Don Sample
2009-02-02 03:37:40 UTC
Previous parts can be found at
<http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/Fics/AreYouReady/>
Are You Ready? Part XXIII
At first, Jack resisted, trying to gently push her away, but that didn't
last long. Soon his arms went around her, and he was kissing her back.
Dawn hadn't kissed all that many guys before. The less said about that
vamp on Halloween -- or the guy with the jacket -- the better. There had
been Antonio in Rome -- she'd thought that he'd been a pretty good
kisser -- but Jack ...
Dawn sighed when their lips finally broke apart. "I totally get it now."
Jack was still holding her in his arms, and looking at her face. He
grinned at her. "Get what?"
"Why Buffy goes for older guys."
"So, you admit that I'm older now."
"I admit that you're older than any of the other guys that I've kissed
... and you're much better at it."
"So, kissed a lot of guys before?"
"Not that many. How about you?"
"Can't say I've kissed many guys either," said Jack.
"Jack!" Dawn pounded her fist lightly against his chest. "You know what
I meant."
"Yeah, I know. And I hadn't really kissed all that many girls either. I
had a couple of girlfriends when I was in high school -- the first time
-- and then I went to the Academy, and didn't really have much
opportunity to date for the next four years. The Academy didn't admit
women until a couple of years after I graduated."
"When was that? The Stone Age?"
"1974."
"Close enough."
Dawn rested her head against Jack's shoulder for a moment, still holding
him. "So, what about after 74?" she asked. "Kissed lots of women in the
last 30 years?"
"No," said Jack. "Mostly, it was just one. I spent a lot of those years
married."
Dawn pulled away a bit. "Is that something the original you got to keep?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I've been divorced for nearly ten years now.
... We had a son. ... Charlie. ... He died. I ... I blamed myself. Sara
... I drove her away, I was so wrapped up in my own pain that I couldn't
see hers."
Dawn hugged him close. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry."
---
Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter walked through the corridors of the
SGC. It was the middle of the evening watch, and the hallways were
mostly empty. She liked to prowl the corridors at night: it gave her a
chance to think without interruptions. There was a flash of light, and
she found herself standing in front of Thor.
---
Jack stood there on the bridge, with Dawn holding him, and his arms
around her. He knew that she understood. Lots of people had said they
were sorry when they heard about Charlie, but Dawn *understood* that
kind of pain as well as anyone who hadn't lost a child themselves could,
but he couldn't let himself dwell on that. "So, what brings you out here
in the middle of the night?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," said Dawn. "I mean, I was just abducted by an alien.
That's not something that happens every day ... not even to me."
"You'd be surprised how often he's done that to me ..." Jack took in the
look she was giving him. "... or maybe you wouldn't."
"So, if this is an everyday occurrence for you, what are you doing out
here on this bridge?" asked Dawn.
"It's not exactly an *everyday* occurrence!"
"You're dodging the question."
"It was either come out here, or shoot Andrew," admitted Jack. "He was
driving me crazy with all his questions!"
"I'm surprised he was so restrained while we were up there," said Dawn.
"I think he was in shock," said Jack, "but he got over it."
"So, why didn't he follow you out here?"
"Handcuffs, and duct tape," said Jack.
"You didn't!"
"No, but I threatened to."
"I wouldn't expect that threats alone would be enough."
"No, but I gave him a carrot too. I had to tell him that the /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ head writer was an extra-terrestrial, and a lot of it was
based on true stuff, so now he's busy re-watching all the episodes."
"Wait a minute ... that crappy sci-fi show he's always running on about
is written by an *alien*, and it's *true?*"
"Not all that much of it, but yeah, some of the background stuff isn't
too far off the mark."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really, but they got a lot more stuff wrong than they got right."
"It's still really weird, even by my standards," said Dawn.
"Mine too," said Jack, "but the question remains: Where do we go from
here?"
"/When does the end appear?
When do the trumpets cheer?
Where to we go from here?/" Dawn sang softly.
"What?" asked Jack.
"Sorry, Sunnydale flashback," said Dawn. "Anyone tell you the story
about our musical extravaganza?"
"I've heard a couple of things about it. And I thought that life at the
SGC was weird."
---
"Thor!" said Colonel Carter. "What am I doing here?"
"I have been told that you are aware of of 'magic'," said Thor.
"What do you mean?" asked Carter.
"I have recently met with the O'Neill clone, the Slayer Cassandra, and
the mystics Dawn Summers and Andrew Wells," said Thor. "They informed me
that you were aware of 'magic'."
