FF: Wolves and Slayers - 2/4 - B/W/T - R

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wolves, Slayers and Cages
Part 2
Red Moon, Book 2
Frau Hunter Ash

www.hunterash.com

See part 1 for full disclaimers
Violence: physical and mental torture (not described); some vampires 
turn to dust. Rated R
Sex/Pairings: not this round. B/W/T, X/A, J/G

X-Files Crossover

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow moaned and absently scratched at her hand, as her mind tried 
to start working coherently again. Her body didn't want to cooperate 
and the witch wasn't sure she wanted to force it. She ached 
everywhere from being prodded, probed, stuck with needles and being 
held down for so long.

"Willow?" a familiar voice questioned and the witch realized someone 
was holding her uninjured hand. Extending her sense a little 
further, it felt like a bed of some kind and the scent of the person 
there was familiar.

Willow slowly opened her eyes and tried to yell in surprise but only 
a croak came out of her throat.

"Easy, please!" Oz urged. The young werewolf was sitting on the edge 
of her mattress on a metal cot. Willow immediately noticed the 
bandage wrapped around his eyes and head.  

"I won't hurt you, I swear it!" he begged and she resisted whacking 
him alongside his head with the cast.  

Willow whimpered when nothing came out of her throat.

"They did something to temporarily paralyze your vocal cords," Oz 
explained. "They brought you in a bit ago and told me to have fun 
with you."

Willow whimpered again and Oz's head dropped down to his chest.

"Willow," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I know you can't ever forgive 
me for what happened but I'm sorry."

Willow sat up slowly, pulling her hand away from the musician. Oz 
now had a full red beard and his hair was scruffy. He also looked 
like he had been through hell.

She reached out and took his hand. Then she slowly wrapped his hand 
around hers and began twisting her fingers. After a moment, he 
grinned.

"I get it!" 

Willow found herself smiling in return and was amazed at her own 
reaction. Two days earlier and she would have gladly put a silver 
bullet through his chest, now she felt like she was talking to the 
old Oz.

She moved her fingers slowly as his lips followed along.

**what happened to you?**

"My pack tore my eyes out when I went blind and then left me for 
dead," Oz began explaining. "Someone threw a net over me and then I 
was unconscious. I was told later I was captured by the Initiative." 

Willow held his hand to her cheek and let him feel her nodding.

"They drugged me, gave me shock treatments and questioned me over and 
over again about what happened with you and Buffy," Oz continued, 
hanging his head. "I told them everything, I think. It's a little 
fuzzy. When I woke up three days ago my head was clear. I mean like 
before I left Sunnydale, before I left you. I've been throwing up 
ever since, remembering what I was like."

Willow reached out to gently touch his cheek as tears escaped from 
under the bandage.  

"Willow, I'm so sorry!" he whispered. "I remember you finally got 
together with Buffy. I'm okay with that. I know you've been in love 
with her for years. I don't know what happened to me, Willow."

**Oz, if this is a line, I'll kill you**

Oz nodded easily. "I know, I swear it's not a line. All I want is 
to get out of here, find my van and I'm gone."

**eyes?**

"Oh yeah, well," Oz said softly. "Maybe a seeing eye dog instead of 
my van or maybe someone to drive me."

**Oz, about the eyes**

"It was a spell wasn't it?" he whispered. "I knew it was when it 
hit. I could hear your voice shouting at me."

Again, Willow let him feel her nod and her tears.

"No, don't cry, Will!" he protested. "It was all my fault! I forced 
you into that! I can't believe what I was like!"

**about Buffy**

Oz frowned. "When they brought you in they whacked me around a 
little. They said I lied to them and had bitten you not Buffy. They 
said she tested clean and you are infected. What happened?"

**spell**

"You found a spell to cure Buffy and not me?" he whispered with a 
frown, his shoulders sinking lower.

**just found the spell from a new internet friend. Took the curse 
myself** Willow answered.

"Damnit!" Oz shouted and jumped to his feet. Willow watched as he 
paced back and forth, smacking only once into the bars holding them 
in the small room. "I was hoping you both escaped that when they 
said Buffy wasn't infected."

