DISCLAIMER: Heather's mine. So far no one else is, though.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This comes right after New Lives. After seeing Angel this week, I need fluff. This is my therapy.

Part 1

"Okay, runt, let me see your hand," Spike said as he peered over the four-year-old's shoulder. Clutched tightly in her tiny little fingers were three aces and a five of clubs. "All right, now what do you do?"

Heather scrunched her face up and stared intently at the cards. Suddenly her face lit up. "Switch da five for dis ace!" she cried pulling the card from her sleeve.

"That's my girl!" Spike applauded leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "I'll have you cheating with the best of them by the time you're eight."

Heather began to giggle and waved at her father who had just walked into the room. "Daddy! Daddy, look! Spike's learnin' me to play cards!"

"That's great sweetheart. What game is he teaching you?"

"Pokie!"

When he heard that, Angel glared at his childe who seemed to find something insanely interesting with his left thumbnail. Angel knew without even having to ask that Spike was teaching his daughter not how to play poker, but how to cheat at poker. In all the years that he had known Spike, the vampire had never once played the card game without cheating at some point. And that was a lot of poker games.

"Spike, why are you teaching my daughter to play poker?" Angel asked with a menacing smile very similar to Angelus'.

"Pokie! Pokie! Pokie!" Heather cried as she jumped around the room with the four cards still in her hands. "Pokie! Pokie! Pokie! Pokie!"

"It was the runt's idea, not mine," Spike said, knowing at once that Angel would never buy it. This wasn't the first time that he had tried to teach Heather how to cheat at cards. Though it was definitely better than the time he had taught how to make coins seemingly "vanish" from her hands. They always seemed to find a way to reappear in the front pocket of her overalls.

"Just like it was her idea to see who could put the most marshmallows in their mouth," Angel reminded the vampire.

Spike couldn't help but smile when he thought of that. "You should be proud of the Munchkin. She did beat me after all."

"That's cause you were being nice."

Their conversation was interrupted as Heather came back to their side of the room and launched herself at Angel's legs. Angel struggled to stay standing as Heather wrapped herself around his legs, squeezing as tight as she could. He couldn't help but smile as she grinned up at him. Heather was like a miniature, pig-tailed version of Buffy with his colouring.

"Daddy wanna play pokie?" Heather asked, grinning up at her father.

Leaning over as well as he was able to, Angel scooped his daughter up into his arms and held her up so that her face was level with his. "Are we going to play by the rules or are we going to play Spike's version?"

"Spike's!" Heather cried enthusiastically. "Spike plays fun. You can hide cards in your sleeve. Like dis!"

As Angel watched, his daughter pulled several aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens from her small white sleeves. Angel wondered how she could hide so many cards in her sleeves for she was still small. The cards were almost as big as her hands. However she managed it, Angel knew that he would lose if he accepted his daughter's challenge.

"How about we go pick up mommy from school?" Angel suggested. "Maybe go visit grandma on the way home."

"Gamma! Gamma!" Heather cheered, throwing the cards up above her head. "Wanna see gamma! Gamma has mash-mewos."

Both Angel and Spike found it hard not to start laughing. It was more than obvious that a great deal of Spike's personality had rubbed off on Heather. Not that it was very hard considering how much time she spent in the company of the vampire. After all, Spike was the one who looked after her while Buffy was at school and Angel helped Joyce out at the art gallery. Having a live in baby-sitter worked out great because it meant that someone would be there if they had to leave in a rush. And if they got in trouble, they knew that Spike would protect her until he turned to dust.

"Say bye-bye to Spike," Angel instructed as he finished tying up Heather's shoe laces.

Heather skipped over to Spike and jumped up in his arms. While he hugged her close, Heather planted a huge kiss on his cheek. "Bye Spike."

"See ya, runt. Say hi to gamma for me."

"Kay."

Spike watched them go, only a little sad that he couldn't follow them into the sun. Heather knew nothing about his being a vampire, only that he couldn't go out into the sun. She was still too young to realize what it meant. The three of them planned on telling Heather about vampires when she was a little older. Old enough to know that not all vampires were like Spike. Until then she would just have to go on believing that Spike was allergic to the sun. Besides, what better bodyguard could she have than William the Bloody.

Once he was sure that they were gone, Spike went into the living room and popped one of Heather's Scooby-Doo tapes into the VCR. He knew that if Buffy or Angel caught him watching it, he would never hear the end of it. But Spike couldn't help it. For a cartoon, Daphne was a hottie.

Part 2

Buffy was practically jumping for joy as she walked out of her psychology class. She had just finished her final exam. Ever. In a couple of weeks was graduation and she would finally be finished with school. She would have her psychology degree. That thought amazed Buffy. She had taken the course on a whim, but it had soon became her favourite class. Now she had majored in it. She had learned quite a bit from that class. Including the fact that Spike was in love with her daughter.

In a state of complete bliss, Buffy didn't hear the person calling her name until she felt the hand on her shoulder. Spinning around quickly, Buffy got into a defensive position. When she saw that it was only Riley, she relaxed.

"Riley! Oh my God, I haven't seen you in years!" Buffy cried, giving her friend a hug.

"I know, it's been what... Four years? How have you been?" the former TA asked, smiling broadly. Despite how long it had been since he had last seen her, he still had a huge crush on the petite blonde.

"I've been great," Buffy said happily as the two of them started towards the front doors of the building. "What about you? Where did you disappear to? I haven't seen you since you went home for Thanksgiving my first year here."

Riley ducked his head down. He couldn't very well tell Buffy the truth. She would think that he was nuts if he told her that he had been flying all over the world hunting down rare demons to trap and examine. So instead, he came up with the next best excuse.

"There were some problems back home. My mom got sick so I staid there to help take care of her," Riley said, hoping that she would buy it.

"I hope she's okay."

Riley nodded his head. "She's fine now. What about you? How's Willow?"

Buffy couldn't help but smile at that. She was very proud of her best friend's accomplishments. "She at Harvard now. Studying to be a doctor."

"Wow," was all that Riley could think of to say. He opened the door for Buffy and the two of them stepped out of the building for what Buffy hoped would be the last time. "How's your family?"

Buffy's smile got even bigger as she thought about her husband and daughter who were waiting for her back home. "Perfect. Absolutely-"

"Momma!"

The two of them looked up to see a small dark-haired girl running full speed towards the steps of the school. Leaving Riley where he was, Buffy hurried down to meet her daughter at the bottom.

"How's my little girl?" Buffy asked as she scooped Heather up in her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Who's dat?" Heather asked, pointing over Buffy's shoulder at Riley who was still standing at the top of the stairs, his mouth open.

Buffy nearly burst out laughing when she saw the look on Riley's face. "That's my friend, Riley. I used to go to school with him. Now where's daddy?"

"Right here," Angel said, seeming to appear out of nowhere. He slipped his arms around his two girls and gave Buffy a very tender kiss which Heather tried to break up by sticking her tiny hands in between their faces.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked as she switched Heather over to her other arm.

Angel grinned at Buffy as he led her towards their car. "It was the only way I could talk Heather out of playing p-o-k-e-r with Spike. I thought that we'd stop off at your mom's on the way home."

"Why is Spike so determined to teach Heather how to play poker?" Buffy asked, completely forgetting that it was better not to mention the game while the toddler was present.

"Pokie? Heather wanna play pokie!" Heather cried, bouncing around in her mother's arms.

"Not now, sweetheart. We're going to go see Gamma."

"Gamma!" Heather shouted, squirming out of Buffy's arms and running over to where Angel had parked the Blazer. Still too small to reach the handle, she was forced to wait for her parents to come and open the door. As time began to drag on, Heather turned back to where she had last seen her parents, annoyed to find them still in the same spot. They were fastened together at the mouth.

"No kissy face!" she shouted, running over to pull on the hem of Angel's shirt. "No kissy face, you gweat poof!"

That got through to Buffy and Angel. Both of them started to laugh against each other's mouths. Heather was definitely spending too much time with Spike.

"All right. All right. We're coming," Angel said as he leaned over to grab Heather about the waist.

She squealed in delight as Angel flung her over his shoulder and started to jog towards the car. Buffy wasn't far behind them. Once she was belted into her seat, Mini Mr. Gordo clutched tightly in her hands, Heather looked out the window at the man that her mother had been talking to when she had come out of the school. He was still standing at the top of the steps with his mouth hanging open. Heather waved happily at him as the Blazer started to move. She was going to see Gamma.

Part 3

Angel was in the atrium reading a book when all of a sudden he caught a glimpse of some small figure darting across the door that led in. Seconds later it was followed by another blur, this one mostly red. Before he even got up, Angel had a feeling that he knew what it was. Sure enough, when he walked through the door, he saw Spike chasing a very naked Heather around the living room.

"Doesn't want to take a bath?" Angel commented from the door, chuckling quietly.

Spike paused in what he was doing and looked over at his sire. "Do you wanna help me out here, mate? She's yer kid after all."

