Wanted: A Werewolf and a Superman by Frau Hunter Ash

Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The X-files characters and show all belong to Chris Carter, Fox and possibly others. No copyright infringement was intended and suing me will not make you any money! The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Summary: It's a full moon, Willow is a werewolf and there's an earthquake.

Willow mumbled and curled around the arms holding her, welcoming the warmth and the love radiating from them. Someone was brushing the hair from her face and the touch was gentle and loving.

That wasn't Carson, Willow decided and opened her eyes slowly, almost afraid that she was dreaming or hallucinating.

Scared blue eyes greeted her as Buffy smiled tentatively and Willow knew immediately the arms holding her were Tara's.

Willow broke down into tears and pulled Buffy to her as Tara tightened her hold on the witch.

"Shhh, no more tears," Buffy said. "Let's get you dressed and in the car, we can sleep on the way home."

"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Willow demanded and began frowning when she saw Carson asleep on the sofa.

"No, Angel knew what to do," Buffy explained. "What happened, how did you get hurt?"

"I was attacked by two vampires at the office where I work," Willow said as Buffy handed her one of Angel's t-shirts and black jeans. "They hit me on the head but I managed to take them out with a stake."

"I don't know what happened after that. I guess I passed out. When I woke up it was almost dark and I could feel the change coming. I knew Angel's was closer than my place. I guess I made it," Willow explained, rubbing her head.

"Yeah, you did," Tara agreed and frowned. She reached over from behind Willow and held up Willow's left arm, her face questioning. Buffy also frowned.

"Let's get her home," Buffy suggested as Willow wrapped her arms around her knees.

In an hour, they had Willow bundled in the back seat of the Summers' car and Angel had made plans to follow to Sunnydale with Carson and Willow's things that evening.

Tara sat in the back with Willow's head on her shoulder as the redhead lightly napped, her fingers entwined with Tara's.

Buffy, sitting next to her Mom in the front seat leaned over the back of the seat and gently stroked Willow's hair from her face as Tara smiled.

"Yeah, let's hope for good this time. I don't think I can take many more of these damned separations and rescues," Buffy admitted.

"It may take longer than Agent Scully and Mulder thought," Tara commented as Willow twitched in her sleep.

Xander wrapped Willow in a tight hug the moment she stepped out of the car and Anya looked on from the front door with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Xan," she whispered and hugged him back. The redhead smiled a small smile at Anya and followed the former vengeance demon inside where Giles waited.

Buffy and the others held back outside for a few moments, with Tara glancing in the door and watching Willow kneeling in front of Giles' wheelchair as the Watcher and friend comforted each other.

"I'm sorry, Giles," Willow said softly. "I couldn't take knowing I killed someone.'

"I know the evidence is that the werewolf you became may have killed one of those teenagers but I'm still puzzled about the deaths," Giles commented. "There's something I'd like to try, if you'll trust me."

"Giles, I know the only way to get through this is with my friends," Willow nodded. "Oz went off alone and found he couldn't do it without friends. He just picked the wrong friends."

The rest of the gang entered the living room and Willow settled into an easy chair. Both Giles and Joyce glanced at each other, catching the puzzled and slightly hurt looks Buffy and Tara had when they sat down on the sofa.

"I…I woke up in the sewers…" Willow began. Joyce got up from beside Giles' wheelchair and headed to the kitchen to make tea and coffee. "I was like not clothed and bloody."

Willow's voice dropped along with her head as she remembered the full moon the previous month before.

"If you say anything, Xander, I'll have to hurt you," Buffy threatened, knowing Xander's typical mind and fantasies of Willow being naked.

"He was a nice guy, been around long enough that some of the monster wore off, as he put it. He took me to his crypt and got me some food and clothes," Willow explained.

"I…I was scared," Willow admitted. "I…the blood and then a vampire. I…I didn't know what had h-happened. I…I was so afraid I had hurt Tara."

