Hi this is martinmartin with Chapter 13. I hope you enjoy it. I had fun with it. Thanks Erin for writing such a great previous chapter. It really helped. If you can review that would be great. So read on.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim any of the characters used in this chapter of the guild story.
"What? What's not good Buffy?" Dawn asked, her voice cracking a little as she talked.
Dawn knew when something bad was going to happen. Buffy always got that look on her face, the one where her eyes looked drawn back and out of the real world, when something horribly wrong was going on in her head.
Buffy still sat in the chair muttering to herself, not noticing her near frantic sister now sitting up on the bed.
"BUFFY!" Dawn yelled.
Buffy looked up at Dawn, startled out of her thoughts.
"We are in so much trouble," was all Buffy said as she stood up suddenly and headed for the door.
"Buffy, wait what is it?" Dawn asked trying with some difficulty to get out of bed. Her new baby had grown considerably over night and her body was not used to so much weight in her stomach.
Buffy opened the door and scanned the bleak hall for any listeners, and then she quietly, closed the door and turned to look at Dawn.
"There's something about your baby that made those vampires come here. I don't know what it is but we should gather the gang and decide the best action to take," Buffy said in her authoritative voice.
Dawn's face contorted with disbelief and fright. Uh oh, Buffy thought. Dawn was about to blow.
"What do you mean gather the gang? They can't know I'm pregnant OVERNIGHT...with Connor's baby! They would kill me", Dawn yelled.
Buffy sighed and collected herself.
"Dawn, we need to find out why those vampires tried to come after us and who sent them. We can't do this alone. We need the whole crew to figure this one out and they need to know all the facts. Including you being pregnant," Buffy said.
There was no fighting it, she was right. Dawn groaned with frustration and sank back onto her bed.
"I don't want to tell them. They'll look at me differently and I don't think I can handle that," Dawn said quietly.
Buffy sat next to Dawn and placed an arm around her sister.
"It's okay, I'll get them all in a room and try to warn them. But no matter what I do, they still won't take this little bit of news too well," Buffy said.
"I know. Just make sure they're all in the same room and I'm like, around the corner so they don't really notice me until you tell them," Dawn said.
"Okay sweetie. I'll go let them all wake up and get set up for breakfast, and then after I'll do that. So just stay up here for a while and I'll tell you when it's all set up," Buffy said smiling down at Dawn.
Buffy stood up and was about to reach the door when Dawn said, " Um and Buffy, can you bring me some breakfast. I'm really hungry."
"Sure", Buffy said as assuredly as she could, then walked out and into the silent hall.
Xander jumped as he turned to see Oz standing silently by the kitchen entrance.
Xander grinned, "Sorry Oz man, I get a little jumpy nowadays. Yah know with the one eye and all my vision isn't as good as it used to be."
Oz had been staring off into space and as Xander spoke he pulled his eyes to meet Xander's one good eye. Oz smiled a little but was still entrapped by his previous thoughts.
Xander knew Oz liked to go off into his own world but, hating the silence, he continued talking.
"Came out for breakfast?" Xander asked Oz but not really expecting a reply.
Oz smiled and walked closer to the counter that stood between him and Xander.
"Faith's snoring kind of kept me awake. And that blue girl…she kept wandering about the living room staring at nothing." Oz said.
"Sorta like you?" Xander said with a laugh, " I know what you mean. She's a touch on the odd side."
"Have you seen Willow at all this morning?" Oz asked.
Xander squirmed under Oz's intent gaze.
Poor Oz. He was still attached to Willow. And she only made it worse by avoiding him and not really telling him about her relationship with Tara.
Xander coughed. "No I haven't seen her. I think she and Anya and Tara are up in their room still."
The silence persisted again and it made Xander more uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to break into some random conversation Buffy walked into the room. Her face was a map that showed she was a girl on a mission.
She walked over to the lower cabinet and pulled out a large skillet. She then walked over to the fridge and pulled out the box with the last couple of eggs in it and began making scrambled eggs.
