Shadow Play

By Andrew Niehaus

DISCLAIMER: BTVS is owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Stargate SG-1 is owned by MGM. All characters portrayed in this story based off of characters from these shows are not my property; I'm only borrowing them for a bit. So don't sue me, as I have no money- I spent it all buying the DVD season sets of Buffy and SG-1.

HOWEVER,

Andrew Kirk and the Horsemen are MINE, and for every time they are used in somebody else's story with out my permission I shall KILL YOU! /End Stewie voice/.

Feedback- Yes, please. This is my first fanfic, and in fact this is the first story I have written since around my freshmen year in high school, if not earlier. And I graduated in '99. So tell me how I can improve. So REVIEW,REVIEW,REVIEW!

Special Note: This story was inspired by The Scarab, written by BK the irregular. In this story, a Goa'uld kidnaps Willow to make her his queen. In that story, she escapes. My thoughts: what would have happened if she had been taken as a host? Thus this stiry was born. Note: This is not just a copy, it is my own story. But with out BK, the inspiration would never had come. Many thanks for that.

Authors note:

What a long, strange trip it's been for me.

Kirk and the Horsemen are a concept that I've had in my head for years now. Originally conceived as the Devil's Brigade, a group of teen deputized by the police to help combat the drug problem in their school, they have evolved over the years from teen cops to government agents. I have managed to tie my characters into Stargate SG-1, Buffy, and lately the virtual spin-off Watchers (Season 1 is nearly complete- read every episode at .com ). This will be the fist time I've tied them into both, and it has required some sacrifices on my part. Someday I hope to put my original stories up, but for now I hope everybody enjoys my first fanfic.

Authors Note part Deux:

This chapter it all about set up. The Scoobies aren't even mentioned until the end, and SG-1 is only briefly touched upon, but I found this necessary to set up the story to come. Bear with me.

Prologue: Introductions

Tomb of 1st Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, Shaanxi Province, China 1992

Two Bracken demons made their way down into the bowls of the tomb, past the rows and rows of terracotta soldiers. This area had already been excavated by the looks of it, but Charlie said that he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew of a secret passage that hadn't been discovered yet. So he and his brother made their way down into the tomb, seeking riches.

So far, they had no success.

"Charlie, it's not here!" Tom yelled after four hours of looking at carvings on walls, looking for some sign of a door. Even his enhanced demon senses couldn't find anything.

"Just a little bit longer, Tom." Charlie said in that soothing voice of his. Damn, he hated that voice. "We're close, I can feel it."

Tom snorted in disgust. "You felt it an hour ago. The only thing you're probably feeling are the spider webs that are decoratin' this place."

They spent a few more minutes in silence until tom shouted "Ha! I found it!" He proudly pointed to a slightly raised pictograph depicting the head of a man with large, expressive eyes and a deep frown. Charlie when to push it in when Tom spoke up. "Uhh, Charlie? You sure se should open this up?" Charlie looked back at his spiked brother. "What, you want to turn around and go home when we are this close.." he held up his thumb and fore finger less than an inch apart, "to finding treasures the like that have never been seen?" Charlie turned back to the door. "You can go home; I'm not leaving without some treasure."

Tome sighed. He didn't want to have wasted 4 hours for nothing, so he stood by his brother's side as he moved to open the door.

Charlie pushed in the glyph, and the door slipped back open to reveal….

A coffin.

And nothing else.

"The hell…." Charlie started as he moved into the room, Tom close behind him.

The coffin was ornately carved, and looked to be a made of a golden metal. It was sealed shut by various strips of what appeared to be iron across the top.

"Well, it's not a lot." Charlie started as he ran his hands over the coffin. "But it's big and gold and sure to fetch millions."

"If we can move it. Looks to way a ton easy."

"Easy stuff. We'll take it out piece by piece. Help me take off the top, we'll carry it out first." Charlie said as he tried to open the coffin.

"Looks like they sealed it up good." Tom observed, fetching a pry bar from their supply stash. "Lets pry these off, then grab the lid."

"Good thinking there, Tommy." Charlie nodded appreciatively as he helped his brother remove the bars across the top. As the last one was removed, the coffin started to hiss as the lid started to slide open.