Willow wanted to shout at him and cursed her silent throat. This was 
too much like the time when the Gentlemen stole everyone's voice.  
She rapped against the steel wall and Oz worked his way back to her 
cot and sat down, holding out his hand for her.

**My choice, Oz. I chose to take that from her.**

"Your choice, my fault," he growled.

**Yes, and you'll have to live with that and so will I** Willow said 
bluntly. She was tired; talking with sign language with her fingers 
was long and exhausting. It was like an amateur translating Morse 
code or something. **the main thing is to first get through this**

"Okay, how do we do that?" he asked.

**not sure, what do they have planned for us?**

"I don't know, they said something about changing you back to stick 
shift, whatever that means," Oz grumbled.

**it means they want you to rape me** Willow said bitterly.

"No!" Oz shouted. "No way! Never! That wasn't me!"

**Oz, calm down!** Willow held tightly to his hand, forcing him 
to 'listen' to her. **Buffy and the gang will find us. I mean me; 
the Initiative dumped a redheaded body on Buffy's doorstep. They had 
one of their werewolves rip him apart, including the eyes.**

"You thought I was dead?"

**Yes.**

"The world thinks I'm dead," he muttered. "I might as well be dead!  
I tried to kill Giles, I hurt your friend, I bit Buffy just to make 
her part of the pack and I tried to&I wanted to&hurt you!"

Oz curled up around her hand, lying down next to her legs as he began 
to weep.

"That wasn't me!" he sobbed. "I hurt you, I bit Buffy. That 
couldn't be me! Please don't let it be me!"

Willow reached down and gently stroked his spiky hair.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

November 28

Mulder turned to and met anxious faces watching him as he clicked off 
his cell phone. The FBI agent shook his head slightly and pulled the 
blanket back up over Scully as she lay on the sofa.

Giles glanced at the clock on the mantle and sighed. It was going to 
be a long three days, he knew. Both he and Joyce had been unable to 
get either Buffy or Tara to go to sleep, they were both still 
hovering over the computer print outs of the plans Langley had sent 
them of the Initiative Center.

"Langley can't get past their systems and override our clearances 
into the place," Mulder answered the question in Giles' eyes.

"Willow could," Xander mumbled from the floor.

"I think our best bet is to wait until they transfer her," Mulder 
said softly, so as not to wake Scully on the sofa and Joyce in an 
easy chair. "They'll hand her and several others over to a team in 
Barstow before heading out across the desert."

"Desert?" Tara asked. "Where are they taking her?"

"Area 51," Mulder answered slowly and wasn't surprised when Xander 
and Anya raised their heads up off the floor and Buffy and Tara 
stared at him. "They reopened it for testing on `hostiles.'"

"Oh man!" Xander muttered. "That is like the Holy Grail of security! 
UFO nuts have been trying for years."

Mulder grinned a rueful smile. "I know, I tried once. Didn't get 
too far and whatever I saw they wiped out with some kind of drug."

"How did you get out?" Buffy asked with a frown.

"Scully took one of their people hostage and exchanged me," the agent 
grinned.

"I heard that, Mulder!" Scully snapped from under the quilt. "I deny 
that every happened and so does the government."

"Yeah and that was before she really discovered how loveable I am," 
Mulder teased.

"Don't count on, Mulder," Scully mumbled.

"That would leave Willow in their hands and in testing for another 
four days," Buffy complained. "They won't move her or the other 
werewolf until after the full moon, Sunday morning. It's only 
Wednesday."

//Tara, Buffy!//

Tara suddenly grabbed Buffy's arm tight enough to hurt and when the 
Slayer turned to protest she found Tara's eyes closed and her head 
slightly lifted back. Buffy removed Tara's hand and glanced at Giles.

The Watcher, seeing the interaction, quickly got to his feet and 
rushed over to the table. 

"Close your eyes, Buffy, and imagine a door opening in your mind," he 
instructed in a soft voice.

