Hello everyone! Sadly, there won't be any updates for a while, since fall exams have begun in my university and I will be busy studying among other things and I don't think I will be able to write anything decent under these conditions, I will resume once they are finished. In a months or so. Still, there might be an update in my other fanfiction since the chapters are ready and they only need editing.
Anyway, enough about that stuff.
GO ahead and enjoy the story!

After the phone call Shirou received from the hospital, the group decided to adjourn their meeting for the time being. Dean drove them to the hospital, with Nemesis taking her spirit form since they wouldn't fit in the car otherwise. As soon as the car parked Shirou jumped off and ran inside to meet with the doctors. The rest followed after him in their own pace.

Castiel and Nemesis stayed back. "Nemesis, if you are to take your physical form, please use a normal civilian attire. Your choice of clothes is a little...weird to the average eye. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

"I understand. I will change immediately. I think I will wear something that fits this country culture. No one will notice me." Nemesis snapped her finger and she was bathed in a white light, her armor disintegrated, revealing her bare skin, not that she seemed to care about it. Once the light subsided her clothes had changed as Castiel requested, but not to what he expected to transform. She was wearing a full ninja outfit, black from toe to head with kunai strapped on her belt and a long katana on her back which had replaced her normal sword.

"What is this?" he asked her slowly, spelling each syllable separately to emphasize his displeasure.

"It's a traditional Japanese outfit. Does it look good on me?"

Castiel took a deep breath and exhaled to vent off his frustration "Please take off that outfit right away and change into something normal."

"What?!" She asked oblivious. "But ninja outfits are worn by many in here, it won't raise suspicions."

"Suspicions would be the least of our worries if people saw you walking around like this. Imagine all the children who would gather around wanting to take pictures with you." He sighed. "Please change into some business clothes and let's get going." She nodded, but her displeasure was obvious, she was clearly sad that she had to part with that outfit.

Shirou after finishing his conversation with the doctor joined the others who had just met with Rider. "Hey Rider." He greeted her casually.

"Hello Shirou! Firstly, allow me to congratulate you for becoming a father. When the doctors told me that Sakura's blood test indicated that she was pregnant, I couldn't believe my ears. I'm so happy for you two. " Rider replied with a smile.

"Emiya-kun, what did the doctor say about Sakura, do they know when she's going to wake up? Is the baby going to be okay?" Tohsaka asked.

Shirou shrugged his shoulders '"They are still unsure. They say that comatose people may wake up in weeks, months or even years and in the worst case-" He gulped down. "—but the doctors are positive she will regain consciousness, so we have to believe them. As for the baby, they said that it will be okay as long as Sakura's condition doesn't worsen." He lowered his head and clenched his fist. "What if Sakura never…"

Tohsaka grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Hey! Snap out of it! Sakura will be okay. In fact, right now I'm going to cast a healing circle around her to speed up her recovery." Shirou smiled faintly at her and nodded.

Rider who followed their conversation approached Tohsaka from behind and whispered something in her ear without Shirou noticing, unlike the rest of the group. "Alright, I'm going inside to cast the spell, please wait here. Or better you can go to the cafeteria and get yourselves something to drink; yeah, that's better I'll meet you there once I'm finished."

"Wait! I want to see Sakura."Shirou said.

"Uh…Shirou, I was about to change bandages to Sakura. And you know I don't think she would like you to see her like that. Let me and Rin finish up here and you can see her later when we're done." Rider cut in.

"I don't care about how she looks, I just want to see her." Shirou insisted.

Dean sighed "Come on Shirou" he grabbed and started dragging him from his arm away from the door. "Women will always be women even if they are unconscious they would want to look decent in front of their loved ones? Come on guys! The coffee is Shirou's treat for becoming a father." Shirou tried to say something, but Castiel and Sam who had caught on with Dean's intentions didn't let him and together with Nemesis they walked away from Sakura's room.

As soon as they were out of hearing distance. Rider turned her face at Rider and looked at her troubled "Why did you lie to him about the healing circle? You know that a healing circle won't help Sakura to wake up, a circle is only used for treating physical wounds." Rider said.

Tohsaka sighed "I know…it was wrong to give him false hope, but at this time it would be better to think positively don't you think?" Rider shrugged her shoulders. "So, did you notice anything curious about that thing I told you about the other day?" Tohsaka asked her.

