Title: Standing In
By Robinyj
Rated: PG 13, I rate almost everything that. It's a safe rating as I say.
Category/Warning: Let's see, Violence, H/C, Action/Adventure, Humor, a little bit of everything really.
Setting: Somewhere in Season 3, anywhere really, it's all good.
Summary: There's a new evil in town that's after the Slayer to be his sacrifice, but what happens when the Scoobies stand in the way?
A/N: I try to write as if this was an actual episode, so all the regular characters are in the story and they each have a role, but there's a nice amount of Oz h/c cause I can't find any stories that have that, and I crave it. So let's move on.
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"Thanks Oz, I owe you one," Buffy said, sighing as she relaxed when they had lost sight of Trogar the Avenger.
"Don't worry about it. So, who was your friend?"
"Called himself Trogar; I never heard of him," Buffy replied.
"That's original."
"Yeah, I'll have to get Giles on it tomorrow. He said he has a master and unless this guy's just overhyping, he's bad news."
"For you?"
"For everyone. One of those "I'm taking over the planet" kind of people."
"I hate those people."
"Same," Buffy agreed and then flinched as the sound of crunching metal came from the front of Oz's van. Oz seeming only intrigued by the sound, but he looked out his rear-view mirror and asked Buffy:
"I don't really need a front bumper, do I?"
"Only when bumping," Buffy said, honestly regretful that he had had to trash his van to help her.
"Well, I've already done that," Oz said, smiling. He honestly didn't care that much; the van was only for the band so if it got scrapped it was no big loss to him. In Oz's book, friends came over material possessions any day of the week.
"Send me the bill for the damages okay? No way you're paying for saving my butt," Buffy said, meaning it fully.
Oz brushed her off, "Don't worry, I got an uncle in car repair. He'll fix it up for nothing, has before."
"Okay, but tell me if he charges you."
"Do you want to head home or do you need to patrol some more?" Oz asked as he turned a random corner since he didn't know where she wanted to go.
"Take me home, I've had more than enough patrol for one night." Buffy replied, sinking into the seat to relax.
"Home it is."
Another horrible sound of metal crunching wafted from the bottom of the van. Oz looked behind once more.
"What about a muffler?"
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
It didn't take long for them to reach Buffy's house despite the newest alterations done to Oz's van.
"Thanks for the lift, Oz. Drive safe," Buffy said as she exited the van and started up her driveway.
"Not much of a choice really," Oz replied and then pulled away with a final wave. He started home and tried not to flinch at the horrible sounds his van was making. It sounded pretty banged up and he knew he wouldn't be driving it anywhere else once he got it home. He pulled into his house and went inside, not caring about the noise he made or the lateness of the night since his parents weren't home.
When he made it upstairs he phoned Willow; it was pretty late for him to call so he was only going to let it ring twice. If she was awake she always answered within two rings, and if she was asleep it wasn't enough to wake her, or her parents. She picked up mid-way through the second ring.
"Hello?" She sounded tired and Oz wondered why she hadn't gone to sleep yet.
"Hey, it's me."
The sound of his voice perked her up and she sounded much more alive, "Hey Oz. Is something wrong?"
"Kind of, but not to a life shattering degree. I just had to tell you that I can't pick you up tomorrow morning, my van's kind of in the not good," he explained.
Willow was immediately worried, "Are you all right? Were you in an accident? Did you get the license plate of the jerk?"
Oz smiled, loving her concern, "No, it's nothing like that. It was actually a somewhat intentional smashing. Buffy was fighting some massive demon so I figured the mighty power of my van might be more helpful than the mighty power of just me."
"Oh, you're mighty. You're very mighty. Is Buffy okay?"
"Yeah, she's cool. I took her home and everything."
"Well that's good. So, are we going to need a research party on this new guy?" Willow asked, always eager to help.
"Buffy seems to think so. Been a while since we had a party with the research, might be fun," Oz joked.
"You never know."
"It's late, I should let you go. Are you sure you can get to school okay?" Oz asked, willing to drive his tormented vehicle for her.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I can take the bus. It's been awhile since I've seen any of my old bus buddies." Willow said cheerfully.
"Cool, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yep. Good night. Love you."
"Love you too," Oz agreed and they both hung up.
