Caprica, near the site of the destroyed Museum of the Colonies; 1100 hours.
Talia had been given an apartment in one of the complex's in the center of Caprica. It was what Resistance Headquarters had asked for so that thanks could be shown to those who continued the fight against the Cylons, especially after the military was nearly annihilated. However, while Talia had been taking part on sweeps of areas of Caprica city, she encountered some things that deeply disturbed her; namely the viciousness of the Pegasus officers, and of the Ori army.
'Executing Cylons is fine' thought Talia to herself as she finished her shower before she had to report for duty, 'but that one group of civilians… they were told to worship the Ori, that.. that if they did, they would be given salvation in the next life.'
Talia shook her head and placed her hands against the wall in front of her as the water from the shower head flowed down her body. She recalled going for a sweep though a section of the city, then meeting a small gathering of survivors who were hiding from any Cylons. She remembered the Prior who came with them telling the survivors that the Cylons were destroyed, that they had sinned against the gods.
"Yes" said one of the survivors, "hail Athena and…"
"No" said the Prior without any expression on his face and held on to his upright staff with both hands, "your gods had nothing to do with this, they sat back and watched your people die. The Ori are the ones who destroyed the creatures that your gods had given you cause to create, the Ori are the true gods of this land and they bring light to where there was once evil. Worship the Ori and they will…"
"No" said the man as the others nodded their heads.
Talia saw that there were six men, four women and three children in the group as they faced the Prior, six of the Ori army in their armour, and three men from the Pegasus; while two from the resistance were in this group, including herself.
"The gods have brought you here, to Caprica" said the man, "and we thank you but we will not betray our gods when…"
"You seek to bring evil back into this land through the darkness in your hearts?" asked the Prior.
"The Ori are not…"
"You are a stain on the paradise that the Ori seek to create" said the Prior as he looked over his shoulder and ordered the men behind him to take them prisoner. Once the group was taken prisoner, Talia and several others from the resistance, the Ori army and the Colonial military were made to watch the public execution of several groups that the Priors claimed were encouraging evil to grow in their hearts. She watched horrified as people were summarily executed while most in the large group of spectators cheered. Talia remembered looking around at the other resistance members who were scattered close by and saw the same degree of horror on their faces, while some others cheered.
'I asked the leaders' thought Talia to herself, 'I asked them privately why, they knew what was going on… so why?'
"They promised to give us technology" one of the leaders of the resistance said the previous day when Talia and two other resistance members went to the man who had organized the resistance on Tauron, "they told us how the colonies were under the control of great evil, that they tricked us by encouraging us to create the Cylons. And look what happened? Our creations destroyed us…"
"But" said another resistance member who was standing next to Talia before he was interrupted.
"They have promised our people paradise" said the leader, "and they have the capability and the knowledge. I have seen the Prior's gifts for myself, and they are truly gifts from the Ori. They healed my cancer, they healed the radiation poisoning that affected so many of our men and women… do you not think that is the will of the Ori? Where was Zeus? Where was Hera, or Athena, or Artemis? Nowhere, they did not help us when our need was grave. But the Ori have, and we will do as they say."
'Sir" said Talia, 'they are murdering people.. innocents who refuse to worship the Ori. We fought back the Cylons because they were…"
"The Cylons were soulless machines" said the leader as he looked at the group in front of him with his hands behind his back, "they were a creation of evil, and so were destroyed. Those so called innocents? They carried within them the darkness that is representative of our old gods, they wanted to spread the stories of Athena, the heroics of Zeus and poison the support for the Ori. Darkness will enter this galaxy again if the Ori are driven out, and that must not happen. We have lived in the darkness for too long."
"I… I don't know, sir."
"Just follow orders, Talia" said the man, "you will see the light, you know what the Cylons have done.. you saw children killed in front of you as a result of the darkness around us. That darkness has infected everyone… and we need to shine the light. But if the darkness isn't overcome by the light of truth that the Ori provides? Then they must be excised, Talia."
"We understand" said the man who stood next to Talia, while the latter just hung her head in disbelief.
'What do I do now?' asked Talia to herself as she got out of her shower and started to get ready for her first mission through the ring shaped device. She still remembered the first time she saw it the day Lt. Cotto brought her to Caprica, before he left with two other raptors to search for the military's top secret project on one of the Colonies outer moons, 'I was surprised… he told me that it was an alien transportation system that could send us anywhere in the galaxy, and that I would being one of the groups that would help the Priors spread Origin… but that was before the murders. BY the gods what are we doing?'
