Camp Camp GC Fic

Maybe... Maybe it will work.

10 months later

It was early July, and Max had decided maybe his pain would lessen if he went back to the place where everything started.

Camp Campbell.

He woke up at precisely 6am at the sound of his alarm, and he immediately shot up and put on tennis shoes, ready for a day of adventure. He had actually began to like some of the kids he had been counseling. Some even felt like they were mirrors of him and his friends when he had been at camp.

Max zipped open his tent and walked out, ready for a great day. He took a deep breath in and smelled the beautiful pine scented air. And Jesus, he was turning into David. Living with him for so many years sure had rubbed off on him. He laughed at the thought of himself actually enjoying the summer at Camp Campbell. In fairness, Gwen and David had turned the place around. It looked nice, the resources were better, and no one had died at camp since they'd taken over. Who would ever guess that a summer at camp could go so smoothly?

Of course, every day there was still horrible lingering sadness from the previous years events. As the one year anniversary of her death quickly approached, Max was forced to remember what he saw that day, how he felt, the bullshit he went through with her family, and of course, having to finish high school without his best friend. He still had Neil. But it wasn't enough. She was the glue that held them together. Max hadn't spoken her name out loud since her funeral. And it was hard to hear her be brought up. Everybody knew what he was going through. He didn't speak at school. Didn't apply to. any college, which in hindsight is his biggest regret from that period of time.

But now, Max decided he needed to move forward. And by that he didn't mean find a new girlfriend, he didn't think he would ever be able to do that. He just wanted to be able to smile when remembering her, and be able to confidently say that every day he will be able to get out of bed. Because for the first few months, that wasn't a reality. He would sit in bed all morning staring at the ceiling, and Gwen would come in and rub his back, trying to make him feel better. Max didn't mind. It didn't phase him. He just wanted her back.

He knew it wasn't possible.

Max walked to the dining hall to eat some breakfast and greet the campers. He pushed open the entrance doors to see an empty room, and the Quartermaster sitting in the corner.

"Good morning," Max said cheerfully and walked to the QM. "How are you?"

The QM grumbled. "Same shit different day." He looked Max dead in the eyes. He had never done that before. "We have to talk about something."

Max glanced around nervously. "What? You got a dead body you need to show me or something?"

"How did you know?"

Max chuckled nervously. "Are you serious or is this a bit?" The QM gave him the look that told Max he was dead serious. "Shit okay, you killed someone?"

"No." He paused. "Shit, Max who do you think I am? Come to the back."

Max reluctantly followed the QM to the pantry and he saw a fridge sized cardboard box. "Um...  quartermaster, what's in there?"

He grumbled again and rolled his eyes. "Don't get too shocked." He opened the box and Max saw her.

He saw his girlfriend. The love of his life. He felt dizzy. Like he was going to throw up or shit himself. He thought he might be screaming but he could hear no sound. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Shit man, what did I tell you not to do?"

Max opened his eyes and looked down once more. Something was off. She looked normal. Healthy. The only problem was she was dead. But wait, Max thought. Shouldn't she be a little... decayed? Or something? She wouldn't look this normal 10 months after death.

And how did he get her body??

"How did you get her," Max demanded, slightly agitated at this point.

The QM grouched. "So many questions."

"Why do you have her?"

"Cause we are going to bring her back."

Max jumped back. "What?"

He grouched again. "I just said, we're going to bring her back."

"Why? How?" Max asked.

"Harrison and I have been working up a ritual to bring her back to life... a little spell."

Max rolled his eyes. "Get out of here with your Harry Potter bullshit. Harrison doesn't have real magical powers."

Suddenly someone jumped down from the attic trap door.

"Oh yes I do!" said a familiar voice, that Max quickly recognized to be Harrisons. "Hello Max."

Max threw his hands in the air. "Fuck, Harrison, have you just been waiting up there for your chance to do that?"

"I sure have," Harrison said gleefully.

Max sighed and groaned. "This is too much for me to take. First you show me my dead girlfriends body, then you tell me you have some magical ritual that will bring her back to life, which is ridiculous, and then this motherfucker drops down from the ceiling! I'm done. She's never coming back. I've accepted that already, and I can't deal with these mind games anymore. Fuck."

"Max. It works. I promise," the QM said.

"No it doesn't, magic isn't real."

Harrison put a hand on Max's shoulder and Max pushed it away. "Remember my brother?"

"The one that disappeared?" Harrison nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, he's back. And I used this spell."

Max rolled his eyes. "Motherfucker, no you didn't. Your brother was missing, not dead."

"Oh, he was dead. And I know that because he came back as the same age he was when he disappeared."

Max looked down. Shit, could this work? He thought. I had just made all this progress, and now she could be back?

It was all he wanted for the past almost year.

"So, do you want to do it?" Harrison asked.

Max's eyes filled with tears. "I just want her back man, I'll. do whatever it takes."

Harrison grinned. "I knew you'd want to do it."

Max had hope, finally. And maybe it could work. It seemed impossible, but maybe, just maybe, theres a chance it could work.