Chapter 6- Phases
"Nowhere!" Willow complains. "I mean, he said he was going to wait 'til I was ready, but... I'm ready! Honest! I'm good to go here! A-OK!"
"I think it's nice he's not just being an animal." I say honestly. Oh, we're talking about Oz, in case you were wondering.
"It is nice. He's great. We have a lot of fun. But I want some smoochies!"
"Have you dropped any hints?"
"I've dropped anvils." Willow says dramatically, and I smile. Well, it was more of a smirk, but without the smirky attitude behind it.
"He'll come around." I promise. "What guy coud resist your wily Willow charms?"
"At last count?" Willow asks. "All of them. Maybe more."
"Well, none of dem know a ting." Kendra says. "Dey all get an 'F' in Willow."
"Look at you!" I say to Kendra. "Ms. Western-Civilization-Reference-Girl!"
Kendra smiles proudly.
"But... I want Oz to get an 'A'!" Willow whines. "And, oh! One of those little gold stars!" She says, almost chipper.
"He will." I promise again.
"Well, he better hurry." She replies. "I don't want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend."
"Speaking of boyfriends..." Kendra begins. "How are you holding up, Buffy?"
"What?"
"Your ex-boyfriend just showed up as a psychotic evil bastard again. That has to be rough." Willow says.
"Oh. Right. That. Well, I'd be doing a lot better about it if I wasn't still having these dreams about Kendra dying. Only thing is, now Angel's there, watching Dru kill her again and again. And laughing."
Kendra squeezes my hand tightly.
"Sorry, Kendra." I apologize. "I know it's got to be pretty harsh hearing your girlfriend predict your imminent death."
"Actually, I'm more worried about how it is affecting you. You don't seem to be sleeping well at all, Buffy."
"I'm not." I admit. "I'll sleep better once the whole Angel-slash-Dru-slash-Spike thing is over and done with. Once they're gone, and you're still alive, I'll be fine."
Kendra smiles half-heartedly at me.
"I'll be fine, Buffy."
"Good. Say it again."
She laughs. "I'll be fine, Buffy."
"Say it again, but this time, exaggerate the accent." I say, grinning, and she returns the grin.
"I'll be fine, Booffy." She says, definitely exaggerating the accent.
"You know, I really like your accent. It's actually kind of sexy." I say, pecking her on the lips. "Maybe we could all get together and do some more research on Angelus and Drusilla. See if we missed anything." I say to Willow.
"Great! I'll call Xander, ask him to join us. What's his number? Oh, yeah: 1-800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho!"
"Me-ow!"
"Really? Thanks! I've never gotten a "me-ow" before." Willow says, excitedly.
"Well deserved." Kendra replies.
"Darn tootin'! I'm just saying, Xander and Cordelia? What does he see in her, anyway?"
...
"You're sure it was a werewolf?" I ask Xander and Cordy. He called last night about a werewolf that attacked them at the park, and now, everyone's gathered around the victim of the attack: Cordy's car.
"Let's see: six feet tall, claws, big ol' snout smack dab in the middle of a wolfish face... Yeah, I'm sticking with my first guess."
"Seems wise." Oz says, quite eloquently.
"Oh, and there was that little thing where it tried to bite us." Xander finishes as Cordy buries her head in his shoulder and wraps her arms around him.
"It was so awful!" She whines.
"I know..." Xander agrees.
"Daddy just had it detailed!" Of course. Leave it to Cordy to be more worried about her car than her life or Xander's.
Luckily, we're spared any more dramatics as Giles comes over with a newspaper.
"What's the word?" I ask as he sets the paper down, showing the headlines.
"Seems there were a number of other attacks by a "wild dog" around town. Several animal carcasses were found mutilated."
"Oh... You mean bunnies and stuff? No, don't tell me." Willow says sadly.
"Don't worry." Oz says comfortingly. "They may not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves." I smile at that. Willow really couldn't have picked a guy better suited for her. He's quirky, weird, and he shares the same silly sense of humor as her. All in all, he's basically a male Willow. Hmm... maybe he'll let me call him Will.
"Yeah." Willow says, perking up slightly.
"Fortunately, no people were injured." Giles adds.
"That falls into the "that's a switch" column." I say, impressed.
"For now." Giles agrees. "But my next guess is this werewolf will be back at next month's full moon."
"What about tonight's full moon?" Willow asks curiously.
"Pardon?" Wow, Willow even stumped Giles. Yet another first for the Hellmouth High gang.
"Last night was the night before the full moon. Traditionally known as... the... night before the full moon."
"Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during the full moon might be erroneous." Giles says thoughtfully.
"Or it could be a crock." Cordy says, unknowingly translating what Giles said to normal English, instead of... English... English...
"Unless our werewolf is still using last year's almanac." Xander quips.
"Looks like Giles has some schoolin' to do." I say with a nod.
"I must admit, I'm intrigued." Giles says, grinning. "A werewolf? It's one of the classics... I'm sure my books and I are in for a fascinating afternoon."
"He needs to get a pet." Kendra says after Giles leaves.
