TIMELINE: 4 years after Graduation.
SUMMARY: In Buffy's sophomore year of college she leaves Sunnydale. Giles asks Angel to help find her.
SPOILERS: S4 and S5 Buffy and S1 and S2 Angel
FEEDBACK: yes please!!!!!!! I really need it!!!!

Buffy walked into the dorm room she shared with her best friend, Alexis, and laid down on her bed.

She had moved to New York during her sophomore year. She couldn't handle her life in Sunnydale anymore. Her mother had a brain tumor, monks had put memories in her head of a sister she never had, and she had given her daughter up for adoption.

Buffy had had the baby 2 months early, and when the doctors were sure that she was fine, Giles found a home for her child.

She never knew who the father was. The doctors had told her that the baby had been conceived sometime around Thanksgiving. She hadn't been with anyone that way around that time. Giles assured her that there was nothing supernatural about the birth.

That was all in the past, she now had a better life in New York. She had more friends than you could count and was on her way to graduating.

*****

"Daddy," Annie screamed in her sleep.

Angel quickly ran into his daughter's room.

How he had a daughter? It was a miracle. When Buffy found out she was pregnant Giles had called Angel to see if he knew anything.

Angel listened intently and when Giles had told him when the baby was conceived Angel had told him about the forgotten day. Giles was instructed not to tell Buffy, she wasn't supposed to remember.

When the baby was born, Giles let Buffy think he was taking Annie to a new family. Little did she know, Giles had brought the baby to her father, Angel.

"Daddy, help!" she screamed once again.

Angel shook his daughter slightly, "Annie, wake up."

The 3 year old rubbed her eyes, and slowly sat up.

"Annie, what's wrong?" he questioned.

"I had a dweeme. My mommy was wunning fwom da monsta and he took her. She wanted you to help her, but you couldn't fwind her."

"Its ok," he pulled her into his arms, "its ok."

Annie had fallen asleep in his strong embrace. Angel laid her back in her bed and tucked her in.

*****

Part 2

*****

"Hey, Marg, you want to come with us? We're going to the new club in town." Alexis asked Buffy.

Margaret was what Buffy had changed her name to when she moved to New York, her grandmother's name. She didn't want to use Anne because she already had. It brought back too many memories. She wanted a clean slate, to start from scratch.

"Sure, Lex, let me grab my purse. So who is we?"

"Ya know, the usual Erin, Amelia, Caroline, Cole, Reece, Billy, you, and me."

"Great. I'm ready, lets go."

*****

Buffy walked into the club, music blaring, people grinding up next to each other.

Immediately, she bumped into someone, not noticing who it was.

She tilted her head up, "I'm sor...." she was cut off.

"Slayer. What in the bloody hell are you doing in New York? All those wankers in Sunnydale think you're dead."

"Spike," she said surprised. Changing her voice into a serious tone, "you tell anyone that I'm here and I will come looking for you and stake you."

"Marg, you want to introduce me to your friend?" Alexis interrupted.

Spike put his hand out, "Spike, and you are?"

Buffy answered for her, "This is Alexis. Leave her alone."

He put his hands up in defense. "Ok, I'll back off Slayer. Calm down."

"Slayer?" Alexis asked.

"It's nothing, just a nickname," Buffy said forcefully. "You know what Lex, I'm not feeling very well. I think I am going to have to take a rain check."

"Ok. See you when I get home."

"Spike, leave." Buffy said before exiting the club.

*****

Annie ran into her father's bedroom and pounced on the bed.

"Daddy, Daddy wake wup. I am hungwy."

"All right, I'm coming." Angel answered from under the covers.

"Hello, anyone home?" Cordelia's voice rang through the apartment.

Hearing Cordelia's voice, Annie bolted from the room to greet her.

"Cwordy," she jumped up and hugged the former May Queen.

"Hey little one, how are you doing today?" she asked.

"Daddy is gonna mwake me some bwakefast."

Angel appeared in the living room with a pair of black boxers and a white shirt on.

"Annie, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked his daughter.

"Pancakes, pwease."

"Ok."

Angel was getting ready to grab the pancake mix from the cabinet when the phone rang.

"Hello," he answered.

"Hello there peaches," his childe joked.

"Spike, what do you want?"

"Well, if your gonna be like that, then I won't tell you what I know about your little Slayer."

"What do you know about Buffy?" Angel asked angrily.

"I know that she is in New York at the University there. Bumped into her last night with one of her friends at a club."

When Spike was finished Angel hung the phone up and walked over to the couch.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Cordelia looked worried.

"Spike found Buffy. She's in New York."

"Oh my god," she gasped.

*****

Part 3

*****

"Cordelia, could you do me a favor and make Annie some breakfast, I have to go call Giles." Angel asked his secretary.

"Sure, come on munchkin," she motioned towards Annie.

Angel walked into his bedroom, picking up the phone, he dialed Giles's number.

"Giles. It's Angel,'" he started.

"Hello, Angel..er can I help you?" Giles asked.

"Well, Spike called me last night.."

