FF: Red Moon Rising 7/11 - B/W/T - NC17
Red Moon Rising,
Part 7
Author: Hunter Ash
Copyright © 2001 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.
Email: carrkjar@yahoo.com Feedback welcome!!
Homepage Addy: http://www.hunterash.com/
Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox,
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline,
however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be
sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made
for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright
notices.
F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship
between people of the same gender and may even include 3 at the same
time . 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. B/W T/W B/T
Spoilers: Some general 5th season stuff, but nothing major.
Summary: the gang prepares for the next full moon and Buffy's
possible change into a werewolf but Willow has a dangerous plan and
Riley suspects Buffy has been bitten and wants the Initiative to take
action against her.
Rating: NC-17, same sex action, werewolf attack, major character
injury, angst, hurt and comfort. It's Buffy, there's violence.
Author's Note: While this is not my first story, it is my first Buffy
story. So….kind words are hoped for…. Oh, and by the way, this
will be posted in parts. This being part seven. Feedback always
welcome.
===============================================================
Buffy angrily wiped at the tears streaming down her face as she
slowed down. Somehow her Slayer skills had kept her from falling and
breaking her neck in her mad dash into the woods and she knew that
was about all that had saved her. she now reflected.
Buffy heard the soothing sound of a stream and walked towards it
instinctively. She was hot, tired and felt covered in sweat and
grime. She found a small creek running over boulders and cool
looking ground. The Slayer knelt down on a boulder and dipped her
hands into the stream and let the water splash over her upturned
face. She knew better than to drink the water but just cooling her
skin felt good. The water was ice cold and revived her energy.
Buffy sat down on another boulder and watched the water flowing and
let it take her panic with it. She knew it had been stupid to run
off like that just because Xander had made a stupid joke about her
possible werewolf status. If she let every Xander comment get to
her, Buffy realized, she would have killed him a long time ago.
The Slayer let the sun warm her as her sweat covered body began to
cool down in the chilled autumn air of late October. Then her Slayer
senses kicked into alert and she looked around cautiously, pretending
not to notice anything or to be alarmed.
Buffy cursed herself for running off from the others. She could
usually take care of herself and often spent time saving her friends
when they tried to help her but she knew things were different now.
Giles was right, if Buffy was infected with lycanthropy, she
shouldn't be alone where Oz could reach her.
The Slayer somehow knew the movement surrounding her was dangerous.
After a moment several figures appeared on all sides of her, four on
the other side of the river and three on her side. One in front,
side and back. There were five males and two females and they had
the same predatory look that Buffy had seen before when spirits of
hyenas had possessed several of the students, including Xander.
These males and females had that same feral look, even though they
were dressed like any other high school or college student.
Buffy stood up slowly and waited, her eyes darting around constantly,
trying to keep them all in sight as they moved closer.
The Slayer didn't even bother to look surprised when Oz stepped out
of the trees and slowly approached her. He had dyed his hair and
beard black, probably in an effort to avoid the police but that was
the only thing that had really changed about him.
, Buffy thought, His clothes
hung limply on him and hadn't seen the inside of a washing machine in
quite awhile. His shirt still had the blood from where she had
stabbed him with the silver dagger a month earlier.
"Oz," Buffy said easily.
"About time you showed up," he growled. "Ready to join the pack?"
"Not really, I was really looking for some quiet time," Buffy said
easily. "You know how it is; slaying day and night, needed a break."
"Don't fight it, Buffy," Oz ignored her quip. "I can smell my mark
on you; you're already part of the pack."
"You know, I discovered when I was cheerleader that I'm not really a
joining person anymore," Buffy said casually as she jumped off the
boulder, still keeping an eye on the other werewolves. "I think I'll
pass on this one."
"You don't have a choice," Oz growled, his green eyes shifting to
wolf yellow. "Same old Buffy though, you'll probably be joking when
someone rips your throat out."
