DISCLAIMER: Let me make one thing perfectly clear! I don't own any part of the Buffy franchise it belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant enemy, and probably some other people. None of which are me. The same goes for Stargate. It's owned by MGM. Stargate productions, The Sci-fi Channel and who knows who else but definitely not by me. I'm just playing with them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place after Buffy's Finale and during the current season of Stargate and will loosely follow the plot for that season. So, BEWARE OF SPOILERS!! Daniel has returned and Jonas has gone back to his homeworld.
SPECIAL THANKS: To Sophia K. for doing the beta reading and going above and beyond the call of duty helping me get this out.
Now the story begins.
Jarin ran as fast as he could despite the burning in his lungs, fear was a great motivator. He had every reason to be afraid too. He was being pursued by an assassin; one that would take great pleasure in very slowly torturing him before finally letting him die. So he kept running. He had entered the park thinking it would be a good place to hide but his pursuer was tracking him far too easily and getting closer. He needed help and fast or it would be all over for him.
*** *** ***
Colonel Jack O'Neill quickly but quietly made his way through the park searching for Jarin. The man had been a scientist on his homeworld, trying to develop ways to defeat the Goa'uld. After sg-1 found him hiding out in a cave on a planet that was being occupied by the loathsome snakeheads he was brought to Earth and granted refugee status. Then he was allowed to set up a new lab in Denver so he could continue his work, with the understanding that the S.G.C. would get any useful results, of course.
An hour ago, he had contacted the S.G.C. and asked for help. An Ashrak was after him. How an Ashrak got on Earth, much less found him they didn't know, but Jack and his team were sent to pick Jarin up but got there too late. He was gone and his place was trashed. After tracking him to the nearby park they fanned out to cover more ground hoping they weren't to late.
*** *** ***
Jarin was getting too tired to run. He needed a place to hide. There were plenty of trees and bushes around but he was beginning to fear that wouldn't be enough. He had to think.
Just then he was hit from behind by a burst of energy and propelled through the air into a tree. Dazed, he painfully rose to his knees and looked in the direction the blast had come from. A look of sheer terror crossed his face when he saw the Goa'uld assassin approach.
"Pl- please no!" he begged gasping for air. "Ple-ase do-n't hu-rt m-e." He was sobbing now.
"You will die for betraying your gods." The Ashrak stated in a deep hollow voice and raised his hand revealing a ribbon device. A golden beam of energy shot from the device and bore into Jarin's mind.
"AAAHHH!!" The scientist's scream was deafening and full of pain.
*** *** ***
"Did everybody hear that?" Major Samantha Carter asked through her radio.
"Oh yeah. Sounds like our boy alright." O'Neill answered.
"Indeed" came Teal'c's reply
"If the Ashrak's got him he won't last long." Daniel stated the obvious.
"Alright here's how we do this,' the Colonel addressed his team as he ran. "It sounds like they're South of my current position so we rendezvous at the North wall of the restrooms and proceed from there."
Lucky for Jarin someone else was closer.
*** *** ***
Willow was busy contemplating the last two months. After The First was defeated and every potential in the world activated, there had been a lot of work to do. Giles and Robin were out trying to contact any of the Watchers that were still alive and organize a new Council. Xander put a construction crew together and was building a new training facility. Buffy and Faith, along with Dawn, were tracking down the new Slayers and making arrangements to have them sent there when it was complete. The ones that were in Sunnydale for the battle were allowed to go back home until the arrangements were made. That's where Kennedy was now, at home in The Hamptons, with her family. Everything was going great between them and Kennedy's family seemed to like her. In fact, she would be with them now if the coven hadn't asked her to come to Denver and attend an auction for them. The coven discovered that a scepter that once belonged to their founder ended up here on a public auction block. Not that the scepter wielded any power, it didn't, it was just that they considered it an heirloom and wanted it returned to them.
An ear-splitting scream broke her out of her thoughts. And Willow didn't need magic to tell whoever that scream belonged to was in some serious pain. She reached out with her senses to get a better fix on the location and felt fear, no, not fear, pure terror. Somebody needed help, fast.
The witch took off at a full run toward the source of the pain and terror she was feeling and came upon a group of trees a couple hundred yards south of the restrooms. There she saw a brunette man on his knees with a second man standing over him; his outstretched hand emitted an energy beam that lit up the smaller man's face obviously causing pain.
It only took a thought to send the bigger guy flying away from his victim and into a tree deeper into the thicket. Stepping out into the open, Willow placed herself between the two men with a stance that made it clear her intent was to protect the smaller man on the ground.
While the dazed attacker recovered Willow spared a glance at the victim. She didn't see any serious injuries but it was obvious that he wasn't in very good shape either. Turning back to her opponent, she sized him up. Her first thought when she saw the energy was that he was a warlock but she didn't feel any magic in him. He wasn't a demon either. She felt something but couldn't identify it. Whatever this guy was he wasn't human. That meant she could kill him.
*** *** ***
As Daniel Jackson joined his teammates behind the restrooms it dawned on him how unprepared they were for a confrontation with an Ashrak who probably had several types of weaponry at his disposal. None of them was very heavily armed. The only weapons any of them had were sidearms, which were a zat gun for Teal'c, and 9mm pistols for everyone else. Of course, they hadn't expected any trouble. This was supposed to be a simple retrieval. Just pick Jarin up at his apartment and escort him back to Colorado Springs and the S.G.C. easy right? But they never expected that there actually was a problem. They figured Jarin was just being paranoid. Besides, it would have been difficult to walk around an apartment building in full military gear without drawing attention to themselves; which is why they were dressed as civilians. Lucky for them they had the Ashrak outnumbered and the element of surprise.
