Disclaimer: I will not claim to own anything of this story. Joss Whedon created the characters, Billie Letts wrote "Where the Heart Is", which this is based on.

Rating: This will be rated R! Sorry kiddies, but I like using inappropriate language.

Author's Notes: Yeah, I don't have time for any notes right now. I'm posting in between watching episodes of Alias season two on DVD with my friends. Love you al l much.

PS: Death to the WB for canceling Angel.



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Chapter Sixteen- Absolve

Staring into her cup of tea, the dark pink colored liquid already half- drained, Buffy tried to ignore the commotion all around her.

Nearly half the police officers in the Sunnydale area (or maybe less than that, seeing how Buffy wasn't keeping count) had gathered in the Revello Drive house, searching for clues and taking statements. Buffy, Joyce, Spike, and Clem had been ushered into the kitchen so the officers could speak to them. Mostly, they were talking to the two women. Clem had gone about making tea for everyone, and Spike was deep in conversation with Xander, who had been called in to help on his day off.

Almost everyone was yelling, creating such a din that Buffy wished she had earplugs. Guys in uniform rushing up and down the stairs, taking pictures, going through boxes stored in the basement, anything that could tell them who took Aurora.

"Does anyone have a grudge against you?" asked the officer questioning Buffy. He was sitting across the table from her, writing scribblings into his little notebook.

"I don't think so." Her voice was strained and small, almost a whisper.

Automatically, he scrawled something into the book, and turned over to Joyce, who was sitting next to Buffy. "How about you Joyce? Do you know anyone who would try to hurt you?"

Joyce rolled her eyes. She had been asked this question ever since the police had arrived on the scene, and it wasn't bringing them any closer to finding the baby.

"Not unless you'd consider the Salvation Army Santas who yell at me when I don't give them money enemies," she responded dryly.

"What about Hank? You two didn't have the cleanest divorce ever seen?"

"Hank?" Buffy lifted her head up from her cup, staring at Joyce, "Who's Hank?"

Sighing, Joyce waved a hand in the air. "My asshole ex-husband." She turned back to the officer. "Hank wouldn't do something like that. We aren't on the friendliest terms, but he wouldn't try to hurt me. At least, not this way."

"Do you think the baby's father would have done this?" another officer asked, standing right beside officer #1.

Buffy didn't answer. At this moment, Spike and Xander came back into the kitchen. Taking one look around the room, the blond's eyes settled on Buffy, and he went immediately to her.

"'K mate, I'm gonna take the lady outside for a mo', let her get some air." He leaned down to her. "That all right, pet," he whispered softly into her ear.

Blankly, she nodded, and let him help her up.

A younger cop ran into the room, carrying something in his hands. He gave it to Xander while murmuring something important about the object.

"I don't think so," Xander responded to the cop. "You don't keep this in Aurora's room, do you?" he asked Joyce and Buffy, holding up a plain, white Bible.

Confused, Buffy shook her head. But Joyce gasped loudly.

"Oh SHIT!"

Everyone turned to the older woman, who put her hands up to her mouth.

"I know who took her!"

"Who?" asked Xander, rushing to the table.

"They came once before, about two months ago, and they were holding Bibles like that. They wanted to talk to Buffy, some crap about bringing the word of God to her. A man and a woman from Alabama . . . Washougal, Alabama."

Buffy felt like she was going to faint again, but Spike was there to catch her.

"What is it?" he asked.

Stuttering, Buffy felt new tears drop down her cheeks. "I got a note in the hospital from someone in Washougal. They said that I was a whore, and that Aurora was going to burn in hell . . ."

The room fell silent, almost everyone staring around the room, unsure of what to do.

Xander wasn't like that for long. "What the fuck is wrong with you people?" he screamed at the motionless officers. "Get on the radios! Send some guys over to the hotels in the area! Have them search the records for any recent customers from Alabama! Pull over any rental car, or ones with Alabama plates! HURRY THE FUCK UP!"

Chaos resumed as nearly all the officers ran to their squad cars, while the rest in the house began yelling into their radios or cell phones.

Turning back to Buffy, Xander felt his droop as he watched the young girl near the point of collapsing onto the tile floor. He couldn't imagine going through this if someone had taken Meredith.

"We'll find her, Buffy. You'll be fine here, right?" He looked directly at Spike.

"Everything will be fine once Aurora's back with her mum, so get out of here!" he snapped back.

Nodding, Xander bolted out of the room, leaving the four alone, more lost than they had ever been.



"Do you believe in God?" Buffy asked Spike, wrapping her arms around her knees. Spike, soon after Xander left, took Buffy into the backyard to get her some air. She was sitting next to him on the porch steps, trying to keep warm in the cold night.

"Never met the big guy, so I wouldn't know," Spike answered, putting his duster over Buffy's shivering form. He adjusted it, making sure she was covered, then left his hand on her back, rubbing small circles on the leather.

Sniffling, Buffy leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"Does God hate me?" she whimpered, not wanting to cry for the millionth time that day.

Shocked, Spike stared down at her. "Why would God hate you?"

