Spoilers: First few episodes of the new Stargate season and anything before, season finale of Buffy and anything before. It’s all fair game.


Special thanks to Krisztina who helped me clean up the ending a little. :)


Time Off

Jack sighed in contentment as he cast the bait again. He never seemed to get away from the SGC enough to do this. There was honestly nothing in the world that could compare to the relaxing feeling of fishing.

To be truthful, it wasn’t just the fishing that he enjoyed. It was the ability to kick his heels up, drink a beer, and become one with nature. No matter how many times he tried to explain that to Teal’c, the Jaffa continued to believe that the purpose of fishing was to catch fish. Actually catching a fish was more of a bonus to the endeavor.

Yeah, nothing like sitting next to a lake with a blue sky above you to help you unwind. Just listening to the birds, water lapping at the shore, the rustling of leaves in the wind, and snoring. Wait... snoring?

He looked over to see Daniel slumped down in his chair asleep, loosely holding his pole. Jack smile. It was about time the kid relaxed. It had been at his insistence that Daniel had come out here to try and catch his breath.

The past year had been difficult for the archaeologist. What with deascending... or was it unascending? Were either of those real words? Oh hell, after he came back from the dead there had been the whole regaining of his memory, the trouble with Anubis and the Replicators, Janet’s death, Jack himself having to be frozen because of all of that Ancient knowledge... The list really just went on and on.

And Jack finally decided that it was high time that he got the kid out of there for a few days before he exploded. As head of the SGC it was his full right to order such things. The fact that it coincided with Jack’s deep-set desire for a fishing trip had nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing.

Jack reached down and grabbed another beer out of the cooler. For a brief moment he entertained the childish act of throwing some of the ice water onto Daniel for a laugh, then thought better of it. This was the most relaxed he had seen the kid in months.

“Faith, I’m telling you I don’t think this is the road to our cabin,” came a girlish voice behind him.

“Ya never know, B. If not, there could be someone here who can tell us how to get back,” came another.

He craned his neck around to see two girls, no women, emerge from the woods on the small dirt road. One had long blonde hair and had a soft golden tan. The other had dark hair and only a slightly paler complexion. His trained military eye saw that despite their slight frames, they carried themselves with a confident air that nothing could harm them.

“See, Faith. That’s not our cabin,” said the blonde.

“What was your first clue, B? The truck parked there or the two guys fishing on the dock?”

Jack stood and started making his way over to them. “Afternoon ladies. Can I help you?”

“Check out the senior hottie,” the one called Faith said to her friend.

The blonde just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you might. We decided to take a walk and now we can’t find our cabin.”

“I thought I knew everyone out here,” Jack said with a frown.

The girl shrugged. “You probably do. We’re using a friend’s cabin. It’s a little bigger than yours, set back away from the water a little, has it’s own dock though. Oh, and it’s brown.”

“I think most of them are, B.”

“Shut up, Faith.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s your fault we’re lost anyway,” the blonde argued. “You just had to leave the path and explore.” She turned back to Jack. “So, you think you could direct us back?”

“You must be talking about the old Travers place. I don’t think anyone’s been there in over a decade.”

“That’s the place. Full of cobwebs and dust. It’s exactly how I wanted to spend my vacation - cleaning,” the blonde said with a dark look.

Jack snorted. “Sounds like fun.” She sent a light glare his way and he smiled in apology. “You girls went for one hell of a walk. Your cabin is on the other side of the lake. I can give you a ride back if you’d like.”

The two women exchanged questioning looks and then nodded. “Sounds great,” the blonde said.

He held out his hand. “Name’s Jack. My sleeping friend over there is Daniel.”

“My name is Buffy, and this is Faith,” the blonde said, shaking his hand. “We really appreciate this.”

“It’s not a problem. Just let me tell my friend so he doesn’t panic when he wakes up.” He turned and headed back onto the dock. The girl’s grip had been strong and he flexed his hand to get the feeling to return. “Hey Danny-boy, wake up.”

“Huh!” Daniel said, jumping in his chair.

“We’ve got some visitors. Be polite and wave hello.”

“Huh?” Jack pointed and Daniel turned to see two women standing in the driveway.

