Long Lost
DISCLAIMER: I own neither Stargate nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
SUMMARY: A long lost relative fic. sighs
OVERALL SUMMARY: Four long lost fics about Buffy Summers being related to Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter and Janet Fraiser (though, not at the same time…that would be a little too unbelievable, even for me, grins Tempting to try though…hmmmm…)
NOTES: You'll notice my love of the Sam and Janet 'friendship'. I LOVE Janet, and it sucked when she died cries. So, just enjoy the beautiful Janet Fraiser in most of these fics…I have a bit of a soft spot for short brunette women.
ONWARDS:
SETTINGS: Post BTVS S4, after the Initiative gets blown to pieces and SG-1 S2ish. Maybourne is still with the NID. Oh, and pretend that the SGC knew that Nirtti was experimenting with human DNA and genetics on Hanka already.
JACK - INNOCENT BEGINNINGS
Guilt. It wasn't something that Harold 'Harry' Peter Maybourne was all that familiar with. In fact, it wasn't something that Harry had ever really felt before. The problem was, he knew that this was his fault.
Staring down through the observation deck windows, his stomach churned uncomfortably. A group of five doctors was crowded around a petite young woman who lay on a table, semi-conscious, her hazel-green doe-eyes staring up at him accusingly.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Her eyes were more glazed over than anything else, but he recognised those eyes, and with good reason.
It had started innocently enough. He'd been looking for something –anything- to use against Colonel Jack O'Neill. Something juicy that he could blackmail the good Colonel with. What he'd found had startled and delighted the cruel streak within Maybourne.
Only, now, his cruel streak had backfired and was harming an innocent young woman who nothing to do with his personal vendetta against Jack O'Neill.
And while he could understand why the NID found her so incredibly fascinating, there was just something inherently wrong about keeping her locked up like some sort of caged lab-rat.
With another uncomfortable gurgle of his stomach, Harry Maybourne stood and exited the observation room, snagging one of the many identical manilla folders off the table. He'd gotten her into this, but he couldn't get her out of it. But if he knew anything about Jack O'Neill, it was that he didn't leave people behind. He especially had a soft spot for kids, and Harry suspected that Jack might just want to free the woman that the NID had discovered was Jack O'Neill's daughter.
Maybourne cast one final glance down at the young woman on the operating table, wincing as he saw the doctors slicing her chest open, he knew that allowing the NID to keep Buffy Summers within their 'custody' was not something that he could condone. He just hoped that Jack O'Neill wouldn't kill him on sight for starting this whole mess to begin with.
-
Colonel Jack O'Neill was not having a good day. For one thing, his knee was playing up again, and Doctor Fraiser, whom Jack affectionately referred to as the 'Napoleonic Power Monger' was keeping O'Neill, and subsequently all of SG-1 on stand-down for the next week. He'd also managed to mis-set the timer on his VCR the day before and had accidentally taped 'Charmed' instead of 'The Simpsons'. To make matters worse, he'd run out of beer and had had to drag himself off the couch, and drive into town to buy more, or else face the empty house without a slight buzz.
With a sigh, O'Neill got out of his truck and walked into the bottle shop, absently wandering to where they kept the cases of beer, navigating the store on automatic pilot. He bent down to pick one up, but stopped when he saw a pair of well-worn shoes come into his line of sight. He slowly looked up and sighed again when he saw the one person he definitely did not want to see.
"And this completes my perfect day," Jack greeted, picking up the case of beer and straightening to stare down at the shorter man.
Harry Maybourne was not intimidated however. "We need to talk."
Jack rolled his eyes and made his way to the front counter, quickly handing over some money to the cashier before making his way back outside to his truck. The quicker he could make his escape the better.
"Could you be anymore dramatic Maybourne?" Jack grumbled.
Harry opened the flap of his jacket, pulling out the manilla folder he'd stolen from the research labs. He handed it to Jack who took hold of it sceptically.
"I haven't given you the impression that I'm going to care about anything you have to tell me, have I? Because I'd hate to have given you the wrong impression like that."
