By Tracy
Author's Notes: Thanks to Laura, Amy and Serendipity, who inspire me more than they'll ever know. Thanks also to Annie, who volunteered to beta this for me. This fic is dedicated to everyone who sent me feedback for Tunnel Vision. You guys keep reading, and I'll keep writing. Deal?
Part Three
Xander listened as Oz made his way through the house, noting the sounds of breaking glass and shattered wood as the werewolf trashed the first floor. Something must have gone horribly wrong for Oz to have made it out of the chains, the cage, and past Willow's gun full of sleepy drugs. He had barricaded himself in Oz's parents' room, locking the door and then pushing a heavy oak dresser in front it.He sent wild prayers heavenward that Willow was okay. Then he asked not be eaten like a Xander burrito.
He grabbed the phone from the nightstand and dialed Buffy's beeper with shaking hands.
*** Buffy jumped and threw one leg out, connecting solidly with the jaw of the vampire in front of her. The vamp had been wandering the cemetery when they arrived, and didn't appear to be too bright. Giles stood nearby, a stopwatch in hand, looking clinically at his Slayer. The vampire stopped fighting in puzzlement as Buffy began beeping. She took that opportunity to slide the stake in her sleeve past her hand and into the chest of the very surprised vamp.
"It's my beeper, stupid," she told him as he exploded into a cloud of ash and dust.
Giles stopped his stopwatch. "48 seconds. Those last few kicks were a bit excessive, weren't they? And that first punch --"
"Giles—" Buffy held up a hand to interrupt him. "It's Xander. He's at Oz's, and they've got a 911."
*** Willow forced herself to her knees, and crawled over to the box of tranquilizers, fighting the tears that threatened to overwhelm her as she listened to the wild howls and snarling from above. She carried the box back to the cage, and calmly reloaded the gun as quietly as she could. Snapping the casing closed, she took a few calming breaths and cautiously opened the door to the cage. She had to go upstairs. She had to stop Oz, before he hurt anyone. She kept her eyes trained upwards as she silently snaked along the basement to the stairs. The sound of breaking glass caused her to pause as she ascended, but she kept reminding herself that she had to do this.
On the main floor of the house, she surveyed the damage quickly, scanning the room for Oz. The couch was shredded; stuffing and fabric littered the room. The dining room hutch was splintered and in pieces, glass mixed with wood throughout the room and hallway. She spotted Oz in the corner, watching her with interest as he prepared to pounce.
Willow didn't even stop to think as she fired at him a second time. The dart struck him in the leg, and he yipped and fell to the ground awkwardly. She watched him carefully for a few seconds, not lowering her weapon until his eyes dimmed and drooped, signifying that the drug was taking effect.
Xander heard the shot and cursed quietly. He shoved the heavy dresser out of the way and pressed his ear to the door, listening for other noises. Hearing nothing, he opened the door and crouched, inching his way along the hall until he got to the top of the stairs. He could see Oz, curled up on the floor in the living room, seemingly asleep, and then he saw Willow, standing a few feet away, absolutely still.
She suddenly crumpled to the floor, as if all her bones had disappeared. Xander rushed down the stairs, approaching his trembling friend with care. "Wills?" She turned her glazed eyes to him, and he hugged her in an effort to control her shaking limbs. "You okay? You didn't get bitten?"
She shook her head, and sadly surveyed the wrecked room around them. "No. I'm fine." Willow crawled out of Xander's embrace and over to her boyfriend, prone in the middle of the floor. "I had to shoot him. I had to."
Xander was at her side in an instant. "It's okay Wills. He would've wanted you to shoot him. It's okay."
The front door exploded open, and Buffy burst into the room. Her keen eyes took in Oz's still form and the state of the house quickly. "He went rock-star-in-hotel-room on you guys?"
Willow stroked his head lovingly. "He broke out. I shot him, but nothing happened. He just, kept coming. Then I followed him up here and I had to shoot him again." She pressed her ear to his chest. "His heart sounds so slow."
"Twice?" Buffy asked, as Giles made his way through the door, panting and sweating. "Isn't that kind of unheard of?"
Willow nodded emphatically. "I've never had to that before."
"Do … what?" Giles asked, bending slightly as he tried to catch his breath.
"Shoot Oz twice before he passed out."
"Good grief. Twice?" Giles moved forward and pressed a hand to Oz's neck. He waited a moment before pronouncing, "His heart rate is terribly slow."
"So, what do we do?" Xander asked. "Can we take him to a doctor?"
Willow shook her head. "We can't! Not while he's wolfy."
"A vet then?"
Willow threw him a chastising glare before her face clouded over. "Oh God, this is all my fault."
Buffy knelt beside her friend, holding her shoulders. "It's nobody's fault, Will. One shot should've done it. Right Giles?"
"Quite." He took of his glasses and wiped the sheen of sweat from his nose. "I'll have to look into this. Maybe he's been shot so many times he's building up an immunity to the Phenobarbital. Perhaps a new tranquilizer would be in order." He paused, pursing his lips in thought. "We'll have to wait and see what happens. Let's put him back in the cage for now."