Without saying anything further, Angel walked back out into the atrium and picked up something from the ledge of the fountain. When he walked back into the house, Heather and Spike were on opposite sides of the couch, the former of which was giggling madly. All that Angel had to do was squeeze the object in his hand to gain Heather's attention.

"Duckie!" she cried, scurrying over to her father and taking the yellow rubber duck from his outstretched hand. "Baff time!"

Spike watched in disbelief as the toddler marched over to the stairs and up them towards the bathroom. When she was out of sight, he turned to Angel, a bewildered look on his face. "Ye mean all I had to do was give her the duck? All that, and all she wanted to was the bloody duck?"

"Spike, this is my daughter we're talking about. You've been giving her baths since she was about a week old. You mean to tell me that you haven't figured out yet that she needs her rubber duck in order to take a bath?" Angel asked, struggling very hard not to keep a straight face.

"Course I did," Spike said, trying to cover his slip up.

Angel just smirked at him before heading back out to the atrium. Once he was out there and had the door shut, Angel collapsed down on his chair, erupting into a fit of giggles. That a vampire, and one as vicious as Spike had once been, would chase a naked four-year-old around just to get her to take a bath was the last thing that he had ever thought to see. How he wished that he had had a video camera at the time. He could have blackmailed Spike with that for years.

"What's so funny?"

Angel's laughter stop as soon as he heard his beloved's voice drift down to where he sat. Looking up, he watched as Buffy descended the staircase then come to join him on his chair. "Spike was trying to convince Heather to take a bath without her duckie. Ended up chasing her around the house. With no clothes on."

"Spike or Heather?" Buffy asked, scrunching up her brow.

"Guess," Angel murmured as he leaned over and started to place kisses along her throat.

Moaning softly, Buffy turned and sat in the chair so that she was straddling Angel's legs. Slipping her arms around his neck, she pulled Angel closer, capturing his lips with her own. Nibbling slightly on Angel's lower lip, she forced him to open his mouth so that she could slip her tongue in. Angel groaned as her hands began to wander down the side of his body and under his shirt. His hands weren't far behind. Angel slid his hands along her thighs and under her skirt, grinning when he heard her moan again. He was so close and yet so far from where he wanted to be.

"We should head upstairs," Buffy whispered against his lips. "Don't want any surprises."

Angel nodded his head, his mind not able to form any words at that point in time.

Buffy slowly slid off of Angel's lap then reached down to help him up. Once Angel was standing, he wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist and hoisted her up so that their faces were at even heights. Buffy's legs automatically went around his waist. She began to place feather light kisses on his neck and jaw as Angel navigated his way back into the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he got into the living room and saw his mother-in-law sitting on the sofa.

"H-Hello, Joyce," Angel said in a strangled voice.

"Very funny," Buffy giggled, her hands once again finding their way into Angel's shirt.

Joyce couldn't keep from smiling when she saw the look of complete horror on Angel's face. "Hi, baby," she said sweetly.

Buffy jumped from Angel's arms as though he were on fire. Quickly fixing her skirt, she turned around to face her mother, her cheeks a brilliant shade of red. "Mom. Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to baby-sit Heather, remember? You, Angel and Spike were going to go out to dinner then to a movie," Joyce reminded her daughter.

"Oh. Right. Well Spike's giving her a bath right now so I have time to grab a quick shower before we leave," Buffy said as she began her retreat towards the stairs. Never in all her life had she felt so embarrassed.

That left Angel and Joyce alone in the living room. Angel just kind of started at his shoes and tucked his shirt back in. Joyce, on the other hand, found it very hard not to start laughing at her son-in-law. She had long ago learned that Angel took things a little more seriously than most people. She also had a feeling that he would much rather be facing a firing squad at that point than be in the same room with his wife's mother after what had just happened.

"I suggest that you go wash your face, Angel," Joyce advised. "You've got some of Buffy's lipstick all over your face."

That did Angel in. He quickly bolted for the nearest bathroom. Joyce just sat down on the couch, trying very hard not to start laughing.

"Where's a video camera when you need one," she muttered to herself as she waited for Spike to comes downstairs with Heather.

Part 4

After having been beaten at poker five times in the last six hands, Spike was seriously beginning to regret teaching Heather how to play the game. Or rather, his version of the game. He had taught her so that she could beat her father, not him. But no matter how hard he tried, Spike just couldn't seem to beat the four-year-old at a single hand. It was embarrassing for a guy who had once beaten the most powerful demons on the planet at poker. Now he couldn't even beat his sire's daughter. Spike knew that if any of his old buddies found out about it, he would never be able to live it down.

"You know what, runt, I say we call it quits," Spike suggested, noticing that the little girl was yawning quite a bit more than she had been half an hour ago.

Brushing her dark bangs back from her eyes, Heather shook her head. "Wanna stay up till momma and daddy get home."

"Sorry, runt, but your parents will kill me if they find out that I let you stay up till midnight," Spike said as he got up from his seat and walked over to where Heather sat.

Despite her earlier protests, Heather went willingly into Spike's arms. She liked it when Spike put her to bed because it normally meant that he would let her wear his red shirt as a nightgown when he changed her into her pajamas. She may have only been four years old, but she caught on to things rather quickly.

Carrying the mostly asleep toddler in his arms, Spike made his way over to the front door to lock it. He had noticed when they left that neither Buffy or Angel had their house keys- seeing as how he was the one who had taken them off their key chains in the first place -and wondered how long it would take them to get into the house without them. Front door locked, Spike turned and headed towards the door the led out to the atrium. Through the glass he could see something moving around and instantly shifted into game face, hoping that Heather wouldn't notice. She hadn't seen his game face since she was about a year old. Setting Heather down on the couch, Spike crept towards the back doors, ready to attack if need be. Before he had a chance, though, a pair of them burst through the doors.

Heather awoke when she heard the crashing noise. Crawling along the couch, she peered over the armrest and saw Spike fighting off the six or so intruders that had broken into their home. When she saw one of them hit Spike hard over the head she started to cry. Heather knew enough not to join in the fight. They were all big men and she was only little.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Heather began to scream, tears still pouring down her cheeks.

By this time the intruders had Spike chained. They now turned towards the little girl on the couch, the main reason for their attack. The leader of the group walked towards the couch and Heather. When Spike saw what he was up to, he kicked the man standing to his right then went for the other one.

"Heather, run!" Spike shouted when they all jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

Wasting no time, Heather jumped off of the couch and scrambled towards the stairs. Underneath there was a little niche that only she could fit into. It was the best place to go because whenever she and Spike played hide and seek he could never reach in far enough to tag her. Unfortunately, her little legs couldn't go fast enough to outrun the commando guy chasing after her. He caught up to her easily, grabbed her up and carried her back to the rest of his unit. The whole time Heather was crying and squirming, trying to get away from him and back to Spike.

"Targets obtained," the man announced to the rest of his until. He was having a hard time keeping a hold of Heather who continued to squirm about. "Stevens, hand me some of that duct tape in your pack. We need to tie the Slayer's kid up."

When Spike heard that he instantly shifted back into game face. He had promised never to let anything happen to Heather and he meant it. "Give her to me and you'll have no trouble. I'm the one that she wants. Just hand her over and she'll be fine."

"He's got the collar on, boss, so he won't be going anywhere," one of the men said.

Nodding his head, the head commando guy walked over to Spike and gave him the toddler. "One false move and we kill her," he warned Spike.

"Whatever," Spike mumbled before turning his attention to the sobbing mass in his arms. Heather was curled up against him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Hugging her against him, Spike placed a kiss on the top of her head, whispering quietly in her ear in hopes of calming her down.

"Okay, we've got the Slayer's daughter and Angelus' childe. Let's move out before they return," head commando guy announced, removing his black ski mask.

Over Spike's shoulder, Heather saw his face. Her eyes got wide when she recognized who it was. It was mommy's friend Riley.

Part 5

"Mission accomplished," Riley announced as he and his team walked into the main room of the Initiative. "The targets were both apprehended and are now being taken to their cell."

"Was there any problems?" Maggie Walsh asked, not looking up from the paper work she was absorbed in.

"None whatsoever. The Slayer and Angelus were both gone. The vampire remained docile after we threatened the child's life," Riley informed her.

Maggie closed the folder then looked up at Riley. "Very good. We will begin the experiment tomorrow. Be on the look out for the Slayer. She will not take the abduction of her daughter kindly. Nor will Angelus be happy about losing his childe."

=====

"Are you sure that you don't have your keys, Angel?" Buffy asked as she searched through her purse. "Cause I sure as hell don't have mine."

Angel rolled his eyes and began to hit his head off of the wooden door as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I'll bet that it was Spike. He would do something like this."

"I am so going to stake him," Buffy muttered. "Come on, let's go check the back door. Maybe Spike forgot to lock it."

