Hospital, five days later.

Even after Eileen flushed the toilet, the stench of her vomit filled the small room as she panted. The more she panted, the more she took in the horrible stench, and the more she wanted to vomit once again. Willing herself to keep whatever was left of her stomach inside her body, she turned and shuffled towards the sink. She wanted to get that horrible acidic taste out of her mouth; so, she turned the tap and once the water flowed out, she reached out and cupped her hands under the water and then brought the liquid to her mouth.

Once she was done gurgling with the water and then using the mouthwash, Eileen ambled out of the door and into her private room at the hospital. Turning off the toilet light, she looked back down at the IV needle stuck into her arm. He eyes followed the thin transparent line to the bag hanging on the mobile hanger that was just at the threshold of the toilet door. The colour of the liquid inside the bag was now a light blue, 'and yesterday it was grey, and the day before that was green. And then the pills the first day those people brought me to this room...'

Eileen could still recall how the pills had made her feverish, her body was sweating after taking them while, at the same time, she was being fed intravenous liquids which were supposed to keep her from being dehydrated.

Her fingers tightened around the metal pole of the hanger before she then walked slowly towards her bed. It looked so inviting to Eileen, but she still had to stop for a few seconds after every step. She was so exhausted, and her legs were feeling so heavy. Panting as she stood still, Eileen thought she felt a sensation of something trying to push up her throat. So, she took a couple of deep breathes so that the feeling would subside.

Once that feeling was pushed back down, Eileen pushed past the exhaustion as she stepped forward again and again before she was by the side of her bed. Turning around, she took a deep breath before taking a seat at the edge of the bed before reaching to her left for the glass of water on the bed-side table. Her throat was parched and burning thanks to the mouthwash; so it was a relief to drink the cool liquid before she placed the cup back on the table.

Eileen then looked back at the readouts on the machine to her left, just to the right of the table. It looked like any normal machine that measures a person's vitals; except this one had no wiring attached to her body. Eileen looked down towards her chest and then pulled the top of her shirt to reveal a two-inch thick circular device with a single blue light; the device was attached to just above the right side of her left breast.

'That Caine guy said that this is connected wirelessly to the machine, supposed to be some new medical tech that's really sensitive,' Eileen thought to herself as she recalled the first time the device was attached to her body, 'it stung for a little bit.' She remembered her vitals showing up on the machine's screen almost immediately before there was another device with a band placed at the crook of her elbow. Looking back down at the dark brown device, Eileen would occasionally – about every hour – feel the device tightening and then loosening before her blood pressure would show up on the screen.

'All this stuff is supposed to be extremely sensitive,' Eileen remembered Caine saying, 'they're all being tested, together with the medication.' As she looked up at the liquid on the bag, Eileen remembered asking about the liquid, 'Caine said there would be side effects… puking is one of them and that I needed to keep hydrated.' It was then she recalled that the device on her chest was also supposed to measure her hydration. Shaking her head at the thought of how technology was progressing, Eileen turned toward the rest of the room. There was a flat panel TV, a sofa bed against the far wall, a closet, a small desk against another wall with a chair, as well as a small table with two chairs in the rather large room.

Looking away, Eileen hung her head as she continued to hope that Faith would visit her. Every day that passed, that hope started to eek away leaving behind an emptiness that she felt compelled to fill. In prison, she was part of a group that would watch out for each other; after she got out, she joined another group that where each would encourage the other to keep away from alcohol and many of the self-destructive things that Eileen had done before prison.

'If I was in Boston, I could go see Marley and we'd talk,' Eileen thought to herself at the memory of the friend she had made a few days after being released from prison. It was at an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting at the church near her apartment. Marley too had been self-destructive; but she had the support of her family – a family she had betrayed in so many ways. And Eileen had wasted no time in saying that she had no one, that she was terrified that she would go back to being the person she used to be.

And now, Eileen was alone again. Marley was so far away. And Faith didn't want to see her at all. It made Eileen wonder why she even decided to come to Colorado Springs in the first place. She closed her eyes and steeled herself while thinking, 'no, I came to see Faith. She's my daughter… no matter what, she's my daughter. I have to make some kind of amends to her and it has to start by saying that I'm sorry.'

Turning her head towards the phone on the bed-side table, Eileen reflected on the times she had called Faith over the past few days, 'the dialling would just end; it was as if she cancelled the call.' Eileen looked away, a sorrowful expression on her face as she shook her head before staring at the phone once again.