He was cut off by, "Spike!!"

"Yeah, Spike, seems to have bumped into Buffy last night in New York."

The line was silent for a few moments. "Dear Lord."

"Here was what I was thinking," Angel started when he thought Giles had control of himself, "I could go up to New York, find out where she lives and try to talk to her."

"Well...ah..that seems like it might..ah..work." Giles agreed.

"I think I am going to bring Cordelia and Annie with me. Annie might be able to persuade her to come home if I can't."

"Yes, well, that is a wise plan. I'm not going to tell anyone about this until you find her. I don't want to get their, ah, hopes up."

"Ok. I will call you when I arrive in New York."

"Bye."

*****

"Cordelia," Angel screamed when he got off the phone with Giles, "I need you to buy 3 plane tickets to New York as soon as possible."

"Angel, might I ask why you need 3 tickets to New York?" Cordelia asked.

"Buffy is in New York. I am going to see her, and I'm bringing Annie with me because if I can't convince her to come back maybe Annie can. I was wondering if you would like to come with us, to take care of Annie while I try to talk to Buffy?"

"Well, I have nothing else to do, so I guess I will come with ya'll," she answered, "come on lets go find Buffy."

*****

Buffy ran into her dorm room with tears falling down her face. She slammed the door shut and slid down in until she was crouched into a ball with her head resting on her knees.

After a few minutes, she slowly pulled herself up from the ground and walked over to her bed. She ducked under the covers and pulled them over her head.

*****

"Welcome to New York," the flight attendant greeted Angel, Cordelia, and Annie as they got off the plane.

"Ok, Angel, what do we do now? How are we supposed to find her? New York is a big city." Cordelia asked.

"Spike gave me the address of the club he saw her in, so I was wondering if maybe you could go and see if anyone knew her there. Maybe you can get an address or something?"

"Daddy, why are we here?" Annie spoke up.

"Because we are looking for a friend of Cordy and I." He didn't want to tell Annie they were looking for her Mom in case they couldn't find her.

"Otay," she said content with the answer he gave her.

"Cordelia, what hotel did you make the reservations at?"

"The 'W' hotel. Cindy Crawford's husband owns it. I figured there might be some acting agents there and then someone could discover me and then my career will be a hit."

"Ok. Lets go find a cab then. Tomorrow during the day I will go look for Buffy, and then tomorrow night you can go to the club."

Angel liked to make use of his humanity. About 5 months after Buffy had left, the powers that be decided to make Angel human.

He had overcome Darla. She was the last test he had to pass in order to gain his humanity. Luckily, this time they left him with his strength and healing abilities. They said he needed to be able to protect his daughter.

*****

When Angel, Annie, and Cordelia arrived at the hotel, Angel asked Cordelia to check them in while he made a phone call. He had told Giles he would call them when they got in.

"Giles, its Angel. We just arrived."

"Hello, Angel. That's nice to know you made it there..ah..safe," he answered. "I wish you luck. Please bring her back to us."

"I am planning on bringing her home. Don't worry." Angel assured the watcher. "Well, I need to get going, Cordelia just checked us in."

"Good-bye, Angel."

*****

Part 4

*****

Cordelia had just come out of the bathroom. Angel was dressed and had Annie ready also.

"Cordy, I'm going to go and start looking for Buffy. Do you want me to take Annie or leave her with you?" he asked before leaving.

"Oh, you can leave her here if you want, and then when you find Buffy you can come and get her or something," she replied.

"Daddy, where are you woing?" Annie interrupted Cordelia and Angel.

"I'm going out to look for a friend and you're going to stay with Cordy until I come back."

She nodded with satisfaction.

Noticing her reply, Angel picked her up and kissed her before leaving the hotel room in search of his love.

*****

Angel walked to the nearest Cafe and asked various people if anyone knew Buffy. He had given up all hope, when finally someone knew who she was.

"So, you've seen her?" Angel asked.

"Yeah she lives in the dorms with her friend Alexis, but her name isn't Buffy, it's Margaret. Margaret Summers," the college kid replied.

"Do you know where her dorm is?"

"Nope, sorry, can't say I do, but you can probably find her at the new club downtown."

"Ok, thank you for your help."

Angel walked out of the Cafe and towards his hotel room. He knew Buffy was listed under Margaret Summers, so he would send Cordelia to the club and have her look for Buffy.

*****

"Cordelia, I found her kind of. She is listed under Margaret Summers, not Buffy. I talked to some college student he said you would probably be able to find her at some new club." Angel said as he walked through the door.

He then proceeded towards Cordelia and handed her the address.

She looked it over for a little and then of course came her comments, "Its called Club Vinyl!! God, where do people come up with these names?"

"I really couldn't tell you," he replied, "Cordelia, where is Annie?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I put her down around 3:30, she was really tired." She looked down at her watch. "God, she can sleep for a long time, its already 5:15."

"She usually doesn't sleep that long, what did ya'll do today?" he asked.

"Well, first we colored, then played hide and go seek, then we played chase, and then we read some books. She fell asleep while I was reading her a book."

