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Phases

Prologue

Oz checks out the Sunnydale High trophy case. Willow shows up and asks what he’s doing. He tells her he’s looking at the cheerleading trophy. He likes the way its eyes follow him as he moves. Willow thanks him for taking her to the movie last night. She had a good time.

Oz enjoyed himself too. He doesn’t really remember the movie, but he enjoyed the popcorn.

“Yeah, it was good,” says Willow, “And I had a really fun time with the rest. I mean, the part with you.”

“Oh, that’s great,” says Oz. “My time was also of the good.” Their conversation lapses into an awkward silence. Willow bails when she spots Buffy and tells Oz that she has to go talk to her.

Larry and some of his friends watch Willow go, and come over to Oz. “Man, Oz,” says Larry. “I would love to get me some of that Buffy and Willow action, if you know what I mean.”

“That’s great, Larry,” says Oz. “You’ve really mastered the single entendre.”

A pretty girl walks by and Larry ‘accidentally’ knocks her books to the floor. Then he and his friends ogle her as she bends down to pick them up. She gives Larry and his friends a dirty look as she leaves.

Larry turns his attention back to Oz. “So, Oz, man, what’s up with that? Dating a junior? Let me guess. That little innocent schoolgirl thing is just an act, right?”

“Yeah,” says Oz. “She’s actually an evil mastermind. It’s fun.”

“I mean, she’s got to be putting out, or what’s the point?” asks Larry. “What are you going to do, talk? Come on, fess up. How far have you gotten?”

“Nowhere!” Willow tells Buffy. “I mean, he said he was going to wait until I was ready, but I’m ready. Honest. I’m good to go here.”

Buffy thinks it’s nice that Oz isn’t behaving like an animal, but Willow wants smoochies. Buffy is sure Oz will come around in time. What guy could resist Willow’s charms?

“At last count, all of them,” says Willow. “Maybe more.”

“Well, none of them know a thing,” says Buffy. “They all get an ‘F’ in Willow.”

“But I want Oz to get an ‘A’, and, oh, one of those gold stars.”

“He will.”

“Well, he better hurry,” says Willow. “I don’t want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend.” That makes Buffy look away. Willow quickly apologises, and asks Buffy how she’s doing.

Buffy says she’s doing okay. “I was going on two minutes there without thinking about Angel.” She thinks it would be good for her to get together with Willow and Xander for a sharing of misery.

“Great,” says Willow, “I’ll give Xander a call. What’s his number? Oh, yeah, 1-800-I’m-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho.” She rolls her eyes.

“Meow!” says Buffy.

“Really? Thanks,” says Willow. “I’ve never gotten a ‘meow’ before.”

“Well deserved.”

“Darn tootin’,” says Willow. “I’m just saying: Xander and Cordelia? I mean, what does he see in her anyway?”

“But what could she possibly see in him?” Xander asks Cordelia. They are parked in a red convertible in a secluded spot in the woods.

Cordelia does not like Xander’s choice of topics. She isn’t there to talk about Willow. She is there to do things with Xander that she can’t tell her father about. “Do you even want to be here? Because when you’re not babbling about poor, defenseless Willow, you are raving about the all-powerful Buffy.”

“I do not babble,” says Xander. “I occasionally run-on. Every now and then I yammer—”

“Xander, look around! We’re in my daddy’s car, it’s just the two of us, there is a beautiful, big full moon outside tonight. It doesn’t get more romantic than this. So shut up!”

Xander shuts up, and he and Cordelia go back to kissing. A wolf like figure watches from the trees.

Act I

Xander breaks off from necking with Cordelia. He heard something. He stops and listens for a bit but doesn’t hear any more.

Cordelia didn’t hear anything, and is not pleased by Xander’s distraction. “Is Willow sending out some sort of distress signal that only you can hear?”

Xander shrugs and goes back to kissing Cordelia. He stops when hears the noise again.

Cordelia is getting really annoyed. She suggests that since Xander’s mind really doesn’t seem to be on what he is doing with her she should just drive him home. Suddenly a large hairy arm rips through the convertible’s roof.

