I Promise

"Giles!" Tara screamed in pain. Giles had been trying to console Willow. She was already very emotional after having her baby and now the thought that she may have been taken was becoming too much for her. She was on the verge of having a nervous break down.

"I'll be right here," Giles told Willow softly. When he was sure she would be alright he ran to the bed next to Willow's were Tara was waiting. "What is it? Is everything alright?" Giles asked with worry in his voice.

"Giles…the contractions are getting closer together," Tara explained with panic in her voice. "What are we going to do when the babies born? We can't have them take Hailey too Giles we can't."

"We won't," Giles reassured her. "I promise you I won't let anyone take her from you Tara I promise."

"How?" Tara asked, "How are you going to stop them though? Their doctors and they just told Willow that it was procedure how are you going to stop them without being suspicious. Because you know if you're too suspicious then their going to know that we know the other babies are missing and then we might not be able to find them."

This one stumped him. He really didn't know how he was going to stop them from taking Tara's baby without letting on that they knew the other children were missing. He knew he had to think fast. Tara's contractions were getting closer together and the baby would be coming soon.

"Well…I'm not sure but I don't need you to be worrying about it. I promise I'll figure something out," Giles answered. "I promise!" he added with determination.

XXXXXX

Lorne helped Buffy get back onto the bed. "What do you mean drugged?" he asked. "I mean are you sure cupcake?"

Buffy held her head in pain. "Pretty sure," she responded. "I feel weaker then I've ever felt."

"Yeah but you did just have a baby," Lorne reminded her.

"That's not it," Buffy responded with sureness. "Trust me I've been in fights that have caused me more pain and weakened me worse then child birth. Plus I'm the slayer…It doesn't hurt as much and I don't get as weak as normal girls do. This is different. I can feel something unnatural doing something to my body."

"Whoever took your baby must have known you would figure it out," Lorne realized. "Looks like they were one step ahead. Do you think it's serious…I mean are you going to be ok?"

"I don't think it's that bad," Buffy responded. "I think it's just to weaken me. If it was anything more I would have felt it already."

Then suddenly the sadness in Buffy's eyes was changing. It was turning into anger. She looked Lorne directly in his eyes and a shiver ran up his spin.

"Find Angel," she commanded him.

"But he told me to…" Lorne tried to say.

"I don't care what he told you," Buffy interrupted. "Find Angel and find out what's going on with my baby."

"But what if someone comes back in here and tries to drug you again…or worse?" Lorne asked.

"I may be weak but I can take care of myself," Buffy responded confidently. "These people have no idea who their dealing with. They can try as hard as they want to stop me but what they don't realize is that Buffy Summers doesn't give up without a fight. And taking my son…was a big mistake. Whoever did this will pay for it beyond their comprehension. Now please Lorne…find who did this…find my son."

Lorne simply cracked a small, nervous smile and nodded his head. He hadn't known Buffy for too long but he knew her well enough to know that there was no arguing with her when she was like this. All she cared about right now was finding her son and making the people who took him pay.

"Be careful," Lorne said as he was about to walk out the door.

"You too," Buffy responded as her anger was starting to calm.

Lorne smiled back at Buffy and then started to walk out the door. Buffy stopped him before he was completely out, "Lorne wait!"

He peaked his head back into the room, "What is it sweetie?"

"Find the other's first," Buffy said. "I think I remember a nurse giving me a shot. I didn't think to ask what it was. I figured maybe everyone was supposed to get one after child birth. That's probably how they drugged me. Warn the others. Don't let them get that shot." Lorne nodded his head and then hurried out the door.

XXXXXX

"What do you mean 'too late'?" Faith asked Spike as a look of worry appeared on her face.

Spike and Cordelia looked at each other both not really knowing what to tell their friend.

"Spike!" Faith demanded. "Too late for what?"

Spike took in a deep pointless breath. "We think that someone is after the little ones. Buffy had her baby about two hours ago and she hasn't seen him since. The doctor took him to clean him up and just never brought him back. Willow also had her daughter a while back and she hasn't seen her yet either."

Faith's face turned completely white as the realization dawned on her. She felt like she couldn't breathe. It was incredible how this tiny living being was just born and yet she cared for it more then she'd ever cared for or about anything else in her entire life.

"They just took Brandon to clean him up," Gunn said defeated. "They didn't even let Faith hold him. We thought…we thought that was how it was supposed to be. We thought they were supposed to take him to get cleaned up and then bring him right back."

Cordelia looked at Faith and smile. "Aww…you named him Brandon. That's a beautiful name." Everyone looked at Cordy awkwardly as if to say this was not the time. "Right…sorry…I'll complement the name later."