"You better get ready," Angel suggested.

"Ok, Ok, I'm going."

Cordelia walked into the bedroom and within 20 minutes she was ready to go clubbing.

"So, how do I look?" Cordelia asked as she turned around in a circle for Angel.

She had blue snake skin leather pants on, 3 inch black boots, and a black halter top with black beads along the neck. Her hair was down, and she had natural color make up on.

"Very nice, Cordelia," Angel commented, "do you have the address?"

"Yes,"

"You don't exactly have to go talk to her, just try to find out where she lives from a friend. Also, try to find out what time she might be home tomorrow. I'll stop by her dorm and see if I can convince her to come home. If she doesn't want to come home, then I will leave and bring Annie back with me later."

"Got it. Bye, Angel."

*****

Cordelia walked into 'Club Vinyl' she immediately looked for Buffy. There was quite a few blondes in the club, making it hard to find the slayer.

She walked towards the bar, intent on sitting around and waiting for Buffy to enter.

After about 20 minutes and a few guys hitting on Cordy, she noticed Buffy walked in with a group of her friends. She quickly jumped up thinking about how she should accidentally "run" into her.

Deciding on accidentally bumping into her while dancing, Cordelia stood near the bar until Buffy walked out onto the floor.

5 minutes later Cordelia saw Buffy walk onto the dance floor with a few of her friends. Christina Aguilera's Come On Over was playing loud and clear through the club.

Cordelia walked over to where all the bodies were rubbing up against each other and made sure she had her back towards Buffy. She slowly walked backwards, bumping Buffy's friends and the purposely ramming into Buffy.

Dusting off her pants Buffy looked up towards the person who had just knocked her over and was now extending a hand to help her. When she saw who it was, she gasped.

She was about to say something, but Cordelia beat her to it.

"Oh my gosh, Buffy, I didn't know you were in New York?"

"Cordelia, what are you doing here?" she snapped.

"Well, hello to you to, Buffy, thanks for calling. Thanks for telling everyone you were ok. It would have been nice to find out you were ok and not in an alley and dead."

By now they had a crowd watching them throw puns back and forth.

"Who the hell gave you the right to criticize my choices. You don't know what you're talking about!!" Buffy screamed.

"Well, I'm sorry if you left your daughter and Angel and just ran off." The minute that sentence came out of her mouth Cordelia regretted it. Oops.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nevermind. Just give me your address and I will explain it to you tomorrow."

"No, Cordelia, I want answers now!" she demanded.

Cordelia knew if she said something Angel would kill her, so of course she refused to say anything and ran for the door.

Buffy followed after her with everyone in the club watching them.

When Buffy arrived outside, Cordelia was waving for a cab. She threw the number of the hotel she was staying at towards Buffy, and quickly jumped into the cab.

Buffy picked up the card, not knowing what to do with it. She read the address. Knowing where it was, and wanting to find out what the hell Cordelia was talking about, she stuffed the card in her pocket and made her way back to her dorm.

She needed to think about what to say to Alexis when she got home.

*****

Part 5

When Alexis walked into her dorm room, she saw Buffy in tears on her bed. She walked over towards her best friend and gently sat on her bed.

Buffy looked up at Alexis through her tear filled eyes. "Why does my life have to be so hard? Can't someone just once cut me some slack. I had a new life, I did. And then Cordy comes and ruins it." She was babbling.

Alexis had no idea what she was talking about. She had always known Margaret to be so happy and funny all the time. She had never once seen her cry, except for the first few nights she had moved in to her dorm.

Margaret had just moved from her old school, she refused to tell anyone where she was from, and for about a week she would cry saying "I'll never forget" and "Angel."

Alexis had no idea what she was talking about, she figured it was just a regular nightmare and they would go away. They did, so she never really paid mind to them.

Having no idea what to say to Margaret, Alexis just sat there hugging her best friend, telling her everything would be ok.

When Buffy had quieted down she pulled herself from Alexis's arms, not sure of what she had just said.

Concerned for her friend, Alexis asked, "Marg, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

Buffy just stared at her hands.

"I need to tell you something...about..m-my past, " she answered.

Anxiously, Alexis waited for Margaret to start talking, but she didn't.

"But, I can't tell you right now. There is someone I need to go see," she added. "I will tell you tomorrow. I just need you to bare with me right now, and not ask any questions. Please."

"Sure, I can do that. But I'm really concerned Marg. I've never seen you cry before."

"I know. It means a lot to me that you care." Buffy walked towards Alexis and hugger her once more. "I think I'm going to go to bed now. It's been a rough night. G'night"

"Night," Alexis answered.

*****

Cordelia walked through door of the hotel room she shared with Angel.

Angel stood up quickly, hearing the door slam.

"Cordelia, how did it go? Did you find her address?"

"Not exactly," she started, " I ran into her and accidentally told her that she kinda had a daughter, but then I realized my mistake. Then, I ran out the club and jumped into a taxi. But guess what? I threw the address of our hotel to her and I think she is going to come by tomorrow because she really, really wanted to know what I was talking about."

