General O'Neill's Office, SGC, one month later.
"Sir?" said Willow as she knocked on the General's door, "may I come in?"
"What's up?" asked General O'Neill as he motioned for Willow to come into his office and waved to the seat in front of him.
"Well Sir" said Willow nervously, "I was wondering…"
"Yes?" said the General.
"Well" replied Willow, "I was wondering if you would allow Dawn…."
"Red" said the General as he interrupted Willow.
"But Sir" said Willow as she leaned forward, "she's bored of all the translations that Daniel's been giving her, plus she already knows what we do."
"Red" said the General as he rubbed his forehead, "I thought we talked about this after you girls went dress shopping a month ago."
"We did, Sir" said Willow, "but Dawn's been doing exceptionally well in both her psychology and linguistics classes. Especially in linguistics, she's even been able to translate documents that would usually take Daniel a bit longer."
"Doesn't mean that it's accurate" said the General.
"She can train under Daniel, Sir" said Willow, "and maybe she can do an internship for her psych degree here. I mean the SGC does need shrinks, right Sir?"
"Qualified shrinks with security clearance, Red" said the General.
"I know, Sir" replied Willow, "but she already has that, I mean the clearance. I mean she saw the gate, she knows what we do. And I believe that she'll make a fantastic addition to Daniel's team, Sir."
"Did Daniel put you up to this?" asked the General as he eyed Willow suspiciously.
"No, Sir" said Willow, "Faith, Dawn and I were just having dinner yesterday when she brought up the fact that she was bored with Daniel's translations. She would like to do something more challenging so I told her that I'd talk to you and that it would completely be your decision."
"Hold on" said the General as he got on his phone, "Daniel, get your butt over here."
"Sir?" said Willow.
"Red" replied the General, "I sure hope that you're right about her."
"I am, Sir" smiled Willow, "you can put her on probationary status, Sir. All she wants to do is learn about what's out there and she thinks the best way to do that could be through learning the Goa'uld and Ancient languages."
"Jack?" said Daniel as he appeared panting outside the door.
"Hey Daniel" smiled Willow as Daniel slowly trudged into the General's office and sat down on the seat next to her, "had a nice run?"
"Yea" said Daniel, "you know how it is; when Jack calls you come a'running."
"Right" said the General as he looked at Daniel and then looked down at his table, "do you know about Red's request?"
"What request?" asked the archaeologist as he looked at Willow.
"The request to have one Dawn Summers work at the SGC?" said the General.
"Jack" replied Daniel, "I've been saying for months that I need her on my team."
"You have?" said the General.
"Uuuuh…. Yea!" said Daniel, "don't tell me you haven't been listening."
"Well" said the General as Willow sat there grinning, "you usually start by talking about some doo-hickey from somewhere and I guess I just glaze over."
"Really?" said Daniel.
"Yeah" replied the General.
"Right" said Daniel as he looked at Willow before looking back at General O'Neill, "so… about Dawn?"
"Look, she can be on your translation team and I'll talk to the shrinks here about putting her on some type of an internship so that she can gain experience" said the General as both Daniel and Willow smiled, "but she'll be restricted to on-base duties."
"What if she's needed off-world?" asked Daniel, "like Willow probably told you, she learns new languages really fast. I'll introduce her to the Ancient language and once she picks that up, maybe you can send her off-world with the archaeological team."
"Like what General Hammond did with me, Sir" said Willow as she looked at General O'Neill, "when I was a cadet, I was allowed off-world for purely research expeditions where chances of combat was extremely low."
"True" said the General as she looked at Willow, "but the mission SG1 and SG12 had last week was also supposed to be purely research but you got ambushed by Ba'al's Kull Warriors, remember?"
"That was different, Jack" said Daniel.
"How so?" asked the General as he leaned forward and looked at Daniel.
"Well" said Daniel, "for one, it was SG1. Since when is it a purely research expedition for us?"
"True" said Willow.
"Daniel, she can be on your team" said the General.
"Yes!" said Daniel as he suddenly stood up, "suck it you BPRI bastards!"
Willow and the General just stared at Daniel with their mouths open as Daniel gave his little outburst.
"Umm…. Sorry" said Daniel sheepishly as he sat back down and looked down at the floor.
"Sir?" smiled Willow as she turned to her commanding officer.
"Red" said the General, "as for her going off-world, I'm afraid it won't be with SG-1. We already have one resident archaeologist, linguist and one budding historian. Once she completes the training, she'll be assigned to either SG-11 or Sg-22."
"I understand, Sir" said Willow.
"Alright then" said the General as he stood up, "now that all of that's been taken care of, I'm hungry."
"You know what?" said Daniel, "me too. Lunch?"
"Sure" said the General as he turned to Willow, "Red?"
"I'm supposed to be meeting Faith in the gym for a sparring session" said Willow, "then we're going to go pick up Dawn from the university."
"Alright" said the General, "I'll get her I.D and passkey done by the end of today."
"Can I bring her by later to pick them up?" asked Willow.
"Sure" said the General, "you staying late?"
"Maybe" said Willow as she walked out with the two men, "I'm still trying to reverse engineer the Kull Armour that Faith and SG3 brought back. All I know so far is that the suit uses Ancient technology, so it's going to take some time. Colonel Carter and I are trying to make sure the armour can be used by normal humans."
"It doesn't work for normal humans?" asked Daniel as they reached the elevator lobby on the twenty seventh floor.
"Anubis specifically created the armour for the genetically engineered Goa'uld he put inside the suits" said Willow, "and since they weren't supposed to live that long anyway, we think that the armour as it is right now doesn't have any fail safes against damage to the human body."