“Who are they?” He asked, adjusting his glasses.

“Some neighbors who got lost. I’m going to take them back to their cabin. I’ll be right back.”

“Ok, Jack. I’ll just be right here... fishing.”

“Of course wouldn’t want any of those z’s to get away.” But Jack’s comment was lost, as Daniel had already fallen back asleep. Shaking his head in amusement he headed back to the women. He gestured to his truck and said, “Your chariot awaits.”

Buffy let Faith climb into the back of the extend cab before getting in herself. “This was really nice of you,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.

“Ah, it’s not like the fish were biting anyways,” he said as he started the truck.

“Never really cared for fishing,” Faith said.

“Probably because you don’t have any patience,” Buffy said.

“Like you have any?” Faith shot back.

“So you girls out here for vacation?” Jack asked, hoping to distract them as he navigated the dirt road.

“We work together at a small company with some friends. They forced us to spend some alone time together,” Buffy said in a sullen tone.

“B and I don’t really get along.”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed,” Jack said in mock surprise.

Buffy grinned. “They’re hoping this will help us get along.”

“Not sure it’s going to work. We come from different backgrounds.”

“Have you ever tried that putting yourself in the other’s shoes thing?” He asked.

“NO!” The said simultaneously.

“It would be way too wiggy,” Faith said, squirming slightly in her seat.

Jack thought about it and remembered swapping bodies with Teal’c. Suppressing a shudder he decided that that wasn’t always a good technique. It had taken him nearly a week to shake the feeling of something swimming in his gut.

A few minutes later he pulled up to a good-sized cabin. “I believe we’re here ladies. Is this it?”

“Yes, thank you again,” Buffy said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

He pulled a piece of paper and pen out of the door pocket and scribbled something on it. “This is my number,” he said as he handed it to her. “Daniel and I will be here all week. If you need anything - help around here, directions for in town, or even dinner - just give me a call.”

“Will do,” Buffy said.

“We’ll probably be seeing ya,” Faith said as she got out. “Thanks for the ride, Jack.”

“My pleasure ladies,” he said. With a final wave he backed up and headed out.

*********

“Why are we doing this again?” Daniel asked as he sat the plates on the picnic table that night.

“I figured you, of all people, wouldn’t mind helping two young women out,” Jack said as he flipped the burgers on the grill.

“Yeah. But this isn’t like you. What’s up?”

“Nobody has stayed in that cabin for over ten years and they don’t really look like the housework type. I figured it would be a while before they got the kitchen clean.”

“So you offered to fix them dinner?” Daniel asked skeptically.

“Yeah. Oh, we’re going over to help them clean tomorrow.”

“Really? Since when?”

“Since I offered the help when Buffy called earlier,” Jack said with a grin.

“All right Jack. What’s going on?”

“You know me. I’ve never really paid any attention to local legends and superstitions. But the more we’ve gone through the gate, the more I’ve learned that there might be some element of truth to them.”

“Ok. But what does this have to do with those girls?”

“Even before that cabin was apparently abandoned ten years ago, the owner was never consistent in its use. People used to tell stories about strange lights and sounds coming from the place. Even now, there have been reports about strange animals and things ‘haunting’ the place.”

“And you want to get close enough to check these stories out and make sure they’re safe?” Daniel asked, catching on.

“Precisely.” He turned to see Buffy carefully pull a Jeep Liberty up next to his truck.

“Perfect timing! Burgers are done!” He called out as they got out.

“Smells good,” Faith said, rubbing her hands together.

“Daniel this is Buffy and Faith.”

“Nice to meet you,” Daniel said as he shook their hands. He winced slightly as Buffy squeezed.

“Come one, let’s eat before it gets cold,” Jack said, gesturing to the food on the table.

“Jack says you work for a small company,” Daniel said as he fixed himself a plate. “What do you do?”

“Research.”

“Training.” The two said at once.

“We do research to help train girls to defend themselves,” Buffy quickly explained. “Faith and I are more of the trainers while our friends research.”

“What kind of research?”

“All kinds. Like I said, we’re not really researchers.”

“Aren’t you guys kind of small to be trainers?” Jack asked.

“Aren’t guys usually the ones saying that size doesn’t matter?” Faith asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack choked slightly on his hamburger. “Point taken.”

