A/N : Thanx muchly to; Moonjava, funkydevil206, Demonica Mills, Brunettepet, EMBER91, LiLi, and Moluvsnumber17, for the latest reviews. Just to clear up a few points, nobody knows how Buffy and Spike managed to make babies yet, that'll all work itself out later. Buffy never told Andrew not to tell Spike about the kids, because obviously she thought Spike was dead. Andrew was made to promise not to tell anyone about the babies and of course he made the assumption that this included even Spike. Oh, and Buffy is not married, just engaged, to Davy who is an Italian/English guy I made up! Okay, enough rambling, story now!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

Location : Rome, Italy
Time : 24th October 2005, 23:56

"Grazi" Spike nodded to the man he had just been speaking to as he walked away, "Thanks for bloody nothing" he mumbled under his breath as he stormed off down the street.

Trying to find a mother and two kids in trouble in a city the size of Rome, well it wasn't so much a needle in a haystack as it was a needle in Kansas, especially since the only other clue he had were the kids being female and blonde.

It had been a couple of hours since he'd left the motel now, and not getting any further with his investigation was just making him frustrated. He swung by a graveyard on the way back and was glad to relieve some tension staking a couple of baddies before heading back to Illyria.

She was still lying on the bed when he returned to their room, her eyes were shut but he wasn't certain whether she was asleep or not.

"Lyri, pet?" he said softly, perching on the edge of the bed beside her.

"I am not sleeping" she told him matter-of-factly, opening her eyes, "I could not even if I wished to. I must know of your findings"

"Always about the bloody mission" Spike rolled his eyes, "You have got to get out more, luv" he smirked.

"I live to fight, as the Powers told" she said firmly, "I have no wish for this socialisation you crave or this romantic drivel people invest so much time in"

Spike let the subject go when she looked away and couldn't meet his eyes. She thought of Wesley more often than she'd admit, and he knew why. Though he doubted the others paid enough attention to notice, back in LA before what was supposed to be the final fight, the affection the ex-God had for the ex-Watcher was evident to Spike. Unrequited love was his speciality, and being as he was a step away from Team Angel, never quite one of the gang, he saw things that those in the tight little circle never could. Still as much as she stood against the notion of love and romance, he knew she was now only human and must crave these things like everyone else.

"No news on your vision, pet" he told the girl, regaining her attention, "Reckon it might be an idea to grab some shut-eye and start over tomorrow" he suggested, "What with the flying, the jet-lag and all, I feel like I could sleep for a bloody week"

"I too feel the need to rest for longer" Illyria agreed, "So we shall sleep and wake again at first light to find both the mother who cries for her children, and your Slayer"

Spike had got up from the bed and turned to walk away but stopped abruptly at the mention of Buffy.

"Ah, yes" Illyria smirked, "You thought I had forgotten that, I see"

"Bollocks" Spike muttered as he walked around the bed, keeping his back to the woman as he threw his coat over the chair, followed by his shirt. He sat down on the bed to remove his boots then got under he covers still in his T-shirt and jeans.

Illyria knew she'd upset him, though she would not apologise. By the morning it would all be forgotten and they would be friends again. In the meantime she pulled off the leather jacket she wore and kicked off her shoes before joining her companion beneath the covers where his back was still to her.

"Goodnight William" she said with a sly smile, knowing even in anger he could not ignore her.

"'Night, pet" he answered as he turned out the light.

Location : Rome, Italy
Time : 25th October 2005, 05:45

Buffy couldn't sleep. She hadn't slept all night in fact and as she lie in her bed, the light of the sun beginning to filter in through the blind, she knew she might as well give up anyway. Thoughts that filled her head mostly starred a certain bleached blond vampire that she knew if she were honest she loved as much if not more now than she did back in the Hellmouth when she'd first said it.

So much had happened. She'd bore his children though he never knew it. He'd died, not once but twice, a record she had set herself years before, one more thing they had in common. He'd tried to make her see she was a creature of darkness like him, and whilst he had not been wholly wrong (the essence of the demon had been used to activate the first Slayer) she now realised they were both creatures of light. That last night in the Hellmouth when the bright light from the amulet had shone through his being, it was as if a door had been opened in her heart and she knew more clearly than she ever had before that she was in love with this man.