'Again, screw it all… I'm calling again,' Eileen thought to herself as she leaned to her left and reached out with a trembling arm. It didn't matter that she was served the order to stay away from Faith by the latter's own Commanding Officer. As Eileen grabbed the phone, and then pulled it out of the charging bay, she thought back to a few days ago – in fact, it was the day after she was transferred to this private room by Lightspeed.

Hospital, a few days ago.

Eileen lay on the bed as she quietly watched a comedy on the flat screen television in front of her. It was only a day earlier that she was brought to this new room before she had a device attached to her chest and upper arm. She then turned her head back up towards the bag attached to the hanger next to her bed; the cloudy greenish liquid was being intravenously fed into her through the line attached to the top of her hand. She was already told that the medicine was going to make her slightly sick with some of the side effects being a fever, nausea, and even shaking. As she wondered what else to expect, Eileen heard a knock on the door to her room.

"Come in," she said as she turned her head back towards the bed. She hoped that it would be Faith. Her daughter hadn't contacted her even after Eileen called after being admitted into this new room. Eileen was told that this study, of which she was one of a few hundred participants, was confidential from the public; at least for now. So, she couldn't tell Faith or any of her family – not that she had family left, other than Faith.

'Faith, I know you are angry at me… at least come vent your anger at me,' Eileen thought to herself as she heard the door open before a male voice gruffly said, "wait out here."

And Eileen's heart fell. It wasn't Faith. She took in a dep breath as a dark brown haired man in a blue Air Force uniform walked into the room carrying a folder underneath his arm. He looked over at her and then pressed his lips together before walking towards the bed.

"Eileen Lehane?"

"Yes?"

"My name is General Hank Landry, and I'm here on behalf of your daughter," The General said as Eileen looked away from him and her eyes focused on the beige blanket covering her legs. She suddenly felt as if the temperature dropped several degrees even though the temperature of the air-conditioning unit blowing cool air into the room remained unchanged from when she was brought into this room. Eileen looked back up at the General who was staring right at her, as if he was already making up his mind about her.

'And he'd have every right,' Eileen thought to herself.

"General," she said nodding her head, "how… how is Faith?"

General Landry just stared at the woman in front of him. His eyes shifted towards the track marks on her arms before he shifted his eyes back towards the face looking back at him. HE remembered what Faith had told him about her horrible experiences with her own mother, and a part of him wanted to lash out as a father and demand to know why Eileen had done what she did.

'What's the point of asking now?' he mentally asked before he took another step. A part of him felt pity for the woman, her medical report indicated that she was in really bad shape and had perhaps – at the best – a couple of years to live. The worst case would be that her heart would give out in the next couple of months.

"As a father myself," the General heard himself saying, "I cannot imagine nor can I begin to understand why you did what you did."

"I…" Eileen stopped talking when the General raised his hand, signalling her to stay silent.

"But the past is something that can't be changed, so I don't even want to know what you were thinking," the General continued as Eileen simply listened, "Faith is one of my best people. She is loved at the Academy by her peers and her students, and I will do everything in my power to protect her as if she was my own daughter."

The General saw Eileen wince when he mentioned that he would protect her as a daughter; he recognized the look on her face now. It was one of shame.

"I won't make excuses for what I did… what I let happen," Eileen said as she recalled with perfect clarity watching one of her clients having his way with Faith when she was a child. That thought made her want to throw up; hearing her own voice egging on the client as Faith screamed and begged for help made her want to go back to Boston and never come back to face her daughter.

"But," Eileen forced herself to speak – she was trying to keep her voice steady – while looking at the eyes which were judging her, "Faith… I need to make my amends with her. Even if she doesn't want to talk to me, even if she will hate me for the rest of her life… all I want to do is say that I'm sorry." Eileen shook her head as her mind went back to the day she signed away all parental rights to Faith, "I… I know I can't… I mean I know I don't have any right to say that she is my daughter…." Eileen locked her eyes with the General's before she continued, "but she is my daughter. I…"

The General sighed and rubbed the back of his head before taking a few more steps towards the bed.

"Please, I just want to talk to her."

The General had indeed spoken to Faith before he arrived at the hospital; and all she said was that there was no way in hell she would ever want to talk to Eileen. And Faith mentioned Eileen by name instead of calling her 'mother'.

