Part Forty-Three

A resonant crash of thunder awoke Buffy in the middle of the night. She'd never been a fan of thunderstorms, and she wanted to lay in the protection of Angel's arms. But a bolt of lightning showed that she was alone in the bed. Casting her eyes around the room, she found no sign of him.

She sat up. "Angel?" she called.

No answer. Climbing out of bed, Buffy wrapped the red comforter around her shoulders, shielding her from the coolness of the air conditioned apartment. She walked out of his bedroom, seeing a single light shining in the living room. Buffy found Angel sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing up?" she asked.

Angel raised his head. "The light didn't wake you, did it?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, the thunder did. How come you're not in bed?"

"I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Buffy sat on the floor next to him, still wrapped in the comforter.

He shrugged. "Everything. You and me especially."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Nodding, Angel ran a hand through his toussled brown hair, still somewhat messy from sleeping. "I woke up a little while ago and saw you sleeping. You had this amazing smile on your face, and some part of me knew I was the one who put it there. Then I got to thinking that I'm so lucky to have you, but I don't feel like I deserve you," he explained.

"Why would you think that, Angel?"

"Buffy, you've given me so much; much more than I should have been given."

"Like what?"

"Letting me be a part of your life, giving me your love…your virginity…"

"And you gave me all those things, too," she reminded him.

Angel inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I just don't feel worthy of anything you've given me."

"Hey," Buffy said, making him look her in the eye. "If I didn't think you were worthy, I wouldn't have let any of it happen."

"That's what makes me so lucky. When I was in high school, I never thought I'd meet someone who'd love me; who I could love without reservation. Girls didn't look twice at me, I was just some geek they passed in the hall."

"I can't picture you as a geek."

"I wasn't exactly the star quarterback of the football team. At best, I weighed one hundred pounds soaking wet, had really bad hair and acne. My nose was always buried in a book, I was a teacher's pet and the butt of everyone's jokes. I'd been very shy; I didn't even go out on my first date until college, and you were the first - the only - girl I've ever kissed. My self-esteem was never very high, and I still wonder why you fell in love with me."

Buffy saw him shivering in the cold. She put part of the comforter around his shoulders to warm him. "I can't explain why I love you; there's not one single reason I can pinpoint and say that's why. It's a combination of everything. The way you know what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling and how you comfort me when I feel down. The way you smile when I come into the room, the way you touch me…the way you love me."

"Would you have loved the loser I was ten years ago?" Angel wanted to know. "The walking bag of bones with hardly a friend who cared? The eighteen year old with a horrible complexion and really bad hair?"

"I don't know that version of you. I do know the smart, loving, handsome Angel sitting next to me. And I love him more than life itself. Could you have loved the girl I was before I moved to Sunnydale? A self- centered snob who cared more about looks than what was on the inside?"

"You changed into a kind and caring young woman."

"And you changed, too, Angel. Maybe we had to be those people so we could fall in love with each other."

Angel pulled her into his arms. "If all those people who knew us then could see us now. I can't wait for my high school reunion."

"Do I get to come?"

"Are you free October 17th?" he asked with a smile.

"I'll check my calendar."

He laughed at her joke. "Thank you, Buffy. For believing in me."

"I always will."

She kissed him, pushing him onto the floor with her. It grew to be more passionate, more intimate with each passing second. Angel stopped them. "Why did you stop?" Buffy asked.

"Because you deserve to be made love to in a bed, now on a living room floor."

"It doesn't matter where, as long as it's with you. We could do it in the back seat of your car and it would be perfect because I was with you," she said to him.

Filled with a renewed sense of self-esteem and love for the young woman beneath him, Angel gave in and made love to her on the carpet of his living room.

********

Late Monday morning, Angel walked through the front door of the art gallery. Even though it was closed for inventory, the door was unlocked. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his black trousers, Angel made his way down the hall to Joyce Summers' office.

"Excuse me, sir, but we're closed," a man told Angel as he passed.

"I'm here to see Joyce Summers. Is she in?" he asked.

"Are you the representative from the San Diego art museum?"

Angel shook his head. "No, I'm here on personal business."

"Oh, okay. Her office is the last one on the right," the man directed before walking away.

