![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Undertow 5/?
Title: Undertow
By: Polgara
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters. They belong to their respective creators and distributors.
Spoilers: Everything for Buffy is fair game. Everything up to and including season seven of Stargate SG-1. There will be very specific spoilers for season seven. You have been warned.
Setting: Takes place right after Homecoming of Stargate and three years after Chosen.
Summary: When someone close to Buffy dies, she finds herself on Jack’s doorstep. Before long, events and emotions pull them into something greater than they ever imagined.
A/N: My author notes are here for a reason, please read. If you still ask questions that are answered here, I will not answer them again. Do not beg for updates, this fic will be updated every other Sunday like clockwork, nothing will change that. I repeat nothing.
A/N2: I’ve only altered canon slightly. Ignore the whole Jack/Sam thing, it doesn’t exist here. And I’ve created a previous relationship between Buffy and Jack. It will get explained eventually, just be patient.
A/N3: Special and huge thanks to my betas – Meri and Copper. You gals are fabulous!
Chapter Five
Buffy looked around as the others stood with expectant looks on their faces. “You sure you dialed the right phone number?” She asked Sam.
“Whoa,” the younger Jack said as he swayed on his feet.
She rushed over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Just a little dizzy,” he admitted.
“Wanna sit down?”
“There’s not exactly an abundance of chairs,” he pointed out.
“I meant the floor, dummy.”
“Hey! Don’t give her a hard time,” Jack told his younger self.
“Oh, puhlease, like you…”
A flash of white light filled the room, revealing another small grey alien. “Greetings, O’Neill. I apologize for not coming sooner. Loki, what have you done?” He asked, walking over to him.
“Seems he’s been playing Dr. Moreau behind your back,” the younger Jack said, as he and the rest of SG-1 returned to standing around Loki.
“Yes… Dr. Moreau,” Jack echoed.
Thor shook his head. “You should have known that O’Neill’s genetic code was safeguarded for his own protection.”
“Excuse me?” Jack asked in surprise.
“A marker was placed in your DNA to prevent any attempts at genetic manipulation.”
“That’s why the clone didn’t mature,” Carter said in understanding. “Is it true that Colonel O’Neill is the key to solving your cloning problems?”
“No.”
“But I thought I was advanced,” Jack pouted.
“Indeed you are, O’Neill, but our scientists have already determined that while you are an important step forward in the evolutionary chain, the missing link we have been searching for still eludes us.”
“Good,” Buffy said with a smirk. “Keeps your head from getting too big.”
“Yeah, great. Can we get back to the part where I’m dying?” The younger O’Neill groused.
“The eventual genetic breakdown of the clone is not my doing, but rather the result of Loki’s inept methods,” Thor said simply.
“There was no need for the clones to survive,” Loki said defensively.
“But can you fix him?” Buffy asked.
Thor looked at Jack. “Do you wish for your clone to survive?”
Jack hesitated and looked over at Buffy. She had that resolute look on her that she called Willow’s Resolve Face. He sighed. He didn’t know what had happened over the last week, but he was going to trust Buffy. “Yeah.”
“Very well. I will attempt to repair his DNA. If successful, he should continue to mature at a normal human rate.” Thor turned to Buffy and solemnly bowed his head. “It is an honor to meet you, Buffy Summers.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You know me?”
“All of the Asgard know of your efforts in keeping your world safe. You have outperformed all of your predecessors.”
Buffy blushed. “Umm, thanks.”
Both Jacks grinned at her and the older one said, “You’re famous. And you thought it was a big deal that Dra… that one guy had heard of you,” he said, catching himself in time.
“Sir, what is he talking about?” Sam asked.
“Do your teammates not know of the Slayer?” Thor asked Jack.
“Well, they do now,” he said irritably.
“I had assumed…”
Jack threw a hand up. “Ack! We know what assuming does, don’t we? I was the only one who knew.”
“Jack?”
“Not now, Daniel. I’ll explain this later… maybe.” He looked at Buffy.
“I don’t know,” she said, worry coloring her voice.
“It’s up to you, but you can trust them.”
“We’ll see,” she said. “Let’s just finish this up.”
“Of course.” Jack looked at Thor. “So how long will this take?”