"But Jacob was able to use it with no problems" said the General.
"General Carter's a Tok'ra, Sir" said Willow, "Sel'mak protected him from any adverse effects."
"Such as?" ask Daniel.
"For one thing" said Willow, "Colonel Carter and I found that the armour absorbs some of the energy from both projectile and energy based weapons like the Zats or the staff weapons, while the rest of the energy dissipates along the armour. The absorption of the energy, creates extreme heat throughout the armour which can cause serious burns to anyone who is not a Goa'uld or a Tok'ra."
"Dead end?" said the General.
"Well" said Willow, "Colonel Carter, Dr. Lee and Dr. Brightman are working on an insulation layer that someone can wear before putting on the suit. I'm trying to get the energy absorption rate lowered so that even if whoever wears the suit gets burnt, it won't be as bad."
"Still" said Daniel, "sounds dangerous for whenever becomes the guinea pig."
"Well" said Willow, "that's why I'm hoping it would be me."
"You?" said the General.
"I heal fast, Sir" said Willow, "the damage to me won't be as bad if, say, Colonel Carter was the guinea pig."
"I'll think about it" said General O'Neill, "get Carter and the others time to make sure the insulation layer is as safe as can be."
"Of course, Sir" said Willow as the doors to the elevator opened and the three of them walked in.
"Oh" said the General, "Carter wants you to go with her to Area 51 next month."
"Sir?" said Willow confused.
"Yep" replied the General, "the new 304 class ships have already started being built, she wants you with her to help in checking out the ship systems. Interested?"
"Of course, Sir" said an excited Willow.
"Alrighty" said the General, "I'll let Carter know."
"Where is Sam anyway?" asked Daniel, "I went by her lab and found Captain Hailey."
"Meeting Potato face's… sorry… Pete's parents" said Willow.
"Do I even want to ask about the potato thing?" asked Daniel.
"Better not" said General O'Neill.
"Met Jacob yet?" asked Daniel.
"He's on a mission for the Tok'ra" said the General, "Carter's been trying to reach him for some time now. She finally managed to contact Anise who said that Jacob was on some kind of a super-duper secret mission for them."
"Well, Daniel… Sir" said Willow as the elevator stopped on level twenty one and she stepped out, "this is my stop."
"See you around, Red" said the General as he closed the elevator doors before pressing the button for the twenty second floor where the commissary was located.
"You forgot again, didn't you?" said Daniel as the doors closed.
"It's not my fault, Daniel" said the General as Willow smiled at the closed doors before she went on to the gym to meet with Faith.
Daniel's Lab, SGC, one month later, 0030 hours.
"Hey kiddo" said Faith as she walked into Daniel's lab where Dawn was working on some translations for the archaeologist.
"Faith" smiled Dawn before she stifled a yawn, "what are you doing back?"
"What do you mean what am I doing back?" smirked Faith as she leaned at the entrance of the lab.
"I mean I thought you, Willow and Colonel Carter were on a mission?" replied Dawn.
"We just got back" said Faith, "and it wasn't a mission, it was a test to see the if the armour Red and Sam back engineered actually works."
"Right" said Dawn, "and?"
"Well, other than a few burns, Red's alright" said Faith, "she's already healed up."
"Cool" smiled Dawn as she closed a book and put some of her notes to one side.
"So what you working on?" asked Faith as she walked to Daniel's workstation.
"Dr. Jackson asked me to translate some of these Ancient texts" said Dawn, "he's hoping that some of them could tell us about those ZPM things that Willow was talking about."
"Ah" replied Faith, "any luck?"
"Nope" said Dawn, "nothing. At least nothing that Dr. Jackson may find interesting."
"Oh" said Faith, "come on, let's head back home."
"I was thinking I'll stay here" said Dawn, "just a little while longer, I wanna get as much of these done as possible."
"You don't need to prove yourself, you know" said Faith softly, "Red spoke up for you, she knows how good you are."
"The other's still see me… differently" whispered Dawn, "I guess I just wanna find something that's useful.. you know…. So that the others will know that I'm trying to help."
"It's going to take some time for everyone to accept you" said Faith, "but that doesn't mean you have to suffer from research exhaustion. You've been working your ass off the whole month you were here."
"I know" said Dawn, "I also want to see if I can learn more about myself."
"You mean about your Ancient gene?" asked Faith as she sat down next to the brunette.
"Yea" said Dawn as she pointed to all the materials on the table in front of her, "I mean these are writings of the Ancients and if I was made human by those monks, does that mean that I used to be an ascended being? Or was I something else? OR if I was ascended, did I like the colour green? What was I? I mean, yes I was a green energy ball or whatever, but ascended beings are also energy. Doesn't matter what they're shaped like, they're still energy. I keep on hoping that maybe, just maybe I'll find something here. I mean, in addition to whatever else we need to know like location of those outposts or new Ancient technology."
"Red knows that you were the Key" whispered Faith, "and she hasn't told anyone that because she doesn't know what that even means."
"She told me that she kept it secret from the others" said Dawn.
"Are you working your ass off because they found you have the Ancient gene?" asked Faith.
"Wouldn't you?" asked Dawn.
"Well" said Faith, "they did find something in my blood when I first joined but they didn't know what it is. They still don't. There's one more thing you need to remember."
"Which is?" said Dawn.
"Whatever the monks did to create your body" said Faith, "they used Buffy's blood to do it, so you having the Ancient gene could mean that…."
"You're saying that Buffy has the gene?" asked Dawn.
"Who knows?" said Faith, "right now we can't test her blood, but if one day things change and the secret is out. Then maybe she'll volunteer a sample."
"Hey Dawnie" said Willow as she came into the lab.