---
They didn't come to any real conclusions about what they were going to
do next. Dawn agreed to let Jack report what had happened -- and to pass
on Thor's warning -- to his General Hammond, and to tell him that Thor
knew about Slayers and magic. He could also tell the General that the
Council knew where the Key was, but he agreed not to say anything about
it being her.
He agreed to let Dawn report the meeting with Thor to the Council,
including the part about Cassie being from another planet -- as long as
Cassie was okay with her doing that too -- but she agreed not to say
anything about him being Jack O'Neill's clone.
They didn't really know what more to do about Thor's warning. As far as
Dawn was concerned it was just about as useless as every other such
warning that they had received over the years. Why couldn't such things
ever be straightforward?
---
Jack read over the contact report that he'd typed up for General
Hammond. It looked like it was as complete as his agreement with Dawn
could make it, describing how Thor had taken him, Cassie, Andrew and
Dawn into his spaceship for a meeting; how Cassie had been taken because
Thor knew about the Slayers, and both Andrew and Dawn had had magical
signatures. He included Thor's warning that something bad was coming,
and that both the Slayers and something called the Key would be needed
to defeat it, but he left out the fact that he knew who the Key was.
He knew that the bit about Thor knowing about magic and the Slayers
would come as a surprise to his superiors, but he already knew that
Homeworld Security knew about those things. He'd been a little surprised
when he'd heard from George that Homeworld Security was responsible for
protecting the Earth from more than just the aliens: it was responsible
for monitoring the "sub-terrestrial" threats too, but when he thought
more about it, it had made sense. He'd learned from the Council, and his
visit from Major Finn, that many of the world's governments knew
something about what the Slayers did. That responsibility being handed
off to Homeworld Security was reasonable.
His private correspondence with General Hammond had also made it clear
to him that the US government felt that it was best to leave the
handling of the supernatural in the hands of the professionals. They had
learned their lesson from the Initiative. They were monitoring the
actions of the Council, and were prepared to offer whatever support they
could, but they had no plans to step in and take control of what they
were doing.
---
/The Anacreontic Society/ had existed in Oxford since at least the
eighteenth century. There were branches of it in the other university
towns scattered across the nation, and in London itself, though it had
acquired new quarters there, since its original lodgings had been in a
building that had been blown up a few years previously. Most people
believed that the destruction of the Society's London lodgings was just
collateral damage from a terrorist bombing that had taken out a much
larger building, which had had other, more likely targets in it. Why
would terrorists attack a music and wine appreciation society? (Though
which of those was appreciated more waxed and waned over the decades.)
It was also known to be a bit of an "old boys' club" though its
membership had never been exclusively male.
/The Anacreontic Society/'s membership had changed a lot in the last
couple of years. It was still one of the most exclusive clubs in the
nation, with memberships given out by invitation only, and no one
outside of the Society knew how its members were chosen. All through its
history, the club had been known for its egalitarianism. Though
membership in the club often came with family connections, it wasn't
limited to the aristocracy, or the rich, or the male. People from all
backgrounds were invited to join, but throughout most of its history, it
was still mainly a 'boys' club.' That had changed in recent years. You
were more likely to see young women entering or leaving one of their
buildings these days.
/The Anacreontic Society/ was a front for the Watcher's Council. It had
provided a place in the university towns where new Watchers could
gather, and learn about the more esoteric aspects of their trade. Now it
served as a place where the new Slayers attending the universities could
meet, and practice their skills without outside observers.
It was a continual source of amusement to Dawn that when she pushed the
button for the doorbell, it played the opening chords of /The Star
Spangled Banner./ When she'd asked Giles why such a British society
would choose the American national anthem as their theme music, he'd
just laughed, and told her to research it for herself.
Today, she had come the Society's building in Oxford to take part in a
teleconference with the rest of the Council's Board. Once everyone was
online, and the initial greetings had been taken care of, she told
everyone the reason she had called for this meeting: "Well, I've got
good news, and I've got bad news."
"What's the good news?" asked Xander.
"I've learned Jack and Cassie's secret," said Dawn.
"And the bad news?" asked Giles.
"Andrew knows too."
"Why's that bad news?" asked Buffy.
"Because Cassie's an alien," said Dawn.
There were several seconds of silence in the room.
"She's a *what?*" asked Faith, eventually.
"Alien; extra-terrestrial; not born on this planet," said Dawn. "From
another world."
