The White House, Washington D.C., 2030 hours.
"Congratulations" said Angel and Cordelia as the both of them gave Willow a hug after she got down from the stage.
"I guess this calls for a celebration, huh?" said Faith as she took two flutes of champagne and gave one to Willow.
"Yes it does" replied Willow with a grin as she felt someone tapping her shoulder and she turned around, "Colonel Sheppard, Sir"
"Well done, Major" said Colonel Sheppard, "especially on what I heard you did right before you…. well… umm… collapsed. Anyway, that was really cool."
"Thank you, Sir" said Willow.
"Now" said the Colonel as he turned to Faith, "if you don't mind, may I have this dance?"
"Sure" said Faith as she looked at the grin on Willow's face.
Faith: "You and me.. Later?"
Willow: "Sure."
Willow looked on as Faith and the Colonel joined the other couples on the dance floor and smiled to herself as she watched Faith smile and talk to Colonel Sheppard.
"Willow" said Daniel as he came up behind her.
"Hey" smiled Willow as she turned around, "did you know about this?"
"Maybe" smiled Daniel, "you really do deserve it, you know."
"Danny boy" said General O'Neill as he walked up to the archaeologist with Colonel Carter, "where's your better half?"
"I think….. oh there she is" said Daniel as he pointed at Anya having a dance with McKay who seemed to be slightly fidgety.
"Did you tell him that she's a thousand year old demon?" asked the Colonel as she tried not to laugh at how uncomfortable McKay looked.
"Kinda let it slip out" said Daniel, "you know how he keeps on saying he likes blondes and all."
"Daniel" said Willow as she punched him in the arm, "that was cruel."
"Kinda funny" said the General as he looked over at McKay.
"Ok" admitted Willow, "maybe a little, but only a little."
"So" said the General as he turned back to Colonel Carter, Willow and Daniel, "I guess this really is the last time we'll all be together in the same place."
"I guess so, Sir" said Colonel Carter.
"I hope not" said Willow.
"Pete?" said Daniel as he looked at the Colonel, "I haven't seen him today."
"He said he has work stuff" said the Colonel.
"Oh" said Daniel.
"Sir" said Willow as she looked at General O'Neill, "Faith and I were thinking, well… there's something we'd like to ask you…"
"Sure" said the General.
"Sam" said Daniel, "dance?"
"Certainly" said the Colonel as she wrapped her arm around Daniel's and he led her to the dance floor.
"What's up?" asked General O'Neill.
"Well, sir" said Willow, "now that you'll be in D.C, we were wondering if you'd be willing to rent out your house in Colorado Springs. I mean it's close to the base, and its kinda private too… so…."
"You sure?" said the General.
"Yeah" said Willow, "I talked it over with Faith, and Dawn….. and if it's ok with you…."
"I'm fine with it" said the General, "I only have one condition."
"Which is?" asked Willow.
"Don't move the telescope on the roof" said General O'Neill.
"Yes, Sir" said Willow as she looked at a smiling Faith, "I'll make sure no-one moves it."
"Especially Jon" said the General.
"Yes sir" said Willow.
"So" whispered the General as he stood closer to Willow while the both of them looked at the dance floor, "you got the ring?"
"Yes" replied Willow, "I just haven't found the perfect time for it, yet."
"Tonight's the perfect time as any" said the General as he looked around, "you've got a party here, you just got promoted, Faith got another commendation… this is the perfect time."
"I know, Sir" said Willow, "but a part of me is scared she'll say no."
"Nah" said General O'Neill, "she'll say yes."
"Thanks for the pep talk sir" laughed Willow.
"Hey" replied the General, "I try my best."
"I know, Sir" said Willow as she saw General Hammond and General Landry approaching them.
"Willow" said General Hammond, "congratulations."
"Thank you, Sir" said Willow as she shook the General's hand, "I wish you the best. Will you be staying in Colorado Spring more often, now that you're retired?"
"Yes" said the General, "more time to spend with the grandkids."
"And that's when he's not one of the President's special advisors" said General O'Neill.
"True" said General Hammond as he turned to Willow, "come by the house one day, the kids keep on asking about you and Faith. They want to hear more scary stories."
"Which are true" said General Landry.
"But disguised as stories" said General Hammond.
"I'd like that, Sir" said Willow, "and so would Faith. Maybe I'll tell them about the time I had an online boyfriend who turned out to be a demon."
