Disclaimer: I don't own the rights, characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stargate SG1; they belong to their respective owners without whom this fanfiction would not have been possible. All reviews are welcome.

Children's Memorial Hospital, Colorado Springs, Colorado; sixteen years earlier.

Dr. Payton Reed was an Obstetrician of an interesting calibre. He was not only a practicing, and licensed medical professional, but he was also one of the Watcher's Council of Britain's prolific procurers of Potential Slayers who were still infants. A job that he was very good at thanks to the arsenal of magic spells at his disposal to make people see what he wanted them to see, hear what he wanted them to hear; he was able to overtake all of their senses in order to accomplish his goals. This day, he was sent to Colorado Springs by the Council to procure a baby from a sixteen year old girl; a baby that a seer, at one of the many covens in the United Stated, told the Council had the potential to be one of the strongest Slayers should she be activated.

After the Council did a background search on the baby's mother, and her family, they immediately realized that the baby had to be spirited away. The family; the father, son and the daughter were a military family with the father serving in the United States Air Force. That was something that the Council would not accept; a Slayer being under the command of any nation's military.

"A Slayer is the tool of the Council" the head of thee Council, Quentin Travers, would say, "the Council's, no one else's."

He was the one who sent Dr. Reed to Colorado Springs to take the baby away, a job that the lifetime member of the Council was just glad to do. To Dr. Reed, the protection of the Council and it's adherence to history and prophesy was all that mattered; the Council protected the world and the Slayers were its instruments in ensuring that the world kept on spinning.

As the doctor was walking towards the delivery suite, he passed several nurses and midwives as he arrived at the suite he was looking for. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before he entered the room with a smile.

"Hello" said Dr. Reed as he looked at the frightened long haired blonde sixteen year old who had a woman in her early forties holding on to her hand, along with a nurse to was standing next to her looking at some readings. The doctor then looked at his clipboard and looked at the young woman again, "My man is Dr. Payton Reed, I'm afraid your regular Obstetrician has met with an accident. I was sent in as his last minute replacement."

The doctor smiled at the cover story, which also happened to be true. The girl's regular obstetrician did meet with an accident where he was not killed, but injured enough that he could be in the delivery suite that day. The Council's original plan was to have him injured during a mugging attempt, but the accident was enough for them. Later, the Council pulled some strings and had Dr. Reed take over for the man.

"What?" said the woman as the young blonde screamed as she leaned forward, "doctor!"

"Oh boy" said Dr. Reed as he put his clipboard down and went up to the young woman, "don't worry, I'll take care of you and your baby."

"Ok" said the young woman as she struggled to breathe, "the pain."

"Shh" said the woman as she fed the blonde some ice, "it's going to be alright, Sammie."

"Aunt Betty, please don't tell daddy."

"Sammie" said Betty, "he'll want to…"

"I don't want to disappoint him!" shouted the blonde as she screamed in pain. She then calmed down and repeated herself, "he'll be returning from his deployment in a few months so please, promise me you'll look after her… please?"

"Sammie" said Betty as she looked at her niece, "I already promised I would and…"

"Please" said the blonde, "please, please, please."

"Alright, honey" said Betty as she wiped the sweat off the blonde young woman's brow, "but you need to choose a name for her."

"Ellie" said the blonde, "Ellie."

"Ok" said Dr. Reed before giving the nurse some orders, and then looking up at the blonde, "it's about time for, Ellie, is it?"

"Yes" said the blonde, "yes…. Eleanor, after my mother."

"My sister" said Betty as Dr. Reed nodded his head.

"Ok" said Dr. Reed as he reached between the young women's legs and looked up at her with his mask covered face, "I need you to push, alright?"

"Ok" said the blonde as she pushed.

It had taken some time before the baby was out; however, by the time Dr. Reed could see the head crowning, he had already softly said the appropriate spell. A spell that silenced the baby's cries, and at the same time creating the illusion that the baby wasn't moving. However, only he could hear, and see little Ellie moving and crying for his mother.

"What happened?" asked Betty as the young blonde was panting while the doctor, and the nurse took the baby to a table where he picked up some instruments, "Doctor?"

"Doctor?" asked the young blonde as tears started to well in those bright blue eyes when she realized that something was very wrong, "why isn't she crying? Doctor? Doctor? Please? Tell me… please? Why isn't she crying?!"

The both of them saw Dr. Reed and the nurse look at each other, and then at the baby before shaking their heads.

