CHAPTER 2

Historical Note: This Trilogy takes place in the fifth season of Buffy, and the third season of Angel.

Author's Note: By now in the show, Dawn has joined the Summers' family, but the arrival of Glory will be postponed due to my stories perspective; which is about Buffy, Angel, and Connor. I may just take the Glory part out, I'm not sure yet. Someone brought up a good point; if there's no glory, there's no reason for Dawn. Sadly, I never thought of that while writing the story- stupid me! So Dawn is in it, but I gotta decide what I'm going to do about Glory!! And I apologize if this story all together seems like Buffy and Angel's relationship is too 'fluffy,' I'll try and work on that, but part 1 and 2 were already written, I'm currently working on part 3, that's why I'm trying to get part 2 up as fast as possible!! Thanks everyone for taking time to read my writing!!!

Also, you'll notice that some of the plots from both of the shows later episodes are happening sooner since I've altered a lot of both shows story lines.

Author's Note II: Don't forget to read the very first part in this trilogy; 'Prophecy Birth.'

A few weeks had gone by and still the group came up with nothing. They had gotten a few leads on missing children, but they all turned out to be dead ends.

Angel walked into the lobby, and walked straight to his office. Cordelia watched through his office window as Angel picked up his phone and dialed a number. A few minutes later, he came out and walked towards her. As he walked closer, Cordy noticed he looked as though he hadn't slept in a while. Even though he was a vampire, they still required some sleep, and Cordelia doubted Angel had gotten any over the past few weeks.

"Any messages?" he asked. Cordelia shook her head as she closed a manila folder. Business had been unusually slow since Connor had been taken.

"Just the usual calls. Willow and Xander called wanting to know how you guys are doing, and Mrs. Summers called a few times wanting to talk to Buffy, but she wouldn't take any calls," she explained. Angel sighed and rubbed the back of his head. His gaze then trailed up the stairs.

"Has she been down here at all?" he asked.

"She came down once to see if we'd found anything new, then went back upstairs," Cordy told him.

"Did she grab something; anything to eat?' he asked hoping she had.

"No she didn't. Has she even eaten anything lately since Connor..." Cordelia asked. Angel sighed again.

"Not that I know of," he said as he walked towards the kitchen. A few minutes later, he walked back into the room with a sandwich, and a glass of juice. "I'll be back down in a few minutes,"

"Good luck," Cordy called out to him as he began up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, I offered her something a few hours ago, but she said she wasn't hungry," she explained. Angel grew even more concerned as continued up the stairs.

He was too busy looking for where their son may be; he didn't want to worry about Buffy not eating on top of it.

He knocked on the door before opening it. He expected to see her sitting on the bed, but instead didn't see her at all.

"Buffy?" he called out as he placed the food on the bed. He waited a second for a response, and grew more worried when he didn't get one. He then walked further into the room, and began to look around for her.

Angel finally found her sitting in Connor's room alone staring off into space, where she seemed to be most of the time.

"Hey, I um, brought you something to eat," he told her as he knelt down beside her.

"I'm not hungry," she told him. The room fell silent; Angel un aware of what more to say.

"I woke up this morning, and I went into his bedroom, forgetting he was gone," she told him. "I heard him. Angel, I could've sworn I heard him cry," she explained. Angel put his arms around her and pulled her in his arms.

"I know," he assured her. Then he kissed her on her forehead. "Buffy, I think you should go outside and get some fresh air," he suggested.

"I don't want to," she told him weakly. Angel could tell she had been crying by the sound of her voice.

"Buffy, were all worried about you. It's ok to want to find Connor; I do too, but you need to come downstairs. Get out of this room," he suggested.

"You know, when I first found out I was pregnant, I was scared, and happy beyond words," she began. "Then we found that passage about Connor, and how he was meant to fight. I wanted him to have somewhat of a normal life; a life away from fighting the things that go bump in the night. But instead of telling him there was nothing to be afraid of, that we'd have to teach him all the things to be afraid of." Buffy stood up.

"I wanted to go directly to the Powers that Be and tell them that Connor wasn't going to have anything to do with what was prophesized about him. But I realized no matter how hard we try to fight it, you can't escape your destiny." Buffy began to walk out of Connor's room, not being able to stay in there any longer, Angel following her out.

"Buffy," Angel began, wanting so much to comfort her; to end the pain she was in.

"But after a while I started to accept that our son would never have a normal life no matter how hard we tried." Silence once more. Angel put his hand on her shoulder from behind. Buffy slowly turned around upon his touch.

"Angel, I've been thinking," she began. "And I've decided to move back to Sunnydale," she told him. Angel looked at her.

"I'm moving back in with my mom," she told him. "I just, can't stay here; all the memories, I just can't," she admitted.

"Buffy, were going to find him," he told her. Buffy faintly smiled.

"Yeah. That's what I kept telling myself the first week after," she paused. "But I now know I'll never see him again."

"Don't say that. He's out there somewhere; waiting for us to find him," he tried to assure her.

"I just can't do this anymore," she told him. Angel nodded knowing she had made up her mind.

"Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to go there with you?" he asked. Buffy shook her head.

"You need to be here; your life is here," she explained.

"My life is with you," Angel corrected. Buffy just continued to look at him. "So this is it? Is this the end of us?" he asked trying to swallow the hurt that was rising inside of him.

"No. I just can't be here right now. I need some time to pull myself together," she told him truthfully.

"I understand," he said knowing she had taken all of this harder than everyone else. "So we go back and forth to see each other? Like a long distance thing?" he asked.

"For now, It seems like the best thing," she told him. The couple hugged, coming to terms that they would never loose touch.

They would go and see each other on weekends, or any chance they got, and they would stay in touch on the phone. He knew Buffy needed some time to pull herself together.

He also knew she'd be safe and taken care of back in Sunnydale where she'd be living with her mother and sister.

That night Angel promised himself that he would do everything in his power to continue to look for his son, and to keep Buffy in his life.