"Willow" said Dawn as she looked at the red head with concern, "I heard you got burnt."
"Yep" said Willow, "the chest area was pretty bad."
"Yea" said Faith, "I was worried for a moment there."
"You have a dirty mind" said Willow as she lightly punched Faith.
"Look who's talking" replied Faith as she looked back at Dawn, "she bought another pair of…."
"Oh dear God, I don't wanna hear this" said Dawn as she covered her ears as Willow and Faith laughed.
"Hey kiddo" said Willow as she removed Dawn's hands away from her ears, "you ready to go home?"
"The squirt says she wants to stay the night" said Faith as she looked at Dawn, "wants to translate as many Ancient texts as possible."
"You trying to put Daniel out of business or what?" asked Willow with a smile.
"No" said Dawn, "I just want to find something… you know…. Personal."
"Oh" said Willow as she realized what Dawn was talking about, "alright, if you get tired there's still coffee in the commissary. If you need anything just call for Teal'c, he'll be meditating."
"Alright" said Dawn, "how about the Colonel?"
"She's going home to be with the Potato" whispered Faith.
"Ah" said Dawn.
"Just don't sleep too late, ok" said Willow, "you have weapons training with me tomorrow and then training sessions with Faith and Colonel Carter."
"I copy" smiled Dawn, "and thanks again."
"For?" asked Willow.
"Trusting me again" said Dawn.
"Well" said Willow, "you trust me again too, so…. Yeah."
"Come on, Red" said Faith, "let's go. I have some handcuffs waiting for you at home."
"Faith" said Dawn.
"Dawnie" said Willow as she walked up to Dawn and cupped her face in her hands before kissing her forehead, "I love you alright, always will. BE careful down here. Call someone if you need anything. Sleep soon, I'll call your quarters if I can't get you here, ok?"
"Alright" said Dawn softly as Willow turned back towards Faith, "Ummmm… Willow?"
"Yea?" said Willow as she turned back to face Dawn, "do you feel the same for Buffy? I mean do you feel for her how you used to when you were still in Sunnydale?"
"Slowly" said Willow as she looked at Dawn and then at Faith, "I'll meet you topside?"
"Sure Red" said Faith as she squeezed her hands before leaving the lab.
"What's up?" said Willow as she looked at Dawn.
"I said a lot of horrible things" said Dawn, "I can't take all of them away."
"I know" said Willow as she took a chair and sat down next to Dawn, "but we're slowly moving on from there right? Now you know why I had to keep everything a secret, you know the enemy we're facing and what the stakes are for us."
"Yeah" said Dawn, "I just feel bad about lying to Buffy now."
"IF it makes you feel any better" said Willow, "she's required to lie to us as well. Her work at the BPRI is classified as 'need to know' just like ours is, although the punishment for her if she breaks that is not as bad as ours. But I think that right now, even she understands why I couldn't tell her anything that time; and why I can't tell her anything now."
"She's sorry too, you know" said Dawn.
"Yeah" said Willow as she ran her fingers through Dawn's hair, "I know. And it'll take time, I don't know if we'll ever be how we used to be, but it may be close to something like it."
"I understand" said Dawn as she kissed Willow's cheek, "thanks for trying."
"Of course" smiled Willow as she ruffled Dawn's hair.
"Hey!" said Dawn as she straightened her hair again as Willow got up.
"I'll see you in a few hours" said Willow, "don't stay up for too long."
"I won't" said Dawn as Willow walked away, "good night."
"Good night" said Willow as she waved goodbye and Dawn went back to opening another text and going through the notes she took down, as well as some of Daniel's.
Daniel's Lab, SGC, 0145 hours
"Oh God, this is so tiring" said Dawn to herself as she sat straight up and stretched her body before rubbing the kinks out of her neck, "I better get some coffee."
Dawn closed all of the texts that she had opened, including her notes and walked casually out of Daniel's lab. She went up to the elevator and took it to the floor with the commissary.
'Please let there be some coffee left over' thought Dawn to herself as she opened the commissary doors and waved to Dr. Lee and another colleague of his who was just sitting down and having coffee. She then turned around and saw the freshly brewed pot of steaming coffee plus some chocolate cake on a side table, 'umm…. The cake must be for the General.'
Dawn walked up to the table and poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a slice of chocolate cake on a plate.
"Miss Summers" shouted Dr. Lee, "would you like to join us?"
"Sorry, Doc" smiled Dawn, "I've got some translating to do, how about tomorrow you show me some of the sciency stuff?"
"Sure" said Dr. Lee excitedly.
"Thanks, Doc" said Dawn as she headed towards the double doors, "see ya."
"Good night" said Dr. Lee as he turned back to his colleague.
As Dawn was heading back to Daniel's lab, she stopped and turned around.
"Willow?" said Dawn as she thought she heard the red head's voice, "hey Willow?"
Dawn walked down the corridors until she reached a hatch, hearing the voices coming from inside, she opened it and just saw an empty tunnel going straight down.
"Willow!" shouted Buffy's voice from somewhere down the tunnel.
"Buffy?" said Dawn as she looked down where the voices were coming from. Dawn reached over to the ladder and climbed down the tunnel until she reached level 25.
'Sounds like the voices are coming from here' thought Dawn to herself.
Opening the hatch, Dawn stepped out into the landing on level twenty five and looked around.
'How… how could you?' said a voice that sounded just like Willow's which made Dawn turn to her left, which was where the voice was coming from, 'you jerk!'
"Willow!" said Dawn as she ran towards the voice, "this really isn't funny. Don't tell me this is something like a SGC hazing ritual or something. I've already been here a little eover a month so whats the use of playing a prank on me now?"
