Taunting Demons - August 29th
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 29
Title: Taunting Demons
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/SG1
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Stargate people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: First Buffy has a hunch, later she makes a friend.
Notes: Part 6 - Links Page
Seasons: SG-1 s1ep11 "Bloodlines"
Characters: Buffy, Teal'c, O'Neill, Carter, Daniel, Bra'tac, etc.
Word Count: 2950
Buffy pressed her hand over her mouth trying to stifle a yawn. She had finally caught up on all her paperwork but it had been a late night only to have a ridiculous early meeting for SG-1 and General Hammond. Daniel had a theory that there were two kinds of gods, tyrants and the culture bearers. So they were gearing up for a trip to a world forbidden to the Jaffa and Goa’uld.
“I’m going to make a statement, and it may just be my sleep-deprived mind,” Buffy told Carter as they dressed and geared up. “But if the planet is forbidden to the Goa’uld we should leave Teal’c here.”
Carter frowned as she checked her tack vest. “What do you mean?”
“The Goa’uld forbid it for a reason,” Buffy replied as she reached for her newest weapon, a staff Teal’c had presented to her the day before. Thicker and heavier than a walking stick, it was a dark wood, smoothed and polished.
“And that could simply be because it reveals the Goa’uld as false gods.”
Buffy shrugged. “Like I said, just a thought.”
“How much sleep did you get?”
“Four hours or so,” she shrugged. “More than I used to get between patrols and first period.” She closed her locker. “This job makes me glad I spend so little on a one-bed, five hundred square foot apartment.”
Carter chuckled. “Right? I only end up at my place if we have a long stand down. If it’s less than four day I don’t bother.”
Buffy nodded. “You and Daniel could disappear in your labs and forget everything but coffee.”
“I’m not that bad,” Carter countered.
“Ha!”
88888888
Buffy stepped back through the Stargate to the SGC. Her team was steps behind her.
“SG-1?” Hammond asked.
“…was right, sir,” Carter was saying to O’Neill. “We need to consider that some planets are going to have technology specifically to prevent the Goa’uld from harming their people.”
“Not a good day, General,” Buffy reported as she reached the bottom of the ramp.
“Get checked people,” he told them. “Debrief at 1400.”
Buffy looked at her watch. Three hours. An hour for the infirmary, half hour to shower and change, and a combined hour and a half to eat and make her initial notes for the report. A report she would probably not finalize for weeks.
"Yes, sir,” Buffy said.
She was the first in and out of the infirmary for checks and commandeered the showers for female officers. Carter followed a few minutes later.
“How did you know?” Carter asked as they gathered their soap and shampoo and towels.
“What?”
“That Teal’c should not go through.”
“It was a hunch,” she replied as she turned on the shower.
“But what led you to it?” Sam ask as she started the shower in the next stall.
Buffy sighed. “If I said it was how the Slayer mind works, would you accept that?” She scrubbed her hair. “It’s not far from the truth.” She still had visions, but they made less sense than normal, not that they had even been very normal. Apparently mixing supernatural dreamscape intuition with the vastness of the galaxy made for really scattered Slayer dreams.
At first she had not been sure what was happening, then the Nox. She had dreamed a part of the conversation with Lya before, twice. It had just been a small portion, in which she would admit to being the Slayer, but it had not included the view of her team watching the conversation.
She had seen only a second of what had happened today. Teal’c bathed in light, his face etched with pain. Nothing more about what had obviously been Thor’s hammer, only flashes of a young Jaffa boy, a girl among a field of dead, and a wrinkled old man in a crumbling castle by the sea. Then things had descended into the chaos of her own memories - of Sunnydale.
Buffy shook herself. She picked up her soap and scrubbed the dirt and debris from her skin.
“Are you suggesting you had prior knowledge of an event?” Carter asked.
“You’re a scientist, Captain, I can’t explain any of it in terms that would satisfy you.”
