Willow paced back and forth in her room. The meaning of what she had recently discovered rolling over in her head. Aliens. The military guys were fighting Aliens. That word kept screaming at her. The man she had killed had been one of these goa'uld guys. That's why the military was following her. They thought she was another one of them. She wasn't an alien; she was a witch. What was she going to do? What could she do? She had to do something. Maybe she should call Giles. He'll know what to do. He always knows what to do. No, this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have over the phone with him. Buffy! Buffy was her best friend she'll help. No. That's no good either. Not even Buffy would believe this. Neither would Xander. None of her friends had ever fought an alien before. Well, unless you counted that Queller Demon a few years ago. It was sort of an alien. Right? It came from space didn't it? O.K. so it was technically a demon from another dimension. But it fell to earth in a meteor so that's at least kind of the same thing. So why was she having such a hard time with this. She could handle this. She had met creatures from other dimensions before and handled that o.k. Was this any different? She needed more information though and there was only one place to get it. Willow groaned as she sank down into the sofa. The thought of going back to the base wasn't pleasant; but that's what she'd have to do if she wanted to understand what was going on. She'll wait till tomorrow to do that though. Tonight she needed to do something else. Take her mind off of it. Willow checked her watch. Kennedy should be back from her patrol by now. She had promised to call her today anyway; and talking to her girlfriend was just what she needed.
*** *** ***
"Thanks Maria" Kennedy said as she stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a short white terrycloth robe and took the phone from the maid. Holding the phone to her ear as she walked the short distance to her bedroom she spoke. "How's my girl?" Then entered the room making sure to lock it.
She didn't want Sarah interrupting again.
"A little tired. It's been a long, tough day. But talking to you makes it better." The witch replied
"It sounds like it. Are you sure you're O.K." Kennedy picked up on something in her girlfriend's voice.
"That obvious, huh."
Kennedy lay down on the bed propping her head on some pillows. "A little. What's the matter? Is it that demon?"
"Yeah, I still don't have enough info to act on, but I don't like what I've learned so far."
"I can still fly in and help if you want."
No, I'm gon'na see somebody tomorrow who should be able to tell me what I need to know. Then we'll go from there."
"Alright I'll wait. But I want you to promise that if this turns out to be something big you won't try to take care of it by yourself; you call me and wait till I get there to help."
"O.K. I promise. Listen, I don't want to talk about me anymore. What have you been up to? Not skinny dipping with any movie stars or supermodels have you?" Willow kidded with that last part.
"No, no skinny dipping yet but I hope to change that soon." The brunette hinted that she wanted Willow home.
"Well, we'll have to see if that can be arranged. What have you been doing if not skinny dipping."
Oh, I caught a couple vamps trying to make a meal out of one of the vacationers. And I'm starting to understand why Buffy's always griping about vamp dust. It really does get everywhere."
"Oh the life of a slayer is a hard one." Willow laughed.
"You said it. Ah, speaking of the life of a slayer, I tried to call Buffy and Faith today but couldn't reach'em. The same with Giles. So I was wondering, you've been around a slayer enough. What do you know about slayer dreams?"
"Kennedy!" Willow was excited, "You had your first slayer dream! That's great!" then her mood changed, "Oh, wait, that usually means that some big bad is coming. What was the dream about?"
"It was weird. It was all about space; like something out of a Star Wars movie. There was a ship to ship battle, a bunch of guys with tattoos on their foreheads using staffs that fired lasers, humans with machine guns, one woman had eyes that flashed white but the part that scared me the most was the guy with no face." Kennedy described to an increasingly fearful Willow. "I don't know maybe it was just an overactive imagination and not some kind of portent."
Willow sure hoped so, but doubted it.
"Ah, Willow. You still there?" the slayer didn't like the long pause that followed the description of her dream.
Willow snapped out of her thoughts. "Ah, Yeah. I'm still here. Well, that kind of dream is new to me. But if there is anything to it I'm sure we'll find out pretty soon."
