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Home Sweet Hellmouth
By Scorpio
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Oz slowed his van down slightly so that he could read the weather beaten sign posted on the side of the road.
Welcome to Sunnydale
A sarcastic smirk almost worked it's way to his lips as his preternatural sixth sense, the one that warned him of imminent danger, began to tingle and hum in the back of his skull. Even in broad daylight, on a deserted road, the Hellmouth was an unsafe place to be... and not just because he was a Werewolf.
Oz reached over into the case that held his CD's and pulled out Joe Satriani. With a few deft, well-practiced moves, he had the CD in the van's player and the haunting sounds of pure guitar caressed his ears. A ghost of a smile graced his lips.
Turning down St Charles Ave, Oz soon found himself at the edge between the industrial end of town and the beginnings of the poorer residential district. Jarring newness collided with the soothingly familiar as he cruised past old haunts and hangouts.
Turning onto Del Rae Blvd Oz's sensitive eyesight washed over the nearly empty street. Only a few vehicles were out and about at this time of the day. The people hear knew better than to hang around to watch the sunset.
Moving further down the road, Oz spied a familiar figure up ahead. Tall, dark hair, broad shoulders... and the air of someone who *knew* how to watch the shadows for... whatever they might hold.
Oz pulled up his van alongside the young man and quirked one eyebrow up towards his hairline.
"Need a lift?"
Xander turned and flashed him a huge smile of surprise and happiness. He practically bounded over to the van in a bouncy sort of way that made Oz think of enthusiastic puppies. A half smile twisted his lips as he once again reminded himself to *not* think about humans in terms suited to wolves.
"Oz-man! Hey! Long time no see. When'd you get back in town?"
Oz waited while Xander pulled himself up and into the van before reaching out to clasp hands with him.
"Just now, actually."
Xander's smile grew even larger if that was even possible.
"So... where are you staying?"
Oz jerked a thumb to the back of the van.
"You're here."
Xander turned slightly in his seat to gaze further inside the van. Oz knew what he was seeing. A twin bed mattress complete with sheets and blankets, several milk crates and cardboard boxes filled with clothes and his guitar and amps resting near a few coolers containing food and drink. It wasn't much... but it was home.
"Hell Oz, all you need is some shitty electrical wiring, chemical ridden water coming in through rusty leaking pipes, a few mutant cockroaches and you'd have *my* place. Um... minus the mobile can go anywhere part."
Oz didn't stop the slight grin from twisting his lips.
Yeah. Life of luxury. That's us."
Xander snorted and shifted slightly. Oz watched as he rearranged his personal weaponry around for more comfort. He recognized the two wooden stakes easily enough...but a gun? Since when did Xander carry a gun?
"So, Xan-man. Where are we headed and what's up with the piece? No silver bullets I hope."
"G-man's place, and no, not silver bullets. As if? It's a toy gun from the X-Files collection. Agent Scully carries this model. And besides, it's filled with holy water."
Oz pulled back onto the street and drove to Giles house while listening to Xander ramble on in his hilariously sarcastic way about what had been happening since he'd left Sunnydale. He wanted to meet the former Vengeance Demon, if for no other reason than to see for himself if she really *did* believe that it was a good thing to try and have sex with his friend in public. After all, the Xan-man *had* been known to exaggerate on occasion.
Finally, they pulled up at Giles place and Oz felt a twinge of nerves shiver through him. In his head, he knew that these people were his friends and that they'd take him back into their lives without question, but he also knew that things had changed with them. He had changed as well. It wouldn't be the same as before and that was a little sad. Still, nervousness at his reception aside, Oz followed Xander up the walkway and only raised an eyebrow when the young man just opened the door and walked in.
"Hey guys! Look who I found wandering around lost and lonely."
Oz suppressed both a blush and a smile as all eyes turned to stare at him in open amazement and delight. It was a warm fuzzy feeling.
"Oz!!!"
Suddenly, 110 pounds of blonde slayer was in his arms squeezing the breath out of him and with a slight grin erupting on his face, he hugged back. He only hissed a little as Buffy's silver necklace brushed against his skin. She pulled back confused and a small frown formed between her eyebrows. Oz pointed at the offending jewelry.
