Trials of Life

by almightyhyperone

S6, Crossover with AtS; Buffy and Spike have a surprise for everyone, something that could help someone from their past.

1. Default Chapter

Trials of Life

Summary: Buffy and Spike have a big surprise to tell everyone, a surprise that could help

someone from her past

Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, belong to Joss Whedon,

Mutant Enemy, and 20th Century Fox.

Spoilers: General S6; up to Dead Things

Author's Note: I know this will never happen on the show, but I can dream. Also, I am not a

doctor and don't plan to become one, all the medical stuff came from watching ER and quizzing

my mom who's a nurse. Anya's speech at the end is directly from the episode "Hell's Bells".

Also, thoughts are marked with * and dreams are marked with // because the stupid program

won't save italics. ~Katie

___________________________________________________________

Chapter One: Never Say Never

Buffy stumbled into her house just before the sun began its ascent. *I don't know how

many more nights like this I can take* she thought. She'd worked a double-shift at the

Doublemeat, before patrolling with Spike. Normally she would have gone back to the crypt but

she hadn't felt up to anything besides unconsciousness. Buffy climbed the stairs wearily and

walked down the hall to her bedroom, not bothering to shut the door all the way before

collapsing onto her bed. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, wanting nothing more than to never

have to move from that spot again.

___________________________________________________________

"Dawn!" Willow called up the stairs. "Hurry or else you're gonna have to find something

to eat at school!"

"Coming," Dawn responded, moments later she appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Cereal. We're still on a bit of a grocery shortage. Sorry."

Dawn shrugged before taking a seat on one of the stools. "It's okay."

"Did you try waking Buffy up?"

Dawn shook her head, mouth full of Lucky Charms. She swallowed and then said, "Why

bother? I checked on her on my way to the shower and she was passed out on top of the covers.

She didn't even bother to change out of her patrolling outfit." Slightly under her breath, she

added, "Not like she'd really wanna spend time with me anyway."

"Dawnie, don't say that. Buffy loves you...she died for you. I know we've all been kind

of shaken up since this stuff with Katrina and Warren, but don't worry, things will calm down."

Dawn nodded, deciding it wasn't worth the argument. She knew Buffy loved her but she

couldn't help but feel like things were going to get worse before they got better.

Buffy rolled onto her side, opening one eye and staring at the clock on her night stand.

Her blurry vision seemed to focus and she saw that it was already 11 o'clock. Groaning, she sat

up before immediately falling backwards again as a wave of dizziness rolled through her gut.

*Oh god.* She scrambled quickly to her feet and bounded down the hall and into the bathroom

before emptying what little she had eaten the day before into the toilet. She rose slowly to her

feet, flushed the toilet, and then stumbled to the sink. *Thank god Willow and Dawn are at

school* she thought as she swished a healthy amount of Listerine around in her mouth. Ignoring

the continued complaints of her stomach she spit the mouthwash into the sink before leaving the

bathroom. After making her way down the stairs Buffy walked into the kitchen and scrawled a

note out onto the message board on the fridge just in case Willow decided to come home for

lunch. She grabbed a her purse from the hall closet and walked out the front door.

"Ok, just walk in, grab it, pay, and walk out," Buffy muttered to herself as she walked

toward the convenience store, three blocks away from her house. "Don't think about what the

answer might be, just do it." *Great* she thought *now I sound like a bleedin' commercial.* She

didn't even notice her choice of mental expletive as she neared the convenience store.

She entered the store, heading straight toward the back wall. She stopped in front of the

display of pregnancy tests, grabbing one at random she hurried toward the cashier. The

pimple-covered boy behind the counter smiled flirtatiously until he saw what she was purchasing.

He quickly put the box in a small paper bag and handed it to her. She placed the money on the

counter and left without a word.

The walk home only gave her more time to worry about the results of test she was

carrying in her hand. It wasn't like she hadn't taken one before. Her mom had forced her to take

a home pregnancy test after the revelation that she had slept with Angel, despite Buffy's protests

that it wasn't necessary.

She opened her front door and dumped her purse just inside the doorway, taking the paper

bag upstairs with her.

Ten minutes later Buffy stared, unseeing, at the white stick in her hand and the little pink

plus sign that had appeared. She was pregnant.

___________________________________________________________

Buffy approached the west entrance to Spike's crypt, a duffle bag tucked under one arm

and in her right hand she held a folded letter. Also in that hand she held the ultrasound she'd had

taken an hour earlier at the local Women's Clinic. It was one of those places you could go to get

information or tests done if you couldn't afford to go anywhere else or didn't have a doctor of

your own. They had told her that she was four months along and that everything looked normal.

Buffy had sat there, completely numb, answering the questions by rote. And now she was faced

with the next step in the "Road of Pregnancy". Telling the father.

She tucked the ultrasound and letter into her back pocket and opened the door to the

crypt. "Spike?" she called out. He turned his head around from his spot in front of the

television.

"Bit early for patrolling, luv." He sent her a lascivious look. "Or is there something else

I can help you with?"

Buffy chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. "I have to talk to you, Spike. It's

serious."

"Doesn't involve another dead girl in the park does it?" he asked, as lightly as he could

without bothering her. He knew how upset she still was about the mess with Katrina.

Again she shook her head. "No, nothing like that. This is much, much...different. Um,

look, you aren't going to believe me but..." she didn't finish, letting the end drop. Spike just

looked at her expectantly, his blue eyes patient and loving despite the fading bruises surrounding

them. She sighed and then started over. "Ok, when I tell you what I came here to tell you, you're

probably gonna think I'm lying but I'm not. I swear. You know how creepy I think the

vampire-super-smell is but because of that I am sure you'd be able to tell if there'd been anybody

else. But there hasn't. I would never—"

"Buffy, what is this all about?"

She opened her mouth but was unable to say the words. Instead she thrust the ultrasound

picture at him, muttering, "This," as she did so. Spike stared at the picture he was now holding;

he stared for so long that Buffy was beginning to wonder if he had lost the ability to speak.

"Spike, say something. Please." Tears started to forming her eyes, two beginning a course down

her cheek. "I-I'm sorry. You obviously never thought this could happen. I didn't either. But

that baby is a part of me and you, Spike...even if you don't believe me."

"I believe you."

She sniffled. "What?"

He looked up at her, motioning her closer and then pulling her onto his lap. "I said, I

believe you."

"Really?" she asked, smiling hopefully at him.

"Bloody hell, Goldilocks. How could I not? This baby is the spittin' image of me and

you," he said, pointing to the ultrasound and grinning broadly at her. Her smile widened before

she grew serious again. Sensing the change in her, he pulled her closer to him. *Have to say, this

pregnancy bit has certainly softened her up* he thought as she went willingly deeper into his

embrace.

"I need to ask you something. A favor."

"Anything, luv."

"Take me away from here. From Sunnydale. Just for awhile. We wouldn't have to go

far. But I-I need to be able to deal with the stuff that is happening in my life without worrying

about my friends' or Dawn's reactions."

"I'll do anything for you, Buffy, and this baby. We'll leave at sunset, if you want."

She nodded. "Please."

___________________________________________________________

Several hours later, Spike sat in the DeSoto, waiting for Buffy to grab her duffle bag from

the crypt. When she climbed into the passenger side he asked her, "Do you want to say goodbye

to the Scoobies, luv?"

Thinking about the letter she had tucked under the lamp in his crypt, she said, "I did."

Spike nodded and started the ignition, heading toward the freeway on-ramp just outside

the Sunnydale limits. Buffy sunk back into the leather seat, one hand resting on the tiny bump in

her middle, and closed her eyes.

___________________________________________________________

Chapter Two: Away From Home (Los Angeles, 3 months later)



Buffy tossed and turned uncomfortably on the moth-eaten mattress, before finally opening

her eyes to lookout through the window at the night sky. She put her feet on the itchy motel

carpet, grabbed the oversized t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier from where it had landed on the

floor and padded over to the window, gripping the stained curtains she pulled them tightly

closed. It wasn't safe for them to be open, lest the suns rays should happen to land on her

companion. She really didn't want to have to explain to the manager why half the bed was

covered in dust. She moved to the other window to shut those curtains too, but stopped halfway.

She placed her hand on the cold glass and looked down at the street below. The run-down bar

across the street was the only building with its lights still on and as she watched three bikers

stumbled drunkenly out the door.

She didn't remove her fingertips from the window even when she felt Spike's arms go

around her burgeoning belly. "You alright, luv?" he asked.

She turned to face him and nodded, falling deeper into his embrace. "I was just

thinking..."

"About Sunnydale?"

She nodded again. "I wonder what they're doing right now. What they're thinking," she

said. She figured her friends and sister were pretty furious with her by now. *There goes Buffy*

she thought. *Running away again.* She knew she hadn't killed that girl, that Warren had, but

she couldn't face everyone after that. She was so unfocused after her resurrection, what if she

did hurt somebody? Or her friends? Or Dawn? Her hand slid between her and Spike to rest

gently on her stomach. *Hear that, little one? I guess we're all just gonna have to stay here for a

while. You, me, and Daddy* she thought as a tiny smile appeared on her lips.

"Do you want to call them?" Spike asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"What? Oh, um, no. Not yet anyways. I just can't deal with..." She closed her eyes.

"Let's just wait." She reached behind her and tugged the curtains the rest of the way shut.

"Come on. I'm still tired. Lay down with me?"

He nodded and followed her back to the bed. She settled with her head on his shoulder

and as she drifted off to sleep her last conscious thoughts were of Sunnydale.

___________________________________________________________

There was a knock on the Summers' front door and Willow opened it to find Tara on the

other side. "Tara. Hey," Willow said, letting her enter.

"Hi, Willow," Tara said, smiling gently. It faded and she got to the purpose for which she

was there. "H-have you heard from her yet?"

"No," Willow said, looking down sadly. "It's been over three months and nothing. And

Spike's gone, too, I guess. We went over to the crypt a couple days after Buffy went missing but

he wasn't there. I thought maybe he was coming back a little later but I still haven't seen him."

"Spike's gone?"

"Yeah. Dawn's pretty upset. First Buffy, now Spike. It's been hard on her."

"Do you think it's a coincidence? Them both being gone?" Tara wanted to know if

Willow and the others had guessed about Buffy and Spike's relationship, but she was not about

to betray Buffy by breaking her promise.

"I'm kind of hoping it's not. If Spike's with her than at least she's not alone."

*They still don't know.* "So I guess Dawn's feeling kind of deserted?"

"Yeah...I guess she is..." Willow's face brightened. She turned toward the dining room

table where Anya and Xander were sitting. "Anya!"

"What?" the former demon asked, startled.

"Do you know any vengeance demons that could get here on such short notice?"

"Will, why do you want a vengeance demon here?" Xander asked, clearly not catching his

friend's train of thought.

"Well, it's just that Dawn is really upset right now. If we could get a vengeance demon to

come here then she could wish that Buffy came back."

"Halfrek!" Anya said, happily.

"Huh?" Xander asked, looking oddly at her.

"Halfrek," she repeated. "She specializes in granting wishes to children. And she's

already here for the wedding."

"Oh...that Halfrek."

Anya ignored him. "I can get her here. Just a second." She stood and called Halfrek's

name loudly as Willow ran upstairs.

"Dawnie?" she asked, tapping on the door. When Dawn didn't answer she opened the

door to find the teen on her bed with headphones on. Dawn looked up as Willow sat across from

her on the bed. "How you doing?" Willow asked when Dawn removed the headphones.

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess...I miss them. Buffy thought I was mad at her, you know,

for wanting to turn herself in. And now she's gone."

"This isn't your fault."

"I just wish there was some way to find her and convince her to come home."

"Dawn, no, not yet," Willow said.

But it was too late because just as Willow tried to stop Dawn, Halfrek said from the door,

"Done."

___________________________________________________________

Cordelia was asleep on her living room couch, while Fred and Gunn talked in the kitchen.

They had both been staying with Cordelia lately, in an effort to give Angel his distance and also

come up with a way to help him. Cordelia shifted onto her side as a different sort of images

poured into her brain.

//Buffy was standing at the bathroom sink, her back to Cordelia. She seemed to be

staring at something in her hand. She then looked up into the mirror, studying her reflection.

She looked pale. The room shifted into Buffy's bedroom where Buffy was hurriedly shoving

clothes into a leather bag and then moving to her vanity table and scribbling out a note which she

pocketed. Running her fingers through her hair nervously she grabbed the bag and started out

the door. Next Cordelia saw all of the Scoobies minus Buffy, in the living room. Xander was

pacing the width of the room. "So no one has seen Buffy in the last three days. I know she's

been slaying every night...M-maybe she's in the hospital o-or she's—"

"No, don't say it! She's not dead! She's fine!"

"Dawnie, calm down. I don't think she's dead, either, okay?" Tara descended the stairs

and faced the group. Willow looked at her. "What is it? What'd you find?"

"A lot of her clothes are gone. It looks like she l-left."

"But she was cleared of all those charges! Andrew and Johnathan got arrested."

The entire scene changed to a hallway outside a hotel room. There was a flyer posted on

all the doors in the corridor advertising "Happy Hour" at the bar across the street. Buffy was

paying the take-out delivery person before turning around and heading into the room. Number

217.//

Cordelia's eyes snapped open. She climbed to her feet, rubbing her head in hopes to stall

the oncoming headache and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Cordy," Fred said brightly. "I

thought you were sleeping."

"I was. I think I had a vision."

"While you were asleep? That ever happen before?"

"No."

"What'd you see?" Gunn asked.

"Buffy," she answered, taking the glass of water Fred had gotten for her.

"Buffy? You mean Angel's ex?"

Cordelia nodded. "She didn't look like she was in danger."

"Well, maybe she can help Angel," Fred suggested quietly.

"Maybe. I mean, she's nearby."

"In Sunnydale?"

"No. Closer. She's in L.A. I think somewhere downtown. You know, by that one bar,

kind of a dive, the one that we followed those biker vamps to..."

"'The Eclipse'?" Gunn asked.

"Wasn't there a motel across the street?"

"Think so. Might as well check it out. Come on."

___________________________________________________________



Chapter Three: There's No Place Like The Hellmouth



Buffy jogged back across the street, a paper bag from the Mini-Mart in her arms. She

ignored the whistles and hoots from the group of drunken louts leaning against the outside of

"The Eclipse" and returned to the motel. She climbed the stairs to the second floor and fumbled

with her room key. Spike was attempting to fix the TV reception when she walked in. He hit the

top of it hard, but to no avail.

"Hold on," she told him, dropping the bag on the rickety card table by the door. Buffy

went over to the antenna that refused to stay in one position. She took the piece of gum she had

been chewing out of her mouth and used it to hold the rabbit ears of the antenna upright. Like

magic, the picture on the TV cleared up. Spike looked at her, amazed. "What? I can't know

stuff?"

