Part three. I realize I've been jippin you on content, and length. But
please bear in mind me moving, and the fact that I had planned this to be
one long-ass fic, and not posted in parts. But so many people responded
nicely to "Surprises" and the continuance, I had to do this in peices.
There's more, more more... Again, own nothing. But Joss and I are
working a deal. haha.
Please, R&R. Always.
Tequila.
Walking into Spike's crypt, two things stood out to her. The liquor on his breath, and the look of absolute panic in his eyes.
"You can't stake me, Slayer.... Not yet. Let me see my baby first. Please, Slayer, please. I didn't mean to."
"Dawn kissed you."
Even in his drunken state, he tried to protect Dawn. "I kissed her. Right took bloody advantage." Swung the bottle back, drank.
"Ok..." She sat down in his green chair, crossed her legs. "Why'd you take advantage of my baby sister and kiss her?"
Scrambling through his liquor-impaired mind, he tried to think of something. Anything. "The... There was something on her lip, and... I... Uh... mmm... Kissed it off?"
"Laa-ame," Buffy sang.
"She... looked beautiful in the club lights?"
"Pervert."
"I didn't like the way the other dancers were looking at her?"
"Plausible... But no."
"Wanted to make you jealous?"
She scoffed. "Would you like to know why Dawn kissed you?"
He collapsed into a sitting position, an attentive disciple to her wisdom. "God, yes."
"Because... I... Ummm... I kissed Xander. It wasn't..."
He raised a hand for silence. "Hold. Up. The Bit kissed me, 'cuz you kissed... Doughboy? You *kissed* him?"
"It wasn't like that!" She cried defensively. "We were talking and he... we told each other what... we are to each other..."
"Which is..?"
Flustered, Buffy stood, paced. "What do YOU think?"
Spike stood stiffly alongside her. "I know exactly what I think. Why don't you tell me what you know?"
Buffy crossed her arms, her hands hugging her elbows. Laughed uneasily. "I don't even know why I'm explaining this to you."
"Well, do it, anyway." His frustration was rising, and the only thing keeping him from lashing out was his baby in her womb.
Giving him a look she spoke softly, "We danced, and the whole time he was telling me how he used to be so in love with me. I was... his dream..." She dropped her eyes from his blue stare, uncomfortable.
"I can understand that, luv. Go on." His head was held high, but his shoulders spoke another, hopeless story.
"But then, he told me that Anya was his all, that missing piece of his soul, but that I was as his best friend, and I told him the same." Paused. Rephrased. "Minus all the love stuff. And he wished me luck. With Dawn, the baby... and... With you." 'Deep breaths, Buff,' she reminded herself. "Then he kissed me, and we walked away."
"Then Niblet-"
"Wanted to be sure you weren't hurt. And kissing you... Last ditch resort." She laughed. "Dawn's probably still brushing her teeth."
At his puzzled look, she shook her head. "Guess you're not a good kisser to her standard."
He all but yelped, "Hey now!! No judgment! I wasn't even TRYING! I mean..."
She laughed. "I know. Remember? I know."
"Yeah... Yeah... I know you know." He stepped towards her, laying a hand on her stomach. She wrapped both her hands around his wrist, smiled softly.
July came and went uneventfully. Dawn woke with a start, hearing yelling downstairs. Creeping down her staircase, she stared, a hand pressed to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
"Stop telling him war stories!!" Her sister yelled. "Negative expressions are BAD FOR HIM!" She thumped Spike on the side of his head forcefully. "Geez!"
Spike snarked back, "Shut up, Slayer. SHE likes the stories."
Dawn laughed, watching. Buffy's tight tank top was pulled up, baring her slightly rounded belly. Her hands were on her hips. Spike knelt before her, at eye-level with her stomach, hands on either side of her womb. Both were glaring. Finally, Spike gave in.
He leaned forward, kissed her stomach softly, and said, "And they all lived 'appily ever after. Good night, baby-mine."
Suddenly feeling intrusive, Dawn crept back to her bed, a soft smile on her lips.
