Disclaimer: They aren't mine, which sucks `cause I love all of them `cept Fish Boy.
Spoilers: The rest of this series, and up to IWRY.
Summary: It's near the end of Buffy's pregnancy, and Angel has to go to LA… and then some bad stuff happens. (Sorry, I suck at writing summarys.) And by the way! It's incredible, but this might have a happy ending!!!
Distribution: If you have any others in this series, or any of my other stories, take it. If not and you want it (Why, I ask!) let me know your site's address, and take it!
Feedback: YES! It's a requirement if you read this story… I want to know what you think! It's demanded! I'm begging! Tell me if you like it, why, and tell me if you don't, and why!
Rating: This one gets interesting. (Sorry, still no smut.) I'd say maybe PG-14 ½? I know that's not a rating, but it's not R, and it's not PG-13. At least, if I wrote it right…

It had been almost three months since Angel had blown up the Initiative base, and life was as normal as it got for the Scooby Gang. Over that summer, they'd averted two apocalypse's, killed a master, hit Giles upside the head twice, and rescued Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Giles from some nasty demon at least once. They'd also helped Giles move into the shop he'd opened, The Magic Box, a magic store. Appropriate.

They were all convinced that it was the most uneventful summer they'd ever had.

Of course, this was if you ignored the fact that Buffy had grown bigger and bigger over the summer, and her mood swings had gone from the most sweet and loving to the biggest cry baby, to the biggest bitch. Cordelia was almost jealous of the last, since she prided herself as being the formal Queen Bitch.

But she sure as hell wasn't jealous enough to put herself in that position, she confided to everyone but Buffy. Angel had been the least amused by it.

That topic had been dropped quickly.

The new topic had been what the baby was going to be named. Over the summer, Buffy had started making a list of possible names. First on the list was Angel.

Her lover of the same name was vehemently against it. He insisted that if they named the baby that if it were a boy then the poor child would be teased from day one. At the moment, that topic was hotter than anything else, and the gang avoided mentioning it when Buffy and Angel were in the same room. Which was pretty much always.

So they still didn't know what the baby would be called, and they still didn't know if it would be a boy or girl. Buffy and Angel had decided to be surprised.

At the end of summer, Angel, Cordelia, Doyle, and a newly returned Wesley had gone to LA for a weekend. This was normal. That portion of the gang had their own demons to fight. This weekend was not pleasing to Buffy or Angel. Buffy was due within the next week, but he had no choice but to go.

So on Friday evening in late, late August, Buffy was at the mansion, moping around. Willow was over as well, and the red head was trying to think of something to do, so that Buffy wouldn't become depressive as she usually was when Angel was around.

The only things she could think of would just remind Buffy of Angel even more. And that was what they were trying to avoid for the moment.

Willow sighed. She turned to look at Buffy, prepared to offer up the option of going to see Giles at his new magic shop.

Buffy had stood up and was entering the kitchen, playing with the buttons on the shirt she wore. It was actually Angel's shirt, and she wore it every time he had to leave. Lost in thought, she didn't notice anything amiss until a man stepped into her path and grabbed her. She gasped and he shoved a white rag in her face.

She crumpled to the floor after only seconds. "Buffy!" Willow gasped, and she began running towards the door, knowing she had no chance against anyone in hand-to-hand combat. Then she felt something sting her neck, and she realized it was a tranquilizer. A much smaller one than she'd used to knock Oz out. The man hurried over to her, and stood looking down at her for a moment. "Riley?" Willow mumbled, confused.

But then everything went black.

*

Riley's gaze was filled with a madness that truly frightened Buffy, to the very center of her being. He just sat there for the longest time, staring at her. His gaze hadn't left her since she'd woken up, what seemed like forever ago, but was probably only a few minutes…

They were in some kind of cave, the kind that she and Angel had beat up a nest of vampires in, so long ago. Except this one was smaller and darker, and there were several sets of manacles throughout the cave.

Buffy was praying to every god she'd heard of that Angel would rush in and save her. But she knew it wasn't likely. He was in LA.

But Willow… She'd been at the mansion too. Where was she now? If Riley had harmed a hair on her head-

"Is it my baby?"

