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Chapter Four Buffy sat on a large rock next to a stream. Jack had just finished telling her about his job. If her own life hadn’t been filled with just as strange events she probably would have thought he was a crackpot. But as he explained, so much about him suddenly made sense. His sudden, and sometimes long, disappearances were because of being captured or trapped off world. His strange injuries were caused by alien weapons. Daniel’s resurrection was because he retook human form after being an ascended being for a year, but he didn’t retain his memories from that time. Even Jack’s current condition was the result of some strange Asgard alien incident. Even though she was thankful to finally know everything, she knew his situation must be dire for him to be that forthcoming. Jack was never one to talk about his feelings, but today he answered every question she had asked and even volunteered things. It was that that scared her more than anything. She had to figure out how to convince him to go back and let those Torque people help him. She had meant what she told him in the car. This was way too soon for her to lose someone important to her after Dawn. It didn’t matter if she had to drag him back kicking and screaming, he was going. However, she didn’t think she’d have to resort to such measures because she could hear several people approaching. She assumed his team had found him. Jack must have heard them too since he called out without looking behind him, “Unless you brought beer, that’s close enough.” “Buffy wouldn’t buy it for you either?” Daniel asked. “No, she’s got this thing against beer,” Jack said with a snort. “Colonel, we need you to come back with us,” Sam said. “Tell Jacob thanks for trying, but I’m not interested in the deep-freeze deal.” “Sir, we need to talk to you… Privately.” “Carter, you can tell me from there.” “Sir.” "I told Buffy everything.” “Jack,” Daniel said slowly. “Are you sure that was wise?” “I haven’t freaked yet,” Buffy said. “It takes a lot to shock me these days. Aliens and space travel are nothing.” The group looked at her in surprise. She seemed to be taking everything too calmly. It just upped their curiosity about her. Daniel recovered first. “We’re not here to take you to the Tok’ra. There may not be much time.” "There never is,” Jack muttered to Buffy, knowing she’d hear him. “Ok, well…” The archaeologist sighed. “There’s no easy way to tell you this so… Sam’s just gonna come right out and say it.” Buffy could almost hear Sam shoot Daniel an unamused look. “Well, sir.. As you know, the Asgard depend on cloning technology…” “Oh, for cryin’ out loud,” Jack exclaimed. He looked over at Buffy and said, “See what I have to put up with?” “Oh, you poor baby,” she said with false pity. “You have been cloned, O’Neill,” Teal’c said bluntly. Both Buffy and Jack whirled around to look at them. “What?” Jack cried. “We think the Asgard took the real you and made a copy. An unstable one at that,” Daniel explained. “The real me?” “Yeah… the original. That’s not your real anything. I’m… I’m sorry.” “That’s a new one, even for me,” Buffy said softly, looking at Jack. “Unless you count the First.” “Could this day get any worse?” Jack asked her. He looked back up at his team. “Where’s the original?” “That’s what we hope to find out. But we need your help,” Sam said. XXXXXXXX “Buffy, meet General George Hammond. General, this is Buffy,” Jack said as they entered the briefing room. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Summers,” a bald man said with a slight Texan accent. She knew that Jack held this man in high regards so she tried her best to be polite. “Same here.” “I’m pleased to inform you that you have been cleared for everything on this base. You have some powerful friends, Miss Summers.” “Huh?” “Sweet,” Jack said with a grin. “When did it come through?” “During those ten minutes I gave you to think over the Tok’ra’s offer.” “Sorry about that, sir,” Jack said sincerely. “I just…” “I understand, son. Shall we get on with the briefing?” Buffy saw the kindly, understanding gleam in the General’s eyes and decided then and there that she liked him. He seemed to care about the people under his command. It was not the same type of behavior she had seen during her brief stint with the Initiative. She took a seat between Jack and Sam, across from Daniel and Teal’c. Now that she knew that Teal’c was