Aug. 17th: Dandelion, Ch. 5: Cognitive Interview
Title: Dandelion, Ch. 5: Cognitive Interview
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Criminal Minds / Stargate SG-1
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,756
Timeline: BtVS: Post-The Gift, later seasons for CM, and not decided for SG1.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse, the CM 'verse, and the Stargate 'verse all belong to people who are not yours truly.
Summary: Shopping with Sara o'Neill and a cognitive interview with the BAU.
Author's Note: Written for Day 17 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Blah.
To Buffy's surprise, Sara O'Neill was making a real effort to treat her as a separate person, and not as if she was her daughter. She kept a close ear on the woman's heartbeat, but she was trying even if she was in pain and it hurt her to look at Buffy.
By the time Buffy had found three pairs of pants; two pairs of slacks and a pair of jeans, she had told Sara about graduating high school and attending two years of college. While they selected tops and blouses she told Sara about her mother discovering she had a tumor, getting surgery to remove it, and then abruptly dying three months before.
While they shopped for lingerie Sara told her about her and Jack's son accidentally killing himself with Jack's service gun several years before their daughter went missing, and how it had caused their marriage to collapse. It wasn't an appropriate place for the discussion, but comparing and contrasting her life with Sara and Elizabeth's seemed to help the other woman.
It did explain why she was so desperate for Buffy to be her missing daughter. Having lost one child due to her husband's careless handling of his weapons and then the second going missing, had to be horrific. Having a duplicate show up before she'd had a real chance to grieve had to make everything even worse.
Sara told Buffy about Elizabeth and her disappearance over lunch. Her alternate had failed to return home after being out with a group of friends. Sara had been home, but Jack had been away on a mission.
Elizabeth's fashion style had been more conservative, leaning toward preppy and floral patterns and high necks. While Buffy loved short skirts, leather pants, and sleeveless tops. It wasn't to say she didn't own any dresses with floral prints, because she did, but it wasn't her normal style. Too messy to fight in.
After lunch they finally got around to the part she had been looking forward to since she'd been asked to go shopping; shoes! As the pair of ankle boots she had arrived in were still in working order, Sara ended up buying her a pair of casual flats on sale.
As soon as they had gotten into the car at the motel, Sara had told her she and Jack would pay for a new small wardrobe for her and if she came back to Colorado with them they would help her apply for either college, a job, or both. The clothes were a gift, not a loan or a bribe as neither of them wanted her to simply wear the one outfit she'd worn to the hospital plus the clothes from the hospital's leftover pile. She had put up a reflexive defense, but Sara was right, she didn't have anything to pay with and the little money left in her wallet was unlikely to be valid.
The last things on Sara's list was a travel bag, a make-up bag, basic make-up, and other toiletries. It would have to do until she got money of her own, but only having the basics wasn't going to be fun.
As soon as she entered her motel room she began removing the tags from her new clothes and then placed them in the dresser. The BAU agents would be here soon and she would rather be done with this before that. The knock on the door came when she was almost done placing her new toiletries in the small bathroom. Putting on a little extra speed she left the few last things a little haphazardly and threw away the remaining litter all the new things had caused.
Then she hurried to the door and opened it before they got too impatient. "Good afternoon, agents." She smiled and moved backward as she took the door with her, allowing them to enter.
"Good afternoon, Miss O'Neill." Agent Rossi replied as he came inside.
Buffy did not attempt to hide her exasperated sigh. "It's Miss Summers. If you refuse to believe me at least pretend or call me Buffy. It's jarring and rude of you to use someone else's name. Both of the O'Neill's call me Buffy so you can, too."
A pair of bushy eyebrows went up for a few seconds, "Okay, Buffy, then."
Buffy smiled again, more genuinely this time, and asked them to take a seat. The room only had two chairs so she chose to sit on the bed. "I've already told you what little I remember from that night, so what can I help you with?"
JJ spoke up, "We would like you to go through all of it again, but we're going to use something called a cognitive interview to see if you remember anything else. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. Close your eyes and focus on my voice." Buffy got more comfortable and then closed her eyes and relaxed.
"Think back, what was the first thing you remember from when you woke up in the alley?"
