Chapter 53: Beauty and the Beasts

October 25, 1998 - Sunday

Memorial Cemetery

Buffy and Faith strolled together through one of the numerous cemeteries in the San Francisco area. The two Slayers walked about the grounds, talking about the present state of events and their preparations to safeguard the city. As they patrolled together, they tried to get to know each other. Buffy put on a brave face, but her heart was breaking. She used to go on joint patrols with Angel. Even though there was seldom much patrolling going on, she still felt like there was a major piece missing as she strolled alongside Faith. It was almost as if she had forgotten something, but more painful.

"Nice place. Do you ever catch kids doing the diddy out here?" Faith broke the silence by asking. The notion of dusting a few vamps or killing a few demons gave her the typical rush. The fight never failed to arouse her, but just thinking about it made tingles shoot through her body.

Buffy made a shaky motion with her head. "No. There's a smooch spot in Golden Gate Park. That's usually where kids go," she said to her fellow Slayer, despite the fact that she had never been there herself. The majority of her and Angel's time together was spent on patrol, where they kissed and touched each other more than they patrolled.

"Yeah? Bet you and Scott have been up there kicking the gearshift," Faith added with a suggestive grin that left no room for interpretation.

Buffy gave Faith a glance that screamed volumes about her views."Hardly. Only been on a few dates."

"But you like him. And when you think about him you get that good, down-low tickle, right?" Faith exhaled deeply.

"Yeah, I guess," Buffy responded casually. This exchange bothered her. When she realized what the other Slayer meant, she looked at Faith. "How low?"

Faith gave her a kind smile. "You tell me?"

"How about not?" Buffy looked about nervously, ostensibly screening for any dangers, but in reality she was anxiously trying to think of something to say. "But he's...nice and funny," she managed, internally wincing at how ridiculous it sounded even to her ears.

"And quite the muffin." Faith reciprocated giving Buffy a friendly grin; she could finally sense a connection between them, though it was small and needed to be worked upon.

Buffy gave a nod. "Blueberry. That crunchy, munchy stuff on top." She sighed and bit her lower lip. She was running out of things to say, and she desperately hoped the topic would change soon. She didn't detest Scott, but her heart still belonged to Angel. "But my favorite thing about him so far is that he doesn't seem to be any kind of hell beast."

"All men are beasts, Buffy," Faith said solemnly, casting a sidelong glance at her fellow Slayer.

"Okay, I was hoping to not get that cynical until I was forty," Buffy quipped, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the assessment.

"It's not cynical. I mean, it's realistic. Every guy from…Manimal down to Mr. I-Love-The-English-Patient has a beast in him. And I don't care how sensitive they act. They're all still just in it for the chase," Faith stated emphatically, her personal experiences adding validity to her comments, at least to her.

Buffy remained silent, but a small part of her agreed with Faith.

October 26, 1998 – Monday

Gateway High School

Buffy, Willow, and Oz walked up the stairs from the quad to the balcony. "I don't think that's true, that every guy is in it only for the chase," Willow said seriously, a small frown on her face as she thought about it. Continuing on from the talk they had after Buffy informed them about her patrol with Faith.

"I know it's an awful generalization," Buffy said, feeling more confident in her own thoughts now that she had the night to think about it.

"Buffy!" exclaimed someone. Buffy noticed Scott walking over to her from the other side of the balcony as she looked in the direction of the speaker. Willow smiled at Oz beside her, pleased that her friend was following her advice, and was moving on from Angel to someone who was more stable and normal. "That's what I stopped you for basically, hey," Scott remarked with a smile when he stepped in front of the blonde he was dating.

"Okay," Buffy grinned faintly. "Hey."

Debbie and Pete, two of Scott's close friends, crossed the balcony. Debbie was holding a bouquet of flowers that Pete had given her this morning. Her small hands clutched them as if afraid they would disappear. When Oz noticed their approach, he extended one of his hands in welcome. "Howdy, Debbie?"

"Hi, Oz," Debbie said, smiling. She'd always admired the guitarist. He'd always been nice to her in his odd way. "Hey, you're not doing jazz band this year," she expressed disappointment.

"Can't handle the pressure," Oz explained. "It's not the music that's difficult, but the marching."

"We have a marching jazz band?" Buffy queried, her gaze fixed on Scott. She pretended to be interested in the boy and comfortable with being next to him. She felt bad for doing this to him. He deserved someone who could truly like him, not someone who could only pretend to appease her friends into leaving her alone when it came to dating someone new.

Before Scott could answer Oz did. "Yeah, but you know, because the best jazz is improvisational, we'd be going off in all different directions, banging into floats...scary," Oz said, his smile lopsided.

Willow gave the group a friendly smile. "He's just being Oz," she explained.

"Pretty much full-time," Oz joked smiling at Willow, tempted to kiss her but holding himself back because they were in a crowd and he didn't want to embarrass his easily embarrassed redhead.

Buffy's hazel eyes wandered to the bouquet of flowers clasped in Debbie's hand, a sudden vision of the sole flowers she'd gotten from Angel racing through her head, the note 'soon' perched on top of their stems. She wished they hadn't come from the demon, she hadn't spent nearly enough time with Angel...Buffy averted her gaze from those thoughts before tears welled up in her eyes. "Those are pretty flowers," she said to Debbie, smiling. She was proud of herself for maintaining a constant pleasant tone.

"Thanks," Debbie said, overjoyed that someone had inquired about them. She was very excited to tell everyone that her boyfriend had bought her flowers. "There from Pete," she said, a smile on her face.

Pete grinned. "Yeah, well, I'm sure Scott does that kind of stuff for you, too, Buffy," he murmured nervously, hoping the fire in his cheeks wasn't an indication he was blushing.

Scott became distressed for a brief moment, glancing at Buffy with worried eyes. "Um, I don't believe we're up to flowers...Are we? Up to flowers?" he stated, a little concerned, not wanting to irritate her. "Did I miss the flowers?"

Buffy smiled reassuringly. "No. We're pre-posy." She gulped down the knot in her throat as she remembered the red flowers in a box in her mother's arms. She was clearly not prepared to receive flowers. "Definitely."

Scott gave a relieved nod. The strain in his body dissipated, and he breathed more easily. He wasn't sure what he'd do if the lovely blonde next to him became angry with him.

"What time is it?" Buffy inquired, recalling that she needed to be somewhere soon. After looking around for a clock, she gripped Scott's left wrist to examine the face of the wristwatch he was wearing. "I'd best get going. Lucky me, I get to see Mr. Platt today," she grumbled, knowing she had to leave but not wanting to.

"Yuck. Platt? "The guidance counselor?" Debbie inquired, her face serious.

Buffy nodded, her hands clasped together in sarcastic delight. "Yep. I get to persuade him that I'm little miss stable so that I may stay in school."

'Except stable is the last thing I feel right now, and I don't want to talk about it...to anyone...' Buffy thought to herself. No one understood her anguish, and everyone expected her to go on. To act as if Angel didn't exist, as if she hadn't banished him to hell...

"I don't think I have to," Buffy continued. "Snyder is unable to stop me since he is bound by law to allow me to complete my education. However, it is better to make him happy than to give him another reason to try and expel me again."

Scott gave a nod. "Stable. Okay. Things to avoid," he reminded himself. "The little men who reside in your teeth...Your obsession with painting circus clowns..."

"But, you know, if the Goddess keeps telling me to kill—it just seems snotty not to, you know?" Buffy cracked a joke.

"Goddess?" Scott inquired, his brow furrowed.

"I'm not Christian," Buffy explained. "I'm actually Wiccan."

Scott seemed surprised by the information as he stared at Buffy. "Ah," he responded, accepting. "Anyway, you'll do great."

"Platt creeps me out. I would totally quit going, except I'm flunking my senior bio, and my teacher says I have success issues." Debbie laughed.

"Senior bio? I aced that final," Oz announced.

"And how did you accomplish that? Oh, you showed up," Willow teased.

Oz grinned at her, unaffected by his girlfriend's teasing remarks. "If you want my notes, there's yours," he said, placing his arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"Thank you," Debbie expressed gratitude. "That would be great."

The bell sounded, making them all cringe at the loud sound, Buffy more so because she had to see and talk to the school shrink about stuff she wasn't supposed to talk about, which could put her in another loony bin.

