Life went on

by liliaeth

Buffy was forced to leave their son with Angel, now ten years later she returns.

Life went on

Buffy sat uncharacteristically quiet on her chair. Her eyes, filled with tears, were seemingly locked on one place on the desk in front of her.
"Isn't there any other way?"
What could Whistler say to that? 'Sure, just leave. Go to your kid, take him to see his father, have a family. The world'll look after itself. The crystal won't shatter. Don't worry about a thing.'

But he couldn't and she knew it.
"I'm sorry Slayer, I really am. But this is the only way. If you don't come with me, the entire world might be destroyed."
"And what about my world?"
"Do you want your son to live in a world without you or would you'd rather have him die. Because and you can take my word for it, if you don't come with me now, he won't have a world to grow up in left. Is that what you want for your son, for Angel?"

Buffy looked back down.
"No." she whispered.
Will you take him to Angel? I can't ... " She couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth.
Whistler nodded.
"It'll be for the best."

******

Later that night Whistler appeared in front of Angels office a carrier in his hands. The baby in it was sucking his thumb, clinging to a teddy bear. A present from Willow, it was dressed in black leather and had little fangs in it's mouth. It seemed to keep him content. Whistler breathed heavily under the weight he was carying. The carrier, several bags with baby-supplies, ... he was starting to regret his promise to the Slayer. He should have just called Angel to come and pick the brat up at her place. But she wouldn't have wanted that. And he was cute, a little bit.

Before he could knock on the door, it came swinging his way as a dark haired Irish man came out, calling out to someone behind him. Not paying attention to where he was going, he almost ran right into the demon at the door. Seeing the demon and his load Doyle just stared in shock for a moment. He recognised Whistler from Angels description. But what was the guy doing here and with a baby no less. A smile spread across his face and he broke out in laughter.
"Shut up." the disgruntled demon whispered. "The baby's sleeping."

Not noticing what was going on outside, Cordelia followed her half-demon-lover outside.
"Hey Doyle, who's the weirdo? Is he a demon? He sure looks like it. Just look at that fashionsense of his, it's worse than yours."
"My my. The lady ain't just a looker. She's smart as well.
Got it in one. I'm Whistler. Is Angel here?"
"Uh sure. He's talking to Wesley in the back."
"Good." , at that the demon began unpacking and pushed the baby in Cordelia's hands. Before she could respond he pulled an evelope out of his coat and threw it on the baby, then turned and headed for the door. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, not even turning around as he spoke. "Tell him I said hi."

Part one

*** 2011***

Cheers sounded through the park. The sun was shining, but a cooling breeze took away most of the heat. The sound of children playing echoed through the air. For now, the park was a place of games and fun. A place were people could be happy and enjoy themselves.

Two groups of kids were playing baseball. Nothing official though, not even little league.
A little girl was blowing bubbles with her gum while waiting for the Pitcher. Her long blonde curls shone around her angelic face, her smile wide and open. She stood firmly on the homebase, ready to hit her third homerun in the game. The pitcher, young Liam Summers tried to look serious while preparing his throw.
"Come on Sissy boy. Are you gonna throw that ball or not." Buffy Harris challenged him whith the most disarming smile possible.

On the sidelines parents sat gazing at their off-spring. Most of them were just talking, meeting up with friends. Anya Harris leaned against her husbands chest.
She smiled at her daughter. Telling her with her eyes that she had to show these boys what girls were really made of. Willow and Oz had less attention on the game. They were playing with their two toddlers. The kids were in their terrible twos and it took the couples undivided attention to keep them from getting into trouble. Only leaving them enough time to smile at each other and show their loves with their eyes.

Last but not least was the odd couple out. Cordelia and her husband had taken Liam with them because they knew Angel couldn't. Sort of a favor to the boss.
Doyle was trying to distract her, placing little kisses on her neck. She hit him for being to obvious but kissed him back nonetheless.
All in all it was business like usual.

Liam finally made his throw. For a moment it seemed like the curveball would be missed. Buffy was distracted and Liam hoped that for once she wouldn't catch it. Unfortunately for him she lifted her bat just in time, exactly planned to hit it to its best potential. All they could do was watch the ball soar over the field. Liam's eyes followied it as Buffy took a spurt to make yet another homerun.
Humiliated again. By a girl.
And she knew it, the grin on her face was proof of that.

