CHAPTER 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, although I wish I did because I'd find a way to put Angel and Buffy back together; where they belong. You will also notice that I've snagged some lines from a few episodes on either Buffy or Angel.

Summary: What if the Oracles had in fact restored Angel to his vampire state instead of taking back the day (In "I Will Remember You" on Angel) so that a prophesized miracle could occur?

Historical Note: This trilogy takes place between the fourth and fifth season of Buffy, and between the first and second season of Angel. You may also notice some of the later elements are from later seasons of either show.

Author's note: this trilogy will go back and fourth between Sunnydale and L.A. More so in this first series. The second there isn't much crossover's going on, there may be a few though. I really tried to keep to both shows storylines as much as possible. Some events (The Glory bit in season 5 on Buffy for example) will be either pushed back or taken out in general. These events may have been important on the shows, but not in this story.

"So, where are we headed?" Buffy asked curiously. Angel slowed down his pace; remembering Buffy was pregnant.

"This way," Angel said motioning to an alleyway.

"Great," Buffy sighed as she walked towards the dark alleyway. Angel softly grabbed her arm. "What?" she asked confused as Angel pulled her towards him.

"I still don't think this is a good idea. You should be waiting safely in the hotel with Cordelia and Wesley.

"Angel, I'm fine. I can take care of myself," she assured him. Angel looked at her. She missed him so much; she missed how he looked at her with such love in his eyes.

"But that's the point; it's not just your life on the line anymore," Angel said as he placed a hand on her stomach. The two looked up at each other for a few minutes before Angel lowered his head. Their lips were about to touch when a shadowy figure stepped out of the alley.

"Well, well, would you look at that. If it isn't the Slayer and her great poof; back together again," Spike said as he walked out of the alley. Angel quickly walked over to Spike shoved him to the wall.

"What do you want?" Angel asked angrily. Spike grinned at him.

"Well, I thought I'd come by and have some fun with my sire," Spike lied. He then looked past Angel and at Buffy as he noticed her stomach.

"But I can see you've already had you're fun," Spike noted as his gaze locked towards Buffy's direction.

"So, looks like you finally got up the nerve and told him," Spike said.

"Spike knew before I did?" he asked. Before Buffy could respond, Spike decided to open his mouth.

"I always knew you couldn't get enough of her the first time around," Spike added knowing he'd be able to strike a nerve with the comment.

"She was so pure and innocent the first time around. Until you got an itch and finally decided to be a man, and sleep with her," Spike taunted. "On the night of her seventeenth birthday and everything. Man, you are good," Spike added. Angel shoved Spike into the wall harder.

"Hey, that hurt!" Spike exclaimed. Buffy walked closer to the two.

"Not as much as it's going to," Buffy promised as she pulled her stake out.

"I couldn't help it. The love story between you two is bloody priceless. A vampire bedding a Slayer," he explained. She held up her stake as a warning to him.

"You shouldn't have come here Spike," Angel said between clenched teeth.

"Now where would the fun be if I just waited back in Sunnydale for the Slayer to return; to see if she would go back to the other guy or stay here with you?" Spike asked. Angel slowly turned his head and looked at Buffy in disbelief.

"Oh, don't tell me you didn't tell your great poof here about the rebound guy?" Spike asked looking at Buffy. He looked back at Angel.

"It was disgraceful how he used her-" Angel let go of Spike and pushed him away.

"Leave town Spike. If I catch you here again, I'll kill you," Angel warned him. Spike looked at the two and grinned.

"Have a great night," Spike said before he waked into the darkness and vanished. Buffy looked up at Angel, knowing he was hurt by the news Spike had told him.

"Angel I..." Buffy began.

"Let's just get back," Angel instructed numbly. The thought of Buffy being with another guy killed him. All he wanted to do now was to get back to the hotel. He threw down his sake, and began to walk back out of the alley.

Buffy walked after him in silence, not knowing what to say to him. She could tell he was hurt by the news Spike had told him. She should have told him earlier, but she hadn't found the right time to tell him yet.

* * *

Wesley was half sleeping on the couch while Cordelia went over paperwork at her desk as Angel and Buffy walked through the door arguing; not knowing anyone was still there.