Xander and Oz, deciding not to bother Buffy, went about the normal breakfast routine; cleaning dirty plates, preparing cereal, and toasting the whole loaf of white bread.
By the time Buffy had finished her scrambled eggs, Xander and Oz had set up toast and a few bowls to feed the rest of the house. Buffy grabbed a plate and fork and placed all the eggs onto the plate and grabbed four pieces of toast.
"Geez Buffy, I didn't know you always ate enough to feed three people," Faith said as she and Buffy bumped into one another as they both had tried to go through the door at the same time.
Buffy only said shortly, "Dawn's hungry," and continued to walk towards the stairs.
Willow and Tara, holding hands, said a fond good morning to Buffy as they passed her in the upstairs hall.
Buffy walked into the room to find Dawn writing in her diary. She walked lightly so as not to disturb her.
Dawn closed her journal and looked up at Buffy.
"Scrambled eggs and toast. Made the eggs myself. Xander may have toasted the bread too much. Hope you don't mind." Buffy said as she set the plate on Dawn's lap.
Dawn began ravenously tearing into her breakfast.
"Thanks Buffy," Dawn said with a full mouth.
"The whole house is awake now and in the kitchen. I'll go get ready to tell them in a bit. Just as soon as you finish eating and they stop their… Dawn?" Buffy asked looking at her sister's pained face.
Dawn lurched up off the bed, almost spilling the whole plate, and stumbled towards the door.
"I think I'm sick," Dawn said stiffly.
She struggled with the doorknob and finally opened the door. Buffy could only look sympathetically after Dawn as she rushed into the bathroom.
Buffy stood alone in the hall feeling torn between decisions. Throughout the morning she had been thinking over whether she should tell Angel about the pregnancy before everyone else. He was the closest to Connor right next to Dawn and she really cared about him.
"Angel?" Buffy called softly into the dark room.
There was no answer.
Knowing he was hidden in the darkness somewhere, Buffy allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark before fully walking into the room and closing the door.
Once her eyes had become accustomed to the lack of light she moved slowly over to the far corner of the room where Angel sat in a crooked chair. He made no move to acknowledge her arrival, only sat staring at the same spot on the wall, clenching his fists.
Once Buffy reached him, she knelt at his side and placed a caring arm over his shoulder. He moved a little at her touch but still did not face her.
Buffy moved her face close to his and whispered gently, " Angel I need to tell you something…before anyone else even knows. I'd feel really bad if you weren't the first person to find out this."
Angel looked up a little at her words. He could sense that this was something important, but he did not urge her on.
"Angel after Connor …died I found out something about Dawn, something you should know since it involves Connor. She and, well um, he got together and you know how they were all close and all well…I can't put this any gentler but… Dawn's pregnant with Connor's child," Buffy said apprehensively.
The silence enveloped the room as the realization hit Angel like a ton of bricks. Buffy could feel his body tense as rapid thoughts raced through his mind. He turned, faced her and sat up straighter.
"You mean that Dawn is pregnant with my son's child?'" Angel asked incredulously.
"That's about it. And it's even more confusing than that. The vampires that came here were after the baby. And somehow the baby has grown almost overnight and now Dawn is really showing it," Buffy said.
Angel paused for a moment, thinking over the news.
"We need to tell the others and figure out why and who would come after the baby," Angel said as he straightened up out of the chair.
Buffy could never have loved him more in that moment where he took control over the situation without questioning her or Dawn and Connor's actions. She followed him out of the room.
"Where's Dawn?' Angel asked calmly.
"In the bathroom with morning sickness. There must be something mystical about the baby or it wouldn't have grown that fast in one night," Buffy answered.
"I'll go get everyone in one room and once Dawn is feeling better you and she can come down and we can tell them about the baby," Angel said.
The awkwardness of the situation became apparent, as Buffy and Angel were about to go their separate ways. They shared a glance and then headed off in opposite directions.
"Dawnie are you okay?" Buffy asked through the slightly cracked door.
The toilet flushed and Dawn slowly came from out of the bathroom. Her chestnut hair was plastered over her sweaty forehead and her eyes looked tired.
