"Buffy, I need you to give me permission to do a reversal spell. Please, Buffy, can you hear me? I need permission." The slayer couldn't keep her head up or her eyes open. She was so incredibly tired.

"Buffy, stay with me!" She heard the desperation in her best friend's voice but the lure of the darkness was too inviting.

*****

Oz stood in the kitchen of Giles' apartment watching Willow plead with the senseless Buffy. He just could not understand why Willow needed Buffy's permission to perform the reversal spell to break Ethan's hold over her.

Oz knew Buffy loved and trusted Willow and Giles. He knew Buffy couldn't continue to live the way she was, slowly killing herself fighting off Ethan's thrall. It was ridiculous that Willow was wasting time by asking permission to perform the ritual. A moot point. But there she was, sitting on the floor next to the unconscious girl begging her to wake-up.

Walking around the corner, Oz asked impatiently, "Willow, what are you trying to do?"

Willow looked up from the senseless Buffy. "I'm trying to gain her permission, Oz. To do a full reversal spell I must have Buffy's trust."

"You were asking her permission…is that asking for trust?" Oz questioned.

Willow sighed and then spoke to him as if she was talking to a child; "In Wicca, permission denotes trust. I need Buffy's trust. To gain that I have to ask for her permission to perform the spell."

"I thought you had her permission? You know she can't be like this, you know it's killing her! I thought you and Giles had already decided to perform the reversal spell?" Oz asked, walking slowly forward into the living room.

Willow looked away, sadly shaking her head, "No we're going to perform a spell that will lessen the hold that Ethan has over her but it won't entirely wipe it away." Willow stood up and walked around the unconscious girl lying on floor. Oz looked at Buffy's beautiful face, and slowly down her chained arms. Willow and Giles had the tiny slayer chained spread eagle onto the floor.

Giles entered the room from the hallway carrying a large bowl of something smelly. Oz's heightened sense of smell was repelled by its contents.

"If you can't gain her permission, why do you really need it, Willow? You know she trusts you." Oz continued still not comprehending the reasoning behind not performing the correct spell.

Giles answered from the table where he was mixing more awful smelling things into the bowl. "We think that she trusts us all, but if we are wrong in anyway, we could destroy her mind." Giles shook his head sadly and added more herbs to the mixture in the bowl. "If we could just lessen his hold on her long enough to start her physical recovery then we can go and hunt him down like the rat he is."

Oz thought about his connection to Buffy. What he had felt coming from her was so new to him it was difficult for him to separate all the conflicting emotions. But the one thing she always felt was a deep sense of love and the trust for Willow. The incredible love the slayer felt for both Willow and Giles was an undercurrent to all her other emotions-their love was her entire reason for living-it was ludicrous to think that she didn't trust them.

"Buffy trusts you guys, she trusts you with her life -- more than that she trusts you with her soul," Oz insisted, walking over to Giles.

"That's nice of you to say Oz, but there's really no way we can be sure." Giles answered as he stirred the contents of the bowl more furiously. Oz felt frustrated; what good was it having this connection with Buffy if he couldn't save her. He had to find away to make Giles and Willow understand just what she felt for them.

"Giles, you know that Buffy and I have a connection. I don't understand what it is or how it is but I do know one thing about everything Buffy feels..."

Giles stopped, then slowly placing the bowl on the table next to him.

The Watcher turned, giving Oz his full attention, looking down at the young wolf with hope shining in his eyes. The werewolf knew then that the Watcher wasn't sure the ritual they were about to perform would work. The father of Buffy's heart was deeply afraid that he would fail his daughter.

Oz gathered his resolve and tried to explain. "It's hard to describe what Buffy feels, but the undercurrent, I guess you would call it, of love and trust permeates everything." He turned toward Willow to make sure she was included, to make sure she could see his face so she would know he was absolutely certain what he was saying was the truth. "She loves and trusts you both so much it frightens me. It frightens me because since this connection formed I now know what love truly is: it's trust in the other person."

Oz thought he saw tears forming in the corners of Giles' eyes. The werewolf's eyes were blurring with his own tears.