"Angel, I'm sorry. I should've told you, but I..."

"Is he the father?" Angel asked as he turned around. He felt pain as the words tumbled out of his mouth. He didn't even want to think about Buffy carrying another man's child. Wesley; now fully awake and sitting up; watched the two fight as Cordelia did the same from the front desk. Buffy looked at him with shock.

"What?" Buffy asked, not believing Angel could think that.

"Am I the father, or is the other guy you were with the father?" Angel repeated.

"How could you ask me that? -Of coarse you're the father, and you know it!" Buffy told him, feeling just as hurt as he did.

"How do I know that he's not the father, I mean, you were seeing him,"

"Angel, do the math! I got pregnant during Thanksgiving vacation; you should know, you were there!" Buffy shot back. The room went silent as they both noticed Cordelia and Wesley were sill there and looking at them.

"Well, on that note, we'd better be going. You two are obviously in the middle of something," Cordelia said while grabbing her purse and ushering Wesley out the door.

"Yes, goodnight," Wesley called back before Cordelia shut the door. All of a sudden felt lightheaded, Buffy put a hand on her stomach and took a deep breath.

"Listen, I didn't come here to fight with you Angel. I came here to tell you that I'm going to have a baby, and that it's yours," Buffy explained.

"But obviously I made a mistake in coming here," Buffy said before walking out the door.

He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. He couldn't believe how hard on her he had been on her; and for the second time since she'd arrived in L.A. The situation must be just as hard and shocking to her as it was on him. He wanted to go after her and apologize to her and tell her how much he loved her, but he knew that she needed some time alone, as well as he did, to think about all of this.

He then sighed before heading up to his room; to brood.

* * *

The next morning, Cordelia arrived at her usual time with a box of doughnuts, and started the coffee knowing Angel would probably want some after last night. Sure enough, an hour or so later, Angel staggered into the office and headed straight for the coffeepot.

"So, how'd it go?" Cordelia asked concerned as she watched Angel take a sip of the hot coffee. Angel chuckled bitterly.

"She walked out on me," Angel told her. "I questioned if I was the father or if the other guy was, and she walked out," Angel explained. Cordelia smiled.

"Yeah, I herd that part along with everything else," Cordelia reminded him. Angel rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You weren't supposed to hear any of that," He told her.

"Trust me, I could've lived without hearing any of it. I don't need to know where or how or when my boss gets lucky," Cordelia assured him. Angel laughed.

"Besides, the last thing I want is to show up at the office and find that I'm working for a homicidal monster," Cordy told him.

Just then, Wesley entered the lobby with an old book in his hands.

"I think I found something, rather important," Wesley told them as he opened the book to the book-marked page.

"About what?" Cordelia asked curiously as she got up and walked towards Wesley; who was standing beside Angel. Wesley looked at Angel.

"I think I found something about the unborn child Buffy's carrying," Wesley told him. Angel quickly grabbed the book and began to read the page that was book-marked...

A child shall one day be conceived
between a Slayer and a vampire with a soul.
The child shall have strengths of both good and evil;

from both vampire and Slayer.
The child will one day lend a hand in the battle towards evil

The child's birth shall also bring one from the light side

And one from the dark side together at last;

The bringing together of the two will be the Earth's only hope...

Angel looked up from the text with a blank expression as he absorbed what he'd just read.

"So this means..." Angel began.

"Your baby was prophesized," Wesley finished.

"But how?" he asked himself as he tried to think.

"You may want to try asking the Oracles. Maybe they could give you an answer," Wesley suggested.

"Good idea," Angel said as he headed for the door. "I'll be back," he said before he left.

* * *

Outside the Temple of Lost Souls, Angel performed the herbal ritual he needed to do before he could be granted access into the sacred building.

"Ah, the vampire with a soul. What brings you here?" The female Oracle asked.

"The slayer is with child, from the day the Moraha Demon turned me mortal. How is that possible? You took away my humanity, wouldn't that have been erased as well?" Angel asked.

"We do not take the lives of innocents," the Male Oracle answered.

"Yeah, but wouldn't that be taking away a warrior?" he asked.

