DISCLAIMER
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.


NOTES
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.


SYNOPSIS
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from
Hell. Let the drama begin.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Might Have Beens and Maybes

Chapter 4 -- Decisons


* * * * * * * * * * * *

Buffy just sat there for several seconds before a confused Joyce moved over next to
her.

"Buffy, who's Lothos?"

Angel looked at Buffy. "She doesn't know?"

Buffy took a couple of deep breaths, letting the story sink in. "No, it's....never come up
before. Okay. Mom," Buffy turned to face her mother, "You know that I started slaying in
L.A. Well, the night I burned down the gym, it was full of vampires, and it was also the
night I....killed Lothos."

Joyce blinked. "Oh." Then, she turned to Giles. "Um, Rupert, did they figure out the
reason that Alexa girl was able to get pregnant by a vampire?"

Giles thought for a second before answering. "There are several possibilities, none of
which were ever proven, simply because it's not happened since. One was that it was
because Quistos had a soul, and therefore was not truly undead. The second was that
it was simply the union of a vampire and a Slayer, and the third was that it was because
Alexa....was a virgin when they wed."

Joyce nodded. "Like Buffy was."

Giles squirmed a bit. "Um, yes."

Joyce looked over at her daughter. Buffy was holding on tight to Angel, her head on his
shoulder. "Rupert, would you come over here, please?"

Joyce motioned Giles over a short distance away, out of Buffy's hearing.

"Joyce, what--"

"Look, Rupert, I didn't want to embarrass Buffy any more. Is there the possibility that
she's just late? I assure you, she was telling the truth. She's never been regular, and
she skips periods all the time. And Sheila Rosenberg told me last week that there was a
bad stomach flu bug going around, and that Willow had it the week before."

Giles nodded. "That alleviates my concerns, but not enough. Look, Joyce, this
happened once, there's no reason it couldn't happen again. Now, I hope beyond hope
that you are right, but if I'm right, we must make preperations and be ready to accept the
outcome."

"What preperations? What outcome?" Joyce turned around, to see an angry Buffy
standing behind them, with Angel at her side. Evidently, she'd heard the whole
conversation. "Look, mom, you discussing my....menstrual cycle with Giles is warped
enough, but if there's going to be any talk about a baby I might not even be having, it's
going to include me!"

Giles jumped in, trying to assuage the teenager. "Buffy, your mother raised a quite valid
point. We don't even know that you are pregnant. It could be the stomach flu."

"Then why tell me?! Why put me through this if you weren't sure?!"

"Because I simply could not afford to take the risk! The Council ruled after Lothos' rise
that, should this ever happen again, there were to be only two options."

Buffy arched her eyebrows. "Great. Let's hear 'em."

Giles inhaled. "The first is that, immediately after the child is born, an intricate binding
spell be cast on its soul, to hopefully keep its vampiric half submerged forever."

Buffy kept looking at him. "That's only one, Giles."

Giles shook his head. "The second option is actually a backup to the first. If the
incantions of the spell are misread in any way, then....the newborn must be killed."

All color drained out of Buffy's face at that, and she clung to Angel for support. The
vampire hadn't been told that part, and Joyce jumped back as he instantly shifted into
game face, growling at Giles menacingly.

"You couldn't have....eased into that? Just drop it on her, all at once? Christ!!"

"Angel, be quiet!" Giles' voice was firm. "Look, I came prepared." He walked over to his
briefcase and withdrew a small plastic kit box. "An injection of progesterone will either, if
she is pregnant, do nothing; or is she isn't, induce the start of her cycle. That's the only
way we'll truly know."

Buffy nodded, understanding. "That's why you didn't tell me. You waited until right before
I usually start."

Giles nodded, blushing. "Although it was a bit awkward, it wasn't that difficult to figure,
really. But it did require the aid of the only other person who knows about this....possible
situation."

Buffy was calm now, and she realized who he meant. Only one person besides her
mother would really know about that.

"Willow."


* * * * * * * * * * * *

Seventeen-year old Willow Rosenberg had taken her dad's car and was now on the
way to Angel's mansion. She didn't have an early class, so it didn't matter that she
wasn't at school. On her arrival, she walked into the house to see Buffy standing there
in a close group with Angel, Giles, and Joyce.

"Buffy?" Willow went up to her best friend and gently touched her shoulder. "Does
she....?"

"Yes," Giles confirmed.

"Oh." A look of worry crossing her features, Willow started to ramble nervously. "Buffy, I
hope you don't hate me for this but I was the only one Giles could ask about....that
without getting some pretty odd questions from your mom or you--"

"Will." Buffy looked the other girl in the face. "S'okay. It's just a....little twisted. This whole
thing is, really." Looking at her Watcher, Buffy inhaled. "Okay, let's do it." She rolled up
the sleeve of her shirt.

"Oh, yes." Giles took out a syringe and the bottle, and withdrew the proper dose into the
hypodermic. Putting the needle to Buffy's bicep, he penetrated the skin and injected the
horomone into her arm. Withdrawing the needle, he put up the kit. As he sat down, he
took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

Joyce looked back and forth between the whole group for a moment. "Now what?"

Giles sighed. "Now, you and Buffy go back home and wait. If Buffy is not pregnant, the
progesterone should take effect in anywhere from eight to ten hours. If nothing happens,
we'll discuss what needs to be done tomorrow. I think we've all had just about enough
for today."

* * * * * * * * * * * *