On Halloween night, Hyena continued her months-long nap in her den that had started after the events of the zoo visit a while back.

It had been a long time since the teenager had mentally checked upon the imprisoned spirit in the insubstantial cage Xander had hastily created in his mind around Hyena when she'd been loopy enough to allow it. Apparently, possessions had no experience with concussions, contusions, and the resulting analgesics, or in the latter case, the king-sized amounts Xander had needed after Buffy had clobbered him with the desk. Unfortunately, the young man had also been in an extremely woozy state from the blow to his head accompanied by the numerous painkillers, so that he could never remember afterwards exactly how he'd managed to pen up his unwanted visitor.

Once he'd finished healing up, without considering the odd fact that he'd done this much faster than normal, Xander had paid a few wary visits inside his head through meditation, cautiously examining the mental construct that imprisoned Hyena. It looked fine, still accomplishing its job of keeping that animal spirit from causing any more trouble, much to Xander's relief.

The teenager had never dared to closely approach the cage, prudently maintaining his position a good distance away in his mental landscape. There, it was easy enough to witness a yellow/green flash of a glinting eye peering at him through the massive bars of the enclosure, the flicker of motion of a furred side being rubbed against the inner side of the cage, and the ground-shivering snarl of a Primal Hyena expressing both her displeasure and her devout hopes of tearing out someone's throat in the near future. As he vanished back into the real world, Xander always made a note to ask Giles again if that Watcher had finally found out anything that could get rid of her.

Unfortunately, the sixteen-year-old boy was always distracted by his normal life on the Hellmouth: school, patrolling with Buffy, and trading insults with Cordelia Chase while contemplating one of life's most enduring mysteries - were her boobs real, or not? Until, in the end, it had become for him just another weird event on the Boca del Infierno, with the usual scars as the only reminder that it had ever happened. Only this time, the souvenir kept by Xander about the whole thing was something inside his head, safely tucked away, to be gradually ignored and then forgotten. It never occurred to Xander that a serious, staid gentleman like Rupert Giles, the only male adult around that the teenager respected, might have also forgotten about the whole thing.

It really wasn't the Englishman's fault. He'd known full well about the dangers of possessions by animal spirits, and the man had hastily sent out discreet inquiries among those in the mystical world who might have information pertaining to this, including whatever means to remove or do away with the occupier of that young man's mind. In the meantime, an anxious Giles had kept a prudent eye upon Xander for some time, to finally feel actual relief at observing nothing untoward being demonstrated by the lad recovering from his experience, in either behavior or mood. Those unspeakable Hawaiian shirts and the constant referring to himself by that equally-horrendous nickname had, sadly enough, already been part of Xander's personality long before the zoo incident.

The few bits of magical information Giles soon received concerning his inquiries also set at ease his worries. From those who'd answered, the one thing they'd all agreed upon was that a Primal possession roaming free in their host's mind would quickly take over, followed by the personality who'd formerly occupied their body becoming obliterated or subsumed. The possession would then animate the host body for whatever purposes it wished, for however long it wanted, until the body was destroyed or otherwise rendered useless, with the animal spirit then heading back into the astral plane. Obviously, since none of this had happened to Xander Harris in the short time he'd been possessed, that young man's extreme good fortune was clearly shown by the Primal spirit either deciding to leave entirely of its own volition or somehow being forced out of the host's mind before it was too late.

Giles had really meant to inform Xander of this happy news, until the Briton's natural reticence about personal matters had caused him to hesitate, and then maintain his silence. Evidently, the lad had already dealt with what had happened and then he'd properly put the whole unnerving event behind himself, since he'd never mentioned it again, so what good would it do to tell him something that would only bring up the distasteful (Giles had momentarily gagged over that unfortunate adjective) memories Xander surely possessed, about devouring that pig and Principal Flutie's equally-gory death?

Things would have certainly been different, if Xander had only been a little more honest after the whole thing and had actually told Giles about Hyena still being in his head, held prisoner in her mental cage that had been inexplicably created by a groggy teenager just a short time before the adult's visit. Assuming the Englishman hadn't immediately gone into terminal shock over something the equivalent of Buffy Summers suddenly developing the Theory of Relativity from scratch, the first obvious question from the disbelieving high-school librarian would have been a roar of "Why the bloody blazes didn't you SAY something?"

