"What's going on?" Jenny asked as she leaned in sideways to catch a glimpse of the contents on the piece of paper in Giles' hand. Giles turned away from Jenny, his back towards her now as she then turned towards Joyce and Sarah in surprise at being rebuffed so suddenly. She noticed the angry looks on their faces before she turned back towards staring at the back of Giles' head, "Rupert? What is it?" She then turned back towards Joyce and Sarah before asking, "Joyce, Sarah? What's going on?"

Giles heard Jenny's concerned voice as he looked through the chemical compositions on the left side of the sheet of paper, and then the percentages of those compositions on the right side. He saw a few lines that read 'POSITIVE', a sign that it wasn't good for any story he could come up with to explain what he was looking at in his hand.

'They know,' Giles mentally confirmed, 'the evidence is in my hand. They know…'

In the end, a few seconds later, Giles hunched his shoulders forward and sighed. He then turned back towards Joyce with a look of defeat and regret etched on his face. This was something that he never suspected, and a very big part of him hoped that this intervention by an outside force meant that Buffy's Cruciamentum could be cancelled. However, Giles was also aware that Buffy and the others would find out about what he had done, and he knew getting their trust back would be a mountain to climb. He then turned to Jenny before handing her the paper.

As Jenny unfurled the paper in her hand, Giles whispered, "I'm sorry." Giles then turned towards Joyce and Sarah while jenny's eyes skimmed the content of the paper, and soon, she looked back up at Giles.

"Rupert, this report's showing…" jenny was speechless as she read the contents before looking back up at Giles, "that someone's been drugging Buffy." She looked at the look of regret on Giles' face before looking away from her. She then turned her head towards Joyce and Sarah, the both of them glaring daggers into the side of Giles' head. It was then that Jenny realized the reason why the two women were so angry, but she needed to hear it from Giles. She wouldn't believe that someone like him could do this, "Rupert, please tell me that this… that this is a report that has nothing to do with you?"

The look that Giles gave her was all the answer she needed as she placed the paper on the table while putting a hand over her mouth. Shaking her head, Jenny took a step back.

"It's… it's a ritual called the Cruciametum… a Slayer, when she turned eighteen years of age, will have all her gifts nullified by drugging her with muscle relaxants and adrenaline suppressors," Giles whispered as Jenny sat down, shock still evident on her face, on a chair while Sarah helped Joyce to a seat across from the computer teacher, "it's a… I do not agree with it, but…"

"Then why did you drug her," Sarah asked shaking her head, "damn it, Rupert! If Buffy hadn't come to me about why she was getting so weak, I would never have known about the bruises. I would never have known about all this… how could you?"

"It was something I…" Giles shook his head before taking a deep breath, "I looked through the watcher's diaries… I wanted to see what others before me had done." He fixed the position of his glasses before continuing, "I discovered that there were several watchers who were against this disgusting practice, but they still had to do it. The Slayer is… is their charge, and…"

"Buffy saw you…" Joyce shook her head before correcting herself, "she see's you as a father figure in her life," she whispered, the woman trying to keep her voice from cracking, "how… how could you be so…"

"Because if its not done by me, then someone else will either do it in my place or the Council will send a team to kill her," Giles said, his voice getting progressively louder, "this is a rite of passage that, despite my feelings, will happen one way or another. I've already tried to…" Giles stopped speaking when he realized that he was yelling. The Watcher sighed before looking away from Joyce to Jenny, to Sarah who had her arms crossed over her chest. Giles looked away from the scathing glare on Sarah's face, and back to Joyce who was looking down at the table as she wiped the tears welling in her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry," Giles whispered as he looked at Joyce before looking away, "I've made my feelings known to the Leader of the Council, he will not back down."

Jenny was in disbelief at what she was haring, "and… and if she dies?"

"She's trained to overcome any…"

"She's terrified, Rupert," Sarah said, her eyes fixed on the Watcher, "it doesn't matter how trained she is, she thinks this is some kind of an unknown magical attack. She thinks she's losing her abilities because of an attack…" Sarah frowned at Giles, "and it was an attack."