"So... Ummm... Anyone else noticing the LACK of calling Giles and saying, 'Hey! G-man! Buff's prego... With Spike's kid... hahaha'?" Xander asked.
"Yeah," Willow said sadly, crunching a carrot.
"And," Anya added, frowning intensely over seating arrangements for the wedding, "they fight. About everything. Even the sex of the baby. I think they love each other."
Dawn held her own hair as she heaved in the bathroom of Sunnydale High. Wiping her burning mouth and nose, she walked to the office, past the secretary and picked up the phone; dialed.
It rang once before a groggy Spike answered. "Buffy?"
"Where's Buffy, Spike? I need to... I need her."
"What's wrong, Niblet? Are you ok? Demons? You hurt?"
She gave a tiny smile at his concern. "No... I'm fine. Just sick. I wanna come home. And I need Buffy." The last part of her claim came out in a slight whine.
"I... Nib, she's at the doctors... I can be there in 2 minutes. Be outside."
"I can't. I have to be signed out." Her eyes watered as her stomach rolled. "I want Buffy."
"Two minutes, Dawnie. I'll sign you out."
True to his word, two minutes later, the old DeSoto's tires squealed, and he jumped out, coat over his head, and stalked into the building swiftly.
Staying as far from the light as possible, he made his way to the office. Signing the piece of paper nearest to him, he bellowed, "DAWN!! Let's GO, Niblet!!"
"Ex-CUSE me, sir!" The secretary said indignantly, "Some ID please?"
"Sod. Off. Bitch." He enunciated clearly, adding a snarl for good measure. "My NIECE is sick, her sis is at the doctor's, so I'm signing her OUT, all right!?"
There was something... just lurking in his eyes, and under his skin, that made her stutter her response. "I...I-I... Of course.. F-f-f-feel better, Ms. Summers."
"Uh-huh," Dawn replied, as Spike pulled her along behind him
Buffy walked slowly up the sidewalk, looking at the sonogram picture in her hand. Ran a finger over the forming head and body of her baby. Her baby. With a heartbeat. She barely noticed anyone else with her until Spike was yelling, pulling her quickly after him.
"-hasn't stopped gettin' sick yet! Cor! It's been at least an hour. Hurry UP. she's been crying for you!"
Buffy snapped out of her haze and began to run up the stairs to her home...
But not before she noticed Spike running beside her, uncovered...
And un-burning.
After putting Dawn to bed, holding her until she fell asleep, Buffy went downstairs, the picture in her hand.
Spike was heating a cup of blood, looking frazzled. "She's all right, then? Settled in? Does she need anything?"
"No." She handed him the picture and sat at the table.
He sat, too, holding the picture. "This is her? My baby?"
"Yup. That's him. Our baby. I... I told her I didn't want to know the sex of the baby... kind of a surprise, ya know."
"Yeah." He stood, kissed her forehead. "Dawn woke me too early in the afternoon. I'm gonna go the crypt, catch some shut-eye."
"Spike... You may as well get used to sleeping here. Just... take my room. I'll be up a bit later."
"All right," he agreed casually, thinking that big steps were going unacknowledged.
An hour later, sure everyone in her household was asleep, she picked up the phone and dialed a number off a small scrap of paper on the phone stand.
"Hello?" The familiar voice washed over her.
"G-Giles? This is... It's me. Buffy."
"Bu-Buff? Buffy? How have you... emmm.. Been?"
"Um... Well, I guess. But, Giles... There's some things... Things that you need to know. But first... I have to say some things. I miss you, firstly. In training, in advice... You were always... almost... a... a... surrogate dad to me, and I just wanted you to know that I love you. And I'm thankful for everything you've done."
"Oh, Buffy... I miss you, too. I'm... I'm glad you think so highly of me.... I... when I... When you... well, I lost a daughter, when we lost you."
There was a deep silence, an embrace across oceans.
"But... Buffy, what do you need to tell me?"
"I'm... That I'm... pregnant, Giles. Four months pregnant."