"What the hell!" Charlie screamed as a figure pulled himself out of the coffin and survived his surroundings. Tom, in a panic, swung the pry bar at the creature that had risen. The creature calmly grabbed the bar in mid swing, then seemingly gestured towards Tom, who then went flying into the far wall. Charlie, in the meantime, had backed into a corner in fear.

"Interesting creatures in this world today," said the booming, slightly reverberating voice. "They shall serve me well." The creature strode over to the wall near the cowering Charlie and touched a hidden panel, causing a section of the wall to move back, revealing two snakes swimming around in a greenish fluid. "Soon, I will find vessels worthy of you, my darling children. But first, I need to gather my forces. I need to learn how this world has changed. I need…"he looked over to Charlie, whose eye's widened with fear. The creature grinned evilly. "YOU." His voice boomed, and Charlie shot up, getting ready to bolt. Before he could, the creature held out his hand over Charlie's head, and the strange glove he wore started to glow. Suddenly, Charlie was wracked with pain. "I….AM… SHI HUANGDI!" the creature's voice boomed as Charlie was forced to his knees by the pain the had device was causing. "Bow before your GOD!"

Then his eyes flashed white as Charlie's world turned black.

Town and Country, St. Louis, Missouri. 2002

The blue Ford Crown Victoria pulled up to a stately residence in Town and Country. The house was well maintained, the lawn immaculate. Major Davis let out a whistle. "You wouldn't expect somebody like him to live in a place like this." He remarked to his companion. Dr. Robert Harrison gave a small nod. "During his undercover days, he posed as an heir to a wealthy shipping empire. He had to live the look at times. After his 'retirement'" Dr. Harrison said the word 'retirement' with a hint of amusement, "he decided to move in permanently with his wife. Part of his severance." Major Davis chuckled and shook his head. "Retired at twenty-eight. Sure wish I could do that." Doc gave him a sad look. "When one is told that they will most likely be dead by thirty five, it shouldn't be surprising when one decides to settle down." The Major blanched at the revelation. "Dead by thirty five? Got to wonder why he keeps going at all." Doc stopped and looked Davis in the eyes. "He keeps going because he doesn't know when to quit. Now, shall we?"

The two continued towards the door. Doc rang the bell, and the two men waited. After a short while, a beautiful young raven-haired woman answered the door. She smiled warmly at the Doctor. "Grandpa!" she shouted as she pulled him into a hug. The elderly man returned the hug warmly. "Hello, Miriam. Is your father in?"

Miriam pulled away. "Yeah, he's in the library." Miriam then saw Major Davis and stiffened to attention instantly, greeting him with a formal "Sir!" and salute. The Major saluted back. "At ease, cadet."

The Major silently reviewed what he had read about Miriam Kirk. 19 years old, and a second year cadet at the Air Force academy. Adopted by Andrew and Ann Kirk when she was 11, fathers whereabouts unknown, mother deceased. She was already ahead in all of her classes. She was also making a name for herself as a sharpshooter, as well as having a talent for finding and recovering almost everything she and her team were sent after in rescue exercises. The SGC was keeping an eye on her; she was someone they would most likely recruit when she graduated from the academy. Miriam had shifted to standing with her arms behind her back, posture slightly more relaxed. "May I enquire why you are here, sir?" she asked Davis. Before he could answer, Doc jumped in. "We're here to offer your dad a job, Mir. Think he's interested?"

Miriam considered this for a moment. The she looked at her grandfather and smiled.

They found Andrew Kirk sitting by a window in the home's library. As they entered, Major Davis wondered how someone so young could afford the upkeep on such a large place. He started to mentally review Kirks file as well. At 21, he was the youngest operative in the Agency's history. Part of a classified CIA experiment, he worked with the Agency for several years, teamed with a British agent out of MI-6. He traveled the world for several years, helping to take down several drug lords and terrorist masterminds until he retired at the age of 26 to spend time with his family. The fact that he retired at such a young age bewildered him; the fact that he was allowed to made him wonder even more.

Without even turning around, Kirk spoke to them. "Severance pay, Major Davis." Davis started at the use of his name; he hadn't given it yet. "In honor of my courage, dedication, ability to get the job done," at this Kirk turned in his chair and peeked out the side. "And the fact that I got more dirt on more people than J. Edgar Hoover ever did. Thanks to Doc, here." He gestured towards Dr. Harrison. At this, Kirk stood and extended his hand to Major Davis. "Captain Andrew Kirk, retired."

