An Extraordinary Journey

by fmfan1980

Willow from Sunnydale arrives at the SGC under extraordinary circumstances and goes on amazing adventures with the gang from the SGC. BSG:2003 also included in later chapters. (19.12.2022: Edits to Ch. 17 and 18)

128. Going Home (Part 6)

Angel Investigations, the Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles; 2035 hours.

It was a very surprised Angel who just placed the phone in his office back on the cradle before leaning back into his chair in shock. The ensouled vampire just received a call from Buffy to give him the news that whatever vision Cordelia had received from the Powers that Be was a mistake, that Willow really had returned and she was from another reality.

He knew that his ex-girlfriend wasn't telling him the whole story, but then again he knew that the Powers wouldn't lie to Cordelia, that they wouldn't give her a false vision because they had nothing to gain.

"The Powers guide the Champions of this world" said Angel to himself as he looked at his desk. He suddenly snapped his head up when he heard a bloodcurdling scream from the lobby outside his office. He quickly got up when he heard Fred's voice shouting for help; running through his office, Angel ran out the door and around the reception desk only to see Cordelia holding her head tightly as she convulsed on the floor. HE could see Fred trying to calm her down when she looked up at the vampire.

"Cordy!" shouted Angel as he kneeled down next to Cordelia. The Vampire then took a hold of her hand and held on tight as she looked up at him with tears falling from her eyes because of the pain. At the same time, the other members of Angel Investigations; Gunn, Lorne, Wesley and Connor ran down to see what was going on and were just as shocked to find Cordelia in such a state.

"Angel?" asked Wesley as he approached the ensouled Vampire just as Cordelia stopped convulsing.

"Cordy?" said Angel after he asked Wesley to hold off for a moment before he turned to Fred and asked her to get a glass of water, a box of tissues. The Vampire and the ex-watcher then helped Cordelia to sit up on the floor as she panted. Fred then returned and handed Cordelia a glass of water which she took down in one gulp before wiping the blood out of her nose, "was it another vision?"

"Yeah" said the young woman as she rubbed her forehead, "Willow, I mean the demon Willow's back."

"I just got a call from Buffy" said Angel as he looked at Cordelia and then at Wesley, "she said that Willow really is from an alternate reality. She's not the Willow who died, but she is here to help. She just helped the Scoobies and the potentials beat a group of Bringers, some robots, a witch and Rack; a dark magic dealer. She and the others agreed that Willow's not a demon."

"Angel" said Wesley, "travelling from one reality to another isn't possible without powerful magic. Even if she is from another reality, then the First could have used its agents to bring her here."

"He's right, Angel" said Cordelia as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, "Willow, I mean this vision I got was this demonic Willow controlling the Scoobies. I think they're compromised, we can't trust them, at least according to the vision. I'm afraid that we may have lost."

"Cordy" said Angel as everyone looked at each other nervously, "Willow implied to Buffy that the Powers could be very wrong about this."

"They haven't been wrong yet concerning the portents of the other problem we had with that nightmare demon" said Gun as Angel looked up at him and frowned, before looking at Cordelia again. Angel asked her what else she saw in her vision.

"Tomorrow" said Cordelia, "I saw Death Valley National Park, some rock formations and from there Willow will cover the planet in clouds and destroy Sunnydale. Yellow rain will fall that will annihilate everyone on the planet starting with the city. Angel, this Willow is bringing the apocalypse. We need to do something."

"Told you we needed to stay" said Connor glancing back at Angel as he headed towards the weapons case, "but no… the blonde says we leave, so we left."

"Something's wrong" said Angel as he and Wesley helped Cordelia onto her feet, "why would Willow nearly lobotomise Rack?"

"Maybe it's a trick?" asked Gunn as Angel helped a dazed Cordelia to a couch, "I mean, if what Cordy saw is true, then this Willow tricked everyone. Maybe Rack's not lobotomized, just a spell to make everyone think he is?"

"Buffy said that Giles checked him" said Angel, "he's pretty much a vegetable."

"Either case" said Connor who was holding two axes and a sword on his back, "I say we kill it, then we…"

"Hold on there" said Lorne, the green horned demon from Pylea, as he held his hand towards Connor, "maybe we should be sure that she really is a demon first? Look, the way I see it, even the higher beings have to be wrong once in a while."

"What do we do?" asked Wesley as he looked at Angel.

"Lorne and I will go to Sunnydale right now" said Angel as Lorne looked at him in surprise, "well, you agreed with me."

"Yea, but I don't go out on the field and, well.. you know…" said Lorne.

"I'll tell her to sing for you" said Angel.

"Besides" said Gunn as he patted Lorne's back while walking past him, "it's a road trip so I'll come too. You'll need help in case she's a demon."

"Wesley" said Angel, "I need a spell that would protect me, Gunn and Lorne from mind control. Just in case this Willow really is a demon. Spike's there so if this Willow really is a demon, then its powerful enough to affect a vampire. I want you and Connor to stay here with Fred and Cordelia. But I want no one to attack is that clear?"

"Yeah, we'll be doing the attacking" said Gunn as he walked up to the weapons case and took out a shotgun, and a sword, "never gone against two Slayers though. Don't think I really wanna."

"Angel" said Wesley, "take Fred and Cordelia with you, I'll go with Connor to Death Valley National Park once we have the exact location. I'll look through pictures on the internet with Cordelia before you leave, and if we find the formation online then, we'll head there and cut Willow off from launching the apocalypse."

"No" said Angel as he shook his head, "I'll go and talk to Buffy and the others. Lorne will read Willow and then we'll get to the bottom of all this."

"You're risking a lot" said Connor, "what if your mind is under her control?"

"We'll use a safe word" said Gunn as everyone looked at him, "you know, a word that only has meaning for us. Tells you guys that we're alright?"

"Rose" said Angel as everyone turned back to look at him, "that's our safe word. And in the meantime, Wesley get that spell down. You and Connor stay here with Cordelia and Fred; Gunn, get some of your old gang to take up the slack in case something happens to us. Cordy, contact Kate and get her here to cover you guys."

"Sure, Boss" said Gunn as he reached for a phone as Angel walked towards the main door, while Wesley and Cordelia nodded their heads. Connor was the only one who wasn't happy with that plan; he was afraid that his father was emotionally compromised with an old friend returning to life; an old friend who could very well bring about the end of days.

"We leave for Sunnydale in an hour" said Angel as he walked out into the night.

Connor then turned around before following Wesley to Angel's office, he was going to try and convince the former Watcher that they should get to Death Valley National Park because there was every chance that Angel and the others would fail; that they were the last line of defence in preventing this particular apocalypse.

The Summers Residence, Sunnydale, 0700 hours; Second day in Alternate reality.

Oz was awakened by a soft knock on Dawn's door, so he quietly got up so as to not bother the sleeping redhead that he, Buffy and Tara had taken turns watching over since the incident last night. It was Oz who had gently lifted up Willow off the backyard and brought her past a tied up Warren who was laughing from the living room at how bad their luck was, that he had killed Willow again. Oz was already rushing up the stairs when he heard a slap as Warren yelped before he heard Buffy telling Dawn to stop.

Although unsure about what had happened, Oz looked down at the sleeping form of the alternate Willow and lay her down on the bed. It was Tara who came in later, followed by Giles and Buffy while the others were handling the drooling Rack, the tired Amy and Warren.

"Buffy" said Tara as Giles passed her some towels from the restroom to stop the nosebleed, "I didn't sense any magic; or if it was magic, it's nothing that I encountered before."

"Her hair became black" said Giles as he fixed his glasses while Tara sat next to Willow's head and gently wiped off the blood, "that happens with dark magic, but Tara's right as well; I didn't feel see any familiar magical energies."

"Hey" said Spike as he ran into the room, "the rat's been tied up, Warren's been gagged and I don't know what you wanna do about the vegetable."

Spike then looked at Willow and asked Tara if she can heal her, and smiled when she nodded her head.

"Do what you can, Tara" said Spike as everyone looked at him, "she took care of Caleb; best proof ever that I was right from the beginning, she's on our side."

"Caleb?" asked Giles surprised as he looked at Spike, "what did Willow do to Caleb?"

"Used him as a hood ornament for her ship" said Spike as everyone turned to stare at Willow, "I'd say she did us all a favour and took one big bad off the board."

"Leaving us with even more questions" said Giles, "especially what magic she's using, and what exactly she did to Rack."

"He's the one who corrupted our Willow" said Buffy as she looked at Giles, "he's not getting any sympathy from me."

