Faith sat against the wall, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. She was surrounded by shelves and aluminum cans. They were the best company she'd had in a while. Her head lay against her right shoulder and she stared at the label on a can of pinto beans. She could read the nutritional facts even from the other side of the large pantry despite the dim lighting with her enhanced slayer eyesight. The door to the pantry opened. "Go away," Her voice was full of venom. Wesley stood in the doorway, blocking some but not all of the light the open door let in.
"I'm not going anywhere." Wesley stated simply
"I hate you." Faith said those words as cruelly as she could. "I think you're disgusting."
"You're angry."
Still facing away from him she rolled her eyes. "No shit Sherlock. Wow I can't believe the watcher's council fired a perceptive genius like you. What were they thinking?"
"Keep going," Wesley requested
"What?"
"I want to talk to you. You obviously have a lot of mean things you want to say, so go ahead and say them so we can proceed with this conversation."
"Don't you dare talk like you're better than me." Faith was enraged. She kept the volume of her voice down, but the hatred and fury were all too clear. "I know what you did."
"I'm not better than you Faith, I know that. I'm probably not even as good as you. As for 'what I did', I assume you're angry because I slept with Fred."
"You took advantage of a girl who's insane." Faith accused "That's sick. I thought you were my friend. I cared about you and you go and do something that twisted and wrong."
"I am your friend." Wesley insisted "And Fred's not insane."
Faith rolled her eyes again. "I thought you cared about her. I thought you really wanted to help her, thought it was sweet. I didn't know you just wanted to fuck her."
Wesley flinched, she'd finally ruffled him. Good, she was getting sick of his calm demeanor. "That's not what happened. I do want to help Fred. I did help Fred."
"By having sex with her?"
"In a roundabout way," Wesley said "Faith I want to explain." He started to walk over.
"If you sit down next to me I'll show you just how easy I was going on you the last time I tortured you." Wesley backed up. "Keep going," She said "I don't want you here."
Wesley sighed. "I'm sorry if I hurt you Faith-"
"Shut up!" Wesley jumped. "You didn't hurt me! You can't hurt me! You have no power over me!" Faith shouted "I could kill you with so little effort, and you think you can hurt me?"
Wesley backed up a little more. "Faith I care about you-"
"Liar," She spat out the word like spoiled milk. "Just being near you makes me sick. You do that horrible thing and Buffy looks at me like I'm evil. It's not fair."
"No it's not." Wesley agreed "But neither is you refusing to let me account for myself. I would give you the benefit of the doubt. I did give you the benefit of the doubt. I told Buffy there's no way you were collaborating with the Wolf. I told her whatever the Wolf said to you was probably cruel and intended to psychologically torture you. It looks like it's working."
"You think you're so smart." Faith said "You think you know things-"
After so many interruptions by Faith Wesley finally returned the favor. "I've been there."
She snorted derisively. "Right, now you empathize with me and we bond over our shared trauma, no thanks. I don't want to have anything in common with you. I don't even want to know you. Get away from me and stay away from me." She still refused to look at him.
Wesley knew that part of her reaction was the Wolf's manipulation, but her feeling of being betrayed was genuine, if exacerbated. Pointing out that her emotions were being toyed with would just further piss her off. He stuck with his initial strategy. "Just let me explain."
Faith shook her head, then stopped when an idea hit. "Here's the deal. You tell me your story. When you're done if I'm not convinced you didn't totally take advantage of Fred you leave. If you agree and don't keep up your end, I break you. Deal?"
Wesley nodded, then realized she still wasn't looking at him. "That's all I want."
"For me to break you?" Faith asked mockingly
Wesley ignored her prodding. "I died. It's natural I suppose- well not always- but it's a part of our core design. All humans die, it's how we are able to live. So as painful and difficult as it was, the process was- not familiar- but in a way it was. I was doing what thousands of my ancestors had done and my body knew what it was supposed to do. Things began to shut down, parts of me that I need left." Wesley hoped she saw how sincere he was being.
