Magical Cage 4
Too tired to reread. If I don't put this up now, it won't go up until Thursday or Friday, so I thought I would let you guys have it, and (like with Toys), I'll trust you to tell me about any typos because you guys are awesome that way.
Magical Cage 4
Rating: R
Pairings: You'll know as soon as I know
SG-1/Buffy
Well, fuck. Jack recognized the sluggish feeling of recovering from some bout of unconsciousness even before he checked in with all his body parts. His injured hand throbbed in time with his heart, but all the other bits and pieces seemed to check out fairly unharmed.
Blinking, he saw Xander stomach down on the floor, his arms at his sides, and a pair of boots paced in front of Jack's eyes. Yep, that's what he got for not following through with the original plan. He should have run for cover and let these two fend for themselves, but he had obviously been spending way too much time with Daniel because the man had rubbed off on him. Shit, he used to be far more pragmatic about war and casualties.
Jack groaned and pushed himself up, his eyes scanning the dark blue walls and the entry, which was webbed over with some sort of purple mesh.
"'Bout bloody time," Spike complained. The vampire had paused, but now he returned to pacing.
"Is Xander…"
"He's fine. Well, as fine as any of us are right now. So, these friends of yours?" Spike asked as he waved a hand around the cell they shared.
"Not that I remember," Jack answered as he struggled to his feet. He glanced over and Spike had an eyebrow raised. "Alien devices, memory wiping, things happen," Jack shrugged as he walked to the webbing. A hard tug suggested it was not coming open easily.
"Tried that already," Spike said, "and I'm a good bit stronger than you."
Jack yanked on the webbing again just for good measure, and Spike snorted behind him.
"Do you have any weapons left?" Jack asked as he checked his gear. His P-90 and sidearm were missing, but he pulled his knife out of his boot. He looked over, but Spike was completely ignoring him. Instead, the vampire glared at the empty hallway, his head cocked as though listening. Jack looked out the webbing, but he could only see an empty corridor with a whole lot of alien tech, and right about now he really wished he had Carter. Hell, he'd settled for Teal'c, he thought as he pulled on the webbing again. Shit, he was getting too old for this.
The sounds of footsteps thumped faintly down the hall, and Jack backed up, slipping his knife into the sleeve of his shirt just as Xander groaned and started to curl up into a ball.
"Did anyone get the name of the dimension that fell on me? Ow."
Spike didn't answer, but he did reach down and pull Xander up by his arm. Something made Spike flinch, and Xander gave a little gasp.
"Hey, no manhandling the sidekick," Xander complained softly as he grabbed Spike's arm and held on for dear life with one hand while holding his head with his other. Spike just snarled, but he kept his eyes focused on the door.
Two shadows appeared, and the webbing separated in the middle as the wall seemed to suck it in, leaving the archway open. Two goons appeared, their faces covered with some sort of bone-like mask and their skin a translucent blue, or maybe they just looked blue under the dim lighting of the ship. Okay, humanoid. Jack waited for the usual demands, threats, claims to godhood. Instead the two stood silent, considering the prisoners.
"So, I'm Jack O'Neill, and you would be…"
The two didn't even twitch in Jack's direction as they focused on Spike. Jack glanced over, and Spike had gone into his vampire face and started growling loudly. One alien stepped forward, and Xander almost tripped as he backed up behind Spike who snapped fangs at the newcomer.
"Touch him and I'll rip your guts out and tie 'em round your neck," Spike hissed. The soldier hesitated, his head cocked for a second before he turned his back and returned to the arch.
"Follow," the second soldier ordered, and he took his weapon in both hands, pointing it in their general direction. Jack estimated that the weapon was a little heavier than standard issue; its bulk would slow the soldiers down, so maybe the equivalent of a P-90. The glowing yellow windows on the sides suggested energy based weaponry, maybe some connection to Gao'uld or Ancient technologies. Oh yeah, Carter would love this shit. Since Spike was still growling, Jack shrugged his shoulders as he started moving toward the door.