"Guys" whispered Tara as she looked down at Willow, "her bleeding's stopped. We should have her rest, I'll heal her tomorrow."

"I'll help you with the others?" asked Oz as Tara smiled at him before shaking her head and telling him that she could handle it. It was then that Buffy told Giles that she'll let Angel and his team know what happened, that they were wrong about Willow being a demon.

That should have been the end of it, however Angel, Lorne and Gunn made a surprise stop to the Summers house to talk to Buffy and the others about Cordelia's vision. The resultant meeting went as well as could be expected with the Scoobies telling Angel and his team that they weren't being mind controlled. However, they did agree to have Lorne read their minds while singing.

The brooding dark haired, ensouled Vampire was also insistent on having Willow sing for Lorne so that the demon could read her memories. It was Buffy and Faith who told him that he could talk with the redhead once she got up; they then told them everything Willow told them about the First Evil, the Alterra, and the way she appeared into the house. Angel and the others were surprised about the cloaked ship that was in the backyard, but Buffy stopped them from checking it out; saying that it was Willow's to show, not hers since she's not sure how it works. Angel then made a call to Cordelia at the Hyperion Hotel telling her that Willow was asleep, and that they'll be spending the night at Buffy's house so that they could help the injured.

Back at the Hyperion Hotel, Cordelia put the phone down and frowned before telling Wesley and Connor what Angel had told her. The two men looked at each other before heading to the weapons rack while Cordelia and Fred tried to convince them not to do anything rash, to wait until the morning after Angel had talked to Willow. Wesley and Connor refused to listen, however, as they grabbed weapons and ran out the door. The two of them knew that they were outnumbered if they went to Sunnydale, so instead they drove to Death Valley National Park, broke in and hiked to the rock formation that Cordelia had seen in her vision.

Once they had left the Hyperion Hotel, Cordelia and Fred looked at each other before deciding that it would be better to hear from Angel tomorrow after he talked to Willow and said the safe word. If the vision was right, then Connor and Wesley would stop Willow before she did anything but if she wasn't then she was sure that Angel and the other's would tell the two of them to hold back, although she was certain that he'd be pissed.

Back in the present, Oz opened the door to the room and stepped back as Tara walked in and smiled at him. She told him that the others were slowly coming awake, and that Dawn and Kennedy had started cooking breakfast. She told him that Lorne insisted on being the alarm clock so that he could wake everyone up with his singing, but the blonde witch begged him not to do anything rash.

"Colonel" said a very soft voice as Tara and Oz looked at the bed where Willow was moving her head from side to side slowly, "no, shields are down…. More coming… the Frog people are…."

"Willow" said Oz as he walked towards the redhead as Willow suddenly snapped her eyes open and looked at Oz who was right upon her, followed by Tara who gave the redhead a small smile, "bad dream?"

"Uh huh" said the redhead as she slowly sat up with the help of Oz and Tara, "dreamt about…. Yeah.. never mind."

"Frog people?" asked Tara with a smirk.

"Never mind" squeaked Willow when she felt the warmth of the sun coming through the window. Looking towards the rays of light that was coming through the blinds, Willow asked what time it was and was surprised to know that it was already seven in the morning, "I feel like my brain's been hit by a truck."

"What was that last night?" asked Oz as he sat next to Willow's feet, "Tara said that she didn't feel any magic."

"I told you guys the truth" said Willow as she looked at Tara and Oz, "I haven't practiced in years, but I have, or had as the case may be, my own gifts. It's in my genes. For some reason I was able to access it when I got angry at Rack.. oh.. sorry if my hair and eyes turned black. Happens when I get angry."

"Used to happen to my Willow when she'd go out of control with magic" said Tara softly, "that's why Giles thought you were… you know.. maybe using some unknown magic."

"No" said Willow as she spun around on the bed until her feet were on the floor, "I accessed my own gifts; telepathy, telekinesis… emphatic. For that one instance I felt fear from everyone, so I calmed down and returned to normal."

"Oh" replied Tara as she gave a small smile.

"You were thinking too loud last night" said Willow as she looked at Tara, "you saw my alternate in the kitchen."

"Ye… yeah" said Tara as she looked at Willow, and then at a surprised Oz and then back at Willow again, "but I didn't feel you in my mind and…"

"You thought too loud" said Willow, "but I'm the one who should be sorry."

"About?" asked Tara.

"I had to stun you last night" said Willow, "I hoped that Caleb would think that I killed you and let you go."

"Oh" said Tara nervously, "umm.. no.. no… I.. I'm ok. You scared Dawnie though, but I told her that you did what you had to do to protect me."

Willow smiled at Tara before the redhead tried to stand up off the bed.

"Where is Caleb?" asked Oz as Tara helped Willow to her feet, "Spike said that you hit him with your ship."

"Let's just say that he wanted to burn us in the fires of hell" said Willow as she shrugged her shoulders, "so I showed him who was burning who by barbequing him in the fires of the Earth."

"You put him into a volcano?" asked Oz.

"Too easy for him" said Willow, "gave him a good view of the Earth from a nice spot between here and the moon. Then when I thought he got bored, I pushed him back down to Earth at full speed. Gotta say though, I don't think he liked the re-entry."

"You mean he's?" asked Tara as she pointed upwards.

"Uh huh" said Willow, "dust. Well, slightly charred, barbequed human-remains dust.. not the vamp kind. Not there's a difference I think, but oh well."

"Ok" said Oz calmly before he changed the subject to them losing power last night, to Cordelia getting another vision from the Powers which led to Angel coming to Sunnydale with two members of his team. Tara could see Willow stiffen once she heard about the vision from the Powers, and then the witch could see her face become angry when Tara mentioned the Death Valley National Park, and the destruction of Sunnydale.

"Oz" said Willow, "is everyone awake?"

"Yeah" said Oz, "I think most of them left for the nearby empty houses to get their morning business out of the way and…"

"Too much information" said Willow as she scrunched her face, "too much."

"Willow" said Tara as the redhead looked at the blonde, "Angel's friend is here to make sure that you aren't a demon… I mean, for his peace of mind do you mind singing?"

"Singing?" asked Willow as she looked at the witch and then at Oz, "why singing?"

"He reads people when they sing" said Oz, "he's like a telepath, but only when people sing.. or hum… as long as it's a tune, I guess."

"I'll need to talk to the guy" said Willow as he looked down at her bloodied undershirt, and then at the BDU top that was hung on a chair near a desk. It was then that the redhead noticed that she felt no pain from the injuries she sustained, and as if on cue Oz told Willow that it was Tara who healed her injuries. Willow smiled at the blonde witch and thanked her.

"I… umm… I know…. I mean" said Tara nervously as she looked at Willow's stained clothes, "I mean I couldn't do anything about your shirt and…. but the other one just had some grass stains so it was easy to get rid off.. and… yeah."

"Thanks" said Willow as she nodded at Tara and picked up her BDU top just as Tara and Oz headed towards the door so that Willow could change out of her undershirt, and into just her BDU top. As Tara and Oz waited outside, they heard the main door downstairs opening and closing multiple times as the voices in the living room, and the kitchen increased when suddenly they heard someone singing.

"Shut-up!" shouted Dawn from downstairs as the singing immediately stopped while Tara tried not to giggle and Oz just gave a small smile. It was then they heard Lorne apologizing to Dawn after the young woman threatened him that if he continued to sing, then he'll get no funny shaped pancakes. It was a couple of minutes later that Willow walked out in her BDU top and trousers, with her bloodied undershirt in her hand. The blonde witch noticed that the patches on the shoulders were taken out and she suspected that Willow put them in her pockets.

"Thanks for waiting" said Willow as she looked at Tara and Oz. The two of them nodded before heading down to the bottom of the stairs where the noisy Potentials from earlier quietened down when they saw Tara, Willow and Oz. Giving them a small nervous wave, the three of them walked into the kitchen where Willow saw Dawn cooking pancakes before the redhead looked at someone in a long black jacket who had his back towards her while talking to a dark skinned man, and a green, horned demon. The two of them stopped talking when they saw Willow, which made the third one turn around and looked at the redhead in surprise.

"Willow?" said Angel as he took a step back as Oz went down to the basement to check on their prisoners and get the other potentials, while Tara went out the front door to get the rest of the Scoobies who were on the lawn since the Puddle Jumper was parked in the backyard. As for Angel, seeing the redhead again made him take a step back; he had expected the scent of a demon, not a scent that fit in with what he remembered about their own Willow. It was that which made him ask the question that he thought he'd never ask, "so.. so you're from another reality? And you have a ship?"