"We'd better go," Buffy grumbled, turning to Scott and smiling. "I'll see you."

"Yep," Scott answered cheerfully. When Buffy touched his arm, a great bubble of delight welled up inside him. She leaned up and kissed his lips before walking away, Willow and Oz close behind her.

"Okay. You. Scott. A kiss at school." Willow was ecstatic.

"Not a deal," confessed Buffy. "We've kissed before."

"But in the dark," Willow pointed out to her pal. "Alone. A school kiss is a whole other story. It makes a strong statement. It says, 'Hey, peer, we're smooching!"

"Do you think it was a little too much?" Buffy pondered, concerned.

Oz made a shaky motion with his head. "I thought it was right," he said. "It said 'nice seeing you' not 'take me now.' Mind you, I have nothing against a 'take me now' kiss. But it's not very school."

"Totally," Willow said as she and Oz approached her locker. "At school, that kind of kiss is all about showing off. The 'haves' making fun of the 'have-nots.'"

Buffy proceeded down the hall, preoccupied. "So I'm good. Yeah. I think..."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy lightly knocked on the door to the school psychologists' office before opening the unlocked door and stepping into the room, closing the door behind her. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the smell of cigarette smoke in the air, her eyes resting on the arm of the psychologist, his hand deftly holding a burning cigarette in between his fingers. His arm was the only thing she could see, as the rest of him was blocked from her view by the very puffy leather chair he was sitting in.

"Two o'clock Payson Halliwell or do you prefer Buffy?" Mr. Platt stated without turning around.

Buffy smiled weakly. "Buffy is more of a nickname nowadays," she explained as he blew out a puff of smoke, making no move to turn around and face her, as he continued his observation of the schoolyard from his window. "My legal guardians got court approval last year to change my name to Payson, following the family tradition. But if you want you can call me Buffy I don't mind. My friends and family still call me Buffy. I know this is really more just a formality to keep Principal Snyder happy. School Board overruled him saying he couldn't keep me out. But I'll cooperate, look at ink blots, but I don't want to talk about my childhood or my life or…anything, actually. And I really don't want to be friends," she informed him not wanting to sound rude, but also wanting to get out of the small stuffy, smoky room.

Mr. Platt finally turned around to face his patient. "We're not going to be friends," he informed her with a smile. "You have friends already," he said with a wave of his hand. "Friends are a good thing." He paused to take another drag from his cigarette, before crushing it out. "Mm-hm. They like you agree with you, tell you what you want to hear."

Het reached into his desk drawer. "That's not what you need right now." he told her as he pulled out a can of air freshener. "What you need is a trained, not too crazy professional who will always give you his honest opinion." Popping the lid off the aerosol, he sprayed it around himself, trying to camouflage the scent of smoke in his small office.

"Which I offer." He gestured to a chair. "Take a seat." He replaced the lid of the can, and hid it back in his drawer as Buffy took the offered seat, fighting off a groan of annoyance, suddenly knowing that this wasn't going to be over as soon as she had hoped.

"Not too crazy? Those are your credentials?" Buffy asked.

Mr. Platt looked at her for a moment before moving around his desk to sit on it in front of her. "Look, Buffy, any person, grownup, shrink, pope, any person who claims to be totally sane are either lying or not very bright. I mean everyone has problems. Everyone has demons, right?"

Buffy shifted uncomfortably, and averted her gaze. "I got to say I'm with you on that one," she muttered looking down at her hands.

"Excellent. So the hope I bring you is. Demons can be fought." Buffy looked up at him surprised suddenly wondering if he knew more than she thought, that thought was quickly put to rest as the rest of his sentence was aired. "People can change, you can change." Mr. Platt crossed his arms over his chest. "Now your turn, let's start with why you ran away."

Buffy looked up at him for a moment, feeling uncomfortable. Fidgeting in her chair before leaning back into it, she tried to think of a way to get around answering his question. He didn't know the circumstances, and she didn't want someone judging Angel for something he wasn't responsible for. Buffy gave him a weak smile. "It's a long story."

Mr. Platt shrugged. "Bore me."

"You know. I'm really over it. I'm moving on, I feel good, I'm even dating someone new," Buffy mumbled telling him the mantra that she had on repeat in her head, to remind herself what she was supposed to be feeling, what she needed to feel for her friends to be happy, for her cousins to be happy, for everyone to believe that she was a happy Buffy.

"All good things," Platt assured her. "But you're, you're bringing me in at the end of the movie."

'I only want you to know the end of the movie,' Buffy thought slightly bitter that he wasn't taking her hints. "I was dating someone," she said awkwardly as she compiled the barest of facts that wouldn't give away the true freakiness of her life. "Uh it, it ended badly, and…I guess I kind of…freaked."

Platt was silent for a moment. "Well, tell me about this guy. The bad ending guy," he clarified to be sure he got his point across.

Buffy looked at him, she remained stonily silent for a moment, considering what to do. To tell him to mind his own business, or just give him the gist of what happened so that he would move on from the painful subject. "He was my first…I loved him, and then he…" she paused considering how to put what had happened in layman's terms.

"Changed," Platt supplied for her.

Buffy gave him a surprised look at his depth of insight. "Yeah."

"He got mean."

"Yes," Buffy said slowly, with a small nod, her mind helplessly replaying her first meeting with Angelus, and the mind numbing pain that went with it.

"And you didn't stop loving him," Platt concluded for her. Buffy looked away not knowing what to say, or how to respond to his accuracy, not sure if she could form words at the moment anyway if she did. "Look, lots of people get lost in love. It's no shame. They write songs about it. The hitch is you can't stay lost forever. Sooner, or later, you, you have to come back to yourself."

Buffy considered him for a moment. "I'd like to think I have. But for the sake of argument if you can't?"

"If you can't…Well love becomes your master, and you're just its dog." Buffy blinked at him surprised at hearing it put that bluntly. Buffy let out a soft sighing breath, her mind whispering to her of Angel, and all he meant to her. All he had understood about her. He was her rock, and without him, she felt like she was torn loose of her moorings and she was floundering to keep her head above rising water.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy walked into the library from her meeting with Mr. Platt to see Giles pacing a hole in the library floor, and Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander sitting on the library steps looking miserable. She set her bag down a table. "I'm afraid to ask," she muttered crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oz ate someone last night," Cordelia declared with her usual clueless bluntness.

Willow glared at the brunette, with angry eyes. "He did not!"

"Oz does not eat people," Xander growled annoyed, the guilt in him making him more irritable than normal. Cordelia rolled her eyes uncaringly. "It's more werewolf play." Buffy looked at Giles inquiringly, deciding that she wasn't going to get an answer from her friends anytime soon. "You know, I bat you around a little bit, like a cat toy. I have harmless, wolf fun. Is it Oz's fault that," Oz lowered his head in guilt, "you know, side effect, people get cut to ribbons, and maybe then he'll take a little nibble and..." Willow turned hurt eyes at her friend. Xander noticing the look, cut off his rambling. "I'm not helping, am I?"

"No," Giles agreed. "Oz may have gotten out of his cage last night," he explained, answering Buffy's look.

"Or maybe there's a, another werewolf roaming the woods," Oz said feeling desperate for other options to be discussed.

"Perhaps. Perhaps it is something else entirely," Giles offered. "Let's not overreact—"

"Good in theory. Not very helpful for the potential nibbler." Oz said.

"It's ok. We'll work together and figure this out," Buffy said firmly, trying to offer comfort to her friends, hating the looks of misery on their faces.

"Yes, um…Buffy, uh, you, uh, patrol the woods," Giles decided.

"I'll see about get Prue to go with me tonight," Buffy stated.

"Uh the others, um, check the morgue," Giles added.

Willow smiled. "Right! We can see if it's a werewolf kill or not." She looked at Oz, suddenly remembering that Oz still had two more nights of changing. "But what about Oz?"

"Um…I have some research materials at home I need to look up," Giles said thinking over the situation. "We could ask Faith or Piper to watch over him."

Buffy nodded in agreement looking over at Oz. He ignored Buffy's gaze, instead he looked at Giles sullenly. "What, you're having a Slayer or a Charmed One watch me? Oh good, I'm glad to see were not over reacting." Oz grumbled, standing up, feeling the need to leave. Needing some space from all that was happening, and all the uncertainty around who, or rather what was responsible for the death of one of his friends.