"How Oz? How could she trust me after what I did to her on her birthday? How?" Giles stopped speaking. He walked over to prone girl lying on the floor looking down at with an expression of hope mixed with pure anguish.

The door to the back hallway storage room opened and Angel walked in the room startling the three people gathered around the unconscious slayer.

Oz watched as the Vampire slowly took in the expressions on everyone's face. A flash of panic briefly crossed his face as he glanced around for Buffy then changed to evident relief when he saw she was alive.Her condition unchanged, but she was alive.

"What's going on?" the brooding vampire asked.

Willow wiped the tears from her eyes and answered him, "Oz thinks we should do the full reversal spell without Buffy's permission."

Angel shook his head emphatically. "If she doesn't completely trust whoever performs it the backlash on her could destroy her mind. No, I won't allow it," he stated firmly.

Willow and Giles nodded their heads in agreement. All the hope they had felt just moments ago gone. Oz didn't know what to do. He knew he was right; he just knew it. Buffy could be on her way to recovery tonight if they would just believe him.

Angel walked over to Buffy and knelt by her side.The ensouled vampire brushed a strand of blonde hair off of her sweating brow.

"I'm here" he whispered to her gently. "I won't leave you again. We'll get through this together."

Oz felt the bottom drop out from under him; if Angel came back Buffy was lost to him. As soon as the thought had formed in his mind he discounted it. All he wanted was Buffy to be happy and whole once again. If Angel could give her the happiness she deserved, he would step aside. He would gladly leave the picture if it would help Buffy-he would leave after she was better. And the only way she was going to get well was by doing the complete reversal spell.

The tiny slayer jerked her head away from the vampire, intense pain flashing across her pale face. "Hurts, stop, hurts…" she mumbled, her words barely audible.

Angel continued to stroke her sweaty brow, "We know it hurts, Buffy. Hang in there. We are working on breaking Ethan's hold."

Oz watched the exchanged looks, as Buffy became increasingly more agitated. Willow sat on the floor next to her trying to soothe her. Buffy's bloodshot green eyes flew open searching the room in a panic. "Oh, god, it hurts!" she screamed. Her body was beginning to tremble. "Make him stop, please stop."

Oz took an involuntary step forward and the movement caused the tiny slayer to look up at him. As their eyes locked it felt like two steel clamps grabbed his head between them and were trying to smash it. Oz sank to his knees, gasping for air. He thought he was being pulled underwater-unable to breathe-the pain was so intense. He was aware of Willow's steadying hand on his shoulder; she was using her Witches' power to project comfort and peace, helping him calm his racing heart.

He still couldn't catch his breath; it was like Buffy was drowning. Buffy's mind latched onto his in a desperate attempt at staying afloat only in doing so she was dragging them both under.

Willow was talking to him; she was saying something. Oz focused on her face trying to read her lips, the roaring in his head making it impossible to hear her words. "Breathe, Oz, breathe, slow breaths like Giles' taught you."

Oz focused on his breathing. He had been practicing his breathing and meditating since he first found out he was a werewolf. He concentrated on finding his center and when he did the pain lessened. He was able to open his clenched eyes. He had no idea when he had shut them. Buffy was still there, was still in his head though her pain wasn't as overwhelming as before. Something nudged the back of his mind, something soft and warm-Willow.The Witch was asking to enter his head, too, to help him with Buffy.

Oz then realized it wasn't Buffy that created the bond between them, it was his wolf. The magical part of him that he always despised loved the slayer every bit as deeply as his human side. Willow was able to connect to Oz, as was Buffy, because his magical wolf side loved them both.

Oz threw open the barriers he hadn't known existed and Willow slipped easily into his head. She steadied him, helped him fortify his grasp on his center. Once he was solid within himself Willow pushed him outward to Buffy's connection-together they poured every bit of love they both felt for her through it. Almost immediately the pain lessened.

Once again Oz opened eyes he hadn't known were closed, but the sight that met him was disorienting. It took him a moment to adjust and realized he was seeing the people around him through Willow's sight. Instead of Buffy, he saw a blazing white light, with huge dark strands of what appeared to be ropes attached to her heart. When he looked at Giles' he again saw the white light but it was much dimmer.Angel was a mixture between the same light as Buffy's and the dark putrid light connected to Buffy's heart.

