The three of them studied the map of LA intently. Willow tried to pretend she wasn’t feeling considerably better with a map spread over the table. If she wasn’t a big bad soldier, she would have admitted that the map was her version of a security blanket.
It made her – them – feel useful while standing around waiting.
Time was moving far too slowly for her liking. For all of their liking.
“All right, Rosenberg, spell it out for me.”
She nodded, happily slipping into the familiar role. “I don’t know LA as well as the others, but I’d estimate it would take Angel twenty minutes to get from the hotel to here. Angel also said that he would pick up Daniel, Grogan, and Dr Whitwood after he meets up with Colonel Carter and Teal’c. That should add another ten or fifteen minutes to the journey.”
Yep, this was probably the most pointless exercise they could be doing, but Willow knew why the Major was insisting on it. He wanted to know how long to wait before they went out to look for their friends.
She wasn’t the only one fearing the worst.
“That’s not taking into consideration any side trips the Colonel and Teal’c might take,” Hayes pointed out. “They might stop somewhere for dinner.”
Kawalsky shook his head. “I don’t think so. Food was the last thing on my mind when I found out demons existed.”
Inwardly, Willow groaned. She did not need the reminder. God, she still couldn’t believe it. Percy had told Carter and Teal’c about demons.
They knew the truth.
The only consolation was that the truth, for now, would be staying with them. When Kawalsky rang the SGC, O’Neill had just been asked to go to the Tok’ra home-world to finalize the treaty. He would be away from the SGC, out of contact of Carter and Teal’c. So that meant they didn’t have to worry about the General sending more reinforcements.
Something none of them could decide if that was a good or a bad thing.
She was leaning towards good because it was the only thing that had stopped her friends from blowing a casket. They were a little unhappy with this development. Okay, maybe ‘a little’ didn’t really describe their reaction. Not that she blamed them. If she were in their shoes, she would be wigging right now. As it was, the tension between the two teams was at an all time high. She was grateful Giles had suggested the two groups separate for a while.
God, this was such a mess!
Her friends were in the opposite corner of the bar, their table covered in books, trying to research. ‘Trying’ being the operative word. She seriously doubted they were able to focus on anything except the impending arrival of Carter and Teal’c.
‘Mess’ didn’t begin to describe it.
“So how long are we going to give Angel before we start to worry?”
Start to worry? Willow had started as soon as she received Percy’s call. “Taking variations like the one Hayes mentioned, I’d say we have some time before we worry yet. If we take those variations away… They should have been here forty minutes ago.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear, Lieutenant.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better, sir, it’s not what I wanted to say.”
A ghost of a smile played on his lips. “Should we try to call Carter again?”
They had already tried to contact the colonel several times. The phone was switched off. At least she hoped it was switched off. “No, I think we should trust Angel.” What Willow wasn’t saying was that she didn’t want to ring Colonel Carter’s or Angel’s cell… just incase they weren’t alone.
All any of them could really do was wait… And talk about something Willow didn’t want to discuss. EVER.
To be honest, she never really thought she would have to. She had entertained the notion, once in a while, never seriously. Maybe it was denial, but Willow had refused to ever think her two worlds would collide like this. Now they had, and she had no choice but to face up to it. “Sir, can I…um… ”
There must have been something in her tone, because his face grew more serious than it had been before. “What is it?”
“I don’t mean to be a pessimist, sir,” she began. “I can’t tell you how much I hope Angel finds Colonel Carter and Teal’c at the hotel, but I think we should also prepare for the worst.”
“Trust me, Rosenberg, considering the shit we’ve gone through here, I don’t think preparing for the worst makes you a pessimist.”
Her smile was forced. “Thank you, sir.”
“I agree. We should prepare for the worst.” By the expression on his face, she’d say he’d already planned for it. “With Jack away for a few days, I’ve decided to call in teams two and eleven to come here –”
“Actually, sir, that’s not what I mean.” Willow looked over to her friends. They were clear across the room, too far for any of them, including Faith, to hear their conversation. “Well, it’s kind of what I mean, but it’s not what I’m talking about. I’m sure we’ll work out a rescue plan, we’re SR-1 so that’s a given, but…”
Hayes tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “What’s on your mind, Willow?”