There was a beat. “What does that mean?”
“A month ago did you think that a humanoid race was capable of using their own life energy to bring others back to life?” Buffy countered.
“Well…no.”
“Then can you admit that after a couple of months I know you well enough to know that no explanation I could give would have anything substantive enough to be an answer you would accept?”
Carter said nothing as they finished their showers. Buffy wrapped herself in a towel and stepped back into the main portion of the locker room. There was a knock at the door. She stepped and pulled it open to peek out. O’Neil, Teal’c, and Daniel stood in the hallway. She could not wait until they had the new showers and locker rooms finished on Level 24. Since only two teams had females, it had been deemed a low-priority.
“Can I help you?” she asked, feigning innocence.
O’Neill glared at her. “Hurry it up, Lieutenant.”
“Ten minutes, Colonel.”
He looked at his watch. “Marked.”
She closed the door.
“What did you mean?” Carter asked from where she stood in front of a locker.
Buffy pressed her head against door. “Just as I said, Captain.”
“We’re alone, call me Sam.”
“Okay…Sam. I can’t explain how I am able to do what I do any more than I can explain how the Stargate works.” She turned to look at Sam.
“But I can explain how the Stargate works.”
“And that’s how you see most things,” Buffy replied moving to her locker, wanting to get her clothes on. “There is no such thing as magic, there is nothing mystical, just science that isn’t understood. Yet.”
Sam nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Except I believe in magic, I believe in things that can’t be explained by science.” She tapped her chest. “I was told that I was a being of magic. I tossed that Unas around like he was a teddy bear because I am a mystical being.” She bit her tongue. Her team was not ready to believe in vampires and demons. They barely believed in her and she had proven that she was not Goa’uld.
Sam’s mouth dropped open but she snapped it shut. She stayed quiet until they were both dressed. “Okay.”
Buffy tucked her dog tags into her shirt and looked at Sam. “Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
They stowed their things and headed for the door.
Buffy opened it to see the three males of their team still waiting. She stepped out and pulled Daniel into a hug, going up on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. “We’ll find another way to save Sha’re and Skarra.” It took a moment for him to squeeze her back.
88888888
Buffy considered the wall of the conference room. The old man in the castle by the sea made sense now. It was a mission that had been…difficult. But it raised so many questions. Who was the boy? And the girl?
A shadow made her look up. Teal’c had entered the conference room alone.
“Rya’c,” Buffy said softly. “Would he happen to be a boy, about twelve years old?”
Teal’c paled, surprised. He sat down in the chair beside Buffy. “How do you know of this?”
She rubbed her face. “I…have had flashes of our missions, not enough to understand. Normally it’s only a single picture and even then it’s distorted.”
“And you have seen this boy?”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“I think it was his prim’ta.”
Teal’c nodded jerkily. “My son, Rya’c, is the right age.”
“I’m sorry. If I had any more details I’d tell you.”
“It is not your fault. That you have seen such a thing makes me believe there is yet time to save him.”
88888888
Buffy followed Teal’c closely as they approached a burned out house on Chulak.
“Teal’c,” O’Neill said slowly, “is this your…?”
“My former home,” Teal’c said softly. “A gift from Apophis for many years of service.”
She followed him around the side of the house. There in the sand Teal’c fell to his knees in despair.
“What does this mark mean?” Daniel asked.
“This was the home of shol’va,” Teal’c said.
“Traitor,” Daniel translated.
Buffy dropped her hand to Teal’c’s shoulder. He stumbled up and into the burnt home. Something made her spin and look around while Carter and O’Neill tried to comfort Teal’c that his family had not necessarily been there.
She went around the side of the house again and passed the mark of the shol’va. She crept around the corner and peeked around the last to see a man in a silver cloak. A Jaffa, if her Slayer senses were right. She followed him.
“Obi tan!” the man yelled, his staff weapon pointed at her team “Shree!”
Buffy stuck her staff against his head. “Tal bet!”