"You should go with that story" said General Hammond, "maybe it'll make Kayla and Tessa a bit more paranoid when they talk to boys online."
"That's just cruel, Sir" laughed Willow.
"Jack" said General Hammond, after he too had a laugh, turned to look at General O'Neill, "the President would like to have a word with the both of us."
"Sure" said General O'Neill as he nodded at Willow and General Landry before walking over to where the President was talking to some of the Atlantis personnel.
"Sir" said Willow as she stood closer to General Landry, "about me and Faith, I hope that…."
"I don't have a problem, Major" said the General, "I'm kind of like Jack, as long as you and Faith keep it professional in the SGC.. you'll be fine."
"Yes, sir" said Willow with a smile, "and I also wanted to ask if you would be ok with me asking her…."
"Yes" said General Landry.
"Thank you, Sir" replied Willow.
"As long as my invitation to the eventual wedding doesn't get lost in the mail" smiled General Landry as he looked at Willow.
"I'll hand it to you personally" said Willow with a grin.
"Oh" said the General, "I'm sorry to say that your request for use of the Puddle Jumper tomorrow has been denied."
"Huh?" said a surprised Willow, "but…."
"Sorry, Major" said the General, "but someone else seemed to have a better reason to use the Jumper."
"Oh" said Willow, "could I use it the day after?"
"Sure" replied General Landry, "anyway, I read that brief you gave me and Jack about the program you and Colonel Carter developed to find energy emissions from the ZPM's. I was informed that they'll be installing it in the Prometheus, and then they'll start on the Daedalus."
"We could start looking for those outposts after the Prometheus installation?" asked Willow.
"Yes" said General Landry.
"Thanks, sir" said Willow as she saw Faith walking towards them, while Colonel Sheppard walked towards Dr. Weir.
"General" said Faith as she looked at General Landry, "so… Big-G 2.0?"
"No" smirked General Landry.
"Fine" huffed Faith as Willow looked on and smiled, "I'll come up with a better name then."
"You can try, but I doubt you'll find one" said General Landry, "now why don't you crazy kids go and dance?"
"What happened to professional, Sir?" smirked Willow as she put her hand on the small of Faith's back.
"Well" said General Landry, "number one, this isn't the SGC; number two, it's a party; and number three, the both of you will be making the President a very happy man."
"He placed a bet, didn't he?" said Faith as she looked at the President who smiled back and waved, "on if I dance with Red tonight?"
"Maybe" said General Landry as he gently pushed Willow and Faith to the dance floor before talking a seat at one of the tables.
The Apartment, the next day, 1900 hours.
"Come on, Red" said Faith as she waited at the door for Willow.
"Faith" said Willow as she walked out in a red dress, "we've already celebrated my promotion last night, and then this morning, and then again in the shower.. I mean.. this is a bit excessive don't you think?"
"Trust me" said Faith as she kissed Willow, "I hope that this would be the best of all so, let's go…"
"Faith" laughed Willow, "you're too excited… I can feel it coming off you.."
"Hey, wait… wait… wait.. wait…" said Dawn excitedly as she ran out of her room with a camera, "I need to take a picture."
"Dawn" said Willow, "we're just going for dinner."
"I know" grinned Dawn as she took a few pictures of the couple, "oh, this is going to Buffy and the others…"
"Dawnie" said Willow as the looked at Dawn suspiciously, "you're too excited as well… what's going on?"
"Nothing" said Dawn, "I'm just excited about your promotion 'is all."
"You were invited to the party as well, you know" said Willow, "I was hoping you'd go."
"I know" said Dawn, "but we really thought we could finish fending off another apocalypse before the party… but…."
"I know" said Willow as she kissed the top of Dawn's head, "no boys while you're here alone…. Including Jon, and yes I know that he's not a boy, but still."
"Jon's a man" said Dawn as she waggled her eyebrows, "a very…"
"No!" laughed Willow as she put her hands on her ears, "I don't wanna know… what is with the Summers women and older men in younger bodies?"
"I know, right" grinned Dawn as she went back to her room with her camera.
"Let's go" said Faith as she held Willow's hand.
"Hold on" said Willow as she checked her purse and smiled when she saw the small velvet box inside.
"Found something cool inside your purse?" asked Faith.
"You could say that" said Willow as the both of them said bye to an overly excited Dawn before they went out the building and into Faith's car.
"Dawn and you are getting really good at hiding thoughts" smiled Willow, "I'm regretting teaching you now. I know something's up, but…."