She took a deep breath, trying to decide the best way to articulate what she needed to say. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that there is a lot of tension between me and my friends and the military in particular.”
Kawalsky nodded. “It’s kind of hard not to notice.”
“The reasons for that are obvious. The military is a threat to their operation here, but there’s also another reason. Me. What I do. From the get-go, I don’t think any of them really believed I was involved in Deep Space Telemetry. When I started to visit more frequently after missions, their suspicions that Deep Space Telemetry was a cover were confirmed. I had nightmares I refused to talk about, injuries I wouldn’t explain…”
“Which was why no one was surprised when you told Angel you were in a Search and Rescue unit.”
Willow winced. She would have to be blind not to see the disapproval on Major Kawalsky’s face. She had confessed to him that she had revealed part of her cover, in order to rescue Faith, while she was telling them about this apocalypse. Neither officer had been pleased.
The Major took a deep breath. “Go on, Lieutenant.”
“Anyway, sir, I told them the sort of unit I was apart of… but I haven’t told them anything else. They don’t know the details, the important stuff. They know that and because I’m refusing to tell them, they distrust the military.” She shook her head. “At best, they think I’m blinded by loyalty. At worst, they think I’ve been brainwashed.”
“Both of which are insulting,” Hayes said. “Though, I don’t understand what this has to do with what’s going on now.”
“Sirs, I trust my friends with my life. I trust them with your lives, Daniel’s life… They’re my family. Before I joined the Air Force, there was nothing on this Earth I wouldn’t tell them. Afterwards, I was a little messed up, but once I came back here… My trust of them was the same. I trust them with everything. Nothing, no law or regulation, would stop me from telling them something if that’s what I WANTED to do.”
It took the Major only a few minutes to understand what she was saying. “But you haven’t told them about the program, have you?”
She shook her head. “Not because I don’t trust them, I do. Even though I don’t want to burden them with the truth, I know they could handle it. All of them could. I mean, if they knew, God, Giles would kill me for keeping something like this a secret. But, I won’t tell them. I always tell them, and myself sometimes, it’s because it’s against regulations but that’s not the real reason. The real reasons is that our two worlds should never – can never – know of the others existence.”
When Willow looked into the Major’s eyes, for a moment, she regretted bringing it up. There was a look in there she had never seen before. A type of fear that made her go cold inside. “If Teal’c and Carter get captured…”
“Then it won’t be long before demons – real demons – find out the truth.”
The silence weighed heavily between them.
“It’s a security breach that we can’t allow,” she told them unnecessarily. “I told you about the time Angel lost his soul. If I told him about the project, what do you think Angelus would do with that kind of knowledge? We know very little about these demons, we don’t know how they access information. What we do know is that they’re highly intelligent. If they discovered the truth, which they could from Teal’c alone, then we’re in a lot of trouble.”
“They could have allies…” Hayes commented.
“Or they just might tell all their friends in the Hell dimension they’re from.”
Kawalsky swore. “We’ll have to send Teal’c back to the base as soon as he gets here.”
“Colonel Carter as well,” Willow said. “Potentially, we’re all serious security breaches, but they’re the only ones who are…”
“Yeah.” There was no need for her to elaborate. “So, what do we do –”
A cry from Giles cut off Kawalsky’s next words. “I found something!”
Willow looked to Kawalsky. “Sir?”
“Go. Find out what’s going on. I’ll call the base, talk to Lou.” He gave her a firm look. “Be fast.”
She hadn’t even taken a step towards Giles when the door to Caritas opened. All three of them froze, hearts pounding, as they watched the door eagerly. The seconds until the first face appeared through the doorway seemed to take forever. By that time, she was practically bouncing on the spot. Daniel was the first through the door, using his crutches with practiced ease. Behind him were Grogan and Kyle, both men were carrying a suitcase each. Finally, Angel walked inside.
Alone.
Angel didn’t wait for them to ask… “I found their car and their bags, but there was no sign of them. I looked everywhere.”
No!
“They’re gone.”
For a second, when Angel said the words, Daniel thought Willow was going to pass out. The look of absolute horror – shock – on her face was almost identical to the one she had when she had seen them for the first time at the Hyperion Hotel.