"Not the best invite I've had in a while, but it's not like there's much going on around here," Jack commented as he headed for the door. Any movement gave him a chance to check the lay of the land, so Jack ignored the itching between his shoulder blades as he turned his back to the one guard as he followed the second out into the dark hall. If Jack could just trust Spike to take out the rear guard, Jack might be able to disable the lead guard with his knife, but until he had a better idea of where they were or how they got there, Jack decided to play helpless.
Behind him, the growling intensified, and Jack looked back to see Spike herding Xander past the guard and into the hall.
"I'm going, I'm going. God you're cranky today," Xander hissed under his breath as Spike kept a hand on Xander's shoulder even as he snarled in the general direction of the rear guard. Neither guard commented, and Jack found himself following the alien's back down an empty corridor.
It was actually a nice change from the constant clanging of troops on Goa'uld ships, but it did make Jack wonder just where the hell the rest of the aliens were. He could only hope they weren't swarming over the planet and sweeping everyone up. Well, actually, they were welcome to sweep up as many of Sokar's Jaffa as they could hit with the light, but he didn't want to run into his team in some holding cell.
Eventually the guard led them to an open room, and Jack shuddered at the buffet set out on a long table. The food looked fine, but the emaciated skeleton sitting at one end didn't inspire confidence in the chef.
Spike strode right over and grabbed a piece of what was probably fruit and sunk his teeth into it as he strode around the room. The two Jason look-alikes took position on either side of the entrance, but Spike ignored them. Okay, the lit panel inset into one wall suggested some sort of circuitry, but Jack couldn't do more than stick a knife in it and hope he didn't get electrocuted. Not a workable plan. The edges of the room faded into shadow, so possible enemies waiting there. No visible writing, not that Jack really expected an "Emergency Exit" sign, but it would have been nice.
As Jack studied the room, he spotted Xander. The boy stood staring at the corpse at the table, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Jack stepped forward, into the line of sight between Xander and the body, and Xander blinked before looking at Jack.
"Kinda ew," he said.
Jack looked over at the body. "Yeah," he agreed. At least the kid wasn't throwing up or turning green or having hysterics. That put Xander one up on a fair number of the recruits who Jack had helped test.
"Here, have something to eat," Spike said as he finished his circle and held out the fruit he'd taken a bite from.
"And somehow, I'm not feeling very hungry," Xander said with a shake of his head.
"Bloody eat it," Spike snapped as he thrust the fruit forward, and Xander took it with a confused look.
"They must eat," a strange voice said from the shadow, and Jack turned to see a tall alien drifting out of the shadows. She looked almost like a human, if the human had been dead a day or two and left to soak in blue Jello. She moved toward them, and Jack instinctively backed away. "Everything must eat," she added with a tilt of her head.
"True enough," Spike said, and Jack heard a cautious respect in that voice that really didn't mesh with the voice Spike normally used. Even the vampire's accent had thinned into something more polished.
The female turned toward him, her long, red hair brushing across her bare shoulders as she moved toward him.
"We shall feed in these new culling grounds, and even now, our ship sings with the power. You smell of that power."
"Any smell is probably me because I could do with a showe-" Xander's voice ended with an indignant squawk as Spike grabbed him by the neck and put him in a headlock. The female tilted her head as she considered them.
"The cage has broken, and soon the ships wake. The power will once again sing in our bones, and we shall feed," the woman assured them. Jack looked toward Spike, but despite the fact that the alien talked to Spike like she knew him, Spike just looked confused and just a little worried. Jack tightened his fist around his hidden knife.
The woman's head swiveled Jack's way, and Jack ordered his feet to stay put as she closed the distance.
"You are from here. What is this place called?" she asked.
"Good question. We seem to be a little lost, so maybe you could give us some directions," Jack answered with a smile.