Maybourne just shook his head and began backing away slowly.
"I think you'll be interested in what that folder has to say Colonel," Harry said confidently. The less he had to explain the better. He didn't want to be anywhere near the unpredictable Colonel when he opened that folder and saw the files inside. "Oh, and you'll be owing me a favour after this."
With that, Maybourne quickly turned around and walked away. As much as he'd first started this with wanting something to blackmail Jack O'Neill with, it had spiralled out of control so quickly that he hadn't been able to stop it. And, if Jack O'Neill owing him a favour came out of a tremendous screw-up, then that was even better.
Jack O'Neill on the other hand couldn't believe the calibre of his day. He'd been so sure that after purchasing his beer, his day would start looking up, but seeing Harry Maybourne out and about the streets of Colorado Springs had dampened any hopeful thoughts he'd had.
He looked down at the unopened folder, trying to guess what on earth could be in there that could possibly interest him. He knew well enough that if he didn't open it soon the guessing game would eventually piss him off. Then again, whatever it was could wait until he was back at home with a beer in his hand.
-
Jack was sitting on the edge of his seat, pieces of paper strewn across his coffee table, his opened, but untouched and now slightly warm beer was leaving a water ring on his coffee table. But Jack didn't care about the fact that he hadn't even managed to touch the beer he'd opened. In fact, he wasn't thinking about much of anything except for the pictures that had been included in the file that Maybourne had given him.
A young woman, who couldn't have been more than nineteen, strapped naked to a metal table, with doctors surrounding her. Her eyes were open, confused, dazed, scared and angry, a familiar colour of hazel that Jack had seen everyday for the past forty-five years.
If that photo wasn't enough to disturb him, the accompanying copy of the girl's birth certificate had definitely thrown him for a loop.
Mother: Joyce Anne Wells.
Father: Jonathan Charles O'Neill.
He remembered Joyce Wells. He'd met her a week before her wedding when she'd been upset by something her fiancé had said. He'd been back from a mission where he'd watched one of his best friends die. They'd gravitated towards each other after a considerable amount of alcohol. He'd only seen her once after that to apologise to her, and she to him. He'd thought about her a few times after that, but had never contacted her again.
To say that he was surprised by this sudden revelation was an understatement. He had a daughter.
He had a daughter, and the NID were holding her captive and running experiments on her.
That part didn't make much sense to him, but he knew that he had to get her out of there. The NID were not people he trusted, and by the looks of things, they'd already hurt her…his daughter. The girl who had his eyes…his mother's eyes…Charlie's eyes.
With the information that Maybourne had provided, O'Neill knew that the NID research facility was heavily guarded. He couldn't do this alone. And there were only three people that he would trust to guard his back and help him get his daughter away from the NID. Of course, first he'd need to get General Hammond's permission first.
Definitely a bad day.
-
Captain Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c were usually a fairly loud group when placed in a small room together. Now, however, the three of them could only sit with wide-eyed expressions as their team leader and commanding officer gave General Hammond an impassioned speech about rescuing some unknown girl from the clutches of the NID. They'd only seen pictures of her, and while the group knew how Jack felt about kids in general, the young woman was definitely no child, and they couldn't see why Jack was so deeply involved in this. They could understand the moral outrage, of course, they knew their CO wasn't heartless, but this type of passion was rare from Jack, unless it concerned the Simpsons, SG-1's safety or Cassie Fraiser.
General Hammond was trying not to look at his 2IC as though he were a crazy man, but he was finding himself hard-pressed not to order the Colonel to undergo a psychological evaluation. Something was definitely not right here. Not only had Colonel O'Neill come to them with actual paperwork, and a setout slide show to be projected onto the screen, but he was already outlining plans of infiltration into the facility and suggesting methods of attack.
"Not that I don't think this is a worthy cause Colonel O'Neill, but…" General Hammond trailed off, not entirely certain how to phrase the question delicately and professionally.
"But, why do you really care?" Daniel finished, asking the question on everyone's minds.
