Rating: Same as the show. I hope
Disclaimer: Don't own them, yada, yada, yada similar to certain stuff... blah, blahda...
Author's Notes:  The next ep in the "Rewriting"series. I am a sloppy writer when i'm on the go! So, any mistakes are mine and mine alone... oh well....
Summary:  Xander's not the only one who gets possessed....
Other note: I did not spell check this or anything.... I just did it on the go..... because I know how all of you wanted this and have been waiting for it for ever!!!!!!!!

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"Hey! Buffy!"

Buffy turned from the plaque she was reading about the elephants and how much they ate. Her two best friends were smiling, which brought one to herself after the little... insulting from Kyle and his group. Of course, if she could choose, she would have beaten them up like
they teased her about. Just to prove that she could, of course.

"You missed it!"Willow giggled.

"Missed what?"Buffy asked.

"We just saw the zebras mating!"He nodded at Willow, "Thank you, very exciting..."

"It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!"Willow finished.

"And I missed it. Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on."Buffy smiled as they began to walk.

"Where were you?"Willow asked.

"Uh, I was looking at the fishes."Buffy said.

"Was it cool?"Willow asked, trying to make the conversation go further.

"It was fishes."Buffy said simply.

Xander sighed, "I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here."

"Well, it would... It's nothing, I... We do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old."Buffy said, putting on a fake smile.

"Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!"Xander reminded her.

"You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new."Buffy said, smiling.

"Gotta have perspective."Xander smiled.

"Hey, Buffy,"Willow said, smiling slyly, "Now that I think about it, how come Angel's not here with you? I thought you two might be... well, y'know..."

Buffy chuckled, "Will, its not like that with me and him... Granted we got over the whole `I hate you, you hate me' shtick. We're just buddies now. Nothing serious."

Xander lingered behind the two, looking up at the sky, and mouthing a dramatic, "Thank you."

"That's too bad,"Buffy's red headed friend sighed, "You guys are really cute together. Plus, you won't be seeing him so much anymore..."

Startled, Buffy looked at Willow with a look of worry on her face, "What? What are you talking about?"

Willow's eyes widened, "You don't know? Angel got all his credits to graduate. He and Principal Flutie talked, and so, he's gonna be leaving in a month after he clears up a few things, and gets settled into a good college. Flutie just gave him his diploma this morning. I saw them on my way to the library, but I kinda forget to mention it when Giles started talking about... well, vampires."

Buffy slowed her steps, "I can't believe he didn't tell me this...  how... how could he not tell me this?"

"Well, he just found out today!"Willow started, trying to ease the shock from Buffy, "Its not like he's gonna transfer to London..."Willow frowned, "Though... that is where Giles was originally from... and that is where his family is....."

Buffy looked at Willow, then trudged off, making a little sound of distressed.

Xander smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Thanks for doing all the work for me, Wills."He smiled at her, before running off, shouting, "Buffy! Hey! Wait up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?"Willow wondered.

"Oh, playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse."Xander said, with disgust.

"What is it with those guys?"Buffy asked, in the same tone that Xander used.

"They're obnoxious. Professionally."Willow said.

"Well, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids."Xander said, trying to make sense of the situation as they watched Kyle and his buds go into the Hyena House with Lance.

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, well, I'd better extract Lance before..."

"I'll handle it. This job doesn't require actual slaying."Xander said as he started walking forward. He was about to go in, when he was met by Angel.

"Its the graduate man,"Xander said, "What brings you here?"

"Same reason your here."He gestured to the Hyena House with his head.

"You don't think we should follow?"Buffy started after catching a glimpse of Angel before he went inside.

Willow rolled her eyes, "Kyle and those guys are jerks, but they're all talk. Mostly."

Buffy crossed her arms, "Why don't we..."

Willow nodded, "Yeah, why don't we?"

They ducked under the tape and started in, but were caught in the act by a zookeeper.

"Oh, hold it, hold it, are you blind, or are you just illiterate? Because hyenas are very quick to prey on the weak."The Zookeeper said, catching them.

Buffy stuttered, "Oh, w-we were just gonna take..."

"You're not going in there. Anyone that does is in a world of trouble."He said.

"No, no one's going in there."Wiillow said as she and Buffy began to back out.

Buffy frowned, "Why is it off-limits?"

"It's a quarantine. These hyenas just came in from Africa, so keep out. Even if they call your name."He said, sounding way to freaky for Buffy.

"What are you talking about?"She asked.