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The next day at school passed quickly. The gang learned, they ate lunch, they learned some more and then they met in the library for research. Everyone was there, Xander, Cordy, Oz, Willow, Buffy and Giles, and there was enough donuts and coffee for all.
"So Buffy, tell us about our latest Villain of the Week," Xander requested as he took a lovely looking powdered donut from the box.
"Not too much to tell. He was ugly, tall, strong, had a wicked healing power and his 'master' is apparently going to rise after he sacrifices me to him," Buffy informed them.
"Sacrifice? As in …" Cordy didn't finish her question but Buffy filled in the blanks.
"As in filet du Buffy, yeah."
"Ew. And could his timing be any worse? I mean, a week before the dance? How rude can you get?" Cordy exclaimed.
"Not thinking this guy cares too much about Buffy's social life, Cord." Xander remarked, but Cordelia just shrugged.
"I don't think anyone's too interested in my current social life," Buffy mumbled.
"I thought you said this guy had a name," Oz reminded her from his position beside Willow at the table. "Trojan or something."
"Yeah, he called himself Trogar," she said in a bad imitation of a deep bellowing voice. "Oh, and I brought clues." She pulled out one of the armbands the first few demons had been wearing and threw it on the table for all to see.
"All right, clues. This is just like Law and Order," Xander said.
"Or, you know, Clue," Willow added.
"I don't see Colonel Mustard anywhere," Xander defended himself.
Giles picked up the armband and inspected it, immediately recognizing the symbol, "It's the sign of Gashrek."
"Oh, Gashrek. That helps," Xander said, sarcastic as always.
"Details Giles," Buffy urged him on.
"Oh yes. He was a powerful demon banished to the Fourth Layer of Hell several hundred years ago if memory recalls. It was the Wiccan group of four that banished him; they were very powerful in their day. I believe he was known as a destroyer of souls; he could find people's worst fears and exploit them so badly that the person went mad and willingly gave up their soul. That is of course, if he didn't decide to just eat them."
"Eat them?" Buffy exclaimed.
"Well, he was a large demon, about twenty feet tall, five feet wide. He could devour just about anything really."
"House shopping must have been Hell," Buffy commented.
"Not to mention clothes," Cordelia added.
"Yes, but the question is how does this Trogar intend to sacrifice Buffy in order to resurrect Gashrak from hell." Giles pondered aloud.
"I'm guessing this is where the research comes in," Oz pointed out.
"Doesn't it always?" Xander agreed, getting up to get the first batch of research books.
"Gashrak!" Willow exclaimed, coming out of a deep state of thought.
Xander patted her shoulder, "Yes Willow, Gashrak. We've covered this. Where have you been the last ten minutes?"
"No, I … I already read something about him. Before, when we were researching something else a few weeks ago. I'll try to go find it," she said, getting up and going into Giles's back room.
"All right. Way to go Willow memory. So this means no research?" Xander asked hopefully.
Willow came back out with two books, "It's either in here, or it's in this one." She said, handing the second book to Xander.
"Wasn't I just rejoicing at lack of research?" he immediately complained. Buffy took the book from him and began flipping through it herself.
"Well, this is great. You all seem to have everything in hand, so I'm out of here," Cordelia said, taking her purse and starting to leave.
"Where are you off to?" Giles asked, more curious than sad to see her leave.
"I've got a hair appointment. You would think this look just makes itself, but sadly I do have outside resources," she said and then strutted out.
"So Willow, why is it that you remember reading about this Gashrak guy?" Buffy asked as she flipped through her book. "Usually when we research I like to forget about what I read … or see. Yuck." Buffy quickly flipped the page again.
"Because he was neat. Well, not him exactly, his followers were, like this Trogar guy," Willow said enthusiastically and then smiled at Oz who was reading over her shoulder.
"Not when I met him," Buffy noted.
"Well, he wasn't like 'Hey I'd like to meet that guy neat', he was more 'hey, he has cool powers' kind of neat," Willow explained.
"Like X-Men cool powers?" Xander asked, finally enjoying the conversation.
"Kind of, he …" Willow was interrupted by Oz stopping her hand from switching pages.
"He's right there," Oz pointed out in the book. Everyone looked for a moment and then Giles took it from them and began to read aloud.
"Gashrak, ancient demon of the underworld banished to Hell in 1199 by the Wiccan Group of Four. His followers include the Onrak, powerful demons that are capable of changing into any human-like form."