Cordy screams and fumbles for the keys while the arm tries to grab at them through the hole it tore in the roof of the car. She manages to get the engine going, and the beast falls off as she speeds away.

“Told you I heard something!” says Xander.

Buffy examines the hole ripped in the roof of Cordy’s car in the school parking lot next morning. She asks Xander if he’s sure it was a werewolf.

“Well, let’s see,” says Xander. “Six feet tall, claws, a big old snout in the middle of his face like a wolf. Um, yeah, I’m sticking with my first guess. Oh, and then there was that little thing where it tried to bite us.”

Cordelia puts her head on Xander’s shoulder. “It was so awful. Daddy just had this car detailed.”

Giles has the morning paper. It contains accounts of several ‘wild dog’ attacks the night before. Several animals were killed.

“You mean, like bunnies and stuff?” asks Willow, “No, don’t tell me.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” says Oz. “I mean, they might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves.”

No people were killed or injured by attacks, but Giles expects that this werewolf will show up again at next month’s full moon.

“What about tonight’s full moon?” asks Willow. “Last night was the night before the full moon. Traditionally known as…the night before the full moon.”

Giles is somewhat taken aback. “Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during a full moon might be erroneous.”

“Or it could be a crock,” says Cordy.

It looks like Giles has some researching to do. He is quite excited. Werewolves are one of the classics. He is looking forward to a fascinating afternoon. He leaves the parking lot and heads toward the library.

Buffy watches Giles go. “He needs to get a pet.”

Buffy’s gym class is doing ‘self defense’ this week. While the teacher gives some preliminary instructions to the class sitting on the bleachers, Oz—who is sitting behind her—tucks the label back inside the collar of Willow’s sweat shirt.

Xander is sitting down the row with Cordelia. ”Would you look at that?” he whispers to her. ”He’s all over her. Psst! Hey, buddy!” he whispers loudly at Oz. ”This is a public forum here!”

“I think you splashed on just a little too much ‘Obsession For Dorks.’” says Cordy.

The teacher finishes her intro, and tells the students to get into their assigned groups.

While they are milling around Xander notices that Larry has a bandage on his arm, and asks what happened.

Larry tells him that a large dog jumped out of the bushes, and attacked him last week. “Thirty-nine stitches. They ought to shoot those strays.”

Oz holds up a finger with a bandaide on it. “I’ve been there, man. My cousin Jordy just got his grownup teeth in. Does not like to be tickled.”

Larry leaves Xander and Oz and walks across the floor to where Theresa is doing some warm up stretches. “Be still my shorts,” he tells her. “We’re in the same group. I may have to attack you.”

“No, actually, I think, in our group there are a few of us,” says Theresa.

Buffy steps up beside Theresa and smiles at Larry. “And I’m one of the few.”

Larry backs off. He’s had a run-in with Buffy before.

Willow grabs Buffy and pulls her aside. “Don’t forget, you’re supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us.”

Buffy pouts, and looks at Larry. “Spoil my fun,” she mumbles to herself.

Buffy manages to get paired off with Larry anyway. The teacher walks down a line of students who are standing in pairs, with the guys behind the girls, explaining how to flip someone who attacks from behind.

Buffy pretends to try to flip Larry unsuccessfully. Willow—who has paired off with Oz—nods at her approvingly.

Larry is enjoying himself. “Oh, Summers. You are turning me on!” He grabs Buffy’s butt.

WHAM! Larry hits the mat hard. He groans as he lies on the floor unable to move.

“That works too,” says Oz.

Giles reports on the results of his research to Buffy, Willow and Xander in the library. Using an orrery of the Earth and Moon he explains that a werewolf emerges for the three nights surrounding the full moon. They will have two more nights during which to catch it. “It acts on pure instinct,” he tells them. “No conscience. Predatory and aggressive.”

“In other words, your typical male,” says Buffy.

“On behalf of my gender, hey!” says Xander.

“Yes, let’s not jump to any conclusions,” says Giles.

“I didn’t jump,” says Buffy. “I took a tiny step, and there conclusions were.”

