Connections Part Two

When Willow opened the door they were met with a cold wind blowing through the window, through a broken window, and Buffy was nowhere to be seen.

Panic seized Oz's heart and he took an unconscious step forward into the room only to trip on a net bag full of wet shower supplies. He kept from falling flat on his face by stumbling onto Buffy's bed.

"These are Buffy's," Willow said picking up the bag. "And they're wet." She brought the bag over to Oz, hope shining in her eyes. "Maybe after her shower she decided to go get something to eat." Oz nodded to Willow, but he knew something bad had happened to Buffy. Some how he could feel it. He got up off the bed the walked over to the broken window, even before he saw the blood he could smell it.It was Buffy's and there was lot of it on the outside of a window.

"What is it Oz?" Willow asked walking up to him and then she let out a frightened gasp as she saw the blood still dripping down the jagged edge of the window. Oz stood there thinking, his werewolf sense of smell told him not only that it was Buffy's, but that it was very fresh. The odor of the blood filled his nostrils causing him to become overheated -- his clothes suddenly constricting -- he could feel the wolf in him trying to break free. He had to get out of there, he could track her, he could find his her and then he would rip the throat's out of people that threatened her. Willow's hand on the shoulder nearly sent him over the cliff -- a free fall into pure wolf induced instinct. He pushed off her hand in stepped back away from her, away from the blood on the window, taking deep breaths he regained control.

"Willow I have to get out of here, I can track her." Oz said fidgeting, trying to keep from making eye contact with Willow because he knew she would know how close the wolf was to taking control. He knew she could never understand the wolf part of him was always just under the surface. The werewolf blurted the first excuse the came to fogged mind. "I need you to call Giles, go over there and wait, when I find her I'll call."

Willow began to shake her head in negation, "no Oz it's too dangerous let's get everybody together."

Intellectually, the tiny bit of Oz's intellect it was working, he knew that Willow was correct. That he should wait until the entire Scooby gang was gathered but there was just no way he could contain the wolf. "Trust me I'm not going to pull a John Wayne." And before she could react he ran out the door. He heard her call to him as he left the room and again as he paused under the window picking up the blood scent again. Only he was lost into the predator's instinct of the hunt, he had to move, to do something.

The scent of Buffy's blood was strong; Oz took off in the direction that his nose and primitive nature told him he would find her. Letting himself go, releasing his carefully constructed control over his inherent animalistic inclinations. After the Veruca werewolf incident, he had broken up with Willow and had gone into the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest to prove Veruca wrong. The three months he spent alone he discovered that she had been right all along, the wolf was more prevalent in him than he had let himself to believe. He found out, that while he only had the physical appearance of the werewolf for three nights a month, he had the enhanced senses all the time. Besides the sense of smell he had acute hearing -- every bit as sensitive as a Wolf's. While the senses had subtly incorporated themselves into his life without his knowledge, the terrible predator's instinct had been created the night he tasted Veruca's blood. The predator terrified Oz with its intensity. Oz was frightened that the wolf's primal instinct would take him over at the wrong time --overriding his human intelligence causing a fatal mistake.

He came to a trap door, which was obviously the entrance to the tunnels that ran below the University. The blood smell ended at this entrance to the tunnels. The wolf screamed for him to throw himself down into the sewer and race after the kidnappers. Instead he stood silently clinching his hands into fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms as he tried to rein in the emotions of the Wolf. Breathing deeply he was able to calm his beating heart and force the adrenaline down to a level in which allowed Oz to use his human intellect. If the Vampires were smart, they would leave a guard at the entranceway, to catch anybody who tried to follow. Oz looked around, thinking that the smell of Buffy's blood was so strong he could probably still find the trail if he went to another entrance.

Oz race through the night looking for another entrance into the tunnels. Finally, he spotted a man hole cover in the middle of the street -- thankfully a street with very little traffic on it at the moment. He quickly removed the heavy steel plate and scrambled down the metal stables, struggling to replace the manhole cover and maintain his precarious balance. Oz had the wolf's ability to smell and hearing while he was in human form-just none of its strength. Finally the heavy piece of steel was back into place; there was just enough light for him to be able to see the dirt floor of tunnel, so he jumped the rest of away down. The werewolf turned in circles picking up the scent of blood when he would sure of direction he slowly started following it. He eased his control over his wolf instincts letting them loose, he knew that part of him would have more success than the human part. The wolf was a hunter, the human a musician.

