Authors Note: for all of you waiting on Angel and the gang to show up you do not have much longer to hang in there. Please read and review. Oh and P.S. just in case you want to know I always pictured Orlando Bloom as James not sure why.

Watchers Council: New Beginnings

Chapter 2: Big Bad and His Ball n' Chain

It was noon in Cleveland. The Scooby gang had retreated to a room Giles was using as his apartment. Leaning over a make shift stove Giles took a teakettle off the fire and started to pour three cups. Buffy and Dawn were sitting down on a couch with Willow and Xander leaning against the wall behind them. James sat in a chair cross from Buffy with a coffee table between them. Giles brought a tray with three cups over to the table. Sitting down in the chair next to James, and handed a cup of tea to Dawn and James.

"Before anyone else starts to yell or cry, I need you all to understand something. I was sent here by the Crown to take over the activities of the slayers. The Ministry of Faith believes that the reason the Watchers Council had been destroyed was due to its wavering belief in god. It is my responsibility to make sure that every slayer finds faith. This may sound strange to you but the fate of the planet rests on whether or not these girls find god. It is my observation that in order to properly take care of these girls needs we need more than one watcher. For this reason, I have contacted an old friend of mine who has agreed to help me. He should be arriving some time today." James sat and gazed at the group around him.

"I'm sure we will all be willing to help out." Giles avoided making eye contact with anyone. He instead seemed to find something interesting on his teacup.

"I agree." Dawn sat her teacup down on the tray. The eyes of the other Scoobies looked unsure. "I never said anything before but I think we would have all been better off if we had dealt with this long ago."

"I'm not sure I agree." Willow moved away from the wall and leaned against the back of the couch. "I have been a Wicca for sometime and I just can't see how there can be one all knowing god."

"You of all people should know that witchcraft is dangerous and unpredictable. You may not see it yet but eventually you will learn that witchcraft is just glorified Satanism." With that, he stood up. "However I can see that with everything you have been through you need to be shone that what I speak is the truth. Let us visit your werewolf friend; I think he at least will be more cooperative."

James set down his cup and walked out the door. Slowly the Scoobies began to follow him. Without direction, he briskly walked down the hall until he reached an elevator. Once in side he waited for the rest of the group to join him before pressing the button for the sub basement.

"How did you know that a werewolf was in the building?" Buffy was leaning against the wall.

"I could smell him from outside the building." James kept a strait face and watched as the floor numbers clicked by.

"How could you smell him like that?" Willow seemed to become intrigued.

"Just something I picked up a few years ago." James stepped over in front of the doors to the elevator.

The doors parted opening out into a concrete room in the middle of the room was a large iron cage. A young man was seated on a bench inside the cage. He was about medium height with short brown hair. When he saw the gang, he got up and walked to the bars.

"Hey, red" He looked at Willow with a sense of longing. "How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?" Willow walked over toward the bars. "Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Yeah, I've been kinda busy" Oz reached for her hand through the bars.

Willow flinched. "Don't get me wrong I'm glad your back but how did you get this address."

Oz laughed he had not thought about that. "He gave it to me." He said point towards James.

"You" Willow had turned her gaze to James. "How do you know him" Willow could not figure it out.

"I met him in England. He had contracted a disease common to certain groups of werewolves. Think of it as the next step in his evolution. Certain covens of werewolves have the ability to become more than just a werewolf. They can control there transformations to pass more freely among other humans. Oz had come to join a coven in England reputed for having this curse. Not being from the coven him self all they could do was infect him had hope that the process worked." James walked over to Oz's cage and handed him a crucifix from his pocket. Oz took it, wrapped the chain around his right arm, and held the cross firmly in his hand. "He came to the church seeking asylum. When I talked with him, he told me he came to England hoping to find a way to be with his girl friend, without risking her life. He spent over two years in study of the bible. And when I thought he was ready I gave him the address to this place."

"So that's the truth." Buffy looked over at James.

"What can I say I'm only human." James smirked and walked over to Oz and placed his hand on Oz's forehead. "Please step away all of you. In the name of god, come out."

Oz jerked let go of the bars and felt to the floor. A moment later, he jerked again. He began to change, fur growing all over his body. His hands shifted long claws replacing his fingernails. His knees popped and joints shifted. The whole process took less than a minute. The process complete the beast rose to his feet. He lifted his head up, howling in defiance, and jumped at the cage bars. He could smell them all, for a second the best smelled something familiar. His conscience snapped back and he could see her standing right in front of him. He had never had this much control over his actions before. He wanted to be with her but not like this. He turned and ran knocking over the bench and slamming into the bars on the other side. Slowly he let himself sit down on the ground. He was afraid, there was no way in heaven and earth that a woman like that should ever love him.

