The Summers Residence, 2250 hours.
Buffy was concerned with the look on Tara's face after she told her that they needed to talk. Buffy was about to call for Dawn and Willow, but Tara asked her to hold off until they had a chance to talk first. Buffy looked at Tara as the blonde gently held on to her arm and remembered that the blonde witch was there when she talked about Spike, what they were doing together, that she felt sick about using him but still doing it nevertheless, and that she was sick that he was taking advantage of her; it was then Buffy realized that Tara would never judge her, and that she would be always there for her.
So when Tara gently asked Buffy not to tell the others since they were dealing with what happened with Anya, that this concerned her status as the Slayer; Buffy just nodded her head and the both of them headed to the kitchen where there was a half box of pizza. The blonde witch took a piece before sitting across from Buffy at the island, and spoke after swallowing a bite she took from the pizza.
"I… I just had my blood drawn" said Tara as Buffy nodded her head, "and/… and I had to tell him about my aura reading abilities… I.. I knew that he was hiding some things so…"
"Any idea what it could be?" asked Buffy, and then nodded her head when Tara shook her head.
"But he.. he told me that they others won't know about us" said Tara, "about you, or Willow and I using magic. And I trust him, I read his aura and I trust him."
"If you say you trust him" said Buffy as she leaned forward and put her hand on top of Tara's hand, "then I'm ok with that. But the truth is that I don't trust his superiors."
"B.. Buffy" said Tara, "John told me that they know about Sunnydale, well.. at least most of it concerning the Initiative."
"Seriously?" asked Buffy as she opened her eyes wide in panic, "Tara, what do they know? I mean.. how?"
"John told me that when they found that the break-in came from Sunnydale" said Tara, "they ran a search of the city. They found some files on the Initiative but… but your name, and any pictures of the Scoobies were gone. All those records were destroyed."
"Good" said Buffy as she breathed a sigh of relief, however there was something still bothering her as she looked up at Tara again, "just now you looked like you had something important to tell me. Tara?"
"John told me that when your name came up… Buffy, he never told them about you… even when they were talking about the Initiative, and Sunnydale… he never said anything about you. Even when the Watchers Council outed you as the Slayer."
"What?" asked Buffy as her eyes went wide. She then got off the seat on the other side of the island after letting go off Tara's hand and paced with her hands on her head. She then looked at Tara and asked her if she was kidding.
"No, Buffy" said Tara, "they didn't have any information on you until the Council let it out. John wasn't going to say anything, but the report stated that a group of civilians helped some of the soldiers escape. Once they found out that you were the Slayer, they figured that you would have been one of the civilians… and the others would be friends."
"Damn it" said Buffy as she put her hands on her waist as Tara put down her second slice of pizza, got off her seat and walked around the island before holding onto the Slayer's shoulders gently.
"The Council told John's superiors that you were off limits" said Tara, "that they couldn't approach you, or recruit you. And from what John told me, they're willing to do that.. but the doctor still wants to have a look at you since you were shot. He wants to make sure that you're alright, I guess his concern as a doctor."
"But still…" said Buffy.
"When they were talking about you, John told me that he tried his best to pretend he didn't know your name, or that you're the Slayer" said Tara, "but then his superiors got notified of the police report on Anya's murder, it was the statement that John gave and… and well, it had our names on the report as well."
"Oh crap" said Buffy when she realized what Tara was saying. The military knew who she was, and that Major Sheppard lied.
"I… I'm sorry" said Tara, "I… I.. knew that… John would get into trouble so… so I told them that he didn't know your real name, that you introduced yourself as Anne."
"It's… it's alright" said Buffy as she looked at the worry on the witch's face for her, and for her brother, "do the others know about you and Willow?"
"No" said Tara, "he… he told them that we don't have any abilities. He… he told me that they wanted to talk to you about what happened at the Initiative since those files were destroyed. I… I… guess they know the basics, but not everything."
"This isn't a good time to even discuss that" said Buffy as she sat on a seat and looked up at the ceiling, "Xander's still out, Willow's with him; and Dawn's asleep, she still blames herself for Anya."
"John told me that they won't be asking you about the Initiative" said Tara as Buffy looked at her in surprise, "they wanted to ask Willow, and Xander but… well, he convinced them to hold off. But they still want to talk to Willow about the break-in."
"Are you absolutely sure?" asked Buffy.
