Everyone, other than Giles, was surprised by how much better Oz looked when they saw him sleeping in Giles’ bed. Now it looked like he was sleeping and not dead. The color had mostly returned to his face and he almost looked healthy, which, for Oz, was just about right. Giles passed Oz’ van keys to Buffy and let her know that she as just going to be opening the door to it and not driving it. Giles and Xander then carried Oz’ body out to his van and put him in the back. Giles then got behind the wheel to drive. Buffy joined him in the passenger seat and Willow rode in the back. Xander and Cordelia prepared to follow them in her car.
Giles then led the way over to Oz’ house, praying the whole time that Willow was right and that Oz’ parents would not be home. He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled into the empty driveway. Now he just had to hope that the house was as empty as the driveway.
Xander came up to the van to help bring Oz inside. Willow took the keys this time. She was able to open the door with the second key she tried. She led Giles and Xander to Oz’ basement.
"Are we sure he just became a werewolf?" Xander asked after looking around the room.
"Yes, we are sure," Willow replied.
The basement looked normal from the top of the stairs. You could see a couch, which now held Oz, and the washer and dryer. When you came down, you could see the table and shelves for the laundry room off to the right of the dryer, and the table and Oz’ amps and stuff off to the left of the couch. But when you turned around, one hole half of the room was near empty. And that bare area was surrounded by two layers of heavy duty looking chain-link fence. It almost looked like a jail cell. The windows on that side were cemented in, and there were manacles on a chain coming out of the far wall. The only other thing in there was a half shredded old mattress that was within reach of the chains.
Xander walked over to the fence and grabbed it. He attempted to shake it, but it didn’t move. He looked back at Giles and Buffy, "What do you think?"
Giles and Buffy both walked over and also tested the fence. It didn’t budge, even with Buffy trying to move it. "This is good. They did that fast," Buffy said.
"Oz and his dad did it all actually. His dad is a contractor and builds stuff all the time," Willow explained. "I helped with the windows," she said with a faint smile.
Giles walked to the gate, but that was bolted shut. "Do you know which key opens this gate?"
"No, but it’s got to be one of these," Willow replied and brought the keys over to him. She then returned to her spot beside Oz on the couch.
"Thank you," he said. Giles searched throughout the surprisingly large set of keys and found a key that looked like it might do it. It worked. While searching for that key, he was pretty sure he figured out which keys worked the manacles. He entered and tried those keys on the cuffs, and once again, he chose the right ones. He just had to figure out which key worked with which manacle. Feeling comfortable he knew which key opened and locked what, Giles left the cage and headed towards Oz and Willow. "Xander, we can put him in the cage and lie him on the mattress. We can attach the manacles there."
"We can do that," Xander said and helped Giles carry him into the cage and placed him down on the mattress.
While the men were moving Oz around, Buffy went over and picked up the manacles. They were extremely heavy. Heavy enough that she was glad she grabbed them, and not Giles. No sense giving him a hernia. "Here you go," she said to them.
"Thank you, Buffy," Giles said.
As Giles started putting on the cuffs, Xander said, "You have the right to remain silent..." but he was cut off by an obviously fake cough. Giles was staring at him sternly, and Xander remained silent instead.
In a few moments, Oz was thoroughly shackled. "This basement cell should hold him quite adequately," Giles noted. "The days are getting longer, and it’s still about three and a half hours ‘til dusk. Then he will begin his change. He should be healthy within an hour or two afterwards."
"I guess we should go then," Cordelia said.
"You guys can go, I’m staying here," Willow said.
"What about your mom?" Buffy asked.
"I thought she was supposed to pick you up from school," Cordelia added.
"She’ll get over it, and she is probably still there for all I know," Willow said with that same weird tone she had when she called her mom last night.
"Yeah, she’ll get over it when you’re fifty," Xander said with a mixture of concern for her, and jealousy of him.
"I insist that you call her," Giles said firmly. "I’ll head back to the school to make sure she isn’t still there."
"I’m going to call your mother in a half hour, so you better call her when we leave here," Buffy said.
"OK, I’ll call her. You better go. His mom could come back at anytime," Willow instructed. "I’ll be OK here alone. Really."
"Are you sure?" Giles asked.
"Yes, I just want to be there when he comes to, even if it’s after the change," Willow said convincingly.
"OK, but I want you out of the cage, with the doors shut and locked before he goes though the change tonight," Giles demanded.
"Yes, I’ll do all of that," Willow promised.
And on that note, the rest of the gang headed up Oz’ basement stairs.
* * *
"I can’t believe I have to wait another 3 hours for darkness," the vampire who attacked Oz mumbled to himself. "I have to sit in this...muck for another few hours while those others get to sit in the basement of that old mansion. I’ll be with them soon enough." He continued to think out loud for a little while, but nothing seemed as coherent as that though. "Soon enough."
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