Willow glanced at Buffy concern filling her eyes, before she went after Oz catching him by the arm. She attempted to smile reassuringly, wanting nothing more than for Oz to feel better.

Oz looked away from her. "Ok. Uh you know that thing were someone bails in the middle of an upsetting conversation? I have to do that. It's kind of dramatic I know, but…sometimes, it a necessary guy thing," he said trying his best to keep his voice calm, and for the most part succeeding, only Willow could hear the emotional tremor in his voice.

"And I want you to…but…" Willow glanced at the clock meaningful, gesturing at it helplessly.

Oz looked at it with condemning eyes. 5:34. Almost sunset, looking around at the others for a moment, wishing that they'd all leave so that he could at least have a small moment, before sunset and he thought no more. Walking to the cage, with a profound reluctance, and yet with a determination that he hadn't had just the previous night. The cage door creaked sharply as he swung it open. The lock clicking into place with a loud clang as he swung the door shut.

"Oz," Willow said concerned as she stood outside the cage. She didn't like the vibes she was feeling from him. They were all dark and turbulent.

Oz refused to meet her gaze, feeling to low down, and dirty at the moment to want to see the lovable innocence in her eyes. "Get away from the cage," he demanded gruffly.

"What?" Willow asked confused, and a little hurt, at Oz's treatment.

"It's going to happen soon," he said. Willow still wouldn't move her eyes never wavering from him. She was about to speak again when Oz cut her off. "Get away from me!" He turned his back on her walking further into the cage.

Willow looked at him for a moment more her eyes giving away her hurt and confusion at Oz shutting her out, when all she wanted to do was hold him close until he felt better. To show him how much she loved him, no matter what he did, or didn't do.

Woods

Buffy and Prue patrolled through the woods. She wished she was alone, so she didn't have to put on her brace face, and act all chipper. If Prue hadn't been with her she could have been sad mopey Buffy who was very much still in love with Angel. She would give anything to jump back in time and pressure Angel into not making love to her.

Prue noticed the tears welling in Buffy's eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked with obvious concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy lied, her eyes surveying their surroundings for any sign of what could have mauled the boy the other night.

"So Oz may have gotten out?" Prue asked hoping they found something to exonerate Buffy's friend.

"Possibly. It's why Faith isn't with me tonight. She's watching him. And why Piper is there for backup. She can freeze Oz if he gets past Faith," Buffy informed her cousin. She paused, she could swear something was watching them!

Prue stopped and looked around as she began to feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. "Something is watching us," she said.

"I think so," Buffy agreed as they heard something behind them. They swiveled around, but saw nothing, but the dark forest, that surrounded them.

With a snarl something raced out of the bushes toward them.

Buffy and Prue came to a complete stop, staring in disbelief as they saw what was running toward them. They couldn't see what it was very clearly, but they were relieved that they had found the possible something that had killed Oz's friend.

The figure knocked Buffy down as it ran into her, at that close proximity they could make out that it looked like a man, but it had been too fast for them to see any facial features.

Prue raced over and pulled Buffy to her feet. That was when they saw clearly for the first time just who had attacked. The face of Angel stared back at them, his dark eyes haunted. He snarled at them ferociously, blood coating his lips. Their eyes widened with surprised disbelief. "How?" Prue asked, putting voice to their disbelief. "You sent him to a demon dimension."

"I know." Buffy admitted.

Angel snarled angrily, ferally, before he attacked again. Buffy grabbed him and she threw him to the ground.

"Something is wrong with him," Prue said as it was obvious to her that Angel wasn't in his right mind at the moment.

Buffy stumbled under his weight, falling to the hard ground.

Angel picked himself back up to rest on all fours, before lunging at Buffy. Prue waved her hand and sent him sailing over Buffy to land hard on his back. Rising to her knees, Buffy punched him before he could completely regain his footing. Her fist landed on his face, sending him into an uncontrolled spin. He quickly regained himself using his motion to add force to a back handed punch he landed on her face. She lost her balance falling on to her back on the forest floor.

Prue saw Angel lunging at Buffy again, she waved her hand again and sent him onto his back once again. He turned this time toward Prue and delivered a punch to her gut. She stepped backward away from the animal that had once been her cousin's first love.

Buffy pulled herself up into a defensive stand. She delivered a solid kick to his head when he tried to stand. Angel slumped down on all fours shaking his head slightly trying to regain his focus. He looked up at the two women a low growl rumbling in his chest.

Prue waved her hand again and he flew to the side. He fell to the ground his limbs giving out on him, after a few breaths his world went black as he lost consciousness.

Buffy looked at her eldest cousin. "Help me get him back to the mansion," she stated.

Prue frowned as she pulled a stake out of her pocket. "Buffy," she started.

"Please," Buffy cut in. She looked at Prue pleadingly. "Just till we figure out why he's back."

Prue looked from Buffy toward Angel as she glared at the vampire that had hurt both Buffy and the rest of their family. She let out a sigh as she turned back toward her cousin. "Alright," she reluctantly agreed. "I guess that you also don't want me to telling anyone he's back."

"Not till we know why," Buffy begged. "Please, Prue."

"I'll do it," Prue said looking at the vampire again before returning her attention to Buffy. "But only because I'm curious to know why he's back also."

Crawford Street Mansion

Buffy walked with a purposeful stride through the mansion, while search it thoroughly. She didn't want to leave Prue alone with Angel long, in case he regained consciousness. "Oh come on!" she muttered annoyed as she walked into another room. "Where are the freaking chains?! This was a vampires' home. Chains are like mandatory," she grumbled almost whining. She spied a large trunk topped with old fashioned dolls.

Knocking the dolls from their perch she threw open the lid, and tipped it over. She emptied the contents on the floor and finally found what she had been searching for. She picked up the heavy chains, shackles on the ends of them. She immediately retraced her steps back to the main room where she had left Angel with Prue. "Found some," she informed Prue.

"Let's get him, restrained," Prue said who was telekinetically holding Angel in place. He had obviously woken while Buffy was gone. "He's struggling, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold him."

Looking over at the metal bracket holding up the high marble fireplace mantle, Buffy walked over and looped one end around the iron bracket and reluctantly locked the shackles around Angel's wrists.

Buffy took a step back as she and Prue watched Angel. One of his arms was held high off the ground by his chains. "That looks uncomfortable," she admitted.

"It does," Prue agreed. "Can I ask you, Buffy. Are you still in love with him?"

"If I said, yes, would you be disappointed?" Buffy wondered.

"A little," Prue sad sadly. "But I would also say, it isn't totally unexpected. You wouldn't have runaway last summer if you weren't despite everything that went down."

Buffy took a big shaky breath. "I missed him so much, Prue." She dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve hot tears pooling in her eyes. "It almost killed me when he disappeared into Acathla's portal. He reached for me so confused, so innocent of everything that he had done the previous months."

Angel tensed as he lashed out at them causing them to jump back out of his reach.

"I'll be back, Angel," Buffy insisted as she and Prue turned to leave. Their attention went to the scorched silhouette of Angel on the floor. "Prue, what do you make of this," she said trying to put together the pieces of an incomplete puzzle.

Prue knelt next to Buffy looking the outline over. "This could be where he returned," she suggested before looking toward Buffy. "Isn't this where…"

Buffy nodded. "Where I killed him. The exact spot," she confirmed. "And where…" she pointed toward her ring that still lay on the floor in the middle of the outline. "Where I left my ring. I would almost hazard to guess that he's been back for…"

"Nearly two weeks," Prue concluded.

Gateway High School

Piper was in the midst of reading a book while Faith listened to a CD on the portable CD player the brunette Slayer was carrying. She looked up at Faith, who was dancing around the library and caught the telltale signs of Buffy appearing in the midst of a swirl of fiery flames. Buffy had dropped Prue off at the Manor so her eldest cousin could check the Books for any mention of how or why Angel could have returned.

"Been quiet?" Buffy asked looking at her middle cousin.

"Yeah," Piper admitted thankfully. "Taking over?"

"Yeah go on home," Buffy answered.

Piper stood up and hugged Buffy before gathering her things and heading out the door.

Buffy walked over to the oblivious Faith and laid a hand on the brunette Slayer's shoulder. Faith sun around instinct and delivered a backhanded punch to her Buffy, her fist smacking Buffy across the face. Buffy took the full force of the blow not even attempting to block it.