“The point is that our wolfman could also be a wolfwoman,” says Giles. “Or anyone who was bitten by a werewolf.”

Xander asks if your standard silver bullets are in order here, but Giles tells him no. Whoever they are after is a human being most of the time, and may be totally unaware of his, or her condition.

“So tonight we bring ’em back alive,” says Buffy.

Buffy and Giles search Sunnydale’s Lovers’ Lane for any sign of the werewolf.

Buffy hasn’t seen any wolves, but she has seen a couple of other things that surprised her. “Brittany Podell was making out with Owen Stadeel, but he goes with Barrett Williams. If she ever found…” She notices the look Giles is giving her. “No, um, no sign of the werewolf. How about you?”

“The same,” says Giles. “I thought we might, uh, knock on a few windows. Ask if anyone has seen anything yet.”

It’s Buffy’s turn to give Giles a look. “Giles, no one’s seen anything.” They split up again to continue their search.

Buffy checks out a clearing in the woods. She hears a snap, sees a movement down around her feet, and looks down as a net suddenly pops up around her, and lifts her into the air.

A man with a rifle comes out of the bushes and points it up at Buffy. “Gotcha!”

Act II

The man hasn’t caught quite what he was expecting though. “What the hell?” he asks as Buffy calls for Giles.

Giles comes running into the clearing, but stops when he sees the man there pointing his rifle at him.

“Who are you?” asks Giles. “What are you doing?”

“The name’s Cain. I’m the one with the gun, which means I’m the one who gets to do the interviewing.”

“Ahem,” says Buffy. “Before we get all chummy here, how about we do something about me being in this net thing?”

Cain pulls out a knife, and cuts the rope holding up the net. Buffy falls to the ground. He gets his first good look at her while Giles is helping her untangling herself from the net. “Got to say, I’m impressed.”

“Excuse me?” asks Giles.

“Well, it’s good to get the fruit while it’s fresh,” says Cain.

“You’d be wise to take that back,” says Giles.

“Hey, what a man and a girl do in Lovers’ Lane at night is nobody’s busi—”

Giles starts toward Cain, but Buffy holds him back. “Okay, enough, repulsive brain,” she tells Cain. “It’s not what you think.” She pauses and realizes that some sort of explanation is still required. She decides to go with the truth. “We’re hunting werewolves.”

Cain starts to laugh.

“Okay, it’s funny if you don’t believe in werewolves,” says Buffy.

That isn’t what Cain is laughing about. He thinks it’s funny that they think they can catch one. Giles looks like a librarian, and Buffy’s just a girl.

“I assure you she’s quite capable,” says Giles.

“Let me ask you something, sweetheart. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out? I tore a tooth from the mouth of every werewolf that I killed.” Cain shows them the necklace he’s wearing which holds several large teeth. “This next one will bring the total to an even dozen.”

“So you’re just going to kill it?” asks Buffy.

“Well, see, that’s the thing. Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka, and it’s a little hard to skin ’em when they’re alive.”

“And it doesn’t bother you that a werewolf is a person twenty-eight days out of the month?” asks Buffy.

“That’s why I only hunt ’em the other three.” Cain asks them where else around Sunnydale the kids like to hang out as he starts to gather up his net.

“You looking for a party?” asks Buffy.

“No, but the werewolf is. They’re suckers for that whole sexual heat thing. Sense it miles away.”

Buffy tells Cain she has no idea. He isn’t surprised. He finishes gathering his net and disappears into the woods. Buffy waits until he’s gone and then indicates to Giles that he should follow her.

“Where are we going?” asks Giles.

“I think I know where to look,” says Buffy. “We just have to make it there before Mein Furrier.”

Theresa walks home along a dark street. She hears a rustling noise behind her, and looks around, but she doesn’t see anything. She picks up her pace a bit. She hears a growling noise and starts to run, looking back over her shoulder. She runs into Angel.

Angel asks Theresa if everything’s okay, and she tells him she heard something.

Angel has a look back where she came from, but he doesn’t see anything. “Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asks. “Don’t you go to school with Buffy?”

“Oh, you know Buffy?”

