Guardian Angel

Chapter 2

Part 1

Darla did as she was told; she went to Angel, but she did not tell him about her talk with Buffy. She still found it hard to believe that after every evil thing she had done that the Powers would choose her to carry their champion.

Knowing that her vampire body could not deliver a human baby, Darla committed what was probably her first selfless act in her very long life; she decided at the last minute what she would do to save her child's life. After asking Angel to make sure to tell the child that he was the one good thing that the two of them ever did together, she staked herself so that her baby would live.

In the meantime Daniel Holtz, the vampire hunter from the eighteenth century with a grudge to settle against Angelus and Darla, had made a deal with a time traveling demon named Sahjahn and now appeared in LA looking for revenge.

Part 2

Sometime after speaking with Darla, Buffy went looking for Holtz. She easily found him and his small band of vengeance seekers. They were not hiding. She saw Wesley leaving Holtz's house and wondered 'What are you up to Wes? You're supposed to be Angel's friend now, so why are you meeting with his enemy?'

Instead of staying to watch Holtz and company, Buffy followed Wesley. She saw his research on the prophecy stating that "the father will kill the son."

'Wesley thinks that Angel will kill Connor. Is he nuts? Angel loves that child.'

The same night that Angel realized he had been drinking blood that was spiked with his son's blood, he saw a soft light coming from Connor's room. He grabbed his sword and rushed into the baby's room only to find Buffy holding Connor and singing to him softly.

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked up from Connor. "Yeah. Hi, Angel. Looks like this little guy has a guardian; guess who it is?"

"Buffy?"

She smiled. "I thought we covered that."

Angel dropped the sword and reached for Buffy; his fingers went through her like thin air.

"You can't touch me Angel, only Connor can feel me."

She returned Connor to his crib and kissed him on the forehead as he yawned sleepily. "Time for beddy-bye," Buffy said as she watched Connor fall blissfully asleep.

Before she disappeared she turned to Angel and said, "I'll see you soon." Angel still looked stunned but a soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He thought Buffy meant that she would visit Connor again soon, but that wasn't at all what she meant.

Later that same night Buffy appeared to Holtz in a dream (a nightmare really) and warned him to leave Connor alone. Even though he was afraid of what he thought was a spirit, Holtz was more determined than ever to take the baby from his father.

No matter what she tried, he would not be swayed, his mind was made up. He would repay Angelus by taking his son from him just as Angelus had taken his family centuries before.

The night before the planned abduction Buffy made one last try at Holtz. She did not want to harm him, but under no circumstance would she let him take Connor to a hell dimension.

Part 3

She had been concentrating so much on Connor and what was happening in LA that she was not keeping track of when her friends in Sunnydale would try their resurrection spell until her mother reminded her.

"Since you have not been able to convince the vampire hunter to leave the baby alone, the time for your departure may be rapidly approaching, Buffy. Because of the time differences between realms, it is difficult for us newcomers to track activities exactly."

"I know, Mom, I just hate to lose you again."

Joyce hugged her daughter. "You're not losing me, honey; I'll be right here when you return, no matter how long it takes."

"I know," Buffy said hugging her mother fiercely; "I'll just miss you so much."

Buffy did not interfere with normal activities in Connor's life, she did, however, watch Wesley and Holtz very closely and although she knew what Willow was planning in Sunnydale, she still hoped that she would not have to return to earth as a mortal.

She tracked the woman who stole Connor's blood from his doctor's office and learned that she was working for Lilah Morgan at Wolfram and Hart. She would take care of Lilah after she made sure that Connor was safe from Holtz.

Part 4

Plans seldom play out exactly as intended whether or not intentions are honorable.

The pieces of the fake prophecy came together and Wesley was convinced that his planned actions were justified; he would take Connor away, raise him alone if he had to, but he would not let Angel kill his own son. Just as he was heading for his car with the baby he was confronted by Justine, one of Holtz's soldiers, who tricked him, cut his throat, took Connor and left Wesley bleeding on the ground. She took the child to Holtz.

From the upper realms Buffy saw this and took off immediately.

