Immortal: the Virtual Series
Episode 3.10: Twilight Rises
Written by The Main Slayer
Rating K+

Part 1

The moon rises above the darkened sky.
The moon rises to expose the hidden secrets of the night.
The moon rises, beckoning night's creatures to roam free.
The moon rises, drawing in yearning and fantasy.
The Main Slayer

A funny thing happened to me years ago. I loved someone once. Sure, this is nothing that is new, but it was like I had no idea where I began and she ended. We were like one person, and my fear of who I was forced me to destroy any chance of happiness I might have had. I left to "discover" myself…you know, I think most people have to do that once in their lives, but for me, I had to discover the wolf. I came to Ireland; I met up with a wolf pack that had been living here for centuries. Hiding from the humans, living as normally as possible. They had even mastered the ability to walk around during a full moon without changing. They took me in; they showed me their ways. I thought that I had figured it out; so I went back, but turns out I could never be with her again. She brought out the wolf in me; I lost control…nearly got myself killed. We said our final goodbye. I will always love her. So I came back and Damien allowed me to stay. I forged a new life for myself; I never thought my old life would ever return…still, might be interesting…

Buffy wasn't sure what to make of the situation and what she had seen in the river. She clearly remembered Connor dying. Remembered the pain and sadness that fell upon her family because of her son's actions. But she could also remember Angel bringing him here. A secret that only the two of them knew about. Which set of memories was real, she had no idea, but Connor was there. In that bed, hooked up to several machines with a constant blood supply running into his system. She walked up to the bed and touched his hand. What happened? She turned to Angel and saw him talking to Oz. Walking away from Connor she moved towards Angel and took his hand. Angel looked down at her and smiled.

"So, any better than yesterday?" Angel asked.

"Not really. Things are progressing slowly. We aren't a real hospital, this will probably take a lot longer than normal."

"I understand."

"But, things are looking good. It looks like he might actually pull through." Oz smiled at Buffy who smiled back. It was at that moment she decided not to ask questions. She needed to find those two Fates. She had so many questions for them, questions that only they could answer.

--

"What the hell do we do now?" Kera asked. Dawn, Kathy and Sean were all sitting at the kitchen table trying to make sense of that last couple of hours.

"We need to find Faith. She could do something she might regret." Kathy said slowly.

"Are you kidding? When Faith disappears, she really disappears. It is impossible to find her. When she took off after Wood died, come on, there was no way of finding her. She came back on her own…but this time is different." Dawn lowered her head and ran her hands through her hair.

"Do we tell Buffy and Angel?" Sean asked. The three girls looked up at their friend and shook their heads together.

"No. If we tell them we messed with time, again in my case, they will lose it. I know my parents, cardinal rule number one…don't mess with time." Kera said as she paced the room.

"Fine, what do we tell them about Faith?"

"We tell them she took off. She needed to get away."

"What if she…"

"I know! Even though we tell them a little white lie, we have to find her as a group. There has to be a way to find her. We will ask around town, check airports, train stations; dockyards…do whatever we have to in order to find out where she went. I can contact my aunt Willow from the future…"

"Willow!" Dawn exclaimed standing up. Her friends looked at her quizzically, "we can get a hold of Willow. Last I heard she and Kennedy were in this part of the world. Maybe she can help us out."

"It's an idea, but I'll still contact my Willow…she knows a lot more."

"So, its agreed, we lie. We find Faith and we fix this." Kathy said.

"Agreed." They said in unison.

--

The Queen had never felt angrier before in her life. She had spent hours of magic healing Tristan's wounds and making sure that he was ready for their next move. Every time she had tried to get a hold of the baby Kera the Slayer and Vampire had stopped her. She had taken great lengths to bring Tristan to her side. It had worked in her benefit, for a while. The link between Tristan and Kera was too strong. They knew each other moves and motives; she knew that twins are more receptive of each other, but because of their magical conception, the connection was far greater than she ever anticipated. It had its benefits of course, the last couple of hours attested to that, but there had to be a way to sever it. It was time to play her wild card. Moving away from her sitting chamber, the Queen went to her looking glass and tapped it twice. An image swirled in the dome and a man appeared. She moved her arm and placed her hand into the image. Closing her eyes, she allowed her whole body to be consumed. The dome shifted and turned into water like substance. It expanded and enveloped her entire body. When she opened her eyes she was standing in the middle of a large cave. A man approached her and she smiled. Taking hold of her, the man kissed her passionately. Breaking the kiss, the Queen smiled at him.

"Its been too long, my Queen." He said to her. Smiling, she touched her hand to his face walking away. Her hips swayed as she stood at a large opening. Below her a pack of animals, wolves, spared and trained.

"Well, the opportunity to come and see you has not presented itself."

"Last I heard you had a new pet." The Queen smiled.

"He is a necessity. Crucial to my plans. You, you are something entirely different."

"What do you want?"

"Demanding aren't we?" The Queen teased. The man folded his arms and cocked his head, "Fine. I need you to play your part. Its time to do what I asked you all those years ago."

