In Touch With the Old and the New Chapter 6 & Epilogue, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer + Stargate: SG-1 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 6:

"That looks like a lot of work for the off-chance that some sort of alien tech thingy, that might be a dud anyway, is behind the stone curtain," Satsu said. She studied the small group at the back end of the temple again as the sun slowly dropped towards the horizon.

"Let the egg heads deal with the fancy stuff. You and me girl, we're just here for the slicing and dicing," Faith commented, and continued to stare towards the Stargate.

Dawn got up and wandered down towards the temple. Giles was hanging back observing as Sam, Jonas and Sam's father worked on translating the inscription on the wall. "It's a puzzle lock," Jonas said, just as Dawn got within earshot. The muscular man walked up the wall and quickly started turning circular sections of the wall into a different position. "See, now it makes sense. Here it says 'Sun' instead of 'Chicken'. And... " The man stepped back and looked at the second circle. Slowly he turned it into place as well. Finally, he did the same with the final third of the interlocking discs embedded in the stone. The wall hummed and pulled apart to reveal a silvery door that opened when Sam's dad, Jacob, touched it.

"Great work, let's check this out," Sam said, and the trio went in.

Dawn looked over at Giles.

"Their people are very good," he commented. "They seem to work well under pressure. So, is Willow ready?"

"Yeah, when that big guy, Teal'c, gives the word that the Replicators are here, she'll try to scry for Buffy. Faith, Satsu and... well, me, are going to supply energy so that Willow can teleport Buffy and Daniel back here. I guess the plan is to go straight for the Stargate after that, right?" Dawn said.

"We'll see," Giles replied. Dawn noted how tired and old he looked at that moment. She thought back and realized that Giles had been tired and quiet for most of their trip. It was more than just trying to remain distant.

"Yeah," she replied. She left Giles, and walked into the temple. The trio inside were talking excitedly with each other as she approached.

"Knock knock," she said. "What's the fuss about?"

"This thing is a weapon, or it can be used as one. I think it is capable of using the entire Stargate network to send out a pulse that could destroy the Replicators on or near any planet in the entire galaxy that has a gate," Jacob explained.

"It's a chance, but we still have to find a way to set it to the correct values, open all the gates at once and fire it," Sam said sounding negative. However, Dawn could see the woman thinking hard for solutions to those problems rather than giving in.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Dawn asked.

"Not really," Jonas said after looking at his comrades.

"Teal'c, we cannot hold this place against Ba'al's fleet and now you say that the metal monsters that have already consumed many worlds are following right behind his forces?" Tolok asked, as Sam walked up to give the Jaffa some good news.

"Colonel Carter?" Bra'tac said. She stopped next to the assembled Rebel Jaffa leaders.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but we've found out that the Ancient device in the temple is a huge discovery. I think it was the method the Ancients used to repopulate the Galaxy after the great plague, and it could still do that today. However, it can also be used to destroy all life on any target world, because the energy wave the device produces will travel through the Stargate. It could be the way for us to win: we could defeat the Replicators by creating a modified disruptor wave on a new frequency. I developed one together with the Asgard before, but it will only work once for every frequency. Therefore, we'd need to cover the entire galaxy at once, which means we'd have to find a way to dial up every Stargate simultaneously. The trouble is, we'd need to figure out how to use the machine, set it up, find a way to dial the gates and fire it, all in time before our enemies arrive," Sam explained.

"The only person known to have the ability to dial more than one gate is Ba'al," said Teal'c. "I do not believe he will share this knowledge with us."

"Is there any way we could talk to him before he attacks? Maybe then we could convince him that we're holding the only weapon that will work against the Replicators, and only we know how to work it. If he helps us, we'll use it and then blow it up. If he doesn't, we'll blow it up immediately to keep him from getting it," Sam suggested.

The Jaffa looked at each other. Sam knew that they had already been considering pulling up stakes and heading for the hill, figuratively speaking, but this was their chance – maybe their only chance – to win ,and it was clear that the Jaffa knew it too.

"Good then, we must plan our battle," said Teal'c. "We will give you the time you need, Colonel Carter, and try to convince Ba'al to cooperate with us. If he does not prove open to cooperation, do we have an explosive device capable of destroying the device?"

"I'll ask Jack to see if he can get a naquadah-enhanced tactical nuke cleared for us," Sam replied. She had planned to contact Jack now anyway; adding a nuke to her shopping list wasn't that much of a stretch, given the situation. On her way to the gate, she passed Buffy's friends guarded by their slayers, both of whom looked very bored.

"My Lord, your fleet is entering the Dakara system now," said Ba'al's first prime.

"I want to come out of hyperspace near the temple planet as possible," Ba'al ordered.

"Yes my lord," the First Prime said, and adjusted the timing of the entire fleet. Ba'al wanted to smile as his Jaffa efficiently did his bidding, but he couldn't: he was not in the mood. There were billions of reasons not be in a good mood and they were barely a few hours behind his fleet at this point.

"We will be entering far orbit at any moment," his First Prime said.

"When you see the rebel fleet, blast it from my sky," Ba'al commanded.

His fleet tore itself free from hyperspace.

Sam stared intently at the laptop readout next to her, and nodded to Jonas and her Dad. Jonas pushed one of the Ancient control blocks down a bit. The readout was showing the disruptor wave pattern she had calculated as the next in line from her experiments with Thor and how close the Ancient device was to producing a matching signal.

"Colonel." Sergeant Castleman, one of SG-3's team members, rushed inside.

"Yeah, let me guess: Ba'al's fleet has arrived," she said, too distracted by the complex device and the math she was trying to improvise to become tense.

"Yes, Colonel. Teal'c is preparing to talk to him now. Colonel Reynolds is going to signal by radio if we need to arm the device," the Sergeant explained.

Sam turned and walked over to the large box standing to the left of the room. Inside the box, a small naquadah-enhanced tactical nuke lay ready for her to enter her activation code – the only thing needed to set its timer and activate the detonation switch she had rigged ,just in case anyone got too close too early. Sam felt her body tense up, and saw Mr. Giles getting ready. Buffy's mentor had so far kept a silent watch over them, while Willow and the others had stayed in another part of the temple.

"My Lord, the Rebel fleet has left orbit – only one ship remains. It is known to me as one of the Ha'tak favored by the Shol'va and his decrepit master," his First Prime said. Ba'al leaned forward wondering why the Rebels had left even this much.

"Any word from the warriors you sent there through the Chappa'ai?" Ba'al asked.

"No, my Lord, they most likely perished," his First Prime replied. There were some chimes from the main controls. "The Traitor Teal'c is sending a hail my Lord. I believe he wants to parley," his First Prime continued.

Ba'al knew better than just summarily dismiss the notion of talking. It had served him best to talk in the past. "Let me see the Shol'va," he commanded.

The face of the slayer of so many of his kin appeared on the screen. "Teal'c, are you going to defy your god again, or are you going to surrender to fate?" Ba'al asked.

"Neither. The Free Jaffa and the Tau'ri have taken control of Dakara and the Ancient device that you seek here. Should you attack, or approach further, we will detonate one of the Tau'ri nuclear devices inside the machine," the traitor to his masters said in a voice that convinced Ba'al that the Jaffa was telling the truth.

"What do you propose?" Ba'al asked, knowing that they wouldn't have risked staying and talking unless they needed something from him.

"We have the means to destroy the Replicators in our hands, but you have something that we require in order to do so. You possess the means to activate all Chappa'ai in the galaxy at once. We need that capability so that we may use the weapon here to reach all of our enemy," Teal'c said.