Slipping his arm around his wife's waist, Angel led her around to the back of their home. He really hadn't thought that they would be back from the play so late. He was even more surprised that he was able to convince Buffy to go with him. Buffy had never been one for plays or operas and normally had to be dragged along kicking and screaming. Angel had been shocked, to say the least, when Buffy had agreed the first time that he had asked her. He should have realized why considering that he had shown her the tickets before asking. They were for a private box. Just the two of them. Alone in the dark. For three hours. All that Angel remembered after the lights had dimmed and the curtain had gone up was that they had been interrupted by the cleaning staff a full two hours after the play had ended. While Angel had been mortified beyond belief, Buffy had been giggling the entire way home. And now they were locked out.

Angel's happy reminiscence of the night's events were cut short when the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs in the atrium. The glass doors had been shattered. The first thought that entered Angel's mind was that something had happened to his daughter. Leaving Buffy where she was standing, Angel rushed into the house. The living room was a mess. There was glass all over and one of the tables had been broken in two.

"Heather!" Angel shouted as he ran over to the stairs. "Heather! Spike! Are you two here?"

Angel began to panic when he entered his daughter's room and saw that she wasn't there. There was no one in any room on the entire second floor. Nothing was even out of place. That meant that whatever had happened had happened in the living room.

By the time that Angel entered the living room again, Buffy had the lights on and was searching through the debris for any clue as to what had happened. The first thing that Angel noticed was that there was no piles of dust anywhere. That not only meant that it hadn't been vampires that had done this, but that Spike was still alive also. That gave Angel a small amount of hope. As long as Spike was with Heather he knew that she would be all right. Spike would keep her safe no matter what.

"Were they up there?" Buffy asked when she heard Angel approach. She already knew what his answer would be, but a part of her hoped that she was wrong.

Angel shook his head. "Nope. Everything upstairs checks out okay. Any idea what happened here?"

"Not much. There were no vampires in on this. At least none of them died. But, other than that I've got nothing," Buffy said emotionlessly. She felt dead. Hollow. Something had taken her baby away from her and she hadn't been able to stop it.

Angel helped Buffy to her feet and pulled her tight against him. "We'll find them. We just have to..." Angel trailed off when he noticed something on the couch. Releasing Buffy, he walked over and picked up the small piece of plastic. "I think I know where to start."

Buffy's eyes darkened when she saw what Angel had. An ID tag which said, "Riley Finn, Captain." Above the name was a picture of the person that Buffy had, at one time, considered a friend.

=====

"Want daddy," Heather whimpered as she continued to clutch at Spike. She hadn't let him go since Riley had placed her in his arms two hours ago.

"I know you do, runt, but daddy doesn't know where we are," Spike whispered in her ear. "Just try to get some sleep. I'll keep you safe."

"Daddy will come," Heather insisted. "I left da card fer daddy."

Even though her last comment had him confused, Spike continued to run his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion. "What card did you leave behind, runt?"

"Riley's card. It was in his pocket. I took it out when he picked me up. Just like you showed me to."

Spike started to laugh and kissed Heather on the top of the head. Like Heather, he had recognized the leader of the raiding party as one of Buffy's university friends. "You are a wonder, runt. Boy, your mum's gonna be pissed when she finds out what ol' Fish Boy did."

"Momma and daddy will come?" Heather asked hopefully, raising her head from Spike's chest.

"They'll come," Spike assured her. All of a sudden he began to grin real big. "Those blokes had better be glad that Angel's no longer his bad old self or else they'd be in serious trouble."

Heather smiled as well and lowered her head back onto Spike's chest. She had long ago gotten used to the fact that his chest didn't make a thumping noise like her parents' did. But that didn't bother her in the least. Heather knew that Spike would keep her safe until her parents came and took them home. Yawning loudly another time, Heather drifted off to sleep in her big brother's arms.

"Night night, Spike," she whispered, snuggling in closer against Spike's chest.

Wrapping his trench coat around her, Spike kissed Heather on the top of the head again. "G' night, runt."

Part 6

"Hey! Labcoat rats!" Spike called, standing just out of reach of the invisible barrier. Behind him, Heather clutched at his trench coat, occasionally peering at the room around his hip. "Will you bloody pillocks get over 'ere!?"

"And just what seems to be the problem?" Riley asked as he strolled casually over to the cell.

"The runt's gotta pee," Spike said bluntly. "Unlike us demon types, four year olds have to use the bathroom."

After a few moments of hesitation, Riley nodded his head. "Fine. You, go stand at the back of the cell. Any false move and I kill her. Got it?"

"Fine," Spike grumbled. "I'll behave, nancyboy."

Spike knelt down in front of Heather and whispered a few quiet words to her that Riley couldn't hear. After kissing her on the cheek, Spike got up and walked to the far side of the cell, his arms out-stretched.

When he was sure that the vampire was far enough away, Riley reached into his pocket and pulled his access key out of his top pocket. He swiped it through the lock and waited for the small light to turn green before motioning Heather forward. Heather kept looking at Spike over her shoulder as she walked towards the man that her mother had said was her friend. Spike just nodded his head and smiled reassuringly at the little girl.

"Did you sleep all right, Heather?" Riley asked as he led Heather down the long corridor towards the bathrooms.

Heather didn't say anything. She kept her eyes on the floor, scared to look at the things in the other cells. Frightening things that made strange noises.

Noticing her fright, Riley picked Heather up and began to carry her to the bathrooms. "We're not going to hurt you, Heather. We just need to borrow some blood from you and Spike. You won't feel a thing."

"I want my daddy," Heather whimpered, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Daddy's here, baby," a menacing voice hissed from behind them.

Both Heather and Riley turned around to see an incredibly pissed off Angel standing behind them. Riley had seen footage of Angelus before and except for the smooth planes of the face before him, he knew that he was about to meet the famed vampire.

"Riley, give me my daughter now," Buffy said behind Riley.

Surrounded on both sides, Riley reluctantly handed the toddler to her mother. Buffy accepted her daughter and gave her a quick kiss before setting her on the ground. "Heather, go show daddy where Spike is."

Heather nodded her head and scurried around Riley to where her father stood. Angel scooped her up in his arms, holding her tiny body against his massive chest. Now that he had her back, Angel let out a sigh of relief. At least he now knew that one of his two children were all right. Spike, he was sure, could easily fend for himself. But that didn't keep him from worrying about the vampire.

As it turned out, Angel didn't need Heather to find Spike. He could hear the blonde vampire's cursing long before he saw him.

"... cock-sucking mother fuckers!"

Chuckling softly to himself, Angel came to stand in front of the cell that his childe was trapped in. "Come on, Spike, let's get going," Angel said to Spike as he glanced over his shoulder to see how Buffy was doing. He winced sympathetically when he saw the low blow that she delivered to Riley.

"I'd love to, peaches, but I don't have the key," Spike informed him, trying to hide his joy at seeing his sire. He was even gladder to see that Heather was safe and with her father.

"Key? What key?" Angel paused when he felt Heather start to poke his shoulder. Turning his head down, Angel saw that she held something vaguely resembling a credit card in one hand and was pointing at a keypad on the wall with her other. Angel took the key from his daughter and ran it through the keypad located right next to the cell that Spike was in. To his surprise, the small red light changed to green and the open area before him made a wooshing sound that both men assumed meant that the cell was open.

Heather beamed when she saw that Spike was out of the little room and nestled herself back into Angel's arms. "Wanna go home," she said quietly.

"I'll be buggered," Spike muttered as he stared at the little girl. Who would have ever thought that what he had teasingly taught her to do would ever become so useful. "One of these day's, runt, I'm going to teach you how to pick locks."

Angel quickly handed Heather to Spike and told the vampire to follow him then went to go help Buffy out. They needed to get out of the underground laboratory before they were found out. The guards they had knocked out on their way in would only stay unconscious for so long. When he reached his wife, she was busy placing some very well aimed kicks on Riley's prone form. Not pausing to say anything, Angel grabbed Buffy around the waist and brought her with him as he led his family back above ground.

Of course, Angel should have known that things rarely went so easily. Something bad always happened afterwards.

Part 7

They were just reaching the end of the long room when a door opened and commandos started rushing out. Making a split-second decision without words, the four of them split off into two groups. Angel and Buffy went one way and Spike took Heather the other way.

Over Spike's shoulder, Heather could see the men chasing after them and burrowed her way deeper into his arms. Even though it had been four years since he had last been in the underground laboratory, Spike was pretty sure that he could find his way out again. It wasn't that hard. The hard part would be losing the commando men. Glancing around, Spike found their salvation. An overhanging pipe. It was too high for a human to reach, but a vampire could easily jump to that height. Clutching Heather against him, Spike jumped up and caught the pipe with his free hand. He dangled there momentarily before swinging himself around so that he and Heather were sitting on the pipe.

"Well if it isn't the little nancyboys," Spike taunted as he and Heather sat on the pipe out of their reach. "What's wrong, boys? Can't get us?"

Several of the men were trying to jump up high enough to reach Spike's boots and coat. He just laughed at them all. When he heard the words of one of them talking into a walkie talkie, Spike really started to get pissed.

"Oh no! We're not starting this Hostile 17 ballocks again!" Spike shouted down at them. "I 'ave a name, you know. It's Spike. William the Bloody if you prefer. But if I hear one of you call me Hostile 17 again I'm going to come back and rip out yer hearts."

