Willow and Tara had made it to Giles' condo easily. Both young women
tried to explain while he examined and wrapped Willow's hand,
announcing that it was probably broken and should be looked at a
hospital. That was, until he heard what Oz had planned for his
favorite computer helper. He declared that the hospital trip could
wait until morning, when it was safer.
Giles moved aside to let Tara sit next to Willow so as to comfort the
distraught young woman as he headed for the closet where he kept the
tranquilizer gun and sedative darts. He noticed the closeness
between the young women and wondered exactly how close they had
gotten in their friendship. The scholar and former Watcher didn't
know Tara very well, Willow hadn't said much about her new friend but
Giles had noticed how good Tara had been for Willow after Oz's
departure.
"Tara... I..." Willow whispered, leaning into the other woman. "Is
it possible to love two people at the same time?"
Tara thought her heart would stop right then. "You mean Oz and
Buffy?"
"Oz?" Willow's voice sounded confused. "No, not Oz. You and Buffy."
Willow waited, ready to wince at the rejection she expected.
The computer hacker broke into tears and Tara tightened her arms
around Willow as the red-haired witch gave into the confusion, the
emotional pain and the physical pain.
Giles hesitated at the closet, unable to keep himself from watching
the two young women. He wanted to comfort Willow but their
protection came first, they needed that tranquilizer gun and maybe
one of the real guns he kept. Somehow he wasn't surprised when
Willow leaned up through her tears and kissed Tara and the other
witch responded tenderly, the kiss becoming part of the comforting.
After a moment Willow laid her head on Tara's shoulder and continued
to cry.
Giles was just opening the closet door when his front door slammed
open and Oz stood in the doorway.
Just like Buffy and Willow, Giles had a moment to contemplate that
this didn't really look or act like the young and tortured musician
he had known before he was backhanded into the wall. The scholar
slid down the wall, stunned.
Tara and Willow both jumped to their feet and faced the werewolf.
"Oz!" Willow yelled.
"You stay away from her!" Tara shouted.
"Is this the reason you turned me down?" Oz demanded, taking in the
taller woman standing protectively in front of Willow.
"No! Don't hurt her!" Willow shouted "What you want is obscene,
Oz. I don't love you, it would be all wrong."
"Won't matter after you join me," Oz said threateningly.
"No!" Tara screamed and grabbed a lamp and flung it at the young
male. Oz growled and batted it aside and charged the two women. He
grabbed Tara by the arms, surprising her with his unnatural strength
as he lifted her into the air and ignored Willow pounding on his back
with her one good hand.
Willow screamed as Oz threw Tara through Giles' front window and
turned to face her.
"Don't fight it, Willow," he growled softly.
"No, please," the young witch pleaded as Oz began changing subtly,
his teeth growing into fangs and his eyes turning wolf yellow.
Willow screamed in pain when he grabbed her injured hand and squeezed
again, bringing her to her knees.
Willow whimpered when the changing werewolf threw her forward onto
her knees and hand. Before she could move, clawed hands ripped her t-
shirt off her body and grabbed her around the waist, keeping her off
balance.
The hacker tried to kick backwards but only managed to yell in anger
again as the clawed hands reached for the front of her jeans.
"Hey! Back off, Wolf Boy! That doesn't look very consensual!"
Willow thought she would break into grateful tears when she looked up
saw Buffy standing in the doorway with a silver dagger in her hands.
Instantly, Willow was thrown aside and the werewolf, in wolf-man
form, dived for the Slayer with a howl of rage.
Willow looked up in time to see Buffy meet Oz's attacked with a
backhand of her own and a slash of the dagger. Oz landed heavily in
the hall with a howl of pain and rage.
"Willow, grab Giles and run, I'll protect Tara. Barricade yourselves
in a room or something!" Buffy shouted; trading blows with the wolf,
unable to get another slash in on the werewolf.
Willow stumbled over and cried out in panic when she noticed the
blood flowing from Giles' scalp. She scolded herself and began
trying to shake him into action while Buffy continued her sparring
with the werewolf.
It was a difficult fight for the Slayer, how to fight something when
you didn't dare get scratched or bitten and that was the main means
of attack from a werewolf? The fight ended up in the doorway of
Gile's place and Buffy felt the cool night air on her back.
Buffy's head snapped back from a backhand from Oz and felt herself
flying through the air, landing hard on the grass, next to an
unconscious Tara.