"Just like they taught me," she mumbled and closed her eyes and 
pictured the steel door opening.

//Tara! Buffy!//

///Will?/// Buffy asked in her mind.

///Buffy, Willow, I'm here/// Tara answered.

//Guys, I can't do this long// Willow's voice reached them. //They 
keep drugging me. Took my voice, can't do magick. It's Walsh. Help 
me! Help us!//

///Hang on, Will! We've got help here/// Buffy urged, tears streaming 
down her face.

///Willow, calm, think calm/// Tara instructed. ///Let our love flow 
into you.///

//I can't get out of here!// Willow's mental voice began to 
panic. //Please help us!//

///Willow, we love you and we won't rest until we get you back// Tara 
assured her lover as she reached across the table to grab Buffy's 
hands, strengthening the connection.

///Will, I swear we will get you back!/// Buffy promised. ///Mulder 
is here///

//Thank the goddess// Willow's voice calmed slightly. //They think 
I'm asleep. I love you both so much. No, damnit! Not yet!//

///Will?/// Buffy yelled mentally.

///Willow? Willow!/// Tara screamed silently.

"Willow!" Buffy snapped vocally and opened her eyes as she felt 
Willow yanked from them. Tara's head jerked and the witch opened her 
eyes as well, staring deep into Buffy's blue eyes while filling with 
tears.

The Slayer rushed around the table to kneel next to Tara's chair as 
they held each other and were crying once more.

"Did you make contact?" Giles asked softly, glancing around to see 
that everyone was awake and listening.

"Yes," Tara answered between sobs. "She's so scared."

"It is the Initiative and they've done something to her voice so she 
can't do magick," Buffy added.   

"I know we're not going to get much sleep but I think everyone should 
call in sick today and try to get some sleep. It's obvious that 
we're not going to get anything done this morning," Joyce suggested.

"Not without Willow!" Buffy snapped.

"Buffy, be reasonable," Giles said wearily. "First rule of a Slayer, 
stay alive. You can't do that going exhausted into a battle. You and 
Tara split one of Willow's pain pills and get some sleep. We'll all 
try and be back here at 3pm."

Mulder leaned down and helped Scully stand up.  

"We'll be at the same hotel I stayed at last time," he said simply.

"Agent Mulder," Giles called to the agent. "Please help, Willow is 
very important to us."

Mulder nodded as he opened the door for Scully.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Well #52, you're in much better shape than we thought," Professor 
Walsh said, wiping away the tears from Willow's eyes as the young 
witch lay on the gurney from the day before. "I'm considering not 
sedating you for the change tomorrow night."

Willow's eyes widened in fear and she closed them quickly.

"Your heart rate is still a little too rapid but Atenol should slow 
that down without drugging you," Walsh commented.

Willow wanted to plead, to reason, to rant, to scream, to swear but 
knew it was useless, especially when they had taken her vocal cords 
out of commission.

"I am disappointed in Hostile 49 though," Walsh said thoughtfully, 
more to herself than to Willow. "The reports were that he wanted you 
as a mate, I was hoping you two could make up and play nice."

Willow resisted the urge to shout or spit on the doctor. She had 
seen one demon beaten to death when he dared to fight back and clawed 
one of the commandos handling him.  

"Well, we'll see what happens when both of you are wolves and in the 
same cage tomorrow night," Walsh grinned sadistically.

Willow screamed inside herself. Locking Oz in a cage with a female 
werewolf on the full moon had led to him breaking up with Willow in 
the first place, when she had found them both naked together the next 
morning.

"For today and tonight, we're going to test some of your limits; 
pain, heat, cold, things like that," Walsh informed the test subject 
and Willow shivered. "We don't get too many female werewolves. Now 
that we don't have to sedate you to keep that heart rate down and 
your mind fuzzy, we can get some clean and accurate readings."

//Stick your readings, doc.//

The orderlies, technicians or whatever they were, appeared on either 
end of the gurney.

"She's behaving, mostly but don't under-estimate her," Walsh warned 
them. "Testing of limits today."