After a few more minutes of taunting the commando men, Spike got up and removed the cover from a nearby vent. Making sure to toss it on the men below, of course. Lifting Heather back up into his arms, Spike placed her into the vent shaft and told her to keep going forward until he told her otherwise.

About twenty feet in, Heather stopped dead in her tracks. Spike thought that something was wrong until he heard her giggling.

"What is it, runt?" Spike asked quietly, careful of an echo.

Heather continued to giggle, her hand trailing up the side of the vent. Spike nearly started to laugh when he saw what had Heather so interested. A small spider.

Spike patted her on the back. "Come on, runt. We'll find you a spider when we get home. A nice big tarantula."

"Really?" Heather asked eagerly.

"Really," Spike promised her. "But first we have to get out o' this vent. It's less than an hour till sunrise and we've got to get home by then."

"Why?" Heather asked as she began to crawl forward again.

"It'll be easier for them to find us in the sun," Spike lied. While it was true a true fact, it wasn't his main reason for wanted to get back to the mansion before sunrise. It would be kind of hard to get Heather home if he was a big pile of ash.

=====

To Angel and Buffy's complete surprise, there was no one following them after they split up with Spike and Heather. There was literally no one following them. The two of them reached the same conclusion at the same time.

"They want Spike and Heather," the pair said in unison.

Cursing loudly, Angel spun around and started back in the direction that they had come from. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his little girl. Spike would do his best to take care of her, he knew, but there was still the chance that he might not be able to. He was, after all, outnumbered by quite a bit.

When they heard the sounds of other voices, Buffy and Angel slowed down a bit. They cautiously rounded the next corner, not sure of what they would see. While Buffy could only stand there with her mouth wide open, Angel was hard pressed not to start laughing. Spike was sitting on a pipe, taunting the commando guys below him. He purposely pointed his toes down so that they would come within inches of grabbing hold of him. Heather was still clutched tightly in his arms, her face burrowed against his chest.

"What the hell is he doing?" Buffy asked her husband in a hushed whisper.

Angel just shook his head in disbelief, a smile lighting his face. "He's being Spike. What else would he be doing?"

"He should be getting out of here. He's just sitting there. What if they catch him and Heather?" Buffy demanded, her parental instincts taking over.

"Spike would never let anything happen to her."

As they watched on, Spike got ticked off at one of the men below and started yelling something about a Hostile 17. To Buffy's ultimate relief, Spike got up and took Heather out through a vent. Once she was sure that they were safe, Buffy and Angel turned and headed back the way that they had come.

Part 8

Buffy and Angel were the first ones home. The two frantic parents began pacing back and forth just inside the open front door as they waited for Spike to bring Heather home. The fact that the sun was beginning to rise filled Angel with a sense of dread. Spike would only be safe until the sun rose. After that, Spike would be forced to seek out shelter for the day. Considering he had a four-year-old girl with him there were only so many places that Spike could hide without frightening the child.

"Come on, Spike," Angel muttered, glancing down at his watch. Five minutes till sunrise.

"Don't worry, Angel. He'll come," Buffy assured her husband, placing her hand on his arm.

Slipping an arm around her waist, Angel pulled Buffy against him and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Rationally, he knew that she was right. Spike would be back. Mainly because the vampire had no desire to go sunbathing. But that didn't keep Angel from worrying. Even though neither man would admit to it, the two of them cared about each other. They both tried to hide it, but it was still obvious.

"I'm going out to look for them," Angel announced, heading towards the open door.

"Momma! Daddy!"

Angel and Buffy both spun around when they heard their daughter's happy cry. They turned around just in time for Heather to launch herself into her mother's arms. Absently moving to shut the door, Angel kept his eye out for Spike. When he saw the platnium-haired walk out from around the corner, Angel let out a breath that he hadn't even been aware of holding in. Spike noticed this and arched an eyebrow at his sire.

"Miss me, peaches?" Spike asked, a cocky smile on his face. "Don't tell me that you were actually worried about little ol' me."

"Worried that you wouldn't be able to pay me back the hundred dollars you owe me if you were a pile of dust," Angel shock back.

Spike's smile lost its cockiness as he continued to watch Angel. He knew that Angel cared. While six years ago that would have meant absolutely nothing to him, Spike liked knowing that his sire still felt something for him. Hell, Spike as glad to have anyone even care about him after the way that Drusilla had left him.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, you great poof, I need to go get something to eat. Missed my dinner last night," Spike announced, turning on his heel and heading towards the basement where his blood bags were kept.

Angel nodded his head and watched as his childe disappeared into the darkness. He was glad to have his family back.

=====

By the time that lunch rolled around, Heather had told her story to Buffy, Angel, Joyce and a whole collection of stuffed animals. She told them about the commando men bursting into the house when Spike was going to take her to bed, about taking the card out of Riley's pocket, sleeping on Spike's lap in the scary white room, taking another card out of Riley's top pocket when he took her to the bathroom and of the spider that she had seen in the air vent. What caught her parents the most off guard was when Heather told them about seeing Spike's game face. Or, in her words, "Spike's bumpy face." She hadn't been the least bit scared by it because, according to Heather, she had known that it was Spike underneath.

"Do you think that we should tell Heather about Spike?" Buffy asked Angel as the two of them sat alone in the living room. Spike and Heather were both asleep upstairs in their rooms. Heather had wanted to stay up, but had fallen asleep in Angel's arms while watching cartoons. The little girl was now sound asleep in her bed, stuffed animals all around her to keep watch.

Angel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'm just scared that if she knows that Spike's a vampire, she might start thinking that all vampires are like Spike. That could be bad. We'll talk to Spike when he finally decides to wake up. It's ultimately his decision."

"Who would have ever thought that we'd be considering Spike a part of our family," Buffy mused. "I mean the guy's tried to kill us more times than I'd care to count and now he's our daughter's best friend. That's just too weird for me."

"Just be grateful that you didn't know him during the sixties. I ran into him a couple of times then. Let's just say that Spike is even stranger after drinking from a hippie than he is when he's playing tea party with Heather."

Buffy perked up when she heard that. "Ohhh. Do tell."

Angel shook his head and pushed himself up off of the couch. "Can't. I've been sworn to secrecy. Let's just say that I was nearby when Spike got his tattoo."

Leaving a pouting Buffy in the living room, Angel went upstairs to check on Heather. Even though he knew that the commandos wouldn't come back so soon, Angel couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He was sure that it would go away once he saw that Heather was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Unfortunately, Heather wasn't sleeping peacefully in her bed. The only thing in her bed were the stuffed animals. Panicking, Angel rushed down the hall to Spike's room, fearing that the commando men had come back for both of them.

To Angel's complete relief, Spike was sound asleep in the dark room. Heather was curled up in his arms, her dark head resting under his chin. Angel stood there silently for a few minutes watching them before shutting the door and heading back downstairs to Buffy.

Part 9

"I can't believe that I'm doing this," Spike grumbled as he slicked his wet hair back into place. "Bloody Slayer. I'm going t' make her pay for this."

A giggle from behind him interrupted Spike's ranting. Turning around, he saw Heather standing in the doorway all dressed up for her mother's graduation. The four-year-old was wearing a purple velvet dress, her dark hair down and curling to the middle of her back. Heather stood there grinning as she waited for Spike's approval.

"Well aren't you the little stunner," Spike said, kneeling down to Heather's level.

Smiling broadly, Heather launched herself into Spike's arms. Spike pretended to stagger under the impact then stood up and brought Heather over to his bed. Giving her an exaggerated kiss on the cheek, Spike dropped Heather onto the bed then turned to where he had left his shirt.

"Wanna wear your shirt!" Heather cried, bouncing up and down on the bed. "Pwease, Spike? Can I wear your shirt?"

Shrugging his way into his black silk shirt that Buffy was forcing him to wear, the vampire turned and grinned at Heather. "If I let you wear that, runt, your mum'll stake me where I stand."

Pouting, Heather flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She had learned from experience that Spike always gave in when she began to pout. No one could resist her when she stuck out the bottom lip which both Spike and Angel agreed she had inherited from her mother.

"I'm not going to let you wear it, runt," Spike insisted, trying his best to keep a straight face as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Spike, are you ready yet?" Angel shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hold you horses, you great poof!" Spike shouted back as he tucked his shirt into his black pants. "It's a little hard to get ready when you don't have a reflection."

"You're nearly two hundred years old, Spike," the former vampire reminded him. "You should have learned how to dress yourself by now."

Spike glanced down at Heather who lay giggling on the bed. "You see what I have to put up with, runt? I've been listening to that guy for centuries."

Still giggling, Heather stood up on the bed and held her arms out to Spike. Taking the hint, Spike picked Heather up and carried her down the stairs to where Buffy and Angel were waiting. The Slayer was wearing a simple sleeveless white dress which barely reached her knees. Her husband was wearing black pants and a crimson silk shirt. They were an elegantly dressed family, if you ignored the fact that both men were wearing worn leather trench coats.

