Willow's Room, SGC.
After entering the room, Willow sat on the edge of the bed while watching Daniel pick up the phone. Since Carter, General Hammond, and Teal'c were still in the facility, Daniel called each of them to meet in Willow's quarters for an impromptu meeting. In the meantime, Colonel O'Neill was whistling as he reached up to the wire connecting the small camera to the main power, and then pulled, unplugging it. He then turned towards Willow and pulled up a chair. He sat down, Daniel leaned against a wall, and Willow sat on the bed with her back to the wall.
"So…" Willow winced, "do we wait… or…"
"So, vampires, huh?" O'Neill said, leaning forward, his arms resting on the table, "and you didn't tell us this because…"
Daniel jumped in, and Willow was silently thankful for the interruption. He said, "would we have believed her? I mean even after telling her about aliens, the Stargate… I mean… demons and vampires are a little out there." Willow wasn't sure if that helped any, basing off of O'Neill's look of confusion. And Daniel realizing he just confused himself.
Willow then chuckled before deciding to jump in. She knew these people understood the need for some things to remain secret. If the public knew about vampires and demons, and that there was a girl chosen to fight them all, there would be panic. Or there would be some people taking all of the Scoobies to the looney bin. And then, with their luck, there would be an apocalypse while all of them are stuck in the looney bin. Willow breathed in, and then out, to calm herself.
"I'm sorry," Willow said. That's the first thought that came to her mind. To apologize. "I mean, you guys can understand, right? That sometimes, others… like the public… knowing the truth about what's out there…" Willow waved her arms outwards, "can cause panic. Or make others think I'm nuts." Daniel and O'Neill glanced at each other, and then nodded their heads in understanding. Willow continued, "I mean, you guys are having a hard time understanding magic, so… I wondered how you'd feel when it came to vampires."
"And demons," Daniel added.
"And someone called the Master," O'Neill then added.
Before anyone else could add anything else, there was a knock on the door. Daniel opened the door after Willow nodded her head. The redhead took a deep breath, the door opened to reveal Hammon and Carter with Teal'c behind them. Willow waved them in. The newcomers stepped inside, Teal'c closed the door, and then Hammond asked, "Willow?" He then turned towards O'Neill who was walking over to them, "Jack, why are we in Miss Rosenberg's quarters?"
"For one thing, sir," the Colonel said waving an arm towards the deactivated camera, "there's only one camera here, and we could really do with the privacy."
"Privacy?" Carter asked before looking over at Willow's direction. The redhead was chuckling nervously while rubbing the back of her head. "What's going on?" Carter then asked.
Willow then spoke up, "I think you guys should take a seat. What I have to say will be heavy."
"Like magic heavy?" Carter asked.
Willow shrugged while wincing, "maybe?"
The General and O'Neill took their seats at the table, Daniel and Teal'c were leaning against a wall, and Carter was seated near the foot of the bed. Now Willow didn't know where to begin. But thankfully, it was Daniel who came to the rescue.
Daniel said. "General, Sam, Teal'c, we were showing Willow the Stargate when she let slip some previously unknown information." He then asked Willow to take her time.
Willow centered herself. She didn't need to say anything about Slayers or Watchers. Willow already mentioned being part of a neighborhood watch; so she supposed that would have to do. Exhaling, Willow then said, "Please understand, I couldn't tell anyone of you about this. Actually I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but I didn't even think I was opening my big blabbermouth at the Stargate." She looked at each person staring back at her and said, "Please don't think that I'm nuts, or a total loon, after what I'm about to tell you because for the past few years, this was my life."
"Willow, it would be better if you put everything out into the open," said General Hammond.
Carter then added, trying to reassure the redhead, "Willow, you know what we do. We deal with weird all the time, so I think we can handle it."
"It's a doozy alright," whispered the Colonel. He then nodded at Willow.
"Please go ahead, Willow," Daniel said, preparing to listen intently.
"Alright then," Willow said bracing herself for the eventual question, "I've have been fighting vampires and other types of monsters, with my friends, since I was in high school."
There was stunned silence around the table.
