Xander and Cordelia sat in the library. Two months had passed since the night in the woods, with no further unusual events. Now, for some reason, Giles had called them and asked them to come by.

"So, answer me this. How is it that we graduated a month ago and still spend all our time here? Shouldn't we be out buying Willow and Oz a housewarming gift or something?" asked Xander. Giles had been nowhere to be found when they arrived, so he was a little frustrated.

"I already did. We're giving them a lovely vase I got in Austria last month."

"Thanks Cordy, but I was being facetious. Oh, look, here's the Buffster. Giles ask you to stop by too?"

"Yes, but I can't stay long. I have to get back to the station by 4." And indeed, Buffy was wearing her work clothes, and the police uniform made her look much older than 18.

"I still can't believe you got into the police academy," said Cordelia, eyeing the uniform with distaste.

"Why not?" asked Xander. "She has an impressive resume."

"True, but most of that can only get written down in Giles' journal," retorted Cordelia.

"Well, what else was I going to study?" asked Buffy rhetorically. "Philosophy seemed like a long shot." At that moment, Willow and Oz came in.

"We're here. What's up?"

"We don't know," said Buffy. "Giles called us all, but now he's not here."

"He's on his way. I hear him coming down the hall." Oz had that distant look in his eyes he sometimes got when he was hearing something at the outer limit of his range. A minute later, Giles entered.

"Hello all."

"Okay, now that's just creepy," said Xander, to no one in particular. Cordelia smacked him anyway.

"Xander," said Buffy in her warning voice, then turned to Giles. "What's up?"

"Do you remember the incident in the woods a few months ago? Oz running off and Angel tied to a post?"

"How could we forget?" said Oz sarcastically.

"I think I know what they wanted Angel for, and he's still in danger." Instinctively, without really being aware he was doing it, Oz growled slightly, deep in his chest. Willow put her hand on his shoulder, and Buffy shot him a look.

"Let's try and avoid saying Angel and danger in the same sentence in front of Oz, shall we? What do you mean?"

"Well, Angel and I went through some books, and he recognized one of the vampires that attacked him. He was a member of a vampire sect that is dedicated to opening the Hellmouth. They can do it if they have vampire blood that is richly imbued with the essence of hell. Angel certainly qualifies."

"But none of them have ever come back around," objected Willow. "Maybe they gave up after no one came home the last time."

"No," said Giles. "They're just waiting for the right time to roll around again. Then they'll try again."

Xander perked up. "Well, this is good right? All we need to do is find out when the right time is and be ready."

Giles shook his head. "It's not that simple, unfortunately. I can't find written anywhere what exactly are the factors that make it the right time. The only thing we know is that it will be sometime in the next six weeks."

"Angel doesn't know?" asked Buffy.

"No, and being somewhat of an outcast, he can't really ask anyone who might."

"So we have no way of knowing when this will happen, just the ultimate deadline," summed up Oz.

"Correct," confirmed Giles.

"So what do we do?"

"Well, Angel and I have spoken, and we think the best thing is for you to move in with him, Oz."

"Me? Why me? Oh, that." Oz remembered.

"Yes, that. Your presence as a human would keep them out of his home. And if you stay close to him, you could protect him in case they try for him on the street."

"I could do it," volunteered Buffy.

Giles blushed a bit. "Yes, well, we didn't think that was such a good idea. The possibility for complications, you know."

"Hey, I can keep my hormones under control," protested Buffy, at which point Oz leaned over and sniffed her intently. "Don't say it Oz," she warned, but he just grinned.

"Excellent control you have over those hormones."

"Shut up Oz." He gave her his best who-me? look, at which point she shadow-boxed him. He parried neatly, and then returned his attention to the issue at hand.

"Okay, so we're agreed I should go live with Angel until the danger period is over. How will you know if something does happen? Last time Willow was around to sound the alarm."

"I'll go with you," volunteered Willow.

"No, it's too dangerous," said Oz.

"Oz, I want to. Besides, we just moved in together, and here you are moving out. I want to stay with you."

"No, Willow. I won't allow it," Oz said resolutely. "If something happens, I won't be able to protect you and Angel at the same time, and the spell doesn't give me an option about who comes first, no matter what I really feel."

Willow was just as resolute. "I won't let you do this by yourself."

"Don't worry, Willow," said Buffy. "I'll stay there too. Down Giles," she added as Giles started to protest. "I think we're safe if there are three of us, and I can take care of myself, and get the word out if necessary."

"So Oz can protect Angel and you can protect Oz. That's good." Willow was confident in Buffy's abilities.