*** Xander and Giles were carrying Oz down the stairs when the doorbell rang. Buffy and Willow stared at each other in alarm, grasping each other's arms and looking from the front door to the stairs.
"Do we answer it?" Buffy whispered.
"I vote not."
Buffy nodded in agreement and then let out a squeak as she spotted a police officer looking at them through the window. She pointed at him weakly. "Busted, Will."
Willow turned to see what she was talking about, and muttered under her breath nervously. The officer waved at them, indicating that he wanted them to open the door.
Buffy moved to the front door and opened it a crack. "Yes, Officer?"
"Good evening, Miss. We've received numerous complaints about screaming – Holy God! What happened here?" he asked, pushing the door open farther as he took in the sight of the broken debris that had once been Oz's living room.
Buffy stepped back and looked to Willow for an answer. They shared a few desperate glances before the police officer turned to face them again. They immediately schooled their features into normalcy. "Um, there was a – a gang," Buffy answered.
"On drugs!" Willow added.
"And, um, when they started breaking everything, we began screaming," Buffy continued.
"But they're gone now, so we won't scream anymore," Willow finished. "Sorry for the noise."
The police officer looked warily from one girl to the other. "That's all?"
They both nodded. "Yup, that's it. They ran away, and it's been quiet ever since," Buffy said.
The officer took a pad of paper and a pen out of his jacket. "Can you describe the gang?"
"Um, well, they had jeans. And, um, leather jackets."
"And why were they here?"
"Wrong address," Willow answered quickly. "They were looking for some party."
'Good one,' Buffy mouthed to Willow as the police officer began writing. Willow smiled nervously in return.
"Do you want to file a report about this?" he asked, indicating the room with a sweep of his arm.
"No!" They both answered in unison.
He raised his eyebrows at them and rested his hands on his hips. It was clear that he didn't believe them, and equally clear that they weren't going to tell him anything. "If I get any more complaints, I'm taking you both down to the station. Understand?"
Buffy nodded happily and opened the door, indicating that he should leave. "We'll be quiet as church mice, Officer, I swear."
He smirked and left without a word.
Buffy closed the door and leaned against it. "Let's get Oz a muzzle," she suggested.
*** Giles was checking Oz's pulse again when Willow and Buffy descended the stairs. He had removed the two darts from Oz's neck and leg and they were sitting harmlessly beside him in the cage.
"Did you ditch the fuzz?" Xander asked.
"Yup. He's gone," Buffy replied.
"How is he?" Willow asked fearfully, kneeling beside Oz in the cage. She fondly began lightly brushing his fur from his face.
"I'm not certain," Giles replied honestly. "The physiology of the human body, I understand, but the physiology of a werewolf is still quite a mystery to me, I'm afraid. A low heart rate could be perfectly common. And as for the tranquilizers, it could be quite normal for Oz's wolf-body to build up a resistance to what it views as a, a threat to its, its, um, predatory skills."
"In English?" Xander asked.
"He said that Oz's body may be building up an immunity to the tranquilizers, because it makes it harder to do wolfy things like hunt and kill," Buffy explained.
Giles moved to his bag and began rummaging around in it. "I'll need to get a blood sample and compare it to a sample of – Oh dear. That won't work."
"What?" Willow asked.
"Well, I was planning on comparing the Phenobarbital in his system now to the amount in his blood stream after it wore off. But I can't take a blood sample from Oz in his wolf form, and taking a sample from Oz when he's normal wouldn't yield the same results at all." He paced in thought. "I guess I'll have to try testing different tranquilizers in the gun on Oz when he's in werewolf form to see what effect they have."
"You can't just shoot Oz over and over for an experiment!" Willow protested. "It's inhumane."
"Willow, I realize you're worried about Oz, and I can assure you that we are as well, but I really have no idea what else to do."
"We could ask Oz in the morning what he wants us to do. It's not fair for us to decide without him." She looked desperately at the faces of her friends. "I can't shoot him again tonight. It's hard every time I do it. Can't we just wait until he wakes up and then see how he is?" She checked her watch. "It's just after midnight. He should be awake again in about three hours with the dosage in the two darts."
Buffy ruefully swung the cage door back and forth. "Then we're going to have a new problem. It'll take hours to fix this door, and we can't even go to the hardware store to get a new lock."
"We could mix up some more concrete and re-anchor the chains to the walls," Xander suggested.
"It'll never be dry and secure in time," Willow replied.
"We could have that policeman come back and throw him in jail," Buffy said.
Willow shook her head sadly. "Oh yeah. 'Excuse me Officer, I need to lock up my really big dog for the night.' Plus, what are we going to do when half the Sunnydale Police Department turns into werewolves next full moon after being scratched or bitten because they didn't know any better?"
"Not to mention how we'd explain claiming a human in the morning," Giles added. "Willow's right. We're going to have to figure out a way to keep him here."
"Maybe there's a spell," Willow murmured absently.
"I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with using magic on supernatural beings such as werewolves," Giles replied. "Too many variables."
Buffy looked at Xander, who was staring at the tranquilizer gun. She knew what he wanted to do. And it was a good idea. It would solve all their problems for the night. Now all they had to do was convince Willow.
***
on to part four