Five vampires stood in front of the factory. One was in front, wearing a new pair of glasses, balding and heaving a beard. A smile crept up his as took the glasses off of him and steadily walked forward, his companions following. He tossed the glasses forward, they fell to the ground and then crushed them casually beneath his feet. After all; what did a vampire with vampire-enhanced vision really need glasses for? A bit later they were inside the main hall, and he looked around the empty place with a big grin.

There was some stumbling, and from a highly stacked metal tube a vampire cam crawling carefully. Two more came out of different hiding places. "Well, look at that, Marius," Dalton spoke with a superior grin, "the master vampires stayed put in the place the slayer and palls knew - and they're all dust. Surprising? I think not."

His companions snickered, one of them, Marius, stepping forward to equal footing. The vampire wore a leather jacket, a silk red blouse underneath, and a pair of jeans to finish it off. He looked sophisticated, with enough hint of casualty to make look intelligent, powerful and rich, coming into money on a young age, whenever that was, and whether that was actually true.

"Dalton, you little coward," the vampire that came out of hiding first hissed. He walked over with all his height. The vampire must have been easily over six foot tall; and had muscular arms - he looked very strong. His vampiric face was out just like the other vampires, and he stalked over to the brainiac vamp. "How dare you speak like that about the greatest masters that ever were. You left them, hid, while Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike killer of two Slayers fought to there death, you weak little man." The vampire grabbed Dalton by the collar obviously intending to hurt him severely.

"I'm not a man," Dalton answered him, and with a swish of his hands pulled a stake from inside his jacket and imbedded it in the heart of the vamp. He looked surprised and then turned to dust. The faces of the other two vamps that had come out of hiding turned from anger to surprise in no time. Dalton casually put the stake back, and rubbed the dust of the other vamp from his clothes, while speaking, "Just because I worked for a duo of quite powerful master vampires doesn't mean I'm weak - it just means I wasn't as strong as the three of them."

Clean, Dalton took a deep unnecessary breath, and said, "Well, now, we've tried brute force, overwhelming numbers, assassins, complete insanity, supposedly unkillable apocalyptic demons . . . how about we try intelligence for a change? Hmm?"

There came no argument, and he nodded. "Good, follow me you two, it's smarter to /leave/ from where the Slayer and her friends can find you," Dalton said, and then turned around, and walked back out, Marius directly on behind him, practically beside the book vampire. Behind that the other vampires followed.

-----

Buffy dried the last of her tears as she stood in front of her house. She had been with Xander and Willow at Xander's place. After her breakdown in the cemetery they brought her there to cheer her up as best as they could. Then she had left and returned home, finally. She looked with dread at the front door, not quite knowing what to say to her mother. Finally she mustered her courage and entered the house.

"Hey, Buffy."

Buffy turned around and saw her mother sitting on the couch. Joyce placed her hand on the couch left next to her. In an instant, Buffy couldn't figure out why she ever dreaded coming home to her mother. She walked over quickly, sat down and let herself fall into her mother's hug. Lying with her head on her mother's shoulder, tears escaped her again. But the crying wasn't the horrible pain of loss with her friends, it was a soft, cathartic, cleansing sobbing. Joyce hugged her daughter close and whispered, "I see the world didn't come to an end."

Buffy swallowed, and whispered, "Xander blew the thing up with a rocket launcher yesterday."

Joyce looked surprised, unseen by Buffy, and she said, "Don't tell me how he got it. So what happened today, that you needed to run out."

"Angel," Buffy said a little louder than a whisper, crying softly, "he lost his soul, I had to dust the demon that wore his face."

"Oh, honey," Joyce said and kissed Buffy on her hair, rubbing and hugging her little girl.

"Surprise."

Buffy opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, Joyce still holding her. In the door to the kitchen stood Xander, and he entered the room. Behind and around him Buffy's other friends poured in. Xander was breathing slightly heavy, as was Willow - they had obviously raced her home. Holding a cake with seventeen candles Xander strode forward, saying, "I know you're not exactly in the mood for it, but there was no way we could let the presents go to waste, let alone the cake." Xander reached the low coffee table, and the others came up around him, Willow right next to him. He set the cake down.

"Yeah, it's a little late, and will probably sound hollow," Willow said with a wistful smile, "but happy birthday."

Buffy looked around. Lotion was to the left, Oz having an arm wrapped around Cordelia next to her. Xander and Willow of course, and Giles to the kindergarten friends right. "Presents?" Buffy said, unable to keep a smile of her face. It didn't fully reach her eyes, a strange mixture of melancholy and happiness that her friends were here, throwing her a birthday party after all.

"Cake first, I'm hungry," Cordelia said sourly, although Buffy could see the twinkle in Cordelia's eyes. She shook her head just a bit; Cordelia jokingly being selfish? The world was doomed. The thought entered her mind for a fleeting moment, bringing the smile fully up to her eyes.

"All right," Buffy said and bent forward. She blew, and all the candles went out instantly - some of the candles were also launched off the cake and splattered her friends, along with some whipped cream. Buffy looked shocked for a moment as she saw Willow look surprised, Xander scoop up a glob of whipped cream, and Cordelia give a shocked shriek at her dress being ruined by whipped cream. The Buffy laughed out loud, and then Joyce, Giles and Lotion joined in. Then Xander and Willow and finally Cordelia; while Oz opted to stay true to his stoic self and gave a bright smile.

"Presents," Willow said enthusiastically once the laughter was over, pulling a box in wrapping from her back and handing it to Buffy.

-----

Willow was sitting in a lotus position on the library floor, meditating with Jenny across from her. She had five heavy books floating in the air, slowly circling in between them. Jenny was very uncomfortable. She had thought that her training with Willow was over, but the budding witch had found her and dragged her to their appointment training session during both their free period now. Willow had actually scolded her for being late. Giles was busy with his books at the counter, and they hadn't spoken. Now the situation was the reverse of a month or two ago. The bell rang, signaling the end of the period, and the beginning of lunch hour.

A little while later Lexa and Lotion entered the library. Lotion in flattering tight jeans and a smooth top that accentuated her breasts. With time passing by, there were no Chinese dress shops around in Sunnydale, and although a long drive to LA would allow for a rare Chinese clothes shop run by a Chinese woman, it was a long drive, so Western clothes filtered in her wardrobe among her Chinese ones. Besides, the shop wasn't Amazon, just Chinese, and Amazon clothing was a bit more . . . Amazonian to euphemistically say than the standard Chinese clothes. Her dark brunette hair with tails and ribbons was still all girly yet tough though, making her still look exotically beautiful despite her less exotic clothing. Lexa in turn was wearing a one-piece, black mini-dress, that made her look like heaven incarnate. She wore a sexy grin, and took Lotion in casually as they walked in together. Lotion pretended not to notice, but her happiness that her future husband-wife wasn't oblivious to her charms was obvious by the twinkle in her eyes.

Five heavy books slammed loudly to the floor. "Willow?" Jenny asked, and she looked around, seeing Lotion and Lexa. She looked back at Willow and told her softly, "That shouldn't disrupt your concentration."

"Sorry," Willow said, annoyed with herself, as well as a little frightened - she knew what losing control meant.

"Giles," Lotion said and placed a ring with shimmering jewels and intricate designs on the counter.

"Hmm? Oh," Giles offered in return and walked over. "What is this?"

"Spike wore it; gave him super strength, even more super strength than vampiric super strength," Lotion explained seriously.

"Indeed?" Giles asked with a little surprise, and Jenny and Willow got up to go over and look at it.

"I had to cut of the vamp's hand or he would have won," Lotion added looking down at the ring. "I tried it out on myself this morning, and it boosts my strength as well. I do not cheat, however."

"And she can handle a couple of vamps on her own anyway," Lexa cut in, making eye contact with Willow and giving her a sexy smile. The redhead swelled at the action, and returned the smile. "Some of us have much more use for one like this. Cordelia - although quite strong and getting stronger - is nowhere near us, Oz is just a guy, and although you're tough Giles, and Willow and Jenny have magic, you don't have serious strength. Someone, I'm thinking Oz, wear this thing during fights, and we have another super strong warrior on our side."

"That is an interesting proposal," Giles spoke in his usual British understating manner. "Before we do that, we should research it though, find out what it is exactly and that it doesn't have unwanted side effects, short term or long term, when one uses it."

"Cool, research party!" Willow exclaimed, and they all looked at her. "Hey, everyone has things that excites them, mine is the pursuit of knowledge, sue me!"

"Thirst for knowledge is a good trait," Giles said with a nod, pulling an old book from below the counter. From the few words still readable on the cover, it was something of a compendium for mystical artefacts. "Of course, with knowledge should also come the wisdom to use it," Giles said casually. Jenny flinched slightly, feeling the jab at her as if piercing her heart; she had hidden what she knew, who she really was, and that instead of waiting a day with her newfound knowledge about Angel's curse's loophole, she should have 'had the wisdom' to tell them right away, before the whole unfortunate event.

The library doors opened, audibly in the back ground. "Hey, guys, how's everything? No . . . What's she doing here?" Buffy's voice rang out, going from nice to sub-zero the moment she saw Jenny.

The gypsy took a step back, ready to leave, when Willow said evenly, "Training with me."

Buffy in a casual loose jeans and loose top, hair partially messed up, showing off she hadn't been in the mood to work much on her appearance, in turn showing she was still shook up, took several steps toward Willow. "Why?" she asked with a mixture of hurt, betrayal and anger. "She's a spy, she betrayed us."

Willow took a step forward closing the distance between the two friends two barely forty centimeters, and she said with an edge to her voice, "Because she's the only one who can. Ripper over there knows magic, but only about unleashing it hope for a nice chaos to enjoy. Jenny can teach me control; and I experienced being out of control of the magic, Buffy. Not something I'm going to repeat if it's up to me, and it is."

"Giles?" Buffy asked her Watcher for help.

Giles obviously did not like being asked about the subject. He had a crush on Jenny, and just not taking her calls and giving her the silent treatment hurt like hell. He wanted to forgive her, and only his loyalty to Buffy as his Slayer kept him from doing that. Of course, he pretty much felt like he was the other young women in the library watcher as well. "I-I'm with you, Buffy, but . . . it's a public library, I can't throw her out unless she makes too much of a ruckus," he smoothly evaded any responsibility. In the mean time, Lexa had tried to sneak out - too late.

After giving a death glare to Giles, Buffy turned half around and said, "Xander- Lexa, tell her."

Lexa froze mid-step, three steps away from the rest.

"Yeah, Lexa, tell her," Willow added her hands across her chest.

Lexa slowly turned around. She raised her hands in a warding off gesture and said with a nervous smile, "Ah, well, I'm not getting in between you two. You just fight it out, preferably without the actual fighting, and then tell me how to treat Jenny. Okay? Okay." She reached over, grabbed Lotion by the hand, and in an act of mercy pulled her along in her rapid flee from the library.

Buffy twisted back around and looked at the determined Willow. "Fine," Buffy said bitterly, twisted on her heel, and stalked out of the library.