"Sounds like a plan to me," agreed Xander. "Where is deathbreath, anyway?"

"The sun won't be setting for another 5 hours and there's some kind of repair work going on in the sewer he uses to get here during the day, so he's still at home," explained Giles. Then a thought occurred to him. "Buffy, is your mother going to be alright with the idea of your moving in with Angel?"

"She won't like it, but she's okay with the whole Slayer thing now, so she'll understand."

"Does she know Angel's a, er,..." Willow hedged at the actual word, as if it were some kind of ethnic slur.

Buffy shook her head. "No. That seemed like pushing the point a little. I'll just tell her he's in danger from vampires. That'll be the god's truth. Now, I have to go. I'm due at the station. Oz, I'll be over at Angel's as soon as I get off my shift and can get some stuff packed up. Why don't you tell him about the change in plans."

"Okay, I'll go over now," agreed Oz. "You know he's not going to like it."

Buffy shook any possible protests Angel might have off casually. "Tough noogies. He gave up his right to privacy when he became the hunted instead of the hunter. I'll be there around 10. Will you be alright until then?"

"I'll be fine. Willow, can you go home and pack up some stuff for me? I'll go straight over."

"Sure," said Willow, and everyone said goodbye and left.

One week later, Oz and Angel sat in Angel's apartment, vaguely watching TV. Oz got up and started pacing. "Okay, this is already making me nuts. How can you be so calm?"

"I'm over two hundred years old," Angel reminded him. "I've had a lot of time to learn patience."

Oz laughed grimly. "I don't know how you can say that so nonchalantly. You'd think living that long wasn't such a big deal."

Angel was casual. "It isn't for me. The same way changing into a wolf at the full moon isn't for you. It's just part and parcel of who and what we are."

"I really don't like what I am," said Oz. "The hiding, the secrets, the constantly worrying I'm going to do something out of character for a human being. The world is too loud, too full of smells. I have a hard time not reacting all the time. And since I started remembering, it's like carrying around a second person inside. Before, I could set it aside from myself; make myself believe that the wolf was someone else. Now, I don't have that option anymore."

Angel turned off the TV and turned to where Oz was standing by the door. "When Willow restored my soul, I was very confused. I couldn't remember anything that had happened, and then Buffy sent me to Hell, where I had a lot of time to remember. And you know what, it was worse the second time, because the first time, sure, I had done a lot of horrible things. I had killed my own family. But the second time, I could remember what it had been like to both love and try to exterminate Buffy. I did kill a lot of people close to her. You and I met once, before you started locking yourself up. It was in an alley, the night I killed Teresa, for no reason than she was a friend of Buffy's. And I know I could never be close to her again; could never have any happiness again, because that would only make my soul go away again. So, I chose to stay as I am, with both a demon and a human soul in contention for who I am, and unable to be with the person I love most in the world. That's not even the worst part. The worst part is seeing the pain in her eyes and knowing I caused a lot of it. You're like me; you have two beings inside of you battling for control. But you also have Willow. Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have someone you can share your life so completely with? Sure you're a werewolf, and I'm sure that sucks, but in every other way, you have everything and everyone you need to be completely happy. I'll never have that again."

Oz smiled joylessly. "My curse is worse than your curse so stop whining? Okay, I get the point. And you're right, I am lucky to have Willow. There's a lot of things that could have been much worse about this whole thing. I could be all alone, without anyone to lock me up, or otherwise keep me from hurting people. I remember finding out about Teresa, and how I felt when I thought I had done it. Even the joining turned out to be the right thing, no matter how much I fought against it at first. But that doesn't change the fundamental truth that I want my life back. I don't even know if I can have kids, because what if it's genetic? I..." He suddenly stopped, holding up one finger. He put his hand on Angel's shoulder and whispered "Someone's outside."

"Who? Is it Buffy?" Angel whispered back.

Oz shook his head. "I hear footsteps, but no heartbeats."

"How many?"

Oz got that distant look in his eye and was quiet for a moment. "At least 10. We're going to need help."

"Buffy's due in about 10 minutes. Her shift ended at..." Oz put up his hand again, interrupting Angel mid-sentence.

"Wait, they've stopped, they're talking." He listened intently for a minute. "Okay, they're going to try and come in through the window. They know I'm here, but they think they can get in anyway because I'm more of a guest."

"Do they know what you are?"

Oz frowned, then shook his head. "I don't think so. They don't seem concerned that I'm here."

"Do you want to surprise them?" suggested Angel.

Oz sighed. "I think we'd better. There's no way you can hold them off by yourself for 10 minutes, and I'm not strong enough like this." They turned and looked at each other, making eye contact. They held that for a moment, then Angel mouthed the words "Sorry" and "Change".