"Well, when that happens someday, I'll let you know," Buffy countered.
"Buffy, either you come with us today and join the pack or I hurt you
really badly and we take you anyway," Oz grinned, his teeth growing
into fangs.
"Nobody tells me what to do, even Giles learned that one a long time
ago," Buffy growled.
"You can't fight me, Buffy," Oz laughed a guttural laugh. "I'm your
alpha male."
"Don't you sense something else, Oz?" Buffy grinned right back at him
as she pulled a silver dagger out of her belt. "I'm not yours!"
Oz moved a little closer and sniffed the air and Buffy's muscles
tensed.
She grinned a vicious smile when his eyes widened in shock and he
began to tremble.
"Willow?" he said softly. "You mated with Willow? After I bit you?"
"She insisted," Buffy grinned and answered Oz's growl with one of her
own. "Seems she wants me instead of you, even as a wolf."
Oz roared his rage and dived at the Slayer.
Even expecting the attack, the swiftness almost caught Buffy off
guard as Oz changed in mid-air and, as a full werewolf, tackled her
into the boulder behind her. Knowing she didn't have to worry
really about being bitten or scratched, Buffy fought back with no
holds barred and rammed the dagger into his chest as he raked hers
with one of his clawed paws.
The werewolf fell back howling in pain as his pack gathered around
him. Buffy noticed they were circling and appeared nervous but none
of them moved in, they were leaving the fighting to their leader
until he gave the signal.
Buffy tried to regain her feet but was stunned to discover how much
the slashes across her chest hurt.
Oz managed to get to his feet at the same time the Slayer did and
they squared off once again: Oz with his claws at the ready and
Buffy with the dagger in her hand.
Suddenly shots filled the air followed by screams and sounds of
panic. Oz looked around in confusion as his pack was scattering to
the woods or across the river and shots were following them. Two of
his pack were on the ground, one dead with a head shot and the other
moaning with a back wound that was probably fatal.
Oz turned as Buffy attempted to stab him again and backhanded her
into the water. He bounded over her to the other side of the river
and disappeared into the woods.
"Buffy!"
"Here!" she called out, getting to her hands and knees in the water
and then she began moving towards the embankment. Two sets of legs
were there in a moment, splashing around her as hands grabbed her by
the arms and helped her to the bank. She was turned over and she saw
Giles and Tara examining her as her teeth began to chatter.
"Glad you guys showed up," she stammered through her teeth.
"We've got to get her to a hospital, even with her Slayer healing
she's going into shock with that cold water and loss of blood," Giles
grumbled as he stripped off his coat and covered the Slayer with it.
Together they got the Slayer on her feet and began walking her back
towards the car.
"It's too far away, Giles," Tara complained as Buffy became harder to
guide as she started to slip into unconsciousness.
"I know, I know," he growled. "Listen, give me your jacket. I'm
going to stay with Buffy; you get back to the car and guide the
paramedics in here. I'm going to call them on the cell phone and
tell them where the car is. Can you run that far and back?"
"I have to," Tara said firmly and handed the Watcher her jacket. He
quickly added it to his as he laid his charge on the pine covered
forest floor.
Tara was gone at a sprint.
Giles leaned over Buffy and checked her pulse and wasn't happy with
what he found. The Watcher moved his body alongside Buffy's and
pulled her into his arms, trying to lend his warmth to her quickly
cooling body.
He pulled out his cellular phone and started making his calls, first
to the paramedics; Detective Santiago was next, followed by the call
to Joyce and Willow.
===============================================================
Giles met Willow and Joyce outside the Emergency room.
"She's going to be fine!" he said quickly, attempting to
reassure a very anxious mother and lover of his Slayer. "Just as we
feared, Oz and his pack found her and she fought with him. We got
there in time to break it up but he got in one good slash across her
chest and she landed in the creek."
"Then why the hospital?" Willow demanded.
