Call of the Wild Chapter 2

(Sunnydale, Hospital)

Jenny looked up from the magazine she was reading, as Tara and Giles made their way into the waiting area. She was surprised to actually see Rupert had come to check up on Xander, considering his attitude after Willow had put him through a table.

She decided to keep what she had felt to herself until Rupert had left. She did not trust him not to go straight to Buffy, who would of course then label Xander as dangerous or worse she would get Willow to use magic to try and undue whatever Janus had done and most likely causing permanent harm to him. No matter how strong Willow had become she did not have the power to match a god. Although she suspected that the stupid young woman imagined she could beat anyone with her magic these days, considering her attitude.

"How is he?" Tara inquired, as she came to a stop in front of her with Giles just behind her.

"He still has not woken up," Jenny replied, as she put the magazine down and stood stretching a bit as she did. "I am worried about just what kind of backlash Willow unleashed and what kind of effect it has had on Alexander," she explained with a troubled look in her eyes.

Ever since Xander had saved her life during the Angelus crisis she had become quite close to the young man. He was the one member of the so called Scooby gang who never had a problem with why she had come to Sunnydale in the first place. Unlike Buffy, Giles and Willow who called her a traitor and tried to blame what happened to Angel on her. Xander understood that she was just following her duty to her people.

They had a very strong friendship which had sometimes become a fall back, when things with the others were as bad as during the last year of school. As Buffy tried to push him out of the group, it was her who consoled and helped him deal with a zombie gang who tried to blow up the school during the attempted re-opening of the Hellmouth by the Sisterhood of Jhe, something none of the rest of the gang knew about, even today.

She had also been the only person not to accuse him of being behind the fluke between him and Willow and had listened when he broke down and confessed why he had done it. She knew before Cordelia left she also learnt this truth and so she had parted on friendly terms with Xander and she was happy for him. Since then the group had changed a lot and with the appearance of the Initiative Buffy was once again trying to push Xander out of the group, but like before he was not budging. This fight was personal for Alex, she knew it and it was something Buffy did not understand or even tried too. She forgot long ago that for some people this was a war for the very survival of their species.

Buffy had only ever seen being the Slayer as a curse and a burden. Buffy did not see the wider scope of things as Alexander had come to see it. On his road trip at the end of last year she had gone with him, just to get out of Sunnydale. They had seen much more of the fight, including meeting other defenders in certain places. She had seen the impact of some of what he had been told in his eyes even today and she knew in her heart he would never step away from this fight for a long time.

"It was black and cold," Tara's soft voice broke her train of thought and brought her back to the present. "She has fallen much further than we feared Jenny," she added with a sad look and a shake of her head.

"I felt it too Tara," Jenny agreed. "I fear what will happen now and believe she will try and remove us or anyone else who tries to stop her rise in power," she admitted.

Giles shook his head and coughed to get their attention before speaking. "I do not believe things are as bad as you are painting them," he told them. "If you would leave her alone and stop attacking her and making it out she is evil then maybe this might not have happened," he continued, removing his glasses and cleaning them. "Have you considered that you have pushed her so much that she lashed out?" he asked.

"Rupert, you can ignore the truth as much as you want, but in the end you know in your heart Willow has lost herself in an addiction to magic and she is only getting worse," Jenny countered. "If Tara and I are correct she is even worse off than we feared and that makes her an even greater threat. One we should not ignore," she argued. "I hope you are not going to be stupid in this regard just to keep Summers happy?" she inquired.

Giles put his glasses back on and looked at his former lover and the young witch, as they looked at him expectantly. He sighed, wishing none of this was happening, but as before in every situation they had faced his pleas were useless.

"I just do not think Willow is as lost as you paint her to be and I wish you would have more faith in her," Giles finally spoke, even though he suspected they were quite correct on their opinion of Willow. He just hoped they were wrong and he was doing the right thing.

"Fine ignore it Giles and when it blows up in your face, you better be damn ready to help bring her down, because I swear to you on my Romany blood if Alexander or Tara come to harm, I will have revenge on you and Summers," Jenny exploded with a deadly glint in her eyes, as she stared at her former lover, unable to see why she had ever thought him worthy of her attention.

Giles paled slightly at the oath Jenny had just sworn. He knew she was deadly serious. He began to feel the whole situation was slipping through his fingers. He nodded and finally turned and left for his home, wondering what the hell he was going to do if and in his mind that was a big if, they were right about Willow.