"Well," Giles spoke with all the control he could muster, "it seems I will be researching this ring on my own, unless you help me out, Willow?"

Willow turned to Giles and said gently, "Let me get my lunch, for lunch period you have my brain - not literally of course."

Jenny stayed for a moment, not certain what to do. Giles had already turned back as Willow left the library to get her lunch, and then she decided to leave and only be in the library when Willow took her there for training. Hopefully over time they could all find it in their hearts to forgive her, as Willow seemed to have done.

-----

A few days later

Early evening

Buffy waved as the car drove off. The car honked twice. Smiling she went inside of her home, a backpack on her back. "Hey, Buffy!" Joyce's voice called from the kitchen, preparing herself a sandwich. "You still need diner?"

"No, dad took me to a restaurant after the ice show," Buffy answered joining her mother in the kitchen.

Joyce smiled and asked her, "So how was the show?"

"Fantastic," Buffy answered with a smile. "It was so beautiful. Twists, turns, somersaults and all of that on that slippery ice."

Joyce looked at her daughter. "Okay, so I've seen it before and I can probably do it myself, but dad was there, I sat next to him, we talked, we had quality father-daughter time; we could have been at mud wrestling . . ." Buffy said with a sad smiled.

"You missed him, huh?" Joyce asked her daughter.

"Yeah, I see him so little since you got divorced," Buffy said with a momentary sad smile. Then she brightened up and added, "And after . . . what I had to do . . . a night away from this place. It was just what I needed."

"I'm glad you had a great time," Joyce told her and came over to share a quick hug.

Buffy took the backpack off, opened it and pulled several boxes saying, "And presents! Presents are always good, especially when dad feels he should overcompensate for not being there for me every day." She pulled removed the already torn re-wrapped wrapping, showing a short, black evening dress. The second box held a beautiful necklace to go with it. The third and final box earrings. "I'm guessing he had female help with picking it out," Buffy said taking in the present with sparkling eyes.

Joyce chuckled, saying, "I'm sure he did."

-----

"Ah, finally," Ryoga, the eternal lost boy told no one looking out to the docks from his position on the ship. He had taken a job on the thing, cleaning the deck and doing more chores. "Back in Tokyo. With this new technique, I will beat Ranma once and for all! I just have to find Nerima," he said with a deadly smile.

Then the sign on the docks became close enough to read, and Ryoga did. 'Welcome to Sunnydale California.' Ryoga's eyes widened in shock. "NO! Not this place again!" Ryoga shouted in anger. He deflated, hanging over the railing when one of the crew members backed up into him. Ryoga's eyes widened, balanced, and went over. "Aaah!"

SPLASH!

A moment later a brown piglet broke the water down below, squeaking with anger, glaring hatefully at the ship . . . that came ever closer. The piglet's eyes widened, and then quickly turned around and started swimming for its life, screeching all the way.

-----

Grumbling Ryoga walked aimlessly in Sunnydale; having gone from one side to the other and back again several times over. "This looks familiar," Ryoga muttered looking down the street, taking in a terrace having five tables with some chairs. The shop it belonged to had a sign that read in flowing letters, 'The Amazon Dragon - Authentic Chinese and Amazon food.'

Ryoga's eyes twitched with annoyance when he remembered the place. Obviously the woman had added some outside dining opportunities. Deo stepped outside, and looked around. "Ah, Ryoga!" Deo exclaimed with a large grin, which made Ryoga extremely uncomfortable. Deo reached him, put a friendly arm around his shoulder, and said, "Perfect time. My female clientele was going down a bit, I take it you need another job to pay for another passage to Japan?"

Ryoga groaned and then his right hand balled into a fist. "Ranma," Ryoga hissed dangerously, "somehow this is your fault too, I know. I will kill you for this, right after I kill you for everything else."

-----

Their lips touched feverishly together, kissing each other hungrily. Xander was sitting on the passenger seat, and Willow was in the driver's seat. There are arms were wrapped around each other and fondling everywhere. "Hm, mh, Willow," Xander said breaking the heated kiss, looking at the hot redhead. The low-cut top showed off her small, but ample cleavage. Her lipstick was no longer fully present, partially probably on his lips. Along with the smouldering look in her eyes, she looked positively, breathtakingly hot. "I can't believe your mom lent you the car," he said softly trying to control where things were going. He had one bad experience with letting hormones get the better of him, so he was determined to put pressure on the breaks, and make a more informed decision.

It had been two weeks since Buffy's birthday, and Xander's thinking of her in romantic was had slowed down. For one thing he actively sought not to, because he hated feeling 'icky' about the amazing heroine, (very possibly former) lover and friend that was Buffy Summers. Willow and Buffy's relationship was strained, albeit they were still friends, and they still regularly spent time together. As a result, Xander and often Lexa whenever Buffy felt like 'girl talk', had been together more in 'friend' capacity - alone. Similarly, Xander and Lexa also hung out more with Willow - alone - in both friend and more capacity.

Outside of the car were bushes, grass, a sandy path, and a bit onward more cars. It was Sunnydale's make out place for those with cars, and there were plenty of people and cars that were only meters from Willow and Xander's car using the place for the same reason. "Well," Willow said desperately, leaning forward again, "I don't think she notices me enough to know I'm gone. If she misses the car more than me, I'm officially going for emancipation as well." Before Xander could say anything else, her hands were back rubbing his chest and her lips pressed to his, with her tongue exploring his mouth.

"Mmh," Xander muttered forcing his head back again. "Will, slow down." Willow pouted, almost making Xander's resolve crumble before overwhelming force. Somehow though, he managed to control himself. "I think we should, you know, slow down. This is going way too fast. I know what too fast got me last time - heart ache, pain, broken friendships."

"What makes you think I want to have sex with you?" Willow asked with a superior smirk.

"Uh," Xander said, looking down, where Willow's right hand was gently stroking his crotch, where behind Xander's jeans lay hidden a raging erection. Her left hand was gently rubbing the left side of his chest, her palm on his nipple.

Willow blinked and said, "Let me rephrase that; what makes you think I want to have intercourse with you?" Xander looked confused, which made Willow's heart fill with love. Still her loveable doofus despite the body, and confidence upgrade. "Xan, I'm not ready," Willow said softly with smile, "Hands, mouths, lips, tongues, naked bodies, oh yes, but not . . ." Willow let the sentence hanging and looked deeply into his eyes.

"I don't know, we were just tr- . . ." Xander was cut off by Willow's new oral attack. A deep kiss that she broke and then started kissing, nuzzling and nibbling down Xander's chin and neck, which made him gasp with the sensation. "Oh, boy."

There was a feint sound, and Xander frowned, then pushed Willow back from him, hands on her upper arms. "Did you hear that?" Xander asked, frowning as he tried to listen.

Willow listened, and then smiled. "Nope, nothing." She went back to kissing Xander.

There was a new sound, of plants being ripped, or torn. Xander pushed Willow back, and said, "Now I /know/ I heard something."

"Oh, come on," Willow said with a smile, humoring him. She was antsy, her body was practically burning up, her nipples were hard and she was moist down there. Her desires were doing the thinking for her, making her miss the fact she knew Xander wouldn't say that for nothing. She leaned forward, going to kiss and said, "Just rel- . . . Aah!"

Behind Xander, outside the car, in the window there was suddenly a beast; a grey-furred beast. A canine snout slammed a moment later against the window and it cracked but held. The monster growled and roared and prepared to go again. Xander turned around and saw it slam into the door again, probably denting. With a grimace he opened the door and slammed it into the overgrown dog, and it backed up a little. Xander got half out of the car, his right foot on the ground, and then with a quick jab slammed his fist across the beast's snout. It tumbled backward, yipping in pain, then righted itself, looking as Xander got out of the car with purpose - an almost bloodthirsty grin on its face. The pain of just one hit, coupled with the grin it all to well understood, made it turn and run away quickly - this was one being that was not prey but predator like itself, and prey wasn't worth fighting one that strong over.

"Ah, damn!" Xander exclaimed seeing the monster disappear in the bushes and trees. He didn't have a flashlight, and so there was no way to track the thing. "It got away," Xander said.

The fright caused by the beast's attack, and bled out almost all of Willow's arousal, and so she said, "Ah, let's go home, and tell Giles in the morning."

"Okay, what are you going tell your mom?" Xander asked casually as he got back into the car.

Willow looked at him, and then realized he was talking about the damaged door. "I'll think of something," she said as she started the engine.

-----

For a change the Scoobs met in the parking lot in front of the school. Giles arrived holding a paper, and said, "Listen to this. A body was found heavily mauled and half eaten. This seems to be our expertise, and no vampire for a change of pace."

"Unless it's a really, really, really disturbed vampire," Cordelia having sunglasses on her head, and wearing a grey mini-dress said. She looked stunning, and hated the fact that Oz wasn't here.

"Indeed, although highly unlikely," Giles replied with a neutral face.

Willow had Xander's arm around her, leaning against a car next to Cordelia. Two pairs of female eyes attempted to burn holes in Willow's hand. She spoke up, "I think we saw it last night. Some hairy monster slammed into the car wanting to eat us."

"Really?" Giles asked intrigued.

"Yeah, I chased it off, it'll have a nasty bruise though. It was of the canine variety, I'm thinking: werewolf," Xander explained with a lopsided grin.

"Werewolf?" Lotion asked with some annoyance. "I hate dogs."

"Who doesn't like sweet puppy dogs?" Buffy accused Lotion who glared back at the girl.

"Listen, pig-nosed girl . . ." Lotion started.

"How did your mom take the damage," Xander quickly interrupted, directing the question at Willow.

"Oh!" Willow said with an enthusiastic face, "Pretty good. I told her it was probably some hooligan down the street and she bought it. She shrugged and said insurance would cover it. Never even noticed I wasn't at home."

Giles frowned at Willow's statement, and then smiled saying, "A werewolf, you say, Xander? If your hypothesis is true, we would have a month to prepare for its next night out on the town so to speak."

"A day," Willow interrupted. "Some nine hours actually." Giles looked questioningly at her. "Tonight's the full moon," she added.

Giles frowned for just a moment, thinking about full moon. "Interesting, that would mean the popular myth about only coming out on the night of the full moon are in error," Giles said and then started walking toward the stool with a spring in his step. "A werewolf. It's one of the classics."

The Scoobs fell in step behind their librarian, and with crunched face Buffy remarked, "Giles needs a hobby."

"He needs a girlfriend, or should I say 'his' girlfriend," Lotion corrected, making Buffy glare at the Amazon.

"Either way," Xander said in attempt to keep the peace, "I guess we'll be out werewolf hunting tonight."

"Yeah, so I can get my clothes all dirty again," Cordelia complained lightly.

"You need Slaying clothes, clothes only for Slaying, easy fitting stuff you can move in," Buffy gave her sagely, veteran slayer advice. "You could go shopping this afternoon."

"I'm know, I'm not stupid," Cordelia bit back.

