Part XXIII

When Angel shuffled through his front door after walking the streets of Dublin for a couple of hours, he came inside to be greeted with deathly silence. The only sound that was partially audible was the soft ticking of the large clock that was on the opposite wall from where the front door was. His heart prayed that when he would open those doors, Buffy would be sitting right there waiting for him to come home, but he knew that would be a foolish dream.

With a heavy heart and a loud sigh, Angel quietly shut the door behind him and removed his coat to place it back on the coat rack. Instead of heading straight back to his couch, he decided to make another visit to Buffy’s room to see if she was still asleep. Angel silently opened the door to find Buffy still in the same position that he had found her previously. The only difference that he sensed was the fact that she clutched the bed sheets more tightly to her face that when he left her before.

One more time his heart and body screamed to lay down next to her and wrap his arms around her body, never letting her go but he knew that he couldn’t do that. His eyes looked down at his feet, as he pried them from her beautiful form lying there. That is the worst pain in the world to bear—sitting next to someone or being so close to someone and yet know for a certain that you can’t have them. Angel would never have her and he kept on telling himself that over and over again, but for tonight, he would give his heart some rest from this ache.

Angel silently crept inside her bedroom and tiptoed softly over to where she lay sleeping. Gently, he traced a finger across her cheek and moving a strand of golden hair away from her glorious face. He would be content for an eternity to just stand there and watch her sleep peacefully but he didn’t have an eternity, only a few more moments. Leaning down, Angel softly brushed his warm lips across her forehead only to see her stir briefly and take a deep breath from his touch. A smile spread across his face when he saw her own smile as she slept.

Taking a step back from her, Angel kept his eyes on her the whole time, barely blinking in the process. He retreated to the opposite corner of the room, where he pressed his back firmly against the wall and slid down the hard surface so that he now was sitting on the floor with his knees bent in front of him. The back of his head leaned up against the wall as his eyes still remained open to watch her.

Angel felt his eyelids begin to droop after watching her for countless minutes. Instead of seeing her with his eyes open, he watched her behind his closed eyelids. He saw her beautiful smile, her hair blowing wispily in the soft breeze, the way the sun made her skin glow a radiant hue, and her kind heart. Angel didn’t need to look far to see that aspect of her, she wore it on her sleeve for the world to see and he loved her for that. As the images played there, Angel felt himself being lulled tenderly to sleep and for the first time that day, he experienced serenity.

~ ~ ~

A bright ray of sunshine broke through the shut blinds of the window to flash across Buffy’s face, causing her to groggily open her eyes to meet a new day. She heard the faint song of morning birds outside the house and sat up in the bed, only to notice that she was still wearing the same dress that she had been wearing the previous day. She stretched her legs out among the rumpled bed sheets, and used her hands in attempt to smooth out the creases that were in her skirt.

“Here’s me, in desperate need of an iron,” she whispered to herself silently. Her eyes remained on her dress until she looked up to see Angel sleeping against the wall on the wall opposite to her. His dark shadow of a beard grew in short stubble across his face as it lay against the wall propped against his shoulder. Buffy noticed how disheveled he looked and she knew that he probably had just a horrible time sleeping as she had.

Buffy watched him as he slept peacefully not being able to take her eyes off of him. The soft glow of sunshine bounced across his unshaven face and it seemed to caress every line and crevice of him. She wanted him to stay that way forever because if he would wake up, he might break her heart just as he had last night. While he rested peacefully, she could dream of when they could openly say that they loved each other and he would hold her in his strong arms.

She was quite disappointed when she saw that he slowly began to stir from his slumber to stretch and sigh. When he finally opened his dark eyes, she could see the look of shock on his face as he locked eyes with her.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked as he moved his hand to rub the side of his face and comb through his disheveled spiked hair.

“Not too long,” she answered truthfully. “Have you been there all night?”

“Not all night. After you fell asleep, I took a walk around town then after I came here,” he admitted to her.

“Well, good morning,” she smiled sweetly at him as he grunted trying to raise himself off of the floor.

“Good morning,” he responded to her with little emotion in his voice. “Buffy, I need to talk to you about last night…”

“Last night…” she whispered to herself before she raised her voice to stop him. “I want to apologize for my comments after Spike left, I was scared that he would find me and take me back.”

“Buffy, I need you to do something for me,” Angel said quickly not commenting on her previous confession.

“Anything,” she responded truthfully as she looked deeply in his eyes.

“I need you to get away from me,” he unintentionally snapped at her.

“W-w-what??” she stumbled.

“I am going to take you to Willow and Oz’s house this afternoon where you are going to stay with them until we can figure everything out.”

He was sending her away and she felt the tears brimming her eyes one more time. At first, she felt sad at his request for her but then her emotions drastically turned angry. “Why??” she demanded.

“Spike knows where I live and as long as you stay here with me, he can come anytime he wants and take you back. He has no idea about Oz’s involvement in your kidnapping, so their house is safe for you,” Angel said in desperation. “We will go over there when you are ready.”

Angel turned his back on her and tried to walk out the door right before she jumped from her spot on the bed to grab him by the should to make him turn to face her. “Is that what you really want?” Buffy asked in the hopes that Angel would change his mind and not send her away.

“Yes,” he answered coolly. “I cannot protect you any more.”

Taking her hand from his shoulder and throwing both arms limply to her sides, she looked to the floor and turned to walk back towards the bed. “I will be ready in a few minutes,” she whispered and after a few seconds she heard his feet softly pounding on the floor as he made his way out.

As soon as she heard the door shut behind him, she picked up the nearest pillow lying there on the bed and tossed it across the room at the closed door. “Bastard,” she screamed softly to herself before she crumbled down on the bed in tears.

~ ~ ~

It took only about five minutes before Buffy and all her things were packed up to relocate to Willow and Oz’s. No words were said as Angel walked Buffy a few blocks down.

“Here, let me take that,” he offered as he moved his hand and placed it over top of hers on the handle of her bag.

Buffy felt his warm touch open her skin and prompt pulled her hand away, as if this hand burned hers. “No thank you.”

“No problem,” he said sullenly as he dove his hands in his pockets to try not to place his arm around her shoulders.

Walking up to the front door, the tension between the two was so thick; one can almost cut it in half with a dull knife. Angel quietly rapt his knuckles on the hardwood door, only to see Willow’s face as she smiled when she opened the door.

“Hello, you two,” she greeted with an even bigger smile.

“Hi Willow,” Buffy said as she put on the façade of happiness with a smile that matched the red head’s.

“Well, I ought to be getting along,” Angel said. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.” Angel turned to walk away from the two women, but before he could get too far, he heard Willow call out to him.

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye?” Willow yelled.

“I can’t,” he said honestly because he knew that he could never fully let her go. She would always be in his heart and nothing could take her from that spot. Not able to say anything more, he turned and walked back towards his house.

Willow returned her attention back to Buffy who was still standing outside her door, only to see the look of sadness in her eyes. “Are you all right?” she asked soothingly.

“I’m fine,” Buffy answered her knowing that she was not fine. She would never be fine until she was with him.

“Buffy, you can tell me the truth. I can see you are hurting, you know you can talk to me about it,” Willow offered.

Hearing the kindness and tranquility in Willow’s voice was the last straw for her, Buffy let the tears stream down her face. “God, I hate him and yet I can’t hate him,” Buffy sniffled softly.

Willow wrapped her arm around Buffy and escorted her into her house. “Does he know yet?” she asked.

“Does he know what?” Buffy asked in confusion.

“About the baby?” Willow clarified.

Buffy’s hands unconsciously moved down to her abdomen where she began to feel the small swelling under her touch. “No, and I don’t think I am ever going to tell him,” Buffy said truthfully as her anger resurged and he tears stopped.

“Buffy, he needs to know,” Willow shook her head at the blonde. “I think it might change his mind a little if he knows.”

“I don’t want the only reason that he is with me is because I am carrying his child. If he doesn’t want me, then he doesn’t want this baby,” Buffy said not taking her hands from her womb.

“He will come around, all he has to do is deal with a few things, then he will be right back here, begging for you to return to him. I know he will,” Willow tried to assure her friend but she didn’t know if Buffy would believe her.

Buffy only cast her eyes downward towards the floor and nodded her head slowly. ‘In my dreams, only my dreams,’ she thought to herself as she took a deep breath and a look around the place that she would consider her home for the next couple of weeks.

Part XXIV

The loneliness of a week without Buffy started to gnaw and eat away at everything that Angel held inside of him. No matter if he tried to escape the memory of her, he would find someplace that would remind him of her. He would walk the same path that they would take on their walks together, remembering how she had held his hand as they walked or pass by the building along their route where they exchanged their last kiss; all memories almost too painful to bear.

With her being gone for a few days, Angel decided that he should probably move back into his bedroom but every time he laid his head down on the pillow, he would take a deep breath of her scent that still clung to the sheets. It was also on that same bed that they had shared something that could never ever be replicated, unless they would be able to have another moment just like that one. But that would never happen again!

Angel shook his head at the memories and knew that he had to stop his brooding and actually get something accomplished instead of just sitting there and feeling sorry for himself. He stood up suddenly from the chair where he was sitting to have his worn copy of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, fall from his knee and clatter on the floor.

‘Must find Spike,’ he thought to himself as he ran from his home to try to get his old friend off his trail for a little while longer to figure out things.

He ran with reckless abandon thinking of everyplace that Spike could be possibly found and he followed his feet back to a place that he never wanted to see again… Buffy’s house.

Angel worked up enough courage to step up to the front door and knock on the hardwood door to see if anyone was home. Part of him wished that no one was there so that he could make a clean getaway but part of him wanted to face this and get it over with. After a few seconds of waiting Angel turned his back to walk away, but then the sound of the door creaking open, he turned back around.

He took a few moments to evaluate the man that had answered the door. The very presence of the man in front of him absolutely screamed butler, so he found it safe to assume that it was. The man was a little over 40, his body incased in a suit of tweed and he had thin-wired glasses on the bridge of his nose. Angel could tell from the wear on the sides of his glasses, that the wearer put them on and took them off quite frequently.

“Can I help you sir?” the man answers while staring Angel down on the porch.

“I am looking for Spike, is he by chance here?” Angel asked as he tried to keep his voice calm and collected.

“And you are??” the man asked with slight annoyance in his voice.

“I, um… I am Liam Malone, sir, but everyone calls me Angel,” he stuttered with a shaky voice. The plain fact that he was standing in front of Buffy’s front door and moments away from being caught made him quite nervous.

“Angel!” the man exclaimed. “I have heard much about you from Spike.”

Hearing the influx of the man’s voice, caused Angel to relax slightly but he was still on guard for anything wrong that could happen. “Whatever he has told you, don’t listen to a word he says,” Angel said halfway between being serious and joking.

“We don’t listen to him much around her anyway so no need for the warning,” he smiled back at Angel. “Why don’t you come on in and I will go and see if I can find him.”

As soon as Angel stepped inside the threshold, the man that opened the door quickly sprinted away from him leaving him all alone in this strange place. He buried his hands deeply into his pockets, and craned his neck so that he was staring at the ceiling while he rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet to his heels. Waiting was the worst, especially in the position that he was in.

It took only moments before the man came back. “I forgot to introduce myself back there, I am Rupert Giles, the Summers’ family butler.”

“Nice to meet you,” Angel greeted with a hand extended in offer of a handshake. “Is Spike here?” he asked still with his hand interlocked with the butler.