The door to her office was shut, so Angel knocked. "Come in," called Mrs. Summers. She smiled when her daughter's boyfriend entered. "Angel, this is a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the honor?"

"Hi, Joyce. I actually stopped by to ask you a question."

She pointed to the chair next to hers. "Please, sit down."

Angel did so. In taking a seat, he noticed that Mrs. Summers kept a framed photo of himself and Buffy, taken at the Prom, sitting on her desk. It brought a smile to his face. "How are you doing?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

"I'm doing well. This inventory is making my life a nightmare, but otherwise, everything's fine. And yourself?"

"Truthfully, I feel nervous."

Mrs. Summers narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why is that?"

"Because I'm about to do something I've never done before." Angel took a deep breath. "Joyce, I love Buffy. No, more than that - I'm in love with her. Nobody's ever made me feel the way she does. Important, special, and most of all, loved. It's an honor that she feels as deeply for me as I do her. She's given me so much that I never thought I'd experience.

"When I was in England for those four weeks, Buffy was all I could think of. Being apart from her was more than I could bear sometimes. There would be days when I'd want to say to hell with it all and get back to Sunnydale as fast as I could. But then I'd think about how disappointed she'd be in me, and I'd go on. That thought got me through that entire month. I didn't want to disappoint her; I want to be the man she believes I am, a man who deserves her love." He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. "I found this in London; it called out to me. I'd like to give it to Buffy at Christmas."

Mrs. Summers opened the box, staring in awe at the contents. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Before I give Buffy this ring, I'd like your permission…your blessing."

"I wouldn't be completely honest if I told you I wasn't concerned at how quickly this has come about."

"Joyce," Angel started, "I realize we've only known each other for four months, but I feel like I've know Buffy forever. She's everything I have ever wanted, ever dreamed about. We love each other, and I don't want to be separated from her again. This ring means that nobody can keep us apart."

"Still…"

"It's not as if we'd be getting married the next day. I'm talking maybe two years from now. There's still so much we have to learn about each other. This engagement ring is more of a promise that whenever Buffy is ready, I'll marry her. And I want you to know that your daughter will not lack for anything in life. She'll be given everything, a house with a white picket fence, a family, and financial security for the rest of her life."

Mrs. Summers sighed heavily. "Christmas, you said?"

"Yes. Do you think it's too much? Something smaller?" he asked.

"She'll love it, I'm positive."

Angel's eyes glinted excitedly. "Does that mean I have your blessing?"

She nodded. "You never needed my blessing, Angel, you had it from the moment I saw how much you love my daughter. I just wanted to hear what you had to say now. I'd be proud to have you as a son-in-law."

"Thank you so much. It means a lot."

"Promise you'll take care of her."

Angel smiled. "I won't let anything happen to her. You have my word."

********

"Sire, when are we going to attack?" the vampire asked as they watched Buffy and Angel from the wooded thatch at the edge of the cemetery. "The Slayer is weak and vulnerable now, it's not like she'd be prepared."

His sire looked at the couple, engaged in a kiss. She couldn't make out the young man, but recognized the little blonde Slayer. "How many times do I have to tell you never to question me?"

"I apologize, ma'am. I thought -"

"That was your first mistake, Nathan, you had a thought. I need to study her; find a pattern. If I am to successfully eliminate her, I must get to know her. Where's the fun in killing the Slayer if she isn't expecting it? I want to see the fear in her eyes before I snap her neck."

She heard the conversation between the Slayer and her boyfriend. "We shouldn't do it here. Someone might see us," Angel said.

"It makes it kinky. The danger…"

"If you want danger, Buffy, we'll do something dangerous at my apartment."

Buffy playfully shoved him. "You are such a spoilsport, Angel Reilly."

The female vampire took an unnecessary breath. "Nathan, head back to the factory right away."

"But, sire-"

"Now!" she hissed. "Leave the Slayer and the young man to me."

He nodded his head once. "Yes, ma'am."

"It's been a long time, Angel. Too long," she said to herself as she watched the two lovers.

Part Forty-Four

"You look awfully happy," observed Cordelia when Buffy joined her and Willow for lunch the next afternoon.

