Ch.38

I found myself in chains that held me despite my power. It was only when I grabbed them and runes lit up that I realized they were enchanted Uru. I grimaced as the shadow men told me I was the impossible so they were willing to make an exception since Buffy didn't take the power. They opened the box and the demon essence came out, guided by a restored staff and stuffed into me.

It…changed me. My split savage side was fused forcefully with the essence and my soul, forever altering me at my core. I was flung back into the future with Buffy and while she was stunned because of her vision of the army of Uber vamps, I was shaking for a whole other reason. I told Buffy what happened when we laid in bed together and she said it was her fault for denying the power.

I shook my head gently and told her they were the ones to blame and they did it to give the world it's best chance at surviving. I told her that it was both disgusting and humbling to know I could be captured and used like that despite the magic inside me and my own strength. She asked how I didn't break the chains and I told her I couldn't release my claws and the chains were made of enchanted Uru that prevented me from using magic or opening portals. "I tried everything and nothing seemed to work. It's like they knew what to expect and took precautions. Assholes even took the Uru from my ring to make the chains and repair their staff."

A few weeks later Robin told me the First spoke with him about Spike killing his mother, Nikki. I told him to stow it because we had a war, Spike had a soul and the mission came first. He asked about it and I told him what price I paid for recklessly going to the past. He asked if I was a slayer now and I grunted. "Instincts to hunt vampires and all. It's apart of me now more than ever and yes, I feel the desire to cut Spike's head off, but I know that if I do we'll lose a valuable ally for the war to come. From what Buffy tells me we can't afford to lose anyone especially just beforehand."

I turned to him fully. "So stow it and when the dust settles I won't even lift an eyebrow if you decide to off him then. The mission is what matters now, not you, not me and not the blood, my daughter's blood, that's on his hands by killing her descendant, my descendant."

He nodded slowly and told me he'd do as I said for the mission. He said his mother said something similar to him all the time. I nodded and let it go, helping Buffy to get Andrew to deactivate the seal because it was tearing apart the student body thanks to Robin being unable to shut the school down for long. Giles came back to town with some help for Spike to deactivate his trigger several days later and when it failed, I tortured Spike in the basement for hours before he broke and had an episode.

His trigger was deactivated once he resolved the mental issue he'd been having about his mum. I gave him the gem of Amara and unshackled him before telling him there was pigs blood in the mini fridge beside his cot.

He thanked me for that, everything really and I shrugged. "It's the first time someone's thanked me for torturing them so I'll call it a fluke. Try not to get too happy about it."

He huffed and lit a cigarette while I headed upstairs to wash up. Seeing the blood, Buffy and Giles asked if it was over. I nodded. "He turned his mother into a vampire and the demon made a mockery of him. The First used the untapped rage and confusion because of his new soul and made it into a blind trigger. He's resolved the issue now so the trigger won't work again."

Giles asked. "You're sure?"

I held up my bloody hands. "I know more about him than anyone else alive now. Trust me, if there were any other triggers he'd have told me to make me stop. It's been a long time since I've inflicted that kind of pain so thoroughly on anyone just to be safe. If he were human he'd have slit his own throat or blown his head off over an hour ago. It's done and now I need a hot shower and some rest to clear my own mind."

Buffy agreed and said she'd be up in a while since Willow and Tara headed to LA to help Angel. Robin had witnessed the whole thing including Spike thanking me for making sure he was free. A couple days later Faith, Tara and Willow returned to town with an injured potential. They brought the potential to me and Willow took a picture of the girl's neck wound before my watch healed her while Faith watched.

I told them Buffy and Spike were in the field teaching the potentials. Faith asked who Spike was and when I told her he was a vampire with a soul now like Angel. She asked who I was and I grunted. "Complicated."

Willow told her my name was just Oz and I was now a male slayer, the first of my kind. I grunted. "Like I said, complicated."

Faith asked what the watch was doing and asked how it was healing her, but I ignored her. Once the potential was healed, I took my watch back and put the girl to bed to rest telling Willow and Tara to watch her in case she wakes. She nodded and I tossed Faith the second scythe, telling her what it was and that it was hers now since Buffy only used one.

She asked where I was going and I grunted. "To find Buffy and the others. Cellphones can distract and get them killed so it's safer to find them by foot and scent. It's an animal thing."

She frowned. "You some kind of wolf man or something?"

I grunted. "Or something."

She sighed saying she'd tag along and I shrugged. "Just keep up or get left behind."

I killed ten vamps on the way to Buffy's group, nearly making it eleven until Faith started beating on Spike. I pulled them apart, catching the scythe blade and gestured to the female vampire. "No heartbeat and smells like a rotten corpse means vampire or zombie. Knock yourself out. Spike has a soul."

Seeing me release the blade, she attacked the female vampire as Buffy arrived, saying they should wear signs or something. Buffy sighed. "Faith, I see you've met Oz."

Faith dusted the vamp and nodded. "Yeah, what's his deal? He's a male slayer with word issues or something?"

Buffy sighed. "He doesn't talk a lot these days because of how he became a slayer. It…changed him. On the bright side he's more succinct."

I growled low and Buffy patted my chest lightly saying I was a teddy bear unless it's killing vampires, then I'm a grizzly bear. Faith nodded. "I kinda got that when he dusted nearly a dozen vamps on the way here."

I looked to Buffy and told her. "New potential. Injured by someone and branded. She's sleeping off the healing at the house. Willow and Tara's with her."

Buffy nodded and gathered the potentials before we headed back to the house. The next morning the potential woke up after Buffy returned home from being fired. The potential told Buffy that the preacher Caleb had something of hers. I frowned and Buffy asked what it was.

I shook my head. "The scythes you and Faith have now are mirror copies from the prison worlds, but like them one exists here. The trouble is only a fully realized slayer can remove them from the enchanted stone they're in."

I brought out my claws when Buffy asked how I did it and told her before Faith spoke up. "Wow, that's not something you see every day."

I grunted and slid them back in before sighing. "Odds are this Caleb has found the scythe in this reality and can't remove it himself so he's luring us into a trap using it as bait or simply lying."

Faith smirked. "I say we go bust some head B. Point me where you want me."

Buffy looked to me and I shrugged. "I can go alone and kill them or we can arm up everyone."

She nodded before taking the watch I offered. She told Xander and Giles to grab the orbs before giving Kennedy hers. I broke out the magical weapons and dark artifacts. Spike took the ring and troll god hammer while I wielded Stormbreaker.

We headed to the vineyard where we tracked the bringers and made a plan. It was fairly simple and worked out great which ended with a lot of Bringers dying, Caleb getting split in half down the middle and me finding the slayer scythe half buried in a sun basement temple pit. Buffy told me to go ahead so I pulled it free and asked if she or Faith wanted it.

They said they we're good before Buffy asked if it felt the same, empowering. I nodded and put the blade on my belt where the axe sat opposite of it. My height making it easy to carry while we cleaned up, took the bringer's weapons and left. People began leaving town in mass. Their instincts were screaming at them to leave and most of the demons were going as well, fleeing.

I used my suit to erase Faith's criminal records and portaled all over to destroy the physical copies before telling her that she was a free woman now, for whatever that was worth.