The General reached for the folder while watching tears welling up in Eileen's eyes as she begged to simply talk to Faith; to just say sorry, "and she doesn't have to say anything. I just need to…"

"This is a restraining order," the General interrupted Eileen whose face was twisted in anguish for a few seconds before she stared at the blue coloured folder placed on her blanket covered thighs, "you are not to call her, approach her, visit her… basically you are not allowed to stay within ten blocks of her."

"No, please…" Eileen looked up at the General, her vision was starting to blur because of the water welling in her eyes, "please… I… please, at least…"

"Ordinarily this would be up to the local Law Enforcement," the General said, "but once your treatment is done, whether it is a success or not, you will be escorted to the bus station…"

"No, please…" she begged.

"You will be bought a ticket back to Boston."

"I just want to say that…"

"Sorry will not cut it," the General raised his voice slightly before pulling back with a sigh. He felt his heart racing as he stared at the woman who pulled back deeper into the bed; he could hear the 'thump, thump' of his heart and the 'whoosh' of blood racing through the veins close to his ears as he closed his eyes and stepped back. Taking a deep breath, General Landry opened his eyes again and turned towards the machine where he could see Eileen's heart – evidenced by the rapid movement of the waves on the screen – was racing as well.

He then turned his head back towards the woman and breathed out before saying in a calm tone, "sorry will not cut it. We'll keep an eye on your progress here. And once the doctors have deemed that your participation in this program is over, then I'll have someone accompany you to the bus station."

"I'm just asking for a chance," Eileen begged, "if you're close with Faith, then please ask her…"

"She doesn't want to see you," the General said shaking his head. He then sighed before continuing, "I don't know how this treatment will go, but if it goes well, it looks like you have a band new life to go back to."

"But…"

"But it would be a life where you will not have any contact with your daughter," the General said, "you must have known that there was a chance she would not want to even see you again."

"I hoped that… that she would confront me and… and I could see her… hear her… I mean I…"

"Live your life," the General said as he began to turn away from Eileen who could only just look on helplessly, "but stay away from Faith." Eileen couldn't say anything else, what could she say, as the General walked away and out the door. She looked back down at the folder on the bed and closed her eyes as she wept; tears streaked down her cheeks as a sob escaped her lips.

Back in the present day, Eileen knew she was going against the terms of the restraining order but she had already called Faith a few times and nothing happened. However, she wasn't going to push it. This time, when the call when to Faith's voicemail, she was going to leave a message. Possibly the last one she would ever leave Faith, and Eileen's chest stung slightly at that thought.

She dialled the number on the phone, and then placed it to her ear and waiting.

'Breeeep…. Breeeep,' went the dial tone as Eileen mentally counted down to the automated message that would tell anyone calling that the caller was busy and to leave a message. When there was a click, and the dialling sound stopped, her heart started to race wildly upon thinking that Faith picked up the phone; especially since she would have to wait much longer before reaching the voicemail.

"Faith?" Eileen said as she stared at the far wall, her heart racing at the hope that she could hear her daughter's voice… even if she was going to be furious.

But it was not to be. The automated voice told her that Faith wasn't available, and to leave a message.

"Faith," Eileen whispered as she hung her head low, "I… I know that I'm the one person you don't want to hear from right now so I'll say what I need to say and then… then I won't bother you anymore." Eileen then took a deep breath and continued. She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly not a single word escaped her lips. She was sitting silently for a few seconds before she said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I should have been the one to protect you, and I couldn't even do that. I'm not making excuses anymore; I did what I did and I'm sorry." That's all that she could say. Eileen said "I'm sorry," again in a broken voice before she closed the connection.

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Eileen placed the phone back on its charger and then lay back on the bed. She knew she had to move on with her life despite the pain in her chest at the thought of never seeing her daughter again, 'it will be a living hell, but I have to keep clean. Even if Faith won't be in my life, I still have to keep clean. For her.'

Logan International, four months later

It would be four months later, after a successful treatment, that Eileen stood in line at a gate in Logan International to board her plane. It was a gift that along with the successful treatment came a generous financial package. Now she stood in line with her sunglasses resting on top of her head, her arms now clean – the marks caused by her drug taking now completely gone much to her surprise – and she showed them off with the sleeveless blouse she was wearing.