Buffy grinned. "That's because I am."

Willow widened her eyes. "Did you finally hear from Angel?"

"Better than that. He's back."

"When?" Cordelia asked.

"Friday night. But I didn't see him until Saturday afternoon. It was so great, seeing him again, you have no idea. And we spent the whole weekend together," Buffy said to them.

"In bed, no doubt," remarked the brunette.

She glared at her friend. "Cordy, my relationship with Angel is about more than just sex. We spent time together, we talked, we caught up."

"How long before you two ended up in bed together? Five minutes? Ten at most?"

Buffy couldn't take Cordelia's rude comments any longer. "We're not you and Xander, so stop it right now." She stood up and walked away.

Willow shot a dark glance at Cordelia before following her best friend to the quad. "Buffy? Do you want to talk about it? I won't be as crass as she was. I'll listen, I want you to tell me."

The two took a seat under a tree. "Saturday afternoon, I was at home studying and the doorbell rang. It was Angel. He'd gotten back on Friday afternoon, but he never told me. Let me tell you, I was pissed at him. I demanded to know why I hadn't heard from him in a month. Willow, I thought he moved on, that he found someone else in England."

"No way, Buffy, you're the only think that's important to him. You know that. Didn't you say that he waited for you? That alone should tell you something," Willow comforted.

"I couldn't help it. But Angel told me what happened. The Council found out from Giles about us and sent Angel to England to keep him away from me."

Willow stared in shock. "So it was Giles after all?"

Buffy nodded her head. "Yep. Angel wasn't allowed to call or even write to me. Then they came up with the ingenious idea to have him fall for this girl in England. Although I get the impression that she was more of a woman than a girl. So when Angel passed his Watcher's tests, she seduced him. He told her no, told the Council to leave us alone or he'd quit. They said they'd leave us alone and he came back."

"Did you talk to Giles about what he did?" Willow wanted to know.

"I was going to, but Angel said he took care of it. Ever since Saturday, I've been avoiding Giles. Yesterday I was supposed to train with him, but I skipped it and trained with Angel instead."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He purposely separated me from the person I care about the most because he didn't approve. Forgiving him for that isn't something I think I can do. At least not right away."

"Let's get back to a happier topic. Did you and Angel…?" Willow let the question linger.

"Oh yeah. A lot. Once at my house on Saturday afternoon, twice at his apartment that night, on the floor Sunday morning, in the shower this morning and in my bed. We had to be careful the last time, though, because we broke my bed Saturday afternoon," Buffy admitted with a devilish grin.

"God, you two are turning into rabbits. You broke the bed?" she asked incredulously.

"On accident. Will, you wouldn't believe the things he does to me. I don't mean sex, I mean the way he makes me feel. Just when I think I can't - ugh, this is so embarrassing."

"What?"

The blonde blushed. "It is really embarrassing to admit, and I'd never tell anyone this but you. Not even my mother or Cordy. Every time he…gives me…an orgasm…I feel like I'm going to die. My entire body feels like it's going to explode. And then I'll be okay, but the next one is always so much better. Saturday at my house, he -"

Willow put up a hand to quiet her best friend. "I'm not ready for that frank of a talk yet. Because if you tell me what he did, I'm going to see him and all I'll be able to think about when I look at him is what he did to you. No thanks, I don't need those mental images."

Buffy laughed. "Fair enough."

"What are you two doing tonight?"

"Patrol. As usual."

********

"Are we attacking tonight, Sire?" questioned Nathan.

"Yes. But not to kill. When you hear my signal, you, Marcus, William and Kathryn keep the Slayer occupied. You are not to kill her, just keep her busy. And leave the young man with her alone."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "But he is her weakness."

"I know. But I want to say hi first. Is any of this unclear to you?" He shook his head. "Go round up the others. We leave at nine."

Precisely at nine o'clock, the five vampires left the factory in search of Buffy and Angel. After searching through four cemeteries, they found the couple. Hidden in the woods, the five vampires waited for the signal.

"Giles called today," Buffy said. "He wanted to know why I didn't show up for training yesterday. I told him that I found a partner who can keep up with me."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?"

