An Extraordinary Journey - Fmfan1980 (2024)

Chapter 9: The Academy and the Return

Chapter Text

Third year, A.F Academy.

The third year of her time at the Academy was an eventful year for Willow. She went on missions with various SG teams while spending her semester breaks and weekends at the SGC. However, the only thing that she was not really happy about was the fact that none of the missions was with SG1, which frustrated her a little. After she had returned from a research mission one day did she asked Colonel O'Neill why she couldn't go with SG1 on missions.

Chapter 36: An Alternate Land (Part 1)

Chapter Text

Planet Designated P8D-767, 1400hrs.

Willow was sitting down panting on the ground under a large tree a little distance away from the entrance to the ruins. Her face was still covered in soot when she tried to start a fire through vibrating the air molecules in a localized area among some dry branches that they were going to use to start a campfire. Instead of starting a small and controlled fire, she created a small explosion.

"You alright Willow?" asked the Colonel as she handed her a MRE for lunch.

"Yes ma'am" said Willow, "My ears are still ringing a bit though."

"I'm impressed" replied the Colonel, "but you still need to control the area you're trying to ignite though."

"Oh trust me" said Willow, "it's not as easy as it looks."

"Think about it this way though, in a combat situation you'll need to do it in a split of a second" said the Colonel, "but it should maybe be used as a backup, remember your first choice should be whatever weapons you have on you."

"You're right Colonel" said Willow, "I'm still not used to this, makes me exhausted"

"Which is why we're taking a break and having our lunch" said the Colonel smiling.

Willow nodded as she opened her MRE and tasted the mysterious food inside.

"Tastes like chicken" said Willow as she dug into the food.

"Really?" said the Colonel smiling, "I think you have the beef meatloaf."

"Maybe going through the gate affects the tastebuds?" said Willow, "makes everything eaten taste like chicken."

"Could be" said the Colonel laughing.

"Hey guys" said Daniel as he and Captain Grogan walked up to where Colonel Carter and Willow were sitting down and sat down for their lunch.

"Here you go Carl, Daniel" said Willow as she handed them a MRE each.

"Thanks Willow" said Daniel as he looked at the pack, "Ummm…. Beef meatloaf, yummy."

"Ah.. does it taste like chicken?" asked Grogan as he looked at the pack suspiciously.

"Yeah" said Willow as the two men just stared at her "really good chicken though, if you can get past where it says 'beef' on the pack. You should be just fine."

"Ah well" said Daniel as he tucked into his MRE, "it could be worse."

"I don't know how it could be worse Sir" said Grogan.

"Sam could have cooked the food" said Daniel as he ducked to avoid a fork being thrown at his direction from Colonel Carter.

"I'll have you know Daniel that I can cook" said Colonel Carter as she brandished a spoon towards Daniel.

"Sam" said Daniel, "your fire alarm went off when you were cooking a pack of ramen noodles."

Willow was taking a drink of water when she suddenly laughed and spilled out the water from her mouth.

"Really ma'am?" asked Willow.

"Sam put the ramen into the boiling water and then forgot about it" said Daniel, "she found out something was wrong when the fire alarm was going off thanks to the small fire in the pot."

"That only happened once" said the Colonel.

The four members of SG1 spent the next hour simply sitting down under the tree, and eating their lunch while trading embarrassing stories about their pasts. Very soon, Daniel and Grogan made their way back to one of the caves where they had found what looked to be artefacts and cave drawings. In the meantime, Willow stood up and got ready to get back to patrolling the perimeter when she stopped and turned around to face the Colonel.

"Colonel" said Willow, "permission to speak freely?"

"Of course, is this about that woman-to-woman talk you wanted to have?" asked Colonel Carter.

"Well yes but the first thing I wanted to ask you about that offer from Dr. Weir to join the Atlantis expedition" said Willow.

"OK, what about it?" asked the Colonel as she slowly got up and tidied up her gear.

"Would you go if you were in my place?" asked Willow.

"I would" said the Colonel, "I think it's a fantastic opportunity. Come on Willow, it's the city of the Ancients. It's something we've been aiming for quiet some time now."

"I know ma'am" said Willow, "I know it's a huge opportunity and with the Ancient gene maybe I could be of some use there. But I also know that there are other people out there who have the gene who would be much better than me, which makes me think that maybe I should stay where I am right now, at the SGC."

"Well, you should think about what you want to do" said the Colonel.

"Ma'am" said Willow as she closed her eyes, "would you still go if you were to marry Pete?"

"Huh?" said the Colonel as she turned to Willow in surprise, "where's this coming from?"

"Would you go if you married Pete?" repeated Willow.

"I honestly don't know what I'd do if that happened" said the Colonel, "he hasn't talked about marriage or anything yet, but I guess I'd like to think he'll be happy for me if I did go. Why do you ask?"

"Well" said Willow as she stopped right before reaching the camp, "I kinda like someone on Earth, and I'm not sure how this person will feel if I decide to go to Atlantis."

"Ah" said the Colonel, "the age old question of 'to go, or not to go', because of liking someone. All I'd say to you is that I hope this person, whoever it is, understands no matter if you decide to go or don't decide to go."

"So what was the woman-to-woman thing you wanted to talk about?" said the Colonel.

"Umm…." Said Willow, "It's about Pete."

"Pete?" said the Colonel in surprise as she stopped walking and turned to face Willow, "What about Pete?"

"I really don't know how to say this" said Willow as she looked at Colonel Carter, her blue eyes staring back with curiosity, "so I guess I'll have to be blunt and get it over with. I think Pete has been following you around without your knowledge."

"What?" said Colonel Carter, "You're joking right?"

"No ma'am" said Willow.

"Willow" said the Colonel, "I know that you and Cassie don't like Pete, I mean I know he has his hang-ups, but I really hope that you and Cassie would be happy for me."

"Colonel" said Willow, "I know you have feelings for him but I still feel it's something you should know about."

"Do you have proof of what you're saying Willow?" asked the Colonel.

"I just know what I saw and heard ma'am" said Willow.

"Heard?" asked the Colonel.

"He thinks really loudly" said Willow, "I can't help but to overhear his thoughts sometimes."

"But" continued Willow, "I could show it to you in full High Definition and with stereo sound to boot."

"Huh?" said The Colonel as she looked confusingly at Willow

"With your permission" said Willow, "I would like to link my mind to yours, and you can see everything I've seen and heard so far. You can go through my memories and see the times when I noticed Pete following you, and even what he was thinking at the time."

"Willow, while I don't doubt your sincerity" said the Colonel, "There's no way for me to know what you show me is the truth."

"Which is why through this link I'll give you full access to my memories, from my days in Sunnydale to the present" said Willow, "the link will be one way, you can see everything from my point of view but I won't be able to look into your mind. I still remember everything that happened to me ma'am."

"But?" said the Colonel.

"You may also feel the entire range of emotions I felt, from abject terror to fear to love" said Willow, "but this is the best way for me to prove to you what I'm saying is the truth."

Quietly Colonel Carter looked into Willow's eyes, when she saw no deception there she agreed to Willow's suggestion.

"Ok" said the Colonel, "what do we have to do?"

"Let's go back to camp, ma'am" said Willow, "its better if we did this there while seated."

"Alright" said the Colonel as she and Willow turned around and headed back to the camp.

Once they were back at the camp, the Colonel contacted Daniel and Grogan on the radio.

"Daniel" said the Colonel over the radio.

"Yea Sam?" came the reply.

"I need you and Grogan back here" she said.

"Umm…. Is everything ok?" asked Daniel.

"I'll explain when you get here" said the Colonel.

"OK….. give us ten minutes" said Daniel.

Ten minutes later, Grogan and Daniel had come back to the camp where Colonel Carter briefed them on what was about to happen.

"You're kidding?" said Daniel as he looked at both Colonel Carter and Willow.

"Daniel" said the Colonel as she pulled him to one side, "Willow said that Pete has been following me around."

"What?!" whispered Daniel, "You need to tell Jack."

"I don't even know if it's true Daniel" said the Colonel, "which is why Willow come up with this idea."

"Willow, is it safe?" asked Daniel as he and the Colonel walked back to where Willow and Grogan were standing.

"I don't know Daniel" said Willow, "Colonel Carter will have access to all of my memories but I don't know if that will affect her physically in anyway."

"I need to find out about Pete" said the Colonel as she turned to Daniel, "and to do that in relative peace, I need you and Grogan to stand guard. From what Willow tells me, once it starts, we'll be defenceless until I signal Willow to deactivate the link."

"Will she retain your memories?" asked Daniel as he looked at Willow.

"She'll remember what she saw" said Willow, "but it won't be her memories. What I mean is that she won't be able to confuse my memories as hers. It won't be like her experience with Jolinar."

"Let's start then" said the Colonel as she sat down facing Willow.

"Alright ma'am" said Willow, "I'm going to put my hands on your temples, just close your eyes and remain calm. Breathe normally."

"OK" said the Colonel as she closed her eyes and she nodded in agreement as Willow placed both of her hands softly on her temples.

"Now Colonel" said Willow as she closed her eyes as well, "I'll open my mind and link to yours; do you see a door in front of you?"

"Yes" said the Colonel softly.

"Once you're ready, open the door and you'll be in my mind. If you want to get out at anytime, just imagine the door again and then go through it; you'll be back out to reality" said Willow.

"OK" said the Colonel.

"So shall we?" said Willow.

"Yes" replied the Colonel as she opened the door and walked into Willow's mind.

While all this was going on, Daniel and Grogan looked at each other worried about what might happen. But they knew that the Colonel was right, while they were joined like this, the two of them were vulnerable in case of an attack and the two men had to watch over them and defend their position until they were finished.

"Hey Captain" said Daniel to Grogan, "How long has it been?"

"About ten minutes Sir" he replied, "any idea when they may be done sir?"

"No idea" said Daniel when suddenly the Colonel opened her eyes and gasped before she quickly got up and ran towards the entrance of the ruins.

"Sam?" said Daniel as he ran after her, "Carl, stay with Willow!"

"Sure" said Grogan as he crouched down to where Willow was sitting down with her hands now on her thighs and her eyes closed, "Captain?" said Grogan as he saw tears coming down her cheeks, "are you alright"

"Yes" said Willow as she slowly opened her eyes and wiped the tears away.

"What happened?" asked Grogan.

"She saw everything" said Willow as she slowly got up, "where did the Colonel go?"

"I think she ran over to the entrance. Dr. Jackson's with her now" said Grogan.

"Thanks" said Willow as she stepped forward on her unsteady feet.

"Whoa there" said Grogan as he held her up to prevent her from falling over.

"I need to get there" said Willow.

"Ok" said Grogan as he aided her over to the entrance where Colonel Carter and Daniel were standing.

"Sam" said Daniel as she was bent over and panting hard, "What happened?"

"I saw everything Daniel" said Colonel Carter as she slowly stood up, "I saw everything that girl has been through in high school and in college. Everything she said about her past was true, everything about vampires, demons… everything"

"Seriously?" said Daniel surprised, "Then about Pete?"

"True too" said the Colonel, "She saw him a few times. The first time was outside her apartment and then there was another two times during team nights at General' O'Neill's house."

"Sam" said Daniel.

"I know" said the Colonel, "I need to talk to him."

"Colonel" said Willow as she was being helped by Grogan, "are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't know that the connection would be so…"

"Scary? Tiring?" said Colonel Carter with a smile as she approached Willow, "I'll take over from here Grogan" said the Colonel as she put Willow's arm over her shoulder and helped her back to camp.

"Glad you're alright ma'am" said Willow, "found what you needed to find?"

"Yes, I'll talk to Pete when we get back" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow, "you are one brave girl you know that? Having to face all of those horrors while you're still in high school, I don't think I could've done the same thing."

"I didn't do anything Colonel" said Willow, "you saw from my memories that Buffy did most of the heavy lifting, I either got captured or attacked mostly."

"Don't sell yourself short" said Colonel Carter, "it took guts to face all that and from what I saw, you did save your friends too, even fought against vampires when the odds were stacked against you."

"Thanks ma'am" said Willow.

"But I didn't go further than the memory of you being held against your will at the Slayer Council HQ" said the Colonel, "But now, I'm ordering you to get some sleep for a couple of hours. Then we'll do some training again. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan ma'am" said Willow as the Colonel helped her to get into the tent. Willow then unarmed herself and slipped into her sleeping bag and dozed off.

"Sleep well, Willow" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow sleeping for a few seconds before closing the tent flap and heading towards Grogan and Daniel.

"You guys should take a break too" said the Colonel, "it's already 1530hrs."

"I think we'll go back to the cave I was checking out Sam" said Daniel, "there are a lot of cave systems here, and maybe we could find some important archaeological discoveries that would give us more insight about the Ancients."

"Alright" said Colonel Carter, "check-in every thirty minutes."

"Yes mom" said Daniel smiling as he and Grogan walked away.

"I heard that Daniel" said the Colonel smiling as she turned back and sat down next to the tent.

Planet Designated P8D-767, 1745hrs.

It had been almost two hours since Willow dozed off. When she awoke, she found herself back in her tent with Colonel Carter outside talking on the radio.

"Sam" said Daniel, "You should check this cave out."

"I'm sure it's interesting Daniel" said the Colonel, "Found a lot of paintings?"

"Better than that" said Daniel, "Grogan noticed the walls in this cave looked a bit off, so after a quick test, we think that the cave we're in now has traces of Naquada."

"What?" said the Colonel as she quickly stood up and picked up her gear.

Upon hearing that the Colonel was ready to go, Willow got out of her sleeping back and slowly exited the tent carrying her vest and weapons including her combat knife, sidearm, a zat and her P90.

"Hi Willow" said the Colonel, "feeling better now?"

"Yes ma'am" she replied as she put on her vest and latched the P90 onto it, "Sorry I overheard you talking to Daniel about the cave, so I thought I'd go accompany you there."

"Let's go then" said the Colonel, "I want to be back here before dark. I guess we'll do the rest of your training at the firing range back on the base?"

"Sure ma'am" replied Willow.

"Daniel" said the Colonel on the radio, "Willow and I are on our way, we'll be there in less than thirty minutes."

"Ok Sam" replied Daniel.

It took the two female members of SG1 almost 20 minutes to reach the cave entrance where Daniel and Grogan were standing. Once they reached the cave, Colonel Carter took out some equipment for measuring the concentration of Naquada and collected some samples.

"You're right Daniel" said the Colonel after running a quick test on the samples.

"Any readings on the previous cave you found?" asked the Colonel.

"Nothing at the other one ma'am" said Grogan.

"There's another cave entrance about ten minutes away from here" said Daniel, "I'll take Captain Grogan and check it out, just don't disturb the artefacts that are along the cave walls. I wanna take some back with me to examine them more closely."

"Alright Daniel" replied Willow, "any idea how deep it goes?"

"Nope" he said, "we just went a few meters in before we found out about the Naquada."

"Alright" said the Colonel, "just be careful."

"Will do" said Daniel.

As they watched Grogan and Daniel walk off to the other cave, Willow and Colonel Carter turned around and slowly walked into the cave where they found the Naquada.

Unknown: "Help me!"

"What?" said Willow as she turned around to the entrance and then back towards the cave

Unknown: "Help me!"

"Colonel" said Willow, "did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" said the Colonel as she was feeling the wall of the cave before crouching down to collect some more samples, "I'll take these back to the SGC for further analysis."

Unknown: "Aaaagh… Help me!"

"Ma'am" said Willow, "Are you really telling me you don't hear that?"

This time Colonel Carter turned around while crouching to face Willow, "I don't hear anything Willow."

"I'm hearing someone shouting for help" said Willow as she switched on her flashlight and pointed it at the darkness of the cave.

Unknown: "I wanna go home.. help… please!"

"It's a girls voice. It sounds familiar but it's a bit garbled, I can't make out who it is" said Willow as she looked at inside of the cave, "she's saying she wants to go home. Whoever it is sounds terrified."

Unknown: "Oh God my head…. my arm's broken! It hurts so bad….. she crashed the car… its coming.. please someone help us… its coming for us… Buffy, Spike, somebody, anybody… help us please!"

"Dawnie?" said Willow stunned as she tried to look into the cave using her flashlight.

"Willow?" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow's terrified face, "Willow! What's wrong?"

Dawn: "Damn it we missed the movie, what's she doing in that other room anyway. I don't wanna stay next to this weird guy."

"I'm hearing Dawn's voice, Colonel" said Willow.

"You mean Buffy's younger sister right?" said the Colonel, "the one who'll be staying with you?"

"Yes ma'am" said Willow, "except the voice I'm hearing in my mind is so clear that it sounds like its coming from this cave, somewhere inside. Right now she sounds calm, but a little while ago she sounded terrified."

Dawn: "What's she been doing? Her eyes, her eyes are just… what's going on? She looks like she's high or something."

"Something's wrong ma'am" said Willow, "you really can't hear that?"

"No Willow" said the Colonel.

Dawn: "Somethings following us, I can feel it. I'm scared… Why is she telling me to go home alone.. I can't… I wish I was at home now…. Aaaaaaaaagh….. it's a demon…. Oh God, it scratched my cheek… it tasted my blood…. Buffy.. help…. Oh no! She's scared too…. Run… run….!"

"Dawnie" shouted Willow as she ran into the darkness of the cave.