"Then you called but I saw the bodies in your thoughts, Buffy," Willow said softly. "I…I was so confused and just wanted to sleep."

"You didn't, sorta," Willow gave them both a shy half smile. "I was there and so was Carson."

"We were, I did a spell and we were invisible," Willow smiled at the surprised looks on everyone's face. "I…I heard you mention the Initiative…I panicked and we..me and Carson…we left town."

"That morning," Willow admitted. "Something snapped inside, not a scary snap but a kinda weird feeling. When I…I figured out I was covered in blood, something clicked and I just did it."

"I remembered that horror movie Sleepwalkers and how the cat people could go 'dim,' and tried it on us," Willow explained.

"A lot of things except cure myself," Willow snapped and surprised everyone by dashing up the stairs.

"Agent Scully warned things would be a little unstable," Joyce commented as she brought in a tray of coffee and tea for everyone.

Willow came back downstairs after an hour, her eyes red and swollen but she attempted a smile for everyone.

"What's the plans for tonight?" she asked, sitting down on the sofa between Buffy and Tara.

"I'm taking a night off from slaying, Tara and I are going to watch over you," Buffy explained. "We fixed the cell door."

"We got hit with an earthquake," Buffy explained. "The cell door fell on Tara and you escaped."

"No, I sent loving emotions through our connection and the wolf just sniffed me and ran out," Tara explained.

"I want to try and hypnotize you and see if we can find out what happened that night," Giles suggested.

"Why?" Willow asked, her voice bitter. "We know I killed someone, you want me to raise those memories? You want me to remember that?"

"I know," Giles said softly. "I understand that but there's something that's been bothering me about the killings."

"What? That I killed two people?" Willow whispered, trying not to break into tears.

"That's just it, you didn't," Giles explained. "The girl was killed by something or someone else."

"I'd like Buffy and Tara in on this as well," Giles said. "I have an idea and we have about four hours before sunset."

"So, the Slayer returns with the runaway witch," Adam commented as the demon scurried back down the sewer tunnel.

"Who, Willow?" he asked, still struggling against the control Adam had over him.

"Yes, my spies tell me that they have returned today with the red-haired witch with them," Adam explained. "This could be trouble."

"Her presence can only make the Slayer stronger. I miscalculated the injuries to the Watcher," Adam admitted.

"Move on with my original plan," Adam said firmly. "The Slayer and her group will be dealt with when we take over the town."

Willow's head dropped forward and Joyce watched closely as Tara and Buffy closed their eyes at the same time.

The blonde witch nodded and Buffy could feel Tara reaching out, drawing her in and she dropped her own shield and followed Tara's lead to Willow.

The steel walls the red-haired witch had set up melted away and she let them in.

"Willow, go back to that night, go back," Giles said softly. "Watch through the wolf's eyes. Can you see, Buffy?"

"Yes," Buffy answered slowly. "The earth is moving, it is strange. The door! It's down…the human is hurt. She's human and afraid. I growl and show my fangs but she doesn't run. Something is special about her."

Joyce watched Giles taking quick notes as the three girls held hands at her table.

"Move forward, Willow-wolf," Giles instructs. "You're in the woods and you see or hear someone."

"Wolf, I smell a wolf," Buffy answers for the wolf through her connection with Tara and Willow. "I see them…the girl is screaming and the wolf is holding her up high…he's barking…laughter…he's enjoying her terror. Not right…bad…gotta stop him."

"I growl and he hears me…I growl again…warning him," Buffy/wolf continues. "He turns…No!"

"He's ripped her throat out!" Buffy whimpered. "I'm attacking him… claws… hurts. I look up and he's gone back to the girl…he's mauling her…No! I gotta stop him…he doesn't belong."

"He's not right…he doesn't belong to the earth…he doesn't belong to the forest," Buffy/wolf answered. "I…have to stop him. I attack him again…with strength. So much fur, so much anger…the blood…so much."

"Noises…hurt…like screams…dark, like a cave…I climb down…something's coming…it hurts!"

