Once everyone was settled in the briefing room. Six pair of eyes, belonging to General Hammond, Dr. Frasier and sg-1, watched their mysterious guest.
"What are you?" Jack was the first to speak.
"How much do you know already?" The woman asked.
"Ah, nothing. We don't even know your name." Jack told her.
"Nothing? "She sounded confused. "Didn't you call the Initiative? What did they tell you about me?"
Hammond broke in "Everyone I contacted denies that this Initiative ever existed."
"Figures." She said with a sigh. "In that case, my name is Willow Rosenberg. And to answer your first question," She looked right at Jack, " I'm a witch."
"A witch, as in pointed hats, cauldrons, flying broomsticks and all that stuff?" Jack's tone was disbelieving, while the looks on everyone's faces conveyed the same feeling. Everyone except for Teal'c, His face was neutral as always.
"I thought witches were only an Earth myth." The jaffa stated.
"They are. There's no such thing as witches. Well, there are people that follow the Wicca religion, but there's no such thing as magic. It just doesn't exist." Carter argued.
"That's what I thought about aliens. Well, until yesterday anyway. But there one sits." Willow pointed at Teal'c. "And here sits a witch." She pointed at herself. "Accept it." Then she faced Jack. "And I don't wear a pointy hat or fly on a broomstick." She was glaring now. "I really hate that stereotype."
Hammond cleared his throat.
"Assuming this is true, and I'm not saying I am, why come back here and tell us?" he asked.
"Because I want to know more about these aliens and I figured that you wouldn't tell me anything unless you knew a little bit about me first. But, I thought the Initiative would've told you some of it."
"What about this Initiative, what is it."
"If your bosses won't tell you then I don't think I should either. Let's just say that they were very interested in all things supernatural and my experience with them was unpleasant; and leave it at that."
"That's why you broke in here yesterday. You thought we were them and were after you." Daniel put together.
"Yes, I wanted to know if they were up to their old tricks. I had no idea that anything like aliens were involved. And you were following me because you thought I was another goa'uld." Willow wanted them to know she understood that. "The question now is, where do we go from here?"
"I have been ordered not to attempt making contact with you at all." Hammond told her.
"You didn't. I made contact with you." Willow offered.
"She has a point General." Jack supported.
"One of our primary mandates is to acquire technology and make allies that will help us protect Earth from the Goa'uld. So, we would like to know if you would be willing to help us do that." Carter explained.
"You want me to use magic to fight these Goa'uld for you?"
"Is that a problem?" Jack asked with suspicion.
"That depends. What exactly do you want me to do? And, why should I do it? This is where it would help to know more about these guys. How big of a bad are they? And, what their ultimate goal is before I decide to do anything. Also, I have my own life to live and problems to worry about. And I refuse to be just a weapon for you to use. And No." She looked right at Dr. Frasier with a hard stare and a tone to match. "I'm not going to let you poke and prod at me to see what makes me tick. You wouldn't find anything anyway." She let them know.
"I –" Frasier started then saw Willow cock her head with a knowing look on her face. The doctor slumped back in her chair in silent defeat.
Then the witch's demeanor softened and she shifted her gaze to everyone. "I realize now that you're not the Initiative, but you are still military. And as you've seen, I have serious trust issues with the military."
"Yeah. I think we all got that part." Jack said with hard sarcasm.
Daniel put two and two together. "Is that what this Initiative did to you?"
"Oh they never laid a hand on me personally; but yeah, that's the kind of stuff they did and even worse."
"That's not the way we work around here." Hammond tried to assure her. "If we did, we would be no better than the Goa'uld.
"I myself would not have pledged my allegiance to the Tau'ri if they were not honorable." Teal'c endorsed.
For some reason that comforted the witch.
"That's great. What's a Tau'ri?" she asked abruptly.
"That's just the Goa'uld's word for the people from Earth." Daniel explained
"Oh. So, tell me more about the Goa'uld."
The General leaned forward with a sincere look, setting his clasped hands on the table.
"I'm sorry we can't do that right now." He apologized. "We need to get clearance from the President before we can do that."
