"It's time."

"Time?" Faith repeated dazedly. "Time for what?" She'd toyed with the idea of following Xander out of the school, accompanying him on his insane new hobby and making sure that he came out of it alive. But she didn't need to spend any more time with Xander Harris. He made her uncomfortable and anxious to be something, and she hated that almost as much as she did feeling needy. So she'd gone to check on Angelus and found him sprawled shirtless on the floor of his cage, paler than even standard vampire hue and his chest covered with the clinical scars of incisions and cuts to the chest.

He reached out to squeeze her hand. "Time for us to be together. Truly together." Warm brown eyes met her own and she trembled with fear and excitement. "Do you understand, Faith?"

Darla moved swiftly to stand behind Angelus, separated from him only by the bars of the cage. "Angelus," she said urgently. "It isn't time. This isn't how we planned it."

Angelus's eyes darkened, and a strong hand snaked out to wrap around Darla's ankle. "I'm leaving this hellhole, and unless you'd like to stick around until the scientists get to you, too, you're going to follow my lead. Understood?"

"Angelus-"

"We're getting OUT!" he roared suddenly, and Faith flinched backward, suddenly very afraid. Angelus was always calm, or at the very worst mildly amused, and he'd never displayed fear and desperation like this before.

Never.

He saw her alarm and softened, tugging her closer. "Faith, it's alright," he cooed. "Those scientists just set me a little off guard. I just want to be with you."

"With me?"

His eyes glittered. "I want to be buried within you, to take you to me and hold you in my arms as I shatter your every barrier and hear you scream. I want to sink my teeth into your skin and turn you into my willing slave, to destroy everything you've ever known and replace it all with only me. I want to break free of these shackles and burn down this prison, to leave it and all it represents behind in ashes as we cut a swath through England and make those damned watchers wish that they'd never been born." He paused, and she tried to follow his words, to consider them dispassionately. They seemed to make sense, she thought, though it all got kind of fuzzy if she thought about it for too long or too deeply. "I want you to steal the key from your principal and let me out of my cell," Angelus clarified.

She nodded. "Okay."

He didn't send her to oblivion today, not when he couldn't even stand, so she left after only a few more minutes, her new mission strong in her mind.

She walked past Spike as she left, and for a moment, she wondered why he was staring at her with such conflict and misery on his face. But it didn't matter, not when Angelus had given her an order to obey. Nothing else did.

"You need to get inside," Willow said rapidly as soon as she'd reached the door, a panting Tara right behind her. "Now!"

"Will, we're fine. Oz is just a little shaky." Xander waved his hand dismissively. "Can't you just do a quick healing spell? He'll be fine if-"

"He's a werewolf," Willow interrupted. Now wasn't the time to worry about Xander's excuses and defensiveness, not when they had a time bomb like Oz on their hands.

Xander blinked. "What?"

"That demon? It was a werewolf. Oz was bitten, and tomorrow's the third night of the full moon." Willow shook her head. "He's going to change." She hadn't cried yet, not when there was so much to do to keep Oz safe, to keep Xander out of trouble. She didn't have time to wallow in self-pity, so she'd turned on Watcher Willow and wouldn't turn her off until the night of the full moon was over. "We need a place to keep him for the next night when he goes wolfy."

Xander blinked again. "No. What are you talking about? You're overreacting." He hauled Oz forward. Oz shrugged. "Look. This is Oz, and he's totally normal. It was just a leg bite, not on the neck or anything, and it barely drew any blood! He's fine."

"A bite is a bite, Xander," Willow said impatiently. "If you're not going to help, get out. You've done enough damage already."

"We didn't do damage!" Xander protested. "We saved Cordelia's life!"

Willow shot him a glare. "At the risk of Oz's? Cordy might have made it. Oz isn't going to."

"He's not dead! He's right here, hale and hearty and all that crap. So maybe he'll be a werewolf three nights a month. It's not like his life is over- if he really does become the wolf," Xander pointed out.