“Yes, he will be here in a few moments. He is always busy around here, running around trying to find anyway to get back the girl that was kidnapped from here,” Giles informed him as they dropped their hands.

“Buffy,” Angel said plainly.

“Indeed, have you heard about her?” Giles asked with excitement in his eyes. ‘Maybe he is going to tell Spike were she is.’ “I am so worried about her. I can’t stand the thought of her being lost somewhere with the people who did this to her.”

“Were you close to her?” Angel asked directly because his curiosity of this man took control of his mind.

“She was the only person in this whole world that was like a daughter to me. I never had any of my own, but I always had her. God, I miss her so!” Giles exclaimed as he tried but failed to hold in his emotions. “It is so odd to not see her every morning, bounding down the stairs, with the biggest smile that anyone could have.”

“I bet.”

“Oh my, I should not be talking to you about this, it was rude of me,” Giles apologized but he didn’t need to. Angel could tell that this man truly cared for the woman that he loved and it felt good to her something about her life before she met him.

“No, that is alright, I am a pretty good listener,” Angel assure him with a smile on his face.

“Well, all I can say is that when she comes home and I see a new scar on her body that I don’t know of, I might act quite irrational,” Giles admitted. “I have been there for every bump, bruise and scratch.”

“I have always been curious as to how she got that tiny scar on the base of her head towards her neck,” Angel slipped.

“What did you say?” Giles inquired as he heard the man’s question about a scar that normally Buffy had kept quite hidden.

“I, um… I… Here’s Spike,” Angel tensed up from the question and was quite lucky to see Spike bail him out perfectly from the awkward situation.

“So, Angel, what brings you to my crypt?” Spike greeted with a large grin on his face then turned to face Giles and commanded, “You can go now.” Giles responded with a slight bow of his head and turned to leave the two young men alone.

“Have you heard anything?” Spike asked imperatively.

Angel cast his eyes down at the floor in order not to look his friend in the eye when openly lying to him. “No I am sorry, Spike. Everyone has been keeping exceptionally hush, hush, and I could pry not one word from anyone to find out who kidnapped her.”

“Really?” Spike questioned, wondering why Angel could not look him in the eye to tell him this. “You have heard nothing.”

Angel knew that he had to look Spike straight in the face in order to pull this off, so he took his eyes from the floor and stared into his friend’s light blue orbs. “Not a peep, but I will keep on trying. I am pretty sure that around the time that the British officials sweep through Dublin, people are bound to crack and slip something.”

“You heard about the officials?” Spike asked now starting to be convinced that his friend was telling him the truth.

“Everyone has, especially after that little incident in the bed and breakfast a month ago. Only one couple escaped from the explosion and right away the accident was blamed on Irish revolutionaries.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that story now. What happened to that couple anyway?” Spike inquired.

“Not sure,” Angel admitted with a shrug. “I think they may have headed back home or something.” After telling him this, Angel sighed loudly and slumped his shoulders with absolute exhaustion.

“Are you alright?” Spike sounded concerned.

“I am fine,” Angel said while straightening his body slightly. “Just haven’t been getting too much sleep lately.”

“Aww… Is that girl that you were talking about keeping you up all night?” Spike mocked him. “Really, Peaches, I thought that you would have a little more stamina.”

“She keeps me up all night,” he admitted but then finished the statement in his head, ‘but in a way that you mean.’ “She is gone for a while though, so I am going home and getting some sleep.”

“You do that,” Spike said with a smile then grabbed his friend’s arm to escort him out the door. “It looks like you could use a full 24 hours of sleep with the way you look.”

“And it looks like you could use a constant stream of food for 24 hours with the way that you look,” Angel joked.

Spike laughed along with his friend, and continued to lead him out the door. “You go home and make sure to get some sleep and if you hear anything, you have to let me know.”

“Will do,” Angel nodded his head and walked away from the front door. ‘Now, I have to make a pit stop.”

Shenanigan’s Pub.

Angel felt the overwhelming urge to drown his loneliness and pain in as many bottles of alcohol that he could get his hands on. In on time at all, Angel found a spot along the bar and began to down one drink after another in hopes to wash away the heartache.

~ ~ ~

For the next few weeks, Angel spent almost every waking hour inside that pub, wasting away in his drinks. He had cut off most conversation with his friend’s and they were getting quite worried about him.

“Angel,” Doyle said as he squatted down to Angel’s face that was pressed firmly against the top of the table. “Why don’t you let me have this one?”

“No,” Angel slurred as his mouth barely moved and his eyes stared forward with no emotion in them.

“If he can’t take it, then I will,” Gunn came up quickly behind him and swiped the drink away before Angel could protest.

Angel was extremely pissed off about Gunn’s action but he could not move fast enough to take physical revenge from his friend. “That’s ok,” he garbled, “I will just get a new one.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Xander stated plainly. “You really need to stop this, what the hell happened to you anyway?”

“You guys wouldn’t understand,” Angel said as he laid his head back down on the table.

“Girl troubles,” Gunn, Xander and Doyle all said at once.

Angel turned his head to the side so that he didn’t look at them any longer and his other cheek rested on the cold surface.

“Who is she?” Xander pried. “You normally tell us everything but ever since Buffy left your home to live with Willow and Oz, you have said maybe five words to all of us.”

“Well, unlike you Xander, I don’t have an overpowering urge to keep my mouth moving at all times of the day,” Angel began to take his anger out on his friends.

“What is wrong with you man?” Gunn pried further. “You can’t keep on doing this to yourself.”

“What happened?” Doyle said in a soothing manner as he crouched across his friend and placed a hand on his back. “You can tell us.”

“God I love her!!!!!” he yelled as he felt tears begin to fall on his face.

After his outburst, the room fell silent. “That was it?” Xander asked breaking that silence. “That is everything?”

“Well, does she know how you feel?” Doyle asked.

Angel shook his head no, not pulling his head up far enough that his nose still scrapes across the table.

“Why don’t you?” Xander asked.

“Because I can’t and I won’t. This is all too difficult.”

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” Gunn whispered in the back.

Angel picked up his head suddenly to stare down his friend. “What did you say??”

“Good ole Willie Shakespeare, ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ Ever heard that one?” he repeated.

“She loves Shakespeare, too,” Angel admitted as he sobered up slightly from Gunn’s words.

“Angel you can’t just spend the rest of your life here, trying to drown out you problems. Believe me I tried,” Doyle began to explain. “After Harry left me, I felt that I could never feel good again but hey, look at me now. I am just fine.”

“What did you do?” Angel asked barely above a whisper.

“I went to talk to her. We talked things over and we decided that the separation was probably for the best, but it might be different for you,” he said. “She is probably feeling just as shitty as you do, but in order to see that, you have to talk to her first.”

“I don’t know how,” Angel admitted.

“Well, the first thing you need to do is get off your ass and walk to where she lives,” Gunn stated as he grabbed Angel under the arms and lifted him to his feet. “That is always a good start.”

Gunn let Angel go, thinking that he was going to hit the floor, but Angel surprised everyone when he stayed on his feet. “You know what, you guys, you are right! I should go and find her and tell her what she is missing,” Angel claimed as he swayed back and forth on shaky legs.

“That’s the spirit!” Xander exclaimed. “Now the next step is getting through the door without falling.”

“No problem,” Angel waved his hand nonchalantly and promptly took a step forward which caused him to quickly fall straight to the ground. “Uh, guys. A little help here.”

After much struggling, the three boys were able to get Angel to his feet and out the pub’s doors. From that moment, he was able to walk well enough on his own and the three others returned back to their homes.

With unsteady legs, Angel made his way to Oz’s house to confront the woman that he loved. “And I know that you are feeling the pain just as I am, so here I am to tell you that I love you!” he screamed to the darkness of the street, practicing what he was going to say.

“I know you are hurting just as I am so…” he yelled before he got to Oz’s front lawn. He caught himself staring at the front of the house for many moments, not moving, before he finally decided to walk toward the door and ask for her.

Striding forward, Angel’s eyes never left the house but then when he was able to see through the window in the front of the house, all walking ceased. There was Buffy in the living room with the largest grin on her face. Angel could see the sparkle of happiness in her eyes, and he could tell how glad she was there without him… probably happier than when she was with him.

He could not take his eyes off of her while she seemed so happy and laughed loudly with the people that she was sitting with. This was proof that she was happy and not in pain as he was, so with even more tiredness and with drooping shoulders, he turned around to walk away from the house only to return back to the pub.

Part XXV

“Buffy, you really need to get out of the house sometime,” Willow pleaded with her friend. Over the past couple of weeks together, their relationship grew stronger and stronger as the days past.

With a tear stained face, Buffy looked up at Willow’s big eyes only to look back down to the floor and shake her head. “Today’s not a good day,” she whispered softly, still feeling the loneliness that Angel had sat upon her when he left her there.

“You said that yesterday,” Willow sighed loudly. “You really need to think of better excuses.”

“How about I don’t want to go because I am the size of a large house, I am lonely and I am starting to get fond of the lack of direct sun. I never knew the wonders that darkness can do to milky white skin,” Buffy said in all seriousness.

Willow smiled faintly at her friend’s comment and could not hold back the laughter that was dying to be heard. “That is one of the worst excuses that I have ever heard and by the way, you are not as large as a house.”

“Maybe not a large house but most definitely a small cottage,” Buffy joked as she stroked her moderately distended stomach. In her time at Willow and Oz’s house, the only true time that she felt happy was when she would feel the tiny life inside her body moving under her touch.

“How are my two favorite females?” Oz asked as he came inside the room where Buffy and Willow sat and breaking their conversation.

“Great,” Willow responded with a smile as Oz leaned down and left a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Huge,” Buffy said stoically.

Oz looked up at the blonde that sat in his living room and he could almost see the sadness radiating off of her body. “You know if you would tell Angel about the baby, I am pretty sure that he would tell you otherwise,” he shrugged his shoulders at the two females who suddenly looked at him with piercing glares when they heard his words.

“W-w-what did you say?” Buffy stuttered, with Willow equally confused.

“I said that if you would tell Angel about him becoming a father in only a few months, I think he would tell you that you are one of the most beautiful women on this earth,” he stated again. “After Willow, of course.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Willow smiled brightly and rolled her eyes at her husband.

Buffy looked around the room and saw how much in love these two were and suddenly a new bout of tears brimmed her eyes. She would give everything to have that kind of moment with Angel, just one signed that he loved her just as much as she loved him. Buffy twisted her hands in her lap as the tears began to fall.

“Please, Buffy, don’t cry,” Willow pleaded seeing her friend breaking down into tears one more time. “I thought those leaks would have stopped themselves by now.”

“Me too,” Buffy sniffled and the tears began to quell. “How did you know about me and Angel?” she asked finally getting down to her confusion.

“Wasn’t hard,” Oz admitted. “You two have acted differently around each other ever since that one night at the pub and of course, your incessant sadness after he left you.”

“Did you tell Angel?” Willow asked knowing that Buffy was probably going to ask the same question.

“Haven’t said a word. If anyone is going to tell him, it had better be you,” he turned his attention to Buffy.

Buffy quickly shook her head at her friends and returned her attention back to the floor. “No, I won’t,” she said rather confidently.

“You have to tell him sometime, Buffy. He needs to know,” Willow said truthfully. “You have two before you lose the chance to.”

“I don’t know what to tell him or how,” she admitted as she felt tears come again.

“Alright, you need some fresh air,” Oz said and strode next to her with his wife quick on his heels. Each took one of her arms and drug her to her feet to escort her out the door.