"How has the cage been broken?"
Jack looked over to the others. Spike had let go of Xander, but neither one looked like they had any answers.
"Hey, if someone broke your cage, don't blame me," Jack quipped. The woman's arm shot out, grabbing Jack's chest which burned with a blinding pain that ranked right up there with the damned Goa'uld hand device. Jack hadn't even finished his gasp before Xander plowed into the woman from the side, sending all three of them crashing to the ground.
Jack rolled to his feet, his eyes going instantly to the guards, but they remained standing, seemingly uninterested. Turning back to the fight, Jack pulled his knife as he watched the female, who was up on one knee, grab Xander's chest as the boy's mouth opened in a wide, pained circle.
Before Jack could take a step, Spike dove past him, sinking his teeth into the alien's neck as she made an inhuman howling noise. Spike held on for just a second before she shook him off. The force of her throw sent him sliding across the floor, and Spike lay there stunned as she got up to follow.
Then, Jack went in. He aimed for under the ribs, pointing the knife up to do as much damage as possible since he wasn't entirely sure where to find vital organs. The knife had just touched her skin when a blue light skimmed over his shoulder, and Jack totally lost the use of his right side, with his left side faring only slightly better. He fell to the ground, and the knife clattered uselessly to the floor.
The woman knelt next to Spike; her eyes narrowed as she grabbed Spike's chest. Jack flinched for the man, until he suddenly realized that whatever had caused Jack and Xander agonizing pain didn't seem to affect the vampire. Spike pushed her arm away, still moving slowly as he struggled to sit up.
The alien backed up a step, obviously just as confused as Spike. While Spike shook his head like a dog trying to clear his ears of water, she watched him with her head tilted.
"You have no life force. You are not prey," she finally said in the silence. Spike staggered up to his feet and faced her.
"Bloody right, I'm not prey. I'm a demon. Humans are my food, so I'm not some soddin' prey for you to try and yank the life out of," Spike complained. Jack held his breath as Xander eased by the female to slip in behind Spike, a wide hand on Spike's back, helping to keep him upright.
"And he is your devoted worshiper?" she asked. Xander opened his mouth immediately, but then he closed it without comment.
"Yeah," Spike agreed, shooting the boy a dirty look.
"And the old one?"
"Not old, just well-aged," Jack objected. She turned toward him, her hair flowing around her, and Jack suddenly hoped that he counted as one of Spike's followers because the discussion of life force and prey had not slipped past him. He was ready to put these guys in the exterminate with prejudice column. This time, he didn't think even Daniel could object. Okay, the man would, but for once, Jack would win this debate. Whoever these guys were, they were not even remotely worth talking to.
Jack's left side turned to pins and needles as the feeling returned, and he pushed himself up on one elbow.
"Hey, we're both big with the worshiping. Worshiping and devoting, devoting and worshiping… we have the whole package," Xander assured the female as he left Spike and slid by her again to return to Jack, helping to pull him up to a seated position even though the right side of Jack's body still had no feeling.
Jack now noticed one of the soldiers stood considerably closer, his weapon with the yellow glow held partially upright. Okay, that explained the blue light and loss of control.
"The cage is broken and we will feed. The prey will shudder at our feet, only worshipers and cattle left to tremble beneath us as our power returns," the female said, and this was sounding suspiciously familiar to Jack. Why was it that every alien in the universe got one look at humans and starting having fantasies about being worshiped?
"Feed on the whole bloody universe if it makes ya happy, but leave my worshipers to me, yeah?" Spike asked, and again the vampire sounded far too deferential for Jack's comfort. Anything that made Spike play at being respectful quite frankly left Jack wishing he had a whole lot of C-4 and a flame thrower.
"We shall feed on more than the universe," the female assured him. "The Wraith shall again sail between universes and devour it all," she called to the sky above, her head thrown back in a look of perfect bliss.