“Are…” Willow’s voice cracked as she spoke. “Are you sure they’re gone gone, not just gone? Like for coffee or something?”
It was almost the exact same question Daniel had asked, right before he demanded Angel drive him to the hotel so he could look for them himself. The vampire, unsurprisingly, had refused… even when Daniel threatened to stake him with his crutches.
It wasn’t exactly his proudest moment but then, when it came to his team, Daniel did whatever was necessary to ensure their survival.
God damn it! He couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t believe Jack! Why? Why would he send them here? All right, Jack had picked up on their lies, obviously, but didn’t he know him well enough to know he wouldn’t lie without a damn good reason?
Didn’t Jack trust him?
“The bags are theirs, Willow,” Daniel told her. “I looked.”
“Oh God! We’re screwed.” He heard Cordelia exclaimed.
Daniel couldn’t help but agree with the statement. In fact, Cordelia had no idea just how screwed they were. He wasn’t sure he even knew. He was still having trouble digesting all of this.
“Do you think the demons took them?” Kawalsky demanded.
Angel nodded. “I couldn’t find any traces of your friends, but I found traces of a struggle. They put up a fight.”
Daniel shuddered at the thought. He was probably going to have nightmares for weeks about what had happened at the hospital. In fact, he had found himself more than a little apprehensive when they went to one to repair his ankle. The entire time they were there, he had been waiting for another demon attack.
The thought of his friends being captured by the demons made Daniel want to call every single Stargate team in for reinforcements.
“Wait a moment, are you sure the demons took them?”
Angel shrugged. “The demons had been there recently; I caught their scent, and the fact that there were no bodies leads me to believe they were captured.”
To Daniel’s confusion, Giles turned to Kawalsky. “It appears, Major Kawalsky, that you weren’t entirely honest with me.”
Kawalsky blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“I asked you before if you had any witches in your command, though it’s possible that you were unaware…”
“What the hell are you talking about?” the Major snapped.
He held up a book. “I found a rather vague passage in this book. A passage that I initially thought didn’t relate to the Demon Cult we are facing. According to it, the demons have no interest in any being who have are not, how should we say, supernaturally inclined. Their only interest is in beings with power…Power they could utilize as a means to an end.”
“Means to an end?” Daniel repeated.
“Yes, it appears they sacrifice being of power in order to increase their own and, if I’ve translated this correctly, it appears that the demons have decided to use your friends as a sacrifice for this apocalypse.”
“WHAT?”
It was the shock of everything that made it difficult for her to understand what Giles was saying. All she could hear were words, none of them making sense. “Giles,” Willow began, moving towards her former mentor. “I don’t understand.”
“Angel mentioned to me just prior to leaving for the hospital that you were curious as to why the demons tried to take me before they tried to kill me.”
Willow nodded. She remembered that conversation. It felt like a million years ago, but she remembered it clearly. It had struck her as strange that the demons had tried to take Giles rather than killing him, the same with Faith. “And you think it’s because they wanted to sacrifice you?”
“Yes, to drain their victim’s your power the way you had drained theirs.”
She gaped at Giles. “What?”
“They wish sacrifice powerful beings in order to gain power, although, when they do it, there is an extensive ritual involved. One similar to the ones they’ve been performing nightly,” Giles told her. “They can’t do it as easily as you did, but essentially, that’s what they’re doing. The fact that they took your friend implies that they are something other than human.”
Willow froze, and she didn’t need to see her team or Daniel to know they had done the same. God, just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse.
“So, Major Kawalsky, either you were holding out on me, or you just happened to have two supernatural beings in your command.”
She should know by now that things could ALWAYS get worse. Slowly, she turned to face him. Both he and Hayes looked as pale as she was. This… This was the worst thing imaginable. God, she could think of nothing worse.
Kawalsky turned to his 2IC. “Hayes, can I have a word to you in private?”
P-private? “Sir?”
“Rosenberg, Grogan, you stay here. We’ll only be a minute.”
Okay, this was definitely something worse. When superior officers went to talk in private it was REALLY bad.
“Rosenberg? What’s going on?” It was Grogan who asked the question.
