Infirmary, SGC, 1220 hours.
General Hammond still couldn't believe what the President had told him about Faith, and her status as a Slayer; he couldn't even believe it himself as he told the surprised Major Carter who was still in Sunnydale talking to who he hoped would be her friends. After putting the phone down, the General checked the clock across from him and figured that the meeting between SG-1 and the Tollan had already begun and gave the team about fifteen minutes to storm out of the meeting room and then through the Stargate fro their ruse to begin. In the meantime, the General got up from behind his desk and left his office.
He continued to walk through the various hallways before he found himself outside Isolation Room One where he nodded at the guards to open the blast doors. Walking into the room, the General looked at Faith who had the back of her bed inclined upwards as she watched some TV. Upon seeing the General once the doors had opened she sighed, turned off the television and put down the remote control. Faith was resigned to being sent back to the Council as she watched the General walking towards her, she guessed that since she was in a military base; she would be surrounded by people with guns. She had already calculated taking out the guards outside the door, but that would mean that she'd have to face possibly hundreds more by herself. She had also thought about taking one of the nurses hostage, but that would have failed as well since there was no way that she'd be allowed to leave without getting injured or killed.
"Miss Lehane" said General Hammond as he approached the young woman.
"Look, guy" said Faith, "I'm feeling all good so.. you know… if I can leave that would be great. I'll get out of your hair and…. yeah sorry… I know you don't have hair… so I'll get out of your baldness."
"I would like for you to tell me more about the Watchers Council" said the General interrupting Faith as she just looked at him with her mouth open in stunned silence, "and I would like to know more about you as a Slayer?"
"How.. how?" asked Faith as she looked around at the empty room and then at the General, "how do you know about the Council? And about Slayers?"
"The President relayed a message to me from the British Prime Minister who himself received a call from the leader of this Watchers Council" said the General as Faith fidgeted uncomfortably, "this head of the Council has been asking for you to be handed back to them."
"Story of my life" mumbled Faith as she looked at the bed, and then at General Hammond who just stood there at the side of her bed, "so you gonna let them take me, huh?"
"I never said that" replied the General, "but I would like some questions answered. For one thing, were the people who attacked you from this Council?"
"Look" said the dark haired Slayer as she looked at the General, "does it really matter who they were? They have all the resources in the world to get me, and they'll get me… it's not the first time. So if you're gonna send me back to them then…"
"Miss Lehane" said the General, "I would like to assure you that you are protected, this Council will not get at you. I have Presidential authorization to keep you safe and sound."
"You're not kidding, are you?" asked Faith as she narrowed her eyes and looked at General Hammond, "you're being serious?"
"I am" said the General nodding his head, "now if you would answer some questions?"
"So you know that I'm a Slayer?" said Faith while she narrowed her eyebrows quizzically as the General nodded before the man told her that they suspected she was bit more than a normal human since she threw someone against the wall in the alley when she was being attacked, "Oh, right."
"Are those men from the Council?" asked the General as Faith nodded her head. She then noticed the frown on the man's face once he found out that it was the Council who had attacked her back in the alleyway, "I was told that all Slayers had a handler, or what apparently is called a Watcher. Is that true?"
"Yea" said Faith.
"Where's your Watcher?" asked the General as he noticed a look of pain on the Slayers face before she looked down. It was then that he suspected something must have happened to the one who was supposed to train her; however questions still remained on why she left Boston and why she went to Sunnydale, "Miss Lehane? Was your Watcher the reason you left Boston?"
"Yea" said Faith softly as she looked at the bed while she recalled Kakistos murdering Diana Dormer in front of her eyes, "she's the reason I left Boston."
"I see" replied the General as he noticed a look of fear, mixed in with sadness on the Slayer's face, "Miss Lehane… Faith… may I call you Faith?"
"Whatever" said Faith as she shrugged her shoulders, surrendering herself to the fact that it was entirely possible that the man in front of her was lying and that, once she was interrogated, she would be shipped off to the Council so that they could kill her, 'just like they tried to do the first time they took me from Angel's mansion.'