"Cordelia, you knew you weren't supposed to tell her about Annie," Angel said quietly but in an angering tone.

"It was an accident, I promise. Hey, look at the bright side. Buffy will probably be coming over here tomorrow. I'll make sure I am gone when she comes and you two can talk or something," she added hopefully.

Angel didn't say anything, he just walked out of the room and into his bedroom he was sharing with Annie.

*****

Angel was sitting on the couch and Annie was coloring when there was a knock on the door.

He slowly got up, he was scared yet eager to see her.

When the door opened Buffy saw something she least expected, Angel.

Cordelia had given her the address of the hotel and her room number, she figured it was just her and not Angel.

Not sure of what to say, Angel motioned Buffy into his hotel room. Both stood in silence in the kitchen until Annie ran in.

"Daddy, look what I dwoo for you," she smiled as she handed him the picture. It was then that she noticed that there was someone else in the room.

"Hi, my name wis Annie," she said to Buffy.

Angel noticed Buffy's discomfort around Annie and jumped in.

"Buffy, I would like you to meet Annie, my daughter...and yours," he added the last part quietly.

She gasped in shock,"Wh-what do you mean my...daughter?"

"After you had her, Giles brought her to me to make sure nothing happened to her."

"You're lying to me, you..you're just trying to make me come home. You're trying to make me feel bad for leaving. It's n-not working," she stammered.

"Buffy, I would never lie to you. You should know that. Annie is yours, look at her, she has blonde hair like you and your smile."

Buffy walked to Angel's couch and sat down, she just took a lot in. She placed her hands in her lap and just stared down at them, crying.

Angel walked over to Buffy, trying to comfort her.

Wincing when he placed a hand on her shoulder, Buffy stood up.

"How could you do this to me? You have had her all this time?"

"Buffy you gave her up, and Giles wanted her to be in an environment where she could be protected. He thought I was the best for the job and since she is my daughter, we figured it would be best if she came and lived with me."

"But you didn't want to tell me," she said harshly.

"I told Giles not to tell you. We still couldn't be together because of the curse, and I didn't want you to suffer again."

"So, once again you are making my decisions for me, right?"

"Buffy, you know its not like that."

"Well, then how is it, Angel, what is it called when you decided for ME decisions I should be making about MY life? How did you get the privilege of telling me who my life is supposed to be with, and what is good for me? I don't remember anyone ever giving you that job."

"Buffy, we thought it would be better for Annie if I took care of her. She wouldn't be in any danger with me."

"I have to go," she said quickly.

Before she could get to the door, Angel stopped her.

"Give me your address, and I will come and talk to you later," he asked.

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"Buffy, please," he pleaded.

"Fine." She took a piece of paper form her purse and wrote down her dorm room number for him.

Taking the paper from Buffy's hand, Angel watched as she ran from the hotel room.

***********

Buffy ran into her dorm room crying. She was hoping that Alexis wouldn't be home, but she was.

"Oh my God, Margaret what's wrong?" she asked.

The Slayer was at a loss of words and just started crying even harder. Alexis hugged her friend and tried to calm her sobs.

When Buffy's sobs had quieted down, she looked up towards Alexis, knowing her best friend was concerned and wanted some answers.

"I'm going to tell you some things, but you have to promise that you will believe what I say and not question it, please," Buffy told Alexis.

"I promise, I trust you and I don't know what you could possibly say that I wouldn't believe."

"Ok well, lets start with my name and where I am from. My real name is Buffy Anne Summers. Margaret was my grandmothers name. Sunnydale, California is where I am from. It's a hellmouth. Before you say anything, let me explain what I mean by this. Sunnydale, is on the opening of hell. If somehow it would open, the world is gone. Demons will take it over. I know you probably don't believe in demons and vampires and all those things, but they are real."

"Ok, I know how I promised that I would believe you, but Marg this doesn't make sense."

"Just hear me out. Vampires and Demons are real and I am the Slayer. The Slayer is the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to hunt vampires, yada yada yada. Mainly, she is just a girl with enormous strength and she kills vampires and demons and everything that goes bump in the night."

"And you are the Slayer?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, and I know that it is hard to believe, but its true. Anyway, on to the rest of my story. I left Sunnydale about 4 years ago when I came here. I left because my life was to hectic stressful for me, I couldn't take it anymore. My mother had a brain tumor, I had a sister who wasn't really my sister, and my lover had left me because he wanted me to have a better life. To top that off I had just had a baby who's father remained a mystery to me. I gave her up. I ran away for the second time, the first tome because I sent my lover to hell, and I didn't tell anyone where I went."

"You sent what to hell?!"

Alexis was trying to believe Margaret, she really was, but she sent someone to hell. That was a little too much to take in.

"I sent my boyfriend to hell. He was a vampire, but a good one, he has a soul. When you become a vampire your soul is taken over by the demon. You have no conscience of what is happening, its just a demon in there killing everyone. So, I fell in love with him. Kind of poetic, a slayer in love with a vampire, her mortal enemy."