As Dawn was running towards the voice, she noticed that there were no SF's on the floor.
'Of course there are no security personnel' thought Dawn to herself, 'it's almost two in the morning, why would they be somewhere on an empty floor.'
"Willow, wait" said a man's voice that Dawn hadn't heard in a very long time.
"Oz?" said Dawn as she reached a door that had "Storage Room Four" printed on it.
"What's in here?" said Dawn as she scanned her key card on the scanner and watched as the blast doors slid open.
Dawn walked into the room as a pale blue light was shining from one end of the large room.
"What's that?" said Dawn to herself as she walked towards the light.
Willow's Apartment, 0330 hours
"Faith" said Willow as she lay panting on the brunette Slayer's chest as sweat beaded down their bodies, "you're like the Energizer bunny."
"That's a first" smirked Faith as she ran her fingers through Willow's hair, "is it because I keep going and going?"
"Oh yeah" said Willow as she started to kiss Faith's neck before she whispered into her ear, "but now it's my turn."
"Oh" said Faith, "I can't wait, but no powers. That's just cheating."
"Is that an order?" replied Willow as she bit Faith's ear lobe.
"Oh yeah" said Faith as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations that Willow was giving her when both of their cell phones rang at the same time.
"Please don't let there be a world endage situation" said Willow as she got onto her back and reached for her phone, "not when it's my turn."
"Yeah" said Faith as she turned and picked up her phone before Willow and connected her call first, "what?... Dawn?"
"Dawn?" said Willow as she looked at Faith who shrugged at her before she picked up her own phone and answered, "Rosenberg."
"Captain" said Simmons who was on duty that morning, "we have a problem concerning Miss Summers."
"Problem?" asked Willow, "she's translating stuff for Daniel, what kind of a problem could there be?"
"She's missing" said Simmons.
"What?" said Willow as she quickly sat up and was followed closely by Faith who seemed to be talking to one of the SF's.
"What do you mean she's missing?" said Willow as she ran to the bathroom and started a shower, "doesn't matter, Faith and I are on the way."
"Captain" said Simmons, "Teal'c is already heading to Dr. Jackson's lab, we're hoping that she's somewhere in the vicinity."
"Give us twenty minutes or less" said Willow as she put the phone down.
"Damn it" said Faith as she followed Willow into the bathroom, "please don't tell me that this is a Tuesday morning?"
"It is" said Willow as she looked at her phone before joining Faith in the shower, "why?"
"Whenever Dawn gets in trouble" said Faith cringing, "it's always a Tuesday."
"Right" said Willow, "let's finish up and get out of here. Teal'c is waiting for us."
"How about Big-G, Sam and Daniel?" asked Faith.
"Let's see what's going on first" said Willow.
"Sure" said Faith as she looked at the worried look on the red head's face, "she's alright Red. It's the most highly secure military base on the planet, where could she go without us knowing about it?"
"Faith" said Willow, "I got in there by making a wish."
"Right" said Faith, "lets hurry up then."
Control Room, SGC, 0400 hours
"Teal'c" said Willow as she reached the control room with Faith, "any luck in finding Dawn near Daniel's lab?"
"None" said Teal'c, "I have searched the immediate area as well. However…."
"No luck?" said Faith.
"Indeed" said Teal'c.
"Captain" said Willow as she looked at Simmons, "anything on the security cameras?"
"We're still going through them, Captain" said Simmons.
"OK" said Willow as she looked at Faith and Teal'c, "can you guys take a team of SF's and search all the levels? I know it's going to take time but…."
"Faith Lehane and I will have teams ready for the search" said Teal'c.
"Thanks" said Willow as she looked at Faith, "where is she?"
"We'll find her, Red" said Faith as she walked out of the control room with Teal'c.
"Captain" said Willow as she got onto the computer next to Simmons, "can you pull up the feeds for the entrance to the mountain and the lobby?"
"Of course" said Simmons, "but that's the first pieces of video we checked."
"And?" said Willow.
"She never left the mountain" said Simmons, "I asked the SF's topside to double check but she never signed out or left."
"Her quarters?" asked Willow.
"Security team checked" said Simmons, "she wasn't there either."
"She go through the gate?" asked Willow.
"No" smiled Simmons, "I was here the whole time."
"Her transmitter?" asked Willow.
"Nothing" said Simmons.
"That's weird" said Willow as she pulled some security feeds before she turned to Simmons again with an idea, "can you track her key card access logs? If it was scanned anywhere in the mountain, we should be able to find out right?"
"We could" said Simmons, "just give me a few minutes."
"Alright" said Willow as she stepped behind Simmons and then saw Dawn's number come up the list on the computer, "stop! There."
"Storage Room four on level twenty five?" said Simmons as he looked at an equally confused Willow, "what do we have there?"
"Can you pull up the list?" said Willow as she got onto the microphone, "Security teams to Storage Room Four, Level Twenty Five. Repeat, Faith and Teal'c report to Storage Room Four on Level Twenty Five."
"Ummm….. Captain?" said a very troubled Simmons, "you may want to take a look at this."
"What's going….." said Willow as she stared at the item listed as tenth on the list of items in Storage Room Four, "no… not again. Not that."
"Captain?" said Simmons as he saw Willow quickly run down the stairs.
"Contact General O'Neill and Colonel Carter" said Willow in a very worried voice, "tell them that the Quantum Mirror may have been activated again."
Alternate Reality, Unknown Location, Unknown Time.
"Any idea who she is?" said an unknown female voice.
"No doctor" said another male voice, "we just found her knocked out on the floor next to a few items we brought back from that so called magic shop. She was lying down right in front of an unpolished mirror."