"You're probably right. I mean if the Earth is going to be invaded by aliens then ---, well that's just ridiculous right." Kennedy chuckled
"Yeah, ridiculous." The redhead tried to hide her fear with a similar chuckle but it sounded nervous."
"Well on to happier things. You were going to a lecture. How'd it go? Did you cram any more smarts into that overstuffed, but beautiful head of yours?"
"Yes, I enjoyed it a lot." She answered glad to change the subject.
"Good."
"What about you, do anything else today?"
"Nah, I just got finished washing what was left of those two vamps off when you called."
"Well that sounds good. Now you'll be all fresh and clean when you go to bed." Willow didn't get the implication of what she just said.
But Kennedy did and a naughty thought came to the girl. "Where do you think I am now?"
"Huh?"
"I'm laying on my bed wearing a bathrobe and I mean JUST a bathrobe. My skin is still all damp and glistening from the shower." Kennedy's voice was turning seductive as she ran her free hand down the side of her throat then traced her skin along the edge of her robe.
Willow's temperature rose. "Oh, you are so bad."
"Now, tell me, what are you wearing"
*** *** ***
General Hammond was barely in the door when Jack asked, "What did you find out?"
Hammond looked at his best team and Dr Frasier sitting around the conference table before he answered. "Nothing!" and he didn't sound happy about it.
What do you mean nothing, Sir?" Carter didn't understand. Neither did anyone else in the room.
"I'll explain in a little while. First, I want to know how the men are." Hammond told them.
The Doctor opened the file in front of her and glanced at the contents. "They're perfectly fine. The M.R.I., C.A.T., and P.E.T. scans are clear, and there's no trace of any foreign substance in their blood. From everything I can tell, they simply went to sleep." She explained then slid the file across the table to the General.
"That means that she can't be that bad a person. All she did was put those guards to sleep. I'm sure that if she wanted to hurt them, or us, she easily could have." Daniel sounded sure.
"I also believe that she could have inflicted far more damage if she had wished." Teal'c concurred.
"Doctor Frasier if this girl is from Earth like we now believe; is there any medical explanation for her abilities?" Hammond wanted to know.
"No Sir. Not that I'm aware of. We've seen humans that have been artificially enhanced before. Like the retrovirus Nirrti infected Cassandra with. But there is no Earth based agent that can cause those kinds of abilities. And the last we heard, even Nirrti wasn't able to create anything that could cause this; not without causing severe physical deformities as a side effect anyway." The doctor informed them. "But I'd have to examine her before I can tell you anything else." She added.
"This is all very interesting and important I'm sure; but, does it bother anyone else that this woman could just walk in here and leave like she owned the place and now knows about us while we still don't know her name? I for one would like to call her something other than 'she, her, the redhead or mystery girl' and what about this 'Initiative' she mentioned. I think Carter put it best when she asked what you meant about finding nothing."
"I meant that I couldn't find even one trace of any unit called 'The Initiative'. I called The Pentagon, The Joint Chiefs, even The President and they all say the same thing, 'There is not and never was anything called 'The Initiative'" Hammond explained
"We've all heard that before. We've all said that before." Daniel pointed out.
"Yes, but we have the highest security rating there is. Why won't they fill us in?" Jack wanted to know.
"I don't know. But there's more." Everyone listened to what The General was about to say. "They were all very interested in what motivated my inquiry. When I told them about our visitor and sent the footage of the security tapes they ordered me not to make any attempt to locate her."
"Why the hell not!" Jack spat. "Do they realize that not only is this girl powerful and angry at us, but that she now knows about the Goa'uld?"
"I explained that very point to them. But, they all feel that her knowing about it won't pose a threat to us and as for her attacking, they don't want to do anything that might give her a reason to."
A self-satisfied smirk came across Daniel's face as he tried to hold back a laugh. " I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He apologized when everyone looked at him.
"As I was saying." The General continued, "We are not to approach this woman for any reason."
