Hero for a New World
Author: Mark Safransky
Email: x-lander@yahoo.com

Spoiler Warning: Post Season Five for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and early Season Five for Stargate SG-1.

First story in the Buffy the Goa’uld Slayer series.

Summary: Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world but the Powers That Be aren't ready for her to quit the fight.

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Inc., Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Productions and 20th Century FOX. Stargate SG-1 is the property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Authors Notes: The following apply throughout the story:
'...' denotes thoughts.
//...// denotes radio communication.
*...* denotes communication between host and symbiote

Many thanks to my new beta-reader Drake who helped close some plot holes as well as clean up some points that plain didn't work or didn't make sense. This is a much better story for his input. Any errors are still purely my own.

Hero for a New World

The sun was rising over Sunnydale, California. Two young women stood at the top of a makeshift tower overlooking the town while a pulsing vortex of energy was ripping open the barriers between dimensions. Lightning like pulses of energy emerged from the portal causing transfers between dimensions. A building was transformed and demons emerged from it as another flash caused a dragon to appear in midair flying above the town.

One of the women, a petite blonde, turned to a young brunette and said, "Dawn, listen to me. Listen: I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles I... tell Giles I figured it out, and I'm O.K. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live... for me." With that, she turned and with a graceful leap off the tower, she dove into the vortex.

* * *

Early evening just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado was nice during the summer. As the train picked up speed to make its way over the mountains on its way to Los Angeles, metal fatigue caused the train to derail, causing enormous loss of life and widespread destruction. In the days to follow the locals and those who followed the news reports were stunned to learn of a lone survivor of one of the worst transportation disasters unrelated to terrorist activity in the past ten years. Many wondered at the survival of one Elizabeth Anne Summers, called Buffy by her distraught friends that were dragged before cameras and microphones, but especially the military doctors who cared for her at the U.S. Air Force Academy Hospital where she had been airlifted to after the derailment.

* * *

Buffy slowly came back to consciousness with the realization that she hurt just about everywhere. Her memories filtered back in and she groaned as she realized that she must have somehow survived her dive into the dimensional rift opened by that old man she had thrown off the tower before freeing her sister Dawn, the Key. As she ruminated on her last memories, she heard someone speaking softly to her right.

"General, if I didn't know better I'd swear she was a host. Her healing is phenomenal and I've never seen anything like it except in a Goa'uld."

A male voice rumbled in response, "Are you sure she's not a Goa'uld, Doctor?"

"Yes, we had to do full series of X-rays' and MRIs' on her just to determine her condition. There's no sign of infestation. Plus, since her healing has accelerated in the past couple of days we've taken blood samples and are sequencing her DNA. She appears to be human, no strange protein markers, no anomalous gene sequences, nothing. That's why we're double checking, there is no explanation for her rapid healing."

Buffy cracked open her eyes and saw a short woman in a white coat, obviously a doctor, and a stout, bald man in a military uniform near her bed. "Excuse me," she croaked. "Can I get something to drink?"

The doctor immediately turned in shock and reached for a glass of water while commenting, "Good morning Miss Summers. I'm very surprised to see you awake already. How're you feeling, hmm?"

After a couple of sips to ease the parchedness of her throat, Buffy replied, "Well, I kinda hurt all over. What happened, and where am I?"

"Miss Summers," the military officer answered. "I'm General Hammond. You're in the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado Springs. The train you were on derailed and you were rushed here for treatment."

"Train?" Buffy mumbled in confusion. "I wasn't on a train, I was on the tower with Dawn."

General Hammond turned to the doctor as she began taking Buffy's vitals and asked, "Amnesia?"

"Hmm, I don't think so." The doctor mused, "Miss Summers, you were on a train headed to Los Angeles when it derailed. Who is Dawn?"

"Dawn's my sister." Then Buffy blinked and looked at the General, "Did you say Colorado Springs?"

"Yes, the train derailed just west of town Miss Summers."

"Um, just Buffy is fine. How did I get from California to Colorado?"

The doctor and the General shared a quick glance before Hammond answered, "Buffy, you were on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. You hadn't reached California yet." He turned to the doctor, "Doctor Fraiser, please report to the base this afternoon and let me know how she's doing. I'm going to see what I can find out about her."

"Of course, General."

"Buffy," the General addressed the young blonde again. "We'll see what we can do about reaching your family and letting them know where you are."

"Thanks. Um, my Mom died a few months ago, so it's just Dawn and me. You can also call Rupert Giles and let him know. He's kinda like a father to us. He'll be able to tell my sister and help arrange things for me." Buffy paused for a moment before continuing on bitterly, "Not like you could reach my Dad anyway. He's probably still in Spain or Italy with his secretary."

"Is this Mr. Giles in L.A.?" General Hammond inquired.

"Oh, no. We live in Sunnydale. It's about 2 hours up the coast from L.A.," Buffy sighed tiredly.

"Alright Buffy, time for some more rest. You're very lucky to have survived that crash," Doctor Fraiser told her as she administered a sedative to her IV drip. "I'm sure the General will have good news for you later."

Buffy tried to reply but was soon lost in darkness as she dropped off to sleep.

* * *

General Hammond sat behind his desk in his office on Level 28 of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, which contained NORAD on the first 15 levels, and the lower 13 contained Stargate Command, which he commanded. He was flipping through a number of documents faxed to him, which contained all the information the government was able to collect on Elizabeth Anne Summers within a few hours time. Born January 21, 1981 in Los Angeles, California to Henry and Joyce Summers. Nothing really jumped out at him so far concerning her history except the fact that she didn't have the sister she'd claimed in the hospital. There was also no town called Sunnydale in California. She was a mediocre student, cheerleader, and Prom Queen. However, her SAT scores belied that airhead exterior. She had scored well enough that she was accepted into a number of prestigious schools and had chosen to attend Northwestern, majoring in Psychology. His attempts to find a Rupert Giles in southern California had so far come up empty. Frustrated, he sighed and looked up at a knock on his door.

Colonel Jack O'Neill, his 2IC and the CO of his best off-world team, leaned his head in and said, "General, Daniel says he needs your authorization to purchase some more musty, old books. He says an old friend who works for some museum is selling part of their collection and he wants whatever it is they're getting rid of." O'Neill stood in front of Hammond's desk waiting for his reply.

"How much does Dr. Jackson need and exactly what does he need this material for?"

"Well, he said it's some diaries and histories from the British Islands that might contain some information on Goa'uld activity during the 16th through 18th centuries. He thinks that a Goa'uld, maybe Sokar, was collecting slaves and hosts back then. It would explain that Christian village we found on P9X-3971," Jack explained.

"Yes, it certainly would. Ask Dr. Jackson to provide me with a manifest list of the items he wants to purchase, how much it would cost and a short memo justifying the outlay of funds." The General started to reach for his phone when he stopped and looked back up at O'Neill and asked, "Who is this friend we would be buying these books from?"

"I think Daniel said his name was Rupert Giles."

* * *

Buffy sighed when she became aware of a light surrounding her and noticed someone standing in front of her. "Who?"

"Hello, Buffy," the figure said before moving forward. A short humanoid figure dressed in outdated clothing and a small bowler hat.

"Whistler!" Buffy spat at her companion. "What the hell is going on? I jump expecting to die and then I wake up in Colorado being told I survived a train crash. Plus they were worried about something, Gould's or whatever it is."

"Easy, Slayer, that's what I'm here to explain," the balance demon told her while holding his hands up defensively. "You were right in guessing that the Key was created using your DNA as the matrix. When you jumped, you closed the portal and saved the world."

"And?" Buffy arched her eyebrow in irritation.

Whistler sighed and said softly, "You died. Your body came out of the portal and landed at the base of the tower. All your friends survived, including your sister."

Buffy muttered a heartfelt, "Thank God," before looking back up and asking, "So why aren't I dead?"

"Well, your existence ended in that dimension while in this one your counterpart died in the train crash. The Powers have been looking into this dimension recently and decided that there are some things that need to be done. So, needing a champion here, they drafted you."

"What?" Buffy cried out. "You mean I died and they still won't let me retire? Come on, won't they ever cut me a break?"

"Listen doll, I think it kinda sucks, too. However, you're alive here. As a bonus, there are no vampires or demons in this dimension and the Powers are letting you keep your Slayer powers for another fight."

"Wait, no vamps or demons? Then what do the Powers want me to fight?" Buffy inquired.

"Well, the big threat in this universe is an alien race of parasites called the Goa'uld. They burrow into the body and take over control. They have enslaved billions of people over half the Galaxy and are at war with this Earth," Whistler explained.

"Oh, so that's what the military guy and the doctor were worrying about. Hey! They thought one was in me? That's so gross."

Whistler smiled, "Yeah, it's your Slayer healing that made them think that. Anyway, the Powers have modified your powers a bit to fit this dimension. Instead of sensing demons, you'll sense the Goa'ulds instead. Your strength, speed, and healing are a bit boosted to compensate as well. Oh, you'll also be able to operate any Goa'uld technology. Normally you'd need to have some mineral in your blood, but the Powers decided to give you the ability to do so in addition to your other powers. This is the first time they tried something like that, so be prepared for some side effects. They've also modified the Slayer essence, since no single warrior could pose a threat to the Goa'uld. You've just become the first Goa'uld Slayer, mother of the line of Goa'uld Slayers. Congratulations, First Slayer! Any other questions?"

Buffy sat still for a moment before sadly looking up and asking, "What about my friends, are any of them still my friends here in this whatever? And Dawn?"

"A couple of them, yes," Whistler replied. "Some may become friends in the future. And you'll have new friends as well. But the Key has no form here, yet."

Buffy nodded sadly, as she tried to control her emotions. "And the military?"

Whistler looked up for a moment before responding, "The people here, the ones you'll be meeting over the next day or so, you can trust. They will be some of those new friends I mentioned and tell you what to look out for. Plus, the Powers are going to provide you with someone that will help you. Be careful kid and good luck."

Whistler faded from view; Buffy sighed as the light faded and she woke up back in the hospital.

* * *

Daniel Jackson, anthropologist and linguist, reported to General Hammond's office. Jack had called him while he was engrossed in translating the markings on an urn recovered from P3R-277 by SG-7 a few weeks before. The markings appeared to be in the Irish form of Gaelic and seemed to confirm his recent musings that a Goa'uld had raided the British Isles only a few hundred years ago. But important and interesting aside, when a General called, you hustled. Hmm... Jack should have mentioned the books to the General, so maybe it's about that? But they aren't THAT expensive... for several century old diaries, at least.' He knocked on the office door and stepped in to see the General waving some papers at Jack while his best friend seemed to be rolling his eyes. "General, Jack, what's up?"

"Sit down, Dr. Jackson. Colonel O'Neill told me about your request for funds to buy some materials from a friend of yours in Britain. He said the name of your friend is Rupert Giles, is that correct?"

Daniel wondered what his friend had done to warrant the General's interest but replied, "Yes, he's a curator with the British Museum. I worked one summer with him at a dig in Wales. He's an expert in the mythology of the Isles and is good with languages. He taught me quite a bit that summer and seemed to be open to things a number of our colleagues never were. In fact, if he were an American, I would have had him recruited a long time ago."

Hammond listened to Daniel's impassioned speech about his friend and made a snap decision. "If I were able to get clearance for him, do you think he would accept?"

Jack looked very puzzled at this while Daniel immediately stated, "Once it was explained to him, I think you'd have to tie him down to keep him from being here. General, why the sudden interest in Mr. Giles?"

"Yeah, the moment I mentioned his name you seemed to know who he was," Jack put in.

"Alright, Jack, Dr. Jackson, there is a young woman in the Academy Hospital. You heard about the train derailment? She's the sole survivor. The person she mentioned as contact was a Rupert Giles."

"What?" both Jack and Daniel burst out.

"Yes. However, she mentioned this man living in Sunnydale, California. The thing is, there is no Sunnydale in California or anywhere else in the US. We thought she might have meant Sunnyvale, but there are no records of her ever living there. Plus, she mentioned a sister that isn't mentioned in any records. She is also healing very fast, inhumanly fast, approaching Goa'uld fast from the sunny side. Doctor Fraiser speculated on Goa'uld infestation, but found nothing. DNA testing shows no irregularities, the rapid healing is something we can't explain. And on the heels of this information, Doctor Jackson just happens to know a man with the same name as her mysterious contact. You see my interest now?"

Daniel tossed this about in his head while Jack said, "I'd say it's just a coincidence, but I don't believe in them. Are you having her background checked further?"