*******

All in all Liam had had a bad day. The girls had trounced the boys once again.
Just 'cause Buffy was his bestest friend in the whole world, didn't mean he had to like losing from her. Once home he threw his bag and bat in the corner and moved up the stairs, two steps at a time. Cordelia and Doyle following him inside, only smiled at his display. They were used to it by now.
"Don't tell me, the girls won again?"
"Yep. With Buffy on their team, they're unbeatable. I'd never have guessed that any kid of Xanders could be that good."
Angel grinned at that.
"Well she is a potential Slayer. Not to mention that her mother's an ex-demon."
His eyes looked up as he saw his sons door slam shut.
"I've said this before guys, but I can't thank you enough for taking Liam to the park." The souled vampire's mood sobered noticably. "It's one of the worst things possible. To never be with my own son in the sunlight. I guess it's one way to keep the curse in place."
"It better. I'm not planning to have you go grrr on us. Got that bossman.

Angel smiled and stood up in one elegant move. When he went up the stairs, not a sound was heard until he knocked on the door.
Liam didn't respond.
He knocked again, but still there was no answer. Finally the vampire decided to just open the door.
"Is everything alright, sport?"
The boy looked up. "Sure dad." It didn't sound like it though. Angel could see his hands were playing with the letter again. The one they both had memorized by now.

Dear Angel.

I don't know how to say this,
I wish I did.
It would make things a whole lot easier.
Whistler said he'd bring Liam to you.
He's your son.
Our son.

Remember that day? The day after Thanksgiving.
The one you had revoked by the Oracles,
it wasn't totally gone.
It's the only way I can explain Liam.
That's what I've called him, by the way.
I hassled Giles 'till he told me your real name.
The one before Angelus.

I love you both Angel
You and our Liam.
But I can't stay,
The fate of the world and everything.
Please take care of our son 'till I'm back.
If ...
No I can't think that way.
I will be back.

Always your girl
Buffy Summers

"Liam?"
"Why did she leave dad?"
"I don't ... I'm not sure. " He wished with all his heart he could have asked Whistler, but the demon had been gone before he'd been able to ask him anything. If only he could tell his son about the Slayer. About what his mother had been. But if he did, he might have to tell the truth about himself as well, about being a vampire. And he wasn't ready for that. Not just yet. In the end father and son just sat side by side. Unaware of the woman about to turn their lives around.

Part two

The house stood a bit in the back. Surrounded by trees, it was an old gothic style mansion that allowed Angel the privacy he needed. To Buffy it seemed to suit him perfectly.

Big and open and there were several signs that a child lived there. A normal little boy who loved playing and never put his things away. A mountain bike was lying on the driveway, a hoop hung on one of the walls and then there was the swing attached to one of the treetrunks. Such normal things. Normal things that almost made her forget that her son's father was a vampire.

She'd been watching them for the past few weeks. Seeing Liam coming home from school, either by bike or the few other times when Xander dropped him off. Buffy had been surprised to see him and Anya still together. She'd noticed the girl with them, a little blonde bundle of energy whose smile reminded her of Xander himself. It was nice to know that the gang had stuck together.
But most of all she'd enjoyed seeing Angel with Liam. She'd followed them as closely as she could, not an easy thing with Angel. The guy was the master of lurking himself.
Angel had taken the boy to the movies. They'd gone for Bambi, the all-time classic. Tears of laughter dripped on her cheeks at the thought alone. Liam had seemed so happy. They'd joined Xander and his family later on. The two kids eating their ice cream while their parents talked about every day things. Yet still ready to jump in at the most minor emergency, like when Liam had gotten ice spread over his entire face and Angel had to clean him up.
Not to mention what she'd seen earlier. The sullen look on Liams face reminded her of someone else, but she didn't really dare admit who. It was so typical, the way he hated to be beaten by a group of girls. Especially by Xander's girl. Now that one was still hard to grasp.
Xander as a father.

