Disclaimer:All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Beta’d by the wonderful Marella916 and All4Spike. Banner by the lovely and talented nmcil12.

After a spectacular defeat at the end of NFA, resulting in all life in this dimension ending, the Powers have decided to give the dimension one more chance. They decide our favorite blonde vampire is just the guy for the job. Numbed from recent events Spike thinks they've gone barmy, he's not a hero but the Powers insist. What's a souled vamp to do when he is sent back in time?
 
Just a warning: This is an AU spuffy story. BUT Buffy is only 16 when this starts so the spuffy lovin' while it will happen won't be for awhile. There will be briefly Bangel. I don't mind Angel, but I do not like the pairing of Buffy/Angel but it is necessary to the plot. I have rated this M for now for adult language, eventually there will be smut but like I said it won't happen right away so try to be patient. I hope you enjoy what I have done with the characters. I have used certain elements of the show, certain bad guys and even some dialog.

Oh, I’m Irish so the offensive derogatory slang used in this chapter is used with a touch of humor. It is not intended to offend anyone so no flames please. Besides like I said I’m Irish so I can call another Irish person a mick. :P

RL reared it's ugly head in new and vicious ways this past month. This story will be finished though. I have approximately 15 chapters or so in reserve and I will try to posting more regularly from now on.

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Whistler was kicking himself that his plan hadn’t worked quite the way he had wanted. Instead of bringing Spike closer to the group, and hopefully Buffy, it had him further away than before. Spike spent all of his time with Sami and some of the other non-violent demons when he wasn’t patrolling or sleeping. There was one benefit though. Spike was the first one to know that a werewolf had come to town. The entire demon community was abuzz with the news. None of them wanted an out of control werewolf running around town. Some species of demon didn’t react well if exposed to the werewolf DNA and nobody wanted to get bitten.

“Oi, Whistler, need you to let the watcher know there’s a werewolf in town. Tell ‘em to keep the kiddies in for the next two nights. ‘Specially Dawn’s boy. Don’t know how it happened last time but the boy got furry once a month.”

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Oz didn’t know what was going on. He woke up in the morning naked, in the woods and surprisingly not the least bit hungry. After stealing some clothes hanging outside on a line to dry, he hurried home to change before school. As the day wore on, he began to feel more and more restless. When the final bell rang, the teenager bolted out of the building and headed home, completely forgetting about his date with Dawn later that evening.

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Dawn was upset; she hadn’t had a chance to talk to Oz all day. He had rushed from class to class, not stopping for a second. Then when school was over he had run from the building, not even responding when she called his name.

“Dawn, I’m leaving now. The gallery is having a late showing but I’ll be home by ten and I expect you to be back from your date by then.”

“I don’t think I have a date tonight. Oz was acting weird all day and he isn’t answering his phone either.”

“I’m sorry, honey. Do you want to come with me to the gallery?” Joyce offered.

“I guess.”

“It’ll work out. You’ll see him tomorrow and he’ll tell you what happened.”

Dawn spent most of the night in the back office, calling Oz at home but only getting the answering machine. Once the showing was over, both women locked up and made their way over to the car. The sound of growling had both of them looking around. There should have been a lot of light as it was a full moon, but a cloud passing overhead made it darker. They were standing between the street lights and couldn’t see the dog that was making the noises. A deeper growl followed by the sound of claws clicking on the concrete had Joyce and Dawn rushing towards the car.

Joyce was the first to see the huge slobbering animal that was blocking their path. She screamed and shoved Dawn behind her. The creature started stalking towards them.

“Oh my GOD! What the hell is that?” Dawn yelled as she peeked over her mother’s shoulder.

“Dawn we need to get back to the gallery.” Joyce said, pushing Dawn back. Turning them both around, Joyce started running, dragging Dawn along with her. The animal snarled and jumped, landing in front of them.

“Mom! Look!”

“Dawn we need to get out of here!”

“No mom, look on its neck. Oz has that same guitar pick.” Cautiously coming out from behind her mother, Dawn took a careful step towards the dog-like creature. “Oz? Oz it’s Dawn, remember?” At the sound of her voice the animal seemed to calm for a moment sniffing the air. Stepping closer, Dawn held her hand out so he could smell her more easily. The giant animal took another sniff of her and then seemed to relax completely.

Joyce whispered to her daughter, “Dawn is that really Oz?”

“I think so. That’s Oz’s necklace. He showed it to me. His dad gave it to him. It’s signed by some famous guitarist.”

Both women jumped at the sight behind Oz. A giant demon was thundering down the street towards them. Suddenly Oz turned, putting himself between the women and the demon. Backing up, he used his hindquarters to push the women away from the coming danger. Launching himself forward, Oz attacked. The fight was over swiftly, the demon staggering away mortally wounded. The werewolf limped back to the women with one front paw injured. 

“We have to help him.”

“I, I don’t know what to do, Dawn.”

“We need to call Giles or Spike.”

Walking slowly, Joyce made her way back to the gallery with Dawn and the were-wolfed Oz following. After unlocking the door, she quickly went into the office and called Giles. While she and Dawn sat down to wait, Oz paced the inside of the building, stopping every few feet to sniff the air.

When the werewolf started growling at the front door, Joyce got up and opened the door while Dawn went to stand next to her boyfriend. “It’s okay Oz it’s just Giles. He won’t hurt us,” punctuating her words by petting his head, “He’s here to help.”

“This is extraordinary! Are you certain it’s Oz?”

“I’m sure. That’s his necklace.” Dawn pointed to the wolf who was sitting on his haunches next to her.