Jenny watched him go and shook her head in annoyance, before pushing him out of her mind and turning to Tara. She guided the younger girl to a chair, once seated she began to explain what she had felt an hour ago and her fears of what it meant. As herself, Tara was confused as to why Janus would do this, but seemed to think it may might not be such a bad thing.

Jenny considered this and wondered exactly how it could be a good thing?

(Rosenberg House)

Willow lay on her bed with her eyes closed, breathing deeply. Her whole body felt on fire and her magic swirled around her in ways it had never done before. Rack had agreed to aid her, for a price of course.

He had charged her power and it had sent her for a loop which she was still coming down from. It was almost like what she suspected being on drugs felt like. However Rack had warned her of the side effects of his power and stated it would wear off in an half hour. She couldn't wait to try out her new powers.

(Just Outside Sunnydale)

Cordelia watched as they passed the sign indicating they were entering Sunnydale and she took a deep breath, as she realised she was home again. Granted she had vowed never to return to Sunnydale, but some things overrode that and helping a friend topped them all.

She noted Wesley was awake once again and was looking slightly uneasy about being back as well and she guessed it was because of his perceived failures as a watcher that caused it. He had never forgiven himself for failing to be a better watcher and Faith's sudden appearance in L.A had only reinforced this.

The attack of the dark haired slayer had been hard for them both as it stirred memories of a time they would rather forget. That Faith was now in prison, having been convinced by Angel to atone for her crimes did nothing to help forget the scars she had left in her wake.

"I wonder what the situation will be when we arrive," Wesley finally spoke up, breaking the tense silence in the car as they entered the town.

"Head to the hospital Angel," Cordelia ordered, ignoring Wesley's speculation. "I saw it first in my vision, so I am guessing that something has already happened," she explained when the souled vampire shot her a look through the mirror, before nodding his head at the pointed glare she gave him.

"Are you worried he is already hurt?" Angel finally broke his own silence, knowing this was likely what his friend was thinking.

"Yes I am," Cordelia responded. "The vision was more informative than usual Angel and considering the hospital was the first thing I saw, I think it is clear something has already happened and Xander maybe hurt," she explained.

"Why would your vision of this be clearer than anything you've seen before?" Wesley broke in with an interested look.

"I don't know Wes," Cordelia admitted with a shake of her head. "I can only assume that saving Xander is important to some greater scheme the powers have" she speculated, unaware the powers had nothing to do with the vision she had received.

Angel was unable to stop himself and let out a grunt of disagreement at this. In no way could Xander Harris have any importance to the powers that be he thought. He caught the glare Cordelia gave him for this, but this time he shrugged it off as they both knew they would never agree on this. His hatred of Xander and vice versa was just too strong to believe him being useful to anyone.

(Sunnydale, Hospital)

Jenny and Tara sat wondering how long it would be, before Xander would awaken. They were worried he would not wake up for some time as well as they were worried about what Willow may try next. Jenny looked up as she heard something and was shocked to see Cordelia Chase walk into the waiting room, followed by Wesley Price and to her displeasure Angel. She quickly stood and greeted the younger woman

"What are you doing back here and what brought you here, Cordy?" she asked, trying to get over her shock at seeing the girl again, considering her hatred of this town.

"I had a vision of what was happening in Sunnydale and came to help stop Willow," Cordelia answered, knowing the whole Scooby gang was up to date on what was going on in L.A., thanks to the continued contact between Buffy and Angel. "How is he?" she inquired. "And what did she do?" she added a second later.

"We were in an argument Cordelia, one of many Xander, Tara and I have been having with Willow recently," Jenny informed them. "She has begun to fall into an addiction to magic and has been using it for mundane reasons and this time she unleashed a backlash of magic, which sent Xander flying into a table and knocked him out cold and so far he has not woken up," she explained. "The backlash was both cold and black magic, both Tara and I could feel it, but Buffy and Giles refuse to act. They've refused to do anything about Willow, leading up to this situation," she stated with an annoyed look.

Cordelia frowned at this last piece of information and she promised to confront both of them later on. Hearing her former teacher's opinion on how Willow's magic felt, worried her. She knew Jenny Calendar well and she knew the older woman was an experienced magic user, so when she said something to this effect you knew to take it seriously.

