This is my disclaimer. Witness me disclaiming. I do not anything in this story. It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, and all the other high muckey-mucks. There are not even any original characters.
Part Four
The sunlight streamed into Oz's apartment through the window, coating everything with a honey gold glow. Oz felt it warming his shoulders, bringing a delicious feeling of comfort and safety to his whole body. *Nothing bad can happen while the sun is up,* he thought. He had actually been more of a night person, before. Now, night had become his enemy. So many other things had changed when an animal had moved into his body and set up housekeeping, but the thing he missed most was the friendship of the night. The ability to look up at the moon and just enjoy its beauty, without analyzing what stage it was. The sight of the full moon, hanging low in the sky just before dawn. It was these thoughts with which he was occupying himself when he heard a timid knock at the door, and then a familiar voice calling out "Oz? Can we talk?" He sighed. They were going to have to have this conversation sooner or later. "It's open, Willow. Come in."
She entered, looking tragically beautiful. Her pink swollen eyes told him what she'd been doing most of the day. Oz felt his heart twist. She didn't ask for this anymore than I did. And she could leave any time, but she doesn't. *I have no right to repay such love with cruelty. I should be including her, not shoving her away.* He took a deep breath, and tried to organize his thoughts. "I watched the whole thing," he said, holding up one of the tapes.
"Are you okay?"
"No, but I'll get over it. Willow, I want you to promise me something."
"What?"
"If this thing with Angel doesn't work, I want you to stop staying with me by yourself. It's just too dangerous. Some of those body slams looked strong enough to break out of the cage, and I just couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."
"Of course." They stayed quiet a moment, Willow curled up in Oz's lap. She felt the strong thud of his heartbeat through his ribs. It reverberated through her body, and without being conscious of doing it, she synchronized her breathing, bringing her own heartbeat together into rhythm with his. She was loathe to disrupt the moment, but there was something bothering her. "I was just thinking, should you warn your aunt?"
"What? Why?" Oz looked a little confused.
"Well, your cousin, the one who gave this to you. Wouldn't he also be in danger from the vampires?"
Oz considered for a moment, then shrugged it off. "He's 9. A puppy at best. I think he has a few years before anyone comes looking for him. Plus, he doesn't live in Sunnydale, so there are a lot fewer vamps running around where he is."
"Oh, well, that's something."
"You're right though. I should tell her eventually. It'll just mean letting out my secret at the same time."
Willow looked up at him in surprise. "But she knows Jordy bit you! How could she not know he gave you the curse?"
Oz laughed. "My aunt, well, she's a bit of a ding-a-ling. Besides, if she'd known, she'd have given me some warning about what was going to happen to me."
"True. But maybe she was just hoping it wasn't all that catching." Willow, as always, was quick to defend.
"Willow, he drew blood."
"Oh, well then. Ding-a-ling." She nestled back into him and he wrapped his arms around her. Once again, she felt their heart beat and breath start to come together, and they moved as one. "I could stay like this forever."
"Sounds like a plan." He gently stroked her face. "You look tired. Why don't you lie down in the bedroom and get some sleep?"
"Only if you lay down with me."
"Willow Rosenberg! You rascal!" Oz chuckled.
Willow sat up abruptly, blushing a bright cherry that did not complement her hair. "NO! I mean, not that that would be a bad thing, but it's just that you look tired too. I promise to behave."
"Oh, really? Well, I don't." He chased her into the bedroom, from which soon came giggling and the sound of zippers.
Later that evening, Oz lay in bed. Willow was curled up next to him, sleeping, and he was watching her, but at the same time, watching through the window to where the sun was setting. One of his favorite things was to watch the sunset the first night after his change nights. To see it set without fear of what was about to happen; to see it set at all, was a precious thing for him. Almost as precious as the young woman laying next to him. Once, he had taken such moments for granted. He couldn't remember ever watching a sunset with a feeling of peace before. Now, his three nights of hell made heaven look so much more blissful. Unfortunately, it was time to wake up his heaven's resident angel. Carefully avoiding seeing the large lunar phases calendar that dominated one wall of his room, he leaned over and shook her gently as the last of the sun disappeared below the horizon.
"Rise and shine, Willow. You have to go home before your mom starts to worry."
She blinked a few times before finally focusing in on him. "What time is it?"
"About ten to 7.00. C'mon, I'll walk you. It's a beautiful night, and I want to see you in the moonlight. I don't get that chance much."
Later that night, Oz and Willow stood under a tree in the park, kissing. Oz suddenly broke off, sniffing and scowling.
"Argh! Angel, show yourself!"
Angel came around a bend in the path, walking next to Buffy. They had obviously been out patrolling, and Buffy had all her battle gear. "Sorry. We were on patrol. What are you two doing here?"
Oz tried to shake off his urge to run. "I was walking Willow home."
"You shouldn't be here. You're putting yourself in danger. Remember, until next month you're fair game."
"So what do I do? I can't lock myself up for a month. I have class, and rehearsal, and gigs, and you know, a life apart from three nights a month."
Angel lost track momentarily. trying to remember what it was like to have a life, then returned to the matter at hand. "Just tell me. I'll stay close by, stake my claim with anyone who tries to take you."
Oz frowned, obviously deeply unhappy with that idea, and with Angel's phrasing. Buffy saw his reluctance, and jumped in.
"Oz, do it. I'll stay with you too. Between the two of us, we can protect you for 26 days."
"Please, Oz, for me?" Willow said softly, taking his hand.
"Well okay," Oz relented. "But it's going to be a long 26 days."
A week later, Giles called Buffy, Oz, Willow and Angel together to the library, saying he had something to report. But before he would start, he asked everyone else to excuse him, and pulled Oz aside, saying he had a private matter to discuss. "I got most of that book translated. It's an anonymous collection of everything that was known about werewolves and various other monsters by the members of an obscure group of Italian mystics in the 16th century. So far, from what I know about you, it's been right at every turn."