Willow shook her head, feeling anger flare beneath the Watcher Willow persona. "How long are you going to keep this up? How many more lives do you have to ruin before you finally accept that you can't work out your issues by dragging your friends into danger?" She took Oz by the arm and turned to go. "I can't be around you when you're being this…this selfish!"

She stormed down the hall, heading for the stairs with an obedient Oz and Tara- Don't think about Tara. Just…don't.- at her heels.

"Wait!" Willow paused. "There's a crypt at the cemetery," Xander said quietly. "The tall one in the front. It's, uh…it's got a bar across one of the doors…you'd need opposable thumbs to work it. We can-"

"No," Willow said coldly. "I can. You've helped enough already."

He spent the next day in a daze, the ramifications of what had happened still not hitting home, not even when Willow skipped all her classes, even Mr. Rayne's, for the first time in her academic history.

It was only once he glanced out his window just before sundown and spotted Willow leading Oz down the lawn that the full import of what he'd done registered, and he sank to the floor with a cry. Oh, god. Oh, god. Oz…

He'd done it. Oz had gone out there to watch him, to keep him safe, and Xander had responded by destroying him, by drawing him into a trap that he'd never be able to escape. Oz was a demon. Oz was a werewolf. A werewolf.

He needed to talk to someone, to figure things out, what they were going to do, how they could keep it a secret from the watchers, but there was no one there. Jesse and Cordelia had vanished into her room sometime last night and had yet to emerge, and Willow was most definitely not speaking to him.

He thought of a pair of soft lips brushing against his cheek and an even softer voice telling him he was good, and he headed toward the potentials' rooms.

Faith looked up when he arrived, saw the overwhelming dread on his face, and crossed the room in three long strides. "What the hell happened to you?" she demanded.

Buffy was sitting on the other bed, leaving through a textbook, and she also looked at him with acute concern. "Xander, what's wrong?"

"Oz. He's…" He took in a ragged breath. "You were right, Faith. Someone got hurt. Someone…" He tried breathing again and found that it was even more difficult than before.

She ran her fingers down his arm, rubbing against his wrist. "Calm down. Breathe. Breathe."

He sucked in air, slumping against her wearily. "I let Oz… He's…"

"Stop." She covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't talk. Sit down." He followed her instructions obediently. "Breathe."

He tried again, closing his eyes in an attempt to relax himself. It didn't work, and he was soon shaking again, unable to process anything that was happening. Soft fingers moved against him, two pairs of hands slowly helping him lie down against a pillow that smelled of Faith's shampoo.

"Do you want me to leave him with you?" he heard Buffy ask quietly.

Faith's voice was close to his ear, her breath tickling it as she responded. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not." The door closed with a low click and Xander finally remembered to breathe in and out, letting his chest rise and fall with the motion.

"Hey. Can you talk?" Faith murmured.

"Oz," he said hoarsely.

"What happened to him?" Her voice was soft, softer than he'd ever heard it before, and he reached blindly for her. A hand was laid against his own, and Faith squeezed gently.

"Were…werewolf. Bit him."

"Oz is a werewolf?" Faith repeated.

He opened his eyes. Tears blurred his vision. "Now he is."

"Shit," Faith said faintly. "What are you going to do?"

"Willow's taking care of it. She doesn't…she doesn't want me involved."

"And for good reason," Faith muttered, and Xander recoiled. She sighed. "What? You were an idiot. You made a mistake, and now your friend's paying for it. Don't tell me you came here for someone to sugarcoat what you did."

"Congratulations, you're right. I'm a screw-up," Xander said bitterly.

Faith smacked him. Hard. "Ow! What the hell, Faith?" His eyes were wide open now, the tears gone and replaced with outrage.

She shrugged. "I was getting sick of the self-pity. That's usually my gig, anyway. Get your own shtick." He snorted. She shifted so that she was sitting beside him, staring down at his face. "Come on, Xander. There's nothing else you can do right now. But quit making this about you."

"But it is!" he argued. "If I hadn't-"

"Yeah. But you did. Deal with it." There was a distinct lack of sympathy in her voice, but her eyes belied the opposite, sorrow and pity and understanding all wrapped up in her gaze and warming him.

