Briefing Room, SGC
Colonel Carter was looking at the Stargate while waiting in the briefing room for the General to get back with Faith from the BPRI. She had changed out of her blood soaked uniform as she helped with the emergency first aid on Willow's wounds.
"Colonel Carter" said Teal'c as he stood beside her, "may I offer you a coin for what you are thinking?"
"Huh?" said the Colonel as she realized what he wanted to say, "oh, you mean 'penny for my thoughts'?"
"Indeed" said Teal'c
"We should have destroyed her Teal'c" said the Colonel, "after she stabbed Willow, she reached into my mind and told me what she was going to do, she was so proud of herself"
"We shall defeat the replicator, Colonel Carter" said Teal'c just as five bright lights shone into the briefing room leaving behind Mr. Woolsey, General O'Neill, Faith, Dawn and Tara.
"Sir?" said the Colonel as she looked at Dawn and Tara, "What are they doing here?"
"As much as it pains me to say this, Carter" said the General, "it's time we gave magic a try, Faith said that Tara here healed her from her wounds during her fight with Red's doppelganger, I'm hoping she can help our resident red head."
"Alright Sir" said the Colonel as she looked at Faith
"Airman" said the General as he called on one of the many Airmen in the room, "please take Miss Maclay and Miss Summers here to Observation Deck 1"
"Yes sir" said the Airman as he turned to face Tara and Dawn, "this way please"
As the Airman led away Tara and Dawn to the observation deck, General O'Neill turned his attention to Faith and Mr. Woolsey.
"Richard" said the General, "maybe it's time you met up with the representative from the NID Oversight about the release of Miss Buffy Summers into their custody?"
"Of course General" said Mr. Woolsey, "the IOA and I are hoping that Captain Rosenberg recovers soon"
The General nodded as Mr. Woolsey walked out of the briefing room and down the hall.
"Faith" said the General, "we just need to catch you up with what happened"
"Alright" said Faith as she sat beside Colonel Carter with Teal'c sitting across from the both of them.
Colonel Carter and Teal'c gave Faith the run down on what happened with RepliCarter and how she had played all of them.
"So there really never was a cipher?" asked Faith
"No" said the Colonel, "after she stabbed Willow, she reached into my mind and confirmed that there was no cipher"
"What do you mean by reached into your mind?" asked Faith
"She used her hand put in directly into my brain" said the Colonel, "she enabled us to have a five minute conversation in only a few seconds"
"Oh" said Faith
"She said that we gave her the perfect opportunity to study the disruptor technology which she used to make herself immune to its effects. She uploaded the program she created that made her immune to the other replicators through their subspace network after she destroyed Fifth's ship" said the Colonel, "now they're all immune to the only weapon we had against them"
"She said she is what she is because of me" said the Colonel as she leaned back into her chair.
"What do you mean?" asked Faith.
"She learnt betrayal from me through Fifth" said the Colonel, "ultimately, it's my fault that this happened"
"It's not your fault Carter" said the General.
"I don't think Willow would agree with you Sir" said the Colonel as she looked at the General.
"But why stab Willow?" asked Faith, "What would she gain?"
"She simply wanted her out of the way" said Colonel Carter, "she has my memories, my feelings and my knowledge without any of my morality, none of my fears, none of my control and she doesn't have a lid on her desires, which in this case is to lead the replicators and rule the galaxy."
"She will be a very deadly opponent" said Teal'c.
"Sorry" said Faith, "but I still don't understand what has that got to do with Red?"
"When Willow first exhibited her powers when we went to Praclarush Taonas, and then when we went to Hala" Said Colonel Carter as she looked down at the table, "I made some mental calculations on how we could cancel out her powers should we ever come to a situation where she had to be contained."
"What?" said Faith incredulously.
"Faith Lehane" said Teal'c.
"But…" said Faith as Teal'c interrupted her.
"Faith Lehane" said Teal'c, "please allow Colonel Carter to explain."
"At the time I figured that the best way to nullify her powers would be to use ultrasonic's through a frequency modulator" said the Colonel, "but it was just a thought, I did design a system on paper but I never built it since I didn't have reason to, not yet anyway."
"The incident with Anubis" said Faith as realization hit her.
"Yes" replied the Colonel, "Before our trip to Antarctica, Willow asked me if I could build something that could nullify her powers. I said that I could, but I never told her I had the designs ready for it. Now all I needed to do was build it."
"Carter talked to me about it after the trip to Antarctica" said the General, "and I approved it, because that's what Red wanted"
"So I built the prototype that nullified Willow's powers when Anubis possessed her" said the Colonel, "but as we know, it wasn't really good enough to contain Anubis."
"OK" said Faith as she nodded her head.
"My duplicate went one step further" said Colonel Carter, "Mind you, this is just a theory but I believe that the nano-cells that make up her body has been emitting the same ultrasonic frequencies that I theorized would nullify her powers"
"That would explain why Willow Rosenberg was unable to use her abilities at the Alpha Site" said Teal'c as he looked at Colonel Carter.
