"Cordelia, come in," Giles instructed as he flipped through Buffy's old case file. Yesterday, he had taken off work and spent the entire day with his wife, Buffy, and Liam, reconnecting and trying to figure out who had ripped Buffy away from her family. Buffy had given Giles a brief description of the man she nicknamed as "The Master" and the woman she saw briefly before her kidnapping. Right now, Giles was looking through the old case files to see if Buffy's descriptions matched any potential suspects.
"He's back," Cordelia said, gesturing for Giles to look out into the bullpen of the Department. Giles adjusted his glasses and watched as Angel greeted his fellow officers with a smile on his face, still unaware of Buffy's reappearance. "Should I bring him in here?"
"No. That's quite alright. He'll make his way back eventually," Giles assured. Angel finally seemed content. It had taken him years to regain happiness since Buffy's disappearance, but recently time had been good to him and he was slowly picking up the pieces of his life.
Cordelia nodded her head and left Giles' office as Angel headed straight towards his superior. Giles sat there waiting patiently. "I'm back," Angel grinned at his Captain.
"Indeed you are," Giles replied, offering Angel a seat across from him. Angel gladly accepted. "How was your birthday trip?"
"Great! We did some sightseeing and relaxed on the beach," Angel answered as he continued to wear the grin on his face. Unlike a few years ago, Angel had much to be happy for. "Anything happen here?"
Giles knew this was to come. It was better he told Angel about the recent events before he found out from someone else. "Actually, yes. You see...a cold case of ours recently had a major break in the case," Giles explained, trying to ease Angel into the information.
Angel cocked his head and looked over at Giles' desk briefly. The file on his desk must have been the old cold case, Angel surmised. Out of curiosity, he snatched the case file off of the desk before his Captain could stop him. His pursuits came to a halt as he read the file. "Why do you have Buffy's old case file out?" Angel asked.
"Because Buffy's been found - more like escaped," Giles clarified.
Angel slammed the case file back on Giles desk. "How long?" Angel asked in a furious whisper as he tried to remain calm.
Giles went to clean his glasses as he found himself in an awkward situation. Maybe he should have called sooner. "Yesterday."
Angel could no longer mask his anger. He should have been called immediately. "Yesterday?! And you didn't bother to call? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I told Cordelia not intrude."
"Not to intrude?!" Angel ran his fingers through his hair trying to collect his emotions, but it was no use. "Do you realize who we are talking about? Buffy was my everything! She was my fiancée! I deserved to know as soon as she was found. I worked on that case for years until the Department shut it down!" Angel's yells gained the attention of the other officers in the Department. They hadn't seen Angel this livid in years.
"Because the Department made no progress!" Giles yelled back. He knew Angel had every right to feel angry, but that didn't excuse his behavior directed towards his superior. "We had no leads. There was little evidence left at the crime scene and no one had seen anything peculiar." Giles paused and took a deep breath. "Look, I recognize my mistake by not calling you, but I wanted Buffy to get settled before you arrived. Especially with everything that has happened since her disappearance."
Begrudgingly, Angel had to admit Giles was right, but it wasn't fair to Buffy to continue to keep her in the dark. He had to see her. "Where is she?"
"Sunnydale General."
Angel did not hesitate in his next moments. He stood from his chair and slammed Giles' office door shut as he stormed out of the building to see Buffy.
"Are you sure there's nothing you two want to eat?" Joyce asked. She had stayed in the hospital with Buffy and Liam since the previous day. Due to the circumstances, the hospital allowed Joyce to stay past visiting hours.
"We're fine," Buffy reassured her. Since her mother's arrival, she had been trying to shove food down her and Liam's throats. It's not that she wasn't grateful for her mother's attentiveness, it was just too much.
"Okay," Joyce relented before leaving the mother and son. "Buffy, while I'm gone, please consider my invitation."
"I'll think about it," Buffy answered. Her mom had suggested that her and Liam should move back home with her and Giles, but as a twenty-eight year old woman with a son, she felt it odd to be living with her parents. She had a home before her abduction, surely Angel had kept it.
"How long do I have to wear this cast?" Liam asked, gaining his mother's attention. The cast was itchy and uncomfortable; he wanted it off as soon as possible.