"Whoa, shapeshifters?" Buffy asked, feeling very uncomfortable. "As in, being anyone at anytime and no way of knowing any different?"
"It would seem," Giles agreed.
"So, he could be any one of us," Oz said casually then saw the frightened look on everyone's face as they looked around, "But, you know, it's not likely."
"I'd rather not take any chances. Is there some sort of shapeshifter test? You guess their name and they have to show you their true form or give you three wishes and a pot of gold or something?" Xander asked, remembering several comic book and Star Trek deviations of the tale.
"No, that's leprechauns, which actually do exist. It's an interesting story really … but, not appropriate right now. Anyway, the Onrak would have no way of knowing the personal details of the life of whomever it is they're impersonating, so one could easily ask it simple questions about that person to determine if they are real," Giles offered, trying to comfort his protégés.
Buffy looked at the picture in the book and pointed out, "But this is what he looked like last night, so where's the change happening here?"
"Yes, this would appear to be his true form, according to this text and most likely his strongest. Therefore it would be the best in which to use to fight you," Giles said.
"What about the whole sacrificing Buffy thing, cause I wasn't really down with that," Oz piped in.
"Second that," Buffy agreed.
"Oh, third," Willow added.
Giles continued reading and seemed to find the answer, "According to this it is possible to raise Gashrak from Hell, once every four hundred years. All that is needed is the proper spells, incantations, a few mystical objects and oh, this would appear to pertain to Buffy."
"Let me guess, the blood of a Slayer. There's a new one," Buffy complained, wondering why she was always singled out. Chosen one, duh.
"Not specifically actually, it says only that a 'pure and powerful blood sacrifice is necessary'. It is the power and purity of the sacrifice that negates the Wiccans' spell and allows Gashrak to rise once more. It seems, Buffy, that you are merely the sacrifice that this Trogar has chosen but not the only possibility, I would imagine," Giles explained.
"Well, lucky me," Buffy said unenthusiastically.
"When exactly is the four hundred year mark for this ritual?" Willow asked. "Cause if we can keep Buffy safe until after the date then we've pretty much stopped him without doing any work, right?"
"I like this plan," Xander agreed, finishing off another donut. "It's safe, offers a nice comfort zone in which to work. It's way better than attacking with humus, no offence man."
"None taken," Oz assured him.
"Um, let me see. The ceremony may take place after sunset on the fourth day of the fourth month," Giles read.
"That's tomorrow," Oz said.
"It would seem."
"You know I'm seeing a definite pattern here. I don't think that Wiccan group had a lot of originality, cause they did everything in fours." Xander complained.
"Well, it was their trademark," Giles said.
"So, I stay away from this thing for two more days and there's no sacrifice. Yippee. But what if I do meet up with it again? How do I kill it, cause it really didn't feel like going down last time?" Buffy asked, very curious about the answer to this one.
"Its shapeshifting abilities make it able to heal very quickly as you can imagine, and the only real weakness it has is to fire. If you can find a way to ignite it all at once then it cannot possibly heal while still burning and will eventually die. You had the right idea the other night as well; cutting of its head would work, but you would clearly need something stronger," Giles offered and Buffy nodded, happy to have somewhat of a plan at least.
"Okay, fire good in this case, I'll remember that. That really covers pretty much everything, so I guess we're done. Time for fun," Buffy smiled and led the way out of the library, followed by Oz, Willow and Xander.
Giles made a last attempt to stop them, or at least Buffy, "Buffy, you really should try to get some training in and some more research on this matter wouldn't hurt either."
"Giles, I've trained, I'm fit, I'm ready, I'll run the race and make you and mom very proud," Buffy said, exasperated and not sure she was even possible of getting in better shape. "But tonight is just calling out for fun."
"And we've researched, we've learned, now we party, or at least salsa," Xander added.
"Oh, movie night," Willow suggested and received nods all around.
"You research more, call us if you find anything," Buffy called out and the group disappeared from the library.
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"Who let Xander pick the movie and why did we all agree?" Buffy asked as she popped the tape out of her VCR.
"Because you trust my judgment to pick a kick ass movie, which I did," Xander replied while munching the last of the popcorn.
"If by kick ass you mean I want to kick your ass for picking it, then nice job," Buffy said, taking his bowl.