"What came next was different." This was the hard part. How do you explain death to someone who has never felt it? As a slayer he thought she might understand better than most, but that was still not a great depth of understanding. "This plane is not meant for the dead. It is unnatural for us- them- to be here. Yet I was bound here. I tried to do what was natural, I tried to cross over. I was tied to the earth, forced to stay where I had no business being. I began to fade away. Little things kept me here, reminded me who I was. In this realm it is the brain that holds our thoughts, and without one my mind began to slip away piece by piece. In other worlds these things are not issues, but here it is. I was dying again, every day, in a most unnatural way." Faith was beginning to look impatient but Wesley didn't let that bother him.
"So when I came back, I found I had forgotten what it was to live. All the things that had slipped away came back, and it was too much. Sounds, colors, people, there were things I never thought of before hitting me with the force of a bulldozer. The subtle pull of gravity, which I never gave much thought to before was a totally new experience. I felt it with as great an intensity as you feel when someone punches you." He remembered she was the slayer. "Greater intensity. I felt everything with just such an intensity. Do you realize how hard it is to be a part of the world when everything is so… distracting?" It wasn't the right word, but the right word didn't exist in the vocabulary of the living and it was close enough. Faith didn't answer.
"I needed a connection. Then the memories hit." Faith winced. "I tried to help. I focused on researching the senior partners and on helping Fred." Faith snorted again, but didn't say anything. "The thing I didn't realize is that although what we were going through was very different they were very similar. I kept slipping inside myself, trying to piece together who I was- am. She was doing the same thing, but to a greater extent. She couldn't stay attached to the world when everything yanked her back inside to try to stitch together memories. It was a million times worse for her because she was in pieces and they at least brought me back complete. So she asked me for a connection to the world and I wasn't going to deny her that. She asked me for an experience, one she could be a part of, not just look back on. She asked me for interaction and I gave her that. I gave her what she asked me for. I didn't take advantage of her."
Faith waited, but Wesley was finished. "So whose idea was the screwing? You know as far as I can tell you haven't explained anything but a bunch of philosophical mumbo-jumbo."
Wesley shrugged. "So hit me, because I'm not going anywhere until I hear your story. I told you my end of things, I told you what I didn't want to tell anybody and don't think I should have had to, in order to earn your trust back. Now tell me what the Wolf did to you."
Faith scowled. She finally turned to look at him and she felt something like getting her hand unexpectedly shoved in a bucket of ice. She wasn't sure what she expected to see, but somehow what she saw didn't jive with it. Wesley looked so worried. He was worried about her she realized. "Oh God Wes, I'm so scared. Why did she pick me? Is it because I'm bad?"
Wesley shook his head. "The opposite, I promise."
Faith stood up, agitated. "She played me." One at a time the realizations hit her. "She made me think Xander suspected me. She made me think all of you hated me. She-" Faith couldn't finish. She didn't want to reveal the other horrors the Wolf had put in her mind.
Wesley reached out to touch her shoulder, she let him. "I know, she did the same things to me. She told me things about myself. She made me believe things, terrible things."
"She was trying to turn me into a monster, she was trying to turn me back."
Wesley shivered at the similarities between Faith's fear and Fred's. "You're never going back." He promised "I'm not going to lie to you and say the past doesn't matter, but it is in the past. I let you down as a watcher, but if you let me I'll make up for it. I'll watch you Faith, together we can stop her from hurting you again." He squeezed her shoulder and she met his blue eyes with her brown ones. "Do you trust me?"
She nodded. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened." They sat down and in detail she told him about her conversations with the Wolf. She told him about the broken device and the sleepless wandering. She told him everything. She told him about her emotions, the real ones, the ones the Wolf magiced into her head, the ones the Wolf planted there with words instead of charms, and the ones she wasn't sure which category they fell into. It was an emotionally draining process for the both of them. Wesley never let his calm façade crack. He held her when she needed to cry and he talked her through the stuff the wolf had said. He didn't reveal the terrible guilt he felt for not noticing what she was going through before. When she was done he had all the pieces he needed to figure out the Wolf's plan. But there was one more thing disturbing Faith. "I don't hate you Wesley. I do still want to be your friend."
