Tornado of Souls

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Distribution: http://www.hunterash.com/    http://mysticmuse.net

Forever Faith: http://mysticmuse.net/faith/indexfaith.htm 

Feedback: Feedback welcome!

Spoilers: Up to Faith, Hope and Trick.

Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    Part 5    Part 6    Part 7    Part 8

Part 1

Willow smiled as she opened the door to Buffy's room but then frowned. Was that actually Buffy Summers lying on her bed with a book open in front of her?

"Wow. Studying?"

Buffy began blushing and shut the book before sitting up.

"Hey, Will," Buffy stammered. "I, uh, just reading. No studying here. You know me."

Willow started to reach for the book and was surprised when Buffy grabbed it up and tossed it on her shelves. The red-haired honor student frowned and noticed immediately Buffy absently playing with the tusk around her neck.

The budding witch decided not to push it right then. Buffy had only been back two weeks from her attempt to runaway from her life and Willow still wasn't sure how far she could question the Slayer about the little changes Willow had noticed.

After a fight with zombies and Buffy's reinstatement into school, things had returned almost back to normal but there was still a little tension at times between the Slayer and the Scooby gang.

"So what are your major plans for the weekend?" Willow asked, throwing herself down on the bed with an exaggerated sigh and was pleased when Buffy grinned.

"Faith, of course, wants to hang out at the Bronze tonight and find someone to get horizontal with after slaying," Buffy grinned.

Willow nodded, not surprised. She knew Buffy was working hard at making Faith feel welcome after the first awkward adjustment period of discovering another Slayer and having a very big and very powerful vampire after same Slayer.

A Slayer with an attitude, a smart-ass mouth and a sharp wit that rivaled Cordelia in wounds left by words.

"That tells me what Faith wants," Willow smirked. "What do you want to do?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise; Willow wasn't usually so… so… catty.

"Well, are you going to the Bronze tonight?" the Slayer asked, knowing that she owed her friend some quality time. Buffy knew Willow was the one most hurt by her disappearance for months among her friends and she meant to make that up to the red-head.

"Yeah, Oz is playing and I thought I'd play devoted groupie," Willow grinned and Buffy laughed, ruffling her friend's hair. Willow lost her grin as she coughed several times. "I hate fall allergies," she muttered.

"I missed you, Will," Buffy admitted softly.

"Why didn't you let us know you were okay?" Willow asked, keeping her voice soft. They hadn't really talked about the time Buffy was gone and Willow had been patient, figuring Buffy would eventually open up.

Willow really hoped the time was now; there was so much she wanted to know about Buffy's time away from Sunnydale. She especially wanted to know about that boar's tusk around Buffy's neck, the massive claw scars on Buffy's left thigh, and the Celtic knotwork band tattoo around Buffy's right bicep.

Willow didn't quite believe the story of a drunken night at a tattoo parlor. The band consisted of some very intricate Celtic interlacing around Buffy's arm to a circle with a symbol in the center of the circle, like a medallion. Willow's research hadn't found what that symbol was yet either and it was driving the computer geek crazy.

The scars Buffy explained as a rather tough demon that had gotten too close, causing a wound deep enough to scar the Slayer.

"I wasn't alright," Buffy said with a frown, her eyes becoming distant as she leaned against the headboard of her bed. "I was scared and running. I had sent Angel to Hell. Not Angelus but Angel."

"You told me and Giles, I never should have done that spell," Willow muttered and Buffy reached out for her hand.

"Not your fault, you were trying to save him," Buffy tried to smile. "It was just the fates, karma or whatever that he had already cast the spell to summon that stupid demon and I had to stop the spell."

"What did you do all those months? Didn't you want to call?"

"Every day," Buffy nodded. "I was afraid if I talked to any of you I'd lose it and come running back or reveal too much and you'd find me."

"But why?" Willow couldn't resist asking. "I'm your best friend! We're supposed to turn to each other!"

"Yes," Buffy nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I wanted to, Will. I was afraid of your disappointment, your anger, and I knew you'd talk me into slaying."

"But you came back to it," Willow protested.

"Yes, destiny and all that stuff," Buffy said calmly. "I learned that I can't run from it, it's what I am. I'm unique, even different than Faith and I have a responsibility because of it."

"Wow, Giles would do a back-flip if he heard you say that!"

Buffy managed to grin at that one.

"Yeah, he always thought I was too casual about the destiny of being the Chosen One thing," Buffy agreed.

"How are you different from Faith?" Willow asked, wanting to keep her friend talking and to ignore her own coughing.

"She likes the slaying and accepts that she'll probably die young, kinda a fatal approach," Buffy said slowly, as if thinking of her words. "I learned some stuff about myself that… it's just different than it was before."

"Is that why the tattoo and tusk?"

Buffy's hand went immediately to the tusk and a panicked look darted across her eyes.

"Told you, nothing to report there," Buffy said lightly but her voice was strained. "This guy I made friends with in the diner gave me the tusk, said he knew by looking at my aura that I was a warrior and should have it. The tatt, well that was the idea of a friend after we'd been drinking."

Willow glanced away, knowing her friend was lying and debated whether to force the issue or not.

"Hey, Buffy!" a voice called from the hallway.

"Yeah, Mom?" Buffy yelled back as Willow frowned.

"Don't forget you've got your visit with your Father Sunday until Tuesday night," Joyce Summers called. "I've already talked with Principal Snyder and your teachers so there won't be a problem."

"Thanks, Mom, I'll be packed."

"Sunday until Tuesday?" Willow questioned.

"Yeah, have to take advantage whenever Dad is in the country for a visit," Buffy shrugged. "Only three days."

"And three nights," Willow complained. "Three nights when Oz just happens to be turning furry like."

"Faith and you can keep wolfie watch in the library," Buffy pointed out.

"I know, I'm just gonna miss you," Willow whined. Buffy smiled as the honor student coughed and looked miserable.

"I'll be back Tuesday morning," she promised. "Oz and I can eat a huge breakfast while you look on with those adoring eyes at your favorite boyfriend."

"Hah! Only boyfriend!" Willow pointed out.

"Better than no boyfriend," Buffy countered.

"I thought you and Scott were doing okay," Willow frowned again.

"It's so damned hard, Will," Buffy complained. "What the hell do I talk about? Do you have any hobbies? Mine is killing vampires, demons and keeping a werewolf locked up."

"You've got us to talk to about that stuff," Willow said slowly.

"What does that leave with Scott?" Buffy whined. "School? I don't think so."

"You're smarter than you let on, Buffy, why not?"

"It's almost secondary to anything," Buffy tried to explain. "Only Mom is encouraging me to think of college, not even Giles thinks I'll make it that far because I'm the Slayer. School is secondary, family is supposed to come second, my friends aren't even supposed to know, and I 'm not supposed to have a love life!"

Willow was unsure how to respond, feeling inadequate once again. She had no idea how to help her friend. Buffy was popular, beautiful, and intelligent and had more on her shoulders than Willow could even imagine.

The only one who could relate was Faith and everyone was still trying to adjust to the dark Slayer's abrasive personality. It had gotten easier after the mess with that ancient vampire known as Kakistos, Faith had eased up a bit and so had the Scooby Gang. Xander was still fascinated with the dark Slayer, Cordelia was jealous of the new girl, and Joyce was easily accepting. Willow had been intrigued with Faith but had quickly found her annoying when Faith had turned her sharp wit and tongue on the shy red-head, especially when the Slayer realized that Willow was easily teased.

Buffy had been resentful of everyone's easy acceptance of Faith until facing Kakistos with Faith and understanding something of the terror and hardships the other Slayer had faced. She was still reluctant to accept the brunette Slayer totally on face value though.

"Wanna head down to the Espresso Pump for some cocoa?" Buffy suggested. "Mom is heading down to the gallery, she can drop us off."

"Sounds good," Willow grinned.

Buffy took a deep breath and stepped into the light in the Bronze. She could sense a vampire or demon nearby and knew they probably felt her arrival too. Now that things had changed so drastically, the Slayer knew unless she was willing to expend the energies, the undead and demons would sense her just as quickly as she sensed them. It would make slaying harder, but then the changes would make slaying interesting in other ways, she grinned wolfishly.

She had already taken a cruise around two cemeteries and dusted seven vampires. Now Buffy was steeling herself to face her friends again. Ever since her return, things had been awkward. She had expected the yelling and figured she deserved it. To all of them, she had ran away and didn't even bother to write or call and tell them she was safe.

The Scooby Gang had continued on without her, taking over the Slayer duties, risking their lives every night because she wasn't there. They had all been worried sick about her and she had taken their anger and accepted the guilt. The truth would have been worse and Buffy knew they could never understand what she had been through.

Especially Willow. Buffy knew she had hurt Willow the worst by her absence and silence but it had been necessary. Just like the silence continued to be necessary.

Buffy grinned when she spotted Xander and Cordelia necking on a sofa with Will sitting in a chair near them, watching the Dingoes play on stage. The Slayer started towards her friends and froze, sensing another nearby.

She quickly spotted Faith on the dance floor with Scott, Buffy's would-be boyfriend but ignored them. It wasn't the other Slayer she was sensing and it wasn't a vampire or demon. Buffy spotted the young male hesitating on the dance floor as he looked for her. Her eyes narrowed as he noticed her then looked back at his companion; the young student was annoyed that he wasn't paying attention to her.

