Genealogy Universe: Caitlin McKenzie

by Silver-Eternal-Dragon

BTVS Re-write. Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell, younger sister to Buffy Summers, older sister to Dawn Summers and cousin to the Halliwell Sisters. Series will eventually be FaithxOC WillowxTara Not FUFFY

6. Chapter 6

The Pack

The front door open gradually, she wasn't trying to sneak in but she didn't want any attention on herself either. She was feeling better after her nice weekend at the Manor, she had little to no stress and she was back to her normal albeit slightly unstable self. Joyce had heard the door opening so she had come to investigate; it was funny watching her daughter trying to sneak in. Joyce had panicked when she hadn't been able to find her daughter, she had feared the worst at first but then she had found the note Caitlin had left. She had gone home. It wasn't a surprise that Caitlin referred to the Manor as home, Caitlin had been happiest there after all. Joyce snuck up behind Caitlin, she smirked as her middle child was none the wiser to her presence, which was unusual but she liked how relaxed she looked. The mother of three wrapped her arms around her daughter's waist and brought her backwards to rest against her chest "Welcome back sweetheart," Joyce whispered.

Caitlin smiled as she felt her mother place a kiss on her head "Thank you mom," she whispered back. They stood there for a little while before Caitlin broke from the hug and made her way upstairs.

Joyce watched her go, she knew Caitlin was never going to be herself again and she was very worried for her. She had never seen Caitlin breakdown like she had last week, her mother had told her she had seen it when the girls had been staying with her and her nieces. She rubbed a hand down her face and then made sure the door was locked before going to bed. She cursed her ex-husband and the fates for what they had done to her Family's lives.

Buffy had settled down for the night but she hadn't fallen asleep, she had heard her sister and mother go to bed. She had wanted to greet her younger sister but she didn't, she assumed she was the reason why Caitlin had another breakdown. Buffy always knew that Caitlin had a fragile mind but she always encouraged her to help with the supernatural. Tomorrow was going to be a bit of a relaxing day as they were going to the Zoo, Caitlin liked the Zoo and her sister was going in with a teacher so she didn't have to put up with her class mates.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin stepped out of the car, despite riding in the car with a teacher it hadn't be awkward, maybe it was because of who the teacher was. The teacher was a young female that hadn't been at the school for long but she was good. Miss Jenny Calendar was teaching the IT lessons, Willow and Caitlin were her favourite students by far, so she didn't mind bringing Caitlin with her. The Principle had asked her last week if she wouldn't mind taking Caitlin to the Zoo with her in the car, she didn't understand why and when told all Flutie said was 'we have to' and that was that. The Librarian had looked like he wanted to say something but kept quiet, there was something about her favourite student but she wouldn't push. Jenny locked the car and made her way to stand beside Caitlin "Now all we have to do is wait for the bus," Caitlin nodded her head and leant against the car door.

Caitlin could see Jenny looking at her out of the corner of her eye, funnily it didn't bother her, she knew what her teacher was thinking. She would be the same if she were in Jenny's position; it wasn't common for a student to get a lift with a teacher when there were spaces on the bus. "You can ask you know," Caitlin said softly as she carried on looking away from Jenny. Jenny jumped at the sound of Caitlin's voice, she hadn't expected her to talk, she noticed Caitlin was usually quiet unless she was with her sister and friends. The young blonde snorted lightly as she turned to face her teacher "is it so unusual to her me talk it startled you?" Caitlin asked.

"Not really, I just noticed you were a little less talkative today than usual," Jenny said jokingly as they both knew she was the talkative type, Caitlin gave a crocked smile. Jenny stopped for a moment, she had never seen Caitlin give a crocked smile before, this must be her proper smile. The teacher nudged Caitlin "I was just wondering why you weren't on the bus with your sister and friends."

Nudging back "Apart from most of them being utter idiots you mean?" she asked with a grin. Jenny chuckled and nodded, she couldn't deny Caitlin's question. Caitlin shrugged; she stood up from her leaning position and put her hands in her pockets "I have Cyclothymia," she told her favourite teacher. Jenny tried to figure out what that was, Caitlin caught the confusion that was in her teachers eyes "it's Bi-polar, being in a bus with those idiots would make me very cranky."

The bus rounded the corner and pulled into the car park. Jenny left Caitlin to go and get the students calm and in line so they could get in. Willow strolled over to Caitlin and stood beside her, she didn't say anything, and the two were comfortable with silences. They had got used to it whilst they did their homework together, Willow refused to talk until her homework was done and Caitlin was okay with that. They had started to hang out a bit more since Caitlin had confessed to what her problem was, Willow considered Caitlin a close friend, maybe even her best friend. Soon the silence was broken as Xander and Buffy joined them, arguing over what to see first. When Jenny came back over to get them she suggested seeing separate things and meeting up afterwards, the argument was ended at that and the two agreed. Jenny raised her eyebrow at Catlin and Willow as if to ask them why they hadn't intervened; the teenaged girls just smirked and shrugged.

~GU:CM~

The gang had split up a while ago but they were going to meet by the elephants, Willow and Caitlin had gone to see the Lions, one of Caitlin's weak spot. She noticed Willow had been sticking to Caitlin, she was glad Caitlin had a best friend and she was glad they had best friends in common because it meant she knew who Caitlin was hanging with and that they were good people. It was just strange for her to see her sister hanging out with another female; most of Caitlin's friends were male before. Buffy was brought out of her thoughts by a voice in front of her "Oh, look. It's Buffy and all her friends," a class mate of Buffy's called Kyle taunted her.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the lame taunt "That's a witty," she snarked back without really rising to the bait. Kyle, Tor, Rhonda and Heidi were the class bullies; they weren't like the jocks or the popular kids. They did whatever they felt like and to whoever they felt like.

"Do you ever wonder why nobody cool wants to hang out with you?" Tor asked with a tilt of them head. They all knew what Buffy had done at her last school; it wasn't a surprise to anyone that she really didn't have friends, everyone stayed away from her fearing she was an arsonist.

"Just thankful," Buffy responded honestly. The eldest Summers child liked not being as popular as she had been, she could be have more time for her family this way and she didn't have to be someone she wasn't.

Rhonda tilted her head in wonder as she started at Buffy "Were you this popular at your old school? Before you got kicked out?" she asked snidely. Buffy just looked at them, not openly reacting to their barbs. The group laughed and they continued on their way as they noticed that she wasn't falling for their taunts,

Tor spoke one last thing over his shoulder as they left "Careful! She might beat you up!" he chuckled with the others. Buffy just shook her head at their attempts.

The Slayer made her way over to the elephant exhibition; she might as well have a look at them whilst she waited for the others. Buffy was reading the plaque when Xander, Willow and Caitlin ran up to her.

Xander spoke as soon as he stopped by Buffy "Hey! Buffy!" he greeted. He hadn't seen her in an hour as he had gone off to see the Crocodiles when Willow and Caitlin went to see the Lions. He had met up with them as they approached the Zebra area.

"You missed it!" Willow excitedly bounced on the spot as she stopped beside Xander. Caitlin stopped beside her sister and chuckled at the guys' enthusiasm, it was funny how immature they still were. She had to admit there was something amusing about what they had just seen.

Buffy had to resist from glancing at Caitlin, she was known for doing things that annoyed people but amused her friends; she didn't want to piss off Caitlin especially as she had just come back from Grams' House. "Missed what?" she asked with slight confusion and a little enthusiasm.

"We just saw the zebras mating!" he turned to Willow who mentioned going over to the Zebra's it had been a fun experience even if it was only to laugh at the humping Zebras "Thank you, very exciting..."

Willow nodded as she finished bouncing "It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!" she chuckled and the others chuckled along as well.

"And I missed it," Buffy commented with mock disappointment, she wiped a fake tear away "Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on," she grinned as she started walking, she didn't know where she was going but she didn't just want to stand around, Flutie was on the Prowl.

Caitlin pulled a face as she took her sisters hand in her own, surprising her older sister "It was actually more like Rasputin trying to get frisky with Gram's foot stool," Caitlin explained and Buffy burst out laughing as she remembered the scene Caitlin had just said.

"Now I really am sorry I missed it," Buffy said as she wiped the tear from her eye. Rasputin trying to hump Gram's favourite foot stool had been funny but Gram's chasing the dog around after he had done was even funnier. Willow and Xander looked at each other, they enjoyed seeing Buffy and Caitlin get one, and they didn't have their own siblings so it was nice to see what siblings could be like. Buffy caught the look and just smiled at them, they returned the smile because Buffy had been down since the incident last week, Caitlin had gone to San Francisco.

Willow stepped to Caitlin's side and their hands brushed together, Willow blush and Caitlin gave her a crocked smile. Buffy caught the exchanged and smiled inwardly, it was cute seeing Willow and Caitlin together. "Where were you?" Willow asked as she pulled away from Caitlin a little bit, she noticed didn't seem too bothered by their closeness but it made her feel a little funny, Caitlin gave her another smile before turning her attention to Buffy. Xander walked beside Buffy, none the wiser, though it didn't surprise Buffy as he was a male and clearly was a little dense about feelings and other things of that sort.

Buffy looked down at the map in her spare hand trying to see where she was going to go next "I was looking at the fishes," she responded without the enthusiasm that the other three had shown. She had been to the Zoo so many times before that it had lost all appeal; she wondered how Prue and Piper still managed to fake enthusiasm. She had to admit that when she went with Perri and the others it had been fun because the child had loved every second of it.

Willow smiled, she enjoyed fish "Was it cool?" she hadn't been to see the fish in years, she had her own fish at home.

"It was fishes," Buffy responded pulling a face. All they did was swim around, they did nothing interesting, they did have petty colours that went well together but she'd never be able to pull them off. Buffy blinked at her internal thought, she must have spent way too much time staring at Fish if she was trying to use fashion with them.

Xander squinted at her before shaking his head and held his hands to his heart "I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here," and how dare she, it was the best time of the year. Being in School time and yet not doing school work, they even got to see cool animals, how she found it boring was beyond his understanding. He shook his head again.

"Well, it would... It's nothing, I... We do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old… Caitlin was the only one who liked looking at the animals, especially her wolves," Buffy commented with a smirk at her sister. It was true, Caitlin loved going to the Zoo and she loved explaining to Dawn and Perri about what she knew about the animals, Caitlin was got fascinated by the wolves, she could spend hours watching them. It was actually the reason Piper had gotten her the Wolf teddy bear Caitlin had named Blizzard.

The male in the group shook his head in disbelief; he couldn't believe she didn't see the fine print in the school trips "Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!"

Buffy looked away from the map to look at Xander, he was right, they were away from school and had the possibility of being fun. Sure Buffy didn't really get in to the whole zoo spirit her sister and Willow were clearly in but she could enjoy missing school at least. "You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new," Buffy nodded and brought the map back up with a smile

"Gotta have perspective," Xander commented as he looked over Buffy's shoulder and the two started to argue again. Buffy wanted to see the Rhinos and Xander wanted to go and see the Monkeys, they had always made him laugh and he wanted a good laugh.

Willow shook her head the two of them were going to be arguing all day she knew it; they gradually came to a stop just outside of the jaguar habitat. Caitlin walked over to the plaque to read about them, she knew the basic details of the Jaguars but she could never know too much. Willow watched her and decided to join Caitlin; it was better than standing around and waiting for one of the others to win the argumen

Xander whooped as he won the argument, he liked winning and the fact he got to see monkeys made it all the sweeter "Hey you two let's get going, the monkey kingdom awaits," he said as he started to head towards the monkey enclosure. Buffy shook her head as she followed after him, she had let him win because the monkey enclosure was right next to the new rare wolves' habitat; Caitlin would want to see them.

"They await their leader and he is on his way," Caitlin said with a huge grin. Willow, as well as Buffy who was a little further ahead, laughed out loud at Caitlin's comment. Xander glanced over his shoulder when he heard them laughing but couldn't even begin to think of what they were laughing at, shrugging he continued one his way with a bounce in his step.

Buffy slowed down slightly so her sister and friend could catch up, when they were beside her she threw an arm over her sisters shoulder "now that wasn't very nice...was funny but not nice," she admonished half-heartedly but it wasn't very effective because she had a little grin on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. Caitlin just shrugged and continued to smile; she was in a good mood.

The three girls caught up to the waiting Xander and they made their way over to the monkeys. As they arrived they noticed Kyle's gang dragging another class mate, Lance, into a closed off area. Buffy noticed it was the new Wolf Cave; she was disappointed that Caitlin wouldn't get to check it out. "What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?" Willow asked as they approached the wolves Cave.

"Oh, playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse."

"I think they planned to feed him to the dogs...literally," Caitlin added after Xander. She really hated those stupid bullies, they had learnt early on to leave her alone and the others when she was around. She had snapped and hit Kyle in the face, it had been satisfying and the egotistical prat and his little click had kept their mouths shut because their 'leader' had been hit and knocked over by a girl two years their younger.

Buffy shook her head in annoyance at those guys, she almost wished those idiots were demons so she could give them a smack down Slayer style "What is it with those guys?" she asked looking at Willow and Xander, they hadn't known them longer

"They're obnoxious. Professionally," Willow commented as she fiddled with her hands in worry, she wasn't a friend on Lance's but that didn't mean she wanted him to get beaten up or eaten by wolves.

Xander nodded sagely "Well, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids," he sounded almost apologetic. Caitlin turned to look at Buffy with a pointed look, yes she was proud of her sister but she wouldn't forget the past as easily has her sister pretended too.

Ignoring her sisters pointed look Buffy responded to Xander "Yeah, well, I'd better extract Lance before..." she hated that her day off had been interrupted by those idiots. She didn't mind the fact that she had to save Lance, it was just going to make not hitting Kyle's gang that much harder.

Caitlin ducked under the tape and smiled "I'll sort those idiots out, I have no qualms with hitting them," she smiled, today was a good day for her. She did want to save Lance but she also wanted to see these wolves, they had been presumes extinct for thousands of years but the year before last adventurers has been down in Mexico and had discovered some ancient Aztec ruins and found a few Aztecan Wolf pups. She was gutted when she read they were still in quarantine, but she would have come back to see them but this was so much better.

Xander climbed under as well "We'll handle it. This job doesn't require actual slaying," Caitlin chuckled at Xander's words, she suspected had thought about doing some beating and this way she could do it instead. Xander held his arm out and bowed slightly to allow Caitlin to go first, the two ran off into the Cave.

The two left behind looked at each other, "You don't think we should follow?" Buffy asked sounding very unsure, it wasn't the fact that her sister and Xander couldn't take care of themselves it was just the wolves were out of bounds and who knows what Kyle and the others would do in there. She didn't even know if they had a proper environment set up yet.

Willow shook her head but did not look convinced and matched Buffy in being unsure "Kyle and those guys are jerks, but they're all talk. Mostly," Willow sounded as if she was trying to convince the both of them. Buffy looked at the Cave and then at Willow. Willow looked at Buffy and then at the Cave.

"Why don't we..." Buffy pointed towards the Cave slightly as she reconsidered not going in after them.