"Are we ready?" Buffy asked the pair as they came down the stairs.

Heather nodded her head, squirming her way out of Spike's arms and running over to Angel. When Angel lifted her up, Heather leaned close to his ear and whispered something in. Angel started to laugh when he heard her question and shook his head.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I don't think that your mother would appreciate you wearing Spike's shirt tonight," Angel informed his daughter. "It's a big night for mommy so we've got to look our best."

Heather pouted and burrowed her face against Angel's shoulder.

"If you behave, runt, you can wear it to bed," Spike told the sulking toddler.

Heather brightened instantly and slipped from Angel's arms. While three adults watched, she rushed for the front door and began to pull it open. "Go! Go! Go!"

"Why is it that I get the feeling she's more excited about wearing Spike's shirt to bed than she is about going to my graduation?" Buffy asked the other two men as they headed out after Heather.

"Probably because she is," Spike told her bluntly.

Buffy just stuck her tongue out at the vampire and slipped her arm around Angel's waist. "Live it up, vampire boy. You know that you're loving this."

"That I am, Slayer," Spike agreed, smirking at his friend. "I've got to have something to keep me interested while I sit for three hours in a stuffy auditorium waiting for you to get a stupid piece of paper that says something you already know."

"Can we just be happy, Spike? Remember how badly my high school graduation went? I would like to get through at least one graduation without something blowing up," Buffy said as Angel opened the front passenger door for her.

"Please, Slayer. When have you ever done anything normal?"

From a car parked across the street, Riley Finn watched as the family piled into the red Blazer. As he watched them pull out of the driveway and head down the street, he reached down and picked up his walkie talkie.

"Hostile 17 and the child are on their way to the school. Be ready. Finn out."

Part 10

"Stake me now," Spike groaned about an hour into the ceremony. An old woman sitting behind him shushed at him only adding to the vampire's irritation. Spike was half tempted to turn around and show her his game face.

Angel merely slapped him on the arm after first shifting a sleeping Heather in his arms. "You come talk to me when you've spent a couple hundred years in hell."

Spike glared at his sire and slumped down further in his seat. "I don't even know why the runt and I had to come. She's your wife, after all."

"And Heather's her daughter and you're her friend. Now sit still. It's almost over," Angel said, trying to pacify the restless vampire.

"They haven't even started passing out the diplomas," Spike reminded him. "And your little buff is all the way at the bottom of the alphabet... Speaking of buff, do you know what would make this more interesting?"

"Why am I so sure that I'm going to regret hearing your answer?" Angel asked rhetorically.

"If Buffy was wearing nothing under that gown and flashed the entire room when she gets that stupid piece of paper," Spike said without emotion.

Angel smirked at the vampire momentarily before turning his attention back to the stage where the dean was still rambling on and on. "We practiced that. It went very well. Buffy didn't think that it would go over too well with the dean if she did what we did."

Spike arched an eyebrow at his sire. "Yer not serious, are you? Cor, but you have all the fun. How come you couldn't let me have a sneak peak?"

"Because she's my wife not yours, Spike.

"Well she's my friend and friends should share," Spike shot back, using Angel's own words against him.

"We are not having this conversation," Angel said forcefully, trying to keep the grin from his face.

Still bored beyond belief, Spike began to glance around the room for something interesting. Or some sharp wooden object that would get him out of that auditorium. Craning his neck back to see if there were any interesting patterns on the ceiling, Spike saw something that he hadn't expected on. A pair of commando men hiding in the rafters with their guns pointed down at him and Heather.

Before either of them could react, Spike reached over and grabbed Heather from Angel's arms and took off running towards a nearby window. Protecting Heather's tiny body with his arms and trench coat, Spike jumped out of the window and crashed down on the grass amidst a shower of glass. Spike took only enough time to adjust his hold on Heather before sprinting away from the auditorium.

"What's going on?" Heather asked fearfully as she clutched at Spike.

Spike stopped long enough to peek around a corner before starting towards a nearby building. "The bad men are back," Spike told her

Heather buried her face against the front of Spike's shirt and tightened her hold on the vampire. She could still vividly remember what had happened a week beforehand and didn't want it to happen again. She didn't want to see all those scary monsters. Heather didn't look up until Spike stopped dead in his tracks.

"Get out of the away, fishboy, before I 'ave to hurt you," Spike said threateningly, his eyes glowing yellow.

In response, Riley cocked his gun and aimed it at Spike's heart. "I'd stand still if I were you. If I shoot I might end up hurting the girl."

Spike growled and set Heather down on the ground. He saw a brief look of panic cross Riley's face as he began his advance. "What are you going to do now, fishboy. No little girl for you to hide behind. I guess that means you're going to have to face the big bad vampire."

Riley's first shot went wide and missed Spike completely. Before he even had a chance to contemplate a second, Spike had him pinned to the ground, his game face out in full. The vampire just grinned down at him, willing to bide his time. He wanted to make the commando's death as frightening as possible. There were things that he wanted to do- some including ripping Riley's still beating heart from his chest -but he couldn't do them while Heather was there. Spike was keenly aware of the four year old's presence for he could hear her sobbing quietly behind him. So Spike did the next best thing. He buried his fangs deep in Riley's throat and had a late supper.

When the body was completely drained, Spike sat up, wiping the excess blood from his lips. There was a funny taste in his mouth, but he was sure that a drink of scotch could get rid of that.

"Spike?" Heather whimpered, bringing him back to the present.

Spike quickly turned around when he heard her voice. The instant that he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks, he got off of the corpse hurried to pick her up. "Don't worry, runt. Everything's all right now. Let's go find your parents before they go completely grey."

Heather nodded her head against Spike's shirt, not wanting to look behind him. She knew that something bad had just happened and that she probably shouldn't look. Besides, she was happy where she was.

Part 11

Even before she turned around, Buffy had a sinking feeling that Spike was the reason for the loud crashing sound. Sure enough, when she turned around, she managed to catch a quick glimpse of platinum hair before the entire room erupted into pandemonium. Quickly removing her graduation gown, Buffy went to go find out what had spooked Spike so much. She had known that the vampire would be incredibly bored during the ceremony- that was why she had made him come -but she hadn't thought that he would jump through a window just to get out.

Then Buffy happened to glance up and saw the commando men hidden in the rafters above where she knew her family was seated. She tried to call out a warning to them, but didn't get a chance to before she heard the sound of gunfire. Everyone started to scream, Buffy the loudest. She knew that Spike was gone, but for all she knew Angel and Heather were still there.

Pushing her way through the frightened mob, Buffy struggled to make her way over to her family. Or at least what was left of it.

At one point Buffy was able to catch a brief glimpse of Angel through a gap in the mob of people. He was sprawled across some chairs, clearly unconscious. Seeing her husband in danger, Buffy hurried faster towards him.

"Angel!" Buffy cried, when she happened to glance one of the commando men sliding down towards him on a rope. Before she could get all the way over to her husband, the commando guy was on his way back up to the rafters with Angel in his arms. "Let him go!" she screamed up at the two men.

"Bring the child and the vampire to the Initiative and you will have your husband back, Slayer," one of the commando men called down to her as he and his companion disappeared out of a skylight with Angel.

Quickly glancing around, Buffy was relieved to find that Heather was no where in sight. That meant she was with Spike. Shoving her way towards the window that the centuries old vampire had jumped through, Buffy looked around for any clue as to what direction they had taken. Seeing none, she merely jumped out the window and took a guess at which was Spike would go. It took only seconds for Buffy to realize that she would never be able to figure out what went on in Spike's head. Instead, she headed towards where they had parked the car. If all else failed, she could drive around town until she found the two of them.

After a few minutes, Buffy heard the sound of whimpering and knew that it was her baby girl. Running as fast as she could in her heeled sandals, Buffy eventually found the pair who were slowly making their way back to the auditorium. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that both were all right. Even though she would never admit to it, Buffy did care about the vampire that her husband had sired nearly two centuries before.

"Spike, what happened?" Buffy asked as she gathered Heather up in her arms. She kissed her daughter on the top of her head as she willed the shaking in her limps to stop.

"Spotted some nancyboys up in the rafters and bolted with the runt. Simple enough. We were heading to the car when we ran into a certain fish. Don't worry about it, though. He's not going to be bothering us anymore," Spike informed her, unable to keep a smile from her face when he got to the last.

"What did you do to him, Spike?" Buffy asked sternly.

Still smiling, Spike glanced back the way that they had come. "I turned the old fish into a juice box. Would 'ave liked to do more, but the runt was around. Speaking of which, where's the poof?"

Buffy shut her eyes, willing the tears not to fall. She could feel deep down that Angel was in serious trouble, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. "The commando guys that you saw in the rafters took him. They were doing some shooting before and I think that he got hit. They said that they would trade him for you and Heather."

"Like that's gonna happen anytime soon," Spike growled. Slipping his arm around Buffy's shoulders, he began to steer her towards the car. They would take Heather over to Joyce's then send the two of them on a trip to visit with Buffy's father. Hank had been asking Buffy for weeks to take Heather up to LA and see him. Spike figured that now was as good as time as any. The runt would be safe and they'd be able to go looking for Angel without worrying about her.

