Infirmary, SGC, 2000 hours.
Cassie couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into. She looked at the cold, emotionless eyes of Faith as the dark haired Slayer prepared to make her move. Cassie gulped as she thought about what she should do in a situation such as the one she found herself in, so she remembered what Major Carter and Dr. Fraiser had taught her after she was adopted by the Chief Medical Officer following her peoples destruction on Hanka.
"Please" said Cassie as she looked at Faith, who gave her a smirk, when she thought about it and found that she had no other options. That the Slayer was going to go in for the kill no matter what, "don't do this. Give, give me a chance?"
Cassie then looked around the infirmary but found that she was alone, the nurse who had some in earlier was already gone to do her rounds since Faith was already feeling better. The young redhead closed her eyes realizing that there was no one who could help her before she looked back at Faith.
"Sorry" said Faith with an evil grin, "there's no one who can help you now."
"You lied" said Cassie as she looked down at the chessboard on the table as Faith checkmated Cassie. The redhead and Faith were sitting on the latter's bed after Major Carter had left nearly forty minutes ago and sat in a few seconds of awkward silence before Cassie asked the Slayer if she wanted to play chess since they kept a small magnetic board in the infirmary to kill the boredom.
"No" said Faith softly as she looked back down at the bed, and then around the infirmary before looking back at Cassie, "I mean, I can't play. I.. I don't know how."
Cassie looked on in surprise before offering to teach Faith how to play. Nodding her head, Faith watched Cassie hop off the bed and run to the nurses' station on the far side before she reached down and opened the bottom drawer. She took out the magnetic chess set and then rushed back to Faith's bed. Faith remembered that one of the things Professor Dormer taught her, after finding the then Potential Slayer on the streets, was how to play chess. It was something she did to help the young girl cope with what she had to go through with her parents, and the situation she found herself in after running away from home and into the streets. Faith looked on as Cassie rolled the now empty table and brought it over to Faith before placing the magnetic chess board on the surface and setting up all the pieces.
"Ok" said Cassie as she finished setting up the pieces and showed her what piece did what, where the pieces could move, and such. They had been playing for sometime quietly, Cassie gauging Faith's moves before she realized that the dark haired young woman was only one move away from checkmate.
"Lucky win" said Faith shrugging as she looked at a surprised Cassie.
"Uh huh" said a suspicious Cassie before she gave a huge smile, "you know how to play. You were just trying to hustle me, weren't you?"
"Was not" said Faith looking at Cassie in mock horror.
"You're just like Sam" said Cassie as Faith tilted her head and looked quizzically at the young redhead before her as she continued to speak excitedly, "we went to this place called O'Malley's the first time I was brought to this country. We finished dinner and everything before Sam, mom, Jack, Daniel and Murray went to play some pool. Sam, Daniel and Jack were playing while Murray, mom and I just cheered them on. Then this guy came to the table and tried to hassle Sam for a date."
"Ok" said Faith as Cassie reset the board.
"So she told the guy that if he wins a game of pool with her, then she'll go out with him. But if she beats him then he has to pay her two hundred dollars" said Cassie as she suppressed a chuckle, "I didn't know why the others were hiding their smiles at the time, but mom told me later that Sam was playing pool ever since she was in high school. Even did the most perfect trick shots; mom told me that Grandpa Jacob would go on tours overseas when he was with the Air Force so Sam had a lot of time to practice. I heard she did it to impress a boy. Anyway, the guy at O'Malley's couldn't beat her so…."
"Nice" said Faith with a grin on her face as she nodded her head.
"Yep" said Cassie with a grin as she made a move with one of the pieces.
"How long have you known them?" asked Faith after she made a counter move.
"Almost two years now" said Cassie, "mom was a family friend, and… and she adopted me after my parents died."
"Oh" said Faith as she looked up at Cassie and noticed the sadness on the redhead's face, however Faith's instinct was telling her that there was something more to the story, 'I've been hiding things my entire life, I know there's something you're not telling me.'
"You said that the doc brought you to the States" said Faith as Cassie nodded her head, "so where you from?"