"She went into shock from the loss of blood and the cold water, the
doctor's are finishing stitching the wounds now and say that she'll
be fine," Giles said gently. "They've warmed her up, replaced her
blood and cleaned the wounds. They want to keep her overnight just to
be sure."
"When can we see her?" Willow asked.
"They'll let Joyce in right after they finish with the
stitches. They want the rest of us to wait until they move her
upstairs," Giles answered and moved aside as Joyce rushed past him.
He led the distraught witch inside the Emergency Waiting Room where
Tara quickly hugged the redhead.
Ignoring the other anxious people waiting for loved ones or
waiting to be seen, the taller witch leaned down and kissed Willow
lightly on the lips and continued to hug her.
"Goddess, I needed that," Willow muttered. She and Tara went
to a free set of chairs with Giles.
The Watcher looked frazzled and Tara looked exactly like what
she had been through, she looked like she had taken a mad dash
through the woods in the middle of fall. There was mud covering the
bottom of her sweat pants and sweat stains on the shirt and her hair
was mussed up. Willow tried to ignore the blood on Tara's sweat
jacket, knowing it was Buffy's.
"Okay, what happened?" Willow leaned over, whispering to both
of them.
"Oz attacked her and they were fighting when we got there,"
Giles began.
"Giles shot a couple of them and they scattered just as Oz
knocked Buffy into the creek and ran," Tara finished.
"She got in a good chest wound and so did he," Giles
continued. "Tara ran to lead the paramedics in while I called
everyone. I told Detective Santiago that Oz attacked her with some
kind of clawed weapon, like a martial arts thing."
"Good thinking," Willow muttered. "How bad are the wounds?"
"Deep but not bad for a Slayer," he whispered. "They'll heal
over and barely leave scars."
"She was able to fight him?" Willow demanded, her green eyes
shining brightly.
"Yes, they were fighting when we got there," Tara nodded. "I
think your bonding worked."
"Thank the goddess," the witch muttered and leaned back in
her chair.
"I've called Xander to watch over Buffy's room tonight and
Anya to stay with us at Joyce's place," Giles informed the young
witches.
"Good idea. Tomorrow we all need to talk about Halloween
night," Willow said
firmly. "I know we've been avoiding it but it's time."
"I agree," Giles said wearily.
All three stood up quickly when Joyce entered the waiting
area and then rushed over to the Slayer's mother.
"She's awake and asking for both of you," she said with a
small smile. "They're
moving her to the third floor, room 17. Go on up, Giles and I will
follow."
Willow and Tara were off promptly, trying to refrain from
breaking into a run down the hospital corridor to the elevator.
Joyce turned and accepted Giles' offer of an embrace as she
began to cry.
"How do you do it, Rupert?" she sobbed. "She looked so small
on that bed. Those bandages were so large!"
"I won't lie to you and say it gets easier, it doesn't," he
admitted as they began
walking towards the elevators.
"What if she is infected?" she whispered. "How are we
supposed to deal with that?"
"I don't know, I just don't know."
===============================================================
Buffy managed to smile when Tara and Willow entered the room
and she reached out her hands to both of them.
"Oh my God, Buffy!" Willow cried and held the Slayer's hand
next to her cheek.
"I fought him, Will," Buffy said softly as Tara stroked the
blonde hair off Buffy's forehead. "He didn't control me."
"And you almost got yourself killed!" Tara countered with a
slight smile.
"I'll be mostly healed by tomorrow," Buffy protested.
"Taking on a pack of werewolves by yourself was not in the
plan!" Willow responded.
"Terrific, now I've got two girlfriends to gang up on me!"
Buffy grinned.
"You bet!" Willow nodded as Tara grinned and pulled up a
chair.
"Giles and your mom will be here in a minute," Tara said.
"Cool," Buffy said softly.
"I'm going to stay here until Xander takes over when he gets
off work at the mall,"
Tara continued as Buffy began to drift into a drugged sleep.
