AUTHOR'S NOTE Sorry for the delay!
DISCLAIMER I own no characters from either the Buffy or X-Men universe.
…
Oz stayed quietly at the mansion for the next week, trying not to get in anyone's way. But as the next full moon approached, he knew that he had to make a decision. Did he leave and try something else or should he stay and risk putting the whole school in danger?
He approached the Professor just as he was overseeing the decoration of the dining room for Thanksgiving. They hadn't spoken in depth since the older mutant had gone into his mind. "Hey, uh, Professor?"
"Hello Oz." He led Oz into the kitchen where they could speak privately. "I've been wanting to speak with you."
"Yeah, uh, I – "
Xavier stared at him intently. "You want to leave."
"It'll be the full moon soon. I don't want anyone getting hurt."
Xavier smiled. "I appreciate your concern, but I assure you that you will pose no threat to anyone."
"Are you sure? Because the wolf is vicious. It's a killer."
"Please, do not doubt that we will all be perfectly safe during this full moon."
Oz sighed. "If you say so. Is that what you wanted to talk about too?"
"Actually, no." The Professor rolled toward his office, beckoning Oz to follow. He continued, "Since going into your mind, I have realized that I know or understand little about supernatural creatures. I believe if I were able to observe you in your werewolf state, it would offer far more insight."
"Well, right after Thanksgiving, you'll get your chance," Oz replied. "Do you kave a cage or chains or something? You're going to need them."
The Professor smiled. "I'm sure we can work something out."
…
So it came to be that Oz spent Thanksgiving at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Jean and Storm shooed him out of the kitchen with the other men, so he spent the afternoon getting to know the students.
The three older girls – Rogue, Jubilee, and Kitty – disappeared into the kitchen to help with dinner. Left were Bobby Drake, John Allerdyce, Piotr Rasputin, Theresa Cassidy, and other younger children.
He was amazed by their wide range of powers. Piotr could transform his skin into metal at will. Theresa's banshee-like cry could shatter glass and serious hurt Oz's sensitive animal eardrums. He watched the girl Kitty move between the kitchen and dining room by walking through the wall.
Bobby and John had powers of diametric opposites, but were still best friends. John was cynical and bitter at normal people. His ability to manipulate fire seemed to match his restlessness. Bobby, on the other hand, was quiet and kind. He seemed to harbor little resentment toward regular humans. He could control and create coldness and ice. In many ways, the two boys reminded him of Willow and Buffy – one quiet and sensitive to the world and the other not quite okay with the twists that life had handed her.
In the kitchen, Jean put a flour-covered hand to her forehead as another image of Willow, Oz's red-headed lover, flashed through her mind. "Are you okay?" Storm asked.
Jean nodded wearily. "I just wish he'd stop thinking about her," she said. Storm looked at her sympathetically before returning to making mashed potatoes. Jean tried to focus all of her attention on the strawberry-rhubarb pie she had been making.
"Hey Oz," John said suddenly. "What's a werewolf look like?"
Oz shrugged uncomfortably as all of the students turned to him. "I've never seen one."
"But you are one," Theresa said.
"Yeah."
"What's it like?" she pressed.
"What is this so interesting?" Oz asked shortly. He didn't mean to come off harsh, but talking about his condition was never comfortable.
The students sat in contrite silence for a moment. Finally, Bobby spoke up. "Because you're a normal human for so much of the time. And then, for just a little while, you're like us."
"I'm not like you," Oz said quietly.
"Yes, you are," Bobby insisted. "You're a mutant like us, but you get to live like a normal guy most of the time. No one criticizes you for what you are."
Oz sighed and looked at the solemn faces before him. "I don't usually remember it," he finally said. The students moved closer to listen. "From sunset to sunrise three nights a month, it was like a total blackout."
"How did it happen?" Piotr asked.
"My cousin bit me."
"What did he look like?" Theresa asked excitedly.
Oz chuckled. "Like a normal boy." Theresa's face fell. "Sorry," Oz said. "You see, lycanthropy – "
"Lycanthro-what?" John interrupted.
"Lycanthropy. That's the name of the disease that causes people to become werewolves. It can be transmitted by a bite even when the wolf is in human form."
"So if you bit me right now, I'd become a werewolf?" John asked.
Oz nodded. "If I drew blood."
John grinned. "Cool."
"On the nights before, during, and after the full moon, my friends would lock me in a cage so that I wouldn't hurt anyone."
"You let them lock you up?" John asked incredulously. "Why would you do that?"
Oz glared at him. "When I'm a wolf, I'm dangerous. I chose to be locked up."
John crossed his arms defiantly. "I wouldn't let them do it to me no matter how dangerous I was."
Oz kept his unreadable gaze on the young mutant. "Then I'm glad for everyone's sake that you aren't a wolf. Look all of you, I battle with the monster inside me every day. I'm here so that I can tame it and make it manageable. Us supernatural mutants feel the same things as you do."
"Yeah?" John raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't see angry mobs on TV with 'Death to Werewolves' signs."
Piotr laughed ruefully. "No one knows werewolves exist."
Oz nodded. "Although my – " He paused. "Some friends of mine were nearly burned alive for being witches."
"So I guess being a werewolf isn't much better than being a mutant, huh?" Bobby asked.
Oz shook his head. "You have no idea what it's like to know that when you wake up in the morning, your friends could be dead because you killed them during the night."
When Storm walked in to announce dinner, she was greeted by quite a somber room. She raised an eyebrow, but said cheerily, "Dinner's ready!"
The ensuing excited scramble for the kitchen reassured her that it was an ill easily cured by food. Only young Theresa Cassidy remained behind. Storm walked over to her. "You coming?"
The girl nodded. "Are you going to help Oz?" she asked.
Her question caught Storm off-guard. But she just put her arm around the young girl's shoulders. "We're gonna try," she promised. "Come on, they're waiting for us."
…
Professor Xavier sat at the head of the table. Storm, Scott, Jean, and Oz sat on his left and right and long lines of students stretched down past them. The Professor raised his glass and all others followed suit. "Well, here we are after another year. We're thankful to see our old students and equally thankful to welcome the new." He smiled. "And I would like to take a moment to welcome Oz fully into our home."
Oz nodded awkwardly. "Thanks everyone."
"We're all thankful for each other," the Professor went on. "And thankful that we're all safe here." Taking a sip from his glass, he set it down and proclaimed, "I believe it's time to eat."
The students happily began filling their plates with food. For the first time since he'd left Sunnydale, Oz was relaxed. Dinner with the mutants was fun and he found that Jean, Storm, Scott and the others were excellent cooks.
No one, not even Professor Xavier, knew what went on in Sunnydale that very day. Oz would never know of the battle his old friends faced without him just to have a Thanksgiving dinner of their own.
