Categories > TV > Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Family Reunion
Mail Call II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smallville
"Hey, mom,” Clark Kent greeted as he placed the mail on the table. The dark haired teen reached into the fridge, grabbed the milk jug, and began to drink from it. “Anything interesting going on?”
"Not really, Clark,” the woman replied as she pulled the latest batch of muffins out of the oven her blonde hair hanging in a messy ponytail. She thought about telling her son off for drinking out of the milk jug again; a habit that he had picked up from Jonathan, who thought that it was perfectly natural for a person to drink out of the jug. She set the muffins down and began sorting through the mail. She grinned, there was a letter from Jonathan’s cousin, Joyce. They hadn’t even sent a Christmas card to them last year, because things had gotten so busy. She had been kind of relieved when they hadn’t received one from her either. Still, it would be good to hear from her, and about her daughters. She opened it, and her mouth dropped open as she looked at the large sheaf of papers that had been stuffed into the envelope. It was as if she had just been given the life story of someone, and she was now being asked to read it.
"Whoa. Who sent the letter that rivals one of Chloe’s editorials?” Clark kidded as he grabbed the envelope that was lying beside the papers. “B Summers? Why does that name mean something to me?”
"She’s your cousin, Clark, on your father’s side,” Martha replied distractedly as she read the letter in front of her. "This can’t be right,” She muttered casting a glance or two at Clark. Before going back to reading the letter, she spent several minutes rereading just the first page. Clark saw that there were parts that she was reading over, to make sure that she had read something right. She shakily set the piece of paper down and then turned to the rest of the papers that were slightly different than the others. It looked like his cousin had been doing this like they were Christmas letters; as if they had been sent to more than one person. That was the only reason that he could imagine for why they had gotten something this big.
"So, do they have anything interesting to say?"
Martha bit her lip before looking outside. "I think we need to wait for your father on this one, Clark. You can read the first part, but the rest will have to wait ‘til he gets a chance to look over it; and seeing how long it is, that probably means that you’ll get to see it in a few days."
"Yeah sure, mom, that’s fine," Clark said as he gave his usual smile, and picked the note up and read it.
Dear Kansas family,
Hi, my name is Buffy Anne Summers and I am related to you. At least according to the records that we have in my mother’s old Rolodex, which I’m currently going through. If I read this right, we appear to be just plain old cousins, or something like that. Distant ones, yes, but we’re still cousins.
A weird thing, even for me, has happened in my life. It seems that I have been named the leader of an army of girls, to deal with an army rising out of something called the Boca del Infierno, or in simpler words for those of you whose Spanish isn’t what it should be, the mouth of Hell. We just call it the Hellmouth. I know a lot of you are probably reaching for the telephone right now and are seriously considering calling the men in white jackets to come and cart me away to some sort of padded cell, but trust me when I tell you that I am not crazy. I am one of the few people that stands between the world ending and keeps it spinning in its usual round way. I am the person that the unimaginable monsters fear. I am the Slayer.
Behind this little letter are some of the adventures that my friends and I have been on. Use this information carefully, and you may survive the coming darkness that is on the way. I have sent copies of these stories to other family members as well. Just know that I’ll do my best, but this may be the one where I can’t stop the bad guy from doing his thing this time. And if it is, then the world needs to have some pocket defenses that know how to fight the things that will be coming if I fail.
Buffy Anne Summers
P.S. Keep Safe
Clark looked up at his mother, a bewildered look on his face. “Is it likely that she’s telling the truth mom?”
“I don’t know Clark. Give us time to look it over. She could just be a disturbed person.”
“Or there could be a connection to this and the meteors, Clark pointed out. “Which makes it my responsibility to take care of, not hers.”
“Not everything has to do with you and the meteors Clark.” Martha replied. “I don’t want you to get hurt, is all,” She admitted when she saw the hurt in his eyes.
“It’s all right, mom,” Clark reassured her. “It would take us a while to get there anyway.”
“If you go, Clark, we may have to go with you,” his mom said.
“No way, mom,” Clark said. “This could be dangerous and there is no way that I am going to let you or dad get hurt if this is real “
“This is about family, Clark. We are all going if we find even the slightest bit of truth to this. We are going down there to help. “
“How can we afford something like this right now though?” Clark argued back. “We’re just barely making the payments on the farm as it is, right now. And then there’s the whole job thing with Mr. Luthor…”
“We will go together, if we go at all, Clark. It may not be as fast as any of us like, but we will all get there. Is that understood?”
