By Tracy
Author's Notes: Thanks to Laura, Amy and Serendipity, who inspire me more than they'll ever know. Thanks also to Annie, who volunteered to beta this for me. This fic is dedicated to everyone who sent me feedback for Tunnel Vision. You guys keep reading, and I'll keep writing. Deal?
Part Seven
Giles waited anxiously outside the lab, not concerned that he'd completely alienated most of the staff. Some of the techs had been called from their beds by the Dean, and were none too appreciative of it. Giles didn't care. He had something more important to worry about.The Dean sat calmly in a small office, watching Giles pace with agitation. "What are you looking for in the sample?"
"Answers," Giles bit off shortly. "I need a full report of what's happening in that blood."
"A little testy, this morning, eh, Rupert?"
Giles raked his hand through his hair. "You could say that. This is vital to, er, some research I'm doing."
"Research on what?"
"On how, tranquilizers affect the metabolism. And other … things."
The Dean grunted. "Sounds boring."
Giles let out a low breath, trying to keep his face expressionless. "You have no idea."
*** Buffy, satisfied that everything was quiet for the moment, stretched and approached Willow. "You want something to drink, Will? Anything to eat?"
Almost as if on cue, Xander's stomach growled loudly. Then Buffy's joined in the chorus.
Willow shook her head. "No. You guys go find something. I'll be okay."
Xander looked to Buffy, who nodded for him to go. "Bring me something with caffeine. Lots of it," she said. Stopping to squeeze Willow's hand on the way past, Xander left.
Buffy sat beside Willow and lightly hugged her friend sideways. "You okay?"
"He looks so... still."
Buffy nodded. "I know. But Will, you know that if there's one thing he'll come back for, it's you."
"How did you do it?" Willow asked suddenly, her voice so soft Buffy barely heard her.
"Do what?"
Willow's tear-stained face met the Slayer's. "Survive. Deal with it. After you thought you'd killed Angel."
Buffy's sharp intake of breath was almost painful. "Willow, this isn't anything like that. Oz will be okay. The worst is over."
"You don't know that. I don't know that. What if Xander hadn't…? What if he still dies? What if he never wakes up?" Tears made glistening tracks down Willow's cheeks as she spoke. "I did this to him. And now, it hurts so much, I want to die."
"Willow, you know that's not -"
"Did you feel this way? When you ran away last summer? After, you know..."
Buffy's own eyes welled up again as she thought of those horrible moments in the mansion. When she had stabbed Angel and then been forced to deal with a reality without him. "Will, that was different. I felt guilty because I chose the world over Angel. I ignored everything we'd been and how I felt, just to close the portal. I got him back, and then I sent him to Hell."
"How is this different? Buffy, you killed Angel to save the world! Why do you think I shot Oz? For target practice?"
Buffy shrunk away from her friend. "Will, I didn't mean -"
Willow sighed, reassuringly touching Buffy's hand to show the Slayer she wasn't mad. "I know, it's just-- I can't get away from the thought that if I hadn't shot him, he wouldn't be in this bed."
"No. If you hadn't shot him, he'd have run out and killed somebody and the two of you would be eaten up with guilt about it." The Slayer brushed the hair from her friend's face tenderly. "The right thing sometimes hurts Willow. Believe me, I know. But there's no reason to panic yet. Giles is coming back with the results, and we'll get through this."
Willow leaned into her friend, resting her head on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy continued to speak quietly. "I know how you feel. I know about the guilt and the pain. I know that you wish you could trade places, that you could sacrifice something to make this all have been a dream. But I've been down this road, Will, and I can tell you, it's not your fault. No matter how responsible you feel, you were doing what you thought was right. And that counts for something out there." The Slayer took Willow's face in her hands and cradled it, looking purposefully at her friend as she spoke. "You can't help what happened, and you can't change the past. But you can forgive yourself. And try to fix things. That's one lesson I learned in LA. I had to learn to be merciful. To myself. And you have to learn it too."
Willow nodded. "I'll try. But first, we need to get Oz back."
*** Giles listened intently as the lab technician explained the results of the tests. His mind worked overtime to ingest the information, trying to process it and make it fit into their current situation. "So, you're saying that the metabolism of, the... er, subject... isn't processing the sedative fast enough. There's something impeding his body's breaking down of the drug."
The petite brunette nodded. "Right. There's a second chemical trace of Phenobarbital, only it's different from the usual sedative. It seems to contain traces of poison."
"Poison?" Giles repeated, alarm rising within his chest.
"Yes," the girl replied. "I understand that you used two darts in the experiment, and without the actual darts to analyze, we can only hypothesize, but it seems that one of them had expired. The drug was decomposing and the chemical compound became unstable. Instead of an active tranquilizer, you had a genuine toxin on your hands."
"The first dart," Giles murmured, more to himself than the girl in front of him. "So what happens next?"
"The body treats it like a poison, slowing down the heart rate and the metabolism to prevent the spread of the toxin. The body will start shutting down."
Giles nodded. "That's exactly what's happening. What can I do to counter it?"
"There's two technicians working on a serum right now. It'll be ready soon. Just inject the subject within six hours, and it should counter the effects. The subject will be lethargic for a couple of days, but after that, there shouldn't be any lingering after-effects."
Giles did a quick calculation. It was nearly seven, and Willow had shot Oz at about eleven-fifteen. That meant it had been at least seven and a half hours of contamination. "What about if it's more than six hours?"
"Then it's dicey. There can be a full recovery, but the chances diminish with the length of exposure to the toxin."
Giles let out a low breath, feeling the overwhelming stress ease from his shoulders. "How long until it's ready?"
The girl shrugged, "A half hour? Maybe less? This sort of thing shows up in veterinary tests all the time."
Giles smiled sincerely, and reached out to shake the girl's hand. "Thank you so much."
She gave him an odd look and turned away, going back into the lab. "The guy really loves his lab rats," she murmured to herself.
*** Xander re-entered Oz's house with some trepidation. He spared a glance at the living room as he made his way up the stairs. Oz's parents were going to be seriously pissed when they got back. That dining room suite had been antique.
He nudged the door to Oz's bedroom open with his foot, pausing to hand Buffy a double cappucino as he made his way to the chair on the other side of the bed. He examined the two girls opposite him, noting that Willow looked slightly better. She had a bit more color, but the shadows in her eyes were the same. His eyes ruefully trailed to the still form in the bed. Only one thing could chase those shadows away.
Buffy stood, and after a silent exchange between herself and Xander where she warned him to watch Willow, she announced, "I'll be back in a minute."
She walked a few steps down the hall and into Oz's parents' room. She lifted the telephone and dialed Giles' number. The phone rang and rang, and finally his machine picked up. "Giles? If you check this, call me right away. We almost lost him. Hurry."
***
on to part eight