A/N:Sorry it took so long guys, been haveing trouble with this. Ok so Oz got beaten up and is now AWOL, whats he up to!

Chapter 5

Oz wandered the streets. He didn't know where he was going or why. He felt like he was in a different world too his body.

Must've hit my head harder than I thought. Suddenly he changed direction. Willow's. Gotta go to Willow's.

As he approached the house he felt a surge of comfort. Willow's house always felt as much of a home as his own house. He climbed the tree outside her bedroom window and leapt onto her balcony. Checking for noise inside he noted gratefully her parents were out. Oz pushed on the French doors and slipped into her bedroom.

He smiled to himself as he breathed in her scent. Darling Willow. He sat on the edge of the bed and let himself fall backwards.

For the first time that morning his body hurt almost as much as it had last night. His head throbbed and he prayed that Willow would come home soon.

Should've stayed at Giles'. Willow's there not here.

It was too crowded there. Too many people. You don't need that many people fussing around. We've got plans, stop stalling and get to it.

XxXxX

"Where could he have gone? How did he manage to even get up? I mean he was in pretty bad shape." Xander paced.

"Answers on a postcard please." Buffy sighed, leaning against the library wall.

"I knew he wouldn't be here. He hardly comes in when he's ok let alone when he's not." Willow said miserably.

"Hey come on Will, it was worth a shot." Buffy said.

"But he's not here, he's not at home, he's not at the bronze." Willow's eyes began to sting with tears.

"Willow, is it possible Oz could've gone to your home?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, it's possible Will." Xander encouraged.

"What's possible?" Cordelia breezed through the library doors.

"Why don't you go home see if he's there. I'll phone the hospitals, see if he made his way there. Try not to worry, he'll be fine. I'm sure he'll turn up soon." Giles smiled kindly at the red-head.

Willow nodded and left.

"Hello? Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Cordelia demanded.

XxXxX

Willow's heart pounded as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

"Oz? Are you here?" She could hear the desperation creep into her voice.

Reaching for the door handle, she took a deep breath. Her room was empty. The disappointment she felt was almost consuming. She so wanted Oz to be there, almost as if it would tell her that this was a place he felt safe and happy. "Oz, where are you?" she sighed, sitting on her bed.

Moments ticked by but it seemed like hours. The house seemed to be getting quieter when she heard movement on the stairs.

"Oz? Is that you?" Willow pushed down the sense of hope that fluttered in her stomach. She hurried down the stairs, suddenly she was falling the only sound was her hitting the rest of the stairs. The house was empty, and then it was black.

XxXxX

"No luck at the hospitals. Any word from Willow?" Giles asked emerging from his office.

"No answer" Buffy said handing Cordelia back her phone.

"Should we go out and look?" Xander asked, earning an eye-roll from Cordy.

"Please. Willow and Oz can look after themselves." She said curtly.

"You didn't see the state he was in Cordy."

"You three should get to class. I'll go to Willow's and check on her." Giles instructed.

He watched them traipse out moaning as they went.

"Right now. Lets see what Angel was hiding."

XxXxX

He lit the incense and carefully laid it by the armchair. Waving his hand to circulate the smoke he made sure it was working. He looked at the ugly dark curtains that covered the windows and frowned. Stalking over he grabbed and pulled the curtains off the rails one by one, ripping them as he did. The sunlight pierced the glass, making him wince at its intensity. He smashed the glass for good measure.

He won't like that one bit! Perfect!

He bolted for the door when he heard the occupant stir behind him, praying that stuff worked.

XxXxX

"Why's he doing that?"

"Well Faith, I told him to. Isn't it interesting how one mans poison can be another mans tonic."

"Huh?" The rogue Slayer stared at the Mayor.

"The sun saves one and kills the other. Question is, will the other be saved!" The Mayor's cackle filled the air.

XxXxX

Giles approached the mansion. The ground sparkled ahead of him amongst the dead undergrowth. The sight of the magnificent old building took his breath away. Angel definitely had taste, he gave him that.

As he trod closer the ground crunched beneath his feet. Looking down he saw shards of glass. Giles' gaze snapped up to the window frames.

"Shouldn't there be…" He didn't finish his sentence, shoving the front doors open he saw Angel lying on the marble floor struggling to move. "Hold on!" The watcher grabbed one of the curtains lying on the floor and threw it over the smoking Vampire. "Come on. We have to get you into the other room." As he half dragged Angel towards a door way he realised all the curtains were down. "We need a room without windows."

"Bedroom." Angel's hoarse voice came from under the heavy curtain.

"What happened?" Giles helped Angel onto the bed.

"I heard a small noise, then this smell filled the room and that's it. The next thing I can hear a ripping sound, almost as if it was far away. I managed to open my eyes but I must still have been half asleep."

"What makes you say that?"

"I…. whoever it was looked like Oz."

"Are you positive?" Giles tried not to let the panic enter his voice.

"No. Not really. Whoever it was drugged me somehow."

"We can't let the others know about this. Not yet anyway. Oz has gone missing. No one has seen or heard from him."

"You think it was him?" It was a statement more than a question.

"I don't know what to think. There are so many theories going through my head that I'm afraid they are starting to merge."

"But Oz isn't violent or evil in anyway."

"Exactly." Giles said absently.

Angel frowned for a moment trying to understand and failing miserably. "Rupert, you've lost me."

"I've rather lost myself too."

XxXxX

Having pinned Angel's curtains back at the windows Giles took off in search of Willow. Part of him hoped he'd find Oz along the way.

Could Oz really have tried to kill Angel? It seemed unlikely and Angel himself was unconvinced, as he said he could have been still under the influence. Giles had found some ash near where he found Angel, taking some for testing, he asked Angel to meet them after dark.

"Giles." A familiar stoic voice came from behind him as he stepped out of his car outside Willow's home. Spinning round he looked at the battered werewolf.

"Oz! You startled me. Everyone's been worried, searching for you."

"Sorry." Oz shrugged. "I needed to get some air. I went back to see if I could find the track they used but it's like they evaporated into dust. Why are you here?"

"I came to check on Willow. She came home to see if you'd made your way here but we've heard nothing since, so I thought I'd give her a lift back to school."

The boy just nodded and waited for the librarian to proceed up the path.

Giles knocked on the door.

"Willow?" Oz called. The two men looked at each other.

"Maybe we missed her." Giles said.

"Hmm, maybe." Oz bent down to look through the letterbox. "Or maybe not, Willow!" He scrabbled to pull his key chain form his pocket, fumbling he found the key to Willow's front door and barged in. "Willow?"

"Dear God."

XxXxX

A/N: Gasp! He couldn't have. Could he? hmmm maybe i'll post the next chappie now? whaddya think?

"Catch ya on the flip flop"