Talia knew that one of her first missions was to a planet that refused the Ori, that the population had to be convinced that the Ori was the way forward; and if they didn't follow, then they were to be burned. In preparation for the mission, the Priors had downloaded the language of the common tongue in the galaxy directly into the minds of those who were going off-world so that the people would understand the need to embrace the Ori.
As Talia put on her uniform, she shuddered as she recalled looking into the Prior's pale eyes as he smiled back at her. He told her that he saw the light of the Ori in her, and while she had doubts about their mission, she would come around and then when she died.. the Ori would offer her a place on the Great Path, a way to be with the Ori in their land.
'I've heard whispers' thought Talia as she put on a pair of military fatigues, 'that the Priors have abilities.. even the leader of the resistance said as much. But to experience them myself… I felt as if he was reading my mind while downloading that language. He knew my doubts and…. gods, is there no way to resist them?'
Sunnydale Hellmouth, 10,000 years ago.
Athena was left holding Sineya's body in her arms as she looked up at Hera floating back up into the air before she vanished. The redhead then blinked her eyes while trying to hold back her tears as she looked back down at Sineya's body while her lower lip trembled. The first Slayer was offered ascension, and instead of accepting it.. she made the decision to help those who came after her. Some part of Athena was proud of what Sineya wanted to do, but another part of her was angry that she wasn't able to arrive in time to save the girl she thought of as a daughter. She was also angry that the girl in her arms didn't seek ascension, the truth was that Athena wanted Sineya to stay… that what she had gone through by becoming the First Slayer was not something that she chose, the redhead wanted the girl to have a childhood.
"But that is all gone now" said Athena to no one in particular. She turned around and looked at the red stained ground thanks to the blood of all the slain demons and the large dragon that just lay on its side. Shaking her head, Athena then walked towards the Gateship while holding onto Sineya's body on her arms; along with the broken weapon, and the one that was still intact lying on her body.
Athena's footwear squelched as she continued to walk on the red ground before came the thumps of her walking on the ramp of the Gateship. She then gently lay Sineya's body across the seats on the side of the ship. Athena then lay the broken, and the intact, weapon on the floor before she stood up and looked over Sineya.
"Remember the first time I took you up?" asked Athena as she reached for the young woman's forehead and swept the hair away, "you were so excited. We flew through the clouds, and then entered space, followed by one orbit around the planet while you screamed in joy. I couldn't think of a fitting send off before I have to let you go again."
Athena closed the rear ramp before she walked to the cockpit, wiped the tears from her eyes and grabbed the controls. She then raised the ship off the ground before flying it up towards the sky. As the Gateship flew through the clouds, she looked to her right side as she imagined Sineya sitting on the co-pilot's seat looking out the front window with her mouth wide open before she looked at Athena, and then at the window once again.
"You were so excited" said Athena as the image she had of Sineya vanished before she looked out the window again, "I took you up a few days after we met, a few days after the Furlings came to see me… we had language issues but I managed to tell you that I wasn't going to harm you. I tried to tell you that I wanted to show you an amazing sight."
The Gateship broke through the cloud cover before it continued on an upwards trajectory. It wasn't too long before the ship was out in space, hovering over the planet. Athena then turned the ship around until the window was facing the planet below.
"Earth" said Athena as she leaned back on her seat while she thought about Sineya jumping from her seat and grabbing onto Athena's arm tightly, "you sat on my thighs while I flew around the planet. I remember your screams of joy continued until I landed the ship. Since then, since then we've been together. You thought me everything you knew, from your language, to how to properly capture game, what to eat and… and I hope I thought you things too."
Athena wiped her eyes again as she ordered the ship to move. She then started to make an orbit around the planet before she re-entered the atmosphere and headed to where her home used to be. As she flew over the site, Athena recalled the first day she met Sineya. Smiling at the memory, Athena then landed the ship before releasing the controls and then opened the rear ramp from the front console. Getting off her seat, Athena looked out at the surrounding area where her home used to be. She had been in contact with Moros since she started her training for ascension on Kheb, and she asked her father to remove all signs of her former home on the grassland, as well as remove the shield emitters.
Smiling at the now empty surroundings, Athena walked around the Gateship and noticed a tree covered in green leaves in the distance. Walking towards it, the redhead used her mental abilities to dig a hole deep into the earth under the tree. Once the hole was deep enough, Athena walked back to her ship and gently placed the broken weapon on the Slayer's chest. She then placed Sineya's hands, one over the other, on top of the blade before Athena took her in her arms once again.