"Slayer Handbook show you how to do that?"

"Nope. I never got the Slayer Handbook. Giles thought it'd be useless in my case. Come

to think of it, he was probably right," she smiled, "I bet I've broken every single rule in it."

He returned her smile. "What's in the bag?"

"Food. There's some blood from the butcher's in there too." He went to go unpack it

while she got a glass of water. "Oh, um, leave the gummy bears and the mayonnaise out." He

looked at her as if she'd just grown a second head. "Don't question my eating habits, mister.

This is all your fault anyway," she teased. He chuckled and grabbed her around the waist from

behind. "Stop that. You're gonna make me spill."

"Don't think it'll damage the carpet much, luv."

She craned her head around to press her lips to his quickly. "I am going to go take a

bath." She set her water glass on the counter and disappeared into the adjoining bathroom,

closing the door with a soft click.

Spike had only just settled back in front of the television when someone knocked on the

door to the motel room. After casting a brief glance in the direction of the bathroom he stood

and went to answer. *Stupid bloody people, interruptin' a man's soaps.* "What?" he growled as

he opened the door.

Cordelia yelped in surprise, wide eyes staring at the vampire. "S-Spike?!?"

"Cordelia? I thought you were off gallivanting around with the Poof."

"I was. I mean, I am...Isn't this Buffy's room?"

His gaze ticked to the man and woman standing behind Cordelia before settling back on

the former Scooby member herself. "Yeah." He offered no further explanation as he waved the

three of them inside. Leaving them near the door he walked into the bathroom, shutting the door

behind him.

Fred and Gunn surveyed the room calmly, while Cordelia tried to process what was going

on. *One bed. Spike. Buffy.* Just as she thought this, the bathroom door opened and the Slayer

stepped out, followed by Spike. "Buffy," Cordelia choked out, eyes fixated on Buffy's enlarged

middle which was barely concealed by the cotton tank top and sweat pants she was wearing.

"Hi, Cordy...Do you wanna go outside and talk?" Cordelia nodded mutely and followed

Buffy out into the hallway.

"Okay, what's going on?" Cordelia asked. "That was Spike in there, right? The

'I'm-going-to-kill-you-all-on-Parent-Teacher-Night-and-summon-an-ancient-demon-to-zap-hum

anity-to-Hell' Spike?"

"Sorta. Not so much with the people hurting these days."

"What?"

Buffy tucked her damp hair behind her ears. "He, um, he can't hurt people. Hasn't been

able to for almost two years. He's helped a lot. At first it was just the chip in his head, it shocks

his brain if he hurts a human, but...he's different...Me and him are together," Buffy said,

somewhat amazed at how easy it was to say.

"Wow."

"Pretty much."

Cordelia grinned which surprised Buffy, almost as much as Cordelia's next question.

"How is it?"

Buffy shook away her shock as she mirrored Cordelia's grin. "Great. Really great..."

"And...?" Cordelia motioned to Buffy's stomach.

"Yeah. About two more months," Buffy said.

"Congratulations!" Cordelia hugged her. She and Buffy had never been best friends, but

Cordelia was honestly happy for the other girl.

Buffy's smile grew. *If the rest of my friends react like this, she thought, I'll die of

shock.* "Thank you."

They let go of each other. "What'd the others say?" Buffy's face fell. Noticing this, and

also remembering that Buffy was currently staying in a run-down motel, Cordelia tilted her head

to the side. "They don't know do they?"

"No. Only you and Spike do."

*Something bad must have happened* Cordelia thought. She placed a comforting hand

on Buffy and decided to play the "optimistic-happy-I-don't-need-to-know-the-painful-details"

card. "I'm the first? I'm so flattered."

___________________________________________________________

Dawn stormed into the living room from the front door. Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya

looked up to see her shoulders set in anger. "When you went to Spike's crypt, how hard did you

look?"

"Glanced around. It was pretty obvious he was gone," Willow said. "Why?"

"Well, if you had bothered to look a little closer you might have found this," Dawn said,

thrusting a folded piece of paper into Willow's hand and then crossing her arms. Willow

instantly recognized Buffy's handwriting.

"What's it say, Will?" Xander asked.

"'I'm sure by the time you read this you'll all be ready to toss it and me into the shredder,

but please read the whole thing before you do. I'm sorry I left the way I did. You all know that I

haven't been the same since I came back and the whole thing with Katrina just made it worse. I

needed to go work on a way to be the friend and sister I should be. If I had said goodbye

face-to-face I wouldn't have had the guts to actually leave and it wouldn't have been fair to any

of you to have to put up with me the way I was. I will come back. I promise. Please, just trust

that I know what I'm doing. I love you all. Buffy.'" When Willow finished reading the letter

out loud she looked up at everybody else.

"Where'd you find this, Dawn?" Xander asked.

"Pinned under the lamp by Spike's favorite chair."

Xander stood, pointing at Willow. "Ah-ha! I told you. Spike was involved in this!"

"I never said he wasn't. I just don't think he's involved in the way you think he is. He

cares about her, Xand. If he's with her, than at least she's safe."

Xander looked enraged at that last comment and was about to protest vehemently when

Dawn cut him off. "You guys, that is so not the point. All this time, Buffy was in so much pain

that she had to leave and none of us paid any attention. And if you guys had found the letter, we

might have been able to stop her from going. Help her," Dawn ranted.

"You're right," Willow agreed. "I mean I knew Buffy was hurting, just not how much."

*Or what to do about it* she added silently. *And now she's missing.*

"I-I knew," Tara said quietly.

"What?" Xander asked.

"Buffy came to me for help. S-she thought she came back...wrong. Physically wrong."

"That's impossible. Buffy didn't come back wrong."

"No, she didn't. But she thought she did."

"Should we look for her?" Anya asked.

*It'd never work* Willow thought. But she, nor anyone else, answered out loud. All of

them knew that until Buffy wanted to be found, there was little hope of locating her.

___________________________________________________________

"Spike, I think we should go back to Sunnydale," Buffy said. She was seated on the floor

in front of the chair Spike was sitting in and he was rubbing her shoulders.

He stopped at her words and she turned her head to look up at him. "You sure, pet?"

She nodded. "I need to." She leaned her head against his knee. "Cordelia's going to

come with. Wants to see the gang." Cordelia, along with her co-workers who she'd introduced

as Fred and Gunn, had left hours ago. *She never did tell me why she was here in the first place.*

Spike resumed his shoulder massaging. "We can leave tomorrow night." She shifted

onto her knees and motioned for him to help her stand, which he did. She then settled in his lap.

Despite the fact that she was in her seventh month of pregnancy, she was still light as a feather to

him. *A feather that can take out ten vamps with one swing.*

"I'm scared," she whispered, her breath tickling his neck as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine."

She nodded against his shoulder. "Spike...you know they might not be too happy about

me and you." He closed his eyes, not knowing where she was going with this. He opened them

again when he felt her lips against his cheek. "Let me deal with them, okay? I can't risk you

getting in a fight with Xander and ending up all dusty."

"Would that really upset you all that much?" he asked, unable to keep the bitterness from

his voice.

She looked confused and a little hurt. She turned his head so that he was forced to meet

her gaze. "Of course it would. Spike, I love you."

*It's about bloody time, he thought.* But he couldn't hide, even from himself, the fact

that hearing her say those words elated him. He grinned as his lips met hers.

___________________________________________________________

Chapter Four: Learning Can Be A Dangerous Thing



"Are you mad at Buffy?" Dawn asked Willow, the next night.

"What?"

"I mean...last time...you guys barely talked to her."

"No. I guess 'cause this time I have some idea of what happened that made her feel like

she had to leave. And that reason is mostly my fault. I'm the one that brought her back. From

Heaven."

Dawn nodded, running her finger lazily along the rim of her soda can. "Well, at least

when she, you know, gets back, we'll be able to tell her two-thirds of the Troika got arrested.

That should make her happy." She was about to say more when a soft tap at the door interrupted

her.

Willow stood, going to answer it. She, Xander, and Anya had made plans to patrol while

Tara stayed with Dawn. Willow figured there had been a misunderstanding on times. "Xander,

you're early," she said as she reached for the doorknob. She swung the door open to indeed

reveal her best friend. Just not the best friend she'd been expecting. *Oh my god* she thought.

"Buffy?"

"Hey, Will," Buffy said, offering her a half-smile. *Please don't hate me, please don't

hate me, please don't hate me.* Willow threw her arms around the blond Slayer, not even

noticing how Buffy's stomach, which had been hidden by her loose-fitting jacket, got in the way.

Buffy flinched when the baby sent an exceptionally hard kick to her ribs. *Ow.*

Willow let go of her. "Buffy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...I'm fine."

"Is Spike with you?" Willow asked, looking into the empty street over Buffy's shoulder.

"What?" *Did they find out?*

"I was just wondering. He disappeared about the same time you did, the note was at his

crypt. We just kind of figured he went with you...or at least after you."

"Yeah. He, um, he took Cordelia to her parents' house."

"Cordelia?!?"

"Yeah. Spike's gonna come over here later...I-I wanted to talk to you guys first."

"Willow? What's taking so long?" Dawn asked, walking out of the living room.

"Buffy!" She grinned and leapt at her sister, giving her a hug. She was the one who noticed that

the Slayer had changed somehow. Her brow furrowed and she looked Buffy up and down.

"Something's different about you."

"Yeah, well, my hair's long again," Buffy said, giving them an innocent smile. *Why the

hell are you stalling, Buffy? You want them to know. They have to know. I mean, what did you

think you were gonna do, huh? Just slide it into the conversation, "Oh, by the way, I'm pregnant

by Spike, so what'd you have for dinner?"* Dawn and Willow were both giving her skeptical

looks. "Right. Um, c-can I come in?" Dawn and Willow moved back from the door. She

noticed that neither of them extended a verbal invitation. *Checking to see if I'm a vampire.

Smart.* She stepped into the house, shutting the door behind her. She unbuttoned her jacket and

slid it off her shoulders to reveal a low-cut, rather clingy, black maternity blouse. Cordelia had

forced her to go shopping before they went back to Sunnydale.

"That might be it," Dawn said, eyes wide.

"You guys may want to sit down."

___________________________________________________________

Spike saw that the lights were on in the living room of the Buffy's house. He opened the

door and heard voices coming from the living room. He turned the corner to find Buffy, Dawn,

and Willow talking quietly.

"Spike!" Dawn squealed, getting up from the floor. Just as she'd done to her sister, the

teen threw her arms around him. "Buffy told us everything. I'm so happy for you!"

Spike felt very awkward with Dawn's arms wrapped around his neck. He caught sight of

Buffy, attempting to suppress her laughter, over Dawn's shoulder. When her sister released him

she motioned him over to the couch. He sat down next to her, leaving a little space between

them, figuring that Buffy would want to give her friends some time to adjust to the news. But

Buffy scooted closer to him, snaking one arm around his. It was the most affection she'd ever

shown him in front of her friends; aside from when she was under the influence of a

spell, that is. Willow was sitting in a chair across from the couch. *Red looks like she's about to

faint.*

"Hi, Spike," Willow said, making a near-successful attempt to break out of her stupor.

"Red," he responded.

Buffy jumped slightly when the baby kicked right behind her belly button. "Buffy, what's

wrong?" Dawn asked.

"Nothing. The baby just kicked is all," she said.

To everyone's surprise, it was Willow who moved closer. She raised her hand a little,

"Can I?"

"Sure." Buffy rolled her shirt up to expose her stomach, took her best friend's hand and

guided it first to where the baby's heartbeat could be felt strongest. "That's the heart."

*The baby's human* Willow thought, admittedly relieved.

Next Buffy moved Willow's hand to where the baby's overactive legs were. "And the

current target for kick-boxing practice is here." The baby kicked again, harder this time, and it

connected with Willow's palm.

An awestruck grin broke over Willow's face. "Wow."

"I wanna try," Dawn said. Willow moved her hand but stayed close to Buffy. Whatever

doubts that had been in her mind were forgotten for now, and replaced by excitement. Buffy

repeated what she'd done with Willow's hand, this time with Dawn's. Another kick. "That's

amazing! There's a baby in there!" Buffy couldn't help but smile at their reactions. It made the

pain of the repetitive internal beatings considerably more bearable.

"Willow?" Tara's voice called from the front door. "Are Xander and Anya here yet?"

She walked into the living room, stopping abruptly at the sight of the Slayer and vampire sitting

on the sofa. *Together* she mentally added. "Oh. Hi B-Buffy...Spike."

Buffy didn't know what came over her. One minute she's sitting on the couch, the next,

she's brushing past her sister and embracing Tara. She even felt a few tears slip down her cheeks

as Tara hugged her back. *Damn hormones.* "Thank you," she whispered, so that only the other

blond heard. "For being there...before. For helping me understand."

"Your welcome, sweetie. I take it you decided you..." Tara whispered back.

"Love him? Yes."

"Um, Buffy?" Dawn said, looking out the window. Buffy turned around and wiped her

eyes. Spike looked at her, concerned, but she smiled at him. "Xander and Anya are coming up

the front steps."

*Oh god.* Buffy, or at least some part of her, had actually been hoping she could deal

with Xander later. She heard the front door open. *Here goes nothing.* "Xander?" Buffy said,

stepping into the foyer and not waiting for him to come into the living room.

"Buffy? Is it really you?" he asked.

"Yeah." *Okay, bring on the volcano eruption.* But Xander became the fourth person to

pull the petite blond into their arms since she'd come back to Sunnydale.

"I'm glad you're back." She could swear he sounded like he was starting to cry.

"Xander...I can't breathe," she said, voice muffled by his shirt.

"Right. Sorry." He let go and looked her over. "Um, Buff?" he tilted his head toward

her stomach.

"Looks like you've been having some really good sex," Anya said. Buffy's cheeks turned

bright red and Xander shifted on his feet.

Before Buffy could think of something to say to tell Xander who else was in the living

room, he moved past her. "What're you doing here?" she heard him ask. She turned around to

see Xander and Spike glaring at each other.

"Xander, Spike's with me," Buffy said.

"You mean he followed you back." Buffy just looked at him. "Buff, you couldn't

possibly mean...You and Spike aren't together are you?" She nodded. "Oh my god. A-and

that..." he pointed at her stomach.

Buffy's eyes blazed. "'That' is my child. Mine and Spike's." Xander ducked his head at

her ire but looked back up, his own face contorted in anger.

"I thought you left to get better. It scared me at first, when I realized you'd gone. But

when we read your letter, I got it. I did. You had to work through things and you couldn't do it

here. Fine. But instead, you run off and have sex with yet another vampire and come back

pregnant?"

