Isolation Room One, SGC, 1500 hours.
Marcie couldn't believe it, she let the shock of her being able to see her body again get to her; leaving her open for a strike by her target, Faith Lehane. As she fell onto the floor with blood flowing down the side of her mouth at the surprise attack, she thought back to the last time that she was punched with that degree of severity.
'Buffy' thought Marcie as she thought back to the day she had kidnapped Cordelia Chase, her tormentor, as well as Buffy Summers.. the girl who saved Cordelia. Marcie remembered having her on the ropes, she remembered taunting her and the blonde girl missing her as she punched into empty air. She then remembered the hit that she kept telling herself was just a lucky hit, but that was the hit that ended Marcie's dreams of vengeance against Cordelia, and then against Buffy.
As Marcie lay on the floor of Isolation Room One, she looked at Faith who had fallen backwards and was almost immediately grabbed by the bald man in uniform as he rushed in. The invisible girl could only lock her jaw in anger at the dark haired young woman before she lost consciousness. While unconscious, Marcie dreamt about becoming invisible for the first time. Her entire existence was of being ignored by those who could have been her friends, and even among her family; her older sibling being showered more with love and affection than her. So once day when she raised her hand to answer a question that her teacher had posted to the class, Marcie was ignored once again. That was the final straw as when she put her hand back down; she looked at it in shock when she realized that it was fading in and out of her sight. She then looked back up at her teacher whose back was now facing the class as she wrote something on the board. Marcie called for the teacher but she was ignored as usual. She looked at the other students for help but they all were taking notes on what the teacher was writing on the board.
"No" said Marcie softly as her palm vanished, and then her lower arm. In a panic, Marcie got off her seat and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, before heading out of the door. All the while, no one said a single thing. Marcie ran down the hallway and into the women's washroom and headed to the one of the mirrors on the wall. Breathing hard, she could see herself vanishing bit by bit. Shaking her head, she could see that her whole left side was invisible. All she could see now was the bag that was just hanging in mid-air.
"Help me!" shouted Marcie as she ran out of the washroom and stood at the middle of the hallway, "help me!"
Marcie dropped the bag onto the floor with a thud and ran to the nearest door and pounded on it. She kept on shouting for help when she noticed the teacher get up from the chair and head towards the door. The girl stepped back as the teacher opened the door and stepped outside, looking from one direction to another. Marcie was about to touch him she when she noticed that her entire body was gone, she was invisible. She looked on in shock at her own body while the teacher cursed whichever student was playing a prank on him before heading back into the classroom, and closing the door behind him.
The newly invisible girl took a step back before she looked down her body and found that she had no legs. The new shock of not being able to see herself caused the young woman to stumble back onto the floor as she felt for her arms, legs, waist, chest, eyes; basically she ran her hands over her invisible body to make sure that everything was it should be. She would later learn that when she first became invisible, her brain was in shock as it thought that Marcie really did lose her body. One of her instructors would later describe it as going blind, but still being able to see.
However, back in Sunnydale High; Marcie was alone. She had to learn everything the hard way if she had to survive. The only thing that kept her going was that now, if she could master this invisibility, she had a chance to exact revenge against those who ignored her. The first thing she had to do was stand, so she got on her hands and legs and crawled to the wall near the lockers. Once there, she gently put her hands on the wall, and used it for support when she slowly stood up. Marcie, with tears running down her face, slowly turned her body, and then cautiously took a step forward. She knew in her heart that she had to relearn how to walk since she couldn't see her body; she had to relearn how to walk, how to hold things, she had to relearn the length of her arm, her legs, the location of her mouth when she had to eat.
That first day, however, was a nightmare. She took her first steps from the wall before she tripped by hitting her left foot with her right and fell onto her knees. To make it even worse, the bell had rang by that time and Marcie panicked as she got on all fours and crawled to one of the walls near the lockers and made herself as small as possible so that she didn't get hurt. Silently crying as she watched the world go by her, she eventually began to move around the school without any problems; leading her to start killing those who had ignored her.
She had been invisible for six months and she guessed that the condition was permanent. Those six months alone, not being able to see herself, and being in self imposed exile made her insane. Eventually she went up against Buffy, and failed. But it was the encounter with the Slayer that introduced her to a branch of the Department of Defence that dealt with children like her; children who were invisible. It was a place where she was finally accepted, but it was also a place where the training was cruel and unique.
