Seeking Vengeance

 Chapter 24 - Revival

The next while passed in a blur. Buffy remained unconscious, catatonic, whatever. I only had confirmation of what had happened to Dawn because I was keeping an eye on the house, so I saw the letter. I knew she wouldn't mind me reading it, so I did.

Effective immediately, the custody of Dawn Summers was granted to her natural father, one Hank Summers. I didn't have any illusions about Hank letting Dawn visit Buffy before she left, or even that he'd allow any contact at all.

And anyway, he's no more her natural father than I am. But, that's what the records say, and that's what everyone remembers. The monks slipped up after all, they meant her to stay with Buffy.

I visited Buffy every day, frustrated by the fact that I could do nothing. By the time Buffy had been in that state for two weeks, I was ready to grasp at any straw, so when I got a call from Giles, it was a relief.

I can't say I was exactly happy about what they planned. Giles made no secret of the fact that it wasn't without risk, but since they had the whole coven in agreement, he felt that the risk was acceptable.

The biggest risk was Willow. She had to be a central part of the spell, and even with support, it was going to be hard on her. Only the knowledge that if we did nothing, it seemed likely Buffy would never recover made me agree.

Willow, of course knew what had happened last time - the last time Buffy had been in this state. And the cause was pretty much the same, too. Both times, she felt she had lost Dawn in some way. Except this time, it looked like she really had.

Willow was needed because of her previous experience, and because she could link her mind to mine. I was needed, because Buffy was so far below the surface, that Willow couldn't reach her. Therefore, I had to be the link, and the contact I had to have with Buffy was to be physical.

In the days leading up to the one agreed for the spell, I made a point of increasing the time I spent with Buffy. I'd been warned that the spell might take some time, and I wanted them to be accustomed to me spending a lot of  time there. I also needed to get an idea of how long we'd be likely to be uninterrupted.

I needn't have worried. Buffy was hooked up to machines that monitored her vital signs, but, since she didn't actually do anything, and her care was largely automated, she was pretty much ignored while she had a visitor.

I took the day off work. That was something I knew had to stop soon - there was an air of 'time off again!' recently when I asked for it, and it was only a matter of time before I'd be branded unreliable. I arrived as soon as I knew routine medications and so on would be finished. Soon after I arrived, I felt Willow in my mind. They were ready.

Willow seemed pretty much her old self, except that she was scared. In the old days, Willow was scared a lot. Recently, not so much. I decided scared was good - especially as it matched how I felt.

She explained as well as she could what they were going to do, but nothing could have prepared me for what actually happened. Willow initially suggested I hold Buffy's hand, but that didn't prove enough. In the end, I had to climb onto the bed with her and hold her, retaining as much contact between us as I could manage before they were happy.

It was comfortable, in an uncomfortable sort of way. Lying on a bed, with Buffy in my arms. Even in her completely oblivious condition, it affected me, despite my best attempts to fight it down. When I felt the power, I almost lost it for a bit. The first indication was a jolt through my body, like an electric shock, making me convulse, starting with my head, and travelling down my spine, leaking out from there to my skin, and from there into Buffy. She convulsed like I had done, going rigid in my arms before relaxing into her previous pose.

Then it was like I was watching a video. Except, well, you've heard of smellivision. Well, this was emotivision. I could feel everything. I saw Buffy, and I saw Willow. And Buffy was a child for a while, and her mom and dad brought Dawn home for the first time. And then Buffy was grown up, beside her mom's hospital bed, promising that she'd take care of Dawn if anything happened, not really believing that anything would. Then there was the conversation with Hank. And, that's one bit I really want to forget. The loop went round and round, with Willow breaking in when she could, trying to bring Buffy out of it.

I lost track of the number of times we went round those scenes, with Willow not seeming to get anywhere.

Then, there was a change. Buffy left her routine, and actually seemed to be listening to Willow. They argued back and forth for a while, Willow giving Buffy reasons why she should come back, and Buffy showing why she wasn't needed.

In the end, it was Dawn who swung it. Willow made Buffy realise, that Dawn would be eighteen soon enough, and that she had known Buffy well enough to be able to see the truth regardless of what Hank told her. Willow quickly followed up her advantage by making Buffy see how much she and Giles and I all needed her. Buffy made up her mind.

As quickly as it started, I felt the power leave me. I felt exhausted, so much that I had forgotten where I was, and it was only when I heard an embarrassed cough from the door, that I realised one of the nurses had come in to find me holding Buffy. She smiled indulgently at me, and I remembered with relief that they thought I was her boyfriend. And, lying together, fully clothed, maybe not such a terrible crime. Still, I got up, smiling in my embarrassment.

"Sorry, I just have to check something," the nurse apologised.

She approached Buffy, and opened her eyelids, checking her eyes, generally fussing around.

"Good news, Mr. Harris," she told me. "It looks like we've got some sort of reaction at last. Her vital signs picked up a couple of minutes ago. Maybe it was the er, physical contact that did it. It's the funniest thing, sometimes that makes a difference. Sometimes it's a song, a voice - anything."

"Does that mean she's going to be ok?"

"Well, it's too soon to know. And, with Miss Summer's history, we just don't know how long it'll take, or if she'll ever recover. Still, it's a first step."

She left then, and I resumed my more normal position, sitting by her bedside. I took her hand in mine, and stroked it gently.

I must have been more tired than I'd realised, though, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up, my head on the bed, and Buffy was stroking my hand. I smiled at her, and I knew she was going to be ok. I knew there was a long way to go, but she was back.