"And why she wasn't able to heal immediately" said Colonel Carter, "but it's just a theory"
"Find anything from those nano things you collected?" asked the General
"You got some of the nano-cells?" asked Faith
"Yes" said the Colonel, "unfortunately, my duplicate deactivated them. They can no longer communicate with each other or with the replicator collective. She basically did something I would have done"
"But how come she's not healing now?" asked Faith, "since she's away from your duplicate, shouldn't she be getting better now?"
"We….. I haven't been able to figure that out yet" said the Colonel.
"So what happens now?" asked Faith.
"We've been trying to contact the Asgard and the Tok'ra" said the General, "But like I mentioned before, we've had no luck"
Just then, the airman who had escorted Dawn and Tara to the observation deck ran up to the briefing room.
"General Sir" he said, "Something's happened to Miss Maclay"
"What?" said the General as he stood up.
"I'm not sure Sir, she said that she was feeling unwell" said the Airman, "I brought her to VIP room Two where she's resting"
"Miss Summers?" asked the General.
"She's at the observation deck Sir" said the Airman
"Alright" said the General, "as you were Airman."
"Yes Sir" said the Airman as took up his previous post.
"Can I go and check on Red?" asked Faith.
"Go ahead" said the General as the Slayer ran down to the Isolation Room where Willow was being kept.
"Carter, Teal'c" said the General, "let's go talk to Miss Maclay."
"Yes Sir" said the Colonel as she and the others got up and walked to VIP room Two.
Isolation Room One
Faith ran through the corridors until she reached Isolation Room One which was now covered by a massive blast door. She nodded to the SF who was guarding the door, who turned around taking a card out his pocket and swiped it on a scanner.
"Thanks" said Faith to the SF as the door opened and she walked in only to see another red head already present in the room. Faith walked slowly as she saw Cassie sleeping on two chairs next to Willow's bed.
"Cass?" said Faith as she ran her hand through Cassie's hair.
"Faith?" said Cassie as she slowly opened her eyes to see the brunette female standing next to her.
"Yea, it's me" said Faith, "how long have you been here?"
"Since eleven yesterday night" said Cassie, "I just got in to Colorado Springs yesterday to stay with Uncle Jack for my summer vacation when Willow came in from the Alpha Site. He called me once she was relatively stable and I rushed to the mountain."
"Thanks" said Faith.
"For?" asked Cassie.
"Being here with her" said Faith.
"It was nothing" said Cassie as she held the Slayer's hand.
"You should get some proper sleep in one of the VIP rooms" said Faith, "I can watch her"
"Nah" said Cassie, "I'll accompany you"
"I know you will" said Faith as she turned to look at Cassie, "but I'd like to be alone with her, if it's alright."
"Of course" said Cassie, "I guess I will go and grab some breakfast from the commissary"
Faith looked up at the observation deck and could see Dawn looking down at them worried while chewing on her nails.
"Cass" said Faith, "could you take Dawn with you to the commissary? She hasn't had breakfast yet either"
"Wait" said Cassie, "Dawn as in….. Dawn? That Dawn?"
"Yea" said Faith, "it's a long story; Red will tell you all about it later when she wakes up."
"Can't wait" said Cassie as she walked out of the Isolation Room and up to the Observation Deck.
Faith looked on as Cassie introduced herself to Dawn and then took her out of the Observation Deck to the commissary. Before she left though, Dawn looked sadly at Faith.
Once Dawn left the room, Faith turned around and stood next to Willow's bed.
"Hey" said Faith to Willow as she smoothed out her red hair, "you do realize you're going to have one hell of a bad case of bed head, don't you? And you promised me another matchup, this time without using any of our abilities, so you better wake up."
Faith then looked over Willow, she noticed that her entire torso, back and abdomen were wrapped in bandages, an oxygen mask covered her face, sensors were attached to her chest, tubes of IV fluid, and other medications were running through needles in her hand and into her body.
"You know" said Faith after she looked Willow over, "this is a new look for you"
Faith: "Red, are you there?"
Faith then gingerly wrapped her hand into Willow's.
Faith: "Red, if you can hear me squeeze my hand. Please squeeze my hand"
No matter how much Faith wished, there was still no change. Faith could not feel Willow squeezing her hand; all she could feel was tension in the base and the sounds that the various machines were making in the Isolation Room as she grabbed the seat that Cassie was sitting on and dragged it closer to the bed.
Faith: "Come on wake up. Sam said that the ultrasonic's from her duplicate cant affect you now, so why aren't you healing? Why aren't you hearing my thoughts?"
VIP Room Four
"Miss Maclay?" said the General as he came into the room along with Colonel Carter and Teal'c.
"Please General" said Tara as she rubbed her temples, "just call me Tara."
"The Airman told us that you were unwell?" said Colonel Carter as she sat next to her.
"Yes" said Tara, "I went to the observation deck with the Airman and Dawn to take a look at Willow, and once I saw her, I started to have a feeling of sudden dizziness"
"Just like that?" asked General O'Neill.
"Yes" said Tara, "I'm actually feeling a bit better now, but it was pretty bad in the observation deck"
"How about you rest up?" said the General, "maybe you could try later?"
"Of course" said Tara as she looked at Teal'c, "You aren't from here are you?"