“I’m… I’m not sure.”
When Kawalsky and Hayes emerged a moment later, the Major heading towards the center of the room, she knew.
This was now a military situation.
God, help them.
Angel watched as Major Kawalsky and Captain Hayes walked back into the room. He didn’t like the expression on either man’s face, or the look of fear on Willow’s. Not for the first time, Angel wished he had never asked Cordelia to call the redhead when Giles had been injured.
“All right,” Kawalsky began. “This is how it’s going to happen. We need to get Carter and Teal’c away from the demons as soon as possible.”
“Well, duh!”
The Major ignored Cordy. He had a look of determination on his face, just as Willow had a look of doom. “SR-1, we’ll be leading the rescue. Lieutenant Rosenberg…” Willow started when Kawalsky addressed her. “Do you have any idea where the demons would have taken them?”
She hesitated, glancing towards Faith as though she didn’t want to answer.
“Lieutenant?”
Angel heard her heart race at the tone in Kawalsky’s voice. He had to fight the urge not to race to her side. This was why he didn’t like the military. He could see Willow didn’t want to answer his question. In fact, Angel would even go as far as say that Willow didn’t like anything about what the Major was saying. Unfortunately, due to his rank, she remained silent.
At this moment, he didn’t so much regret asking Willow to LA. He regretted letting her stay in the military. Not that he’d ‘let’ her...
“More than likely to their lair, sir,” Willow replied. “Where they took Faith.”
“Do you still remember the way?”
“Yes, sir.” She didn’t look happy when she answered.
“Good. “ He turned to Gunn. “Grogan mentioned something about using the bike Willow stole as collateral for the weapons she ordered. Do you think your supplier can get them here in a few hours?”
Gunn looked to him and waited until Angel nodded before answering. “I think so.”
Angel wanted to know where Kawalsky was going with this.
“Grogan, coordinate the delivery time with Gunn and his supplier. We’re going to launch a rescue for the Colonel and Teal’c within the next twenty-four hours.”
“Twenty-four hours, sir?” Willow regarded her commanding officer warily. “I thought we agreed to strike the demons during the last ritual.”
“That was before we had people missing.” The two stared at each other for a full minute. The exchange between them wasn’t an angry one. No, Angel could see some sort of understanding pass between them.
Understanding about what? About their missing colleagues? Did… Did Willow know why her friends hand chosen as a sacrifice by the demons?
“Is that wise?” Giles asked. “Major, this doesn’t change our situation. The demons are far more powerful than we are. Rushing to rescue your missing people will only jeopardize everything we’ve been working for. ”
Angel agreed completely.
“What was wrong with Red and Tara’s plan?” Faith asked. “I don’t know about you, but that sounds a whole lot better than rushing in there and rescuing people with guns.”
Willow and Tara had a plan?
“We’re going to have a whole lot more than guns,” Angel heard Kawalsky muttered.
That comment was enough for Angel to break his silence. “What the hell does that mean?”
The Major’s head whipped around, his expression slightly confused.
“Preternatural senses,” the vampire explained. “I have really good hearing. So, you want to tell me what that means?”
The fact that Kawalsky hesitated made Angel incredibly nervous. “Unfortunately, this new development means that I’ll be calling in the Air Force. Officially.”
“Are you INSANE?” Cordelia shouted. “Or are you just incredibly stupid? Do you WANT the world to end?”
“No, Ms Chase, I’m not insane. I’m doing what’s necessary.”
Angel looked over to Willow and wasn’t surprised to see her standing with her eyes closed, her face pained.
“Look, I get that you’re wigged,” Faith surprised everyone by saying. “But doing this kind of shit is only going to get everyone killed. The plan Red and Tara came up with was a good one. I know you want your friends free, but if we try to rescue them before it’s time, then we’re dead.”
Angel had no idea what the plan was, but he still agreed with Faith. “We’re not going to do anything stupid. Maybe I…”
“Sorry, Angel,” Kawalsky cut him off. “I can’t allow you to join the rescue or anyone else supernatural. We can’t risk giving the demons actual supernatural beings to succeed in their apocalypse.”