The young male smiled, kissed her and apparently offered to get them something to drink because a moment later he was headed for the bar.

Buffy decided that she should get a drink before joining her friends and worked her way around the dance floor. She slid through the crowd until she was up to the bar and standing next to the young man.

Buffy knew that he was checking her out from head to toe and so pulled off her leather jacket, revealing a tank top that barely covered her body and showed off her tattoo and boar tusk nicely. She knew he saw both and felt his muscles relax. While he waited for his drink he absently picked up a pen and began doodling on a napkin in front of him.

The Slayer smiled slightly and waited to order her drink as he took his and headed back to his date.

Not even a Hunter would have noticed their interaction.

"Hey, B!" Faith grinned cheerfully. "What's the up?"

"Not much, I checked the north side tonight," Buffy smiled. She was actually becoming used to Faith, finally able to see through the tough outer shell.

"I grabbed the west earlier," Faith nodded, sitting in Scott's lap as he looked slightly panicked at Buffy, wondering what her reaction would be.

Buffy merely ignored the move and took a sip of her coke. It was true that she and Scott hadn't broken up officially but she wondered if they had really been dating either. The Slayer discovered she didn't care and certainly wasn't going to fill Faith's need for drama by causing a scene.

Buffy almost laughed when Faith looked disappointed and almost glared at her. The Slayer also caught Willow's sharp eyes watching the interactions. Sometimes her friend was too sharp and the Slayer wondered if returning had been a good idea, especially now that Faith was here.

It wouldn't be hard to disappear again. Hell, Faith had even taken over her boyfriend, lived in her house, was accepted by her friends and the Council. It would be easy.

The only problem was that Buffy didn't want to leave. The Scooby Gang was her family, more so than any other unit could ever be. Even if they didn't understand her and what it felt like to be her, she still loved them greatly. They reminded her a bit of the hyena pack that Xander had formed when he had been possessed. The Scooby Gang was like an animal pack or family.

Buffy smiled to herself, watching Faith. Maybe that's why she fought with the brunette Slayer all the time; they were both alpha types in the pack.

Oz jumped off the stage during a break and pulled Willow up out of her chair and proceeded to kiss her deeply, letting her know that he had missed her during the day. Buffy was suddenly confused and fought to keep the emotion from her face or eyes. Oz was more than happy to see Willow; Buffy could sense his arousal from the music gig and holding Willow. What was surprising was that Willow wasn't aroused even though the kissing they were doing would have had Buffy more than a little wet.

"Get a room, you two!" Faith growled as she pulled Scott back onto his feet.

"That's your style, not ours," Willow snapped, keeping her arms around Oz' neck.

"What? You prefer the back of his van to a room?" Faith taunted.

Willow blushed a bright red and Oz whispered something in her ear, encouraging her to ignore the brunette Slayer. Faith laughed and she turned to follow Scott to the dance floor, taking a quick glance in Buffy's direction with a frown.

"God, she drives me crazy," Willow muttered and Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise. Instead of settling into a Scooby friendship or tolerance like the rest of the gang had, Willow's irritation with Faith was just getting worse.

"Just ignore her, girlfriend," Cordy advised.

"What's your problem, Will? Faith's okay ever since they got rid of that Kali guy," Xander asked.

"I don't know," Willow muttered as Oz kissed her forehead and headed back towards the stage.

"She just knows how to hit your buttons," Buffy commented.

"I remember when you were complaining that she was trying to take over your life," Willow remarked as she sat back down, watching Oz jump back onto the stage.

"Yeah, that's what it felt like," Buffy nodded honestly. "I was still off balance from coming home."

"How is school going, Buff?" Xander asked.

"Well, Snyder isn't happy that I'm going to be gone for two school days but it's not like I'm skipping out if my Mom clears it ahead of time," Buffy said easily.

"Two days?" Cordy frowned. "How the hell do you rate getting out of here for two days?"

Buffy grinned. "My father's in LA and I'm going to spend a couple of days with him."

"You get LA and I get Sunnyhell?" Cordy demanded.

"Looks like!" Buffy's grin widened.

"I can't win!" Cordy whined.

"Sure you can, Cordy," Xander smiled, nuzzling her neck. "You get to be seen with me!"

"Arrrggghhh!" Cordelia growled and smacked Xander playfully on the arm as the Scooby Gang laughed. They knew it was still a sore spot that she had actually fallen for Xander Harris, Sunnydale reject and she was the most popular girl in school.

Now she was one of the "rejects" because of it and her friendship with the Scooby Gang.

"How did I get stuck with you?" she whined.

"My incredible good looks, extremely kissable lips and sexy body?" he ventured and Willow rolled her eyes as Buffy almost choked on her soda.

"Any sign of Faith and Scott?" Xander asked as they walked out of the Bronze into the cool night air.

"Nah, she probably…" Willow started to mutter and quickly snapped her jaws shut. It was Buffy's ex-boyfriend she was about to comment on about various sexual positions with Faith in some nearby alley.

"How does your Mom like having two delinquents in the house?" Cordy asked, a slight bite to the question and pretended to look innocent as Xander and Willow glared at her. Buffy ignored the taunt in the question.

"She demands that we both keep up our grades and not run away again, either of us," Buffy said calmly.

"She isn't worried you might take off again in LA?" Cordy asked.

"Tactful, much?" Willow demanded.

"It's okay, Will," Buffy said softly. "I ran away, I gotta deal with the anger you guys feel about it."

"Oh generous much?" Cordelia demanded. "Going to tell us about your special box that you lived in on the street?"

"Delia!" Xander snapped. "Crossing a line here! We've already gone through this!"

"No, we yelled at her for leaving and not telling us where she was," Cordy snapped back. "This is me yelling at her because she's been so damned secretive about everything since she got back! Weird tatts and what is that Indian type thing around your neck? Go native or something?"

Willow was surprised at how much Buffy's eyes suddenly shined with anger.

"Something like that!" Buffy growled. "It was given to me by my…by a good friend and it symbolizes that I'm a fighter, a strength totem."

Buffy could see Cordelia about to launch into another attack but the Slayer spun on her heels, holding up her hand for silence. Xander clamped his hand over Cordy's mouth before she could protest.

The Slayer was off in a run before the scream finished reaching the others.

Willow, Xander and Cordelia skidded to a stop at the end of the alley, in time to see Buffy ramming a stake into the chest of a vampire as another figure fought with two others. Xander started to move to help the Slayer when the other three figures fell into the dim lighting and the Scooby members gasped in surprise. Two of the fighters were vampires in game face and the third was a werewolf.

"Oh God," Willow muttered. "How do we help her?"

"Wouldn't happen to have a silver bullet in a pistol would you?" Cordy demanded sarcastically.

"No, and not a trank dart either," Xander complained. "It's not a full moon!"

Buffy turned and tackled the figures to the grimy alley floor.

"No!" Willow screamed and Xander grabbed his friend by the arms. "She'll get bit!"

"Won't do you any good if you get bit too!" he snapped in her ear.

It was hard to tell what was happening in the shadows. The growls, screams, moans and shouts of rage didn't ease the tension among the students either. Finally, two figures seemed to disappear and two stood up facing each other.

Buffy stepped into the light and watched calmly as the werewolf turned and dashed down the alley, jumping on top of a dumpster and then over a fence.

"Buffy, quick!" Xander yelled, letting go of Willow. "We can follow him!"

"No, it's okay," Buffy said quickly, holding up her hand as the gang joined her. "Let him go, I'm too tired and wigged to chase him."

"Wigged?" Willow squeaked. "You weren't bitten were you?"

Both Xander and Willow began searching Buffy for any sign of blood or bite marks until she smacked their hands with a smile.

"No! I wasn't bitten!" she snapped playfully. "I'm wigged about the fact that it's not a full moon and we just ran into a werewolf."

Better that than the truth, she reflected.

"Oh, okay, I understand that," Willow said softly, sighing with relief. It was bad enough that they had to lock Oz away for three nights out of every month without having to worry about a Slayer werewolf.

"Can we go home now?" Cordelia demanded.

Buffy smiled and nodded.

"You awake, B?" a voice called from the door and Buffy sat up in her bed.

"Yeah, Faith," she called back softly and felt Faith enter her room and sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Do we need to talk about Scott?" Faith asked, her voice sounding small and unsure.

Buffy laughed a slightly bitter laugh.

"You intentionally throw yourself at him, sitting in his lap and making out and now you ask if I've got a problem with it? What's wrong with this friendship picture, Faith?"

"I'm sorry," Faith said softly as Buffy reached over and turned on her bedside lamp. "I'm working on the friendship thing. I never had any friends before."

"I know and I'm not mad," Buffy said calmly. "Scott and I never clicked, just don't make it a habit, okay?"

"I don't know why I did it," Faith suddenly complained. "I don't even like him that much. He's cute as hell but not a lot more to him, you know. He can't even begin to understand what we go through."

"Yeah, I understand completely," Buffy nodded.

"It was like I was doing it more to get a rise out of you than to be with him," Faith said thoughtfully.

"Why in the world do you want to fight with me all the time?" Buffy demanded.

Faith suddenly grinned, her brown eyes dancing.

"Well, you know me, B," she said in a husky voice. "Either fighting or sex, best things in the world."

Buffy felt her face turning red as she shook her head.

