A/N : I've hurried along with this chapter since so many people were eager to read it, I hope this story continues to meet the expectations of all you wonderful reviewing people! Thanx to; zanthinegirl, kori hime, Moonglow13, candy, fischergirl, theresa, Azrielle, Bunny, little-lost-one, Silent Rush, Red Wulf, Hieiko, sammie, wicked-angel3, spikewuvsbuffy, helaine, Rachel, adpi24, sunnyhell, Jovial, Courtney37, hells child, Spunkles, Freezyboncoolipants, cynthia, Ann, MaidenRo, Buffy Fan, Samolly, AraelMoonchild, JadedxVampire21, aphelant, sacha, kate, Lady Starlight, SouthernRain, Bridget, Moluvsnumber17, rubi-elektra. I can't beleive this fic is so popular, and to think I considered not writing it, or at least not for a while, I was going to finish my others first. Oh well, must go where the muse tells me. Hope you like this chapter :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

A week passed and still Buffy carried her child and her secret. She'd taken a total of five pregnancy tests, five different brands from five different drug stores, but every single one gave the same result. She was pregnant, and the only possible candidate for the father was a louse called Parker Abram's that had spun her line and used her for a one night stand.

So far she hadn't found a way to tell her friends or family about this, not even her boyfriend, though she was sure some of the gang were suspicious that something weird was going on. Buffy had been waking up and going to bed with terrible nausea and she'd almost knocked Willow off her feet one morning as she barrelled past to the bathroom to vomit.

On various occasions Giles, Xander, Willow, Riley, they'd all asked her if she was feeling okay when she'd half fallen asleep or looked a little pale whilst researching or sitting in class or at the Bronze. She'd lied out-right and said she was fine, just stressed out or didn't sleep well last night or whatever, anything to get them off her case. She'd also avoided visiting her Mom for fear of having one more person questioning her.

She figured out from her calendar she must be almost three months into pregnancy. She was just starting to show, which so far hadn't been much of a problem, since it was barely a bump and she just wore her baggier clothes most of the time.

The other thing that it meant was she'd pretty much run out of time if she wanted to abort the child, but even knowing it had been formed by such an alliance as it had, Buffy felt there was no way she could get rid of her baby. It might be a part of Parker but above and beyond that it was a part of herself and she wasn't going to let it go.

These past seven days, she'd avoided patrol, hoping the Initiative was doing what it was supposed to be, in ridding Sunnydale of it's demon population. Part of the reason was because of the baby, she didn't want to get into a situation where it might be harmed, but she had to admit another large reason was a certain vampire named Spike.

The only other being in the whole world that knew she was pregnant and it was one of her sworn enemies. Okay so Spike had fought on her side more than once and he was handicapped these days, but she hated the fact he knew her secret, when even her boyfriend had no idea.

Poor Riley, Buffy did feel so bad for the way she'd been around him lately. She was less that willing for him to touch her since she found out she was carrying a child, firstly for fear of his realising she was slightly bigger than a few months ago and second because she wasn't sure if getting physical with him might damage the baby. To be honest, she didn't know much about being pregnant. Of course there had been what she'd heard in sex ed class and her mother had sat her down and given her the whole contraception speech but no-one ever gave her a lecture on how to cope if you found out you were pregnant - no-one ever expected it to happen like this, least of all Buffy herself.

So many thoughts were spinning around in her head, mostly about the baby but also worries about Riley and his situation with the Initiative - there was definitely something weird going on with them. Professor Walsh now knew she was the Slayer and had said she wanted Buffy to visit the operation beneath the college. She wanted to run tests, see how the Slayer functioned, combine the skills of the government institution and the Chosen One. So far Buffy had managed to avoid it all by avoiding the Professor and even Riley to a certain extent. How could she have physical tests when she was trying to keep her bodies biggest secret just that? She still attended Psychology class but always snuck in and out amongst crowds of other students, hoping not to be noticed too much, so far she'd been managing pretty well.

Tonight, Riley was with out his fellow commandos, Willow was over at her new friend Tara's and Buffy was alone in her dorm room. Alone meant quiet and that meant more time to think scary baby-related thoughts. Sometimes she really wanted to tell someone, mostly Willow who she was pretty sure would sympathetic, or maybe her Mom, or Giles since he'd been feeling so out of the loop lately, but when it came to the crunch she always bottled out, too afraid of someone voicing what she already thought herself - she'd been an idiot and she deserved all she got.

In frustration the Slayer decided to do what her destiny said she must - go kill evil things. Just a quick sweep of the nearest cemeteries shouldn't be too dangerous, if she was careful and didn't try anything too dangerous for her body and her baby. Staking some evil undead fiends was just what Buffy needed right now, it'd take her mind off things for a little while - something had to, or she was gonna go crazy!

- - - - - - - - -

The night was going pretty well. So far Buffy had fought and staked two fledgling vamps without much trouble at all. She was beginning to think it might be time to call it a night when a strange tingle shot down her spine. Another vampire was close by, behind her. Concentrating, the Slayer spun around and reached out an arm to grab a shadowed figure by the throat as he ventured around the side of a crypt.