"Willow" said the Colonel on the radio, "Stop. Wait for backup."

"I'll be alright ma'am" replied Willow on the radio, "she needs help… she's in danger."

"Damn it" said the Colonel as she went back on the radio, "Daniel.. Grogan, I need you back to this cave immediately. It's an emergency."

Daniel and Grogan were almost at the other cave when the call came in from Colonel Carter via their radio. They looked at each other when once they heard Colonel Carter's tone of voice and immediately turned around and ran as fast as they could towards the cave they left Willow and the Colonel in.

As Willow kept on running further and further into the darkness of the cave she sensed the danger that Dawn, and whoever was accompanying her, was afraid of kept getting closer. Because of the darkness of the cave, Willow never saw a slippery patch of moss on the ground which in turn made her slip and fall hard onto the cave floor.

"Oh God, that hurts" said Willow as she suddenly felt herself slipping down an incline until she landed with a thud at the bottom.

She was lying on her back as she reached for her radio, "Colonel Carter?"

"Willow" said the Colonel, "Are you alright?"

"Just fell a bit ma'am" said Willow as she winced in pain, "be careful a few hundred meters in, the floor gets really slippery. Plus it starts to incline a bit so I'd probably recommend some climbing gear, just to be on the safe side."

"Are you at the bottom of the incline?" asked Daniel.

"Yea" said Willow as she struggled to get up. She unhooked her P90 and put it onto the floor so that she could slowly get up. It was then that she noticed that the floor that she hit felt smoother than the cave floor.

"Are you injured?" said the Colonel.

"Just some scrapes and bruises" said Willow, "which I deserve for running off half assed. Sorry Colonel."

"Don't worry Willow" smirked the Colonel, "I'll forgo the court marshall for now."

"Captain" said Grogan on the radio, "I think we found the incline you mentioned, can you give us a signal?"

Willow turned on the flashlight on her P90 and pointed it to the top of the slope.

"Alright Willow, we see your light" said Daniel, "looks like you're some way down there."

"I'm looking around Willow" said the Colonel as she pointed her flashlight around the walls and the floor of the cave, "but I don't see any stairs or any other way to get down to where you are, and the incline is too smooth to try walking down."

"I'm guessing we need the climbing gear huh?" said Willow.

"Can you get up?" asked the Colonel over the radio.

"Gimma a minute ma'am" said Willow as she slowly got up and clipped her P90 back onto her vest and looked up the slope to see three flashlights pointed down towards her location, "so far no major injuries but I think I got a cut on my face though."

"That can be fixed later on" said Colonel Carter, "What do you see down there?"

Dawn: "Help me!"

Dawn: "Help me!"

"There it is again, Dawn's voice" said Willow into the radio as she turned around, "oh no!"

"What is it Willow?" asked the Colonel.

"Daniel, do you know if this trading post was for selling Quantum Mirrors?" asked Willow.

"I don't think so" said Daniel, "I haven't seen any indication among the ruins or the artefacts near the entrance to suggest that."

"Well, maybe this is where they keep their extra stock for a big sale that never happened, because I found a few Quantum Mirrors down here" said Willow.

Daniel, Colonel Carter and Captain Grogan looked at each other worriedly before the Colonel got on the radio again, "What do you mean by a few?" asked Colonel Carter.

Willow turned around facing the mirrors before she got back on the radio, "maybe about fifty or sixty of various sizes."

"What?" said Daniel.

"What do you mean by various sizes?" asked Colonel Carter.

"Some are quite huge and others are about the size of something you would use as a decoration for a living room or something. There are others that look like Geodes as well, although I cant tell how they would work without the mirror" said Willow as she shone her flashlight alongside the floor and the walls when she noticed something on the wall.

"Ah… stand by" said Willow on the radio as she walked towards what looked like a recessed panel on the wall.

Once she reached the panel, she instinctively knew to put her hand on it. With her hand pressed against the panel, Willow it flash white when suddenly ring transporters activated on the middle of the floor.

"Colonel" said Willow on her radio, "I think I just activated some ring transporters. Do you see a pad up there?"

The group at the top of the incline turned around and noticed a pad had appeared a few feet behind them. They walked over to the pad when suddenly the ring transporters activated and they were transported to the bottom of the incline where Willow was standing by the wall.

"What just happened?" asked Daniel.

"I just touched this panel" said Willow, "and the transport pads opened up."

"Let me try" said the Colonel as she pressed her hand against the panel but no light flashed. Daniel and Grogan tried as well but the results were the same.

"Maybe it could be only activated only by those who have the Ancient gene?" asked Willow.

"Considering that, other than you, none of us here have the gene" said Colonel Carter as she walked towards the mirrors, "I'd have to say that you may be right."

Dawn: "Aaaagh… Help me!"

Dawn: "Oh God my head…. my arm's broken! It hurts so bad….. she crashed the car… its coming.. please someone help us… its coming for us… Buffy, Spike, somebody, anybody… help us please!"

Dawn: "I wanna go home.. help… please!"

"There it is again" said Willow as she pressed both of her hands onto the sides of her head, "Dawn's screaming, and it's louder."

"It can't be possible" said the Colonel, "These mirrors are inactive."

Willow slowly walked past SG1 and the mirrors she saw pictures of in the mission reports of the incident that occurred a few years back when an alternate Dr. Samantha Carter and Major Kawalsky had come to the SGC from an alternate reality. She also read the mission report of the time when Daniel went to an alternate reality where the Goa'uld had launched an invasion of Earth. Willow continued walking towards the back where there were a group of medium sized objects that looked like Geodes near the back of the cave wall.

"I can sense it coming from here" said Willow as the rest of SG1 followed her to one Geode in particular.

"Willow" said Daniel, "it looks nothing like any Quantum Mirror that we've seen."

"I know" said Willow, "but the material around it looks like Naquada doesn't it Colonel?" continued Willow as she placed her hand on the rock like structure that surrounded the Geode when suddenly, the crystals inside lit up.

Willow and the other's quickly stepped back, watching as the light emitted by the crystals grew brighter until it released an energy that looked similar to the event horizon produced by a Stargate. They looked on as the event horizon started to freeze.

"That's new" said the Colonel as the frozen event horizon took on the reflective qualities of a regular Quantum Mirror.

Willow then put her hand on the Geode again causing a picture to activate on the mirror. They looked on as the mirror showed various pictures at a fast pace before stopping at one that seemed to show the inside of a darkened shop.

"The Magic Box" said Willow to herself.

"Magic Box?" asked Grogan.

"It's a name of a shop in Sunnydale" said Willow as she turned towards the rest of SG1, "I recognize the stacks and the ladder that's going up to the forbidden spells section."

"Magic?" said Grogan, "Really?"

"You're at the SGC Captain" said Colonel Carter, "You know you should expect anything."

"I know ma'am" said Grogan, "But magic?"

"One day you should ask Willow how she came to the SGC" said Daniel as he looked around the activated Geode.

"Sam" said Daniel as he stood behind the activated Geode, "Looks like these new types of mirrors are connected directly to the cave wall, which I can bet with you is made up of Naquada."

"You could be right" said the Colonel as she moved behind the Geode, "looks like this version of the mirror uses the direct connection to the Naquada in the cave as a superconductor, just like the Stargate."

Dawn: "Help me!"

Dawn: "Help me!"

"There it is again" said Willow as the others looked at her, "I can hear Dawn screaming."

"Ma'am" continued Willow, "Permission to go through."

"Sorry Willow" said the Colonel, "but I have to refuse that request."

"Sam" said Daniel.

"Daniel" said the Colonel, "Not now."

"But…" said Willow before she was interrupted by the Colonel.

"Willow" she said, "what happens if you go through but can't come back? You'll be stuck in another reality."

"Colonel" said Willow, "I'm sure the SGC of that reality can help me to return here if it comes down to that. We still have our regular Quantum Mirror at Area 51 don't we?"

"What if there's no SGC in this reality?" said the Colonel as Willow suddenly looked between her and the activated mirror. The Colonel could see that Willow hadn't thought about that.

"Colonel" said Willow, "since there's obviously a quantum mirror on the other side, wouldn't it make sense that the Ancients also occupied that reality? Which means that they also created the Stargates there, which leads to the high chance that the Stargate in Giza was found in 1928. And thus the formation of the SGC or SGA, or whatever it's called there."

"There's no way to confirm that though" said the Colonel, "You'll be going into an unknown environment."

"Will all due respect Colonel, isn't that what we do at the SGC every day?" said Willow, "We take risks, no matter how calculated they are, and step into unknown environments without knowing whether we'll come back home again."

"She's got a point Sam" said the Colonel.

"Ok, tell me this then, what if this alternate reality is only connected to this mirror here Willow?" said the Colonel, "What if it doesn't connect to any of the other mirrors here?"

"Ma'am, she needs help" said Willow as she referred to Dawn, "How can we leave her there when we're unsure if Buffy or anyone could save her."

"Willow" said the Colonel, "what about Entropic Cascade Failure? I saw what happened to Dr. Carter when she came here with Major Kawalsky, it was extremely painful for her".

"Ma'am" said Willow, "I read the mission report. That didn't happen until about forty eight hours later, and I know I'll be back before then."

"How can you be sure Willow?" asked the Colonel.

"Please ma'am" said Willow, "She needs help, she's asking for someone to help her. Buffy and the others may be busy battling something else and from what I heard, whoever she's with is incapacitated."

Dawn: "Help me!"

Dawn: "Help me!"

"There she is again" said Willow as she turned around to face the mirror.

"Willow" said Colonel Carter, "we don't know how long the energy created by this version of the mirror can last for. It could turn off just as soon as you've gone through."

"Wouldn't our Naquada generator work Sam?" asked Daniel, "Couldn't they provide power?"

"This is nuts," whispered Grogan.

"I don't like this, Willow" said the Colonel.

"Ma'am, if I don't do anything then Dawn could die in the other reality" said Willow, "I can make it back, just leave me a sign here and next to the one in Area 51 so that I know I'm coming back to the correct reality."

"You have two hours" said Colonel Carter softly, "two hours to save her and then come back, do I make myself clear?"

"We'll wait for you here" said Daniel.

"Grogan" said the Colonel, "You and Daniel stay here, I'll take the ring transporters and head back up to the Stargate, contact the SGC and ask them to send in SG2 and SG11, and some signboards and check with Dr. Brightman if anyone else has the Ancient gene. We may need them to operate the mirror again in case something happens."

"Yes ma'am" said Grogan.

"I can come too Sam" said Daniel.

"It's alright Daniel" said Colonel Carter, "I need you guys to stay here."

"Colonel" said Willow as she took off the patches of the SGC and SG1 from her BDU's and turned them over to Colonel Carter along with her Zat, "maybe it would be best of these remain with you."

"Alright" said the Colonel as she handed Willow an extra clip for her 9mm and one extra clip for her P90.

"Thanks ma'am" said Willow as she put them in her vest pockets before she turned back towards the mirror.

"Colonel.. Daniel, I'll be back in two hours" said Willow as she put her hand onto the mirrored surface, and gave a little scream.

"Willow!" shouted the Colonel as she, Grogan and Daniel saw what looked like electrical energy engulf Willow and pull her into the mirror before forcibly throwing her out the other side.

Alternate Reality, Magic Box, 2230hrs

"Son of a…!" said Willow as she felt herself get forcibly ejected out into the other side of the Quantum Mirror and was thrown onto the floor a few meters away. Her head narrowly missing the ladder that led to the forbidden spell books.

She grabbed her sides and felt for any broken bones of which luckily there were none.

"That was extremely lucky" said Willow to herself as she looked around the darkened Magic Box, "Looks like everyone went home."

She turned back to the still active mirror and saw Grogan, Colonel Carter and Daniel looking at her worriedly. Willow gave them the thumbs up sign to indicate that she was ok. She saw that the Colonel was talking to her in sign language, she reminded Willow that she had two hours to save Dawn and then get back.

Willow signalled her acknowledgement and checked her P90 which held the regular armour piercing rounds and her 9mm sidearm. As she was checking the rest of her gear, Willow immediately sensed Dawn who happened to be with someone.

"Is that the other me from this reality?" said Willow to herself, "why are her thoughts so jumbled and incomprehensible."

Dawn: "Damn it we missed the movie, what's she doing in that other room anyway. I don't wanna stay next to this weird guy."

"Oh no" said Willow as she ran towards the entrance of the Magic Box and unlocked it from the inside before leaving and closing the door. Since she didn't have the keys to the door, she mentally locked it from the outside.

Dawn: "What's she been doing? Her eyes, her eyes are just… what's going on? She looks like she's high or something."

"The other me does drugs in this reality? And she took Dawn with her?" said Willow as she started running towards where she was sensing Dawn's presense.

Willow: "Dawnie where are you?"

Dawn was walking along an alleyway next to a seemingly light headed and over stimulated Willow when she heard Willow's voice in her head.

"I'm right next to you Willow" said Dawn as she looked worryingly at her companion.

"I know" said the alternate Willow, "let's go and have some fun."

Willow: "Buffy, where are you? Damn it Buffy where are you? Dawn's in danger."

Buffy was walking and arguing with Spike when suddenly in the middle of telling spike to get out of her life, she stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong" said Spike as he stared at a surprised Buffy.

"Willow?" said Buffy as she was contacted telepathically by SG1's Willow.

While she was running, Willow had finally pinpointed the location where Dawn and her alternate were through her telepathy. The downside was that it was too far away to make it just by running from her location. Just before she hit the downtown area, Willow spotted a group of motorcycles parked outside a restaurant. Sensing that no one was in the immediate area, she got onto a black motorcycle and started to hotwire it.

"Thank you Colonel Carter for teaching me how to hotwire a motorcycle" said Willow to herself as soon as she was done with what she needed to do. She pressed the ignition button on the handlebar and was smiling when the engine started. She reversed the bike before taking off towards Dawn and her alternate self just as the owner of the motorcycle came through the entrance. The owner was stunned as he saw his motorcycle being ridden away at full speed with the tyres smoking and having left marks on the road.

Meanwhile, Dawn and the alternate Willow were walking in an alleyway completely unaware that there was something following them.

"What was that? I'm getting out of here" said a scared Dawn when she heard a noise.

"Oh Dawnie, don't. It was probably a cat or something like that" said the alternate Willow.

Dawn: "Something's following us, I can feel it. I'm scared… Why is she telling me to go home alone.. I can't… I wish I was at home now…. Aaaaaaaaagh….. it's a demon…. Oh God, it scratched my cheek… it tasted my blood…. Buffy.. help…. Oh no! She's scared too…. Run… run….!"

"sh*t" hissed the SG1 Willow as she sensed both Dawn's and her alternates' fear, "Damn it!"

Willow pushed the throttle on the motorcycle as much as possible until she sensed that Dawn and her alternate self were just around the corner. As she turned the corner at speed, Willow two people running into a blue car which promptly drove away while being chased by a creature.

"What kind of a demon is that?" said Willow to herself as she opened the throttle on the motorcycle again and sped towards the car.

Dawn sat in the passenger side of the car terrified as she saw Willow driving the car just by using her magics. She looked back only to see the demon still running after them. It was then she noticed the headlights of a motorcycle coming up real fast behind the demon until it was right beside it.

As SG1's Willow sped up right beside the demon, she was thinking about what she could do to stop it. Using the guns during a high speed chase were out of the question on a motorcycle and she was going at such a high speed that she couldn't telekinetically use her knife against the creature accurately. So she did the next best thing which was to telekinetically push the creature onto the side of a building.

Dawn looked on stunned as whoever was on the motorcycle simply stopped after the demon was flung onto the side of a building. She then turned back towards Willow who was still driving the car with her magics and made a tight left turn into another alley.

"Willow, stop the car" said Dawn.

Just then Willow took her eyes off the road and looked behind her.

"Willow!" screamed Dawn just as the car crashed onto a wall.

SG1's Willow had gotten off the motorcycle with her 9mm sidearm in her hand with the safety off. She ran towards the side of the building and saw the Demon starting to get up from the ground. The demon looked at her and snarled.

"Witch" said the demon as it pointed its fingers at her.

"No" replied SG1's Willow.

The next thing Willow knew, the demon was running towards her. Without giving any warning, Willow emptied an entire clip from her 9mm into the demon which at first seemed to have stopped it in its tracks as it fell onto the ground unmoving. Just then she sensed that Dawn and her alternate were in trouble.

Dawn: "Oh God my head…. my arm's broken! It hurts so bad….. she crashed the car… its coming.. please someone help us… its coming for us… Buffy, Spike, somebody, anybody… help us please!"

Willow quickly ran to the motorcycle and started it up again before she opened the throttle to full speed and rode towards the car crash. However, she didn't notice the demon moving a finger, and then shortly after its arm, before it picked itself up and stood looking at the girl who was riding the motorcycle away. It looked down at its body and saw the bullet holes and the blood coming out of them. It then started to run towards the scent of SG1's Willow, the alternate Willow and Dawn. As it was running, it was going through in its thoughts about how to best torture the one who had shot him with the human weapon.

Willow: "Buffy you're needed. I'm telepathically sending the location to you. Come quick, they're in trouble."

"Spike" said Buffy as she took off running, "I know where they are."

"How?" said Spike as he ran behind her.

