A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for all the great reviews for the previous chapter. I know my take on Ripple Effect finished real quick, but with Willow's powers of empathy and mind reading being what they are, it seems unrealistic that more teams would be coming through and her not even knowing why this was going on. Especially since the teams coming through had no idea that she is a telepath. I did have two separate write ups with multiple teams, including some with Willows... including the one from my "The Aftermath" story, but it just didn't fit. I'm already writing up a new chapter for "The Aftermath" so hopefully that should be up soon. Probably before New Years... I hope. Anyway, I hope you guys like this final part of "The Return". Again, thanks for reading and reviewing.
Willow's Lab, SGC, 0130 hours.
Willow had spent thirty minutes typing up her report before she stretched her body and yawned at the same time once it was completed. After printing out her report for the General, she put that inside the file cabinet behind her workstation. She then closed her word processing program and opened another folder entitled, 'Project Avalon'. After working on 'Project Avalon' for another hour or so, she rubbed her temples before she turned off her computer, and walked out of her lab. Before heading back to her quarters, Willow took the elevator down to the infirmary level.
Upon reaching the floor, Willow walked out of the elevator and headed towards Joyce's room. As she turned around a corner, she smiled when she saw that the light in her room was still on. Knocking softly on the door, Willow waiting for the soft voice that had told her to come in. After she slowly opened the door, Willow walked into the room and quietly pushed the curtain that gave Joyce some privacy and smiled at the sight before her. She saw that Joyce was sitting cross-legged on the bed, with Rose and Jay sleeping with their heads on her legs and their body's on the bed.
"Willow" whispered Joyce with a smile as she ran her hands through Rose and Jay's hair, "is everything alright?"
"Yea" whispered Willow was she stood next to Joyce, "still can't get some proper sleep?"
Willow recalled how much difficulty Joyce had in getting sleep since they arrived from Edina to the SGC. She said that it had something to do with the fact that they were in an underground facility with no windows.
"I miss falling asleep while looking out at the stars" said Joyce as she leaned back against the pillow that was supporting her back, "don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be back home… but… I still… I mean I spent ten years there, Willow. It's not easy to build a new life and then suddenly have that ripped away from you again, even if I was brought back home. I made new friends there… I loved again there… and…"
"I can only guess at what happened" said Willow as she sat down and held on to Joyce's hand as she wiped away a tear.
"And now they're all gone" said Joyce as her voice broke slightly, "why did I survive Willow? Why did we survive and everyone die? Ever since we came, I've been asking that same question to myself over and over again."
"Mrs. Summers" said Willow softly, "none of this is your fault, you had to leave Edina for Jay and Rose. I was there remember, I was there when Colonel Raimi was performing CPR on her… if you had only been a few minutes late.. I think she would have.. I mean, I wouldn't have been able to heal her in time."
"But everyone still died, Willow" said Joyce as she looked at the redhead, "the man who found me near the Stargate.. he was the one I eventually married and had Jay and Rose with, he died after Rose's second birthday. And now, they've lost everyone too and I don't think they understand what's going on yet."
"Have you talked to Buffy or Dawn about this?" asked Willow.
"How can I?" asked Joyce as more tears fell down her cheeks, "yes, I know Buffy has prevented apocalypses and such before you left Sunnydale… I know she died and then prevent a few apocalypses after she was resurrected. But she doesn't know the impact losing an entire planet can have on a soul… a whole planet, Willow…. they wiped out a planet of innocent people. How can I force that on Buffy and Dawn? It's not fair to them."
"They're adults now Mrs. Summers, yes this is hitting them all at once but they need to know what's going on out there, while they defend the planet" said Willow as Joyce nodded her head.
"I know" said Joyce, "that's why I'm scared to tell them."
"The General will be talking about this later today" said Willow as she grabbed a seat next to Joyce, "but the Ori attempted to open a beachhead in this galaxy."
"What?" asked Joyce in surprise.
"They built a Supergate" said Willow, "a giant sized Stargate to bring in ships from their own galaxy, so that they could invade this one."
"Oh my" said Joyce as she looked at Willow, "did they succeed? Please tell me you and the others managed to prevent it."
"Yes" said Willow as Joyce sighed, but then grew concerned as she noticed the lack of a smile on Willow's face.
"Willow?" said Joyce, "that's a good thing right?"
"They destroyed an entire planet" said Willow as Joyce looked on in shock, "they powered a force field from their galaxy and used the power of our own weapons against us. They knew we would defend Kallana, the planet they would eventually destroy, and they were counting on us using the Mark Nine nuclear weapon. We were hoping that it would destroy the Stargate, thus deactivating the wormhole and getting rid of the force field."
"But that didn't happen?" asked Joyce.
"No" said Willow softly, "instead, the energy released by the weapon quickened the rate of the force field expanding."
"Quickened?" asked Joyce, "you mean it kept on expanding? It would have kept on expanding even if you didn't do anything?"
"Yes" said Willow, "we just helped it along, the weapons fire from our ships and the Mark Nine released enough power for the field to envelope the entire planet."
"How many people?" asked Joyce quietly as she looked down at Jay and Rose, "how many people died?"
"Thousands of Jaffa" said Willow, "it was one of the rebel strongholds. But they all died even before we arrived at the planet. Eventually the force field forced the planet to shrink until it formed a singularity, a black hole, to power the Supergate. They were unsuccessful though; a woman called Vala sacrificed herself to destroy the Supergate just as the singularity formed."
"Oh" said Joyce.
"We think she's alive in the Ori galaxy" said Willow, "Colonel Carter detected a matter stream from the ring transporters on the cargo ship Vala was piloting, and the matter stream was sucked into the black hole. We know she's alive, but there's no way to get her back."
"I see" said Joyce.
"The loss of Kallana, Mrs. Summers" said Willow as she stood up, "I saw with my own eyes the planet get destroyed and there was nothing that any of us could have done to prevent that. It would have happened whether we helped it along or not. It's the same with Edina, the Prior was going to come eventually; he released the plague to punish everyone and you did everything you could for your children to save them. You couldn't have stopped the plague, and frankly neither could we until Gerak sacrificed his own life to heal the entire base so that Dr. Lam could use Orlin's research, and the antibodies from the recovered patients to create a cure. Mrs. Summers, Jay and Rose are alive because of you… and because you risked your life without knowing what was on the other side of the gate, you found Buffy and Dawn again."