Willow screamed as clawed hands grabbed her by the shoulders, tearing
her away from Giles'.
Buffy jumped through the window as the werewolf pulled Willow close
to him.
"Oz!" she screamed and the werewolf turned his head her way, the
yellow eyes looking into her blue ones. Buffy felt a terrible
revelation hit her when she looked in those eyes and saw
intelligence. It wasn't the intelligence of a wolf or of a clever
animal; it was human. Buffy suddenly knew, Oz did have control over
the wolf and he was very much aware what he was doing.
It was Oz, not the animal, which was about to hurt Willow.
Willow saw the same intelligence when the werewolf turned back to her
and whimpered as his fangs began to lower to her neck. She closed
her eyes and gritted her teeth.
The sound of another scream and crunching bone snapped Willow's eyes
open. The sight of Buffy's arm in Oz's jaws took a moment to sink
into the computer hacker's mind.
Buffy, ignoring the fire flashing pain, took the opportunity to bury
the dagger into Oz's shoulder all the way to the hilt.
The werewolf released his hold on Buffy's arm and howled in pain. As
Buffy fell to her knees and Willow joined her, Oz dived out the door.
***
Giles shook his head and groaned softly. After a moment he managed
to sit up against the wall. He was confused for a moment until he
remembered the attack by Oz. He looked over to his sofa and saw
Willow and Tara fussing over Buffy, the two witches dashing back and
forth grabbing the first aid kit and bandages.
Something seemed different, not like the usual "after battle care" of
the Slayer. Not only was the energy more intense but no one was
hovering over him. The blood on his hand when he checked the back of
his head worried him and their reaction worried him even more.
Another question seemed to run through his head a moment later,
"Oh God!" Willow was mumbling. "Why did you do that?" she kept
asking.
"I didn't have a choice," Buffy was muttering back as she gritted her
teeth against the peroxide washing out her wounds.
"Giles!" Willow spotted him sitting up and Tara was there in a
moment, helping him up to a chair and held a gauze bandage against
his head.
"Buffy?" the scholar asked, his voice reflecting his questions and
concern.
Buffy was extremely pale, sweating and her face was very pained.
"What happened?" Giles asked, noticing Willow's tears as she
continued to clean some wound on Buffy's arm. He couldn't get a good
look from his angle but it was obviously bad.
"You got banged up, Tara got tossed through the window, Oz was about
to bite me and Buffy threw her arm into his mouth," Willow said in a
rush, the tears flowing even faster.
"Oh my God," Rupert Giles muttered, realizing his Slayer had just
been bitten by a werewolf.
He leaned forward and looked at the wounds closely and frowned. He
tried to put on a neutral face when he saw Willow's panicked
expression. Giles knew that he couldn't lie to any of his kids
though and he shook his head and saw fresh tears flowing down the
witch's face.
"Buffy?" he said softly, the Slayer was leaning back on the sofa with
her head laid back. Giles could tell she was in a great deal of pain
as shown by her pale face and sweating. It was clear that the Slayer
was hurting more than usual. He saw her wince as he shifted the arm
and inspected it closely. "Both bones are broken but the bleeding
isn't bad."
"We should take her to the hospital and get that set," Tara said
firmly.
"We can't," Giles said softly.
"What? Why not?" Willow asked.
"Because I was bitten by a werewolf and might get furry at any
moment," Buffy said softly, her eyes still closed.
Everyone fought back tears.
"We don't know that!" Willow cried, leaning her head on Buffy's
shoulder. "We cleaned the wound really quick and really good, maybe
it didn't get through, and maybe she'll be okay…"
"Will, its okay," Buffy said softly, reaching up with her good hand
to stroke Willow's hair.
"It's not okay!" Willow sobbed and Tara knelt in front of them and
laid her hand on Willow's leg comfortingly. "My ex-boyfriend tries
to rape me and turn me into a werewolf and you stop him by taking the
bite, it's not okay!"
Giles, trying to work around a massive headache, the overwhelming
fear of a werewolf Slayer, and now he was wondering what was going on
with the three women in his living room. Willow began crying even
harder when Giles placed the tranquilizer gun on the coffee table,
close to hand. They all knew it really wasn't in case Oz returned;
it was in case Buffy turned.
"What do we do about Oz? A loose werewolf, he could kill someone,"
Tara asked.
"He might but we won't be able to find him," Willow muttered.
"What do you mean? We know how to track werewolves," Giles asked.