a Jaffa, and even though he no longer carried a symbiote, he was still different enough to register on her senses. But knowing his background allowed for the slayer in her to settle and accept him. Daniel began the explanation of what they believed had happened. “We think the Asgard took the real you and replaced you with a clone. Obviously they meant for you to be full-grown and not a teenager so as not to arouse suspicion. According to the people we interviewed who’ve had a similar experience, we think they’ll try and switch you back.” "We want you to go home and act like nothing has happened. Then we’ll intercept the beam when they make the switch,” Sam finished. “We’ll be able to solve this.” “What about the fact that this body is dying? I mean, has anyone even thought about that for a second?” Buffy reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “We just…” Sam began before deciding to say something else. “We don’t know what else to do for you.” “Perhaps the Asgard responsible can correct his mistake,” Teal’c suggested. “Fine. Give me a 9-mil, I’ll get it outta the sucker.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “What is it with you and guns? This could be some random bad Asgard. They’re still your allies.” “She’s right,” Daniel said. “We don’t know who or what we might be facing yet.” “Exactly why you can’t just use me as bait and hang me out to dry. You’re never gonna intercept one of those Asgard beams. The only chance you have of capturing this guy is me.” “He’s got a point,” Buffy said, sending them incredulous looks. “I’ve never used someone as bait without making sure they had someway of defending themselves. That’s just smart tactics.” Sam couldn’t stop the retort from coming out of her mouth. “And what would you know about tactics?” Buffy turned and regarded her darkly. “I know a hell of a lot more than what you think. You know intellectually that this is Jack, but you’re letting his current body fool you into thinking he’s a child. He’s no more a kid than I am, or the General. You insult him by treating him like this.” Jack laid a hand on her arm. “Buffy…” “No, Jack,” she said, turning her gaze on him. “The thing you stressed to me was how your team was like a family and that you trusted each other. This is not trust.” Sam was taken back by Buffy’s ferocity. She had seen something in the younger woman’s eyes that had shocked her. There had been darkness and pain in her past and it was a look she had seen in the Colonel and Teal’c’s eyes in extremely rare, vulnerable moments. Jack seemed to trust her with his life and secrets so she would do no less. “You can have a zat gun,” Hammond conceded, moved by Buffy’s words. “Thank you, sir.” XXXXXXXX Buffy’s senses were hypersensitive as she lay in her bed at Jack’s house. She could hear everyone’s chatter over the radios and even Jack flipping through a magazine in his room. “Carter, you still got your ears on?” Jack’s disembodied voice asked. “Yes, sir.” “Daniel, Teal’c?” “Everything appears to be normal, O’Neill.” “Yeah? Not to me,” Jack drawled. Buffy reached over and grabbed her radio. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” “I could hear your bed creaking,” Jack said with a snort. “You’re across the hall.” “Very funny.” Sam’s voice cut through. “You want to go over the instructions I gave you again?” "Don’t worry, Carter, I’m sure I’ll figure…” Buffy froze as he was cut off. A flash of white light could be seen under Jack’s door. Worried about her friend, she jumped out of bed and ran into his room. She nearly sobbed with relief as she recognized Jack’s older form snoring on his bed. A moment later, the rest of SG-1 joined her. “Well, phase one complete,” Buffy said, kneeling next to Jack. She gently shook him. His body jumped slightly as he opened his eyes. “You need something?” He asked in concern. “Not really,” she said with a smile. She stood so he could see the others. He frowned. “What are you all doing in my bedroom?” “It’s a long story, sir.” Jack groaned and sat up, his bare feet just touching the floor. “I assume this is… important?” "No, Jack. We gathered here for the hell of it,” Buffy said dryly. “Okay, I deserved that,” he said, slowly standing up. As he stretched, he remembered something. “I was having the weirdest dream.” A bright, white flash of light blinded the five of them for a moment. When it died away they found themselves on an Asgard ship. “Whoa,” Buffy