"Definitely." I agree.
"Or, really, anyting to occupy his time and get him out of de books."
...
"Sunnydale is becoming more dangerous all the time." Miss Litto, our gym teacher, says. "And a full moon like tonight tends to bring out the crazies. But with some simple basics of self-defense, each of you can learn how to protect yourself..." I zone out as she continues to talk, and I turn to Kendra, Willow and Oz.
"Here's a suggestion: Move away from the Hellmouth." I quip. Willow jumps as Oz does something to the back of her collar.
"Tag." He explains simply. Xander grumbles something to Cordelia and leans in to whisper to us.
"Hey, buddy, you're in a public forum here!" He gripes at Oz, and I have to stifle my surprise. I thought Xander liked Oz?
"I think you splashed on a little too much "Obsession for Dorks"." Cordy berates him.
"Okay everyone! Get into your assigned groups!" Miss Litto shouts at us and blows her whistle.
Larry, some big womanizing jock, walks up to me, taking off his jacket. We're all surprised to see his arm wrapped in a large bandage.
"What happened to you?" Xander asks.
"Ah, last week, some huge dog jumped out of the bushes and bit me. Thirty-nine stitches. They ought to shoot those strays." Larry says.
"I been there, man." We all turn to Oz, who olds up his index finger. "My cousin Jordy. Just got his grown-up teeth in. Does not like to be tickled."
"Looks like it healed already." Willow says, upon examining it.
"The emotional scar is still there."
"Theresa, be still my shorts!" Larry says, walking up to a girl named Theresa. "We're in the same group. I may have to attack you." He says, grinning like the perv he is.
"No... I think, actually... in our group... there're a few of us..." Theresa says timidly, and I step up.
"Yeah, and I'm one of the few." I give Theresa an opportunity to back away, and Willow pulls me to the side for a minute.
"Don't forget, you're supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us." She says as Kendra easily slings her "attacker" over her shoulder, then pins him on the ground.
I look pointedly at Kendra, and Willow rolls her eyes.
"Okay, so... most of us, anyway."
"Spoil my fun." I tease, and walk back over to my group.
I watch as Willow and Cordelia both throw insults back and forth, including a pretty clever retort about Cordelia living in a brothel from Willow. When Xander walks up to them, they look at each other and take turns beating him to a pulp.
"Why...?!" He whines.
"Okay, everyone!" Miss Litto gets our attention again. "Listen up! I want to show you what to do should you be attacked from behind!"
Larry walks up and puts his arm around me as Miss Litto explains what to do.
"In this situation, bend forward, using your back and shoulders to flip your assailant over and to the ground!"
I "struggle" to flip him, putting the weak girl act on for Willow's sake.
I grunt a couple times for effect, but Larry seems to be enjoying it.
"You're turning me on, Summers!" He says, then grabs a handful of my ass, squeezing not-so-gently. My eyes grow wide at that, and in a flash, I pretty much choke-slam him to the ground, much to Kendra's amusement.
"That works, too." She says, kissing me quickly and grinning as she returns to her group.
...
"... And while there is no scientific explanation for lunar effect on the human psyche, the phases of the moon do exert a great deal of psychological influence. And a full moon tends to bring out our darkest qualities." Giles says as he uses a globe, a model of the moon and a lamp to represent the sun.
"Yet, ironically, also lead to the invention of the moon pie." Xander quips.
Giles chuckles. "Moon pie..." He says under his breath, still laughing.
We're all staring at him.
"Talk about "lunar effects on the human psyche"." Kendra mumbles to me. I smirk.
Finally, Giles clears his throat and continues. "You see, a werewolf is such a potent extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits that it emerges for three consecutive nights: the full moon and the two nights on either side of it."
"Quite the party animal." Willow says.
"Quite." Giles agrees. "It acts on pure instinct, without conscience, predatory and aggressive-"
"In other words, your typical male." I interject, and Kendra and Willow nod their heads in agreement.
"On behalf of my gender: Hey!" Xander says defensively.
"Let's not jump to conclusions..." Giles says.
"I didn't jump. I took a tiny step. And there conclusions were." I counter.
"The point is, our wolf-man could very well also be a wolf-woman."
"Hermaphro-wolf?" Willow asks.
"Er, well, technically, yes, that's possible, but no, I meant separately. It could either be a man or a woman under the guise of the werewolf." Giles says awkwardly, cleaning his glasses. "Or anyone who's been bitten by a werewolf."
"And whoever it is will be changing any moment." Xander says, looking at his watch.
"'Cause it'll be night soon." Willow agrees, spinning the globe to represent the Earth's rotation. What? I pay attention in class. Sometimes...
"So, then..." Xander begins. "I'm guessing your standard issue silver bullets are in order here?"
"No. No bullets." Giles says quickly. "No matter who this werewolf is, it's still a human being. Who might be completely unaware of his..." then, with a glance towards me, he adds, "...or her, condition."
I shrug. "So tonight we bring 'em back alive."
...
Giles, Kendra and I are out at Makeout Park, where Cordy and Xander had the run-in with Fluffy.