Just as they rounded a corner, both Buffy and Spike noticed a motorcycle turning into an alley in the distance. The same alley where the voice in Buffy's head had told her to go to.

"Come on Spike" said Buffy as she ran toards the alley.

"Willow?" said Spike out of Buffy's earshot

Willow was riding the motorcycle at full speed through the alley until she saw the smoke coming from the car wreck just a few feet away. She stopped the motorcycle and quickly ran to the car not caring whether Dawn or her alternate self saw her. As she was running towards the car, she sensed that both Dawn and her alternate self were alive but Dawn could be more injured.

She quickly ran to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Dawnie?" said Willow as she crouched down to slowly take off her seat belt, "are you alright? Where does it hurt?"

"Willow?" said Dawn as she stared between the SG1 Willow and he other Willow who was lying slumped on the steering wheel.

"Long story sweetie" said Willow as she sensed her confusion, "can you move your legs? Where does it hurt?"

"I can move my legs" said Dawn, "my head and my arm hurts… I think its broken."

"Listen I need you to come out of the car ok?" said Willow, "I'm scared there may be a fuel leak or something and a spark could set it off."

"Ok" said Dawn as Willow ran over to the driver side to check up on her alternate. Dawn looked on as the other Willow, the one wearing some kind of a uniform with a big gun strapped to her vest ran over to the drivers side and felt for a pulse from the Willow who was slumped.

"She's alive and breathing" said SG1's Willow as she looked at Dawn.

Dawn was already out of the car and heading to where the uniformed Willow was when all of a sudden something hit her and she got thrown underneath an overpass. Looking up, she saw that it was the same demon as before and when it was almost on top of her, she screamed for Buffy.

Upon hearing Dawn's screams, Buffy and Spike ran even faster than before.

"Get away from her" shouted SG1's Willow as the demon was on top of Dawn and almost ready to slash her with its claws before she could crawl away to safety.

Willow telekinetically pushed the demon until it hit the other side of the concrete wall under the overpass.

"Easy Dawn" said SG1 Willow as she slowly lifted her up and leaned her against one of the pylons, "I can sense Buffy and Spike coming, they're close by. You'll be ok."

"Alright" said Dawn as she stared at the SG1 Willow.

Suddenly Willow tensed up as she felt claws going through the back of her vest and her skin.

"Damn it" said Willow as she turned around to face the demon which had already stood up after having been being crashed onto the wall.

Dawn saw the vest Willow was wearing fall off her and land with a thud onto the ground. Looking closely, she saw that the vest already had some drops of blood on it. As she looked at Willow's back, she could see the place where the demon had scratched her, blood was slowly coming down her back from the scratches. Worried, Dawn looked towards the alley and could see two figures quickly running towards them.

Willow: "Dawn, Buffy and Spike are here. Run towards them, I'll hold this thing off.. Go now!"

"But…." said Dawn before she was interrupted by Willow.

Willow: "Go now Airman, that's an order!"

Upon hearing the anger in Willow's voice and knowing the danger she knew she was in, Dawn quickly ran off towards the approaching Buffy and Spike.

Willow sensed that Dawn had already run towards her best friend and could sense that the demon was prepared to do anything before Dawn could reach Buffy and Spike. So she gave an all-out pre-emptive attack with her telekinesis. Ignoring the pain in her head and the pain coming from her back, Willow blasted the demon on to the wall and held it there.

"Buffy! Spike!" shouted Dawn as she ran towards her older sister and the vampire.

"Dawn" said Buffy, "Are you ok?"

"I think my arm is broken" said Dawn.

"Who else was in the car with you?" asked Buffy.

"Willow" said Dawn crying.

"Spike, watch over Dawn and Willow" said Buffy as she ran toward where Dawn said the Demon was and stopped in her tracks just as she reached the car and looked at the person under the overpass.

She looked shocked at the red head who was somehow holding a demon on a wall and the similar red head who was slowly coming to in the driver's seat of the car.

"Witch" said the demon again as it pointed to SG1's Willow.

"No, I thought I told you that when I pumped one clip of bullets into you" she replied.

"Slayer" it said.

"Wrong again" said Willow, "that would be my best friend who just happens to be standing a few feet behind me. Wanna try again? By the way, nice dress Buff" she continued without turning around.

The demon caught the scent of both Willow's in the vicinity and finally knew there was something wrong.

"Abomination" it said.

"You're so rude" said Willow as she mentally grabbed her combat knife and unsheathed it, "I mean I've been called that before, but it still hurts my feelings."

She then walked towards the demon in anger and as she started to slowly crush its hands and feet, she noticed blood dripping down from her nose.

"You tried to harm someone I care about Demon, I won't let that slide" whispered Willow before she mentally plunged the knife into its head and twisted its head around 360 degrees. As Willow continued to hold the Demon on the wall, she blasted it again with her telekinesis at close range, crushing every bone in its body and then one last time to make sure it stayed dead. She then let go of the demon and watched in fall onto the ground before wiping the steady stream of blood that was now flowing out of her nose.

"Worth it" thought Willow to herself.

Just when she let go of the demon, it started to glow with red sparks coming from inside it before it spontaneously combusted. Surprised Willow turned around to only see her alternate self leaning against the one of the pylons with Spike and Dawn standing behind her. Buffy must have noticed that Dawn, Spike and this reality's Willow were behind her because she turned around to face her Willow.

"It's time I slipped out of here" said the SG1 Willow to herself as she telekinetically grabbed her knife, P90 and her vest before slowly slipping away, "I guess reading comic books are useful, kind of gave me the idea to change a person's perception of things and people. Hopefully they won't see me until I actually leave."

She slowly walked towards the motorcycle knowing that once she starts it, everyone would be able to see her riding it away, but it would be too late to stop her by then. As she was walking away, she closed her eyes as she heard her counterpart beg Dawn and Buffy for forgiveness.

"Dawnie, I'm so sorry" said the alternate Willow to her best friend's sister, "I'm so sorry."

"Stay away from her Willow" said Buffy as she helped to lead Dawn away.

"Buffy, where's the other Willow" asked Dawn, "she was just here."

"I don't know" said Buffy as she looked around before turning to Spike, "have you seen her leave Spike?"

"I guess she must have slipped away" said Spike as he saw the uniformed red head walking towards a motorcycle.

"I'm sorry.. Oh God… I'm so sorry" said the alternate Willow.

"Seriously Willow, stay away from her" said Buffy as she protectively shielded her sister from Willow.

SG1's Willow could do nothing but sense Dawn's fury and disappointment at her counterpart, she felt the slap that the alternate Willow had gotten from Dawn before Buffy asked Spike to take her to the hospital.

"Buffy, I'm so sorry" said SG1 Willow's counterpart, "I'm so sorry."

"You could have killed her" said Buffy as she faced her Willow.

SG1's Willow turned around as she saw her counterpart go onto her knees and cry, and beg for forgiveness from Dawn and Buffy. She didn't stay for the rest of the apology as she quickly started the motorcycle and rode away with Buffy, Spike and Dawn staring at the retreating red head.

After travelling at the speed limit for ten minutes, Willow reached the restaurant from where she took the motorcycle and left it secured at the parking lot. She even took out a pencil and paper from her vest and wrote an unsigned thank you note for the owner.

She then ran towards the Magic Box on foot.

"I'm almost home" said Willow to herself as she was a stone's throw away from the Magic Box. Sensing something amiss, she quickly slowed down and took cover in an alley. She took out her 9mm and changed the clip before she holstered the weapon and cautiously crept up to the shop window. Just then she noticed that her vision was getting blurred and she was feeling dizzy.

"Not now" said Willow to herself, "please not now, I can crash when I'm in my own reality."

Taking a peek inside, she noticed it was dark, too dark.

"Where's the light from the Quantum Mirror?" said Willow softly to herself before she noticed movement in the shop and she took cover under the window.

It was then that she noticed that the door to the shop seemed to have been tampered with. She peeked through the window again and when she noticed whoever it was had gone to the back of the store, Willow slowly crept in and took out her 9mm and released the safety.

When she was just outside the entrance, Willow sensed that whoever it was had returned and seemed to be very angry about something.

"Hold it" said Willow as she stepped into the shop with her gun aimed towards the person, "don't move."

"Wait, wait" said a very familiar voice, "I can explain."

"What the hell?" said Willow as she mentally switched on the shop lights.

"Xander?" said Willow with her gun pointed at her and her alternate's best friend.

"Willow?!" said Xander as he dropped a broom while putting up his hands, "did I miss Halloween or something?"

"Xander! Why couldn't they pay for whatever they steal?" said a voice from the back of the store.

"Ummmm….. Anya, sweetie" said Xander nervously, "can you come here please?"

"What is…." Said Anya as she walked out of the back of the store and immediately put her hands up once she saw the gun.

"Ok" said Willow as she engaged the safety on her gun and holstered it. It was then that she noticed the missing Quantum Mirror, "this really, really isn't good."

Xander put his hands back down and looked at Willow confused, "Wills, I thought you were taking Dawn to the movies."

"No….. not your…." Slurred Willow as she stepped forward onto the table of books where the Quantum Mirror used to be. And she dropped to both of her knees before collapsing onto the floor. Willow knew that the adrenaline she was running on the whole time had run out and now she was feeling the effects of her blood loss.

"Wills" said Xander as he ran towards Willow which was when he noticed the blood dripping from the cuts on her back and her nose. "Anya call an ambulance now" shouted Xander.

"No ambulance…. No doctor…" whispered Willow, "not supposed to remain….. complicated."

"You need a doctor Wills" said Xander.

"No… please" said Willow, "need to go home… mirror."

"Willow" said Xander, "don't sleep, stay awake."

"Anya!" continued Xander, "Where's that ambulance?"

Willow slowly opened her eyes only to see a white light forming behind Xander as Anya kneeled down beside him. Their voices were now fading into the background as she focused on the white light which began to take form. Willow gave a small smile as she recognized the woman who was standing behind Xander and Anya as they were desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hi Oma" said Willow smiling before she closed her eyes.

"Hello, Athena" said Oma Desala as she looked down confusingly at Willow.

"What's an Oma?" said Xander as he looked at Anya before turning back to Willow, "Wills? Wills?" continued Xander as he felt for a pulse.

Chapter 37: An Alternate Land (Part 2)

Chapter Text

Magic Box, Alternate Reality Sunnydale, 2 hours elapsed

"Willow! Willow!" shouted Xander as she closed her eyes and went limp in his arms.

"The ambulance is on its way" said Anya, "What happened to her?"

"I don't know" said Xander, "there are cuts on her back but the main question is why is she in this uniform and carrying some heavy hardware."

"Maybe she's practising for Halloween?" said Anya.

"Come on we need to get all of this off her before the ambulance comes" said Xander as she took off Willow's belt and holster along with her sidearm. He then took off her bloodied vest along with her P90 and he combat knife and gave it to Anya.

"Lock these away Anya" said Xander he noticed that all Willow was wearing was her BDU's.

Just then the door to the shop opened and the paramedics rushed in to tend to Willow. Xander stepped back with his hand on his head as he saw the paramedics give her oxygen. Once she was stable and they managed to stem the blood loss, she was put on the gurney and taken to the ambulance with Xander following close behind her.

"I'll go with her" said Xander as he grabbed his jacket and turned to Anya, "Call Buffy and tell her to meet us at the hospital.

"Go" said Anya as she picked up her phone to call Buffy's house.

En route to Sunnydale General Hospital, Alternate Reality.

"Wills," said Xander as she held her hand, "we're almost there, hold on."

Willow could feel someone holding her hand and she was hoping that it was Faith as she squeezed the hand tightly. She opened her eyes slightly and thought that she was in a dream; she had no idea what was going on or where she was. Then suddenly everything went black again.

"She's coding" screamed the paramedic to the driver as the wavy line on the heart monitor suddenly went flat and a loud beeping sound was heard.

"What's going on?" asked Xander as he looked on worryingly.

"Sir, you need to move to the side please" said the paramedic as the ambulance was speeding along.

"Wait, wait!" said Xander as he saw Willow's heartbeat on the monitor stabilize to the familiar wavy lines.

The paramedic took some readings just to be sure that Willow was stable, "Ok, I haven't seen that before. Someone coding who then quickly recovers on her own."

"Willow's always been a very lucky girl" said Xander.

"Just hold her hand like you're doing now" said the paramedic as he looked at Xander, "hey looks like she's trying to talk."

Xander looked at Willow's face and noticed that her lips were moving, so he leaned in to better hear what she was saying.

"Comdo asordo amacus," repeated Willow over and over again as Xander kept on listening

"Willow" said Xander, "What language is that?"

The O'Neill Residence, Alternate Reality.

Willow found herself in the living room of Genera O'Neill's house. She looked around the darkened home and, at least visually, she could see that the house looked just like the one in her own reality. She walked around the living room until she noticed a picture in the living room, it was of SG1 which consisted of the General, Teal'c, and Daniel. She smiled to herself as she recognized the picture, it was the same picture that was framed in her own apartment, except that picture also included Colonel Carter and herself.

"Where's Colonel Carter?" asked Willow to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her and noticed that someone opened the restroom door and was walking out of it. As she moved to get a good look at who it was, she made the mistake of revealing herself. What she saw surprised her, it was a little girl who could be about four or five years old.

The little girl opened her eyes wide when she saw Willow and, slowly walked towards her. Willow crouched down and took in the girl, she had blonde hair and brown eyes and was just dressed in pyjamas with rockets on them.

"Hello" said the little girl who had her hands behind her back and smiling at Willow.

"Hi" replied a surprised Willow who gave a tiny wave at the girl, she had thought the girl would be running and screaming back to her parents by now.

"Are you a ghost?" said the little girl, which made Willow smile.

"You believe in ghosts?" asked Willow.

"Sometimes I do, but mummy doesn't. She says they don't exist" said the little girl.

"Your mummy is very smart" said Willow, "you should listen to her."

"Daddy says that mummy is the smartest woman in the whole wide world" said the little girl as she stretched her tiny hands as far as they could go, "but mummy say daddy is like me sometimes."

Willow couldn't help but smile at the little girl.

"What's your name, lady?" said the girl, "do you work where daddy and mommy work?"

"My name's Willow" she replied.

"Like the tree?" said the girl.

"Yep, like the tree" said Willow.

"I like your dress" said the little girl which made Willow look down at herself, instead of her regular BDU's she was wearing a pink sundress with pink sandals.

"Thanks" said Willow as she looked back up at the girl.

"I like your hair" said the little girl again, "Can I touch it?"

"Sure" said Willow as the little girl put her hand through the air where Willow hair would have been and giggled.

"Can I colour my hair like yours?" asked the girl.

"Maybe you have to ask your mommy and daddy" said Willow, "so what's your name?"

"I'm Grace, but my parents and uncles call me Gracie. They always bring me lots and lots of presents, my birthday was yesterday and they brought me many things. Wanna see?"

"Happy belated birthday then Grace, and maybe you can show me your presents next time?" said Willow smiling, "can I call you Gracie?"

"Ok" said Grace, "Can I call you Willow?"

"Of course you can, you cutie" said Willow with a smile.

"Wanna meet mommy and daddy?" asked Grace.

"What's your mommy and daddy's names?" asked Willow.

"I call them mommy and daddy" said Grace which made Willow try her best not to laugh.

"Ok Gracie, what do your uncles call them?" asked Willow with her finger crossed behind her back.

"Unca Teal'c calls them O'Neill and Samantha" said Grace, "and Unca Danny calls them Jack and Sam."

"Oh thank God" said Willow under her breath, "Hey Gracie, can you call your mommy and daddy?

"Ok, Willow wait here?" said Grace.

"Ok" said Willow, "I'll be right here when you get back."

"Ok" said Grace as she ran into what Willow knew as the master bedroom.

Grace opened her parent's door slowly and walked over to where her mother was sleeping.

"Mommy, mommy" said Grace as she shook Samantha.

"Gracie, not now. Go back to sleep. You have school in the morning."

"But Mommy, the nice lady with the red hair wants to meet you" said Grace.

"You're just having a bad dream, the only one we know with red hair is your Aunty Janet" said Samantha sleepily.

"But she's outside in the living room" said Grace, "she'll be sad if you don't come and visit. I also want you to see her red hair, she said she will give help me colour my hair red if you say its ok."

"Alright Gracie, let's go meet your imaginary friend" said Samantha as she slowly got up if only to placate her young daughter that there was no one in the living room.

As Grace and her mother walked out the door, the both of them saw Willow standing in the living room with Grace quickly running towards Willow.

"Hiya Colonel" said Willow smiling as she saw this reality's Colonel Carter.

"Gracie, Gracie" said Samantha in fear for her daughter, as she tried to signal Grace to come back to her arms, "came back to mommy, stay away from that lady. That lady bad."

"Ma'am, I need your help" said Willow as she stepped forward, "I don't have much time."

"Jack!" screamed the Colonel as she quickly ran towards Willow only to grab Grace and walk backwards towards the safety of her master bedroom.

"I don't know what you want" said the Colonel, "but you should know that my husband is a General with the U.S Air Force. Jack!"

"Please Colonel Carter, I need your help" said Willow.

"Listen, I'm not a Colonel anymore. I'm just an astrophysicist now."

Willow was surprised at that admission, "You retired ma'am?"