"Bloody perfect," Spike nearly whispered, and sitting on the floor, Jack had to agree. This was just turning out too bloody perfect.
Magical Cage 4
Rating: R
Pairings: You'll know as soon as I know
SG-1/Buffy
Well, fuck. Jack recognized the sluggish feeling of recovering from some bout of unconsciousness even before he checked in with all his body parts. His injured hand throbbed in time with his heart, but all the other bits and pieces seemed to check out fairly unharmed.
Blinking, he saw Xander stomach down on the floor, his arms at his sides, and a pair of boots paced in front of Jack's eyes. Yep, that's what he got for not following through with the original plan. He should have run for cover and let these two fend for themselves, but he had obviously been spending way too much time with Daniel because the man had rubbed off on him. Shit, he used to be far more pragmatic about war and casualties.
Jack groaned and pushed himself up, his eyes scanning the dark blue walls and the entry, which was webbed over with some sort of purple mesh.
"'Bout bloody time," Spike complained. The vampire had paused, but now he returned to pacing.
"Is Xander…"
"He's fine. Well, as fine as any of us are right now. So, these friends of yours?" Spike asked as he waved a hand around the cell they shared.
"Not that I remember," Jack answered as he struggled to his feet. He glanced over and Spike had an eyebrow raised. "Alien devices, memory wiping, things happen," Jack shrugged as he walked to the webbing. A hard tug suggested it was not coming open easily.
"Tried that already," Spike said, "and I'm a good bit stronger than you."
Jack yanked on the webbing again just for good measure, and Spike snorted behind him.
"Do you have any weapons left?" Jack asked as he checked his gear. His P-90 and sidearm were missing, but he pulled his knife out of his boot. He looked over, but Spike was completely ignoring him. Instead, the vampire glared at the empty hallway, his head cocked as though listening. Jack looked out the webbing, but he could only see an empty corridor with a whole lot of alien tech, and right about now he really wished he had Carter. Hell, he'd settled for Teal'c, he thought as he pulled on the webbing again. Shit, he was getting too old for this.
The sounds of footsteps thumped faintly down the hall, and Jack backed up, slipping his knife into the sleeve of his shirt just as Xander groaned and started to curl up into a ball.
"Did anyone get the name of the dimension that fell on me? Ow."
Spike didn't answer, but he did reach down and pull Xander up by his arm. Something made Spike flinch, and Xander gave a little gasp.
"Hey, no manhandling the sidekick," Xander complained softly as he grabbed Spike's arm and held on for dear life with one hand while holding his head with his other. Spike just snarled, but he kept his eyes focused on the door.
Two shadows appeared, and the webbing separated in the middle as the wall seemed to suck it in, leaving the archway open. Two goons appeared, their faces covered with some sort of bone-like mask and their skin a translucent blue, or maybe they just looked blue under the dim lighting of the ship. Okay, humanoid. Jack waited for the usual demands, threats, claims to godhood. Instead the two stood silent, considering the prisoners.
"So, I'm Jack O'Neill, and you would be…"
The two didn't even twitch in Jack's direction as they focused on Spike. Jack glanced over, and Spike had gone into his vampire face and started growling loudly. One alien stepped forward, and Xander almost tripped as he backed up behind Spike who snapped fangs at the newcomer.
"Touch him and I'll rip your guts out and tie 'em round your neck," Spike hissed. The soldier hesitated, his head cocked for a second before he turned his back and returned to the arch.
"Follow," the second soldier ordered, and he took his weapon in both hands, pointing it in their general direction. Jack estimated that the weapon was a little heavier than standard issue; its bulk would slow the soldiers down, so maybe the equivalent of a P-90. The glowing yellow windows on the sides suggested energy based weaponry, maybe some connection to Gao'uld or Ancient technologies. Oh yeah, Carter would love this shit. Since Spike was still growling, Jack shrugged his shoulders as he started moving toward the door.