"Anything yet?" he asks.
"Yes." I confirm. "And you won't believe it! Lisa Hamm is over there making out with Tim Bushway! But he's dating Mandy Donaldson. If she ever finds out-" I catch Giles' look, which is not one of amusement. "Nothing. Not a werwolf in sight. You?"
"The same. I thought we might knock on a few windows, ask if anyone has seen anything."
"Giles? No one's seen anyting." Kendra says, glancing pointedly to a couple in their car right in front of them who don't notice Giles standing right in front of them holding a tranq gun talking to two teenage girls.
"Yes... Of course not." Giles agrees. We all split up again, and I hear something near the edge of the park, so I walk over to check it out.
The bushes rustle, and I lunge into them to catch whatever is in them, but somehow, I end up hanging upside-down in a net five feet up off the ground.
I struggle in the net for a minute before some guy comes walking towards me looking like a Steve Irwin wannabe.
"Gotcha." he says.
Oh, great. On top of a werewolf, now I've got this bump-in-the-night trying to kill me.
"Giles!" I call out, and the gun guy lowers his gun in confusion, then pokes me. "Ow!"
"Hey!" Giles shouts as he runs up, only to freeze and put his hands up when Mr. Crocodile Hunter points the rifle at him. "Whoa, now..." He says hesitantly.
"The hands are good right about there."
"Who are you, what are you doing?" Giles asks him.
"Name's Cain. I'm the one with the gun. Which mean's I'm the one who gets to do the interviewing."
"You know, before we get all chummy, could we do something about this "me being in a net" thing?" I ask, and Cain uses a large knife to cut a rope, which drops me and the net to the ground. Hard.
"Are you alright?" Giles asks as he helps me out of the net.
"I could have done without the poking." I admit.
"I gotta say, I'm impressed." Mr. Knife-Guy says.
Confused, Giles asks, "Excuse me?"
"It's good to get the fruit while it's fresh." he says, looking at me. Giles glares at him, and I feel bile rising in my throat.
Giles growls. "You'd be wise to take that back."
"Hey, what a man and a girl are doing in Lovers' Lane at night is nobody's-"
Giles steps forward, but I stop him just as Kendra walks up.
"Are you alright? I heard you call." She asks me as she puts her hands on my shoulders in concern.
"I'm fine." I say with a slight smile at her concern.
Cain whistles. "Man, what's your secret? Two of them? You must be doing something right." he says to Giles, and I pale again. Kendra looks at everyone in confusion.
"What is going on?" She asks.
"It's not what you think, repulsive brain." I growl at him, waving Kendra off. "We're hunting a werewolf."
Cain looks at us all in surprise, then bursts into laughter.
"Sure, it's funny if you don't believe in werewolves." I mumble.
"No, it's funny thinking about you lot catching one!" He says. "This guy..." He looks at Giles. "He looks like he's auditioning to be a librarian. And you two... Well, you're girls." He adds, looking at me and Kendra.
"We can handle ourselves, Mick Dundee." Kendra fires back. I grin.
"Nailed the pop culture reference." I say to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. Cain raises an eyebrow at that.
"Uh-huh." He says, as if to say 'Sure, it's not what I thought at all. Riiiiiiight.'. Then goes back to the topic at hand. "Lemme ask you girlies something. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out?"
"As of today?" I deadpan.
He smirks and pulls a necklace out of his shirt. It's made of teeth.
"I tore a tooth from the mouth of every werewolf that I killed." He says. "This next one will bring the total to an even dozen."
I look at Giles, then Kendra, then at Cain. "You're just going to kill it?!"
"Well, see, that's the thing. Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka, and it's a little hard to skin 'em whan they're alive."
"You're hunting dem for sport!" Kendra exclaims incredulously.
"Oh, no. I'm in it purely for the money."
"And it does not bother you dat dey are humans twenty-eight days out of de mont?" Kendra asks, clenching her fists.
"You know, it does bother me a bit." He says, then shrugs and grins. "That's why I only hunt them the other three." He adds as he starts to pack up his stuff. "I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Any idea where else the boys and girls like to get together in this town?"
"You looking for a party?" I ask.
"No, but the werewolf is. They're suckers for that whole "sexual heat" thing. Sense it miles away. But since the little doggie ain't here, it must have found another place."
I look at Kendra, and she nods slightly in agreement. I look back to Cain and do what every teenage girl thinks she does best. I lie to him. "Wish we could help you, but..."
"You don't know squat? Gee. What a surprise." He says, his arrogance working in my favor.
He leaves and Kendra and I scramble to gather up our stuff. Giles looks at us in confusion.
"Where are we going?" he asks.
"We know where to look." Kendra explains.
"Yeah, we just need to get there before Mein Furrier." I add.
...
Screams and crashes from inside the Bronze tells me that my hunch was right.
"Looks like your hunch was right." Giles says.
Wait, didn't I just say that?
"How could a werewolf resist Sunnydale's "House o' Hormones"?" I quip, and Giles and Kendra nod in agreement.
We wade through a crowd of teenagers running for their lives as we try to get inside.