General Hammond, sensing her unease, reached for her hand and squeezed it gently which led to Faith looking up at the man in surprise. Faith wasn't sure what was going on, she remembered that Diana had told her once that the governments of the world had agreements with the Council on the Slayer being under their authority, and no one else's. From what she was told, Faith was sure in her heart that everything the bald man in front of her was saying was a lie; that he'll send Faith back to the Council no matter what. But then, there was another part of her that was actually hoping that the man was telling the truth.
'With my luck' thought Faith to herself, 'it's going to be the former. So what the hell, what could it hurt telling him the truth. The Council will kill me anyway so fuck it, I'll make the jackass in front of me feel as guilty as possible… make sure he never sleeps at night after the bastards from the Council take me away.'
"Yeah" said Faith as she looked at the General, "ask whatever you want."
"We've run a full background on you" said the General, "we know about your parents and… and what they did to you."
"Yippeee" said Faith sarcastically, "a lot of good it does me now.. huh?"
"It doesn't" said the General as Faith noticed him straighten up, "that is something that should never have happened to you; and I am sincerely sorry that nothing more can be done than what already has been done to your parents."
"Yeah" said Faith, "the bastard and the bitch are in jail… I'm not gonna be crying over it. No way. I'm glad I left…. I.. I'm glad I left."
"Faith" said the General as he continued to hold on to her hand, "if you left home, then how did you meet your first watcher?"
"She found me" said Faith as she pulled her hand away from the General and placed it on the bed, "I was…. Let's just say I was doing what my mom… look, it doesn't matter alright? You wanna know what happened to my Watcher? She died, alright? She was killed in front of me by a vampire, got that? Two of his assholes held me on the ground, while he murdered her. Not just murdered her… he.. he tortured her and… it doesn't matter…. Not anymore."
"I see" said the General as he looked at Faith who was looking back at the bed. He didn't want to push her more on what happened to her Watcher, but he was going to recommend that once all this mess was over, that Faith be taken to talk to a counsellor, "how long have you been in Sunnydale?"
"Eight months" said Faith as she looked at the General, "give or take."
"Why did you go to Sunnydale?" asked the General, "I mean of all the places in the world, you went to Sunnydale. Is there a particular reason?"
Faith was looking at the General while her mind was running at super speed trying to come up with a plausible reason for her needing to go to Sunnydale. She knew that the General already knew about Slayers, Watchers and the Council but she wasn't sure on what the military would do if they found out that two Slayers existed.
'Or three' thought Faith to herself, 'since I died. I'm sure another one was called; as if the Slayer field isn't too crowded… great.'
However, Faith also knew that Buffy tried to kill her by feeding her to Angel. She closed her eyes when she remembered that she actually died for a little while before Giles revived her; so she knew that at least for the Watcher's sake, maybe it would be better to not reveal anything about Buffy yet.
"Faith" said the General, "I've already sent Major Sam Carter to Sunnydale to examine your background, as well as to talk to any friends that you may have. In fact, she is talking to a few of them right now."
It was then that the klaxons started to blare as the General closed his eyes while Faith looked all around her surroundings, wondering what was going on just as the same phone started to ring. The General excused himself and ran to the phone where Walter told the General that SG-1 was coming through the Stargate.
"Fine" said the General into the phone as Faith looked around just as the blast doors opened and Dr. Fraiser walked in. The General put back the phone before turning to the doctor and asked her to make sure Faith was kept safe. The bald man then looked at Faith and told her that he had to get going since they were doing a terrorism drill, and that everything was alright.
"Right" said Faith as she watched the General run out of the Observation Room while Dr. Fraiser remained and told her that they had these kinds of drills at a regular basis.
"Yeah" said Faith as she looked at the smiling doctor, "sure".
Giles' Apartment, Sunnydale, at the same time.
Major Carter had bluffed; a very risky bluff that could very well have blown up in her face. If Giles and the others had said that they had no idea what she meant by the Council, or Slayers.. then she'd have had to come up with a good reason. But her thinking was that if they were Faith's friends, then she was pretty sure that they must have known about what the dark haired young woman did.