"Really?" said the woman.
"Yes" said the male voice as Dawn started to slowly open her eyes, "it was surrounded by what looks like a rock formation. We're running some tests now."
"Hello" said Dawn as she tried to reach for her left arm which was in pain but found herself unable to move.
"Well, hello" said the woman who turned around from taking to her colleague who was also dressed in a white lab coat, "do you know where you are?"
"Colorado Springs?" said Dawn as she saw the two people look at each other confused.
"I see" said the woman as she turned back to look at Dawn.
"Why can't I move my arms and legs" said Dawn groggily as she tried to move her limbs.
"Well" said the woman, "you somehow got into a secure military base, so until we find out who you are and how you got in here, we simply can't let you go."
"Who?" said Dawn as she was finally able to see things clearly.
"I'm sorry" said the woman, "it's extremely rude of me, I'm Dr. Maggie Walsh."
"It's a mistake, I shouldn't be here" said Dawn as she suddenly felt a prick on her upper arm, "what are you doing?"
"Just drawing a bit of blood" said Dr. Walsh, "just to see if you are…. How should I put it…. Human."
"What did you mean by mistake?" asked the other white lab coated man, "where should you be?".
"Who are you people?" said Dawn.
"You answer us" said Dr. Walsh, "and we'll answer your questions."
"What's your name?"
"Dawn, Dawn Summers."
"I see, Dawn" said Maggie, "and where are you from? And where should you be?"
"My turn" said Dawn as she looked at Maggie, however she noticed that she had difficulty seeing again and was getting drowsy, "wait, what are you…."
"Just something to make you relax" said Maggie, "now where are you from?"
"Still my turn" said Dawn.
"Ok" said Maggie.
"Who are you?" asked Dawn.
"Classified" said Maggie with a smile.
"Now" said Maggie, "where are you from and where should you be?"
"Sunnydale" said Dawn as she slowly closed her eyes, "I should be… at… cl…. classified."
"Interesting" said Maggie as Dawn was knocked out, "she managed to resist the truth serum. Haven't really seen that before. She has immense willpower."
"You thinking HST?" asked the other doctor.
"Let's see what her blood work says" said Maggie, "in the meantime, I want a full profile done on her. I want to know where she lives, who her friends are, if she has a sister or brother, and I mean everything."
"Of course" said the man as he walked out leaving a sleeping Dawn alone with Maggie.
"I wonder" said Maggie to herself as she turned around to the computer and pulled up the security feed from a small room. She fast forwarded the tape when suddenly she saw a bright blue light appear from the so called mirror, "Interesting."
Maggie opened her eyes wide in surprise when Dawn was suddenly flung through the blue light, after which the blue light vanished. Maggie then turned around and walked towards the sleeping Dawn.
"What are you?" said Maggie to herself as she smiled.
Alternate Reality, Unknown Location, two hours later.
Dawn slowly opened her eyes again and found herself on a cot inside a white coloured cell.
'Great' said Dawn as she slowly got up and put her feet down onto the cold floor, 'I'm stuck in another reality, but how's that possible? Colonel Carter said that the mirror was keyed in to Willow's genetic code. So how the heck did I get here?'
"Ouch" said Dawn as she tried to stand up and started to rub her arms.
Pulling up her sleeves, she noticed some bruising at the crook of her arm, right above the elbow.
'They took my blood' thought Dawn to herself, 'just what I needed. That name… Walsh.. sounds very familiar. Where have I heard it?'
Dawn looked at her surroundings again and saw that she was in a four sided cell with three sides made up of solid material and the fourth side made up of what looked like glass. She slowly approached the transparent side and touched the glass.
"Fuck me!" shouted Dawn as her hand was electrocuted by a current that seems to flow on the surface. This made her step back while holding her hand in pain. However, what she had failed to notice was that at the moment of her outburst, there was a very small crack at the top left corner on the glass door.
"Sorry, I should have mentioned the security features of your cell" said Maggie as she walked up to the cell.
'Shit' thought Dawn to herself as she nursed her hand, 'I remember you now, Maggie Walsh, the crazy leader of the Initiative. Which means… oh no.'
"Let me go" said Dawn, "I'm a human being and a citizen of this country, you can't hold me here."
"Actually" said Maggie with a cold smile, "we're still unsure about you being human. We found some interesting… issues….. with your blood and as for you being a citizen of this country. Well, you simply don't exist."
"What?" said Dawn in shock.
"You don't exist" said Maggie, "your name isn't on any federal or local database, and trust me when I say that we checked everything. So, you may not be human which falls under my purview and you don't exist which is even better for the purposes of my organization."
"People are coming for me" said Dawn.
"You don't seem to understand" said Maggie as she stepped closer to the cell, "you don't exist so no one knows that you're here. And if you're talking about whatever it was that you came through, well it's not working now."
"No" said Dawn as she stepped back, "you're lying."
"Doesn't matter" said Maggie, "whatever that thing is, it will be sent to my private lab in the outskirts of Sunnydale. You see, I think it's a portal for what we call HST's to come through and terrorize the population of this planet."
"My friends are coming for you" said Dawn.
"We'll be ready for them" said Maggie, "they're sadly mistaken if they think this world is ripe for them to conquer. In the meantime, I intend to learn more about you since you just confirmed to me that you're not human. And your blood work does support that until more tests are done. For now, you will be classified as a non-human HST. You better rest up, we have some experiments to conduct tomorrow."
"No" said Dawn, "look, I'm telling you that I'm a human being. Let me out of here."
"Good night, Dawn" said Maggie as she walked away, leaving Dawn alone facing a vampire wearing a black T-Shirt that was staring at her on the other side of her cell.