"Okay, the way I see it, Jarin and the snakehead are somewhere in that patch of trees over there." Jack jerked his thumb in the direction he was talking about. "This place is too wide open for them to be anywhere else without us seeing them."
Everyone agreed
Jack went on, "Normally I'd say we surround the perimeter and come at him from all sides, but we don't have time for that. If that scream we heard was Jarin and the Ashrak has him he'll be dead by the time we get in position, if he isn't already."
"I agree." Teal'c stated.
Daniel and Sam just nodded.
"So, we go in together. Hit him hard and fast, before he has time to react. And hope Jarin is still alive." Then he added, "Make sure none of us shoot him either."
*** *** ***
Jarin realized that he wasn't dead yet. He hurt too much to be dead. So why had the Ashrak stopped torturing him. He looked up to see what miracle had saved him and saw a redheaded woman standing between him and his torturer.
"How dare you interfere with a god!" the Ashrak demanded.
The redhead just "plerphed" at him.
If Jarin could see her face he would've seen her eyes roll.
"You a god?" She fought back a laugh. "You don't even come close to being a god. But I'm about to introduce you to one." She finished seriously.
The Ashrak's eyes flashed white with anger and raised the ribbon device emitting a blast that exploded out toward her, but the young woman threw her own hand up and erected a shield that withstood the blast. Then she countered with what looked like a bolt of electricity that arced from her other hand. The Ashrak went airborne and landed in heap on a bush.
Jarin decided that this was a good time to leave and scrambled off despite the pain. The only thought his brain was processing was 'Run now. Hurt later.' So that's what he did. Once clear of the trees and brush, he just ran. However, he didn't make it very far when he slammed into a big solid object with an "Oomph!"
*** *** ***
They were only a few yards from the trees when a figure emerged and ran into Teal'c then fell to the ground. It took a second for them to recognize the little scientist but relaxed when they did.
"Jarin, what happened?" Sam was quick to ask.
It took Jarin a few seconds to process what Sam had said before answering, " A woman, she attacked him."
"The Ashrak, you mean." Daniel asked for clarification.
Jarin nodded. Then winced.
"Carter, you and Daniel stay here look after Jarin. Teal'c, with me." Jack ordered. Then headed for the dense brush.
*** *** ***
Willow felt the power inside her rise to the surface as she watched the man struggle in the bush but maintained control. She would use it if she had to, but no way would she let it control her again and throw away the second chance her friends had given her. The man's hand suddenly appeared and another blast shot out. She barely had time to throw up her own hand and form a shield that blocked the beam.
"Is that the best you got? Gotta say pretty pitiful for someone claiming to be a god." She mocked him.
"You will pay for your insolence!" he told her then disappeared.
"Okay, didn't see that coming." she told herself. But even though she couldn't see him she could feel him. He was circling. Trying to get behind her. With a low sweeping motion of her hand the witch knocked the legs out from under her adversary and heard him hit the ground. She turned looking down at where she knew he was and said, "Aperio". The man became visible again.
"Who are you? The 'god' demanded to know.
"If you were a god you would know everything. Which means you would already know who I am." The witch taunted.
Squatting down next to him she went on. "Now that we've established that you're not a god, what are you and why were you hurting that other man?"
*** *** ***
Jack and Teal'c saw a flash of light as they cautiously approached. Jack was certain that the Good Samaritan that saved Jarin was either dead or wishing that she was. A civilian wouldn't stand a chance against a highly trained 'hunter'.
They were both surprised when a young redhead kneeling over a blonde man came into view. With a hand signal he told Teal'c to hold up. Crouching down behind the cover of some shrubbery they watched and listened.
"-hurting that other man" she was saying.
*** *** ***
Willow was so focused on the sandy haired thug's face that she didn't notice his left hand holding the knife until it made its move. She caught his wrist stopping the blade before it sliced through her throat. He was stronger than her however and began to press against her. Realizing that she was no physical match for this guy the witch used her free hand to make a twisting motion. The attacker's head made the same movement snapping his neck with an audible crunch.
The body went limp.
Willow picked up the knife and studied it. It had a large single edge blade with a row of teeth along the back and some symbols that she didn't recognize embossed on both sides. The handle also had a crystal in the butt end.
She rolled the body over and searched for anything else that might help identify what he was and noticed some type of gauntlet on his right hand with a crystal in the palm held in place by a wide flat piece of metal that coiled around the arm like a snake and gold arms that slipped over his fingers. She removed the device and rose to her feet examining it.
*** *** ***
Jack snapped his gun up ready to fire at the Ashrak when he lashed out at her with a knife; but stopped when the woman caught his arm. The next sight sent his mind spinning. The woman raised her other hand and made a sharp twisting motion that the Ashrak's head imitated. A crunching sound informed him that his neck had snapped.
Jack looked at Teal'c but if the jaffa noticed he didn't give any indication. He just continued to watch as the redhead apparently examined the knife then searched the body finding a ribbon device.
*** *** ***
Turning around she started to walk away then stopped after a few steps. In her anxiousness to study the items she almost forgot to get rid of the body. With a wave of her hand she caused it to burst into flames that consumed the corpse in a matter of seconds and left nothing behind. Then she walked away heading back to her hotel to research the things she had just gotten.
*** *** ***
Teal'c raised his zat as she started to walk away intending to prevent her from escaping with Goa'uld technology but when the mystery woman turned back around Jack quickly placed a hand on the weapon stopping him. He was afraid that they had been detected. Boy was he glad that they hadn't been when she waved her hand toward the Ashrak's body and it burst into flames then was gone.
Jack waited until he was sure the "whatever she was' had moved out of earshot before he turned to Teal'c and not really expecting an answer asked, "O.k. who or what the hell was that?"