Angel hung up the phone. "Ok, that was Gunn. He’s on his way over with a few of his team. We should go downstairs and see how Willow’s doing."

"You mean you want to check to see if Red has wigged yet?"

Oh yeah, that was exactly what Fang wanted to do.

Faith was surprised Fang didn’t head downstairs the second he woke. Actually, Faith was impressed. They woke an hour ago and Angel had been here ever since. She was surprised he hadn’t checked on Red a million times yet.

He was falling over himself trying to help her. Why else would he wake them HOURS before they usually got up to hold a Scooby meeting about the witch?

Red was staying and Angel was in a spin.

Willow was helping them with limitations attached but she was staying and, to Faith, that was more than they really could hope for. After the way Red lost it last night, Faith had been convinced she would be on the first plane back to Colorado. Faith couldn’t remember seeing Red that bad.

It scared her.

It made Faith wonder if maybe she should have made her little visits to Colorado every month known to Red. Maybe if she knew Faith was watching her back she wouldn’t be so scared of everything here.

And maybe Red wouldn’t have had to used magic.

Willow might have called her for help.

Faith blamed herself completely. Not that she admitted it to Angel or anyone. She didn’t feel like going into why she had been lying about where she went every month. She didn’t want to see the look of disappointment in their eyes when they realised that she could have prevented whatever happened that caused Red to use her magic.

Red using magic was enough to tell Faith that whatever happened was bad. Red wouldn’t use magic until she had no choice… and Faith was talking no choices here. The way Red felt about magic, Faith reckoned that she would only use magic to save someone else.

Not herself.

Red felt a lot of guilt and fear about what happened at Graduation; she didn’t have the same survival instincts as everyone else. Red wasn’t afraid to die – she was afraid to live.

"So she really said…" Cordelia shook her head.

Cordy was having a hard time believing Red was staying too, not to mention the guilt Cordy felt about what happened. The former cheerleader did feel guilty about ripping into Red. It was all she and Cordy spoke about last night. Cordy felt like shit after she cooled down.

When Willow refused to help; Cordy lost it.

It wasn’t planned, it just happened. Cordy had witnessed Giles almost being killed and she was still a little shaken about it.

Cordy let all of her anger and fear go and Red copped it.

Faith didn’t blame her for what she said. It wasn’t like any of them hadn’t thought that at one time or another. They’d be lying if they said they weren’t. Faith loved Willow, she’d die to protect her, but there were times when she wished things had been different.

They all wished things had been different.

"I should have told her to wait for me before reading up on everything," Angel sat down on the bed, a defeated expression on his face. "But I didn’t know what else to do. She asked for me to leave it out and I didn’t know if that meant she didn’t want us near her while she went through everything."

That was the main reason why the three of them were in Faith’s room and not downstairs. It WAS hard to know what to do around Red. She didn’t like them touching her and none of them wanted to crowd her either. Now that she had agreed to stay, the last thing they wanted to do was scare her off.

"You should have seen her last night. She looked so nervous, like she forcing herself to be in the room with me."

Cordelia shook her head. "Angel, this isn’t about you. Whatever is going through Wills head isn’t about any of us, not in the way you’re implying."

"I just don’t know how we should handle this. Should we go downstairs and treat her the way we treat Gunn? Should we hide things from her? Protect her? Can we ask her to fight with us in a battle?" Angel jumped off the bed in frustration. "She said we still thought of her as the old Willow… but I don’t know this Willow. She’s changed, Cordy, and I don’t know what to do with it. When we go downstairs, will we find Willow hiding under the desk?"

Honestly, Faith was going with a big fat yes.

"Angel," she went to where he was standing. "We take things as they come. If Red doesn’t want us to touch her, we won’t. If she’s freaked, then we won’t get her involved in any of the messy stuff. Red said she’s going to help so we’ll let her help anyway she wants. We need to focus on the problem at hand. We need to find a witch and work out if we missed another ritual."

Cordy let out an exasperated sigh. "Faith, do you know how difficult it’s going to be to find a witch THAT powerful?"

She shrugged. "We’ll find one. Maybe we’ll find some witches in the yellow pages."

Ok, yeah, Faith had to agree that wasn’t funny at all.

"What if she worked out I lied?" Angel said. "If it comes to it and something goes wrong and we have no choice… I’ll ask her to use magic."

Faith frowned. "If her magic is as bad as she says, we’re all going to be in a lot of trouble. "

They were screwed if it came down to asking Red to use her magic.

"We’ll have to keep her protected," Cordelia stated. "If Angel can sense her power that means the cult might be able to. We might have to teach her to shield before the day is over."

Angel groaned. "If we tell her that then she WILL run."

"So we don’t tell her," Cordy suggested. "Maybe we can look up a sort of shielding spell in one of Giles’ books, we might be able to get Lorne to help us with the spell. That way Willow’s power will be hidden and she won’t even know about it."

Faith let out a laugh. "You want the Lorne here with Willow? Ok, now I know you’re still half asleep. Red will freak if she saw a demon."

"Look," Angel held his hands to silence them. "Faith is right. Why don’t we see how Willow is before we make any decisions? We should head down there. I don’t want to leave Willow alone any longer than we already have."

Faith couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

WAS Red hiding under the desk in Angel’s office? It was entirely possible. One of them should have checked up on her but then there was a chance Red could have freaked about that too. She didn’t like people around her.

God, it was a lose lose situation.

Angel was the first to head out the door. "Remember, don’t crowd her," he told them as they walked down the hallway towards the stairs. "She’s probably going to be frightened by what she read in the notes."

Great understatement there Fang.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Angel tilted his head to the side. "I can smell fear, she’s scared."

Damn. "Bad?"

Angel shook his head. "Not as bad as last night. Better than I would have thought. The same level of fear she usually gives off when she’s here. She’s not terrified, I would have smelled it earlier if she was. I can’t make out her heartbeat over yours."

That was something. The three of them started down the stairs in silence. Having Red hear them talking about her would not be a good thing. The last thing they wanted to do was –

Hey! Why the hell did Angel stop like that?

Faith looked to the side to where Angel was staring and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Ok, this wasn’t exactly the sight she was expecting. The floor of the lobby was covered in weapons. All of them arranged in order to size.

Every weapons Faith had ever used was there. Christ, some of them were under lock and key in the basement! How the hell did Red find them? The three of them raced down the stairs the rest of the way, not stopping until they came to the office. Then they came to a dead holt.

If they thought the lobby was bad…

Red had taken over Angel’s office completely.

His desk was covered with books, texts, and papers. The walls of the office were covered in maps… maps Faith hadn’t seen before. One map on the main feature wall was covered in different colored pins while the other two had various circles around different areas of town.

And there was no Willow.

"What the hell?" Cordelia voiced their mutual shock.

Yep, Faith was right with her on that one.

"Ah, sorry guys, I guess I got a little carried away," Willow said from behind them.

They spun around to see the redhead smiling sheepishly at them. Ok, now Faith was a little concerned. Red looked like something out of GI Jane. She wasn’t in uniform but she looked damned well close enough. She was wearing fatigues and a black tank top.

