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Giles was just pouring himself a tea when the doorbell rang. "Damn, always when
I'm having a cuppa."
He went to the door, stake in one hand and looked through the peephole. He saw
Buffy and Xander, along with a number of others he could not make out in the
peephole's fisheye distortion. Satisfied that is was not a big bad, he opened
the door.
"Buffy. Done with patrol already? And who are your friends?"
"That, Giles, is what we're here to find out." Buffy, Xander, Willow and Tara
entered, followed by Oz."
"Oz, you've returned!"
"Yup, these people are my new friends." Giles made a point of not inviting them
in. They entered anyway, being forewarned on the trip over. As they entered Oz
introduced them. Conn came in last of course, and had to duck to get through the
door way.
"Well make yourselves at home" Giles said, unable to hide his distress. "Tea
anyone?"
Hope came up to him, "Mr. Giles, why don't you let me handle the refreshments.
You're going to want to be a part of this conversation."
"Yes, quite. Thank you miss…"
"Hope Wayland, Mr. Giles. You go have a seat; I can find my own way to the
kitchen." Hope proceeded to the kitchen, Derrick followed her.
Giles removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was going to be
one of those nights.
With everyone assembled, Oz began.
"First let me apologize to everyone for the way I left, and for not contacting
anyone while I was gone. The last few months have been a roller coaster ride for
me. After the incident with Veruca, I felt I was a danger to everyone,
especially you, Willow. I left to discover a way to control what I was. And boy
did I." Chuckles from the pack.
"First let me state that what I'm about to say is sorta confidential. I can tell
you not only because I still consider you friends, but because you are all
warriors for the Light." Looking directly at Giles, he continued "I'd like it if
none of this was written down or repeated to anyone outside this room. Peoples
lives could be at stake."
"What, did you go to work for the CIA?" quipped Xander.
"No, but they are one of the groups my friends and I want not to notice us.
First let me state that just about everything you know about werewolves is
wrong."
Giles interjected, "Excuse me Oz, but I have extensive books on the subject
and…"
"I'm sorry Giles. Most of the books you have are based on legends of people
who've have little contact with the real thing. That or Hollywood. There are a
few places where fact and fiction intersect, but only a few. Also a lot of the
books you've read have been "edited" on purpose to hide the truth, for our
protection."
"I guess the best place to start is from the beginning. When I left that
morning, I had no idea where I was going…" Oz proceeded to tell them of his trip
north, meeting the Red Moon pack and his Rite of Passage. As he spoke, Hope and
Derrick came out with refreshments for everyone. Giles was so fascinated by Oz's
stories that it didn't occur to him that things were being served that were not
in his cupboard. Derrick had gone shopping and come back, without using the
front door.
Willow was obviously trying to control her emotions. "But that only amounts to
about a week or so Oz, where were you the rest of the time? Why couldn't you
write or call?"
"South America." Krieg answered for him. "While Oz was undergoing his
introduction to the Garou world, we were busy checking up on the story he told
us about this place. What we found out was disturbing."
Xander put his two-cents in again. "That sums up the Hellmouth; disturbing."
"We were all set to come down here when we got another mission, one we felt more
pressing than coming here. We dragged Oz with us down to Brazil to help stop
some of the destruction of the rain forest. What was supposed to take a few
weeks turned into a 5-month running battle."
"Good God!" Exclaimed Giles. "The rebel insurrection?"
Now Conn spoke up. "That were no rebels, t'was The Red Moon Pack! And about 7
other packs. The Wyrm were clear cutting the rain forest again. Only this time
Government soldiers were defending the Formori demons what were doing the job.
Bloody mess that was."
"And you've been there all this time?" Buffy asked Oz.
"Yup. We took 2 weeks R&R in Mexico, and then came straight here. Didn't expect
to get into a fight right away, but that's the Hellmouth for you."