It was odd, but she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She couldn't have expected them to put their lives aside just because she wasn't there, yet she hated them for it at the same time. She'd missed all this time.
But that would change, starting today.

The Slayer calmly headed for the door, gracefully avoiding the bike on her path.
Once she reached the door, she was overtaken by a moment of hesitation. What would they say if they saw her? How would they receive her?
It was one thing to dream about this reunion. Having her son jump in her arms as soon as she showed herself, the happiness on Angels face when she gave him the amulet. The one that would keep his soul in place for all time. She'd be with them for the rest of her life, her two favourite men. It had been for the both of them that she'd kept going for the past two years. The thought of his cold hands on her body, his sweet kisses carying a sense of danger.

She quickly got her mind back to reality and rang the bell.
One ring.
A second.

Then the door opened on Cordelia's face. It had been ten years for her, more actually. Buffy hadn't seen her since ... since that one glorious day that Angel had been human. Cordelia had changed, aged, but still as beautiful as she'd been the last time. There was a more serious look in her eyes than Buffy was used to, you could tell she had matured over the years

.
"Buffy?" she seemed almost disbelieving. After all that had happened, who could blame her? How dare the Slayer just show up like this. It had been ten years and not a single word, no explanation, nothing.
Cordelia stood frozen in the doorway.
"Uhm Cordy," Buffy finally said, "can I come in."
"That's mrs Doyle for you." She answered angrily. "Do you even realise how much you hurt Angel and Liam. Just leaving the boy like that. How selfish can you be?"
Cordy straightened herself and took a deep breath.
"How dare you show up like this. For ten years we don't hear a peep from you and now you expect to just walz in again, like nothing happened. Why?"
"I had to ... " It was then that Cordy finally noticed something odd about Buffy. The Slayer looked younger than she was supposed to. Sure she'd always had that, due to her size and all, but it seemed as if the past ten years hadn't even touched her. She quickly made a double check. Buffy was standing in direct sunlight, so she couldn't be a vampire. Then what had happened? And what was the name of her beautician?
"Come on in." she finally said.

Buffy couldn't help check out the place. She'd been watching it from the outside but that was different than actually being here. Now she could see the pictures on the fireplace. The couch that took up the center of the room. The bigscreen television that sat against the wall. The two bookcases overflowing with a variety of books. She recongnised several of the titles. What were Giles books doing in Angels place? It was weird seeing them lying almost next to several childrens books... Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. Her eyes fell on the baseball lying on the desk at the back of the room, it seemed to have a place of honor.

She returned her eyes to the pictures. Angel with Liam at age two, blowing out the candles of his birthday cake. Angel watching Liam as he sat on the merry-go-round. Liam with Xander and his family on the beach, smiling at the camera. Buffy smiled sadly at all that she'd missed of her son's life. Not to mention that of the rest of the gang. She was happy to see the picture with Willow and Oz, at least those two had gotten back together. That had to count for something.
She wondered why there weren't any pictures of Giles. The British watcher would have loved playing grandpa for her son, she was sure of that.

Buffy could see Doyle sitting on the couch. He was clearly shocked to see her, even more than Cordelia had been. He gazed at her openmouthed. Obviously unsure of what to say. Finally he decided to just say nothing and head upstairs to warn Angel about their guest.

Part three

Angel felt mostly annoyed. Here he was, having a nice heart to heart with his ten-year old son, and still people didn't leave him in peace. The boy turned his brown eyes to him in a pleading look, 'please don't leave' they said.
What could he do? Innocent lives could depend on it. But Liam didn't know that. To him Angel was just a slightly overworked father, who tended to be called upon at the oddest hours. He didn't know his father's real job, looking out for lost souls.
He didn't know anything about the supernatural parts of the job and Angel wouldn't tell him. The souled vampire almost hoped he would never be forced to do so, even though one day he would no longer be able to avoid it.

"Yes?"
Doyle came in, more timid than Angel was used to seeing. Something had to be up. If it had been a vision it would have been Cordy to come up.
"Well?"
"We've got us a visitor."
Angel stared at him for more information.
"It's Buffy."
"So?" They actually disturbed him for that?
"Not Xander's Buffy."