"Silver."
"Ahhh... Sorry Oz. I forgot."
Deftly, Buffy undid the clasp that held the necklace in place and tucked it into a pocket of her jeans. Then she was back in place for a non-painful hug.
"See... silver free now."
His grin grew into a full-fledged smile and he squeezed her back. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched at Giles quickly removed a ring from one of his hands. He extracted himself from the slayer's arms and reached out to shake hands with his former mentor.
"Oz. So good to see you again. When did you arrive in town?"
"You too. Just now."
"Ahhh. I see that you're just as talkative as ever. Now none of us will ever get a word in edgewise again. How will we manage?"
Oz raised one eyebrow up and smirked. Giles returned the look and Xander grinned cheekily. Finally, Giles turned and gestured towards the rest of the room.
"Please, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink, perhaps?"
Oz turned and took two steps towards the couch when he finally spotted the last person in the room. The only one who hadn't risen to come greet him. His eyebrows drew down slightly in an
expression of mild confusion.
"Hey G-man? You *do* realize that there is a Vamp sitting on your easy chair, don't you?"
The Vamp in question snorted in amusement.
"Watcher... You bought me a puppy? I *do* so like toys you can leash."
Oz felt Xander's hand fall on his shoulder and squeeze lightly.
"Hey fangless. I'd watch the attitude if I were you. *He* can still bite!"
The peroxide blonde Vamp snarled at them and gestured wildly in the air.
"Sod off ya wanker! You *would* bring that up, wouldn't you?"
Oz turned to Xander and hitched a thumb in the Vamp's direction.
"Fangless?..."
Buffy swirled around them and flopped onto the couch. She threw a dark and menacing look at the Vamp.
"Don't worry Oz. Spike here had been neutered."
Oz couldn't help it. He cringed and winced. Everyone stopped and looked at him in shock. It was Xander who broke the stunned silence.
"Oz-man. You made, like, a *real* facial expression! One that showed *emotion*!"
Oz couldn't quite bring himself to wipe the cringed look off of his face.
"Um... Buffster. Just for future reference, when talking to a man who spends a good portion of his life as a canine, the word *neutered* is NOT a good thing. We Werewolves tend to be against silver bullets, flea collars and testicle removal, ya know?"
Buffy blinked rapidly and blushed an interesting shade of red. Xander made strangled noises and Giles seemed determined to polish a hole through his glasses while muttering something along the lines of "um, well, see..." Spike just scowled at him.
"No, no. That's not what I meant. See, Spike can't bite anymore. He's,... um, *fangless*... not that... other... thing you said."
Oz blinked and then raised up one eyebrow while turning to regard the bleached blonde Vampire.
"How?"
It took a moment or two for the others to follow his train of thought, but when they did, Oz found himself treated to a bizarre story about commando's and demons and mad scientists. Apparently this... Initiative or whatever they called themselves were running around capturing demons so they could experiment on them for various nasty reasons. And because of a run-in with them, Spike now had some technology wired into his skull that prevented him from harming humans.
Oz wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. One the one hand, it was a good thing that Spike couldn't attack his friends or harm anyone, and he himself was grateful for that. But another part of him, the wolf, was very against the idea of being caged and tortured just for being different. Granted, Oz wanted control over his wolf and he worked damn hard at it and almost type of help would be a welcome thing, but he wanted to be able to *choose* if he would except that help in control. Spike didn't choose this, it was forced upon him.
Oz looked over at the Vampire and his eyes caught those startlingly blue orbs.
"The collar is too tight, the leash is too short and the hand that holds the other end is indifferent to the pain suffered."
"Yeah mate, that's exactly how it is. You should be careful. Them soldier boys won't hesitate to take you down pet. Werewolf would be considered a bloody good catch."
Oz didn't really want to think about that, but he knew that Spike was telling the truth. If his secret got out or if the Initiative had some way to tell, then he would end up being hunted. He sighed.
Home sweet Hellmouth.
End.
scorpio71@earthlink.net
http://thesleepydragon.com/nesting/scorpio.html