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Disclaimer: I don't own anything, please don't sue me, I have no money. Some of the dialog is from Buffy episode Wild at Heart written by Marti Noxon and The Initiative by James A. Conter.
Chapter 8: Moonstruck
As Buffy had promised, she spend more time with Willow and along that also with Xander and Oz. Seeing how Oz was captivated by the new singer Veruca, Buffy had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to end well. She could see the hurt look on Willows face and it also made her feel hurt for her friend. She remembered all too well what it had been like with Angel and Faith, even if it had been fake. Since Willow was spending the night with Oz, she could spend her night with Angel without feeling guilty.
Buffy went to the mansion, she sneaked quietly to the bedroom finding Angel still asleep. She was about to sit next to the bed when his hands grabbed her by the arms and pulled her into the bed. She shrieked from surprise and started to giggle. He climbed on top of her trapping her between his hands and legs.
“You were faking”, she accused smiling. “You were going to stare”, he replied and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I like watching you sleep”, she answered and pulled her back into a kiss. He broke the kiss when he noticed the paper she was holding in her hand. He smirked and reached for it.
“What's that?” “Oh, just a paper”, she tried to dodge it but he grabbed it from her. Quickly he looked though it and a proud smile rose to his lips.
“This is great. What did I tell you about that brain of yours?”, he said and pulled her into a rewarding kiss. “Absolutely nothing comes to my mind”, she whispered and pulled him back into a kiss. After he broke the long kiss, he got up from the bed and pulled her up with him.
“Back to business. There's a new werewolf in town.” Buffy frowned, she really didn't need a new bad guy since she had just got rid of Spike.
“How do you find out about these things?” “I snoop, ask around, I don't want to be idle.” “Maybe I'm not keeping you busy enough”, she smirked. Her hands snaked up to the back of his neck and she pulled him into a kiss. After the kiss ended, she let out a satisfied hum and went back to business.
“So, what do you know about this new wolfy? Does he know about being a werewolf or is he like new?” “I think she knows, that she came here because of the Hellmouth, maybe not knowingly but because it drew her here.” “So you know it's a she? It's gonna be a full moon tonight, not a lot of time.”
“Don't worry, we'll make sure nothing happens”, he whispered soothingly to her ear and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Don't jinx it”, she warned and leaned more into his strong frame.
The next day, she heard from professor Walsh that she had been attacked by two large wild dogs. But Buffy knew better and strongly suspected it had been werewolves. She visited Giles before going to Oz and his behavior made her even more suspicious, something wasn't right. She went to Angel, he always seemed to know what to do and what was going on.
Buffy was leaning against Angels chest and tracing mindless patterns to his arm that was circled around her.
“I think something is wrong. Oz was even less talkative than usual, I had to drag the syllables out of him. Something is bothering him and I don't think it's going to be good for Willow.” “I'm sure it's nothing. Oz loves her”, he assured and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I hope you're right”, she said and leaned into his embrace.
“I should go soon. I need to see Willow and lock Oz into a cage”, she said not very enthusiastically and started to rise from the bed.
“Not yet, it's not dark in hours”, he stopped her and pulled her back into his arms. “Maybe for a few moments more”, she agreed and closed her eyes leaning more into him.
The next day, Buffy was on her way to see Willow when she saw her crossing the street like a sleep walker.
“Willow!” she screamed and sprinted into run but she was too far away from her. But at the last minute, Riley pulled Willow out of the road before a car could hit her. Buffy arrived to them and pulled Willow into her arms. When she pulled away, she started checking if there was any scratches on her.
“Willow, are you okay? What happened?” she asked frantically seeing how shook up she looked. “Thank you, Riley. I'm gonna take her home now”, Buffy said and gave Riley a grateful smile before leading Willow back to the dorm room.
Willow told her she had found Oz and Veruca together, Buffy tried her best to comfort her but she didn't have the time, it was going to be full moon again and she needed to stop Veruca. She left the dorm room with a heavy heart, she didn't like leaving Willow alone at a time like this but she had no choice. She thought about going to Angel for help but she went to Oz instead. They went after Veruca but came up with her dirty clothes, that's when they realized it was just a distraction and that she was after Willow.