Athena started to hum a tune as she walked towards the hole she dug, occasionally looking at the dead woman in her arms. Once she reached the edge of the hole, Athena slowly moved her arms away while Sineya remained floating in the air.
"I wish I could have shown you the real Atlantis" said Athena, "there are so many sights to see out there, and…. and I am sorry. For everything. I will come to your grave on the anniversary of your death… I can promise you that. I just hope that you could forgive me if I am unable to come for some reason."
Athena then mentally lowered Sineya down into the hole she dug earlier.
"Goodbye, Sineya" said Athena as the body of the young woman reached the bottom of the hole. Athena then mentally refilled the hole before she crouched down and placed her hand in the mound that lay under the tree, "to me, you are a daughter; and an honorary Lantean. Farewell, and may you look over your successors for all time."
Athena then walked back to the Gateship before heading back to Kheb. She would return every year on the anniversary of Sineya's death and just talk to the mound, sharing the memories she had of the young woman. After Athena ascended, she would still visit Sineya's grave and there was once when she came with an object in her hand. Kneeling on the ground under the tree as grass started to grow over Sineya's grave, Athena lay a dark, metallic object that was inscribed in Ancient at the foot of the tree.
"That's for you, Sineya" said Athena, "that piece of naquada will remain forever. I foresee a time when your successor will pay her respects to you. And that will mark the place where you lie peacefully."
Athena then stood up before stepping back and glowing.
"Until next year" said Athena as she vanished. It would be thousands of years later that Sineya's successors would pay homage to the First Slayer, the woman whose life was sacrificed so that they could fight the darkness.
Angel and Cordelia's Office, 1300 hours.
Angel was in his office alone while Cordelia was taking a nap in the room the both of them shared on the BPRI premises. He was reading through reports from the latest missions that Kennedy, Vi, Rona, Amanda and Satsu had gone on to battle anything from vampires, and demons - to a witch doctor in New Orleans raising the dead. He then got to a file which had the SGC and BPRI logos and opened it to read Giles' report on his stay with the Cylons on Eden.
"While our people are wildly different" said Giles' report as Angel silently read, "they being mostly human with mechanical objects in their blood stream, the rest of us are fully flesh and blood. However, in many ways, we are still the same. Particularly in our need to belong, and our propensity to evolve beyond what we thought possible. I have spent time with these Cylons and while they were cautious towards us at first, they have slowly come to accept the situation they found themselves in. Over time, I and the others have found some similarities between our two races."
Giles then went on about how he and a few others including Dr. Gardner, had taken a group of Cylons camping where, among other things, they shared horror stories, and myths and legends about the Colonies.
"The Cylons, at least the humanoid models, were made to infiltrate the Colonies" Giles had written as Angel continued to read through the report while leaning back on his comfortable chair, "it's amazing really, they have a belief in a one God, just like monotheistic religions on Earth – and that had a lot of the researchers here are drooling on spending time with machines that have a belief n a God. But what was amazing was the similarities to some stories that we shared on vampires, demons, and the like. IT seems that the infiltration into Colonial society went so deep that the Cylons themselves started to believe in these myths of Hel-Spawn, blood demons; there are other colloquies that are similar to the way we have categorized the agents of the darkness back on Earth."
"Damn" said Angel when he read about how Giles was talking to a D'Anna who told him that there were reports the previous year on bodies found drained off blood. There were two puncture wounds at the side of the neck but the police never thought of as a vampire, or blood demon as the Colonials called it, attack. Instead, it was a murder by a group of ritualistic killers, 'don't tell me that some vampires were also taken by the Goa'uld to that first planet Giles mentioned.. what was it…. Kobol? And… and the sun in the Colonies? No, the reports imply that they were affected by sunlight too. So Kobol's sun must have been safe for these vampires, but the ones that went to the Colonies were exposed to the same weakness as the vampires on Earth; at least in their legends and, and TV shows?'
"D'Anna told me about a television program called 'The Protector' they had before the Fall of the Colonies" wrote Giles as Angel continued to read the report, "it began six months before the attack on the Colonies and it was considered to be a hit after the first three episodes. Amazingly, it was about a girl with powers who was responsible for fighting the hel-spawn and the blood demons. To protect the Colonial civilization from the things in the darkness. Remind you of someone?"