Just then the door to the master bedroom opened and out stepped General O'Neill carrying a golf club.

"Sam" said the General as he looked at his wife, "What's going….." he stopped as he saw Willow standing there with her hands up, "Who're you? And what are you doing in my house?"

"General O'Neill, I come in peace. I'm not here to harm anyone. I hope that you can help me" said Willow, "Please tell me you're with Deep Space Radar Telemetry at Cheyenne Mountain?"

The General and Samantha looked at each other in surprise, "How do you know about Deep Space Radar Telemetry?" asked the General.

"Because I work there" said Willow.

"I'm the commander of that base young lady, and I've never seen you there before" said the General.

"Not in this reality Sir" said Willow.

"Wait… what?" said the General.

"Sir, I just need confirmation that the work you do involves a certain ring shaped device, am I right?" said Willow.

"Who are you working for?" asked the General.

"Please Sir" said Willow, "I need your help and Dr. Carter's help too. It is Dr. Carter now, right?"

"Carter-O'Neill actually" said Dr. Carter.

"Sam" said the General.

"Come on Jack" said Dr. Carter, "she obviously knows about the Stargate and I doubt that she can hide a weapon anywhere on that dress."

"Thanks ma'am" said Willow as she looked down at her dress again.

"Please just call me Sam."

"Yes ma'am… I mean Sam" said Willow.

"Sam" said the General, "take Gracie with you into the master bedroom."

"But daddy" said Grace.

"Sweetie" said Sam as she tried to lead her away, "Come with me."

"Bye bye Willow" said Grace as she waved at Willow.

"Bye Gracie" replied Willow before looking at the General.

"General" said Willow, "please you have to believe me, my name is Captain Willow Rosenberg. I'm from Sunnydale, California and I've been a part of the SGC since I was a cadet in the Academy and I've been a part of SG1 for almost two years. I came to this reality through a Quantum Mirro.r"

"From an alternate reality?" asked the General sceptically, "The Quantum Mirror has been destroyed, for all we know you could be a member of the Trust. Here to kidnap Gracie."

"Sir, what's the Trust?" asked Willow as she noticed that Sam had left Grace in the master bedroom and was standing next to the General.

"Jack?" said Sam.

"She said she came through the Quantum Mirror" said the General as he glanced over at his wife.

"But ours has been destroyed" said Sam as she stared at Willow.

"Ma'am, I don't know how things played out here" said Willow, "But in my reality, you were host to the Tok'ra symbiote known as Jolinar for a while. She sacrificed her life to save yours and since then you have had Naquada running through your blood stream."

"Ok" said Sam, "That happened here as well."

"Then you met with the Tok'ra?" asked Willow as Sam nodded, "After meeting them, your father was given clearance by General Hammond so that he could blend with the Tok'ra know as Sel'mak, in doing so his cancer could be cured."

"No" said Sam surprised, "My Dad died before we could give him that option. My dad's alive in your reality?”

"Yes ma'am" said Willow, "he's acting as a liaison between us and the Tok'ra."

"He's alive" said Sam as she looked at Willow.

"Yes ma'am" said Willow smiling as she turned to look at the General.

"General" said Willow, "You had the Ancient Repository of Knowledge downloaded into your head, twice. The second time that happened, you took SG1 to a power source on Praclarush Taonas that was used to power an extremely powerful Ancient weapon in the Antarctic."

"Again, you could have read that from the mission reports" said the General.

"In my reality, I was there when you put yourself in stasis. Your last words to all of us together were 'Aveo Amacus' and I know that that was never put in the mission report" said Willow, "When you downloaded the knowledge the first time, you looked at the circle of symbols from P3R-272 and were able to pronounce the Ancient language before even Daniel could, which you told me he was really jealous about. I remember what you said because that's one of my favourite mission reports to read. The symbols said 'Nou ani Anquitas. Hic Qua Videum' which Daniel translated as 'We are the Ancients. This is the place of our legacy."

The General and Sam looked at each other in surprise before turning to Willow, "Then you must have read about the revolutionary way of calculating the distance between planets that Jack came up with using Base 10 math" said Sam.

"Sorry ma'am" said Willow, "It was Base 8 math that the General used to calculate the distance between planets."

"Jack" said Sam as she looked at the General, "There's no way she could have know that what I said was a lie."

"Sam, she could have found that out from just reading a report" said the General, "I still think she's with the Trust."

"General,” continued Willow, "you once told me that the reason you don't keep guns in your home anymore is because of what happened to Charlie."

"What?!" said the General.

"Jack" said Sam as she squeezed his hand.

"Oh for cyin' out loud" said Willow which surprised Sam and the General, "Ok General, you like the Simpsons. Actually you love the Simpsons, you once told me and Daniel that you thought Burns was Goa'uld."

At that the General slowly put down the hand that was carrying the golf club and seemed to relax just a bit, "Well its true" he said as he looked at Sam.

"And Sam" said Willow, "your favourite Jell-O is the blue type. Well, at least that's the type the Colonel Carter of my reality likes. The commissary has to always have an extra batch ready just in case. Everyone remembers what happened to the new Airman who dared take the last cup of the day which was usually reserved for her. General Hammond suggested that he spend a week over at the Alpha Site until she had calmed down."

"Well that did happen here as well" said Sam laughing.

Willow breathed a sigh of relief as the both of them visibly relaxed but still walked cautiously towards her.

"So you really are from an alternate reality?" asked Sam.

"Yes ma'am" said Willow.

"Like the General said, we destroyed ours" said the Sam, "how did you get here?"

"Ma'am" said Willow, "I was with SG1 on P8D-767 when we found a cave with traces of Naquada inside. It was there we found what seemed like a storage area for various types of Quantum Mirrors, some looked like the regular version while the others look like those Geodes that people keep in their homes for decorations. The one I came through to this reality was the Geode variety which seems to react to my Ancient gene"

"You have the Ancient gene?" asked the General.

"Yes Sir" said Willow.

"How did you get into my house?" asked the General as he noticed that his windows were intact and his door was still locked.

"I have certain abilities Sir" said Willow, "this is just an astral protection of my consciousness, my real body is lying injured in an ambulance in Sunnydale. Please I'm asking for your help, I think the Geode type Quantum Mirror was stolen, I need it to get back home."

"How much time do you have left?" asked Sam.

"A little less than forty-five hours" said Willow.

"Wait, did you say Astral projection" asked the General.

"Yes" said Willow as she walked towards the General and his wife and held out her hand.

Sam tried to grab a hold of Willow's hand but her fingers just went through them.

"Where are you now?" said the General.

"In the ambulance, heading towards Sunnydale General Hospital" said Willow.

"Alright" said the General, "we'll secure the floor you'll be in. But has anyone seen you?"

"Unfortunately yes" said Willow as she looked on at their surprised faces, "I'm sorry, I only intended to save a friend in this reality. I sensed her crying out for help so I came here to save her and then fully intended to leave before they could ask any questions. But then someone stole the Quantum Mirror, and now I'm stuck."

"Wait" said Sam, "What do you mean by sense?"

"It's a long story ma'am" said Willow, "and I really don't have much time. The connection here takes a lot out of me."

"Ok" said the General as he scratched his head, "I can't believe I'm gonna say this but get back to your body Captain. I'll notify the hospital administration that they're to secure the floor and post guards at your door. You are not to speak to anyone, not even your friends until we get there. We'll be there in a few hours. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir" said Willow smiling as she started to fade away.

"Oh Captain" said the General, "The word of the day is Scorpion."

"Yes Sir" said Willow as she saluted the General before vanishing.

Then Willow vanished right in front of their eyes.

"Alright Sam, you should call Dr. Frasier and go with her to Sunnydale General Hospital, Danny should be on his way to Los Angeles by now so I'll call and ask him to meet up with the both of you there. I'll make sure the both of you and Teal'c get the first transport out of Peterson. Transport will be ready for you when you reach Sunnydale. Meanwhile I'll ask Dixon if his wife can babysit Gracie for a while. Then I have to call Hammond and tell him about what's happening" said the General.

"You think what she said is true?" asked Sam.

"We need to check up on it" said the General, "and anyway, we can't have a Quantum Mirror out there in the wild, even if public disclosure of the program is only a year away."

Two miles away from Sunnydale, 10 minutes later

Dr. Daniel Jackson; author, linguist, archaeologist, caffeine nut and expert on all things Ancient, was driving towards Los Angeles from Santa Barbara for a lecture at UCLA when a call came in.

"Hi Jack."

"Daniel" said the General, "where are you?"

"In my car Jack" said Daniel, "I was visiting Nick, and you know that."

"Yes I know you went to visit your Gramps but I need to know how far you are from a town called Sunnydale."

"I just went past the exit about twenty minutes ago" said Daniel as he drank his second cup of coffee.

"I need you to turn around and meet Sam, Teal'c, Dr. Frasier and SG3 at the Sunnydale General Hospital" said the General.

"Ok, why?" asked Daniel as he took the exit and went around to the other side, "What's going on?"

"Someone came through a Quantum Mirror" said the General.

"Jack" said Daniel, "I thought we destroyed ours."

"I thought that too" said the General, "but we received a visit from the young lady who came from the other reality."

"She was there? At your house?" asked Daniel.

"It's a long story Danny-boy" said the General, "Sam, Dr. Frasier, Teal'c and SG3 will be there in about 3 hours."

"Alright" said Daniel, "What's the young lady's name?"

"Captain Willow Rosenberg" said the General, "and she's already met her counterpart and her other friends."

"Oh no" said Daniel.

"Exactly" said the General, "I've talked to Hammond and the President and they've authorized full disclosure since the Program will be publically revealed by this time next year anyway. They still need to sign the NDA though which would be in effect until that time."

"Aren't you coming?" asked Daniel.

"I'll be coming with Hammond" said the General.

"So… are you there yet?" asked the General.

"No" said Daniel.

"Ok…. Are you there yet?" asked the General again.

"Jack!" shouted Sam in the background as Daniel smiled, "let the poor man drive."

"Ok…. Are you there yet?" said the General again.

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"Oh, before I forget" said the General, "the word of the day is Scorpion, just in case her counterpart tries to impersonate her."

"Thanks Jack" said Daniel, "see you there."

"Yep" said the General as the call was disconnected.

"Looks like SG1's vacation plans have been cancelled" said Daniel to himself as he voiced dialled the university to cancel his lecture due to unforeseen circ*mstances. A few minutes later, he took the exit leading to Sunnydale.

Sunnydale General Hospital Emergency Room, Alternate Reality.

"Come on Dawn" said Buffy as she guided Dawn into the emergency room. It was just sheer luck that even though the damage to the car was bad, Spike was able to get it somewhat working again.

"Dawnie" said Willow, "I'm so sorry."

Dawn angrily stared at her before she followed Buffy to the counter leaving Willow next to Spike.

"She hates me" said Willow as she turned towards Spike.

"I know why you were at Rack's, Red" said Spike, "Only one reason to see that ass; he dosed you with black magics didn't he?"

"Yes" said Willow.

"You'd probably hear this from Buffy later but you endangered the kid" said Spike, "that was idiotic of you, I don't care how addicted you are to the magics.. You voluntarily put the kid in danger. You're out of control. What would have happened if that demon had gotten to her?"

"It wouldn't have" said Willow softly, "Buffy would have been able to save her."

"But she didn't, did she?" shouted Spike which made everyone look at the platinum haired vampire and the red headed witch, "sorry, sorry…. I know, I know, I'll be quiet" he said as he turned and looked at all the faces, including that of Buffy and Dawn as they stared at him.

"You simply got lucky today" said Spike as he turned back to look at Willow.

Just then, Tara ran into the emergency room from the other side of the building and was the first to notice Dawn holding her arm with Buffy at her side. She ran towards them with worry etched on her face.

"Buffy, Dawn, what happened?" said Tara, "I got a frantic call from Anya saying that something happened to Willow, that she was badly injured". Just then, Tara noticed Dawn's injuries, "Hold on, what happened to your head and arm Dawn?"

"Willow used her magics to summon a demon and then drive a car into a wall" said Dawn.

"What?" said a very shocked Tara.

"I'm sorry Tara" said Buffy as she pointed over to where Willow was talking with Spike at the other entrance, "you should ask her, she's right there". Then suddenly Buffy realized what Tara had said, "wait, what do you mean badly injured?"

"Anya was hysterical when she called saying that Willow collapsed on the floor of the Magic Box and was bleeding out" said Tara, "I thought that something bad happened to her, that's why I drove here as fast as I could."

"Buffy" said Dawn, "You don't think?"

"What's going on?" asked Tara.

"After Willow crashed the car" said Dawn, "I saw another Willow help get me out of the car before she fought the demon that Willow, I mean our Willow, had summoned."

"I saw her too" said Buffy, "she used some sort of magic to crush it before our Willow used a spell to disintegrate it."

"But I guess in the aftermath, the other Willow must have slipped away" said Buffy.

"I saw that she was injured though" said Dawn, "the demon used its claws to cut her back."

"You think our Willow used magic to summon this other Willow?" asked Buffy, "I remember she and Anya summoned another Willow when we were in high school. That Willow was a slu*tty vampire biker chick."

"Willow told me about that" said Tara as she stared at Willow who was facing away from her.

Sensing that she was being watched, Willow stopped talking to Spike and turned around to look at Tara who was at he counter with Dawn and Buffy. She gave her a small smile before Anya came running through the door behind her and almost ran her over.

"Spike… Spike" said Anya as she ignored the red head right next to him, "Willow's hurt really bad, where's Buffy?"

"No she's not" said Spike as she pointed to Willow, "and Buffy's right down there."

"Hi Willow" said Anya before she turned back to Spike, "No silly, Willow collapsed at the store, Xander was riding with her in the ambulance and they should almost be here. I have the blood on the floor to prove it…". Anya suddenly stopped and turned sharply towards Willow who was just standing there stunned, "Willow!" she said as she gave her a hug, "You're alright, but I saw you injured and in a Halloween outfit. You even had the real guns and everything."

"What?" said Willow and Spike together.

Just then the ambulance carrying Xander and SG1's Willow came rushing to the emergency room as it stopped at the main entrance with doctors and nurses standing by to receive Willow. Xander was the first one out as he helped the paramedics to take out the collapsible gurney that she was lying on from the back of the ambulance.

"There's Xander" said Anya as she, Spike and Willow ran over to where Xander was standing while the people gathered at the entrance were taking readings from the person lying on the gurney. The alternate Willow was the first to reach Xander and she was speechless and shocked when she saw herself lying on the gurney in an uniform.

"Hey Willow" said Xander as he turned to face the alternate Willow before turning to face the SG1 Willow. It was then he did a double take and stepped back shocked, "ok, what's going on here?" said Xander as he looked between the two red heads.

"Oh my" said Spike as he looked at SG1's Willow whose face was covered with an oxygen mask and her eyes were closed.

"Her pressure's dropping again and she has a very high fever" said one of the doctors as he pushed the gurney into the hospital and past a stunned looking Tara, Dawn and Buffy; "get her to Exam 1" continued the doctor as he and the nurses put her into an elevator and took her up to the fifth floor.

"Buffy" said Dawn, "isn't that…?"

"Yea" said Buffy.

"Buffy…. Dawn… what's going on?" asked Tara.

"I don't know" replied Buffy just as the rest of the Scooby Gang and Spike came over to them.

"Ok," said Xander, "Who was that?"

"It was Willow" said Dawn.

"No" said Xander as he point to his left, "Willow's right here."

"Xander" said Anya, "she knew your name, plus she had all of that hardware on her that you said was real."

"What hardware are you talking about?" asked Buffy.

"A nine millimetre semi automatic pistol and another weapon, it looked more firepowery" said Xander as everyone stared at him.

"Willow" said Tara, "Did you summon her here like you did the demon?"

"No" said Willow as she looked down, trying to avoid Tara's eyes.

"Ok" said Buffy, "I'm taking Dawn to see the doctor. Tara…. Can you take Willow back home?"

"I'll stay Buffy" said Willow softly, "at least until Dawn's ok."

"What about me?" asked Spike.

"Go home" said Buffy.

"Look I can tell you something's not right about that one there" said Spike as he pointed to the direction that the doctors took SG1's Willow, "she smells different."

"No kidding Sherlock" said Xander, "there are two of them now you know."

"No I mean different" said Spike, "that one doesn't belong here."

As the others were talking among themselves, Tara glanced over at Willow who was standing in one corner with her head down, her arms folded around her body and shivering even though the weather was warm. She slowly walked over to the girl she loved and stopped just a few inches away from her.

"Hey you" said Tara.

"What have I done?" said Willow quietly, "I put Dawn in danger… I can't believe I did that…" she said as she raised her head towards Tara.

"Willow" said Tara as she stepped forward.

"I need help Tara" said Willow as she hugged Tara and broke down crying, "please help me… please help me."

Tara hugged Willow tightly as she tried to soothe her soul mate, "Of course, I'll be here for you. We're all here for you. We'll help you get over this."

"I'm done" said Willow between her sobs, "I'm done with magic, its over."

"I'm glad" said Tara, "I just want my Willow back, I don't care about the magic."

"Please help me" said Willow as she buried her sobbing face into Tara's neck.

"We will" said Tara.

The other Scoobies were watching this scene playing out on the other side of the half empty emergency room.