"You're impossible, Faith!" she declared firmly. "Everything is either a fight or sex, is that it? Including us?"

Faith shrugged, the impish glint apparent in her eyes. "I like either."

"Straight here!" Buffy growled.

"Oh tell me another one!" Faith grinned as Buffy's blush deepened. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about throwing Willow across your bed and kissing her silly."

"Willow?" Buffy squeaked as her eyes widened in surprise and terror.

"Why not? She wants you," Faith grinned. "I can feel it coming off of her every time she's near you."

"And you?" Buffy demanded. Faith lost her smart-ass grin and then tried to regain it but Buffy could tell the smile was strained.

"I like sex, B," Faith smiled, trying to shrug off the question. "You're incredibly hot and there's that Slayer energy between us. Gotta lead to fireworks when we get it on."

"Dream on, Faith," Buffy snapped. "You're telling me you just want sex; no romance, no love?"

"Over-rated," Faith said quickly. "Eat lots of chocolate, same results."

"I saw Devil's Advocate too," Buffy countered. "Keanu chose love."

"No, he chose to blow his brains out instead of having incredible sex, waste," Faith smirked.

"So, sleeping with me wouldn't be a waste?" Buffy taunted, wanting to push Faith for some reason and then it hit her. She was going away for three days and the reason she was going away. Buffy was going to miss everyone, even Faith.

"Definitely not a waste," Faith nodded as she stood up and headed for the door. "Never say never, B."

Buffy shook her head. By Gaia, she'd have to be careful with that one. The blonde Slayer had too many secrets and having Faith living with her wasn't helping. Once again, Buffy was regretting that her mom had insisted Faith stay with them when she found out Faith was staying in a rat-infested hotel in the roughest part of town.

The Slayer suddenly felt very old and touched the boar's tooth next to her cross. Not only did she have the usual things to fight for: friends, family, the world in general, but now she had the entire world to fight for. The world no one saw and few knew about.

Faith was surprised to open the door and find Willow on the other side early Monday morning. The brunette Slayer's frown matched the red-head's.

"What? You forget B's out of town?" Faith demanded, running a brush through her hair as she tried to finish getting ready for school. It was one of the demands from the Council and Giles that she could have done without, Faith thought. She did not need to go to school, damn it! She'd tolerate it though; staying in Sunnydale and in the Summers' house depended on keeping up grades and curbing her street-life type behavior.

"No, I forgot my biology book here when we were studying Saturday night," Willow complained around a cough.

"What the hell do you need books for?" Faith smirked as she moved aside, letting Willow in. "You've probably got the damn thing memorized."

"Don't start!" Willow snapped. "Just remember, you might need my help one of these days in school."

"Not from you, Red," Faith snapped back, her brown eyes flashing.

Willow hesitated at the bottom of the stairs.

"Faith, why are you pushing me so hard?" Willow asked softly, her eyes hurt.

The brunette Slayer hesitated, looking confused for a moment. Willow could almost see the struggle and wondered if Faith was going to retreat behind the hard shell or actually open up.

"I could ask the same thing," Faith frowned.

Willow sighed. "I don't know," the girl said truthfully.

"You feel like a threat, Red," Faith said slowly. "I react on instinct to a threat. You're not a vampire so you get the smart ass reaction."

"Why would I be a threat?" Willow asked, clearly puzzled. "You're smart, beautiful, strong and a Slayer. How could I be a threat?"

"One word from you and Buffy would toss me aside," Faith said softly, hating herself for displaying any kind of weakness.

"I thought you didn't need anyone," Willow countered.

Faith resisted a snide comment or even hitting Willow.

"I'm sorry," Willow said softly.

"I'm trying not to run, okay?" Faith snapped. "Everyone tells me I can make a new start here; I just want a fair chance."

"Then why pick on me?" Willow demanded. "I can understand Cordelia, she's shallow and it's a requirement for high school, but why you?"

Faith continued to frown.

"I'm jealous, okay?" Faith finally snapped.

Willow leaned against the wall, obviously surprised.

"Of what?" she asked softly.

"You're beyond smart, you're cute as hell, you got a cool boyfriend, you've got family, friends and Buffy," Faith admitted, turning her back as she clenched her hands into fists.

"I don't believe this," Willow muttered. "You're beautiful and can have any guy you want. And why are we fighting about this?"

Faith turned around with a grin. "Got me, Red."

"Truce?" she offered after a moment.

"Yeah, just lay off the teasing?" Willow countered.

"Yeah, if you help me figure out something," Faith lobbed.

"What, a homework problem?" Willow perked up immediately; school was something she really knew she excelled at beyond everyone around her, except maybe Oz and his hidden intelligence.

"No, more personal," Faith said slowly. "I've watched you watching Buffy, something's bugging you too."

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, suddenly closed down.

"Look, I've only been here less than a month and I didn't know her before she ran away but I can sense the tension with all of you," Faith said slowly, walking up the stairs with Willow. "And you've been watching her like a hawk and I don't think it's just lust."

"What?!"

Faith reached out with typical Slayer speed and caught Willow before the red-head could fall down the stairs in surprise as Faith laughed.

"You're also cute when you blush," Faith grinned.

"Do you have to make everything sexual?" Willow complained. "And I am not…boyfriend, Oz, straight here!"

"Yeah, right," Faith muttered with a grin.

"Not that gay is bad but…" Willow stammered as Faith steered her back up the stairs.

"Don't worry about it, Red," Faith grinned. "Just friendly teasing, no harm, no foul. Let's get your book and head to school."

"Okay," Willow muttered.

They found Willow's book on Buffy's dresser and Faith picked it up and found Willow frowning, looking at a set of bookshelves.

"What is it?" Faith asked, watching Willow's thoughtful expression.

"Well, Buffy's smart, smarter than she let's anyone know," Willow muttered, looking at the books that were a new addition to the bookshelves that were normally crowded with knick knacks instead of books. Now there were several books and Willow looked over them with a bookworm's curiosity. "But studying and books do not happen in the same sentence with Buffy Summers."

"History of the Celts," Willow read aloud. "Celtic Mythology, A Trip Through Scotland and Wales, Gaelic/English Dictionary?"

"Buffy taking a special class?" Faith asked.

"No, there's nothing like that at Sunnydale High," Willow said absently, noticing a binder. Willow's hand hesitated but Faith decided the issue by reaching past Willow and grabbing the binder.

"Come on, let's go to school, we'll look at this over lunch, what say?" Faith said.

Willow glanced at the clock and nodded.

Part 2

Willow was still frowning when she spotted Faith waiting for her under a tree outside the school. She saw the binder the brunette Slayer had taken from Buffy's room and Willow was scolding herself silly for even looking at Buffy's private book collection, let alone taking the binder.

Faith laughed as the red-head moved closer. Willow was so easy to read, she thought. She knew that the binder was causing the student a moral crisis and decided not to tease Willow about it, even though it would be so easy, Faith thought to herself.

"Yeah, yeah," Willow muttered at Faith's laughter. "I want to take the binder back without opening it."

"Okay," Faith shrugged and Willow looked surprised. "I already looked though."

Willow's eyes widened and she looked like she might drop the binder. Faith patted the grass under the tree and Willow sat down reluctantly with her bag lunch and nodded absently as Faith handed her a soda. She stared at the binder intently.

"Well?" she finally asked.

"Well what?" Faith teased, pretending not know what Willow was talking about.

"You know damned well what," Willow snapped.

"Wow, a curse word," Faith teased. "Must be driving you crazy."

Willow snarled and opened her soda, setting the binder aside.

"Any answers why Buffy's so withdrawn?" Willow asked.

"I'm not sure, there's a bunch of doodles and some of them have labels to them," Faith said calmly. "Also some notes on Celtic stuff she's been reading, like she's trying to learn certain time periods of Celtic history."

"I wonder why?"

"Me too," Faith admitted. "You look more Irish than she does."

"Jewish here," Willow muttered absently, not bothering to tell Faith she could very well have started out Irish or Scottish. Willow had no idea who her original parents were. The only thing she knew was the love and attention from Sheila and Ira Rosenberg from the first month of her life.

Well, love and attention until she was about 10, she corrected herself mentally. Then they seemed to lose interest in their "beloved" gift from the Lord. Willow hadn't seen a lot of them in the years between except at high holidays.

"Hey!" Faith protested and Willow blushed, realizing she had been lost in her own thoughts.

"I asked if Summers was a Celtic name," Faith repeated.

Willow frowned. "More like an English name though it could be Welsh, I think."

"Welsh? That's Celtic, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Part of the Q-Celtic languages," Willow said absently.

"Q-Celtic lingo?" Faith asked.

"There's two different types of active Celtic dialects, P-Celtic and Q-Celtic," Willow explained. "Irish and Scottish are P-Celtic, Welsh and Manx are Q-Celtic."

"How the hell do you know that?" Faith grinned. "Did you swallow the Internet one night in your sleep?"

Willow laughed, accepting the teasing.

"We did a research thing on our families in the 8th grade," Willow explained. "I helped Xander do the Harris research."

"So why is Buffy so interested in the Celts?" Faith pondered.

"I don't know," Willow frowned. "What kind of doodles?"

"I don't know, like that magic writing stuff my Watcher used to show me in books sometimes," Faith commented, reaching out to open the binder.

Willow glanced over the glyphs with obvious interests.

