FF: Wanted A Werewolf - 5/8 - B/W/T - NC17

["Hunter Ash" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wanted: A Werewolf and a Superman
Red Moon, Book III
Part 5/8

Author: Frau Hunter Ash 
Copyright © 2002 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.
Email: carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx Feedback welcome!!
Homepage Addy: http://www.hunterash.com/ 

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, 
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline, 
however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be 
sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made 
for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright 
notices.

F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship 
between people of the same gender and may even include 3 at the same 
time <G>. If this offends or is illegal for you, then please leave.  
Come back when you are older, have an open mind, moved, or changed 
your laws. 

Spoilers: this started around New Moon Rising and veered off from 
there. 

Summary: An injured runaway Willow runs to the only place in LA 
where she'll be safe, revealing her secret to Angel and crew. Buffy 
and Tara rush to LA to retrieve their wayward lover and prepare to 
face Adam.

Rating: NC-17 

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

Buffy had her hands wrapped in Tara's hair and the witch pulled the 
Slayer close, her hands moving under Buffy's shirt, moaning at the 
feel of Buffy's skin. Buffy whimpered and moved a knee between 
Tara's legs and felt Tara's hips jerk in response.

"Uh, ehm," a voice broke into their passionate kiss. Buffy leaned 
over Tara on the sofa, foreheads touching.

"Oh God, I need you," Buffy whispered.  

"I think Giles wants our attention," Tara whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Buffy muttered and climbed off the witch and 
collapsed onto the sofa next to Tara.

Giles maneuvered the wheelchair to the other side of the coffee table 
to face the young women.  

"Agent Mulder says that Willow contacted him, begging him to stop 
searching for her," he told them.

"Willow?" Tara asked softly.

"Will?" Buffy echoed her.

"He wrote back assuring her that the Initiative wasn't looking for 
her and we wanted her home," Giles informed them.

"Well, I talked with Parker last night," Buffy added. "He says that 
Adam and his demons have taken over the caves the Initiative had set 
up. There was a major battle last night and the commandos lost."

"I have the feeling he's getting ready to do something," Giles 
muttered.

"Well, that attempt on Xander and Anya set him back, I think," Buffy 
commented. "He was so not expecting Xander with a shotgun to his 
head."

"Yes, well I have the feeling that he's moved onto his second plan," 
Giles pondered.

"Which would be?" 

"I'm not sure, we know he's gathering demons and vampires for some 
reason, I just can't figure it out. He's supposed to have been 
created to battle them, not team up with them."

"I just want to know how to kill him," Buffy growled.

Suddenly both girls stiffened and grabbed at their heads.

"Will," Buffy muttered and Giles waited impatiently until they shook 
their heads and blinked rapidly.

"Willow's changing," Tara muttered, clinging to Buffy.  

"Oh God," Giles muttered, taking off his glasses and beginning to 
clean them.

"It's so painful, Giles," Buffy said softly, her eyes filling with 
tears. "She reached out."

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

Willow bit into a towel Carson had placed next to her to keep the 
neighbors from complaining about the screams of pain. <Not that they 
would notice much in this neighborhood,> she managed to reflect 
before the next round of pain hit her, doubling her over.  

The computer hacker screamed again and tore at her clothes, shedding 
the baggy trousers and ripping the t-shirt from her body as fur grew 
under the cloth and her bones began to break, stretch and reform.

"Buffy!" Willow screamed mentally as her jaw broke and began to 
elongate. "Tara!"

Willow fell into the darkness as the wolf came forward and howled at 
the chains on her wrists.

Carson sat on the sofa, trying to be unconcerned about the struggling 
werewolf in the middle of his living space. He had been right when 
he told Willow that werewolves and vampires didn't get along on some 
primal level.  

Even now, knowing that the red-furred werewolf in front of him was 
his friend Willow, didn't help his primal feeling of hatred. Out of 
all her friends, he knew that he and Spike would be the worst ones to 
ever sit with her on nights of the full moon. It was almost 
guaranteed that the wolf wouldn't quiet down until changing back into 
human with a vampire anywhere nearby.

Carson also didn't see a choice in the matter until Willow went home 
to her friends and they could watch over her. There wasn't anyone in 
LA he trusted enough to watch over her.

The vampire settled in for a long night of loud music and howls.

