Summary: What if Buffy had gone with Angel into that hell dimension on the finale of Season2? My first fan fiction, I think this would be considered AU.
Disclaimers: Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon own it all. This just all just for entertainments sake, I hope.
And the barrage of questions began. Buffy and Angel didn't realize they would miss their lives in Ragnor so soon.
No, Buffy had no idea how she could become pregnant, aside from the normal sex stuff, but this was what The Powers That Be were waiting for.
Yes, she was a vampire now and, "Angel turned me when I was 20. Yeah Will, kinda like a birthday present," and yes she did drink blood. There was an animal much like a boar and that's what they had both used for nourishment. And, by the way, any chance on someone making a blood run for us?
Yes, she had her soul. The Powers That Be had bound her soul, as well as Angel's.
Two hours later and plenty of long explanations, with Giles, Willow and even Oz, asking questions, Buffy and Angel were ready to jump into the nearest whirling vortex.
Giles digested all that Buffy and Angel had revealed. For them, so many years had past and he could see how the two of them were totally bonded. Indeed, there was no way Buffy would ever be parted from her "husband". And the child was something totally unexpected, as well. Whistler could have given them a warning. What an irritating creature he was.
Willow had Connor in her arms. "Oz, y'know what, I am so in love with this little guy. Is that normal? I mean, I just met him."
"Hmmm, should I be worried?" He looked over at the slayer, "Buffy, how old is Connor?"
Buffy looked over at them, so pleased that Willow was so taken with her son. A good sign, she doesn't think of him as a freak. "Not quite a week old, why?"
"Well, I'm not expert, but should he be able to hold his head up and seem so focused?"
Angel stood up and took his son from Willow. "Slayer and vampire strength maybe? What do you think, Giles?"
Buffy couldn't help but smile at that. Since they had started talking about their past 20 years with the gang that was present, Angel had been trying to defer to the watcher, trying to smooth things over; somehow trying to seek forgiveness, yet again. Giles knew it and wasn't throwing it back in his face. She didn't know if it was for her sake or if Giles was trying too, but she wasn't going to ask any questions.
"This is unprecedented, Angel. As far as I know there has never been a child born from a vampire, let alone two. Willow, we are going to have a lot of research cut out for us. Oz, can we count on you, as well?" He turned without waiting for an answer, knowing Oz would do anything Willow was doing. Ah, young love, he thought. He looked over at Buffy and Angel, gazing at their son. Gazing at each other. He only ever wanted the best for his slayer, the longest life he could train her to have and now it appeared she was going to live indefinitely. Was it really such a bad thing? What was he thinking, his slayer was now a vampire, granted her soul was intact, but still. She was the thing she battled. What would the council do about this? Well, nothing, if they didn't know.
He wandered over to the new parents and looked at end result of this whole process. Connor looked up at Giles and reached out to him. "Look Giles, he knows you. After all, you really are the closest thing he's going to have to a grandfather. Want to hold him?" Buffy laughed at the expression on Giles face.
He took Connor, "Well, maybe not grandfather, more like an older uncle, perhaps?" All four looked at him, "Yes, alright, surrogate grandfather." He had to admit, the news that Buffy and Angel had been able to conceive a child was rather a shock, but once the acceptance had set in, Giles was chomping at the bit to get to his research materials. The child was like none he had ever experienced. Connor exuded a feeling of comfort and love. Perhaps the Powers That Be had something to do with this, a built in form of protection. Never the less, he knew Buffy's mother and friends were all going to be a part of his life.
"We need to discuss this with your mother, Buffy. She knows all about you now, the slaying and all, and she knows you will be returning. Obviously, she knows nothing else. How do you want to handle this?" Giles reluctantly gave Connor back to Angel. Indeed, this child certainly had an effect on those around him.
"Well, if she knows I'm coming back I think I should go and talk to her alone, explain it all to her. Angel, we are going to have to find a place to live. We can't move back in with mom. I don't want to hurt her, but she needs to accept the fact that despite my looks, I'm almost 38 and married with a baby. I'm not sure how long it will take mom to accept this. Angel, you'd better give Connor to me, I need to feed him." Giles turned away, a little embarrassed at the sight of Buffy about to breast feed her son.
Willow was notso inclined. "Oh my gosh! So you can feed him just like a regular mom, breast milk and all? I mean, you aren't mortal. This is so cool."
Buffy smiled. "I know, I'm so mom-like and stuff. It really is cool."
"Well yes, Buffy, back to your mother, you do not give enough credit. She has had a lot to deal with this past summer. Accepting your calling, knowing you were in some sort of alternate universe. She is quite remarkable. Joyce has even had the new slayer move in with her, she has sort of become her surrogate mother. I think it has helped her to cope with not knowing what happened to you. She's had to come face to face with the hellmouth and she has repeatedly shown her strength."
Buffy digested this. "So, you've been spending a lot of time with mom? Helping her through all this? I really appreciate that Giles, but I think I know my mom, too. And I also think she isn't going to be jumping up and down at the prospect of her daughter, who may look 20 butisreally 38, being a vampire and mated to one, who also happens to be the father of her child. I give my mom tons of credit, Giles. Hello, she is the mother of one Buffy Summers, destroyer of schools. She had to deal with a whole hell of a lot when she thought I was merely the teenager from hell, but now this? It will take time. Giles, I'm not the same girl who left here 3 months ago, I do understand things a little better than you give me credit for."
Giles really looked at her and he couldn't help but see the young girl who gave him a hard time regarding training. But as he looked deeper into her eyes he saw the woman she had become, a woman who had lived a life that he would never be privy to and his respect for her began to grow anew.
"Yes, well, you will know how to break all this to your mother. Would you like me to go over to Revello Street first and let her know you are back?" Giles was feeling a bit subdued, his slayer was no longer his and it hurt a bit more than he would have ever imagined.
Buffy felt the separation as well and it hurt a little, "That would be great, Giles. Let her know I'm safe and I'll be over tomorrow evening. We need to find a place to decompress, I am feeling a bit surreal right now. Angel, what do you think, where can we go?"
"You can come to my place," Willow spoke up, "my folks are at some doctors conference in San Francisco and won't be home for a few days."
"Actually, I still have my apartment. The rents paid until the end of the year." All eyes shifted to Angel. "Well, I don't like to deal with writing checks, so I just pay my rent once a year."
"I am so glad one of is a responsible adultish type. I so am not into the bill paying and such. I mean we didn't even have electricity, so no bills to pay for the past 20 years."
Buffy felt older than when she left, most certainly, but the actual, day to day living, she was going to have to work on that.