-----

Part 10
SGC
 

"O'Neill, is Daniel Jackson in danger? "

//Danger, oh yeah.//  Colonel Jack O'Neill tried hard not to sound too= ...angry, "Teal'c, you know Daniel.  Self-preservation is never o= ne of his high priorities."  //Right.  Self-preservation.&nb= sp; 'What kind of trouble would I ever get myself into?'  Hah!  D= aniel, just wait 'till I get my hands on you.  You're gonna have to us= e what's left of your self-preservation skill!//

Jack was dangerously close to exploding.  Daniel *always* ran off and = got himself into trouble.  He brought a new meaning to the word 'reckl= essness' to the extent that they'd probably have to revise the dictionaries= .  //OK, give the boy some credit, Jack.  He did manage to save t= he world a few times during his brief excursions caused by his 'recklessnes= s'.//  But sometimes, really *a lot of* sometimes here, he really want= ed to ground that archaeologist.  Permanently.

For the most of those dangerous times, he was there to watch Daniel's back,= but the problem was he wasn't there with Daniel now.  Whatever had ha= ppened to Daniel, he *wasn't* there with Daniel now. //Dammit.//

In the conference room, the members of SG-1 (minus Daniel) and General Hamm= ond were listening to his answering machine.

Daniel's voice came to an abrupt halt with a sharp click sound.  Jack = tried not to flinch.  "I called his apartment all day but he wasn= 't home."

He badly wanted to break something.  Fortunately, he didn't see Genera= l Hammond's car anywhere near.  It would've been the first one to go.&= nbsp; And this time, he'd have to pay for more than the window.

"What do you think happened to Dr. Jackson, Colonel?"  Gener= al Hammond asked in his calm, authoritative voice. Jack, though, could see = that the general was also worried.

"I don't know, sir." He tried to hide his frustration, but he kne= w people could read him like an open book when things started to involve Da= niel.

General Hammond was about to answer when an airman came in, "A phone c= all is waiting for you, sir."

"Son, can it wait?"

"Says it's important, sir."

General Hammond was swiftly on his feet. "Excuse me."

Jack tapped his fingers on the table impatiently as the general disappeared= into his office.  //We really don't have time for this.//

Jack remembered Daniel's face at Sha're's funeral.  He'd been prepared= to see Daniel in despair.  Wouldn't have been easy, but he could've d= one something about Daniel in pain.  He'd been ready to do everything = possible to get Daniel back to stand on his feet again.  Hell, anythin= g, everything.  Yet that day, Daniel had been very calm, telling every= one that he was fine.   But Jack knew better.  Daniel's face= was like the face Jack had been used to seeing in the mirror every morning= some years ago.  There were no tears, no reddened eyes, nil, nada, no= thing.  It was dead.

Daniel had saved Jack back then.  About four years ago, Daniel had tal= ked some sense into him and dragged him out of the dark, cold place he'd be= en living.  The question was, could he return the favor?

A dangerous thought came to his mind.  //What if he's just following m= y footsteps...//

As if reading his mind (again), Teal'c spoke firmly, "Daniel Jackson w= ould not put himself in danger intentionally."

//Ah, but *I* did. I put myself in danger and it was *very* intentional.//&= nbsp; This was really bringing out some bad memories.

"The keyword, *intentionally*, Teal'c."  Jack managed to ans= wer sarcastically.  "Just that *danger* always manages to find wa= ys to get to Daniel."

//And this time, he might not try to avoid it.  Shit, never should've = let him go like that.//

"Sir," Carter's voice was unsteady despite her obvious effort to = calm herself, "Do you think..." She was unable to finish the sent= ence.  She was extremely worried and unfortunately, she had a good rea= son to be worried.

And since she was, Jack had to remedy the situation a little. "Probabl= y something just came up and he had to go or...something.  I bet he's = bunked in a room, working on some translations and stuff, way too excited a= nd totally forgetting about little pesky things like phone calls and worrie= d friends."

"Yes, sir."

//Jack, you lying bastard.//  Even though there was no way *in hell* C= arter and Teal'c would buy that, Jack knew they were at least relieved by h= is usual kidding tone of voice.  He was their leader.  This was w= hat he was supposed to do.  Giving assurances to his kids, telling the= m this was just a bad day, pretending everything would be just fine.  = Even if they were false assurances and he didn't believe a word of what he = said, his words put his people at ease a little.  So he joked.  W= ho gave a damn about what he felt anyway?

Daniel.

// " Sha're is gone.  Jack says we'll find her.  If anyone c= an, he can." //

He closed his eyes.  He could hear Daniel's voice.

//No I couldn't, Daniel.  I couldn't.//

One time, when they'd thought Daniel had been killed, Carter had found his = journals while organizing Daniel's place.  She had read out loud the p= art Daniel had written just after Sha're had been taken away, without knowi= ng what kind of impact those words would have on Jack.

//"Sha're is gone.  Jack says we'll find her.  If anyone can= , he can."//

They should never have found Daniel's journals.  He should never have = known that Daniel had trusted him implicitly to find Sha're.  Daniel s= hould never have trusted him.  *He* should never have let Daniel trust= him.

Just another entry added to his pathetically long failure list.

He failed.

"Colonel."

Jack realized General Hammond had come back from his office.

"Jack."  The general's face was unreadable but Jack heard so= mething in his voice he *really* didn't like.

"Sir?  What is it?"

"Dr. Jackson has missed all of his lectures today.  The school bo= ard has been searching for him, but couldn't contact him."

//Shit.//

Carter's face was already starting to crumble with worry.  Teal'c was = even more stone-faced than usual.  They knew what this meant.

It was official.  Daniel found himself in trouble yet again.

General Hammond cleared his voice and spoke, "Whatever has happened, t= he remaining SG-1 is to find Dr. Jackson and bring him home."

//Bring him home...//

Whatever had happened, he hadn't been there for Daniel.  Maybe he was = too late again.  Too late to save his Charlie.  Too damn late to = save his marriage.  Too late to keep his promises.  Too late to s= ave Daniel, his friend...

Jack had a fair amount of nightmares and the list was about to get longer.<= BR>
A voice suddenly interrupted, "We're not losing him, sir."  = Somehow, Carter was already at his side with Teal'c.  Their faces were= filled with absolute certainty.

This time though, he wasn't alone in this.

//You're not getting away from me this easily, Daniel.  We're NOT losi= ng you.  Just...hold on.//

"We're going to LA," he answered simply.
 

***
Sunnydale
 

Rupert Giles has been enjoying a rare night without a hassle.  Granted= , he had been bored extensively for last few months because he'd not been t= he official watcher of the slayer or a librarian anymore, but he would rath= er be bored than have to stop some kind of end-of-the-world deal again.

He was reading the book he'd planned to read for a long time, drinking a cu= p of tea and fully enjoying the moment.

And that peace was broken with loud footsteps coming from outside.

//How did I just know I wouldn't have an hour by myself?//

"Giles!"  His slayer=E2=80=94well, technically, she was not = his slayer anymore, but he still thought of her as *his* slayer=E2=80=94ope= ned the door abruptly and came running inside with Xander.

"What is it?" Giles asked, worried.

Buffy spoke rapidly, "I'm goin' to LA.  Angel's disappeared, Will= ow's panicked, Cordelia's horrified.  Need help.  I'm going."= ;

"*What?*"

Xander translated, "Got a phone call from Willow.  Angel and Will= ow's prof. went just 'poof'. Disappeared.  She thinks they're kidnappe= d."

"Willow's panicking now.  She thinks that Doyle guy's vision's co= ming true.  I'm going.  You and Xander stay and patrol," sai= d Buffy.

Giles tried to calm her.  "Buffy, slow down.  We have to thi= nk about this."

"No thinking, Giles.  They're in danger.  I don't know about= this Doyle guy, but Willow alone can't do a thing and you know how much he= lp Cordelia can be."

He felt dreadful.  "Buffy, you do know Angel is capable of handli= ng problems himself.  If he wasn't, it could mean..." // ...you'd= have less chance at defeating whoever=E2=80=94whatever=E2=80=94had taken t= hem. //

He saw Buffy visibly hardening.  Buffy was strong, yes, but Angel woul= dn't have been taken easily.  If Angel hadn't been strong enough to st= op the kidnappers, then...

Giles had been Buffy's Watcher ever since she'd come to Sunnydale.  Th= e Watcher of the slayer was supposed to help and guide her without interfer= ing with her fights against vampires.  However, Giles had interfered, = *a lot*.  He couldn't just sit by and *watch* as his slayer did the fi= ghting.  So he had been officially fired from the Watcher's Council in= England.  It didn't matter.  He was more than a watcher to Buffy= .  He was a friend, a teacher and a father figure.  She was more = than a slayer to him.  She was a daughter he never had.

He couldn't let her walk into the danger blindly.

"You shouldn't go alone.  Maybe I--"

She was bloody quick to cut off his sentence, "Giles, we can't leave S= unnydale undefended.  You guys are needed here.  You know that.&q= uot;

He knew that. "However--"

"And you're not suggesting I just let Angel and Willow's teacher rot t= o death somewhere, are you?  What about Willow?"