“Yes ma’am,” He answered, sagging his head in defeat at the mother glare that she was directing at him. “I guess I better go and do my chores,” he said. ‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘I promised Lex that I’d go by his place later to shoot some pool.’ Sighing in frustration, he sped out the door to get to work. He also made a mental note to check out all of the monster movies in Smallville. Who knew; he just might learn something that he could use in all this. If his parents would let him go,that is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado
Col. Jack O’Neil was not amused as he looked at the bunch of army yahoos that seemed to have invited themselves into his office. He glared suspiciously at the group of four in his seldom visited, paperwork room; where all the reports that he was supposed to do came. Other than Springer, he didn’t recognize any of them. “Can I help you?” the man asked as he leaned against the doorframe.
“Yes, sir, I believe you can,” replied a tall, blonde, blue eyed guy that would have been perfect for a recruiting poster, if it weren’t for the nasty looking scar on the right side of his face. “I’m Captain Riley Finn, sir. I’m here to enquire about your relationship with one Buffy Summers.”
“Who?”
Finn shared a quick grin with one of his soldiers. “Well, at least we know you don’t know Miss Summer’s codename: Graveyard Girl.”
“Is this about that girl that I took out last night?” Jack asked, starting to get annoyed at all of the crap that was going on.
“No, sir, it’s not. Besides, you don’t fit the age requirements that Graveyard Girl prefers. Though you do come pretty close to it,” a soldier off to the side said as he looked straight at O’Neill.
“Graham,” Finn warned.
“Sorry,” the man replied, giving Finn a slight grin before returning to his emotionless state.
“Anyway,” Finn continued, obviously annoyed at his partner. “We are here to enquire about a rather large envelope you received from Miss Summers in the mail.
“Uh huh,” Jack replied. “ And this matters to you because?”
“That’s classified, sir. At least it is until you read that letter.”
“Springer, if I find out this NID, you’re going to be in the crapper for a longtime,” O’Neill warned as he walked over to his inbox and looked at his pile of mail. He fell into his chair and casually began flipping through it. The envelope that they had wanted him to look at was on top, but he managed to conveniently reshuffle his mail so that the secret letter was now at the bottom of the pile. Bill, bill, insurance policy, credit card application, a few letters from various people; he looked at the names, Smith, Jones, Blake, and even one from Sarah. He came across a couple of catalogs, a swimsuit magazine, and finally, there was the big envelope that all the fuss was about. Where was Daniel when he needed him?
The first thing he pulled out was a short letter. Next was a large pile of papers that appeared to be photocopies. His curiosity getting the better of him, he finally picked up the letter and began to read it, while the group in his office watched with bated breath.
Dear Uncle Jack,
How ya doing? Had I known about you when I was younger, I might have looked you up when I was dating certain people. Now I know that you’re probably wondering who the heck this person is that’s writing to you and calling you uncle. My name is Buffy Summers and I do not want to hear any cracks about that! According to the records that I have in my mothers old Rolodex, we are related to each other, somehow or other. I believe that you’re my grandmother’s brother’s son.
As Jack read the rest of the letter, he tried not to let it show to the soldier boys in his office just how he felt about what he was reading. Then he got to the P.S.:
P.S, If Riley Finn is there with the rest of his friends, tell him not to play the classified game with you. If he does, and I’m dead by now, I will rise from the grave just for the pleasure of kicking his ass. And then I’ll hit him over the head for never telling me about having family in the military. Unless he expects me to believe that there was never a background check on me.
Jack looked up at the men in front of him. He placed the letter down and slid it across the table. “This from who you think it is?” Finn picked the letter up and began reading it, while Jack flipped through the pages of stuff in front of him. Shaking his head, he thought to himself, 'This is like some of the stuff that SG1 went through. There is no way that a kid should have to be the one to go through all this; if it’s true.'
"Thank you, sir. Can you let us inspect the papers now? There might be some useful information,” the one soldier that hadn’t been named yet asked.
"Don’t try it, Jameson,” Riley said as the man moved forward.
"But, sir, we have to keep this information classified,” the man argued.
"You forget that orders say Graveyard Girl has the authority to inform anyone that she wants to,” Graham said. "And if you attempt to confiscate those papers, you’ll be in more hot water than you want to be."
"My team is going to find out about this,” Jack stated looking at Finn. “I have a language specialist, a combat specialist, and a scientist. And they’re all open minded. I’m going to go over all of this-“ he waved casually to the pile of papers in front of him that he had just been skimming “- with them.” Daniel, Teal’c and Sam should be able to figure out what the hell was going on and what of it was true. "When we’re done, I’ll let you know what we plan to do about this."
"Yes, sir,” Riley replied. "I have to go talk to my commander about planning a mission to the Hellmouth. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get this all over with."
"I know how long these kinds of things take soldier, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be done and ready to make my call when the time comes."
"Yes, sir." Riley saluted the colonel, the other soldiers quickly following.
"One last thing before your dismissed.”O’Neill said leaving the men hanging. “Is Springer going to be relaying any more information, or is he just an emergency precaution?