“What do you guys do?” Buffy asked.

“I’m a general in the Air Force.” He noticed that Buffy froze. “Is that a problem?”

“Military huh?”

“I’m in charge of a facility that does Deep Space Radar Telemetry.”

She relaxed and smiled. “Not a problem. What about you Daniel?”

“I’m an archaeologist.”

“Excuse me?” Faith asked, breaking from her face stuffing for a moment.

“An archaeologist. You know, like Indiana Jones except no fedora or whip.”

“I know what an archaeologist is,” Faith said. “It’s just I didn’t think archaeologists and Air Force generals ran in the same social circles.”

“We don’t,” Jack said easily. “The Air Force called Daniel in to do some translating a while back and that’s where we met. Been friends ever since.”

“What kind of translating?” Buffy asked.

“That’s classified,” he answered before taking a bite of his hamburger.

Buffy slowly nodded, but didn’t press the issue. She just munched hungrily on her own hamburger.

The rest of the meal passed quickly while the four of them discussed things that didn’t require them to censure much. Although to both sides, they felt as if the other was holding bits of information back.

**********

“Are you sure it’s safe to have those two over, B?” Faith asked from her seated position atop the kitchen counter the next day. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re kind of nice, both are hotties, and Jack can BBQ like no one else. But something about them doesn’t sit well.”

“I know,” Buffy said as she added ice to the pitcher of tea she was making. “But I’m hoping to try and figure out what’s up with them while they’re here. Honestly. Did they really expect us to buy that story of how they met? Why would the Air Force need an archaeologist to translate anything?”

“It was a bit lame,” Faith admitted. “But if they’re both used to having people question their cover what makes you think you can break them?”

“Because,” Buffy said, batting her eyes, “we’re slayers. The last of the truly called.”

Faith grinned. “Gotcha B. I’ll take book boy. I can probably blush it out of him, among other ways.”

“Can you think with anything besides your libido?”

“Yeah, my fists.”

Buffy snorted. “Just try not to hurt him. There’s an upside to this, though,” she said brightly as she put the tea into the fridge.

“What’s that?”

“We won’t have to do all of this cleaning on our own.”

*************

“Whoa, Jack. Check them out,” Daniel breathed as they pulled up to the girls’ cabin. “I don’t think they were lying about being trainers.”

Jack followed Daniel’s gaze to see the girls going through an intricate kata. The two moved as one with smooth, fluid motions. It was clear that they were in full control of their bodies.

The two girls continued as the men got out of the truck and approached. They stood back and let them finish. A few minutes later they came to their final pose, then they broke and gave the guys a smile.

“That was beautiful,” Daniel said as they walked over to them. “What discipline was that?”

“It was a form of Tai Chi wasn’t it?” Jack asked.

“Good eye,” Buffy said. “An ex-boyfriend of mine taught me that years ago.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s in charge of a law firm in L.A.”

“Ouch,” Jack said. “Talk about an evil business.”

“You have no idea,” she said sourly.

Sensing a touchy subject, Jack clapped his hands together. “So where do we start ladies?”

“We got our rooms, the bathroom, and kitchen done. I thought Faith and Daniel could work on the living room while you and I cleaned up out here.”

“Sounds like a plane,” Jack said.

“Oh, we brought stuff to make sandwiches with later,” Daniel said and he turned back to the truck.

“Lemme help,” Faith said and the two carried everything into the kitchen. After they put everything away, he followed her down the hall and into the living room.

He adjusted his glasses as he took in the amount of cobwebs and dust that covered nearly every surface. The previous occupants had at least thought ahead enough to put drops over the furniture. As he looked around he realized he had no clue where to start.

Faith handed him a broom. “First, we knock down all the cobwebs.”

“Where are you going?” He asked as she moved to leave.

“To get a bucket of water so we can wipe down the ceiling and walls,” she answered simply before leaving him alone.

Daniel raised the broom and began running it over the corners where the walls and the ceiling met. He became so intent in his work that he didn’t notice that Faith had returned and then left again. A fairly large cobweb fell on his face and he sneezed.

“Bless you,” she said as she set up a small stepladder.