// What made you think she'd listen to you? Especially when she's right? //= He sighed. "Buffy--"

Buffy knew when she won.  She quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. &qu= ot;Don't worry, Giles. I'll be fine."  She then briefly hugged Xa= nder and said, "I'm going home and packing.  Leaving tomorrow.&qu= ot;

"Be careful!" said Xander, his face filled with concern, somethin= g that he didn't see often in this teenager's face.

Buffy confidently smiled and told him as she walked away, "Wish me luc= k."

For a minute, Giles just watched his slayer disappear.

"Good luck."

****

End of Part 10
The end of Chapter 1
 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 2
Part 11
LA
 

"You're not gonna search for him?!"

In Daniel's small apartment, Sam watched silently with dread as Colonel Jac= k O'Neill practically barked at the police officer.  The Colonel was i= n one hell of a mood.  Well, she couldn't possibly blame him.  Af= ter coming all the way to LA straight from the base, they had been told tha= t by the officer that he could not help them in finding Daniel.  Even = Teal'c, who was always reserved with his emotions, was showing signs of ang= er and impatience.  A very dangerous combination.

"I didn't say we're not going to search for him," the officer rep= lied tiredly.  "We *will* be looking for--" he checked his n= otes, "--Dr. Jackson.  However, there is no evidence of criminal = activity or a forced entry into this apartment."

The man was unabashed under the Colonel's scorching glare and continued, &q= uot;If he does not show up soon, we will initiate a full search for him.&nb= sp; For all we know now, he might have gotten *distracted* and simply didn'= t come home.  I advise you to stay put and wait for now."

Sam suddenly realized what the officer was insinuating here.  //Daniel= , an adult male.  Getting distracted.  God.  He'd never do t= hat.//  She watched incredulously as the officer started to walk out w= ithout giving them a second glance.

And of course the colonel wasn't about to let this go.  "For cryi= n' out loud!  What do you mean *just* stay put?"

Sam couldn't help flinching slightly at his tone of voice.  //'Wasn't = about to let this go'?  My, Sam.  Aren't you getting good at maki= ng understatements.//

The officer stopped dead in his tracks and turned, sighing. "Look, Mr.= .."

The Colonel spat the words disgustedly, "*Colonel*, Colonel O'Neill.&q= uot;

"Colonel O'Neill," the man spoke patiently as if he was talking t= o a child, "this is *LA*.  Do you know what that means?  The= crime rate's going through the roof here.  We have boxes of missing p= erson cases thrown at us every freakin' day.  I came in pretty fast to= day because your friend seems to have friends in the high place, but we hav= e more *pressing* cases that require our attention.  You're lucky, mos= t people wouldn't even have finished their paper work by now."

Sam felt her hands trembling slightly with unexplainable uneasiness as the = officer's expression gradually turned sympathetic. "Look, I'd say your= friend just got...distracted.  Nothing too much to worry about. = We have our hands full with the increased criminal activities in this area= . We don't have people to spare to look for a person who could just have hu= ng out with some...lady friends."

The officer looked at their frozen expressions and simply said, "We'll= be in contact," and left quietly.  The door was closed and suffo= cating silence descended upon them.

//Oh god.//  Sam's eyes met Teal'c's who had surveyed the place. = He shook his head at her gravely; he'd found no evidence of intruders to D= aniel's apartment.  It was messy all right, but was in typical Daniel = fashion, just like how his office sometimes ended up being after he wrote h= is reports and never-to-be-published essays on various alien cultures. = ; Nothing was out of ordinary, as if Daniel just left for work in the morni= ng in hurry and simply didn't come back.

She unwittingly let her mind wander to the extreme possibilities as she rem= embered the dark alleys between the buildings in this area they had passed.=   She'd heard some frightening incidents around here.  Suddenly a= n image popped up in her head--an image of a tired Daniel walking down the = street, still agonizing over Sha're's death as some thugs decided to come a= fter him with dangerously sharp knives and whatnot.  //Daniel doesn't = even try to defend himself because of Sha're's death, they leave him injure= d, his ID cards are stolen so the cops have no idea who he is and...// = ; Sam finally stopped herself.  //God, Sam, remember the phone call?&n= bsp; Daniel's in trouble and you're here writing a soap opera.//

"Sir?"  She risked walking close to the colonel who was stan= ding rigidly like a lifeless stone statue in the middle of the room.  = His expression was bringing back her memory of the times when they had thou= ght they'd lost Daniel completely.

"Never should've let him out of our sight.  Should've known this = was going to happen."  His voice was...remorseful.

//Remorseful?  Colonel O'Neill remorseful?//  She shared a worrie= d glance with Teal'c.  Daniel has been grieving, yes, but he's been to= o calm, like the tranquil ocean before the storm.  She tried not to th= ink of the hollowness in his voice when she'd talked to Daniel the last tim= e.  She imagined the colonel must have been juxtaposing his painful hi= story with Daniel's situation.

"Sir, Daniel would never ignore his responsibilities.  Something = happened.  He would never..." She stopped as the crack in her voi= ce started to become too apparent.

With a strange smile on his face, he practiced his usual sarcasm.  &qu= ot;What?  Throw himself off from the roof?  Stand on the rail and= wait for a train?  Drink to death?  Shoot himself?"  H= e paused for a second, his smile now absent, and mutters quietly to himself= , "...Volunteer himself for a suicide mission?"

Her heart sank with a loud thud.  She couldn't see him like this. = ; This was her CO, infamous Colonel O'Neill, always confident to the extent= of arrogance, always in control.  She hated to admit it but she somet= imes lost control over her emotion because she wasn't a god.  However,= Colonel Jack O'Neill never lost his control.  He was not supposed to.=   He could crack weird jokes all he wanted.  He could order them = to jump into the fire.  But he could never, ever lose his control.&nbs= p; He was the leader.  He couldn't.

When Sam trusted herself enough to be able to speak calmly, she started out= with her most neutral military face, "Whatever happened, Daniel calle= d you.  He needs our help, sir."

This got his attention.  He looked up, and after what seemed like year= s he nodded at her slowly and spoke, "Yeah, you're right."  =

He stood up straight, looking back at her and Teal'c.  His voice was n= ow composed as he continued, "I'll call General Hammond.  See if = he can practice his high and mighty power in here."  He looked ar= ound the room and wrinkled his nose.  "Okay, where does he keep h= is phone?"   If he was self-conscious about exposing his vul= nerable side to his subordinates, he didn't show it.

//Thank God.//  She let out a relieved sigh.

Turning to Daniel's desk, Sam busied herself with some documents scattered = over it, hoping to find some clue as to what happened to Daniel.  Unde= r mountains of paper, Sam found a crumpled and stained photo of Sha're, tak= en in Abydos years ago--the only picture Daniel had of her.  She sudde= nly stopped breathing.

//This just isn't going to end for him.  Oh, Daniel=A1=A6//

She fingered the wrinkled and dirtied photo and decided she better come up = with a way to salvage it.  She quietly slipped the picture into her po= cket.

"Yo, Carter!"  The Colonel suddenly called out for her.

//Now what?//  Sam turned to look at him, "Sir?"

Without a word, he motioned her to come close, one hand holding the wireles= s phone he'd somehow managed to find under the couch.  He indicated a = button on the phone.

//Redial?//

She watched as he pressed the button and listened expressionless.  A h= alf a minute later, he hung up quietly.

"Colonel?" She asked, a bit stumped.

"Yo-Yo's Chinese food delivery."

"What?" She blinked hard, confused.  Then the thought hit he= r.  "Of course!  He didn't make that phone call from here!&q= uot;

//Yes! Yes!// Sam felt like bouncing up and down. "That's good sir!&nb= sp; That's really really good! Finally something! He must've called from so= mewhere else.  We now have a new trace program, which can be used to t= rack down phone calls very effectively.  The phone call Daniel made to= your house can be traced back using the system with..."

"Carter!" The colonel interrupted with his 'oh-god-not-another-te= chno-babble' face and made a dismissing hand gesture. "*Just* do it.&q= uot;

"Oh yes. Yes sir."

For the first time in days, Sam smiled.

***
LA

"The success of this project is imperative."  A man in an un= marked camouflage spoke to him slowly without any hint of emotion.

//Those were the exact words Professor Walsh used when she sent me out here= .// "Of course, sir.  I'm looking forward to this."  He= tried to fake enthusiasm he didn't feel.

Truth to be told, Agent Riley Finn, the leading agent of the Initiatives, w= asn't really happy about the idea of establishing an experimental facility = in LA.  Like the Initiative in Sunnydale, this facility was planning t= o conduct experiments on 'hostile' elements, along with all kinds of secret= ive things it'd been doing.  Sure, they said these facilities existed = to prevent these 'hostile' elements from assaulting innocents by capturing = the possible assailants and doing experiments on them to find the way to st= op them from killing again. But somehow, after spending some time hunting f= or these...monsters in Sunnydale, Riley was having a hard time being a pure= soldier about this.  Something about this was all wrong.