"Well then..." She could hear him cleaning his glasses, then drop them. "I see... Congratulations, then... Who is the father? Do you need anything?"
"No... Nothing... But I'd love your company... But that isn't the important part-"
"Buffy. The father?" The steel she remembered was back in his voice.
"Spike.ButIreallyneedyoutolookupaprophesyformeand-" she rushed.
"Spike!?" She could hear him standing. "Buffy! Spike!"
Her voice timid, she said,"I know, Giles... I was there." She lay a hand on her stomach. "But I love him."
"You're... in love with Spike?"
"I... What!? No. No! The baby... My baby. I love him very much. Spike." She laughed nervously. "Actually, I have a professional question to ask you. Ever heard of a vampire walking unharmed in the light... Sans help from the Gem of Amarra?"
"Ummm.. Not off the top of my head. But it's... 3 am here, Buffy. In two hours, I can get into the Council library."
"All right... Thank you, Giles. I... I miss you."
"I miss you, too, Buffy. Now go to... Wait. Spike's the father... Walking in the light?"
Sensing it was a bad thing, she mumbled, "Um... Yeah.. kinda..."
"No burning?"
"Not a sizzle."
"Lovely. I'll call you the instant I find something... Before I go... The chip?"
"Ineffective."
"Of course. Right. Good night, Buffy. I'll call you soon... Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful... I love you." The line went dead.
Three hours later, the phone rang, and Buffy snatched it up before the first ring was over, praying it hadn't woken anyone.
"Giles?"
"Yes. Buffy... I found something... You.... you won't like it."
"I don't care if I like it, Giles... I need to be able to prepare for it."
"All right. Sit down..."
She sat, a pen in her hand, ready to scribble down the key phrases of the prophesy.
"The one that hunts the hunter, will be only able to conceive with one, and walk among the living unharmed in the light before the end of the second lifetime. The child will walk among the living, be of the living, and live to save all in a single battle. The child will be of dark beauty. The chosen's father will walk among the living, and age as one."
Buffy dropped the pen, a strangled sound emerging from her lips.
"Buffy? There's... There's more. As a mortal, he will answer for sins. He and the hunter will stand united with old enemies, and lost souls will be regained, and postpone the last of days."
"Giles... Giles... explain the... the... walking in the light, before the end of the second lifetime... That part... I'm... confused."
"It means, I think, that everyone is allotted seventy years. So, think, that the second lifetime will be... 140 years. He's... 128, correct?"
"Hundred and twenty-nine..."
"Exactly. It was bound to happen. With or without the child, he would walk in the light. But the second lifetime will be up in.. little over ten years..."
Her hand lay on her stomach, fearful. "My son... my baby will fight?"
"And you, Spike, and a few of your enemies alongside."
She groaned. "Shit, shit shit. And Spike gets his soul back?"
"It doesn't say him... but, yes, I am assuming that."
"All... All right... I.. I have to go, Giles. Thank you so much."
"Of course... Watch yourself."
"You, too." She hung up.
Spike sat in the upstairs bedroom, the phone hanging limply in his hands, the dial tone sounding, and tears streaming down his face.
"What the BLEEDIN' HELL am I supposed to do with a SOUL," he raged to himself. "Be some brooding poofter like Peaches? No pissing thank you! Shit! What next? The prophesy means mortality!?" As angry as Spike was, the fear was lurking too close to the surface for his liking. "I'll go to hell... I'll get old, and sick, and I'll die, and then I'll go to hell... As a mortal, I'll answer for my sins?? I was the SCOURGE OF EUROPE!!!! I *AM* the scary story people tell their kids at night! And I like it like that!! At least.. I won't get old... Old, and crippled, and weak.... and sick..." His voiced trailed off, and he replaced the phone.
The next night, while Buffy and Spike were patrolling, there came a knock at the door. Dawn padded downstairs, opened the door, pushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes.
"Oh my God."
DUM DUM DUM!!!!!! CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!! AT least till tomorrow. Oh, it's good. It's already writeen, so are the next like... five parts. I'm just getting a head start. As I said. REVIEW! *snuffle* My baby. Sorry. I can just feel good things from this. I hope you all like it. Joss the meany-poop head owns all. God bless him.
