<see Part 1 for
disclaimers>
Summary: The gang has to deal with the results of Willow’s spell, saving Buffy from being cursed as a werewolf but having severe consequences for Willow. There’s also a surprise guest. (X-Files crossover.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
October
31
“Oh man, that is like totally gross!”
Anya grabbed Xander’s arm as they looked down at whatever
was lying on Buffy’s doorstep.
Giles bent down cautiously.
“I think this was once Oz,” he declared. “It’s the same shirt he was wearing the
other day when he attacked Buffy in the woods.”
“He’s been ripped apart,” Xander grimaced.
“Yes, I would say the wounds were probably caused by
his pack or a couple of vampires. I
can’t tell without a thorough examination and I don’t think my stomach is up
for that,” the ex-Watcher observed.
“Joyce Mom!” Anya cried and Giles looked startled
but stood up quickly and began banging on the door.
“Joyce! Joyce!” he shouted.
A few moments later they heard the door being
unlocked and when Joyce opened the door Giles jumped over what was left of Oz
and pushed Joyce back into the house.
“Rupert! What on earth is going on? Is Buffy okay?”
He quickly shut the door behind him, leaving Xander
and Anya with the body.
“Yes, Buffy is fine,” he said quickly.
“Then what is going on? Why did you leave Anya and
Xander out there?”
“Well, you see…it seems that…well, there’s a body on
your doorstep,” he stammered.
“A what?”
“I think Oz’s pack killed him and left him on your
doorstep,” Giles explained as he went to the telephone on an end table.
“Why would they kill Oz, wasn’t he their pack
leader?” Joyce asked. “And tell me
about Buffy!”
“Buffy is going to be fine,” he said. “I’ll explain after the police get here and
we deal with them.”
The next two hours were spent answering endless
questions by first uniformed police officers, then detectives and then more
detectives. The situation eased up a
little bit when Brad Santiago showed up and took over the questioning of the
Watcher, Joyce and the couple.
Xander and Anya sat on the sofa, the young
ex-vengeance demon in Xander’s arms while Joyce and Giles sat at the dining
table with Detective Santiago.
“So, you were at your place last night with Mr.
Harris and Ms. Smith?”
“Yes, we were planning a Halloween get together
tonight and we watched some videos. I
spent the night on their sofa,” Giles lied easily.
“And you heard nothing, Mrs. Summers?” another
detective questioned.
“No, not at all.
My bedroom is upstairs and I didn’t know anything was wrong until Rupert
told me there was a body in front of my door,” Joyce answered, pouring another
cup of tea for Giles.
“Could your daughter have heard anything?” the
detective asked.
“No, she’s out of town with her friends Willow and
Tara,” Joyce replied quickly.
“According to my notes all three of them are college
students, shouldn’t they be in class?” the detective asked.
“You probably also know that Oz, Daniel Oswald, was
stalking Willow and had hurt her badly.
They wanted to get out of town,” Giles responded.
“Where are they?” Brad Santiago asked the next
logical question.
“At the beach,” Joyce responded. “They won’t be back until Friday.”
“You have no idea who would kill Daniel Oswald and
dump his body on your door?” the first detective asked.
“No one except ourselves,” Giles admitted and the
detective, Robert Parsons, looked surprised.
“You didn’t see Willow after Oz attacked her and you weren’t there when
he broke into my home and injured several of us.”
“Willow may not regain the full use of her hand and
if she does, it’ll take a year to recover,” Joyce added bitterly.
“Well, I don’t think any of you did it,” Brad
added. “Daniel Oswald was ripped apart
by some kind of animal. We know he was
hiding in the woods. What we don’t
know, was who found his body and put it on your doorstep.”
“And who ripped out his eyes,” Detective Parsons
added.
Giles turned pale and Joyce dropped her cup. Parsons glanced over at the young couple on
the sofa and he thought Xander Harris might get sick right in the living room.
