allllll righty then! (sorry too many Jim Carrey movies lately...)

There shall be no more updates till monday, since weekends are depressingly low on the amount of people who read the updates... Anyway how ya enjoy this one.

CHAPTER THREE: The Help Arrives

Spike's words hit Buffy like ton of bricks. Did he mean what she thought he meant? He couldn't... could he? Slayers didn't have children. No, that wasn't true. Robin was the son of one of the two slayers Spike had killed, Nikki. Okay, so Buffy didn't have children. Again, not true. She'd adopted Cory...

And all while she was thinking this, she was doing a great impression of a fish.

"'bout two months along, I'd reckon," Spike finished.

"You knew," Buffy finally said, "You knew and you didn't say anything... you said you knew about this cult!" She was beyond angry.

"I did! But I didn't know they needed a child... I figured any damn half-breed would do... An' I didn't bloody well expect them t' know you were pregnant!"

The others remained silent, partially out of shock, and partially out of a reluctance to feel the wrath of either the slayer or the vampire. "But what about me, William!" and there was the real name... that generally meant she was exceptionally pissed, or trying to get her way, "What about me?You could have said something to me... This is my life, here, and you didn't say anything..."

Spike looked properly ashamed of himself, "I'm sorry, Buff... I'm sorry."

There was an uncomfortable silence, for several minutes, before Buffy finally whispered, "She was mine...Her eyes... I should have known..."

"Known what?" Giles asked, his mind still trying to process this new information

"The girl, in that dream... She was mine. I recognized her eyes... " She looked at Spike, "except for color, they could have been yours... Had the same spark of trouble. I knew her name, too. Storie..." She crossed her arms over her stomach, "Giles, will that dream come true?"

"Well, I-I... I'm not-," Giles started.

"Will th' bloody dream come true, or will it not," Spike interrupted, impatiently.

"I don't know, " Giles replied, "I'm sorry, both of you, but I just don't know... And if it does, we're going to have more to worry about than the girl. Alot more."

"The hell we are," Buffy replied, sharply, remembering the way she'd felt, looking at that baby in her dream. Before any other replies could be made, Eason and Dawn interrupted, by charging into the room, triumphant smiles on their faces.

"We figured it out!" Dawn said, proudly, not noticing the grim looks around her. Eason, always perceptive, noticed right away, and said, "Who died?"

Giles just shook his head, "When is the eclipse?"

Eason looked at the notes he held in his hands, "If our calculations are correct, then in about seven months...so, May sometime..."

Buffy did the math in her head. If Spike was right, and she was two months along, then... Then this thing will happen just in time for the baby to be born. For my- our- little girl to be born... Shit. With that thought, she rose abruptly from the couch, with a muttered excuse of having to go to work, and headed upstairs in a hurry. Spike hesitated a moment, then followed her, calling her.

"What's up with her?" Dawn asked, flopping down on the couch, in Buffy's vacated spot.

"She's just upset," Giles said, in a tone that made it clear he was avoiding the topic.

Faith gave him a look that said he needed to tell the girl the truth, and said, "She just found out she's gonna be a mom, kid."

"Wait..." said Dawn, frowning in concern, "That means that those guys were after-"

"Hence why she's upset," Robin interrupted.

---------------

Buffy was distracted all day, at work. Thankfully, she wasn't having many people in that day, so she was free to rest her chin on her hands, propped up on her desk, with her elbows, and stare off into space. Things were going to change, that was for damn sure. She wasn't quite sure she could deal with this. An evil cult bent on world destruction was nothing new. Being pregnant was, of course, but also manageable. But being pregnant, and having said evil cult wanting to use the baby for a ritual that would eventually lead to the extinction of humans? That was something new all together, and she wasn't sure she could handle it.

Was she scared?

No...

More like terrified. There was alot of difference between adopting a child, and having one of your own, she knew that...