Marcie learned that those who are invisible can't see the others who are; just like any normal human being. Marcie had to first learn how to fight in their invisible state before learning how to kill. They had been using thermal goggles for the first few months, and once they had gotten used to the goggles, the invisible children had to learn how to fight without them. After months of being invisible, after years of being ignored, Marcie finally found someplace she was accepted. And she loved it. Her trainers told her that all of her senses were heightened, and that she needed to concentrate to fight effectively against her opponents. Eventually, she learned how to read the minute muscle movements before an opponent launches an attack, she improved her awareness until she could even feel the vibrations in the air as she practiced with her invisible colleagues. She improvement her speed and strength, and she eventually found out that her body in particular had became more durable with training. She even fought with someone three times her size and was able to take a few hard hits before she collapsed onto the floor.
Her trainers told her that they had recorded strange energy emissions in Sunnydale, and that those emissions must have changed something in her after she went invisible. However, Marcie knew what it really was; the same thing that she had heard Buffy and the others talking about when she spied on them; it was the Hellmouth.
She eventually became their top assassin, and infiltrator; however today was the day she made a mistake. Her first mistake since she became part of the Program, she lightly bumped the doctor as she walked past her. Marcie saw the redhead stop before she grinned and beat on the doctor. She had counted on her target being weakened as her contact claimed she would be, but Marcie found Faith was strong enough to take her out.
It was about thirty minutes later that Marcie woke up and found herself lying on a cot in a room that had a glass windowed observation deck. Groaning as she slowly pushed her body up to a sitting position, she turned her body and placed her feet on the floor. She then looked at herself and found that she was still invisible and smiled; this was who she was now. She didn't want to see her body anymore.
'It's a weakness' thought Marcie to herself as she looked around the barren room that had only one closed blast door at the right side. She frowned at the door before she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye coming from the observation room. Standing up, the invisible girl smiled and walked up to the middle of the room as the two bald men from earlier; one in an Air Force uniform, and the other in a black shirt and trousers walked in before putting thermal goggles over their eyes. She then saw them walk up to the glass before the man in uniform put his hands behind his back.
"Miss, my name is General George Hammond. I am the commander of this base."
"I am Murray."
Marcie saw the both of them looking directly at her before she huffed and walked around the room.
"What is your name?" asked the General, "who sent you here? Who do you work for? Who gave you information on this facility, and the key cards?"
Marcie stopped and looked at the General before giving him a smile, certain that he'll pick it up through the thermal goggles.
"Miss" said the General, "I'm just trying to make this easy on you. We've already sent your fingerprints for a background check and we'll know everything about you soon. But if you cooperate now, then I'll take that into consideration as I decide what to do with you. You broke into a secured U.S. Government facility, assaulted two Air Force Officers and a protected individual."
"Please" said Marcie with derision in her voice as she walked back to the middle of the room and put her hands on her hips.
"Are there more of you?" said Teal'c as Marcie looked at the man.
"What do you think, baby?" asked Marcie seductively as Teal'c and General Hammond looked at each other, and then at Marcy again, before she started to laugh, "this is funny."
"It is not" said Teal'c.
"Yeah, yeah" said Marcie as she turned and headed back to her cot before turning around again.
Back in the observation room, the General and Teal'c took off their goggles before turning on the lights in the isolation room below, and in the observation booth. Walking out of the observation booth through the side doors, they passed the two S.F's who were guarding Marcie while holding TER's in their hands.
"General Hammond" said Teal'c as they walked through the hallway, "I believe we can expect more of these individuals to come to the SGC. If their target is Ellie Carter, then…."
"I know, Teal'c" said the General, "I have three S.F's up on the tenth floor with TER's. If there is anything suspicious, I've ordered them to use deadly force. If these people are really invisible like the woman in the isolation room, then this is a security threat that needs to be taken care of."
"Infiltration" said Teal'c as he walked with the General while the man nodded his head, "Assassinations. These people will be able to go anywhere."
"Yes" said the General as he looked at Teal'c, "I know what you're thinking. Sending some of them through the Stargate into heavy Goa'uld fortified areas could give us a massive tactical advantage."
"Indeed" said Teal'c nodding his head.
"The primary goal is to protect Major Carter's daughter before any other consideration" said General Hammond as Teal'c nodded his head, "she must have come here somehow. I want you to take a few S.F's and check the surrounding area. I don't think she came here on foot, and since it would be suspicious if a driverless car drove past, we can assume that she was driven here. They need to either register with the front gate, or have an I.D to enter this compound so I'd hazard a guess that there must be a car parked nearby."