Also, it didn't help that he had to lie to his girlfriend, Buffy, about com= ing to LA.  Officially he was visiting his parents.  He really wa= nted to tell her about his secret identity as a 'demon hunter', but the reg= ulations clearly stated that no one was to know about their operation.

//But...//

Riley stopped the trail of thoughts.  Maybe Forrest was right. He was = getting soft, not being able to be detached like the good solider he was su= pposed to be.

He shook his head. //So here I am, inside the base under one of the countle= ss factories in LA, ready to brief them about the wonderful world of =A1=AE= Hostile Sub-Terrestrials=A1=AF.  This is going to be so fun.//

The facility was much smaller than he'd expected.  After spending what= seemed like an eternity inside the elevator, he was led to a labyrinth wit= h empty corridors and overly thick steel doors.  Except the doors, eve= rything else seemed to be made of hard cement.  He could hear an unple= asant loud thud every step he made.  The illumination was too faint, c= reating a gloomy and creepy feeling to it.  Surprisingly though, there= were only a handful of men present in the base.  However, judging fro= m the numbers of weapons carried by the few soldiers who walked passed him,= Riley thought the people here definitely knew what the concept of overkill= was.

He was led to the only room with an open door and was about to get in when = a sudden outburst from the room stopped him cold. "What do you think y= ou're doing?!" a loud, angry voice yelled from across the room.

Startled, Riley tried to answer, but he soon realized that whoever had spok= en wasn't speaking to him. Riley was supposed to meet the two people who we= re occupying the room, however, they were arguing with each other.  Ra= ther loudly at that.  Both Riley and the soldier who led him here just= stood beside the door, trying their best to look nonchalant, pretending as= if this wasn't happening in front of them.

The same voice spoke up again, now much subdued, but hoarse, "Jackson.=   You brought him *here*?"

Both of the men were clearly military, Riley noticed.  The man who'd s= poken was a Caucasian male, approximately in his late forties, giving the i= mpression of the typical military bureaucrat.  However, it was the oth= er slightly younger man who caught Riley's attention with his cold, almost = bored expression.  Looking at the older man, he answered neutrally, &q= uot;Evidently, yes."

They had yet to notice Riley standing in the doorway with the other solider= .  Riley had learned the most important lesson in dealing with these k= ind of secret projects before.  //Keep your eyes open.//   S= o he observed.

The older man answered incredulously, "This is insane.  What exac= tly are you trying to accomplish with him?  You were supposed to take = care of him, not bring him *here*."

Cold and emotionless, the younger man answered without even flinching, &quo= t;His termination had been planned, however, he's been witnessed with a pos= sible HST.  There's a possibility of contamination."

//Damn.  Vampires, then.  Hah, contamination.  A very nice a= nd vague way to explain a man becoming a blood-sucking animal.//  Rile= y hadn't thought that there were many vampires present outside of Sunnydale= , but again, this was LA.  Anything could happen.

The first man snorted loud enough to convey the clear disbelief in his voic= e and replied disgustedly, "Contamination? You're just not fond of SG-= 1."

The younger man nodded with a cold smile, "True.  But you're not = overly fond of SG-1 yourself, Colonel Maybourne. If I remember correctly, t= he reason you were not entrusted with this project was your failure to deal= with SG-1 in other projects.  I remember that, in one case, it was Dr= . Jackson himself who had been responsible for your failure."

The older man--Colonel Maybourne--visibly flinched at that, but soon recove= red and answered, somewhat agitated, "They will not give up on him.&nb= sp; You're only leading them to find out our project."

"I'm certain that Colonel O'Neill and others will attempt to search fo= r their missing colleague.  I assure you, they will not be successful.= "

"Have you read the files? Do you know exactly how many times the SG-1,= or Jack alone, has been believed to be dead?  They didn't even give u= p then.  What makes you think they'll give up on him, on Earth, no les= s?"

//On Earth...on earth?  That's a strange thing to say.//

With some degree of mockery in his voice, the younger man said, "I'm i= n charge of this project, and I'll do whatever I decide to be necessary.&nb= sp; However, I thank you for your advice."

But Colonel Maybourne tried again, this time sounding a bit desperate, &quo= t;If Jackson isn't contaminated, what are you planning to do? Return him sa= fe and sound to his teammates after all your probing? This is a dangerous m= ove."

Obviously, the other man wasn't persuaded. "He was a liability to begi= n with. Might as well.  I've heard LA is a very dangerous town to be i= n.  People disappear and come back with 'late' in front of their names= ."

//Oh, I don't like the sound of that.//  Whoever this Dr. Jackson was,= Riley really didn't want to be in his shoes now.

The younger man continued with a smile. "I've read the files.  Dr= . Jackson seems to have tendency to get into...trouble.  I wonder what= kind of trouble he got himself into now."

//If this man isn't a vampire, they're planning to terminate an innocent.//=

The sparks flying between the two men now were enough to fry Riley. This ju= st fueled his burning doubt on this project, but he thought of the motto he= 'd learned to follow religiously--don't ask questions, keep your mouth shut= and follow your orders.

"Humph."  The soldier who was standing beside Riley coughed = not so discreetly.  This caught both men's attention.

The younger man turned to them, his face completely transforming with a smi= le. "Agent Riley Finn, I presume."  His gesture made it clea= r that the conversation with the older man was now over.

//Attention.// "Yes, sir."

"Welcome aboard, Agent Finn."

//Danger!  Danger, Will Robinson!//  As the man started to explai= n about this project and the red warning signal in Riley went off.  Ri= ley wondered if this was a good time to reevaluate his mottoes.

***

Angel was missing.  With Dr. Jackson.

It hurt.

//Don't you dare crack now, Rogenberg.  Not in front of Buffy.// Tryin= g to shake away tears that threatened to fall, Willow hugged her friend who= had just arrived in LA.

"God, Willow, are you okay?" Buffy fiercely hugged her in turn.
"Yeah, Buffy. I'm fine."  Willow led her friend into their o= ffice building. //Buffy's here.  She'll find Angel and Dr. Jackson and= everything's going to be OK.//  If she kept telling herself that, she= might actually believe it.

Buffy threw her shorter than the usual 'hi' line, "Giles and Xander sa= y hi.  Really hoping this was just a 'say hi' trip now."  Th= ey knew there wasn't enough time for friendly banter and Buffy didn't waste= a second more.  "Anything?  No chance of this being just a = fang gang attack?"

Willow sighed, knowing she'd never get used to these heart-wrenching experi= ences.  "No, it couldn't have been a vampire attack.  No dus= t.  And I didn't tell Angel about it, but I bound Angel's and Cordy's = place with the spell protecting the place from other demons.  Precauti= on never being bad and all...  And I know no one has broken the spell.= "

Buffy's eyes were hard, ready to eat dangers for breakfast.  But Willo= w had seen her friend fighting long enough to know that inside, Buffy also = was sick with fear, only she hid it better than others.  She was only = human.  "So it's related to your cutie professor and the vision t= hing.  The thugs came back to get him and took Angel with them."<= BR>
"Angel has quite a lot of enemies but we'd just prevented Dr. Jackson = from getting kidnapped.  The men trying to get him had been very deter= mined.  I mean, *very*.  And, uh, I, um, broke into Dr. Jackson's= file last night and..."

Buffy turned sharply to face Willow, "Anything interesting?"

"Well," Willow really felt guilty about invading Dr. Jackson's pe= rsonal life, but they needed information.  She hoped he would forgive = her, if they find him.  //No!  Not 'if'!  *When* we find him= .  We *will* find him and...Angel.  God, Angel...//  "I= broke into his bank account last night.  For about three years, the g= overnment has been paying him.   Seems like he was working on som= e kind of government project."

"Really?" Buffy frowned.  Buffy *hated* government figures.&= nbsp; It was understandable when Willow thought about the unpleasant encoun= ters they had with them back in Sunnydale.  There were only two kinds = of bureaucrats. One kind was in constant denial, the other kind was demon. = //God, the *mayor* was the biggest demon we'd ever seen.  Talk about t= he danger of getting involved with bureaucrats.//

"What kind of project, Willow?"

"Well, um, I couldn't access the information. Couldn't find anything i= n detail." //Isn't this embarrassing...//

"*You* couldn't access the file? 'She who can crack 10 digit encrypt c= ode in the blink of an eye' couldn't crack the code?!"

Willow swallowed hard. "Well, I did crack the first one and I could've= done the same thing to other codes if they didn't have alarms all over the= place.  They had layers and layers of locks and passwords. Whatever i= t was, he was working on something really important."

