Aug. 24th - Say Goodbye (BtVS/SGA)
Title: Say Goodbye
Author: 3am_moonlight
Rating: Gen.
Crossover: Stargate Atlantis.
Timeline: Anytime post-Chosen, anytime for SGA.
Characters: Sheppard, Buffy.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. The Stargate 'verse belongs to MGM.
Summary: Buffy and John, take six. It's time to say goodbye.
Word Count: 1,139
Note: Follows '' A Face Full of Dust', ' Dust In the Park', ' Little Supergirl', ' Unhelpful Sort-Of Explanations', and ' The Queen Bee'.
When John arrived in the designated park where he was supposed to meet his new friend? Acquaintance? He was already 30 minutes late, and he had seriously considered running, at least for a short distance so he wouldn't be quite so late, but decided he would only draw unwanted attention to himself and settled for a fast walk.
In between his last meeting starting late and Rodney babbling on about... something, he'd had no chance of being early like he'd planned. So much for the military being on time.
He'd grabbed a coffee and a sandwich on the way over, quickly eating the latter while sipping the first before throwing away his trash. The day's meetings had been long and jaw-droppingly boring, sometimes it really sucked being in charge of a military base. He bought a couple more coffee's right before entering the park and walking towards the place where they'd had their last conversation. Serving the nectar of the gods as an apology worked on Rodney, so hopefully, it would work on Supergirl as well. Especially since she'd used it last time.
After a quick survey of the area, he saw Supergirl sitting at the same low stone wall as the last time. This time she was wearing black pants and some kind of fashionable t-shirt with text on it. It was unreadable from this distance and he doubted she'd appreciate it if he continued to stare at that particular part of her body. So he focused on her face and made his way over to her as quickly as he could without looking like he was in too much of a hurry.
"Good evening, my lady Supergirl. My most sincere apologies for being," he lifted his eyes to a nearby building with a convenient digital watch, "38 minutes late. My never-ending meetings took forever and then some before they would finally allow us to leave for the day." He handed her one of the coffees and she repaid him with a thankful ghost of a smile.
There was a seriousness to her today he hadn't noticed when he saw her from a distance, but which was uncomfortably obvious up close. Her eyes were slightly red from what could only have been crying, and there was a repressed anger emanating from her that he could nearly touch. What had happened in the last 10-12 hours to change her mood so much?
"Hi. Um... What am I supposed to call you? Colonel Sheppard? We never really got around to that part."
Dodging the clearly bad situation it was. Several years of Teyla's disapproving looks had taught him something. "Sheppard works if you want to go the more formal route, but you may call me John if you want to be more informal." Being in the military meant few people used his given name, and since arriving in Atlantis Elizabeth was the only one who had used it consistently. Out of his team the only one who called him anything but Sheppard was Teyla, and even then it was only occasionally when they were off the clock. It would be nice to hear his name from someone, even if it was only for this Earth leave.
"Are we on a first name basis already?" A slight sign of amusement showed on her face. Go, team!
"You've saved my life three times for no other reason than that you could, so yes, I think we can be on a first name basis. Or at least you can use mine. I'll return the favor when you finally declassify your name."
That actually got a real bit of laughter out of her, and he smiled back. Go, go, team!
"Okay, *John*. I'll use your first name, but, for now, mine is still classified." Then she changed tack again and became more serious. "I'm only here to say goodbye, John. Something bad happened to some people I know and I need to get back to my friends as soon as possible so there won't be another Q&A today."
Crap. He held his tongue, just barely, and refrained from asking if it had been vampires or something else that had killed or severely wounded her friends. Agitating her at this point would only ensure he'd never get another chance, and he really, really wanted another chance at convincing her that working on Atlantis with him was a great idea.
"I'm sorry for your loss." There wasn't really anything else to say, and even if there was he didn't have the words.
"Thank you." So her friend or friends had actually died. He was horrible at comforting people and, for the most part, the people around him had gotten that on their own and accepted it. Death and injuries happened too often on Atlantis, but it didn't make it hurt any less nor did it make it any easier to deal with. This young woman didn't appear to want him to do or say anything, so he simply drank his coffee and waited for her to speak again.
It took a few minutes and over half of her coffee, but she began talking.
"I know you want to hire me, my contacts and Dr. Jackson made that perfectly clear, as have you, but when I said I already I have a job I love I meant it. I can't leave it and especially not to go to another galaxy and fight your space vampires or go through the Astria Porta with a military team and fight the bodysnatchers or whatever other aliens might pop up. My life and destiny are here, on Earth. Someone else will have to deal with the alien monsters. Unless the first defense fails and they arrive on our little blue marble. Then my friends and I will do everything in our considerable power to kill them."
"I understand." He paused briefly, "Actually I don't really understand, but I get it. I think." He stopped to collect his thoughts. "I'm shipping back out again soon, but the next time I'm on Earth will you contact me? I'd give you a phone number, but I don't actually have a personal phone anymore. Too much time in another galaxy and not enough time on Earth to make it worthwhile."
She gave him a wan smile but conceded. "I'll tell my contacts to keep an ear out for when you return."
Her phone beeped and John saw the writing on the wall. His time with Supergirl was over, at least for now.
"That was a friend of mine, we're leaving now." She collected her things and got up. "Take care of yourself John, and stay away from dark, peopless places."
"Will do. Take care of yourself, Supergirl. And don't be a stranger!"
