A Week Later, Willow's Apartment.

Having just gotten back from a mission in Langara, where SG1 had helped Jonas save Kelowna, Willow had already gotten ready for bed when she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" thought Willow to herself.

Willow opened the door to a very familiar, blonde haired girl.

"Oh my god Buffy," said Willow as she hugged her best friend

"Hi Willow," Buffy said quietly.

"What's wrong Buffy? Are you ok? What happened?" asked Willow worryingly. She could see that her friend was giving off some mixed emotions.

"I wanted to leave Sunnydale for a few days Willow, and I was hoping that I could stay with you. I know it's really short notice but I am hoping you'd say yes," said Buffy.

"Of course, you don't even have to ask. What happened, Buffy?" asked Willow with concern in her voice.

"The Scoobies faced another big bad Willow, and this time, there were massive loses," said Buffy sadly as she was led into Willow's living room.

"What do you mean?" asked Willow concerned.

"Well we lost the school again," said Buffy laughing as tears started running down her cheeks.

"That's not too bad Buff," said Willow who moved next to where Buffy sat down.

"Willow, we lost Anya and Spike; and that's not mentioning the many potential slayers who died. We won, but we lost so much. And…. I gave the orders that killed them," said Buffy as she started sobbing.

"When did it happen?" asked Willow in shock, "Oh god, how's Xander? I know he and Anya had something going? Why didn't you tell me? If I had known how bad it was then maybe I could have….?" asked Willow with a tinge of panic in her voice.

"I really don't feel up to giving out the details," said Buffy interrupting Willow, as she started to calm down slightly, " Everyone's in mourning now, the city is safe for another day bit we still lost. It was my decision for you not to be involved in this fight and I was right. Everyone has been damaged by this, both physically and mentally, especially our magic users."

"I am so sorry Buffy," said Willow, as she did not know what else she could say to calm down her best friend.

"It's all my fault, Willow," said Buffy.

"Hey, hey, it's not your fault Buffy. Everyone knew what they were getting into, you didn't do anything wrong," said Willow as she hugged Buffy, trying to comfort her friend.

"I wanted to leave Sunnydale for a couple of days to clear my head; actually, I wanted to get out of California so I thought that I could stay with you. Just a few days Willow, please? I've got nowhere else to go" asked Buffy softly.

"Of course, do you wanna call Giles and tell him you'll be here?" asked Willow.

"He knows that I left Sunnydale for a few days, he doesn't know where I am," Buffy replied softly.

"I'm sorry to be such a downer," said Buffy when suddenly she was aware of her surroundings, "Wow Wills, nice place you have here," said Buffy as she wiped the tears that were falling from her eyes.

"Listen, you wanna have a drink? I have some soda or some beer if you want. If you're hungry I can order us some pizza" said Willow.

"I'm not really hungry but I will have a soda, thanks. Since when did you start drinking beer?" asked Buffy.

"I have to blame my supervisor for that. I and my work friends sometimes drop by his place for team nights, and he got me hooked onto this brand," said Willow.

"Oooh, it's a him is it? Who is he? How long have you been dating him?" asked Buffy smiling.

"Oh no it's nothing like that," Willow said laughing, "he's my supervisor and sometimes he invites those who are under him to relax at his place. Anyway, Buffy… I know I haven't talked to you much after you came back and I'm sorry for that."

"Don't worry about it Willow, and I'm sorry about how Dawn has been acting with you. She has been angry ever since you left Sunnydale" said Buffy, "But I am glad that you seem to have made a nice life for yourself here with no vampires, demons or monsters around."

"I do miss going on patrol with you, but I like it here and my job is important to me. I don't have to depend on my parents anymore and it lets me be independent" said Willow.

"I'm happy for you Willow," said Buffy smiling.

"Listen, I'll call my Commanding Officer and ask him if I could take a few days of leave," said Willow.

"No you don't have to do that," said Buffy.