"What makes you think I want to help you?" The Queens eyes narrowed and turned black.

"If you want to stay the leader of this pack, you will do what I ask you." She took hold of his throat and pushed him up against the wall, "The only reason you are leader is because I made you leader a millennium ago. Don't you dare forget who owns you." The man nodded his head and the Queen dropped him.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want your little pack of wolves to eliminate a certain pain in my side…a young woman." The Queen threw him a picture. Smiling in the photo was a mother and father with their children. The mother and father her recognized as well as one of the sons, but the other two were unfamiliar.

"You want me to get rid of the daughter?"

"Yes. Oh, and the son."

"Which one?"

"The one you are currently trying to save."

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to see him alive. Sometimes the only way to get something done right, is to do it yourself. Just do it, or you Damien will no longer be leader of the pack." The Queen disappeared and Damien moved towards the opening the Queen once stood before. Below his pack trained and meditated. He had perfected being a werewolf, however, much of that was attributed to the Queen and her magic's. There was no way he would allow her to take from him what he had. There was only one choice, do what she asked. Damien furrowed his brow and allowed his fangs to expose themselves.

"Time to take out the trash."

End of Part 1

Part 2

Oz stood over Connor and watched his chest rise and fall. They were doing everything they could, but he wasn't sure if it would be good enough. He wished that Angel would take him to a normal hospital, but Angel was so sure that the only way to keep Connor safe was to make the world think he was dead. Turning around, Oz saw a dark figure in the shadows. Squinting, Damien moved into view.

"Dude, don't do that."

"Sorry, just wanted to give you a moment." Damien moved towards the young man and picked up his wrist. Damien had to think fast, he couldn't just kill Connor, he would have to make sure it was done under the radar.

"Any progress?"

"Not a lot. I am still trying to get Angel to take him to a real hospital, but he won't."

"I agree with him. We are doing just as much as a hospital would, at least here he is safe." Oz nodded.

"Yeah, but still. Just doesn't seem right."

"Oz please, you need to trust Angel's judgment. It's his son, let him do what he wants with his well being." Damien dropped Connor's hand and moved around to where Oz was standing, "Besides, I think that we might have developed a new drug that will make his progress much more promising. Trust me, I know how to take care of my own."

"Sure. Thanks for doing this for them."

"My pleasure." Oz left the room. Once he was gone, Damien took out of a vile and syringe. Filling the syringe, Damien injected it into Connor's arm. This will do the trick. Damien couldn't afford anyone finding out it was him who dosed Connor, but if he didn't get rid of him, everything he had worked for would be gone. Leaving Connor, Damien needed to figure out how to get the girl. There was only one man who would be willing to kill a civilian, Rock.

--

Buffy and Angel arrived home to find everyone in the kitchen having coffee. Dawn looked up at her sister and smiled. Kathy had taken Sean to their bedroom in order to make sure that his wounds were properly dressed so that Buffy and Angel wouldn't ask too many questions. Kera was sitting with Dawn running through her head the story she was about to spin to her parents.

"Fresh coffee?" Buffy asked. The girls nodded. Buffy poured Angel and herself a cup and then sat with Kera and Dawn.

"What wrong?" She asked. Kera took a breath.

"Faith took off. Said she couldn't take it anymore. We woke up to find this note." Kera handed her parents a doctored note.

Buffy, please don't be angry with me. I though that by coming here and being surrounded by people I cared about would make things easier. But it doesn't. I finally understand what you meant when you told me that the pain of killing Angel consumed your life. The pain of losing Connor is more than I can stand. Please forgive me, I don't know how long I will be gone, or where I am going. Don't look for me. Just let me figure this out. Faith

Buffy handed the note to Angel who read it over. Buffy knew that Faith had loved Connor, she had never expected how much. She remembered talking to Faith about killing Angel once, but she couldn't recall if she had told her how she felt about it. Buffy frowned and thought back, she must have. She just didn't remember. Angel put the note down and looked at his daughter.

"She'll be back. She always comes back." Kera nodded and turned when Kathy and Sean came in the room.

"What happened to you?" Angel asked.

"Vampires. Saw some outside our window earlier on. Thought I could take them out on my own…seems I was mistaken." Angel glared at the young man who shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I guess that's it then."

"What's it?" Kera asked. Buffy tried to formulate words, but she wasn't really able to figure out where she had been going with that comment.

"I guess, I don't know…what happens next? We make this big move, where we know nobody only to bury someone we love more than anything…what do we do? Move on?" No one had an answer for her. Their lives were so different now; no one had expected all of this to happen.

"Well, what more can we do, other than move on?" Kera asked, "If there is one thing I learn from you is that the only way to heal is to move on. You just keep going, its something we have to do whether we want to or not."

"Besides, we have a wedding coming up don't we?" Dawn said, "There is still a lot to be done. It will keep us distracted." Buffy smiled. She had nearly forgotten that her wedding was coming up. Before they had left New York, she had made sure to amend the location of the wedding. So many people would be arriving in a couple of days for her wedding to Angel and she hadn't even picked out a dress yet. Angel rubbed his eyes and put his cup away.