"No way!" said Caridad.
"Way!" said Dawn. "Andrew is completely freaking out about it. It turns
out that his favourite TV show is based on a real Air Force program."
"Wait a minute," said Xander. "Andrew's favourite show is that /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ thing."
"Yep," said Dawn, "And you've met the prototypes for most of the
characters in it."
"You mean Colonel Danning is..."
"Colonel O'Neill," said Dawn.
"And Stacy Monroe?" asked Willow.
"Major Carter," said Dawn.
"Let me guess," said Faith. "Grell was based on Teal."
"Teal'c" said Dawn. "Do all of you guys watch that show?"
"Well, no," said Giles. "Only three episodes were ever aired. I suppose
that the Dr. Levant character was based on Jonas Quinn."
"You too, Giles?" asked Dawn. She'd known that mentioning /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ would distract Xander, but she was surprised that the rest of
them had followed him into the digression.
"No ... ah ... yes ... I guess. How many television shows are there that
give a central role to a linguist?"
"I see your point," said Dawn, "but I think that Dr. Levant was based
more on Daniel Jackson."
"Good Lord!" said Giles.
"I hate when he says that," said Buffy.
"Daniel Jackson is an Egyptologist who had some ... unorthodox theories
on the origin of the Great Pyramid, and some of the other ancient
Egyptian monuments. I'm afraid that he's become something of a
laughingstock in academia."
"He is something less than a laughingstock in the U.S. Air Force, and
among short grey aliens," said Dawn.
"Short grey aliens?" asked Xander.
"Yep," said Dawn. "We can now list 'aliens' among the things that have
kidnapped me, but it seems that this one was friendly. It only wanted to
have a chat with the Key."
"What's the Key?" asked Caridad.
"I am," said Dawn.
"Dawn?" asked Buffy, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"They need to know," said Dawn. "They need to know that the Monks of
Dagon put the Key into me." Her eyes flicked between the images of
Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles on the monitors, and saw that they all
caught her meaning. She wasn't telling anyone that the monks had
actually created Dawn, and everyone's memories of her...yet.
"Why do they need to know?" asked Giles.
"Because the alien that kidnapped me did so to deliver a prophecy," said
Dawn.
Everyone in the video-conference groaned.
<http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/Fics/AreYouReady/>
Are You Ready? Part XXIII
At first, Jack resisted, trying to gently push her away, but that didn't
last long. Soon his arms went around her, and he was kissing her back.
Dawn hadn't kissed all that many guys before. The less said about that
vamp on Halloween -- or the guy with the jacket -- the better. There had
been Antonio in Rome -- she'd thought that he'd been a pretty good
kisser -- but Jack ...
Dawn sighed when their lips finally broke apart. "I totally get it now."
Jack was still holding her in his arms, and looking at her face. He
grinned at her. "Get what?"
"Why Buffy goes for older guys."
"So, you admit that I'm older now."
"I admit that you're older than any of the other guys that I've kissed
... and you're much better at it."
"So, kissed a lot of guys before?"
"Not that many. How about you?"
"Can't say I've kissed many guys either," said Jack.
"Jack!" Dawn pounded her fist lightly against his chest. "You know what
I meant."
"Yeah, I know. And I hadn't really kissed all that many girls either. I
had a couple of girlfriends when I was in high school -- the first time
-- and then I went to the Academy, and didn't really have much
opportunity to date for the next four years. The Academy didn't admit
women until a couple of years after I graduated."
"When was that? The Stone Age?"
"1974."
"Close enough."
Dawn rested her head against Jack's shoulder for a moment, still holding
him. "So, what about after 74?" she asked. "Kissed lots of women in the
last 30 years?"
"No," said Jack. "Mostly, it was just one. I spent a lot of those years
married."
Dawn pulled away a bit. "Is that something the original you got to keep?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I've been divorced for nearly ten years now.
... We had a son. ... Charlie. ... He died. I ... I blamed myself. Sara
... I drove her away, I was so wrapped up in my own pain that I couldn't
see hers."
Dawn hugged him close. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry."
---
Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter walked through the corridors of the
SGC. It was the middle of the evening watch, and the hallways were
mostly empty. She liked to prowl the corridors at night: it gave her a
chance to think without interruptions. There was a flash of light, and
she found herself standing in front of Thor.