"Let me go, you bitch!" screamed Dawn as she ran to the glass but far enough to not make any contact with it as she watched Maggie walk away, "I'll make you pay if you touch me, my friends will kill you if you touch me."
Unknown to her, however, the crack widened just a little bit more.
Briefing Room, SGC, at the same time, 2 hours elapsed.
"Red?" said the General as he sat down with a cup of coffee, "anything?"
"Sir" said Willow, "we've found video evidence showing that Dawn used her key card to get into Storage Room four on level twenty five but no evidence of her leaving the room."
"Carter?" said the General as he looked at SG1's commander.
"According to Dr. Lee who was one of the people who saw her last" said the Colonel, "she was pouring herself a cup of coffee and took a slice of the chocolate cake about ten minutes before she disappeared."
"Your point being?" said the General.
"We found a broken cup and spilt coffee on the floor in front of the Quantum Mirror, along with a smashed plate and the chocolate cake" said the Colonel, "it supports Willow's fear that she went through the mirror."
"I thought you said that it was keyed in to Red's genetic code?" said the General, "that only she'd be able to use it."
"Sir" said the Colonel, "I'm sorry but at the time I thought it was true simply because, well, Willow was the only one who cold activate it. You tried Sir, remember? When the mirror was moved in the other reality we called you in to try and re-activate the one on our end, but it failed?"
"Right" said the General as he closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair, "ideas?"
"Sir, maybe it has something to do with her having the Ancient gene and the fact that I wasn't in another reality at the time" said Willow, "but the troublesome thing is that the mirror was deactivated. IF Dawn did go through, which the evidence suggests, then why did it deactivate?"
"I don't know" said the General as he looked at Colonel Carter, "anything?"
"It ran out of power?" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow.
"Just a guess ma'am" said Willow, "but that's what I was thinking as well."
"Eggheads?" said the General as he leaned forward and looked at both Colonel Carter and Willow.
"Sir" said the Colonel, "we're thinking the mirror deactivated because it ran out of power."
"But it's made of Naquada" said the General, "shouldn't it store that power or something?"
"Sir" said Willow, "maybe that version of the mirror is different than the one you encountered the first time. Maybe after months of disuse, the Naquada slowly discharged its energy?"
"Or maybe since it wasn't connected to a continuous power source since it uses too much energy" said the Colonel, "we did find it when it was connected onto the cave wall on P8D-767, which meant that it possibly had a steady stream of power coming from the Naquada in the cave walls. The one that we have probably used up the last of its power for that one last hop that Dawn just took."
"Sir" said Willow, "either way; we need to get her back."
"I know, Red" said the General, "once we find a way to power it back up, I'm ordering a retrieval operation."
"Thank you, Sir" said Willow.
"She's ours, Red" said the General, "we won't leave her behind."
"Yes, Sir" smiled Willow.
"Dismissed" said the General as Colonel Carter and Willow got up and ran towards the elevators.
"Willow" said the Colonel, "I'll get a Naquada generator, you go on ahead to the Storage Room."
"Ma'am" said Willow, "we don't have much time to hook everything up to the mirror."
"Then…." Said the Colonel as she realized what Willow was planning, "no, the last time you did that, you burnt your hand."
"Ma'am" said Willow, "this way it would be much faster, all I'll be doing is shooting an electrical discharge at the mirror. I even powered up a Stargate this way."
"Yes" said the Colonel, "but you suffered third degree burns when you did that. Remember?"
"I healed fast ma'am" said Willow, "and this body can heal much faster now."
"Alright" sighed the Colonel, "we'll try it your way, but if the power shuts off again then we're using the generator."
"Thank you, ma'am" said Willow as they entered the elevator.
"Faith… Teal'c" said Willow as she and Colonel Carter ran to Storage Room Four, "anything?"
"It's still off, Red" said Faith.
"Indeed" said Teal'c, "has O'Neill approved a rescue mission?"
"Yes" said the Colonel, "as long as we can get the mirror activated."
"Very well" said Teal'c, "with your permission, I would like to join the rescue team."
"Thanks Teal'c" said Colonel Carter, "but let's see if we can turn it on first, and then let's see where it goes."
Alternate Reality, Unknown Location.
Maggie was looking at feeds from Dawn's cell where she saw the medical staff subduing her before taking more blood and tissue samples, and a feed from the room with the strange mirror that Dawn had come through. Maggie looked at the report that her other scientists had made regarding the rock like formation that surrounded the glass.
'Material unknown' thought Maggie to herself as she read the report, 'This is interesting, maybe….'
Maggie suddenly looked up when she saw a bright flash of light on one of her screens and quickly got up and ran.
'It activated again' thought Maggie to herself as she approached an intercom that was right next to her office door, "Agent Finn report to Room 212, I repeat Agent Finn report to Room 212 with a security detail."
Maggie then ran out her door and ran as fast as she could to Room 212 where she met a panting Agent Riley Finn.
"Ma'am?" said Riley as he and his team met with Maggie outside the room, "what's going on?"
"We have a situation" said Maggie as she entered her pass code on the keypad at the side of the door.
"A situation in a storage room?" asked Riley confused.
"Yes" said Maggie as she walked in with Riley and his team and looked at the mirror with their mouths open.
"Oh God" said Maggie as she looked at a blonde woman in Air Force BDU's looking back at her, alongside a bald man, a brunette female and a very familiar but slightly older red head.
"Wait a minute" said Riley as he looked at the mirror as well.
"That's that girl in my class" said Maggie, "the one who asked about that… what's his name… Daniel Osbourne."
"Willow" said Riley, "she's Buffy's friend. And is she wearing that? Looks like an Air Force BDU."
