CHAPTER 9

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.

And Just to let everyone know so that there is no confusion, Darla was never resurrected in season 1 finale of Angel. So none of that Darla stuff ever happened. Yep, instead of Darla giving birth to Connor, Buffy will. As far as I can tell so far, the 'Connor' story line will remain the same. I'm still debating about the Cordy/Connor thing tho. Who else was going 'eww!' when that scene with Cordy and Connor in 'Apocalypse, Nowish' aired??!

In LA...

A Few Months Later

"Angel Investigations. We help the Hopeless," Cordelia said answering the phone.

"Oh hey Mrs. Summers. No. Buffy's out with Connor, but they should be back anytime. I'll tell her to call you back. Ok, bye," Cordelia said cheerfully as she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Angel asked as he walked into the lobby

"Buffy's mom. She was just making her daily call," Cordelia explained. Angel smiled and nodded. Cordelia looked past Angel and noticed Wesley had his nose in a book.

"And what are you reading that's so fascinating?" Cordelia asked Wesley curiously.

"Oh, just brushing up on my history," Wesley explained, not even looking up from his book. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Wes. You're an ex-Watcher, you really don't need to brush up on your history since your like a walking text book," Cordelia reminded him as she began towards Angel's office.

"Where are you going?" Angel asked.

"I unlike you have work to do," Cordelia called out as she entered Angel's office and began tiding up the room.

"Hey Angel, you still want me to clean those weapons?" Gunn asked as he joined the group with a sword in his hand.

"Ah, yeah. Could you?" Angel asked. Gunn nodded then noticed Buffy and Connor's absence. "Hey, wait. Where's Buffy and the baby?" Gunn asked curiously.

"She took Buffy and Connor out for a few hours. She should be back anytime," Angel explained before he headed upstairs.

"Well, where's Cordy?" he asked curiously. Wesley pointed towards Angel's office.

"She's in the middle of a cleaning spree; watch it," Wesley warned.

"Gotcha. I'll just go clean up the weapons," Gunn informed him as he walked towards the cabinet and fished out a key from his pocket and opened it up. "I still don't see why Angel put a lock on here," Gunn said as he pulled out an ax.

"Well I'm assuming it's so that Connor does not get into it and oh say, kill himself," Wesley explained.

A few minutes later, Buffy walked into the door with a few bags in one hand, and Connor in the other.

"Hey, can someone give me a hand here?" Buffy called out as she kicked the door shut. Angel quickly got up from the couch and walked over to her and took the bags out of her hands.

"I guess it's safe to say their home," Wesley noted.

"Wow Buffy, did you leave anything for any one else to buy at the store?" Cordelia asked. Buffy smiled.

"I couldn't help it. Everything was so cute," Buffy said happily as she shifted Connor to her other arm.

"Angel, a word of advice? don't give Buffy money anymore if you want it to last," Wesley said as he stood up.

"I didn't buy that much," Buffy protested as she grabbed a few bags out of Angel's hand and began up the stairs with Connor and some of the items she had bought.

"I see you two have your hands full," Gunn noted as he walked over to Angel and noticed the two bags remaining on the floor.

"You have no idea," Angel replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But at least she's happy," Angel pointed out.

"True," Gunn agreed. A few minutes later, Buffy walked back down the stairs with Connor.

"Hey, did anyone call?" Buffy asked as she walked over to the group. Angel smiled at both Buffy and Connor. He hadn't seen them all morning, and it was good to see them. Buffy smiled and handed Connor over to his father.

"Oh yeah. Buffy you're mom called," Cordelia informed her.

"What'd she want?" Buffy asked curiously.

"She's just making her daily phone call," Cordelia explained. Buffy nodded as she plumped down on the couch beside Angel. Just then the phone rang.

"I've got it," Angel said as he got up.

"Angel Investigations," Angel said answering the phone. He answered it slightly different then Cordelia did. His face went serious after a moment's pause.

"Are you sure?" He asked whoever was on the other line. He then looked over at Buffy. "Were on our way," He promised before he hung up. Buffy looked at him for a second.

"Who was that?" She asked. Angel sighed.

"That was Giles. He said Faith woke up sometime last night, and has somehow escaped," Angel explained. Buffy looked at him shocked. Wesley then looked up from his book.

"Oh god. Faith's back," Buffy said as she got up. "We need to get there. I mean, the first thing she's gonna do is try to hurt me. I put her in a coma," Buffy began worriedly. "She's going to go after my mother, Angel, we need to go," Buffy said worriedly. She then ran up the stairs, up into their room. Angel turned towards the group.

"There's more. Giles said she clinically unstable, he said she's borderline psychotic, which means that she even more dangerous than she was before," Angel added. He didn't want Buffy to hear that. She'd be even more worried. He then looked in the direction where Buffy had run off to pack.

"Oh god," Wesley said as he got up. "I'd better go with you," Wesley said.

"No. Buffy and I can handle this. I'd be better if you stayed here," Angel told him. "I'm going to go help Buffy pack," Angel told them as he headed up to their room.

"Wow. Psycho Slayer's awake," Cordelia said before she went back to work.

* * *

Upstairs, Buffy was rushing around their room grabbing the things she needed and throwing them in a large bag. Angel walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Buffy slow down," he told her. She stopped and looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Angel, she's going to go after my mother and I'm not there to protect her," Buffy explained. "I, I've gotta get there," she told him desperately. Angel pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

"It's gonna be ok. We'll get there. I'm sure she already knows," He assured her. Buffy then wiped away her tears and took a deep breath.

"You're right," she said as she took control of herself. She then looked over at Connor, who was fast asleep in his crib. "We can't take him with us," She told Angel.

"It's ok. We'll leave him here. He'll be safe here," he told her. Buffy nodded. She then walked back over to the bed. "Let's get going, huh," She said as they began packing.

"Buffy. We should probably wait until nightfall," Angel suggested. Buffy looked at him and sighed.

"Your right. I'll just finish packing now so we can go as soon as night falls," she told him.

* * *

As soon as the sunset, Buffy began to get ancy once more and made Angel get ready. A few minutes later, Angel headed down the stairs carrying bags.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to put these in the car," Angel told her as he walked towards the door, leaving Buffy standing in the lobby; Connor in her arms.

"Cordy, we need you guys to stay here and watch Connor; keep him safe," Buffy said.

"Of coarse," Cordy said as Angel walked back into the lobby.

"Hey, you want me to go with, you know, for back up?" Gunn asked.

"No. We can handle it," Angel assured him. He walked over to Buffy, who's attention was completely on her son. "We need to go," Angel said softly.

"Right," she said. "It's just…so hard to leave him." Buffy continued to look down at Connor. Finally she looked up as Cordelia walked over to her.

"Keep his safe," Buffy said as she handed Connor over to Cordelia.

"I will," she assured them. Buffy softly rubbed the small baby's cheek with her finger. "I'll see you guys in a few days," she told them before finally heading out the door.