What if # 4: New Moon Rising

Basics: What if Oz had bitten Tara in "New Moon Rising"?

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, and I'm not getting paid... aw, I made myself sad...

She felt the creature's hot breath on her skin, even as she grabbed the chair and swung blindly, eyes scrunched tight in fear. To her dismay, she felt the plastic and metal ripped from her grasp, and a deep, sharp, searing pain enter her arm. All she could do was whimper and wait for the end to come. She found herself idly wishing that she could see Willow one last time.

And then the hot breath and horrible pressure on her arm was gone, and she heard the creature - Oz - yelp in pain and fall, with a thump, to the floor. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking at the sight of so many military uniforms. "Are you all right?" one of them asked, coming to her and clinically inspecting her arm. "Twelve stitches at least." He assessed, sitting her down and motioning one of his companions over.

"Graham, take care of the civilian, we'll get this thing back to the lab."

"N-no, wait, you d-don't-" she stammered, but was silenced with a harsh look from the dark soldier.

"You're confused. We'll take care of you, don't worry." This from Graham, who gently took her arm in his, cleaning the area with a gauze pad that he had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. "We'll have you patched in no time, and if you like, I'll walk you wherever you need to go." He added, nodding to his commanding officer.

"B-bu-but-"

"Ssshhh, don't worry, you'll be fine." And before she could say another word, the rest of the team bagged the unconscious Oz and dragged him out the door.

"Willow!" Tara whispered urgently, waving her uninjured arm. The redhead, whom seemed to have been dozing, perked up and looked around. Catching sight of her, the other girl smiled and got up. For a moment, Tara forgot why she was there, and all that existed was Willow's smile… then the throbbing in her arm called her back to reality. She hid her damaged appendage behind her back.

"What's up? You okay?" Willow asked, frowning in concern when Tara backed away to half lean on a pole.

"O-Oz; we-we were talking, and changed, r-right in front of me." Tara stuttered, fear still swirling in her head. She had almost been killed, she had almost…

"What? It's daylight." The smaller girl frowned deeper and moved closer.

"I-I know, but, it happened. He changed."

"Oh my God, are you all right?"

Tara hesitated a moment, suddenly unsure. Should she tell Willow that she was bitten? Will she even care? The more cynical part of her mind added, and she shook her head to clear it. Now was not the time. She would tell her later, when everything had calmed down, and Oz was safe.

"I'm fine. The commando guys came and stopped him. But they don't know it's Oz. I tried to tell them, but they w-wouldn't listen. They took him away." Tara replied, blinking slowly, trying to clear the fuzziness from her head. It was getting awful hot.

"When, just now?" she heard Willow ask, and she nodded, regretting it as soon as she did so. When had the world started spinning without her?

"I think they might hurt him."

"I-I have to go. I have to find Buffy." Willow looked panicked, and Tara wondered if she would have cared half as much if it had been she, and not Oz that was in danger.

"I know," she said out loud, suddenly feeling bitter and sounding more wounded then she would have liked.

Without a look back, Willow was gone, leaving Tara feeling empty and vaguely ill. She hadn't thought she had lost that much blood, but perhaps she was wrong. Biting her lip to keep from crying, she hurried off to her dorm, suddenly very uninterested in the rest of the day's classes. The wound began to itch.

AN: Right, so, what do ya'll think. I am considering this might be the beginning to a medium sized fic, so, let me know. And, yes, I am doing work on "Through the Looking Glass", it's just... slow. I need to go re-watch the movies. but, it is being done! My first Buffy fic, so... be BRUTAL!