"Right, Professor," one of them nodded.

"Start with electric shocks and see what point she either passes out 
or changes: involuntarily or voluntarily," Walsh ordered.

//Buffy! Tara!//

Buffy and Tara whimpered in their sleep and reached for each other.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"You want us to wait here for the next three nights?" Buffy demanded 
when they all returned to the Summers' dining table.

Mulder looked as unhappy as the rest of them.  

"I'm afraid so," he nodded.  

"Okay, say we grab Willow and whoever else they've got in chains, 
what do we do with them?" Xanders asked.  

"First, how do we grab them?" Giles pointed out.

"We need someone to take the place of the transfer team in Barstow," 
Scully pointed out on the map. "The transport team is two commandos 
and one medical technician. Mulder, Buffy and myself are all on 
their 'Red' list."

"Red list?" Giles questioned.

"Shoot on sight if interfering with Initiative business and dump the 
bodies," Mulder informed the group.

Joyce looked over at her daughter, her face reflecting her worry.

"What about me?" Xander asked.

Giles frowned and Mulder looked thoughtful.  

"I know you mean well, but they're trained soldiers," he pointed out.

"So am I," Xander countered and everyone looked confused. "A few 
Halloween nights years ago some of us got caught up in some cursed 
costumes. We became whatever we dressed as. I was a military type."

"Yes, Ethan's costumes," Giles muttered. "You remember that?"

"I remember everything," Xander nodded. "Just like I went through 
the training. I didn't go through it physically but I remember 
mentally. I know ranks, saluting, everything."

Mulder looked thoughtful and Scully shrugged that it might actually 
be a good idea.

"Okay, the second commando?" she asked. "I don't think Mr. Giles 
could pull that off."

"Anya if she keeps quiet?" Xander suggested.

"No, they only take males, Buffy was an exception because she's the 
Slayer," Giles responded.

"Is Detective Santiago on their 'red' list?" Joyce asked with a 
beginning smile.

Mulder smiled in return and quickly reached for his cell phone.

"That leaves the medical technician or doctor," Scully commented.

"What about Joyce Mom?" Anya suggested. "She's an authority type and 
older, wouldn't male military types respond well to such parameters?"

Scully raised her eyebrows and Xander merely shrugged.

"English wasn't her first language," he explained.

"Weren't my words correct? I didn't mention anything about sex and 
that we haven't done it in three days," Anya protested.

"Anya!" Xander snapped and turned red.

"I can do it," Joyce said firmly, bringing the conversation back to 
Anya's suggestion.

"Mom, I can't let you do something dangerous like that," Buffy 
protested.

"Well, living with you, I've already had a fair share of dangerous 
things," Joyce pointed out. "From being bitten by vampires, choked 
by zombies, dating an android, and having someone else in your body, 
I think I can handle a little make believe to get Willow back."

Buffy blushed and glared at her mother for a moment but then nodded.

"Okay, but we're there as back-up, right?" she asked, turning to 
Mulder.

"Actually, I thought you and the others might attack the Initiative 
Center that morning after they've transported Willow and we have 
her," Mulder said slowly.

"What? Won't they be expecting us?" Tara questioned.

"Yes, but I don't see a choice," he said.

"He's right, Buff," Xander nodded. "Even if we get Willow, what do 
we do with her? They have Initiative teams all over the States and 
units that go all over the world. If Willow stays on their list, 
they'll never stop hunting her."

Buffy and Tara frowned, trying to think around the problem.

"Exactly, we need to take out their computers and maybe the Center 
itself," Mulder agreed. "I have a disk here that will connect with 
some friends of mine, they'll download a virus that will wipe out 
everything and cause the computers to feedback on themselves and 
destruct."

"Like in Independence Day?" Xander asked with a grin.

"Exactly like that. It may not explode the Center, but it'll take 
out their computers all over the world within ten minutes and 
Willow's records will be erased," Mulder explained.

"But Riley and Walsh know about Willow, they'll just report her 
again," Tara complained.

"We'll see if we can find something to blackmail them with to keep 
them quiet," Mulder said.