Buffy shook her head. "It was my way of saying that I'm not letting him run my life. Giles can't control who I see, who I love. Maybe I should ask the Council if you can be my Watcher instead of Giles."

Watcher? Angel is a Watcher? the female vampire thought.

"I doubt they'd agree to that. Giles is your Watcher, nothing can change that unless the Council thinks it's in your best interests for him not to be. It wouldn't be fair to him to ask for a transfer," Angel reasoned.

"Who cares? Is what he did to us fair?"

"I didn't say it was. Buffy, he promised not to interfere and I believe him. Now let it go."

"But -"

Angel silenced her by pushing his lips against hers, plunging his tongue into her mouth. Unbeknownst to them, the leader gave her signal, and four vampires moved toward them. They growled, making their presence known.

"We've got company," Angel told her.

"They have the worst timing."

The four vampires descended upon Buffy, ignoring Angel. When he tried to help her fight them, Nathan pushed him away, forcing Angel on the ground ten feet away with the inertia of the push. Standing up again, he found his path blocked by the female vampire.

"Hello, my Angel," she greeted.

He stared in shock at the woman in front of him. "What the hell?"

She smiled. "Aren't you going to say hello to your mother?"

Part Forty-Five

Angel shook his head in disbelief. None of it could possibly be true. His mother, a vampire? "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Don't you recognize your own mother?"

"No, my mother died when I was six years old."

She tilted her head to one side. "True, I did die. But I rose again into eternity. I've spent more than twenty years looking for you, my Angel."

"Don't call me that."

"You are my Angel, from the moment I chose that as your name. Have you forgotten all the times I'd tuck you into bed and say, 'Good night, my little Angel'? And every time I asked you who you were, you'd say, 'I'm your Angel, Mommy.' I never forgot all those little moments. You were my precious little boy."

"I'm not your little boy." The vampire standing in front of him looked and sounded like the mother he remembered, but Angel still didn't believe it. Carolyn Reilly died when he was six. Or so Geoffrey told him.

She stepped closer to him, and Angel didn't back away. Reaching her hand up, she stroked his cheek. He was surprised by how cold the long-forgotten touch of his mother's hand was. "No, you aren't my little boy anymore. My baby boy's grown into a handsome man. The spitting image of your father, too. Well, before I killed him. You seem to take after him in more than just your good looks. Both of you have a penchant for under aged Slayers."

"Leave Buffy alone," he warned.

"She's taken my boy away from me. I don't like it when people steal what's mine."

"She never did anything to you."

Carolyn grinned. "But she did. Your girlfriend has been killing my minions. Not to mention, she stole you. That's not something I can just forgive."

"If you claim to be my mother, you'd let me be happy. She makes me happy."

Growling, she grabbed her son by the throat. "I am your mother, Angel. But I refuse to let my son take after his father. I'll see your Slayer dead before that happens."

He knocked her hand away. "She's never done anything to hurt you. If you remotely care about me, you'll leave this town and forget you ever found me."

"I'm your mother."

Angel disagreed. "No, my real mother died a long time ago. You're not her."

"Is that what Geoffrey told you? That I died?"

"He said you were killed by a demon."

"But he neglected to tell you that I came back. When I rose two days later, I looked for you. He'd taken you away already. I couldn't find you. For twenty-two years I searched for you. Then last night I found you, in a compromising position with the current Slayer, no less. My son the Watcher is sleeping with the Slayer. You've shamed me twice. I can't allow that."

"Go away."

She laughed as if he'd told the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "No. I came to Sunnydale to kill your Slayer and I'm not leaving until I do."

"Then you'll do it over my dead body," Angel said through gritted teeth.

Carolyn shrugged. "Not a problem. Now that I've found you, Angel, I'm not letting you go. When I kill your girlfriend, you'll join me in eternity. We'll rule together, mother and son, powerful and invincible. Or maybe I'll turn you first, then you can kill her. But she will pay dearly for taking you." With a pinch of his cheek, she left him. Clapping her hands, the two surviving vampires who had been fighting Buffy followed her.

Panting for air, Buffy ran over to a horrified Angel, who hadn't moved since Carolyn left his side. "Angel, are you okay? Did any of them hurt you?"