Nodding Willow responded "Yeah, why don't we?" she gestured towards the Cave as well. They both started to go but before they got too far something caught their attention.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin and Xander entered the Wolf Cave and immediately heard Lance asking them to stop. It was obvious that Lance and the others were actually going to try and fed him to the wolves. As they got closer they saw Kyle and Tor pressing Lance against the bars and appeared to be trying to lift him over "Ow! Stop it! It's not funny!" Xander and Caitlin approached quickly, Xander pulled Tor's arms away from Lance whilst Caitlin was a little less subtle as she threw a punch at Kyle's jaw. Kyle hit the bars and fell to the ground

Xander pushed Tor towards the girls and then stepped over to Caitlin and put a hand on her arm, it was a subconscious act but Caitlin stepped no closer to Kyle "Why don't you pick on somebody your own species?"

"What, are *you* gonna get in my face?" Kyle asked as he got to his feet and started to approach Xander. Tor came up from behind but stopped as Kyle shook his head, he needed to get some of his dignity back and if that meant beating Harris then he would have to do it.

Caitlin scowled and got right in Kyle's face "No that would be me, I don't like you and if I have to I will beat you down to prove you shouldn't piss me off," She really hated bullies and her disorder was starting to make her get angry at them, she would normally only feel annoyance.

The Wolves had been watching the exchange and until the last two had shown up they felt nothing towards these humans, but now it was getting interesting. The wolves exchanged looks, the biggest Wolf was black with gold highlights every so often along the hide, another Wolf was silver with white paws and the last was golden with a black muzzle, they growled to catch the humans attention. Xander and Caitlin were the first to look and Kyle and the others followed their lead. The black Wolfs eyes flashed gold, Xander's and Caitlin's eyes flashed seconds later. The gold Wolf's eyes flashed and then Kyle's and Tor's eyes flashed and then finally the grey Wolf's eyes flashed and Heidi's and Rhonda's eyes flashed. Caitlin blinked but continued to stare at the Wolf, there was something about the Wolf that made her want to jump over the railings and show the Wolf it's place, Kyle jerked in her hold and she growled, Kyle stilled at the warning.

Lance tried to make an anxious move to get away, he appreciated Xander and Caitlin saving him but all of them were starting to act strange. As Lance turned to run he tripped on a chair and fell over his notebook skidded across the floor to the far wall. Kyle and his little gang turned towards Lance and grinned, or that's what Lance thought until he swore he heard them growling, they were baring their teeth. Xander turned as Lance fled, he growled at the others and they quietened. Caitlin continued to stare into the Wolf's eyes, they flashed briefly and the Wolf bowed its head, Caitlin nodded and turned to the others, with a snarl she left the Cave.

~GU:CM~

Buffy stood waiting for her sister and Xander to come out with Lance. She turned as she heard hurried footsteps, Lance was running their way, "Lance where Caitlin and Xander?" she asked the male as he got closer.

Lance made no effort to slow down and just gestured behind him "They are in there with Kyle and his little lapdogs," he said as he rushed passed them, there was no way he was going to tell them what he had heard from those guys. They would probably think he was mental.

"What's his deal?" Buffy asked Willow as they watched Lance disappear. Some part of her started to worry that something bad had happened but she suppressed that and tried to think positive. Lance would have gotten help if they needed it.

Willow turned to face the Cave and then back at Buffy "I'm sure it was just that he was scared, who knows what he has seen, that zoo keeper told us they were in quarantine," Willow nodded with her words to show she was positive they were alright.

Xander came strolling out; he inhaled deeply and noticed that Buffy smelled exceptionally sweet whist Willow smelt familiar; she was nothing for him to worry about. He approached them and gave them a brush with him arms as he walked by them both; he was reassuring them as he knew they were worried. He turned to face the Cave and waited for their other to come. Caitlin was wearing a scowl as she walked towards her friends, she was annoyed and confused. As she took a deep breathe to calm down and caught an alluring scent, she noticed it was coming from Willow so she went over and stood right next to her, Buffy just smelt like family to her so she was not bothered by her presence. "How did it go?" Buffy asked the two, she noticed they were looking at the Cave, Kyle and his group were just exiting when she looked over her shoulder. They looked unharmed, Kyle was sporting a slight bruise to the jaw and she knew her sister had hit him.

Caitlin huffed and turned on her heel ready to leave "I'm not feeling well, I'm going to find Miss Calendar," she said as she headed off. She just wasn't up to seeing everything else at the moment, she knew being with the teacher would calm her nerves but she didn't know why. Xander grinned as she walked off, he was going to beat her and lead and it was going to be easy.

~GU:CM~

Jenny couldn't put her finger on it but she just knew there was something different about her passenger, Caitlin had sought her out an hour before leaving and didn't seem inclined to talk. Now she knew about Caitlin's little disorder she knew not to bother asking. Caitlin's leg was twitching as she stared out of the passenger window, she knew she was acting strange but she was a little preoccupied to be bothered about it. Jenny pulled up outside of Caitlin's house, she had permission to do so, she turned to look at Caitlin and was amazed that she didn't realise she was home "Caitlin your home," she said. Jenny even unbuckled Caitlin, the blonde didn't seem to be responsive and seemed very deep in thought. The teacher got out the car wand walked around to Caitlin's side and opened the door, she reached in and coaxed Caitlin out, she supposed this should be strange for her but there was just something about Caitlin that made it alright. She manoeuvred Caitlin around the car, after locking it of course, and led her towards the Summers abode but before she could knock the door opened and a girl stood there looking confused. "Hey Sweetie is your mother in?" Jenny asked as the girl nodded and called for her mother, the girl held out her hand and Caitlin went over to her.

"Hi my name is Dawn and I guess this has something to do with Caitlin?" she asked. Jenny nodded and allowed Caitlin to go with her sister; she seemed to know what Caitlin needed. Dawn hugged Caitlin's waist "I'm going to take her to her room," Dawn commented and dragged Caitlin up the stairs.

Joyce walked past Dawn on the stairs and sighed as she saw the look on Caitlin's face, today was meant to be a good day, she noticed a fairly young woman standing in her doorway. "Hello Mrs Summer I'm Caitlin's teacher Jenny Calendar," the young woman, Jenny, introduced herself and stuck out her hand.

The mother of three shook the offered hand and signalled for the younger woman to come in, Joyce shut the door once Jenny was in the hallway and showed her to the living room "Would you like a drink?" Joyce asked, Jenny shook her head, "I take it this is about Caitlin," Jenny noticed it wasn't a question.

"I have to say that I don't know what happened but Caitlin was very excited when she walked off with her sister and friends but a few hours into the trip she came and found me. Buffy and Willow shot her sad and questioning looks and Xander shot her a grin, it seemed to irritate her and she hasn't said anything since," Jenny explained. She didn't need to do this but she felt that she had to, Caitlin was one of her favourite students and anyway to help her would make her feel better. She hadn't even been at the school very long but she noticed Caitlin's mood swings.

Joyce ran a hand over her face, she felt like she needed to tell Miss Calendar what had happened "I thought Caitlin had been in a good mood when she came back last night. She is easily set off, I'm just glad she sought you out. She seems to like you very much, she and Willow talked about you the day you joined."

Jenny blushed at that and coughed lightly "I'm glad I have at least two fans, they are my best students. I'll try to keep an eye out for Caitlin, is it best to phone you or get her older sister Buffy?" she asked as she noticed the look of shock on the mother's face, she guessed it was because people assumed Buffy and Caitlin were twins.

The mother of three chuckled to herself "Sorry, it's just that so many people assume that they are twins as they are in the same year." Jenny noticed that Joyce's voice held a certain amount of sadness, the teacher tried not to dwell on it as it brought out her own sadness. She remembered meeting Willow and Caitlin; the only two to come up and introduce themselves, her breath had nearly caught in her throat at the sight of both of them together. Joyce noticed the far off look and cleared her throat "It would be better if you phoned Buffy, she is usually with Buffy anyway but Caitlin has a few classes now where she isn't."

The two women chatted for a little bit longer before Jenny got up to go. She got in her car and watched Willow and Buffy approach, Jenny stopped her movements and watched the two friends enter the house. She placed her head on the steering wheel and started breathing deeply; it was getting harder and harder. Jenny lifted her head and started the car, intent to go home and have a nice glass of whiskey.

~GU:CM~

Dawn had been watching Caitlin since she had gotten home, at first she had been quiet and then she had gotten agitated and started to pace, nothing unusual about her behaviour until she started snarling. Dawn would swear blind that her sister had snarled at a bird in the tree that was tweeting nosily. Caitlin had grabbed a stone from her candle bowl and lobbed it at the poor bird; which was unlike Caitlin. They were now sat at Dinner and Caitlin seemed twitchy, her eyes kept darting to the Beef their mother had cooked, she was eyeing it up like she almost wanted to try a little.

"So how was everyone's day?" Joyce asked from the head of the table, she already knew most of what had happened but she couldn't stand the silence. Usually Dawn and Caitlin were chatting up a storm, even if Caitlin was in a bad mood; it was strange to have a quiet dinner table. This reminded her of the time before they moved to Sunnydale, she hated it.

Buffy looked up from devouring her food to see if Dawn or Caitlin were going to talk first, they usually did, but she noticed that Dawn was looking at Caitlin and Caitlin was looking at the meat dinner. The eldest child swallowed her food and looked to her mother who looked pretty upset "Well the Zoo was quite cool," Buffy started to talk and she noticed that her mother perked up. Dawn turned her attention to Buffy and Caitlin focused on Dawn with almost a frown marring her features. That shocked Buffy; Caitlin had never given her sister that look before, something seemed to be wrong with Caitlin. The younger blonde leant back on her chair and looked at her plate with a sneer. "I know I've been to the Zoo loads of times and at first I wasn't as excited as the others but Xander pointed it out that it was a nice day off," Buffy chuckled as Joyce shook her head in disbelief.

It amused her that her eldest would do anything to get out of school whilst her younger two loved going. She turned her attention to Caitlin and Dawn "How about you Dawnie?" Joyce asked with a smile. She found Dawn endearing, she truly did, the young girl worshipped the ground Caitlin walked on. Just as Caitlin had with Buffy and Buffy with Paige and so on, she even remembered worshipping the ground her own sister walked on.

Dawn bounced in her seat lightly "I got to do a test today, the teacher said it was to see what my IQ and test average was," the young girl smiled. Buffy's jaw dropped in shock, Caitlin's tightened. Joyce's eyes widened she remembered Caitlin taking the test and Dawn's age, she was surprised that Dawn was being given the choice as well. It wasn't that she thought Dawn wasn't smart but she didn't think Dawn expressed the same smarts and Caitlin had. Out of all the family Caitlin had been the only one to skip grades, Prue and Paige had been tested but neither of them quite reached the level to skip a grade. Dawn carried on "The first half of the test was easy but the second half was harder," Dawn had struggled to answer the last few questions and hadn't been able to finish them.

"That's okay sweetheart Prue and Paige went through the same thing when they were about your age," Joyce assured her daughter. Prue and Paige had actually said the same thing. Joyce had actually been surprised when Caitlin had been given the same option purely because she wouldn't sit still in classes. The younger blonde had only calmed down after she had been in classes with her sister, that's when Joyce and a reluctant Hank noticed how intelligent she truly was. Dawn nodded, if her cousins did it then it must have been alright, the young girl didn't get told about all of the naughty things that Paige, Phoebe and even Prue had done. Turning her attention to her middle child Joyce asked her how her day was.

Caitlin shrugged and pushed her food away from her "Was alright," the answer was unlike Caitlin because the blonde enjoy talking about what she learnt or the animals she had seen, even when she was feeling like crap. The middle child looked down at her plate and thought it wasn't far enough away and gave it a violent shove. The plate slid along the table and nearly fell off the other side, buffy managed to catch it. Caitlin sneered at the plate before she got up and left the room.

"Anyone else think that was strange?" Dawn piped up and broke the silence with a question. Buffy nodded to Dawn's question but didn't verbally respond, she was confused at the way Caitlin was acting. Joyce leant back in her chair a sighed, she thought Caitlin would be relaxed for more than a few hours, she had spent the weekend with her cousins and grandmother after all but something was obviously bugging Caitlin.

~GU:CM~

The Bronze was busy as always, Buffy and Willow were stood at the bar "It's just that she's acting like she would normally most of the time but for a few seconds it's like she was someone else, it freaked Mom and Dawn out a little," Buffy had explained to Willow what had happened at dinner. Buffy had to admit it was a little freaky for her as well. Buffy grabbed her Coke and croissant from the bar, she nodded at the bartender.

Willow and Buffy turned and walked away from the crowded bar and went to find an empty table, "Maybe she's just having an episode or something," she had picked up the term from Dawn when her and Caitlin had been helping Dawn do her homework; she had asked Caitlin if she had had another episode. They make their way over to an empty table and sit down.

"No she's never had an episode like this before, even at her worst," Buffy responded, she took a sip of her Coke. She then shrugged, it could have been an episode and that could mean she was getting worse and that worried her. She would just have to see how this progressed, if worst came to worst Caitlin would have to move in with Grams, she would be able to visit at weekends and holidays, it saddened her but if it was necessary she would have to deal with it. It was Dawn who was going to feel it the most, her youngest sister adored Caitlin.

Nodding, Willow let the subject drop, if she was worried about Caitlin than Buffy must be near on frantic, she hid it well though. "I thought Xander would be here by now?" Subject officially changed and it didn't look fake or awkward, score one for Willow.

The slayer looked around but couldn't see the teen in question; he was a big boy and knew not to walk in deserted areas by now so she would start to worry in about an hour "Hmm, that'd make him on time. We couldn't have that!" Buffy said with a grin, she was teasing slightly but she was also a little serious. Moments like these made Buffy rethink her evaluation on Willow, she seemed really attached to Caitlin, which she thought was good, and at others she seemed to go back to Xander. She internally shook herself; it was only because Xander and Willow had been friends for over a decade.

"Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?" Willow hadn't been sat with Xander and Buffy on the way back from the bus because they had gotten there late and Xander had pretty much dragged Buffy to sit by him. Willow had been sat next to Lance who had seemed jumpy, she had tried to talk to him but he had just mumbled something and ignored her.

Buffy just shrugged, she really hadn't been paying all that much attention to him because she had wanted to sit beside Willow and try and grill her about Caitlin. She wanted to know if Willow had feelings for Caitlin but on the way back she realised it wasn't a good idea. "About what?" Buffy asked as she started on her croissant, damn her Slayer metabolism.

"I dunno. He was quiet," she hadn't be sat beside him but she knew his voice well enough to hear it in a crowd of their class mates, he hadn't spoken much to anyone and when she had looked he had seemed preoccupied or stealing glances at Buffy. A few months ago and that would have bothered her but since Caitlin and Buffy had come into their lives she didn't even tingle with jealousy.

The older teen just shook her head "I didn't notice anything," Buffy glanced around trying to find her sister in the crowd, Caitlin had been pacing when she left but had told her that she would be there within the hour. "But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you," Buffy grinned again but this time it was to see if Willow really did have a crush on Xander, it would clear her mind and save her an awkward conversation if Willow didn't. she didn't want to see her sister hurt, especially by a friend she had sought out to make.