"Can we track a werewolf with a human mind?" Willow countered. "It
may have been the wolf's body but its Oz inside. He knew what he was
doing. He wasn't trying to kill me, he was trying to bite and turn
me."
"She's right, I saw his eyes," Buffy agreed as chills shook her
body. "They were wolf yellow but it was Oz doing the thinking and he
was totally evil."
"This is so not like Oz!" Willow complained, holding onto Buffy.
Willow pulled back when she felt Buffy continuing to shudder.
"Giles?"
"I don't know, lay her down," the scholar suggested and Willow moved
over on the sofa enough for Buffy to lay her head on the witch's lap
while Giles grabbed a blanket out of the closet. Tara re-bandaged
Buffy's arm with a splint.
The Slayer looked like she had developed a high fever and Giles was
puzzled when he felt her forehead and didn't feel any heat. Buffy
tossed her head restlessly in Willow's lap while the young witch
stroked Buffy's hair and forehead.
"She doesn't have a fever," he muttered. He glanced down at her arm
and frowned. He held the Slayer's arm up for the two young women.
Willow's eyes widened and Tara gasped at the red streaks that ran
from under the bandage and up to Buffy's elbow.
Buffy began muttering and jerking. Willow continued to stroke her
forehead and began talking to her, attempting to comfort and calm the
Slayer.
"Giles, what is it?" Tara asked.
"I'm assuming that it's the poison of a werewolf bite. Her unusual
Slayer healing ability is trying to fight off the infection," Giles
muttered, wiping his glasses with his shirt. "This may be why there
have never been any records of a Slayer being corrupted by a
werewolf."
"Or the fact that werewolves usually kill their victims?" Willow
snapped.
"Well, yes, there is that to take into account," Giles responded
easily, his scholarly mind shifting into action around the
problem. "We might have a bit of luck here if she can fight off the
infection and not turn into a werewolf."
"What can we do to help?" Tara asked, sitting on the back of the sofa
behind Willow and pulling the witch back to lean into her while
Willow stroked Buffy's hair.
"I don't know," Giles admitted, watching the Slayer moan and
thrash. "Wait it out, I guess."
"You guess? Buffy could be dying or morphing into something furry and
fanged with a really bad temper and all you can do is guess?" Willow
demanded.
"Willow!" Giles snapped and then fought to control his own desire to
raise his voice. "I'm sorry, you know we tried to find a cure when
Oz turned into a werewolf, I haven't found anything new since then."
"Oh goddess, please," Willow's head dropped forward and Tara wrapped
her arms around the smaller witch.
Four hours later, Giles was losing the battle to get Willow to go to
the hospital and have her hand tended to, even with Tara joining in
the argument and offering to drive the young witch. Willow refused
to leave Buffy's side while she was still struggling with the
werewolf bite.
Giles had always known that the two girls were close but he was
beginning to suspect that it ran deeper than just best friends and
was also suspecting that all three of them had come to some
revelations in the last few days.
The Watcher muttered to himself that Buffy dating the vampire Angel
was complicated enough; he wondered how complicated dating Willow or
Tara or both Willow and Tara could get, especially in Sunnydale.
Giles also didn't bring up the fact that Xander and Anya hadn't
arrived at his house yet. He was worried enough for everyone. Only
Tara seemed to notice the former Watcher reaching into the closet and
pulling out another tranquilizer gun and loading it. Giles looked
over at his former charge, his Buffy, and laid the gun on the desk;
within reach, just in case.
************************
It was dawn before Giles really lost most of his nervousness. He
didn't think Oz could maintain his werewolf form in the daytime,
especially if he had been out howling all night. The former Watcher
was worried though, Buffy wasn't any better and Willow wouldn't leave
her side. Tara had finally fallen asleep in a chair and there was
still no sign of Xander and Anya.
"Alright," Giles said firmly, getting to his feet and waking Tara
up. "I don't think it'll be as dangerous in the daytime. I want
Tara to take Willow to the hospital and get that hand set. If you
wait too long then they'll have to re-break the fingers or you won't
use that hand again." he gave Willow a stern look, cutting off any
protests she might have.
Tara, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, nodded in agreement.
"I'll call Joyce and have her come over here and help me watch Buffy
while you two are gone. I'm going to have her drop by Xander's place
on the way over here," he continued. "He and Anya were supposed to
come over here last night and they didn't show and there's been no
answer at his place."
"Oh goddess," Willow muttered, placing a pillow under Buffy's head.
