The first few months of their freshman year passed fairly uneventfully. A vampire nest was discovered on campus and the gang destroyed it. Spike returned to town and got his hands on a mythical gem that made him invincible, until Amy managed to trap him in a magical web and Buffy and Faith each chopped his hand and his head off. With his hand and the gem removed, he dusted just like any other vampire. But then Buffy announced she wanted to send it to Angel. A decision that did not go over well with anyone but Willow.
"Are you kidding me?" Xander said. "You know damn well that curse could break and you want to put a magical artifact in the hands of someone that tried to end the world?! Buffy, do you not get how bad an idea that is?"
"Xander, don't make a fuss." Willow said.
"But Angel could do alot of good with it, Xander!"
"But Angelus won't. And whether you like it or not, they share head space. It's too dangerous. Not to mention, there are other ways to remove a soul. Black magic ways." Amy said. "Angel might be doing good right now, but he's also making enemies. Enemies who are well aware of his reputation as the 'vampire with a soul'. One of them could get a bright idea and then Angelus is loose again and invulnerable and it'll be your fault!"
"Buffy, they are correct. This is a very bad idea." Giles said. "The gem should be destroyed, although, I am unsure how it could be. At the very least, it needs to be hidden. The Watchers Council has magically protected vaults. The gem could be hidden until a way is found to destroy it."
"I'm gonna have to go along with them on this, B. There's too much risk. Let G's people hide it or destroy it."
Finally Buffy reluctantly agreed and Giles contacted the Council who sent a courier to retrieve it. Then Halloween came around and with it new nightmares as a drop of Oz's blood on a drawing accidentally summoned a fear demon that made some of their nightmares come to life. Buffy made some bad personal decisions and Oz got seduced by a another werewolf and left Willow after the other werewolf attacked her and he killed it to protect Willow. Thanksgiving wasn't much better as they dealt with a Chumash vengeance spirit and then demons stole everyone's voice. Fortunately for Xander and Cordelia, the researchers studying the Alterran lab had gone home for Christmas and weren't there. It was at this time that the group discovered that Buffy's new love interest was a military officer who was part of a group kidnapping and experimenting on demons.
"This is not going to end well." Xander said. "They have no clue what they're doing and they're going to start a war. Beyond that, the government knows about demons. They don't seem to be aware of the Hellmouth, but them knowing about demons isn't a good thing."
"Especially the experimenting. What good could come out of that?" Cordelia asked.
"Nothing I can think of." Giles said.
Later when Xander and Cordelia were at home.
"I think we should call Colonel O'Neill, or maybe even go see him in person. I know from the military knowledge I have in my head, the military shouldn't be involved in this. Their presence makes it illegal. They have no jurisdiction off their bases or forts."
"What would you tell him?"
"That there is some kind of mixed military/civilian group that set up shop under a fraternity at the college. That there are abductions happening. That there's rumors of behavior modification chips being implanted. That should be enough for him to pass it up the chain and hopefully get it to someone who can shut these people down before they start a war. The demons aren't going to tolerate this for long and people are going to get caught in the crossfire."
"I agree."
Colonel O'Neill and SG 1 had just returned from Kalowna, Jonas Quinn's homeworld, where they helped the people deal with Anubis, a half Ascended Goa'uld who attacked them, when he was notified that Xander Harris was here to see him. Curious, he had the guard escort him down.
"Colonel, thank you for seeing me. There's something you need to know and I didn't want to talk about it over the phone."
"Something wrong at the lab?"
"No, and the researchers have gone home for Christmas. The issue, sir, is there's a mixed group of military, Army to be exact and civilians that have set up shop in one of the fraternities on campus. They're being led by a civilian who teaches at the college, she's also a psychologist. Individuals have been disappearing and when they're seen again, if they behave violently, even just get angry, they feel intense pain in their heads. There's rumors going around that this group is experimenting with behavior modification chips implanted in people's brains. I get that this sounds like something out of a bad sci fi show, but it's real. The gang violence in Sunnydale is bad enough. This could incite a war, with innocent people caught in the crossfire."
"Let's go talk to the General." Colonel O'Neill took Xander to General Hammond's office, where Xander explained what was going on. General Hammond asked several questions and then called the President to let him know. The presence of military officers involved made the situation very concerning for all of them.
"It's too late for you to head back tonight, kid. You can stay at my place, I've got extra bedrooms."
"Thank you, sir. I'll take you up on that."
Xander's trip seemed to have gone well. That is until he woke up and realized he wasn't in the bed he'd gone to sleep in. He was laying on a slab in a very hi tech looking lab and there was a little grey alien blinking his large eyes at him.