Ethan looked up as the bell rang. This business was a fine cover, but, beautiful California coeds aside, it was boring. No magic lest Ripper find him. No chaos because the slayer was always dropping in. He leaned over and saw Buffy looking around with tired eyes.
"There are no costumes or cursed merchandise in the shop, my dear. Just lingerie and assorted goodies here at Dierdre's, I swear." He said smoothly. "I learned my lesson the last time."
"I can tell none of it is all with the hocus pocus. I've got magic radar now." She smiled and turned to him. There was a nasty cut healing on her forehead and a bruise on her cheek.
"Is something wrong with your healing?" He stepped closer even as she shook her head.
"No, I just had a real beat down with Spike. Ever heard of him? William the Bloody?" She tilted her head and looked behind him at a light blue lace bra. "Pretty."
"You have to be careful, Buffy. You are his anchor." Ethan glared at her.
"Anchor, slayer, the one girl in all the world. I do get it, but I can't ignore my calling. Do you think I want to risk him?" She snarled. "Do you think I wanted to play kick my head around the quad?"
"No. I know you must protect the world from all and sundry." He snarked and waved his hands dismissively. "I wish I could have found another anchor for him. One I could wrap in cotton wool."
Ethan looked at her and saw the exhaustion she was trying to hide. Much as he disliked her with all her nobility and youthful appeal, she needed to be protected until Ripper was free, and he was the mage to do it. He bit back a curse. She needed every advantage.
"Cotton wool? Why can't any of you Englishmen actually speak the language?" Buffy smiled as she teased. "I swear Giles favorite word is pillock, and what does sprogged up mean? I mean, how am I supposed to taunt the bleached menace when he says ridiculous things like that? Stupid vampire."
"What did the vampire say?" Ethan reached out and grabbed her arm. He swallowed when her gaze turned frosty and she yanked her arm free of his grasp.
"He said he couldn't wait to tell Angel that I was sprogged up when he drank me dry." She shrugged and moved off to look at a blue silk robe. "That's Spike. He's always running his mouth. I only understand him half the time."
Ethan closed his eyes and wondered for a moment how he was going to survive this. Would she kill him quickly or would Ripper choke the life out of him when it was over? He opened his eyes and looked at the blonde as she flitted about his shop. He swallowed and walked to the counter. He yanked a pregnancy test from the case and tossed it at her.
"Take it. The vampire might have been wrong." Ethan watched as the color drained from her face.
"Sprogged up means pregnant?" She screeched. "No, I can't have his baby now. I can't have a baby. I'm gonna die. Slayers don't get happy endings and white picket fences. How can I hand Giles a baby he doesn't remember making and head off to stop the next apocalypse?"
She crumpled before his eyes. She could face down demons with a pun and a little piece of wood, but normal human problems floored her. He stepped around the counter and patted her back awkwardly.
"There are options, Buffy." He could get her to a clinic and handle everything. Ripper never needed to know. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his own frayed nerves.
"Options?" Her eyes went wide and then narrowed. "You think I'd get rid of it? What would I tell Giles? I love you but not enough to keep your baby alive. It was inconvenient."
Ethan stepped back as she stood up and began to pace. How was he going to keep a pregnant slayer alive? He rubbed the two headed coin in his pocket. Chaos had been his joy for so long. He swallowed. This was the other side.
"Why do you even have this?" She waved the box around, rattling the contents. "This is a lingerie shop not a pharmacy."
"I carry condoms as well. They both do quite well with the campus being so close at hand. Take the test, Buffy." She looked panicked, but she dropped her purse and headed for the employee restroom.
He picked her purse up and tucked it behind the counter. Ripper would tear him limb from limb for this. She was going to have to conceal the pregnancy. If the demon community got wind of this, hell, if the damn Council found out, she wouldn't stand a chance. He rubbed a hand over his face.
He waved his hand and a book of charms and protective spells from a self in the back room materialized on top of the case. He flipped through the pages looking for the right spell. He would have to keep them both alive and pray that old Ripper was so happy to have a baby that he could slip away.
Buffy emerged and nodded her head. One hand carefully pressed to her stomach, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
"He has a girlfriend, the first one since Ms. Calendar. He was getting a life again. I mean it hurt, but he deserves to be happy. How can I tell him?" She looked up at him, her eyes were red from crying and not quite focused. She looked so lost.
"You can't tell him until the spell runs its course. We need to determine where the threat is and eliminate it. Then you can give Ripper the shock of a lifetime." Ethan tried to smile at her, but she wasn't seeing his store as she stared off into space.
"Will he want the baby? What if Olivia doesn't understand?" Ethan bit back a laugh. Trust Ripper to take up with the worst possible woman at the worst possible time.
"You needn't worry about Olivia. She's just a bit of fluff from the past. She'd love to keep him, but they're just friends." Ethan shook his head as amusement replaced panic and fear.
"You don't sleep with friends. There has to be more." Buffy crossed her arms and stood up. Her innocence was amusing.
"You're young. Sex is still about one thing for you, but that changes with experience. It can be more and it can be less. He won't stay with Liv. He never has." Ethan watched as her hand fluttered over her stomach again.
"Could he sense the baby with magic?" She looked at him eyes wide with panic once more. "Last night, we were out on the patio and something seemed to buzz between us. I know it was magic, but it wasn't his. It seemed to come from both of us."
"Did he notice it?" Ethan asked feeling his own panic rise again.
"I don't know." She worried her lip with her teeth for a moment. "He touched one of the flowers and I had to check to make sure he was safe. I think he noticed that. There was something in his eyes that made me shiver."
"Resonance." Ethan sat on his stool. This was going to hell in an express hand basket.