"Indeed I am not Tara Maclay" said Teal'c.
"Teal'c here is from a planet called Chulak" said the Colonel.
"I am a Jaffa" replied Teal'c.
"Oh, Colonel Carter told us about the Jaffa" said Tara, "you have a larval Goa'uld inside you?"
"Junior's gone" said the General.
"Indeed" said Teal'c smiling.
"Teal'c and the other Jaffa rebels are using a chemical called Tretonin to take away their reliance on Goa'uld symbiotes" said the Colonel.
"That's great" said Tara as she rubbed her temples together with both her hands.
"Hey, you alright?" asked the General.
"Still not feeling well" said Tara.
"Tara" said the Colonel as a realization suddenly hit her, "how does magic work?"
"Huh?" said Tara confused.
"I mean when you do a particular spell, do you have to say the spell and concentrate to make it work?" asked the Colonel.
"Carter?" asked General O'Neill.
"Sir" said the Colonel, "I'm just requesting some leeway."
"Crazy idea?" asked the General.
"Yes" said the Colonel.
"Teal'c" said the Colonel as she turned to the big Jaffa, "In your report, you said that Willow felt dizzy when the both of you were in the interrogation room with my duplicate, right?"
"She said she felt unwell, and was unsteady on her feet" said Teal'c, "But it only lasted for a few moments."
"Sir" said the Colonel as she turned back to him, "I'd like to go with Tara to the Alpha site."
"Why?" asked the General.
"Testing a theory Sir" said the Colonel.
"O….K" said the General confused.
"But first" said the Colonel as she turned and faced Tara, "I need you to cast a spell in this room, any spell."
"Huh?" said Tara.
"Don't worry" said the Colonel, "We're not going to run tests on you and dissect you if you're successful."
"Although I may make fun of you if you're not" said the General smiling.
"Any spell?" asked Tara.
"Yes" said the Colonel.
"Alright" said Tara as she looked at a corner of the room, "Dissolvo."
"Ok" said the Colonel as she looked around her and then at a very surprised looking Tara, "nothing happened."
"Can't be" said Tara as she looked around in confusion.
"Dissolvo" said Tara again to no effect, and she turned to the Colonel worried.
"What was the desired effect?" asked Teal'c.
"There was supposed to be a blue ball of light" said Tara.
"Sir" said the Colonel, "to test my theory, we need to get to the Alpha Site"
The General nodded and headed to the phone in Tara's room and pressed a couple of buttons.
"Walter" said the General, "Dial the gate for the Alpha Site, Colonel Carter and Miss Maclay will be going through."
"Yes sir" said Walter, "dialling now."
"Come on Tara" said the Colonel.
Gateroom, SGC
Once Colonel Carter and Tara arrived in the Gateroom, the gate had already been activated and was ready for them to get through.
"It's beautiful" said Tara as she looked at the blue puddle that signified the wormhole's event horizon.
"That's the event horizon of an artificially created wormhole that's now connected to another planet where we have our off-world base, known as the Alpha Site" said the Colonel as she guided Tara up the ramp.
"What's it like?" asked Tara, "going through I mean."
"Like taking one step forward and you're in a totally new place" said the Colonel as they reached the event horizon, "ready?"
"What's the worse that could happen, right?" asked Tara as she stepped through the gate and entered the Alpha Site.
"Wow" said Tara as she looked at her surroundings.
"Welcome to the Alpha Site, Tara" said the Colonel as she looked at the technician on duty, "disengage the wormhole and dial the SGC, I need an audio and visual connection with General O'Neill. After that's done, I want everyone…. And I mean everyone…. to clear this room for two minutes."
"Ma'am?" said one of the Marines on duty.
"Miss Maclay needs space to conduct an experiment" said the Colonel, "Close the blast door on your way out and come back within two minutes. No matter what you hear, do not come in until it's been two minutes or until I open the door from here. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am" said the Marine as he led everyone to the hallway right outside the Gateroom at the Alpha Site and closed the blast door.
"Sir" said the General as she sat down at the technician's desk, "we're ready for the experiment"
"Go ahead" said the General.
"Tara" said the Colonel, "cast that spell again please"
"Dissolvo" said Tara as a blue ball of light appeared beside her and flew towards the blast door, hitting it and leaving a scorch mark.
"Alright" said the Colonel as she looked at a relieved Tara, "Can you try it again?"
"Dissolvo" said Tara as the same thing happened again leaving the blast door with a second scorch mark.
"Sir" said the Colonel as she looked at the General, "the experiment here has been successful, we're heading back"
The Colonel then reopened the blast door and let everyone back in, "Don't mind the scorch marks on the door" she said, "the experiment was a success and we'll be going back now."
"Ye….. yes ma'am" said a very confused Marine.
"Come on Tara" said the Colonel as she and Tara walked back through the Gate and arrived at the SGC.
"Carter?" asked the General, "What was all that about?"
"Sir" said the Colonel, "We have a big problem."
"Which is?" asked the General.
"Replicators" said the Colonel.
"What?" said the General.
"It makes perfect sense sir" said the Colonel as she came to a terrifying realization, "Oh no, Willow"
"I'm not feeling well again" said Tara as she grabbed on to the railing at the side of the ramp to keep herself from falling.