Just then Faith jumped out of her bed. "Woo where do you think your going?" Gunn asked.

"To find my son!" Faith responded angrily.

"Faith you can't," Spike warned, "Their obviously trying to get all the babies which means if they have Buffy and Willow's their still here. If they figure out that we're on to them they might just take the kids they've got and split pet."

"He's right Faith," Gunn agreed. "We've gotta be stealthy about this. If they know we're suspicious of them we might not even have a chance at finding the others. You're too upset right now and you know that if you went out there to find your son you'd be anything but stealthy."

"Damn right I won't be stealthy," Faith said angrily. "I'm going to beat the life out of everyone until someone can tell me where my son is."

"Faith please," Cordelia urged as Faith tried to push passed Gunn and Spike. "Think about Buffy and Willow. How would you feel if by getting your baby back right now you cost them theirs? We'll find another way to get them back. We're going to get them all back. We just need a plan."

This caught the dark slayer off guard. In another time she wouldn't care. She used to only care about herself. She would be out that door in two seconds flat not giving a damn about who she would hurt in the process. But she was different now. She knew she couldn't let B and Red down.

Faith calmed down a little and rolled her eyes. "Alright," Faith finally responded with defeat. "What's the plan then?"

Before anyone else could answer Faith's question there was a nock at the door. The four friends looked around at each other nervously. They were hoping it wasn't a nurse or a doctor. Gunn slowly walked to the door and opened it slightly so that he could see who it was without letting them see into the room.

When he opened the door he saw that it was Lorne. "Good it's just you. Come on in," Gunn said as he stepped aside to let Lorne in.

"Nice to see you too," Lorne said with a little bit of hurt in his voice.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Buffy?" Spike snapped.

"Yeah but she's a pistil," Lorne answered with a shake of his head. "She kicked me out. I know I wasn't supposed to tell her what was going on so she wouldn't worry but she got it out of me. She wants me to find Angel and find out what's going on but she wanted me to find you guys first. She thinks she was drugged."

"What?!" Cordy said.

They all looked at Lorne in anticipation. "She stood up to try and go find out what was going on and she just collapsed. She said she couldn't move and she could feel something wasn't right. She said she remembered a nurse giving her a shot shortly after she had the baby. She thinks that was what did it and she wanted me to make sure the same thing didn't happen to you girls. Unfortunately I was just in Willow's room and she's already had the shot. It's just starting to affect her now."

"Is it serious? Are they going to be ok?" Cordelia asked.

"Buffy said she thinks it's just supposed to weaken them," Lorne responded. "She said she thinks they'll be alright. Willow looks worse then Buffy does though."

"Makes sense, no slayer strength," Gunn pointed out.

Lorne nodded his head, "I think she'll be alright though. Giles is watching over here. You didn't get the shot yet did you?" Lorne asked Faith.

"No," Faith responded. "I'm sure they'll be sending someone in to do it soon enough though. What should I do when they try it?"

"I'm not sure cupcake," Lorne said nervously.

"Ask them what it is first," Cordelia answered for him. "I'm guessing Buffy and Willow didn't even bother to ask…thought it was normal?" she asked Lorne. He nodded his head in response. "So you ask what it is and whatever they say just say you don't need it. They can't force it on you and even if they say its necessary just say you don't really believe in the absolute need for medicines. Tell them your one of those people who doesn't even take pain killers like Tylenol."

"Good plan," Spike agreed.

Faith nodded her head in understanding, "Yeah I guess that should work 'cause I didn't take the epidural either. But what's next? Where do we go from here? What can I do?"

"We've gotta think of a plan," Gunn answered, "And we need to think of one fast."

XXXXXX

Angel knew that he shouldn't bring attention to himself. If the baby's captors found out that he knew, they might just take the children they have now and split. However, he was at square one. He tried fallowing the babies sent but he had only been around him for about two minutes and the trail was already growing cold. He figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask a few questions. Anyone would start to get worried if their baby was gone for so long.

"Excuse me ma'am," Angel said as he stopped a nurse, "I'm looking for Dr. Miller. My wife just had her baby and the doctor took him for a check up and to get cleaned off but it's been over an hour and we're starting to worry that something's wrong with our son. Could you please tell me where I might find her?"

He figured that they wouldn't tell him much if he wasn't the parent. Saying that he and Buffy were married and that the baby was his would be his best bet. He couldn't help but smile inwardly on how good to felt to say though.