If Angel still needed to breath, those three words would have made him breathless.
"My Buffy? What? ... How?"
"What's she doing here?" Liam was using his stubborn voice. The boy might have wished for this day; for his mother to just come back and return to them, but that didn't keep him from being angry and a tad bit scared. What if he started loving her and she just left for a second time.
"Liam!"
"I don't want to see her."
His stance was a direct copy of the one his mother used. His arms crossed in front of him, his eyes defiant. Angel looked at his son, their son, and part of him was terrified.
Maybe she'd come to take Liam away from him. If she left them, he wasn't sure Liam would be the only one destroyed by it.
"You know she loves you Liam."
"I don't believe you. If she loved me, she wouldn't have left."

It was a pretty sure thing that the boy wouldn't come down. But Angel still had to face 'her'. Buffy. And he wasn't sure that he wanted to, no matter how much he loved her.

He came out of the door and saw her standing from up on the landing. She was still as beautiful as ever. The sun of his life.
"Angel?"
"Buffy."
They stood there frozen, unsure of the other's reactions. A meter apart, but it might as well have been a canyon.
"I ... "
"Why?" he asked.
"I had to." She couldn't explain. She'd given her word to the Oracles. If she told anyone about what she'd done, all that she'd accomplished, all her losses would have been for naught. So there they stood both silent. Both ready to run.

"Where's Liam?"
"In his room, he ... he wasn't sure ..."
Buffy understood. She'd hated her father too. For every weekend he missed, for every trip he had to cancel. It hadn't mattered to her that he might have had good reasons. Just that he'd abandonned her, that he was gone.
Liam didn't even know her, and that very thought nearly broke her heart. It almost made her hate the Slayer inside of her. But then she looked at the man in front of her and knew for a certainty that if not for the Slayer, she would never have met him. And that was one thing she would never give up. Not for anything.

"So where's Giles?" The question was supposed to be an innocent one, a way to avoid talking about the pain in between them. Apparantly it wasn't as neutral a subject as she would have liked. She could almost see the silence fall on all of them after her words.
"Angel? Cordy?"
Cordelia almost broke out crying. Her husband quickly pulled her in a comforting hug.
"After you ... left, the gang tried to keep up your work. To protect Sunnydale. Giles was the leader. I moved back to help them. Bringing Angel Investigations here.
It was a hard time for all of us. The Slayer after Faith had her work cut out for her in Cleveland, so the rest of us were left on our own. We were lucky Riley and Graham joined the group. And then Oz came back. It was almost enough.
But without you ...
A demon called Wroak tried to open the Hellmouth. He kidnapped Liam to do so. The boy was only a year old at the time. Giles led us after him. Wroak was about to sacrifice Liam, to kill him, when Giles stopped him. He was the first to die.
Riley and Wesley died to cover our escape.
All three of them gave their lives to save our son.
Nothing was the same after that."
The vampire looked at his hands as if he saw his friends blood on them. The ones who had died for his son. He could barely contain himself from crashing his fist on something.

"What about the others?"
Except for Graham, they're all still in town. Willow works for some big computer firm. Oz used to work for them too, but he quit. He's freelancing now. Xander works for me.
He named his daughter after you, did you know that?"
"He did?" Buffy remembered the little girl with Xander and Anya. So he hadn't forgotten about her?

Their lives had gone on it seemed. Nothing had remained the same.
"How is he?" Angel didn't even bother to misunderstand.
"He's bright, alive, so very much alive." He gave a depreciating smile as if thinking about how different from his father the boy really was. "He's a lot like you. Not in looks, but in the way he cocks his head when he's being stubborn. In the way he smiles or jests. He's got your heart and courage, your compassion."
"Not to mention your stubbornness." Cordelia jumped in. "And his fathers looks, we can't forget about that. He's got every girl on the play-ground after him and he isn't even ten yet."

"I want to see him."
What could Angel say to that? Liam was her son too.
"That's up to Liam. I'll go talk to him."

Before Buffy could argue his statement, Angel went back up the stairs.
"Liam?"
The boy didn't answer, so he opened the door. The window was standing wide-open. The curtain was flowing with the wind and Angel had to be careful not to stand in the sunlight. Liam was gone, in Sunnydale.
And the sun would go down in only an hour.