She wrinkled her forehead in concentration for a second. "Several loud sirens heading in my direction."
"Were your eyes open or closed?"
"Closed."
"Did you open your eyes right away or did you keep listening to your surroundings?"
"I kept them closed, trying to orient myself by sound and smell."
"Very good," Agent Jareau replied in an even voice. "What did you smell and did you hear anything else?"
"I smelled trash, wet tarmac, and fresh blood. There were cars driving in both directions not far away. I opened my eyes when I smelled the blood because I was certain it wasn't mine and I wanted to see who was hurt."
"What did you see?"
"Three women. Two brunettes and a redhead. One of the brunettes had her head turned toward me with empty eyes staring at me, but I could see someone had slit the throat of the redhead." She examined the memory more closely in her mind's eye. "There were a couple of dumpsters, but nothing else. It was pretty well-kept for a back alley."
"Did you see or hear any people?"
"No, just the traffic." She frowned again, "Several ambulances and police cars came right before everything went black.
"What about phones, radios, TV's?"
She thought about it, but there was nothing like that. "No. I was only conscious for a couple of minutes at the most and then I blacked out."
"Okay, thank you."
Buffy opened her eyes again, "I'm sorry I'm not able to help you. I just, I don't know how I got there, and I've never even heard of Swyler."
"It's okay, "Agent Rossi added. "Whatever caused your fall might've scrambled your memories."
"If that's the case, then why do I remember the back alley so clearly? Why do I remember being in California and not Florida? Jack and I compared notes and the dates line up; I fell on the 15th and I woke up in the hospital on the 16th. There can't have been more than 10 hours between me falling and waking up in the alley."
"We don't know. Your part of the case doesn't add up at all. Your fake I.D. and the counterfeit money in your wallet is even stranger since our forensics team claims they're legit but the information on them is fake. The money is legal but there are some strange inaccuracies."
Agent Rossi gave her a searching look, "Your driver's license says you live in a town called Sunnydale, in California, but there's no place with that name. There has never been a town in the United States with that name."
It was more evidence she had fallen down the rabbit hole and wasn't getting up again anytime soon, if ever. "It isn't far from Santa Barbara, and about an hour away from Los Angeles."
"Yeah, we checked that and it adds up with the area we came up with when we searched for the postal code. There's no town there. A few Native American tribes lived there a long time ago, as did Spanish Franciscans, but there have never been any towns in that particular area."
"We contacted the local police in Santa Barbara and asked them to send someone to check it out for recent developments or anyone staying there," Agent Jareau added. "But there's nothing."
Both of them were looking at her expectantly, but what was she supposed to say? That she had made it all up? That, someone, had made her a fake I.D. with her address being a non-existent town?
"None of this makes any sense."
"There isn't anyone in California or the rest of the US called Buffy Summers, Elizabeth Summers, or any other variation of that name matching your description and age."
"Really, guys. I don't know."
"Are you going to become Elizabeth O'Neill?" Yeah, she was certain that David Rossi didn't like her, and the way he asked that question confirmed it for her.
"No," she replied promptly. "Jack wants me to come to Colorado with him and Sara so they can do some more tests there, and if they get the results they want he'll help me fix my identity so I'm not using his daughters."
"And you have agreed to that?"
She grimaced. "I'm still thinking about it. Not so fond of doctors and scientists, or being used as an experiment, but if it'll prove I'm not Elizabeth O'Neill then I'll do it." Supersecret military bases gave her the creeps after the Initiative fiasco, and knowing they were going to run tests on her wasn't helping.
Not that they were going to find much of anything. Her body had healed fully and she was healthy, although that would probably raise questions. There were no tests to prove the existence of her powers unless they ran her through something similar to what the Initiative had done to see how fast she could run, how hard she could hit, and so on.
"But I have nowhere to go, and they've promised to help if I go with them. So, probably." Sharing DNA with these people couldn't be an accident, and that meant that the PTB wanted her somewhere close to the O'Neill's.
"Right," Agent Rossi rose. "We'll be in touch, so don't leave Tampa just yet."
"Okidokie. I'll be here."
The agents said their goodbyes and Buffy was left alone with her thoughts. Restless, she went outside to the small patch of grass and began doing katas again. She needed to clear her head and the repetitive motions helped.
