X Woman Chapter Five

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Xavier Institute Next Day

Buffy was busy getting used to this place any better. She continued training, and was sure no one watched her. She wanted to be alone in her thoughts. She was aware that, in the school of mutants, the bald professor guy in the chair was the strongest mutant in the immediate area. She calculated it in her mind, a natural reaction for her. The reminder that she hadn't even cared what she did away from Sunnydale except kill evil until she died swept through her mind like a leaf in the wind. But she pushed it away.

Honestly, she didn't feel like she should be aloud to live, didn't believe she even really wanted to keep going. But it wasn't just her own life on the line. Now, she had someone inside of her, someone to protect. Her baby growing inside of her was another connection to Angel, her beloved that she had condemned to hell for the world, undeserving in itself as far as she was concerned.

Oh, yeah, there were plenty of innocent people in the world. But they didn't know about the world, what it really was. The older they got, the more aware and farther in denial they sank, which just turned them into little minions of a group of people made up of most the population just went on day-to-day like drones. They cared about themselves and nothing else.

But she didn't voice these thoughts or opinions. She didn't keep her mind on them either. As she sank her hand into the red bag hanging from the wall by a large chain empowered by a metal column going through it, she remembered, for a moment, what it was like to be queen of a school, Hemery for her for a while, Sunnydale High for Cordelia Chase for a while.

Buffy's mind flashed back unconsciously to the time when she acted as the dumb blonde who only cared for guys wearing Armani and Prada shoes that hopefully didn't cause her to look to condescending. Buffy never showed how smart she was, on a genius level in fact. She never allowed her brain to slip into her grades because she couldn't stand the pointlessness of it, especially since she was Called. What did she have to look forward to in life, now that Angel was gone, except holding on so the next girl to be Called wouldn't be for a while. And now she was going to have a baby.

The afternoon was nice, not too hot, just a little cool air with a warm breeze blowing overhead, which she stopped to feel when she could because this was very irregular for New York. No rain was on the horizon, and the sun was in the middle of the sky, bright, declaring it mid-afternoon.

She had talked with the professor about classes; and she had agreed to take them. She didn't exactly like them, but she wanted to at least finish her classes and someday graduate. It would at least make her mom happy, if she ever found out. Plus, she needed something to do. And they were free. Who was she to pass up free stuff?

She wasn't going to start till tomorrow, which was a Monday, but now she just wanted to train. She couldn't believe she was pregnant! How? Vampires can't make babies remember! She had been told and it was just a fact. Plain and Simple!

And now, maybe it wasn't. She huffed and started hitting the punching bag. She watched her strength though; she didn't want to hit it off of the chain in the wall.

But she knew it was true. Buffy was three months pregnant with Angel's, her Angel's, child. She could feel the change in her system, the blood flowing differently now. It had gone ignored when Angelus was stalking her because she could put it all up to stress.

A memory hit her of training with Giles, and knocking him down with a staff. He had wattled off, claiming he was tired for the day. She smiled at that. Then she frowned and threw it out of her mind. She didn't want to think about the past. 'Cause that's what it is-was. The past. Already passed. Done with, can't go back.

She shut her mind off of her thoughts again, and went back to training. She almost forgot about her strength, and started pulling her punches again, not wanting to be found out or identified as weird, no matter where she was.

'Wow, that straight working must have really been an upper for the slayer in me.' She punned to herself. Her muscles felt slightly more controlled then before, and she was stronger. She weighed less, and knew she needed to start eating a lot more. Muscle mass is heavier then fat, so she should be heavier as she trained and ate more. 'Great. I have to get fat. Bet Cordy would just love that.' At the thought of Cordy, she spewed sarcasm. 'I guess Cordy will never have children.' At the though of her stomach, she smiled slightly but fondly for a second.

She was pregnant.

It hadn't fully sunk in yet, and she doubted it would until she went into labor. The clues had been there for a while, but she wasn't fully registering that, in 6 more months, she would have a mini person to stare out, one she already felt unquestioned love for.

For an hour, she trained with the punching bag in front of her to take the blows she handed out. When she got bored of using brute strength, she decided to go for balance. She went to the beam on the other side of the room.

Buffy went into the trance that Giles had taught her, and did her made-up routine on the beam. She repeated it a couple more timed, going more for form and routine then awareness.

She was so into what she was doing that she never saw Professor Xavier wheel into the room. He watched her for a while, curious. She was really good, and handled herself like she was a leaf. She had magnificent form, and moved with a grace he had never seen. He left before she finished, going make sure everyone was prepared for teaching and studies tomorrow.

Buffy never saw him come in or leave. She was putting all of her attention to the beam and her fluid movements in silence. She barely made a sound when she moved, except for an occasional swoosh from her smoothe, sleek movement. She hadn't eaten all that much since killing her lover for the good of man kind, and all that rubbish. But her body seemed to be making up for it fine. Her slayer power rooted out the nutrients out of anything it could, and the energy she had came more from that then food.

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That Night

Buffy was dreaming, and she knew it. She dreamt this dream a lot. It kept her sane. It made her a little insane at the end too. But she kept those thoughts away. This was the time when she could enjoy herself, if only for a little while.

She was on the beach, standing with her toes in the sand, her dress swaying in the breeze. She watched the ocean; it hit the beach with a thud that didn't reach her ears. She could feel him coming. But she didn't turn around. She just watched the water and the few birds still playing on the water, or fishing.