"I think I am going to take a nap." He kissed Buffy and left the room. Buffy knew what Angel was going through but he had no idea what was going on in her head. She was the only one with two sets of memories. There had to be a way to locate those Fates. Willow would be arriving soon for the wedding, maybe she could ask her friend about it. If there was anyone who knew how to converse with the afterlife it was Willow. Buffy looked at her sister, daughter, sister-in-law and Sean.

"Well, I guess we move on. What time is it?"

"Five in the morning." Kathy said.

"Well, we have a full day ahead of us. I have a lot of planning to do and not a moment to lose. So might as well get started."

"We can run around for you…find locations or shops or something." Kera said.

"Good idea. Kathy and Sean can you find a local florist shop so we can order the roses? Oh, and maybe a bakery…suppose I need a cake. A lot of it I already have, linens and set up, favours and bridesmaid dresses…oh we need tuxes for the guys…"

"What about your dress? You don't have one of those yet." Dawn said.

"Guess that is kind of important."

"Kind of?" Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so dress shopping. I need a location too…no church. Angel hates them. We will also need a JOP, not a minister. Its not every day a vampire gets married…"

"Don't worry. We, the four of us, we will take care of it. Besides, exploring Galway Ireland will be fun. Its not every day you get to live here." Kathy said smiling. The group burst into laughter at her comment. It had been a while since any of them had laughed. Buffy put her cup in the sink and moved towards the door.

"I'm going to check on the twins. Be ready to shop by 9." She left the four friends alone and once they knew she was gone Kera turned around determined.

"Okay, we have our cover. This is the perfect way we can get out and about and try to locate Faith."

"Do you think she bought the note?"

"Hard to tell but for now, its working. Get a hold of Willow, find out if we can get her to come down here sooner than two weeks from now. We need all the help we can get. We need to make sure to get done what needs to be done and look everywhere for Faith." The group nodded. Leaving the kitchen, they went into their respective rooms and got ready for the long day ahead of them.

--

Kathy and Sean had spent the better part of the morning talking to a florist who didn't want to place their large order of roses for the wedding. Kathy had to beg and plead with the florist to order over 500 red and white roses to compliment the wedding colours. After hours of deciding on arrangements and ordering the right type, all the flowers were ordered and would arrive within two weeks time. The florist was going to make a huge amount of money, and when Kathy told them that their name would be everywhere for people to see, they got what they wanted. Then she had spent the next four hours sampling cake after cake for her sister-in-law. Buffy had originally wanted a chocolate and white cake but the baker wasn't sure he could create what she wanted. So, they settled on a simple white cake, three tiers, with accents of red and icing roses. It was a simple cake but it would have to do. It definitely wasn't enough to feed the entire wedding, but the baker said that he would create the 300 smaller cakes to compliment the larger one. When that was done, Kathy and Sean began their search for Faith. They first hit local dive where they heard runaways went. The caretaker said that he had seen their girl they were looking for but she only stayed the one night, last night. He said that she took off at dawn but hadn't told him where she was going. Sean asked the caretaker where the nearest dockyard was and together Kathy and Sean took a cab to Midnight Docks, the only place that allowed for ships to come into the city. Midnight Docks was outside of Galway itself but they were willing to go and pay the money for the cab in order to find Faith. Once there, the guard said that no one matching Faith's description was on the last transport. That wasn't to say that she hadn't snuck onto the boat or a cargo ship but the guard wasn't about to let them go snooping around the docks. Sean and Kathy decided that they would have to come back at night when no one was around and check around. They took the cab back into town and were just in time to meet Buffy, Dawn and Kera at a local café. Kathy sat down with the girls while Sean ordered them some drinks.

"After some serious finagling, we finally got the flowers ordered. They were not incredibly impressed to order that many roses, but it's done. All 500 plus roses have been ordered and should be here in time. Also, the cake has been chosen. Only white unfortunately but what can you do on such short notice."

"Good. Dawn and Kera found the perfect location. Our backyard. When I looked at it this morning with them, it made the most sense. Anywhere else is going to be booked up, so it's easiest to do it at the house. I went to the courthouse here and managed to get a JOP to do the ceremony. So, all we have to do now is get the dresses. We can order the tuxes no problem; it's the dresses that will be the problem. They are all going to have to be off the rack because we don't have the time to order them."

"Fair enough." Dawn said. Sean sat down and handed Kathy her coffee.

"Well, we have a lot of day left, we should dress shop." Sean drank his coffee and looked at the group of girls.

"Well that is something you don't need me for," He looked at Kera and smiled, "I should, uh, go and do what Angel asked me to do."

"What was that?"

"Uh, an errand for the wedding that you are not allowed knowing about."

"Must be about the honeymoon." Buffy said. Sean shrugged.

"Okay, well we will see you back at the house then." Kathy said. Sean stood and left the shop. This gave him the opportunity to search around some more. So far, nothing had turned up regarding Faith. Nothing but a bunch of dead ends and random sightings. The last of which was at the airport.