"Toronto" said Cassie as she looked up at Faith who nodded her head before looking back down at the chess board and making a move.
'That's a lie' thought Faith to herself as she glanced up at Cassie who then made another move, 'I've lived on the streets, I've had to sell myself to live do thing that other people would never do to service, so I know to look for signs if people are truthful, or what they want to do.. at least when it come down to the screwing; that's how I knew the sleaze back at the motel in Sunnydale wanted me to…. Shut up, Faith.'
Faith shook her head as she tried to get the images of what she had to do to survive back in Boston, and what she had to do to continue living in the motel in Sunnydale, away to the back of her mind.
"Faith?" asked Cassie as she looked at the Slayer concerned, "you alright? Should I call mom?"
"No" said Faith looking back at Cassie, slightly taken aback by the genuine concern on her face. The same genuine concern she had seen on the General, Dr. Fraiser, and Major Carter, "I'm alright. Let's play."
"Sure" said Cassie as they continued to play, "so, did your mom show you how to play chess?"
"No" said Faith coldly as she looked at the pieces before her and thought about what moves she could make. At the same time, Cassie looked up at Faith and noticed the icy look while she was looking down at the chess board.
'Maybe I shouldn't talk anymore about her mom' thought Cassie to herself.
"Ok" said Cassie as she made a move before Faith made a countermove. The both of them sat in silence for twenty more minutes as the two of them made one move after another before the infirmary doors opened and Major Carter walked in with Daniel pushing Dr. Fraiser's wheelchair.
"Hey guys" said Daniel as he pushed Dr. Fraiser to Cassie's side of the bed, "oh, who's winning?"
"I think it's a draw, this time" said Cassie as she looked up at Faith and smiled.
"Hey Cass" said Dr. Fraiser, "how'd you like to go with me, Daniel and Murray to pick up some pizza. I need to get out of the mountain, and I thought you could do with some fresh air."
"Can Faith come with us?" asked Cassie as the Slayer looked at them with her eyes wide oen in surprise.
"Faith still has some recovery to do" said Dr. Fraiser as she looked at the formerly dark haired, and temporary blonde, young woman, "but we'll eat together when we get back."
"That's a good plan, right Faith?" asked the excited Cassie as she looked back at Faith who shrugged her shoulders before looking back down.
'Why are they being nice?' thought Faith to herself as she glanced up at Cassie as she hopped off the bed and sat on Dr. Fraiser's thighs while the doctor was still in the wheelchair. She saw Cassie wrap her hands around the doctor's neck before she told Faith that they'll be right back. Nodding her head, Faith saw Daniel pushing the wheelchair while Cassie laughed as Dr. Fraiser held on to her. Meanwhile, Major Carter was the one who opened the door for them. Thinking that the Major would also leave, Faith was surprised that the blonde officer in the green BDU's stayed in the infirmary.
"Feel up to getting out of here?" asked the Major as Faith just looked at her while she headed off to the wheelchairs in the corner. Looking on confused, Faith then saw the Major unfold one of the wheelchairs and bring it towards her bed, "so? I mean Dr. Fraiser said you can't leave, but she did give permission for you to be moved to a room here on the base. I mean it's better to have pizza there than in here, you know."
"Ok" said Faith as she saw the Major put a blue file she was carrying in her left hand into the wheelchair's rear pocket. She then held out her hand as Faith looked at it for a little while before she grabbed onto the hand and shimmied out of the bed, and then stood up on the floor. Faith then turned around and sat down on the wheelchair before she was pushed through the doors, which were ppened thanks to the S.F's who were stationed outside.
"Cass tells me that you're one of the scientists here" said Faith as the Major pushed her through the hallways of the base.
"Yea" replied the Major as she nodded at Siler who rushed past her, "we're part of NASA's Deep Space Telemetry program."
"So you guys fix satellites and stuff?" asked Faith.
"It's a bit more complicated than that" said the blonde officer as they made a turn into another hallway, "and a lot more classified. I can tell you that we take care fo some of the satellites that carry your favourite shows."