“Allergies,” he explained.

“Oh, sorry. This can’t be good for them,” she said in sympathy.

“I’ll manage,” he said meekly. He had turned to see her standing on top of the ladder reaching above her to clean the ceiling. Her little camisole rose to show off the flat expanse of her stomach. He blinked several times before returning to his task.

Faith smirked as she saw his flustered face. Really, this was going to be too easy. “Don’t you archaeologists usually have specialties?”

“Um, yeah. Mine is Egypt.”

“You mean like the pyramids and stuff?”

“Yes. My focus is actually in the construction of them and the pharaohs of the time.”

“That’s cool. So you’ve probably been there to study them and stuff, huh?” She asked as she reached up once more.

He looked to see her bare skin again and adjusted his glasses. “A few times, yes.”

She came down several steps so she was eye level. “And you read all those... those... their writing.”

“Hieroglyphs,” he said with a smile.

“That’s the word. Sorry, didn’t pay much attention in school when I did go,” she said as she bent over to wring her rag out in the bucket of hot soapy water, making sure he got a good view. “So you can read them?”

“Yeah. I have a gift with languages,” he said, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Really? B’s sister has a gift, too. At least Giles says so She mastered several archaic languages last year and the kid is still in high school.”

“What languages?”

“Ancient Sumerian, Turkish - I think, and a few others,” Faith said with a shrug.

“Are you sure?” At Faith’s nod, he said in wonder, “That’s amazing.”

“So that’s what you do - study pyramids and speak a bunch of dead languages?” Faith asked as she stopped on her way back up the ladder so her rear end was right in front of his face.

“Not so much anymore,” he said, pulling at his shirt collar.

“Why not?”

“I lost my grant.”

She twisted and reached so that her bare stomach filled his line of vision. “How did you do that?”

He swallowed and croaked out, “I was rather vocal in my belief that the pyramids were built by aliens.”

“Really? Aliens?”

“Yeah. I had found...”

“Hey kids,” Jack called out, interrupting them. “Faith, can you show me where the kitchen is? Buffy and I are a little thirsty.”

“Not a problem,” she said. She climbed down the ladder and walked past Jack to show him the way.

“Snap out of it, Daniel,” Jack hissed before he left the room. “You were damn close to spilling the beans.”

Daniel swayed and shook his head as Jack followed Faith down the hall. As long as he kept his eyes on his work and not on Faith’s lithe, supple... body. He would be fine. Just fine.

*********

“Here’s your tea,” Jack said as he walked around to where Buffy was piling up all the fallen branches.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the offered glass. She took a long drink before setting it somewhere safe.

The two worked in companionable silence for several minutes as they cleared the area. Jack couldn’t help but watch Buffy move. Even doing simple yard work, she seemed to be in complete control of her every move.

“What company do you work for?” Jack asked.

“It’s a new one called Girls Unite,” Buffy said with a grin.

“So females only huh?”

“Students, yeah. But some of the trainers are men. Why? You have a problem with empowered women?”

“No, no,” he said quickly. “I’m all for women with power. A member of my last team was a woman and I trusted her with my six.”

“Uh oh.”

“Uh oh what?”

“You like her,” she said as she dragged a large branch to the pile. She could have easily thrown it the thirty feet, but she was trying to disguise her strength.

“Do not,” he scoffed.

Buffy laughed. “Fine denial boy. I always thought those regulations about not dating within the ranks were stupid. At least Riley and I never had that problem.”

“Riley? He your boyfriend?”

“Ex. Very much the ex.”

“Ah. He was in the...?”

“Army,” she answered with a grimace.

“Explains your aversion to the military,” Jack said as he stopped to get a drink of water. “So how do you know Quentin?”

“Who?”

“Quentin Travers. You know, the guy who owns this place?”

“Oh. He was Giles’, my new boss, boss. He died about eight months ago and left this place to Giles. We’re hoping to use this place as a small retreat.” Buffy grabbed her drink and sat down in the grass.

Jack sat next to her. “It’s a nice out of the way place,” he agreed. “What rooms do you have left to clean?”

“Just a few guest rooms which Faith and I can do tomorrow.”

“I saw a basement, what about it?”