Giles winced at those words as Sarah's eyes bore into him. He then looked away to take a deep breath.

"How did you do it?" Joyce asked, her voice tinged with betrayal.

Giles had the sense to looked ashamed as he answered, "she's not supposed to know about the injections. I put her under deep hypnosis, and…"

"And you injected her," Jenny whispered, her eyes still wide in disbelief at what she was hearing from her boyfriend. She looked over at Joyce who was covering her mouth with her hand while Sarah was looking down at the floor. Jenny didn't know what to say or do; what could she say or do except for shake her had before stepping away from Giles, walking around the table, and then sitting next to Joyce.

Giles looked away while Sarah walked past him and then towards Joyce's chair before standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Faith turns eighteen in two years; will she have to go through this too?"

Giles looked over at Jenny who was staring back at him. He nodded his head before she looked away while her lips were pressed together in a grim line. Sarah took in a deep breath before she whispered that she would take the FBI's field office in San Diego, especially since the Sunnydale Police Department were inept. At that sentence, Giles snapped his head towards her before saying that the Council had eyes and ears everywhere, "and they would send someone else to 'test' Buffy. What happens next would be out of my hands and…"

"It's already out of your hands," Joyce whispered, her eyes fixed on him, eyes full of anger before she raised her voice, "I trusted you. Buffy trusts you! How could you do something like this to her?!"

Joyce was panting before she looked away while Jenney held her hand. Sarah sighed before asking, "what's going to happen?"

Giles explained the procedure; that Buffy will be led to the assigned location where she would then be locked in with the vampire. She would then have to kill it without her powers, and without any outside help. Giles said, "the Council knows there are two Slayer, they'll keep Faith busy… I'll get intelligence that there's are some vampires whom I know Faith and the others Scoobies would be able to handle. This would leave Buffy alone, and someone from the Council will lead her to the assigned location. The Council has prepared for everything Sarah, Joyce, Jenny. We can't stop this from happening."

Sarah shook her head before she walked around the desk and towards Giles, "I'll call the Devon Coven. I know they'll have something to counteract the effects of the drugs you gave Buffy."

"But…"

"The four of us are going to tell Buffy what happened," Sarah said, the tone in her voice leaving Giles no room to verbally counter, "then, if the Coven has something to counteract the drugs, Jenny and I will create an antidote. If they don't have anything, then we'll search the 'net. We have the make-up of the drugs you gave her, Rupert, and we'll try to create something that could help her… hopefully something that give her back at least some of her strength."

"Can it be done, Sarah?" Joyce asked.

Sarah sighed, her back to Joyce before turning around, "I don't know. If this thing is going down tomorrow, then we don't have much time. I don't even know…." Sarah was about to say she didn't know how effective it was going to be, instead she said, "we'll try, Joyce."

"We'll tell Buffy," Jenny said, glaring at Giles, "we'll tell her to keep on as if everything was normal… she'll be just like she is right now. But… but I don't know how she'll feel about you after this is over, Rupert."

"Jen…"

"I don't know how I…" Jenny looked away before she stood up. Giles guessed what Jenny was about to say – that she didn't know how to feel after hearing all that was just said. Jenny shook her head, leaving what she wanted to say unsaid and then looked away from Giles.

Sarah took in a deep breath before she began walking, "we're going back to Joyce's house." Sarah stopped next to Giles and turned her head towards him just as Joyce and Jenny stood up off their seats. As they approached Sarah from behind, the latter said, "Either you tell Buffy, or I will. After that, either help create something to counteract the drugs in her system or get out of our way."

"The Council will be watching Buffy and I," Giles whispered, looking down at the floor, "but… but I'll help. Whatever way I can, I'll help."

Sarah nodded her head before the group headed out into the hallway.

Sunnydale High, parking lot.

"I don't like it," Faith said while she sat on the steps and looked out at the parking lot where there were only a handful of cars. The Scoobies were supposed to go over to the Espresso Pump, but all of them were too occupied with what happened in the library to do anything else. So, they decided to wait outside the school for news on why Sarah and Joyce needed to talk to Giles and Jenny alone.