"Not runes, Ogham, or Theban," Willow muttered.

"Theban, Ogham?" Faith questioned.

"Writings witches sometimes use in their Books of Shadows," Willow explained.

"You really are exploring this stuff, aren't you?" Faith questioned without a teasing tone.

"Others include Passing the River, Angelic, Malachim, Pictish and witch glyphs," Willow continued. "These kinda look like some witch glyphs or gang symbols."

"Buffy didn't go and join a gang," Faith complained.

"No, I don't think so either," Willow grinned. "She won't even do cheerleading anymore."

"What's all this stuff, anyway?" Faith asked, pointing at some of the symbols. "Cold, alpha, friend, help?"

"I can understand Buffy having this one, vampire," Willow pointed.

"What's these words: Uktena, Wendingo, Ahroun, Fenris, and Umbra?"

"Fenris is with Odin and Norse mythology, I think," Willow looked at the notes Faith had made and was impressed. The brunette Slayer had taken some very detailed notes about the glyphs and Celtic research she had found in the binder. "Wendingo is a chaotic Earth spirit that possesses someone, turns them into a cannibal monster. I don't know the others."

"Wendingo?" Faith repeated.

"Ran across it in some of the research on demons," Willow grinned.

"Cheerful stuff," Faith commented. "Speaking of demons stuff, how was furry duty last night?"

Willow smiled ruefully. "Trying," she complained. "Something had the wolf upset last night and I couldn't nap. Thought I'd curl up for awhile after school before tonight's shift."

"Want me to drop by after patrolling, I can watch for a bit while you nap on Giles' sofa," Faith offered.

"I could use it," Willow admitted with a cough.

"Okay, so Buffy is acting strange, drawing strange doodles or a secret writing you don't recognize and went and got a tatt," Faith commented.

"Yeah and I haven't found what that symbol is either, although I do know the knot work is Celtic," Willow added.

"Did she see Braveheart too many times?" Faith complained with a frown of frustration.

"I don't think so," Willow said slowly. "I'm going to look up those words on the Internet tonight. Maybe scan the designs so I can look them up too."

"Well, do it tonight, I'll put the binder back before she gets back in the morning," Faith said.

"Let's get back into school," Willow suggested.

"Just what I always wanted to do," Faith mumbled.

The second night seemed to go by much faster than the previous one once Faith arrived from her nightly patrol. Willow and Faith had compared notes until Willow was falling asleep in her chair. Faith had laughed gently and nudged her, encouraging the red-head to sleep for awhile in Giles' office.

Faith glanced over at the library cage when the werewolf growled but basically ignored the creature's displeasure at being locked up as she glanced over Willow's notes. The Slayer sighed and shook her head as she took the opportunity to actually catch up on some homework assignments and then took a second look at Willow's research into Buffy's notes.

"Uketena; A tourist site in North Carolina of the Cherokee nation?" Faith pondered. "Okay, a Cherokee word but doesn't tell me what the hell it is. Indians and Celts. Next, Ahroun: websites mentioning this talk about Gaia, the Earth Mother and the Tribes. What tribes? More Indians? Warriors, tribes, garou? What the heck?"

Faith hated being frustrated and she hated research even more than Buffy did.

"Umbra; okay, what do we have here?" Faith muttered as the werewolf paced restlessly in his cage. "Furniture by Umbra? Somehow I don't think Buffy is planning on become a cabinet maker. Freshmeat.com? Okay, the words sound like Indian except for Fenris, which is Norse for the great monster wolf in mythology."

Faith threw her pen across the room and slammed her feet onto the table, leaning back into her chair.

Somehow she felt like they weren't any closer to solving the mystery surrounding Buffy. There were now extra pieces to the puzzle but no solution yet and Faith hated puzzles.

Faith looked over towards the office, wondering if she was making the right choice in reaching out to Willow. The red-head had more power than she knew and Faith hated it when someone had more control over anything than she did, especially when it concerned her.

Faith knew that if she pushed too hard, Willow could shut down her friendship with Buffy and that was becoming very, very important to the brunette Slayer.

Willow yawned and smiled at the sight of Oz pulling on a t-shirt behind the blanketed book cage. He looked adorable when first waking up, she thought but then frowned. Once again Willow was confusing herself. She thought Oz was the cutest, the sweetest, coolest and gave her kinda warm fuzzies but definitely not red-hot fuzzies.

Faith had already left, when the moon first went down, to change clothes and return the binder to Buffy's shelves. The blonde Slayer wasn't due back until the next morning but Willow didn't want to take any chances of Buffy discovering their betrayal of her privacy. The would-be witch was having enough troubles living with herself without Buffy finding out, Willow was tempted to just tell her friend but was scared of losing Buffy's friendship.

Oz smiled and waited patiently as Willow unlocked the cage. He turned and helped her unhook the blanket that afforded him some privacy after he would change from werewolf to human again. A naked human.

"You off to breakfast?" Willow asked as Oz wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck lightly.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm going to clean up from my research stuff last night and then crash for a couple more hours on the sofa," Willow said wearily. "It's not the same without Buffy dropping in for cage duty. I'm tired."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You're also a little warm."

"Stop, remember," Willow said in a slightly irritated voice. "No more apologizing, it's not your fault and I don't mind watching over the wolf. I just need a couple more hours. I think I've got a cold."

"Okay, I'm going to grab something to eat and take a shower in the gym," Oz said easily, grabbing his knapsack from outside the cage. "I'll buy you chicken soup at lunch."

Willow was shoving her notebook and laptop into her backpack when the library door opened. The student looked up with a frown. No one should be on campus that early except over-enthusiastic teachers, sleeping werewolves and their keepers, she thought. Giles wasn't even due in for another two hours.

Willow knew that werewolves would either be curled up asleep in human form or going for coffee and breakfast and vampires would be somewhere dark for the day. That didn't mean there wasn't danger in Sunnydale during the day, however. Some demons could come out in the daytime and then there was the old fashioned human danger.

The red-haired witch went behind the check-out counter and rested her hand on the tranquilizer gun under the counter, fighting back a cough.

Willow frowned at the three men that entered the library. All were wearing tweed, glasses and looked very much like the librarian. They also kept their hands in sight as they spotted Willow.

"Miss Rosenberg?" the first one in the door questioned. He looked older than the other two but Willow couldn't really figure an age for him. Probably somewhere around 40 to 50 with an average build, thinning gray hair with non-descript brown eyes. He somewhat reminded her of Rex Harrison from My Fair Lady.

"Yes?" she answered slowly, not taking her hand off the weapon and hoping her voice wasn't squeaking as bad as she thought it was.

The other two looked younger, maybe mid 20s or early 30s and they all looked uncomfortable.

"I'm Colin Aimsley, these are Timothy Ryan and Damian Krammer, we're Watchers," the older one said calmly. "May we have a moment of your time?"

"Giles isn't supposed to arrive for another couple of hours," Willow informed them. "I was…I forgot some…I forgot my books last night, I mean yesterday."

Colin smiled patiently and nodded slightly at Timothy.

The young man looked at Willow with a neutral expression that she found very disconcerting.

"You were here last night watching over your werewolf boyfriend," he said firmly. "The Slayer Faith dropped in and took over for part of the night and left this morning at sunrise. Daniel Oswald left just a few minutes ago."

"Okay," she said softly, not taking her hand off the weapon.

"We know quite a bit about your 'Scooby Gang,' Miss Rosenberg," Colin smiled gently. "Ever since that disaster of Angelus, we've taken a closer interest in your small group and how beneficial it's been in aiding the Slayer."

"I thought the Watcher Council didn't like us being involved," Willow said with a frown.

"Yes, that has been the opinion in the past," Damian Krammer agreed and Aimsley pointed to chairs and tables and Willow nodded, following the men. "Given that all of your group was invaluable in destroying Angelus and you are the reason the Slayer returned to her duties, we've revaluated that stance."

"Okay, so why are you looking for me and not Giles?" Willow asked, wishing she had a few more hours of sleep before dealing with the strangers.

"Well, we have an urgent situation and we think that Mr. Giles may not be the right person to handle this," Aimsley said slowly.

"That doesn't make sense," Willow muttered. "Giles is the Watcher, Buffy and Faith are the Slayers, I'm just the research type and you guys are a lot better at it than I am."

"You are the spirit of the group, the untouched purity that we need," Ryan said almost reverently and something about it made Willow begin blushing.

"Don't tell me you need a…a…vir…or something!" she protested.

Aimsley smiled. "No, that isn't why we need you, although that does show us your devotion to the moral strength we need."

"How do you know Oz and I haven't….haven't like…" Willow snapped. She had taken enough teasing from Cordelia and Faith about her sex life, or lack of it, she didn't need strangers pointing it out.

"Because, even though you're beginning a dangerous flirtation with magic," Aimsley said calmly. "We know that you're devoted to your religion and morals. We need that strength and we don't think Mr. Giles can pull it off."

Willow frowned. "Why and what?" she demanded.

"We need you to kill a werewolf," Aimsley said simply.

Faith noticed the library doors slightly ajar and felt her Slayer senses kicking in. She knew Willow was planning on sleeping for a little longer after Oz woke up and the doors should be locked.

Either someone was in the library with Willow or the red-head had gotten careless and left the door open. Faith didn't think Willow was careless, not when it came to the library.

