Chapter Text
Oz wasn’t sure if coming back to Sunnydale was the right thing to do or not. He felt in complete control of his beast, but things on the hellmouth had a way of going awry. Willow was in his past, and he didn’t feel that seeing her would be anything more than bittersweet or maybe even a mostly nice memory. He should’ve come back when Willow left him a message that Buffy was dead.
The idea that his alpha was gone was impossible for him. The news caused him to lose his firm control, and he spent a week in the woods in his wolf form, mourning the loss of the only woman he had ever feared, respected, and loved in various measures. After he came back to himself, he called Willow to find out what had happened. That’s when he heard about the threat to Dawn, and how Buffy had died for her sister.
At first, Oz was confused. “Who’s Dawn?” he asked.
“You know Dawn. Buffy’s little sister. Used to follow us around and annoy Buffy all the time,” Willow told him.
That didn’t seem right at first, but then suddenly, an image of her came into his mind; the spell took root in him as it did with everyone who came in contact with Dawn in any form. “Skinny with long brown hair, right?” he asked.
“That’s right!” Willow replied. “She’s got a bit more curves now. I think she’s going to be a heartbreaker someday. Right now, though, Tara and I have moved into her house, so we can be there for her. Her dad seems to have disappeared. Losing Buffy so soon after Joyce has been really hard on Dawnie.”
“That’s rough. I can’t believe Joyce is gone. I hadn’t heard that,” Oz said.
“I’m sorry, Oz. It’s just been such a crapfest this year,” Willow shared. “We’ve went from one crisis or another. I mean Spike is the only thing right now keeping the monsters at bay.”
“Spike? The vampire? You’re trusting him?” Oz asked, surprised.
“It wasn’t like we had much of a choice,” Willow said. “His chip keeps him from harming humans, and he loves to fight. He was always fond of Joyce and loved Buffy in his dark and twisted way.”
“Buffy?” Oz asked without asking.
“Oh no! Buffy would never! He has no soul,” Willow said quickly. “But he is good at killing the vampires and dangerous demons we run across. We have the Buffybot, too, so the demon population doesn’t know she’s gone.”
“A new slayer wasn’t called?” he asked, not wanting to know about the Buffybot.
“Giles says the slayer line runs through Faith now,” Willow said. “Since the chances of her getting shanked in prison are pretty low, I don’t see another being called.”
“That’s not good,” Oz said.
“I’m going to research and see if I can come up with a way to bring Buffy back,” Willow said.
“What do you mean? Bring her back? She’s dead,” Oz said.
“I know she is, but maybe she doesn’t have to be,” Willow said. “I can’t stand the idea of her being in whatever hell dimension Glory was from.”
“How do you know she went to hell? She was a champion for good,” Oz said. “Did her body disappear?”
Willow was quiet for a long moment. Then she admitted, “No, it fell from the tower. We don’t know if it was electricity from the portal or the fall that killed her.”
“If she’s at peace, you need to let her be,” Oz said.
“But she might be in torment!” Willow exclaimed. “We need her.”
“I know you do, and Giles should get the Council to send one of their teams,” Oz said. “They have demon fighting teams, remember?”
“Yeah,” Willow said.
“I’ll try to work my way to Sunnydale,” Oz said. “Give you a hand.”
Willow both liked and hated that idea, but she said, “It would be good to see you.”
“Same,” Oz said. Then he said goodbye.
The idea of Willow raising Buffy from the dead was preposterous. Also, the idea of Buffy’s father not knowing she was dead and abandoning Dawn seemed unlikely. Willow was a hacker, and she could find anyone who used a credit card. Oz couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t done that?
Oz could do it also, so he did exactly that. Soon, he discovered the man was actually in Europe. Oz was currently in London, but Mr. Summers was in Switzerland. It wasn’t too hard to track down his hotel room and give him a call.
“Are you aware that your daughter Buffy Summers is dead? She died two weeks ago, falling from a high rise,” Oz told him.
“What? Who is this?” Hank Summers asked.
“I’m a friend of hers,” he said. “We went to high school together. Dawn needs you to come back to the states.”
“Why didn’t Joyce call me? I always email her my itinerary,” he said. “She knows how to reach me.”
“Joyce died almost two months before Buffy did,” Oz said. “Buffy tried to get a hold of you from what I heard. She left messages at your office in Los Angeles.”
“I didn’t get any of them,” he said. “God, this is awful. How did Joyce die?”
“She had a tumor in her brain before the holidays last year, and they took it out,” Oz said. “I don’t think it was cancer, but an aneurysm formed months later. It burst. She died quickly.”
“Dawn must be so devastated,” he said. “I’ll come back and make arrangements to bring Dawn back with me.”
