Willow closed the door to the kitchen and turned to face her friends. Their expressions were exactly as she feared. Her friends were not quite closed off, but certainly not open and willing to listen to what she had to say. In all honesty, they were looking at her as they did Kawalsky, as someone to be wary of.
She sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. “Guys…”
“Save it,” Cordelia snapped.
A lot harder.
She sighed again and fought the urge to run from the room. How the hell was she going to get them to listen to her? Her time was limited. If she couldn’t get them to listen within ten minutes, then they were screwed. If they – namely Angel and Faith – didn’t go along with her plan to distract Kawalsky she was screwed.
As soon as she uttered the words ‘Kawalsky called in the military’ she would be screwed.
God! How could everything get so screwed up?
“Something’s happened, hasn’t it?”
Giles’ question caught her by surprise, but she was grateful for it. She had no idea where to start – or even how to start. In the end, she nodded.
“Something big,” Cordelia continued, the resentment in her voice was impossible to miss. “Something big and classified and bad enough to wig all you guys out… And don’t even try to deny it. We saw how freaked you were.”
Willow made a face. “Yeah.”
“And Kawalsky sent you back here to talk to us,” Angel went on. “My guess… it was either to see if we’ll still work with you, even though you’re keeping more secrets from us, or he sent you here to distract us while he calls the military.”
Her friends were way too observant. “My orders are to…” What? What could she say? What Angel was saying was pretty much right on the money, except it was more her idea to distract her friends than Kawalsky’s.
“Fuck your orders!” Faith snapped. “I don’t give a shit what Kawalsky sent you here to do. Just answer me this… Whatever has you guys shit scared, does it have to do with the demons or the apocalypse?”
What she would give to be able to say no…. “Yes.”
The Slayer swore. “Which one?”
“Both.”
“Is it something that’s going to make it hard for us to stop the demons?”
It was crunch time. “If things go to hell, it might make it impossible.”
“And you’re in here following freaking orders?” Faith swore again. “You know what, fuck you, Red! It’s over. All of it. Unless you tell us what is really going on, everything we need to know, you can get the fuck out!”
The words stung more than they should have, considering how much she deserved them. “I see.”
“No, I really don’t think you do,” the Slayer continued. “All of you can get the fuck out. Out of this club, out of this town and out of our lives! We get it, Red. We know who you are now. We don’t want you here in our town, ever again.”
Willow didn’t miss the fact that no one argued with Faith. Giles looked pained, but he made no attempt to calm his Slayer down or contradict her words. Angel and Cordy looked no better. Despite the fact that she had fucked them over six ways to Sunday, this was still hurting them. “All right.” She sat down on the nearest chair.
Hurt flashed in Faith’s eyes… and then confusion. “Red, I told you to get out. Not sit down on the chair next to you.”
Her heart was pounding as she made herself comfortable. “I’m aware of that, Faith. I’m military. I know an order when I hear one.”
Faith frowned, not understanding. “So then why the hell aren’t you getting the hell out?”
Willow could see the temper rising in her friend’s eyes again. “You said either I tell you what you need to know or get the hell out of your lives.”
Cordy gaped. “And you’re…”
“Disobeying an order… Kawalsky’s order,” she clarified. “Just in case you’re not getting it.”
And they weren’t, not really, they were all so shocked.
She took advantage of their silence. “Guys, I need you to listen to me and trust me.” Willow held up her hand when Cordy opened her mouth. “I know I don’t deserve either of those things, but I’m asking you… No, I’m begging you to give me one last chance. Angel, you’re right, Kawalsky ordered me to gain your cooperation but…I’m going against his orders. Things are so screwed up that if I follow them, I’ll get us all killed.”
Silence.
“Angel, Cordy, Faith, Giles…” She looked each of them in their eyes as she said their names. “I need your help.”
She didn’t deserve it. God, she wouldn’t blame them for an instant if they refused. She had said time and time again that her loyalty was to the Air Force and now…
“You have it.”
Tears stung her eyes at Angel’s words. “I’ll need you all to trust me. You’re not going to like what I have to say and for you Angel, and Faith, I’m not going to have time to tell you everything.”
“Why not?” Faith demanded.