"It wasn't that bad. It was kind of corny and okay, the killer suddenly growing wings was a little off the wall but … I'm sorry Xander, that movie was bad," Willow said apologetically.
"Oz, a little help here," Xander pleaded.
"I have the right to remain silent," Oz said stoically, giving no hints to liking or disliking.
"And he invokes it all the time," Buffy commented.
"Gotta love that constitution," Oz smirked as Willow settled against him for the next feature film. It was time for her pick.
"Buffy, don't you have to patrol tonight?" Willow asked, looking at the clock and seeing it was prime slay hour.
"No way. Giles said to stay away from the big bad so it can't sacrifice me and I intend to. Besides, I checked the obits, there's no fresh graves to stake out so I pretty much got the night off," Buffy smiled.
"Well fun. Okay, movie now. Yeah!" Willow exclaimed as it started.
Behind her, Oz asked, "So, which one of these guys is Monty Python?"
"It's not just one guy, it's the whole group. They're all Monty Python," Willow explained.
"Gotcha."
The four quieted down and watched the movie in silence, laughing occasionally during the funny parts and looking confused at the meant to be funny parts. None of them knew that a few miles away Trogar was lurking again, looking for the Slayer. He stayed out all night, prowling the places she was known to be, but he didn't find her. Eventually he realized he would have to do a more aggressive search if he wanted his sacrifice in time for tomorrow night.
As the sun rose and Sunnydale citizens awoke for a new day another lone figure left the graveyard after changing into human form. This time the stranger was a young man, looking barely over sixteen. He had a bookbag, sneakers and sunglasses, and smiled as he prepared for his first and last day as a student at Sunnydale High.
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"So you had no run-ins with Trogar, or any other unsavoury characters last night?" Giles asked the next day at school.
Buffy nodded, "Nope, Trogar was definitely not in my television. Although there was a strangely deadly white rabbit that I was considering taking on."
"You didn't patrol last night?" Giles exclaimed.
"You said stay away from Trogar, I effectively stayed away from Trogar. Look, he hasn't got me so he has no sacrifice and we have no Gas demon trying to eat our souls or the rest of us, I think it's all going nicely myself." Buffy meant that too, she wasn't just saying that because she felt like being normal with her friends last night instead of patrolling. Nope, not for that reason at all.
"If you recall, I did not agree to the plan of just letting the ritual deadline pass without meeting with this Trogar. It is dangerous and he may be after you, but we still cannot allow this demon to wander around freely. You'll have to stop him eventually," Giles told her quite seriously.
"I know, but after the ritual deadline seems to give me a much greater chance of not being, you know, dead," Buffy stated matter of factly, without fear or hesitation.
"Perhaps you're right," Giles was forced to admit.
"Anyway, I gotta split. English class. See you after school," Buffy yelled and raced down the hallway.
Xander and Cordelia walked down the hall contently. They were both in a good mood today and they were getting along well since Xander was yet to bring up anything geeky and Cordelia had yet to bring up anything fashion related, but who knew how long this would last.
"What color did you say your dress for the dance was?" Xander asked suddenly.
Cordy looked at him suspiciously and replied slowly, "Red, like rose red. Picture the Little Mermaid's hair, hey, since when do you care?"
"Well, I was going to make sure your corsage matches your dress. I know you like when you have all your fine details planned out like that," Xander replied, trying not to make a big deal out of it, but Cordy smiled brightly and even hugged his arm. "Whoa, public affection from Cordelia. I could get used to this."
"Keep doing what you're doing and you will. I like when you care about what I care about, it's good to know you're trying and actually listening when I talk," Cordy said, sounding oddly sincere and thankful.
Xander was just as respectful when he replied, "I always listen, it's just sometimes I'm talking at the same time too, it gets hard."
Before Cordelia could reply the couple was interrupted by someone clearing their throat very loudly. There was a student standing in front of them, looking at them as if waiting for them to break apart so he could talk to one of them.
"Excuse me, interrupt much?" Cordelia asked indignantly.
"Sorry, I'm looking for Buffy, do you know where she is?" the strange kid asked. Xander looked him over, positive he had never seen him before.
"Who wants to know?" Xander asked.
The kid didn't miss a beat, "I'm Tony, I'm her lab partner. Have you seen her around? I really need to talk to her."
Now Xander knew something was definitely wrong, especially since he was Buffy's lab partner.
