Willow's Dorm Room, A.F Academy.
It was a normal day for Willow. Very normal. She had classes, some soccer training—she was excited about the next match in the intramural league—and then more classes. Now, she was exhausted.
Stepping into her room, she nodded at Colleen, who rushed past her, saying she was late for a date.
Willow chuckled. "Another vending machine date with Chuck?" She made a 'kissy' face at Colleen, who laughed while rolling her eyes before rushing off down the hallway. Willow chuckled again before closing the door. She placed her backpack on the bed and took a seat at her desk.
It had been a couple of months since Buffy's return from the dead, and Willow had spoken to her a few times over the phone. Not as much as before, not as many times as she had expected, if Willow was being honest—but it was something. Willow wanted to ask Buffy if she remembered anything after her death, but it never seemed like the right time. She wanted to ask Buffy if she had been in hell. Although, Willow admitted, how could she even ask such a question?
"What am I gonna say? 'Hey, Buffy, you know… when you were dead? Were you in hell?'" Willow whispered to herself sarcastically. There was really no good way to ask that question.
And what if she had been in heaven?
Willow suddenly stiffened, her eyes fixed on the picture of herself, Buffy, and Xander tacked to the pinboard hanging on the wall just above her desk. What if Buffy had been in heaven? Willow placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in silent shock as the realization hit her.
What if Buffy had been happy?
What if…?
There were so many what ifs, but the possibility that Buffy had been in heaven—only to be pulled out of it—was something Willow could hardly comprehend. Had any of the Scoobies thought about this? Had Giles and Tara? Sure, they had questioned the morality of bringing someone back from the dead, but had they considered this?
And what could Willow say? She was afraid to ask Buffy that question. It was a foregone conclusion what she would say if Buffy admitted to being in Hell. Of course, Willow would be glad she had been resurrected. But what if Buffy admitted to being in Heaven? What could Willow say then?
For now, Willow thought it best not to ask. Maybe one day, she would ask Xander if he had an answer from Buffy.
Willow shook her head. These were intense questions—questions she could ask another time. She got off her chair. She needed to take a shower and then get some sleep. Or should she shower and then do some light reading for tomorrow's class? Willow sighed, resolving to make a decision while taking a warm shower.
She was about to take off her shirt when everything around her spun. Her room melted away as she reached for her chair—but it was gone. She stumbled forward just as a hand caught her arm.
"Colonel?" Willow said, staring at O'Neill to her left. Then she looked around. She was in the Gateroom at the SGC. But something was wrong. An eerie silence filled the air.
Then she saw Daniel standing at the bottom of the ramp leading up to the Stargate. Next to him was a woman she had never seen before—someone staring at her with a quizzical expression. The woman parted her lips as if she wanted to say something, but then she closed her mouth and looked away.
Willow frowned, slowly turning around. The control room was empty. She turned back to the Colonel, who had slipped his hands into his trouser pockets.
What was going on? How had she gotten to the SGC?
"Colonel?" Willow said again. "What's going on? I was in my room, and now… well… I'm here."
"I asked her..." Daniel motioned to the woman at his right. "Oh, right… Willow, this is Oma. Oma Desala. You read the report where—"
"Kheb," Willow nodded, recalling the report about the peaceful, retreat-like compound on the planet they had come to know as Kheb. She stared at Oma in awe, remembering how she had saved both SG-1 and the child of Daniel's former wife, Sha're.
Willow nervously waved at Oma, who pressed her lips together. There was something in her eyes—something that reminded Willow of anger. But why? She had never met this woman before. So why did Oma seem angry at her?
Willow pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and instead leaned toward the Colonel, whispering nervously, "What's going on?"
"I don't have much time," Daniel said.
Willow furrowed her brows in confusion, especially when he continued, "You're already close to us, Willow. So, it would have been rude not to say goodbye."
Willow threw her hands up. "What do you mean, goodbye? Seriously, what's going on?"
