Looking at her best friend sitting dejectedly at the Bronze, her head pillowed on her arms on one of the high tables, Willow couldn't help but feel sympathetic worry.  "Buffy, it's all going to be okay," she reassured, doing her best to offer comfort.

The Slayer didn't look up.  "Giles and my mother think I'm a whore," she said succinctly.

"They do not, Buffy!" Willow admonished.  "You told them what the Initiative did.  They understand why it happened and they know it's not your fault."

"Yeah," her friend answered, finally looking up with a small laugh, "not my fault, but I am the one who's pregnant."

"Well, yes," the witch admitted, "there is that."

"But the Initiative is really responsible, right?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Buffy and Willow said in unison.

"And they're shut down for the summer which means we have to wait until fall to beat them all to bloody pulps," he said with a devious smile.

"I don't know about bloody pulps," Buffy mourned.  "I'm already starting to show.  By the time school starts again I'm going to be a whale.  I don't know if I'll be able to see my feet, let alone beat anything up."

"Well," Xander said, brightening, "it's not like we have to wait until fall to beat something up.  I'm all for finding the guy who got Buffy in this mess and goin' to town on him."

"Why?" Buffy asked dryly, "it's not like he raped me, Xander.  Remember, Buffy The Big Whore over here."

"Please!  If you were actually as doped out of your mind as you say, how could he take advantage of you like that?  It wasn't right.  I say we find him."

"Xander," Buffy pled.  "It may have been questionable behavior, but not illegal.  I was consenting.  Try saying no to a determined Slayer, not pretty.  Besides, I wouldn't even know where to look.  I have no idea who he was."

"So," Anya chimed in, "your child won't have a father?"

Buffy looked at Willow and Xander uncomfortably.  "Well, no."

"But if you could find him," Anya persisted, "would you?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, confused.

"What I mean is that if you were as demanding as you say, and he had to go along with it for fear of bodily harm, would you expect him to be responsible for the baby?  I'm all for punishing men who have wronged women, but it sounds like this guy was pretty innocent. It's not like you two were in a relationship or anything?"

"I don't know?" Buffy answered honestly.

"Shouldn't a decision to have a child be consensual?  If he wasn't given a chance to consent, then why would you expect him to act like a father?  Who knows if this guy even wanted kids.  You've taken the choice away from him.  You would be forcing him into something."

"Anya!" Willow and Xander said in unison.  Buffy just sat there, staring sadly into her drink.

*****
Angel found her swinging listlessly in the deserted park.  Her head was drooped and she looked miserable.  Without a word he scooped her up into his protective embrace, carrying her back to her house.  She didn't say a word the entire walk home, laying unresponsively against his chest.

Armed with her house key, Angel opened the door and quickly ascended the stairs to her room.  Joyce was out of town for the weekend and he had anticipated taking every advantage of that fact.  Studying Buffy's somber countenance, he wondered if he'd be taking advantage of anything.

"Love?" he finally queried after laying her on the bed and changing her out of her patrol gear and into her "comfy clothes".

Responding to him for the first time that evening, she gently urged him down on the bed next to her so they were laying on their sides, face to face.

"Do you want this?" she asked timidly.

"Want what?  To be here this weekend?" he asked, confused.

"No," she clarified, sighing in frustration.  "*This*, all of this.  Me, the baby, everything."

Angel had no idea what had happened to set her off, but it was obviously something serious.  Holding her tightly against his body, but never breaking eye contact with her, he quietly said,.  "Yes, you know I want this."

Buffy closed her eyes, trying to voice her concerns more thoroughly.  "I know we never discussed this, it just sort of got *dumped* on you, without a choice.  I don't want you to feel ... obligated to me," she said lamely.

"Obligated?" he asked in shock.  "You don't think I should feel *obligated* to the mother of my only child?  That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!  Of course I'm obligated to you, you're giving me the most precious gift in the world.  Do you really want me to just throw that in your face like some idiot boy incapable of appreciating the wonder of creation?  I'm not a boy, Buffy.  I can handle the responsibility."

“Angel,” Buffy started gently only to be ignored completely.

“Obligated,” he muttered.  “You’re just going to go through being pregnant, morning sickness, stretch marks, weight gain, swollen feet, back pain, breast feeding, dirty diapers, toilet training, driver’s ed and I’m not supposed to feel like I owe you anything?”

Buffy smiled at his vehemence when he finally stopped.  He met her smile with a grouchy expression.

"I wasn't insinuating that I thought you weren't ready," she clarified, trying to pacify his rising temper.  "I only want to make sure that you don't feel trapped."

He softened and smiled down at her, kissing her tenderly on the tip of her nose.  "You can trap me anytime you want, Summers," he said with a wink.  "I promise not to gnaw off any body parts to get away from you."

"Good," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, "I'm rather fond of your body parts."

*****
By the time school started again in early September, Buffy was feeling the effects of her pregnancy.  At just over five months along, her protruding belly announced to the world that she would soon be a mother.

She managed to get through an entire day of classes without running into Riley, but as she was heading across the quad to meet Willow, she heard him call her name.

"Buffy," he said panting as he jogged up to her.

As she turned to face him, his gaze instantly fell on what Angel lovingly referred to as her "Buddha belly".

"Wow," was all he could say.

"Yeah," she said mockingly, "wow."

"Uh... I guess you must have a new guy in your life," Riley finally spat out.  Of course he'd known about her pregnancy, but he was still unprepared for the physical evidence of it.

"Why do you say that?" Buffy asked, completely deadpan.

"Well ... uh ... you," he blustered, "last time I heard it took two people for that to happen."

Buffy tried not to smile.  She really didn't mean to torture him, but she wasn't about to 'fess up to her relationship with Angel to a member of the Initiative.

"I really," she started, then changed her mind and stopped, "I don't have time right now.  I'm supposed to meet Willow."

"Sure," Riley said in a good natured tone, "I don't mean to hold you up.  Maybe we could go for an ice cream cone and pickles sometime."  He didn't want to prolong the awkward conversation any more than he had to, but it was still his mission to discover the child's paternity.