'Actually Buffy defending Giles helped as well' though the Major to herself as she saw Giles stand up and get off his seat before walking back into the kitchen. She saw him take reach down and take out a bottle of brown liquid while Buffy could only look at Tara before looking back at the Major once again. The Major saw the older man take a shot glass and pour some of the liquid into it before he pulled back and drank the shot down. He then placed the shot glass on the kitchen counter and then looked down while shaking his head.
"Wait.. wait.. wait" said Buffy, her turn to stand up and walk behind the couch, "that's not possible. For one thing, Faith's last name is… hell.. I don't even know her last name. How can you be sure it's not Carter.. or maybe she shares the name of your husband or…"
"We did a full background check on her" said the Major as Giles looked up at her from the kitchen, "so let me tell you a story. And you can explain to me how it is that my daughter happened to end up with another family without my knowledge."
Tara listened in shock to what the Major was saying about how she gave birth to Faith when she was sixteen; and then to have the baby be still-born and the heartache of losing her child. The blonde witch could see the sadness, and anger, just radiating from the calm exterior of the Air Force Officer and it was then that Tara knew that Major Carter was telling the truth about everything. It was when Buffy was going to interrupt that Tara stood up and held Buffy's arm while shaking her head, silently telling the Slayer not to say anything.
"Tara" said Buffy, "all all I'm saying is that we have a stranger here claiming to be Faith's mom… there is no way to know if she's even telling the truth."
"Where I work is a very secured area of NORAD, Deep Space Radar Telemetry" said the Major, "we took Faith to the doctors there and one of the things that they do in their blood tests is a paternity and maternity test; her test, which was run twice by the way, proves that she's my daughter. So now, I have a few questions that need to be answered. For one, why did Faith leave Boston and come here?"
Tara could see that the Major was lying about some parts of her story, particularly about her job; but she could also see that everything she said about Faith was true and that she meant every word. She glanced at Buffy who looked back at her before looking back at the Major. She knew that while the Major knew about Slayers and Watchers, vampires and demons.. there is no way to know how she would react to the knowledge that witches really existed and that Tara herself was one. However, she also knew that the only thing that could explain what happened to Faith when she was a baby was magic. She glanced at Giles who had already come out of the kitchen and stood next to the seated Buffy who looked up at the older man. Tara remembered the stories that he, Willow, Xander and Buffy had told her about what the Council did to Buffy, and then to Faith before she joined the Mayor, and it was something that the blonde witch found hard to belief; that an organization dedicated to the good of the planet would do such a thing to one of their own.
'But this is worse' thought Tara to herself as she leaned back and closed her eyes while she thought about what spell could have done this, 'they stole a baby; my goddess they stole a baby. Not only that, Sam didn't know that her baby was even alive… which meant that they must have given her a body. Oh Goddess, they couldn't have…'
While Tara was thinking, Giles and Buffy were talking to the Major. Giles was aware that there were rare instances where the Council had 'intervened' in occasions when a Potential Slayer was thought to be in an unwanted environment.
"Major" said Giles, "if you don't mind me asking, was any member of your family in the military?"
"Yes" said Major Carter as Giles looked on expressionless, "my father was deployed overseas in the Air Force when I was pregnant with her. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Buffy" said Giles as he turned to the blonde Slayer while the Major looked on, "please tell her everything you know about Faith."
"Giles" said Buffy as she looked at her Watcher.
"Please?" asked Giles as he looked at the Major before telling her that Faith and Buffy worked together for some time. Giles then nodded at the Major after she agreed to talk to Buffy before he turned towards Tara and asked her to help him look for something. Tara nodded her head before she got up from the couch and the both of them headed to the bookshelves under the staircase that led to the second floor.
Major Carter just looked confused at them before turning to face Buffy and sighing. She then took a seat and told the blonde Slayer that all she wanted to know was the truth; that she needed independent verification on why Faith left Boston, and then why she left Sunnydale after assaulting Tara. She also wanted to know how Faith became a Slayer, and how Buffy became a Slayer as well; and what the Council had to do with all this.