"Sergeant!" said the General to the SF near the Gateroom entryway, "please take Miss Maclay to VIP room two."
"Yes Sir" he said as the SF held on to Tara as he guided her out of the Gateroom.
"General" said the Colonel, "we need to completely isolate Willow and run tests on anyone who came into contact with her, including Teal'c, me and the Marines from the Alpha Site."
"Carter!" said the General exasperated, "what's going on?"
"I think my duplicate infected her with nanites that are emitting the same ultrasonic frequency that nullified her powers yesterday at the Alpha Site" said the Colonel.
"Carter" said the General.
"Sir" said the Colonel, "It all makes sense. Why Willow's wounds aren't healing, why Tara's feeling dizzy ever since she came onto the base, why her magic worked at the Alpha Site but not here. I can even bet you that its even interfering with the subspace frequencies we use to contact the Asgard and the Tok'ra."
"How can you be sure?" said the General.
"She's me, Sir" said the Colonel, "that's exactly what I'd do if I wanted to get rid of an enemy that had abilities such as Willow's or Tara's. I'd also prevent others from calling out for anyone that can help her. She's the sadistic version of me who's willing to watch us try to save Willow by doing everything we can and ultimately failing."
"Walter" said the General as he and Colonel Carter ran to the Control Room, "contact Faith, she should be in Captain Rosenberg's room with Cassie, tell the both of them to report to Isolation Room four immediately."
"Yes sir" said Walter as he called the phone in the Isolation room where Willow was being kept.
After a few minutes of talking to Faith, Walter turned back to the General with worry on his face, "Sir, Miss Lehane said that Miss Frasier and Miss Summers went to the commissary."
"Great" said the General, "alright Walter, make the announcement, I want the both of them and Teal'c in Isolation Room four."
"Carter" said the General as he turned to the Colonel, "you too, report to isolation room four. Once you get to the isolation room, contact Tara and inform her of what's going on."
"Yes sir" said the Colonel as she sprinted to Isolation Room four.
The General then reached for another phone at the control room, "This is General O'Neill, I'm initiating Wildfire. The base is under immediate lockdown."
Commissary, SGC, ten minutes earlier
"So" said Dawn as she and Cassie sat down at a table after getting breakfast, "is it usually so quiet down here?"
"Well most of the personnel haven't come in yet, or they are off-world" said Cassie as she dug into her eggs.
"Do you live around here?" asked Dawn.
"I used to stay with my adopted mother who was the CMO here, and then I stayed with Sam before staying with Willow. Now, I'm attending Georgetown in D.C" said Cassie, "I'm just here for the Summer to visit Uncle Jack, and the others."
"Oh" said Dawn who had hardly touched her food, "what's a CMO?"
"Chief Medical Officer" said Cassie.
"You said you used to stay with your adopted mother" said Dawn, "what did you mean?"
"She died on a mission off-world" said Cassie.
"Oh" said Dawn, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be" said Cassie, "she died a hero by doing her job; saving another man's life."
"Oh" said Dawn.
"Is she the one Willow was telling me about when her doppelganger was here?" thought Dawn to herself.
"You know" said Cassie, "I know the eggs here aren't the best, but its decent enough. You should eat, Faith said you haven't had breakfast yet"
"I'm not really hungry" said Dawn.
"You're worried about Willow?" asked Cassie.
"I…." said Dawn before she was interrupted.
"It's a risk you know" said Cassie as she put down her cutlery and looked at Dawn, "she's a good friend to me, and I'm always worried when she or any of the others goes through the gate. It's alright for you to be worried too."
"It's just so much to take in you know?" said Dawn, "She was alright yesterday, and now she's lying on a bed injured badly. It's just….."
"Like I told Faith" said Cassie as she held Dawn's hand, "the people here will move heaven and hell for their own. She'll be fine soon."
Suddenly, all the klaxons started going off at once and the two girls could hear General O'Neill's voice over the P.A. System.
"What's Wildfire?" said Dawn, "and why is there a lockdown?"
Then came a different voice over the P.A. System, this time it was Walter.
"Miss Frasier, Miss Summers" said Walter, "Please report to isolation room four."
Just then, the two SF's who were usually on guard outside the commissary walked in and stood by Cassie and Dawn.
"Miss Summers, Miss Frasier" said one of the SF's, "we will be your escorts to isolation room four, please keep your hands in your pockets at all times"
"What's going on?" said Dawn, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on?"
"Ma'am" said one of the SF's, a Sergeant Ryder.
"Dawn" said Cassie as she walked towards Dawn, "I know you're scared, Wildfire means that something, maybe a biological agent, got out and we may have been exposed. It happened before when my mom was the CMO, I'm betting that they just want to take some blood for tests to rule that out"
"Ma'am" said Sergeant Ryder as he looked at Dawn, "please come with us, it is imperative that you and Miss Frasier join Miss Lehane in isolation room four."
"Would it be alright if I held her hand?" asked Cassie as she turned to look at the SF.
Sergeant Ryder looked at his partner who just shrugged his shoulders before turning back to face Cassie, "It should be alright ma'am" said the Sergeant, "but please keep your other hands in your pockets."
