Wolf Man Xan

by tohonomike

What if Xander had been possessed by a Wolf, not a Hyena? Moved from Buffy Crossovers after a bunch of Email

1. Wolf Man Xan, Leader of the Pack

Wolf-Man Xan, Leader of the Pack

Author: Tohonomike Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and we'll see if enough people respond with "hey this doesn't suck too bad" to warrant further writing that would include the possibility of other people's characters joining the party. I do not and cannot make money off of this, but for one of those bright shiny 'coins of the realm' mentioned by Ten Hawk and others, I might continue as I have outlined story material through Graduation.

Summary: This is the first part of a series in response to many challenges, the first of which is "what if Xander had been possessed by a different animal?" and I've kept as much of the original dialogue as possible.

Rating : PG-13 to PG-17; for mild cursing, violence, and demonic horror content...maybe an "R" but you readers can let me know later.

The Sunnydale Zoo.

Buffy walked passed a signing pointing the way to the elephants, reptiles and Hyena House, with a banner proclaiming a new great wolf exhibit to open soon in the hyena location. Kyle and his gang, Rhonda, Tor and Heidi, see her coming.

"Oh, look. It's Buffy and all her friends," Kyle taunted.

"That's a witty," Buffy quipped.

"Do you ever wonder why nobody cool wants to hang out with you?" Tor added.

"Just thankful," Buffy mildly retorted.

"Were you this popular at your old school? Before you got kicked out?" Rhonda contributed, her group laughs, and they continue on their way, leaving Buffy standing there alone. Tor, at the expense of Buffy as they leave, "Careful! She might beat you up!"

A few moments later, Buffy is reading the plaque at the elephant exhibit when Xander and Willow come running up, Xander calling out. "Hey! Buffy!"

"You missed it!" Willow yelled over to her friend.

"Missed what?"

"We just saw the zebras mating!" Xander says, nodding to Willow, "Thank you, very exciting..."

"It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!" Willow responded, laughing.

Buffy, with mock disappointment, "And I missed it. Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on."

Willow, following a now-moving Buffy, "So...where were you?"

"Uh, I was looking at the fishes."

"Was it cool?"

"It was fishes."

Xander, "I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here."

"Well, it would... It's nothing, I...We do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old."

"Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!"

Buffy, brightening a little, "You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new."

Xander responds with a smirk, "Gotta have perspective."

At the Monkey Exhibit, Lance is sketching several into his notebook as Kyle and his cronies approach him.

"Lance! How's it goin'?" Kyle asks.

Lance looks up from his pad, "Hey, Kyle."

"So, is this like a, uh, family reunion?"

"No."

"I think it's a family reunion. It's so... touching. Doesn't anybody have a camera? Click-Snap!" as he makes a picture-taking motion.

Rhonda, from behind Lance adds, "Hey, does your mom still pick out your lice, or are you old enough to do that yourself now?"

Lance gets loud, as Tor takes his notebook "Quit it, huh? Hey! Guys, c'mon! It's got my notes in there!"

Mr. Flutie, noticing a commotion, approaches the five students, "What's going on here? I've had it up to here with you four! What're you doing?"

Kyle, looking guilty, "Nothing."

Mr. Flutie, to Kyle, "Did I ask you to speak? Okay, I guess I did, but I want the truth. Lance?"

"They weren't doing anything. Really!" he responds with a nervous laugh, "We were just playin' around."

"Alright," Flutie begrudges, starting away, "I'll be watching you."

Pointing to Lance, Kyle asserts, "You! Came through big time."

"Way to go, Lance!" Rhonda adds with a pat to his shoulder.

Tor nods saying, "Flutie's been looking for a reason to come down on us."

Lance, "It's okay."

Kyle, to Lance and the gang, "Come on, we're gonna check out the Great Wolf Exhibit; it's temporarily in the Hyena House."

"But I think it's off-limits," Lance responds.

"And therein, my friend, lies the fun."

Lance laughs, and they all go off toward the Hyena House. It's closed, but they duck underneath the yellow barricade tape. Buffy, Willow and Xander see them go in.

Willow, turning to the others, "What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?"

Xander, "Oh, playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse."

Buffy, "What is it with those guys?"

Willow, "They're obnoxious. Professionally."