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

Tara felt Buffy crawl into bed behind her and snuggle up against the 
witch. The Slayer was nice and warm, having just gotten out of a 
shower and Tara leaned back into Buffy. The Slayer wrapped a leg 
over Tara's and the blonde witch gasped as Buffy's arm moved under 
her sleeping shirt, Buffy's fingers dancing over her breasts as the 
other hand moved over Tara's hip and between her legs.

"Yes!" Tara whispered. "I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, Tara," Buffy said softly, her voice rough with need.  
Tara nodded and moaned with her own need as Buffy ripped her 
underwear away and bit down on her neck from behind.  

`Oh God,' Tara thought, `Full moon and Slayer lust.'

Buffy moved her hand between Tara's legs from behind and Tara grabbed 
the sheet under her as the Slayer began to work Tara's body into a 
frenzy of arousal. There were times when Buffy needed absolute 
control and could drive Tara into a quivering mass and have the young 
witch begging, almost in tears. Tara could tell this was going to be 
one of those times as Buffy's fingers danced between her sexual lips 
and at her entrance but denied Tara any kind of relief. Buffy's 
other hand was tormenting Tara's nipples and her teeth were bound to 
leave marks. The Slayer knew instinctively where every erotic spot 
was on Tara's neck and body.

Tara felt her body opening up, wanting more of Buffy inside of her 
and still Buffy held back, always taking Tara to a familiar edge and 
then pulling back until Tara thought she was going to scream out of 
need. And finally did.

"Buffy! Please!" 

"Okay, baby," Buffy whispered and pulled Tara over onto her back and 
went between the other blonde's legs, never letting her fingers 
totally leave Tara's body, keeping up the teasing. Buffy thrust 
deeply into Tara and ran her tongue over Tara's nub at the same time 
and used her strength to keep Tara on the bed as the young woman 
jerked in reaction, hips beginning to thrust against the Slayer's 
fingers.

"Buffy!" Tara begged and whimpered as everything crashed into red and 
her body was no longer under her control, shaking and thrashing about 
the bed as another scream was torn from her.

Tara didn't know how much time had passed but it was long enough for 
Buffy to crawl back up the bed and take her in the Slayer's arms.  
Tara felt herself being held by Buffy and gently rocked as Buffy 
softly stroked her hair off her face.

Tara's heart was still pounding and her breath was ragged.

"Shhhh," Buffy was saying. "I've got you, Tara."

"Buffy," Tara whispered.

"Shhh, sleep, my love," Buffy whispered.

A few hours later both jerked and whimpered in their sleep as the 
moon went down and Willow changed once more into human.

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

Willow mumbled something as Carson picked her up and put her in the 
bed, still totally naked from the metamorphous from wolf to human.  
He crawled in beside her to sleep a good part of the day away.

The hacker woke up several hours later feeling very hungry and 
frisky. Knowing there wasn't much for food in the apartment and 
there wasn't anything to do about being frisky, Willow decided to 
grab something to eat. Then pick up some work from the warehouse and 
make it back well before dark.

Food consisted of a rare hamburger, fries and a milkshake at locally 
owned fast food place that wasn't too bad. The hacker was at the 
warehouse in plenty of time to grab the program she wanted to finish 
before leaving Los Angeles in two days.

Willow felt good about the decision and couldn't wait to see Buffy 
and Tara, even though she wasn't sure how they would react to her, 
knowing the werewolf she was had killed someone.

The witch moved her Vespa into the warehouse and shut the door behind 
her. She walked to the office and opened the door, her mind occupied 
on how she was going to approach the Scooby gang. It took Willow a 
moment to realize that the door hadn't been locked.

Willow started to turn when her eyesight was filled with stars and 
blackness as something crashed into her head. The hacker felt hands 
grabbing her up off the floor and someone holding her up as her 
vision wouldn't focus.

"Hello, Willow," a voice growled in her ear. "There's a bounty for 
you among the demons in Sunnydale. Adam knows the Slayer would do 
anything for you."

Willow let her head drop forward and willed her body to go limp.

"Hey, you hit her too hard!" a second voice protested. "Adam will 
kill us slowly if she's dead!"

"I didn't!" the voice behind her shouted and dropped her. Willow 
fell heavily to the floor on her hands.

"Get her up, damnit!" the second voice ordered and hands grabbed her 
again and turned her over.