O'Neill sighed and flicked to the next slide, the copy of the birth certificate. Sam's and Daniel's mouths dropped open in shock, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"I was not aware that you had sired a daughter O'Neill," Teal'c said, breaking the stunned silence that had fallen over the briefing room.
"Well, until this morning, neither was I," O'Neill replied. "Look, I know this is crazy, but…"
"Jack, you don't even know that this girl really is your daughter," Daniel offered, ever the voice of reason. "What if the NID is just trying to trap us into doing something horribly illegal? I mean, you have to admit, your source of information isn't exactly what'd you'd call reliable."
"This may come as a shock Daniel, but I had actually considered that," Jack replied testily. "But I know that this girl is my daughter."
"Sir, I hate to say this, but Daniel may have a point. Doctoring photographs, or even birth certificates isn't all that hard, especially for an organization like the NID," Carter pointed out.
O'Neill nearly groaned in frustration, tempted to begin pulling out his rapidly greying hair. He had considered these possibilities, but he knew he was right. He'd learned to follow his gut years ago, and he'd hardly ever been wrong.
"Major Carter and Doctor Jackson both make good points Colonel," Hammond began diplomatically. "And I certainly cannot condone any illegal search of a government funded facility like an NID research lab."
Jack O'Neill felt his heart sink as he heard the General's words. He'd seriously thought that his team and his superior officer would have supported him in this. He hadn't really been expecting them to flat out deny and ignore his concerns.
"I'm afraid I can't order anyone to do anything about this Colonel," Hammond said.
Jack perked up suddenly. He'd only been working with General Hammond for two years, but he could read between the lines as well as anyone. General Hammond was restricted by military protocol and couldn't force the team to do anything. He couldn't make it official, and he couldn't supply any other forces. But the message was loud and clear. Just because he couldn't condone it, didn't mean he wouldn't allow it to happen.
"And if some zats just happened to go missing for the day sir?" O'Neill hedged.
"I'm fairly certain that most of the equipment is due to be cleaned and checked for faults soon Colonel," Hammond replied. "If you could test four of them, I'm sure our technical support crew would be grateful for the slight reprieve."
Colonel O'Neill bit back a grin and nodded his thanks. General Hammond stood, Carter and O'Neill instantly standing to attention. The General dismissed them, and walked into his office, leaving SG-1 staring at a nearly giddy Jack.
"You know I can't order you to do anything," Jack said, looking around the table at the people he trusted most in the world.
Daniel, Sam and Teal'c exchanged glances, but it was Sam who spoke up first.
"When do we leave?"
-
The four members of SG-1, dressed entirely in black, and, in Jack's opinion, looking very cool, stealthily moved through the research facility, following the map that Maybourne had provided them with. So far, Maybourne's intel had proven to be correct, but Jack was waiting for the other shoe to fall. He knew that there was a chance this was a trap. But he couldn't get his mind off the hazel-green eyes that had stared at him through the glossy 8x10 that Maybourne had provided.
Jack held his fist up, and Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all froze in place, their zats out and ready to fire. Jack silently directed them on the plan and watched in satisfaction as the team did as ordered. They'd already zatted and tied up three security guards, and they'd found the room Jack's supposed daughter was being kept in.
Looking through the small glass window, Jack spotted a head of blonde hair belonging to the girl on the operating table. Machines surrounded her, monitoring her vital signs and responses as a group of doctors milled around the table and the equipment. Inside the room were three armed guards.
O'Neill stepped back and allowed Carter to fiddle with the settings on the electronic panel that would give them access to the room. O'Neill never understood how exactly Carter did it, he just knew that she was able to get them into places like this with complete ease. As the red 'locked' light turned green, the door clicked open, and the attention of the guards was suddenly on the door.
With well-practised ease, SG-1 were able to down the three security guards before they could even get to their guns, and then took out the half-dozen doctors surrounding the young woman.