---
Jack stood there on the bridge, with Dawn holding him, and his arms
around her. He knew that she understood. Lots of people had said they
were sorry when they heard about Charlie, but Dawn *understood* that
kind of pain as well as anyone who hadn't lost a child themselves could,
but he couldn't let himself dwell on that. "So, what brings you out here
in the middle of the night?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," said Dawn. "I mean, I was just abducted by an alien.
That's not something that happens every day ... not even to me."
"You'd be surprised how often he's done that to me ..." Jack took in the
look she was giving him. "... or maybe you wouldn't."
"So, if this is an everyday occurrence for you, what are you doing out
here on this bridge?" asked Dawn.
"It's not exactly an *everyday* occurrence!"
"You're dodging the question."
"It was either come out here, or shoot Andrew," admitted Jack. "He was
driving me crazy with all his questions!"
"I'm surprised he was so restrained while we were up there," said Dawn.
"I think he was in shock," said Jack, "but he got over it."
"So, why didn't he follow you out here?"
"Handcuffs, and duct tape," said Jack.
"You didn't!"
"No, but I threatened to."
"I wouldn't expect that threats alone would be enough."
"No, but I gave him a carrot too. I had to tell him that the /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ head writer was an extra-terrestrial, and a lot of it was
based on true stuff, so now he's busy re-watching all the episodes."
"Wait a minute ... that crappy sci-fi show he's always running on about
is written by an *alien*, and it's *true?*"
"Not all that much of it, but yeah, some of the background stuff isn't
too far off the mark."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really, but they got a lot more stuff wrong than they got right."
"It's still really weird, even by my standards," said Dawn.
"Mine too," said Jack, "but the question remains: Where do we go from
here?"
"/When does the end appear?
When do the trumpets cheer?
Where to we go from here?/" Dawn sang softly.
"What?" asked Jack.
"Sorry, Sunnydale flashback," said Dawn. "Anyone tell you the story
about our musical extravaganza?"
"I've heard a couple of things about it. And I thought that life at the
SGC was weird."
---
"Thor!" said Colonel Carter. "What am I doing here?"
"I have been told that you are aware of of 'magic'," said Thor.
"What do you mean?" asked Carter.
"I have recently met with the O'Neill clone, the Slayer Cassandra, and
the mystics Dawn Summers and Andrew Wells," said Thor. "They informed me
that you were aware of 'magic'."
---
They didn't come to any real conclusions about what they were going to
do next. Dawn agreed to let Jack report what had happened -- and to pass
on Thor's warning -- to his General Hammond, and to tell him that Thor
knew about Slayers and magic. He could also tell the General that the
Council knew where the Key was, but he agreed not to say anything about
it being her.
He agreed to let Dawn report the meeting with Thor to the Council,
including the part about Cassie being from another planet -- as long as
Cassie was okay with her doing that too -- but she agreed not to say
anything about him being Jack O'Neill's clone.
They didn't really know what more to do about Thor's warning. As far as
Dawn was concerned it was just about as useless as every other such
warning that they had received over the years. Why couldn't such things
ever be straightforward?
---
Jack read over the contact report that he'd typed up for General
Hammond. It looked like it was as complete as his agreement with Dawn
could make it, describing how Thor had taken him, Cassie, Andrew and
Dawn into his spaceship for a meeting; how Cassie had been taken because
Thor knew about the Slayers, and both Andrew and Dawn had had magical
signatures. He included Thor's warning that something bad was coming,
and that both the Slayers and something called the Key would be needed
to defeat it, but he left out the fact that he knew who the Key was.
He knew that the bit about Thor knowing about magic and the Slayers
would come as a surprise to his superiors, but he already knew that
Homeworld Security knew about those things. He'd been a little surprised
when he'd heard from George that Homeworld Security was responsible for
protecting the Earth from more than just the aliens: it was responsible
for monitoring the "sub-terrestrial" threats too, but when he thought
more about it, it had made sense. He'd learned from the Council, and his
visit from Major Finn, that many of the world's governments knew
something about what the Slayers did. That responsibility being handed
off to Homeworld Security was reasonable.
His private correspondence with General Hammond had also made it clear
to him that the US government felt that it was best to leave the
handling of the supernatural in the hands of the professionals. They had
learned their lesson from the Initiative. They were monitoring the
actions of the Council, and were prepared to offer whatever support they
could, but they had no plans to step in and take control of what they
were doing.