"I can't ever forget the people of the village" said Joyce.
"And you shouldn't" replied Willow, "they'll always be with you, but the best way to honour their memory is to slowly move on. Don't forget them, but you still have to move on for the sake of your family."
"Can I see them, one last time?" asked Joyce, "can I visit Edina? There is someone I'd like to say goodbye to."
"What was his name?" asked Willow.
"Jaden" said Joyce with a sad smile.
"I'll talk to the General" said Willow, "the medical team cleared everything already, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"Thanks" said Joyce softly.
"Where's Buffy?" asked Willow as she looked around.
"I asked her and Xander to get some sleep" said Joyce, "they looked so tired, Dawn came by with Anya and Rupert to visit me. I asked them to get some sleep as well. Rupert seemed especially excited when he came into the room, something about a lot of first editions that Dr. Jackson has in his lab."
"Yeah" said Willow, "I knew he'd be excited. I heard that Daniel was asking Giles about some of his books, they're thinking about some kind of collaboration."
"How about you?" asked Joyce, "with all my medical tests, and needles poking into me.. and the emergencies that seem to come up at the most inopportune moments. The both of us never got to sit down and just talk."
"I know" said Willow, "but I'm thinking that the infirmary isn't the best place for that. I was thinking that after you're officially resurrected, you can recover at my place for a few days; you know, get used to the outside world again before you head out to Sunnydale."
"That would be nice" said Joyce as Willow put her hand on Joyce's shoulder and squeezed.
"Welcome home, Mrs. Summers" said Willow as she kissed the top of her head before she slowly waved goodbye and headed back to her quarters.
Hyatt Hotel, Tara and Kennedy's Room, 0730 hours.
Kennedy was the first to wake up from her slumber. As she opened her eyes, she looked over at Tara who was still sleeping with one arm rest on the Slayer's chest. She gingerly ran her fingers down the witch's arm and smiled as Tara's face twitched slightly. Kennedy then turned to her side and gave Tara a quick kiss on the forehead. Kennedy recalled the conversation they had the previous night, after a girls night out with her girlfriend and Cordelia. Tara told Kennedy about General Landry's offer for her to join the SGC for a few months out of the year.
'I just don't want you to die' thought Kennedy to herself as she wrapped her arm around the sleeping blonde's waist and pulled her closer.
"I'll still be with the BPRI" Tara had told Kennedy the night before when they had a girl's night in Cordelia's hotel room, "but the General may need me for certain missions."
"It's a good deal" said Cordelia as she looked at the shock on Kennedy's face, "the same one that Anya has right now. It's similar to the deal that Dawn has as well, although that may change."
"Huh?" said a still shell shocked Kennedy after hearing about the General's offer.
"I won't be surprised if Dawn decides to move to Colorado Springs permanently" said Cordelia, "I mean once she's earned her doctorate, that is."
"Hold up" said Kennedy, "I don't think Dawn will want to continue doing this, come on.. she's gotten her mom back. Do you really think that she's willing to stay here instead of in Sunnydale? Plus, we've got apocalypses almost every month; there's always something that pops up trying to destroy the whole world, or putting this planet into hell."
"The resources from the SGC would help us a lot" said Cordelia.
"Yes" said Tara nodding her head before she turned to Cordelia, "Miss Chase, I'd like your permission to visit the Nox."
"Of course" said Cordelia, "you can take two guests with you, any idea on who you want along?"
"Kennedy?" asked Tara, "would you go?"
"I think I'll be needed here, Tara" said Kennedy, "you know the supernatural doesn't take a break. Even here, I dusted three vamps near the hotel when I went on patrol."
Cordelia glanced at the upset look that Tara had on her face, feeling sorry for the blonde.
"I'll go with you if you want" said Cordelia as Tara looked at her in surprise.
"But… but.. Mr. Angel?" asked Tara, "I mean, I don't know how long we'll be gone."
"Angel's a grown boy" smiled Cordelia, "he can take care of himself, plus I'll ask the BPRI's law enforcement liaison to watch over him while we're gone."
"Kate?" asked Kennedy smiling, "she's fun to work with."
"How about you ask Willow to go as well?" asked Cordelia as she glanced over at the darkness that took over Kennedy's face.
"That's a good idea" said Tara, "she already knows the Nox, and she can introduce us to them…. I mean proper introduction.. you know…"
"NO" said Kennedy as she looked at Tara, "I'll take the second spot with you, there's no need to ask Willow."
"Really?" said Tara with a smile, "you really will? This is something I really want to do, and I'd like your support."
"I support you" said Kennedy, "but I'm not comfortable with you joining the SGC."
"It's only a few months out of the year, Kennedy" said Cordelia, "not the whole year."
"Even so" said Kennedy as she looked at Cordelia with a serious look on her face, "she's not trained, what happens if she's out there and she gets shot? What if there's no medic in the team and they're under fire? I don't want her out there where she could get killed."
"Willow said that they'll train me" said Tara.
"I really don't care what she said" replied Kennedy, "it's not her life that's on the line… it's yours."
"Dawn's trained" said Tara, "she goes off-world with her team."
"She's right, Kennedy" said Cordelia.
"Look" said Kennedy as she looked at Tara, "I'll support you going to visit the Nox, and I'll be right at your side for that one. But, joining the SGC? Sorry, I can't support you on that."
"Kennedy" said Tara as the dark haired Slayer got up, "please, it's an opportunity of a lifetime."
"I don't want to lose you" said Kennedy, "I'm sorry. I can't support that."
Tara watched sadly as Kennedy got up and walked out of the door, leaving her and Cordelia in the room alone.
"Tara" said Cordelia softly as she held on to her arm, "you should be the one who decides. Angel and I have already told you our decision if you decide to go with what the General was asking, it's an opportunity of a lifetime. Just know that you have our support if you do decide to spend some time at the SGC."
"Thanks" said Tara softly, "I think I had better go, Miss Chase."
"Alright" said Cordelia, "I'm here if you need to talk."
"Thanks" said Tara as she got off the bed and walked out of Cordelia's room.