"I'll always be your friend." He promised "I need you to wait here."
"Because you want me out of sight until Buffy doesn't think I'm the traitor anymore?"
Wesley confirmed her suspicion. "You didn't do anything wrong, I don't want you to feel like you're being punished. However with the Wolf able to subtly influence our emotions it isn't safe for you until Buffy knows the whole story. It will sound better if you're elsewhere."
"It's all right." Faith said "I like it here."
Wesley gave her a sad smile and left the pantry. He leaned against the kitchen wall and let out a deep breath. "Time to go to work."
…
Nina couldn't see very well, her sight was limited to hazy shapes with muted hues. Yet she still recognized Oz. She smiled. "I'm dying." She said "Isn't that strange?" She heard his voice, but couldn't make out the words. "How odd, that I should die now."
Oz picked up Nina's burning hand, but she didn't seem to feel it. "Is she really, dying that is?" He asked Willow in the quietest voice he could muster, which was quite low
Willow shook her head. "I can save her Oz, it will take time, but I can do it. The wolf, it's fighting her. It wants to hurt her, this isn't typical for lycanthropism."
"So the Wolf is doing this?" Oz asked, fists clenched
Willow nodded. "I don't know why, but yeah. There's no other reason for this to be happening. It probably ties into the Wolf's master plan, everyone else is at the big meeting right now, trying to figure out what it is." Willow put her healing hands on Nina's fiery brow.
"I'm sorry to keep you away."
Willow shook her head. "This is more important."
Oz looked at his shoes. "I love her." He said simply
"I'm glad." She wasn't though. Willow wanted Oz to be happy, she wished he loved a healthy girl who wouldn't break his heart by dying. Willow figured she's broken it enough already. "She loves you to, and when she gets better she'll tell you."
Oz shook his head. "I let her down."
"We always hurt the ones we love." Willow said, thinking of Tara
"Yeah, I remember." Willow couldn't tell if he was talking about her or himself when he said that, it took her a while to realize he was talking about both of them.
…
"He did what?!" Gunn clenched his fists so hard his palms were bruising.
"Can we focus on the bigger picture at hand?" Buffy asked "Faith is a traitor."
"We don't know that." Angel pointed out "We should talk to her."
"We could if she hadn't run off." Buffy looked around the room to gauge who all was on her side. Xander and Kennedy were of course. Kate also seemed to agree with Buffy's line of thinking. Gunn was to upset about the other part of Buffy's disclosure to really weigh in on the matter. Surprisingly Spike seemed to be in the same boat, he looked pissed. Angel and Conner both seemed willing to defend Faith. Anne, Lorne, and Teresa looked unsure. Harmony just looked bored. Buffy briefly wondered why she was here. "She got caught and she's hiding."
"I can't believe he did that!" Gunn shouted "It's twisted."
"Oh my God!" Buffy complained "Would you shut up already about your ex-girlfriend's sex life? We have other issues! End of the world. Death and destruction. Ring any bells?" Buffy and Gunn glared at each other until he backed down. "We need to find her."
"I'm still not convinced we have the whole picture." Angel said "It seems to me you didn't really see what happened, only the end of it. I just can't see Faith betraying us."
"Like we didn't see Anne betraying us?" Kate asked
Anne gasped and Gunn whirled around, distracted from the Fred topic for a moment. "I make it a point not to hit girls, but you're begging pretty hard for an exception."
Kate shrugged. "I'm not trying to bring up bad memories, or hurt anyone's feelings, I just don't want us to get caught by surprise again. I don't really know Faith, but if she met with the Wolf it seems to me a pretty good indicator something's up." She avoided Anne's eyes.
Spike nodded. "She's right, seems we need to ask the rogue slayer some questions."
Angel frowned. "Guys I think we're all being a little overemotional-"
"I don't." Buffy snapped "If I remember correctly you didn't think you were fit to lead, so why are you still acting like you're in charge?"
Conner flinched and Angel gaped. "Buffy…"
She ignored him. "Xander, Spike, search the east wing. Kate, Kennedy, search the west wing. Find Faith and bring her to me."