"Mulder, you're advocating, encouraging and planning on the mass 
destruction of government property, breaking and entering, possibly 
injuring someone during the commission of a felony, sabotage, 
possible violations of National Security and now blackmail," Scully 
pointed out.

"Hmmm," he shrugged and turned back to his phone. Scully picked up a 
pen to throw at him but changed her mind with a scowl. After a 
moment he clicked off. "Detective Santiago isn't on any of their 
lists," he smiled at Giles.

The Englishman reached for his phone.

"Xander, can you put together uniforms like the Initiative's at the 
local surplus stores?" Mulder asked.

"Easy, if I had money," Xander shrugged and Mulder pulled out his 
wallet and handed the young man a credit card. "Done!" Xander 
grinned and grabbed Anya's hand. "Brad's just a little shorter and 
thinner than I am, no problem. Shoe size might be a problem though."

Giles said something into his phone and then looked over at 
Xander. "Size 9."

"Cool!"

Xander leaned down and kissed Buffy and Tara on their cheeks and 
grabbed Anya's hand as they headed for the door.

"Mulder!" Scully snapped.

"Scully, you've got to trust me. I know you haven't seen any 
evidence of anything we've said, including that the Initiative needs 
to be destroyed, but I need you to trust me," Mulder urged.

"Mulder, we're federal officers," Scully protested.

"How do we convince her by Sunday morning?" Mulder complained to 
Giles.

"Fresh grave?" the Watcher suggested.

"She'd just grab the vampire and want to dissect him," Mulder grinned.

"Mulder!" Scully protested with a smile. "I wouldn't dissect him! 
I'd autopsy him."

"Autopsy?" Giles questioned.

"I'm a medical doctor as well as an agent," Scully explained.

"How about she goes out slaying with Buffy tonight?" Mulder 
suggested. "Scully can handle herself."

"Good idea," Giles agreed.

"Slaying?" Scully asked. "I don't 'slay', I arrest people."

"These aren't people anymore and I do the slaying, you just watch," 
Buffy smirked.

//Tara! Buffy!//

"Willow?" both of them whispered, closing their eyes. Buffy grabbed 
the edge of the table and everyone fell silent.

Joyce screamed and Giles jumped up so quickly that he knocked his 
chair over as he attempted to grab Buffy before the Slayer hit the 
floor. Joyce tried to grab Tara as well, as both girls stiffened and 
then began to spasm in their chairs.

Joyce and Giles lowered the couple to the floor and the Englishman 
moved aside as Scully moved around the table and began examining them.

"No!" Buffy cried out and jerked to consciousness.

"Willow!" Tara screamed and opened her eyes a moment later.

Both looked stunned as Giles and Joyce helped them sit up.

"This connection thing is beginning to be a pain in the ass," Buffy 
complained as she rubbed her back where she fell out of the chair.

"You connected again?" Mulder prompted.

"Willow, they're doing something to her," Tara mumbled, grabbing onto 
Joyce and the table, trying to get back into her chair.  

"Shocks, electric shocks," Buffy muttered, using the wall and Giles' 
arm to stand up. "Do people still do that?"

"Apparently," Giles said bitterly. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," Buffy complained, holding onto his arms. "They had 
already done it quite a few times before she reached out to us."

"That last one was out of instinct, I think," Tara nodded. "She's 
trying to keep her shields up and not let us see. The pain snapped 
her shields open."

"I can't take much more of this, Giles," Buffy whispered and let the 
Watcher wrap his arms around her.  

"I know, Buffy, I know," he muttered.

"Let me see if I can move things up a bit," Mulder commented and 
pulled out his cell phone.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow felt someone wrapping a blanket around her and holding her 
tightly and whimpered, snuggling closer to whoever it was. After 
hours of electric shocks, intense heat in a steam room, another IV 
bag connected to her veins to prevent dehydration, now she was 
suffering from nearly being frozen to death.

The redhead clenched her teeth to try and stop them from chattering 
as someone ran their hands over her arms.