Xander, "Well, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids."

Buffy, "Yeah, well, I'd better extract Lance before—"

"I'll handle it," Xander interrupts, then heads in. "This job doesn't require actual slaying."

Buffy, "You don't think we should follow?"

Willow, "Kyle and those guys are jerks, but they're all talk. Mostly."

Buffy, reconsidering, "Why don't we..."

Willow, "Yeah, why don't we?"

They duck under the tape and start in, but are caught in the act by a zookeeper, "Oh, hold it, hold it, are you blind, or are you just illiterate? Because a pack of great wolves are very quick to strike if surprised into thinking you're a threat, and the exhibit isn't entirely prepared for the public yet."

Buffy, "Oh, w-we were just gonna take..."

Zookeeper, "You're not going in there. Anyone that does is in a world of trouble."

"No, no one's going in there, Willow responds as she and Buffy come back out.

Buffy: Why is it off-limits?

Zookeeper, lecturing, "Mostly it's a quarantine. These geat wolves just came in from Canada, so keep out. The Inuit tracker-shaman told me that great wolves are capable of strongly sensing human emotions and maybe even speech patterns. Their packs follow many of the same patterns as family and tribal relationships in primitive humans, and look after their own; even the weakest in the pack, omegas, ARE their pack.

Inside the wolf exhibit, Kyle and the others tear through more tape blocking the way in and look around as he and the girls walk up to the enclosure and look in. Lance stays back

with Tor standing behind him.

Kyle, "Cool!"

Lance, "I don't see any wolves."

One of the wolves sniffs and growls softly before showing itself from between some rocks.

Lance, "Okay! Now we've seen it."

He tries to leave, but Tor stops him.

Rhonda: Looks cute.

"I think it looks hungry," Kyle says moving towards Lance.

"No!" shouts Lance as Kyle and Tor grab him.

Tor, "C'mon, Spot!"

Lance, "C'mon, stop it!"

"Supper time!" Tor calls, as he and Kyle drag Lance up the steps and lift him up to the bars.

"Guys! Stop! It's not funny!" as they press him into the bars and down on his neck.

"Ow! Stop it! It's not funny!"

From above can be seen, but is unnoticed by the students, the markings of a sacred circle painted on the floor. Xander comes in, pulls their arms off of Lance and helps him away, "Why don't you pick on somebody your own species?"

Kyle tenses and shouts back, "What, are you gonna get in my face?"

The wolves growl. Xander, Kyle and the others look at them. The wolves' eyes flash green, and then two of the kids' eyes do. The wolves' eyes flash green again, and two more kids' eyes do.

Lance makes a move to get away, but trips on a chair, falling. His notebook slides across the floor to the far wall. Kyle and the others turn and stare ferally when they see him. Lance gets up, retrieves his notebook and rushes out. Xander turns around now, too, and his eyes flash green, "I AM the Alpha. Any challenges?"

Outside

Xander nodded to the Kyle and the others, "tonight, at the Bronze. We'll go from there."

The others nodded and headed off, Kyle looking downward and neck to the side when Xander stared him down again.

"So, Xan, what was that all about?" Buffy asks.

Xander, smirking, "Kyle thought he was Alpha Male and learned he's not the head of the pack."

"So, testosterone city and the Xand-man won," she responds with bemusement, "Wow."

"You're the Alpha Male of our pack, Xander," Willow, briefly seeing possible hurt in Xander's eyes, quickly added.

"Yeah, Xander, it may be a small pack, but as long as you don't act like them," Buffy adds, gesturing at the departing teens.