Tequila Sunrise
Please, R&R. Always.
Tequila.
Walking into Spike's crypt, two things stood out to her. The liquor on his breath, and the look of absolute panic in his eyes.
"You can't stake me, Slayer.... Not yet. Let me see my baby first. Please, Slayer, please. I didn't mean to."
"Dawn kissed you."
Even in his drunken state, he tried to protect Dawn. "I kissed her. Right took bloody advantage." Swung the bottle back, drank.
"Ok..." She sat down in his green chair, crossed her legs. "Why'd you take advantage of my baby sister and kiss her?"
Scrambling through his liquor-impaired mind, he tried to think of something. Anything. "The... There was something on her lip, and... I... Uh... mmm... Kissed it off?"
"Laa-ame," Buffy sang.
"She... looked beautiful in the club lights?"
"Pervert."
"I didn't like the way the other dancers were looking at her?"
"Plausible... But no."
"Wanted to make you jealous?"
She scoffed. "Would you like to know why Dawn kissed you?"
He collapsed into a sitting position, an attentive disciple to her wisdom. "God, yes."
"Because... I... Ummm... I kissed Xander. It wasn't..."
He raised a hand for silence. "Hold. Up. The Bit kissed me, 'cuz you kissed... Doughboy? You *kissed* him?"
"It wasn't like that!" She cried defensively. "We were talking and he... we told each other what... we are to each other..."
"Which is..?"
Flustered, Buffy stood, paced. "What do YOU think?"
Spike stood stiffly alongside her. "I know exactly what I think. Why don't you tell me what you know?"
Buffy crossed her arms, her hands hugging her elbows. Laughed uneasily. "I don't even know why I'm explaining this to you."
"Well, do it, anyway." His frustration was rising, and the only thing keeping him from lashing out was his baby in her womb.
Giving him a look she spoke softly, "We danced, and the whole time he was telling me how he used to be so in love with me. I was... his dream..." She dropped her eyes from his blue stare, uncomfortable.
"I can understand that, luv. Go on." His head was held high, but his shoulders spoke another, hopeless story.
"But then, he told me that Anya was his all, that missing piece of his soul, but that I was as his best friend, and I told him the same." Paused. Rephrased. "Minus all the love stuff. And he wished me luck. With Dawn, the baby... and... With you." 'Deep breaths, Buff,' she reminded herself. "Then he kissed me, and we walked away."
"Then Niblet-"
"Wanted to be sure you weren't hurt. And kissing you... Last ditch resort." She laughed. "Dawn's probably still brushing her teeth."
At his puzzled look, she shook her head. "Guess you're not a good kisser to her standard."
He all but yelped, "Hey now!! No judgment! I wasn't even TRYING! I mean..."
She laughed. "I know. Remember? I know."
"Yeah... Yeah... I know you know." He stepped towards her, laying a hand on her stomach. She wrapped both her hands around his wrist, smiled softly.
July came and went uneventfully. Dawn woke with a start, hearing yelling downstairs. Creeping down her staircase, she stared, a hand pressed to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
"Stop telling him war stories!!" Her sister yelled. "Negative expressions are BAD FOR HIM!" She thumped Spike on the side of his head forcefully. "Geez!"
Spike snarked back, "Shut up, Slayer. SHE likes the stories."
Dawn laughed, watching. Buffy's tight tank top was pulled up, baring her slightly rounded belly. Her hands were on her hips. Spike knelt before her, at eye-level with her stomach, hands on either side of her womb. Both were glaring. Finally, Spike gave in.
He leaned forward, kissed her stomach softly, and said, "And they all lived 'appily ever after. Good night, baby-mine."
Suddenly feeling intrusive, Dawn crept back to her bed, a soft smile on her lips.
"So... Ummm... Anyone else noticing the LACK of calling Giles and saying, 'Hey! G-man! Buff's prego... With Spike's kid... hahaha'?" Xander asked.