"We seem to have all the information on her that the government has. She's a bright, athletic young woman who was a cheerleader in High School and is studying Psychology at Northwestern. She was on her way home for summer break until a train derailment landed her in the hospital. Then we find these peculiarities and are now very interested in them."

"General," Daniel began. "Would it possible for me to speak to her?"

"Doctor Fraiser is supposed to report to the base this afternoon and update me on her findings. When she returns to the hospital, you can go with her and talk to her if she's awake."

"Thank you," Daniel replied. "What's her name?"

"Elizabeth Anne Summers. However, she prefers to be called Buffy."

"Buffy?"

* * *

Buffy woke to find Dr. Fraiser and a nice looking guy in slacks and a polo shirt standing just inside her room, talking softly, and looking at her. When they noticed her open her eyes, they stepped forward, "Buffy, this is Doctor Daniel Jackson. He's a friend of mine and works for General Hammond. He'd like to talk to you, if you wouldn't mind."

"Sure," Buffy replied with a yawn. "Could I have something to drink first?"

"Certainly." She turned and poured a glass of water for her patient. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Buffy sipped at the water while eyeing Dr. Jackson. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Um, well, the General said you asked to have us contact Rupert Giles."

"Yeah, although I'm beginning to wonder if he's the same here," Buffy said, then winced.

"The same?" Daniel asked intently.

"Um, yeah. I think from what has been said that something weird is going on. I mean I'm in a train crash that I don't remember. I wake up in Colorado and am being cared for by military officers. That doesn't seem right. Plus, I overheard the doctor and that General saying something about me being a Goa'uld. What the heck is that supposed to mean," Buffy bluffed. "And what do you do around here? Are you a shrink?"

"No, I'm an anthropologist and linguist."

"Really? You'd get along great with Giles then. Do you wear tweed?" Buffy joked.

"Tweed? Um, not generally," Daniel answered while trying to get back on topic. "So you know Mr. Giles well?"

"Well, yeah. He was the librarian at my High School."

Daniel pursed his lips as he thought that statement over. He knew for a fact that Rupert Giles hadn't left Britain in over a decade. That he would have worked as a librarian in an American High School was ludicrous. However, the girl didn't seem to be lying. But, she had just survived a train wreck and might be a bit addled. "Um, well, I know Rupert Giles and he's a curator for the British Museum. He's never worked as a librarian, especially here in America. Plus, from what I've heard, the town you said you live in doesn't exist."

"What?" Buffy cried out. "No Sunnydale? That doesn't..." she trailed off deep in thought. It made sense in a weird sort of way; the mayor had founded Sunnydale because of the Hellmouth. With no demons here there couldn't be a Hellmouth, or a sorcerer turning into a demon. So there wouldn't be a Watcher's Council either, since there was nothing to fight. If there were no Watchers then there was nobody to dispatch Giles after Merrick's death. 'Oh my god, Merrick might still be alive!' That thought made her feel a bit better. Suddenly realizing that Dr. Jackson was looking at her like a particularly interesting specimen in a jar, she looked back up, and said, "I think there is something definitely weird going on here."

"No kidding," Daniel agreed. "How about you tell me about what you remember of your life and then we'll see what matches with what we've learned."

Buffy sighed as she thought that over. It would probably be the smartest thing to do, but it was so hard to trust someone with the story of her life, especially anyone connected to the military. After her experience with the Initiative, it was almost impossible. However, Whistler did say this was a different universe and she would make friends with these people as well as being able to trust them. Now did she trust Whistler? A very good question. Plus, she hated talking about her life as the Slayer. It almost made her wish she had Giles' Watcher Diaries about her. It would be so much easier to let them read about her exploits than to relate them personally. It still hurt at times to delve into some of the events of her life. "You're going to think I'm a nutball," she stated with reluctance.

"Not necessarily," Daniel replied. "I've seen and done lots of stuff most people would consider impossible. Besides, from what you've been saying it almost sounds like you're from an alternate reality." Daniel smiled slightly when her eyes widened and jaw dropped slightly. "Like I said, I'll believe you."

"Why?" Buffy asked with a bewildered tone in her voice.

"Because I've been to two myself," Daniel stated calmly.

Buffy just stared at him for a moment before finally relaxing back into her pillows and muttering, "Thank God." She straightened up and agreed to tell him whatever he wanted to know about her life.

"One moment," Daniel said as he lifted a briefcase from the floor and set a large tape recorder onto a table beside the bed. "Okay, this is just to record everything so I can refer back to it later rather than pestering you to repeat things."

"Thanks. Um, what should I start with?"

"How about just stating your name, date of birth, and a general accounting of your life," Daniel responded.

"Great, I should have brought my diaries along. Or forced Whistler to send Giles' Watcher Diaries here."

"Watcher Diaries?"

"Oh boy, I guess a lot of this is going to sound crazy. Okay, my name is Buffy Anne Summers..."

Daniel interrupted her, "Buffy, or Elizabeth Anne Summers?"

Buffy looked at him like he were crazy. "Why does everyone think that Buffy is short for Elizabeth?" She shook her head, and after a moment continued, "My name is Buffy Anne Summers, I was born..." Buffy began reciting her vital statistics and told Daniel of how she was born and raised in Los Angeles until that fateful day at Hemery High School when Merrick first approached her and informed her that she was the Slayer. She continued with her story telling of Lothos, her expulsion from Hemery due to burning down the gym full of vampires, her parents' divorce, and subsequent move to Sunnydale with her mother. When she mentioned Giles introducing himself as her new Watcher, she digressed a bit to talk about the Watcher's Council and their supposed place in supporting the Slayer, and how they failed rather badly. Buffy then continued her tale with her adventures and the forming of the Scooby Gang. After many hours and not a few tear-filled hesitations on her part, with concerned comforting on his, she finished her tale with her dive into the vortex to save the world as well as her sister's life, waking in the hospital and the dream or vision with Whistler informing her of her new destiny.

Daniel sat stunned at what he had heard. Gathering the tapes and sliding them into the briefcase, he paused to squeeze her arm and told her, "Buffy, I don't know what to say. I mean, the reality you must have come from sounds horrific at times. I can't imagine how you've survived." He sighed as he loaded the recorder back into the briefcase and turned back to her with a small grin, "However, if it means anything, I think those Powers That Be made a good decision on who to send."

"Thanks, Dr. Jackson. It just cheeses me off that they couldn't just ask if I wanted to help. Typical of them though."

"Sounds like it. Well, I've got a meeting with the General in the morning and I fear Dr. Fraiser will get miffed, if I stay much longer. And it's never a good idea to get a doctor's ire focused on you, especially when you have to visit her. Oh, I almost forgot, we're trying to get Giles here."

"Giles, really?" Buffy perked up immediately at that news.

"Yes, but I've wanted him to come over here for some time and this is a great excuse. Besides, I can't wait to see his face when we introduce you to him," Daniel said with a grin.

Buffy slowly formed an evil smirk herself as she realized that while she knew Giles extremely well by now, the Giles of this reality didn't know her. This could be fun!!

* * *

The next morning Daniel gathered together the transcript of his talk with Buffy from the evening before as well as some information he had gathered concerning her friends, or at least their counterparts in this reality. The similarities and differences between them were astonishing. He was still somewhat reeling over the fact that vampires and demons really existed somewhere in the multiverse. And of course the Powers That Be, who seemed to be as close to god as anything could get. He felt that what they would learn over the coming days would reshape their understanding of reality. Quickly heading into the conference room, he poured a cup of coffee and sat down next to Jack. The entire team was here as well as Dr. Fraiser awaiting the General.

"So Daniel," Jack started off. "What did you learn from Miss Summers yesterday?"

"Well, I really think the General needs to hear this, too. It's just astonishing."

"Astonishing?" Major Samantha Carter, another team member, who was also a theoretical astrophysicist, inquired.

"Yeah, it's really going to knock you for a loop." Daniel smiled slightly as he envisioned how Sam might react to learning that myths here apparently existed for real in another reality.

"What do you mean, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c, the last and only non-human team member of SG-1, asked.

"Well, from what I can tell..." Daniel was interrupted by General Hammond's entrance into the room from his office.

"Good morning, SG-1, Dr. Fraiser. I wanted all of you here for this briefing concerning our curious Miss Summers. Dr. Fraiser, how's she doing?"

Janet Fraiser opened the folder in front of her containing Buffy's medical file and stated, "As of 0600 this morning she's pretty much healed of all the wounds she received from the train derailment and I would have no problem certifying her release by this afternoon. The DNA tests we conducted show no anomalies. I can find no apparent reasons for her extremely fast healing. All readings are normal though she has an unusually large number of T cells in her blood stream. I would like to run a complete physical workup on her, if possible."

"I see no reason why not, Doctor. When you return to the hospital, go ahead and run your tests. Also tell her that Mr. Giles will be arriving here tomorrow and that you will be releasing her to come here to meet him."

"Ah General..." Jack began.

"I've talked to him already, Colonel, and, after getting clearance from the President, invited him here to work with Dr. Jackson. He was a bit leery since I couldn't tell him what he'd work on, but agreed after I said Dr. Jackson requested his presence and that we'd take care of the paperwork," the General stated, before turning to Daniel. "So, what did you learn from her? You spent hours with her, so I'm assuming you have something to pass on to us."

Daniel grinned before passing copies of the transcript to everyone as he said, "Basically, Buffy is from an alternate reality."

"For cryin' out loud, Daniel. You get on this alternate reality kick again and..."

"I'm serious Jack. And she knows it, too."

"Explain, Doctor," General Hammond looked like he'd just bitten into a lemon and didn't like it.

"Well, back in her reality she had just jumped from a tower into an interdimensional vortex of energy that was opened and would destroy her world, and several other realities. Her jumping into it was required to close it. However, it also killed her." Daniel put up his hands to stave off the questions on everyone's lips. "It was opened mystically. In her world, magic is real. Also certain creatures exist, as well as portals to other dimensions."

"Creatures?" Sam asked hesitantly.

"Vampires and demons," Daniel answered promptly. "Read the transcript of her life story. It's fascinating. This poor girl was chosen by some force or being to become the savior of her world while she was a teenager. She became a warrior striving to keep her world safe from those creatures we call myth. In fact, they are mostly considered myths on her world as well. Although I found it interesting that the United States government in her world obviously knew about the supernatural threat and even had a covert operation studying them, until they did something extremely stupid and their facility was destroyed in a battle that Buffy participated in."

"Supernatural creatures and threats, Dr. Jackson? Do you know what that sounds like?" General Hammond asked as he started flipping through the transcript.

"Yes sir, however, the most relevant part of our conversation came at the end when she related that she had a dream or vision which told her why she had been sent to our reality."

"What!?!" Everyone's heads popped up to stare at him at this statement.

"Well, she stated that she's had prophetic dreams since being called. This was more like a visitation than a dream, though. Apparently, a balance demon named Whistler came and told her that her job was finished in her universe, she died, and that was that. However, the powers that chose her in the first place decided that an accomplished warrior like herself was needed here, in our reality, to fight the Goa'uld. Hence, her awakening here with the powers she had there," Daniel explained to their incredulous looks.

General Hammond thought this sounded like the biggest load of malarkey he'd ever heard, excepting her miraculous survival and phenomenal healing ability. "Wait a moment, are you saying she knows about the Goa'uld?"

"Yeah, she said that Whistler told her that she was now the first Goa'uld Slayer for this reality. Oh, there was a line she said came from an old book that explained about Vampire Slayers that might now hold for her here. 'Into each generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.' Buffy also mentioned that when one Slayer dies, another is called. It's a mystical lineage that lasted thousands of years in her reality and she may be the first of a new lineage in this one." Daniel leafed through some papers in another folder as everyone contemplated what kind of destiny the Slayer was called to have.

"I don't know what's more horrifying, that it might be true or that it might not," Sam's voice trembled as she thought about it.

"Indeed, Major Carter. However, is it not also what you might call inspiring, that a being or beings felt compelled to empower a chosen person, as their personal warrior, to help safeguard the rest of your people?" Teal'c inquired.

"Woah," Jack sputtered. "Are you saying that this girl has suddenly been chosen by some god-like being to save us all from the Goa'uld?"

"Essentially, yes. These beings might even be the truth behind the monotheistic religions. The prophets described in the Bible sound a lot like Buffy described her visions. So the basis of Judaism may well be an earlier intervention by these beings against the Goa'uld."

"Dr. Jackson, I will fax this information on to the President. I really don't know how he's going to react to reading it, though. In fact, I'm not sure how to react," the General stated. "Be that as it may, it might be wise to hold off on discussing any of this outside this room for now. Do you have anything else for us?"