"Alright" said one of the staff at the counter, "I'll need to ask you all to take a seat while the doctor tends to Miss Summers". Buffy nodded as she accompanied Dawn to see the doctor about her broken arm.

Just as the Scoobies went to take a seat, Xander overheard one of the counter staff talking about a recently arrived fax.

"Hey Jane" said one of the Staff, "I just received a fax from the Air Force about a Captain Willow Rosenberg, I think that's the one who was just wheeled in to Exam One."

"OK" said Jane, "So?"

"Well, her floor is supposed to be quarantined and guards posted to her room once she's out of there" said the staff member, "also they want all blood taken from her to be returned untested, the letter said something about national security."

"National Security?" thought Xander to himself as he slowly walked back to the other Scoobies and told them about what they had heard. They all looked at him in surprise at the fact that one of them would join the military after what happened with Adam the Franken-demon and that Willow's blood, at least the Willow that was injured, was considered to be a national security matter.

"I'm telling you that the military got a hold of Willow's blood somehow and cloned her" said Xander.

"That's silly Xander" said Willow, "why would anyone want to clone me?"

"Maybe to use your clone's powers as a weapon?" said Xander as everyone stared at him.

"Xander" said Tara quietly, "this isn't science fiction."

While they were talking to each other at one end of the emergency room, they failed to notice a bespectacled man along with two officers from the Sunnydale Police Department walk in.

"Good evening, my name is Dr. Daniel Jackson" said Daniel as he handed the lady his I.D, "I'm here from NORAD about a Captain Willow Rosenberg of the USAF."

"Please hold" said the lady as she checked a list, "yes, your name is on the approved list of people who can see the patient. She will be moved from the examination room to a secured floor as per instructions from a General O'Neill once she's stabilized."

"Alright thanks" said Daniel before he turned around to face the police officers, "You guys should go ahead and guard the Captain's room. There'll be a detachment of Marines coming later on so you'll be relieved then."

"Alright" said one of the officers as he and his partner when to Willow's room to stand guard, at least until the Marines came in.

After the officers left, he approached the lady at the counter again, "My colleagues should be arriving in about three hours would it be alright if I waited here?"

"Yes" said the lady, "it won't be a problem."

"Thank you" said Daniel as he wasn't to take a seat nearby a small group of people who was talking amongst themselves, "they must be waiting on someone as well" thought Daniel to himself.

As he took a seat, he heard something that made him very surprised; "And you know what" said the dark haired man, "When I was in the ambulance with Willow, she kept on repeating 'Comdo asordo amacus'; Tara you know what it means?"

"No" said Tara, "maybe it's some sort of spell?"

Daniel almost jumped out of his skin when he heard that, "where did that guy hear Ancient?", and then he recalled the name he talked about, "This Willow could be Captain Willow Rosenberg? She knows the Ancient language?"

Daniel quickly got up and approached the group, "Excuse me" he said, "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson, I'm sorry but I overheard what you were talking about, ummmmm.. Where did you hear that language?"

"Hey glasses" said Spike, "stay out of peoples conversations."

"Spike, shut up" said Xander before he turned to face Daniel, "My name's Xander, I accompanied someone in the ambulance. I heard it from her."

"I see" said Daniel.

"Do you know what it means?" asked Tara.

"Sorry but no" said Daniel, "it just sounded like an unique language". Of course Daniel was lying; this Captain Rosenberg used the language of the Ancients while asking for help.

Willow's room, Sunnydale General, Alternate Reality, 12 hours elapsed

Willow slowly opened her eyes as they slowly refocused to take in her unfamiliar surroundings. She knew that this wasn't her room in Colorado Springs or her quarters at the SGC. She slowly moved her head and saw the sensors that were attached to her chest taking measurements of her heartbeat, pulse and some other stuff she didn't understand. Then she noticed the IV line going into her hand.

"Am I in the hospital?" thought Willow to herself before she remembered riding in the ambulance with Xander holding her hand tightly. She then recalled the fight she had with the demon after rescuing Dawn and her alternate self; she remembered she used what should have been her full power to crush the demon before her alternate finished the job.

"Oh my head" said Willow to herself before she sensed that the presence of this reality's Scooby Gang was no longer in the hospital. As Willow tried to sit up, she felt a stinging pain coming from her back and she cried out before taking a hand to her back, next to her neck and feeling the bandage. Suddenly she heard someone knocking in the door to her room, "Come in" she said.

Willow looked in shock as who else but the ever reliable Dr. Janet Frasier walked into her room and stopped by her bedside.

"Hi there" said the doctor, "I'm…."

"Dr Frasier" said Willow stunned.

"Yes" said the Doctor equally surprised, "And you must be Captain Willow Rosenberg, our guest from another reality."

"You're alive" said Willow shocked, "This isn't a dream is it?"

"No it's not Captain" said Dr. Frasier as she looked at Willow puzzled, "Wait you mean I…."

There was another quick knock on the door as General O'Neill and Sam walked in, alongside Major Paul Davis.

"General O'Neill.. Major Davis" said Willow as she saluted her superior officers but not before wincing in pain.

"At ease Captain" said the General as he flinched at her painful expression.

"Hi Colonel….. Sorry, I mean Sam" said Willow.

"Hello" she replied, "Gracie says hi."

Willow smiled as she thought about Grace, "Please tell her I said hi too. You have a very beautiful daughter."

"All right" said the General as he got into full command mode, "enough of this chit chat Captain, we need to get you back to your own reality after a debriefing; Doc can she be moved?"

"Yes Sir" said the Doctor, "her vitals have stabilized and the majority of her injuries have healed, especially the trauma to the brain. The other injuries will heal in time". Then she turned to face Willow, "don't worry Captain, I believe that the Ancient gene with help in your recovery."

"Thanks Doc" said Willow, "How's Cassie? Hold on, is there a Cassie in this reality?"

"Who's Cassie?" said all four people together.

"Oh boy" said Willow, "I think this is going to be a long and complicated debriefing."

"Here are some BDU's for you" said Sam, "I kind of guessed your size so I hope they're alright."

"Thank you ma'am" said Willow, "uh General?"

"Yea?"

"I think my sidearm and other weapons may be at a shop called the Magic Box" said Willow, "Xander Harris should have kept them safe."

"Alright Captain" said the General, "I'll ask Sam and Daniel to get them for you."

"Captain" said Major Davis, "I need the names of everyone who knows you in this reality. I mean the people who know the Willow Rosenberg from this reality since chances are that they've been told that there are two Willow Rosenberg's running around here."

"What will happen to them Sir?" asked Willow.

"The President has authorised full disclosure" said the General, "he felt that since the program will be disclosed to the general public next year, we might as well get the reactions of some individuals first."

"Wait Sir" said Willow, "Disclosure day is coming?"

"Like you said Captain" said the General, "We have a lot to talk about, so put on your BDU's and the Marines outside will escort you to the conference room."

"Yes Sir" said Willow.

Chapter 46: Willow vs Willow

Chapter Text

Chapter 124: Going Home (Part 2)

Chapter Text

Chapter 126: Going Home (Part 4)

Chapter Text

Asgard Vessel Mjolnir, hyperspace, five minutes away from Orilla.

Willow was sleeping a restless sleep while leaning her back on one of the walls on Heimdall's ship, the Mjolnir. She felt herself go out like a light once she had closed her eyes, however, she didn't dream about anything in particular. He mind was too busy thinking about Faith. It was ten minutes later that the redhead opened her eyes when she felt someone poking her shoulder, which was soon followed by a voice calling her name.

"Major" said Heimdall as he stepped back as Willow brought her head up before wiping her eyes and looking at the Asgard, "I apologize for waking you, however I have received a message from Commander Thor."

"Oh?" asked Willow as she shook her head before standing up slowly. She then bent down to reach for the Replicator disruptor before following Heimdall to a console at the far end of the room, "how long have I been asleep?"

"Ten minutes" said Heimdall as he turned some stones on the console while telling Willow that Thor had ordered him to stay out of this battle until he had the larger version of the disruptor completed. He told a surprised Willow that the Replicators were attacking in earnest and that although the new settings for the Ion guns were working, it was still not enough, "Commander Thor believes that we would be under attack if we participate in the battle. He wants to have the weapon ready, and not have this ship boarded by the replicators in case they learn the schematics of the weapon and find a way to negate it's effects."

"Has his ship been boarded?" asked Willow quietly as Heimdall nodded his head.

"The majority of the fleet has been infested by replicators" said Heimdall, "the ones that have not been boarded have been ordered to leave this galaxy, to accompany whatever survivors we have, and all of our knowledge out to the void between galaxy's until we can get this weapon online and take the fight to the replicators. However, the consciousnesses that have not been able to get new bodies are in danger. Some of the replicators have landed on the planet, and started replicating while the are heading for the Asgard Science Council where these consciousnesses are kept."

"That means that Thor's planning to sacrifice himself?" asked Willow as she looked at the screen which was showing the battle that was happening over Orilla in real time. Heimdall pointed out Thor's ship, which was among twenty, that had turned red; indicating that the ship was coming under replicator control, "no, no way am I letting that guy give up."

"Major?" asked Heimdall as he looked on in surprise at Willow.

"How long till the weapon is complete?" asked Willow as she looked at Heimdall.

"Twenty minutes" said Heimdall, "but by then it would be too late."

"Can you connect me to Thor?"

"Yes" said Heimdall as he turned some stones and Thor's face came up on the screen that Willow and Heimdall were looking at, "Commander Thor, may I introduce Major Willow Rosenberg. Also know as Athena."

"Major" said Thor, "I am sorry that we have finally met during a time of war between the replicators, and the Asgard."

"Thor" said Willow, "has your ship been boarded?"

"Yes" said Thor as he looked at Heimdall before looking at Willow again.

"Listen to me" said Willow, "is your crew alive?"

"Most of them are" replied Thor, "we are fighting to take control from the replicators. They have already countermanded the weapons controls and navigation, and outgoing transport. It would not be long before they take over communications and life support. I cannot have Heimdall's ship close to this battle; if the weapon you have given us is of Ancient design, then we cannot let the Replicators have access to it. If they do, then the situation would be most grave for all of us."

"I understand that" said Willow, "in my reality, we are allies and although we don't know each other here, there is no way I'm leaving you to die. Can you give a map of your ship?"

"Major" said Thor as Willow interrupted him.

"Thor" said Willow, "humans can be extremely stubborn, so please can you give me a map of your ship?"

"What do you have planned?" asked Heimdall as he looked up at Willow, before Thor pulled up a map of his ship onto Heimdall's screen.

"Ummm" said Willow as she looked at the map which had a blue blinking light that indicated where most of the crew, including Thor, were located, "Heimdall, I need you to go out of hyperspace over Orilla just out of range of the main replicator ships, but close enough to beam down onto Thor's ship."

"Major" said Thor as his face popped up again on the screen, with the map of his ship moving to another screen, "the replicators are attracted to high energy bursts that the beaming technology would give out."

"That's what I'm expecting" said Willow as she turned towards the map and pointed at four areas of Thor's ship, "if you can deactivate the explosion suppression system, I'll have four separate charges beamed down onto the sites I'm pointing out. The charges, what we call C-4, will be put on a 15 second timer to blast any replicator that approaches it. The four sites would cause the replicators to separate and go for those high energy bursts before Heimdall beams me down to where you think I could do the most good."

"It is still dangerous" said Thor.

"But I won't be facing a huge load of replicators since they'll be going towards the four sites which have the delicious high energy bursts" said Willow, "and I'm sure that there will be a lot coming after me once I beam down, but the Ancient weapon will take care of them. In the meantime, Heimdall can escape through hyperspace until the weapon is completed and then come back and fire the weapon at your ships, the replicators ships, and then Orilla itself. But for Orilla, the weapon would need to be fully charged."

"Commander" said Heimdall, "the plan seems sound although, as you said, it is risky."

"But then as Major Rosenberg stated" said Thor, "humans are stubborn."

"You bet" said Willow as she crossed her arms over her chest, "we can be very stubborn."

"Do you have this C-4 with you?" asked Thor.

"I was hoping that Heimdall could help me with that" said Willow as she looked at the Asgard next to her, "I have the chemical composition in my mind, all I need is the construction beams to create four explosive blocks."

"Very well" said Heimdall as he looked up at Willow before looking at Thor again, "Commander, we will be in range soon."

"Just hold out, Thor" said Willow, "and sorry in advance for damaging your ship."

Thor just nodded his head before the image started to break up.

"Commander?" asked Heimdall as the screen became fuzzy for a few seconds before the image cleared up again.

"The replicators are taking over the communication systems" said Thor, "they haven't taken over the suppression systems yet, and those have been disabled."

"Thanks, Thor" replied Willow, "we'll see you soon."

Asgard vessel Belisknir, orbit over Orilla, five minutes later.

In one of the many darkened hallways of the Asgard flagship, there was a buzzing sound followed by a sudden flash of high intensity light. Once the light vanished, there was only a block of a brown-pale, pliable substance that had a timer attached to it that read fifteen seconds. The number started to slowly count down as sounds of metallic feet hitting the floor, running towards the location of the Asgard beam, could be heard. Soon shadows appeared along the walls as thousands of insectoid replicators moved towards the lone block, attracted by the high energy burst that brought it to that empty hallway.

It was the same at the other three locations throughout the ship as the replicators stopped what they were doing to investigate the high energy pulses. Then at all four locations, the closer the replicators got, the closer the timer on the blocks got to zero. They had reached the sites just as the blocks of C-4 exploded in fireballs, the force of the explosion blew away many replicators, destroying the individual blocks so that they couldn't reform to form new ones. The destroyed blocks rained down onto the floor as another high energy burst brought a redhead carrying an Ancient weapon into another hallway close to the auxiliary control room that Thor had said the replicators took over. Willow looked at the grey stone that she was holding in her left hand before she brought it to her lips, and talked into it.

"Heimdall, Thor.. I'm in."

"Very well" said Heimdall, "I will return as soon as possible."

"Major" said Thor before telling Willow that the Mjolnir had jumped into hyperspace, "turn right at the first hallway to your left, and the door to the control room will be on your right side."

"Alright" said Willow as she put the stone into her BDU trouser pocket before raising the weapon and aiming it forward. She took a few steps forward before she heard the sounds of metallic legs that was heading towards her; a lot of metallic legs, "Thor, I've got company coming."

"We are unable to use our sensors to see the replicators, Major" said Thor from the primary control room as he and his crew brought up an image of Willow, blinking red on the screen before them, as she walked towards the corridor, "but we have you on our thermal scanners."

"Alright" said Willow as the sounds seemed to be getting closer and closer as she reached the corridor where she was supposed to turn. Willow peeked her head around the hallway and saw hundreds of replicators coming towards her which led her to head into the corridor and fire several bursts of the weapon as the replicator blocks just fell onto the floor of the ship harmlessly. Willow then heard the same sounds behind her which made her fire the weapon off again as she turned around while walking backwards towards the door to the room she needed to get into. With the replicators all destroyed, Willow turned around again as she heard more sounds from behind her. She continued to fire the weapon both at the replicators coming towards her and then at the ones coming at her from behind. Eventually she made it to the door and hurried in, before closing the doorway again.

Panting, Willow aimed the weapon at the numerous replicator bugs that were in the room and fired the weapon. Once the first bug was taken out, the other all ran towards her; the threat that had taken out their brethren. Willow kept on firing until the room was clear, she even had to take out a few replicators that jumped at her before their component blocks separated in mid-air.

"Thor" said Willow as she headed towards one of the consoles, "the room is clear."

It was then that Willow heard a sound from behind her. Turning around, she saw that the oval shaped crystal near the door was slowly melting away from the inside as the door opened, followed soon by numerous replicators that started to flow in. However, as soon as they walked it, they were soon on the floor deactivated as Willow fired the disruptor weapon. She fired at the replicators while telling Thor that she may be wrong since more were coming.

"They see you as the more immediate threat, Major" said Thor's voice over the speakers.

"You have control of all systems?" asked Willow as she fired her weapon at the door and it's surrounding area.

"Yes" said Thor, "I have full control."

"Good" said Willow as she continued to fired, "because I don't think I thought this through."

Willow continued to fire as more and more of the bugs came into the room, several after several more. Willow walked towards them while firing until she heard the crunch of the dead replicator blocks under her boots.

"How long!?" asked Willow.

"Heimdall estimates he will finish the larger weapon earlier" said Thor, "he is approximating ten minutes."

"Yay" said Willow as she reached the door and continued to fire the weapon. Trying to look out into the hallways while she was firing, she could see that both sides were filling up with the replicator bugs. Hurrying back into the room while walking backwards and firing, Willow asked Thor if he managed to lock out all the controls in the room by permanently disconnecting it from the rest of the ship.

"Yes" said Thor as Willow continued to fire, "stand by for emergency beam out."

"Yea" said Willow as she fired at the increasing number of replicators that were coming in until they were walking over a grey landscape of dead replicator blocks. She knew that she was surrounded but Thor had told her on Heimdall's ship that while the replicators were interfering with the systems in this room, he wouldn't be able to lock it out since the replicators were locking him out of his own ship, "take your time."