"Of course" said Cassie as she held out her hand to Dawn, "Come on Dawn, there's nothing to be scared about."
"Al….Alright" said Dawn as she grabbed a hold of Cassie's outstretched hand and the two ladies slowly walked out of the commissary and made their way to isolation room four.
Isolation Room Four, three hours later
"Sam" said Faith as she paced around the room, "how long has it been?"
"Since the last time you asked three minutes ago?" said the Colonel smiling as she looked at the wall clock, "about four minutes."
"Faith Lehane" said Teal'c, "It requires patience to perform this examination, may I recommend some meditation techniques that would make the time, how would you say, fly by?"
"Thanks Big Guy" said Faith with a smile, "I'd rather pace right now."
"Very well" said Teal'c as he gave Faith a slight bow.
"You know" said Cassie, "maybe there should have been a board game or something in this room, something non-electronic I mean."
"I'll make sure General O'Neill gets that suggestion" said the Colonel grinning.
"Oh, how about an ice cream bar at the commissary" said Cassie as she rubbed her hands together.
"Maybe" said the Colonel, "as long as it's just chocolate ice cream."
"Seriously?" said Faith, "cookies and cream is the way to go."
"You got two for chocolate, one for cookies and cream" said the Colonel as she looked at Dawn, "Dawn, how about you? What's your ice cream flavour?"
"Why are we talking about ice cream flavours when all of us may have nanites in our bodies?" said Dawn as she looked at the three women in the room and the solitary Jaffa who was meditating on the floor.
"Dawn Summers" said Teal'c, "We are simply attempting to distract our minds from the predicament we have found ourselves in"
"I know you're scared Dawn" said the Colonel, "and to be honest, so am I. So are the other people getting testing for nanites in their blood stream."
"What Sam's trying to say is that you're not alone Kiddo" said Faith as she finally sat down next to her.
"You owe me ten bucks" said Cassie as she looked at the Colonel.
"Darn it" said the Colonel, "I'll pay you once I get my stuff back"
"You made a bet?" said Dawn.
"Yeah" said the Colonel.
"On what?" asked Faith.
"One whether you would ever sit down" said Cassie, "and I won."
"You thought I would never sit down?" said Faith laughing as she looked at the Colonel.
"Hey" said the Colonel as she shrugged her shoulders, "I've seen weird stuff."
"Chocolate" said Dawn.
"Huh?" said the Colonel.
"Chocolate" repeated Dawn as she gave a small smile, "my favourite ice cream flavour is chocolate."
"Yes!" said the Colonel smiling as she high fived Cassie and Dawn, "Teal'c?"
"I shall choose chocolate as well" said Teal'c just as the door to the Isolation Room opened with General O'Neill and Dr. Brightman walking in.
"Alright kids" said the General, "I've got good news, and bad news, which one would you like to hear first?"
"Good news?" said Dawn.
"Alright" said the General as he turned to Dr. Brightman, "Doc?"
"Thank you Sir" said the doctor, "I've checked your blood and found no presence of nanites. The same goes for others who handled Captain Rosenberg's wounds here, and at the Alpha Site"
"That's good" said Dawn as she sighed with relief.
"But what's the bad news sir?" asked the Colonel.
"I've already ordered Rocky Road for the base" said the General smiling as he turned and left the isolation room.
"Same thing" said Dawn.
"Dawn" said the Colonel, "maybe you should go visit Tara, I'm sure she's been worried about you."
"Alright" said Dawn as she looked at Colonel Carter, "thank you."
The Colonel nodded as she saw Dawn run out of the room.
"Wait, what about Willow?" asked Cassie.
"I need to show you something" said Dr. Brightman as she looked at Colonel Carter, "please come with me to my office."
Dr. Brightman's Office, One hour later
General O'Neill was called in to Dr. Brightman's office once she had confirmed her results of Willow's blood test with Colonel Carter.
"You're kidding right?" said the General as he looked at the latest scans of Willow's blood, body and brain.
"I wish I was sir" said the doctor.
"How could we have missed this?" asked the General.
"Sir" said the Colonel, "I saw her blood tests that were taken once she got back from the Alpha Site. There was nothing that showed up on the tests, that's why we didn't think to look for nanites in the other parts of her body."
"First of all" said Faith, "how did all of that get into her body."
"I'm guessing by touch" said the Doctor as she switched on her monitor which showed the tape from the Alpha Site of Willow's various encounters with RepliCarter.
"This was the first thing that seemed out of place" said the Doctor a she pulled up the footage from when RepliCarter first came into the Alpha Site Gateroom.
"You mean the part where she's offering to shake Red's hand?" asked the General confused.
"Yes" said the Colonel, "Sir, I know it's crazy but why offer her hand only to Willow but not to Teal'c?"
"Maybe she went crazy because Red said no?" replied the General as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Sir, that's exactly what I would have done" said Colonel Carter, "She knew that Willow's powers made her a bigger threat at that particular moment so it would make sense to first try and infect her with nanites in such a way that it won't arouse suspicions."
"Sir" said the Doctor, "I believe this is when she was infected."