Daniel pulled out a sheet of paper and grinned, "I did a search for the friends she mentions in her account and found a number of them existing in our reality. Willow Rosenberg is currently studying computer programming and analysis at MIT. She was a friend of Buffy's in high school here as can be seen in these pictures from their high school yearbook. Alexander Harris is currently an Air Force Academy graduate who is home in L.A. on summer leave. He is also slated to be recruited for Special Ops and brought into the Stargate recruitment program this fall."

"You're kidding," Jack said.

"Seriously, I was surprised, too. There are pictures of him from the yearbook, too; I think they were friends as well. There is a great picture of the three of them sitting on a bench talking together. So, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to bring him in a little early. Sam, you might have Lieutenant Hailey talk to him."

"Yeah, that might make sense. We'd have to clear that with General Kerrigan first, though."

"I'll do that, Major," General Hammond said. "It would have to be authorized through my office anyway. Continue, Doctor."

"Yes, sir. Daniel Osborne is currently a guitarist for a band playing locally in the L.A. area, which is starting to get some recognition from local radio stations and clubs. Cordelia Chase is a fashion buyer for a Beverly Hills boutique as well as an aspiring actress. Tara Maclay is a student at UCLA majoring in feminist studies. None of them seems to have been a close friend in this reality, though that's hard to tell from official documents. We'll have to wait until Lt. Harris arrives to know for sure. There is no record of an Anya Jenkins, but from what Buffy said Anya was a former vengeance demon who became human and thus would have no counterpart here. Rupert Giles is a curator of the British Museum and an expert in the myths and legends of the British Isles. He is also an acquaintance of mine from a few years before I joined the Stargate project. In Buffy's world he was also her Watcher, who was a mentor and researcher who trained and supported the Slayer. Buffy and I both can't wait to spring that on him when he arrives." Daniel grinned again just thinking about it.

The General gathered the papers before him as he stood to go. "Very well. Dr. Fraiser, conduct your tests and bring her to the base with you tomorrow. I've been told to grant her an interim clearance to the base. We'll get her to sign the necessary clearance forms tomorrow." He sighed thinking of the phone call he was about to place to the President to explain the results of this meeting. "Dr. Jackson, I suppose you should be prepared to greet Mr. Giles when he arrives and escort him here. Jack, I want you and Teal'c to prepare quarters on base for Miss Summers and Mr. Giles. Major, as soon as I have clearance, I'll expect you to pass on to Lt. Hailey and General Kerrigan what we need Lt. Harris for. Let's move people."

Everyone rushed off to complete their assignments with images of vampires and demons in their heads.

* * *

Rupert Giles looked out the window of the airplane he was currently a passenger on, heading to his new job.

It had taken him a number of hours to pack up all the materials his old friend Daniel had requested as well as tender his application for an extended sabbatical to the head curator. Slowly taking his glasses off and polishing the lenses, he pondered his new job.

A call in the early evening from an American Air Force Major General offering him a position as a civilian consultant on a classified American project working with his old friend Daniel Jackson had really thrown him for a loop. There was also the fact that they wanted him badly enough to take care of all the paperwork as well as offer an exceptional salary as long as he agreed to sign their non-disclosure forms. While not as overbearing as the Official Secrets Act of Britain, he was still bound to never speak of what he might see and learn on this endeavor to anyone not cleared.

Well, he would learn all when he arrived. It would be great to see Daniel again after so many years. He had lost touch with him several years ago when Daniel dropped out of sight without publishing or apparently doing any field work as well until a sudden letter recently informed him that Daniel was working for the American government and was interested in some information pertaining to his own field. Rupert couldn't wait to find out how all this tied together.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat to try napping a bit before arriving in Colorado.

* * *

Buffy was getting really bored with laying around when she was feeling much better when Dr. Fraiser came to see her that afternoon and said she was going to do some physical testing. "Yay, I get to get out of bed for this. Right?"

"Yes, you get to get dressed in some work out clothing and we're going to test your strength and stamina to see how you're doing." Dr. Fraiser smiled at the cheerful expression on her patient. "Feel up to it?"

"Sure. I'm really bored just laying around." Buffy jumped up and practically bounced around the room in excitement.

After changing Buffy followed Dr. Fraiser down the hall to a large room filled with some major exercise equipment that seemed to be wired to a batch of computers near the far wall. Motioning for Buffy to step up to a treadmill, Dr. Fraiser told her, "Okay, what we're going to do is allow you to get a workout and let me see how much of your strength and stamina have bounced back after your stay here."

"Um, Doc, Daniel did tell you that I'm stronger than I look, right?" Buffy asked with trepidation.

"Yes, he did, and I have a copy of what you told him yesterday." Janet Fraiser was still unsure just how much of that story to believe.

"Oh good, so I can go all out?"

"Actually, I'd prefer that you do. That way I can get an accurate baseline on your condition and if you'll need any continued physical therapy for awhile," Janet said in a slightly challenging tone of voice.

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she caught the hint of disbelief in the doctor's voice and suddenly grinned ferally, as she stepped up onto the treadmill, and said, "Fine. Let her rip."

Janet activated the recording equipment for the workout room and then started the treadmill. "Now, let's see how your stamina is doing thus far. I want you to slowly build up to a steady jog." As she stated this she glanced at the indicators as Buffy started running. She did a quick double take as she saw Buffy's speed climb to nearly 15 miles an hour. "I said a jog, not a flat out run."

Buffy grinned back impishly as she replied, "I am jogging."

Janet's jaw dropped as she spluttered, "You jog a mile in 4 minutes?"

"Well, I usually don't do much jogging. Either I'm walking or running full out."

The silence was thick as Janet processed the fact that the young girl in front of her claimed to be able to jog as fast as most Olympic sprinters run. "How long do you think you can keep this pace?"

"Not sure, probably an hour or two." Buffy was really enjoying this now. It wasn't often she got to use her Slayer powers to really astonish people. This was turning into quite a bit of fun as well as letting her loosen up a bit after the long, boring bed rest.

As she continued jogging while Janet kept checking the machines diagnostics. Sam slipped into the room and, after Janet introduced her, leaned against a wall to watch the testing. Janet finally shrugged and looked up at Buffy and said, "It's astounding, your stamina must be incredible. I suppose it would allow you to run this fast for short periods of time."

"Um, doc, I'm just jogging. Remember?"

"Right, then I suppose we should see just how fast you can sprint." As soon as the words left Janet's mouth, Buffy started breathing deeply and increased her speed dramatically. The indicators quickly climbed to just over 40 miles an hour. Janet and Sam's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads as the Slayer ran full out on the treadmill while breathing deeply to keep the oxygen flowing to her lungs.

"That's not possible!" Sam shouted while Janet was again doing diagnostics on the machine.

"Sure it is," Buffy grunted.

The two Air Force officers finally had to admit to themselves that while it was impossible for a human being to run at 40 miles an hour for even a short period of time, Buffy Summers had been doing it for almost 5 minutes already. "Alright, I think that's enough," Janet finally said as she reached for a syringe.

"Oh man," Buffy whined. "Why is it that doctors always seem to take more blood from me than most vamps do?"

Janet just took a blood sample while trying to keep from laughing. Sam had no compunctions, she simply chuckled as she handed Buffy a towel. "Just how long can you run that fast?"

Buffy seemed to consider the question for a moment as she wiped the small sheen of sweat from her forehead. "Well, I've run all the way across town a few times, so I guess at least 10 or 15 minutes. I do get tired pretty quick when I do, though. Not good to get to a fight and be too pooped to really give a good thrashing to the bad guys." Buffy suddenly looked up and asked, "Did I just say thrashing?"

Janet and Sam nodded in response and Buffy pouted as she said, "I really hang out with Giles too much, I'm starting to talk Brit."

Janet labeled the vial containing the latest sample from Buffy and pointed over to a weight machine hesitantly as she remembered that Daniel had mentioned increased strength was another of the Slayer's powers. "Alright, now that I'm in shock from how fast you can run, let's see just how strong you are too."

Buffy climbed into the weight machine and gripped the handles as Janet flipped on the hydraulics. Slowly turning a dial that controlled the amount of weight that was being placed, her eyebrows began to climb as it became apparent that Buffy was lifting over twice her own weight and didn't seem to be straining at all. Looking over at Sam, she began to increase the weight. By the time Buffy started to buckle under the strain, she was lifting over two tons. By now both women had almost no more doubts about Buffy's physical abilities. This petite young girl was capable of feats no human or Goa'uld could match. Sam doubted that even an Unas would be capable of matching the Slayer's strength. Even with only the most basic combat skills this girl would probably be the deadliest warrior on the planet.

After taking Buffy out of the weight machine, Janet started attaching wireless sensors to her body to read her vitals for the next test. As she was doing that, she told her, "Buffy, we've been told that Mr. Giles will be arriving at the base tomorrow."

Buffy's eyes lit up as she chirped, "Really?" At a nod from both Janet and Sam, she grinned and observed, "Daniel said he's a lot like my Giles. I really hope so, I miss him and Dawn and..." The words tapered off as tears began forming in her eyes.

"What's wrong Buffy?" Janet asked with concern.

Buffy wiped her eyes abruptly and whispered, "I miss Dawn. It's just so hard to believe that I'll never see her again."

Both Janet and Sam tried to comfort the girl while realizing that it would take time for Buffy to be able to stop missing her sister so deeply. Sam did have a bright bit of news for her though. "Buffy, while you may not have a sister in this reality we've learned that you had many of the same friends. In fact, your friend Alexander Harris is an Air Force Lieutenant who was going to be approached about the program later in the year. We've decided to recruit him a little sooner and get him here to help you out. We know that you were friends in high school here, so after learning about our program he should be ripe for springing your story on him."

"We were? Thank god. I don't think I could make it without my Xander-shaped friend. Say, how about Willow?"

"She's a student at MIT. She's very good with computers and science, so I might be able to get her recruited for her technical skills. According to your high school yearbook, you were best friends."

Buffy sniffled and gave them a watery smile as she sighed in relief. "Yeah, Will's my rock. I really couldn't have survived without her. Well, her and chocolate."

Sam burst out laughing as she realized she had a fellow chocoholic in front of her. Janet flipped a few switches and studied the displays before turning back to them and giving Sam a thumbs up. "Okay Buffy, now I want you to do some stretching and then you and Sam are going to do some light sparring, hand-to-hand."

Buffy immediately looked worried as she glanced over at Sam and asked, "Are you sure? My last boyfriend left me because he couldn't keep up. I guess he felt inadequate when he realized just how much stronger and faster I was than him. I mean, he could fight and all, but he couldn't handle the fact that I was better."

Sam hooked her arm over Buffy's shoulder and said with a grin, "Don't worry. I've been trained to level 3 hand-to-hand. I'm pretty good and I definitely wouldn't feel inadequate if I get beaten by someone who could throw a car at me. Beside that, I'm nobodies boyfriend."

They shared a laugh. "You know, I wonder if I could. I mean, I lifted a car once but never tried to actually pick it up and heave it," Buffy mused before finally grinning slightly back while she wiped her face with the towel and started stretching.

"Hey, you're pretty limber," Sam commented as she watched Buffy stretching her legs up over her head and contorting herself in ways that Sam was sure would rip all her muscles into shreds.

"Well, I was a cheerleader and did gymnastics for years before I was called and the Slayer powers just seemed to keep me real stretchy. Helps in fights to be able to twist like that." Buffy finished her warm-up and faced Sam while settling into a combat stance.

Sam did the same before Janet clicked a stopwatch and said, "Begin."

The two warriors slowly circled each other warily looking for weaknesses in their stances before Sam abruptly started throwing some quick jabs. Buffy leapt over her and upon landing behind her, lashed out with a sidekick that threw Sam across the room. She rolled back into a standing position to find the Slayer already there. Buffy reached out and grabbed Sam's shoulders and tossed her across the room again. As Sam tried to get up yet again she stopped when Buffy's foot suddenly appeared in front of her face. "I yield!" she cried as Janet clicked the stopwatch.

Both opponents looked over as Janet checked the displayed data again. Sighing, she turned back to them, and said, "Buffy's breathing and heart rate didn't climb more than a few notches before she had you down. Within 3 minutes as well."

Sam grinned at Buffy as she mused, "I think you and I are going to set up some matches on base for money. I want to see how much we make from a bout between you and Teal'c."

"Teal'c?"

"Yeah, he's a friend and teammate. He's also probably one of the best hand-to-hand and staff fighters on the base."

"Ooh, staffs?" Buffy asked with a gleam in her eye.

Janet and Sam recognized that look and promised themselves to bet heavily on the Slayer.

"Come on," Janet said as she started stripping off the sensors from Buffy. "I think you both should hit the showers before we meet in my office and talk about the tests."