Over the top of her shirt were her dog tags.

A little carried away?

"I was just getting the feel for everything and I kind of went nuts," she blushed. "I’ll, um, get my mess cleared away."

"No!" Angel protested, startling Willow slightly. "Sorry… I meant, no. You don’t have to move anything."

Willow shook her head. "No, really it’s fine. I wasn’t sure how to go about any of this so I just treated it like it was any other mission… training simulation that I’ve done while training," she made a painful expression then pushed past them. "I wasn’t expecting you guys to get up for another hour or so. Faith and Cordy were getting back from patrol when I was getting ready for my morning run."

Uh-oh. They got back at dawn! Red was awake at dawn! But Angel said she had been up past one last night. How much sleep did she get? Shit. That meant she had been doing this for hours.

Six hours to be precise.

Who the hell got up at dawn?

Angel moved into the office and stood next to Willow. "What is this, anyway?" he pointed to the maps.

Willow blushed again. "They’re maps of the LA. I kind of work better when I’m using maps, it reminds me of work…" her eyes widened and she shook her head. "You know, Star Charts, maps… same thing."

Damn, Red was nervous as hell.

Faith noticed she could hardly stand still. Well, Fang did say he smelt fear when they were heading down the stairs. Red was scared but she was hiding it.

Hiding it pretty damn well actually.

"The pins on the main map pinpoint every location in and around LA that are supernatural hot spots. Leylines, that sort of thing. I kept my perimeters within a five-mile radius. Basically I was looking for potential locations for the next seven rituals," Red moved to the next map. "The circles on the other maps show where the completed rituals took place. I went through Giles’ notes as well as yours Angel. He kept a better record of where they were and what the actual rituals entailed."

Faith needed to sit down.

"The weapons?" Cordy questioned.

"I was doing an inventory of our supplies," she replied. "There were some things that weren’t specified in the notes so I started to make some of my own. You didn’t really detail how many demons were in the cult so I took the liberty of working out what we do and don’t have. I only just finished laying them out. I haven’t done an inventory of any mystical weapons or compounds… I’m not that familiar with them so I decided to stick with the hardware."

Hardware?

"I also took the liberty of hacking into the Watchers Council’s database. It’s where I got the list of local hot spots AND," she reached past Angel and picked up a two printed lists off the desk. "I also got a list of all the known witches in the northern hemisphere."

Wait… she did WHAT?

"Did you know there are levels of witchcraft?" Willow asked as she handed one list to Angel. "These are the witches that are known to the Council. Apparently in some areas witches need to be registered but I’m guessing there are witches out there that aren’t registered. This second list is of witches who are sort of black listed by the council which means they’ve probably gone over the dark side of the force once or twice. We can crosscheck any unregistered witches to the blacklisted list. I rang a few of the more powerful witches an hour ago, they’re giving us a call back."

Angel blinked in shock. "This is, um, great."

Yeah. A little freaky too.

"I picked up some new coffee while I was out buying the maps. I hope you don’t mind, I brought the brand I drink back home. If you guys don’t like it, I’ll replace it with your normal brand" she told them. "There are also some pastries out there if you guys want some breakfast, or lunch, which is about now anyway. I’m not used to vampire hours, sorry, still working on military time."

Faith knew she was staring at Red like she was an alien but she couldn’t help it.

This wasn’t hiding under the desk!

"You should have woke one of us," Angel recovered from his shock enough to tell her.

"I was fine," Willow shifted from foot to foot, probably a little uneasy about the way they were staring at her. "Did you guys want some coffee? I’ve just brewed a new batch, that’s where I was when you guys came down. I was taking a break."

"Ah, yeah, that would be great."

"After I get the coffees there are a few questions I need to ask."

"What kind of questions?" Angel asked, slightly worried.

"Questions about Gunn and his team," she told him. "I need to know the details of his team. How many, who can do what, that sort of thing. If we’re going to mount an attack on the cult, I need to know what kind of unit we have before I can plan anything. I’ll be right back."

Um, hello? Mount an attack?

Willow gave them one last smile then left the room.

Leaving the three of them gaping after her.

Finally, Cordelia spoke. "Who the hell was that?"

The sigh Fang expelled was not a happy one.

"Lieutenant Rosenberg."

Daniel knocked on the door to Jack’s office. He tried rehearsing what he was going to say back in his own office but everything came out so fake. It was more than likely that Jack would see right through whatever he said to him… but Daniel wasn’t going to let that stop him from going in there. He spent the entire night tossing and turning, his mind on Willow, and he knew if he spent even another day here he’d go insane.

She was in danger.

He didn’t care how much she protested that she was safe. She wasn’t. If Willow was safe with her friends then why was she scared? That had been real fear in her voice last night. What she was going through had something to do with Sunnydale and Daniel just couldn’t sit back as the woman he loved relived her worst nightmare. He couldn’t. No matter what he said to Willow… he couldn’t.

So he was going to tell, not ask, Jack that he needed some time off.

Yes, it wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do, especially since Jack watched him so closely yesterday but, to Daniel, there really was no alternative.

Willow needed him.

His mind was already going wild with possibilities as to what was going on in LA.

Were the people who hurt Giles connected to the massacre? Daniel had scoured the net this morning, before going to work, looking for all the information he could find. He hadn’t found anything that enlightened him completely but he did find out one or two things. Like the fact that no one was ever charged for what happened in Sunnydale. It was suggested that either no one knew the people responsible or they had died in the massacre itself.

For Daniel, that set off all kind of alarm bells.

So did the other piece of interesting information he found.

The death rate in Sunnydale, for a town its size, was phenomenal. Daniel had been horrified when he read the statistics. There were more gang attacks, PCP crimes, and missing people than any other town in America – barring the major cities.

Why was that never mentioned in the reports about the massacre? Why wasn’t it mentioned period? Daniel couldn’t recall ever hearing anything on the news; not even after the 1999 graduation.

But he was beginning to wonder if Willow knew something about it. Last night Willow confessed there was some sort of connection between what happened to Giles and Sunnydale and Daniel was taking that to mean not just Sunnydale – but Graduation itself. That implied Willow knew a lot more than she let on.

Willow and her friends were survivors of the massacre. Had they seen something they weren’t supposed to?

Daniel had always contributed Willow’s terror, of her past, to what happened at Graduation but now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe there was something else that had Willow so scared?

If that were the case, then he was really scared. Daniel knew Willow’s training was similar to Jack’s. That meant she knew how to do things that most military personnel didn’t. God, he had even heard about what she could do in some of the stories about her rescues. She was trained to face basically anything.

And if she were scared of this… then whatever it was had to be bad.

God! See! He was going insane! He was standing outside Jack’s door thinking that Willow was somehow running from something that had to do with Sunnydale. And as well as not sleeping, he spent the night fearing he’d get another call. Not from Willow but from Kawalsky telling him that Willow had been killed.

No. Daniel couldn’t stay here. He spent the entire morning trying to work on a translation and he didn’t get anywhere. All he did was look at the phone almost constantly.

Waiting for THAT phone call.

If he stayed here much longer, he was going to go lose it and then their secret would be out. God, if it wasn’t out already. Both Sam and Teal’c had showed up in his office at various times through the morning to ‘visit’.