“Eyes?” the young man asked softly, holding Anya
close. “What did you say?”
“Someone intentionally ripped out his eyes,” Parsons
explained.
“Oh dear,” Giles muttered and reached across for
Joyce’s hand.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Finally, the Coroner removed the mess that was once
Oz’s body and the detectives finished with their questions. Detective Santiago offered to remain behind
and question Buffy, Tara and Willow on the telephone when they called in.
Giles and the others knew that he was merely using
that as an excuse to hang around and find out what was really going on.
Joyce turned to Giles as soon as Detective Parsons
left the house. “Tell me!”
“God, I’m tired,” Giles complained. “We all are. Buffy, Willow and Tara are sleeping right now and they are all
safe.”
The Watcher removed his glasses and ran a hand over
his face.
“Willow performed a spell like she had planned only
she lied to all of us,” Giles continued.
Joyce quickly looked over and saw Xander lean
forward and put his head in his hands as Anya placed an arm around him.
“You said they were alright,” Joyce said.
“Yes, they are all alive,” Giles responded. “Willow’s spell wasn’t what she described,
it was a transference spell. She took
the wolf into herself.”
“Okay, I’m slow on the magick stuff,” Brad
admitted. “What are you saying?”
“Willow freed Buffy from the werewolf infection by
taking it on herself, she’s now a werewolf,” Giles said wearily. “She locked us out and willingly took the
curse.”
“Oh God, Willow,” Joyce said softly. “Oh, Rupert, not like this! I wanted Buffy
cured but not like this!”
“I know, Joyce,” he agreed. “Tara didn’t know either and Buffy had no
idea what was happening.”
“What does this mean, Giles?” Brad asked with a
frown.
“It means that from now on, Willow will turn into a
werewolf three nights every month of every year until she dies,” Giles
responded bluntly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Willow turned over and found one side of the bed
empty. The redhead glanced to her left
and found Buffy lying on her stomach and still asleep. She reached out and gently brushed some
blonde hair from Buffy’s face.
Looking in the other direction, she spotted Tara at
the camp stove and Willow’s now sharper senses took in the delicious smell of
hamburgers cooking. Tara glanced over
her shoulder and smiled at her fellow witch and lover.
Willow looked down and realized she was naked and
began blushing. She began putting
things together in her head and lost her smile as she reached for her backpack
of clothes.
After slipping on a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and sweatpants
she began cursing again the fact she could only use one hand again. Getting on a pair of thick socks with one
hand was a task she hadn’t mastered yet.
Tara was bending down in front of Willow and helping
her put on her socks in a quick movement and Willow glanced away, afraid to
meet Tara’s blue eyes.
“Willow,” Tara said softly as she put on the next
sock and reached for Willow’s shoes.
The hacker still wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Willow, wake up Buffy and let’s have lunch,” Tara
suggested. “Then we have to talk.”
A muffled sound greeted this suggestion from Buffy’s
side of the bed and the Slayer raised her head reluctantly a moment later.
“Smells good,” she muttered. “No talking until after food, deal?”
“Agreed,” Tara said with a sad smile and Willow
nodded.
Lunch was unusually quiet for the three young women;
normally Tara and Willow would have been discussing spells and magick or
talking with Buffy about slaying. Most
times it would have been even more mundane subjects like classes and
homework. For Halloween, lunch was
eaten in silence.
Finally, Buffy couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“I could use another six hours of sleep, I think,”
she commented, not looking at either Tara or Willow.
“So could I,” Tara agreed.
Willow was silent and seemed to be concentrating on
the card table in front of her.
“Willow, why?” Buffy finally asked.
Willow raised her green eyes to Buffy’s clear blue
ones and the Slayer reached forward to wipe away the tears that were escaping
down Willow’s cheeks.
“I love you, Buffy,” Willow said softly. “I couldn’t let you continue as a werewolf
because of me.”
“It wasn’t because of you!” Buffy protested. “Oz was the one that bit me, not you.”