"Willow, when I reach the number zero, I want you to wake up and remember what you saw," Giles instructed. "Three, two, one, zero."

"She was trying to protect the girl!" Buffy exclaimed and grabbed Willow up in a hug of delight.

"Yes, so it seems," Giles said, smiling at the girls and his fiancé. "This is most unusual."

"Maybe it's not so unusual," Tara suggested. "Maybe that's why we don't know about many werewolves, they stay away from humans and protect the forest."

"It would also make sense as to why vampires and werewolves hate each other on a primal level," Giles pondered. "A vampire is a dead creature that has been animated, whereas a werewolf might be connected with nature. Perhaps as part of a different branch of the evolutionary process."

"Then how do you explain Willow taking the lycanthropy by using magick, taking it as a curse?" Tara asked.

"I don't know, there's so much to explore with this and I'm afraid we don't have time right now," Giles said as he looked at his watch.

"No, we don't know that," Giles said. "We don't know what would set the wolf off. The wolf knew you were special but was confused and unsure how to react to you. What if Xander came bounding in without knocking, would the wolf consider that an attack?"

"I'd feel much better being locked up," Willow said softly, looking into Tara's blue eyes. "I know I'd never hurt you or Buffy but I might hurt a stranger. It's okay."

"Right, another night of the full moon," Willow muttered and turned in Buffy's arms to Giles. "Thank you, Giles, this helps a lot."

"Well, we know you didn't kill someone innocent, not even as a werewolf," Giles pointed out.

Willow frowned at the sight of the man she thought of as a father in a wheelchair.

Anya turned and glanced at Giles as Joyce wheeled him to the door. The former Watcher and vampire looked at each other for a moment and he nodded at Joyce.

"Willow and Buffy vouch for you, Mr. Carson," Joyce commented. "You are invited and welcome in our home."

"That means a lot to me, Mrs. Summers," Carson, standing beside Angel, said respectfully. "Willow is an amazing young woman."

"I'm Carson, I'm the one that found Willow the morning after her kill," the vampire explained.

"That is Xander, Anya, I'm Giles and this is Joyce," Giles said, introducing everyone to the vampire.

"Pleased to meet Willow's family, she's been worried about all of you," Carson commented.

"That's why she stayed away after killing someone," Carson snapped, his brown eyes flaring.

"Well, we do have news about that," Giles announced and proceeded to tell them about the hypnotism session earlier and what they discovered.

Carson, Angel and Wesley looked stunned; Cordelia looked slightly bored and tried to ignore Anya glaring at her.

"I'm not sure I would go that far," Giles frowned. "Just that she seemed more connected to the true nature of a wolf rather than the werewolf demon inhabiting the body."

"On his way," Joyce explained. "He's coming over to help us decide what to do about Adam and his demons."

"Probably the typical thing," Xander quipped. "Take over Sunnydale, California and then next world domination."

"Actually, Xander is on the right track," Giles said reluctantly. "We think that Adam is planning on taking over Sunnydale to prove his superiority to the government and force them to create more of him. I believe he is intent on creating more on his own and then getting rid of the demons and vampires he's working with right now."

"Not that would be like a bad thing," Anya muttered. "What?" she demanded when everyone glared at her.

"Spike estimates that he's gathered…well, he thinks the number is around 100," Giles muttered.

"Only a 100?" Xander squeaked, his face stunned at the number. "Aren't demons usually like very hard to kill?"

"Willow made friends online with someone who turned out to be an FBI agent," Anya explained.

"No, he's the one that gave her the spell to cure Buffy and curse herself instead," Anya continued.

"It's rather simple," Giles argued. "We have a common enemy, their job is to fight demons, so is ours. Maybe we should work together this time."

"We destroyed their computer base and their center here in Sunnydale, they won't even talk to us," Xander protested.

"Not to mention that Willow will totally freak if you bring the Initiative in," Carson warned. "That's the reason she was willing to split town."