"The werewolf! It's in there!" We hear Willow shout over the screams, and find her and Cordy over by the door.
" 'll really let anyone in these clubs these days." Kendra jokes, and I nod, grinning.
"I'll say." Cordy says, rolling her eyes and turning to the Bouncer. "You could be a little more discriminating with that velvet rope!" She shouts at him.
Kendra and I roll our eyes and I pull a chain out of our bag, handing the bag to Giles as Kendra and I head inside. Kendra has her own chain as we head to the backstage area. Kendra heads upstairs to look around, leaving me alone backstage.
I look around backstage for a while until a sudden movement catches my attention. I whip around just in time for the werewolf to tackle me. I roll with the fall and use the werewolf's momentum to throw it off of me.
It lunges at me again, and I use my reflexes and Slayer strength to punch it in the face.
"Bad dog." I hear Kendra growl as she shows up behind me. The werewolf jumps at her, and she does a backflip, catching it under the chin with a powerful kick. The beasty boy is stunned, so I throw my chain around its neck and lock it in place.
But then it swings its head roughly, sending me crashing into Kendra, knocking us both to the ground as the werewolf gets away, jumping through a window to escape to the outside.
We hear a howl as we climb to our feet, then Giles rushes in. Unfortunately, Cain is with him.
"You let it get away." Cain growls.
"I didn't do anything!" I protest. "I had the chain around its neck-"
"Chain?! What were you going to do, take it for a walk?"
"I was trying to lock it up." I mumble.
"That's beautiful." He says, sarcastically wiping a tear away, then he shakes his head. "This is what happens when you send a couple of girls to do a man's job."
"Hey Rambo," Kendra growls. "We just put our lives at risk to capture a beast ya haven't even found yet."
"Uh-huh." He rolls his eyes. "And Daddy over here's doing a great job of carrying your Milk Bones." He nods to Giles, who tries to step up to kill him again. I stop him, though. I think Kendra's finally caught onto what he thinks is going on, because I don't react in time to stop her from punching him. He groans in pain as he picks himself up off the floor.
He holds his nose and checks it for blood. There's none, so I don't think Kendra hit him with any real strength. Just enough to get the point across. He glares at us.
"You know, girlies, if that thing out there harms anyone? It's going to be on your pretty little heads." He growls. Then, when we don't respond, he turns and starts walking away. "I hope you can live with that."
"We live with dat every day." Kendra says sadly.
We can hear him grumbling to himself as he walks away.
"Let's move out." Giles says as he zips up the bag, and we leave.
...
Kendra and I decide we should head back to Makeout Park to check for the werewolf, so Giles decides to keep the car warm.
"I'm not seeing it, Kendra." I say.
"Neither am I." She sighs.
"It's getting early." I say, looking up at the sky. "The werewolf isn't a werewolf anymore. We're not going to find Fluffy today."
"No, I suppose not." She agrees.
I grin at her. "You know... We've still got a little while before we're supposed to meet Giles back at the car..."
"Ya want to keep looking?" She asks curiously.
"Mm... no." I say, looking away, biting my lip.
"Den what are ya... Oh..." She says when she finally sees the look on my face.
I smile. "They don't call it Makeout Park for nothing." I say as I pull her in and kiss her.
The kiss quickly grows heated.
We haven't done anything since that night after the sewers, though I think it's because seeing Angel has shaken me up more than I thought. Not because I love him more than Kendra, but it's just that him turning back into Angelus is weird. Believe me, I'm all about the dark, exotic beauty that is my girlfriend, Kendra.
"I love you." I whisper when we pull away for air, and our lips immediately meet again in another passionate kiss.
"I love you, too, Buffy." She replies.
"Say it again." I say, and she smiles, knowing exactly what I want.
"I love you, too, Booffy." She exaggerates her accent, and I shiver. For some reason, it affects me more this time than the other times, and I feel it go straight to my... you know... that place...
Kendra notices my reaction, and her eyes go dark. They go just as dark now as they had that night early last week, and I know that this is different from the other times since then that we've come close to doing it again, but our nerves scared us away.
She pushes me gently against a tree, and her hands move to undo my blouse. I let her, and soon, my shirt falls to the forest floor, exposing my pink bra-clad breasts. She gives them a squeeze and I arch into her touch as I fumble with her shirt. Soon, I slide it over her head, moaning at just the sight of her dark skin accentuated by the violet colored bra she's wearing that barely manages to support her heavy chest.
She kisses me, and lays me down on the forest floor, settling in between my legs. I squeeze her hips with my thighs and raise my own hips up to meet hers, groaning as I make contact. I'm really wishing we weren't wearing pants right now.
She seems to have the same thought as she groans and pulls back to fumble with the button on my jeans. I help her out and undo my own jeans, sliding them down my own legs and tossing them over to where her shirt and my blouse and bra are already laying. Wait, when did she take my bra off?
She smirks at me and winks, somehow knowing what I was just thinking, then she kisses me passionately as she takes her own pants off and settles back down in between my legs, our cores meeting through our panties, and we both gasp at the much better contact than before.