Jack moved forward as Teal'c kept an eye on the door, and Carter and Daniel watched the fallen doctors and guards. Jack could feel his heart racing with nerves as he stepped up next to the table. He watched as the girl's eyes tracked his movements, her pupils dilated from the amount of sedatives they'd been keeping her on. He quickly undid the straps holding her down, starting at the feet and working up to the wrists.
"You're gonna be okay now," he murmured softly. "We're taking you somewhere safe."
As he unbuckled the last strap, her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist with surprising strength.
"Easy, kid," he said softly, trying to sound as assuring and non-threatening as he possibly could "We're the good guys."
"Init – iat - ive?" she managed to choke out.
Jack's eyes furrowed in confusion. "Initiative? You want us to have initiative?" he asked.
Her death grip on his arm relaxed at the genuine confusion in his voice. Her eyes closed slowly, beginning to trust the man with the eerily familiar eyes. She couldn't work out just why they seemed so familiar, but she'd definitely seen someone with the same colour eyes before.
Carter noticed one of the guards starting to stir, and she cast a worried glance at her CO.
"Sir, we need to get out of here."
Jack looked over to what had his 2IC so concerned. He saw the guard begin moving slowly, and he nodded his understanding. He holstered his zat and gently picked up the petite girl, cradling her in his arms.
He glanced at the rest of his team and nodded. "Let's move."
-
Jack O'Neill was pacing. He'd never been considered a patient man before, and now was definitely no different. Doctor Fraiser was keeping him out of the infirmary while she attempted to fix the damage the NID had inflicted on the young woman they'd rescued, as well as performing some preliminary tests to ascertain whether or not Maybourne's information had been false or not.
Daniel was getting a headache from watching Jack pace up and down the short corridor outside the infirmary, but the last two times he'd requested that the Colonel stop, Jack had just glared at him and resumed pacing.
Just as Daniel was about to try for a third time to get Jack to sit down, the door to the infirmary swung open, and SG-1 looked up in curiousity, though with Teal'c you could never quite tell when he was curious or not.
"What's the verdict doc?" Jack asked.
"Well, I'd say apart from the damage the NID did when they performed their tests, and the amount of drugs they pumped into her, your daughter is the healthiest person I've ever treated," Doctor Fraiser informed him calmly. "She has several anomalies in her blood that we're running a few more tests on, but it looks as though she's your average nineteen year old."
Jack stood, silent in his shock, and his team, minus Teal'c, grinned happily for their friend.
"My daughter?" Jack repeated, just to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
"Yes sir," Doctor Fraiser replied. "That girl in there is definitely yours. We performed a paternity test, and it was conclusive." Janet Fraiser paused, absolutely loving the shocked but excited look on the Colonel's face. And while he may have been a superior officer, he was also a friend. "Congratulations sir, it's a girl."
Sam smirked a little at her friend's wry sense of humour. She looked across at O'Neill, trying to ascertain how he was doing with this.
"Can…can I see her?" Jack asked.
"She's not conscious yet, but, you can go and sit with her if you'd like," Fraiser replied. "If she wakes up…"
"You'll be the second to know, doc," he assured her.
"Second?" Daniel asked curiously.
"Well, I'd be first, obviously," Jack explained, not thinking particularly well.
Daniel nodded, but narrowed his eyes in confusion. Jack, however was beyond caring. He slowly wandered into the infirmary and took a seat beside his sleeping daughter.
He swallowed hard at the thought. He had a daughter. After he'd lost Charlie five years ago, he'd tried not to think about the fact that he'd never be a father again. And here was fate giving him another chance.
He hesitantly reached out to hold her hand, marvelling out how small this girl was. He knew that she was nineteen years old, but…she was so small. She was beautiful though, her features delicate and soft.
Her hand twitched slightly in his gentle grip, and he looked up to see her eyes fluttering open.
"Hey," he greeted quietly, hoping not to scare her too badly. Who knew what sort of a reaction she'd have to waking up in an unfamiliar infirmary after being held captive in an NID research facility. He glanced over at one of the airmen on guard and nodded at him, silently signalling the guard to fetch Doctor Fraiser.