"Okay, yeah, sometime," Buffy said vaguely.

"Thursday night?" Riley asked hopefully.

Buffy wanted to get away, and figured saying yes was the best way to get rid of him. "Sure, Thursday.  I'll call you."

*****
"So the Slayer doesn't know who the father is?" Walsh asked as she debriefed Riley after his outing with Buffy.

"According to her it was just some guy she met in a bar, and that tidbit of information took me hours to get."

"After escaping our troops she must have found someone."

"That's my guess," Riley concurred.  "She seemed pretty ashamed about the whole thing, kept saying she didn't know what got into her."

"That would make sense," Walsh agreed.

"She doesn't know who this guy is, how are we supposed to find him?" Riley asked his superior.

"I don't suppose we can, Agent Finn," Walsh answered.  "We'll just have to go on the assumption that he was your average able bodied human male."

Riley sighed in relief, maybe he could quit having such a vested interest in Buffy's sex life.  It was creeping him out.  She was going to be someone's mother, he felt like he should be more respectful.

*****
Gently, Angel helped Buffy lay down on the sofa in his new suite at the Hyperion.  His employees were off celebrating the holiday with their friends and families.  Buffy had come to town the previous evening and after a short stop by her father's house, she'd spent the rest of her time with Angel.  For someone who didn't eat, he was a pretty good cook.

"That was so much better than last Thanksgiving," Buffy said, rubbing her full stomach, and wincing slightly as the baby gave a sharp kick.

Noticing her discomfort, Angel quickly asked, "Are you all right?"

She smiled, nodding sleepily.  "Fine.  Just junior here kicking me in my very stuffed stomach."

Angel smiled, kneeling next to the couch, rubbing his mate's stomach tenderly.  The baby was awake and very active.  At times like this, he couldn't wait to be a father.  "You sure it's going to be another month?" he asked.

"You've read the same books I have and talked to the same doctors.  They all say thirty-six to forty weeks and you know that puts us anywhere between the second week of December and the first week of January.  I may look like I'm about to explode, but we've still got a little while."

"We probably need to pick out a name," he noted.

Buffy frowned, they'd been trying to decide for weeks.  They were completely unable to reach a consensus.  The process was only made more difficult by the fact that they decided to let the baby's gender be a surprise, so they needed two names.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she said, "I have an idea."

Looking at her expectantly, Angel asked, "What?"

"I say we let Willow choose."

Angel thought about it for a moment.  Out of all their friends, Willow was definitely the only one he would consider trusting with this responsibility.

"Okay," he finally agreed.

"You're serious?"

"Yes.  Weren't you?"

"Yeah, I just never thought you'd go for it."

******
"Hi Buffy," Willow said cheerily into the phone.  "Happy Thanksgiving to you too, although you know I don't celebrate the holiday."

As Xander and Anya stared, Willow's normally pale skin blanched even whiter.  "You want *me* to name the baby?" she squeaked into the receiver.

"This is such a *huge* responsibility!" she exclaimed, talking a mile a minute.  "What if I mess up?  I could scar this child for life.  I could pick the wrong name and he or she will get beat up on the playground.  I don't think I can do this."

As Buffy obviously did her best to calm Willow, the witch sunk into an oversized chair.  After she hung up the phone, she looked at her guests.

"Buffy wants *me* to name the baby."

*****
Buffy laid out on the relatively new king size bed in Angel's room. He'd bought it after discovering Buffy was pregnant, deciding they would need the extra space.  He talked Buffy into coming to L.A. as often as possible so they could be together.

When he'd first found out Buffy was pregnant, he'd thought they could juggle their two lives, but some part of him knew that once his child was born he wouldn't be able to be separated from either of them, even for a day.  He hadn't said anything to Buffy yet, but he'd decided that once the baby arrived they would have to work out a way for them to live together, either in L.A. or Sunnydale.

Turning onto his side, he looked at his mate's nude body as she lounged unashamedly in the fluffy covers.  When her pregnancy first became apparent, Buffy had been terrified Angel would be disgusted by her quickly distorting body.  As it turned out, she had no worries.  While he was undeniably hyper-aware of the changes in her, he wasn't turned off by it, just the opposite.  Her swelling belly and breasts only seemed to turn him on more.  He was always watching her with this enraptured and hungry expression on his face.  Armed with that type of positive feedback, she was often unclothed when they were alone together. She enjoyed the freedom from binding material and the appreciative glances from her mate.

"I thought this vacation would never get here," Buffy said, enjoying just being near her mate.

"Me too," Angel seconded, incredibly thankful none of his employees had stuck around to keep him company.

"Are you ... wanting to go to sleep?" he asked meekly, hoping she wasn't.

Buffy giggled.  "Why?  What do you have in mind?"

Smiling wolfishly, he quickly rose from the bed, shedding his clothes.  Despite their new level of intimacy, Buffy couldn't help but suck in her breath sharply at the sight of his nude, pale, *very* aroused form. She still found it hard to believe her swollen body had such an affect on him.

Acting on autopilot, she rolled over onto her knees and elbows, resting her head on the bed as she spread her legs in blatant invitation.  Angel knew she was ready for him and he hadn't even touched her.  As her pregnancy progressed she became more and more responsive to him.  A well timed glance, a gentle touch, and her panties were soaked with her need for his flesh against hers.

Kneeling between her spread thighs, he gently nudged the head of his cock against her dripping opening.  He wanted to tease her, to make her beg, but he knew from experience that it was not wise to make a hormonally unbalanced Slayer wait.  As carefully as he could, he thrust into her welcoming flesh, hissing as her heat engulfed him.  He did not sheath himself to the root, too afraid of jostling the child she carried.

Leaning forward, he blanketed her searing hot back with his cool chest, placing gentle nips along her shoulders and neck as he thrust shallowly in her decadently wet channel.  When she began to whimper, he reached one hand around her protruding belly and gently but firmly stroked her sensitive clit.  Now she hissed, clamping down her vaginal muscles tightly on him as she thrust against both his hand and his cock.