An hour later, Buffy and Spike watched as Joyce's Explorer headed towards the city limits. All that they had to do now was go home for a change of clothes and some weapons then they would begin.

Part 12

"Are you sure that you know where you're going?" Buffy asked as she and Spike crawled through the air vents. "We both know that you are terrible with directions."

Spike merely smirked at her over his shoulder and continued on. "Slayer, I've been through here twice already. Once just over a week ago. I know where I'm going."

Still not entirely believing him, Buffy glared at the vampire, but followed him nonetheless. He was her only chance of finding Angel and bringing him home. The two of them continued on silently after that while Spike struggled to remember where to turn and where to keep going straight. Under no circumstances was he going to let those labrats do any of their experiments on his sire.

After about ten minutes, Spike found what he was looking for. A splatter on the side of the vent. It was where he had smushed the spider that Heather had taken such an interest in the week before. Spike hated the creepy crawly things and had killed it as soon as Heather was no longer watching. She wouldn't have been very happy with him if she knew that he had killed her little friend.

"About twenty more feet then we'll come to a right turn. After that's an opening. We go through that," Spike told Buffy in a hushed whisper.

"Are you sure, Spike?" Buffy couldn't keep from asking.

Growling softly under his breath, Spike nodded his head. "Yes, I'm bloody well sure. Now let's go get Angel so that we can go home."

Just as Spike had predicted, the opening was right around the corner. They had to wait a couple of moments for a few members of the Initiative to get out of sight before they slid from the air vent to the pole directly beneath it. Buffy cursed under her breath as one of her stakes fell out of her pocket and clattered loudly on the ground. Thankfully, the commandos were too far away to hear it by then.

"All right, Slayer. You ready to go?" Spike asked as he shifted his sack of goodies over his shoulder.

"Let's do it."

Silently as two jungle predators, Buffy and Spike jumped down from the pipe and landed softly on the tile below. They crept forward towards the main hallway on the lookout for any of Maggie Walsh's mad scientists.

"Come near me with that again and I swear that you will live to regret it... If you even live that long."

Buffy and Spike knew that voice instantly. It wasn't Angel. It was Angelus. They both cast a nervous glance at each other before continuing on towards the white hallway. It wasn't the first time that Angelus had reared his ugly head. Whenever Angel became extremely angry the demon made a showing. Once he was calm, Angelus would be completely gone, but Buffy still worried. No matter what the reason, Angel would still feel guilty about what he had done when he was angry.

"Well at least we know that he's all right," Spike said, unable to contain the smirk that found its way to his face.

Before Buffy got a chance to say anything, Angel let out a loud scream... And it wasn't an angry scream.

"That's it!" Buffy cried, pulling out the sword that she had brought with her. It was either that or one of Angel's fighting axes and Buffy had always been fond of the ancient sword.

Waiting only long enough for Spike to pull out his crossbow before charging into the hallway. Spike, who was in full vamp mode, let out a loud growl announcing their presence to all.

"You have one chance to give me back my husband before I get testy. And you don't want me to get testy," Buffy warned them, clutching the sword tight in her fists.

Maggie turned around calmly, not the least bit fazed by the two warriors standing not more than ten feet away from her. "Just give me the child and the vampire and you can have your husband back. It's as simple as that."

Buffy couldn't help it, she started to laugh. "You're not serious, are you? You expect me to let you use my family as guinea pigs for some freaky experiment? Please. What you are going to do is let Angel go before I let Spike do to you what he did to Riley."

"Fishboy," Spike corrected her, not taking his eyes off of the two commandos guarding Angel. He figured that if he could take them out, it would cause enough confusion for Buffy to be able to sneak in and get Angel off of that operating table he was handcuffed to. From what he could see, there was the same type of lock on the table as there had been on his cell. They still had Riley's keycard which hopefully would work to get Angel off the table.

"Sorry. What Spike did to fishboy," Buffy said without missing a beat. She was thinking along the same lines as Spike. The keycard in question was in the side pocket of her cargo pants, within easy reach if she could get close enough to Angel.

"Yes, that was a misfortune what happened to Riley," Maggie said without any emotion. "He was the best that the Initiative had. Oh well. There are others. Boys, neutralize the Slayer and Hostile 17."

Buffy just smiled at her former teacher. "You want a war, you've got one."

No sooner had those words left Buffy's mouth than Spike fired off one of his arrows. Seconds later it twin followed, embedding itself neatly in centre of the commandos chest. War broke out then. The commandos charged Buffy and Spike, protecting their leader and their prize. They would give their lives before they let the Slayer and the vampire win.

The room was filled with the shouts of the trapped demons, all begging to be set free. They all promised to help fight the members of the Initiative if only Buffy and Spike would let them out.

"Slayer, now!" Spike shouted, noticing a small break in the Initiative's defenses.

Without even pausing to think, Buffy ran in the direction of the table that Angel was locked to. Using her sword to keep the other commandos away from her, Buffy reached into her pocket and pulled out the keycard. Buffy could see another of the Initiative approaching in the reflection on the metal hospital table. As she swiped the keycard through the lock with one hand, Buffy lashed out backwards with the sword, sticking it into the commando's gut without a second thought. To her complete relief, the metal shackles unlocked and disappeared into the table.

"Come on, Angel, let's go," Buffy said quietly, lying her sword above Angel's head on the table. She tried her best to ignore all of the blood that covered his right shoulder, knowing that she had to get Angel out of there before she made each and every person present pay for what they had done to her husband.

"I can go for that," Angel mumbled through clenched teeth. His entire body felt like it was on fire from whatever it was that they had injected into his blood just before Buffy and Spike had arrived. He knew for a fact, though, that it wasn't good.

"Can we hurry up, please?" Spike shouted over his shoulder. "I think that someone just ran for reinforcements."

"We're coming. We're coming," Buffy said, slipping her head under Angel's left arm. As her arm slipped around his bare back, she noticed that his flesh was a little cold, but figured that it was because of the fact that he had been lying on the cold table.

Spinning around on his heel, Spike grabbed the key card from Buffy's hand and ran over to the control panel near the door. He figured that it was the most likely thing that would open all of the cells in the room. If Angel had taught him one thing during his time as Angelus it was that the enemy of your enemy was your friend. So, in other words, he was going to set all of the trapped demons free and let them fight the commandos for them.

"Please work. Please work. Please work," Spike muttered as he ran the keycard through slot. As soon as the small red light turned green, Spike hit the button labeled "cells." The loud shouts that he heard behind him told him all that he needed to know. Without even bothering to check and see if the other demons were free, he ran over to where Buffy and Angel were fighting off the commandos.

The three of them hurried out of the main room of the Initiative complex with the screams of the commandos echoing behind them.

=====

"We really should get you to the hospital, Angel," Buffy said as she helped Angel into the car roughly ten minutes later. "You don't look too hot."

"She's right, peaches. You look like shit," Spike said bluntly, trying to hide his actual concern for his sire.

Angel managed a tight smile as she shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"You're not fine, Angel, and you know it. You've got blood leaking out of your shoulder, you're very pale and your skin feels kinda cold," Buffy whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Just humour me, Angel. Please?"

After a moment's hesitation, Angel nodded his head. Truth was, he did feel terrible. Whatever Maggie Walsh had stuck him with was getting worse. He could barely keep his eyes open let alone put up a fight with Buffy and Spike about why he shouldn't go to the hospital. Angel hated hospitals, but knew that he wasn't going to get out of it this time.

An hour and a half later, Spike and Buffy were sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for news on Angel. They had taken him up to surgery to remove the bullet from his right shoulder and prepare whatever tissue and muscle damage that they could.

"I'm sure that he's fine, pet," Spike said as he watched Buffy pace back and forth in front of him. "The poof's been through much worse than this. You should have seen the stuff that he used to get into when the two of us were rampaging through Europe before Dru came along."

"I don't care about that, Spike. I just want Angel back with me," Buffy cried, slumping down into the chair next to the vampire.

"Don't worry, you'll be back to playing naughty nursemaid soon enough."

Despite herself, a small giggle slipped from Buffy's mouth. She could remember very clearly the sponge baths that she had given Angel when he had come home from the hospital after his little adventure in the sewers with Drusilla all those years ago. With a sigh, she laid her head down on Spike's shoulder as they waited for news on Angel.

As soon as Buffy saw the doctor walk into the room, Buffy was on her feet. "Is my husband all right? Can I see him?"

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, Mrs. Donnelly... But your husband... He didn't make it through the surgery," the doctor said, not meeting her eyes.

Buffy shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "That's not true. You're lying! Angel's not dead! He's not!"

As Buffy continue to scream at the doctor, Spike just sat there in silence. He couldn't believe that his sire was actually dead. It was impossible. Angel couldn't be dead. Shaking his head, Spike stood up and walked over to Buffy, gathering her up in his arms. Buffy clutched at Spike, sobbing loudly into his chest. He felt numb. Completely and utterly numb. How were they going to tell Heather that her Daddy wasn't coming back?

