A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry that this is a little late. I usually have the chapters out earlier in the day than this, but, alas, I was running late this morning. Anywho, I'm glad that y'all liked the last chapter and the fact that it was a dream. For those of you whom I scared towards the end...my bad...sorry... :D

And I just got to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are AWESOME!

Soooooooooooooooo...let's just get on with it, huh? Yeah. Sounds good.

Random Disclaimer: (I don't own Buffy).

Fredless Part One

"Dammit," Buffy muttered as she tried to button her jeans. "Oh, come on!" she growled as she tried to pull the material closer so she could just button her damn jeans.

It wasn't working, and cursing wasn't helping.

Buffy huffed in frustration and stalked into the bathroom. She stared at her jeans and bra clad self in the mirror for a long moment before she turned to stare at her profile. Buffy's hands settled on her lower abdomen and suddenly she smiled, all thoughts of too-tight jeans fleeing her mind.

"Angel!"

Angel appeared in the doorway hardly a second later, wide-eyed and half-way into panic mode. "What? What is it?"

Buffy laughed softly. "Come here," she smiled as he walked towards her. She reached out and took his hands and then placed them on her stomach.

Angel's face was blank for a second before he grinned. He gently caressed her stomach that was now protruding ever so slightly.

"Houston, we have a baby bump," Buffy said happily. "You know this means I get to go shop—"she began but Angel's lips prevented any further conversation.

Angel pulled away after a moment and stared into her eyes in wonder and awe. He tenderly stroked her cheekbone with his fingertips before kissing her gently. Once, twice, three times—before he rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you," he smiled softly as he placed an impulsive kiss on her cheek. "You're so beautiful," he continued as he pulled back from her so he could admire her.

"You're just saying that cause I'm carrying your kid," Buffy smiled embarrassed. She really hadn't been feeling too beautiful lately, what with the seemingly constant morning sickness, which, thankfully, had almost disappeared. Seriously, whose dumb idea was it to call morning sickness, morning sickness? It was more like 'all day' sickness.

"Our kid," Angel corrected with a grin.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed as her hand once again came to rest on her baby bump. It was weird. She'd known she was pregnant for a while now. But now she could see it. Unbelievably, it made things seem even more real, and Buffy hadn't thought that was possible.

However, this little baby bump did have a pitfall that Buffy knew would only get worse in the coming months.

Abruptly, she turned away from Angel and walked back into the bedroom. She stopped in front of her closet and her hands settled on her hips as she glared at its contents. "I have nothing to wear," she told him. "Nothing."

"Wear sweatpants," Angel suggested with a shrug.

Buffy looked at him like she couldn't believe they were put on the same planet. "I can't wear sweatpants everywhere Angel."

"Then don't wear anything." Angel grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You'd let me walk around in front of other men naked?" Buffy retorted dubiously, raising her eyebrows.

"Hell no," Angel shook his head, his eyes growing slightly darker with possessiveness. "But that wouldn't matter," he added lightly. "Because you'd never leave our room."

"I can't stay in our room forever!"

"Why not?" Angel asked as he stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Buffy clutched his biceps automatically, even though she was glaring at him. "You and me? Trapped in our room?" Angel kissed down her neck and across her collarbone. "What's wrong with that?"

Buffy was smiling now, and she kissed the sensitive spot right behind his ear. "You're right," she admitted as she slid her hands over his shoulders. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm still going shopping."

Angel just chuckled, and shook his head. "Just take Cordy with you? I don't know if I trust her near the weapons cabinet anymore."

Buffy smirked as she changed into yoga pants and a t-shirt. "What? Is she trying to rearrange it again?"

"No, she and Wes are doing inventory," he grinned. "I'm afraid Cordy will run him through with the broadsword."

"You wouldn't dare," Wesley declared with narrowed eyes as Cordelia held the Prothgarian broadsword in her hands. "You were just going to toss the Prothgarian broadsword with a third century ceremonial Sancteus dagger?"

"Hmm. Let's see," Cordelia said lightly as she turned the sword in her hands. "Long, metal, pointy—yup," she replied.

"Cordy!" Wesley exclaimed. "The purpose of an inventory…"

Gunn interrupted Wesley's tirade with a grin. "Yes, give us that 'purpose of an inventory' speech, again."

"This wasn't my idea," Wesley defended. "It was Angel's because you kept moving things around," he continued, looking accusingly at Cordelia who merely shrugged.