He shook his head. "Fine," he replied.

Buffy didn't believe him. "No, something's wrong. I can tell. Who was that?"

"You need to stay away from me, Buffy."

"Why?" she asked, bewildered. "What did I do?"

Angel pushed her out of his way. "Just go away. It's not safe for you to be around me." He started to leave.

Buffy chased after him. "Stop acting all cryptic-y. If I have to stay away from you, I want to know why. I at least deserve that much."

"You're not safe with me."

"Yes, I am. I only feel safe when I'm with you."

"No, I mean it. Go home."

She ran ahead of him, forcing him to stop. "You aren't going to pull that crap on me, Angel. Tell me the real reason."

"She'll kill you."

"Who's she?"

"My mother."

Buffy stared at him questioningly. "What are you talking about? She's dead."

He cast his eyes to the ground. "No she's not."

"That vampire talking to you was your mother? You told me she was dead."

"I thought she was. Geoffrey lied to me."

"Oh god, Angel. I'm so sorry. What can I do?"

"Leave me alone to deal with her."

"I'm not going to do that. I'm in this for the long haul, you're not getting rid of me that easily. I don't quit when things get rough. I fight back. We need to talk about this before you come up with more stupid ideas like me leaving you. Which isn't going to happen."

She clutched his hand as they walked back to his apartment. They constantly kept an eye out for Carolyn Reilly and her gang. The two didn't speak during the ten minute walk to his place. Every once in a while, Angel would glance over at her, amazed that she was there. 'I can't let anything happen to her. She's my life, and nobody's going to take that away from me.'

He embraced Buffy tightly when they closed the door behind them. "Do you really want me to stay away from you?" Buffy asked.

"I don't want to, but I have to. It's what's best for both of us."

"I can't stay away from you."

Angel looked her in the eye. "She's targeting you. My mother will kill you, then me. I can't put you in that kind of danger. I love you too much for that. This is what's best."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere; you're stuck with me. I'm in danger every day, I am used to it. But there's no way I will let anything happen to you. That's why I don't want you to patrol with me anymore, Angel."

"Buffy, you need someone out there with you. You can't do it alone. If you won't stay away from me, then I'm not letting you get hurt because of it."

"Giles can go, but not you. She's going to come after you first, I just know she will. My weakness, remember? If you stay in after dark, she can't get you. Then she won't go after me."

"She can still get you, Buffy."

"Stop it right now. Don't argue with me. I'm not leaving you, and I'm not letting you get hurt because you're too stubborn to let me protect you."

"I don't want your protection, Buffy."

She smiled at him. "Too bad, you've got it."

They sat down on the couch. "I don't get it," Angel said.

"What?"

"Why they lied to me. My entire life 'okay, most of it' I was told that my mother died at the hands of a demon. Now I come to find out that everyone I trust lied to me. Geoffrey, Giles, the Council, everyone. The only person who's ever been truthful with me is you."

"I wouldn't lie to you. But I think they did it to protect you. What would you have done if you'd known your mother was a vampire all that time?" she wanted to know.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I'll never know." Angel yawned.

"Tired?"

"A little. So much has happened, and my mind hasn't processed all of it yet. It's making me sleepy."

"Go to sleep, then," Buffy advised.

He looked at her with tear-filled brown eyes. "I didn't mean it. I want you to stay. Don't leave me, Buffy."

"Just rest your eyes for a bit. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

Angel nodded, then proceeded to rest his head on the armrest. Within minutes, he was sleeping like a baby. Buffy smiled down at him with sympathy. He'd had a hard life, growing up without a mother. Now finding out that she was a vampire might have broken him. After planting a soft kiss on his cheek, she reached for the phone.

"Hello?" Giles answered.

"It's me," Buffy told him.

"Buffy, where are you? At home?"

"No, Angel's. We got back from patrol a couple minutes ago. Guess who we ran into?"

He didn't have a clue. "Who?"

"Angel's mother, Carolyn Reilly. Care to explain why she's not dead like we thought she was?" she demanded to know.

"Good god. Is everything okay? Are you or Angel hurt?"

"No, we're fine. Why is she alive, Giles? Or better yet, why is she a vampire?"