Briefing Room, SGC, 1030 hours.
Willow was in her quarters when it was time for the second part of the briefing for the Scoobies, the part on their current enemy that they we going against; the Ori. She had told Buffy some of it during the time she was taking her and Dawn to visit Joyce, but now the entire group would find out what was going on out there in the galaxy.
She look out a new set of her dress blues since the one she wore yesterday was stained and made a mental note to get it cleaned and pressed. Making sure that she looked presentable, Willow then walked out of her quarters and walked towards the main elevator landing where she was supposed to meet up with Cordelia, Kennedy and Tara. While she was heading towards the landing, she met Colonel Carter, also in her Dress Blues, and Faith who was wearing a simple black suit ensemble.
"Hey Red" said Faith as she squeezed Willow's arm, "those guys here already?"
"Yea" said Willow, "just got a call from the surface, their car just drove in."
"Cool" smiled Faith.
"Ma'am" said Willow as she turned to face Colonel Carter, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm alright, Willow" said the Colonel.
"Talked to Pete?" asked Faith.
"Yea" said Colonel Carter, "he wasn't excited about me going to Nevada, so he was sulking. He just got out of it… mostly."
"Ah" said Faith as she glanced at Willow.
"Ma'am" said Willow, "I was hoping I could get your input on something I was working on."
"Sure" said Colonel Carter, "what is it?"
"It's a surprise" said Willow grinning.
"Alright" said the Colonel with her eyebrow raised, "a surprise huh? I wonder what it could be."
"A new way to destroy a sun?" grinned Faith.
"Hey" said Colonel Carter as she grinned at Faith, "that was only one time… I mean, you destroy one sun and that thing stays with you forever."
"You have to admit, ma'am" said Willow as the three of them walked towards the elevator landing, "it must have been so cool."
"Well" said Colonel Carter smiling, "kinda."
"I knew it" said Faith excitedly, "what's next? You gonna destroy a solar system?"
"Hey" laughed Colonel Carter, "you take me as some sort of an evil genius or something?"
"Well" said Faith as the Colonel punched her arm, "hey, what was that for?"
"You were thinking that I'm an evil genius" said the Colonel.
"Maybe a little bit" laughed Faith as she managed to avoid another hit from the Colonel as Willow looked on.
It took the three of them a few minutes to reach the main elevator landing just as the door opened and Cordelia, Kennedy and Tara stepped out of the elevator.
"Willow" smiled Tara as she looked at the redhead.
"Hey Tara" said Willow as she waved at the blonde witch.
"Colonel Carter" said Cordelia as she stepped forward, "hope everything's alright?"
"Yes" said the Colonel as she walked with Cordelia and led the others through the hallway towards the secondary elevators which went to the briefing room level, "actually, Willow was the one who discovered something was wrong with the first team that came through. From then on, we managed to find out what they did, and reverse it with the Asgard's help."
"The same ones who cloned, and kidnapped Mrs. Summers?" asked Kennedy.
"Loki was the one who did that" said Willow, "not the whole race, you could do well to remember that."
"What?" said Kennedy as she looked at Willow.
"Ladies" said Colonel Carter as she looked back at the two women.
"Sorry, ma'am" said Willow as she continued walking through the hallways. They soon reached the secondary elevator shaft and took the car down to the twenty seventh floor where they again walked through meters of hallways to reach the briefing room. As they entered the briefing room, Willow saw Daniel and Giles in one corner of the room having a spirited conversation as Joyce and Buffy were seated and talking at the table, while Anya and Dawn were laughing about something. She saw that Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c were staring out at the Gate as if they were deep in thought.
Once he had seen Willow, Colonel Carter and Faith walk into the briefing room; General Landry walked out of his office and asked everyone to sit down as they were set to begin the second part of the briefing.
"Thank you all for coming back" said General Landry, "the event that occurred yesterday has been rectified."
"So you just happened to rectify… as you say it… an incident involving alternate realities?" asked Kennedy, "seriously?"
"Simply put, yes" said Colonel Carter, "the event was caused by the first team that came through…"
"You mean the ones in the black BDU's right?" asked Xander as Joyce and all the Scoobies looked at him while Willow smiled.
"Soldier guy? Halloween? Remember?" said Xander as Colonel Carter and Mitchell, Daniel and General Landry looked at Xander confused.
"We fell under a spell during Halloween years ago" said Willow, "we all became what we were dressed as."
"So Xander Harris became a soldier?" asked Teal'c.
"Because he was dressed as a soldier" said Willow, "even the toy gun he carried became a real weapon that I guess was firing blanks."
"Willow became a ghost" said Buffy as SG1 looked on in surprise, "and I became a woman from the Victorian era."
"And you have the memories?" asked Daniel.
"Yes" said Willow, Buffy and Xander.
"A ghost?" said General Landry while looking at Willow.
"It wasn't fun, Sir" said Willow smiling, "I had to actually die to… wait a sec."
"Willow?" asked Daniel as he noticed her looking at him, "what's wrong?"
"I died" said Willow grinning, "I died more times than you."
"Well" said Daniel as he walked towards Willow and playfully poked her arm, "who's keeping score."
"I am" said Faith with a grin.
"Anyway" said Colonel Carter grinning at Willow who stuck out her tongue at Daniel, "the first team punched a bridge into this reality so that they could steal a very powerful source of power."
"It's called a Zero Point Module" said Willow, "it looks like a large crystal that contains within it a pocket of subspace-time, think of it like a little universe in a bottle."
"Power like that" said Giles as he leaned forward, "at least from what I understand would provide clean energy? Am I right?"
"Yeah" said Willow, "unfortunately, it's Ancient technology and although one of our outposts has research on how to create it, the problem is understanding the research."
"Without understanding" said Giles, "knowledge would be useless."
"Right" said Colonel Carter, "which is why the Naquada generators were developed as an alternate source of power. It's what's powering the shields in this base, and it's what powers our ships."
"Am I right in assuming that the other reality has Naquada generator technology?" asked Kennedy as Colonel Carter nodded, "then why come here to get the ZPM."
"The Ori were set to attack Earth" said Willow as she noticed Tara looking shocked, "they used up all of the power of their ZPM in powering the Antarctic Weapons platform. They wanted ours in case they came back."
