Chapter 9: Surpise 'Family' Member

A/N: I'm making a slight difference between werewolves that were born that way and ones that were bitten. The main difference being that hereditary wolves have a little more control during the full moon. The 'Family' comment in the title is about another werewolf, not any actual blood relationship.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal and ktweaver.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.


Buffy's hospital room

Buffy sat on her bed, still trying to make sense of what Giles told her the night before. Vampires and demons were real; Oz was a werewolf; she was a Slayer. When she asked what a Slayer was, he explained she was '…the one girl in all the world to fight the forces of evil' or something like that.

Except there wasn't just one girl anymore; both Buffy and Faith were Slayers. Something happened that Giles didn't want to explain, and the pain in his eyes made her not want to ask either. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the story just yet.

The adults weren't even sure that they wanted to explain as much as they did about the supernatural. However, Faith pointed out that just because B didn't know about the demons, it didn't mean they didn't know about her. If they wanted her to survive, she'd need to know what to do to protect herself.

At least it explained the feelings she got around Oz and Faith, and for that reason alone, Buffy was grateful. Which was another reason the werewolf and other Slayer said she needed to know.


A couple days later…

Horatio watched Calleigh hesitate at the door to her cousin's hospital room. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently asked, "Would you like me to go in with you, Calleigh?"

She gave him a grateful smile. "Please. I'm not sure if I'm hoping she remembers me or not." When he looked confused, Calleigh explained, "Seeing the pain in her eyes when she looks at me isn't pleasant."

"I'm here for you," he promised, squeezing her shoulder briefly. "Just remember that."

Bolstered by the moral support, Calleigh pushed on the door. "Thanks, Horatio. That means the world to me right now."


Buffy turned from the doctors to look at the couple who just walked into her room. The man had a watchfulness about him that was obvious to anyone who paid attention. However, the woman was the one who caught Buffy's attention. It wasn't the other woman's beauty that captivated her; Buffy felt fairly certain now she didn't swing that way – despite the feelings that being around Faith gave her.

No, it was the familiar look the woman was giving her; it was so full of agony that Buffy gasped in response. She didn't know who the blonde was, but she still wanted to ease the pain she saw in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked before guessing what was bothering the woman, "Oh, I'm supposed to know you, aren't I? Are we friends or family?"

Calleigh fought the tears that threatened to spill. This was the Buffy she knew years ago – despite the memory issues. Even when Celia died, her little cousin was more worried about Calleigh and her dad than she was herself. "Both actually. At least that's the way I always felt," the older blonde explained with a sad smile and soft southern accent.

Deciding she liked this person, Buffy smiled back brightly and tried to reassure her, "Then I'm sure I did, too. Since you obviously know who I am, I just need your names." She looked again at the man with her, liking the vibe she got from him too. Speaking of vibes, there was a little something extra going on with him that she needed to talk to him about privately. "Is this your boyfriend or husband? If so, nice choice!"

Horatio chuckled at the blatant flirtation. In spite of the words, he didn't feel she was trying to be sexual with him, just friendly. "Thank you, Miss Summers. My name is Horatio Caine; I work with your cousin, Calleigh Duquesne," he handled the introductions for them as Calleigh got a handle on her emotions.

Buffy nodded at the pair. "Nice to meet you. Are you okay, Calleigh? Can I call you that, or should I call you Ms. Duquesne?" she questioned.

"You can call me Calleigh. You used to call me Lee-Lee because when you were younger, you couldn't get my name right. As you got older, the name just stuck," Calleigh babbled, much to the shock of her friend and boss. He wasn't used to his CSI babbling, but supposed under the circumstances, it was understandable for her to be a little different.

"Would you prefer that I call you Lee-Lee?" Buffy continued when her cousin hesitated, "You just look so sad, and I don't want you to be. The doctors said I'm gonna be fine – except for the whole memory thing – and it's possible that it isn't permanent or anything."

"Whichever name you feel comfortable with is fine with me. I'm just glad that you're alive." Biting her lip, Calleigh moved towards Buffy and asked, "Can I give you a hug?"