-----

"So exactly why are we going to have lunch there again, Buffy?" Xander complained as the Scooby Gang, Lotion included slowly walked toward The Amazon Dragon. "She's an evil witch, remember?" Buffy and Willow were up front, then came him and Lotion, and finally Cordelia and Oz.

"Mother evil," Lotion agreed, not liking the idea of her future husband and her friends in reach of her mother's next potential scheme.

"But we haven't been there in ages, and evil witch or not, she's an amazing cook," Buffy said, as Willow walked with some annoyance. She too had no desire to eat at . . . scratch that, there was a bare-chested Ryoga bringing some peoples' orders to a table outside.

"Oh, of course, I see," Xander said sarcastically noticing Ryoga himself now too, while Buffy attempted to hide her lecherous smile, "Yep, she's such a good cook, or should I say recruiting agent."

"That's not . . ." Buffy started.

Flatch. Slowly Lexa now tightening out the top while the jeans were a bit loose turned around and looked at Oz screwing the cap on his thermos with a seriously pissed off face. "I just thought you'd appreciate the scenery a bit more as a girl than as a guy," Oz remarked as if discussing the weather. The girls couldn't help but giggle.

"Very funny, Oz, /very/funny/," Lexa said tersely.

-----

"Sunnydale can be a dangerous place at night," the female instructor spoke in the gym. "Everyone should know a little self-defense and that's why we're going to be teaching you a bit." The students were all sitting on the stands of the gym. They were wearing their gym clothes in Sunnydale colors: red and yellow. Some wore different color tunics, but all had yellow and red in their outfits somewhere. "Form up in groups of four."

The students got off their buts and came down. Larry, the tall blonde jock, had a gauze on his upper arm. A few more guys were around him, as he said, "Man, it's still painful. Getting bit by a dog is worse than it sounds."

Oz cut in front of him casually, Cordelia behind him and he held up his right index finger which had a plaster on it, "I know what you mean. My cousin Jordy turned one and got his first teeth, nasty things."

Larry looked oddly at him as he and Cordelia walked onward. Larry suddenly dismissed them and switched courses. He saw a lovely brunette girl and walked over to her. Leering he said, "Hey, Melissa, I'm going to be your partner. Just how realistic to do you want the groping to be?"

Melissa looked with a little fear at him, and then Cordelia suddenly stood in between her and Larry. Oz casually mosied on over and stood next to Melissa. Cordelia gave the dumb jock an evil smirk that made him swallow.

Willow, Buffy, Xander, and Lotion were the least enthusiastic about it all, and came last, walking over slowly. "Uh, Mrs. Ashton, do we really have to do this?" Xander asked as the four of them slowly found a place, and Buffy noticed with a bit surprise that she was with Willow in the same group.

"Of course, like I said, this could save your life," Mrs. Ashton answered him, as the other students started to find a place.

"What he means to say is, this is kids' stuff," Lotion clarified somewhat annoyed that she, an Amazon warrior, would be expected to take classes with a bunch of rookies. She should be teaching this class! She'd mop the floor with the instructor, literally. "The four of us are advanced martial artists, doing some exercises is a waste of time."

"Is that so, Ms. Lu? Can you demonstrate a shoulder throw then?" Mrs. Ashton asked the Amazon.

Lotion rolled her eyes in annoyance. Demonstrate a mere shoulder throw? The things she could demonstrate . . . "Of course," she said, facing the other students and gesturing to Xander.

He grinned and grabbed her around her neck. Lotion immediately bent forward while taking a step back, and hurled Xander over her neck. She was careful and so Xander smoothly landed on his ass on the mat, and got without problem.

Mrs. Ashton nodded with satisfaction, and said, "If you noticed, Lotion performed the throw perfectly. One needs to both bend over pulling your attacking along, as well stepping back to use your and your attackers bodies' momentum. Very important." Mrs. Ashton gestured for the students to try. She turned around to the four who were claimed to be 'advanced martial artists' and said, "I'd like to see what you can do before I let you train on your own."

"Sure," Xander said with a smirk and walked off to behind the students. Lotion followed him, while Willow and Buffy walked off the corner diagonally from Xander and Lotion, next to the row of students that occupied the bottom left corner.

As Mrs. Ashton prepared to take in Xander and Lotion, the students made their attempts at shoulder throws, most of whom who failed. Cordelia was about to throw Larry, when he groped her leg, and said, "Come on, Cor, show me what you can do, I'll make it more real for you."

Cordelia give a small growl, and then made the perfect shoulder throw. Unlike Lotion though, she was not gently or careful, and simply yanked Larry onward, and put all her might in bringing him down. With a painful yowl he landed hard on the mat, which meant he didn't get much pain at all. With a quick motion Cordelia slammed her palm into his forehead, and with a painful grunt he went unconscious. She grinned, as everyone looked over at the unconscious jock and she said, "Oops. I don't know my own strength."

Oz bent over to Melissa and said gently, "Remind me never to piss my girlfriend off." The girl gave him a smile.

Xander and Lotion turned their attention back to each other, and looked at each other. Xander smirked, as the two completed their battle stances. Mrs. Ashton looked, and then her jaw dropped. With speed and a quick yell Xander and Lotion went to each other and traded blows. Lotion deflected one of Xander's while she ducked backward, to avoid the second one. Xander jumped up in the air and kicked his right foot out. Lotion stepped out of the way to her right, ready to capitalize on Xander's weakness. Xander though twisted his body around its axis and made a roundhouse punch. Lotion ducked underneath and kicked out, landing her foot squarely in Xander's stomach as he landed. Xander groaned while grabbing her foot. Lotion jumped up, kicking out with her other leg. Xander bent backward avoiding the kicking, flipping over on his hands and onward on his feet. Lotion flipped high through the air and landed, as Xander attacked. She blocked his first punch, but got a left hook across her chin. She bent back a bit with the hit, using her hands to Xander's hands aside opening his stomach. With Xander's momentum still going forward, Lotion ducked and landed her hands with all her might in Xander's stomach. He groaned as he was launched off his feet, flying back to land against the wall six meters away . . . with his feet. He jumped off of the wall, closing the distance to the advancing Lotion much quicker than she anticipated. She doubled over as his right punch landed in her stomach. He ducked and twisted to his left as Lotion kicked out, landing his elbow in her side. Xander turned to throw a punch, which she grabbed and immediately twisted to pull him up and over her body that twisted under his arm. Xander was pulled off the ground, but he made a somersault to land on his feet instead of his back. He immediately twisted around with an elbow to Lotion's face that she only barely avoided.

Lotion flashed Xander a grin, and Xander's eyebrows raised. Quickly stepping forward she yelled, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire!" With devastating speed an enormous amount of punches came at Xander. He had figured that Lotion had reached the level to perform the technique as well about a weak earlier, but had of yet to perform the technique properly. Lotion's grin had warned him, making him realize she had perfected it in her private training. His own chestnuts allowed him to block and parry each of her punches, then with a quick leg swipe, sent the Amazon down to the floor.

"Okay!" Mrs. Ashton called out, while the students still looked with large eyes at the amazing fight. Xander and Lotion looked over at her, and she said, "You've proven it, you can train your own stuff, there's nothing I can teach you two." Xander helped Lotion up with a grin.

Only three students in the long line of groups of four weren't stunned. One was the unconscious Larry, the second the unflappable Oz who had seen it before anyway, and the final one was Cordelia who just shook her head muttering, "Showoffs."

Meanwhile, Buffy smiled at Willow and said, "I'll go easy on you."

"Don't patronize me," Willow returned as she brought her arms up, her sides facing Buffy, one arm back and one arm front. Willow made a come-here gesture with her forward open hand. Buffy nodded, her smile faltering and kicked out at Willow's face. The redhead parried the kick with her front right hand while taking a step back. Then she threw a punch to Buffy's stomach who blacked it, while throwing her own. Willow reared back, only barely avoiding Buffy's punch. With a yell Buffy pressed her advantage with a kick, but Willow crouched down, and then jumped up with her own battle cry, landing a powerful uppercut directly on Buffy's chin. The Slayer was launched off her feet with a groan of pain, then landed on the mat. She got up instantly, a pissed off look on her face.

"Oh, you bitch," Buffy said lowly, and then charged forward. Willow looked surprised and needed every last little bit of speed she could muster to block the Slayer's first punch. Suffice it say, there was no way she could stop the second one landing in her stomach. She doubled over, only get a roundhouse kick to her face and drop to her back.

"Ow," Willow muttered from the floor, and looked up to see the petite blonde towering over her. "A little restraint would be nice," Willow whimpered and then was lifted off the floor by her collar by two impossibly strong hands.

"I thought you didn't want me to patronize you," Buffy asked her, as some of the other students looked over at them.

"Not going easy and using everything you got are not the same - somewhere in between would be nice," Willow told Buffy and then pulled up both her feet and slammed them in Buffy's face.

"Urgh!" Buffy gurgled out as she staggered backward and let go of Willow who landed painfully on her backside. Willow got up and looked warily at her friend. Buffy charged and made a clumsy right cross. Willow avoided it, twisting aside to the left, and moved to grab Buffy's next hit, a bit of her old muscle memory still present. Willow's eyes widened as she saw Buffy twisted around, grinning at her, in a completely different way she'd have moved several months earlier.

"Oh, boy," Willow muttered realizing her mistake, just before two open hand palms slammed in her stomach. "OOF!" she said, being launched off her feet and landing three meters further. "Ow," Willow muttered looking up at the ceiling.

-----

The bell rang, and Willow, aching all over, forced herself to her feet after Buffy had put her down once again. A little across from them Xander and Lotion stopped their furious sparring session. The other students stopped what they were doing as well, which was either performing an instructed maneuver, or gaping at Xander and Lotion.

Buffy had turned and started walking out the door. "Buffy," Willow said with a slight groan in her voice. Buffy turned around and smiled at Willow waiting for her to speak. "We need to talk, in private."

After changing clothes, Willow and Buffy found a quite place in the school's courtyard. "So what's the matter?" Buffy asked perkily.

"What's the matter? You know what's the matter. You just spent the entire hour pummeling me," Willow accused Buffy.

Buffy looked sourly at Willow and told her, "We were sparring."

"Yeah, right. Usually sparring includes giving advice and teaching someone when they're clearly less than you are, you just beat me up," Willow said, rubbing her sour left shoulder in demonstration. "We've hung out together in the past few weeks, Buffy, we've talked, but never quite, and you know it. It's usually one way and superficial. This is about Jenny."

"So what if it is?" Buffy countered, obviously pissed.

"Buffy, I've never known you to carry a grudge like this," Willow said somewhat concerned and feeling bad, "You've all but forgiven Lotion for anything she did, same with Cordelia, and you dragged us to Deo's restaurant. I'm pretty sure at the very least the last one did far worse than Jenny. She just made an mistake, Deo deliberately went after us."

Buffy looked down. "If she . . . I wouldn't have . . . and then . . . I wouldn't have lost . . ." Buffy muttered, obviously tears threatening to start to come.