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / Criminal Minds / Stargate SG-1
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,756
Timeline: BtVS: Post-The Gift, later seasons for CM, and not decided for SG1.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse, the CM 'verse, and the Stargate 'verse all belong to people who are not yours truly.
Summary: Shopping with Sara o'Neill and a cognitive interview with the BAU.
Author's Note: Written for Day 17 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Blah.
To Buffy's surprise, Sara O'Neill was making a real effort to treat her as a separate person, and not as if she was her daughter. She kept a close ear on the woman's heartbeat, but she was trying even if she was in pain and it hurt her to look at Buffy.
By the time Buffy had found three pairs of pants; two pairs of slacks and a pair of jeans, she had told Sara about graduating high school and attending two years of college. While they selected tops and blouses she told Sara about her mother discovering she had a tumor, getting surgery to remove it, and then abruptly dying three months before.
While they shopped for lingerie Sara told her about her and Jack's son accidentally killing himself with Jack's service gun several years before their daughter went missing, and how it had caused their marriage to collapse. It wasn't an appropriate place for the discussion, but comparing and contrasting her life with Sara and Elizabeth's seemed to help the other woman.
It did explain why she was so desperate for Buffy to be her missing daughter. Having lost one child due to her husband's careless handling of his weapons and then the second going missing, had to be horrific. Having a duplicate show up before she'd had a real chance to grieve had to make everything even worse.
Sara told Buffy about Elizabeth and her disappearance over lunch. Her alternate had failed to return home after being out with a group of friends. Sara had been home, but Jack had been away on a mission.
Elizabeth's fashion style had been more conservative, leaning toward preppy and floral patterns and high necks. While Buffy loved short skirts, leather pants, and sleeveless tops. It wasn't to say she didn't own any dresses with floral prints, because she did, but it wasn't her normal style. Too messy to fight in.
After lunch they finally got around to the part she had been looking forward to since she'd been asked to go shopping; shoes! As the pair of ankle boots she had arrived in were still in working order, Sara ended up buying her a pair of casual flats on sale.
As soon as they had gotten into the car at the motel, Sara had told her she and Jack would pay for a new small wardrobe for her and if she came back to Colorado with them they would help her apply for either college, a job, or both. The clothes were a gift, not a loan or a bribe as neither of them wanted her to simply wear the one outfit she'd worn to the hospital plus the clothes from the hospital's leftover pile. She had put up a reflexive defense, but Sara was right, she didn't have anything to pay with and the little money left in her wallet was unlikely to be valid.
The last things on Sara's list was a travel bag, a make-up bag, basic make-up, and other toiletries. It would have to do until she got money of her own, but only having the basics wasn't going to be fun.
As soon as she entered her motel room she began removing the tags from her new clothes and then placed them in the dresser. The BAU agents would be here soon and she would rather be done with this before that. The knock on the door came when she was almost done placing her new toiletries in the small bathroom. Putting on a little extra speed she left the few last things a little haphazardly and threw away the remaining litter all the new things had caused.
Then she hurried to the door and opened it before they got too impatient. "Good afternoon, agents." She smiled and moved backward as she took the door with her, allowing them to enter.
"Good afternoon, Miss O'Neill." Agent Rossi replied as he came inside.
Buffy did not attempt to hide her exasperated sigh. "It's Miss Summers. If you refuse to believe me at least pretend or call me Buffy. It's jarring and rude of you to use someone else's name. Both of the O'Neill's call me Buffy so you can, too."
A pair of bushy eyebrows went up for a few seconds, "Okay, Buffy, then."
Buffy smiled again, more genuinely this time, and asked them to take a seat. The room only had two chairs so she chose to sit on the bed. "I've already told you what little I remember from that night, so what can I help you with?"
JJ spoke up, "We would like you to go through all of it again, but we're going to use something called a cognitive interview to see if you remember anything else. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. Close your eyes and focus on my voice." Buffy got more comfortable and then closed her eyes and relaxed.
"Think back, what was the first thing you remember from when you woke up in the alley?"
She wrinkled her forehead in concentration for a second. "Several loud sirens heading in my direction."
