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 Eight
Three days later, Willow and Oz lay in bed. They were just enjoying each other's company for the first time in too long.
"Do you have to be getting back?"
Oz wrapped his arms around her. "No, I have the night off. Buffy's there. I am all yours for the whole night."
"Good. I've missed you," said Willow nestling closer into him.
"Oh, Willow. I've missed you too. I can't wait until this whole thing is over and we can be together again. Full moon is in two days, thank god. So now, we've talked all about how my day at the office was. How about you?"
"Enough talking," she said, kissing him.
The next night found Angel, Oz and Buffy standing in Buffy's living room, patiently waiting. All the furniture had been pushed out of the way. The sun had already set and Oz was in wolf form, only barely containing his energy and need to hunt. Suddenly his head came up and he growled ominously. Angel also came to attention.
"They're here." Buffy went to the window and drew back the curtain.
"I don't see anything yet. Wait, there's a group walking down the street. At least 20. Oh, my god, Angel." She turned around, her face white as a sheet. "They have Willow."
"What?" He ran to the window as Oz started snarling furiously. "Of course. You're too strong for them, so they went after Willow instead. It makes perfect sense."
"What are we going to do?"
Angel opted for caution . "Let's see what they do first." The group stopped in front of the house. The one holding Willow called out.
"Angelus! We know you're in there! Show yourself!"
Angel went to the front door and opened it. "What do you want?" he shouted back.
The leader laughed. "Isn't that obvious by now? We want you. Or your pet's pet here becomes a member of the family." He shook Willow suggestively. "You have the day to think it over. Come to the clearing tomorrow night. Just you and the wolf. If not, well," and here he put his arm suggestively around the petrified Willow, "I've been looking for a new girlfriend." Buffy was just barely able to stop Angel from leaving the house.
"We can't win, Angel. There's too many of them."
"Yes, listen to the Slayer, Angel. Like the lapdog you are. See you tomorrow." The group moved off, laughing. Angel swore lustily, and then sat down on the sofa.
"What are we going to do? We can't let them do that to Willow. It would kill Oz."
"Angel, I have an idea. Let me call everyone else and get them over here."
"What are you thinking?"
"They forget, you can't go into the woods during the day, but I can."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Booby trap."
"Exactly. In the meantime, do you think we should let Oz out? He's looking a little anxious."
The next afternoon, Oz and Buffy came down into the basement, dirty and tired. Angel saw them and came out from the back room he was taking refuge in.
"How'd it go?"
Buffy sat on an empty bench. "Exactly like we discussed. Giles will be up in the trees, and Cordelia is covering the escape route. The equipment and Oz's clothes are all camouflaged under a dead tree we found. I'll come in and create a distraction, then Xander will go for Willow. Oz, you and I will fight."
Oz, who had collapsed onto the floor, lifted his head at his name. "I still say let me go for Willow."
"Oz, she might be tied up. What are you going to do without opposable thumbs? No, let Xander do it while you and I take care of the baddies."
Oz laid back down, staring at the ceiling. "Fine, but if anything happens to her..."
Buffy moved to sit near him. "Nothing will happen to her. Cordelia and Xander will take care of her." Oz was still obviously upset, but didn't reply. Buffy checked her watch. "We've got about two hours until sundown. I'm going to go get some rest, and I suggest you do the same."
"I'm not tired." Oz continued to find something fascinating on the ceiling. Buffy regarded him a minute, then decided to let it go. "Well I am. I'll see you in a bit." She left the two of them in the basement to brood.
That night, Oz and Angel stood in the living room, just before sunset. Buffy had already left to get into position. Oz was pacing, obviously nervous.
"I can't stand it. I really hate this part. Just before, when you can feel the sun approaching the horizon. The anticipation of what's about to happen. It makes me nuts."
Angel was being his usual placid self, sitting in a chair and watching Oz walk back and forth. "Are you going to be okay? With everything I mean."
"It doesn't really matter if I'm okay or not; I won't really be able to participate. I've tried controlling the wolf's actions, but haven't had much success. I can only wa-aaah!" Whatever else Oz was about to say was lost as the sun hit the horizon, and he fell to the floor in pain. Angel stood up.
"Okay, Oz. It's showtime." Oz finished his change and the two left the house.
Twenty minutes later, Angel and Oz entered the clearing. Willow was tied, with two vampires holding her, her head held back and neck exposed. A pole was set up in the center of the clearing. As they came in, the rest of the vampires came into the clearing from all sides. One came up from behind, carrying silver shackles, and stood directly behind Oz and Angel. Oz tensed up, drawing himself into fighting stance while maintaining a careful distance from the silver.
"Okay, we're here. Let her go."