"Ow," Buffy muttered as she stumbled back using the portable library card catalogue to steady herself from falling.

"Oh! Uh, Buffy!" Faith stuttered flustered at having attacked the more experienced Slayer, who was becoming what she thought was a good friend, she wasn't sure though seeing as she hadn't had one before…unless she countered her Watcher… "Are you ok? What are you doing here?" And then she noticed that Piper was gone. "Where's your cousin?"

Buffy rubbed her tender jaw. "Uh, bleeding internally, but I'll live," she joked, grimacing slightly as her jaw throbbed. "And I sent Piper home."

"God, I'm so sorry." Faith held up her CD player as a silent part of her explanation. "I guess I didn't hear you."

"Figured as much," Buffy agreed, wincing again as her jaw gave a particularly painful throb. "Ow. Again." She arched her back in a small stretch. "Uh…actually, I thought I would give you the rest of the night off too," she said with a small smile.

"Get out of jail free, huh? How come?" Faith asked with a raised brow, not sure she should be asking where this gift was coming from in case it went away.

Buffy shrugged nonchalantly. "Couldn't sleep," she lied taking off her jacket, she thought she would check Giles books on why and how Angel might be back. "Figured I'd, uh, cram for my French test."

Faith smiled, and shrugged in return. "That's cool. No offense to your cousin, but I was going kind of crazy in here. I can get in a few stakings in before sunrise." She handed Buffy the keys to Oz's cage with relief, before heading for the door.

"Knock yourself out…not literally, though," Buffy called after her as she watched her walk to the library door.

"Yeah, later," Faith said with a small wave of her hand before she was out the door, anticipation for her patrol thrumming through her.

Buffy heard the door clang shut behind Faith as she turned her eyes on Oz for a moment. She then turned her attention to the card catalogue. Setting the keys to Oz's cage on top of it, she pulled open the first drawer, and started to search through the small little cards looking for books that would help her.

October 27, 1998 – Tuesday

Gateway High School

Giles walked into the library a cup of coffee in his hand, he smiled slightly in relief when he saw Oz naked in the cage. He was glad to see that there hadn't been any trouble last night. He unlocked the door to his cage with his own personal key, and pulled the door slightly open so that it wouldn't automatically relock itself.

Taking a sip from his cup, he looked around expecting to see Faith and Piper curled up somewhere, but instead he saw Buffy curled up in the stacks asleep, a book in her lap and a drawer from the card catalogue next to her on a step stool. Other books lay around her some open in various spots others lay closed.

Quietly Giles walked up the steps to the upper level of the library, reaching down for one of the books that surrounded her. As his fingers brush against the book he was going to pick up Buffy stirred sensing the presence above her.

Opening her eyes Buffy looked up at him and smiled a little sheepishly at having been caught. "Hey," she mumbled quietly, rubbing at one of her eyes as she stretched her cramped muscles.

"Hmm. Hello," Giles replied taking another sip from his coffee.

Buffy looked around herself and gave another smile. "Oh boy. Faith and her nutty books," she said standing up, trying to play off all the books that were surrounding her.

Giles arched an eyebrow at her, and looked down at some of the books, reading the titles. "'Exploring Demon Dimensions', and 'Mystery of Acathla,'" he said not buying it.

"Yeah! And she still listens to heavy metal," Buffy exclaimed walking toward the stairs. "Freaky deaky."

"Buffy…" Giles said softly. Buffy sighed and leaned against the railing realizing that he wasn't going to buy into her story. He walked slowly over to the railing leaning against it beside her looking out over his deserted library waiting for her to start speaking.

"What if…I told you that…I had a dream about Angel…and, um…it brought up questions?" Buffy said speaking slowly as she decided to lie to her Watcher, not wanting to let him know that Angel was back yet.

"I'd say it was to be expected. Must have been some dream. I didn't know you knew what a card index was for," Giles said with a small smile as he took another sip of his coffee.

"I dreamt that he came back," Buffy said, giving Giles a glance judging his reaction, before slowly moving to sit down on the steps.

Giles sat down beside her, feeling badly for the pain Buffy was in. "Of course, after Jenny was killed," he started awkwardly, not used to talking of himself in such a personal way. Setting aside his cup he clasped his hands in his lap. "I had dreams that she was still alive, that I saved her," he said softly, getting the words up past the lump that had formed in his throat.

"This was vivid. Really vivid, three-dimensional, surround sound, the hills are alive…" Buffy cut herself off looking at Giles with wide apologetic eyes as she realized her use of one of Jenny's metaphors.

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned his lenses giving him an excuse to look down and blink away the tears that had formed in his eyes as he considered. "Do you believe this was a premonition?" Giles asked making sure that his voice was neutral.

"No," Buffy said quickly, almost too quickly. "I don't know…" She took a deep steadying breath. "It wouldn't be the first time I had a premonition while I was asleep. The ones about the Master came out in my dreams…so…Anyways I guess it just made me wonder." She sighed, her research last night hadn't really revealed much in the way of answers. She looked at Giles with hopeful eyes. "Is there even a chance? Could it happen?" she asked, despite Prue being there with her to see it, it seemed like too much of a miracle to her to be real.

"Well there's no record of anyone returning from a demon dimension once the…gate was closed. I can't imagine how it would happen, or why," Giles told her wishing that he could give her a better answer.

"Let's just pretend for a second that…Angel somehow managed to find his way back to Sunnydale. What would he be like?" Buffy asked, her mind flashing to the mostly broken creature chained to the wall at the mansion.

"I really can't say. From what is known about that dimension, it would suggest a world of…brutal torment. And time moves quiet differently there, so…"

"I remember," Buffy said cutting him off from saying anymore not wanting to hear what she already knew about the place she had condemned Angel to. "So he would've been there for hundreds of years," she said sadly looking at her knees.

"Yes," Giles said looking up at her for the first time in a while.

"Of torture," Buffy added her voice wavering slightly and she bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering.

"It would take someone of extraordinary...will and character to survive that and, uh, retain any semblance of self. Most likely, he'd be, be a monster," Giles told her regretfully.

Buffy lowered her head hopelessly. "A lost cause."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Giles said glad to be finally be able to give her some comfort. "In my experience there are…two types of monster. The first, uh, can be redeemed, or more importantly, wants to be redeemed."

"And the second type?" Buffy asked hesitantly.

"The second type is void of humanity, cannot respond to reason… or love."

Willow walked through the door then, bringing a silent halt to their conversation, a box of donuts in her hands. "I thought Faith and Piper were on duty," she commented as she walked towards the stairs.

"Oh, hey, change of plans," Buffy said with a smile doing her best to wipe the traces of her previous serious conversation with Giles off her face, as she came down the stairs to meet her.

"Glaze or cake?" Willow asked with a smile. "It's fun to watch them make them. They use this spritzy thing, and they drop the batter into this…"

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Buffy guessed with a small smile.

Willow sighed realizing that she was busted. "I've been at Mister Doughnut since the TV did that snowy thing," she confessed slightly sheepishly. "How come you're the wakey girl? I mean, this time it's not your boyfriend who's the cold blooded…" she cut herself off as she sees Buffy's pointed wide eyed look. Oz slipped on his outer shirt as he came up beside her. "Jelly doughnut?" she asked him offering the box.

Oz ignored the proffered doughnuts. "Everything alright?" he asked sensing a slight tension amongst the group.

"Yeah. Uh, what happened with the inspection of the body?" Buffy asked remembering. Suddenly more worried that it was a vampire attack then a werewolf one.

Willow smiled awkwardly. "Anyone? They're yummy delicious!" she said with an overly cheery voice trying to avoid the issue.

"Willow come on. Was it a werewolf?" Buffy asked, forcing herself to say werewolf, not vampire as her nerves strung tighter with her sudden worry that it may have been Angel. 'And,' she thought sadly. 'In his current state he would be capable of it to.' Willow set down the box on the table, her expression showing just how much she didn't want answer. "Was it a vampire?" she asked again growing impatient with her friend.

"It wasn't conclusive," Willow said softly.

"How could it not be conclusive? What did it look like? Was he bit?" Buffy asked her voice rising slightly.

"Let her finish Buffy," Giles said firmly, looking patiently at Willow.