"Not the best invite I've had in a while, but it's not like there's much going on around here," Jack commented as he headed for the door. Any movement gave him a chance to check the lay of the land, so Jack ignored the itching between his shoulder blades as he turned his back to the one guard as he followed the second out into the dark hall. If Jack could just trust Spike to take out the rear guard, Jack might be able to disable the lead guard with his knife, but until he had a better idea of where they were or how they got there, Jack decided to play helpless.
Behind him, the growling intensified, and Jack looked back to see Spike herding Xander past the guard and into the hall.
"I'm going, I'm going. God you're cranky today," Xander hissed under his breath as Spike kept a hand on Xander's shoulder even as he snarled in the general direction of the rear guard. Neither guard commented, and Jack found himself following the alien's back down an empty corridor.
It was actually a nice change from the constant clanging of troops on Goa'uld ships, but it did make Jack wonder just where the hell the rest of the aliens were. He could only hope they weren't swarming over the planet and sweeping everyone up. Well, actually, they were welcome to sweep up as many of Sokar's Jaffa as they could hit with the light, but he didn't want to run into his team in some holding cell.
Eventually the guard led them to an open room, and Jack shuddered at the buffet set out on a long table. The food looked fine, but the emaciated skeleton sitting at one end didn't inspire confidence in the chef.
Spike strode right over and grabbed a piece of what was probably fruit and sunk his teeth into it as he strode around the room. The two Jason look-alikes took position on either side of the entrance, but Spike ignored them. Okay, the lit panel inset into one wall suggested some sort of circuitry, but Jack couldn't do more than stick a knife in it and hope he didn't get electrocuted. Not a workable plan. The edges of the room faded into shadow, so possible enemies waiting there. No visible writing, not that Jack really expected an "Emergency Exit" sign, but it would have been nice.
As Jack studied the room, he spotted Xander. The boy stood staring at the corpse at the table, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Jack stepped forward, into the line of sight between Xander and the body, and Xander blinked before looking at Jack.
"Kinda ew," he said.
Jack looked over at the body. "Yeah," he agreed. At least the kid wasn't throwing up or turning green or having hysterics. That put Xander one up on a fair number of the recruits who Jack had helped test.
"Here, have something to eat," Spike said as he finished his circle and held out the fruit he'd taken a bite from.
"And somehow, I'm not feeling very hungry," Xander said with a shake of his head.
"Bloody eat it," Spike snapped as he thrust the fruit forward, and Xander took it with a confused look.
"They must eat," a strange voice said from the shadow, and Jack turned to see a tall alien drifting out of the shadows. She looked almost like a human, if the human had been dead a day or two and left to soak in blue Jello. She moved toward them, and Jack instinctively backed away. "Everything must eat," she added with a tilt of her head.
"True enough," Spike said, and Jack heard a cautious respect in that voice that really didn't mesh with the voice Spike normally used. Even the vampire's accent had thinned into something more polished.
The female turned toward him, her long, red hair brushing across her bare shoulders as she moved toward him.
"We shall feed in these new culling grounds, and even now, our ship sings with the power. You smell of that power."
"Any smell is probably me because I could do with a showe-" Xander's voice ended with an indignant squawk as Spike grabbed him by the neck and put him in a headlock. The female tilted her head as she considered them.
"The cage has broken, and soon the ships wake. The power will once again sing in our bones, and we shall feed," the woman assured them. Jack looked toward Spike, but despite the fact that the alien talked to Spike like she knew him, Spike just looked confused and just a little worried. Jack tightened his fist around his hidden knife.
The woman's head swiveled Jack's way, and Jack ordered his feet to stay put as she closed the distance.
"You are from here. What is this place called?" she asked.
"Good question. We seem to be a little lost, so maybe you could give us some directions," Jack answered with a smile.
"How has the cage been broken?"
Jack looked over to the others. Spike had let go of Xander, but neither one looked like they had any answers.
