A/N : Thanx to; spuffy-monica, Spuffy2008, KelleyTheSelfToastablePopTart, sandra, Ember91, Hellmouth2, Brunettepet, Moluvsnumber17, and kim, for the latest reviews.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 20

A Slayer, a fellow sister in arms, was the enemy this time around. Buffy was having trouble taking it all in. Not only was it another woman of her own kind that was trying to take her children by sending a demon after her and setting her up with a man she thought she loved, but this Slayer was more than a little crazy and apparently a vampire. There were so many questions running round Buffy's head right now and she just couldn't get them into enough of an order to get them out properly.

"What...? How did...? I don't..." she rambled some until she finally settled on on person to speak to and one thing to say, "You" she snapped, stalking over to take Illyria's place leaning over Davy, "Who is she? This Slayer, how are you connected?"

"She... she was my mother's charge, years ago" he stammered, feeling very intimidated by a woman that he had claimed to love for so long, "We thought she was dead but she came back"

"Right, she got turned" Spike nodded, "We got that part already Sparky, time to cough up the real goods for the Slayer now" he told him.

"This Master of yours got a name?" Buffy asked with a icy glare and Davy nodded.

"Luisa" he told her, "Luisa Vincenzi, she was called in 1977 and died the same year" he explained, "My mother was her Watcher"

"Mary talked about her..." Buffy remembered, "but she never mentioned that she got turned!" she snapped.

"She didn't know" Davy assured her, "None of us did, for years we thought she was just dead but then she returned... the day I met you"

A knock on the door took the attention of the room off the shaking mortal and Illyria strode over to answer and see who was there. Willow and Dawn were startled by the glaring ice blue eyes that met their entrance.

"Geez, Illyria" Dawn breathed, "Scary glare, much?" she said as she and Willow came into the apartment that was filling up fast.

"What's happening?" the red-head frowned as she saw the nervous looking brunette on the couch and her friends' expressions of badness.

"We know what the Master thing is" Xander told her, "She's a Vampire Slayer"

"Oh, but thats kind of a good thing, right?" Dawn chipped in, "I mean, if she's like you Buffy she's beatable, just another Slayer, nothing big and scary?"

"'S not that simple, Bit" Spike shook his head, "When Xander here says Vampire Slayer, he means Slayer that's been vamped. She could be stronger than me and your sister"

Suddenly the children awoke in the next room and cried out for their parents. Buffy asked Illyria to watch over Davy whilst she went to her kids and Spike was quick to follow his woman. Once inside Ellie and Chloe's bedroom he shut the door so it was just the four of them.

"Come on, sweetie" Buffy told Chloe as she picked her up and held her close, "I guess you're getting pretty hungry"

"You too, eh pet?" Spike smiled at baby Ellie as he lifted her from the cot and held her the same way.

The two little girls were soon calm in the embrace of their parents and despite all the badness that waited beyond the door, Buffy and Spike could not help but love this little moment, just them and the kids, a family like they ought to be. As he glanced at her Spike realised Buffy was thinking the same thing he was, but when tears ran down her cheeks and she held the child in her arms tighter he sensed her fear of losing all this too.

"Slayer, it'll be alright y'know" he told her, holding Ellie with just one arm so he could hold Buffy with the other, "We get rid of this evil chit and then it'll always be like this, you, me and the Little Bits"

"I wish it were that simple, Spike" Buffy said, swallowing hard, "but when has anything ever worked out for us?"

"Now listen here, Buffy Anne Summers" he snapped almost angrily, looking her right in the eye, "You can stop with the defeatist attitude right now, cos we're gonna get through this, all four of us, the gang too. This girl, she can't be any tougher than what we've faced before, and we've got the Powers on our side, must have, what with me being back here with you and all"

Buffy shook her head.

"I know the Powers That Be brought you back, and maybe they are on our side but, Spike, this girl, this thing she's become, you have no idea how strong she is" she told him.

"And you do?" he frowned, sensing there was something he was missing here.

"I was her once" Buffy began to explain, "Or at least I was in her position once, kind of" she sighed when she realised her explanation wasn't coming out at all right so she started over, "There was a thing happened in Sunnydale, years ago now, before I even met you" she told a confused Spike, "A boy got beaten by his little league coach and something Hellmouthy happened, it made everybody's worst nightmares come true..." she winced at the horrific memories, despite all she'd faced in her life since then, her real life nightmare still filled her with the most dread, "For as long as the effects lasted, I was a vampire" she admitted.

