I would like to apologize to anyone who cares for the extremely long wait for this update, most of it was my fault but to be fair to me I did have an unbelievable amount of computer problems.
Usual disclaimer, I don't own these characters, sorry for messing up their lives etc etc
Anyway I'll stop writing crap and get on with the fic.
Wiccan Science
Part 5
'Wow, that was some power trip, I feel high as a teenage boy on a sugar rush who's just found his dads porn collection. I'm talking top quality sugar here, none of that low fat crap, pure unadulterated white sugar, granulated, cubes or whatever, I don't discriminate by shape, race or sexual preference, only quantity.' She paused for a breath and grimaced. 'Did I really just babble about sugar and porn, someone needs to stop me. You know you guys should really put up warning signs or something about that magic, it could take me a while to get this out of my system which means prolonged babbling and mucho embarrassment for me. Unless that's your diabolical plan, to record all my really idiotic moments and then keep them to blackmail me with later and then show them on CNN so that everyone laughs at me, you can't do that, I have stage fright.' Her voice rose in pitch until it was almost a hysterical squeal before she paused for a second, 'that's ridiculous, I don't know what I'm thinking, it is ridiculous right, I mean that couldn't possibly be your plan could it?' She spoke in a small voice looking around at the occupants of the corridor uncertainly. She noticed Jack looking at her with an expression mid-way between dread and laughter, he looked unbelievably funny, 'Hey Jack, why the long face?' With that Willow seemed to forget her previous concerns and broke down into a fit of giggles which showed no sign of stopping in the near future.
The Tokra High Councilor was the first to break the giggle filled quiet that followed Willow's hyper-babble, ' what is the meaning of this, you clearly know this woman so I can only assume that your people have developed a method of becoming invisible and have failed to share the technology. Not only that but you have now committed what could be construed as an act of hostility by trying to infiltrate our base in secret, would you care to explain your actions?'
'Oh yeah, like you share all your technology with us,' Jack paused when Carter coughed in a blatant attempt to stop him before he did irreparable damage to their relations with the Tokra. 'Of course that's not the point,' Jack began again trying to be more diplomatic, 'in truth this woman has nothing to do with our installation although we have met before. We have no idea how she became invisible, we also had no idea she was here, although we are aware that she has certain abilities beyond normal humans.'
By this time Willow had stopped giggling and was listening with interest although she was still displaying her energy through almost compulsive fidgeting. 'Wow Jack, that was really quite elegant and diplomatic, who knew you could do that. Personally I was having my doubts about your ability to actually complete a coherent sentence. Bravo.' Willow looked directly at the still outraged Tokra and spoke in an exaggerated stage whisper 'He's not terribly bright you know.'
'What is the reason you are here Willow Rosenberg?' Teal'c spoke and Willow immediately turned and grinned warmly at him.
'Oh, no reason in particular, just curious really, did you watch the Lion King yet, did you cry? Its so sad, and Aladdin just has the best music ever and how funny is Shrek.' Willow launched into an amazingly enthusiastic rendition of 'I'm a Believer' for someone who proclaimed to have stage fright only to be interrupted by Carter clearing her throat again loudly.
'You mean to say that you broke into our facility, sneaked through the Stargate and jeopardized our diplomatic relations with the Tokra because you were curios?' Carter's loud tone of disbelief brought a halt to the singing and Willow looked at her a little bashfully.
'Well when you say it like that it sounds like a bad thing.' Will suddenly felt like she was at school trying to explain her actions to a teacher, except that she had never been in that kind of situation with a teacher. Since she lacked the experience in this area she decided to cut her losses, 'ok, if it's that much of a problem I'll just leave then.'
She started to walk in the direction of the Stargate but didn't get very far before a pair of Tokra guards stood in front of her blocking the way. 'You cannot just walk out of here after violating our security in such a way, you will remain in our custody until we can determine the exact nature of your motives and what threat you pose to us.' The High Councilor spoke in a condescending tone as though he was talking to a being of lesser intelligence, it got right under Willows skin and if that was bad his next words evoked the beginnings of fury. 'Guards take her to the holding cells, if she resists, stun her.'