“Because as soon as Kawalsky realises I’m alone with you, he’ll know what I’m doing. I’m going to need you and Angel to distract him for an hour while I tell Giles and Cordy everything they need to know to stop the demons.” She thought for a moment. “You’ll have to be angry and act like you hate me.”
“Why?” Angel wanted to know.
“It’ll be what he’ll expect, considering…”
“Considering what?”
Willow hesitated. “Considering I’m betraying you.”
“Betraying us, how?” Giles asked, although the tone of his voice made Willow believe he already knew.
“He’s calling in the military.”
Daniel glanced uneasily at the kitchen door. He wanted more than anything to be on the other side with Willow. Despite her confidence, he knew what she was about to do would be hard. Not only did she have to convince her friends to listen, but they had to believe her.
Damn it! He should have insisted he go in there with her!
“Hey Doctor J!”
Daniel spun around at the sound of Grogan’s voice. His stomach dropped to the floor when he noticed the lieutenant walking over to him. Not wanting Grogan to get too close to the kitchen door, he swung his crutches around and made his way to meet him.
“How did it go with Tara?” Daniel asked in what he knew was a vain attempt to distract Grogan.
“Good,” he replied, glancing towards the kitchen. “She’s going to call the coven and see if they can make it work.”
That was a promising start. “Good.”
Grogan nodded. “Why aren’t you in there with Rosenberg? I thought you said you’d help convince them we’re not all military drones?”
They were so incredibly stupid! There was no way Grogan would believe Daniel would leave Willow to face her friends alone, not when they all knew how furious they were going to be. “Willow wanted to see if she could make them see sense on her own first.” God, that sounded lame…
Grogan raised his eyebrows. “And you agreed?”
Daniel shrugged. “Not really, but she – ”
“WHAT!”
Both men froze at the furious shout.
“That sounded like Angel,” Grogan said, looking worried.
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed weakly. He knew exactly what was going to happen, how Grogan was going to react. “I guess she broke the news.”
“He doesn’t sound too happy,” he said. “I’m going in there.”
Shit! “No!”
Grogan stared at him. “No? You heard Angel, he’s pissed and, I don’t know about you, but I’m not all that comfortable leaving my best friend alone with a pissed off vampire.”
“She’ll be okay,” Daniel tried to assure him. “He can’t hurt her, not with the protection in this place.”
“He can’t hurt her physically,” Grogan agreed. “But he can sure as hell hurt her in other ways.”
Shit! “I know, I don’t like it either,” Daniel said, blocking Grogan’s path with one of his crutches. “But we can’t go in there.”
The lieutenant’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“I promised Willow I would let her handle it on her own.” Daniel knew Grogan didn’t believe him or at the very least knew he was hiding something.
“Doctor Jackson…” Grogan took a step towards the kitchen.
Oh God… “I can’t let you go in there, Lieutenant.”
“Why did Rosenberg want to be alone with her friends?”
Daniel could see the wheels turning in his head. It didn’t take a genius to work out why Willow would want to be alone with her friends. He stared at Grogan. “She wants to see if she can convince her friends to help us on her own.”
Grogan wasn’t buying anything he was saying, Daniel knew that without a doubt, and he half expected the lieutenant to go to Kawalsky. Instead, Grogan looked towards the kitchen door, muttered something about ‘following her into hell’ and then nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out for Kawalsky.”
Daniel wished Willow’s friends had witnessed what just happened. If they had, then there would be no doubt where the true loyalty of the SGC personnel belonged.
“WHAT!” Angel roared.
Willow jumped to her feet. “God damn it, Angel! Quiet!” She looked nervously to the door. “Do you want Grogan to come running in here?”
Shit!
“Angel, I know it looks bad, but please… you have to trust me! I know what it looks like, but believe me when I say we need the military here.”
“We need them? Willow, I just…”
He was lost for words. Not the sign Willow wanted to see. Damn it! “Yes, Angel, we need them! We can’t do this without them and we can’t do this without you!”
“Well you’re going to have to…” Angel said, hatred burning in his eyes. “I can’t believe I almost believed you!”
Panic welled up inside her. She was losing them, all of them, she could see it! “The command I work for is the first and only line of defence against an alien called the Goa’uld!”