She had never met Tara Mcclay before, but she had heard of the young witch who was now helping the Scooby gang from Angel after his last trip back to Sunnydale. She greeted the younger woman and took a moment to look her over. She could see the young witch was worried for Xander's health which pleased her, but also how they would deal with Willow. This brought her back to the problem at hand.

"Do we know where she is?" Angel finally spoke up, still not really believing the red head was the problem and he defiantly did not believe Buffy was ignoring the situation.

"Not at the moment," Tara responded. "She stormed out of the shop after glaring at us and the look on her face was frightening," she said with a noticeable shiver.

"I'm going to go and talk to Buffy and Giles and see what they have to say on the subject," Angel responded, ignoring Cordelia's frown and began to walk away followed by Wesley.

"Just don't believe everything that comes out of that blond bimbo's head Angel or so help me I will stake you," Cordelia's voice stopped him in his tracks. "This is serious and you cannot take her word on everything. Xander's life is in our hands now," she continued talking towards him after he turned to face her again. "Do you get me?" she demanded, poking him in the stomach.

"Yes I got you Cordy, but don't call her a blond bimbo again," Angel replied with a grimace, knowing that like with him and Xander there was no love lost between the two former cheerleaders.

"I wouldn't, if she didn't continue to make bad choices," Cordelia shot back, before turning her back on him and finally walking into Xander's room, followed by Jenny and Tara who had already been allowed in once before.

Angel stared at the door for a few minutes, before turning and walking out of the hospital, knowing this mission was not going to end well. He would have to be careful how he handled this.

"Cordelia seems very protective of Mr. Harris." Wesley's comment broke him out of his dark thoughts.

"Of course she is Wes," Angel stated, coming to a halt near their car. "He was her first love and no matter what happened between them, that counts for something and I know they are still friends," he explained. "The fact that Willow is the problem just makes this more personal for Cordy, as she blames her for breaking Xander and herself up," he added as he finally got into the car and started the engine.

"And what is your opinion?" Wesley inquired, having missed most of this even though he had been in Sunnydale at the time, he'd had other things on his mind to keep him busy.

"It was both their fault, but I have to agree with Cordy that Willow was most likely the aggressor in perusing the affair," Angel reluctantly admitted, as he pulled out of the car park. "One thing I will say about Xander is that he is loyal to his friends and especially to someone he loves and he loved Cordelia," he told the former watcher. "I could tell," he stated.

(Rosenberg House)

Willow looked down at the rat in the cage, wondering if what she was about to do would work. She had failed to change Amy Madison back into a human being multiple times, but she hoped that it would work with her power boost from Rack.

She had decided she needed help to take on Xander and the others, especially as she considered that Buffy and Giles would eventually try and stop her as well. She wanted more power and that was not something the former watcher would ignore. Once she started attacking the others, Buffy would also see that action would have to be taken. It was a shame it had come to this, but in the end she deserved to be in charge as she was the most powerful member of the group.

She would form a coven with a little help from Amy and then she would increase her power, whilst she dealt with her former allies and friends. Rack would help her as well for the right price, which would be helpful in her plans. She would not turn back now from this path, she would continue to build up her power and her knowledge of magic until no one else could reach her level.

She began the casting after sprinkling the spell ingredients over Amy's current form, after moving the rat from the cage to the bed, her eyes turned black, as she called on more power, before lifting her hand to point at the rat and then shouted the last verse. A bright purple light exploded from where the rat had been and once it disappeared Willow was pleased to find a very human and very naked Amy Madison looking at her in confusion.

"What the hell in going on?" Amy demanded to know, as she looked around before noting she was naked. "And why the hell am I naked?" she asked glaring at Willow.

"You've been a rat for a couple months now Amy, almost for a full year in fact," Willow responded. "I finally managed to turn you back and I did it because I need your help to deal with some troublesome people," she added with a dark smirk.

Amy considered what the red head had said before smiling back, if almost a year had gone by she needed to get out and see what had changed as well as start using magic again. She was strong in magic, but not as strong as she could feel Willow was and that was what she wanted. Power was what she craved and Willow could help her achieve it.

"I'm in," she said simply and then watched confused as Willow sat beside her and then pulled her into a deep kiss.