* * *

General Hammond sighed after hanging up from his briefing of the President on the Summers girl.

The President's reaction was much different than he had expected. After reading all the documents Hammond had faxed to the White House, he had questioned the General closely concerning the Powers That Be that Buffy had said facilitated her being in this reality as well as the alleged vision with Whistler that explained things to her. Then the President had asked for copies of all of the girl's medical data and any other information revealed in further interviews be forwarded to him by secure e-mail (siprnet).

He also authorized the immediate recruitment of Lieutenant Harris and the Rosenberg woman into the program post haste. He also ordered the General to immediately set the Slayer up with her friends and with Lieutenant Hailey for use as an emergency SG team if needed.

While the General was still pondering this, the President also ordered that of the Tok'ra only Selmac/Jacob Carter was to be informed of any of the information on the Slayer.

He pulled a number of forms up on his computer and began implementing the President's orders. He had a lot of work to do and not much time to achieve it in.

* * *

Buffy sat in Dr. Fraiser's office with her and Sam Carter while they reviewed the results of her physical testing. "So, did I pass?"

Janet grinned and told her, "You know full well that it wasn't that kind of test, young lady."

Sam and Buffy both giggled in response when a knock on the door quieted them. Janet called out to whoever was knocking to come in. A young teenager poked her head in and asked, "Mom, is it all right if I go to the mall with Andy and Jennifer tonight?"

Janet mused that question while Buffy and the girl eyed each other momentarily. "Well, I suppose it's all right. Say, would you mind taking Buffy here along with you? I think she needs to do some shopping."

"Well..."

"You can use the car," Janet shamelessly bribed her foster daughter.

"You're on. Buffy?" she asked looking at the Slayer. "Hi, I'm Cassie. I can pick you up here at 6 o'clock if you like?"

Buffy quickly glanced at Janet to see a quick nod. "Sure, that's good for me. Thanks."

"Cool. See you then." Cassie immediately backed out of the room and raced down the hall.

Buffy then looked back at the officers and inquired, "Okay, what's this all about? And where am I going to get any money to do any shopping with?"

Janet reached into a small manila envelope and pulled out a wallet, which contained identification and other items that appeared to belong to Buffy. "These were found at the derailment site. Obviously, they belong to you. There was also a sum of money, probably your vacation funds. That still belongs to you. Now, I thought you'd like to get out of here for a while and having you accompany my daughter will ease my mind as well as letting you hang out with people closer to your own age. Besides, you need some new clothing before you get into the habit of just wearing fatigues like other people I know."

"Hey!" Sam barked out in protest, which had the other two women snickering in response.

After a few moments Buffy asked, "Well, we've talked a lot about me. It'd be nice to learn a bit about you, and your program."

* * *

"Alexander Harris?" the young woman at his door asked.

"Yeah. Who're you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Hailey, I have a new set of orders for you." Jennifer Hailey smiled slightly at the look on Harris' face when realization set in. "You're to come with me and report to General Kerrigan at the Academy right away. I hope you pack quickly, there's a jet waiting for us at Edwards."

"You're kidding, what's up?" Harris was perplexed to say the least. He just couldn't imagine what he was needed for so desperately that the Air Force had dispatched someone here to fetch him with a jet to report to the General commanding the Academy.

"It's classified, so the faster we get there the faster you learn why you have to come," Hailey grinned at him cheekily.

"Fine, give me a couple of minutes. Come on in while I get ready." Harris backed into the apartment and let her enter. "What uniform should I wear to report in?"

"Class B's are fine," Hailey responded.

"Right, back in a moment." He quickly went into his room and threw a few articles into his duffel as well as his toiletry kit. Pulling a uniform off a hanger in the closet he thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't really had much time to get settled and unpack. He had been expecting to meet up with a few friends the past couple of days and they had been worried when they learned that Buffy had been in a train wreck in Colorado. He felt a bit guilty that he had left only the day before the accident and could have been there for his friend if he had just tarried a bit longer at the Academy after graduation.

'Wait a moment, maybe I am being recalled because of Buffy. I am one of her few friends. Oh God, what if she isn't doing well? Maybe they need me there as a kind of family member. Willow isn't due to arrive in L.A. for a couple more days and with her Mom dead and Dad overseas somewhere, I am probably the closest to kin she has besides Willow and, maybe Cordelia.'

He smiled as he thought about the actress. The dinner they had shared last night had been nice, especially with her news that she had met a producer at some party and had been cast as the lead in a sitcom. He had faithfully promised to watch devotedly and to get their friends to do so as well as coercing as many people as they could to watch and help boost the ratings for her. The things he did for friends, he really needed more guy friends. Even at the Academy he usually ended up making friends with the female population among his fellow cadets.

Walking back into the living room, decked out in uniform and carrying the duffel over his shoulder, he looked over at Lt. Hailey as she stood and simply pointed to the door, "Ready?"

With that the officers left on their way back to Colorado.

* * *

Willow Rosenberg rushed back into her dorm room and dropped her laptop and purse on her bed. If she wanted to take a shower before heading to the airport for her flight home to L.A., she had little time to waste. So she started stripping down, but as she pulled her shirt over her head and began unhooking her bra the phone rang. She scooped up the receiver while throwing her bra onto the bed. "Hello?"

"Willow Rosenberg?"

"Yes, this is she," Willow answered as she sat on the bed and began unzipping her jeans.

"This is Doctor Janet Fraiser at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado Springs. Your friend Buffy Summers is a patient here and..."

"Buffy? Is she all right? I heard about the train, I so glad to hear she's okay. She is okay, isn't she?" Willow babbled.

"Yes, she's fine. In fact, she asked about you. Do you have time to visit her?"

"Of course, my classes are over for the summer. I was planning to meet up with her and some other friends for vacation. My flight was supposed to stop for a layover in Denver anyway. I'll go ahead and fly in and get a rental car and drive down there. I'll probably be there in about a day." Willow was already mentally adjusting her plans while the doctor gave her directions to the Academy Hospital.

"I'll call my friends in L.A. and let them know I'm going to be a few days late."

Dr. Fraiser quickly told her, " Lt. Harris will be here as well."

"Really, that's great. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Willow hung up and finished getting ready for her shower.

* * *

Cassie showed up at the Hospital at 6 pm. "Hey!" she called out as she pulled up at the front entrance.

"Hey back!" Buffy replied as she stood up from the bench she had been waiting on, gathering a small purse and hurrying over. Climbing into the passenger seat, Buffy asked, "I thought you had a couple of friends that were going to be coming too?"

"Yeah, they backed out at the last second," Cassie said with a snort. "I think Jen's mom is working late so they're going to go to her house and make out."

"I remember when I did that. Mom would almost always come home and catch me."

Cassie giggled, "Hopefully Jen's mom won't ground her again. We're supposed to go see a concert this Friday."

"Well, if it's just the two of us, what do you want to do?" Buffy inquired.

"Mom said you needed to do some shopping, so we can start with that and then grab a bite to eat before we decide what else to do."

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy agreed.

* * *

Back at the SGC, Sam and Janet had reported the results from Buffy's physical testing and explained that the girl was out with Janet's daughter on a shopping trip to the mall. General Hammond was as astonished with the results as they had been. After reviewing the data and video recordings of the tests, he was beginning to believe in the Slayer as much as the women were. "All right, I guess I can't refute what I'm seeing here. So, where are we with the rest of the plans so far?"

Sam handed a folder to him as she explained, "Hailey flew to L.A. and has already collected Lt. Harris. They are in the air and should be reporting to General Kerrigan in a few hours. He'll make the standard recruitment pitch and if Harris agrees, he'll be told to report here in the morning."

With that Janet handed another folder to him and said, "I've talked to Miss Rosenberg and she'll be arriving sometime tomorrow as well. She's just been told that Buffy is mostly recovered from the train derailment and asked for her to visit. Major Carter has been getting information from the professors at MIT and it looks like we can go ahead and make a recruitment pitch to her as well in the next couple of days."

"Yes, she'd be a fine addition to the base technical personnel. Also, she's apparently a bit of a prodigy when it comes to programming. She's been courted by most of the big software companies even when she was in high school. She has told them all that she wanted to further her education before she would think of signing on with a company. Myself, I think she is actually planning to start her own company upon graduation. She's already marketed a few interesting programs of her own design under another name. One of them is a security protocol we are using ourselves." She sighed and pointed out, "In fact, I would rather we had her working here anyway. I think she's also very good at bypassing security protocols on some computers anyway. The FBI has had her under surveillance for the past year under suspicion that she's a hacker known as Big Red."

"Hmm." The General looked at the FBI file and looked back up and stated, "If we do recruit her, be sure to let her know that under no circumstances will she be allowed to continue as 'Big Red' and that if we found out that she was doing so using government resources we would punish her severely."

"Yes sir," Sam answered.

"So, what are the plans for tomorrow?" General Hammond wanted to know.

Janet immediately stated, "I invited Buffy to stay the night with Cassie and I after their outing at the mall. So I'll bring her in tomorrow morning at 0700. You wanted to have her meet and talk with all of SG-1 at a briefing at 0800. We figured we would then set up a sparring match between her and Teal'c afterwards."

"What?"

Sam leaned in and intently told the General, "Sir, this girl's unarmed combat skills are incredible. You saw the tape and when we mentioned staffs, she gave us this really feral grin, and so we decided to see how she would match up against Teal'c. He is probably the best staff fighter on the base, if not on the planet. It would be a fair test to see if her skills in this area are as exceptional as everything else we've seen."

"I see. And I take it you plan to take a little action on the side?"

"General, we..." Sam began to protest.

"Sam, put me down for a hundred. Just don't let anyone know."

Janet and Sam both grinned at this and started planning how much to take O'Neill for, while the General just shook his head and dismissed them for the evening.

* * *

Buffy and Cassie sat in the food court suffering over their mall food after a massive shopping spree that even impressed Cassie. She had no idea anyone could shop that hard without a break. She was in awe of her companion. "So, where are you from again?"

"California," Buffy replied with a mouth full of food.

"That explains your shopping skills," Cassie smirked in response.

"Hey, you think I'm good, you should meet my friend Cordelia. She would put me to shame for only spending three hours shopping like this."

Cassie sputtered in shock and then started laughing. "Well, until I do meet her, you're still the Queen of the Mall to me."

The two girls continued their lighthearted conversation as they finished their meals and slowly made their way towards the exit. Walking towards the car, a group of guys in jeans and hoodies made their way over and blocked the girl's progress. The leader of the group ran his eyes up and down their forms and slurred out, "Hey babes, looking for a good time?"

Cassie started backing away as Buffy snorted and said, "What, do we look retarded to you?"

As Cassie stopped and stared at her in shock, the lead punk's eyes narrowed as he spat out, "You think you're too good for us bitch?"

"Please, Lassie would be too good for you," Buffy commented as she slipped into a combat stance.

"Shouldn't have said that girlie, now we goin' to have to hurt you," the lead punk said as the other three punks moved to surround the girls.

"Bring it on chump," Buffy said as she leapt forward and kicked the leader in the face. He flew back about twenty feet and slammed into a light pole and slid to the ground unconscious. Two of the other punks tried to grab Buffy's arms as she dropped into a split and punched them simultaneously in the groin. Both dropped to their knees and began puking. The last simply looked at what this girl had done to his buddies in seconds and ran away.

Cassie stared at Buffy in awe and said, "Wow! I never saw anyone do something like that outside a movie. You're awesome."

Buffy blushed, picked up her bags, and slowly lead her companion towards the car as she mumbled, "It was nothing."

"Nothing? I never saw anyone move that quick before," Cassie gushed. "And that guy you kicked, he just flew across the lot like something from the Matrix!"

As the girls got into the car, Buffy slumped into the seat and muttered, "Great, I should be making movies."

* * *

As they drove away from the mall, Cassie glanced over at Buffy, who was scrunched down in her seat, and asked her, "Um, what do you feel like doing now?"

"I don't know, what is there to do here?" Buffy replied.

"Not much, it is a school night. Um, I guess we could rent a couple of movies and veg out at home with popcorn and soda."

"Now that sounds like a Scooby night," Buffy said nostalgically.

"Scooby night?"

Buffy quickly focused on the teenager and sighed, "Yeah, the gang I hung out with was dubbed the Scoobies by one of us. Xander has a real addiction to comic books and cartoons."

Cassie started giggling and said, "What, did you all travel around with a dog and solve mysteries?"

That got Buffy laughing as well. "Naw, we were kind of like a neighborhood watch group, though. Patrolled the town on the look out for the baddies."

"Is that how you learned to fight like that?" Cassie inquired.