"Please, Baby," she whined, arching her neck against his lips in invitation. He didn't know why she liked this so much, but it was undeniable that she took great pleasure in it.  Bending his head down, he lapped wetly at the raised skin of his scar on her neck.  He never took much, it was the mere act of biting her, claiming her that held the pleasure for both of them.

As he felt her near her peak, he vamped out, fangs gently breaking through the skin on her neck.  She screamed loudly in release, pushing back powerfully against him until he was completely sheathed, her vaginal muscles milking him spasmodically.

Angel groaned loudly as he reached his own climax, sheer force of will the only thing keeping him from pounding into her welcoming flesh as hard as physically possible.  As they both calmed, they sunk onto the bed.  Angel carefully wrapped his mate in the warm comforter, pressing himself against her back as she fell asleep.  He didn't want to miss a moment of their precious  time together.  All too soon his love would have to go back to her life in Sunnydale, leaving him  with an empty bed and loneliness.

****
Angel was distracted, in a hurry to reach Buffy's house.  Joyce was gone for the evening and he really wanted to spend time with his mate, this would probably be the last chance they got before the baby was born.  Buffy was due in a week or two.

He was so busy trying to figure out how best to tell Buffy of his plans for them to be together, forever this time, that he didn't hear the soldiers until it was too late.

****
"You're *sure* you haven't heard from him?" Buffy asked Wesley for the tenth time, trying desperately not to break into tears again.

Angel was missing.

He was supposed to be at her house no later than nine and he just hadn't shown.  It wasn't his style, especially with the baby's due date so close.  She knew something terrible had happened to him.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Wesley lied, trying to reassure the nearly hysterical Slayer.  "We'll find him.  Don't worry."

Seconds after he hung up the phone, Wesley heard a loud thump.  Faith came hurtling over the counter, fumbling for Cordelia's painkillers.

"Angel's in trouble.  We've got to get to Sunnydale," the brunette Slayer said frantically.

****
"Most interesting specimen," Walsh almost purred, "Hostile 85 is so much more ... resilient than the others."

Riley gave a sharp nod of agreement.  This particular vamp was quickly redefining most of their long held "knowledge" of his species.  They theorized he was much older than the other HST's they'd captured, but they couldn't prove anything.  There was nothing about him that would allow them to date him with any degree of accuracy.

His teeth were perfect, no signs of any dental work at all.  He didn't have any noteworthy scars that would help them out - not even a smallpox vaccine scar - which could mean a multitude of things.  Possibly he was turned before smallpox vaccines were available, but then again, maybe he slipped through the cracks and didn't get one.  The tattoo on his shoulder blade and his jewelry leaned towards the Celtic, but whether he was actually from Ireland or whether he had been an Anglophile American was indeterminate.  His clothing was of no help, all of it was modern.  A lot of the vamps they brought in were helplessly stuck in the time period they died in, no such luck with this one.  To top it all off, he wasn't speaking.

Vampires on the whole were legends in their own minds.  They loved to stroke their own egos.  This one - not a peep.  Not only was he not bragging about his conquests, he wasn't speaking at all.  A battery of physical tests showed that there was no injuries that would impair his ability to speak, he just didn't seem to want to.

Exceedingly odd.

Setting him apart from every other specimen to ever pass through the Initiative was his indifference.  They couldn't goad him.  He didn't respond to taunts, physical pain or hunger.  He simply ignored his captors with a grace more akin to a Buddhist monk than the walking dead.

Maggie Walsh carefully studied the dark haired vampire.  He was sitting in the middle of his cell in the lotus position with his eyes closed.  He was barefoot and barechested, clothed in only a pair of black slacks.

"Is he meditating?" she asked rather incredulously.

"It would appear that way, Ma'am," Riley responded.

"How long have we had him?" she asked, leafing through his chart.

"Eight days."

"And he hasn't responded to any of our ... techniques?"

"Not one."

Listening intently, Angel's expression remained completely neutral. Part of him wanted to smirk very badly.  They were bumbling novices. Dru's lovetaps were far more vicious than any of their "physical threshold tests".  If need be, he could wait them out indefinitely, but he was quickly tiring of captivity.

He didn't have the luxury of showing them just who they were dealing with.  He needed to be outside, he needed to be taking care of Buffy. With him incarcerated, and her semi-immobile state, she would be easy prey for a multitude of predators.

At this point, he couldn't do anything besides wait.  Eventually they would become complacent with his passive resistance and they would let their guard down - and he would escape.  He wasn't sure how.  The only time they ever opened his cell was to run tests on him.  They were therefore very attuned to his movements at those times.  The room he was in was ringed with cells, most of them filled to overcrowding with a wide variety of demons.  He was the only creature to be housed by himself.

"Agent Finn, I believe it is time we take another approach," Walsh said, a smile curling the edges of her mouth.

"Ma'am?"

"You'll see," she said cryptically, taking Hostile 85's chart with her as she left the room.

******
"Buffy, you need to rest," Giles pled.

Looking at him with bloodshot eyes, Buffy did not respond.  She didn't need to, he knew she wasn't going to sleep.

Taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose, Giles continued, "You aren't going to do Angel any good if you put your health and the health of your child in jeopardy."  When she ignored him again, he added, "Do you really think he would want this?"

The Watcher immediately regretted his too harsh comment when his Slayer buried her face in her hands, and surrendered to a wave of violent sobs.

"Oh Buffy, I'm so sorry ... I didn't mean to," he said, wrapping his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

She latched onto him desperately, squeezing a bit too hard, but he didn't complain.  "Giles, I'm so scared.  You saw what they did to Spike.  I *know* they're hurting him," she choked between sobs.

"Buffy, we can't even be certain that the Initiative is responsible."

Pulling back so she could look in his eyes, Buffy frowned.  "You know they're behind this!  Cordy saw him being attacked by soldiers in her vision."