On the Way to the Bronze

Which Pack was his? The Scooby Gang could already be considered a pack, tight-knit and protecting the omegas of Sunnydale. Kyle and the others were new, and resisted before he established control. On the bus, Xander knew something wasn't quite right, but he felt better on the trip back. He seemed to notice little things more. Smells, details within sight, hear whispers across the bus. Inside, he felt pressure, but nothing particularly discernible, but something in him had stirred at the words Buffy and Willow had said to him outside the wolf exhibit. There had been a moment back in the exhibit where he'd felt like he'd lost control of his movements, but it had passed as soon as it started. At home, he'd slept for a few hours, dreaming of forests and tundra, snow, rivers and running in the hunt, his pack behind and beside him, a force within nearly overtaking him until he realized that he was no longer in wolf-form, but himself, his pack as he turned back including Buffy and Willow, then Giles, then Kyle and the others, and surprisingly Amy Madison, other kids he'd saved from bullies over the years, people in khaki and pith helmets, and other historically-dressed individuals who seemed to know him. Turning forward he felt right that another alpha ran beside him, Jesse, his cub-brother, before the latter mouthed, "good luck, bro," and faded as fanged shadow-figures pulled him away...causing Xander to wake with a start, himself, but full of anger and a surge of strength hard to control. Dressing in black, and grabbing his father's black trench coat and money in the wallet, Xander heads to the Bronze to meet his pack, not sure why he kept thinking entirely in those terms.

The Bronze.

Willow and Buffy are coming from the bar. Buffy has a Coke and a croissant. They make their way over to an empty table and sit.

"I thought Xander would be here by now," Willow remarked

"Hmm, that'd make him on time," Buffy smiled, "We couldn't have that!"

"Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?"

"About what?"

"I dunno. He was quiet."

"Other than the alpha male talk I didn't notice anything. But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you."

"Hyperaware?"

"Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure..."

"130 over 80!" Willow laughs.

"You got it bad, girl!" Buffy jokes.

"He makes my head go tingly. You know what I mean?"

"I dimly recall."

"But it hasn't happened to you lately?"

"Not of late."

"Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now?"

"Goes with the shoes!" Buffy responds with mock-annoyance.

"Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does."

"I suppose some girls might find him good looking..." She gets a look from Willow. "...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and... I, I just can't have a relationship..."

"There he is!"

"Angel?"

"Xander!"

He walks down the stairs from the upper level of the club where he'd been watching the patrons, then Buffy and Willow for half an hour before heading their direction, having gotten better used to separating smells, sounds, detail of sight and more. He checks out a girl on the way, and dressed as he is she stares back at him. He grabs her hand and they finish a quick dance before leaving her interested but with her friends as he comes up to their table.

"Girls!"

Buffy, "Boy!"

"Sorry for the delay, I had some things to deal with... just forgot that we were gonna be here," he apologized, then leapt at Buffy's croissant, "Hungry!"

"Xander, you still want me to help you with geometry tomorrow? We can work after class..." Willow asks as Xander takes a gulp of Buffy's soda.

"Yeah," Xander, giving Willow a side-hug and quick hair-sniff, then leaning over to Buffy, "What's with this?

"Well, it was my buttery croissant."

"Man, I need some food! Buff, how do you live on this!?"

Buffy and Willow look at each other, then at Xander. He looks back and forth at them, "What?"

"What's up with you?" Buffy, lightly glaring at Xander, responds.

"Is something wrong? Did I do something?" Willow said, looking concerned at Xander.

"What do you mean? I'm just... restless."

"Well, we could go to the ice cream place..."

"But I'm quite happy here." He looks up and scans the area a bit, and then leans toward Buffy and sniffs her hair.

"Okay, now what?" She looks at him suspiciously.

"You took a bath."

"Yeah, I-I often do, I'm actually known for it."

"That's okay. That jacket, though, smells like death. Where'd you get that, Buff, there's something not right about it."

Willow and Buffy exchange another look.

"And the weird behavior award goes to..." Buffy intoned.

Xander sees Kyle and the others come in. Buffy sees them, too. Kyle and company come over to them. Xander stares back at them.

Buffy, "Oh, great. It's the winged monkeys."

"Come on, Buff. Where, really..."

"Angel. Are you jea—"

"Kyle, what does this smell like?"

Kyle, after being stared down, "Someone dead; strong; alpha."

"Angel, huh?" says Xander to Buffy. He turns to Kyle and the pack, "There is room for only one Alpha, and alive is the only way, right Kyle?

"This is mating and control, your problem."

"If it's dead and alpha-strong, it's not pack; it's a threat," asserts Xander, staring down the pack, adding with a feral smile, "Let's go hunting." They head toward the door. Buffy catches up, Willow behind her looking concerned.

"You're going after Angel?" Buffy asked with concern. Xander shrugs without concern.