She hadn't said a word to Spike, when he'd followed her upstairs. She'd not only been angry, and upset, but quite frankly, afraid. She wondered, briefly, if she hadn't had that dream, would she have suddenly felt such a strong urge to protect the life within her? But then she realized, yes, she would have. The urge was just made stronger by the dream. She sighed, remembering the dream, and the little girl's perfect, pale skin, and her blue-green eyes, a perfect blending of her parents'. Buffy hadn't lied when she'd said that, save for color, they could have been Spike's. The little hint of mischief, and attitude were unmistakable.

She couldn't, wouldn't, let this cult get hold of the baby.

Buffy sighed again, "Fuck it all," she mumbled to herself, running her hands through her hair. She remembered what Giles had said. That if the cult succeeded, they'd have more to worry about than the girl. Frankly, Buffy had meant what she'd said to that. To hell with the world. And, she thought, remembering when Giles had wanted her to kill Dawn, to save the world, if he thinks I'll hurt her -(the dream had her convinced it was a girl)- to hell with him too. The slayer rested her head on her desk, determined to get at least a bit of sleep. She was wishing her mother was there. She'd have known what to do, and wouldn't have clouded Buffy's thoughts, with lectures on the importance of her job as the slayer.. that she had to put the world before her personal interests. Well, to hell with that too. She wasn't the only slayer anymore, and she had earned the right to be a bit selfish.

Hmm, two years with Spike, and he was finally starting to rub off on her. He'd said something similiar to her, about being a bit selfish.

All threats aside, what were they going to do? She and Spike had enough troubles with Cory... But then, she hadn't been with them, until two years previously, plus, she was a slayer... That seemed to automatically make her have a stubborn, disobedient streak. But aside from that, at least she didn't have to worry about who was going to patrol. There were twenty other candidates for that. Though Buffy knew she'd go nuts, not being able to patrol, or fight baddies in general. That was her life. Wouldn't be for much longer, though. She knew that. But could she deal with it? Well, she'd find out.

She looked at the phone, considering calling Spike, and apologizing for rushing off earlier, but thought better of it. Let him worry that she'd never speak to him again for just a while longer. She had to admit the perverse pleasure she'd get later, as he babbled on about how sorry he was. Of course, she wouldn't let him carry on for too long. Had to let him keep some dignity. And the look on his face whenever she forgave him for something, before he finished explaining himself was always amusing.

Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed. Of course, they'd get worse, later on, Buffy was sure, but for now, they weren't as bad as they seemed.

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Xander couldn't believe his ears. He'd missed the scooby meeting earlier, and now he was wishing he hadn't. Buffy pregnant? The cult after the baby? These were things you didn't hear often in slayer central... And frankly, not good things either. He didn't know why he didn't go in, and join the discussion, but he didn't. He just kept listening, outside the door.

"So is this kid really gonna be half demon?" that was Faith.

"Have you forgotten wha' I am?" Spike, of course, and he sounded annoyed, "I may not be a vampire, anymore, but m'sure as hell not human."

"Times like this you really wish Willow hadn't mucked up that spell," someone else muttered... That had to be Crys. There was a moment of silence, in which Xander was sure that the japanese-american girl was getting very strange looks, "Well it's true! If Spike were human, or hell, even still a full vampire, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now!"

"Tell Red that when she gets back," Spike suggested. Xander could practically hear the sneer, "I'm sure she'll be real glad t' hear it."

"As much as I hate to say it, Crys," said Giles, "Spike is right... I wouldn't suggest you repeat that to Willow. Besides, this is not her fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Spike and Buffy."

"Now hold on there, Rupes!" the sound of scraping wood meant Spike had stood abruptly.

"Like it or not, Spike, the fact that Buffy is pregnant is because of both of your extreme lack of responsibility."

"Say that to Buffy," Dawn put in, "Guarantee you wouldn't like the result... Besides, think about it. Hundred plus years of being a vampire, as compared to two years being almost human... Old habits are kinda hard to break."

"Kid's right," said Faith, then added, after a brief pause, "Lucky this didn't happen sooner."