They both sprinted into run, Oz had the head start but Buffy was stopped by running into masked army guys. But she didn't have time to stay and find out what they were, her best friend was targeted by a psycho werewolf. She again sprinted into run and managed to arrive to the scene right in time, Oz was going to attack Willow and Veruca was laying dead on the floor. She attacked Oz, pulling him away from Willow and after a quick fight, she knocked him unconscious. She tied Oz and went to Willow who was sitting motionelessly on the floor. Only tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Buffy went to Giles' apartment and told him about the commandos she had seen. After that she took off to the mansion. She was surprised when she saw Oz stepping out the door. She took a step back to behind a tree and Oz went on his way without even noticing her.
She went inside and found Angel sitting in front of the fire. “I saw Oz leaving”, she stated and went to sit next to him. He just nodded and stared into the fire.
“Is everything okay?” “He just needed to know about a place”, Angel answered and turned to look at her. She nodded with sad eyes, Willow was going to have it rough. Angel traced her face with his fingers and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
“You wouldn't do that to me, would you? If you found a another souled vampire? I know Oz loves Willow and he has no control over the werewolf side of him. But still”, she said with a small voice without looking at him. Angel took hold of her chin and pulled her face up to look at him.
“No matter what, you are the only one for me, soul or no soul. I love you.” A lonely tear fell from her eye and she choked out: “I love you too.” Buffy pulled him into a kiss and together they leaned against the couch. She hugged him closely and pressed her face against his neck. She was feeling guilty of being in the comforting arms of her boyfriend when Willow was mourning after her own boyfriend. After a long silence she returned to the business talk.
“I think we have new players in town. I don't know what they are but yesterday was the second time I ran into them. Because of them I almost didn't make it in time for Willow”, she said and buried her face back into the crook of his neck.
“It's okay”, he said softly and stroked her hair soothingly.”But you did make it, you saved Willow.”
“But I don't think she wants to be saved right now. I can't imagine what she's going through. If you had left me, I don't think I'd be able to live anymore”, she said with a small voice keeping her face out of sight. “I'm sure you would have. You are a strong woman”, he said, more to himself than her, it had almost happened to her, he had almost left her and now he couldn't imagine a life without her, not that he could before either.
“Yeah. I would have gotten up in the morning, gone to school and slayed. But part of me would have been missing, lost and dead. After I killed you... I ran away to LA, I staid alive but part of me was gone. I don't know what would happen if I lost you for the second time.” Angel hushed her and put his finger under her chin, raising her gaze to his.
“You're not going to loose me. Never”, he promised with sincerity in his eyes and voice. Buffy could feel the tears in her throat and she wrapped her arms around his neck pressing her face against his shoulder.
“What ever happens to me, I will always be with you”, she whispered against his skin and she felt him swallow hard. Neither of them had any doubts that the day would come but they didn't want to think about it. When ever it would come, it would be too soon. Angel took a deep breathe that he didn't need and changed the subject back to business.
“So, the new players, what do they look like?” Buffy was just glad that the conversation was taking a turn away from all the angst.
“Like commandos, they had masks and guns. I really didn't have time to chat with them but I have a feeling they are here to stay. That was the second time I saw them, first time was back in Halloween but I thought they were in costumes. Unless they think it's Halloween all the time.”
“I've heard rumors, that something has been making the demon population thinner, other than you.” “What would be the odds of those guys being on our side?”
It had been days since Oz had left and Willow was heartbroken. Buffy had to watch her best friend in pain and she didn't know what to do to make her feel better, but she guessed there was nothing but time that could make it any better.
She visited Giles and Xander, giving them the patrolling mission for the night, she was going to take Willow to a party, get her mind off of Oz, it was a long shot but worth a try.
Buffy went to the mansion and found Angel reading like many times before. She wondered how many times he had read all those books through.
“Hey”, she said and sat next to him. He put the book down and turned to look at her. “Hey.” She gave him a small smile and leaned into a gentle kiss.
“Do you think you could do the patrolling tonight? I'm taking Willow to a party to get her mind off of things. I already gave Giles and Xander the patrolling duty but you know, could you do it too, but not tell them, let them feel all manly and stuff?” Angel smiled and let out a small chuckle.
“I can do it. Do you think the party is going to work?” He already knew the answer. Buffy shook her head with a sad expression on her face. “No, but maybe it can take her mind off of Oz for one night. She's hurting so much, Angel.” She leaned against his shoulder and breathed in the scent of him.
“It will get better in time. Like they say, time heals all wounds.” “You're the one that knows that it doesn't”, she said quietly against his skin. “Yeah”, he answered sullenly.