"So let me get this straight" started Giles. "You and your friends here are from
a race of beings called "Garou". Your condition was not brought on by your
cousin Jordy biting you, and he is most likely a Garou as well. The Garou fancy
themselves some type of "Eco Warriors" bent on protecting the earth from the
ravages of the Weaver and the Wyrm."
Derrick felt the need to clear part of the statement. "So far right on the
money, except that I'm one hundred percent Human. I always feel the need to
point that out."
"Yes, sorry. The transformation into your werewolf battle form during the full
moon Oz was a psychological problem, cleared up after you went on a vision quest
of sorts. Now you can change at any time?"
"Yup."
"Can I see it now?"
The Pack looked at each other. They still had their spider fetishes on, so Oz
asked them, "Any objections?" No one responded negatively. Krieg added, "I
don't think we'll all fit in the room though with us in Crinos. Conn would
probably fall through the floor!"
"I don't see why not, but just me. There wouldn't be enough room if we all did,
and Conn weighs over one ton in that form. Xander and the girls have already
seen them anyway."
Oz moved into the center of the room. Without great need like a call to battle,
the change takes a few seconds. The Scooby gang watched as he transformed
through the caveman-like Glabro form to the full Crinos battle form. He looked
at his friends. They'd already seen him, but still had a look of shock on their
faces. To lighten the mood, Oz did a little jig Conn was teaching them. It
worked.
Laughing Xander said, "I don't think you should quit your day job yet Oz."
All this time he'd not spoken to Willow. She was on a couch, Tara tucked in next
to her. Looking at her he reverted to human form.
"Willow. I want you to understand that I had no preconceptions about what to
expect when I returned. I know you tried to hex me and Veruca," a look of
astonishment on her face, and denial, "but that's cool. You didn't despite the
fact that it was nothing less then what we deserved."
"Let me stop brood boy for a moment." Hope interjected. "He didn't mention in
his previous recap that Veruca was a type of Garou that is in league with the
Wyrm, a Black Spiral Dancer. We believe she was using a type of magic to lure Oz
away from you, in order to "recruit" him for lack of a better term. That's one
thing that brought us here."
Willow started to cry. Guilt at what she almost did and now guilt for not
waiting for him. Tara looked at her, unsure of what to do.
"Listen Willow. Despite what Veruca did, I was the one who left; I broke
contact, not you. I didn't know what to expect when I came back, but I didn't
return to come between you and someone else. I don't even know if I'm staying
here past the next couple of days. You moved on, I can accept that. If we can
still be friends, I'd like that. Just remember that I'll always love you. No
matter what."
Looking at Tara he said, "Take care of her." And he walked out the front door.
Willow ran crying upstairs to Giles's bedroom. Tara ran after her.
Buffy cursed under her breath. "Well isn't that just great. I don't know whether
to hug him or slug him."
Hope stood up. "It's late. Those two have emotions to deal with. We all could
use some rest, but there are lot's of things we need to discuss besides the teen
melodrama. I suggest we meet again tomorrow. Any suggestions as to where?"
"Casa Summers has more room. Tomorrow is Friday, and I've a barbeque out back.
We can make a "Welcome Back Oz" party out of it. Say 5:30?"
"Great, we'll bring the steaks since we're intruding. See you then!" The rest of
the pack said their thank you's for Giles hospitality and left.
"A polite group at least" remarked Giles.
Xander replied. "Polite werewolves, isn't that like an Oxymoron?"
"I'm going to check on Willow. Giles, in the morning can you try to verify their
story? It's not that I don't trust Oz, but I'd like to know who we're dealing
with."
"Yes, yes of course."
"Xander, Oz mentioned they were also a rock band. See if you can run that down."
"Aye Aye Skipper!"
After a little coaxing, Tara got Willow to go back to the dorm. Willow went to
her room and Tara to hers. Willow cried herself to sleep. Tara paced for more
then an hour not knowing what to do with herself. She picked up the phone
several times meaning to call Willow, always putting the phone back down. She
eventually settled into her bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
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TBC