"Damn you all to hell!" Oz shouted as he stumbled over to his own cot 
and pulled his blankets off and added them to Willow's.

"I may not be able to see them but I sure as hell can smell them," he 
growled. "I'm ripping out the throat of the next person that steps 
through that cage for you."

Willow merely nodded and squeezed his hand as she tried to get warmer.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was early evening when Mulder finally got a return to his earlier 
telephone call. Buffy and Scully were out patrolling a graveyard, 
hoping to find at least one vampire and maybe a demon to demonstrate 
some of what the gang was talking about.  

Mulder knew that Scully was having a hard time with this case, 
especially since it wasn't an official case. Mulder was about to 
commit outright sabotage. Scully had learned to ignore his illegal 
entry into a lot of places, his trespassing habits, Mulder's computer 
hacking, and his unorthodox methods, but sabotage was stepping beyond 
her limits. Mulder knew he needed to convince his partner that they 
were doing the right thing and quick.

"You looked pleased," Joyce commented as she set the table for a late 
dinner as Xander showed Giles and Brad Santiago the uniforms he had 
picked up. Fortunately, Brad was a National Guardsman and knew the 
uniform and equipment even better than Xander.

The Sunnydale Detective hadn't been surprised to be called in by the 
Scooby Gang, just highly upset that it was Willow who had been 
taken. During her time in the hospital after Oz' attack; Brad had 
come to like the young woman. He liked all of the Gang and was 
accepted as a member when he wouldn't go away and kept insisting on 
answers.

After working with them for a month on various cases, Brad had no 
regrets about keeping the existence of werewolves, vampires, demons 
and other things quiet in Sunnydale. He quickly realized his 
superiors didn't want to hear it and didn't seem to see it, either.  
Working with the Gang helped the detective feel like he was doing 
something to counter the heavy influence of darkness over Sunnydale.

"I am," Mulder said, attracting the attention of everyone else in the 
room, including Tara who was researching Giles' books for any spell 
that might be of use.

"I got my friends to hack into the Initiative's computer and warn 
them that we planned on intercepting the transport Sunday in 
Barstow," Mulder grinned.

"And that helps us, how?" Xander questioned.

"They're moving up the transport date to Friday morning and the 
transfer site to Las Vegas," Mulder responded.

"That helps us, how?" Xander repeated.

"They won't know we're coming, they'll think they're ahead of us," 
Giles answered.

"And they won't have as long to mess with Willow," Tara smiled.

"Las Vegas will easier to disappear in," Mulder nodded.

"Okay, lets get planning troops," Xander suggested. "Who is going 
where?"

"I suggest Scully and I go with Xander, Brad and Joyce to Las Vegas," 
Mulder said. "The rest of you hit the Center after you get a call 
from me or Scully and find a way to get a disk into one of their 
computers."

"I don't like being away from Xander," Anya complained.  

"It'll be okay, honey," Xander reassured her. "I'll be okay and I'll 
bring Willow home," he said as he held her.

"Or Riley's head on a platter," Tara mumbled.

"Okay, we'll need for the cell to be ready for Willow and whoever 
else we bring back," Mulder suggested.

"It will be," Giles nodded.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow had no idea how much time passed. It seemed like an eternity 
to the frazzled young woman. Endless 'testing' meant endless pain.  
First some sort of testing of her pain threshold, then some rest and 
then more testing. Endless breaks with more blood being drawn for 
testing, EKG monitoring, EEG monitoring or some sort of machine 
tracking something.

Whenever they gave her a moment to recover, they threw her in the 
cell with Oz. Willow was slightly amused with herself as she clung 
to him for comfort in-between the rounds of testing and pain. She 
knew he was the cause of the mess in the first place but she also 
welcomed the human warmth and believed he was sincere in his regret 
over what had happened.

The witch whimpered as she shifted her body on the cot. Instantly, 
Oz was by her side and attentive, despite his blindness.

"What's hurting?" he asked softly.

She moved her good hand into his.