"What time is it?" Fred asked again, prompting Cordelia to frown.

"They'll come down eventually," she replied sounding only mildly annoyed.

Buffy and Angel had a tendency nowadays to get very distracted. Mainly because Buffy had just begun her second trimester, and her morning sickness was disappearing—which meant the Slayer was much more…affectionate. Cordelia pretended to be annoyed when Buffy dragged Angel upstairs, but in reality, she wasn't. She was thrilled with Buffy's pregnancy, and so was the rest of AI. It was their collective light amidst the darkness, and none of them had ever seen Angel smile so much.

Fred nodded at Cordelia's answer and went back to working on her contraption. As she worked, she contemplated Angel and Buffy. They loved each other, that much was blaringly obvious, even to someone who had spent the past five years as a slave in another dimension. The scientist in Fred had to wonder if the couple had always been like they were, madly in love and together and happy. Had Angel always been the handsome prince, and Buffy the beautiful princess?

"Have they always been like that?" Fred voiced her question hesitantly. She still wasn't entirely comfortable initiating conversation unless it was with Angel.

"Like what?" Cordelia asked. "Crazy? Madly in love? Can't keep their hands off each other?" she smirked. "Well…not exactly…let me break it down for you. This is Buffy and Angel before…"

Cordelia stepped away from the group slightly and cleared her throat. "Oh, Angel!" she cried in a purposefully bad impression of Buffy. "I know that I'm a Slayer and you a vampire…and it would be impossible for us to be together…but…"

"But," Wesley took off his glasses and set them aside as he fulfilled Angel's role in Cordelia's parody. "My gypsy curse sometimes prevents me from seeing the truth. Oh, Buffy!"

"Yes, Angel?"

"Oh, I love you so much I almost forgot to brood!" Wesley held back a snicker as Gunn guffawed at his and Cordelia's antics. This was good fun.

"And just because I sent you to Hell that one time doesn't mean that we still can't be friends," Cordelia continued as she used all her will power not to break out into a fit of giggles.

"Oh!" Cordelia exclaimed as Wesley grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer.

"Or possibly more?"

Cordelia gasped audibly, exaggerating. "Gasp! No! We mustn't!"

Wesley pulled Cordelia even closer. "Kiss me."

"Bite me," Cordelia returned easily.

"How about you both bite me," Angel told them as he and Buffy appeared from behind them, causing Wesley and Cordelia to spin around a take a step away from each other.

"You know," Buffy said with a smile as she walked over to Cordelia. "We weren't that bad."

Cordelia raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, we were that bad," Buffy admitted before she reached out and looped her arm through Angel's, tugging him toward her. "But," she continued with a smile as she looked up into Angel's eyes, smiling even more when Angel returned her smile in kind. "We worked things out."

"Now were good," Angel told them, though his eyes never left Buffy's face.

"Really good," Buffy added before stretching up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Ugh, you two are so happy," Gunn shuddered teasingly.

"I want ice cream," Buffy said suddenly, looking around at everyone who was staring at her with amused expressions. "Seriously, a big, giant, ridiculously huge bucket of double-mint-chip."

"Oh, we know," Gunn grinned, shaking his head.

"Isn't there some in the freezer?" Angel asked her, and both Cordelia and Buffy shared a conspiratorial look.

Cordelia smiled innocently. "Oh, yeah. There was…at one time."

"That is not now," Buffy added with a sweet smile.

Angel sighed, but couldn't quite fend off the amused smile that pulled at his lips. "You know what, ice cream doesn't sound like a bad idea…"

"Great, then you could go get that, and me and Cordy can look at some more baby stuff," Buffy smiled and Cordelia immediately ran off to get the baby magazines she'd recently bought. After all, this was just another chance to shop and decorate and provide for her future goddaughter (well, Buffy and Angel probably hadn't decided that yet, but Cordelia wasn't going to let that stop her).

"Fine," Angel sighed dramatically. "I'll go. All by myself…" his eyes landed on Fred and he had an idea. "Fred, wanna get some ice cream?" he asked, knowing that she hadn't left the hotel in a while.

"I like ice cream," Fred replied with a bright smile.

Cordelia watched as Angel and Fred left the hotel. Buffy came over to stand beside her, and for a moment, they both watched as Fred became animated, talking nonstop. Angel would nod and smile, rarely replying, but simply listening.

"He's so good with her," Cordelia shook her head, a bemused smile on her face.

