Stairway, denied - rp for sees_everything

[a_time_slip]

After this

Janie should have been back from her mission days ago, but life rarely works out as planned.  She'd called her Father to let him know she made it back safely,   He had questions about the mission,why she was back late, when she'd pick Lynn up.

She only promised to see him in two days.  It would give her time to rest and to spend a little quality time with her boyfriend.

Her intentions were to order a nice meal, set it up with candles and wine, and have nice romance times.  Instead, she was asleep on the couch with the phone in her hand.

Comments

[a_time_slip]

"Yes. I wanted to surprise you, which is why I didn't call to say I was back."

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's a nice surprise just the same. You being back is always a good thing."

[a_time_slip]

"I need to get Lynn tomorrow, but tonight, it can be us."

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

Xander smiled. "Our eventual daughter. What did you have in mind for dinner?"

[a_time_slip]

"...Right." She extracted herself from him, and went back to the phone. "Food. We'll have food."

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, what kind of food?"

[a_time_slip]

"Actually, I'm not hungry anymore. I should get going"

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

" ... wait ... going? You just got here!"

[a_time_slip]

"I really don't deserve you." she said "And you deserve better than me. All I'll do is ruin your life and get you killed"

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Nothing's ruined and nobody's been killed! Just have a seat, I'll order dinner."

[a_time_slip]

"My team is dead." she admitted, taking a seat just as Xander asked. "All of them. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't help them. He was right, he said I'd lead them to slaughter just like I've done with everyone else"

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

" ... your whole team? So ... umm ... does that mean you're getting a new one, or what? Who was right? And ... I'm sorry, that's awful."

[a_time_slip]

"Twelve." she looked down at her hands "There were twelve of them. Before he made me go my ex told me that all I do is ruin lives and cause death. I'm not doing it again. I wanted to quit but they made me General!"

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Does that mean you'll be going on missions less? Is that how that works?"

[a_time_slip]

Janie nodded. "I have to go back, there's something going on. The... the numbers are down, it's falling apart and I can't do this! I can't be responsible for that many."

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"How many people will you be responsible for?" Xander took the phone from Janie's hands and dialed the Chinese place up the street.

[a_time_slip]

The telephone was the only thing that kept Janie from putting her head in her hands, and now that it was out, she covered her face.

A number was mumbled to Xander as she sat fully back in the seat.

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"That's ... seriously? That's a lot of people," Xander said. He ordered orange chicken and fried rice, and settled next to her with an arm around her. "Somehow I always figured your group was, like, six or seven people traveling through time or something."

[a_time_slip]

"The Alpha team consists of twelve of the best agents." Janie began "I led the team on the mission that was just completed, we had to survey a palace in a distant realm and that was it. It was all supposed to be simple and standard. Team at the gates, four survey pairs and two working with me on surveillance.

I should have noticed that something was wrong from the start when the building started getting warm, and there was this black slime on the walls but I ignored it because the agent that noticed the slime was annoying me. I think it was too late by then because the pair at the gate were the first to go, then one of the survey teams.

When the second camera went out I told the teams we had to leave, but I ended up hearing another pair die. They couldn't teleport out, and I had to listen and the walls started bleeding.

It was something out of a horror movie. He wanted part of my soul, he said, then burned one of my last two team members to ashes. I tried to save the other but he managed to drain the life out of her."

Janie put her palm on Xander's head, cupping it with her fingers. "Like that. The color started to leave before I pushed her away, before he went for me. He slammed me into a wall a couple of times then drained my energy."

Her hand went back in her lap. "I was powerless. Completely, and he left me there. Me, and one body because he burned all of the rest. I notified the families. Xander, why did he do that to me? Why?"

She started crying, leaning against Xander, taking comfort in having someone that she loved so much beside her, someone she could open up to. This was the first time she'd done so in a very long time.

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"I ... I have no idea," Xander said, stunned. "But it doesn't sound like just some guy defending his turf, it sounds like he has some kind of major vendetta against you. You didn't, like, kill his dog in another timeline or something, did you?"

[a_time_slip]

"No... I've never seen him before now." She clung, still sniffling "I'd never kill someone's dog. Never."

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Yes, yes, I realize that," Xander said. "I wonder why he had such an issue with you, though."

[a_time_slip]

"I don't know. Do you think he'll come after me again?" She clung closer to Xander, burying her face in his shoulder.

[sees-everything.livejournal.com]

"Well, I don't know anything about him, or even what he is, so I'm not the person to ask," Xander said. "Do you have intelligence people working for you? Spies?"

[a_time_slip]

"I can't ask to use those resources for myself."