"Yes" Tara replied while sitting next to the blonde Slayer, "I know I am, Buffy. I know it's funny, I've known him for just a short amount of time but… but I trust him."
"I'm happy for you" said Buffy as Tara put an arm around her shoulders, "I'm just going to stay-in today, I haven't seen any news about mysterious deaths by barbeque forks, so I'm guessing that there wont be vampires rising tonight and… and I just want to be sure that no one else comes after us tonight."
"We'll be safe" said Tara gently, "but if you want to stay in, then that's fine too… all of us got hit hard. And with Warren in jail, I… I guess that the dangers of the Trio are gone as well."
"Yea" said Buffy as she looked at Tara and smiled, "how about you get some rest? I'll be down here for awhile and watch some TV before heading up."
"I can stay here" said Tara.
"Stay with Willow and Xander" said Buffy gently, "I'll be up soon. Just wanna make sure there's no funny business going on out there."
"Sure" said Tara as she nodded at the blonde Slayer before walking down the hallway, and then vanishing as she walked up the stairs. Buffy just sat alone at the island before she turned around, grabbed a slice of pizza, and walked over to the living room. Sitting on the couch and facing the television, which was turned off, she took a bite into the slice and thought about Anya. She remembered not liking the vengeance demon much, especially since she was a demon; but she'd still be teasing Xander for going out with her. She remembered that Willow, out of all the Scoobies, was even more hostile towards her… mainly because she didn't want to see Xander hurt, and because that childhood love for the dark haired man still existed somewhere. That was somewhat tapered down after Willow and Tara got together, but Willow still acted hostile towards Anya. Eventually, the both of them realized that Anya loved Xander, and they had gotten closer as friends; Willow and Buffy were even Anya's bridesmaids.
'But when Xander left Anya' thought Buffy to herself, 'we didn't give her support. And then what happened with Spike, what he tried to do to me… what he… damn, stop it Summers.. that bastard's gone now and… and he's not going to hurt you like that again.'
Buffy wiped her tears as she put the slice of pizza on the couch as she tried to push Spike's attempted rape of her, and tried to think about Anya. She kept telling herself that she'll deal with Spike later, that now it was supposed to be all about Anya; that the ex-vengeance demon died while protecting her sister. When she thought about that, Buffy teared up even more as she thought about how they had treated Anya.
'We were getting close' thought Buffy to herself as she wiped her eyes while looking at her reflection on the television screen, 'but we pushed her away… sorry Anya, we're so sorry. I'm so sorry.'
Westown Hotel, Sunnydale, 2300 hours.
Major Sheppard just parked his rental car in the parking lot of the hotel. He then walked into the lobby, and up the stairs to his room on the third floor of the hotel. Thinking about the day's events, he walked towards his room while thinking about his plans for the next day. He knew that most of the day would be spent with his team at the Army base examining how he was able to do the things he did. However, he would be free in the morning so that he could have breakfast with Tara, and then later in the evening he could spend some time with his sister after all the examinations were done.
'Maybe I'll take a few more days of leave' thought the Major to himself, 'anyway, it's not like I'll be needed that much when the Daedalus arrives with Colonel Caldwell, I sure he'll be the new military leader so… I know that Elizabeth will want me back in Atlantis, but with me not choosing who goes, maybe it's better if I do take more days off.'
The Major then reached his door while still deep in thought. He ran his keycard through the scanner and then opened the door while looking and for anyone; however, he was unable to see the miniature camera that was placed high above the door that was right across his room. Walking inside, he closed the door behind him and headed to the table where he placed his wallet, cell phone, and jacket. It was then that he noticed what seemed like a pen on the table. At first, he didn't think anything about it; he thought that it came with the room.. particularly since he hadn't been into the room before. All he did was book it, get the keys, and then leave with Tara earlier that day.
However, he knew that there was something wrong when a voice came from the pen, a very familiar voice.
"Seal" said the voice that the surprised Major recognized as Warren's while he looked at the pen and then at a golden shimmer that seemed to cover the windows. Looking around surprised, he saw a shimmer going up the main door as he ran towards it. Grabbing onto the door knob, he twisted it but the door couldn't open. He even stepped beck, and imagined pulling the door open using telekinesis; the Major could feel he was pulling the door but it still wasn't budging. He then stopped pulling, and panted when he heard the same voice say another word.