"Yeah, no kidding.  Then, what does that tell us?  That Dr. = Jackson was working on some kind of secret project, then suddenly started t= o teach at UCLA and got kidnapped with Angel?  This is sooo not good.&= quot;

Pressing the elevator button, Willow reflected back.  How long had it = been since their disappearance?  Seemed like eternity ago.  What = had they been thinking?  The vision had been Angel and Dr. Jackson tog= ether.  They should've thought that the vision might happen then if th= ey left just two of them alone.  She really should've stayed with Ange= l and Dr. Jackson.  She could've done something.  //Hah, who are = you trying to fool?  You'd have been only a burden to them.  Sinc= e when you were a help for anything?//

Willow sighed deeply.  It didn't matter now.  // Just be safe, An= gel.  Just be OK.  Buffy's here for you. //  For some unexpl= ainable reason, she felt sudden pang of pain rising in her chest at the tho= ught.  But very quickly, she pushed the feeling aside.  She insti= nctively knew she didn't want to know the reason behind this feeling.

Finally reaching their destination, Willow stood in front of the door for '= Angel Investigations'.  "Doyle should be back by now.  He sa= id he'd stir the bushes a bit and see if he can find anything."

"Willow," as if sensing her worries, Buffy held her hand and sque= ezed it tightly, "We will find them.  I promise."

This was Buffy, the best and strongest slayer in history.  But what ma= ttered the most to Willow was that Buffy was her friend who kept her promis= es.  "I know."  She smiled.

"Cordy, Doyle!  Buffy's here."  They walked into the of= fice together.

Only to find that they had three strangers waiting for them.

A very big black man with a funny looking hat was standing--more like guard= ing--right beside the door, his presence strangely unnerving her.  In = the center, right beside a tense Cordelia stood a pretty blonde with a very= authoritative posture.  A gray-haired man was sitting in the couch wa= y too comfortably, but she noticed the man was very much alert.  // Sp= ooky. //

Then, she realized they looked very familiar.   Where had she see= n them?

//Oh, my god.  They're the ones in Dr. Jackson's photo!//

"So," The gray-haired man stood up with a strangle grin on his fa= ce and spoke lightly, "you guys are the ones who can answer our questi= ons?"  He might've been grinning, but that smile didn't reach his= hard eyes.

//Oh, boy.  Aren't we in big trouble...//

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

---

Part 12

Something was insistently calling out for him.

Wake up.

Wake up.  WAKE UP!

He didn't want to wake up.  Not when his Sha're was in his embrace, wh= ispering, murmuring...I love you, Daniel...

"Dr. Jackson!" A deep voice yelled loudly at his ears, almost sha= ttering his brain into pieces.

//Jesus!//

>From the comfort of a place full of warmth, the faint scent of desert sand,= and cherished longings, Daniel unwillingly blinked back to consciousness.&= nbsp; The first thing he realized was that his body was definitely hurting = all over.  That and the fact he was very hungry.  Thirsty, too.&n= bsp; Cautiously, he made an attempt to move.

A bad idea.

Every bone in his body made cracking sound.

//Ok, easy.   Let's take it easy.   I'm thinking...so a= t least I'm alive, right?  What happened?  Another regular missio= n gone terribly wrong?  And uh, am I...handcuffed now?  Okay, so = that's a change.//

"Are you alright?"  The same voice asked worriedly.

"Think...so.  Jack?"  His voice came out as nothing but= a hoarse whisper.  Why did Jack--and others too, for that matter--ask= that all the time?  Wasn't it glaringly obvious?  Then he rememb= ered that this person just called him Dr. Jackson.  //Okay, so clearly= not Jack.  Uh, then who was that?//

"No," came the baffled reply.  "It's Angel, remember?&q= uot;

"Angel?"  Suddenly, an image of definitely unfriendly men cr= ashing a door came to his mind and another image of a tall, dark-haired man= collapsing...  //Angel!//  "Oh god, Angel!  You OK?&qu= ot;

Daniel blinked and tried to get up to see clearly.  His vision was a l= ittle blurred without his glasses, but the vampire appeared to be okay.&nbs= p;

Angel was hovering over him while looking pretty immaculate, not a strain o= f hair out of place.  Angel answered with confidence, pulling Daniel t= o sit up, "Yes, I'm fine.  Are you?"

"Yeah well, considering..." At least now the white-hot needle jab= bing his skull was subdued a little so Daniel hoped he could think straight= .  He wrinkled his nose at the thought.  //That's, what, the thir= d time I passed out?  Definitely a bit too excessive...even for me.//&= nbsp;

He tried to move his body once again, only to be reaffirmed that he was han= dcuffed masterfully, so there was no way he could get out from its grip.&nb= sp; His futile gesture to test the handcuffs only made loud, unpleasant noi= ses of metal clashing to each other, which inevitably increased the intensi= ty of the headache.  He sighed, thinking he should've taken Jack's off= er on giving him a short version of Black Ops. Training.  //Surely Jac= k would've included something like how to get out from handcuffs...//

Then he tried looking around the surroundings.  They were in a small, = windowless gray chamber.  Empty boxes and crates were strewn all over = the floor.  The illumination was almost nonexistent and the only door = looked like it was made of solid steel.  No way to break out.

"Angel, can you...?"  Daniel eyed the door hopefully, rememb= ering Angel's surreally fast and strong movements.  //The guy didn't e= ven blink after getting shot.  Maybe he can get us out of here...?//&n= bsp;

Angel answered somewhat disappointedly, "I tried before you woke up.&q= uot;  He nudged the door with his foot very cautiously.  "Th= e door isn't budging even with my strength."

//Oh well.  That would've been too easy.//  Then, a nagging thoug= ht surfaced.  It felt stupid to ask such a question and he wasn't 100%= sure if this whole vampire thing was for real, but what the hell, he just = had to know.  "Uh, Angel.  Can you uh, um, turn into a...bat= and fly away from this place...?"

For one full minute, Angel turned and stared at him, face expressionless.&n= bsp; Then he started to chuckle, his whole body shaking with laughter. = ;

"I'll take that as a loud and clear 'no'."  //No one told me= he couldn't.  How was I supposed to know?// Daniel thought ruefully.<= BR>
Angel struggled to contain himself.  "I, I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson.&= nbsp; There aren't many people who get to know about this secret in the fir= st place, but nobody actually asked me *that*."

Angel seemed to think for a moment, then with a smile, spoke up again, &quo= t;Actually, someone once asked if I sleep in a coffin with a cape.  Oh= , and if I have a...special way to seduce women, but..."

"That was going to be my next question," Daniel retorted dryly. <= BR>
"Sorry." Angel cooled down a bit, coughing. "Sorry Dr. Jacks= on. It, um, was a very...valid question."

"Yeah, thank you. I feel much better."  Daniel replied, stil= l looking around for some sort of way to get out of this place--there were = none.

Angel was staring at him again, but now his face was grim. "Dr. Jackso= n."

Daniel involuntarily cringed at his tone. "Yes?"

After a second's pause, Angel asked, dead serious, "Do you have any id= ea who would do this to you?"

Daniel winced. This wasn't good. This really, really wasn't good.  &qu= ot;I don't exactly know who they are, but I think I know what this *could* = be about."  He really didn't know who they were, but was fairly s= ure on what they were after.  The only thing he had that could be valu= able enough to be kidnapped for was his knowledge of the Stargate.  He= had been warned that people would kill to get more information.  He h= adn't taken the warning seriously, but now he wished he had.

Angel didn't urge him to elaborate and remained silent.  Daniel though= t Angel at least deserved some kind of answer so he tried to explain, "= ;I was, uh, *am*, working on an important project that's highly classified.=   It's, well, very important."  Daniel sighed deeply.  = This was all his fault.  "I should've thought of it after you sav= ed me for the first time.  I was too...preoccupied.  I'm really s= orry I got you involved in this."

"No," Angel replied, his voice hinting remorse, "I should've= taken more precaution.  I let down my guard and we've ended up here.&= quot;

//Eh, down to the guilt trip here.  Isn't this familiar=A1=A6//  = "What precaution?  Only thing you did was to help me.  I don= 't think even vampires can see the future."

//Uh wait, can they?//

Angel didn't speak for a long time.  When Daniel was starting to wonde= r with incredulity if vampires could really see the future, he finally spok= e up, "Dr. Jackson, has there been anything strange or suspicious rece= ntly?  Anything?"

//Strange or suspicious. Men with overdeveloped muscles. Strange.  Sus= picious.  Maybourne.  Maybourne?!//  Daniel suddenly remembe= red the expression Maybourne had been wearing while their surprising encoun= ter in downtown some time ago.  It was definitely strange *and* suspic= ious.  But it didn't make any sense.  Maybourne was in the better= position to obtain classified information than Daniel was, technically spe= aking.  If this was about information, all the information he obtained= from gate travel was organized and typed into neat reports, which Maybourn= e could easily get his hands on if he just snapped his fingers.  They = were on the same side, although Jack preferred Goa'ulds than Maybourne, say= ing he could at least shoot the Goa'ulds.