Buffy blinked, staring at him, trying not to show her fear. She was the Slayer. She shouldn't have been afraid of him. Of course, she was nine months pregnant with less than half her normal strength. "It's not," she said after a long moment.

He stood up slowly, and moved over to stand in front of her. His eyes were glued to her stomach. His eyes were glazed over, and full of anger and hatred. He touched her stomach, putting one hand on each side. "It is. I know it is. Vampires can't have kids. It's my child and you want to take him away from me."

"It's not-"

"Shut up! You stupid whore…" He glared at her, and his hands were shaking with rage. "Stupid bitch…" he whispered. "Unfaithful tramp. You slept with him." He looked at her, his expression so confused… It was almost more frightening now than when he was pissed off. "How could you do that, you tramp?"

He was crazy, Buffy realized. Something else must have happened… "Riley, don't-"

"Shut up!" he screamed, his hand flying around her throat. Then he drew his hand back, but only after she'd started to have a hard time breathing... "It is. It is my baby. You weren't gonna let me have my child. You were gonna let the vampire have it and kill it. Raise it as his own." He was angry again. "Well you can't! It's mine! You can't take that away from me. You've had since January with it." He touched her stomach again, seemingly fascinated by it. "My turn. I get it."

Buffy stared at him, terror inside her, but also revulsion, and confusion, and everything…

It was amazing, but he was scarier now than he had been months ago…

*

Willow had her eyes closed, a washcloth on her forehead, and the phone against her ear. She'd been trying to get a hold of Angel, or Cordy, or Doyle, or anyone. She'd already called Giles and Xander and Oz and they were getting everyone else.

She knew that Riley-wasn't he supposed to be, well, DEAD?- had taken Buffy. And he had seemed like he had gone off the deep end. He'd been muttering things even as he'd shot her with a tranquilizer… that had taken four and a half hours to wear off…

So Buffy had been missing for that long. And she still couldn't find-

"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."

"Cordy! It's me, Willow. Get Angel. Now."

"What's going on?" Cordelia questioned, waving her boss over to the phone. "Is everything okay?"

Angel picked up the extension in his office. "Hello?"

"Angel. You need to get back. Riley Finn's alive, and he kidnapped Buffy."

He was mumbling something about the baby again as he built a fire in the center of the cave. He paused every once in a while to stare at her, or to draw pictures on the floor of the cave with his knife.

Then he suddenly got up and wandered out of the cave, leaving Buffy alone. Not hesitating, the Slayer yanked hard on the chains. They didn't budge.

She swore softly and began trying to pull again, desperate to get free.

"What are you doing?"

Riley stood in the entrance to the cave, looking at her with confusion. "You can't go."

Buffy took a short breath, trying to think rationally. Except it was rather hard, since he was so crazy. "Riley. I'm nine months pregnant. I can't stay standing up like this for this long."

He looked at her, confused. "Why?"

Oh god, please buy this… "I weigh a lot more than I used to, Riley, and it's bad for the baby to stand up."

"Liar." He frowned at her. And he crossed the cave again, touching her stomach again. "That's not true. My momma stood up. All women can. I've done a lot of reading about stuff like this." He rolled her shirt up, and she flinched, afraid he'd do something to her.

But he didn't, except to place his hands over the baby again. Buffy closed her eyes, disgusted by him. And so damn afraid…

*

Willy was a dead end. Xander and Anya had visited him first, and then when Angel got in town, the vampire had gone and visited him. There was absolutely no chance he'd been lying. Even Spike had been impressed by his sire.

Doyle had called in every favor he had. Giles had, Wesley had, even Spike had.

And they'd had no luck yet.

Angel had beat up every vamp, every demon, everything he'd found, searching for where she could be. Or where the commandoes were hiding out.

Or anything.

But no one knew a thing.

Then the gang regathered at Angel's mansion. And help arrived from an unlikely source.

*

"Eat this," Riley ordered.

Buffy stared at the spoonful of soup he held in front of her face, and felt the urge to be sick. "Oh god, no," she said, turning away.

"Fine," he said angrily. He threw the bowl of soup he'd prepared to feed her against a rock, and it shattered into a million pieces. She flinched as one of the pieces flew wild and hit her ankle. "You can starve!"