"Oh my God" laughed Angel to himself as he read the report, "the vampires must have been careful in siring more of their kind once they reached Kobol. And then the Colonies. They had a limited human population after all, but one of them must have heard about the Slayer. The stories must have been passed from one generation to another and then…. This is just hilarious. I've got to tell Buffy about this."
It was then that the door to the office opened and in walked the girl that he was talking about.
"Buffy" said Angel as the blonde Slayer placed some files on his desk, "and this is?"
"Mission reports from the operation in Hawaii's big island" said Buffy as she took a seat across from him, "got to say, Beth was excited about her team going there to search for the nest that was targeting tourists. She even got a tan, and I…"
"Buffy" said Angel as he handed her the folder he was reading, "I was actually reading about you."
"Huh?" asked Buffy as she looked at Angel with confusion etched on her face. She then read Giles' report as her mouth slowly opened wide in surprise as she looked up, and then back down at the file, and then back up at Angel again, "are you kidding me?"
"That's Giles' report" said Angel.
"A show about a girl who fights vampires" said Buffy as she put the file on Angel's desk while shaking her head, "that's just weird.. well, actually…."
"No" said Angel as he looked at the glint in Buffy's eyes.
"Oh, come on" said Buffy, "it would be based on my life, I mean you'd be there…. Cordy, Xander, Willow, Faith, Giles… someone playing mom…. you know it's a good idea. But not like some reality show, I mean like a real scripted series, ya know?"
"No" said Angel.
"Wormhole X-TReme does it" said Buffy, "and it just got picked up for a new season."
"No" said Angel as he got up from behind his desk.
"We can call it the 'The Vampire Slayer'" said Buffy as she spread her hands outwards as she stood up and walked with Angel to the door, "or just 'The Slayer', maybe 'The Sunnydale Chronicles', or the 'Adventures of the Scoobies'."
"No" said Angel again, "and I think the last one's already trademarked.'
"We can get some really broody to play you" said Buffy with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, yes" said Angel dryly as Buffy grinned, "that's what I want my television self to be, broody."
"But you are broody" said Buffy as she closed the door behind her after she and Angel left the office.
"Answer's still a no."
"Angel" whined Buffy as she followed the vampire.
The Summers Residence, 1700 hours.
A red four door sedan parked in front of the lawn of 1630 Revello Drive, and inside were a male and female.
"Jon?" asked Dawn as Jon just held onto the steering wheel with both hands and then looked at the house without cutting the engine, "Jon?"
"Huh?" said Jon as he looked at his girlfriend who had her eyebrow raised, and her body was twisted towards him. Jon then shook his head, cut the engine and applied the parking brake before looking at the house again, and then at Dawn.
"You alright?"
"Just a bit nervous."
"Come on, Jon" said Dawn as she tilted her head and smiled, "I'm sure you must have met parents of girls you dated."
"Yea, I did" said Jon, "but… I mean… I had to meet the parents of the girl I took to prom and…. you know what? I'm too much of a gentleman to not talk about other girls with my current girlfriend."
"Good save" said Dawn as she narrowed her eyes at the young man.
"But none of them are like your family" said Jon as Dawn just smiled, "I mean you have one sister who's an Ancient who also happens to have psionic abilities, and another sister who's a vampire Slayer, a sister-in-law who's also a vampire Slayer. But then, you have Xander, Jay and Rose… and your mom."
"You kinda forgot about my extended family" said Dawn and she reached for his hand and squeezed gently, "there's Spike and Angel, Tara, Giles, and Kennedy."
"Right" said Jon nervously, "how about we go back."
"No way, mister" grinned Dawn as she leaned forward and kissed Jon before pulling back and putting a hand on the side of his face, "they'll love you."
"You wore the pendent" said Jon as he pointed at the necklace that was attached to the pendent over her shirt
"Yea" said Dawn as she looked down, and then back up at Jon again, "thought it was time I showed it to them."
"It's beautiful" said Jon as he traced the curves of the pendent before holding on to Dawn's cheek, "just like you."
"We're still going in, Mister" said Dawn as she narrowed her eyes at Jon.
"D'oh" he replied before Dawn laughed and kissed him again before they got out of the car. Dawn met him on the pavement before the both of them walked up the walkway to the porch of the house. She hadn't told Joyce, or the others, that she was coming to visit them with Jon in tow.
'They are gonna be surprised' thought Dawn to herself as she rang the doorbell, only to hear rushed footsteps behind the door before the mail slot at the bottom of the door opened. Grinning Dawn crouched down, only to look into Rose's eyes as the little girl screamed in joy.