**Everything.**

He managed a small smile. "I understand. They 'tested' me for two 
weeks. I'm a perfect werewolf, they say." 

Willow could hear and see the bitterness of that statement on his 
face and in his voice.

**I'm sorry, Oz.**

"Don't be," he shrugged. "I don't know what they have planned for me 
after these full moon nights."

**Probably a mindless killing machine that they can turn off and on.**

"Yeah, looks like I'm capable of it, doesn't it? I hurt you so 
easily."

**Oz, no talk about that.** Willow hesitated. Not having her voice 
sucked, she thought once again. **Does the change hurt?**

Oz' frown deepened. "Yes, every time," he admitted. "It gets easier 
over time and the body gets used to changing back and forth.  
Fortunately, you won't remember the change and what you do as a wolf 
the first few months. Never, if you're lucky."

**What happened to you?**

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I was traveling, heading to Alaska. I 
was hoping to find some shamans up there that might be able to help 
me. I hit a small northern California town and felt the connection 
when I entered a small coffee shop. I knew immediately that a small 
group of kids were like me and they knew me."

The young musician hesitated. "We met and I agreed to stay for a 
couple of days; who wouldn't? I found an entire group like me and 
they welcomed me. They told me they lived together, kinda like 
hippies. They had a cabin up in the woods and let the wolf loose.  
They swore they didn't hurt humans and had learned control on their 
own."

"I hung out with them, a couple of them were musicians too and we 
jammed," he said wistfully. "I was accepted into the pack and ran in 
the woods with them. The leader taught me how to focus so intensely 
that nothing else got through and I could control the change, 
eventually. I focused on you."

The redhead male's head dropped. "I don't know how things got 
twisted but they did. Drugs, sex, power plays in the group and 
blood. At first it was from deer and raccoons, things like that.  
Then they took down a hitchhiker near the highway and bullied me into 
drinking some of the blood. The next night they attacked me."

**Oz.**

"It was either submit to all of them and be low man in the pack or 
resist," he continued. "I fought back and fought my way up the 
hierarchy in minutes. The leader wouldn't let up though and wouldn't 
let me stop at submitting to him. Something snapped, I tried to 
submit and I saw in his eyes he wanted to kill me. I fought back for 
my life and I lost my soul somewhere when I won and became Alpha wolf 
of the pack."

**Oz, I'm sorry**

"I know, but it's still my fault. All I could think of was you and 
came back. You know the rest," he finished.

**can you still control the change?**

"I don't know. I'm going to try and stay human when we change 
tomorrow night and protect you. I owe you that much," he said 
firmly. "I know you're a werewolf now, I can tell by your scent. I 
also remember Buffy mating with you. Are you happy with this or was 
it to protect her and you from me?"

**Happy, very happy with Buffy** Willow answered.

Oz nodded, as if expecting the answer. "You both were too blind all 
that time and she was so blinded by Angel. I remember someone else 
with you, who is she and how does she fit into this?"

**Tara, fellow witch and student. Also mate.** Willow admitted.

"Really? Wow! You drop guys and get two girls? I'm jealous," he 
said, trying to tease and Willow lightly whacked his hand in 
response. "As long as you're happy, Willow. I can never make up for 
what I did but I'll die trying."

**hope it doesn't come to that for either of us.**

"Me too, a blind man can still play guitar," he grinned.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"So, you go out nightly and hope you run into vampires and kill 
them?" Dana Scully asked the small blonde as they opened the gate to 
one of the local graveyards.

"That's usually the game plan for a typical evening," Buffy said 
easily. "Sometimes I can get some quality dance time in at the 
Bronze or some study time with Will and Tara."

"And you go to college?" Scully continued questioning the girl and 
unbuttoned her jacket for easier access to her gun. The FBI agent 
might not believe everything Buffy, the Scooby Gang or her own 
partner had told her, but Scully wasn't a fool. If something was 
going to jump out at her in a spooky graveyard then she was going to 
test the theory whether vampires could be killed with a Glock 
automatic pistol or not.