"What about?" Xander prodded, attempting to be casual.
Tony smiled like he knew something Xander didn't, "It's personal."
Cordelia started to answer the kid, just wanting to get rid of him, "What is it, fifth period now? I think she has …"
"Been home sick for the last few days. We haven't seen her." Xander finished for her, never breaking eye contact with 'Tony'. He looked very normal, with a face that could get lost in the crowd, but Xander was still positive he had never met him before. Xander's spider sense was tingling and he decided to test this kid, as Giles had suggested.
"You're sure you haven't seen her," Tony pushed, taking a step closer to the couple. His eyes lowered and the boy that was annoying moments ago suddenly became threatening. "Cause I really need to talk to her."
"You could ask her Chemistry teacher, Mr. Carroll, he might be able to help you," Xander added, then took a step back and waited for a response.
"I'll do that," Tony smiled, shifting back into normal guy. He left the couple and then turned into a classroom, not hesitating or questioning Xander in any way.
Xander watched him go closely, gauging his response, and then took Cordy's arm, who was furious at being pulled along and interrupted, and turned around down the hall. "Come on, let's go."
"What is your childhood trauma?" Cordy asked when they were around the corner and out of earshot of the creepy kid.
"Huh? Oh, you missed the research fun last night. There's a new big bad after Buffy and I think that may have just been it," Xander explained, looking around trying to spot the guy again.
"That kid is a big bad demon?" Cordelia asked, sceptical.
"Not him, but his possible alter ego of Trogar definitely is. I can't be sure but it's better safe than sorry. Come on, let's go find Giles and Buffy, they tell it better, and don't say anything else. This guy's a shapeshifter, he could become anyone," Xander added as they headed towards the library. He had lost sight of 'Tony' after they left him and he couldn't find him again.
"Even me? Whoa, imagine the possibilities. This town couldn't take that much unbridled fashion sense," Cordy pointed out as she didn't try very hard to catch up.
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An hour later the gang was back in the library. School was out and the halls were clearing of students, but the Scooby Gang had more research to do and things to discuss.
Oz came out from behind the bookshelves, having finished searching the room for anyone spying or watching, "It's all clear. There's no one in here and I don't think anyone can listen from the doors and windows."
Xander had been pondering over Trogar's shapeshifting ability all day and asked, "Hey, what if this guy can become like a fly or a mouse and just sneak in and listen to us?"
Oz eyed a fly on the table warily and as it flew away he crushed it in mid-flight, "Well, if he can then I just solved all our problems."
Giles brushed off the idea, "That is highly unlikely. All the texts I've read so far have indicated that he is capable of human-like transformations only. Of course, if I had had some help with the research last night than I may have been a bit more successful."
"If it makes you feel better, we were watching classic English comedies and thinking about you the whole time," Willow offered in explanation for their absence.
"Thank you, but it doesn't. So, you believe this student was Trogar in human form?" Giles asked Xander for clarification about his encounter.
"I get that impression. I mean, I've never seen the guy before and he just pops up out of nowhere, being very pushy about finding Buffy and saying he's her lab partner," Xander said, putting all the facts on the table.
"But you're my lab partner."
"Exactly. And then I told him to check with Mr. Carroll about where you were, and he's like, 'I'll do that' but we don't have a teacher named Mr. Carroll. I tricked him, do you get it? I was being clever," Xander gloated, proud of his deductive skills. They mostly just nodded in reply, now deep in thought.
"Well Buffy, since clearly this Trogar has taken a more active role in finding you, I suggest you not go home tonight. You should stay at Willow's or even my apartment until we are sure the time of the sacrifice has passed," Giles said as a plan of action. "There's no need to take any unnecessary risks."
Buffy nodded, understanding, "That can work. Mom's out of town so if he does find out where I live he'll just get an empty house. But I'm starting to be not cool about all this running away, seems a tad cowardly, almost Xanderish."
"Hey!" Xander exclaimed, but didn't truly resent the comment. Running worked sometimes.
"I know what you mean but it's only until after tonight, then we may smote this Trogar in any way you like," Giles consoled her.
"Smote? When have I ever smote anything?" Buffy asked.
"Perhaps you should start," Giles replied lamely in his own defence.
"So is hiding our plan cause I have places to go," Cordelia exclaimed, sounding bored.