"Momma" shouted Rose from behind the door, "it's Dawn."
Dawn smiled, stepped back and waved her hand as the door was opened by Joyce just as Rose rushed past her and hugged Dawn's thigh.
"Hey, munchkin" said the brunette as she looked down while Jay walked down the stairs from the second floor, "hey, Jay.. look at the both of you. You've grown."
"Who is that?" asked Jay and Rose together as they looked at the young man behind Dawn, while Joyce leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him. She knew that there was something familiar about him but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Yes" said Joyce as she raised an eyebrow at Dawn as Rose stepped back and looked up at Jon who waved back at the little girl. The young man then looked, and waved, at Jay as memories flooded his mind of Charlie when he was at that age. Shaking his head, he stepped forward and stood next to Dawn as he reached out his hand and introduced himself as Jon O'Neill.
"He's my boyfriend" said Dawn as she wrapped her arms around his while Rose and Jay looked at each other, and then back at the couple.
"Wait, O'Neill?" said Joyce after she shook Jon's hand, "as in General Jack O'Neill?"
"Mom?" asked Buffy's voice from the second floor, "who is it?"
"It's Dawn and her boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" asked Buffy while Dawn and Jon leaned forward but couldn't see her anywhere. They then looked at Joyce who whispered that there were some plumbing issues with their house.
"It'll be repaired by tomorrow" said Joyce as they heard a door close shut upstairs, "she came here to take a shower, Xander's coming by later after he's done at the BPRI, along with Tara. OH, come in you two."
"Thanks, mom" said Dawn before she crouched down and picked up Rose with a groan, "oh, you've gone heavy."
"Dawn" laughed Rose as the brunette put her back on the floor in the foyer as Jon walked inside behind her before Joyce shut the door closed. Jon then turned to face Joyce and told her that he was the General's nephew. Smiling at the cover story, Dawn told Joyce that they needed to talk once Buffy was done with her shower. She then leaned on the banister, looked up the stairs and shouted.
"Buffy!"
"What!"
"You done?!"
"Yea!"
Jon just looked at a suspicious Joyce while smiling at her innocently. In the meantime, Dawn continued looking up the stairs as a door closed before Buffy, in jeans and a blue T-Shirt, appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Hey, Dawnie" said the blonde Slayer whose hair was still damp as she walked down the stairs, and stopped at the middle when she noticed the young man next to her mom, "unnn.. mom? I know you said you started dating and stuff but… someone that young? Really? He looks like a younger version of Jack."
"He's the General's nephew" said Dawn before she shook her head, and then looked at Jon who nodded his head at his girl-friend, "umm…. Look, the truth is that he's not the General's nephew."
"Ok?" said Joyce as she motioned everyone to the living room before telling Jay and Rose to go up to their rooms.
"But.. mother" said Jay looking up at the older blonde with eyes wide open, "please let us stay. We'll be good."
"Mom" said Dawn, "this is something they need to know as well, I just want to tell you guys first before I tell Xander, Giles, and the others."
"Alright" said Joyce as she gently pushed both Jay and Rose into the living room. She then sat down on an armchair while Buffy sat on another one with both Jay and Rose sitting on her. In the meantime Jon and Dawn, sat together on the couch looking at each other before they looked at the older blonde woman and Buffy.
"Well" said Dawn as she reached for Jon's hand and squeezed, "Jon isn't General O'Neill's nephew, and… well… he's his clone."
Joyce and Buffy looked at each other, and then looked at Jon and Dawn with their mouths wide open while Jay and Rose just looked confused. The silence in the room lasted for a few seconds before Joyce leaned forward and shook her head before looking at Jon in disbelief, and surprise.
"You're Jack's clone?"
"Yes, ma'am" said Jon nodding his head, "you and I have a mutual friend actually."
"You mean other than Jack?"
"Loki" said Jon as Buffy and Joyce looked at each other again before looking at Jon, "he's the one who cloned me, and it was because of me that the SGC found what that creep was doing. You see, I was meant to be the grown up Jack O'Neill, but Thor put a lock in my genetic code that prevented tampering. It was that lock that prevented me form getting older, so… you can imagine what happened when a fourteen year old Jack O'Neill walked up to Cheyenne mountain one day and… well… yeah."
"So you are General O'Neill?" asked Buffy.
"Like the clone of Mrs. Summers who died" said Jon, "I have all of his memories until the point he was cloned."
"Come on, mom" said Dawn as she tightened her hold on Jon's hand, "Loki made you younger after he kidnapped you, and Buffy? You dated someone who was what… two hundred odd years old?"