Rider paused to think for a moment and then gave her reply "No, it continued as you thought it would. The stream of magical energy Sakura releases to the environment is still at the same levels as it was a few days ago. (*see chapter 18). But I don't understand why did you call me to ask that before you all came here? Does it have something to do about Sakura's pregnancy?"

"Hmm…at this point I'm not sure what to think. The pregnancy would explain the elevated external magical power levels if she was in the third or fourth month, but not so soon. And even then I don't think it would release so much, an unborn baby can only contain that much magical energy."

"Do you think that it has to do anything with the previous Holy Grail war?" Rider asked.

"I am not so sure, there are too many factors to consider. Tell me have you noticed any differences in the magical energy she sends you these days?"

"No, I haven't noticed anything odd."

"Hmmm…" Tohsaka frowned her lips. "Anyway, I will have to run some tests to see for myself. That's why I brought some tools from my house."

"You would perform tests on her? In that condition? What about the baby?" Rider asked in a strict voice.

"Don't worry, the tests won't even touch her, all I need to see is the flow of her magical energy."

"And how would you do that?"

"With this!" Tohsaka said proudly as she took a device with a lightbulb on it. Rider stared at the device puzzled. "Let me explain, this is a magical device which emits a light that allows the human eye to see the raw magical energy around him. With this I will be able to examine the magical energy Sakura releases and find what's wrong with it." Rider nodded.

They walked inside the room, locked the door behind them and closed the curtains. "Where did you get that? Does it run on electricity?" Rider asked curious.

"I bought in London, in a…uh-huh…place, that was selling magical trinkets on low prices." Tohsaka gave her a strange reply.

"Please Rin, don't tell me you bought it in the black market….again" Rider looked at her condescendingly.

Tohsaka widened and she blushed a little "I didn't! It was a nice little antique store in one of London's alleys in the suburban area. I swear."

"Uh-huh" Rider's face was telling that she was not convinced. "Let's say I believe you for now. I hope you remember what happened the last time you presented us that magical device for silk and smooth hair."

Tohsaka gulped down and touched her head unconsciously. "No, I swear, it's not from there. I tested it before."

"Good, because I wouldn't want to end up with longer hair than I already have and I don't think you would like to spend a month drinking that disgusting potion for fast hair growth like last time." Tohsaka sniveled quietly as the bad memory or more precisely bald memory came to mind.

"I will inject some of my magical power now in the device. I want you to observe the stream and try to find anything that seems out of place." Rider nodded.

"Ok, lights off, I'm turning it on…now." A spark flashed inside the lightbulb and then a soothing blue light lit the room. All around the room tiny white sparkles were floating. It was the commonest form of raw magical energy which could be found in the environment.

"Wow! Is this how magical energy looks like?" Rider said surprised.

"Uh-huh, pretty amazing isn't it? See, this red stream going up the ceiling. This is mine and this purple one yours. And this one…wait! What the hell?" Tohsaka said bewildered.

"What?" Rider asked and Tohsaka pointed at Sakura's bed "I'm no expert Rin, but I know that there should only be one of those. This is bad! You have to go tell the others, I'll stay here." Tohsaka nodded, she turned off the device and left the room

Hospital's cafeteria.

"So, do you have a name in mind for the baby Shirou?" Dean asked as he took a sip of his cup.

"Come on Dean, he just learnt that he's going to be a father." Sam replied.

A faint smirk formed on his lips "Actually, I was thinking about naming him after my late father's name if he's a boy and after Ilya if she's a girl. Of course I will have to ask Sakura's opinion too. And I'm pretty sure Tohsaka won't settle down unless she gets a saying in all this."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she will."

Suddenly, Nemesis decided to join the conversation. "In ancient Greece, parents used to give temporary names to their children and when their children reached teenhood they could decide if they wanted to keep it or not. I still remember arguing with my mother about what name I should be called. She insisted on Adrastia because that's how the Romans used to call me and because she has a preference to her Roman name Nox and wanted us to be alike, but I wanted to differentiate and so I kept my Greek name Nemesis."

Castiel blinked twice surprised. "That's might be actually the first time I learn something about yourself. I just thought that you were like my angel brethren; thinking solely about work and duty."

"Surely I'm focused on my job when I have to and I may overdo it sometimes, but I have my hobbies as well. I collect stuff." She said proudly.

