sapphirequill

Possibilities Alternate and Infinite

Procrastination plot bunnies/one-shots, a series of unrelated points of contact for Stargate/Buffycrossovers.

I don't own Buffy or Stargate.

What happened here is I half-remembered a comment an SG-1character made, had an idea, and wrote it. Then, when I was checking something else anyway, I looked up the original remark and realized that my thing was AU (something I've tried not to do with these ficlets up to the point of contact).

But I liked it anyway, and my birthday seemed like a justifiable reason to deviate into AU, so I went crazy with it and wrote more.

This installment is set at the end of season 5 Buffy and pre-season 7 of SG-1S1; AU, so no official spoilers as I could be making everything up.

Originally posted: 16 March 10

Request

The door banged against the wall as Janet entered, and she slammed her books on the desk.

Her roommate looked up curiously. "Problem?"

"We were assigned our lab partners in Anatomy today. I've been paired with a History major! I'm planning to become a doctor, and in one of my most important courses, I'm stuck baby-sitting a Going Back to School to Take Electives, HistoryMajor!"

She dropped into her desk chair and opened her text, somewhat more forcefully than the task required. She'd need to be as prepared as possible if she was going to have to carry her partner through the course.

No matter how cute he is.

Several years later...

"You're not serious."

Janet stiffened and turned back to face her husband. "What?"

"The military, Janet?"

"Yes, the military! I became a doctor to make a difference, and I think I can do that there."

"But, what about—"

"But what about what? Someday that secret organization you work for might give you an assignment that might take you somewhere that might not be convenient to someplace I mightbe stationed?" She didn't need to see the betrayal on his face to know she'd gone too far. "I'm sorry."

She stood in front of him, clasped his hands in hers and stared at him, willing him to understand how important this was to her. "Rip, I need to do this."

Several years after that...

With an annoyed glare at the man in front of her – an explanation wouldn't have killed Mr. Wyndham-Price; being a doctor, she was certain of that – she opened the letter.

The spidery letters on the page bore only a superficial resemblance to the confident script she remembered, and she took a deep breath before reading.

Dear Janet,

Forgive me: this is not the manner in which I had hoped to contact you, but it is all that is available to me at the moment. I apologise, as well, for the difficult situation I am about to unleash upon you and for what I suspect will be a very lengthy missive.

When we last spoke, I was moving to California to mentor a young woman on behalf of what you used to refer to as the 'family business.'

My charge has been by turns a terror and a delight, and I could not be more proud of what she has accomplished if she

werehad been my own daughter. After a tenure that has heretofore been unmatched, we were confronted with a situation unlike any previous. In the face of great odds, our side ultimately prevailed, but not without loss of life.

Buffy was not amongst the survivors; neither, I fear, will I be. Indeed, as you are reading this letter, I am certain of it.

My employers will send replacements for the both of us, but I am concerned for those who are left behind, one young woman in particular: Buffy's fifteen-year-old sister, Dawn.

Their mother passed earlier this year; the girls' father legally disowned them two years ago after an incident at Buffy's graduation. They have no other siblings.

I was to be named guardian if Buffy was... unwilling or unable to do so herself. Buffy has requested the same. I would that it were possible.

Buffy's friends have offered to take care of Dawn, but I fear the strain of an undertaking of this magnitude, given their youth and responsibilities coupled with the losses they have suffered.

Being the intelligent woman that you are, you have no doubt guessed the nature of my incredibly presumptuous request. It is born of a hope that she might experience something as close to normalcy as I can arrange.

I have no idea if your professional life – or your personal one, for that matter – would be able to accommodate a disruption of the scale a teenager would create. Your strength and compassion, however, would be invaluable.

I have spoken to Dawn, and to the others, and they have agreed to allow me to pursue this avenue, though they are not without reservations. Be warned, however, that her sister's friends will be both vocal and sincere about their intention to remain involved in her life if you do agree to take her.

Doing so would not be easy. In addition to everything else, Dawn will have a great deal of difficulty with your profession – both of them, to be perfectly frank. Even with the little you know about her circumstances, it can not be difficult to imagine her unease in the presence of doctors and the reasons for she would have to be suspicious of the military, even without their Initiative.

Please do not feel pressured to do this, Janet. It is not intended as a dying man's last request.

Dawn has other options open to her, and, if she remains with here, I am certain Buffy's friends will undertake her care with the same dedication, ingenuity, and love I have seen from them every day of the last five years.

Regardless of your decision... I am going to leave you with a dying man's last request after all –

Be happy.

Yours,

Rip

AN on the subject of spoilers:

Basically, I've introduced a husband with an accent who didn't approve of Janet joining the military ("Hathor"). Otherwise, it's totally AU.