Part four

As soon as his father closed the door behind him, Liam's defiant stance crumbled and he sat defeated on the edge of his bed, stunned beyond belief. He could hear a woman's voice, but the door was too thick to listen to the words. The boy got up and gazed out the window. His blinds were down, because of his father's sun-allergy, and he pulled them up. His dad would never enter his room when the blinds were open. He said the sunlight could harm him. Solar phobia or something like that.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, Liam was out of the window, down the tree next to it and on his bike. It wasn't until he'd gotten out of the street that he started to think. Where could he go?

Finally he found his way to Buffy's place. He was careful not to let uncle Xander and aunt Anya see him, they'd only send him home. Liam could smell the scent of french fries from outside. He went down the side of the house and up to Buffy's window. It was open as usual. She always left it open. It annoyed her parents immensely. Like many things.
'No playing on the street after dark' , 'don't talk to strangers', 'don't play with lovepotions", ... well okay that last one had been followed by one of uncle Xanders cool bedtime-stories but still ... It wasn't like if he was a baby or anything.

Buffy wasn't in her room, she was probably still eating. Liam held his finger in front of his lips and shushed at Buffy's tame rat to be quiet. Not that it made that much noise, or any kind of noise for that matter. Hearing someone coming up the stairs, he hid behind the door, almost getting hit as it swung open.

In the shadows of the room, he couldn't really be sure, but he guessed that with that height it could be only one person.
"Buffy?" he whispered.
The girl quickly turned around.
"Liam? What's up mi hombre."
"My mother, she's back." The boy's voice nearly broke up at the word mother.
"She is?" Buffy responded happily, but then she noticed the look on her friends face.
"That's good isn't it?"
"I don't want to see her."
"Why? She's your mom."
"She sure got an odd way of showing it. I haven't heard of her since she abandoned me. I don't need her."
"Oh come on. "
"What? You're taking her side now? You're supposed to be my friend."
"I am your friend, but what about listening to her? She might have an explanation. A reason."
"What? Listen to her making excuses? While all she really means is that I was to much of a bother to take care of."
"You can't know that." She placed her hand on his shoulder.
Liam pulled away from her, "No! "
before Buffy could stop him, he'd jumped out of the window.
"Liam!" she yelled after him.
Her mom had heard the shouts and came running into the room.
"Honey? What's wrong?"
The little girl just stared out of the window.

*****

Angel and Buffy left for Xander's place as soon as night fell. Angel still managed to singe himself a bit in the last bits of sunshine. Neither him nor Buffy had said a word. It was a good thing Cordelia had been driving, even if she did almost kill them.

Xander was waiting at the door, not quite sure what to say, how to face her. Once she'd been one of his best friends, but now? It had been almost ten years. To see Buffy again and with Angel no less. He'd just gotten used to seeing the souled vampire as a friend. That was not something he wanted to lose.

He quickly invited them both in, while Anya offered to get drinks.
His daughter sat huddled on the couch, terrified she'd done something wrong and looking hesitantly at her namesake.
"Did Liam say where he was going, sweetheart." he finally asked the girl.
"I'm sorry daddy. I tried to stop him, but ..."
"I know." He gave her a comforting hug, patting her gently on the back.
"You did the right thing."
Then to the others, "I guess Liam's even more like his mother than we thought. To stubborn to listen to reason."
"I'm sorry." Xander gazed at the Slayer. She was almost crying. "If I hadn't come."

"You sure got that right. He ran away because of you." It was completely unlike Angel, but the souled vampire was too upset to be considerate. Too angry and too downright worried to death. It was his son that was missing. His baby. And for a moment he forgot that Liam was Buffy's son as well.
"What?" Buffy was shocked at his outburst. "You're saying this is my fault?" Hurt shone through in her words.
"If you hadn't left him, left us ... then none of this would have happened. Liam would be safely tucked away in his bed instead of who knows where on the street. And Giles ..." Angel couldn't believe his own hurtful words. In his heart he cried for his love, for what his words were doing to her. But he couldn't stop the flow of pain coming out of him.
Buffy stood there shocked.
"Do you really think I wanted to leave? I didn't have a choice.
It wasn't up to me."
"Then tell us what happened."
"I can't." She turned away from him. "I did what I felt I had to do, what was best for everyone. Do you know what it did to me? To leave Liam, to leave you. It broke my heart. But I didn't have a choice."