“We need a place to contain him. Oz would be horrified to learn he had hurt anyone while in this state.”

Joyce looked around the gallery. Giles noted her concern, “I think the high school might be a better place. There is a cage in the library for the rarer books in my collection. It should be sufficient to hold him overnight.”

“Um, how are we going to get Oz over to the school?” Dawn hadn’t stopped petting Oz the entire time they had been talking and he was now leaning up against her leg, a content rumbling issuing from his chest.
Joyce was the one to come up with the solution. “We walk over and Giles follows us in his car.”

“Joyce I’m not sure that will work.”

“It will. I don’t know how much Oz can understand when he’s like this but he protected us from a demon. Besides look at him! He hasn’t left Dawn’s side since he showed up. I think if we walk slowly, he’d follow Dawn.”

While the adults were bickering, Dawn decided to take matters into her own hands by leading Oz out of the front door. As the werewolf followed the girl, he scanned the surroundings for any dangers. They had only gotten a few blocks before Joyce and Giles noticed their disappearance and joined them. They quickly walked the few blocks down to the school and after securing Oz in the cage, they settled down to await the morning.

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Just as dawn was breaking over the horizon, a groan sounded from inside the cage. Giles lifted his head from a book at the noise. He picked up a bag from the table and made his way over to the now conscious boy. “I took the liberty of having Dawn gather some clothing from your gym locker for you.” Averting his eyes Giles unlocked the door and handed the bag of clothing to Oz.

“Did I hurt anyone last night?”

“No. You actually saved Dawn and Joyce from a demon attack. They stayed last night but I sent them home a little while ago to get some sleep.” Giles waited until Oz seated himself at the table. “Do you have any idea how you were infected?”

“I think so. I need to make a call first, to be sure.” Leaving the cage he walked over to the phone and started dialing. “Aunt Maureen. Hey, it's me. Um, what? Oh! It's, uh... actually it's healing okay. That's pretty much the reason I called. Um, I wanted to ask you something. Is Jordy a werewolf? Uh-huh. And how long has that been going on? Uh-huh. What? No, no reason. Um... Thanks. Yeah, love to Uncle Ken.”

“Your cousin?”

“Yeah, I went to visit last month just before the full moon and Jordy bit me.”

“How old is this Jordy and do we need to take any measures to insure the populace’s safety from him?”

“He’s seven, Giles.”

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“Oz! Are you okay?” Dawn pulled Oz into a hug when she opened her front door.

“I spoke to Giles. He said I'll be okay. I just have to lock myself up around the full moon. Only he used more words than that. And a globe.” The two teens moved to the living room. Dawn refused to let go of Oz’s hand and pulled him down onto the couch with her.

“How are you really?”

“I don’t know what to say. I mean, it's not every day you find out you're a werewolf. That's fairly freaksome. It may take a couple days to get used to.”

“I’d like to help.”

“You mean you still…”

Dawn started giggling. “Oz, my sister is the slayer, one of my best friends is a vampire and Willow is a witch and Xander was a hyena for a day. Did you honestly think you being a werewolf was going to freak me out?”

“I just thought you might want me to stay away?”

“Nope, I like you in the way. Well, 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.”

“Have I told you lately I think you’re amazing?”

“Nope, but feel free any time the urge strikes. No biting, though.”

“Agreed.”

Oz watched as Dawn headed to the kitchen with a smile on her face. His head shot up in surprise to see her rushing back. She looked at him for an instant and then planted a kiss right on his lips. He watched her with a grin as she turned back to the kitchen again.

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Spike had seen the signs that things were heating up between the poof and the slayer. It was time to light a fire under the gypsy to get moving on that curse. When the final bell rang, Ms. Calendar made her way to the faculty parking lot to find Spike leaning up against her car. “Did you need something Spike?”

“Yeah, did you get anywhere researching that curse?”

“Not yet. I have a few of my bulletin board friends looking for a copy for me. I’m sure we’ll find it.”

“Tell them to look faster.” Spike stalked away to go talk to the watcher. The man hadn’t had any success in explaining the ramifications of the curse to Buffy and Angel. “Rupes, need to talk to the slayer again. The gypsy hasn’t found it yet.”

“Spike I don’t know what more I can do. I have explained to both of them about the curse but they’re not inclined to believe me. I feel I made a grave mistake by mentioning your name during the discussion. Angel feels that this is some ploy by you to separate him from Buffy for some nefarious plan you have devised. Nothing Jenny or I have said will sway him.”

“Bloody hell. Of all the stupid thick headed... That soddin’ Irish mick, should’ve dusted him soon as I saw him. Goddamn bog trotting paddy!” Spike stormed from the school, cursing a blue streak at the idiocy of his grandsire.

                                                                                                                            §

Whistler made his way down the basement steps looking for Spike. The vampire had been spending every free moment down here since he had talked to Giles last week. “What the hell?” Laid out on the table were hundreds of stakes and crosses. Spike was seated at the table sharpening an axe. “Did someone declare war and not tell me?”

“Peaches won’t listen to the gypsy or Giles. The berk is convinced I put the watcher up to it. He thinks I’m yanking his chain. We need to be ready.” Whistler said nothing as he sat down at the table and began sharpening a sword.

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The gang was looking forward to the Halloween party at the Bronze this year. Spike and Whistler had scoured the town looking for the costume shop Ethan had set up in the other dimension. Finding no trace of the store or Ethan, Giles agreed that the children would be reasonably safe renting costumes to attend the party that Friday night.