Oz doubled over in pain. Angel let go and took a step back. He turned away from the changing Oz and opened a cabinet on the wall, hauling out a pile of stakes. Oz finished and stood up, growling at the window. It exploded into the room, and suddenly the room was full of vampires. Both Angel and Oz fought viciously, but there were too many opponents. Just as they seemed to be overwhelmed, Buffy charged in. Angel tossed her a stake and she weighed into the fight. Her involvement quickly turned the tide, and soon, the few remaining aggressors turned tail and ran off. Angel collapsed into a chair. Buffy ran toward him, but was stopped by Oz, who lunged at her, snarling and snapping. "Buffy!" Angel warned. "Drop the stake! He can smell that you're the Slayer; he thinks you're after me." Buffy froze, and dropped the stake.

"Good Ozzie, nice Ozzie. Angel, do something!" Angel rolled off the chair and onto the floor next to Oz and put his hand on him. Oz whimpered and backed away from Buffy before laying down in the corner.

"It's okay now. Just give him a second to change back."

"What happened? I thought they couldn't get in because Oz was here."

"Turned out not to be so true. He heard them coming though, so we had some warning. I tell you, it's a good thing you showed up when you did. We were starting to lose."

"I could tell. It seems like one of us is always bailing the other two out. Why is that?"

"Maybe you've noticed, but none of us is exactly campaigning for the title of most normal person on the planet."

"Oh, so that's why!" exclaimed Buffy in mock surprise. "I thought we were just lucky."

"Speak for yourself," interjected Oz, sitting up and spitting. "Man, you vamps taste foul. I need a drink of water." He stood up and went to the fridge.

"You okay, Oz?" asked Angel.

"I'll be fine. Talk amongst yourselves while I get dressed." Oz went into the other room to get some clothes.

Angel watched him leave. "I'm lucky to have him."

"He's lucky to have you. You keep him from doing things he doesn't want to do, and he watches your back. It's quid pro quo."

"Oh, Latin! I see all those long research sessions with Giles are starting to pay off."

Buffy looked confused. "What? Did I say something in Latin?"

"Never mind," said Angel, waving it off and laughing. Then he got serious. "They'll be back you know."

"So? What's the problem? We've already fought them off once."

"But we've lost the element of surprise," said Oz, re-entering. "They know he's protected by a werewolf now. They'll take precautions."

"Well, so will we," said Buffy. "First, I think we should change locations. This apartment isn't safe."

"Well yeah," said Oz. "It's got a hole in it. Where to?"

"My house. We know they can't get in there. Angel can hide out in the basement during the day. He'll be safe there."

"What about me?" asked Oz.

"You can stay there too. Mom's out of town on a buying trip, so we don't need to worry about her finding out anything she doesn't need to know."

"Convenient."

"Very," agreed Angel.

"Yes well, never let it be said parents aren't useful to have around, or not around as the case may be. Let's get this place cleaned up and then move out."

The next day, Giles, Buffy and Oz were talking in the library. Buffy and Oz had just finished filling Giles on what had happened.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, we've moved over to Buffy's. Beyond that we haven't come up with much," said Oz.

"Any ideas?" asked Buffy.

"Well, I think the fact that they know about Oz means we know when they'll try again."

"When?"

"The full moon."

Oz involuntarily guffawed. "But that's when I'm strongest. Why would they choose then?"

"Because it's also when your need to hunt is the strongest. Why would you want to attack something you can't eat? And if they can knock out Angel, his control over your motivation will be much lessened. Also, there are measures they could take that you would be the most vulnerable to at that time."

"Such as what?"

"Certain herbs. Silver. Pepper spray, even. A faceful of that would certainly put you out of commission for a good while."

"How are they going to knock Angel out if they can't get into the house?"

"They'll find a way to get him out of it. Some kind of bait. You would be the most likely candidate, Buffy."

"Well, I'll have to be extra careful then, won't I."

"What about the herbs and silver? Is there anything I can do against that?"

"Not that I'm aware of, no. I don't think you'll be in any mortal danger though. With Angel gone, you'd be free to join with another vampire. They wouldn't want to miss out on that chance, considering how rare werewolves are. Another reason why they'll strike at the full moon. They'll still have the day after the full moon to take the first step in the joining."

"Sounds like a winner to me," said Buffy. "When is the full moon?"

"5 days," said Oz, with the weary voice of someone who knew the lunar cycle intimately.

"So that's how long we have to prepare. Let's go back to the house and see what we can come up with."