--

Damien paced his den as he tried to think of ways to get the girl. In four days was the full moon; the hunt would take place on the night of the full moon. The only way he saw killing the girl was that night. There were some cases of civilians dying during the hunt; unfortunately he couldn't use the girl as the object of the hunt for they had already chosen their human. But, if they released the human in the same area of the girl, Damien would be able to kill the girl "by accident." There was a knock at the door. Damien stopped pacing and turned to face the door.

"Come." The door opened and a female wolf came in. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and her shapely figure left nothing to the imagination. Damien walked towards her and kissed her. His hands moved down her back and held her tightly to him. Breaking the kiss the woman stepped away from Damien and shook her finger.

"I'm not that easy."

"Yes you are."

"Please."

"Is everything on schedule?" Damien asked. Karen sat down in a large chair and crossed her legs.

"Yes, but I'm not sure why you wanted us to change where the hunt was taking placed. But it's done."

"Good. Just make sure no one figure out what we are doing."

"What are we doing Damien? You're not telling me anything yet you expect me to follow you. Why should we do what she asks us?"

"Because, I will lose everything if I don't. Do you want to be my mate or not? If you do and you want to remain in control of this pack you will do what I tell you without question."

"I am not questioning you, I just don't understand why she holds so much over you."

"She just does. Stop questioning me! Are you giving our patient his medication?"

"Yes. Everyday. Shouldn't be much longer. I never liked the kid anyway. What will you do if Oz finds out?" Damien turned away from Karen.

"He won't. Oz is a pathetic werewolf who wouldn't know if someone one was against him if his life depended on it. The only reason I keep that idiot around is because you have a little thing for him."

"I do not. I just think he is a little lost dog."

"Well, the little dog needs to stay out of what we are doing."

"He won't be a problem."

"Good. Now come here. It has been nighttimes since our last…" Karen moved towards him and allowed her inner wolf to transform her. Damien smiled and transformed allowing all wolf instincts to take over. Little did they know someone had been watching them. The shadow left the two wolves to their mating ritual and moved towards the back rooms. Slowly she moved towards the infirmary where Connor was. She had never met Connor before, but Angel had talked about him. She looked at the solution running into his IV. She had no idea that Damien was slowly poisoning Connor. There had to be something she could do. She had to warn Oz; Oz would make sure that Angel found out. Leaving Connor, Nina moved towards the dormitory halls. She had met Oz once when she arrived. When Angel had left Los Angeles, there wasn't much for Nina. She had no idea what she was going to do with her life now that she was a werewolf. She had gone to see Wesley and he had suggested she come to Ireland to meet up with Damien. Damien had taken her in because she had seemed desperate and because she was cute. Nina found Oz's room and knocked on the door. Oz opened the door and she smiled.

"Hi." She said.

"Hey, Nina right?"

"Yeah. Can I come in?" She asked. Oz shrugged and opened the door. Oz was wearing only his sweatpants and Nina looked around. Oz had been working out. Out of all the werewolves here, he was the only one who never transformed unless it was a full moon. All the others transformed whenever they wanted; but Oz he was more reserved, like she was. Oz picked up his shirt and slipped it on.

"Something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, we need to get Connor out of here." Oz furrowed his brow and crossed his arms.

"What are you talking about?"

"Damien is poisoning him. I heard him talking to Karen."

"What?"

"I swear it. He and Karen are planning something. They were talking about someone who had something on Damien. Whoever the person was told him to kill Connor and some other person. They changed the pattern of the hunt; there is some alternate motive behind this. I need your help. Please, I know you don't know me, but you have to trust me."

"Say you are right, how can the two of us do anything?"

"Don't patronize me, I know what I heard." Nina said.

"I'm not, I just, I don't want to jump to conclusions with no grounds to them."

"So what, you want to go and ask him?" Oz lowered his head and put his hands on his hips.

"What is your suggestion?"

"We need to catch him poisoning Connor. Do you know anyone working on him?"

"Not specifically. I tend to keep to myself."

"I do."

"Why are you helping? That is the only part in this that doesn't make sense."

"I know Angel…he helped me and his friends told me to come to the pack. I was turned and Angel he was kind and wanted to help me out. He did more for me than anyone ever did. I owe him."

"Okay, so we have four days till the hunt. Prove it to me and I will help you."

"Done." Nina left Oz alone and walked towards her own room. She needed to make sure no one found her out. If she were found out it would all be over. She needed to talk to Amelia before anyone got to her, specifically Karen. She would prove that something was wrong, no matter how far it took her.