"Really? What stuff?" Shirou asked.

"Nothing special. Just antiques. I don't like talking about my collection, because people say I'm weird." Nemesis said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"She's blushing! Now, I'm really curious about what her collection is" Dean stepped forth. "Come on, tell us."

"Okay, but if you laugh I will cut you in half." Dean's smile faded, he couldn't figure out if she was telling the truth or if she was joking, nevertheless it was too late now. "Close your eyes, I will grant you vision inside the chamber where I keep my collections." Nemesis touched Dean's forehead and for a while Dean was out cold staring at the blank. "Did you like it?" Nemesis asked him happily once he came back.

"I…surely…it was very…unique and uh….fascinating." The others looked at him worried.

"Are you okay? You look pale." Shirou asked concerned.

"Sam, is it only me or is his expression like when that time one of his dates was a man who had sex change surgery?" Castiel asked in a low voice.

Sam chuckled "No Cas, it's not your idea. I wonder what your servant showed him."

Suddenly the cafeteria's door opened and Tohsaka came in "Guys! We have a problem!" Five heads turned to her direction "Follow me, I must show you something."

Tohsaka lead them back to Sakura's room where Rider waited impatiently. "Listen, I think I know why Sakura can't regain her consciousness."

"What?!" How is this a problem Rin? Dean asked.

"Let me finish. Remember when I told about you how Sakura's magical energy was unstable a couple of days ago?" Shirou and Dean nodded. "So, I decided to look further into and I found something."

"Why didn't you say something Tohsaka?" Shirou asked her slightly annoyed.

"Because I didn't want you to stress you without any real cause, you were about to go for Einzbern's castle for scouting and it wouldn't be good to be distracted; I wanted you to be focused on the mission. If I had found something suspicious I would have told you immediately, like I am doing now."

"But still…you…"

"Let it go Shirou! Rin tell us what did you find?" Dean cut in their conversation.

"Right, let me explain you what I did-" Tohsaka told them about the test she ran on Sakura.

"You still haven't told us the problem you know." Sam interrupted her while she was explaining to Castiel how magical energy release worked.

Tohsaka gave him an annoyed glance. "Yes…I was getting to it. The thing is every person should have only one kind of magical energy in his body, Sakura has two."

"But since she's pregnant shouldn't it be normal considering that her baby is also releasing its own magical energy." Castiel said skeptical

"No, it's too soon. It's not even in the fetus stage. Right now, the baby is just a really small complex of cells. It doesn't even have form much less magical energy to release. Something else is going on. And it's serious."

Shirou who was quiet all this time spoke, his voice was surprisingly calm, despite the unexpected turn of events. "How serious Tohsaka? Is Sakura or the baby's life in danger?"

Tohsaka seemed thoughtful "Hmm...Short-term, I don't think so, I can't sense anything life threatening. Long term….I'm sorry even I don't know."

Shirou clenched his fist and hit his forehead in frustration "Damn it all!"

"Hey, we'll find a solution. Don't worry." Dean tried to conform him seeing him in such distress. "Cas, you healed her before. Can't you do something now?" Dean asked and Shirou looked at him with pleading eyes.

Castiel shook his head. "I'm sorry, but without all of my grace. There aren't many things I can do. What I did back then was only to stabilize her heart. It takes much more energy for a complete recovery." Shirou lowered his head disappointed as did Tohsaka and Rider.

"Maybe I can help." Suddenly, Nemesis spoke up and all the heads in the room turned to face her.

"What? How?" Tohsaka asked.

"I have good sense of smell. Each magical energy has a certain distinct smell, maybe I can track down its owner." Nemesis replied.

"That's like saying you can tell with your eyes closed who is who just by smelling the room." Dean stated.

"Eyes closed? But I am already blind." Nemesis said in a casual tone.

Castiel, Tohsaka and Sam didn't seem surprised unlike Dean and Shirou. "Wait you guys knew that she was blind?" Dean sked when he saw their unfazed expressions.

"What you thought I wore that mask for show? It is a symbol of my impartiality as a Goddess of divine retribution." Nemesis replied to him.

"She told us her name Dean, how can you not know the lore of one of the most famous Greek goddesses, Nemesis who smote all those who committed hubris." Sam smiled pompously as he recited Nemesis' myth.