Giles looked away sheepishly.  He'd been trying to make her feel better, But The truth was he knew as well as she did that the Initiative was behind Angel's disappearance.  He knew that Buffy still cared for her former boyfriend, but he was attributing the strength of her distress to hormones.  As far as he knew, Buffy and Angel hadn't even spoken in over a year.

"The others are coming back this evening.  Hopefully with Faith and Spike both here this time, we can find some answers," the Watcher said.

Buffy nodded sadly.  Due to Wolfram & Hart's machinations, it had been impossible to get more than one or two of the L.A. bunch to Sunnydale at a time since Angel's disappearance.  With a bit of luck, Angel Investigations, together with the Scooby gang, would be able to come up with some answers.  And a little extra supernatural muscle around never hurt.

*****
Angel didn't fight them as they pulled him roughly from his cell and strapped him face down on a gurney.  This would undoubtedly lead to another round of decidedly boring torture.  He was shocked, however, when they didn't wheel him into the adjoining room they'd previously used for their "experiments".  Instead, they left him in the center of the room, right where they'd strapped him down.

He knew without turning his head, the moment that Walsh entered the room.  A loud outburst of profanity and growls from the creatures in the other cells always accompanied her arrival.  Only centuries of practiced self control kept him from flinching as she swabbed the back of his neck with a cold alcohol laden cloth.  What was going on?  He felt an intense burning sensation as Walsh injected something into his spinal column. Angel shuddered involuntarily as the large needle scraped his vertebrae.

"Well, well," she said smugly, "we finally get a response of some kind."

Angel lay still again, unwilling to rise to the bait.  Walsh sighed loudly in disappointment.

"So far you've been unresponsive to everything we've tried, so now we're going to experiment with drugs.  It should be interesting to see how long you can remain impassive while under the influence."

*****
"B, this isn't a good idea," Faith almost whined as she watched her sister Slayer struggle to pull a jacket around her distended stomach.

"I'm going," Buffy responded firmly.

Spike shook his head.  They were heading to campus to try and sneak into Initiative headquarters.  Buffy's presence would not help, in fact it would probably hinder them severely.  She had a lot of trouble moving with the extra weight pregnancy had brought, and her exhaustion only made it worse.

"Slayer, you aren't going to improve the situation by getting yourself caught too," Spike said bluntly.

"I'm not asking for your permission!" she spat at him.

"You damn well should be!" he shot back.  "I don't know how you think you're going to be able to help.  Angel hasn't even spoken to you in a year.  Why are you so hell bent on risking your life for the prick?"

Scowling, Buffy didn't answer.  Ignoring the room full of protests, she stomped out the door.

******
As his back slammed into the cold tiled wall, Angelus came fully awake. Reaching a hand up, he cautiously felt around the puncture wound on the back of his neck.  He didn't know what the bitch had given him, but he might just give her a quick death as a reward for setting him free.

Angel had been content to sit here and play possum for a week.  Pussy. He was going to find a way out tonight.  Time was too short to spend it locked in a cage, especially when his mate was looking for him.  He could feel her calling to him.

******
Struggling to keep up with her sister Slayer and Spike, Buffy finally realized that maybe she shouldn't be doing this.  She was beyond tired, not to mention severely winded from the short, brisk walk.  If they ran into any real trouble, she would only be a liability.  She wanted to weep with frustration.  Angel was in the Initiative compound somewhere, probably being tortured, and she was absolutely unable to help him. Buffy stopped, waiting for her companions to realize her absence.  When they did, they turned, and began walking back to her.

"Problem, Princess?" Spike sneered.

Swallowing, Buffy said, "You should probably go on without me."

"You just figured this out now?" Spike yelled in frustration, earning himself a sharp cuff to the ear from Faith.

"We'll walk you back, B," Faith said quietly.

"No," Buffy replied guiltily.  "It's okay, I can make it home from here.  Just find him. Hurry."

Faith nodded and then quickly turned, dragging Spike behind her as she sprinted for campus.

*****

"Any change with Hostile 85?" Walsh asked Riley as he entered her office.

"Yes," he said, much to her surprise.

Walsh looked up, raising her eyebrows.  "How is he?"

"Severely agitated," Riley replied.

Walsh's brow furrowed.  "Agitated?  The drugs should have calmed him down, relaxed him.  What do you mean agitated?"

"He's pacing his cell like a caged tiger, fangs and all."

******

Buffy was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn't even hear the vamp approach.  He'd knocked her to the ground and managed to sink his teeth into the side of her neck before what was happening even registered.  She struggled against him, but he had her pinned securely. As she began to lose consciousness from blood loss, she heard people approaching.

She was dimly aware of someone ripping the creature off of her as her world went black.

*******
Walsh stood several feet in front of the cell that held the agitated vampire.  He was staring at her through the glass, his body perfectly rigid, not even blinking.  She couldn't figure out why Doximall should have had such an effect on him.  All previous research stated that it should have a similar effect on vamps as it did on humans.  It should have mellowed his demeanor, especially considering the amount and purity of the drug she had administered.  Maybe she shouldn't have been so cavalier about the injection, it could take a day or two for the compound to work itself out of his system, less if he fed, but she didn't intend for that to happen.

He was definitely not mellow.

She turned her head abruptly as Graham entered the room holding a struggling garden variety vampire he'd obviously captured on a recent sweep.  "Where should I put him?" he asked Walsh, surveying the rows of overcrowded cells.

"Put him in with this one," Walsh responded, pointing towards the cell that held Angelus.

Graham responded without comment, quickly thrusting the HST into the cell that held Walsh's newest pet.  The dark vampire didn't respond to his cellmate ... at first.

Angelus debated about trying to make a break for it when they opened the cell to throw the idiot fledgling in with him, but decided it would be too risky.  The odds of getting away weren't good and anything he did would simply tip his hand.  He had no intention of letting them know what exactly he was capable of until it was absolutely necessary.  He took a deep breath as he continued to stare at the blonde bitch in the lab coat.

An involuntary possessive growl erupted from his throat as the scent of blood hit him.