“No,” Buffy pleaded and ground her heels into the floor to stop them. “Stop!”

But before they would listen to her cries, Buffy was already out the front door and feeling the warm rays of sunshine on every inch of her face. She had felt this continuous feeling of cold and standing there in the sun, some of that chill was swept away from her bones. The birds in the sky sang their merry songs as the clouds chased themselves across the sky.

The wind blew through her hair while she lifted her arms from her side in the attempt to fly away from all of this. All of the pain, all of the loneliness, all of the heartache, everything.

Willow and Oz stood behind her watching Buffy feel some sort of release from all her worries. Something in the air was telling them that she was going to be all right and that in the end, she would be happy.

Buffy turned slowly in a circle to face her friends with her arms still extended out from her shoulders. “Thank you,” she said as stared at Willow with a small sparkle in her eyes.

“Thank you to what?” Xander said as the rest of the gang came toward the front of Oz’s house.

Hearing their coming and Xander’s voice, Buffy quickly dropped her arms and turned to face them.

“How’s everything… Oh hello,” he continued as his stare fell upon Buffy’s body.

Seeing his gaze, Buffy promptly crossed her arms across her stomach in the hopes to cover up her swelling belly.

“Uh guys, what is going on here?” Doyle asked finally founding his voice after the shock of seeing Buffy.

“Nothing… Nothing’s wrong, why are you asking?” Buffy snapped back.

“Buffy’s pregnant,” Cordelia answered her question, clearing the air for her husband and the rest of those who stared in utter surprise.

“Tell us something that we don’t know,” Xander huffed at her.

“Could you please explain how?” Gunn spoke up.

“Dumb question, Gunn. I think you already know that answer,” Buffy quipped back.

“Let me re-phrase, who??” he expanded.

“Angel,” Oz responded for the blonde.

“ANGEL??????” Gunn, Doyle, and Xander all exclaimed loudly.

“Wait, when you say Angel, do you mean Angel?” Doyle needed further explanation.

“The one and only,” Willow stated.

“Does he know yet?” Gunn asked as he moved closer to stand next to Buffy.

“No,” Buffy replied shortly.

“Well that explains a lot,” Xander said openly.

“Explains what?” Cordelia asked.

“We just found out that while whittling away the wee hours, he offers himself escort at some of the finest pubs this side of Dublin,” he added.

“He hasn’t taken this separation that well either,” Cordelia shook her head.

“You see, Buffy. I told you that he felt the same way,” Willow pointed out to her friend.

“What are you guys doing here anyway?” Oz asked changing the conversation after seeing the look in Buffy’s eyes telling them that she didn’t really want to talk about his anymore.

“Official news from headquarters,” Doyle said in his thick Irish brogue. “Need to meet the head man tomorrow.”

“Always a thrill,” Xander chimed in.

“What for?” Oz asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was about the troops coming into town in a week,” Gunn stated. “It could cause quite a stir in this town. Look what happened the last time.”

“Please tell me that that won’t happen again,” Buffy said concerned.

“Will try our best,” Xander shrugged. “But you never know.”

“So will you be there tomorrow?” Doyle asked Oz.

“Can’t wait,” Oz agreed as he, Buffy and Willow all watched as the group began to turn to walk back to their own houses.

Before Gunn could get totally out of Buffy’s reach, she quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her in order to whisper in his ear. “Promise me that you will not tell Angel anything,” Buffy looked at him with her big doe eyes.

Gunn said nothing; he only nodded his head in agreement and once again turned only to be brought back to her.

“Also promise me that you won’t let anything happen to him,” she pleaded.

He looked deeply in her eyes and he could see how much she really loved him. Her soul seemed to cry out to him and if he would die then a part of that soul would just die right there in her body. Before he said anything, he moved a hand to place it firmly on her rounded stomach and Buffy hastily placed her hands on his to hold him in place.

“I promise,” he stated as he took his hand away and walked from the house.

Part XXVI

“Guys, someone should honestly tell Angel about Buffy,” Xander opened up their silent conversation as soon as the gang left Willow and Oz’s house, on their way to meet up with Angel.

“We can’t,” Gunn spoke up in disagreement.

Doyle quickly glanced over at his friend and shot him a burning question, “Why not?”

“Because I just promised her that I wouldn’t,” he answered plainly.

“You did WHAT??” Doyle and Xander yelled together.

“I agree with Gunn on this one,” Oz said. “Even though I believe that he deserves to know, Buffy needs to be the one that tells him, not us.”

Both Doyle and Xander sighed loudly at the same time, knowing that Oz was right. If anyone was going to tell Angel that he was about to become a father, it should be the mother that tells him.

“I think we are making a big mistake, though,” Xander said aloud as he stepped up to Angel’s front door and pounded loudly on it. The rest of the group stood behind him waiting for their friend’s arrival at the door, which wouldn’t come for at least 10 minutes and Xander constantly knocking on the door.

“What the bloody hell is taking him so long?” Doyle asked, starting to grow a little too impatient.

“He should be here,” Xander whispered loudly behind him.

“I’M COMING, I’M COMING!!! HOLD YOUR DAMN HORSES!” the group heard a voice hiss forcefully across the closed door. When Angel finally opened the door, his friends met the person that he had slowly become over the past couple of weeks. There seemed to be no end to the dark circles under his eyes, his hair was thrown from this way to that, and his clothes hung loosely on his lean frame, due to the slight weight loss he had sustained. “Hi guys,” he greeted slowly.

The strong aroma of alcohol permeated from the shrunken man in front of them and suddenly they could see the pain that he was enduring after loosing Buffy.

“Jesus Angel, you really need to cut back on the Guinness cologne that you got working for you right now,” Gunn coughed at the smell. “

Angel found no words to shoot back at his friends; the only response that he could muster was a deep growl that erupted from his chest. “So when do we leave?” he finally found his voice as he pushed himself out of his house to join the group in a puddle in his front yard. ‘The sooner we start this, the sooner we get it done,’ he thought to himself as he shuffled forward.

The walk toward headquarters was at first held in silence but that would not last long. Everyone were just itching to burst out and tell Angel about what they just discovered but they saw the shrunken look in their friend’s eyes, and they knew that it wouldn’t be a good time to openly tell him about the baby, but that didn’t exclude little hints to the fact.

“So Angel man, how are your sister and her new baby doing?” Doyle asked breaking the silence.

“Just fine,” he answered abruptly.

“Have you seen him yet?” Doyle continued trying to pull anything from his friend.

“Once,” he admitted and took a long breath in. “My sister is already bothering me about teaching him how to play football or rugby, one of those two. I told him that it was his father’s job to do.”

“Oh really,” Xander broke in and not wanting to let an opportunity go to not make a hint at Angel. “I am pretty sure that if you were a father, you would probably be a great with that.”

“But I’m not, am I?” Angel said gruffly.

“You never know, man,” Doyle shrugged. “There could be one out there for you.”

“What did you say?” Angel turned in surprise to have Doyle repeat his question.

“I am talking about the future, sometime, you never know,” he continued. “Cordelia and I are thinking about trying for a baby.”

“I didn’t know that?” Xander sounded shocked.

“I could think of not one other person who I would think about carrying my child inside of her,” he admitted. “I am pretty sure you probably feel that way about Willow, Oz.”

“Have fun,” Angel huffed briskly. He was getting quite disgruntled because with all this talk of love and children, Buffy’s image kept on popping up in his head. If he would have a child one day, he would hope that it would be her that would hold something that special. But he knew there was no hope in that.

“Can you think of the one woman who you could think about for yourself?” Xander asked.

“I, um… I…” Angel started to answer under deep scrutiny but before he could fully respond, they were at the building and walking through the front door to meet the boss. “Hey Penn, is the man here?” he asked.

Penn shook his head telling him that he was there and leaned over to whisper in Angel’s ear. No one, except for Angel, could decipher what he was telling him, and all got a little nervous with not knowing everything that was going on here. As soon as Penn was finished speaking, Angel stood upright and nodded his head before he led the rest of the gang, including Penn, into the dark room.

“Welcome, boys,” the voice rang loud and clear throughout the darkness.

“Hey there, sir,” Xander greeted back as he jokingly saluted him with a hand rose flatly to his forehead.

“I hope that everything is in order for the next couple of days,” the voice came again. “Is our insurance well?”

“She is just fine,” Oz responded stoically.

“Good! Glad to hear it.” There was a short pause in his statement before he continued onward. “I am guessing that you would like to know what the plan is?”

“That would be quite helpful, sir,” Angel complied.

“You will keep her under close surveillance for the next couple of days until the troops arrive. I have already given orders out to have only fight back when necessary so it can be assumed that many people are probably going to lose their lives in the near future,” the voice said. “I will put her under my care for the time being because we need to keep her for as much time as possible, it is crucial to our mission.”

“Yes, sir,” all responded at once.

“Tomorrow afternoon, I want you to bring her to me, I want to have a little chat with her,” the voice hissed.

An extremely cold chill ran down Angel’s spine after hearing what the boss had just commanded. He remembered that Buffy knew that voice from somewhere and he feared that her knowledge of who he was would end up hurting her. Fear and anger started rise and he had to work really hard to suppress telling him that she would be safe in his care and that he would not let her out of his sight. “Sir, I don’t think that…” he started to say but was cut off by Penn.

“That should be fine sir, we will bring her here,” he stated quickly.

“And I will be looking forward to it,” he said with soft laughter in his voice as the others in the room turned to walk back out. But before they could all leave, he hastily caught their attention. “Just remember, boys. She gets hurt, you will pay. It is important that she is in perfect health.”

“Things are not exactly perfect,” Xander muttered under his breath but was loud enough to have almost everyone able to hear him. Angel heard his friend statement; he just decided that it wasn’t all that important.

~ ~ ~

“Willow, I am home!” Oz shouted as he walked through their front door to an empty living room. Buffy was the first person to come to greet him. “Oh Buffy, hello.”

“Hello, Oz. Everything all right?” she asked with concern in her voice. He could tell that she was worried about Angel but he couldn’t come close to comfort her worries.

“He’s just fine. A little cranky if you ask me,” he said truthfully. “Buffy, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” she strained fearing what he was going to tell her.

“Our boss is going to look after you until all of this gets blown over. He wants to meet you tomorrow,” he admitted.

“Is that all?” she asked, relieved that it wasn’t more serious.

“Basically yes,” he said abruptly.

“Will I get a chance to see everyone before I go?”

“You might not see us again, I think as soon as the troops pass over, then you become a free woman,” he confided in her.

‘I can’t talk to Angel,’ she dreaded to herself. “No goodbyes?”

“Probably not.”

~ ~ ~

Oz’s words had plagued her all evening. The thought of never seeing any of the others again, made her quite upset, especially the thought of never being with Angel one more time. That thought was almost more than she could bear at the moment.

Resolving to herself that she had to see him one more time, she promptly pulled a heavy cloak over her body to protect herself from the dank night, she left the house and started towards Angel’s.

She followed her heart towards that place and in no time, she found herself on his front porch looking under his doormat for a key. The key that she found was covered in a thick layer of rust but it still opened the front door as soon as she put it to the test.

Walking through the front door, she found herself in shock to see Angel sleeping right there on the couch instead of going back to his bedroom. In his immobile hand, he gripped an empty bottle that had once been filled with liquor.