"Angel" said Gunn as the vampire glanced back at him, "we still need to verify."

"And you are?" asked Willow as she leaned to the right and looked past Angel, at Gunn and then at Lorne.

"Charles Gunn" said Angel as the man behind him nodded his head, "and Lorne.. he's a.."

"Telepath who needs people to sing" said Willow as Lorne nodded his head before the redhead looked at Angel, "I suck at singing, just so you know."

"Humming will do" said Lorne, "it'll open your mind to me and…."

"I have a lot of things in my head that concerns the security of my world" said Willow as she looked at Dawn who handed her a cup of coffee and some pancakes before thanking her and looking back at Lorne, "can you guarantee me that you can keep that secret? There are things about me in there too, can you guarantee that everything you see will remain secure?"

"Ummm" said Lorne just as Kennedy and some other Potentials walked through the basement door and past Willow to get into the living room, "I can try but…"

"I have access to some of the most advanced, but dangerous, technology on the planet" said Willow as she looked at Lorne and then at Angel, "can you guarantee that information won't get into the wrong hands? Because if it falls into the wrong hands, this tech can destroy the planet. So, can you guarantee that information will remain safe? That no one will take it away from Lorne? Angel?"

"Hey, Will" said Buffy as she and the other Scoobies walked in from the front lawn and stopped behind the redhead who was looking at Angel, who was nervously looking back at Willow, and then at Lorne before shaking his head, "Tara and Oz told you about Angel and the new vision?"

"Yeah" said Willow as she looked at both Angel and Buffy, before settling on Angel, "they told me about the new vision that Cordelia received from the Powers. I don't know what to tell you, except that it's not true. I'm not going to destroy the city, or the world."

"Then why would the Powers give Cordy that vision?" asked Angel gently, "look I believe you when you say you're Willow, I can smell your scent, and although there's something slightly off like Spike said, it's you. But the vision, I mean the ones that Cordy gets from the Powers, are never wrong."

"What did Buffy and the others tell you?" asked Willow as she looked at Buffy and then at Angel. The vampire told Willow that Buffy told him everything, from the Alterra to, the Ancients, to how she came here to this reality. The one part they seemed to have left out was that Willow was a clone. Everything that Willow had told the Scoobies and the Potentials were relayed to Angel and his team once they had arrived, and once Amy, Warren and Rack were stiffed in the basement. Gunn told her that Buffy refused to show them the ship as the redhead turned back towards Buffy and silently mouthed a thank you before facing Angel again, "I… everything I said was the truth. But from the vision you told me…. I think I know what it means. It's time I told you everything."

"Like?" asked Buffy as she looked at Giles and then at Willow. Willow frowned slightly as she looked at the Scythe that Buffy was holding before the redhead asked Buffy and the others that they should move on to the living room; that the Potentials needed to hear what she had to say as well.

"Ok" said Buffy as she led everyone to the living room which now smelled of coffee. However there was still evidence of the battle last night; the broken window, the black blood spots on the carpet, and the smashed table in the sitting room. Once they had reached the living room, Willow stood in the middle and asked Buffy if they lost anyone last night.

"Three Potentials" said Buffy as Willow glanced towards the Potentials when a few of them huffed, before the redhead turned back to look at Buffy, "I'm sorry, but you know this is a war you're fighting. You will lose people."

"We're losing too many" said one of the Potentials.

"I'm sorry?" said Buffy as she looked at the Potentials, "they died protecting some of you who were too afraid to do anything and…"

"B" said Faith as Buffy closed her eyes and shook her head.

"People die in a war" said Willow as she looked at the Potentials, "friends will die, you'll kill; sometimes innocents get caught in the crossfire. In war things happen. I've killed to protect my planet, I've watched people die, I've watched a planet get destroyed, a people get wiped out; but we still fight. You lost people, it happens. I'm sorry if I'm blunt but it happens. But if you want to honour their memories, you move on and continue the fight."

"Please" said another Potential, "how can a planet get wiped out?"

"You have no idea what monsters could do with advanced technology" said Willow as she looked at the Potential, and then at Angel, "I just hope that you never get to see it done in front of you."

"Willow" said Giles before saying that it would be best if they got to the topic at hand, "we have several questions, as do Angel and the others. But first of all, where's Caleb?"

"You don't need to worry about him anymore" said Willow, "he's dust."

"Last night" said Xander as Tara and Oz nodded at him "Rack said that he knows who you really are, where you really come from. What did he mean?"

"What I have to say will cover most things you need to know" said Willow as he looked at Xander, and then at everyone, "Can I begin?"

"Yes" said Giles as he stood to one side while the others picked their seats, or spaces on the floor. Willow watched Spike stand against one wall, while Angel stood leaning against another wall. She then saw Anya and Xander sitting together, before looking at Tara who was seated next to Oz, while Buffy stood with Faith while the former was carrying the Scythe, "you have the floor."

"Buffy?" asked Willow as the Slayer looked at the redhead who had her hand outstretched, "could I hold that weapon?"

"Yeah" said Buffy as she handed the weapon to Willow who then walked back to the middle of the room before turning and looking at both Buffy and Faith. She then looked at the weapon again before brushing her fingers along the shaft, and then the blade. Willow then looked up from the blade again and asked both Faith and Buffy if they felt anything while holding it.

"Like it belongs to me" said Faith as she looked at Willow, and then at Buffy who nodded her head and told Willow that she felt the same thing as well. That she felt some force that kept on telling her that the weapon was hers.

"This weapon" said Willow as she looked at it one more time and smiled, "this weapon was created by Athena for the First Slayer."

"What?" asked a surprised Giles as Buffy and Faith looked at each other confused, while the Potentials all mumbled at each other. Giles looked on as Willow smiled at the Watcher, while Angel and Spike just looked at each other and then at their respective teams who were just as surprised. Giles was the one to tell everyone to quieten down before he looked at Willow and told her that it wasn't possible, that a weapon such as this would have been known to the Watcher's Council.

"The good guys' sense of communication has always been awful" said Buffy.

"What do you know about the Slayer?" asked Willow as she looked at the weapon and then at Giles and Buffy. They told Willow about the Shadow casters that told the story of the First Slayer, what Buffy had seen when she went to another dimension to talk with the Shadow Men. Buffy told Willow that they offered her more power to beat the first, but at the cost of her own humanity; which she had refused. Buffy told Willow that she was chained to the floor in a chamber before she broke the chains and attacked the Shadow Men for trying to force the Shadow Demon into her.

"I see" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, Faith and then at all the Potentials Slayers before looking at Giles, "what if I told you a story? Just let me finish before you ask any questions?"

"Ok" said Giles before Willow looked at Spike and Angel, "you guys can listen to my heartbeat for any deceptions."

"Using Lorne's ability would be much easier" said Gunn.

"Like I said earlier, I have so many classified things in my head that I can't let anyone have access to them" said Willow as she looked at Gunn and then at Lorne, "it a matter of security for my reality. That's why I wiped Rack's mind. But I'll be telling you everything, including what Rack meant."

"I take it that Buffy and Spike told you about the Alterra escaping Earth and going to another galaxy?" continued Willow as everyone nodded, "that was about ten million years ago, and the Alterra found another planet that they called Lantea and, and the truth is that the ship they left in was a city-ship."

"Willow" said Oz, "a city-ship?"

"Yeah" said Willow, "with the same internal space that you would find in Manhattan, enough to take millions of people to a new home. The Alterra seeded the Pegasus galaxy with life, where eventually they became known as the Lanteans. They lived there for ten million years before they encountered an enemy that they themselves created. A race almost as powerful as the Lanteans and although they fought this enemy, they ultimately found themselves losing the war due to the sheer numbers of this enemy."

It was then that Willow turned to Giles and smiled.

"You would have loved it, Giles" said Willow, "in my reality, we found the City. We have an international expedition there exploring the Pegasus galaxy, and although we accidentally awoke the enemy of the Lanteans; we're fixing our mistake and taking the war to them. But I found out later that my connection to the city goes much deeper."

"What do you mean?" asked Gunn.

"The city" said Willow as she folded her arms over her chest and smiled, "people called it many different names; the city of Towers, The Grey City; the Athosian people in Pegasus called her the City of the Ancestors, we called it the Lost City of the Ancients. When the Lanteans returned to Earth, some spread the story of the city that they had left behind, so that its name would live on in legend. A great city of a technologically advanced people that sank beneath the waves of the ocean."