"Precaution only, sir. We deal with things that are related to those papers. Whatever it is you deal with, I’m told it’s just as crazy and important. That is all the real information that I’m cleared to give you."
"All right, then you’re dismissed,” he said as he exchanged salutes with the men.
After they left, Jack sighed and arranged for a couple of guards to shadow the group back to the surface. A few more floors, and they would have seen the Stargate. That was not something he wanted to explain to anyone. Jack got up and headed for the office of what was probably his best friend. "Hey Daniel, I’ve got something I need you to look at,” he said as he held the papers in his hands out, tempting the overactive student in his friend. The brown haired man looked up from a tablet that he was trying to translate. He winced slightly; he still had bruises from falling down a hill. Standing out of the way was another man; easily twice as big as either of the other two. “Good, you’re here too, Teal’c. We’ll need all the help we can get.”
The Jaffa warrior merely raised an eyebrow at O’Neill. It was unlike his leader to want to research anything, much less a file as big as the one that he was holding. Something must have affected him on their last mission to make him act like this; such a phenomenon would be totally unnoticed in Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. He would have to watch them though, just to be sure that they did not display any abnormal behavior.
"Hey Jack, we have that briefing in a few minutes,” Daniel reminded him, looking up in surprise at the large file that was placed in front of him. " What’s all this?"
“Here,” Jack said, ignoring the hint about the meeting, as he tossed a small piece of paper off the top to the man behind the desk. Grabbing it, Daniel Jackson quickly read it. His mouth hanging open in shock, he passed the letter back, and Jack handed it over his shoulder to the tall, dark skinned man.
Teal’c looked at it for a moment before looking back at O’Neill. “I thought that your Vampyre were nothing more than stories.”
“And so were those giant lizards,” Jack replied referring to the Unas that they ran into from time to time.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said, bowing his head in agreement.
Daniel had already placed the tablet to the side and started reading the report. “The Chosen One,” he mused as he pulled out a drawer from a nearby file cabinet. He rifled through the drawer until he came to the necessary file. He pulled it out and looked at it. “Here it is: The Chosen One, a mystical warrior that was chosen by the higher beings to battle the hordes of darkness.” He looked up in excitement. “Jack, you’ve just confirmed one of the most obscure myths on Earth. Originally, I though that the Chosen One was the Goa’uld Sea’es. He was an unusual Goa’uld who appears to have gained worship through acts of heroism, rather than through acts of terror. He was most likely various heroes of the Greeks like Hercules, Perseus, Achilles, and Castor and Pollux. Possibly even Atalanta. For all we know he could even have been Gilgamesh ”
“So you’re saying that this Chosen One was something that was picked by the snake heads?” Jack asked. “Either a snake, or one of their little experiments?”
“No, Jack. The Chosen One, or Ones- I’m still looking into that part, was someone that was given large amounts of power by higher beings, the Powers that Be, a formless entity that affected various people.”
“So you think this might be similar?”
“It could be,” Daniel said excitedly, his eyes lighting up at the thought of understanding a mystery which had plagued historians for years. “I’ll have to read all of this before I can be sure though,” he added, nodding to the pile Jack had just dropped in front of him.
“We’ll let you get to work on that after the debriefing,” Jack said as he grabbed the file off the desk and handed it to Teal’c. “Guard this for me buddy.”
“I will endeavor to do my best, O’Neill.”
“All right, for now we’ll just have to tell the general, that we’re doing research on the possibility of another Goa’uld on Earth,” Jack said as he led the other two out of the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York
Scott Summers slowly pulled himself out of bed. It was just harder to move these days without her there beside him. She had been the person that he strove, and fought for. Now she was gone, and he had to act like nothing was wrong. He undid the strap of the visor that he slept in and pulled on a pair of ruby red glasses that covered his eyes all the way; leaving no room, for his deadly beams to slip out. After getting dressed, he walked downstairs and saw that the mail had already been delivered; it was sorted and ready for people to pick up. He grabbed his stack of mail and began going through it. There was the mechanics magazine, the insurance on his car, and an item mentioning that he was one of the benefactors from Jean’s life insurance.
“What’s up, bub?” Logan, or as he preferred, Wolverine asked as he came in to the kitchen. The feral mutant had agreed to hang around after the whole deal with Stryker. He was currently in charge of gym and wilderness training classes. He had spent some time mourning Jean as well, in the small wooded area that surrounded the back of the mansion.
“Not much,” Scott replied, as he poured himself a coffee and looked for any actual mail, so he wouldn’t have to deal with Jean’s paperwork yet. He smiled as he saw a large yellow envelope. At first, he thought it was something official, but instead it was actually something from his cousins in California. He easily slit it open. It had been a couple years since he had heard anything from Aunt Joyce or his two cousins. He read the letter and paled. Storm, Professor Xavier, and the newest addition to their teaching ranks, Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy, who was also known as the Beast due to his animal like appearance, entered the room.