He felt Willow's essence in him became excited, happy, and joyful. He heard her through his physical hearing call to Giles to quickly light the fire of Kali and cast a circle of protection; a sphere of blue light engulfed them. Once the circle was cast the darkened ropes connected to Buffy appeared thinner than before.

"Giles, bless my athame in Kali's flame," the witch instructed the Watcher. Oz saw Giles pick up Willow's silver knife and wave it through flame burning in the bowl of herbs he was mixing earlier--doing exactly as he was told. Some part of the wolf's mind was amused that older man followed the young witches' instructions. Somehow, Oz knew this wasn't the ritual they'd planed to use, that Willow was using her instincts in magic, not her training.

"Okay, go over to Buffy. The first cord is to the right of her heart…no…no, down further…." Willow instructed and directed Giles as he used the magical knife as a surgeon would use a scalpel. As each of the putrid ropes was cut Giles would pull the darkened strand out of Buffy and place it in the bowl that contained the flame.

It was a slow process, and Oz was tiring. Sweat poured down his face and yet he knew both Willow and Giles were in worse shape. Finally, Giles came to one last strand-it was thinner and lighter than all the other ones. Oz's eyes followed it to where it left the circle and he realized right before Giles cut it that it was to Angel. It was Buffy's last connection to Angel, formed the night that he drank from her to save his life.

"Stop!" he tried to shout but it came out as more of a horse whisper. It still had the desired effect because Giles stopped. "That one's Angel's," he said, and for the first time since the strange ritual began he saw Angel move. The vampire opened his mouth to say something and then silently closed it. Angel continued to stare at Oz, though, making him slightly uncomfortable.

Giles looked up and asked quietly, "are you sure, Oz? We can't leave a single link to Ethan or he will be able to re-establish his hold."

Oz swallowed. This was what it meant to have Buffy's trust. He couldn't betray her and let Giles cut it. "Yes, Giles, I'm sure. Buffy wouldn't want her bond, no matter how it was formed, with Angel broken."

"He's right," Willow added her voice weak with exhaustion. "I didn't notice it before, but that strand is different. Giles, leave it and let's finish up."

The watcher picked up the bowl holding Kali's flame and thanked the Goddess for her help and then extinguished the flame by placing a lid over it. He then stood and walked over to the wall of the circle, the blue light glowing and pulsing as its creator neared, he thanked the protecting spirits for their help and opened the circle the blue light flickered out.

Oz felt Willow withdraw from him both physically and psychically by moving away and plopping down on the couch against the wall, she fell asleep instantly.

Oz slowly got to his feet, he had been kneeling the entire ritual and his legs were cramped. He stood swaying with exhaustion as Angel and Giles unchained the sleeping slayer by his feet. Angel lifted Buffy up into his arms and carried her up the stairs, back to the bed she had stayed in since the crisis had begun.

Oz followed the vampire into the bedroom and watched as the he gently put her on the bed. The ensouled vampire then placed a soft kiss on her forehead- then straightening, stared down at her.

Oz was at a lost as to what to do. He remembered Angel's earlier vow to the slayer and didn't want to ruin her chance at happiness. So, with a resigned sigh, the wolf started to leave the room. Before he could reach the door, Angel's words caught him.

"You'll take care of her, won't you?" Angel asked still looking down at the tiny girl in the huge bed. Oz's heart jumped into his throat and he began to hope.

"Angel…" He began, and then stopped as the Angel turned and Oz could see the blood red tears flowing down his face.

"Don't, Oz. I can't make her happy, but you can. You can take her into the light." Angel stood back away from the bed. "Get in, sleep, I'll watch over you both. I'll protect you."

Oz gave Angel a look of utter confusion. "Oz, when she wakes up she's going to be confused, disoriented and quite possibly frightened, I just want her to wake in the warm arms of someone who loves her." The vampire wiped some of his tears away, turned and walked out of the room leaving Oz alone with woman he loved.

The End