"To create one as strong as your child will be, we needed to create one from our two most powerful warriors,"

"Our child," Angel said to himself. Both Oracles nodded. "So the Moraha demon turning me mortal wasn't accidental. It was destined?" he asked. Once again, the Oracles nodded. Angel thought for a second.

"What will happen to the Slayer?" he asked.

"After the child is born, she will continue to fight the forces of darkness."

"Then what will happen to the child?" he asked.

"As far as it can be told, your child was destined to follow in your footsteps and fight the forces of evil," the Female Oracle explained.

"So none of this was coincidental?" he asked.

"This has been planned all along. All the events between you and the Slayer have led up to this," they explained.

"We have answered all your questions, now leave," they said as they waved their hands; sending Angel flying out of the temple.

"Ok," Angel said as he got up and brushed himself off before searching for Buffy. He knew she wasn't back in Sunnydale; he hoped. He would just check the hotels in L.A until he found her. But first, he had to go back to the hotel and get the book with the passage that mentioned their unborn child.

* * *

A few hours, and a few leads later, Angel stood outside what seemed to be the hundredth hotel waiting for the guy at the front office to search the guest log and see if Buffy was there or not. He had to tell the front desk that he was her husband, which wasn't exactly far off from the truth. They were sort of going out, and they were having a baby together, so...

"You're in luck sir, she is here, and she's in room 16," he told him.

"Thanks," Angel said before heading up the stairs., As he looked for her room, he couldn't help but notice how small this hotel was compared to his. But then again, the hotel they ran their business in used to be quite famous once upon a time, which probably explained the size. He then stopped in front of the door that read in bold numbers, '16.' He softly knocked on the door, and waited for an answer.

A few seconds later, Buffy opened the door just enough so that she could see who it was.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Buffy can I come in and talk?" he asked. Buffy hesitated for a second before further opening the door.

"Be my guest," she said as she motioned him inside. As angel entered, he gazed around their surroundings. The room looked like it had seen better days.

"Buffy, I'm sorry for what I said last night. I shouldn't have questioned. I wasn't thinking straight from the news," he explained.

"I understand," Buffy said. The room fell silent for a moment. "I can tell by the look on your face that that wasn't just why you came here," Buffy noted. Angel shook his head.

"Well, um, Wesley came across a passage earlier," he said as he opened the book up to the bookmark, and handed her the book so that she could read it for herself.

Buffy looked up at Angel with a confused face as she finished reading the passage.

"I just came back from seeing the Oracles. They said that this whole thing had been planned all along. It wasn't just coincidence that the Morah demon made me human the day you stopped by," he explained.

"No. Noooo way is my child a tool for The Powers that Be to command. He's innocent; he doesn't deserve to fight the th8ings that go 'bump' in the night."

"Buffy, I don't like this anymore than I do, but there's nothing we can do," he told her.

"Oh yes there is. There's no way-"

"If it wasn't for this prophecy we wouldn't be having this baby," he reminded her.

"Are we being punished for having this child? We choose to have this baby and in return he has to be a warrior to The Powers that Be?" she asked.

"Buffy, I don't think it's like that," he said as he walked closer towards her and put his hand on her arm. "We'll make this work Buffy," he promised. Buffy looked up at him and nodded before hugging him.

"I'd better call Giles," Buffy said a few minutes later after breaking away from their hug. She walked towards the room's phone.

"Good idea," he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, which felt like it had seen better days as well.

A few minutes later, Buffy walked back over to Angel with a slight trace of disappointment on her face; which Angel quickly picked up on.

"What'd Giles have to say about the passage?" Angel asked. Buffy looked up at him

"He said he had no idea about the passage, but would research it right away," Buffy explained.

"Angel? What are we going to do? Neither of our lives are safe enough to raise a child," Buffy explained.

"Were gonna have to figure out something."

"Well, what are we going to do until then?" Buffy asked.

"Research. See if there is anything more written about the baby," Angel suggested.

"More research; sounds like fun," Buffy said sarcastically.

"Come back with me," Angel said.

"Angel, I'm not sure this whole things going to work," she told him.

"Yes it will. Give it a chance," he pleaded. Buffy paused, looking up at Angel.

"Fine. Let's get back then," she said as she got up, and grabbed her bag.