FF: Wolves, Slayers - 1/4 - B/W/T - R

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wolves, Slayers and Cages
Red Moon Rising, Book 2
Part 1

Author: Hunter Ash 
Copyright © 2001 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.
X-File Crossover

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: Some general 5th season stuff, but nothing major. This 
universe splits off before New Moon Rising.

Summary: Willow and everyone is trying to deal with Willow's 
lycanthropy and things go into crisis when Willow disappears and it 
looks like the Initiative is involved.

Rating: R, violence, major character injury, angst, hurt and 
comfort. It's Buffy, there's violence, there's also sex.

Pairings: B/T/W, X/A, G/J

Author's Note: By the way, this will be posted in parts. This being 
part one. Feedback always welcome.


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

November 27
Buffy frowned when she looked at the calendar on the wall as she 
toweled her hair dry. Two more days until the full moon, she 
realized. Two more days before the nightmare began.  

The Slayer glanced over at the sleeping redhead and blonde in the bed 
and smiled slightly. Willow was on her back with Tara snuggled in 
her arms. Buffy's smile widened like it always did whenever she 
looked at either or both of them.  

Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed and gently brushed a lock of 
red hair from Willow's forehead. She glanced down at the young 
woman's beautiful chest and lost her smile.

Willow's pajama top was slightly open and Buffy could see the healing 
wounds from the incision running down the witch's breastbone. The 
wound where the silver dagger had entered her chest, killing her.

The Slayer wished she could do more to ease those scars, wishing she 
could give Willow some of her Slayer healing powers and lessen those 
scars. Buffy knew that the young witch was self-conscious about 
them, no matter how much Tara and Buffy reassured Willow that she was 
still sexy as hell.

Buffy once again cursed the name of Daniel Oswald, known to the 
Scooby Gang better as Oz. She hoped whatever hell he had ended up in 
that he was paying over and over again for bringing her lover any 
kind of pain. Especially the pain of carrying his damned werewolf 
curse.

Buffy leaned over and lightly kissed Tara and then Willow before 
heading out the door.

Being Tuesday, she knew that Willow and Tara didn't have a class 
until 10 a.m. and was going to take the opportunity to sleep late.  
Buffy, restless with worrying about Willow and the upcoming full 
moon, decided to run over and see Giles.  

For once, her mom had spent the night at home and not at Giles' place 
or he at the Summers home. Now that they had officially announced 
their engagement and set a tentative wedding date in January, the two 
older adults were much more open about their affection and the fact 
they were sharing the same bed almost every night.

As she trotted to school, Buffy reflected on how good the last three 
weeks felt as compared to October. Xander still had his security 
job, Anya was working at the Magic Box, Oz was dead, Riley had given 
up thinking any of them were now werewolves and she was caught up in 
her classes.

Then there was Tara, Willow and herself.

Despite fears, misgivings, and everyone thinking it wouldn't last 
more than a week; the three women were still feeling like they were 
in the early stages of new romance. <It was amazing>, Buffy thought; 
<she didn't feel jealous that Tara and Willow loved each other, she 
loved them both and knew they loved her as well.>

Giles had been fascinated by the developing relationship between the 
three but had been a stuttering mess when he tried to ask about the 
unique connection they had formed, especially during sex.  

Willow and Tara had blushed a bright red and Buffy had resisted 
giggling hysterically when they tried to describe to him what they 
were talking about to the typically uptight Englishman.

<How could you adequately describe the mind, soul and body opening up 
to your lover to the point where you both felt what the other one was 
feeling?> They had a difficult time explaining that it wasn't like 
an out-of-body experience but maybe something like it.  

Willow, not much for sexual descriptions anyway was only matched by 
Tara's stuttering and had tried to leave it to Buffy to explain 
things. <That hadn't gone well, either,> the Slayer laughed to 
herself.  

Giles had finally given up with a toss of his hands and concentrated 
on other aspects of their connection to each other.

Willow hit upon the idea later of each of them typing into the 
computer their descriptions of what had happened during sex and she 
emailed it to Giles. Buffy and Tara had laughed but both agreed it 
was a wonderful idea.  

It had taken a major effort though, not to fall on the floor with 
laughter when Giles thanked Willow for her email and described it 
as "helpful," while he cleaned his glasses.

Willow placed those writings under a password security file. When 
Tara and Buffy had asked the witch why, she offered them the scenario 
of Xander someday finding those descriptions and both of them 
promptly agreed security was needed.

Buffy hated the fact that in two nights she was going to have to lock 
part of her life away in a cell in a dusty old tomb. She and Tara 
were going to spend the night in the same tomb where Oz had once 
contained his beast only this time it was Willow they would be 
locking up for the night.

The Slayer tried to dismiss those thoughts from her mind. It was a 
crisp winter day and the break from Thanksgiving was over and she was 
feeling good about school, her growing relationship with Tara and 
Willow and her Mom wasn't considering her a lost cause. Things were 
looking up. Except for the full moon thing.

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

Willow woke up as Tara smacked the radio alarm clock's snooze bar.  
The blonde grumbled and turned back over to snuggle in Willow's good 
arm, lightly nuzzling her neck. Willow turned, being careful not to 
whack her witch lover with her cast, and threw a leg over Tara's and 
smiled as blue eyes met her green ones.