"Where - "
"You're in an infirmary at NORAD," Jack explained quickly. "Cheyanne Mountain in Colorado Springs."
"Military…not my favourite people," she murmured quietly.
"Air Force, actually," Jack corrected with a slight wince. "Colonel Jack O'Neill at your service."
She grinned tiredly at him, grateful that he didn't seem to be a complete bastard like the officers within the Initiative, or the bastards who had kidnapped her several days ago.
"Buffy Summers," she introduced herself.
"Doctor Fraiser," Janet said, interrupting the quiet moment between father and unknowing daughter. "It's good to see you awake Miss Summers."
"Good to be awake doc," Buffy replied. "You're here to tell me I can go home, right?"
Doctor Fraiser nearly groaned in frustration. Whilst Buffy Summers may not have grown up with Jack O'Neill as her father, those two sentences were enough to tell her that she was, without a doubt, Jack's daughter.
"Not quite yet," Janet replied. "At least not until the drugs in your system wear off."
Buffy scowled, not liking the thought of having to stay in an unfamiliar place, and a hospital at that.
"We'll be keeping you under observation for a while, but I think you're gonna be fine," Janet assured the girl. "If you need anything, just ask one of the airmen outside. They'll be able to get anything you need, and they can have me paged."
With that, the petite doctor stepped out into the hallway to give the Colonel and his daughter some more time alone.
Jack cleared his throat slightly, trying to work out how to tell this girl that she was his daughter. It had sounded so much simpler when she was just a face in a photo, and not someone that was a living and breathing entity.
"So, uh, Colonel - "
"Jack," he corrected her, not wanting to have her be overly formal.
"Jack," she repeated. "Uh, not to bring up the obvious or anything, but…why are you holding my hand?"
Jack blanched, trying to come up with a reasonable conclusion. He snapped his hand back from hers and nearly toppled out of his seat as he stood up. Buffy just watched in wry amusement as the Colonel stumbled over his words.
Fortunately for the speech-impaired man, an airmen stepped into the infirmary and quickly informed O'Neill that he was wanted in the 'Briefing Room'. Jack jumped on the opportunity to stall his response and made a hasty retreat.
Buffy just grinned as she watched him walk out of the room. Not that she didn't want to know the answer to the question, she definitely was curious as to why he'd been so familiar with her. But it hadn't felt wrong or sleazy. It hadn't been as though he was trying to come on to her. It had been…safe, comforting. Kind of like when Giles would help her patch her wounds after a particularly rough patrol.
As her amusement faded, boredom soon set in. Her mind had long since cleared of the drugs that her captors had been filling her with. She'd discovered long ago that she metabolised drugs, food and alcohol far faster than anyone else, and that especially came in handy when people were trying to keep her sedated.
She carefully tore the IV out of her arm, and swung her legs over the bed. She tested her weight on her legs, happy that she could actually stand without falling, as that could have been interesting to explain to the airmen with the gun outside the door.
Curious, Buffy walked to the end of the bed, picking up the file of information. It told of the worst injuries she'd received, and a lot about the drugs that she'd been kept on. She lifted a hand to her chest, vaguely recalling the fact that she'd been half-conscious when they'd scalpeled their way through to look inside her, just for kicks.
She carefully pulled the front of her gown down, barely touching the bandage that kept the area covered. She put a slight amount of pressure on the wound, trying to see how bad the damage was. Obviously it couldn't' have been terrible. It twinged slightly, but she could tell from the level of pain that it was already beginning to heal itself. By tomorrow, it would be no more than a bad memory, and a new scar that would take the next week to fade completely.
Buffy paused in her tracks. She had to admit that the petite brunette doctor didn't look as though she would be the mad scientist experimental type. In fact, as doctors went, Doctor Fraiser had seemed alright. But, she was stuck in an Air Force facility, having been rescued by a Colonel of all people, from a group of…who, exactly?