End of Part 2

Part 3

Buffy had spent the majority of the afternoon trying on dress after dress before she finally decided to give up. There was no way she was going to find a dress off the rack that she was completely in love with. If only she had gotten on this earlier. Oh yeah, my life is a roller coaster and there is no way of actually knowing what is going to happen next. Her life as the Slayer had gotten in the way more times that she could count. Even with her limited position, everything got in the way of her being happy. Buffy told Kera, Dawn and Kathy to go a do something more fun than hanging out with her. The bridesmaid's gowns were easier to find but she just couldn't find the right dress for herself. Buffy was about to go home when out of the corner of her eye something caught her eye. Walking towards the window, Buffy touched the glass slowly. It was beautiful and it was exactly what she had been looking for. Buffy walked into the store and saw only a single girl working behind the desk. She walked up to her and noticed she was wearing headphones. She tapped the girl on the shoulder and she looked up. Smiling, she removed her earphones.

"Hi! Sorry, when I do paper work, I have to listen to music other than what we play in here. My mother says it's soothing to play "wedding" music to make our customers feel better. What can I do for you?"

"There is a dress in the window. I want to try it on."

"Sure, which one?"

"The red and white one. The red bodice and white bottom with red accent on the skirt." The girl smiled and walked to the window.

"Not many people want that type of dress when they get married. They think it is bad luck to wear a colour on their wedding day. Like they are going to be cursed or something. My mother created this dress on a whim. It has sat in the window for months." The girl took the dress of the manikin and held it before Buffy, "it comes in one size, 6." The dress was perfect. The bodice was a deep red with a dipped oval front and back. Form fitting and sleeveless the top came down into a slight point at the waist. The skirt of the dress was white with a long train; at the back there were several pleats that flowed down the back of the dress. Each pleat was inlaid with red lace and detailing. It was perfect. Everything about it cried out to Buffy and she knew that she had to have it. The girl gave Buffy the dress and put her in a room. Buffy didn't really know what size she was after the birth of her twins, but she knew that she couldn't be much bigger than a six. She had worked really hard after the birth to obtain her figure. Stepping into the dress Buffy thought for a single moment how much she wished that her mother were here. Pulling the dress up and over her shoulders Buffy twisted to reach the zipper. A hand came through the curtain and Buffy turned.

"Please, I'm sorry. I don't mean to frighten you. My name is Maria; I am the owner and designer of Bliss. May I?" Buffy turned and allowed her to zip up the dress. The zipper slid up her back perfectly. Buffy stepped out of the dressing room and stepped onto the small stool. Maria pulled the dress around the stool and allowed Buffy to look herself over. This was it, this was the dress.

"I designed this dress from a dream. Silly I know, but ever since I put it in the window I haven't had much business. Only specialty items. No on walks in off the street anymore. They seem to think that a dress with the colour of blood is a curse. This looks absolutely amazing on you." Buffy smiled. She didn't care about the colour; something told her that Angel would find the colour amusing.

"It's beautiful and perfect. It's a little long…"

"No problem, I can hem it for you. When do you need it by?"

"Two weeks."

"No problem. It is good to know that the dress will find a home finally." Maria moved away from Buffy and picked up her measuring kit and some pins.

"Oh shit. I don't have my shoes…actually I don't have any shoes."

"No problem, we are a full service shop." Maria left Buffy for a moment and emerged with some shoeboxes. Opening them she removed a coupe of pairs of shoes. One was a pair of white satin and red inlay; another was solid red; and the third was a red and white ballet slipper style shoe. The solid red shoe had a slight heal to it and the white was larger. Buffy tried on all three pairs thinking in her mind what her backyard was like. Should she go with a heel or should she were flat? Angel was over six feet tall; if she wore flats he would tower over her. She settled on the white satin shoes with the red inlay. Maria hemmed the dress and moved towards a jewelry cabinet. She unlocked the case and took out a single piece. It was a necklace and earring set.

"I think if it's not to bold of me, that you should try these with it." The necklace was a simple white gold and ruby set with teardrop earrings. Buffy traced her hand along the necklace. Maria placed the necklace around her neck and Buffy stared at herself in the mirror. This was it, her dress, her shoes, her jewelry, her wedding.

"This is perfect, now the question is how much?" Buffy asked.

"For everything, 3000. The dress is 1500, the shoes are 350 and the necklace set is 1000…only because it's pure white gold and real rubies. And of course your applicable taxes." Buffy sighed. More than she was willing to spend, but would Angel really object? He had a lot of money and he said he would pay anything…

"Okay."

"Great! I will have everything ready for you in a week and half. That way if anything needs to be changed, I can."

"Perfect." Buffy took one last look in the mirror and smiled.

--

They had been looking for three days and were no closer to finding Faith than they were before. Kathy and Sean decided to take a break from searching to run one more errand for Buffy's wedding plans and to spend some time together. Kathy wondered if they were even meant to find Faith. Maybe she just needed to be alone. She could certainly understand that. Kathy sighed and Sean gripped her hand tighter.

"What's on your mind?" He asked.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Maybe, maybe Faith doesn't want to be found. Maybe we should let her come back to us. It's been three days, and we are no closer to finding her. The wedding is in less than two weeks, maybe we should just let it go."

"You are not the only one thinking that. Kera is just worried that Faith might do something she will regret. We really messed with things, this could change the future for Kera more than we can understand."