“He was trying to bite me,” Willow countered. “The world and Sunnydale needs a Slayer not
a werewolf Slayer. No one will miss me
being locked away three nights a month.”
“I will, damnit!” Tara protested, surprising Willow
and Buffy with the intensity in her voice.
“You should have talked with us about it!”
“Give me a break!” Willow snapped back. “As if either of you would have agreed to
it. Okay, be pissed off at me. I agree we shouldn’t do things like this
without talking to each other. It’s
done and we can’t change it.”
Willow abruptly got up and went to the cell and
leaned against the bars.
Tara and Buffy looked at each other and Tara nodded
for Buffy to go to the redhead.
The Slayer felt Willow’s muscle tighten when she
placed her hands on the witch’s shoulders.
“Wills,” Buffy said softly. “I love you and I understand.”
“You do?” Willow asked in a small voice.
“Yes,” Buffy answered, leaning her head on Willow’s
shoulder. “I did the same for you; I
should have known you’d do the same for me.
I just wish it wasn’t either of us.”
Willow turned in the Slayer’s arms and began crying.
“I’m sorry, I know I betrayed our trust with you and
Tara,” Willow cried.
Buffy sighed with relief as Tara joined her in
holding Willow.
“Willow, I love you,” Tara said softly. “I’m upset either of you have to go through
this but I’m not going anywhere. Let’s
make a deal, no more secrets in the future, okay?”
“Okay,” Willow said softly and glanced back over her
shoulder at the cell. “That’s my home
tonight, isn’t it?”
Neither Buffy nor Tara had to answer her.
“Did I change last night? Is that why I had no
clothes this morning?” the witch asked her lovers and best friends.
“What do you remember?” Buffy asked as they walked
back to the card table and Buffy began clearing away the paper plates and
putting the trash in a trash bag.
“I remember the spell and you howling and screaming
in pain,” Willow said thoughtfully, her green eyes becoming darker with the
concentration. “I saw you changing and
couldn’t watch and concentrate so I turned away. I did the banishing and called it to me.”
Tara reached out and held Willow’s good hand. The blonde witch was seeing a side of Willow
that she hadn’t seen in a long time, the shy and skittish hacker. Willow reminded her of a deer caught in the
headlights of car just before being run over.
“Next, there was this incredible pain, it made
focusing really difficult. I tried to
throw the curse back to Oz and called for justice against him. I guess I didn’t do that part right because
I don’t remember anything after that.”
“What the hell did you put in that wine and blood?”
Buffy asked as she sat down on a milk crate.
“Henbane, wolfsbane, poppy seed, and some other
herbs,” Willow whispered, her head dropping.
“Goddess, Willow,” Tara exclaimed. “Those are poisonous and mind altering.”
“They sure altered my mind,” Buffy agreed. “I couldn’t think or see straight.”
“I know, all the old spells I found had those basic
ingredients and some had worse,” Willow muttered. “I changed didn’t I?” she repeated her question.
“Yes, you changed into an upright werewolf, nice
reddish fur though,” Buffy attempted to tease in order to try and ease the
tension.
“The silver pentagram held you and the drugs kept
you pretty much unconscious,” Tara added.
“Good,” Willow said simply.
Willow flinched when Buffy pulled out a pistol from
her waistband when the three of them heard the door to the outer crypt being
opened.
“It’s Giles,” Willow said softly.
“How can you tell?” Tara asked with a frown.
“I recognize his walk,” Willow answered.
“You heard him coming?” Buffy asked. “Nevermind, I remember what it was like.”
Giles looked worse than he had the night before and
both Buffy and Tara noticed he was still in the same clothes he had left in.
“What’s up, Giles?” Buffy asked as he walked down
the stairs.
The Watcher waited until he sat down on a milk crate
with the women before even looking at them.
Willow, her head dropped forward, wouldn’t meet his eyes until he gently
raised her chin.