"Bloody hell" Spike exclaimed, not really knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, well, it only lasted a little while" Buffy shrugged, "Just a few hours but I was what she is, Spike, a true Vampire/Slayer. The power that flowed through me was so intense... and this girl's had almost thirty years to get real messed up psychologically, I don't wanna imagine how strong she could be, not to mention crazy"

Eloise wriggled in Spike's arms taking some of his attention from the situation at hand. He glanced back at the window and saw it was daylight outside, the sun had risen fast

"Look, luv" he said to Buffy, "the Bits need feeding and looking after. With demon boy taken care of, your traitorous ex under the watchful eye of Lyri and the others, and the sun up like it will be for the next twelve hours at least, reckon we're safe for a while" he told her.

"I guess" Buffy nodded, "We should deal with the kids, get everybody ready, make battle plans..." she rattled off one thing after another not looking as coherent as she might as she went towards the bedroom door.

"Buffy" Spike reached his spare hand out to her arm and stopped her leaving for a moment. As she turned around he put his lips to hers and kissed her soundly, "We'll be okay, all of us. Got it?" he said firmly, not letting her go until she nodded her agreement and forced half a smile for him.

"That's my girl" he smirked as they left the bedroom with their kids still in their arms.

"Where is he?" Luisa demanded, "Where is he! Where is HE!" she bellowed, sweeping her arms across the shelves and bringing all the books and ornaments crashing to the floor.

"I don't know" Mary told her, trying to be strong, but shaking violently with fear, "Luisa, please, spare my boy. He has done nothing to you"

The Vampire/Slayer cackled with maniacal laughter at that as she turned to face her old Watcher.

"Nothing to me?" she scoffed, "He has hurt me, I depise his existence, as I despise you!" she said angrily, grabbing Mary by the hair as she got up in her face, "I am what I have become because of you, people like you!"

"No, Luisa" Mary would have shook her head if she were able, "The Watchers Council were good people, I was here to guide you when you were called but we were not the ones that made you what you are. It was your destiny to be a Slayer"

"And was it my destiny to die as I did!" she demanded to know, "Was it my privilege to be killed at the age of seventeen?" she cried, "Was it my birthright to have the very life drained from me, and lose the child I carried!"

"Luisa, I am sorry" Mary cried too, for all the good it did.

Vamping out, Luisa pushed the older woman away violently and raged as if she were in terrible pain.

"I am not Luisa!" she screamed, "I am Optimum Verus, the True Chosen, and I will have what is mine!"

"Optimum Verus?" Spike echoed as Xander helped Illyria up from the floor. Her vision had caught her of guard and she'd fallen to the ground in severe pain, pictures flashing behind her eyes so fast she could barely make them out, but two words rang through clear as a bell. She'd muttered them over and over til the vision subsided and no-one really understood them.

"Sounds like Latin" Willow pointed out, "but I wouldn't know what it means" she shook her head, "I can pronounce stuff for spells but translation would definitely be a Giles thing"

"You okay?" Xander checked as he handed a glass of water to Illyria, tenderly brushing her hair off her face.

"I shall be quite well" she assured him, "My only concern is the danger I felt within my vision" she explained, looking over at Spike and Buffy, "Whatever it is that bears the Latin name, she is getting closer to her goal"

"It has to be Luisa, right?" Dawn guessed, "Do you think Davy would know if it was?"

Buffy looked towards the bathroom where they had her 'fiancé' held captive. They hadn't been sure what to do with him, no way of knowing how strong he might really be or what might happen if he got away. The irony was not lost on Spike as he chained the bugger into the bath tub. He'd have laughed about it had the situation not been so serious.

"I can't deal with him" the Slayer admitted, "and anyway, Giles and Andrew won't be much longer, they can probably tell us more" she said.

They'd called Andrew's cell an hour ago to update him and Giles on what they knew. The two men had promised to be back as soon as they could, complete with all the info they currently had and any more books and manuscripts that might prove of use.

"Better hurry it up" Spike sighed, glancing out of the window and then down at his watch, "Don't want to worry anybody but if we don't have a plan before the sun goes down..."