"Go Cordelia, I'm sure we'll manage without you," Giles sighed.
Cordy smiled and tugged Xander's arm, "Come on Xander, I still haven't got shoes for my dress. You can help."
Xander looked back at the group, not really wanting to go, but also not really wanting to stay for more research. Giles waved him off, assuring him it was all right to leave.
"Looks like we're down to a happy little quartet," Buffy observed once they were gone.
"Maybe we should be less happy, more worried and sombre," Willow suggested, still worried about Buffy, despite their sketchy plan.
"We could be both," Oz suggested, "Or all three as the case may be."
"Actually, I have several texts at my apartment I would like to go through. Not to mention that I'm waiting for a call from the Council regarding Trogar, so I'm afraid I must be going as well," Giles said regrettably.
"I'll come with and help with the research I guess, since I won't be kicking any shapeshifting butt anytime soon," Buffy said, following Giles as he gathered his belongings.
"Oz and I can stay here and watch over the library and finish up the research you were doing," Willow volunteered.
"That would be splendid. There are a few students with books due back that may come sometime after school. The texts I needed to go through are on the desk in my office, I've tagged them with post-it notes. The blue ones I've gone through and the yellow ones I haven't," Giles explained as he headed closer and closer to the doorway. And then he and Buffy were gone leaving the lone couple with the books and research.
"A simple yet efficient system," Oz commented as they looked over the pile of books and post-its. "I was expecting something more …"
"Complicated? British?" Willow supplied, but Oz shook his head.
"Giles-like. Something like, alphabetical order, in Ancient Sand script maybe. Like there would order, but Giles order."
"Also called chaos," Willow added and Oz smiled.
"I guess. How's your Latin?" he asked, picking up the first book.
"Nonexistent. Yours?"
"Same. Guess we'll be skipping this one then," he said, putting the book back in the unread section.
Willow picked up another heavy looking book, "You know, sadly, this is exactly how I now picture spending my Friday nights."
"Me too. It's great isn't it?" Oz said, his lips showing one of his bare smiles.
Willow huffed as she opened her book, "What's great about research?"
Oz came up behind her and kissed the top of her head, "I meant spending every Friday with you."
"Oh, well, yeah, that's you know, fun and worth it," Willow stuttered, taken aback as she always was by Oz's compliments.
Oz smiled, loving seeing Willow flustered, and they both tried to focus on their books.
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying very hard to block out the infernal noise that plagued him while simultaneously not losing his temper. Several moments passed, but his headache increased and the sound wouldn't relent. The shrill, piercing echo pounded in his ears until he couldn't take it anymore. Finally he slammed his book shut and stood.
"Buffy please, if you could just concentrate for a moment, or if that is too difficult, at least be quiet!"
Buffy's eyes widened and her lips stayed in the '0' shape they had assumed while she was whistling what she thought had been a perky tune. She smiled, bit her lip and put out her hands in defence, "Okay, sorry. Calm down, you're jumpier than Xander on a sugar high."
"I'm not quite that bad," Giles defended, turning back to his text.
"All right, Xander coming down off a sugar high then. Still equals quite jumpy," Buffy continued then went back to her doodling. She had a nice outline of a tree going and was starting to add some flowers. Oh, this wasn't boring at all.
"I'm sorry, it's just, I need silence while I read."
"I can do silence. You read ahead, I won't say another word," Buffy promised, holding up her hand in a boyscout's honor sign. Then she quickly dropped her head and went back to her doodling. Giles seemed satisfied with this and sighed as he found the page he had been reading. Content with the silence, he took a sip of his tea and then abruptly spilt it all over himself when Buffy suddenly spoke once more.
"You know I've been thinking, you said that I was Trogar's sacrifice of choice, but I wasn't the only option. What if Trogar just goes for plan b and finds something else to be his sacrifice?" Buffy asked thoughtfully.
Giles pondered it for a moment and then shook his head, "No, I don't think we need worry about that. The sacrificial requirement may have seemed vague but it is actually quite specific. A 'powerful, pure blood sacrifice' is quite rare. I can think of very few supernatural beings that fit the description."
"What about vampires? Wouldn't they be a powerful blood sacrifice?" Buffy continued pressing the matter.
"Obviously though they are not 'pure'," Giles pointed out.