"Ok, so why did you send him to hell?"

"You see, on my 17th birthday we made love and the people who gave him his soul back put a curse on him, he would loose his soul and become the demon again if he achieved true happiness, and I guess I gave that to him because I woke up and he was his demon form again. He mocked me and played mind games with me, he wanted to open the hellmouth. He opened it, the only way to close it was his blood. I stabbed him with a sword just before my friend, Willow, recursed him with a soul. I kissed him, told him I loved him, and sent him to hell with a soul."

"Wow," was all Alexis said. She was stunned, she had never heard anything like this.

She never believed in any of this and to hear what happened to her best friend was just plain overwhelming. She didn't know how to take all of this or what to say.

"Yeah, so I ran away and he come back from hell when I returned. He tried to kill himself on Christmas that year but it snowed and he was saved. It was a miracle, it never snows in Sunnydale. A week before my prom he broke up with me because he wanted me to have a life with someone who could give me everything he couldn't. He left me after my highschool graduation. The mayor of Sunnydale turned into a demon, I killed him and blew up the school, then Angel leaves me."

"You blew up your school?"

"Uh huh. So then, about a year and a half later I have a baby, my mother is dying, and my sister really isn't my sister. I know that last part sounded weird but its true. These monks gave me energy, which was a key to something, in a form of a person. She needed to be protected so they altered everyone's memories so that she was in them. The key had to be protected, so they gave her to me. They thought I would be able to protect her."

"Wait, so you had a sister who really wasn't real?" Alexis asked confused.

"Right. So, I couldn't take any of this stuff. I left without telling anyone. I just got up in the middle of the night and took my plane here. I had been making secret reservations for all of this, no one knew about it. They didn't even suspect it."

Buffy stopped, not sure on how she was going to tell the rest of this story.

She sighed, took a deep breath, and continued, "Now, my ex boyfriend, Angel, and my daughter, Annie are in town. That's why I am a mess right now. I just came from his hotel. He told me he has had our daughter, I don't know how she is our daughter, for 4 years."

"Oh God, how did they find you?"

"Well, you remember that guy I bumped into at the club, Spike? Well, he probably told Angel where I was. I gave Angel the address of our dorm, I don't know why, so if he asks for Buffy just let him in if I am here."

"Ok, Margaret, some of this is hard to believe, but since your my best friend and I trust you, I believe this all." Alexis told Buffy.

"Thank you."

*****

Cordelia walked into the hotel room a little after 5:00pm. She figured Buffy would be here talking with Angel, but when she wasn't, she got worried.

Did Buffy even come? Did she even care that she had a daughter? Did she believe Cordelia when she slipped about Annie?

Angel walked out of his room and greeted her, "Hello Cordelia."

"Hey, I am assuming Buffy didn't come?" she asked.

"No, she came. It was too much for her to handle. I told her about Annie and we had a little fight. She gave me her dorm room number. I am going to go visit her tomorrow."

"Oh, did she believe you about Annie?"

"Yeah."

*****

Alexis was studying for her physics test when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find a very handsome man with brown spikey hair and a nice body. There was a little girl with blond hair and dark chocolate eyes standing next to him.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, I'm Angel, is Buffy here....." he remember that she changed her name to Margaret, "I mean Margaret."

"Sure, come on in. She is expecting you, but unfortunately she isn't here. She ran down to the cafeteria do get some coffee. I expect her back in a few minutes. You can wait, if you like," she answered.

"Ok, thanks."

"Daddy, why we here?" Annie asked as they walked into the dorm room.

Angel bent down and whispered in Annie's ear, "We came to visit your mommy. When she walks in I want you to run up to her and give her a big hug, ok?"

"Awight."

*****

Buffy was walking down the hallway towards her dorm room when a slight tingling feeling overcame her. She hadn't had this feeling in a while, she had always gotten in when Angel was around.

Figuring he couldn't be around, she shrugged the familiar feeling off.

She unlocked her door and stepped inside.

"Lex, I'm back."

When she turned towards her bed she was taken by surprise. Angel and Annie were talking quietly, waiting for her.

"Angel, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Before he could answer Annie ran over towards Buffy, throwing her tiny arms around Buffy's leg, hugging her.

"Momma," she whispered.

Taking this as a cue to leave, "I think I'm gonna go to see Erin, she has her graduation dress and wants to show it to me," Alexis said.

"Ok," Buffy whispered with tears in her eyes.

She gently picked Annie up and walked over towards Angel.

"How can she be a part of me and you? It's not possible. The last time we were together was my birthday."

"I have to tell you something, Buffy, but you have to promise you will believe me. It is possible for Annie to be alive, but she is a miracle."

Buffy nodded her head.

"Do you remember when you came and visited me during Thanksgiving?"

She nodded once more.

"When I killed the Morah demon, it wasn't the first time."

"What do you mean, it wasn't the first time? When else did you kill it?"

"We didn't kill it the first time, it got away. It went into the sewers and we chased it. You went up into the day looking for it and I stayed in the sewers. I found it and fought it. I killed it and its blood mixed with mine. I became human."