I reach around her and unclasp her bra as she starts to grind down on me, delicious moans of pleasure escaping both of our mouths. I toss her bra over... somewhere... I'm not in the frame of mind to pay attention where.
Her breasts press against mine, and our rock-hard nipples grind against each other, making our moans more intense.
I roll us over and sit up enough to slip my fingers in under the waistband of her panties, and I crawl backwards, bringing them with me. She lifts her hips and allows me to slide her panties off.
As soon as we're both naked, I crawl back up again and let her flip us back over so she can settle back in between my legs. I love the feeling of her hips pressed against mine, and my thighs clenching around her waist as she starts grinding on me again, unhindered by our panties anymore.
"Oh, god... Kendra..." I moan, wrapping my arms around her tightly, and I match her pace as I grind up on her, moving opposite of her. When she rocks her hips down, I rock up, and vice versa.
"Booffy..." She moans, exaggerating her accent again without realizing it, and it sends another jolt of electricity to my core, translating as pleasure as I have to press my lips to hers in order to stifle my scream.
We're moving faster against each other. And faster. And harder, desperate for more.
She reaches down between us and spreads my lower lips wide open, leaving my clit fully exposed as she grinds down harder on me, and I gasp as my body starts shaking at the intense sensations.
I reach down and part her lower lips as well, and she has to bite my neck to prevent herself from screaming out loud. I feel a pulling sensation inside me, and my inner muscles clamp down hard as I cum, my juices coating Kendra's sex, which makes her cum as well, our juices mingling together as we moan loudly, still grinding to ride out our orgasms.
...
Kendra wasn't able to find her bra, which I apologized for, though I'm really not sorry about it, because now her nipples are poking out through her shirt, showing how turned on she is that we just had sex again, and in a forest, no less.
We finish getting dressed after cleaning each other up, which involved a lot of tongue work. Not complaining one bit. Nope, no complaints here.
We walk back to Giles' car, only to see that his idea of keeping the car warm is sleeping in the driver's seat. I tap on the hood of the car, and he's startled awake.
"Blaerg!" he shouts as he hits his head on the ceiling and starts rubbing it. He finally notices us and yawns. "Any sign of the werewolf?" He asks.
"No." Kendra admits. "And I suppose ya haven't seen much eidder, from de vantage point of having your eyes closed."
Giles sighs and looks out the window. "It's starting to get light. I suppose we should be heading-"
"Shh..." I hush him and turn the radio up, slumping in my seat when I hear that Theresa's dead. I can sense Kendra's as devastated as I am. I didn't know Theresa that well, but we got along well enough. We were on our way to actually maybe even being friends.
"We've got another night, Buffy." Kendra points out. "We're going to get dis beast."
Giles nods. "But right now, there's nothing we can do. The sun is rising. The werewolf isn't a werewolf anymore."
...
"I can't believe I let that thing get away. Cain was right. I should have killed it when I had the chance!" I growl. We're all in the library right now, talking about what to do about the werewolf.
"Killed what?" Oz asks when he walks in.
"The werewolf." Gikes explains. "It was out last night."
Oz seems to panic at first, which is understandable, considering we're talking about the Three Little Pigs' worst nightmare come to life roaming around on the Hellmouth with tons of unsuspecting walking fast food restaurants waiting to be gobbled up.
"Is everyone okay? Was anyone scratched? Or bitten?" he asks.
"No, we're fine." Willow says.
"Gladness."
"But the werwolf got someone. Theresa." I add.
"'Got'... as in..." He trails off and slumps against a wall, like Theresa had been his girlfriend or something. "Wow... I'm sorry." He says softly.
I nod. "And the worst part is, I could have stopped it."
"Well, we still have one more night." Kendra growls.
"Another night?" Oz asks, almost nervously.
"Oh, yeah. And I'm planning on giving little wolfie something to howl about." I say angrily.
"Huh..."
Xander interjects. "But while we hang out here doing nothing, there's a human werewolf walking around out there, probably making fun of us."
"The way werewolves always do." Willow nods sarcastically.
"But there's really no way to tell who is is, right?" Oz asks.
"Sure there is." Xander answers, and he has our attention. How does Xander know how to identify a werewolf? "Giles knows stuff. And I'm practically an expert on this subject."
"On account of how you were once a hyena?" Willow asks, and Xander nods.
"Xander was...?" Oz asks.
"Hyena?" Kendra asks at the same time.
"Before we knew you." Willow replies to both of them.
"I know what it's like to crave the taste of freshly killed meat. To be taken over by these uncontrollable urges-"
"You said you didn't remember anything about that." I interrupt Xander's monologue.
"I said I didn't remember anything about that." Xander agrees, like it was a revelation that just hit him. Okay, Mr. Clueless. "Look, the point is, I have an affinity with this thing. I can get inside its head." He starts acting like some kind of beast. Or a hormonal teenage boy. Same thing, anyway. "Okay, I'm a big, bad wolf. I'm on the prowl. I'm a sniffing, snarling, slobbering predator..." Xander stops goofing off and stares right at Oz. "Wait a second! It's right in front of us! It's obvious who I am! I'm Larry! He's practically got 'wolf-boy' stamped on his forehead. You got the dog bite, you got the aggression. Not to mention the excessive back-hair."