The four nodded and left. "You sound like a despot." Conner said
"Shut up." Buffy snapped again "Just because you're Angel's son don't expect special treatment from me. Things are going to change around here. No more defensive plays, this bitch is going down, starting with her spy. Either help or go."
Conner looked at Angel and Angel gave him a small nod. "Okay," Conner said "I'll take Harmony." He gestured for the woman to follow him. "I'll check the basement."
"Buffy," Angel said softly "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," She said haughtily "Better than. I'm done being a pathetic little girl. I don't need you to hold me anymore. I'm taking charge. This ends now."
Angel nodded. Something was wrong, he could feel it. "I'll take Lorne and Teresa and we'll start going door to door." He gave them a meaningful look and the three departed.
Buffy frowned, then shook her head. "You two with me." She pointed at Gunn and Anne.
Gunn opened his mouth to argue, changed his mind, and then followed the slayer. They were a few minutes into their search when they saw Wesley coming toward them. Gunn felt an unbidden burst of rage fill him. He walked up to the Englishman and slugged him in the jaw.
"Charles!" Anne cried, shocked "What are you doing?"
"Ow!" Wesley clutched the side of his face. He was in pain, but oddly it wasn't so bad. It almost felt good to feel pain again instead of just remembering it.
Buffy stood back, watching.
"You are one perverted freak you know that?" Gunn asked
Wesley rubbed his jaw. "That was unnecessary."
Anne smacked her boyfriend in the shoulder. "Yes it was!"
Buffy was still standing back watching, but she wasn't watching them. She was watching Giles shake his head while he cleaned his glasses. He was standing behind Wesley, but Anne and Gunn didn't see him. He looked through his glasses before putting them back on. 'He knows' He mouthed, pointing at Wesley
"I'm sure you have a very low opinion of me right now." Wesley said "But there are more important things going on. The Wolf is here, in disguise."
"How do you know that?" Buffy asked in a sharp voice
"Trust me-"
"I don't." She said "Try again."
"The Wolf came to Faith in the form of the mayor-"
"Where is she?" Buffy cut him off
Wesley shook his head. "What will you do if I tell you?"
Buffy grabbed her former watcher by the collar and threw him against the wall. "The question you should be asking yourself is what I'll do if you don't."
Wesley chuckled. "Do you really think I'm afraid to die?"
"Something tells me you won't stick around this time." Buffy said
A gasp from the other end of the hall caught all their attentions. Fred stood there, her eyes bugged out with shock. "What happened?"
"It's a long story." Wesley said as Buffy tightened her grip on him. "Do you remember what you saved us from when your parents came to visit?" Fred nodded. "If you'd do me a favor, go where they would hide and keep what you find there hidden from everyone."
Fred rushed off, away from them. "Fred wait!" Gunn ran after her and Anne followed.
"Looks like it's just you and me." Buffy said menacingly
"Buffy," She lifted him off the ground, still pressing him against the wall. "You're being affected by the Wolf. She's growing stronger. She tried to manipulate Faith and now she's moved on to you. She wants us to kill each other and release the magic that protects this place."
"Is that right?" Buffy said in a mocking tone "All the more reason to lock up Faith."
"Buffy you don't really think Faith's a traitor. You wouldn't have brought her here if you did. You trust Faith. The Wolf is playing on your insecurities, bringing up old wounds."
"Like the time she shot my boyfriend?" Buffy asked, shaking the ex-watcher
"Yes," he said "You trust Faith, please believe me."
"You know what I think?" Buffy asked "I think you haven't changed a bit. You're just as incompetent, just as stupid, and just as pathetic as you were in Sunnydale. I bet Angel just kept you around to distract the bad guys with your bumbling antics."
"Okay," Wesley said, unaffected by her words "But will you put me down?"
Giles walked up to stand at Buffy's right. "He's trying to trick you Buffy."
"Buffy listen to me, that isn't Giles. Giles is in London."