"Neat" said Faith as she looked around at all the S.F's and Airmen who were walking about, "must be a lot of important stuff here, huh?"
"Yes" replied the Major as they came upon a door at the end of the hallway where Faith noticed a female airman standing guard.
"So" said Faith sarcastically, "I get put into a better cell, huh?"
The Major just frowned as they almost reached the door. She didn't answer Faith's question, wanting her to see where she was heading to for herself. The Major stopped and then nodded at the Airman who turned around and slid a keycard through a panel next to the door frame. While the Airman was opening the door, Faith took a look over her shoulder and realized that she was right in not attempting an escape earlier. She saw the numerous S.F's with rifles, as well as various Airmen and other personnel with sidearm's walking around everywhere and realized that if she had tried something funny, she could have been shot.
'Not could've' thought Faith to herself as she heard the door in front of her opening and turned her head back to the front, 'would've been shot. Which means I can't even try anything now either, especially since I'm still not at a hundred percent. At least I'm safe from the invisible chick that blew herself up according to baldy."
Faith could just look on in surprise at the room, which to Faith definitely did not look like any regular cell, as Major Carter pushed the wheelchair into the large room before she turned to speak to the Airman. Faith continued to look around at the furnished room; at the bed in the middle, the pictures of planets on the wall, a chest of drawers in the corner along with a small table along the wall with a chair, as well as a slightly larger table on another side of the room complete with four chairs.
While Faith was looked around, she heard the Major tell the Airman that she was relieved for a few hours by her order. The currently blonde Slayer looked over her shoulder as the older blonde told the Airman to go ahead and take a long break, and that she was expected back in two hours.
"Understood, ma'am" said the Airman as she nodded at the Major, and then at Faith before walking away. Faith then saw the Major sigh before she turned and walked into the room, closing the door behind her.
"You feel like sitting on the bed?" asked the Major, "it's not the best to be honest, but far better than the beds in the infirmary."
Faith could only nod her head before she was pushed to the bed where Major Carter helped her stand up, and then gently help her down on the bed. Faith then shimmied to the head of the bed as she watched the Major fold the wheelchair after taking out the blue file from its back pocket. The Major then smiled at Faith and placed the file on the large table while the Slayer just stared at her with suspicion etched onto her face as the Major walked towards her bed before she asked Faith if she could take a seat and talk to her, at least until the others returned with the pizza. Faith knew that she was in danger the longer she stayed here; that the Council would still be able to get at her, or that the military would force her to work for them.. or cut her open if she refused. But at the same time, Faith wanted to know why there was a demon with a weird symbol on his forehead working for the military, and she also wanted to know what Cassie was hiding from her; so she nodded her head to allow the blonde officer to take a seat.
The blonde officer had already received the go ahead to tell Faith that she was her daughter following the debriefing with the remainder of SG-1, General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser that left them surprised when they learnt about the existence of magic, Faith's conspiracy with the Mayor to become a pure demon and end the world, Tara and her possible connection with the Nox, the reach and power of the Council. When the Council was mentioned, the General revealed what had happened to the President, and what had also most likely happened to the Prime Minister with the both of them getting their minds wiped about the truth of who Faith really was. The General told Major Carter that she needed to get the Tok'ra memory recall device ready so that they could use it on the President, and on the Prime Minister after the President had revealed the existence of the Stargate. Once the surprised people at the briefing table nodded their head, it was Dr. Fraisers turn to make a shocking revelation in regards to Faith thinking that Teal'c was a demon.
"I am most certainly not a demon, Dr. Fraiser" said Teal'c stoically as everyone looked at him, and then back at Dr. Fraiser.
"Of course not, Teal'c" said the doctor, "I'm guessing that this whole mystical whammy surrounding Faith, or Ellie, gave her a way to sense Goa'uld symbiotes."
"A useful ability, General Hammond" said Teal'c as the General nodded his head. However, it was Major Carter who looked at the table and softly said that Faith should be made aware of the Stargate. She then looked up at the confused faces of the General and the others before telling that that her father, General Carter, was a Tok'ra.. and that it was very possible that Faith would think that her own grandfather was a demon.