"Morning," Willow said softly before gently kissing Tara's lips.

"Morning, how you feeling?" Tara muttered.

"Better, the hand isn't too bad," the witch smiled and wiggled one of 
her fingers to demonstrate. "The other?well, I've got two days 
before?well, I mean?before we have to?"

"Its okay, Willow," Tara said softly and began kissing Willow's lips 
to stop a trademark Willow babble.

"I'm scared, Tara," Willow admitted when they pulled back from the 
kiss to touch foreheads together, sharing space.  

"You don't remember changing when you did the spell to take the 
lycanthropy from Buffy, you probably won't remember it this time 
either," Tara tried to reassure her girlfriend.

"I remember such incredible pain and then nothing," Willow 
remembered, her voiced thoughtful. "I'm worried about the two of you 
being there."

"Why?" Tara asked with a puzzled look.

"I remember what it was like watching Oz change and watching Buffy 
beginning to turn after Oz' bite. I don't want either of you 
watching that," Willow frowned. "It hurts."

"Willow, Buffy and I are going to b-be there for you. End of d-
discussion," Tara tried to smile and managed to get Willow to smile 
slightly. "We love you and you? you aren't going to go t-through 
this alone." 

"Okay," Willow agreed, knowing she wasn't going to win this argument, 
they had gone over it enough in the last three weeks since she had 
taken the curse from Buffy onto herself.  

"Have you heard from Mulder?" Tara asked as she sat up on the edge of 
the bed, slipping her feet into her house shoes. <Wooden floors were 
cool looking but they were cold in the winter>, she thought.

"Not in the last couple of days," Willow said as she sat up on the 
other side of the bed. "He's got his computer friends looking 
everywhere for any kind of a cure besides the ones that include the 
fat of unbaptised babies."

"Oh gross!" Tara declared, her eyes widening.

"Total agreement!" Willow grinned. "He and I decided that was a 
little too much over the top, even to remove a curse."

Tara shivered and shook her head to dismiss the images trying to 
crowd her brain. She glanced over at Willow who was at the closet 
deciding on what to wear for a day at school.

The blonde witch was pleased with how well her girlfriend was 
looking. <After the attack, and her hand and heart recovering from 
the trauma they obtained, Willow was looking quite good,>, Tara 
thought. They were still being cautious with the heart recovery 
though; Willow tired easily and still couldn't do any kind of 
exertion or intense emotional distress without sending her heart 
racing into a danger zone.  

The cast was the most irritating for the red-haired witch, however.  
To even take a shower required help at times. Willow had opted for a 
shorter hair cut since she was doing most of her personal hygiene 
with only one hand now and would be for awhile. Getting dressed 
could be a nightmare of buttons, zippers and shoe laces.

Willow thanked the Fates that they lived in Sunnydale, California and 
not somewhere up north or back east where multiple layers of clothing 
with zippers and thick shoes would be required.

Tara grinned and walked up behind Willow and wrapped her arms around 
her fellow witch as Willow leaned back into the embrace.

"Buffy left early," Willow commented softly.

"She's feeling cooped up," Tara commented. "For some reason, nothing 
wanted to be slain the last few nights."

"I wonder if anything is up?" Willow frowned. Usually when the evil 
undead became scarce in Sunnydale, it meant something evil was 
planning something unpleasant.

"Giles hasn't heard anything and neither has Spike," Tara added, 
slipping past Willow to grab her own clothes.

One of the developments of the three weeks was the continued living 
arrangements of the three students and lovers.

Tara and Willow had moved into the Summers home with Buffy when Oz 
was stalking Willow and Buffy but after Oz' death, they had continued 
living with Buffy and her mom. No one suggested moving back to the 
dorms, including Buffy's mom.

Also unspoken was the sleeping arrangements, most of the time the 
three ended up in the same bed for the night and Joyce Summers never 
said anything about it.

They were still adjusting to the fact that Buffy's Mom and Giles 
seemed alright with their unusual relationship while they were still 
adjusting to it themselves.

Also unspoken was whoever was sleeping with whom each night. Some 
nights they all ended up in the same bed snuggling, other nights two 
of them would end up in bed together sexually.

Surprising to everyone was that no one got jealous of either of the 
other young women.  

Willow smiled as she watched a sleepy Tara rummage through the closet 
and settle on what she wanted for the day.

Tara glanced back at Willow and smiled. "I love you too," she said 
easily.

Willow grinned and wrapped an arm around Tara's waist and kissed the 
other witch.

"What are your plans for today?" Tara asked as she held Willow in her 
arms.

"Getting through Professor Walsh's class," Willow frowned. "Ever 
since Buffy turned her back on the Initiative, Professor Walsh has 
been really hard on the two of us."

"I'll try and get a different Psych teacher next semester," Tara 
smiled.  

"After that I've got another class and then lunch," Willow 
continued. "Then two more classes in the afternoon."

"Want to meet for lunch? Buffy said she'd be at the cafeteria during 
our lunch break," Tara suggested.