"Oh, o.k. I underst-. Whoa! Wait a second, you're gon'na talk to the President about me?" Willow was getting nervous. "What are you gon'na to say? What is he gon'na say? What happens if he says no?" Willow noticed everyone watching her ramble "Oh." She looked down at her hands embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'll just ---." Her head shot up. "What the hell is ---?"
"Unscheduled Offworld Activation! Sergeant Stiller's voice blared over the P.A.
The six members of the S.G.C. jumped from their seats heading out the door with Willow close behind
*** *** ***
Willow entered a room lined with computers and other equipment. In front was a large window that looked down into a lower room. Inside this lower room a group of soldiers were pointing their weapons at a huge metal ring with symbols that were spinning around an inner dial. A series of lights were spaced evenly around the outside edge and were being activated. A metal plate covered the center of the ring.
"Is anyone due to check in?" Hammond asked.
"No Sir." A silver-haired man with glasses answered from his seat in front of a console under the window.
Willow just watched in fascination as a blue light started to emit from behind the plate.
"Receiving I.D.C. with incoming message. It's sg-4" The man reported.
"Let's hear it." The General ordered
The sound of automatic gunfire and explosions came though the speakers. Then a hurried voice yelled, "Close contact situation, we got jaffa on our ass, need medical team, Coming in plus 1!"
"Open the iris Hammond ordered. Then spoke again into a microphone. "Close contact recovery, medical team to the gateroom."
The plate slid away in a spiraling motion with the sound of metal scraping metal to reveal a shining blue portal. The soldiers inside the room tensed, then two figures emerged from the portal, one being supported by the other. Then another figure came diving through and landed hard on the ramp. A few seconds later two more emerged back first firing in the direction they had come, then stopped when they were clear. A few balls of energy followed them and the soldiers that rushed in had to quickly duck out of the way allowing energy balls to impact the wall above the soldier's heads but beneath the window.
"Close the iris" the General ordered
The plate slid shut and several thunking sounds could be heard hitting the other side before the portal shut down. Dr. Frasier and the medical team rushed in to tend to the wounded.
"O.K. What just happened?" Willow demanded.
Everyone in the room turned and looked at her.
*** *** ***
"We'll talk more later. First I need to see to the men and get a report. So, if you would please" Hammond waved one of the soldiers over, "This Airman will show you to one of our guest quarters while I find out what's goin' on."
Willow thought it over then answered, "Oh, alright I can see you got your hands full so I'll wait, for a little while, but only because I really want to know more about these Goa'uld. But if I think you're stalling or trying to pull something then I'm gone."
"Understood. And if you need anything just let the Airman know."
"This way ma'm." the Airman waved for her to follow him. Which she did.
*** *** ***
When General Hammond walked into the infirmary he found SG-4's leader standing to the side while the doctors fussed over the man they had brought in.
"How is everybody?" He asked.
"The team's fine just bumps and bruises. It's him that I'm not sure about." He told the General nodding towards the patient.
"Who is he? And what happened out there?" were Hammond's next questions.
"A Tok'ra, he claims. We were exploring the planet when we saw his ship appear and get shot down by two deathgliders. He managed to get himself out of the ship and we got there just as he was about to be strafed. A mothership had to be close behind because jaffa started to ring down. So we booked it back to the 'gate. And since the host was the one talkin' I believe 'im about bein' Tok'ra." He reported.
"Alright good job." Then both men turned to Dr. Frasier as she walked up. Hammond was the one to speak first. "How is the patient Doctor?"
"Well, He has a broken arm, at least two broken ribs and a staff wound to the left leg. The worst thing though is the internal bleeding. If it wasn't for the symbiote he probably would've died already. Normally I would take him into surgery to try and repair the damage but in this case the surgery itself might kill him. Right now the best thing I can do is bandage him up and hope the symbiote can do the rest."
"Alright, thank you doctor. Keep me informed of any changes."
*** *** ***
"Contact the Tok'ra and let them know we have one of their men." Hammond told Sam and Daniel as they walked down a corridor.