“Good,” Oz said. “Make sure you call her and let her know you’re coming.”
He hung up, feeling like he had done something good to help his friends. It was too late to help Buffy, but she would like knowing that he helped Dawn. How did he not remember Dawn? It was weird.
*****A Few Months Later*****
Oz had finished all his obligations and was back stateside. He went to New York and visited his paternal grandparents. A week later, he went to California and visited his other set of grandparents. Then he went home. His parents were overjoyed to finally have him home.
Now it was time to see his former pack. It was almost instinctive for him to go to the high school, but then he remembered it wasn’t there. He still had to drive by the old place. It looked like they were finally cleaning the place up.
No sense in putting it off anymore. He drove to the Summers’ house and parked across the street. Oz needed some time to feel okay about seeing everyone again but not seeing Buffy.
It was almost too much to contemplate. Then he considered leaving, but Xander pulled up in front and got out.
Oz smiled a bit relieved that Xander looked pretty much the same.
Relieved, he opened his van door and called out to Xander.
Xander stopped and turned at the mention of his name. When he saw it was Oz, he grinned.
“Oz! I can’t believe you’re here! It’s so great to see you!” Xander said, holding out his hand for Oz’s. Then he pulled him in for a hug.
“It’s good to see you,” Oz said, a bit surprised at the warm welcome. He had hurt Willow deeply, and then the last time he was here, he had nearly killed Tara.
“How you been?” Xander asked.
“Good. Seen a lot of the world,” Oz shared.
“I wanted to do that after graduation, but my car didn’t even make it out of the state,” Xander said with a sigh.
“If you willing to rough it in a hostel, Europe isn’t that expensive,” Oz said. “How’s Willow?”
“Not the woman you used to know and love,” Xander admitted, then grimaced as he looked to the house. Hopefully, her witch powers didn’t extend to hearing from a distance. “It’s been hard without a slayer here. The team the council sent didn’t last a week, so they sent two more. They lasted two weeks. Then Hank Summers finally showed up and took Dawn. Willow was pretty upset. Giles left after that. The only one who feels great is Anya because she’s now in charge of the Magic Box. She loves making money.”
He opened the door and gestured for Oz to come in.
“Willow, you have a special visitor!” Xander called out.
Willow appeared at the top of the stairs and exclaimed, “Oz!”
She ran down and hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re here!” she said.
“Good to see you, Will,” Oz said, smiling at her. She looked the same—better really.
They had a nice visit, and it stayed that way even when Tara joined them, giving Oz a nervous smile while saying hello.
“It is good to see you, Tara,” he said, meaning it. “I want to apologize for the awful way I behaved the last time I was here. I assure you that my wolf is under my complete control.”
“That’s great, Oz,” Willow said, reaching out to hug him.
“Xander told me that Dawn’s with her dad,” Oz said.
Willow frowned. “Yeah, he said someone called his hotel in Spain and told him Buffy was dead,” she said. “He didn’t even know Joyce was dead until then.”
“It was me,” Oz said calmly. “I am surprised that you didn’t track him down yourself as it wasn’t hard. I just traced his credit card.”
Willow felt a momentary flash of guilt. Then she pushed it back as anger rushed through her. “You had no right! Dawn was just fine here with us! That man didn’t care enough about her to keep in touch or call weekly or even monthly!” she exclaimed.
Oz gazed at her, feeling love and sympathy for her. “He’s her father,” he said simply. “You have no right to keep her from him. He needed to know, and I had the ability to let him know.”
“She’s good,” Tara added. “Happy to be with her dad again.”
“Yes,” Xander agreed, nodding. “She calls one of us every other day. Hank took her to Spain for the summer, and she loved it. He’s now back in Los Angeles, so Dawn can go to school. He said that she could spend Thanksgiving break here with us.”
“That’s great,” Oz said.
“When Buffy comes back, she will want her sister here,” Willow said.
“Buffy is dead,” Oz reminded her.
“I know, but I’m working on bringing her back. I think I figured out a way,” Willow said, smiling again. “Her death was supernatural, so I can petition Osiris to release her soul.”
“Did you find out if she was in hell?” Oz asked.
Xander frowned and looked at Willow in surprise. “What does he mean? I thought we knew she was in hell,” he said.
“Well, no, we don’t know for sure,” Willow said. “But she would want to be here with us. With Dawn. Dawn lost Joyce. She needs her sister.”
“Death is a part of life, Willow, and she’s not alone,” Oz said gently.
Willow looked grim at his comment but didn’t say more. The group patrolled after dinner, and Oz went with them.
“Spike used to be here to help us, but he followed Dawn to Los Angeles—much to Angel’s annoyance,” Willow said.
“Why?” Oz asked.