They were checking up on him.

Sam had seen him when he arrived for work and… well, he looked like hell. He felt like hell. Every single cell in his body was screaming at him to get to LA. His two friends picked up on his behaviour and were worried. Especially Teal’c, who asked outright what was wrong but Daniel couldn’t answer.

Truthfully, he didn’t think he had to.

Sam and Teal’c were smart, they would put together that he had been acting strangely ever since Willow went on leave. And now he wanted leave as well! Could he make it any more obvious? Sam hadn’t been at all that surprised when Daniel gave her his application for some time off, she signed it and didn’t even question his reasons. All she said was that she was there if he wanted to talk. Did that mean people were beginning to work out his feelings for Willow?

God, he hoped not.

Not just because he didn’t want Jack to find out but because he didn’t want Willow to find out his true feelings. At least not until he felt they were both ready to move forward in their relationship. He didn’t want her to hear from the rumor mill that he was in love with her.

That was something Daniel wanted to tell Willow himself.

IF she was still talking to him after he showed up in LA. She had been pretty adamant last night that he couldn’t go to LA, or anyone else for that matter. He shouldn’t have said anything about not going, he knew when he was saying the words he didn’t really mean them. At least he didn’t fully promise Willow he wouldn’t go, all he said was that he wouldn’t do anything for now.

Now had been twelve hours ago.

This was definitely later, which meant technically he kept his promise.

Daniel sighed and knocked on Jack’s door again.

Damn it, where was Jack? Daniel hoped he was in there, he didn’t think he’d be able to keep his sanity if he had to wait much –

"Come in," Jack’s voice floated through the closed door.

Finally! Daniel pushed the door open and stopped dead. "Oh, sorry Jack, I didn’t realise you had someone in here." God, if he had known who was in Jack’s office he would have come back some other time. Any other time.

The three remaining members of SR-1 were sitting in the chairs opposite Jack.

It didn’t look like they were in a formal meeting; the three men were dressed in civilian clothes. SR-1 had been given downtime while Willow was away and he guessed they had dropped in to see if Willow had called again. Either that or they were trying to work out who was going to go to LA.

It was his lucky day.

"Christ Daniel, you look like shit," Jack told him bluntly.

Daniel glared at his friend. "Thank you, Jack."

"Jack’s got a point, Daniel," Kawalsky agreed. "What the hell did you do? Stay up all night working on a translation?"

He was half right. "Ah, sort of," Daniel replied.

"Oh for crying out loud Daniel, how many times do I have to tell you to get a life? There is life outside this base, you know. You’re almost as bad as Rosenberg."

Daniel just knew that for a moment, when Jack said her name, he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Brilliant.

He was already making them suspicious just by standing there. Maybe he would get lucky and no one would notice his reaction to her name? Ah, nope. By the way they were all watching him, none of them had missed it. Not even Jack.

And especially not Hayes.

"Something wrong, Daniel?" Jack leaned forward on his desk.

"I… I, um, just wanted to talk to you about something but I can come back later when you’re not – "

"Carter gave me your application for leave," Jack cut him off before he could offer any excuses. "You want to take some leave Daniel?"

Kawalsky raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t think you took holidays, Daniel, at least not voluntarily."

He shrugged. There really wasn’t anything he could say here that wouldn’t come across as questionable. Fact was, he didn’t usually take time off unless with Jack, or Hammond in the past, forced him to. Which was why he didn’t specify the reason he wanted leave.

There was a bad side of being best friends with the CO of the base. Any lie he wanted to give to get out of here would fall flat. So he went with saying that he wanted some personal time. Jack of course was going to be more curious than ever but Daniel really couldn’t say anything else and it didn’t matter.

Willow needed him and if that meant having to confess his feelings to Jack to get to her, he’d do that.

He’d like to AVOID doing that.

He’d also like to avoid doing this in front of her team. All three members of SR-1 were watching him closely. Then there was Jack.

Jack was just staring.

This wasn’t going to end well.

"Daniel?" Jack prompted, his face the picture of patience.

Which of course, Jack never was. "Ah, yes, Jack."

Daniel knew full well Jack was expecting a more detailed answer than the one he gave him but… he didn’t know what else to say. God, what the hell was wrong with him? How could he walk in here actually thinking that Jack would just take his ‘it’s personal’ excuse?

It was personal but saying that to Jack was basically a slap in the face.

Kawalsky stood up. "Jack, do you want us to leave? We’ve got some stuff here we need to get cleared away so we could come back later if you like?"

To Daniel’s relief and dismay, Jack agreed. "I’ll be here until about two, then I have a briefing with SG-20."

Well at least that meant Jack could only yell at him for another hour and a half.

Jack waited until Kawalsky, Hayes, and Grogan were out of the office before motioning for him to sit down. "So, Daniel, what’s going on?"

There was real concern in Jack’s question. "Nothing’s going on, Jack. I just need to take some personal time."

"Personal time, Daniel?" he let out a sigh and shook his head. "You know there is a reason why I beat you at poker, don’t you?"

Unfortunately, yes.

"Cut the bullshit, Daniel. It won’t work on me, so spit it out. What’s going on? It is Rosenberg?"

Oh god, he knew.

Daniel didn’t know what he knew but Jack knew something. God! Why couldn’t Jack be as dumb as he acted for once? Just once and not for very long! Damn it.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "What’s going on, Daniel?"

Shit. "Nothing’s going on, Jack," he told his friend.

"Nothing?" Jack repeated. "Who are you kidding here? I’m not the only one to notice, Danny. Carter and Teal’c have noticed it too so don’t bother trying to lie to any of us. You CAN’T lie to us. We know you too well… though, I have to admit I was the last one to pick it up but after the way you reacted to Rosenberg yesterday, it was kind of obvious."

Daniel was so incredibly dead.

Jack sighed in frustration. "Daniel, you’ve been climbing the walls ever since she left and now you just happen to ask for leave? Come on, give me a little credit will you?"

He didn’t want to say anything, he was afraid to.

"I know about the two of you, Daniel. She said your name last night when I spoke to her on the phone; your FIRST name. That pretty much confirmed my suspicions."

She said his name? To Jack? No. Willow wouldn’t have done that! She was so careful… unless she was really upset and she needed him.

God, that was enough to condemn him.

Willow didn’t call anyone who she felt was her superior by their first name. Everyone knew that. Ferretti had tried to get Willow to call him Lou at an SGC barbecue a few weeks ago. She refused to call him anything except Sir or Major.

The only superiors she called by their last names were Hayes and Kawalsky; but that was never in their presence.

"We’re… um…" Daniel didn’t know what to say. "Jack, it’s not what you think. We’re not having an affair or anything. We’re not even dating, really."

He raised a disbelieving brow.

"We have feelings for each other but we haven’t actually acted upon them. We’ve admitted them but that’s it."

Sound familiar Jack?

Daniel refused to crumble under Jack’s gaze. "Even if we did act upon them, which we haven’t, it’s not against regulation. I’m not military, Jack, so we’re not doing anything wrong."