"Maybe she senses just the Goa'uld?" asked Daniel, "and not the Tok'ra."
"Maybe" said the Major, "but… but if she does sense the symbiote, then I have no way to explain that dad's not a demon."
"I'll talk to the President once we've found the individual responsible for replacing his memories" said the General as Major Carter nodded her head, "in the meantime, I'd like to know the truth about what happened with the Mayor's aide, and with this Professor Worth. Tell her that if we have the truth, we can help her."
"Understood, sir" said the Major before General stood up and dismissed everyone.
Back in the VIP room, as Major Carter was sitting in front of Faith face to face, she gave a small smile and looked at the green bed sheets before looking back up at Faith.
"I know you lived a tough life, Faith" said the Major as Faith sighed and folded her hands over her chest while fidgeting uncomfortably, "I'm not…"
"I don't want anyone's pity" said Faith looking at the Major.
"No.. I mean…" said the Major as she wiped her face with both hands and mumbled, "I thought about this for so long."
"What?"
"Faith" said the Major as she got up off the bed and walked back to the large table where she left the blue file, picked it up, and then brought it back before taking a seat on the bed again, "there are some truths I need to know about you, about what happened to you in Sunnydale. And I mean everything from your relationship to Buffy, to Allan Finch, to Professor Worth, to the Mayor…. Everything."
"Right" scoffed Faith, "and then what? I get returned to the Council? Or you feel better cause you helped the troubled girl of the day?"
"So that we can protect you" said the Major as she leaned in, "we want to protect you, but we need to know the truth."
"No, I…."
"Can I tell you a story?" asked the Major as she sat closer to a surprised Faith, "let me tell you a true story. Ok? Please?"
"Listen" sighed the Slayer as she shook her head and head her hands up in surrender, "you mean well, I'm sure you do, but the military's no better than the Council and…"
"Please" said the Major as she looked at Faith, who sighed again, as she put her hands down onto her knees while sitting cross-legged in some sweatpants and T-Shirt that she was changed into after the attack by Marcie, "I know it's nothing like what you've experienced with your family, but… but the hardest thing to do is talk about the worst day of my life. So please, just listen to me. I swear to you that I'm not lying about anything."
Faith saw the woman's eyes tear up as she just looked at the Slayer. All Faith could do was just nod her head, unsure of what the woman in front of her would say. However, her instincts told her to just listen.
"I'm from a military family" said the Major as she looked at Faith, "most of my time was spent with my mother, and my younger brother, at our home in Colorado Springs. My dad would be deployed to different bases all over the world so I didn't see him as much.. but we'd always sit down and read the letters he'd send us."
Faith wanted to interrupt the Major, but there was something in her telling her to just shut up, and listen.
"MY father would come back home and we'd have….." said the Major as she wiped a tear, "we'd have good times, you know. There was one day, one day while my father was stationed at Peterson's Air Base, he was delayed in getting out. You see, he was supposed to pick up my mom and… and he couldn't get out of some assignment. So, during a particularly bad thunderstorm she waited for my dad and… and since he wasn't able to pick her up, she took a cab home. On.. on the way back, her cab got into a headlong crash with a drunk driver. She died instantly."
"I'm sorry" said Faith softly as she looked down while the Major wiped the tears off her eyes as she nodded her head before she gave a little laugh, "I hated him for a while, you know… my dad.. I blamed him for my mom dying. Later I realized that he couldn't do anything about it, and…"
"Your brother?" asked Faith as she looked down at the bed, "how did he feel?"
"He didn't forgive him for a long time" said the Major, "eventually he did, I mean a few years after me but.. but he was estranged from him for a long time since his main duty was to the Air Force. I guess my brother felt that way about me too, since I wanted to make my dad proud of me…. I wanted to follow his footsteps. So I applied to the academy, and… and I got in. I was so happy, I told Mark, that's my brother; I told my Aunt Betty who was ecstatic, and I told my boyfriend, Ron. To celebrate we… well…. yeah."