“Yes, I do, very well.” Angel smiles. “Come on, I’ll get you home.”

Cordy and Willow sit on a sofa in the Bronze, comparing notes on Xander and Oz. Cordy is upset that all Xander ever seems to talk about is Willow and Buffy.

Willow isn’t much happier with Oz. They seem to be in some sort of holding pattern, only without the holding, or anything else.

“What’s he waiting for?” asks Cordelia. “What’s his problem? Oh, that’s right, he’s a guy.”

“Yeah, him and Xander. Guys,” says Willow.

“Who do they think they are?”

“A couple of guys.”

The werewolf lands on the table in front of them, and they scream. Everyone else in the Bronze starts to scream too, and run for the exits.

Giles and Buffy drive up to the Bronze in his Citroen as everyone is running out. “Looks like your hunch was right,” says Giles.

Willow finds them, and confirms that the werewolf is inside. Buffy runs in the door just as the last people come streaming out. One of the Bronze’ staff closes the door behind her.

Buffy searches the Bronze for the werewolf. She sees a shadow moving back stage, and starts toward it. She removes her backpack, and pulls a heavy chain out of it.

Buffy sees a beaded curtain swinging, and moves cautiously through it out onto the stage. She finds the werewolf there.

Buffy and the werewolf circle one another. Buffy swings the chain and it wraps around the werewolf’s neck. They both pull at the chain, but the wolf’s greater mass lets it pull Buffy off balance, and it tosses her into a drum set. It escapes by smashing through a window and running off into the night.

Cain arrives as the Bronze staff is cleaning up the mess. He is not pleased that Buffy let the werewolf get away.

“I didn’t let it do anything,” says Buffy. “I had the chain around its neck.”

“Chain? What were you going to do, take it for a walk?” asks Cain.

“I was going to lock it up,” says Buffy.

Cain thinks that is just dandy. “This is what happens when a woman tries to do a man’s job.”

Giles is not happy with Cain’s attitude. Buffy risked her life to capture a beast that Cain has not yet been able to find, but Cain isn’t very impressed with Giles either. He thinks Giles is doing a great job carrying Buffy’s supply of milk bones.

Giles tosses down Buffy’s weapons bag and starts toward Cain, but Buffy restrains him with a look.

“You know, Sis.” Cain tells Buffy. “If that thing out there harms anyone, it’s going to be on your pretty little head. I hope you can live with that.”

“I live with that every day,” says Buffy.

Cain shakes his head, and starts toward the exit from the Bronze. “First they tell me that I can’t hunt an elephant for its ivory. Now I’ve got to deal with people for the ethical treatment of werewolves.”

Giles picks up the bag. “Pillock!” he mutters under his breath.

The werewolf follows a trail of blood. It leads to Theresa’s body. Angel is standing over it. They growl at one another for a moment, and Angel backs away.

Buffy returns to Giles’ car after making another sweep through the woods. At first it looks like the car is empty, and Buffy is afraid that something may have happened to him, but Giles is just sleeping. She reports that she hasn’t found anything, and she guesses that he didn’t see anything during his nap either.

Giles starts to tell Buffy that it’s going to be light soon, but Buffy tells him to wait. The news is playing quietly on the car radio. She turns up the volume.

“Police say that the incident was apparently connected to the animal mutilation which occurred two nights ago,” says the voice from the radio. “The coroner’s office has identified the body as that of Sunnydale High School student Theresa Klusmeyer, age seventeen. The authorities ask that anyone with further information…”

“Buffy, we’re going to get this thing,” says Giles. “We have another whole night. There’s nothing more we can do now. It’s nearly sunrise. That werewolf won’t be a werewolf much longer.”

The werewolf sleeps in the woods. As the rays of the rising sun touch it, it transforms back to its human form. It’s Oz.

Oz wakes, sits up, and looks around. He takes in his naked state.

“Huh!”

Act III

Oz phones his Aunt Maureen. She asks him about the bite he got from Jordy, and he tells her its healing okay. “That’s pretty much the reason I called. I wanted to ask you something. Is Jordy a werewolf?” He listens to her answer. “Uh, huh. … And how long has that been going on? … Uh, huh, … What? No! No reason. Love to Uncle Ken.”