“I love you, Willow Rosenberg, and I’m here for
you,” he said firmly and then wiped away a tear from each eye as Willow nodded,
too choked up to speak. “We’ll talk
later about where you found that spell, young lady.”
“Why do you look like hell?” Buffy demanded.
“I haven’t slept yet,” Giles admitted and
hesitated. “I don’t quite know how to
say this. We found Oz dead this
morning.”
Willow spilled the coffee she was drinking and only
Slayer quick reflexes saved Buffy from a lap full of hot caffeine. Tara quickly grabbed up several napkins to
clean the coffee up, as Buffy and Willow looked stunned.
“Oz is dead?” Willow whispered.
“Yes, I recognized his clothes and his hair,” Giles
answered.
“You recognized?” Buffy asked. “Giles, how did he die?”
“It looks like his pack tore him to pieces,” Giles
whispered, dropping his head into his hands.
“They tore out his eyes and killed him.”
Willow grabbed at the card table as her head began
to spin. The hacker felt her heart
racing and pounding in her ears, blocking out sound as someone grabbed her and
pulled her off the milk crate or caught her as she fell, Willow couldn’t tell
which.
When she could focus again, Willow was on the air
mattress with Buffy holding her and Tara placing a wet washcloth on her
forehead and Giles was watching them with a concerned look on his scholarly
face.
“Oh Goddess,” Willow whispered. “The pack killed him because of his eyes?”
“What do you mean, Willow?” Giles questioned,
squatting down.
“I don’t remember, the pain was so bad last night,”
Willow muttered as the other two women held her. “I tried to throw the curse back to Oz and demanded justice. I remember something about his hatred, anger
and perversion blinding him, sending his evil back to him three fold over.”
“You called for him to be blinded?” Tara asked.
“I don’t know!” Willow cried and attempted to get up
from the bed but Buffy and Tara held her back, forcing her to face it and
them. “I don’t know!”
“Willow, you sent his evil back to him!” Tara said
loudly. “It’s not your fault! You
called for justice and you got it!”
“No, I shouldn’t have done that! Bad karma! Bad
magick!” the witch whined.
“Willow!” Giles snapped, catching the witch’s
attention. “Oz was an admitted
killer. He said he hunted humans for
sport; he attempted to rape you and intentionally infect you. Oz bit Buffy to make her life hell and to
force her to join the pack when she got in the way of his raping you,” Giles
said bluntly as Willow blushed. “What
you did was stop a serial killer and rapist by sending his own evil back on
him. The pack killed him because he
became infirm.”
“What do you mean?” Buffy asked, holding firmly onto
Willow.
“An alpha wolf stays the leader of the pack by
maintaining his hold, his health and his strength. If an alpha wolf gets too old or is disabled, he’s challenged and
someone else takes alpha position.
Sometimes the alpha wolf is killed or crippled, sometimes they’re driven
out of the pack or they become beta wolves.
Oz’s pack killed him because he was no longer strong enough to be the
alpha wolf if he was blind,” Giles explained.
“It is my fault, I blinded him,” Willow muttered.
“No, his own evil, his hatred and anger blinded,
him, not you,” Tara countered.
“What happens to the pack now?” Buffy asked.
“Hopefully they’ll move back to wherever they came
from,” Giles said thoughtfully. “Or
they stick around and we hunt them down.”
“Maybe we can sic the Initiative on them,” Tara
suggested.
“Excellent idea!” Giles grinned. “Speaking of the Initiative, it’s time to go
somewhere, ladies.”
“Where to and shouldn’t Willow stay here?”
Giles reached into his pocket and pulled out a
flask. “Willow, do you trust me?”
“Well there was that test thing on Buffy’s birthday
with the Council but I’ve forgiven you since she has,” Willow said slowly. “Yes, I trust you.”
“Hold out your hand,” Giles instructed and the
red-haired witch did so without hesitation.