She quickly examined the Slayer's arm and whimpered at the sight of
the red streaks running now from Buffy's fingertips to her bicep.
"What do we do with a Slayer werewolf?" Giles asked no one in
particular.
"Get her through this!" Willow said firmly, her green eyes shining
with determination.
"Of course, of course," Giles agreed readily. "Go and get yourself
seen to."
Willow wanted to protest but knew that Giles was right; she
definitely didn't want to lose the use of her hand. Most of the
typing done on a computer keyboard was with the left hand, after all.
Tara insisted that Willow file a police report and the doctor agreed,
calling in a police officer once he learned that her crushed and
broken fingers were from an ex-boyfriend. Tara pointed out that if
Oz was picked up by the police, he couldn't hurt any of them for at
least the day and night. Willow managed to smile at that thought and
willingly filed the report, giving the police the name of the hotel
where Oz was staying and described him hurting her in the Espresso
Pump and having to hit him to get away. Tara added in about Oz
chasing her all the way to the dorm rooms and threatening to break in
the door and how she had called Campus Security. She then added they
had stayed all night at a friend's house because they were worried
about Willow's safety.
Willow was amazed; normally shy Tara seemed to have been replaced by
confident and quick thinking Tara. The blonde witch blushed at
Willow's amused expression when the police officer left after writing
up the report and leaving papers for Willow on how to file a
restraining order. The police officer had been reluctant to take a
report of a squabble between a boyfriend and girlfriend until he saw
Willow's hand and talked with the doctor.
Willow also knew that it was unlikely that the police would find Oz.
Normally, she would be worried about exposing police officers to
possible death or infection by a werewolf but with Oz in control of
the wolf, she didn't think they'd find him at the hotel or anywhere
else.
Judging by Anya and Xander being missing and the attack on Willow,
the computer geek figured that Oz had everything planned before he
had approached Willow. It was also very clear that he wasn't done;
she knew he still wanted her as his mate.
The red-haired witch had been so focused on Buffy all night that she
had shut out the pain until she and Tara arrived the hospital, then
the pain hit. Despite her half-hearted protests about drugs, she had
been given a shot of something that made the pain seem dull and a
little distant. Better than the throbbing and red hot sensations
running up her arms from her very swollen hand.
Willow tried to pay attention as the doctor talked with the police
officer but she found it difficult with whatever drugs they had given
her and didn't really care at that moment. She wanted to get back to
Buffy as soon as possible.
"Are you okay with me?" Willow asked softly as Tara sat on a stool
next to her gurney in the emergency room trauma area.
"Yes, as long as we stay friends, I think we can figure this out,"
Tara smiled slightly.
"No danger of losing that," Willow attempted to smile. "Thank you
for staying last night, not that you could have left. No, that would
have been dangerous, dangerous isn't a good thing. No, best you
stayed, but I'm glad you stayed without thinking it was dangerous to
leave…"
Tara grinned and Willow began blushing, realizing that she was off on
one of her trademark babbles.
The doctor pulled the curtain aside and looked down at Willow.
"That is not a happy face," Willow commented. "That is not a face
about to deliver good news."
The doctor smiled ruefully. "No, it's not," he agreed. "I don't
know how you got through the night with that hand like that. The
pain had to be incredible."
"We were too scared to leave the house," Tara explained. "He ripped
the phone out and we couldn't call for help or leave until this
morning."
Willow was once again impressed with Tara's quick thinking.
"Okay, here it comes," Doctor John O'Connor warned. "Three of your
fingers are broken very badly and we're going to have to put pins in
them to correct the break. He must have grabbed it at different
angels to break the bones like this."
"Pins?" Willow asked softly. "Surgery?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. They'll be coming for you in a few minutes.
You'll be out of the hospital tomorrow morning with a cast on your
arm for at least three months. Then we'll remove the pins and you'll
be in a cast for another month, and then start on the physical
therapy."
"Therapy? I'm a…" Willow stammered.
"She's a computer geek," Tara explained.
"Hope you've got the new voice recognition software or things will be
a little frustrating for you," Dr. O'Connor attempted to joke and
left the two young women.
"Surgery? I can't have surgery," Willow protested. "I've got to get
back to Buffy!"
"Don't you dare get off that bed!" Tara warned, her finger in
Willow's chest for emphasis. "I'll call Giles and tell him what's
happening. He'll watch over Buffy and protect both her and Buffy's
mom with his life, you know that."