“Scott, what’s wrong?” Xavier questioned, sensing the fear and confusion that was coming off his oldest student.
Scott looked over at the bald man sitting in his wheel chair across from him, his piercing blue eyes boring into him. Scott merely pushed the first piece of paper across the table to the other man, ignoring the smell of brimstone as Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler, appeared in his usual cloud of smoke. Xavier looked at the note and began to read
Hey Too Cool Scottie and Alex the Smart Alec. It’s me, your favorite cousin Buffy!
I know we haven’t talked to each other much since you guys got separated to who knows where, but mom did have Scott’s address, so maybe you guys are together again. I hope so at least. If Dawn were awake, I’m sure she’d write her own note to add to this, but since I’m the only one awake, you’ll just have to deal with me and my notes. Anyway cuz 1 and 2,just so you don’t think I’m only sending this stuff to you, , know that I’m also sending it to other people in the family, so here’s the bit of family news that I have.
Xavier went from interested, to concerned, to worried, to amazed, as he read the note. Finally, he got to the P.S.:
P.S. Hey Too Cool, you still wearing those sunglasses that I saw you in last time?
Xavier passed the letter to McCoy, who merely muttered, “Fascinating,” as he read it.
“Tell me, Scott. What are the chances that this is nothing more than a mutant war, that has been blown out of proportion?”Xavier inquired.
Scott shrugged as he watched the junior team come in. Logan scowled slightly at Bobby Drake, but that was more for show these days, than anything else. The junior team had all been granted X-Men status after the whole Weapon X fiasco a few months ago. So, the team now had four junior members. Marie was the leader, with Kitty Pryde as her second in command. The two boys who finished off the group, showed no want for leadership. Peter Rasputin and Bobby Drake preferred to just obey orders, while the girls were more imaginative and forceful in the Danger Room. The few missions they had been on, had been interesting. Marie, AKA Rogue, had the ability to drain another mutant’s power and abilities; her team partner, Bobby, A.K.A Ice Man, was as his name implied, capable of manipulating ice. Kitty Pryde, A.K.A Shadowcat, could make herself intangible, while her team partner, Peter, A.K.A Colossus, was the exact opposite of her, and was able to turn his body into organic metal.
The kids were allowed to look at the note, after they agreed not to say anything to any of the other students until the adults could figure out what was going on.
“Well, I can tell you now, mein friends, that vampires are real,” Kurt said from his seat.
Logan nodded in agreement to this. “Yeah, I’ve had a few run-ins with vampires. They’re as fast and agile as Mystique, as strong as McCoy, and heal pretty fast too.”
“Like you?”
“Nope, but a bullet wound will heal over in a day, maybe less. Depends on what they’ve been eating, or rather what they’ve been drinking.”
Beast nodded as he contemplated this bit of information. “If what you are saying is correct, my untamed colleague, then our dear, bright eyed friend, will need us to go over this gargantuan pile of paperwork that portrays everything that has happened to this faceless kinswoman of his.”
“How long do you think she has?”
“I think she has time, judging by this,” Logan answered as he read the note. “I’d say she’s just preparing for the worst.” He snorted slightly at the nickname. “Too Cool?” he questioned.
He slumped his shoulders in embarrassment; now that everyone was interested in the story, he had to explain. “After I got my glasses, she started calling me Too Cool. The little twerp,” he murmured under his breath, softly enough that he was sure the only ones that might have heard him were Logan and Hank. The Professor might have sensed the words as well.
“I like the girl already,” Logan said grinning, ignoring the warning look that Scott sent him.
“We will have to be careful though,” Xavier cautioned , “I don’t want a repeat of Stryker, where he managed to pick us off one or two at a time, before we even knew what had happened.”
“Ask Richards if he’ll come and give a seminar for a few days,” Logan suggested.
“That might not be a bad idea, but the man is very busy.”
“Well, from the way that she’s talking, it sounds like we have a little while before this Hellmouth opens professor,” Kitty responded as she looked at the letter. “Besides, this evil stuff won’t know what hit it when we decide to go.”
“I believe that is the best course of action,” Xavier agreed.” Is there anything else before classes start?”
“Um, who’s Alex?”
“My brother,” Scott replied emotionlessly. “I’ll get a hold of him, and tell him about short stack. He’ll probably want to get involved as well.”
“He gonna be of any help, bub?”
“Yeah,” Scott said, “he shoots cosmic energy out of his fists. Think that will be enough to satisfy you?" Logan grunted, but didn’t say anything.