"You know, he was a little overly glee-ful at the thought of tormenting Theresa." I agree.
"Still, that doesn't necessarily mean-" Oz begins, only to be interrupted by Xander.
"I'm going to go talk to him. Force a confession out of him."
"Good. Go." Giles agrees. "In the meantime, let's cover our bases. Willow, check the student files. See if anyone fits the profile." He turns and starts to head for his office, and I follow.
"Where are we going?" I ask as Kendra follows, too.
"If none of that works, I think I've struck upon a way to finally lay this problem to rest."
"Me and the werewolf, three minutes alone in a cage. That's all I ask." I say sincerely.
We follow Giles into the office.
"So what's the what, Giles?" I ask.
"What's de plan for taking Big and Fuzzy to Obedience School?" Kendra asks.
"This." Giles replies as he pulls out a small syringe. "Picture this being shot out of a high-powered rifle filled with enough phenobarbital to drop a small elephant."
"So we're gonna tranq it?"
"Er, yes, Buffy. A tranquilizer dart should render the werewolf unconscious long enough for the moon to set and cause the werewolf to revert to human form. Then, we may interrogate the creature in the morning in order to determine a further course of action."
...
Later, I head back to the library again to see Willow at the computer by herself, doing hacker-ish things. Possibly illegal, but since they suit our goal, I'm gonna call it "cool" instead.
"So what's the scuttle-butt?" I ask her. "Anyone besides Larry fit the werewolf profile?"
"There is one name that keeps getting spit out." She admits. "Aggressive behavior, run-ins with authorities, about a handful of violent incidents..." She types something out and hits "enter" on the keyboard. I look at the screen, then turn and glare at Willow.
"Okay, most of those weren't even my fault. The other guy started it. I was just standing up for myself."
"They say it's a good idea to count to ten when you're angry."
"One, two, three..."
"Okay, I'll keep looking." Willow says quickly.
"I noticed you're looking solo."
"Yeah... Oz wanted to be somewhere that was away. From me." Willow says sadly.
"I'm sorry."
"I can't figure him out. He's so hot and cold. Or, lukewarm and cold."
"Welcome to the mystery that is men. I think what happens is they grow body hair, then they lose the ability to talk about what they really want."
"Doesn't sound like a good trade." She says as the bell rings. Willow shuts the computer down and we grab our stuff, heading out the door.
"Seems to me you and Oz have a synapse problem. So if you want to get anywhere with him, you've got to make the first move." I say as we walk.
"That doesn't make me a slut?"
"No, worse. It makes you a Cordelia." I joke, and Willow gasps and looks at me in offense. "Kidding. I think your reputation'll remain intact."
Willow sighs. "It used to be so much easier to tell if a boy liked you. He'd punch you in the arm, then run back to his friends."
"Yeah, those were the days. You can see why I changed teams."
Willow giggles and nods.
Xander walks up and punches me in the arm as Willow starts to walk away. "I'll see you guys later. Cordelia asked me to look over her history homework before class. I think that means I might have to do it."
We watch Willow walk away, and I chuckle under my breath.
"Wow... Those two have been hanging out together a lot. This would be a good time to panic."
"How'd it go with Larry?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Xander asks quickly, defensively.
"I... think it's supposed to mean 'How'd it go with Larry?'..."
"He's not the werewolf. Can't you leave it at that?! Must you continue to push and push?!"
"Sorry, I was just wondering-"
"Well he's not!"
"Okay."
"Okay."
"So there goes our lead suspect." I groan and slump up against a locker. "Which puts us right back at square boned."
"You're not boned." Xander says. "You're Buffy. Eradicator of evil. Defender of... things that need defending."
"Tell that to Theresa. She could have used some defending before she was ripped apart by that..." Wait a second...
"Werewolf." Xander finishes, trying to be helpful.
I turn to him abruptly. "None of the reports said anything about Theresa being mauled. But it was linked to the animal attacks from the other night, so we just assumed werewolf."
"What else should we have assumed?"
"I don't know. That's what we're going to find out." I say as we head to the library.
...
"What are you saying, Buffy?" Giles asks when I tell him my suspicions.
"Think about it, Giles, werewolves aren't the only big, evil, nasty thing on the Hellmouth. What if we're blaming an innocent... demon... for something it didn't do? That would mean that this werewolf hasn't killed anybody yet, and we might not have to kill it back."
"Are you sure about dis?" Kendra asks.
"No." I admit. "But I'd rather be sure about it. I'm going to check out Theresa's body, see if it's possible that she was killed by a different big nasty than our fuzzy Mr. Hyde. You in?"
"Actually, it might be more prudent for Kendra to search for the werwolf while you are investigating Theresa's death." Giles points out.
I sigh. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Be careful, Kendra." I say worriedly.
"I will." She agrees.