//But, well, we did piss him off a little... Twice.//

Daniel started to think back to the Touchstone incident.  Some unident= ified soldiers stole an important artifact that controlled the weather, the= Touchstone, from a planet and almost caused the destruction of that planet= .  Thankfully SG-1 found the Touchstone in time, but the four soldiers= who had stolen it disappeared through the second Stargate.  It was pr= etty obvious to them Maybourne was one of the government men who were behin= d it.  And even before that, there'd been an incident with Tollans, a = group of aliens with superior technology who were rescued by SG-1, but refu= sed to share their technology.  Maybourne and others were ready to for= ce the information out from the Tollans.  That was until Daniel and Te= al'c--since they couldn't be court-martialed--got the Tollans out to anothe= r planet.

In the government, there was constant conflict between two groups--one who = cared about alien races and cultures, and another who didn't. The latter gr= oup only cared for technology that could help them defeat Goa'ulds and brin= g them a teeny-tiny bit of power on Earth.  If there was a problem wit= h other countries, oh, why not show up our new and improved technology a li= ttle?  The technology.  The upper card in the power game. //Then = what is the difference between us and Goa'ulds?//  This bureaucratic c= rap angered Daniel.  So maybe, they weren't really on the same side.&n= bsp;

However, kidnapping him? For what?  Vengeance for ruining Maybourne's = plans?  Maybourne couldn't possibly be *that* stupid, but if Maybourne= was trying to get back at him, --and Jack always seemed to believe Maybour= ne was planning to get back on them somehow--wasn't this just a little late= and absolutely drastic for a revenge?  That was at least a year ago.<= BR>
"So if we were to recap," Angel's voice broke the long silence.&n= bsp; Daniel raised his head to listen, "...we have no idea where we ar= e, who kidnapped us, or what they are really after.  Plus, it's not ve= ry likely we can escape from this...dungeon.  Does that sound about ri= ght?"

"That sounds exactly right." //...But not really optimistic.// Da= niel sighed and leaned down on a box.  His eyes started to ache. = He closed his eyes, trying to focus.  //Think, think, think, Daniel.&= nbsp; How are you going to get out of this, *this* time?  Think!!//
Angel assured him with a voice that reminded him of Teal'c's, calm and stro= ng, "We *will* get out of this."

Daniel wanted to believe Angel.  He had been in worse situations befor= e, but somehow he couldn't remember any of them at that moment.  But t= his, this *definitely* qualified as trouble.  //Oh, Jack would be piss= ed...  Jack...pissed.  Jack!//  Daniel jerked upright, shout= ing, "Yes! Jack!"

"Ah, not again..." Angel fingered his temple and answered with a = low, exasperated voice, "I'm Angel, Dr. Jackson."

"No, no, no, no, no!  Not you!" Daniel waved wildly, "B= efore we got all knocked out, I called Jack, my friend. My friends should b= e looking for me by now.  They'll come for us."

Angel looked a bit taken aback. "You sound very sure."

"Yeah, " Daniel felt a small smile slipping into his face.  = Everything had changed since Sha're's death, but it was good to know that t= here was some sort of truth in his life.

"They never give up on me."

***

//Okay, what is this?//

Buffy couldn't hide her irritation.  These people had the word 'troubl= e' written all over them.  She really had no time for some people barg= ing in and asking questions.  She had more pressing things to do.

Cordelia rapidly came to her side, "Hey, Buffy!  You're here...no= w.  Well, good.  Cuz, um, well, these gentlemen," she quickl= y glanced at the blonde, "*and* the lady wanted to meet Ang...uh, the = person running the office...one that's not here."

Buffy could see Cordelia was desperately trying to hint to her not to tell = them about Angel.  //Not doing a very good job.  Is she *really* = planning to be an actress?//  "I'm sorry, but as you can tell, he= 's not here with us right now.  Please come back later," she said= , unimpressed and ready to kick them out.

The blonde quickly responded, unwavering, "Ms. Chase was just informin= g us that she's not employed here and only waiting for you.  She canno= t answer our questions but we believe you can."

Buffy glared at Cordelia who just shrugged.  Buffy turned to the stran= gers and answered with a beautified smile, "Sorry, I *really* don't th= ink I know anything you want to know about.  And unfortunately, we're = closed."

"Oh, yes.  We are."  Willow answered, clearly perplexed= , but still not missing a beat.

//Not bad, Willow.  You're certainly getting better with this lying th= ing!//

The gray-haired guy asked sternly, "What do you know about Dr. Daniel = Jackson?"

The room suddenly became quiet.  "What?"  Buffy asked, = vaguely registering the name of Willow's professor.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson.  We have reasons to believe that you know= him," the same man demanded with his overly professional tone.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell."  Buffy turned to Willow casuall= y.  "You know?"

Willow shook her head weakly, her face not meeting the others' eyes.

The huge black man standing in front of the door was looking pretty menacin= g at this point.  Buffy didn't detect anything particularly demonic ab= out him, but he had this otherworldly thing going on with him.  Even s= he, who could break a man's neck in a sec, felt decidedly intimidated by hi= m.

But it was that gray-haired man who dropped the bomb, "We've also dete= cted unauthorized attempts to access sensitive materials which have been tr= aced back here to this office."

//Oh, you've *got* to be kidding me... //  Trying hard not to look at = Willow, Buffy snapped, "Who the hell are you?"

With a smug expression on his face, he introduced them, "Colonel Jack = O'Neill, Air Force.  This is Major Carter and that's Mr. Teal'c."=

//Air Force?  Oh, *military*.  I hate them already.//

"I don't know what you're talking about." Denying wasn't really t= he best choice of action, but she couldn't think of anything else and no on= e on her side was even daring to breathe.

"It's a federal crime, for your information," the man, O'Neill--c= olonel, whatever--piped up and everyone froze.

// Oh, well, that's just great. //

"*But*," the man stared them from one another, "we only want= to know why you were trying to gather information on Doctor Jackson."=

After a few seconds of hesitation, Willow mumbled, "Uh, hmm, it was me= ."

"*You* cracked the code?" The blonde, Major Car...something, aske= d, definitely stumped.

Willow was totally losing it.  "Well, I was researching."
"Researching...?" the colonel guy asked, very impatient.

"Uh, about Dr. Jackson..."

"Because...?"

Buffy got an idea and went to the rescue, "Because Willow's his studen= t, and she has a crush on him."

"Excuse me?!" The colonel guy looked at her as if she had grown a= third eye.

Buffy tried her best to suppress a giggle and answered smoothly, "You = can check the record.  Willow's registered in Dr. Jackson's class.&nbs= p; OK, it's little embarrassing to admit my friend's little secret here.&nb= sp; But hey, the guy is good-looking, or so I heard.  She just wanted = to know more about him.  No harm done, right?  Willow, honey, tel= l them you'll never, ever do this again."  She patted Willow's ar= m, struggling to keep control over her face.

Willow answered, stuttering and blushing in rosy red, "Oh, I, I'm real= ly, really sorry.  I'll, uh, never do it again."

The colonel guy looked appalled. "See?  I really don't get that.&= nbsp; Carter, do teenagers of *nowadays* break into government files just b= ecause they have *crush* on somebody?"

Carter, the blonde major, on the other hand, had a rigid face on.  &qu= ot;No, sir.  They don't."  She turned to Willow, her eyes co= ld. "You managed to penetrate into the system.   That's not = the average crush behavior."

"Uh, um, I just sort of stumbled upon it...while surfing the net...&qu= ot; Buffy loved Willow dearly, but she had to admit that her friend was one= terribly lousy liar.

"And that's when you *accidentally* decrypted the code?"

"Um, yes=A1=A6?" said Willow, mumbling.

//We're doomed.//

The colonel apparently wasn't in the mood for jokes anymore.  "OK= , let's just cut this crap, shall we?"  He glared at them.  = "I'll ask once again for the last time.  Why were you 'researchin= g' Dr. Daniel Jackson?"  His stare definitely could have frozen t= he Sahara Desert.  Buffy was dead sure that he was not a man to mess w= ith.

"Why do we have to tell you *anything*?" Cordelia spoke fast, sno= rting, "That serious military act is so passe, you know that?  In= fact, very much carbon dated."

"Oh, you will know what's about to be carbon-dated..." The Colone= l guy was about to rush toward her, but that huge black guy stepped in fron= t of him.

Looking down at Cordelia, the guy spoke, "You will cooperate."
//Oh, yeah, he really does know what 'intimidation' means.//

Buffy saw Cordelia closing her mouth and backing out slowly.  However,= Buffy wasn't planning to be intimidated by *anyone*. "You know, you'r= e really all big and scary, but your hat is definitely undermining your aut= hority. Where on *earth* did you get that?"

Simultaneously, all three of them flinched.

//Three Stooges. Funny.//

As cool as ice, the colonel turned to the blonde, "Okay, my patience j= ust expired. Call the cops."

Then Cordelia blurted out angrily, "Oh, what is this?  We saved t= he guy's life and we get to be arrested?!"

//GOD!  If I erase Cordelia's mouth, is that a federal crime?//

The colonel sharply turned to Cordelia, taking a threatening step toward he= r. "Saved who?"

