Part XXIII

At first, Jack resisted, trying to gently push her away, but that didn’t last long. Soon his arms went around her, and he was kissing her back. Dawn hadn’t kissed all that many guys before. The less said about that vamp on Halloween—or the guy with the jacket—the better. There had been Antonio in Rome—she’d thought that he’d been a pretty good kisser—but Jack …

Dawn sighed when their lips finally broke apart. “I totally get it now.”

Jack was still holding her in his arms, and looking at her face. He grinned at her. “Get what?”

“Why Buffy goes for older guys.”

“So, you admit that I’m older now.”

“I admit that you’re older than any of the other guys that I’ve kissed…and you’re much better at it.”

“So, kissed a lot of guys before?”

“Not that many. How about you?”

“Can’t say I’ve kissed many guys either,” said Jack.

“Jack!” Dawn pounded her fist lightly against his chest. “You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, I know. And I hadn’t really kissed all that many girls either. I had a couple of girlfriends when I was in high school—the first time—and then I went to the Academy, and didn’t really have much opportunity to date for the next four years. The Academy didn’t admit women until a couple of years after I graduated.”

“When was that? The Stone Age?”

“1974.”

“Close enough.”

Dawn rested her head against Jack’s shoulder for a moment, still holding him. “So, what about after ’74?” she asked. “Kissed lots of women in the last 30 years?”

“No,” said Jack. “Mostly, it was just one. I spent a lot of those years married.”

Dawn pulled away a bit. “Is that something the original you got to keep?”

Jack shook his head. “No. I’ve been divorced for nearly ten years now.…We had a son.…Charlie.…He died. I…I blamed myself. Sara…I drove her away, I was so wrapped up in my own pain that I couldn’t see hers.”

Dawn hugged him close. “Oh Jack, I’m so sorry.”

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter walked through the corridors of the SGC. It was the middle of the evening watch, and the hallways were mostly empty. She liked to prowl the corridors at night: it gave her a chance to think without interruptions. There was a flash of light, and she found herself standing in front of Thor.

Jack stood there on the bridge, with Dawn holding him, and his arms around her. He knew that she understood. Lots of people had said they were sorry when they heard about Charlie, but Dawn understood that kind of pain as well as anyone who hadn’t lost a child themselves could, but he couldn’t let himself dwell on that. “So, what brings you out here in the middle of the night?” he asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” said Dawn. “I mean, I was just abducted by an alien. That’s not something that happens every day…not even to me.”

“You’d be surprised how often he’s done that to me …” Jack took in the look she was giving him. “… or maybe you wouldn’t.”

“So, if this is an everyday occurrence for you, what are you doing out here on this bridge?” asked Dawn.

“It’s not exactly an everyday occurrence!”

“You’re dodging the question.”

“It was either come out here, or shoot Andrew,” admitted Jack. “He was driving me crazy with all his questions!”

“I’m surprised he was so restrained while we were up there,” said Dawn.

“I think he was in shock,” said Jack, “but he got over it.”

“So, why didn’t he follow you out here?”

“Handcuffs, and duct tape,” said Jack.

“You didn’t!”

“No, but I threatened to.”

“I wouldn’t expect that threats alone would be enough.”

“No, but I gave him a carrot too. I had to tell him that the Wormhole X-Treme! head writer was an extra-terrestrial, and a lot of it was based on true stuff, so now he’s busy re-watching all the episodes.”

“Wait a minute…that crappy sci-fi show he’s always running on about is written by an alien, and it’s true?”

“Not all that much of it, but yeah, some of the background stuff isn’t too far off the mark.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really, but they got a lot more stuff wrong than they got right.”

“It’s still really weird, even by my standards,” said Dawn.

“Mine too,” said Jack, “but the question remains: Where do we go from here?”

“When does the end appear?
When do the trumpets cheer?
Where to we go from here?” Dawn sang softly.

“What?” asked Jack.

“Sorry, Sunnydale flashback,” said Dawn. “Anyone tell you the story about our musical extravaganza?”

“I’ve heard a couple of things about it. And I thought that life at the SGC was weird.”

“Thor!” said Colonel Carter. “What am I doing here?”

“I have been told that you are aware of of ‘magic’,” said Thor.

“What do you mean?” asked Carter.

“I have recently met with the O’Neill clone, the Slayer Cassandra, and the mystics Dawn Summers and Andrew Wells,” said Thor. “They informed me that you were aware of ‘magic’.”

They didn’t come to any real conclusions about what they were going to do next. Dawn agreed to let Jack report what had happened—and to pass on Thor’s warning—to his General Hammond, and to tell him that Thor knew about Slayers and magic. He could also tell the General that the Council knew where the Key was, but he agreed not to say anything about it being her.

He agreed to let Dawn report the meeting with Thor to the Council, including the part about Cassie being from another planet—as long as Cassie was okay with her doing that too—but she agreed not to say anything about him being Jack O’Neill’s clone.

They didn’t really know what more to do about Thor’s warning. As far as Dawn was concerned it was just about as useless as every other such warning that they had received over the years. Why couldn’t such things ever be straightforward?

Jack read over the contact report that he’d typed up for General Hammond. It looked like it was as complete as his agreement with Dawn could make it, describing how Thor had taken him, Cassie, Andrew and Dawn into his spaceship for a meeting; how Cassie had been taken because Thor knew about the Slayers, and both Andrew and Dawn had had magical signatures. He included Thor’s warning that something bad was coming, and that both the Slayers and something called the Key would be needed to defeat it, but he left out the fact that he knew who the Key was.

