A/N: Sorry its taken me so long to update. Life just got in the way. If you read my other stories I should be updating them soon.

Chapter 19

It has been nearly one month since Buffy gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. The birth had proved to be too much for Buffy to handle and just as Connor came into this world Buffy left it.

The doctors tried to explain to both her parents and a terribly distraught Angel that she had slid into a self induced coma and only she could bring herself out of it. They moved her to a private room at the clinic and waited about a week to start changing her medication. The doctor said she needed time for her body to mend after child birth but after she was healthy enough to withstand the medication they would start.

Angel was in a terrible state himself. He tried to be upbeat in front of his and Buffy's parents but when he was alone he always broke down into a heap of sobs over the loss of his beloved. He spent his time equally between his house and Buffy's. He wanted to make sure Connor knew who both his grandparents were and let them spend as much time as they wanted with the child. He needed the help anyway, he was a first time dad and changing diapers and bathing an infant wasn't a course they taught in school.

His and Buffy's parents tried to keep him busy enough not to have to think about his love being in a coma in the clinic. His days were filled with caring for the baby and talking with his parents but at night when everyone was asleep he stayed awake trying to think of ways to bring Buffy back to him. He thought about what she was missing seeing her child grow, and grow he was. Just the first month was life changing for the whole family. Things like regular routines of school, work, and even play were put on hold or changed to accommodate the infant. Angel knew that their lives would never be the same.

The only thing that kept Angel from falling into a pit of depression was the thought of the new medication helping Buffy. He waited anxiously for the doctors to begin. He thought that if she would just wake up long enough for her to see their child she would never want to go back to her fantasy life again. He loved her and he knew she loved him, and he thought that would be enough to keep her here with him but he must have guessed wrong. He couldn't understand what kept her going back to that fantasy life. He hoped that one day when she was better she would tell him of the life she created in her dream world.

Buffy was lying in her bed with her eyes closed but she was awake. She could feel the sun warming her face thru the window and the cool morning breeze sweeping across her skin. Things had been quiet in her little town of Sunnydale recently but in the back of her mind she could remember the faint feeling that she was missing someone. It had been over a week since her nightmare and her memory was slowly fading but she could still feel its affects. She tried her best to push all those feelings deep down and get on with her life. She was the Slayer and small things like bad dreams were the least of her worries. Her alarm clock sounded and she could hear her mother moving around down stairs. She finally opened her eyes and welcomed the new day.

She got ready for school and headed off to meet with Giles before homeroom as usual. During the day she could feel herself getting more and more depressed. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that was making her so miserable. That evening she ventured to the Bronze with Willow and Xander. She sat at the table with Willow and they both watched Xander clumsily parade around the dance floor. If she weren't so depressed she would have found it very amusing but right now nothing was helping to raise her spirits. Willow could tell something was bothering her friend,"Ah the fumigation party. It's an annual tradition. The closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches….its a lot of fun." Buffy quietly says, 'oh'. "What's it like were you are?" Willow says with a smirk on her face.

Buffy broke her deep thoughts as Willow talked to her. She didn't notice that she had been staring into her drink and not paying much attention to her friend sitting across from her. "Hun, oh sorry, I was just thinking about……….things."

"So were talking about a guy?" Willow said back.

"Not exactly a guy, for us to have a conversation about a guy there would have to be a guy for us to actually have a conversation about…..is that a sentence." Buffy stammered out. Willow smiled at her friend, "You lack a guy." She stated flatly.

"I do, which is fine by me most of the time but…?" Buffy didn't know how to answer that back.

"What about Angel?" Willow said with a little enthusiasm.

"Angel, yea I can just see him in a relationship, 'Hi honey, your in grave danger…see you next month." Buffy said a little too sadly.

"Yea, he's not around much….its true." Willow said to her friend sadly.

"Yea, but when he is around, its like the lights dim everywhere else. You know how that is with some guys?" Buffy said to Willow dreamily.

"Oh yea." Willow said while her eyes floated to the dance floor in search of the guy she loved.

Just then Xander came walking up to the table. "Wow that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. So, what are you two vixens up to?" He said as he approached.

"Just sitting here watching our baron lives pass us by." Willow said as she looked down at her feet. "Oh look….a cockroach." Then she smashed the insect with her foot.

"Whoa stop this crazy whirligig of fun…I'm dizzy." Xander said back to them with a stern look on his face.

Buffy then got up from the table. "Alright, now I'm infecting those nearest and dear to me. I think I'll call it a night." Buffy said as she grabbed her things to leave.

Willow piped up suddenly, "Oh, don't go." As she looked to Xander for help in keep their friend from leaving. Xander took her que, "No, its early…..we could uh, dance of something." He stammered out quickly.

Buffy looked at both of them sadly and said simply, "Rain check….goodnight." And she walked away. As she passed the stairs she felt a familiar sensation but when she turned to look there was no one there. She walked out of the Bronze and down the street towards her house. She only got a few blocks before her slayer senses began humming and she knew she was being followed.

She was agitated and depressed and she didn't feel like being hounded by the undead tonight so she stopped walking and decided to deal with the nuisance.

"Its late, I'm tired, and I don't want to play games. Show your self." She stated angrily. Just then the vamp descended behind her and she spun around with a stake in hand ready to dust him. He pushed her back and she was grabbed by another vamp by her side then a third appeared. The pulled her into a nearby alley and she started to get worried.

"Ok…..ok, I don't want to have to fight all three of you." Buffy began to say just as the pulled her up against the fence. Two vamps held her arms and the third one stared to walk up to her slowly in game face. He intended to drain her dry and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster the closer he got. She strained against her two captors but it was of no use, she was trapped, and apparently she was about to die.