"No, it's just…" Buffy trailed off as she suddenly realized the sensitivity of the discussion with Oz standing right there, and she blushed slightly in her embarrassment at pushing Willow. "…I'm sorry," she said sitting down. Giles nodded, calmly waiting for Willow to get out the details of what the body looked like.

Willow glanced at Oz worriedly. "I should know more after tonight. I'm doing hair and fiber tests."

"You know how to do those?" Oz asked surprised.

"Not…I like to sound technical when I'm scared," Willow admitted sadly. "But I figure. wolf hair, hair found on the body. See if they match. It's a test."

Oz sighed. "So we're scared now. It's official."

"What?" Willow said with wide eyes. "Oh…no…I didn't mean it that way—"

"No," Oz stated. "I'd say scared is pretty much called for. It's cool."

Buffy listened to them talk as she thought about Angel agreeing with Willow that it wasn't cool, not at all.

Halliwell Manor

"Hello?" Prue said into the phone at her ear as she looked through Buffy's book. She had just finished a second round of looking through the family's book and found nothing.

"It's me," came Buffy's voice from the other end of the phone. "Any word?"

"I'm sorry, Buffy, I've found nothing," Prue admitted. "I've gone through the family's book twice and going through yours again right now. I take it Rupert's books had nothing as well?"

"No."

"We'll find out why he's back, Buffy, I promise," Prue informed her cousin soothingly.

"Did you tell, Piper or Phoebe?" Buffy wondered.

"Not yet, Buffy," Prue answered as she closed Buffy's Book of Shadows. "But we're going to have to soon, you know that. I'm going to swing by there later and take him some pig's blood. Check up on him."

"Thanks, Prue."

Gateway High School

Buffy took her lunch tray and walked out of the cafeteria line. Her tray filled with a couple of varieties of jello. When she had called Prue, she hadn't told her cousin what Willow had found about the mauled body of Jeff Orkin, which was nothing. Anyone or anything could maul a body like that depending on what they had on them, but she was quite sure that it hadn't been Angel as there were no bite marks, his hands while dirty hadn't been covered in blood, nor was there blood anywhere else on him. The only evidence that Angel had actually killed was the blood that had surrounded his lips.

Buffy searched the sea of tables around her looking for a spot to sit. Scott saw her from his table, where he is sitting with his friends Pete, and Debbie. "Buffy. Over here," he called with a small wave and a smile.

She walked over to him, more reluctant then normal feeling like she was cheating on Angel more so now than before. Now that he was back from hell. "Hey," Buffy greeted as she sat down in the spare seat next to Scott.

Scott looked down at her tray, and fought the urge to wrinkle his nose. "Hey. Uh, I can't back you on that lunch. Nutritional demerits," he teased giving her a smile.

Buffy looked down at her tray with an almost blank expression. "Oh…my stomach can't handle hard food today, but there's fruit in it," she said in her defense pointing at the small lumps in the jello.

Scott leaned closer to her, a small amused smile on his face. "Those are marshmallows," he whispered in her ear.

Buffy looked at the small lumps closer. "Oh." Debbie and Pete gave her curious looks, wondering how she hadn't already known that. She sighed as she noticed the looks she was receiving. "I'm…I'm really out of it today. I didn't sleep well last night," she explained hoping that, that would be a buyable excuse for her odd behavior. She didn't seem to have the strength to wear her mask at the moment.

"Just don't tell Mr. Platt you have insomnia. He'll make you start a dream journal," Debbie told her, with a small roll of her eyes.

"Oh, what's that, like a Barbie thing? Dear Dream Journal, how come Ken hasn't come around since he got that earring?" Pete quipped pitching his voice higher to sound more like a girl.

Debbie giggled at her boyfriend. "I never did it. He's a quack."

"I kind of liked him," Buffy revealed, she'd felt better after her session with Platt, like a small part of the weight she carried had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Really?" Debbie asked surprised, raising a small finger to her chin thoughtfully. "I guess, I guess he's kind of funny and stuff. It's just…sometimes I just don't like the things he says," she explained thoughtfully, everyone at the table missed Pete's angry look.

"Oh, he definitely…marches to the beat of his own drummer. A, actually, I think he makes his own drums," Buffy joked weakly.

"Well, my mom says therapy can be completely helpful," Scott piped in, wanting to let Buffy know that he didn't mind that she was in therapy.

"Yeah, but your mom has the wattage of a Zippo lighter, Scott," Pete said his voice almost too serious to be joking. Debbie couldn't help giggling again, looking at her boyfriend with loving eyes.

Scott shot Pete an annoyed look, before looking at Buffy again. "I hope you realize I don't actually know these people. I just thought you'd like me better if had friends, so I hired them," he told her his voice serious, but his face playful. Buffy gave him a weak smile for his efforts, trying to act like she was really enjoying the conversation, and the company. He turned in his chair so that he could face her completely. "So I, uh, wanted to tell you that you look great today, but now I want to raise that to amazing because you didn't sleep well."

"Uh," Buffy smiled suddenly feeling more than uncomfortable at the table. "That's really sweet," she choked out. "Um…and I wish that I didn't have to." She stood up. "But I just remembered that I do, so, uh, I'll see you later," she said forgetting that she hadn't finished her first sentence, before starting the other one. Patting Scott on the shoulder she walked around him on her way out, leaving the untouched tray of jello behind.

Crawford Street Mansion

Prue made her way into the mansion a mug in her hands, steam coming from the contents inside. The scent of it tickled her nose, making her want to pull away from it. As she reached the heavy black curtain that hung from the ceiling to block out the sun coming in through the gaping side entrance she carefully slipped through.

She saw Angel crouching against the wall whimpering as he looked around with wild eyes, as if waiting to be attacked, before hiding his face against the wall. Prue stopped moving closer when she reached the wall opposite him. She watched him for a moment debating with herself if she truly wanted to do this or just stake him instead.

Prue pondered the decision for a moment before finally deciding to go ahead and give him the blood. It wasn't because of Buffy why she decided to do it, it was because she wanted to know as much as Buffy did why Angel was back. And the best way to do that would be to help him get better.

She walked toward him slowly, not wanting to startle him. Angel didn't seem to notice her as he remained unmoving in his crouch, his whimpers never ceasing. "Angel?" Prue said. There was no movement from the vampire, not even a twitch to indicate that her voice had even registered with him. "Do you understand me?" she asked.

She looked down at the cup in her hands and then back at him. "Angel? I brought you some blood…figured you might need something to eat…" Prue told him cautiously walking forward her eyes never wavering from is hunched over form.

Prue slowly closed the distance between them and squatted down beside him. "I'm not sure if you remember how to drink from a cup, or…" she trailed, her eyes glued to his large cowering form. "Angel?" she said again as she reached over to give him the cup.

He didn't move, if anything he tried to flinch away from Prue. She pulled back the cup as she looked at him for a long moment. She hesitantly set the cup down on the floor and stood up backing away slowly.

Gateway High School

Buffy entered Mr. Platt's office for her two o'clock appointment, closing the door behind her even though the smoke in the room made her want to leave it open. She saw that he was turned toward the window again, and guessed that this was a habit for him, the cigarette burned away in his fingers.

"Two o'clock. Payson 'Buffy' Halliwell, right?" Buffy said. She shifted nervously wondering how to begin. Extending her arm, her hand out flat in a gesture for him to not turn around, feeling like she couldn't say what she needed to with him looking at her. "Wait. Don't turn around," she said when she realized her gesture was useless when faced with the back of his chair. "Okay? And don't say anything," she said clutching her jacket to her, and began to pace. "Just listen. I mean that's your thing, right?" she asked rhetorically.

Buffy forced herself to not pace like a caged lion. "There's something going on," she began in a shaky voice. "I mean, the whole entire story is probably going to convince you that I'm loony bin material, but…" She shrugged helplessly. "The only other person I can talk to is Prue. But she's never been really on my side when it comes to him," she muttered as she started to pace.

"I've thought about telling Piper and Phoebe, but I'm not sure that would be a good idea. Nor would it be a good idea to tell my friends. They'd freak on me, or do something, and…" Buffy took a deep breath and stopped pacing turning to face him once again. "I need to talk to someone, other than Prue. Like I said she's never really been on his side."