Giles laughed. "London, how ridiculous, I'm always by your side Buffy. He tried to get rid of me in Sunnydale but I stood by your side. He's a coward and a rat. He finked on us to the council." Giles leaned against the wall crossing his arms over his chest. "He and Faith were in on it together. She shot Angel, Wesley prevented us from finding the cure."
"That isn't what happ-" Buffy silenced Wesley by punching him in the throat.
Giles sighed. "This is all very tedious. You need to find Faith."
Buffy nodded. "Where is she? Where's Faith?"
Wesley shook his head, gasping for breath. "You left Giles in England. You didn't want to bring him somewhere so dangerous. You left him behind like you did Dawn."
Giles shook his head. "He threatened Dawn, are you going to let him do that?"
"I didn't-"
Buffy punched Wesley in the jaw, right where Gunn had punched him earlier. It hurt a lot more coming from a slayer. "Shut up. Where's Faith?"
"You'll kill her." Wesley licked his split lip and tasted the salty flavor of blood.
"Maybe,"
"We'll all die if you kill her Buffy."
"Same holds if I kill you right?"
"It'll sit a lot better on my conscience." Wesley said "So that's an idle threat."
"I'm not going to kill you Wes." Buffy said "I'm going to make you tell me where Faith is." She dropped him to the ground and kicked him in the face.
Wesley felt his nose break. He chuckled. "I've been tortured by a slayer before, you're going to have to do a lot better than that."
Buffy reached down to drag him to his feet but felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around and stared at Kate. Kennedy was standing back, uncertain. Kate shook her head. "This isn't the way. We'll find her, but not like this."
Buffy shrugged her off. "Keep looking," She tried to turn her attention back to Wes but Kate grabbed her arm. Buffy shoved her back, causing the ex-cop to fall to the ground.
"Please Buffy, I know you don't know me, but I'm on your side."
Buffy laughed. "Really," She turned to look at Giles, probably to make a witty remark, but he was gone. She frowned. "But…"
"Buffy," Kennedy said cautiously "What's going on?"
Buffy shook her head. "I thought…" She looked at Wesley. "Why did I hit you?"
…
Faith rose quickly when she heard someone approach the door to the pantry. Fred rushed in, babbling. "Kitchens are the most common place to find rodent and insect infestations. There is an ample food supply and lots of dark places to hide, like behind the refrigerator and in the pantry. You wouldn't fit behind the refrigerator."
Faith blinked. "I didn't see any rats… or bugs." She looked around for some.
"No, they left, years ago." Fred took Faith's hand. "They're coming for you."
Faith looked the woman up and down. Was she sane? Faith wasn't sure. On the one hand there was the babbling, but maybe it made a sense Faith couldn't see. As for the people coming for her, Faith had no trouble believing that. But she had to know, once and for all. "Fred,"
"Yes Faith?" Fred asked, polite as you please
"Did you ask Wesley to sleep with you or did he ask you?"
"I asked him." Fred said without shame "I needed something."
"Did you get it?"
Fred nodded. "I remembered, but I wasn't here, I was there. Now I'm here."
Faith pretended to understand. "Okay,"
"Evil things are coming for you, like they did for me. I'll protect you."
Faith looked at her skeptically. "No offense, but I'm a slayer. How are you going to protect me? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
Fred shrugged. "Things aren't always the way they should be, or the way they are supposed to be. I shouldn't have died, I wasn't supposed to come back. Both happened. All I know is that I have to keep you safe." They heard voices I the kitchen.
Fred and Faith crouched down at the other end of the pantry. The door opened to reveal Gunn, Anne hanging back behind him. "I was there to you know." Gunn said, confusing Faith
Fred walked over to her ex-boyfriend. "Why'd you hit Wes?" She demanded
Gunn fidgeted uncomfortably. "He… um… took advantage of you."
"Right," Fred said "Well listen to me Charles Gunn. I am not your daughter, your sister, nor your girlfriend. I'm not a child. I am an adult and I can have sex with whoever I want. You have no right to judge me for that." Fred glared at him accusingly
"I'm not judging you." Gunn quickly denied "I don't think you did anything wrong."
