I know that season 1 of BTVS seemed to imply that the events of the Buffy movie happened at the beginning of her sophomore year. However, I am having things happen at the end of her freshmen year as it makes more sense to me and fits my story better.

Chapter 3: Things Change

*****Two Days Later*****

Jack didn't need to threaten Joyce with a lawyer because Buffy told her mother that she wanted to leave with her dad.

"Buffy, you know that Hank and I are sick over what happened," Joyce said to her. "We love you."

"Not enough to believe me when I told you something extraordinary had happened to me," Buffy said flatly. "I saved lives at that dance. My watcher, Merrick, though, is dead. I couldn't save him, and all you and Hank cared about was seeing if I was on drugs, which I am now because the place you sent me to drugged me. So much so that I could barely fight off a man who tried to rape me. I almost died because you didn't trust me enough to let me show you who I am."

"Honey, I'm sorry," Joyce said, crying.

"Not as sorry as I am," Buffy said bitterly.

"The rest of my team flew in this morning," Jack told Joyce. "They're heading to your house to pack up Buffy's room. Maybe you can let them know what her favorite things are. The weather is a lot colder, so we won't need too many of her clothes."

"All of my shoes," Buffy said pointedly.

"Of course," Jack said with a grin.

"And Mr. Gordo," Buffy reminded him. "Don't forget Miss Piggy." That one had been Charlie's, and she had kept it since his death. When Charlie was born, they had thought he was going to be a girl, so Jack had bought him a female pig. However, he'd always liked it. Joyce had gotten Buffy a male version when she was born, saying it was only fair.

"I will pack them both," Joyce said. "Will you let Hank say goodbye to you?"

"No. I don't want to see him," Buffy said stubbornly.

"Give her time, Joyce. It just happened," Jack advised, pulling her aside.

Joyce knew he was right and hugged Buffy. "I will come see you in Colorado in a few weeks," Joyce said. Then she gave the look Buffy was so good at imitating. "Whether you want me there or not."

Buffy felt a flash of guilt and pushed it away. Her mother nearly got her killed and raped. Buffy had nothing to feel guilty about.

*****A Few Days Later*****

Samantha Carter had been as disturbed as Teal'c when they flew to California and saw Buffy's injuries. To know that she had called Jack asking him to save her before her mom and stepdad sent her to that place would eat away at Jack for a long time. Sam couldn't blame him; it was a lot to deal with. However, Buffy was healing at an astounding rate, and there was no permanent damage.

Jack didn't know if he should bring up Buffy's claim to be a vampire slayer or let her bring it up.

"I think you should let her bring it up," Sam suggested.

"I think you should talk to her about it," Daniel said.

"I do not know," Teal'c replied. "Tauri teenagers are very different from Jaffa. Much more emotional."

"How about you have a cookout after she is unpacked and settled? We can invite Dr. Frasier and have her bring over Cassie. Cassie's Buffy's age. They'll both be finishing out their freshmen year," Samantha suggested.

"That's a good idea," Jack said. "Invite General Hammond and Dixon. Doesn't he have a kid or two around Buffy's age?"

"He does," Sam said.

"I'll give Dixon a call and tell him to bring his family. That won't be too many," Jack said. "We can invite Walter maybe."

"Sounds good," Daniel said.

Buffy was just glad to be out of the hospital and out of California. Her mother asked her before she left if she would say goodbye to Hank, but she just didn't have it in her. She was so grateful to her dad for coming for her and taking her away from it all. Maybe she could forget that she was a slayer and that she was so very strong.

Having a few days with her just her and her dad was just what she needed to feel safe again. They fished in his pond and watched The Simpsons and hockey. His friends waited three days before they came around.

Of course, her dad's friends were really nice but very different. Daniel definitely was the bleeding heart she had thought the first time she had visited Colorado, but now she knew he was brilliant and her dad's closest friend, almost like a younger brother. Dr. Carter, who insisted Buffy call her Sam, was both a soldier and a scientist. That meant she was also brilliant. Her dad said she was a genius—the greatest mind in the Air Force. Since her dad wasn't one for false flattery, Buffy figured it was true. Mr. T gave Buffy a solemn look at the hospital, but now at the cookout, she was able to really sense him. There was something different about him.

"Mr. T, you seem different to me," Buffy remarked. She frowned, trying to figure out what it was.