“No. Not worrying about it yet. Quentin was rather eccentric. We were going to let Giles go through the things,” she explained quickly.

“Are you sure? Daniel and I can always come back tomorrow,” he pressed.

She shook her head. “Nah, we’re good. Besides, you’ve done so much to help already. I don’t want to ruin your entire vacation.”

“If you’re sure,” he said skeptically.

“I’m sure.” She leaned back on her elbows and looked up at him. “What exactly is Deep Space Radar Television?”

He laughed. “Telemetry. We receive signals from probes, listen to the cosmos, things like that,” he explained.

“Like listening for aliens?”

Jack sputtered slightly. “Aliens? No, we don’t listen for aliens. Just cosmos and probes. I get to read all sorts of wonderful reports.”

“Huh. You didn’t strike me as a sit behind the desk and receive info kind of guy.”

“Really?” He asked in surprise. “What ‘kind of guy’ did I strike you as?”

“Anyone who can recognize a martial arts discipline from a simple kata has had lots of training. Plus, you’re in awful good shape for a desk job. I kind of saw you as a fighter, a rough and rumble kind of guy,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m in good shape?”

“You know you are,” she said as she playfully shoved him. “And you know your disciplines.”

“It’s a gift,” he said with a shrug. “Shall we go in and check on Faith and Daniel?”

“Probably should. He might need a break from all his blushing,” she answered as she let him help her up.

“She is rather blunt, isn’t she?”

“I’ve known worse,” she answered wryly.

*********

“Jack, I would just like to reiterate my belief that we shouldn’t be doing this,” Daniel whispered as he and Jack snuck up to the house after midnight that night. “I’m reasonably sure that they could severely hurt us.”

“Hurt you, Daniel. They could hurt you.”

“Whatever. However, I’m sure they won’t be happy if they find us trespassing.”

Jack stopped at the tree line and motioned for Daniel to crouch behind some bushes. “They were asking way too many questions and only vaguely answered ours. And they really seemed to not want us in the basement. Sorry, if that makes me a little suspicious.”

“Need I remind you that we’re on vacation? One, I might add, that you forced on me,” Daniel angrily whispered.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Think you could complain about this later? You know, when we’re not on a stealth mission?”

“This isn’t a mission, Jack. It’s you being paranoid.”

A light came on in one of the low-lying windows. “See,” Jack said triumphantly. “They’re down there. Let’s take a look.”

“Jack,” Daniel started, but it was too late. Jack was already running across the yard to the window. Shaking his head, Daniel joined him. The two crouched on either side of the window and peered in.

“What did you find out?” Buffy asked as they came down the stairs.

“Blush boy knows a bunch of dead languages and his specialty is Egypt. But get this, he lost his grant because he believed that the pyramids were built by aliens.”

Buffy stopped and turned to look at her. “Aliens?”

“Yup.”

“What’s he do now?”

“Said he was in between jobs,” Faith answered with a shrug. She saw Buffy had her mouth scrunched up. “What ‘cha thinking?”

“I asked the good general about what Deep Space Television was. He said some nonsense about tracking probes and cosmo listening. I mentioned aliens and he choked.”

“Ya think there’s a connection?”

“I wish Willow and Xander were here, they would figure this out in a flash.” The blonde sat on a mat on the floor. “Let’s add some things together.”

Faith joined her. “Add away.”

“First, we have a general who can identify a martial arts discipline after watching less than five minutes of a kata. That just screams Special Forces training.”

“Ya think?”

“Definitely. Second, an action man is buddy buddy with a geek. That’s suspicious all in itself.”

“You were friends with Willow and Xander,” Faith pointed out.

“That was way different.”

“How?”

“I was action woman because I had to be. We shared other things - like being outsiders.”

“You and the geek squad,” Faith said with a smirk. “What else do we have?”

“Third, we have an archaeologist who believes the pyramids were built by aliens doing a translation for a base that could be communicating with aliens.”

“Sounds like a cover up.”

Jack and Daniel exchanged worried glances. The girls were hitting way too close to home for comfort.

“But aliens?” Buffy asked.

Faith looked at her in surprise. “After everything we’ve seen and done, you’re telling me you don’t believe in aliens?”