"If you weren’t doing anything wrong then why didn’t you tell me, Daniel? You’ve been keeping this from me for how long? Why the hell keep it secret?" Jack demanded.

They were in deep, deep trouble.

Worse than that, Jack looked hurt.

He had hurt his best friend.

Daniel had to find a way to set this right. "Because there was nothing to tell you, Jack. There still isn’t. Ok, I agree I was wrong not to tell you I had feelings for her when you offered her SG-1 but at the time I thought they were one sided. I didn’t know how she felt… in a way I still don’t. She didn’t tell me that she cared for me until after she turned it down. I don’t even think she even realised how she felt before then."

"So you two weren’t together before 697?"

He didn’t hesitate to answer. Lying to Jack now was out of the question. "I cared for her before 697 but back then Willow and I really didn’t know each other. We never even had a real conversation until 697.. God, Jack, I would never put Sam at risk. If I thought my feelings would interfere with the rescue I would have left. Willow would have done something too. You know what she is like, if she was aware of how she felt before the mission she would have asked me to stand down. She puts her rescues before everything else. Please, Jack, you have to believe me when I say neither one of us did anything to compromise Sam’s rescue. I would NEVER do that. I love Sam, I’d never do anything to – "

"Oh for crying out loud, Daniel, I know. I’ve already gone over the reports from 697, several times, as far as I can see she didn’t do anything unprofessional. I’m a little suspicious about why she was so adamant to be teamed up with you at the beginning of the mission but aside from that, her behaviour was consistent with every other mission."

He went over the mission reports to 697? Oh god, that meant he was thinking of reprimanding Willow for their relationship! This wasn’t good. Was that why they had SR-1 in the office? Jack couldn’t do that! He couldn’t…. oh god, he could! Daniel held Willow through the night on 697, Jack had seen it. Damn it!

Daniel couldn’t remember Jack being this mad at him before. Did he think they put Sam at risk? But they didn’t! God, all anyone had to do was look to see how Willow acted on that mission. Her behaviour was beyond reproach.

While Daniel, on the other hand, incriminated her by holding her.

Shit. "Jack, that night on 697, when I held Willow… I swear, it wasn’t anything more than what I said. You have to believe me. I would never put Sam at risk over any woman. No matter how much I loved…"

Someone just sew his mouth together.

"I didn’t just limit my investigation to Rosenberg, Daniel. I couldn’t see anything, aside from that night, that suggested unprofessional behaviour," he sighed. "I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt Sam. But I had to be sure… Christ, Daniel, do you have any idea the kind of position you have put me in? You made me doubt both of you and do you know how much I HATED that? You’re my best friend! Damn it to hell, you both could have come clean any time between then and now. You said it yourself that a relationship between the two of you isn’t against regulation so there was really no reason to keep it secret… at least not from your Commanding Officer. Yes, you’re a civilian but you work in a military environment and you have to act accordingly."

Daniel felt like shit.

Jack wasn’t talking just about being his commanding officer.

Jack knew he was in love with Willow and by not sharing that with Jack, he had hurt his friend deeply. Especially since the two of them had been through so much together. He knew deep down, Jack wouldn’t have stopped them.

He might have yelled but he wouldn’t ask Daniel to give Willow up.

Not after what happened with Sha’re… Jack still felt bad that they never saved her.

Oh god, what had he done?

"Jack, I’m really sorry."

He stared at him for a full minute, then nodded. "So what’s wrong with Rosenberg? I take it you’re going to LA?"

Hang on! That was it? That’s all Jack was saying about his relationship with Willow? No. It couldn’t be it. Jack still looked hurt and angry. Why did he change the subject so suddenly? "She’s… um…"

"Please tell me she didn't disobey my orders."

"NO!" Daniel protested. "She’s taking what happened to Giles badly and she needs some support. I don’t think she’s really handling it very well. After what happened in Sunnydale…"

Jack nodded. "I’ve signed off on your leave. You’re due back the same day as Rosenberg."

Ok, now Daniel was getting scared. He really expected Jack’s head to explode or something. Why was he suddenly so calm and cool?

He preferred angry Jack.

"You’re um… you’re letting me go to LA?"

Jack glared at him. "You look like hell and Rosenberg was practically falling apart when she left here. Yes, I’m going to let you go to LA. At least then I know she’ll stay out of trouble with you…ok, bad example, you never stay out of trouble. At least you won’t let her do anything stupid."

Was that a compliment or an insult?

"It’ll give me time to work out what the hell to do with the two of you."

What? What did that mean? "Jack? We’re not breaking any regulations…" he was sounding like a broken record.

Somehow Daniel didn’t think Jack cared about regulation right now. "Daniel, if Rosenberg’s feelings are so much of a problem that she can’t work on the same team as you, it also means she can’t rescue you. Which ultimately means she’s compromised when it comes to S&R."

No! Nononono! Jack wasn’t pulling Willow off S&R, was he? "Jack – "

"Now isn’t the time for this discussion, Daniel. I’ll talk to you both when you get back from LA," Jack’s tone meant the matter was closed. For now. "I’ll see you both in my office on the 14^th at 0800."

In his office at 0800?

"Dismissed, Daniel."

Oh yeah, they were still in deep shit.

Daniel hurried out of the office and practically ran all the way back to his own. What if Willow was taken off S&R because of him? Oh god, Daniel wouldn’t forgive himself. By the time Daniel reached his office, his head was pounding. He couldn’t believe that had just happened. Jack knew and now… god…. Willow was going to be devastated.

Could this get any worse?

He opened his door, took one look, then wanted to close the door again.

Yes, it could get worse. A lot worse.

He didn’t even know why he was surprised to see SR-1 sitting there waiting for him.

"You ok, Red?" Faith asked.

Willow didn’t take her eyes off the weapon she was assessing. She didn’t want to. If she did, she would see the confusion and concern in Faith’s eyes. The same confusion and concern that had been in Angel’s and Cordy’s eyes right before they locked themselves in Angel’s office.

This had been so much easier when they weren’t here.

At least then she wasn’t reminded of her weakness and her fear.

It was her own fault. After last night, what did Willow expect from them? She couldn’t ask them to simply accept the way she was acting. Willow knew they wouldn’t. Whenever she was here, all she ever was around them was afraid.

Now she was the complete opposite.

Ok, maybe not so complete, but the fear that plagued her last night was safely locked away inside of her; in the same place she locked away everything, that weakened her, while she was working.

It was a trick she had learned during her Special Forces training.

Part of the Special Forces training, Willow received, had been to withstand the most difficult situations. The positions they put her through had been horrific. The objective of the tests and scenarios hadn’t been just to teach you or test you.

They had been to break you.

Willow and her fellow recruits spent countless days pushed to the absolute limit – both physically and emotionally. Her Special Forces training had been a nightmare; a real living nightmare where the only escape was to give up. They pushed and pushed, then when you didn’t have any more to give, they pushed you some more.

They pushed you until you felt like screaming.

God, there were so many times when Willow had screamed; when she wanted nothing more than to walk out but she never did.

