Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this story came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I have put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)
Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course
AN: Spike's speech to Landry in this chapter- you'll know it when you read it- was inspired by Elgin, who also wrote the initial draft of it, and is used with his complete approval.
The Ghost in the Team
Sitting in a chair as she took in the studio around her, Sam wished that she could feel more at ease about this whole situation; she might have given a few briefings in her time, but there was a difference between telling lower-ranking officers what she expected them to do in the upcoming assault and talking to a sizeable portion of the American population.
Still, if she was going to have to 'play ball' with the government to get home, she was going to do it on her terms rather than theirs; they might have the power, but they couldn't give her the opportunity to speak and then completely stop her from speaking her mind, and Spike was only a short distance away in case things became more awkward...
"My guest tonight," Julia Donovan said- evidently this world's version of Donovan had done rather well for herself once the Stargate went public-, "Major Samantha Carter; a ten-year veteran of the Stargate program, and the woman who almost single-handedly saved the world from the recent alien attack. Major, welcome."
"Thank you," Sam replied, out of a lack of anything else to say in this situation.
"Of course, I will be taking calls later in the segment, but first, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?" Donovan asked, briefly addressing the camera before turning her attention back to Sam.
"Well, uh," Sam said, taking a moment to go back over her own background- she knew that it wasn't that different from her history back home, but being addressed as 'Major' after spending over two years as a lieutenant colonel could still throw her off-, before she continued speaking. "As you said, I've been with the Stargate program for the last ten years. Most recently, I was appointed as a special advisor to the President."
"Great," Donovan said, nodding politely at Sam. "In what capacity?"
Exchanging a brief glance with Spike as he stood off to the side, Sam was grateful to see the vampire nod in approval at her; what they were about to do might be potentially dangerous, but they'd talked about it earlier, and even if Spike wasn't entirely comfortable with the political aspects of this situation, they were at least both committed to making a statement right now about their thoughts on the social situation of this Earth.
"My primary role is to consult with the President on matters of planetary defence," Sam explained, turning her full attention back to Donovan, "but I also intend to push for improved foreign relations and the restoration of civil liberties that were lost since the President took office."
"Really?" Donovan said, looking politely at Sam with a slight uncertainty about her expression. "Does the President welcome this kind of input from his military advisors?"
"Well, he wouldn't be much of a President if he wasn't at least willing to listen to other opinions," Sam said, taking care to phrase what she wanted to say appropriately as she briefly looked at the camera; past experience of working with frustrating commanding officers might have given her experience in how to talk to people who were focused on their own points of view, but writing reports in a certain way and inspiring political change on a planet were far from the same thing. "I mean while I understand how we got to where we are today, I think it's time to reassess the situation. The people of this country need to understand that they are in control of their government, not the other way around."
Ignoring the slightly stunned expression on Donovan's face, Sam turned to face the camera directly; what she was about to say had to be directly said to the American people, rather than just implying that she was acknowledging their observation of her words. "It's your responsibility as citizens of this country to demand the freedoms that have been taken away from you, demand accountability for why they were withheld in the fir-"
"Major," Donovan suddenly said, her hand on Sam's arm prompting her to stop talking as she turned to look at the show's announcer, the other woman's voice low even as her expression was obviously apologetic, "as much as I admire what you're trying to do... they cut us off."
"Ah," Sam said, once again stuck for anything else she could say to that kind of revelation. "Thanks."
It had taken them significantly less time to act than she'd expected, but she'd managed to say her piece, and that was what really counted; all she could do now was hope that her words had made enough on an impression on the people watching to make a difference...
"So," Spike asked, casually walking out of the spare bedroom where he'd been staying since their arrival in this universe- using her other self's flat might feel a bit strange and morbid to Sam, but it was the best way to avoid attracting too much attention to them, and at least it gave them a degree of privacy even if some people were wondering about the fact that she had a live-in bodyguard-, looking over at where Sam sat in front of her computer, "how's things?"