"That's not a question you should be asking me, Buffy. Call Geoffrey Kensington, he can give you the answers."

"Is she the reason that it was dangerous for me and Angel to be together?"

Giles sighed. "Yes. We were only trying to protect the both of you."

"Do you have any idea how much Angel's hurting right now?"

"I'm sorry."

"You certainly have a lot to be sorry about lately, Giles. Lies hurt, and sometimes they hurt the ones you care about the most. Thanks for your help." Without saying goodbye, Buffy hung up.

She searched Angel's apartment for his address book. When she found it in one of his drawers, she dialed the number for Geoffrey Kensington in Los Angeles. He answered on the third ring.

"Is this Geoffrey?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Buffy Summers. I'm Angel's girlfriend."

"Buffy, how nice to hear your voice. It has been a long time. What can I do for you?"

She glanced at Angel, who slept soundly on the couch. "There's a big problem here in Sunnydale that only you can help us with. Her name is Carolyn Reilly and she's a vampire."

"Carolyn is in Sunnydale? Does Angel know?" Buffy could tell that he was frantic.

"Yeah, she stopped him while we were on patrol to say hi. I think you need to come and talk to Angel, he's really upset."

"I can be there in two hours."

"The door will be open, in case it's really late. See you then."

Part Forty-Six

It was twelve-thirty when Geoffrey arrived at Angel's apartment. He'd gotten a speeding ticket on the way there, but he still managed to make the trip in less than two hours. Buffy had told him that the door would be unlocked for him, although with the lateness of the hour, Geoffrey knocked lightly. When there was no answer after a minute, he let himself inside, hoping he wouldn't be interrupting anything important.

He found Buffy and Angel asleep on the couch. Smiling to himself, he thought about how striking a couple they made. Angel sat in an upright position with his head draped over the back of the couch while Buffy lay with her head on his lap. Deciding not to wake them, Geoffrey took a seat in the reclining chair nearby.

Five minutes after he'd arrived, Angel stirred. He was shocked to find Geoffrey in the living room watching them. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Buffy called me," Geoffrey answered. "She asked me to come and explain things to you. She said Carolyn's found you."

"Yeah, you could say that I'm more than a little confused and shocked about what happened tonight."

"It's understandable. Seeing your mother after so long must have been quite a shock."

Angel narrowed his eyes. "Especially when I thought she died twenty two years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't cut it, Geoffrey. I want, no I deserve an explanation."

"You certainly do."

"Then explain. Why did you lie to me for so long?"

Geoffrey walked through the park silently. He was worried, Carolyn should have returned hours ago from her patrol. She had promised Angel she'd be back before ten so she could tuck him into bed, but she never came home. It wasn't like her to break a promise to her son.

A vampire stepped directly into his path. Geoffrey clutched his stake, prepared to fight. "Hope you weren't looking for the Slayer," he said to the Watcher. "You won't find her here."

"What have you done with her?" Geoffrey asked.

"Nothing big. I just took a bite. Don't worry, you'll see her again in a few days. Then we'll come after you and that little boy of hers. I bet you two will be the first people she'll want to see," the vampire taunted.

Geoffrey's heart pounded in fear. "You turned her."

"Very good, Watcher. Now, I have a question for you. Should I kill you now or let the Slayer do it?"

"How about I kill you?" Geoffrey swung his leg out, catching the vampire off-guard and knocking him to the ground. Without a seconds hesitation, he plunged the stake into his unbeating heart.

"She'll kill you all," the vampire said as his last words.

He ran the rest of the way home. All the while, he could only think about what had happened to Carolyn. She'd been turned into something she despised: a vampire. 'Angel. I must get him out of San Francisco. She will come after him, I know it. Carolyn would want me to protect her son.'

At the house, Geoffrey barged into Angel's bedroom, waking up the sleeping six year old with the brightness of his bedroom light. He sat up in his bed, rubbing his fists against his eyes. "Jeffy? Why's the light on?"

"Get up, Angel. Get dressed," he ordered.

Angel only stared at him. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's not here, sport. Please hurry."

"I want my Mom! She didn't give me my goodnight kiss."