Her outburst had the designed affect. Everyone went quiet.
She had kind of wanted to build up to that sort of announcement, but…beggars couldn’t be choosers. “They’re a parasitic creature that, when inside its host which can be human or other intelligent creatures, can take over complete control of the host.” It was the bare basics, but it had never been her intention to tell them everything. They only needed to know of the threat and how great it was. She just had to get them to stay. “Some of the more powerful Goa’uld have slave soldiers called Jaffa and – ”
“I’m sorry, what are they called?” Giles wanted to know.
“They’re called Jaffa.” Willow noticed her friends exchanged startled looks but she didn’t have time to ask them about it. “To make a long story short, we have one of the Jaffa’s ‘General’s’, so to speak, working for our side. He betrayed his master to help free some of our people. The problem is, the Jaffa aren’t just soldiers. They also carry inside them Goa’uld larva.”
“Ew!” Cordelia exclaimed.
Willow silently echoed that sentiment. “Unfortunately for us, Jaffa General on our side also happens to be one of Daniel’s best friends and when General O’Neill decided to look into my background…”
“Oh dear lord…”
“He sent him here with Colonel Carter. Teal’c is the Jaffa,” Willow told them. “That’s not all. The Goa’uld carry an extremely powerful element inside of them. It allows them access to alien specific technology. I believe that it’s this element that the demons are planning to use to harness the power they need to complete the ritual.”
“This element, how powerful is it?”
“Combined with the right type of weapon it could destroy the entire planet,” she told them. “Combined with a demon, it might be just as bad.”
Faith shook her head. “No… You’re shitting us, right?” There was almost a pleading tone to Faith’s voice.
Willow eyes went straight to Angel. “Am I lying?”
Angel shook his head.
Cordelia sat down with a thud on a nearby chair.
“That’s why we need the SGC. We have the technology to destroy them,” Willow said, suddenly feeling tired. “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in and there’s more to it. A lot more too it… But we’ve only got an other minute or two before Kawalsky finishes talking with Ferretti and Dr Fraiser and before Grogan starts to get antsy. Faith and Angel need to distract them, now.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Faith asked, face pale. “And why me and Angel?”
“Pick a fight with him, ask him to tell you everything about the teams he’s calling in. Tell him you want to make a formal alliance or you’re leaving… anything that keeps him there,” she said. “And the reason why it’s you two is because you’re leaders. It makes more sense that you two would demand answers.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Faith crossed her arms over her chest. “It’ll be me and Angel fighting these things. I need to know what I’m up against.”
As much as Willow hated to admit it, she had a point. Faith also needed to know how vital it was for her to stay away from a symbiote. “Angel and Cordy will have to go. Ask Grogan to take you to him and insist that he stays. If he comes back here, then he might want to give me moral support while I talk to Giles and Faith. Grogan can’t witness this.”
“What about Daniel?” Giles asked.
Willow hesitated. “He knows to go with Angel. He… He knows what I’m doing.”
“All right,” Angel agreed. He didn’t look happy about it, but he wasn’t arguing. “Actually, I think I know of a way to distract them.”
Willow wasn’t sure she wanted to know what it was. “Just remember they can’t know what I’m telling you. Kawalsky is going to try to keep you guys as far under the radar as possible. He won’t be able to do that if he finds out I told you something. Just act as though you hate me.”
It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for them to act that way. Even though she was telling them the truth now, she had hurt all of them and put them all at risk.
She just prayed once this was over they would forgive her.
Daniel almost sagged with relief when Angel burst through the door… furious. The depth of his anger caught Daniel by surprise, and he wondered if Willow had been able to convince them to listen.
Angel stopped in the center of the room. “Gunn!”
“Angel, what’s up?”
“I want you to put three men on every entrance and exit to the hotel and I also want half a dozen men, those who know anything about magic, helping Tara set up some wards around the building.”
Willow raced out into the main bar at his words, looking genuinely surprised. “Angel?”
Not a good sign, as far as Daniel could tell.
He ignored her. “We’re going to get some military visitors and I don’t want anyone getting in and out of here until I’ve had a little chat to Kawalsky.” The vampire turned to Grogan. “Take me to him.”