The others all nodded. If this wasn’t one of their usual missions and they weren’t required to get into instant action, then they could study about what they were going up against.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smallville
"Hey, mom,” Clark Kent greeted as he placed the mail on the table. The dark haired teen reached into the fridge, grabbed the milk jug, and began to drink from it. “Anything interesting going on?”
"Not really, Clark,” the woman replied as she pulled the latest batch of muffins out of the oven her blonde hair hanging in a messy ponytail. She thought about telling her son off for drinking out of the milk jug again; a habit that he had picked up from Jonathan, who thought that it was perfectly natural for a person to drink out of the jug. She set the muffins down and began sorting through the mail. She grinned, there was a letter from Jonathan’s cousin, Joyce. They hadn’t even sent a Christmas card to them last year, because things had gotten so busy. She had been kind of relieved when they hadn’t received one from her either. Still, it would be good to hear from her, and about her daughters. She opened it, and her mouth dropped open as she looked at the large sheaf of papers that had been stuffed into the envelope. It was as if she had just been given the life story of someone, and she was now being asked to read it.
"Whoa. Who sent the letter that rivals one of Chloe’s editorials?” Clark kidded as he grabbed the envelope that was lying beside the papers. “B Summers? Why does that name mean something to me?”
"She’s your cousin, Clark, on your father’s side,” Martha replied distractedly as she read the letter in front of her. "This can’t be right,” She muttered casting a glance or two at Clark. Before going back to reading the letter, she spent several minutes rereading just the first page. Clark saw that there were parts that she was reading over, to make sure that she had read something right. She shakily set the piece of paper down and then turned to the rest of the papers that were slightly different than the others. It looked like his cousin had been doing this like they were Christmas letters; as if they had been sent to more than one person. That was the only reason that he could imagine for why they had gotten something this big.
"So, do they have anything interesting to say?"
Martha bit her lip before looking outside. "I think we need to wait for your father on this one, Clark. You can read the first part, but the rest will have to wait ‘til he gets a chance to look over it; and seeing how long it is, that probably means that you’ll get to see it in a few days."
"Yeah sure, mom, that’s fine," Clark said as he gave his usual smile, and picked the note up and read it.
Dear Kansas family,
Hi, my name is Buffy Anne Summers and I am related to you. At least according to the records that we have in my mother’s old Rolodex, which I’m currently going through. If I read this right, we appear to be just plain old cousins, or something like that. Distant ones, yes, but we’re still cousins.
A weird thing, even for me, has happened in my life. It seems that I have been named the leader of an army of girls, to deal with an army rising out of something called the Boca del Infierno, or in simpler words for those of you whose Spanish isn’t what it should be, the mouth of Hell. We just call it the Hellmouth. I know a lot of you are probably reaching for the telephone right now and are seriously considering calling the men in white jackets to come and cart me away to some sort of padded cell, but trust me when I tell you that I am not crazy. I am one of the few people that stands between the world ending and keeps it spinning in its usual round way. I am the person that the unimaginable monsters fear. I am the Slayer.
Behind this little letter are some of the adventures that my friends and I have been on. Use this information carefully, and you may survive the coming darkness that is on the way. I have sent copies of these stories to other family members as well. Just know that I’ll do my best, but this may be the one where I can’t stop the bad guy from doing his thing this time. And if it is, then the world needs to have some pocket defenses that know how to fight the things that will be coming if I fail.
Buffy Anne Summers
P.S. Keep Safe
Clark looked up at his mother, a bewildered look on his face. “Is it likely that she’s telling the truth mom?”
“I don’t know Clark. Give us time to look it over. She could just be a disturbed person.”
“Or there could be a connection to this and the meteors, Clark pointed out. “Which makes it my responsibility to take care of, not hers.”
“Not everything has to do with you and the meteors Clark.” Martha replied. “I don’t want you to get hurt, is all,” She admitted when she saw the hurt in his eyes.
“It’s all right, mom,” Clark reassured her. “It would take us a while to get there anyway.”
“If you go, Clark, we may have to go with you,” his mom said.
“No way, mom,” Clark said. “This could be dangerous and there is no way that I am going to let you or dad get hurt if this is real “
“This is about family, Clark. We are all going if we find even the slightest bit of truth to this. We are going down there to help. “
“How can we afford something like this right now though?” Clark argued back. “We’re just barely making the payments on the farm as it is, right now. And then there’s the whole job thing with Mr. Luthor…”
“We will go together, if we go at all, Clark. It may not be as fast as any of us like, but we will all get there. Is that understood?”
