The library; a few minutes ago
Everyone had gotten off their seats while Giles remained standing at the head of the table. He knew that there was every possibility that Travers had people watching him, Buffy, Faith, and anyone close to the two Sunnydale Slayers. Giles even suspected they were being watched and heard via both magical and non-magical means.
He knew that the Council had done what could only be described as mystical wire-taps many other times when other Watchers got too close to their own charges before the Cruciamentum. He knew that there was every possibility that Travers heard what they just discussed around the table. On the other hand, Giles also knew that Travers and the Council would not do anything now to him or anyone else since he hadn't notified Buffy and Faith about the test. At least if they were listening in.
'I will tell Buffy what I have done, but now cannot be the right time,' Giles thought as he silently motioned towards Sarah – whose back as to him as she spoke with Joyce about Buffy's wellbeing - after tapping her shoulder. Sarah turned around and narrowed her eyes in confusion when he signalled at everyone to stay where they were. Sarah then glanced at Jenny and Joyce while the latter asked him what he was doing as he walked away from them. He walked past Joyce and Sarah towards the counter.
Half way to the counter, Giles turned and placed his forefinger on his lips – the universal signal to keep silent – before he turned once again and rushed behind the counter. The women watched him lean down behind the counter and then heard the rustling of paper. Before long, he strode out from behind the counter with a piece of paper in his hand.
Giles then signalled at them to gather around behind him as he stopped at the end of the table with his back now facing the counter. Acknowledging his silent request, the women stood around him with Jenny to his right side, Sarah on the left and Joyce standing next to the latter.
Giles placed the blank piece of paper on the table and then took a pen out of his front shirt pocket. Clicking the pen, he then started writing while the women stared down at the blue ink.
"We're being heard right now!" Giles wrote before he looked over at Sarah and then at Joyce and Jenny. He nodded his head with a serious expression on his face before looking back down at the paper and then writing, "I will be speaking now but do not react! They are probably using both magic and non-magical means to listen to what we say!"
Giles looked at the expressions of confusion on their faces before he spoke while turning his head back towards the paper, "there's nothing that can be done this close to the Cruciamentum. Even if we get something to counteract the drugs, Buffy will still be weak." Giles continued to write – his eyes were locked on the piece of paper because he didn't want to look around him and see the looks of anger and disbelief on the faces of the women. He then continued to say, "The rules state that I cannot tell Buffy about the test now; but I can after she completes it." He then stood up and signalled that they look down at the paper. After they read what Giles wrote, the looks the three of the women gave him chilled him to the bone.
What Giles wrote on the paper was: "The Council has the authority to kill Slayers if given a reason," This was followed by capitalised words on the paper that screamed out "someone say that there must be something that could be done. Or something along those lines!"
Giles silently pleaded with Joyce, and then Jenny, followed by Sarah. He was hoping they would follow his lead, at least for right now. Giles knew that there needed to be a rebuilding of trust, 'and that can happen once this nightmare's ended.'
"There has to be something we can do," Joyce was the one who spoke. Giles nodded his head before leaning back down to write while she asked, "Can't you talk to the Council?"
"They won't listen," Giles said, "they will not deviate from this archaic tradition, and that is even if there are some in the Council who find it barbaric." Giles then stood up and pointed at the piece of paper where he wrote, "if we tell Buffy, the Council will find out and they will take her away from me."
Giles then said, as everyone looked back at him, before he signalled at them to read the rest of what he wrote while saying, "I hated doing this… I see her as the daughter I never had and… and I know she'll hate me. And that's not the worst part of it all... Buffy cannot tell Faith about it... she cannot tell Faith about the Cruciamentum." Giles feared the expression on their faces. Taking a deep breath, Giles stood up and then pointed at the writing on the piece of paper. The distressed women looked up at him in shock after they read what Giles had just written, "there is also the possibility that they could send someone to kill Faith."
"Rupert?" Jenny spoke as Giles leaned down to write once again. He knew exactly the type of question that was coming since he would ask the same if he was a parent. As he started scribbling on the paper, Jenny asked, "are you… are you absolutely certain that you can't do anything?"
"I am," Giles spoke while his eyes remained locked on the paper, "I have already made my feelings clear to Quintin about all this." Giles then sighed before standing back up and signalling at the three of them to read what he just wrote.
"They will make the determination we would tell Faith about the Cruciamentum since she is too close to both Buffy and I," Joyce, Jenny, Sarah looked at Giles as they each came to a realization before looks of horror were plastered in their faces. Giles nodded his head before writing down, "the Slayer line goes through Faith. Just to spite Buffy, if I tell her now and she survives, the council could very well authorize Faith's murder and then take control of the new Slayer. I am sorry, Faith cannot be told about the test."