Buffy closed her eyes. She was so tired. She'd been standing up for several hours now, and she hadn't slept very well for a while. Anytime Angel was going to leave, the night before they always stayed up talking or doing other things. This late in her pregnancy, it was usually the talking portion, and last night had been very late for both of them. Add that to the fact that it was getting cold in the place, and the total effects were bad.

She felt him touch her still bare stomach again, and she flinched once more. He didn't notice, and crouched down so his face was even with the baby. And he began talking to her stomach.

When he finally straightened, he surprised her by unlocking one of her arms. "Don't fight," he warned. "I'm stronger than you, and I'll hurt you if you do."

Buffy, knowing that this was true and hating it, didn't move. He unchained her other arm and grabbed hold of it, using it to drag her over to the other corner, where he ordered her to sit. Then he took her wrists and chained them above her head. He grabbed a sleeping bag and pulled it over next to her. Then he stretched out and slid inside it, and one hand touched her leg.

He was asleep immediately.

Buffy slid as far away from him as she could, and pulled herself against the wall of the cave, trying to warm herself up. She closed her eyes and began trying to send help thoughts to Angel, or Willow, or anyone.

*

Angel snarled at the two boys who stood on the front porch, each standing tall and dressed in military apparel. They were both clearly afraid of him, but the fact that they might know where Buffy was kept Angel from killing them… yet. That and the fact that they were in sunlight, and he had to stay in the shadows…

Forrest and Graham flinched a little, but tried to brave it out. "We need to talk to you about Agent Finn."

"Where is the prick?" Angel demanded, seething.

Doyle joined him at the door, along with the rest of the gang. Everyone was clearly pissed, and the two commandoes began regretting their decision to leave their back up at the new base.

Graham looked to Angel. "May we come in?"

Everyone gave them amazed looks.

Forrest cleared his throat. "Right. In January, Riley began taking special drugs in order to make him stronger."

"So he could beat up Buffy." Cordelia finished angrily.

"So he could convince Buffy that he was better than any vampire." Forrest corrected. He looked to Angel uneasily. "Then he began working out and he went on a special diet."

"He over did it." Graham finished. "The drug was a new idea, and hadn't been tested thoroughly, and Riley started to go crazy from it. The incident in January was part of that."

"So drugs made him crazy made him stab Buffy?" Willow questioned, scowling. "Obviously, he's still a psycho, only worse."

Graham nodded. "We made up a story about him dying in the explosion along with several others who were going through the same thing. It's gotten worse as the months have gone by. The other day, the orderly who was supposed to be taking care of him in the asylum was found dead in his bed. And we've seen no sign of Riley since."

"Because he-"

Xander's hand covered Willow's mouth quickly. "And why are you telling us this?"

Forrest hesitated, looking at Angel again. "The only thing he's talked about for the last few months is Buffy's pregnancy, and he believes it's his child. He thinks she's trying to take it away from him."

There were a few glances directed towards Angel, but most of the group was just amazed about all this.

Angel closed his eyes for a moment. "If a hair on her head's been harmed," he said, his voice unnaturally emotionless, "I will show you up close what pain is."

"I'd suggest you leave now," Cordelia said, tossing her hair over her shoulders. "Unless you want that demonstration now."

The two commandoes looked at the group for a moment, then they turned and hurried away from the mansion.

"I'm setting up a spell to find her," Willow said softly. "Xander, can you call Giles? I'm gonna need help on this."

Xander nodded and went to find a phone.

The rest of the group just stood around.

They all felt helpless.

*

"Good morning, Buffy. How are you?" Riley's pleasant sounding voice woke Buffy up, and she looked at him, confused. How could he even ask that? She was chained to a wall in a cold and yucky cave, and she'd gotten almost no sleep, and she was hungry, and everything hurt…

He didn't wait for her to respond, instead crouching down in front of her. "Open up," he ordered, sounding very much like a child. He scooped up some dry cereal on a spoon and waved it in front of her face. "Here comes the airplane!"