The Jaffa was fast. He swung out at her. She forced the blasting side of his staff to the ground and hit his metal helmet with the butt of her staff. He brought his staff up but she forced it down again. He abandoned it, grabbing her staff and trying to take it from her. He pulled it towards himself and fell backwards attempting to get her to drop it. Buffy threw her weight into it and pinned him to the ground before moving her feet to the side of his body to prevent a sweep of his legs taking her down.
“Tal shal mak!” she demanded.
“Kree lo tak!”
“Tal shakka mel!”
That made the Jaffa stop. Buffy stood, keeping her staff pointed at him.
“Tek matte Bra’tac,” Teal’c greeted as he approached them.
“Teal’c,” Bra’tac greeted.
“It is good to see you, friend,” Teal’c said, though he made no move to stay Buffy’s staff or help Bra’tac up.
“Were I an enemy, you would be dead,” he gestured to Buffy, “if not for this warrior.”
The rest of the team approached.
“My wife and son?”
“I am told they escape the burning. I thought you might return in time for your boy’s ceremony, Teal’c. Brave, but unwise.”
“Are others waiting?” Buffy asked pressing the end of her staff against his neck.
“Others don’t know Teal’c as I do,” Bra’tac said. “But I expected him to come alone.”
“They are friends,” Teal’c said, introducing each member of the team. “This is my first teacher, Bra’tac. The greatest Jaffa master I have ever known.”
“Lieutenant,” O’Neill said. “Perhaps you should let him up.”
“Why?” Buffy said. “Our battle is not finished unless he concedes that I have beaten him.”
Bra’tac laughed. “If she was one of those that helped defeat the palace guards at Chulak, I can see why you won.”
“I was not, a missed opportunity I regret.”
“You choose your friends well, Teal’c.” Bra’tac declared. “Though were I a hundred years younger, it might not have been quite so easy.”
“You’re over a hundred years old?” O’Neill said. “Lieutenant, let him up.”
“Not until he concedes,” Buffy said. “For I could be a hundred years older and still have defeated him.”
“A fine warrior,” Bra’tac said chuckled. “You have won this fight.”
Buffy nodded and removed her staff. She reached down and grabbed Bra’tac’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “Tek matte Bra’tac.”
“What world are you from?” Bra’tac asked as he released her arm.
“I am of the Tau’ri, a warrior class known as Slayer. Teal’c has been instructing me in all things Jaffa and Goa’uld.”
“If there are many on your planet like you, Slayer, you are likely to win the battle with the Goa’uld.”
“Unfortunately, I am the only one.”
Bra’tac harrumphed. “Your family is kreshta. Outcasts,” Bra’tac told Teal’c. “The kreshta live in a handful of camps outside the city. I do not know which one your family belongs to.”
“Then we should begin now,” Teal’c said.
“Teal’c?” O’Neill intoned.
“I will not leave Chulak without seeing my son.”
O’Neill sighed. “Captain, I want you, Summers, and Daniel to go back to the Stargate, take up positions where you can lay down cover fire.”
“Yes sir,” Sam replied.
“Wait there for us for twenty-four hours,” he continued. “If we’re not back by then, we probably won’t be.”
“Yes sir. We’ll be waiting. Good luck, sir.” Sam and Daniel started off in the direction of the Gate.
Buffy stepped to Bra’tac. “I collect weapons, Master Bra’tac. If you see anything worthy of the skills I have displayed, I would be honored to carry it.” She bowed her head to him in respect and then turned, jogging to catch up with Sam and Daniel.
“Are you certain there are no more warriors like her?” Bra’tac asked.
“She is the only one,” Teal’c replied.
“That is too bad.”
88888888
“Ugh,” Buffy said as she stared at the swimming Goa’uld. “This planet is nauseating.”
Sam looked at her strangely.
“You don’t sense them. They are making me…itchy.”