Willow looked around nervously, sure she knew a lot about Xander but she wasn't hyperaware of him, not anymore "Hyperaware?" she asked trying to sound confused, she managed it rather well.

Sighing, Buffy responded "Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure..."

"Last I checked it was 130 over 80, but then that was a while ago," whoops that could be classed as a slip. Buffy was going to find out that she was infatuated with Xander at this rate. Willow was confused when a flash of disappointment passed across Buffy's face

Buffy couldn't help but feel bad for her sister now, Willow was clearly still wanting to be with Xander. "You got it bad, girl!" she just managed to pull of amused. She won't be amused when Caitlin is hurt with this little love triangle, she would have to talk to Willow eventually.

Willow shook her head. She didn't want Buffy thinking she was crushing after Xander, Buffy was protective of Caitlin and she just wasn't sure how she felt anymore. "I don't think of him like that, not anymore at least. But there is someone that makes my head tingle, you know what I mean?" Her confession with a shy smile, she wasn't going to tell who it was.

She was doing an inward dance as she responded "I dimly recall," Buffy couldn't hide the smile even if she tried. Her sister might have a girlfriend soon, the thought alone stopped her thought process, Caitlin would need to get better first or it wouldn't be fair on either of the parties involved. Well that certainly put a spanner in the works.

"But it hasn't happened to you lately?" Willow asked, another effective misdirection score two for Willow. She was getting better at this whole teasing friend thing. She was so glad to have female friends that she can actually talk to about these things, even though she kept diverting the attention from herself, she was getting better but she wasn't perfect.

Buffy's smile slipped a little but it wasn't completely lost "Not of late," she agreed with the question. She had more important things to deal with of late than fawning over boys, but she had her eyes set on someone so all was not lost, it wasn't like she was ever going to join the convent, she's have to be brainwashed or possessed in order to do that.

Willow started to smirk, she had Buffy now and payback was sweet "Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now?" she asked innocently but her smirk didn't match.

The older teen narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance at Willow, who just continued to smirk "Goes with the shoes!" she kept up with the nock annoyance but the smile gave her away, she was just happy.

"Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does," Willow teased in a sing song voice. At least she was teasing about the right person; she just couldn't believe Buffy picked on her old feelings for Xander so quickly!

Buffy shrugged trying to play it off "I suppose some girls might find him good looking..."Willow gives Buffy a look, she clearly wasn't buying it "...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and... I, I just can't have a relationship..." Buffy tried to explain, she couldn't and wouldn't date someone that all they cared about was Vampires, Buffy hated being the slayer and she wasn't going to date someone who encouraged it.

The redhead nodded and caught someone out of the corner of her eye, she turned a little and saw Xander walking in "There he is!" Willow exclaims. She pointed towards the entrance and smiled, not her finest moment.

"Angel?" Buffy turned around to look for said male but found nothing and turned back to her friend. Willow two, awkwardness one.

Willow looked apologetic but points again "Xander!" she commented and Buffy made an understanding face, the blonde wasn't entirely convinced about Willow no longer liking Xander but she would keep quiet and observe.

Xander walked through the club, making his way over to his girls, he slowed his pace as a very nice looking girl walked past him, the girl slowed down to look at him too but Xander kept walking. He had his intended; everyone else was just eye candy for him, he took a deep breath and was pleased to smell his intended close by, he turned to the smell and followed it "Girls!" he exclaimed with a wide grin as he came to the table.

"Boy!" Buffy greeted with the same grin, she was glad he was there now it meant that she only had to worry about Caitlin. That's if she even turned up.

"Sorry I'm late, I... just forgot that we were gonna be here," he didn't see the point in lying, it's not like they could do anything about it anyways, he smelt something that smelt good and looked down to see Buffy's croissant "Hungry!" he snatched it up and tore a piece off and ate it, making an content noise as he did so.

Willow fiddled with her fingers, which caught Buffy's attention away from glaring at Xander, Willow noticed the look but could do nothing more to convince Buffy "Xander, you still want me to help you with geometry tomorrow? We can work after class..." she was just helping her friend and stopping him from failing and having to repeat. Willow was sure Caitlin had helped Buffy do that before.

The male knew he needed the help but it didn't seem all that important, Willow would only moan if he said no and to make his life simple so Xander gave Willow a thumbs-up, "Yeah." He continued to eat his bit of the croissant, he pulled a face "What is this crap?" he asked seeing as it was hers.

Buffy glared a little "Well, it *was* my buttery croissant," she didn't like anyone touching her food, not even her baby cousins. She never reacted when someone did, she just filed it away to use later on and she always got payback, Dawn was the worst for it and she always got her baby sister back tenfold.

"Man, I need some food! Birds live on this!" Xander pulled a face, he regretted eating that. He wanted something juicy, something that just dripped with sauces. His stomach rumbled loudly and caught both girls by surprise. Buffy and Willow looked at each other and then back at Xander, he was acting like Caitlin. He looked back and forth at them "What?" his question was asking with a twinge of defiance. No female was going to second guess him.

Buffy felt a tingle from her Slayer but ignored it in favour of actually asking if something was wrong, she was human after all "What's up with you?" She didn't need her Slayer to know that something was clearly not right with him; he was acting like a typical guy.

Willow followed up with a question of her own when Xander just stared at Buffy, which was a little unnerving, she felt the need to intervene "Is something wrong? Did we do something?"

"What could you *two* possibly do? That's crazy talk. I'm just... restless," the two females didn't miss the fact that he had stressed two. Caitlin wasn't one of them, Caitlin must have done something or Xander must have done something to Caitlin. Buffy felt her hackles rise at the insinuation Xander had made.

Quickly intervening again Willow spoke up "Well, we could go to the ice cream place..." she trailed off not really knowing what to say, Ice cream always cheered Xander up.

Xander shook his head and pointed to the table "I like it here," he knew she would come here and it was the perfect area to patrol it was crowded and no one would pay the least bit of attention to him. At that he looked up and scanned the area a bit, and then leant toward Buffy and sniffs her hair, he really liked how she smelt and now her scent was fresh.

Buffy moved her head away from Xander; yeah he was defiantly acting like Caitlin "Okay, now what?" She asked giving him a strange look. She did not want to be sniffed by her friend who just so happened to have a crush on her.

The strange acting teen "You took a bath," he commented as he sniffed again but did not lean in, he didn't actually need to lean in but she needed to know he was interested, it would make things easier for him if she didn't go off with other males.

"Yeah, I-I often do, I'm actually known for it," Buffy teased Xander trying to fight of the awkwardness she was feeling, he was being way to blatant and she did not like it. It was easy to ignore his crush when he was too shy to admit it.

Xander's eyes flickered to the side for a moment, he was still looking for her "That's okay."

Willow and Buffy exchange another look.

"And the weird behaviour award goes to..." the Slayer muttered as she kept her eyes on Xander, she would fight him if he tried to come to her and he would fight him if he tried the same to Willow, even if Willow didn't want her to, the blonde shook her head she had to trust Willow's word.

Xander saw Kyle and the others come in, not who he was looking for but it would do. Buffy saw where Xander was looking and then looked too, the new song started to play as she spoke "Oh, great. It's the winged monkeys," she snarked, just what she needed to make her night worse, those idiots.

Kyle and company walked further into the club but stopped to stare at Xander, they weren't leader material and they would submit to either Xander or her. Xander stared back at them, trying to show his dominance. The gang tilt their head slightly before moving on, they were yet to show they would follow him, not wanting to be bothered by finding a table they go over to an occupied one and start to harass the boy sat there "Y'know, I don't understand why you're sitting at our table."

"Yeah, shouldn't you be hovering over the football stadium with 'Goodyear' written on you?" Rhonda asked as she advanced on the teen, she was imposing and the teen got up and rushed away. The gang snickered at his expense and then made themselves comfortable at the table.

Xander was watching he was proud that the gang had hunted together and sneered as the kid ran past him. He stopped sneering as he turned back and saw buffy giving him a peculiar look, she doesn't find it amusing, so he stopped and shrugged "Kid's fat," he said as if it made sense for his behaviour. Xander did a quick scan of the area and still didn't see her "I'm out of here," Xander waved his hand slightly and made his way out of the Bronze.

Buffy watched him leave before turning back to look at Willow, they sat there for a little bit before they both got up and made their way to the exit of the bronze. Both were clearly in agreement that they wanted to know if something was wrong with Xander, following him seemed the best thing to do.

The two of them had tried to stay close but they had got stuck at the door, he was a little ahead of them but didn't seem to be moving anymore. They moved closer to him and noticed he was staring at Caitlin, who was staring straight back at him. Before Buffy or Willow could ask what took Caitlin so long, Xander lunged. Caitlin easily dodged Xander and tripped him up, the other two females just stood there looking confused as to why Xander had attacked Caitlin. Caitlin looked down at Xander and sneered; Xander swiped at Caitlin's feet with his leg but the blonde jumped over it and chuckled. The male stood up with a growl and flung his fist at her; Caitlin ducked and thrust her shoulder into his stomach, bringing him down to his knees. Buffy shook her head and rushed over to stand between the two "What is going on?" she demanded. Willow stayed where she was not believing what she had seen happen between her friends.

"Showing him who's boss," Caitlin flashed a toothy smirk and looked down at the winded male "Y'know what, I'm not in the mood for the Bronze tonight," with that Caitlin turned on her heel and walked away. Buffy and Willow turned to look down at Xander and noticed him already walking away from them. The two friends peered at each other and didn't know what to say.

~GU:CM~

Dawn snuck into Caitlin's room, she knew it was wrong but she just knew something was up with her sister and she wanted to find out what it was. None of them let Dawn read the books on Caitlin's top shelves, said she was too young to understand them, well Caitlin said she could when she understood, which just confused the pre-teen. She would have to clamber onto Caitlin's desk chair but she would be able to reach, she knew which book she wanted and it was luckily in the middle of the top shelf and stood out. The brunette pushed the chair up against the book case and climbed up on it, she carefully gripped the bookcase in her hands, making sure she had some balance. The book was right in front of her 'Ancient Magicks', with a grin she grabbed the book and quickly got off of the chair and put it back into the right place. She snuck out of the room just as easily as she had snuck in, her mother was in her room sorting and filing paperwork and her sisters were still out so all was good. She would be able to read the book in relative peace; she was looking forward to being able to help find out what was wrong with her big sister.

The slamming door jolted Dawn from her reading, she quickly closed the book and hid it under her pillow, she had sussed out what was wrong with Caitlin. Her symptoms fit someone who was possessed. The youngest occupant of the house got up from her bed and headed downstairs to see who had come in. she heard her mother talking, she hadn't even realised her mother had gone downstairs, she heard a grunt and assumed that it was Caitlin who had come home. The teen usually grunted or huffed when she was agitated or preoccupied. She heard her mother asking Caitlin something and was surprised by the response "Mother would you just butt out of my life!" Caitlin shouted at their mother. Dawn came into the kitchen and saw the surprised on her mother's face and would bet it matched the look on her own face. Caitlin's face fell at the look of shock and hurt displayed on her mother's face, she walked around the island and pulled her mother into a hug, taking a deep breath as she did so. Caitlin peered at Dawn over their mother's shoulder but turned her head to face their mother's neck for a little bit before pushing out of the hug and rushing from the room. Joyce stood there for a few seconds in stunned silence before she too turned and left the room, leaving Dawn all by herself. She hadn't see her mother act like that since Caitlin had gone away for a few months, some extra school credits to graduate early, that's what her dad had told her anyway.

Dawn turned her head when she saw the front door open and Buffy walking in, she shut the door behind her and locked it. The older sister didn't pause as she walked up the stairs; she obviously didn't expected Dawn to be downstairs. The young girl followed Buffy into the older girls room "Buffy there is something wrong with Caitlin," she said quietly; she didn't want Caitlin or their mother hearing what she was saying. Buffy just gave Dawn a look and shook her head. "I'm telling you Buffy something is wrong!" Dawn exclaimed she had spent some of the evening with Caitlin after she had come home; the teen had seemed strange when she came home early. Caitlin had growled at Joyce when she had asked her what she was doing home, before she brought her mother into a hug and took a deep breath before pushing her away and rushing up the stairs. Dawn hadn't tried to talking to her because she knew Caitlin wouldn't have allowed her in the room after her little episode with their mother.

Buffy turned and held her baby sister "She got into a fight Dawnie, she's gotten into them before," the older sister wasn't completely convinced herself that Caitlin was alright but she didn't want Dawn to have to worry about Caitlin.

Dawn stayed in Buffy's grasp but shook her head "She's baring her teeth, growling, she fought Xander and we know she doesn't hit her friends Buffy. She told mom to butt out of her life. Mom is her world Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed as she tightened her arms around Buffy.

It was true, Buffy knew Caitlin loved her and Dawn but Mom really was her world, they weren't far behind but she had always been a massive mommy's girl. It was almost as if Caitlin had known she would get no attention from Hank at all. The fact Caitlin told their mother to butt out was a little worrying. Buffy gently pushed Dawn to arm's length "Caitlin will be fine Dawnie; she's just going through something."

"No she's possessed Buffy, who do you know that growls and snarls, we both know Caitlin huffs at most. I know you won't believe me but it is possession and I bet it is an animal!" Dawn was getting agitated and Buffy could see that. She lifted her hands to placate her sister but Dawn huffed at her, clearly it was a Halliwell trait, and crossed her arms "You don't believe me, fine" with that the youngest sibling turned and went to her room and slammed her door. Buffy's slayer hearing picked up growls coming from Caitlin room, she was going to give Caitlin the benefit of the doubt and just assume it was a bad mood, Caitlin would never get herself possessed. She rubbed her forehead and picked her up pad, drawing sounded like a good idea right now.

~GU:CM~

Giles had closed the library for Buffy's training session, Caitlin was sat watching her sister's every move; it was like she was studying her sister. Giles was wearing protective gear while Buffy trained on him, Giles wanted to assess her hand to hand skills. She did a roundhouse kick followed by a high punch and a swinging middle punch to Giles' gloved hands. Caitlin got up from her perched position, she leant forward slightly. Buffy continued training, without knowing that Caitlin had moved, doing a full spin and finishing with a backhand punch, She followed that up with a jumping spin wheel kick followed by a right middle punch, a high roundhouse kick and a front snap kick. Caitlin moved to the side and looked ready to pounce in on the action; Giles caught her movement but didn't know what she was going to do. Buffy jumped high and did a twin straddle kick, landing back on her feet and moves in to attack again, Giles suddenly jumped back as Caitlin intercepted and started to duel with her sister. Caitlin swiped at Buffy with left hook, Buffy parried; Caitlin followed a backhand, Buffy dodged. Giles watched and was impressed with Caitlin's form, she had a tight defence and the only opening she had was there to catch attention and could easily be defended. Caitlin jumped back as Buffy made a feeble attempt to hit her and she quickly retaliated, almost clipping Buffy with a right roundhouse to the temple, Buffy just managed to bring her arm up to block it. "That's enough training for one day."