"I wouldn't be much of a best friend would I, if I was working when you came to visit me. Anyway, we don't really have much going on for the next few days. Another team will be handling the space stuff for a while," said Willow smiling, "just give me a minute, I'll be right back."

As Willow went to her room to make a call, Buffy was looking around the living room. She saw pictures of Willow's times with the Scoobies, the graduation pictures she took with Buffy and various other pictures during her time in Sunnydale. There was also the famous picture taken by another student in the library of the whole Scooby gang during much happier, less complicated times.

Next to her pictures from Sunnydale, were framed pictures if people she didn't recognize. The pictures were taken at different places, some at a house she didn't recognize with an older looking man and a younger, spectacle wearing gentleman. Another picture was that of Willow and a blonde haired woman having a drink and a big dark skinned man who looked as if he was standing protectively over the two ladies. A few other pictures were from restaurants and bars with these people. There was one picture where it seemed as if Willow had gone camping with these people as she could see tents in the background and a small fire burning. Buffy couldn't help but smile when she looked at the picture.

She thought back to the past few weeks which were hard to her and the Scoobies so there wasn't time to be happy and smiling. She felt slightly jealous that Willow was able to move on to a normal life.

Then she saw Willow's framed graduation certificate from the Air Force Academy and she couldn't help but smile even more. The previous Willow, the one who was so shy and bookish in Sunnydale High, seemed to have gone and was replaced by a more confident version.

"Alright Buff, I called my CO and he approved the leave," said Willow, "how about you get some sleep and then tomorrow we'll go out for some breakfast. I know this nice café close by" she continued.

"I'd like that. Then you can tell me all about what's new with you," said Buffy as she lay down on the couch.

Not wanting to leave her friend alone, Willow got her pillow and blankets from her bedroom and slept on the carpet.

The Next Day.

"So how do you like your job," asked Buffy over breakfast.

"It's really fun, I'm excited about it" replied Willow.

"Deep space telemetry is fun?" said Buffy smiling.

"Yea, it really is. I really am happy with what I'm doing," said Willow.

"Congratulations. You know, we are really proud of you. You went out there and made something of yourself, even if it's with the military. Are you still practicing?" asked Buffy.

"No, not anymore," lied Willow as she thought back to how she ended up in the SGC in the first place, "After what happened all those years ago at Sunnydale, I thought it would be better if I don't practice. Don't get me wrong, I miss it but I want to have a life without magic," she continued.

"Good for you, Willow," said Buffy.

As Buffy and Willow were having breakfast, she noticed someone familiar coming up and parking a motorcycle.

"Oh no!" Willow thought to herself, "Buffy, your middle name is Anne right?" asked Willow as she saw the blonde woman walking towards the entrance.

"Yea, why?" asked Buffy curiously.

"That's one of my colleagues coming in, and they know that Buffy is dead, so, for now, you're Anne," whispered Willow.

"Ok, this is going to be interesting" laughed Buffy.

"Oh, good morning Willow, surprised to meet you here."

"Good morning, Major Carter. How are you? replied Willow.

"I'm doing fine. Just here to meet a…. friend" she said nervously, "Umm… and who is this?" asked the Major.

"Oh sorry, this is my friend Anne," said Willow, "Anne, this is my colleague Major Samantha Carter," said Willow.

"Nice to meet you, Anne," said the Major.

"Likewise, Major," said Buffy.

"Please, Anne, call me Sam. So you're from Willow's home town. How do you like it in the Springs so far?" asked Major Carter.

"Well, I haven't been around much, I just got here last night. Willow promised to take me around after breakfast," said Buffy.

As Major Carter and Buffy were chatting, Willow noticed a guy coming into the café trying to attract the Major's attention.

"Umm… Major, I think your friend is here" said Willow.

"Hey Babe, good morning," said the stranger to Major Carter.