“Mixing signals, Buffy?” Daniel asked.
“That’s it,” Buffy said as she approached the tank of larval Goa’uld. “Like being hot and cold and nauseas and itchy. Literally, like it makes my body send the wrong signals.”
“Well we need to get one,” Sam said pulling out an insulated thermos.
“I’ll do it,” Buffy volunteered when the other two just stared at each other. She took off the lid and looked at the dozen or so Goa’uld larva swimming through the bubbling water.
Carter held the thermos out, stay as far back as she could.
Buffy took two deep breaths and plunged her hand into the tank. Her arm felt charged slightly, like the water was full of electric eels. The first thing to swim near her she grabbed, careful not to crush the creature. She pulled it out of the water, it screeched at her pathetically. “These are tiny,” Buffy said. “Half the size of Teal’c’s, maybe.”
“What are you waiting for?” Sam asked.
But Buffy was studying the Goa’uld. “You have all the knowledge of your bloodline…” she studied its red eyes. “But you can’t even defend yourself, ha’taaka.”
It screeched in indignation. She grabbed the thermos and added a bit of water from the tank, then she unceremoniously shoved the Goa’uld in and screwed the lid on.
“Um, what was that?” Daniel asked.
Buffy shrugged. Taunting demons was apparently not something the Academy had drummed out of her. “Let’s get back to the Gate before the others come looking.”
Sam nodded and started off. They both stopped suddenly when a burst of gunfire went off. Turning, they found Daniel had destroyed the small alter and larva tank.
“Shit,” Buffy breathed. “They’re going to be on us soon.”
“How do you know?”
“This is a holy site for the Jaffa and people of Chulak. Just taking one is sacrilege according to Teal’c. To destroy it…I don’t think it’s going to take them long to start a search and block the Gate.”
Sam nodded, worry entered her bright gaze. “We need to get as close to the Gate as possible and find cover.”
Buffy took the lead, leaving Sam to make sure Daniel followed.
88888888
Buffy snapped the neck of the Jaffa who had followed them. She used her staff to puncture their larval sacks and kill the Goa’uld. She pulled them into the underbrush.
She tilted her head, listening for something. “O’Neill is that way.”
“How do you know?”
“I can hear him and Bra’tac arguing.”
They moved quickly, arriving to find O’Neill, Teal’c, and Bra’tac with a woman and a young boy. Buffy kneeled next to Teal’c. “Teal’c gave Rya’c his symbiote,” Buffy said in surprise.
“You know this?” Bra’tac asked.
“I can feel it. I sense the larval Goa’uld Teal’c carries, I can sort of recognize it.” She moved her hand over Rya’c. “I feel its presence here.” She sighed and looked at Sam. “So much for research.”
Sam nodded and pulled out the thermos. “We have a Goa’uld.”
“We took it from the temple,” Buffy said as Bra’tac took the thermos. “It’s small, will it work?”
Bra’tac looked at the Goa’uld in distress. “We will try.”
It squealed and disappeared into Teal’c’s pouch. They waited.
Buffy turned her head. “A horn. I must not have hid the body of the two Jaffa well enough.”
“We need to get moving,” O’Neill told them.
“He is not yet well enough to move,” Drey’auc said.
“You carry Rya’c,” Buffy said. “I will keep Teal’c moving until he can move on his own.”
The women stared at each other, then Drey’auc nodded.
Buffy did not wait, she pulled Teal’c to his feet and secured her arm around his waist, braced her left shoulder against his chest and secured his arm over her right shoulder.
“You got him?” Daniel asked.
“Yep. I can keep us moving. Go.” Buffy took small, quick steps. She shook her head at Teal’c. “Your new symbiote is going to take some getting used to.”
He made a small noise but was concentrating on moving his feet. They kept heading towards the Gate. Suddenly Teal’c sighed and took his weight off Buffy.
“Better?” she asked.
“Yes, my strength returns.” He took Rya’c from Drey’auc and they continue on.