"Huh? Maybe, because unlike you I have a life, well I had since I'm dead now, but you get the point. " Dean replied annoyed, Sam shook his head condescendingly. "So? How can you help us?" Dean tried to get back on topic.

"Since I am blind my other senses have developed much more to compensate for my lack of vision. If you let me focus on that magical energy I can lead you to its owner. If he's still in town, I bet I would be able to sense him or her."

"Just do it!" Shirou ordered her in a surprisingly loud voice. "Everyone, get out of here! Let her concentrate." He opened the door for them and waited until all have exited the room. Tohsaka on her way out smiled at him and patted him at the back. "Nice one!" She said as she blinked him.

They all waited outside the room until Nemesis was done with her job. The room's door opened and she came out "It is worse than we initially thought." She answered in clear voice.

Shirou gulped down "How bad is it? Is it life threatening?"

"No, as you said" She pointed at Tohsaka. "Her life is not in danger for now. But the problem lies elsewhere. "There is a parasite!" She made a small pause. "It lives inside her and it is eating away her magical energy. I know that the word parasite may sound bad, but it cannot harm her, it only steals a portion of magical energy and sends it elsewhere."

"What do you mean sends it? Does it transfer Sakura's energy to someone else?" Tohsaka asked.

"Yes, but the problem lies with the baby. For now, I'm guessing because it's early, the parasite is ignoring the baby, but later on when the baby starts developing its own magical power, the parasite might start feeding on the baby's energy. An unborn baby would not possibly be able to keep up with the rhythms the parasite would be sucking its energy and it would probably-"

"It would die…" Shirou mumbled behind his teeth completing her sentence. "We have to do something fast. Please tell me you recognized to whom the other magical energy belong."

Nemesis nodded "The one who put the parasite inside her and the one to whom the magical energy belongs to is none other than Caster."

"Are you sure about that?" Tohsaka asked surprised.

"Totally! I was certain I had met that magical energy before, it was when I fought one of her familiars at that temple. The parasite inside of her is definitely hers and the magical energy is most likely sent to her. Your friend is being used as a magical energy generator."

"That would explain why she attacked Sakura. She was probably attracted by the immense amount of magical energy Sakura harbors. I bet though that not even Caster knew that she was pregnant; not that it mattered to her though" Tohsaka said.

"Tohsaka… I never said something like this before, but I want her dead!" Shirou smacked his hand on the wall making a loud thud.

"Me too, I never wanted to kill someone so much before in my life." Rider said as she glared at the mountain through the window.

Tohsaka took a deep breath to calm herself down "You two! I understand your anger, I want that monster dead as well. I won't rest until she's dead and Sakura is safe. But we can't let our rage and emotions get the better of us."

Rider cliqued her tongue annoyed. "I know, I know, but how do I put it? Now that I've learnt what happened to Sakura because of my incompetence. I just can't calm down even if you tell me to."

"Rider, I told you already. It's not your fault! Besides if anyone should be to blame, that would be me. I sent you to pick up from the airport next town that stupid shirt I had ordered. You couldn't protect Sakura, because I had sent you away."

Dean shook his head frustrated. "Ok, that's enough self-pitying! Your fault, her fault, who cares? The only one responsible is that monster and we will take her down and save Sakura."

"Dean's right. None of you could have imagined that something so horrible would happen all of a sudden. That monster shall meet its fate soon."

"I'm coming too." Rider said surprising everyone.

"Why?" Tohsaka asked.

"Because I'm still Sakura's servant and I have a duty to protect her. I will hear no objections!" Rider said in a determined voice.

"Who will guard Sakura while you're gone?" Shirou asked.

"Rin! Can you tell your servant to stay with Sakura for a while?" Rider asked.

"She's currently recovering from the previous battle, but she will be okay in a couple of a days."

"Fine by me that's gives us two days to plan our attack." Rider said.

"But the clock is ticking, can we afford that amount of time?" Shirou asked looking at Nemesis.

"We do, the baby is barely a week old, in fact, for a month, we'll be okay." Nemesis replied.

"It's decided then, until Rin's servant is ready for action, we'll prepare for our next battle." Everyone agreed silently with him nodding their head.

"Everyone, thank you!" Shirou said with his eyes slightly teary as he bowed to show his gratitude.

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