"Buffy" said the Major while she glanced over the Slayers shoulder at Giles and Tara who were hurriedly going through books before she looked at Buffy once again, "how did you, and Faith, become a Slayer?"
"Giles told me it's some mystical thing" said Buffy as she shrugged her shoulders, "that there could be only one girl responsible for fighting vampires and demons."
"Why one girl?" said the Major when she furrowed her eyebrows, "hold on a second, when did you become a Slayer?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"I was fifteen and in L.A when I became a Slayer" said Buffy as she sat with her arms folded over her chest, "and then my mom and I moved here after her divorce."
"Fifteen" said the Major surprised when she looked at Buffy, and then at Giles while he was reading a book and then back to Buffy again. She couldn't imagine anyone doing what Buffy, and Faith, were doing fighting vampires at such a young age, "and training?"
"My first Watcher trained me" said Buffy.
"Your first?" asked the Major, "So Giles isn't your first Watcher?"
"No" replied Buffy, "my first Watcher died, and when I got here… Giles was assigned by the Council to train me."
"I see" said the Major as she wondered what the Colonel would have done at a time like this. She knew that the leader of SG-1 had lost his son when he was young, and that he had seen children commit violence during his early days. All of that had shaped his outlook, but the Major lost her baby even before she got to know her, but now that her baby was a teenager and alive… she didn't know what to think about this new information. IT was then that she focused on something that Buffy had said earlier.
"Hold on" said the Major as she looked at Buffy, "you said that only one girl exists to fight these things. Then why are there two? You and Faith?"
"I died" said the blonde while the Major looked on surprised, "when one Slayer dies, another one gets called. I was dead for a few seconds before one of my friends revived me."
"Ok" said the Major trying to stay calm while her head was getting ready to explode, "so Faith is the next one?"
"That was Kendra" said Buffy, "she died and then Faith was called. She was about the same age as me."
The Major could only close her eyes and shake her head as she tried to absorb all of this new information. She kept telling herself that it wanted possible, that mystical forces were just a result of highly advanced technology. However, she couldn't think of anything technological that would have caused a Slayer to be created.
'Unless these girls had undergone genetic manipulation' thought the Major to herself, 'but that doesn't explain how their abilities get activated.. especially if the abilities of a Slayer are activated once the previous one dies. It doesn't make sense.'
"So Faith fought these things too" said the Major softly.
Buffy continued and told a surprised, and shocked, Major Carter about what Faith had told her about her first watcher and how she ran away after the vampire Kakistos killed Diana Dormer. She then told the Major about their first meeting and about how the dark haired Slayer was playing it fast and loose with the Slaying, so much so that she killed the former Mayor's aide.
"Wait" said the Major as she stopped Buffy, "is the warrant of arrest we found for the aide's murder?"
"The police never had anything on her" said Buffy, "they just questioned her about it since some witnesses claimed that she was near that area."
"Ok" said the Major as she caught Tara looking over at Buffy in surprise. Then when the blonde witch saw the Major looking back at her, she looked back down at the book she was reading.
Tara knew that both Buffy and Major Carter were lying about some things in their respective stories.
'Not lying' thought Tara to herself as she read the book, 'just leaving things out, deliberately. I can sense the both of them hiding things.'
"So" said Major Carter as she looked at Buffy, "any idea about why the police would be looking for her arrest?"
"Other than assaulting Tara?" asked Buffy as Tara looked up at Buffy when she heard her name being mentioned, "yeah… she killed a Professor in cold blood while working for the former Mayor."
"What does the former Mayor have to do with anything?" asked the Major.
"He was…. Well, he was a corrupt ass" said Buffy, not wanting to tell the Major the truth about who the Mayor really was, at least until Giles said it was alright to reveal all of that to her, "Faith began working for him and…"
"Why?" asked the Major as Buffy looking at her with her mouth open, "Why did Faith work for the Mayor?"