Part of Xander's justification for not revealing all back then was that he simply wasn't in the best shape for it. Lying in his hospital bed, every bone aching and his head feeling giddy not just from the concussion but also from all the drugs given to him at the emergency room he'd been carried to by Buffy from the school, Xander had stammered and stuttered his story about what had happened to him to Giles in the private room the hospital had given the injured teenager. The narration had been interrupted a few times for Xander to throw up, particularly at the more gruesome memories. The older man at the side of the bed had patiently held the bowl for Xander to be sick in, and then he'd handed the boy an handkerchief to wipe his mouth, with the offhand comment that the teenager could permanently keep it, if he would be so kind.

At the end of the story, Xander was fading fast, and he only managed to blurt out a rather vague question, "What do we do, Giles, about everything - Flutie, the Pack, Hyena, what she tried?"

Dolefully shaking his head, Giles had then firmly informed the young man in his bed that he and the others of the Scooby Gang would deal with it, researching what they could and asking for advice from the Council and anyone else who could help. Xander, on the other hand, only had to rest and recover. A note from the librarian would do for sick leave from school, though Giles hesitated, to then uncomfortably ask if the teenager wanted his parents to be informed of his status and location.

A faint but extremely bitter, "No, they won't even notice," came from Xander, just before he passed out.

Sighing, the Englishman arose from his chair by the hospital bed, to stare at the sleeping features of one of the bravest people he'd ever known, and then he gingerly patted several times the bandaged shoulder that seemed to be the least-injured portion of Xander Harris. Afterwards, Rupert Giles quietly took his leave.

The next morning wasn't one of the most delightful of his life for the son of Tony and Jessica Harris. To avoid the possibility of an overdose, he wouldn't get an extension of his painkillers until noon, and while trying to divert himself from how much his toenails were throbbing, Xander was inside his head, disbelievingly regarding how Hyena was in her cage and making sounds that suggested she really wanted to eat the whole world. In the next moment, the boy heard a girl's sharp voice in the tone of a predator much more dangerous than any Primal spirit that had ever existed. "iXander!/i Pay attention when I'm talking to you!"

Blinking back to awareness in the real world, Xander realized with absolute horror that Buffy Summers was standing at the foot of his bed, looking down at his face with a mixture of annoyance and concern on her own features. Right after that, he lost it.

A very bewildered Buffy shortly found herself sitting on the sit of the now-upright hospital bed, comfortingly embracing a sobbing and babbling Xander leaning against her and pitifully apologizing for his attempted rape of her while under the Hyena's influence. Not knowing what else to do, Buffy soon started telling Xander over and over that she forgave him, it wasn't his fault, and nothing bad had happened that would end their friendship, so she'd stay with him as long as it took for him to feel better. Buffy patiently waited for Xander's tears to turn into sniffles (never knowing she was the only person besides Willow and Jesse to see him cry since he was six), and then she gently pressed him back against his pillow and returned the bed into its flat position.

Stepping over to the bathroom of the private room, Buffy came out with a hand-towel and a paper cup of water. She handed Xander the towel to wipe his face, and then she passed over the cup for the boy to thirstily drink. Xander gave both used items back to Buffy, who put these on a side cabinet, and she sat down on the chair next to the bed, with the girl then determinedly talking.

Even for Sunnydale, what had happened at the high school and the zoo couldn't be entirely hushed up, though this time the normal excuse for the recent horrific events of 'gangs on PCP' seemed fairly plausible. The Pack had been taken away into psychiatric custody, the remnants of the bodies of the zoo warden and Principal Flutie had been removed, and the vice-principal was now the head of the shocked school. Since that elderly educator was just a few months from retirement, it was clear they'd be getting a new principal soon.

Xander was beginning to relax during this innocuous conversation, until Buffy abruptly bestowed upon him the evil eye and then stiffly informed the boy that during Giles' earlier report to herself and Willow that passed on what Xander had told the older man, exactly what had happened in the classroom between the Sunnydale High students hadn't been specified, just that it had wound up with Buffy winning their fight and then taking him to the hospital. So, the Slayer demanded, did Giles know and decide to keep his lips zipped, or did-

Cringing back in his bed sheets, Xander looked down in absolute mortification, mumbling that he'd been too embarrassed to tell Giles, and that it was totally Buffy's decision on what to do next. If she wanted, he'd spill his guts to everybody she thought had to hear his story - Giles, Willow, her mom, the cops - and take his deserved punishment.

After a few silent moments, Xander finally dared to lift his gaze, to then see Buffy enigmatically eyeing him. In the next instant, moving with superhuman speed, the blonde girl by the bed leaned forward to kiss Xander on his cheek, while also wrapping her arms around his chest to give him a Slayer hug. From previous personal experience, the teenage boy normally had his breath crushed out of him before from this exact kind of embrace, which happened again, only this time to ribs that had been walloped by a desk just yesterday, so now the young man's entire world faded into white-hot pain for an endless period as Xander used every bit of his will to keep from screaming in agony into Buffy's ear.