"So why not give it to them?" asked Kennedy.
"It's powering the shields on our other outpost in the Pegasus galaxy" said Colonel Mitchell as he stared at Kennedy, "it they had taken that ZPM, the people there would be in danger."
"You have an outpost in another galaxy?" asked Buffy.
"Yea" replied Willow, "but we'll get to that a little later."
"Alright" said Buffy as she nodded her head.
"I already told Buffy about the Ori" said Willow, "but not everything."
"She told us about the plague" said Kennedy, "the one that you people unleashed on the planet."
"Kennedy" said Giles.
"What?" asked Kennedy shrugging her shoulders, "I'm telling the truth, last time I checked.. this is still a free country."
"Young lady" said Joyce as she looked at Kennedy, "these people saved the lives of everyone on this planet, you will show them the respect they deserve."
"But…" said Kennedy.
"Ken" replied Tara as she reached for her hand, "please."
"Fine" said Kennedy.
"Willow" said Giles, "please continue."
"Yes the plague was brought here to Earth from another planet" said Willow, "another planet that we went on a recon mission. We wanted to see if they would follow Origin. During that mission one of the Prior's touched the forehead of one of the recon team and he became the carrier. It spread once he came back to the SGC."
"We lost good people that day" said Colonel Mitchell.
"One of the Ancients known as Orlin descended with all his knowledge to help us" said Colonel Carter to the surprise of the Scoobies.
"I thought you said they can't interfere" said Giles, "and even if they wanted to interfere, that the others would wipe their memories."
"That's true" said Daniel, "at least what we thought was true. Orlin didn't exactly know either why he was let go with his knowledge. He figured that most of the Others felt it necessary to warn us."
"But you already knew about the Ori" said Tara.
"Yes" said Daniel, "we knew that a long time ago, the Ori and the Alterans were one society, human, on an evolutionary path to ascension. But a philosophical division grew. The Ori grew more and more fervent in their religious belief and the Alterans, believed more in science. Due to that, the Ori tried to wipe them out."
"So instead of going to war" said Faith, "the Alterans built a ship, left their galaxy, and came here. We know that both the Alterans and the Ori eventually ascended, and that the Ori passed on a religion called "Origin" to the next evolution of humans they created."
"But according to Orlin" said Colonel Carter, "the central promise of the religion, everything Origin's followers devote themselves to, is a lie."
"Hold on" said Giles as he leaned forward, "what are you saying?"
"They don't offer their followers ascension" said Willow, because if they did, then they would have to share power."
"Power?" asked Tara, "what power?"
"Willow told me about it yesterday" said Buffy, "they get their power from this plain of existence."
"Wait" said Tara as she looked at Buffy and then at Willow, "how is that possible? There really is a transfer of power? They really sap the power from those who worship them?"
"According to Orlin, yes" said Willow, "and for it to have a measurable effect, it requires massive numbers of humans relinquishing their will. It's one of the main reasons the Ancients believe in strict non-interference in the lower planes."
"The temptation to manipulate and align lower life forms in some order for your own purposes could result in exactly this type of abusive corruption' said Daniel as he noticed Giles nodding his head in agreement.
"Then those who worship the Ori here" said Giles, "the Ancients won't interfere."
"No" said Daniel, "we're free to worship the Ori if we want to, but doing would bring death of the most meaningless kind because there's no conscious effort to achieve enlightenment without being spoon-fed by the Ori."
"An empty death" said Giles as he put his glasses on the table and rubbed his eyes.
"Do the Priors know all this?" asked Joyce, her hands clenched into fists, "when that Prior came to Edina and decimated the whole planet.. did he know about all this?"
"No" said Colonel Mitchell, "Myself, Major Rosenberg, Daniel, General Landry and Orlin were on the Sodan planet to try to turn one of them to our side. But even when we told him the truth, he still lashed out.. infected the General. The Major and I had to shoot him."
"But he revealed why he's coming to this galaxy" said Daniel.
"Why?" asked Kennedy softly.
"They're going to sap all the energy from worshippers in this galaxy" said Daniel, "and then destroy the Ancients."
"And if that happens" said Dawn, "you can say goodbye to free will."
"And they have more of an active involvement in the lives of people" said Colonel Mitchell, "I don't know what they'll do about demons and such, but if they can get energy from them as well… then you'll have Ori worshipping demons, vampires…. Witches. No offense Miss Maclay."
"None taken" smiled Tara.
"What happened to Orlin?" asked Buffy.
"His research saved everyone" said Willow as she looked at the ground in sadness, "but…."
"He's in a home" said Colonel Carter sadly.
"A foster home?" asked Kennedy.
"No" said Willow, "he's at a long term care facility."
"Oh my" said Giles, "what happened to him?"
"Holding on to all that knowledge in his mind" said Colonel Carter, "well, it destroyed his mind. He suffered from irreparable brain damage."
"Oh no" said Joyce.
"All that knowledge was never meant to be in a human mind" said Willow, "holding on to it so that he could help us… well, it destroyed his mind. I tried to heal him with my powers, but I couldn't heal the dead cells."
"Another loss for us" said Colonel Mitchell.
"How many did you lose?" asked Cordelia softly.
"Colonel Barnes was the first to pass away" said General Landry, "after that, we had sixteen more cases and more a day later. Most of them died too. Eventually, if Teal'c hadn't convinced Gerak to help us, then Major Rosenberg and myself would have died as well."
"Willow?" asked Joyce, "what happened?"
"After I healed you, Jay and Rose, and sent you off to the Alpha Site with SG22" said Willow, "we went back to Stargate Command. Dr. Lam tested all of us and found the virus present in General Landry's blood, as well as my own."
"Once I had managed to convince Gerak on the error of his ways" said Teal'c, "he returned with me to Stargate Command and healed everyone here."
"Close call" said Xander.
"Tell me about it" said Faith as she rubbed her temples, "real close. But we now have the cure, and it was immediately distributed around the planet, and the other planets it affected. But some received it too late."
"Sorry, Mrs. Summers" said Willow as Joyce nodded her head.
Following more conversations about the Ori, the group moved on to talking about Atlantis and the Wraith. Buffy and Kennedy were particularly surprised about what they called space vampires. Eventually, they learnt about the siege of Atlantis and the role that Angel played in protecting the city after Willow and Faith were sent back to Earth. Cordelia had told them about the commendation he received from the President.