She pulled out her trusty stake, not sensing a vampire or demon but not wanting to take any chances either. Faith frowned when she heard voices among Willow's and stopped to listen.

"Kill a werewolf?" Willow knew her voice was definitely squeaking now. "No, Oz is a good werewolf. Well, not a good werewolf but we keep him locked up, he's never hurt anybody."

"No, not Daniel Oswald," Aimsley said slowly. "This will be even more difficult for you."

"What?" Willow whispered.

Ryan laid his briefcase on the table and opened it. Willow frowned at the folder he passed across the table to her. Every instinct in the world was screaming to shove it back at him and run. Something wasn't right, this was bad stuff coming her way, she yelled at herself.

"Apparently during the period when Angelus was running amok, he came into the library and released Daniel Oswald," Aimsley said as Willow started to open the file.

"No, Oz never escaped!" Willow protested, her hand hesitating. "Someone was always with him!"

"The one with him was bitten," Krammer continued. "It's natural for a victim to hide the bite from friends and family. Angelus returned Oz to his cage and the victim never said a word to anyone."

"Not Xander, he helps watch Oz," Willow muttered, her mind whirling too fast to think. The young student was almost dizzy and she shook her head. "No, none of us."

"Someone was gone for months and even now is gone on a full moon," Aimsley pointed out.

"No," Willow whispered. "No, you're wrong! Buffy's a Slayer, not a werewolf!"

"I'm sorry, Willow," Aimsley said softly, opening the folder.

Willow blinked rapidly as she looked at the top picture of Buffy leaving her house with a backpack over her shoulder and a determined look on her face. The next picture was Buffy at a graveyard, during the day. Willow looked up.

"We suspected something was wrong and have been following her since her return from wherever she was," Ryan explained. "It's much like watching an intelligence operative who went missing for a period of time."

"When?" Willow demanded.

"Sunday, late afternoon," Krammer answered as Willow turned the photos to see Buffy turning a key in the lock of a crypt and the next one entering.

"The next set was taken last night after we entered the crypt during the day and installed hidden micro cameras," Ryan explained.

Willow wasn't even aware that she was whimpering as she turned the photos, watching Buffy approach a cell inside a lower crypt. A cell complete with bars, a door and a combination push button lock that a werewolf couldn't work.

There were so many pictures Willow could almost see the action without any breaks.

Buffy sat the backpack down outside the cell and pulled a milk crate over from the wall, took several items out of the backpack and sat them out. A thermos, a paper bag of something, a couple of books, and a notebook.

Buffy looked at her watch and sat down to apparently wait for something, picking up one of the books and resumed reading it from about half way through.

A bit later the Slayer looked concerned and set her book aside, glancing at her watch. Buffy moved to the cell door and opened it easily and looked at it for a moment before moving inside. Willow slammed the folder shut when the pictures showed Buffy pulling her t-shirt over her head and reaching for the buttons on her jeans.

"No, this isn't real," she muttered.

Aimsley gently removed Willow's hand and opened the folder again.

Willow wanted to run but felt frozen into place.

The photos showed Buffy kneeling naked on the stone floor as a wave of pain hit her. Willow saw the Slayer grabbing at the boar's tusk around her neck as Buffy's head was thrown back in a scream. The red-haired student shoved the pictures away from her, recognizing the lengthening ears, blonde hair becoming fur, and bones breaking and reforming into something other than human.

Willow tried to bite back a sob as she stumbled from her chair and dashed for the door.

Faith pressed up against the wall just outside as Willow slammed out the doors and bounded off a set of lockers, sobbing. The brunette Slayer listened at the door.

"Do we go after her?" Ryan asked the other two.

"No, right now she's curled up on a bathroom floor, either crying her eyes out or throwing up," Aimsley said calmly.

"She won't do it," Krammer said in a flat voice.

"Yes she will," Aimsley countered. "She is the strongest one of the group. Willow Rosenberg will become a Hunter, gentlemen, and her first kill will be a Slayer werewolf and then her boyfriend."

"She's too soft," Krammer protested as Faith frowned.

"That's why you're merely a Hunter and I'm a recruiter," Aimsley said and Faith could hear the smirk in his voice. "I've done the research and the studies. Willow Rosenberg is the one that kept the group slaying every night while Summers was gone. Her sense of duty is probably just as strong as the Slayer's."

"You know her psych profile reveals she leans towards perversion," Krammer countered.

"Willow might discover she's gay or bisexual, so what?" Ryan demanded. "It's not like I care who anyone sleeps with if they're good Hunters."

"We were given the divine task of ridding the world of monsters and evil from the pit of Hell itself!" Krammer snapped. "Having perverts and sinners as Hunters goes against that very Divine mandate!"

"Krammer!" Aimsley snapped. "The girl hasn't even had sex with her boyfriend! We can't condemn her for what she MIGHT do in the future!"

"I don't see why we don't take Summers out ourselves," Krammer complained. "We're Hunters."

"We're also Watchers," Ryan countered. "It gives us an excellent opportunity to follow behind the Slayer once one is killed and turn the Hunters loose on whatever the Slayer has left."

"Besides, one of the prophets had a vision about the girl," Aimsley announced and Faith frowned. "She could be useful to us as a Hunter."

"Why? She's intelligent, yes, but useful?" Krammer demanded.

"Willow Rosenberg has a talent for magic that hasn't been seen in centuries among the Hunters," Aimsley said smugly. "Why don't Mages become Hunters?"

"Because the bastards are only in it for themselves," Krammer grumbled. "They have no morals."

"Exactly, imagine taking a Mage before they discover their talent and training them as Hunters," Aimsley said. "A Mage with the ethics and morals of a Hunter."

"Excellent!" Ryan agreed with that vision and Faith growled.

"Why not just use the other Slayer as well?" Krammer asked. "I don't like sending an untrained girl who isn't even 18 into a den with a werewolf!"

"Especially a Slayer turned werewolf?" Aimsley added.

"Yes!" Krammer snapped.

"Faith's psych tests show she's almost as amoral as a vampire," Aimsley explained and Faith felt her face blushing with rage. "She's also proven herself totally self-centered and a coward. When her Watcher was killed, she ran and kept running until she got here and dragged Summers and the others into her fight with the vampire. First sign of major trouble and she'd leave a partner behind. Faith could never aspire to martyrdom."

Faith felt her breathing quicken and her head roaring. She debated whether to rush in and crack every single skull open in the library or to run away.

The brunette Slayer knew they were right. She had fled; she had been a coward.

"What do we do about Rosenberg?" Ryan was asking when Faith listened again.

"Right now she's exhausted and in an emotional crisis," Aimsley said slowly. "My predictions are that she'll turn inside herself for awhile, probably several days before reaching back out to us. If she sees evidence that we're correct, then we've got her."

"What if she asks Summers?" Krammer asked.

"What could Summers say?" Aimsley countered. "Willow won't. She'll avoid Summers for a few days, then watch her carefully. It may take a full month but Willow will be ours and she'll become one of our finest Hunters."

"If the other Slayer or others get in the way?" Ryan asked.

"Then we take care of them," Aimsley said harshly. "The secondary plan still holds. Elimination of the threat from the Slayer werewolf and disbanding of the Sunnydale group."

Faith glanced up at noise in the hallway and ducked behind the end of some lockers as Willow came back into sight, heading for the library, 'resolve face' firmly in place.

Willow slammed the door open and glared at the three Watchers. Aimsley didn't seem surprised to see her.

"No, no way!" she protested. "Even…even if…even if she's a werewolf, she's taking care of it!"

Ryan reached into his briefcase and pulled out another folder.

"I'm afraid there's more," Aimsley said, pointing to the rest of the pictures in the first folder.

Willow glared. "Just tell me and stop playing mind games!"

"Alright," Aimsley said calmly. "The werewolf Ms. Summers becomes has found a way out of the crypt, one of those damned connecting tunnels to the sewers demons love about Sunnydale."

"No, not happening," Willow muttered.

"We anticipate the others will be rushing in here very soon once they see the morning news and learn that three homeless people were killed last night," Krammer said. "It was rather brutal and no doubt to anyone who knows Sunnydale that it was a werewolf."

"They'll be inquiring whether Daniel Oswald escaped last night," Ryan added. "All of us here know he didn't."

"It could have been another werewolf! We ran into one the other night and it wasn't even a full moon!" Willow protested.

"We have pictures," Krammer said flatly. "IT was followed. That's another reason we need your help, this werewolf is extremely smart and returned to the cell before changing back. Ms. Summers may not even be aware she escaped and killed."

"Werewolves are very instinctive creatures," Aimsley continued. "Even when in human form. It's amazing that you've done so well with the werewolf Oswald. Even if we explained all of this and showed Mr. Giles the evidence, we think he'd let something slip or even try to protect Ms. Summers. She'd sense his reluctance and the werewolf would force a confrontation."

"Why me? Why not Faith, she's the Slayer!" Willow cried, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. "Why make me your Judas?"

"Interesting choice of words for a Jew," Krammer smirked.

Willow blushed with anger. "Hey, well read here! Answer the question! Why not Faith?"

"She's not strong enough mentally or emotionally," Aimsley said calmly.

"But you think I am?" Willow squeaked. "Buffy's my best friend! My…she was my only friend except Xander!"