"Oh Dawn," Buffy said and she took her sister in her arms and held her for a few moments.
"Having a baby isn't as easy as it looks," Dawn said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Are you feeling okay? Are you ready to go downstairs?" Buffy asked leading Dawn to her room.
" I want to change first before I go down," Dawn said.
"Okay, I'll go downstairs and when you're ready you can come. Do you want me to tell them now before you get down?" Buffy said.
"Yeah, you can do that. By the time you tell them I'll be dressed and ready," Dawn, said with a smile.
"Okay," Buffy said as she headed out.
"Oh and Buffy… no more eggs and toast for breakfast," Dawn said just as Buffy was closing the door.
"Okay, next time something else," Buffy said.
Buffy walked into the small and damaged living room to see that almost everyone was present. She spotted Angel standing next to Wesley and Gunn and started over in his direction. Casual conversations were going on all around her but she only had eyes, and ears, for Angel.
"Are we all set?" Buffy asked Angel.
"Giles and Xander are coming in a bit…oh wait there they both are. I guess we are," Angel said.
Gunn and Wesley both felt the importance of the upcoming meeting kept silent but attentive. Anya went on with her conversation with Oz even when the silence was almost complete.
" So I said to this Mok'tagar demon ' There's no way in helvete that you can just walk, well transport yourself in here and take my avenged one's soul'. But he just had to be all…" Anya said.
"Um Ahn. I think Buffy and Angel have something to say to us," Xander said awkwardly.
Anya huffed at Xander and reluctantly gave her attention to Buffy.
Buffy cleared her throat and started to talk.
"Well we, Angel and I, have called a meeting today to discuss the possibilities of why we were attacked by those vampires," Buffy said.
"We need to know who more than why so we can find this person or thing and kill it," Faith said.
"I agree with Faith on this one. We should find out who first," Xander said.
"Then we can find out why it was done easier," Willow said.
"Why are we wasting time with this anyhow? Just make the stuffy British folk research and we'll all relax until they figure it out," Anya said.
"We don't have enough information to research with," Wesley said.
"We only have a gang of vampires that attacked randomly and kill…" Gunn trailed off.
Eyes were turned to Angel but he was lost in his own mind.
Well thanks for helping out, Buffy thought sarcastically.
"Well we can still try and research, it w-would help a little," Tara said shyly.
"We can wait here till another attack or go out and do something instead of sitting around like ninnys," Spike said.
Buffy glared at him but Spike seemed strangely interested in his overcoat.
"Your talk of plans is trivial, a human fault," Illyria said.
By now, most in the room had learned to ignore the strange blue creature that spoke at odd times.
"That's what this all comes down to. We need to know why, who and where to go. And I think Buffy called the meeting to discuss that," Giles said.
"Well it's about that but there's something else too," Buffy said, drawing out her words.
"Dawnie, you okay now," Willow said looking up at the half hidden Dawn.
Buffy and Dawn looked at each other quickly and Buffy coughed.
"What I mean is there is something about…" Buffy strained to spill the truth.
Dawn stood still hidden, giving no help and Angel merely stayed where he was, leaned up against the wall behind Buffy.
All attention was now on Buffy but she couldn't seem to talk.
Angel stood close to Buffy and was about to finish Buffy's lost sentences when Illyria interrupted him.
"The young human, Dawn, is to be the mother of the vampire's son Connor", Illyria said bluntly.
Immediately the room was afire with discussion.
"You mean pregnant?"
"Dawn?"
"Hey at least it's not me."
"Congratulations! Is it a boy or girl? What is it going to be named?"
"I-I-I-I can't understand how."
"Well isn't it obvious, they were sleeping together."
"Wow, that's pretty disturbing."
"Little Dawn too."
"She's not that little, considering she's pregnant already."
"Did you use protection?"
"This has to do with the attack."
"Pregnant! God that is so weird."
"How was it?"
"Will you all stop this?"
"Looks like the Angel boys always find a way to get the Summer girls."