"Excellent!" Willow grinned. "Wanna help wrap my cast for the 
shower?"

Tara leaned in for another long and lingering kiss. "Maybe I can 
help with the shower too?" she asked, her voice turning husky.

"Yes, I was hoping you'd suggest that," Willow said softly, her eyes 
beginning to darken with arousal.

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

Buffy resisted growling when she walked into the lecture hall and saw 
Riley talking with Professor Walsh. The Slayer stopped at the top of 
the stairs, watching them as they were having apparently a serious 
discussion.

"Hey, sexy," a voice said softly behind her and Buffy turned with a 
wide smile.

"Hey, Red," the Slayer's mood was instantly lifted and she had to 
fight and restrain herself from wrapping her arms around the taller 
red-head. "You are adorable when you sleep," she whispered.

Willow blushed and glanced over Buffy's shoulder with a frown.

"What's up with them?" she asked.

Buffy turned around and looked down to see Riley and Professor Walsh 
watching them.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Buffy growled. "Wanna do lunch?"

"Yes, Tara too," Willow agreed and then leaned down to Buffy's ear 
with an evil grin. "I'd like to do you tonight, by the way," she 
whispered.

Buffy's eyes widened and she began to blush as Willow slipped by her, 
heading for their seats.

"Full moon," the Slayer muttered, remembering Willow's comment that 
Oz always got really `frisky' before a full moon. Buffy grinned, 
that was one part of Willow being cursed as a werewolf that Buffy 
might actually like.

When she sat down next to the red-head Willow was already getting her 
books out of her backpack, in serious student mode and Riley was gone.

The Slayer thought class actually went well for once. Professor 
Walsh seemed to focus on someone else for the day. She grabbed up 
her books and started up the stairs.

"Willow," both Buffy and Willow turned at the sound of Professor 
Walsh's voice.

"Yes?" Willow questioned.

"Could I see you for a minute, I have a question about one of your 
papers while you were gone," Professor Walsh, the lead psychological 
scientist for the Initiative Center and professor at Sunnydale 
University, asked.

"Sure," Willow said easily and looked over at Buffy. "I'll catch you 
and Tara at lunch, Buff."

Buffy hesitated, looking back at the Professor but Professor Walsh 
had turned her attention to something on her desk. The Slayer 
managed to smile at her friend.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Buffy muttered and headed for door with an 
uneasy feeling.

Willow, knowing Buffy's protective streak, smiled as she gathered up 
her books and shoved them in her backpack. She trotted down to the 
Professor's table and went around joining Professor Walsh hovering 
over the papers.

The hacker leaned over the table, recognizing one of her papers and 
wondering what could be wrong with it.

"Ow!" Willow stood upright, feeling at the back of her neck. She 
looked over at the Professor with a confused expression. The hacker 
was suddenly having trouble focusing.

"Sorry about this, Willow," the Professor said flatly. "I'm hoping 
I'm wrong." 

Willow tried to respond as the Professor reached out to catch her.

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

A class later, Tara grinned when she caught sight of Buffy sitting at 
one of their regular tables. Buffy, feeling the energy shifting 
around her, looked up and smiled in response.

The witch finished paying for her meal and worked her way over to her 
girlfriend, hoping not to trip and make a fool out of herself. Tara 
knew she wasn't as clumsy as she used to be since meeting Willow and 
the gang and she definitely stuttered less around them. Out in 
public, Tara still felt inadequate and clumsy at times.

Buffy smiled, seeing the blonde witch with loving eyes and never 
seeing the clumsy, unattractive, shy geek Tara always feared everyone 
saw.

"Hey, where's Will?" Buffy asked.

"She usually beats us here, maybe she's taking it easier walking 
across campus," Tara suggested. 

Ever since plunging a silver dagger through her heart to stop Oz from 
claiming her as his wolf mate, Willow had been on a long road of 
recovery and that included taking it easier physically and especially 
no slaying with Buffy.

"Yeah, I hope she's taking it easy," Buffy agreed. "Last thing we 
need this week is her heart acting up. Giles is still worried about 
the change Thursday night and what it might do to her heart."

"Well, she made it through the change the first night when she 
grabbed the curse from you," Tara commented.

"Yeah, drugged out of her mind," Buffy mumbled and glanced at the 
clock on the wall with a frown. "Where the hell is she?"

"What's wrong?" Tara asked with a frown.

"I don't know, I was getting `spidey' vibes from Professor Walsh when 
she asked Willow to go over one of her papers after class," Buffy 
complained.

"How so?" Tara asked.

"I don't know, she didn't act strange or do anything weird, it just 
felt strange," Buffy tried to explain.

"Okay," Tara said softly and closed her eyes. Buffy felt 
her `spidey' sense tingling, like something was lightly brushing a 
feather just above her skin. With a start, the Slayer realized that 
Tara was extending her magickal senses, trying to connect with Willow 
and touching her connection with the Slayer as well.

Tara opened her eyes with a frown. "Something's wrong, Buff, I can't 
sense her." The witch closed her eyes again and concentrated.  
Buffy's skin began to crawl and she could almost swear she could see 
a visible aura forming around Tara.