"Then be a friend," Aimsley said gently. "There's no way anyone could control a Slayer werewolf and three people are already dead. We don't know how many she killed when she ran away. What do you think she'll feel like when she discovers she's a killer? A monster that she usually hunts."

Willow spun on her heels and ran out of the library again. Faith heard and saw the school coming to life and moved down the hallway, wanting some privacy for her own thoughts.

Willow had no idea how long she ran or even where she was going until she dropped, leaning against a tree out of breath. The student looked around and realized she was across the street from one of the graveyards.

She wondered why she had come here and squeaked when she spotted a familiar figure working their way through the headstones. Willow ducked behind the tree and watched as Buffy trotted across the grass, backpack over her shoulders.

Joyce Summers pulled up next to the cemetery gates and leaned over to unlock the passenger door.

"Mom, you're late!" Buffy yelled as she raced around the front of the car. "I won't have time for breakfast if I'm going to hang out at the gallery with you today!"

"Sorry, I got hung up on a business call," Joyce answered. "I brought donuts though and milk."

"Thanks, Mom," Willow heard Buffy say as she closed the door and the car started off towards the school.

Willow allowed herself to slide down the tree in shock, finally able to cough aloud.

"Oh God, please, please don't do this," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself as sobs racked her body. "Not Buffy, please not Buffy."

Willow ignored the few people passing by on the sidewalk and wasn't surprised when they ignored her. It was common in Sunnydale. Any sign of distress was usually overlooked.

"Okay, Mrs. Summers knew Buffy was leaving for three days and cleared it with Snyder," Willow muttered, pulling out her notebook and taking notes. "She reminded Buffy about leaving but picked her up at the graveyard. That means Mrs. Summers knew where Buffy's been for the last three nights and helped set it up. Buffy's Mom knows Buffy's a werewolf."

Willow wanted to curl up in a tight ball and make the world go away.

"I wonder if Buffy's looking for a cure among the Celts or Indians?" Willow pondered, wondering about the strange symbols in Buffy's notebook. "Okay, Buffy knows she's a werewolf and is fighting it."

That didn't help with the problem of at least three dead people.

Willow didn't know what to do or where to go. She always turned to Buffy during times like this.

Faith slammed the baseball bat she had swiped from the sports equipment room against a bleacher support. The brunette Slayer had climbed under the bleachers and began swinging the bat as she raged in anger.

Not only was Buffy a raging werewolf but the Watchers still didn't consider Faith good enough! They went to Willow! Not her, not the one trained to fight werewolves and vampires! Not the Slayer trained to ignore feelings, pain and friendship when it came to the supernatural! Faith screamed and whacked the bat against the wooden structure.

Faith frowned when the bat shattered, cutting her palm open. The Slayer threw the mangled bat aside and watched the blood as it pooled in her palm.

This not only explained why Buffy had been so withdrawn but it also meant a lot of future heartbreak for the two women Faith cared about. The brunette Slayer already knew she wanted to be close to Buffy, it was an extremely rare thing for two Slayers to be able to work together. No one could know what she had been through except Buffy. Faith also was beginning to like Willow and wanted to deepen that potential friendship.

Faith had no idea how Willow was going to cope with the early morning revelations. Not only did Willow have a boyfriend that she worried about but now her best friend was also a werewolf and a killer.

Faith growled as she walked towards the main building of the school, her hand dripping blood.

To make everything worse, the goddamn Watchers wanted Willow to kill her best friend. To try and kill a Slayer turned werewolf.

That was more than any 17 year old should live through, Faith decided. That was even worse than seeing your Watcher, your only friend and mentor ripped apart by a vampire.

Faith ignored the curious glances from several students as she entered the library, holding part of her jacket wrapped around her bleeding hand.

Just as she had expected, Giles was talking with the three strangers in his office.

"Uh, Giles?" Faith called out, catching the librarian's attention. He looked irritated at the interruption until she half held up her hand, indicating she was injured.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," she heard him say as he opened the door and went behind the counter, grabbing the first aid kit. "What happened?" he demanded as she unwrapped her jacket from around the wound.

"I was training and the bat I was using shattered," Faith said calmly.

"Good God, Faith!" Giles exclaimed as he looked at the hand closely. Faith growled as the three Watchers walked out of Giles' office. "There's splinters all through your palm! I'm afraid that a simple bandage won't do this time."

"I figured, kinda hurts," Faith admitted, trying to keep her tough-girl appearance intact in front of the Watchers she already hated.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take her to the hospital, gentlemen," Giles announced, placing a gauze pad in the Slayer's palm and wrapping it with more gauze.

"With her Slayer healing abilities, is that necessary?"

"Excuse?" Faith snapped. "Who are they? Rude much?"

"Oh, sorry, Faith," Giles said absently as he picked up the telephone. "These are Watchers sent over from England to meet you and Buffy. They're here to do some regular tests: physical strength, reaction time, things like that."

"Goody," Faith muttered. "You know me, I'm Faith."

"Yes, I'm Aimsley, that's Ryan and Krammer," the older one said.

"Yes, Principal Snyder please," Giles muttered into the phone. "He's out? Well, please inform him that a student came into the library with an injury. I'm bringing her over to the nurse now but I do believe that she's going to require medical attention. Yes, thank you."

Giles turned to his brunette Slayer. "Is Mrs. Summers at home or the gallery today, do you think?"

"I don't know, why? Why don't you drive me?" Faith asked.

"We have to keep up appearances, Faith," Giles said. "Rules of High school, I take you to the nurse and the nurse calls Joyce to come and drive you to the hospital or calls the paramedics. That keeps Principal Snyder off our backs and everything by the rules."

"I hate rules," Faith muttered as she held her hand.

"We know," Krammer muttered and the Slayer narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me, Tweed guy, do those tests include Buffy's and my incredible hearing?" she growled and was pleased when the Watcher blushed.

"I'll be back shortly, gentlemen," Giles said quickly, sensing the tension between his rebel slayer and the Watchers. "Come along, Faith."

Once outside in the hall Giles turned to Faith with a frown.

"What was that all about?" he demanded. "You were treating them like demons or vampires."

"Sometimes bad guys aren't always supernatural, Giles baby," Faith growled. "I got a bad vibe from them. Slayer senses going crazy."

Giles continued to frown. "Well, the tests are unscheduled and I had no word they were coming."

"Do some checking on them, please," Faith asked softly and Giles blinked in surprise. Faith didn't ask for anything, she merely took.

"Yes, of course," Giles nodded. "Is there something going on I should know about? Like why you were swinging a baseball around at 8:30 in the morning hard enough to break it into splinters?"

"Later, Giles," Faith muttered as they approached the nurse's office.

Part 3

Willow felt lost. Normally, when confronted with a problem dealing with the supernatural, she'd hit Giles' books or the Internet. Unfortunately, she had hit the Internet and Giles' books a hundred times since learning that Oz was a werewolf. She knew she wasn't going to find anything new since scanning over everything the week before.

The red-haired student finally settled on sneaking back into her home after her parents left and curled up on the bed crying with the windows and drapes shut, the coughing beginning to hurt her ribs and throat.

Faith had managed to escape Giles for the rest of the day by getting a trip to the hospital where a surgical med student spent over an hour working wood splinters out of her palm. The dark Slayer gritted her teeth a lot and tried to work her mind over the problem of what to do with Willow, Buffy and the stranger Watchers.

Joyce looked on with a frown as the surgeon continually had to work to get the splinters out. For once, Slayer healing abilities was a drawback as Faith's skin quickly healed over the splinters and the student was forced to go after them with a needle and tweezers. Finally, he stitched up the major wound and released Faith into the care of Joyce, giving Faith a note to excuse her from school for the day and from PE for the rest of the week.

She could live with that, Faith decided.

Joyce surprised Faith by stopping for lunch at a popular restaurant.

After the two had ordered Joyce stood up with a forced smile.

"I need to use the phone and check my messages, I'm waiting for word on an important shipment," she explained and Faith wondered why Joyce Mom wasn't using her cell phone but didn't say anything.

"Sure, sorry about dragging you away from work," she said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad it's not really serious," Joyce said truthfully.

"No worries at all, 5x5 by tomorrow," Faith grinned and Joyce shook her head.

"I'll never get used to that healing thing of you and Buffy," she complained. "I'll be right back."

"Okay, I'm going to flirt with that cute busboy," Faith declared and Joyce laughed a genuine laugh.

The moment Joyce disappeared beyond the door leading to the restrooms and telephone, Faith was on her feet and opened the door a crack a moment later.

"Buff, pick up the phone, it's Mom," Joyce was saying into the phone. "Buffy, look you need to get out of there for the day. Faith had an accident at school; we just got out of the hospital. She's fine but she's out of school for the day and we'll be there after lunch."

Faith's eyes narrowed.

So, Joyce Mom knew Buffy wasn't visiting her father. That meant she probably was aware of everything, including Buffy turning furry on full moons.

"Okay, I love you, Buffy," Joyce said softly and Faith could hear the tears in her voice. "I'm trying to understand, baby."

Faith quickly moved through the restaurant and was playing with her fork when Joyce sat back down.

"Any news on your shipment?" the Slayer asked.

"What?" Joyce asked, clearly puzzled. "Oh no, it isn't in yet."

Faith nodded as the waiter brought their salads and she dug in with a healthy appetite that only Xander or Buffy could appreciate.