Willow could feel the immense power of the magic on the planet flowing around and through her and she was so close to just reaching out and using it full force to teach the stuck up son of a bitch the lesson of his life. She tried to calm down, clinging to her promise to stop doing black magic, it seemed to be working, she felt herself relax slightly and the rage subsided as she regained control.
Jack noticed her reaction to the words and orders of the Councilor and grew worried as her hair began to darken almost reaching full black as she stood in the corridor with her eyes closed. Jack was about to say something to try and diffuse the situation when to his relief her hair began to lighten again returning to its natural red. His relief turned to dread once more as one of the guards took her firmly by the arm and Willow whipped around fixing her blazing black eyes on the unfortunate man who immediately released his hold.
The situation threatened to escalate as the Councilor began shouting orders to the guards and Willow began to rise slightly into the air with black stuff gathering around her body. As far as Jack could see there was no way this could turn out to be good but then Teal'c did something completely out of character. He moved to the center of the corridor between the Councilor and Willow, looked directly at the man and said in a grave, serious voice loud enough to carry over the increasing noise, 'Your powers are weak old man.'
The group fell silent and stared in disbelief at Teal'c who just stood still completely unconcerned as though he hadn't just quoted Star Wars at one of the Earth's most powerful allies.
The silence was broken by Willow bursting out laughing and returning to the much less scary red haired woman they felt relatively safe with. She recovered in a moment and turned to Jack grinning smugly, 'See told you it was a good idea to show him Earth's culture.' she then face Teal'c smiling gratefully, 'Thanks, I needed that.'
The Councilor opened his mouth to say something but Willow cut him off in the hopes of keeping her temper for as long as he didn't say anything stupid. 'Ok, I don't want to get into an argument with you over this because as you can see my temper is not the most stable thing in the world. I'm not too sure who you are so I propose that we have some civilized discussions which could obviously be beneficial to you since I have a few tricks you would obviously like to learn. In return I expect to be treated with the respect due to a guest and be able to leave at any time I wish, oh and I also have a whole lot of questions although obviously you can choose whether to answer or not. Do we have a deal?'
'Look girl, as far as I can see you are our captive, why would we wish to make a deal with you when we can get the information without having to sacrifice anything on our part?' The man was increasingly haughty and just didn't seem to get the fact that she could make pretty decorations from his entrails with a wave of her hand.
Before Willow could react Teal'c came to stand at her side giving her silent support and having a surprisingly calming effect on her temper. Instead of flying into a rage she began to think like the logical, intelligent woman she really was and had been before the dark magic.
'Well there are about four main reasons really,' Willow gathered her thoughts and began to list them calmly. 'First of all I can really leave whenever I want anyway so you may as well agree, secondly even if you could keep me here I wouldn't talk to you. Thirdly I might just be willing to share the secrets of my invisibility with you and there are a whole lot of other useful little things I can do that you might like and finally I can get kinda cranky when I'm pissed off, just ask Daniel.' Willow returned her attention to SG-1, 'where is Daniel anyway I thought he was part of the team.'
At the mention of Daniel, Colonel O'Niel's gaze dropped to the floor and he began shuffling his feet trying to hide the bright shade of red now covering his face. Willow smiled cheerfully, 'you gave him the letter didn't you? I actually feel kinda sorry for him, I don't think I'm mad at him anymore, I suppose he was just doing his job and seeing me dust a vamp must have been pretty surreal. When I get back I'll make him up a lotion that'll get rid of the bites in seconds. Anyway, mister Councilor guy, what do you say, are we agreed?'
Although he didn't want to be seen to give in to the conditions set by this strange woman the lure of both the invisibility and the display of power she had given earlier meant that he felt the benefits could well outweigh the indignity of the situation. 'We are in agreement, as long as you keep your word, we shall keep ours although I would be interested to know why you do not offer this information to the people of your planet and you will forgive me for keeping a guard beside you at all times.' Now that he was more sure of the situation the Councilor felt free to relax slightly and as he did it became obvious he was a lot more pleasant than he had initially appeared.
It occurred to Willow that perhaps his initial reaction had been justified since she had invaded his facility, it wasn't as if he knew that she intended no harm.