“I have enough to worry about here, let alone the whole universe,” Buffy said, lying back to look up at the ceiling. “How is our cover?”

“They might be a little suspicious because of my questions. After Jack interrupted us, Daniel kept his eyes firmly away from me. Ruined my fun,” Faith said with a little pout.

“You poor thing,” Buffy said with a roll of her eyes. “Jack was awful curious about this basement. Kept offering to help us clean it out.”

“Could’ve let him down here.”

“And explain the heavily reinforced cage and weapons how?”

For the first time, Jack and Daniel took their eyes off the girls and looked at the basement. There was a good-sized cage in one corner. Archaic weapons like swords and axes lined the far wall.

“We’re into the kinky sex,” Faith said with a grin. Buffy raised an eyebrow. “Or Quentin collected weapons and had a big vicious dog that he kept locked up.”

“And we thought their cover was lame,” Buffy countered.

Daniel shifted his stance and a twig cracked beneath his feet.

“What was that?” Buffy asked, sitting up, fully alert.

Jack silently cursed. Of all the branches he and Buffy had to miss picking up that day, it had to be the one that ended up under Daniel’s foot.

He and Daniel flattened themselves up against the side of the house as they heard one of the girls approach the window.

“See anything?” Buffy asked.

“Nah. Could have been an animal. I heard they have those in the woods these days,” Faith answered as she walked away from the small window.

“Shut up,” Buffy retorted.

“I’m shaking, B. Your comeback has completely disarmed me,” Faith said in mock horror.

“You are such a pain in the ass.”

Jack was turning to signal to Daniel that they should leave when he saw a huge behemoth of a thing lift his friend by a choke hold. “Kick it Daniel!”

Daniel pulled desperately at the large hands that were cutting off his oxygen supply. His legs dangled beneath him and he couldn’t get any leverage to do what Jack had instructed.

“For crying out loud,” Jack said and tackled the thing. “Oh gross,” he cried as he jumped off it. His front was coated with slime.

“Jack,” Daniel croaked from the ground in warning.

He looked up in time to step out of the way of the charging... thing. As it ran past, he pulled out his gun and fired. Even though he hit the thing several times, it never dropped.

Faith ran out onto the porch and took in the situation. “Gonna need something heavy duty, B!” She called back into the house. Then she ran and pulled the thing away from Jack.

Jack went to shoot it again, but Faith yelled, “Put that damn thing away before you get us killed.”

“How else do you think I’m going to stop it?”

She grabbed the thing by the rags it was wearing and threw it across the yard. “You won’t. I’ll take care of it.” Then she was knocked over by another one that had stepped out of the shadows. “Dammit,” she grunted.

The weight was suddenly off of her and she saw Buffy looking down at her. As the blonde slayer helped her up she said, “Told you I heard something.”

“What took you so long?”

“Not all the blades were sharp.”

“Nothing worse than a dull blade,” Faith agreed. “Perhaps we should report that to Giles.”

“Girls,” Jack said, stepping up to them. “Hate to interrupt, but they’re coming back.” He had been more than a little surprised at how easily and far they had thrown the two... things. They seemed to know something about what was going on and he was more than happy to let them deal with it.

“Shall we?” Buffy asked.

“We shall,” Faith agreed. Then they turned to the approaching demons and met them head on.

“Wow,” Daniel said as he came up beside Jack. He rubbed his neck where bruises were already beginning to form.

Jack couldn’t help but agree. Although the two girls had different techniques he couldn’t dispute the effectiveness of their abilities. The blonde switched disciplines faster than Jack could keep track of, all the while carrying a sword. Faith used sheer power and what seemed to be a form of street fighting to keep her attacker at bay. Both used the environment to their advantage.

He was finally able to get a good look at the two... things. He hated calling them that in his head, but it was the only thing he could call them. They were huge and a dark grey that allowed them to easily blend in to the night. Their features were misshapen and were covered in a thin layer of slime.

Buffy swung her sword and neatly cut the thing’s head off. Before the body had even dropped to the ground, she had thrown the sword to Faith, who had caught it with ease. Faith ducked a few more blows and then kicked the thing in the chest. Before it could recover, she decapitated it.

The two grinned at each other and high-fived. “Just like old times B.”