"He did?" said Buffy, "wow."
"He killed the last Wraith" said Cordelia, "prevented the city from getting severely damaged and saved lives in the process."
"Trust me" said Willow, "I'd rather face vampire than the Wraith, at least with Vamps they can turn you into a Vamp. The Wraith just leave you as a dried up husk."
"Yeah" said Buffy as she looked at Willow before grinning.
"What?" asked Willow as she noticed the grin.
"You beat space vampires" said Buffy laughing, "never thought I'd actually use the words 'space vampire' before, but there it is."
"So there's no way that these Wraith could find their way to Earth?" asked Giles as he looked at General Landry, "I mean, if this planet is the richest feeding ground in two galaxies then…. Oh dear."
"Mr. Giles" said General Landry, "the only way to Earth is through Atlantis. Even if there is a scenario where they learn Earth's location, we'll fight to prevent access to this galaxy."
"Dawn" said Colonel Carter, "this part of the briefing is yours."
"Dawnie?" asked Buffy.
"Willow created a program to search for the emissions that ZPM's and quantum mirrors, the same device that sent us to an alternate reality, gives off" said Dawn as she gave the BPRI personnel a folder marked Top Secret., "she found many places on the planet with those emissions including…"
"Sunnydale?" asked Giles as he scanned the pages before flipping through the pages.
"Wait" said Buffy as she opened her folder, "are you serious?"
"Dawnie" said Kennedy, "what?"
"According to your report" said Giles as everyone looked on, "the data showed that the Ancients and their allies…."
"We think that it's the Furlings" said Willow as Giles looked at her in surprise, "mainly due to the word Mystics… Lya of the Nox told me that the Furlings were a race that practised both science and mystics… magics."
"Oh" said Tara as she leaned forward, "does that mean…"
"I don't know" said Willow, "actually, the Asgard asked me if any magic users would be willing to give their DNA for a genetic test."
"I… I'm willing" said Tara, "I mean… I'd really like to know."
"Thor's heading here" said Colonel Carter, "mainly because he wants to apologize to Mrs. Summers for what happened to her, and because he wants to look at the cloning data we found at the outpost."
"But" said Giles as he flipped through the pages, "what this is saying is that the Ancients and the Furlings opened a doorway to alternate dimensions to find a cure for the plague that affected all life in this galaxy? Is that accurate?"
"I can confirm Dawn's translations" said Daniel, "they used magic to connect the gateway directly into the Earth… a never ending power source."
"It became self sufficient" said Buffy as she looked at Giles and then at Kennedy.
"The Hellmouth" said the three of them together, "this is the Hellmouth."
"The one in Sunnydale is the first" said Dawn, "the others must have been formed by the Furlings or another race based on the original gateway or Hellmouth, between a little more than ten million years ago which was when the Ancients left in Atlantis and reseeded life in this galaxy, and ten thousand years ago which was when the Ancients returned from Atlantis during the war with the Wraith."
"Giles" said Willow, "look at the power fluctuations from the energy output and the energy spikes."
"Someone… or something came through" said Buffy as she looked up at Willow, and then Dawn, "right? Something came through?"
"That's the only this I could come up with" said Dawn, "life in this galaxy was either dead, ascended, or left in a massive city-ship. Then only thing that could cause that massive power spikes would have to be something coming into this dimension."
"Ten million years" said Giles as he looked at the data on the piece of paper, "long before man existed… at least the second evolution of man."
"General" said Cordelia, "have you found anything from Atlantis? I mean, it should have records on this?"
"We're still sifting through the database in Atlantis" said General Landry, "but so far, they mentioned nothing about strange creatures from the time the Ancients came to this galaxy."
"The Asgard downloaded the entire Ancient database onto their computers" said Colonel Carter, "we asked them to take a look through the database, see if they come up with anything interesting on the Hellmouth, or what could have happened after Atlantis left Earth."
"How can you trust them?:" asked Kennedy.
"They're the most powerful and one of the oldest races that we know of who also happens to be one of our closest allies" said Colonel Mitchell, "they may not wear any pants… but we'd trust them with our lives."
"Mr. Giles" said Daniel, "Willow told me that you have a lot of books on demonology and such, would you like to collaborate on trying to confirm what we've found at the outpost?"
"Yes" said Giles, "that would be fantastic."
"Hold on" said Anya as she looked at the attached chart in the folder, "ten million years.. are you sure about this?"
"According to the records in the outpost?" said Daniel as he looked at his girlfriend, "yeah."
"And you're sure that there were no more Ancients or Alterrans?" asked Anya again.
"Yea" said Daniel, "why? What're you thinking?"
"They did it" said Anya as she leaned back and laughed nervously while rubbing her face with her hands, "they did it."
"Anya?" said Giles as he looked at the laughing vengeance demon.
"Don't you understand" said Anya as she looked at Giles and then at Willow, "remember what the Mayor wanted to turn into? The reason I fled Sunnydale during graduation?"
"Wait" said Willow, "you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"
"Willow?" asked Colonel Carter.
"Oh dear lord" said Giles as he leaned forward.
"Giles?" asked Cordelia as she looked at Giles' face.
"What's going on?" asked General Landry as he turned to look at Willow, "Major?"
"General" said Anya, "the Old Ones… these two races brought the Old Ones into this dimension, that's the power spikes… at least that's what we think it could be.. the only thing that makes sense."
"Old Ones?" asked General Landry.
"Pure demons, Sir" said Willow, "Mayor Wilkins of Sunnydale ascended… well, I guess in this case it would be demonic ascension, into one of the original pure demons."
"Olvikan" said Giles, "a massive snake-like creature the Mayor transformed into during the High School graduation."
"How come none of us heard about this?" asked Colonel Carter.
"Remember the explosion I told you about, ma'am?" asked Willow, "a gas explosion that took out the school?"
"Uh huh… oh" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow.
"We kinda blew up the school with the snake inside" said Xander.
"Oh" said Daniel while Teal'c looked on with an eyebrow raised.
"So they really did have the Earth all to themselves" said Faith, "they made it their own personal hell for millions of years."