XXXXXXXX
“And Thor said it should only take two days to repair the damage, but he wants the clone to stay for several days to make sure he caught everything,” Sam said, summarizing the mission.
“Good, that will give us time to create the paperwork for his identity,” Hammond said with an approving nod. “Good work, everyone. Colonel, it’s good to have you back.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re dismissed. Miss Summers, I would like to speak to you please,” George said, gesturing to his office.
“I won’t tell anyone about this,” she said nervously.
“I know you won’t,” he said with a smile. “This is about a different matter.”
“Is this gonna take long? ‘Cause Jack is my ride.”
“He can join us if he’d like. Colonel?”
“Sure,” Jack said, before following them into the office.
Once everyone was seated, Hammond began, “Miss Summers, Colonel O’Neill requested your clearance for several reasons: the first being that he believed that you would be curious during your stay here and would somehow find out.”
“That’s probably true,” she admitted.
“He also suggested that I offer you a temporary position here until you are ready to return home.”
Buffy looked at Jack in surprise. “You did?”
“I figured you’d get bored at the house all day,” he said with a shrug.
“I must say, Miss Summers, that I am impressed with how quickly my supervisors approved of this. Do you happen to know why?”
“Probably.”
He waited for her to continue for several moments. When it appeared she wasn’t going to, he asked, “And the reason is?”
She looked over at Jack.
“Hey, don’t look at me, this is your decision. If you want to work here, I suggest you tell him.”
“Do you know about this, Jack?” Hammond asked, turning to look at his second in command.
“Of course I do,” Jack said smugly. For once, he knew what was going on before everyone else and he was enjoying it. “Why else would I suggest this? But it’s not my secret to tell.”
“Very well. Miss Summers?”
“Can I think it over?”
“Take as long as you need,” Hammond said.
“Just one question. What would I be doing here?” She asked curiously.
“You’d be assigned to an SG team and go through the gate on missions.”
Her eyes widened. “You’d… you’d let me go in the field without knowing what I’m capable of?”
“Jack and my superiors assured me that you are more than able to handle whatever threat you might encounter in the field.”
“Not to mention he added Daniel to my team in the beginning. He was a total geek back then, not a partial one like now. But Hammond approved it,” Jack reminded her.
“Okay, just let me think this over.”
XXXXXXXX
A week later, Buffy sat in a guest room on the base with the younger looking Jack. “How are you feeling?” She asked.
He looked at her in wonder. “You know, I think you’re the first person to ask me that since I got back this morning?”
“Well, shame on them. So?”
“Feeling good. Actually, better than I have in years. How about you? Still having the nightmares?”
She played absently with her fingers. “Just about every other night.”
“Better than every night,” he pointed out.
“I guess.” She looked up at him. “So what’s your plan now?”
“Going back to high school.”
“You’re kidding, right? I mean that’s just… ugh. Why would you want to?”
“Buffy, I’m stuck in this sixteen year old body. People look at me and think I belong in school,” he said in exasperation.
“So? Get one of those ‘I graduated from school early’ things.”
“Won’t work, I’m not smart enough” he said.
“Jack.”
“It’s John now, thank you.”
“You can’t go back to high school, you’ll go nuts,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Whaddaya mean?”
“You know what’s out there, all of your experiences, your training, just for starters. You can’t interact with those kids on a daily basis and pretend to be one of them.”
“Sure I can. I’ve had undercover training. Special Ops remember? And you did it,” he pointed out. “You went to high school while you were the slayer.”
“That’s not the same.”
Jack sighed. “At the moment, it’s what I want to do. That may change later. Can you just accept that and move on?”
“Call me in a month.”
“What?”
“Call me in a month,” she repeated.
“Why?”
“Just promise to do it.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, giving her a strange look.
“I’ll explain when you call.”
“Fine,” he said, before they both lapsed into silence.
Jack, or rather, John, was thankful for this time alone with Buffy. He had missed her during that week on Thor’s ship. Not to mention, he’d been incredibly bored as well. But Buffy had been the only one who had treated him like him since she had understood that he had been ‘de-aged’. Even though his team had tried, little things had given it away that they still saw the body not the person. With Buffy he could relax and not have to try and prove that he was himself.