"It's a surprise" said Faith as she reversed the car.
"Alright" grinned Willow as she looked at Faith, "so where are we…."
"Again, it's a surprise" said Faith as she placed a hand on Willow's knee and squeezed.
"Alright" said Willow as she leaned back and simply looked at Faith as she drove the car.
It took them about an hour due to traffic, but soon they reached their destination.
"Petersons?" asked Willow, "I mean.. it's an unique place for a date.. but…."
"Shhh" smiled Faith as she rolled her window down and handed her I.D to the guard on duty who turned out to be none other than Colonel Carter , "hey Sam, I've got a booking for two under the name of General O'Neill."
"Of course, ma'am" said the Colonel as she looked at the clipboard on her hand, "you and the Major will be picked up in three minutes."
"Ma'am?" said Willow, "What are you...?"
"Enjoy your night" said the Colonel with a wide grin.
"Thanks" said Faith as she drove her car to the parking lot.
"Did you make a reservation at Petersons for dinner under General O'Neill's name? How did you do that? Its not even possible" laughed Willow, "and how did you convince Colonel Carter to participate in whatever you're planning... but as far as unique dates go…. I mean dinner under the stars on a runway…. It's not only unique.. It's brilliant."
"Glad you think so" said Faith as the both of them got out of the car as a jeep drove towards them."
"General O'Neill?" said Willow surprised, "what are you….? Huh?"
"Get in, Red" said the General as Faith and Willow got into the back of the jeep, "I'll be the driver to your destination today."
"Ok" said Willow confused as they drove for 5 minutes before the General stopped at an empty runway where Willow and Faith got out of the jeep.
"Faith" said the General as he reached into his pocket and took out what looked like to Willow as a remote control, "enjoy and…."
"I know, Big-G" said Faith as the General kissed her forehead.
"See ya, Red" said the General as he got back into the jeep and drove off.
"Faith?" said Willow as she waved at the General driving off into the darkness, "what's going on?"
"It's a surprise, Red" said Faith as she turned around and pointed the remote at the empty space in front of them and pressed a button.
"The Jumper" said Willow as the Time Jumper uncloaked itself in front of them, "Faith?"
"This is the first surprise" said Faith as she grabbed Willow's hand and opened the hatch before running inside and closing the hatch again.
"But…." said Willow as Faith pressed the same button on the remote control to cloak the ship again before giving her a deep kiss, "wow! What's with you? Not that I'm complaining… far from it, but….."
"For the second surprise" said Faith as she ran into the cockpit and sat on the pilot's seat before grabbing onto the controls. Willow looked on in surprise as she sat beside Faith when the DHD and the cockpit lights, along with the engines, activated.
"You have the Ancient gene?" said Willow as she looked at Faith, "the Gene therapy worked.. but why didn't you tell me…"
"I wanted it to be a surprise" said Faith, "once I knew the therapy stuck, I asked Big-G to train me in flying this thing after returning from the Daedalus shakedown cruise. I managed to learn flying this baby in under a month… and well….. It's leading up to my final surprise."
"Which is?" asked Willow as she sat on the co-pilot's seat.
"A few more surprises to go" said Faith as she concentrated, "like this."
Willow felt the ship slowly rise off the ground and heard the engine pods come out of the sides of the ship.
"Faith?" asked Willow, "where are we going?"
"You know this song?" said Faith as she looked at Willow before she reached to her side and took out her cell phone and pressed the play symbol that was already on the screen. Willow listened to the song, unfamiliar with it until it reached the chorus.
Willow laughed and gave Faith a tight hug and a deep kiss before she looked into her eyes.
"Yea, Faith" said Willow, "take me to the moon and back."
"Cool" grinned Faith as she pulled up on the controls and flew out into space. It was almost an hour later when she turned the ship around until they got a great view of the Earth through the main window, and Faith landed the Jumper onto the lunar surface.
"Jumper One to Stargate Command" said Faith on the subspace communicator.
"Stargate Command" said the voice of Colonel Carter.
"Ma'am?" said Willow.
"Enjoy yourself, Willow" said Colonel Carter, "Jumper One, next check-in will be in twelve hours."
"Got that" said Faith, "Twelve hour check-in, copy. Jumper One will be going dark."
"Roger that" said Colonel Carter, "enjoy."
"Alright" said Faith as she smiled at Willow, "how you liking it so far?"