"Will the Asgard not have known about this period of time?" asked Teal'c.
"I'm guessing that's one question we really need to be asking those little guys" said Colonel Mitchell, "but still, demons…. Damn. If my grandma knew that demons were real…. Then… damn."
It was at that time that Walter came running up the stairs and moved quickly to General Landry's side.
"Sir" said Walter, "we just received a message from Thor, he's asking for permission to beam down."
"Beam?" said Xander surprised, "as in Star Trek?"
"But much more cooler" said Faith with a grin.
"Mrs. Summers" said General Landry, "would it be alright with you? After all, you were kidnapped by his compatriot."
Joyce looked at Dawn, and then Buffy before taking a deep breath.
"Yes, General" said Joyce, "I'll be alright."
"Ask him to beam down, Walter" said the General as Walter ran down the stairs to the control room.
"Mom?" said Buffy as she squeezed her hand, "we're here."
"I know, sweetie" said Joyce softly.
All of a sudden, everyone heard a buzzing sound followed by a flash of white light. Buffy and the others looked on in surprise as they saw a short, grey alien deposited next to Willow and Colonel Carter.
"Oh dear" said Giles as he stood up in surprise as Thor turned his head and looked at the Watcher curiously.
"Hi Thor" said Daniel, "long time no see."
"I apologize" said Thor, "as you know, the Asgard are currently rebuilding our civilisation as well as eradicating the genetic disease that had threatened to claim our race."
"Thor" said Colonel Carter, "I'd like for you to meet Colonel Mitchell, the leader of SG1 and General Landry, the new base commander."
"Greetings, Colonel… General" said Thor as he looked at the new individuals before setting his black eyes on the Scoobies.
"Thor" said Willow, "I'd like for you to meet my friends; Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Anya, Giles, Cordelia, Kennedy, Tara and Mrs. Summers."
"Greetings, I am Thor" said the little grey alien as Buffy and company stared at him in shock, "I am the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet."
"Ummm… hi" said Cordelia as she stood up and nervously waved, "I'm… ah…. Well, I'm Cordelia Chase.. one of the co-leaders of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Investigations."
"Hello" said Thor as he nodded his head, before turning his attention to Joyce. He slowly walked towards Joyce as Buffy and Kennedy stood up to stand protectively next to her.
"Do not be afraid" said Thor as he stopped a few steps away as he looked at Joyce, "I apologize for what happened to you. I realize that it does not return the years you have missed with your children, but I would like for you to know that what Loki did was never sanctioned by the Asgard High Council or the Asgard Science Council. He had destroyed the research he conducted on you once he discovered the clone had died, and that is why we were unaware of what happened to you, and why we were unable to find you and return you to your home.. or to Stargate Command."
"Is he being punished?" asked Joyce softly.
"Yes" said Thor, "once Willow notified us of what happened, he admitted his wrongdoing."
"Does he regret what he did?" asked Dawn.
"No" said Thor.
"Oh, that's cold" said Xander shaking his head.
"He did what he thought was right" said Thor looking at Xander and then at Joyce, "his only goal was to save our race. But what he did was still wrong, and what you and your family had gone through should never had happened."
"But it still did" said Joyce softly.
"Yes" replied Thor, "and I can only apologize for his actions."
Joyce could only close her eyes and nod her head as Thor stepped back before he headed towards Willow.
"Thor" said Willow, "I'd like for you to meet Anya, she's a vengeance demon who's lived for a little more than a thousand years."
"Greetings" said Thor as he looked at Anya curiously, "you have been alive for a thousand years?"
"Ye.. yes" said Anya excitedly as she suddenly became quiet, not knowing what she could say to one of the gods she used to worship before she became a demon.
"Finally Thor" said Willow, "I want you to meet Tara Maclay, she's one of the people I told you about after you cloned me."
"Ah" said Thor as he stepped forwards toward Tara as Kennedy moved from Joyce's side to Tara's in a heartbeat, "you must be the one who practices Mystics."
"Ye… yes" said Tara nervously, "tha…. That would be me."
"With your permission, I would like to conduct a genetic test for the Furling gene within your body" said Thor.
"I.. I guess?" said Tara, "will it hurt?"
"Please don't tell me there'll be probing" said Xander as everyone, including Thor, looked at him.
"No" said Thor as he looked at Tara before turning to face Xander, "that is a misconception; there are races though that use primitive methods such as probing to collect data. The Asgard makes the use of highly advanced scanners instead."
"Oh" said Xander, "wait… there are races that probe? Really?"
"Ahem" said Colonel Mitchell, "can we stay on topic please?"
"Thor" said Colonel Carter, "I believe Mr. Giles here has a question he'd like to ask you."
"Huh? Oh, yes.. thank you Colonel" said Giles as he stood up, "after the Ancients left this galaxy, have you, or your people come back to Earth?"
"He means before the first humans" said Daniel.
"I see" said Thor, "yes, the Asgard have been watching over Earth for millennia after the Ancients left in Atlantis, or Ascended to a higher plain."
"What did you find?" asked Giles, "I mean did you find anything?"
"For a few thousand years there was nothing" said Thor, "no life existed."
"According to the Ancients database you downloaded?" asked Willow.
"As you know" said Thor as he looked at Willow, "we have only scratched the surface of that data, even after thousands of years,"
"How about based on the Asgard database?" asked Faith, "I mean you must have some records?"
"Yes" said Thor, "Willow asked me to look at strange energy readings that were recovered from a new outpost on Earth, I conducted checks on the Asgard computers and found a match in our own database."
"You're kidding" said Colonel Mitchell and Xander together.
"No" said Thor in a serious tone of voice, "the energy readings correspond to readings we took of a massive energy surge in what is now the North American continent. The situation was investigated by some Asgard who beamed down onto the planet's surface, but according to the sensor logs of that time… they never beamed back onto their ship."
"Any idea on what happened?" asked Kennedy as she sat down next to Buffy in surprise.
"Another ship was sent" said Thor, "after running scans on the surface, they could not find their life signs. They assumed that they previous crew could have been lost underground, or in an area of high energy readings where Asgard scans could not penetrate. So they took their ship down into the planet's atmosphere and conducted more scans."
"Did they find anything?" asked General Landry.