The Watcher pulled out a pocketknife and opened one of the blades.
“Hey!” Buffy protested and Tara stood up with a
frown.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt her. Well, not much more than a paper cut, I
hope,” he muttered and pricked her finger.
Next he poured some of the liquid into the palm of his hand and held it
up.
“Dip the finger in the liquid, please,” he
instructed and the hacker did so and held it in the small pool of liquid. “Good, thank you.”
Willow pulled her hand back with a puzzled look.
“Werewolf test,” Giles announced. “The liquid contains silver nitrate,
wolfsbane and a few other ingredients.
If Willow was close to turning, she couldn’t have held her finger in the
liquid,” he explained as he wiped his hand on a napkin. “It usually takes a month for the change to
take affect, for the DNA and RNA to alter enough for the physical change. I’m betting that she doesn’t change for
another month.”
“Well that would be nice except she changed last
night,” Buffy reminded him.
“I think we saw a magickal change, like when there
were two of Xander,” Giles explained.
“So I don’t have to worry about the moon tonight?”
Willow asked, still appearing puzzled.
“I don’t think so,” Giles nodded. “Just in case I’ll have the tranquilizer gun
with me and the first sign of a change we’ll knock you out.”
“Why risk it at all?” Tara demanded. “She can stay here tonight and everyone
would be safe.”
“I think we need to take care of something tonight
and I need all three of you there,” Giles said firmly.
“What is going on, Giles?” Willow demanded.
“We’re going to pick Riley up from jail where Brad
has been holding him. We’ll spend some
time with young Mr. Finn and drop him off at his dorm this evening,” Giles
smirked.
“Riley? You want us to spend time with Riley?” Buffy
snapped. “He wants to lock me in a
cage!”
“Exactly,” Giles nodded.
“I get it,” Tara smiled. “By having us there when the moon comes up you’ll be able to show
him that none of us are his werewolf and he’ll be forced to leave us alone.”
“But Willow is…she will…” Buffy stammered.
“Not for another month,” Giles pointed out. “Riley thinks either Willow or you were
bitten last month and are now a werewolf.
By both of you being there tonight, it’ll throw him and the Initiative
off.”
“You are very devious, you know that?” Willow
smirked. “It’s still too dangerous to
let me out tonight.”
“I think we should chance it, Wills,” Buffy said
after a moment. “If the Initiative
thinks either of us are a ‘hostile’ they won’t rest until we’re in a cage. Hell, they’d probably stick both of us in a
cage just to be safe.”
“I agree, Buffy and I will be there and we won’t let
you hurt anyone and won’t let anyone hurt you,” Tara said firmly and leaned
over to kiss the red-haired witch.
“Oh Goddess, promise me you’ll knock me out first
sign I’m about to get furry,” Willow insisted and Giles nodded solemnly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joyce forced Xander and Anya to take Willow's bed
and get some sleep after Giles left. Out
of the entire group, Joyce was the only one who had gotten more than four hours
of sleep and the worried mother knew that everyone needed to be alert and
thinking clearly.
With Oz dead, Giles was hoping the pack would lose
interest in Willow and Buffy. It would
depend on the new alpha male but the Watcher didn't think the pack would take
the chance on trying to force Buffy to join them, werewolf or not. Since she hadn't been bitten by the new
alpha wolf, he would have no control over her and she'd have to join the pack
willingly. Buffy had already shown she
wasn't going to do that.
Even if they found out that Willow was now the one
cursed with lycanthropy, Giles didn't think they'd try and force the hacker with
her friends guarding and watching over her.
That only left the Initiative as a main threat to
her daughter and new daughters-in-law, Joyce reflected. Giles said he had a plan to get the
government off track as well and Joyce prayed that whatever it was that it
would work. She didn't think any of
them could take much more.
Joyce glanced over her shoulder as she sat at her
desk in the study. She wasn't sure if
she had heard a noise or not but the sound of the back door shutting confirmed
someone was moving in the house. The
mother of Sunnydale's Slayer got up and cautiously opened the back door and
found Xander standing on the back porch, leaning on the railing.