Buffy crept silently towards him and knelt down on the floor in front of his unconscious form. She removed the bottle from his hand and brought his hand up and placed it squarely on her distended abdomen.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I wanted to show you this,” she glanced down at her stomach. “The baby is yours, I couldn’t tell you until now so I here is the truth. It would be nice if you could have helped me look for a name for our child, but I don’t know if I will ever be seeing you again. Before I go, I wanted to tell you that I love you, I will always love you and I will not stop loving you. ‘Who could refrain who had a heart to love and in that heart, courage to make love known?’” she quoted as she pushed his hand gently in circles around her stomach.

For a few brief moments, she was content to watch him sleep. She could only hope and wish that he were dreaming of her because that’s where he will always dwell for her, in her dreams. She slowly leaned over to him and placed a soft kiss on his warm lips. “Goodbye, Angel,” she whispered as she placed his hand on his chest and stood to walk out his door and out of his life forever.

Part XXVII

“Buffy, WAIT!!” Angel cried as he was suddenly stirred from his sleep and quickly sat up on the couch that he was laying on. His hands gripped to the fabric for dear life as his head went frantically from left to right searching through his small house.

He could have sworn that she was there. The dream had been so real that he could have felt her lips upon his and her taking his hand and pressing it against her swollen womb, just as if she were pregnant.

PREGNANT!!!

Just that thought made it perfectly clear that his thoughts of her coming to him last night had only been a figment of his imagination, just like the many dreams he has had of her previously. Almost every night she came to him, telling him that she loved him, what was so different about last night that made him believe that dreams could come true?

‘But it had to be real,’ he thought to himself and shook his head. As soon as he could take a deep breath of air, he could smell her. He could not deny the fact that her beautiful aroma caressed him like a second skin as soon as he opened his eyes to greet just another average day. The problem was, was that Buffy was going to be handed to his boss today and probably out of his life forever.

With that thought in mind, he let out a deep sigh and pulled himself to his feet to get ready for today. Before he could trudge to the bathroom to rid of the acrid stench of alcohol that radiated from his pores, a knock on the door sounded.

“Oh, bloody hell…” he cursed to himself under his breath as he made his way to the door. As soon as he opened the door, Angel wished that he had ignored the knock and went on his merry way.

“Mornin’ to you, Peaches,” Spike greeted with a rather large shit-eating grin on his face and thoroughly inspected Angel from top to bottom with an icy glare. “You look like hell,” he stated plainly as he pushed past Angel into his house.

“Nice to see you too, Spike. Why don’t you come on in? Make yourself at home? Here, I will give you the keys and you can live here instead of me,” Angel hissed at his old friend.

“And apparently in the middle of the night some stick decided to implant itself up your ass while you slept,” he said as he slumped down on Angel’s couch and haphazardly swung his legs up to rest them on the coffee table in front. “What’s eating you?”

‘I would say, YOU, but I am just not in the mood,’ he though to himself. “Tomorrow’s going to be moderately difficult on me.”

“With the troops?” Spike cocked an eyebrow in his direction.

“How’d you guess?” Angel retorted sarcastically. “What are you doing here?”

“I guess we will just cut straight to the chase then, I am giving you one more opportunity to tell me if you know anything about the fools that kidnapped her.” There was a slight hint of threat in his voice.

Angel stared him indignantly in the eyes. “One more chance and then what?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged and paused momentarily. “I am just saying that it would be of your best interest to say something if you know anything because if you do know anything about this, I will find great pleasure to make sure that you never walk again.”

“Ooo… Is that a threat?” Angel was not the least worried about Spike’s words. Even as a young child, Spike would challenge him to the simplest of brawls and every time, Angel mopped the floor with him. Today was no different, even though he had a hangover that was splitting his head into two distinct halves. “Honestly Spike, I don’t have time right now to beat around the bush so I am going to tell you know and always, I have NO idea who could have taken her or to where.

“You satisfied,” he shot at him as his arms crossed his chest.

“Hardly,” Spike admitted. “I will only be satisfied when she is home and in my arms once again.”

Angel could barely choke down his laughter at Spike’s last words. ‘In my arms once again, MY ASS!’ he thought. “She is probably missing you a lot,” Angel spat.

“How could you not miss me, everyone loves me and can’t live without me,” Spike said with stars in his eyes.

Angel could find no civil words to say to him so he decided to keep his mouth shut. He was truly utilizing the basic saying, ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’ “Well, as you can see, I have things to do today so I got to get going,” he said finally breaking his silence.

“Just remember if you hear anything you know where I will be,” Spike mentioned as he stood up and made his way to the door. Just before he walked out, he turned suddenly to tell Angel one last thing before he left. “Oh I just wanted to let you know that I will be a part of the gang tomorrow searching for her and if I see anyone dragging her away from where she was, I will shoot them.”

“Always nice to know,” Angel smirked and practically shoved his out the door so that his house was quiet one more time and he could safely think about her. Oh how he wished this day could just go away.

With one more heavy sigh, Angel backed away from the front door and moved to the bathroom to prepare himself for the day.

~ ~ ~

“Willow, I need some kind of shaw to hang around me,” Buffy almost whined as she bustled through her friend’s house before she was taken from there.

“What are you talking about, Buffy? Why do you need a shawl?” Willow asked in confusion.

“Well, it is either a shawl or a sack cloth, one of the two,” Buffy said exasperated and could feel tears almost in her eyes.

Noticing the sound of her voice, Willow hunted her down and made Buffy stop for just a moment to figure out what was wrong. “What is wrong, Buffy?” she asked.

“I need some large piece of clothe to cover myself up if I by chance see Angel later on today,” Buffy admitted by pointing at her distended stomach. She was still nervous about showing Angel her stomach and with her wearing something that was large enough to cover her or a wrap that she could pull around herself and not show anything.

“Buffy, you really need to tell him,” Willow pleaded as she gripped Buffy’s shoulders tightly. “He deserves to know and you need to get it off of your shoulders.”

“I already told him,” Buffy whispered softly.

“You WHAT!?” Willow exclaimed and pulled Buffy down to sit next to her on the couch in her living room. “Why didn’t you tell me? What did he say? Tell me everything.”

“He snored,” Buffy smiled shyly.

“Snored?”

“He was sleeping when I told him. Doesn’t that count?” she asked innocently.

“Oh Buffy,” Willow shook her head at her friend. “I will find you a shawl, but I will the entire weight of not telling him on your shoulders. He needs to know, you may never see him again and you will regret it for the rest of your life if you say nothing.”

Willow stood up to leave Buffy momentarily to find what she asked for.

“Or I may regret for the rest of my life telling him and he rejects me one more time,” Buffy muttered softly enough to barely be heard by Willow. Willow bumped straight into her husband and the rest of the gang, excluding Angel.

“Is Buffy ready to go now?” Oz asked his wife as he and his friend’s were waiting to take her to the boss.

“In a few minutes, I have to get her something,” she nodded her head and headed out of his way. It took not very long to find a lovely cream shawl for her and Willow soon emerged to give it to her.

Buffy was still sitting on the couch just where she had left her before the only difference is, was that the boys were there waiting to bring her to the boss. “Just remember what I told you,” Willow stated while she held out the article of clothing to her friend and before Buffy accepted it, she nodded her head.

“Are you ready to leave?” Doyle asked calmly.

Buffy stood up as a sign of agreement and quickly she wrapped the shawl around her abdomen to hide her little secret. “Where is Angel?” she asked as they all lead her out the door.

“He is already there talking to the man, he will meet us there.”

~ ~ ~

“Sir, what are you planning for her?” Angel asked as he stood in darkness talking to the faceless voice.

“What is it any concern of yours?” the voice shot back with the slightest hint of annoyance there. “Rest assured, that I won’t let anything bad to her.”

“You had better,” Angel snapped before he could control his words.

“Do I sense a hint of anger, Liam??” the voice asked. “You should be cautious as to whom you direct your anger to, especially a person who will take into his custody a person that you obviously care for.”

Angel answered his comments in complete silence and obedience. “I more than just care for her,” he almost whimpered.

“What… What was that again?”

“I said I more than just care for her, I am in love with her.”

A deep belly laugh vibrated off the walls. “You have got to be joking with me!”

“I only speak the truth,” Angel said plainly.

“Truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder,” the voice said through his laughter. “Don’t worry, I believe you. Now the question is, is does she reciprocate those same sentiments?”

“You will just have to ask her, I only ask one thing.” The room filled yet again with silence so Angel took that as an open opportunity to continue what he was saying. He reached down deep in his pocket and rooted for what he was looking for. He quickly pulled out a claddagh ring and held it in front of him. “I want you to give this to her,” he said then he placed it on the table in front of him.

“And then what?” the voice sounded curious.

“Then nothing. If she accepts it, then I think you will know her answer,” he said as he heard the door to the room being rapt upon. “She’s here, please take care of her.”

“Don’t worry, Angel. She will see you again, I will almost guarantee it,” the boss muttered softly as he watched a small blonde woman enter his area. “Bid her farewell, Angel.”

Angel made no reply to his boss, he only found himself lost in the vastness of her eyes. His arms itched to wrap themselves around her body but he would refrain. It would just hurt too much to touch her but he had to do it just one more time. Timidly he pulled her into his body, placed a swift on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear. “I love you,” he professed and in the moment he didn’t notice the bulge that she pressed into him when he embraced her.

Before she could respond to him, he hastily exited the door, leaving Buffy alone with the man whose voice she knew from somewhere. She stared at the darkness hoping to see a glimpse of him but all she saw was black. Buffy heard the soft squeak of a chair as the man stood up and she braced herself for him to make his identity known.

“Hello, Buffy. It is so nice to see you,” the voice rang clear as medium height man came through the darkness and stood up in front of her.

She looked deeply in his face and recognized it immediately. “Giles…”

Part XXVIII

For only a split second, Buffy stared straight at the man’s face that she knew too well. She knew every inch from his face from his wrinkled forehead right down to his chin. Buffy desperately wanted to say something witty to him at the moment, but she could barely pull off another “Giles,” before he had her in his arms and squeezing her tightly into his chest.

“Oh My God, Buffy,” he said with worry in his voice as he unconsciously began to stroke her back in assurance. “I have been worried sick about you.”

“Nice to see you too, Giles,” she forced out her chest because he had her in such a strong hug she could barely breath.

The next few minutes he held her in his arms as if he would never let her go again. She was so like a daughter to him that even though she was in his control this whole time, he still was concerned for her safety. It was an absolutely crazy world out there and he would protect her with his life if he had too.

“Giles,” she forced yet again. “If you don’t let me go, I am going to faint in your arms for lack of air.”

Letting her go suddenly and then reaching out to brace her from not falling to the ground, he apologized. “I am so sorry, did I hurt you? Or the baby?”

“We’re… Wait, how did you know?” she stared at him incredulously.

“It may have been assumed that I lived in the shadows of this very room or in the basement of the Summers’ estate, but you have no idea how much I see and how much I know,” he said to her in a rather haughty tone.

“Oh…”

“Also it could be the fact that I know you too well that you would have grown a belly such as that in the past 6 months,” Giles told her truthfully with a smile on his face.

As soon as she saw him smile she couldn’t suppress the smile that dared to creep on her face. Her mind was filled with so many questions but she didn’t feel nervous about the answers to those questions. His smile assured her that even though his actions were questionable, he would keep her safe and she was absolutely fine throughout this whole ordeal.

“Well, since you know everything, then it is my turn to figure out things,” she finally said as she watched his gaze reach to the floor and he staggered back slightly to lean against the table behind him.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” he said with an exasperated voice.