"Do you not like my new hat?" he asked. He had picked up an LA Lakers baseball cap while there packing up Buffy's place. Clearly, he was proud of the hat, and Buffy could not help but find the earnest man adorable. He was not like Americans, and she really liked him for his quiet mannerism. He was like a gentle giant that she somehow knew would explode into action to protect her in a moment's notice.

"I do," Buffy said, smiling at him. "That's not it. You know I've undergone some changes since I was last in this state. I have some new abilities that allow me to sense things about others. You seem different to me now. I don't know why."

"That is most unusual," Teal'c replied. "You should discuss this with your father. He does not wish to upset you or push you, so he has not brought up the topic of your claims of being a vampire slayer. Perhaps, you should discuss this new change with him."

Buffy looked stricken by Teal'c's words and shook her head. "Please don't say anything to him. He might decide I'm crazy, too. I just want to forget all about that. Besides, my watcher Merrick is dead. I can't help anyone anymore. I didn't save him," she shared. Then she walked away.

Teal'c frowned, disturbed by what she had revealed. Daniel came up to him. "I like the new hat," Daniel told him. "How's Buffy doing? She seems good to me."

"She told me some things that she does not want her father to know," Teal'c shared. "It was most unsettling."

"Well, I am not her father," Daniel pointed out. "Why don't you tell me what she said?"

Teal'c relayed his exchange with Daniel. "She is too young to carry such sorrow," Teal'c said.

"I agree," Daniel said. "I need to research vampire slayer as the word watcher rings a bell with me."

He observed Buffy interact with Dr. Frasier and her daughter Cassie. Friends would be a good first step.

Buffy smiled at the military doctor, who seemed genuinely nice. "You are healing at an astounding rate, Buffy," she said.

Jack waited until all the bruising was gone from Buffy's face and neck before having the cookout. Her arm was still in a cast and would be for a month at least. Although Buffy knew she could have taken off the cast earlier, she didn't see the point in bringing up all the questions that would come if she did so.

"It was just bruises. I still have the pretty cast as a reminder," Buffy said, holding up the hot pink cast.

"I can't believe someone at a hospital attacked you like that," Cassie said. "Mom told me."

"I just told her an orderly attacked you, and you fought him off," Dr. Frasier said, letting Buffy know that she didn't share her private business with her daughter.

"If I hadn't been so drugged, I totally would've kicked his ass!" Buffy insisted, causing Cassie to giggle.

"I am sure you would have," Dr. Frasier said, smiling at her, glad to see her show such spunk.

"So tell me about the high school I'll be going to. Freshmen year is basically over," Buffy said. "Dad said he went to the school and threatened to sue if they didn't expunge the expulsion from my record and exempt me from my finals. Too many students had told the police I had fought off the party crashers. I didn't cause the fight."

"How did he find that out?" Cassie asked.

"Dr. Carter—Sam," Buffy said. "She had read some reports, and then she went to the school when she came to town and spoke to some students. My stepdad heard about my dad's threats and decided he would make the same threats since he is an actual lawyer. It worked."

"That's great," Dr. Frasier said.

"No finals? That's better than great!" Cassie exclaimed. "I just finished mine, and they were tough."

"I'm just glad to be done with freshmen year," Buffy said. "Only three more to go."

"Yep," Cassie said. "Any thought to what you want to do afterwards?"

"If I survive, I'm not sure. I was on track to be an Olympian in gymnastics," Buffy shared.

Cassie laughed, thinking she was joking. "You don't think you'll survive high school? I promise, our school is tame compared to L.A. schools," she assured her.

Buffy gave her a small smile but didn't comment. If only it was the school that she was worried about.

Jack felt relieved to see Buffy chatting so easily with Cassie. When Dixon arrived with his teenagers, he made sure they were introduced to her. Although he was talking with Dixon and others, he kept a sharp eye on his daughter. She seemed to be doing well. Dr. Frasier came up to him.

"Buffy is an amazing girl, Jack," she told him.

"I know," he said.

"I think she and Cassie will be great friends," Janet told him.

"I hope so," Jack replied. "I want her to be happy here."

"It might take some time," Janet warned.

"I know," he said. He was just glad to have her with him.

"Would you like Cassie and I to take her clothes shopping?" Janet said. "Probably in a couple days. Give her two days to get more settled."

"That'd be great," Jack said. "Thanks." It seemed that his cook-out was everything he hoped it would be.