"Uhm guys. Not to ruin a good fight, and you know how much I hate to be the reasonable adult, but it is getting late and the longer you two wait, the more danger Liam could get into."
Angel pulled himself together at Xander's words.
"I'm sorry, you're right."
"I wish I weren't Angel."
"Then how?"
Cordelia jumped in at that.
"Alright. We spread out. Anya'll bring Buffy to Willows. Will has to watch Oz and the kids anyway, then she joins Xander on the east side. Doyle and I will take the west side and Angel and Buffy check out north. That way we get the area done the fastest."
"But ..." Buffy tried to bring up all kinds of reasons why she couldn't go with Angel, but Cordelia wouldn't hear of it.
"No buts.
Talk out your problems, whatever. Just make sure we find Liam. Preferably before he finds out more about Sunnydale's nightlife than is good for him." After that they all split up to their appointed tasks. Buffy took one look at the full moon that was forming in the air and followed Angel outside

Part five

The gang split up as swiftly as possible. In the past Buffy had always liked to patrol with Angel. Even after he came back from hell, there had been something between them.
This patrol though, was unlike any they'd ever shared. The comfort between them seemed to be completely gone. All that remained, was a silence harsher than a thousand words.

Buffy tried to avoid his eyes. To ignore him as much as was humanly possible. This wasn't at all like she'd expected, and all that she'd hoped wouldn't happent happened.

She'd known that her absence would hurt those she loved, but she hadn't really wanted to consider it. Even with her feelings surrounding her own father, she hadn't really considered her son would see her the same way.
And Angel.
The souled vampire had always forgiven her. Even after she killed him, he hadn't blamed her. Because of that his accusations now hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt before.
In her mind she knew he was wrong, that he was probably just worried, that she'd done the right thing. But her heart was a whole other thing. Part of her had blamed herself for what had happened, and it was that part that gave credence to Angel's words.

If given the choice to change what had happened, would she take it?
Knowing all that had happened?
No. She'd do it all again, because she'd done what was right. But how could she ever explain that to Liam.

******

Angel tried to avoid looking at her. He knelt down to check out every hole edge he could look under. Both in the hope that Liam was hiding under one of them and in an attempt to avoid looking at Buffy. Yet every time she turned away and his eyes fell on her he couldn't do anything but look. She was so beautiful. She always was.
But she seemed so small. Broken by his words.

She was back and nothing was the same.
He wished to the deepest depths of his soul that he could take back his spiteful words. No matter that part of him had meant them.
But her knew her. She'd never hurt him or anyone else she cared about on purpose. Well unless she was trying to scare them away. How could he have blamed her for Giles? If anyone was guilty for that, it would be him, not her.

She looked so lost, but he knew of no way to make it up to her. And Liam, if anything happened to the boy. It was no hour to be out for any kid anywhere. But here in Sunnydale it was even worse, especially for Liam, who was not just his son, but the son of a Slayer as well. With his unusual heritage there were more than enough dark forces that could be after him and Angel knew that there were worse things in the world than death.

"Buffy." He said while finally turning towards her. "We can't go on like this."
"Don't worry. I'll leave as soon as we've found Liam." It was to Angel as if a sword was stabbed straight through his heart.
"You'll just leave? Again?"
"Isn't that what you wanted? For me to stay out of both your lives?"
"No!" He grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards him.
"I ... we don't want you gone." He pulled in a deep breath. "I'd never want that. I love you."
"But you ..."
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I shouldn't have said those things. I do want you here and so does Liam."
"Yeah right. He wants me so much that he ran away to prove it."
"Yes he did.
He's hurt Buffy. He wants to love you, but he's scared to. Terrified you'll leave again and break his heart while doing so. He doesn't want to admit it, he's doing the tough guy act. But I know him, I raised him. Take my word for it, he just needs time. He loves you."
Buffy fell crying in his arms. His lips touched hers and his embrace pulled apart the void in between them.