"Well, I had a couple of people who've trained me over the years," Buffy stared out the window lost in memories.

"Colonel Jack shows me stuff sometimes," Cassie commented. "Even though Mom always yells at him about it when she catches us."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "I always thought that teenagers should learn some defense skills. You know, for situations like at the mall."

"Yeah, makes sense to me, but Mom always wigs about it," Cassie remarked. Buffy suddenly grinned and Cassie's eyebrow went up in question.

"Sorry, just didn't think anyone outside of California talked like us."

The two girls looked at each other before they burst out laughing. Now relaxed, they headed into the video store, swiftly rented a pair of new releases, and headed back to Cassie's house.

* * *

The next morning after a fun-filled video fest, Cassie was in the kitchen with her foster mother and telling her of the previous evening's action while Buffy was taking a shower. "And then she tells them that Lassie is too good for them and they start to come after us. Then Buffy kicked one guy and he like just flew across the parking lot and slammed into a light pole. Then these other two jerks grab for her arms and she just does the splits and punches them both in the...um, privates."

Janet was listening in both maternal shock and intense scientific interest to the brawl her daughter had witnessed. "And what happened to the other one?"

Cassie took a bite of her toast before replying, "Oh, he took one look at his friends all over the ground puking and all and took off. Mom, I swear it was so cool. She took them out so fast. I bet she could beat up most of the SG teams."

"Just how fast did she take them down?" Janet asked with open curiosity.

"A couple of seconds. It was so cool how fast she moved."

"You said that," Janet told her as she hooked an arm over her daughter's shoulder. "Well, Buffy has to come into work with me today. She'll be meeting Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c."

"Really? Is she going to be joining the SGC?" Cassie asked breathlessly in excitement.

"That depends on whether she wants to. But I wouldn't doubt it."

"That's so cool," Cassie said, as Buffy entered the kitchen, dressed in cargo pants and a tank top.

"Is the squirt talking about last night again?" Buffy whined.

Janet laughed as Cassie snorted into her orange juice. "Yes, I'm afraid she has been. You two should have told me last night though."

Buffy sighed and gave Janet a pointed look as she said, "There really wasn't anything that could have been done. Besides, we're fine and I think those idiots will think twice before trying something like that again."

Janet had to admit only someone with a death wish would attack Buffy when she had that look in her eyes. Sighing, she grabbed her purse and gave Cassie a kiss as she and Buffy moved towards the front door. "Bye hon, I should be back around 7 pm tonight. We'll order some pizza and have a girl's night in."

"Is Buffy going to stay over again tonight?" Cassie asked in anticipation.

"Not tonight." Janet glanced over at the Slayer as she gathered her bags. "She'll be staying on base with some friends arriving today."

"Oh, okay," Cassie sulked a bit.

"Hey Cass, if it's okay with the General and your mom I'll see about hanging with you some this weekend. I'd like you to meet my friends, too," Buffy said as she noticed the teenager's long face.

"Great!" Cassie immediately cheered up. "See ya!"

"Bye Cass."

As they pulled away from the house and began the drive to Cheyenne Mountain, Janet glanced over at her passenger, and said, "I really am glad you were there to keep Cassie from being harmed, Buffy. Although having to sit through her re-enactment was entertaining."

Buffy grinned, "Hey, it's kinda my job. Besides, I like Cassie. She kinda reminds..." As her voice faltered and her eyes became moist, she turned away and stared out the window.

"I'm sorry. I know no one can ever replace Dawn. But I am glad to see that you like my daughter. Even if she can be a pain sometimes," Janet said in an effort to cheer Buffy up.

"I know but it still hurts. You know?" Buffy whispered.

"Not exactly, but then again you might talk to Daniel about this."

"Daniel? Why? What happened to him?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Well, you know about the Goa'uld and how they take a host?" Janet asked.

"Um, yeah, Whistler said they burrow into you and kinda take over your body."

"Basically. They wind themselves about the spinal cord and part of the brain, extending tendrils into it to assume control," Janet explained.

"Ewww, gross," Buffy commented.

"Uh huh, anyway, Daniel lived on Abydos for a year." Janet saw the questioning look that appeared on Buffy's face and continued quickly, "The planet the first team gated to. While there, Colonel O'Neill's team encountered the Goa'uld Ra and helped the Abydonians to overthrow his rule. The first night in Nagada, Kasuf, the tribal leader, gave his daughter Sha're to Daniel as a gift. They fell in love and he stayed behind as her husband when the team returned to Earth. About a year later, Apophis and his forces came through the gate on Abydos and kidnapped both Sha're and her brother Skaara. They were both taken as hosts."

"Oh my God," Buffy blurted out in shock.

"That's one of the reasons Daniel joined SG-1 in the beginning," Janet told her.

"SG-1?" Buffy asked.

"There are a number of teams that go off-world. They're numbered, so you have SG-1 thru SG-17. Colonel O'Neill, whom you'll be meeting today, leads SG-1. The other members are Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c," Janet explained.

"Teal'c is the guy Sam wants me to spar with, right?"

"Right," Janet answered. "Teal'c is a Jaffa. He grew up on Chulak and was once the First Prime of Apophis before he defected."

"Wait, you mean he's an alien?"

"Yes."

Buffy suddenly grinned, "Cool, my first alien. Is he weird looking, with ears or something?"

Janet laughed, "No, but he does have a pouch in his abdomen which contains a larval Goa'uld."

"No way!" Buffy exclaimed. "He's got an itty bitty bad guy in his tummy?"

"Well, his ancestors were human before the Goa'uld engineered them as a slave race to serve as living incubators as well as servants and soldiers."

Buffy scrunched her face up in thought before she said, "Now I kinda feel sorry for him."

"As you should. He and his people didn't ask for that to happen to them. But over the past few years Teal'c and other Jaffa have begun a slow rebellion against the Goa'uld with the ultimate goal being to free their people from their slavery."

"Wow," Buffy commented as she contemplated what she had learned. "Maybe that's one of the reasons the Powers That Be brought me here, to help these Jaafa..."

"Jaffa," Janet corrected her.

"Jaffa to gain their freedom," Buffy finished.

Janet mused on that thought for a moment before responding, "Possibly. They are capable warriors but not in your league from what Sam and I saw yesterday. In fact, that's one of the reasons we're setting up this match with Teal'c later. To show him what you are capable of and to win as much money off Colonel O'Neill as we can before word about your abilities gets out."

Buffy giggled at that comment and slyly eyed her companion. "So, how much of the take do I get?"

* * *

Jack ambled into the conference room early to find Daniel and Teal'c already sitting at the table with cups of coffee ignored in front of them as they were in deep discussion on the subject of one Buffy Summers. "Good morning campers. You're here early."

Teal'c nodded at him to acknowledge his presence as Daniel turned to him with a short wave and said, "Hey Jack. Yeah, we're just going over the transcript again and learning all we can about where Buffy came from. Teal'c and I both find it interesting. Imagine a world with vampires and demons actually existing. You have to wonder how something like that works."

Jack grunted as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a donut to munch on. "I thought you said it was magic?"

"Well, yes," Daniel answered. "But you have to wonder how magic actually works. Her friend Willow is a witch and able to use magic while she couldn't. So there must be more than merely knowing the words of a spell, you need to have some innate ability to use and control such power."

Sam walked into the room during Daniel's conjecture and spoke up, "Buffy told Janet and I yesterday that you had to be born with the ability to use magic. Willow didn't even know she could until their junior year in high school. And while Buffy is a mystically enhanced warrior, she has no ability to use magic. She could feel its presence but explained that as one of her mystical senses, like detecting vampires and demons."

"Exactly my point," Daniel exclaimed excitedly. "It must be a genetic trait that is handed down. Something in a persons genetic makeup that allows them to feel and focus the power known in her world as magic."

"Yeah, okay, but not really germane to what's happening here," Jack commented.

"No, but it is intriguing. Plus, I have to wonder about all those demons and such. She said before that her hometown Sunnydale was situated over a dimensional portal called the Hellmouth that when opened would release demons and such from a Hell dimension into her own. Also, she told me that she had been in a Hell dimension once herself and that time flowed differently there. For 100 years that passed there, only a single day passed in her own."

"Really?" Sam asked, her own interest peaked. "So this Hell dimension followed slightly different laws of physics?"

"Yup, it was freaky," Buffy said from the doorway as she entered along with Janet Fraiser.

"Good morning all," Janet said as she headed for the coffee.

The door to the General's office opened and General Hammond walked in along with General Kerrigan. "Good morning, SG-1, Dr. Fraiser, and Miss Summers. Let's get started," General Hammond said. "Buffy, this is General Kerrigan. He commands the Air Force Academy and has been helping to train some of the best cadets for eventual assignment to the SGC. He will be meeting with Lt. Harris after this meeting to recruit him into the SGC. Afterwards, we'll have him brought here and then you can explain what you're doing here to him."

"Thanks General, um, Generals," Buffy blushed slightly. "It will be great to see him. I just hope he's not too different from my Xander."

"Her Xander?" General Kerrigan inquired.

"Sir," Sam said to get his attention. "Buffy is from an alternate reality. However, instead of merely landing in ours by chance, she was sent here on a mission to help us to defeat the Goa'uld."

General Kerrigan raised one eyebrow as he looked pointedly at the petite blonde sitting there looking harmless.

"You'll see what I mean later, sir," Sam said in reply to the look.

"Be that as it may," General Hammond said. "The President has authorized me to immediately offer Miss Summers employment at the SGC as a civilian consultant."

"General, do you mean the President of the United States?" Buffy asked in awe.

"Yes, I do. He has been fully briefed on everything that's happened so far and read the transcript of your life story. He ordered me to offer you this position and to recruit your friends as well."

Buffy sat back in shock. "Wow, the President knows who I am. That's so neat!"

Everyone grinned at her antics before General Hammond spoke again, "So, I take it you won't disappoint the President?"

"No way!" Buffy exclaimed. "Um, I mean I accept."

"Good, we've assigned quarters on base for you. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter will show them to you later. You'll be issued appropriate clothing and an office..."

Klaxons suddenly went off and a large red light in the corner lit up and began to revolve as a voice came over the loudspeaker, "Offworld activation."

Everyone sprang to their feet and started down the stairs to the control room with Buffy following behind.

"Report!" General Hammond barked at the technician.

"Incoming wormhole, no IDC as yet, sir." The technician continued to survey the screens in front of him as Sam slid into the chair next to him. Suddenly one of the screens popped up a window that showed a code incoming. "IDC being received now, sir."

Sam turned back to the others after reading the code signal, "It's Master Bra'tac."

"Open the Iris," General Hammond ordered as they left the control room for the Gate Room.

Buffy hurried after them, after watching the metal Iris slide back and uncover the Stargate.

As the group arrived in the Gate Room, a single figure stepped from the event horizon and walked down the ramp. He stopped at the base and looked over before speaking, "Hammond of Texas, do I have leave to enter your facility."

"You do, Master Bra'tac." The General then turned to the various armed personnel and barked, "Defense teams, stand down." Turning back, he greeted the aged Jaffa warrior, "Greetings Master Bra'tac. What can we do for you?"

Master Bra'tac nodded in response before speaking, "I am merely here to visit with Teal'c and to share some intelligence on a Goa'uld who appears to be rising to System Lord status."

"I see, in that case, why don't we head up to the conference room and get our intel people to meet with you."

"Of course," Bra'tac said before he embraced Teal'c. "It is good to see you old friend."

"And I you," Teal'c responded. He then turned as Bra'tac nodded greetings to the rest of SG-1. "Good to see all of you as well. However, I don't believe I've met this young woman."

Buffy solemnly looked him up and down before she put her hand out in greeting. "I'm Buffy Summers. The Slayer."

"Slayer?" Bra'tac asked as he reached out to clasp her forearm. "Slayer of what?"

"Well, formally vampires and demons, now Goa'uld," Buffy answered as she felt him begin to squeeze to test her strength.

"Indeed." Bra'tac began to feel her answering squeeze and winced at the power this small female human was exerting against him.

"Yes," Buffy said as she smiled slightly at him as she kept squeezing.

Finally Bra'tac could sense that his arm was going to be crushed if he continued this contest. "I see that there is much happening here as well. I am honored to make your acquaintance, Slayer."

With that Buffy released Bra'tac's arm and watched him covertly open and close his hand to start the circulation flowing again.

* * *

Everyone filed out of the Gate Room with Teal'c leading Master Bra'tac to the off-world intelligence office. The rest of SG-1, along with the Generals and Buffy, headed back to the conference room above the control room. Buffy kept sneaking peeks towards the direction the Jaffa had gone in before her attention was brought back to the group when Janet tapped her shoulder lightly and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Um, I just got a weird tingle from that guy like I got from Teal'c when we came in earlier," Buffy explained.