"The Masai tribesmen told me that hyenas are capable of understanding human speech. They follow humans around by day, learning their names. At night, when the campfire dies, they call out to a person. Once they separate him, the pack"He snapped his fingers, "devours them."

Willow shivered, moving closer to Buffy as if she could offer some sort of protection. Which was sort of true since Buffy was practically her and Xander's protectors. Buffy stayed put, watching as the Zookeeper started to move away. Sighing, she turned to look at Willow who wore that familiar look of worry on her face. She glanced at the Hyena House, then at Buffy.

"Maybe we should just... um..."

"It'll be okay,"Buffy said, "Angel's in there and he can...."Buffy gazed at the Hyena House, "Oh, wow... he's in there... with..."

"With Kyle.... Tor.... Heidi... and Rhonda....."Willow said, her statement looking slack.

"And... and some... foreign.... African... hyena's....."Buffy stated.

"All.... all alone...."Willow pouted, thinking about Xander. His big eyebrows knitted together... the way his cheeks would push up and curve when he smiled to big... the way his lips would pull over his gums and... he was in a Hyena House! All alone with four bullies, and
tricked kid, and hyenas!

Willow made a sound of distressed, "Uh..... Buffy.... do you think we should....."

"No,"Buffy said sternly, "We should just stay where we are.... and not go... because... because Angel can take care of this... he's a man.... a... an... an amazing, strong.... very, very, very strong... man...."

"Make them come out, Buffy,"Willow whined.

Buffy gazed at the house.

And then they came out... all of them looking a little drained... tired, almost.

Angel approached Buffy with Xander close behind. He gazed at her, his eyes seemed to pierce through her skin... it made her feel... well, almost scared....