The vampire stared at the stake in his chest for a moment with a 
stupid expression on his face before he turned to dust. Willow's 
eyes were total black orbs as she concentrated and, with the power of 
her mind, sent the same stake into the chest of the vampire hovering 
over her.

Willow sat up slowly, her eyes changing back to green as she looked 
around the warehouse office, making sure there weren't any more 
vampires or demons after her.

"Damn!" she swore and tried to calm her shaking hands. She attempted 
to stand up and couldn't understand why her eyes wouldn't focus and 
she couldn't seem to balance on her legs.

Willow crashed back to the floor as sticky blood fell down the side 
of her face from her skull.

"Gotta get&.the moon soon&"

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

"Giles, it's Mulder," the voice on the other end of the phone 
announced.

"Yes, Agent Mulder," Giles answered as Joyce curled up in his arms on 
the sofa. She sat up with an interested expression at the mention of 
the FBI agent's name.

"How's the recovery going?"

"Not as well as they had hoped for, I'm afraid," Giles admitted. "I 
might be stuck in this wheelchair."

"Giles," Mulder hesitated and Giles knew that the other man didn't 
know what to say to news like that. `Who did?' Giles shrugged 
mentally.

"Any news on Willow?" Giles asked, interrupting the agent.

"No, but I do have some news about your Adam, though," Mulder 
answered. "Someone has been ordering equipment and chemicals and 
forging Professor Walsh's name to the orders. They're the same 
things that she needed to assemble Adam."

"He wants to create more like him?"

"That's what I'm guessing," Mulder agreed.

"Thank, Agent Mulder," Giles said absently. "Any information can 
only help at this point. We still don't know why he's gathering 
demons and vampires, his primary programs are to kill them."

"No, his primary programming was never set," Mulder informed the 
Watcher. "Walsh never set his programming for any specific task.  
He's like a child discovering what his path in life is. He's making 
his own."

"And like a child with power, he wants control," Giles said 
thoughtfully. "And playmates."

"Very likely," Mulder agreed. "This case defies all common profiling 
logic but I would guess that he'll want to prove his superiority and 
strength by doing something really big and he needs the demons and 
vampires to do that."

"Conquest," Giles nodded to himself.

"Since he hasn't gone the path of a serial killer, Hitler would be my 
next guess," Mulder concurred. "He'll want Sunnydale for himself to 
create more like him, and then he won't need the demons and vampires."

"In his mind, creating a superior race," Giles growled.

"Yes, that's why Buffy is a threat," Mulder commented. "We 
eliminated the threat of the Initiative controlling him; he ensured 
his freedom from the beginning by killing Professor Walsh. Only made 
sense to try and kill Buffy. Next is the town."

"Thank you, Agent Mulder, this helps immensely," Giles said as Fox 
Mulder said goodbye.

Joyce looked at Giles' serious face.

"I'll call Buffy," she said, anticipating his next request.

"We just have to figure out how he plans on doing it and when," Giles 
muttered as Joyce went to grab the telephone.

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

Angel and Cordelia looked up in surprise when the office door slammed 
open and a figure fell through the doorway. Both of them registered 
the small figure and red hair at the same time.

"Willow!" Angel yelled as he bounded over his desk and through his 
office door to the main door and turned the witch over in his arms.  
He quickly looked up at Cordelia rushing to his side.

"Get the first aid kit," he snapped, taking in the amount of blood on 
her face and the cut along her scalp.

"Help me!" Willow whispered.

"I'm here, Willow, you're safe," Angel said softly.

"No&lock me&up, please," she whispered, trying to keep her eyes open 
as Cordelia came back into the main office with the kit.  

"You're safe, I promise, no one will get to you here," Angel said 
softly as Cordelia opened the kit and ripped open a gauze pad and 
handed it to Angel.

"No, not safe&from me&full moon&lock me up&" Willow tried again.

"What?" Angel questioned.

"Oh my God!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"What?" Angel demanded.

"Full moon tonight! She's saying she's a werewolf?" 

"Oh hell!" Angel growled and lifted the redhead into his 
arms. "Willow!" he shouted and growled when she opened her eyes and 
they were wolf yellow.

Angel threw Willow over his shoulder and ran for the door.

"Cordelia, Wesley!" he shouted behind him. "Wesley, get a sedative! 
Cordelia, grab the shackles, my place, downstairs!"