"I'm betting you sensed their symbiotes," Janet told her. "You did say that Whistler told you that you would be able to."

"Oh yeah, the spidey sense got converted."

Janet shook her head in amusement as they seated themselves. "It's almost identical to the ability of a Goa'uld to sense another."

"Janet?" Buffy looked at the doctor with a seriously grossed out expression. "Please don't compare me to those icky things."

"Got it," Janet replied with a slight feeling of concern for her young patient before they directed their attention back to General Hammond.

"Miss Summers, Buffy, I need you to go through these and sign them before we get you settled in," Hammond said as he pushed a large folder full of papers over to her.

Buffy sighed as she opened the folder and picked up a pen. "And here I thought I wouldn't have to do homework."

Jack snorted in amusement and received a Slayer glare that had him choking to hide it. Daniel's eyes bugged out slightly at the impressive glare while Janet put her head in her hands. Sam quickly escorted General Kerrigan out while Hammond shook his head thinking that these two were either going to despise each other or become fast friends.

Quickly signing the large number of documents, Buffy was led out by Jack and Janet to be assigned an office and to be shown where her on-base quarters were.

* * *

After showing Buffy both the office and quarters assigned to her, they led her to the quartermaster so she could pick up her issued clothing and other essential items. Jack quickly left to find out what had brought Bra'tac visiting while the women gathered everything and took it back to Buffy's quarters. With that accomplished, they searched for Sam and quickly began organizing the betting pool for the sparring bout between Buffy and Teal'c. One look at the petite blonde and the heavy favorite was the Jaffa. Sam went to collect Teal'c while Buffy and Janet headed for the gym.

"You know, this is only going to work once," Buffy noted.

"Of course, which is why Sam and I made sure to introduce you to everyone as a civilian consultant. Once everyone saw you and came to the wrong conclusion, we secured their bet," Janet replied with a grin. "But try not to hurt Teal'c too badly."

"Well," Buffy nonchalantly answered, "I'll try."

The two women entered the gym to find a large number of the base personnel lounging in wait of the bout. A couple of technicians were setting up a remote camera unit to film the event as well. Buffy grinned in anticipation as Sam led the rest of SG-1 into the gym with Master Bra'tac as well.

"Buffy Summers, Major Carter said that you would like me to assess your battle skills with a staff. Is this correct?" Teal'c asked as he approached.

"Yes, if it wouldn't be too much trouble," the Slayer replied.

"No, it would not. We can use a pair of bashaak if you like," Teal'c said as he opened a cabinet and removed a pair of wooden staffs shaped like his staff weapon. He offered one to her as his teammates and mentor moved to the side. Both warriors noticed Sam and Janet holding money up to O'Neill in an effort to sucker him into a large wager on the match. Bra'tac merely watched this with narrowed eyes as he saw the Slayer take the staff and twirl it in a quick spin. He noted her ease with the practice weapon and began to watch her even closer to observe her combat style.

"This'll do just fine," Buffy stated as she accustomed herself to the heft and balance. "How do you want to go about this? Take downs or what?"

"I would prefer we continue until one or the other of us yields," Teal'c answered.

"Sounds good to me," Buffy said. "So, when do we start?"

Teal'c lifted his staff and bowed slightly. "Bow to me and then we'll step back one pace and then begin."

Buffy did so and then the two warriors settled into their combat stances. Slowly, they circled each other a moment before Teal'c moved to strike and disarm her quickly. Buffy ducked under his attack and spun about striking out and hitting Teal'c in the back. The Jaffa staggered slightly from the force of the blow before turning to catch her next strike with the edge of his own staff.

The two began trading blows with increasing speed and force. Buffy kept to the plan she and Sam had worked out beforehand and was only using just enough strength and speed to keep Teal'c from landing a blow.

Janet in the meantime was gathering more and more bets from the personnel watching and finally got Jack to make his own bet on Teal'c. Once she had secured it, she made a sign to Sam to let her know.

Bra'tac was closely watching the match and was gaining valuable insight into the Slayer's combat techniques.

Sam suddenly shouted, "Now Buffy!"

The Slayer suddenly thrust her staff at Teal'c pushing him away as she slowly grinned and sped her attacks up. Teal'c soon found himself retreating from her assault and became aware that she had been holding back more than he had realized. He tried to disengage and roll by her, but she thrust her staff at his hands and disarmed him.

He spun and tried to kick her staff away. She leapt over him and kicked him across the room. He rolled and came to his feet to find his opponent already thrusting her staff into his chest. He flew backwards yet again as her staff cracked and broke apart from the force of her blow. As he spun back to his feet, Buffy reached out and grabbed his wrist and monkey flipped him across the gym again, to the astonishment of the onlookers. As Teal'c tried to regain his feet again, the Slayer's foot came at him in a sidekick that propelled him back across the gym. She followed that up with a number of punches that staggered the Jaffa. The force of her blows launched him to the mat on his back. He looked up to see her cartwheel across the room, scooping up his staff along the away, and plant herself over him prepared to strike again. Teal'c immediately shouted out, "Yield!" whereupon the Slayer stopped her strike inches from his chest and swept the staff into a rest position.

The onlookers erupted in shouts of disbelief and astonishment at the fact that the petite blonde, who looked dwarfed by the Jaffa, had won the match. Janet and Sam began to wander the room collecting on the bets as Bra'tac walked over to the warriors and stood looking the Slayer over. He slowly gave Teal'c a hand up. Then both Jaffa nodded to Buffy as they said, "Tek Matte, Slayer."

Daniel coughed when he heard that and turned to Jack who was staring at Buffy in disbelief. "Jack, they both just acknowledged her as a warrior of respect."

Jack blinked and muttered, "Damn that was incredible."

Buffy was looking Teal'c over as she said, "I hope I didn't hurt you, Teal'c. I promised Janet that I wouldn't go all out. She didn't want any broken bones."

Jack found his voice then. "Do you mean to say you were holding back?"

Both Jaffa looked at her as she replied, "Well, only in the beginning. Sam and Janet wanted to milk the bets a bit."

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. "That's why Sam yelled before you started throwing Teal'c all over the gym. She was waiting for me to bet with Janet?"

Buffy blushed and looked at her feet as she said, "Yeah." Then she glanced up with a grin and said, "Plus I get a cut of the pot."

Bra'tac laughed as he laid a hand on her arm. "Slayer, you are indeed talented. However, I believe that it might benefit you to learn how to fight using Mastaba."

"What's that?" Buffy had to ask.

"The fighting art of the Jaffa," Bra'tac replied.

"Cool," Buffy noted. "I'm always open to learning any new moves that might help me in a fight."

"Buffy Summers," Teal'c stated. "You are indeed a skilled warrior. I would be pleased to instruct you in Mastaba during downtime."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Buffy said with a smile. "So, what's next on the schedule?"

Daniel smiled back at her and told her, "I'm heading off to pick up Giles and we'll get him together with you this evening. In the meantime, I think the General wanted you to start learning something about the program from Jack and Sam."

Jack gestured towards the door motioning her to proceed while Sam threw her arm over Buffy's shoulder as they walked out.

The gym quickly cleared out until the Jaffa were left alone. Bra'tac asked Teal'c, "Why did you wait so long to yield to her? You must have known she was holding back in the beginning."

Teal'c glanced back at the door the Slayer exited through, before returning his gaze to his mentor, and stating, "She held back throughout the bout. I believe she is much more powerful than she showed us."

"Indeed," Bra'tac said as he contemplated this information. "I look forward to seeing just what this woman is capable of."

* * *

General Hammond sat in his office watching the video taken of the sparring match and again marveled at the incredible speed and strength, as well as martial acumen, the young woman possessed. He was also slightly troubled at the implications of the match, regardless of the fact he did make some money off the wagering. This young woman was more powerful and more skilled than a former First Prime to a Goa'uld System Lord. And if the physical tests performed by Dr. Fraiser combined with the report of what the demon Whistler had told Buffy was true, she was probably more powerful than any physical being the SGC had ever encountered.

He quickly uploaded the digitized video file into an e-mail for the President and sent it off with his impressions and appraisal of the match. He just didn't understand the President's quick acceptance of the appearance and supposed history of the Slayer.

Shaking his head to clear these thoughts away, he turned back to the stack of papers in front of him. A fax from General Kerrigan noted that he had spoken with Lt. Harris who had accepted the proposal to train for the Stargate Program. He was going to be brought to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and to the SGC by Lt. Hailey for a meeting with him this afternoon. The General sighed as he made a note to have Miss Summers available for the meeting.

Dr. Jackson had already departed to pickup Mr. Giles from the airport, and transport him back to the SGC. He stacked the forms that Mr. Giles would be required to sign into a folder and put that aside to carry out to the briefing room when they arrived.

He glanced over at the briefing room to see two SF's cleaning the room up and preparing it for the meeting. He motioned to one of them to make sure the window's blast shield was down to prevent anyone in the room from seeing the Embarkation Room and the Stargate. When the SF nodded in response, he turned back to his paperwork and the logistics of running the first and last line of defense for the planet.

* * *

Rupert Giles clutched his carry-on bag and walked down the concourse leading to the baggage claim area. Daniel Jackson spotted him as he entered the room from where he was leaning against the wall. Hurrying over, Daniel clapped him on the arm in greeting as they went to claim his luggage.

"Hello Mr. Giles, I'm pleased to see you again."

"Hello Daniel. Please just call me Rupert, we've been friends too long now to worry about titles and such. Besides, you've earned your doctorate while I never finished work on mine. Just too busy learning more about the history and peoples of the Isles to find time to finish a dissertation and try to defend it."

"I totally understand, Rupert. Besides, I think that the work here more than makes up for it. Plus the fact that most of the community still regards me as a nutcase."

"Yes, and I'm sorry to say that's still the case for the most part. Bloody hidebound idiots who won't even check the evidence presented before making their pronouncements from on high that it is nonsense. I, for one, read your last paper and found it to be a concise and riveting presentation of evidence that I would say definitely proved your point. While you never did state who you felt did build the pyramids of Giza, you did show that the accepted ideas are completely false."

"Thank you, Rupert, you're one of only a handful of scholars who agree with my conclusions of the evidence," Daniel said with surprised gratitude evident in his voice.

Giles smiled at his companion as they grabbed his bags from the carrousel and started for the parking lot. "Only stating the truth of the matter. However, I am curious about one thing."

"What's that?" Daniel asked with trepidation.

"Why was there no information from the Langford Dig in 1928 in your presentation? I know it's difficult to find in most texts, but you should have been able to dig something up, only to make sure the information was as complete as possible."

Daniel laughed and responded, "Actually, I found almost no information on the dig except that it had occurred and a listing of the Swedish and American members of the expedition. However, right after the presentation I met Katherine Langford herself. You do know she accompanied her father on that dig?"

"Really?" Giles replied in surprise. "No, I didn't know that. So, is she the reason you dropped out of sight?"

"Well, indirectly," Daniel started to explain. "She offered me a job as a linguist working on some of the artifacts from that dig."

"Well now, that is quite a coincidence."

"Oh yeah, even better, it led to the job I am doing now," Daniel noted with a small smile playing about his lips.

"For the United States government? How do you go from translating artifacts from an Egyptian dig in the 20's to working for them?" Giles wondered aloud.

"Well, that I'll explain once we reach the base and you've signed the non-disclosure forms."

"Yes, about that Daniel. Why am I being courted so heavily by your government to aid you on a classified project, and what could it possibly pertain to that would need our kind of expertise?"

"As I said, that will all be explained at the base. Besides, there are a couple of people there I want you to meet," Daniel said with a grin to blunt the exasperation Giles felt at all the secrecy.

"Very well then. Let us proceed to your base post haste then. I'm not sure I can contain my curiosity much longer."

* * *

Buffy sat behind the desk in her new office, while Sam sat in one of the chairs before the desk, grinning back at the Slayer, while counting out some of the cash in her hand. "Here you go. The pot was eleven thousand three hundred sixty bucks, so your quarter comes to twenty-eight hundred and forty."

Buffy accepted the cash before glancing sharply at her companion. "Wait a second, quarter? Why don't I get an equal share?"

"You do. A quarter each for Janet, General Hammond, and the two of us."

"The General bet on me, too?" Buffy asked, starring wide-eyed at her co-conspirator and likely new friend. 'I wish I had more time to actually get to know these people, but there always seems something to do.'