"I love it" said Willow as she looked at Faith, "the view itself is just fantastic."
"Well" said Faith when she noticed Willow looking at her, "the Earth is right there."
"Who said I was talking about the Earth?" replied Willow as she kissed Faith again, "this is the best celebration I could have asked for."
"The night…. Well… can we really call it night in space?" said Faith, "anyway, it's not over yet."
"What else is there?" said Willow as Faith pushed her to the back of the ship.
"Stay here, give me ten minutes" said Faith.
"Faith?" said Willow as the brunette pressed a button and a pressurised door came between the cockpit and the back of the ship, "Faith?"
"Ten minutes!" shouted Faith as she crouched down and opened a floor panel.
Fifteen minutes later, Faith pressed the same button again and the door moved back to its original location to reveal a surprised Willow as she looked down at the floor.
"Faith" said Willow as she looked at the two plates of food on a chequered blanket on the floor of the puddle jumper, "how?"
"Sam helped me put this stuff in the drone weapons storage compartment underneath the floor" said Faith, "and since we have this thing till tomorrow night, the ration compartments have been loaded with some real food."
"This is amazing, Faith" said Willow as she went down onto the floor and sat next to the brunette, "I don't know how to thank you."
"Well" said Faith as she reached behind, and under the control console, as she took out a small black box and opened it before giving it to a very surprised Willow, "maybe you could say yes, to this?"
"Faith" said Willow as she took the box before she started laughing.
"Red?" said Faith as she looked in surprise at the laughter that was coming from Willow, "I mean… I understand if you say no…. but, I was hoping you wouldn't laugh.. I mean…"
"No" said Willow as she waved her hands around, "it's not that.."
"Then?" said Faith as she suddenly looked hurt, "I mean…"
"Faith" said Willow as she telekinetically grabbed her purse, "I…"
Faith then looked on as Willow burst into another laughing fit, before she calmed down with tears coming from her eyes.
"Faith" said Willow as she reached into her purse and took out a small box as well, "I was…"
Now it was Faith's turn to laugh as she went and hugged Willow tightly.
"I thought you laughed at…" said Faith as Willow interrupted her.
"You kidding me?" grinned Willow.
"So" said Faith as she picked up her box, "will you marry me and take the step into the great unknown?"
"Yes…. Yes I will, Faith" said Willow as she kissed Faith again before she picked up her box and opened it, "now, will you marry me and give whoever bet that we'll get married today a huge win?"
"Hell yeah" said Faith as she grinned wide and kissed the red head before she took out her ring and put it on Willow's finger.
"It's beautiful, Faith" said Willow as she looked at the ring before she took out hers and placed it on Faith's finger.
"Yours too, Willow" said Faith to the surprise of the redhead.
"You know how long it's been since you called me by my name?" smiled Willow.
"I save it for special occasions… and I think this counts, don't you?" laughed Faith as she looked at the ring Willow gave her when she noticed something on the band, "is that… Ancient?"
"Yea" said Willow as she looked at hers and noticed Ancient writing on hers as well, "you too?"
"Oh yea" replied Faith, "what does yours say? I mean.. if you don't mind me asking….. I don't know if you wanted to keep it a mystery."
"It reads, 'Together, Forever'" said Willow, "and yours?"
"It reads, 'Love you, for all time'" replied Faith as she sat closer to Willow.
"I do, you know" said Willow, "love you for all time."
"You know" said Faith as she moved the plates of food to one side, "I'm suddenly not really that hungry."
"Oh really?" grinned Willow as Faith pushed her down onto the blanket.
"Yeah" said Faith as she moved on top of Willow and kissed her shoulder while taking off the dress straps off her shoulders, before she kissed up her neck and then whispered into her ear, "in fact, I think we should go straight into dessert."
General Landry's Office, SGC, two months later. 1000 hours.
"Sir" said Willow as she knocked on the General's door, "you wanted to… oh."
"Major" said the General as Willow noticed the other man in the office, "meet Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell."
"Sir" said Willow as she saluted Colonel Mitchell, "I'd like to take this moment to thank you again for what you did during the Battle over Antarctica."
"I did what I could, Major" said the Colonel.
"Major" said the General as he looked at Willow, "Colonel Mitchell here will be leading SG1, consider yourself and Faith back into the frontline team."
"Of course sir" smiled Willow.
"Wait, sir" said Colonel Mitchell, "I'm here to join SG1, not lead it."
"Sir?" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel confused.