"So, what does it say that I don't already know?"
"Well, the evidence is spotty. Werewolves are rare, and most at that time tended to die fairly soon after infection..."
"What? How?" Oz felt the familiar out-of-control panic begin to descend onto him. Was he going to get some odd disease?
"Hunters, usually. But that's not the point. What I'm trying to tell you is we don't know for sure this will happen to you, but in some cases, for certain werewolves, the longer they continue changing every month, the more the line between the human self and the wolf self will start to blur."
"What do you mean, blur?"
"Well, you'd still only be fully a wolf on those three nights around the full moon, but some of the wolf characteristics would start to become stronger the rest of the time. Keener hearing, greater strength and the like. The corresponding side is, while a wolf, you'd start to retain a little bit of humanity. You may even start to remember what happens. Given the Hellmouth, and its distortion of the psychic energy here, you would be an excellent candidate for this change."
Oz stood silent for a moment, rolling over the idea in his mind. To remember what was happening might be good, but at what price... "What if I don't want it? I mean, what if I want to keep that part of my life cut off from the rest? Is there any way to stop this from happening?"
"I don't know. As I said, they were documenting a very small group, and the few this did happen to were apparently quite wild. The books makes reference to actual packs that lived outdoors."
*Like animals,* thought Oz, shuddering. They became their animal. "And there's nothing I can do to stop this process? If I am one of the ones it is going to happen to."
"Not that I can find. I will keep looking though. I would like to suggest one thing."
"What's that?"
"Earlier you said that being a werewolf gave you no advantage. That's no longer true. I can think of many situations in which extra-keen senses and unusual strength would be an advantage. It's really not dissimilar to Buffy's Slayer abilities."
"But Giles, I'm still infectious. It's not like I could actually fight anyone; I might scratch them."
"Well, there is that, but with heightened senses, you could avoid the fight entirely."
"So the glass could be half full, you think?"
"Well, that's for you to decide. I merely point out the possibilities."
They rejoined the others. Willow leaned over to Oz, whispering questions, but he silenced her. "It was nothing important. You know Giles, making guitars out of ukeleles." Willow was smart enough to know there was more, and Oz was smart enough to know that wasn't the end of it, but they both chose to leave it for the moment.
"So, do you have it worked out?" Angel asked Giles.
"Well, yes, but I think we need to involve Amy. The ritual specifically calls for a witch to act as a sort of catalyst."
"I'll do it," Willow volunteered quickly. Oz objected, but she continued, "C'mon, I can do it, you know I can. You were there when I brought back Angel's soul, and then I had a concussion. Please Oz, I want to help."
"Giles, what do you think?" asked Buffy.
"Well, she's certainly proved her prowess with spells. But I'm not sure that's enough; I think we need an actual natural witch. Amy's the only one that qualifies."
"Okay, well," said Angel. " For now, let's skip that part. What happens and what do we need to do before hand?"
"It's actually less involved than I would have thought, probably because the werewolf is rarely fully cooperative in the process. The night before the full moon, just as the sun is setting, the witch will take some blood from each of you and add some of her own. There are some incantations to be done and herbs to add that will preserve it and make it more powerful, and then the next night, again just as the sun is setting, you will each, er, drink the mixed blood. The witch seals the spell at sunset on the third night, and Angel's control becomes complete."
Oz shuddered, and suddenly looked very ill. "I can't do that."
"If he drinks Angel's blood..." Buffy started worriedly.
"Oh, he's quite safe from becoming a vampire. Apparently he's immune."
"Yeah," Willow said sadly. "One curse at a time."
"It doesn't matter," Oz said, his voice rising in panic. "I still can't do it. You don't understand. The thought; the concept terrifies me."
Buffy leaned over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Oz, that's the wolf talking. C'mon, you can do this, you know you can."
"No, I can't. Don't make me." Oz threw off her hand, rising and backing away. He was starting to look like a dog that had been backed into a corner, that same panicked fear in his eyes, the same willingness to fight against anything that came after him because he had no other choice.
"Oz, you live on the Hellmouth. Sooner or later, this is going to happen, either with me or with someone else. You can't avoid it." Angel was trying to be rational, but his impatience with Oz's fear was starting to show.
"Oz, you need to do this." Willow reached for his hand, gently stroking it. "I'll be there with you."
"We all will, Oz. We won't let anything bad happen." Buffy tried to help, but it didn't wok.
Oz jumped away from Willow. "It already has happened, don't you see? The worst thing that could happen did happen when I tickled Jordy. Now, every month I turn into a big hairy monster that wants to eat people I love. All the rest is just damage control."
With that, Angel snapped. "So, let's control the damage. This is the best solution we can come up with. Sure, it's not ideal. But there's no cure for you, any more than there is one for me. We're both just making do."
"Angel is right," Giles said. "This is the best we can do under the circumstances. Now, you have a few weeks to get used to the idea. In the mean time, I'll talk to Amy. Buffy, you and Angel gather the necessary materials. I'll make a list."
"Got it." Buffy was all business.
"What should I do? I want to help," Willow said anxiously.
"I think you're probably best off staying close to Oz for the next few weeks." Giles knew how to assign appropriately, and knew which job would most please Willow.
"That I can do. I'm good at that," Willow smiled.
"We're sure there's no other way." Oz had had some partial success in getting himself, and his inner self, under control.
"Nothing I can find," said Giles. "And Angel's right; you'll always be in danger of this happening forcibly unless you do it voluntarily."
Oz took several deep breaths, feeling his heartbeat finally return to normal. "I know, I know. I'll adjust. Just give me some time."
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