"Creatures" said Thor, "they saw great creatures on the surface, some simply walking confused… while others were fighting one another. Logs show that the ship itself was attacked by a winged creature about the size of a Beliskner-Class ship. The Asgard on the ship had no choice but to fire on the creature, ultimately destroying it before they made their escape."
"Oh my" said Giles as he looked at a surprised Buffy.
"They didn't go after the ship?" asked Buffy.
"Two more creatures attempted to bring it down" said Thor, "however, by the time they got close enough… the ship had exited the planet's atmosphere, and they could not follow."
"So the demons took over the Earth" said Giles softly to himself, "made it their own hell."
"The Asgard examined the planet for millennia after that first encounter" said Thor, "records show that strange creatures covered not only the surface, but the skies and the oceans as well."
"You had the technology to destroy them" said Kennedy softly, "you should have gotten rid of them all, saved us all a lot of heartaches."
"They were still living beings, at least that is what we assumed" said Thor, "and they did not threaten the Asgard, and at that time… the human population of Earth, and in essence the entire galaxy was extinct. It would be millions of years later that the second evolution of humanity evolved on Earth. At that time, we re-established our relations with the Furling race when they returned to this galaxy. We never knew why they returned, just that they had to flee their own galaxy, for good this time. They would never reveal why."
"The Furlings practised Mystics… I mean Magiks" said Giles, "which mean that they could have taught the earliest humans, even before Neanderthal man, extremely advanced magiks that could have beaten back most of the Old Ones into their own dimensions."
"We noticed a significant decrease in the population of these creatures since the return of the Furlings" said Thor, "I have the data on board the Daniel Jackson."
The Scoobies then looked at Daniel who shrugged his shoulders.
"Wasn't my idea" said Daniel, "I swear."
"May I have a look at that data?" asked Giles.
"Yes" said Thor, "I will have it transferred to Stargate Command before I leave orbit."
"Thank you" said Giles.
"Thor" said Colonel Carter, "if you'd come with me. we've found some information that we would like to show you."
"Of course" said Thor as she turned back to the Scoobies, "it has been interesting meeting all of you."
"Yeah" said Buffy as she gave him a small wave while Thor followed Colonel Carter down the stairs into the control room.
"That was….." said Buffy as she turned around.
"So cool" said a grinning Xander.
"Miss Maclay" said General Landry, "Major Rosenberg has spoken with Lya of the Nox, and they are looking forward to you spending a day with them on their home world tomorrow."
"I… yes" said Tara with a smile, "I'd like that."
"I'll be coming along too" said Kennedy as she looked at General Landry and then at Willow.
"Me too" said Cordelia as the General nodded before turning to Joyce.
"Mrs. Summers, Major Rosenberg told me about your request to say goodbye to your village on Edina" said the General.
"Yes" replied Joyce, "there are some people I'd like to say goodbye to, and I'd like Buffy and Dawn to see that I wasn't harmed or tortured. In fact, the people there treated me like one of their own. I'd like them to see the village I was in, and the beauty of the planet."
"Very well" said General Landry, "Major Rosenberg and Miss Lehane will be accompanying your group tomorrow."
"Yes, sir" said Willow.
"I'll head back to the BPRI tonight" said Giles, "I have a lot of data to sift through. Oh, would I be able to share this information with my research team?"
"I'd just appreciate it if you could send me their names so that we could conduct a proper background check" said General Landry, "but I don't foresee any problems."
"I'd recommend you share this information with Fred" said Anya, "the others are just… well, to put it nicely… not as smart."
"I'll send you the names, General" said Giles as he hid a smile.
"Anya?" said Daniel, "are you heading back to Sunnydale tonight?"
"Giles?" asked Anya.
"Well" said Giles, "we have to wait for approval, in the meantime I can check through the data on my own. You can come back in a couple of days. Cordelia?"
"It's alright with me" said Cordelia, "as long as you are alright with it, it's your department."
"In that case" said Giles looking at Anya, "you're expected back in two days."
"Good" said Anya as she stood up and pulled Daniel out of the briefing room, "come on, something I have to show you."
"Well" said General Landry as he watched Anya pulling Daniel away excitedly, "I guess we're dismissed."
"Sir" said Willow and Colonel Mitchell as the both of them stood up while the General walked back to his office.
"Lunch, anyone?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he looked around the table.
"I could do with some food" said Giles, "Kennedy? Cordelia? Xander?"
"Let's all go" said Cordelia as she stood up.
"Mrs. Summers, Buffy, Dawn" said Willow, "there's someone I'd like for you to meet before we head for lunch."
"Sure" said Joyce.
"Sir" said Willow as she turned to face the Colonel, "see you in the Mess Hall in twenty?"
"Take your time" said Colonel Mitchell, aware of who Willow wanted the Summers family to see.
"Faith?" said Willow as she smiled at the brunette, "you coming?"
"Yep" said Faith as she walked out of the briefing with the redhead and the Summers clan.
Before they went down to the VIP room, Joyce and the others had first gone down to Colonel Dixon's quarter's where Jay and Rose were staying while the others had their briefing. Willow knew that the dad of four would be able to keep up with the two of them during the briefing.
"Thank you so much, Colonel" said Joyce as she picked up Rose, while Jay ran to Buffy and stood at her side while holding her hand.
"It was fun" said the Colonel.
"Thank you" said Rose and Jay together.
"See ya, kids" replied the Colonel.
"Thanks, sir" said Willow as the Colonel closed his door and followed them out into the hallway, "getting ready for a mission sir?"
"Oh yeah" said the Colonel, "three day mission to P5R-76Y, fun place."
"Good luck, sir" laughed Willow as she and the others went down one hallway, and the Colonel turned into another hallway.
"Willow" said Dawn as they approached one of the rooms after having walked for five minutes, "where are we going?"
"There's someone I want you guys to meet" said Willow as she knocked on the door.
Once the voice from the other side of the door agreed to let them in, Willow turned the handle and opened the door.
"Hey Cass" said Willow as she gave the younger redhead a tight hug, "please tell me you brought last night's pizza."
"Sorry" said Cassie sheepishly, "it's in your fridge though."
"Gee, thanks" said Willow as she took a step back.
"Hey Cass" said Faith as she hugged Cassie.