Geoffrey pulled a suitcase out of the closet and threw it on the bed. He haphazardly began putting clothes inside. Angel still hadn't moved. Not wanting to wait for the boy to climb out of bed, Geoffrey picked him up and placed him on the floor. "Can you put on some socks for me?"

Angel nodded. His mom had left him a pair sitting on his rocking chair for the next day. He put them on his bare feet. "Are we going to visit Mommy? Is she waiting for us?"

It almost brought tears to the Watcher's eyes. "No, Angel. Your Mommy isn't coming back."

"Why?"

He had to think of the right way to say it. "One of the bad guys took her away from us."

Angel's lower lip quivered. "She's gone?"

"I'm sorry, Angel."

"Oh." He didn't quite know what to make of all of it.

Geoffrey finished packing. "Do you want to take some of your animals?"

He nodded, picking up a stuffed turtle he'd gotten earlier that day as a birthday present. "Can I bring Bubba and Blinky, too?"

"Of course you can."

Angel grabbed the stuffed turtle, the teddy bear and his blue blanket. "I'm ready, Jeffy. Where are we going?"

"Away. Far away."

After packing some of his own belongings, Geoffrey grabbed Angel's hand and led him to the car. When he buckled the tired birthday boy into his seat, he took off to Los Angeles, never looking back.

"I did it to protect you. When your mother was turned, I became frightened. Not for me, but for you. Angel, you were the most important person in her life. And I knew that finding you would be her obsession. She'd find you and do Lord knows what to you when she did. I couldn't let that happen, you were like a son to me; you still are. So I took you to L.A.."

"That doesn't explain why you kept it from me," Angel stated.

"What would you have done? Looked for her? Tried to help her? Your mother became a demon. A killer. She may look and act like the mother you knew, but she isn't her. A vampire is a creature of pure evil. She must be stopped before she hurts someone close to you."

Angel took a tendril of Buffy's hair between his fingers and played with it. "I don't think I can do that."

"Do what?"

He looked Geoffrey dead in the eye. "Stop her."

"You must. Who knows what she'll do to you."

"I know. But I looked at her and all I saw was my mother. She said things that made me remember how much I loved her. That'll always be in the back of my mind. That at some point, she was my mother. The woman that gave birth to me. The one that tucked me in at night, the one I ran to when I had a bad dream, the one that sang me to sleep every night. And I don't think I'd be able to kill her knowing all that."

"Would you do it for Buffy?" Geoffrey asked. "If it came down to choosing between your mother the vampire and the young woman you love, would you be able to kill Carolyn?"

Angel shook his head. "Don't, Geoffrey."

"You may have to choose, Angel. It comes down to who you love more."

He gazed down at Buffy, still asleep in his lap. "I love her more than anything. I'd die for her. But I don't know if I could kill my own mother for her. Even if she is a vampire."

"You must remember that it isn't your mother."

"I know. She said she'd come after us, try to kill Buffy. I'll never let that happen."

Buffy groaned in her sleep. Angel gently lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom to let her sleep peacefully. He returned to the living room shortly thereafter. "I didn't want us to wake her up," he explained.

"Angel, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"It's more of an observation, really. You and Buffy, you've become intimate, haven't you?"

Angel was taken aback. "How?

"A young woman her age wouldn't be that comfortable falling asleep in the lap of a man she hasn't known physically."

"Is that some kind of problem for you?" he shot. "That Buffy and I have made love? Because there is nothing you can do about it. Giles and the Council have tried"

"Stop it. As long as you love her, I'm happy for you."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "You've changed your tune slightly since May."

"I feared that your relationship with Buffy would catch Carolyn's attention. That she would find out and try to hurt you."

"I understand that now. My mom being a vampire was the reason everybody wanted to keep us apart. While I appreciate your concern, just please stay out of my relationship with Buffy. I'm happier than I've ever been, and if you care about me, you'll let me stay that way."

Geoffrey nodded. "I don't want to break you two up. But I want you to be careful. Carolyn will use this to hurt you. Angel, you must not let her get the better of you," he advised.

"I won't. My one concern is keeping Buffy safe."

"You do that. If you love her as much as you say you do, I know you'll keep her safe."