"Atlantis" said Angel as everyone else murmured and looked around confused while Angel walked forward, "you're talking about Atlantis… you mean…"

"In my reality, you were there" said Willow as she looked at Angel, "the enemy that we call Wraith attacked the city; you, me, Faith and a few squads went to the city to defend it. You even received a commendation from the President after preventing a bomb, that the Wraith had planted, from exploding that would have flooded parts of the city and killed people."

"But history" said Giles, "Willow… what you're saying…"

"It's the truth" said Willow as she looked at Giles, "and I should know, Atlantis is my home; it's where I was born more than ten thousand years ago."

"Hold on, hold on" said Kennedy as she and the Potentials started to talk all at once, while Buffy and the others just looked at each other confused about what Willow was talking about. Willow looked at Tara, and Oz and took note of the look of shock on their faces and then turned to Angel and Spike who were equally as surprised. She then turned to Kennedy who whistled before everyone kept quiet, "ok, seriously? Where's your proof?"

"Angel, Spike" said Willow as she looked at Kennedy, and then at Rona and Vi who were about to speak, "am I lying? I know you can hear my heartbeat, so… am I lying?"

"No" said a still surprised Spike as he and the others continued to look at Willow before she looked down at the Scythe, "this… this was something I created to try and make up for a mistake after returning to Earth."

Willow told the transfixed audience about Hera and her death, followed by what she had done to gain revenge for Hera's death. The redhead told them about the clones and the order that denied her the chance to eliminate the Wraith threat due to committing a potential act of genocide. The redhead then went on to talk about the return to Earth, and Giles eyes opened wide when he heard that Willow had met Sineya.

"Sineya?" asked Dawn, "who's Sineya?"

"It can't be" said Giles, "none of this is in the Watchers Codex. How could you know the First Slayer?"

"What?" asked Buffy and Faith as Willow turned around and looked at them, and then at the Potentials.

"She was smart, you know" said Willow as she looked at the Scythe, "but the ones you call the Shadow men, the same people I call the Furlings…"

"The Shadow Men were aliens?" asked Tara.

"They were following a prophesy given to them by the Powers" said Willow as she looked up from the Scythe, "about a warrior that would cleanse the world of darkness; and Sineya was the one chosen. To them, she was the one destined to fight."

"The Shadow Demon" said Buffy as Willow looked back at her, "I saw… I mean I know what they did to the First Slayer, I went into another dimension where they were going to give me more power at the cost of my humanity.. but like I told you already, I couldn't do it."

"Good" said Willow, "I never believed in destiny back then; I believed that everyone had free will, which was the same philosophy of the Ancients. But to this mystic sect of the Furlings, prophesy was all that mattered."

Willow told them that she offered the Furlings the use of her genetically engineered clones in exchange for Sineya's life; clones that would defeat the demons that remained on the planet. She then went on to say that they had taken thousands upon thousands of clones; but the Furlings still took Sineya away, then they killed the clones and used their life force to power the demon before putting it into Sineya in front of her.

Willow looked at everyone who looked back at her in shock before the redhead asked Angel and Spike to confirm if she was lying.

"N… No" said Spike, "so… you were there?"

'Yea" said Willow nodding her head, "I was there, but my arms were chained to a wall. They wanted to me to see the fruition of the Powers prophesy. To see the weapon that I helped them create."

"But I didn't see you there" asked Buffy.

"They'd rather have all the glory of creating the Slayer" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, "of saving the world; to tell you the truth, I'm glad I wasn't there in that vision you went through. But that was the sacrifice made to create the Slayers. I was exiled for breaking the Lantean Council's rules against creating the clones. Before I left Earth to go to another planet where I was trained to ascend, I created two of these weapons."

Willow then handed the weapon back to Buffy, who took it while nodding her head. The redhead told Buffy and Faith that the second weapon was destroyed after Sineya singlehandedly killed hundreds of demons and a dragon; but she received a fatal wound.

"I was there at the end of the fight" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, Faith and the Potential Slayers, as well as Principal Wood, "I held her hand as she died a warrior saving the world. To you she's the First Slayer; but to me she's always Sineya. I'm sure that it's the same with my counterpart as well; we learned from her, and she learned from us. Her parents died, and her grandmother gave her up for the sacrifice. To her, I was like a mother and she was like a daughter to me. During my training, I found out that Hera ascended and I met her later on the plains near the Sunnydale Hellmouth. She promised Sineya ascension, but she refused. Sineya said she wanted to guide her successors, to watch over them; something she couldn't do if she ascended, to directly help if possible. Sineya said she could feel all the Potential Slayers throughout time, she could feel the Chosen. Then she took her last breath and died, her death created the Slayer lines."

"Lines?" asked Giles, "don't you mean line?"

"Hera and I saw lines of light shoot out from Sineya" said Willow as she closed her eyes, "Hera told me that she could feel the lines going through the Earth itself, remaining forever."

"But the First" said Principal Wood, "the line of Slayers…"

"The only way to destroy the Slayer line is to destroy the Earth itself" said Willow, "the line can never be destroyed since it's powered by the Earth itself, just like the Hellmouth is powered by the Earth. The First can kill all the Potentials, Buffy and Faith; but the line will still exist. There will always be a Slayer. The First can destroy the Potentials of a single generation, but new Potentials will eventually be born. That's why I don't fear the First. Buffy, Faith… the both of you are the Chosen ones, the both of you are Sineya's successors; her legacy. Buffy, I trust your dreams more than Cordelia's visions because your dreams are Sineya guiding you. The Powers have always believed in prophesy, and that prophesy must go their way. And the Ancients, the others, couldn't have them interfering in such a big way by forcing history to go one way."

"Then what was the yellow rain?" asked Buffy.

"It's an extremely powerful weapon" said Willow, "a guided drone that, in its thousands, could destroy a whole fleet of shielded and heavily armoured alien ships."

"True" said another voice from behind Willow as the redhead smiled while the others stepped back and gasped.

"Athena" said Willow as she turned around and faced her ascended self, "how's mother?"

"She says hi" said Athena as everyone looked on with their mouths open while Tara just grinned, "oh, and I checked out Joyce… I mean she didn't see me but… you never said anything about….. you know."

"Easy now" said Willow knowing that Athena was referring to Jay, "you don't wanna give everything away, right?"

"And how's mom and dad?" continued Willow referring to the Rosenbergs while the others just looked stunned at the casual chat between the two redheads.

"They're doing fine" said Athena, "in Germany on a lecture tour. They should be back here in a few months. And how's Stargate travel?"

"Oh, fun" said Willow shaking her head excitedly.

"Willow? Willows?" asked Giles nervously as she watched stepped towards the redhead in the white dress who looked past Willow and grinned at him, "are.. are you…"

"Hi Giles" said Athena as she ran over to the former Watcher and hugged him tight, "Thank you for the song. It was sweet."

"You're welcome" said Giles as he held on to Athena tightly while he closed his eyes. Willow stepped back as Buffy, Dawn and the other Scoobies, and Angel rushed to hug Athena while Faith came up next to Willow and elbowed her arm.

"Guess you were telling the truth" said Faith as she smiled at Willow before looking back at the huge crowd it front of them as they clapped while Tara gave Athena a kiss, "don't get me wrong, I believed you, but this just confirms everything for everyone."

Willow nodded her head before glancing at the jealous look on Kennedy's face as Tara kissed Athena before the two separated and the redhead hugged Spike and Angel, before she looked at Oz who nodded his head before giving the redhead a tight hug.

"You not going in there?" asked Willow as she looked at Faith.

"And leave you alone here?" asked Faith as Willow gave a small smile, "besides, those guys are much closer to her than me. So, you met the First Slayer huh? B, got dreams from her; so what'd I get?"

"Her ability to survive" said Willow softly after she thought about Faith's question for a few seconds before she nodded her head, "she fought demons on her own, sometimes multiple enemies at once; but she survived. The last fight though, she went up against hundreds but she still fought. Kinda reminds me of the Faith I know. A survivor, and a fighter to the end."

"Hah" said Faith as she saw Athena looked at her before walking towards her.

"Faith" said Athena as she gave the surprised Slayer a hug.

"Hey… Red" said Faith as Athena released the Slayer and walked back before looking at Willow.

"So what's the plan?" another familiar voice came out of nowhere as Willow and Athena turned and looked at the First who was in Willow's image, "look at us… three redheads and…. umm…. Must be a joke in there somewhere."