Title: Taunting Demons
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/SG1
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Stargate people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: First Buffy has a hunch, later she makes a friend.
Notes: Part 6 - Links Page
Seasons: SG-1 s1ep11 "Bloodlines"
Characters: Buffy, Teal'c, O'Neill, Carter, Daniel, Bra'tac, etc.
Word Count: 2950
Buffy pressed her hand over her mouth trying to stifle a yawn. She had finally caught up on all her paperwork but it had been a late night only to have a ridiculous early meeting for SG-1 and General Hammond. Daniel had a theory that there were two kinds of gods, tyrants and the culture bearers. So they were gearing up for a trip to a world forbidden to the Jaffa and Goa’uld.
“I’m going to make a statement, and it may just be my sleep-deprived mind,” Buffy told Carter as they dressed and geared up. “But if the planet is forbidden to the Goa’uld we should leave Teal’c here.”
Carter frowned as she checked her tack vest. “What do you mean?”
“The Goa’uld forbid it for a reason,” Buffy replied as she reached for her newest weapon, a staff Teal’c had presented to her the day before. Thicker and heavier than a walking stick, it was a dark wood, smoothed and polished.
“And that could simply be because it reveals the Goa’uld as false gods.”
Buffy shrugged. “Like I said, just a thought.”
“How much sleep did you get?”
“Four hours or so,” she shrugged. “More than I used to get between patrols and first period.” She closed her locker. “This job makes me glad I spend so little on a one-bed, five hundred square foot apartment.”
Carter chuckled. “Right? I only end up at my place if we have a long stand down. If it’s less than four day I don’t bother.”
Buffy nodded. “You and Daniel could disappear in your labs and forget everything but coffee.”
“I’m not that bad,” Carter countered.
“Ha!”
88888888
Buffy stepped back through the Stargate to the SGC. Her team was steps behind her.
“SG-1?” Hammond asked.
“…was right, sir,” Carter was saying to O’Neill. “We need to consider that some planets are going to have technology specifically to prevent the Goa’uld from harming their people.”
“Not a good day, General,” Buffy reported as she reached the bottom of the ramp.
“Get checked people,” he told them. “Debrief at 1400.”
Buffy looked at her watch. Three hours. An hour for the infirmary, half hour to shower and change, and a combined hour and a half to eat and make her initial notes for the report. A report she would probably not finalize for weeks.
"Yes, sir,” Buffy said.
She was the first in and out of the infirmary for checks and commandeered the showers for female officers. Carter followed a few minutes later.
“How did you know?” Carter asked as they gathered their soap and shampoo and towels.
“What?”
“That Teal’c should not go through.”
“It was a hunch,” she replied as she turned on the shower.
“But what led you to it?” Sam ask as she started the shower in the next stall.
Buffy sighed. “If I said it was how the Slayer mind works, would you accept that?” She scrubbed her hair. “It’s not far from the truth.” She still had visions, but they made less sense than normal, not that they had even been very normal. Apparently mixing supernatural dreamscape intuition with the vastness of the galaxy made for really scattered Slayer dreams.
At first she had not been sure what was happening, then the Nox. She had dreamed a part of the conversation with Lya before, twice. It had just been a small portion, in which she would admit to being the Slayer, but it had not included the view of her team watching the conversation.
She had seen only a second of what had happened today. Teal’c bathed in light, his face etched with pain. Nothing more about what had obviously been Thor’s hammer, only flashes of a young Jaffa boy, a girl among a field of dead, and a wrinkled old man in a crumbling castle by the sea. Then things had descended into the chaos of her own memories - of Sunnydale.
Buffy shook herself. She picked up her soap and scrubbed the dirt and debris from her skin.
“Are you suggesting you had prior knowledge of an event?” Carter asked.
“You’re a scientist, Captain, I can’t explain any of it in terms that would satisfy you.”
There was a beat. “What does that mean?”