Angel nearly flew down the stairs as fast as he could as he felt the 
body over his shoulder beginning to twitch and spasm. The vampire 
kicked open his door, shattering the lock and doorjam but not 
caring. He threw Willow onto the bed and quickly rolled her up in 
the blanket as her fur became thick and long. Willow screamed with 
the pain of the transformation.  

Angel wrapped his arms around Willow from behind, containing the 
changing young woman.

"Tara!" Willow screamed and struggled against the blanket and the 
vampire. "Buffy!"

Cordelia and Wesley rushed into the vampire's basement apartment and 
stood stunned as they watched Willow's face change from the young 
hacker into a wolf head.

"Sedate her! I can't hold her for long!" Angel shouted and Wesley 
moved forward, avoiding the snapping jaws of the enraged werewolf to 
bury the needle into the werewolf's neck.  

After a moment the struggles became weaker and Angel loosened his 
grip as the werewolf's head dropped forward.

"How much did you give her?" he asked as he stood up and contemplated 
their surprise visitor.

"Not much, I'm afraid," Wesley said. "I didn't have time to measure 
properly so I went with very little as opposed to too much. I doubt 
she'll be out more than an hour."

"Willow?" Cordelia said softly, staring at the creature with a semi-
human body and a wolf's head wrapped in one of Angel's blankets. She 
looked down at the shackles in her hands and dropped them as if they 
had suddenly become very hot.

Angel walked over and hugged her.

"Help me get her secure and let's make some phone calls," he 
suggested and she nodded, regaining her composure. "Someone owes us 
some answers."

Together, the three of them unrolled the werewolf and pulled off her 
jacket and boots. The transformation hadn't shredded her oversized t-
shirt nor the baggy trousers and so they left those on.

Wesley quickly searched through the jacket and trousers and found a 
wallet and address book.  

"False identification, says she's Robin Loxley," Wesley commented as 
Angel carried the werewolf over to a post and Cordelia wound the 
shackles around it. "That's bloody cute."

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"Robin of Loxley, Robin Hood," Wesley explained. "Hackers."

Angel shrugged, looking down at the unconscious werewolf.

"The address?"

"Probably false, I think it's in the middle of the Los Angeles 
River," Wesley muttered. "There is a phone number here with the 
number 911 next to it."

"We'll try that," Angel commented. "Cordelia, I want you and Wesley 
to stay as far back away from her as possible until morning. Last 
thing I want is either of you infected. Bad enough she is."

"This might explain why she ran away," Wesley commented.

"Why didn't Buffy tell us!" Cordelia demanded. "They ask us to look 
for her and don't tell us why? She's our friend too!"

"I know," Angel growled. "I'm going to find that out," he said as he 
pulled his cell phone out and began punching in numbers.

"Hello?" a voice answered.

"Yes, I'm a friend of Robin's," Angel said.

"I'm afraid Robin isn't here right now and she's not at work," the 
male voice said.

"I know, she's with me and some friends, she's been in an accident 
and is slightly hurt," Angel said.

"What? Where are you? What's the address? I need to see her tonight!" 
the male voice became very agitated.

"Were you with her last night?" Angel asked cautiously.

"Last night, yeah, she had last night off," the voice answered, 
equally as cautious.  

"Then you know about her condition?" Angel asked.

"Verdamnit! Stop dancing!" the other male shouted. "You know about 
her and full moons, don't you?"

"Yes, and she's safe," Angel informed him.  

"Strong and secure? What's the address?"

Angel gave him the address. "The chains are thick enough to hold a 
werewolf or vampire."

"Good," the male responded. "Do you know her friends out of town?"

"Yes."

"She was going home after this moon cycle, call them," the voice 
suggested.

"Just about too," Angel informed him and clicked off the phone.

"Who was that?" Cordelia asked as they sat on Angel's bed, watching 
the unconscious werewolf twitch in her sleep.

"Whoever Willow has been staying with, I think," Angel answered. "He 
knows Willow's a werewolf and was with her last night."

"Terrific, everyone knows but us?" Wesley complained.

Angel shrugged and keyed in numbers again.

"Giles? I thought I dialed Buffy's house," Angel frowned. 

"It is," Giles responded. "I, well, you see, Joyce and I are 
engaged. This is Angel, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Congrats, Giles. Can you put Buffy on the extension?"

"Certainly, hold for a moment," the Watcher said.

"Angel? Is it Willow?" Buffy's breathless voice demanded a few 
moments later and Angel could hear noises in the background of other 
people demanding to know what was happening.  