Tara opened her eyes and Buffy was instantly on alert at the fear in 
the witch's eyes.

"Nothing!" Tara hissed. "Not even fear or anything."

"Let's find her!" Buffy growled, lunch forgotten.

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

Giles watched Buffy pacing across the living room floor while Tara 
nervously pulled at the hem of her t-shirt nervously.  

"You talked with Professor Walsh," Giles repeated the question.

"Yes, she said Willow answered her question and left the forum hall," 
Tara answered while Buffy just growled. 

"Did you believe her?" Joyce asked.

"No, her aura was all off s-somehow but she was so c-calm and cool," 
Tara stammered.  

"You think the Initiative took Willow," Giles questioned.

"Yes," Buffy said firmly. "The problem is I don't know how to get 
into that place since they've revoked my clearance."

"Why would they take her? You convinced Riley none of you were 
cursed," Joyce asked.

"I thought we had," Giles muttered. "Maybe we didn't."

"Giles!" Buffy shouted, "What do we do? I'm not sure I can just rush 
in there, pound heads and get Willow out. As much as I'd really like 
to right now!"

"I don't know," Giles admitted. "You two can't sense anything with 
her?"

"No, not a thing," Tara complained.

"She must be drugged, if she was injured or unconscious, I think 
you'd be able to connect," Giles commented.

"Okay, she's drugged," Buffy snapped. "Someone has her, odds say 
it's the Initiative, what do we do?"

"Maybe Agent Mulder can help?" Joyce suggested.

"I'll call him immediately," Giles reached for the phone as someone 
pounded on the door. "Tara, can you do the computer hacking thing 
and find the plans for that damned center?"

"What are you thinking, Giles?" Buffy asked as she opened the door 
for Xander and Anya. "Willow's missing; we think the Initiative has 
her."

"Well, you've described the only entrance as an elevator," Giles 
muttered as he searched for Fox Mulder's card. "There must be a 
service entrance to get all that equipment down there."

"Of course!" Buffy grinned. "I can't see them taking out the demons 
through the Frat House."

"I don't know," Tara muttered. "I don't have Willow's skills with 
hacking."

"Knowing Willow, she never trusted the Initiative and already has the 
plans on her computer," Xander suggested and Tara made a dash for the 
stairs.  

"Joyce, you and Buffy sit down and draw out what Buffy remembers of 
the inside," Giles continued as he dialed the phone. "Anya, coffee 
and tea would be excellent. It may be a long day and night."

Buffy growled at that comment but sat down at the dining table while 
her mom grabbed paper, pencils and rulers.

"Agent Mulder, please," Giles asked into the telephone.

"Mulder," a voice answered after a moment and several clicks.

"Yes, Agent Mulder, this is Rupert Giles," Giles announced.  

"Yes, Giles," Mulder answered easily. "Is your line secure?"

"What?" Giles looked puzzled. "Well, I have no idea, actually."

"Go out and call me back on a pay phone," Mulder instructed.

"Well, I'm on the damned cell phone, does that help?"

"Yes, that's better, what's the problem, Giles? Does it have 
something to do with the flash I got across my computer that the 
Initiative has captured a `hostile' female werewolf?" Mulder asked.

"What?" Giles stammered. Both Buffy and her mother gave up trying to 
work to listen.

"I've got friends who send me anything that might be interesting from 
the Initiative's computers," Mulder explained. "We have reservations 
on the next flight out into Los Angeles, we'll rent a car there and 
drive out as soon as possible. We should be there sometime in the 
middle of the night."

"We?" Giles questioned.

"I have a partner," Mulder explained. "Don't move against the 
Initiative until we get there."

"Do you know what they do to `hostiles'?" Giles snapped.

"Yes, and I'm betting the first few days will be spent on lab 
testing," Mulder said calmly.

"Hurry, Agent Mulder," Giles urged. "I won't be able to hold Buffy 
and the gang back for long."

"I understand but know this, the Initiative is waiting for that 
according to one of their memos," Mulder warned. "If I know 
organizations like this, your kids will disappear."

"Oh God," Giles muttered as Mulder cut the connection.

Giles turned to explain as Tara and Xander dashed down the stairs to 
hear about the conversation.

Buffy growled at the instructions to wait but knew that Riley and the 
units would be on alert and expecting the Gang to mount a rescue 
attempt.

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

By nightfall, however, the Slayer was unable to be contained and 
grabbed her stakes.

"Where are you going?" Giles demanded.

"I'll be back, Giles," Buffy snapped as she slipped on her leather 
jacket. "I really?really need to slay something and heaven help the 
vampire that crosses my path tonight!" 

Buffy leaned down over the back of the sofa and kissed Tara 
quickly. "I won't do anything stupid, I promise," she whispered.

Giles and Joyce flinched as the front door slammed.

Xander whispered to Anya and dashed out the door behind the Slayer.

"He wishes to keep an eye on Buffy," Anya explained.

"Good idea," Joyce agreed, heading to the kitchen for more coffee.

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

Willow moaned and opened her eyes slowly. Her head hurt, her encased 
hand itched, something was stuck in her mouth and she couldn't move.