Buffy paused taking a few calming breathes trying to get her haggard emotions under control. "I'm so scared…it's this guy," she said wiping at her cheek as she felt a tear slide down her skin. She took a step toward the desk. "He…"

Buffy cut herself off as her eyes focused on the cigarette that was in Mr. Platt's hand, for the first time noticing that it was burnt all the way down to the quick. She shifted, he hadn't moved the entire time she had been talking…she hadn't even heard the sounds of his breathing…

Her eyes widen slightly and she looked sadly at the chair, her entire being telling her that something was wrong with this entire situation. Walking over to the chair with quick jerky steps, she gasped to see that his chest and face had been badly mauled by some type of animal, her instincts said demon.

"He's back," Buffy whispered to the silent room, marveling silently at how easily the words came out now that she knew no one was really listening to her.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"This creature is especially brutal. I believe the phrase coined by the coroner when describing Mr. Platt was 'pureed'. But he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly, before Buffy found him." Giles told Buffy, Piper, Phoebe, Faith, and Willow as he and Prue paced the library, the sun sinking lower in the sky as the day drew to a close.

"Which means that he was killed during the day." Faith summarized.

Prue nodded in agreement. "Which leaves out vampires or Oz.:

"Yes." Willow cried with elation, pumping her fist in the air like she had just won the lottery. She noticed the silence, and the odd looks everyone was giving her. "Sorry. I got…" She self-consciously lowered her still raised hand. "I've just been…it's horrible, horrible," she ended giving up on the painful task of trying to explain away her enthusiasm over someone's death.

Buffy smiled reassuringly at her friend. "It's okay, Will. We're all glad Oz is off the hook." 'And so's Angel.' she thought looking toward Prue.

"Indeed." Giles agreed.

Piper checked her watch, a small concerned frown crinkling her brow. "Shouldn't he be here by now?" she asked.

Giles looked at his own watch and then nodded. "You're right, Piper. The sun sets at five thirty."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Our task now is to determine what sort of killer we are dealing with," Giles told them. "Clearly we're looking for a depraved, sadistic animal," he described accurately just as Oz walked into the library.

"Present," Oz said with a sad smile.

Willow smiled, her expression ecstatic at seeing Oz, especially now that they had good news. She rushed over to him, knocking Giles over in her haste, making the older man stumble slightly, before he could steady himself.

"Hey I may be a cold blooded jelly doughnut, but my timing is impeccable," Oz quipped.

"You've been exonerated," Prue informed the werewolf. "There's been another death. Buffy found the school's guidance counselor mauled to death."

Willow nodded in confirmation to what Phoebe said as she touched him with both hands a large smile gracing her face.

Oz let out a low breath of relief. "Okay," he said softly a smile stretching his lips.. Willow slipped an arm around his back smiling at her friends.

"Uh, I wish we had time to celebrate properly," Prue said smiling at Oz. "And I think both Piper and Buffy will agree here that you deserve a party at Payson's tomorrow."

"Thanks," Oz said with a nod.

"We have two victims. Jeff Orkin and Platt. Uh, maybe there's something they had in common," Giles suggested looking around at the group.

"Missing internal organs," Faith supplied after a moment of silence.

Piper and Phoebe were not paying much attention to the conversation as they sat on either side of Buffy trying to comfort their cousin.

"Besides that," Giles stated giving Faith a look.

"Debbie," Oz said as Giles looked at him hopefully. "Well, victim number one, Jeff. He was in jazz band with us. They used to horse around," he supplied with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"They were screwing?" Faith asked seeking to confirm, what her mind had effortlessly jumped to at Oz's choice of words. Not caring about the strange looks she was getting from those around her.

"I don't think so, but he hid her music comp. book once."

"And we know that Debbie knew Platt. I mean, she was seeing him, and way vocal about not having love for the guy," Buffy said confirming the link to Platt.

"Add this and stir. I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye," Oz finished.

"Ok, so pretend Debbie wanted Platt dead. Maybe he fought back?" Willow offered.

Buffy shook her head. "No. Platt was dead in an instant. He didn't even drop his cigarette." She paused as her mind went over everything, and an idea popped into her head, everything clicking into place in her mind. "Now…what if boyfriend Pete's the one doling out the punishment?" she hypothesized. Becoming more certain the longer she thought about it.

"We should find them both immediately," Giles agreed, Buffy's scenario making the most sense. He, Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy grabbed their coats shrugging into them quickly.

"Well, Debbie was in the quad a minute ago," Oz told them, wanting them found quickly for innocent people's sake, as well as for Debbie, he had a feeling that it was Pete that gave her that black eye.

"Alright." Giles said authoritatively looking at Prue. "We should split up."

"Agreed," Prue said. "Buffy, you are with me. Faith, you are with Piper. Phoebe, you and Willow."

"I'll go with Piper and Faith," Giles said as Prue nodded.

Willow gave Oz a sad look, wanting to stay with him, and keep him company through the change. She'd come back later, and read to him some more, she decided…once this whole thing was settled. She stuck on her resolve face and followed the others out of the library, jogging slightly to catch Buffy up at the door.

Oz watched them go until the door closed behind them, before turning to look at the cage, that was to be his room for the third night in a row. "And…I'll go lock myself in the cage," he muttered giving the cage a glare.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Debbie stood in front of the mirror in the girl's locker room a foundation pad in her hand as she patted it around her bruise trying desperately to cover up the evidence of the monsters rage. She'd never betray her boyfriend, and she was too scared of the monster he became when angry to try and tell someone about his duel personalities. She heard the door open behind her, but didn't bother pausing or looking up, she had her excuse if asked again.

Buffy and Prue walked toward her. "It's tricky covering up a fresh shiner like that. You know what works?" Buffy asked her voice holding a slight mocking tone to it.

"What?" Debbie asked hoping that Buffy would have a helpful tip that would do a better job than her foundation.

"Don't get hit," Buffy said with a shrug. Walking closer to the mirror not wanting to give Debbie the chance to run. "What's going on Debbie? I'll bet the farm you know."

Debbie shook her head. Her heart beat accelerating in her chest. "You're wrong. I don't know anything!"

Prue shook her head. "I think Buffy and I would disagree," she countered waving toward Debbie's black eye. "People are dying here."

Debbie looked fretfully between Buffy and Prue, her eyes slightly wider than normal. "It…it's not his fault," she defended with a shake of her head. "I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this." She rang her hands together.

Buffy glanced at Prue. "You mean Pete," she said to confirm their belief.

"It's me!" Debbie cried making Prue and Buffy give her a confused look. "I make him crazy. He, he just does what he does because he loves me too much."

"So it is him?" Prue asked.

Buffy tilted her head slightly, her eyes hard. "Pete's not like the other guys," she said darkly. "Is he Debbie?"

Debbie looked between the two of them again her eyes wide now with horror as she realized that they knew more than they were letting on, and that she had said too much to the two of them. "I've got to go," she cried grabbing her purse off the bench and made to leave.

Prue grabbed Debbie's arm stopping her progress. "You have to talk to us," she demanded, Debbie shook her head.

"We can't help you until you do," Buffy said, her eyes softening, she knew how hard it was to love someone that was hurting people…at least a side of him that was hurting people.

"I didn't ask for your help!" Debbie yelled at them.

"Well when are you going to?" Prue asked. "I mean if Pete kills you, it'll pretty much be too late."

"Debbie, we're running out of time," Buffy said softly trying to appeal to the girl, trying to reach the side of Debbie that felt guilt over the deaths of the people around her.

"Were can we find him?" Prue asked giving Debbie a small shake.

"I don't know," Debbie answered.

"You're lying," Prue said her hand squeezing a little tighter around Debbie's arm, before letting go with a small sigh.

"What if I am?" Debbie said defiantly. "What are you two going to do about it?"

"Wrong question," Prue stated softly as she waved her hand telekinetically spinning Debbie to face the mirror. "Look at yourself!" she demanded.

"Why are you protecting him? Anybody who really loved you couldn't do this to you!" Buffy added.

Debbie slowly turned around to face them. "Would they take him some place?" she asked.

"Probably." Prue nodded.

Debbie shook her head sobs escaping her mouth. "I could never do that to him. I'm his everything."

Buffy looked at the girl with disgust. "Great. So what? You two live out your Grimm fairy tale? Two people are dead," she fairly growled, this was getting them nowhere fast. "Who's going to be next?" she demanded, as Debbie shook her head, and said nothing.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Oz paced the cage waiting for the sun to set, and for the change to begin. He wished that Willow would get back, he didn't like changing without her. He liked her being the last thing he saw before everything became a haze of black.

