Disclaimer: Highlander belongs to Davis/Panzer Productions, Rysher Entertainment, and Gaumont Television. Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, UPN, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television Mutant Enemy, and Twentieth Century Fox Productions. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Timeline/Spoilers: In the Buffy universe this takes place several months after "Wild at Heart" and at least a month before "New Moon Rising." In the Highlander universe this takes place around "The Messenger" with spoilers for "One Minute to Midnight." And yes, I know the timeline's not right. Just pretend that "The Messenger" was aired around March 2000 and all's right with this story.

Summary:

*****

Monday, March 20, 2000

near sundown on the day after the full moon

Seacouver, Washington

Oz glanced out of the windows as his van sped down a busy street in Seacouver, Washington, USA. His striped van clearly stood out in the late afternoon sun, which was a good thing, since the other drivers on this highway weren't that careful. His car getting crashed, however, was the least of his worries at that moment. After all, if Veruca and the shamans back in Europe were to be believed, he was a werewolf all three hundred and sixty five days of the year, and not just on the nights before, during, and after the full moon. And if getting stuck in the gut by a knife back in Europe and healing completely in a little over an hour was enough of a clue, the only thing that could kill him was silver. There weren't any car parts made out of silver that he knew about.

Tonight was the last night of the month that he would be a fully changed werewolf. That meant that if he didn't want anyone to get hurt, he had to get to the cage in a cemetery's crypt he set up earlier that week. Sunset was less than an hour away, which didn't give him enough time. He'd delayed heading for the cemetery later than he liked. He needed a job, and he'd spent the day looking for one. He still had a few places to check, but they would have to wait until tomorrow.

When he left Willow in Sunnydale, he told her that he wanted to get away from everyone. When he found out that he might end up like Veruca, he didn't want anyone around him when that happened. Veruca had been a werewolf longer than he had, and he figured it was just a matter of time before he all he cared about was the hunt. Then it wouldn't matter if he cared about anyone before, because then he'd think of them as prey. Oz didn't want to be like that, so he'd left Sunnydale to find a better solution. Giles had given him a few addresses of some shamans in Europe, so he'd gone there. Now he was back in the States.

Thirty minutes later, at about ten minutes until sundown, he parked in the cemetery's parking lot, grabbed his bag, and stepped into the graveyard. Seacouver was a large place, much bigger than Sunnydale could ever be. Yet somehow, it didn't have nearly as many cemeteries as Sunnydale. He figured it was because of the whole Hellmouth thing, although he did see a few things on these graves that would suggest that vampires lived in the city.

The graves closest to the gate were the oldest; one had been there for seventy years. The crypt was in the back of the cemetery. They belonged to the bodies of rich people who hadn't been around for sixty-five years or less. Oz guessed that the wealthy didn't want to be near the poor even after death. It didn't really matter. He had five minutes left.

He entered the crypt and set his bag of clothes as far away from his cage as possible. The shaman back in Europe said it would take at least a month or two for the combination of charms and meditations and other things to really take affect. Until then, he would go completely wolfy for three nights this month. Then, afterwards, he planned to wait for the next full moon to see if the charms and things really did work and he'd finally found a cure. Then he had plans to go back to Sunnydale and see Willow. He could hardly wait.

He put the key near the bars, then stepped behind them and locked the door. Oz took off his shirt and shoes and waited for the change to begin.

He didn't wait that long. He could feel his senses become stronger. He could hear the cars passing on the highway. He could almost taste the people inside. That thought scared him, but he knew it was the wolf, not him. That was his last thought, however.

Fur replaced hair, talons replaced nails, and his teeth became fangs. Oz was a werewolf now, and he wouldn’t remember any of it in the morning.

The wolf Oz looked around from his crouch on the ground. He didn't know how he got there, but he knew that he hated cages. He threw himself against the bars, making them shake, but they wouldn’t budge. He growled at them before looking around. He could see the almost full moon through the crypt's broken roof. He howled. In the distance, other dogs answered him.

*****

Monday, March 20, 2000

10:34 PM

Joe's Bar

Yanna didn't have anything against Immortals. She didn't have anything against the Watchers, either. That was probably a good thing, because she was one of them. Not long ago, she was assigned to watch Richie Ryan. He'd traveled a lot recently, but she didn't mind, since she liked to travel. He took a lot of heads on that trip. If she hadn't been there when his mentor, Duncan MacLeod, was under the Dark Quickening's influence, she would have thought Richie was just another headhunter. But she knew better now.

After Richie and Duncan made up and he moved to France, however, they reassigned Richie to someone else. They claimed she was getting too close and she knew they were right. If she'd known him longer, she would have introduced herself to him. She'd felt too sympathetic for Richie, and had wanted the kind of relationship Joe had with the young Immortal.

Which was why she was sitting at a table in Joe's Bar, Seacouver, waiting for the owner to finish up at the bar and come over. Joseph Dawson, the Watcher Head of North America, would be her boss because her new assignment would be living somewhere in the United States. She was supposed to find out who her new assignment was tonight.

After he served a large group of customers, Joe made his way over to her table. The blues band Joe hired seemed to be a popular one. The place was packed that night and the customers and music made overhearing conversations different, which was exactly what Yanna and Joe wanted.

Joe eased into the seat next to her. He'd brought his own cup of beer over from the beer, and promptly took a sip. "Hey, Joe," Yanna said, smiling at him.

"Hi, Yanna," he said, grinning back. "Been awhile, hasn’t it?"

"That it has," she said, taking a sip of her own drink. "So, Joe, who do I get this time?"

Joe sighed. "Look, Yanna," he began, "I'm really sorry you couldn't keep Richie. If it had been up to me…"

"It's okay, Joe. Thank you."

