Rachael was behind the counter checking out a customer when she heard the bells ring signaling someone's entry. "Just remember the red one is for him and the green one is for her."
"O.k. And thank you so much. They've been trying to have a baby for so long." The customer replied with obvious gratitude as she handed Rachael a credit card.
"You're welcome and good luck. Come back and tell me if it worked."
"I will." The woman promised as they finished the transaction.
Daniel and Sam just watched her leave and exchanged looks having overheard the conversation.
"Was that what I think it was?" Sam asked Daniel.
Willow was the one to answer. "Sounded like a fertility potion to me." She casually told them without looking at them. Which is why she didn't see the dumbfound expression on their faces. "I'm back." Willow cheerily greeted Rachael as she approached the counter.
"And you brought friends." Rachael replied with a smile. "Did you find that info you were looking for?"
"Ah, yeah. It turns out that you weren't that far off. But now the stuff I showed you is classified so I don't think I can go into details."
"Don't tell me the Initiative's at it again." the shopkeeper groaned.
"Wait you know about the Initiative too?" Sam interrupted.
"Everybody knows about it; you can't keep a secret like that from the supernatural world." Rachael explained.
"Don't worry. It's not the Initiative. But these two are with the Air Force." Willow assured the fellow Wiccan. "And there might be something else out there somewhere. That's why we need ingredients for a locator spell."
"You sure these guys are on the level?" Rachael made no attempt to hide her suspicion.
No, but they aren't a threat either. And it is really important that we find what we're looking for."
"Alright. If you say so." Rachael came around the counter and headed for one of the shelves against the wall followed by her costumers.
*** *** ***
"O.k. That comes to sixty-eight seventy-three." Rachael finished ringing up the sale.
"Well, pay the lady." Willow told the two people with her.
Daniel pulled out his wallet and produced a credit card with a sigh, fully agreeing with Jack's earlier statement about having to explain this charge. Then handed it to Rachael.
" Willow, how is this stuff supposed to help us find anything?" Sam still couldn't bring herself to believe this would work.
Rachael's head shot up from what she was doing. "Willow? As in Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yeah that's me." Willow replied cautiously.
"Wait. You know her?" Daniel asked.
"Are you kidding? Everybody knows who Willow Rosenberg is. She's legendary."
"Oh! No! I'm not th--"
"Don't be modest. After what you pulled off; you'd have to be one of, if not THE most powerful witch alive. Definitely the most famous."
"Wait. Exactly how powerful is she? And what did you do?" Sam wanted to know.
"What, They don't know?" Rachael asked Willow.
"They don't need to know everything about me." Willow stated.
"Well, still. Do you need a place to perform this spell?"
"Honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead."
"Would you like to use my casting room?" Rachael offered and walked to the curtain that separated the back room."
"Thank you." Willow accepted and moved toward the doorway, with Sam and Daniel behind her.
They followed Rachael through the curtain into a room filled with boxes, presumably of stored inventory. Rachael led them across the room to a set of double doors. The older witch used a key to open the doors revealing another room about a third the size of the stock room. On the opposite wall there was some sort of shrine to the Goddess; with white candles on either side. There were more candles in each corner set on waist-high polished brass holders. There was also a large, white Pentagram painted on the floor. The edges of which, touched the center of all four walls.
Rachael then spoke "Incendere" causing the candles to light.
"Wow. This is nice." Willow complemented.
"Thank you, I'm glad you like it." Rachael accepted the complement.
Neither Sam nor Daniel said anything but both were a little awed by the small display of power from this other woman. Not by the display itself, but that someone other than Willow had done it. Sam walked over to examine the candle nearest her while Daniel crossed the room to study the Shrine, careful not to disturb anything.
When the two witches started to set up the spell, both S.G.C. members stopped their examinations to observe. The topographical map was placed on the floor with short red candles set around it marking the four compass points. The knife was placed next to Willow's left foot and a bowl of yellow powder at her right. Then Willow sat down cross-legged between the two items with the map in front of her.
Rachael then backed off and stood against the wall where Sam and Daniel joined her.