Buffy smiled fondly. "He knows how reach people," she replied knowingly. "You've just got to let him."

"Okay, so…" Gunn trailed off. "About this inventory…"

"You and Wes can handle it," Buffy decreed as she settled down on the couch with one of the baby magazines.

Gunn pouted. "Are you seriously gonna just sit there while we do all the work?"

Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "Yes, because reading labels and handing things to Wes is so difficult."

"Three-pronged Scythian death spear, category six. Weapons cabinet, third shelf," Wesley handed the spear to Gunn who took it and placed it in the weapon's cabinet.

"But this is so boring," Gunn whined as Wesley handed him a dagger. "Can't you get a vision already?" he asked Cordelia.

Cordelia snorted as she walked over to the couch to take a seat by Buffy. "Ah, gee, Gunn. As much as I would love to endure another soul-splitting, agonizing psychic invasion for your benefi—ow! Ow, ow!"

"Yes, yes!" Gunn said excitedly, rushing over to catch Cordelia, but the Seer soon steadied herself and cursed.

"No!" she shook her head. "Ow, Fred," she complained even though the physicist wasn't present. "I really wish she wouldn't leave her toys lying around!"

Cordelia's words brought a smile to Buffy's face. She knew she'd be saying those exact words someday, well except that the 'she' would be a 'he'. Buffy was positive that the baby was a boy.

"Best friends don't laugh at each other's pain," Cordelia glared as she sat down on the settee.

"I'm not laughing," Buffy shook her head, still smiling. "Here, what do you think of this one?" she asked, showing Cordelia a blue onesie with a horse on it.

"That's so cute!"

Looking for any excuse to escape from doing inventory, Gunn moved over to examine Fred's contraption. "Ooo, pretty wicked looking toy!"

"I'll say," Wesley said unable to completely hide the admiring amusement in his tone that caused Gunn to glance at him for a moment. Seeing Gunn's look, Wesley added clinically, "It almost looks like a spring-loaded decapitation device."

"Or it makes toast," Cordelia said as she flipped through another baby magazine.

"With her you never know," Buffy added with a fond smile.

"Ah, excuse me?" a man's voice asked, prompting Cordelia and Buffy to stand, while Wesley and Gunn moved to meet the newcomers. "Ah, is this Angel Investigations?"

"Yes," Wesley answered. "Can we help you?"

"I sure hope so," the man said, his thick Texas accent becoming more pronounced the longer he spoke. "I'm Roger and this is my wife, Trish." Roger motioned to the woman beside him, and Trish smiled at them kindly. "Ah, we're sorry to barge in on your…" he trailed off and looked at the opened weapons cabinet. "…arsenal here, but we really need to talk to you."

"Of course" Wesley replied. "Let's step into my office," he said as he took a step back and gestured towards his office.

Roger and Trish hurried past the weapons cabinet and entered Wesley's office. Wesley followed them in and Gunn, Buffy, and Cordelia all followed in after. "I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, and these are my associates: Buffy Summers, Cordelia Chase, and Charles Gunn."

After a round of shaking hands, Wesley got down to business. "What can we do for you?" he asked as Roger and Trish took seats in front of his desk, prompting Wesley to sit in his own chair.

"It's our daughter," Trish explained. "She's missing."

"Oh, no." Cordelia frowned. "Kidnapped by evil friends?"

"We're not sure."

Wesley nodded absently as he scribbled down notes. "I see. Was your daughter involved in any type of demon worship?"

"Of course not!" Roger denied adamantly.

"It could be a vampire," Buffy suggested calmly though she sent Roger and Trish a sympathetic look.

"Hard luck tracking one of those in this big city," Gunn said causing Buffy to send a glare his way. He hastened to add, "But we're detectives. We can find anyone."

"We already hired a detective," Roger told them.

"And he couldn't find her," Wesley assumed, but Roger shook his head.

"He said she was staying here in your hotel."

"Her name is Winifred Burkle," Trish enlightened them. "We call her Fred."

Buffy, Cordelia, Gunn, and Wesley all managed to share a look that didn't convey the amount of shock they all felt.

"Fred's your daughter?" Buffy asked dumbfounded.

"Yes. You know her?" Trish asked eagerly.

"Is she here? Is she here?" Roger asked quickly as he looked around like he expected Fred to pop up out of nowhere.

"She's fine," Buffy was quick to assure them. After all, if her baby was missing she would want to know that he was safe first and foremost.