The witch glanced around quickly with her eyes and tried to slow her 
heart-rate down as it began to pound rapidly. Everywhere Willow 
looked was white, government white. She turned her head to look left 
and right and wasn't reassured any. Various machines were pulled up 
to the gurney she was strapped to as well as a medical table that had 
several trays covered with blue sterile paper. Leaning up as far as 
she could, Willow discovered that she was dressed in a horrible 
hospital gown and her limbs were held down with metal clamps. She 
couldn't tell what was in her mouth but it was keeping her from 
shouting out in fear and anger.

Willow whimpered around the gag and heard the machine tracking her 
heart increase to an alarming rate.

The witch wasn't really surprised when the door opened and both Riley 
and Professor Walsh walked into the room and shut the door behind 
them.

"Hello, Hostile 52," Professor Walsh said cheerfully and Willow's 
heart-rate increased.

Noticing the alarming rate of the beeps from one of the machines, 
Professor Walsh walked over to a medicine cabinet and unlocked it.  
After a moment of searching through the medicine bottles, she 
selected one and then rummaged in a drawer, pulling out a syringe.  
Willow tried to shake her head 'no' as the Professor wiped her arm 
with an alcohol pad and injected her with whatever the drug was.

"Don't fight it, the drug is just to help slow your heart rate down a 
little and keep your mind unfocused," Professor Walsh explained. "We 
can't have you dying of a heart attack this soon in the research."

Willow whimpered and tried to pull out of the restraints.

"What are we going to do with her?" Riley asked, looking down at 
Willow like she wasn't even an interesting test subject in a science 
lab. <Which Willow figured she now was.>

"With her heart injured the way it is and that hand having to be 
rebuilt, we don't dare let her change Thursday night without sedating 
her," Walsh commented, frowning in thought. "The change just might 
kill her and she'd definitely injure that hand."

"She'd never make it through Shock Troop training either," Riley 
commented, looking at the printout of Willow's heart-rate.

"I agree," Walsh muttered. "You know, Hostile 52, we were lucky you 
tested positive for lycanthropy. If you hadn't we would had to have 
grabbed Buffy Summers next for testing."

"How did she keep from changing last month?" Riley asked.

"Probably a magical spell, that's why I insisted on gagging her," 
Walsh explained to both Riley and Willow. "This early in magic 
learning, she needs to vocalize for a spell to work. Can't speak, 
can't cast spells to get out of here."

Willow felt a tear escape her eye and tried to keep from whimpering.

"Its impractical to leave her gagged all the time," Riley complained.

"We'll handle that," Marsh assured him. "It really is a shame that 
she couldn't be recruited to work with us and only be locked away 
three nights out of the month. She is highly intelligent and a wiz 
at computers."

"Buffy already rejected us, no way Willow would work for us if her 
friends and lovers object," Riley commented bitterly.

"Too bad she went and got herself bitten," Walsh commented. "She 
probably would have been recruited by the FBI or CIA with those 
computer skills."

"Or Bill Gates," Riley muttered. "So, she can't be trained as a 
soldier or mindless assassin, though it would be interesting to watch 
her destroyed mentally."

"Finn!" Walsh snapped. "Never get personal with a Hostile, you know 
that."

"Sorry, Professor," he muttered.

"You're right though, we can't train her as a Shock Troop assassin 
with that heart condition."

"That leaves breed stock or lab rat," Riley commented.

Despite the fuzzy feeling of the narcotic hitting her system, Willow 
felt her heart rate jump once again at those words and Marsh frowned.

"Stop teasing the Hostile," she snapped.  

"Well, we have the Hostile that started this mess with her, why not 
let him finish and mate with her? We don't get many female werewolf 
hostiles," Riley suggested.

//Started this mess? Oz?//

"After the usual battery of tests, we'll put them together and 
observe their interaction," Walsh decided. "The usual blood tests, x-
rays, MRI, scans, complete work up on her."

"The gag?" Riley questioned, writing down instructions on a metal 
clipboard.

"Leave it for now, we'll put her under this evening and take care of 
that," Walsh said and looked down into Willow's terror filled 
eyes. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I really liked you and had 
high hopes for you and your friends with our organization."

Willow tried to scream around the ball gag in her mouth and struggled 
against the straps as Walsh walked out the door and two men in lab 
coats entered but didn't even look at her.

"Full range of testing," Riley ordered and the two techs position 
themselves at either end of the gurney and unlocked the foot brake.  

Willow screamed as loud as she could around the gag.

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

"Tara!" Joyce cried as the young witch dropped her glass of soda and 
grabbed for the kitchen counter. Buffy's mom rushed to grab Tara as 
her knees buckled. "Giles!"

The Watcher dashed into the kitchen from the living room and helped 
Joyce move a semi-aware Tara to a chair at the kitchen table. He 
squatted down in front of her as she shook her head and began to 
blink.

"Tara?" he asked softly.

"It's Willow," she whispered, closing her eyes as tears began 
escaping. "She's terrified. She's so scared, Giles." 

Joyce pulled the young woman into her arms as Tara began crying.

"Can you tell where she is?" Giles questioned.

"No, she's drugged and can barely think, it's mostly images," Tara 
answered between sobs. "Machines, needles and white walls."