"Sure, why not?" Buffy replied with a shrug. She liked that Calleigh asked first instead of just assuming – unlike some people. "After all, we're family. If family can't hug, who can?" she asked with forced cheer, especially since one of the people she didn't feel comfortable hugging was her own mother.

Calleigh swept her cousin up in a tight embrace, crying softly into her hair. "Oh, Shar! If there's anything I can do to help you, please just ask, okay?" she murmured.

"Umm, who's Shar? I haven't forgotten anything else, have I?" Buffy demanded with wide eyes as she pulled back to try to understand what Calleigh called her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Calleigh apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. 'Shar' is my pet name for you. It's from your favorite book when you were growing up: 'Charlotte's Web'. I even gave you a stuffed pig one year for your birthday. Imagine my surprise when you didn't call him Wilbur. You said that if you called him that, it meant the 'real' Wilbur was dead, so you named him Mr. Gordo instead."

Buffy arched an eyebrow at the explanation. "Sounds nice – if a little strange."

"I brought the book…in case you're interested in reading it again. Maybe it could spark a memory or something," Calleigh offered, not wanting to force the issue.

"I'm willing to try just about anything at this point," Buffy answered, nodding enthusiastically. "It's so frustrating not to be able to remember people or things about my life."

Calleigh gave her another, shorter hug and stood up. "Just hang in there. You have a lot of people who care about you and want to help you get better. Why don't you rest while I go talk to the doctors for a minute?"

"Okay," the younger blonde agreed. This would give her a chance to talk to Horatio about that vibe thing.


Once Calleigh was distracted by her conversation with the doctors about Buffy's status and treatment plan, Buffy gestured for Horatio to come closer. "Does my cousin know about your furry condition?" she whispered.

Horatio's eyes widened in shock. "How did you know-?"

Remembering Giles' admonition not to talk about being the Slayer when he explained the supernatural to her, Buffy replied vaguely, "I can sense these things. Don't worry, I'm not going to out you or anything. Apparently I have a friend who's a werewolf and I'm okay with it."

Impressed by the young woman's ability to roll with a pretty big punch, Horatio still needed to ask, "If you can't remember anything, how do you know about werewolves?"

"Like I said, I can sense people who are different like that. At first I thought it was just attraction…" Buffy started to explain.

"But now that you've met me, you know better?" Horatio interjected teasingly.

"Yeah right! As if that would change my opinion!" Buffy replied, blushing when she realized how vehement that came out. "No, it's when my friend brought a girl to visit me who caused my senses to go flippy in a different way. I sorta, accidentally blurted out that I was gay or bisexual."

Unable to stop his chuckle, Horatio commented, "That must have caused quite a reaction."

"Just a little," she said with a roll of her eyes at the memory. "They told me there was a good reason for the way I felt, then had somebody come explain to me why I could sense the others."

"So this friend of your… Was he born a werewolf or was he bitten?" Horatio inquired, setting aside the mystery of her being able to sense them for the moment. Perhaps when she felt she could trust him, he'd learn the whole story.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders, "Not sure. Why? Does it make a difference?"

"I was born one, and have more control over the wolf. If necessary, I can stop the transformation," he explained.

"Hmm, he said that he locks himself up for those three nights-" she broke off as she realized something. "Wait, how did you know it was a he?" Buffy demanded in a worried tone.

"Because you said that you didn't worry about being gay until your friend brought a girl to visit. If your friend was a girl, you'd already have thought that," Horatio pointed out.

"Oh. Logic." Buffy gave him a bemused smile at her slip; she didn't want to put Oz in any jeopardy with somebody who could hurt him. "Guess that helps you with the police work, huh."

"At times," he teased. "So I'm guessing that your friend was bitten. If you'd like, you can tell him about me; maybe I can teach him some tricks to controlling himself a little. That way, he doesn't have to worry about getting out of his locks." Horatio figured there was a reason why she studiously kept from saying anything he could use to identify the boy – aside from her inadvertent remark about attraction.