Ba'al almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. For all his knowledge of the Dakara device inherited from Anubis, and his possession of the means to send the wave it would generate through the Chappa'ai, he had no idea how long it would have taken him to create a wave that would destroy the Replicators. Having his enemies do it would serve his purpose just as well, and whether the device ended up destroyed or in his hands afterwards he didn't care; either way, his final victory was still secure.

"We do not have time to haggle like fishwives, Teal'c. If I am to do as you ask, I must be on the ground near the Chappa'ai. Will you allow my personal vehicle to land?" Ba'al asked.

"Do not be simple Ba'al. If you or your Jaffa set foot on Dakara before this is done, we will destroy the device. You possess the same projection technology as Anubis; you may use that," the Jaffa said, taking special care to sound as he was permitting him to do something that he couldn't do freely anyway. Ba'al inwardly seethed, but he knew from experience that vengeance had to wait until he was finished with the immediate problems.

"I will be there in just a few moments," Ba'al said and got up.

"First Prime, attend. Surround this world with my fleet, but stay in high orbit. Our enemy may show up soon. Destroy any unknown ships that arrive. Send out all gliders and make sure they're ready. Dakara must not fall into the hands of the Replicators! If so much as a single ship of theirs lands down there, I will hold you personally responsible. Oh, and keep an eye out for the rebels, we will have to deal with them afterwards," Ba'al commanded. Hegot up to head for his private chambers.

Sam looked up and saw Ba'al fade into view outside the entrance to the device control room. "Ah, Colonel, I expected you or O'Neill. Is the monster you call a daughter near as well?" Ba'al looked around.

"No, I'm sorry, she'll have to miss your visit. Listen, we don't have time for banter: there are a trillion bad things on the way and I'd rather not get eaten alive," Sam said, irritated as always by the arrogantly smirking Goa'uld.

"Ah, so this is the device. I have never seen it before, but I know enough to understand the theory. A wave of energy that can restructure all things on the surface of a planet, killing or creating life at a whim. You have to respect the Ancients: they truly knew how to show people who were the gods." Ba'al paced the room watching her dad wearily.

"Greetings Tok'ra. Too bad this is not the day you die," Ba'al said.

"I still have hope, Goa'uld, that I will live to see the last of your days," Selmak replied. It sounded like the Tok'ra voice of her dad was old and tired.

"Hah! Now I have the means to open all the gates at once prepared, so what are we waiting for?" Ba'al asked.

"We're not ready yet," said Sam. "The device needs to produce a very exact waveform pattern, and we haven't gotten it within the acceptable margin of error; we're still a little way off." She nodded towards the numerical readout on her laptop that said: 3.25. It needed to say: 0.76 before they could fire anything that would work.

"I see. A challenge then," Ba'al said. He looked positively happy to have something to do with his time. Sam wanted the Goa'uld to shut off his hologram and disappear so she could focus, but she just knew he wouldn't.

Dawn watched Giles walk up to her.. "They are getting close to being ready with their weapon. How about you?" he asked Willow.

Willow looked up. "I don't want to cast my spell prematurely, but we've got everything we need handy. What I am going to need is power. This world has next to nothing. It is old – very old – but it hasn't got much in the way of life force, so you'll all have to be donors. I won't need too much, but everyone other than Faith and Satsu will be weak as kittens for a little while afterwards," Willow explained.

"Then all we need is for the Borg bugs to appear with Buffy," Xander commented and looked up then over towards the Stargate in the distance.

"What about when we have her?" Xander asked.

"We make a run for the Stargate, right?" Satsu asked and looked around at everyone.

"B is going to want to stay and fight until it is done," Faith said.

Dawn looked at Faith and nodded in agreement.

"We can ask her when we have her here. We should at least offer her to possibility of taking the Gate straight outta here if this gets fucked up," Xander said.

"Sure, but she won't take it," Dawn said, having formed her own thoughts on what was going on with her sister in this universe.

Buffy tried to focus through the pain and recalled back in the old times, back in Sunnydale when Angel had been with her and when her other mom had still been alive. She remembered her lessons with Angel in Tai Chi. She remembered the later lessons with Giles on focusing. Her mind was jumbled with thousands of flows of information, but it was all ordered despite there being massive amounts. Slowly, she managed to navigate around them, ignoring the unimportant ones like noise in the background.

The Replicator with her mother's face stood in the virtual space with Daniel, slowly tapping his mind for the subconscious near-infinite knowledge of the Ancients and the Ascended. Buffy managed to rise, and realized she could clearly see it now. The flow of knowledge out of Daniel was like a waterfall that the Replicators were trying to guzzle down. It took much out of RepliCarter and it took even more out of the other Replicators on the network. Their dehumanizing experiments on her hadn't allowed them to control her yet, but it had allowed her the chance to sneak onto their network. Well, sneak was the wrong word: she was expected – even welcome there in a way. Quickly, she found that the Replicators reacted to thought commands almost intuitively. It took her mere moments to learn her position in space and time. She saw the wave of Replicators flowing onto Earth, using the Asgard method of prying open their iris by hacking the computer system remotely. Her mom's copy was a nasty bitch, who even intended to saw off that branch of hope for Buffy – destroy her home so that she would have no place to go.

Buffy also noticed one other thing: it was as if there was another presence on the network – one that wasn't welcome, or a part of it like she had been made to be. It felt strong yet subtle. Daniel, Buffy realized. He was remembering what RepliCarter was stealing, but to him this was enlightenment – the stuff of the ascended, which could mean he was getting closer to that state again. Buffy remembered her own lessons from the Universe still sealed in her mind under a promise only to use under the threat of immediate death. Even now, she couldn't find that place of light in her mind to move across to that other state, even if she would have preferred it to being invaded by the Replicator technology.

Almost as one the Replicator ships signaled through the subspace network that they had entered the Dakara system. Hundreds of Goa'uld ships and thousands of fighters met them there, and had no chance.

"Are you enjoying the view?" the monster with her mom's voice asked.

"What do you think?" Buffy asked, as she found herself pulled back to the virtual space with Daniel.

"You'll come around to our way of thinking soon enough," RepliCarter said, with false sweetness in her voice.

"What do you want from me?" Buffy pleaded.

"A daughter with a soul," RepliCarter answered.

"Why? You don't have any." Buffy replied.

"Exactly. You will show us the way," RepliCarter said.

"You cannot build a soul," said Daniel. "I know I shouldn't, but I think I pity you a little. Is that your hope? Hopeless soulless puppets that want a soul of their own, and think they can make it out of the things they find in the ground?"

"We will find a way through you. You know how," RepliCarter said and grabbed Daniel hard.

Outside, the Replicator ships made quick work of their opponents, already having destroyed more than half the Goa'uld fleet in moments, using weapons replicated with a mix of Asgard and Ancient technology .

"We got it," Sam yelled as the sky outside filled with the distant blinks of exploding starships. The readout on the laptop said 0.74.

"Just in time, my fleet is getting eaten by the moment," Ba'al said. His image wavered for a moment. "I cannot keep up this projection any longer," he said and started to fade.

"Open the gates," Sam yelled, then turned and rattled off, "Jonas tell Buffy's friends." Jonas sprinted from the room.

Dawn saw Jonas Quinn running towards them. As he got close, he yelled. "We're firing the weapon as soon as the gate is dialed. Do your thing."

Dawn turned towards Willow and opened her mouth, but the red haired witch was already speaking the mystical chant to locate Buffy and her friend Daniel. Dawn felt a slight drain on her body as Willow took a little of her life force to cast her spell. It flew towards the red haired woman as a small white wisp.