"Ok" said Faith as she shook her head as she imagined the younger version of the Major having sex with a guy named Ron, "and then?"
"I was set to join after high school" said the Major as she instinctively reached for her abdomen and rubbed it, "but…. but….."
Faith noticed what the Major was doing and then she looked up in surprise.
"You were pregnant" said Faith with her eyes wide open.
"Yes" said the Major as she realized what she was doing and placed her hands on the bed sheet again, "I knew I wanted to keep the baby, there wasn't any question about that. But I was afraid that I would disappoint my dad, or that I'd disappoint Mark. And.. and the Academy couldn't have someone… a single parent join; in case the baby takes focus away from the mission at hand."
"So you gave up the baby" said Faith with an edge in her voice, "nice, good for you. Your life doesn't…."
"Please" said the Major softly as she looked at Faith, "just hear the whole story. I can tell you that I'm not the perfect person in the world, I've made some mistakes.. but.. but.. having this baby was the best thing that ever happened to me. I immediately went to Ron, told him about my situation with the Academy. I asked him to have full custody of my child, then when I graduated.. we could share custody.. or I could have full custody and I won't ask anything from him."
"But he didn't, did he" asked Faith as she shook her head.
"No" said Major Carter before telling the dark haired, now blonde, Slayer how she asked her Aunt Betty about taking full custody of the child, and then having custody returned to her once she graduated, "she gladly said yes. But I begged her not to tell Mark, or Dad. I started to wear loose clothes around the house and amazingly, Mark never knew. Dad was deployed somewhere else during my pregnancy, so Aunt Betty moved in and helped me. She used the cover story of wanting to look after her sister's, our mothers, children."
"Did you know if your baby was a boy or a girl?"
"A girl" said the Major as she wiped another tear and smiled, "I was going to have a beautiful baby girl."
'Was?" asked Faith as the Major looked up at a shocked face, "don't tell me…"
"The day of the delivery" said the Major as her voice broke before she stopped talking and put her head down. Faith saw that the woman in front of her was starting to pant before she saw tears falling onto the bed sheet. She wanted to reach out to the woman and say something, but she didn't know what she could say. Faith then saw the Major shake her head before she looked back up at Faith with red, puffy eyes, "the day of the delivery, I was there with Aunt Betty. I think Mark was in school… or something. All I remember is begging my Aunt Betty to take my baby, to give her a good life until I was done. To give Ellie a good life."
"You named your baby Ellie?" asked Faith.
"After my mother, Eleanor" said Major Carter with a smile, "Ellie Carter. I don't know what would have happened, Faith. Maybe at the last moment I would have changed my mind and decided to forego the Academy and go to a university nearby so that I could be with my baby. You know how they saw that a mother's priority changes once a baby is borne?"
"Never happened with me" said Faith as she looked down.
The Major then reached out for Faith's left hand, and squeezed gently.
"I lost my baby, Faith" said the Major as Faith closed her eyes and looked down, "the single worst day of my life has been the loss of my baby girl. Aunt Betty and I held her unmoving body in my arms.. and…. and then she was taken away. We buried her; my Aunt paid for the funeral and it's something that I never told anyone. Not my family, not my friends."
"I'm sorry" said Faith softly as she glanced up at the Major, and then looked down again.
"I wanted to give up going to the Academy altogether" said the Major as she teared up, trying to remain in control of her emotions as much as she could, " I know how selfish I was, I wanted to hand off Ellie to Ron… I wanted to hand her off to Aunt Betty… I wanted to show how sorry I was by not going to the Academy."
"But you went" said the Slayer softly.
"My Aunt Betty told me that going to the Academy would make my daughter proud of me" said the Major, "'you will become the best officer you can be and make that little girl proud of her mother', that's what Aunt Betty told me. That's what I tried to do. During my basic, I was always running towards Ellie; during my studies.. I always imagined that Ellie was right there with me playing with my keys.. or something. I'd go to sleep most nights crying before I'd have dreams about holding her in my arms. I did the best I could for her. After graduation I visited her grave everyday, when I was deployed to the Gulf… I told her that if this was the last time I come to her gravesite, then that means that I'm with her. I'd visit her every day when I was in Colorado Springs. I even visited her before I was stationed at the Pentagon, and then I still visit her after I was transferred here. Everything I've ever done was for her, I wanted to show her the future that I've always wanted for her. I've wanted her to know that I've never given up because the thought of her being upset with me breaks my heart."