“Who are you?”

“You know that answer already,” he looked up at her almost upset at her first question.

“I thought I did… You were the kind butler who seemed to be the only person in the world who actually care about me and loved me. You were the man that I grew up with who taught me almost everything I know. Now, I don’t really know.”

“I am all those things,” he paused momentarily to sigh, “but that it isn’t all that I am. I am a butler in the employment of Hank Summers, who loved his daughter throughout her entire life as if she was my own, but I am also the leader in the Irish revolutionary movement. I command those revolutionists such as your friends, Doyle, Oz, Xander, Gunn and of course Angel.”

“Angel and I aren’t friends,” she quickly shot back at him breaking his speech.

“No you aren’t friends,” he agreed with her but continued on quickly. “You are more than just friends, but that is for another conversation entirely. We should probably get back to your questions.”

“Right… Ok, um, how? I mean you seemed to always be at the house, I didn’t even think you have seen actually sunlight in at least 60 years.”

“I beg your pardon, I am only 48 years old, young lady,” he chastised her comment with a smirk on her face.

“Excuse me,” she apologized as she rolled her eyes at him.

“But back to it, when I was younger I had a wild streak to myself as I have told you time and time again.” He stopped to get her agreement with a slight nod in her head. “I ran with a type of crowd such as this one and over time I grew out of that rebellious stage, but that part about me never died. It was clawing inside my body and trying desperately to be release.

“I saw the plight that these people were facing and I knew my escape for that unsettling feeling. Over the past 10 years I have slipped my way through the system. Didn’t you find it strange that I had to run to the library every day for at least 5 hours?” he asked her.

“It was a little unusual but then I got to thinking it is just Giles, he is like that,” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, that’s what I was actually doing, so now you know the truth,” he told her flat out.

“Now here comes the big one… Why? Why did you have these men take me away from my home and put me in this situation for the past couple of months?”

“I really don’t know how to answer your question. You see there was no real big reason why I did what I did but I will pledge to you one truth, I meant you no harm. I saw the look on your face when you became engaged to Riley Finn, or when Spike repetitively tried to force himself on you and then I saw your face the day that I heard you had met a young Angel Malone, one of the men under my authority.

“You just have one of those smiles, Buffy that when you do smile it can light up a room and those days after meeting him, your glow was blinding. By taking you under his wing, you could get closer to him or make your own decision to stay away. I am assuming that your child is his, am I right?”

Buffy responded to his statement with a brief bow of her head.

“You needed to get away from there and this was the way that I thought of.”

“But what has that to do with the advancement of the Irish cause?” Buffy asked in complete confusion.

“A little eye opener to the monarchy to know what we are capable of, what we will do and plus it felt so good to get a little arse kicking in when I am able to,” he smiled yet once more. “Kill two birds with one stone, I said I did well for myself.”

“So now what are we going to do?” Buffy asked one more question.

“Test our destinies.”

~ ~ ~

The entire gang was huddled in Angel’s living room as soon as when they got back from releasing Buffy into their boss’ watchful eye.

“Angel man, are you alright?” Doyle asked as he placed a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder as Cordelia did the same for her husband.

Angel was sitting haphazardly on his couch with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He wanted to go back and say that he wouldn’t let her go, that he would protect her, but now it felt like it was too late. “I’m fine,” he answered with a slight growl in his voice.

“Now do we just wait this whole army thing out or are we supposed to fight?” Xander asked the rest of the group.

“Sounds like a good plan to me, I definitely wouldn’t object to that,” Cordelia stated quickly.

“I’m with Cordy on this one,” Willow found her voice and her hand clenched in her husband’s.

“So I guess we wait for something to tell us to do something,” Gunn shrugged his shoulders sounding disappointed and was itching to actually do anything beside just sit in Angel’s house and take up space.

The room was filled with silence assuring everyone had understood what to do and accepted the plan. That was until Penn burst through Angel’s front door with a file of papers in his hands.

“Angel, I think I know who the boss is!!!” he screamed as he caught everyone’s attention.

Angel looked up at his old friend with a curious look on his face, wondering what his friend had discovered. “And..?”

“Well, from the information that I have hear, the boss is a butler in a wealth house somewhere deep in Dublin. He has been so for a little less than 30 years. As a teenager he got into much trouble with the law but then his record seems to have slowly trickled off since then. He seems to be quite reformed from that,” Penn fingered through his papers.

“Does that give the man’s name?” Doyle asked wanting to know every bit of information.

“Um… Yes it does, let me find it here,” Penn leafed through the file and found what he was looking for. “Ah yes, it is Giles, a Mr. Rupert Giles.”

The name suddenly ran clear in Angel’s mind. He knew who the man was; he was the Summers’ butler. He was the man that basically raised Buffy, who loved her as a daughter. The same exact man that he held a conversation with at her home. “I know him,” Angel admitted.

“You do???” Gunn asked in astonishment.

“Yes, he is the Summers’ butler, he knew Buffy,” he answered him bluntly.

“Who? What? How?” Xander asked aloud not understanding what was going on.

“I think you forgot—When?” Cordelia added in sarcastically.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Xander snapped back. “How did an Englishman get up in the ranks of the Sein Finn?”

“It doesn’t really matter now,” Angel sighed.

“What do you mean by that, Angel?” Willow asked.

“She is now in the protection of a man that she deems worthy to be her father. She trusts him and loves him, it is only right that she is in his care. It is good for her to be with him.”

“What about being with the other man she loves?” Willow felt her rage begin to rise. “She needs to be with you, Angel, the man she loves and cares for. So don’t give me that cow dung that it is good for her to be with him.”

“It is only fair and right,” he said plainly.

“You don’t make the decision on that topic,” Willow screamed. “Do you think she would want to be with this Giles character if she could be with you. Think about Buffy.”

“And her child,” Xander shouted then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks for his words.

“Her what? What did you say????” Angel stared at his friend with his eyes wide in confusion as he stood up on his feet to stare Xander straight in the eyes.

“Buffy’s pregnant,” Oz clarified.

“No she can’t be, she can’t! She would have told me before we…” Angel stopped in his comment because he was about to say what had happened between them. “Who’s the father?”

Stunned by his question, Cordelia quickly made it to Angel’s back and promptly squatted at the back of his head for even daring to think it was someone other than he. “Who’s do you think it is?” she asked.

“It can’t be mine, she would have told me,” Angel shook his head in denial.

“She didn’t want to tell you because she was afraid that you would still push her away even if you knew the truth. Might as well keep the secret to herself and save a little of the pain,” Gunn added. “But yes, it is your child that she is carrying.”

“My God, Angel, you got Buffy Summers pregnant?” Penn asked incredulously.

Angel stared around the room at the people who he considered as friend and his shock suddenly turned to anger. “Why did you all know and I didn’t??”

“She made us all promise not to tell you,” Gunn continued. “We all wanted to but we promised.”

Angel shook his head in frustration, anger, shock and sadness. He was going to be a father and the woman that was carrying the child, the woman that he loved, didn’t even tell him. If he knew earlier, there would be no way that he would have let her go and now she could be taken right back home this very day and he could do nothing to stop it.

“I know it is hard to believe, Angel. But it is the truth,” Doyle assured as he whispered in his friend’s ear. “I don’t know if I should say I am sorry or congratulations.”

Angel continually said nothing and his silence was deeply disturbing everyone in the room.

“So Angel, what do you want to do?” Oz asked.

“You had better go after her or I will be forced to hit you again,” Cordelia threatened.

“That goes for me too,” Willow joined Cordy’s side.

“So Angel, what would it be? Stay here and wait it out or find Buffy with your child?” Doyle asked.

“You had better say go and get her or I will be forced to join with the ladies here,” Xander added.

“Angel, you know I will help in any way I can,” Penn offered, as his friend still remained silent.

“Snap out of it!!!” Cordelia yelled as she swung her hand and connected with his skull one more time.

“Hit me one more time, woman and you loose an arm,” Angel said jokingly as he looked up at his friends. “We should go now!”

“There’s the spirit!” Willow chuckled to herself as she and Cordy watched the men in the room begin to bustle around to figure out how to get Angel’s love back into his arms.

Part XXIX

The march through Dublin began just before the ghostly light of the pre-dawn sun glittered the thick fog that hugged the ground in a damp blanket. March… March… March… The planned to let not one stone unturned or one street searched. Their search would not stop until they found their treasure.

The Dublin streets pulsated with the energy that had been kept under control for the past couple of months and it was just about time to feel that power explode and feel its effects on the world.

~ ~ ~

“So, um… Giles. What’s the plan for now???” Buffy asked as she stood in the exact same place watching her butler bustle around the room retrieving different things that they would need to leave the room.

“We leave,” he answered her plainly and said nothing to further explain himself.

“That’s it? That’s all??” Buffy was completely surprised by his lack of an explanation with more than a few words that she would have to look up in a dictionary in order for her to understand. “What happened to your long winded instructions that I end up not hearing the last couple of words because I became to bored to truly listen?”

“We have to leave now, no time for explanations. You need to get out of this building because the British will search this place first and what is the purpose of you being found only after a few hours of searching?” he responded to her as he maintained his actions of picking up a secret parcel that he had hidden in the darkest corner of the room.

With quick fingers, he opened the package and drew out a few articles of men’s clothing that he planned on Buffy wearing in their escape. “Here put on these?” he thrust them in her arms, without looking at her face, which a look of befuddlement was painted across.

“Ah… Giles, I think we need to discuss something here,” she said to him as she brought the clothes to her body and pressed them against her. “I think we need to have a little talk about these things. I don’t think I am going to be able to get a leg in them before they will no longer reach around me.”

“What are you talking about? I know what your size is, how could they not fit?” he asked incredulously as he still kept his eyes averted from hers.

“Must you honestly ask?” she questioned him, as she demanded his attention.

Giles finally looked up at her, then his eyesight went directly to her distended abdomen. “Oh bloody priceless,” he muttered to himself as he stared at the clothes that she was draping across her body. The men’s clothing that she held in front of her barely fit half of her as she stared at him with her arms resting on her hips and her foot incessantly tapping on the floor.

“You see my point,” she shook her head at him.

“Well, didn’t plan for that to happen,” he chuckled softly. “Forget the clothes, just wrap this cloak tightly around you and make sure to keep your hair concealed under the hood.” Tossing it in her direction, she caught it easily and pulled it over her shoulders.

“Aye aye, Captain,” Buffy joked slightly as she brought the hood forward so that it concealed her entire head. “How do I look?”

“Not too conspicuous,” he shrugged. “Just remember to keep close to me. I don’t think the troops are here yet, but just to be certain we need to get you too a safe spot.”

“And that place would be????” Buffy lifted her eyebrows high in the hopes that he would tell her where they were heading.

“Yet again, what would be the fun in telling you?” Giles sent a smirk her way and heard her sigh loudly at his reluctance of telling her where they were heading off too. “Don’t worry Buffy, you are going to be just fine there.”

Buffy’s eyes were downcast towards the ground as she nodded her head slightly to let him know that she totally trusted his judgment. “Will they find us?” she asked softly, her voice barely audible due to the slight fear that slowly began to creep up her spine.

“I hope not, I don’t think that the army would look through the place that we are going,” Giles admitted to her.

“I wasn’t talking about the army,” she stated truthfully.

“Ahhh… I understand now, you are wondering about if Angel and his gang will find you?” Her only response to his question was another silent nod as they made their way out of the building doors out to the oddly quiet roads.