He glanced at Xander, breifly, before moving on... his eyes glowing on the way back....

~~~~~~~

"I thought Xander would be here by now."Willow said, sounding glum.

"Hmm, that'd make him on time. We couldn't have that!"Buffy said sarcastically.

Willow wasn't moved, "Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?"

Buffy shrugged, "About what?"

"I dunno. He was quiet."Willow murmured.

"I didn't notice anything."Buffy said, placing her drink and croissant down on the table, "But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you."

"Hyperaware?"Willow questioned.

"Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure..."Buffy smiled.

"130 over 80!"Willow chriped.

Buffy chuckled, "You got it bad, girl."

"He makes my head go tingly."She smiled, dreamily, "You know what I mean?"

"I dimly recall."Buffy said, sounding far away.

Willow blinked, "But it hasn't happened to you lately?"

"Not of late."

"Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now?"Willow questioned, gazing at the jacket in question.

"Goes with the shoes!"Buffy tried to defend herself.

Willow gave her a pointed look, "Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does."

Buffy shrugged, "I suppose some girls might find him good looking..."\

Willow gave her a look

"...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around when I really, really want a guy around... and when he is all he wants to do is talk about vampires, of course, there is the sparring... which is nice...."Buffy smiled, "But... I, I just can't have a relationship..."She finished, sounding down.

"There he is!"Willow suddenly cried.

Buffy tensed, almost ready to check her hair, "Angel?"

Willow grinned, "Guess."

Buffy gazed at the crowd, and smiled when she saw Angel, as well as Xander moving toward us. Xander was busily checking out girls on the way. But Willow didn't seem to notice since she was on cloud nine just by looking at him.

"Girls!"Xander said, grinning.

"Boy!"Buffy said, then looked at Angel, "And... not so boy..."

"Sorry I'm late, I... just forgot that we were gonna be here."Xander said, watching as Angel began to slowly circle the table.

"Hungry!"Xander practically growled, tearing a piece off of her croissant.

Willow cleared her throat, "Xander, you still want me to help you with geometry tomorrow? We can work after class..."

Xander gave Willow the thumbs-up, then his face twisted in disgust, "What is this crap?"

Buffy frowned, "Well, it *was* my buttery croissant."She glanced at Angel who was seemingly, getting closer and closer to her. She raised a brow.

"Man, I need some food! Birds live on this!"Xander grunted.

Buffy and Willow shared a look before sending that look at Xander. He looked between the two of them, "What?"

"What's up with you?"Buffy asked.

"Is something wrong? Did I do something?"Willow asked, sounding worried.

"What could you possibly do? That's crazy talk. I'm just... restless."Xander said, shifting in his stance.

"Well, we could go to the ice cream place..."Willow offered.

"We like it here."Xander said, glancing at Angel who was right behind Buffy. He almost growled, but thought against it as he scenned the area a bit.

Buffy shivered as she felt something close to her ear. And glanced to see Angel inhaling her hair and brushing his cheek against it. Buffy frowned, "Okay... now what?"

"You're clean..."Angel said, sniffing her hair again.

Buffy frowned, "Ah, Yeah. I-I often am, I'm actually known for it."She turned all the way around, "Are you okay?"

"You smell good."Angel said, brushing her hair away from her cheek.

Willow and Buffy exchanged another look, "And the weird behavior award goes to..."Buffy started, "Oh, wait... I think we have a tie between Harris and Carrington..."

Xander glanced around, and spotted Kyle and the others comming in. He sent a look to Angel over Buffy's head.

"Oh, great. It's the winged monkeys."Buffy sighed.

Kyle and company made their way to them. Kyle stopped at their table, and he and Angel stared each other down. Angel's nostrils flared, and for a moment, Kyle falltered before a kid came along. Kyle's group poked fun at him before he ran away from their laughter. Buffy gazed at Xander, unbelieving that he would make fun of a kid.

Xander shrugged, "Kid's fat."

********************

The students in the hall were busy jumping, and hoping away from the escaped mascot who was squeeling loudly as he ran down the halls. Mr. Flutie chased after the pig, shouting, "Look out! It's gotten loose!"

Buffy moved around the corner, reacted quickly to catch him and picked him up.

"Lordy, Herbert! Gave Mr. Flutie quite a scare, didn't he? Students, I'd like you all to met Herbert, our new mascot for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks!"Mt. Flutie said proudly.

The students all clapped.

Buffy smiled down at the tiny pig with fake boar tusks, "He's so cute!"

"He's not cute."Mr. Flutie protested. "No! He's a fierce Razorback!"

"He doesn't look mean, Mr. Flutie."Buffy said, absently petting the back of the pig.

"He's mean, he's ready for action! See?"He indicated Herbert's helmet with foam tusks, "Here are the tusks..."Then, gestured at a piece of serrated green foam tied to Herbert's back, "the scary Razorback!"

"You're right. He's a fine mascot and will engender school spirit."Buffy smiled.

"Uh, he better. Costs a fortune to feed him. Alright, let's get you back into your cage."He said.

Herbert squealed when Buffy started to hand him to Mr. Flutie.

He sighed, "This way."

Buffy sighed, following the principal down the halls and holding the little pig close. She was so content with holding the little farm animal that reminded her of her toy pig that she got when she was six, that she didn't even notice the pair of eyes that bore into her back.

"See, the problem is you kids today have no school spirit. Hold on, let me get his outfit off."Mr. Flutie removed it, "Today it's all gangs and drugs and those movies on Showtime with the nudity."

Buffy gave him a look.

"I don't have cable, I only heard. When I was your age we cared about the school's reputation and the football team's record, all that stuff! Of course, when I was your age I was surrounded by old guys telling me how much better things were when they were *my* age."He sighed, moving into into the faculty room.

Buffy looked down at Herbert, "Yeah."

Then, out of the blue, Herbert began to squeal loudly. Buffy frowned, trying to hold the tiny little critter as he continued to wiggle. She looked up and saw Angel, gazing at her with his chocolate orbs.