"Uhum."
Both turned around at the side of the sound. She recognised the voice before she saw him.
He hadn't changed one bit. The moonlight reflected on his shiny white hair and created an aura of innocence around his deceptively handsome human face. He stood there relaxed, with an intense grin on his face. But it wasn't Spike that pulled the blood out of her face. It wasn't just seeing the British vampire again. It was Liam. Standing in front of him, with the vampire's hand loosely on the boys shoulder.

Part six

Within a matter of seconds Buffy stood ready to fight, her stake at the ready.
"Now, now Slayer, manners." She could see the grin on his face as clear as if it were daytime. "Is this the thanks I get?" His hand was clearly visible on the boy's shoulder, ready to either break his neck or do something just as bad. His British accent sounded challenging as he continued. "After all the effort I went to so that I could bring your brat back to you." After those words the vampire changed into his more demonic appearance, smirking grimly. Liam, who didn't see this, seemed more uncomfortable facing his parents than with the vampire holding him so closely. Both Buffy and Angel stood ready to attack.

Neither of them saw the irony in it. That in a way Liam and Spike were brothers, both sharing the same father. One fathered by the man, the other sired by the vampire.
The white-haired vampire seemed strangely relaxed, unbothered by the hostile attitude shown by both the Slayer and his sire. Then he laughed. It sent cold shivers through Buffy's body. She stood ready to kill him if he even dared to harm one hair on the boys body.

Suprisingly instead of pulling the boy closer, Spike released his hold on the kids shoulder and send him to his parents. Changing back into his human face before the boy could see his real appearance.
"Now skirt back home you wee bugger. And don't let me see you out this late ever again."
"Sure uncle Spike."
After that Spike turned around to disappear into the shadows. Buffy stood frozen for a second, ready to throw a stake to the retreating vampire's back. But decided against doing that, it just felt wrong somehow. Spike's interference had probably saved Liam's life.

Angel knelt down in front of his son and gave him a quick check-up. Looking for scrapes, filth, and most importantly, bite-marks.
"Are you all right? Buffy asked him.
"Yeah I guess." The boy didn't dare look her in the eyes. He stood cramped up, worried about what was going to happen. Buffy couldn't help herself and pulled him into a hug. For a moment it seemed as if he would let her, but then he pushed himself loose. A glimpse of hurt crossed Buffy's face before she could hide it.
"Young man." Angel tried to look as stern as possible.
Then he too pulled the boy into a hug. "We were so worried about you."
Liam seemed a bit confused. "Never ever do anything like that ever again, do you hear me."
A swift smile played on Liam's lips. "Your mother and I were worried sick."
"Really?"
"Off course we were, we had the whole gang looking for you. Well except for aunt Willow and uncle Oz. They couldn't come."
The expression on his face was one of confusion and disbelief that Buffy felt was highly entertaining and sad at the same time.
"Really?"
"Yes really." Buffy answered.
Liam pulled himself upright and put himself next to his father. His attempt to imitate his father's stance was so cute that Buffy couldn't help but smile at it. It made the boy send a wondering and slightly grumpy look at his mother.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked his father.
"Should I be?"
"I'm sorry, daddy." The boy pulled slightly back into himself.
"You scared me Liam. Night can be a dangerous time."
"I'm not a baby."
"You're not even ten, sport."
"I'm almost ten." Angel decided not to fall into a discussion with the kid on the physics of parental worries. He'd probably still be worried when Liam was married, or had kids or even grandkids of his own.
"I'm your father. That alone gives me the right to worry."
"Am I going to be punished?" Liam tried to give his father the sweetest smile possible but Angel didn't let that pull him of.
"Probably."
And then the three headed on home.

Epilogue

After the family had gotten home, they quickly alerted the others that the search was off. The group collectively released a sigh of relief, happy about one more solved crisis.
Xander and Anya picked up their daughter and Cordelia disappeared with her husband to do who knew what.