“That is the test. Where we are going he will have to know some truth about you that is buried deep in your heart. He will need to think about something that means a great deal to you and once he finds that out, he will find you,” Giles told her cryptically. “Remember this, ‘Men at some time are masters of their fate.’”

Buffy hearing that quote she had heard and read many times, she took a deep breath in reassurance and stepped out with Giles towards a destination. She knew where they were going; she just prayed that Angel would know that same place too.

~ ~ ~

“So Angel, where do we start first?” Doyle asked as the whole gang had waited in his friend’s living room trying to come up with some plan of attack.

“Well, we know one thing. This Giles guy is an exceptionally intelligent man, and I think that he has probably won’t keep her at headquarters. He took her somewhere else, I am almost sure of it,” Penn spoke aloud as he rummaged through the papers that he was still holding.

“How do you know that he isn’t there?” Xander asked him.

“Headquarters would be the first place that the army would look,” Gunn stated aloud. “He and Buffy are probably way far from the building by now.”

“So all we need to do is find out where he took her,” Oz answered the obvious question.

“But where?” Xander asked in totally confusion. “Ideas, anyone???”

Everyone in the room fell completely silent as they shook their heads. ‘Buffy could be anywhere right now,’ Angel thought to himself. ‘She might be in her own bed right now.’

“Well, let’s think here,” Doyle said aloud breaking the silence. “I would guess that since he has known her most of her life, he would probably take her to some place that she would feel familiar and safe. Angel, when you and Buffy talked did she mention Rupert Giles at all?”

“She spoke of him like a father,” Angel’s ears suddenly picked up on Doyle’s question. “He would take her out of the house to many places around the city.”

“Such as??” Willow asked.

“Um…” he thought aloud. “They would take walks around the fields of clover, feed birds on the sidewalks, go on outings to different places in town.” He went quiet for a moment to try to remember all the places that she had been talking about and suddenly a thought hit his mind. “Penn, is there anything on the likes or dislikes of Buffy’s butler?”

Very quickly, Penn fingered through this information and found a few things that may be of some importance. “He is interested in collecting ancient artifacts, has a great love for books and likes eating mushy peas.”

“Anything of help in there?” Gunn asked.

“Maybe,” Angel whispered to himself as he thought of what Penn just was mentioning. “Wait, did you say that he liked books??”

“Um… Yes, he has a great love for all different types of books. He reads books of different genres, subjects, and content. It says here that he can read and write in 6 different, a great accomplishment for a person just meant to be a servant. I do notice something here that it says that he has a great reverence to Shakespearean plays.”

“Shakespeare, THAT’S IT!!!” Angel yelled in excitement. “The first time that I met her, she quoted from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and told me that she loved his works.”

“Great, good!!” Xander exclaimed. “And now what??”

“I am thinking that he was the one that taught her to adore the great bard’s plays and poetry. I am betting that he probably took her someplace that would have to do with that or some place that has to do with Shakespeare,” Angel stated.

“London…” Cordelia said silently.

“What did you say, ‘Delia?” her husband asked.

“London. That’s where Shakespeare was from, is it possible that he would take her there,” she clarified.

“Do you think he has enough time to take her across the English Channel?” Willow asked her.

“I don’t know, it is only a suggestion,” Cordelia started to take on the defensive.

“Based on the time frame that we have here, I don’ think he would have time to do that, considering that he has a pregnant woman with him to bring down their pace,” Oz shook his head.

“So close, but no cigar,” Xander taunted her.

“If you think you are so smart, why don’t you think of something?” she shot back at him.

“I… I, um… I’m getting there,” he stuttered.

“That’s what I thought. Honestly Xander, you have no room to talk at the moment. You don’t have enough brains in the tiny head of yours to come up with any intelligent suggestion,” Cordy kept on going. “School would have been helpful to you if you went once and a while. It’s called a library, use it!!”

“Library… Is there a library in town?” Angel asked hastily breaking his friend’s little argument.

“There is one a few blocks south from Revello Drive,” Oz informed everyone. “I used to work there between gigs.”

“Did Rupert Giles take her on any trips to the library???” Doyle asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did,” Angel shrugged. “Let’s start there,” Willow commented.

“It’s a start,” Angel agreed.

“And if we are wrong, we have a few more hours to try something else,” Cordelia admitted.

“’Such as we are made of, such we be,’” Angel muttered under his breath as he watched his friends gather their things and prepare to hit the streets to find his love.

Part XXX

“Giles, you can’t leave me here alone,” Buffy began to plead as she watched her butler start to make a departure and leave her there. “What am I going to do if the army comes here???”

“Do you trust me??” he asked her.

“Of course, I have always trusted you.”

“Then don’t worry. This place will give you protection until I come and find you or Angel and his friends get here,” he informed her. “I have to take care of a little business right now and I promise to be back as soon as I can.”

Buffy nodded in understanding and watched him run from her presence. With a deep sigh and a prayer on her lips, she tried to remain patient as she watched him go.

~ ~ ~

Under his dark coat, Giles ran from the building straight towards Revello Street. He had devised a plan over these past couple of months and he was actually feeling the slightest excitement that it would be implemented. He knew it would work, it has to work!

“Bloody hell, man,” Spike cursed as a running Giles ran smack dab into him as he exited the doors.

“Spike… Spike… Spike,” Giles panted as he grabbed the young man’s shoulder to steady himself and to slow his heartbeat.

“If you say my name one more time without anything else to add to that, I just might have to kill you,” Spike hissed in irritation. “Where were you anyway and why are you running??”

“I found her, I know where Buffy is!” he finally caught his breath and started into the gaunt man’s steely blue eyes.

Hearing the older man’s words, Spike grabbed him by his shoulders and dug his fingertips into Giles’ flesh. Spike nearly drug Giles into the house to tell him everything that he had heard. “Tell me everything!” he demanded as the stepped inside the house.

“Well, this morning I was going to my daily library run and from out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a rag tag group of men in an alley close to the building. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to figure out what was going on, so I spied on them, from a far, of course.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Spike huffed in impatience. “And??”

“And I heard a little of their conversation. They began to talk about taking Buffy to an abandoned warehouse outside of town to avoid the army coming through town.”

“Did they mention where this warehouse was?”

“Umm…” Giles pretended to be deeply in thought and trying to find an answer. He would direct them to a place that was on the exact opposite side of town from where she actually is hiding. Goose chases, got to love them! “Oh I remember! It was an old run down warehouse on Main Street. I could be wrong though.”

“You better be right about that because the army has already started going through the town and by the time that they get to that place, it will be later on in the afternoon.”

“Can’t you just go to the leader and ask to go straight there?” Giles sounded concerned.

“If Fish boy was not on the mainland and with me, then I could. But since I don’t have any ranking in the army, I have no way to petition to the commander. It would be a bloody fruitless task, if you ask me.”

“Well, you must go and try to find her and I will be quick to tell the Summers where their daughter is.” Quickly Giles placed on his mask of being a butler and turned to his duties that he secured for so many years.

“They left for England just a few minutes ago, I don’t think you are going to be able to catch them,” Spike informed the butler and was quite confused with the fact that he didn’t already know this information.

“Oh bloody priceless,” Giles swore under his breath. “Thank you for reminding me, I almost forgot with the stress of what happened this morning to me.”

“You should remember those kinds of things,” Spike chastised. “It is your job to attend this house and all who live here.”

‘Believe me, I am already doing that without your lecture,’ Giles thought and wanted to say aloud but kept quiet. “Yes, well you ought to be off. Our mistress waits for you.”

“And I am pretty sure that she is going to be so relieved when she sees me that she will just run into my arms,” Spike said with confidence as he made his way out the door and shut it behind him.

“Unless she has a dagger hidden in her hand, I don’t believe she would do such a thing,” Giles stated to an empty house. Finally being alone, Giles ran up the stairs towards Buffy’s room and began to rummage through some of her things that she had hanging there.

A bag was quickly packed with all sorts of necessities that she may need, and he made his way out the door en route back to where Buffy lay hidden.

~ ~ ~

“So Angel, what makes you so certain that she is there?” Gunn asked incredulously as the entire group covered themselves in heavy coats to make their ways out to the streets. “And I don’t believe we are going to fool anyone with this disguise we all have working for us.”

“Just try to look inconspicuous would you please?” Angel begged as he opened up his front door and watched as everyone filed out of his small living room. “Remember guys, look like you are taking an easy stroll through town without a worry in the world.”

“Easy for you to say, I think I have already released half the contents of my bladder on your doorstep,” Xander cursed silently.

Those were the last words anyone said on their journey. Oz held Willow tightly to his chest, in the same fashion Doyle held Cordelia as they made their way across town avoiding all who might discover who they are.

They heard the soft march of the troops a few streets over and they all knew that they had to hurry before they were confronted and asked who they all are. Quietly the entered the Dublin library and stopped dead in their tracks to look around the building at the expanse of it all.

The library was vast in its architecture and its collection of books. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling in works from such famous people as Yeats, Chaucer, Machiavelli, Dante, and so many more.

“You all might catch flies if you keep your mouths open like that,” a young dark haired librarian whispered to the entire group as they all stood and gawked at the sight.

“What did you say?” Willow asked she came out of her stupor and smiled at the young woman.

“You guys look rather interesting with your jaws to the floor,” she chuckled softly. “Can I help you??”

No one moved as if they did not hear a word that she had said.

“Well, I guess if you need anything, just let me know. My name is Fred if you want to know,” she sighed and began to walk away.

“What kind of a name is Fred?” Gunn found his voice and looked into the dark haired woman standing in front of him.

“Nick name, actually,” she clarified. “My real name is Winifred, but most people just call me Fred.”

“Can I ask you another question?” Gunn continued on with their conversation with a large smile on his face. He was mesmerized by the light sparkling in her chestnut colored eyes and couldn’t stop himself from walking forward to get a closer look.

“As me anything. I am a fountain of all knowledge but sometimes I don’t know the answer, so I go and I research to find it. If that doesn’t work then I will try and try again till…”

Gunn smiled at the blush of her cheeks as he continued to stare at her as she babbled. She had a wonderful voice and he didn’t really mind if she kept on talking even if he wouldn’t hear what she said.

“I am babbling aren’t I?” she asked.

“I think so,” he laughed silently.

No one said a word around him; they were all content in the interaction between the young librarian and their friend. There was something in their eyes when they looked at each other and no one wanted to break that spark.

“So what can I help you with?”

“I was curious if you saw an older man and a young blonde woman walk through the door not more than a few hours ago.”

With a deep crevice in her forehead, Fred racked her memory trying to remember the people that she saw walk through the door. “I am not sure, not many people have come in today, I should know. But I was away from the front door for a few minutes or so, doing inventory. I just love these books in here, I find it so easy to just get pulled into another dimension with every one I pick up.”

“So you didn’t see anyone?” Angel interrupted to enter his question.

“Sorry,” she apologized then wrung her hands in front of her body. “You can look around here if you want, you might just see them.”

“Thank you,” Gunn whispered and winked at the woman. He smiled at her reaction as she blushed bright red and looked to the floor innocently.

“Would you by chance know where I could find a lot of Shakespeare’s plays?” Angel spoke up.

“Why just Shakespeare?” Doyle asked his friend.

“Buffy and I had our first real conversation over his works, I am betting if she is anywhere in here, it would be near his plays.”

“Good thinking,” Xander encouraged.

“The bard’s plays are in the reference section at the end of this hall,” Fred pointed out. “We have a specific room dedicated to him.”