"I get that. I do, but look what happened with me. My family was pulled from the past and I stayed. That didn't do as much damage as we thought it would."

"We still don't know the repercussions from your time jump. Things could still come up." Kathy hit Sean.

"Don't say that. Can we just pretend that nothing is going to happen to me?"

"I don't want anything to happen to you but it's a possibility." Sean said rubbing his arm.

"Fine. But I just think we should forget it. Live in the now. Faith will come back; she always does."

"Well, we can always talk to Kera, but I already know her answer. We might as well keep up with what we are doing until something breaks. You never know we might actually find her."

"Maybe, but I'm skeptical." Sean took Kathy's hand and squeezed. They continued to walk down the street oblivious to the person following them.

--

Damien was growing impatient. He was sure that someone in the pack had figured out what was going on but he had no idea who it was. Karen had said that someone had tampered with Connor's medication and that he was no longer receiving the injections set up by Damien. The Queen was going to have his head if he didn't kill Connor or the girl. He had to figure out who it was. He had sent for Oz nearly three hours ago. Tonight was the hunt and he had to make sure that Oz was not going to be a problem. There was a knock at the door and Oz entered the room. Damien motioned for Oz to come in and then asked him to sit.

"I need a favour of you."

"Sure. Anything."

"We are your family, right? You would do anything for us?" Damien asked.

"Sure. You have given me a lot Damien. You and the pack. In all reality, I don't have anything else." Damien smiled and picked up a envelop on his desk.

"Tonight is the hunt and I want you to sideline yourself," He tossed the envelope across the desk and Oz put a single hand on it, "You need to do some recon for me. According to some of my sources, your ex-witch is coming to town for the big wedding. She should be arriving sometime this afternoon. I want you to make sure she doesn't interfere with the hunt."

"Why would she? Its not like she has any interest in…"

"Don't question me!" Damien gained his composure and looked at Oz, "You have to trust me. Most humans don't understand our hunt. The people here know we do it once a month and we leave them alone. We previously select, etcetera. But, they might not understand. You need to keep them away from our hunt.
Do I make myself clear?" Oz lowered his head.

"Yeah. I'll make sure that they don't interfere."

"Good. One more thing…do you know who changed Connor's medication?"

"No, why would I know that?"

"We are trying to save his life. The formula I created was helping, someone changed it I thought because you spend time with the boy you might have seen something."

"No, I didn't." Damien smiled and waved his hand for Oz to leave. Oz left the room and Damien swung his chair around to face the wall of the cave. It was funny how they still had to hide themselves from the world like they were dogs. One day he would rule over the humans and they would be his slaves. With Oz gone, he could find out who was messing with his plans. He had to finish this and soon or he was over.

--

Oz left Damien's office sure of what Nina had told him. Damien was trying to kill Connor. Why? It didn't make any sense to Connor at all. There are had to be a reason. He had to talk to Buffy and Angel. Willow…god, he hadn't seen her in years. First he had to find Nina. Nina wasn't in her room when he went knocking. Neither was Susan, the girl who changed Connor's medication. For a moment, Oz stopped and smelled the air. He caught Nina's sent and followed his nose. There were some good things about being a werewolf; a keen sense of smell was one of them. Oz followed his nose and found himself in front of a large steel door. When did this get here? Oz had never seen the door before and had no idea where it led. There was a small window on the door. Slowly, Oz opened the window. Inside was Nina and her friend Susan. They were chained to the wall, blood pouring out of cuts on their arms, face, and body. Shit. Nina was telling the truth. They were trying to kill Connor. Oz closed the window and looked around him. No one was around, Oz allowed himself to transform. Oz placed his large claws on the frame of the door and gripped tightly. Using all his strength, Oz pulled on the door. The door buckled slightly under the strength of the wolf. Oz took a giant step back and braced himself again. Pulling a second time, Oz managed to break the door off the hinges; throwing the door aside, Oz let go of the wolf and stepped into the cell. Nina looked up and smiled.

"I told you so." Oz smiled back and went towards them. He had yet to perfect only transforming certain parts of his body, but he was able to concentrate hard enough to get his hand to change into his massive…was paw the right word? Ripping the chains Nina and Susan fell down onto the ground.

"Can you walk?" He asked them. They nodded. Together the three wolves left the cell and headed towards the nearest exit. Oz was careful not to arouse attention, but most of the wolves were at the start line for the hunt.

"What do you know about the change in location for the hunt?" Oz asked. Susan looked up.

"I heard something about that. Damien has something else planned; some of the other wolves are talking. They think he might be out to kill another human other than the one we have."

"Why would he do that?" Nina asked.

"No idea. Damien has changed, or else he was always like this and we were all so blind that we didn't notice. If anyone knows it's going to be Karen."

"We don't have time to get to her. We need to get Connor out of here and I need to go to Angel." Oz stopped the group as three wolves walked past them. Breathing slowly, Oz waited for them to leave and they silently moved towards where Connor was being held. Opening the door, Oz let the other two in. He turned to find that Connor was gone.