She gave him a last not-quite smile and left, coffee cup in hand.
Author: 3am_moonlight
Rating: Gen.
Crossover: Stargate Atlantis.
Timeline: Anytime post-Chosen, anytime for SGA.
Characters: Sheppard, Buffy.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. The Stargate 'verse belongs to MGM.
Summary: Buffy and John, take six. It's time to say goodbye.
Word Count: 1,139
Note: Follows '' A Face Full of Dust', ' Dust In the Park', ' Little Supergirl', ' Unhelpful Sort-Of Explanations', and ' The Queen Bee'.
When John arrived in the designated park where he was supposed to meet his new friend? Acquaintance? He was already 30 minutes late, and he had seriously considered running, at least for a short distance so he wouldn't be quite so late, but decided he would only draw unwanted attention to himself and settled for a fast walk.
In between his last meeting starting late and Rodney babbling on about... something, he'd had no chance of being early like he'd planned. So much for the military being on time.
He'd grabbed a coffee and a sandwich on the way over, quickly eating the latter while sipping the first before throwing away his trash. The day's meetings had been long and jaw-droppingly boring, sometimes it really sucked being in charge of a military base. He bought a couple more coffee's right before entering the park and walking towards the place where they'd had their last conversation. Serving the nectar of the gods as an apology worked on Rodney, so hopefully, it would work on Supergirl as well. Especially since she'd used it last time.
After a quick survey of the area, he saw Supergirl sitting at the same low stone wall as the last time. This time she was wearing black pants and some kind of fashionable t-shirt with text on it. It was unreadable from this distance and he doubted she'd appreciate it if he continued to stare at that particular part of her body. So he focused on her face and made his way over to her as quickly as he could without looking like he was in too much of a hurry.
"Good evening, my lady Supergirl. My most sincere apologies for being," he lifted his eyes to a nearby building with a convenient digital watch, "38 minutes late. My never-ending meetings took forever and then some before they would finally allow us to leave for the day." He handed her one of the coffees and she repaid him with a thankful ghost of a smile.
There was a seriousness to her today he hadn't noticed when he saw her from a distance, but which was uncomfortably obvious up close. Her eyes were slightly red from what could only have been crying, and there was a repressed anger emanating from her that he could nearly touch. What had happened in the last 10-12 hours to change her mood so much?
"Hi. Um... What am I supposed to call you? Colonel Sheppard? We never really got around to that part."
Dodging the clearly bad situation it was. Several years of Teyla's disapproving looks had taught him something. "Sheppard works if you want to go the more formal route, but you may call me John if you want to be more informal." Being in the military meant few people used his given name, and since arriving in Atlantis Elizabeth was the only one who had used it consistently. Out of his team the only one who called him anything but Sheppard was Teyla, and even then it was only occasionally when they were off the clock. It would be nice to hear his name from someone, even if it was only for this Earth leave.
"Are we on a first name basis already?" A slight sign of amusement showed on her face. Go, team!
"You've saved my life three times for no other reason than that you could, so yes, I think we can be on a first name basis. Or at least you can use mine. I'll return the favor when you finally declassify your name."
That actually got a real bit of laughter out of her, and he smiled back. Go, go, team!
"Okay, *John*. I'll use your first name, but, for now, mine is still classified." Then she changed tack again and became more serious. "I'm only here to say goodbye, John. Something bad happened to some people I know and I need to get back to my friends as soon as possible so there won't be another Q&A today."
Crap. He held his tongue, just barely, and refrained from asking if it had been vampires or something else that had killed or severely wounded her friends. Agitating her at this point would only ensure he'd never get another chance, and he really, really wanted another chance at convincing her that working on Atlantis with him was a great idea.
"I'm sorry for your loss." There wasn't really anything else to say, and even if there was he didn't have the words.
"Thank you." So her friend or friends had actually died. He was horrible at comforting people and, for the most part, the people around him had gotten that on their own and accepted it. Death and injuries happened too often on Atlantis, but it didn't make it hurt any less nor did it make it any easier to deal with. This young woman didn't appear to want him to do or say anything, so he simply drank his coffee and waited for her to speak again.
It took a few minutes and over half of her coffee, but she began talking.
"I know you want to hire me, my contacts and Dr. Jackson made that perfectly clear, as have you, but when I said I already I have a job I love I meant it. I can't leave it and especially not to go to another galaxy and fight your space vampires or go through the Astria Porta with a military team and fight the bodysnatchers or whatever other aliens might pop up. My life and destiny are here, on Earth. Someone else will have to deal with the alien monsters. Unless the first defense fails and they arrive on our little blue marble. Then my friends and I will do everything in our considerable power to kill them."
"I understand." He paused briefly, "Actually I don't really understand, but I get it. I think." He stopped to collect his thoughts. "I'm shipping back out again soon, but the next time I'm on Earth will you contact me? I'd give you a phone number, but I don't actually have a personal phone anymore. Too much time in another galaxy and not enough time on Earth to make it worthwhile."
She gave him a wan smile but conceded. "I'll tell my contacts to keep an ear out for when you return."
Her phone beeped and John saw the writing on the wall. His time with Supergirl was over, at least for now.
"That was a friend of mine, we're leaving now." She collected her things and got up. "Take care of yourself John, and stay away from dark, peopless places."
"Will do. Take care of yourself, Supergirl. And don't be a stranger!"
She gave him a last not-quite smile and left, coffee cup in hand.