Buffy gently brushed her fingers through Liam's hair as she cradled him in the hospital bed. "A few months," Buffy said whilst kissing his forehead.
"Ugh!" He complained. Liam flipped to his side and buried his head into his pillow. Buffy laughed at her son's antics and proceeded to tickle him to cheer Liam up.
Loud noises coming from the hall distracted Buffy from her attempts. "I'll be right back," Buffy assured as she left the room and headed towards the commotion.
"Sir, please stand back," a nurse said trying to reason with the tall man in front of her. Buffy couldn't make out who the man was or why he was in such a hurry.
"You don't understand," the man began to argue. He looked passed the nurse and was met with familiar green eyes staring straight at him.
"Angel?" Buffy asked. She stood breathless. Buffy dreamt of this exact moment, but had a hard time believing it. She pinched herself to make sure this was no dream. It was indeed no dream.
"Buffy," Angel breathed. He ran towards Buffy and scooped off the floor. Once in his arms, he twirled her around in celebration before setting her down and lovingly kissing her forehead. "I can't believe you're here. I've missed you so much."
"I missed you too," Buffy admitted, still entangled in Angel's hold. As much as she wanted to remain frozen in time, there was someone equally as excited to see Angel. "Why don't you come into the room? There's someone I would like you to meet." Angel had been hesitant at first. He really wanted to talk to Buffy, but she seemed so excited that he melted into her request. Angel followed Buffy into the hospital room and saw a little boy on the bed. "Angel, this is Liam. Your son."
The boy couldn't be any older than five, Angel surmised. He could have questioned the paternity, but taking another look at the child in the hospital, Angel realized that was his son. They shared many of the same features. Plus it wasn't impossible that Buffy would have gotten pregnant around that time. They weren't exactly careful every time. They were young and in love and often caught up in the moment. "So you were pregnant when you..." Angel could not bare to finish his sentence. The thought that she was abducted while with child had hurt his heart. He had no clue what either Buffy or their son had to deal with.
"I was going to tell you on your birthday, but things got in the way," Buffy alluded. She wished that day had gone differently. They were supposed to celebrate Angel's birthday and the announcement of their new baby. Instead Buffy was knocked out and locked in a storage unit while Angel dealt with police.
At Angel's silence, Buffy decided to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed Angel and slowly led him to Liam's bedside. Buffy watched as the wheels started to turn in her son's head. "Liam, this is your daddy," Buffy introduced.
"Hi," Liam greeted with a toothy smile. He waved his broken arm in the air to acknowledge Angel's presence.
"Hey," Angel smiled. He couldn't believe that was his son before him. Liam was the perfect combination of him and Buffy. "What happened to your arm?"
"Mommy broke it," Liam said.
Angel eyed Buffy quizzically. He knew, even with six years apart, that Buffy would never harm a child, especially theirs. "We had to jump over a fence, I lost my footing and landed on it," Buffy clarified.
"You sure went through a lot," Angel said. He still was unsure how Buffy escaped or where she had been taken, but was willing to get to the bottom of this. Angel was determined to get justice for his son and Buffy.
"Well, I had to get out," Buffy shrugged.
"Yeah, six years," Angel commented, still trying to wrap the concept of his newly found fatherhood.
"But now I'm back - we're back - and I just can't wait for things to get back to normal," Buffy said as she placed a chaste kiss on Angel's lips. She wondered for a moment why he didn't reciprocate but shrugged it off. Buffy unclasped her necklace and slid her engagement ring off to put it back on her hand as it rightfully belonged. "I missed this."
"Buffy-" Angel began, trying to distance himself from her. This was not going to end well.
"Angel! There you are," a blonde exclaimed bursting into the room. Buffy jumped away from Angel at the sudden intrusion. "Giles, told me what happened and I came as soon as I heard."
"Excuse me," Buffy interrupted. "But who are you?"
The woman looked at Angel's begging eyes and she suddenly understood the situation. "I'm so sorry. I should go. Angel, I'll be waiting out side," the woman said excusing herself.
"Angel, who was that?" Buffy asked, silently praying that it wasn't one of the horrible situations she had cooked up in her mind.
Angel took a deep breath. He had to just rip the information off, like a band-aid. "That was Kate, my fiancée."