He looked up hopefully when he heard the door open, only to see Pete walking to the library with purposeful strides, walking right up to the cage, not even batting an eye as to the reason Oz was locked in a cage in the school library.

"Since when do you touch my girl?" Pete growled, wrapping his hands around the bars of the cage door.

"Hey Pete…this is kind of a bad time," Oz said uncomfortably, the last thing he needed was for word to spread that he was a werewolf, it was uncomfortable enough for his small group of close knit friends to know.

"Well I guess you didn't think about that when you put the moves on Debbie!" Pete growled again rattling the cage door, his rage rising with each passing moment that he couldn't get his hands on the boy who thought to steal his Debbie. She was his!

Oz glanced up at the closed window where he could still see the sun slowly setting in the sky. "We talked yeah," he said with a casual shrug, his eyes back on Pete. "But it was move free," he told Pete, hoping to calm him down, at least long enough for Buffy or another of her family to find their way back here.

Pete either wasn't listening, or didn't care what Oz said in his defense as he rattled the cage again harder trying to break it open, not realizing the danger of such an action. It had never even crossed his mind that there could be something bigger, and badder then him in the world.

"About this cage?... when the sun sets…" Oz informed Pete.

"You won't be alive to see it!" Pete whispered angrily, his rage so powerful that it blocked the full strength of his vocal cords. He rattled the cage again, before stepping back from it, giving himself enough room for his transformation.

"I'm serious. Something's going to happen that you…probably won't believe," Oz told him feeling the wolf in him growing stronger as the sun sank deeper into the sky.

Pete screamed as his head whipped around, his skin thickening and tensing as the change took place. Looking back at Oz when his change was complete, murder flashing in his furious eyes.

Oz gulped and took an amazed step backwards. "Or, you might." Oz corrected himself.

Pete threw himself back at the cage door, yanking at it, yelling with each tug. The door broke free of the cage, giving to the strength of the raging out of control side of Pete. Stalking quickly into the cage with a roar, he grabbed Oz roughly, throwing him out the door, making Oz skid across the floor for a second when he landed.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy and Prue watched Debbie who was now sitting on one of the changing benches, hugging herself chanting continuously, "He does love me, he does love me."

"This is useless," Buffy said after another moment. "We have to go. We have to find Pete."

"You're, right," Prue agreed.

"He does love me," Debbie continued to chant.

"I think we broke her." Buffy said concerned.

Prue paused at the door to the locker room. "I think she was broken before this," she said sadly. "We'll see what we can do for her later. Pete is a threat that needs to be dealt with now."

"You're right, Prue," Buffy said as they left through the door, a second later Debbie got up and followed them out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Pete walked out of the cage heaving Oz up over his head and down onto a table. The table quivered under the force, before giving way to it, sending the both of them down to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and pulled the still stunned Oz up into the air again.

Pete punched Oz hard, the blow catching him in the face. He shook him, his rage not allowing him to keep his body still. "Did you kiss that whore? Huh? Did she like it?" he bellowed. Not giving Oz the chance to answer he heaved him up over his head again smashing him into the stairs.

Oz slid down the stairs, his body turning when he reached the base. Pete attacked him again, but as he recovered somewhat he lifted his leg, kicking Pete away from him sending Pete sliding across the floor. He looked up at one of the arch windows to see the sun sink below the horizon.

Looking back over at Pete, Oz smiled grimly as he watched Pete pick himself up off the floor. "Times up. Rules change," he managed to say just before the change took over, his body quickly morphing into that of the wolf his body used to the change now, unlike Pete's.

Pete could only stare in shock as the wolf growled at him baring deadly fangs. The wolf leapt into the air attacking Pete, making them both fall to the floor. The wolf tried to bite Pete as they wrestled on the floor, but he couldn't get a good hold of him.

The wolf kicked Pete away from him, so that he could try again. He leapt at Pete, who backhanded him solidly, expecting the wolf to stay down. But the wolf wasn't fazed in the slightest as he quickly leapt at Pete again. He sent them crashing into the stairs. The wolf found a good purchase to bite into this time, and he sunk his fangs into Pete's arm, hard.

Pete screamed in agony, never had anyone been able to hurt him, not when he was in this invincible form. The wolf was stronger than he could have ever imagined.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy, Willow and Debbie heard the scream out in the halls and they all began to run in the direction of the library. They were soon joined by Willow, Piper, Phoebe, Giles and Faith, as they ran in from intersecting halls, heading toward the library from where the scream had been heard.

"What was that?" Giles asked as they ran as if expecting one of them to know.

"No idea," Phoebe admitted. "But it sounded like it came from the library."

They ran through the library doors a moment later, their eyes going to the cage, and then to the two figures fighting on the stairs. The wolf's jaws were still firmly clamped down on Pete's arm.

Pete repeatedly punched the wolf in the head, trying to get him to let go.

"Get the dart gun!" Giles demanded immediately falling back into Watcher mode.

"Gun!" Buffy called out and the dart gun flamed into her hands. "Got it," she called cocking the gun, taking aim past Giles. She was about to fire at Pete and Oz, when Debbie shoved her to the side to protect her boyfriend.

"Pete watch out!" Debbie screamed.

Buffy's finger slipped on the trigger a shot going off. The dart embedding itself into Giles hip.

"Ow!" Giles yelped surprised at the sudden prick he felt imbedding itself into his hip, the tip of the dart scrapping the bone.

Pete managed to flip the wolf off him, disentangling his arm from the wolf's jaws.

"Oh! Sorry," Buffy cried disbelievingly as she stared at the dart imbedded in Giles' hip.

"Oh right…bloody priceless," Giles muttered as the drug started to take effect. Piper and Phoebe rushed to his side just as he staggered and fell into their arms.

The wolf tried to make a break for it as Prue waved her hand telekinetically pushing a table in the wolf's way.

Oz growled, but made a detour through the door that led in behind the counter. He leapt over it, and made his bid for freedom, running out the library doors.

Buffy lowered the dart gun, she hadn't had a clear shot, and hadn't wanted to waste any more darts. Looking at Faith she threw the rifle to her. "You get the wolf."

"Got it." Faith said catching the rifle, and quickly giving chase to the rampaging wolf. Willow and Piper following closely behind.

Debbie realizing that she wasn't being watched slipped out of the library, through the stacks.

Buffy and Prue turned their attention to Pete, running up the stairs on the right side of the library. Buffy stopped only to deliver a hard kick to Pete's head, sending him stumbling into a bookcase. They walked closer to him as he got to his feet, heading up to the upper levels of the library. Prue punched him with both her fists, not relenting as she and Buffy forced him back.

Pete staggered into a bookcase, giving Buffy and Prue an angry look, he grasped the bookcase and tipped it over. Buffy grabbed Prue and they disappeared in a swirl of fiery flames as the bookcase fell to the floor books falling following suit. He let out a loud angry roar, as he ran from the library, his anger focused now on Debbie.

Pete ran through a set of doors coming out into a hall, clutching at his wounded arm.

"Phoebe, you stay with Rupert," Prue called over her shoulder as she followed Buffy out of the library. "Buffy and I got Pete."

"On it," Phoebe agreed as she knelt next to the unconscious Giles.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Looking around Pete searched for any signs of his pursuers, not seeing them, he ran down the hall looking for an exit. Turning a corner, he pushed through another set of doors. Frantically he looked for a way out, he spotted a high window above the lockers down an adjacent hall. Running for it Pete leapt on top of the lockers. Opening the window he slipped through leaving smears of blood behind on the wall.

Prue and Buffy reached the intersection, just as Pete scrambled through the window. Looking down each corridor, they frowned when they didn't see him anywhere.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Debbie sat on the floor of the supply room leaning against one of the many crates, waiting for Pete to show up. She knew he would, he always knew where to find her in a situation like this. She looked up as the door opened and jumped when she saw Pete, not noticing that he hadn't changed back. "Pete! You're alright! God you're alright." she said relieved.

Throwing her arms around him, Pete made no move to hug her back, blood still dripping down his injured arm. "She almost shot you. Did you see? I stopped her," she told him proudly. She let go of him reluctantly. "You have to leave, get out of Sunnydale. She knows," she said sadly not wanting him to leave.