She stayed with the Tokra for three days before returning through the Stargate, in that time she built up a few tentative friendships and some trusts with various Tokra. During her time there she had become much more emotionally balanced and had begun to think in a much more logical way, it was a process that had been started by Teal'c in the corridor when he had given her the support she needed to remain calm. All in all she felt much more in control and more like the old Willow instead of the dark magic junkie who was completely ruled by her emotions.
The Tokra told her a fair amount about their struggle against the Goa'uld and it felt good and familiar to working to help stop the destruction of the world. She intended to give them a number of vials of the invisibility potion to aid their operatives in the field. She had tried and failed to teach them how to make it themselves, they didn't have a natural capacity for magic which meant that although they could mix the ingredients in the right way they couldn't direct the flow of magic that was needed to make the potion work. The fact that she was the only one who could do this meant that they were reluctant to let her go in case something happened that meant she couldn't supply them with this almost priceless commodity.
They had to let her go however, since it had been part of the agreement and they finally acknowledged that they couldn't keep her against her will even if they tried. So now she was standing in front of the Stargate which had just been dialed up, the Tokra transmitted the code which would open the iris which protected the Earth from unwelcome visitors through the gate.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the rippling blue surface.
She stepped out at the other end and was confronted with about a dozen armed soldiers all pointing their guns her way. She strengthened her personal shield immediately unsure of whether this was the normal welcome for people coming through the Stargate or if they had brought out the welcoming committee just for her.
She stood at the top of the ramp her face a mask of calm while she ran through her options in her head. The dark part of her called out for her to simply disarm them and remove the threat while other parts of her just suggested that she transport herself away. After a few seconds debate she opted to stay and see what happened before deciding on a course of action.
She didn't have to wait long as the voice of General Hammond came across the PA system, 'stand down men.' Within a minute Hammond and SG-1 minus Daniel were standing in front of her. She shocked them all by walking up to Teal'c and hugging him tightly, he was her only genuine friend and she felt happy to see him again. 'Hey how are you doing?'
'I am well Willow Rosenberg.' Teal'c did not seem to mind the display of affection and briefly returned the hug to the surprise of almost everyone else in the room.
'D'ya think you could just call me Willow, I mean I don't even know your second name so I think it's a little unfair. Plus we're friends so first names are customary okay?'
At Teal'cs nod she turned to the General, 'So what can I do for you, I assume there is a reason you are here to greet me, yes?'
'There are several officers here from the Pentagon who would like the chance to speak to you Miss Rosenberg.' Hammond looked rather nervous as he said this and Willow took pity on him feeling bad for the way she had treated him at their first meeting.
'Fair enough, how's Daniel, I would have thought he would be up and about by now, you did get the lotion didn't you?' They began to walk out of the Gate room and Willow looked around her with interest since she had never been in this part of the base.
'Daniel's fine we just thought maybe he shouldn't be, well you know, within a hundred mile radius of you.' Jack stated the facts bluntly and Willow was actually beginning to warm to him and think of him as a friend.
'Its ok, I'm over it, I was just a little pissed off that he played me like that, I mean wouldn't you be a teensy bit annoyed if someone asked you out to lunch so the military could sneak in and bug your hotel room?' Willow grinned up at Jack a picture of innocence.
'Sure I would be pissed but don't you think you went a little over the top?' O'Niel was having a hard time reconciling this charming young woman with the black haired, black eyes bitch with the power to kill them all in a fit of temper.
'I admit I did go a bit OTT but I've got a lot more control over my temper now, I've even been doing some of the meditations Teal'c showed me and I'm a much calmer me. Anyway, its not like you actually took the hint, you were still following me after my little display.' Willow smirked a little at their shocked faces.
'You knew about that?' the General stopped and looked at her his surprise evident on his face and in the tone of his voice.
Willow's smirk turned into a full on grin, it was fun to see them shocked, their faces contorted into the strangest shapes. 'Yip, I just decided to let it go since you didn't have cameras or anything like last time, plus I wasn't feeling too hot.'
'Ok I'm gonna offer you a bit of advice before you go through these doors because, well, I actually kinda like you when you have red hair.' Jack stopped them again just outside their destination. 'These guys will try to screw with you, don't believe a word they say. This may sound like paranoia but, well, actually it is, but its also healthy skepticism and experience talking here, plus they'll probably pee their pants with excitement if you go all black Willow and show them what you're capable of. Trust me, it's an old military tactic which I learned after years at a poker table, never show your full hand until you're ready. So here are the basics of dealing with these types of guys, number one, ignore everything they say, ninety percent of the time they talk crap. Number two, lie your ass off. That's pretty much it, go get em kiddo.'