Willow continued to fire as she heard a buzzing sound and smiled before a white light washed over her. She then reappeared in another room in front of an Asgard who was seated on a chair with other grey aliens behind various consoles. Willow looked around and saw that some seemed surprised to see her, while others ignored her and just worked on their consoles. The redhead then turned back to look at the alien who was looking back at her with his head slightly tilted.

"Thor" said Willow as she put down the weapon.

"Major Rosenberg" said Thor, "Athena; it is an honour to meet you finally. I am aware that you are not of this reality, but it is still an honour to meet a living Ancient."

"Glad to see you again, Thor" said Willow as she nodded her head, "haven't seen much of you in my reality. Freyr said that you and Heimdall were working on some project using the protein marker from my body."

"I see" said Thor as he looked at Willow, "if we survive this, we will be calling on representatives from the Nox. I assume that you know of them?"

"Yes" said Willow nodding her head, "we've met Lya and her people."

"Very well" said Thor, "then we will get to find a way to send you home."

"Thank you" said Willow, "I have a few idea's how we can do that. In my reality, we found a planet where the Ancients may have created multiple forms of the Quantum Mirror technology. I don't know if you know about it this reality; it's located within a cave on…"

'Yes" said Thor, "we have been there before. If I am not mistaken, the planet you are speaking off had a trading post where the Ancients would test quantum mirrors within a cave made of Naquada."

"Yeah" said Willow as she saw Thor press a few buttons before looking at a screen behind them. Willow turned around and saw the planet where she had gone to an alternate reality to save Dawn, the same alternate reality where her doppelganger lost Tara and came to Willow's own reality to kill her in revenge, "that's the one."

"I am sorry" said Thor as Willow turned around and looked at the grey alien, "we wanted to retrieve the quantum mirrors so that we could examine the technology, however…."

"However?" asked Willow.

"We found this planet from the repository of the Ancients knowledge that we downloaded" said Thor, "but when we went to the planet several years ago, we discovered that seismic activity caused a cave-in. We used our scanners and confirmed that the mirrors were all destroyed. I am sorry. However, I am certain that with the help of the Nox, we will be able to get you home. We know that all matter vibrates at a specific quantum frequency and if we can find your frequency, then we can find a way to send you back."

"We met a team in my reality that punched a bridge from their own alternate reality using an active Stargate and a singularity" said Willow, "maybe I could give you that information?"

"Very well" said Thor when another crewmember ran towards the grey alien and talked to him in the Asgard language. Thor then looked at him, before looking at Willow and telling her that sounds were being heard outside the primary control room that they were occupying.

"Stay there" said Willow as she ran to the door. Putting her ear to the door, she could clearly hear the sounds of replicators on the floor and on the door itself; luckily, they were on the other side. Willow then looked back over her shoulder at the crew who seemed to look nervously at each other, and then at Thor who told them that they would continue to fight. He then told the crew to continue firing at every replicator ship, including the Asgard ships that were still under replicator control.

Smiling at Thor, she knew that the replicators would be coming here since the other control room was permanently cut off. She also knew that she didn't have much time before the replicators chewed through the door, so the redhead took a few steps back and raised the weapon. She knew that the disruption wave would travel through the wall and the door to disintegrate the replicators beyond. Willow started to fire the weapon as the sounds of the replicators stopped for a few minutes before starting up again. While Thor and his crew were firing on the other replicator ships, and replicator controlled Asgard ships; Willow did her part by disintegrating as many Replicator bugs as possible.

"Major" said Thor as she turned around after firing another burst through the door, "more of the replicator blocks have fallen onto the planet's surface. Reports are coming from the remaining Asgard that are protecting the consciousnesses that do not have any bodies yet; they are saying that those same blocks are replicating."

Willow looked over her shoulder as the grey alien told her that the replicator ships were destroyed, but the replicator controlled Asgard ships were starting to fire on the ones that were not yet fully infected. Thor's ship wasn't spared due to the Asgard on board gaining full control of the ship. Willow tried to keep her balance and continued shooting the disruptor as the ship shook from multiple weapon hits from the other ships.

"We need Heimdall" said Willow as she fired another burst before looking back at Thor, "it should be about time, right?"

"Commander Thor" said another crewmember, "we have a hyperspace window opening. It is the Mjolnir."

"Heimdall" said Thor as Heimdall's face appeared on screen, "is the weapon ready?"

"Yes" he replied, "I am targeting your ship."

Thor soon saw a great blue wave wash over them before looking at the screen next to him. HE saw the Mjolnir flying towards the other infected ships as they fired at Heimdall's ship with their ion guns. Thor and the others saw the Ion guns hit the shield before Heimdall fired the weapon again and again, freeing the remaining Asgard ships. In the meantime, Willow opened the main door to the control room and walked out cautiously with the disruptor raised. She stepped onto the disabled replicator blocks and turned to her left, and then to her right, before looking straight ahead for any movement.

"Major" said Thor as Willow turned around, "Heimdall has fired the weapon onto the surface of the planet, and all initial reports coming in are saying that the replicators just disintegrated into their component blocks."

"Phew" said Willow as she leaned on the wall and smiled before putting the weapon down, "yeah, that's what was supposed to happen."

"I have already requested that the High Council refit the rest of the fleet with the weapon so that we can take the war to the replicators" said Thor.

"I placed another design in Heimdall's database" said Willow, "a weapon that could remove the threat of the replicators from the entire galaxy. It's the same weapon we used in my reality to destroy the ones that invaded the Milky Way. It's the same device that the Ancients used to recreate life after they left in Atlantis. They only thing is that you need to activate every single Stargate in the galaxy at the same time, then you can take them all out in one go."

"We have discovered a way to perform that function" said Thor as he looked at his crew and then at Willow again, "you have done a great service to the Asgard, Major. Is there nothing else that we could do for you other than finding a way for you to get back to your own reality?"

"Well" said Willow with a smile, "how long would it take?"

"With the help of the Nox, I estimate we can have a way for you to return within a few days" said Thor, "I would like to know more about what that alternate team did to arrive in your reality. It would give us something to go on while at the same time we try to target the reality that has your quantum frequency."

"Of course" said Willow, "and since that would take some time, I have a few favours to ask."

"Once we have talked to the High Council" said Thor as Willow nodded her head, "and after you have rested."

"Yeah" said Willow softly as Thro took his ship into the atmosphere of Orilla while she sat on the floor, "the adrenaline's wearing off."

"We will beam you down to one of our quarters" said Thor, "there you can rest before speaking to the High Council."

"Thanks" said Willow as a bright light engulfed her.

Surface of Orilla, alternate reality, 1300 hours.

Willow was resting on Orilla for hours as she fell into a deep sleep once she was beamed into one of the guest room in what she would later discover was the building that housed the Asgard High Council. When the redhead slowly opened her eyes, she was confused where she was, but soon remembered she was on Orilla and that the Asgard had just beaten back a Replicator attack. Sitting up on the bed, Willow noticed a set of fresh clothes on a side table that was folded neatly along with some new boots.

Willow then got off the bed and walked to the table while she wiped her eyes and picked up the clothes before placing them on the bed. She smiled at copy of the clothes she was wearing at that moment; her blank short sleeved undershirt, her trousers, socks and boots. Willow then turned around when she heard someone knocking on the door behind her.

"Hello?" asked Willow.

"Greetings, Major" said another grey alien as the door slid opened and the redhead smiled.

"Hi, Freyr" said Willow as the Asgard looked up at her, "we met a few times in my reality."

"I see" said the Asgard, "the sensors in these quarters indicated that you had awakened. In addition, we are unaware of the current Earth dress as we do not have that in our database, we have scanned what you are currently wearing and used our replication system to create a fresh set. I hope it is acceptable?"

"Yes" smiled Willow, "thank you."

"Very well" replied Freyr before he turned around, "I will leave you to prepare for the meeting with the High Council, Major. Representatives from the Nox will be arriving as well, and they would like to meet in order to discuss a way to return you to your own reality."

Willow nodded before the Asgard left and the door to the room slid shut. She then looked around the room as another door opened up where she could freshen up. The redhead remembered that Thor once told her that other races lived on Orilla as well to conduct research with the Asgard; so she wasn't surprised when she walked into this new room to find that there were facilities that humanoid like those from Earth required.

It was two hours later that Willow found herself standing in front of the Asgard High Council. Before the meeting, she went to see Thor who unlocked her genetic code so that the Asgard could copy the full information on her protein marker, before he reengaged the lock on her body. She then briefed the High Council about the state of affairs in her reality, she told them about the Ori and that the need for her to get back was extremely grave. Willow also told them that she needed to help some people on this reality's Earth before she could leave. It was Penegal, one of the High Council members, who told Willow that it would take at most three days to find a safe way to return Willow back to her own reality after she told them about the alternate SG1's who appeared at the SGC. Willow nodded her head when Penegal said that the replicators had destroyed much of the technology on Orilla and that they would need to rebuild before she could be sent back. Willow then told them about the threat that Anubis played in her reality, and told them what he was; a half ascended Goa'uld. This information brought about murmurs from the High Council as they talked to each other in their own language. Willow told them that he was most likely biding his time, but he would use his knowledge of Ancient technology to strengthen the shields and weapons of his ships to dominate the other Goa'uld, before taking over the Milky Way. She then told them about the weapon on Dakara that had the potential to destroy the entire galaxy and that the Asgard had to do something to prevent Anubis from ever using it.

"With the weapons you have provided us with against the replicators" said Penegal as he looked at Willow, "we have no doubt that we will win the war against the replicators. As for your claims in regards to Anubis, we will discuss among ourselves as to how we can strengthen our shields and weapons. However we still have to rebuild most of our technology."

"Penegal" said Thor who was seated next to the alien, "our guests have arrived."

Penegal nodded his head as Thor pressed a button before there were three flashes of light next to Willow.

It was then that Lya and two others from the Nox appeared next to Willow after they were beamed down via an Asgard ship that had been sent to the Milky Way earlier. Penegal briefed Lya on who Willow was, and the help that she had given them in regards to the protein marker, and the Replicator Disruptor.

"You are living up to the legacy of your people, Athena" said Lya as she bowed her head slightly at Willow in respect, as did the others.

"I was Athena a long time ago, Lya" replied Willow who bowed her head in return, "please just call me Willow."

"I can sense a great power" said Lya as she approached the surprised Willow while she placed her hand on Willow's chest, just over her heart, "I recognize this link, it is something connects two beings for the rest of their lives."

"The link still exists?" asked Willow surprised. She had initially thought that the link between her and Faith was severed due to the fact that she was in another reality, and that ever since she came to this reality; there was a throbbing pain in her chest that just wouldn't go away.

"Yes" said Lya, "I can sense that it is stretched thin, but still intact. We have technology that will be able to measure its exact frequency so that you can be sent home."

Lya then turned back to the High Council and told them that the Nox would be able to help them with the protein marker; that it was time for the two members of the Alliance of Four to work together on helping to save the Asgard race. Before the council was dissolved, the Asgard asked Willow if there was anything else they could help her with.

"Yeah" smiled the redhead, "I thank you for everything you're doing to get me home. But there are people on Earth I need to help, and I would like that opportunity. I need to go to a planet called Edina; Loki did something n my reality and I'd like to know if he did the same thing here."

"What did he do?" as Thor while Willow heard a sound of exasperation from his voice once she mentioned Loki's name.

Willow told Thor that what happened had taken place in her reality, so she wasn't sure if the same thing happened here unless she went to Edina and saw for herself.

"I don't want to accuse him of something that I'm not sure he did in this reality" said Willow, "all I know is what he did in mine. If I find what I'm looking for, then I can tell you what happened."

"Very well" said Thor, "I can take you back to your galaxy while Heimdall works on the protein marker with Lya and the Nox."

Lya then told the Council that the Nox would show the Asgard what they need to do in order to measure the exact frequency from Willow's link before the redhead leaves for her galaxy. It was Penegal who had the last word by telling Willow that he hoped she would be patient for the next three days; that they needed to rebuild some of the technology that would be required to send her home, while at the same time fighting off the replicators using the disruptor weapon.

"Alright" said Willow as she looked at the Asgard, and Lya and the other Nox, "thank you all."

Edina, alternate reality, 1700 hours.

It was soon after the meeting with the Council, and Lya that Willow was brought back to the Milky Way and teleported down to the Stargate on Edina. The redhead, on the way back, had asked Thor if she could create a new plain hoodie for herself since the one she had on earlier while fighting the replicators was incinerated on Orilla, as were her used BDU trousers and black undershirt. So as she walked down the trail to the village in the distance, Willow zipped up her jacket before pulling the hood low over her head.

She was hoping that it would be different in this reality, that Joyce really was dead back on Earth. As she walked towards the village, Willow hoped that Joyce hadn't married Jayden if she really was here, then it would be easier to bring her back to Earth once whatever was threatening Buffy and the others was taken care off. However, Willow knew that if she was still married, and happy then she would have no right to take that away from Joyce; especially since Earth had no Stargate Program. She went through every scenario in her mind numerous times, all which led to her asking Thor for permission to create a new hoodie to hide her face from the villager as she wanted to perform some reconnaissance and get a lay of the land.

Willow walked past the short fence that bordered the village as she walked past numerous people who were looking at her, but just walked away. She glanced over at the house she knew that Joyce occupied in her reality and saw that the oil lamps were out. The redhead looked up and saw that the sun was lowering and that it would be night soon as more and more people seemed come out to the square from the fields that surrounded the village, and walk along various stalls that seemed to be selling goods.

Willow walked to one of the stalls and looked at some crafts that were being sold before she felt a tap on her shoulder. Pulling her hood down even more, Willow turned and faced a bearded, middle-aged man who was just wearing a tanned shirt and trousers.

"Greetings" said the man.

"Greetings" replied Willow as she looked at the numerous people who were either walking past her, or talking to each other, "I am sorry to intrude, I am here from a far off land."

"Yes" replied the man as he pointed at Willow's jacket, "I have not this style of dress in this village, are you from another village?"

"You could say that" replied Willow as she stepped back.

"You do not have to hide" said the man as he reached out but Willow took another step back, "my name is Ranen. I am one of the elders of this village."

"I am sorry" said Willow as she looked at Ren with the top of her hood covering the top half of her face, "my people value our privacy; I do not mean any disrespect. My name is Rosen."

"Rosen" said Ranen with a smile, "that is a rather unique name. So have you come our village to trade?"

"I am an explorer of sorts" said Willow, "I have been exploring this world, and have been amazed at its beauty."

"I see" said Ranen as he nodded his head while people were walking past them.

"Ummm" said Willow, "if you would excuse me?"

"Of course" said Ranen nodding his head, "if you require anything at all, then please come to the council building."

Ranen pointed at a two story building while telling Willow that while it wasn't much, the villagers would hold important meetings there; as well as help any travellers.

"Thank you" said Willow as she turned around and walked into the throng of people near her while Ranen simply watched her leave before heading towards another building. The redhead passed a few buildings before she neared one that had its doors wide open. Looking through the door from the square, she suddenly looked away and smiled when she saw Jay sitting at a table with some children. She glanced at Jay again and guessed that he could probably be about two years old.

"Jay!" said a very familiar voice as Willow turned and walked towards another stall on the opposite side of the square. She looked at what seemed to be pies while glancing over her shoulder at a blonde woman with curly hair who crouched down as Jay ran over to her.

"Mother" shouted Jay as he gave Joyce a hug.

"My Jay" said Joyce as she kissed Jay's cheek, which gave Willow a smile before she turned around and walked to another stall. She then walked to another stall closer to Joyce, but still out of her sight, as she heard Joyce ask the boy if he was ready to go see his father. Willow smiled as the little boy nodded his head while he held on to Joyce's hand. Willow saw Joyce give him a small smile before they walked out of the square and towards a pathway that led to another part of the village.

After Joyce had walked some distance off, Willow followed her at a respectful distance through the crowd of people. It was a few minutes later that Willow realized where they were heading, it was a place that Joyce had taken Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Jay and Rose before; the graveyard, the same place where Jayden was buried. Willow watched from a pathway between two buildings as Joyce walked hand in hand with Jayden through a gate. The redhead saw them stop at a headstone as Joyce crouched down and touched the edges of it before wiping her eyes. She smiled as Jay wiped the tears off Joyce's face before turning to the headstone, he walked towards it and hugged it before stepping back again. Willow could see the leaves and branches on the trees that surrounded the graveyard rusting as an evening breeze swept through, bringing along it a smell of food as Willow's stomach growled.

"Yeah" said Willow to herself, "definitely having pizza when I get back to Sunnydale."

Sighing, Willow took out a grey crystal that was in her pocket as she continued to look at Joyce and Jay. She had confirmed that the older blonde woman was alive, and now she had to collect more items before heading back to Earth. Items that Thor was happy to help with in collecting.

"Thor" said Willow as she looked at Joyce and Jay who were holding each other's hands, "please beam me back up. I have what I need to know; I'll… I'll help get her back home later. But I need to get to Kheb. And I'll explain everything that Loki did in my reality, then you can do whatever you want with him after I leave."

"Very well, Major" said Thor over the stone as Willow heard a buzzing sound before she was awash in a bright white light.

Los Angeles, California, Earth; Prime Reality, five hours following arrival of Odyssey.