As she pulled back and stood up by the bed, Buffy looked down at Xander's tear-filled eyes and smirked, "It was sweet of you to offer, which is why you got kissed. But, nothing happened, so nobody needs to know otherwise, got that? You keep your mouth shut, or I'll do something to you even worse than what you just went through, Alexander LaVelle Harris!"

"Yes, ma'am," was croaked in a very humble tone from the student with the unfortunate middle name.

A very satisfied Buffy Summers now beamed at the boy lying in his hospital bed, and she chattered, "Well, it looks like all the weird stuff's over, at least until the next time, so I'll be going now, but Willow will be right up- What?" The girl broke off her happy babble, now frowning in distrust at a suddenly-pale Xander.

Making an instantaneous decision that there was no way in the world he was going to tell a nearly-assaulted Buffy that Hyena was somehow still inside his mind, even if that animal spirit was caged up, since the Slayer's immediate reaction to that little bit of awkward news would have been a prompt ripping off his skull from his neck with her bare hands and then drop-kicking that decapitated cranium outside through the hospital room window, Xander gave Buffy a weak smile and mumbled, "Uh, I thought that because Wils wasn't with you, she'd be along later."

Her suspicions lulled, Buffy smiled back, saying, "The hospital said only one of us at a time could visit you on your first day here. I won rock-paper-scissors, so it's her turn now." She then headed towards the room door, calling over her shoulder, "Mom and me will visit you tomorrow, so you need to say you got in the way of the football team at practice to explain how you wound up here."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" groaned Xander, glowering at Buffy, who'd stopped short, her hand on the doorknob, eyes glittering with mischief, as she listened to her friend grumble, "You couldn't have come up with something a little more dignified?"

Buffy looked thoughtful as she considered this, to slowly shake her head as the young woman decisively said, "No." Then, she stuck her tongue out at Xander, before disappearing out through the door, giggling all the while.

And so, that was the way things had worked out. Buffy remained silent about her classroom confrontation with Hyena. Willow and Giles never learned of this, and both also thought the whole animal possession incident was over with. Even Xander, who knew quite well it wasn't, considering what he still had inside his head, mistakenly believed that since G-man never said a word to him, there was nothing to worry about. The Scooby Gang then went on with their lives, joining together in their battle against the forces of the dark (which now seemingly included a really horrifying troll in human shape, bearing the name of R. Snyder, and loudly proclaiming its sole purpose in existence was the desire that the entire student body of Sunnydale High should suffer).

That just left one being.

In her enclosure after Xander's last visit, waiting long enough behind the bars of the cage to finally decide that Young-Cub wouldn't be back soon, Hyena idly scratched her left ear with her left rear paw, and then that animal spirit got to her feet and loped along the African savannah for several miles, placidly sniffing the familiar smells of her homeland. As the queen of the plains roamed her enormous domain, the familiar spine-chilling sounds of a Hyaenidae's laughter started to ring throughout the air, with actual humor present in this sound made by Hyena.

Young-Cub might know a thing or two, getting her in this cage and keeping her there, but Hyena had learned a few little things herself during her long existence. It had been the merest trifle to change the inside of her confinement to suit her wishes, making it a truly comfortable place to await whatever would be decided between herself and Young-Cub.

Soon enough (though there was time only in this place if actually desired), Hyena came to her den, slipping into this small cave inside a wrinkled fold of the land, and dropping to the hard dirt floor with a whoofing sigh, as she curled up and rested her muzzle against her haunch. As Hyena began to doze, she contemplated the latest events.

Young-Cub had just watched again, not coming closer or doing anything else before going away. Judging by the last few times, it might be a while before it happened again. Well, what of it? Hyena was patient, as a proper predator should be, willing to wait as long as necessary.

After all, this little monkey whose mind she was trapped inside would someday die, as did all things of flesh in this world, freeing Hyena to go back to her beloved astral realm instead of what small portion of it she managed to create here. It might happen sooner than she expected, considering the place Young-Cub had his den was a Hellmouth.