"Well, that last roundhouse was kinda sloppy," Buffy commented on her attempt to hit Caitlin, not that she was actively trying "Are you sure you don't want to do it again?" Buffy turned to Giles. Caitlin was honestly trying to hit her but Buffy didn't know why, she hadn't annoyed her sister because Caitlin had been gone when she had gotten up. It was Caitlin's swimming day and she left well over an hour before Buffy got up.

Giles who was still out of breath was amazed that neither Buffy nor Caitlin had broken a sweat "No! No, no, that's fine. You just... run along to class," Buffy nodded and turned to let Caitlin go in front of her but Caitlin was already headed to the door, she was tense and looked ready to snap. "While I wait for the feeling to return to my arms," Giles watched Buffy leave, obviously deflated by her sister's actions; he could have sworn that he had heard Caitlin growling.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin stalked down the hallway; she was annoyed at her sister and at her sister's stupid watcher

Cut outside to Willow helping Xander with his geometry.

Xander shook his head and put down his pencil "I'm not getting this," he hated geometry. He knew why he had lost last night, he wasn't as good as Caitlin and it annoyed him. it didn't annoy him because it was Caitlin who was better, it annoyed him because he couldn't be better for her. He knew she wouldn't want him and that was okay with him but it was his job to help protect her and he would have to do things for her until she got her intended and he got his and even then he would help. What annoyed him the most about the whole thing was that if Caitlin didn't find him suitable she wouldn't allow him to be with his intended, her sister.

"It's simple, really. See, 'The bisector of a vertex is the line that divides the angle at that vertex into two equal parts,'" Willow was trying not to get annoyed but they had done this before and he had been able to do it, he hadn't cheated but now he was struggling. She might need Caitlin's help with it, speaking of the devil Caitlin stopped beside them

The older teen rubbed his face with his hands, he really wasn't in the mood for this "It's like a big blur, all these numbers and angles," it was starting to hurt his head. He greeted Caitlin with a slight bowing of the head to show his submission and he was rewarded with a nod.

Willow smiled at Caitlin, who smiled back, and turned back to Xander, hoping to jog his memory "It's the same stuff from last week. You had it down then," she was soft spoken with this so it didn't make him feel inadequate.

"Why do I need to learn this?" he looked up from the book to both Caitlin and Willow. Caitlin smirked in amusement, Xander was glad to see there was no condescension in her smirk just genuine amusement.

The redhead sighed and slumped knowing she was on a losing path "'Cause otherwise you'll flunk math?" she asked sarcastically, she knew he would because she kept a close eye on his grades.

The male narrowed his eye at Willow but stopped from saying anything harsh when Caitlin gave a very low warning growl "Explain the part where that's bad," he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he restrained from snapping at her, pleasing his Alpha was hard when he was at his breaking point.

She was going to power through his negativity even if it killed him "You remember, you fail math, you flunk out of school, you end up being the guy at the pizza place that sweeps the floor and says, 'Hey, kids, where's the cool parties this weekend?' We've been through this," Willow explained. She and Xander had laughed at the lame pizza guys and Xander had said he never wanted to be one. She frowned when he started to rub his temples "Do you have a headache?" she reached up to him but he moved slightly and Caitlin gently gripped her arms. Willow looked up at Caitlin and saw her shaking her head. Caitlin knew Xander was going to break and snap at her, she couldn't blame him so she prevented an action that would have to make her blame him.

Xander hummed in approval of his Alpha, not that Willow could hear, Caitlin returned it with a huff because it was her job to look after him "Yeah, and I think I know what's causing it," he pointed down to the book and grimaced at it. Caitlin released Willow's arms and picked the book up, she flicked through a few pages and sneered in annoyance at it then threw it towards the trash can. The book landed in the trash with a thud, "Ah! That's better, it goes right to the source of the pain,"

"Xander..." Willow trailed off when she saw Caitlin shaking her head again, it was almost as if the blonde knew what Xander was feeling and knew she shouldn't provoke him, Willow just wanted Xander to pass.

"Look…" Xander started off in frustration but died off as Caitlin warned him again, he knew he shouldn't get frustrated with Willow but he couldn't help it.

Caitlin took over from Xander, if someone was going to be harsh to her intended it will be her forget it Xander, okay? You don't get it and your frustrated meaning you won't get it until you aren't, let's go," she needed to get away before she decided to try and jump Willow. Plus getting away will help calm Xander down. Xander cheered as he stood up and threw his math notebook into Willow's lap, he started walking away. Caitlin shot Willow a small little smile to easy her feelings, she caught up with Xander and smacked in on the back of the head "You didn't need to throw the book at her,"

"I threw the book on her lap, you threw her book in the bin," Xander defended himself as he held open the door for her; he smiled as she gave him a raised brow. His attitude was a hell of a lot different from the previous night.

Caitlin snorted at his chivalrous behaviour, he was trying to redeem himself she'd give him that "be that as it may Xander do not test me," she responded with finality. They both walked down the hallway and walked past Buffy holding a pig; the piglet reacted to their presence as they walked by. Buffy looked confused as she watched them pass, and struggled to keep Herbert from jumping out of her arms without using slayer strength and crushing him.

They had been told they were having, apparently there had been an accident. Most of them believed that the Coach was hung over, he wasn't exactly the greatest coach going but he did pass everyone who participated because he couldn't be bothered to really observe them. The coach noticed the younger Summers kid walking in the gym and smiled, she attended every now and then, he loved how she beat most of the others kids and put them in their place after taunting her. "Alright, it's raining, all regular gym classes have been postponed, so you know what that means!" he shouted to the kids stood in front of him, he wanted some entertainment, he held up a large rubber ball. The Coach almost laughed when he heard the groans but he really couldn't care about them "dodge ball! Now sort yourself into groups Summers you are one captain, Kid Summers you are the other, I want to see some sibling rivalry!" it probably wasn't professional but it was in the name of sportsmanship. The groups were quickly sorted out Caitlin had chosen Xander, Kyle and his little gang, she had chosen her pack. She had a few others but she didn't care about them. Buffy had chosen Willow to be with her, she didn't want Willow over with them especially because she was acting funny. "Now, for those of you that may have forgotten, the rules are as follows: you dodge" Coach tossed the ball in his hands to Buffy. He blew his whistle, and the two groups moved back from centre court, where the other balls had been placed. He whistled again and the ball throwing instigated. The pack members easily dodge the balls, Caitlin sought out a weakling in her sisters group and quickly threw the ball nailing the teen in the head, her pack hooted, it almost sounded like howls, as the teen scampered off. Xander sought his own victim; he picked a chubby kid at the back and aimed the ball at his groin. The game was already in favour of Caitlin's team; Buffy was the only one really hitting her mark on her team. Xander threw the ball again and nailed Willow hard on the back. Willow gave him a hurt look as she walked off the court; Kyle pulled his arm back to throw the ball at Willow but Caitlin quickly knocked him over. Kyle snarled as he got up but whimpered when he saw Caitlin baring her teeth. Buffy almost got hit as she was watching the interaction between Caitlin and the others; she was surprised to see Caitlin acting so primal. The game carried on for a few more minutes and it was only the Pack and Lance on one side and only Buffy on the other, the pack looked at her briefly before turning around to face Lance, Caitlin nodded but looked to Buffy instead.

Lance fell to the floor and cowered as the pack threw their balls at him, hard. Buffy rushed over and helped Lance up. She stared at Xander, who stared back. Buffy changed her view to Caitlin, who looked at Lance before looking at her. The younger blonde huffed before heading to the gym doors; she had entrained the coach so he wouldn't care if they left, the pack followed her leave. The coach watched them go and wiped at his eye, he had been laughing at the kids and how entertaining it was "God, this game is brutal. I love it!"

~GU:CM~

Willow was waiting for Xander after his class, she wanted to confront him about his behaviour especially after Gym. She approached him when he comes from the other hall with the pack. "What's wrong with you guys?" Willow asked Caitlin and Xander. Caitlin frowned slightly but made no move to talk or approach her; she knew Willow wasn't ready for her and that's why she had been keeping her distance. Xander looked at the others briefly, then to Caitlin who nodded her head almost faintly and with permission to talk to her he pulled Willow aside.

Xander leant in to talk to her "I guess you've noticed that I've been different around you lately," he was soft spoken, not letting her know what he was really thinking. This was going to be what made him popular with the rest of the pack. Caitlin sensed something but did nothing yet, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Willow nodded but her eyes cut to Caitlin. Xander noticed and brought her attention back to him by talking "I think, um... I think it's because my feelings for you have been changing," Buffy came around the corner to her locker and spotted them a little further down, she put her combination in but kept an eye on them from the corner of her eye. Her sister seemed to be calm but she noticed she was in the process of tensing, she obviously wasn't happy with what Xander had said or intended to say. "And, well, we've been friends for such a long time that I feel like I need to tell you something," Xander continued and noticed the expectant look Willow was giving him "I've, um... I've decided to drop geometry. So I won't be needing your math help anymore, which means I won't have to look at your pasty face again," Caitlin completely tensed so she didn't attack Xander, that was not what she agreed to let him do. Willow spun on her heels, without looking at Caitlin again or Xander, and rushed the opposite. The other pack started to snicker at Willow's weakness.

Buffy slammed her locker in anger, careful not to use too much Slayer strength, then walked over to the group and looked at Xander disappointedly "You gonna say something to me?" Xander looked over at Caitlin, she was the leader after all but he couldn't decipher the look on her face, he turned back to Buffy and started laughing again more loudly. He went back to the pack and they left, leaving Caitlin staring at her sister. Buffy looked straight back at her "You going to say something?" she asked with disappointment and anger thick in her tone, Caitlin just shook her head slowly so Buffy turned and went after Willow.

Caitlin growled low in her throat and stalked after Xander, how dare he do that she had staked a claim on Willow and for him to defy her was punishable by death and at that moment she was so tempted to do that. She saw them entering the quad and they looked over at her when they heard her growl, Xander's smirk fell right off of his face when he heard the anger in his Alpha's growl. Caitlin flashed her teeth at her Beta and when she approached she grabbed his neck but stopped from breaking it when she heard his pitiful whimpers, he was just trying to impress her to get some recognition and praise "Never do it again!" she growled and released him.

Xander nodded so Caitlin released him and then he decided to get on with his job to hunt for the Alpha, he wasn't the Alpha's mate but it was still his job to provide food for her because she would never have a male to call her own, her mate would be female so he would need to provide for both of them. Xander turned her head one way and then another, his nose caught a scent "Dogs!"

"Where?" Kyle asked eager to eat and his eagerness was what eased Caitlin's anger and she nodded letting them go hunt. Xander looked at Caitlin again before he led the pack over to three boys sitting at a table.

"You're out of your mind, that's no way to play guitar" the first boy protested obviously they were arguing about music and couldn't agree.

The second boy was the one he was evidently arguing with the first boy "What are you talking about?" his tone made them think he had just called the first boy and idiot.

"I mean, that's just hunt and peck!" the first boy exclaimed very much into what he was saying but the pack just didn't care, they just wanted food.

"It's not!" the other boy shot back equally convinced that he was right and his friend was wrong, Caitlin rolled her eyes because it was such a trivial matter and there were other things to worry about.

The pack arrived at the table and the others looked up and the first boy called out to Xander "Hey, Xander, you've heard Wretched Refuse play, what do you think of the guy who plays lead?" he asked noted noticed that five of the six pack members were sniffing around and looking at their food. Tor reached for the first boy's hotdog whilst Heidi took the second boy's hotdog "Hey Hey, what are you guys..."

"Shut up," Rhonda said as she briefly glanced at the boy but didn't give him much attention, if their Alpha said eat then they were going to eat.

"You're sharing," Kyle explained as if they boys didn't get the concept whilst he watched Tor and Heidi tried the hotdogs to see if they were any good. Caitlin looked on in slight disgust, the Wolf in her wanted to eat the meat but her normal self wouldn't even consider it and therefore she let her pack eat it.

Xander added to Kyle's words "Friends like to share," he watched as Tor and Heidi ate "Good?" he asked with a glance over his shoulder at Caitlin who was just stood there peering at the others but made no move to eat, a part of him realised she wouldn't eat this food,

"It's too well-done," He threw the rest of the hotdog back on the boy's lunch and Heidi threw the hotdog on the other boy's plate with a slightly disgusted look.

The first boy matched that look "Hey! That is *not* cool" the pack ignored him; Xander sniffed the air again and looked in the scent's direction. Caitlin raised a brow catching the scent as well but she didn't find it appealing but led the way, Xander was quick to follow Kyle climbed onto the table and stomps the boys' lunches further ruining their meal and the other three laughed as they walked off.

As Caitlin approached the building she turned to her Beta and signalled for him to take the lead and sensing her discomfort at the thought of eating meat he nodded and led the others to the source of the smell, the new mascot Herbert the Razorback. Caitlin knew she had food in her locker so she went to get it whilst the others feasted; she was back before they finished seeing as she only had a salad to eat and they had a moving and living object. They all exited looking content and sated, "finished?" she asked sounding amused at the happy look on their faces; they all nodded with a grin and followed Caitlin as she turned and headed to the quad. Several students stared at them as they walked by but only Lance stopped in front of them, it was almost if the others knew they were dangerous and the Alpha was glad she couldn't be asked to get into a fight right after eating.

The pack looked at Lance and Xander sniffed him, but they kept walking right by. Xander and Caitlin noticed Buffy and Willow sitting and talking on the balcony above with their advanced hearing they could hear the words being said "I've known him my whole life, Buffy," Willow looked up at Buffy with tears in her eyes "Well, we haven't always been close, but he's never..." Willow exhaled slowly trying not to start crying again. Caitlin turned to Xander and started snarling lowly in reprimand, "and I thought Caitlin and I were getting close but she didn't even stick up for me."

"No Willow she did," Buffy comforted not wanting Willow to be upset at her sister "all the time Xander was saying those things Caitlin was almost snarling under her breath and I swear I heard her growling as she walked off after Xander. I'm seriously starting to think something's wrong with them."

Willow looked down and spoke in a weak voice "Or maybe there's something wrong with me," Willow wanted to believe Buffy but she was too hurt by her friends actions and she was always being picked on so it must be her.

Buffy looked confused there was nothing wrong with Willow from what she could see "What are you talking about?" she asked to see if she thought there was something wrong or if she knew there was something wrong.

"C'mon, He's not picking on you he's just sniffing you a lot. I don't know, maybe three isn't company anymore," Willow met Buffy's eyes again and was still refraining from crying. She realised too late her argument was slightly moot because what Xander was doing to Buffy, Caitlin was doing to her.

"You think this has something to do with me?" Buffy asked in confusion but then realised about Caitlin "Caitlin does the same with you so there can't be anything wrong with you," Buffy finished a little smugly.

Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy's question and then blushed when she mentioned Caitlin, she so didn't want to get into Caitlin's behaviour when she was upset "Of course," Willow answered Buffy's question but ignored the other statement.

Buffy disagreed and shook her head to show it "No that still doesn't explain why their hanging out with the dode patrol; something's going on something weird," Buffy jumped off the railing and started to head to the building.