She scanned the chart once more, her eyes lighting upon a scrawled note in the corner of the page. 'Naq. in bloodstream. No protein marker? Same as CF? Exceptional healing rate.'
This was definitely not good. If they'd noticed that she was healing faster than the average bear, then there was no telling what they would do with her. She had no idea what naq. was, but it had intrigued the doctor. She knew that there was something different about her, she'd fascinated doctors since she'd turned fifteen. But no doctor in California had ever known what it was that made her different. It looked as though Doctor Fraiser, however, did.
She needed to get out of there, and she needed to get out of there yesterday.
After a quick and quiet exploration, she found a pair of scrubs in a cupboard. They wouldn't be much, but it was better than having her backside showing through the split in the gown.
And while Buffy prepared her escape plan, General Hammond, SG-1 and Doctor Fraiser sat in the Briefing Room, discussing the fate of the young woman trying desperately to flee.
-
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that she has naquada in her blood?" General Hammond barked incredulously.
"That's exactly what I'm saying sir," Doctor Fraiser replied calmly.
"So…Miss Summers was blended with a Goa'uld," Daniel deduced.
"Or a Tok'ra," Sam added.
"Actually, no," Janet replied. "From Captain Carter's experience with Jolinar, we've discovered that a deceased Goa'uld or Tok'ra symbiote leaves both trace amounts of naquada in the blood as well as a specific protein marker. Miss Summers doesn't have that protein marker. In fact, Miss Summers' DNA is almost identical to Cassandra's. Minus the ticking time bomb in her chest."
Silence fell on the group as they tried to ascertain what exactly that meant for the girl in the infirmary.
"So…this is something the NID did to her?" Jack said angrily.
"No sir, it's not," Janet replied. "In fact, I believe it's the very reason that the NID wanted to experiment on her in the first place. As best as we can tell, she's had some form of naquada within her for years."
"How on earth is that possible?" Hammond questioned.
Doctor Fraiser shrugged and shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine sir. We know that naquada isn't native to Earth, and we know every person who's stepped through the Stargate. And as far as we know, no Goa'uld has come to Earth for centuries, so…I'm as stumped as you are."
The group fell into silence, each of them trying to think up new theories as to how a human girl born on earth, and fathered by one of their own had come to have an extremely rare substance in her blood. Carter frowned suddenly, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.
"Why can't Teal'c and I sense her?" Sam spoke up.
"Huh?" Jack asked eloquently.
Sam barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "If Miss Summers has naquada in her blood, why can't Teal'c or I sense her? We've been able to detect the presence of Goa'ulds and Jaffa and Tok'ra before…why not now?"
There was more silence before Hammond finally spoke up and took control of the meeting once more.
"Doctor Fraiser, see what else you can find out about your new patient. Captain Carter, you and Teal'c see what theories you can find out in regards to being able to sense naquada. Colonel O'Neill, I want you and Doctor Jackson to do a little background research on this girl. Find out everything you can. Report back in an hour. Dismissed."
-
Doctor Fraiser wandered through the hallways and back to her infirmary. She wasn't sure what to make of her newest patient. She was definitely a mystery hidden in a riddle and wrapped in an enigma, as her father used to say.
She quickly swiped her card to gain access to the elevator, and travelled up to the infirmary.
Her first sign that something was wrong was the collapsed guard in the hallway. She quickly ran to him, crouching beside him to check his pulse, sighing in relief when she realised that he was just unconscious, and not bleeding internally, or externally. She absently noted that the airman still had his sidearm.
She raced into the infirmary, nearly groaning in frustration as she saw the discarded gown lying in a puddle on the floor. The girls medical chart was laying on the bed, opened to the page she'd been scribbling notes to check on later.
All in all, she couldn't really blame the girl for panicking when left alone. Unfortunately, while she could understand it, they definitely needed to find her. She raced for her phone, and was patched through to General Hammond. Quickly informing him of the situation, she then raced to meet up with SG-1 to assist in anyway she could.