The slayer debated on what to do next. Should she confront Joyce and Buffy? Or Willow? Should she tell Giles what was going on?

Faith and Joyce both ate silently, each lost in their thoughts.

"So Faith is at home, that explains her absence but where's Will?" Xander complained as the Scooby Gang gathered in the library after school.

"I'm not sure," Giles muttered as the three Watchers observed the group. "Oz?"

"I don't know, she let me out this morning and was going to catch a couple more hours of sleep on your sofa," Oz explained as Cordelia filed her nails.

"She wasn't here when I arrived this morning," Giles said. "Maybe she went home instead and fell asleep."

"Willow miss school just because of lack of sleep?" Cordelia said sarcastically. "The world will come to an end this weekend!"

"As annoying as she is, Cordelia's right," Xander grinned. "Will would never miss school. I've seen her stumble to school with a fever of a 103."

"I called earlier during lunch but no one answered," Oz added. "Want me to go and check on her?"

"Do you have time before moonrise?" Giles asked honestly. Oz frowned and shook his head.

"I don't want to take that chance, you're right," the musician muttered.

"We'll drop by and check," Xander volunteered himself and Cordelia.

"You just want to ride in my car," Cordelia accused.

"Yup!" Xander agreed readily.

"Faith should be able to handle Slaying duties tonight since Buffy is still out of town until tomorrow morning," Giles said thoughtfully. "Could you and Cordelia lend her a hand? I'll stay here tonight with Willow and Oz."

"Okay, I only have homework I'm missing out on," Xander grinned and Giles merely shook his head.

Willow hadn't lain on her bed for long once the clock began moving into the afternoon. She knew someone would come by to check on her. Willow was quite aware that it was unusual for her to miss school and not let anyone know that she was sick. She couldn't remember the last time she had missed school.

The red-head left her house before anyone could come looking for her. She didn't want to run into Xander or any of the Scooby Gang. One thing Willow knew about herself, she was a miserable liar and she wouldn't be able to hide anything from her friends.

Willow sat down behind a gravestone and rummaged through her backpack. A bottle of water, cough syrup, books and laptop. Hooked to her belt was something she had prayed she'd never have to use, a gift from Oz shortly after he had discovered he was a werewolf. A silver dagger.

The computer geek and honor student waited impatiently as the sun got lower, unsure whether she was praying that Buffy wouldn't show up or that the Slayer would. Finally near sunset Willow spotted a familiar form climbing over one of the walls of the cemetery and dropping lightly to the ground, Buffy's eyes darting all around.

Willow ducked back and waited. She was hoping that Slayer senses wouldn't pick up on her presence but if it did she was ready with a quick lie that she was waiting for Faith for an evening of patrolling.

After a couple of moments, Willow risked glancing around the stone and saw Buffy working her way towards the older crypts, taking a crooked and round-about path to get to a particular one. The hacker felt her heart sinking and her mind going numb at Buffy's caution. Willow had already spotted the crypt that she had seen in the photos and had it in sight.

Willow wiped at the tears escaping her eyes as Buffy unlocked the tomb and entered. The honor student stood up and leaned on the headstone for support, unable to stand on her shaking legs for a full minute.

Five minutes later Willow stood in front of the door, hesitating. She turned her head and saw the sun was almost down. The timing had to be just right, she knew. Willow couldn't crash the crypt too soon or Buffy might flee, leaving a werewolf free to kill. Willow also couldn't hesitate too long in case Buffy turned and the werewolf got out through the tunnels.

Willow opened the door and moved quickly through the semi-darkness, flashlight already in hand. She opened the inner door and wasn't surprised to find three lanterns lit around the tomb, giving enough light to see every corner clearly.

Blinking at her in surprise from behind the bars of the cell was Buffy, her best friend and Slayer.

Faith cursed when she realized Willow wasn't at home either. Xander and Cordelia were beginning to look concerned.

The Slayer had no idea where the crypt was and no idea of where to look either. What's more, Faith didn't think the Watchers would tell her its location.

"Maybe the family went out of town unexpectedly," Cordelia suggested.

"Maybe," Faith frowned. "We'll check back later, let's rock."

Faith attempted to put on her typically happy-go-lucky let's slay something personae but it wasn't easy. The brunette Slayer hated riddles, puzzles and mysteries!

"Oh God, no," Buffy said softly as Willow walked down the stairs into the crypt, turning off her flashlight absently. "Please, Will, get out here! Leave!"

"It's true, isn't it?" Willow asked softly, tears streaking her face as Buffy gripped the bars. Willow could see the debate in her friends' eyes, Buffy unsure whether to unlock the door and run for it or stay locked up safe.

"Will, please! I'm begging you! Don't do this!" Buffy pleaded, wincing slightly.

"What? Watch over a werewolf on the night of a full moon? Don't I do that every month?" Willow demanded.

"Oh God," Buffy muttered. "I can't control it on a full moon, Will! Please get out! I'm safe in here! We'll talk tomorrow, there's more to this than you know!"

"I know," Willow said softly as Buffy's body began to twitch. "The wolf escaped last night Buffy, some sort of tunnel. Three people are dead."

Buffy's eyes widened.

"No, that's not possible!" she protested, her voice becoming harsh and strained. "Leave! Now!"

"You were followed and you killed," Willow said, her voice dull.

Buffy bent over almost double as the pain of forced transformation began to hit her. She watched as Willow pulled out a silver knife and tossed it to the edge of the cell bars. The Slayer instinctively backed away.

"I thought I could stop you tonight but I can't," Willow said softly. "I just hope you don't escape tonight. Be a Slayer in the morning, Buffy, and end it. I can't."

"Willow! Wait!" Buffy screamed as the red-haired student turned and dashed up the stairs. Buffy turned with a scream as the change hit her, totally.

'"Hey, isn't that Will?" Xander asked, pointing in the direction of the cemetery gate. Faith spun and broke into a run after the girl with Xander and Cordelia quickly following.

"Willow! Wait!" Faith shouted and the would-be witch hesitated, looking up at her approaching friends and Slayer. Faith could see the tears in the moonlight.

Willow turned and ran through the open gate.

"Willow, damn it, wait!" Faith shouted.

The Slayer knew she could catch the red-head and debated with herself over what to do with Willow once she caught her. The girl was emotionally upset about something and that was likely to do with a certain Slayer turned werewolf. How the hell to deal with this with Cordy and Xander along for the ride, Faith demanded of herself.

The three stopped abruptly when a black car skidded to a stop at the curb next to the running Willow.

Faith, Xander and Cordy watched in disbelief as Willow stopped, hesitated and then got into the car.

The brunette Slayer cursed and ran after the car but it sped away at a quick pace.

"What the hell was that about?" Xander demanded. "Wasn't that those new Watcher types?"

"Yeah, it was," Faith muttered.

"Why did they pick up Will and why was she crying?" he demanded.

"And what was she doing in a cemetery at night in Sunnydale?" Cordelia added.

"Come on, this is about to break wide open, guys," Faith said, heading back into the cemetery. "I think we've got a werewolf to watch over."

"Werewolf? What? That wolf we ran into the other night?" Xander asked.

"Maybe, come on," Faith growled, letting her Slayer senses extend, looking for the crypt where she suspected a Slayer werewolf was waiting.

Oz opened his eyes slowly and glanced around the book cage. He figured by the position of the sunlight that he had been asleep after the transformation for probably an hour. A quick glance at one of the wall clocks told him an hour and a half.

He spotted Giles asleep in his office chair with his feet propped up on one of the tables, book in lap. Oz frowned as he slipped his pants on, there was no sign of Willow and no fresh scent either. He quickly zipped up his jeans and rattled the door.

"Hey, Giles!" he called, waking the Watcher. "Where's Will?"

Giles blinked as he sat up and winced from having spent the night in a chair, even if it was his chair from the office.

"I don't know actually," he admitted, walking over to the cage, pulling out the key. "She never showed up last night."

"That's not like, Willow!" Oz growled. "She's always here when I change."

"I know but she wasn't this morning," Giles repeated.

"Any word from the others?" the werewolf student snapped.

"No, not yet," Giles said softly. He had a very bad feeling concerning the last two days and Buffy wasn't even in town to help.

Buffy groaned and slowly lifted herself up on her hands and knees. The blonde Slayer shook her head and absently touched the boar's tusk around her neck. Somehow, that never came off, even though all clothes did.

"Is that something like a hangover? Do you get a headache and body aches from changing?" a voice demanded and Buffy's mind shut down from shock as she looked up and saw Faith standing at the cell door, watching her.

"Oh God, is it like posted somewhere that I'm now a furry type?" Buffy demanded.

"Kinda," Faith nodded, her face and eyes hard. She held up the silver knife and Buffy felt her face and body flushing with anger. "I take it Red couldn't take you out last night so she left this so you'd do the right thing this morning?"

"Something like that," Buffy said softly, standing uneasily. She bent down and reached through the bars for her backpack, pulling it through, cautiously keeping her eyes on the other Slayer. The Slayer grabbed a t-shirt and her jeans from the bag. "Where's Will? I gotta talk to her and you."

"Include Xander and Cordy in that too, they're outside," Faith said flatly.

"What?" Buffy's eyes widened again. "How the hell did everyone find out?"

"You've been outed, B," Faith smirked. "So what now? Do I throw you this knife and walk away?"