"My God, Tara, I can't lose either of you," Willow whispered,
reaching across the bed and touching the other witch's arm.
"I know, neither could we," she agreed. "Let's get through
the next few days and see what happens."
Willow nodded as Giles and Joyce entered the room.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Giles had over-ridden Tara's decision to stay with Buffy and
insisted that she stay with Willow and Joyce and the three women had
finally gone home, leaving the Watcher to watch over Buffy.
The Watcher settled in with his notebook, writing down all
the revelations of the last couple of days among the Wiccans and his
Slayer while Buffy slept a healing sleep of recovery. Giles was
stunned for a moment when he looked up at the sound of the door
opening and realized Riley had stepped into the room.
Giles frowned and put his notebook behind him in his
waistband as he stood up.
"What do you want, Riley?" he questioned.
The young commando was in civilian clothes but had a very
serious look on his face and Giles was cautious.
"I've come for Buffy," Riley responded.
"What on earth do you mean?"
"We heard the police scanner and Detective Santiago's orders
to look for Oz in the woods. She's been attacked by a werewolf and
we're taking her in for safety," he said in a flat voice.
"Buffy is our responsibility, not yours!" Giles hissed as he
ran a hand through his mussed up hair. Riley, watching the Watchers'
eyes, failed to notice Giles' other hand moving to his coat pocket.
"Slaying vampires and demons is yours and now your Slayer is
a hostile, that makes her our responsibility," Riley countered, his
eyes showing anger.
"Why, so you can lock her in a cage, put some device in her
head to drive her insane for the rest of her life?" Giles demanded.
"What will you do with her?" Riley countered. "Lock her away
in a cell somewhere like you did Oz? So she can howl at the moon all
night and maybe get out, like he did."
"Buffy isn't going with you," Giles growled.
"Get over it, old man," Riley snapped. "A team is on its
way, we'll take her even if we have to go over you to do it."
Riley looked surprised when he moved forward towards Buffy's
bed and found himself staring at a Glock automatic pistol in Giles'
hand. The commando froze in place.
"You won't do it, librarian," Riley muttered.
"You don't know Watchers, we train girls to fight better than
you'll ever achieve,"
Giles smiled a deadly smile and Riley had the feeling he was suddenly
watching a Bond movie. "My nickname used to be Ripper; do you really
want to test whether I can pull the trigger to protect Buffy?"
Riley looked down the barrel into the unflinching eyes and
calm face of the Slayer's Watcher and knew with a chill that Giles
really would pull the trigger and would have less remorse than Buffy
over killing.
"Get out of here, I want to watch from Buffy's window and see
you moving across the lawn towards the parking lot," Giles
ordered. "If I don't, then I'll shoot anyone coming through that
door I don't know, including you and I am an expert shot and have
plenty of clips in my pocket."
"We'll be back for her," Riley warned.
"If I see anything that looks like you or your playmates, I
will nail your sorry bloody asses to the wall and pin your ears back,
little boy," Giles growled and cocked the weapon as Riley turned
bright red with anger. "Don't think that I'd get away with shooting
my future step-daughter's stalking ex-boyfriend as he hovered over
her hospital bed threatening her? This is Sunnydale, Riley, they
won't even ask questions, especially after you were seen fighting
with her physically because she rejected you for a female."
"I'll kill you, Giles," Riley threatened.
"It'll take more than you," Giles snarled. "You're male ego
was so assaulted that you assailed her in the hospital after you
heard she had been attacked. I found you threatening her and choking
her and I had to defend my future stepdaughter. Forget about Buffy,
tell your team that she wasn't bitten by Oz because she wasn't; she
was slashed. Either you forget about her or I'll make sure every
single person on campus hears my version of your hospital visit."
"My superiors won't believe you!"
"Yes they will, they know how hung up sexually you were with
Buffy," Giles said easily. "They even doubted your judgment in
bringing Buffy into the Initiative, didn't they?"