"Slayer" the vampire smirked, not at all bothered that Buffy had a hand to his throat and a stake to his heart "it's been a while"

"Not long enough" she complained, letting go of him and stepping back "I thought you'd left town, Spike"

"Cried for my loss did you, pet?" he asked, raising a scarred eyebrow as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it "Don't fret, sweetheart" he said, blowing out smoke, "I'm not leaving good old Sunnyhell til I get this lump of brain-frying silicon out of my cranium" he told her, pointing to his head. Buffy smiled sweetly as she replied;

"You have to have a brain in order to get it fried" she turned to walk away but Spike wasn't ready for her to leave yet, he was having too much fun.

"Ooh, Slayer" he almost laughed "See the pregnancy's done nothing for your verbal fighting skills"

"Get lost, Spike" she said, spinning on her heal, raising her stake once again "or I swear to God..."

"Hey now, calm down" Spike urged her, casually leaning back on the crypt wall as he smoked his cigarette "Shouldn't let yourself get so worked up, not in your condition" the smirk that adorned his face had to be the most annoying expression he owned, Buffy thought fleetingly as she got more and more frustrated.

"You...you don't know anything!" she yelled, with a dramatic gesture. Spike didn't seem at all bothered by her outburst. He enjoyed sparring with the girl, and if the only way to do that these days was verbally, well then he'd make do with that.

"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you, pet?" he said, dropping the butt of the cigarette on the ground and crushing it beneath his boot "But I'll bet I'm still the only one who knows about your nibblet" he gestured towards her stomach and Buffy's arm wrapped itself around her middle of it's own accord.

"Don't you ever shut up!" she complained, knowing he couldn't harm her but feeling strangely protective of the child inside of her. She hated that he was right about her not telling anyone else about her pregnancy, but there was no way she was admitting that. She didn't need to, her lack of argument was all the answer he needed.

"I'm right, aren't I?" he took great delight in realising "You haven't even told Joyce, have you? Or Red or the Whelp? Not even dear old Rupes?" he'd been walking toward her this whole time and now stood just inches away "Tut-tut Slayer" he shook his head and wagged his finger at her "Don't you trust your mates to be supportive...but then like I said to Angel" he sighed "it is a little slutty to be sleeping with the very first idiot that tries it on"

Buffy's fist reacted before her brain or anything else did, her knuckles connecting with the bridge of Spike's nose, making blood flow down the vampire's face.

"Hey!" Spike yelled as he reeled back, clutching his probably broken nose "That bloody hurt! Bitch!"

The Slayer advanced on him, stake raised, she'd had enough of this, for tonight at least. Spike backed up, knowing he couldn't hit her back without making his newly acquired headache ten times worse, and he soon found his back against the crypt wall again, Buffy just an inch or two away with a stake pressed to his breast-bone.

"Now listen to me, and listen good, Spike" she said in a low voice that he didn't know she possessed "I've cut you some slack, given your handicap and all, but you keep this up, the smart-ass comments, the attitude problem, you might find yourself meeting a very dusty end"

'Is it wrong,' Spike wondered 'that I am totally turned on by this?'

He didn't get a chance to think of an answer to his own question as his eyes flitted up from her gaze to beyond her shoulder.

"Duck" he said simply, making Buffy frown.

"What?" she asked him in confusion and then her world went black. Again she was unconscious, again she landed in Spike's arms who caught her easily, as a Belua demon stood in her place, roaring loudly. The vampire took a chance, hoisting the Slayer higher in his arms, freeing up some room to bring up his leg and kick the demon where he assumed it would be painful. Thank God this type of nasty had it's balls in the obvious place!

Spike took the opportunity to lay Buffy on the ground to the side of the crypt before turning back to face the demon. He vamped out, screaming a war cry as he launched himself forward. The fight was on, but not for long. Despite the demon being larger and nastier looking than the vampire, he did not have as much strength or skill. Within moments it was on the ground, a beaten mess of green flesh and purple blood. Running a hand back through his hair to remove the demon's slimy blood, Spike shifted out of game face and strolled over to Buffy, still out cold on the ground. Wiping his hands on his black jeans, he crouched down beside her and reached a hand out to her face. Again he was struck by her beauty and the angelic innocence that she possessed as she peacefully slept. Listening intently he heard her hearts regular thump and that tiny little sound that her stomach was emitting. Both mother and child were still alive and for reasons Spike couldn't begin to explain, he was relieved.

Still, he considered leaving her there. Maybe some other nasty would come and finish her off before the night was out, or maybe those Soldier boys would capture her and shove a chip up her brain so she could no longer beat on him. The more he thought about all the horrible fates that could befall her, the more protective Spike felt over the girl, the constant thud of her heart and patter of the child's acting as a background rhythm for his strange thoughts and feelings.

With a shake of his head, not really understanding why he was doing it, Spike scooped the Slayer up in his arms and carried her into the crypt, laying her down on the stone sarcophagus that had served as his bed these passed few nights.