Back at Angels place, Buffy was sitting on Angels couch, her hands held tightly on her lap, unsure, as if she were waiting for some kind of judgement. She watched as Angel headed upstairs with Liam, staying carefully out of the bathroom while telling the boy to brush his teeth. He'd always made sure that the boy didn't notice that his father didn't show up in the mirror. Buffy smiled briefly when Liam tried to get out of his bath, at least for one night. Angel like any father was of course, unwilling to make any concessions on that.

There was a kind of lightheartedness between the two. Liam didn't know he was supposed to be scared of his father and Angel opened up in the boy's presence. Smiling more than he'd ever done in the past. Well except for that one time. He'd been different then too, more vibrant than ever before. In a way Liam made him more human.

She wished she could be the one with Liam. The one who read him his bedtime tales, to tuck him safely under the covers, to leave the lamp on. But it might take years before he'd trust her, if he ever did. At least they had the chance for that now. She was back, Liam was fine and Angel was with them both.

******

'She seemed so tiny.' Angel thought. But then again she'd always had that. He remembered the first time he saw her, the look on her face at her first confrontation with vampires. So innocent. It was hard to believe she was really back. Part of him kept thinking that any time now his alarm would go off and he'd find himself alone in his bed. That all of it had been a dream, and Buffy would still be gone. Leaving him with nothing but memories of her love.

Even if he accepted her presence as real, the problem that had pulled them apart in the first place was still there. Nothing had changed that. The curse stood between them as it always had. He couldn't risk losing his soul, just the thought of what his demon might do to Liam or Buffy if he ever got out again was enough of a reason to almost send him running. Maybe it would be best for all of them, for Liam if he just left.
Buffy would be able to take care of their son now.

No!
He couldn't do that. Not to his son and especially not now. If he left after all that had happened it would destroy the boy forever. And Buffy. She was so beautiful, but scared. Terrified he'd send her away, that he didn't love her anymore.
She hadn't left them without a good reason. If only he knew that reason, but she wouldn't tell and for now he was too happy to push.

He gracefully descended the stairs.
"Buffy."
"Angel."
"I ... I really am glad that you're back Buffy. I missed you."
"I missed you too." she stood up and fell into his arms.
"Buffy ..." Angel was hesitant to say it, he loved Buffy's touch to much, but he knew he had to. "The curse it ..."
"Don't worry."
"But ..."
She placed her finger on his lips. "shh" Then she stepped back, her hands went to her neck and she pulled a necklace over her head.
"I brought you a gift."
"What is it?" Angel looked at it wondering as she carried it in her hands.
"It's an amulet of Tekoreg."
Angel wondered about the name, he knew he'd heard it before, but he couldn't remember from where. "What is it?"
"It prevents the soul from leaving the body. It's an old form of magic, it protects the wearer from losing his or her soul. Ancient sorcerers used it, first to protect themselves during magic ceremonies and later to bond the soul of a zombie to gain more loyal servants. In your case it should keep your soul in your body as long as you wear it somewhere on your body.

She came closer to him and pulled the necklace over his head.
Angel gazed at her openmouthed. "Is it for real?" he asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

She nodded and smiled. "Whistler gave it to me as part of my payment for ..." Payment for saving the world. Payment in full, but then again, it had been all she really wanted.

The souled vampire couldn't help the smile coming on his face when he felt her touch. The sensations it sent through his body were hard to ignore and for the first time in years he wouldn't have to.
"I love you." she said, her voice sounding with a similar desire as his own. He pulled her near him, picking her up in his arms. Her lips touched his as he carried her up the stairs, he barely made it up and through the door, having the kick it open to get into the room.
He tried to place her on the bed in the most gentle of manners, but she held on to his collar and pulled him along with her. Since he was lying on top of her he pressed his lips on hers, feeling the heat of her warm body coursing through his. Her breasts felt solid as they touched his chest. She showed an utter lack of patience when he tried to unbutton her blouse. She just tore it off.

Buffy trembled as she felt his cool lips touch her neck, momentarily thinking about another time his mouth had been this close to her neck. When she'd offered him her blood to save his life. She shivered at the memory and started to ravage his ear in return. Groaning slightly at his touch.

*****

In his room Liam pulled his pillow over his head to avoid the noise coming from his fathers bedroom. Smiling slightly. His mom was back.

The End