"Shit! Where did they take him?" Susan moved towards the bed and noticed his chart sitting on the sheets. She picked it up and lowered her head.

"Doesn't look good. Whatever they were giving him, he was crashing."

"We need to find him."

"There is no way of knowing where they took him." Nina said.

"Okay, fine. We have to get to Angel."

"By now they will have noticed we are gone. How do we get out?" Nina asked. Susan dropped the chart and went to the back of the room. Pushing on a small stone, a secret door opened.

"This way." Together, the three rouge wolves left the room and headed out into the night.

--

Willow's plan landed around 11pm. She left the plane feeling sicker than she ever had in her life. She would normally say she was a good flyer, considering she did it herself all the time, but that was the worst flight ever. She promised Giles not to use magic to get to Ireland just in case so she had chosen to fly commercially. Never again will I do that. Dawn and Kera were waiting for her in the lounge. Hugging Dawn first, Willow regarded Kera with a nod of the head. Kera looked a little disappointed but what did she expect? She had lied to them all for months, and she had traveled through time. Big mistake. Willow grabbed her bags and together they left the airport. In the car, the silence was killing Willow.

"Okay, silence is death. What is going on that was so important that I had to come down here early?"

"Well, we…kind of made a mistake."

"What kind of mistake?"

"We traveled back in time to save Connor, only the Queen knew what we were doing because of the connection between Tristan and Kera…we really could have screwed things up. We didn't save him, and then Faith took off and we can't find her…can you fix it?" Dawn rambled in one breath.

"Dawn, you should know better then that."

"I should know better then that…" Kera said. Willow put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"You didn't screw everything up. The end result was still the same. Nothing changed there. That is what you need to worry about with time travel, changing the outcome. Faith will come back, you can't force her to be around people when she doesn't want to…" Just was Willow was attempting to finish her sentence three shapes ran across the front of their car. The last hit the car in the side and made the car swerve. The girls screamed and the car came to a screeching halt. Willow's head flew forward and she lifted it slowly. Looking around, she made sure that Dawn and Kera were okay.

"Everyone okay?" She asked. The girls nodded slowly.

"What was that?"

"No idea, stay here." Willow said as she got out of the back of the car. She closed the door and surveyed the damage to the car. Angel was not going to be happy about this. On the ground was a man, surrounding him were three werewolves. Oh god! Willow slowly backed away, but noticed that the man on the ground was someone she knew. Slowly the two other wolves transformed and put their hands up.

"Wait!" They said. Willow noticed that the man on the ground was Oz.

"Oz! Oh my god! Are you okay?" Willow asked as she knelt beside him. Oz slowly opened his eyes and looked into the face of his true love. Slowly he sat up and rubbed his head.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you guys okay?" Willow nodded and helped up Oz.

"We are okay. The car isn't, but I'm sure Angel will understand why you ran into us." Oz laughed.

"We were on our way to see him actually. We have a very big problem." Oz said.

"Yes you do." Damien stepped out of the shadows. Surrounding the group was the entire pack of werewolves. Oz stepped in front of Willow standing off against Damien.

"Damien, what are you doing?"

"Well, I know what you are not doing…I told you to keep the witch away. But did you listen, no you broke out the two women who were trying to kill Connor…"

"No!" Damien put up his hand.

"And then you decided to drop the witch right in our hunt path. The human we chose, got away because of your little distraction, but I suppose the night isn't a total write off. You delivered us not one human, but three." Oz furrowed his brow and held his arms out to his sides.

"I won't let you hurt them."

"Are you going to chose them over your family! We took care of you! We helped you and now you are turning your back on us!"

"You are evil. There is something wrong with you Damien. I don't know what it is, but you are the one who is evil, not me. Not them." Damien laughed.

"Unfortunately for you, I have them. What do you have?"

"Us." Out of the darkness stood Angel, Buffy, Sean, Kathy and Faith.

"Faith!" Kera cried.

"Thought I left didn't you. Family doesn't leave family." Faith pulled a pure silver knife from behind her back and pointed it at Damien. Angel and Buffy held silver swords while Kathy began to chant an ancient incantation. Willow smiled, a protective circle. Sean unhooked a bow and arrow set. Damien noticed that they were silver tipped.

"You can't win. You aren't meant to win."

"Maybe not, but at least we can take you out before the end comes." Angel said. Oz, Nina and Susan all transformed. Baring their teeth the three wolves waited for the attack. For a moment Damien hesitated. He knew that the pack could take them, but he wasn't sure where the pack allegiances lied. All he had to do was kill Connor and the girl. The girl was standing beside the car. Karen was right behind her. He could still win. He could still take her out. Nodding his head, Karen turned herself and grabbed Kera. Kera screamed. Angel turned around and stepped forward.

"Don't bother. We will finish our hunt. I will allow let her kill the girl. Back off, or she dies."

"Do you think I am an idiot? You will kill her anyway."

"You are right. We will."

"No, no you won't." A knife sliced through the night and hit home in the heart of Karen. Stepping from the shadows was someone the group never thought they would see again.