Willow frowned, feeling pained and guilty at Buffy's pain. She shimmied closer and twisted her upper body from a confrontational forward to a companionable side, and slinging an arm around Buffy's shoulder. "Angel?" Willow asked gently, pained.

Buffy shook her head. "Xander - happy means no necro-sex, and that means no disgust," Buffy whimpered defeated and let herself slump against Willow.

"She's sorry, Buffy. She screwed up, yes. She hurt us all, but she only just found out, and she was part of the gypsy tripe long before she met us. Forgive Jenny, please," Willow whispered gently holding Buffy tight. "Don't you think it's time? If not for me, you must have seen Giles, I think he's hurting more than you do." Willow took in Buffy's reaction. The blonde stopped her pity attack, sat up straight and with raised eyebrows looked at Willow. The witch could easily see the new pain on Buffy's face - she had definitely noticed Giles. Do you really want to keep putting him through that?"

Buffy sighed, and said, "Fine."

-----

Buffy walked into the computer classroom. Jenny was behind her desk. "Uh, Miss Calender?" Buffy prompted.

Jenny's head jerked up, instantly a guilty face on it directed at Buffy. "Yes, Buffy?" she asked weakly.

"Hi, uhm . . ." Buffy started wondering how to do this. She still wasn't ready to forgive her, but she could tolerate her, and get back the closeness she had with Willow and Giles. "Giles . . . he misses you."

"Oh," Jenny said weakly. "Yes, I- uh . . . I think I noticed that."

"You don't have to stay away from us, any of us," Buffy said softly, pain in her eyes. "I'm not going to like you for quite a while, but . . . the silent treatment is over." Jenny looked stunned. Then Buffy slowly turned around and walked back out into the hallway, leaving Jenny sitting silently at her desk.

-----

Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia and Lotion sat around the table in the library. Giles arrived holding a book and said, "I have studied werewolves, and have found some interesting information. The werewolf represents the most primal and primitive in us. So primal it emerges not just on the full moon, but also the nights directly preceding and following it. It is a creature that runs on pure instinct; it lives to feed, and so it kills. It knows no mercy or remorse, or in fact any higher brain functioning."

"In short, you're typical male," Buffy piped up with a smile.

"Hey!" Xander called out offended, while the other three girls looked without any positive emotions at Buffy, who was completely oblivious to having pissed the other girls off.

"Indeed, Buffy, let's not jump to conclusions, shall we?" Giles added to defense of his gender somewhat perturbed.

"Who jumped? I took a tiny step, and there conclusions were," Buffy added perkily and looked over to Willow's dark look.

"And why would you consider that a bad thing?" Lotion asked Buffy, and then she seemed to be taken by a holy spirit. "Rough, tough, doesn't put up with wining, goes after the girls he wants, conquers them, defeats any man to stand in his way. He takes you hard, no nicey nice 'oh, dear, yes dear', no annoying spineless thingy, no shifting and wonder, and thinking a fifth time over this or that, looks at you, leers at you, no pussyfooting around waiting for you to make a move, no having to hope you took the right thing, were you two forceful for his weak spine, or did you come on too soft and thinks you lack confidence, no, a /real/ man comes after you. A /real/ man will rip a bear's paws of with his bear hands in order to protect you. You are lucky having real men around, just imagine having to drag his sorry wimpy ass away from the bear before taking it on with your swords, while he just sits there cowardly. No, a man in touch with his instincts, that's the way a man should be."

Everyone looked at her, and Giles started, "Yes, well, that was- . . ."

"She's completely right," Willow butted in.

"WHAT?" Buffy exclaimed in shock, hearing that come from her best female friend. Xander looked surprised at Willow.

"She's right," Willow repeated, nodding, "that's exactly the way a you want a guy to be. Who wants a wimp? You want a guy to take charge, I want to feel strength in his arms around me, confidence and power he just conquered another girl as he kisses you. Oh, yes, no half-hearted and then backing off going on about going too fast this, and I'm not ready thus. Bad enough we do that; guy's do that . . . well, the human race would be extinct in no time, because nobody would get to having sex and procreation."

Buffy was about to say something, when Cordelia said, "Yep, definitely. A man doesn't have the drive for sex, the human race is doomed. The way men are today is the way we want them, we made them, we chose to procreate with those types of men, and here we are today."

"Hey, where's the sisterhood gone?" Buffy pouted with some surprise and annoyance.

"It isn't like girls are any better," Xander observed with a smirk.

"How dare you say that?" Buffy exclaimed angrily at Xander.

The brunet put his hands behind his head and said, "Who dragged us off to Deo's to ogle Ryoga's chest, huh? Twice in fact."

"Well . . . hey . . . that's," Buffy managed before being reduced to sputtering. Giles took his classes off and started cleaning them with a handkerchief.

"He's got you there," Cordelia commented with a grin.

Xander nodded in victory as he added, "And how did we figure out I was bi? Lexa checked out a guy's ass. I'm a girl too, Buffy, girls are just as bad; you've just had better pr the last few decades."

"This is not fair," Buffy said folding her arms across her chest and pouted.

Having long since resorted to pinching the bridge of his nose, Giles interrupted the conversation and said, "That's all fascinating, I'm sure, but I believe we have more pressing matter to attend to; namely a werewolf."

"Bring out the silver bullets, giddy-up," Xander said with a smile.

"No bullets," Giles said resolutely, making everyone look up at him, "a werewolf is only a werewolf for three nights out of the month. During the twenty-eight other days he or she whatever the case may be is just a normal human being, who might not even be aware of what he is. We need to capture it, subdue it, but not kill it."

-----

Later that day Jenny walked gently into the library. Giles looked over at her, and then away. Jenny smiled painfully and walked over to the counter, going to Giles' side. "Rupert," she said softly.

"What can I do for you, Miss Calender?" Giles said with pain in his heart.

Jenny took a few steps closer and said, "Buffy invited me back."

Giles' eyes widened at the announcement, mutter, "Are you quite su-. . .?" He was interrupted by Jenny getting even closer and planting a passionate kiss on his mouth. "Ah, and what makes you think . . . oh, bloody hell," Giles said and then grasped Jenny, pulling her closer and starting a kissing session that made the former kiss look cold. Jenny gave a single surprised mewl before kissing back with everything she had.

They didn't break apart for another five minutes, and then Jenny said breathlessly, "I'm in love with you." She choked on her breath when she realized what she said, and looked up at Giles frightened.

"And I with you," Giles said gently, and Jenny smiled.

-----

The sun had set, and the Scooby Gang minus one gypsy and guitarist stood in front of the woods where the werewolf was last seen by Willow and Xander. They all were carrying nets and chains so they could capture the werewolf. Some of them were getting impatient. Xander was in tight jeans and top closed by buttons. Willow was in her pre-confidence overall jeans, her slayer clothing. Cordelia was in stylish gym clothes, fitting loosely without becoming billowy, still showing off her figure, bought brand new.

"He's late," Lotion commented with her arms folded across her ample chest, making it look even more ample. She wore a traditional Amazon dress, high slits on both sides to allow easy fighting movements.

"Really, late," Buffy added, making them look at Cordelia. She wore a cap and a coverall jeans as well, along with a sweatshirt.

"Yes, quite," Giles spoke casually, in his traditional Watcher suit, but knowing Giles he was even more impatient and annoyed at Oz's tardiness than they were. "We're with six, I suggest we stop waiting."

"Good idea," Xander commented happily.

"Hold on, let me give him a call first," Cordelia said pulling out a cell phone. She quickly dialed Oz and put on her ear. They looked at her with confused eyes. After a bit she hung up annoyed and said, "He's not picking up."

"Let's go then," Willow said and pointed at the woods.

"Yes, I say we do. Me and Buffy, Lotion and Xander and finally you two would be a good split I think," Giles said with a mutter.

"Okay, I'll SMS him he doesn't have to come anymore," Cordelia said, obviously annoyed and a little angry herself. Xander shook his head in sympathy - Oz was going to be chewed out the way he'd never been chewed out before.

"Oz has a cell phone?" Buffy asked confused.

"I bought him one," Cordelia said nodding her head, then a little angrier, "It's supposed to allow us to contact each other all the time - unless he's in the middle of a performance, but he doesn't have one."

Xander bent over toward Giles, and with his hand to the right of his mouth, shielding it from the rest he said softly, "Whipped." Giles nodded stoically like a good Brit, and Xander grinned.

"There, we can go," Cordelia said, obviously having sent the text message with her cell phone.

"Let's move out then," Giles said and turned around, Buffy following suit. They walked off while Cordelia and Willow went diagonally to the left, and Xander and Lotion took right.

-----

Lotion's arms were around Xander's neck, and her tongue was in his mouth. His was in hers in turn, and their kissing was growing more passionate, his hands rubbing her back. "Oh, god, Lotion," Xander muttered pulling free with some difficulty as Lotion pressed her breasts against him, and wrapped her legs around him. "Werewolf hunting, remember?"

"Hmm, I think we can do both," Lotion muttered before planting her lips back on his. He kissed her back with a slight smile, and then resolutely picked her by the waist and put her on the ground away from him.

"Werewolf hunting," he said and started walking.

"Okay, fine," Lotion said with a smile, falling in step. "Kissing later?"

Xander smiled at the Amazon and said with a small bit of guilt toward Willow, "I think we'll do a full on make out session on my couch." Lotion smiled, and Xander pushed the guilt away. Willow knew the deal, agreed to it; until he could make up his mind, he was free to date and kiss the Amazon.

-----

"What does she think I am, a robot?" Willow complained as she walked through the bushes. Cordelia nodded in agreement, as they walked onward looking around for the werewolf. Willow complained, "I love her, I really do. She's my best friend after all, but still . . . last few weeks we've been strained, but when she comes along that's all she can talk about, crying. Now we made up this afternoon, and it's been worse! Boohoo, he doesn't want me anymore, and during that, she goes on and on."

"Absolutely, Willow, you're completely right. We're girls, not cold-hearted bitches without feeling," Cordelia agreed, taking a closer look through a bush shining her flashlight, but then realizing the bit of fur was a squirl, not a werewolf.

"Exactly, a girl, with hormones, and an imagination," Willow moved her head down while looking with her eyes up at Cordelia to emphasize the point, "a very /active/ imagination being this intelligent, and all she goes on is, 'I'll never feel it again, boohoo, his body this, and the feel of hot skin there, and the way his erection filled her thus, and smell of his sweat and the feel of his passionate blood rushing thus, and the tongue, that heavenly tongue, and the strength of his hands so gentle . . .' AAAH! I'm about ready to explode! But does Xander relieve me of my tension? Noooo, of course not, that would be nice and something finally going good for Willow Rosenberg. He can fuck her into quivering wreck at a time she should have kept her paws off of him, but me? Not even a fondle, or-or a pet, let alone a lick. 'I don't want repeat the mistakes of the past, Willow. Last time was too soon, and look what came of that.' Ugh. I just want to tie him up apart from his hands, and tell him, 'Trust me, it's the right time, in fact it's over time!'"

"You preach it, Willow," Cordelia agree wholeheartedly.