And then he was there. He slowly came to her hand put his arms around her. He laid his hands on her stomach, almost protectively. She laid hers on his, as if to keep him there. But this dream was different. It started the same, but it was different, and she just masked in his presence, and drank up the feel of him in the sun. With him there, she could actually feel the heat coming from the closest star to Earth.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"If I was blind, I would see you." He replied evenly.

But he didn't say his famous last words that made her dread coming back to her dreams. It changed. You're not alone, you know."

She waited a moment before she said anything. "Yeah, but I can't go back. Not now. And now, you're gone to."

"I'll never be gone. I'll always be here." There was a silence as she let herself be pulled into his chest, the cold skin not bothering her like it would any other human being. "They're special you know." He said.

"They?" she asked. He patted her belly in confirmation. She let out a small giggle and he let off a small smile in reply.

They remained quiet and content for a while, just staring at the ocean.

"Don't worry about the slaying; you've got plenty of help."

"How? Most of the people at the institute aren't even aware of this type of supernatural stuff."

He sighed and kissed her neck, and then her shoulders. She sighed and smiled at the attention. "You'll see. And she will come to help you. The others are all coming to protect the hellmouth. Don't worry though; they won't get to do anything drastic without you." He grinned at that.

She smiled, but was still confused. "Cryptic much?" She said. He just looked at her as if to say 'Duh.'

After a while of silence she asked, "How?" He just looked at her before answering.

"The Powers That Be. They saw us a while ago and made me just the little bit human. Enough to do this." He patted her belly again.

She sighed into his lips as they met hers. When he released her lips, she snuggled back into him, and they sat down on the sand, where a blanket had suddenly appeared under them.

When she decided to ask her question, she wasn't surprised at the question. "So, these... PTBs gave you a bit of humanity why?" He just watched the waves with her for a while.

"They owe us. They owe us big time. I talked to them a while ago. A demon was sent to permanent the curse, but he was held back. Whistler intercepted it, but by then, it was too late. I had already lost it. And it had to be restored already to make it permanent."

A bittersweet smile crossed her face. She felt like she was gonna cry, but she held them back. This was a good time. Not one for tears.

"I think I should tell you now. I'm working my way out of there, don't worry. I'll be the first anything to make it out of hell. Well, not alive, but...you get my meaning. I'll still be me. I won't really know anything, but even the demon knows to reach out for you. I'll know about the kids." He rubbed her stomach in recognition.

She sighed and smiled. She loved when he did that. And she wasn't even showing yet.

"You won't you know. You won't show unless you wanna. It's your powers, the ones that the professor talked about."

"Yeah." She said, interested in what he was saying. "But none of us can figure it out yet. Do you have any idea?" she asked.

He shrugged and they just looked at one another for a while. He kissed her gently for a moment, before letting up. "You can use other's powers that you have come in contact with. There's a mutant by the name of Mystique around that can change any form at will. There's a mutant that can control metal. And watch the eyes. You never know when you'll start to show who you've touched. Scott's power will make me mad when I want to see your eyes. They're a beautiful green." He smiled as he kissed her forehead.

"They're only green for you." She replied seriously, before burying herself into him, lips locked onto his.

They sighed when they parted. "You should write to the others or something, let them know you're okay. They'll be worried and grieving if you wait any longer."

"Why" she asked confused.

He answered cryptically again. "The others will worry them. And, don't worry about it, Kendra's will come to you with friendship. Trust her; she needs to learn to trust as well."

Buffy still didn't get what he was meaning, but nodded in reply. She'd probably figure it out soon anyway.

She breathed in his scent, taking him in to memorize for the thousandth time in this dream. "I love you." She said out of the blue. She was smiling.

"I love you too." He kissed her lips passionately. "Forever, that's the whole point."

There was a pause. "You better hurry." He said. "You'll have to leave soon." He said. But he was gone just as she was; the ocean view on the golden sand and the birds in the sky vanishing as she opened her eyes, knowing what she would find. She sighed, but smiled. She put her face into the pillow deeply.

Buffy could still smell his scent on her, even though he was physically never on the bed. She loved it. And she always missed it. She had been joining Angel in her dreams for a while now. It was her only release from reality. It gave her a moment of what mattered. Love, peace. The true reality beyond the walls of the dimension they walked on.

She got up a while later, and took out some paper from her desk. She got a pencil out and wrote a small letter to the gang.

Giles, Will, Xander, Oz, Cordy.

Hi gang. I'm fine, not dead, or insane, or oblivious to my duty. I'm still doing it, just not there right now. Don't worry; it's taken care of for a while. (Giles, you're gonna go insane when you hear how I pulled this one off! smirks) I am housed, and under constant care if needed. No I am not hurt. I am just finding something out about me. If you wanna reach me, I'll be under And Will, the place is protected so NO HACKING! I'll write later and say "Hey!" sometime. K?

-B

P.S. Giles, in LA at 1376 N WilkimShrire, there is a poorhouse place. Knock, and if someone asks who is there, then say who you are, and that Buffy sent you. There's this liquid portal thing there, but it closed behind us, so there were a lot of people left inside. I think they're probably all dead by now, time runs differently there. Do what you think is right, but don't go spending much time down there- ESPECIALY IF THERE IS A CHANCE YOU MIGHT GET STUCK! Well L8ter gang. And will you tell mom I love her?

-Your most favorite, bestest blonde slayer, hopefully,
-B.