"Well, Dr. Miller's office is on the third floor but if there were anything wrong with your baby sir he would probably be in the intensive care unit of the infant ward down this hall way and to the left," the nurse responded while pointing Angel in the direction of the infant ward.

"Thank you so much," Angel said as he started walking in the direction the nurse was pointing.

"You're welcome," the nurse responded with a kind smile.

As soon as the nurse was out of sight Angel turned around and found the door to the stairs. He walked up the stairs to the third floor. It was a big hospital but he had been around Dr. Miller long enough to be able to track her scent.

The third floor was mostly offices and it didn't take him long to find the office he was looking for. He knew that he probably wouldn't find her there but he hoped to find out something of use that would help him find Buffy's son.

The door to the office was locked. Angel looked around to make sure no one was around and then as quietly as possible he busted open the door almost effortlessly.

Dr. Miller's office looked like all the other doctor's offices. It was a fairly small room with a desk, a computer and several small book shelves that were filled with gynecology books. It had no windows and would have been pitch black if it weren't for the light from the hallway shinning through the small window of the door.

It was a messy office. There were all kinds of papers all over her desk and even a half empty cup of cold coffee. Angel flipped through the papers swiftly. He had no idea what he was looking for but he had a strong feeling that somewhere in that office was a clue.

After he was through with the desk he looked around the rest of the room. He looked at all the books and even flipped through a few of them that might possibly be suspicious. He found nothing.

He continued to look around the room. There wasn't really anything else he could look through but something told him he was missing something. He had a strong feeling about this.

The vampire moved to the back wall which was bare compared to the rest of the office. He found it very odd. This wall stood out so much and yet he didn't know why. His eyes caught a spot on the wall that looked like a stain.

"Man this lady really is a slob," he said quietly to himself.

He reached his hand to the spot and before he even touched it he felt something. This stain on the wall was giving off an enormous feeling of energy. He could sense it. He could feel it. Realization dawned on him and he lightly knocked on the wall. A smile appeared on his face as he realized that the wall was hollow. Although he wasn't a hundred percent sure he was willing to bet that Buffy's son was somewhere on the other side of that wall and it was time to find out.

XXXXXX

When Dr. Carter walked back into the room it was extremely hard for Willow to try and cover up her anger. She took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Dr. Carter," she said, "Is my baby alright? You've been gone for a while and I was just getting a little worried."

Dr. Carter looked at Willow sympathetically. "Willow," she started, "I'm not going to lie to you everything isn't exactly ok. Now there's no need to panic but when we took your daughter to get her cleaned up we noticed that she wasn't breathing properly."

Even though Willow was almost positive this was all an act to buy herself some time she played along and put on her best worried face. "Oh my God…is she going to be ok?"

The doctor gave her a forced smile. "She's going to be just fine. We put her on a ventilator and I have some of our best doctors working to find out the problem right now. You'll be notified as soon as I am. You don't need to worry. This sort of thing is more common then you'd think, but we caught it early and she's going to be just fine."

Willow let out a deep sigh and then forced a small smile and nodded her head. "Oh and one more thing doctor," Willow said.

"Yes?" Dr. Carter responded.

"I have this strange feeling," Willow explained. "I feel very weak and I mean I knew I'd feel weak after going through child birth but this feels a little different."

Before the doctor had come in Willow and the others had decided it would be best to ask questions. They would know that the shot would be kicking in by now and it would seem even more conspicuous if Willow didn't ask any questions about it at all.

"That's completely normal," the doctor explained with a smile. "It's standard procedure to give all of our patients a relaxant after child birth. The stress of it sometimes puts mothers in a very dangerous state so the relaxant keeps that from happening."

'Oh your good bitch…your good,' Willow thought to herself. She forced another smile and nodded her head. "Ok. I just wanted to be sure."

"No problem," Dr. Carter responded with a smile. "And how's my other patient coming along?" she asked Tara.

"Her contractions are getting closer together," Giles told the doctor.

He looked at Tara and he could tell that it was very hard for her to keep a straight face. She was scared. She was terrified. This woman had taken her wife's child away and she was going to do the same thing to hers if they didn't figure something out soon.

The doctor checked Tara's cervix and smiled. "Alright Tara…you're at ten centimeters. In a few minutes I'm going to ask you to start pushing."

Tara just nodded her head as she tried to breath through a particularly painful contraction. As Tara prepared to push a million thoughts were running through her mind. She didn't want to push. She wanted to keep her daughter inside of her where it was safe. If she let her out she would be taken away.

She looked to Giles for some comfort. He smiled at her and simply said with extreme sincerity, "Everything's going to be fine. I promise!"