“Thanks,” Angel said quickly as he made his way down the hall with everyone except Gunn following him.

“You should probably go with your friends,” Fred stated as she watched the black man not move from his spot. “They might need you.”

“I think they can make do without me,” he smiled as he moved closer to her and placed her arm in the crook of his. Without many more words, the two walked into the heart of the library to continue on a conversation with just the two of them.

~ ~ ~

Angel felt and heard his heart slam in his chest as he ran down the aisle towards the Shakespeare room. With every step he took, he could almost feel her closer to him and it seemed that his legs wouldn’t move fast enough for him.

Only a few more strides from the entrance, he tried to halt his movements to walk in there quietly. He peaked in slowly letting his eyes wander from one end to the other.

“Is she in there?” Willow demanded silently.

There was no sign of her there and Angel felt his heart hit the floor below him. “No,” he stated defeated and slid down to the floor with his head hung low.

“Are you certain?” Doyle asked.

“Take a look for yourself.”

Oz, Willow, Doyle, Xander, and Cordelia all entered the room to see a bare room with no signs that anyone had been in there except for a few books laying on the floor where someone would be sitting on a chair. They all exited the room feeling the same defeat that Angel felt.

“Where else could she be, Angel?” Cordelia asked.

“Why don’t you try the ladies room? You never know what you will find in there,” the voice that Angel had been desperate to hear suddenly filled his ears.

“Buffy,” he looked up from the floor to see his blonde angel staring down at him with tear filled eyes.

“You give up too easily, we are going to have to work on that,” Buffy chastised him as she took a step forward.

Without another word spoken, Angel kneeled in front of her and flew his arms around her swollen stomach and hugged her lower body into his chest. Buffy’s fingers ran through his hair as he rubbed her back lightly.

With much effort, Angel pulled away from her body only to look up at her. She looked down at him with eyes full of love and watched him as he leaned forward to press a soft kiss on her distended belly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked while he placed his ear on her trying to listen to his child.

Part XXXI

Angel never wanted to let go of her. She was finally in his arms after such a long time apart and even though the world was chaotic around them, their love gave them gravity and an anchor to peace.

He placed one more soft kiss on her distended abdomen before he stood up to tower over her small frame. Angel looked down at her momentarily and saw tears begin to form in her eyes before he crushed her to his chest and gently rubbed her back with loving hands. “Why didn’t you tell me before??”

“You have no idea how many mornings I woke up and asked myself the same question. But I guess the best explanation I have is that I wanted you to love me, just the way that I have loved you since I first talked to you out there on the muddy streets,” Buffy admitted to him openly.

“I have loved you just as long and yet you said nothing.”

“I hoped that you loved me, but I had no way of knowing for sure. I was almost positive of your feelings but then after our one night together, you quickly said that it was a mistake. You crushed me, I was about to tell you how much I love you and you stopped me,” she paused for a moment to break from his embrace and look into his sad eyes.

“And I will always regret those words, I never meant them.”

“You may say that now, but with our time together, you tried to suppress your feelings for me and then you sent me away after I finally stated my love for you. That day I was actually thinking about telling you about our child, but I didn’t want you to think that you had to keep me under your wing just because I was with child. To be in a relationship such as that with no love would have destroyed both of us. I couldn’t raise a child that way, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Would you have ever told me?” he asked both dreading and anxiously waiting for her answer.

Buffy shook her head in confusion then looked to the floor. “I don’t know. Angel you didn’t just break my heart, you turned it to dust. I wanted to tell you but I just couldn’t put my heart through any more torture. I knew that when I would have this baby, I would always carry a piece of you with me—one spot in my soul and one in the child that we made together. He or she would remind me of you when I would look at them and I could imagine myself as your wife and spending the rest of my life with you.” She paused to take a deep breath. “To dream that you said you loved me.”

“’Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. Other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies,’” Angel quoted before he placed her chin between his thumb and forefinger to tilt her head up to meet his eyes. “I love you Buffy Summers. I love you with every breath I intake, with every heartbeat, every piece of me. And I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner.”

Finally reaching her breaking point, tears streamed down her face as she buried her face into Angel’s shoulder. “I love you, too.” A heavy burden seemed to be lifted off her shoulders with both their professions, she pulled back from him slightly to capture his warm lips in a kiss. His hands wrapped around her back and pulled her tightly into his body while her arms wound themselves around his neck.

“It is about time,” Giles stated as he walked toward the couple, not really paying any attention to the world around them while they were in each other’s arms. “Ahem…” he coughed twice loudly before Buffy and Angel broke apart.

“Hello, Giles,” Buffy greeted slightly irritated that he interrupted them.

“Good afternoon, Buffy,” he smiled at her then turned his attention back to her lover. “Angel…”

Angel responded to his greeting was a brief nod of his head.

“Well it seems to me that we find ourselves in a rather peculiar situation, wouldn’t you agree? Now the question is, how do we get out?” Giles asked as the rest of Angel’s gang gathered around him. The group now included Gunn with his arm firmly planted around the thin shoulders of the young librarian.

“What do have planned, sir?” Xander asked, as he didn’t want to wait any longer for an answer.

“We escape, what else could he have in mind?” Doyle answered for the group.

“I think that response speaks for itself, but how?” Angel sneered at his friends.

“Well, first we need to get out of this library and to some place that they wouldn’t even think about looking through,” Giles smiled for he knew the exact place to go, he just wanted to lead these people a little, just to feed his drive to wait for the last minute to tell everyone so that the danger would be increased. “Any ideas??”

“I know for a fact that we can’t go back to headquarters, that would be the first place that they want to look through,” Cordelia spoke up. “I guess that place is out of the question.”

“I would have to agree with that one,” Xander admitted. “Are there any ideas?”

“I have one,” Giles stated.

“Are you going to tell us or what?” Willow sounded impatient.

“The Summers’ residence.”

No one could say a word. Everyone was completely dumbstruck at the thought of going to the lion’s den, right where all of this had started.

“Are you crazy or are you just crazy?” Xander raised the question. “Why would we go there?”

“Think about it. Why would the army think to look in Buffy’s house when she hasn’t been there for many months now?”

“What about my parents, aren’t they home?” Buffy asked.

“No, they went to England for some formal business with the government. They won’t be home for another couple of days.”

“Are you certain?” Angel inquired.

“Positive. It is the safest place to go, plus it is very close to here and we can make it there fast without much consideration. You all could hide in my office down in the basement until everything that I have planned goes into effect,” Giles said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t put any of you in any more danger.”

Seeing no other options available, the entire group agreed to this plan and they started their way out of the library. But before Angel could step forward, Giles grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Buffy. “Angel, may I have a word with you? I promise it won’t take long.”

“What is the matter, Giles?” Angel asked but was hastily silenced as Giles’ fist slammed into his jaw line.

“If you ever hurt her again or put her in a situation like this ever again, I will kill you,” Giles threatened as anger rose in Angel’s eyes. Before Angel could violently retaliate, the older man extended a handshake towards him. “Welcome to the family.”

Angel took his hand and gave it a hefty shake.

“I mean what I say Angel. Don’t hurt her,” Giles added.

“I don’t plan to ever again, that I can guarantee,” Angel declared. “So is it alright that I ask her hand in marriage from the man that she considers a father?”

“I never thought you would have to ask me because you should already know the answer,” the older man stated as he looked ahead of him and stared into Buffy’s eyes, filled with love, as she looked at Angel. “Plus if you didn’t ask her, I think I would have killed you anyway for impregnating her before marriage.”

Giles laughed faintly and Angel quickly joined in to his laughter. Buffy’s heart soared as she heard the two most important men in her life share that happiness. She knew that no matter what would happen from now on, everything would be just fine.

Without much more to say, the entire group exited the building in relative silence. Everyone was too worried say anything, but Giles wasn’t afraid to say one more thing. “Buffy, I need your cloak.”

“My cloak??”

~ ~ ~

Marching through those streets for more than ten hours felt like it was killing Spike. His body screamed for water and food; he had denied himself those simple pleasures for too long and it was definitely wearing his body down.

The only relief he felt after this long day with not finding her was the fact that they were getting closer to where Giles had said that he saw a group of people talking about taking Buffy there.

The building in question was completely run down as parts of the walls hung loosely out of place and the majority of windows smashed beyond repair. A horrible stench of mold and feces radiated from the graying walls and dilapidated structure. Cautiously he looked inside the windows, seeing absolutely nothing that would indicate that anyone was waiting inside. No guards, no life, no Buffy.

‘If Giles led me wrong, I will strangle him,’ Spike thought but then something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. “General, take a look at this,” Spike yelled and waved his hand in beckoning.

“What is it?” the general asked in irritation.

“I think I see someone in there,” Spike spoke plainly pointed to a human like figure in the middle of the room strapped to a chair.

The sight quickly caught up with the general and he barked out an order to send a few men in there to check everything out. “Inside now, there is someone in there!” he yelled.

A small entourage of soldiers lead by Spike slithered their way into the room, looking around for any signs of the opposition. It seemed quite odd that no one was there except for this person in a long black cloak, but Spike made nothing of it.

He tip toed softly to the person and pulled back the hood to reveal the person inside. His breath caught in his throat as he stared straight into the blank eyes of a stuffed mannequin looking back at him with golden colored hair. His eyes traveled the length of the dummy where they landed on a small piece of paper with a saying on it.

Spike picked it up in his fingers and read what is said. ‘Erin Go Braugh,’ he thought to himself then said aloud, “What the fuck??”

His question could and would never be answered because as soon as he spoke those words, the entire building was engulfed in an explosion that rocked everything inside. Nothing was left of the building when sound ceased, only a dust cloud remained of the building and all the people inside and most of the people outside.

Part XXXII

New York Times Sunday, October 22, 1916

Explosion Rocks Dublin Streets Killing 50

For the past few months, the streets of Dublin, Ireland, seemed to almost to the point of being serene but all that would change when a bomb ripped through an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

At approximately two o’clock in the morning EST, while the British army was combing through Dublin in the attempt to find the perpetrators to horrendous crimes, committed by Irish revolutionaries in the sake of their quest for political freedom for a new republic of Ireland. These revolutionaries are believed to have direct involvement with the Easter Monday Rebellion in which hundreds of Irish and British citizens were murdered along the cobblestone streets.

There are no eyewitnesses that have come forth to authorities that may have seen or heard any information that would lead to the arrest of suspects. For now, the British authorities are questioning those individuals that have been known to take part of rebellious acts in the past but no solid leads have been uncovered. Currently police are out searching for a young man named Penn McWilliams for questioning purposes of these crimes.

Penn McWilliams, a 26-year-old revolutionary, is known to have ties to the Sein Finn, a group that is believed to have initiated the unrest in Dublin. No one can account for his whereabouts for the whole day of the bombing and it seems that he is now hiding while the investigations continue.

The local government has continually denied their contribution to these acts of violence by stating that they have no concrete facts, only vague ideas as to who would have orchestrated these rebellions. President Patrick H. Pearse vows, “We shall look into these accusations pointed toward our people, and we will not stop our search until the fiends behind these acts are found and justifiably tried for their crimes.”

More than 50 people were found, unidentifiable, among the burnt remnants of the explosion. No one that was on the inside of the building had the opportunity to stay alive and all lives were lost inside the crumbling walls. Most of the lives lost were members of the British army searching through the streets for a young English woman who had been kidnapped from her home 6 months ago by the Sein Finn. Buffy Summers, daughter of prominent British official Hank Summers, was believed to be kept inside that building during her time in capture.