“A month ago did you think that a humanoid race was capable of using their own life energy to bring others back to life?” Buffy countered.
“Well…no.”
“Then can you admit that after a couple of months I know you well enough to know that no explanation I could give would have anything substantive enough to be an answer you would accept?”
Carter said nothing as they finished their showers. Buffy wrapped herself in a towel and stepped back into the main portion of the locker room. There was a knock at the door. She stepped and pulled it open to peek out. O’Neil, Teal’c, and Daniel stood in the hallway. She could not wait until they had the new showers and locker rooms finished on Level 24. Since only two teams had females, it had been deemed a low-priority.
“Can I help you?” she asked, feigning innocence.
O’Neill glared at her. “Hurry it up, Lieutenant.”
“Ten minutes, Colonel.”
He looked at his watch. “Marked.”
She closed the door.
“What did you mean?” Carter asked from where she stood in front of a locker.
Buffy pressed her head against door. “Just as I said, Captain.”
“We’re alone, call me Sam.”
“Okay…Sam. I can’t explain how I am able to do what I do any more than I can explain how the Stargate works.” She turned to look at Sam.
“But I can explain how the Stargate works.”
“And that’s how you see most things,” Buffy replied moving to her locker, wanting to get her clothes on. “There is no such thing as magic, there is nothing mystical, just science that isn’t understood. Yet.”
Sam nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Except I believe in magic, I believe in things that can’t be explained by science.” She tapped her chest. “I was told that I was a being of magic. I tossed that Unas around like he was a teddy bear because I am a mystical being.” She bit her tongue. Her team was not ready to believe in vampires and demons. They barely believed in her and she had proven that she was not Goa’uld.
Sam’s mouth dropped open but she snapped it shut. She stayed quiet until they were both dressed. “Okay.”
Buffy tucked her dog tags into her shirt and looked at Sam. “Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
They stowed their things and headed for the door.
Buffy opened it to see the three males of their team still waiting. She stepped out and pulled Daniel into a hug, going up on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. “We’ll find another way to save Sha’re and Skarra.” It took a moment for him to squeeze her back.
88888888
Buffy considered the wall of the conference room. The old man in the castle by the sea made sense now. It was a mission that had been…difficult. But it raised so many questions. Who was the boy? And the girl?
A shadow made her look up. Teal’c had entered the conference room alone.
“Rya’c,” Buffy said softly. “Would he happen to be a boy, about twelve years old?”
Teal’c paled, surprised. He sat down in the chair beside Buffy. “How do you know of this?”
She rubbed her face. “I…have had flashes of our missions, not enough to understand. Normally it’s only a single picture and even then it’s distorted.”
“And you have seen this boy?”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“I think it was his prim’ta.”
Teal’c nodded jerkily. “My son, Rya’c, is the right age.”
“I’m sorry. If I had any more details I’d tell you.”
“It is not your fault. That you have seen such a thing makes me believe there is yet time to save him.”
88888888
Buffy followed Teal’c closely as they approached a burned out house on Chulak.
“Teal’c,” O’Neill said slowly, “is this your…?”
“My former home,” Teal’c said softly. “A gift from Apophis for many years of service.”
She followed him around the side of the house. There in the sand Teal’c fell to his knees in despair.
“What does this mark mean?” Daniel asked.
“This was the home of shol’va,” Teal’c said.
“Traitor,” Daniel translated.
Buffy dropped her hand to Teal’c’s shoulder. He stumbled up and into the burnt home. Something made her spin and look around while Carter and O’Neill tried to comfort Teal’c that his family had not necessarily been there.
She went around the side of the house again and passed the mark of the shol’va. She crept around the corner and peeked around the last to see a man in a silver cloak. A Jaffa, if her Slayer senses were right. She followed him.
“Obi tan!” the man yelled, his staff weapon pointed at her team “Shree!”
Buffy stuck her staff against his head. “Tal bet!”