"You doing alright?" asked Cassie.
"Yea, I am" said Faith, "talked to…. You know who?"
"Yes" said Cassie, "she said to say hi."
"Neat" said Faith as Willow put her hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"Cass, you know Dawnie" said Willow.
"Hey Cassie" said Dawn as she hugged the redhead.
"Doing good Dawn?" asked Cassie.
"Couldn't be better" said Dawn as she continued to hug Cassie, "I have my mom back."
"I heard" smiled Cassie as Dawn stepped back to allow Cassie to walk towards Joyce with Willow.
"Cass" said Willow, "you know Buffy."
"HI Buffy" said Cassie as she shook Buffy's hand, "I'm so glad you got your mom back."
"Thank you, Cassie" replied Buffy.
"Mrs. Summers" said Willow, "this is Cassie Fraiser."
"Hi" said Cassie as she shook Joyce's hand.
"Aunt Cassie" said Rose as she waved her hands excitedly, "hi!"
"Hey cutie" said Cassie as she kissed Rose's cheek before crouching down and ruffling Jay's hair, while Willow walked behind them and closed the door to the room.
"Willow was telling me that you looked after the kids" said Joyce smiling, "thank you."
"It was fun" said Cassie as she glanced at Willow.
"Mrs. Summers" said Willow, "please take a seat. All of you please sit down."
"What's going on, Willow?" asked Dawn.
"Mrs. Summers" said Cassie, "I know exactly what you're going through."
"Huh?" said Dawn confused, "I thought you said you were from Toronto?"
"You up to this Cassie?" asked Willow as she sat beside the younger redhead while Faith stood next to her and put her hand on the younger redhead's shoulder.
"Yea" said Cassie as she took a deep breath, "I'm not from Toronto, I'm the last survivor of a planet called Hanka."
"Wait" said Dawn as Joyce and Buffy looked on shocked, "what? The last survivor?"
"Aunt Cassie lost her father and mother?" asked Jay.
"Yes" said Cassie as Faith squeezed Cassie's shoulder gently, "they all died thanks to a bacterial plague that was released by a Goa'uld called Nirrti."
"Everyone?" said Buffy.
"Yes" replied Cassie, "including one of the SG team's that was stationed on the planet."
"Nirrti released the plague at the same time the SG team was there so that we would blame ourselves for killing everyone on the planet" said Willow.
"Were you there?" asked Joyce.
"No" said Willow, "that was before I dropped into the SGC."
"Oh" said Joyce.
"I read the mission report, SG1 brought Cassie back to Earth" said Faith, "but what the SGC didn't know at the time was that Nirrti had placed a bomb inside Cassie."
"WHAT?" said Dawn and Buffy together.
"She planned to use the bomb and her proximity to the Gate to destroy the Earth Stargate" said Willow as she ran her hand through Cassie's hair and wiped the tears that were already falling from her eyes.
"The attempt failed" said Cassie, "later I learned that I was experimented on by Nirrti to become the perfect host for her, actually all the children of Hanka were experimented on by her. But her experiments were killing me. She was later forced to reverse what she did so that I could have a normal life."
"And then" said Willow, "a few years later, she lost her adopted mother."
"Oh" said Joyce as she looked at the redhead, "how did she die?"
"She was the SGC's chief medical officer" said Cassie, "she had to go off-world to save an airman, and while she was saving him… she got hit by an errant staff weapon blast."
"I'm so sorry to hear that" said Buffy softly.
"I was there" said Willow, "she asked me to put pressure on his wound while she fixed him up. I sensed the Jaffa and shot my weapon at him. He died, but he got off that one shot… it whizzed past me and hit her straight to the chest."
"This was before Willow had her healing powers" said Cassie, "some time after that, Willow told me she tried magic to save her, but that it was too late. There was no way to bring someone who was dead back to life. She asked for my forgiveness, and I told her that there was nothing to forgive. My mother died doing her job which was saving lives."
"The Airman survived" said Faith, "he named his baby girl Janet, after the Doc."
"Later I found out that one of the Ancients ascended her" said Cassie to the Summers' surprise, "but even then, she only comes to see me once in a while. I know in my heart that even though I can't see or interact with her, she's still watching me."
"But to lose two mothers" said Joyce shaking her head.
"That why I know" said Cassie as she held on to Joyce's hand, "for a long time I was angry, and in denial of what happened on Hanka… I lost my parents, friends, cousins… everyone."
"How did you survive?" asked Joyce as tears came down her eyes while Buffy, Dawn and the two new additions held on to her tightly.
"I had… have… a mountain full of people watching out for me" said Cassie, "mom adopted me officially a few months later, Uncle Jack got me a dog… said that every kid from Earth has to have a dog, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and later Willow would look after me. And eventually I knew I had to move on… my people would always stay with me. I don't think my parents would want to see me so unhappy, so I remembered them and moved on."
"Then you lost your adopted mother" said Dawn nodding her head.
"Yes" said Cassie, "Uncle Jack and the others were there for me again, they brought me back up after my life was destroyed again. Eventually I let go of mom's house, and moved in with Sam. Later, I moved in with Willow. And now, I'm following my mom's footsteps.. I'm studying to save lives."
"I'll move on eventually" said Joyce quietly.
"Yes" said Cassie, "trust me, I know how hard it seems… I still remember all the happy times I had with my parents and I tear up. But I know that I have a new family who'll watch over me no matter what, and that keeps me going. I know that my parents, that mom is out there happy for me. It's the same for the people who died on Edina, Mrs. Summers. Remember them; you have four beautiful children who'll support you no matter what happens. You'll eventually move on and live your life, but it won't be easy… it never is."
"Thank you" said Joyce as she stood up and hugged Cassie, "thank you for talking to us."
"The four of you need to talk with someone" said Cassie, "the SGC sent me to a counsellor to talk over everything… from Hanka, to losing my mom.. to worrying about Willow and the others going through the Stargate. It helped me a lot. Maybe they can find someone near Sunnydale. Or you can always give me a call, if you just want to talk."
"I will" said Joyce as she tightened her hold on Cassie, "thank you for sharing your story."
"I hope it helped you" whispered Cassie.
"It did" said Joyce, "it really did. Thank you so much."
TBC