"If that is Angel's smell, yes. Crypto-guy has some explaining to do if it's not him that smells dead," he states, shaking off her hand and pulls away with Kyle and the others.

"Willow, go to the Library and tell Giles something's up with Xander," Buffy told her friend, "He's acting weird or something, not like himself."

"Where'll you be?"

"I think I know where Angel lives, so I've gotta warn him about Xander as his...pack. Will, that's it! He's acted weird since we went in after them at the zoo. Hurry, tell Giles."

Sunnydale High School Library.

Giles is going about his work. Willow hurries in, flinging the doors open and explains the occurrence at thee Bronze.

"Xander's taken to ganging up on others?" Giles asked her without real interest or concern.

"Uh-huh."

"And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?"

"Yes."

"And, well, otherwise all his time is spent causing trouble about town with imbeciles."

"It's bad, isn't it."

"It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course, you'll have to kill him."

"Giles, I'm serious."

"So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it."

"But Xander's only been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo. Him and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the Great Wolf Exhibit that was cordoned off. Oh, God, that teethy smile when he ordered his 'pack' to go after Angel with him."

"You're saying that, uh, Xander's becoming a wolf."

"I don't know. Or been possessed by one? Not just Xander, all of them."

"Well, I-I-I've cer-certainly never heard of...uh..." he responds, heading towards his office.

"What're you gonna do?"

"Get my books. Look stuff up."

The Streets of Sunnydale

Xander and his pack follow Buffy until she starts looking lost in front of an apartment building.

"She's strong and fast, but not a very smart mate," Kyle comments, "She leads us where we want to go and doesn't notice."

"I keep Willow for smarts; two mates," Xander shrugged, "Now go while I deal with her."

Xander comes in and stands behind her. Buffy gets back up and turns around, only to be

startled by him.

"Xander," She says, and tries to evade him, but he's quick to match her movement, "This is ridiculous. We need to talk." She fakes him out and jumps on him, knocking him down with her on top holding down his arms. Xander, smiling wolfishly.

"Been waitin' for you to jump my bones," he says, then he growls and rolls Buffy over onto her back so he's on top now and has her arms pinned down.

"Get off of me, Xander."

"Is that what you really want?" he asks as she struggles. "We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't cha? You like your men dangerous."

"You're in trouble, Xander. You are infected with some wolf thing, it's like a demonic possession!"

"Dangerous and dark, right? Like Angel. Your Mystery Guy. Well, guess who just got dangerous. And I don't smell dead. Do you know how long...I've waited... until you'd stop pretending that we aren't attracted..."

Buffy throws him off of her and quickly gets up to face him. He gets up, too, and begins to approach her as she backs away.

"Look, Xander, I don't wanna hurt you..." she says only to have him grab her by the shoulders and push her against the side of a large-finned black convertible, "Xander: Now do you wanna hurt me?" Buffy struggles, but the 'possessed' Xander is too strong.

"Come on, Slayer. I like it when you're tough. The more I make you sweat, the better you smell. You and Willow both. Our pack. I'm not possessed; I beat whatever it was," he adds, moving in and kissing her roughly on the neck.

She struggles a bit more, with frustration and a little fear. "Xander, please don't..."

Buffy suddenly feels his hands let go completely and he steps away, her sliding to the ground as she turns to look at him. Kyle and the others have come down the steps in familiar-looking dusters and carrying swords. Xander, donning one, listens to Kyle murmur about the dead thing with yellow eyes getting away, but badly wounded.

"You want us to track it?"

"Nah, now that it knows it isn't powerful, it will keep for now, or leave town," reaching into pocket for his father's money taken earlier. "Go get some burgers; feed. Meet at dawn at the zoo and we'll get fresh game then. Until then..." he gestures at himself then Buffy as his pack leaves, Tor saying, "Good luck, bro."

Xander, wide-eyed, recalls the dream and stares horrified at Buffy as he's handing her his father's old coat, "Oh my god, Buffy. You and Willow are my...I'd never..." and races off into the night to calm down or find Giles for help.

Sunnydale High Library

Willow is at the table researching. Buffy comes in half-carrying a bloody almost-shirtless Angel, "Giles, we need the first-aid kit!"

"Buffy what happened?!" Willow cried out.