Oz arrives at school still feeling a little disoriented. He enters the library, and finds Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles there.

“I can’t believe I let that thing get away.” Buffy is telling the others. “Cain was right. I should’ve killed it when I had the chance.”

“Killed what?” asks Oz.

Giles tells him that the werewolf was out again last night.

“Is everybody okay?” asks Oz. “Did anyone get bitten or, or scratched?”

Willow tells him that they are all fine.

Oz is relieved, until Buffy tells him that the werewolf got Theresa. “And I could’ve stopped it.”

“Well, we have one more night,” says Giles.

“Another night?” asks Oz.

“Oh, yeah,” says Buffy. “Believe me, I’m going to give that wolfie something to howl about.”

Meanwhile they still have a werewolf to find. Xander thinks that they should be able to figure out who it is. Giles knows stuff, and he’s an expert in the subject.

“On account of once you were a hyena?” asks Willow.

“I know what it’s like to crave the taste of freshly killed meat,” says Xander. “To be taken over by those uncontrollable urges.”

“You said you didn’t remember anything about that,” says Buffy.

Giles steps out of the book cage, curious to see how Xander is going to get himself out of this one.

Xander chooses to ignore it. The point is he knows how this thing thinks. He closes his eyes. “I’m a big, bad wolf. I’m on the prowl. I’m sniffing…I’m snarling…I’m a slobbering predator, I’m—”

Xander opens his eyes and looks straight at Oz. “Wait a second! It’s right in front of us!”

Oz holds his breath.

“It’s obvious who I am! I’m Larry!” says Xander.

Oz exhales with relief as Xander continues. “The guy’s practically got wolf-boy stamped on his forehead. You got the dog bite, you got the aggression, not to mention the excessive back hair.”

“And he was awfully gleeful about tormenting Theresa,” says Buffy.

“Still,” says Oz, “that doesn’t necessarily mean that—”

Xander isn’t listening. He thinks that he needs to go have a chat with Larry.

Giles thinks that’s probably a good idea, but they need to cover their bases. He tells Willow to do a computer search of the school files, to see if there’s anyone else who fits their profile. He asks Buffy to come with him. If nothing else works he thinks he has an alternative solution.

“Yeah, me and the werewolf alone in a cage for three minutes,” says Buffy. “That’s all I ask.” She follows Giles into his office.

Willow notices that Oz is still looking a little stunned, and asks if he’s okay. She knows that he knew Theresa.

Oz tells her that it’s just a lot to deal with.

“It is,” says Willow. “But we can do stuff to help. Sometimes it feels good to help. Like looking up stuff. I’m going to be doing that most of the night. You could help me, help together?”

“I can’t. Um, I’m busy… I got to go.” Oz turns away from her and runs out of the library.

Buffy watches from the door of Giles’ office.

Xander confronts Larry in the locker room. Larry seems to be kind of jumpy. Xander asks why, and Larry says that geeks make him nervous.

“Is that really it, or is there something you’re hiding?” asks Xander. “I know your secret big guy. I know what you’ve been doing at night.”

“You know, Harris, that nosey little nose of yours is going to get you into trouble someday…” Larry grabs Xander by the shirt and pushes him up against some lockers. “Like today.”

“Hurting me isn’t going to make this go away,” says Xander. “People are still going to find out.”

Larry lets go of Xander. “Alright. What do you want? Hush money? Is that what you’re after?”

Xander tells Larry that’s not it at all. He just wants to help. He knows what Larry is going through. He’s been there himself. He needs to talk about it.

“That’s easy for you to say,” says Larry. “You’re nobody. I’ve got a reputation. Look, if this gets out, it’s over for me. Forget about playing football. They’ll run me out of this town. I mean, come on! How are people going to look at me after they find out I’m gay!”

Xander is stunned. This is not the confession that he was expecting.

Larry though is relieved. He feels like a burden has been lifted. He never felt he could tell anyone, but knowing that Xander was gay too made it easier for him to admit it. Xander tries to disabuse him of that notion, but Larry doesn’t listen. He does promise to keep Xander’s secret safe though.