“Yes ma’am,” He answered, sagging his head in defeat at the mother glare that she was directing at him. “I guess I better go and do my chores,” he said. ‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘I promised Lex that I’d go by his place later to shoot some pool.’ Sighing in frustration, he sped out the door to get to work. He also made a mental note to check out all of the monster movies in Smallville. Who knew; he just might learn something that he could use in all this. If his parents would let him go,that is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado
Col. Jack O’Neil was not amused as he looked at the bunch of army yahoos that seemed to have invited themselves into his office. He glared suspiciously at the group of four in his seldom visited, paperwork room; where all the reports that he was supposed to do came. Other than Springer, he didn’t recognize any of them. “Can I help you?” the man asked as he leaned against the doorframe.
“Yes, sir, I believe you can,” replied a tall, blonde, blue eyed guy that would have been perfect for a recruiting poster, if it weren’t for the nasty looking scar on the right side of his face. “I’m Captain Riley Finn, sir. I’m here to enquire about your relationship with one Buffy Summers.”
“Who?”
Finn shared a quick grin with one of his soldiers. “Well, at least we know you don’t know Miss Summer’s codename: Graveyard Girl.”
“Is this about that girl that I took out last night?” Jack asked, starting to get annoyed at all of the crap that was going on.
“No, sir, it’s not. Besides, you don’t fit the age requirements that Graveyard Girl prefers. Though you do come pretty close to it,” a soldier off to the side said as he looked straight at O’Neill.
“Graham,” Finn warned.
“Sorry,” the man replied, giving Finn a slight grin before returning to his emotionless state.
“Anyway,” Finn continued, obviously annoyed at his partner. “We are here to enquire about a rather large envelope you received from Miss Summers in the mail.
“Uh huh,” Jack replied. “ And this matters to you because?”
“That’s classified, sir. At least it is until you read that letter.”
“Springer, if I find out this NID, you’re going to be in the crapper for a longtime,” O’Neill warned as he walked over to his inbox and looked at his pile of mail. He fell into his chair and casually began flipping through it. The envelope that they had wanted him to look at was on top, but he managed to conveniently reshuffle his mail so that the secret letter was now at the bottom of the pile. Bill, bill, insurance policy, credit card application, a few letters from various people; he looked at the names, Smith, Jones, Blake, and even one from Sarah. He came across a couple of catalogs, a swimsuit magazine, and finally, there was the big envelope that all the fuss was about. Where was Daniel when he needed him?
The first thing he pulled out was a short letter. Next was a large pile of papers that appeared to be photocopies. His curiosity getting the better of him, he finally picked up the letter and began to read it, while the group in his office watched with bated breath.
Dear Uncle Jack,
How ya doing? Had I known about you when I was younger, I might have looked you up when I was dating certain people. Now I know that you’re probably wondering who the heck this person is that’s writing to you and calling you uncle. My name is Buffy Summers and I do not want to hear any cracks about that! According to the records that I have in my mothers old Rolodex, we are related to each other, somehow or other. I believe that you’re my grandmother’s brother’s son.
As Jack read the rest of the letter, he tried not to let it show to the soldier boys in his office just how he felt about what he was reading. Then he got to the P.S.:
P.S, If Riley Finn is there with the rest of his friends, tell him not to play the classified game with you. If he does, and I’m dead by now, I will rise from the grave just for the pleasure of kicking his ass. And then I’ll hit him over the head for never telling me about having family in the military. Unless he expects me to believe that there was never a background check on me.
Jack looked up at the men in front of him. He placed the letter down and slid it across the table. “This from who you think it is?” Finn picked the letter up and began reading it, while Jack flipped through the pages of stuff in front of him. Shaking his head, he thought to himself, 'This is like some of the stuff that SG1 went through. There is no way that a kid should have to be the one to go through all this; if it’s true.'
"Thank you, sir. Can you let us inspect the papers now? There might be some useful information,” the one soldier that hadn’t been named yet asked.
"Don’t try it, Jameson,” Riley said as the man moved forward.
"But, sir, we have to keep this information classified,” the man argued.
"You forget that orders say Graveyard Girl has the authority to inform anyone that she wants to,” Graham said. "And if you attempt to confiscate those papers, you’ll be in more hot water than you want to be."
"My team is going to find out about this,” Jack stated looking at Finn. “I have a language specialist, a combat specialist, and a scientist. And they’re all open minded. I’m going to go over all of this-“ he waved casually to the pile of papers in front of him that he had just been skimming “- with them.” Daniel, Teal’c and Sam should be able to figure out what the hell was going on and what of it was true. "When we’re done, I’ll let you know what we plan to do about this."
"Yes, sir,” Riley replied. "I have to go talk to my commander about planning a mission to the Hellmouth. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get this all over with."
"I know how long these kinds of things take soldier, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be done and ready to make my call when the time comes."
"Yes, sir." Riley saluted the colonel, the other soldiers quickly following.
"One last thing before your dismissed.”O’Neill said leaving the men hanging. “Is Springer going to be relaying any more information, or is he just an emergency precaution?