"How did she know?" Pete growled. "Did you run your big mouth?" he snarled.

Debbie backed up a step suddenly frightened, realizing that her boyfriend wasn't back yet. "No! She just knew. It seemed like she just knew," she cried.

"So you filled in the blanks!" Pete roared shoving her to the floor.

"No!" Debbie screamed looking up at him terrified. "No!"

"But what did I expect from a screw up like you?" Pete snarled advancing on her.

Debbie shook her head frantically backing up as best she could. "I didn't…Pete…"

"You're nothing but a waste of space." Pete spat, before he lunged at her, murder in his once loving eyes.

"No!" Debbie screamed.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Prue looked up her nerves standing on end, hoping that she and Buffy had chosen the right path. Her eyes rested on a window blood smeared on the wall around it. "Buffy, he went outside," she informed her cousin.

Buffy followed Prue's gaze and nodded as she grabbed Prue's hand. They disappeared in a swirl of fiery flames and reappeared outside the window.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The wolf leapt down the stairs and into the lounge of the school. Coming to a stop by the vending machine. Faith and Piper came running down the stairs after him. He leapt at Faith his hairy body sending her to the ground the gun dropping from her grasp, to land under her.

Willow screamed from her spot on the stairs scared that the wolf would manage to bite the brunette Slayer.

"Stay back, Willow," Piper instructed her eyes never leaving the wolf and Faith.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy and Prue walked to the edge of the roof they had flamed in on. Buffy grabbed Prue and they flamed down to the ground and looked around. Turning around they noticed a light swinging through a window of a supply room. Forcing the door open Buffy and Prue walked in slowly, cautiously, looking for any sign of the hulking Pete. Looking behind a shelf they were confronted with Debbie lying lifelessly on the floor.

Buffy bent down slowly checking her pulse to confirm what she already knew. "Oh, my goddess," Buffy murmured when she didn't feel anything.

Prue heard a grunt and looked up to see Pete behind Buffy. "Buffy, behind you!"

Before Buffy could turn around Pete smashed her into some crates. She hit the floor slightly dazed by the impact. Pete advanced on her a grin on his face. His eyes flashing murderously.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Faith struggled under the wolf's weight trying to keep his jaws from clamping down on any part of her. "Where's the gun! Where's the gun!" she screamed as she fought with the wolf's jaws.

Willow and Piper around for a brief moment before spotting the gun under Faith's legs. "I have an idea," Willow told Piper. She ran up and yanked on the wolf's tail, hard, before running down the hall. "Get the gun! Get the gun!" she cried as she ran trying to keep ahead of wolf.

Piper flicked her wrist and the wolf froze in mid run. "Hurry! I don't know how long he'll remain frozen."

Faith scrambled for the gun. Cocking it, she took aim and managed to hit the wolf in the ass. The wolf unfroze and whimpered as he fell to the floor unconscious.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy landed with a pained 'oof' outside the supply room. Quickly getting to her feet, she looked up at Pete as he walked towards her his expression furious.

Pete howled in anger. "All the same! You're all the same!" he screamed as he rushed her. As he swung a large fist at Buffy he found himself suddenly flying backwards.

"Stay off my cousin," Prue ordered.

Buffy stepped forward, raising her fist to him when he caught her fist. His large hand tightening around hers painfully.

Pete used his grip on her wrist to pull her closer, before he head-butted her. Releasing her fist, Buffy fell backwards hitting the ground with a thump, she scuttled backwards as she shook her head.

Prue glared at Pete and waved her hand and sent Pete flying back again.

From nearby Angel watched the battle going on.

Buffy flipped to her feet as Prue moved beside her. The grabbed his hands when he came at them. She then kneed him in the balls a couple of times before Prue headbutt him, making Pete stumble back.

Prue pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, grimacing at the unpleasant throbbing there. "Remind me to never do that again," she groaned.

Buffy looked up from Prue in time to see a large fist flying at her face. Not having time to block it she took it head on stumbling back and tripping over her feet to land on the hard stone. "Ahh," she moaned.

Buffy and Prue gasped surprised as a growl sounded close to them, glancing at Angel they were in time to see him lunge forward just managing to grip Pete's wrists in one of his own. He swung Pete round effortlessly smashing him into the nearby wall making Pete stumble.

Pete turned angry eyes on the vampire.

Buffy scrambled over to Prue. "Are you okay?" she asked Prue.

"Going to have a hell of a headache in the morning, but I'm fine," Prue admitted.

Pete swung his fist into Angel's face, sending him to the ground. A feral growl ripped from Angel's throat and when Buffy and Prue saw the vampire's face again. It was to see the golden amber eyes of the demon, the hard ridges of his prominent brow not escaping their notice either.

Angel looked up at the boy and kicked out his leg. He smashed his foot into the boy's kneecap, and there was a loud crack signifying that he had broken the fragile bone. Pete screamed loudly as he fell to his knees. He leapt on Pete, the chains that had bound him rattling with the movement. He placed his hands so they rested on either side of the boy's head.

Pete thrashed trying to get up. He screamed as he struggled almost succeeding in throwing Angel off, but Angel held firm refusing to be dislodged.

Angel twisted with all his might, and with a resounding crack the boy's neck broke. With his death, Pete reverted to that of an ordinary human. Angel stood up turning to face Buffy and Prue who was looking at him. He stalked toward them.

Neither Prue nor Buffy were sure what to do, whether they should be on the defensive or not. But before they could make up their minds, his face once again became human and he spoke his first human words in centuries, "Buffy? Prue?"

Prue and Buffy's eyes widened and then Prue watched as Buffy flew at him. Buffy threw her arms around him, a few tears leaking unbidden from her eyes. Angel brought his arms up to rest on her sides lightly. "Buffy?" he said again.

Prue sighed as she watched them. "Once he's better. You will have to tell the others. I will keep the secret for now. They will be afraid at first of course. Afraid that he will be evil again."

"I know. Thank you, Prue," Buffy said as she brushed her fingers over his cheek lightly, lovingly.

October 28, 1998 – Wednesday

Gateway High School

Buffy walked the quad beside Willow and Oz the couple holding hands as they walked. Xander and Cordelia beside them their hands joined as well. "It's all over the school. What happened with Debbie and Pete…except for the Pete was a monster part," Willow exclaimed slightly surprised at how fast the news had gotten round even in the gossip crazy school.

Oz nodded. "Yeah, a freshman told me that Pete had eight iced café mochas and just lost it."

"That's better than the estrogen theory. I heard he took all his mother's birth control pills." Buffy snorted, acting as normal as she could.

Cordelia looked at Xander confused. "He didn't? Pete was a monster?" Xander nodded conformingly. "Where have I been?"

"In your special place Cordy, which is why I adore you," Xander responded giving her hand a squeeze.

"So what's the true story? What happened?" Cordelia asked the group.

"Well we got a hold of, uh, Pete's lab books and stuff, and Mr. Science was doing a Jekyll/Hyde deal. He was afraid Debbie was going to leave him, so he mixed this potion to become super mass macho," Willow explained.

"The only thing was after a while. He didn't need the potion to turn into a bad guy. H, he did it just fine on his own," Buffy stated.

"So it was like a real killing? He wasn't under the influence of anything?" Cordelia asked feeling horrified.

"Just himself," Buffy agreed. She looked over across the quad to see Scott sitting by himself. "Uh…" She turned back to the group. "I'll see you guys later," she told them before walking over to Scott. She sat down next to him. "I don't know what to say that's…not going to sound stupid, or obvious," she said softly.

"I've been friends with them both since before we started school," Scott said morosely.

"Is there anything I can do?" Buffy asked looking at him.

Scott met her gaze, remaining silent for a long moment before speaking. Giving her a weak smile. "Thanks. I'm going to be ok. It's just that you never really know what's going on inside somebody. Do you? I mean you think…if you care about them…but you never really do."

Buffy took one of his hands in her own giving it a squeeze. "It's not your fault… no one saw this coming… and as much as you may want to believe it… there was nothing you could have done to stop it," she said slowly, carefully. Drawing from her own experiences with loss.

Crawford Street Mansion

Angel slept fitfully on the ground, haunted by dreams of centuries worth of suffering. Buffy sat huddled in the opposite corner, just watching him… "I will find out why you returned. And then we'll see what comes next. I'd like to think we might get back together. I will always love you but I don't know if I'm still in love with you."