-
"People, I want her found, and brought back unharmed, do I make myself clear?" Hammond instructed. "She's a frightened girl who thinks we're the enemy, and I don't want to do anything that will cement those beliefs."
-
Buffy frowned in consternation. It was so much easier to get into a secret military organization than to get out of one. She'd thought the Initiative was huge, but this place was an absolute maze. She'd quickly found an air duct to squeeze into, rather than take the risk of running along the halls when, no doubt, the doctor or the Colonel had noticed her absence.
She froze in the duct as she heard the clattering sound of footsteps running past her. From the sounds of it, there were four people on foot running through the corridor. She waited until the footsteps had faded before continuing along, making sure to make no noise whatsoever.
And if she made no noise and stayed out of sight, she'd be undetectable.
-
"Carter, we don't have time for this," Jack O'Neill whined impatiently.
"Trust me sir," Sam replied, scrummaging through her desk to locate the naquada detector she'd been working on. She finally found what she was after and grabbed it triumphantly. She switched it on, only to have it start beeping rapidly.
"God, what is that thing Carter?" O'Neill asked.
"It's a naquada detector sir," Carter explained. "It works something like a metal detector, only it looks for naquada."
"How will that help?" O'Neill asked obliviously.
"Jack, if she'd got naquada in her blood, Sam's little detector thing will help us find her," Daniel explained.
"Ohhhh," Jack replied. He shrugged nonchalantly. "I knew that."
Daniel just rolled his eyes as Sam began walking out the door, waiting until they were a significant distance away from her lab before switching the detector on again.
"We'll just have to hope that she doesn't try to hide in my office or anywhere near the Gate Room or the research labs," Carter said. "But, with any luck, this will at least narrow our search down considerably."
O'Neill nodded and gestured for Sam to go ahead of the group. "Lead the way Carter."
"Yes sir."
-
Buffy didn't want to admit that she was lost. She usually had a very good sense of direction, but today it seemed to be failing her. Then again, there weren't too many places to go when you were hidden in the air ducts. So far, no one had noticed her presence, and five groups of searching airmen and marines had gone past her without a thought.
Now all she had to do was work out where she was in relation to the surface. She knew without a doubt that she was underground. Probably about sixty feet underground as well, which didn't bode well.
She came to a vent and stopped to listened intently. There was no way to go up within the vents, and she knew that the only way up would be through an elevator, or through a set of stairs or a ladder of some sort. She knew enough about secret facilities to know that there would be a secret entrance to get into and out of the base in emergencies.
With the ease born of practice, Buffy ensured that there was no one coming down the corridor, and kicked the vent outwards. She stealthily moved through the corridor, her interest peaked when she found a sealed door. She tapped on the metal and the hollow sound echoed slightly. With all of her strength, she pulled at the bolted door, satisfied to hear it groan under the pressure of her strength. Unfortunately it didn't open.
Cursing softly beneath her breath, she tried again but froze when she heard a foreign beeping sound, followed by an excited female voice. "We're getting closer."
Buffy swore again and looked around at the corridor. She had to hand it to the Air Force, they definitely knew how to design secret bases. There was nowhere for her to hide, and the vent she'd come out of was in the direction of the voices.
A group of four people, dressed in green BDU's rounded the corner, and the team stopped in their tracks as they saw Buffy staring at them like a deer in headlights. Jack held up a hand calmly, hoping that she wouldn't run from them.
"We're not gonna hurt'cha," Jack said calmly. "We just want to talk."
Buffy didn't say anything, but she began edging away from them, keeping her back to the wall so that no one and nothing could surprise her.
"Miss Summers, we really do just want to talk," Daniel said. "My name's Daniel Jackson. This is Sam Carter and Teal'c, and you already met Jack."
Buffy had to admit that Daniel didn't look as though he belonged to the Air Force. In fact, he reminded her of a younger, far cuter Giles. The problem was, the bald black man next to Daniel looked rather intimidating as far as men went, and if she was forced to fight him, it would definitely bring up questions as to how she could beat someone who was easily a foot taller than her. Sam, however, was a different matter. The tall blonde woman was looking at her with obvious interest, and that never boded well.