Buffy joins Willow at her Powerbook, and asks if she’s found anyone else who matches their werewolf profile.

Willow has one name that keeps popping up. “Aggressive behaviour, run-ins with authorities. About a screen full of violent incidents.”

“Most of those were not my fault!” says Buffy. “Somebody else started them. I was just standing up for myself!”

“They say it’s a good idea to count to ten when you’re angry,” says Willow.

“One … two … three …”

“I’ll keep looking!” says Willow.

Buffy has noticed that Willow is looking solo.

“Oz wanted to be someplace that was away, from me,” says Willow. “I can’t figure him out. I mean, he’s so hot and cold. Or luke-warm and cold.”

“Welcome to the mystery that is men,” says Buffy. “I think it goes something like: they grow body hair, they lose all ability to tell you what they really want.”

Willow doesn’t think that sounds like a fair trade. She starts to pack up her things.

“Well, if you want to up the speed quotient with Oz, maybe you need to do something daring,” says Buffy. “Maybe you need to make the first move.”

“That won’t make me a slut?” asks Willow.

“I think your reputation will remain intact.”

Buffy and Willow leave the library together.

“It used to be so much easier to tell if a boy liked you,” says Willow. “He’d punch you on the arm and then run back to his friends.”

“Those were the days,” says Buffy.

Xander walks up them. He punches Buffy on the arm. “Hey!”

Buffy gives him a look.

Willow has to go. Cordy wants Willow to look over her history homework. Willow suspects that means that she’s going to have to do it for her.

Xander watches Willow leave. He is getting a little worried by the amount of time Willow and Cordy are spending together lately. He’s starting to think about panicking.

“So, how’d it go with Larry?” asks Buffy.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asks Xander.

“I think it’s supposed to mean, ‘So how’d it go with Larry?’” says Buffy.

“He’s not the werewolf,” says Xander. “Can’t we just leave it at that? Must you continue to push and push?”

Buffy is disappointed. They’ve lost their lead suspect. That puts them right back to square boned.

“You’re not boned,” says Xander. “You’re Buffy. Eradicator of evil. Defender of… things that need defending.”

“Tell that to Theresa,” says Buffy. “She could have used my defending before she was ripped apart by that—” She stops.

“Werewolf,” says Xander.

“Nowhere in any of the reports did it say anything about her being mauled,” says Buffy. “I mean, they were linked to the animal attacks from the other night, so we just assumed werewolf.”

“What else should we have assumed?” asks Xander.

Buffy pulls back the scarf from around Theresa’s neck, revealing the bite mark. “Vampire.” The discovery doesn’t make her feel any better. Whatever killed Theresa, Buffy still failed to protect her. She turns away from Theresa’s coffin, and signs her name in the guest book.

“Buffy, you can’t blame yourself for every death that happens in Sunnydale,” says Xander. “If it weren’t for you, people’d be lining up five deep waiting to get themselves buried. Willow would be Robbie the Robot’s love slave, I wouldn’t even have a head, and Theresa’s a vampire.” He points toward the coffin, where Theresa just sat up.

Theresa jumps from her coffin and attacks Buffy. They wrestle with one another, and fall to the floor.

Buffy rolls on top of Theresa, breaks the leg off an easel holding a floral wreath to use as a stake and raises it to plunge into Theresa’s heart.

“Angel sends his love,” says Theresa.

Buffy freezes, and Theresa uses the opportunity to knock the stake from Buffy’s hand. They continue to wrestle on the floor, and Theresa rolls over on top of Buffy.

Theresa vanishes in a puff of dust. Buffy looks up and sees Xander standing over her holding the easel whose leg he had just plunged into Theresa’s back.

Xander tosses the easel aside and reaches down to help Buffy to her feet. “Are you okay?”

Buffy hugs Xander. “This isn’t happening. He’s going to keep coming after me.”

Xander hugs Buffy back. “Don’t let him get to you. He’s not the same guy you knew.” They continue to hug for a few seconds before Buffy pulls away, picks up her bag, and leaves.