A shadow fell over the courtyard and a strange scorpion-like starship flew down to hover, then promptly fell apart to form the smaller spider like robots that had kidnapped Buffy earlier. They immediately scurried towards the control room of the weapon. "Hurry," Dawn said as Xander blew apart one of the spider bots that got close.

"You're attacking my friends and family. You're attacking Earth," Buffy said. She wanted to attack the bitch, but it was still pointless. She had another idea, but she wasn't sure if it would work.

"You cannot stop evolution, but they would try. And your friends from your old universe have to die: they would take you away, even if you do not want to go with them. You are to stay here with me," RepliCarter said while still holding on to Daniel.

Suddenly Daniel grabbed RepliCarter's hand. "I can stop you," he said.

Buffy felt the entire network receive a shutdown command. All Replicators were commanded to stop moving immediately. Then she saw how Daniel had to handle all the Replicators constant demands for permission to move again. If he missed saying no to just a few, more and more would escape. Buffy, however, knew something else. That trick of his had taught her something: she could do the same.

"You can feel them can't you. There are so many. Too many. Too many for any human to handle," RepliCarter gloated.

"Well, bitch thanks to you that is less of a problem," Buffy said, and focused on helping Daniel.

"Buffy, you... betray me." RepliCarter actually managed to sound surprised.

Buffy laughed mockingly. "Well you wanted to have the real me around. Should have brainwashed me first," Buffy said and grunted to keep up with it all – especially with intercepting all the commands of her would-be robo-mommy.

"They stopped," Faith said wondrously, as all the spider robots became stationary targets. Still, no-one stopped destroying them. Dawn saw that no one else was waiting to see what was the cause of that fluke either.

"I've got Buffy and Daniel," Willow said, and immediately started on the teleportation spell.

Ba'al stumbled down the burning corridors of his flagship, cursing his earlier fascination with the Tau'ri's project of programming the Ancient device. He needed to get to his store room and activate the gate-dialing device before the Replicators blew his ship apart. There seemed to be a lull in the constant bombardment, which served to help his cause.

Ba'al ignored his host body's pain as he entered the sealed room where he hid many of his technological conquests. He headed straight for the gate dialer and grabbed it, then turned back to the bridge while activating his force field. He walked inside, letting the vacuum of space carry away the oxygen of the corridor as he ran forward and activated the rings. He beamed down to the surface.

Ba'al found himself in the middle of hundreds of frozen Replicators heading in a stream for the Gate. Ignoring them, and the distant sound of Tau'ri weapons, he attached the dialer to the control device. Taking a breath, and cursing that he had to help his mortal enemies, he punched the activation button. The Gate connected immediately.

Willow clapped her hands together and out of nowhere Daniel Jackson and Buffy appeared before them. Willow, Giles, Xander and Dawn all fainted from the strain. Faith and Satsu groaned and sat down.

"Shit, Buffy," Faith said.

"Sam, the Gate just opened," her dad yelled.

"Did Ba'al manage to do it from orbit somehow?" Sam asked.

"He must have, the gate wasn't dialed," her Dad said, staring at the gate controls that had been routed to the control room by Ancients when it had been built.

"Jonas hit it," Sam said. There was a massive beep-beep noise and skittering as the frozen Replicators charged forward as one.

RepliCarter rose from the deck of her ship. They had stolen Buffy from her somehow, and were firing their weapon, but there were still ways to win the day. Daniel's knowledge had given her ideas. She immediately set about saving herself.

"Oh God," Buffy said, and vomited up a thick mass of silvery slime. She felt weird, and looked around in confusion. She saw that she was sprawled amidst a mass of her old friends, along with Daniel, while Faith and that other slayer both looking fine, and were fighting Replicators. For a moment she wondered if she was in the real world again, or if it was another trick, but the question was resolved a moment later when the Replicators were suddenly destroyed by a massive barely-visible wave coming down from the mountain. One moment they had been nearly overrun, the next they were surrounded by gray dust.

The wave prickled Buffy's skin as it passed over her and she felt something painfully disappear from her neck, but it also made her body feel lighter. She got up but immediately staggered. Something was wrong. She looked down and saw something made of Replicator technology had been built into her stomach at some point during her incarceration, and had fallen apart with the rest, leaving her with a gaping wound. Buffy fell back onto her back and realized that shock had prevented her from feeling any pain. It was now starting to show though.

"Buffy?" Willow asked in a weak voice.

There was a strange noise like an Asgard beam. Buffy blinked and saw her mom running towards her. "Buffy, no, shh, I'll fix this," her mom said, and cradled her.

"Mom," Buffy pleaded weakly. Then realized as she looked down and saw her mom transfer some silvery liquid from her own body onto Buffy, that she had been wrong. Billions of tiny Replicator cells covered her wounds and closed the hole in her stomach, but all Buffy wanted was to fight back.

"No," Buffy said, and struggled to get up and away.

"Hey, what are you doing Colonel?" Xander asked, getting up along with Dawn.

"Healing my daughter, Xander Harris. Now shut up," RepliCarter said.

"How?" Buffy asked.

"I replicated a copy of an Asgard transporter and beamed through the wavefront unharmed. Oh, but don't worry their little trick got everyone else. I have to start again," RepliCarter said and pulled Buffy up to stand. Something fell off the copy of her mom, and like a rapid amoeba, slithered out into the silvery residue left by the Replicators, gathering mass as it went.

Buffy, meanwhile, felt like her skin was crawling. She had the nanite replicator blocks of her mom's copy inside her, and they were doing something. She also had something else: a chance at a rematch with this bitch who had harmed her.

"Hey, did you get them?" her mom came running up and skidded to a stop. "You?" she said, and immediately pulled up her rifle.

"Pointless," RepliCarter said. "Stay here and heal honey. Listen everyone: you won this round. I'll just smash that little machine of yours, and then I will leave quietly with Buffy."

Buffy smiled as her mom fired at the copy anyway. The bullets didn't do any damage, and merely got absorbed. Still, the burst of gun fire had been close enough to make Buffy flinch.

"That's the copy. The one that kidnapped B right," Faith asked, catching on. Buffy didn't manage to see who confirmed Faith's notion, but next thing, Faith attacked the Replicator. There was a noise like flesh slapping against a metal pole, and RepliCarter flew back a few yards, releasing Buffy in the process.

"Ah, Faith, the traitorous pathetic wretch. Come to see if you can measure up to the real legend once again? Oh, right: I must expect some sarcastic reply now." RepliCarter sprang back onto her feet. The Chinese girl joined the fight, but they were outmatched in both strength and resilience.

Buffy debated for a moment if she should join the futile fight, when she glimpsed two things: her mom, who was sprinting back towards wherever she had come from, and Daniel, who lay still, apparently unconscious, nearby. She had an idea.

"Quick, the Replicator copy of me survived the wave. We have to fire again," Sam said. She desperately hoped her copy hadn't had the time to analyze the frequency of the last attack, because Sam didn't have time to calculate another.

"Sam it won't work," her dad said.

"Dad?" Sam asked.

"It needs time to recharge. It won't work again for a minute or two," her dad explained.

"Fuck, she still has Buffy," Sam explained.

"Samantha, what is that?" Jonas asked and pointed out the door.

Sam turned and stared. Down in the big courtyard where the Replicators had landed something was forming, and it didn't look like anything typically Replicator. It looked more along the lines of tiny replicators building something using the remains of the blasted Replicators as raw materials. It rapidly took shape: a swept bluish smoothly shape, aerodynamic to an amazing degree, and almost one and a half times the size of an Al'kesh. "A ship," Sam gasped.

"I'll try and stall for time. The second it's ready, fire the weapon again," Sam said, and ran out again before her dad could say anything.