Willow nodded in irritation, her inflamed body not helping any, "I'll bet he's giving Lotion hand jobs. MEN!"

"Exactly," Cordelia agreed again and started her own rant. "First they butter you up with tales of giving girls multiple orgasms with just their fingers, and then they don't want to give you any. 'I don't want to repeat the mistakes of past, Cordelia. I probably hurt a lot of groupies, Cor. I don't want to be like that anymore.' Fine! Than don't get me all hot and bothered first! Plus, relationship here. We've been together for weeks; this isn't no one night stand."

"Yeah, I bet their doing it on purpose," Willow chimed in, peering around but no werewolf in sight. Wondering why? I didn't think so. She continued, "The groupies I mean, and Buffy in particular. She's just saying all those things to torture me. God, I need Xander . . . or Lexa, either one will do. Just . . ." Willow paused and then whined pathetically, "This is torture. If Buffy starts on how good Xander was one more time, I'm going to rape /her/!"

"Not a bad idea, I should find one of Oz's groupies and do her till he finally comes over with the goods," Cordelia agreed with Willow's sentiment.

The two girls looked at each other, and then both shuddered. "I can't believe I'm starting to like /you/," Willow muttered, thinking of all the times Cordelia sliced her self-esteem to ribbons tossed the remains over to Cordettes for them to play with, before dancing on the remains.

"Yeah, same here. Let's just find a werewolf so we can work off some of our excess energy," Cordelia suggestion nauseated at bonding with the school nerd dork girl.

"Yeah, and quick," Willow added and they turned to their left, hoping to have better luck there.

-----

Buffy walked back up to Giles, and said, "You won't believe what I just saw. Brittany Podelle was making out with Owen Stadeal, but he goes with Bara Williams. If she ever fou- . . ." Buffy paused as she saw Giles' incredulous look. "Uh, no sign of the Werewolf. You?"

"The same," Giles answered calmly. "I'm thinking we should ask if anyone saw anything."

"Giles, nobody saw anything," Buffy said pointedly, looking over to her left to a car with steamed windows and vague motions behind them of two people kissing.

"Ah, yes, of course, I meant the others," Giles answered again.

Buffy looked up at him, and pointed out, "If they saw a werewolf, they'd either have already bagged it and come find us, or screaming where it's fleeing for us to intercept it."

Giles nodded a little embarrassed, "Yes-yes, of course. I guess we continue looking."

Buffy nodded and then turned around to go to a place where she hadn't looked yet. Passing some cars she entered no man's land and looked left and right carefully. She should have looked down instead, now she felt something odd under her feat. Looking down too late she was suddenly yanked up, and Buffy gave out a scream with surprise and a little fright. A moment later she was hanging some two meters above the ground in a net. "Ah, what the?" Buffy exclaimed looking around the net as best she could - the net kept her body in an uncomfortable twisted position, and there was hardly any room to move. She jerked and pulled at the net but it didn't budge.

"Gotcha!" Buffy turned her head down as best she could and looked at a man in brown leather pointing a gun at her. "What the . . .?" he muttered.

"Giles! Giles!" Buffy called out.

Giles came out and said, "Hey! What do you think you're . . .whoaw!" Giles raised his arms when he saw the gun pointing at him.

"I'm the one with the gun, so I get to do the interview," the man said coolly.

"Hey," Buffy brought the attention to her. "Before we get all chummy, could somebody get me out of here."

The man rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled a knife from the inside of his coat. A moment later he cut the rope, and Buffy fell down. "Oof," she muttered and got up.

Now having a better look, the man noticed just how sexy and young Buffy was, and said, "You go, guy."

Buffy abruptly stopped wiping the dirt from her clothes, while Giles jerked his head sharper to the man and asked, "Excuse me?"

"I know one needs to pluck them while they're young, but . . ." the man continued with a smirk.

"You take that back," Giles snarled, while the man raised his arms in innocence.

At the same time Buffy grabbed Giles' arm to keep him from pummeling the rude guy into the hospital, saying gently, "Giles."

"Hey," the guy started with admiring smile, "far be it for me to tell what a man and a girl should be doing in lover's lane . . ."

"It's not like that, gutter brain," Buffy said, placing herself fully in front of Giles restraining him. "I'm Buffy and this is Giles, who are you?"

The guy smirked and made a disbelieving nod. "I'm Kane. So what are you two doing here?"

"Uh," Buffy said, suddenly not so big, wondering if she should tell the truth, or let the guy think she and Giles . . . EW! "We're hunting werewolves," she said steadily, wondering at the guy's reaction while thinking, -Werewolves! Werewolves! Don't think about the guy's icky suggestion! Think werewolves. Don't . . . AAH!-

Buffy expected a lot of reactions from Kane, not the belly laughter. Pouting she answered, "It's funny if you don't believe in werewolves"

"No, I believe in werewolves. It's funny thinking of you catching one," Kane told them with a wide grin. "You look like a librarian, and you . . . well, you're a girl."

"I assure you, Buffy is quite capable," Giles said offended at Kane questioning his Slayer's abilities.

Kane snickered and asked, "Well, little girl, just how many of these monsters did you catch?"

"Uh? As of today?" Buffy asked him with an uncertain look.

Kane pulled on his necklace which was a rope with teeth mounted on them. "Whenever I kill a werewolf, I take one of his teeth. If I kill this one, it'll be an even dozen."

"You kill werewolves?" Buffy asked a little disgusted.

"Yeah, on account that their fur fetches a pretty penny in Sri Lanka and it's so difficult skinning them when they're alive," Kane told her with a grin, obviously proud of his accomplishments.

Giles was shocked, and made it known by demanding, "You kill werewolves for sport?"

"No!" Kane exclaimed his grin widening even more. "I'm in it purely for the money."

Buffy looked at him with disbelief and asked, "And you don't have a problem with the fact that they're human twenty-eight days out of the month?"

Kane leaned toward her a bit as if sharing a secret conspiratorially, and said, "That's why I kill them only the other three." He then gathered up his things, and asked, "I don't suppose you know where boys and girls get together around here, do you?"

"You looking for a party?" Buffy asked, her disbelief growing, while Giles just looked stoically, attempting to keep his more violent impulses in check.

"No, but the werewolf is, it's a sucker for that whole sexual heat thing. And if this little doggy isn't here, it's found another place. I don't suppose you know anything?" Kane spoke gruntingly.

"Nope," Buffy said shaking her head far too innocently.

"Thought so," Kane replied, turned around and left.

Once he was gone, Buffy turned around and pulled Giles along, saying, "Come on, I've got an idea where it might be."

"Uh, what about the others?" Giles asked her a little confused.

Buffy said seriously, "Let them keep looking here. If Mr. Professional overlooked something, they might find it still. The werewolf might double back too."

"Right," Giles answered.

-----

"I still don't get it. Is she that cruel, or that stupid?" Willow complained again as they walked around searching and still hadn't found anything.

"Stupid, definitely stupid," Cordelia commented relaxedly, walking along looking around. Plenty of cars with kissing couples, and a bit more than kissing . . . but no werewolf.

Willow smiled for a moment, then her smile faltered. "Still Lotion."

"Hey, you can just cast a glamour on yourself, go as Lotion to Xander, should make it easy to figure out if he gives Lotion hand jobs," Cordelia said with a sneaky smile.

Willow's eyes widened more and more with excitement at Cordelia's eyes than faltered. "No, wouldn't work. Lotion is much taller than me, and other areas. Glamour just- . . ." Willow abruptly stopped and her eyes widened. "Oh . . . oh! Oh! Cordelia, you're brilliant."

"Of course I am," Cordelia answered automatically. "Wait, why again?"

"This will allow Xander to experience menstruation!" Willow said with a big grin.

"Huh?" Cordelia said in confusion. "What? What's that got to do with anything? And eew, a boy menstruation?"

"Lexa really, and you know, big brain, we make weird connections sometimes," Willow said with a big grin, stopping for a bit.

Cordelia nodded, thinking it over, and then said, "I still don't get it."

"Don't worry, I don't think you're stupid, just a bit challenged," Willow told her with a smirk. Cordelia glared at her, as the two started up again, looking for a werewolf.

-----

The Bronze was open tonight, as it was nearly every night. Thus, there were teens around that were dancing, flirting, drinking, making out - full on human mating rituals every moment. A girl sat on a guy's lap on a couching kissing him gently . . . till he screamed, tossed her off his lap and bolted like a girl.

The girl landed painfully on the floor, exclaiming, "Hey . . . !" She trailed off when her eyes looked up to see a furry snout, and four rows of very sharp teeth. "AAAH!" she screamed and tried to scramble away, grasping the couch to pull herself up.

The werewolf growled and grabbed her by her shirt, pulling her up to bite into her neck and kill her instantly. The girls kept screaming, screaming for help. But all the kids ran in fear. The werewolf opened its mouth wide.

A blonde whirlwind slammed with her right foot into the werewolf, making it fly off to its right, yelping in pain. Buffy grabbed the girl and pulled her behind her toward Giles who dragged her to safety further, while Buffy quipped, "Now, now, bashing over the head and dragging a girl off to your cave is a big no no these days. You wish to get a girl, buy her flowers, chocolates, and learn a vocabulary."

Not surprisingly the werewolf just growled and attacked Buffy by leaping at her. Buffy rolled back, and caught the beast on her feet, kicking it off to her left, where it slammed against the winding stairs going up to the second level and fell to the floor. "Giles," Buffy said reaching out her left hand. Giles quickly tossed a chain to Buffy who grabbed it, and started twirling one end above her head, waiting for the beast to get up. Which it did at that moment, turning around and growling at Buffy. The Slayer swung and the chain slung around the werewolf's neck. Buffy gripped the chain, but the wolf got angry, growling and gripping the chain pulling.

"Ugh," Buffy muttered attempting to hold the wolf without choking it too death. Then she leaped forward with the intent to slam the wolf down and wrap it in chains. Unfortunately for Buffy, the wolf had decided on about the same tactic, and so she dove along as the wolf sailed right over her with a growl. "Damn it," she muttered before the chain whipped tight in her hands and she landed face first into the ground. She still held the chain, but her grip had loosened, and as the wolf yanked again with a howl, the chain slipped, and fell from the werewolf's neck, which then bolted and ran off through an open side door.

Buffy ran toward the door and looked left and right. "Shit," she cursed. "It got away."

"Yes, well, that's quite unfortunate," Giles answered as he reset his glasses. Buffy turned to look at him.

-----

A short while later the police were around, investigating the place where a wild dog attacked teenagers. Buffy and Giles were present as were Willow, Cordelia, Lotion and Xander.

"We didn't find anything," Lotion said softly to the others. "We combed the streets around the Bronze, but nothing."

"Yeah, it seems Mr. Big Bad Wolf had enough for the night after tangling with the Slayer," Willow added in, giving Buffy a proud smile.

Kane appeared in the doorway and walked over to the group. He took in the six of them, holding different types of chains and nets - but no werewolf. "So, you let it get away, I'm not surprised," the werewolf hunter said with a smile.