Major Davis shook his hand. "Major Davis, Air Force." Kirk smiled at that. "My dad was in the Air Force before transferring to Special Ops. You fly?"

Davis shook his head. "Not that much anymore, I'm afraid. I work at the Pentagon as the government liaison to a special project that we're running out of Cheyenne Mountain."

"Which is why we are here, Andrew." Doc interjected. He gestured to the table. "Can we talk?"

The trio moved to the table and sat down. Major Davis started to pull folders marked 'Top Secret' out of his attaché case as he started to talk. "A few years ago, the Air Force began operating a top secret operation out of Cheyenne Mountain called the Stargate program." Davis started to pass photos of objects and people towards Kirk. "10 years ago the Stargate, an artifact that had been discovered in Giza almost 50 years earlier, was brought into the mountain and several civilian scientist began working on it. 2 years later, Dr. Daniel Jackson decoded the symbols on the gate and it became operational. After an initial mission to the planet called Abydos.."

"Whoa, hold on there sparky," Kirk interrupted while raising his hand. "Did you say another PLANET?"

Major Davis nodded. "The Stargate is an ancient device that creates a stable wormhole between one gate, like the one we have," he indicated the pictures, "and another gate on another planet, usually on the other side of the galaxy. We then use these wormholes to send teams through the gate to make contact with alien civilizations in the hopes of gaining allies and advanced technology that we can use against out common enemies."

Kirk looked at the two men with a deadpan expression on his face. "Yeah. Sure. Uh-huh. Say, you two didn't happen to take a bunch of drugs on the way here, did ya?"

Doc rolled his eyes at the inference. "Andrew, this is real. It's happening now. We've made a lot of powerful allies, but we've also made a lot of equally powerful enemies. Enemies that want to see this world destroyed, either by invasion, or by other subtle means."

"That would be where you come in, Mr. Kirk."

"Me? Why me? I'm retired. And if you talk to Doc, he'd tell you I'm strictly short term."

Davis looked over to Doc, who nodded at him to continue. "I'm well aware of your condition, Mr. Kirk. But if you accept, we may have a solution to your problem."

"You're telling me you can fix my brain if I work for you?"

"We have come across technology that can cure just about every ailment the human body can come down with, from the common cold to death itself. Moreover, we have several advanced allies that owe us favors. We could call one in for you."

Kirk leaned back into his chair and considered the Major's words. This revelation had stunned him more than he wanted to admit. While it didn't thrill him to go back to risking his neck on a daily basis, the notion of seeing his daughter graduate from the academy, or making his 50th wedding anniversary, was very appealing.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

The Major leaned into the table. "Over the past several years, there have been instances where the goa'uld and other hostile races have attempted to gain a foothold on this planet. In most cases, they were confined to the SGC- Stargate Command, but in some cases they gained entry into the world at large. In these cases, the SGC dispatched their own units to deal with the problem."

"Unfortunately," Doc continued, "The SGC has no authority or jurisdiction on this planet."

"What we have decided to do," Major Davis said as he took over again, "Is to form a team under the direct authority of the combined agencies of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. This way, the team will have the authority to operate world wide with minimal jurisdictional infringements."

Kirk considered this for a moment. Finally he asked the big question. "Why me? Why not contact Lisa Dodge? She's with the FBI. Or James Pryce. He's MI-6 and cleared for all of this stuff."

"Lisa Dodge is a valuable asset to the FBI, and we have already approached her to be on the team, but she has no leadership experience. James Pryce is a British national, and while Britain is a close ally, they have only recently become involved in the program. You, through your downloaded memories, are the most experienced field operative we have. You have the memories of operating in almost every part of the globe. You have extensive hand to hand and weapons training. And you have the experience of leading a group under adverse conditions, and coming out on top." Doc ticked off each answer on his fingers.

Kirk's mind started to race. He was enjoying retirement, spending time with his family. But at most he had five more year, tops, before his brain shut down. This job, while it would take him away from the family he loved, would give him a chance of maybe healing his broken mind and living a full life with his wife and daughter. And with his wife traveling for the State Department and his daughter in the Air Force academy, he wasn't seeing him that much anyways.

