Willow could feel the hair on the back of her neck prickling as she sat in the mess hall with Murray, Jack, Sam, and Daniel. She knew she was being watched. It felt like the eyes of everyone in the room were on her. She felt like she was some kind of animal at the zoo, being gawked at by people as they walked past her cage. Willow didn't like it. In the past, she'd always melted into the background, blending in as if she could become invisible and left the spotlight to Buffy or Cordelia, but now it was firmly fixed on her. Although Willow had sometimes regretted being a wallflower, she missed being able to blend. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the feeling that she was being watched, and ducked her head, avoiding making eye contact, even with Jack and the rest of the team.

"Oi, you lot. Back off, would you? She's just a kid," Jack barked at the rest of the room, obviously aware of what the cause of Willow's nervousness. Immediately, Willow felt the eyes of the rest of the people in the room leave her and go back to their friends.

"Er, thanks," she mumbled, glad that she wasn't the center of attention anymore.

"Don't mention it. Give it a couple of days and the novelty will have worn off. They'll have something new to ogle over." Jack shrugged.

"It's true," Daniel nodded.

"Just like back in high school," Sam smiled reassuringly. Willow swallowed dryly and nodded before she began to eat her lunch. The rest of SG1 went back to their trays of food, the entire group falling into a slightly uncomfortable silence until their trays of cleared of food. Despite her nerves Willow had found herself to be quite hungry.

"So, what do you guys usually do now?" she asked quietly.

"Usually, Sam and Danny head back to their offices and do boring geek things," Jack told her.

"Usually?" Daniel asked. "Isn't that what we would be doing today? I need to do that report on those things found by SG7."

"Nope, not today. You're overdue a training session and Teal'c and I have a spare afternoon. You wanna come watch, Carter?" Jack replied. Sam paused thoughtfully before nodding.

"I'll keep Willow company and make sure you don't hurt Daniel too badly," she replied with a smile.

Daniel pouted. "I haven't been in the infirmary for awhile, you know," he said defensively.

"Exactly, that's why you're going for a training session, because you're well and truly due for your next brush with death, and it would be preferable if you get some training now. That may mean that you can get yourself out of trouble next time," Jack teased. The group got up and Willow followed them through the complex's multiple levels and corridors until they reached a gym. Willow and Sam sat to one side and watched the three men stretch and warm up before Jack and Daniel began to spar, while Teal'c used a punching bag. Willow's eyes widened as she watched Teal'c hit the bag, sending it swinging wildly. Obviously he was very strong, like Buffy, Angel or Spike.

It was like Willow herself had been punched in the gut when Jack began coaching Daniel through a sequence of blocks and punches, with Sam chipping in from the sidelines and Teal'c offering guidance from where he stood. The entire team was working together to give Daniel the training he needed in their line work. It was the training that Willow had never received, either in terms of her magic or in fighting. Willow was purely self-taught when it came to combat, learning through observing Buffy and Angel and really just using trial and error, hoping to god whatever she was doing wouldn't get her or one of her friends killed.

As for magic... Willow didn't even want to go there. Learning it from a book was one thing but Willow now knew that she could not risk taking her magical education any further without having a mentor to guide her through what she was learning, forcing her to pace herself and making sure that she didn't go off the rails. She didn't want to end up like Amy or her mother, after all.

For the first time in awhile Willow thought about Ms. Calender and how she had guided Willow. If Jenny hadn't died, Willow wouldn't be where she was. She wouldn't have accidently magicked herself away from Sunnydale and all of her friends wouldn't be angry with her. In reflection, Willow knew that she needed to stop using magic, at least until she had a mentor again... someone who could train her and ensure that she used her powers for good, instead of abusing them like she had in her overreaction to Oz leaving.

Willow knew that she honestly couldn't blame her friends with how they felt about her at the present time. She had stuffed up, big time, with the Will Be Done spell. It could have ended very badly, especially for Giles and Xander, and Willow knew that it was only because of luck that nobody had been seriously hurt. Buffy had enough on her plate without Willow causing problems with her malfunctioning magic.

Maybe everything would be better if Willow stayed away and made her departure from Sunnydale permanent, Willow thought to herself. Maybe choosing to stay in Sunnydale after high school had been a mistake... maybe she should have gone to one of the colleges she had been offered a place at and given up on her aspirations on becoming a witch and helping protect the citizens of Sunnydale.

Willow looked back up at Teal'c and Jack. Sam was now on the gym floor with them, sparring with Jack, and Daniel was sitting beside her watching. Willow had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed Daniel and Sam swapping places, but she didn't care... she felt oddly safe with all of Jack's team, which was stupid, really. Willow barely knew them and she knew what the military was capable of doing to those who weren't considered to be normal.

Willow thought of the spell that had brought her to them, landing her almost right in Teal'c's lap. She remembered the words she had uttered right before she'd been transported and her eyes widened as she recited them under her breath.

"I just want to be with people who won't ignore me when I'm in pain. I want to be with people who know what it is to be a team and a friend!"