Walsh jumped, startled by the menacing sound coming from Hostile 85. She watched as he spun in the cell, staring down at the HST crumpled in the corner.  The creature whimpered in fear, trying to crawl farther into the corner as Angelus approached.  He was a fledgling, but he knew enough to recognize and fear his elders.  He could feel the power and rage pouring off of the Master's form.

"Agent Miller," Walsh asked, not taking her eyes off of the holding cell, "where did you find this HST?"

"Campus, Ma'am.  He was attacking a woman."

"Where is she now?" Walsh prompted.

"We brought her in.  It was Subject 19, Ma'am," Graham said, then stared in stunned silence as Angelus approached his prey.

"You. Fed. On. Her." Angelus hissed through his fangs.

The fledgling looked up, confusion clear in his features.  It occurred to Angelus that the idiot was probably so young he didn't have any idea what he'd done.  Just some random victim.  He didn't know he'd just attacked and fed from a Slayer - and one that was marked as well.  Such a trespass would *not* be forgiven.

"Is she alive?" he growled, his eyes glowing a vibrant yellow.

The fledgling looked at him in bewilderment.  "Master?" he asked, helplessly trying to placate the enraged vampire above him.

Angelus brought his foot down swiftly, the force of the blow pulverizing the bones in the fledgling's ankle.  "Answer me!" he spat.  "Is she still alive?"

The fledgling screamed in pain, unable to answer the question.  "She who, Master?  I don't know what you're talking about."

"The girl.  The one you fed on, you idiot.  The Slayer!  My mate!"

"Y-Y-Yes," he stuttered out, "she's still alive.  They brought her in with me."

Angelus grabbed him off the floor, pulling him up until they were nose to nose.  "She is marked," he hissed.  "She is mine."  He didn't wait to see if the fledgling offered groveling apologies, he simply sank his fangs into the flesh of his throat, draining him until the body burst into ash.  The little shit had taken a considerable amount of blood from Buffy, it was still strong.  Angelus had to find her.

Walsh watched in fascinated horror at the events playing out before her.  The previously impassive Hostile 85 was turning out to be even more intriguing than she'd originally dared to hope.  Without a word, she left the room, pointedly ignoring Angelus' hawklike stare.

******

Buffy was still unconscious, but she would recover well enough.  The transfusion of blood had been administered immediately and she could wake up at any time.  Carefully, Walsh examined her neck, her touch lingering on the raised flesh of the scar.

"Marked," Walsh mused.

"Ma'am?" Riley asked, uncertain about what his commanding officer was doing.

He studied Buffy carefully.  She looked awful, her pallor was still pronounced despite the transfusion and there were several huge bruises visible where she had been attacked.  He looked on in confusion as Walsh studied the opposite side of her neck.

"Hostile 85 just killed the HST that attacked Miss Summers.  Before draining him dry, he told the creature that she was the Slayer, and that she was his."

Riley's mouth gaped.  Buffy "belonged" to that creature.  "Do you believe him?" Riley finally managed to spit out.

"I would not have been inclined to, no, but this scar seems to be proof enough."

Riley looked at the scar.  He'd asked Buffy about it when they'd been dating, she'd been very reluctant to discuss it.  She'd given him some lame excuse about an "angry puppy".  He hadn't believed her, he'd insisted it was a vamp bite but she refused to divulge anymore information.

Staring in disbelief, Riley watched as Walsh carefully restrained Buffy's limbs.  When she was secure, Walsh reached for a large syringe. He had to turn away as the professor took a sample of amniotic fluid from the unconscious Slayer.

"What are you doing?" Riley finally asked.

"Just ruling out a few possibilities."

******
Buffy woke slowly, her head pounding and her entire body achy.  The first thing she noticed was Riley sitting in a nearby chair, watching her carefully.   Trying to sit up, she quickly discovered she was in restraints.  She didn't have the energy or the impetus to try and free herself.

"What are you going to do with me?" she asked, unable to look at him.

"I don't know what Walsh has planned," he admitted, sounding rather ashamed.

"Am I all right?" she asked, terrified of the answer.

"As far as I know, yes.  We had to give you a transfusion, you were attacked by a HST.  We did a sonogram and your baby seems to be fine."

Buffy sighed in relief.  Her baby was all right.  She could worry about getting out of here later.

******
Walsh studied the results in disbelief.

How could this be possible?  She'd only run the test on a hunch, almost convinced it would be fruitless.

******
Riley stood as Walsh entered the small room Buffy was being kept in.  He was hoping she would release the Slayer, but he doubted that was a possibility.

"Is there anything you would like to share with us, Miss Summers?" Walsh asked, smiling with fake cheer.

"Like what?" Buffy snarked at her.

"Like how exactly the father of your unborn child is a vampire."

Buffy snorted.  She'd been waiting for this.  She knew they had Angel, no doubt they'd run batteries of tests on him.  She was sure they'd done the same to her while she'd been unconscious.  Riley had admitted to the sonogram, but she knew they'd done more.

"What?" Riley screeched, when Buffy didn't deny the accusation.

"Miss Summers," Walsh prompted.

Glaring at her, Buffy said in the most biting tone of voice she could muster, "I'm sure you *never* get laid, Professor Walsh, but I really doubt you're so naive you don't know *how* I got pregnant."

Riley was trying to make sense of the conversation and the implications it hinted at.  "So you were involved with him *before*, right?"

"Before what?" Buffy asked.

"Before he was a vampire," Riley said, exasperated.

Walsh stared at the boy.  He could be so dense sometimes.  "Do you honestly think that creature has been a vampire for less than nine months?" Walsh asked him.

Riley seemed to consider this and reached a conclusion he wasn't happy with.  Exhaling a heavy sigh, he sat back down in the chair.

"Is he all right?" Buffy asked, not meeting Walsh's gaze.  She didn't want to appear weak in front of the professor, but she was so terrified for Angel.

"He's very angry.  He killed the HST that attacked you and is presently trying to claw his way out of the holding cell to get to you," Walsh said calmly.

