Chapter 4: The Beasts Within

Summary: Dealing with a recovering Angel and a new threat.

Timeline: Season 3, Beauty and the Beasts'.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: There's some AU-ness happening.

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The next few weeks were interesting for the Watcher and Slayer. Not just because of their researching the return of Angel – which they were no wiser about yet – but also because of the Jekyll/Hyde boy.

Angel was slowly becoming less feral, though not as quickly as either Buffy or Giles were hoping for. They needed him to be able tell them what happened to him, and if he knew how he could come back. His lack of progress concerned them.

"Do you think that I should try giving him some of my blood? Maybe it's stronger than animal or human blood," Buffy suggested one night after they left the mansion.

Shaking his head adamantly, Giles answered, "It's bad enough that we are mixing human blood in with the animal. We still don't know if we are dealing with Angel or Angelus. Making him strong might not be a good idea, Buffy. We certainly don't want to give him your blood. That is like a drug to a vampire. It may cure him, but he'll want more eventually. And if this is Angelus, we don't want to tempt him. It's better we just take a little bit longer." He silently added to himself that he didn't want that if it were Angel either.

Buffy sighed, impatient for this to be over with. "Fine. I'm just getting tired of hiding this from the gang." She saw the look in Giles' eyes and quickly added, "But I'm not going to tell them until I know who that is."

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Library

"So, what do we think this thing is that killed Jeff?" Buffy asked when she got caught up on the events of the previous night.

"Well, the reports indicated that he was mutilated…that indicates some kind of wild beast," Giles said reluctantly, knowing that he might hurt young Oz's feelings.

Xander looked at the book cage with a hint of shame. "And I fell asleep on Oz duty, so he might have been able to escape."

Buffy saw the forlorn looks on Willow and Oz's faces, and interjected, "Or it could be a demon." she glanced around the room at the others. "Hey, vamps and werewolves aren't the only nasties out there. 'Sides, you really think that Oz's wolfy side snuck out, attacked Jack, cleaned itself up, then crawled back in here this morning? Sorry, but I doubt it's that much of a thinker."

"Hey! You're right!" Willow instantly perked up. Even the expression on Oz's face seemed a touch brighter…for him, that is.

"We might want to do something about that window though, for future reference," Giles pointed out.

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Outside the counselor's office

Later that day, Buffy was passing by Mr. Platt's office when she heard a low growl through the slightly open door. She peeked in to see Debbie's boyfriend, Pete – or something that looked kinda like him – sneaking up behind Platt's chair.

Going on her instincts, she tackled the Pete-thing to the ground, kicking the office door shut as she did so to keep other people out. Platt had told her during one of her talks with him that he had the door lock automatically when shut to keep people – like the principal – out when he was in private consultations. It wouldn't keep them out indefinitely, but they would have to go get the key for the door first. She just hoped that she could get control of the guy in time.

Startled by the noise, Platt turned to see his 'problem' student, Buffy Summers, wrestling something that reminded him of a young Freddy Krueger. He glanced around for a weapon of some kind in case he needed to defend himself. He would worry about Miss Summers, except she seemed to be holding her own with the monster.

Just then, Pete broke free of Buffy's grip and lunged for Platt. Fortunately for the counselor, he managed to grab hold of an award he got from his last job – a big, crystal statue of Rodin's 'Thinker' – and he swung it at the beast. His luck continued to hold out because he hit Pete in the head just before Pete could slash at him.

As Pete lay there stunned, Buffy demanded Platt's leather belt and used it to bind Pete's hands. Then she tore the phone cord out and used that to bind his feet.

"So…" she started, leaning back against the wall and looking up at Platt, "…think you can help me with my violence issues?"

Platt let out a slightly hysterical laugh,then recovered. "I'm guessing that when you said you had demons to face, you weren't being metaphorical?"

"Sorry, nope. This is my life. But I do have my personal metaphorical demons, too," she admitted. She bit her lip for a moment before confessing, "And talking to you about them has helped."

Platt smiled at her. "Tell you what, I'll help you with your issues, and you can tell me how to stay safe here – since I doubt that this is the only thing I'll have to face."

A groan filled the room, and they watched in horrified fascination as the Pete-thing's body reverted back to that of the teenage boy.

Before either one could say anything else, the door swung open to reveal a glaring Snyder. He took one look at the situation, then grinned evilly at Buffy. "I just knew that you'd slip up again. This time you're out for good!" he gloated.

"For what?" Platt demanded.

"Fighting on school grounds." A glazed look came to the principal's eyes as he imagined getting rid of her. "I bet I could even have her arrested for assault," he almost moaned in pleasure at the thought.

Platt nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, you could do that. I bet it would make a great news story, too." Buffy looked hurt at the counselor's apparent betrayal. Then he winked at her. "I can see the headline now: 'Teen hero expelled for saving school counselor's life!' I bet it could even go state-wide."

Snyder's gleeful expression dropped, and he stormed out of the office, pushing people out of his way and yelling at everyone.

While a secretary made the call to the police, Buffy whispered, "Thanks for that. Come by the library after school, and I'll fill you in on the town's problems."

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A/N: Next...The fight for a tiara.