"Giles here," Giles announced, picking up the telephone again.

"Yes, I have Willow here in my bedroom," Angel announced.

"Oh God, Will," Buffy whispered. "Is she okay?"

"Uh, Angel, there's something you should know&" Giles began.

"What? That she grew fur, fangs and a tail about twenty minutes ago?" 
Angel demanded. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"Well, we didn't want to worry you more than we had to," Giles tried 
to explain.

"That was really unfair of all of you," Angel complained. "Willow is 
our friend too."

"Angel, I'm sorry," Buffy said softly. "We&something happened."

"Well, you can explain when you get here," Angel snapped. "Whoever 
she's living with said that she was going home after the moon cycle 
and for me to call you all. I suggest that you get here before she 
wakes up as a human again. She was hurt with a head wound and will 
need you here."

"Hurt? Is she okay?" Giles demanded.

"How the hell do I know?" Angel snapped. "She fell into my office 
all bloody with a head wound and barely told me to chain her up 
somewhere before she started changing."

"Buffy, Tara and Joyce will be there in a few hours," Giles said 
calmly.

"What about you, Giles?" Angel asked.

"I'm afraid the wheelchair takes up too much room in the car and Tara 
and Buffy should be the ones there when Willow wakes up," Giles 
explained.

"Wheelchair?" Angel asked.

"The girls will explain when they get there," Giles promised.

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

Carson entered the detective agency office slowly, his hands in plain 
sight. He spotted Wesley looking around the corner of a door and 
Angel behind another door, both with crossbows.

"I'm a friend of Willow's," he said slowly. "She goes by the street 
name of Robin. I'm the one you called."

Angel lowered his crossbow and stepped out into the office and looked 
closely at the shorter man.

"Hello, Angel," Carson said calmly.

"Father Karnstein?" Angel asked softly, his face one of surprise as 
Wesley stepped out from the doorway, still cautious.

"I'm called Carson, now," the vampire answered and held out his hand 
to Angel.

The vampire with a soul hesitated and then shook Carson's hand firmly 
and broke into a smile.

"How did you hook up with Willow?"

"Is she really safe?" Carson demanded first.

"She's downstairs in my place, chained and sedated," Angel reassured 
the other vampire.

"She left a note she was only going to be gone for an hour or so, I 
went crazy when she didn't come back," Carson explained. "I went to 
her work and found her scooter and blood but no sign of her. I went 
home and went berserk."

"How long has she been with you?" Wesley asked.

"We left Sunnydale together," Carson answered and noticed Angel's 
frown.

"Her family and friends have been going crazy looking for her, you 
know that," Angel growled.

"Willow is an adult, a grown woman, and made her own decisions," 
Carson countered. "I didn't talk her into anything, it was her 
decision to leave Sunnydale and I asked to come along so I could keep 
an eye on her."

"Why would you do that?" Wesley asked.

"Angel knows," Carson commented, his eyes suddenly hard. "Can I see 
her?"

"Alright, just don't unchain her," Angel said, pointing out the 
office door.

"I'm not stupid, Angel," Carson snapped.  

Angel walked past the vampire and led the way down the stairs and 
pulled his broken door to one side.

"You're invited," Angel said simply and Carson walked into the 
vampire's apartment and quickly crossed the room, staying just out of 
reach of the enraged and very awake werewolf. Angel glanced over and 
found a very worried Cordelia sitting on his bed with a tranquilizer 
gun in her hand.

The wolf howled and slashed at the vampire with its clawed hands.  

"Did you call Buffy and Tara?" Carson asked, backing up and sitting 
down in a chair at a kitchen table.

"Yes, they'll be here in a few hours," Angel answered. "Why did 
Willow leave Sunnydale?"

"If Buffy and Tara haven't told you, then it's not my place," Carson 
responded with a frown.

"We've been friends with Willow for years!" Cordelia 
protested. "Buffy calls and asks us to look for her and she only 
tells us that Willow is hiding and won't tell us why! I think that 
was extremely unfair!"

"I agree, what if I hadn't been here tonight and couldn't have held 
her as she changed? Wesley and Cordelia couldn't have reacted fast 
enough before one or both of them got hurt when Willow changed."

"Don't look at me, meine freund!" Carson snapped. "I didn't keep the 
damned secret from you! Willow planned to be back at our place where 
I would chain her up and watch her, keeping her and everyone else 
safe, just like last night. I don't know what happened. I do know 
your office is closer to the warehouse than our place."