"Combustum" said the voice as the Major looked on as four tiny spheres rose into the air. He looked on as there was a hissing sound before black and red flames erupted from the spheres. He turned around again and tried to pull the door open, but all that happened was that the shimmer around the door lit up in intensity, but the door still didn't budge. He then looked at the spheres again as the red and black flames twisted around the spheres as if they were being held together by a shield of some sort. It was then he covered his nose as he got a whiff of some kind of gas that was filling the room. Coughing, the man covered his nose as the flames within the spheres grew in intensity until the spheres were alternating black and red colours. The Major coughed continuously while picking up his cell phone.
He knew that he didn't have time to call Dr. Weir and tell her the situation, and then have her call the SGC. So he dialled the SGC's number directly, and hoped that the Asgard transporters on the Prometheus were already up and running after their upgrade. He coughed as he got onto his knees as the smell of gas nearly overwhelmed him just as the SGC's side picked up the phone.
"NORAD" said Walter's voice.
"This… this… this is Major…. Jo… John…. Shep… Sheppard"
"Major?" asked Walter while the Major continued to cough, "are you alright? I can transfer you to…"
"Trans… port Pro… Pro…. Prometheus… Code…. Code…. Red. It's…. It's a…"
"Major?" said Walter as he heard a thud on the other line, "Major?"
Guessing that something was very wrong, Walter picked up another phone that connected him directly to the Prometheus. With Colonel Pendergast being debriefed by Home World Security before he retakes command of the ship for her shake-up cruise, it was Colonel Carter who was in charge of the upgrades to the Hyperdrive, the Asgard Beaming technology, and the new sensor arrays. Walter's call went directly to the bridge where the Colonel was checking on the progress of the upgrades. She was ready to restart the Hyperdrive for a power test when Walter's call came in.
"Walter?" asked the Colonel after Major Marks told her about the call from the SGC.
"Colonel Carter" said Walter whose voice came through the speaker, "I just got a call from Major Sheppard. He said it he was in a Code Red situation and asked for a beam out."
"Code Red?" asked the Colonel while she nodded at Major Marks who located the Major.
"Yes, ma'am" said Walter, "he just stopped talking ma'am."
"Major Marks, lock on to Major Sheppard's locator beacon and beam him up to the bridge" said the Colonel as a bright flash of light brought up an unconscious Major Sheppard who was laying on his side as Colonel Carter stood up, as did several of the bridge crew and ran over to him while Walter was still on the line. The Colonel then pressed another button before she called for medical assistance on the bridge. She then ran to on side of the bridge, opened a panel and took out a first aid kit. She then took out the oxygen mask and handed it to Marks who was already next to the man. He then put the mask on the Majors face while the Colonel activated the oxygen supply as medical staff entered the bridge just as the Major opened his eyes sharply and inhaled the fresh oxygen before going onto his back and looking at the people around him.
"Major… Major" said Colonel Carter as the man looked at her, "you're on the Prometheus, you're alright. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Bo… bomb" said the Major as he breathed as mush oxygen as possible, "bom… bomb."
"What?" asked Colonel Carter as her eyes went wide open in surprise while the others looked at her. It was then that a Lieutenant at one of the scanning stations ran up to the Colonel before saying that there was an explosion from where they beamed out Major Sheppard. Knowing that Walter was still on the line, the Major told him to inform General Landry about the bombing in the hotel where the Major was staying. She then looked at the lieutenant and asked her how many were dead. The lieutenant just looked at the Colonel and told her that one entire side of the building collapsed after the initial explosion.
"Our scans found fifteen bodies, ma'am" said the lieutenant as the Major closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Walter" said the Colonel softly, "did you get that?"
"Yes, ma'am" Walter replied as the others in the control room gathered around while General Landry ran down the stairs before tapping on the technician's shoulder, "Colonel, General Landry's here."
"Colonel Carter" said the General, "report."
"Sir" said the Colonel as the medical staff was checking Major Sheppard for injuries, "Major Sheppard was unconscious when he was beamed in. We gave him some oxygen, and he regained consciousness. The medical staff is taking him to the infirmary now, but he seems to be a bit dazed. He mentioned a bomb when he regained consciousness, and… sir… we just ran a scan of where we beamed him up from and… and one side of the building collapsed, scanners say that fifteen people lost their lives, sir."