Riley's refusal to answer was enough of an answer for the
Watcher.
"Leave, Riley, and convince your team she wasn't bitten or
you'll deal with a very pissed off Slayer tomorrow," Giles suggested.
"You shouldn't mess with the Initiative," Riley threatened.
"I don't know what the conversation is about here but that sounded
like a threat," a new voice entered the conversation and both Giles
and Riley glanced over and saw Detective Santiago standing in the
doorway with his gun drawn on Riley.
Giles quickly lowered his pistol.
"Young Mr. Finn was just leaving," he said calmly. "He and Buffy
broke up last week and he isn't taking it well. I was encouraging him
to leave."
"Then maybe you should leave Mr. Finn," Detective Santiago said just
as calmly, lowering his gun but keeping it in his hand.
Riley turned on his heels and left, quickly.
"Okay, Mr. Giles," Detective Santiago began as he entered the room
and put his gun away. "It's time for some answers and I want the
truth."
Giles sighed heavily and sat down and became very attentive when
Buffy began stirring.
Detective Brad Santiago waited with his questions as they both
watched the young blonde woman begin moaning and thrashing.
Giles leaned over and gently held Buffy's hand and began shaking the
Slayer.
"Buffy, it's okay," he said softly. "Come on, wake up, you're safe."
After a moment the wounded woman slowly opened her eyes and smiled
slightly at the sight of Giles' concerned face. Her eyebrows rose in
question when she spotted Detective Santiago on the other side of her
bed.
"Hey," she said.
"Nightmare again?" Giles asked.
"As usual," Buffy attempted to shrug and winced at the pain from
moving her chest. "Ow!"
"Easy, you," Giles chuckled slightly. "Detective Santiago walked in
while I was having a rather heated discussion with Riley Finn."
"Riley?" Buffy tried to sit up and moaned in pain. "What did he
want? Last time I saw him he was calling me a dyke."
"Buffy," Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them with a
Kleenex from Buffy's nightstand. "Detective Santiago is demanding
answers and knowing him, he's going to keep digging."
"You want him in?" Buffy asked with a frown.
"Hey, I'm right here!" Brad protested but Giles waved at him in a
dismissive manner, still focusing on his Slayer.
"Well, it might be advantageous," Giles said thoughtfully.
"If he believes us," Buffy countered.
"Well, there is always the fresh grave approach," Giles smiled.
"Oh right, like Merrick pulled on me!" Buffy smirked.
"Goddamn it!" Brad nearly shouted. "What the hell is going on?"
"Quiet for a moment, detective," Giles ordered. "It's Buffy's life
that is the one ultimately at stake, it's her decision."
"Well, we don't have to answer to the Council for someone other than
the Powers That Be knowing what I do," she continued to frown in
thought. "Yeah, okay, go for it."
"It'll be difficult, how to convince him quickly," Giles said
thoughtfully.
"Fresh grave tonight?" Buffy suggested.
"Seems the quickest plan," Giles agreed and turned to the
detective. "Tell me, Detective Santiago, has anyone died within the
last three days from massive blood loss from a brutal neck wound?"
"Well, yeah, one of the detectives was talking about it," Brad
answered with a frown.
"Do you know where the victim is buried?" Giles asked.
"No, afraid not," Brad answered, his face still a mass of confusion.
"That's okay, Willow can hack into the Coroners records," Buffy said
confidently.
"Hey, that's not legal!" Brad protested.
"Don't worry about it, Detective," Giles smirked. "It'll get much
worse," the Watcher turned to Buffy. "I'll call Anya to watch over
you until Xander gets off work."
"Is Xander mad at me?" Buffy asked, her voice sounding younger and
smaller.
"No, Anya said that he is fine and thinks that he was an idiot,"
Giles smiled. "Sit down, Detective Santiago, it'll take Anya a few
minutes to get here and we may as well start with the explanations."
TBC
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