"What do you want?" asked Buffy as the First took on Caleb's form.

"You may have killed me" said the First in Caleb's form, "but that will not stop the inevitable. The end is coming, the army is ready to spring forth and shift the balance of power. Do you really think you have a chance in hell?"

"Well" said Willow, "yeah.. actually. Your army's under the school with what? A few hundred thousand bodies? Give or take?"

"And?" asked the First as it took on the form of Buffy.

"Athena" said Willow as she looked at her counterpart, "the thing in Death Valley, is the Potentia fully charged?"

"Oh yeah" said Athena with a grin as they looked at the First, "full armament too. Had it checked out, figured you may need it."

"Sweet" said Willow as the both of them stared at the First.

"Like Willow said" said Giles, "you can't do anything on your own, which makes me wonder if we were wrong about a lot of things. But one thing we are clear on is that your army will never rise."

"Goodbye" said the First, "I say that now because that's what will happen. The human race destroyed. I will feed on their evil once I am made flesh and my followers descend to this place. You'll be gone, and I'll still be here."

"We'll stop you" said Tara.

"My sweet Tara" said the First as it took Willow's form again, "you can't. I'll make sure you'll be the first to die. And it'll end with Buffy watching Faith die in front of her; then Buffy will be all alone, always alone. The last Slayer on Earth… anyway, have fun while it lasts. You are all dead."

"OK" said Amanda as Buffy kept on looking at the Scythe in her hand after the First Evil vanished, "now what?"

"We fight" said Buffy as she looked at the Scythe before looking up when Athena put her hand on her shoulder.

"Yea" said Athena as she touched the blade and an electrical charge went through the Scythe as the blade reverted back to its original silver colour, "nanites on the blade will keep it sharp, plus there's a special metal in the weapon that absorbs all types of energy. Sineya was the first of the Ones, the most powerful Slayer to ever walk the Earth. She was just giving off energy that the weapon collected; her power, her very essence is contained in the Scythe. "

"You're not alone" said Willow as she looked at Buffy who looked at her, and then at the Potentials, "in my reality, Tara and her team's been looking for a way to activate the current generation of Potential Slayers, and maybe what you have is the key."

"What are you saying?" asked Angel and Oz together while Principal Wood stood next to Spike.

"She said that I'll be alone" said Buffy, "the only Slayer; the last… all alone. But what if I wasn't? The First Slayer, Sineya, I had a dream about her where she said that it wasn't still enough. What if she meant this? What if she meant that two Slayers weren't enough, what if we need more? To activate more? Willow?"

"I can't do it" said Athena as Buffy tried to hand her the weapon, "that's interfering directly with this planet's course of evolutionary history; basically, that's too much interference. The Others get real pissed if someone goes too far out of line. It has to be done by human hands."

"Tara" said Willow as everyone looked at the nervous young blonde woman, "I can't do it. Even if Rack didn't drain my magic, I still won't be able to do it. Which makes you the most powerful witch here, it has to be you."

"The lines will be strained for a few decades" said Athena as she closed her eyes, "but they won't be broken. If it's successful, then every girl in the current generation, even those who've just been born and if the line goes through them will be a Slayer. But there is a cost, the line goes through criminals as well, the mentally ill, and then there are others who could cause problems for society in general if they use their new gifts for purposes other than good; those who are corrupted by power."

"Every powerful magic has a cost" said Tara as Athena nodded her head.

"If you decide to do this" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, "you need help to find these Slayers, you need help in training them, disciplining them. You need help in finding the ones who'll use their powers for crime and against society. I'll give you a name of someone in the military… in my reality, he's one of the most honourable people I know. He can be trusted with something like this. Like you said, no more working alone."

Buffy nodded her head before she told Xander to get a plan of the school, while Willow told them that she'll be going to Death Valley to man the weapon's platform.

"We'll open the seal that covers the Hellmouth" said Buffy as Xander brought the plans of the school to the dining room table, while Angel went to call Cordelia at Angel Investigations. He unfurled it on top of the table as he pointed out the underground entrances to Buffy.

While the Scoobies were making their plans, Willow stepped out to the porch with Athena and just looked over the neighbourhood.

"So Dawn got her memories back" said Athena as Willow nodded her head.

"Yeah" replied Willow quietly, "have you seen father?"

"Yes" said Athena, "he's still in stasis."

"He died a hero" said Willow as Athena nodded her head, "I'll be going back to Pegasus to place a marker next to Hera, and mother's graves."

"He'll like that" said Athena, "Oma said that you wanted to bring one of the Potentia to Atlantis?"

"Yeah" said Willow, "hopefully the shield hasn't been…."

Willow looked at the look on Athena's face and stopped talking. She closed her eyes and leaned on one of the beams and asked if the Atlantis shields had failed.

"Almost" said Athena as she looked into the bright sky, "the potentia has maybe a hundred more years left?"

"Once this is done" said Willow, "I'll call Thor for a pick up to Lantea. But we'll get this stuff done here first."

"Speaking of which" said Athena, "what do you need for me to do?"

"I need cloud cover" said Willow as she waved her hands towards the sky, "dark clouds over the whole area from L.A, to Sunnydale, to Death Valley National Park. I want the clouds to hide the approach of the drones from civilians. Then dissipate it once the drones have entered Sunnydale. No need to worry about Angel and Spike, they'll fight inside the school with whoever Buffy has assigned to stay on the inside. Maybe have some of the less experienced Potentials deal with the vampires that try to get out of the building. As for the drones, I'll take then into the school and to the Hellmouth, destroy the entire army while Buffy and the others take care of things in on the surface."

"The First will have Bringers" said Athena.

"Buffy and the others can take care of them" said Willow, "but the vampires that Buffy fought last night, she said that they were the bigger threat. So, using thousands of drones to destroy unshielded flesh bodies shouldn't be a problem. This ends tonight. Then we go save our home."

"Oh" said Athena as she looked at Willow as they were headed towards the front door, "while I was checking out the outpost, I noticed Wesley and Connor hiding; I guess they were waiting for you. I guess the vision that Cordy had must have shown the site of the transportation rings that led to the outpost."

"I know Wesley, but who's Connor?" Willow asked.

Her counterpart, Athena, tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in surprise before saying, as if Willow should have already known, "Connor is Angel's son."

"Wait" said Willow in surprise as she waved her arms, "Angel has a son?"

"He doesn't in your reality?" asked Athena as Willow shook her head. Athena marveled at the difference in their realities before saying, "but no worries. They're kinda asleep."

"What did you do?" asked Willow with an eyebrow raised at Athena.

"Knocked them out for a little bit" said Athena as she shrugged her shoulders, "so sue me. On the grand scale of things, knocking out the two of them is a part of limited interference."

"As long as you don't get into trouble" said Willow just before they entered the house when Willow stopped and looked back at Athena, "in my reality we got Joyce back too, but we had the advantage of a full fledged Stargate programme to basically bring back Joyce to life, along with Jay. Think you can do anything?"

"Well?" asked Athena as she looked up at the sky, "you heard her."

Athena then looked back down and shook her head while Willow shrugged her shoulders.

"Nuts" said Willow, "I could hack into the Sunnydale records office and change some stuff around, use the clichéd version of the Joyce clone who died was the real Joyce's long lost unknown twin sister who kidnapped her and….. and that Joyce was really… you know what I'll find something."

"So" said Athena as the both of them walked into the house, "no magic, huh?"

"Nope" said Willow with a grin as Athena closed the door behind them.

Asgard Vessel Belisknir, orbit of Earth; 2315 hours.

Buffy couldn't believe it, she really couldn't. She looked out one of the windows on Thor's ship and thought back to how their lives changed in a few hours.

Once they had come up with a plan in her house hours ago, the Scoobies went to work at the school blocking all entrances that the Bringers could use to come into the school. Then Faith and Angel suggested that since the goal was for none of the Bringers and Turok-han to leave the school grounds, they had to fight inside the school itself. At the same time, Gunn and Lorne would be the ones protecting Tara at all costs while she used the essence of Sineya to activate the abilities of the Potentials.

Willow looked on as Buffy told her that she and the other Potentials will open the seal that covers the Hellmouth, and then they'll be going in.

"Buffy" Willow had said, "leave the seal open but stay close to it. I won't be surprised if the Bringers sense the opening of whatever seal this is and come at you. If you go in, you'll be dealing with the uber-vamps and the Bringers. The longer the vamps don't know you're there, the easier it would be to get them in one fell swoop. But I want people to pair up, watch each other's back. Lorne and Gunn, you're job is the most difficult of all; protecting yourselves, and Tara."