"You just don't think I'm mentally sound enough to have sex. That's not much better, in fact it's worse. Was one of the conditions of bringing me back that I be frail and pure?"
Gunn shook his head. "Fred you're-were- I mean- Fred you couldn't even talk when you came back. You were completely unaware, a person can't… in that mental state…"
"My name is Fred Burkle. I was born in a small town you've never heard of in rural Texas. I went to school in L.A. where I was sent to a hell dimension for five years. You, Angel, Wes, and Lorne rescued me when you went there to save Cordelia." Fred took a deep breath, this next part was difficult. "I died. You all helped bring me back, and as much as I appreciate that it doesn't give you the right to dictate my behavior or tell me when I've recovered enough to make significant life decisions. Now, are you ready to admit you were wrong?"
Gunn fidgeted uncomfortably some more. Finally he nodded.
"Good, now I need your help hiding Faith."
Gunn nodded again. He looked over at Anne. "What do you need us to do?"
…
Conner hated vampires. Now he was working with one. Conner shook his head, no that wasn't right. The world wasn't black and white, there were good vampires. No, the thought came back in full force. All vampires were evil and needed to be eliminated. His father was good though. No, that's not your father, your father in human. Conner rubbed his temple.
"Are you okay?" Harmony asked
Stake her. Stake her. Conner blinked and nodded. "I've got a head-" Behind Harmony he saw her, his mother, the woman that had appeared to him before he murdered that young girl.
Darla smiled and held up a stake, she pointed to Harmony. 'Do it.' She mouthed
"Harmony let's check upstairs."
"But we're not done with the basement." Harmony said in her characteristic whine "She could still be down here." Her voice was so high pitched and annoying, Conner just wanted to rip out her vocal cords. He started breathing heavily. "Are you sick?" Harmony asked
"Shut up Harmony! Just-" Conner shook his head and ran upstairs.
Harmony followed and the two of them ran into Kennedy and Kate. "Good, you're both all right." Kate said "The Wolf is here implanting thoughts in our heads as well as impersonating people we know. Buffy wants us all together so we can make sure everyone's accounted for."
Conner nodded. "I saw her, she's down there."
"She is?" Asked Harmony "Why didn't I see her?"
"She was standing behind you." Conner explained
"Well why didn't you say anything?" Harmony huffed
Ignoring Harmony, Conner locked eyes with Kate. "She looked like my mother."
Kate reached out and brushed a lock of hair off his sweaty brow. "It's all right Conner, we can fix this." She gazed at him kindly, making him feel calmer and surer.
"Yeah, let's go meet up with the others."
…
"Well I'm just glad we realized what was going on before someone did something… rash." Angel said when Buffy and Wesley had finished explaining what was going on
"Right," Buffy blushed as she spoke. According to Wesley, getting her to murder Faith had probably been the Wolf's plan all along.
"So now we all get together?" Teresa asked
"Yep," Buffy said "The Wolf can't alienate and deceive us if we're all in one place."
"What about Faith?" Angel asked "Her too?"
Buffy nodded. "I'll even apologize." She promised
Later, looking back on the events that transpired in L.A. Buffy had a hard time remembering what happened after that. She had a vague recollection of seeing Anne, of getting her to send a message to Faith. She saw Faith, but it was actually the Wolf. There were other things, but it was all very fuzzy. She knew one thing. The Wolf led them all to that room. She herded them like animals. Even Wesley, who had been manipulated by her before, was deceived into entering that room. Buffy came to think of it as the killing room.
…
There was room for all of them to stand in their distinct groups, but only enough to keep them separated by a few meters. Gunn, Anne, Faith, and Fred stood in northwest corner of the room. In the northeast corner stood Conner, Harmony, Kennedy, and Kate. In the southeast corner were Oz, a fevered Nina and Willow. In the southwest were Buffy, Angel, Spike, Wesley, Lorne, and Teresa. Buffy moved toward Faith. Gunn stepped in front of the dark-haired slayer.
Angel could feel the rapid escalation coming. He looked at Wesley and saw it in his eyes as well. They had to stop this. Angel reached for Buffy's arm, but Spike shoved him back. "Keep away from the slayer now, she'd got business to handle."