"Understood, General Hammond" said Teal'c as he nodded his head, "what of the key cards that we found on her?"
"We're checking up on them" said the General as they approached the elevators, "from first glance, they look authentic. If they really are authentic, then we have a massive security breach since the only way anyone could get a hold of those particular key cards would be if they worked at the Pentagon, and that's only a select handful of people. Or it could be someone from the SGC."
"Do you believe this Watchers Council is responsible, General Hammond?"
"I'm not sure, Teal'c" said the General shaking his head, "the President mentioned that they are well connected, so I wouldn't be surprised."
The General then turned to Teal'c and told him to get going, and that he would call the President and update him on what just happened. The Jaffa then nodded his head before heading back into the elevator where he would meet with some of the security staff on the twentieth floor and brief them on the plan of action.
General Hammond's office, 1515 hours.
Once General Hammond reached his office, he sat down behind his desk and picked up the red phone. Pressing the second button, his speed dial for the President, he leaned forward on his desk as the other line started to ring.
"Mr. President."
"General" said President Ryan as he leaned back on his chair in the Oval Office, "I was just about to call you, have you found any information on this Faith Lehane? The one that I told you about, the Slayer that the Watcher's Council claims that we have."
"Sir?" asked a confused General Hammond. The General knew that he had already told the President about who Faith really was, and that the President had ordered that the dark haired Slayer be kept under his protection; he even had created a Presidential Eye Only file for the young lady.
"George" said the President, "I told you about the agreement we had with the Council. No Slayers with the military. I don't like this either but…"
"Mr. President" said General Hammond as he interrupted his Commander-in-Chief, "with all due respect, you asked me to keep her protected."
"General" said a surprised President Ryan, "I've never asked you to do that."
"Sir" replied the General, "I've already prepared everything about Miss Lehane, I'm just waiting for Major Carter to return so that I can have a copy of the Certificate she received after her child's still-birth."
"George?" said the President, "what are you talking about? Why does Major Carter have anything to do with this? And she had a child? General?"
"Sir" said the General as he stood up from behind his desk, "Major Carter is the biological mother of Faith Lehane. Mr. President, I've already notified you of this fact. I have all the evidence with me, including her DNA tests. Sir, you even said that you'd be starting a Presidential file on her."
"Wait, you're telling me that the Major's had a child who died?" asked President Ryan as he checked a secured drawer at his desk. Unlocking the drawer with a PIN code, the President opened it and looked in shock as he saw a file marked Top Secret. Taking out the file while asking the General to hang on, the man opened it and found basic information on Faith that he had already filled out.
"Mr. President?" asked General Hammond over the phone when the line went silent for a few minutes.
"George" said the President, "this can't be right. How come I can't remember?"
"Sir" said General Hammond, "I was going to brief you once my report was filed on Miss Lehane, but according to her, the people who had attacked her before she was rescued by SG-1 seems to have been sent by the Watchers Council."
"George" said the President as he reached for a button to call one of his aides, but he pulled back his arm almost immediately after thinking against it, "what you're saying….. this was something that was never agreed to by this government."
"A foreign entity kidnapping American citizens, Mr. President" said General Hammond, "and not just that, we just took a woman into our custody that broke into the SGC. She assaulted three guards, the Chief Medical Officer, and Miss Lehane. Knowing what we know, she could have been sent to assassinate Miss Lehane."
"How could have she broken in?" asked the President as his heart raced.
"For one thing, sir" said General Hammond, "she's invisible, and she seems to have copies of keycards that would get her into the SGC."
"Invisible?" asked the President, "George, did you say invisible?"
"Yes, sir" said General Hammond, "as far as I'm aware, sir; there are no programs that deal with invisible individuals. However, this brings about a severe breach in security not just for this Command but for every branch of the government."
"I'll find out what I can, George" said the President as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. The man had been read in on a project that would be training gifted individuals that would protect the security of the United States. However, the project was so secretive that the President himself was not aware of the specifics.