"We can do it" said Gunn as Willow nodded.

"Angel and Spike" said Willow, "it won't take me long to get to the Death Valley outpost, and I assume that Athena told you about Wesley and Connor?"

"Yeah" said Angel, "I'll talk to them after all this is done, at least they're asleep."

"Sorry" said Athena as Angel nodded his head.

"Anyway" continued Willow as she pointed at the plans on the table, "I'll guide the drones in through the main hallways, and they'll be programmed to automatically attack any non-human biological life-forms. So I want Spike, Angel and Lorne to stay behind any living human. I'll be commanding the drones to avoid all human targets, so you have to stay close to anyone with a heartbeat. Clear?"

"You can stand behind me" said Amanda and Rona as they looked at Angel with grins on their faces.

"Umm… thanks" said Angel nervously as Faith gave out a cough while trying to hide a laugh.

It was an hour later that the Scoobies and the Potentials, along with Spike and Angel, and Gunn and Lorne had gone to the school. Buffy wanted this to be a pre-emptive attack on the army of the First, and if the army could be destroyed, she was sure that the First would be defeated.. at least for now. In the meantime, she knew that Willow would take a few minutes to head up to Death Valley and once she was ready, then they would set up the attack. Tara was using magic to communicate with Willow who told her that once launched, the drones would take about one to two minutes to make the journey from the outpost to Sunnydale.

Once they had gone into the school, everything was a blur. The Potentials opened the seal and took their positions in the basement hallway to beat back any Bringers, while the others took care of any Turok-han that discovered that the seal was open and exited the Hellmouth. However, once the seal was open.. the Bringers had immediately started to attack those on the surface. Before leaving for the outpost, Willow had asked Tara to connect Buffy with the others on the surface so that she'd know what was going on; and so, based on the information that Tara received from the others fighting the Bringers, Buffy then told ten of the Potentials to help the others on the surface. It didn't take too long before the first few Turok-han started to leave the entrance to the Hellmouth, and into the basement where they were met by the forces led by Buffy and Faith.

The two original Slayers would find out from Gunn later that it had taken some time for Tara to concentrate before she touched the blade of the Scythe. He had told Buffy that white energy crackled from Tara to the blade as the witch's hair and eyes turned pure white. It was then that he noticed it getting dark outside as Lorne pulled the blinds and the two of them saw dark, rolling clouds as far as the eye could see.

"Now" said Tara softly as there was a burst of white energy that just as quickly vanished before her hair and eyes turned back to their normal colours, "it.. it's done. Gu.. Gunn, pass the weapon to… to.. Slayers… to… to.. Buffy."

"Lorne?" asked Gunn as the demon crouched behind Tara so that she wouldn't fall onto the floor. Lorne nodded his head and told him to go, that the both of them will be alright.

As Gunn ran off to the shortcut that he had seen in the plans that would lead him to the basement, Tara leaned on Lorne as the green-skinned demon held on to her.

"I.. I'm sorry" said Tara as Lorne looked on confused, "too.. too.. weak."

"It's ok" said Lorne when he heard a sound and looked up to see three bringers in front of them as they smiled and walked into the room, "close your eyes."

Lorne stood up after laying Tara gently n the floor and held out the sword that he had brought with him and stood in front of Tara to protect her. He knew that his hands were trembling, but he also knew that the others were fighting for their lives, and for the world.

"Co.. come on" said Lorne as he held out his sword. Lorne watched the Bringers rush in when suddenly they stopped before taking a few steps back. Confused, he looked behind him as his eyes went wide when he saw pin pricks of yellow light that burst through the clouds.

"Down" said a female voice before Lorne felt himself getting pushed down onto the floor as he glanced back and saw red hair and white lying on top of him as they heard crashes from several windows, followed by screams. Looking up in front of him, Lorne saw the bright yellow drones literally ripping apart the three Bringers n front of them as they made a turn into the hallway . Once all the drones and entered the school, Athena got off Lorne and helped him up before she rushed to Tara and gave her a kiss that made the witch open her eyes slowly.

"Hey" said Athena with a grin, "you did it. You activated them all."

"Stay?" asked Tara as she caressed Athena's cheek, "stay with me?"

"I can't" said Athena, "I love you with all my heart, but I can do more good up there, than I ever could down here. Know that I'll always love you, no matter what. I'm always watching over you, but saving Lorne was the final bit of interference I could do. The Slayers are cleaning up the remaining Bringers, and I can see the drones…. thousands of them ripping through the Turok-han as if they were nothing. I need you to lock the seal over the Hellmouth, you are one of the descendents of the Furlings. Your gene makes it easy for you to mold the magics, and I need you to do this. You're the one with the power to reactivate the seal now that the Turok-han aren't a threat; you're the only one who can."

"But" said Tara as Lorne helped her sit up, "but…"

"Help Amy" said Athena, "she's what I could have been if I continued my habit… help her. Be a mentor to her as you wanted to do with me. I was so foolish in refusing your help, thinking I knew everything; but now you have an opportunity to help her. I can see the future changing, the prophecy that the Powers wanted won't happen now, they wanted Sunnydale destroyed; but now all of that has changed. Buffy and Faith will lead a new generation of Slayers, and I need you to help them. Remind them that they need to work together with other forces… they need help too."

"Alright" said Tara as tears flowed down her eyes.

"The next time I come back" said Athena as she started to glow white just as Gunn, Giles, Angel and Vi came to the door panting to check up on Tara and Lorne, but were surprised at the white glow coming from Athena, "I'll show you something amazing. A supernova in the Triangulum galaxy will be going off in a few months.. and if you're doing nothing…"

"But I'm not ascended" said Tara.

"Your body will be here" said Athena, "but your mind will be millions of light years away, watching the building blocks of life being created. Wanna join me?"

"Yes" said Tara with a laugh as Athena stepped back smiling before she blew Tara a kiss after Lorne helped her stand up. Athena looked at Giles, then Angel and smiled.

"This is it" said Athena as she started to glow even brighter, "take care of yourselves, I'll be watching over you guys. I love you all."

"Goodbye, Willow" said Giles as the white glow completely enveloped Athena until she was a pulsing light that had tendrils of white trailing behind her as she shot through the walls of the school.

As Buffy continued to look out the window of the ship, she thought back to the light that appeared before her and Faith after the Bringers were all taken down by the Slayers. Buffy and Faith looked on as Athena's face appeared in the light and told them that the Turok-han were destroyed, that her counterpart succeeded. She told the two original Slayers that they really needed to seek help to help train the new Slayers and that Tara will be shutting the seal again.

As Buffy smiled at the planet below, tears fell down her eyes when she recalled Athena telling her that she always valued her friendship more than anything in the world, but she had to go since the Others were calling her back.

"She spent too much time on Earth" said Buffy softly as she turned around and saw an excited Dawn talking to Thor, 'still cant believe it… Thor's an alien. A Roswell grey."

Buffy looked around at the grey interior and then at the console and the screens on the walls as a door to the side opened and Willow walked in carrying a multicoloured crystal. After the battle, Willow met them at the Summers house after Tara closed the seal. The redhead told them that with the First's army now taken care off; the First probably still existed but it lost its means of changing the balance of good and evil.

As she approached Willow after taking another good long look at their planet, the blonde Slayer looked at a screen that had thirty nine symbols on it. She watched the redhead press some symbols ever stepping back and looking at Thor, who then excused himself and went to another console.

As Buffy looked at Willow, she recalled the redhead taking Angel to another room back in the house and closing the door. She honestly didn't know what was going on but she wasn't going to complain, they just survived; and they had Slayers to train and watch over now. It was later that night that Willow contacted the Asgard, and asked them for a ride to see Joyce and that's why they were on the ship.

The Blonde Slayer knew that Xander wanted to come as well, but not only did Anya not allow it… Buffy asked him to take charge of replacing the broken glass, and fixing anything that was broken.

"Go to the Home Depot and take the stuff you need" said Buffy, "I know there are still people here and they'll get the call out now that everything's alright now. If I know city hall, they'll say something about a massive gas leak that was averted thanks to some quick thinking by city officials. In the meantime, the stores have no people but lots of supplies, so take the Slayers and get everything you need to fix the house. My mom's coming back and I don't want her to think we destroyed everything."

"We almost did" said Faith and Dawn together.