Dr. Brightman pulled up footage of RepliCarter talking to Willow in the lab where they were testing the disruptor weapon, when she innocuously touched the red heads arm.
"That small contact?" asked Faith.
"Yes" said the Colonel, "Willow wouldn't have felt a thing. The nanites must have entered her body and hid from our traditional testing methods. My duplicate must have put them on some sort of program to start multiplying after we completed all our tests and while she was resting."
"There are four other instances where there was contact between Captain Rosenberg and the replicator" said the Doctor, "when she had her arm around Captain Rosenberg's neck and the three times she was stabbed."
"The nanites would have been injected into Red during all those incidents?" said Faith surprised as she looked at the camera footage and then at the computer scans of the nanites in Willows blood, tissues and brain.
"Yes" said the Colonel.
"Carter" said the General, "could these nanites have affected the entire base?"
"No Sir" said the Colonel, "at least not yet."
"General" said the Doctor, "technically, Captain Rosenberg's still alive although in a medically induced coma because of her injuries. The nanites are using the ultrasonics to prevent her powers, especially her healing ability, from helping her recover."
"I hear a 'but' coming" said the General.
"By the time her wounds have healed naturally" said the Colonel, "she might as well be dead."
"What do you mean?" asked Faith as Teal'c put a hand on her shoulder.
"The nanites in her body are replicating at a rapid pace" said the Colonel, "they're using her own body as raw materials. She will either die, or be changed into a replicator herself one cell at a time."
"The ultimate form of torture for Willow Rosenberg's comrades" said Teal'c, "the human form replicator knew that we would be forced to either watch Willow Rosenberg die or kill her ourselves once she herself becomes a replicator."
"And with the same ultrasonics blocking the frequencies that we use to call the Asgard and the Tok'ra" said Faith, "she's making sure that we have no other options."
"I told you" said the Colonel softly, "she's me without any morals, no conscience; making her completely sadistic."
"Carter" said the General as he looked at the SG1 commander, "find a way, I don't care what you have to do, I want you to find a way to get Red back."
"How about that electro thing I saw on some TV show?" asked Faith, "you know, the one with magnets?"
"You mean an Electro Magnetic Pulse?" asked the Colonel.
"Yea" said Faith as she snapped her fingers excitedly and pointed at Colonel Carter, "that's the one."
"That could disable them" said the Colonel as she looked the General.
"Do we have one in the broom closet?" asked the General smirking.
"Sorry sir" said the Colonel managing a small smile, "but we could get the directional one from MIT that we tried to use when Anubis was using his Gate destroyer weapon."
"Colonel Carter" said Teal'c, "what are the possible downsides to this Electro Magnetic Pulse?"
"It may not work" said the Colonel as she looked at Faith.
"Since it seems that the nanites have bonded with her cells, especially the ones in her brain, launching an EMP would leave her brain dead even if it does disable the nanites" said Dr. Brightman.
"The worst case scenario would be that the nanites would be disabled for a few minutes and a failsafe might kick in to re-enable them and start replicating at a faster rate" said the Colonel.
"Could her healing abilities activate once the nanites are disabled?" asked Teal'c.
"You're right" said the Colonel excitedly "you're right."
"Carter?" asked the General.
"Sir, I'm an idiot" said the Colonel,
"Carter?" said the General.
"My duplicate doesn't know about Willow's advanced biology" said Colonel Carter excitedly.
"Sir" continued the Colonel excitedly, "if we can disable the nanites in her body using the EMP then her body should, at least in theory, start healing itself immediately."
"What if the worst case scenario happens?" asked Faith.
"We won't have time to reset the EMP generator" said the Colonel, "but Willow said in her report when she was alone on that ice planet, after Anubis left her body, that she managed to activate the Stargate by shooting electrical energy at it. All she has to do is give the nanites in her body another jolt and hopefully that should take care of them. At the same time, we should contact the Asgard and get the, hopefully deactivated, nanites out of her system."
"Doc" said the General, "once her healing abilities are back on, will she immediately recover?"
"I'm not sure sir" said the Doctor, "if the disabling of the nanites in the brain affect the surrounding tissue, she should be able to heal those quickly. It would be the same for the other soft tissue injuries, but the injuries to her spine? I'm fairly certain, from the data the Asgard gave me about her advanced biology; it should heal in a matter of days instead of months or years. The damage to the nerves should be healed almost immediately, but it's the damage to the bone that could take days or weeks."
"It sounds like the only option we have sir" continued the Doctor, "I've run out of other medical alternatives."
"Carter" said the General, "get the EMP here."
"Yes sir" said the Colonel as she ran off to call MIT for the EMP generator.
"Faith and Teal'c, talk to Miss Maclay and Miss Summers about what's going on" said the General.
"Sure Big-G" said Faith as she and Teal'c walked towards the VIP room.
"Doc…" said the General.
"I'll have my staff ready sir" said the Doctor.
"Great" said the General, "now all I have to do is tell Hammond and the President about our crazy plan."
"Good luck sir" said Dr. Brightman as the General walked towards his office.
"Ya sure, you betcha" said General O'Neill as he walked away waving to the CMO.