Buffy didn't appear shocked by the revelation.  Walsh had been sure the lonely young girl had been seduced by the nefarious creature in the holding cell, possibly under what was sometimes referred to as "thrall".  But, judging by her reactions, Buffy didn't appear to be under any outside influences, and she wasn't shocked by Walsh's revelations.  That in itself led somewhere unexpected, a Slayer involved with a vampire.

"How long have you been with him?" Walsh asked.

Glaring at her once again, Buffy spat, "That's none of your goddamn business."

The outburst only served to amuse Walsh.  "I think you should cooperate if you want any chance of getting out of this, Miss Summers.  How long have you been involved with him physically?"

"Four years."

Walsh could almost hear Riley's jaw hit the floor, but he didn't say anything.

"And has he been a vampire as long as you have known him?" Walsh continued.

"He was a vampire before this country was founded," Buffy said without inflection.

Walsh raised an eyebrow.  No wonder he passed their tests with flying colors.  He was centuries older than any subject they had ever studied before.

"You have continued this relationship willingly?" Walsh asked.

"Yes."

"The scar on your neck is from him?"

"Yes."

"He has fed from you?"

"Yes."

"He knows the child you carry is his?"

Buffy stared at Walsh for a long moment before answering, "Of course he knows."

Walsh narrowed her eyes at the duplicitous young woman.  "Have *you* always known that the child was his?"

"Yes."

"So your explanation for the baby's father to Agent Finn was a lie?"

"Yes."

"How could you be so certain the child was his?"

Buffy looked at the older woman, seething with irritation.  "He is the only man I've ever been intimate with."

"He's not a man."

Buffy smiled, "So you say."

******

Riley was still in shock.  Buffy was pregnant by that ... that ... thing.  It wasn't a *man*, it was an animal, a creature of the night that subsisted on blood.  How could she?  And she didn't even have the decency to be ashamed.  She hadn't wanted to talk to Walsh about it, not because she regretted her actions, but because thought it was none of Walsh's business.

He looked at the creature pacing in the holding cell again.  His demonic visage was still plainly visible, exactly as it had been since Walsh had administered the Doximall.  Buffy had *sex* with that thing.  The idea made Riley's skin crawl.

****

"How do you know he's not going to hurt her?" Riley asked.

"I don't," Walsh replied blandly.

"But you're willing to risk it?  To risk the life of her child?"

"Agent Finn, we aren't going to get an opportunity like this again, we have to take advantage of it."

"But I thought this baby was the whole point of this exercise.  If he hurts her and the child we'll lose everything."

"We'll make sure he doesn't cause her any harm, Agent Finn."

Riley was getting more disgusted by the minute.  Walsh wanted to observe the interaction between Buffy and that animal.  She wanted to find out just what kind of relationship they had.  Riley doubted it would be pretty.  On numerous occasions he'd observed male vampires with their supplicant bitches.  The relationships were often vicious and brutal. He had no desire to see the very pregnant Slayer knocked around by her vampire lover.  She was in no condition to defend herself.

"How can you be so sure?"  Riley asked.

"I can't, but since I'm in charge, not you, we're going to do this.."

"We have years of research that points to the stupidity of this experiment.  Vampires are not reasonable creatures, they're beasts."

"We'll see, Agent Finn," Walsh said, curtly dismissing him.

*******

Angelus watched as they brought Buffy into the room, he pressed himself against the glass of his cell, growling loudly.  She looked horrible, bruised and weary, barely able to stand.  Someone was going to die for this.

"Back away from the cell door," Walsh commanded.

Angelus stared at her in disbelief.  They were going to put Buffy in with him?  He'd assumed they would torture her while he watched or something equally sadistic.  These people had a lot to learn about how to break wills.  Slowly he backed away from the glass.

"Against the far wall," the bitch commanded again.  "Turn around and put your forehead against the tile."

He did as she ordered, his senses going into overload the second they shoved Buffy into the cell with him.  Twisting, he caught her before she collapsed to the floor.  She started crying violently, rubbing her face against the smooth planes of his bare chest.  He held her tenderly, slowly sinking to the floor with her in his lap, his arms wrapped around her protectively.  He made low shooshing noises to her as he rocked her gently against his body.

Both Walsh and Riley watched in awe as the demon's ridged facial features disappeared, replaced by his human countenance.  He stroked her hair lovingly, peppering tiny kisses over her face until she calmed.

The captors quietly left the room to monitor the situation from the video system.  They wouldn't have audio, but their departure would encourage the subjects to interact more naturally.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice still thick from crying.

He smiled, "I'm fine, Lover.  Are you okay?"

Buffy nodded her assent, smiling as he put his palm against her protruding belly.  "Is the baby okay?" he asked anxiously.

Buffy nodded again, resting her head against his shoulder as she watched his hand caress her large stomach.  "They gave you something, didn't they?" she asked quietly.

Angelus looked at her intently.  "Why do you say that?"

"I'm not whacked out on meds this time," she said.  "I *can* tell the difference between you two, ya know."

He stiffened slightly.  She knew it was him and not Angel.  In bewilderment, he watched her place her little hand over his where it rested on her belly.

"Why are *you* worried about the baby?" she asked in a tiny, confused voice.

"Because it's mine," he answered brashly.

She narrowed her gaze at him.  "It's Angel's," she corrected.

"Mine," he said flatly.

She huffed at him, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I was the one who had sex with you."

Briefly sticking out her tongue, she replied, "Angel and I had sex too."

He frowned, and then shot back with, "Well, I was first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and *sixth*."

"So?  Angel was seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth -"

He cut her off, asking, "Can you prove it's his and not mine?"

Buffy didn't answer.

"There you go.  It's mine," he said with finality.

She sighed in exasperation.  "Why do you even *want* a baby?  You're a vampire."

"Because," he explained very seriously, "you are my mate and if you're having a little bastard it better damn well be *mine*."

She flinched and then smacked the back of her hand against his chest. "Don't say that!"

"Say what?"

"Don't call the baby a bastard."

He smiled at her obvious discomfort.  "You don't have anything to worry about.  I didn't mean it the way you took it."