He looked over and saw she was fidgeting. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that crap.”
“I’m just thinking some stuff over,” she replied with a shrug.
“Like what?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Oh, did you talk to the ‘real’ me then?” He said, hurt shining in his brown eyes. He had just gotten finished thinking that she was different from the others and now this.
“I am talking to the real you, Jack,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“It’s John.”
“Jack.”
“John.”
“Jack.”
“John.”
“Fine, John.”
“And don’t think that’s going to deter me,” he said firmly.
“From what?”
“From finding out what’s bothering you.”
“Fine. General Hammond offered me a job.”
“Sweet, so when do you start?”
“I haven’t given him an answer yet,” she said, concentrating on cleaning out the dirt from under a fingernail.
“Why not?”
“Because I came out here to heal, not to fight another battle,” she said, still not looking at him.
“Buffy, you need something to help distract you during the day. You need this, even if it’s just a temporary thing.”
“But…”
“No, buts. What did you do during that time I was on base while they were trying to figure how to heal me?”
“I sat around your house worrying about you and missing Dawn.”
“And what did you do this past week while I was on Thor’s ship and the other me was at work?” He gently asked.
“The same thing,” she said softly.
He reached out to tilt her chin up so she would look him in the eye. “I asked George to offer you the job to give you something to do during the day. It’s not healthy to mourn twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Believe me I know.” He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before continuing. “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mourn, just don’t let it control your life. This position would give you a chance to master your grief.”
“Oh, Jack,” she said tearfully, wrapping her arms around his neck. The fact that he didn’t correct her on his name again was a sign that he understood how hard this decision was for her.
John held her tightly. “Why didn’t you talk to him about this?”
“Just couldn’t find the right time. Besides, he kept insisting that it was my decision.”
“Yeah, that sounds like me,” John said wryly. “So how did you explain the slayer thing to the others?”
“I haven’t.”
He pulled back and looked at her in surprise. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “It’s a need to know thing and they don’t need to know. I’m gonna tell Hammond since I’ll be working here and he should know about all of my skills.”
“What about your team or Fraiser?”
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
XXXXXXXX
Buffy bolted up in bed. Her breathing was ragged and her heart pounded against her ribcage. She could feel cold sweat trickle down her back, underneath her camisole. She looked wildly around the room, trying to get her bearings.
Then Jack’s worried brown eyes were there and she concentrated on them. Her body calmed somewhat as he pulled her into a comforting embrace.
“You’re alright. It was just a dream,” he murmured in her ear.
“I don’t even remember what it was about, just that it was terrifying. I was so lost,” she whimpered.
“I know. I’ve had those before.”
She pulled back some to look at him. “When Daniel died. I remember you having them that weekend.”
“I had them for at least a month afterwards,” he confessed.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you,” she said, cupping his cheek with her hand, her thumb lightly rubbing the stubbled skin. “How did you deal with it?”
“Mostly I worked myself to the point of exhaustion so I wouldn’t dream. And there was lots of beer involved.”
Buffy wearily sighed and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re here for me.”
“Me, too, sweetheart. Me, too,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her head. He could feel her body relax as the memory of the nightmare left her and was glad that he could actively do something to help her.
As she snuggled against him, Buffy became aware of what Jack was wearing. Or rather, what he wasn’t. He was clad only in a pair of blue plaid boxers and she could feel the bare skin of his chest on her cheek. A delicious shiver of excitement ran through her body.
“Are you cold?” He asked softly.
“A little,” she lied.
“Need an extra blanket? Cup of herbal tea?”
“Tea might be nice,” she said truthfully. Her nightmare had shaken her completely awake and the tea could help her get back to sleep.
“I’ll be right back with it,” he said, releasing her.
She watched him get up from the bed and walk to the door. For not the first time, she was thankful for her slayer enhanced night vision. She could easily see his lean form in the moonlight. The strong muscles of his back shifted slightly under his skin as he moved. All in all it was a wonderful sight that was gone far too quickly.
Buffy lay back in her bed while she listened to Jack puttering around the kitchen. As much as she loved this treatment, there was the danger of becoming attached to it. It would be far too easy to become comfortable and complacent here. She just had to keep reminding herself that this was all just temporary.