'Don't tell me that they deal with invisible people' thought the President to himself while he continued to talk to General Hammond as he recalled what his National Security Advisor told him after the inauguration, 'that's why he said I'll have plausible deniability. But this, using these people to kidnap our own on American soil. And if the Council were really involved in trying to kidnap, or kill, Faith Lehane.. then I have a nasty feeling in my gut that this invisible person was also sent by the council to kill her. Which bring up another scary thought, why does an outside force have a say in this program? Could there be an insider? Is that why I don't remember anything George and I talked about? Pete told me that the Council has mystical knowledge, don't tell me they…? No… they wouldn't dare. And the Keycards to the SGC, only the Joint Chiefs and my Chief of National Security knows about the SGC. Don't tell me that they've been compromised?'
"Sir?" asked General Hammond over the phone as the President shook his head.
"General Hammond" said the President, "I am very much aware that this call cannot be tapped, or traced."
"Of course, sir" said the General.
"Has the SGC come across technology that could retrieve lost memories?"
"I understand what you mean, sir" said the General as he remembered the Tok'ra memory recall device they were examining at the SGC, "yes, we are examining a Tok'ra device that could recall suppressed, or forgotten memories. I can have it sent to D.C within a few hours where Major Davis can…"
"I know Colonel O'Neill has already gone undercover" said the President, "and I am aware that this operation is vital to preserving our diplomatic ties with our off world allies, so I'd suggest that any action be taken after the return of Colonel O'Neill, and the capture of these traitors who have been stealing technology. However, I also believe that someone from the White House may have, how do I put this delicately, umm…. Mystically put a whammy on me."
The General listened as the President explained to him that the Council had a lot of mystical knowledge, and that it made sense they'd be involved since he had forgotten their conversation after he informed the Prime Minister.
"And he would have no doubt told the head of the Council" said General Hammond, "and I can only guess that the Prime Minister would have forgotten the conversation he had with you, Sir."
"We need to use the device on him, as well" said the President as he sighed, "I had hoped that we could keep the existence of the Program secret for a few more years until we were ready to tell our allies on our terms. But this… the situation is being manipulated by a third party to murder someone who I just learned is the daughter of a hero; a daughter who was apparently dead. Couple that with the manipulation of my mind; which makes me suspect that other leaders may have been manipulated as well, including the Prime Minister."
"Yes, sir" said General Hammond nodding his head, "I expect that the Colonel will be contacted soon by this rogue element of the SGC, and then the plan would quickly go into motion. These people would want to start the acquisition of technology as fast as possible so I wouldn't be surprised if the Colonel is contacted within the next two days."
"Understood" said the President, "and how about Miss Lehane? Is she really Major Carter's daughter? And if she was dead, then how…?"
"She will be briefing me once she returns, sir" said the General.
"Major Carter?" asked the President, "where is she?"
"She's on her way back from Sunnydale, sir" said the General, "she'll take a flight back to Peterson's, and then she'll brief me once she heads back to the SGC."
"I see" said the President.
"Mr. President" said the General as Teal'c knocked on his door, "and once I've been briefed by Major Carter, I will have the report sent to you Sir. But Sir, I recommend that you continue with your day as usual. The less we reveal that we know about what may have happened to your memories, the better that we would be able to catch who could have been responsible."
"Agreed" said the President, "please give Major Carter my congratulations on getting her daughter back."
"Yes, sir" said the General before he nodded his head and put the phone down before looking at Teal'c. The uniformed man asked Teal'c if security found anyone suspicious, to which the Jaffa shook his head telling the General that they didn't find anything.
"I see" replied the General.
"The driver must have escaped when the invisible woman did not return at a set time" said Teal'c.
"Did the security camera's at the entrance catch anything?" asked the General, "there's only one road that leads back into Colorado Springs, and anyone going to and from the national park would have to drive past the gate."
"I will examine the video" said Teal'c as the General nodded his head. It was later that the General received a call from Major Carter who had just arrived at the Los Angeles Airport. He told her that it would be much better if she took a taxi to the Point Mugu Naval Air Station where he'd call ahead to have an F-22 ready for her. It was soon after he talked with the Major that General Hammond contacted the Naval Air Station and arranged with the commander of the base to get a F-22 ready for take-off by the time Major Carter gets to the base. He then made another call to gather information of the name of the doctor who had delivered Faith, as well as the nurse who was in the room. He then ordered two more S.F's with TER's to the tenth floor to provide backup to the three who were already there. In the meantime, he wanted to make his invisible prisoner sweat a little before interviewing her again in the hope that she'll be more forthcoming with information.