whispered. “There, you see, Carter? Told you it was no problem,” the younger Jack said, walking over to them. He was still carrying the zat gun. “Good to see you in one piece,” Buffy said with a smile. Young Jack stopped next to the older one and studied him. Buffy hid a smile with her hand. The two were identically dressed in an Air Force t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants. The cuffs of their shirts were rolled slightly up. “What’s goin’ on?” The older one asked, looking at his teammates. Buffy rolled her eyes when they all looked away. This was starting to look like typical behavior for them. It was hard to believe that this was the crack team saving the Earth from alien attack. “Wow, uh, you know, I’m really much taller than I think.” Older Jack looked at the boy in confusion and then back at his team. “Carter?” “Colonel O’Neill, meet… Colonel O’Neill.” Jack looked the boy over and then asked again, “What’s goin’ on?” “We’re pretty sure this Asgard over here,” Daniel said, pointing at the Asgard that younger O’Neill must have subdued, “kidnapped you and attempted to replace you with a clone.” “How long was I asleep?” “Seven days,” Sam replied. He looked impressed. “That’s a record.” He looked at his younger self. “So you’re…me.” “Yeah, uh, believe me, if you think it’s weird, imagine how I feel being the copy.” Older Jack looked over at Buffy. “You’re clearance came through, I take it?” “Not before you told me everything anyways,” she said, nudging the younger one with her elbow. “Why didn’t you tell me that you had requested it?” “Didn’t want to get your hopes up if it didn’t,” he said with a shrug. “So… not mad at me about all of this?” “Nah. I can see why you’ve kept this a secret,” she said. A noise from the other side of the room pulled their attention. “He is awakened,” Teal’c said. Buffy hung back as the others crowded around a small grey alien with large black eyes that was tied to some sort of chair. “What’s happening?” It asked in a strange voice. “We were kind of hoping you could tell us,” Sam said. “No, no, no… this is all wrong.” “Hey!” Older Jack cried. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I just woke up, haven’t had coffee, let alone a pee in seven days, and I find out you stole my ass and made a… mini-me.” Buffy couldn’t stop the snort of laughter from escaping her lips. Until then, she hadn’t even thought of that reference. While the others talked, she drifted over to the viewport. She stared down at the Earth below them and was awed by how peaceful it looked from space. Never in a million years would she have believed that one day she would be staring at her planet from an alien spaceship. This was almost too much for her to believe. She could hear the alien going on about his illegal genetic research behind her. He sounded like some sort of strange enthusiast. “Why risk coming back here and breaking the law after nineteen years?” Daniel asked. “Because I thought he was the one.” “Me?” Both O’Neill’s asked at the same time. “Him?” Buffy asked, turning back to them. “I believed his genetic code contained the key.” “Mine?” They asked again. “Stop it,” older Jack said in irritation. “Like he can!” Buffy said, walking over to stand next to the clone. “He’s you.” Older Jack just glared at her. “He was physiologically advanced enough to carry and utilize all of the data from the Ancient repository of knowledge,” the alien continued. “That would not have been possible for any human one generation ago. He is a significant step forward on your evolutionary path.” “You just found this out recently?” Daniel asked skeptically. “I learned about it when all the Asgard did. O’Neill is legendary.” Buffy laughed. “That’s not funny,” both Jacks protested. “Sorry,” she mumbled, clearly not as her shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I hate to interrupt,” the younger one said, “but I’m on a deadline here. How do we stop me from dying?” “We cannot. I cannot reverse your fate. Nor can I explain why you did not mature to the proper age as you should have.” “That’s it,” the older O’Neill said, moving over to one of the consoles. “Carter, can you call Thor on this thing?” “Please… do not,” the alien said, as Sam moved to a different console and started moving crystals. “Oh shut up,” Buffy snapped. “I think you’ve done enough damage already.” Sam looked up and said, “Okay, pretty sure that’s it.” Previous Chapter Undertow Menu Chapter Five |