"Doctor!" shouted the young blonde as she started to sob while holding on to Betty's hand, "Doctor! Please… please… no, no, no…."

The doctor could see the baby crying out on the table before he picked her up and turned around. He saw Betty grab the blonde girl's head and turn it away from the sight before her. Betty held her crying face against her chest while the older woman could only look at the still, unmoving baby with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry" said Dr. Reed, "but…."

All Dr. Reed could do was look on as the blonde woman screamed into Betty's chest while the older woman just looked at the baby and started crying while holding onto the young woman. The illusion surrounding the baby in his arms was so complete that they never noticed, or felt, Ellie moving when the two women wanted to hold on to the baby.

"I'm sorry" said the crying young woman as she looked at the still baby while Betty wrapped her arms around her shoulders, "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry.. please forgive me. I.. I hope you're with your grandmother now. I… I… I'm so sorry."

All Dr. Reed could do was look at the suddenly quiet baby who looked up at her mother's eyes before she yawned and went to sleep; however the blonde wasn't able to see any of that, neither was her Aunt.

It was a few minutes later that Dr. Reed brought the baby to the hospital morgue where he passed Ellie to another medical professional who was working for the Council. He was the one who switched Ellie's live body for a facsimile that would withstand any sort of genetic testing for the next week. However, the both of them knew that the autopsy on 'Ellie' would be carried out later today, and all they would find is a severe heart defect as the cause of the baby's still-birth. The facsimile of Ellie, along with her death certificate, would be then handed to the family members for burial and the Council would have 'saved' another Potential Slayer from the military; with no one aware of what had happened. They knew that the family would eventually get on with their lives after mourning their baby; instead of searching high and low with the hope that the real Ellie could be found one day.

"You will serve the Council one day, little one" said Dr. Reed as he looked at the sleeping baby before he handing her off to the other man who would take Ellie off to another family, in another city in another State; complete with a new background, and a new name, "in the meantime, have fun in Boston. I hear it's nice this time of year."

Sunnydale Mercy Hospital, 2100 hours; present day.

Giles was worried as he drove his car past one green light after the other, but at the same time thanking whoever was watching over him and his passenger for the relatively easy journey to the hospital. Glancing at his back seat, he saw the light from the overhead street lamps reflected on an unconscious Faith who was badly beaten, and bruised; however she was still breathing while the blood flow from her wound had stopped. Turning back to look at the road, the worried watcher slammed on the brakes of his car as he approached a red light, and before he actually hit the car in front of him.

With two hands on his steering wheel, he thought back to having found the pure demon that the Mayor was going to turn into during graduation, the same demon that Professor Lester Worth found a skeleton of in a volcano, the same Lester Worth that every member of the Scoobies believed that Faith had killed on orders of the Mayor. Once he and Xander had discovered that the Mayor could possibly be killed after the ascension, he told the young man to go back home and take a break; that he'd go to Angel's mansion and take over for Willow and Oz who were still there.

It was then that he noticed the look on Xander's face, a look that was trying to come up with some kind of an excuse for the watcher to not even think about going. It had taken a few minutes, but Giles stood in shock at what he had heard… that Buffy planned to capture, or kill, Faith and then have Angel feed on her.

"I tried to stop her" said Xander as Giles rushed out of the library, and was the last thing that ran in his mind as he sped off to Angel's mansion. Once there he rushed in to find Oz and Willow kissing, but stopped once he announced his presence.

"Giles" squeaked Willow as she looked at Giles, and then at Oz who held her hand tight before looking at Giles again, "what.. what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be.. you know…. Sleeping? Graduation is coming soon and…"

"Did you know?" asked Giles as he looked at Willow, and then at Oz, "did either one of you know?"

"I.. I.. don't…" said Willow.

"About Buffy's plan with Faith. Did you know?"

"Giles" said Oz as he lay his hand on a nervous Willow and gently squeezed to calm her down, "it's the only way to save Angel. I don't like this either but there's no other way to save him."

"And Faith's evil" said Willow as Giles glared at her, while at the same time feeling a sense of disappointment in his heart towards the redhead.

"Buffy is the Slayer" said Giles as he calmed down and closed his eyes, "the Slayer kills vampires, and other monsters. The Council deals with Slayers; not other Slayers. Like it or not, Faith is still human… and if Buffy kills her… then she'll be murdering Faith. And you'll be a part of it.. despite what you feel about her… you'd be participating in her murder. That's something that will eat you up from the inside."