The past few hours had been a blur for Faith as she stood outside a cave with Tara. The odyssey returned to Earth five hours ago, following which SG-1, Dawn and General O'Neill had gotten themselves checked out by Dr. Lam and her team before they left to debrief General Landry. The General was surprised to hear about Dawn being Hera, and nodded his head when he heard that Willow had been sent to another reality. It was Faith who suggested, along with Colonel Carter, that they use the Quantum Mirror as the last option in case all else failed; to which he agreed, as did General O'Neill.

After the briefing was completed, Faith and the others met with Anya who was waiting eagerly for Daniel to get back from the briefing. It was there that they told Anya what happened on the ship, as well as who Dawn really was. The young brunette then begged Anya not to tell Buffy or Joyce anything yet; that it should be her to tells the both of them.

"In the meantime" said Daniel as he sat next to Anya, "anyway to get Willow back?"

"Melina said that her link with Faith is still strong" said Colonel Carter as she leaned on the wall, "that although it was thin, the link still exists."

"I never would have believed it" said Anya who looked on surprised, "that's not supposed to happen. Think about it, any link should break once the other party is.. well, basically gone."

"Like how Jackson's link with Vala snapped when she was sent to the Ori galaxy?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he stood next to Vala while Anya nodded her head.

"Although that wasn't brought about by mystical forces" said Anya, "it was still a psychic link. But the link with going into another reality, it's not supposed to even exist anymore. One of you must be unconsciously holding it with sheer force of will."

"Or the both of you" said Daniel as Anya looked at him and nodded before looking at Faith.

"Mother said that Faith will feel a throbbing in her chest" said Dawn who walked up next to Faith who was sitting down on one of the seats.

"That's because of the connection" said Anya as she looked at Dawn, and then at everyone else, "it's stretched out far, far away and it wants to return back to its normal state."

"It wants' the Major back in this reality" said Vala.

"Yes" said Anya while she nodded her head.

"So, how do we get her back into this reality" said Colonel Mitchell as he looked at Faith who was looking down at the floor, "like Carter said back on the ship, how do we pull on the line and get her back."

"We can't" said Anya as everyone looked back at her, "you, or to be more specific, Faith has to seek a favour from the Powers that Be."

"The who of the what now?" asked Colonel Mitchell.

"The same things that gave the Furlings that prophecy about the First Slayer" said Faith softly before she reminded the Colonel about Sineya and the Powers hand in the whole thing.

"Right" said the Colonel as he nodded his head, "so we, or Faith, asks them for a favour and then we get the Major back. Sounds easy enough."

"It's not that simple" said Anya as she looked at everyone before looking at Faith, "we're talking about bringing back a physical body from another reality. They will want a sacrifice that you will have to pay; and Faith, it's going to be a high price."

"Any idea on what it could be?" asked Vala as she watched Dawn hold on to Faith's shoulder.

"No" said Anya.

"I pay whatever I have to" said Faith softly as Colonel Carter looked back at her and shook her head.

"No" she said as Faith looked up at the blonde, "I admit I don't know about these Powers, but what would you do if they ask for something like, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but what if they ask for your soul?"

"Then I'll pay it" said Faith as Anya shook her head.

"They won't ask for that" said Anya, "and even they you did, what would Willow say if you say yes?"

"Faith" said Colonel Carter, "I believe that Willow's doing everything she can to come back, but paying a high price just to get her back that much faster is something that she wouldn't want you to do."

"What if there's no SGC, Sam" said Faith as she looked at the Colonel, "that's the reason you said that the Quantum Mirror may be a dead end. What if there are no Ancients? No Quantum Mirror in the other reality? Then how can she get back unless we do this? Red's made sacrifices for us, for me, and it's time I did my part; if they want my soul, then they can have it. At least she'll be back and we'll be together."

"Faith" said Vala, "what if…."

"How can I meet with the Powers?" asked Faith a she looked at Anya.

"Faith" said Dawn, "there has to be another way."

"The Oracles" said Anya softly as she rubbed her forehead, "you can ask the Oracles for a favour. They have a direct link to the Powers and…. and they can help you. But Faith, I need to tell you that what they will ask for will be in the extreme. Just… just think about it… alright?"

"I don't want the low rent middle men" said Faith, "I want to talk to the Powers themselves. No Oracles…. no nothing, I need a way to talk to them directly. It's the Powers who created the Slayers, and those f*ckers owe me an audience."

"You need a human being with pure heart to contact them directly, or a Champion… preferably both" said Anya, "and in this day and age, good luck in finding someone like that."

"I think we know someone" said Faith with a smile.

That was how Tara and Faith found themselves standing at the mouth of a cave in the outskirts of Los Angeles. The blonde Wiccan was the only person Faith knew who could come close to being what Anya said was needed. It had taken Tara, using her magic, an hour to find a conduit that she could use to contact the Powers directly. As Tara knelt down at the mouth of the cave, Faith could hear the witch mumbling something under her breath as a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere from inside the cave and hit the both of them. Faith felt the hair on the back of her neck stand as she felt immense amounts of power passing through her body when it suddenly stopped.

"It's time" said Tara as she looked back at Faith who nodded back at her, "Faith, just…. Please don't make any rash decision. Please?"

"I want her back" said Faith as she looked at Tara, "I want her back with me."

"And we will get her back, Faith" said Tara as she gently held on to both the Slayer's arms, "we will…. But, just don't do anything rash? For Willow, please?"

"Alright" said Faith as Tara smiled before taking the Slayer's hand in hers and walked into the cave together. Once they passed the entrance, Faith and Tara looked back as what seemed to be a boulder rolled and closed the mouth of the cave, leaving the two women in darkness. Suddenly, they found themselves in a lit room with torches on the wall and a pedestal in the middle of the room that had a bonfire burning.

"The Conduit" said Tara amazed as she looked at the room.

"Hey" said Faith as she looked up, "anyone here?"

"Slayer, no… former Slayer… former Champion of the Powers that Be" said a disembodied voice, a loud disembodied voice that sounded like hundreds of men and women all talking in unison, "the betrayer to the calling, the betrayer to the prophesy; why have you come here?"

"Exalted ones" said Tara as she put her hand on Faith's shoulder just as the dark haired Slayer was about to open her mouth, "my name is…"

"Tara Maclay, the White Witch" said the voice as it grew angrier, "you dare come before us with this traitor? You should…."

"Hey!" shouted Faith at the ceiling as she took a step forward, "I am no traitor, I am no betrayer… I know the truth about the Slayer line, it's you who betrayed us. I know what you people did, I know about the prophesy that was forced on to Sineya thousands of years ago. I know everything, so do Buffy and Kennedy. You think I'm afraid of cowards who refuse to get their hands dirty? You're just like the Ancients, cowards who use others on the lower planes to…."

"Silence, mortal!" shouted the voice, "how dare you…."

"Exalted ones" said Tara as she squeezed Faith's shoulder gently and walked in front of her, "please forgive the protector of the people. Her heart yearns for her lost love. A love that is trapped within a different reality. She seeks a boon, in return for her love's safe return."

"There will be a price" said the voice as Tara looked back at Faith who had her eyes closed and her hands rolled into fists.

"What's the price?" asked Faith as she looked at Tara before looking up at the ceiling, "my soul?"

"No" said the voice, "you will be our Slayer once more, and you will sacrifice the link you share with your love. You will sacrifice the link, and your memories."

"What?" said both Tara and faith together as they looked at the ceiling.

"Your link with her is powerful" said the voice, "powerful enough to traverse multiple realities. She is so far away that you will sacrifice that link as a price for us to return her to you. In addition to the link, we will take all the memories that exist of the love you share for each other. Only you will remember; everyone else will forget, including your love."

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Tara n surprise, "that is excessive. The Powers exist to guide the good of this Earth. What she is being asked to sacrifice is…"

"She turned away from her calling" said the voice, "from her role as the Slayer. That cannot be tolerated, the Slayers are the Champions of the Powers and she had turned away from that role."

"Faith" said Tara as she turned around, "don't do this. Willow… Willow will lose all memories that you and her were together. I'll lose those memories, so will Dawn and the others. That's too high of a price to pay to get her back."

"What do you choose, Slayer?" asked the Voice.

"Faith!" shouted Tara as she got closer to the dark haired woman and held her arms, "don't. You can't give up… because if you accept this deal, then that's what you're doing. I know it's hard not having her here. I know, ok, I know how hard it is not having someone you constantly think about being close. But this…"

Tara then turned around and said that what this was being cruel to Faith, a punishment for a crime that she didn't commit.

"She turned her back on the legacy that was given to her" said the voice, "now choose!"

"She saw this" said Faith to herself as she looked at the ground in shock, "Melina saw this. She told me never to give it up, that Red would need it one day to come back. But I never knew from where.. what did she mean? Did she mean this?"

"Then don't" said Tara as Faith looked up at the blonde witch, "don't give it up."

"I choose no" said Faith as she looked up, "you hear me, you cowards? I said no. I will not give up my link with her, I will not have you take away the memories of me and her together to power her return back, and to punish me. She will find a way! And me, I choose to not be a Slayer. I am using my own free will not to continue. I am not bound by some screwed up destiny that says I have to follow a prophecy or some bull and…"

"Silence, mortal!" shouted the Voice, "you have insulted us for the last time. Do not seek us out again, Slayer. Your boons will never be granted."

There was a sudden flash of light as the both of them found themselves standing in the lobby of the BPRI in Sunnydale. Tara looked around confused as Clem looked at them as he stood up from his chair at the front counter, she then looked at the surprised Potentials who just stood there wide eyed at the two women who just appeared out of thin air. Tara then looked up at the second floor walkway as a confused Buffy, and her team, were looking down at them.

"Tara?" asked the blonde Slayer confused as she looked down from the second floor walkway, along with members of her team, "where did you…? How did you…? Huh?"

"Buffy" said Tara as she looked up, "could you please call NORAD? We… we need to talk."

"Right" nodded Buffy before she turned around and dismissed her team. Once they went their separate ways, she heard Faith crying. So she leaned down again and saw Tara holding on to Faith as the Slayer started to sob into Tara's neck with the only thing the blonde Slayer could hear from Faith was 'what have I done' and 'please forgive me'. Buffy had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that Tara was called out for an urgent meeting with Faith somewhere. With the result of the meeting being what she was witnessing downstairs, Buffy frowned before heading to Angel and Cordelia's office where she would ask them to contact the SGC and find out what was going on.

Tara watched Buffy run before she looked down and whispered into Faith's ear.

"Shh" said Tara softly, "it's not your fault. You did what you thought was right, you chose to hold the link between the both of you. What they wanted was unreasonable, Faith. I have an idea, but it's very risky; Really, really risky. It won't bring her back, but it would be enough to send a message to her through your link. In the meantime, I'll continue to look for magical ways to get her back. I promise you."

Tara felt the tears from Faith falling onto her neck as the blonde witch rubbed the Slayer's back and comforted her as much as she could.

"You'll get her back, sweetie" said Tara as she laid her head on top of Fait's, 'you'll see."

Asgard Vessel Belisknir, 1730 hours.

After Willow was beamed back to Thor's ship from the surface of Edina, she stopped by Kheb; the same location where she had left the Puddle Jumper and the extra ZPM in her own reality. Once she beamed down right next to it, she felt a charge go through her body as she smiled before a gentle gust of wind moved her hair around.

Smiling to herself, Willow walked towards the puddle jumper and pressed the button that opened the ram and stepped back. Willow frowned as the ramp opened halfway down before stopping. However, the gap between the ramp and the inside of the Puddle Jumper was enough for her to put one leg in before squeezing her body through. Once inside, she noticed that the lights in the ship weren't being switched on by her presence so she walked over to the pilot's seat and sat down before grabbing the controls.

"Nothing" said Willow to herself as the console and the cabin lights didn't switch on, "the power supply must have been depleted."

Willow got off the seat and walked to one of the compartments in the rear and smiled when she found a green coloured cloth. Taking it out from the compartment, Willow placed it on a seat and unwrapped the cloth, uncovering a ZPM.

"Hopefully it's still fully charged" said Willow herself as she rewrapped the power source in the cloth, "I can replace one of the ZPM's in Atlantis with this one. Make the shields last for another three or four thousand years. Then return this Puddle Jumper back to Atlantis."

Looking around the rest of the dilapidated Puddle Jumper, Willow frowned before she squeezed out of the small ship and asked Thor to beam her, and the Puddle Jumper, back up to the Belisknir. She told Thro that she needed to replicate some control crystals, and she needed to recharge the power source for the Puddle Jumper. It was a few seconds later that Thor had come to the orbit of Earth's moon; in the meantime, Willow asked one of the crew member to check the power levels of the ZPM. The redhead smiled when the alien said that the device was fully charged, before another one came up to her and gave the redhead some replicated control crystals for the Puddle Jumper. They told her that the ship's power source was being charged as they were speaking, and that it should be completed in a few minutes. She thanked the crewmembers before turning to face Thor who was looking at a screen from behind his chair console

"Major" said Thor, "where would you like me to transport you?"

"Before that Thor" said Willow, "I have friends down there who are batting something, and I'd like to get the lay of the land. Can your scanners search for any non-human biological life signs?"

"Non-human?" asked Thor as he looked at Willow.

"Yea" said the redhead, "you see, we have these things called demons on Earth and…"

"Yes" said Thor, "we have head of old Earth legends that speak of such beings. The Asgard have even encountered them years after the Ancients left Earth. There are those that still exist?"

"Yes" said Willow as she looked at the screen while pointing to Sunnydale's location on a map, "and they've been trying to end all life for some time now."

"I see" said Thor, "if the Earth were to be destroyed, then the potential that the humans of the planet below have to become the Fifth race will be gone forever."

"And I know the Asgard wont intervene unless asked by the highest ranking official in government" said Willow as Thor nodded his head.

"I am sorry" replied Thor.

"No" said Willow shaking her head before she turned to watched the same screen that was in front of Thor, "it's alright."

"As you can see" said Thor as he zoomed in to Sunnydale while grey dots started to pop up all over the city, "this includes biological life signs that do not have the human genome, and any biological being that could be considered only half human."

"There's a lot" said Willow as Thor zoomed out, which was when she told the alien to stop as she walked forward in shock, "that… that's the high school. It.. it can't be."

"We are unable to get a lock on those beings for study" said Thor as he and Willow looked at the image of Sunnydale High.

"We could see" said Willow as she looked at the screen, "but the mystic forces there could be messing with your sensors locking on any of them."

Willow then looked at the ZPM in her arms and thought about the Puddle Jumper being charged in the cargo hold of the ship. Willow suspected that she may have to use both of the alien technology to launch the drone weapons, because there was no way that Buffy and the others would be able to take all of that on their own. There was just no way. The redhead then shook her head and looked at Thor and nodded her head.

"Thank you for everything, Thor" said Willow, "especially for helping to get me back to my Earth, my reality."

'We should be thanking you" said Thor as he nodded his head.

"I did what I did to help a friend" said Willow, "well, technically we haven't met before until now… but, well.. you get my point."

"Indeed" said Thor, "we will return for you in three days. We will have the technology ready by then with help from the Nox."

"See you in three days" said Willow with a smile before Willow tapped on the screen and showed the alien exactly where she needed to be beamed down. She also told Thor that she'll be heading to the cargo hold and cloaking the Puddle Jumper. She told him to transport the fully charged Jumper to a separate location, to which she gave the alien a set of coordinates. She then nodded at Thor before she was beamed down to the cargo bay where the Jumper was being charged. She walked over to the controls and touched it. She smiled as the console flickered and then steadied as the ship started to power up. Willow put the ZPM back into the compartment after she had mentally opened a panel that was on the left of the pilot's seat. Reaching in, she took out what looked like a remote control and put that into her pockets. She then activated the cloak before walking out of the ship, and closing the ramp. Once the ship was unable to be seen by the redhead, she nodded at one of the crew who informed Thor that Willow was ready to be beamed down.

The Summers Residence, 1745 hours.

Tara was seated at the dining table with Buffy, Xander, Giles, Spike, Faith and a few others while they talked about their next course of action. The blonde witch knew that everyone, including the remaining original Scoobies and the Potentials, were almost ready to openly rebel against Buffy's idea to go back to the vineyard that night and take back what the First and Caleb had taken that belonged to her. It was Tara and Oz who finally managed to calm everyone down before anything was said that could never be taken back.

Tara said that she could see everyone's emotions flaring, including Xander who just came back from the hospital, before she told everyone that they needed to calm down and take a step back. Oz told Buffy that he thought her idea that the First and Caleb having something in the vineyard was sound, but they needed to have some sort of plan instead of going in without any knowledge of what was going on; or what Caleb was keeping from them, from Buffy.

Tara looked around quietly at the people sitting at the table while they were talking, nearly starting to argue once again, before she sighed and leaned back on the chair. She looked at Oz who just gave the blonde a small smile before she looked at Spike who was leaning against the wall and shook his head; the arguing about what to do intensifying again. She noticed that some of the Potentials had come into the dining room to make their voices heard as well; starting the same argument about priorities that Tara and Oz helped to end only an hour ago.