"You were human? Why don't I remember?"

"The demon wasn't actually dead, it regenerated. Doyle came and got me; I went to kill it. I was too weak and it almost killed me. I would have died if you hadn't come and saved me. I decided I couldn't live with you protecting me. One way or another one of us would have ended up dead. I asked the oracles to turn me back."

"There you go again, making decisions with out me. Didn't you care what I wanted too?"

"You would have died. I couldn't live with that. The Oracles couldn't only turn me back; they gave us back the day. I killed Morah before he could make me human. They told me you wouldn't remember."

Buffy was crying.

"I used to have dreams about that. You kissed me in the sunlight on a pier. I thought they were just dreams. They couldn't have been real."

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I didn't want to hurt you."

"I know. I understand why you did it."

She was still crying.

"Daddy, why is Momma cwying?" Annie interrupted.

"She's just a little sad, honey."

Annie, who was now in Angel's lap, crawled over towards Buffy and gave her a huge hug.

Wrapping her tiny arms around Buffy's neck she whispered into her mother's ear, "Don't cwy momma, its gonna be otay."

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

Annie was still holding onto Buffy when Angel pulled them both into his arms.

He gently ran his hand up and down Buffy's back. Before long her and Annie were both asleep.

Angel laid Buffy and Annie down in her bed when Buffy called out to him.

"Angel, will you just lay with me, please?"

So, like a family, they all fell asleep in her single bed with Annie in between the both of them.

*****

Buffy awoke to find a tiny warm body in between her and another large warm body. Then it all came back to her.

Angel and Annie were in the bed with her.

Looking over towards Angel, she noticed he was also awake and just staring at her and Annie.

"Morning," she said.

"Hey."

"What are you doing," she asked.

"Watching the two most loved women in my life."

"Oh," she answered, not sure of what to say.

"I-I am sorry for the way I acted when I saw you at the hotel," she started, "I was just-just a little bit shocked. Seeing my daughter, who I thought had been adopted, with her father."

"I figured it would come as a shock. I just had to see."

"How did you find me?"

"Spike called us, said he saw you in a club in New York. We came here and asked around. Cordelia went to that club, I assume you saw her, and then you came to the hotel and here I am now."

"I told him not to tell anyone where I was," Buffy said angrily.

"I'm glad he told me. I miss you."

Buffy wasn't sure what to say. She missed him too, but if she said something she would be giving in to what he wanted and she couldn't do that. Not yet, at least.

"I never stopped loving you, Buffy." Angel said.

"Margaret," she corrected.

"Margaret. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the name?"

"Well it was my grandmother's. I couldn't use Anne again, Willow would've known to look for Anne."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry, for what?" she asked.

"For leaving you, I never meant to hurt you. I thought it was right at the time."

"That's just it. You thought it was right, I didn't. I hate it when you make decisions without me. Honestly, I miss you too," she confessed.

Angel leaned over and caught her lips in a sweet kiss.

It was then that Annie woke up.

"Daddy, I'm hungwy," she whined.

"Hey sweetie. Do you want to go get some breakfast?" he asked.

"Yes, pwease. Can momma come too?"

"Sure, if she wants to."

"Pwease, Momma."

"I-I guess so," Buffy answered.

"Angel, how are we supposed to get to a place to eat breakfast when the sun is out?" she asked.

"That's another thing, I'm human."

"You're what?!" she screamed.

"Human."

"Oh god, Angel, thats so great."

Buffy launched herself into his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, and sprinkled tiny kisses all over his face. She then topped it off with a soothing, passionate kiss.

All the while Annie was laughing hysterically.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly when she was down off of Angel, "Let's go eat."

*****

Buffy, Angel, and Annie were walking along the streets of New York city, Buffy's hand in Angel's and Angel carrying Annie.

To any onlooker, they looked like a quiet family.

When they arrived at the restaurant, it was packed. They decided to go back to Angel's apartment where he could cook them a nice breakfast.

Luckily, when they arrived Cordelia wasn't there. The three could have some alone time and discuss their confusing situation.

"So, chef, what's on the menu?" Buffy asked

"Whatever the lady wants," he answered playing along.

"Hmm..I don't know. What do you know how to make?"

"Well, I usually make chocolate chip pancakes for Annie, how does that sound?"

"Yumm."

Angel went to the kitchen and started cooking while Buffy walked over towards Annie who was on the ground coloring a picture.

"What'cha coloring?" Buffy asked.

"My momma, my daddy, and me," Annie answered, "See, this wis my momma, me, and my dadda." She pointed them all out to Buffy as she said their names.

Buffy started to feel tears in her eyes and she hoped they wouldn't come. She didn't want Annie to see her crying again.

"Breakfast is served," she heard Angel yell from the kitchen.

She got up and walked into the kitchen where Angel was waiting in a chair for her and Annie.

"Whats wrong?" he asked as soon as she sat down.

He was always able to do that, know when something was wrong with her.

Annie then came and joined them.

"Nothing, I'm fine. I just have something in my eye," she lied.