"After that interview last night?" Sam said, smiling over at the vampire as she pulled up a search engine. "Just finished breakfast, but I'm just going to see..."
Her voice trailed off as she took in the information before her. "Nothing?"
"You're going to see nothing?" Spike asked.
"No, I mean, there's nothing about my broadcast last night," Sam clarified, looking briefly over at Spike in obvious disappointment before she turned back to the screen and continued to scan through the search results. "Wait a second... 'Major Samantha Carter had to cut short an appearance on 'Inside Access' with Julia Donovan yesterday, when she suddenly took ill... A spokesman said she was suffering from exhaustion due to her busy schedule and would be cancelling her upcoming appearances'."
"Exhaustion?" Spike repeated, staring incredulously at the screen. "They blank out a goddamn live broadcast because they don't like what you're selling, and the best cover they can come up with is that you're bloody exhausted?"
"But... people had to have heard..." Sam said, even as her voice demonstrated a lack of confidence in her own words.
"Take it from someone who saw what happened when Hitler and McCarthy went nuts as it was happening," Spike said, looking grimly over at Sam. "When people in power want to keep the truth secret from the general public, it stays secret."
Sam didn't know what was worse; the thought that Spike was comparing any version of Hank Landry to two of the most self-centred, power-mad leaders of Earth's history- the fact that he'd been present when they were alive was at least relatively easy to accept, given what she knew about his vampire longevity-, or the fact that she agreed with it.
Walking out of her apartment, Sam realised that she had never felt more alone than she did in that specific moment; Spike's presence beside her was the only thing that even helped her hold on to her anger rather than give in to impotent frustration.
Right now, the people that she trusted in this world consisted solely of Spike; Hammond and Landry were questionable conditional allies at best, the rest of the SGC would probably follow their lead, McKay lacked the growth that he'd experienced back home, and even if she wanted to believe in Mitchell and Tara based on her and Spike's respective knowledge of their counterparts back in their world, they couldn't actually do anything to help her...
God, she needed to work out a way to get home soon; it was becoming increasingly clear that she and Spike had done everything they could be sure of accomplishing in this world, but their world needed them back if they were going to be sure of saving it...
"Major Carter; Mr Spike," a voice said, prompting her to turn around and face the secret service agent that Landry had identified as 'Charlie' in their first meeting, accompanied by three other men. "You need to come with us."
Leaping into action, Sam grabbed the nearest man and slammed his head into the car next to her, Spike hauling the man away to punch him in the face as Sam felt someone coming up behind her; her new opponent had barely touched her before she had spun around to kick him between the legs, following it up with a punch to the face-
Sam barely had time to register the sound of a zat activating before she lost consciousness.
As he saw the only person in this world he could count on not to be a self-centred scumbag in a position of power fall to the ground, Spike's vision turned so dark it was only the fact that he was out in daylight that prevented him from shifting into his vamp face.
"You bas-!" he began, spinning around to confront the man who'd just shot Sam in the back like the goddamn arseholes everyone on this planet seemed to be, only to find himself suddenly knocked off his feet, falling to the ground before he could even yell out at this new attack from a previously-unseen opponent. For a moment, Spike tried to get back to his feet, but that attempt was cut short when something was rammed into the back of his head with above-average-human force, something that lodged itself into his neck and burned... burned with the familiar burn of the holy artefacts he'd spent so long training himself to resist...
"How do you like that, asshole?" a horrifyingly familiar voice said.
Spike could barely bring himself to turn around to look at his attacker, his eyes widening in horror at the sight of this world's Buffy as she hauled him into the back of the van, the brief glimpses he caught of other people in the street around them irrelevant as they were basically content to merely watch him and Sam get loaded into the car...