“Oh, no, my life’s not too complicated.” Xander says to himself.

Cain prepares his bullets in his van parked in the woods. He melts the silver over a Bunsen burner, and pours it into a mold.

It’s nearly sunset. Oz dumps a box of chains out onto a table in his home, and starts to fasten them to his wrists.

There’s a knock at the door. Oz tries to ignore it, but the person keeps knocking. Oz goes to see who it is.

It’s Willow. Oz tries to send her away, telling her that this isn’t a good time but she barges in.

Willow paces back and forth as she talks. “I had this whole thing worked out, and I had it written down, but then it didn’t make any sense when I was reading it back. I mean, what am I supposed to think? First, you buy me popcorn and then you’re all glad that I didn’t get bit. And you put the tag back in my shirt. But I guess none of that means anything because instead of looking up names with me, here you are all alone in your house doing nothing by yourself!”

Oz tries to tell Willow that they can talk about this tomorrow, and to show her out the door but Willow refuses to go. “No, damn it! We’ll talk about this now. Buffy told me that sometimes what a girl makes has to be the first move and now that I’m saying this, I’m starting to think that the written version sounded pretty good, but you know what I mean!”

Oz does know. He tries to tell Willow that the problem is his, he’s going through some changes.

“Well, welcome to the world!” says Willow. “Things happen. Don’t you think I’m going through a lot?”

“Not like me,” says Oz.

“Oh, what, so now you’re special? You’re special boy…” Willow notices the chains lying out on the table. “With chains and stuff. Why do you have chains and stuff?”

Oz doubles over in pain. He tries one last time to tell Willow to go, but now she is worried about him. He falls down behind the sofa, blocking her view of him as he changes.

Willow slowly moves around the sofa. Then she screams when the werewolf leaps up at her.

Act IV

Willow escapes out the back door of Oz’s house, and runs out to the street with the werewolf chasing her. She climbs over a fence into another yard. When the werewolf tries to follow her over the fence she bashes him with a garbage can and then keeps running.

Cain is out in his van cruising the streets. He hears the werewolf howl.

Giles assembles the latest addition to his arsenal in the library. He has acquired a tranquilizer dart gun. Buffy comes in and explains that she got held up by a little unscheduled slayage in the form of Theresa.

“She’s a vampire?” asks Giles.

“Was,” says Buffy. “Angel sent her to me. A little token of his affection.”

Giles starts to tell Buffy he’s sorry, but Buffy stops him. Crying can wait until after they’ve bagged the werewolf.

Willow runs through the woods, with the Ozwolf in pursuit. She trips and falls, and the Ozwolf closes in on her. He suddenly stops and sniffs the air. He turns away from Willow and leaves. He’s smelled something better.

Willow gets back to her feet and runs.

Giles finishes assembling the gun. They’re all set. The only problem now is finding the werewolf.

Willow bursts into the library. “It’s Oz! It’s Oz!”

“What’s Oz?” asks Buffy.

“The werewolf!”

“Are you certain?” asks Giles.

“Can’t you just trust me on this? He said he was going through all these changes, and then he went through all these…changes.” Willow tells them that Oz is in the woods.

“Let’s go!” says Buffy. She and Giles starts for the door.

Willow grabs Giles. “Go where? You’re not going to kill Oz! Yeah, he’s a werewolf, but he doesn’t mean to be!”

“Don’t worry, Willow,” says Buffy. “We’re not going to hurt him.”

They all start out of the library together.

“I put enough phenobarbital in this thing to sink a small elephant,” says Giles. “It should be enough for a large werewolf.”

The Ozwolf cautiously approaches a pile of raw meat lying on the ground in a clearing.

Cain is waiting for him. He takes careful aim with his rifle. “That’s it,” he says quietly to himself. “Let me see you. Come on, supper time. Good doggy. Now play dead.” He starts to squeeze the trigger.

Buffy kicks the gun, causing Cain’s shot to miss. She wrestles the rifle away from him, hits him with its stock, and knocks him out.

Buffy turns toward the Ozwolf and sees that it’s coming toward her. The wolf grabs her and lifts her off the ground. Buffy uses the rifle to hold his jaws away from her, so she won’t get bitten.