The kiss surprised her as the last she remembered Willow had been with Oz, clearly that was no longer the case as she allowed herself to be pushed backwards onto the bed, where the red head's hand cupped one of her breasts causing her to groan.

"You and me Amy," Willow whispered into her hair, "we're going to have a lot of fun," she said making Amy smile.

The smile was lost as Willow began sucking her other breast, whilst her other hand moved towards her centre, she wasn't exactly sure this was right, but she had been a rat for far too long and she craved human contact and so she gave herself over to the red head.

She arched her back as she felt Willow's fingers penetrate her and tried to keep her moans back, but she found she couldn't. Each thrust made her cry out as did the attention Willow gave to her breasts. She moaned in protest as Willow stopped, but understood when she watched the red head strip until she was as naked as herself.

When Willow rejoined her they quickly got into a position to each give the other pleasure and soon lost themselves. Amy was new to this kind of sex, but she learned quickly and soon had Willow moaning as she thrust her tongue into the girls' wet entrance. This continued for twenty minutes until they each brought the other to climax, crying out in pleasure as they rode the sensations out.

"Not bad," Willow commented as she turned and crawled up to be face to face with Amy. "But you need some pointers," she added with a smirk, which Amy returned knowing they were just getting started

(Sunnydale, Hospital)

Xander's eyes snapped open and he quickly took in the room he currently was in. He frowned as he realised that he was once again in the one place he hated more than his parents house, the damn hospital. His frown deepened as he tried to remember how he came to be here. Once the memory of what had happened surfaced he swore loudly, whilst his eyes flashed green and he felt a shift within himself. He paused as he sat up and wondered why he felt so different.

"Xander, you're awake," a recognisable voice said from the side and one he had not heard in person in a long while.

He turned, stunned to see Cordelia Chase rush over and pull him into a hug, followed by Tara and Jenny who smiled at him, pleased to finally see their friend awake.

"Cordy, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you said you would never come back home?" he added, somewhat confused by the look in the brunette's eyes as she looked him over.

"I had a vision of what was going on in Sunnydale and came to help you deal with that red headed bitch," Cordelia almost snarled, all of her repressed hate for the other woman surfacing. "I know you are up to date with what I do in L.A. so I don't have to tell you I'm not alone," she added, hoping Xander would accept the help from Angel.

"Actually I've missed good old dead boy," Xander said with a smirk, which was slightly evil. "No seriously, compared to farm boy Finn, Angel is the life of the party," he told her at her disbelieving look. "Plus I might have missed making fun of him," he admitted.

Cordelia stared at him for a minute, before breaking into laughter, knowing nothing on this earth could stop Xander making fun of Angel, it was just not possible. She was also relieved to find he seemed to be okay after the attack, but that did not mean Willow was going to get away with what she had done. This thought caused her to stop laughing and Xander noticed straight away.

"Easy Cor," he said, taking her hand in his, unconsciously using his pet name for her, which brought a small smile to her face and reminded her of better times. "I'm okay and I am shocked to see you again and as for Willow we will deal with her together," he told her.

Cordelia looked him in the eyes and tried to contain the sudden urge to kiss him. She knew she had unresolved feelings towards Xander, but for them to return so strong surprised her. Jenny and Tara shared a knowing look between themselves, as the other two continued to stare at each other.

(Ether)

Janus laughed madly to himself, as he wondered when they would realise he had tweaked the hyena spirit to include a primal pull to any female who had an interest in his champion.

It worked faster with someone who actually had deep feelings for Alexander like the seer, but also on someone who fancied or lusted for him, as well as the young witch and the techno pagan, both women had feelings for the young man they would not admit, at least not yet, in time he was sure the pull would cause them both to finally express themselves. Oh the situations Alexander would find himself in would cause much chaos and keep him entertained for years he was sure.

The primal pull was just one of the ways he had changed and upgraded the two spirits within his champion to help him on his way. It was the one change however he was counting on to cause havoc with the other gods and the powers that be long term plans, especially the fallen power that was called Jasmine.

The other upgrades to the hyena spirit included the agility, speed and the heightened senses. It would also affect how the young man thought and saw things or reacted to certain situations.

The soldier spirit had not needed as much done to it to be helpful, except for him to ensure it would not give Alexander nightmares or override his personality. The experience and skills would be available to him and it would also affect changes in his body to make him fitter and conditioned for tough situations.