"Xander happened; his wolf pack beat up Angel in his own apartment while he tried to pin me against a car."

"You're alright, Buffy?" Giles questions, opening the first-aid kit next to Angel, "Here, let's get him on the table, it'll be easier."

"Yes, when I finally actually said 'no', he let me go. And then he got this scared look and ran off into the dark."

"Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or, or some ducks?" Willow bemoaned.

"That's assuming 'possession' is the right word. The others still acted the same as they did at the Bronze, but he seemed in control until he ran off." She watched as Giles looks at Angel's wounds.

"They don't seem too deep, considering," Giles says noticing the tattoo of a griffin straddling a large "A" below his right shoulder, "Interesting tattoo."

"Hmmm, yeah, nice tattoo," Buffy adds.

"Oh, back on topic. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for, for generations. I... I should have remembered that."

"So how does it work?"

"Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshipers known as Primals. They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to, to, um, draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."

"And then they started acting like wolves."

"Well, only the most predatory of animals are, are of interest to the Primals, so, uh, yes, yes, that would fit, yes."

"So, what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?"

"If it goes unchecked..."he saif grimacing, handing Buffy a book open to a certain page. She takes one look, slams the book shut and quickly gets up to go.

"I gotta find Xander. He claims to have beat the thing that tried to take him over, but..."

Willow picks up the book and opens it to the bookmark. There's a drawing of people with limbs bitten off, heads missing and other massive injuries. After a few minutes, she excuses herself and heads out the doors, leaving Giles and Angel to discuss the behavior of the students and possible corrections to the situation.

Outside Library Doors

Xander comes to the door just after the Slayer and her vampire. Sensing from the hall, he can tell of their resolve and concern, and confusion in Buffy. And something...someone else in the Library, away from the others, somewhere in the back. Hearing Buffy ask about the possession, Xander heads out to the back entrance of the library, opening into the stacks.

Upstairs in the Stacks

Xander listens and smells the someone as he quietly moves closer to the railing. Spotting a book move by itself, he focuses to see if he can detect movement. From scent, it's female and human, slowly coming into focus as he directs all his abilities to draw closer and pay greater attention. Looking up from her vantage point, she notices Xander looking at her...seeing her, and in a near-whisper, "You can see me? How?"

Xander eases back just a bit, but still covers any escape, "Using my senses other than just sight, then focusing in on you; you fade a little. Do I know you? I think I should, I'm Xander."

"Marcie Ross. We had four classes together last year," she adds, somewhere between the bitter and the still-curious, "why can you see me now, 'wolf-man?'"

"Marcie, if we had classes last year, you know I slept through most of them, and pay attention in none," he chuckled softly. Smiling, he responds in a bad wolf-man Jack voice, "So Sue Richards the Invisible Girl are...are you a threat?" She rolls her eyes at the comic reference and loses her building anger.

"To your...pack, no. To the popular folks like Harmony and Cordelia..." she responds, noticing the arched eyebrow when she used the word pack. "I listen to you all; I sorta live here now at school. Even at home they were never around and never notice anymore."

"Does ANY ONE see you except me? Or—"

"Vampires, no. They sense, but seem even angrier than I get, so they can't focus. Only you so far."

"Invisible, that can suck, but a useful skill for a pack..."

"Which one? Scoobies or the new friends."

"These are my pack, Marcie," Xander said , gesturing to those below without looking, "I'm different from the others. Somehow THEY got possessed it seems; I seem to have absorbed whatever it was. Maybe I'm the closest one to how a wolf thinks or acts. I'm almost a slayer in the short-run, and my senses are way better than before. I woke up with A LOT of energy and adrenaline like I've only seen Buffy have after a fight; I kept it mostly under control but after...I almost did something I regret to one of my...I'm now a better version of me. I can sense you Marcie. How about going down stairs with me and seeing if Giles can eventually get you seen again. And don't bother with Cordelia and the Cordettes. They snipe at each other and jockey for position. They stab each other in the back. None of them have real friends who ACTUALLY pay attention. They're all façade and pretend; nothing inside. The fact that this bothers you means you're better than they are already."