"What about Lt. Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c?" asked the Colonel as he looked at both Willow and the General.
"Colonel Carter's in Area 51 heading up Stargate R&D, Dr. Jackson's asked for reassignment to Atlantis and Teal'c resigned from the SGC to serve on the new Free Jaffa Nation's government" said General Landry, "which is why you have to go through these personnel files and pick the other members of your team. I'm surprised Jack never told you."
"With all due respect to you, Sir and to the Major" said Colonel Mitchell, "but I came to join SG1, which means everyone… not just two out of five of the team. And no, General O'Neill did not tell me, Sir."
"If I may add?" said Willow as the General and Colonel Mitchell nodded their heads, "Colonel, Dawn's helping Daniel move his stuff out of his lab… so, you're more than welcome in trying to convince him to stay. We've all tried already."
"Sir?" said the Colonel, "permission to go beg Jackson to stay?"
"Granted" smiled the General as he saw Colonel Mitchell run out of the office before he turned to Willow, "how goes the upgrades?"
"The base shields have been upgraded, Sir" said Willow, "including the Gate shield that covers the Iris. Also, Colonel Carter told me that the F-302S prototype is ready for testing, as is the other prototype."
"The F-302S is the stealth version with the cloaking technology?" asked the General.
"Yes, Sir" said Willow, "and the other one is the version with the shield generator that's based on the Ancient shields throughout the base. If it's successful in the testing phase, we can retrofit the other 302's with the shield generator. But we'll probably be looking at six months of testing. At least."
"I see" said the General as he picked up a box and put in on his desk, "and about that Gate Bridge that you and Colonel Carter called me about at three in the morning during your girl's night three weeks ago?"
"Again, Sir" said Willow, "I really do apologize…"
"It's fine" said the General as he waved his hand, "my daughter used to do that too.. sometimes. Just don't make it a habit."
"Of course, Sir" said Willow, "anyway, I receive a response to the message that was sent to McKay at Atlantis; he said that he can program a macro so that the Gates we need can do what we need them to do. It'll take some time to get going with the collaboration with McKay, especially since the only way to send him a message is through the Daedalus during her regular supply runs to Atlantis. In the meantime, I'll be helping Colonel Carter with designing the space station that would serve as the midpoint. Once you and HWS gives the go ahead, we can start on calculating exactly how many gates we'll need for the bridge and what distance they should be at between each other. Once we get those done, then we can start collecting Gates from uninhabited worlds in both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies and use them as the bridge."
"You have a go, Major" said General Landry.
"Thank you, Sir" said Willow, "I'll inform Colonel Carter and send a message to McKay before the Daedalus leaves next week."
"Also" said the General, "I don't know if I mentioned this before but congratulations on your engagement."
"You did, Sir" said Willow, "but thank you again."
"I know Walter was ecstatic" said General Landry as he hung a calendar on the wall right next to him.
"Yes, Sir" said Willow, "he won the bet."
"Alright then" said the General as he started taking more things out from the box on his table.
"Can I help you with that, Sir?" asked Willow.
"Don't worry Major" said the General, "I prefer using my hands to put things away."
"So do I Sir" smiled Willow.
"Alright then" said the General as he pointed to a box of his left, "grab that box over there, I think it has some plaques that need to be hung on the wall behind you."
"Of course, Sir" said Willow as she crouched down and lifted the box up onto the General's desk and started to hang some of his plaques when the klaxons went off.
"It's started" said Willow as she and the General ran down to the control room.
"Walter?" said the General as Willow stood next to the General.
"It's SG12, Sir" said Walter, "It seems they have a woman with them claiming to know Dr. Jackson, a Vala Mal Doran."
"Oh" said Willow.
"Major?" replied General Landry.
"Space Pirate" said Willow, "According to Daniel's report she hijacked the Prometheus, wanted to sell it to something called the Lucian Alliance."
"Right" said General Landry as he looked at Willow, "please confirm with Dr. Jackson about this… Vala person."
"Yes, sir" said Willow as she ran to Daniel's lab.
"Walter" said the General as he turned to the technician, "inform SG12 that upon confirmation, she's to be taken to the Beta Site for a twelve hour hold before she's allowed to the SGC."
"Sir?" said Walter.
"Punishment for stealing the Prometheus" smiled the General.
"Of course, Sir" said Walter as he go on the radio.
"This is going to be real fun" said the General to himself as he walked back up the stairs.
TBC