Rubbing her head, Tara's thoughts turned back to Willow, both the one who appeared to her in that vision, and the other one that Wesley and Connor were convinced was a demon. After Spike came back from the desert the previous night, he confirmed what Tara had already told the others; that Willow was really from another reality. However, unknown to Tara and the others, he just confirmed the things that Tara told already told everyone; he never told them about the aliens or Stargate Command, just that Willow was a Major in the Air Force and that she wasn't coming back. Spike knew that she had a good reason for lying, and hoped that she would be back soon. His words were eventually confirmed by Wesley, and Giles, when they asked Tara to perform a locator spell that spanned the entire planet.

Spike had watched Tara and Giles call the Coven in Devon for help and it was soon done, there was no sign of Willow anywhere. That finding led Wesley and Connor to be sent back to Los Angeles by Buffy with instructions that they were to be the second line of defence in case Sunnydale fell to the First.

Back to the present time, Spike shook his head when the argument turned to Caleb. The vampire knew that they didn't know anything much about Caleb, so they had gotten a line to Fred in Los Angeles for some help in hacking police databases. He knew that until they had more information, they were operating in the dark.

"We don't have time to get more information" said Buffy as she stood up, "I'll take a small team with me and…"

"Like the first time?" asked Kennedy sarcastically as she stood next to Rona who had a badly broken arm in a sling, "cause you know; it worked so well the first time."

"How about we give someone else a chance at being the leader?" said Rona, "honestly, we got our asses kicked last night, Xander lost an eye, my arm is gone, the others were pretty badly injured, and… should I go on."

"Please" said Tara as she held Buffy's hand and squeezed, "Buffy, Kennedy, Rona, all of us are tired."

'Yea, B" replied Faith as she leaned back on her chair, "we're all beat, and not thinking straight. I say we sleep, and then we decide on a course of action tomorrow."

"I thought you said you came here to fight?" asked Buffy as she looked at Faith, "I thought you…."

"Guys!" shouted one of the potentials from the living room as everyone heard a buzzing sound, and then saw a flash of bright light in front of the couch.

It was Kennedy and Rona, who were near the main entrance to the house, who rushed into the living room first and stopped mid-stride when they saw Willow standing near some potentials who stumbled back and fell onto the floor. The redhead turned around and saw Kennedy, Rona, Faith, Tara, Anya and Xander looked at her stunned, before she turned to look at Dawn, Buffy, Principal Wood, Oz, Spike and Buffy come into the room from the other doorway as they basically surrounded her.

"Amanda, Vi" said Kennedy as she looked at the Potentials who were trying to get up as she nodded to the weapons chest, "grab something."

"Stand down" said Willow as she looked at Kennedy, and then turned to looked at Vi and Amanda, "seriously, stand down."

"Wi,,,, Willow" said Tara as she pushed her way past Kennedy and Rona, "are.. are… are you my Willow?"

"Sorry, Tara" said Willow as she gave the blonde witch as small smile, "I'm not your Willow."

"I.. I.. I'm st.. still glad you're alright" said Tara as she gave the redhead a smile.

"How did you get here?" asked Vi as Willow glanced back. She smiled when she took out a glowing crystal that Thor had given her for communication purposes, to inform her when he would be in orbit the day he returns.

"Major" said Thor's voice from the stone as the others looked at each other, "I will be leaving for Orilla. I have transported the other vessel to the coordinates you supplied."

"Thanks" said Willow.

"I will return in three days" said Thor, "is there anything else you require?"

"No" said Willow, "thank you, Thor."

"Farewell, Major" said Thor, "we will see each other soon."

Willow saw that the glow emanating from the stone slowly faded away before she put it back into her trouser's pocket before she unzipped her hoodie. Looking around, the redhead saw the open mouth looks that everyone was giving her. She then turned to Spike and asked him if he told them everything.

"No" said Spike as everyone looked at him, "come on, you were taking about aliens; I'm not repeating that in case they think I'm nuts. 'sides, I thought it'd be better coming from you."

"Gee" said Willow sarcastically, "thanks."

"No problem" grinned Spike, "fancy entrance though."

"Isn't it?" smiled Willow as the others still looked on shocked. Eventually, it was Kennedy who spoke up first.

"So that white flash?" asked Kennedy as Willow turned back towards her and then turned again and looked at Amanda and Vi.

"Teleportation technology" said Willow, "sorry, this was the best place that I could beam down to. I don't know what's going on out there so.. yeah."

"And Thor?" said Anya, "are you saying that…."

"Long… Long story, Anya" said Willow before she saw another young man lift his hand up and opened his mouth before she told him that no, the aliens that send her down her don't do probes, "although if you're interested… they may know some who do."

"I would" said Xander as everyone turned to look at him, "I mean I'd like to know what alien's do… you know."

"Yea" said Willow as she looked at Dawn and thought back to Hera. She then shook her head and reminded herself that this wasn't her Dawn, her Dawn was back in her reality.

Willow looked on as everyone started asking her one question to another; from if the ship used warp drive, to if she could use her magic to help them.

"Sorry, Tara" said Willow as she ignored all the other questions and looked at the blonde witch who asked the question about magic, "I haven't practised magic in years. I'm so rusty that I don't even think I can't pick up a nail much less do anything really powerful."

"You.. you don't?" asked Tara as she looked at Willow before looking at Giles who gave her a small smile.

"Sorry" said Willow just as she heard a gasp from her left. She turned around, only to see Buffy and the others step back as a small area in front of them started to shimmer. Willow then grabbed her chest and stumbled back just as Tara and Buffy rushed forward and prevented her from falling.

"Willow?" said Giles as he looked at the shimmer slowly take on a form of a dark haired woman in a red stripped dress, "Oh my lord."

"Faith?" said Willow as Tara and Buffy looked at each other with their eyes wide open before looking at their Faith who had both hands over her mouth as she stepped back slightly.

"Hey" said the brunette Slayer as she gave Willow a small wave and a smile. The red dressed Faith then turned around and looked at everyone before settling her eyes on her doppelganger, "hey… me."

"Ummmm" said Faith as she looked around confused before looking back at herself in the red dress, "hey?"

"I'm alright" said Willow as she rubbed her chest while looking at Buffy and the she gave a small smile at Tara before they let her go.

"Faith" said Willow as she walked towards the Slayer and tried to hug her, but all that happened was that she passed right through her body, "How?"

"I'm at the BPRI" said Faith as she kept her hands to her sides, "I… I'm in a near death type state. Remember what you did to go into the other reality when you were floating in space?"

"Faith" said Willow as she walked towards her wife, "you didn't…"

"I'm lying on a bed at the BPRI" said Faith as she looked at Willow, "Big G's waiting outside the room with Sam, the Big Guy, Cam, Vala and Daniel. I'm in here on the bed with Dr. Lam watching over me who was transported with her team. They put something in me to lower my heart rate just enough that…. Let's say that I'm anchored to our reality."

"How?" asked Willow and Tara together.

"Your idea" said Faith as she looked at Tara, and then at Willow, "I'm anchored back at the BPRI, while my soul followed our link here, but there's not much time even with all the stops pulled. It's taking a great deal of strain on Tara and the others."

"Who else?" asked Willow.

"You have two Slayers, excluding me; one badass Witch; the Coven in Devon that Giles called to help, some of whom was beamed to the BPRI" said Faith as she gave a small smile, "and Dawn."

"Dawn?" asked Buffy as she turned and looked at her sister who shrugged.

"Faith?" asked Giles as she turned around and looked at the Watcher, "why didn't you go to the Powers that Be, they could have granted you a boon and.."

"I was selfish" said Faith as tears started to stream down her face before she looked at Willow, tears that the redhead couldn't wipe away, "I was selfish. I went with Tara to see the Powers that Be, I wanted to have you back…. I want you back so much, Red. But as a price to have you back, they wanted our link to give them the power for you to return, they wanted the memories of us together… our wedding, our first date… our everything.. they wanted all of that until no one would ever remember there was an us. Not even you'd remember."

"Faith" said Willow gently as she reached out for her hand as Tara looked down and away from what was going on before her. She knew that this wasn't the woman she loved, but then again.. she couldn't imagine that the both of them wouldn't fall in love in another reality. And to top it all off, Willow was married to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder as it squeezed gently before turning her head and nodded at Buffy who gave her a sad smile. The both of them looked back at Willow who was heading towards the image of Faith, while their Faith just looked on before she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"It was a punishment designed for me" said Faith, "I gave up on being a Slayer. I'd be the only one who would remember. And I couldn't handle that… I'm so sorry, Red. But I couldn't."

"Faith" said Willow as she reached for her cheek and just caressed at the image, "I'm glad you didn't. You're my everything; I couldn't imagine a life without you. You did the right thing."

"I need you back" said Faith, "I'm not strong enough."

"You are" said Willow, "you didn't give up our link. That means you were strong enough.. strong enough to not take the easy way out by giving up something important to the both of us. You are the strongest person I know, Faith."

"Come back to me" said Faith, "please come back to me."

"I've met with the Asgard in this reality" said Willow, "they've had some trouble with the Replicators but they've gotten a handle on that now. They said it would take about three days for them to build the technology needed to get me back, they've asked the Nox to help. Something about the quantum frequency of our link…. Or something. Tell Colonel Carter that they'll be using the same equipment that the alternate SG-1 used to punch a bridge into our own reality. Maybe it's better to contact our Asgard to get the same materials ready.. the same stuff they lent us to close the reality bridge."

"I will" said Faith a she wiped her eyes and gave Willow a smile, "look at me… I look like a mess."

"No you don't" said Willow with a grin, "what happened after I left?"

"Moros died, Red" said Faith as Willow closed her eyes and nodded her head, "but he gave Hera her memories back."

"Wait" said a surprised Willow as she looked back at Faith, "you mean…?"

"She remembers" said Faith, "she remembers everything.

"Hera's back" said Willow with a smile, "do the others know yet?"

"She wants to tell them once you get back" said Faith, "and get back, alright."

"I will" said Willow.

"Oh" said as she started to fade out, "eight Ori ships came through the Supergate. Which means that we have ten ships in the galaxy, no news about if the weapon worked.. or if Adria is really dead."

"I'll be coming back, Faith" said Willow, "we'll face them together."

"I'll be waiting" replied Faith as she started to fade away, "I love you."

"I love you too" said Willow as her Faith vanished. She then turned back towards the Faith of this reality who looked back at her before she returned a small smile back at the redhead. She then looked at both Buffy and Tara when the blonde witch gasped and looked behind Willow. Turning around again, she looked at the First who was in Buffy's skin as it smiled, while the others all stepped back, including Willow.

"You lying minx" said the First as it looked at the redhead, "you really had me fooled."

"Get out" said Buffy as she walked toward the First as Willow took a few more steps back.

"I am coming" said the First as it looked at Buffy and then at the others before turning to Willow and pointed it's finger at her, "and it's all her fault."

"Leave" said Buffy.

"Wait" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, who turned back towards the redhead and looked at her confused. Willow put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, silently asking the Slayer to trust her, "you said that you should be feared, that you can take the form of any dead people…. And from what Spike told me on the way to the dessert, you use that to play psychological tricks while you use those creatures to do your bidding. Am I right?"

"Your point?" asked the First as it took the form of Willow.

Willow glanced back at Tara who stepped back and looked at her, before looking at the First again.

"See" said the First as it stared at Tara, "she lets her façade slip when I'm in this body. Right? Tara, baby?"

"Get out" said Buffy as she stood between the First and Tara, while Dawn and Xander joined her, "get out."

"But she asked me to stay" said the First who was still wearing Willow's skin before she looked at the Major, "advanced technology, wow… you know what I'd do if I can get my hands, I mean when I get my real hands, on it?"

"Spike said that you are old" said Willow as she approached the First, "supposedly the evil that created evil. Or some nonsense like that. I don't remember who said what really… I kinda fell mentally asleep when that was mentioned."

"Willow" said Giles, "that is the First Evil. Literally the First.. the evil that created all evil."

"Where's the proof?" asked Willow as she looked at Giles and then at the First again, "and if you are as old as you say; then tell me one thing… do you know who the Alterra are?"

"I don't answer to you, you meat sack" said the First.

"Oh come on" said Willow as she looked at Giles and asked him if was true what the First told her, that it existed even before the universe was formed, that it was there at the beginning of the creation of the universe.

"And it would be there at the end" said Anya as she glanced at Giles who nodded his head.

"Then I'm sure you know what I'm talking about" said Willow as she looked at the First, "do you know the Alterra?"

Willow didn't see any reaction for the creature that called itself the First as it glared at her.

"How about this?" asked Willow looking at the First, "the Asgard, the Nox, the Wraith, the Athosians, the Lanteans. Oh, I know… the Furlings."

Willow smiled when she noticed the First locking her jaw and glaed at the redhead with even more rage than was humanly possible.

"You know them" said Faith as the others turned towards her while she walked and stood next to Dawn, "I saw you twitch…. First time I've seen you twitch."

"Something new" said Xander.

"Yeah" replied Oz, "very."

"What do you think you accomplished?" asked the First as she looked at everyone, and then she looked at Willow, "little girl, you're playing with forces beyond you."

"Have you heard this last name" asked Willow as she looked at the First, "Ancient?"

"You think because you know those names, that it makes you.. what?" asked the First, "you think you discovered something great? You've learnt nothing, I am forever.. I just am."

"Nah" said Willow, "but it showed me something though, but that's something for me to share with these guys. But I've got no doubt that somehow you'll be spying on them."

"Which was why you lied" said Spike as Willow nodded her head.

"You think you could trick me?" asked the First as she walked towards Willow as it took the form of Buffy again, "you think you could trick the First Evil?"

"I'll answer if you do me a favour" said Willow as she squeezed Buffy's shoulder, "show us Joyce Summers."

"Willow?" said Buffy as she looked at the redhead, followed by pretty much everyone in the room, "no."

"Come on, coward" said Willow as she walked towards the First who stood up tall as she changed to the image of Spike, "show us Joyce Summers… come on! You like torturing people don't you?"

"Willow!" shouted Giles.

"Coward" said Willow as she felt a hand on her shoulder that turned her around, just before she saw a furious Dawn punch the side of her face as the redhead stumbled back against the fire place as everyone looked on shocked.

"Mom died, Willow!" shouted Dawn as tears went down her forehead, "she died and…."

Dawn turned around when she heard the First laugh out loud as Buffy held on to Dawn's shoulder while Tara rushed to Willow and frowned at her, but still wiped blood that was coming out from her nose.

"This is rich" said the First as it changed form into that of Joyce as it smiled at Willow, and then at Giles, Xander, and ended with looking at Buffy and Dawn.

"That face doesn't belong to you" said Buffy as she glared at the First, her hands rolled into fists, "get it off!"

"NO" said the First, "Buffy… Dawn… can I get a hug? You're not going to give your mother a hug? Especially after everything I've been with the both of you?"

"Shut up" said Willow as she glared at the first. She then looked at Tara and gently pushed her away before she walked up to Buffy and stood next to her.

"Excuse me?" said the First, "you wanted me in this body. So I'll take it for a ride and torture the little one… right Dawnie?"

"Buffy" said Dawn as she reached for her sister's hand.

"Dawn, Buffy" said Willow that's not your mother.

"Joyce" said Giles as the First turned to face him.

"My dear Rupert" said Joyce with a smile, "it's just too bad that we never…"

"Thank you" said Willow as the First turned back and looked at Willow, "thank you for showing us Joyce. Now I know that you're full of bull."

"Red?" said Spike, "not nice to piss off the creator of Evil… just saying."

"Listen to the half breed" said The First as it looked at Willow.

"For something that says it's so old" said Willow as she looked at the First, "I'm surprised that you didn't realize that Joyce was just like me… a clone."

"What?" asked Buffy as she turned Willow forcefully and looked at her, "Willow, what?"

"That's why Oz and Spike will tell you that my scent is off" said Willow, "In my reality, I died and some allies created a new body for me and transferred my consciousness."

"Wait…" said Giles, "that's…."

"Joyce Summers" said Willow as she turned and looked at the First, "the Joyce Summers that died was a clone. Now this part is the funniest of all, the image you're using is that of a clone of a woman who had all of the original Joyce's memories. You know what that means, you had no idea… for a great, old thing.. you had no idea."

"Willow" said a shocked Spike, "what are you saying?"

"Joyce Summers is alive and well" said Willow as she looked at the rage that was on the face of the First who was still wearing Joyce's body, "she's on another planet. And the kicker of this whole thing is that you didn't know…. Got'cha."

"This doesn't change anything" said the First as it shed its image and took the form of a giant robed demon and looked down at Willow, "you'll feel my Wrath first… before anyone else… you will feel my wrath."

Everyone saw the First vanish into a point of light before they looked at Willow who was looking back at Buffy and Dawn. She apologized for forcing them to watch the First take on Joyce's image, and said that it was necessary for her theory. Willow then hugged a sobbing Buffy before telling her that Joyce was safe and sound when she saw her; the redhead then reached out her hand to Dawn who had already started to cry before pulling the brunette towards her. Willow felt Dawn's arms go around her neck as both young women were crying while their bodies trembled.

"If you saw her" said Rona, "then why didn't you bring her back?"

"It's already dangerous with the First" said Faith as she looked at Giles who was wiping a tear from his eye before looking a t Willow who nodded her head, "she's somewhere safe. That's where she needs to be right now."

"Yeah" said Willow as she looked at Faith, and then at Tara, "in the meantime… I know it's a bit rude and all but I haven't eaten anything other than some chalky block…. Any Pizza place open?"

TBC