Daniel, though, stuck around to help clean up and shared with him what he heard from Teal'c.

To say that Jack was disturbed by the comments his daughter made to Teal'c was an understatement.

"What the heck do you think she meant?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," Daniel said. "I will need to research what a vampire slayer is and the word watcher. Something happened to her. Something that has given her a tremendous sense of responsibility. More than being the daughter of an officer."

Jack knew Daniel had a point, and he watched his daughter closely.

The nightmares she had bothered him a lot, so he insisted that she see a counselor.

However, she wouldn't talk to the counselor, so he spoke to General Hammond about his daughter.

"She is keeping things from me, sir, and I know I'm keeping things from her," he said.

"Colonel, you know that we cannot allow a minor to know about the Stargate program," Hammond told him.

"Maybe not entirely, but can I strongly hint?" he asked. "She's friends already with Cassie. Doesn't Cassie deserve to have one friend that knows exactly who she is and her true-life story? I want Buffy to trust a counselor, and the counselors we have on base deal with alien experiences, sir. Nothing Buffy can tell them can top that."

"She used the word vampire slayer, Colonel. That is beyond alien life," Hammond pointed out.

"Daniel says that there is a lot of ancient text referencing young girls given powers to fight the invaders," Jack told him. "He previously thought the text were in reference to the Goa'ulds, but now he isn't so sure."

Hammond looked thoughtful. "Does he think there might be some subterrestrial creatures we do not know about?" Hammond asked.

"He has speculated, but I told him that was impossible. We'd know," Jack said.

"Let me put in a call. Find out. Sometimes, the government purposely keeps branches in the dark from one another," Hammond said. "Compartmentalizing because the budgets are kept separate."

Jack looked disturbed by that. "We should know about any threat to this planet, sir," he said.

"Maybe they think we have enough to worry about," Hammond pointed out.

Jack nodded. "I guess I could see that," he acknowledged. "What about my daughter? Can I tell her a bit about what I do?"

Hammond considered it. "You cannot tell her about the Stargate, but you can tell her about alien life," he conceded.

"Teal'c and Cassie?" Jack asked.

Hammond nodded. "You may," he said.

Jack was relieved and wasted no time in getting an appointment with Dr. MacKenzie, who helped out his team a few times, and Jack trusted and knew the man even if the man wasn't always perfect.

Then he stopped by Dr. Frasier's office and told her what Hammond said.

"Cassie would be really happy if she could talk about her life before here with someone her own age, Jack. It would mean the world to her," Janet said, smiling at the news.

"I know. I used that in my argument to persuade him," Jack said with a smug grin.

Janet laughed. "Well, I appreciate you thinking of Cassie. Are you going to tell Buffy tonight?" she asked.

Jack nodded. "I will. So let Cassie know," he told her. "However, Buffy is not cleared to know about the Stargate specifically. Make sure Cassie knows that."

"Thanks for giving me the heads up," she said.

"Of course," he replied. "I'll bring Buffy over tomorrow for lunch, okay?"

"Sounds great," she said. "I'm scheduled here at two."

"I'm off, so why don't we just have Cassie stay the night?" Jack suggested.

"That'll be perfect. Thanks, Jack," Janet said. It was great having another parent with a kid her age that her daughter could be friends with. Cassie had lost so much, and she understood and empathized with Buffy's loss and personal pain. The girls had become fast friends. Jack was just as grateful as Janet was. Dixon's teenagers were boys, so Cassie wasn't as close to them.

That evening Jack told his daughter that his job in Deep Space Telemetry was to find and study alien life.

"Really?" Buffy asked. When Jack nodded and didn't smile, she realized that he was serious. "Have you found any?"

Jack nodded. "We have. I got permission from my boss, General Hammond, to tell you this because I don't like keeping secrets from you. Obviously, I can't tell you everything, sweetheart, but I don't want to lie to you all the time either. It's Top Secret what we do," he said.

"That's really cool, Dad," Buffy said, grinning. Then she said, "Teal'c! He is an alien!"

Jack smiled. "How did you know?" he asked.

"He makes me feel strange since my callin'," she admitted. "I thought maybe he was a demon of some kind or part demon."

"No, he's not a demon," Jack said mildly, trying not to react to her casual mention of the word. Was she insane? Did she actually have a mental break from reality? Had Joyce been right about something? He felt guilty for even thinking such a thing.