He heard Joyce step out of the house and quickly
wiped at his eyes.
"Xander?" Joyce asked softly as she walked
up behind him.
"Hi," he said quietly.
She leaned on the rail next to him. "You need some sleep," she
commented.
"I know, it's just so hard," he said
softly. "I keep seeing Willow as
that werewolf, kicking and moaning inside that crypt. It hurts. I didn't know how I was going to deal with Buffy being
a werewolf; with Willow it’s worse. I've known Willow since we were five years
old."
"I know, it won't be easy on any of us,
especially Willow," Joyce agreed, placing an arm over his shoulders. "Try and sleep, the girls are going to
need you tonight."
"Yeah, another Halloween in Sunnydale," he
muttered. "You going to be okay
tonight?"
"Yes, I'm going to turn out all the lights,
curl up with a mindless book and pretend my daughter isn't out there risking
her life and my adopted daughter isn’t turning into a werewolf while Tara
stands by, helpless."
Xander looked pained at her description.
"I'm sorry, Xander," Joyce sighed
heavily. "I didn't mean to take it
out on you. It’s not easy for me
either. I love Willow and Tara, and
Buffy is my life."
"I know, ours too," he nodded and gave
Joyce Mom a quick hug and went back inside to try and sleep.
Joyce couldn't help but look at the sky, gauging the
passage of time and how much longer it was until a full moon on a Halloween
night.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Buffy resisted saying something sarcastic when Giles
walked out of the police station with Riley next to him. The Slayer did hear a growl from Willow and
reached out and took the witch's hand and Buffy saw Tara place a hand on
Willow's other shoulder.
Riley Finn didn't look any more pleased to see Buffy
and the witches either and Giles looked very stern and serious as they walked
down the steps.
"Alright, Riley has agreed to spend some time
with us until after the moon has risen and then everyone can go their separate
ways," Giles announced when they reached his car.
"I don't suppose any of you would be willing to
come into the Center for testing to prove none of you were bitten?" Riley
asked with a smirk.
"You aren't getting me near those cages or
needles," Willow frowned.
"Needles aren't good, no way.
Especially scientist types with needles, un huh, saw too many horror
movies."
"For a scientific geek that isn't very
realistic," Riley commented.
The redhead shrugged and turned to get inside the
car as Buffy opened the door.
Tara followed Willow into the car and Buffy walked
around to the other side with Riley.
"You touch either of them and I'll make the
next injury to your manhood permanent, got it?" Buffy growled and got into
the car before the commando could reply, but she did catch the frightened look
crossing his eyes
With a scowl, Riley got into the car
reluctantly. Once Giles was pulling out
of the parking lot he turned to look at the women in the back seat.
"Why the hassles to keep me and the Initiative
busy last night if any of you aren't infected?"
"Because you're a jerk and using the Initiative
to get back at Buffy?" Willow snapped.
"That's not true!" Riley protested. "If Buffy is a werewolf, you know
damned well she's dangerous. That's our
job, to take care of that danger.
Unless you're willing to shoot her with a silver bullet."
Willow turned bright red and Buffy quickly grabbed
the witch's arm and Tara wrapped an arm around Willow's shoulder.
"A little touchy, aren't you?" Riley
demanded.
"It's her ex-boyfriend that was out there
trying to infect her," Tara snapped.
"That's right," Riley sneered. "The werewolf you tried to help by
locking him up and then letting him run off as he pleased. Looks like you did a bang up job of helping
him."
The commando, despite his training, never saw
Buffy's fist. Riley shook his head and
held his cut lip as Tara and Willow tried to calm an irate Slayer down.
"I'd advise we continue this short ride in
silence, please," Giles snapped.
"I am very tired from Slaying with Buffy last night and didn't get
my nap this morning. I certainly don't
intend to let this pettiness get us into a wreck! Now quiet!"