"Xander, maybe you should calm down," Willow suggested.

"Shut up, Willow. This isn't about you," he snapped.

"I was pregnant before I left. I was gone for three months, I'm seven months pregnant,"

Buffy cut in. That caught Willow and Dawn's attention.

"You knew you were pregnant before?" Dawn asked, tone turning accusatory.

"But you didn't tell us? Didn't you trust us?" Willow asked, more hurt than angry.

"Buffy, I think that this could possibly be the stupidest thing you've ever done," Xander

bit out.

Spike saw the tears spring to Buffy's eyes. He was about to thoroughly thrash the boy for

upsetting her. But Tara beat him to the punch, so to speak. "Enough! Back off, everybody!

Buffy is entitled to make her own decisions. If she wants to be with Spike, then that's her choice.

It seems to me that she hasn't been given a lot of opportunities recently to make her own

choices." Somewhere in the back of Tara's mind, she knew it was a low blow to bring up the

fact that Buffy'd had no say in her own resurrection. Willow deflated. Xander looked like he'd

been struck, both from Tara's words and from the fact that she was the last person he'd expected

to lose her temper. Dawn and Anya both looked like they didn't quite no what to say. Buffy was

staring down at her hands, which were clasped together on her stomach.

"You knew, didn't you?" Willow whispered.

"Not that she was pregnant."

"But you knew about her and Spike?"

"Yes." Buffy was too upset to really care that they were talking about her like she wasn't

in the room. She wished she wasn't in the room.

"I can't do this," Xander said, walking back out of the living room.

Anya actually looked torn. She thought Xander was overreacting. *Spike isn't so bad*

she thought. *And Buffy's nice enough. At least she's never tried to kill me.* But still...Xander

was her fiancee. She touched Buffy's arm lightly. "Bye." She hoped Buffy understood that she

wasn't mad like Xander. Buffy nodded, still not lifting her head.

"Anya! Let's go," Xander called. Anya walked out the front door and Xander followed,

slamming it shut.

"Dawn, maybe you should go to bed. It's late," Willow said, quietly. Dawn acquiesced

surprisingly easy. She wanted to be alone anyway. She climbed the stairs, leaving the four

adults behind. "Buffy, I'm sorry."

Buffy finally looked up. "Xander hates me now," she whispered, as the tears spilled from

her eyes. Willow and Tara both put their arms around her. Spike got up off the couch but didn't

move toward them, letting the women do the coddling for now.

"He doesn't hate you. He's just...shocked," Willow said. "He'll get over it." She

smoothed Buffy's hair. "Maybe you should just go upstairs and get settled in."

Buffy sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, okay." They let go of her and she moved toward the

stairs but stopped, looking at Spike. It took him a moment to realize that she was waiting for

him. He followed her up the stairs.

Willow waited until the pair disappeared and then went over to the phone, pulling the

phonebook out of the desk drawer. "What're you looking for?" Tara asked her.

"The number for Cordelia's parents' house. Buffy said she came back with them, but then we

kind of got distracted by...other topics." She dialed the number and then tapped her fingertips on

the desk. "Cordelia? Yeah, um, we saw her...yeah, Spike too. Buffy said you came back with

them and, um, not to sound rude but, why?" Willow paused as she listened Cordelia. "Well, we

usually go to the Magic Box...downtown...Giles? Why? Well, I mean, yeah, I guess I could. Is

it serious? Alright. Yeah. Bye." Willow hung up and turned to Tara. "She's gonna meet us at

the Magic Box tomorrow morning and tell us everything then. But she also said to call Giles."

"G-Giles...what for?"

"She said we'd probably need his help. Other than that, she didn't give me a whole lot of

information." Willow picked up the phone again and dialed a different number. *Giles better be

there. I don't know how many of these international phone calls we can afford.* "Giles? It's

Willow."

___________________________________________________________

"Buffy up yet?" Dawn asked Willow when she came into the kitchen.

"Yep. She's unpacking. And cleaning," Willow answered.

Dawn giggled. "Buffy? Cleaning? You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. Saw her myself." Willow smiled mischievously at Dawn. "In fact I think she

was starting with your room when I came downstairs..."

Dawn's eyes widened. "What?"

"Relax Dawnie. She opened the door, took one look at your sea of clothes and dishes,

and said you'd have to do it yourself."

"Hey! There's a set order to how I have my room. Books under the bed, papers by the

desk, shoes by the door, and clothes...everywhere else," Dawn said with a sheepish smile.

"Well, you might want to try and at least find matching socks before you go to school..."

Willow looked pointedly at Dawn's feet.

Dawn followed Willow's gaze and saw that she had on one black sock and one tie-dye.

She groaned. "I'll be right back." Dawn disappeared from the kitchen just as Buffy walked in.

Buffy was wearing a lacy cream-colored top that was gathered just below her breasts and an

ankle length denim skirt.

"Hey Buffy."

Buffy smiled brightly. "Hey Will."

"I'm sorry about last night."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm sorry too."

*She's certainly in a good mood today.* "Giles is gonna be here soon. He got on the

first flight out last night...I, um, didn't tell him about you being pregnant. And h-he kind of

didn't know that you were missing." Willow thought she saw Buffy's face fall slightly, but

wasn't sure. *Time for a change of subject.* "You want something to eat?"

"Yes, please."

Willow handed her a plate of pancakes, got one for herself, and then sat down at the

counter with Buffy. "So what's it like?"

Buffy already had a mouthful of food. She swallowed and then furrowed her brow at her

best friend. "What's what like?"

"Being pregnant, silly."

"Oh. I dunno. I mean, it's weird, but a good weird. It's like you're...complete. Like,

before, a part of you was missing but now that you have something...something you created...it's

not missing anymore."

Willow got one of those "awww, how sweet" looks on her face. "I'm so happy for you.

And now I'll get a chance to be 'fun Aunt Willow'."

Buffy smiled and was about to say something else when the doorbell rang. She knew

who it was even before she opened the door. "Hi Giles." Her mentor looked her up and down.

She mentally cursed Cordelia and her fashion sense. No father-type figure wanted to see his

daughter-type figure in a barely-there, tight-fitting shirt. *No father-type figure wants to see their

unmarried daughter-type figure pregnant either* she added silently. Giles blinked rapidly at her

and she saw his hand twitch at his pocket as if he desperately wanted to clean his glasses. But he

was apparently saving that for later as he pulled Buffy against his chest.

"Hello Buffy." He let go of her. "I see you have some news, other than the fact that

Cordelia's back."

"Yes. And I'll tell you all about it at the Magic Box."

"It seems I'm hearing everything 'at the Magic Box'."

"It's information central. I think we're leaving here pretty soon."

"Giles?" Willow said, walking out of the dining room. He hugged her briefly. *Guess

he's still kinda sore about the whole magic thing.* "You got luggage? If you want I could take it

for you."

"Yes. Thank you," he said as he handed her a small suitcase.

"You okay with couching it again?"

"That's fine."

Buffy went to go find sheets while Willow led Giles into the living room. Buffy grabbed

some of the guest linen from the hall cupboard and was going to just take them downstairs but

decided to see if Spike was awake yet. She opened her bedroom door to find him sitting at the

edge of the bed, shaking away sleep. "Hey, you're up."

"Mornin' luv."

"Morning." She put the sheets down on her dresser and then walked over so that she was

standing in front of him. "Is there any way you could come to the Magic Box today?"

"If I take the sewers. Why?"

"Because you should be there. I want you there."

She put her arms loosely around his neck as he stood. "Is that right?"

She smiled coyly at him. "Mmm-hmm." He pulled her closer and kissed her. She

deepened it a little before pulling back. "I can't. Giles is here, and he's going to wonder where I

went," she panted.

"The watcher's here?"

"Yeah. Downstairs." She went back over to her dresser and grabbed the folded blankets.

"Put a shirt on if you're coming downstairs." He smirked at her as she shut the door. She went

back down the stairs, setting the sheets in one of the chairs in the living room. Dawn raced past

her, pausing briefly to give Buffy a kiss on the cheek before running out the door. Buffy shook

her head at her sister's quick departure. She heard Giles and Willow in the kitchen and walked

in. "Hi."

"You want some coffee?" Willow asked her.

"Can't." Buffy somehow managed to hop up and sit on the counter. "Unless it's decaf."

"Buffy, not that I wish to sound insensitive, but, who's the, uh, the father?" Giles asked.

*Straight to the point, as always.* "Um..."

"Hello all," Spike said, walking into the room.

"Spike...Out for another morning stroll?" Giles asked. "I didn't hear the door..."

Spike and Buffy shared a look. Buffy was contemplating telling Giles the truth on the

spot but before she had a chance to make up her mind, Willow spoke. "H-he was

patrolling...with Buffy, you know, so she wouldn't be alone. They got in kinda late...just before

sunrise so Spike didn't have enough time to get back to his crypt."

Giles actually pitied the vampire a little. Buffy had obviously found someone. But then

he noticed how Buffy was looking at Spike. He'd seen something similar before...with

Angel...but this, if it was possible, was even stronger. Buffy finally pulled her gaze away from

Spike and looked at Giles. "We should go to the Magic Box." Giles nodded and he and Willow

left the room. Buffy hopped down off the counter. She, too, headed toward the dining room

entrance but paused in front of Spike. "See you later?"

"Of course."

She kissed him quickly. "Bye."

___________________________________________________________

"Hey Anya," Buffy said, walking into the Magic Box followed by Willow and Giles.

"Hi!" Anya responded, a little too cheerily.

"Anya...is something wrong?" Willow asked.

The ex-demon looked down at her hands. "Xander isn't coming. He's still angry."

A sad smile crossed Buffy's face, unable to hide her hurt but for some reason feeling the

need to comfort the other woman. "It's okay. I understand."

Giles cleared his throat. "Buffy, would you like to explain your, um, news before

Cordelia gets here with...hers?"

"Um...sure. D-do you want to go in the training room?"

He nodded and walked through the doorway to the back room. Buffy sent Willow a "help

me!" look and then followed. Giles saw Buffy's apprehensive look as she closed the training

room door. "Should I be sitting down for this?" he asked, half-joking.

"You don't have to...but I might," she said, plopping down on the stack of blue exercise

mats, before launching into her story.

___________________________________________________________

*Wonder how Giles is holding up in there* Willow thought, staring at the closed training

room door.

"Wow. This place just screams 'Giles'," Cordelia said. Willow whipped around in her

seat. She'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't even heard the door open.

"Actually, Anya controls it. Giles is more the silent partner."

"Is he here?"

"Yeah. He's in the training room, talking to Buffy." Just as she said this, both appeared.

Giles was slack-jawed and cleaning his glasses so furiously that Willow thought they might

break. She figured he must have received an even more detailed explanation than she and Dawn.

"Hi Giles," Cordelia said. He nodded his head in response before sinking down into a

chair at the research table. The door to the basement opened and Spike walked in. He went

towards the table as Buffy and Cordelia sat down on either side of Willow. Spike slouched into

the chair on Buffy's left. "Is everybody here?"

"Uh, Xander's not coming. I-I'm gonna fill Tara in later, she's in class right now.

Dawn's at school and Anya is around here somewhere..."

"Okay, so I guess I'll start with why I wanted to talk to everybody. Angel needs help with

something...but he won't ask for it himself. Darla...she came back several months ago...S-she

was pregnant, with Angel's child." That elicited comments from all four other people at the

table. Willow, Buffy, Spike, and Giles spoke simultaneously:

"Darla and Angel? How? When?"

"What?!? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Bloody hell!"

"Well, now, that's just lovely isn't it? All these years, believing that vampires were

incapable of having children and not one but three have managed to do just that."

"Darla staked herself in order to give birth," Cordelia continued, silencing them. "And

we were left with Connor. It was nice, you know, until Wesley discovered a prophecy saying

that Angel would kill Connor. It was a false prophecy, but he didn't know that. Anyway, he

freaked and kidnaped Connor. Went to an old enemy of Angel's, a vampire hunter named Holtz,

for help but ended up getting slashed in the throat and having Connor taken from him. Holtz

jumped into a portal to some Hell dimension...with Connor...That's why I came. I want to find a

way to get Connor back."

___________________________________________________________

Hours later it seemed as though every single book in the Magic Box had been pulled off

its shelf and moved over to the table. Those written in English were divided between Buffy and

Cordelia. Spike had begrudgingly taken some in French. Books in Latin, Ancient Sumerian, or

any other barely recognizable language were passed to Giles, Willow, and even Anya, who had

joined in during a lag in the flow of customers. By the time Tara and Dawn got there, notes had

been taken, books discarded, but overall no one had discovered anything monumentally

important.

At the moment, Tara had taken Dawn to get dinner for everybody, leaving Willow, Buffy,

and Cordelia to reminisce about Sunnydale High.

"So then Amy, all human again, was sitting on the bed and said something about Larry

asking her to prom and I had to explain the whole 'school-got-blown-up' concept," Willow told

Cordelia, her fingers tapping absently on the cover of a book.

"How'd she take it?"

"Great, actually. She mostly seemed excited about stuff."

"Yeah, you shoulda seen her with the cookies," Buffy agreed. She smiled as she felt

Spike playing with her hair. *Does he even know he's doing it?* she wondered when she noticed

that he seemed completely engrossed in one of the books on the table.

"So...you must be one pretty powerful witch to change Amy back into a real girl,"

Cordelia said to Willow. Buffy and Spike both turned their attention to the redheaded witch,

who squirmed in her seat.

*Bad subject. Bad, bad subject.* "Um...yeah, I mean, n-not anymore. I got...overpowered by

the black magic. Addicted. Anyways, no more magic for little old me."

"I'm sorry," Cordelia said sincerely. "I didn't mean to bring up something

uncomfortable." *On to happier topics.* She turned to the vampire and Slayer sitting across

from her. "Have you two thought of any names yet?"

"Some. Not telling though," Buffy said, smiling mischievously.

"Okay, but are you leaning toward girl names or boy names?" Willow asked, quickly

getting into the discussion.

*Girl* she answered inwardly. It was just a feeling, but something told her it was a girl.

But there was this entertaining appeal to making her friends wait to find out, so she simply

clamped her mouth shut, still smiling, and shook her head. "We'll just have to see."

*I'll just sic Dawn on her later* Willow thought. But she put on an exaggerated pout,

playing along, and grumbled jokingly, "Alright."

"We come bearing Chinese food," Dawn said, walking through the front door of the

Magic Box. Tara came in after, nudging the door shut with her foot and following Dawn to the

table where they both put down the bags they'd been carrying. "Giles, they didn't have any tea at

the take-out place, so we brought coffee." Giles grimaced but took the proffered Styrofoam cup

nonetheless.