"You know what I mean" replied Buffy before she looked at the Slayers, "I'll call Riley and ask him to connect us to that General that Willow told me about. Riley knows me, and what I've been through so he'll introduce us to this General Hammond and we can take it from there."

It was a few hours later that Willow was notified by Thor that he was in orbit. She told him to lock on to the stone, that she told both Dawn and Buffy to hold, and beam up the two life signs holding on to it. IN the meantime, she'll pilot the jumper back to the Belisknir. Once Buffy and Dawn had been beamed up, the redhead looked at Giles and the others before telling them that Thor will bring back Buffy, and Dawn back home, as well as Joyce. She then turned to Angel and told him that since there wasn't power in Sunnydale, he had to use his contacts and do what she earlier asked him to do, and mail the letter that she hand wrote. After Angel nodded at her, Willow smiled and said goodbye to the others before she rushed to the jumper.

Back in the present, aboard the ship, Buffy stood next to Willow and held her hand as she looked at the redhead and smiled. Willow told Buffy as Thor went to another console, while Dawn came up to stand next to them, that they were making a stop at Atlantis so that she could use a power source and recharge the shields. The redhead stated her belief that one day, just like her own reality, humans would find out about Atlantis and make it their own.

When Buffy asked Willow about how long it would take, it was Thor who told them that hyperspace travel would be under a minute while Willow told the blonde Slayer and her sister that she'll beam down, replace the power source and then beam back up.

"The city will be shielded for another three thousand years" said Willow as she nodded at Thor to start the journey, "until the people of Earth find her again."

Edina, near the Stargate, 1845 hours.

Edina's sun was already at the horizon when three flashes of light deposited Dawn, Willow and Buffy near the Stargate. Willow brought the communication stone to her lips and told Thor that they had beamed down safely.

"Very well, Major" said Thor, "as requested, the singularity that would be used to take you home is almost ready. It will take another twenty four hours for the star to form into a black hole. Once that is done, we will return with the technology that we will attach to the Stargate to send you home."

"Thanks, Thor" said Willow, "see you tomorrow. Oh, is there anything you and the Council could do about putting this planet into the Protected Planets Treaty?"

"That will be discussed with the Council, Major" said Thor, "but I will bring it up."

"Thanks" said Willow, "Rosenberg out."

Willow put the communication stone back into her pocket before turning around and smiling at Buffy and Dawn who were looking at the circular stone ring.

"That's a Stargate" said Willow as Buffy and Dawn looked back at the redhead before she turned towards the trail that led away from the ring, "come on. The village is close by."

Buffy looked at Dawn, before looking at the Stargate again. The both of them then turned around before Dawn pointed at the sky.

"The only way to know you're on an alien world" said Buffy as she looked at the sky, "two moons."

"Guys!" shouted Willow as she looked back before both Buffy and Dawn ran towards her.

The three of them walked towards the busy village as Willow checked Joyce's house and noticed that all the lights were off. She then looked at the Council building that Renan had pointed out to her the last time she was here before turning around and asking Buffy and Dawn to follow her. As the three of them were walking through the crowds, Willow caught a glimpse of Jay who was in another building with other children who were drawing something on a table.

Willow turned and smiled as Buffy and Dawn were looking at some crafts in the square. Walking back towards them, Willow told them that they could look around while she tried to find out where Joyce was at that moment. Buffy and Dawn instead told the redhead that they'll be going with her; so Willow and the two sisters walked into the two story council building.

Entering the building, Willow and the others found themselves in what looked to be fairly large building with tables and chairs located all over the place, along with a fireplace set up in one corner. Willow looked at a bar at the far end where a woman nodded her head at the three of them.

"How about you guys take a seat?" asked Willow as she turned to look at Buffy and Dawn, "I'll check if Mrs. Summers is around here."

"Alright" said Buffy as she and Dawn sat down on some seats as few men and women came into the room and looked at them strangely before they themselves took a seat somewhere else. In the meantime, Willow walked up a staircase in the corner until she reached the second floor. She had left her vest and P90 over in the Belisknir, and had only come with her sidearm which had only a few rounds left, and her Zat. The redhead didn't think that she needed all her weapons from what her reality's Joyce had told her about Edina, but she still wanted to be safe.

As she walked towards a door at the top of the stairs, she could hear voices from the other side; voices of several men, and women, including that of Joyce. Smiling to herself, Willow opened the door slightly and caught a glimpse of empty chairs that were facing a U-Shaped table. She saw that Joyce was sitting at one of the legs of the 'U' with the older blonde's back facing the redhead. Taking a deep breath, Willow opened the door as the elders facing her stopped and looked at the redheaded stranger.

"Excuse me" said a man as he stood up, "you are not…"

"No" said Willow as Joyce looked behind her before she stood up in shock with her hands over her mouth as her face went pale as if she saw a ghost, "I'm not of this village. I'm from an explorer from a planet called Earth."

"Willow?" said Joyce as her eyes were filled with tears.

"Jo?" asked Renan, "you know this woman?"

"Hi, Mrs. Summers" said Willow as she smiled at Joyce who ran towards the redhead before she wrapped her arms around Willow and hugged her. Willow could feel the older blonde's tears as they travelled down her neck when Joyce started to sob while the redhead closed her eyes and rubbed her back, "it's alright, Mrs Summers.. I know what happened. Loki's been punished for what he did."

Willow could feel Joyce nodding her head as she held on tighter to the redhead before she looked at Willow's face and caressed her cheek; all to make sure that she wasn't dreaming about the redhead.

"Jo" said Renan as Joyce turned back, "she is from your land?"

"Yes" said Joyce as she looked back at Willow, "she is."

"My name is Major Willow Rosenberg" said Willow as she looked at the elders, "I'm here to bring her back to her children on Earth, and use your Stargate."

"Stargate?" asked another woman, "what is this Stargate?"

"You call it the Ring of the gods" said Willow as the Elders looked at each other confused.

"Mrs. Summers" said Willow as she looked at Joyce, "you need to believe me when I tell you that I'm a Willow from an alternate reality."

"But…" said Joyce shaking her head.

"I can explain everything to you" said Willow, "but your Willow.. she.. she was shot and killed one and a half years ago, I just arrived here a few days ago from my own reality."

"What?" asked a confused Joyce as she looked at Willow and then at the Elders who were just as confused, before looking at Willow again.

"If you won't believe me" said Willow with a small smile, "maybe you'll believe Buffy and Dawn?"

"What?" asked Joyce surprised again as she covered her mouth, "whe… where?"

"Downstairs" said Willow, "they can confirm my story while I talk to the rest of the elders."

Buffy was looking around her surroundings nervously while Dawn was tapping away at the surface of the table they were sitting around when they heard hurried footsteps coming down the staircase. Buffy looked at the woman who reached the bottom of the stairs and stood up in shock while tapping the shoulder of Dawn who was still looking down at the table. Dawn then looked up as well and stood up stunned with her mouth open at the older blonde who was crying while she covered her mouth with both her hands.

"Mommy?" said Buffy as she pushed herself and ran towards Joyce before hugging her, "Oh my God, you're safe… you're alive. Willow was right.. she was so right."

"Mommy" said Dawn as she ran to the older blonde who was already sobbing as the brunette gave her a tight hug.

'My… my little pumpkin belly" said Joyce as she kissed Dawn's cheek, "I'm so sorry… I.. I couldn't get back to you.. I just couldn't.."

"It's ok, mom" said Buffy as she kissed Joyce's cheeks, "It's ok… we're here to take you home… you're coming home."

Joyce stepped back and wiped her eyes before she took a good look at her daughters again before she laughed and hugged them tightly.

"I've missed you so much" said Joyce as she heard footsteps behind her and saw a smiling Willow as Dawn let her go and went to tightly hug the redhead.

"In my reality" said Willow as she looked at Joyce, "a clone was created and she replaced you, but we found out by pure accident that you were still alive. By the time we found you, you were in Edina for ten years. In my reality, you're now reunited with Buffy and Dawn who have a new brother and sister."

"What?" said Buffy and Dawn as they looked at Willow, before they looked at Joyce who herself was looking at Willow in surprise.

"I.. I have another daughter?" asked Joyce, "so it realy is true? That you're…"

'Yeah" said Dawn, "our Willow died and… well, she's still around… its complicated. Buffy and I will explain everything later."

"I was here a few days ago" said Willow as Joyce looked on in surprise, "wanted to see if the same thing happened here. And I found out that it did, and just like in my reality, Jayden died."

"What did I name my daughter?" asked Joyce.

"Rose" said Willow, "I'm her favourite aunt I'll have you know."