"Yeah, take classes during the day, slay by night, that's me!" Buffy 
said cheerfully but Dana Scully detected a note of bitterness.

"When do you sleep?"

"Fortunately, Slayers don't need a lot of sleep," Buffy 
shrugged. "It's one of the side effects of being The Chosen One."

"You don't like being the Slayer?" Scully asked, genuinely curious.

"No, I didn't choose this, I didn't ask for it and I didn't ask to 
put my friends in danger all the time," Buffy growled. "I 
was `chosen' when I was fifteen and told my destiny was to fight the 
forces of evil until I died, then someone else would be chosen after 
me."

"Doesn't sound like much of a future," Scully commented.

"It's not and now I've cost Willow part of her soul," Buffy fought to 
keep back the tears.

"It's not your fault. From what Mulder tells me, her ex brought all 
this on," Scully said softly.

"Maybe if I wasn't the Slayer, Willow could have had a normal life," 
Buffy whined. "Hell, I know she'd be with Oz and running around 
howling at the moon and probably killing people. I'm just worried 
what those bastards will do to her."

"What will all of you do with her when we get her back?" Scully asked.

"What will I do with my werewolf girlfriend?" Buffy asked bitterly. 

Scully fell back and stumbled onto the grass as Buffy spun around, 
whipping a stake out of her inner jacket pocket and lashing out with 
it. Scully blinked as she watched a figure move out of the shadows 
at a dash and be impaled on the stakes.

Before Scully could protest a possible murder, the body exploded into 
dust.

Buffy acted like the incident was a common as swatting a fly. She 
smirked as Scully got back to her feet.

"They don't leave enough of a trace, do they?" the scientist in 
Scully asked.

"Nope, self defense on the Evil side," Buffy answered. "Hard to 
prove the existence of vampires when they go `poof'."

Scully rushed to catch up as Buffy continued down a row of 
gravestones.

"About my girlfriend," Buffy took up the previous conversation. "We 
have a cell in one of the crypts where we can lock her away on nights 
of the full moon."

"You really believe she's going to change into a wolf?" Scully asked 
with a frown.

"More like a werewolf, upright, furry, long teeth, bad temper," Buffy 
snapped. "I remember what it felt like to feel my blood on fire, to 
hear the bones in my legs and arms breaking and reforming. I saw the 
hair on my arms turning into fur and felt my jaw dislocate and my 
teeth growing. I've seen Oz change and I saved Willow one night when 
Oz was loose. To save her again, I took his bite. Then she went and 
reversed it on me! She finds this damned spell and takes it away 
from me to herself."

"Sounds like she truly loves you," Scully said softly as Buffy sat 
down on a tombstone and wiped angry tears away.  

"Yeah, I got lucky," Buffy smiled a small smile. "Better than most 
Slayers, I've outlived most of them and I found love with two 
fantastic people."

"Did you know that someone is sneaking up on us on the left?" Scully 
asked with a smile.

"Yup, and one is stalking you from behind," Buffy shrugged. "When I 
say `duck,' do so."

"Alright, this is your turf," Scully grinned ruefully. The FBI agent 
knew that she should be trying to capture one of the `vampires' but 
wasn't sure how to do it if her gun was actually useless. Then there 
was the question of what to do with one if they were going to explode 
in the morning sun like Buffy claimed they would.  

Buffy grinned and jumped up onto the tombstone she had been sitting 
on and somersaulted off it, right over Scully's head. Dana turned in 
time to see Buffy land in a shoulder roll and come up with a stake in 
her hand, thrusting it upward into the chest of a male figure.

Before Scully could really take in his tattered zombie-like 
appearance, he exploded into dust.

"Behind you!" Buffy called and Scully turned with her pistol in hand, 
ready.  

The FBI agent began shooting as a female reached for her with a 
growl. Scully emptied her gun into the chest of the&
cheerleader?...and the girl was barely knocked back a few feet.

Scully's eyes widened at the sight of what was once a teenage girl 
who now had a ridged forehead, yellow eyes, and long fangs.  

The Agent reached for another clip as the female vampire reached for 
her neck.