Buffy was leaned back against the metal bannister that divided the stairs down the middle while Tara was seated a step lower than Faith. She looked back at Faith who was shaking her head before she repeated, "I don't like it… something's wrong and…"

Faith looked up at Buffy who said, "you don't know Giles like I do, Faith."

Willow, seated on the other side of the bannister, looked over at Faith and said, "Giles would never do anything to hurt Buffy, Faith." She then turned to Oz who nodded his head, as did Xander and Cordelia.

"I'm just telling you guys that I'm getting a bad feeling," Faith said shrugging her shoulders before she glanced at Tara who had a worried look on her face. Faith and Tara's eyes locked, the former knowing that the blonde was having the same feelings as her, before they looked away from each other.

"Buffy," Tara said looking up at the blonde Slayer, "I felt how angry my mom was at Mr. Giles."

"Ta…"

"I don't know Mr. Giles as well as you, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Oz," Tara pushed on, a feeling on unease growing in her chest ever since she felt the waves of anger from Sarah, "but I know my mom. She wouldn't get as angry as I felt unless she had a very good reason."

Buffy looked away from Tara and glanced at Faith who was staring back at Tara before looking away. The blonde Slayer took in a deep breath, her mind unable to even think of Giles harming her in anyway, before she looked away and back over her shoulder. Buffy saw the reassuring looks from Willow and the others while Cordelia had her lips pressed together while staring out at Tara's direction. Buffy was aware that Cordelia and Tara were friends, the two even hanging out in the mall at times.

'Cordelia trusts Tara's empathic abilities,' Buffy thought to herself before mentally reminding herself that she trusted them too. Or at least she should trust them after Tara sensed something was off with her former best friend Billy Fordham.

But Buffy couldn't bring herself to thinking that Giles would ever intentionally hurt her. She looked down at her hands before thinking, 'there has to be another reason that I'm losing my powers.' Buffy took in a deep breath, 'yeah, there has to be another reason. There just has to be.'

Tara then turned to Faith, she wanted to ask the newest Slayer how she was feeling. She didn't realize how bad that Faith had it when she was younger; Tara felt her anger, mixed with shame, back in the library. But Tara figured now wasn't the best time to ask, so she gave Faith a small smile – which was promptly returned by Faith – and then she turned her head towards Buffy who was taking a seat next to her.

Tara glanced at Buffy as she swept her hair behind her ear before looking away. She glanced at Willow and the others before turning towards Buffy once again who was looking down at the ground, her lips pressed together while being deep in thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tara asked as she poked Buffy on her upper arm.

"Just thinking," Buffy replied shaking her head before she turned towards Tara, "I trust you, Tara. I trust you felt something from Giles but… but there has to be another reason for this."

"Maybe there is. Maybe it's a potion that someone slipped into your food or…" Xander then had his eyes wide-open, "oh… oh… what if someone just brushed against you and the potion got absorbed into your skin?"

Willow rubbed her chin while Oz nodded his head. Cordelia shrugged before saying it sounded more like a plot from a spy movie. Tara was looking at Buffy who had her head turned the other way towards Xander while Faith leaned back and rested on her elbows. Tara looked away before wondering if there was indeed a potion that could be absorbed through the skin and targeted specifically towards a Slayer.

"We'll have to check it out," Oz said.

"Willow and I can go to work on it and…"

"Hey!" the Scoobies stopped talking and turned around as the got up to their feet. The doors to the school were open as Sarah and the others walked out and made their way towards the gathered teens. Sarah gave Tara and the others a small smile while Giles was walking apart from the women. Faith, Tara and Buffy noticed the wooden box in his hand

"I thought you kids were at the Espresso Pump," Sarah asked.

"Buffy was worried," Xander said, "so what did you guys find?"

"Sarah?" Buffy asked, "what did you find?"

Faith eyed the box in Giles' hand before she looked over at the older women. But before anyone could ask a question, it was Giles who spoke up first.

"Buffy, we need to talk," Giles said, his voice etched with regret. Tara place a hand on Buffy's shoulder as the blonde Slayer's eyes went wide open when Giles continued, "I'm so sorry."

TBC.