As she and Spike were forcibly marched into the presidential cabin of the Prometheus once again, Sam wondered how any chain of events could turn the people she knew so well into this; Landry was just sitting behind his desk, casually reading a report as though this sort of thing happened every day, while she and Spike were standing in front of him, arms tied and mouths gagged, and the alternate version of Buffy Summers was just standing behind the vampire, her flesh hand hovering over the crucifix she'd jammed into the back of Spike's neck to limit his mobility while her metal hand was flexing as though itching for the chance to tear something out of the vampire.
If it had been any other situation, Sam would have been impressed that Spike could continue to walk with that kind of damage- she didn't think that the crucifix had broken anything, but something like that rammed into Spike's neck couldn't be pleasant if everything he'd told her about his reaction to holy artefacts was accurate-, but as it was she was just focused on the fact that they had been abducted by their own government...
"A gag?" Landry said, looking briefly at Sam as the agents led her into the room. "Charlie, was that really necessary?"
"It seemed appropriate, sir," Charlie replied (Sam wasn't sure what should anger her more; how casual the man was about that decision, or the fact that Landry was still just reading the file he'd been studying when they walked in as though her and Spike's presence wasn't important).
"And this-," Buffy added, jerking slightly on the crucifix she'd left embedded in Spike's neck, "is to ensure that he doesn't try anything."
"Get it off, and give us room," Landry said, before he turned to look directly at the part-cybernetic Slayer. "Miss Summers, if you could remain, I would prefer you to remove that crucifix from Mr Spike's neck; he can't exactly listen to me if he's got that kind of pain on his mind."
"He's dangerous-" Buffy began.
"So are you," Landry replied, even as he prompted the other agents to leave with a wave of his hand. "I think you can handle it if he tries to attack me."
As Charlie removed Sam's gag, he and the other agent walked out of the room, leaving Buffy to remove the crucifix from Spike's neck as the vampire fell to the floor, gasping in pain as he clutched at the healing wound.
"What am I going to do with you, Colonel?" Landry asked, shaking his head slightly as he continued reading the file.
"You could let us go," Sam replied.
"I still need you," Landry responded, turning a page in the file as though that statement was the end of the matter.
"As a goddamn publicity stunt," Spike spat, glaring at the other man as he leant over the leather chairs opposite Landry; hopefully the menacing impression he was trying to create would conceal the fact that he was finding it hard to stand right now...
"And your knowledge of phase technology-" Landry began.
"Spare us that crap; you're just-" Spike began, before Buffy slapped him in the side of the head with her metal arm, throwing him against the nearest wall with a brief yelp of pain.
"Don't talk to the President that way, you walking ashtray," she said, glaring firmly at the vampire. "Everything he has done has been to keep this country together-"
"And that makes everything acceptable?" Spike asked, glaring contemptuously back at her as he used the presence of the wall to regain his balance. "The bastard goes and destroys civil liberties, and it's all OK because everyone who works for him says he's doin' a good job?"
"And what gives you the right to criticise what we do here?" Buffy countered, Landry only briefly glancing up from the file he was reading even as Sam stepped back; judging from Spike's glare, it would be best if he could just get this particular issue off his chest, and the room was just large enough for the two supernatural entities to exchange a few blows without anything vital getting damaged. "You don't know what we've had to deal with-"
"But I do know that the Buffy back home would never tolerate this crap and justify it!" Spike retaliated, glaring firmly back at her. "She questioned authority even when she needed it and never let anyone walk over her; you're just lyin' down and taking everything this prat's doing like it came from God himself!"
"And what did her 'questioning authority' actually get her in the end?" Buffy asked scathingly. "Did she manage to defeat Glory on her own?"
"YES!" Spike spat back in response.
"And who died in the process?" Buffy countered; only Sam noticed the brief shock on Buffy's face at Spike's revelation, suggesting that she'd so convinced herself of her foe's indestructible nature that she'd never even considered the possibility that she could have defeated 'Glory' on her own.