"How is this supposed to work?" Sam asked the shop owner as they watched Willow place her hands on her knees and close her eyes in what was apparently a meditative pose.
"SHHH." the witch had her finger to her lips.
"Sorry." Sam whispered. "But I don't see how this is going to accomplish anything."
"Just watch." Rachael whispered back as Willow opened her eyes and picked up the knife. Holding it over the map she took a handful of the powder in her other hand and sprinkled it over the blade before it landed on the map. "The powder will absorb the owner's residue then when it hits the map it will light up any location where there is a matching residue." Rachael explained as Willow began to move both her hands in a clockwise motion to ensure that the powder landed on every part of the map.
"Huh!" Willow's unhappy outburst caught their attention.
"It didn't work?" Rachael was surprised.
"Maybe we're wrong and it's not in Denver or may--. Wait! Look."
A light slowly started to appear in a rocky area on the southwest edge of the city.
"Is that it?" Daniel asked.
"That's it." Willow confirmed as she stood up holding the map in both hands.
Sam took the map from Willow with one hand and hit a speed dial number on her phone with the other. "Yeah, It's me. We have a possible location on the target."
*** *** ***
A convoy of military trucks pulled up in a secluded area of barren hills
Jack climbed out of the passenger side of the lead truck and addressed the recovery team. "O.K. kids, this is the location our Intel says the ship is. So spread out and see if you can find anything." He said half-heartedly.
"Doesn't sound like you have much confidence in this Intelligence Sir." One of the men said.
"I don't Corporal but this is all we got. So go on have a good look around and when we don't find anything at least I can go back to the source and say I told you so."
"Yes Sir." The Corporal replied with a snicker.
Jack turned to the Major beside him. "Deploy your teams." Then he tuned out the Major's voice barking out assignments as he walked over and leaned against the front of his truck. Before the last orders were given, one member of the first team was jogging off to his assigned search area when his head collided with something solid yet unseen. His head bounced with enough force to propel him backwards and he fell flat on his back in comical fashion. Another soldier saw and was close enough to actually hear the collision. "Man Down!" he called and hurried to the fallen man.
When Jack got there a field medic was already looking the unconscious man over. "He's out cold Sir." The medic anticipated the Colonel's question.
"What happened?"
"He ran into something sir." The soldier that had witnessed the incident spoke up.
"Alright! The ship's cloaked kids. Find a way inside but watch your step!
The medic opened his kit and removed an ammonium tablet then broke it in two and waved it under the unconscious soldier's nose. The soldier tried to jerk away from the odor as he came to. "What happened?" the young man asked the group of people gathered around him.
Jack smirked, "You found the ship. That's the way to use your head."
Everyone there just glared disappointedly at the Colonel's bad joke.
"What? Somebody had to say it." Jack defended.
*** *** ***
Kennedy climbed out of the pool letting the water run down her black bikini-clad body and picked up a towel that was laying across the back of her pool chair; using it to dry her hands and face before she took the phone from the middle-aged Hispanic maid. "Thanks Maria." Then she started walking along the side of the pool to get out of earshot of Sarah who was lounging in another chair as she held the phone to her ear. "Hey sweetie. I've been waiting all day for your call. How did your meeting go?"
Sarah realized whom her older sister must be talking to and quietly got up from her own chair to follow her.
*** *** ***
Willow stood on her balcony overlooking the city in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm sorry it took so long. Things started happening a-and we kind' a got interrupted. But everything's o.k. now." Willow's voice came over the line.
"Interrupted? You mean attacked right? Are you o.k?" The slayer was worried.
"There was an attack yes. But it wasn't on us. It was some friends of the people I was meeting. Then I decided to help them with another problem that's all."
"Does that mean that you're finished out there and are coming home?"
Sarah came up beside her older sister and matched her pace. "Oh, please baby come home. I want to kiss you and hold you a-- Aaahhh!" Kennedy never even looked or broke her step as she reached out and placed her hand on her little sister's shoulder and pushed the annoying girl into the pool causing a large splash.