He gave her a wry smile. "You are a compassionate and caring woman who knows exactly what to say," he observed, straight-faced.

She patted his arm. "Yeah, I am."

"This is perfect," Willow decided, looking around the crypt. The back wall was blocked off by long, thin bars that felt strong to the touch, and only by turning a metal stick in front of them did they part and open. "What do you think?"

"It looks fine," Oz said, glancing around. "Secure."

"…Good." Willow twitched nervously. "So you're okay with this place?"

"Sure." Oz nodded serenely.

Willow shook her head. "And the whole werewolf thing?" she demanded.

"Guess so."

Horror and panic rose and mashed together, producing an unpleasant fury that finally hit Watcher Willow's breaking point. "How can you be so calm about this?" she shrieked, wringing her hands. "You're a werewolf, Oz! A werewolf! Everything's changed! You'll be a demon, uncontrollable, feeding on people..." Tears flowed freely down her face. "You're a werewolf!" she sobbed. "It's all so…so…" She grasped for a word and came up blank, staggering into Oz's arms instead and raining weak punches against his chest.

He kissed her softly on the forehead. "I'm terrified," he murmured. "I just don't show it well."

"How can you not show it well? How can you just phase out your feelings like this?" she wept. "Don't you care about anything?"

"I care about you," he whispered. "I love you."

She clung to him. "I love you, too. More than anything. And to see you like this…to know that you're going to…to become…"

"Willow." He stepped away from her, supporting her shoulders but keeping a sudden distance. "I want you to get Xander. Have him keep guard over me tonight. I can't…you can't see me like that."

"No." She met his eyes defiantly. "I don't care what happens. What you become. You're my Oz, and you'll always be my Oz, even when you're four-legged and furry."

He shook his head. "I don't want-" And then he froze, and she knew. "Get away from me!" he shouted. "Now!"

She shoved him into the cage, turned the stick, and watched him struggle, watched as his face bulged outward into a muzzle and his eyes became round and dark, as his body lengthened and hair sprouted from it as his clothes tore and fell into a puddle on the floor.

And she waited to cry until it was over, and a monster stood where her love had once been.

She woke up later in the night, her back cramped and her bed oddly cold and hard.

No. Not her bed.

The earlier segment of the night came back to her in a flash, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut so that she wouldn't catch sight of the monstrosity her boyfriend had become. She remembered its roars, the way it had thrown itself against the bars of the cage at her and its cold, empty eyes. She remembered how it slavered at her and stared greedily at her as though she were just a morsel of food, how it had tried desperately to bite off her hand the one time she'd stuck it into the cage. She remembered the howls into the night that had kept her crying helplessly in concert, a symphony of despair.

But now it was silent, and with dawning horror, Willow opened her eyes to look to the cage.

The bars were shattered, the crypt empty.

Oz was gone.

Riley Finn had been dubious about the Initiative's work at first, too focused on Giles's negativity concerning them to actually see the good in their mission. But today, he was finally convinced, because the Initiative had finally had the opportunity to do something great.

There'd been a demon loose in town the past two nights, terrorizing the general populace, and where watchers had failed, Dr. Walsh, her assistants, and Riley and Graham had managed to track it down and tranquilize it, bringing it back to the lab for study.

And they'd discovered that it was a werewolf, of all demons. Which meant that, though it had human status, it wasn't going to be permitted to roam free, even during the rest of the month. Werewolves were notorious for fleeing their captors in human form and later causing great damage to innocents, and Riley was sure that this one was going to be no exception.

Well, until the sun came up, and Riley watched the slow transformation from wolf to boy. To very familiar boy. "I know that kid," he said, frowning.

"What was that, Finn?" Dr. Walsh turned to stare at him questioningly.

"I know that kid," Riley repeated disbelievingly. "He's one of the watchers. How…has he always been a werewolf?"

"You did this?" Giles's eyes were flashing, his voice low, angrier than Xander had ever seen him before. "You brought Oz to the werewolf?" he demanded, leaning forward over his desk to fix a furious glare on Xander.