"I have nothing to say to any of you, except that I really just wanna go home," Buffy said, her voice hard as nails, even though she was shaking on the inside. She'd spent two days as a lab rat, and she had no desire to spend the rest of her life underground as an experiment for the government.
"I swear to you, you'll be able to go home," Daniel said soothingly. "We just want to ask you a few questions, that's all."
"And I should trust you because…"
"Because we don't believe in hurting innocent people," Jack replied. His daughter was definitely skittish, and very distrustful of the government. That could be problematic.
"Look, I can't tell you anything, really…so, just…just let me go," Buffy said, still edging her way backwards.
"We can't do that," Daniel replied.
"Why not?" Buffy countered.
"Because we can't," Daniel answered.
"Yes you can."
"No we can't."
"Can."
"Can't."
Sam looked between the young woman and the Colonel, musing that Buffy and Daniel seemed to have fallen into the familiar arguments that the archaeologist usually had with the team CO.
Daniel pulled up short as he realised the futility of his argument. He was left with no doubt that this girl was definitely Jack O'Neill's daughter though.
"Oh for crying out loud, just stop it the both of you, alright," Jack grumbled. "Nobody's going anywhere just yet."
"And why's that exactly?"
"Because…because you're my daughter."
-
She'd seen the birth certificate, she'd seen the blood tests, and she'd heard the story of how Jack had met her mother nineteen years ago. It made perfect sense actually; especially considering how little attention her own father had paid to her for the last few years. But discovering that you'd been kidnapped with the intent to emotionally cripple the man she had no idea was her father was a little insane.
"So…this evil government agency just decided to kidnap me for the fun of it?" Buffy said sceptically.
SG-1 exchanged glances before nodding vigorously, though Teal'c only deigned to incline his head regally.
"Indeed."
"And the experimenting on me comes in where?" Buffy asked.
All eyes swung to Doctor Fraiser, who looked to General Hammond for his nod of confirmation.
"Miss Summers, you have a very unusual substance in your blood stream, one that the NID wishes to fully experiment on in hopes to synthesise the effects," Doctor Fraiser began explaining. "The substance in your blood is an alloy, known as naquada."
"Wait…you mean the thing that makes every doctor in California curious, but no one knows what it is?" Buffy asked. "That thing? You know what it is?"
General Hammond cleared his throat uncomfortably. He was never very comfortable with revealing the secrets of the Stargate, especially to civilians, but he had to admit that this was a special case. Not only was this girl Jack O'Neill's daughter, but she had naquada in her blood, and that could be incredibly helpful to them if they discovered what exactly it did, and how it had got there.
"Miss Summers, we've only recently discovered naquada, and we've found that it is incredibly rare," Hammond explained. "So rare in fact that it isn't native to Earth at all."
Buffy froze at his words. Surely he wasn't implying…
"But it's native to, what…other planets?" Buffy asked.
"I know this sounds rather…fantastic," Sam interrupted. "But it's true. In fact, your entire genetic make-up is almost identical to that of Cassandra, who is a girl we found on a planet named Hanka. Except, her genetic make-up was the result of several generations worth of alien experimentation."
Buffy felt as though the room was spinning out of control. This really was too much information to be absorbing at the one time.
"Miss Summers…have you ever found yourself capable of doing things that no one else can?" Daniel asked. "That's you're stronger, faster and more co-ordinated than your friends are?"
Buffy just stared at him, wondering just what it was that made her a Slayer. If this naquada was what set her apart from being a normal human, then…well, she didn't really know what the significance of this was. And she had a feeling that the only way she would find out more about herself would be to stay on here. Not only would she be able to find out more about her heritage as a Slayer, but, glancing at Jack O'Neill, she'd also be able to find out more about herself.
And that wasn't an opportunity she was going to miss.
END
You'll notice it's open ended enough for a sequel, but closed enough that it can stand alone. Dunno if there will be more or not, depends on how inspired I get.