Hyena's muzzle wrinkled in a soundless snarl. Just about the only thing she would ever grudgingly thank Young-Cub for was the fact that his cage kept the smell of that Scar-On-Home from leaking into her lair. She had also reluctantly accepted to herself that perhaps her sudden appearance upon that hated bond to other badlands had influenced her behavior, making her act like she hadn't since she'd been a cub herself, all teeth and glands and no brains. No wonder she'd wound up in Young-Cub's trap. The only good thing to come of this whole disaster was the savage satisfaction of feeling through her fading link with the Pack their devouring alive of that arrogant monkey who'd dared to summon her.

Her?

Summon…Her?

Summon…Hyena?

SHE WAS HYENA! SHE RULED THE LAND! SHE ATE WHOLE SWARMS OF SMELLY, BAD-TASTING MONKEYS IN ONE GULP!

A deep growl produced echoes throughout the entire den, with to a flash of yellow/green light shining from the slits in Hyena's nearly closed eyes. After a few moments, the animal spirit got herself under control, to continue entering her slumber while thinking about opportunities.

One more interesting thing about Young-Cub and his true-Pack dwelling right on top of this Hellmouth was that sooner or later, they would run into trouble. Trouble that might be serious enough so that Young-Cub would be forced to free Hyena and then submit to the possession in order to gain the powers of that animal spirit to protect his true-Pack. After so long imprisoned in her cage, that possibility had began to truly….intrigue Hyena.

The fact was, she'd started to develop a reluctant respect for Young-Cub once Hyena had calmed down enough to actually reflect upon the events that had wound up with her trapped inside this monkey's mind. He hadn't performed the insult of her summoning, after all, and it had evidently been pure accident that Young-Cub and those other monkeys had become possessed by Hyena, turning into a group living and hunting together. What confirmed that this had been some kind of mistake was that the newly created pack wasn't a true-Pack for Young-Cub. He'd already had a Pack, consisting of Pee-Fur, Sunset-Fur, and Older-Male, and when Hyena had tried to take over that Pack, Young-Cub had viciously fought her to win his mind's control back from the animal spirit, even up to the point when the monkey had interfered with Hyena during her battle with Pee-Fur. Which proved Young-Cub was willing to die for his Pack.

Hyena had to admire that.

So…what to do if Young-Cub set her free in his mind? The affront of this cage might not be so unforgivable, if he'd done it to safeguard his Pack. That monkey's mental punishment might be confined to a few bites, none of them all that deep, and a good stomping into the dust of the ground, followed by a pleasant, extended relieving of her bladder onto Young-Cub's head. After which, she'd certainly next do whatever she wanted, going back to her astral realm, or-

Young-Cub, dripping yellow liquid from one end, and covered with dirt and blood all over the rest of him, would then certainly come staggering up, still insisting on protecting his Pack no matter what happened to him and demanding Hyena take over his mind again and use her powers to protect those he loved. That little monkey didn't know when to quit.

In her den, a nearly-dozing Hyena had her lips curl back from her fangs in a delighted snarl. Perhaps…there might then take place, which hadn't occurred for so long…a True Joining? Not what Hyena had previously done before to Young-Cub, the total control of his body without care or thought to whatever damage might be done to the host's life, but instead something far more prized: a willingly-entered fusion of Hyena's spirit and powers with Young-Cub's mind and body, followed by him becoming the Alpha of his Pack.

It would be a fine Pack too, Hyena sleepily nodded with approval to herself, as she finally descended into slumber. Pee-Fur had been a superb fighter and she would pass this fierceness along to her cubs. Though, Young-Cub didn't seem to feel that way towards Sunset-Fur; perhaps she was a brood-mate? Well, that female and Older-Male were both clever, and in a world with Hellmouths and traps and arrogant monkeys, cleverness was not to be sneezed at. Still more females were needed for a proper Pack. There was the one Hyena had seen in Young-Cub's memories, and while the animal spirit didn't know all that much about female monkeys, Night-Fur had fine, wide hips and a large-enough set of nursing accessories that would certainly suckle a good many cubs.

Hyena then went to sleep, and she remained so for the next couple of months, until a ceremony in a small costume shop concluded with three shouted words:

"JANUS! SUME NOCTEM!"

Author's Note: While this whole story is an AU of the original Halloween episode, this specific chapter deals with a minor AU event that already occurred in an earlier episode. The basics of "The Pack" episode happened the same up to when Buffy hit Xander with the desk. Unlike in the original where that teenage boy was just knocked unconscious and locked up in the book cage, with the rest of the events of that program continuing, the main change in the new AU is that the Slayer used more force than before and gave Xander a concussion plus some serious all-over bruises, making Buffy have to quickly take her insensible friend to the local hospital, as the Pack members went after Flutie and then the zoo warden.