"Is he wearing a mask? He looks human to me," Buffy said.

"Most aliens are human," Jack said. "We have encountered a few species that aren't."

"Oh, so the little green men are real, too?" Buffy asked, her eyes light with excitement.

"Actually, they're grey," Jack said, grinning.

"That's so cool!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Now, I cannot tell you how we get to these aliens or anything more specific. That's classified. Please don't try to get Cassie to tell you anything. I could get into a lot of serious trouble," he told her.

"I understand," Buffy said. She was just glad that he told her something so unbelievably cool.

"There's something else," he told her. "Something very top secret that I need to tell you. As you probably know, you cannot tell anyone anything I've told you. Not your mom or any of your friends. Except one person already knows everything."

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"Cassie. Janet's daughter," Jack shared.

"She does? That's great. So I can talk to her?" Buffy asked.

Jack nodded. "The thing is, Buffy, she is an alien herself. Janet adopted her just a few years ago when her entire planet was destroyed," Jack said.

Buffy looked stricken. "Seriously? That's horrible!" Buffy exclaimed.

"It is. So she really does get your pain about losing Charlie. Except she lost a heck of a lot more than just a sibling," Jack said. "It will be really nice for her to be able to talk about things. Of course, she may not want to. It's probably very painful for her, so keep that in mind."

Buffy got that. She didn't really like talking about Charlie too much either. It hurt too much still. "But maybe, sometime, she will," Buffy said.

"Sure," Jack said. "Tomorrow, she will come over around lunch. You can talk to her then. Janet said that she can stay the night."

"That's great, Dad. Thanks," Buffy said, hugging him.

Jack held her close, hoping she would finally confide fully in him.

When she did, he almost wished she hadn't.

*****England*****

Rupert Giles and Sam Zabuto stood before Travers, having both been summoned to report at the same time. Sam had an idea why he was there, but Giles did not.

"Rupert, did Sam tell you that his potential Kendra was called recently?" Travers asked.

"Yes, I did hear that. Mother informed me," Giles said. "Did Merrick's slayer die at his side?"

"No, Buffy O'Neill, after just a being called a short time and with very little training, managed to kill a master vampire and save many lives as Lothos and his minions are dead," Travers said.

"Then how did Buffy die?" Giles asked.

"It seems that her stepfather found her actions at the school insane, or she told him of her calling. He had her committed," Travers said. "She was attacked at the facility after being heavily sedated. The orderly tried to rape her. Although she fought him off, she nearly died. Her heart stopped long enough for another slayer to be called."

"Oh, God, that's horrible!" Giles exclaimed.

"Yes, it is unfortunate," Travers agreed. "Luckily, she is okay and with her father. Colonel Jack O'Neill is not a fool. We have to tread carefully."

"Why am I here?" Giles asked.

"You are to be Miss O'Neill's new watcher," he announced.

"Really? After all this time, I am getting a charge of my own," Giles said in surprise. His indiscretions as a young man had really hurt his career.

"It has been decided that you will be perfect for this one," Travers said. "She will take some finesse. Her father might be a problem." Rupert knew what it was to beat to his own drum, so an American not Council-raised should be no problem for him.

"You cannot take her from him?" Sam asked.

Travers scoffed. "A colonel in the military, working on a Top-Secret military site? I think not," he said. "Rupert will get a job at the high school all the military kids attend and make contact with her in the fall."

"Very good, sir," Giles said, pleased. "What state is she in?"

"Colorado," he said. "She moved from California to Colorado Springs."

"I have never been. I hear that it is a beautiful state," Giles said.

"You will have all summer to get acquainted with the state and get settled," Travers said. He looked at Sam. "You and your slayer need to move to the hellmouth in Sunnydale, California. It is becoming very active. It is time that a slayer moves there full-time."

"I will make the arrangements," Sam said, nodding his head.

"Be careful. Hellmouths tend to get stronger before they level off," Travers advised.

"If Buffy is needed to help, let me know," Giles said to Sam.

"I am sure my slayer can handle it, but thanks," Sam said, holding out his hand to Giles who shook it.

Giles said goodbye to Travers and stopped to see his mother. She would be very excited to hear his good news.

*****Chapter End*****

How will things be different with Kendra in Sunnydale instead of Buffy? One Scooby will NOT survive as Kendra will not be as involved in school like Buffy was. There will be consequences of that. Thanks for reading! Reviews making me happy!