Wanting to give up and giving up were two different things. It’s what separated you from failure. Wanting to give up but pushing forward took incredible strength. Strength Willow never realised she had until she forced herself to keep going. Daniel was right. There were times in her training when she knew that failure didn’t mean the end of her career. She could have failed her Special Forces training and still remain with the Air Force.

Ninety percent of personnel, who began Special Forces training, failed.

Willow didn’t fail. She refused to let that happen so she pushed herself to the edge and beyond.

It was there she learned control.

Not simply keeping yourself together when the shit hit but CONTROL.

The type of control that helped keep your mouth shut when you were being interrogated and kept the pain at bay. It kept you alive. It was the type of control that allowed you to keep going no matter how scared you were, how bad it was, or how much it hurt. Mastering that level of control was a terrifying, and dangerous, talent because there was always a point where your humanity shut off and you just went through the motions - not feeling or caring.

Willow exercised various levels of that control both in her training and in her duties with the SGC.

She did it in degrees. The second she started a mission, she let that control take over. The first degree was separating yourself emotionally from what you had to do. You still cared and you still felt fear but it was sort of distant from you. Willow never thought of the people missing as her friends but the ‘missing’. It made it easier to judge the situation and to do your job.

The second degree of control allowed you to face things when they got bad. So far, Willow hadn’t gone past this degree of control working for the SGC. She had seen some bad shit at the SGC but nothing in the realm of graduation. The few missions where she fought the Goa’uld was where this control kicked it. When it did Willow pushed herself, and everyone around her, to the limit. Her objective here was to get everyone out alive – even if it meant dragging them through the gate.

And she had done that before – just ask Ferretti.

If anyone tried to get self-sacrificy, she’d rip them a new one. She yelled, screamed, pushed until her mission was accomplished. Only then she allowed her control to slip and the nightmares hit. Those were the missions that she and Grogan would drink themselves into oblivion afterward, and where Kawalsky usually ordered them to stay at his house until everyone was either sober or not so haunted.

They were the missions Willow didn’t talk to Daniel about. He asked about them but never pushed when she refused.

The third degree of control was when things were so bad that no human on this earth could cope with them. It was when you shut down your emotions completely and you didn’t feel anything. Willow had only done that once, during the last stage of her Special Forces training, and it scared the shit out of her so much that she threw up for an hour afterwards.

To simply not feel anything… it left her cold inside.

It wasn’t the type of control that you could hold indefinitely, if you did, you’d go insane. It was a safety mechanism that got you out of the hell you were enduring and once you were out of hell then you had to try to deal with it. Things at the SGC had never been that bad.

But here?

Willow knew there was a distinct possibility that could happen.

Hell, she was already at the first degree. How else could she be standing here and not running in terror? Willow had read all of Angel and Giles’ notes and there really was a reason to be running in terror. The demon cult, what they had to face… shit. It scared the crap out of her. It was why her control had slipped when Angel, Cordy, and Faith came downstairs. Seeing them made it more real than words on a page but the slip in control had only been momentary and now it was back in place.

It really was the only way she could do this.

Think and treat it like any other mission. If she didn’t, she would be on the first plane back to Colorado and hell on Earth would ensue.

God, doing this, being here, was torture.

Willow really wondered if she was going to come out of this unscathed.

She was being confronted by the thing that terrified her most and she had never felt so alone in her entire life. The people around her, her ‘team’, were people she trusted and loved but the feeling of isolation didn’t fade when they were with her.

If anything, it increased.

"Willow?" Faith’s voice sounded more than a little concern.

What? Oh… "I’m fine," she mentally shook herself and refocused on the weapons in front of her. Focus. She had to focus on her job.

Which right now was an inventory of Angel’s weapons.

In front of her was everything they had, including mystical weapons. They had swords, axes, crossbows, daggers, a mace, stakes, and various mystical compounds.

It wasn’t enough.

You couldn’t mount an attack with the weapons here, especially not if the bad guys were as powerful as Giles had described in his notes.

They were demons who had lived in hell until a hundred years ago. As far as Giles could tell they were the worshippers of one of the higher-ranking demons. Giles suspected it was one of the ‘Fallen Angel’ demons – the type they wrote about in the bible. The cult had served the higher-ranking demon in hell for thousands of years before they first made their appearance on Earth.

They were big, scary, powerful… and they had to be stop.

But looking at what weapons they had – she was beginning to feel less than optimistic. God, Willow wouldn’t even consider going on a rescue with this. To be honest, she was surprised; Angel and his team were small in comparison to the bad guys they usually came up against, how was it that this was their arsenal?

Calling it an arsenal was being optimistic.

Didn’t they ever consider upgrading to more technologically advanced weapons?

"This isn’t going to be enough, Faith," Willow bent down to inspect one of the swords. It belonged in a museum.

"It’s been enough for us so far," Faith replied. "I know it’s not what the military usually used but these are demons we’re dealing with, Red. Bullets don’t usually do any good."

"And these swords are going to do fuck all to the demons as well," Willow argued as she sliced the sword through the air. "Giles’ notes say these demons are stronger and more powerful."

Willow forced herself to look at the Slayer.

"The weapons here are perfect for hand to hand combat but there is nothing here for a long-range attack. If these demons that strong, then you and Angel are the only ones who are going to do any damage. The rest of us are human. If we have to fight the cult up close and personal we’re going to get our asses handed to us."

"What do you suggest?" Angel asked from behind her.

Damn, Willow hadn’t even realised Angel was standing there. Weren’t he and Cordy on the phone to someone in Florida? A friend of Giles who called to check up on him? God, what was she thinking, she didn’t mean it like that. It wasn’t like she didn’t want them to be around her…

It was just that she was missing her team.

Willow loved her team; they had a harmony when they worked on a mission. Willow knew her place when she was with them but she didn’t know her place here. She didn’t even know her friends. When the phone rang, ten minutes ago, Angel and Cordy couldn’t moved fast enough to get out of the same room as her. Either they didn’t want her to know who was on the phone or they didn’t want to be around her.

Willow was opting for the latter – none of them knew how to act around each other.

God, it was frustrating to no end. These people were supposed to be her friends but Willow was finding it hard to even look at them. It bothered her that there was someone in Giles’ life who she didn’t know. In fact, Willow didn’t know anything about their lives. Willow didn’t even know the any names of Cordy’s boyfriends… or Faith’s…

She didn’t know these people and for the first time she felt like the odd one out.

A stranger.

"I’m not sure," Willow answered finally, forcing the feeling of isolation down. "We have to re-look at what we need to defeat these guys. I need a rundown of how many there are, all their weaknesses and strengths. I know demons and guns usually don’t go together all that well but there are other alternatives we can use, different avenues. Hand to hand is a sure fire way for us to be killed, we have to think of another way. Do we have any idea if they performed a ritual last night?"

Angel shook his head. "I have my sources out looking right now."

Willow nodded approvingly. "Ok, so until then we’ll work on the assumption that they have and that there are only six left. I also assume that the cult know about you guys, am I right?"

"Oh yeah," Cordy replied.

"Right, that means we’re at risk here," Willow felt her control jump up a notch when she verbalized the realisation. "We’ll have to set up a perimeter around the hotel to guard against any attack. If they’ve worked out that we’re the first and only line of defense against them then it’s possible that they’re going to come here and take us out. We have to be prepared for that."