Willow stayed still for some reason she wanted to stay outside and not follow she reasoned it was because she wanted to calm down "What're you gonna do?" she asked, even though she didn't want to go with her she still wanted to know where she was going

Buffy looked over her shoulder "Talk to the expert on weird," she said simply as she continued to walk into the building and to head to the library to talk to Giles.

~GU:CM~

The whole pack had heard what had been said, Caitlin looked up at Willow and huffed, she did not want her mate to feel that way. Growling the Alpha turned to her Beta and gripped his shirt "Look what you've done!" she spat as she pushed him up against the nearest wall "I know what you are up to Xander, trying to force me to fight you again so you can win. Trying to impress me so I lower my guard won't work either. You're conflicted, I can tell but I can kick your ass anytime of the day," she let go of him and stepped back, the pack whined at the aggressive show of leadership from the Alpha. Xander didn't whine or whimper he frowned; he didn't like being told what to do by this female. He deserved Alpha position; he didn't care if she felt she was privileged enough to get the position. Yes he had lost the fight but she had an unfair advantage, he would get the upper hand one day. Caitlin growled low in her throat warning her pack before she turned and left them to their own devices.

~GU:CM~

Willow continued to sit on the railing, she had a strange feeling she was being watched and turned her head to the right and saw Caitlin next to her just watching her with a soft smile. Caitlin had left the pack to spend time with Willow "Hello Willow," she whispered and she took the stunned teens hand. Willow couldn't believe Caitlin was talking to her, she certainly couldn't believe how Caitlin was looking at her, it was like Caitlin really *wanted* her. Caitlin led Willow to an empty class room, she gently sat Willow on the teachers table and went back and locked the door. She smiled predatorily at Willow and seductively made her way over to her chosen mate, the Wolf howled in delight at the thought of taking Willow as hers. Caitlin pushed Willow gently onto her back and crawled up the redhead's body, making sure to rub her body along hers.

"Cait wha…" Willow was cut off by Caitlin's lips. She tried to pull back but her head was against the desk, she needed to talk to her best friend but she could feel herself giving in to Caitlin's soft and silky lips. Willow idly wondered how Caitlin kept her lips in such good condition because she had never seen the teen use any lip balm. Willow completely forgot about talking and let herself get into the kiss, she wrapped on arm around Caitlin's waist and the other she brought up to grip the short blonde hair.

The younger teen grinned internally at her chosen mate finally submitting to her kiss, she opened her mouth and stroked her tongue along Willow's lips. The redhead immediately opened her mouth to accept the Alpha's tongue, they battled for dominance but Willow quickly submitted to Caitlin again, unknowingly fuelling the Alpha's desire. Caitlin slid her hand slowly down to Willow's hip, she moved slowly so she didn't scare her chosen mate away from her. One by one she slid her fingers under the hem of Willows shirt, the lightly dragged the tips of her fingers up to the bottom of the redheads bra. Before she could go further she felt a heavy blow occur to the back of her head and everything faded to black.

~GU:CM~

Buffy was finally starting to believe Dawn about Caitlin being possessed or something similar anyway. She was just plain acting strange, this wasn't an episode either and the look in Caitlin's eyes was what disturbed her the most. Caitlin's eyes flashed with emotion most of the time but now her eye were just feral seeming. Buffy had explained everything that had happened since yesterday since dinner. Her watcher didn't seem to be very interested thought "Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate?" he asked, walking out of his office where he had and still was doing work. Buffy nodded with a sound of agreement "And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanour for Xander and a lack of emotional turmoil with Caitlin?"

"Yes," Buffy nodded, okay so maybe her watcher was on her side and did believe her about Xander and Caitlin. It would be a great help to have him on their side, Caitlin was street smart but Giles had books, they'd kick the strange behaviours ass.

Giles picked up a book from the desk and started back to his office but stopped to look at Buffy "And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles," he had understood what she had been telling him and had even listened to her concerns.

Buffy didn't like how he was saying it, even though it's how he normally spoke, "It's bad, isn't it," she

"It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy and Caitlin might be getting better. Course, you'll have to kill them," Giles responded to her concern with thick sarcasm, he started to head back to his office but the Slayer stood in front of him. Clearly she was not pleased.

Buffy was a moment away from stomping her foot at him, how dare he use sarcasm against her "Giles, I'm serious this could be affecting my sister" she commented with a heavy frown, she did not take her sisters vitality lightly.

Giles took his glasses of to rub the bridge of his nose "So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it. Caitlin may just be rebelling, I don't know about her past but something is clearly bothering her." It was true, he knew about her condition but her files were pretty tightly secured, he was tempted to get Willow to open them up at times

Buffy threw her arms up in the air in exasperation "I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me. There is something supernatural at work here," Buffy took one of the books from Giles and waved it at him. He was always harping on her about not getting involved with her calling as she should have been and now he was criticising her "Get your books! Look stuff up!" she cried in frustration.

Talking the book from his charge Giles gave her an exasperated look "Look under what?" He questioned, if she could give him something to look he would just to placate her.

Buffy opened her mouth to responded she stopped, she realised she didn't actually know, she exhaled and her shoulders slumped "I don't know, that's your department." All she wanted was to know what to do; she hated research and knew she would be dragged into researching

"The evidence that you've presented me with is sketchy at best," he said reluctantly. He was glad that she was starting to get involved but she needed to be more specific. What she had described sounded like typical male teenaged behaviour; he went to the checkout desk and placed his books down to flick through them.

The blonde couldn't really give him anymore, she could tell him about Dawn's suggestion but she didn't really believe that herself so that would be last thing to say. She shrugged "He scared the pig," Giles turned his head a little to give her a funny look, that's what she was basing this on "well, he did..." she trailed off lamely, she walked towards the cage.

Giles turned full to give Buffy his full attention again "Buffy, boys can be cruel. They tease, they, they, they prey on the weak, I-i-it's natural teen behaviour pattern," he had been one once, it had been a few decades but he still remembered what he had done.

Buffy spun around to face her watcher again "What did you just say?" she held her hands up. If she had heard what she thought he said then she really couldn't believe it. Dawn might be right.

He tried to think of what part she was on about "Um, they tease," he wasn't quite sure but he was guessing it was that.

Not hearing a word her watcher said she carried on as if she was talking to herself "They prey on the weak. I've heard that somewhere bef..." she trailed off. Dawn really was right about it, "Xander and Caitlin have been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo. They and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the wolves Cave. Oh, God, those howls..." if those howls were Xander and Caitlin then they had snuck back out last night and had been following her.

The watcher was finally following her "You're saying that, uh, Caitlin and Xander are becoming wolves." He wasn't sure that he wanted to believe her, he hadn't really noticed too much of a difference because he hadn't seen too much of them.

"I don't know. Or been possessed by one? Not just Caitlin and Xander, all of them," she would owe Dawn an apology. If Dawn knew about the possession was she the reason that the howls stopped last night, she started to wonder if Dawn snuck out.

Giles didn't want it to be possession because if it was they were in trouble, Possessions were very tricky "Well, I-I-I've cer-certainly never heard of, uh..." his mind was racing and he really couldn't remember if he had heard of something like this.

Willow rushed into the library and stopped beside Buffy, who out a hand on the out of breath girls back "Herbert! They found him," the redhead couldn't believe what she had overheard on her way here, she was just glad she knew it wasn't Caitlin.

Buffy eyebrows pinched together "The pig?" she asked just to clarify. What was so important about the pig that it looked like Willow had literally run all the way here.

The younger teen nodded her head and went on to explain "Dead and also eaten, Principal Flutie's freaking out." Now that she thought about it, Caitlin could have done it, it did seem to be that it wasn't her because the teen was a vegetarian but if something was wrong with her then she could have.

Buffy turned to look at Giles and raised an eyebrow at him "Testosterone, huh?" she couldn't help being a little smug, that would show him for not believing her. Mind you she had done the same to Dawnie; maybe she would buy her some cookies.

The two girls watched as Giles headed for his office, they both frowned in confusion at his behaviour "What're you gonna do?" Willow asked as Giles disappeared into his office. Was he going to be ignoring their evidence?

"Get my books. Look stuff up," Giles voice sounded out from his office to respond to Willow's question. Good he was finally taking this seriously, Buffy huffed internally at him not believing her fully until Willow came in; she started to head towards the office too.

Willow grabbed Buffy's arm as she walked past her, Buffy turned to look at the redhead and noticed the worried look in her eyes "There also maybe the slight problem of an unconscious Caitlin," Willow mumbled under her breath. Buffy blinked, unconscious, she blinked again, her sister. Willow noticed buffy trying to take in the news and quickly went to explain before Buffy flew off of the handle, she was protective of Caitlin after all. "When you left she came and sat next to me, she said hello then dragged me into a classroom. She pushed me onto the desk and started to kiss me, then she put her hand up my top but she was growling Buffy! I thought something was seriously wrong so I hit her with a book," Willow quickly backed away a little.

Buffy frowned, that didn't sound like her sister "Giles!" Buffy called out to her watcher. She pulled Willow into a hug "You did the right thing Willow, Caitlin would have hated herself when she was back to normal," Willow pulled back and looked confused "I think they were possessed by those freaky wolves," Buffy told her as she dragged Willow over to the desk, "Now which room is she in?" she asked her, she tried not to let any panic enter her voice.

"The room opposite the computer lab," Willow responded. She wanted Caitlin to be alright but she had done what she

Giles walked out of his office with some books. Buffy picked up two from his arms and handed them to Willow then headed for the door "Buffy where are you going?" Giles called after her as he sat the books on the desk. Buffy waved him off as she exited the library.

The watcher turned to the redhead "I knocked Caitlin out so Buffy's gone to get her quickly," Willow said with a strained smile. Giles patted her shoulder awkwardly as he picked up one of his own books and started to pace. It wouldn't be good for any of them if they lost both Caitlin and Xander.

~GU:CM~

Buffy ran down the corridor, she couldn't believe her sister had been possessed but what was more unusual was that Dawn had told her it sounded like possession. She would have to have a word with Dawn, where was she finding information about these things and the fact she didn't know worried her. It was one thing for Caitlin to be involved, she did mixed martial arts three times a week and dance twice a week, the teen even managed to fit swimming into her schedule. Caitlin was fit and prepared to fight and could do it easily. Dawn was 10 and did ballet twice a week; she was not going to get involved with this. The Slayer was reluctant to let Caitlin but she needed a little training and Caitlin was more than willing when she had found out. Buffy slowed down, Caitlin hadn't even flinched when Buffy confessed she was a Slayer, in fact Caitlin had gone pale like she knew what that was. She had shaken it off at the time because Caitlin read lots of old texts that Grams, Prue or Mom gave her, she would have to bring it up subtly when Caitlin was better, whenever that was. She stopped outside of the computer lab, opening the door she immediately noticed her sister on the floor. She walked over to her and easily hoisted her up and over her shoulder. Caitlin was going to have one major headache when she woke up later.

~GU:CM~

Willow was sat at the table researching when Buffy came back in with Caitlin draped over her shoulder. The redhead got up and rushed over to Buffy "I didn't kill her did I?" she questions the Slayer in a panicked tone, she hadn't meant to hit Caitlin so hard but she just wanted her to stop. Willow really did like Caitlin but she didn't know if she liked her like that, yet.

Shaking her head Buffy answered "No, she's just unconscious but she must have hit her hard for her to still be unconscious Will," the Slayer wasn't criticising her friend just making the facts known. The blow could have been a lot more dangerous but she was hopeful all her sister would have was a headache when she woke up.

"Good lord," a voice behind them called their attention. Giles was stood looking at Buffy "What happened?" he asked as he approached, he looked truly worried about the unconscious Caitlin that was over her sister's shoulder.

The younger, conscious, girl started to turned red and tried to stutter out a response before Buffy intervened "Caitlin got a bit hands on with Willow, who rightfully freaked out, she ended up with a book to the back of the head." The Slayer walked over to the cage and signalled for Giles to open it. Carefully the older blonde placed the younger blonde down onto the floor, making sure her head was cushioned by her hand so not to slam into the ground "We'll leave her in here so she doesn't get out and cause a scene again. We don't know how bad this thing is and a loose Caitlin would be a bad Caitlin, especially with her training," Buffy explained as she walked back out of the cage, shut the door and locked it. The other two knew what she was referring to; Caitlin was very skilled in Martial Arts. Giles looked at Buffy who had walked over to him and held out the key "Hide this; we don't want one of us opening the cage just because she sounds like Caitlin. Giles nodded his head and took the key; he knew just the place to hide it.

~GU:CM~

Buffy was sat on the stairs behind Willow with a book when Giles came back into the room; he had hid the keys in his office. He didn't want Buffy or Willow unlocking the cage, he had also trying to find other books on possession or wolves in general; "Wow! Apparently Toci eventually rejected the wolves from her service because she thought they were an evil impure mixture of Wolf and magic," Buffy stood up as she read aloud the paragraph she had just read "they were gifted to her service by Clame…Clamecatecuchtoolzee," she tried to say the name, she knew she failed but she hoped they got the idea.

"Chalmecatecuchtlz," Giles corrected, he was impressed that she had even attempted the name; it wasn't exactly an easy name to say when it was written down.

Buffy nodded "Yeah that guy, a God of the underworld," Buffy finished reading the paragraph and made her way back over to the table to let Willow have a look.

Willow picked the book up and had a quick scan at the page, she noticed the picture of a grotesque and deformed Wolf "They weren't well liked then," she said as she pointed the picture to Buffy.

"They do seem to be the schmoes of the Aztecs," Buffy agreed as she took a good look at the picture, there was no way (comes over to Willow)

The young redhead shook her head "Why couldn't they be possessed by a puppies or, or some ducks?" she asked. They were a t a Zoo for goodness sakes, there were less harmless animals to be possessed by like a zebra.

The older teen shrugged not knowing the answer, she really wished it was something else but they had come out of the Cave acting funny and they were growling and snarling, it had to be wolves "That's assuming 'possession' is the right word and Caitlin would rather be possessed by a Wolf than a puppy."

Giles came over to the table and peered at the book "Oh, I'll say it is. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for, for generations. I... I should have remembered that, so it's only plausible that other animals can so so," now that his mind had cleared, seeing as Buffy was no longer forcing apparent evidence down his throat, he could remember something he had read about before.

"So how does it work?" the Slayer needed to know quickly so she could turn her sister and friend back into their normal selves and not possessed by some animal.

The Watcher leant against the table and flipped through another book that he had picked up, there was some information in there that he wanted the girls to look at. He stopped on the right page and then placed it in front of the teens. Both looked down to the page to read as he explained it "Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshipers known as Primals. They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to, to, um, draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."

Both teens look up at Giles but only Buffy spoke "And then they started acting like wolves," it was starting to sound more like someone had brought the wolves to the Zoo on purpose just for that. The possession had been planned.

"Well, only the most predatory of animals are, are of interest to the Primals, so, uh, yes, yes, that would fit, yes," Giles stumbled over his words as he explained. It was a very interesting piece of magic that had done it. He just hoped they could find out how to reverse it. Buffy started to bite one of her nails in concentration, this was so not good.