There was no way in hell she was eating that. She had no idea if Riley had done something to it, or what the hell it was…

Riley realized she wasn't going to eat and got angry. "You're trying to hurt me!" He threw the bowl aside, and cereal spilled all over. "You can't hurt me. You can't hurt me." He rolled her shirt up again and began touching her stomach, repeating the phrase over and over again. "You can't hurt me. You can't hurt me. You can't…"

She closed her eyes, trying not to get hysterical. Please help me, Angel…

*

The only spell Willow and Giles could find could only be done at night. So the gang split up, and except for the two vampires, who had to hide from the sun, they continued to search for their friend.

At sunset, everyone was gathered at the mansion once more, and Willow and Giles were doing the spell. It worked slowly, and it was late when they started it. Angel stayed back, watching in silence.

He left the room when Giles told them it would take them a good hour to do the spell. Something about the alignment of the stars being wrong to do the spell any quicker than that.

The rest of the group stretched out in rooms around the mansion, tense and desperate to get going, to find Buffy. But there was nothing anyone could do.

So they waited.

She had no idea what time it was. She'd managed to fall asleep again, and she knew she'd been asleep for a while. Riley had gone outside when she started her nap, but he'd been inside again when she'd woken. She couldn't see any light coming from outside the cave, so there was no way for her to tell. She wasn't wearing a watch, and wouldn't have been able to see it even if she had been, and Riley seemed to have no idea what time it was either.

He didn't seem to care much, either.

If it weren't for the fact that he was forcing her to stay there, Buffy probably would have felt sorry for him. He was mindless, in a way. Irrational, mood-swinging, just weird. She had to wonder what had happened to send him to this over just a few months. As far as she'd known, and she hadn't really, he'd been fairly successful in the Initiative, so he had good opportunities, and he'd been happy.

Or she'd thought so anyway.

She wasn't vain enough to think that because she'd broken up with him, he'd gone psycho, so there had to be something else…

Most people didn't go nuts because their girlfriend broke up with them. Although, technically, she'd kind of cheated on him, and gotten pregnant from it, but…

He looked at her. "Do you want dinner? You have to eat for my baby."

Food. Oh god, she was hungry. The sickness that had overwhelmed her the first time was gone, and she was too hungry to worry about poison, or drugged food, or anything.

He grabbed a box of crackers out of his backpack and went over to her, sitting Indian style in front of her.

She closed her eyes for a minute. "It would be better if I could do this on my own." She said, hoping it would work.

He frowned at her, tilting his head. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled a key out of his pocket. He reached up and unchained her left arm. "Eat," he ordered, then wandered to the other side of the cave again.

Too hungry to even think about why he let her do that, or to try to figure out anything else, she did as ordered, eating most of the crackers.

"It's pretty out," he mumbled as he went outside. "Pretty."

Buffy sighed and shifted, trying to get comfortable.

*

He was gonna marry her, Riley decided as he played in the sand, drawing pictures of Buffy. And the baby would grow up to be just like him. And Buffy would be a good mummy, and she'd always make big dinners for him after a hard day's work. He'd teach her how to milk a cow. And feed the chickens.

And he'd go out every day and work hard on the farm. And when he came home, she would be there with the baby. Riley Jr.

Voices came up towards the cave, and Riley looked down to the beach. There were a dozen vampires down there.

They were gonna get Buffy! She was the Slayer. They were coming after her! It was the only rational reason Riley could think of.

Furious once more, he stormed in the cave, grabbed a stake, and went down to the beach to beat them.

*

The vampires were all pissed off. Some moron had gone and kidnapped Angelus's girlfriend, and Angelus had gone through Sunnydale and pretty much destroyed all possible vamp hideouts, looking for her. So now they were all stuck down at the damn beach, the place where the sun shone the most!

The oldest of this group, Heathrow, a sixty year old in a twenty-year-old male body, was especially pissed. He was the leader of this group, and he had to take them into hiding so Angelus wouldn't find them!

It was ridiculous!

"You can't have her! You can't! I won't let you!"

The screams came from a longhaired boy dressed in commando fatigues, who carried a stake as he ran at them.

Heathrow vamped out, his anger at the idiot who'd kidnapped the Slayer furthering his bloodlust and cruelness towards this moron.