"So please," Giles said with a look that pleaded for them to listen after they finished reading the letter and turned towards him, "we can't tell Buffy now… I'll tell her after the Cruciamentum. I swear." He then grabbed the piece of paper and then folded it a few times before placing it into his coat pocket. Mentally, he told himself that it needed to be burned when he reached his apartment. At the same time, Giles hoped that this would be enough for any one from the Council listening in to come to the conclusion that he would not tell Buffy or Faith about the rite of passage. At least not before their respective tests.
Sarah, Joyce, and Jenny looked at each other before turning their heads towards Giles once again. This time it was Joyce who looked defeated as she said, "you will tell Buffy the truth about what happened after this nightmare your Council got us into is done."
"I promise," Giles said nodding his head.
"And then we have to decide how to convince Buffy not to tell Faith," said Sarah while mentally telling herself that she needed to prepare for the moment it would be Faith's turn to face this inhumane practise. 'Maybe I could contact one of Dad's old friends? Could they do something to help Faith and Buffy?'
"And now," Jenny said, thus bringing Sarah out of her thoughts, "what do we tell Buffy about why her powers have been depleted?"
Now
Buffy stared at Giles in worry as he held out the box with one hand and his other hand rested on her shoulder. She then looked down at the box – it was intricately carved with animals such as deer and foxes along the sides – before she looked up at Giles once again. He nodded his head towards the box, signalling at her to take it. Buffy didn't realize that her arms were shaking as she reached for the box with both hands. At the same time, she was glancing at the look of concern on her mother's face before her eyes turned towards the box in her hands.
"I cannot tell you how sorry I am, Buffy," Giles said again as she slowly opened the box. The more she opened it, the more her heart seemed to beat faster and faster as if it would jump out of her chest. Buffy could sense, over her own worry at what she may find inside the box, and why Giles said that he was sorry, that the other Scoobies were staring over her shoulder as she opened the cover to find nothing but a polished piece of round stone.
Looking up from the box after Giles helped close the cover, Buffy put on a confused expression on her face. It was the same expression on all the other Scoobies around her.
"A rock?" Buffy asked.
"What's a rock got to do with B losing her mojo?" Faith asked as she stared at Giles before her eyes and head turned towards the box, "is there something magical about the rock or something?"
"I was sent that stone a few days ago from an acquaintance of mine at the Watchers Council, Buffy," Giles said as Buffy looked up at him. He then closed his eyes and sighed – there was something that Buffy couldn't put her finger on about Giles as he opened his eyes once again and placed the box into his inside coat pocket. She had known Giles for nearly three years now, although it felt as if she had known him for far longer. Buffy even saw him as a surrogate father – someone she could trust fully. But she could feel that there was something off about this whole situation but she could not put her finger on it. However, Buffy shook that feeling off almost immediately and mentally told herself she was being paranoid.
Taking a deep breath, Buffy then continued to listen as Giles spoke, "I placed some queries since I wasn't supposed to receive anything from the Council." Giles then turned towards Jenny, Sarah, and then to Joyce before turning back towards Buffy, "someone stole it from a hidden cache of artifacts in a secured warehouse owned by the Council." Buffy's confusion turned to shock when she realized what Giles was trying to say; someone in the Council was trying to depower her, which meant that someone wanted her dead.
"The stone is ancient," Giles continued, "please understand it has never been used once."
"What's it do?" Xander asked as he placed a hand on Buffy's shoulder.
"Neutralize the power of any rogue Slayer," Giles said as all but one of the Scoobies stared at Giles in shock. However, Buffy didn't see the look of confusion on Tara's face as she stared at the deceptive aura around Giles. She could see such regret and sadness as he continued to speak with a voice bordering on anger while he spoke about how someone could have broken into one of the Council's vaults in the US before saying that the Council hadn't even been bothered to let him know that there was a break-in. Tara then shifted her gaze to her mother, and she was even more confused when Sarah met her eyes and the latter pressed her lips together and shook her head slightly.
'What's going on?' Tara thought to herself as she furrowed her eyebrows together. Sarah looked away from Tara and towards Buffy before shifted her gaze back to Tara once again. The latter had no idea what Sarah was trying to tell her, 'but it has something to do with Buffy?' She knew that Sarah would not hide anything unless there was a very good reason, 'I'll talk to her on the way home.' Tara then looked away from Sarah towards the shocked Buffy who was looking away from Giles after hearing what he had to say about the stone.
"I'll contact the Council once again tomorrow morning," Giles said as he shook his head while rubbing the back of his neck, "we'll get to the bottom of this. For now though, the stone has been in close proximity to Buffy for the past few days which is why her Slayer powers have been diminished. I'll be sending this back to the Council and..." Giles gave Buffy a small smile, "I believe your powers will return within the next week or so."
"So this isn't like me losing my powers permanently?" Buffy asked, "I just wanna be sure."
"It is nothing permanent," Giles reassured her, "and I am sorry."