"I want to see his body," Buffy demanded, spinning around to face the doctor. "I want to see my Angel. Please."

There was a slight pause before the doctor nodded his head. "Very well, Mrs. Donnelly. Follow me."

"I'm coming with," Spike declared, reaching out to grab hold of Buffy's hand.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it would be better if Mrs. Donnelly comes alone," the doctor said without emotion. After twenty years of doing this, it never got any easier to tell someone that they had lost a loved one. And the devastated look on this young woman's face wasn't making it any easier.

"Spike was Angel's best friend. I need him there with me," Buffy pleaded as more tears slid down her cheeks.

Knowing that he had lost, the doctor nodded his head. "Very well, Mrs. Donnelly. It is your choice."

The three of them walked silently towards the room that Angel's body had been taken to. The blood had all been cleaned off, but nothing could be done about the gaping hole in Angel's shoulder. As soon as Buffy saw how still and pale her beloved was, she burst into tears once again. Spike's arm around her waist was the only thing keeping her standing.

"Oh God, Angel," Buffy sobbed as Spike led her over to the table. Unlike a few hours earlier, Buffy knew that Angel wouldn't be getting off of this table.

"I'll leave you alone now," the doctor said quietly before he made his exit.

Buffy stepped away from Spike and placed her hand on Angel's cool cheek, absently brushing her fingers through his hair. "This can't be happening. We were so happy, Angel. How am I going to raise Heather without you? She's only four. She's not going to understand this. How do I tell her that she's not going to see her daddy again? And what about me? How am I supposed to go on knowing that you're never coming back? You are my life, Angel. You mean everything to me. I live for you, I breathe for you, I get up every morning for you. You're my world. We have a beautiful little girl that we created together... And another one on the way. I'm pregnant, Angel, and I never got to tell you. This isn't fair! You aren't supposed to die so soon, Angel. It seems like I just got you back..."

Spike stood silently behind Buffy, his eyes filling with more tears with each word that Buffy said. But Spike knew that he had to be the strong one right now. Buffy and Heather were going to need him now. Along with the little one on the way. He slipped his arms around Buffy's shoulders as she dissolved into tears once again, unable to say anything more.

"We should go, pet," Spike whispered in her ear. "We have to make those bastards pay for what they did to Angel."

"I can't leave him," Buffy insisted, shaking her head furiously. "I can't. Maybe he's just asleep? You know how deep a sleeper Angel is. He's probably just asleep."

Spike shut his eyes tight, willing the tears not to fall. The ache in his chest grew even greater with each word that she said. "Slayer..."

"No, Spike, he's not dead. I know it. Angel would never leave me. He loves me too much," Buffy sobbed, wishing that what she said was true.

"You can't change this, Slayer. Angel's gone," Spike choked out. Saying those two words made him feel hollow. "All that we can do is make sure that the people who did this to him pay for it."

Buffy nodded her head silently. Slipping out of Spike's arms once again, Buffy leaned over Angel and lightly brushed her lips against his. She kissed him softly, praying that Angel would respond just like he did every other morning when she woke him up this way. Angel had always said that this was his favourite way to be woken up.

"Angel, please..." Buffy sobbed, pulling her face only millimeters away from his. She felt, rather than saw, Angel subtle movement under her. As she stood there silently, Buffy watched as Angel eye lids slowly began to flutter. When she finally found herself staring into his soulful brown eyes, Buffy began to sob even louder.

Fearing that she was going to have a breakdown, Spike moved to pull Buffy away from Angel. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the slight flicker of Angel's left hand. As he watched in awe, the hand slowly moved from his side up to where Buffy's hand rested on his chest. Spike nearly passed out when he heard the next sound that filled the room.

"Buffy..." Angel moaned, his eyes slowly focusing on the face that rested so close to his.

All that Buffy could do was smile and kiss him again. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she felt him return the kiss. Even though his hand now covered his, she hadn't completely believed that this was real until she had felt his lips move under hers. At that point it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. She moved his other hand down to caress his cheek, not paying any mind to Spike who was still standing there with his mouth open.

As his mind began to clear a bit, Angel became aware of something that Buffy had yet to notice. His heart was no longer beating. He was alive, but his heart wasn't beating. That could only mean one thing and Angel wasn't ready to deal with that yet. At that moment all that he wanted to was to feel Buffy's hands on him and her lips which were gently caressing his own.

"You're a vampire!" Spike cried suddenly, his own senses able to detect another of his kind.

Buffy had never been so glad to be home. Right now she was sitting on her bed next to Angel who was sound asleep. They had managed to sneak Angel out of the hospital without anyone noticing. They couldn't very well tell anyone that Angel wasn't actually dead, but that he was a vampire. She and Spike would have ended up in the nut ward for sure. Right now Spike was out getting some supplies By morning the Initiative complex would be no more.

As she lightly ran her fingers through Angel's hair, Buffy was already planning another trip to Romania. She was going to get those gypsies to turn Angel back if it was the last thing that she did. She wanted him to be able to go in the sun with their new child, wait outside with Heather on her first day of school. Just do everything that a normal person did. Five years was too short a time to live your life.

"I'm going to fix this," Buffy promised him.

For the next half hour, Buffy laid next to Angel watching him sleep while she waited for Spike to get back. There had been a few times that she was sure that she had felt his heart beat, but Buffy knew that it was only her imagination. Angel was a vampire again. How or why no one could figure out, but it had happened.

Buffy was startled out of her reverie by the phone ringing. Rolling over, Buffy reached out and grabbed hold of the cordless phone which was standing on the nightstand next to her.

"Hello," Buffy said, keeping her voice down so that she wouldn't wake Angel up.

"Momma!" was the excited reply.

When she heard her daughter's voice, Buffy couldn't help but smile. "Hello, baby. What are you still doing up? It's after midnight."

"Is daddy all right?" Heather asked timidly.

Buffy glanced over at Angel, willing away the tears that threatened to fall. "Daddy's all right, sweetheart. He's right next to me. Sound asleep. Just like you should be."

Heather giggled. "Okay, momma... Gamma wants to talk to you. Night night."

"Night night, sweetheart," Buffy whispered, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

"Buffy?"

"Hi, mom," Buffy said, her voice still void of any emotion. She didn't want her mother or daughter to know what had happened to Angel until they found a way to fix it.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Joyce asked, knowing right away that her daughter was hiding something from her. "Is Angel all right?"

"No," Buffy sobbed. "They did something to him. Something bad. But Spike and I will find a way to fix it. Just don't tell Heather. I don't want her to know."

"All right, baby, I'll keep quiet," Joyce promised. "Heather and I will be home tomorrow night. You just take care of your husband."

"Okay, mom. I'll see you later."

As soon as Joyce hung up the phone, Heather crawled into her lap and snuggled into her arms. "What's wrong with Daddy?" Heather asked in a tiny whisper.

"You're daddy's sick right now," Joyce said as she smoothed her granddaughter's dark hair from her face. "What do you say we go get your daddy a present tomorrow before we leave?"

Heather looked up, a huge smile on her face. "Really?"

"Yes really. But you have to go to bed now," Joyce said sternly, rising to her feet with Heather in her arms.

=====

"Slayer! Let's go!" Spike shouted as he burst through the front door about twenty minutes after Buffy had hung up from her phone with her mother.

Buffy took one last look at Angel who was sleeping soundly beside her before hurrying from the room. It was time for Maggie Walsh to learn that you don't mess with the Slayer and her family.

Once Buffy and Spike emerged from the Blazer close to where they planned to enter the underground complex, Buffy's mouth fell open. Surrounding the "hidden" entrance were a group of demons who were apparently waiting for her and Spike to arrive.

"Spike, what's going on?" Buffy asked in a loud whisper as the two of them removed the two large bags from the back of the car.

Spike just grinned. "They're the distraction. While we set up, they're going to get all of the soldier boys into the cells. Then we find out what teacher lady did to Angel and... Well you know what happens next."

"And we can trust these guys?"

"Slayer, we saved their lives tonight. Even us demon type have morals," Spike said as he strode purposefully towards the group of gathered demons.

While Buffy continued to stand there in shock, Spike went over some last minute details with the demons and sent them on their way. Once they were all gone, he turned back to see that Buffy was standing in the exact same spot that she had been when he had left her. Rolling his eyes, Spike walked back over to Buffy and began to drag her towards the secret entrance. Whether she believed it or not, the demons were there to help them.

"Are you sure that they can be trusted?" Buffy asked in a loud whisper as she and Spike entered the air vent. "I mean, I do normally hunt them down and kill them."

"Yes, but right now we have a common enemy. The Initiative," Spike reminded her. "Don't tell me that you're going to chicken out now, Slayer. Remember what those bastards did to Angel."

Buffy's face darkened as she thought about what her one-time favourite teacher had done to her husband. She had taken away his life. For nearly five years Angel had been a flesh and blood human. Able to have children and go out in the sun with their daughter. But unless they could figure out how to change that it would never happen again. They needed to find out exactly what Maggie had done to Angel so that they could find some way to reverse it. If it meant being partners with her mortal enemies for the next little while it would be worth it.