"I wasn't married when I had Aurora. Isn't that a bad thing?"

"Not to me. It wasn't your fault."

"I don't think that matters." With the sleeve of her shirt, she wiped her nose. "I think God's punishing me for it."

Spike sat up, then pulled Buffy up so he could look in her eyes.

"He wouldn't dare do anything to you. You are one of the most . . . THE most wonderful, funniest, bitchiest, insane . . . most beautiful woman I've ever met, and God would be a fool to punish you." He lifted a hand up, and began to caress her cheek. "And if it were up to me, I'd-"

Before he could finish, Joyce ran out to the porch, startling the two.

"Xander just called," she yelled breathlessly, "They know something!"



Five minutes later, Joyce parked the jeep across the street from Sunnydale Park.

Buffy had spent much of her afternoons the first weeks she lived in the Wal- Mart. It looked nothing like the sunny, green area she had grown used to during the summer days. It was near ten at night, cold and dark, all of the trees bare and skeletal. Five police cars were idling in the parking lot, and many of the same officers who had been holding up those first few hours in Joyce's home were milling around the park grounds.

Hugging her coat close to her body, Buffy ran across the street, Spike, Joyce, and Clem following behind her. She ducked under the yellow police tape tied across the entrance in the chain-link fence.

One cop, a guy nearing forty, who had just gotten on duty, stood near this.

"You can't be here!" he screamed at the four, not knowing who they were. "This is a crime scene! Just wait on the other side . . ."

Buffy ignored him, paying attention instead to the ambulance that had just pulled into the parking lot, and the twelve officers who were hurrying in the direction of the main fountain.

Spike saw them, also.

"Run," he whispered to her, before he pulled his hand back, and punched the old cop right in the nose.

Gathering all of her strength, Buffy broke into a sprint, taking long strides so she went as fast as she had ever gone before. She felt her breath catch in her chest, but she ignored it. She reached the fountain before the officers did.

Searching around the stone base of the fountain she had sat many times before, she looked for any sign of her little girl. And, there it was, a white bundle lying on top of the cement seating area.

Cautiously, she approached the baby, noticing how it wasn't moving. The fear that had been growing inside her stomach exploded, her hands shaking as she reached a hand out towards the bundle.

But, as soon as she did, the bundle began to whimper.

Buffy hastily picked up Aurora, holding her close to her body and kissing the child's head. She began to cry once more that night, but these were tears of joy.

Xander, who had been one of the officers Buffy had seen going towards the fountain, now held the officers back, and watched with relief the scene before him. Looking towards the entrance, he saw that four cops were restraining a very angry Spike, while a fifth lay on his back, holding his nose.

"A squad car found the Washougal car a half-hour ago. The two admitted everything, and told us where she'd be," he explained, while directing two officers to break up the fight between his co-workers and friends.

Nodding, Buffy felt her little girl nuzzle her face into her mother's neck. Aurora would be fine, the doctors would later confirm, even though she had been out in the cold for a while. But, she was here, and she was alive, and Buffy would never let her go again.

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Audrina16- I made a note a few chapters earlier that Buffy is scared of the number five. Bad things seem to happen when she's around fives. But anyway, thanks much for the review. And Riley+Buffy= Icky.

Imzadi- Oooh, see, Angel doesn't give a shit about Aurora. I dislike people like that. I'm very sorry about Most Rare Vision, and after I get done with this puppy, I'll get cracking on that one. I promise.

Spufette- Even though in the real world it took me fifteen days to find Aurora, the police of Sunnydale found her in a few hours. I'm not that good at finding things.

Mita427- Don't you worry about the innapropriate language. Even though there are now little kids in the story, Buffy will occasionally let out a "cocksucker" or a "fucking asswipe". I like the "booby-headed bastard"! May I steal it for the eventual confrontation between Aurora's parents?

Spike's Hottie- Very good name. I hope you got a little bit of Spuffy jollies after reading this. I hope I hope I hope.

FirstAidKid- I would never let Aurora get hurt. Don't you even think it! Also, the fives will be coming back soon, so watch out for them.

Ekmw511- Oh my god! That is an awesome review! Hope you like this one.

Spiffy 1- Yep, you got it right. Isn't "Where the Heart Is" a good movie?

Chrestomanci- Christmas tree good. Fire hurty. Cheese gassy. Who moved my water bottle? Oh, I understand now: You are the Jedi Shrimp. Much love. Shplahaha!

Comedia- Maybe if you got up off your ghetto booty and inspired me, I would write! Huh, didja ever think of that, bitch? Hope you don't die of meningitus or the plague. Snootchie bootchie!

Enema- Um . . . thanks?

Kendra- You bad person! Oh, what the hell, work sucks and you should take every opportunity to be a disgruntled employee. It's like I always say: What's the point of being employed if you can't perform some criminal acts.

Me- Fuck you! Miss you lots, girl. My room is all sad and empty. Oh, fuck Cory.

Pokey- Thank you.

Psychovampgurl- Are you really a psycho vamp? That'd be really cool . . . Hey, I update whenever school isn't totally sucking me dry, so I apologize.