"I'll contact Home Word" said the General shaking his head, "this was an attack on SGC personnel; we could be looking at the Goa'uld, or a rogue faction of the NID. Until we find out what's happening, I'll be getting SG-3 and SG-4 geared up. I want them beamed to the Prometheus, and then to Sunnydale where they will be protecting Dr. Weir and the others. I know they're in an Army base, but with this attack…"
"I understand, sir" said the Colonel, "and the Major?"
"I'll inform, Dr. Weir" said the General, "in the meantime, I want the Prometheus to conduct scans of the area. I want to know if any signals were sent, whether it be Goa'uld or Human, that would detonate the bomb."
"We'll know more once he's regained full consciousness, sir" said the Colonel, "in the meantime, we'll run a scan. But the media coverage on this is going to cause some panic, sir."
"Ummm…. ma'am?" said another lieutenant who was at another sensor console as the Colonel turned to look at him, "multiple witnesses just uploaded cell phone video's of the explosion, and the aftermath, online."
"General?" asked Colonel Carter, "did you get that, sir?"
"Yes" said the General as he rubbed his forehead, "find out what caused the explosion Colonel, and then once the Major is conscious, ask him what happened. I'll notify Dr. Weir."
"Understood, sir" said the Colonel, "Carter out."
The Summers Residence, 2306 hours.
Buffy was still rubbing her eyes while she was skipping through channels after she turned on the television. She was still thinking about Anya as she skipped one channel to another. She thought about the shows that Anya used to make them watch when she suddenly stopped at a channel that showed the Sunnydale Police Department, and a giant hole on the second floor as the reporter was speaking on camera.
She looked at the news report as she leaned forward while she pushed back all thoughts of Anya, and Spike and listened intently. Buffy knew that the report was earlier in the day since it was still daylight on the video with the reporter was saying that a gas explosion caused the deaths of three prisoners, as well as two police officers. The reporter then mention the names of the Trio as Buffy listened with her eyes narrowed at the screen. It was then that the scene on screen changed to night on a shaky video of a collapsed building. Buffy stood up stunned as she walked towards the TV when the reporter said that the video was one of several video of an explosion that place minutes ago at the Westown Hotel.
"Westown Hotel" said Buffy softly, "that's where… Oh God."
Buffy then ran up the stairs and rushed into Willow and Tara's room where the both of them were sitting on the bed talking to each other while Willow placed her hand on Xander's shoulder.
"Tara" said Buffy as the two witches looked at the blonde, "you told me that your brother's staying at the Westown Hotel?"
"Yea" said Tara as she noticed something wrong with Buffy's aura, that she was terrified about something, "Buffy? What's wrong?"
"Do you have your brother's number?" asked Buffy trying her best to keep cool as Xander stirred.
"Ye.. yea" said Tara as she got off the bed and took out his phone number that she wrote on a piece of paper, "I haven't been able to put in my address book but…"
"Call him" said Buffy, "call him now."
"Buffy?" asked Tara, "what's…."
"Call him, please" said Buffy as she ran out of the room and down the stairs.
Willow and Tara looked at each other before the blonde witch followed Buffy down the stairs where she was looking at the television while biting her finger nails. Tara, followed soon by Willow, looked at the screen as another shaky video zoomed in on smoking rubble while the reporter was saying that they had no information on how many people died, only that one side of the hotel collapsed after the explosion. Once the reporter talked about the explosion, there was another video that someone had taken of an explosion from one of the rooms seconds before the collapse. The three women watched horrified as people screamed before the side collapsed.
"Jo.. John.." said Tara as she rushed to the phone and dialled the number that Major Sheppard gave her.
Buffy and Willow walked over to Tara who turned around with the phone to her ear while her hand was over her mouth and tears in her eyes. She continued to call the Major, but every time she did, Tara would shake her head and try again. It was after a few tries that she dropped the phone onto the floor and looked at Willow, and then at Buffy.
"It.. it's going directly to voicemail… I…"
"We don't know anything yet, baby" said Willow as she hugged Tara who started crying on her shoulder, "he could be alive, Tara."
Buffy could only look on at Tara crying, and then at the television.
'To many deaths in one day' thought Buffy to herself as she heard Tara crying on Willow's shoulder, 'Anya died, The Trio's gone, and now Tara's brother could be dead. With what Tara told me about what John and his people knew… I wouldn't be surprised if the Council had a hand in this. They're capable of anything… I.. I need to talk to Giles when he gets back. That's the only people who could do this…. It has to be the Council. It just has to be.'
TBC.