"NOBODY!" Spike insisted, before he paused as Buffy glared at him. "Well... OK, Tara was driven nuts for a bit, and Glory tore everyone in the Knights of Byzantium to pieces, but Glinda recovered and who gives a crap about those loonies?"
"And, let me guess, 'your' Buffy still screws around pretending that she's ever going to have some kind of life outside of her Slaying responsibilities?" Buffy asked, the sarcasm in the 'your' making it clear that she considered her counterpart foolish.
"At least she actually stays connected to people," Spike retaliated, glaring firmly back at the partly-cybernetic Slayer. "When was the last time you saved anyone you weren't hired to help out?"
"You work for the SGC back in your world; do you really expect me to believe that you go out every night-?" Buffy began.
"I was confined to the SGC as a sodding ghost until I got here, so suggesting I didn't do stuff is a bit unfair, and I'll have you know that I got SG-1 to help me take down Dru back home before we ended up here!" Spike retaliated.
"He's telling the truth," Sam said, nodding the sceptical expression on Buffy's face as she stepped forward to stand in front of the younger woman. "I was off-duty after an injury offworld, but Spike requested my teammates' help in investigating a serial killer whose work he recognised in the newspapers, and they killed a vampire that all descriptions confirm was Drusilla."
"Oh, right; you kill one vampire since you ended up at the SGC, and you think you're better than me?" Buffy said, briefly glaring at Sam before scoffing dismissively at Spike. "What I do preserves our country-"
"What you do does nothing but keep a bunch of totalitarian gits in power!" Spike retaliated.
"And we won't keep quiet about the flaws we've seen," Sam interjected, looking firmly at General Landry before he could object to Spike's description; Spike had deserved a chance to vent, but it was time for someone more professional to take over the conversation. "As I said last night, you need to start listening to the people if you want to call yourself President."
"But keeping quiet is exactly what you do in your own world," Landry replied, putting the file down and standing up as he spoke. "The Stargate's still a secret, right? I know you talk about 'freedom' and 'democracy', but you're hiding the greatest secret mankind has ever known from your own people!"
"Yeah, we're keeping it secret because the consequences if it got out would be bloody devastating, as you found out for yourself over here; you're not exactly in any position to criticise us for that, mate!" Spike practically spat at the other man.
"Besides," Sam added, refusing to even consider Landry's argument, "my SGC may keep secrets, but at least on our world, we don't intend to abandon the rest of the galaxy to the Ori."
"Well maybe not now," Landry said, looking inquiringly at her. "But what do you think will happen if you give them a foolproof way to hide like you've given us? Don't be surprised if the rest of the galaxy suddenly doesn't seem that important anymore."
"What; you think just because you gave up we're all going to turn tail and hide?" Spike asked, glaring scathingly at the President. "You do know you're following in some really crap footsteps, right?"
"In what way?" Landry asked, looking back at Spike.
"Everything we've seen since we came to this world is nothing I haven't seen before, mate," Spike said, looking at the President with a cold stare as he indicated Buffy. "I'm guessing she told you how old I was, right?"
"Approximately a hundred and forty, if I remember correctly," Landry replied, his tone a neutral one that gave little indication about what he thought of what Spike was saying to him or his actual age.
"Good," Spike said, glaring firmly at Landry. "Because you'll know I'm telling the truth when I tell you that I saw this kind of thing back in Germany in the thirties, I saw it in Moscow under Stalin's iron fist, I saw it in Beijing when Mau was making a total pig's ear out of the country, and I got a really good look at the Red Scare, up close and personal-like. Dru and me crashed I dunno how many Klan meetings in the Sixties, and we spent months eating nothing but bedsheet-wearing Bible-bashing nationalist loonies. I saw the mess Franco made in Spain, Galtieri's Argentina, post-revolution Iran... and it was always, always the same."
"They took it for their own sake; I'm just trying-" Landry began.