"How's the research going?" Tara asked.

"It's going. Slowly," Buffy responded. "Dawn, did you get the things I asked for?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're in there somewhere."

"What'd you ask for?" Cordelia asked.

Buffy combed through one of the larger paper bags, handing Spike a plastic container of

blood and taking out a carton of Kung Pao chicken for herself before pulling out one bottle of

whip cream and one of chocolate syrup. She held up the last two items for Cordelia. "These."

Cordelia didn't know whether to grimace or laugh so she settled for both. "Interesting

choices."

"More like disgusting choices," Dawn said, smirking at her sister. *It's nice to have Buffy

around to tease again.* "And you say I eat weird?"

"Hey! Hungry baby here," Buffy shot back in mock-offense.

Once everybody's respective dinner was handed out, Buffy's with a few extra additives,

conversation resumed. Tara and Cordelia had been swept into Dawn's story about a party some

person from her school was throwing. Anya, who'd joined them after helping a customer, Buffy,

Willow, and Spike switched back and forth between several topics. Giles, still shocked by the

revelations of the day, preferred to simply watch the others and how easily they seemed to

interact with each other.

"Um, Buffy? Can I borrow the chocolate syrup?" Willow asked.

Buffy chuckled and handed the bottle to her friend. "Sure, Will."

Willow squirted some of the chocolate onto her rice. She mixed it and took a bite.

"Okay, either I'm pregnant too...which I'm not...or insane because this actually tastes good."

"Chocolate and whip cream are always good."

*I can think of a better use for them though* Spike thought. He wondered if he'd actually

said it out loud when Buffy gave him an admonishing but amused look. Although if he had said

it out loud it appeared that Buffy was the only one that heard him.

"Buff?" Xander said, standing just inside the front entrance. Everyone stopped what they

were doing and looked at him. "Look, um, don't say anything because if you do I might not be

able to get this out. I'm sorry, okay? 'Really-truly-I-should-be-publicly-stoned-and-killed' sorry.

I'm really glad you're here and while I'm not exactly thrilled about you being with...him..." He

stepped closer to the table. "If you're happy, I'll deal. And, Will, I'm sorry I snapped at you. It

wasn't your fault...I was just upset. Forgive me?"

*I've always thought this lot could be exceptionally mature when they tried* Giles

thought to himself. Of course, Buffy and Willow put a crimp in that theory just moments later.

Everyone else in the shop divided their attention between Buffy and Willow and Xander,

who was anxiously waiting for their decision. The two girls shared a look before simultaneously

grabbing the whip cream and chocolate syrup. They wore identical grins as they unleashed the

sugary substances. Xander yelped in surprise as his face was covered in chocolate and whip

cream. Buffy and Willow stopped, nearly convulsing with laughter. Xander wiped his eyes

before grinning and sticking some of the mixture on each of their noses. Buffy grabbed some

napkins, giving a handful to Xander and Willow before wiping her own nose. Once all three

were cleaned off Buffy fixed Xander with a pointed look. "Is that all you wanted to say

Xander?"

"Huh?" he asked. She twitched her head in Spike's direction. Xander sighed in

exasperation. "Sorry...Spike," he mumbled.

The vampire ignored him until Buffy's foot slammed into his leg. Spike glared at her

briefly before nodding at Xander. *That bloody hurt* he thought, rubbing his leg where he was

sure a bruise was developing. Buffy slid into his lap, freeing up a chair for Xander. Any

thoughts of pain were forgotten when Spike felt Buffy's arm around his neck, holding herself to

him. With her free hand she grabbed for the notebook Cordelia had brought with her

and started flipping through the pages.

"Oh! Oops," she said as a photograph fell into her lap. Lifting it up she saw that it was a

picture of Cordelia holding an infant in a blue blanket. "Is this...?"

"Yeah. That's Connor," Cordelia said, looking up.

Spike examined the photograph over Buffy's shoulder. *Kid doesn't look a thing like

Peaches* he thought.

Buffy traced one finger lightly over the baby in the picture. "He's so tiny," she said,

voice starting to break. She sniffled and dropped her hand onto her stomach. *Nobody's going to

take you.*

*It's turnin' her all misty.* Spike put his own hand on top of hers, holding her in a

one-armed embrace.

"Can I see?" Willow asked. Buffy handed her the picture before leaning back against

Spike's chest and interlacing their fingers across her stomach.

*And the Public Displays of Affection just keep coming* Xander thought, watching Buffy

blink back tears and relax in Spike's arms as she started stroking his fingers with her own. Giles

was also watching the pair, his face unreadable. Xander let the picture, now in Willow's hand,

distract him. "Cute. Who is he?"

"Angel's son," Willow answered.

"What? Dead Boy's got a kid?" He looked at Spike. "Guess it runs in the family...You

know, Angel being Spike's grandsire and all."

Willow sprang to her feet, knocking her chair over in the process. "That's it! Family!"

"Huh?" Cordelia asked. Even Giles looked confused at her exclamation.

"Family." She pointed at Giles, grinning in excitement. "The Codex, it mentioned a

collection of prophecies to do with the Master and his line. There might be something in there

we could use. I mean, the Master sired Darla, who sired Angel and is also Connor's mother, then

Angel sired Drusilla, and Drusilla sired Spike. Maybe it's not just a coincidence that both Spike

and Angel were able to father children. And it might have some answers on a way to bring

Connor back."

"Yes, of course," Giles said, standing and disappearing behind the counter. He popped

back up with, not surprisingly, a book clutched in his hand. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the book

that the Codex refers to. Unfortunately, it is written in a language that predates almost all others

and the translation was lost many, many years ago."

"But how can it be in that old of a language? Sure, I know the dude was old, but we're

not talkin' Adam and Eve here are we?" Xander asked.

"Most of these prophecies were written before the time the Master was sired by Aurelius,

very few were written later. The first prophecy was most likely about the Master himself, when

he would come in to power, and the rest about his future descendants."

"Wait...you said you can't read it because the translation was lost, right?" Cordelia asked

Giles. At his nod she continued, "Could somebody retranslate it?"

"I suppose. That is, if they established the matrix, but I'm not familiar with anyone who

could."

"I am. There's a girl I work with in L.A. Angel rescued her from Pylea..." Cordelia

paused, a far-off look on her face. "They made me a princess...Oh, um, anyway the girl's like a

younger, prettier, female Einstein. She's great at figuring out translation matrix-y things."

___________________________________________________________

Chapter Five: City of Angel



The two cars sped along the highway. The illuminated neon signs of L.A.'s nightlife

twinkled below the overpass. Cordelia was driving, with Dawn, Buffy, and Spike in her car,

while Giles, Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara followed.

"Is it weird?" Dawn asked Cordelia.

The older girl glanced at her. "Is what weird?"

"Working with Angel at a 'detective agency'?"

"It was at first. I originally came to L.A. to be discovered."

In the backseat Buffy had cover her laugh with a cough. *Old habits die hard.*

"I'm guessing it didn't go as planned," Dawn said.

"Well, I met a guy who I thought wanted to represent me, but he turned out to be an

extremely well-dressed and wealthy vampire. Angel saved me and I've worked with him ever

since."

"Huh. It's kind of like a fairytale. You know, you lose a job that you thought was perfect

but was really wrong for you and turn around to have, in some ways, a better one hit you in the

face."

*Yes, a fairytale with a dark, brooding prince, a few renegade knights, and a whole bunch

of scary, gooey monsters.* "I guess."

Dawn and Buffy yawned. Both girls had been up the night before and all day packing,

and in Buffy's case pacing, and therefore hadn't gotten any sleep. Cordelia watched as Dawn's

head plunked against the passenger window, eyes closed. Glancing behind her she saw that

Buffy had laid her head on Spike's shoulder and was, like her sister, fast asleep. Spike himself

was staring out the window. The sporadic glare from the street lamps accentuated his features.

The car was silent for the rest of the drive.

Cordelia parked in front of "the Hyperion," and Xander pulled in behind her. They both

got out of their cars and walked towards each other. "Everybody asleep?" Cordelia asked him.

"Just Willow. Too much research. How 'bout everybody in your car?"

"Buffy and Dawn." Cordelia and Xander worked on unloading luggage, six suitcases

were filled only with books and research because Giles had felt it absolutely necessary to bring

everything with them, as the rest of the group, including the three newly awoken girls, exited the

cars. Everyone walked into the hotel, which at first glance seemed empty.

"Is there actually anybody here?" Anya asked.

"Gunn and Fred are probably all asleep. And Angel kind of picked up on the human

schedule, sleep at night, awake during the day, with Connor so he's probably upstairs too,"

Cordelia explained. "I'll take you to your rooms."

After everyone was settled Cordelia went to Angel's room. She knocked on the door,

loud enough for himto hear but not enough to bother anyone else. But no answer came from

inside the room. "I know you're awake," she said. "Okay, I'm coming in." She opened the door

to find Angel standing at his window. He didn't turn around. "Buffy's here." That did it. Angel

whipped around and faced her.

"What?"

"I said Buffy's here. And Willow and Tara and Xander and Anya and Dawn and Giles

and...Spike."

"Spike?!?"

"Uh-huh." She moved back into the doorway to block his way when she saw him moving

towards it. "Stay here. We can deal with the Q and A in about an hour or so when the sun comes

up. Let everybody sleep for a little...Let Buffy sleep. She was nervous about coming here...about

seeing you. It got her kind of worked up." Angel didn't know why it would have effected Buffy

so much, unless she had something to tell him. Something that he wouldn't like. "I only came to

tell you that she and everybody was here so that later you won't be shocked by their presence,

just by...the other stuff." Before he could ask her to explain further, she left the room.

On her way to her own room, Cordelia checked on the new guests at the hotel. Willow

and Tara were sharing a room, and both had fallen asleep comfortably. Giles was still awake and

nodded at her before returning his attention to the book he was reading. Xander and Anya were

cuddled together, Xander snoring loudly. Dawn was asleep with one arm and one leg hanging

off the edge of the bed. *If she moves anymore toward the edge, she'll fall off.* Buffy and Spike

were in the room next to Dawn. Spike was spooned against Buffy, one arm over her stomach,

and her head was nestled just below his chin. As she watched them, Cordelia couldn't help but

think how well they fit together. *Who woulda thought?* She closed the door quietly before

retreating to her own room for what was left of the night.

___________________________________________________________

Angel hadn't been able to sleep since Cordelia's words had registered in his brain.

*Buffy's here...Cordelia said I would be shocked by "other stuff". What's "other stuff"? Is it

about Buffy?*

By nine o'clock in the morning, Angel was sitting in his office with his back to the

doorway. But he didn't have to be facing her to know she was there. "Angel?" Buffy asked.

He turned around to see the very pregnant Slayer standing just outside of his office. His

gaze fixed on her stomach and she didn't know whether she wanted to move closer or run away

from his stare. She did neither, instead choosing to wrap her arms around herself.

"Buffy...you...I...how are you?"

"Fine..." *Insert awkward silence here.*

"Good...Congratulations on your..." He motioned to her stomach.

"Thanks...I was, um, I was sorry to hear about your son." He nodded. "I'm just gonna go

make sure Dawn is awake." He nodded again and watched her bolt up the stairs. He spotted

Xander and Giles in the lobby if the hotel, unloading books.

"Hey Xander," Angel said.

The boy looked up, surprised. "Oh, hey Dead Boy."

"You still calling me that?"

"Of course...So you, um, you see Buffy?"

"Yeah. Who's the lucky guy?"

Both Xander and Giles looked extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately, Gunn came

running in from outside. "Angel. We got trouble. Pack of demons is snacking on the people

waiting for the subway."

Angel cast one last glance at Xander and Giles before following Gunn toward the

basement door. "Lead the way."

Cordelia walked into the lobby just as they left. "Where are they going?"

"To fight some demons," Xander answered.

"Oh." She turned to her ex-boyfriend. "So...you and Anya, huh?" Xander nodded.

"Buffy mentioned something about a wedding."

"Uh, yeah. In a couple of months."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

The rest of the gang, along with Fred, made their way down the stairs and into the lobby.

"What's the plan?" Willow asked.

"Research, not surprisingly," Giles answered. "With, um..." he motioned at Fred.

"Oh! Winifred Burkle. But you can just call me Fred." She laughed shyly. "Everybody

does."

"Fred's help here we might begin to translate the prophecies," Giles finished.

"Should we explain to Angel what we're doing?" Tara asked, settling next to Willow on

the floor by one of the couches. Buffy and Spike sat down on the couch itself, while Anya

moved over to Xander.

"No," Cordelia said. "We shouldn't tell Angel until there's something to tell." She

looked at Fred, who had taken a sample of the text and moved over to her laptop which was set

up on the counter. "I'm gonna go down to Caritas. See if Lorne's heard anything...Fred? Can

you hold down the fort 'til I get back?" The girl nodded, thoroughly wrapped up in her research.

"Dawn, do you want to come with me?"

The teen brightened. She turned to her sister. "Can I?"

Buffy thought for a moment, looking at Dawn's pleading expression, before nodding.

"Yeah. But be careful."

"Okay. Thanks," Dawn said, leaning down to kiss Buffy's cheek. "Love ya...Bye."

The girls disappeared as Giles began dividing the books among the rest of them. "Why

are we looking at these again?" Xander asked, petulantly.

"Because there might be something that seems more pertinent now that we know what

we're looking for. A reference to one of the prophecies in the book, for example."

___________________________________________________________

Soon after, Willow joined Fred at the computer while Tara searched for spells that could

possibly reopen the portal without hurting anyone in the process. So far there were none. Anya

had gotten bored with the research quickly and told Xander they should go look at bridal shops

while they were in L.A. He had said that it was not the right time. After fifteen minutes of

listening to them argue, Giles had practically shoved them out the door.

Buffy, still tired from lack of rest, had fallen asleep with her head in Spike's lap. The

book she had been reading was clutched against her chest. Spike carefully moved it out of her

arms, chuckling when a parenting magazine fell out of the center. *Taking a few examples from

Demon Girl I see* he thought. She whimpered in her sleep and Spike stroked her hair to quiet

her. Giles watched them, once again marveling at how gentle the vampire could be when it came

to Buffy. He left the couple alone, moving over to help Tara.

When Angel and Gunn returned, the vampire spotted the bleached blond head of his

grandchilde over the back of the sofa. Gunn went over to Fred as Angel stalked around to the

front of the couch, stopping when he saw Buffy curled up and asleep, head still resting in Spike's

lap. "What the hell is this?!?" Angel yelled.

Buffy jumped, startled by his yell, and cursed when she realized who it was that had

woken her and where she'd been sleeping. She had been hoping to tell him about everything in a

more controlled, calm situation. But "calm" and "control" could never describe my life.