Hank Summers had been an influential figure in England’s presence on the island. Mr. Summers has always spoke openly to the British Parliament to keep their holdings on Ireland and to fight back at those who would threaten British authorities there. By kidnapping his daughter, revolutionaries attempted to bring their claim straight to the official, but all their efforts seemed fruitless for an audience. At the time of the explosion, Mr. Summers was on a trip to Parliament, pleading the government to stay in Ireland indefinitely. He has stated no comment at the present time over the past couple of days’ events.

Survivors of the blast recall seeing her image in one of the warehouse windows before the explosion and it is alleged that Ms. Summers was also killed in the explosion along with the men who had come to bring her back to her family. Her body has not yet been uncovered but already her family has begun making preparations for her burial. Buffy Summers was only 20 years old.

~ ~ ~

“Hank… Hank…” Joyce Summers began to sob openly at the news of her daughter’s apparent death in the blast. “What are we going to do now?”

He didn’t know how to answer his wife. He wanted to comfort her and tell her that everything would be all right, but he knew that that would be not true. Their lives are now and forever changed beyond repair at this moment. Buffy, their only daughter, dead and they could do nothing to stop her death or bring her back to life. Hank wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tightly into his chest. “It isn’t fair that our baby was taken from us so soon, but we must remember that she is in a better place now.”

“I don’t care that she is in a better place, I want her here!” Joyce raged as her sobs became quite forceful. “All my life I have prepared myself to watch her grow old with Riley, the man she loves, grant me with many grandchildren, and be able to see me pass on. No parent should ever have to bury their child!”

“You are most definitely right, honey,” Hank attempted to calm her with a soft voice. “The only thing that we are able to do now is commit ourselves to the cause of finding those who took her away from us and make them pay. We will find them and put them to justice and the only way to do that is to keep the British government in Ireland.”

“Politics, it is always about politics!” Joyce muttered under her breath. “Do you understand, Hank, that your politics have murdered my… our baby!!”

“You must not think that this little setback can deter my vision, I fear that it is actually a step forward to an increase of British influence. The Irish cannot govern by themselves; the only route toward their peace is English help. If I had my will, Ireland will never see freedom from Great Britain.”

“And if I had my will, I would never allow Cromwell to conquer Ireland, that way these rebellions would not exist and our daughter would still be alive. For what this hatred has done to Buffy, I damn it all to hell!” Joyce swore. “With the rate of violence in that country, I don’t believe that the stronghold that you so thoroughly hope to preserve won’t last past the 30s.”

“I shall work to make sure your predictions don’t come true,” Hank stated with determination in his voice. “I plan to speak with Parliament and plead my case, then we will go back home.”

Joyce shook her head in despair at her husband’s words. He would not listen to her and her arguments. Too many died, how many more must in order for there to be peace in Ireland? ‘Not during my lifetime,’ Joyce thought as her anger turned to tears that ran down her face. “What am I to do while I wait?” she asked her husband in a hushed whisper.

“Think about her funeral. We need to think of ceremony that Buffy would like, something that we will always be able to remember her by.”

Part XXXIII

The day of Buffy Summers’ memorial service began with the skies filled with dark gray clouds that would periodically open and weep droplets of rain upon the ground below. Damp grass parted way while the procession passed along the streets. This procession was eerie with the absence of a casket that would have held the body of the young woman.

In place of her body was the memory of the happy times that she existed on this earth and all the sad faces that witness this dismal ceremony. The damp ground soaked up the rain and all the tears of the many people that came to pay their respects to the woman who had lived a life full of passion and vitality, who was caught between the two factions of this country that had been violently trying to rip apart from each other.

The same thought crossed each mourner’s mind while they trudged through those dank streets. ‘She was so young, why did she have to die?’

Joyce Summers lead the crowd of sadness with little to no emotions crossing her blank countenance. Her husband had held her hand in condolence for their loss, but she needed no comfort. She was beyond all attempts to feel at ease. Joyce’s heart cried out for her daughter, but she had already shed too many tears.

As she walked her shoulders slumped to the ground, feeling the weight of her despair lean heavily on her weakened body. She had not had a full night sleep since the explosion and her eyes were bloodshot with the tears that had come down.

“I’m not ready to say goodbye,” she whispered into her husband’s ear as he pulled her more tightly into his body.

“Me neither, but she will always be in our memories,” Hank attempted to soothe her with comforting words, even though he would not be comforted by what he said.

The rest of the trip to the ceremony was kept in silence. The only sound heard was the faint pitter-patter of raindrops on the cobblestone streets and the tolling of bells in the background of the church whose cemetery they were walking to.

~ ~ ~

Buffy felt her own tears fall down her cheeks as she stayed in the rear of the procession to her own memorial. The eerie feeling of not really understanding what she was experiencing filled her heart and mind with complete sadness and wonderment.

Angel stood next to his weeping love and he could feel the emotions rolling off her body and slamming into his own. In an act of comforting, he wrapped his arm around his dark cloaked Buffy to pull her face into his shoulder to catch her tears. Buffy promptly wrapped her arms around her lover to hold him tightly to her and not forget that he was with her now, forever.

They never let go of each other until Giles softly tapped the young woman on the shoulder. “Do you have the letter?”

Buffy could only nod her head because she felt her throat hoarse with her tears. She released Angel momentarily to reach under her dark cloak to retrieve a letter that Giles asked her to write and give to her mother.

“I will give it to her at the end of the ceremony,” Giles whispered to her.

“Can’t I give it to her personally?” she asked meekly.

Giles shook his head at her question for he knew that if she were seen, Buffy would be taken away and placed back into her other life. “I’m sorry, Buffy, but it is better this way.”

She nodded her head in agreement and sniffled back a few more tears as she felt Angel grip her tighter. They watched as Giles walked away and Angel leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Are you all right?”

Buffy didn’t know how to answer his question. “I don’t know. I am so happy that I will be with you now but then I will miss certain things that I enjoyed in my old life.”

“You will always have your memories, I can guarantee that and I can only hope that we will be able to replace the bad memories with our new life together. It will be difficult, but we will do this together. I promise,” Angel spoke eloquently and looked directly into her eyes.

With a sigh of comfort, Buffy felt the love that radiated from Angel’s eyes as he stared down at her. She could spend eternity looking directly into them and she trusted him to know that her life with him will be perfect.

“You have to admit the irony to this situation,” Angel stated with a simple smile.

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked.

“How many people you know are able to witness their own funeral?”

She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face at his words. “Well, I always believe that when you kissed me, I wanted to die.”

“Then lets make you die one more time,” Angel commented as his lips fell upon hers and the warmth flowed between both, opening both their hearts to the love they shared.

~ ~ ~

Joyce looked around at all the faces of the people in the crowd that huddled around the small plaque that was placed under a tree in the middle of the cemetery. She could see the grief that was painted on all their faces as the stood there facing the rain to pay their respects to her fallen daughter.

As her eyes wandered, she noticed that most of the faces that were in the rabble, she didn’t recognize. On the opposite side of the circle, she noticed a group of men and women massed together, wearing almost the exact same dark cloaks. The black hoods concealed their faces as their hands hung low towards the ground.

Once and a while she saw one of them, raise their heads so that she could get a brief glimpse of their faces. She noticed a tall dark skinned man who held the hand of a slender burnet female with black-rimmed glasses; also a shorter, light haired male who had his arm around an equally tall woman with flaming red hair. Also among that group there was a man with the most wrinkled cloak who had an elegantly looking woman on his arm and two men who stood by themselves, one having fair skin with short blonde hair and a shaggy, dark haired one.

Her attention moved to the last two members of that odd group when Giles came forward and distracted her from her thoughts. With an unsteady hand, he lifted a letter to her and she nervously took it in her hand. “For you, ma’am,” he stated as he handed to her and walked away for her to have a moment with the letter.

Joyce’s hands shaked as she opened the letter pensively to realize that it was her daughter’s handwriting that she was staring at. Once again her eyes filled with tears as she read the plain words on the page.

//Dear Mom,

I don’t really know what to say to you. It is so hard for me to write this, words cannot even express what I am feeling. I wrote to let you know that I am happy wherever I go. Know that I will always love you and I will see you someday. Goodbye…

Love forever, Buffy//

Joyce read the words at least a hundred times by the time that she looked up from the paper. Buffy’s letter provided her with a comfort that she could have never felt without it. She knew now that her daughter was going to be fine and she will see her some day.

She looked up from the paper only after the words could no longer be read for the rain had made the ink blur on the page. Joyce looked up from the page only to have her eyes fall once again towards the odd group of people. Suddenly the sight before her eyes made her heart quicken its pace.

The woman that caught her attention across the way was slightly blurred by the rain that fell before her, but Joyce could almost swear that it was Buffy looking back at her. Strands of the woman’s golden hair flew from its confines and framed her beautiful face. Joyce wanted to scream Buffy’s name and run towards the woman, but something held her back.

She kept her silence as she stood there when she saw the young woman make eye contact with her. A shiver ran through her body as she saw the deep shade of green in the woman’s eyes. Her skin glowed and Joyce began to change her opinion about the woman from her daughter to a luminous angel.

Their eye contact remained intact until the point that Joyce raised a hand to her face and blew a kiss toward the young woman from her fingertips. A glittering smile came from the woman as the kiss wafted her way. Joyce put her hand to her side as someone stepped between them and broke their eye contact. When she looked again, the woman was gone along with the rest of the cloaked figures.

Joyce looked to the sky and whispered one more goodbye to the heavens for she knew that her daughter was now an angel up there watching all of them from below. “I’ll be seeing you,” she whispered aloud as she felt her daughter inside her heart. She knew now that no matter what would happen, Buffy would always be there with her.

~ ~ ~

Buffy released a loud sigh of release as she, Angel and the rest of the gang left the cemetery. “Well, that was fun,” Xander stated as they walked.

“Oh yeah, tons,” Cordelia added.

“It is a shame that we won’t be able to attend the wake, I wouldn’t mind getting a little inebriated at the moment,” Doyle smiled.

“I would have to agree with you,” Angel agreed with his friend. With standing at his lover’s supposed funeral, his heart was filled with dread. It opened his eyes to the idea that one day she will be in fact taken from his side and he would not know how to continue to exist without her. He wouldn’t want to think about that now for he now just won her, their future would just have to happen when it did but for now he must live for today.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” Gunn broke through Angel’s brooding.

“Why?” Angel asked.

“Funny things happen when you get drunk,” Gunn explained.

“Like what?”

Gunn could say no words only point to Buffy’s distended stomach. “I think your girlfriend has the answer to your question. I don’t think it is a bad thing, just interesting none-the-less.”

Understanding what his friend was referring to, Angel placed a soft palm to Buffy’s abdomen as the continued to walk forward.

“So now what are we going to do?” Willow asked in excitement.

“Not sure,” Doyle answered her question.

“I know what I can do right now,” Angel stated.

“And that would be??” Xander asked.

Angel turned to stop Buffy in her tracks and stand straight in front of her. “Buffy Summers, will you marry me?”

At his proposal, Buffy almost jumped straight up into the air and wrapped her arms around his neck. She placed a passionate kiss upon his lips and stated with all the love that she had in her warm heart. “Yes.”

THE END!!!

So, I hope you all enjoyed the ride at Heidi’s mind of wacky fun. I would be willing to except applause or coins for this story, but feedback is just as good. Tell me what you think and if there should be a sequel!

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