By: Polgara
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters. They belong to their respective creators and distributors.
Spoilers: Everything for Buffy is fair game. Everything up to and including season seven of Stargate SG-1. There will be very specific spoilers for season seven. You have been warned.
Setting: Takes place right after Homecoming of Stargate and three years after Chosen.
Summary: When someone close to Buffy dies, she finds herself on Jack’s doorstep. Before long, events and emotions pull them into something greater than they ever imagined.
A/N: My author notes are here for a reason, please read. If you still ask questions that are answered here, I will not answer them again. Do not beg for updates, this fic will be updated every other Sunday like clockwork, nothing will change that. I repeat nothing.
A/N2: I’ve only altered canon slightly. Ignore the whole Jack/Sam thing, it doesn’t exist here. And I’ve created a previous relationship between Buffy and Jack. It will get explained eventually, just be patient.
A/N3: Special and huge thanks to my betas – Meri and Copper. You gals are fabulous!
Chapter Five
Buffy looked around as the others stood with expectant looks on their faces. “You sure you dialed the right phone number?” She asked Sam.
“Whoa,” the younger Jack said as he swayed on his feet.
She rushed over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Just a little dizzy,” he admitted.
“Wanna sit down?”
“There’s not exactly an abundance of chairs,” he pointed out.
“I meant the floor, dummy.”
“Hey! Don’t give her a hard time,” Jack told his younger self.
“Oh, puhlease, like you…”
A flash of white light filled the room, revealing another small grey alien. “Greetings, O’Neill. I apologize for not coming sooner. Loki, what have you done?” He asked, walking over to him.
“Seems he’s been playing Dr. Moreau behind your back,” the younger Jack said, as he and the rest of SG-1 returned to standing around Loki.
“Yes… Dr. Moreau,” Jack echoed.
Thor shook his head. “You should have known that O’Neill’s genetic code was safeguarded for his own protection.”
“Excuse me?” Jack asked in surprise.
“A marker was placed in your DNA to prevent any attempts at genetic manipulation.”
“That’s why the clone didn’t mature,” Carter said in understanding. “Is it true that Colonel O’Neill is the key to solving your cloning problems?”
“No.”
“But I thought I was advanced,” Jack pouted.
“Indeed you are, O’Neill, but our scientists have already determined that while you are an important step forward in the evolutionary chain, the missing link we have been searching for still eludes us.”
“Good,” Buffy said with a smirk. “Keeps your head from getting too big.”
“Yeah, great. Can we get back to the part where I’m dying?” The younger O’Neill groused.
“The eventual genetic breakdown of the clone is not my doing, but rather the result of Loki’s inept methods,” Thor said simply.
“There was no need for the clones to survive,” Loki said defensively.
“But can you fix him?” Buffy asked.
Thor looked at Jack. “Do you wish for your clone to survive?”
Jack hesitated and looked over at Buffy. She had that resolute look on her that she called Willow’s Resolve Face. He sighed. He didn’t know what had happened over the last week, but he was going to trust Buffy. “Yeah.”
“Very well. I will attempt to repair his DNA. If successful, he should continue to mature at a normal human rate.” Thor turned to Buffy and solemnly bowed his head. “It is an honor to meet you, Buffy Summers.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You know me?”
“All of the Asgard know of your efforts in keeping your world safe. You have outperformed all of your predecessors.”
Buffy blushed. “Umm, thanks.”
Both Jacks grinned at her and the older one said, “You’re famous. And you thought it was a big deal that Dra… that one guy had heard of you,” he said, catching himself in time.
“Sir, what is he talking about?” Sam asked.
“Do your teammates not know of the Slayer?” Thor asked Jack.
“Well, they do now,” he said irritably.
“I had assumed…”
Jack threw a hand up. “Ack! We know what assuming does, don’t we? I was the only one who knew.”
“Jack?”
“Not now, Daniel. I’ll explain this later… maybe.” He looked at Buffy.
“I don’t know,” she said, worry coloring her voice.
“It’s up to you, but you can trust them.”
“We’ll see,” she said. “Let’s just finish this up.”
“Of course.” Jack looked at Thor. “So how long will this take?”