Sarah rose to the surface coughing up water and wiping her face with one hand while she clung to the side of the pool with the other. "I'm telling!" she called out to the slayer's back.
"What was that?" Willow asked.
"Oh nothin' Sarah just jumped in the pool, that's all."
"I did not! You pushed me!"
Willow heard Sarah's shout over the line. "Kennedy." Her tone was shaming, "Did you push her in the pool?"
"Well, she started it. She was making fun of us and all." Kennedy stopped walking and glared at Sarah.
"In that case she deserved it."
"She certainly did. When can I see you?" Kennedy turned her attention away from her sister.
"That depends. How fast can you get here?"
"Does that mean that the problem is big?"
"Very big. How soon can you get here?"
"I can use the family plane and be there tomorrow."
"Good. And plan on staying a while I think this is going to take some time. We're going to need someplace a little more permanent than a hotel to stay too."
'What's exactly going down Willow?" Kennedy was getting an uncomfortable feeling.
"I'd rather not explain it over the phone. This is something that you need to hear face to face."
"Is it really that bad?" A feeling of dread came over the brunette.
"Yes, It's bad. But, well, you'll understand why I don't want to explain on a phone when you get here."
O.k. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Good, I'll be waiting. I love you."
"I love you too. Bye." Kennedy kissed into the phone before she hung up.
Sarah had swum to the shallow end and was climbing out of the pool as Kennedy walked back to her chair.
"So you're going to Denver."
"Looks that way."
"Can I come?"
"No!"
"Oh, why not?" the young girl whined. "I won't get in the way. Besides you and Willow are just gon'na spend most of the time in the bedroom anyway." She accused with a smirk.
"This isn't that kind of trip. This is work."
"You mean you're gon'na slay something?" Sarah was getting excited.
"Only you if you don't quit making fun of me and Willow." Kennedy threatened as she made a show of twisting her towel into a tight cord.
Sarah's eyes grew wide as she realized what her sister was about to do and started to back away. "No. Noo. Noooo." She shook her head and pleaded.
Kennedy only nodded with an evil grin. "Yes!"
Sarah took off at a run screaming as Kennedy snapped the towel at her retreating backside.
*** *** ***
General Hammond was waiting as Sam and Daniel stepped off the elevator.
"Where's Ms. Rosenberg?" he asked when he saw that she wasn't with them.
"She chose to stay behind." Daniel reported.
"Apparently she would rather spend the night in her hotel suite. But she said she'll be back when this Kennedy arrived." Sam added as they walked toward Hammond's office.
"Do we know any more about this girl or what a slayer is?" Hammond asked.
"Supposedly, her powers are mostly physical; speed, strength, agility, that sort of thing. Willow said we'd have to see it for ourselves to really understand." Sam again answered.
The trio entered the General's office and Sam, being the last one in, closed the door behind them. "What about Willow's spell, Did it work?" Daniel had to know.
"The Colonel reported in a little while ago. They found the ship." Hammond informed them stepping behind his desk then sat down.
"I take that to mean that it was right where Willow said it was." Daniel assumed while he and Sam took seats themselves.
"Yes, they're securing it now. They're having some difficulty though. It seems that it's cloaked.
"Cloaked Sir?" Sam started to ponder what that could mean.
If Willow was able to locate cloaked ships, then maybe she could track them as well.
"Yes. But that will have to wait. We have another situation to worry about now."
"What's that Sir?" Sam snapped out of her musings.
"Teal'c and Bra'tac reported that the alliance meeting was ambushed and they themselves were attacked." Hammond informed.
"Are they o.k?" Daniel was worried for his friends.
"They're fine." Hammond assured.
"Do we know who is responsible for the attack?" Sam wanted to know.
"No, but apparently it was carried out by a single individual. Teal'c and Bra'tac managed to bring him down though. I already sent a team through to recover the body."
"So, We're just waiting for them to get back."
Yes, In the meantime I want to hear about your mission."
*** *** ***
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy Holidays!!! And also let you all know that I will be out of town next week and away from my computer so there won't be an update next week but I will be back after the holidays with the next chapter.