"You know," Angel growled. "You still haven't explained why you took her in and left town with her."

"Angel, back off," Carson warned. "We slept in the same bed, we did not have sex! I was helping a stray not fall into the darkness."

"Wait a minute!" Xander snapped. "You're a vampire, no soul, no humanity left. Why should you care if Willow turned to the darkside or not?"

"Why the hell are all of you giving me the third degree because I helped Willow?" Carson demanded. "Would you be happier if I had drained her when I found her naked, confused and all bloody?"

"It's just confusing," Giles said. "Having Angel go bad on us once was very difficult and it's hard to trust anyone vampire."

"I haven't killed anyone with my fangs in hundreds of years and I haven't turned anyone," Carson said slowly. "Angel, tell them, damnit."

"Carson was originally Father Karnstein about a 100 years before I was born," Angel began. "I heard about him in the vampire community after I was turned. He was like all the others for about 50 years and then the blood sickened him."

"Call it a psych reflex," Carson shrugged. "I was a priest and my priest side caught up with the demon and won. I do drink human blood from willing people, usually those who think it's part of a kinky sex thing and I drink from mammals. I found if I drink enough to kill someone, I get very sick."

"That's as bad as a chip in Spike's head," Xander complained. "A vampire who psychs himself into being sick? How weird is that?"

"I was Angelus at the time," Angel began explaining again, his eyes dropping to the carpet. "Carson had met a werewolf, a young girl. She was lonely, confused and fighting against her own demons. Carson was trying to show her how to control the wolf and keep her safely locked away on full moons. I decided to mess with him, I couldn't stand his morality and the fact he wasn't living true to his nature."

"Angel, if this is too hard, I'm not sure we need to hear about it now," Giles suggested.

"No, Carson is right," Angel said. "You need to be able to trust him. I took her from him and let the wolf loose, then I worked on the human mind until she was totally corrupt and enjoyed the kill."

"Yes, from what you tell me," Angel nodded. "When she went back to Carson she tried to kill him and he was forced to kill her. She could have been Willow's twin."

"Yes, she was Irish with fiery red hair, soft green eyes, intelligent, and charming," Angel said, describing the girl from long ago.

"And you found a red-haired female werewolf, naked in the sewer tunnels and had to help her?" Giles questioned Carson.

"Something like that," Carson shrugged. "I was determined to keep her from the darkside and protect her. I failed Siobhan; I wasn't going to fail Willow."

"Well, that brings us back to the Initiative and what we're going to do about Adam," Giles said, bringing the focus back.

"I still say they won't even talk to us," Xander complained. "And I am not going to be the one to approach Willow with this one, Giles! Damnit, we just got her back. How can she trust she's safe with us if we bring the Initiative into this?"

"I don't see how we can fight Adam and his demons, especially if we let him pick the time and place," Giles countered. "With the Initiative commandos, we might stand a chance, especially with their advanced weapons."

"She's still gonna wig," Xander said in a sullen voice and Anya held his hand tightly.

Buffy leaned back into Tara's arms as they sat on a sleeping bag against one of the walls of the crypt, watching the werewolf pace restlessly in the cell. After a half hour, she settled down on a similar sleeping bag in the cell and curled up, dozing.

"Do you sense something different?" Tara asked softly, not wanting to disturb the creature.

"Yeah, the wolf isn't as angry as it was before and Willow is distant," Buffy grumbled.

"Scully and Mulder warned that things could be a little rough after what she went through with the Initiative and I have a f-feeling that she didn't deal with it while she w-was gone," Tara pointed out.

"No, she probably tried to bury it," Buffy agreed, her arms wrapped around Tara's arms which were placed comfortably around the Slayer's ribs. "I tried that once, after I killed Angel and sent him to Hell."

"Willow told me about that," Tara commented. "They didn't know at the time that her spell worked and his soul had returned."