"But Sir, if this girl is from Earth and we were able to find out how she is able to do what she does or recruit her then maybe we will finally be able to shift the war in our favor." Major Carter implored.
"I agree with Major Carter, we would be foolish not to try and gain knowledge or an alliance with this woman." Teal'c added.
"I don't think that's goin' to be likely." Everyone's attention turned to Daniel when he spoke. "Whatever this Initiative is, she obviously had a bad experience with them. So, I doubt that she'll be very willing to form any ties with us. Plus after the way she reacted to the whole alien thing, I seriously doubt that we ever see her again." Daniel announced his suspicion.
*** *** ***
The next morning, Willow pulled her rent car over to the side of the road just out of sight of the main gate. She took a deep breath and released it. She could do this. These guys weren't the Initiative. But they were the military. Would they talk to her or shoot her on sight? She needed to know more about these aliens though, not just for her own piece of mind either. It now seemed like Kennedy had had her first prophetic dream; and apparently it was heavy with the space theme. That thought was enough to cause the witch to make her decision. She was certain that they would want to know everything they could about her, if they hadn't found out already. She wasn't sure how much the Initiative would tell them about her. She was prepared to tell them what they needed to know but not everything. They didn't need to know her whole life story. So, she put on her resolve face, pulled the car back on the road and drove to the gate.
To Willow's mild relief the guard was different from her first visit. It would've been awkward if it hadn't been. This one was about the same age, but taller.
"Can I help you ma'm?"
"Sure can. You can tell the General that his visitor from yesterday would like to see him and that I come in peace." She smiled and tried to look innocent.
The guard's eyes widened and panic flash crossed his face. "J-Just wait right here ma'm."
Willow watched as the soldier hurriedly picked up a phone and spoke with hushed tones.
*** *** ***
"Sir, you have a call." An Airman reported as he ran up to The General who was in the corridor talking to one of the scientists.
"Thank you Airman." Hammond replied then walked around a corner and down to his office. Once inside he stood beside his desk and answered the phone with, "This is Hammond." then listened to the person on the other end. "She's what?" the surprise clear in his voice. "Tell her to stay put; we'll send an escort up."
Daniel walked up to the open door just in time to catch the part about the escort. "What's that about an escort?" he asked.
"It seems that the infiltrator from yesterday is at the main gate asking to see me." He was both confused and curious.
*** *** ***
The guard hung up, then nervously stepped up to Willow's car, "You're supposed to wait here for an escort ma'm."
"O.K., and relax I don't bite." She replied with a smile she hoped would ease his obvious fear.
Ten minutes later a jeep pulled up and four people that Willow recognized climbed out. Willow got out of her car to meet them holding a brown paper bag. "Ah, hi." She greeted them with a wave. Her voice was meant to sound friendly but was laced with a hint of nervousness.
"Uh hi. What's in the bag?" Jack returned her greeting.
"Oh, just a peace offering." She reached out for him to take the bag, but he hesitated. " Don't worry, it's not a bomb. If I was going to hurt ya, I wouldn't need a bomb."
Realizing she was right, Jack took the bag and opened it to see the Ashrak's ribbon device, knife, and the zat gun she had taken in her hurry to leave yesterday. "Uh, thank you." He said a bit surprised and handed the bag to Sam.
"Your Welcome."
"Shall we go?" he invited and turned toward the jeep.
"You're not going to drive me into a firing squad are you?"
"Nah, if we were going to hurt ya we would have blown you up in your car."
"Oooh." Was all she said as that unpleasant image came to mind.
"Ready then?"
"Sure." Was the cheery reply. Turning back to the guard, she tossed him the car key. "Be careful it's a rental." Then she ducked under the gate and climbed into the jeep along with her escort.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to thank all the reviewers that have taken the time to write their opinions. This is my first story and I was just hoping that it would be read at all. I never expected the response that I've received. My chest is all swollen with pride now. So as sort of a Thank You, I have created a promotional picture for this story. If anyone is interested let me know where to send it and I'll send you a copy.