"Umm" said Buffy as she looked at the Major before looking back at Giles who was looking back at them since he had heard everything.
"Major?" said Giles hoping to change the subject, or at least delay answering the question for as long as possible, as the blonde officer looked up at Giles who was looking up from a book while Tara was paging through another one, "your baby, are you sure that she didn't have any movement? Even while you carried her? No noise? Nothing at all?"
"I was there" said the Major, "so was another nurse and my aunt. I think we would have noticed something like my baby moving. I have her certificate of Still-Birth, I even buried her body. When I get back I'm having her grave exhumed because if Faith is my daughter, I'd like to know who it s that I actually buried."
Giles then looked over at Tara who turned back a few pages on the book she was going through and then pointed on a particular page while she showed it to Giles. The Watcher then took the book from Tara before the both of them walked towards Buffy and the Major. The Watcher looked at the book and stood next to Buffy while Tara took a seat next to the Slayer.
"Sam" said Tara, "I… I.. know what we.. we're about to tell you is, or may, seem unbelievable. But… but Buffy told you how Slayers are called?"
"Yea" said the Major.
"Major" said Giles as he took a seat, "you need to realize that the Earth is older than you know. Contrary to popular mythology, the world didn't begin as a paradise. For untold eon demons walked the Earth and made it their home, their hell. In time they lost their hold on this reality and were either killed or driven out by mortals."
Giles went on to explain to a stunned Major Carter that Sunnydale lay on top of a mystical convergence of energies that made the walls between this dimension and other hell dimensions thin. SO thin that vampires, demons and other creatures have been coming to Sunnydale because of the energy being released by the convergence.
"A Hellmouth" said Buffy as Major Carter looked at the Slayer in shock, "we call it the Hellmouth."
"Hellmouth?" said the Major softly as she looked down and started to think, 'hellmouth.. a doorway to other dimensions… other dimensions. No, it can't be… can it? The only thing that we know of that can access other dimensions.. other realities was created using alien technology. A quantum mirror… Daniel used it to go to that other reality, and Doctor Carter came to this reality for help. Is it possible? We still don't understand the technology behind the mirror, can it be used to open doors into another dimension within this reality? Is it possible? Even if it is… why would anyone want to do such a thing? And Why? Nothing makes sense and…"
"Sam" said Tara as the Major snapped her head up and looked at her, "are… are you alright? I mean… I mean I know it sounds unbelievable but…"
"Other dimensions" said the Major calmly, while trying to hide her confusion, "ok… other dimensions. So is that why Faith came here? Why Buffy came here?"
"I believe Faith came here because her Watcher told her to" said Giles who was surprised that the Major wasn't panicking about the Hellmouth, 'military training?'
"Sam" said Tara, "the mystical exists, vampires and demons exist in the world. And it's the same with magic."
"Ok" said the Major in disbelief, "I'll give you vampires, demons and based on what I've seen Faith do… the mystical. But magic? Really?"
"That's how your baby was taken away from you" said Giles softly as the Major looked on in shock, along with Buffy who looked at both Tara and Giles, hoping that all of this was a joke.
"What.. what are you talking about?" asked the Major as she stood up, "what are you talking about? What you're saying… there's no way that magic exists. No way…"
"I'm sorry" said Giles, "but there's no scientific explanation for your baby to be taken away from you with you finding out that she's been alive all this time with another family, or for you to be give a certificate because I'm sure that the hospital conducted an autopsy. Didn't they?"
"Heart condition" said the Major, "that's what I was told."
"Sam" said Tara standing as the Major looked at her while the blonde witch held out her hand. The Major's eyes went wide as a little ball of white light started to form on the palm of her hand, "magic's real. I.. I know that scientists believe what they.. they can see. And well… see?"
"My God" said the Major as she walked towards Tara as the light split into two, and then into three before coalescing into one ball again before vanishing. Tara then put her hand down to her side and smiled at the Major who then looked back at Giles and Buffy, before looking at Tara again.
"Tara's a powerful witch" said Giles as Tara put her head down nervously and blushed.