---
/The Anacreontic Society/ had existed in Oxford since at least the
eighteenth century. There were branches of it in the other university
towns scattered across the nation, and in London itself, though it had
acquired new quarters there, since its original lodgings had been in a
building that had been blown up a few years previously. Most people
believed that the destruction of the Society's London lodgings was just
collateral damage from a terrorist bombing that had taken out a much
larger building, which had had other, more likely targets in it. Why
would terrorists attack a music and wine appreciation society? (Though
which of those was appreciated more waxed and waned over the decades.)
It was also known to be a bit of an "old boys' club" though its
membership had never been exclusively male.
/The Anacreontic Society/'s membership had changed a lot in the last
couple of years. It was still one of the most exclusive clubs in the
nation, with memberships given out by invitation only, and no one
outside of the Society knew how its members were chosen. All through its
history, the club had been known for its egalitarianism. Though
membership in the club often came with family connections, it wasn't
limited to the aristocracy, or the rich, or the male. People from all
backgrounds were invited to join, but throughout most of its history, it
was still mainly a 'boys' club.' That had changed in recent years. You
were more likely to see young women entering or leaving one of their
buildings these days.
/The Anacreontic Society/ was a front for the Watcher's Council. It had
provided a place in the university towns where new Watchers could
gather, and learn about the more esoteric aspects of their trade. Now it
served as a place where the new Slayers attending the universities could
meet, and practice their skills without outside observers.
It was a continual source of amusement to Dawn that when she pushed the
button for the doorbell, it played the opening chords of /The Star
Spangled Banner./ When she'd asked Giles why such a British society
would choose the American national anthem as their theme music, he'd
just laughed, and told her to research it for herself.
Today, she had come the Society's building in Oxford to take part in a
teleconference with the rest of the Council's Board. Once everyone was
online, and the initial greetings had been taken care of, she told
everyone the reason she had called for this meeting: "Well, I've got
good news, and I've got bad news."
"What's the good news?" asked Xander.
"I've learned Jack and Cassie's secret," said Dawn.
"And the bad news?" asked Giles.
"Andrew knows too."
"Why's that bad news?" asked Buffy.
"Because Cassie's an alien," said Dawn.
There were several seconds of silence in the room.
"She's a *what?*" asked Faith, eventually.
"Alien; extra-terrestrial; not born on this planet," said Dawn. "From
another world."
"No way!" said Caridad.
"Way!" said Dawn. "Andrew is completely freaking out about it. It turns
out that his favourite TV show is based on a real Air Force program."
"Wait a minute," said Xander. "Andrew's favourite show is that /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ thing."
"Yep," said Dawn, "And you've met the prototypes for most of the
characters in it."
"You mean Colonel Danning is..."
"Colonel O'Neill," said Dawn.
"And Stacy Monroe?" asked Willow.
"Major Carter," said Dawn.
"Let me guess," said Faith. "Grell was based on Teal."
"Teal'c" said Dawn. "Do all of you guys watch that show?"
"Well, no," said Giles. "Only three episodes were ever aired. I suppose
that the Dr. Levant character was based on Jonas Quinn."
"You too, Giles?" asked Dawn. She'd known that mentioning /Wormhole
X-Treme!/ would distract Xander, but she was surprised that the rest of
them had followed him into the digression.
"No ... ah ... yes ... I guess. How many television shows are there that
give a central role to a linguist?"
"I see your point," said Dawn, "but I think that Dr. Levant was based
more on Daniel Jackson."
"Good Lord!" said Giles.
"I hate when he says that," said Buffy.
"Daniel Jackson is an Egyptologist who had some ... unorthodox theories
on the origin of the Great Pyramid, and some of the other ancient
Egyptian monuments. I'm afraid that he's become something of a
laughingstock in academia."
"He is something less than a laughingstock in the U.S. Air Force, and
among short grey aliens," said Dawn.
"Short grey aliens?" asked Xander.
"Yep," said Dawn. "We can now list 'aliens' among the things that have
kidnapped me, but it seems that this one was friendly. It only wanted to
have a chat with the Key."
"What's the Key?" asked Caridad.
"I am," said Dawn.
"Dawn?" asked Buffy, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"They need to know," said Dawn. "They need to know that the Monks of
Dagon put the Key into me." Her eyes flicked between the images of
Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles on the monitors, and saw that they all
caught her meaning. She wasn't telling anyone that the monks had
actually created Dawn, and everyone's memories of her...yet.
"Why do they need to know?" asked Giles.
"Because the alien that kidnapped me did so to deliver a prophecy," said
Dawn.
Everyone in the video-conference groaned.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>