"I'll take care of that Sir" Sam volunteered as they rounded a corner.
"What about Willow? What are we planning to do with her?" Daniel wanted to know.
"I'm on my way to call the President now." Hammond answered.
"I'd like to talk to her alone. If we knew what her life is like and how she views the world, it might help us understand her better and maybe I can even ease her qualms about working with us." Daniel suggested.
"Do you really believe her story about being a witch?" Sam asked.
"We've established that she's not an alien of any kind; so can you think of anything else she might be?"
After a short pause, Hammond and Sam both gave up. "No." they both admitted. "Go ahead and talk with her. If anything, you can at least keep her from leaving until I finish reporting to the President." Hammond consented
*** *** ***
The guest quarters were small and minimalistic but comfortable. There was a single bed covered with a standard issue army blanket with a small trunk at its foot. Next to the bed was a small metal desk with a fluorescent lamp on top. On the other side of the bed there was a closet and a door to the bathroom. Willow was sitting cross-legged on the bed with her hands in her lap, facing the door. She was telekinetically juggling a small stapler, a box of staples, and a bottle of liquid paper she had found on the desk, when a knock came.
"Come in." She called.
The door opened to reveal Daniel, who looked slightly surprised but not disturbed at the image before him. "Ah hi, am I interrupting something?"
Willow let the items fall into her hands then looked up at him. "Nah, just entertaining myself. And whoever else is watching." She added that last comment to let him know that she knew about the cameras.
"You think we're watching you?"
"Are you saying you're not?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "It's o.k. I'm not going to go all bad-ass baddie because of it." She said trying to lighten the mood.
"Well, that's good to hear." Daniel replied with the same light-heartedness.
The witch rose off the bed and walked over to the desk. "Did everything get taken care of from earlier?" She asked with genuine concern and placed the stuff back where she got them.
"They're still workin' on it. One of the guys is hurt pretty bad but he'll probably live. The others are fine; just minor injuries."
"That's good. And that thing that created the portal, it's what takes you to other planets?" Willow guessed. She was still standing at the desk.
"I'm sorry, I'm not at allowed to talk about that now." Daniel apologized.
"I understand. You came here to talk about me anyway; didn't you."
"Yeah, I wanted to know more about you and to see if I could understand you better."
"YOU want to know or THEY want to know?"
"Well I'm sure they do; but not for the same reason I do."
"And what's your reason?"
"My expertise are in archeology and Anthropology, studying different cultures is in the job description."
"That's easy. We have the same culture everybody else does."
"What do you mean by the same?"
"I mean we live in normal houses in normal neighborhoods. We have normal jobs and go to normal schools. We have normal friends and families just like everyone else does." The witch explained.
"O.K. I get that, but there has to be something more. What goes on that the rest of us don't see. And how do you stay hidden?"
"We don't hide. People just refuse to see us. They always ignore or try to rationalize what they don't understand."
"O.k. but how did you know that Teal'c wasn't human?"
"You have your secrets. I have mine. I'm afraid that I just don't trust you enough to go into that much detail."
"I guess I'm going to have to convince you to trust us then."
"O.K." Willow relented then pulled the chair from under the desk and sat down. Then waved for Daniel to sit on the bed. When he did and they were facing each other she continued. "So, tell me, why should I trust you?"
"You're not going to make this easy are you?"
"You've heard the phrase fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me."
"We're not about to hurt someone that we want as an ally." Daniel reasoned.
"Why not? I've seen it happen before."
"That wasn't us." He reminded her
"You're right. And I shouldn't hold the Initiative's actions against you but until I know exactly what I'd be getting into I'm not going to agree to anything."
"I can't blame you for being cautious, but if we were like that then we wouldn't have any of the allies that we do now and the Goa'uld would have destroyed us years ago. Besides, we don't want to make any more enemies. The Goa'uld are enough."
Willow had to admit that made some sense. "What exactly would my helping you entail?"
"That depends on the terms of the agreement you make with us."
Willow nodded "This all might be a mute point if the President doesn't want me involved."