"Angel, it's okay—"

He didn't even hear her as he swung at Spike, fist connecting with the other vampire's

jaw. "I'll ask again. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Spike smirked and punched Angel in the nose, making him stumble backwards. "Just

holdin' my girl, mate."

"What?!?" He whirled on Buffy. "His girl?"

"Angel, I can explain..."

"Explain what, Buffy? Is he telling the truth?"

"I didn't want you to find out like this. I was gonna tell you...I was just waiting for the

right time."

"The right time to tell me that you're screwing Spike?"

Spike could almost see the switch flip in Buffy. She was angry now. But, to his surprise,

when she spoke her voice was neutral and composed. "No. The right time to tell you that I'm in

love with Spike."

Angel gaped at her. "What?"

"I'm in love with Spike," she repeated.

The fighting had summoned the others back into the lobby, and all of them were watching

this exchange in silence. Giles was stunned at Buffy's admission. Buffy had told him that she

was with Spike, but she had not expressed just how deep her feelings were. Though he supposed

he should have guessed. He saw Willow start to move toward the Slayer and laid his hand on her

shoulder, stopping her. "They need to work this out. Let them be."

Angel's head was spinning. He had lost Connor and now he was losing Buffy. At some

level he had always known that they couldn't be together but hearing her say that she was in love

with someone else...it meant that everything they'd had was truly over. Without even thinking

about what he was doing he grabbed Buffy and pushed his lips roughly against hers.

Buffy let out a surprised cry and shoved him away, knocking him to the ground. "What're you

doing?!?"

"I-I'm sorry. I don't...I don't know," Angel stuttered. He looked up at her pleadingly.

"Please, Buffy. Don't do this."

"Don't do what? Move on? God, could you be more—" she stopped as a wave of nausea

swept through her, causing her to falter on her feet. Another wave hit her along with a tearing

pain in her gut. She screamed, hands going instinctively to her stomach. She fell to the ground,

Spike dropping to his knees next to her.

"Buffy, luv, what is it?" he asked.

"Baby." She grabbed for his hand, squeezing it so hard that her nails cut into his skin. But he

couldn't care less. Willow ran to her friend, scowling at Angel as he scrambled to make his way

over to the blond Slayer.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Willow said, just as Cordelia and Dawn walked in.

"Buffy?" Dawn called, hurrying to her sister.

"What's happening?" Cordelia asked, coming over herself.

"Something's wrong. With the baby," Willow answered, grabbing Buffy's other hand.

Like Spike, Willow didn't even flinch when Buffy squeezed her hand.

"Oh god. Okay, come on. My car's outside," Cordelia said.

Spike scooped Buffy into his arms, not even thinking about the time of day, and headed

for the front door. Giles stopped him. "Spike. The sun." For a moment, Giles thought the

vampire might keep going anyway, but he didn't.

"Charles," Fred suggested, motioning Gunn over to them.

"It's okay, man," he said to Spike. "I got her." Spike reluctantly transferred Buffy into

the other man's arms. *Damn, this girl's tiny. How is it she's the Slayer?* Gunn thought as he

headed out the door. Willow, Dawn, and Tara followed them out.

"Fred, call the hospital. Spike, Angel can show you how to get there using the sewers,"

Cordelia instructed. Angel's head snapped up and she could tell he was about to protest but she

spoke first. "Do you want Buffy to lose her baby?" She could see images of Connor flash

through his head as he relented and moved over to the basement door. Cordelia walked over to

Spike, who still seemed to be considering running outside regardless of the sun. "Go with him.

I'll go with Buffy, but she's going to want you there. Preferably not in an ashtray." He looked at

her before nodding and going with Angel down into the basement, heading for the sewer

entrance. "Giles? Wait here with Fred for Xander and Anya. Then bring them to the hospital."

He nodded as she disappeared out the door, calling, "Dawn, Willow, follow with Gunn in his

truck."

___________________________________________________________

Angel walked in silence, just a few steps ahead of Spike. Finally he asked, "When?"

"When what?" Spike bit out, too worried about Buffy to want to deal with Angel.

"You and Buffy. When?"

"Can't see how that's any of your business."

"Just tell me."

Spike let out an exasperated sigh. "When she came back...after the resurrection."

"So, what, it just came out of nowhere?"

"Yeah. Kissed twice and then...brought the house down it did."

"Then what? It just kept happening?"

"Yes...She found out she was pregnant just 'round the same time this wanker, Warren,

and his lackeys decided to trick Buffy into thinking she killed someone. A girl. Pin the murder

on Buffy, make her turn herself in, get her out of their hair...basic plan. Nearly destroyed her

with the guilt. Something you should know a fair amount about...Anyway, she came to me after,

told me 'bout the baby, said she needed to go somewhere else for awhile. So I took her out of

Sunnydale."

There was a pause while Angel absorbed this information. Then he said, "I don't trust

you."

"Are you going to carry on about this all day?"

Angel ignored him. "Does Buffy know all the things you did...you and Dru?"

"I don't hide things from her. 'Sides, you were the one that had the thing for the little

tykes." Spike stopped walking, Angel following suit. "I know why that bloke Holtz had it in for

you. You killed his family."

It wasn't a question, but Angel nodded anyway. "How...?"

"Drusilla saw it. Said that the stars were telling her stories of the past or some such

drivel." *There had been a time when I was amazed by her visions.* Picturing his blond Slayer

he thought *Seems meaningless now.*

"Does Dru know about you and Buffy?" Angel asked as they resumed their walking, this time

at a more accelerated pace.

"Not sure. She knows I love Buffy. Knew that before I did."

"How'd she take that revelation?"

"Surprisingly well. 'Course she was cheatin' on me at the time, so I'd wager that helped

to ease her pain." Angel had fallen a few paces behind Spike, but he was almost positive he

heard him mutter, "Bloody chaos demons."

"This way," Angel said, turning down a side tunnel. They were silent for a moment

before Angel picked up the conversation. "So, those three guys that tried to frame Buffy...what

happened to them?"

"Dawn said that two of them got caught, unfortunately they were the weaker two, and the

other, Warren, disappeared. He's lucky, too. Only thing that kept me from finding some way to

brutally murder him was that I needed to help Buffy. She was more important."

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Be careful with her." They both understood that moment for what it was. A truce.

They'd never be friends, or anything of the sort, but at that point they weren't exactly enemies

either. United by the one girl who was destined to kill them both and yet had managed to capture

their hearts.

___________________________________________________________

Chapter Six: Several Lives To Save



By the time they reached the emergency room, Buffy was unconscious. Willow and

Dawn ran ahead to the reception desk. Gunn carried Buffy with Tara walking alongside him, her

hand on Buffy's forehead as she whispered a protection spell. Cordelia was on Gunn's other

side, Buffy's hand in hers. A nurse ran over with Dawn and Willow.

"What's her name?" she asked.

"Buffy Summers," Willow answered.

The nurse motioned an orderly over with a gurney. "How long has she been

unconscious?"

"About ten minutes," Cordelia supplied.

"And how far along is she?" The orderly and Gunn put Buffy on the stretcher.

"Not quite eight months, I think."

"Okay, take her to Trauma One," the nurse told the orderly, who did as he was asked.

"Trauma?!?" Dawn yelled, attempting to follow.

"She over a month early, alright? We need to make sure that everything's okay. All of

you, please, just wait over there." She pointed to a cluster of about twenty chairs by the main

entrance. Without giving them another glance, she turned and walked through the same doors

that the orderly had taken Buffy through.

A few minutes later, Angel and Spike appeared through the basement door. "Where is

she?!?" Spike asked.

"They took her to trauma," Willow whispered.

"What?!?" He started to turn and go over to the reception desk, but was stopped when

Dawn threw herself into his arms.

"I'm scared," she sobbed. "Buffy's the only real family I have left...she's going to die

again isn't she?"

Spike put his hands on her shoulders and pulled back a little so that he could look at her.

"No. Takes a lot more than this to knock the Slayer down."

"How do you know? She's never done this before. None of us have." He had no answer

to that. All any of them could do was wait.

___________________________________________________________

Fred brought Giles a cup of tea. Even though it was now six o'clock in the evening, Giles

needed the calming qualities of the hot liquid. "I'm just glad we had some left...if Wesley was

still here it would probably have been used up already," Fred told him.

Giles could sense that what had transpired between Wesley and Angel, particularly the

abduction of Connor, was not an easy subject for any of the Angel Investigations team. "Has

anybody spoken with him about our research on Connor?" he asked. He was glad for the

distraction this conversation was providing. He needed something to take his mind off of Buffy

and the fact that he had to wait for Xander and Anya to return before finding out if she was

alright.

"Cordy tried calling him, but there was no answer." Fred's voice brought him back to reality.

"I, um, finished the translation matrix and started looking through the book. I figured that the

information we're looking for would be near the middle or the end. And I, um, I think I found it."

He started at that, and she blushed under his surprised gaze. "Here." She handed him a piece of

paper with the translation written on it.

He was about to study it when he heard Xander's voice drift in from outside. "Ahn, I told

you. It doesn't matter to me what kind of flowers we have, as long as you're happy with them."

Next came Anya's voice. "But Xander, every decision regarding the wedding is important. I

want you to be part of the planning." They appeared in the doorway and Giles walked over to

them.

"Xander, Anya. Buffy went into labor earlier. Cordelia and the others took her to the

hospital."

Anya brightened. "Buffy's having the baby? This is perfect timing! I thought we were

going to have to get her measurements redone for the bridesmaid dress."

Xander noticed Giles's stricken expression. "What's wrong?" Anya noticed it too and

quickly sobered.

"From what I saw, she was in a great deal of pain. More than is normal. And I must say,

based on the child's development, it is hardly 'perfect timing'," Giles stated, perhaps more

harshly than he'd intended. Anya looked down at her feet, feeling scolded.

"Oh my god," Xander said. "What...? Is-is she okay?"

"I honestly don't know. I was waiting for the two of you so that we could go to the

hospital."

"Well, then let's go," Xander prompted, turning and heading back out the front door.

Giles, Anya, and Fred followed.

In the car, Giles began to look over the text again. As much as Giles could see the whole

thing was extremely overwritten. "Is there anything useful in there?" Fred asked.

"Possibly. There are a few lines in here that appear relevant. The rest is mostly saying

what we had already figured, that it would involve descendants of the Master's line," he

answered.

"What are the things that fit?"

"Um...Well there's this line, here, 'one will be u-unborn in darkness and dust'. I believe

that's Connor. He was able to be 'born' only because Darla staked herself, leaving dust..."

"And it was in an alley at night," Fred agreed.

"There's also this line which, I regret to say, doesn't make much sense. Uh, 'the other is

born from living flesh, five marks north from the point of loss'." His brow furrowed in thought.

"Xander, do you have a map?"

"Um, yeah. I think it's in the glove box. Anya, can you look?" Xander responded.

Anya located the book of California state maps and handed it to Giles. He turned to the

two pages, opposite each other, devoted to Los Angeles and studied the area surrounding the

hospital. "Where exactly did the portal open?"

Fred leaned over so that she could see the map of the city. "Um...right there," she said,

placing her finger on the point she was talking about.

Giles counted exactly five marked streets between that point and the southern end of the

hospital. *Five marks north from the point of loss.* "Xander, drive faster."

___________________________________________________________

A doctor approached the rather large group anxiously waiting in the emergency room

lobby. *Girl's well loved.* "Are all of you here for Miss Summers?" he asked.

"Is she okay?" Spike asked quickly.

*Must be the father.* "For now," the doctor answered. "She has toxemia. High blood

pressure during pregnancy, usually caused by excessive stress. It can result in premature delivery

and sometimes birth defects. My guess would be that she's had this condition for awhile, but it

only recently was triggered." Spike shot a scathing look at Angel. "When she came in I thought

she was going to deliver right then. But the contractions stopped. The baby's heart rate is

normal, as is hers." The doctor sat down directly across from Spike and Dawn, Cordelia and

Willow were on Dawn's other side and Gunn and Angel were on the end. "Still, I'm not going to

lie to you. Neither are out of the woods yet. If she doesn't give birth today...we may lose them

both. Right now, we have two options: we can induce her and have her deliver naturally, or we

can perform a caesarian."

"Which is safest for Buffy and the baby?" Dawn asked.

"In all honesty, I think a caesarian would be much less risky at this point."

"No!" a voice called from the entrance. Everyone looked over to see Giles coming

towards them. "Buffy must give birth naturally."

"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" the doctor asked.

Spike stood and approached Giles. "What are you going on about, Watcher?" he asked in

a tone that made it clear he was not in the mood to beat around the bush.

"No caesarian. Spike, it is imperative that Buffy have this child naturally." Spike stared

at Giles, scrutinizing him, but Giles stood his ground. Finally, Spike nodded. Cordelia spotted

Xander, Anya, and Fred behind Giles and waved sadly, a silent message that things were

nowhere near okay yet.

"Doctor Willis!" a nurse called, running into the lobby. "Your patient...the Summers

girl...she's in labor. But it's moving really quickly."

"How quickly?" the doctor asked.

"She's fully dilated."

"Damn it." He turned to Giles. "Guess you got what you wanted, there's no time to prep

her for surgery. I just hope we can save them."

"Um...she's awake a-and she's asking for somebody named 'Spike'...I also heard her

mention a 'Dawn' and a 'Tara'. She said some other names too, when she woke up, but those

were the only ones I could understand..."

"Two of you can come. That's it. And we need to go now," Doctor Willis said, moving

toward the trauma doors.

"Tara, you go. Buffy might need magic help," Dawn whispered. Tara stood and ran to

catch up with Spike, who had already crossed the distance from the chairs to the doors in less

than four strides. As soon as they were gone, Dawn stood. "Okay, Giles. What's going on?"

"I'm going to have to agree with Dawn on this one. Why were you insisting that Buffy

not have surgery?" Cordelia asked.

"Because this may be the only way to get Connor back," he answered.

"What?!?" All eyes fell to Angel, who up until that moment had remained silent.

___________________________________________________________

A nurse, Shelby, who had come down from Obstetrics shortly after Buffy was brought in,

now stood by her side and rubbed ice along her forehead.

"You're going to have to start pushing soon."

"What? No! No, I can't," Buffy whimpered. Up until Shelby had said those words, Buffy

had been able to shove the reality of this moment away. She barely even registered the pain

anymore. But now she couldn't distance herself with sarcasm or focusing on other things.

Another contraction tore through her abdomen and this time she felt it completely. She started to

sob, tears burning their way down her cheeks.

"Shh. You're gonna be okay. When Doctor Willis gets back we'll start, alright?"

"Spike?" Buffy groaned.

"I think someone went to get him."