"That'd be you." Buffy told Faith "So why not ditch the bodyguard and come out."
Fred stepped to the front of her group. Gunn tried to pull her behind him but she shook him off. "Buffy please think about this. You're being manipulated."
Buffy drew her knife and pointed it in Fred's direction. "Shut. Up."
Wesley stepped forward. "Buffy-" Spike grabbed him and put him in the chokehold while transforming into vamp face. "Now, now, slayer's busy. Wesley felt a fang touch his neck.
"Spike!" Angel was horrified. "What the hell?"
Conner took Kennedy by surprise by wrenching one arm behind her back and using his other hand to put a knife to her throat. "Everybody stop." He commanded
"Kennedy!" Willow cried out in desperation "Let her go!"
"Everybody calm down." Angel said softly "Spike, let go of Wes and Conner will let go of Kennedy." He looked at Conner and his son nodded.
"No deal," Buffy's voice was ice "Let Kennedy go first."
"That's hardly fair." Fred said "You grabbed Wesley first so you should be the first to let him go. Conner only grabbed Kennedy because you started this."
"And I'll finish it if I tell Spike to drain your boy toy." Buffy said "No skin off my bones, as far as I'm concerned he's one step above a rapist."
"Excuse me?" Fred was deeply offended by that implication.
Angel knew that under the influence of the Hart Buffy wouldn't see reason. Angel vamped out and grabbed Xander, mirroring Spike's earlier actions. "Now what?" He asked
Buffy grabbed Lorne and put a knife to his throat, eliciting a giggle from Fred. "That won't work on a Pylean." She said "You can take of his whole head and he'll be fine."
"But I'd prefer if you didn't." Lorne said nervously
Buffy shoved him away in disgust. "All I want is Faith."
"No." Anne said with a calm that implied more confidence than she actually had
Buffy nodded at Spike. The vampire bit into Wesley's throat. He couldn't stifle a cry of pain. Angel dropped Xander in shock. "Are you crazy?!" He hadn't actually believed she's do it, that it would get to this point. Free, Xander pulled out a knife and stabbed Angel in the chest. He knew it wouldn't kill him, but the wound was enough to distract him from stopping Spike.
Faith ran out to the middle of the room. "Okay!" She said "Okay,"
Spike dropped Wesley to the ground, he hadn't drank any of his blood, just bit him. Wes put his hand to the mark, disbelieving. Buffy approached Faith with her knife. Faith didn't look like she was going to put up much of a fight, but Buffy was weary. "Faith no!" Wesley shouted "Run!" He got to his feet, but Spike punched him in the face. Angel tackled Spike and soon the two vampires were engaged in battle.
"One more move from a single person in this room and I slit her throat!" Everyone stopped and stared at Conner. Kennedy's breaths were shallow. She stared at Willow. They locked eyes. Willow mentally ran through every spell she knew. How could she free her love?
"You know." Willow turned around to see the speaker, it was Tara.
"No," she whispered
"You let me die." Tara accused
"Willow it's the Wolf!" Angel shouted
"Don't kill her like you did me."
"Don't listen!" Angel begged
"What do you want me to do?" Tears ran from Willow's eyes.
"Let it out." Tara said
"I… no I can't. It's wrong."
"Please baby." Tara approached Willow and touched her hair. Willow shut her eyes. Tara moved her head forward and whispered in Willow's ear. "He's glad I died. He's glad you suffered after rejecting me. Make him suffer. Let it out."
Willow nodded. "Will," Xander said hesitantly
Willow moved almost too fast for the human eye to follow. She pointed a finger at Nina and there was a flash of yellow light. Nina was gone. The werewolf in front of them was massive, bigger than any they'd ever seen. In a single bound it had placed itself in front of Kate and in a second it had swung its paw and ripped out her throat. She didn't cut Kate's throat, she tore half of her neck off. Chunks of flesh hit the floor with loud plops and Kate didn't bleed, she gushed. Kate hit the ground. Her body was still as the blood pooled around her lifeless corpse.