Buffy gave him a sour look as she answered, "I did not /let/ it get away."

"Another bunch of girl wannabe hun- gagh," Kane started. Lotion standing a few centimeters taller than the hunter had reached over, wrapped her right hand lightning fast around Kane's neck and pulled him off the floor.

"I am /not/ a girl, I am an Amazon. And so are the other 'girls'," Lotion said to the hunter menacingly.

He nodded, as his head grew red with the need for air. Lotion put him down and folded her arms across her chest while the Scoobs took in Lotion's actions with mixed expressions. Buffy's was amused, happily enjoying one of the rare moments she liked having Lotion around.

Kane felt his neck looking at Lotion with new admiration, and then said, "Well, you should have killed it while you had the chance." He indicated the gun lining the right side of his brown leather duster. "Anyone it eats goes on your head," Kane finished pointing at Buffy and then turned around and walked off.

"I hate that guy," Buffy said slowly.

"He does have a point," Cordelia said and everyone looked at her. "I'm just saying . . ."

"Lethal force, wouldn't have allowed the werewolf to get away," Xander added solemnly, "if it does kill again."

The others looked down thinking. "We mustn't think like that," Giles said with authority. "One human life is not more valuable than the other, and although one can kill in self-defense, we are not responsible for whatever this beast does or does not do. We gave it our best shot. I will say though, or non-lethal techniques are too slow, I think."

"Uh, what do you mean, Giles?" Willow asked, looking as confused as the others.

"I have an idea, you'll see," Giles said, and started to leave, gesturing the others along, and so they did.

-----

A nice grass patch. A bush to keep the grass directly behind it from sight of the road. Behind the bush, in the grass lay Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne - naked. He woke up and looked around. He frowned taking in his naked state on top of the weird place he woke up in. "Huh," he commented to himself.

-----

The next day Oz came walking into the school looking around as if they all looked at him. He soon reached the library and entered, seeing the Scooby Gang was sitting in the library, dejected. "Damn it," Buffy muttered again. "I was so close." Oz looked from the standing Slayer to Willow, next to her Cordelia, and Xander next to that. Opposite him sat Lotion.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Buff," Xander said calmly, wearing stylish sunglasses. "You can't catch 'em all at the first try."

"Indeed," Giles said as he came from his office, "we gave it a good shot, it attacked no one so you seem to have scared it off for tonight, and I should have much more effective methods of catching this thing arriving before our hunt tonight."

"Hi," Oz greeted softly closing to the table. He looked at Cordelia who looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite place. As if she was hopeful, afraid and tried to pull off being completely disinterested at the same time. "Uh, any news?"

"Hunted werewolf, pig-nosed girl let the killing machine get away," Lotion explained with a minimum of words.

"Like I told the halfwit the other night, I did not /let/ it get away!" Buffy exclaimed with righteous indignation.

"Potatoes, potatoes," Lotion said, giving the first word the American pronunciation and the second the British one. Buffy grumbled.

"But, uh, nobody got hurt? Scratched or bitten?" Oz asked coolly but with some concern.

"No, we're all fine, and it doesn't seem the wolf got anything last night either," Willow answered the guitar player, looking at him.

"In the mean time, I think we should focus on attempting to find the wolf in human clothes," Xander said with a serious expression and got up.

"And how do you expect to do that?" Buffy said as she walked over annoyed and sat down on Lotion's side of the table. "Put down a bowl of dog food and go, 'Here, wolfie, wolfie'?"

"No," Xander answered with an annoyed look, and the irritated Slayer just shrugged. "I can get into its head." Oz looked at Xander.

"On account of you being taken over by a hyena once," Willow half asked, half stated. Oz's eyes were a tiny bit bigger, starting to think Xander might be able to pull this off.

"You were possessed by a hyena?" Lotion asked with admiration.

"I thought you said you didn't remember anything from that?" Buffy asked him, much less irritated now, half amused, and half interested.

"Ah, well, yeah, uh, thought it would be easier for you two to deal with what the hyena did if you thought I didn't know what I did," Xander muttered out quickly. Buffy's eyebrows went up, and then smirked half-grateful, half-evilly at him, making him swallow. He quickly closed his eyes to concentrate

Buffy then turned her head, and looked at Willow. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "You already knew!" Xander's eyes opened again at the exclaim, somewhat annoyed he was once again interrupted.

Willow shrugged and said, "Yeah, Xander told me just after he showed us Lexa and him were one of the same. Did the whole confession, guilt trip, crying, bonding night. Was actually quite a great, and fun bonding moment . . ." Willow trailed off and then noticed everyone looking at her. "Well, you know, in a dreary depressive sort of way," she added somewhat embarrassed, but kept smiling.

"Can we finally get on with this?" Cordelia exclaimed with extreme annoyance.

"Yes," Lotion jumped into the conversation, "I am getting impatient, I want to see future husband show his tracking skills."

"Quiet then," Xander added and everyone stopped talking. He closed his eyes, put his hands in front of him, and said, "I'm big, I'm bad, I'm snarling and growling." Xander made snarling and growling sounds as everyone Giles included and Oz the most so looked on transfixed. Xander suddenly snapped his eyes open, and said, "Of course, I got it, it's been standing in front of us this whole time!" Oz's eyes widened significantly now, but stayed silent - any other man would have cracked.

Everyone else looked at him in anticipation, and he said, "It's Larry!" Oz let the breath he hadn't realized he was holding out. "He's got the dog bite, the aggressive tendencies and his excessive back hair, he must be it," Xander explained convinced he was right. The others nodded in agreement. "Well then, I'll go and confront him," Xander said and left the library.

"Yes, in the meantime, Willow, Cordelia, Lotion could you see if anyone else fits the profile?" Giles asked and then walked into his office. Buffy got up and joined him.

Oz still stood there, wondering for a moment if this was all a cruel joke, and Xander was just about coming back to expose him. "Oz," Cordelia called out, and Oz looked up into Cordy's eyes. "I'm going to be doing this till tonight. Would you wanna, uh, help me?"

"Uh, no," Oz said casually, "I've got stuff to do . . . which I'll go do right now. Yeah." He pointed behind him with his thumbs and then turned around walking off.

Cordelia looked dejected, and Willow nudged the queen. "Hey, don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing. He'll be all over you in no time," Willow soothed the cheerleader.

"You're stupid, sitting here pining away for nothing. Did you see me take that kind of behavior? Hell, no, I went after Xander, I pursue him. You're just sitting here like a limp bag of potatoes. I thought you joined us?" Lotion said with annoyance. Willow and Cordelia glared at her, and Lotion shrugged. "Let's just get on with werewolf profiling."

"Okay," Willow said, and then got up. "I'll be right back," she said and quickly walked over to Giles' office. Willow opened the door, and said, "Buffy?"

The Slayer who was doing some kind of balance exercise while Giles read a book, looked up at Willow from her upside down position. "Come on," Willow said excitedly. "Buffy can come with me for a moment, right?" Buffy looked questioningly.

-----

A moment later in the ladies' room after checking it was empty, Willow spilled the beans. "Buffy, remember, the whole menstruation thing, and Xander couldn't do it?" Willow said excitedly.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Buffy said wishing it had succeeded.

"Well, I think I have found a way to allow Xander from doing it after all," Willow said with a big smile.

Buffy's eyes lit up, and muttered, "Payback."

"Uh, I'm in it to help Xander," Willow muttered a bit taken aback.

"I know, Will," Buffy answered with a smile and let her hand fall on Willow's shoulder, "But I'm in it for the revenge." Willow's eyes widened at Buffy's grin.

-----

Men's locker room

Larry was readying to take of his sweaty clothes so he could go into the shower, standing in front of his blue locker in a row of blue lockers. "Well, hello there, Larry, how's it going?" Xander asked with a grin as he came up behind him.

Larry turned around and said pissed off, "Harris."

"I know your secret, Lar," Xander said, still grinning, stepping close to Larry. "You might as well fess up."

"And then what?" Larry said growling, taking a step closer. "You're going to tell it across the school, huh?"

"No, I'm here to help," Xander said disarmingly, not that that helped much.

"What? How do you think you can help? And don't think that just because you're now Mr. Cool Myagi that I'm suddenly scared of you, punk. That one time you got lucky," Larry said angrily, seriously not showing any fear, at least not from Xander's fists.

"You need help, man, before it goes sour, and the first thing you have to do is admit you have a problem," Xander told him, putting his right hand friendly on Larry's shoulder.

"I can't tell!" Larry spoke up, starting to pace. "If I tell they'll run me out of town! No one will want me anymore."

"Listen, I know what you're going through, since I've gone through the same thing, I can help," Xander said seriously, thinking of how to chain or lock Larry up for three days out of the month.

Larry turned around and faced Xander. "How can I do that? I can't tell everyone I'm gay!" Xander's jaw dropped slightly, blinking in surprise. "There, I said it, I'm gay! And it's not bad, it feels good. I'm gay." Larry walked over to the stunned Xander and placed a brotherly arm of himself on Xander's shoulder. "Thanks, man. That actually freed me up so much. Knowing that you're gay too, and went through the same thing, made that so much easier. And it's such a good feeling to come clean with myself."

"Ah, yeah, about that. Bisexual to be precise, me that is," Xander said nervously, surprised at big bad football star Larry, super crude heterosexual was really gay.

Larry nodded, and said, "Your secret is safe with me, Harris. You know, all the times I beat you up before your upgrade, I must have seen something in you that I didn't want to admit about myself."

"Uh, yeah, must have," Xander said weakly, and then Larry turned around and walked toward the showers. Xander turned around himself, and walked toward the exit, "Not exactly secret. Okay, that didn't go as planned."

-----

Oz was in his home, a phone to his ear. "Hi, aunt Maureen. Listen, the reason I called is, is cousin Jordy a werewolf?" Oz listed to the answer and said, "Huh. And how long has that been going on? . . . hmm. Thanks, bye." He hung up the phone, and looked at it pensively for a moment.

-----

Xander walked back into the library, still stunned at the revelation. "Ah, Xander, is Larry the werewolf?"

Xander stopped as he finished taking the few steps to the lower level of the library, and took in the Scooby Gang searching using the computer. Buffy and Lotion were standing behind Cordelia and Willow and they looked up to look at Xander, while Cordelia and Willow bent to the right and left to look past the computer. "It's pretty safe to say he isn't," Xander said slowly.

Buffy nudged Willow, then nudged her again. Finally Willow got up and said, "Uh, Xander." Xander looked suspiciously as Buffy's face split into an evil grin. Willow continued, "I know a way you can be Lexa for a month. A glamour, one tied to an object, a ring or something. Jenny and I still have to make it, but just rubbing it once should make you look like Xander whenever you need to. You'd have to look out a bit with your breasts, but . . ."

Xander's face deflated with every word, while Buffy's grin grew with every word. Giles was busy furiously cleaning his glasses. "WHAT THE HELL?" Cordelia exclaimed in confusion.