Doctor Willis, two other nurses, Spike, and Tara came into the room. "Tonya, call the

NICU and tell them to send an incubator down. I'm not taking any more chances than we have

to," Doctor Willis said. One of the nurses went over to the phone on the wall.

"Are you Spike?" Shelby asked. He nodded, now standing at Buffy's side. "See I told

you he'd be here," Shelby said to Buffy.

"Spike?" Buffy turned her head to look at him. "You're here."

"Of course, luv."

"I can't do this. Tell them I can't do this," she pleaded. Tara took Shelby's place, across

from Spike. "Tara?" Buffy asked, seeing her. The witch nodded and took her hand.

"Alright, Buffy. It's time." As if to prove the doctor's point, another pain struck her.

Then another. Then another. All of them overlapping. Buffy screamed.

___________________________________________________________

"That's why they're here, Angel," Cordelia explained. "I asked them to help us find a

way to get Connor back. And I think they did."

"Giles?" Angel questioned.

"It's true. Now, we haven't much time. I had hoped to get here before Buffy gave birth

because from what I gather, the second her child is born, the portal will open."

"Angel. Go," Cordelia commanded. He didn't move. "Go!" Angel bolted for the door.

"Gunn, go with him." Gunn nodded, kissed Fred quickly, and then ran after Angel.

"Do you think they'll make it in time?" Willow asked.

"I hope so. Dear lord, I hope so," Giles said, staring at the trauma doors.

___________________________________________________________

"Come on, Buffy. You can do this. Just one more," Doctor Willis instructed. Her

response was only to sob harder.

*This is bloody killing her.* "Listen to the doc, luv," Spike said, placing his hand on top of

Buffy's sweat slicked forehead. He looked up at Tara. "Is there something you can do?"

She placed her hand on his. "She has to do this on her own. Just talk to her."

"Buffy, it's almost over. One last push," Shelby said, rubbing Buffy's left leg to calm

her.

Buffy screamed again, the sound ripping from every pore on her body and beneath it, an

infant's cry was heard.

___________________________________________________________

Gunn had a hard time keeping up with the dark-haired vampire and an even harder time

seeing him in the dark. Angel rounded the corner into the familiar empty lot just minutes before

Gunn. "Angel, man, be careful!" he called, before he was blinded by a luminescent purple light

and forced to cover his eyes. The light faded some but when Gunn removed his hands he could

still see the open portal, hovering above the ground. And below it, huddled in the dirt, was a

small figure. Angel reached whoever it was first and scooped them into his arms. He ran back

toward Gunn and as soon as he was close enough, Gunn could see what he had already

suspected. "Connor," he whispered. The boy looked to be about eight years old, but was very

thin for his age. Gunn looked back at the portal, which still hadn't closed. "Angel, the portal..."

"Leave it," Angel said.

"But..."

"Gunn, it'll close on its own. We need to get back to the hospital."

*I hope he's right* Gunn thought as he followed Angel back the way they came. Just like

the first time, Angel made short work of the distance and it seemed to Gunn, who was running

full-out to keep up, that they were back in the emergency room mere seconds from when they left

the site of the portal. "Hey, we need one of those bed things over here!" he called as he stepped

through the automatic doors.

Angel helped a nurse lay the unconscious Connor onto a stretcher. "What happened to

him?" she asked, taking in Connor's beaten form. Now that Gunn could see Connor in the light,

he was able to fully assess how badly the boy had been hurt. Connor had a deep gash just below

his hairline, more on his arms and legs, and bruises all over.

"I don't know. I was, um, here with...a friend...when the babysitter called and said I

should go pick him up. He's my son."

"Any particular reason he's dressed this way?" the nurse asked, checking Connor's pulse.

That's when Gunn noticed that Connor only had on a burlap tunic that ended at his knees.

"School play," Angel answered quickly. "'A Christmas Story'. He was a beggar."

*Man, does he think fast on his feet or what?* Gunn thought, impressed.

"Okay, well, we'll get him checked out," the nurse said, wheeling the stretcher towards a

different set of double doors than where Buffy was. These were closer to the waiting area and

Cordelia got a good look at the person on the gurney as it was wheeled past.

"Oh my god," she whispered, eyes wide.

"What is it?" Xander asked, looking up from his coffee.

"Connor."

"I guess it worked," Anya said.

"But that means..." Dawn began, moving towards the trauma doors. Just as she reached

them, they opened and Tara walked out. "Tara?"

The blond smiled. "Everything's going to be okay. They're moving Buffy to the regular

maternity ward and they're taking the baby upstairs to the NICU. The doctor said it's just a

precaution. She's really healthy for being born as early as she was."

"She?" Tara nodded. Dawn hugged her and squealed happily, before running over to the

rest of the group. "I have a niece! I have a niece!"

"It's a girl?" Willow asked, standing.

"It's a girl," Tara confirmed, joining them.

"How's Buffy?" Xander asked.

"Good. She's starting to recover, I mean."

"Can we see her?"

"Probably. The nurse said they were taking her to room 2506. Second floor."

"Then come on. I have a sister to see and a niece to meet," Dawn prompted impatiently,

heading for the elevator. Everyone except Cordelia followed her.

"Cordy, you coming?" Xander called.

"In a minute. I'll meet you guys up there." He nodded as the doors slid shut. Cordelia

walked through the set of double doors that Angel and Gunn had followed Connor through. She

wandered down the hallway, peeking into different rooms until she spotted Angel and Gunn

sitting next to a bed. Connor was bandaged and dressed in a hospital gown, but was still

unconscious. "Buffy had a little girl." Both men looked up at her. "Fred's upstairs, if you

wanna go find her," she told Gunn, who nodded and stood.

"I'll come back later," he said. Turning to Cordelia, he asked, "What floor?"

"Second. Room 2506." Gunn left and Cordelia went to stand next to Angel. "Any

change?"

"No. They took some x-rays. Said they found evidence of previously broken

bones...none currently. But he hasn't woken up."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "He will. He's safe now...I'm, uh, I'm gonna go visit

Buffy."

"I don't want to leave him."

"Don't worry. I'll tell her. You just focus on getting Connor to wake up." She left him

alone in the room.

___________________________________________________________

*I want to marry whoever invented this stuff* Buffy thought as a nurse injected something

into her IV.

"I think I hear people coming," Spike said to Buffy, his hand running through her hair.

Dawn and the others appeared in the doorway. "Buffy?"

"Hey," she responded, voice a little hoarse.

Everyone filed into the room and the nurse's eyes widened. *They just keep coming* she

thought. "There's really only supposed to be four people in here at a time."

"We'll be quiet. Promise," Willow said, moving to sit at Buffy's feet. Dawn climbed up

to lay next to her sister.

"Don't wear her out," the nurse warned, leaving the room.

"How are you feeling, Buffy?" Giles asked his charge.

"Numb," she answered. "They gave me an injection full of pain killer-y goodness."

"Sounds nice," Cordelia said from the door.

"Hey Cordy," Buffy said.

"Hi...Um, Angel's downstairs. With Connor."

"Connor?" She looked around the room at each of her friends. "I missed something,

didn't I?"

"We, um, we found out that the portal would reopen at the same time your baby was

born," Fred explained.

"Is he okay?"

"Pretty thrashed," Gunn said. "He grew...a lot. He looks like he's eight years old now,

except he should be less than a year."

"Hell dimensions will do that to you," Anya said.

"Do you think we should go stay with him?" Fred asked Gunn.

"You guys go. Help Angel and Connor," Buffy told them.

"I'm actually gonna stay here for a little while," Cordelia said as her co-workers left.

___________________________________________________________

By seven o'clock the next morning, only Dawn, Willow, Spike, and Tara were with Buffy

in her room. Cordelia, Fred, and Gunn had gone downstairs to stay with Angel, while Giles had

taken Xander and Anya to make sure nothing in the book of prophecies would signify danger.

Buffy had slept for a few hours, but mostly stayed awake. Now, Dawn was the only one asleep,

still laying next to Buffy. A nurse had brought breakfast for Buffy at five, but she had barely

touched it.

"I hate hospitals," Buffy grumbled.

"Unfortunately, with your line of work you're in them a lot," Willow said, adjusting the

arrangement of balloons and stuffed animals that had been bought in the gift shop while Buffy

was asleep.

There was a knock on the closed door before it opened to reveal Shelby and another

nurse, pushing a basinet between them. "Somebody wants to see you," Shelby said. Buffy sat up

straighter, wakening Dawn.

"Geez Buffy. What was that for— oh..." Dawn slid off the bed, giving Buffy more room.

"Can I...?" Buffy asked, holding out her arms.

"Of course." Shelby lifted the baby, who was wrapped in a lavender blanket, and gently

placed her in Buffy's arms.

*I can't believe she's mine* Buffy thought. She had gotten to see her daughter for a split

second at her birth, but Buffy had been out of it at the time and couldn't remember much.

Spike was amazed at how much the baby looked like Buffy. *Got my eyes though* he

thought when he saw the bright sapphire color of the baby's eyes.

"She's so pretty," Willow cooed.

"Looks just like you two," Dawn said. Tara remained silent, stroking the baby's blond

hair.

"Keri here, can show you how to breast feed if you want to try it," Shelby said, indicating

the other nurse.

"Tara and I are going to go downstairs and see if we can help with Connor. Dawn, you

wanna come with?" Willow asked.

"Yeah." Dawn followed the two witches and Shelby out the door.

___________________________________________________________

"Spike, why don't you take the sewers back to the hotel and get some sleep?" Cordelia

asked, sitting next to him in Buffy's room while she napped. "Fred and Gunn are taking over

'Connor Watch' so that Angel can go home."

"Don't particularly want to leave my girls."

Cordelia smiled. "I think Buffy's down for the count and speaking of the baby...have you

two decided on a name?"

"Yeah. But I think Buffy wants to announce it with everybody here."

"Has she always been this secretive?"

"Prob'ly."

"Spike...it's the middle of the day. You really should go get some sleep. Or at least

something to eat. I think I heard the nurses say they're letting Buffy go tonight. Might be better

if you can stay awake."

He still looked torn, but after a moment he nodded. He stood up and leaned over to kiss

Buffy's forehead. "Watch 'em for me?" he asked Cordelia.

"I will." *He really has changed* she thought as he left the room. "How is it that you get

the all the hottest, non-evil vampires to fall for you?" she asked the sleeping Buffy.

___________________________________________________________



Chapter Seven: Be Sure To Lock the Door



Later that evening Buffy was attempting to eat dinner while nursing the baby at the same

time. When someone knocked on the door she tugged the baby blanket up to her neck, covering

her chest and the baby. "Yeah?"

The door opened and everyone except Angel, who she figured was probably downstairs

with Connor, walked in. "We're back," Dawn said.

Spike moved the food tray away from the bed and sat down in a chair next to it. Buffy

felt the baby let go and reached beneath the blanket to readjust her camisole before uncovering

the baby. "Well, now that you're all here we can do the official introduction," Buffy said.

*Finally* Cordelia thought.

Buffy cradled the baby in a way that everyone could see her. "Everybody, I'd like you to

meet Ariana Elizabeth Summers."

Sounds of approval were heard throughout the room. "How'd you come up with that?"

Tara asked.

"Ariana is a name I've always liked and Elizabeth was the name of Spike's mother."

"It's perfect," Dawn said, touching her niece's cheek.

"Wanna hold her?"

"What? Really? I mean, can I?"

"Yeah. Here, sit down. Okay, now put one arm here under her neck and the other here.

There you go, you got her."

"Hi. Look at you, so pretty," Dawn breathed.

"Angel," Giles said, surprised.

"What? Oh..." Buffy said, seeing Angel in the doorway. A young boy, dressed in a

hospital gown and green scrub pants that were about two sizes too large, was sitting in the

wheelchair he was pushing.

"It's, um, getting a little crowded in her," Xander said. "We'll be out in the waiting area."

Anya and Xander left the room, Giles following soon after.

"Connor, say hello," Angel said.

"Hi," the little boy whispered, throat a little scratchy.

*Still doesn't look a thing like Peaches* Spike thought.

Fred kneeled down in front of Connor. "How are you?" she asked. Connor only nodded

in response.

"He doesn't remember what happened," Angel told the others quietly. "They're letting

him go tonight," he added, a little louder.

"Us too," Buffy said. That's when Angel noticed the baby in Dawn's arms.

"Is that your, um, little girl?" he asked, slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

"That's Ariana," Buffy concurred, smiling as Tara took the baby from Dawn. *That kid is

going to be held 24/7.*

Rapid footsteps were heard down the hallway, before Xander appeared in the doorway.

"Buff...turn on the TV," he panted.

Startled by his tone Buffy grabbed for the remote and flipped on the TV. "—breaking

news for Monday, December 17th. Authorities are puzzled by the sudden rash of violent crimes

that began sometime yesterday evening. An estimated twenty-nine bodies have been discovered.

Survivors of the multiple attacks have said that the suspects looked like, as strange as this may

sound, monsters," the anchorwoman on the TV reported.

"Yesterday evening?" Gunn repeated, looking directly at Angel.

"The portal," Angel said.

"I thought you said it'd close on its own."

"It should have."

"What are you guys talking about?" Buffy asked.

"The portal...The one that...It was still open when we left," Angel explained.

"Oh, good work, Peaches," Spike said, sarcastically.

Angel narrowed his eyes at the other vampire. "You would have done the same thing if it

involved your child." *I can't believe I just said William the Bloody would have risked his life

and others to save a child. Although he has always been a fool for love.* Spike glanced at the

infant now asleep in Tara's arms and stayed silent after that.

"Okay, so other things must be coming out of the portal," Dawn said, breaking the

silence. "Demons and stuff."

"It sure sounds like it," Willow agreed.

Shelby walked into the room. "I just came to give you the discharge forms to fill out. As

soon as they're complete you're free to leave." She handed Buffy a packet of papers and then

smiled at Ariana. "I've never seen a premie released this quickly before. Usually we send the

mothers home a couple of weeks before the baby. She must heal really fast."

Alarm bells went off in the back of Buffy's head but she ignored them, at least for the

moment. *Now's not the time* she thought. "Thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome." Shelby moved back to the door. "Be sure to take it easy for the next

couple of weeks," she said before disappearing down the hall.

"So what's the plan?" Buffy asked while scribbling down the appropriate information on

the papers.

"Um, I'm not sure what to do about the portal but there's another thing," Fred told the group,

specifically Angel. "What about Wolfram and Hart? I mean, maybe you shouldn't take Connor

back to the hotel yet. In case they're still watching."

"What about my place?" Cordelia asked.

"That would work," Angel said.