She told herself that she was going to go visit some of the more far-off countries, and swore that she would send Faith postcards from the places she'd visit. She didn't know if it would violate the restraining order against Faith, who still hadn't talked to her, but neither did latter report Eileen's violations, 'or else I'd be in trouble.'

Eileen took in a deep breath; she was glad for this new life. She didn't know how she received this new gift since everything was classified and she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. But she was thankful.

And as the gate opened and it was announced that the flight to Vietnam via Hong Kong was ready to board, Eileen's thoughts went back to the Faith she wished she had known. She glanced left and saw a girl in her early twenties who looked like a younger version of herself. This girl, who existed in her mind, hadn't experienced the horrors the real Faith experienced as they looked at each other and 'Faith' formed a small smile.

"Let's go, mom," the imaginary Faith said before she faded away.

Eileen looked away with an expression of loss before she closed her eyes and shook her head. Opening her eyes once again, she whispered, "let's go, Faith."

University of Colorado, four days later.

Faith had her wavy black shoulder length hair framing her face as she walked around her desk at the bottom of the auditorium styled lecture theatre. With the notes for the class on the history of the Indus Valley projected onto the white canvas behind her, Faith slipped her hands into her jean's pockets and smirked.

"Alright," she exclaimed as the students – all sixty of them – started packing their belongings the moment the clock struck three thirty in the afternoon, "don't forget your paper due by the end of the day!" Her smirk grew at the audible groan that reverberated throughout the class before she shrugged and exclaimed once again, "this paper was in the syllabus, all of you knew it was coming. I expect it submitted online by twenty three-fifty nine sharp tonight!"

Faith saw a few of the students to her left coming down the stairs towards her. She took a step back until she was next to the desk. She picked up the controller for the projector and said, "no extensions!" As she powered the projector off, Faith glanced at the three males and two females – all of whom looked to be about eighteen to nineteen – stopping in their tracks after reaching the bottom of the steps. While they turned towards each other and whispered, Faith glanced up the rows of seats and towards the doors being pushed open as students poured out of the lecture theatre. She glanced back at the group of Freshmen at the bottom of the steps who were looking back towards her before looking back towards each other.

The group of students were the only ones in the theater now as Faith turned off her tablet and then packed it into her shoulder bag lying on the table. As she picked up the strap after zipping the bag shut, Faith glanced at the young man – who was rubbing his hands with a look of confidence – walk up towards her desk. She glanced behind him at the others, some of whom were rolling their eyes, before she shifted her eyes towards the young man.

"Doc," he said while shifting the strap of the bag he wore around his shoulder, "I was hoping that I… well…" the young man then looked back towards his friends and then back to Faith before continuing, "well, we were hoping that you could give us an extension for the paper?"

"No extensions…." Faith then asked for his name; she had been teaching this course for the past two months and she still didn't know the names of every student in this Freshman class, "and you are?"

"Josh."

"There are no extensions, Josh," Faith said as she placed the strap of her bag onto her left shoulder. While she did that, Faith was eyeing up the young man and his friends; all of them were athletic, the boys were stocky and taller than her and the girls looked fit… really fit. She guessed that the students were in one of the sports teams and that the girls were either their girlfriends or cheerleaders, or both. She then shifted her eyes towards Josh who looked at her in return with desperation etched on his face.

'I used to be the badass Slayer, and now I'm a pussycat,' Faith thought to herself playfully before she said, "give me a reason why you…"

"And my friends too," Josh said before waving the others over. He then turned back to Faith and said, "we haven't exactly been able to turn in assignments and stuff, and…"

"With training and everything…" one of the girls added before Faith put up her hand. She stared at the girl who closed her mouth before she could say anything else.

Faith then sighed as and said, "there's another month left before mid-terms." She stared at the group as they nodded their heads, "and I'm guessing all of you are here on some kind of a scholarship where you need to maintain a certain GPA."

The group nodded their heads.

Faith huffed out a breath as she recalled the briefing for new staff about the need to give the athletes some leeway before saying, "all of you realize that this class is once a week, and on a Saturday? Right?" She understood the irony of what she was saying; she was the one who would goad Buffy in skipping classes when they first met, and then there was the whole murder and jail situation before joining up with Buffy again. Even then, during her second stint by Buffy's side, Faith still saw herself as a troublemaker. And now she could laugh at the irony of telling the group in front of her that they should have managed their time effectively.