The boy ignored it, madness in his eyes. "You can't have Buffy! She's mine!"

Buffy. Wasn't she the Slayer?

"Get him," Heathrow snarled.

And his vampires attacked.

*

Buffy shivered. California should not be this cold, she decided. Especially when it was only September. Although, depending on what day it was, it was possible that it was October. Of course, she couldn't know that because she didn't know how long she'd been in this cave.

She heard footsteps coming towards her part of the cave and sighed. Great. Riley was back. He'd just run in there a few moments ago, and grabbed something, then run out. He was incredibly crazy.

She looked up, expecting to see him walk in and sit down.

Instead, two vampires entered the cave, vamped out.

And they each smiled when they saw her.

*

"Almost…" Willow whispered, watching as the magic fog turned green, and started forming shapes.

The rest of the group was gathered around, waiting impatiently.

Angel was against one wall, trying to stay patient. But she'd already been missing for an entire day, alone with Finn. And if he was crazier than he'd been before, there was no way of telling what he'd do to Buffy…

Angel couldn't wait to kill the bastard, and find his darling Buffy.

*

Terror was the only way to describe what she felt now. The two vampires had been joined by several others, and she'd been gagged, blindfolded, and her other arm had been chained up. But not before she'd gotten to see Riley's dead body, his neck at an odd angle, and his neck a bloody mess.

She could still hear them talking, and that scared her worse. They were trying to decide if they should drain her and change her, just change her, or bring her close to death and deliver her to Angel.

At least the last one she might be able to see her friends again.

And it looked like that was the way they were leaning.

The second discussion, once they decided on doing the third, was about whether they should kill her baby or not.

*

"Got it!" Willow breathed. "The west side of Sunnydale, south. As close to the bottom as you can get without hitting the ocean."

"The caves," Angel muttered, and he led the way in getting to a car.

*

Someone touched her stomach. She gasped and tried to jerk away. The hand pressed harder, almost painfully. Afraid the vamp would do something to her baby, she stilled.

"Stay still," a vamp said in an amused voice. He was thrilled at all this. He'd be able to beat the crap out of a Slayer. Even if they didn't get to kill her… She'd be too busy mommying to slay anymore!

"I like it when they squirm," another vamp said, and Buffy felt another hand on her stomach. This vamp wanted the Slayer killed. That way the next one would be new and easy to kill.

"Heathrow goes first," another male said. He just wanted to be able to say he'd done a Slayer.

"Thank you, Jonathan. You may go second." The vamp that spoke that time sounded almost elegant. Not usually the first thought she had in regards to a vamp, but now she was trying to keep herself distracted so she wouldn't think about what they might do to her baby. Or her. They hadn't decided either.

The two hands left her stomach.

They were replaced by a hand on the inside of her thigh. She jerked away, pushing herself as close to the wall of the cave as she could.

The vampire laughed. Then he grabbed her, one hand on each side of her waist and pulled her out. Blindly, she kicked at him, and felt her foot connect with someone.

A vampire snarled, and then a hand was around her throat. "I said don't move!" Heathrow screamed, squeezing.

She flinched. He released her and began unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom up, and then ripped the sleeves so he could get it off her. She flinched again, knowing that the sports bra she wore was flimsy, and it probably wouldn't stay on.

Incredibly enough, they seemed more interested in her pregnancy than getting under her skirt or anything.

"Did you find the keys boss?"

The female's voice interrupted Heathrow from continuing to explore the upper half of this Slayer. He sighed. "Yes. I did. What of it?"

"Well, we don't know how long he's had her here. Maybe it's time that she got moved?"

Heathrow studied the girl, considering this. She was stiff as a board, clearly listening and trying to figure some way out. "Has he moved you, girl?" he questioned.

Buffy almost said yes, because she knew they probably had a little sense in that logic and Angel'd find her first, but his hands began playing with her bra straps. That changed her mind. The longer she could avoid that, the better. "No," she said, trying to sound as if she weren't scared for her life.

Heathrow sighed. He hated it when minions were right! "Find her another shirt. Pack up anything in this place you think is useful. And somebody figure out where we can stay for the next few nights."