"I know, I just… it's not fair!" Willow snapped and frowned at a
nurse moving the curtain aside. The young college student really
glared at the sight of another syringe.
"It usually isn't fair, honey," the older steel gray haired nurse
commented. "This will help relax you before surgery."
"I don't want to relax, I want to go home," Willow protested.
"Easy now, I saw those x-rays, you don't want to play with this," the
nurse responded. "They've called in a bone specialist. Your
boyfriend must have a grip of iron."
"Oh goddess," Tara muttered and Willow managed to turn even more pale
and sank back onto the bed as the shot began to take hold. "Do you
want me to call your folks?"
"No, they won't notice anything anyway," Willow muttered, her eyes
finally closing after more than 24 hours of being awake and stressed.
************************
Giles hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. He heard Joyce talking
softly to Buffy in the next room. They had moved Buffy into his room
and on his bed, hoping to make the Slayer more comfortable in her
struggles against the infection.
Joyce, of course, had rushed right over to Xander's place within
minutes of receiving Giles' phone call and then to the Watcher's
condo. Giles knew that Joyce was having a hard time seeing Buffy
hurt as any mother would, but having the knowledge that it was very
likely that Buffy would die at a very young age in what would most
likely be a violent and painful death made it worse.
Buffy was still thrashing and mumbling, sweat had plastered her
blonde hair to her forehead and the red streaks had reached from her
finger tips and to above her bicep. The young Slayer didn't seem to
hear her Mom talking to her or feel her gently wiping her forehead
with a cool cloth.
"Willow," Buffy muttered. "Will, help me."
Giles entered his bedroom and found Joyce wiping tears away as she
looked up at the former Watcher and occasional boyfriend.
"Where's Willow, she keeps calling for her," Joyce asked.
"I just talked with Tara," Giles felt like crying himself, it just
seemed that the situation was getting worse and worse. "They're
taking Willow into surgery in a few minutes to try and repair her
hand. The doctor told Tara that Willow will be lucky to regain full
strength of her hand in a year's time."
"Oh my God," Joyce whispered.
"Will!" Buffy muttered.
"She'll be in the hospital overnight at the least, I should think.
Tara is going to stay with her," Giles informed Joyce. "The police
have a report on Oz but I don't think they'll find him. Sunnydale
seems to protect the darker individuals around here. I'm going to go
to the hospital in a bit and make Tara eat something. I doubt she
has money for the cafeteria," he muttered.
"What about the others, Xander and Anya?" Joyce asked.
"I don't know. They haven't seen Xander at work and his parents
think they went out of town or something," Giles responded.
"What happens if she can't fight off the infection?" Joyce asked
softly as Buffy writhed in pain.
"I don't know, really," Giles answered. "There's never been a Slayer
who was bitten by a werewolf and lived. Since we left the Council, I
can't ask them for advice, help, or even let them know we could be in
trouble."
"You told me about Buffy being a Slayer means she's stronger than
full grown men, faster, and a natural fighter. You also mentioned
her unusual healing ability, won't that help?"
"I think it's the only thing that kept Buffy from becoming a werewolf
last night after the bite," Giles said uneasily. "With any other
human there wouldn't be a question of her becoming a werewolf, but
whether being a Slayer will help, I don't know ."
"Giles, I don't know if I can do this," Joyce said softly.
The former Watcher walked up and placed his hands on her shoulders as
she turned to look at Buffy struggling.
"We don't have a choice, Joyce," he responded. "Just like she didn't
have a choice in becoming the Slayer."
"Now I know why most of your Slayers didn't have family and friends,
it hurts too much, doesn't it?" Joyce demanded.
"When we lose them?" Giles asked and didn't wait for Joyce's
response. "Yes, it hurts too much but Buffy and I didn't have
choices. Becoming a Watcher was the only choice to save my life and
possibly my soul; for Buffy, it was the only choice she had. It may
not be fair to take young girls in their teens and train them to kill
demons, send them out after vampires until they die and wait for the
next Slayer, but we weren't given a choice in the matter."
"I hate this, Rupert!" Joyce said fiercely.
"I know, I do too," he admitted.
"Buffy has told me about her boyfriend, Riley," Joyce said, changing
the subject. "Doesn't he work for a government thing that deals with
this? Maybe they have more research or equipment that can help Buffy."