Observation Deck, eight hours later
"Tara" said the Colonel as Tara walked back into the observation room with help from Dawn and Faith.
"Hi Colonel" said Tara as she struggled to smile.
"I'm sorry Tara" said the Colonel, "I know you're feeling dizzy because of the ultrasonics being emitted from the nanites but we need you here. Once we activate the EMP, you're the only one who can tell us if it worked."
"I understand" said Tara.
"Carter?" said the General as he walked into the observation desk with Teal'c and Cassie.
"We're ready sir" said the Colonel, "the generator is charging now and will be completely charged in two minutes."
"Alright" said the General, "activate the shield around this room, I don't want any of that EMP stuff getting out and affecting the other electronics."
"Will the shield help?" asked Faith.
"It should" said the Colonel, "Willow tested it using her astral projected body; since it's made of electromagnetic energy; it wasn't able to bypass the shield. Its just an extra layer of protection, everything in the base has already been protected against EMP surges."
"Oh" said Faith.
"Do it Carter" said the General as Colonel Carter pressed a button and everyone saw a transparent silvery energy travel along the arrays that were placed around the room until the entire space was enveloped.
"Tara Maclay?" said Teal'c as he walked next to her and put his hand gently on her shoulder.
"I'm dizzy but I'm fine" said Tara.
"The EMP's charged Sir" said the Colonel.
"Do it Carter" said the General as Colonel Carter pressed a button on her laptop.
Everyone looked on as the EMP generator started to make a humming noise that got louder and louder until it just stopped.
"That's it?" said Faith when the shield in the isolation room suddenly started to change colour to a bright orange. The colour was so bright that the General had to close his eyes and reach for the side wall feeling for the button that would close the blast boors on the observation deck windows. Once he found the button, he slammed his fist onto it and the blast doors quickly rolled down into place.
"That was bright" said the General as he opened his eyes and saw bright spots of orange everywhere.
"Yeah" said Dawn as she rubbed her eyes.
"What happened?" asked Faith.
"The EMP interacted with the shield Sir" said the Colonel, "sorry."
"Tara?" asked Faith.
"Hey" said Tara smiling, "it's alright, I mean I'm feeling alright."
The General then picked up the phone in the observation deck and called the control room, "Walter, contact the Asgard. Tell them to get their little grey butts here on the double."
"Yes Sir" said Walter before he made the call.
Once the General had put the phone down, everyone in the room looked at each other as they heard a familiar voice in their heads.
Willow: "Help… why is it so dark…? Help."
"Willow" said the Colonel as the General raised the blast doors again, "can you hear me?"
Willow: "Colonel, the replicator… she's coming…. She got me.. I'm sorry."
"Willow" said the Colonel, "listen to me, she infected you with nanites, it took over your body and nullified your powers."
Willow: "She's saying you're lying, that you're the replicator. She'll keep me safe."
"I'm starting to get dizzy again" said Tara.
"Willow" said the Colonel, "the nanites are coming back online, I need you to use the same abilities you used to charge the gate on the ice planet that got you home."
Willow: "She's telling me you're lying"
"Must be my duplicate Sir" whispered the Colonel as she looked at General O'Neill.
"Red" said Faith as she grabbed the microphone, "What Sam's telling you is the truth, you need to use that electrical thing you did on yourself, burn those fucking nanites that're still inside you."
Willow: "Faith? What are you doing here at the Alpha Site. It's a trick, she's telling me it's a trick."
Faith: "I know you can hear me so you listen up. You still owe me for the previous day, you cheated using your telekinesis so you owe me. You promised me a rematch and you better deliver on that promise. Please, I need you to come back."
"Come home" said Faith.
"Uh Guys" said Dawn as she started to see blue coloured electrical energy crackling across Willow's fingers on both her hands as it slowly crept up her arm. Eventually the electrical energy engulfed her entire body.
"Tara?" asked the Colonel as she looked at the blonde woman.
"I'm alright now" said Tara as she slowly stood up and approached the window that looked down at Willow, "I think it's working."
Suddenly, they all looked on as Willow snapped her eyes open and screamed as she started to stiffen and contorted her face in pain as the electrical field surrounding her intensified.
"Oh God" said the Colonel as she saw scorch marks developing on her face, arms, hands, fingers and feet. She then looked on as Willow's hair started to singe and burn off.
"Red" said Faith, "you can do it, come on."
"Willow" said Dawn as Cassie hugged her, turning her away from what was going on below.
Cassie could feel Dawn's tears fall onto her shoulders as Willow kept on screaming in pain. Then she suddenly stopped. Everyone slowly walked to the window as they looked at Willow with her eyes now closed and the electricity around her body intensifying even more.
"Everyone get down" shouted the General as the electrical charge that Willow had used to disable the nanites in her body suddenly discharged into the surrounding area.
"Everyone alright?" asked the General a few minutes later as he got up, only to see that the shield was thankfully still up.
"Looks like the shield absorbed all of the electrical discharge" said the Colonel.
"Carter, lower the shield" said the General as he reached for the microphone, "Emergency Medical teams report to Captain Rosenberg's room."