"Precaution only, sir. We deal with things that are related to those papers. Whatever it is you deal with, I’m told it’s just as crazy and important. That is all the real information that I’m cleared to give you."
"All right, then you’re dismissed,” he said as he exchanged salutes with the men.
After they left, Jack sighed and arranged for a couple of guards to shadow the group back to the surface. A few more floors, and they would have seen the Stargate. That was not something he wanted to explain to anyone. Jack got up and headed for the office of what was probably his best friend. "Hey Daniel, I’ve got something I need you to look at,” he said as he held the papers in his hands out, tempting the overactive student in his friend. The brown haired man looked up from a tablet that he was trying to translate. He winced slightly; he still had bruises from falling down a hill. Standing out of the way was another man; easily twice as big as either of the other two. “Good, you’re here too, Teal’c. We’ll need all the help we can get.”
The Jaffa warrior merely raised an eyebrow at O’Neill. It was unlike his leader to want to research anything, much less a file as big as the one that he was holding. Something must have affected him on their last mission to make him act like this; such a phenomenon would be totally unnoticed in Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. He would have to watch them though, just to be sure that they did not display any abnormal behavior.
"Hey Jack, we have that briefing in a few minutes,” Daniel reminded him, looking up in surprise at the large file that was placed in front of him. " What’s all this?"
“Here,” Jack said, ignoring the hint about the meeting, as he tossed a small piece of paper off the top to the man behind the desk. Grabbing it, Daniel Jackson quickly read it. His mouth hanging open in shock, he passed the letter back, and Jack handed it over his shoulder to the tall, dark skinned man.
Teal’c looked at it for a moment before looking back at O’Neill. “I thought that your Vampyre were nothing more than stories.”
“And so were those giant lizards,” Jack replied referring to the Unas that they ran into from time to time.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said, bowing his head in agreement.
Daniel had already placed the tablet to the side and started reading the report. “The Chosen One,” he mused as he pulled out a drawer from a nearby file cabinet. He rifled through the drawer until he came to the necessary file. He pulled it out and looked at it. “Here it is: The Chosen One, a mystical warrior that was chosen by the higher beings to battle the hordes of darkness.” He looked up in excitement. “Jack, you’ve just confirmed one of the most obscure myths on Earth. Originally, I though that the Chosen One was the Goa’uld Sea’es. He was an unusual Goa’uld who appears to have gained worship through acts of heroism, rather than through acts of terror. He was most likely various heroes of the Greeks like Hercules, Perseus, Achilles, and Castor and Pollux. Possibly even Atalanta. For all we know he could even have been Gilgamesh ”
“So you’re saying that this Chosen One was something that was picked by the snake heads?” Jack asked. “Either a snake, or one of their little experiments?”
“No, Jack. The Chosen One, or Ones- I’m still looking into that part, was someone that was given large amounts of power by higher beings, the Powers that Be, a formless entity that affected various people.”
“So you think this might be similar?”
“It could be,” Daniel said excitedly, his eyes lighting up at the thought of understanding a mystery which had plagued historians for years. “I’ll have to read all of this before I can be sure though,” he added, nodding to the pile Jack had just dropped in front of him.
“We’ll let you get to work on that after the debriefing,” Jack said as he grabbed the file off the desk and handed it to Teal’c. “Guard this for me buddy.”
“I will endeavor to do my best, O’Neill.”
“All right, for now we’ll just have to tell the general, that we’re doing research on the possibility of another Goa’uld on Earth,” Jack said as he led the other two out of the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York
Scott Summers slowly pulled himself out of bed. It was just harder to move these days without her there beside him. She had been the person that he strove, and fought for. Now she was gone, and he had to act like nothing was wrong. He undid the strap of the visor that he slept in and pulled on a pair of ruby red glasses that covered his eyes all the way; leaving no room, for his deadly beams to slip out. After getting dressed, he walked downstairs and saw that the mail had already been delivered; it was sorted and ready for people to pick up. He grabbed his stack of mail and began going through it. There was the mechanics magazine, the insurance on his car, and an item mentioning that he was one of the benefactors from Jean’s life insurance.
“What’s up, bub?” Logan, or as he preferred, Wolverine asked as he came in to the kitchen. The feral mutant had agreed to hang around after the whole deal with Stryker. He was currently in charge of gym and wilderness training classes. He had spent some time mourning Jean as well, in the small wooded area that surrounded the back of the mansion.
“Not much,” Scott replied, as he poured himself a coffee and looked for any actual mail, so he wouldn’t have to deal with Jean’s paperwork yet. He smiled as he saw a large yellow envelope. At first, he thought it was something official, but instead it was actually something from his cousins in California. He easily slit it open. It had been a couple years since he had heard anything from Aunt Joyce or his two cousins. He read the letter and paled. Storm, Professor Xavier, and the newest addition to their teaching ranks, Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy, who was also known as the Beast due to his animal like appearance, entered the room.