Cordelia didn't lose her attitude a bit, "Of course we're talking 'bou= t that Dr. Jackson who, by the way, would've been a victim of horrible kidn= apping if it wasn't for us."

"Kidnapping?!"

Buffy quickly grabbed Cordelia's arm and made a futile attempt to stop her.=

"What?" the confused Cordelia answered.

The colonel was stone-faced now, but Buffy clearly saw cold anger rising in= his eyes.  He snapped, "If you want to talk, now is as good time= as any."  Then he added humorlessly, "And lose that crush p= art, 'cause it's giving me the creeps."

//I'm *so* going to kill Cordelia.//

And precisely at the moment, the door was opened with a loud crack and a ta= ll, thin guy jumped into the room.  "Trouble brewing outside!&quo= t;

Doyle.

Reflexively, the black guy stopped Doyle right on the track, pulling Doyle'= s arm to his back.

//*Good* reflex.//  The Slayer in Buffy admired his quick reflexes. Th= ere was something about that guy that just didn't feel right somehow...

Doyle jumped, "What the hell?!"

Cordelia yelled at him, "Doyle! He's our friend! Our friend! Dude!&nbs= p; Understand?  Comprendo?"

The colonel guy motioned to let him go and the black guy complied.

"Doyle, you okay?" Cordelia ran to Doyle.

"Yeah," Doyle looked at them nervously, "What's going on?&qu= ot;

"Uh, they're Dr. Jackson's, uh, friends..." Willow trailed off.&n= bsp;

Buffy asked quickly, "Any information on Angel and the prof?" 
"No, but we have another problem. It's..." he looked worriedly at= the other three then continued, "...wild dogs.  Yeah, wild dog p= roblem."

//Darn it. Vampires.//

"Wild dog...?" Cordelia rolled her eyes and spoke in an exasperat= ed voice, "And here I thought we were gonna have a cozy night in."= ;

Willow turned to the three people who just stood, bewildered.  She apo= logetically said, "Wild dogs.  Uh, they're bad around here. = We'll talk care of them.  Uh, you guys, just...please stay in.  = They're very nasty.  They, uh, bite."

Cordelia retorted beside her, "Of course they bite. What an understate= ment."

Rolling her eyes, Buffy grabbed her gear bag and headed to the door with th= e others.  With a smile, she spoke to the Three Stooges who were looki= ng back at them with their mouth hanging open, "Sorry. We take care of= wild dogs. They suck, but what can I say?  Jobs are scarce nowadays.&= nbsp; So just stay here. We'll be right back."

As she closed the door, she heard the comment of the colonel guy, "Tea= l'c, if Daniel does so much as *mentions* taking some time off alone again,= give him a very swift kick.  Hard."

----

Part 13
 

//Why am I risking my life again? Would someone *please* remind me?// Cordelia thought as she frantically searched for a stake in her bag.

Willow's voice was strained, "Uh, Cordelia. If you could hurry up a little, it'd be really, really good."  She and Doyle were grabbing a vampire from the back, trying to keep it from attacking Cordelia.

"I'm *trying*, alright?!"  //Ah, drat.//  Cordelia gave up and dropped the bag. Then she went and grabbed for a piece of an abandoned wooden chair in the alley.  Hurriedly, she shoved it through the vamp's heart.  The vampire was motionless for a fraction of a second, then it just became a pile of dust.

//Ew.  Okay, one down, five more to go.//

Doyle said, exhaling, "Something's wrong with the demon chaps lately.  They're definitely way too excited."

Cordelia agreed with him.  Six vampires?  This didn't make any sense.  There hadn't been a lot of vamp activities around for a while. Angel had taken care of a bunch just last month and there hadn't been much in the way of demon parties lately.  That was why she didn't carry a stake in her pocket any more, just in her bag.  // Stupid, stupid mistake.//

Sometimes Cordelia wondered why she was doing this. She could just get out of here and never set her feet again in LA or Sunnydale, the lands of demons.  However, here she was, battling yet another bunch of vampires.  She knew the reason though.  Despite whatever she'd said or however she acted in front of others, she couldn't stand by watching while others were fighting to save people.

Sometimes she wished she didn't have any conscience at all, just to be a selfish brat the others thought she was.

"Okay--" Buffy was kicking the hell out of a vampire which was unfortunate enough to have become the slayer's punching bag, "--some help," another kick to the abdomen, "--would be," then another, "good now!"  Buffy knocked one out, flinging the vampire to the wall.  She alone was dealing with the other five.

Grabbing the piece of wood Cordelia dropped, Doyle quickly lunged to the one Buffy just threw to the wall.

//Okay, that means four.//

Cordelia exchanged a look with Willow and tiptoed to avoid the circle of vampires attacking Buffy.  //Okay, we can do this.  While they're concentrating on Buffy, we could just...ambush one or two. Buffy can take care of the rest.//

But at that moment, a vampire turned to her and Willow, thrusting a knife at them.

//Drat.//

Cordelia spoke fast, smiling at the disgusting creature that once had been a man, "A *knife*? There's a knife now? Don't you guys use your fangs any more?" //Okay, okay, steady. Back off slowly. Slowly.//  She shared a nervous look with Willow, who was retreating as well.  "You know, we could *really* talk about this."

The vampire just responded by throwing a knife at her.

"No!"

Cordelia heard a loud yell, then she felt the hard, cold ground hitting her back as something pushed her out of the way.  //God, that hurts. Just what...//

Then she saw Doyle lying on the ground as well, rolling.  The knife was stuck in the panel she'd been standing in front of just a second before.  He just saved her life.  Again.

"Doyle!"

"Delia, look out!" Doyle shouted and she looked up, startled, to find the same vampire looking down at her, dragging her up.  It grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her toward the wall. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment.

She screamed.

Then, suddenly, the grip the vampire had on her weakened.  She watched with a shock as the image of the vampire disappeared all together, leaving only dust.  And she realized she was looking directly at Doyle who was standing in front of her, a stake poised in his hand.

Willow was at her side at once. "You okay?"

She only needed a second to collect her wits again. "Of course not.  Is that even a question?"  She brushed away the dust and looked at Doyle.  Hesitantly, she told him, "Thanks."

At that, Doyle grinned slightly and said, "Any time."  She knew Doyle was just happy she gave her simple 'thanks' to him.

There had never been a person who cared for her this much.

Cordelia froze, realizing what she'd been just thinking.  // Okay, so I'm officially going nuts.  This situation is *really* getting to me.//

"Buffy, you all right there?"  Willow shouted at the slayer who was doing her usual kicking and punching thing with two remaining vampires.

//One vampire must have met its demise then, by the oh-so-great slayer.//

"I'm fine," Buffy answered casually between kicks and punches, "I needed my exercise."

"Yeah, you sure do. Have you gained weight lately?" Cordelia spat words without thinking.  This was the only way for her to deal with the pressure.

"No, have you?" Buffy retorted as she pounded on the vampires, "Ah, I guess not. You've been busy decorating that office of yours. Cordy, I'm surprised.  You've been reading Martha Stewart!"

"And what have *you* been reading?  Last year's Seventeen?"  Cordelia looked up and down at Buffy. "Those sandals are just *so* out now.  My, must you advertise you're from a backwater town?"

However, at that, Willow turned to her with narrowed eyes. "*What* do you two think you're doing?"

"Excuse me?"

Willow was dead serious. "You two," Willow pointed Cordelia and Buffy, "Arguing in this situation. How could you!"

Cordy decidedly felt intimidated by Willow's angry expression. Willow *was* scary when she was mad. //Okay, was it *my* fault that Buffy decided to slip into the slayer B-I-T-C-H mode?//

Again, in between the kicking and punching, Buffy retorted, "Okay, was it *my* fault that Cordelia decided to reclaim her Sunnydale bitch of the year champion seat?"

// God, can she be any more annoying?//  "Hah, Buffy, you say I'm a bitch like it's a bad thing."

"Quiet!" The enraged voice of Willow startled both of them and Doyle, who was looking mighty uncomfortable.  "This has gone on just *enough*!  Aren't you guys worried about Angel and Dr. Jackson *at all*?"

Cordelia felt a little guilty about that. //God, where is he exactly? Is he even alive? Or actually, relatively speaking, undead-alive?//  It wasn't that she hadn't been worried about Angel, because she *was* extremely worried, but accused of being a senseless idiot from Buffy, the all-so-great Vampire Slayer of Sunnydale, had ticked her off a little.

Buffy looked guilty as well. "Sorry. Guess I just got...upset." And as if showing just how upset she'd gotten, she totally crushed one vampire.  Cordelia wished if she could do that too, in a way to get things out of her system.  //But that would ruin my nail job.//

"It doesn't matter!" Willow was still angry. "I'm so, so, embarrassed, angry and, and, and, I can't find a mean word...Disappointed!  Yes! That's the word!  I'm disappointed with you two! We should be working together to find them, not BICKERING!"

Cordelia admitted, "Okay, I'm sorry, Willow.  Just...stop frowning. It'll ruin your complexion."