"Were your eyes open or closed?"
"Closed."
"Did you open your eyes right away or did you keep listening to your surroundings?"
"I kept them closed, trying to orient myself by sound and smell."
"Very good," Agent Jareau replied in an even voice. "What did you smell and did you hear anything else?"
"I smelled trash, wet tarmac, and fresh blood. There were cars driving in both directions not far away. I opened my eyes when I smelled the blood because I was certain it wasn't mine and I wanted to see who was hurt."
"What did you see?"
"Three women. Two brunettes and a redhead. One of the brunettes had her head turned toward me with empty eyes staring at me, but I could see someone had slit the throat of the redhead." She examined the memory more closely in her mind's eye. "There were a couple of dumpsters, but nothing else. It was pretty well-kept for a back alley."
"Did you see or hear any people?"
"No, just the traffic." She frowned again, "Several ambulances and police cars came right before everything went black.
"What about phones, radios, TV's?"
She thought about it, but there was nothing like that. "No. I was only conscious for a couple of minutes at the most and then I blacked out."
"Okay, thank you."
Buffy opened her eyes again, "I'm sorry I'm not able to help you. I just, I don't know how I got there, and I've never even heard of Swyler."
"It's okay, "Agent Rossi added. "Whatever caused your fall might've scrambled your memories."
"If that's the case, then why do I remember the back alley so clearly? Why do I remember being in California and not Florida? Jack and I compared notes and the dates line up; I fell on the 15th and I woke up in the hospital on the 16th. There can't have been more than 10 hours between me falling and waking up in the alley."
"We don't know. Your part of the case doesn't add up at all. Your fake I.D. and the counterfeit money in your wallet is even stranger since our forensics team claims they're legit but the information on them is fake. The money is legal but there are some strange inaccuracies."
Agent Rossi gave her a searching look, "Your driver's license says you live in a town called Sunnydale, in California, but there's no place with that name. There has never been a town in the United States with that name."
It was more evidence she had fallen down the rabbit hole and wasn't getting up again anytime soon, if ever. "It isn't far from Santa Barbara, and about an hour away from Los Angeles."
"Yeah, we checked that and it adds up with the area we came up with when we searched for the postal code. There's no town there. A few Native American tribes lived there a long time ago, as did Spanish Franciscans, but there have never been any towns in that particular area."
"We contacted the local police in Santa Barbara and asked them to send someone to check it out for recent developments or anyone staying there," Agent Jareau added. "But there's nothing."
Both of them were looking at her expectantly, but what was she supposed to say? That she had made it all up? That, someone, had made her a fake I.D. with her address being a non-existent town?
"None of this makes any sense."
"There isn't anyone in California or the rest of the US called Buffy Summers, Elizabeth Summers, or any other variation of that name matching your description and age."
"Really, guys. I don't know."
"Are you going to become Elizabeth O'Neill?" Yeah, she was certain that David Rossi didn't like her, and the way he asked that question confirmed it for her.
"No," she replied promptly. "Jack wants me to come to Colorado with him and Sara so they can do some more tests there, and if they get the results they want he'll help me fix my identity so I'm not using his daughters."
"And you have agreed to that?"
She grimaced. "I'm still thinking about it. Not so fond of doctors and scientists, or being used as an experiment, but if it'll prove I'm not Elizabeth O'Neill then I'll do it." Supersecret military bases gave her the creeps after the Initiative fiasco, and knowing they were going to run tests on her wasn't helping.
Not that they were going to find much of anything. Her body had healed fully and she was healthy, although that would probably raise questions. There were no tests to prove the existence of her powers unless they ran her through something similar to what the Initiative had done to see how fast she could run, how hard she could hit, and so on.
"But I have nowhere to go, and they've promised to help if I go with them. So, probably." Sharing DNA with these people couldn't be an accident, and that meant that the PTB wanted her somewhere close to the O'Neill's.
"Right," Agent Rossi rose. "We'll be in touch, so don't leave Tampa just yet."
"Okidokie. I'll be here."
The agents said their goodbyes and Buffy was left alone with her thoughts. Restless, she went outside to the small patch of grass and began doing katas again. She needed to clear her head and the repetitive motions helped.