"Eww and he is…wasn't even human."
"SHUT UP! Just shut up all of you! We were meant for each other and I guess meant to have this baby so you all can just deal with it. If you just want to gossip over this you can but I'm going to find out why they came and killed Connor," Dawn said passionately as she stood now in full view.
It pulled at Buffy's heart to see her determined tear streaked sister defending her dead lover and baby in front of everyone.
"Dawn…" Buffy tried to say but Dawn had already rushed back up the stairs. The slam of her door shook the house.
No one spoke after the rampage but looked to the figures of the most authority.
"That's what Angel and I called you all here for. To tell you that Dawn is pregnant with Connor's baby and that this baby is somehow mystical and has grown in less than a night. So we need to accept what has happened and work to find a reason why someone would come after Dawn and her baby," Buffy said.
Buffy stepped down to allow Giles and Wesley to mobilize the team.
"Wesley and I will retrieve more books for information. Willow, Tara, Anya help with the research. Xander and Oz start fixing the house for another attack," Giles said.
"You mean like garlic, stakes, and boards?" Xander asked.
"Yes exactly," Giles said.
"Gunn, Spike and Illyria you will gather weapons in case of another assault," Wesley said.
"Oh good, a whole lotta nothing to do for a while," Gunn said.
"I'll go sharpen up my weapons too. In case big action comes along," Faith said.
"Giles, why don't Tara and I try to put up a shield around the house," Willow said.
"I'm not too sure about that. Whoever is planning this must be very powerful and I'm not so sure that you can handle the power that would be required to sustain a shield with that kind of strength," Giles said.
"Well it's worth a try," Willow said.
"And I'll be her anchor in case anything goes wrong," Tara said.
Giles relented and turned to gather his coat.
Wesley started out the door to start up the scrawny rental car.
Buffy was already heading up the stairs to comfort Dawn and Angel had gone up to his room while the others had been talking.
"Shouldn't we move to another place, a safer one?" Faith asked.
"They already know where we are, I think it will be of no use to run now," Giles said.
"It's getting pretty dark now. I wonder when Giles and the others will get back," Tara said to the two women sitting silently beside her.
"They're probably really looking for books that will of use to us," Willow said tiredly.
"When will we be done with this research crap?" Anya whined," We've been here for almost a whole afternoon and now into a night researching nothing."
"Who knows..." Xander said walking into the room. He was covered with a fine dust from working on fixing the house.
Oz walked up from behind him, covered as well, and sat down in a chair across from Willow. He was silent and thoughtful.
"Has Buffy or Dawn or Angel come down at all?" Xander asked.
"Buffy came down once or twice to get food but other than that she's been up talking with Dawn and Angel," Tara said.
"We still waitin' for Giles and the others?" Xander asked.
"They should be here soo..." Willow said but was interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming.
Everyone stopped and listened.
"Yes Rupert I have the Book of Tarnis I made sure I had it before we left," Wesley said.
"Good, well then we should be all set for a night of...Ommmpphh" Giles said as he walked right into Willow's energy field.
Willow, followed closely by most of the rest of the household, came running out the door.
"Solvo vinculum of lux lucis quod tutela super is locus," Willow muttered and the force field opened.
"Sorry Giles, we should have told you that we already did the house protection spell," Tara said while she and Willow helped him up.
"No, it is very good," Giles said breathlessly.
"Well it should keep us safe for a while," Wesley said as he walked into the house with an armload of texts.
"We should go inside now, the sun is almost set," Gunn said, also walking into the house.
"But what about Spike and Fre- Illyria?" Willow said.
"They will be here shortly. They are traveling by sewer lines," Giles said.
"Okay, then I'll just leave the field open until they get back," Willow said.
As soon as they had walked inside Buffy was there waiting for any breakthroughs.
"So? Did you find out anything?" Buffy asked.
"We have many resources to look through at the moment. We will tell you when we find anything," Wesley said to her without even looking up from his books.
"We need to get ready. I know that they'll come again tonight," Buffy said.