"I'm sorry about your daughter" said Faith as she looked at the Major who wiped her eyes.
"Then" said the Major as she interrupted Faith, "then I found out something amazing, something that I never realized existed; magic."
"Oh boy" said Faith, "look, I know my Watcher told me that bringing someone to life is bad and.. and I mean I can't tell you how it works… I'm not that great… nor do I really understand magic that well… but I know bringing back a life though magic is a big…"
"You don't understand" said the Major as she put the file on the bed, and looked at it.. tear drops falling on the cover and staining the blue pigments, "when I went to Sunnydale after you were attacked by the people from the Council, Giles and Tara told me that no single military on Earth is meant to have a Slayer, and that includes any military families."
"Wait.. you mean…" asked Faith as she opened her eyes wide.
"They told me that the Council had someone used a spell to change perceptions of the people in the room, except for the one who cast the spell" said the Major, "my daughter was alive. Me, nor my Aunt Betty knew that the still-borne baby in our arms was still alive. My daughter was alive and she was stolen from me."
"Good luck in getting back your baby" said Faith sadly, "really, I wish you all the best. But I know the Council, they'll lie, cheat… bury you and whoever it is that you work for and…."
"I know where she is" said the Major as Faith stared back at her, "they stole Ellie from me, gave me a body to bury so that I would never go looking for her, and then gave her to another family in Boston."
"What?" said Faith as her eyes opened even wider once she made the mental connection. She looked at her own hands, and then at Major Carter, "no… no… It.."
"They stole my daughter" said the Major as she handed the blue file to Faith. As the Major told Faith about how she lost a lot of blood, and that they needed to run standard tests, including paternity and maternity tests, to find suitable donors on base; Faith opened the file and saw the outlined areas in red which showed that she and the Air Force officer were a match. Faith opened her mouth wide and dropped the files onto the bed before she looked up at the fresh tears that were coming down the Major's cheeks. Faith then just sat unmoving as the Major leaned forward and gently placed her hand on the Slayer's cheek, "they stole my Ellie from me, gave her to a family who did unspeakable things… things that should have never happened in the first place. IF I knew you were alive when you were with them, I would have torn apart heaven and hell to come after you, and take you away from them."
"No" said Faith as she continued to shake her head as she went through the nightmare that was her life, "no…"
However, the Slayer knew that the woman before her wasn't lying. She was telling her the absolute truth, and the DNA test that she saw was the final straw. The woman she was looking at was, for all intents and purposes, her mother.
"I'm sorry" said Major Carter as she gently hugged the stunned Faith while laying her head on the Slayer's shoulder, "I'm so sorry about everything that happened to you."
The Major just held on to Faith for a few moments before she felt Faith's arms reaching across her back. The blonde officer thought that Faith was going to pull her away, but instead she tightened her hold onto the officer's back. The Major then felt Faith trembling before she then tightened her hold on the daughter that she thought had been dead for sixteen years; trying to comfort the young woman.
"Let it out" said the Major as she closed her eyes when Faith buried her face into the crook of her neck before the Slayer started to sob. Major Carter had tears coming out of her eyes as Faith's trembling increased. The Major then felt warm liquid falling onto her shoulder as the sobbing from Faith grew louder and louder until the Slayer let out a scream into her shoulder, the culmination of years of abuse, as her entire body shook in her mother's arms. All the Major could do was look at the picture of Saturn on the wall through tear filled eyes before closing them again, and just holding on tight to her daughter's back while the other hand held on to the back of Faith's head; the Major's fingers running through the blonde hair. It was a few minutes later that Faith's screams died down before all she could do was continue sobbing, "you're safe now. You're protected here, we'll protect you… I swear to you that we… that I'll protect you."
TBC.