It was then Jon's turn to cough nervously as he watched the look of mock horror on Buffy's face before she narrowed her eyes at Jon.
"So how did you two meet?" asked Buffy, "did you know Dawn when the General… I mean the older you… came to the Slayer Council?"
"No" said Jon, "I was cloned before that so I had no idea that she was Red's friend when I bumped into her."
"Literally" said Dawn as she rolled her eyes, "it's like the most chanciest meeting ever."
"I was in my last year at the Academy" said Jon, "so I got permission to stay off-campus, and one day I was in this coffee shop with some friends when Dawn bumped into me and spilled hot coffee on my shirt."
"Yeah" said Dawn grimacing, "not my proudest moment. Anyway, I offered to get his shirt cleaned and, well.."
"I just asked her out on a date" said Jon as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Willow and Faith didn't know?" asked Buffy.
"I didn't tell them" said Dawn, "but they found out during Colonel Carter's wedding, we… well, we each thought we had made plans for the wedding so you can imagine the surprise when we met each other at her house. Willow and Faith were surprised too…. I never saw them that surprised before."
It was then that Jay got off from Buffy and walked towards Jon. Stopping a few steps away, the boy put his hands on his waist and looked at Jon before pointing at him.
"Dawn may be ugly" said Jay as Buffy sniggered, Rose brought her hand to her forehead and Dawn looked at Jay with her mouth wide open, "but she is still my sister. Do not hurt her."
"I won't" said Jon as he ruffled the young boy's head before he walked to Dawn and sat right next to her.
"Will you marry Dawn?" said Rose innocently as Buffy and Joyce started coughing while Dawn and Jon just looked at each other before looking at Rose.
"We haven't talked about that, sweetie" said Dawn as she smiled at Rose who looked back at her.
"But sometime we will" remarked Jon as he leaned forward and smiled at Rose as Joyce, Buffy and Dawn looked back at Jon in surprise. Realizing what he said, he looked at the surprised Dawn and just smiled at her before looking at Rose again, "you want us to get married?"
"Yes" said Rose, "Buffy told us that for her wedding there were lots of presents, and I like presents… so does Jay. Then there were presents for Aunt Willow, and Aunt Faith's wedding and…."
"Those were for them, sweetie" said Buffy as she put her arms around the little girl and pulled her closer.
"But they let me and Jay open them" said Rose with a grin as she looked back at Buffy, and then at Jon, "well?"
"How about we discuss all this later?" asked Joyce as she leaned forward, "coffee? And then dinner?"
"Sure, mom" smiled Dawn as her face turned red as she looked at her mother, and then at Jon who was leaning back and talking to Jay who was seated next to her. She then looked back at her sister who was, in turn, looking at their mother.
"Dawn" said Joyce after nodding at something that Buffy whispered to her, "think you can help me in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, sure" said Dawn as she got up, followed by Joyce and walked back into the kitchen while Buffy, Jon and the two children were left alone.
"I do care for her" said Jon as he looked at the suspicious Buffy who looked back at him, "I'm not going to hurt her."
"You know everything about Dawn?"
"Yes" said Jon, "and my feelings for her haven't changed. And I know what Red tried to do to a guy on Atlantis who wanted to take advantage of her… just know that I'm not taking advantage."
"I may not be able to put you through a black hole" said Buffy, "but there is always the Hellmouth."
"Yea" said Jon as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"I can tell you that the Summers women had the weirdest taste in guys... well, in Dawn's case the proper tense we use would be 'has'" said Buffy, "I was in love with a two hundred year old vampire, mom fell in love with a robot, and Dawn's with someone who's mind is that of guy in his mid-forties?"
"True" said Jon, "but my experiences are way different than my older self, I still have memories of his old life. With Sara, Charlie, going through the Stargate for the first time.. then going through the Stargate for the first Abydos mission. I even remember the first time Red dropped onto the table in the briefing room. But everything I am changed from the point I was cloned. I am my own man, I'm not him. And I do care for Dawn, very deeply."
"I don't want to see her hurt" said Buffy sternly.
"She won't be" said Jon.
"Because you do know that if she gets hurt" said Buffy as she leaned forward, "I'll have Tara turn you into a toad, then I'll keep you as a pet?"
"Yea" said Jon, "Red said something to that effect too."
"Ok then. Now that the sisterly threats are all out of the way" said Buffy with a grin, "welcome to the family."
TBC.