*author's note: in this story, you can assume that there are large gaps in Willow's realizations about Oz's past and several things that he hasn't figured out how to tell her yet......
Part 2
After the Dingoes finished playing for the night, Oz immediately walked over to Willow. Xander had rejoined Buffy and Willow by this time, but he was still pouting and occasionally mumbling something about being replaced by a walking rug with fleas.
"The band sounded great," Buffy said as Oz walked up to the table.
"Yeah, well, we're trying not to suck," Oz said as he sat beside Willow.
"Nothing like the power of positive thinking," Cordelia said as she sat by Xander.
"Oh, anybody interested in watching movies at my house tonight?" Willow asked. "My parents are out of town until, well, for a few days, so we could have free run. Well, as long as it doesn't get TOO free. Well..you know what I mean."
"Sure," Buffy said. "No sacrifices in the living room!"
As they walked outside, Buffy suddenly stiffened. "What's wrong?" Xander asked.
"Don't know for sure. Does anyone else feel something...strange? I can't put my finger on it, but something just isn't right."
Oz sighed. "I've had that feeling all night. Something out of balance with the universe sort of a feeling." He grabbed Willow's hand and pulled her close to him, suddenly feeling the need to be very protective without being sure just why.
Willow sensed the depth of feeling in Oz when he pulled her close. "What's wrong?" she whispered. "Not that I mind being pulled close to you and all, it's just that you're kind of freaking me out."
Oz lowered his voice so that the others wouldn't hear him. "Wil, there's a conversation I've been meaning to have with you lately, and I think that tonight might be when we need to have it. Since it's a Friday and your parents aren't home, can I hang around for a while after the others leave?"
"Like you need an invitation. But if it's something really bad, I'm probably gonna be upset!" Oz laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Not bad, just...necessary."
They continued to his van where the rest of the gang were waiting.
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Still several miles away from the Bronze, the girl in black got tired of walking. *Oz, you'd better be glad to see me when I finally find you. Well, you won't be at first, of course, but when I make you realize how much you've missed me....* She smiled to herself, hugging her secrets to herself like an old friend. *Now, about this whole walking thing....* She surveyed her surroundings. She was in a fairly bad part of town. Abandoned buildings stretched for the sky, creating alleys of blackness between them. There was also the occasional burnt out building, but something was.....strange. *Hmmmmm, normally there'd be some sort of activity on a street like this at this time of night* she thought to herself. *At least some crack heads or hookers.* She turned in a full circle, eyeing the alleys closely, trying to get a sense of some form of humanity. Or a car she could boost. Nothing. This was....creepy. She reached into the pocket of her jacket to make sure that her switchblade was still there, and resisted the urge to pull it out and thumb the button that would pop out the wicked six-inch blade. *Damn, I'm jumpy tonight.* She quickly decided to just keep walking and try to boost a car in a more neighborly area of town. *Besides, a car might interfere with my tracking.*
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Back at Willow's house, the 'Scooby gang' were laughing at an HBO comedy special. "This guy's hilarious," Xander panted, holding sides which ached from laughter.
Willow was also laughing, but she couldn't help but notice that Oz's laughter seemed a little forced, he looked a little stiff. Of course, there was also a nice side affect to his apparent mental discord. He hadn't left her side all evening. Not once. He was always right beside her, his arm around her, whispering in her ear how much he loved her.
Oz loved the light feeling of Willow's weight against his side, under his arm. It made him feel all protective and warm. However, he also felt like there was a small army of tiny, multi-legged bugs marching all over his skin. It was the same feeling that he'd had in the Bronze, only more so. Like something approaching....... He could tell that Buffy was feeling it too, by the way that the Slayer kept looking out the windows into the calm black wall of night. She and Angel had done a quick patrol before settling in at Willow's, but the night was quiet. Almost too quiet for the Hellmouth.
Oz was startled out of his reverie by a sharp squeal. "You sorry little bastard!" Cordelia shrieked, fishing the popcorn Xander had thrown at her out of her hair. "I'm gonna get you!" And the two were off, Xander pounding up the stairs with Cordy close behind.
"Oh, they're gonna end up in my room! I'll be right back." Willow landed a light kiss on Oz's cheek as she got up and raced upstairs, presumably to protect any unsuspecting closets from a Xander-Cordy make out session.
"Okay, Oz, spill it," Buffy hissed as soon as Willow was out of earshot. "Angel and I can tell that something is out of whack, and we know that you feel it too. Do you know what's going on?"
"Honestly, Buffy, I'm just not sure," Oz told her truthfully. "I agree that something's wrong, but I'm not sure just what it is. I keep feeling like my skin's trying to crawl off or something."
"And is this a usual thing for you?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
Oz sighed. "Look, I understand that you have that feeling of Slayer duty and all, but you're being unbelievably accusing. And I haven't even done anything. I don't know what's going on."
Buffy sat back against Angel. "I'm sorry, Oz. It's just that my 'Slayer sense' is really going off the chart. And it's even more vague than usual. I normally don't get feelings this strongly unless I'm surrounded by guys with bad breath and really long fangs." Angel looked slightly wounded. "Well, you know that most vampires don't give oral hygiene a lot of thought like you do," Buffy consoled him.
In spite of the pervasive weirdness, Oz had to laugh. "Well, I hope that whatever's going to happen will hurry up and happen, because this buggy feeling is driving me nuts."
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The girl in black now found herself in a residential area. She looked at all the brightly lit homes with their manicured lawns and laughed to herself. *All of these rabbits in their safe little warrens. Little pockets of humanity, each unto themselves. Bet they never go out of their way to help anyone but themselves.* Sometimes the girl found herself shocked at how cynical she'd become. She knew that she'd always been fucked up, but the level of contempt that she now carried for the human race as a whole astounded her sometimes. In her weaker moments. When she began to doubt her training. Sometimes at night she dreamed of being a little girl again, of her mother's whiskey-colored eyes and she wanted to bring it all to a halt....*SHUT UP!!* she told herself fiercely. *That's defeatist talk. You're gonna find Oz and he'll make you all better again, just like he used to. After you kick his head in for leaving in the first place.*
With a start, the girl realized that she was standing stock still on the sidewalk, staring at one of the houses. *Oh, yeah, that's gonna keep you from getting noticed. Why don't you make it easy on the cops and just hold a sign up over your head?* She resumed her walk, heading unerringly toward the Rosenberg house, where three young couples laughed and threw popcorn and loved each other.
Continues
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