Giles and Willow arrive with the tranquilizer gun, but Giles can’t get a clear shot. Buffy’s in the way.

Buffy hits the Ozwolf with the rifle, forcing him to drop her, but she’s still between Giles and the wolf. The Ozwolf knocks the rifle out of her hands and pushes her away towards Giles and Willow. Buffy collides with them, and they all fall to the ground with Buffy on top of Giles.

Willow dives over top of Buffy and Giles, grabs the tranquilizer gun and shoots Oz with it. The Ozwolf collapses.

Willow looks up at Giles as he’s getting back to his feet. “I shot Oz!”

“You saved us,” says Giles.

Cain gets back to his feet and brushes himself off. “No wonder this town is overrun by monsters. No one here is man enough to kill them.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” Buffy picks up Cain’s rifle and bends the barrel in her bare hands. She tosses his gun back to him, and tells him to get out of town.

Cain and Buffy glare at each other for a little while, and then he leaves.

Buffy moves over next to Willow, who’s kneeling beside the Ozwolf. “Is he going to be okay?” asks Willow.

“He’ll be a little sore in the morning,” says Giles, “but he’ll be Oz.”

Epilogue

Buffy and Xander walk into the student lounge together.

“This is all so weird,” says Xander. “I mean, how are we supposed to act when we see him? I’ll never be able to look at him the same again.”

“He’s still a human being,” says Buffy. “Most of the time.”

“Who are we talking about?”

“Oz,” says Buffy. “Who are you talking about?”

“No one,” says Xander.

Buffy and Xander stop by the snack machine. A couple of jocks start their ‘knock her books to the floor’ routine with one of the girls in the lounge when Larry is walking by. Instead of joining in, Larry helps her pick her books back up.

Larry spots Xander and comes over to thank him for what he did yesterday. Xander tells him it was nothing, and that he should never mention it again. Larry leaves.

“That was weird,” says Buffy.

“What, it’s not okay for one guy to like another guy just because he happened to be in the locker room with him when absolutely nothing happened?” asks Xander. “And I thought I told you not to push!”

“All I meant is that he didn’t try to look up my skirt,” says Buffy.

There seems to be a lot of weirdness going on lately, Buffy thinks it’s the moon. It does stuff to people. She sees Willow walking by, but she doesn’t come over to join them. “Certainly going to put a strain on Willow and Oz’s relationship.”

“What relationship?” asks Xander. “I mean, what life could they possibly have together? We’re talking obedience school, paper training, Oz is always in back burying their things, and that kind of breed can turn on its owner.”

“I don’t know,” says Buffy. “I kind of see Oz as the loyal type.”

“All I’m saying is she’s not safe with him,” says Xander. “If it were up to me—”

“Xander,” says Buffy. “It’s not up to you.”

Willow finds Oz in the school courtyard. He tells her that he’s talked to Giles. He’s going to be okay, he just has to lock himself up around the full moon, except Giles used a lot more words, and a globe.

Willow apologises for shooting him. Oz doesn’t have a problem with that. He’s just sorry that he almost ate her.

“That’s okay,” says Willow. She does wish that he’d told her about it sooner.

“I didn’t know what to say,” says Oz. “I mean, it’s not everyday you find out you’re a werewolf. That’s fairly freaksome. It may take a couple days getting used to.” He suggests that maybe it might be a good idea if he says out of Willow’s way for a while.

“I don’t know. I’m kind of okay with you being in my way,” says Willow. “I like you. You’re nice, and you’re funny, and you don’t smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that’s not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I’m not much fun to be around either.”

“You are quite the human,” says Oz.

Willow smiles. “So, I’d still if, you’d still.”

“I’d still,” says Oz. “I’d very still.”

Willow’s smile brightens. “Okay. No biting, though.”

“Agreed.”

Willow starts to head off for class, and Oz watches her go. She suddenly darts back to him and gives him a kiss before going again.

Oz watches Willow go with a silly grin on his face. “A werewolf in love,” he says to himself.

Death Toll