I walk up to her and kiss her deeply. She pulls me in closer and returns the kiss with just as much enthusiasm. It's always like this when we have to split up. Being Slayers, we're never sure which kiss is going to be our last, so we try to make every one of them count.
The gang seems to understand this, because they don't even try to interrupt us until we finally pull apart. I peck her one more time on the lips, then I move to walk out of the library.
"Wait up, Buff." Xander says. I smile gratefully at him when he follows me out of the library.
...
"Looks like your hunch was right, Buff." Xander says as we stare down at Theresa's body, lying in an open casket.
"Vampire." I agree.
"So that's good, right? I mean in the sense of, the werewolf didn't get her and... No... There is no good here."
"Yeah." I agree again. "Instead of not protecting Theresa from a werewolf I was able to not protect her from something just as bad."
I look at the sign-in book, and notice there are a lot of names.
"She had a lot of friends." I whisper.
"Buffy, you can't blame yourself for every death in Sunnydale. If it weren't for you, people would be lining up five deep needing to get themselves buried. Willow would be Robbie the Robot's love slave, I wouldn't have a head, and THERESA'S A VAMPIRE!" Xander shouts suddenly, and I whip around just in time for Theresa to tackle me, knocking my stake out of my hand.
We roll around for a bit until I end up on top. I snap a leg off of the easel the sign-in book was resting on, and am about to stake Theresa with it, but then she speaks.
"Angel sends his love."
I freeze at Angel's name, and Theresa takes advantage and knocks the stake out of my hand.
We roll around again, and this time, Theresa comes out on top. Just as she's about to kill me, Xander stabs her from behind with the two and a half remaining legs. She goes up in dust, and Xander helps me up.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"This isn't happening..." I mumble.
"Buffy..." He says, and he touches my arm comfortingly. I curl up in his arms, needing to be held.
"He's gonna keep coming after me. Until-"
"Don't let him get to you." Xander interrupts me. "He's not the same guy you know."
Unfortunately, he already has gotten to me.
"Xander..." I say after a while. I take a deep breath. "Thanks."
He smiles slightly, and we break apart. I compose myself and adopt the mask of the Slayer.
"Well, I've got a lot to do tonight."
"Yeah." He agrees.
"I should probably go do it." I say as I leave. Xander follows after a minute.
...
"Sorry I'm late." I say to Giles and Kendra as I walk into the library. "Had to do some unscheduled slaying in the form of Theresa."
"She's a vampire?"
"Was. Angel sent her to me. A little token of his affection."
"Buffy, I'm sorry-" Giles says as he walks up to me, but I put my hand up to stop him.
"Not now, Giles. We'll have ourselves a good cry after we've bagged us a werewolf."
Giles nods as he starts putting the rifle together. I sit down in Kendra's lap and rest my forehead against hers.
"At least we know dat de werewolf didn't kill anyone. We won't have to kill it."
I nod. "Yeah. Enough people have died already." I agree.
"All set." Giles announces as he screws on the scope. "Let's go find this thing."
"How are we gonna do dat?" Kendra asks as we both stand up.
"It's Oz! It's Oz!" Willow screams as she bursts through the doors of the library.
"What's Oz?" I ask.
"The werewolf!"
"Are you certain?" Giles asks.
"Can't you just trust me on this?! He said he was going through all these changes, then he... went through all these changes."
"Where is he now?" I ask hurriedly.
"In the woods!"
"Willow, it'll be okay. We're going to take care of everything." I say, and Willow notices the rifle.
"Let's go." Giles says as he pumps the rifle.
"Go where?! You're not going to kill Oz?! I mean, sure, he's a werewolf, but I bet he doesn't mean to be!"
"Don't worry, we won't hurt him." Kendra assures her, showing her the tranquilizer dart. "We loaded dis with enough phenobarbital to drop a seven hundred pound silverback gorilla. It'll be more dan enough to handle a werewolf."
Willow nods, and the four of us go off in search of Oz.
...
"Good doggie. Now play dead." I hear Cain say as he puts his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot Oz.
I kick the gun up so the shot is fired into the air, then I disarm him and slam the non-shooty end of it into his gut. He hits the ground, out like... something that goes out. I don't have time to think of anything quippy as Oz leaps at me, having been warned by the shot.
I swing the gun like a club and bat him away, but he comes right back at me and snaps with his teeth. I get the gun in between his teeth as he tackles me, and I barely manage to hold him at bay. I roll us and pin him down, but he swings at me and knocks me off of him.
"Careful!" I hear Willow say to Giles, who I guess is having a hard time aiming the tranq gun without me getting in the way.
I manage to pin Oz down, but he kicks up nd sends me flying into Giles and Willow, knocking them down like the werewolf just bowled a strike.
Willow recovers first, and she and the werewolf stare each other down for a minute before Oz charges right at her. Everything happens so fast.
Kendra tackles Oz to the side. Willow's shot from the tranq gun, which I only now realize she's picked up, hits Kendra instead. I panic as I struggle to get to my feet. Kendra hits the ground, unconscious, and the werewolf opens his mouth to bite her.