He deliberately kept to the shadows of the tunnels, trusting his enhanced hearing to warn him of any demon's approach. After hours of tracking Buffy, the maintenance tunnels from under the University having long since been left behind, for the storm drainage system of Sunnydale. The network of man made caves came to an end at the conjunction of five separate passageways. He panicked; he was at the end of the tunnels-looking out over the ocean thorough a wire mess-the wind off the water drowned out the last of Buffy's scent. Oz slowly turned in circles once again, in a futile attempt to catch a hint of the scent on the air: nothing. Pleading with his animal side to find the faintest wisp even as he knew it was useless, this close to dawn the wind always came off the sea.

He just felt that he was close -- very close -- to the Slayer. But, he'd lost her.

The wolf fell into despair, with the real human teenager Oz portion not far behind. Oz backtracked to a latter to the surface and decided to go up to call Giles. Oz thought he had gotten this far, he was exhausted and if he did not tell someone where he was then Buffy would surly be lost. But as he climbed out of the sewer he discovered he was in the warehouse district of Sunnydale. Close to the docks -- there were warehouses all around him. The wolf protested when he saw he was out in the open; with no place he could hide. So as casually as he could he walked away from the tunnel entrance vaguely looking for telephone.

As he passed one of the warehouses he felt something, like a wisp of a scent-only it wasn't that-it was softer. It was feather's touch in the back of his mind. Something told Oz he had found her, she was in the warehouse he was walking by, but the same thing that was softly caressing his mind was urgently pushing him away, screaming to him danger, to leave quickly.

Oz kept a steady pace trying not to appear out of place. As soon as out of sight of the warehouse he started running searching for a phone, four blocks away he found one at a 7-Eleven.

Oz quickly dug the money out of his pocket as he watched the sun rise higher in the sky. Giles answered on the first ring, or actually the beginning of the first ring.

"Oz?" The watcher asked tentatively into the phone.

"Yeah, Giles it's me."

"Where are you?" The werewolf could hear the worry in the watcher's voice. Oz was suddenly totally and completely rung out.

"I'm at the 7-Eleven on Broad and Main. I think of found Buffy. Could you come and get me?" The tired partial wolf asked.

"Yes, of course I'll be right there and we will plan her rescue at my place." The phone disconnected and Oz sat down a bus stop bench to wait for Giles.

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Oz sat on the couch in Giles apartment; he had arrived only a few seconds ago to full house--all the gang--Xander, Spike, Anya, Willow and Giles was there. Oz's brain was quickly becoming mush, he needed sleep, he needed rest -- he needed Buffy safe. Giles brought him some tea, waited a few seconds for him to least take one sip.

Xander's curiosity got the best of him, "so where is she?"

Oz deliberately put the cup of tea on coffee table. He couldn't trust his ordination of the moment. "I am pretty sure they are keeping her in a warehouse by the docks." Oz shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs. "I tracked her by the blood trail," at Willow's gasp Oz decided to take it different approach. "There was very little blood, Willow, the smell sort of lingers in the air. I got as far as the ocean before I lost the trail."

He stopped trying gathering his thoughts. He reached down picked up the tea taking yet another deliberate sip. He realized that he was being melodramatic, that everyone in the room was hanging on his words. But his mind was too fogged to function properly so he had to take his time to form coherent thoughts.

"I lost the trail and decided to call Giles -- but when I passed this one warehouse I felt a tugging inside, inside of me. I am certain that's where she is." The last of the sentence was slurred. Oz could see the Giles understood just how exhausted he was feeling.

Giles, Oz thought muzzy, would now take over. Buffy told him that, during Thanksgiving Dinner she had called the Watcher the patriarch of their little Family. Oz, of course, hadn't attended the Thanksgiving celebration, but that hadn't kept Buffy from giving him a complete rundown of the events. She made the entire affair sound funny, until she got to the point that Angel had been in town and hadn't cared enough to tell her. In typical Buffy fashion she had gone to LA and given Angel and piece of her mind-yet the hurt still lingered-just like the scent of her blood in the sewers.

Giles stood gaining the attention of everyone in the room and snapping Oz back to the present.

"Oz did you notice the warehouse number?" Giles asked.

Oz made is tired brain work -- "it was... six."

Giles looked at him sharply, " are you sure?"

The exhausted werewolf met the Watcher's eyes and slowly answered him. "Yes I'm sure. I had to think for moment, but know it was the number six."

The watcher gave him a weak smile. "Okay, Xander, you and Anya go an keep in eye out in case they try to move her." At the watcher's order both Xander and Anya immediately left. "Oz, Riley is in Iowa for the week, but Angel will be here tonight as soon as he can after sunset. Until then there's nothing you can do so why don't you go up to my bed and try to get some sleep."

The teenager looked over Willow and she nodded in agreement with the watcher. "He's right Oz you look exhausted. You need to get some rest so you will be fresh tonight."

He didn't have to be told twice, Oz pushed up off the couch and staggered up the stairs and just fell face first on to Giles' bed.