"Yeah," Willow said sadly, crunching a carrot.
"And," Anya added, frowning intensely over seating arrangements for the wedding, "they fight. About everything. Even the sex of the baby. I think they love each other."
Dawn held her own hair as she heaved in the bathroom of Sunnydale High. Wiping her burning mouth and nose, she walked to the office, past the secretary and picked up the phone; dialed.
It rang once before a groggy Spike answered. "Buffy?"
"Where's Buffy, Spike? I need to... I need her."
"What's wrong, Niblet? Are you ok? Demons? You hurt?"
She gave a tiny smile at his concern. "No... I'm fine. Just sick. I wanna come home. And I need Buffy." The last part of her claim came out in a slight whine.
"I... Nib, she's at the doctors... I can be there in 2 minutes. Be outside."
"I can't. I have to be signed out." Her eyes watered as her stomach rolled. "I want Buffy."
"Two minutes, Dawnie. I'll sign you out."
True to his word, two minutes later, the old DeSoto's tires squealed, and he jumped out, coat over his head, and stalked into the building swiftly.
Staying as far from the light as possible, he made his way to the office. Signing the piece of paper nearest to him, he bellowed, "DAWN!! Let's GO, Niblet!!"
"Ex-CUSE me, sir!" The secretary said indignantly, "Some ID please?"
"Sod. Off. Bitch." He enunciated clearly, adding a snarl for good measure. "My NIECE is sick, her sis is at the doctor's, so I'm signing her OUT, all right!?"
There was something... just lurking in his eyes, and under his skin, that made her stutter her response. "I...I-I... Of course.. F-f-f-feel better, Ms. Summers."
"Uh-huh," Dawn replied, as Spike pulled her along behind him
Buffy walked slowly up the sidewalk, looking at the sonogram picture in her hand. Ran a finger over the forming head and body of her baby. Her baby. With a heartbeat. She barely noticed anyone else with her until Spike was yelling, pulling her quickly after him.
"-hasn't stopped gettin' sick yet! Cor! It's been at least an hour. Hurry UP. she's been crying for you!"
Buffy snapped out of her haze and began to run up the stairs to her home...
But not before she noticed Spike running beside her, uncovered...
And un-burning.
After putting Dawn to bed, holding her until she fell asleep, Buffy went downstairs, the picture in her hand.
Spike was heating a cup of blood, looking frazzled. "She's all right, then? Settled in? Does she need anything?"
"No." She handed him the picture and sat at the table.
He sat, too, holding the picture. "This is her? My baby?"
"Yup. That's him. Our baby. I... I told her I didn't want to know the sex of the baby... kind of a surprise, ya know."
"Yeah." He stood, kissed her forehead. "Dawn woke me too early in the afternoon. I'm gonna go the crypt, catch some shut-eye."
"Spike... You may as well get used to sleeping here. Just... take my room. I'll be up a bit later."
"All right," he agreed casually, thinking that big steps were going unacknowledged.
An hour later, sure everyone in her household was asleep, she picked up the phone and dialed a number off a small scrap of paper on the phone stand.
"Hello?" The familiar voice washed over her.
"G-Giles? This is... It's me. Buffy."
"Bu-Buff? Buffy? How have you... emmm.. Been?"
"Um... Well, I guess. But, Giles... There's some things... Things that you need to know. But first... I have to say some things. I miss you, firstly. In training, in advice... You were always... almost... a... a... surrogate dad to me, and I just wanted you to know that I love you. And I'm thankful for everything you've done."
"Oh, Buffy... I miss you, too. I'm... I'm glad you think so highly of me.... I... when I... When you... well, I lost a daughter, when we lost you."
There was a deep silence, an embrace across oceans.
"But... Buffy, what do you need to tell me?"
"I'm... That I'm... pregnant, Giles. Four months pregnant."
"Well then..." She could hear him cleaning his glasses, then drop them. "I see... Congratulations, then... Who is the father? Do you need anything?"
"No... Nothing... But I'd love your company... But that isn't the important part-"
"Buffy. The father?" The steel she remembered was back in his voice.