Fiddling with her hands Willow decides to talk as she noticed buffy wasn't going to "So, what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?" she really didn't want to know because she knew it wouldn't be good but she had to know in order for them to help Caitlin and Xander, even if she was reluctant they had to help Kyle and the gang too.

"If it goes unchecked..." Giles trails off not really wanting to say it out loud, it just made it all the more real if he did, and he didn't want to give them bad news, especially not about Xander and Caitlin.

He takes the book back and flips a few pages and then puts it back down. Buffy took one look before she slammed the book shut and quickly got up to leave. "I gotta find Xander," they already had Caitlin so that was one little bit of worry elevated. Willow opened up the book again to have another look at the page, Willow turned around to look at Caitlin, who was still unconscious, and she couldn't help but worry. On the open page there was a drawing of people with limbs bitten off, heads missing and other massive injuries. They couldn't allow Caitlin to become like that.

As Willow shut the book Caitlin started to regain consciousness, she gripped her head before she even attempted to open her eyes. Last thing she remembered was kissing Willow and then lots of pain, she supposed it was Willow who knocked her out, damn. "God Wills what did you hit me with?" she asked the redhead, she didn't need to open her eyes to know Willow was around. The possessed blonde knew she was in the library due to the smell of dust and musty books.

Willow and Giles jumped at the sound of Caitlin voice, she certainly didn't sound possessed, Caitlin opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the two of them, her eyes flashed gold. Yes she was defiantly possessed.

~GU:CM~

Buffy snuck into the faculty room, where she knew Herbert's cage had been, she had put him in there herself, she looked at the cage and saw that it had been mangled, Buffy came closer and looked around, making sure that they weren't back. She inspected the cage, it had been torn apart and there were even bits of Herbert on the edges of the wires that had been torn open. "They are strong," Buffy whispered, seeing the torn flesh was making her feel a little queasy so she started to step back but stopped when she heard a crunch, she turned and crouched down to the floor. She found parts of Herbert, some vertebrae and other bones. Buffy picked up one of the ribs, she was so focused on what was in front of her she didn't hear Xander entering and standing behind her. Putting down the rib Buffy stood up and turned to leave, only to be startled by Xander and his close presence "Xander," she said his name and tried to get around him but he seemed to be able to match her speed and movements. She huffed as she stilled a little "This is ridiculous. We need to talk," She faked him out and jumped on him, knocking him down with her on top holding down his arms.

Xander chuckled as he easily flipped their positions, Xander easily pinned the Slayer to the floor. He took a deep breath and smiled "Been waitin' for you to jump my bones," he leant in and sniffed her, she smelt good.

"Get off of me," it was a clear warning and she didn't struggle as she didn't want to encourage him. She didn't know how the Aztecs hunted so even if she stayed still it could be dangerous.

Whilst Buffy was thinking Xander was going to try and eat her. Xander was thinking of all the ways he was going to mate with her, his favourite so far was her on her hands and knees, clearly the Wolf was strong in him.: Is that what you really want? We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't cha? You like your men dangerous," Buffy started to struggle a bit as she realised that he wasn't hunting her in the sense she had thought. He wanted her as a mate. Xander put a bit more of his body on hers to keep her trapped under him. He transferred her hands into one of his so the other could roam her body.

Struggling to get free Buffy tried to reason with Xander "You're in trouble, Xander. You are infected with some Wolf thing; it's like a demonic possession!" she didn't want to have to hurt him but she would if it meant she could get away.

Xander growled and pushed his body down harder, he had her and he was not going to let her go "Dangerous and mean, right?" he asked before licking her neck, he was going to enjoy marking that "Like Angel your Mystery Guy. Well, guess who just got mean," he bit down on her neck. Buffy winced but refused to show him anything. "Do you know how long..." he licked her neck "I've waited..." he eased his hand up her thigh, closer and closer to her private area "until you'd stop pretending that we aren't attracted..." Buffy threw him off of her by brings up her thigh into his side, she was glad when he rolled off taking his wandering hands with him. Buffy jumped up quickly and faced him, keeping a close eye on him. Xander got up too and begun to approach her, she backed away from him trying to stay out of his grasp. Xander smirked predatorily as he took another deep breath, he loved how her scent was getting stronger "Until Willow... stops kidding herself... that I could settle with anyone but you?" he asked her as he continued to approach.

Buffy knew this was not going to end well "Look, Xander, I don't wanna hurt you..." before she could finish talking he lunged. She tried to dodge him but he was quicker, quicker than he had been earlier. It was almost as if he were evolving before her eyes.

The possessed teen grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the vending machine, she struggled to move so he pushed his leg in between her legs catching her in her most intimate spot. Buffy stopped moving, she knew if she moved she would moan and she couldn't let him think she was reciprocating his affections "Now do you wanna hurt me?" he asked as she leant in to run his nose against her neck, specifically where he had bitten her. Buffy started to struggle but Xander was too strong and she had to swallow a moan "Come on, Slayer. I like it when you're scared, the more I scare you and the more you move the better you smell," he took a long inhale before exhaling. Xander locked eyes with Buffy and she watched as his eyes flashed gold, which was not good. He moved in and kissed her roughly but Buffy brought her head forward, catching him nicely on his head. Xander moved back and it gave Buffy time to move, Xander grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Buffy grabbed the first thing she could and swung it at him.

~GU:CM~

Willow was watching a mini documentary on wolves and their behaviour, it probably would be exactly like the Aztec wolves but it was close enough. She looked over at Caitlin who was watching her and gave a shy smile; she hated the fact that she had knocked her unconscious. Caitlin's retuning smile at Willow seemed feral and she even added a wink. The older teen blushed and turned to face the screen she looked up when she heard the door open and stopped the playback. She saw Buffy dragging Xander into the library. "Hurry up. We gotta get him locked up somehow before he comes to," Buffy said as she approached the cage.

"Oh, my God!" Willow jumped up from her seat and rushed over to them "What happened?" she asked as she peered down at Xander and noticed that his forehead was bright red.

Buffy shrugged "I hit him," she responded and made her way into Giles's office "I need the keys," Buffy's voice could her heard from the office.

Willow met Caitlin's eyes; Caitlin had stood up and was peering at them with a raised brow "With what?" Willow asked turning back around to Buffy. Buffy threw the keys at

Buffy rolled her eyes as if she were exasperated "A desk," it was the first thing she could reach to stop him before he progressed to rape. It was going to be awkward when Xander was really Xander again. Caitlin narrowed her eyes at Buffy's dishevelled state; she was going to kill him "Caitlin please stay in there," buffy said nicely and they waited for her response. Caitlin stepped back and put her hands in her pockets. Willow opened the cage door, and Buffy dragged him in. Caitlin walked further back, her eyes flashing gold every couple of seconds, clearly she was fighting the possession.

"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault," Buffy answered the unasked question of why she hit him. Caitlin growled and stepped forward, Buffy looked at her thinking it was her she was growling at but Caitlin's eyes were fixed to Xander's unconscious form.

The redhead looked at Caitlin and knew a little of what Buffy was feeling, Caitlin had tried something with her too "Oh, Buffy, the Wolf in him didn't..." She trailed off not knowing how to explain his behaviour more than that.

The two managed to arrange him on the floor of the cage alongside a silent Caitlin who was stood watching, Buffy smiled at her sister a little but Caitlin didn't smile back, Buffy hadn't really expected her too. "No, but it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti," Buffy explains as she walked out of the cage behind willow before making sure the cage was locked behind her. "There, that oughtta hold him, Caitlin be careful with him" Caitlin raised a brow at her sister as she approached the front of the cage but didn't verbal respond "Where's Giles?" Buffy asked as she made her way back to the office to put the key back.

Willow called after her "He got called to some teacher's meeting. What are we gonna do? I mean... how do we get them back?" she asked and watched as Buffy came back to the cage and put her fingers over Caitlin's fingers in the bars. Even when her sister was possessed Buffy was still affectionate, it was sweet.

Caitlin tilted her head as she looked at Buffy's neck, she could see a bite mark and knew it was from Xander "He marked you," she stated before looking down at the unconscious male. Oh yeah he was in trouble.

The sister knew it wasn't a question but she answered it anyways "Yes he did," she saw Caitlin's eyes flash and knew she would no longer hold her sisters attention. Giles walked slowly into the library, catching everyone's attention "But right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to."

Giles knew the answer to that and spoke up "The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office," he hated how much death the teenagers were surrounded by. He hated that Sunnydale was a Hellmouth.

Willow nodded "Good! That'll show 'em," Willow noticed how Giles didn't nod with her and remained silent "Did it show 'em?" she asked, she did want them to get taught a lesson after all they were bullies and now they were possessed bullies.

Observing Giles exhaling but remaining silent, Buffy knew he was searching for what to say to them "They didn't hurt him, did they?" she asked, she felt her sister grip the bars tighter under her fingers.

"They ate him," Caitlin piped up from where she had turned back to focused on the group, Willow had to sit down at that news and Caitlin leant against the cage, obviously wanting to comfort her.

Buffy couldn't believe what she just heard "They ate Principal Flutie?" she asked in a whisper. It was one thing to eat a pig but to actually eat the Principal, who was a human being.

The middle teen knew that they had eaten the pig and knew that when wolves became braver they went for larger animals and humans if they were isolated but she just couldn't believe possessed humans would still eat humans "Ate him up?" she asked just to clarify after she sat down, she didn't want to believe it.

Giles wasn't really surprised Caitlin knew what they had done, she could probably feel the instinct to hunt "The, uh, official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow. There was no one at the scene,"

Turning to the cage Xander spoke up "But Xander didn't," she glanced at Buffy as she finished talking "He, he was with you," that was a small justice to them that neither of Xander nor Caitlin had been involved in eating a human.

Giles walked further in and saw Xander in the cage with Caitlin "Oh! Uh, well, that's a small mercy," he already knew Caitlin hadn't been involved because the teen had been sat peacefully when the message came through.

Said teen nudged Xander with the side of her foot but he didn't react, Buffy must have swung the table hard "he ate that pig though," she said as she looked at the others outside of the cage.

The Watcher rubbed the back of his neck "you didn't?" he wasn't questioning her but it seemed odd how she wouldn't eat it. Caitlin just narrowed her eyes at him, she felt like he was questioning and that didn't sit well with her.

Knowing that her sister had stonewalled Giles, Buffy decided to get back on track "Giles, how do we stop this? How do you trans-possess someone?" she did not want her sister to or Xander to end up killing people. She certainly didn't want to have to kill them, she just wouldn't be able to. Caitlin started to growl, clearly the Wolf was not impressed.

Focusing his attention back to Buffy, Giles answered almost reluctantly "I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces. Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a-a-a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, is, um... " Giles stopped as he went over to the table and picked up a book, the information should be in there "The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which... may apply..." He expertly flipped through the pages quickly, he got the page he wanted and had a quick read "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human."

Buffy gave Giles a sarcastic smile, Caitlin recognised it and started to chuckle, the Watcher looked between the two identical sisters "Oh, that's great. Any volunteers?" the sarcasm was thick in the Slayers voice. Caitlin leant against the cage and started laughing loudly, there was just something about her sisters being sarcastic and seemingly annoyed that made her want to laugh. Anyone would think it were a Wolf that possessed her.

"Oh. Good point," Giles flushed in embarrassment, he hadn't really thought about what he was saying, he didn't really know anyone who would willingly take a possession from another person.

"What we need to do is put the Wolf back in the Wolf," Buffy stated to her Watcher. She was fed up of not knowing what to do, this was beyond any of their understandings and it was frustrating her.

The Librarian frowned at the student "B-but until we know more, uh..." he was reluctant to do anything until he knew more. He did understand what was at stake but it could be so much worse if they did the wrong thing.

Shrugging at Giles; the Slayer looked at her sister for a few seconds; turning to look at her watcher she spoke "Betcha that zookeeper could tell us. Maybe he didn't quarantine those Wolfs because they were sick," Willow and herself had met him at the Zoo and he had really been determined not to let anyone in there, she got the feeling he knew something more.

Nodding he started to the library doors "We should talk to him," Giles opened the library door waiting for Buffy to leave with him.

Buffy headed after her Watcher "Okay," she stopped as she caught her sisters golden eyes. Buffy locked eyes and noticed that her sister's eyes held hardly any recognition of her. She wasn't sure when her sisters eyes had stayed golden but she knew it was going to mean she was the Wolf more and more from this point on wards. They were running out of time, she was going to need to stay and watch them; she didn't know what Xander would be like "Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch them."

The redhead jumped up from her position "I will," she had noticed that Caitlin's eyes hadn't gone back to her expressive forest green eyes, Willow was worried about this but she had a feeling Caitlin wouldn't hurt her.

"Will, are you sure? If he wakes up..." for some reason Buffy wasn't worried about Caitlin but what Xander would do when he woke up. She knew wolves had alphas and beta, how could she not with Caitlin around, she wasn't sure who was who but she had a suspicion the fight last night was for the position and Caitlin had won.

Putting her finger through the bars they all watched as Caitlin calmed as Willow touched her "I'll be alright. Go," Willow said. After a moment's hesitation Buffy gave Willow a nodded and the looked at the cage before grabbing her coat. Willow watched them leave and then looked at Caitlin in the cage. "You'd better behave yourself," Willow playfully threatened Caitlin who just smiled at her. Releasing Caitlin's fingers Willow walked back over to the computer to watch about wolves.

~GU:CM~

Xander slowly started to wake up, Caitlin peered down at him but did nothing to help him, she was pissed at him after, Caitlin peered down at him but did nothing to help him, and she was pissed at him after all. Xander pulled himself into a sat position; he noticed Caitlin in the cage with him and sneered. He no longer cared she was his alpha, she was stopping all the fun. Caitlin sneered at him too but didn't otherwise react; Xander wasn't strong enough to win against her. "Willow," Xander called before he had even spotted her, the strawberry scent that he knew was Willow was rather thick around the cage.

Willow turned as she heard her name being called, she was still watching the Wolf video; she stopped it when she found him awake "How are you feeling?" she asked him gently. She knew Caitlin wouldn't hurt her but she was not sure about Xander, he had before.

"Like somebody hit me with a desk," well he still remember what happened so that was good not too much damage to the brain. Caitlin snorted in humour; she was going to find that funny for a while. Xander looked around ignoring the bitch if an Alpha "What am I doin' here?" he asked his long-time friend. He couldn't believe he was locked up with Caitlin of all people.

Willow slowly got and up and made her way over to the cage, she wouldn't get too close, who knows what Xander would do "You're... resting?" she asked more than answered his question. She knew he was going to be angry she just knew it. Caitlin leant her back against the cage; she was still sat down and had made no plans to move unless he acted aggressively.

Xander stood up and walked to the cage door and tried it, his eyes flashed as he looked over at Willow "You guys got me locked up now," not a question just an annoyed observation. Caitlin leapt to her feet and kept her golden eyes focused on him, the insolent teen knew she was in charge because of her eyes. Something in him had snapped when he tried to get with her sister, Xander blamed her for his failure to mate with Buffy.

"'Cause you're sick. Buffy said..." Willow tried to explain what was wrong with him but he didn't allow her to as he hit the door with his hand. That was the response she had expected from Caitlin, they had almost got it but it didn't make sense as to why Caitlin calmed down.