*

A vampire on either side with an iron grip on her arm, Buffy was lead down the path. It was slow going because it was so rocky, and they made her leave the blindfold on. The gag too.

She also hadn't done much in the way of walking anytime recently, and was having a hard time with it, her size not helping things. That probably wasn't a bad thing because it slowed them down.

"Come on already," Heathrow said impatiently. "Places to go, people to see…"

"We got company," a vamp said, and Buffy heard her whispering something else to Heathrow. Then someone grabbed her arm and began pushing her down a path.

She stumbled a little bit, and lost her balance, falling forward.

Someone grabbed her other arm, stopping her from hitting the ground, and she heard a familiar "Whoosh!" as a vampire was staked. The arm pulled her up the rest of the way. "Buffy!"

Xander! Buffy realized, turning towards his voice.

Someone grabbed her other arm and began pulling again. She jerked her arm free and stepped back, stumbling over a rock or something. Another "whoosh" was heard and she felt vamp dust on both arms, even as she started to fall the rest of the way.

"Buffy," she heard, as two hands grabbed her, saving her from falling. Angel! Oh god, he was there! "Stay here," he ordered, and she felt him touch her face.

She nodded, then pulled the blindfold off her face, then the gag.

All her friends were there, and already there were only one or two vamps left. Spike dusted one, and Xander got the other. Angel hurried over to her, and the couple embraced, Buffy burying her face in his shirt, her arms around him and his around her. She could barely breathe right.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked.

"Where's Riley?"

Buffy managed to nod, but everything was catching up with her, and fast. Angel realized this and he helped her over to a place in the sand where she unceremoniously plopped down.

Willow knelt by her, on the other side as Angel. "He's dead." Buffy answered finally, glancing up at the cave where she'd spent the last… however long it had been. "The vamps got him." She glanced at everyone. "I'm pretty sure he'll stay dead, but…"

Doyle nodded and reached for a stake. "I'm on it."

She looked at Willow. "How long has it been?"

"Last night." Willow answered.

Buffy shivered. It felt like forever.

"Are you okay Buff? He didn't do anything? And the baby?"

Buffy looked at Xander, shaking her head. "I'm fine. We both are." She looked at everyone else. "Really." She closed her eyes for a moment as Angel pulled her closer to him.

Willow gave her a hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't help yesterday," she whispered, trying not to get emotional.

"Don't be," Buffy said softly. "There was nothing you could have done that would have helped."

Doyle returned. "He's dead." He announced grimly.

The group all sat there for a long moment as the events from the past day caught up with them, and they began processing that it was over.

Xander licked his lips nervously. He'd been so worried about Buffy… He kept imagining it was Anya in that situation, and he'd started to feel sorry for Angel… at the same time that he'd started to think about how much all of the gang meant to him. Hell, even Doyle was becoming part of the gang.

Willow glanced at him, and the two best friends each knew that they felt the same way. Everyone was special. Buffy's disappearance had reinforced that.

"Let's get out of here," Buffy said softly, staring up at the cave, trying not to show any of her emotions on her face…

Angel helped her to her feet.

"You should probably go to the ER," Willow said as she stood up. "Just to make sure that that thing Fish Boy shot you with didn't do anything bad."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't need to. I'm fine."

Angel raised an eyebrow at her, concerned. "You won't have to stay there long, baby," he said softly, knowing she was still afraid of hospitals.

She shivered and slipped her arm around him. "Really, I don't need to go,"

"Maybe you should," Cordelia said, frowning. "I mean, it would suck really bad if something were to be wrong when you're already nine months along and then some."

"Yeah, Buff, we'll all go with you," Xander agreed, frowning.

Buffy closed her eyes. "I don't want to go to the hospital." She said, her voice quiet, but she was clearly near hysterics. "I want to go home, lay down, and try to just forget about everything that's happened in the last day." She opened her eyes, and they could all see the tears that brimmed in her eyes. "I'd know if there was something wrong," she finished even more quietly.

"Fine," Giles agreed, worried.

He and Angel exchanged looks, and it was clear that the vampire would be making a detour at the hospital on the way home. No matter what Buffy said, it was too important that they just double check.