"But…" said Willow when the main door slammed open and Giles turned around to see Buffy with a badly beaten Faith over her shoulder as she stopped and looked at Giles in surprise, before looking at Willow and Oz, "hi… Buff, ummm, guess what? Giles found us."

"Buffy" said Giles, "there is another way to do this. I know you love Angel, but you and I know that this is murder."

"I'm saving the world" said Buffy as she bumped past Giles, "if I have to kill her to save the world, then so be it."

"Buffy" said Oz as he turned around while Willow looked at him in shock, "let me go through the books again. Maybe.. maybe I can find a cure… like a fake Slayer blood. Willow?"

"I looked" lied Willow as she avoided Oz's eyes, "I.. I'm sorry."

'That's that, then" said Buffy as she entered Angel's room while Giles looked at Oz and Willow.

"Get to the library" said Giles, "get to the library and wait for me there."

"But…" said Willow.

"Go!" shouted Giles as Willow looked on surprised before her lower lip trembled and she turned around.

"Oz?" said Giles as he rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"I'll take her" said Oz as he held on to Willow's trembling shoulders, "I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

"Let us hope that Buffy doesn't become a murderer" said Giles as he went into the room while Oz led a crying Willow away.

Back on the streets of Sunnydale, the light had turned green as Giles pressed the accelerator. He thought back to the shimmer where he had seen the other Faith, the Faith in a red dress… the Faith who said that she was sorry and that she couldn't stay before the shimmer vanished.

'Who were you?' thought Giles to himself as he turned into the hospital's emergency room, 'there was something.. something different. Something softer but still tough, unlike this Faith.'

Giles screeched his car to a halt as he got out before opening his rear door. He carefully carried Faith into his arms before heading towards the hospital.

"Faith" said Giles as he walked with the Slayer, "you should have come back to us, Faith. We would have helped you.. you didn't need to go to the Mayor. We could have been your family… I.. I don't know what's going to happen now. But I'll be here when you wake up… the ascension is tomorrow… and I think we can win. We have a plan, and in the meantime… this is the best place that you'll be safe."

Giles burst through the doors of the Emergency room and shouted for help. It wasn't too long before doctors and nurses were helping the Slayer.

"I think she has blood loss" said Giles, "I found her with a wound, and she was badly beaten. I think…"

"Ok" said one of the doctors as he pushed Giles out of the way as he put a mask on her face, "her name?"

"Faith" said Giles as the doctor looked at him, "I'm not sure of her last name, I'm sorry."

"Ok" said the doctor as he looked down at the Slayer, "she'll be in good hands, but you need to stay and… sir?"

The doctor turned around only to find that Giles was gone. Shaking his head, he turned back to look at Faith before ordering the nurses to take her to one of the operating rooms where she could get an X-Ray.

Sunnydale Mercy Hospital, 0500 hours; two weeks later.

All Faith could hear were beeping sounds as she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in darkness. She tried to move her hands, and while she was able to move one hand to her head as she wiped her eyes, she found that she couldn't move the other one.. at least not too long. Looking at her left hand, she found that it was handcuffed to a railing on a bed.

Her eyes having already adjusted to the darkness, Faith noticed the medical equipment around her followed by a smell of flowers. Her eyes furrowed, she looked at the flowers; lily's that had a card in the middle of the bouquet.

'Must be from Wilkins' thought Faith to herself as she smiled when she opened her eyes wide at the newspaper that was on the table next to the flowers , 'the ascension… I'm needed there and… and….. no…"

Faith twisted her healed body and reached for the paper, grabbing it and then looking at the headline and the date it was published; two weeks ago.

'Sunnydale High Destroyed in suspected gas leak' thought Faith to herself as she read the paper with tears in her eyes, 'Mayor Wilkins sacrificed his life to save students; however he perished with twenty students, three administrators, Principal Snyder in what could only be called the deadliest accident in Sunnydale for the past seventy years.'

Faith dropped the newspaper in shock as she recalled what happened that night; Buffy stabbing and then beating her, followed by extreme pain as she felt a vampire feeding off her before everything went dark.

'She tried to feed me to him' thought Faith to herself as she looked down at a piece of paper that was poking out of the newspaper. Faith reached for the paper and then held it closed to her face so that she could make out the words in the dark, 'Hey bitch…. You failed. That feels so good to me. I've got no idea if you will ever wake up.. and I hope that you don't. Anyway, left this for you after the school blew up… I wanted you to see what happened to your precious snake. I'll just say this once.. if you happen to wake up and we're not there, then leave. Leave my city. You're not wanted here. Giles was the only one protecting you… the one who thought that I was doing the wrong thing. But I know I wasn't… I'm the Slayer. I same the world… you tried to destroy it. Now, Giles says that the Council probably has another Slayer. So, according to him, you're safe. But that's not true. If I see you in my city again…. I will kill you myself. Now leave, or else you go to jail, or you die. Your choice. I don't really care which one you choose.'