"Not your fault," Buffy sighed. It was then that Tara saw the bright flash in Giles' aura – it was one of regret – before she looked away from Giles and towards Sarah once again.
Tara realized then and there that Giles wasn't telling them the whole story. The regret in his aura was so potent that Tara feared even knowing the reasons behind his regrets. Tara turned her head towards Buffy; she could tell the Slayer that there was something off about what Giles just explained. Then again, she was sure her mother was silently begging not to say anything.
And so Tara shook her head and said nothing.
"Alright, maybe it's time all of us got home," Jenny said as she patted Giles on the shoulder.
"Buffy, you should stay home," Giles said, "I think Faith, Xander, and Oz could help with patrolling tonight."
Buffy then turned to Faith and asked, "you okay with that?"
Faith stared at Giles for a few seconds before turning her head towards Giles and saying, "yea, sure." Faith then turned towards Xander and Oz before saying, "lets go, Xan-man. Oz, we'll take your van." Oz nodded his head just before Willow asked Cordelia if she could send her home. Once everyone had figured out how to get to where they needed to go, the Scoobies and the adults parted ways.
As Tara and Sarah headed towards the latter's car, Tara glanced at her mother before looking over her shoulder to make sure she couldn't be heard by the others. But before she could ask, it was Sarah who asked for patience when she whispered, "we'll talk while we're driving home, honey."
It would be after Tara put on her seatbelt and Sarah started the car that the former turned towards the older blonde and arched her left eyebrow. As Sarah pressed gently on the accelerator, the car began to move forward just as each of the cars driven by Oz, Giles, and Cordelia passed them by. Now the fourth car in the line of vehicles making their way out of the school, Sara took in a deep breath before saying, "I know what you're going to say, honey." Sarah then glanced at the questioning expression on Tara's face before continuing to say, "you want to know why Giles lied and why I signalled for you not to say anything."
"Yea," Tara said with a frown, "momma, what's going on? Why did Mr. Giles lie?" 'And why did you allow it?' That last part went unsaid as Tara stared at her mother who was looking out the windshield. Slowly, Sarah revealed to a stunned Tara what Giles told her, Joyce, and Jenny.
Before Tara could say anything once Sarah was done talking, the latter said, "Rupert did something that's horrible." Sarah then looked over at Tara when she came to a stop at a traffic light, "I'm not denying that, Tara." Sarah then turned her head to stare out the windshield and sighed, "but this is more than just what he did and the reasons why he thought he had to do it in the first place. If Buffy's told about what Rupert did before this insane test, the Council will find out one way or another."
"But..."
"Rupert believes he's being watched," Sarah said as the light turned green and she made a left turn onto the main road while the others turned right, "the Council could very well kill both Buffy and Faith, and there would be nothing we could do about it."
Tara didn't know how to feel about what she just learnt. On one hand, she knew that her mother was right; that Buffy and Faith would be in danger if the secret was revealed to them. Then again, a part of Tara felt that telling Buffy what was happening would be the right thing to do... that Buffy needed to know what was happening. 'Momma said that Mr Giles would tell Buffy what was happening after the Cruciamentum.' But still, in her mind, Tara could see Buffy, along with the other Scoobies, being disappointed at her for hiding this secret. Tara didn't even want to imagine Faith's anger when it was her turn for the Cruciamentum.
As if sensing Tara's unease, Sarah gently said, "Buffy will understand the reasons behind this secret. I don't like it, honey. I wanted Rupert to tell Buffy and Faith what was happening."
"But their lives would be danger if they knew," Tara whispered before Sarah nodded her head. Tara sighed and then shook her head. This was unbelievable, it was as if she was a character in a spy movie where secrets needed to be kept while a shadowy organization was probably spying on them.
Tara then whispered, "So what happens now?"
"The Cruciamentum is in a couple of days," Sarah said as she continued driving the car, "I need for you to prepare the ingredients for two protection charms," Sarah turned her head towards Tara, who realized what Sarah was asking her to do, as the older woman continued to speak, "one for Buffy and one for Faith."
"But I can't tell Buffy or Faith why?"
"That's right," Sarah replied, "I know you feel uncomfortable about this." Sarah glanced at Tara before saying, "I'll tell Buffy if Rupert doesn't after the test. I will stress what could happen to Faith if Buffy tells her." Tara looked away from Sarah while she turned her head back toward the road and continued, "I'll need to research the drugs that were injected into Buffy. I'll try and find a way to counter-act them for when it's Faith's turn. And then, if I can get what I need, I'll make an antidote."
Sarah turned the car into the apartment complex parking lot while saying, "we'll do everything we can to keep them safe, Tara. You know we will." Tara gave a small smile while her mind turned towards Buffy. Buffy protected everyone as the Slayer. And now it was time to protect her.
TBC