Joyce could only laugh as she hugged Dawn and Buffy again.

"Hey" said Joyce as she looked at her two daughters, "there's someone I want you to meet."

Joyce took Buffy and Dawn across the square to another building,, with Willow following behind them, where Jay was drawing with other children. The boy, after seeing Joyce, grinned and jumped out of his seat and rushed to the older blonde who let go of Buffy and Dawn, and crouched down to scoop up Jay into her arms.

"Jay" said Joyce while turning around with Jay's arms around her neck as he looked at the shocked looks on both Buffy and Dawn's faces, "met your sisters, the ones I told you stories about."

"Oh" said Jay as his eyes opened wide while he pointed at Buffy, "Pretty."

Buffy gave the young boy a smile before Jay looked at Dawn and called her ugly, to which Buffy and Willow laughed while the brunette fumed at Jay who started to laugh at Dawn. It was later that night that they all had dinner at Joyce's house as guests, who had heard that Joyce's children had arrived to take her home, arrived one after another. Some tried to convince all of them to stay, while others told Joyce that she'll be missed if she decided to go.

It was late at night, once all the guests had gone, and Jay went to sleep that Willow told Joyce, Dawn and Buffy about the reason why Joyce was taken away. That the Asgard were looking for a cure to a deteriorating disease and that one of them had been conducting illegal cloning experiments on humans from Earth without the knowledge of the Asgard council. Willow told them that before she returned to Earth, she asked Thor to take care of Loki, to punish him so that he would not do this again to anyone else. Willow then told Thor that she'll take care of the explanations to the three of them when they were together.

"So" said Joyce as she leaned back on her seat, "are they going to be alright?"

"Yeah" said Willow, "my blood has a unique protein marker that they're using to develop a cure for their disease."

"At least I have my daughters back" said Joyce as she looked at a smiling Buffy and Dawn before looking at Willow, "you can't stay?"

"We're fighting a war in my reality" said Willow, "can't leave my friends and family."

Edina, twenty four hours later, alternate reality.

Willow was waiting at the Stargate before she turned around to see Joyce walking up the trail while carrying Jay, and Buffy carrying some bags with Dawn. She also noticed that Renan was walking alongside Joyce as they reached the redhead. It was a few seconds later that there was a buzzing sound near the DHD as two flashes of light deposited Thor, and the rest of Willow's gear.

A surprised Renan and Jay looked on as Thor approached them and introduced himself, while Willow put on her vest and clipped on her P90. She could heard Thor apologizing to Joyce, Buffy and Dawn before telling them that Loki has been punished for what he did. Willow watched as Loki told Renan, who happened to be the leader of the Elders, that the Asgard will be protecting this planet and that if he agreed, the grey alien would station an Asgard teacher for the people.

After Renan agreed, Thor gave a chip to Willow that he asked be placed in one of the ports inside the DHD. Willow crouched down and opened a panel under the DHD and found an empty slot where she slipped the chip inside, while Thor placed two Asgard stones on the inner ring of the Gate itself.

"Ready?" asked Willow as she looked at Thor who came and stood next to her while she dialled the Stargate as Buffy and the others watched the chevrons light up. Once they saw Willow press the red button in the middle of the DHD, they heard a grinding sound just before the two crystals lit up just as there was a release of energy along the inner track of the Stargate. The energy crackled around the Gate as the unstable vortex rushed out towards Joyce and the others who jumped back. The vortex was out for a few seconds more than it usually was as Willow looked on before it suddenly settled into the event horizon of the wormhole.

"So that…." said Dawn as she pointed at the blue puddle.

"The event horizon of an artificial subspace wormhole that's hopefully connected to my reality" said Willow.

"We have used the frequency of your link" said Thor as Willow nodded her head before the redhead reached for her radio that was on the top left side of her vest.

"This is Major Rosenberg calling Stargate Command" said Willow as she stepped back and gasped.

'Willow?" asked Buffy as she looked at the redhead step back again as she took in another deep breath.

"It's home" said Willow when she felt a warm feeling go through her body. She brought both hands up where on one she made an electrical charge skip from one finger to the next, the burns healing immediately; and on the other she created a ball of white energy before she dissipated it, "I have my powers back. All of it."

"Major" said General Landry's voice over her radio, "please authenticate I.D."

"Sierra Golf One dash three" said Willow as she spoke into her radio, "authentication code Beta dash One Five."

"Code has been authenticated Major" said the General, "good to hear your voice again."

"Yes, sir" said Willow, "requesting permission to retract Iris and Gate shield."

"Shield is…."

Willow looked at Dawn and Buffy who smiled when they heard a commotion on the background as Faith's voice came over the radio.

"Major" said the General, "Miss Lehane has a message for you."

"Please tell me you felt that weirdness?" asked Faith as she spoke over the radio.

"I did" said Willow before she looked at Buffy, dawn and Joyce, "give me a second."

"As long as you get back" said Faith as Willow gave a small smile, "Oh, Sam wants to speak to you."

"Willow" said Colonel Carter, "Thor has loaned us the same device to close the bridge the previous time this happened, we need to know the frequency to use for the Ion generator."

"Thor?" asked Willow as she gave her radio to the Asgard, "maybe you could explain the frequency stuff to Colonel Carter? I wanna say goodbye to my friends."

Willow watched Thor activate a small device on his wrist as he talked to Colonel Carter while Willow put her radio back into her vest and went over to Buffy and the others.

"I guess it's goodbye" said Willow as she went over to Buffy.

"I've already said goodbye to you once" said Buffy as tears filled her eyes, "at least this time I know you're alive in another reality."

"Remember what I told you" said Willow as she hugged Buffy, "you need help with what's going to happen. All the new Slayers in the world need guidance. And you can't do it alone, ask Riley for help to contact the General I told you about. Before I left, I wrote some letters and asked Angel to mail them immediately… they may not believe me, but I've given the Air Force enough to find the second Stargate on Earth."

'There's another one?" asked Dawn as Willow nodded her head.

"Oh" said Willow as she leaned in and whispered in Buffy's ear, "you were thinking too loud just now; I'm completely ok with you and Oz together. I bet even my counterpart feels the same way. You never had to hide it, you know."

Buffy just smiled and Hugged Willow again before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Dawnie" said Willow a she stepped back from Buffy and looked at the brunette, "look after Buffy, and now you have a little brother. Spoil him rotten."

"Or I can just show him some real monsters and…"

"Dawn" said Joyce as the brunette grinned. The older blonde then turned to look at Willow and thanked her for bringing her back to Dawn and Buffy. Willow then kissed her cheek before nodding at Renan. Walking back to Thor, she saw that the alien was talking to Colonel Carter when he looked up at Willow and told her that he's told the Colonel the frequency to use in order to close the bridge.

"Major" said General Landry through the radio, "you are clear to come through the gate."

Stargate Command, Prime Reality, 0900 hours.

"Take care, guys" said Willow as she walked through the event horizon of the wormhole and found herself back at Stargate Command. She looked at the control room, and then at the SF's who were pointing their weapons from the bottom of the ramp.

"I'm home" said Willow as General Landry told the SF's to stand down, before telling Siler to bring the Ion generator to the Gate room. Willow saw a smiling Faith run down from the control room, followed by Colonel Carter. The redhead had already walked down to the middle of the ramp when Faith reached the Gateroom and hugged Willow tightly.

"You're back" said Faith as she whispered into her ear.

"I missed you" replied Willow as Faith stepped back while Colonel Carter gave the redhead a hug before telling her that the others hadn't come in yet, that she was working on something; while Faith was helping Daniel.

"Major" said the General as he walked into the Gateroom and stopped at the bottom of the ramp, "have your post mission medical, and then we'll have a very interesting briefing I take it?"

"Oh yes, sir" said Willow with a smile, "I'll have a report ready by the end of the day… what time is it anyway?"

"Nine in the morning" said Faith.

"OK" said Willow, "then definitely by the end of today."

"Alright" said General Landry, "but after that, I want you to take three days leave. Is that clear?"

"Won't hear me complain, sir" said Willow as the Ion generator was brought into the Gateroom.

"Alright" said General Landry, "dismissed, Major"

"Yes, sir" said Willow as she walked with both Colonel Carter and Faith before the General for her again.

"Welcome home, Major" said General Landry.

"Thank you, sir" said Willow, "it's good to be home."

Willow then went to the infirmary with Colonel Carter and Faith, while the General went back to his office to call in the rest of SG-1.

TBC.