"…and out at the moment," Wesley added slightly hesitant. "With one of our associates."

"Who?" Roger asked as his eyes narrowed slightly. Who was out with his baby girl?

"Angel," Buffy told Roger, trying to assure him. "He's my…" she trailed off unsurely. Baby's Daddy? Yes. Soul mate? Yes. Love of her life. Yes. "Husband," she decided. Wait, where had that come from?

"Who is not an evil fiend," Cordelia added immediately. "Or a vampire—because they don't exist…in case you're familiar with our LA gumshoe detective slang…"

"But what happened to her?" Roger questioned earnestly. "It's been five years," he continued on as sadness tinged his tone. "Has she been with y'all the whole time?"

"No," Wesley shook his head. "Actually, we've, uh, only known Fred for a few months. You see we found her in…"

Wesley trailed off, fighting a wide-eyed panicked look. What did they tell them?

"Uh, a fit of depression," Cordelia finished Wesley's thought with the first explanation that came to her mind.

"Fred was depressed?" Trish repeated worriedly. "Over what?"

Cordelia's mind went blank. However, before she was able to fumble through an excuse, Wesley spoke up.

"She had recently relocated and was…having trouble adjusting," he euphemized. "So, how did you come to find her again?"

"Oh, about a month ago we got a letter in the mail," Trish told them matter of fact.

"But she didn't leave a return address," Roger added with a frown. "In fact, she said she was fine and that we shouldn't bother looking for her, but…"

"Five years of not knowing whether your daughter was alive or…" Trish couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. "Well, how could we just let that go?"

"So you hired a private eye," Buffy surmised, and Roger nodded.

"And he tracked her through an un-addressed envelope?" Gunn asked raising an eyebrow. "We could do that."

"Wait until you guys hear what happened at Haagen Dazs!" Angel came into the hotel excitedly, holding a severed head that was dripping green blood. "Ordinarily these things don't put up much of a fight, but this one?" Angel chuckled, shaking his head disbelievingly. "Hoo! I think I'm gonna have it…" he trailed off when he entered Wesley's office and realized that there was a middle aged couple sitting in the chairs in front of Wesley's desk. "…mounted," he finished lamely. "Hello."

"Angel," Cordelia smiled nervously. "You're—you're alone. And—and you brought a…"

"Prop!" Buffy interrupted as she got up and went to Angel's side and unthinkingly took his hand (the one that wasn't holding the severed head). "From your movie," she continued looking up at Angel pointedly.

"This is Angel," Buffy told the Burkles. "Angel makes monster movies," she added, trying to explain the presence of the severed head. Buffy looked back up at Angel. "Angel, honey, these are Fred's very normal parents."

"Ah." Angel tried to hide the head behind his back. "Fred has parents…" he smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Ah, son?" Roger nodded towards the severed head that Angel had tried, apparently unsuccessfully, to hide behind his back. "Your prop is dripping."

Angel looked down and saw the green blood that had pooled on the floor. "Oh, yeah," he laughed nervously. "This?" he questioned as he swung the head up in the air, causing the Burkles to lean back in their seats. "Fake," he assured them. "You know…a little glue, paper mache…"

Angel chuckled again and tossed the head out into the lobby without looking. All of them heard a crash that was the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. "…possibly some lead."

Buffy glared at Angel, who flashed his most charming smile. He hoped he hadn't broken anything that might send her into a hormonal rage. "So, Fred's parents," he tried to redirect everyone's attention. "We've heard so…much…" Angel trailed off as he realized that Fred had never once mentioned her parents. "Well, um, sure is nice to meet you folks."

"Do you know when Fred will be back?" Roger asked pointedly, his patience wearing thin now that he knew his daughter was near.

Angel looked at Buffy, Gunn, Cordelia, and Wesley and all of them looked at him expectantly. Crap. "Oh, me. Well, yeah, ah, I sent her right back here—right before I picked up that…prop. So I'm sure she's…up in her room." The Burkles smiled at this news. "Right now."

"Okay, so Fred's gone AWOL." Buffy folded her arms over her chest. "This is not good."

"Really? I hadn't thought of that," Gunn jibed sarcastically, but then thought better of it when Buffy glared at him.

All of them had gone upstairs with the Burkles only to discover that Fred's room was spotless…and Fredless. The Burkles weren't too thrilled, and that had prompted the A.I. crew's little get together in Wesley's office.