"Okay. Xander, go tell Giles and Anya what's going on. Maybe go back to the hotel and

grab the research stuff and some weapons," Buffy said. "We can all meet back at Cordy's."

"Fred, do you want to go with them?" Cordelia suggested. "Help them find everything?"

"Sure," Fred answered, following Xander out of the room.

"Gunn, do you think you could go pick up some clothes for Connor?"

"Yeah." He left as well.

"Speaking of clothes. I have nothing to wear," Buffy said, putting her hand on her already

shrinking waist.

"Way ahead of you, sis," Dawn said. She slid off the bed and walked to the corner of the

room by the door. She grabbed a shopping bag off the floor and presented it to Buffy. "Willow,

Tara, and I got you some clothes earlier."

"Perfect. Thank you," Buffy said, finding a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans in the bag.

She pulled the blankets off her body and got up. Spike held onto her arm until her legs

readjusted to standing. "Be right back," she said, walking into the adjoining bathroom and

shutting the door. She reemerged fully dressed and after slipping on her shoes she went over to

Tara and took Ariana. Spike and Buffy led the way out of the room, everyone else following

close behind.

___________________________________________________________

Angel had left Connor at Cordelia's before dragging Spike with him down to Caritas to

see if Lorne knew anything about why the portal would stay open. Gunn had come by with some

clothes for Connor but then left to go check the streets for information. Connor hadn't said much

to anyone since leaving the hospital, although he seemed to like Ariana. Buffy had seen him

smiling at the baby numerous times in the car on the ride over.

Currently, the boy was sitting on Cordelia's sofa, looking more broody than any child

should know how to be. *Guess it's genetic* Buffy thought as she walked over, Ariana

wide-awake in her arms, and knelt down to his level. He smiled as his gaze fell on Ariana. "Hi,"

Buffy said.

"Hi," he responded, not taking his eyes off the baby.

"Do you want to hold her?"

That got his attention. "Yes, please."

"Here." She gently transferred the baby into his arms. "I think she likes you," she said as

Ariana grabbed onto one of Connor's pinky fingers.

The front door opened and Spike, Angel, Gunn, Fred, Anya, and Xander walked in. "Well, it's

official. The portal is still open," Gunn said. Angel watched as Spike went over to Buffy and

kissed her, amazed at how easily the Slayer fell into Spike's embrace.

Buffy looked around the room. "Um...where's Giles?"

___________________________________________________________

Wesley got up off of his couch, wanting to get rid of whoever was pounding on his door. He

had been reading the newspaper, intrigued by the article pertaining to the recent murders, when

the knocking had started. He had ignored it for a few minutes but the person did not give up.

"Hold on just one bloody moment." He opened the door to find his former colleague on the other

side. "Rupert."

The other man pushed passed him into the apartment. "I'm afraid there's no time for

pleasantries. You are aware that people are being atacked by 'otherworldly creatures'?"

"Yes, of course. Doesn't explain why you're here, however."

"Because I know the cause of it. A portal was opened yesterday and apparently never

closed. If I'm not mistaken, demons are coming through the portal and into our world."

"Who opened the portal?"

"Ah,well..." Giles removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It was part

of a prophecy. But I suppose Buffy was the actual catalyst. It would not have happened without

her presence."

"Buffy is here in L.A.?"

"Yes. I can explain the details in the car. Right now I need to know if you possess the

requisite knowledge to close the portal?"

"I believe so."

"Then we need to go."

___________________________________________________________

Back at Cordelia's apartment, weapons were being handed out while everyone waited for

Giles. "We need to go now. Start fighting these things off as they come through the portal.

After it's closed we can worry about dealing with the ones that are already here," Angel said,

hefting a double-headed axe into his hand. Some of the weapons had been brought by Xander,

but the majority came from the collection Angel had convinced Cordelia to have in her

apartment.

"What about Giles?" Willow asked as she helped Tara load magic ingredients into plastic

baggies. She herself was not going to be performing the spells, instead she was forced to rely on

the minimal fighting skills she's learned over the years. *It pays to have a best friend who's a

Slayer* she thought.

"We can't wait any longer. Does he know where it is?"

"I showed him the spot on the map," Fred told them.

"Then he'll be able to find it. Come on."

Buffy went to grab a sword but Spike caught her wrist. "Stay here."

"But..."

"No. You're not up for the big battles yet."

Dawn, who was standing next to them, giggled. "Buffy's an indoor kitty now."

Spike raised an eyebrow at the teenager. "You're not going either, Niblet."

"I can fight!" she protested.

"No, you can't," Buffy and Spike said in unison. "Spike, I'm fine. Slayer healing," Buffy

continued.

"You're still not up to full strength. The cheerleader's not going, so you won't be alone.

'Sides you got Dawn and Ariana to look after. Stay."

As if on cue, Ariana started to cry. Buffy went over and took her from Connor. The boy

didn't seem to mind, he was distracted by what everybody else was doing. *Boys really do like

stuff to do with violence.* Buffy rocked the baby gently as she walked back over to Spike. "I

don't like this," she said.

"I know. I love you." He kissed her quickly, then bent down and kissed Ariana's

forehead.

"I love you, too," she told him. She raised her voice a little as she addressed the group.

"Be careful. All of you." Everyone nodded before leaving.

"It'll be okay, Buffy," Dawn said, touching her shoulder.

"I know...but, hey! What was that 'kitty' comment about?" Dawn smirked at her before

plopping down on the sofa next to Connor. Buffy went into the kitchen where Cordelia was

making hot chocolate for Connor. *I didn't think she even knew what a kitchen was in high

school.*

Oblivious to the Slayer's presence, Cordelia said, "Dennis? Can you hand me a glass

from the cupboard?"

"Who's Dennis?" Buffy asked.

Cordelia jumped and spun, one hand pressed over her heart. "God, Buffy, you scared

me." *I see she hasn't lost her talent for stealth over the years.*

"Sorry," Buffy said. "But, you said 'Dennis'. Who's Dennis?"

"Oh! He's my ghost. Roommate."

Buffy watched as a cupboard door swung open and a glass floated down onto the counter.

"Is he a...friendly ghost?" she asked, knowing how it sounded even as the words left her mouth.

Cordelia quirked an eyebrow at her but smiled. "Yes. He's a regular old Casper."

"Buffy?" Giles called.

Buffy and Cordelia moved back into the living room. "Giles?" Buffy responded. She

saw the other watcher standing next to Giles. "Hello Wesley," she said curtly.

"Buffy. Giles tells me you've had some, uh, interesting experiences recently," Wesley

said, his focus falling on the baby in Buffy's arms.

After what Cordelia had said about Wesley's involvement in Connor's dimension hopping,

Buffy wasn't sure how much she trusted him anymore. *And to think he used to just be a clueless

dork* she thought as she met and held his gaze, silently daring him to question her judgement.

"What the hell are you doing here, Wesley?" Cordelia asked, her tone icy.

"I asked him to come," Giles said. "He knows how to close the portal."

"What's it involve?" Buffy asked, repositioning Ariana so that the baby's head was next

to hers.

"You, Buffy. Or more precisely, your blood," Wesley answered.

"What?!?" Dawn said, getting up from the couch and coming over.

"Does every spell or ritual thingy have to involve Slayer's blood?" Cordelia asked.

"'Cause don't you think that's just a little unfair?"

"It has much less to do with the fact that Buffy is the Slayer than it does with the fact that

she is Ariana's mother," Giles said.

"You can't possibly expect her to give up her blood again. Not now," Dawn protested,

glaring at Giles. *How can he think that it's okay to have Buffy die again? Especially with

Ariana here.*

"It would not take anywhere near as much as...b-before. Not enough to do any significant

damage to you, Buffy." Dawn backed down.

"We have to leave now," Wesley said.

*Is it wrong that I'm a little happy this thing needs my blood?* Buffy wondered. "Cordy,

you okay staying here?"

"Of course."

Buffy kissed the top of Ariana's head. That's when the full concept that she was having

to leave her newborn with someone else, while she went to fight, hit her. *Not even two days old

and already I'm leaving her to go save the world. Not so happy now.* She reluctantly handed

Ariana to Cordelia. "Dawn? Help Cordelia, will you? Don't just sit there in your teenage

sulkyness?" Dawn glared at her, but nodded. "Bye." Buffy followed Giles and Wesley out the

door.

"Dawn, would you mind taking the baby? I still need to finish up in the kitchen. Oh, and

maybe try and get her to take a nap?"

"Sure," Dawn said, taking Ariana. Cordelia returned to the kitchen.

"Dennis, why don't you go watch TV with Connor? Nothing inappropriate," she said. She

heard the TV turn on and the volume go up and knew that her "roommate" had joined Dawn and

the kids.

About ten minutes later Cordelia was startled by the sound of her front door being opened

and slammed shut repeatedly. "Dennis! What is it now?!?" she called. The slamming stopped

but was then replaced with what Cordelia thought were sounds of struggle. Concerned, she

quickly dried her hands and ran into the living room. The door now stood open and Cordelia

arrived just in time to see a man in a suit carrying a limp Connor outside, followed by two more.

She frantically scanned the room and saw Dawn on the floor, bound and gagged, with her

head lolling against the couch. Ariana's blanket laid forgotten by her feet. Cordelia's mind was

racing. "Wolfram and Ha—" was all she managed to say before something hard collided with

the back of her head.

___________________________________________________________

Wesley turned around in the passenger seat and handed Buffy a knife with an ornately

carved ivory handle. "Once you are next to the portal, use this to cut your hand. You must then

put your hand in the portal."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You want me to stick my hand in a portal to Hell?"

"As soon as it begins to close, you should be able to pull away," Wesley continued.

"'Should'? That's reassuring." He simply turned back around, without responding. Giles

parked in a side street, just around the corner from the portal site. All three got out of the car and

immediately heard the battle that was currently underway. Buffy gripped the knife tighter and

rounded the corner. She watched the others fighting before spotting an open path to the portal.

She broke into a run, heading directly for her goal and barely noticing the numerous types

of demons surrounding her.

*Bloody hell* Spike thought as he caught sight of the blond Slayer zooming past. He tried

to stay focused on her but was distracted when something with tentacles grabbed him.

Buffy reached the portal, the glare of the light burning into her eyes. She raised the knife

and made a clean diagonal cut across the palm of her other hand. Her blood began to pool the

second the metal bit into her flesh. Without bothering to rethink what she was doing, she thrust

her hand into the portal.

Spike and Angel had both sensed it. Slayer's blood. They disregarded their current opponents

and bolted for the portal. They ran even faster when they saw Buffy seemingly caught in a battle

between two forces; one making her stay in this dimension, the other pulling her into the portal.

Spike reached her first and grabbed her waist, pulling her back. Angel did the same with the arm

that was currently being tugged into the portal. As soon as the swirling portal began to shrink

Buffy, with Spike and Angel's help, was able to yank her hand away from it.

"Okay," Buffy said, drawing out the sound, "that was weird."

"What're you even doing here?" Spike asked angrily.

"Wesley figured out that my blood would close the portal."

"You should have stayed where you were. Red and Glinda would have figured out

another way."

"'Red and Glinda'?" Angel asked.

"Willow and Tara," Buffy clarified offhandedly. She returned her full attention to Spike,

her own temper flaring. "I don't think there was another way. Wesley told me what I had to do

and I did it."

"Uh, guys?" Angel said, interrupting their argument and drawing their attention to the

fact that all of the demons that had come through the portal had disappeared.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

Willow approached them, a cut across her lip but otherwise unharmed, answered, "When

the portal closed they went 'poof'. Just exploded in a flash of the same kind of light the portal

was made of."

*Gotta love a hell dimension that cleans up after itself* Buffy thought. "Well, if the ones

that were here are gone then the ones that already got away are probably gone too."

"So we're done here?" Xander asked, sounding relieved, as he walked over.

"Guess so."

"Well, then I vote we get back to Cordy's ASAP. This place is creeping me out."

___________________________________________________________

The door to Cordelia's apartment stood open, a testament to what had happened there

earlier. A wave of uneasiness washed over Buffy as she walked down the hallway and as soon as

she stepped over the threshold, she saw why. *No.* The one-syllabic word repeated endlessly in

her brain. She couldn't move, not even when Willow came up beside her.

"Buffy? What is it?" she asked. Buffy didn't answer so she looked into the apartment.

*Oh no* she thought as she quickly took stock of the situation. *Dawn? By the sofa. Cordelia?

On the floor by the kitchen. Ariana and Connor? Oh goddess.* Willow looked back at Buffy,

who still hadn't moved. Willow could hear Cordelia and Dawn stirring inside the apartment and

also the footsteps of the rest of the group, who had fallen behind at some point, coming down the

hallway. She pulled Buffy back into the hall, embracing her tightly and offering the only

comfort she could think of at the moment. The others came around the corner, stopping at the

sight of Willow hugging a near-catatonic Buffy.

*Buffy looks just like she did when Dawn got taken by...no. Not that. Not Ariana* Spike

thought, fixing Willow with a questioning look. "Red?"

"She's gone, Spike," the wiccan answered softly. She glanced back and forth between Spike

and Angel before adding, "Ariana and Connor both...Cordelia and Dawn are still inside." Spike

walked closer to Willow and Buffy, knowing Willow was telling the truth. Angel, however, had

bolted into the apartment, not believing Willow. Tara, Xander, Anya, Fred, Gunn, Giles, and

Wesley had followed him to tend to Cordelia and Dawn. Willow moved Buffy into Spike's arms

and went into the apartment. For her part, Buffy didn't seem to even notice that she had been

transferred to someone else's care.

Spike gripped her shoulders and shook her roughly. *Not disappearing like that again.*

"Come on, Goldilocks. Snap out of it." He shook her again and this time her eyes focused on

him.

"Gone?" she whimpered. At first he didn't understand what she was asking, but then he

got it. She wanted to know if all of this was really happening.

"We'll find 'er."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She dissolved into tears, sobbing against his chest.

"Sorry for what?"

"It's my fault. You told me to stay and I d-didn't. I wasn't here," she hiccuped, raising

her head.

"Watchers told you to, luv."

"Since when do I listen? I shouldn't have...You were right. We could have found another

way."

Dawn, an ice pack firmly pressed to her forehead, walked into the hallway. She adjusted

the ice to cover more of the purplish area on her head, apparently Cordelia hadn't been the only

one to get hit. "Tara's working on a locator spell," she said, her voice cracking. Buffy moved

one of her arms so that Dawn could fit between her and Spike.

___________________________________________________________

For some reason the locator spell was unsuccessful, but after Cordelia had recovered enough

to form coherent thoughts and words she told them it was Wolfram and Hart. Spike had gone

out, searching for a violent way to pass the time. Wesley had returned to his apartment to see if

he had any other resources in his possession, while the others were attempting to find a way into

the building with the little supplies they had. Gunn had opted for brute force, but even Angel had

agreed that would likely get everyone hurt.