"Gunn and a couple of his men coming here," Angel told her. "They should be able to help."

Really? "Good, we can split up into three teams when they get here. I think it’ll be best if we work on one main plan and two contingencies. If we work on anything less, then we’re going to find ourselves up the creek without a paddle."

A cliché? O’Neill would love her.

"Three plans?" Angel looked a little taken aback.

"They’re suggestions mainly," Willow conceded, reigning herself in. "I’m not saying that you guys have to do what I’m saying, I’m just trying to look at like a military situation."

"You face a lot of demons reading deep space telemetry?"

Willow didn’t even flinch at Cordy’s question. "I’ve had specialized training," she said in way of an explanation. "We need to split our focus. One team needs to work on a way of stopping the next five rituals. That means working out where they are, what’s required, and how to stop it. They’ll have to move fast. If the cult can only do one ritual a night we have six nights before the end of the world and five till the final ritual. The rituals are going to be harder to stop the closer we get so if we can stop it sooner rather than later, there will be a lot less bloodshed." Willow shuddered at the mental image.

Her three friends made no comment.

She went on. "The second team will only focus on stopping the final ritual. If we find a witch, she’ll be assigned to that team," Willow cringed at the military lingo that was slipping through. "I’m hoping the first and third team will succeed before the final ritual but it’s most likely they won’t, which means the second team is going to be our last chance of stopping this."

"What’s the third team going to do?"

"The third team will be working on a way to take the demons out of the picture and not worry about the rituals," she told them. "We have to take the offensive, waiting for the next ritual is a mistake. They’ll also be responsible for setting the perimeter and tracking the demons. We’ll need to call in everyone you know, human or otherwise, to help us."

Willow ignored the stunned expression on Angel’s face.

She wasn’t sure which part of what she said surprised him the most.

Faith nodded thoughtfully. "It’s got potential. If we call of Gunn’s guys in, we’ll have the numbers. Maybe we can even get a couple more witches off that list to help."

"I can work on the weapons," Willow declared, "and the perimeter. I can rig something up that’ll give us a warning if we’re attacked. If we decide to do this, we have to do it now. We don’t have a lot of time. There is another ritual tonight which means we only have the rest of the afternoon to set everything up and find the next ritual."

Angel studied her for the longest time, then finally he nodded. "I’ll call Gunn, see how far away he is. Cordy, hit the books, find as much as you can about the cult or rituals. Faith, call Lorne and get him here, then you and I will start calling witches. Willow…" his voice trailed off.

Gee, if she didn’t feel left out before – she sure as hell did now.

Angel didn’t know what to do with her.

"I’ll go shopping."

Everyone looked at her.

"Shopping?" Cordy sounded outraged. "For what?"

"Supplies."

How much bad luck could one person have? Seriously, Daniel wanted to know. First Kawalsky, then Jack, and now SR-1. Yep, this was really what he wanted to face after Jack. In fact, these three men were the last people on this Earth he wanted to see.

They were going to kill him.

"Daniel," Kawalsky greeted him with a slight nod.

Daniel sighed, closed the door to his office, and walked over to his desk. There was no way he was going to avoid this. For a brief second he had considered running but these guys were Special Forces trained AND Search and Rescue.

That meant they could find him anywhere he hid and THEN beat the shit out of him.

He was doomed or cursed.

At least that’s what he was feeling right now.

Daniel wasn’t the least bit superstitious but surely THIS much bad luck had to be contributed to something.

Kawalsky was seated in the chair directly opposite him, Grogan was in the chair to his right, and Hayes was at the back of the room.

They were all looking at him expectantly.

Problem was, Daniel wasn’t sure what they were expecting. He wasn’t naïve enough to think this was another ‘hurting Willow is bad for your health’ speech. Nope. They wouldn’t look like this if it was.

"Daniel," Kawalsky leaned forward in his seat. "What’s going on?"

Daniel was REALLY beginning to hate that question.

"With what exactly?" Daniel asked, unable to hide the defeat in his voice. No matter how much he didn’t want to do this right now, he had to. No choice. The only thing that was getting him through this was Willow. If Kawalsky, Hayes and Grogan didn’t kill him, he would be seeing her tonight.

IF he got a flight.

"With what?" Grogan repeated, eyebrow raised in clear disbelief.

Daniel nodded. "Yes, I’m not sure what you’re asking about. Willow or Jack."

"Both," Kawalsky replied.

Yeah, Daniel pretty much guessed that was going to be the case. "Jack knows."

May as well begin with the easier stuff; not that his discussion with Jack was easy by any definition of the term. Willow was more than likely off SR-1 and these guys were NOT going to be happy; but at least with this problem Daniel knew what to tell them.

He had no idea what to tell them about Willow.

She hadn’t actually told him not to say anything to her team but Daniel knew she wouldn’t want him to talk. She had made it clear that she didn’t want anyone going to Los Angeles so that meant that Willow wouldn’t want them to know about their discussion.

So for now he’d stall them with Jack and try to figure out what to tell them.

"He knows?" Kawalsky laughed. "Daniel, you look like hell, you asked for leave when you NEVER ask for leave and you’ve been acting strangely ever since she left. If Jack didn’t work it out then he doesn’t deserve the rank of General."

The Major had a point.

"What we want to know is how much trouble is Rosenberg in."

Daniel winced.

Grogan groaned.

Kawalsky swore.

Hayes… just sat there staring at him showing no emotion at all.

"Is she off the team?" Kawalsky sounded almost fearful of the answer.

Daniel shrugged. "I’m not sure, Jack asked us to report to his office at 0800 on the fourteenth. I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do but he said pretty much the same thing you did. Willow’s compromised because of her relationship with me."

These guys were really good with death glares.

"She’s on SG-1," Grogan stated with absolute certainty. "O’Neill has been trying to transfer her for months. He has the perfect opportunity now."

"It’s a possibility," Hayes agreed. "Except Dr Jackson is still on the team so that means he would have to transfer Dr Jackson too."

Oh god… Daniel hadn’t gotten that far in his internal panic. There was actually a possibility he would be off SG-1 and Willow put in his place. No. That wasn’t going to happen. If Jack was going to kick him off SG-1 then he would resign and Willow could stay with SR-1.

Willow loved Search and Rescue.

"I’ll talk to Jack later," Kawalsky didn’t seem too pleased with that idea. "After he has calmed down."

Daniel really didn’t think it was going to help any but he did appreciate the gesture. He would talk to Jack too before he and Willow reported to his office. Jack’s reaction right now was one of anger and Daniel hoped that, after giving him time to cool down, Jack would accept his apology and maybe they could work something out that wouldn’t hurt Willow so much.

"Ok, now that we have Jack out of the way, that leaves Rosenberg. I’m going to take a huge leap and say that Rosenberg called you last night and THAT’S why you didn’t sleep. Is she ok?"

Was she ok?

Daniel still had no idea what to tell them. He was so torn. Daniel wanted to talk to them about his conversation with Willow… god, he really did but… he wasn’t sure what he should and shouldn’t tell them. Daniel knew Willow was in trouble but would involving her team get her in more trouble?

