Chapter 12
A/N Please let me know if you find any mistakes.
thanks.

On the verge of waking, final dream images flashed through Willow's mind. The wraith falling to his knees and lying still, Marta crumbling into a boneless heap, and Aiden standing over her looking into her eyes, watching and knowing her—even as she sat—made invisible by her magic. Willow opened her eyes and knew she was done with sleep. She was awake and ready to start the day. She sat up in the bed and gathered the top sheet around her body. When she and Aiden had raided the supply closet, Aiden hadn't pointed out any night clothes and she had been too embarrassed to ask.

She had to blink a few times before she was really able to see around her. She guessed it was morning. Light seeped through each of the two windows in the room. A window decorated each wall. Each window was located high on the wall and made of the same glass design that hinted at a culture that worshipped mathematics or order. Both were shaped of colored geometric shapes, primarily of variations of the rectangle, very reminiscent of the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. The light shone through the windows and slightly illuminated the objects in the room.

Willow glanced around and took in the table, the door to the bathroom, her messenger bag and the bedside table. She noticed a covered tray on the bedside table and a note. Neither item had been there when she had succumbed to sleep. The tray had to be food. It was funny how she hadn't felt her hunger until she had seen the tray. Suddenly the only thing she could think of was food. Forgetting about the bed sheet she crawled across the bed to reach the table. She uncovered the tray and found dried fruit and hard cheese. There was even a sealed individual serving of crackers. She moved the tray to her bed and sat and feasted. It took a good deal of the fruit and all of the crackers for her to feel satiated.

She remembered the note. It had to be from Aiden—or maybe that was wishful thinking. Perhaps Dr. Weir had sent someone in to leave the tray of food and the note. She placed the tray back on the table and reached for the note. It was folded over and labeled with the one word, 'Willow', written in a brisk dark script. She unfolded the paper and read:

Hello,

I hope you slept well. I left a tray of food for your breakfast. I have placed Sergeant Stackhouse outside your door. You are not under custody. He is there to lead you to the cafeteria (in case you are still hungry or would like coffee or something) and to Dr. Weir.

I will see you soon.

Aiden

Willow closed the note and lay back on the bed. She felt her face brighten with happiness. Aiden had left the note. Aiden had left Sergeant Stackhouse outside the door as her personal guide. Willow didn't know what to think. Was this how they treated typical guests? She couldn't squelch the happy feeling she felt. Falling in love or in lust—fast or slow--it was suddenly inconsequential. Willow found herself just reassured by the obvious truth. Aiden was the kind of person that would do anything to ensure she was safe, protected, happy, and even fed. She could only feel contentment. While she had only known him for a day, she knew she felt entirely comfortable with him and she couldn't wait to spend more time getting to know him.

What did he mean by "I will see you soon"? She felt another blush spread across her face. Since he left the note and the food this meant he had to have entered her room to leave it. She hoped she had truly been wearing at least the bed sheet when he had entered the night before. She stood and shook her head, trying to knock away the remaining cobwebs from her mind. She walked to the door—gathering the sheet around her. She moved her hand to the panel and the door slid open. Sitting on the floor was a man that could only be Sergeant Stackhouse. Willow felt a little ridiculous. She had gone to the door thinking she would be able to open it a small crack and look out. Instead she was left standing in the opening—wearing only a sheet.

"Ma'am. Lieutenant Ford requested I accompany you to the mess and to Dr. Weir." Sergeant Stackhouse was surprised he had been given this job. He hadn't minded something so easy to do. Lieutenant Ford had come to his door late in the evening and asked him to wait by this room, in the morning, when their new guest surfaced. It was a completely simple job. He just picked up the P.D.A. his technophile sister had given him--- uploaded with every book ever written by Stephen King. He had sat down and settled himself to read.

