Demolition Woman 2

Chapter 1

March 18, 2033

San Angeles, (11:55PM)

Helping Kayla into their apartment, Faith puts her bags at the door, and helps her out of her mud-soaked clothes. Acting overly protective she constantly holds her hand for support everywhere she goes. Amazed to have her walking around, after her lengthy period in a wheelchair, Faith can't help but linger on her every movement. Walking with her to the shower, she hangs out on the toilet as Kayla washes out months of dirt and grime. Explaining the adventures her and Alicia have had since they left, makes Faith slightly jealous and concerned. Using half a bottle of shampoo and body wash, she eventually finishes her shower and steps into the arms of her beautiful warrior. The shared minty taste of their lips shed the days away, and Faith lifts the naked Kayla into her arms and carriers her to bed.

Morning comes, and Kayla is the first to rise. After spending an inordinate amount of time on the toilet, Kayla finds her old robes and throws it on to take the chill off the morning air. Noticing her belly sticking out, she can only shake her head and overlook her preceding tummy. Looking at the time, she is surprised Faith is awake, and gently wakes her protector.

"Hey, sleepyhead. You going to play hooky today or are you actually going to work."

With a warm smile, Faith wipes the sleep out of her eyes and blinks furiously blinded by the morning's light. She sits up in bed, and rubs Kayla's back.

"Kayla, I took care of it last night after you fell asleep. I have about 6 weeks of leave saved up, and they let me take half of it all at once. So for the next 3 weeks, it's just about you. I'll still have to patrol, but you have a baby growing inside of you, and I need to be here for you. Lacey is making all the arrangements, and she'll call me later today with your dates. Now, are you prepared to fill me in on who the father is?"

Kayla smiles and kisses Faith with an intense passion.

"It's complicated, but this was a child given to me by no man. Do you remember the name of the slayer who was killed during the battle?"

Faith nods her head slowly.

"Yah, it was Katya. Why?"

Kayla slowly continues.

"Well, right before she died, she put her remaining essence and soul into my sword. It was the only way I could be resuscitated, and she knew that. That was supposed to be my fight, but you two did it in my place with my sword. My servant delivered the sword to me, and I was awoken to finish the fight here at the hospital."

Confused, Faith just shakes her head, rationalizing the story seeping into her ears.

"That doesn't explain your pregnancy."

Kayla snickers noticing how difficult her story is to digest.

"Accepting her essence and soul came with a price."

Kayla grabs Faith's hand and rubs it over her swollen belly.

"I had to give her back her life that she sacrificed for me, so…I'm now carrying baby Katya as payment for the gift she gave me."

Faith can't fathom the complexities of the magic and falls back to her limited high school education.

"Sweetie…how in the world is that even possible? You need to have a…"

Kayla cuts her off.

"Baby, it's called magic for a reason, a very old kind of magic. I lost my virginity in that damned mental ward, and I have never been with a man before or since. This baby inside of me is my payment for being alive and conscious right now. I stayed away so that no one could try and stop it, or abort it. Remember, it's illegal to get pregnant without a permit here? Well, I figured it was best I stayed away until there was no way they could abort her, and here I am."

Faith sighs, struggling to wrap her mind around magical conceptions and births.

"Girl, you have just opened my mind to something that I never imagined or could ever conceive of before. Spontaneous pregnancies…that sounds like it was straight out of the bible or something."

Kayla laughs heavily before replying.

"Babe…I don't know where to begin. This whole process is divine in nature. Only God could have truly have allowed the birth to occur, magic or not. He has like the final say in this holy kind of magic. If he didn't want Katya born in me, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant. Don't dwell on the specifics, just accept the facts. I'm pregnant with the previous slayer, and she will be born in a few months. And I don't think she has any parents more suited to raise her."

Kayla reaches over and hugs her slayer. Kissing and fondling each other, they lounge and play in bed until Lacey calls with Kayla's hospital appointments late that afternoon.

After an afternoon of scans, sonograms, poking, and physical exams, Kayla sits in the office of Dr. Priscilla Jeffery fully dressed and waiting for all the test results. Faith, pacing back and forth, passes Tara who glares at her to sit down. Gritting her teeth, she finds the chair and plops into it beside Kayla. Less than a minute later the tall middle-aged blonde enters and looks at the trio.

"Typically I prefer to discuss the results with the husband and wife, but considering everyone's credential I'll make an exception."

Kayla looks at her with mild animosity.

"Well considering there IS NO husband, Faith is my everything. Tara is my case advisor, so she'll have to be briefed anyways, so it makes sense to have everyone here at the same time to hear what you say."

With her humor drained, the doctor continues.

"Fine. The baby is in excellent health considering everything. She is entering her third trimester, and both of your blood works are good, except for some minor malnourishment for Kayla, it seems to have had no serious side-effects on the baby."