God, why did everything have to be so complicated?

"Daniel? Is Rosenberg ok?" Kawalsky asked the question again but there was a hint of fear in his voice.

Daniel silently cursed himself, his hesitation had given them reason for concern. "She’s… ok." Oh great, Jackson. That will really convince them she was ok, even he didn’t buy that.

"She’s not ok, is she?"

"No, she’s not," Daniel confessed after a long moment of thought.

He had made his decision.

He would tell them about the call. SOME of it but not all of it. They didn’t need to know about Willow’s self doubts in regards to her profession but he would mention Sunnydale and the possible connection. Telling them was the right thing to do. These were the people who were risking their career, by falsifying mission reports, to protect Willow and they were the people who Willow trusted.

They were her family.

If Daniel was in danger like this, Willow would go to Jack, Sam and Teal’c… it was the way things worked.

"Jesus Christ, I knew one of us should have followed her to LA," Kawalsky berated himself. "I should never have listened to her. She looked so damned scared when she left here and after what happened in Sunnydale this would be like reliving hell for her. What did she say last night?"

"She didn’t really tell me anything," Daniel told them. That was true, Willow really didn’t tell him a whole lot. "She was upset and I spent a lot of time comforting her but she did let a few things slip and she…"

"She what?" Grogan demanded.

Daniel hesitated. This was his last chance to change his… ah, no. Daniel couldn’t change his mind because the three men sitting in his office would go to LA regardless of what he said now.

"Daniel? She what?"

"She was scared. When I talked to her she sounded REALLY scared."

Hayes sat up in his chair. "Scared, Sir?"

Daniel nodded. "I know a lot of her fear was about Giles but… I got the impression that there was something else she was scared of. She denied it when I asked her but she said something that…"

"She said what?" Kawalsky pressed. "For Christ’s sake Daniel, if you don’t spit it out I’ll beat it out of you."

Oh yes, that was really going to hurry him along and not give him any doubt about telling SR-1 this whatsoever. "She said that it reminded her of Sunnydale, like she was back in Sunnydale – "

"She said that?" Hayes wanted to know. "She actually said it was like she was back in Sunnydale?"

Why was Hayes so pale? "Yes and when I pressed her about it she wouldn’t tell me what she meant. She just asked me, and anyone else, not to go to LA. She was fairly adamant about it."

Daniel could see the minds of the three men ticking over.

"I could be paranoid but Willow… I know her better than I know anyone. I know when she’s hiding something. I really think something is going on and that’s why I risked it and asked Jack for leave. I’m going to LA tonight and find out what’s has her so scared."

Kawalsky nodded approvingly. "You’re not the only one, we’ll be right there with you. If Rosenberg is in some sort of trouble then we’re going to be right there on her six."

"That’s not a good idea, Sir."

Wh… what?

Everyone turned to look at Hayes.

Surprisingly he didn’t flinch under all the glares. "I’m sorry, Sir, that came out wrong. I don’t think it’s a good idea to rush to LA, Sir, for Rosenberg’s sake. I would even go as far to recommend both you and Grogan not to go to Los Angeles at all."

What? What was Hayes talking about? It didn’t make sense, why would he ask for them NOT to go to LA after he just said Willow was in trouble.

"Would you care to explain that, Captain?"

"Not here, Sir, no."

"Not here?" Kawalsky looked livid.

While Daniel was simply confused.

"No, Sir," Hayes didn’t seem deterred by Kawalsky’s anger. "I think this is a conversation that should be continued off base."

Off base?

Ok, what was going on?

"I’m sorry, Captain, but that’s not going to cut it. You can explain it to us all on the way to the airport."

"No, Sir," Hayes refused to be swayed. "This isn’t a conversation you can have in a transport or any public place. Please, Sir, I ask that you trust me. Going to LA now would only harm Rosenberg."

It would hurt Willow? "What are you talking about?"

"Dr Jackson, did Willow tell you anything about Sunnydale?"

This was about Sunnydale? "Not really, she doesn’t like to talk to about it."

"Then I request that you postpone your trip to Los Angeles until tomorrow," Hayes advised him. "If you could all come to my place for dinner I would – "

"Hayes, what the hell is this about?" Kawalsky cut him off.

Hayes face was impossible to read. "It’s about Sunnydale, Sir. I know why Rosenberg doesn’t want anyone in LA."

"How do you know?" Daniel couldn’t help but ask. Willow never mentioned confiding in Hayes about Sunnydale. How did he know something Willow refused to talk about?

"Because I was born and raised in Sunnydale, Sir."

"You ok?"

Angel looked up from the ancient text to see Cordy standing in front of him. She looked as confused as he felt. Seeing Willow like that… god, he couldn’t find the words. To Angel, it was like Willow had flicked a switch somewhere inside of her.

It made him uneasy that she had done it with such ease. If he didn’t have preternatural senses, he would never have known how scared she was and he hated that. He was beginning to hate all of this. The Willow he had known back in Sunnydale would never have been able to switch off like that. For the first time Angel had seen what military training did to a person.

Truthfully, Angel wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to or dreading seeing his friend again.

God, he wished so much that he could just pretend this new side of Willow didn’t bother him. After seeing Willow almost broken for so long… seeing the Lieutenant was mind blowing. Maybe it would be different if they knew Willow was ok but she wasn’t.

No one healed over night – not after so long.

Though, this side of Willow shouldn’t be such a surprise. Willow was in the military, it made sense that she would behave like that but why did it effect them all so much? Maybe because this just reinforced how much Willow had lied to them and how much they didn’t know her. Did she really expect them to believe she worked in Deep Space Telemetry after today?

Angel just had to face facts; Willow wasn’t who she said she was.

That was more apparent now than ever.

What was even more apparent was how at home Willow seemed with that persona. She didn’t act like someone who was forced into that career out of fear.

Seeing Willow working as a military officer was like watching Buffy as the Slayer.

"Angel? Are you ok?" Cordelia sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

He closed the book he was reading and sighed. "I’m ok… well, I think so. I’m still a little…"

"Shocked about GI Jane?" Cordy supplied helpfully.

"Pretty much," he confessed. "Is she back yet?"

It was almost five, she should have been back by now.

Cordy shook her head. "She called in a few minutes ago to let us know that she’s ok. She’ll be home soon."

The look on Cordy’s face made him laugh. "Cordy, I really don’t think she’s clothes shopping." In fact, he was fairly certain he didn’t want to know what she was shopping for. He kept on envisioning Willow coming back to the hotel with an arsenal of weapons.

"Hey, she’s outside instead of in here reading stuffy old books that turn your brain to mush. I don’t care if she was shopping for fertilizer, I’d still want to be there," Cordy whined.

"Still no luck with the research?"

"A big zip. Lorne isn’t having much luck either. You?"

"Nothing we didn’t pick up the first time around. The rituals will take place at the eleventh hour but it says nothing about a location," Angel replied. "What about Gunn and Faith, are they still trying to get a hold of the witches?"