Wesley began to theorize. "Fred must have returned when we were in here, seen her parents, and…"

"Took off," Angel finished with a nod. "That's not a good sign."

"They said she sent them a letter," Gunn remembered. "Can you picture Fred sneaking off to send a letter?"

"Pfft!" Cordelia scoffed lightly. "Sneaking off, right. Fred can barely tie her shoes without 'Mr. I'm your big, fat hero' around."

"You think I'm fat?" Angel deadpanned. "I am not fat."

"I'd hope not," Gunn snickered. "What with Buff tearing you away to go have—"

"Yes, Gunn, thank you," Buffy interrupted. "I'm tired, I'm moody, and one more word will send me into a hormonal rage, so zip it, 'kay?"

Gunn was silent.

"So," Angel fought a smirk. Buffy's anger was funny as long as it wasn't directed at him. "Any ideas?"

"Fred's been doing a lot better since she's been back," Buffy reminded them. "Especially since we found out about the baby…she's so excited."

"Yeah, so why would she just up and leave?" Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "Fred's not really the spur of the moment type."

"This could be ruse," Wesley suggested as he cast his eyes out warily into the hotel lobby like he expected to find the Burkles eavesdropping. "…to trick us into letting them get closer to her. The letter could just have been an excuse to make it seem as though Fred had initiated contact."

"On the other hand the letter could be real and she told them not to look for her," Angel sighed. "There's got to be a reason for that."

"Fred never talks about her family," Cordelia said thoughtfully.

"So, where do we start?" Angel wondered aloud, looking at all of them in turn.

They stared blankly at him.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Where would Fred go?"

"We could hit all the local taco stands," Gunn shrugged, but then frowned at the looks he was getting. "Joke! ...kind of…"

"Come on, guys, think!" Angel ordered. "What do we know about Fred?"

"Well, I knew about the tacos," Gunn said smugly, and Buffy's hand twitched with the urge to slap him upside the head.

"Alright," Angel said and as if he'd read Buffy's mind, he grabbed her hand and began to rub soothing circles with his thumb. "She seemed pretty comfortable in the sewers. They're dark, cave-like. She felt safe there. I'll head back down there; see if I can find her."

"I'll go with you," Buffy told him, and Angel opened his mouth to argue but Wesley interrupted, hoping to end the argument before it began.

"She worked at the Public Library," he offered. "There may be colleagues there that she trusted."

"What about them?" Cordelia asked as she snuck a glance out at the Burkles who were sitting on the settee in the lobby. "We just can't leave them here! What if Fred comes back?"

"Then I guess they'll just have to tag along," Buffy said and Wesley nodded in agreement before heading out of the office towards the Burkles.

"Mr. and Mrs. Burkle we're going to try a few places that Fred may have gone," he told them. "Would you like to come along?"

"Ah, all seven of us?" Roger asked dubiously. "Wouldn't it make sense to split up, cover more territory?"

"Perhaps," Gunn allowed after a beat.

"Well, I'm—" Angel glanced at Buffy who glared at him, so he amended. "We're going to check out some of my, uh, industry contacts. So it'll just be the five of you."

"Industry contacts?" Trish repeated wide-eyed. "Fred's not…she's not 'making movies'…is she?"

"Movies?" Angel repeated before it all clicked. Movies. "Oh, no, no, no…" he denied quickly. "Of course not. It's just some of these contacts they, they know some things sometimes. They're, ah, underground."

"Right, uh, shall we go?" Wesley suggested and the Burkles followed Gunn and Cordelia out the door. Wesley made to follow, but Angel reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Call me if…"

"Yeah," Wesley nodded before leaving.

The moment Wesley left, Buffy turned to look at Angel. "I'm going with you," she said definitively.

"Buffy—" Angel began, but Buffy shook her head.

"Look, I know that we agreed I wouldn't slay," Buffy said quietly, unable to help the cold shiver that ran down her spine as she thought of the terrible dream she'd had a few weeks ago. "But I'm not confined to this hotel. I want to look for Fred."

"But it's the sewers…" Angel hedged. "You know it's a demon's playground."

"Yeah, but you won't let anything happen to me, right?" Buffy asked pointedly.

Angel's eyes narrowed slightly. "No," he answered seriously as he took a step toward her. One hand reached up to caress her cheek, while the other came to rest on her stomach. "I won't."

Buffy smiled up at him gently. "So let's go."

And let the search for Fred begin!

Lots of love,

AC