Carter and the General looked at each other. And then at O'Neill and Daniel. Teal'c was slowly walking up to the side of Willow's bed.
"After encountering my first vampire…"
"Vampire?" Carter whispered.
"Let her finish, Carter," O'Neill said. Carter nodded her head, her eyes now focused on Willow."
"I read up on weird texts on the internet," Willow said, her mind crafting a lie that was close to the truth. "I mean, I'm good at researching things, and a lot of what I found claimed that the world is older than any of us think it is." Willow then told SG-1 and Hammond the very explanation Giles had given her and Xander the day after Buffy rescued the two of them from being the latest recruits to carry out the Harvest. She never mentioned Giles or Buffy. "And that's pretty much it," Willow said. She then took a breather and continued, "those neighbourhood watches? It wasn't really against gangs hopped up on PCP."
"Vampires?" O'Neill asked, leaning forward
"Mostly demons or all shapes and sizes," Willow explained, "most are really strong." She then turned to Daniel, "and the barbeque fork serial killers…"
"Vampires?" Daniel asked.
Willow nodded her head. Willow then went on to the Hellmouth. She spoke of how it was a mystical convergence between multiple dimensions – most of them not good at all – and how that energy attracted creatures of nightmares such as vampire and demons. A little over an hour had passed by the time Willow spoke about Marcie Ross, the lust spell – Willow just mentioned a desperate high school student used another witch to cast the spell; she never mentioned Xander and Amy's involvement in that mess. Then there were so many other incidents, and Willow ended her High School exploits by explaining how the former Mayor of Sunnydale turned into a pure demon during the High School.
"And that's the real reason why we had to blow up the school," Willow said, everyone staring at her in silence. She shifted her focus on each person – the silence was deafening - before continuing, "I had more run-ins at U C Sunnydale too. And there's the whole magic thing."
Everyone around the table was still stunned, until Teal'c broke the silence. He turned to the Colonel and asked, "O'Neill, what is a vampire."
He shook his head. O'Neill then turned towards Teal'c and explained, "Well it's a classic movie monster that has fangs, and drinks the blood of people. Remind to show you 'Dracula' one day." Teal'c bowed his head slightly, accepting the answer. O'Neill turned towards Willow, "this is a lot."
"You do believe me?" Willow asked.
"Willow, you have to understand, all of this stuff about magic, vampires, and demons is a little hard to believe," said Sam. Willow did understand, she didn't believe it the first time she saw a vampire. At the same time, she didn't want Carter to encounter a vampire in Colorado Springs just for the sake of it.
"Well, while it is a fantastic story, I think that we give Red the benefit of the doubt," said Colonel O'Neill.
"So, you believe her Colonel?" asked Hammond. Carter and the others then turned towards O'Neill, waiting for his answer.
"I don't think she has a reason to lie," O'Neill said, Willow giving him a tight smile, "and the stories? Too detailed for her to have just come up with it on the fly." O'Neill then shrugged his shoulders, "the lust spell? That one was funny."
"Not really that funny," even as she spoke, Willow couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of chasing Xander and Cordelia with an axe, alongside several other women and girls. "Okay, maybe just a tiny bit funny. It was a lesson though; there's no such thing as a love spell."
"So, it wasn't you?" Carter asked, just to reassure herself. Willow shook her head. She wasn't going to say she attempted a spell that would force Oz to hate Veruca. Nope, there was no need to make that admission.
"Is there anything else?" Hammond asked.
'There's Buffy, Giles, the Watchers…' Willow thought to herself before saying, "I can't think of anything else."
"Thank you, Willow," Hammond said, "I would like to remind everybody, what was said here will not leave this room, and there will be no written report," said General Hammond as he got up off his chair.
It was then that Willow remembered something. She perked up and said, "there is something else." The General nodded his head, "a few days before I cast the wishing spell, I was attacked by a vampire." She could see Carter and the others were about to speak, Willow powered through. She remembered Spike telling them about a group of covert military types beneath U C Sunnydale where he was imprisoned, where he had that chip implanted into his brain. Willow didn't know if these people knew of such an operation, but hoped it would help in some way when coming to establishing trust, "I tried to run away but then these guys in all black… like with night vision goggles and everything… tried to take him away. Even tried to take me away, but I managed to run away from the vampire and those guys."