Xander knew the beginnings of an argument when he heard them, so now was a good time to intervene. "Whoah, whoah, hold it guys, " he said, opening the door, and stepping into the room, "Stop the blame game and stay in your seats. Now, from what I've heard from listening in, we've got a while to work this out, so maybe we should deal with it when Buffy gets home." He looked at Robin, "Aren't you supposed to be at the school?"

"I called in, when I heard Buffy had been attacked," Robin replied with a shrug, "I didn't know she was going to run off and go to work anyway, without working everything out."

After several minutes, Dawn sighed, "Can't believe I'm actually gonna be an aunt," she suddenly grinned, "You guys should cheer up. This would be good news, if there weren't crazy french guys set on destroying mankind. 'Specially you, Spike. You're gonna be a dad."

"The knowledge hadn't escaped me, Nibblet." Spike replied.

Dawn just shook her head, and muttered something, that was probably an insult, got up, kissed Eason- whilst inwardly smiling at the way Spike glared- and left the room.

"That girl can find something good in any situation," Xander observed, with a shake of his head.

-----------------

Jory sat with AnnMarie, and Xander, as they talked about their date from the night before. While Jory hadn't known Xander's ex, Anya, she'd been told about her, and even she could tell the resemblances to her, in the Watcher. Xander obviously could too. She knew Buffy'd probably kill her, and Crys later, for skipping school, but they'd gotten caught up in the discussion, and had forgotten school altogether. Buffy had made her excuse about going to work, an hour early.

She heard the front door open, and footsteps heading for the library, where she was. The door opened, and Jory leaned back in her chair, to see who'd arrived. There was Nancy. Tall, dark brown hair, and dark skin (half african-american, half hispanic), and chocolate brown eyes. She wasn't one of Jory's best friends, but they got along all right. It was the person behind Nancy whom Jory wanted a better look at. She leaned a bit farther back in her chair. There he was. Jonathan Burns. Watcher in training, and Jory's current crush. Medium length black hair, dark eyes, tanned sk- CRASH! She leaned back a bit to far, and found, as she often teased Xander for doing, that gravity works rather well.

Both Nancy and Jonathan suddenly looked her way, and Jory picked herself up, grumbling. She ignored the snicker she got from Summer, as she entered the room. If those three were there, that meant that school was out, and now it was time to get on with training. Oh joy. At least Jory didn't have to do the constant training that most of the others did. She waved to Nancy and Jonathan, as well as several other girls, as they made their way to the training rooms. The watchers were staying in the library. Summer and Giles' classroom of choice.

Knowing if she didn't leave soon, she'd get caught up in a lecture on demons, and demon languages, Jory quickly made her escape, hoping she could also hide from Buffy for a while.

----------------

Buffy was walking home. It was a long way, but she was used to it. She walked home every day, no matter the weather, which, today, was abnormally sunny. The girls took the bus home, Robin drove home, Buffy walked. It gave her time to think, and time to wind down, from a day of dealing with troubled teens, and prepare herself for dealing with plain troublesome teens. As she walked through the curtain of willow trees, hands stuffed in her pockets, she heard someone call her, and looked up. Cory was heading to her, black braids bouncing. When the girl reached her, she hugged her.

"Nice to see you too, Kiddo," said Buffy, wondering what this was about.

"Dawnie says I'm gonna have a new baby sister," the child replied, and Buffy realized what the attention was for, "That true?"

"Yeah it is, honey," Buffy replied, wondering if Cory was going to be the jealous sibling type.

She seemed to think it over for a moment, "Good," the girl finally said, "What's her name gonna be?"

