“Poison?” Xander repeated dumbly.
Willow sighed. “Afraid so. I'm not sure exactly what - but its at least partly mystical, and it was created specifically to target slayers.”
“So, like – slayer kryptonite?” Xander said weakly.
Willow nodded vaguely. “Basically. It's attacking her internal organs, and turning her immune system against her own body. The harder she fights it, the stronger it gets.”
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. His face was gray with fatigue, he had barely slept in the three weeks since Buffy had been bought to him. As far as Willow was aware, he'd maintained his vigil at the young womans bedside almost constantly for the entire time. It had taken its toll. His hands shook perceivably, he was unshaven and looked to have aged a full decade in under a month.
“So what can we do?” he asked in a tired voice.
Willow half shrugged in defeat, “Without the antidote? Nothing. Keep her comfortable and be with her until the end.”
“Thats it?” Xander broke in incredulously, “No Will, that can't be all we can do! Surely you can try some sort of magic? Surely theres something we can do other than just -”
“Other than just watch Buffy die.” Giles spoke softly, but his voice silenced Xander immediately. He shook his head. “Willow's right. This poison may have been artificially created, but we cannot affect a cure magically. The human body is simply too complex and delicate for - “
Xander almost screamed, “So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here? You think magic could make things worse? How much worse? Worse than dead? Worse than how she is now?” he broke off, breathing deeply, clearly trying to maintain the last of his composure.
Willow felt the last vestiges of her own self control stumble and fall at her friends tirade, “What do you want Xander?” she shouted bitterly, “You think I should just be able to fix this? Do you think this is my fault? Do you think I want her to die!” she broke off, her throat constricting and tears of frustration blurring her vision.
Xander stared, “Will -” he began.
“No, Xander!” she cut him off sharply, “I know what you're thinking. Do you think I want to sit just here watching my best friend die? You think that I should be able to just wave my hand and wish everything was better. Well life doesn't work that way!”
Anya raised a hand, “Actually -”
“Theres nothing I can do Xander.” Willows voice was hoarse with the effort to control her emotions, “Using magic to fix the human body is like using a hammer to crack a walnut. I want to save her, but there's nothing I can do.”
The room flooded with silence following her emotional admission, each person engulfed in their own dark thoughts.
Xander felt a bitter, helpless rage. The girl he'd adored, worshiped and idolized, was dying inch by inch and never before had he felt so helpless. Always before he'd been there for Buffy - even though part of him whispered he got in the way more than he helped; he couldn't leave her to face her world alone any more than he could walk off and discard his own right leg.
Anya felt an ambivalent confusion. She'd only known the group for a short time, shorter still if you considered that for most of that she'd have happily urinated on their rotting corpses. She couldn't really understand their concern – everyone dies, humans were almost as short lived as ants and just as easily replaced. So what if this one dies a little earlier? Then again, she considered the depth of feeling she was just beginning to feel for Xander, and as she did she felt his pain echo through her and it left her breathless.
Humans were truly stupid, she thought – but where did that leave her?
Giles' thoughts were of bitter self recrimination. Logically, he knew he was not to blame – he had no way of knowing what would occur that night. But always lurking treacherously at the back of his cranium was the unspoken fear – the fear for the girl he loved like a daughter whom risked herself every night on his behalf. He was the watcher, in spirit if not in title, and he knew that sooner or later he would watch her die.
He'd spent the last few weeks which felt like an eternity tending to his charge as best he could. After that brief time she'd regained consciousness in Xanders presence, Buffy had slipped back into delirious incoherence. Burning with fever, she slept fitfully or thrashed around in wordless agony. The few times her eyes had opened nothing but instinctive torment stared out unseeingly. He'd forced a token few mouthfuls of water and soup into her each day, but her already sender form was fast wasting away to become skeletal. In the last few days her unconscious struggles had grown steadily weaker, and he had no doubt the end was near. At the moment, trapped without escape in the torture of her own body, that could be her only release.
Willow too felt a nagging sense of obligation and responsibility. Increasingly, she'd became the one her friends looked to for answers as her magical abilities flowered. This time she felt she'd failed them in the worst possible way.
She'd driven herself to the point of exhaustion, looking for magical signatures in the poison that coursed through her friends veins, where that failed enlisting aid from talented friends from the science department at the university.
All for what though, she wondered? She knew what was wrong with Buffy now, but she was no closer to being able to help her. All she could do was watch with sickening certainty as the poison took its horrifying unstoppable course.
She scowled to herself, glancing up briefly to find the others wrapped up in their own equally bleak thoughts.
And there it was suddenly.
She stared the answer in the face, and knew there was only one course of action available to them.
She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “The Initiative.” she said quietly.
The others looked up at her blankly.
“They did this to her.” she affirmed.
Giles frowned and removed his glasses. He peered at her shortsightedly, “I think you're right.” he said.
“No-one else could have done this.”
Giles sighed gently, “This amalgamation of science and magic is incredibly complex. It's clear that there can only be one possible source.”
“Huh?” Xander broke in. “I know Professor Walsh wants to kill Buffy, but isn't sending a demon to poison her a bit complicated?”
“Yeah,” Anya spoke up, clearly trying to support Xander, “Wouldn't it be much easier for her just to send out some army types to shoot Buffy? Its what I'd do... If I was evil, and had armed men to do my bidding.” she amended.
Willow glared at her, hating to admit that she had a point. Sending a random demon in the hopes of it encountering and killing Buffy did seem needlessly convoluted and chancy.
“Regardless, we know they must be responsible.” Giles said, “We have to assume they have an antidote to this poison. Out only option is to obtain it.”
Xander shook his head. “How though? This is a heavily guarded top secret military installation. We can't just walk in there and ask them for out help.
There was another constipated pause as they each fruitlessly deliberated internally. They knew how impossible what they were considering would be. They also knew that they were going to try, anyway.
Willow sprung to her feet as the door burst open. She gaped in astonishment at the familiar figure who stood in the doorway, matching their stares with his own.
“You can't.” Riley said. “I can.”
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