“Well, you know the Initiative put that chip in him, so he can’t harm humans,” Xander said.
“Yeah,” Oz said, nodding.
“He’s attached to Dawn,” Willow shared. “He liked Joyce a lot, and he thought he loved Buffy.”
“He doesn’t have a soul, so he can’t really love,” Xander argued. “It’s obsession.”
“Whatever,” Willow shrugged, not wanting to argue the point. “Either way, he promised Buffy he would watch out for Dawn. L.A. is a dangerous town.”
“What does Mr. Summers think of that?” Oz said.
“Dawn’s convinced her dad that William is a third cousin of their mom’s,” Willow said. “She told her dad that he did one of those DNA tests since he thought all his family was dead, and he came to America to find them.”
Oz shook his head. “She lies well,” he said.
“She definitely does,” Xander said with a smirk. “He told Dawn’s dad that he works graveyard at a security firm, so that’s why they don’t ever see him until evening.”
“Spike does sometimes do jobs with Angel’s team,” Willow said. “He somehow saved Cordelia from some demon named Skip who worshiped this higher power that wanted to hijack her body.”
“How he do that?” Oz asked.
“Saw Skip out and about in some demon haunt. Knew him from way back,” Xander explained. “The demon had a few too many and confessed it all.”
As they faced vampires, the gossip talk stopped, and Oz got to see exactly how powerful Willow had become.
It was both impressive and disturbing to witness.
He left Sunnydale with mixed feelings. The girl he fell in love with was vastly different.
Oz hoped she wouldn’t try to resurrect Buffy.
*****Three Months Later (October)*****
When Oz got Willow’s excited call that Buffy was back, he felt sick. What did Willow do?
She had been back a week before he could get to her. Giles made it a few days before he did. Oz could feel the tension in the air when he walked through the doors of the Magic Box.
“Hello!” Anya called out cheerfully. Then she recognized Oz, and her face fell.
“Oz is here,” Buffy said, smiling at him. She was sitting at the table talking to Giles. Willow and Tara weren’t there.
“I am,” Oz said.
Buffy got up. “Are we huggers?” she asked him.
“You came back from the dead,” Oz pointed out. “I think a hug is in order.”
Oz knew he said the right thing when her smile became warmer, and her arms moved to embrace him. It was their first hug, and he was struck by how comfortable it felt.
Buffy squeezed him a little tight, but he could take it. Oz squeezed back gently before pulling back and looking at her. They were basically eye to eye. “How do you feel?” he asked.
Buffy wanted to give him the expected response, but Oz’s eyes held such strength. He could probably handle the truth. “I’m okay,” she said, which was true. She stepped back with reluctance. “It was hard the first few days.”
“I can’t believe Willow dared such a thing,” Oz said. He looked at Giles. “Did you know?”
“No, I must definitely did not!” he assured Oz. “I would’ve told them all that such things are dangerous and wrong.” He glanced pointedly at Anya.
“I told them, too, Rupert,” Anya said. “Willow wouldn’t listen, and Tara and Xander never go against her. We voted her leader after you left. You shouldn’t have left.”
Giles winced and sighed. “I know. Her arrogance is out of control,” he said. “When I think of the dangerous magics that she channeled, I worry so much. They could’ve all been killed.”
“She’s changed a lot,” Anya said. “She’s using magic a lot. It’s almost effortless for her these days.”
“Have you tried talking to her?” Oz asked, looking around to all three of them for a response.
“She never listens to anything I say even though I was basically a dark magic user for ten centuries,” Anya said with a snort.
“I, too, have found her to be dismissive and a bit hostile with offered advice,” Giles said, taking off his glasses to clean them. “She has become too powerful a bit too quickly for my liking.”
Oz didn’t like what he was hearing and wondered what his place would be in the group.
“So are you gonna stick around a while?” Buffy asked, looking more nervous than normal.
It was the hopeful vulnerable look in her eyes that had him nodding.
“I think so,” he said.
Her smile was bright and filled with relief.
Returning her smile, Oz was touched by her response, but he couldn’t help but wonder how coming back from the dead had and would affect her. Buffy was the slayer, the strongest woman he knew.
Yet, she was always a woman and a friend. Thinking about the changes in Willow and her brazen act as Buffy chatted with Giles, he knew that he might be the only one besides Giles willing to call her out.
Would it be risky for his wolf? Oz knew his control was at its best, but the hellmouth energy was very different than any other place he had been.
It didn’t matter. His friends needed him, so he would be here for them.
*****Chapter End*****
I hope fans of Oz enjoyed this chapter. This probably won’t be a long story, but it’s one that has been on my mind a while. Hope you are interested enough to follow and/or comment. Thanks!