The Jaffa was fast. He swung out at her. She forced the blasting side of his staff to the ground and hit his metal helmet with the butt of her staff. He brought his staff up but she forced it down again. He abandoned it, grabbing her staff and trying to take it from her. He pulled it towards himself and fell backwards attempting to get her to drop it. Buffy threw her weight into it and pinned him to the ground before moving her feet to the side of his body to prevent a sweep of his legs taking her down.
“Tal shal mak!” she demanded.
“Kree lo tak!”
“Tal shakka mel!”
That made the Jaffa stop. Buffy stood, keeping her staff pointed at him.
“Tek matte Bra’tac,” Teal’c greeted as he approached them.
“Teal’c,” Bra’tac greeted.
“It is good to see you, friend,” Teal’c said, though he made no move to stay Buffy’s staff or help Bra’tac up.
“Were I an enemy, you would be dead,” he gestured to Buffy, “if not for this warrior.”
The rest of the team approached.
“My wife and son?”
“I am told they escape the burning. I thought you might return in time for your boy’s ceremony, Teal’c. Brave, but unwise.”
“Are others waiting?” Buffy asked pressing the end of her staff against his neck.
“Others don’t know Teal’c as I do,” Bra’tac said. “But I expected him to come alone.”
“They are friends,” Teal’c said, introducing each member of the team. “This is my first teacher, Bra’tac. The greatest Jaffa master I have ever known.”
“Lieutenant,” O’Neill said. “Perhaps you should let him up.”
“Why?” Buffy said. “Our battle is not finished unless he concedes that I have beaten him.”
Bra’tac laughed. “If she was one of those that helped defeat the palace guards at Chulak, I can see why you won.”
“I was not, a missed opportunity I regret.”
“You choose your friends well, Teal’c.” Bra’tac declared. “Though were I a hundred years younger, it might not have been quite so easy.”
“You’re over a hundred years old?” O’Neill said. “Lieutenant, let him up.”
“Not until he concedes,” Buffy said. “For I could be a hundred years older and still have defeated him.”
“A fine warrior,” Bra’tac said chuckled. “You have won this fight.”
Buffy nodded and removed her staff. She reached down and grabbed Bra’tac’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “Tek matte Bra’tac.”
“What world are you from?” Bra’tac asked as he released her arm.
“I am of the Tau’ri, a warrior class known as Slayer. Teal’c has been instructing me in all things Jaffa and Goa’uld.”
“If there are many on your planet like you, Slayer, you are likely to win the battle with the Goa’uld.”
“Unfortunately, I am the only one.”
Bra’tac harrumphed. “Your family is kreshta. Outcasts,” Bra’tac told Teal’c. “The kreshta live in a handful of camps outside the city. I do not know which one your family belongs to.”
“Then we should begin now,” Teal’c said.
“Teal’c?” O’Neill intoned.
“I will not leave Chulak without seeing my son.”
O’Neill sighed. “Captain, I want you, Summers, and Daniel to go back to the Stargate, take up positions where you can lay down cover fire.”
“Yes sir,” Sam replied.
“Wait there for us for twenty-four hours,” he continued. “If we’re not back by then, we probably won’t be.”
“Yes sir. We’ll be waiting. Good luck, sir.” Sam and Daniel started off in the direction of the Gate.
Buffy stepped to Bra’tac. “I collect weapons, Master Bra’tac. If you see anything worthy of the skills I have displayed, I would be honored to carry it.” She bowed her head to him in respect and then turned, jogging to catch up with Sam and Daniel.
“Are you certain there are no more warriors like her?” Bra’tac asked.
“She is the only one,” Teal’c replied.
“That is too bad.”
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“Ugh,” Buffy said as she stared at the swimming Goa’uld. “This planet is nauseating.”
Sam looked at her strangely.
“You don’t sense them. They are making me…itchy.”
“Mixing signals, Buffy?” Daniel asked.