"Not just yet. We want to make sure you stay. Tell the werewolf to stand down."
"He'll behave. He knows what Willow is to him."
The vampire lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really. I thought the two forms had no awareness of each other."
"Oz is one of the few who've merged their two halves."
The vampire nodded approvingly. "Making him all the more valuable to me. He'll be a splendid servant." Oz growled, and made a menacing movement toward the vampire, who took a step back, then recovered. "Goodness, loyal to the end, isn't he."
"Who said anything about the end?" Buffy asked, casually entering the clearing and taking up position near the cache of weapons. The vampire spun around, then turned back to Angel, his face full of rage.
"I told you, just the two of you!"
"Oh, don't blame him," said Buffy. "I heard there was going to be a big fangfest, and couldn't resist the temptation to crash. I'm something of a workaholic."
The vampire regarded Angel and Oz without moving, his warped demonic face betraying no emotion. For one minute, no one who was capable of doing so breathed. Then simultaneously with snarling "Get the Slayer" to the others, the vampire launched himself, but not at Angel. Instead he jumped at Oz, bringing up his hand and flinging a handful of something in the werewolf's face. Oz yelped and collapsed to the forest floor, clawing at his face, trying to wipe away the burning silver dust from his delicate eyes and nose. Angel felt the burning within him, and attacked the one responsible for the pain. Willow, who had screamed out "Oz" when he fell, now screamed again as the two vampires holding her disappeared into little piles of dust from Giles' well-placed crossbow bolts. Oz recovered, and seeing Xander pulling Willow away from the fighting, joined in the fray with a viciousness made more extreme by the remnants of the burning pain. Giles continued to pick off the ones at the edges from his perch in the trees. Angel, Buffy and Oz quickly turned the battle into a route, and the few remaining vampires eventually ran off into the woods. Buffy started to chase after them, but quickly returned.
"They scattered too quickly. I got two of them, but the rest are gone. Did Willow get away?"
"I'm right here," Willow said, re-entering from the woods with Xander and Cordelia. "Is Oz okay?"
Angel turned to Xander. "Xander, you were supposed to get her to the car and away from here!"
He shrugged. "She wouldn't go. She actually kicked me, can you believe it?"
"I can. I've wanted to kick you lots of times," said Cordelia.
Willow turned to Angel "I couldn't leave Oz. Where is he?" Realizing Oz was missing, they all looked around, finding him writhing and whimpering under a tree. "He's hurt! Somebody help him!"
Giles carefully maneuvered himself down from the tree. "I watched him walk over there and then collapse. He looked fine up until then. What could be wrong now?"
Angel knelt down beside him, a look of wonder on his face. He stood suddenly, and extended his hand to Willow. "Willow, come here. He needs you."
Willow put her hand in Angel's and knelt down next to him the struggling Oz. "Oz, I'm here. What's wrong? How can I help? Please, Angel, tell me what he wants."
Angel smiled. "Just stay by him. You'll see. Any minute now. He needs you by him to make it happen."
"Make what happen? Angel! Oh, my god." Her jaw dropped, and they all stared as Oz, violently struggling, slowly changed back into his human self. "How... What... Oz!" she stammered, hugging him close to her. "How did you do that? The moon is still up."
Oz ran his hand down Willow's hair, delighting in the smell of her. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. The wolf wanted to hunt. We fought. I won."
"You make that sound much simpler than what I felt," Angel said.
"Yeah, well, I've never been much of a detail person. Can someone get my clothes out from under the log?"
Cordelia moved to get them, and Oz dressed rapidly and stood. Willow again hugged him close. They collected themselves to leave, and Buffy got near Oz.
"So, what does this mean for the future, Oz? Now that you've beaten the wolf."
Oz stopped to consider the answer, reaching deep inside himself to find it. "Oh, he's still there, inside of me. He'll still need to come out and hunt at the full moon. But I'm in charge from now on. I don't need Angel's command to keep from killing what I don't want to kill. And I can pretty much change and change back whenever I want." Willow hugged Oz close.
"So this is good, right?"
Oz returned the hug. "This is very good. I'm not at some animal's beck and call anymore. No offense, Angel."
"Oh, haha," said Angel, trying to hide how pleased he was.
Giles got his distant learned-man look in his eye. "You know, this is really quite astonishing. I'm going to have to write it up for the Watcher journals. I've never heard of such a thing before. I wonder what made it possible?"
Oz stopped, and staring deep into Willow's eyes, answered Giles. "Love. Stronger than any animal spirit on earth. Put that in your write-up."
Giles considered that reply, and decided he liked it. "Yes, well, all's well that ends well, in the words of the bard. Shall we go home?"
"Home. Yes, let's go home." Oz kissed Willow, and they left the woods.
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