"Yeah, at the last minute and too late, I didn't have a choice but that didn't make me feel better about killing him," Buffy growled. "He had his soul back, no memory of what he had done; he was in my arms and trusted me totally. I drove a sword through his heart. I ran away the next day."

"No and yes," Buffy answered, watching the red fur on the werewolf ripple as the creature changed positions. "It gave me time to get my head together and in the end it just showed I couldn't escape being the Slayer. No, it hurt my family and friends very much that I didn't turn to them."

"Is that why we're so mad at Willow?" Tara questioned and felt Buffy jerk in her arms.

"Yeah, I'm upset she didn't come to us, especially US," Buffy admitted. "I'm upset she went running off to LA with some strange vampire. She didn't even try and get help from Angel, she totally shut us out."

"And she still hasn't let us in," Tara pointed out. "I-I don't know why either."

"Scully said there would be after affects from the kidnapping and torture but could it be deeper than that? We didn't even have a chance to talk about what they did to her before she disappeared again," Buffy complained.

"I-I sense s-something has changed and there's a wall that I-I couldn't get around during that hypnotism s-session," Tara added.

"I know, I saw and felt it," Buffy nodded. "How could that be with our connection?"

"Its s-something that she's built up against herself," Tara said. "Something that s-she doesn't want to see about herself."

"I don't know, that's what has m-me s-scared," Tara admitted and felt Buffy's hold on her arms tighten.

"I don't know, s-she called on dark forces to take the c-curse from you," Tara said thoughtfully. "That opens a d-door, you have to b-be careful what c-comes in."

Willow blinked and snuggled closer into the arms that were holding her and mumbled something as her senses took in the scent that was uniquely Buffy. As she began to wake up, Willow realized that Buffy was holding her and she was nuzzling the Slayer's neck.

The redhead sat up slowly, looking down at the t-shirt she was wearing. It wasn't the same one she had on before the moon rose in the sky.

"We got you into that after you changed," Buffy explained. "Didn't want you catching a cold."

"Thanks," Willow said calmly and pretended she didn't see the concern in Buffy's eyes and in her body language as the Slayer sat up beside her. "What's the plans for today and where's Tara?"

"Well, besides deciding our futures?" Buffy quipped. "Tara is getting us breakfast and then we need to see Giles and find out what they planned about how to handle Adam and the demons he's been gathering."

"Oh boy, forgot," Buffy moaned. "Willow has been out of the loop. Let me explain."

Buffy gave a shortened version of what had been happening in Sunnydale since Willow left.

"That's why the vampires were after me," Willow said thoughtfully, "they said there was a bounty on me from the demons in Sunnydale. I didn't take time to find out more."

"I don't know," Buffy growled, wrapping an arm around Willow's shoulder and frowned. Willow didn't shake the arm off but she didn't move closer to Buffy either. "When I saw him he was staring blank, like nothing there, no one home type thing."

"Yeah, behavior modification through hooking a chip into the neuro net of the mind," Willow said, lost in thought. "Adam is partly cyborg, meaning they've figured out how to tie in the circuits to the brain so he can access the computer parts of himself."

"We know that Walsh was feeding her soldiers uppers and chemical enhancements, right?" Willow questioned and Buffy nodded. "We now know that Professor Walsh apparently worked it out so that the mind and computer can merge and function in a body. We also know that they perfected a chip that can control behavior, like the chip in Spike."

"You sound like Walsh," Buffy complained and Willow glared for a moment before returning to her thought.

"Riley is probably under the influence of a chip and being controlled by Adam," she muttered.

"No, he probably is," Willow agreed with a glint in her eyes and Buffy grinned, glad to see any sign of her old Wills. "But that might explain his behavior."

"I might be able to hack into his chip with the right equipment, transmitter and my… uh… some magick skills," Willow suggested.

"Ever turn someone's weapon against them in a battle?" Willow grinned and Buffy smiled, catching on.

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Wanted: A Werewolf and a Superman

By Frau Hunter Ash

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