"Hi Pete," said Major Carter as she gave the man a peck on his cheek, "Why don't you grab us a seat, I'll be right there," she continued.

"Sure. Oh, do you know these ladies? You know, you haven't introduced me to any of your friends yet" said Pete, which made Major Carter look a bit uncomfortable. "It's like you're embarrassed of me, come on introduce me" he continued.

"Not now, Pete" whispered Major Carter as she could see that both Willow and "Anne" were getting a bit uncomfortable.

"Come on," said Pete, "I guess I would have to introduce myself then. Hi ladies, I'm Pete Shanahan of the Denver Police Department" he continued as he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

"Ummm…ok….. I'm Willow Rosenberg."

"So you work with Sam?" asked Pete.

"Um... Yes" replied Willow.

"That's so cool. Finally, I got to meet one of Sam's work friends."

"Do you work with Sam as well?" he asked turning to Buffy.

"No… no, I don't, I'm just here visiting Willow," she said.

"Really? Where are you visiting from?" asked Pete.

"From California," said Buffy when all of a sudden, the Major started to pull him away.

"Well, Willow it's been good to see you this morning. I guess we should go order now. Nice to have met you Anne" said Major Carter whose face was red with embarrassment as she pulled Pete away from the girls.

"Come on, I had more questions I wanted to ask," said Pete as Major Carter lead him to an empty table. She turned her head to face Willow and Buffy for a second and silently mouthed, "I'm sorry."

"Well, that was interesting. I think he's high on something," said Buffy in a low voice.

"Yea, it was," said Willow as she looked at the couple.

"Isn't she a bit old for you?" asked Buffy smiling.

"What.. no! I work with her for god sake. I was just thinking about something else," said Willow.

"Could you be feeling a certain creepiness vibe coming from him? Because I think he made that creepiness pretty obvious," said Buffy as she finished her drink.

"Yea, that's exactly it. The creepiness factor is off the charts," said Willow smiling.

Willow was really thinking about the rumor-mill that has been running at the SGC. People were absolutely certain that eventually Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill would end up together at a certain point in time. There were even secretive bets being placed on the specific date they would get engaged and then married. She herself had placed a bet that they would get engaged five years from now and married a month later. So far, hers was the furthest date. It didn't take a magic user to see that both the Major and the Colonel cared deeply for one another and she couldn't shake the feeling that this Pete character would be causing a lot of hurt.

"Earth to Willow, Earth to Willow," said Buffy smiling, "You zoned out on me there. You sure your don't have a thing for her?" she whispered.

"Very funny Buff, how about we go enjoy ourselves?" said Willow smiling, as they left the café with Willow still having a certain feeling of dread.

A few days later, Buffy was leaving Willow's apartment for the airport. After a lot of relaxation, Buffy was ready to go back to Sunnydale.

"So Buffy, are you planning to go back to UC-Sunnydale and finishing up your Psychology degree?" asked Willow.

"Maybe. Between that, patrolling and training the remaining potentials. I think I'll be having my hands full. But I should be alright. I think Giles will be the busiest though, with the Watcher's Council gone, he may be starting a more modern version of it. Don't be surprised if he comes calling for you, you're in high demand," replied Buffy.

"In that case, I would have to trust you to hold him off from me," smiled Willow.

"Come visit us, Willow. We miss you…. I miss you," said Buffy.

"Of course, I'll visit."

"Maybe we could go a few rounds of sparring, what do you say? I'd like to see how the newer military techniques can hold up against a slayer's. If you beat me, you can have anything you want" said Buffy giving her best friend a toothy grin.

"You're on. If I beat you, I want that Japanese sword you have," laughed Willow.

"Deal," smiled Buffy, "well, here's my cab, I guess this is it. Remember to visit us ok?" said Buffy as she hugged Willow.

"I will," replied Willow as she returned the hug, "remember my friend, none of what happened in Sunnydale is your fault," she continued.

"Take care of yourself," said Buffy nodding.