Promise Me

"Angel? Angel, baby, please speak to me."

Angel could hear Buffy's voice calling to him, softly begging him to respond to her. Where was he? How did he get to wherever he was? The last thing he remembered was visiting the Oracles...Oh, god. His eyes fluttered open and he came face to face with Buffy's tear stained face. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his vision, but it only made it more dizzy.

"Buffy?," he rasped out, not sure if it was a dream or if it was real.

"Angel, oh god, what happened to you?"

"Where...am I?"

"You're home, honey. It'll be okay now."

He opened his eyes again and looked around, seeing that she was, indeed telling the truth. He tried to sit up, but she held him down, not wanting him to hurt himself.

"What's going on?," he asked softly. "Didn't it work?"

"Didn't what work? Angel...what are you talking about?"

Before he could answer, he grabbed at his heart in pain, feeling it start to slow down. He began thrashing on the bed, frightening Buffy all the more. She tried to stop him from moving, but she was unsuccessful.

"Buffy!," he screamed before everything became black.

- - - - - - - -

Angel jolted awake with a start. He sat up in his bed and placed a hand on his chest.

No beat.

The look of disappointment flashed across his face as he looked around the room he was in. The apartment underneath the original Angel Investigations office. He let out a sad sigh and scrambled over to the edge of his bed, where the phone was sitting on the bedside table. With a groan he picked it up and dialed.

"Hello?," a cheery voice answered.

He didn't respond.

"Hello?," the voice asked again.

Angel hung up silently, not wanting her to know it was him calling. The purpose of the call was to see if his worst fears were true. It was confirmed; Buffy was no longer with him, but was back in Sunnydale. Did she still have their daughter? What about their son? Angel's eyes widened in realization. The Powers that Be sent him back to after the day that they erased. There is no Anne, and there is no Daniel. Tears came to his eyes briefly, knowing he had neither pieces of his world anymore.

He knew..he had to go to Sunnydale. Riley was there with his love, and he couldn't allow him to hurt either of his girls again. That's why he turned back time in the first place; to protect them. Angel jumped from his bed and began packing his clothes he needed for a small trip to Sunnydale. He was going to bring Buffy back with him.

- - - - - - - -

He arrived in Sunnydale less then three hours later. It took him a while to convince Cordelia and Doyle that he knew what he was doing, and that he'd be okay. He knew Cordelia was stubborn but he couldn't believe the lengths he went to just to get her off his back. Angel had left everything he brought with him in his car, not knowing if Buffy would believe him. And if she did, he wasn't sure if she'd take him back or not after everything he did. Swallowing hard, he raised his hand to knock on the door, when it suddenly opened. His brow furrowed slightly when that happened, but his face then became emotionless once he saw who answered the door. Riley.

"Who are you?"

"A friend. Is Buffy here?"

"Who wants to know?"

Ooh, he was getting frustrated. Seriously frustrated. He suppressed the urge to growl and tried to control his temper. Knowing what this boy really was and what he did just sent him a blind fury. But before his temper got out of control, his blonde goddess came to the door, first with a smile on her face, then anger and pain followed.

"Angel."

"Buffy."

"You know this guy?," Riley interrupted, which made Angel curl his fists up in anger–a reaction that Buffy noticed right away.

"Look, Riley, do you think you can give us some privacy?"

"Im not leaving you here alone with him."

"Who do you think you are?"

She snapped at him, glaring at him now instead of sending daggers at Angel. Angel couldn't hold back the smirk that graced his features when his beloved turned her anger on the boy. If that alone wouldn't give him a happy, nothing would. Riley's expression changed from extremely confident to slightly frightened and annoyed.

"Im not going to leave you here with somebody I don't even know! He could be dangerous!"

"He's not! I know him. Now get out before I throw you out–forcefully."

With a huff, Riley left, but not without bumping shoulders with Angel. Angel growled and turned to grab the boy, but Buffy's hand on his arm stopped him from doing so. Her eyes were still hard when she looked at him, but he could tell most of her anger had been drained once she took it out on Riley.

"Come in, Angel."

Angel sighed audibly when she invited him in, instead of telling him to leave. He walked in silently and closed the door behind himself. She sat on her bed and motioned for him to do the same. He sat down next to her, and awkward silence coming over them. Soon, Angel sliced through it.

"H-how long has it been? Since we saw each other last?," he asked quitely almost in a whisper.

"Two months, three days, five hours, and twenty minutes."

He stared at her for a moment and she blushed under his stare.

"I missed you and...I ended up counting."

He nodded silently, knowing exactly how she felt. He began listening closely to her heartbeat, trying to see if she had another heartbeat inside of her. To his relief, she did. With a slight sob he got up and went in front of her. She watched him, slightly confused of his actions. He got on his knees before her and placed his ear to her stomach, listening to his daughters fast-paced beating heart.

"Angel?," she asked softly, not understanding what he was doing.

"Shh," he whispered. "Listen to her heart beat."

Now she was really confused. What in hell did he mean by that? Slowly, she lifted his head from where he was laying and looked into his eyes; he was crying.

"Buffy, we're going to have a daughter."

"What? Angel, that's impossible, we–"

He silenced her with a short soft kiss and then continued to tell her about the day that never was. By time he finished, they were both sobbing. When they finished talking, the sun was up and he couldn't leave. Buffy decided to skip her classes for the day and she stayed with Angel, sleeping curled up in his embrace for the rest of the afternoon.

- - - - - - -

"What the hell is this?!"

Buffy and Angel both woke up at the angry yell that echoed throughout the dorm room. Angel didn't bother moving from his comfortable position, but Buffy did. Crawling from Angel's arms, she stood, fixing her hair and attempting to speak to Riley without him blowing up at her.

"Riley.."

"What? Are you trying to make up an excuse as to why you just cheated on me?"

"Whoa, whoa, back up. I didn't cheat on you...last night."

"What do you mean? You cheated on me...before this?"

"Yes."

"With him?!"

"Yes."

Riley saw red. His hand came up, in an attempt to strike her, when he found his arm being painfully held in mid-air. Angel had jumped out of bed once he saw Riley's control slipping and he had grabbed his arm just in time, before it made contact with his wife. Riley looked over at the other man and tugged his arm away. He glared at the couple.

"Don't ever come near my wife ever again."

"Wife?"

"Wife," Angel said confidently.

"Well, good luck with a whore for a wife. She sure does get around."

Angel's fist met with Riley's face before he knew it, and he flew back into the door. To, neither Buffy or Angel's surprise, Riley went right through it, breaking it into pieces. Riley was surprised at the amount of strength that came from the man. Holding his bloody nose, he got up from the ground and ran, leaving before Angel could attack him again.

- - - - - - - -

Eh, it sucked, but with my schedule, it's the best that I could do. Sorry, all!