Buffy couldn't help but laugh, "I don't know yet, Cory, that's for later." But she did know the name. She'd known her daughter's name before she'd known she was pregnant. Storie. An odd name, sure, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the oddness of it. Liked the way it sounded. She resumed her walk up to the house, Cory running ahead of her. when she reached the deck, she noticed Jory and Crys trying to stay out of her line of sight. "You two are in deep shit later," Buffy said idly, "You skipped school." She heard them groan, and she smirked. At least she didn't have to worry about not being able to handle being a mom. She'd been one since her own mother died, and she'd started taking care of Dawn. Of course, now she could no longer take care of Dawn. Her little sister was beyond the age of needing cared for, which was kinda sad actually.

As Buffy entered the house, she saw Spike lingering nervously near the stairs, and wiped the smile from her face. If she wanted to be properly amused by his needless apologies, then she had to appear dead serious. Though that might prove to be easier said than done, since she was suddenly getting the uncontrollable urge to laugh, and cry at the same time. Laugh, because he was looking like a frightened puppy, and cry, because seeing him drove home the fact that she was pregnant. Really forced it to sink in. And it made her wonder. What if? What if next time the frenchies got her? No! No, bad Buffy, no pessimistic thoughts. It would be months before they could do anything anyway. Besides... They had a long while to sniff out this cult, and kill them all, before they could blink... so that was turning a frown upside down.

As soon as they were in the house, Cory left Buffy's side, and skipped off, to go do whatever it was she did, when she sensed that she wasn't currently wanted, in a room. She had gotten good at guessing when she was about to be asked to go play, or something, as long as it was away from there. Buffy stepped towards Spike, whom immediately started his apology.

"I'm sorry, for not telling you, Buffy," he started, "If I had known what the big bad wanted, I would have and I-"

Buffy stopped him by grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him down, and kissing him. Spike stiffened in shock for a moment, before relaxing and wrapping his arms around her. This was much better than listening to apologies. She felt his tongue on her lips, and parted them to let him in. Definitely much better than listening to apologies.

"Say," said Crys, to Summer, as she was about to enter the library, "Don't they need to breathe?"

"One of 'em's gonna pass out soon," Eason put in, with a chuckle, "Any bets on who?"

"Gambling, sweetie?" Dawn interrupted, "Never a good idea."

"If you believe in all that christian mumbo-jumbo," said Summer, whom had stated on many occasions, if there was a God, she didn't really care, "then it's a sin."

"Yes, but you see, most of us here don't," Eason informed her, "So, it doesn't really matter. "

Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike still hadn't separated. "Damn, they've got some good sets of lungs on 'em," Crys commented, dryly, "Almost as good as you and Dawn, Eason." This earned her a glare from both of the latter.

"Least I have a boyfriend," Dawn retorted.

From the library, Giles called them, "All of you, get back in here! You have lessons to complete!"

Before any of them could complain, there was a rather loud bang from the library, that made Spike and Buffy separate in a split second. The band was was followed by a cloud of smoke, that filtered out into the hall. There were shouts, from the people still in the library, and a few shouts of "what the hell?" and "Alright, who's performing spells!" Buffy peered into the room, trying to see through the thick white smoke, and only succeeded in coughing. When the smoke started to clear a bit, she could make out four figures, standing on the table in the middle of the room. Three of the four she recognized, the last, she didn't. It was two men, and two women,

The frontmost woman was coughing, and waving her hand in front of her face, trying to get some clear air to breath. "Dammit, Wesley!" said Cordelia Chase, "You used too much demon bone, again!"

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I feel I should warn you... I am going to be taking extreme liberties with the Angel plot... I know that Both Cordy and Fred should both be dead at this point in time, but I promised my sister I would have them here... Besides... I liked Fred, she was cool. I was pissed when they killed her... And I only got to see a couple of episodes (I guess it's true that everyone loves Fred) I also thought it was pretty shitty that she and Wes had just gotten together, and then they just HAD to kill her... Kinda makes ya hate Joss Whedon... any time a couple starts gettin happy, one of 'em dies, or it gets screwed up...

Now, a few bits might be out of character for Fred, Wes, and Cordy, since I only saw a few eps of Angel, and as for making references to things that have happened in the past, I can only rely on my sister's memory of things to be accurate, should I need information.