He hadn't believed her and she'd cried when she'd realsied it was her own fault, knocking him back so many times had led him to believe he was not worthy of the love she now felt. More tears were shed over his death then, though he lived on inside of Buffy's body as well as her heart. Two children, his and hers, that would never know their father and how wonderful he was. Of course it ought to be impossible and to this day Giles had never cracked the mystery of how a vampire had fathered the twins Buffy had given birth too, but given the distinct lack of contact with any other male in all the time the battle against the First was forged, they knew it had to be true, indeed looking at the little girls now, their blonde hair might indicate Buffy but there was simply no mistaking that their blue eyes came from Daddy.

A lone tear crept down the Slayer's cheek as she thought about her old lover. She dreamt of him so often, she was almost glad sleep hadn't claimed her, for waking up from such vivid events only made her more upset. Some nights she'd swear she felt him there beside her, the dream would be so intense as they made sweet love for hours. She'd been mortified on one occasion to find that in her half-concious, dreaming state she'd used Davy to physically perform the fantasy in her head. She never had told him why she couldn't look at him for a couple of days afterwards, she wondered if he'd figured it out on his own.

Other nights the dreams were different, she'd be out with the kids playing in a park. A shadow would fall over the sandbox and when they looked up, there he'd be, her precious William bathed in the light of the midday sun and smiling at her, making her feel, with just one look, like no-one else ever could.

Wiping tears from her cheeks, Buffy got herself out of bed and took a deep breath before she started her day. She had just managed to shower and dress when Andrew called through the door to her.

"Buffy, Davy's here" he told her, "He wants to take you and the kids to breakfast"

"Be right there" came the Slayers response though she sat back down on her bed as she said it. She felt so guilty, spending much of her time thinking of Spike when she was now engaged to marry another man, a man that loved her very much. He said he understood, the couple of times when she'd admitted her deep thoughts to be about the father of her children, but she knew better than to believe he was totally okay with it. How could anyone be comfortable knowing the person they planned on marrying spent large amounts of their time wishing they were with someone else, someone they could never have.

"Thought you needed some bloody kip?" Spike said to Illyria when he awoke to find her standing by the window instead of in the bed beside him.

"It is daylight" she pointed out, not looking at him, "I did inform you I would be waking again by the light of day"

"Yeah" Spike agreed absently, "Guess I forgot quite how literal you can be" he realised as he stretched out his body and swung his legs out of the bed, "No more visions then, luv? Lyri?" he frowned when she didn't answer and walked over to her side, "You okay, pet?" he checked and she turned to face him then.

There was a weird look in her too blue eyes that he couldn't identify and he didn't have time to think before she grabbed his head and pulled him into a kiss.

"Illyria!" he yelled, jumping back several feet like she'd scalded him, and subconsciously wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, "What the soddin' hell is that all about!" he wanted to know, as he tried to figure it out for himself. Illyria tilted her head and observed him.

"I still do not understand" she complained, "I have been watching these humans, the race of which I have been a part for months now" she explained, looking back towards the window when when his gaze was not quite as friendly as it might be, "They meet each other in the streets. They embrace, they join lips as I just did with you...their happiness radiates from them like sunlight..."

She seemed so bitter about it and Spike started to realise what her problem was.

"You want that" he said cautiously, more of a statement than a question, "You want someone to make you feel the way they feel" he moved closer to her, ever wary of what she might do, and followed her gaze down to the street below. A young couple stood in the strada in a passionate embrace, and Illyria was right, you could almost see the love radiating from them like a sunny glow.

"Lyri, pet" Spike sighed, "It's not as simple as grab the nearest bloke and snog his face off" he explained, as they both kept their eyes down at the view, "If that were all it was love wouldn't mean anything"

"All the things you have taught me" she said still looking away, "and all that Wesley tried to teach me before...I will never truly understand this love that humans feel, I think perhaps I was not provided with the ability when I was given this form" she glanced down at her own body and then turned to walk away. Spike felt sorry for her, of course he did, though given the way all his experiences of love had ended up, he was almost jealous of her lack of feeling.

"S'not all it's cracked up to be y'know, pet" he sighed as she moved across the room and sat down on the bed to put her shoes back on, "Love, well yeah, it can be a good thing but...there's a lot of heart-ache goes with it, lot of pain" he recalled all too knowingly.

"There is pain when I do violence" she said matter-of-factly, "Damage is caused and endured, but when the fight is won we are pleased to know it. The thrill of the battle and the winning of it outweighs the suffering we face" she said, turning back to look at him, "Does love not work this way?" she asked, head-tilted, "Is the pain you suffer not worth the reward you receive in gaining that which you crave so badly"

Spike observed her thoughtfully, sparing one final glance for the couple on the street below as he answered her.

"It is" he nodded slowly, "Sometimes, it is"

To Be Continued...