“Scott, what’s wrong?” Xavier questioned, sensing the fear and confusion that was coming off his oldest student.
Scott looked over at the bald man sitting in his wheel chair across from him, his piercing blue eyes boring into him. Scott merely pushed the first piece of paper across the table to the other man, ignoring the smell of brimstone as Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler, appeared in his usual cloud of smoke. Xavier looked at the note and began to read
Hey Too Cool Scottie and Alex the Smart Alec. It’s me, your favorite cousin Buffy!
I know we haven’t talked to each other much since you guys got separated to who knows where, but mom did have Scott’s address, so maybe you guys are together again. I hope so at least. If Dawn were awake, I’m sure she’d write her own note to add to this, but since I’m the only one awake, you’ll just have to deal with me and my notes. Anyway cuz 1 and 2,just so you don’t think I’m only sending this stuff to you, , know that I’m also sending it to other people in the family, so here’s the bit of family news that I have.
Xavier went from interested, to concerned, to worried, to amazed, as he read the note. Finally, he got to the P.S.:
P.S. Hey Too Cool, you still wearing those sunglasses that I saw you in last time?
Xavier passed the letter to McCoy, who merely muttered, “Fascinating,” as he read it.
“Tell me, Scott. What are the chances that this is nothing more than a mutant war, that has been blown out of proportion?”Xavier inquired.
Scott shrugged as he watched the junior team come in. Logan scowled slightly at Bobby Drake, but that was more for show these days, than anything else. The junior team had all been granted X-Men status after the whole Weapon X fiasco a few months ago. So, the team now had four junior members. Marie was the leader, with Kitty Pryde as her second in command. The two boys who finished off the group, showed no want for leadership. Peter Rasputin and Bobby Drake preferred to just obey orders, while the girls were more imaginative and forceful in the Danger Room. The few missions they had been on, had been interesting. Marie, AKA Rogue, had the ability to drain another mutant’s power and abilities; her team partner, Bobby, A.K.A Ice Man, was as his name implied, capable of manipulating ice. Kitty Pryde, A.K.A Shadowcat, could make herself intangible, while her team partner, Peter, A.K.A Colossus, was the exact opposite of her, and was able to turn his body into organic metal.
The kids were allowed to look at the note, after they agreed not to say anything to any of the other students until the adults could figure out what was going on.
“Well, I can tell you now, mein friends, that vampires are real,” Kurt said from his seat.
Logan nodded in agreement to this. “Yeah, I’ve had a few run-ins with vampires. They’re as fast and agile as Mystique, as strong as McCoy, and heal pretty fast too.”
“Like you?”
“Nope, but a bullet wound will heal over in a day, maybe less. Depends on what they’ve been eating, or rather what they’ve been drinking.”
Beast nodded as he contemplated this bit of information. “If what you are saying is correct, my untamed colleague, then our dear, bright eyed friend, will need us to go over this gargantuan pile of paperwork that portrays everything that has happened to this faceless kinswoman of his.”
“How long do you think she has?”
“I think she has time, judging by this,” Logan answered as he read the note. “I’d say she’s just preparing for the worst.” He snorted slightly at the nickname. “Too Cool?” he questioned.
He slumped his shoulders in embarrassment; now that everyone was interested in the story, he had to explain. “After I got my glasses, she started calling me Too Cool. The little twerp,” he murmured under his breath, softly enough that he was sure the only ones that might have heard him were Logan and Hank. The Professor might have sensed the words as well.
“I like the girl already,” Logan said grinning, ignoring the warning look that Scott sent him.
“We will have to be careful though,” Xavier cautioned , “I don’t want a repeat of Stryker, where he managed to pick us off one or two at a time, before we even knew what had happened.”
“Ask Richards if he’ll come and give a seminar for a few days,” Logan suggested.
“That might not be a bad idea, but the man is very busy.”
“Well, from the way that she’s talking, it sounds like we have a little while before this Hellmouth opens professor,” Kitty responded as she looked at the letter. “Besides, this evil stuff won’t know what hit it when we decide to go.”
“I believe that is the best course of action,” Xavier agreed.” Is there anything else before classes start?”
“Um, who’s Alex?”
“My brother,” Scott replied emotionlessly. “I’ll get a hold of him, and tell him about short stack. He’ll probably want to get involved as well.”
“He gonna be of any help, bub?”
“Yeah,” Scott said, “he shoots cosmic energy out of his fists. Think that will be enough to satisfy you?" Logan grunted, but didn’t say anything.
The others all nodded. If this wasn’t one of their usual missions and they weren’t required to get into instant action, then they could study about what they were going up against.
Sign up to rate and review this story