Cordy shook her head. "They’ve called everyone on the list. A few still need to call us back but one of the witches Willow called, first thing this morning, rang back. Annabelle. She’s registered with the Council in one of the higher levels of the craft. She’s a seer as well. Lorne spoke to her for a little while and it sounds like she could be powerful enough to help us. She’s catching a flight out in the morning," Cordelia didn’t look too convinced about the witch. "But aside from that they’re done. Last time I saw Gunn he was on the phone to one of his contacts and Faith was flirting with Gunn’s guys. There isn’t much more any of us can do until Willow gets back."

Except more research which was beginning to look like a waste of time.

"I did speak to Lorne about doing a spell to shield Willow’s magic, though," she confessed. "He says it’s possible to do it without her knowing about it so he went out to get the supplies."

That was something at least. "When is he going to perform the spell?"

"Tonight before Faith attempts to stop the next ritual," she replied. "I figured we should to it straight away, especially since there is a chance that Willow’s right and the cult attacks us here. If the cult finds out how powerful she is, she’ll be a target. They’ll want her dead and she won’t stand a chance – unless of course she brings a tank here."

A tank? Angel sighed. Maybe Cordelia was more thrown than the rest of them. "Keeping Willow out of danger shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think she’s up to fighting any demons yet so I doubt she’ll ask to go with Faith tonight," he said. "I could still smell fear on her when she was telling us her plan. It’s not the same level of fear as before but it is there."

"God, you couldn’t tell," she let out a short laugh. "Can you imagine what Giles is going to say when he sees her? She’s a completely different person, Angel. Last night she was getting drunk and throwing glasses, today’s she’s talking about weapons, perimeters, and contingency plans. People just don’t shut down their feelings like that, Angel. She was so scared Angel but she was able to turn it off. I don’t like it."

Neither did he.

Angel’s reply was lost when Gunn barged into his office with Faith close behind.

"Gunn’s got something, Fang," Faith took the seat next to Cordelia.

There was a look on Gunn’s face Angel didn’t like. "About the ritual?"

He shook his head. "I just got a call from one of my contact, my guy in Colorado, the bartender," Gunn told him, taking the last empty seat.

The bartender? Was he serious? Why now after so long? So far he was the only person who gave them any real information on Willow… why was he calling? Was something going on in Colorado they needed to know about?

Was Willow in danger?

"What! What happened?" Cordelia demanded.

"Before you get yourselves worked up, she’s not in any trouble," Gunn told them. "Though, I’m not sure you’re going to like what I found out."

A chill set over Angel. "What did he say?"

Gunn took a deep breath. "Last night things were a little busier than usual so my contact was able to find out a bit of information. He told me that a bunch of guys turned up at the bar, about ten of them, from the mountain."

"And?" Faith prompted.

"They were talking about Willow."

Oh god. "Why?"

"Apparently a couple of them at the bar knew her pretty well, maybe all of them did, he wasn’t sure. It was pretty busy and Matt didn’t want to make it obvious he was listening in. Bartenders are supposed to pretend they’re not listening. If anyone knew – "

"Yeah, we get that," Faith cut him off. "Just tell us what he found out."

"When you called Willow yesterday, Cordy, she freaked. Matt heard someone say something about her interrupting a briefing with the General to ask for some time off. The guys at the bar were worried about her."

Willow did have the talent of making friends. He wasn’t surprised that there were some people that liked her. "That was it?"

Gunn shook his head. "One of them, Matt said his name was Lou, said something about wanting to do something to help Willow. Angel, the way Matt was talking about it, these guys weren’t just worried about her, they were protective of her. They were talking about her like she was some damn hero."

Angel froze. "Hero?"

"Matt didn’t hear the entire conversation but what he did hear was enough. That Lou guy said that the only reason he was alive was because of Willow and he wanted to give her something back. I asked Matt if the guy was drunk but Matt didn’t think so. Besides, he wasn’t the only one who said it. Eight other guys said the same thing. They were even teasing this Lou guy about Willow saving his ass more than anyone else. They were serious, man."

"Ok, so what does this mean?" Cordy wanted to know.

Gunn shrugged. "They didn’t go into any detail. I asked Matt but he had no idea what they meant. They didn’t mention any missions, just Willow. They didn’t even call each other by ranks. Matt wouldn’t have even known they were military if they weren’t regulars," he took another breath. "That wasn’t all. Another three men from mountain showed up at the bar, a couple of hours later, and Lou and his buddies were all over them asking about Willow. Matt heard one of them say they had been speaking to her not long before they got there."

Angel sat upright. "Willow was talking to some people from the base last night. She was talking to the General, and then a couple of others."

"Three," Faith confirmed. "She called two Sir and the other one Grogan."

"So they’re our guys," Cordy agreed.

"Our guys?" the comment made Gunn frown. "I guess you can call them that because they called Willow ‘our girl’. Matt didn’t find out much after that, except that they were all on ‘stand down’ until Willow gets back."

Until Willow gets back? "Why would they be on stand down?"

Gunn shrugged. "I’d take a wild guess and say that the three guys work with Willow. They’re on the same team or something, it’s the only explanation I can think of."

"Ok, let me get this straight," Cordelia turned to Gunn. "Eight of these guys said that Willow saved their lives and one guy was saved by Willow more than the others. So what you’re saying is Willow will save these military guys no sweat but freaks when we’re the ones who need saving?"

"Red’s freaked about the demons, Cor, not helping us. There’s a difference," Faith told her.

Angel frowned. "They didn’t give a hint as to how Willow saved their lives? Missions? Anything?"

Gunn shook his head. "Nothing. They were careful. Anything they said could be easily explained away. They didn’t give out any classified information. Like I said before, they were careful."

"Just like Willow."

Angel frowned at Cordelia’s comment. It was true. Willow was careful. How else could she get away with lying to them for so long? If Willow didn’t have that nightmare, three months ago, they still would be unaware Deep Space Telemetry was a cover.

Though, by all rights, after seeing Willow today, they would have been suspicious.

"They’re trained to be careful," Gunn told them. "We’re talking serious military training here. From what Faith told me about Willow today, she’s got the same training. She sure as hell ain’t no pencil pusher."

No argument from this side of the room.

"You know what?" Faith slapped her hands on her thighs. "It doesn’t matter. As serious as this is… we’ve got to let it go. Gunn said she wasn’t in trouble so I say we stop worrying about the military and let Red have a go. She’s promised to help and she is. You have to admit she kicked some serious ass before. Her ways are a little different from ours but she’s thought of things we haven’t. She’s got some special training – I say good. Lets reap the benefits. Red might give us an edge over the cult and if she does, then we might have a chance to beat them."

"If Willow used her magic we’d have an even better chance to beat them," Cordelia pointed out.

Faith shook her head. "You’ve got to let that go too. I’m beginning to see Red’s point. Her magic can’t be controlled, G-man always went on about it. Uncontrolled and untrained magic is as dangerous as any weapon. Lets face it guys, this isn’t our Red anymore."

Angel didn’t miss the slight sadness if Faith’s voice.

Faith was right, this Willow wasn’t theirs anymore.

But who was she?

WHAT was she?

Could he really let it go?

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