"No," Buffy snapped, her eyes angry. "There's more to this than just me being your Hollywood type werewolf. It gets really complicated."

"Tell that to the guys you killed," Faith snapped.

"Willow said I killed someone, that I was followed but I wasn't," Buffy protested. "I mean, I didn't get out for the last three nights. I swear it."

"Look, open the door and let's talk about this," Faith snapped.

"I think I'll stay on this side, thanks, until you put that knife away," Buffy growled, tying on her Doc Martin boots.

"Afraid of a little silver, B?"

"It'd take a lot more silver than that to kill me, Faith, but I really don't want to go through a fight with you," Buffy countered. "Who the hell was supposed to have followed me when I didn't go anywhere?"

"Listen, B, I really, really need some caffeine and food, we've been watching you pace all night," Faith declared. "Truce until you explain some things?"

"Your word you won't stab me in the back, literally?" Buffy demanded.

"Agreed," Faith nodded and stuck the knife in her inner jacket pocket.

Buffy hesitated and reached around to the combination and waited until Faith turned her back and keyed in the numbers.

The Slayer quickly grabbed her backpack up and motioned for Faith to go up the stairs first.

"Where's Will?" Buffy demanded.

"That's something we need to talk about, B," Faith said wearily. "I really don't feel like walking to school to fill in Oz and Giles either."

"Who says they need to know?" Buffy snapped.

"Everyone else does!" Faith countered as she opened the door and Buffy saw Xander and Cordelia outside the crypt looking very uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I guess so," Buffy said slowly as tears filled her eyes. "This is going to be a really, really long day."

"Buff?" Xander questioned, his eyes pained. "Did Oz bite you without us knowing?"

"No, Xan," Buffy said sadly. "I wasn't bitten and it's not Oz' fault. There's my Mom, lets call Giles and Oz and get something to eat. And you'd better damn well tell me where Will is!"

"Your Mom?" Cordelia squeaked. "Your mom knows about this?"

"Yeah, I kinda couldn't keep it from her when I came back; she was watching me like a hawk. I also needed someone to cover for me on full moons," Buffy explained as they walked through the graveyard.

Faith noticed that Buffy didn't turn her back to the brunette Slayer either.

Joyce's face was stunned as the Scooby Gang escorted Buffy through the gates.

"Buffy?" she whispered.

"Hi, Mom," Buffy said, trying to sound cheerful but didn't quite succeed. "Long breakfast and lots of coffee and sodas for this one, Mom."

"Oh, okay," Joyce muttered as the gang crawled into the car. She did notice that Buffy waited until everyone else was in the car before getting into the passenger seat and she sat sideways, as if not quite trusting her friends.

"Can I borrow the phone?" Buffy asked, reaching for her mother's purse.

"Sure, honey," Joyce answered. "IHOP?"

"Or Denny's," Xander suggested and Cordelia rolled her eyes at the choices but nodded anyway.

"Giles? It's Buffy, can you and Oz meet us at IHOP?" Buffy questioned into the phone. "Long explanations all around."

Then Buffy hung up the phone and dialed another number.

"Hello? It's Little Stalker," she said softly. "The veil is pierced and I need some verbal and emotional backup. No, it's not dangerous or deadly to Gaia but it's complicated. IHOP in an hour? Thanks."

Buffy refused to meet anyone's eyes as they drove on.

Giles noticed the Scooby gang gathered around a large table at the nearest IHOP restaurant, minus Willow and the Watcher frowned.

"Where's Willow?" Oz demanded as they walked up.

Faith sighed and Xander shifted uneasily in his seat.

"Let's start at where I came in yesterday and what I overheard between Willow and those Watchers," Faith suggested. "Then Buffy can explain why she now gets furry on full moons like Oz."

Giles quickly grabbed Oz' arms as the young man's knees buckled. The Watcher steered his young friend into the booth next to Cordelia as Oz stared at Buffy in disbelief.

"When? How? Me?" he stammered.

"When I sent Angel to Hell, the how is a long story, and you had nothing to do with it," Buffy answered calmly.

"Willow talked with the Watchers?" Giles questioned as he sat next to Joyce. "They didn't mention they had met her."

"They didn't meet her, Giles guy," Faith clarified. "They were looking for her."

"What?" he demanded.

Faith began her long explanation of what she had overheard between the Watchers and Willow, trying not to leave anything out as the group ordered food and large cokes from the waitress.

Everyone was frowning and looking at Buffy when the brunette Slayer finished.

"Okay, first off," Buffy snapped. "I didn't kill anyone! The wolf didn't get out and I didn't kill three homeless types."

"How do you know, you were furry and all?" Xander demanded. "Oz never remembers."

"He will eventually," Buffy said softly, watching the other werewolf's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"Oz and I have a lot to talk about after this," Buffy nodded. "Okay, my turn for questions. Who the heck are these Watchers, Giles?"

"I don't know now," he admitted. "They said they were here to conduct routine Slayer testing on you and Faith. Obviously they were lying."

"Faith, you said I was followed, right?" Buffy asked.

"That's what those idiots told Willow and showed her pictures of you changing in that crypt," Faith explained.

"That was the fresh scents," Buffy muttered. "Installing the cameras."

"Okay, you're a werewolf," Cordy snapped. "How do you know you didn't kill those guys as a wolf? Oz tries to like kill us every chance he gets. No offense, Oz."

"None taken," the musician shrugged.

"How did I supposedly get out?" Buffy asked.

"The wolf found a tunnel connecting to the sewers," Faith explained.

"And I was followed, right?" Buffy pressed.

"That's what they said and said they had pictures of you as a werewolf killing the homeless guys," Faith said.

"If the tunnel is in the cell, how did they follow me? No one has that combination but me and Mom," Buffy asked and saw Faith's eyes widen and Giles' narrow in surprise and thought.

"Buffy was in the cell those three nights," Joyce said softly. "I stayed with her the first night and checked on her twice during the second night."

"Why weren't you there last night?" Faith asked and Joyce dropped her head.

"I couldn't take it anymore," Joyce said softly and Buffy reached out to hold her hand. "Buffy's explained it to me and everything but it's still so hard to watch her go through a frenzy like that."

"So why would the Watchers tell Will that Buffy killed someone?" Xander demanded. "And explained what?"

Buffy looked up and smiled; the others turned and saw a large man walking through the restaurant, heading their way. Giles noticed Oz' eyes widening and a surprised look cross the young man's face.

The stranger reminded Xander of the largest Scot he had ever seen in Braveheart in his life. Flame red hair like Willow's, pale green eyes and complexion confirmed everyone's assessment that his name was probably Scottish or Irish. He stood tall, at least 6'6" and was very broad shouldered. He was dressed in a flannel shirt, Levi jacket and black jeans. Oz spotted cowboy boots and a wide leather belt as well.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the boar's tusk on a leather thong around his neck, just like Buffy's.

The Slayer crawled under the table and walked up to the stranger and hugged him tightly and affectionately.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," she said softly and then turned to the surprised group.

"This is…." She stammered.

"Among humans I'm Angus, sister," the stranger grinned.

"That's Giles, my Watcher; Joyce, my Mom; Faith, the other Slayer; Xander and Cordelia, faithful Scooby members and this is Oz, a brother," Buffy said, introducing everyone.

"A brother?" Oz asked softly.

"Ah, the lost cub you told us about then?" Angus grinned and pulled Oz up out of his seat and hugged him fiercely.

"Angus!" Buffy laughed. "Put him down before you scare him into a frenzy! He's never changed outside of the moon."

"As you've said," Angus nodded and placed Oz gently back into the booth.

Instead of looking intimidated or angry, Oz looked pleasantly surprised.

"You know, I hate to be rude," Faith snapped. "No, I don't. I take that back. I don't hate being rude, especially now! I'm tired and confused and I hate being confused!"

Buffy smiled as everyone moved over and shifted her plate until it was back in front of her. Angus gave an order for a huge breakfast to the waitress and grinned as everyone stared at him.

"How far have you gotten?" he asked Buffy.

"They know I'm Garou but not the details or the truth," Buffy said slowly.

"And he knows about Watchers, Slayers and the Gang?" Xander snapped. "Thought we kept a low profile?"

"This is my mentor, Xan," Buffy said calmly. "He knows more about my life than my mother does. Maybe even more than I do."

"Our clan knows that Buffy's friends are aware of the evil that walks in the shadows," Angus said thoughtfully. "We're also aware that you are under the impression that all werewolves are monsters, cursed creatures that have to be contained or they'll kill innocents, correct?"

"Well, yes," Giles nodded, avoiding Buffy and Oz' eyes. "That's been our experience."

"You've only dealt with one werewolf before Buffy, correct?" Angus asked.

"Why do you look like a Scot, have a Scottish name but a California accent?" Cordy asked.

"Would you like me to talk in a brogue and wear a kilt?" Angus laughed.

"You mentioned Klan, you mean KKK?" Xander questioned. "Buffy's not gone skinhead or anything?"

"No, clan, as in family," Giles explained.

"Okay, someone start somewhere," Faith demanded.

"Werewolves are part of nature, not against it like vampires and demons," Angus began. "We're the protectors of Gaia, the Mother Earth and we're losing the fight."

"I knew you were a werewolf," Oz whispered.

"Garou, we call ourselves many things, but Garou is the most common," Angus said gently. "