ACTUAL supernatural being? That was an interesting way to phrase it. “What do you mean by –”
Kawalsky shook his head, then turned to Willow’s boyfriend. “Daniel, I want you to work with both Tara and Giles in finding some other weakness in these demons. Our objective is still to stop this apocalypse, along with getting Carter and Teal’c out safely. It’ll be your job to find out what you can before the deadline. We’re going to have more than enough people and technology to do both.”
God damn it. They couldn’t risk another confrontation with the demons. Kawalsky should know that.
“Tara.” The blonde made a nervous sound when the Major addressed her. “I need you to call the coven immediately. We need that crystal here ASAP. I’m sorry, but you’re not going to get the two days you needed. You have twenty-four hours. That’s it.”
Frustration began to build as any control they had on the situation slipped away.
“Rosenberg, it’s your job to find a way into the lair. You know the place better than anyone. I want you to get us in and out with minimal casualties. This is a search and rescue, not seek and destroy. We slip in and out.”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Angel erupted. “No one is making any phone calls… No one is doing anything! This is not a military situation. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Kawalsky eyes blazed at Angel’s words. “I know EXACTLY what I’m doing and if you so much as try to stop me, I will call the Pentagon and you will have every single member of our command here within five hours.”
“You’ll be dead before you reach the phone.”
“Angel!” Willow snapped, glaring at him. “You’re not helping.”
“I’M not helping? I’m not the one who’s going to get us all killed.”
She closed her eyes again. “Major Kawalsky… I know I sound like a broken record but, my friends are right. If we rush in now, we could kill Colonel Carter and Teal’c.”
“It was you who pointed out how important it was to get them back,” he reminded her.
All eyes went to Willow.
“But we also need to stop this apocalypse,” she said. “I agree with you, sir. We should rescue them, but we don’t need the help.”
Every harsh word Angel said about Willow he took back. Seeing her stand up to her CO, it restored his faith in her. The fact that she was on their side…
“The four of us can do it ourselves.”
Their side? Why was he surprised?
“Excuse me?” Faith stared at her like she was insane.
Angel was inclined to agree.
Kawalsky raised an eyebrow at her.
“It’s a standard rescue, sir; we’ve gone into hotter situations like this. Reinforcements will only slow us down. We don’t need any more teams here. Look around, sir, we have more than enough people to fight the demons, skilled people. We also have all that we need to rescue Colonel Carter and Teal’c. Hell, sir, we’ve pulled off rescue with just three of us before.”
“EXCUSE ME?” It was Cordelia this time. “I… I HAVE to be hearing things.”
Grogan shrugged. “I’m up for it.”
“I can’t believe that I’m going to say this, but Willow’s right,” Daniel said. “Kawalsky, if we appeal for help officially there’s a chance WE might lose control of the situation. It’s happened before. If someone else takes command, the NID for example, the window of opportunity we have to rescue Sam and Teal’c might slip away. We can’t let that happen.”
“We have the weapons, and the knowledge. Maybe we can even work this to our advantage,” Willow said, her face lighting up with excitement. “In fact… Wouldn’t we be screwing up their apocalypse by stealing their sacrifices? If we take back Carter and Teal’c, take out the demon lair while we’re at it, maybe we can weaken them to the point where we don’t have to wait to their final ritual or if we do we’ll have an advantage.”
Kawalsky didn’t say anything for a long time. Angel couldn’t believe the Major was actually considering what Willow was proposing. What they were all agreeing with. It was insane.
“It’s times like these I’m damn glad you’re on my team,” Kawalsky said, finally.
Angel took back everything he’d just been thinking. “This is insane.”
“I’m with Fang, here.”
She shook her head. “No, Kawalsky’s right. A rescue is our only option.”
“Like hell it is!” Angel growled.
The Major took a step towards him but stopped when Willow placed a hand on his arm. “Major… Sir. With your permission, I’d like to talk to Giles, Faith, Cordelia and Angel privately.”
“No.”
That response didn’t shock him.
Willow walked across the room and whispered something in his ear. Angel tried to make out what she was saying, but he could only decipher a few words. After a minute, Willow stepped back.
“All right.”
All right?
Willow turned towards them and then gestured to the kitchen.