"Oh yes," Sam replied with that self-satisfied smile. "Right after we had shown him the data from your physical testing and told him that we were planning to have Teal'c test your combat skills with a staff he realized just what we were up to and made the first bet."

Buffy laughed out loud at that comment and grinned in pleasure knowing the General was pretty darn canny. "Well, I guess I won't be able to get too many over on him."

"Definitely not. He's very sharp and a really good CG. Very moral and backs his people to the hilt."

Buffy thought about that for a moment and sighed, "Good, that means he's automatically better than the damn Watcher's Council was."

"Um, the Watcher's Council? Wasn't that the organization that supported your fight against the vampires in your world?" Sam asked.

"Supposedly," Buffy replied. "Just that they had been around so long they were mostly useless in the real world. Giles was great but Travers and his bunch were just behind the times. Of course, that changed when I was able to get them working for me when Glory showed up."

Sam shuddered as she recalled some of the details from Buffy's transcripts about her life. "That's just so eerie, that an actual goddess from some hell dimension tried to kill you."

"Yeah," Buffy whispered. "Just to use my sister to open all the dimensions in an effort to get back to the dimension she'd been exiled from. Didn't give a hoot that it would pretty much mess up all the dimensions, including hers. She just wanted to get back, beat her brothers down, and rule again. Stupid Bitch."

Sam's eyes widened at that comment and she patted Buffy's arm to comfort her. "Hey, you beat her. No worries."

"Maybe, but I'll still worry about Dawnie and how she's taking everything," Buffy said as her eyes began to tear up.

"Well, your friends are there to watch out for her and it sounds like they will try to take care of her the best they can," Sam noted.

Buffy forced the tears away and tried to look upbeat as she said, "Yeah, they will. Tara and Willow will spoil her crazy and teach her magic. Xander will continue to clown around and make her feel better, Giles will continue being the father figure for her, and I'm sure Spike will also look after and protect her."

"That really makes me wonder sometimes. A soulless vampire who cares that much for her? Weird."

Buffy laughed as she replied, "That's Spike. He's just a total contradiction. He helped me save the world a couple of times after he stopped trying to kill me. Heck, he even said he loved me. How wiggy is that?"

"Very, but now it's time to teach you about this world and the threats it contains. You said that Whistler told you about the Goa'uld, right?"

"Yup, along with some barfy images," Buffy replied. "So, how about you tell me about the Goa'uld and the major players here?"

"You got it. Okay, on the first mission through the gate Colonel O'Neill and his team met and defeated Ra. Ra was the most powerful of the System Lords at the time. Daniel can tell you more about him and what it was like on Abydos," Sam started tutoring her new friend.

* * *

Xander's head was whirling a mile a minute as he tried to assimilate all the information that General Kerrigan and Lieutenant Hailey had dumped on him today. An alien artifact that allowed star travel, evil alien worms that possessed people, and on top of that his friend Buffy was somehow now working for the government, specifically this top-secret project. It was a good thing he was such a sci-fi geek. It kept him from being overwhelmed by all of this. Still, he kept getting stuck on the Buffy is helping fight aliens thing. Heck, Buffy and Will used to groan whenever he broke out his prized collection of B movies from the 50's.

"You all right, Harris?" his companion, Lt. Hailey, asked as she navigated the streets of Colorado Springs, heading towards Cheyenne Mountain.

"Yeah, just trying to sort everything out in my head."

"Tell me about it. I flipped when I found out about the program. It just seemed so out there and yet once I was able to go over the math with Major Carter I could see how the Stargate could actually work. Just about pissed my drawers though when I first saw it activated."

Xander grinned at her before responding, "Just hope I don't do the same. Say, how did my friend Buffy get involved in all this?"

"No idea. Heck, I never even heard of her before today. I know that General Kerrigan met her, though. So what's she like?"

"Hmm, Buffy is a really great friend. She's pretty, blonde, and really short," he replied with a smirk at his even shorter companion. "She was studying psych at Northwestern and headed home for the summer break when her train crashed. I heard about it right after I got home. It was hard to believe. Plus the stories about her being the only survivor. Well, that's Buffy. Heck, when her Mom died we all thought she would break down, but after her Dad never showed we all just got together and helped get the funeral arranged, sold the house and got her finances straight. She just plowed ahead and got everything done with hardly any tears. Always been that way, whenever any of us had a crisis she was the one who saw us through. It was just right that we could do the same for her. Especially when our folks were real hands off emotionally and her Mom was kinda the den mom for the whole gang."

"Wow, sounds like you all liked her a lot," Hailey observed.

"Yeah, she was great. When we all got sick, we'd usually all plop down at Buffy's, and her Mom would take care of all of us. We went through thick and thin together. Will and I weren't all that popular, but Buffy was. Heck, she was a cheerleader. She made an effort to be friendly even when it threatened her own standing with the rest of the 'in' crowd. She basically told them that we were fun and smart and if they didn't like her hanging with us they could jump off the pier."

Both smiled at that as they arrived at the mountain entrance. "Alright, we'll check-in with security at the front gate and then someone will escort us down to the SGC," Hailey explained.

"Cool," Xander replied. He observed the soldiers patrolling the entrance and at the barbed wire everywhere. Unsurprisingly the place looked like it was better guarded than Fort Knox. It did house NORAD after all.

The two officers walked up to the Sergeant manning the security portal and presented their IDs'. "Lieutenants Hailey and Harris reporting as ordered. We are supposed to be meeting with General Hammond," Hailey told the sergeant as she presented their authorization papers.

After close scrutiny of the papers and IDs the Sergeant waved them over to a small room to the side. "Right, wait here for your escort." He then handed them a pair of visitor badges. "Wear these at all times and don't go anywhere without your escort."

"Thanks Sergeant," both of them answered as they retrieved their documents and pinned the badges on.

* * *

Daniel quickly parked in his reserved space as he said to Giles, "Well, here it is, Rupert. Cheyenne Mountain. Home to the North American Air Defense Command, as well as the place I work at."

Giles stared at the mountain and the well-guarded entrance to its bowels, before commenting, "Good Lord, you work inside a mountain?" He also noted that whatever Daniel was doing here was important enough that he rated a reserved parking space alongside some Generals and Colonels.

"Oh, I've got my office and some storage space for whatever I'm currently translating here. Come on, let's get you through security and down to meet General Hammond. He's a great guy and a very good boss. I think you'll like him."

They headed over to security and as Giles signed in the Sergeant turned to Daniel, "Doctor Jackson, I've got a couple of Lieutenants here that need an escort to General Hammond's office. If you wouldn't mind taking them down, it would really help me out."

Daniel looked over to see Hailey and a young man in fatigues sitting in the waiting area. Figuring that this must be Xander Harris, he nodded to the Sergeant, "Sure Eddie, I'm heading down to his office with Mr. Giles anyway."

"Thanks Doc, I appreciate it."

"No problem," Daniel replied as Giles pinned his visitor badge on.

Giles was impressed with the respect he heard in the Sergeant's voice as he asked Daniel for the favor. It seemed that the soldiers guarding this facility knew Daniel by sight and must talk with him often enough that he knew them by name as well. He joined his companion as he went to collect the two young people in uniform sitting in a little room next to the entrance.

"Lt. Hailey, welcome back to Cheyenne Mountain," Daniel greeted her before turning to the young man. "Am I correct in assuming this is Lt. Harris?"

"Yes Sir," Xander replied while he eyed the man in front of him. Slight, but obviously in shape, glasses hiding piercing blue eyes and portraying a scholarly air, and short medium brown hair. The man next to him was older, early forties maybe, in good shape as well, with generally the same looks and attitude. It was almost like looking at a before and after picture, except the older man was wearing tweed.

"Well, if you would all follow me, I'll take you to see General Hammond."

* * *

Willow Rosenberg quickly made her way to the gate for her connecting flight to Colorado Springs, hauling her laptop along. She continued to go over everything the doctor had said over the phone and was a little concerned about her best friend. All the information concerning the train derailment suggested that her best friend was probably in serious condition. Especially to warrant calling her all the way here on Buffy's request only. Willow only hoped that after all the problems Buffy had gone through, she wouldn't be permanently crippled or worse.

A loudspeaker announced her flights imminent departure as she arrived at the gate to make her connection. Willow boarded the plane and, after taking her seat, continued brooding about Buffy's condition.

* * *

Back at the SGC, Buffy herself was groaning at the large stack of folders currently occupying a corner of her desk; the mission reports the General wanted her to read and familiarize herself with. Sam started snickering at the look on her face.

"Come on, it isn't all that bad. Besides, once you've read them I can tell you all the little funny details that get left out of official reports."

Buffy picked up the first one and read the summary quickly; it was the report, appended a year later, on the first Abydos mission. "Like what for instance?"

"Well, the first night in Nagada at the feast Kasuf laid out in the team's honor, Daniel was the first to try some baked lizard thing and when he said it tasted like chicken, he started clucking and flapping his arms to illustrate it to the team and the Abydonians. The Colonel told me that everyone there stared at him as if he were nuts. Even Kasuf just smiled in puzzlement and went back to eating," Sam explained. "Not to mention the wild ride he had through the desert being pulled along by a mastage, a large cow-like animal, by his ankles."

"No!" Buffy chortled.

"Oh yeah, he's gotten into some of the funniest situations. Of course, we all have at one point or another. It's the different culture thing and what happens when theirs and ours intersects. Sometimes the Colonel seems to go out of his way to ruffle the feathers of some of the people we meet and other times the people just adore him. Anyway, read through them and you'll get up to speed on what goes on around here. Most of it, at least," Sam said.

"Gotcha," Buffy replied. "So, where is your office? I know that Daniel is down the hall there and that the Colonel is somewhere on the next floor down. Oh, does Teal'c have an office?"

"I have a lab on the next level up. I'll take you to see that when you're settled in. Teal'c doesn't have an office, he mostly stays in his quarters performing Kel'no'reem, in the gym working out, or hangs out with Colonel O'Neill. Except on Friday nights, we all get together at the Colonel's house and pig out on pizzas, watch videos, and try to teach Teal'c more about Earth."

"Cool. I'm gonna have to crash that party at least once. It sounds like some of the old Scooby parties," Buffy noted. "But I still think Teal'c should have an office. Say, I was wondering about the room next to mine. Is it being used for anything?"

Sam glanced over to the door leading to the next room and thought for a moment. "No, I'm pretty sure that it's only being used for storage at the moment. Why?"

"Well, I'm kinda used to having a workspace with a large table for research parties. I was wondering if I can get General Hammond to assign it, and the office on the other side, to Giles and me."

"Oh, I see," Sam said. "Mr. Giles gets the office on the other side and the two of you share the meeting space between you and possibly use it for Slayer-type meetings."

"Yeah, think he'd go for it?" Buffy asked.

Sam pondered that and grinned back, "I can't see why not. You do have the support of the President of the United States, you know."

Buffy grinned back when the phone rang. "Summers... Yes, sir... Major Carter is here with me... Right away, sir." Buffy turned back to her companion saying, "Giles and Xander are here along with a Lt. Hailey. The General wants us to come to his briefing room right away."

"Well, let's go," Sam chirped while dragging the Slayer out of the office.

* * *

Xander tried to keep from gawking too much as the group he was with entered an elevator and descended deep into the Earth. They then got off and went through another security checkpoint and into another elevator accessed by Dr. Jackson with a security key card. Another descent, which hammered home the point that he was now deep inside a very highly classified facility. It made the wild tales General Kerrigan and Lieutenant Hailey had told him feel more real.

Then the doors opened into a corridor with color-coded stripes on the floor to help the people stationed here to find their way. A short walk led them to a briefing room with a large table in the center of the room. There was a circular metal stairway leading down to another level. Beside the door was a glass window that looked into an office, which had a stout two-star General in it.

As Dr. Jackson pointed at the seats around the table, the General entered. "Good afternoon. Mr. Giles and Lt. Harris, welcome. Lt. Hailey, welcome back."

"Thank you, sir," both Xander and Hailey responded.

"Yes, thank you. I take it that you are General Hammond?" Giles questioned.

"Yes, Mr. Giles. I know you have a number of questions but we're still waiting for a couple of people and I need you to sign the non-disclosure forms we agreed on before we can reveal anything." Hammond passed the folder containing all the forms to the British scientist.

"Hmm, quite." Giles placed the folder before him and began to go through the forms within.

"Lt. Harris, I take it that Lt. Hailey and General Kerrigan have informed you of what we do here and had you sign the necessary security forms?"

Xander straightened up and replied, "Yes sir."

"Good." The General smiled slightly as he continued, "Miss Summers is on her way down from her office. I'm sure that after we complete our business here that you'd prefer to head out with her?"