"Facades, Xander?" Marcie holds up a hand palm-down, "I've been Invisible Girl for five months, and have seen more about you than your friends, huh?" Then quieter, "I notice the bruises, and they don't. They see the doofus in the ugly shirts...nice threads now by the way."

"The difference is that you see something under the 'doofus' because no one watches you look, Marcie. Please come with me, and forget about Queen C and her call-girls; prank 'em, don't kill 'em."

"But they either ignore me or put me down, Xander. They always get everything!"

"Marcie," Xander scoffed, "They're not worth your trouble. Look at Buffy, she WAS Cordelia before coming to Sunnydale. Bang, she's the slayer. She has gifts to make a difference. She bitches about it, but she makes a difference. You now have a possible gift, why waste it on Cordelia? Willow WAS noticed, and she's not on the Cordelia favorite people list. She helps fight the bad things in her own way, research and computer stuff."

"What about you?"

"I have my own issues."

"Yeah, wolf-man."

"More than you know." He ignores her wide-eyed stare of disbelief. "The wolf and me were so much alike it became part of me, and the emotions are stronger, and the denials swept away so I lost control for a while, and a girl I'm in love with hangs out with a vampire doing god only knows what?"

"Willow?!"

"No, Buffy...."

"You love them both?!"

"Yeah, no. It's complicated, but yes. They have different strengths and beauties inside; I don't know how I'm going to face either of them. I nearly...hurt...Buffy tonight, and it's because I don't have the practice keeping in my feelings of her to myself..."

"And Willow?"

"She's all I've had except, Jesse, who I had to stake myself. I can't...won't...mess that best friendship up. Then the wolf comes along and I feel there wouldn't be anything really bad to have two Alpha females as mates; while not entirely monogamous, wolves tend to have a hierarchy, but the merger has me equally set on both...and their hair...smells so nice, and I can almost feel their auras."

"Why not both? This IS California, remember?"

"Urhmmm..."

"So now that you don't seem all "wolfie," now what?"

"Maybe we head down stairs...friend?"

"That's what I'm thinking, eh Willow?" Buffy quietly questions from behind them.

"How much did you two hear?" Xander responds, startled.

"I came in at 'these are my pack, Marcie' and Willow came in at 'Look at Buffy.'"

"My life isn't complicated," Xander looks at Buffy, sighing, "Go, we'll follow, but stay between me and Dead-Boy."

"Dead-Boy?"

"Your vampire friend, Angel."

"Vampire?!" Willow, squeaks, looking accusingly at Buffy, while Buffy looks shocked.

"You didn't know?!" Xander reacts, "And you left him with Giles?"

Buffy runs around, Xander leaping over the rail, "Marcie stay close to Willow."

"Stay where you are Angel," Xander says, turning to Giles, "Can a vampire ever be a good person? Could it happen?"

"A vampire isn't a person at all. (clears his throat) It may have the movements, the, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but i-it's still a demon at the core, there is no halfway."

"So that'd be a no, huh?"

Angel, "I'm right here. You could ask me."

Buffy, arriving to find Angel still sitting at other end of table, "Well, then what were you doing? Why were you good to me? Was it all some part of the Master's plan? It doesn't make sense!"

"I'm here to help you," Angel, begins.

Xander, ignoring him, "I-I know you have feelings for this guy, but it's not like you're in love with him, right?"

Buffy looks uncertain.

"You're in love with a vampire?! What, are you outta your mind?!"

Buffy, staring at Angel, "I don't know what I feel...okay...He could've fed on me. He didn't."

Xander, "Question, Giles, what are vampires like?"

"Uh, like all of them. He's a uh, a vicious, violent animal."

Angel, "I am? I'm just an animal, right?"

Buffy, "You're not an animal. Animals I like."

Angel, sighing, "Then let's get it done. I don't care any more."

Angel is in his game face and Buffy has her stake ready to throw at him. Xander moves around to block the door. Angel morphs back into his human form.

Angel, "C'mon! Don't go soft on me now!"

"Why? Why didn't you just attack me when you had the chance? Was it a joke? To make me feel for you and then... I've killed a lot of vampires. I've never hated one before."

Angel, moving toward Buffy, with Willow behind her, "Feels good, doesn't it? Feels simple."

Xander steps to flank Angel, "I can't let you hurt my...family."