Buffy frowned at his strange response.  She was indeed aware that her child would be considered illegitimate, but in this day and age what did it really matter.  She just hated the term "bastard", it implied some level of sordidness she just didn't believe existed between Angel and herself.

When her frown didn't dissipate, Angelus asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied tersely, not looking at him.  She didn't move away from him physically but he could feel her withdraw.

"What's wrong?" he asked again, this time more forcefully.

She looked up at him, chewing on her bottom lip.  "Nothing ... I just ... I mean I understand if he doesn't ... " she trailed off.

Angelus was getting more confused by the second.  "If who doesn't what?"

"If Angel doesn't want to marry me," she blurted out before she lost the nerve.

He stared at her incredulously.  "What *are* you talking about?"

"About the baby being a bastard," she replied quietly.  "I mean I didn't expect Angel to marry me just because we're having a kid.  Lots of people have kids without being married."

His look of utter disbelief didn't leave.  After a few long moments he seemed to come back to himself.  Reaching down he grabbed her tiny hand and held it up.

"Do you have any idea what this means?"  he asked, pointing to her ring.

"Sure," she said, "it's a Claddagh.  It means my heart belongs to someone."

"It's a wedding ring," he said forcefully.  "You and the pansy have been married since your seventeenth birthday.  This baby is *not* a bastard."

Buffy blinked a few times, her gaze flickering between the ring and his face.  He wasn't kidding, she could feel how serious he was about this. Married.  She was married, and had been for years.

"Why didn't he tell me?" she spat out.

"Because he's a total fucking spineless moron," Angelus answered honestly.

Buffy glared at him.  She was rather upset with his alter ego at the moment, but she didn't need Angelus berating him.

"How long before the drugs wear off?" she asked.

"Why?  You wanna do something?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow seductively at her.

"Sure," she replied caustically.  "You have no idea how absolutely sexy I'm feeling right now."

She gasped as he bent his head to root for a nipple through the fabric of her shirt and bra.  Grabbing his head, she pushed him away forcefully.  "I was *kidding*!"

As she glared at him, she realized he was laughing at her.  "I know," he replied.

As she yawned, he laid down completely on the floor, pulling her against his side, allowing her to pillow her head on his chest.  "Sleep, Little One," he ordered, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

*****
"Not exactly a text book example," Walsh noted, watching the couple sleep.  They had shifted as they slumbered and hulking male was curled tightly around the little Slayer's back, spooning her, protecting her.

"Is this what you were expecting?" Riley ventured cautiously.

"I'm not sure if I was expecting it," she mused, "but I'm not shocked. I wouldn't believe someone of Miss Summer's strength of character to be involved in an abusive relationship with a domineering male."

Riley shook his head, he supposed she was right.  Buffy had too much fire to bend to anyone's will to the extent that most vampiric relationships demanded.

*****
"Are you sure about this?" Giles asked for the hundredth time.

"Christ in a can!" Spike said in a strangled whisper.  "Either move your pinched British ass or stay here.  This is the only chance we're going to get."

Giles scowled, but kept his lip buttoned as they crept through the bushes as soundlessly as ten people could manage, or rather nine people and one grouchy vampire.  They were hoping for strength in numbers. Spike had managed to locate the cooling vent he'd escaped through and they were gunning for a sneak attack.

*****

Spike whistled quietly as he watched Red and the cheerleader hack their way through the Initiative security systems.  Who would have thought someone with a body like Cordelia's could have half a brain?  He'd gotten them into the ventilation tunnels, but they needed to find out where Angel was being held - and if Buffy was here as well.

"We're in!" Willow said in an excited whisper.

Faith rolled her eyes, trying not to pace.  She hated just waiting around for someone to catch them, much preferring to take the offensive in any situation.  Spike grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her against his chest.

"Just wait a bit longer, Pet.  We'll get to knock a few heads," he purred into her ear.

"You know, G man," Xander noted, "do you think maybe you've failed somewhere in your Watcherly duties?"

Giles shot a nasty look at the boy.  "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Both of the Slayers you've been in charge of are currently, or have at one time been, shacked up  with the undead.  Do you see any problems with this?"

Giles shook his head and leaned over Willow's shoulder again to watch her progress through the Initiative's files.  He wasn't going to respond to Xander's inane comments, no matter how much truth they held.

"Found 'em!" Willow said, clapping silently.  "They're being held ... in the same cell.  Wonder why."  As she continued to read through the notes in the file, she quit breathing.  "Oh no."

"What?" the tunnel's nine other occupants asked in unison.

"The notes are *very* detailed, so I'm just scanning," she explained, "but if I'm reading this right, Walsh couldn't break Angel physically so she resorted to other methods."

"Bloody humans have *no* idea.  That kinky fucker will take everything they can dish out and beg them to hurt him just a little bit more," Spike said, garnering open mouthed stares from the rest of the group.

"Ah, yes, Spike, thank you very much.  Now I'll spend the rest of my natural life trying to forget that comment," Giles noted dryly.  "Now back to Willow's 'oh no'."

The gang slowly turned their attention back to Willow and she turned to Wesley and asked, "What was the name of the drug that the crazy actress slipped Angel that let Angelus out?"

"Doximall, I believe," the former Watcher replied.

"I was afraid of that.  It says here in the notes that Walsh was trying to elicit any type of response from Angel so she gave him a significant injection of Doximall."

"When was this?" Wesley asked, starting to panic.

"Yesterday morning, a little over thirty-six hours ago," Willow said.

"And the dosage?" Wesley continued.

"It was *very* high.  It would have killed a human.  As it is, it will take quite a while to work out of his system.  The notes say it will dissipate more quickly if he feeds, but Walsh wouldn't let him.  But then it also says that he killed a young vampire by draining him, so maybe ... "

Wesley took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose in a manner very reminiscent of Giles.  "So maybe," he continued Willow's line of thought, "the drug will be wearing off soon, but odds are that Buffy is currently locked in a holding cell, probably injured, with Angelus."