"She probably ran out of time after waking up from whoever jumped 
her," Angel reasoned.

"Well, I suggest that you get out the cards, old friend," Carson 
smirked. "We have several hours before your answers get here."

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

Buffy was glad that Giles insisted on her mother accompanying her and 
Tara to Los Angeles, both college students were too nervous to pay 
attention to driving and probably would have crashed before getting 
there.

Xander and Anya had arrived at the Summers home to watch over Giles 
and found Buffy and Tara both anxious to be gone. They barely had 
time to hug the girls before Tara and Buffy had shoved Joyce into the 
car and were off, heading for Los Angeles and Willow.

Once in Los Angeles they made good time considering it was 4 a.m. in 
the morning and found themselves pulling in Angel's parking garage 
with little conversation.

Buffy was out of the car and heading for the stairway with Tara right 
behind her before the car had totally stopped and Joyce yelling at 
them to wait for her.

Realizing dark parking garages in the middle of the night weren't the 
safest places on Earth, even if you took away the supernatural 
threat, Buffy slowed down and let her mom catch up with them.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she said softly.

"Its okay, I'm worried too," Joyce responded. "I'm just not 20 years 
old anymore."

Buffy knocked cautiously on the broken door and took a deep breath as 
Angel pulled the door aside.

The former lovers and enemies looked at each other for a long moment 
and Angel moved aside to let the Slayer, Tara and Joyce enter his 
apartment.

Both Buffy and Tara rushed over just as Carson had done earlier, 
keeping out of reach of the werewolf but wanting to get as close as 
possible.

"Willow?" Tara said softly as the werewolf growled at them.

"Oh my God," Joyce whispered, taking in the sight of the werewolf.

"You've never seen it?" Angel asked as he replaced his door.

"No, never," she said softly.

"She doesn't know any of us, she's totally wolf right now," Angel 
explained. "Come on and sit down. It'll be awhile before she changes 
again."

Cordelia quickly hugged Buffy and moved to the kitchen area of the 
space and began making more coffee. Buffy sat down across from 
Carson, her sharp eyes taking in every detail about him.

"Okay, who goes first with the explanations?" Angel demanded as he 
and Wesley pulled up chairs to join the other vampire and women 
sitting around Angel's table.

"You first, Angel, how did she get here tonight?" Joyce asked and 
Angel repeated the short story of Willow's appearance in the office 
and her change into the werewolf.

"Well, the werewolf seems healthy," Tara commented.

"Oh damn!" Buffy exclaimed. "Cordelia, Wesley, Angel, this is Tara.  
She's&.Willow's girlfriend and&"

"Scooby Gang member," Tara quickly threw in.  

"Girlfriend?" Cordelia asked with raised eyebrows. "Like girlfriend 
as in Ellen or girlfriend as in&.whatever?"

Tara began to blush.

"Cordelia, some things never change, do they?" Buffy 
demanded. "Tactfully, not?"

"What? It's a legitimate question!" Cordelia protested.

"Willow and I are lovers," Tara answered in a soft and shy voice.

"Wow. I leave Sunnydale and everything gets turned upside down," 
Cordelia muttered. "Next, you'll tell me that Buffy doesn't date 
guys either."

Angel's eyes narrowed when he caught the glance between Buffy and 
Tara.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked the other vampire.

"I'm Carson, a friend of Willow's," he said without explanation.

"How long?" Buffy questioned.

"It was my crypt you invaded that day," Carson admitted 
finally. "Willow heard you mention the Initiative was still in town 
and freaked. She made up her mind to leave Sunnydale and I came with 
her."

"What did you get out of it?" Buffy demanded.  

"A good friend?" Carson shrugged.  

"Vampires usually don't make friends with humans," Buffy growled.

"Unless they're doing that chip in the head or the redeeming soul 
thing, right?' Carson snapped back. "Sorry to disappoint you, I'm a 
nice guy and I'm a vampire."

"Buffy," Angel interjected. "Carson hasn't killed a human being in 
over three hundred years, that I know of."

"Oh, I've killed but usually with a sword or pistol and only when 
someone was trying to kill me," Carson amended.  

"What makes you so special?" Buffy snapped.

"He quickly overcame the demon inside the vampire, Buffy," Angel 
explained. "It sometimes happens if the human was extraordinary."