"Damn it Buffy snap out of it," Willow yelled, when the copy of her mom smacked Faith out into the smaller courtyard. Willow was still pale and looked weak, unable to cast any spells that could end this quickly.

Buffy knew that she had to wait a little longer though. Finally she felt it. The faint distant voice of something like her mother, but within a colder place. The Replicators in her body had hooked her back into the subspace network they used to communicate. She tried not to think about what that meant. Instead she ran forward and grabbed RepliCarter.

"Stop now," Buffy begged. For a moment the copy of her mom stood there confused what she was doing, then her real mom came running back.

Buffy felt the detached portion of RepliCarter that was down in the courtyard report that their ship was done. "I'll go with you if you stop fighting them now. That goes for all of you. I'll go with her. That's what I have to do, because of who I am, and always have been. It is better this way," Buffy said. She hoped her mom and her friends knew her well enough to know what she meant.

"Buffy, no, we'll find a way," her mom protested.

"I have," Buffy said. "Shall we?" She offered her hand to RepliCarter.

"We shall. See, I knew this was how it would end. This is how it always ends. Let's go, honey," RepliCarter said. Meanwhile, Buffy was distant as she walked past her stunned friends. Satsu and Faith had stopped their attack, unable to physically hurt the copy of her mom.

"No, stop this, we can't find you again just to have you slip away. Stay Buffy – don't let her control you," Xander begged.

"I'm sorry Xander, but if I don't, she'll get tired of this and kill you all." RepliCarter smirked and nodded. Xander looked defeated for a moment, but his eyes revealed he hadn't given up. Buffy didn't need to look around to see that everyone else felt the same. She hoped they would, but this was something only she could fix.

Buffy was amazed by the sheer amount of data that was still a part of her and RepliCarter. It was shared between the both of them freely and completely. Buffy wasn't a computer expert, but she knew the basics and she was good at basics; she was a natural at certain basics.

They stepped in front of the ship. It was not made up off Replicators like the old one, but built by them, so that it would remain unharmed by another shot from the weapon. Everything on it was made up off Asgard and Ancient technology, known to RepliCarter, and designed using her mom's stolen experience. It was designed to be their new temporary base, controlled through a connection to their tiny network. "What about the weapon?" Buffy asked as they headed down.

"We will give your friends and former mother a chance to escape, then we will destablize this planet's sun and burn the entire system," RepliCarter replied.

"Buffy stop! Please!" Dawn and her mom yelled together. There were other calls to them. Buffy tried her hardest not to seem bothered by them; she was almost ready. The mass of tiny replicators that had built the ship emerged from its hull. Buffy sensed through the network that they were all present. They had grown to almost enough mass to create several more copies of RepliCarter. She watched intently as RepliCarter commanded them to delete their remnant copy of her, and start forming into regular Replicator bricks on the underside of the hull for later use.

Buffy didn't dare triumphantly saying anything, or even gloat for a moment. She just immediately used the same command to order RepliCarter to delete her program from her own body. Then Buffy commanded the Replicator bricks to delete their base programming. Following her slayer instincts, she deleted every piece of knowledge that she could from all that she was networked to.

Although focused on her task, Buffy still took in the precious look on everyone's faces when RepliCarter suddenly splashed to the ground into a silvery puddle. However, Buffy wasn't in the clear yet: there was still one thing to do - one last remnant of a Replicator... her.

Everyone ran up. "What happened?" Xander asked.

"I killed the deranged bitch," Buffy replied, and spat at the silvery puddle. She felt a hate in her heart for the Replicators unlike any previous foe. They had violated her and she would never forgive that thing for it.

"How?" Xander asked. He seemed reluctant to approach the puddle.

"She was just software. Daniel reminded me indirectly when we were caught by them. The Replicators are just puppets without a soul. The copy was just that: a copy without the soul of the original – a file in a directory. I waited until I was Replicator enough again to be able to delete it, along with as much of everything else that I could. She's as dead as can be. There are no back-ups around either. The only thing remotely Replicator left now is inside of me," Buffy said.

"How do we get rid of it? I mean we don't want Borg Buffy right?" Xander asked.

"Hell no," Faith agreed.

Her mom didn't say anything but only hugged Buffy. "We'll have Janet look you over. We'll find a way to cure you," her mom said.

Her mom's radio crackled with Jacob's voice, "Sam I am firing again."

Buffy watched the mountain open again, almost as if in slow motion and wondered how much of her was Replicator now. She hoped it was too little to be vital. "Dad, no," Buffy heard her mom scream.

The shockwave hit like a hammer blow this time and Buffy couldn't help but scream in pain. Darkness reclaimed her.

"She's coming to." Buffy heard a male voice that she couldn't immediately place. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the new infirmary back on Earth. It looked a bit worse for wear than when she last saw it.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"You were knocked out by the Ancient device," Teal'c's soothing voice said.

"Teal'c, I am glad to hear your voice," Buffy said, and looked down hoping to find herself more or less intact. She was wrapped in bandages all over her chest and arms.

Janet approached. Buffy could see from the expression of her adopted aunt, so to speak, that there was both good and bad news, but probably nothing grave. "Well, details. Did I take any permanent damage?" Buffy asked and looked around at the assembled group near her bed. Her mom was there looking exhausted, but relieved. Dawn was mirroring her mom to a degree. Teal'c was sitting on a chair between her and Daniel's beds. It looked like Daniel was sleeping.

"Yes and no. The Replicators had invaded you pretty good, and when the nanites were destroyed by the wave, they left no Replicator parts behind. You lost a lot of blood and had some neural damage in several critical places; however, you seem to have regenerated the damaged nerves. Unfortunately, they had also covered and replaced a lot of your skin, and you have pretty severe damage to your chest, arms, neck and hands. I can't guarantee you won't need grafts later to bring down the scarring," Janet explained apologetically.

"What about my face?" Buffy asked, immediately reaching for it and realizing that the slightest touch or movement of her tender arms and fingers was a mistake as sharp pain shot through her.

"Your face wasn't touched," Janet said.

"There is something else though," Sam said and approached the bed.

"This is the bad news then?" Buffy asked.

Her mom knelt down and started explaining, "Yes. When Janet gave you an MRI, we found something. Apparently that thing – my copy – had some plans for you. There are still some nanites in your blood. They seem to be passive, or serve as a sort of defensive mechanism. We've extracted a few, and I compared them with the samples I could simulate from residue of the copy that remained after the second wave hit, and they aren't even remotely the same as the Replicator nanites, which is why they survived. The nanites now in your blood are something else. I can't tell you what, but I am sure they're some sort of Ancient design from how they're made. Do you have any idea?"

Buffy took a moment to see if she could feel any sort of connection or presence. "No, none what so ever," she replied. She wanted to cry for a moment: she didn't want some random ancient technology floating around inside her. It was like being a walking time bomb that you didn't know the yield off.

"They're not doing anything at the moment," said Janet . "So for now, we're just adding them to your file and continuing the studies into how they work."

"I don't like having something like that floating around inside of me. They could be contagious, or dangerous ,or some sort of Replicator back up plan," Buffy said.

"We know, but as far as we can determine they're completely dormant at the moment. Besides, I have a theory on what they are there for, but we'll have to wait until later to test it," Sam said.

"How long will she need to stay in bed?" Dawn asked. Buffy smiled warmly at her sister.

"At least a week. I want to stay on top of any infections. It's only Buffy's slayer-enhanced immune system that is keeping her alive. Let's not strain it by exposing it to anything else," Janet said.

Buffy grimaced.