Finally, he spoke. "I choose the initial team."

Before Davis could argue, Doc spoke. "Done"

"I'll choose the replacement for me when I step down in a few years."

"Fair enough"

"We get no flak from the brass when we take over an op. We get flak, I put them in their place."

Doc sighed. "Just try to do it respectfully."

Kirk smirked. "What about rank and protocol?"

Major Davis spoke. "To make things easy, your team will all be assigned honorary ranks, if none exists. We are prepared to promote you to the rank of Major."

Kirk nodded. "That is acceptable. One more thing- Miriam doesn't go anywhere near this place. Set her up in Hawaii or something scenic."

Doc crossed his arms. "Her choice, not yours."

Kirk crossed his arms as well. "My daughter, not yours."

"My granddaughter, and if you persist in this, the Rams will never win another super bowl as long as I live."

Kirk blinked at that. "You could honestly fix a game like that?"

"You saw them loose to the Patriots?"

"Yeah."

Doc leaned back and smiled. Kirks eyes narrowed. "Damn, that's cold."

Doc chuckled. "I'm evil, get used to it."

"I want you to realize something, Mr. Kirk. We have encountered advanced healing technology out in the field, but we currently hold none. This job will give you a chance of being healed, not a guarantee. Do you understand?"

Kirk nodded at that.

Major Davis stood and extended his hand. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Kirk?"

Kirk thought about it for half a second. "Call me Major Kirk."

Colorado Springs, Present Day

So, what do you do after you activate all of the slayers, destroy your hometown, and save the world all at once?

That had been the question that faced the ragtag group of warriors after their battle with The First. Buffy had decided to go to LA first, since Angel had a hotel with enough rooms to put up all of them for a few days while they formulated a plan. But when they arrived, the hotel had been in shambles: apparently Angel Investigations had dealt with their own apocalypse. And to top it off, they were now in charge of Wolfram and Hart, the law firm form hell. Nevertheless, Angel gladly welcomed them into the remains of the hotel. Both teams mourned their losses- Angel for Cordelia, who was in a coma, and Buffy and the gang for all of the people they had lost- Anya, Amanda, Chao-An, and other potentials. Wood and Rona were taken to the hospital for their injuries, both were told that they would be ok in a few weeks. For Rona, a newly activated slayer, that equaled a few days.

Once they were all healed, Buffy and the Scoobies had to figure out how to deal with hundred of slayers all over the world. Buffy and Giles both agreed that the council had to be reformed, but that it had to change from the old ways. Buffy also expressed her desire to settle down and give Dawn a normal life, and told her former mentor that she would no longer be involved after the planning was done. Giles respected her decision and wished her well.

Once the plans for the council had been drawn up, the Money issue was discussed. Angel offered funding from Wolfram and Hart, which Giles promptly declined- he felt it wouldn't be right for an organization for good to be financed by an organization of evil. Kennedy offered money, as her parents were rich, but then Willow trumped that offer- she managed to find all of the old council's accounts and transfer ownership to the last surviving council member- Giles. With money reaching into hundreds of millions, and other property and real estate to boot, the new council seemed to be set. Giles, the potentials, Faith and Robin, along with Andrew, headed to Cleveland to establish the new council, while Buffy, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn headed to Colorado springs to start a normal, new life.

Xander got a consulting job with a local construction company and Willow began teaching a computer class at the local high school that Dawn was attending. Meanwhile, Buffy and Kennedy opened up a self defense school and ran it during the day, while Kennedy patrolled at night with Buffy acting as her watcher. At first, the two slayers didn't get along to well. Buffy thought of her as a Faith Lite- all attitude and bravado, and a spoiled brat to boot. Kennedy didn't think much of Buffy as well- she was bossy, self centered and full of herself. But over the months of working, training, slaying, and living together, both slayers began to gain a new respect for each other. Kennedy settled down and became more responsible as her relationship with Willow grew. And Buffy found herself becoming more like Giles everyday, as she took to researching the demons and began to patiently train Kennedy to survive. Life got back to normal, more normal than they were used to. And life seemed good.

But, as the saying goes, good things never last.