“Take us to him,” Cordelia said, hands on her hips. “I’d like to have a few words with Major Moron myself.”
Not surprisingly, Grogan didn’t move. Daniel knew he wouldn’t, at least not until Willow gave the okay. It’s how SG-1 would have done it if they’d been in this position.
“It’s okay, Grogan,” Willow assured him. “Take him to Kawalsky. I’ll be all right here.”
“You sure?”
Daniel was surprised Willow didn’t flinch under the weight of Grogan’s stare.
“Yeah.”
“All right…” He gestured to Angel and Cordy. “This way.”
Daniel reluctantly followed.
Kawalsky flipped the phone shut. “Well, that’s it. Ferretti’s heading into the SGC now. He’s going to talk to Reynolds… which means Jack should know within the next half an hour. He’s also going to get Janet to call me as soon as she’s off duty. I can’t have this conversation while she’s on base.”
“Do you think the General will come back?”
“Carter and Teal’c are missing. I think it’s guaranteed.” Christ, Kawalsky hoped so. Jack had a hell of a lot more clout with the President than Reynolds.
Hayes nodded. “So are we heading back to the bar?”
Kawalsky smiled. Hayes didn’t seem particularly enthused about going to face Rosenberg’s friends. Neither was Kawalsky for that matter. “No, if we go back now, we might blow it for Rosenberg.”
Hayes froze. “Sir?”
“Rosenberg gave in a little too easy, don’t you think, when I suggested calling in the military?” Hayes did think just that. His team really had to work on their acting skills. “And she seemed a little too eager for me and you to get out of the room. Whatever conversation she plans to have with her friends, it’s not going to be just to tell them I’m making a phone call.”
“Sir…” Hayes shook his head, his eyes wide with what Kawalsky assumed was supposed to be shock. “You’re not suggesting that Rosenberg is going to reveal classified information to her friends, are you?”
That was exactly what he was suggesting… and he wasn’t all that sure why he had walked out of the room instead of doing something to stop her. Actually, he did know. What Daniel had said before… he was right in a way. Everything that was happening now was because they had interfered in something they didn’t understand and if one of the demons did blend with Junior, then they were going to need all the help they could get to stop them.
“Officially, I’m not suggesting that at all,” Kawalsky replied. “Unofficially, I believe Rosenberg will tell them enough to get us out of this alive.” Vital information only. He didn’t think Rosenberg would tell them everything, not after the way she had so desperately wanted to keep the truth from them in the first place. Although, he could be wrong. She might not say a thing…
But, his gut was telling him Rosenberg had a plan.
“What… I mean, are you going to tell O’Neill?”
Kawalsky felt a stab of pride at the concern in Hayes voice. “In spite of some of her choices since we’ve been here, I trust Rosenberg.” He trusted his entire team.
“At least someone here does,” a voice said from the doorway.
He sighed. Okay, maybe he had been wrong about Rosenberg… and given the way Angel was glaring at him, he’d say that he had been very wrong.
“We need to talk.”
This was fun.
About as much fun as getting his teeth pulled without drugs . Sometimes Jack really wished he hadn’t accepted his promotion to general. When he got his hands on Daniel, he was going to strangle him. Jack blamed Daniel, he decided. If Daniel hadn’t been off with his girlfriend, then Jack wouldn’t be in the predicament. No, Daniel would be here instead.
“Jack?”
“What? Yes!” He was awake!
Jacob’s mouth twitched. “Just seeing if you were awake, Jack.”
“Funny, Jake, very funny.” He sighed. “Okay, let’s work on the next Clause.”
“All right, what do you think –”
“General O’Neill?”
Oh for the love of God! “What?” He looked up and frowned. Behind possibly the most annoying Tok’ra in the history of all Tok’ra, was Ferretti. Ferretti who was supposed to be on downtime. “Major, to what do we owe the pleasure?”
“We have a situation back on Earth, sir.”
Oh?
“Major Kawalsky called…” Ferretti’s eyes glanced to the Tok’ra briefly. “We have a potential foothold situation in LA, sir…”
“Foothold?”
He nodded. “Colonel Carter and Teal’c are missing.”