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Chapter
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Xander turned to
Willow and Giles. “Is he. . .?” They were staring at the monitor showing
Riley’s readings. Xander turned back to his screen and shouted, “Willow!
Giles! Graham’s gone.”
Willow got up and
ran over. She saw the soldiers vanish. “They’re shutting down the
program! Anya – we need to get Angel out of there! If they close it down
before we do, he may get stuck.”
Anya had been standing
behind Giles. She ran back to the circle and started the spell. Xander kept
glancing from the screen in front of him to where Anya was sitting. He couldn’t
believe he was actually hoping for Angel to come back.
Giles asked Willow,
“Can they shut down the whole program? Just like that?”
She was watching
as files started to disappear. “Looks like it.” She couldn’t
find Angel’s file anywhere. She had hidden it in one of the other folders
but the folder was gone. She turned to look at Anya. This shouldn’t be
taking so long. She looked up at Giles; he was watching Anya too.
Anya’s eyes
opened and she turned to look for Angel. “But. . . Where is he? I had him.
He was right here.”
Willow was shaking
her head. This couldn’t be happening. First she pulls Buffy out of heaven
and then she erases Angel. This was so not good. She turned back towards the
computer and frantically tried to find the folder that had disappeared. “It
has to be here. It’s got to be somewhere in the system.”
They had all gathered
around the computer, watching Willow. No one noticed the door open.
“Do you ever
lock your door?”
They all whirled
around to see Angel standing there. Willow flew to him and grabbed him in a
huge hug.
He laughed. “You
should know by now that it’s not that easy to get rid of me.”
“But where
did you come from?” Giles asked.
“The roof.”
They all turned to Anya who was looking down at her feet. She looked up sheepishly. “O.k. So maybe I’m a little rusty.”
=====================================================================
“Clear!”
Graham hadn’t
even taken the VR suit off; he came running into the room as Green put the paddles
to Riley’s chest.
“Nothing. Again.”
Green waited for the paddles to charge. “Clear!”
There were doctors
and nurses at Buffy’s bed as well. Her arms and legs were flailing. They
were trying to restrain her. Graham saw a nurse go flying against the wall.
He nearly cried in relief as he saw Buffy struggle with them and push off the
table, pulling off wires and her I.V. as she came up.
Buffy felt her mind
and body come together as one. Vacation’s over; the Slayer’s back.
She looked around and barely registered where she was before she honed in on
Riley’s body.
“No good. One
more time.”
Buffy looked up
at Graham. He shook his head.
“Clear!”
“Nothing. Call
it? Try again?” asked a nurse.
They seemed to be
hesitating. Buffy pushed Green aside and jumped on the bed, straddling Riley’s
body. She pounded her fist against his chest and saw Graham watching her. “Graham.
He needs to breathe. Help me.”
Graham ran to the
bed and breathed twice into Riley’s mouth.
Buffy was pumping
Riley’s chest. “You are not leaving me, Riley. Not again.”
Graham breathed
again.
“I love you.
Do you believe me this time?” She tried to ignore the tears blurring her
vision. “I need you in my life again.” She pounded his chest.
Graham breathed
one more time. It wasn’t working. His brain was telling him to keep going,
but in his heart, he finally understood. He couldn’t do it in the jungle
and he couldn’t do it in the machine, but he finally accepted Riley’s
choice. He put his hand out to Buffy. He tried to pull her from the table. “It’s
over, Buffy. We need to let him go.”
“Not this time.”
Her gaze hadn’t left Riley’s face.
The look in her
eyes was unlike anything Graham had ever seen. Steel, ice, strength, love. He
felt a wave of … something … course through his body. There was an
undercurrent of energy in the room. The machines went dead as the power went
out. For the first time, Graham truly understood the power of the Slayer.
Buffy stopped suddenly.
She put her hand on Riley’s chest and looked at Graham. Graham heard Riley’s
gasp and felt himself being pushed aside as Green ran towards the body.
“Off of him!
Get off of him!”
Graham pulled Buffy
off Riley and they watched as several nurses and doctors came running; heard
the machines power up again as the backup generator came on.
“Miller. Summers. Over here.” Graham looked up to see Ellis motioning to the other side of the room. “You can see him from over here.”
=====================================================================
They had been watching the monitor when the program disappeared. Willow was trying to get back into the system but it seemed to be down. They all looked up when Anya’s phone rang. Giles answered it. “Graham? We lost the program. What’s happening?” He closed his eyes as he listened. “Thank you so much for calling… And Buffy? …Yes, tell her we’ll be here… Graham? Thank you.” Giles turned off the phone and looked up at them with a smile.
=====================================================================
Buffy wouldn’t
leave the room until Riley had been stabilized. They scrounged up a t-shirt
and some camouflage pants for her to wear. She threw them on over her hospital
gown.
“We could find
you a place that’s a bit more private…” Graham was trying not
to stare.
She motioned to
the monitors. “Like you haven’t already seen more.” She liked
watching commandos turn red.
They had tried to escort her out of the area until she threw two of the MPs across the room and that settled that. “He’s spent enough time in your hospitals without me. You brought me here this time. I’m staying.”
~~ End of Chapter 27 ~~