"Yeah," Willow confirmed quietly.

"Damn," Giles said, rising to pace in the confined space.

Reading off the directions to the holding cell Buffy and Angelus were being held in, Willow told the others to go ahead without her.  She had just gotten into a few large databases, and they couldn't afford to let this opportunity pass them by.

*****
Walsh was studying the quiet couple in the cell.  Buffy was sitting on the vampire's lap, enfolded in his embrace as they talked rapidly in hushed tones.  Both of their hands were folded over her belly protectively.

Hearing the door open, Walsh turned to address Riley and stopped.  Riley was standing in the middle of the room, but a young brunette girl held his pistol to the back of his head.  Instinctively, Walsh ran for the intercom.

"Don't bother," Giles said calmly.  "communications are currently down.  No one knows we're here."

"Highly unlikely," Walsh spat at the Brit. She never had liked him.

"On the contrary," Giles continued a bit smugly, "you're very short staffed right now.  We have subdued your sentinels and the rest of your troops aren't scheduled to report for another five hours.  We'll be long gone by then."

Willow came running into the room.  "We've got all of their files," she said panting from exertion.

As Faith, Spike, and Gunn tied up Walsh and Riley, Willow ran to the glass front of the holding cell.

"Buffy, are you okay?" the witch asked frantically.

Buffy whimpered in pain, pressing her face against Angelus's chest as she squeezed his hand tightly.

"You hurt her, you bastard," Willow screamed at the vampire.

"No I didn't, but you might want to hurry up and get us out of here," Angelus said calmly.  "She's in labor."

Willow gasped and then yelled at Spike to find the passkey for the holding cell.  Spike quickly found the passkey on Walsh and handed it to Willow.

"How are we going to get her out without letting him out?" Willow asked Spike.

"You aren't," Angelus informed them both.

"Giles!" Willow yelled.

As the Watcher made his way over and discerned what was going on, he asked the vampire, "What do you want?"

"Her," Angelus stated calmly, his face belying nothing.

Hit with another powerful contraction, the Slayer's face contorted in agony.  "Angel?" she whimpered quietly.

"Buffy," Giles said, "that's not Angel, it's Angelus."

She looked at him, through the glass his concern palpable.  "I *know* who it is," she said forcefully.  "Let us out."

Giles stared at her in disbelief.  "Are you out of your mind?  He's a killer."

"I don't *care*," Buffy screamed, trying not to let her terror take over.  "I am *not* having our baby alone!"

Giles looked at his Slayer in shock.  "What do you mean 'our' baby, Buffy?"

"It's mine," Angelus stated calmly.  "That's why she didn't want to tell you."

Reluctantly, Giles tore his gaze from the agonized Slayer.  "Are you going to hurt her?" the Watcher asked seriously.

"No."

It didn't seem the vampire was inclined to plead his case any further. He wasn't going to offer reassurances, he'd said what he had to say. "Fine," Giles said in an exasperated tone, "let them both out."

Willow eyed the Watcher suspiciously, but dutifully opened the door. Angelus was out of the holding cell, carrying Buffy in his arms, before any of them could blink.  Walsh and Riley had been watching the series of exchanges intently from their vantage points tied to chairs against the
far wall.

When it was apparent they were all leaving, Walsh spoke directly to Angelus.  "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he hissed at his former captor.

"Protecting her.  She's your mortal enemy."

"She is my *wife*," he said, his voice deathly cold.  "If you ever come near her or my child again, I will make you rue the day you were born."

*****
"I bet right about now Dead Boy's wishing he'd just stayed out cold," Xander mused, trying to get comfortable in one of those notorious waiting room chairs.

"I would say that's a safe bet," Cordelia replied.

On their way to get Buffy to the hospital, Angelus had briefly passed out as the drugs left his system, and Angel regained control.  The brooding vampire had shrugged off all notions that he should rest, insisting that he be by his mate's side.  They all wondered if he was rethinking that decision as Buffy entered her tenth hour of labor.

"I still can't believe Buffy never told us," Willow said, obviously hurt.

"They didn't mean to hurt you," Wesley explained, "they kept it a secret in hopes that the Initiative would be less inclined to hurt Buffy."

"That worked out well," Xander added sarcastically.

"That may be," Wesley said, "but they had the best interests of their child at heart.  I don't think anyone can blame them."

"Easy for you to say," Cordelia said loudly.  "You knew the whole time, you little turncoat."

"Well, even though she lied, I feel happy for Buffy," Willow said.  "It has to be a much more promising scenario to have a child with your soul mate than with some guy you picked up in a bar."

*****
The gang all looked up as Joyce entered the waiting room, smiling broadly.  "Willow, I hope you picked out a little boy's name," she said happily.
*****

Entering the hospital room, Willow saw that Buffy was deep in sleep.  A short distance away, stretched out on a small sofa, Angel was holding his tiny son against his chest as the sleeping infant tightly clasped his hand around his father's large finger.

"Wow," Willow said, kneeling beside the couch to look at the baby. Gently she placed her hand on his head, rubbing his mop of dark hair.

"He's pretty amazing," Angel said in awe.

"Yeah he is," she agreed happily.

"So do you have a name for him yet?" Angel asked.

"No," Willow said.  "I had a few options picked out, but that's before I knew you were the daddy.  Once I found that out, I had to start all over again."

"Oh," Angel said guiltily.

"Angel?" Willow began.

"Yeah?"

"What was your name when you were human?"

"Liam," he answered still gazing adoringly at his son.

"What would you think about him being named after you?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered, "I never really thought about it.  I would kind of like him to have a name all his own."

"Yeah, but you don't use it anymore," she pondered.

"I suppose so," he said.

"How about Liam Rupert Summers?"

"Liam Rupert Summers, I like that," he said, watching his son yawn in his sleep.

"Another thing," she said, "it's a good thing you guys 'fessed up before he was born."

"Why?"

"Because he looks just like you.  We all would have known anyway."

Angel smiled.

~*~END~*~

After that, I need FEEDBACK