He interrupted her little excuse "Oh, yeah. Buffy and her all-purpose solution: punch 'em out 'n' knock 'em down. I'd love to see what she'd do to somebody who was *really* sick,"

Willow shook her head at both Xander and Caitlin who had moved to lunge at him "That's not fair. Buffy saved both of our lives," she defended her friend and hoped to calm Xander down before Caitlin attacked.

"Before she came here our lives didn't need that much saving; did they? Weren't things a lot simpler when it was just you and me?" He needed to know if she was on his side or those blonde bimbos. She had been his friend the longest, so she should side with him.

Willow moved closer to the cage but made sure to stay closer to "Maybe..." she wasn't sure where he was going with this so she wasn't confirming to anything. Yes things were simpler but she hated her life back then, now she had friends who appreciated her. She didn't mean that in a bad way but Xander just never got her and she didn't mind that but she was now understood and it was nice.

Xander growled at Caitlin who stood up straight, she wasn't going to lunge at him, yet. "When we were alone together... Willow, I know there's something wrong with me. I think it's gettin' worse. But I can't just stand around waitin' for Buffy to decide it's time to punch me out again," he exhaled and glanced at Caitlin again, time to annoy her "Look, I want you to help me, I want you."

Stepping closer Willow managed to touch Caitlin's back to calm her down "I am helping you," Willow responded but she wasn't going to acknowledge the last bit of his speech, she knew he had never wanted her and him saying it actually hurt. Caitlin sneered at the insolent Beta but made no move to show him who was Alpha.

The possessed male exhaled and looked at Willow sympathetically "You're doing what you're told," he said it as if Willow had no control over what she did. She was under control just like he had been, he had realised when he saw Buffy and had been faster and stronger than her that he didn't need to be afraid of her or her no good sister. He had been freed.

"Buffy's trying to help you, too, you know that or Xander does," Willow refused to rise to his baiting, it was a little funny for her to see Caitlin getting more agitated at it that she did. She liked this side of Caitlin; it was nice to be defended. Willow just didn't need Caitlin to be possessed to be interested, unlike Xander.

Caitlin bared her teeth as Xander approached, she pushed him back and he hit the bookcase, causing a few thick books to fall to the floor "Don't kid yourself Willow, there has to be something there for the possession to either take or twist. I would say jealousy is what the Wolf took over."

"Yeah what would yours be Caitlin, being Crazy seems the most logical. You aren't right in the head," Xander taunted but felt frustrated as all Caitlin did was raise an eyebrow at him. he hated that he couldn't bait her, he'd have to use the next best thing, Willow. He focused his attention back on his redheaded friend "...Buffy's so selfless always thinking of us. Well, if I'm so dangerous, how come she left you alone with me?" he asked with a tilt of his head. The blonde narrowed her eyes and noticed he was copying what she usually did, trying to make Willow feel safe.

She noticed the tilted head but ignored it as she responded "I told her to," Willow might not know what was going on with Xander but he was still her friend and deserved the truth. She didn't like how Xander was acting, it was unnerving.

Xander raised an eyebrow "Why?" he asked her gently. There might be hope for her yet, she might actually make a good little Beta but he would have to get rid of his nuisance first.

The golden eyes blonde snorted again, she did that a lot Willow noted, she was amused at Xander's game. He was trying to get Willow onto his side and use her against her "Buffy knows your no match for me Xander; the only way you would win would be by cheating."

"'Cause I know you better than she does... and I wanted to be here to see if... you were still you," Willow quickly followed up Xander's question to try and stop them from fighting; she could sense the animosity in the air between the two. They had been really close earlier and now they couldn't stand each other's presence.

The two who were locked in the cage stared at each other; it was a silent communication of a challenge. Caitlin was more than willing to beat Xander and put him in his place, Xander ignored her in favour of trying to win Willow over "You know I am, look at me," Caitlin looked at Willow and noticed the redhead actually staring at Xander "Looook," Xander said again.

Willow moved even closer but still more towards Caitlin. She looked at Xander and noticed his eyes were normal, they hadn't flashed in a while "Xander..." she whispered. She hoped it really was Xander; Caitlin had golden eyes but still seemed to be more herself just with animalistic tendencies. Xander moved closer to the cage door and smirked as Caitlin allowed him, clearly Willow wanted him closer and so Caitlin had allowed it, perfect. He smiled at her to keep her calm, as he got close enough he made a grab for her through the book return slot in the cage. Willow had been on guard and jumped back in time, she hadn't known what to expect but she knew not to be disappointed if he tried something. "Now I know," she said as she made sure to stay far enough away.

Xander started to thump the cage door "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" he screamed at her. Caitlin had had enough and lunged; she wrapped her arms around his waist and used the momentum to throw him away from the cage. Xander hit the wall with a thud; he recovered quickly and speared her around the waist. They both crashed into the cage, Willow jumped and was shocked into silence again. Caitlin recovered a little quicker than Xander and brought her elbow down onto Xander's back, he groaned but lifted Caitlin up over his shoulder, he moved and dropped her. Caitlin landed a little awkwardly but she still managed to catch her balance, she brought her leg out and tripped him. Xander landed on the floor and cracked his headed on the floor; he grabbed it and rolled onto his side. Caitlin stood up and just peered at him, he didn't get up again so Caitlin turned to see if Willow was alright. Willow saw Xander grab a thick hardback book and stumble to his feet, the redhead pointed to Xander but it was too late. Xander wielded the book like a bat and swung it at Caitlin's head, the impact knocked her to the side and out cold "now try and stop me," he sneered at his Alpha's unconscious form. He hadn't won Alpha status because he had cheated but it still felt like a victory to him.

"Xander what did you do!" Willow exclaimed as she approached the cage but stopped before she got too close, she wanted to check on Caitlin but she couldn't get closer because Xander would grab her. She couldn't understand his behaviour.

The brunette male switched his view from Caitlin to Willow "I knocked the annoying bitch out, what did you think I did," his previous gentle voice had disappeared and was replaced by the voice that had cut into her in the halls earlier. Willow just shook her head and moved back over to the computer, she could do nothing for Caitlin until they were de-possessed.

Willow waited for Caitlin to know, even though she knew the younger teen wouldn't "I can't believe you did that. Xander what is wrong with you!" she shouted and waved her arms out in front of her. Xander opened his mouth to reply but Willow shook her head "Actually No I don't want to know why. You did it, it's too late," Willow said downheartedly. She turned her back to him and made her way back to the computer, she could do nothing for Caitlin apart from keep herself calm so she doesn't set Xander off.

~GU:CM~

He was bored, bored and annoyed. Willow was ignoring him and Caitlin was still unconscious, he was proud of his swing if she was still unconscious after 40 minutes. He had tried to talking to Willow but she wasn't happy with him, not that he cared but he was becoming restless. He peered out of the window and noticed it was a perfect night for a hunt. He decided to try again "Willow..." he started but was quickly shut down when she held up her hand.

Willow had taken to stopping him non-verbally "I'm not listening," she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. She was not going to speak to him after he brutally knocked out Caitlin; he was such a sore loser and always had been. That thought made Willow stop, Caitlin had mentioned something like that; there was always something to twist or take. She realised Caitlin was right but she wondered how she knew that, she seemed to know a lot about this sort of thing. Before she could think more into it she heard her name being called, she sighed at Xander's relentlessness. Continuing to watch the clip she tried to concentrate but she heard her name being called again, that was it "Xander shut up!" she shouted and heard her name being called again but didn't see his lips move, they only turned up in a smirk. She looked up at the window where the sound was coming from to see the other members of the pack.

Kyle and Heidi kicked in the windows; Willow quickly got up and ran from the library. The pack looked at Xander and then to the body on the floor before looking back at Xander "Forget about her, we can be free if you just get me out of here!" Xander started to kick and pound at the door. Kyle quickly came over and started to help, Caitlin was a good Alpha but she wanted rules and order and that was no fun. Kyle managed to bend a corner of the cage door. The other three quickly came over and started to rip the door off its hinges. The door was quick to come off under the strain of five enhanced possessed humans. Tor and Heidi whine and start to go over to the unconscious Catlin, Xander growled at them and they are quick to retreat back to him, they didn't want to be punished. Caitlin was their Alpha but they agreed with Xander they wanted to be free from rules, the four lower member of the pack start to whine and sniff Xander. The now in charge male soaked up the attention and sniffed the air, he was going to get Willow and make her obey him.

She knew she was in trouble as she rushed down the hallway, it was late and most of the classrooms would be locked so hiding could be impossible, she would not be able to outrun them. Willow came to an intersection and turned left, she knew this was near Caitlin's locker, she hoped the Alpha scent would throw them off of her scent. The redhead was not stupid and she knew enough about wolves to know they were excellent trackers. She tried one of the classes near Caitlin's locker but found them locked. She managed to find a classroom opposite Caitlin's locker and quickly ducked into the room and rushed over to the desk, she noticed it was the same room Caitlin had taken them in earlier. She hoped the scent would throw them off.

The pack reached the hall intersection, Willow's scent was strong and easy to follow; they all slowed down to a jog and continued to sniff around for Willow's scent. Xander noticed the scent went a few ways; they weren't far enough along to be able to tell what a fresh scent was and what an old scent was. Xander motioned for them to split up; luckily they didn't need to know as they had five of them to her one. They would find her.

Willow tried to calm her breathing and regulate her heart, she wasn't sure how could their hearing would be. She froze as she heard the door opening; footsteps sounded from the door and approached the desk, she held her breath as the person stood still. She released her breath when the footsteps sounded back towards the door; Willow remained under the desk for a little while before venturing out. She peered over to the door and screamed when she saw Xander stood there, she realised that her back was pressed against the wall, that wasn't good. Xander growled and leapt over the desk and stood in front of her, Willow rushed around the desk and tipped a few student desks over as she rushed to the door. Xander kicked the desks out of the way and rushed after Willow, he noticed Heidi had stopped Willow and chuckled at his friend's predicament. Xander rose his grab the younger teen but found himself flat on his back.

Caitlin lifted herself up from Xander and growled. Caitlin had woken up as the pack had left the library but hadn't managed to get herself up, Buffy had rushed into the library and found her sister cradling her head, swearing she was going to castrate the no good male. Buffy had lifted her sister to her feet and used Caitlin to guide her to where the others were. Buffy came up behind Heidi, who still had hold of Willow, she hit her on the back with a fire extinguisher, Heidi fell to the floor unconscious. Caitlin pushed Willow in Buffy's direction before grappling with Xander again, giving the others a chance to run.

Giles waved the girls over "Run!" he shouted, the three other pack members appeared at the end of the hallway but stopped as Caitlin reared her head back and howled. She was technically still Alpha of the area, even if they had gone rogue, they were asking for a fight if they got to close. Caitlin spun Xander around and let him go, he slid along the floor and bowled into the others. Caitlin spun and rushed after her sister and friend.

Giles and Willow rushed into the classroom that Willow had hidden in. Buffy waited for her sister to come in before closing the door and locking it. The pack had regained itself and Xander had growled at their disobedience, they sprinted to the door and started to pound on it. Caitlin got into a defensive position and growled at the pack members; one by one they stopped until it was just Xander left. Xander noticed she still held influence over the pack; he spun on his heel and left, the pack hesitantly following him. Buffy noticed they seemed to be wary of Caitlin "I think they're going," she peered out of the window.

"They could be faking it," Willow cautioned the Slayer just in case she went to unlock the door. Caitlin relaxed her stance and slumped over; she relaxed her forearms against her legs and almost buckled over. Giles managed to steady her in time.

Buffy shot Giles a grateful smile before becoming serious again "No, they're hungry. They'll be looking for somebody weak. I'm really sorry, Will, I didn't know they were gonna come after Xander and Caitlin. Caitlin what happened?" Buffy asked her worn out sister. The poor teen had been knocked over the head and knocked out twice in one day, no wonder she was tired.

Caitlin shook her head and then grabbed it with a growl; Willow took up the conversation "I'm okay. Xander managed to knock her out with a book," Willow saw the darkening in Buffy's eyes and feared for Xander's safety until they went back to normal.

The possessed teen managed to ward off the headache and impending darkness "Yeah the Vampyr tome hurts," she complained with a huff and her chest started to rumble as Buffy gently massages her sister's head. The Slayer wasn't conscious of what she was doing but the younger sister sure enjoyed it. Her eyes dipped and struggled to stay open.

"We must lead them back to the zoo if we're going to stop this," he was glad the zookeeper had been so forthcoming about what he knew; he even agreed to set up the ritual. It would be good to have an expert doing this; he didn't want to mess it up.

Nodding Buffy agreed with him "and before their next meal, guess that's my job," the older blonde stopped her ministrations and the younger blonde growled in annoyance. Willow couldn't suppress the giggle she let out; it seemed like Caitlin had been possessed by a puppy, she wasn't like the others. Giles seemed nervous and fidgety when he spoke up next "Well, individually they're almost as strong as you. As a group they're..."

Buffy cut Giles off, she knew what he was thinking "They're tough, but I think they're getting stupider," Caitlin's hackles raised as Buffy's insinuation "no offence," Buffy added and Caitlin focused on the board, thinking "You guys go to the zoo and I will bring them to you," Buffy ordered as she unlocked the door. Cautiously she opened the door and made sure it was clear before making her way out and heading after the pack. Caitlin whipped her head to look at where Buffy had left and slowly made her way after her, she knew Buffy could look after herself but it was her rogue pack and therefore her responsibility.

~GU:CM~

Buffy knew that Caitlin was following her, she wasn't sure what Caitlin was doing but she was going to irritate the Wolf and tell Caitlin what she could and couldn't do, it was safer for all of them if she allowed Caitlin to do what she wanted to, within reasons obviously. Buffy came to a halt at an intersection and had no idea which way to go, so far there had been signs as to where they were going but it seemed like they had realised they could be followed that way and had stopped. Caitlin must have realised what Buffy was struggling with because she took point and started to run straight ahead. The Slayer mentally slapped her forehead, of course Caitlin could tell where her pack where, she could scent them! Buffy made sure to keep up with Caitlin. They didn't run long before they could hear a women screaming, they noticed the pack had surrounded the car. With a feral growl Caitlin launched herself off of the ground and tackled Kyle around the roof.

Xander ignored the noise in favour of getting the child; always go for the weak, put up less of a struggle. Xander snapped at the woman as she tried to slap Xander's hands away from her son. He bared his teeth but the mother was not dissuaded from trying to save her son. Damn parents. "Joey! Joey! Joey!" the mother cried as she contended with Xander in trying to get to her son.