He was quite curious as to how she had arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy. He had already heard quite a few rumors—news traveled quickly in Atlantis. So far he had heard that this Miss Rosenberg to probably be—from Boston, a witch, and Lieutenant Ford's ex-girlfriend or current girlfriend. Stackhouse wondered exactly what was true. So far all he could see was that she was a pretty redhead wearing a sheet. He had looked up as the door opened and said Ma'am while holding her gaze. As he had noticed her self-consciousness he had dropped his gaze to take in the Atlantean concrete.

"Uh… Eeeep! Sorry! Aiden left me this note s-saying someone- Sergeant Stackhouse—you w-would be waiting for me. I-I just came to the door to peek out and woosh—the door just opened!" Willow felt herself beginning to redden. She was embarrassed—but she felt she would've been even more embarrassed if Sergeant Stackhouse had spared her more than a quick glance.

"Let me just go back in and get dressed! I-I will be ready in a jiffy!" Willow reached her hand towards the door and reached for the handle. She quickly remembered that to open the door she needed to move your hand in front of the panel. She moved her hand and retreated behind the door.

"No problem, ma'am. Take your time getting ready. I'll be waiting." Stackhouse found himself talking to the closed door. It was a pity Miss Rosenberg was off limits. He didn't know what rumor was true—the only obvious thing to him was that Lieutenant Ford was awfully protective of her and Miss Rosenberg had called him- Aiden. Definitely off limits.

--
Willow had never dressed so quickly in her life. She had ripped the sheet from her body and leaned her hand against the wall. Darn doors! She had been awake for fifteen minutes and so far the scales were evenly weighted—one good moment and one horrible moment. She hoped the day would progress with mostly good moments. When she moved her hand from the wall the room lit up. The wall was dispersed with thin strips of rectangular shapes. Each shape was lit and helped to completely illuminate the room. For a moment Willow forgot her embarrassment and took in the scene. She hoped she would find the rest of Atlantis as beautiful as her room. She hurried to dress—now anxious to see the rest of this place. As she slipped her feet back into the Chucks she came with she wrestled with indecision. Should she take her bag and her stuff or should she leave it? In the end she decided to take it.

She went back to the door and prepared to leave carrying the tray and her bag. She found if she moved her hand in front of the thin raised panel beside the door she could switch the lights back off. Turning the lights off she exited and stood beside Sergeant Stackhouse.

"Ready". Willow smiled at Stackhouse. She hoped he would forget her earlier state of undress and just lead her to the cafeteria.

"Yes, Ma'am". Stackhouse glanced to the side at Willow. If you gave her a quick look it wasn't too obvious that she wasn't an original Atlantis expedition member. She was obviously a little young—but then it was quite possible that some of the expedition science team members would be young. Of course, if you looked at her feet it was evident she wasn't a part of the science team. No geek-genius wore such cool shoes.

Willow shared an uneventful walk beside Sergeant Stackhouse. They walked down lit corridors—into an interesting elevator and down a few more corridors. After a few minutes they had arrived at the cafeteria. Stackhouse stood and indicated with his hand that she was to enter first. Willow had to admit she enjoyed his courtesy- it was a little different than what she was used to.

"Ma'am, this is the mess. You can get a cup of coffee and some breakfast in that line right there. You can return your tray in the corner." Stackhouse punctuated his explanation with his hands. He swept his hands outward indicating a standard buffet line and coffee and other drink carafes. The last things he indicated were standard grey issue plastic pans for dirty dishes.

"Thanks." After listening to his instructions, she went to return her fruit tray. She quickly went to the side of the room and gathered a cup of coffee. She didn't want to be too jumpy and excitable when she went to meet with Dr. Weir so she was sure to get only a half of a cup of coffee. She filled the other half with a mixture of steaming hot water and powdered creamer.