"Okay then," Faith said, walking into the common room, " Let's go. I'm ready for this."
"Giles, you Wesley, Tara, Willow and Anya start looking into these books. Faith, Gunn, Xander, Oz go gather weapons and keep watch. When Illyria and Spike get back, tell them to do the same. I need to go check on Dawn and tell Angel to get ready," Buffy said.
The authority of her speech set them straight and all went about filling out their orders.
"Dawn you ready?" Buffy asked into the shadowed room.
She could see Dawn nod and start to get up out of her chair. The baby seemed to keep growing. In just one day it had increased in size rapidly and Dawn was having trouble coping with the changes.
Buffy helped Dawn up and led her out to the hall. Angel was standing there waiting. Dawn and Angel looked at each other and in that moment realized how much they both missed Connor. They came together, hugging, having no words to express their feeling of loss but just being there for each other. Buffy stood back and allowed them their moment.
"Are your vampires in position?" A deep voice asked, shattering the dead silence.
The bravest of the three vampires that stood before him cringed in fright.
"Y-y-y es my lord. They are ready at my- your command," he said quietly.
"Good," The demonic being said with a laugh, "Send them in. Order them to kill all the others except the vessel in which the being is held. No harm is to come to her or the child. Do you understand me?"
" Y-yes my master. We understand. No harm to the vessel or the child," the vampire said.
"As soon as you have her bring her immediately to me," the being said, " Now GO!"
The three vampires rushed out of the stone room and fled to the outside.
The dark being laughed to himself at the fear of the insolent vampires.
"Soon the child will be mine," he said to the silent room.
"And out of the Key and the Destroyer shall come a being that will tip the balance in favor of whosoever possesses it," Anya read aloud to herself.
"What Ahn?" Xander asked coming into the room.
"Oh nothing. I can't even find anything about a prophecy about Dawn's baby. All these books are giving me a headache," Anya said.
Xander nodded and sat down in the chair next to her.
"It's okay. At least you're trying your hardest," Xander said.
"Yah, while everyone else is out preparing for a vampire attack. It's just me alone in here," Anya said.
"Well it's dark now so we're all preparing for the worst. In a bit you won't have to look through books anymore," Xander said, trying to be comforting.
"I hate looking up this stuff that I don't even understand. Like what is the Destroyer anyhow? And what is "The Key"? I just don't get it," Anya said.
"Well maybe it's …." Xander paused, thinking something over in his head.
"Hello? Xander? Fine ignore me," Anya said.
"Anya what did this prophecy thing say about the Key?" Xander asked.
"Well I don't know really. It was in some demon language that I'm only slightly familiar with," Anya said.
"Just tell me," Xander said urgently.
"Okay okay. Something about the coming together of the Key and the Destroyer making a thing that would help the good guys or the bad guys… Wait Xander. What is it?" Anya said to Xander as he hurried out of the room.
"Well we don't have much choice now. It's too late to move. We're stuck where we are right now," Wesley said to Faith and Gunn.
"Guys, we've got the prophecy. Anya found it," Xander interrupted.
"Let me see it," Wesley said.
Xander and Wesley found a still confused Anya sitting at the table and the prophecy.
Wesley's face was grim as he read through the script.
"Well? Is that the prophecy?" Xander asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid it is. It may have been wiser to leave here at once," Wesley said as he set down the book.
"What do you mean," Xander said.
"The being that we encountered a few months ago, well I believe that he or it is going to be coming after Dawn and her baby," Wesley said as he started out of the room.
"So you're saying we're in trouble," Xander said following him.
"We need to tell the others. Now!" Wesley said.
"No need 'cause the vamps are already here," Faith said.
Wesley and Xander looked through the blinds of the living room window and could see the shadows of many beings.
"We are in so much trouble," Xander said as Faith handed him a stake.
"Does Buffy know this?" Wesley asked.
"Should. Just sent Spike up to tell her," Faith said.
Spike arrived upstairs to find Angel and Dawn locked in a hug and Buffy standing by.