Buffy was lying on the couch, her head in Tara's lap, as the wiccan tried to comfort her.

Dawn brought over a cup of tea for her sister as well as a plate of toast. Buffy blinked at the

food, not really seeing it, her lashes brushing against the tear-stained skin beneath her eyes. Tara

shook her head at Dawn and the teen set the dishes on the coffee table.

"Buffy, you really should eat," Tara said as Dawn moved back to the other group. "You

won't be able to help Ariana if you don't."

"Why do these things keep happening?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

The door opened and Wesley entered, quickly walking over to the "planning committee" and

speaking to them softly. "Buff?" Xander called. "You might want to hear what Wes has got to

say."

Tara and Buffy slowly joined the rest of the group. Wesley cleared his throat. "Um, well,

the side entrance on this wing of the building," he said, pointing to a spot hand drawn diagram of

the Wolfram and Hart lawfirm, "is currently unguarded. If we move quickly we should be able

to get in. It would require some...muscle of course. Just because the door will open doesn't

mean we won't encounter other obstacles."

"I told you force was the way to go," Gunn said.

"Go where?" Spike asked, coming into the apartment.

Willow offered him a small smile. "Into the lion's den. We think we can get into

Wolfram and Hart...get the kids back."

___________________________________________________________



Chapter Eight: Truth of Origins

Connor sat on a large leather sofa in a sickeningly over-decorated office. A white basinet,

with the letters "W" and "H" engraved on the end, stood next to the couch. Several Wolfram and

Hart lawyers stood around the room. One of them, a woman who Connor thought was named

Lilah, knelt in front of him. "You know, Connor, we have no intention of hurting you or the

baby," she said, motioning to the basinet.

"I'm not Connor! I told you that. You made a mistake."

"Uh-huh," she said, dryly. "And the baby?"

"She's my sister."

"He's lying," a man said.

Lilah turned her head toward him and gave him a hard look. "I'm aware of that." She

returned her attention to Connor. "We know the truth. We know who your parents are. We

know that this little baby here is not your sister. We know exactly who you are, Connor. Most

importantly, we know what you are." He looked at her blankly. "You're special, Connor. You

and the baby."

A high-pitched screech pierced the air. "There's a vampire in the building," Gavin,

another high-ranking lawyer, said.

"More than one, actually." Lilah and the other occupants of the room snapped their attention

to the door where Angel and Spike were standing, in full vamp mode. Wesley, Buffy, Fred,

Cordelia, and Willow were visible behind them. Angel flashed a dangerous smile at Lilah and

continued, "Good to see you again."

"Angel. How are you?"

*Next thing you know they'll be sitting down to tea* Gavin thought derisively. Lilah had

always taken unnecessary chances when it came to dealing with the souled-vampire.

"I'd be much better if my son wasn't being held hostage."

"Nonsense. Connor and I have been having a very civilized conversation."

"I think it's time to go home now," Angel said, as he and the others moved the rest of the way

into the room. Buffy immediately tried to run toward the basinet but Spike and Willow held her

back.

"You can't take them. You have no idea how to handle their power," one lawyer interjected.

"Bensen, shut up," Lilah ordered.

"What'd he mean by 'handle their power'?" Willow asked.

"They're two-thirds of an extremely powerful triumvirate. 'Born from various shades of

gray, they shall stand and save all life'."

"'Shades of gray'?" Cordelia asked.

"Dark, medium, and light."

"Connor, Ariana, and another," Willow guessed. Lilah nodded where as the other Scoobies

and AI members looked at her quizzically. "Both Darla and Angel are vampires...complete

darkness in a very general sense; so Connor is born from the darkest shade...black. Spike is a

vampire, too, but Buffy is the Slayer. Together they form a balance of dark and light; so Ariana

is from the middle gray."

"When the three are united they will gain their powers. One of them will be able to read

minds, another will be telekinetic, and the last one will have the ability to control the natural

elements...fire, water, ice, wind, earth."

"They're all mental phenomena."

"That's because to fight what they must, they will need strength other than physical. What

they fight will have no solid form," Gavin added.

Buffy felt tears threatening to spill. "Why Ariana? Is it because she's ours?" Buffy asked,

glancing at Spike.

"You were destined to be her mother, if that's what you mean."

*Another "destiny" dictating my life.* She quickly regained composure and glared at Gavin.

"We're taking the kids with us."

"We can't let you. Wolfram and Hart can harness their power to our benefit. No one

here will allow you to get in the way."

"Lilah," Wesley said, stepping forward, "sees it differently." He looked at her. "Don't

you? You must or else you wouldn't have made sure I knew how to get in here. I would not

have known if it weren't for the fact that you left you briefcase in my apartment. Something

you'd never do unintentionally."

*Why would Lilah have been at Wesley's?* Fred wondered. *He couldn't mean...*

"It was too risky to tell me the actual plan; Wolfram and Hart making sure that the portal

stayed open to provide a distraction while the children were abducted. Therefore you settled for

ensuring that I knew a way to get them back."

Gavin looked accusingly at Lilah. "Is this true?"

Before she could answer, ten security guards entered the room, immediately surrounding

Buffy and the others. Lilah took a deep breath. "Let them go."

"What?!?" one of the guards asked.

"Let them go," she repeated more forcefully.

Bensen made a break for the door, intent on notifying the leaders of the firm about the

situation before things got too out of hand. But Angel, who had been released by the guards,

slammed him against the wall, squeezing his throat until he slipped into unconsciousness. Buffy

had made it to the basinet and gathered Ariana into her arms. The baby was now happily

snuggled against her mother's chest. Connor had gotten up off the couch and run to Cordelia.

Gavin knew it was hopeless to try and change the situation. The security guards were

standing like useless statues as Angel and the rest if the people with him left the room. Only

Wesley remained by the door as Gavin gripped Lilah's right arm. "You've made a big mistake.

One that I'm sure the senior partners will like to deal with personally. If I were you...I'd run."

She ripped her arm away and followed Wesley out the door and away from the building.

___________________________________________________________

Epilogue: The Wedding



Four months had passed since everyone had learned of Ariana and Connor's role in the

universe. Connor had accepted the knowledge of his fate with stoic grace, although Cordelia had

said he'd apparently suffered horrible nightmares for at least two weeks straight. Ariana was

much too young to understand any of it, which at the moment was a blessing, but Buffy was

dreading the day when they'd have to explain it to her. It had eventually been decided that the

kids should be allowed to live out normal lives, childhoods at least, as much as possible. The

Scooby Gang, and Giles, had returned to Sunnydale.

Now, a group of about forty or fifty humans and demons were gathered in a small church

for the wedding of Alexander Harris to Anya Jenkins.

Xander was in one room along with two of his male cousins, Gunn, Angel, and Spike.

The last three were Anya's choices, stating that Xander needed more ushers to balance out the

number of girls she was asking to be bridesmaids. *I can't believe I'm getting married today*

Xander thought, making another futile attempt to tie his bowtie.

Meanwhile, in the bride's room, things were even more hectic. Halfrek was busy flitting

around the wedding hall and asking people if they felt the need for vengeance against anyone

while Willow, who actually held the title of Best Man, Tara, and Buffy helped Anya dress. Her

gown was the traditional white with a sparkly, sleeveless bodice and long swooping skirt. The

bridesmaids were all wearing identical purple dresses; they were satin with a sheer layer on top

that cast an iridescent shimmer over the deeper purple color. Thin straps that cris-crossed over

shoulder blades, held up the dresses that clung rather flatteringly on all of them before flaring out

slightly at the base. These were actually Anya's second choice. Her first was something that,

quite frankly, Little Bo Peep would have been ashamed to wear. But by the grace of the Powers

That Be, the tailors had come across some sort of problem with those and they were unavailable.

All of the bridesmaids were also wearing a crown of Lavender and Baby's Breath flowers, except

Buffy, who also had deep violet roses in hers, signifying her role as Maid of Honor.

The unmistakable cry of a hungry baby pierced the air and Dawn quickly ran Ariana over

to Buffy. "Buffy!" she called, exasperated. Cordelia switched places with Buffy, allowing her to

take the unhappy infant from Dawn. Buffy grabbed the baby blanket from where it had been laid

next to their purses and moved over to the sofa opposite the door. She draped the blanket over

her chest and shoulder, providing cover while she nursed Ariana. She figured it was just as well

that she was taking care of it now since she really didn't want to see Anya's reaction if the

ceremony was interrupted by a fussy baby. Ariana herself was wearing a velvet dress in the same

deep purple of the bridesmaids' dresses. It had short, puffy sleeves and a strip of white lace

around the waistline. The skirt ended a little above her ankles, allowing the white tights and tiny,

patent leather Mary-Jane's to be visible.

"Dawn, why don't you go see how the guys are doing?" Tara suggested, watching the

teen pace restlessly by the door.

"Okay," Dawn agreed. She kneeled down in front of Connor, who'd been playing a handheld

video game on a smaller couch next to Fred. "Hey, Connor, you wanna come with me?" He

nodded and took Dawn's hand.

"Dawn, could you—?" Buffy started.

"I'll tell Spike you love him," Dawn said, smirking as Buffy blushed. Buffy turned even

redder when the other five girls in the room grinned knowingly at her.

Anya rescued her by turning their attention to her and Xander. "While you're at it, Dawn,

tell Xander I'm so happy we're getting married and I can't wait for many honeymoon orga—"

"I'll pass on the messages!" Dawn said quickly, tugging Connor out of the room with her.

When they reached the door to the guys' dressing room, Dawn knocked and waited for it to be

opened. "Hi," she said to Gunn, who'd opened the door.

"Hey," he responded, letting them enter.

Dawn walked over to Spike and hugged him. "You look beautiful, Niblet," he said.

"Thanks. You look great, too," she said as she straightened the collar on his suit jacket.

He scowled a little, obviously still annoyed with the fact that he had to wear a tuxedo.

"How's Buffy?"

"Taking care of your hungry daughter and trying very hard not to punch that vengeance

demon Halfrek, who is refusing to stop bothering people about wishes. Even Anya seemed a

little ticked. Oh, and I'm supposed to tell you Buffy loves you."

Spike smiled and raised an eyebrow at Dawn. "You a messenger pigeon, now?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Apparently. I'm supposed to tell Xander something for Anya."

"Best get to it then," he said, nudging her arm. She stuck her tongue out at him before going

to rescue Xander, who was still struggling with his tie.

___________________________________________________________

"The bride and groom have chosen to recite their own vows. Anya, if you would please

begin," the minister said.

Anya turned to Xander and looked into his eyes. "I, Anya, want to marry you, Xander,

because I love you and I always will. Before I met you I was a different person. Not even a

person really. But no matter who I was back then, one thing was for certain, and that was that I

didn't understand love. I had seen what it did to people. It was hurt. And sadness. Alone was

better. Safer. But then suddenly there was you, and you changed me. So I get it now, I finally

get love. You gave me that gift and now it's my turn to give you something in return. I promise

to love you from this day forward, for the rest of my existence."

There were many guests blinking back tears after that speech. Even Giles, who was now

sitting in the front row after serving his purpose as father of the bride, looked stunned at the

emotion the ex-vengeance demon had shown.

"Alexander, you're next," the minister said.

Xander cleared his throat and took one of Anya's hands in his. "For most of my life I have

been just the average guy in the street. The only time I felt differently was when I was around the

few people who seemed to value my presence because they knew me, and cared for me. But

even that wasn't perfect. Back in high school, it was just me, Buffy, and Willow. And it was

great, having that tight bond. But then slowly they began to find their own places in the world.

Began to evolve into something special. And I was left to cling to what little I could while

waiting on the sidelines. And then I met you. You didn't care that I didn't have superpowers or

some great purpose in this world. You loved me anyway. You saw all of me; the good parts and

the not-so-good parts...And for some reason, you liked what you saw. By giving me the love that

you gave me, you made me different. Made me special. I love you, Anya, forever."

"Anya Jenkins, do you accept this man's promise, and stand by your own to be wed in holy

matrimony?"

"I do," she replied, as she slipped the gold band on his finger.

"Alexander Harris, do you accept this woman's promise, and stand by your own to be wed in

holy matrimony?"

"I do," he answered, giving her a diamond and gold ring.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Applause rang out from the audience as Anya and Xander shared their first kiss as a married

couple.

___________________________________________________________

Tara and Willow, Xander and Anya, Buffy and Spike, and most of the other couples in

attendance were out on the darkened dance floor. Tables and chairs were set up in the

illuminated perimeter of the dance floor. Giles was siting at one of the tables, along with Angel,

Connor, and Cordelia, who was holding Ariana. Dawn was currently over at the bar, attempting

to coerce Xander's Uncle Rory away from it. A boy that Cordelia had known in high school

approached her, asking her to dance.

"Here, Giles," Cordelia said, handing the squirming Ariana to him before following the

young man out onto the dance floor.

"Dad, I'm hungry," Connor grumbled.

Angel nodded and stood. "Let's go get you some food."

Giles was left alone with Ariana, who blinked her bright blue doe-eyes up at him. Although

he would never admit it, he was amazed, and a little entranced, by the color. *I've long suspected

that Spike possessed the ability to put people into a thrall. Now it appears he's passed that trait to

his daughter.* He lifted her so that her feet touched against his knees and his hands were beneath

her arms. She reached out and grabbed his glasses, tugging them off his nose. "Enjoying this are

you?" he asked as she smiled up at him.

Dawn was watching Giles's interaction with Ariana. He hadn't really spent much time alone

with the baby and something told her he didn't have much experience with them. She made her

way over to where her sister and Spike were. "Hey, look," she told them.

Buffy lifted her head off Spike's shoulder and followed Dawn's gaze. Giles was gently

bouncing Ariana, who still held his glasses in a firm grasp. He smiled at the baby, softening his

face considerably. *I've never seen him like that before* she thought. When the next song

started, Buffy left Dawn to dance with Spike and made her way over to her watcher. "She's not

being too much trouble for you is she?" Buffy asked him.

He looked up, startled by the Slayer's sudden appearance. "Heavens no," he answered as

Buffy took a seat next to him.

"I'm glad you're getting to spend some time with her." Ariana's head turned toward her

mother's voice and Buffy grinned at her. Giles handed Buffy the baby. "Hi, sweetie," Buffy

cooed, as she pried Giles's glasses away from Ariana. "Having fun with Grandpa Giles?"

Giles looked shocked at the title, but not unhappy. *I suppose I am her grandfather for all

intents and purposes* he thought as another genuine smile spread across his face. He honestly

could not remember a time when he'd felt as happy as he did now, watching his Slayer and her

child.