Buffy turned to Cordelia and said innocently, "Yep, Xander wanted to explore what's like being a girl remember? And not just toying with us girls? What better way to explore it? He just had to be Xander during a month, so he couldn't do it, but now . . ." Cordelia looked at Buffy in disbelief. The blonde then turned her head and looked with an innocent but smug smile at Xander, who wondered how the hell Buffy could pull that off.

"Willow," Xander whined.

"I was trying to help, you did say you wanted to," Willow said, looking down guiltily, which made her good enough to eat in her short skirt and low-cut blouse - like a seeming innocent girl with dirty, guilty secrets.

"Fine! Whip it up, but you two are going to teach me everything there is to know about going through it, because if you think I'm going in it blind and make a fool of myself, you can forget it," Xander pointed at Willow and Buffy accusingly.

"Sure, of course we will, Xan," Willow said immediately and somehow detected Buffy's pout. She turned around to look at the blonde, and said tersely, "We /will/, Xan."

"We'll help, Xander," Buffy said quickly, not liking the death glare Willow sent her way.

"I'll help too," Lotion said proudly. "Future husband is an even greater man than mother gave him credit for, and will be an even greater still." Willow and Buffy gave Lotion a death glare about her continuing to call Xander her future husband, but Lotion was completely oblivious to them, so they gave up with a sigh.

Cordelia abruptly got up, and nodded. "You're right, Lotion," Cordelia said with a determined look, making them all look at her confused. "I'm Cordelia Chase, Queen of Sunnydale. If I want a guy, I can't be sitting around pining like some losers I know. I gotta take charge. So what if he's mister Super Cool, so what he's mysterious hot guy who knows me so well, and helps me out. I'm going to go over there, and demand he spend time with me, or he's going to get his ass dumped." With that Cordelia got up, and walked out of the library, making everyone follow her with their eyes.

"Go Cordelia!" Willow said supportively making a fist in the air. Everyone looked at her now. "What?" she asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Willow," Xander asked his oldest friend with a smile, "but weren't you the president of the I-hate-Cordelia club?"

"Well, people can change, people can grow," Willow defended herself, and Buffy put her arm around her.

"Don't worry, Will, I'll let you grow without awkward questions," Buffy said supportively.

Willow turned her head to Buffy and said annoyed, "I meant Cordelia. I will never be a hateful popular girl, like /some/ people I know."

"Hey!" Buffy answered annoyed.

"Right," Xander commented, knowing not to get in between the cat fight about to start, and that also included not being elected the referee. Besides, Buffy and Willow were good friends, they'd not really hurt each other that badly, and they wouldn't take each other's words too seriously, they'd have made up before long - but not before they put him in between the two if he didn't get out of her quickly. "Hey, Lotion, let's go get some food before we go werewolf hunting. Can't do that on an empty stomach."

"Sure, Xander," Lotion said with a grin and walked to him with swaying hips. Xander turned around and offered his arm which she took happily and they walked out the door as Lotion placed a kiss on his cheek.

"This is all your fault," Willow accused Buffy indicating the leaving couple.

"Why?" Buffy returned annoyed.

Giles, not being stupid, fidgeted a bit looking for a good way out. "I'll be . . . in my office, yes," he said and quickly disappeared from the main library area closing the door behind him.

Willow and Buffy looked around suspicious, and then Buffy said, "Why do you think they all left us?"

"Because you're a doody head?" Willow asked her.

"And what does that make you? Doody flirt in a skirt," Buffy returned.

Willow chuckled at Buffy and said, "You helped me pick out this outfit."

"You're the one wearing it," Buffy returned, making Willow glare at her.

-----

Ten minutes later after having had a tasty few sandwiches Xander and Lotion returned to the library, finding Buffy and Willow giggling together behind the computer. Xander grinned, glad he was right in his assessment and noticed Giles was absent. "Where did Giles go?" Xander asked as he and Lotion walked over to join them.

"Oh, he went out a couple of minutes ago, said his order had arrived," Buffy said stopping her giggling with some difficulty.

Xander nodded and walked over to the two best friends, Lotion coming along. They sat down and waited as Buffy and Willow continued their search, but soon gave up. "This isn't working," Willow complained in annoyance. "I don't think the human has a profile anyway, other than having gotten a bite wound recently."

"Yeah," Buffy said and then pouted at Xander, "Doody head." She tossed a piece of eraser at him, which he caught.

"Doody head? Willow, what have you done to Buffy?" Xander asked mock stern.

"Yeah, what did you . . . wait, why should I care?" Lotion said brightly.

Xander turned to look at her, and asked, "Because you want to marry me someday?"

"Right! What did you do to Buffy?" Lotion repeated the question quickly. Buffy and Willow giggled.

"Enough with the chit chat," Giles voice sounded as he entered the library with a small backpack on his back. Xander and Lotion turned around as Buffy and Willow looked up. Giles came in holding three rifles, then tossed one rifle to Xander, the second to Buffy and held onto the third himself. Buffy and Xander caught them easily and examined them with frowns. The rifles weren't ordinary rifles, being quite wide and short. Buffy was about to ask about the no killing thing when Giles pulled his backpack off, and placed a box from it on the counter. He opened it, revealing darts. "There's enough tranquilizers in one dart to down a small elephant, it should be enough for a big werewolf," Giles explained, and loaded his rifle with one of them. "I think it's best I take Lotion, Buffy takes Willow and you Xander go alone."

"Gotcha, G-man," Xander said, getting up. He walked over to the box and took out several darts, and loading the gun with one smoothly. "I need to explain the thing to you, Buff?"

Buffy came over taking a dart from the box and repeated the actions she saw Xander and Giles do. "Now just pull the trigger, right?" Buffy asked brightly as Willow and Lotion joined them.

"Nope," Xander said and reached for the side of her gun, flipping the safety. "Now you pull the trigger," Xander said and flipped the safety back on.

"It's the safety, Buffy," Giles explained casually as Buffy frowned at the switch. "With it on, you can't fire, keeps you from accidentally shooting yourself in your own arse."

"Right," Buffy said with an embarrassed smile.

"All right," Lotion exclaimed, "let's go werewolf hunting."

"Not quite yet," Giles interrupted and pulled three professional walkie talkies from the bag. He handed one to Xander, one to Willow and the last to Lotion. "They should be powerful enough to stay in contact throughout Sunnydale. If you find something, contact the rest of us."

They nodded, agreeing with Giles' leadership decisions. "/Now/ can we go catch a werewolf?" Lotion asked impatient.

-----

Oz opened a box and took in the chains. He gave a determined nod and started pulling them out, then the door bell rang. He hesitated for a moment between the door and the chains, then decided on the door. He walked over and opened it, "Cordelia."

"Hi," Cordelia said and walked in right away.

"Cordelia, this is not . . ." Oz started.

But Cordelia talked straight through his words, "Listen, Oz. I'm Cordelia Chase, I do not sit somewhere and pine away for someone." She reached the living room, and walked into it, taking it in while she talked. A couch right in front of her, a low table and more couches and chairs behind it. Left the living room went onward, a higher table there with chairs. There in the left corner was a door and counter showing the white kitchen behind it. She turned to face Oz who had walked after. At the entrance of the living room was a pillar and another counter, for which Cordelia couldn't discern a purpose. "I know you're Mr. Cool and Untouched and everything, but I'm your girlfriend, and I demand a section of your time that does amount to blowing me off and telling me nothing."

"Cordelia, this is not the right time, I'm going through some changes, and . . ." Oz started.

Cordelia interrupted him, "Oh, big deal! And I'm not? What, you got amnesia or something? Killed a human remember? Actively fighting the forces of darkness by chopping their heads off. Quite some changes for the airhead cheerleader captain - scary changes."

Oz took Cordelia by the arm after a step forward and gently pulled her along back toward the door while saying, "This is different, trust me. It's phy- oah!" Oz half doubled over, grabbing his chest.

"Oz?" Cordelia said suddenly, nothing but concern in her voice.

He let go of Cordelia and backed up, trying to put as much distance between him and his girlfriend, grunting, "Oh, no." He bumped against the couch and as he fell over it, he said, "Cordelia, run! Ugghhh!"

"OZ!" Cordelia screamed in fright and walked over quickly, peering over the couch. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Oz's skin and clothes burst open and fur covering him quickly as he grew in size, as well as a snout and pointy ears on his head, the eyes became that of a predator. "Oh, shit," she muttered, and then Ozwolf jumped to his hind feet, and growled - he seemed hungry and looking at her. "AAH!" Cordelia screamed, backing away in surprise, falling to her ass, and scrambling backward. Ozwolf jumped forward, intending to land on Cordelia, and eat her. "IIIEEE!" Cordelia screeched and kicked her foot up, catching the werewolf in his chin and it stumbled back. Cordelia got up, and ran out into the kitchen, screaming, "HELP! HELP!" The door out the house lead to the forest, and Cordelia ran into it, passing trees as she heard a growling bark behind her. Oz was after her. "Oh, god. HELP!"

-----

Xander walked through the forests and parks of Sunnydale, looking left and right. Suddenly he got a really weird sensation, the sensation of chi suddenly bursting in strength and then changing. "What the . . .?" Xander muttered and looked to the right from where it came. Then his eyebrows raised in revelation, and said, "That must be . . ."

Distant screams assaulted his ears, so distant he couldn't recognize them as Cordelia's, but it did confirm his suspicion. "Oh, yeah," he said as he started running in the direction from where it came. "That's the wolfy all right," he said and pulled out the walkie talkie.

-----

Cordelia ran in fright, Oz close on her heals. She wove left and right through the trees so the beast would have more difficulty finding her. "Oh, my god, oh, my god," Cordelia muttered to herself. Then she blinked, a thought of embarrassment and annoyance. "What am I doing?" she asked herself suddenly. "I may not be a Slayer, but I'm not a weakling, not anymore." She stopped herself from running sliding a bit, and turned around, facing the onrushing wolf. "The bitch is back," Cordelia snarled as she made a fist, unconsciously baring her teeth, and readied to face her wolfed out boyfriend.

Ozwolf suddenly skidded to a halt, and looked with surprise and confusion at the suddenly dangerous looking snack. Since when did a scared little snack suddenly turn around and readied to face you? That didn't make sense, so it leaped with a growl.

Cordelia roared with anger and slammed a right kick in the wolf's chest making it fall back and roll. It rolled itself back up, and looked more wearily at the snack. Cordelia was fed up with the thing. "You sit right this instant," she commanded with an angry rumble in her voice. "I'm your girlfriend, your mate, your god damned bitch in so many ways you can't even count - of course you can't count. You do not eat your mate, you hear that you dumb, overgrown dog! I'm Cordelia Chase, Queen of Sunnydale High, and I do /NOT/ tolerate this shit. I'm not a battered victim girlfriend, you got that? You're my bitch now, Oz. Now you stop this crap right now, and heel!"