"Why not? I killed mine. I killed their friends... and their friend's children... For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart."

Buffy, "What changed?"

"Fed on a girl about your age... beautiful... dumb as a post...but a favorite among her clan."

"Her clan?"

"Romany. Gypsies. The elders conjured the perfect punishment for me. They restored my soul."

"What, they were all out of boils and blinding torment?"

"When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone! No conscience, no remorse... It's an easy way to live. You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."

Xander, "Why is it taking so long to heal, Dead-Boy? Usually you corpses heal up fast?"

"I only drink animal blood from the butcher's; occasionally a blood bank if no animal blood is available. When you don't take it from the source, you don't get the real emotional life power with it, so I still have strength and such, but none of the super stuff unless I guzzle it down. And this looks more like a library than the meat shop."

"You smell dead, but you also smell alive enough to where you might be telling the truth. These people are my pack; stay away from them unless I am around. You will contact us through the Library phone number. If you have a phone, leave the number with Giles. If you don't have a phone, get one. Until ALL of us decide to trust you, Giles is your Watcher as well, vampire. And you will not pull the Mystery-Man crap anymore. A soul doesn't make you good; you let them turn you the first time, so your soul might not be guilty of murder, but negligent homicide, cowardice, yes. If Giles can verify your story OLD MAN WHO STALKS YOUNG GIRLS, we'll just see. A soul let the demon and its evil in; the Nazis had souls and they were evil. So we'll see. Remember, if I catch you near us without warning through Giles or calling at a distance to myself, or unless in a crowded place like the Bronze, I'll dust you. Go."

He just looks at them in silence, nods, and leaves. Xander stares at the door, considering his own wolfishness with a soul, and the near-impossibility of Angel's assertions.

"Not as easy as it looks," Buffy observes, breaking into his thoughts.

"What?"

"Why'd you let him go?"

"I know I can take him if I have to, and I will dust him if he doesn't follow the rules. I dusted...Jesse...my brother, but...so far, Dead-Boy hasn't moved against us. Doesn't mean I trust it. Any way, we have two more immediate concerns. Kyle and my other wolfie-friends are out there and going to meet at the zoo at dawn. Also," looking to where other senses had somewhat kept track of her," I want the others to meet Marcie Ross. Marcie, could you pick up a book and sit in the end chair there. Thank you."

Giles, "Good Lord."

Willow, "Uh, um, hi (small wave). Sorry I don't see you yet."

Marcie, "That's okay, only Xander seems to. Just having people aware of me is kind of nice."

Xander, "That's okay Marcie, we'll figure it out. And as you've discovered, we deal with the weird often. Maybe you and Amy Madison should get together; she missed the same amount of school and had the whole mom-problem."

Buffy, to Giles, "So, no one noticed her, and now she's invisible."

Willow, "What, she turned invisible because no one noticed her?"

"Of course!" Giles exclaimed, hitting the table and getting up, "If you hadn't said that, I'd've been investigating the mystical causes of invisibility when I, I should look at the quantum mechanical!" They stare at him, "Physics."

Buffy, "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, huh?"

"It's a rudimentary concept that, that reality is shaped, even, even... created by our perception."

"And with the Hellmouth below us sending out mystical energy..."

"People perceived Marcie as, as, as invisible, and, and, and, and she became so."

Willow, to the invisible girl, "that sucks, I'm so sorry."

"That's okay. Maybe you guys can magic something up, or at least let me join up. I can spy and read and stuff. I can trip the vampires when they're running at you." The Scoobies snicker while Giles looks intrigued, "Th-that's a most positive outlook on the situation, Marcie. Perhaps when we've dealt with Xander's pack-mates we can discuss this further."

"Well, what do we need to do for them, Giles?"

Willow, "Don't you mean YOU and the others, Xan?"

"No. I absorbed or merged with the Wolf-Spirit, and I'm me, Will. Now that I understand emotionally, I'm happy with it. Hey, Giles, how do we get THEM back to normal?

"Uh, we don't know exactly how the ritual works. We know that it involves a, um, um... predatory act and some kind of symbol."

Xander, frowning in concentration, queries, "Predatory act? Like Kyle and the others picking on Lance and my jumping at Kyle about it?" Giles nods. "That makes sense. And there WAS something on the floor, writing maybe? It didn't look like it was there very long."