"Wic… Wiccan, actually" said Tara as she glanced at Giles, Buffy and then at the Major.
"Magic" said the Major as she sat back down after Tara showed her the light in the palm of her hand, "witches, vampires, demons."
"Major" said Giles as he walked towards her just before she stood up again and told him to stay where he was. She then closed her eyes and tried to make sense of it all when she suddenly thought about something that she had nearly forgotten.
'The Nox' thought the Major to herself as she opened her eyes and looked at Tara, 'they were capable of vanishing, they could read the bio-electrical fields that surround people.. like reading an aura. Hell, they could even raise the dead; they brought SG-1 back to life, as well as the Jaffa and Lya. Does that mean that Tara? No… she doesn't look like a Nox, but if they are able to do what to us seemed like magic… then maybe Tara really is doing something similar to what the Nox have done for thousands of years.'
"OK" said the Major as she took a deep breath while Giles, Tara and Buffy looked at each other in surprise, expecting the Major to start panicking even more, and asking ridiculous types of questions.
'Maybe she's overwhelmed' thought Giles to himself.
"What does magic have to do with Faith?"
"There.. there's a spell that causes perceptions to be changed" said Tara and she looked at the Major, and then looked away, "it.. it makes the target…"
"Or targets" said Giles, "in this case everyone in the room during your delivery to see what the caster wanted them to see."
"So that means?" asked Buffy as she looked at Giles and then at Tara, "guys?"
"Your baby never died" said Giles softly as Major Carter stepped back and brought her hands to her mouth while Tara looked down at the floor as the Major left her emotions slip with the blonde witch feeling her deep anguish, "you and everyone in the room. Except for the caster was under a very powerful spell."
"I… I… I held her body in my arms. She wasn't breathing… she wasn't moving…" said the Major as her voice slightly broke, "you.. you mean?"
"She was alive" said Buffy as her eyes opened wide as she looked at Giles stunned, "Giles? Was she alive?"
"Yes" said Giles as he looked at Buffy and then settled on the Major, "she was very much alive. It… it…"
"Why?" asked the Major as she rolled her hands into fists, "I want to know who, and why?"
"The Council" said Buffy softly as she looked at the Major and then at Giles again before taking a step away from her watcher, "Giles, did the Council steal Faith? I thought that Faith was what I could become if my life was like hers… but, but are you saying that the Council stole her when she was a baby?"
"Yes" said the Watcher as Buffy could only look at the Major's eyes that had tears welling on them, "the Council has agreements with every nation on Earth. That a Slayer will not belong to any nations military. They used a spell to find Faith when she was just a potential Slayer, they must have done a background check and found that the Major's father was in the Air Force. They must have then sent someone to take the baby away and replace her with a facsimile that is genetically the same as the parent."
"Then they took Faith" said Tara, "and gave her to another family."
"Another family that abused her" said the Major as the three people in front of her all looked at the Major in shock, "yea, she was abused when she was a child.. we have the proof. Her father's in prison, and she ran away from home before her mother was put into prison for abuse, prostitution, drugs.. take your pick. So, your Council took my daughter away from me… from a loving home and family, and put her into hell. I want to know who gave the order, and who did this spell. And I want to know if any of you knew about this when she came to Sunnydale."
Tara closed her eyes when she read the anger and rage that was coming off the Major when she described what had happened to Faith. She remembered what her own father and brother had done to her and knew it wasn't as bad as what happened to the Slayer.
'Mine was more verbal and psychological' thought Tara to herself, 'but Faith's…. I can feel the guilt just coming from Buffy and Mr. Giles as well, they didn't know.'
"None of us knew" said Giles as he paced the area behind the couch while Buffy and Tara just stood together, "she.. she never mentioned anything to anyone… and… and I have to admit that I never asked."
"Did you know?" asked the Major with a hard edge in her voice as she looked at Buffy.
"No" said Buffy as she sat down, "no one knew."