"And he was?" Tara asked, her voice reflecting her surprise as she 
looked at the goth in front of her.

"He was a priest," Angel said softly.

Buffy was stunned and it showed. Carson merely shrugged.

"That was a long time ago," he commented. "I came with Willow 
because I knew she was in emotional and psychological trouble and 
needed someone to trust."

"Why you? Why didn't you bring her home?" Joyce asked.

"It was her decision, whether I thought she was wrong or not. I 
understood her confusion after waking up covered in blood and feeling 
like a totally different creature," Carson explained.

"So something happened and she was hurt and made her way here before 
she changed," Joyce commented.

"Yes, I promise that we had everything set up so she would be safe on 
full moons," Carson said.

"Okay, your turn, Buffy," Angel snapped. "What the hell is going on 
and why didn't you tell us Willow is now a werewolf?"

Buffy, Tara and Joyce took turns telling the long story of Oz 
returning to Sunnydale and wanting to infect Willow with lycanthropy 
and claim her as his mate as well as the consequences of everything 
that happened next.

Cordelia sat next to Angel in his easy chair as Buffy and Joyce 
explained about the Initiative. Joyce told the small group about the 
tortures that Willow had been through in the few days she had been 
held captive by the government group.

The move by Cordelia wasn't lost on Buffy.

It was 5:30 when the three were done telling the group everything, 
including the recent developments with Adam. Everything except about 
the changes in Buffy's relationship with Willow and Tara. Joyce 
figured that was their concern and didn't mention anything.

"God," Cordelia exclaimed. "I always thought Oz was a spaz with his 
hair changing color every other week but I didn't think he was a bad 
guy!"

"In the end he was a good guy again and saved Willow," Tara pointed 
out.

"You intentionally took the werewolf bite to protect Willow?" Angel 
asked, his voice curiously flat and emotionless. 

"Yes," Buffy admitted, keeping eye contact with her former lover.

"Then she intentionally took the werewolf curse for you," he 
commented.

"Yes," Buffy nodded.

"She always did love you," he muttered.

"That's why my enemies seem to go after her first," Buffy snapped, 
her blue eyes reminding him of Angelus' attack on the redhead. Buffy 
saw his jaw muscles tighten in anger at being reminded of Angelus and 
the harm he had caused.

"Hey, guys!" Cordelia said loudly. "We're all friends here, 
remember?"

"Right," Buffy agreed, rubbing her tired eyes.

Tara had wearily laid her head down on her arms on the table and 
Carson was leaning back in his chair against the wall, lightly dozing 
by the end of the tales.

Buffy and Tara's heads both snapped up at the same time and Angel, 
Cordelia and Wesley all jumped in reaction as the two women turned to 
look at the werewolf.

The werewolf, having calmed down somewhat, stood up, pulling at the 
chains and let loose with a howl of pain as it doubled over. Carson 
fell out of the chair in surprise with a muttered curse that would 
have made Father Karnstein blush.

Tara closed her eyes and Joyce turned away as the horrible 
transformation began. Angel reached his hand up and gently turned 
Cordelia's face away and Buffy's eyes narrowed.

The Slayer went to Angel's bed and grabbed up the blanket he had 
wrapped earlier around the transforming werewolf and stood up, 
holding the blanket up between the small group and the werewolf.

After a few moments Buffy glanced around the blanket and sighed with 
relief. Tara rushed over to join her as the Slayer wrapped the 
blanket around the semi-conscious Willow, now human once more.

"Will," Buffy said softly, tears running down her face.

Angel walked over and bent down as Willow closed her eyes. He 
unlocked the shackles and checked the hackers' wrists and head.

"Put her in my bed," he said softly.

Buffy nodded and lifted the redhead into her arms and gently placed 
Willow in Angel's bed, lying down beside her for a moment, not caring 
that anyone was watching. Tara crawled on the bed behind Willow and 
wrapped her arm over the hacker.

"Let her sleep for an hour before you leave," Angel suggested. "You 
can get her home before dark. I assume you have someplace safe for 
her?"

"Yes, we repaired the crypt," Joyce answered.

Buffy gently touched Willow's hair and then Tara's. "I need to talk 
to him."

"I know," Tara whispered back. "I'm going to stay with her."

"I'll be back in a bit," Buffy promised.