Once Buffy saw him, she frowned and walked towards him. She opened her mouth, about to tell him off.
"Vamps are here. Don't know how many. Starting to make a move. We need to get everyone downstairs," Spike said before Buffy could harass him.
Buffy quickly turned to Angel and Dawn.
"Angel we gotta get downstairs," Buffy said.
Angel untangled himself from Dawn, gently held her arm and led her down the stairs with Bufy and Spike ahead of him.
"Did they find anything about Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, Dawn and Conneo's kid is important to some evil demon that we almost got killed by two months ago. Vamps are probably here to kill us and take Dawn and her baby," Spike said rather bluntly.
"Can't we get away somehow?" Dawn asked.
"Willow put up a shield so we'll be safe for a bit. But no, we're surrounded so we're stuck," Spike said not even turning around to face them as he spoke.
Dawn could feel tell that Spike was bitter towards Angel and Buffy but he didn't have to be so harsh to her.
The four arrived downstairs to find that the whole gang was prepped for battle. Willow and Tara stood near the door muttering spells under their breath. Gunn, Illyria, Wesley, and Giles all were positioned behind Willow and Tara. Xander, Anya, and Oz stood together behind Wes and Giles.
"Buffy, you and Angel keep Dawn to the back of us," Giles said.
Spike took up his position beside Gunn as Buffy and Angel took up guard on either side of Dawn.
"They've started moving in. Willow and Tara are trying to keep . . ." Giles said.
"Will?" Buffy asked worriedly.
A green glow was forming through the door and it seemed that Willow was trying to fight it off.
"Willow, are you okay?" Xander said from behind Buffy.
"Permissum crepusculum of crepusculum shroud mihi in tutela , Permissum Mos nemus humus mihi ut Matris Terra , Permissum occasus ventus shroud mihi ex totus malum , Tribuo mihi vires , ut EGO may fulsi per lux lucis Quod addo tutela ut …... Ahhhhh," Willow screamed as an invisible force threw her across the room.
Tara cried out to Willow but got no response.
"Everyone get ..." Giles started to say when the vampires came pouring into the house.
The lights went out and the group was left in darkness. Spike and Gunn led the fight out in front and Illyria, Giles, and Wes covered the sides.
Spike and Angel yelled orders to the others in the dark. Buffy kept Dawn just behind her at all times and used all of her slayer ability to fight away the vamps.
"Giles, we have to get out of here," Buffy yelled into the dark.
"I know! There's a sewer entrance out back on the street. If we can get out that way then we may stand a chance," Giles said.
"Whatever chance we can get, let's take it." Buffy screamed at him.
Buffy turned to Dawn and said quietly, "When I say go, run as fast as you can to the back door and get to the sewer. OK."
Dawn answered, " No I don't want to leave you guys here."
Buffy said to her, " You can't fight. Just run when I say go."
"Ok." Dawn answered.
Just as Buffy got a slight glimpse of a vampire she screamed at Dawn, " GO!"
Dawn started running. She had only taken about three steps when the back door flew open and the light from outside hit his face.
Dawn whispered to herself, " Connor?"
He stood in the doorway bathed in light. For a moment he looked like the angel she knew he was but then she caught his eyes. They were lifeless and cold. He had a twisted smirk on his face and held a crude stone dagger in his hand.
Buffy turned to see if Dawn had gotten outside but instead saw Connor standing in Dawn's way.
"Honey . . . I'm home," Connor said creepily as he moved towards the paralyzed Dawn.
"Dawn! Move," Buffy screamed. But Dawn wasn't listening.
Buffy was so concentrated on getting Dawn to move she couldn't hear Angel yelling at her to duck. The last thing Buffy saw before blacking out was Conner walking towards Dawn and all she could think about doing was saving her sister. Then everything went black.
Okay that's it for my chapter. Hope you all liked it. I have to thank my lovely sister for helping me get out of those times when I had writer's block. Also without her I wouldn't have had such a cool little ending. So thanks to her. Also thanks to my mom for being my editor. Good luck to the next person up.