General O'Neill and the other looked on as Dr. Brightman and her medical team ran into the isolation room and started to check up on Willow.
As Dr. Brightman was reconnecting the sensors to Willow's chest and hands, she noticed that the scorch mark that were present when they entered the room was now gone.
"Check her arms" said Dr. Brightman as she looked at her team.
"The marks are gone ma'am" said the nurse.
The Doctor looked on as the scorch marks on her face also slowly disappeared.
"Get me a pir of scissors now" said the Doctor as she held out her hands as she was passed on a pair of medical scissor from one of the other nurses. Dr. Brightman then proceeded to slowly cut the bandage that was covering her abdomen and torso.
"Ma'am?" said a nurse as she watched what the Doctor was doing.
"If her scorch marks are going away" said the Doctor, "then I'm hopeful that the stab wounds she received have already healed. Get the portable scanner here now."
"Yes ma'am" said the nurse as she ran to the infirmary to get the scanner.
"They're gone" said the Doctor as she looked for the wounds that Willow had come in with the previous day.
"Colonel?" said Willow as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Captain" said the Doctor smiling, "welcome back, Colonel Carter and the others are in the observation deck. I just need to run some tests on you, and then I'll let them see you."
"What's the damage, Doc?" asked Willow quietly.
"Your wounds have immediately healed" said the Doctor, "but I still need to run a scan for the damage to your spine, I'm guessing it's started to heal already but I need to see the rate of healing so that I can give you an estimation of how long it would take. But I'm afraid that due to the electrical energy you emitted, your hair has been burnt off."
"Oh" said Willow, "it'll grow back fast, I hope."
"Of course" said the Doctor.
"I'll go sleep for a bit ma'am" said Willow as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Infirmary, SGC, seven hours later
Willow slowly woke up from another deep sleep only to see Colonel Carter sleeping, with her feet up on another chair, beside her bed.
"Colonel?" said a smiling Willow as the Colonel woke up with a start.
"Hey, look who's up" said Colonel Carter as she got up and stretched before taking a few steps towards Willow.
"How are you feeling?" asked the Colonel.
"Like I've been stabbed?" smiled Willow.
"Yeah" said Colonel Carter, "I guess I walked into that one."
"Where's everyone else ma'am?" asked Willow.
"Everyone's been ordered to go home for the day" said the Colonel, "Dr. Brightman, ordered everyone home to get some rest. Just me, General O'Neill and Faith here right now. The others will be coming back later."
"I guess I happened to wake up when it was your turn huh?" said Willow with a smile.
"Yep" said the Colonel with a grin.
"What did I miss, ma'am?" asked Willow.
"The Asgard came by and flushed your system of all the nanites. We couldn't reach them because of the ultrasonic's the nanites were emitting" said Colonel Carter, "they also accelerated the growth of your hair and healed the injuries to your spine."
"I should send them a gift box" smiled Willow as she ran her hand through her hair, "Any luck in using them to track the replicator?"
"No" said the Colonel, "my duplicate must have programmed them to shut down in the event that they were taken out of your body."
"It's not your fault Colonel" said Willow as she felt waves of regret coming from Colonel Carter.
"Then why does it feel like it is?" asked the Colonel as she looked at Willow.
"It's not ma'am" said Willow, "you said it yourself, we needed information and you made a difficult call. You couldn't have known what was going to happen."
"Hey Red" said the General as he came through the infirmary doors.
"General, Sir" said Willow as she slowly sat up and smiled at her commanding officer.
"How you feeling?" asked the General.
"A bit better than before Sir" said Willow.
"That's good" said the General grinning, "the doc says that you should be free to leave the base tomorrow."
"That's great" said Willow.
"Yep" replied the General.
"Red?" said Faith as she slowly walked through the infirmary doors.
"Faith" said Willow as she smiled at the brunette.
"Ummm… Carter" said the General as he pointed towards the exit, "wasn't there some doo-hickey you wanted to show me?"
"Oh… yea Sir" said the Colonel before she turned back to Willow, "I'll see you later Willow, there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Yes ma'am" said Willow as the Colonel and the General walked out.
"Faith" said Willow as the Slayer walked up to the bed.
"You had everyone worried" said Faith as she lightly punched Willow.
"The BPRI gave you permission to come visit?" asked Willow as she held Faith's hand.
"No" said Faith, "I'm with the SGC permanently now, even signed a new contract and everything."
"Huh?" said Willow confused.
"Yeah" said Faith, "Big-G will talk to you about it later but technically I'm with Home World Security now, the SGC just has me on loan. At least that's the official explanation."
"You're not going back to the BPRI?" asked Willow surprised.
"What?" said Faith pouting, "You want me to go back?"
"Hell no" said Willow as she squeezed Faith's hand, "but who's taking over training for the Potentials, don't tell me it's Kennedy."
"You know what" said Faith as she tried to change the subject, "how about we give the boys in the security room something to gawk at?"
"Down girl" said Willow smiling, "but seriously, who's taking over the training?"
"Ummm…" said Faith nervously.
"Faith?" asked Willow, "what's going on?"
"Something happened while you were injured" said Faith as she ran her hand through Willow's hair, "and I don't think you're going to like it."
TBC.