I get to my feet just in time to slam the werewolf away from Kendra, and Willow and Giles get to work loading the second tranq dart. We brought three just in case we missed.
I place a thrust kick to the werewolf's chest, sending him flying up against a tree. He hits with a whimper, and Willow aims the gun again. She fires, but misses when Oz lunges at me, the dart hitting the tree he'd just been up against.
I jump out of the way, but realize my mistake as it lands on Kendra. He sinks his teeth into her shoulder, about to tear her limb from limb. I tackle Oz, though, and he takes a chunk out of her arm, but Slayer healing will fix that within a week or two.
I start punching Oz wildly with tears in my eyes at the thought of the curse he just forced on Kendra. Finally, Willow shoots the last dart, and it hits Oz in the side, knocking him out, and Giles pulls me away from him.
I run over to Kendra and drop to her side. I sob as I tear a piece of my shirt off and use it as a tourniquet to stop her bleeding.
Giles walks over and checks out Kendra's wound. He looks up at me and smiles reassuringly. "It'll be alright, Buffy. It's not as bad as you think it is. His teeth only just barely broke the surface. It is unlikely that Kendra will become a werewolf, especially with her Slayer healing helping her fight off the curse."
I sigh in relief and nod.
We hear something behind us, so we whip around to see Cain walking over.
"No wonder this town is overrun with monsters. No one here's man enough to kill 'em." He growls.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." I say as I stand up and pick up his rifle. "You know, Mr. Cain, I've been sick of you since the moment before I met you. And I've been waiting for just the opportunity to take you on. But then I realized: a big, strong man like you versus a girl like me?" I use all of my Slayer strength to turn his rifle into a pretzel. "Wouldn't be a fair fight." I growl as I throw the new cinnamon twist at him. "How about you let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town."
He opens his mouth to retort, but closes it, then turns and walks away, hanging his head.
"Willow?" I ask her when I see her hunched over the werewolf.
"Is he going to be all right?" She asks Giles.
"He'll be a little sore in the morning, but he'll be Oz." Giles confirms.
Willow smiles slightly and nods.
...
"This is all so weird." Xander says as we sit at a table in the crapeteria. "I mean, how are we supposed to act when we see him?"
"I'm sure it's weird for him, too, now that we know so much."
"I know I'll never be able to look at him the same way again."
"Hey, he's still a human being. Most of the time." I counter.
Xander freezes. "Who are you talking about?"
"Oz." I say, confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"No one." He says as Larry walks up. I roll my eyes at the pig, but gawk in surprise when, instead of staring at some girl's ass, who just had her books knocked out of her hands by Larry's friends, he bends down and helps her pick her books up.
She walks away, and Larry approaches us. "Hey, Xander, about what you did? I owe you." He says, putting his hands on Xander's shoulder.
"What did you do?" I ask Xander in confusion.
"It really was nothing. That we should be talking about. Ever." Xander says pointedly at Larry, who nods in understanding.
"I know. It's just, well, thanks." Larry says, squeezing Xander's shoulder, who tenses up.
"That was weird." I say as Larry walks away.
"What? It's not okay for one guy to like another guy just because he happened to be in the locker room when absolutely nothing happened and I thought I told you not to push!"
I recoil and gawk at Xander. "All I meant was he didn't try to look up my dress."
"Oh, yeah... That was the weirdness."
"Weirdness abounds lately." I agree. "Maybe it's the moon. It does stuff to people."
"I've heard that."
"And it's sure going to put a strain on Willow and Oz's relationship." I say as I see Willow heading outside.
"What relationship?" He asks. "What kind of life could they possibly have? You're talking obedience school, paper training. Oz would burying all their stuff in the backyard. And that kind of breed can turn on its owner."
"I don't know. I see Oz as the loyal type." I counter.
"I'm just saying, she's not safe with him. If it was up to me-"
"Xander?" I interrupt, pointing towards Willow, who's walking up to Oz. She sits down beside him. "It's not up to you."
...
I walk up to Kendra's room when I get home from school. We told Mom that she was bitten by a dog at the park last night, but that it wasn't bad enough to go to a hospital. She insisted that Kendra stay home today, though, and rest.
"How are you doing?" I ask my dark-skinned girlfriend.
"I'm doing okay, I suppose. As well as I can be when your mom won't even let me leave me room unless it's to go to de bathroom."
"Maternal instincts." I sigh. "Doctor ordered bed rest."
Kendra laughs quietly. I grow serious. "Seriously, how are you feeling?"
"Ya mean, do I feel like I'm about to get a lot hairier and even more aggressive?" I nod. "No. But, we'll find out if anyting will come of dis come next month."
I smile. "Just promise me that, if you do become a werewolf, you won't start PMSing around the full moon, too. I have a hard enough time keeping you under control as it is." I joke to lighten the mood.
"Is dat what you've been doing? Controlling me?" Kendra raises an eyebrow in challenge.
I nod in confirmation. "Yup."
Kendra growls playfully and pulls me down on the bed, rolling us so she's laying on top of me, and she attaches her lips to my neck.
And she proved to me who the real dominant one in this relationship is. And it's not me.