"Where we headed to, Giles?" Tara asked.
"Expresso Pump, thought we could all use the
caffeine at this point," the Watcher replied. "All of you are going to be busy tonight."
"Turning furry?" Riley muttered.
"No, relaxing for once," Buffy
smiled. "We plan to smile at all
the little kiddies, watch horror movies until we want to kill Xander, stay up
all night and sleep late tomorrow. Don't you know the rule?"
"What rule?" Riley demanded.
"Oh, every evil thing agrees to take Halloween
off and let the mundanes play," Willow grinned.
"You're kidding, right?" Riley demanded.
"Well, we do have weird happenings on Halloween
but the evil generally takes the night off," Buffy explained.
"How the hell...."
"Shut up!" Giles snapped.
It was a very tense group that sat down with their
various coffees around a large table in the local coffee hangout near the
campus.
"I had a report that they found Oz's body on
your doorstep this morning," Riley began the conversation, watching their
reactions closely.
Willow's hands began to shake and Tara leaned into
the witch's arm, giving Willow contact and reassurance as the red-haired
witch's head dropped.
"Tactful, aren't you?" Buffy snapped.
"Why should she care?" Riley
demanded. "He was trying to infect
her."
"I cared for Oz once, I even loved him,"
Willow's head snapped up, her green eyes blazing angrily. "I don't know what happened to him but
I never wanted him dead, well not really."
"Why don't you and the rest of your GI Joe
friends go track down the rest of his pack?" Buffy complained.
"We will," Riley said firmly.
"How long until moonrise?" Willow
questioned impatiently.
"Sunset in ten minutes, the moon about a half
hour after that," Tara answered and blushed as Riley looked at her
closely. "I'm a witch; we keep
track of the planetary shifts for magickal workings."
"So which of you is with whom?" Riley
demanded.
"Off limits, Riley!" Buffy snapped.
"God, this is going to be a long hour,"
Giles complained in a mutter.
"Listen, this is insane," Buffy
complained. "We're going to go sit
over at another table, Riley and you can watch us from here."
Giles frowned but didn't dare protest that he might
not be able to get a good shot if Willow started changing without letting Riley
know something was wrong. He merely
nodded as the girls got up and moved to another table.
"Well, what shall we discuss, Mr. Finn?"
Giles asked wearily.
"Ways to kill a werewolf?" Riley quipped
and Giles gripped his coffee cup tightly, resisting the urge to backhand the
young soldier.
"We could talk about how ridiculous you looked
lying on the ground clutching your balls," Giles suggested softly and
watched Riley blush with anger. "I
suggest that we not try and push each others' buttons; we're both armed and
tired and you're threatening my kids."
"What happened, Giles?" Riley asked, his
anger apparently leaving. "I
thought Buffy and I had a good thing."
"She woke up and realized she's been in love
with Willow for years," Giles shrugged.
"I'm not one to discuss Buffy's relationships with, Riley."
"It hurts," Riley admitted.
"So you resorted to trying to hurt her
verbally?" Giles demanded.
"Stupid, I know," Riley nodded. "I never said I was a genius when it
came to romance. I just can't accept
her leaving me for a woman, it's not normal."
"What is normal, Riley?" Giles
countered. "It was considered
normal until religion got in the way.
Buffy is the Slayer and I think she should grab happiness wherever she
can find it. You can leave your job,
Riley. You can pack up, go home and
live a normal life. You could leave the
service and continue school and never pick up a crossbow again. Buffy can't do that; I don't think that's
something you've ever really truly understood."
"Maybe not," Riley agreed. "This is my job. I like it and want to continue but I don't
think I'll be slaying and capturing forever.
I figure I'll move up into an officer position or into research."
"Buffy does figure that she'll be doing this
forever, I've never heard of a Slayer retiring of old age," Giles informed
the young soldier. "She was chosen
for this when she was barely 15."