“Just like.”

“Holy crap,” Jack cried and pointed.

They turned to see the demons shaking. Then they dissolved into huge puddles of goo that sank into the ground.

“I always like it when they clean up after themselves,” Buffy quipped.

“You want to explain this?” Jack asked.

“Ummm, gangs on PCP,” Buffy said innocently.

Jack pulled a face. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Hey what are you doing here anyways?” Buffy asked, changing topics.

“Not the issue here,” he said, stepping closer to her.

She took a few steps so she as looking up at him. “It so is. If you hadn’t noticed, we saved your butts.”

“From what exactly?”

“Those... gang members.”

“Who don’t drop when you shoot them?”

“Must be some good drugs,” she said sagely.

“I don’t care how many drugs are in someone’s system, when you shoot someone six times in the chest, they typically die,” Jack roared.

A ringing cell phone attracted their attention and they turned to see Daniel pulling one out of his jeans pocket.

“You traitor. I can’t believe you brought a phone,” Jack said sourly.

“You brought your gun,” Daniel pointed out as he flipped the phone open. “This is Daniel.”

Faith jumped. “Shit! Forgot I had the thing on vibrate.” Buffy and Jack looked strangely at her until she pulled out her own phone. “Yo!... Oh really?...Thanks for the heads up... She’s right here.” Faith handed the phone to Buffy. “It’s the G-man.”

“Jack, it’s Sam,” Daniel said.

“How long?... We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Jack said before hanging up.

“Are you sure?... Found them... Took care of it... Big problem?... All right. We need to clean up first... See you soon.”

“We need to go, Daniel,” Jack said.

“Now?”

“Yes, now.” He turned to the girls. “Not that this wasn’t fun, but duty calls.”

“Maybe we’ll see you around here sometime,” Buffy said, happy to see them leaving.

“Maybe,” he agreed. Jack and Daniel waved and then headed down the road.

“Problems?” Faith asked when they were out of earshot.

“Hellmouth equals apocalypse. Giles warned me about the possiblity of two demons out here.”

“Way to be with the timely information. Did Giles have any clue what the demons were doing out here?”

Buffy shrugged. “He said he was going through the files on this place. Apparently, the council would bring captured demons out here to study.”

“Explains the cage.”

“Those two escaped and killed the watchers studying them, but a spell made it impossible to leave the grounds. Travers, like the idiot he was, never sent anyone out to take care of it.”

“Guess we’re going back for the hellmouth.”

“Yeah. So much for the vacation,” Buffy said with a sigh.

“What about the boys?” Faith asked, gesturing in the direction that Jack and Daniel had gone.

“Your alien theory might be right. They didn’t seem too freaked over the demons. Maybe they do know some aliens.”

“Should we worry?”

“Willow can look them up after the apocalypse, then we’ll decide.”

“Works for me. First dibs on the shower,” Faith said as she looked down at her slime coated top.

“Bitch,” Buffy muttered.

***********

“What’s going on?” Daniel asked when they reached Jack’s truck that he had parked down the road.

“SG-4 was six hours late reporting in. Another probe was sent and it showed evidence of a Jaffa attack.”

“So much for the vacation, huh?”

“Sorry, Daniel.”

“So we’re just going to leave behind two possible Goa’ulds?”

“I don’t think they’re Goa’ulds,” Jack answered. “They really didn’t seem to believe in aliens, Goa’ulds usually use advanced technology - Buffy and Faith used a sword, then there’s the fact that their eyes didn’t glow.”

Daniel sighed in exasperation. “Not unless they were disguising who they were. They’ve been known to do that before.”

“Why would they hide that and not their superhuman strength?” When Daniel didn’t answer, he continued, “Maybe Earth is developing our own hot dogs.”

“Hot dogs?”

“Yeah, you know, advanced humans.”

“Hok’taurs.”

“That’s what I said, hot dogs,” Jack said with a grin.

“What about those beings?”

“Chalk it up to local superstitions. We have enough things to deal with now that Ba’al is on the move.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Daniel asked, “Think they’ll be investigating us?”

“Nah. I have a feeling they have other things to worry about than a few guys listening for aliens.”

~finis~

To Sequel Back To Work