Before Willow could respond to the kiddo remark O'Niel had pushed her through the doors and into a large room where she found three guys in suits sitting around a table. 'So you gonna tell me why I'm here?'
'Miss Rosenberg I am Senator Joseph Adams and these are two of my associates Mr. James and Mr. Sinclair, we would like to discuss the abilities you displayed on your, um, visit to this facility last week. On top of that we are aware that you have entered into a deal with the aliens known as the Tokra, we wish to know the specifics of this and any other information which was shared by either yourself or the aliens.' Willow was suitably impressed and suspicious of the fact that they had sent a Senator to talk to her, it made her wonder just what the hell they had planned for her. She was purely suspicious without the impressed by the complete lack of titles or rank attached to the Mr. Men. She was already methodically listing the organizations she would hack into to find their identities; she liked to know who she was dealing with.
'I don't think I can share the information I exchanged with the Tokra in good conscience, that would be a betrayal of trust wouldn't you say.' She figured she would spend about half an hour not so subtly avoiding their questions, maybe try to find out what their real agenda was, and then claim she had an urgent appointment and leave, whether they let her or not.
'As an American do you not owe more allegiance to your country than to an alien terrorist group you first came in contact with three days ago.' The Senator continued to do the talking which made sense considering how comfortable politicians are with bullshit.
'But Senator I thought when a terrorist group fought the enemies of the government they were miraculously transformed into Freedom Fighters.' Willow looked at the man in front of her with a serious expression while inside she was grinning like a Cheshire cat and giving herself a mental high five, all those years of debate team were finally paying off.
They continued on along the same lines for a while with no one giving any information away. She figured the Mr. Men were there for intimidation purposes since neither offered any input whatsoever, they simply stared, mostly at her however as the conversation began to go over the same things she could have sworn she caught one counting ceiling tiles.
After about twenty minutes she found her attention drawn away by a nagging feeling of danger, she became increasingly worried as she traced the source to the crystal she had given Teal'c to wear around his neck. She immediately began to channel some of her magic to increase the protection given by the crystal to its wearer, she then tried to fix a location but couldn't pinpoint it accurately which had to mean that he was somewhere through the Stargate.
At the moment the danger was just a hum in the background and when it didn't get worse Willow relaxed slightly, maintaining the shields around him but returning her attention to the Senator who was once again lecturing on loyalty to the government.
'Look Miss Rosenberg, this is getting us nowhere…' finally one of the other men spoke up and Willow quickly re-evaluated his importance. She didn't have the luxury of listening to whatever revelations he was planning as she felt a bolt of energy hit her shields around Teal'c, almost breaking through.
'Shit!' she spoke out loud as she turned her entire attention to the rapidly collapsing protections, she pushed more magic through her connection to the crystal at the same time trying to evaluate the nature of the attack.
A second energy bolt hit the shield and she was out of her chair and running towards the control room using whatever magic she could spare to push the soldiers challenging her out of the way.
By the time she reached the control room she had practically an army of soldiers running behind her, trying to stop her. She immediately shielded the room keeping them out and quickly pulled a large crystal from her pocket and placed it on a desk. While with the Tokra she had used the unnaturally high magical energy of their planet to sort of 'charge up' some of her crystals, this meant that she could use one of them to take the strain of holding the shields around Teal'c.
As soon as she had the crystal retaining the shield she turned her attention to the computers and vaguely registered the people in the room with her. 'SG-1's in trouble' was the only explanation she offered as she held her hands above the computer, magically sorting through the data to find the address of the planet Teal'c was on and to start up the dialing sequence.
She picked up the crystal and transported to the Gate room silently thanking the Goddess that her energies were supercharged from her days with the Tokra.
The gate connected and she bolted up the ramp and through the wormhole her momentum keeping her going and making her trip over a rock as she cleared the other side. It took her a second to get her bearings before looking around her,
'Oh shit!'
A/N: I know how annoying cliffhangers are to read and I'm sorry but they're just so much fun to write.