"Don't tell me there is nothing wrong, I can tell."

"How can you love someone so much and you just met her?" she asked, referring to Annie.

"That's one question I don't know how to answer, but I felt the same way as soon as I met her."

"I just can't go back to Sunnydale with you and I know you have to go back to your agency. I don't want to leave her again."

"Buffy, if you're not leaving neither will Annie and I. I love you so much, I can't leave you again. I made that mistake once in my life and I'm not going to do it again."

"I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to."

"I'm not. Like I said, if you're not ready to go back then we went either. Annie needs her mother and I need you to."

"You mean, you would really stay here for me? What if I'm never ready to go back and face everyone. I caused them all so much hurt."

"I'd do anything for you. Believe me when I say, they all still love you."

"How can they? I mean, I just picked up and left. I haven't seen any of them for 4 years."

"They wanted me to find you, Buffy. They still love, how can they not? You're not unlovable."

"Thank you, Angel."

"For what?" he asked.

"For always knowing what to say to make me feel better."

"That's why I'm here."

He leaned over to kiss her.

"Momma and daddy have kwissy face," Annie exclaimed.

Angel reached over, grabbed Annie, and started tickling her. Buffy joined in. Before long they had Annie almost crying from laughing so much.

When Angel and Buffy stopped, Annie ran from his lap.

"Hide and wo seek," she screamed, "I hide!"

The two lovers eyed eachother and then ran after their daughter. All they while each of them was laughing.

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

After a long game of Hide and Go Seek, Angel, Buffy, and Annie all fell asleep together on the couch while watching 'The Little Mermaid.'

They had been sleeping for an hour or two when they were interrupted by Cordelia, "Angel I am back. How did things go with Buffy," she yelled as she walked in the hotel room door.

When she didn't get an answer, she walked into the living room to find the 3 of them asleep together.

"I guess good then," she answered for herself.

"Yes, very well," Angel said.

Cordelia was startled she hadn't noticed he was awake.

"So, is she coming home?"

"No, not yet. She isn't ready. Annie and I are going to stay here with her until she is. If she isn't then I guess we can find a place here or something. You can either stay here for a while longer or book yourself a flight home."

"I think I will go call and go home. I'm starting to miss LA. Do you want me to tell Giles and everyone that you found her?"

"Not yet, I am going to ask her what she wants me to do. If she doesn't want me to tell them, then I won't."

"Ok...good luck with Buffy," Cordelia said as she walked into the other room.

"Hmm.." Buffy started mumbling when she began to wake up.

"Hey," he said as she came to.

"Hi," she answered, "how long have I been asleep?"

"About 2 hours."

"When did you wake up?"

"A few minutes ago."

"Oh, how come you didn't wake me up?"

"I like watching you sleep. You look so peaceful and beautiful. You have no worries in the world and you're the only person I know who sleeps with a smile on her face."

"Well that is new because usually I have nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night. There usually isn't a smile on my face when I am sleeping."

"Buffy," Angel realized his mistake and corrected himself, "I mean Margaret. Annie and I are going to stay here with you until you want to go back to Sunnydale. Giles wanted me to call him and tell him when I found you, do you want me to call him or not?"

"Don't call me Margaret anymore, I want to be Buffy again. If you don't mind, can you tell Giles you haven't found me yet. I don't think I'm ready to see all of them again and if I know Willow she would be on the first plane up here is she knew you found me."

"Why the sudden change of mind about your name?" Angel asked.

"Buffy is the one with the adorable daughter with the man she loves, who by the way is human now. Margaret is just a made up person who lives in New York and has a life she has made perfect for herself. I don't want Margaret's life anymore, I want Buffy's, the life with you and Annie in it."

"I love you," Angel said as he leaned down for a kiss.

"Love you more." Buffy answered.

"Daddy," the two lovers heard come from under their heads.

"Daddy, help," Annie screamed as she had a nightmare, "the monswters...momma, daddy. Help, pwease."

"Annie wake up, sweetie," Angel said as he shook his daughter.

"Daddy, the monswters were taking me fwom you and Momma."

"We would never let that happen," Buffy assured her daughter, "We love you more than anything and no one will ever take you from us. We promise."

"Ok," Annie said.

"How about we go see a movie tonight, Annie?" Angel asked trying to make her feel better.

"Yes, Yes, pwease. A movie," she screamed.

"Buffy, can you come?" Angel said.

"Sure, I want to spend some time with you two," she answered, "So what movie are we going to see?"

"Wugrats in Paris," Annie suggested.

"Good with me," Buffy agreed, "What about you, Angel?"

He nodded his head in agreement.

*****

As Buffy, Angel, and Annie made their way into the 'The Palace Movie Theaters' a friend of Buffy's spotted them.

"Hey, Marg," her friend Erin said.

"Hey," she answered.

"Who is the hottie?"

"This is Angel," Buffy looked over towards him, "my boyfriend." She was reassured with a smile from Angel as she said the words.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't know. What movie are ya'll going to see?" Erin asked curiously.

"Wugrats in Paris," Annie answered for them.