She frowned at him, trying to hold onto the pig with all her strength just as Mr. Flutie came back out. He smiled politely at Angel, before pulling the pig from Buffy's arms, almost startling her out of her staring as he did so.

"All right, Herbert! Time to go back in the cage!"He smiled, moving into the falculty room again.

Buffy stared at the closed door, before whirling around to talk to Angel. But he was already gone.

********************

Buffy frowned as she exited the girls locker room. She felt strange after watching the incident with Xander and the other winged monkey's. At this moment, she was really pissed at all males, except Lance, of course.

How could Xander have been so cruel to Willow? She had seen how hard he had thrown that ball, and she wanted nothing more than to knock Xander down at that point. Even more so when they had ganged up on Lance.

Willow had left earlier, almost in tears, saying that she needed to be alone.

*What is with Xander?* Buffy wondered as she continued to walk down the halls.

She sighed, looking at the ground as she moved through the crowd. She watched as her feet moved on the floor for a long while before she saw a pair of boots stop in front of her. She looked up, startled, "Angel."

He gazed down at her with that look... that look he gave her last night at the Bronze. He took a step closer, and, almost unconsciously, she took one back, watching him closely.

"Buffy..."He said, his voice sounding strange. Her *name* sounding odd on his tongue...

*Maybe it is a guy thing...* Buffy thought as Angel brought up a hand and fingered a strand of her hair.

She shivered as another one of his hands touched her cheek. His skin felt so cold... not at all warm the way she remembered it...

She couldn't place it but she knew something was off.

"Angel..."She murmured, "What-What's wrong with you?"

He chuckled, his laugh sounding just as cold as his fingers, "Nothing... everything is just... fine..."He moved away, going down the hall and passing by others who glanced to stare at him.

********************

"Hello? Hello, mom?"Buffy started, "Yeah, its me, Buffy... ah, I have this little question..."

Buffy squirmed in her spot in Giles office. He was busy attending with other students in the library at the moment, while Buffy spoke with her mother.

"No... no, no, its not like that mom... I didn't get kicked out."Buffy said, sighing, "I, um... I had a question about... well, boys...."Buffy nearly choked at what she said next, "No, mom, no! I wasn't even thinking about that, no... ah, could you please make Dawn stop giggling, and what on Earth is she doing there?! She said she was sick? Oh, please! Yeah, yeah... I know... No, mom. It was more of... are guys ever... do they ever act weird? Y'know? Kind of like how we act when we.... really? So... say, its normal if they start... say... smelling your hair?"

Buffy moved toward the window, glancing outside as Giles started to send the last of the students out, "Really? Oh. Okay... no, no, its nothing like that... I just... I, ah, just was curious... no, it didn't happen to me. Yes. I am. Okay. Yeah... I love you, too. Bye Mom."She sighed, placing the phone back onto its cradle.

She started to walk out, then ran as fast as she could to her locker before Giles could ask what she had to talk to her mom about. She did not, in anyway, want to talk to Giles about... *Shiver* girl stuff about guy stuff... it was just...

Wrong.

********************

The school was busy at lunch hour, and the students ran around as if the school was about to be bombed.

Angel simply chuckled at their silly little attitudes. The way they ran like fresh prey... it was astounding.

He walked past a group of girls who eyed him as if he were meat. He would have done the same thing, but not the meat they had in mind. Besides, he had bigger things to do. Most of them involved a certain blond Slayer that had been haunting him since last night.

The scent of her hair... that... that flower smell... jasmine and vanilla... The same scent of her skin.... her skin was always pleasantly warm. Really warm...

And for some reason, he had become very cold... his skin was always icy...

He wondered through the courtyard, snarling at a boy who was staring at him. He continued his walk, with a cruel look on his face. He spotted Xander, Kyle, and his group. He stared at Kyle, his eyes flashing a bright yellow color, in warning, he let him know in his body language to leave. Kyle and the others turned away as soon as Xander pointed out one of the many scents in the air.

Angel growled, lowly in his throat as he continued on. He didn't bother with them as much. When he wasn't around, they could do whatever the hell they wanted... but when he was... he called all the shots. He was the head of the pack... not just because of the hyena that possesed his body, but because of the unusual strength that also came with it. If he wanted to, he could have snapped all of their necks, in less than fifty seconds...

And they knew it as well.

He chuckled at the thought of killing his pack and taking in their strength. He was almost torn between killing Kyle for his lack of respect, or killing Xander for his intrest in his blond mate.

Or rather, soon to be mate.

He had every intention of claiming her that night.

Angel stopped at a spot, and gazed at the balcony above, gazing at his said mate and her little red headed friend. He tilted his head to the side, listening with his sensitive and keen hearing.

"I've known him my whole life, Buffy."He heard the red head go on, "Well, we haven't always been close, but he's never..."He heard her exhale.

"I think something's wrong with him."Buffy said, her voice sounding comforting.

"Or maybe there's something wrong with me."Willow sniffled.

"What are you talking about?"Buffy asked.

"C'mon. He's not picking on you. He's just sniffing you a lot. Or at least.. sniffing you when he thinks Angel's not looking... I don't know, maybe three isn't company anymore."

"You think this has something to do with me?"

"Of course."Willow cried.

"No. That still doesn't explain why he's hanging out with the dode patrol."She sighed, hopping off the railing, "Something's going on. Something weird."

Angel growled as they left, then turned to the side. He inhaled the scent of something strong... something that came from the falculty room... he recalled that smell...

He smiled, moving toward there. Silently promising Buffy that he would get her another mascot to coo at.

But why would she need one when she could have him?

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