"I think you need to go in there." James opened the cage door and nodded to willow. "You are the only person that can save him now. He has found restitution with god but only you can make him embrace it."

Willow simply nodded. She walked into the cage without really thinking. She jumped when James slammed the door shut behind her but she could not look back now. Slowly she walked forward.

"Oz, can you hear me." Willow was not sure what to do. When she got within two feet of him, he slowly turned his head to face her. His teeth were dripping with spittle and his eyes looked sinister. All of a sudden, she was not sure she was doing the right thing or not. She started to step back but stopped. This man has gone through hell so he could be with me. Kennedy would never have done that. It was a chore getting her to tell me she loved me, and then I had to have sex with her or she would get frustrated and storm off. She would never have gone through what Oz has and neither would Tara. She had to think about that for a second. As much as I told Tara I loved her I did everything I could to force her to love me. I was too consumed with power to really love anyone. Oz caught me making out with Xander and he still sacrificed everything so he could find a way to be with me. She gathered herself and walked up to oz kneeling down she laid a hand on his shoulder. When she did, he jerked his head in her direction. Willow did not move her hand, instead she lend in and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

He was shocked she did love him even as a werewolf she loved him. He had not sacrificed himself in vain. In that moment, he knew that everything was going to be ok.

He willed himself to change back and for the first time his body listened to him. With out thinking he kissed her. He had wanted to kiss her for a very long time. He kissed her deeply and let go of all of the tension that had been building over the last four years.

"Yes well, I can see we need to come back at a later date." James turned to the rest of the group. "My associate should be arriving in a few moments. We should go to they lobby and greet him." he turned to leave and stopped. "Oh, Willow be sure the two of you are in the third floor conference room in about thirty minutes." As he continued to walk away, the only response he received was a moan.

He gang walked into the lobby form the elevator shortly after. The lobby looked common to most big businesses. There was a circular welcome desk in the middle of the large hall, with the main doors to the building about ten feet in front of it. The lobby was used as a common hall connecting a medium sized mess hall to several open and spacious classrooms. The building itself was ten stories tall, containing dorm styled room for the slayers as well as a large library, a nice sized chapel, a gym overlooking the park in front of the building, and numerous classrooms. The gang now stood around the welcome desk.

"Are you sure you can trust the two of them down there by themselves." Buffy said throwing James a mock serious look.

"I hope so. If not I'll be seeing Oz in confession tomorrow." With that, Xander and Buffy cracked up laughing. "You think I'm joking but I expect to see the both of you in chapel tomorrow morning."

They still could not help but laugh. However, there jovial mood changed as soon as the doors to the lobby opened to reveal their guests.

The cold had been nipping at his neck for three blocks. "Why couldn't we have driven here? I'm freezing my horns off." Lorne hated the cold that is why he lived in L.A.

"Oh quite your bickering you over grown baby. A little cold isn't going to kill you" Spike put another cigarette in his mouth and lit the end. "we told you the guys at the car rental would have been suspicious seeing a green man with horns and a girl half out of her mind with blue veins bulging out of her bloody face." referring to Lorne and Fred.

"Will the two of you shut-up already. God I can't take you anywhere." Angel was sick and tired of their yapping. He had almost forgotten where they were. Buffy was standing six feet in front of him, she looked shocked not that he was surprised. James was standing in front of the desk with his hands in his pockets. His fedora tilted back on his head. "God, James it's been a long time." He walked over and hugged him.

"Too long old friend. I see you decided to take me up on my offer about your staff." James said while gesturing the motley crew standing in his lobby.

"Yeah well they all wanted to come. Though I'm not sure Fred's' aware that we went anywhere." Angel turned his attention towards the group. "She hasn't said much since Wesley died."

"I'm sorry to hear that." James said patting angels arm.

"Its ok I'm hopping that working with the girls will help." Angel smiled. "So this is the gang huh? Where is Willow?" he looked around the room and did not see her. "I hope nothing happened."

"No everything is fine she will meet with us later." James said.

"So, how are you" Buffy decided it was best to say something.

Angel turned his attention to Buffy, not that it was hard. "I'm good, killed some lawyers saved the world, the usual." She was so beautiful.

Dawn saw him standing there and could not think of what to do. For so long she had thought that he was dead but to see him standing there so jovial and carefree. She decided she needed to do something. She walked over to him and tapped on his shoulder.

He turned and saw the beautiful thing in the world. "Hey bit, god I've missed you. Looks like you got out of Sunnydale in one piece." She did not say anything she was not sure what she should say.

Finally, she decided acting was the only way to say it. She jumped up and grabbed onto his shoulders and kissed him deeper and more passionately than she had ever kissed anyone.