"Well, who are you?" Erin asked.

"This is Annie, my daughter," Buffy answered.

"What? I'm sorry, did I hear you right? Your daughter?" Erin said incredulously.

Buffy nodded.

"Ok..well I am going to go and I will see you later," Erin said feeling very awkward.

"Well that was weird," Buffy commented before her, Angel, and Annie made their way towards the movie.

*****

Later that night after the movie Angel and Annie dropped Buffy back off at the dorm. She had classes to go to.

They had agreed that after Buffy went to her History class, which ended at 12:30, the 3 of them would go have lunch and possibly take Annie to the park.

Buffy and Angel had decided to move in together. This way, Annie would have both of her parents with her at all times. Sometime later that week Buffy and Angel were going to go apartment hunting.

*****

Buffy was knocked out of her reverie when there was a knock on her door.

She had been thinking about what she would be doing right now if Angel hadn't had shown up in New York.

Deciding on that she was glad he was here, Buffy figured she would still be having nightmares and denying herself a real life that she wanted.

"Coming," she yelled to the person at the door of whom she assumed to be Angel and Annie.

She looked herself over in the mirror, wearing khaki flair pants and a light blue hooded long sleeve shirt that zipped down. Coming to the conclusion that she looked nice, she ran to the door to find her two favorite people.

Annie jumped up and hugged her; Angel stole a kiss as his greeting.

"So, where are we going?" Buffy asked.

"I figured since you are you the New York expert you could pick a place," Angel told her.

"How about Joe's," she suggested, "they have great food there."

Angel nodded.

*****

"Table for 3?" the waiter asked.

"Yes," Angel answered.

Angel, being the gentlemen that he is, pulled Buffy's chair out for her. She smiled, thanking him for the polite gesture.

The waiter brought Annie a booster seat and the three of them were ready to eat.

"Angel," Buffy started, "I was looking in the newspaper and I found a really nice apartment about 15 minutes away from the dorms. Maybe later this week we can go look at it."

"Sounds good, how many bedrooms," he asked.

"Two bedrooms, one for us and another for Annie."

"Hi, my name is Sarah," the waiter started, "what can I get for ya'll?"

"A club sandwich," Buffy said.

"Turkey Po-boy," Angel answered.

"Macawoni and Chweese, pwease," Annie said politely.

"Do you want to bring Annie with us when we go look at the apartment?" Angel asked Buffy.

"Of course, she is going to be living in it too."

"Oh yeah, Alexis wants to actually meet you," Buffy added.

"Alexis?" he asked.

"Yeah, ya know my room mate. You met her when you came to the dorm."

"Right, now I remember."

The waiter made her way towards the table with three plates.

"Here you go," she said.

"Yeah," Buffy said, "do you want to have dinner with her one night or something. Maybe we could go on a double date."

"That's fine with me, but what are we going to do with Annie. Cordelia left today," Angel reminded her.

"My friend, Erin or Amelia, could watch her. They love kids and they're great with them."

"Ok. When are we going?"

"How about tomorrow? I still have to ask her, but that should work with her."

"Tomorrow it is."

*****

"Angel, this apartment is great. Its not too expensive and it is just the right size. We have to get it," Buffy told her boyfriend.

"I really like it," he agreed. "What about you, Annie?"

"I wan it. I wan it," the four year old exclaimed.

"We'll take it," Angel told the real estate agent selling the apartment.

"Ok, if you could sign here," she pointed. "And here also. Its all yours. Here are the keys, please enjoy it."

"Thank you," Buffy told her, taking the keys from her hands.

"Oh my god, we just bought an apartment," she exclaimed.

Walking to Angel, she planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Annie ran towards her mother and father, wrapping her arms around both of their legs.

"I love you," Angel told Buffy, engulfing her in his arms.

"And I you," she answered.

*********

Buffy and Angel were lounging in their living room while Annie watched tv. She was obsessed with blue's clues. First, she had gone through the obsession of teletubbies, but that one was gone quickly.

Over the months she had been through barney, bear in the big blue house, and rolie polie olie.

Finally, she had found one that she liked. She was sticking with Blue's Clues right now. It had been 2 months since she had changed her show. Hopefully, she would keep it.

Buffy and Angel had settled down and gotten married within the past 6 months. Giles and the gang had come up to visit Buffy when they had heard she wasn't ready to come down and visit.

Each person understood her and her reasons, not questioning her for a second. Her mother had trouble dealing with it, but after talking with Buffy she realized it was best for Buffy to stay in New York.

The two had had a small wedding, inviting a few of Buffy's friends from school and the whole Sunnydale crew. Angel had invited Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn.

Their honeymoon had been in Hawaii. Being the untraditional couple they were, they decided to bring Annie along for the trip. They family of three had spent 2 weeks basking in the Hawaiin suns.

When they arrived home, Buffy and Angel decided they needed to put Annie in a preschool somewhere to let her get to know kids her age.

Buffy was still attending the University of New York, while Angel worked as a photographer for a newspaper.

For now, their life was good.

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