The both of them looked on as Willow from the other side looked at them in surprise before the mirror suddenly deactivated.
"Ma'am?" said Riley, "what was that?"
"I don't know" said Maggie, "but wherever that was, we got a visitor today from this object."
"A visitor?" said Riley.
"Yes" replied Maggie, "she's classified as an HST due to some strange issues with her blood work, all we know is that she's not completely human. Which makes her a threat."
"Does that mean…." Said Riley as Maggie interrupted him.
"We saw Willow there too" said Maggie as she turned to face Riley, "you're getting closer to Buffy so I want you to watch our Willow closely. If there's anything out of place with her, I want you to report it in. IF she's from the same place as this Dawn, then she could be dangerous."
"Ma'am" said Riley, "the Willow I know is human and one of the nicest girls I know, she can't be dangerous. She doesn't have a dangerous bone in her body, even Buffy can testify to that."
"Agent Finn" said Maggie and Riley stood up straight, "while I would love to take the opinion of someone you're attracted to, unfortunately I can't. If our Willow's the same as the one from where-ever it is that Dawn came from, then I'm guessing that she can be dangerous as well. Which is why I am ordering you to keep a close eye on her, is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am" said Riley.
"Now" said Maggie as she turned to face the deactivated mirror, "post two guards here. I want to be notified immediately if this thing activates again."
"Yes ma'am" said Riley as he assigned two of his team to guard the mirror before he walked out of the room with Maggie.
"I'm going to class" said Maggie, "and while I'm there, I need you to go through Willow's room while she's in my class, you have authorization to install mini camera's. I want to know everything she's up to…. Full surveillance package. We need to know if she's dangerous."
"Yes ma'am" said Riley with a slight hesitance in his voice.
"Riley" said Maggie as she noticed the tone of his voice, "we're doing this to protect the world, you know that."
"Yes, ma'am" said Riley a little more confidently.
Storage Room Four, SGC, 2 hours 45 minutes elapsed.
"Red" said a worried Faith.
"I know" replied Willow.
"What's going on?" said Colonel Carter as she looked at the shock on both Willow's and Faith's faces.
"I recognize those uniforms" said Willow, "I saw them the last Halloween that I spent in Sunnydale, it was a few months before I came here. The day Buffy, Me and the others were trapped in a haunted house."
"Trapped?" said the Colonel, "do I even want to know?"
"No, ma'am" said Willow as she looked at Colonel Carter and Teal'c.
"Sam" said Faith, "I recognized the uniforms too, B showed me pictures. Big-G has the file on them too."
"You mean Dawn's with the Initiative?" said the Colonel.
"Yes, and I still can't believe that Professor Walsh was as well. I admired her" said Willow before she looked at the colonel, "ma'am, we need to get Dawn back. If what they said about the Initiative is true…"
"It is" said Faith as she looked at Willow.
"Then Dawn is in danger" said Willow.
Colonel Carter ran to the intercom that was closest to the door.
"Ma'am?" said Willow confused.
"Lt. Colonel Finn is still on base" said Colonel Carter, "if anyone knows about that base, he would."
"That means…." Said Willow.
"Rescue mission approved" said the Colonel, "we're getting her back. Gear up and get ready to move in an hour."
"Ma'am" said Willow as she, Faith and Teal'c started to run to the locker room.
"I mean you, Willow" said Colonel Carter as she grabbed Willow's arm, "you're the one who can activate it and go through. Remember we just tried touching the mirror to activate it, and then again just before those people came by and nothing happened. So we now know that its tuned to only you, but we'll try and find out why Dawn was able to go through once you get back."
"Yes ma'am" said Willow.
"Faith…Teal'c" said the Colonel, "meet up with Colonel Finn in the briefing room, get the plans of the Initiative base from our database. I want escape routes and ways to get back in unnoticed, just in case the room the mirror is in cannot be taken back the first time. Willow and Dawn can go back in a few hours later and try again."
"How about that Cascade Failure?" asked Faith.
"No choice" said Willow, "it's our Dawn. It's not someone else's Dawn we're talking about."
"I know that" said Faith as she looked worriedly at Willow.
"I'll be alright" said Willow as she looked at Faith, "besides, Buffy will kill me if I can't get her baby sister back."
"Willow" said the Colonel, "get ready. Take whatever weapons you think you may need."
"Yes, ma'am" said Willow as she ran to the locker room before going to the armoury.
'I'm coming, Dawn' thought Willow to herself, 'just hang tight.'
Initiative Base, Sunnydale.
"Oh God" said Dawn as she got up again and rubbed her wrists, "what did they do to me?"
She looked at the markings on her wrists and feet and knew that she was restrained when suddenly the alarms started to go off and she quickly ran to the electrified glass.
"What's going on?" said Dawn to herself when someone she thought she wouldn't see again ran past her.
"Spike!" screamed Dawn, "Spike! Help me."
"What the…?" stopped Spike as he stared at the brunette girl who was screaming at him for help, "who the 'ell are you?"
"Please Spike" said Dawn, "please get me out of here.'
"Sorry, Pet" said Spike as he turned around.
"Spike… please!" screamed Dawn, "I'm begging you, please help me!"
"Damn it" hissed Spike as he slide a key card through a slot on the pad outside Dawn's cell as the glass door opened and Dawn ran out and hugged the vampire as another vampire wearing a black shirt joined them.
"Oh thank you so much, Spike" said Dawn as Spike simply stood there surprised.
"Ummmm… yeah…" said Spike as he pushed Dawn away, "look… I'm not getting caught again while doing this hugging thing with you…."
"Spike" said Dawn, "I need you to help me get back to the Mirror, please."