Realising his precious coat had also suffered in the fight with the Belua demon, Spike slipped off the leather item and hung it over another coffin across the room. As he returned, Buffy started to stir. He leaned over her, hands resting on the edge of the stone coffin as she opened her eyes, one hand going straight to her head.

"What is it with you and blacking out on me, Slayer?" he asked with a smirk. Seemingly not yet sure of where she was or what was happening, Buffy made no quick movements.

"What hit me?" she asked sluggishly, eyes flickering open and closed as her hand clutched her aching skull.

"That would be a rather nasty bugger called a Belua demon" Spike informed her as he watched her try to sit up. Wary of her as she moved, he backed up a step.

"Ohh..." she groaned as she finally got into a sitting position and her eyes focused to the light, or lack thereof "Where the hell am I?" she gasped, seeing the place for the first time.

"My new digs" Spike said simply, arms spread wide, encouraging her to take in the whole room "It's just a crypt but it's home, as of yesterday anyway" he shrugged when she looked unimpressed.

"It's gross" she grimaced, swinging her legs over the side of the sarcophagus and wondering if putting her feet on the ground was a good idea yet.

"Hey, do I come to your home and make nasty remarks?" the vampire snapped, sounding decidedly offended. Buffy sighed in frustration.

"I wouldn't let you into my home, Spike" she reminded him, thinking now it was best to try to stand and at least walk out of the door without stopping - anything just to get away from the annoyance known as Spike!

"You did before" he tilted his head as he observed her placing her feet on the ground, seeming to test her weight on her legs.

"That was different" she shrugged, still watching her lower limbs as she stood up and found she only swayed very slightly.

"Seem more than willing to let just about anyone into your home" Spike observed, another smirk itching to form on his lips as Buffy walked passed him "and into your bed" he added the smirk breaking forth as the Slayer turned back too fast and almost knocked herself over. Spike's hand shot out to steady her but she knocked it away.

"Easy Slayer" he threw his hands up in mock-surrender "it was just a joke. God your wound bloody tight lately, must be your soddin' hormones or something" he complained as she put her hand back to her head.

"What is with your obsession with my pregnancy?" she asked wearily, just inches from the door "It's not like you know anything about it"

"I'll bet I know more than you do" he shot back, almost nastily as he fumbled in the pockets of his lately discarded duster for another cigarette.

"Exactly how many pregnant women have you taken care of Spike?" Buffy crossed her arms over her chest as she faced up to him. He kept his back to her as he looked for the cigarettes that he would never find - he'd smoked the last one just moments ago.

"One" she heard him quietly reply "my mother"

"Your mother?" the Slayer repeated in disbelief, wondering if she heard him correctly, or maybe he was lying, but why would he?

"When I was alive, obviously" the vampire told her, giving up in his task of looking for fags, instead fiddling with the lighter in his hands "Dad passed on when I was just a little bit, seven years old, Mum found out two weeks later she was gonna have another kid" his eyes remained mostly on the silver coloured item on his hands, only occasionally flitting up to catch the Slayers gaze.

"So then your poor mother had to put up with two pains in the ass instead of just you?" Buffy showed her own version of a smirk, arms still folded. She wasn't buying this crazy talk, not from Spike...but he did look kinda genuine.

"No" Spike said not quite nastily, his gaze locking onto hers now, almost scaring her "my sister barely lived long enough to see the sun rise once" he said coldly, the ice blue of his eyes almost cutting her in two. Buffy shivered involuntarily.

"I'm sorry" she said softly when he finally looked away. He may be a monster now but once he was a human being and he'd lost a tiny baby sister when he was just a child himself. Again one of Buffy's arms slipped down to her middle, where the barely existed child resided.

Spike said nothing, the Slayer guessed he was embarrassed by his confession or maybe just saddened by the memory...but vampires couldn't feel, could they? Not without a soul, at least that's what she'd always been told. Could Giles and the Watchers possibly have been wrong? If she didn't know better Buffy would say yes.

"I should really go..." she said quietly as she exited the crypt, the sound of the door banging behind her catching Spike's attention.

He really wasn't sure what had made him tell her that, about his mother and his sister. From the day it happened to now he'd never spoken of it to another being, and had never intended to, least of all sharing his past with a Slayer! But Buffy was different, he'd known that from the first moment he'd laid eyes on her, and now she was carrying a child, another fact that set her apart from other Slayer's he'd met. What was really bothering Spike was why he felt so protective of her ever since he found out.

"Soddin' chips trying to turn me into a nancy-boy" he complained to himself, as he set about cleaning his precious coat.

Outside the door Buffy had only just now managed to find the strength to walk. The thump to her head had made her feel bad enough but hearing Spike talk about the family he had as a human, that had really messed with her mind. She'd always thought vampire's weren't really the human's they looked like, just a demon that takes that persons face, but Spike had memories, and more than that he seemed to have feelings. She shook her head, telling herself it was ridiculous to think of him as anything more than a worthless demon, but she just couldn't help it. She'd seen a glimpse of the man behind the monster, and it was scary to realise that she almost liked him.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: Still good? or not? Let me know! Review, please!