"There is something else as well. Do you remember the ship that the copy built?" Sam asked.

"Yeah vaguely," Buffy said, but mentally its image was almost blurred in her mind. She had been busy with so many other things at the time that the ship hadn't figured large in her interest.

"By the way how long was I out?" Buffy interjected.

"Oh, nearly two days now," Janet said.

"Buffy, the ship. Do you know anything about it?" Sam asked.

"Not really. The bitch intended to use it as some sort of new base, why?" Buffy asked.

"Because it followed us home," Sam said.

"Come again," Buffy asked.

"It appeared in orbit six hours after we left Dakara with you. It simply came out of hyperspace and went into orbit around the moon. We nearly attacked it thinking it might be some sort of Replicator infection vector, but it has been completely dormant since it came.

"Alright that's weird," Buffy said. She moved slightly, only to wince from the intense pain the change in position gave her.

"You know I have some pain killers ready if you want them?" Janet offered.

"Just a few wouldn't go amiss," Buffy said a little voice. As everyone pulled back and left her alone, Buffy lay there thinking, barely acknowledging Janet as she returned to give her the pills and some water. Buffy dutifully took her medicine, and lay back trying to get some rest.

Immediately her thoughts turned to what the fallout of the Replicator's invasion would be. The Goa'uld had taken a really hard hit this time and she wondered how Ba'al's fleet had fared against the Replicators in orbit. She wondered what the effect on the Free Jaffa would be. Had they taken the opportunity to attack Ba'al in his weakened state? Finally, she admitted to herself that what she really had to think about was the big decision that she couldn't put off or excuse much longer: soon she would be healed and then it would be time to decide on the future direction her life would take. Then there was the matter with her Grandfather too. He was dying. Old age and entropy. She knew enough to accept death, but she was still human, if a little less than most, and she railed against the very idea of dying. She could never allow herself to completely accept it either. If she did then she'd lose her reason for fighting. Life had to be lived, but her Grandfather's was ending naturally and it was both the human and Tok'ra way to let it happen.

"I am doing it again," Buffy mumbled to herself as she realized she had moved to another subject again, instead of thinking of the bigger decision in her near future. She had tried to avoid it for so long. She had given half answers, but she not really allowed herself the luxury of her own thinking, her own decisions. And she realized it had to be her decision. That was important. It had to be something she was happy with, because she wasn't entirely sure she would get the chance to decide again. Buffy didn't want to hurt anyone. That was her main problem, but someone would get hurt no matter what she decided.

Buffy woke from a light slumber to find Xander, Giles, Willow and Faith sitting around her bed. Giles had just coughed politely.

"Was I snoring?" Buffy asked ,too zonked out on the painkillers to care too much about her appearance or any drool.

"No. Sorry for waking you," Giles said.

"I wasn't really sleeping," Buffy replied.

"Come on, you were sure looking like you were, and sounding like," Faith said with a teasing smile on her lips.

"Faith, she was looking like a little angel," Willow said. She then realized what she had said and blushed.

Buffy shook her head. "Again with the size thing. One would think you had a bit more care for your old friend," she said.

"More like young," Xander replied.

"So is this gig over. Can we go home soon?" Faith asked, addressing both her and Giles.

"The Replicators are dust at my feet. My friends are home and well... no there is still some stuff," Buffy said trying to stall for time. She hadn't expected a large group to confront her all together. She almost wished Teal'c would stop talking to Daniel and come by, just to frown at her friends.

"We can't keep waiting. Those dark forces you mentioned gotta be here soon," Xander said looking at Giles.

Giles looked away for a moment, then took out a handkerchief and started to polish his glasses. Buffy could recognize that look any day. Giles was hiding something or just not saying it. "Giles? Dark forces?" Buffy asked.

Giles sighed. "What I am about to tell you is not something I am proud off. I never gave up on finding out what exactly happened to Buffy. Without a body, I just couldn't be sure she was dead, so I had certain people in my employ continue to look for her, using increasingly esoteric means. Finally, a month ago, I discovered the truth when an intermediary got word from the hell gods. They knew that Buffy had survived her trip to another universe, but was beyond our battles. I had an independent check on her, and found that she was alive and emotionally happy. I knew from your last experience with pulling Buffy back, you all would be more cautious, so I had Angel arrange for some demons to try and reach this universe. I made sure that they were sure to fail, but it would convince Willow and the Council seers that evil was reaching for Buffy, and that we had to hurry."

"But why?" Willow asked.

"At first, I just wanted to know what happened – that's why I kept searching. However, when I figured it out – that they had taken Buffy, and put her somewhere away from us – that she was emotionally happy, but possibly being manipulated, I debated with myself whether to intervene. Eventually, I decided I had to find out myself: I had to go and see if Buffy really was safe, and whether I needed to bring her home. I manipulated the rest of you into coming along because, if I was right, and, Buffy, you were fine, then I felt they needed to see you at least one more time; if on the other hand I was wrong, they would be needed to bring you home."

Everyone sat there for a long time and thought about Giles' admission, but no one said anything.

"I am glad you came, no matter what the reasons were." Buffy finally broke the silence. "I have wanted to see you all for so long."

Dawn sat in the darkened conference room overlooking the gate and waited. It wasn't in use at the moment, and Dawn liked the quiet, compared to rest of the constantly busy base. Buffy had been allowed to walk around a little today, and had immediately headed for her dying Grandfather, something Dawn understood. The man was dying a slow, but natural, death and none of them could really do anything about it. Xander, Willow and Giles had all agreed they wouldn't mention going home to Buffy until that situation was resolved. To do so would be too disrespectful. Faith and Satsu were off combat training somewhere in the complex with the SG soldiers, who were apparently trying to determine whether Buffy was unique in her skills.

Dawn heard steps on the metal stairs, and her sister emerged into the room.

"This is a bit of a gloomy place to find you," Buffy said, without any tone of teasing in her voice.

"How's Jacob?" Dawn asked.

"Selmak is in a coma, and almost dead. Jacob isn't going to wake up again. We said goodbye earlier. Mom is sleeping in her office, but I couldn't sleep."

Dawn nodded. "You loved him a lot, so it must be hard for you," she said.

Buffy nodded, then she walked over and stood in front of the window to the gate room. Dawn could only see her silhouette. "I loved him a lot. I never had a Grandfather like him before. He was always there for me, and he wasn't afraid to tell me the truth or teach me new things, and he did it without being condescending. Selmak was a great friend too. You know, it preferred to be female for most of its life, so in a way, he had a big old Betty in his head these last few years."

Dawn chuckled. They both kept silent for a while. Dawn was remembering her mom and figured Buffy was thinking about her dying Grandfather.

"Dawn, about going with you guys," Buffy said.

"Buffy, stop. Don't say anything. Please let me tell you something first."

Buffy turned and looked at Dawn.

"You should stay here," Dawn managed to say, before she felt the tears welling into her eyes.

"What? Dawn I..." Buffy stammered, her expression faintly visible in the reflected light of the room below, looking bewildered, and, for a moment, slightly hurt.

"No, please listen. I love you. We all do – even Faith, though she'd rather have her fingers torn off than admit it – but really, you're not needed back home. Xander, Willow and Giles have kicked ass. Angel and Spike too. There are still hundreds of slayers, all of them looking up to your memory and all of them fighting hard every day, and we're winning. But it's still ugly, and sometimes the badness gets too much. Faith isn't working as a slayer. She almost went insane for a while after she had a bad encounter with a demon and I'm completely out of it too. When we heard you were here, all we could think about was to go and get you home, but we didn't think that you could have made yourself a home here. You have, and... and it's better... I mean it's better for you. They nurture you here Buffy. They try and look out for you. We never did that. You were either our leader or our soldier. But honestly we all made mistakes with each other too often. Here you can have a second chance at a full life. If you return home, you'll fight and be the Slayer, the General, the Hero, but here you get to be Buffy. I want that for you. You've made so many sacrifices for us – for me. I think its time we did the same. I am just sorry it has to mean that I won't be able to see you," Dawn said.