"Look" said Spike as he stepped back and headed towards the exit as the door was starting to slide down, "you can follow me or stay here and get recaptured…. I know I'm going to be gone."
"Damn it!" said Dawn as she ran after Spike and the other one as the door kept on going down.
'Don't come down, don't come down' thought Dawn to herself as she saw the door sliding down when it suddenly stopped.
"The military" said Spike as he and the other vampire slid under the door followed by Dawn, "never seems to get anything right."
"Yea" said Dawn in surprise as she saw the door start it's decent again after she passed under it.
'Faulty door? Since when does a super secret base have faulty doors?' thought Dawn to herself.
Storage Room Four, SGC, 3 hours 30 minutes elapsed
"Ma'am" said Willow as she walked into the Storage Room with General O'Neill and Riley in her full tactical gear, "I'm ready."
"Willow" said Riley, "I'm not sure where the mirror is in that reality, but if I know or knew Professor Walsh, it would be either a lab or a storage room."
"Red" said General O'Neill as he handed Willow a small tablet, "keep that with you, it has a map of the Initiative HQ. The blue lines are the escape routes in case Dawn isn't there, the red lines lead to where the so-called monster cells are and the yellow lines are the secret entrances to re-enter the base in case you ever have to leave."
"Thanks General….. Colonel" said Willow as she looked at Riley, "I apologize before hand in case I have to punch you or something, Sir."
"I won't feel it Willow" smiled Riley, "Anyway, I hope to read that report too, it would make for one heck of a read."
"True" smiled Willow at Riley, "what kind of firepower can I expect?"
"The regular kind" said Riley as he pulled out some pictures on another tablet her was holding, "or stunners and taser blasters."
"I see" said Willow, "I'll put up a telekinetic shield once I'm on the other side."
"Be safe" said Riley as his face reflected his concern, "there are a lot of hotheads there."
"You too, Sir?" smiled Willow.
"I don't think that Riley will be the same as me" said Riley, "so I can't say."
"Understood" said Willow.
"Red" said the General, "if you can find Dawn without any problems, then great. Your orders are to get her and come back. If for whatever reason she's not there, then I want you to find her, contact the SGC of that reality, get that Mirror out of the Initiative's hands and then bring Dawn back home. Is that understood?"
Just then the klaxons started to go off.
"Must be the Stargate" said Colonel Carter, "are we due anyone back?"
"Not for another few hours, at least" said General O'Neill.
"General O'Neill to the Gateroom" said Walter's voice over the P.A. system, "General O'Neill to the Gateroom."
"Must be important" said the General, "I gotta go Red, be careful."
"Yes, Sir" said Willow as the General ran towards the Gateroom.
"Willow" said the Colonel after she hooked up the Naquada generators to the mirror and turned them on, "you got everything?"
"Yes" said Willow as she stood in her vest, "travelling very light; just my knife, a few flash bangs, two intars and two Zats. Anything else, I'll just have to use my powers."
"Non-lethal, huh?" said Faith.
"Well, it won't be nice to kill army personnel" said Willow.
"Especially if they don't know that they're being used as Professor Walsh's personal experiment" said Riley.
"Right" said Faith as she turned back to Willow, "You know, I can hop onto your back just as you touch the mirror."
"No" said Willow as she smiled at Faith, "if you did that, then you could simply fall onto your ass after I disappear."
"That would be funny" smiled Riley.
"Laugh it up, soldier boy" said Faith.
"Oh, I am" said Riley.
"Willow" said the Colonel as she took out a metallic case and opened it.
"Ma'am" said Willow surprised, "are those….."
"The mimic devices?" said the Colonel, "yes."
"Cool" said Willow as she picked one up and placed it directly onto her chest.
Faith looked on in surprise as she saw Willow become a man she didn't recognize.
"Who's that?" asked Faith as she pointed to Willow's disguise.
"That's one of the people who tried to kill assassinate Kinsey" said Colonel Carter.
"Oh" said Faith as she saw Willow take off the device and the holographic shell of the man dissolved away.
"Take a few of those with you" said Colonel Carter, "I want you to go in using the device so that those Initiative people don't know who came through. Then we'll try and keep the Mirror on from this end."
"Yes, ma'am" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel before turning around.
"Willow Rosenberg" said Teal'c as he handed Willow a belt that had four spherical objects on it, "you would require these."
"These are those…. What you call them…" said Willow as she tried to remember the name.
"Tok'kal devices" said Teal'c, "shock grenades. They emit intense light and sound, and will be able to induce unconsciousness almost immediately."
"Cool" said Willow as she took the belt and slung it across her body, "thanks."
"Red" smiled Faith, "you look like a one woman wrecking crew."
"Very funny, Faith" said Willow.
"Colonel Finn and Faith, please report to General O'Neill's office" said Walter over the P.A system, "Colonel Finn and Faith, please report to General O'Neill's office."
"You guys should go" said Willow as she looked at Faith.
Willow: "I'll be alright. I'm worried about Dawn."
Faith: "Be safe, Red. I want you and Dawn back safely."
Willow: "Yes ma'am."
Willow then looked on as Faith and Riley ran to General O'Neill's office.
"Alright" said Willow as she turned around and touched the Naquada part of the mirror, and looked on as it activated, "how about we destroy this thing after I get back. It's caused enough problems for a lifetime."
"Indeed" said Teal'c, "be safe, Willow Rosenberg."
"Thanks, Teal'c" said Willow.
"Looks like the mirror's in some kind of a room" said Colonel Carter.
"Good luck" said Colonel Carter as Willow put the mimic device back onto her chest and reached for the mirror.
TBC.