"Let me check up on your grades," Faith sighed just as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She reached into her bag and then grabbed the first piece of paper she could find– a notepad that had the grocery list – and then handed it to Josh, "write down your names."

"Thanks," he replied with a sigh of relief.

"Don't thank me yet," Faith said as the group stared at her, "I still expect the paper that's due today… except for you guys I'll extend the submission deadline to tomorrow."

"But…."

"Tomorrow," Faith repeated as she turned her head towards the dark haired and tanned girl on the extreme left, "the papers due today are due tomorrow for you guys."

"But…" this time it was the boy next to Josh who called out for Faith, "I'm getting a D so far and…"

"Then you better submit the paper tomorrow and ace all the other assignments, and the exams, and then there's the final project," Faith arched an eyebrow upwards while folding her arms over her chest, "it's not fair to the other students if I give you guys more than a day to turn in what was supposed to be turned in tonight. A paper that everyone had a week to complete."

"We get it," Josh mumbled before looking down at the pad and then writing his name. He then turned and handed the pad to the girl to his left side. Faith watched her signal another boy close to her to turn around. The girl placed the pad on his back and wrote her name while Faith took a step back and turned around to answer the phone when it vibrated again.

The first email was one she frowned at; It was from Eileen who sent an electronic postcard from Sao Paulo. It was the latest of nearly ten that Eileen had sent Faith; and all the Slayer could do was slide the message away without opening it and onto the latest email.

It was Willow rescheduling lunch since she had to make an unexpected trip to Area 51. Faith thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes at the message, 'emergency situation?' Faith turned back towards the group just as the last girl wrote her name on the pad, closed it, and then placed it on the table.

"Now shoo, you guys have a lot of work to do," Faith said nodding her head while waving them away. After the group thanked her, they walked away. Faith watched them walk up the stairs before she connected a call to the number the message came from and then placed the phone onto her ear.

"Yea, just got the message," Faith said as she put the notepad into the bag, "I'm on my way, what's going on?"

"It's last minute, but SG-13 has a mission and they are down by one member of the team," Walter said on the other line, "he's got the flu."

Faith nodded her head before saying, "when's the deployment?"

"Tomorrow morning, four hundred hours," Walter answered.

"I'll be there," Faith replied as she watched the group walked up the stairs before heading out the doorway. Faith then put her phone away into her pocket before walking towards the steps that led up the theater to the exit doors.

Sunnydale, at that same time.

It hadn't taken much time for the haggard old woman to use her magic and place the sarcophagus containing Illyria's essence in the hearse. That was hours ago; and it was slightly troublesome for her, especially since she had to deal with teams of operatives from Wolfram and Hart who were searching for the valuable sarcophagus. It was just too bad for the retrieval teams that the woman knew older, stealthy, and more power magics than the Senior Partners and the circle of the Black Thorne. Then again, using powerful magics were like a beacon, if used at their full strength and for too long, then she could have been detected. Once the sarcophagus was inside the hearse, the woman drove off; it would be a journey of a few hours to Sunnydale.

The hearse itself was awarded against detection, which meant that there were no alarms set off at the BPRI when it passed the barrier placed at the city limits by Tara. These were alarms that would have had anything or anyone with ill intent marked so that they could be traced by Tara and the other witches who would then lead Slayers to investigate. It was a precaution… a very important precaution for Buffy's benefit. The Slayer's pregnancy belly was already showing at seven months. She and Xander were now staying fulltime at the BPRI at Cordelia and Angel's insistence. Given that she was going to be giving birth at the location of the Hellmouth, all precautions were being taken.

As the hearse continued down the road past the sign that read 'Welcome to Sunnydale'. the driver was smirking at the sensing of a ripple in the magic that surrounded the city. She could sense Buffy's joy as she placed Xander's hand on her belly so that he could feel their children move. The woman leaned back on the driver seat and licked her lips before looking at the rear-view mirror.

'I can feel them growing in you, Slayer,' she thought to herself while a chill ran up and down her spine at the sight of the object behind her. The sensations emanating from the stone sarcophagus behind the driver's seat were chilling and felt evil – the woman revered the feelings she was getting as she thought, 'one of them will be the vessel for you, Illyria. And I will raise you to rule this world. And the other child… well, I have no need for the other child. You will choose your vessel, Illyria; and the one who is not chosen will die.'

TBC