"Quentin" said Giles as Tara and the others looked at him while he addressed Major Carter, "Quentin Travers is the head of the Watchers Council. Only he could have given the order to take your child, but there's no evidence. The Council has many people in it's employ who are capable of this, from doctors to nurses, to orderlies to even police officers and child care specialists. There are a few in the elite who Quentin usually calls on for duties that involve the military, but even I'm not privy to hat information. Especially not now since I was fired from the council."
"They've done this before?" asked a shocked Major, "they've kidnapped babies from other military families?"
"I wouldn't be surprised" said Giles softly, "but like I said, there's no evidence.. no paper trail."
"I'll have the nurse and the doctor questioned" said the Major, "we even have one of the people who tried to kill Faith, we'll question him and find the truth."
"HE won't say anything" said Giles, "he… he's part of a Council wetworks team. Their job is to assassinate, or kidnap any target that the Council deems dangerous to the survival of the planet. And.. and they've come after faith before."
"What?" asked the Major as she looked at Giles and then at Buffy.
"IT was after she killed the Mayor's aide" said Buffy who was still trying to absorb the new facts she was hearing about Faith while thinking what would have happened if the dark haired Slayer was never taken away from the Major, "we… we tried to help her see what she did. But just as we were getting through to her, the Council's Special Operations Team came and took her back to England."
"But they didn't succeed" said the Major.
"No" replied Giles, "she escaped and went straight to the Mayor of Sunnydale."
"The corrupt Mayor?" asked the Major.
"I didn't know if you wanted to tell her the truth" said Buffy as she looked at Giles who nodded his head before telling the Major the truth about Mayor Wilkins and what he tried to do. He told Major Carter that Faith had tried to help the Mayor bring about the apocalypse; and that they had tried to stop the both of them.
"Faith was stopped" said Giles without saying who is was that stopped her, and what Buffy had done in feeding her to Angel, "I was the one who took her to the hospital, and then we were free to focus on the Mayor, who Buffy stopped. A lot of good people died that day."
"And then after that" said Buffy, "Faith escaped the hospital after attacking Tara, and.. yeah."
"Who stopped her?" asked the MAjor as she looked at Giles and Buffy, and then looked at Giles, "she's got enhanced strength… I've seen her throw someone against a wall so I know that Giles isn't the one who stopped her."
"I did" said Buffy, "she didn't want to listen to reason, so.. so I did everything I could to stop her. IF she succeeded, then I think the Mayor would have succeed in bringing the apocalypse. So I went to the apartment that the Mayor gave her and fought her there. I had no choice but to stab her before I called Giles for help. He then brought Faith to the hospital before we stopped the Mayor the next day. She was in a coma from the blood loss for two weeks."
"I see" said the Major suddenly feeling tired as she thought about everything that had happened to Faith. She then bent down and picked up her bag before slinging it over her shoulder, "I'll talk to my Commanding Officer about everything you've told me. But this is what I can tell you, keep away from my daughter. She's safe where she is right now, and we'll be making it clear to the Council as well that if anyone.. and I mean anyone comes after her again.. the hammer will fall on them hard. I don't care what in they have with the American government, but all of that ends now. Eventually, we will find out who did this to Faith, and he.. or she.. will face the consequences."
"Major" said Giles, "the Council has deep political resources, there's nothing that you can do. But right now, you have your daughter back so please… you should spend time with her."
"I'll reveal everything once I get back to Colorado Springs" said the Major as she took a step towards Giles, "but I will find the truth about who did this to Faith, to me and to my Family. Your Council took away my daughter from her mother, her grandfather, her uncle, and her cousins… so the Council will be paying for that. You can count on it. Maybe they can't be made to disappear, but they can be stopped from coming after Faith again. Now if you'd excuse me, I'll be making my way back to Colorado Springs to be with my daughter."
"Of.. of course" said a still shocked Giles. He knew that the Council had done things like this before, but to have seen the consequences of the Council's arrogance was something else for the man; he felt a pain in his chest as one of the Slayers that he knew was taken from her family. He then stepped aside as the Major walked past them and out of the door.
TBC.