Even if it did mean Angel's be sleeping on the couch for the rest of eternity `cause Buffy got so pissed.

*

Buffy was furious when he turned into the parking lot of the ER. "I don't need to be here," she said angrily.

He sighed and pulled into a parking space, conveniently close to the entrance. "I know."

"Then why the hell are we here?" she demanded.

"Because." He faced her, knowing that she'd be pretty pissed. "Buff, I trust you, I know that you'd know if something was wrong with the baby. But isn't it better just to be sure?" She crossed her arms, still angry. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaning back against the seat. "If something were to happen to you, I'd never be able to stand it," he said quietly. "You're my life, my everything."

"Angel, I don't want to go there," she said, massaging her temples. "You know I don't like hospitals,"

"I know. But you said yourself. You were unconscious for a while. You don't know what happened." She looked out the window. "Please Buffy,"

He was prepared to carry her in there if she got too stubborn, but he didn't want to. He wanted to make her see why he was doing this. Because really, as much as they both trusted her instincts, it was better to be safe…

She opened the car door and climbed out, not looking at him. Angel followed her, relieved. She didn't look at him as they walked up.

*

The hospital was unusually empty for a Saturday night, and the staff was in an unusually good mood. The doctors even accepted the story Buffy and Angel made up without a second glance. (Not that it was unusual. Sunnydale people accepted anything BUT the truth.)

So Buffy was unhappily checked into the hospital in a matter of moments, and Angel was in the waiting room alone.

Not for long though. The rest of the gang showed up quickly, surprising him a little. He'd expected them to go home.

"So, what's the sitch?" Willow questioned.

Angel shook his head. "They haven't told me anything yet."

Xander sighed. "Great," He muttered unhappily.

The rest of the group sat down in the chairs around the room, preparing to wait.

A doctor came in just as Giles sat down, and everyone stood up again as he went over to Angel. "Ms. Summers would like to see you," he informed Angel. He glanced at everyone in the room. "Are you all here for Ms. Summers as well?"

"Yes, is she okay?" Giles questioned immediately.

The doctor smiled. "Very well. As a matter of fact, she's doing so well, the baby's decided to come a little early."

Angel stood up quickly. "Where is she?"

The doctor smiled at him. "Down the hall, first door on the right."

Willow grinned. "Tell her congrats,"

*

"You were right, I was wrong." Buffy closed her eyes for a moment as a contraction tore through her, and Angel let her squeeze his hand.

"I'm just glad there's nothing wrong," Angel confided, smiling at Buffy, who was laying in the hospital bed.

"Me too," Buffy sighed, opening her eyes once more. "We need a name."

He blinked. "You pick."

She sighed at him, but since that was what she wanted, didn't argue. "What was your sister's name?"

"Kathy," he answered after a long moment.

She nodded, relieved it wasn't something weird. "Alright, then Kathy if it's a girl. What was your name?"

He frowned. "Let's not even go there."

She frowned back at him. "Or I could pick to call him Angel if it's a boy." They'd already had that argument. Angel had told her flat out not to call the baby Angel, simply because the poor kid would hate her forever for it.

"Liam." Angel answered unhappily. "William Christopher."

She smiled. "I like it."

"Please, Buffy, pick something else," he begged. "Please,"

"No," she said, amused. "I like it. Oh shit!" she closed her eyes again as the contractions started once more.

Angel sighed and began praying for a girl.

*

"It's a girl."

Everyone looked up at the doorway, where the doctor stood, smiling proudly. "Ms. Summers asked me to inform you that she is the proud mother of a seven pounds two ounce daughter named Katherine Elizabeth."

"Whoo-hoo!" Xander said, jumping up. "Can we see her?" The rest of the group was just as eager.

The doctor smiled. "Two at a time."

*

Early that morning, a little before Angel had to leave because of the sun, Buffy sat with his girlfriend and child, just watching them sleep. Kathy was in his arms, and the nurse would be there soon to put her to bed. Buffy was exhausted in her own bed, and she'd fallen asleep a few minutes ago.

He smiled as he looked at them.

His curse would have broken if it were able to.

He was so happy, he felt like he was flying.

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