In addition to Angel, Lilah Morgan and her men from Wolfram and Hart were also tracking Connor. She and Angel arrived at the same time blocking Holtz as he and Justine were attempting to escape with the baby. Sahjahn showed up and, after demanding that the baby be killed, opened a portal to Quor-Toth, the darkest of the dark worlds, as he described it.

Both Lilah and Holtz wanted the child alive, however Holtz held a knife to Connor's throat and threatened to kill him if Angel took one step closer to him.

"Take him," Angel told Holtz. He would rather see his son with his enemy than to see him dead or in the hands of Wolfram and Hart.

During the stand-off between Angel and Lilah's men, Holtz changed his mind at the last minute. Instead of killing Connor he turned and jumped into the portal to Quor-Toth. Buffy showed up just in time and snatched Connor from him just as Holtz jumped, leaving Holtz inside Quor-Toth as the portal started to close.

"You didn't really think I'd let you take him, did you?" she asked a startled Holtz as the portal closed leaving him trapped inside.

Holding Connor cradled against her with her left arm, she waved her right hand and in an instant Lilah and her men and Justine disappeared.

She turned to Sahjahn. "Go back to wherever you belong and stay out of our prophecies. Leave this child alone. If you come near him again, I'll put an end to your existence in a most unpleasant fashion."

"You can't kill me," Sahjahn bragged as he opened a portal for his escape.

"You want to bet?" Buffy asked as she closed the portal before he could leave. "Any portal you can open, I can close even faster. I can keep you trapped here until Connor is old enough to destroy you himself. Stay out of this dimension and maybe you'll get to live."

"Whoever you are, you don't order me; I go wherever I want."

"Really? You think Quor-Toth is bad," she asked before opening a new portal, "try one of its neighbors. From this one you will never return."

"Nooooo…." was the last thing she heard from Sahjahn before the portal closed.

Buffy handed Connor back to Angel, smiled at him briefly and said, "I am so going to miss this."

Angel held Connor close, so happy to have his son back again. "You saved him, Buffy. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"I know, Angel; he means a lot to me too."

"Oh, Buffy." His voice was full of emotions as he spoke, but when he reached for her, once again his hand passed through her.

Buffy repeated her words to him that she had uttered when he first tried to touch her in Connor's bedroom, "You can't touch me, Angel; only Connor can feel me. I'll see you soon. I have others to take care of."

"BUFFY…" Angel called out with urgency as she started to disappear.

Buffy halted, looking at him with concern on her face.

"I love you, Buffy, and I miss you so much. Are you happy where you are? Please tell me that you are happy and at peace."

Instead of answering his plea, Buffy walked over to him and said, "I love you, too, Angel. When Connor is asleep tonight, I will come to you so that we can talk." She reached up and touched his cheek with her hand and even though Angel could not feel the physical touch of Buffy's hand, he felt the warmth and love of her touch as he had so many times before. He leaned into her touch relishing in the gentle warmth that he could feel from her.

"I have to go, Angel. I'll see you later tonight."

With that she was gone and Angel was left standing there holding Connor with mixed emotions. He was so happy to have his son back and that Buffy was his guardian, but he also missed her so very much.

When Buffy reached Wesley and saw the condition he was in, she knew that he would not live much longer if she didn't do something. At that moment she heard Fred and Gunn approaching. Quickly she touched Wesley and stabilized him enough so that he would not lose any more blood and would make it to the hospital alive. He would survive.

She could not heal him completely; she did not want him or his friends to know that she had saved him. Buffy knew that although Wesley had chosen the wrong course of action, his intentions were honorable; he was trying to save Connor's life.

Her last act for the day was to make sure that Justine went to jail; if she couldn't get her for kidnapping Connor, she could certainly get her for attempted murder. She put in an anonymous phone call to the LAPD informing them of Justine's location and what she had done.

The police found Justine tied to a chair in the house she had been occupying with Daniel Holtz; she still had Wesley's blood under her fingernails and the knife that she had used was on a nearby table. With Wesley's testimony, the police would have an airtight case against her. She was going to prison.

End of Chapter 2