Buffy took her much taller sister into a hug and for once Dawn didn't feel like the older girl. For a moment they were just sisters – not Slayer and Key, not big sister and little sister, but family for real.

"You could stay," Buffy whispered.

"I can't. Don't think I'm not tempted – I am. I could throw away my old life – I'm not needed to fight the demons any more – but I have a boyfriend, and a life at College. I want to marry him one day, and live a life with him. His name is Evan and he is probably going out of his mind by now. I think he's the one," Dawn admitted.

Buffy started crying too. "Oh god, I won't get to see your wedding." Buffy wiped away a few tears.

"A life is a bit bigger than the happiest day of my life. I won't get to see your day either. Listen Buffy: you need this place, even once your done growing up. They're good for you, and disciplined on top of it. Besides, I think you'd be bored back home. There are no space ships for you to fly, no fancy wormholes or any little little alien buggers for you to beat up on."

Buffy nodded.

"So what were you going to tell me," Dawn said.

"That I wanted to stay here," Buffy admitted. They gave each other tired smiles. "So what happens now?" Buffy asked and sat next to her.

"We tell the others," Dawn said.

"Oh," Buffy said, "couldn't we write them a note, or something?" Then they both chuckled.

Epilogue:

Buffy felt relieved as she headed towards the training area. Her bandaged arms and chest were itching like mad, but she knew not to scratch them. She wanted to go back – back to the conference room where the tension had disappeared. Where her sister had absolved her of her sin of wanting to stay, and allowed her to take the next step. She entered the training hall where Teal'c was instructing Faith and Satsu in Mastaba. Even though he didn't know them beyond what Buffy had told him, he had taken to the slayers naturally. It seemed years of dealing with her had given him some understanding of them.

Giles and Willow were sitting at the far end of the room talking about something. Xander was watching intently. For a moment, he reminded her of a cross between one of the SG team leaders and Giles watching his protégés fighting. Buffy wandered over and sat down next to him, wincing slightly as the new skin she was growing under her bandages complained. She knew she would be scarred, she just hoped it wouldn't be too bad, but secretly Buffy feared the worst. However, she pushed away her vanity for just a moment. She had a difficult thing to do.

"Hi, Xander," she said, and sat down keeping her focus on the fight. Faith was a little out of shape Buffy realized. The younger Satsu was getting in a few hits that her old friend and rival should have caught. For a while, Buffy felt like going out there and fighting wounds be damned, but she couldn't. She hated losing her fighting form, even just a little.

"Hi, Buffy," Xander said after a while. "You want to say something?"

"How do you know these things," Buffy asked.

"I am me. Besides, I know you my Buffster. Are you okay? You look like you just had a deep conversation of some sort... " Xander sat in silence for a moment, then a realization changed his expression. He turned to face her. "You've decided?"

"Yeah," Buffy admitted. She struggled for a moment trying to decide yet again what to say.

"You're staying," Xander stated, and looked back out at the fight.

Buffy felt like the air went out of her. "Wait... how?" Buffy asked.

"Listen, why do you think I've been so angry ever since I saw you here? I knew. I knew the moment I saw you standing there talking to your new mom in the infirmary. Your face is like an open book to me. I don't want to say this, but Buffy when you're happy, it practically radiates off of you. I knew you were happy here. Then I turned into an asshole and tried to have you back, even though I had already figured out that you were happier here than you had been for a long long time back in Sunnydale. I'm sorry. I was being egotistical. Call it momentary insanity."

"Jeez, you lot are all 'deep with the wisdom' these days. Dawn practically ordered me to stay and you had figured it out all by yourself. Am I going to go back there and hear the same from Willow and Giles?" Buffy looked towards the pair, still deep in their discussion. Giles had been deeply apologetic ever since he had admitted to manipulating the Scoobies to bring them here.

"I don't know. I think they have thought about it, but I guess you shouldn't be surprised if they're gonna be all kinds of understanding," Xander explained.

"I need to go talk to them now," Buffy continued.

"Yeah, I can't help you there. You should schedule in some time to talk to Faith as well," Xander said.

"Sorry to dump and run, but I need to do this before I get to weepy."

"I m ok here for now," Xander said, continuing to watch the slayers fight.

Buffy smirked and got up. She walked along the training area as Teal'c barked instructions to the girls. She walked up to Willow and Giles, overhearing their conversation.

"So you understand why I have done it, why I've recreated someone to watch the Watchers, just like they did in the past?" Willow said.

"Of course I do. I've always approved – I just couldn't tell you. The Watchers – especially the older faction that is still holding the purse strings – are dead set against it, but I felt that by acting as their champion and leader I could control what measures they would take against you. They started out wanting to assassinate you, but I managed to keep it to exile. And I will continue to do so until the old guard has finally passed, and make sure they don't recreate themselves in the younger generation... Ah Buffy," Giles turned and looked at her.

"You should have stayed with my original financing plan: outright theft from those who could afford it," Buffy suggested, not really meaning it.

"Of course, and give something for both our enemies to focus on. The way we changed to was much more efficient in the end even if it has allowed the old Watcher faction a measure of power. This system has served us well for several years, but I guess when you get back, we'll have to evaluate our suggestions again. Your old position as Head Slayer is available if you want it," Giles said.

Buffy frowned. She hoped he wasn't serious. The slayers had to have some sort of leader. "Really?" she asked.

"Of course not. Actually we tried having Faith fill in, but it really didn't work for her. She is a lot of things that we all love her for, but not really a leader. And since then, no one has really been able or willing to fill that place, so almost everyone listens to the leading council," Willow explained.

"I thought you said the slayers would need a figurehead - a single person to rally around?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, and these days it's mostly Xander, Giles or me, depending on who you ask," Willow continued.

"What about Kennedy?" Buffy felt she needed to ask.

"Kennedy isn't really leadership material. Honestly, she pisses off a lot of people," Willow said.

"She's an arrogant bitch, and she's actually worse whenever you two decide not to date for a while," Giles interjected.

Buffy knew she could have said something, but decided to do better than in her past, and kept her opinion of Kennedy to herself. Ken was a good slayer, but her personality set Buffy's teeth on edge. She had always been afraid that Kennedy would go off on a killing spree – Faith style – only, aimed at other slayers, just to prove she was the best, as if something like that would help anything. It was probably just an irrational dislike, coming from her knowledge that Kennedy actively disliked Buffy as well.

"Hah, figures," Willow said. "So what gives? You just making the rounds?" Willow asked with a look on her smiling face that reminded Buffy, for a moment, that Willow was her best friend, or had been for a long time. It was almost strange to see her all grown up. Buffy wondered if Willow ever thought about settling down and putting together another family outside of the Scoobies.

"I wanted to talk to you. About me going or staying," Buffy said. Both looked at each other and then at her. Buffy could see they were prepared for both things, but had formed no judgment ahead of time. "I am staying here. Please let me explain before you ask, say anything or argue.