"Yes sir, I haven't seen her for a few months."

While Xander and the General conversed, Giles started signing the forms in front of him. As he went through them, he noted that they also detailed his salary and share of research funds. He was astounded at the amount of money the U.S. government was spending here. Daniel seemed to have fallen into the proverbial pit of diamonds. As he finished, he straightened up and handed the folder back to the General.

Taking the folder, Hammond seated himself at the head of the table and waited for everyone else to sit as well, "Doctor Jackson, please inform Mr. Giles exactly what we do here."

Daniel grinned and proceeded to blow his friends mind.

* * *

As Buffy and Sam walked down the corridors heading towards the General's office, Buffy snapped her fingers in annoyance, "I forgot that I wanted to talk to Janet about arranging to hang out with Cassie on Saturday."

"Well, we can always swing by the infirmary later," Sam assured her.

"Yeah, oh wait, we're supposed to meet up with Willow this afternoon down at the Hospital. I can talk to her about it then." Buffy shifted her glance towards her companion. "So, what exactly would Willow be doing here, if you hire her?"

"Well, she's got an incredible gift for computers. I want her to work with the base technical staff on the programming. We might also train her as a control room technician. How's her grounding in the other sciences?" Sam asked.

"Well, my Willow was really smart at everything. Heck, she even figured stuff out that Giles couldn't with his fear of technology," Buffy replied with a grin.

"Get out, really?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, called computers 'the dread machine' and stuff. It got a little better when he dated Miss Calendar..." Buffy suddenly trailed off with a pained expression.

"Miss Calendar?" Sam softly asked.

"Yeah, she was our computer science teacher. She was also a gypsy and was killed by a vampire. I was really snarky with her right before she died because she didn't tell us stuff and I felt betrayed. It was stupid really, but Giles snubbed her out of loyalty to me. They never really got to say goodbye before she died and it was my fault," Buffy explained with weary tones.

Sam regarded her young friend a moment before saying, "That's terrible, but I'm sure that eventually you'll realize that 20/20 hindsight doesn't make any sense. If you had known what might happen, you would have reconciled with her."

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts, young lady. It's not like you can tell the future."

Buffy stopped suddenly in the corridor with shock on her face.

"What?" Sam asked in alarm.

"But I can, sometimes. When I get the dreams. But I never saw one with her getting killed. The Powers never gave a hint about it."

"Well then, maybe it was her time," Sam observed before raising a hand to stop whatever Buffy was about to say. "Really, if these Powers wanted you to save her, wouldn't they have given you a hint?"

"Yeah, I suppose they might have. Still, it hurts that she had to die that way. Especially since she was about to do something for us. Something her people probably wouldn't have approved of. Plus it just tore Giles to pieces." Buffy suddenly shook her head to clear the sad thoughts. "Well, this Giles didn't go through that. In fact, from what Daniel says he's never even left Britain."

"True," Sam noted. "Say, have you had any dreams here yet?"

"No way, well, except for the whatever with Whistler."

"So far, so good then," Sam threw her arm over Buffy's shoulders as they continued down the corridor.

* * *

Giles stared at his friend wondering if insanity was contagious. The story Daniel had just related to him seemed to indicate he was unbalanced at the least. Looking over at the General and two Lieutenants, he noticed the General seemed to simply nod at points in agreement while the others were very engrossed with the tale, almost as much as he was. Well, that only made sense if they were only just learning about this program.

Shaking his head, he looked back at Daniel and said, "If it weren't for where we are right now, I would think you had gone insane." Daniel just grinned back at him sympathetically. "All right Daniel, I'm not saying I believe all this, but I'm willing to listen to what you expect me to do here."

General Hammond nodded once before stating, "Mr. Giles, I do understand how this sounds. You actually reacted better than the current President when he was first briefed on the project."

"Um, quite," Giles remarked as two women entered the room.

Xander grinned at Buffy before suddenly getting a slightly startled look on his face. Buffy held a hand up before he could say anything then turned to the General as Sam spoke, "General."

"Major Carter, Miss Summers. Please sit down and we'll continue here."

Both women sat, Sam next to Hailey and Buffy next to Xander who continued to covertly stare at her. She smiled at him while laying a hand on his arm.

"Now that everyone is here, Mr. Giles, we hired you for a couple of reasons," Hammond stated. "First, we wish you to work with Doctor Jackson making translations of the various artifacts that are brought back by the off-world teams. Since Dr. Jackson is on one of those teams, you will be the head of the base team without having to interrupt the work for off-world missions."

"Excuse me, Daniel is part of your off-world exploration teams?" Giles asked for clarification.

"In fact, Dr. Jackson was part of the first off-world team and lived on Abydos for a year before returning to Earth."

Giles glanced over at Daniel in shock while his friend nodded in confirmation. Buffy immediately piped in with, "Say Daniel, were you the one who taught the Abydonian kids to make moonshine?"

Daniel had the good grace to blush as Sam laughed aloud in delight. "Uh, yeah. Skaara was always after me to teach him once I mentioned it to him, once. He couldn't wait to try it out on Jack once he returned."

General Hammond shook his head in amusement after hearing that. He knew there were some things that never got included in the official reports and it seemed this was one more that only came out when his people teased each other. It was also good to see the newest member of the SGC seemed to already be fitting in with his best team. That might just save all their lives in the future.

Giles smiled at seeing Daniel blush and learning that he had finally found some place he belonged. Then he pondered the two women and spoke up, "Excuse me, but what do you two do here?"

The General answered for them, "Major Carter is a theoretical astrophysicist and a member of one of the off-world teams. Miss Summers was offered a position as a civilian consultant on combat matters by the President of the United States."

Both Lieutenants swiveled their heads in unison to stare openly at Buffy after hearing that. She blushed slightly before saying, "I guess he likes me."

"Wait a second Buff, combat matters? I thought you were studying psychology? And when did you ever meet the President?" Xander blurted out.

"Lieutenant!" Hammond barked.

"Sir!"

"Miss Summers will explain that to you in a moment," the General ordered. "Now then Mr. Giles, do you think you can work with us and possibly help us learn more about how Earth's cultures have been spread across the galaxy?"

"Definitely, General. I can see numerous long-held beliefs are going to be challenged just from what you've already learned. In fact," he turned to face Daniel. "I'm betting that you've found the proof you needed to confirm your theories."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, we've learned that the pyramids were built as landing platforms for Goa'uld spacecraft."

"I see. Well, I can certainly say that you would have to lock me up to keep me from working with you here."

Daniel turned to the General and said simply, "I told you so."

Hammond laughed while Buffy leaned her head to the side and peered at Giles with a fond smile. Giles himself merely blushed slightly while taking his glasses off and cleaning them.

Buffy then looked over at the General. "General, I've noticed that the room next to my office is being used for storage and was wondering if I can get that cleared and a table put in to use for meetings and planning sessions? Also, the office on the other side could be assigned to Giles."

The General thought about that for a moment before answering, "Yes, I think we can do that. Are you still going to use the gym being set up on that level as well?"

"Ooh, a gym down the hall, too?" Buffy grinned widely in pleasure before responding, "Definitely! I take it you want me to assess Xander and Lieutenant Hailey's combat skills before they get sent to training?"

"Yes. If you can do that before tomorrow afternoon?" Hammond questioned.

"Let's see, get them up to date on me, meet Willow this afternoon with Dr. Fraiser, and then test them in the morning," Buffy thought out loud. "Yes, I can do that."

"Good. Major, get them all issued SGC passes and keycards. Mr. Giles, I'll meet with you again in the morning. Miss Summers, please send me a progress report tomorrow afternoon. Dismissed!"

With everyone scrambling up from the table Xander reached out and grabbed Buffy's arm to halt her. She grabbed his wrist and twisted slightly before he released in both pain and shock. "What?" he muttered.

"Xander, I'll explain later once Willow is here. Okay?" she asked with a pleading expression on her face.

"Sure. Wait, Willow is coming too? What for?"

"Willow is going to be offered a position with the base technical staff to work on the computers here," Buffy answered.

"Woah, really?" Xander said in wonder.

"Oh yeah. I think she'll fall in love with the toys they have here. Besides, I need my buds here with me," Buffy replied.

"About that Buff, how did you get involved with all this?"

Buffy thought about that for a moment. "Hey Sam, how about you get the passes made while I take the gang to the gym and show them what's going on?"

Sam looked at her impish grin before responding, "Sure thing Buffy. Just remember we have to collect Janet and head for the hospital in an hour."

"You bet!"

* * *

Buffy led Daniel, Giles, and the two Lieutenants to the gym that had just been finished. "Okay, this is the new gym they installed just for me, apparently."

Xander glanced around before he understood that statement and squeaked, "For you?"

Nodding, Buffy led them over to a bench at the side of the room. "Okay, Daniel has seen some of this before. So, I want everyone to sit here and watch for a few minutes. If you have any questions, ask him, until I'm finished, and then I'll answer any that are left."

Everyone agreed and sat down. Giles leaned over to Daniel while the petite girl went over to a large weight set. "Daniel, what exactly is she..." he trailed off as Buffy lifted a barbell with the weights set at 500 pounds. "Good Lord, that's not possible."

Xander and Hailey both jumped up in astonishment as they watched the Slayer begin doing reps standing up. With a grin Buffy then shifted her grip until she was lifting the barbell with only one hand. Hailey suddenly blurted, "Oh my God, she's not human."

* * *

Buffy dropped the barbell in consternation at Hailey's outburst while Daniel hastily said, "Actually, that is incorrect. Buffy is human."

Xander suddenly started to put little things together in his head and asked, "But she isn't the Buffy I grew up with, is she?"

Everyone turned to look at him, while Buffy walked over to him, and patted his arm as she sat on the bench. Giles continued to stare at the young woman in astonishment before he comprehended the younger man's statement, "What?"

Buffy and Daniel shared a look over their companions heads, nodded, and Buffy explained, "You're right, Xander. I'm not the Buffy you grew up with. Say, how did you guess that so quickly?"

"Well, first, you must have grown your hair out pretty quickly since the last picture you sent me. Second, the scar on your shoulder is new to me, yet seems to be at least a couple of years old. Third, the super strength you just showed. My Buffy is pretty athletic and limber but not the strongest person around."

"Pretty good," Buffy commented.

"Wait, so are you like a clone or something?" Hailey asked.

Daniel grinned in anticipation of Buffy's answer as he saw the twinkle in her eyes.

"Actually, I'm her counterpart from an alternate reality," Buffy replied before turning to Daniel. "I got that part right, right Daniel?"

All eyes turned to the archeologist as he said, "Yes, alternate reality is the correct term."

Xander's thoughts whirled for a second before he blurted out, "How cool is that?" with a grin before he started following those thoughts to a morbid conclusion.

Giles sat forward with a pinched expression, "Daniel, that is impossible. There is no proof that alternate realities, or higher dimensions, exist, save for some mathematical theorizing."

"Actually," Daniel replied, "there is classified proof. In fact, I have traveled to two alternate realities myself in the past few years. We found an alien artifact that allows people to do that."

"Wait a second; you have something that could get me home and didn't mention it?" Buffy asked angrily.

"We don't have it anymore. After we learned some of the dangers involved with it, General Hammond ordered it destroyed."

"Oh," Buffy said quietly.

Hailey suddenly grabbed the Slayer's arm and asked, "So you're from another reality? Does everyone there have super strength? And how did you get here, if not through that artifact?"

"Whoa!" Buffy said, holding up a hand. "Um, okay, yes, I'm from an alternate reality. No, not everyone is as strong as I am, and I jumped into a dimensional portal to save my sister and ended up here."

Xander stared at her a second then said softly, "Buffy, you don't have a sister."

Just as softly she responded, with a grimace, "Not here. But back home, I do."

Xander put his arm around her as she buried her face in his shoulder and began softly sobbing. Hailey looked sadly on while she began running mathematical computations in her head that would explain the existence of alternate realities as well as an ability to travel between them.

Giles merely stepped away from the grieving woman as he motioned Daniel to join him. As soon as he did Giles whispered to him, "This is for real?"

"Yes. She apparently changed places with her counterpart in this universe a few days ago when the Buffy of this universe died in a train wreck. There's much more to the story that I can explain later," Daniel responded.

With a nod, Giles moved over to the young woman and hesitantly patted her shoulder in sympathy. He never expected her reaction, which was to throw herself in his arms and hug him within an inch of his life. Gasping, "Hmm, Miss Summers, I still need to breathe." He watched as she released him while a soft rosy blush came over her.

"Sorry Giles. I just really needed that."

"Hmm, well, of course. You're quite welcome," he replied, slightly flustered.

Xander was looking at h