"She's talked about it before. You're telling me she's doomed to do this
until she dies?"
"Basically," Giles admitted. "I'm hoping she lives long enough to
have a life past slaying. There was one
Slayer who was crippled bad enough that she had to stop slaying. Another slayer came forward to take her
place."
"Crippled?" Riley frowned, watching Buffy,
Willow and Tara interact at another table.
"Yes, her name was Sarah and her back was
broken, she never walked again," Giles said bluntly.
"It's a little late to figure all of this out
now, don't you think?" Riley asked bitterly.
"Maybe for a romance relationship with Buffy
but how many people do you think truly understand what she's going
through?" Giles asked.
"You've slain demons, vampires and other things that even the rest
of the gang haven't. You could be a
friend."
"That's asking a lot," Riley frowned as he
looked at his watch and began paying closer attention to the three college
students.
Giles frowned as his cell began beeping in his
pocket. Riley noticed all three women
glancing over, their conversation halted.
"Hello?" Giles answered. "Yes...I understand...thank
you."
The Watcher turned to the solider. "Did you call in the FBI to help track
down Buffy, Willow and Tara?"
"No, why?" Riley answered and Giles stared
at him for a moment, gauging the commando's honesty.
"Seems there's an FBI agent asking about Willow
around town," Giles frowned.
Giles shook his head at his 'kids' and they returned
to talking.
Willow adjusted her sling nervously, glancing at
Tara's watch. Buffy leaned over the
table and grabbed the witch's hand.
"Its okay, Wills," she said gently. "If you were going to change you'd know
it by now wouldn't you?"
"Yeah," Willow said softly. "Oz always knew when the moon was
rising."
"Then you've got another month," Tara
tried to smile.
"I suggest we stay here for a bit and let Riley
soak in the fact none of us here have grown fur and fangs and then you two go
to the Bronze and have a good time while I go out slaying," Buffy
suggested.
"We can't leave you to slaying by yourself on
Halloween!" Willow protested.
"Yes you can, I'm going to swing by and grab
Xander and Anya to go out with me, just in case something forgets the
rule," Buffy insisted. "Go
out and enjoy the night, I know you'll want to do a ritual sometime around
midnight. Mom should be asleep and you
can do it in the backyard."
Tara smiled as Willow looked over at her.
"It is the last full moon I'll enjoy without
howling at it," Willow said slowly and leaned her head onto Tara's
shoulder. "Guys, I love you both,
you know. I'm sorry about all of
this."
"Nothing to be sorry for, Willow," Tara
insisted. "It’s Oz' fault and he's
paid for it."
"Don't get into trouble on the way home
either!" Buffy smiled at her best friends and lovers.
"Okay, we'll take a cab home," Willow
decided. "This is one night we
don't want to run into anything mean and nasty. We might stake some poor high school schmuck instead of a
vampire."
"Yeah, I am kinda surprised that nothing freaky
has come out this year with major plans to destroy the world tonight,"
Buffy mentioned.
"Shhhh!" Tara urged. "Don't give anything ideas!"
The three managed to laugh and Willow leaned up and
kissed Tara gently for a moment.
"What the hell is going on?" Riley
demanded as he watched the three women.
"I thought Buffy was with Willow."
"You'll have to clear all of that up with
them," Giles suggested. "Have
you been with them long enough? The
moon has been up for fifteen minutes now."
"Yeah, I guess," Riley said
reluctantly. "I'll report that it
was a false alarm."
"Good, I'd advise staying away from Buffy and
the others for a few days," Giles said as Riley stood up. "Everyone has been under a lot of
strain and we're all very tired."
"Yeah, I still owe you for that stunt of
putting me in jail, Giles," Riley said seriously. "That wasn't a vacation resort
either."
"We couldn't worry about you and Oz at the same
time. Buffy needed to be with Willow
until Oz was caught and having you stalking them wouldn't have helped."