"So!" Doyle interrupted suddenly, smiling nervously between two girls staring at each other and one slayer still kicking asses, "What do we do with those chaps in our office?  They're Dr. Jackson's friends?"

Willow calmed down a bit for Doyle's sake and turned her attention back to their current problem. "Yeah, they are. I've seen the photo of them in Dr. Jackson's office. They're on his side...I think."

"So how do we get rid of them?" Buffy dusted one vampire and took a step closer to the last remaining vampire, ready for the last kick.

The others just stood around, watching and discussing as Buffy pounded on the last one.

Willow said, "Do we need to get rid of them?  I mean, they could help, right?  We really don't know why Dr. Jackson and Angel were taken and...it's not like we're having great luck at finding them anyway."

Cordelia frowned. "Yeah, but they're military.  Military!  Just how helpful can they be?  And I'm not in the least interested in getting into a loony bin."

Buffy gave a hard kick to the vampire, which doubled over.  She commented as she walked over to finish it, "Yeah, believe it or not, I agree with Cordelia.  The faster we get rid of them, the better."

But a voice coming from behind them said otherwise, "That's just too bad, cuz we *really* would like to hear what just went on here."

Cordelia turned, only to be eye-to-eye with that Colonel guy.  The other two were standing behind him, looking at Buffy and the vampire with their mouths open.

She voiced the thought that she knew would be going through her friends' minds at this point, "You guys just have this *impeccable* timing."

***

"He's not contaminated," a man with a spotlessly white clinical coat announced.

Colonel Maybourne felt a nice lump in his throat. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, he is human."

Maybourne restrained himself from yelling out in annoyance.   He'd warned them this would happen.  Then he glanced at the commander of this project, unable to hide his smug look.   //Jackson's clean.  Now what are you going to do, huh? //

But the man in question who called himself Colonel Smith looked unconcerned.  Rather, he seemed fascinated by the news. "This is extraordinary.  And this subject has been in the same room with the HST for more than a day?"

The lab clinician checked the notepad. "Yes, sir.  We monitored them very carefully.  HST 1002, categorized as species V454, has not shown any sign of aggression toward the subject."

"Agent, what's your thought on this?"

Maybourne watched silently as Smith turned and asked Agent Riley Finn, who was supposed to have hand-on experience with such creatures.  He snorted to himself. // Experience? His ears aren't even dry yet. //

Finn looked slightly troubled as he looked at the monitors in front of them. "Sir, this is very unusual.  The HST should start acting violently by now.  Hunger..."

"Maybe it's not the feeding time yet," Maybourne commented.

"It's been more than a day, sir," the clinician noted, "It's way past the feeding time. Plus, this HST is acting...peculiar.   Actually, it's *interacting* with the person."

"That's not possible," Finn exclaimed, surprised, "Vampires are simply animals.  They only have violent urges to kill people as prey."

"Well," the lab clinician excitedly explained, "we theorize that vampires are not just animals, but more like people who are infected with an incurable disease, a special kind of virus.  It's been confirmed that the source of infection is blood.  This species V454 spread by injecting their blood to their victims and turning them into their own.  We're trying to figure out if blood itself has certain qualities that makes them this violent."

"And this strong," Smith commented with a glint in his eyes.

// Vampires...// This somewhat disturbed Maybourne.  He'd had his doubts about this project, certain that it'd fail.  If this project succeeded, there was no doubt it'd bring serious disadvantage on his part.  However, it seemed to be going as it had been planned.

He didn't like it.  He didn't like it at all.

"However, this one..." the clinician tapped the monitor screen, "is different.  We've hoped to observe its turning process and gather more information, but it's not happening."

"Turning process?" Finn asked, unsuccessfully attempting to hide his disturbed look, "But the man turned out to be clean.  And if that HST is a human..."

// A boy with conscience. // Maybourne shook his head slightly. There'd been a time when he'd thought along the same line.   Not any more.  He'd learned what was more important.

"Agent Finn," Smith spoke, his jaw set tightly, "Professor Walsh thought very highly of you. I also think you have a bright future ahead of you.  But now, learn what's questionable and what's not.  And what's important and what's expendable."

// Expendable.  Would anyone call Jackson expendable? //  Maybourne suddenly had a nice picture in his mind of Jack O'Neill at Smith's throat.  He honestly couldn't say he wouldn't enjoy the prospect of seeing it happen.

A look of something--detest?--passed Finn's eyes very briefly, but he soon straightened up.  "Yes, sir."

"Good," the commander looked satisfied, "So what you're saying, Agent, is that you've never seen species V454 behaving like this."

"Yes, sir. Perhaps this is some other kind of HST," Finn answered promptly and turned to the clinician.

"This one may not behave like species V454, but its physical characteristics and blood sample show it *is* one," the clinician concluded.

Smith looked intrigued.  With a small smile, he spoke, "then maybe it's time to pay a visit to this HST and Jackson, don't you think?"

Maybourne almost choked. "You want to *speak* to Jackson?  Are you insane?"

Smith shrugged. "He may be able to give us valuable information on this new kind of HST and help us in figuring out the origin of HST itself.  After all, he figured out the Stargate, didn't he?"

// Christ. //  "And what makes you think he'd cooperate?  If I'm not mistaken, you just kidnapped him."

"Oh, he'll cooperate," Smith gave him a tight smile and walked out of the room, with Finn closely following.

Maybourne may have extremely disliked Jackson, but he did feel a wave of sympathy for the man. However, he squashed the feeling instantly.

This was the time to figure out his next move.

---

Part 14

Teal'c was puzzled. When Major Carter had informed him she had detected the source of the breach in security and the source of Daniel Jackson's phone call were in the same location, Teal'c had not expected that this brief 'excursion' to the detective office--a curious occupation--would bring them into this situation.

"Holy Hannah," Major Carter whispered as they watched the scene before them. They had followed the others who went to look for 'wild dogs'. However, what they had found was the young, fair-haired woman--herself hardly more than a child--named Buffy attacking a much larger man with well-trained moves.

"Okay," O'Neill commented beside him, stunned, "This girl's talking martial arts into the next level altogether."

Teal'c knew several forms of Earth's 'martial arts'. However, Buffy's movement was something Teal'c had never seen previously. She was very accurate and fast in her every move. And then, something more strange happened. Before they were able to stop her from damaging the man severely, the man disappeared. Vanished.

"Teal'c, did you just see..." O'Neill pointed at Buffy, his eyes squinted. He nodded in affirmation, also taken aback. "I have also witnessed the disappearance of a man." O'Neill muttered, "So nothing's wrong with my eyes?"

"No, sir. There's nothing wrong with your eyes," Major Carter answered, also shocked. Teal'c thought of the disappearing technique which enabled Retu or Goa'uld to be invisible. But that man hadn't been either of them. It was possible that someone could have shot the man with a zat--a Goa'uld weapon that disintegrated everything when shot three times. But the only weapon Buffy was holding was a...wooden stick. // Ah, interesting. // Teal'c looked at the group. The brown-haired one, Cordelia, was standing beside the tall, lanky man who Teal'c had thought to be Detective MacLeod until Cordelia called him Doyle. The red-haired Willow, who apparently had *crush*--did this mean she had pulverized Daniel Jackson? Teal'c presumed she hadn't, since O'Neill and Major Carter were not severely shocked by the news, although very perplexed--on Daniel Jackson, looked at him, O'Neill and Major Cater, panic-stricken.

"Man, wherever I do this," Buffy complained to her friends as she straightened herself up from hovering over, brushing the dust away, "my pants always get dirty. Isn't there any dust-proof stuff? What do we do with all our technology?" She looked quizzically at her friends' expressions, turning to see what they were looking at. Then she froze, finding three sets of eyes fixed on her. But she recovered soon and spoke rapidly, "Hi guys. Whatcha all doing here?"

"What an excellent question," O'Neill spoke, his eyes grim, "What are *you* doing?" Buffy waves a bit nervously.

"What am I doing here? Uh, funny you should ask that. Because...we were...we were..." "--Gathering information," Doyle interrupted quickly, giving them a smooth smile. "We were just gathering information..."

"Excuse me?" Major Carter's expression was odd, as if she was trying extremely hard to restrain herself. She seemed exhausted and angry, and Teal'c was concerned for his friend. Daniel Jackson's disappearance agitated her, and this turn of events only seemed to have aggravated her distress. Buffy spoke nervously, "We were just talking to a guy, a guy on the street. Some runaway...person...guy. You know? What they call...uh, a..."

"Snitch!" Willow supplemented, her face flushed, "He's our snitch. We even have things like...snitches. Detective business and all."

"Exactly," Buffy turned to O'Neill and smiled sweetly, "And he ran when he saw you guys coming." //Their attempt at deception is rather pathetic.// Teal'c shared a glance with O'Neill and Major Carter. They also knew the others were lying. The question was...why? Buffy smiled nervously.

"You know, you guys should've listened to us. Stay in the office. It's...dangerous out here." O'Neill was irritated, Teal'c noted.