"We will have a plan by then" Buffy said firmly, "We can't afford not to" she realised as she looked down at her giggling daughters playing on the rug, their lives literally depended on it.

The Slayer was pulled from her thoughts by Giles and Andrew being let into the apartment, a pile of papers and books each in their arms which were quickly stacked on the table.

"What do we know?" Buffy asked her Watcher and her friend as the group all gathered to hear the answer.

"We found records, Watchers Diaries and other stuff about Luisa Vincenzi" Andrew explained, "Basically she was called on July 29th 1977, her Watcher was Mary Fisher as you know. Luisa was the Slayer for almost six months when she was killed by vampires" he went on, "Twist is, she wasn't murdered, she was sired, by Yoda knows who, and the scary part is, she was pregnant at the time"

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked, her face having gone ashen as what she was being told sunk in, "I mean, did she have a vampire baby or...?"

"No, no" Giles shook his head, "A vampire's body is dead and therefore not condusive with either keeping a child alive or indeed giving birth to it. The child would've died when Luisa did and whilst she was brought back as a vampire, the baby would almost definitely have been left dead"

"That's awful" Dawn gasped, feeling sick to her stomach. She could only imagine what Buffy must be feeling. It would've been so easy for something bad to have happened to her during her pregnancy... Dawn couldn't bear to finish that particular thought.

"So, because her kid is dead, she wants ours?" Buffy guessed, glancing between Spike and her Watcher.

"I think there may be more to it than that" Giles explained, reaching into the pile of books he'd brought in and pulling out a piece of paper with scribbled writing all over it, "I copied this from a photograph of an ancient scroll that has long since been destroyed" he explained as Spike took the page form his hand, "I copied it because it mentioned the Chosen, and offspring, I made the connection with you, Buffy, and thought it might mean something..."

"Blood of the Chosen, both black and white, bring forth the offspring in purest light. Life from beyond, and blood of the true, shall live ever after, in the world of the new" Spike read aloud, frowning slightly as he tried to figure out what it all meant.

"Blood of the Chosen? I guess that's you, Buff?" Xander told her.

"And I s'pose offspring'd be the little ones" Spike added.

"Indeed" Giles nodded, "I do believe the first line is simply saying that the two of you would have your children" he explained, "since Buffy is indeed Chosen and she and Spike came from opposite sides originally, the black and the white"

"I came back from the beyond too" the ex-vampire pointed out, "Reckon that's what this bits about?" he checked, putting the paper on the table and pointing to the beginning of the second line as the gang gathered to see.

"So, so far we have Buffy and Spike got together and made babies 'in purest light', whatever that means, then Spike came back, and they're gonna live happily ever after?" Dawn assumed.

"I guess" Andrew agreed, "I mean, the world of the new could be cos we made all those other Slayers, kinda like a new world now?"

"I get it" Buffy said suddenly catching everyone's attention, "Finally" she actually laughed as he said it, "I finally get how Ellie and Chloe got here" she smiled as she looked over at Spike.

"That night" she reminded him, "When we... were together, the amulet was on the bed"

"It was" he agreed remembering the scene in beautiful detail, "Sort of forgot about it when we were... otherwise engaged" he smirked, "but I don't see..."

"It was a force of good, of 'purest light'" she quoted, "The power from the amulet did something to us when we were together, Spike, it has to be that, it fulfilled the prophecy"

"Woah, hold on a sec" Xander said suddenly, "I'm figuring something out here" he told the assembled group, "You two had special Chosen kids, cos you're the big important Slayer and you were the vamp who sought out the soul, right?"

"I guess" Buffy agreed, not yet seeing where he was going with this.

"The other Slayer, Luisa, she was having a kid and she got turned" he went on, "A Slayer, a vampire, a baby... you think she thought her kid was gonna be big with the big miracle child-ness?"

"Oh yes" Giles nodded, "That would make a lot of sense, and go some way to explaining her psychotic obsession with the children"

"I don't care" Buffy shook her head, "Whatever her reason is for wanting our kids, she's not getting them" she said firmly, "You can send demons after me, set me up with a fake fiancé, that I can deal with, but nobody is going to harm our babies" she said, looking at Spike who nodded in agreement.

"Too true, luv" he told her, "The bitch is going down"

To Be Continued...