She listened in shock, tears welling in her eyes, as Daniel—the archaeologist who had become a good friend—and O'Neill explained their latest mission.
They told her what had happened in Kelowna, one of the countries on P2S-4C3. There had been an accident involving a radioactive material—an unstable form of Naquadah known as Naquadria—that the Kelownans were testing as a weapon. Daniel explained that he had rushed into the lab where the experiment was taking place because a runaway reaction was about to occur. If he hadn't done something, it would have exploded, killing millions.
O'Neill added that the scientists in the lab had all been knocked out. Once inside, Daniel defused the radioactive material. But it was too late—he had already exposed himself to a fatal dose of radiation.
O'Neill's tone was angry as he told Willow that the Kelowans blamed Daniel for trying to sabotage their experiment, even though they knew the truth. Daniel then reminded O'Neill that one of the Kelowans, a man named Jonas Quinn, had defected to the SGC out of guilt for allowing Daniel to take the blame.
"And he did bring some naquadriah," Daniel pointed out.
O'Neill rolled his eyes. Standing with his hands on his hips, he shook his head. Willow, too stunned to think, wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Daniel was dying.
O'Neill told Willow that in the real world, Major Carter's father was using a Goa'uld handheld healing device to try and save Daniel. Willow suspected this wasn't the real world, but none of that mattered. Why did Daniel want to say goodbye? He was being healed. Right?
Daniel suddenly stiffened and seemed to stare into the distance. Then, shifting his gaze to Willow, he said, "You're going to be a fine addition to the team, Willow."
Before she could respond, Daniel turned to O'Neill and told him to go back and tell General Jacob Carter to stop trying to heal him.
"No, wait!" Willow exclaimed. "If you're being healed, then… then why are you giving up? You can't give up."
Daniel turned back to Willow. "I'm not giving up." He shared a look with Oma, one Willow didn't understand. Then, before her eyes, Oma transformed into a being of white light and flew toward the Stargate, merging with the event horizon.
Daniel turned to both Willow and O'Neill. "There's more I can do by ascending," he said. "This is what I want. Everything will be fine."
From the tone of his voice, Willow knew his mind was made up. O'Neill had known him longer than she had, and if even he couldn't change Daniel's mind, what chance did she have?
All she could do was whisper in a voice that broke, "I'll miss you, Daniel."
"I'll miss you too, Willow. I have a feeling everything will be fine."
Willow nodded, wiping her tears.
And then, suddenly, she was back in her dorm room. Sitting down, she tried to process what had happened. First Joyce, then Buffy—though Buffy had come back. And now Daniel. From what she had heard, higher beings couldn't interfere in the lower planes of existence. Did that mean she would never see Daniel again? There was no way to know.
Then there was Jonas Quinn. She should be angry at him. Furious. But for now, she felt… nothing. Maybe it was the shock of Daniel leaving.
A few minutes later, her phone rang. She picked it up.
"Red," O'Neill said, his voice low. "Daniel is… well, his body turned into this blob of light, and… well… he ascended."
"How are you feeling, sir?" Willow whispered. "Did he say anything after I left? Did you see him again in that place?"
O'Neill was quiet for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I saw him again. He said we're going to be fine." He hesitated, then continued. "Hammond's contacting the Academy to get you a pass to leave campus for a few hours."
Willow wiped her tears and nodded. "Uh-huh."
"We'll go to O'Malley's for a bit and remember him," O'Neill said. "So, get ready. Once Hammond gives the go-ahead, we'll come pick you up."
"And if they don't approve?" Willow asked.
"We'll still come pick you up," O'Neill said. "I know people."
Willow chuckled, wiping away more tears. After ending the call, she took a deep breath and stood up. Tears continued to gather, and she kept wiping them away. She wanted to remind herself that Daniel was technically still alive—somewhere.
But the truth was, Daniel wasn't with them anymore.
And it would take time to get used to that.
To be continued