"Even though Buffy has gone on patrol with Riley, I don't think she
totally trusts the organization he works for," Giles
pondered. "After being betrayed by the Council, we're both a little
gun-shy of organizations with too many secrets. They might have
answers or they might decide that the safest thing to do is
neutralize her."
"Neutralize?"
"Imprisonment or execution," Giles said bluntly. "We've heard rumors
that they take and do experiments on captured demons, vampires and
other creatures. We know of one vampire who they managed to
neutralize his ability to drink from humans. He's one of their
success stories; imagine how many experiments it took to reach that
level."
"You talk like you feel sorry for whatever they're experimenting on,"
Joyce frowned and turned to look at her sometime lover. "Don't you
train Buffy and help her kill these things?"
"Sometimes, not all demons are evil and werewolves are cursed
people," Giles tried to explain. "Like Oz, we didn't blame him or
hunt him down, we did our best to protect him and keep others safe
from him. I'm not sure the Initiative would be so considerate, even
if it is Buffy."
"Why isn't Buffy calling for Riley?" Joyce said thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure," Giles tried evasion.
"You look like you're avoiding something, Rupert," Joyce almost
growled. "I know that look; it's a look of when you don't want to
tell me something, usually concerning Buffy."
"I have no idea what is going on with Buffy and her dating life,"
Giles said truthfully. "I do know that Willow was one of her first
friends and they've been close ever since."
"But Buffy isn't...," Joyce hesitated, her own face puzzled. "Is
she? I've only known about boys."
"I don't know, truthfully," Giles admitted. "I don't know what to
think anymore with anyone's dating. You and me are off and on again,
Willow is awfully close to Tara and Buffy, Xander is dating an ex-
vengeance demon, Buffy has been dating Riley but her track record
with males is horrible and I've gotten the sense that she's not happy
with Riley. I don't know, none of it adds up."
"Will," Buffy muttered, tossing in her sleep.
"How long before we know?" Joyce demanded. It was only 9am in the
morning.
"I don't know," Giles mumbled.
"Either she dies, wakes up or turns into a werewolf?" Joyce snapped.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Watcher mumbled and hugged Buffy's mom
tightly.
Both of them jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. Giles moved
out of the room to answer it.
"Yes?" he answered.
"It's Oz," a voice growled on the other end and Giles' hand tightened
on the receiver and he turned his back to the hallway, hoping to cut
down the sound traveling to his room.
"What do you want?" Giles' demanded. "Haven't you done enough?"
"Shut up," Oz snapped back. "I have Xander and his girlfriend.
Simple exchange, Willow comes with me and you get loser boy and his
ditsy sidekick back."
"Willow isn't here, I sent her out of town to get away from you,"
Giles hissed.
"I don't believe you! She wouldn't leave Buffy injured," Oz protested.
"Believe what you want, she's not here," Giles insisted. "What the
hell happened to you, Oz? The boy Willow loved never would have done
this. You destroyed your relationship with Willow just to keep
Veruca from hurting anyone in wolf form that night, now you've bitten
Buffy!"
"I grew up, Giles," Oz's voice sounded so calm that it infuriated the
older man. "I found a pack and learned how to live with the wolf
instead of fighting it."
"You can't consider dragging Willow into that with you," Giles
protested. "Please, Oz, just leave town or you'll force us to kill
you."
Oz laughed and Giles felt like he had been hit in the chest.
"Buffy won't be hunting me, old man," Oz laughed again. "She'll be
hunting WITH me soon."
Giles stared at the phone after Oz hung up and resisted throwing it
against the wall. He turned and saw Joyce standing in the hallway
and knew she had heard his end of the conversation, despite his low
voice.
"He's totally insane," Giles tried to explain. "He says he has
Xander and Anya and wants Willow and Buffy."
"How can he have Xander and Anya?"
"He mentioned a pack, he obviously has help," Giles considered.
"Well, we can't give him any of the kids," Joyce said firmly.
"That means finding him and rescuing Xander and Anya, keeping Oz from
finding out Willow is in the hospital and praying Buffy doesn't..."
Giles hesitated.
"Turn into a werewolf like Oz?" Joyce finished, choking on the words.
"No, worse than Oz," Giles said truthfully. "Oz has human control
over his werewolf side now. Buffy wouldn't."
"Like the movies? Just out for blood?" Joyce whispered, a tear
escaping down her face and Giles drew her into his arms, fighting
back his own tears.
"Yes, a werewolf with the strength of a slayer."
TBC
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