End of Part 3

Part 4

The Queen was watching as the events unfolded themselves. She had been failed again. All she had asked was a simple thing to be done. Kill two people. Werewolves could handle that, they could have turned them, they could have slit their throats, but no…Damien was an idiot. Just like the rest of her help. Anger flowed through her body; her eyes darkened and her white radiant hair turned as black as the night. Laughter resonated through her empty chambers. A figured stepped from the shadows clapping his hands.

"Well, I never thought I would see the day. Nothing going your way? You shouldn't use half-wit lackeys to do your work. It's so much easier when you do it yourself." The Lord of the Underworld walked around the room as the Queen's hands formed fists.

"You are not helping me by making fun of my efforts."

"I am not making fun of you my Queen, I am merely pointing out that your efforts are not working."

"I've noticed."

"I suppose I will just have to do things my way."

"May I make a suggestion?" The Lord took hold of her hands and touched her face. Instantly the Queen's eyes turned blue and her hair lightened. He always knew how to get her to relax.

"What is your suggestion, my Lord?" The Queen asked.

"Stop it all."

"Stop what?"

"Everything. Everything that happened is because the Slayer and Vampire are together. Maybe instead of destroying Kera you need to destroy them." The Queen smiled at the ruler of the Underworld and laughed.

"You are helping me, I thought you wanted to remain neutral?"

"I am, who is to say I won't now go and tell Angel and Buffy what you are planning?"

"You won't, because I know your secret. Your life hangs in the balance just like mine. Thank you my love, for your suggestion."

"What about your wolves?" The Queen let go of the Lord's hand and moved back to her looking sphere. The wolf pack was in shock as to who was standing before them, not the Queen. She knew that the vampire would do whatever it took to save his son.

"I'll let them be. Damien can now fall, he doesn't deserve my help." The Queen waved her hand and the sphere darkened. Leaving the Lord alone, the Queen began to plan her next move.

--

Karen fell to the ground letting go of Kera. Kera looked into the face of Connor, the person she never thought she would see again. Faith dropped her knife and fell to the ground. Connor fell next to her and wrapped his arms around her small shaking frame. Damien stared at Connor in disbelief.

"How?" Oz allowed himself to return to his human form and smiled.

"You are under the assumption that I didn't already tell Angel about your plan. As soon as Nina came to me I went to Angel. I knew that she was telling me the truth; you are not worthy of being our leader. You were in line with the Queen. I saw you two together…Damien, its over."

"It's not! The pack follows me." Rock moved away from Damien and stood next to Oz.

"No, we don't."

"It's over, Damien." Oz waited only a moment. He knew that Damien would not give up without a fight. Damien screamed and turned into his wolf form. Oz stepped aside for Angel. Before Damien could move, Angel brought his sword out in front of him and brought it down. The sword sliced through Damien's arm. The wolf howled in pain; Angel pulled back and let the blade slide into the heart of the wolf. Letting go of the sword, the wolf leader fell to the ground. Rock turned to Oz and put his hand out.

"Turns out you were right. I owe you an apology."

"No need. Makes sense that you wouldn't believe me." Rock smiled.

"Well, looks like our hunt is over." He turned as the pack melted into the darkness. Rock left Oz with his friends. Nina and Susan waited as Oz turned to his old life.

"Well, thanks."

"No, thank you. You saved my son." Angel shook Oz's hand. Connor and Faith were still on the ground as Faith held tightly to Connor's body. Willow wasn't sure what to say to her ex. The last time she saw him he tried to kill Tara. Of course it didn't help that Willow kept a huge secret from him when he came back, but still. Buffy hugged Oz and laughed.

"Look, I know this is super short notice, but I am getting married in under a week and I would love for you to come." Oz laughed back and let go of the Slayer.

"Cool." Angel looked over at his car and frowned.

"What happened to my car!" Kera closed the door and walked over to her dad.

"It wasn't my fault. Oz hit the car!" Angel growled and left the car behind.

"Dad! Come on, do you really think I would mess the car up on purpose! Dad, stop! Let me explain!" Kera followed her dad back to the house. Buffy picked up Angel sword and Faith's knife and rolling her eyes she followed Angel and Kera home. Dawn and Kathy laughed.

"Are you coming Nina? Susan?" Dawn asked.

"No. Not that we don't like you guys, but the pack is our life. Tell Angel, tell him it was good to see him. And congratulations on getting married." Dawn nodded. Nina and Susan left following the pack. Willow took Oz's arm and led him towards the house.

"You know, there is no way out of the wedding now. Might as well stay at the house." Oz shrugged and let Willow lead him towards Angel and Buffy's home. Sean followed last waiting to see if Connor and Faith would get up. Sean looked down and noticed that they were embraced in a passionate kiss. There was no way Sean was waiting for that to end. Smiling to himself Sean melted into the night. Connor and Faith didn't even notice that everyone was gone. Above the lovers the moon rose high in the sky. Twilight had risen to expose the secrets of the night and those secrets would be more than anyone ever imagined.