Xander nodded blankly, feeling Faith's hand in his own, feeling Willow's silent misery as she stood stiffly beside him. She'd told Giles the truth, of course, and he couldn't begrudge her that. Especially not when Faith had followed him here, determined to "be his moral support," she'd said, but her eyes had been shifty when she'd spoken. Whatever. He didn't have time to wonder about that now.

"Who else?" Giles barked out. "Willow? Jesse?" He turned to Faith, dark condemnation in his eyes. "Were you there, too?"

"It was just me," Xander said quietly. "No one else. Oz was trying to stop me. They all were."

Giles shook his head. "Everyone but Xander, out. Now!" he snapped, and Faith and Willow jumped.

When they were gone, Giles moved around the desk to stare at him with dark, disappointed eyes. "I put my faith in you," he said in a low voice. "I trusted you to be a man. And you've destroyed it all."

Xander stared at the floor. A hand reached under his chin, forcing him up to meet Giles's furious gaze. "You may not look away," Giles said coldly. "You haven't earned that." He dropped his hand, taking a step back. "You're done here."

"Wh-What?"

"Pack your things." Giles's eyes hardened further. "The Academy jet will leave to Tibet tonight, to take Oz to a facility there, and will afterwards leave to Sunnydale." He paused. "A bit of a roundabout journey, but I want you out of my school, the sooner the better."

"Giles…" He didn't know what to say, how to express his apologies and contrition and the overwhelming sorrow and shame at having let Giles down, at having hurt Oz, at being alone in the world. He couldn't beg not to go home, not anymore. It was what he deserved.

"Get out," Giles ordered, turning away. "I want you gone."

Willow and Faith were both waiting for him in the waiting area, their spines ramrod-straight, facing forward with determination not to speak to each other. Willow was the first to jump up and run to him. "What happened?"

"They're sending me home," he murmured, unable to meet her eyes.

She shook her head vigorously. "No. No! They can't take both of you away!" she sobbed, clinging to him.

He patted her back awkwardly, his gaze shifting to lock on Faith's. Her expression was determined and intense. "Like hell you are," she said grimly, rising. "Let's get out of here."

"What?"

"You are not going home," she informed him. "And they can't make you board the jet if they can't find you, right?"

Willow turned to stare at her. "Where are you going to take him?"

Faith ignored her. "I can get you into the sewers, but no further than that. You need to stay there, underneath the school's protective spells, or they'll find you magically in an instant. Got it?"

Xander nodded dumbly.

"You going to bring anything? Weapons? There's still a werewolf on the loose," she pointed out impatiently. "We don't have any time to lose, but you need to be armed."

"I have a crossbow. In my room."

"Get it, Rosenberg," Faith ordered. "Meet us by the back door." Willow looked as though she was about to argue with her, but she snapped her mouth closed instead and bolted out of the room. "You. Come on."

"The back door's locked," Xander pointed out, hurrying after her. "How are we going to-"

"Skeleton key." Faith held it up, looking at it with a strange sort of longing. "The only one of its kind. It's magically enchanted to open any lock in the Academy. I stole it from Giles when we were in his office."

"You what?"

She shoved it into his hand. "Keep it. You're going to need it more than me." They reached the locked back door and stopped, staring at each other.

"Faith…Thank you."

She shrugged, flushing. "Yeah, well, things get boring when you're not around, Harris."

And he couldn't help then but to pull her to him and plant a soft kiss on her very surprised lips. "You, too," he whispered against them, and they opened to kiss him back in earnest, to let her lips and tongue do the talking when they never before really had. He drank it in, sank into every moment of it and let her overcome him in ways he'd only dreamt of before, if only for a moment.

She parted from him, her eyes shining. "I'm glad you won't be here when it happens," she whispered, pressing her lips to his one last time.

Jenny Calendar emerged from her office, just beside Giles's, to peek her head inside. "You heard the kids talking?"

Giles sighed heavily. "Yes."

"And?" She looked at him expectantly. "Should I stop them?"

Giles massaged his temples, feeling suddenly very old. "Let him go for now," he murmured. "Just let him go."