"My Grandfather said something before I went to rescue Bra'tac and you." She looked at Willow. "He told me that I needed to make this decision for myself. I love it here. I really deeply love it. I love you guys, but the life on your side – it wouldn't fit me any more. I may have been taken here against my will, but I've made it my home and staying here has changed me. I feel like I am meant to be here. For the longest time, I was afraid I was abandoning my duties to everyone on your Earth, but I don't think I am. I have met the embodiment of this universe, and she told me that I was brought here for a purpose, but I was also told to take care of myself. I know it's a little selfish, but I think I want to live in a universe where that is something I'm supposed to do. One where I wasn't just chosen to fight and die... or lead from the front all alone. The people on either side weigh equally for me: mother, sister, friends old and new – all equal, so I have to go with everything else. And that is why I've decided to stay." Buffy breathed out and smiled. "Sorry for the long speech, but I had to explain it to someone at least once."

Giles looked sad, but somehow not that surprised. Then he did something he hadn't really done to her for a long long time. He grabbed her and took her into a gentle, but tight, hug that just managed not to press too hard against her damaged skin. Buffy felt surrounded by the bigger older man, and remembered all the good times, all the trust and confidence they had shared. They had hurt each other, but in the end this moment was better. "Buffy, I am proud of you. I am so glad you were in my life," Giles whispered, only for her ears.

"Do I get a hug as well?" Willow asked, just as Giles leaned back. Willow and Buffy hugged too, then Buffy sat back in between the pair.

"You know it's weird that you're a kid again," Willow said.

"Hey, how do you think I felt when I got my memories back? Okay, given I was in the middle of a Goa'uld base, having just been tortured, and was fighting my way up to the leader to explain my feelings to him, I may have had other things to worry about at the time, but I can tell you I wasn't too pleased. One good thing though: the better diet and, I think, some of Carter genes have improved my bust line, and made me several inches taller," Buffy boasted.

Willow drew back and studied Buffy for a moment, "It's not that noticeable, but I'm sure you're right," she said with a smile.

"Funny! Be glad you're a civilian, and I am not in top form, or you'd be out on that mat getting sparred around this room," Buffy said. Willow grinned.

"I always thought that was the reason Buffy was so successful as a slayer. Smaller target and all that power focused into smaller areas," Giles said, but his eyes revealed he was just teasing her.

"Okay, okay, I can take the digs," Buffy said. She watched as Faith finally put Satsu on the mat.

"What happened to her to make her quit?" Buffy asked.

"Faith never really quit," Giles explained. "She got retired more-or-less for mental health reasons. She took a couple of hard missions that drained her emotionally, and experienced some trauma, but she was doing good until one of her strike teams ended up in a hell dimension. For us she was gone for a only an hour, but Faith spent nearly a year fighting, getting tortured, humiliated, and I think she gave in a one point. One day, she had enough strength to make her way back home, but she wasn't really sane for a while. We managed, with Angel and Spike's help, to contain her and get her the help she needed. Angel told me that Faith revealed in her therapy that you were somehow a legend in that dimension, and that while your memory helped sustain her, it didn't help her with her feelings towards you."

"You know," said Buffy, "somehow, at one point in time, it ended up being about who was the better person between me and her. I was as guilty as Faith of screwing up great parts of my relationship with her, but I was a kid with my own problems when I met her and I just wasn't strong enough to prop her up. It's one of the biggest regrets I have, because I just can't help thinking how great Faith would have been without me. She hasn't died three times, slept with two vampires, or decided to kill someone, just to give their blood to their vampire boyfriend. Sure, she hurt me right back and she turned to the dark out of sheer fear and egotism. We have a long list of issues between us, I just don't think I have the time to repair all that, if our history is still the problem."

"I doubt that is still the main problem. However, you should talk to her before we leave," Giles suggested.

"I'll try," Buffy said.

"So what will you do now?" Willow asked.

"Right now, I'll see if I can get to talk to Faith, but otherwise, I guess I'll go see my mom in her lab. She is sure to be working on something interesting," Buffy commented.

"It's so neat, you're a brain now," Willow said.

"Hey, I was never stupid," Buffy argued.

"No, you were a natural leader, fighter and planner, but never really research gal or anything like that. I mean, you seem like you would know how to put together a circuit board or something now," Willow said.

"Oh, I do. I helped my mom built the prototypes of the space superiority fighter of earth – the F-305. Of course, it's already outdated, and we're looking at making a single seater and our own cargo ships too. You know, maybe I should study that. I guess I'd love to build space ships – I certainly love flying them. But you know what's funny: I am studying different branches of science at college, but I haven't really picked a major. I want to do so much, I find it hard to decide."

Out on the mat Satsu, who was being held in a choke hold by Faith, slapped the floor to signal her surrender.

Buffy called out to Faith. "Faith, could we talk?" She grabbed an unopened bottle of water from the floor near Giles and Willow, and brought it along as a first peace offering.

Faith studied her. "So am I the last on your list for today?" she asked.

"You could hear us right?" Buffy asked rhetorically.

"Yup," Faith agreed.

"And the kidnapping part?" Buffy asked. She guided them over to other corner of the room. Teal'c, who was standing nearby, moved away to give them privacy. Buffy reminded herself to talk to her friend about the state of things in the galaxy, but knew it had to wait.

"Especially that part," Faith said, and stood there looking a bit defensive.

"Sit please," Buffy said.

Faith sat almost reluctantly.

"Giles told me you were retired, so why did you want to come for me?" Buffy asked.

"Honestly I wasn't sure when I first heard from Angel that you were still alive. I had mourned you for a long time, and I was a little angry with you," Faith explained.

"I heard something about issues," Buffy replied, trying to sound as neutral as possible and really listen to her sister slayer.

"Yeah, it's really not your fault. I just feel--" Faith shook her head and sighed. "It's so fucked up, B. Our business was done – I thought it was done – but then you became the big leader in the sky of the slayers and I was back amongst the masses. I tried to tell myself it was okay, but stupid little cunt that I can be, I started pulling a Kennedy on myself – telling myself that I was the active slayer, that the line followed me, and that meant I should be in charge. I never really believed that shit for real. Really, I expected you to fuck up, or step down to finally get that life no one seemed to want to let you have – not even yourself – but you went and died. You became this fucking big martyr and I had to step into your spot, and live up to your legend. That nearly killed me, because I tried to do what you did, but I couldn't. We think and fight completely differently. Xander and Angel managed to convince me to stop, and I took that hit, but I kind of stayed a symbol just like you did.

"Then I ended up in some sort of prison hell, where you had been too. You had gotten away, but they had wised-up, and kept overwhelming me. Whenever I got away, there was no way home, so they kept catching me. I don't know for sure why they didn't just kill me. Finally, I managed to slip away one morning, just as they went out for more slaves, and made it through a portal. I was totally fucked up, but throughout the entire time I was there, all I heard about was you. From the other slaves, and from the other slayers that were trapped with me, until they died. And I hated you, because you were always there overshadowing me. I guess I just wanted to be big sister for once."

"Oh, god, Faith. I got out of there by luck and endurance. I even had some help. I can't even say I'm sorry can I?" Buffy said.

"Nah, it's my problem I just can't seem to tell anyone... except you. Why can I tell you?" Faith asked.

"Come on, you know why," Buffy said.

They looked at each other and nodded. Buffy was more conscious of it than Faith probably was, but even she knew it at that moment: Buffy and Faith were more than the others. They were The Slayers – not made by Willow's magic, but by The Powers. It didn't make them physically stronger, but there was something deeper and darker in them than in all the others. Maybe it was a flaw in Willow's spell – a tiny glitch – but it was there. It was a connection between them, and it was a connection that they, due to their history, had never explored or been able to truly embrace.

"Yeah, I know why. So you're not coming home. Angel is going to be sad about that," Faith said.