"Yeah, that's what it always starts with; what happens when that excuse stops being effective any more?" Spike retorted, still glaring at the President. "What've you got lined up for your next step; planning to overturn the umpteenth amendment, so you ain't limited to just two terms in office? Then get yourself declared 'president for life' or something after that? Maybe open up a few gulags, so you can get rid of everyone and anyone who disagrees with what you're doing?"
"We are trying to keep Earth intact-!" Buffy began, glaring angrily at the vampire.
"By locking up anyone who doesn't agree with what you're doing?" Sam asked, looking pointedly over at Buffy. "From what Spike told me, you essentially told the organisation that's meant to be responsible for your training as a Slayer to leave you alone because you didn't like what they were asking you to do? Does the fact that they're not restricting you personally now really make that much difference to you?"
"What's next?" Spike asked, picking up the rant, his attention still coldly focused on Landry. "You going to invade any country that doesn't like what you're up to? Maybe nuke a couple, just to set an example? Then build yourself a global empire, one that'll 'last a thousand years'? Start using a Goa'uld sarcophagus to extend your lifespan, because you're convinced that the world ain't ready for someone else to rule it? Then go completely mental from that sarcophagus abuse thing I've heard about and turn yourself into the first human System Lord or something? 'Cause you keep on the way that you're going right now, I wouldn't put it past you."
"I am trying to protect this country," Landry said, staring coldly back at Spike. "Do you think I want to be remembered as the president who ended democracy?"
"You'll end up that way if you don't at least try and listen to us, from where I'm sitting," Spike replied firmly. "Stuff like what you're doing always starts small, but if it ain't stopped, it'll grow and grow and grow, getting faster and faster and faster all the time, and in the end you will go down in the sodding history books as an inhuman mass-murdering monster who makes the likes of me look like a lifelong volunteer at the Samaritan's helpline by comparison."
He gave Landry a moment of silence to process what he'd just said before he turned to look at Buffy, the cold stare something he hadn't directed at his world's Buffy even when he'd been evil and acting as her enemy. "I don't know much about how that guy compares to the version we've got back home- only met his counterpart a few months back, and I've spent more time with everyone else anyway-, but I do know my world's you, and I know that if that-" he indicated the Slayer's cybernetic arm- "happened to the her I know back home, she'd thank everyone for getting her back to fighting standard and then get right back to kicking vamp arse."
"And you're certain of that?" Buffy asked, glaring at Spike.
"I'm betting the sodding farm on it," Spike replied firmly.
"And, for what it's worth," Sam said, shooting her own glare at the man sitting behind the desk, "Spike may not be able to speak for him, but I've served under him for almost two years by now, and I happen to know that General Hank Landry wouldn't do what you just suggested."
Looking at them in silent contemplation for a moment, Landry finally smiled and turned away, leaving Sam and Spike to be marched out of the room by Buffy and taken to another cabin in the ship.
"You can wait there until the President decides what to do with you," she said, shoving Spike through the door with slightly more force than was necessary while Sam simply walked into the room; evidently, even if she considered both of them traitors, Buffy was more willing to give Sam some slack than she was willing to give Spike.
"Still the sodding lapdog, huh?" Spike said, turning to glare at her after taking a moment to regain his balance. "You know, maybe things are easier for you here while you're taking orders, but I never thought that any version of you'd be the type to say 'How high?' when someone asked you to jump."
"I don't have the luxury of taking chances in this world," Buffy replied, even as her expression shifted slightly as she looked at the two of them, a brief gleam of pain in her remaining eye hinting at a time when she would have done just what Spike was reminding her of...
Then she walked out of the room and the door shut behind her, leaving Sam and Spike looking at each other in a cabin with nothing else to do.
"So," Spike said, shrugging awkwardly after a few moments, stuck for anything else to do in their current position- it wasn't like there was any kind of 'post-chewing-out-the-President-for-dictator-like- behaviour' stuff he could expect to do right now, after all-, "anyone for charades?"