***** "Oz is . . . threatened by Xander."
Giles looked up. And chose his words carefully. "Yes, I would expect he is. A strong male figure, possible contest for his mate and territory."
She chewed on her lip. "But you're male, and--"
"And am also well past the age of 'threatening,' I would think," he finished, mildly amused by her suddenly flustered expression.
"Oh." She settled back into her chair, and scratched absently at Oz's ear. He was curled up at her feet, making doggie happy noises at the attention. She grinned suddenly. "He's so . . . docile. I mean, before, he would've ripped me to shreds in a matter of minutes, but now . . ."
"You're his mate, Willow," Giles reminded her gently. "Wolves are fiercely protective of their life-partners. He won't ever let any harm come to you. And the spell lets you protect everyone else."
She nodded. "It was kinda . . . hard, before, you know? I mean, three nights out of the month he wouldn't even know who I was. And now . . ." Willow shrugged. "It feels nice."
Giles smiled. Xander and Buffy returned at that moment, arms laden with cold sodas and snack items totally devoid of nutritional value. "Part-ay!" Xander announced, dumping his contributions onto the table. Oz began to growl again.
Xander crouched down in front of the wolf, and caught Willow's eye. "Help me out here."
She nodded, and stroked Oz's head gently. "Xander's a friend, Oz. Remember? You even let him drive your van once," she added.
"Keep your eyes down," Giles told him softly, watching carefully.
"Hey, big guy, I just wanna hang out, 'kay? I promise, I'm not gonna, uh, pee on anything that's yours," he fumbled, and shot a quick glare at the Slayer, who was snickering. "That's what dogs *do*!" he protested.
Willow bit her lip to keep her own smile carefully hidden. "Hold out your hand. Let him get used to your scent." And she reached out for his hand herself and brought it close to Oz's snout, and patted it. "Friend," she repeated firmly. The werewolf sniffed avidly at the appendage, and then flopped down at Willow's feet once again. Worried, Xander looked up at his best friend, who was grinning like a maniac. "He's fine. He's relaxing in your presence." She frowned suddenly. "But he doesn't trust you. Or Buffy."
The latter was indignant. "Hey! What'd I do?"
Willow shrugged. "I'm only getting emotions."
Giles spoke up. "He probably senses that you're not entirely human, Buffy."
Her mouth fell open. "I'm not?"
Willow glared at Giles, who rushed to explain. "You have supernatural abilities that make you more than human . . ."
"If I hadn't put a spell on him, he probably wouldn't trust me 'cause I'm a witch," the redhead offered.
"And Giles?"
Willow shrugged. "Don't ask me. I guess that Giles is . . . "
"Old, and therefore of little threat to territory or dominance," he filled in, sounding amused. Willow felt her face flush as she realized that, to the wolf, she was probably included in "territory."
Buffy read her mind, and snorted. "Will included? But if she's dominant to him, then . . ."
Willow sighed. "Buffy, when have boys ever made any sense?"
"Vamps, either," she sighed, agreeing.
Oz growled low in his throat, apparently adding his own sentiments. Or perhaps it was the vampire in the doorway. "You performed the spell," said Angel, brilliantly stating the obvious.
Buffy jerked her eyes to the floor, unable to look at him. He sighed, and did the same. Willow stammered out, "D-did you come by to--?"
Angel nodded, and closed his eyes briefly, and started to murmur under his breath. Willow caught a few familiar phrases in Latin. A small, grim smile crept over the soulful vampire's features, and his eyes opened. "I can't call him," he confirmed. And turned to leave.
"Wait!" He stopped, but didn't turn. "Thank you," Willow said, softly.
He twisted his head around and gave her a brief smile. "You gave me my soul back, Willow. You never have to thank me for anything." And with that, he left.
"What a guy," Xander said, utterly disgusted.
Willow sighed, and touched Buffy's shoulder. "You okay?"
Ever since Angel had announced his intentions to leave town directly after the Ascension, Buffy had been dealing badly with their chance meetings. Now, however, she turned a falsely bright smile on her friends. "Sure! Why wouldn't I be?"
Willow exchanged a glance with Giles, who cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps you'd best go patrolling, Buffy."
Xander nodded heartily, patting the tranquilizer gun on the table. "We've got it covered if wolf-boy here goes psycho."
Buffy nodded and stood, eager for the change in subject. "You coming, Will?" she asked, mischievously.
Willow shook her head violently. "No way!" Then she recovered enough to consider it. "At least, not yet. But . . . that's not a bad idea."
Giles' eyes widened. "Er, I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. Here, under controlled circumstances and surrounded by familiar scents, is one thing, but out in public is something entirely different . . ."
"Like I said," Willow interrupted, grinning, "not yet. But, well, Oz would kinda be the perfect body guard. As long as we stay out of sight, and as long as I can keep him under control, it might be good for him to even hunt a little." She received three incredulous stares. "It's not completely crazy!" she protested.
Xander leaned forward, an expression of "humor the insane person" on his face. "Of course it's not," he said, soothingly sarcastic.
"Wolves need to hunt. Aggression release, and stuff. I'm not talking about people, but maybe, uh, rab--" Oz jerked his head up, a low growl emitting from his throat, and Willow broke off quickly. "Uh, R-A-B-B-I-Ts, and stuff," she continued, in a quieter voice. They just stared at her, and she stood, setting aside her empty soda can, and stretched. "Come on, Oz."
Buffy narrowed her eyes. "Where are you going?"
Willow sighed. "Where do you think?"
Buffy's mouth fell open. "And you're taking him *with* you?"
Rolling her eyes, the redhead faced her friend, hands on hips. "And what am I supposed to do? Leave him here with you guys, and hope he knows 'stay'?" And she stalked off, wolf in tow.
Xander, apparently nonplussed, turned to Buffy and Giles. "So, I got a question. What does Oz have against Rabbis?"
The End
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End Note: I'm currently working on a sequel, of sorts. It takes place over the summer, and is more of a Willow/Angel friendship piece than a Willow/Oz romance, though Oz will of course appear in it. Is anyone interested? Or am I a really bad writer and no-one wants to read what I write? Feed-back, please!