Tara clears her throat to speak.

"Kayla was living off the land in the wastelands, until she was able to get back to the city. I have instituted a diet plan to get her back to full health, plus a regiment of prenatal vitamins. She's lucky to even be alive."

She hands her an electronic data tablet with the lengthy detailed diet she orchestrated during their long wait. Faith tries not to laugh at Tara's speech, knowing too well how competent Kayla really is of defending herself. Unimpressed, the doctor hands it back to her and continues.

"When I find a mother who is unable to properly care for herself or the child, I normally order the separation of the two or hospitalize the mother until the baby is born. Fortunately for everyone here, that will not be necessary. It seems Kayla's circumstances led to her being unable to provide for them at a level we prefer to see, so confinement isn't necessary. With the diet plan, regular visits, and exercise, this baby will be born in good health. I'm assigning one of my young doctors to you, Dr. Sandra Kocher. She'll keep me abreast of your progress. Do you have any questions?"

Kayla eyes her skeptically.

"Why the continued interest? Just hand me off to your doctor, and bid me farewell."

Kayla watches her eyes drift momentarily around before she replies.

"I keep tabs on all my patients…I mean all patients in our department."

Kayla hesitates before ending the discussion and stands to leave. Eying the doctor suspiciously, Kayla motions towards the door.

"Faith, I'm ready to go home."

The trio rises and after Faith and Kayla have left Tara hesitates to stare intensely at the doctor.

"Do you have anything to tell me?"

The doctor only shrugs.

"Be well?"

The smug sarcasm in the doctor's voice tells Tara she has to call her department as soon as she gets free.

Kayla lounges on the couch in her favorite robe as Faith desperately tries to follow the recipe Tara provided. Refusing Kayla's help, she toils on and is rewarded with a meal which is far more edible than she imagined. Sitting at their table, they spend the entire evening alone retelling every moment they missed from the past five months. Remembering the conversation from the previous night, Faith gets the courage up to ask about a trivial piece of information Kayla mentioned.

"Sweetie, you mentioned you had a servant last night? What's up about that?"

Surprised with Faith's memory, she nods and tries to put it into simple terms.

"Well, she's a holy creature who chose to help me long ago. Like any willing aide, I don't call upon her for trivial matters. I respect she's been with me for a very long time, and she's told me that in my absence she's been keeping an eye on you. I knew you'd stay here, but she'd check in on you from time to time. She stole the sword from you that night, and brought it to me. I doubt I would have woken up if it weren't for her."

Faith can only shake her head, conceptualizing the story.

"Kayla just when I think I know everything about you, you rewrite the books."

She can only nod, and keep her meager smile.

"Well, you asked. I never imagined we'd have that battle in a thousand years."

Faith notices a weighty demeanor come over Kayla before she continues.

"Faith. That battle your friend...Buffy Summers…and the fight you and Katya fought was mine. Instead of being in prison, I was supposed to be at that fight and kill that demon. It was an ancient score, and it was my responsibility that I didn't fulfill. Your friend and Katya died needlessly, and because of me. I'm sorry, I was selfish. I can't make it up to Buffy, but I can at least make up for Katya's death by giving birth to her."

Faith thinks back and remembers Kayla turned herself in because of her, not the other way around.

"Listen you dummy! Your memory is becoming selective, because I remember you joining me in prison because of me, not the other way around. You weren't at that fight because of me, and if I weren't acting like the Queen of Chaos, you would never have had to turn yourself in with me. Second, you couldn't be at the second fight because some psycho trained his eyes on you, and nearly killed yah. I think you need to cut yourself a break and start living your own life."

Kayla can only shake her head.

"I…I wish it were that simple sweetie, but…"

Faith reaches over and squeezes Kayla's hand.

"It is that simple. You have no idea how much you have taught me; and by forcing me to stay in one spot this long, I have learned a great deal more. Give yourself more credit. A year ago, you were in a wheelchair with a speech impediment, now look at you."

Kayla nods and releases a slight stream of tears.

"It seems the master is becoming the student, I taught you too well."

She reaches out and pulls Faith into a passion soaked kiss.

"The second reason I came back was being pregnant has made me horny as hell."

Laughing the pair drift into the bedroom, leaving the dishes for later that night.

Tara screams in frustration as the video phone, or Fiber-op, cuts off. Willow cringes and comes out of their bedroom.

"I take it Rachel couldn't get anything from that doctor either."

Tara's face is boiling in anger.

"NO! And she's legally supposed to tell her everything regarding Kayla's pregnancy. This B…"

Gives her a chiding expression, stopping Tara from finishing her word.

"That doctor is up to something and I'm not going to rest till I know what it is."