"Look. I think we may have enough information so that we could pull off a reverse trans-possession."

Buffy, "What do we do?"

"We must get the possessed students over to the exhibit cage right away. I'll meet you there. We can begin the rituals."

Xander, "Maybe some rest is in order when we're ready; after all, I already have them meeting me there at dawn. And how are we going to do this?"

"Normally, it would be a matter of simply transferring the Spirit in each to another host, but if we're lucky we can—"

"I'll do it. You do the ritual thing with me, and I'll get mad at the pack and you guys get me with a tranquiller dart if I leap at you."

"But how are you going to rid yourself of the Spirit when you've taken them into yourself?"

"Well, if I have control but am under attack inside, I'll leap at the wolves in the cages; as my predatory act, otherwise maybe I won't need to."

Buffy and Willow, "Huh?"

Giles, "I-I think what Xander's saying is that since he's absorbed or merged already, he'll either be immune to possession, or simply be powered further. Either way, with a tranquilizer gun, and Buffy's strength, we should be alright."

Just Before Dawn at the Great Wolf Exhibit

Giles, speaking to Willow and Xander: I believe we've covered it all except that when Buffy gives the word Xander will begin the chant and we'll hide. Where's the tranquilizer—ah, thank you Marcie...if I may? (as the floating rifle makes its way over)

Buffy approaching the area next to the circle, "They're right behind me! Let's do this!"

Inside the Exhibit.

Willow: That's Buffy! Get ready!

Xander starts chanting as the pack draws nearer, and as the wolves are heard stirring.

Xander, shaking a fist and stepping forward: YU BA YA SA NA!

The pack looks up at him, and their eyes all flash green. Then Xander's eyes flash green four times. He turns to the wolves, but they're scrunching down to the ground in submission instead of aggression, refusing the challenge of eye contact.

Xander, "I'm...too wound up Giles. Tranq me...and wash...the circle away. I'm..." hit by dart. "still me...but" Looking at Willow and Buffy pleadingly" I can't hurt my...girls." The second dart hits, but doesn't quite do the job.

The zookeeper charges in as Marcie and Willow wash part of the ritual markings away, knocking them both down, "No, you kids've ruined everything," as Willow bumps her head and cries out in pain.

The zookeeper gets up and punches Xander, threatening him and the girls, only to be picked up and thrown over into the wolf pen by a still-conscious Xander. The zookeeper works at unlocking the pen from inside, but the wolves pull him away. Kyle and his gang pick themselves up and begin to crawl away on their butts, before bolting altogether. A third dart knocks Xander out.

Next morning in the Library weapon's cage.

"Ah, hello. Anybody want to let me out of here? Hello?"

Giles, coming out of office, "Errr, Xander? How do you feel?"

"I know once again I'm not taking up the family tradition of drinking until blacking out. How many of those things did you hit me with anyway?"

"Three, actually. One after the zookeeper went into the pen, just to be sure."

Bell Rings.

Xander, nodding, "So...how long have I been out? Did anything else happen?"

"That would be the lunch bell. NO, the other students just left after you took on their possessions. To be sure, I cast a spell to bind the power to your soul to make sure you stay in control. Th-though it appears that the other students paid a call on Principal Flutie's home on the way to the zoo."

"Is he alright? What did they do?"

"Apparently they damaged his car and mailbox. When he went down to confront them, they beat him pretty badly, I'm afraid. Only the arrival of the police scared them off before it could go too far. The police are writing it off as a gang attack with dogs. Mr. Flutie is expected to be out for several weeks."

"Wow. I hope he gets better. What do we have to do to get out of here?"

Buffy and Willow enter and approach warily, as Giles unlocks the cage.

"Hey girls, bring me some lunch? I'm starved."

Buffy looks on and smiles. Willow smiles, too.

"Xander, about what you said last night in the stacks—"Willow began.

"Will, Buff. You heard it all. I'm glad you heard it, but I understand how awkward it can make things, so until you're both really comfortable with the newly revealed and super-charged Xander, I think we should just pretend I didn't bare the soul. Please, I'm already embarrassed."

Buffy: This is definitely the superior Xander. Accept no substitutes.