Buffy took Willow to the Lowell house party but it didn't seem to cheer her up. Riley tried to talk to her but he froze. Sometime later Riley came to her looking like he was about to choke. Buffy looked at him expectantly.
“So you had something to tell me?” Riley shifted nervously and opened his mouth to speak. But he didn't have time when Angel walked in. Buffy felt the tingle and turned around with a wide smile.
“Angel”, she whispered breathlessly. Angel stopped in front of her and glanced at Riley measuring him. He didn't like the guy. Buffy saw the jealous look in his eyes and gently slapped his arm.
“What are you doing here?” “Business”, he answered and again shifted his gaze to Riley. “Business? Oh...” she grabbed Angels arm and started dragging him away. She turned to Riley and asked: “Riley, could you please tell Willow that I had to go?” When Riley nodded, she gave him a bright smile and continued fleeing the place.
Once they were far enough from the people, she stopped and turned to Angel. “So?” “Who was that guy?” Angel asked trying to hide the jealousy from his voice but not having much luck. Buffy rolled her eyes smiling.
“Riley. He's the TA on psych. Now get over the cave man in you and tell me what's the what.” “Spike is back.”
“He really should know when to quit”, she sighed. “Never his strong point. By the way, Xander send you this”, Angel said and handed her the flair gun.
“A flair gun? I'm going to kill Spike not get lost at sea.” “He said to signal with it if you get in to trouble. Not sure why he thought that.”
“Cause I'm meeting Spike alone”, she answered and Angel looked at her not pleased. “What? No you're not.”
“Oh, yes I am. Spike wants me, he's not gonna come after me if he sees you. He's not that stupid.” Angel frowned.
“I don't want you to face him alone.” Buffy smiled, she raised her hand to his cheek and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“You're sweet. My knight in a shining leather duster. But I'm going alone, I can handle him. Besides, I have this flare gun if I get into trouble.” “I still don't like it”, Angel said gloomily.
Buffy was sitting in a chair in the secluded park. She knew Angel was some place near but not near enough to be seen.
Riley and the others sneaked behind the bushes in full army gear. “Trouble. There's a civilian in there”, Graham said lowering his binoculars. Riley took them from him and looked to the park. Frown rose to his face.
“It's Buffy. I told you she didn't just ditch me. And what kind of boyfriend let's his girlfriend sit alone in the park after dark.” “It's quite convenient, if you were hostile seventeen, wouldn't you go after a luscious thing like that after the crap he's been feeding while in captivity”, Forrest piped up and Riley gave him a glare.
“We are not using her as a bait. I'll get rid of her”, Riley said and handed his gear to Graham. He went to Buffy who jumped up, ready to stake him but once she saw who it was, she hid the stake behind her back.
“Riley?” “Buffy. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be outside after dark. Where's your boyfriend?” “Oh. I wanted to be alone. I needed to think, in fresh air”, she said quickly and looking around himself, she wanted to get rid of Riley before Spike would get to her.
“And that to happen, you need to go away. For me to be alone”, she said suggestively when Riley didn't show any signs of leaving.
“I'm not gonna leave you alone in here. It's dangerous.” “I can take care of myself”, she insisted but Riley didn't seem to listen.
“You're boyfriend may not care enough to think about your safety but...” he started but was interrupted by Buffy who was getting pissed off. “You don't know anything about my boyfriend so don't start judging him”, she started to lecture him but was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the dorms. She glanced at the direction where Angel was and sprinted into run.
Buffy arrived to the dorm house and it was full of mist. She saw one of the commandos grabbing Willow and raising his gun to hit her. That's when she saw red.
“Get your hand off of her!” she said with a dangerous voice and once the commando turned around, she fired the flair gun. The flare jumped around the room sending a blinding light. The commandos yelled in pain but Buffy didn't hesitate. She kicked one of the commandos and shoved Willow out of the harms way back into the dorm room. She attacked the commandos, throwing punches at them.
She saw Spike and grabbed the stake. But before she could attack Spike, she was grabbed from behind and before she could get free, he had fled the place. Angel saw Spike fleeing the dorm room and ran inside. He found Buffy fighting against a commando and he grabbed the man from the shoulder. He swung him against the wall and turned to Buffy.
Riley scrambled to his legs and yelled: “Abort the mission!” The commandos ran away not very quickly after the beating they got. Once they were outside, the lights came back to the house. Buffy and Angel looked at each other through the mist. She smiled and pulled him into a quick kiss.
“We better get inside, make sure Willow is okay”, she suggested and lead him inside.