Ozwolf shrank back a bit at the tirade, the angry tone piercing it's primitive brain, as well as a few basic choice words that it somehow managed to grasp through the human side of him, while at same time not really. Words like 'mate', and 'not', and 'eat'. It sniffed, and what it smelled didn't quite make sense. No longer in the mood to play this game, Ozwolf leaped forward once again.

"Are you deaf?" Cordelia screamed pulling her fist back and throwing a vicious right hook. "I said, -HEEL-!" Her fist collided with the werewolf's jaw, and it tumbled back. Cordelia attacked Oz snarling angrily.

-----

Xander was running quickly through the forest, and he was joined by now by the others, but he, Buffy and Lotion, left Giles and Willow quickly behind them.

"Say, aren't we going toward Oz's house?" Lotion said as she ran onward.

Buffy's eyes widened, "Oh, my god! Cordelia!"

The three of them sped up, and reached a small clearing. With difficulty they forced themselves to stop as a smiling Cordelia appeared on the other side, with something growling loudly behind her. Even slightly disheveled, Cordelia looked impeccable.

"Cordelia! Look out!" Xander called out frightened for Cordelia's well being as a really big werewolf stepped out next to her. He and Buffy were already aiming the tranquilizer rifles.

"Quiet, Oz!" Cordelia commanded, freezing Xander's and Buffy's trigger fingers with surprise.

Oz kept growling, and Cordelia growled, "OZ! Sit, boy!" The wolf looked up, and at seeing the angry glare, it quickly sat down, looking subservient up at her, begging with sad eyes for not another beating. Although that wasn't visible; the wounds had already healed on the supernatural beast. Willow and Giles arrived breathing hard, and stayed nailed to floor, as surprised as the other three. Cordelia continued lecturing the Ozwolf, "They're good folk, friends. We do not attack friends, understand, Oz?" Ozwolf nodded his head, and Cordelia then grabbed him by his head, rubbing the fur happily and rubbing her cheek against the top of his head, and said, "That's a good Ozwolfie, yes, you're a good Ozwolfie." The wolf breathed heavily through its mouth, showing his contentment along with its wagging tail.

Xander and Lotion shook their heads to try and see if what they were seeing was real. Giles managed to recover earlier than the rest, resetting his glasses and muttered, "Yes . . . well . . . this is . . . this is . . . unexpected . . . and unprecedented."

Willow was next, throwing her hands in the air in defeat, saying, "Figures! Just figures! That Cordelia is a big enough bitch to tame a werewolf!"

"H-how did you manage that?" Xander muttered gesturing to the wolf in complete disbelief and shock. "It's a werewolf."

As Cordelia continued hugging her boyfriend, she said, "Like Giles said; Oz is just an overgrown dog running on his instincts, I just needed show him who's his alpha female. Isn't that right, Oz? Yueah."

"Indeed," Giles said, attempting to look away at the rather intimate scene.

"This is . . . ugh," Buffy muttered, still not believing it. Lotion folded her arms across her chest, and just glared in annoyance at Cordelia and Oz.

Xander noticed the glint off to his right first. He ran, and jumped. A moment later a shot ran out, while his feet pushed the gun off the course. Kane looked in annoyance at Xander, who albeit having hit the gun that flew from Kane's arms as he sat huddled between bushes, couldn't control his momentum. He tumbled onward falling into the bushes, yelling in annoyance at getting pricked. A moment later there was an angry inhuman growl, and a big bad wolf, with a chest to wide for one, but wide enough for a human collided with Kane's chest. "AAH!" Kane yelled out in pain and slammed into the ground with Oz above him. With a roar the wolf bit down toward Kane's neck.

"OZ STOP!" Cordelia screamed as she ran over to the powerful wolf and the werewolf hunter. The other Scoobies came over as well, while Xander started to extradite himself from the prickly bushes with a grunt.

Oz closed his mouth, rows of sharp teeth falling into each other and visible as he growled dangerously at Kane who looked directly into the yellow predator eyes of the grey wolf. Oz didn't understand now; this was an enemy, one that tried to attack his mate and mistress from where he was sitting, and he still wasn't allowed to kill? "We don't kill humans, Oz!" Cordelia said, squatting down and stroking the werewolf's fur. "Demons, vampires and animals you can rip apart to your hearts' content, but not humans; although tempted to make an exception." Cordelia then started stroking and rubbing Oz, and said, "Good boy, very good. I'm so very proud of you." Oz turned happily to Cordelia and started licking her face. Cordelia giggled and opened her mouth, so Oz's tongue also entered her mouth for a bit. She then planted a kiss on Oz's nose.

"What the fuck?" Kane exclaimed in complete confusion. A werewolf should be a cold-blooded killing machine, and now it was making out with a girl. Kane started pulling himself backward from the scene and then felt pressure on his right shoulder. He looked up and saw a menacing Xander having placed his right foot on his shoulder.

Xander unloaded the hunter's rifle and handed it back to him. Buffy came looking over Cordelia and Oz, hands in her side, and told Kane, "I don't want to see you in my town again, you get me? Or do I make you the wolf's only exception?"

"I know when I'm not wanted," Kane said in disgust, getting up. He dusted off for a moment and took his empty gun back, then complained shaking his head, "Werewolf environmentalists." He turned around and as he started walking away he continued, "First they ban elephants and giraffe's, then lions, now you can't even kill werewolves anymore. What's next? The League for Vampire Rights?" He shook his head one final time before he disappeared out of sight.

Cordelia got up and with a smile stroked Oz's fur. Tentatively Willow did the same, and then smiled when she realized the wolf wasn't going to shred her apart. "Hey, he's kinda nice once you get to know him," Willow said continued to stroke the big animal, whose head came to her chest.

Lotion took in Cordelia's handling of the wolf, and muttered, "This is disturbing."

"Yeah, have to agree with Lotion there a bit," Xander muttered, and Cordelia just shrugged.

"I'm not going to have sex with the wolf-side of him, Xander, unlike some people probably would," Cordelia said, and gave Buffy a look, who turned her head painfully away.

"This uh . . . this is an interesting development," Giles commented, resetting his glasses.

"You think?" Lotion asked him annoyed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Okay," Cordelia said, and gestured for Oz to follow her. "I'm gonna take him home, and give him that raw stake dinner I promised Oz." Oz growled impatiently. "I know you're hungry Ozwolf, just have patience," Cordelia interjected rubbing the beast's head. She then turned to the others and asked, "Could you guys go to his house and bring us some clothes so he can put them on in the morning? Thanks." Then she and Oz were off.

The rest of the Scoobies huddled together and looked at the two go. "Unbelievable," Xander commented a last time. "She thanked us . . . in advance."

-----

The next day Lexa found herself sitting in a stool nervously. Buffy was in a chair next to her, a bag and dustpan and brush were on the table, and Giles was behind the counter preparing for his day as librarian. On the ground sat Jenny and Willow. They were across from each other, sitting within a pentagram made of salt. A pair of candles were standing on each point of the star. In the middle of the pentagram was a ring with a green gemstone, and next to it a full body picture of Xander. The two witches chanted steadily. The picture burst into flame, and was reduced to ashes a moment later.

"There," Jenny said, breaking the chanting. She took the ring and both witches rose to their feet. She walked over and gave the ring to Lexa. "It should work," Jenny said with a smirk, remember how in disbelief she was over what was asked of her and why.

"Heh," Lexa said nervously, and took the ring. Willow got the dustpan and brush, and after extinguishing the candles started to brush up the salt.

Lexa put the ring on, and looked blankly. "Okay, now rub the gem once and you should look like Xander, rub it again and you're Lexa again," Jenny explained to her.

Lexa nodded, and moved her left index finger across the gem once. She looked down and said, "I don't think it's working."

Buffy who had looked quite a bit amazed at the glamour, asked, "What do you mean you don't think it's working?"

"Well, I can still see my breasts," Lexa commented dryly to Buffy with a look of disbelief at her question.

"That's because you look directly at yourself," Jenny explained casually as Willow finished brushing up the salt. She looked and smiled at 'Xander'. Jenny fished something out of her purse, and held up the object which turned out to be a mirror. "You look at yourself and you miss it, you're too close." Lexa looked into the mirror and saw himself staring back at her. She looked down at her female hands and her very female chest, and then back at Xander looking back at her from the mirror.

"Damn," Lexa muttered. "This is odd." She rubbed the ring, and she herself looked at herself again. She tried it again a few times as Willow dumped the salt in a dustbin. "Well, it works," Lexa said.

"Indeed," Giles said, and looking a bit queasy, "you are a greater man than I am, Xander, even though you're female at the moment."

"What's the matter, Giles?" Buffy asked with a smirk. "Stiff upper lip not stiff enough to handle a little menstrual cycle?" Giles tried to come up with an answer as three girls and a woman looked at him expectantly, and then he gave up, shaking his head and disappeared into the office. The four girls laughed.

"Oh, I better go ease his suffering a bit," Jenny said with a smile, and then looked at the three girls. She frowned and said, "I've said it before, but I can't seem to feel as if I've ever said it enough, I'm sorry."

"We know," Lexa spoke, and then turned toward the door. "Come on, girls, time to leave this dreary place." She held out her arms in a bend, and Willow and Buffy hooked their arms in hers.

"Lead on, oh woman among men," Willow joked, and the threesome walked off.

-----

"Hi," Oz greeted a little nervously as Cordelia in a lovely, short dress and wearing sunglasses came up to him.

"Hi," Cordelia greeted back with a smile.

"Listen, I'm not too clear on exactly what happened last night. I didn't hurt you, right?" he asked with obvious concern, a rarity for the stoic guitarist.

"No, after I showed your wolf I was your mate and made that clear, he may still have wanted my body, but not to eat," Cordelia answered him with a grin. They started walking next to each other as Oz's face did an actual double take, and then astounded look. "Ooh, I so love coaxing an expression out of you," Cordelia said with a smile.

"Uh, you, uh, still want to see if you and me . . . 'cause I totally understand if you say we're through," Oz said to her, dreading the answer; still confused over what Cordelia's joking meant.

"Oh, please, don't think you can get away from me that easily buster," Cordelia told him sternly, and he found himself nodding obediently automatically. He frowned slightly, wondering where that came from. Cordelia continued though, "Three nights out of the month you're a cuddly overgrown pooch; three days out of the month, PMS turns me into a monster. I figure if you can put up with a monster, I can put up with a dog." Oz looked at her with raised eyebrows. Cordelia smiled and kissed him deeply.

Behind them stood three girls that had listened in, two of them had to strain more than the other. They looked on with awe. "Did I just hear her claim that /only/ three days out of the month PMS /turns/ her into a monster?" Buffy said with disbelief, pausing for a few moments, ". . . 'cause I was pretty much under the impression she's a monster every single day."

Willow nodded, and added, "And look at her face when she said it. Completely straight, as if discussing the weather."

"Yep," Lexa agreed slowly, still in awe, "if we ever need someone to bullshit someone, we know who to ask." The three of them nodded. Then they slowly got their bodies back to work, and walked off.

To Be Continued . . .

Author's notes:

I hope you guys loved it! I tried to put a lot of humor into it.