"The Initiative," Giles said bitterly as he glanced at his watch. 

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

Xander leaned against a sturdy gravestone as Buffy sobbed in his 
arms. She had been working a lot of her frustration out on the local 
vampire population and had just finished killing two of them when the 
Slayer had dropped her stake, her eyes becoming unfocused. Xander 
had rushed forward in time to catch Buffy as she cried out for Willow.

>From what he could gather from Buffy's gasping words, Willow was 
scared to death and Buffy could see some of it.  

The young man angrily wiped at his own tears as he kept an eye out 
for vampires as the Slayer wept.

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

"Mulder, tell me again the story of why we're going to a small town 
here in California," Special Agent Dana Scully insisted. She was 
still on East coast time and was very grumpy at traveling in the 
middle of the night when Mulder was being even more vague than usual.

Fox Mulder started to answer when his cell phone rang, he took 
advantage of the situation to shrug and click on his phone.

"Mulder," he answered.

"Mulder, we have the plans you wanted and we sent them to that email 
address," a familiar voice said. "We're also working on finding out 
what they have planned for the prisoner they're calling Hostile 52."

"Can you get us access?" Mulder asked Langley of the Lone Gunmen.

"No can do, your voice, prints and retina scan are all on record and 
on their hot list," Langley responded. "They know you might be 
coming, Scully too."

"Damn, what about Elizabeth Summers?"

"On their To Capture if Caught on Premises list," Langley informed 
him.

"Okay, I'll get back to you about possible identification and access 
codes," Mulder said and clicked off.

"Mulder, what is going on?" Scully demanded.

"Well, I told you about the college student I've been exchanging 
information with in California, right?"

"Yes, one of your many paranormal buddies," Scully nodded, looking 
out the window into the California darkness.

"Well, she's a witch, actually practicing magick type witch," he 
began. "She asked me for a really rare spell."

"You?" Scully's eyebrows rose in question.

"Yeah, I found it too. I didn't know the exact details because no 
one I knew could translate it," Mulder continued. "About the time 
the Gunmen translated it with random programs, so did Willow. I 
found out that it was dangerous and was damned costly."

"What do you mean? And I'm supposed to believe that this college 
student, computer geek is performing spells like Merlin? She's not 
just one of those Wiccans dancing in the moonlight?"

"No, real magick and is apparently getting very good at it," Mulder 
grinned at Scully's usual skeptic comments. "The spell could cost 
the caster their soul and the spell is designed to transform the 
curse of lycanthropy from one person to the caster, willingly."

"Lycanthropy? Werewolves?" Scully demanded with a frown.

"Yup!" Mulder's voice wasn't as enthusiastic as Scully would have 
expected and she glanced over at her partner.

"You're telling me that she did the spell and is now cursed?" Scully 
asked softly, noting his frown.

"Yeah, I flew out here for several days when she didn't respond to my 
emails," Mulder said in a flat voice. "I was too late in stopping 
her. Willow took the curse from her girlfriend."

"Is she locked up?" Scully asked.

"That may be the problem," Mulder said cryptically. "Her friends and 
Willow have dealt with werewolf friends before and know how to take 
care of each other. She was stabbed through the heart and dealing 
with that injury and now the werewolf thing. They planned on 
sedating her this full moon to prevent the change from human to 
werewolf from injuring her heart again."

"Whoa! You expect me to believe some young college girl is going to 
change into a wolf in a few days?"

"You've seen werewolves before, Scully," Mulder grinned.

"I didn't see a werewolf on that Indian Reservation, Mulder," Scully 
countered. "I saw the body of a boy who was obviously demented. He 
tore his own father to pieces."

"As a wolf," Mulder insisted.

"I didn't see a wolf in the darkness," Scully repeated. "Maybe I can 
watch your friend change, even some testing?" she said hopefully.

"I promised never to reveal the existence of the weird things that 
happens here," Mulder muttered. 

"What?"

"I can't without endangering Willow and her friends to the damned 
secret organizations," Mulder complained. "The problem we're coming 
out to help with is that they may already have Willow."

Mulder launched into the long explanation of Slayers, vampires, 
werewolves and the Intiative. It took time but they had the time to 
spend talking as Mulder drove from Los Angeles to Sunnydale in the 
darkness.  

Mulder had just finished when his phone rang again.

"Mulder," he answered.

"Langley," a voice responded. "Your Hostile 52 is scheduled for 
round the clock testing, sleep deprivation, something preventive, 
observation for a day with Hostile 49 and then transport of Hostile 
52 and several others to a larger facility in Area 51."

"I thought Area 51 was closed down," Mulder complained.

"They reopened it to investigate the Hostiles they've captured. Once 
there, they plan on inseminating her and using her as a lab rat," 
Langley informed his FBI friend. "Mulder, these guys don't care 
about finding a cure for werewolves or vampires. I think their 
ultimate agenda is creating very scarey monster soldiers. If you 
know this girl, you'd better get her out of there fast. They don't 
care what mental state they leave their test subjects in."

"Thanks, Langley, that's the plan," Mulder said firmly as he clicked 
off. A glance over at Scully's face told Mulder that she had heard 
the conversation.

