Thanks to anonymous and loosestring. Sorry for the delay!

"Always Blood"

Buffy looked at the three little sticks spread out on her bathroom sink. All with little plus signs. She was pregnant again. Not that it was any shock, but the now that she was certain… She smiled to herself, and looked into the mirror. Gently placing loving hands onto her abdomen, she turned sideways.

"Your lil' sis is just going to love you. And your daddy. And me. Welcome, little one." She whispered, looking down at herself. Hearing Spike come down the hallway, she rapidly put the three tests into a brown paper bag, rolling it up and tossing it into the trash. She didn't want to tell anyone just yet. She didn't want to jinx herself. She had never been more terrified in her entire life than when she thought she was going to lose Joy.

"Buffy, you alright in there?" She heard him ask. Opening the door, giving him her most dazzling smile, she said, "I feel wonderful." She threw her arms around him, and dragged him into the bathroom for a deep kiss. Pulling back, she looked at him questioningly.

"She asleep?"

"Yup. Dozed right after watching that god awful Sesame Street tape."

"Good. Cause now I have you all to myself."

"You've always got me, kitten." He said, trailing kisses down her neck as he picked her up and place her on the sink. He quickly pulled her shorts and underwear down and off her legs. Buffy, excruciatingly slow, unbuttoned the top of his jeans, before pulling the zipper down even slower.

"You're killing me here, pet." He said in a low voice.

"Aww, Spike. Can't a girl have any fun?" She asked, pulling him out and pumping him harshly.

"Slayer, you know you always get to have fun."

"So what is it you want then?" She asked, pulling him towards her entrance. He braced his hands on her hips.

"Just you luv; just this." He replied before kissing her softly. Then he plunged into her extremely wet depths with a moan. 'How am I gonna last without this?' He wondered, as he pumped leisurely into her. But then he thought of the long run, and how he wouldn't be away from her that long. That in the end, it would all be worth it. The two took their time together, relishing the contact with one another, both all the while thinking of the information they withheld from each other. Neither of the two lovers knew, however, that they each held secrets…

SSSSSSSSSSSS

Darla couldn't shake the longing from deep inside of her. She tried to rationalize that perhaps it was something that couldn't be helped- that it was primal, and therefore in certain ways, natural. But being a vampire or not, she couldn't rationalize the fact, no matter which way you cut it, that she wanted her own child's blood. She wanted to sink her fangs into his soft, baby skin that reeked of Johnson & Johnson baby wash, and just… relieve herself. It was driving her mad.

She tried going by Angel's rules, she truly had. But no matter how many blood bags she greedily ate she absolutely would not agree to pigs blood, it could not satiate her. It reminded her of when she was pregnant. Except this time, the blood she longed for wasn't just any child, but the one that came from her womb.

It didn't help that his rapid little heartbeat seemed so loud to her ears; the rushing sound of his blood pump, pumping, pumping all of the time. She held him close, closing her eyes. It was as if she had no control over herself. She hated it- that feeling of helplessness. Angel trusted her, with their son. And now, she was going to betray him. The baby cooed a bit as she brought his slight neck to her elongated fangs.

"Shh, it's alright, baby. This won't hurt much." Darla felt disgusted with herself, but she couldn't seem to stop…

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Giles looked at the clock, squinting harshly to look at it's hands. A little after three fifteen in the morning.

"Bloody…" he trailed off, not wishing to disturb a deeply sleeping Joyce or Dawn, who finally slept soundly in the crib next to their bed. The baby had only gone to sleep not less than an hour before, and he new that Joyce would kill him if he accidentally woke her up. The young girl had a hellish, banshee sounding scream. Powerful lungs on that one. Pulling on his plaid robe, he quietly as possible headed down to the front door. When he saw a somber looking Spike, he went from upset to being awoken to very much scared.

"What's wrong? Is it Buffy? Joy? Are they alright?" He rushed out. Spike, shaking his head, side stepped him to walk pass, and plopped himself onto the couch.

"They're fine. But, I need to talk to you about something. I um… I have a favor to ask." Giles nodded his head silently, wondering if it was some sort of romantic trouble Spike had been having, and seriously hoping that wasn't the case. There was just some things that he didn't feel comfortable discussing.

"There's something that I have to do. And it's gonna require my leave of absence from Sunnydale for awhile. I'm hoping no more than two weeks, but… anyway, I need you to watch out for Buffy. I figure it's gonna be pretty tough on her."

"What do you mean? What's going on, Spike?"

"I want to be better for my family, Rupert. To be a kind of man who… to be a kind of man. I don't want to have my own daughter ever look at me and… to make a long story short, I'm going to seek out a legend, and I 'm going to try to go and retrieve my soul." Giles stood there, mouth agape, wondering if he'd heard the former vampire correctly.

"Why would you do that? Something like that is… completely unheard of. It's, it's-"

"An unselfish act, completely out of character for me?" Spike asked with a sad grin.

"No, that's not… Well, I mean, you're nearly human, I mean… Does Buffy know about this?"

"No. Reckon if she does, she'd try and stop me. But it's something that I have to do, if only for my own peace of mind. What Adam gave me was a beating heart, nothing more. And Buffy and my child deserve so much more than a vampire with a pulse. Cuz, that's more or less what I am, right?" Giles remained silent at that.

"So, what you're just going to leave them? No warning as to what you're doing or where you're going? Letting your family believe that you just abandoned them." Feeling agitated, Spike stood up, facing him.

"Look, I'm tellin' you, ain't I? Besides, I'm leaving her letter explaining that I'll be back. And I'm not abandoning anybody. I just haveta make things right. She'll understand. I want her to be able to look at me, and not feel ashamed." Spike said, looking away. Giles didn't know that Spike's last statement was in reference to his daughter. Buffy already accepted him for who he was. And yet, it still wasn't enough for him. He didn't want to disappoint either one of his girls.

"I'm to assume that even though you're making me aware of this, I am not to notify Buffy in any way of your whereabouts?" Giles asked, after a deep sigh.

"You'd be right. Just, make sure that she's okay, alright?"

"Oh right, because you suddenly disappearing into the middle of the night is going to make her ever so pleasant to be around. I remember quite clearly the last time that happened."

"Well look at it this way: at least this time, she isn't pregnant."

SSSSSSSSSSS

Angel dropped the warmed baby bottle to the floor as he watched with shock, disappointment, anger, and fear what Darla was doing. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

"Connor!" He yelled, hurling himself at his sire and knocking her into a wooden chair. Not being able to support the force and weight, it crumpled into splints, causing them to fall to the floor. He grabbed his baby and stood up. Looking at his neck, he saw two scratch marks on his neck. He figured Darla's fangs must have scratched him when he knocked her over. He thanked the Power's that he was able to get there in time before she actually bit him.

"What the hell were you doing Darla?" He hissed, not even noticing his own face morphing into that of the demon's. Darla looked up at him, her golden demon eyes filled with unshed tears.

"I don't know. Angel, please, something's wrong with me!"

"No, something's wrong with me for ever trusting you with my son! You were going to kill him!" Angel yelled, furious at her, and even more so at himself.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stop myself… But that's no excuse." She mumbled, grabbing one of the pieces of wood from the floor, grasping it as if for dear life.

"You have to believe when I say, that all I want is for Connor to be safe. And I'm not well, and I don't trust myself." Angel could see that Darla was about to kill herself. But he couldn't seem to bring himself to stop her in that moment.