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He felt a small hand stoking the nape of his neck. It was the exact spot--which he loved to have touched. It wasn't a sexual touch; it was a comforting one. The gentle stroking continued to pull Oz out of sleep, and began to send a pleasant trill down his spine. He knew who the person sitting on the side of the bed was without looking, Buffy. Then realization dawned and he sat-up to engulf her in a relieved hug-only when he reached for her she wasn't there.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked around the darkened room, noticing for the first time that curtains were pulled across the windows keeping out the bright sunlight. With a confused groan he lay back staring at the ceiling, tears of frustration forming in the corners of his eyes.

It was a dream; it was only a dream. He glanced over at the clock it was two. He still was exhausted and felt like he could sleep for a week.

The bed sagged under a weight of someone small sitting down next to him. He knew it was Buffy by the tingling trill that trailed its way slowly through his body. Oz kept his eyes closed this time; afraid she would disappear once more. When he felt her small delicate hand pick-up his he decided to carefully look at her.

"Hi," she whispered.

He smiled at her; she was dressed in the gown she wore to the Prom. Her beauty literally stole his breath away and he felt a huge grin split his face.

"Hi back at you." He finally had the air to say.

"You know this a dream, don't you?" She asked, her voice still a whisper.

He nodded. Oz knew it was a dream from the moment that he saw her in the gown.

"Great." Buffy said brightly. Too brightly. "This is kind of a slayer thing. Helps with unfinished business and the like." A profound sadness radiated out of her hand and into him. He had the sudden feeling he was drowning in the despair.

"We are going to come for you tonight, Buffy. Angel will be here as soon as he can and…." Oz was silenced when Buffy placed her hand over his mouth. Her eye's becoming full of sudden tears.

"I'm sorry, Oz." She cried and laid down next to him her head on his shoulder. The gentleness of her touches gone as she pulled him into a desperate kiss. "Oh, god. I wish I could have told you this before now-but I was too afraid of being hurt or losing the friend I had in you."

"Shh, Buffy. We will get you out." Oz said firmly, they had to save her!

"No, I don't want my family to die." Buffy said as she sat up pulling away from Oz both physically and emotionally. Oz heard himself whimper at the lost of the connection between them.

"They are going to perform some kind of Ritual at sunset and I'm the guest of honor. I'll be dead before Angel can leave LA." Buffy said her ex-lovers name with venom. "Oh, and tell him I remembered his last betrayal. I remembered it in my dreams. I remember everything in my dreams."

The young boy didn't understand the hatred in her voice, but dismissed it as unimportant. The vampires were going to kill her at sunset he needed more information.

"Why sunset, why you? How many are there…." He blurted.

Buffy's form shifted from the soft-girl in the Prom gown to the Slayer dressed in jeans and sweatshirt. Her body language shifting with her changing into a hunter-this part of Buffy, the slayer, the killer, the protector-called his wolf.

"I don't want you to die, Oz. This was the entire reason I came to you like this, I think I love you." The slayer announced with her usual confidence.

Frustration forced Oz to move for the first time since this insane dream began-then he immediately regretted it when he saw Buffy's form fade slightly. "If you don't want us to die, tell us about the place they are keeping you." He couldn't disguise the anger in his voice. "Because one way or the other we are coming after you-so you might as well help us." He finished.

She just stared at him for a moment. Then the brave, big bad slayer crumbled into a frightened teenage girl, sitting down on the floor of Giles' bedroom.

With a defeated sigh, she started talking. "You know it's a warehouse?" She asked him and continued when he nodded. "They've made it into a real fortress, steel doors, steel shudders over the windows. They carried me through a trap door like thingy from the tunnels. There are only ten of them, plus…." She paused and glanced up at him. "Plus Devon." The werewolf felt a jolt of satisfaction that the cause of all horror of the past few days was dead-but the boy was shocked and saddened by his friend death; he had to look away from Buffy's all knowing green-eyed gaze.

When he was able to look back at her, she continued. "They made him this morning in front me." Now it was Buffy's turn to glance away. "Oz, don't come, please!" She pleaded with him, kneeling. "I can't fight my out of a paper bag right now, please, I want to know you are safe. I need to know you will be safe!" She cried. "They have me chained to the altar already, and even without the chains I doubt I could even walk.Please forget me, leave Sunnydale,have a happy life."

"Oz, wake-up, wake-up Oz you're having a nightmare." Willow's voice cut into his dream. He tried to cling to sleep, but Buffy was fading, a sad smile playing on her lips. Just before she disappeared totally, Oz saw the image of her beaten, bloody, and bruised body laying chained on a stab of concrete and then she was gone-replace by the worried face of Willow.

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