XXXXXXXX
“And Thor said it should only take two days to repair the damage, but he wants the clone to stay for several days to make sure he caught everything,” Sam said, summarizing the mission.
“Good, that will give us time to create the paperwork for his identity,” Hammond said with an approving nod. “Good work, everyone. Colonel, it’s good to have you back.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re dismissed. Miss Summers, I would like to speak to you please,” George said, gesturing to his office.
“I won’t tell anyone about this,” she said nervously.
“I know you won’t,” he said with a smile. “This is about a different matter.”
“Is this gonna take long? ‘Cause Jack is my ride.”
“He can join us if he’d like. Colonel?”
“Sure,” Jack said, before following them into the office.
Once everyone was seated, Hammond began, “Miss Summers, Colonel O’Neill requested your clearance for several reasons: the first being that he believed that you would be curious during your stay here and would somehow find out.”
“That’s probably true,” she admitted.
“He also suggested that I offer you a temporary position here until you are ready to return home.”
Buffy looked at Jack in surprise. “You did?”
“I figured you’d get bored at the house all day,” he said with a shrug.
“I must say, Miss Summers, that I am impressed with how quickly my supervisors approved of this. Do you happen to know why?”
“Probably.”
He waited for her to continue for several moments. When it appeared she wasn’t going to, he asked, “And the reason is?”
She looked over at Jack.
“Hey, don’t look at me, this is your decision. If you want to work here, I suggest you tell him.”
“Do you know about this, Jack?” Hammond asked, turning to look at his second in command.
“Of course I do,” Jack said smugly. For once, he knew what was going on before everyone else and he was enjoying it. “Why else would I suggest this? But it’s not my secret to tell.”
“Very well. Miss Summers?”
“Can I think it over?”
“Take as long as you need,” Hammond said.
“Just one question. What would I be doing here?” She asked curiously.
“You’d be assigned to an SG team and go through the gate on missions.”
Her eyes widened. “You’d… you’d let me go in the field without knowing what I’m capable of?”
“Jack and my superiors assured me that you are more than able to handle whatever threat you might encounter in the field.”
“Not to mention he added Daniel to my team in the beginning. He was a total geek back then, not a partial one like now. But Hammond approved it,” Jack reminded her.
“Okay, just let me think this over.”
XXXXXXXX
A week later, Buffy sat in a guest room on the base with the younger looking Jack. “How are you feeling?” She asked.
He looked at her in wonder. “You know, I think you’re the first person to ask me that since I got back this morning?”
“Well, shame on them. So?”
“Feeling good. Actually, better than I have in years. How about you? Still having the nightmares?”
She played absently with her fingers. “Just about every other night.”
“Better than every night,” he pointed out.
“I guess.” She looked up at him. “So what’s your plan now?”
“Going back to high school.”
“You’re kidding, right? I mean that’s just… ugh. Why would you want to?”
“Buffy, I’m stuck in this sixteen year old body. People look at me and think I belong in school,” he said in exasperation.
“So? Get one of those ‘I graduated from school early’ things.”
“Won’t work, I’m not smart enough” he said.
“Jack.”
“It’s John now, thank you.”
“You can’t go back to high school, you’ll go nuts,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Whaddaya mean?”
“You know what’s out there, all of your experiences, your training, just for starters. You can’t interact with those kids on a daily basis and pretend to be one of them.”
“Sure I can. I’ve had undercover training. Special Ops remember? And you did it,” he pointed out. “You went to high school while you were the slayer.”
“That’s not the same.”
Jack sighed. “At the moment, it’s what I want to do. That may change later. Can you just accept that and move on?”
“Call me in a month.”
“What?”
“Call me in a month,” she repeated.
“Why?”
“Just promise to do it.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, giving her a strange look.
“I’ll explain when you call.”
“Fine,” he said, before they both lapsed into silence.
Jack, or rather, John, was thankful for this time alone with Buffy. He had missed her during that week on Thor’s ship. Not to mention, he’d been incredibly bored as well. But Buffy had been the only one who had treated him like him since she had understood that he had been ‘de-aged’. Even though his team had tried, little things had given it away that they still saw the body not the person. With Buffy he could relax and not have to try and prove that he was himself.