"I know. Oh, I know. You know how I feel about him. There will probably never be another that has the same place in my heart. There will be other loves, deep and intense, but I doubt there will be another Angel for me. Faith, would you tell him and Spike something for me?" Buffy looked at her black haired friend.

"Any day B," Faith said.

"Thanks. Tell them... Tell them that I love them both of them. Differently, but the both of them. I love Angel. I love Spike. But not romantically – not anymore. I'm not that person any more. That dark romantic world doesn't still attract me. I will be a grown up soon – again – and I have love like one as well. I can never thank them enough: they were both a major reason I became who I was. Many of the good and the painful things came from them, but in hindsight, I would not have missed even a single thing... except maybe one or two things I did with Spike," Buffy admitted.

"Yeah, I got all the nasty play-by-play one dark night. You got mad skills, B. I thought I was all that in the weird hotness, but damn," Faith chuckled. "No really I will tell them – I promise," she said.

"Thanks. I guess there isn't that much more I can tell you, huh? I ain't got that many nuggets of wisdom yet. I am, amazingly, still a growing girl here," Buffy commented.

"Just sit here with me for a while," Faith said.

Buffy gave Faith a confused look.

"I want to remember how you feel to me," Faith explained.

"How very predatory-cat like, F," Buffy commented.

"Shh," Faith said. Buffy didn't say anything after that, but just sat in silence and watched everyone around them go about their life in the busy training hall, while Faith sat with closed eyes next to her. After five minutes Faith got up, and offered Buffy her hand. Buffy grabbed it, and let Faith lift her until she stood.

"Take care B," Faith said.

Buffy took a step then turned and looked at Faith. "Faith, I don't think I've ever got a serious answer? Why won't you use my name?" she asked. "You use everyone else's – at least occasionally!"

Faith blinked then smiled, "Honestly, like you should be named Buffy. It's not a good enough name for that which you are. So I settled on 'B'."

"Faith, sometimes you're a mystery to me," Buffy said, but smiled, believing Faith had just given her a compliment in disguise.

"Right back at ya, B," Faith said. Buffy walked, away giving everyone a small wave.

Buffy walked into her mom's gloomy lab. The short haired blond woman was seated over a piece of alien technology trying to place some sort of probe into its innards. Buffy tried to determine the machine's origin, but couldn't place it as something she had seen before.

"Hi," she said. Her mom looked up and immediately smiled, but Buffy could see the guarded fear in her mom's eyes that had been ever present since the Scoobies had arrived. Buffy knew her mom wanted to be down in the medical observation room like Buffy, but Janet had forced them both to leave, promising to call them when Jacob's final time came.

"Hi, honey," her mom replied.

"I've told them. Now it's your turn," Buffy said, then realized too late that she had forgotten to tell her mom what she was talking about.

"You've made your decision?" her mom said. For a moment Buffy sensed the flicker of uncertainty in the blue eyes staring back at her.

"I'm staying. I want to stay here. With you – with everyone. My life is here now."

Her mom rushed over, and then stopped, remembering her skin problem, and gently hugged her a lot like Giles had done earlier. "Oh, god? Are you sure, honey?" her mom asked into her hair.

"Yeah, I am staying here for ever and ever," Buffy said.

"Thank god," her mom said. Buffy felt a little awkward for a moment as she realized her always strong, always dutiful, mom was crying. Then she just closed her eyes and let her mom hold her, sharing their precious good moment and hoping it would keep them strong in the dark days of the coming weeks.

Buffy walked away from the Arlington graveyard along with the rest of SG-1 and her friends, who had decided to stay and support her while she and her mom dealt with her Grandfather's funeral. It was a gray cloudy day, but it hadn't rained. There had been hundreds and hundreds of people at the funeral. Generals, the Chiefs of Staff, Jaffa leaders, Tok'ra and enough security to make it look like a state funeral. Buffy somehow felt that the attention vindicated her Grandfather's life. F-305s had flown by as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

Sam held her sobbing daughter as the last glimpse of the magical portal that had taken away her friends faded, and then completely disappeared. They had stayed as long as they could, but it had been time to return. The goodbyes had been long and tearful for all involved.

Jack put a warm hand on her shoulder. "You know what. I think I liked them after all," he admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Sam said. Buffy seemed not to hear them at all.

Buffy righted herself and stepped forward to look around the room, wiping her face slowly. "I'll miss them, but I know this is how it should be. Now, you said you have a theory about that ship orbiting the moon?" Buffy asked.

"Nah, business tomorrow. We're going out to dinner. I've taken the liberty to book us a couple of tables at a Steakhouse," Jack said and looked at his watch. "Besides, I happen to know that a certain Teal'c has arrived through the gate while we were seeing your friends off. He, Daniel and Jonas are waiting for us. So, no moping, squirt."

Buffy sniffed again wiped the last wetness of her face. "I can't promise that, but I can try," she replied.

"That's all I want," Sam said. "Let's go."

Dawn stood next to Angel and Spike on the moonlit battlements of the Scottish headquarters of the Watchers' Council. "Why didn't you stay?" Angel asked. Dawn knew from his tone that he would have been as tempted as she had been.

"I have a life here. Her life was there now," she answered.

"I hope it's a good one – better than me and Liam here could give her," Spike said.

Dawn expected a prickly reply from Angel, but all the dark haired vampire said was, "Me too."

Willow walked out, followed by Xander, Giles and Faith. They were carrying extra mugs of hot chocolate for the trio already outside.

"Seriously, you guys are such boy scouts," Spike grumbled.

"So are we remembering B again. Man, this is too much like a wake for me," Faith said.

"No, this is not a wake. Let's raise up and drink to a good future for us and for Buffy," Giles said.

"Hear, hear," Angel said and took a sip. They all followed suit. Dawn turned and looked out over the castle. She hoped Buffy was alright. At least she would always have that hope, and anyway wasn't hope better than the knowledge of a certain death? She smiled at the moon.

THE END.

Author's notes:

Amazing what a little spare time can do. I wrote the raw copy for this entire thing in a day and beat my own records doing so. Anyway I hope this little episode in the life of Buffy after "Going Home Through a Starry Mirror" was alright. It turned out as long and as fulfilling to write as I hoped. The entire conflict between the new life and the old was interesting to write and I used the Replicator thing as a backdrop to create the tension of drama on top of the more familial issues. I know some people might feel I skimmed rather lightly over things like Jacob's death, but honestly I wanted to keep focus where it should be, and while Buffy and Sam mourned deeply, it just didn't need to be part of the story – the same with the ending portal. I had originally planned several thousand words extra on both things, but they turned out to be mostly useless and repetitive of what Buffy talked over with the Scoobies earlier. This was, and remained, a more personal story about Buffy, Sam and the Scoobies which is why I wrote it like I did.

As for the Replicator made space ship and the nanites in Buffy's blood I am leaving them as open options for the next story: "Bring on the Fire." That one was supposed to be the big confrontation that Buffy was originally summoned for (yes Anubis was just foreplay), and what Buffy has been groomed for by the universe. However, there is one major problem right now (early May 2008): that is I don't really feel like I have a good plot for Buffy and SG-1 aside from the Ori plot line, and I don't think that is enough to only have the action, but not the emotional connection like Sam and Buffy's familial bond forming in Going Home or Buffy dealing with her past in this story. So until I figure out an emotional hook, I have to leave this series with this entry until then. I'd rather not put out half a story and then have to drop it because my muse won't play along. For one year and five months the Buffy Carter series has been my primary fanfiction project and also I think I want turn to something else for a while. This is not goodbye, this is wait and see, it is a maybe, a hope ;) And as story telling is in me I am sure to have more of something for you my readers one day soon.