Faith crumbled the piece of paper in her hand, and squeezed it tight before she pulled her left hand and broke off the handcuffs.

'You tried to kill me' thought Faith to herself as she moved her legs around before pulling down the railing and turning her body so that her feet were hanging off the bed, 'you tried to feed me to Angel. I did what I did because I was told to, but you… you did it to save a vampire. As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell… I've lived my life alone, and I can continue to live my life alone.'

Faith looked at the lilies as she stood up on the floor and grabbed the card before opening it.

'BE well, Faith. I will be back in a few days. P.S. I know why Buffy wanted to keep the newspaper on the table but every time I remove it. A new one pops in the next day. I gave up after a week.. but I hope you wake up soon. There will be a lot to answer for, and I will try to help you.'

Faith looked at the card without an expression on her face before she put it back down and headed towards the main door.

'Sorry G-man' thought Faith to herself, 'I don't need, or want you, or your pity. I'm gone.. you and your princess can live it up with your gang.'

Faith opened the door slowly and saw that the hallway was empty. Smiling, the Slayer opened her door and walked out cautiously before taking cover at a nurses station until the two police officers who, unknown to the hidden Faith, were supposed to be guarding her door came around the corner. Faith looked at her closed door after the officers had past her before she slowly made her way out of the floor she was on. However, before she did, the dark haired Slayer smiled as she came across a young woman who was wearing clothes that fit her size in the stairwell.

After taking the cap from the unconscious girl, and her clothes, Faith left the girl covered in her own hospital gown before she rushed down the stairs to the basement parking lot. Looking at the key fob she had taken from the young woman, Faith pressed the button that would deactivate the car's alarms system.

"There you are" smiled Faith as she rushed to the car, "ummm… nice ride. Well, not really… alarm system's good though. It let me in. And the good old nurses or whoever would find me missing in about an hour.. and I'll be long gone by then."

Faith smiled as the engine turned, after which she picked up the woman's wallet that she had taken and dumped everything onto the passenger side seat.

"Really?" asked Faith as she looked at a piece of paper, "who the fuck keeps their PIN numbers in their purses. But… but you've got about two hundred in cash. I'll take that…. And maybe another few hundred from your account. I'll send the purse back to you when I get to where I'm going… which is far, far away. No vampires, and no Hellmouth. Sick of this gig."

Faith then pressed down on the accelerator pedal before she drove out of the hospital, and out of the city boundaries. But not before putting the cap low over her head and taking a thousand dollars out of the young woman's account. Before she left, however, Faith looked at the card and bent it into half before showing the bent card to the camera. She then ripped the card in half and threw it away.

Now, with fifteen hundred in cash, Faith made her way as far as she could possibly get while she looked at a map that was in the car's glove box.

"Nevada?" said Faith to herself, "nah… Las Vegas would be a mecca for demons. San Fran? Nope, same as in Las Vegas… L.A? Hell no…. umm…. Kansas? Possible. Portland? Maybe… Boise? Possible. Never heard Diana say that there are demons or vampires in Idaho, but then again with my luck, anything's possible. Colorado? Skiing? Yeah right, but Diana did say that demons and vampire populations are extremely low there. Similar to D.C… no way in hell am I going to D.C. So…. Portland, anywhere in Kansas, anywhere in Colorado, or…. Ooh… Wyoming. Choices, choices."

Faith slowed down the car and moved to the side before she placed the map on the steering wheel and closed her eyes.

"Ok" said Faith as she closed her eyes once the car had stopped completely, "wherever my finger lands on, that's where I go."

Faith hovered her finger over the map of the United States and then dropped it gently before opening her eyes.

"Oh hell no" said Faith when she found she landed on Las Vegas, "demons and vampires, especially vengeance demons? No thanks. One more time."

Faith did it again and this time, she smiled when she found out where her finger landed.

"Ah Colorado Springs" said Faith to herself as she started driving again, "good place to live, hide out, whatever it is… last place anyone will wanna look for me. Tata Sunnydale, hope you fall into the Hellmouth."

TBC