He looked over and saw she was fidgeting. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that crap.”
“I’m just thinking some stuff over,” she replied with a shrug.
“Like what?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Oh, did you talk to the ‘real’ me then?” He said, hurt shining in his brown eyes. He had just gotten finished thinking that she was different from the others and now this.
“I am talking to the real you, Jack,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“It’s John.”
“Jack.”
“John.”
“Jack.”
“John.”
“Fine, John.”
“And don’t think that’s going to deter me,” he said firmly.
“From what?”
“From finding out what’s bothering you.”
“Fine. General Hammond offered me a job.”
“Sweet, so when do you start?”
“I haven’t given him an answer yet,” she said, concentrating on cleaning out the dirt from under a fingernail.
“Why not?”
“Because I came out here to heal, not to fight another battle,” she said, still not looking at him.
“Buffy, you need something to help distract you during the day. You need this, even if it’s just a temporary thing.”
“But…”
“No, buts. What did you do during that time I was on base while they were trying to figure how to heal me?”
“I sat around your house worrying about you and missing Dawn.”
“And what did you do this past week while I was on Thor’s ship and the other me was at work?” He gently asked.
“The same thing,” she said softly.
He reached out to tilt her chin up so she would look him in the eye. “I asked George to offer you the job to give you something to do during the day. It’s not healthy to mourn twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Believe me I know.” He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before continuing. “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mourn, just don’t let it control your life. This position would give you a chance to master your grief.”
“Oh, Jack,” she said tearfully, wrapping her arms around his neck. The fact that he didn’t correct her on his name again was a sign that he understood how hard this decision was for her.
John held her tightly. “Why didn’t you talk to him about this?”
“Just couldn’t find the right time. Besides, he kept insisting that it was my decision.”
“Yeah, that sounds like me,” John said wryly. “So how did you explain the slayer thing to the others?”
“I haven’t.”
He pulled back and looked at her in surprise. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “It’s a need to know thing and they don’t need to know. I’m gonna tell Hammond since I’ll be working here and he should know about all of my skills.”
“What about your team or Fraiser?”
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
XXXXXXXX
Buffy bolted up in bed. Her breathing was ragged and her heart pounded against her ribcage. She could feel cold sweat trickle down her back, underneath her camisole. She looked wildly around the room, trying to get her bearings.
Then Jack’s worried brown eyes were there and she concentrated on them. Her body calmed somewhat as he pulled her into a comforting embrace.
“You’re alright. It was just a dream,” he murmured in her ear.
“I don’t even remember what it was about, just that it was terrifying. I was so lost,” she whimpered.
“I know. I’ve had those before.”
She pulled back some to look at him. “When Daniel died. I remember you having them that weekend.”
“I had them for at least a month afterwards,” he confessed.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you,” she said, cupping his cheek with her hand, her thumb lightly rubbing the stubbled skin. “How did you deal with it?”
“Mostly I worked myself to the point of exhaustion so I wouldn’t dream. And there was lots of beer involved.”
Buffy wearily sighed and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re here for me.”
“Me, too, sweetheart. Me, too,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her head. He could feel her body relax as the memory of the nightmare left her and was glad that he could actively do something to help her.
As she snuggled against him, Buffy became aware of what Jack was wearing. Or rather, what he wasn’t. He was clad only in a pair of blue plaid boxers and she could feel the bare skin of his chest on her cheek. A delicious shiver of excitement ran through her body.
“Are you cold?” He asked softly.
“A little,” she lied.
“Need an extra blanket? Cup of herbal tea?”
“Tea might be nice,” she said truthfully. Her nightmare had shaken her completely awake and the tea could help her get back to sleep.
“I’ll be right back with it,” he said, releasing her.
She watched him get up from the bed and walk to the door. For not the first time, she was thankful for her slayer enhanced night vision. She could easily see his lean form in the moonlight. The strong muscles of his back shifted slightly under his skin as he moved. All in all it was a wonderful sight that was gone far too quickly.
Buffy lay back in her bed while she listened to Jack puttering around the kitchen. As much as she loved this treatment, there was the danger of becoming attached to it. It would be far too easy to become comfortable and complacent here. She just had to keep reminding herself that this was all just temporary.