Once he was done making the calls he needed to make, the General sighed and got out from the back of his desk and walked out of his office. He headed towards the elevator and the end of the hallway and went up to the twenty second floor. Exiting the elevator, the man walked towards the primary infirmary where the doctors and nurses had moved Faith and Dr. Fraiser. Walking through the double doors, the General was surprised to see a groaning Faith struggling to sit up as she weakly pushed Dr. Warner and two nurses who were trying to keep her lying down.
"Dr. Warner?" said the General as he glanced at a bandaged Dr. Fraiser who was lying in bed unconscious. The General then looked at Faith, who looked back at him before she lay on the bed with a loud sigh.
"Sorry, General" said the doctor, "Miss Lehane's insisting that she's doing fine, but we still need her to stay for observation."
"I'm fine" said Faith as everyone looked at her, "it takes a few days for me to recover and…"
'In the meantime" said General Hammond, "you will follow the doctor's orders, Miss Lehane. You may be stronger now than you were when you were first brought into this facility; it does not mean that you have fully recovered. You will be kept here for observation for a couple of days, by which time I'd have come up with a decision on what to do about you."
Faith could only narrow her eyes as she looked at the General who turned to face Dr. Warner. She overheard him asking the doctor about Dr. Fraiser. Looking at the redhead as Dr. Warner told the General that she had a cracked rib, a cut on her arm, and bruising on her face and body; Faith could help but feel conflicted about the whole situation. At first, she thought that what happened in the Isolation Room was just a test by the military to gauge her abilities.. to see how strong she really was. The Slayer didn't want to use everything she had to fight whoever it was that attacked her. However, she knew there was something very wrong when Dr. Fraiser was getting mercilessly beaten; no matter what, Faith knew that there was no way that the military would submit their own to this kind of abuse.
'Still' thought Faith to herself, 'maybe they would do something like this to their own. IF the Council would do anything to get back a Slayer, what would the military do to keep one?'
"Miss Lehane" said General Hammond as he approached Faith after talking to Dr. Warner, "we have the woman who attacked you, and Dr. Fraiser in custody. Do you have any idea of who she is? Why she is how she is?"
"No" said Faith softly, "I thought that you people were playing a trick on me. To see how I would react, if I'd use my full power, or if I'd kill her."
"And now?" asked the General as he sat next to her.
"I don't know" said Faith as she looked at Dr. Fraiser, "she tried to help me, but I don't know if that was part of the plan."
"You saved her" said the General as he looked at Dr. Fraiser, and then again at Faith, "she has a daughter who I'm certain will want to thank you for saving her."
Faith just continued looking at the General, unable to make a read if the man was telling the truth.. or if he was just playing with her.
"But" said the General as if sensing what the young woman was thinking about, "I can promise you that we would not do this to our own people. None of this was a trick to get you o use your abilities. All I can say is that we'll try our best to keep you safe."
"Yeah" said Faith as she decided to take a different tactic, "nice job. Look, just let me go.. and you guys will be safe. No one will attack you. I mean, if whoever that was…. Still can't believe an invisible chick, anyway… if whoever that was after me. Then I need to get out of here. I'm feeling just fine so…"
"That won't happen again" said the General with a small smile, 'in the meantime, the doctor told me you haven't eaten anything."
"Not hungry" mumbled Faith as she looked at the bed.
"Nonsense" said the General as he turned and called one of the nurses over while Faith looked back up at him, "could you please get this young lady the special of the day? As well as two cups of Jello?"
"Of course, General."
"Faith?" asked the General after he asked the nurse to hang on for a second, "would you prefer the blue, green, or red jello?"
"Red, I guess" said Faith as she shrugged her shoulders, after which the General nodded his head at the nurse who then rushed out of the infirmary. It wasn't too long before the nurse returned with some food as she placed the tray on a table and wheeled it to Faith who she then helped sit up. Faith could only look at the meatloaf, mash potatoes and steamed vegetables on her plate before looking at the two cups of Jello.
"If it makes you comfortable eating alone" said the General as Faith just looked at the food while glancing at him, before looking at the food again, "I can leave, and return at another time."
"Whatever" said the young woman as she picked up the fork and started to eat.
"Well, in that case" said the General as he leaned back on the chair, "I'll stay and make sure you finish everything on the plate."
"Yeah" said Faith as she looked down at the food and gave a subtle smile before taking another bite, "the meatloaf sucks."
TBC.