By the time that Spike and Buffy arrived in the main room of the Initiative complex, all of the commandos were either dead or in the observation cells.

As per Spike's orders, Maggie Walsh was strapped to the same operating table that Angel had been, only it was now standing vertically rather than horizontally. Spike wanted her to be fully aware of what was going on around her.

"Judging by your reaction to everything, I think that it's safe to assume that the syrum worked as it should have," Maggie said with the same amount of emotion that one would possess when talking about a spot on the carpet that had finally been removed.

"What did you do to Angel?" Buffy demanded, her voice low and lethal.

Maggie looked at Buffy as though she were bored. "What was done to your husband is to ensure that you hand over the vampire and your daughter. It can easily be reversed if you give them to me."

"You don't seriously think that you're in the position to make any demands, do you?" Buffy asked, unable to keep the smile from her face. "You must be really delusional if you think that I would ever put my family in danger."

"Oh but you are," Maggie told Buffy, a smug smile on her face. "You have seventy-two hours from the time that Angel was injected with the syrum before he meets the same fate as all vampires."

Spike knew instantly what that was and it made his undead heart stop to even think of it. "Dust," he muttered, unable to keep the thought to himself.

Maggie smiled, pleased by the vampire's reaction. "Exactly. In less than three days, your beloved husband will be reduced to a pile of ashes just like all other vampires when they meet their end."

"No. Angel's gonna be fine," Buffy insisted even as tears filled her eyes. "He's gonna be fine as soon as you tell me how to fix this."

"It's really quite simple, Slayer. Give me the vampire and your daughter and I will give you the potion that will save Angel," Maggie said, slipping her hand into the pocket of her labcoat.

Buffy glanced over at Spike who looked as torn as she felt. She wanted Angel to be safe, but she couldn't let anything happen to Spike or Heather. No ones life was worth anothers. She would find a way to fix this so that everything worked out in the end. The only problem was that Buffy had no idea how she was going to do that.

"Either you give us what we need to save Angel, or I'm going to let Spike turn you into the very thing that you hunt," Buffy told her former teacher, hoping that she would take the bait. After all, it was only human nature for the hunter not to want to become the prey.

"That won't happen and you know it, Slayer," Maggie shot back. "You turn me and you know that I'll never tell you how to save your beloved."

In a rage by this time, Buffy pulled out her favourite sword and pressed the tip of it against Maggie's chest, right above her heart. "Tell me."

Maggie met Buffy's dark glare and returned it in kind. "Never. Your family means nothing to me."

The following events happened so quickly that no one could have stopped them even if they wanted to. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy noticed Maggie pull something out of her pocket and grasp it tightly in her hand. She glanced down only in time to see her push the large green button with her thumb. In an instant bright red lights began to go off all over the place and a loud voice came over the intercom. "Self-Destruct sequence activated. One minute till detonation," it said. Buffy and Spike took on look at each other before bolting towards the exit. All of the other demons followed their example. The commandos all sat there silently, knowing what was to come and knowing that they could do nothing to stop it. They had all known that this could happen when they had joined even if they had never thought that it actually would.

Buffy and Spike were thrown to the ground when the explosion finally did go off. The ground shook beneath them like an earthquake, but there were no visible signs that anything had happened. Everything was just as calm and tranquil as it had been before. The residents of Sunnydale would probably all think that it was an earthquake, none of them knowing what had been going on for the past five years right under them.

"No," Buffy sobbed, knowing that their one chance to save Angel was gone. She wanted to stay there and wallow in her grief, but the lightening sky prevented her. They would have to get back to the mansion so that Spike wouldn't turn into a human torch.

"Don't worry, Slayer, we'll find a way to fix this," Spike whispered solemnly as he pulled the Blazer away from the curb. He only wished that he believed what he had said.

"Mommy!" Heather cried as she burst through the front door, a little box clutched tightly in her hands. "Daddy! Spike! I'm home!"

When she heard her daughter's voice, a tiny smile lit up Buffy's face. No matter how bad things were, Heather could always make her feel better. Smiling down at Angel who was still sleeping, Buffy slid from the bed all the while dreading how she was going to explain what had happened to their daughter. How was a four-year-old supposed to understand that in less than three days she wasn't going to be able to see her father anymore?

Buffy was about halfway down the stairs when she saw Joyce helping Heather out of her coat. Tears filled her eyes when she saw the little girl that she and Angel had created together. She tried to smile when Heather ran up and gave her a hug.

"Hey there, baby. Did you have fun with Grama?" Buffy asked, lifting Heather up into her arms and holding her close.

Heather smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. "Where's Daddy? Grama and me got a present for him?"

"Really? Well he's upstairs in our room right now. Why don't you go up there, I'm sure that he'll be happy to see you," Buffy told her, barely able to contain her tears.

Heather just smiled and wiggled out of her mother's arms. She waved at her mother and grandmother then scurried up the stairs with the little box in her hands. "Daddy!"

As soon as Heather was out of sight, Buffy burst into tears. She couldn't take it anymore. Her life was crumbling around her and there was nothing that she could do about it. The only people who knew for sure what had been done to Angel were dead. They didn't know what had been done to Angel which meant that they didn't know how to fix it. Spike was pulling in all sorts of favours that he was owed in the demon world to try and find a way to save Angel.

"Come here, baby," Joyce said, gathering Buffy up in her arms. "I'm sure that it's not that bad. You're probably just over-reacting."

"No, I'm not, mom. Angel's gonna die in less than three days and there's nothing that I can do to save him. Nothing. And to top it all off, I'm pregnant. This baby is going to grow up without its father and there's nothing that I can do," Buffy sobbed against her mother's shoulder.

Joyce was at a loss for words. She had always known that her daughter's life was dangerous, but she had never expected something like this to happen. As much as she had disliked Angel in the beginning, she had come to love him like a son. She made her daughter and granddaughter very happy and that was all that she could have ever asked for. Only now something terrible was taking him away from his family.

Buffy's sobs were interrupted by Angel's loud scream. Fearing the worst, Buffy pulled away from her mother and charged up the stairs. It felt like an eternity that she was running up those stairs and down the hallway towards their room. No matter how fast she ran, it always seemed like she had so much further to go. Finally she reached the door and pulled it open.

"Angel!" Buffy cried as she ran into the room. What she saw shocked the hell out of her.

"I made Daddy better," Heather announced proudly, holding a glass orb in her small hands.

Glancing from her daughter who sat straddling her father's waist up to Angel's chest which was slowly beginning to rise and fall. Raising her eyes higher, Buffy could see the colour beginning to come back to his cheeks. Tears of joy filled her eyes as she ran over to the bed where her family was.

"Heather, what did you to?" Buffy asked as calmly as she was able.

"I did what the gypsy lady told me to. She said that I had to go get the shiny ball and fix Daddy. Just like she did," Heather explained, holding the orb out for her mother to see. "She said that the mean lady had hurt Daddy and that he was going to go away."

Buffy let out a squeal of delight and gathered her daughter up in her arms. "Oh, sweety! I'm so proud of you. I don't know how you did this, but you did good!"

"What the hell's goin' on?" Spike grumbled as he trudged into the room. He had spent the past five hours at Willy's talking to all sorts of demons who owed him favours.

"Spike!" Heather cried, jumping out of her mother's arms, leaving the ball on the comforter. "I fixed Daddy!"

Spike saw the Orb of Thesula in her hands and knew exactly what she meant. However the four-year-old had pulled this off, Spike was just thankful that she had. "You know what, runt, I say that we go downstairs with Grama and have some hot chocolate with the little marshmallows. Leave Mommy and Daddy alone for a little while."

"Hot chocolate!" Heather cried, already forgetting about what she had done only a few minutes before.

Once they were gone, Buffy took the Orb and carefully placed it on the carpet before snuggling up next to Angel. Resting her head on his chest, she smiled when she felt his heart beating under her cheek. He was alive again. No more vamp who was going to go poof in a little over two days' time. He was a living breathing human who was going to be a father again in seven months.

"Buffy, what's going on?" Angel whispered, startling Buffy out of her reverie. He could feel that something was different. He no longer felt like rolling over and dying. In fact, he was feeling a little better.

"We have the most wonderful daughter in the whole world who knows the neatest little tricks," Buffy said, not wanting to get into the details yet. "To quote Heather, she fixed you."

"Fixed me?" Angel echoed, turning his head so that he could see her face. "And just how did she do that?"

"Who cares. I've got you back and that's all that matters to me," Buffy whispered, sliding up Angel's body and placing a soft kiss on his now warm lips.

"I'm all for that," Angel murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but did I hear you say that you were pregnant last night?"

Smiling broadly, Buffy shifted over so that she was now the one straddling Angel's waist. "You heard right, baby. You're going to be a daddy again. What do you think about that?"

"I think that it's perfect," Angel told her, slipping his arms around her waist and holding her close. "Absolutely perfect."

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