"Inseminate?" she whispered, her eyes wide in the light of the 
dashboard of the rental car.

"That's what he said. Turn her into a puppy mill for werewolves," 
Mulder said bitterly, trying not to choke as he thought of the last 
time he had seen Willow, looking very fragile in Buffy's arms, legs 
tossed across Tara's lap.

"Mulder, if even half of this is true, we have to stop them," Scully 
said firmly.

"I know, I was hoping that both sides could stay away from each 
other. Willow and her friends thought they had convinced the 
Initiative that none of them were infected," Mulder explained. "I 
guess the Initiative wasn't fooled or wasn't taking any chances."

"How long before we get there?" Scully asked, rubbing her eyes.

"About an hour now," he answered.

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

Xander grabbed Buffy's arm when they both spotted Riley standing at 
the gate of the graveyard with his Initiative platoon.

"Don't do anything stupid like I would," Xander urged and Buffy 
nodded.

Both Slayer and her best male friend noticed the soldiers had their 
fingers on the triggers of their stun guns and a couple of them were 
armed with shotguns as they approached.

"What do you want, Riley? I already cleared the graveyard for the 
night," Buffy asked.

"Just checking to make sure you're not furry and fanged," he grinned.

"That's not for another two nights, come on by," Buffy quipped "I 
might need a snack."

"We'll be around with either a tranquilizer or a silver bullet," he 
promised.

"You weren't stupid enough to grab anyone innocent, were you?" she 
asked.

"Nope," he grinned. "The only things we have are confirmed hostiles. 
You want to give me some of your blood and get me off your back?"

Buffy frowned in thought.

"Don't do it, Buffy," Xander growled, his hand tight on a 
stake. "Make him earn his brownie points."

"Shut up, loser," Riley snapped.

"Who you calling a loser, you son of a bitch?" Xander growled and 
Buffy held out her arm to restrain her friend.

"I don't feel like beating them senseless tonight, Xander," Buffy 
growled. "Since you were looking for me, I assume you have a kit 
with you."

"Yeah, right in my pocket," Riley grinned.

"I don't trust them, Buffy!" Xander whined.

"I know," Buffy said softly and handed her friend the stake in her 
hand. "Not you, Riley, one of your other qualified goons and there'd 
better not be anything in that syringe," Buffy growled as she pulled 
off her jacket.

Riley smirked and pulled out a green medic kit and handed it to one 
of his platoon mates. The soldier started forward but stopped 
suddenly when Xander dropped the stakes and pulled out a Glock pistol 
and pointed it at the group.

"You!" he pointed the gun at the young black male with the 
kit. "Drop your weapons first."

The soldier slowly eased his rifle off his shoulder and handed it 
back to Riley and then handed over his pistol and held up his hands 
with the kit in one.

"Nice and slowly," Xander instructed as Buffy rolled up her 
sleeve. "I want prepackaged needles, alcohol pad and secure test 
tube."

Buffy raised her eyebrows in amusement and admiration. Xander was 
surprising her with his quick thinking and protective streak.

The Slayer submitted to having her blood drawn once the soldier 
showed them the needle was still in a sterile package and he had only 
one vial for the blood.

Buffy glared at Riley as she rolled down her sleeve and reached for 
her jacket.

"Any bad affects and I'll take your balls off personally," Xander 
threatened as he picked up and handled the jacket to Buffy and Buffy 
picked up the stakes.

"Since she gave up her blood so quickly, I doubt we'll find 
anything," Riley commented with a frown.

"Disappointed?" Buffy taunted.

"Kinda," Riley admitted. "Giles tried to talk me into being your 
friend last month. Tell him he was wrong and I still owe him for 
that stunt with the police."

"Stay out of my way, Riley," Buffy snapped. "If you hurt any of my 
friends, I'll take your head off, slowly."

"We only deal with Hostiles," Riley grinned as he handed the commando 
back his rifle and pistol. "See you around, Buff."

Buffy waited until the soldiers were out of sight and then spun on 
her heels and snapped a tree branch in half with an angry shout.

"They've got her, Xander," she growled. "He was baiting me."

"You are so right and you were so cool!" Xander said 
admiringly. "Why did you give up your blood?"

"I didn't want you hurt; they would have fought for it. I'm no 
longer infected and this might throw them for a loop a little," Buffy 
explained. "Goddamn it! Willow!" she suddenly screamed and smacked 
her fist into a wooden fence, snapping the board.

"Come on, Buff," Xander said gently as dogs began barking up and down 
the alley they had reached. "Agent Mulder should be here soon, maybe 
he has some answers."


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

Willow had no idea how long she had been wheeled from one room to 
another but it felt like hours and she was exhausted. She also felt 
like a very large lab rat. The witch had no idea how many times 
blood had been drawn, how many x-rays had been taken or how many 
series of MRI scans she had been through. The only thing she was 
certain of, the techs had changed shifts which meant there was some 
kind of passage of time.

After awhile even the terror had worn down and Willow tried her best 
to sleep through most of the tests they were running. Since she 
couldn't talk or protest and she never had the chance or energy to 
fight back whenever they undid the steel restraints, she gave up 
fighting for the moment and tried to rest in order to save her energy.