He nodded once, took another sip, then turned to her and said, "Your new assignment's name is Daniel Osborne. He's around five feet tall and has blue eyes. His hair tends to change color a lot - we've seen him dye his hair red, black, and blonde. Abrams first spotted him in Geneva when the guy healed from a stab wound. He was assigned to him temporarily while Osborne stayed in Europe. Osborne came to the states after traveling around Europe for a few months, and we lost him until only a few days ago when he checked out a room in a hotel here in Seacouver."

Yanna nodded. The fact that they "lost Osborne" was nothing unusual. The Watchers couldn't watch them all ever hour of every day. If Osborne didn't see that much action during his stay in Europe, the European Head of the Watchers wouldn't have seen a point in sending one his people after him after the first few months. Abram's boss probably figured that he would be more useful somewhere else and left it to the North American branch to pick up Osborne's trail again.

"Do we know much about his background?" That usually meant things like cause of first death, teacher/mentor if he has one, aliases, among other things.

Joe shook his head. "Not yet. The research guys are still trying to find his birth records. All we know so far is that he has an American accent and goes by the nickname 'Oz.'"

Yanna cocked an eyebrow at that, slightly amused. "'Oz.' Different, I suppose."

Joe shrugged. "He also likes to play the guitar. He's good from what I've heard."

The band finished one of their pieces, and everyone around them applauded. Joe and Yanna joined in, then Joe stood up. "Come by tomorrow morning for his files and his hotel number. You'll start watching your new assignment then."

******

Tuesday, March 21, 2000

8:52 AM

Holiday Inn

Yanna held her recording device to her mouth. "9:53 AM on March 21^st, 2000. Not much happening so far. After I got the files I'd need from Joe, I came here to the hotel Osborne was staying in. That was over an hour ago. My new Immortal pulled up to the hotel around the same time. He had a tired-looking appearance, probably from going to a late-night party or something."

She stopped the recording and leaned against the car seat. She took a sip of her coffee as she stared at the Holiday Inn, waiting for some hint of red hair. That was the color he'd dyed it when she saw him an hour ago. She hoped he hadn't changed it since then, because she thought that red hair like that looked great on him.

Oh, no. Don't you dare think of him that way, she warned herself. Don't you remember what almost happened last time?

She'd gotten really sympathetic for Richie. The Watchers found out, unfortunately. If they'd found that out last year when they were putting Joe on trial, Yanna was certain that she would have been charged and sentenced with him. But after the Tribunal tried to kill Joe and that failed, the new Tribunal had no desire to execute Yanna; Jacob Gallati, the Immortal who had killed the members of the old Tribunal, had caused enough deaths in the Watchers already. Joe pulled a few strings and convinced them to give Yanna another field assignment. So here she was, chastising herself because her female hormones thought that Osborne was attractive.

She sighed. She hoped she could pull this off.

*****

9:00 AM

Oz sat on the floor doing a chant. The shaman told him to do this at least twice a day. It would take awhile before the chants took full control over his body. He was also required to meditate at least once a week and had to wear a talisman at all times, even when he was in the shower.

"Release me from my prison / free me from the beast / release me from my prison / all nights of every week."

He said the simple incantation twice before getting up off the floor. He'd already taken a shower and changed, so he got his wallet and checked to see how much cash he had. It was just enough for a few more weeks, so it looked like he wouldn't need to get another job while he was in Seacouver. He decided to do a little sightseeing instead.

He grabbed his keys and tucked his wallet into his pants pocket before leaving the hotel.

Seacouver was certainly a unique urban city. It was surrounded on all sides by stunning mountain peaks and had a large harbor on its western side. He walked around the large town for hours, just enjoying everything. The large town was similar to many other places he'd been. He looked for the sounds and smells he remembered from those places: the smell of salt water on the air or the calls of seagulls when he walked past the docks, car horns and rushes of air as they zoomed past his position on sidewalks, and many other familiar sights.

When he reached downtown, it was around dinnertime. Deciding to eat before heading back to the hotel and his van, Oz looked around at the restaurant choices available to him. There were a few bars as well. Blues music wafted out of a bar called "Joe's." Oz decided to check that one out after he got something to eat.

He was debating between Italian and fast food when his unique hearing picked up something else. With his past, it didn't take him long to realize the sound: two swords clashing together several times a second. His werewolf senses also picked up the stench of sweat, and he knew that it was a sword fight.

Looking around, he decided that the sounds were coming from the alley next to that blues bar, Joe's, which was across the street. Oz walked over there and entered the alley. He walked around the far corner of the building and crouched behind a few empty wine crates. Just beyond them were the objects of his curiosity. Two men fought with swords and seemed oblivious to Oz's presence. Oz took a sniff of the air and realized, with some surprise and confusion, that both of them were human. He had no idea what they were doing; not many people used swords nowadays. He did know that there was no point in telling them that. The two men were obviously pros, and if Oz tried to interrupt, they'd probably kill him and ask questions later.

So Oz simply watched, waiting to see what would happen.

*****

Yanna, feeling some trepidation, watched Oz observe the fight. She was pretty sure that Oz was an Immortal now. It had seemed like the Buzz led him to this alley. Oz had tensed as if he was feeling the sensation of another Immortal before the red-haired man headed to this alley. Yanna had followed him and found Oz crouched in hiding, watching an Immortal fight. That was the confusing part. Why was he hiding? All Immortals felt the Buzz. Didn't Oz know that the two Immortals in combat knew he was nearby? There didn't seem to be a point in hiding.

Confused, she settled into the shadows out of sight of the three Immortals.