He knew that the bit about Thor knowing about magic and the Slayers would come as a surprise to his superiors, but he already knew that Homeworld Security knew about those things. He’d been a little surprised when he’d heard from George that Homeworld Security was responsible for protecting the Earth from more than just the aliens: it was responsible for monitoring the “sub-terrestrial” threats too, but when he thought more about it, it had made sense. He’d learned from the Council, and his visit from Major Finn, that many of the world’s governments knew something about what the Slayers did. That responsibility being handed off to Homeworld Security was reasonable.

His private correspondence with General Hammond had also made it clear to him that the US government felt that it was best to leave the handling of the supernatural in the hands of the professionals. They had learned their lesson from the Initiative. They were monitoring the actions of the Council, and were prepared to offer whatever support they could, but they had no plans to step in and take control of what they were doing.

The Anacreontic Society had existed in Cambridge since at least the eighteenth century. There were branches of it in the other university towns scattered across the nation, and in London itself, though it had acquired new quarters there, since its original lodgings had been in a building that had been blown up a few years previously. Most people believed that the destruction of the Society’s London lodgings was just collateral damage from a terrorist bombing that had taken out a much larger building, which had had other, more likely targets in it. Why would terrorists attack a music and wine appreciation society? (Though which of those was appreciated more waxed and waned over the decades.) It was also known to be a bit of an “old boys’ club” though its membership had never been exclusively male.

The Anacreontic Society’s membership had changed a lot in the last couple of years. It was still one of the most exclusive clubs in the nation, with memberships given out by invitation only, and no one outside of the Society knew how its members were chosen. All through its history, the club had been known for its egalitarianism. Though membership in the club often came with family connections, it wasn’t limited to the aristocracy, or the rich, or the male. People from all backgrounds were invited to join, but throughout most of its history, it was still mainly a ‘boys’ club.’ That had changed in recent years. You were more likely to see young women entering or leaving one of their buildings these days.

The Anacreontic Society was a front for the Watcher’s Council. It had provided a place in the university towns where new Watchers could gather, and learn about the more esoteric aspects of their trade. Now it served as a place where the new Slayers attending the universities could meet, and practice their skills without outside observers.

It was a continual source of amusement to Dawn that when she pushed the button for the doorbell, it played the opening chords of The Star Spangled Banner. When she’d asked Giles why such a British society would choose the American national anthem as their theme music, he’d just laughed, and told her to research it for herself.

Today, she had come the Society’s building in Cambridge to take part in a teleconference with the rest of the Council’s Board. Once everyone was online, and the initial greetings had been taken care of, she told everyone the reason she had called for this meeting: “Well, I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.”

“What’s the good news?” asked Xander.

“I’ve learned Jack and Cassie’s secret,” said Dawn.

“And the bad news?” asked Giles.

“Andrew knows too.”

“Why’s that bad news?” asked Buffy.

“Because Cassie’s an alien,” said Dawn.

There were several seconds of silence in the room.

“She’s a what?” asked Faith, eventually.

“Alien; extra-terrestrial; not born on this planet,” said Dawn. “From another world.”

“No way!” said Caridad.

“Way!” said Dawn. “Andrew is completely freaking out about it. It turns out that his favourite TV show is based on a real Air Force program.”

“Wait a minute,” said Xander. “Andrew’s favourite show is that Wormhole X-Treme! thing.”

“Yep,” said Dawn, “And you’ve met the prototypes for most of the characters in it.”

“You mean Colonel Danning is…”

“Colonel O’Neill,” said Dawn.

“And Stacy Monroe?” asked Willow.

“Major Carter,” said Dawn.

“Let me guess,” said Faith. “Grell was based on Teal.”

“Teal’c” said Dawn. “Do all of you guys watch that show?”

“Well, no,” said Giles. “Only three episodes were ever aired. I suppose that the Dr. Levant character was based on Jonas Quinn.”

“You too, Giles?” asked Dawn. She’d known that mentioning Wormhole X-Treme! would distract Xander, but she was surprised that the rest of them had followed him into the digression.

“No…ah…yes…I guess. How many television shows are there that give a central role to a linguist?”

“I see your point,” said Dawn, “but I think that Dr. Levant was based more on Daniel Jackson.”

“Good Lord!” said Giles.

“I hate when he says that,” said Buffy.

“Daniel Jackson is an Egyptologist who had some…unorthodox theories on the origin of the Great Pyramid, and some of the other ancient Egyptian monuments. I’m afraid that he’s become something of a laughingstock in academia.”

“He is something less than a laughingstock in the U.S. Air Force, and among short grey aliens,” said Dawn.

“Short grey aliens?” asked Xander.

“Yep,” said Dawn. “We can now list ‘aliens’ among the things that have kidnapped me, but it seems that this one was friendly. It only wanted to have a chat with the Key.”

“What’s the Key?” asked Caridad.

“I am,” said Dawn.

“Dawn?” asked Buffy, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“They need to know,” said Dawn. “They need to know that the Monks of Dagon put the Key into me.” Her eyes flicked between the images of Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles on the monitors, and saw that they all caught her meaning. She wasn’t telling anyone that the monks had actually created Dawn, and everyone’s memories of her…yet.

“Why do they need to know?” asked Giles.

“Because the alien that kidnapped me did so to deliver a prophecy,” said Dawn.

Everyone in the video-conference groaned.