"The only thing that seems to be dangerous out here is you, seeing that you just totaled a guy," O'Neill waved his hand at the place where the man had disappeared, "Just exactly how many times did you watch Karate Kid?"

"I really, really beg your pardon?" Buffy looked offended.

O'Neill spoke impatiently, his expression masked with annoyance, "What did you do to him? And don't tell me you had a *crush* on that guy too and felt the need to crush him."

"Alright. I give up," Buffy put up her hands and muttered under her breath, "I'm just sick of these *ungrateful* people who act like they save the world on a weekly basis"--Teal'c noted that O'Neill raised his eyebrow at that--"and they know everything. For your information," she paused dramatically and then shouted in a high-pitch voice, "that was a *vampire*."

// Vampire...? // Teal'c did not understand the meaning of the phrase, but the reaction from O'Neill and Major Carter was instantaneous. "WHAT?!"

"Buffy!" Willow and Cordelia yelled, both looking flushed. Buffy looked straight at them with a nonchalant expression. "You know, vampires? Ever heard of them? They have these sharp teeth, hate garlic and have a thing with blood which automatically makes us their walking Happy Meals? Well, I just dusted--killed, terminated, eliminated, whatever--that thing."

"I can't believe it," Cordelia said incredulously, "She blew it."

"What is a vampire?" Teal'c asked, unable to hide his curiosity. He hadn't known such a creature existed on Earth. Teal'c also did not understand why this would cause such frustration to O'Neill and Major Carter. They looked extremely troubled.

"Ah, rrrrrright. Vampir--es," O'Neill gave Buffy a strained smile and nodded. Then he turned to Major Carter, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, "Carter, I'm here by ordering you to stop reading Anne Rice books. You see what happens here?" He raised his eyebrow at Buffy, expressing his disbelief. Major Carter gave him an unpleasant look and exclaimed tiredly, massaging her temple, "I hate to break this to you, Buffy, but there's no such thing as a vampire."

"Smart lady," Doyle, who had been silent for a while, commented with a smug smile, "You care to put a wager on that one?" Buffy said to Doyle, shrugging, "Never underestimate the power of denial."

"Alright. What's done is done, let's just get this over with," Cordelia sighed dramatically, "Yes, it was a vampire. Yes, it's the creature of the night, the fangy and pointy ones, blah, blah, blah. Man, this explaining thing is getting *way* too routine. What is this? A confession week?" She turned to the other girls. "Is it even a secret now? Because if it isn't, I will--no, wait, Willow, you do it--type our official statement as *quote* vampires and assorted demon busters *unquote*. We can just give it to whomever is in need of explanation. We could just have done it like that with the blond cutie doctor guy and that would've been *much* easier."

"Blonde cutie doctor guy?" Buffy asked.

"Dr. Jackson," Willow explained to her friend, blushing. "Is he that cute?" Buffy looked curious. "How cute is he exactly? One to ten scale." "Eleven, definitely," Cordelia answered. "Describe him to me," Buffy commanded. Willow looked thoughtful. "He wears these adorable glasses and has these amazing blue eyes... He has this intelligent look and he's very, very--"

"--Cute," Cordelia finished the sentence then tilted her head a bit. "And when he speaks, wow, like so, so..." Buffy said, "Let me guess, cute?" Cordelia smiled. "Exactly."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Everyone froze. So O'Neill lost his temper, it seemed. O'Neill took a deep, deep breath then exhaled slowly, muttering, "This is torture. That's what this is." Major Carter was mouthing 'Thank God', relieved. Teal'c, for his part, was just thankful. At this stage Teal'c understood O'Neill's sentiment. Goa'ulds--power-seeking, murderous, tyrannical monsters such as Apophis, Ra, or Hathor--he could endure, but Tau'ri females conversing in that manner about Daniel Jackson, he could not. He had thought he was accustomed to Earth and its culture. Apparently, he had been wrong.

"Blonde doctor cutie guy?" O'Neill exclaimed incredulously, "What is he? A butcher block special of the day?" Cordelia attempted to speak again, but O'Neill quickly held up a finger at her face. "Ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah." She instantly closed her mouth. O'Neill continued, anger apparent in his expression, "Don't even *open* that mouth of yours again. Don't. You. Ever. Is that clear?" Cordelia nodded, grumbling slightly. O'Neill gave them a tight smile "And if you say one more word about vampires, I swear--" Buffy interrupted, smiling sweetly, "You guys don't even laugh! Jokes, kid-ding, get it? I mean, come on, vampires?" Buffy laughed out loud somewhat awkwardly, "You're not one of those wackos believing in things like vampires and werewolves, are you?" Teal'c could hear O'Neill muttering to himself, "If she looked old enough to have reached the legal drinking age, I would just deck that girl." Teal'c found himself agreeing with O'Neill.

"Now," Buffy gave him a huge smile, "let's get inside. It's not a good place to chat. Plus, it's getting boring." She walked passed him. "Hold on right there," O'Neill thundered, and Buffy stopped on her mid stride.

"Since you all seem to know this 'blond cutie doctor guy', and you mentioned something about rescuing Daniel from getting kidnapped, I assume you *lied* about not knowing Dr. Daniel Jackson. And I'm also *assuming* you know where he is now." Silence descended upon them and all of a sudden, Buffy became mute. O'Neill gave a glance to Major Carter and she nodded. She took a step toward the girls.

"Look, " her voice contained just enough amount of stern commanding tone and a hint of desperation, "Daniel is our friend. If something happened, we have to know. He's gone through a lot lately, and we're very...worried." Teal'c could see the distressed looks passing through the girls' faces, clearly convinced with Major Carter's subtle strategy. This, O'Neill had informed him some time ago, was the popular method of 'Good Cop and Bad Cop'. It was very persuasive, it seemed. Major Carter continued with a look of worry on her face, "Daniel's gone through just so much and...we need to see if he's okay. We don't have time for 'jokes' or argument." She bit her lip and added after a second of hesitation, "Please. We need to know." Willow uncertainly spoke up, "Is it about his wife?"

"You know about Sha're?" Major Carter's face was painted with bewilderment. "Uh, no. Not the name but--" Willow looked at Cordelia, hesitating. Cordelia shrugged and answered, "Just the fact she's dead and gone. Poor guy. He looked terrible." O'Neill exclaimed, his face buried in his hands, "Oh, for cryin' out loud..." Major Carter started out, turning to him, "Sir, if they know about Sha're--"

"--Daniel Jackson trusts them." Teal'c finished her thoughts. Daniel Jackson was very guarded about his life, not to mention his life itself was classified on Earth, and only a handful of people knew that he was even married. So if Daniel Jackson had told them about Sha're, he must have trusted these people. Willow stepped close to them. "Yes, he does. We didn't do anything to him," she stared at them with her clear green eyes, "if that's what you are thinking." O'Neill turned to Willow, his eyes cold.

"You lied to us about everything. Sorry, we don't believe you. " Buffy interrupted, "No, we didn't. In fact--"

"Buffy!" Willow spoke sternly, "This is getting us nowhere! We have no choice. We have to trust them, or we lose Angel. Do you want that? " The others were silenced at once. Teal'c was somewhat surprised.

"Thank you. Where have you been?" O'Neill asked sarcastically. Apologetically, Willow turned to O'Neill. "We didn't lie to you about everything. Although that crush story isn't true *at all*. Well," she was flushed, "it's kinda tiny-teeny bit true somewhat but only strictly in the sense of teacher-student respect and admiration thing and not in the sense of crush-crush thing. I mean, who wouldn't be? He speaks 23 languages! He's so cool, and his cuteness is just a bonus which just resulted in everyone in our class having this crush on him and everyone means everyone from those 'just out of high school and I don't care if Memphis is one of the cities in US or one of the old names of Egyptian cities' girls from much, much older ladies who I suspect are from ancient Egypt themselves and I realize that now I'm going on a tangent without a point so I can't really stop without--"

"Willow! Breathe!" Buffy patted her friend's back. "Breathe in, and breathe out. Goooood. There." Willow inhaled deeply. O'Neill muttered with a strangely annoyed yet amused smile, "My God, I've never thought there was a person who could speak more words than Daniel without an intake of breath in between." O'Neill looked back at Willow, "So, your point was?" Willow took a deep breath again, face red with embarrassment.

"Oh, right. The point. The point being that we just weren't sure if you could be trusted. But if you're Dr. Jackson's friends like you say you are, help us find our friend and Dr. Jackson." She turned to Teal'c and Major Carter, and met their gaze with her sincere eyes.

"We're not lying. Trust us." For an unexplainable reason, Teal'c knew she was speaking of the truth, just the same as he had known O'Neill had been when Teal'c had first met O'Neill, telling him that O'Neill himself would help free Teal'c's people from the slavery to Goa'ulds. Teal'c believed her. He nodded to O'Neill. O'Neill, in turn, met his gaze and looked at Major Carter, who also nodded with a grim expression.

"Alright, I'll buy it," O'Neill spoke in a low voice, "But tell us what happened. From the beginning." And so she did. ---

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