“That’s it,” Buffy said as she approached the tank of larval Goa’uld. “Like being hot and cold and nauseas and itchy. Literally, like it makes my body send the wrong signals.”
“Well we need to get one,” Sam said pulling out an insulated thermos.
“I’ll do it,” Buffy volunteered when the other two just stared at each other. She took off the lid and looked at the dozen or so Goa’uld larva swimming through the bubbling water.
Carter held the thermos out, stay as far back as she could.
Buffy took two deep breaths and plunged her hand into the tank. Her arm felt charged slightly, like the water was full of electric eels. The first thing to swim near her she grabbed, careful not to crush the creature. She pulled it out of the water, it screeched at her pathetically. “These are tiny,” Buffy said. “Half the size of Teal’c’s, maybe.”
“What are you waiting for?” Sam asked.
But Buffy was studying the Goa’uld. “You have all the knowledge of your bloodline…” she studied its red eyes. “But you can’t even defend yourself, ha’taaka.”
It screeched in indignation. She grabbed the thermos and added a bit of water from the tank, then she unceremoniously shoved the Goa’uld in and screwed the lid on.
“Um, what was that?” Daniel asked.
Buffy shrugged. Taunting demons was apparently not something the Academy had drummed out of her. “Let’s get back to the Gate before the others come looking.”
Sam nodded and started off. They both stopped suddenly when a burst of gunfire went off. Turning, they found Daniel had destroyed the small alter and larva tank.
“Shit,” Buffy breathed. “They’re going to be on us soon.”
“How do you know?”
“This is a holy site for the Jaffa and people of Chulak. Just taking one is sacrilege according to Teal’c. To destroy it…I don’t think it’s going to take them long to start a search and block the Gate.”
Sam nodded, worry entered her bright gaze. “We need to get as close to the Gate as possible and find cover.”
Buffy took the lead, leaving Sam to make sure Daniel followed.
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Buffy snapped the neck of the Jaffa who had followed them. She used her staff to puncture their larval sacks and kill the Goa’uld. She pulled them into the underbrush.
She tilted her head, listening for something. “O’Neill is that way.”
“How do you know?”
“I can hear him and Bra’tac arguing.”
They moved quickly, arriving to find O’Neill, Teal’c, and Bra’tac with a woman and a young boy. Buffy kneeled next to Teal’c. “Teal’c gave Rya’c his symbiote,” Buffy said in surprise.
“You know this?” Bra’tac asked.
“I can feel it. I sense the larval Goa’uld Teal’c carries, I can sort of recognize it.” She moved her hand over Rya’c. “I feel its presence here.” She sighed and looked at Sam. “So much for research.”
Sam nodded and pulled out the thermos. “We have a Goa’uld.”
“We took it from the temple,” Buffy said as Bra’tac took the thermos. “It’s small, will it work?”
Bra’tac looked at the Goa’uld in distress. “We will try.”
It squealed and disappeared into Teal’c’s pouch. They waited.
Buffy turned her head. “A horn. I must not have hid the body of the two Jaffa well enough.”
“We need to get moving,” O’Neill told them.
“He is not yet well enough to move,” Drey’auc said.
“You carry Rya’c,” Buffy said. “I will keep Teal’c moving until he can move on his own.”
The women stared at each other, then Drey’auc nodded.
Buffy did not wait, she pulled Teal’c to his feet and secured her arm around his waist, braced her left shoulder against his chest and secured his arm over her right shoulder.
“You got him?” Daniel asked.
“Yep. I can keep us moving. Go.” Buffy took small, quick steps. She shook her head at Teal’c. “Your new symbiote is going to take some getting used to.”
He made a small noise but was concentrating on moving his feet. They kept heading towards the Gate. Suddenly Teal’c sighed and took his weight off Buffy.
“Better?” she asked.
“Yes, my strength returns.” He took Rya’c from Drey’auc and they continue on.