She looked around to find a seat. Sergeant Stackhouse had also gotten himself a cup of coffee and a muffin. He was the only person she knew in the whole room. To be fair, there were only 3 other people in the room, a smallish man in desperate need of a haircut- speaking animatedly with a taller man who had smiled kindly at her when she had scanned the room looking for a seat—there was also the cook in the kitchen. Even though they had shared a little conversation as she had put together her coffee she doubted they would want to stop work to sit with her. Willow decided to sit with Stackhouse—after all, Aiden had given him the job as her personal guide. Their walk had put an end to any embarrassment she had felt after showing him her body fully encased in a white bed sheet stenciled with the words 'Property of the U.S. Military'. He was so professional; there was no need to feel uncomfortable.

Willow walked over to his table and stood for a second. She smiled and waited for an invitation. Stackhouse gave her a slight nod and she sat. She drank her coffee and waited for the conversation to begin. It was strange to be in a new place—with new people—and no set standards. It wasn't as if she and Stackhouse were friends. She had quite a few questions she could ask but she didn't yet know how to frame them. She wanted to know everything about Atlantis. How did the Stargate work? Why did he- Stackhouse sign on to come? How well did he know Aiden? Where was Aiden? Willow realized it was probably best she just be silent and to wait until she had finished her coffee and he had finished his muffin. Then they could calmly head to Dr. Weir and then in no way, no shape, or no form would Aiden get the clue that she found him hot. Sizzling. Smokin'. Interesting. Bed-worthy...

Instead of saying a thing she just waited for the coffee to kick in. She was sure it would jumpstart her conversation gene.

"So…" Just as Willow started her conversation she heard a loud repetitive alarm.

"What is that sound?" Willow watched as Sergeant Stackhouse stood. His looked indecisive.

"Ma'am, I need to get to the gate room? Can you wait here for a moment?" Willow nodded quickly and watched him hurry from the room. For the first time she noticed that he wore a gun strapped to his thigh.

She wondered what was going on. The gate room was the area she had entered when she had stepped through the gate. The alarm could mean anything. When she had first heard an alarm, in this galaxy, four wraith had been attacking a village. On one hand she of course hoped this wasn't happening again—on the other hand she really wished she were certain these people were equipped to handle a wraith. Should she try to make her way to the gate room and see what was going on—or should she sit her and finish her last drop of coffee? She hadn't a clue.

The taller man, who had smiled at her, left the room very quickly—right behind Stackhouse. Willow stood and was considering following him. Her indecisiveness must have shown on her face because the shorter man with the over long hair walked up to her seat.

He smiled and extended his right hand in greeting. "Hello. I am Dr. Radek Zelenka. You must be Miss Willow Rosenberg."

Willow didn't know what to make of this greeting. It was obvious Atlantis was a place where news traveled rapidly. Perhaps, when she had arrived a similar alarm had rung out. If so, it was only logical that everyone ask the question—who came through the Stargate to cause such an alarm?

Even though she was confused and concerned about the alarm—Willow still shook the offered hand.

"It is nice to meet you, Dr. Zelenka. What's the noise?"

Dr. Zelenka, grimaced before replying. "The alarm is coming from the gate room. It is likely that one of the off world teams is returning and under fire. If there are any injuries a medical team will immediately be dispatched to the take care of the wounded." He indicated the door.

"The man who just left is Dr. Beckett, the C.M.O. Chief Medical Officer. He headed right that way right now—just in case. " Zelenka, tapped his ear. "Dr. Weir or the team leader would contact the primary staff if there was an emergency."

Willow could hear a sudden crackle of a voice coming from the thin wire radio over his ear.

"Zelenka here---I am on my way." Zelenka turned his attention back to Willow. "Dr. McKay is unconscious again. You can come see if you like?" Radek gave Willow a hopeful look over his glasses. One of the perks of working with such an arrogant man was the fact that fate liked to lay him low ever so often. It had to be payback for his excessive brilliance and excessive arrogance.

"Sure". Willow hoped Dr. McKay was okay. At least now, she had a clue how news traveled so fast in Atlantis.