"Oh my god, what about Angel? He's got a soul, that would make him 'pure' right?" Buffy surmised, her voice suddenly sounding very worried. She was prepared to jump from the table to warn him but Giles held out a hand, indicating she should calm down.
"No actually, he still possesses a demon within him, negating all pure qualities he may have. And even if it didn't, a vampire would not be considered a powerful blood sacrifice," Giles explained.
"Hello, they drink blood. It's kind of their thing," Buffy said, confused but relieved.
"My point exactly, because they drink others' blood they have little to none of their own and therefore their blood itself holds no real power. It is the demon within the vampire that has replaced the victim's soul that gives it its power, not the blood that it consumes," Giles said matter-of-factly as he flipped through his book.
"Well, that's good I guess," Buffy replied, and went back to her doodle. Maybe I could add a cat.
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|
Willow had given up on the ancient texts in Giles' office, hating how dusty they were and annoyed that she couldn't read half of them. Oz was still in there, doing his best to go through them, but Willow preferred the new fashioned way of researching - the internet.
Two students had returned late books in the two hours she had been there so she didn't pay much attention when she heard the door opening, admitting her third visitor of the afternoon. She didn't look up as he approached, having just found a very interesting website, and instead simply asked:
"How late are they?"
A confused, older man's voice replied, "How late are what?"
Willow looked up, embarrassed. It was not a student that had entered but a man looking to be about forty with a semi-formal suit on.
"Oh, well, I was … I meant library books, but clearly you don't have any, since, hey, probably graduated," Willow stuttered as she usually did. "So what can I do for you?"
The man smiled and reached into his breast pocket and then pulled out a wallet and badge, "My name's Lieutenant Barkins, I'm with the Sunnydale Police Department, I'm looking for Buffy Summers."
"Buffy! What did Buffy do? Buffy didn't do anything," Willow exclaimed, shocked and protective.
"Relax miss. I'm investigating some vandalism that occurred at the Graveyard near Florence Street. The big gate at the opening was completely smashed and a witness puts Miss Summers at the scene. I just need to ask her a few questions," Lieutenant Barkins explained.
Willow remembered Oz mentioning he had put his van through the cemetery gates to help Buffy. It had never occurred to her that there might be a police investigation involved.
"Buffy's not here," Willow said. "I'll doubt she'll come in again tonight."
"I really need to find her, do you know where she might be?" the lieutenant continued, sounding casual enough, but Willow thought she detected a slight hint of nervousness.
"Her house seems a good start," Willow said, knowing enough not to give up Buffy's location at the moment.
"I've been, there was no answer."
Willow shrugged and exuded an air of ignorance, "I have no clue then. She'll be at school on Monday though, you can come back then."
"I really need to find her tonight," Lieutenant Barkins emphasized, his voice hinting with desperation. Willow finally started to get the wiggins and felt there was something wrong here.
"Well, I don't know where she is … so maybe you should just leave," Willow requested, trying not to sound anxious.
Just then Oz emerged from the backroom, book in hand, "Hey Will, I found a … a … great website you should check out." He said, quickly backtracking before he blurted out anything about spells and demons in front of their guest.
"Great. I'll do that then. Now. So … bye." Willow said quite blatantly to the cop, hoping he got the hint and left, but Lieutenant Barkins's eyes were now clearly fixed on Oz.
The musician closed his book and placed it on the counter, then took an uncomfortable step back as the policeman moved a step closer to him. Barkins then moved even closer, still looking Oz over closely.
"What?" Oz asked, thinking this wasn't cool.
"What are you?" Barkins whispered, sounding honestly perplexed.
"I'm Oz. It gets a little complicated after that," Oz replied uneasily. Something wasn't right with this guy, something didn't … smell right.
The eyes of both Barkins and Oz widened at the same moment as they came to different realizations.
Trogar, Oz thought to himself.
"Werewolf," Trogar whispered, sounding very pleased.
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
Oh, the plot is unravelling, it's so exciting! I hope you like the fic so far. I'll have more in a little bit. Please review if you want more, and tell me if you're an Oz fan, I'm starting to feel like I'm one of the only ones left. I'm like the whooping crane or the panda bear, it's kind of exciting.
Thanks to Templa Otmena, AineRosa, wiseoldman, Silver Mirror, and The Red Cheese is Wax for reviewing the last chapter. It was much appreciated.