Hammond started to say, but then trailed off when he realised how much Anise had managed to anger the young man. Moving to a phone on the wall he picked it up and ordered the technicians to dial the gate to the Tok'Ra base so that Anise could go home. It looked like her experiment was now well and truly over, now they just had to figure out a way of removing the arm bands without her help.