"Hey, if someone broke your cage, don't blame me," Jack quipped. The woman's arm shot out, grabbing Jack's chest which burned with a blinding pain that ranked right up there with the damned Goa'uld hand device. Jack hadn't even finished his gasp before Xander plowed into the woman from the side, sending all three of them crashing to the ground.
Jack rolled to his feet, his eyes going instantly to the guards, but they remained standing, seemingly uninterested. Turning back to the fight, Jack pulled his knife as he watched the female, who was up on one knee, grab Xander's chest as the boy's mouth opened in a wide, pained circle.
Before Jack could take a step, Spike dove past him, sinking his teeth into the alien's neck as she made an inhuman howling noise. Spike held on for just a second before she shook him off. The force of her throw sent him sliding across the floor, and Spike lay there stunned as she got up to follow.
Then, Jack went in. He aimed for under the ribs, pointing the knife up to do as much damage as possible since he wasn't entirely sure where to find vital organs. The knife had just touched her skin when a blue light skimmed over his shoulder, and Jack totally lost the use of his right side, with his left side faring only slightly better. He fell to the ground, and the knife clattered uselessly to the floor.
The woman knelt next to Spike; her eyes narrowed as she grabbed Spike's chest. Jack flinched for the man, until he suddenly realized that whatever had caused Jack and Xander agonizing pain didn't seem to affect the vampire. Spike pushed her arm away, still moving slowly as he struggled to sit up.
The alien backed up a step, obviously just as confused as Spike. While Spike shook his head like a dog trying to clear his ears of water, she watched him with her head tilted.
"You have no life force. You are not prey," she finally said in the silence. Spike staggered up to his feet and faced her.
"Bloody right, I'm not prey. I'm a demon. Humans are my food, so I'm not some soddin' prey for you to try and yank the life out of," Spike complained. Jack held his breath as Xander eased by the female to slip in behind Spike, a wide hand on Spike's back, helping to keep him upright.
"And he is your devoted worshiper?" she asked. Xander opened his mouth immediately, but then he closed it without comment.
"Yeah," Spike agreed, shooting the boy a dirty look.
"And the old one?"
"Not old, just well-aged," Jack objected. She turned toward him, her hair flowing around her, and Jack suddenly hoped that he counted as one of Spike's followers because the discussion of life force and prey had not slipped past him. He was ready to put these guys in the exterminate with prejudice column. This time, he didn't think even Daniel could object. Okay, the man would, but for once, Jack would win this debate. Whoever these guys were, they were not even remotely worth talking to.
Jack's left side turned to pins and needles as the feeling returned, and he pushed himself up on one elbow.
"Hey, we're both big with the worshiping. Worshiping and devoting, devoting and worshiping… we have the whole package," Xander assured the female as he left Spike and slid by her again to return to Jack, helping to pull him up to a seated position even though the right side of Jack's body still had no feeling.
Jack now noticed one of the soldiers stood considerably closer, his weapon with the yellow glow held partially upright. Okay, that explained the blue light and loss of control.
"The cage is broken and we will feed. The prey will shudder at our feet, only worshipers and cattle left to tremble beneath us as our power returns," the female said, and this was sounding suspiciously familiar to Jack. Why was it that every alien in the universe got one look at humans and starting having fantasies about being worshiped?
"Feed on the whole bloody universe if it makes ya happy, but leave my worshipers to me, yeah?" Spike asked, and again the vampire sounded far too deferential for Jack's comfort. Anything that made Spike play at being respectful quite frankly left Jack wishing he had a whole lot of C-4 and a flame thrower.
"We shall feed on more than the universe," the female assured him. "The Wraith shall again sail between universes and devour it all," she called to the sky above, her head thrown back in a look of perfect bliss.
"Bloody perfect," Spike nearly whispered, and sitting on the floor, Jack had to agree. This was just turning out too bloody perfect.