"Well, mates!" Carson said easily. "I'm not getting back to my place 
in this daylight; can I crash on your sofa?"

"Sure," Angel said in a distracted voice.

"We're taking her home," Buffy informed Carson, her voice firm and 
inviting a challenge.

"Good, I didn't want her to leave in the first place," Carson said, 
surprising the Slayer. "Look, Buffy, she was going to go back to 
Sunnydale after tonight. We shared an apartment and we shared the 
same bed but I didn't share her body or her blood. Okay?"

Buffy clenched her fists at the thought of Willow in the same bed 
with the cute vampire but she believed him when he said nothing had 
happened.

"Well, I think the three of us need to talk," Wesley suggested to 
Cordelia and Angel.

"I agree," Angel said. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

It was ten minutes before Angel, Cordelia and Wesley returned to the 
vampire's apartment.

"We've talked and decided that this Adam thing is a bit too dangerous 
and that it could probably spread if we don't stop him," Wesley 
announced.

"We?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, we're going back to Sunnydale with you," Angel 
announced. "Adam needs to be totally destroyed and so does Professor 
Walsh's notes so that the government can't make another one of him."

"Oh hell, saving the world thing again," Buffy muttered.

"At least Sunnydale," Cordelia grinned.

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

Buffy wasn't surprised when Angel walked up behind her on the 
stairwell. The Slayer had gone outside the apartment for some fresh 
air while Willow, Tara, Joyce and Carson slept a couple of hours.  
Buffy was expecting the vampire, knowing they both had questions.

"Can we talk?" Angel asked as he sat down on the steps next to her.

"That's why I'm out here, taking in the sights of metal stairs and 
concrete walls," Buffy quipped.

"What going on with you, Willow and that other girl?" he demanded.

"Is that any of your business?" Buffy countered. "What's up with you 
and Cordy?"

"Am I supposed to say that's none of your business?" Angel snapped.

"Look, Angel," Buffy growled. "I loved you, very much. I also moved 
on."

"To Willow? What about her and Tara?"

"Angel," Buffy said, her voice tired.  

"She screamed both your names when she changed," Angel 
commented. "And you both knew when she was changing back to human, 
at the same time."

"Angel," Buffy began slowly. "Tara, Willow and I discovered at the 
same time that we all have feelings for each other. All three of us 
are lovers and we are connected in ways I never thought possible. A 
magickal connection between the three of us, we can sense what the 
others are feeling and sometimes even communicate by thinking."

"A soul connection, with three of you?" Angel frowned.

"Yes, Giles says it's rare between two partners, let alone three," 
Buffy nodded. "Giles says that it would have happened between Willow 
and Tara because they're witches and very in tuned with each other.  
The intense connection so soon between three of us surprised him."

"So why didn't you tell me when you said Willow was missing?" Angel 
asked.

"Angel, too many people have figured out how important Willow and 
Tara are in my life. How many times has someone attacked Willow to 
hurt me?"

"Including me?" he snapped.

"No, that wasn't you," Buffy argued. "I'm not saying I consider you 
a threat. We took on a government agency and wounded them, maybe 
even crippled them. We couldn't trust the phone lines with that kind 
of information about Willow or myself."

Angel blinked in surprise. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted.

"Well, our friends in the FBI can make you pretty paranoid after a 
few days with them," Buffy grinned. "What's up with you and Cordy?"

"Nothing much to tell," he shrugged. "I like her; I could even fall 
in love with her. She's grown and changed a bit since being in Los 
Angeles and gaining the gift of psychic sight."

"And the `happiness' clause of your curse?"

"Who said I was happy?" he smirked. "We don't take the relationship 
anywhere, ensuring that I stay miserable missing you, denying my 
feelings for her and never finding love anywhere. Guess that means I 
get to keep my soul."

"Angel, I'm sorry," Buffy said softly but he shrugged again.

"I always knew Willow loved you and I figured it was only a matter of 
time before you finally realized you were in love with her," Angel 
commented as he stood up. "Never thought a third party would get 
invited."

"Tara's amazing, Angel," Buffy said softly, feeling her face 
blushing. "She balances us, like the bottom of the triangle, 
stabilizing."

"Then I'm glad for you," he said calmly. "Let's get all of you home, 
Willow has a lot of healing to do."

"And we've got a major fight ahead of us," Buffy added.

"I'll pack the weapons in the trunk with me," Angel smiled.