She looked at the team. Jack, so protective of them all, a born leader who would die to save any member of his team. Teal'c, so quiet and pensive, but at the same time, a force to be reckoned with who would do anything he could to protect his teammates from harm. Sam, who, despite Willow's unorthodox arrival at the base, had been so kind to her and whose loyalty to Jack and her country was unwavering. Daniel, sweet Daniel, who knew so much but at the same time, was so naive, who had persuaded Jack to give Willow a chance and who had always been so friendly towards Willow and who worked hard learning how to protect himself so that his teammates would be able to protect themselves without having to worry about him.

Willow didn't realize Daniel was speaking to her until she felt his arm loop carefully around her shoulders.

"Huh?" she asked, having been completely caught up in her thoughts.

"Are you okay?' Daniel asked, his voice full of concern for her well-being. It was only then that Willow realized that she had been crying. She sniffed and wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks but more fell from her eyes. She gave up and let out a quiet sob. Daniel inched closer and enveloped her into a hug and Willow huddled into it, burying her head into Daniel's chest.

"Danny, what happened?" Willow could hear Jack's voice and the thinly veiled concern laced in it. Willow knew that he had seen her tears too and she felt feelings well up within her. She was ashamed that the group saw her when she was at her most vulnerable but at the same time, she was thrilled that they were so concerned about her, as if they actually gave a damn about her. Her words during the spell came back to her again. 'I just want to be with people who won't ignore me when I'm in pain. I want to be with people who know what it is to be a team and a friend.'

"I don't know. She was watching you guys and it was like she zoned out and then she started crying," Daniel told the others. Willow jumped as she felt a hand on her back; she didn't know whose it was.

"Hey, kid, what's up?" Jack's voice had softened and Willow forced herself to drag her face away from Daniel's now slightly damp shirt and look up at Jack.

"I just... I just realized something, that's all."

"What's that?" Sam asked sitting down on Willow's other side. Willow let out a long sigh.

"That I want to stay here... with you guys. The day I left Sunnydale... the day I did the spell, just before I teleported, I said that wanted to be with people who knew what it was like to belong to a team, people who would care if I was hurt or upset over something, because I didn't have that in Sunnydale. I was watching you guys working together, training, and I realized that this was what I wanted all along," Willow told them in a low voice thick with emotion. A stunned silence met her announcement. Jack sighed. He'd never thought this would happen but he should have expected it. Daniel and Teal'c's comments about Willow's parents should have been a warning to him that something like this would happen, that Willow would try and replace her neglectful parents and uncaring friends with Jack and his team. Jack didn't want to go down that path, the memory of Charlie still painfully fresh in his mind. Jack was happy to offer friendship towards Willow or even a mentoring role with her, but he didn't want to become her pseudo-father figure

"Kid, you have no idea what it is that you're getting into. Girls your age should be worried about college and, I don't know, boys and stuff, not... not joining up with a branch of the military."

Willow let out a sniff. "Colonel O'Neill," she told him with the politest possible tone, "I've never been into boys and stuff, and as for college... well... it's kind of been a disappointment. It's not challenging enough, it's just like high school except the teachers really don't care whether you pass or fail. I get that you guys can't actually take me on to your team, since I don't have any military training, and I'm not asking you to, but... please, can I just stay here...wherever here is?"

"I've never had any military training," Daniel piped in.

"Danny, shut it," Jack hissed in a low voice, before turning back to Willow. "Listen, kid... bad stuff happens around here. People die and I know that you've helped out with the whole magic thing, and we do appreciate that but you are a civilian. You shouldn't even be here in the first place."

"I get that," Willow said. "I know that I shouldn't even be here, but here feels a lot more like home than home does at the moment."

"If I may say, Colonel O'Neill, Miss Rosenberg's talents could be extremely useful to the SGC," Teal'c said softly. Jack looked at the rest of his team before shaking his head.

"Fine, we'll go see Hammond," he said, "But I am making no promises."

"I'm not asking you to, Colonel O'Neill," Willow said, following the rest of the team as they left the gym, hoping that she would get the opportunity she desired and would be able to turn her life around.

BtVS/SG1

General Hammond pressed his fingertips together thoughtfully as he watched SG1 and their guest enter his office. He had a sneaking suspicion what this was going to be about. Either Willow was going to formally request to join SG1 or she was going to ask when she could leave the military base and go back to her home.

Hammond favored the first option, however. He had seen the way she looked at his best team, the appreciation she had shown towards the team for how they had treated her since it had been determined she was not a threat. Jack had informed Hammond of Willow's insecurities and Daniel's suspicions in regard to Willow's parents and the recent fallout between Willow and her friends, which supported George's theory about Willow's desire to join SG1.

Of course, he wasn't just going to accept Willow just because she wanted to join up. Sure, President Hayes had asked Hammond to accept the girl but George wanted to know more information. Why on earth was an eighteen-year-old so valuable? Sure, she had powers, but there had to be something more to it.

"General Hammond," Jack greeted formally once his entire team, plus Willow, stood in front of Hammond's desk, the office door closed.

"What can I do for you, Colonel O'Neill?"