O'Neill was surprised, "in Sunnydale?"
"This happened when I was in U C Sunnydale," Willow said, "then a few months back, during the last Halloween, my friends and I in our neighborhood watched saw these guys in masks and… I think they were wearing those outfits in television shows…. Kinda like SWAT, you know… the stuff they wear."
"Tactical gear?" Carter asked,
"I think so," Willow replied shrugging, "I mean, it was Halloween, so we didn't think much about it."
"A special operations team?" O'Neill said, turning towards Hammond who was frowning,
"You thinking the government knows about what's going on in Sunnydale?" Daniel asked, "that would be… wow."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Hammond said, rubbing his chin while Willow looked on. They seemed genuinely confused, which most likely meant these people had no idea about whoever it was operating in Sunnydale. Which was a good thing, Willow thought. Hammond continued, "I'm sure another branch could have something going on in Sunnydale without us knowing about it. We simply don't have the clearance or the need-to-know classification." Hammond then turned towards Willow, "if these people tried to capture you too, Willow, then…"
"They didn't come after me again," Willow pointed out.
"Either way," Hammond said, "how you arrived here is considered top-secret, what you are able to do in regard to magic is Presidential-Eyes only. So, you are safe."
"Will this situation in Sunnydale be investigated?" Teal'c asked.
Hammond was deep in thought before shaking his head, "no. At least not by us. Whatever is happening in Sunnydale, will be handled by the respective branch. There is no need to shine more light on this command by asking questions that are… frankly… not our concern." Hammond turned to Willow, "the President knows you have used magic, he knows you're from Sunnydale. If he had any concerns, he would have immediately let me know."
Willow nodded her head.
"I still have so many questions," Daniel said. As did Carter. But it was O'Neill who stopped all questions.
"Let's give Red some time to relax," he said, "it's been a hoot, and trust me I still have plenty of questions." He then turned towards Teal'c, "how about we get Dracula…" O'Neill then turned towards Willow, "and if its fine and dandy with Red, we'll watch it here. We'll bring some popcorn, soda, and Red can tell us what the movie got wrong."
Willow nodded her head.
"I have a lot of questions about this Hellmouth," Carter said, "but I guess it can wait until tomorrow." Carter shook her head, no, she needed to get it out there.
"Colonel, I think I may have an explanation about this 'Hellmouth' thing Willow was talking about" said Carter, earning her a look from the rest of SG1 and Willow.
"The way Willow described it; it could be something similar to the quantum mirror." Willow looked at her strangely, the others with thoughtful expressions. She continued, "These beings that Willow's been talking about could have come from an alternate Earth… or many different alternate Earths. It could even give out a certain type of radiation or energy that adversely affects some people in our universe, but not others, in the short term. Who knows what the long-term consequences of such an exposure could be," said Carter.
"It would not be the first time we have encountered an alternate universe" said Teal'c.
"You guys encountered alternate universes before?" exclaimed Willow.
"Yes, the first time was when Daniel touched something called a Quantum Mirror. He was transported to an alternate Earth where the Gua'uld invaded the planet," explained Carter, "Before he escaped that alternate Earth, he witnessed the complete takeover of the SGC by the Goa'uld. When he returned, he had brought along information that we used to prevent the same attack on our Earth."
O'Neill then spoke, "There was another incident when an alternate Carter, and a former friend came through the Quantum Mirror to our world. This time we went to their Earth to prevent a Gua'uld invasion by gating Carter's alternate to the Asgard. After SG1 returned from that incident, General Hammond ordered the mirror destroyed."
"What Sam and Jack are trying to say, Willow, is we've seen the dangerous, the weird and the wonderful. So in the sense of the big picture, your story is about the same as ours would be. Just don't tell anyone else on the base or at the academy your story. Actually, don't tell anyone." said Daniel.
"Now that we're done with all these questions," O'Neill clapped once, "movie time!"
To be continued.