"Spike.ButIreallyneedyoutolookupaprophesyformeand-" she rushed.
"Spike!?" She could hear him standing. "Buffy! Spike!"
Her voice timid, she said,"I know, Giles... I was there." She lay a hand on her stomach. "But I love him."
"You're... in love with Spike?"
"I... What!? No. No! The baby... My baby. I love him very much. Spike." She laughed nervously. "Actually, I have a professional question to ask you. Ever heard of a vampire walking unharmed in the light... Sans help from the Gem of Amarra?"
"Ummm.. Not off the top of my head. But it's... 3 am here, Buffy. In two hours, I can get into the Council library."
"All right... Thank you, Giles. I... I miss you."
"I miss you, too, Buffy. Now go to... Wait. Spike's the father... Walking in the light?"
Sensing it was a bad thing, she mumbled, "Um... Yeah.. kinda..."
"No burning?"
"Not a sizzle."
"Lovely. I'll call you the instant I find something... Before I go... The chip?"
"Ineffective."
"Of course. Right. Good night, Buffy. I'll call you soon... Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful... I love you." The line went dead.
Three hours later, the phone rang, and Buffy snatched it up before the first ring was over, praying it hadn't woken anyone.
"Giles?"
"Yes. Buffy... I found something... You.... you won't like it."
"I don't care if I like it, Giles... I need to be able to prepare for it."
"All right. Sit down..."
She sat, a pen in her hand, ready to scribble down the key phrases of the prophesy.
"The one that hunts the hunter, will be only able to conceive with one, and walk among the living unharmed in the light before the end of the second lifetime. The child will walk among the living, be of the living, and live to save all in a single battle. The child will be of dark beauty. The chosen's father will walk among the living, and age as one."
Buffy dropped the pen, a strangled sound emerging from her lips.
"Buffy? There's... There's more. As a mortal, he will answer for sins. He and the hunter will stand united with old enemies, and lost souls will be regained, and postpone the last of days."
"Giles... Giles... explain the... the... walking in the light, before the end of the second lifetime... That part... I'm... confused."
"It means, I think, that everyone is allotted seventy years. So, think, that the second lifetime will be... 140 years. He's... 128, correct?"
"Hundred and twenty-nine..."
"Exactly. It was bound to happen. With or without the child, he would walk in the light. But the second lifetime will be up in.. little over ten years..."
Her hand lay on her stomach, fearful. "My son... my baby will fight?"
"And you, Spike, and a few of your enemies alongside."
She groaned. "Shit, shit shit. And Spike gets his soul back?"
"It doesn't say him... but, yes, I am assuming that."
"All... All right... I.. I have to go, Giles. Thank you so much."
"Of course... Watch yourself."
"You, too." She hung up.
Spike sat in the upstairs bedroom, the phone hanging limply in his hands, the dial tone sounding, and tears streaming down his face.
"What the BLEEDIN' HELL am I supposed to do with a SOUL," he raged to himself. "Be some brooding poofter like Peaches? No pissing thank you! Shit! What next? The prophesy means mortality!?" As angry as Spike was, the fear was lurking too close to the surface for his liking. "I'll go to hell... I'll get old, and sick, and I'll die, and then I'll go to hell... As a mortal, I'll answer for my sins?? I was the SCOURGE OF EUROPE!!!! I *AM* the scary story people tell their kids at night! And I like it like that!! At least.. I won't get old... Old, and crippled, and weak.... and sick..." His voiced trailed off, and he replaced the phone.
The next night, while Buffy and Spike were patrolling, there came a knock at the door. Dawn padded downstairs, opened the door, pushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes.
"Oh my God."
DUM DUM DUM!!!!!! CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!! AT least till tomorrow. Oh, it's good. It's already writeen, so are the next like... five parts. I'm just getting a head start. As I said. REVIEW! *snuffle* My baby. Sorry. I can just feel good things from this. I hope you all like it. Joss the meany-poop head owns all. God bless him.
Tequila Sunrise