"Really? Thanks. I'm sure he'll appreciate any help he can get. He seems kind of down about the whole thing," Buffy confided with a sad expression. "I think our friends have said something to him about being a monster; or maybe they didn't disagree with him when he said it. All I know is that they don't seem very close for being friends – even his girlfriend. Although, they've probably broken up by now. At least he's never around when they come to visit or vice versa," she babbled, relieved to be able to talk to somebody who understood and could maybe help.

"People fear what they don't understand; it's a sad fact of life," Horatio responded wisely.

Buffy's eyes narrowed angrily though. "Still, they said they were his friend. It shouldn't matter that he's a werewolf; it's not as if he had any say about it. It's like the way people used to treat people with leprosy. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that being a werewolf is yucky like that, just-"

Knowing what she was trying to say, Horatio cut her off, "I understand, and you're right, it is similar to a disease or medical condition. It's good that he has you as a friend. It helps to have somebody who cares about you no matter what."

"Do you have anyone like that?" Buffy inquired, hoping that he did.

Horatio nodded, "Yes. Our ME – medical examiner – knows about me. Her name is Alexx Woods, and she's a tremendously help to me. I wouldn't put it past her to be looking into finding a cure for this."

"She sounds wonderful," Buffy remarked wistfully.

"She is," he answered with a gentle smile.

Buffy bit her lip shyly. "Do you think I could talk to her? I want to be sure that I'm doing everything I can to help my friend," she confided in the older werewolf.

"I think for now you should just concentrate on getting better, but…" he held up a hand when she looked like she was going to interrupt, "if you really want, I'll have her call you."

Giving him a grateful smile, Buffy said, "Thanks. For both of us."

Horatio took out one of his cards and wrote down the hotel information where he and Calleigh were staying while in Sunnydale. "If your friend is interested in talking to me, give him this and tell him to give me a call."

"Okay, I will. Oh, I'm supposed to warn you about not going out after dark around here." She hesitated, trying to think of the words she was supposed to use. "Umm, do you know about other supernatural things?"

For a second, Horatio was confused, then his expression turned to one of understanding. "Like vampires?"

"Whew! Yeah." That made things a lot easier for her to explain then. "Apparently there's a lot of them around here so you need to be extra careful."

He simply nodded, then inquired, "Just out of curiosity, how were you going to warn us if we didn't know about the supernatural? In case I have to use that excuse with Calleigh."

"They told me that the police around here blame all the deaths and missing people on gangs who use PCP," Buffy repeated the excuse given to her earlier.

Horatio's eyebrow raised in skepticism. "And that works?"

"I guess so. Maybe people don't really want to see the truth," she theorized.

He nodded again in understanding, "Another sad fact of life."

Just then, Calleigh came back over to re-join them. "Everything okay here?" she inquired.

Buffy smiled at her cousin. "Yup. Just getting to know your friend a little better."

Moving away from her bedside, Horatio added, "I'll leave you two alone so you can enjoy your book. If you need me, I'll be in the cafeteria. When I come back, did either of you want anything?"

"Some hot chocolate with marshmallows sounds great," Buffy requested shyly.

Calleigh smiled and nodded, "Make that two."

"You got it. Take care, ladies." Then Horatio left the room.

"He's nice." Buffy gave her a sly look and asked, "You sure there's nothing between you?"

"I'm sure. It would be too awkward at work. Plus, he's like a big brother, so…" Calleigh trailed off with a shrug.

"Understood! Too bad, though, 'cause he's a honey!" Buffy replied with a teasing leer towards the door.

Calleigh simply laughed and pulled out the book. Buffy slid over on the bed to make room, and after a moment's hesitation, Calleigh joined her, allowing her cousin to curl up next to her while she read. It caused a sharp pang in her chest because it was so similar to when they used to do the exact same thing years ago. She only wished that it meant Buffy remembered.


A/N: Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that the next several months are going to be very hectic for me, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update any of my stories. I'm not abandoning anything, and if I get the chance to post, I will.

A/N2: Next…The Sloanes.