"Is she sedated?" Marsh's voice reached her and Willow opened her 
eyes to glare at the scientist.

"No, Ma'am, just resting," a voice responded. "She fought back at 
first but not much. The Hostile is easy to handle with those drugs 
you gave her."

"We can't have her straining that heart too much," Marsh 
commented. "Give her the meds and we'll get this next procedure 
over."

Willow didn't look down at the needle and only winced slightly as it 
plunged into her skin. The witch felt something hitting her almost 
immediately as her eyes began to close on their own.

"Goodnight, Hostile 52," Marsh said casually.

//Up yours, doc.// "mmmrrpph" was Willow's reply.

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

Mulder wasn't surprised to see a very tired Giles opening the door to 
Buffy's home.  

"Thank God," Giles muttered and moved aside so the federal agents 
could enter. "Oh my!" the Englishman muttered when he saw Scully in 
the porchlight.

"Oh damn!" Mulder cursed. "I forgot, Giles and everyone, this is 
Agent Dana Scully, my partner. I forgot to mention she looks a lot 
like Willow."

"Excuse me?" Scully asked her partner as they entered the house.

"She's small build like you, same red hair, same style and green 
eyes," Mulder explained. "This is Joyce Summers, Xander Harris, Anya 
Smyth, and Rupert Giles, Willow's friends."

"I'm sorry we have to meet like this," Scully said easily as everyone 
nodded their hellos.

"Where's Buffy and Tara?" Mulder asked.

"We made them go upstairs and lie down," Joyce explained. "They're 
trying to comfort each other."

"Please sit down, agents," Giles offered as Xander and Anya cleared 
off the sofa, moving to an easy chair and Xander to the floor between 
Anya's legs. "Both Tara and Buffy got a psychic flash from Willow 
earlier. She's being held somewhere with lots of machines, white 
walls and she's terrified. Especially about the needles."

"That confirms what a friend of mine has reported," Mulder began.

"Let me get us all some coffee," Joyce suggested. "Xander, you go 
call the girls down."

"Yes, mom," Xander said and bounded up the stairs to find Buffy and 
Tara already walking down the hall.

"We heard the door," Buffy explained.

"FBI types have arrived," Xander announced.

Again introductions were made and the two girls settled in next to 
the TV, Tara leaning on Buffy's shoulder, holding the Slayer's hand.

"I have a friend who has hacked into the Initiative computers. He 
found a report that they have identified Willow as Hostile 52 and 
they've scheduled a lot of tests for the next few days," Mulder began.

"Sounds typical," Buffy nodded.

"He can't get either Scully or me clearance, I'm on their hot list," 
Mulder continued. "Buffy is on their enemy list and will disappear 
if she goes near the place."

"I think we've confused them by not attacking the place immediately," 
Buffy agreed.

"Probably," Mulder agreed. "Giles said that both of you got a 
psychic flash from Willow?"

"Yes, we both s-saw flashes from her and the overwhelming s-sense of 
fear from her," Tara answered.

"That's amazing," Mulder muttered. "Both of you? You always have 
this connection with her?"

Buffy and Tara glanced at each other and Tara nodded as she laid her 
head back on Buffy's shoulder.

"All three of us have a unique connection and can feel each other's 
feelings, especially if they're intense," Buffy explained.

"Unique connection?" Scully asked. "Relationship wise?"

Tara began blushing but Buffy nodded firmly.

"You'll find that Sunnydale isn't your typical All-American city," 
Xander grinned and wrapped his arms around his lover's legs. "Living 
here, you take love and happiness where and when you can get it."

"Okay, Mulder may be the total believer here but I'm afraid I'm more 
scientific," Scully complained.

"Be skeptical all you want," Giles growled. "I don't care if you 
believe that Willow will actually turn into a werewolf in less than 
48 hours, or that Buffy goes out nightly slaying vampires. I do care 
if you can help us get Willow back. The Initiative believes that 
Willow is a werewolf and is holding her against her will."

"It gets worse, Giles," Mulder said softly. "My contact says that 
the scheduled plan for Willow is to be thrown in with another 
werewolf. They'll be observed tomorrow night and sedated for three 
nights of the full moon. The plan then is for them to be moved to 
another testing center."

"Moved?" Buffy whispered, her face going pale.

"Out of the area," Mulder continued. "Then they plan to impregnate 
her from another werewolf until she either dies from over-breeding or 
they turn her into a research subject."

"Will?" Buffy whispered as Tara's hand tightened on hers. Giles 
dropped his head into his hands as tears formed in his stanch English 
eyes.

Xander looked like he had been hit over the head with a baseball bat.

"Willow?" he muttered. "No!" he suddenly shouted and jumped up to 
his feet and dashed out the door.

"Xander?" Anya called after him and followed him.

"Giles?" Joyce questioned.

"They should be okay, it's almost dawn," he muttered.

Buffy turned to wrap her arms around Tara. The Slayer's eyes were 
flashing angrily when she looked up over Tara's head at the two 
agents.

"Help us destroy them," she begged.

"Yes," Mulder agreed, nodding his head while Scully looked concerned.

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