Buffy came running up seconds after Caitlin had body tackled Kyle from the roof, the Slayer grabbed Rhonda and threw her off of the hood to the ground. Needing higher ground for attention Buffy climbed to the roof and, she looked down at Xander's feet sticking out of the window. As the mother cried again Caitlin got to her feet and turned on Xander "Didn't your mom teach you? Don't play with your food," Buffy nodded her head to Caitlin who gripped Xander's legs and pulled in forcefully from the window, she didn't care that this caused the broken to scratch the skin from his chest on his way out. The pack gathered around Xander and looked up at Buffy; they were too scared to look at the Alpha. Buffy straightened up at their attention and put her hands on her hips, she was trying not to show fear, she had just witnessed her sister pull a nearly fully grown male, who weighted a lot more than she did, from a car with ease. It made her wonder what the males could do, their eyes weren't actually golden though. "C'mon, you know what you want," Buffy taunted before she launched herself from the car and started to run down the street. Caitlin rushed after her sister, appearing weak to the others and they gave chase to the two sisters. Xander wanted Caitlin to fight him for Alpha position; he wanted the pack to watch him beat her.

Caitlin easily caught up to her sister and gripped her hand, Buffy noticed Caitlin starting to pull ahead and easily kept pace with her. Buffy shot Caitlin a confused look "see what the Slayer can do," Caitlin said as they quickly gained ground on the pack. Buffy quickly directed Caitlin through the trees; she needed to give Giles and Willow more time. She didn't want to get to the Zoo too early because it meant having to fight the five pack members off and even with Caitlin the odds were not in their favour. Even with adding the scenic route Buffy feared they were too early as they entered the Zoo.

~GU:CM~

Willow paced outside of the wolves Cave, she had thought they would be here by now, she didn't even know if the sister's had found the rest of the pack. She was back to thinking about what Caitlin had said earlier, she had spoken like she had known what possession was, almost like she had personal experience. She didn't know much about Caitlin's past, she knew they had lived in La; she knew that they had family in San Francisco and that Caitlin had a different last name Buffy and Dawn. She deduced that Caitlin was a half-sister on the mother's side as she loved with Ms Summers. She knew Caitlin usually went by Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell when she could. Her thoughts were disrupted by the sound of rushed footsteps. She spun and rushed into the Cave "They're almost here! Giles! Giles!" Willow stopped short when she saw only the creepy Zookeeper "Where are the wolves for the trans-possession?" Willow asked as she peered over her shoulder, they were getting closer.

The Zookeeper pointed over his shoulder "They're right here in the feeding area," he replied as she continued to look out of the Cave. Willow walked over to look at the where he had pointed just to get away from him, he stopped her before she got too far. "Stay back! They haven't been fed," that was never a good sign

"Where's Giles?" Willow asked as she peered around to look for her mentor. She did not want to be stuck with the crazy man.

"He's... laying in wait," the Zookeeper responded cryptically. Warning lights started to flash in Willow's head. She knew they needed him but she would feel better if she weren't alone with him.

Willow turned around as she heard the footsteps getting closer "They're almost here. Shouldn't you bring the Wolfs out?" she asked desperately trying to get away from the Zookeeper, who was now eyeing her up.

The Zookeeper was getting annoyed with all of the questions, he would not be questioned by someone who did not know about the legends behind these magnificent wolves, it was impossible for them to still be alive but there they were,:" When the time is right," he managed to refrain from sounding too annoyed but he noticed the distrust in her eyes "I'm gonna need your help," he grabbed her and started to bind her wrists before she could struggle away from him. Once her wrists were bound he pulled her against his chest.

Buffy rushed into the Cave first, Caitlin brought up the rear and noticed they pack were in fact gaining on them, they must have gained ground when Buffy and herself slowed down slightly. "They're right behind me!" Buffy called out just to warn Willow, Giles and the Zookeeper.

Facing the Cave entrance Willow struggled to free herself, this was so not good "That's Buffy! Buffy!" Willow called and tried not to panic as she saw the Zookeeper bring out a knife "What is that?" Willow asked, she clearly knew what it was but decided to buy some time and act dumb.

"A predatory act, remember? To show that I am Alpha and obey me to get the spell done," He brought the knife up to Willow's throat. Oh she knew she was in trouble now. She tried not to struggle but it was scary to be held at knife point.

Willow looked up at the Zookeeper in disbelief, Alpha's were appointed when the previous Alpha died and the eldest offspring took over or when the Alpha lost in a fight "Uh, right. You'll pretend to slash my throat and, and put the evil in the wolves?" She was still playing dumb, she needed Caitlin and Buffy or Giles very badly at the moment.

Raising his eyebrow the Zookeeper replied "Something like that," he couldn't believe that she was this stupid. How easy the gullible were, especially this redhead.

Nodding her head Willow turned back to the entrance of the Cave and shouted was loud as possible, "It's a trap!" she heard faltered footsteps for a few seconds but Buffy and Caitlin rushed into the room. Xander leapt at Caitlin, the rest of the pack leapt at Buffy.

The Zookeeper watched the blonde and brunette grappling and realised one of them was the Alpha. He held up his Aztec relic and started to chant in the dead Aztec language. The Pack look over to him and their eyes flashed golden, the Zookeepers flashed golden. Caitlin kicked Xander away from her and turned onto her stomach with a grunt. The Zookeeper chucked the knife away from him and twisted Willow's head painfully to the side and moved to bite her neck

Xander watched as the Zookeepers teeth got closer to his friends neck "Willow!" he shouted and scrambled to his feet. He got a good angle of the Zookeeper and pushed him, knocking him down, as he grabbed Willow and pulled her away from his grasp. The gang crawl off of Buffy, allowing her to get up, buffy quickly got up and dragged Willow further away from the fight. The possessed Zookeeper got up and swung at Xander, catching him nicely on the jaw. Buffy approached the fight and took a swing at the Zookeeper. Kyle and his gang take the opportunity to get up and run from the Cave. The Zookeeper lunged at Buffy but Caitlin grabbed her arm and pulled her down and out of the way of the attack. The Zookeeper charged again but Buffy ducked slightly and used the momentum to flip the zookeeper onto his back. He got up again and charged the Slayer but she pushed him away, Caitlin took his backwards momentum and swung her leg across the floor to trip him up. The speed of his momentum caused him to hit the railing and flip over it into the wolves den. The zookeeper tried to climb up but the wolves gripped his legs and yanked him back down. Buffy ran over to the feeding area to see if she could save the zookeeper but she was too late as the wolves were dragging his body into their sleeping area. Caitlin had been looking into the area but had not witnessed the man's death as she had been staring into the eyes of the black and golden Aztec Wolf; she ignored what was going on behind her in favour of looking at what had possessed her. The Wolf really was majestic, the Wolf tilted its head down in a nod and Caitlin did the same.

Rushed footsteps sounded from the restricted area, Giles appeared and looked around "Uh, did I miss anything?" he asked as he noticed it was just his charges in the room. Buffy and Willow nodded at him, he slumped against the wall "To be fair I was knocked unconscious," he made an excuse just to not look like he had been slacking.

"Caitlin has been knocked out twice today and she's here," Willow pointed out just to see him stammer. She was picking up bad habits from the sisters but it was funny to see the Watcher so flustered. On cue the Watcher started to stammer and took of his glasses to clean them. Caitlin grinned as she heard what Willow had said but still looked at the Wolf.

Xander looked between all of them, he appeared to be confused "Does someone want to tell me what is going on?" Xander's question sounded as confused as his face looked, only when Xander questioned what had happened did Caitlin look away. The Wolf took the time to turn and leave for the sleeping area to enjoy some food; they had been starved for too long thanks to the Zookeeper.

The other three looked at Xander as well "You don't remember?" Giles, ever the Watcher, asked seeming intrigued. Xander just shook his head "Well why don't we get on it in the morning," he signalled for them to leave, the teenagers stayed silent as they followed Giles.

~GU:CM~

It had been a quite night after Caitlin had apologised to her family. She had done it when they had been alone so she didn't attract attention. Joyce had asked why and Caitlin had just shrugged saying she was in a typical teen mood, her mother had chuckled and hugged her before heading off to cook dinner. Dawn had just smiled and waved it off saying she knew because she had been possessed. Caitlin had lectured Dawn about going into her books but had then kissed her forehead and thanked her. Caitlin had led on Buffy's bed whilst the older sister had told her what had happened the last few days, the younger blonde had nodded and grimaced at the feel if her head, Buffy had pulled a face and told her she had been knocked out twice. Caitlin told Buffy it must have sucked; they both laughed and settled in for the night. When Caitlin woke that morning Dawn had somehow wormed her way between them and their mother stood at the door with a camera in her hand. The morning had been just like any other morning and it was just what Caitlin needed. Joyce had driven the girls to school that morning and the two sisters were quick to meet up with Willow and Xander.

They headed off towards class "I heard the vice-principal's taking over till they can find a replacement," Willow informed the group, she was feeling a little down that Caitlin couldn't remember what she had done but she ultimately thought it was for the best anyway.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal," commented as they head up to the second floor, taking the outside stairs as it was less busy. Buffy frowned in though and added to her previous statement "Unless they ask what happened to the last one."

Xander nodded "Okay, but I had nothing to do with that, right?" he asked just to clarify. Willow had told him what had happened, what she knew of anyway, he had seemed genuinely appalled by his behaviour, which relaxed Willow.

Buffy was quick to reassure him, after all Xander had been trying to mate with her at the time Flutie had been eaten "Oh, right,"

"You only ate the pig," Caitlin said offhandedly, she was far from stupid. Xander glanced at her and gave her a sheepish smile. They all knew Caitlin hadn't, she was after all vegetarian and had seemed to be more with it that the others.

Pulling a face Xander decided to question what Caitlin had said "I ate a pig? Was it cooked and called bacon or..." The girls shook their heads in pity; well Caitlin found it amusing and chuckled. Xander covered his face to hide the grossed out face he was pulling "Oh, my God! I ate a pig? I mean, the whole trichinosis issue aside, yuck!" he spoke out from behind his hands.

Trying to placate him Buffy patted his back "Well, it wasn't really you," she said. Willow kept quite because that reminded her of what Caitlin had said. The redhead looked at the youngest teen and saw Caitlin was looking straight at her, almost as if she knew what she was thinking. The youngest blonde quirked a brow and shrugged, Willow realised something was going on but didn't know what.

Xander nodded and scratched the top of his head "Well, I remember I was goin' on the field trip, and then goin' down to the Wolf Cave with Caitlin to , and next thing some guy's holding Willow and he's got a knife," he averted his eyes from the group to look back at Caitlin.

Willow could finally jump back in to without feeling bad for lying, or stating something she knew wasn't necessarily true "You saved my life," it was true. Buffy had been pinned down and Caitlin was still disorientated from being knocked unconscious and then thrown to the floor.

"Hey! Nobody messes with my Willow," Xander pulled Willow into his arms at his declaration. Caitlin tensed a little when Xander wrapped Willow in a hug but not enough for others to notice; Xander released Willow slowly and smiled at her. Caitlin brought her hand up to rub her head.

Buffy watched Xander make up for all the bad things he had done to Willow yesterday in just a few words and a gesture. She smiled at the two who returned her smile. Buffy nudged his arm "This is definitely the superior Xander. Accept no substitutes," all of them smiled, even Caitlin who was now back in the conversation.

"Yeah this Xander isn't a big meanie," the youngest teen teased with a smile. She found it amusing that Xander had turned into what he hated the most, a big bully with a little gang. They had been told by the two how Xander had been unnecessarily harsh to Willow.

Chuckling Xander decided he wanted to know if he did anything else, Willow had been vague at some points in the story "I didn't do anything else, did I, around you guys or anything embarrassing?" he asked with a sheepish look on his face.

Buffy and Willow exchanged looks and smiled. Caitlin wondered if Buffy would tell Xander what she had told her last night about what he had done. Shaking her head Buffy answered "Nah!" the girls chuckled like that had an inside joke.

Willow shook her head "Not at all," her eyes cut to Caitlin's who wasn't looking at her for the first time; they were looking at Xander's relaxed face and smirking. She wondered if Caitlin remembered what had happened in the room or if Buffy had told her, she didn't want to bring it up and make Caitlin feel bad though.

"You looked a little worried Xander," Xander chuckled along with Caitlin. It was now like they had the inside joke; Buffy shrugged it off assuming it was an amnesia joke. Willow liked how well Caitlin and Xander were getting along, she was glad they couldn't remember otherwise they wouldn't be joking and laughing like they were.

Buffy turned to Willow and Caitlin "C'mon, We're gonna be late," Buffy took Willows hand and opened her other hand for Caitlin. Caitlin shook her head and signalled to Giles who was approaching them. She then remembered Caitlin was going to ask Giles about the possession.

"See you at lunch," Willow waved to Xander and then waved to Caitlin, who she would be seeing soon but didn't want her to feel left out.

"Cool! Oh, hey, goin' vegetarian! Huh?" He gave the two leaving teens a thumbs-up. Willow turned and smiled at him, glad he was back to being her friend again. Buffy smiled at Xander too for his tension easing ways, she wasn't completely comfortable around him but him being his normal self was helping. Xander turned and started to head the other way, Caitlin followed but only because she wanted to speak to Giles.

Giles met the two teens just moments after they had left Willow and Buffy, he put his arms behind his back as she spoke "I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards," Caitlin looked at him and then pointedly looked at Xander. Giles got the message, Xander had started it and she didn't want to oust him.

Ignoring Caitlin's pointed look Xander asked Giles an important question "Did you tell them that?" he knew it was bad to lie but he didn't want them to see him as a monster it was bad enough he could literally feel Caitlin's annoyance with him.

Leaning in to Xander's ear the Watcher whispered to him "Your secret dies with me," he chuckled at Xander's grateful nod. He too would not want his friends to know he remembered if he had acted like that.

"Shoot me, stuff me, mount me," Xander groaned as they carried on walking. He never wanted to think about these last few days ever again, he had been a complete ass and it was hard to tell if it was really him or the Wolf

Caitlin lightly pushed his arm "Don't think I forgot you cracked me over the head with a book Xander. Unlike the others I know you remember," she stopped walking and the other two stopped walking too. Giles was there more to make sure they didn't fight again.

"No that was the Wolf," Xander instantly denied. He really wasn't sure if it was or not but he wouldn't want to her hurt her like that again, he never had before either. He couldn't believe how vicious he had been with Caitlin.

Shaking her head Caitlin patiently answered the teen stood in front of her "No Xander a possession can only take or twist what is already there, you're either jealous of me or resent me for something Xander." She wasn't going to say how she knew that but she did and he needed to know.

Xander's shoulders slumped "I don't resent you," but I'm jealous, he didn't need to say the words because they were clear. He was jealous of the younger teen about something, he wasn't sure what it was himself; just that he was.

"You need to figure this out Xander, I really don't need more people to eventually hate me, there is nothing in my life for you to be jealous of…sort it out Xander," she whispered as she headed back the way they came. She had a few minutes to get to class and she knew she could make it if she walked quickly. She needed time away from him and class was the perfect distraction.

Giles watched as Xander's shoulder's slumped in defeat, Giles went over and patted him on the shoulder as Xander shook his head and started walking along the balcony. Giles leant on the railing and watched Xander go, he felt sorry for the poor lad but he couldn't tell him that Caitlin was wrong.

---

Hey guys R&R

I loved writing this chapter because its my favourite episodes of Season 1
I have updated this chapter recently because I noticed that I missed out a bit with the Bronze between Caitlin and Xander and have now added it. Hope it makes a little bit more sense now

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