A/N : The popularity of this fic kinda stuns me, but I'm so glad you all seem to love it so much. Now for some more Buffy and Spike interaction...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

Spike sighed in defeat as a tenth door was shut in his face and the list in his hand told him there were no more people by the name of Summers living in the area. Seemed none of them had heard of a young woman by the name of Buffy, and none were related to anybody American that they were aware of. Kicking a can across the street, Spike pulled a packet of fags and a lighter from his inside pocket. He cursed as he tried to light the cigarette he'd just put in his mouth but everytime he tried the breeze blew the flame out.

"Bloody hell" he said angrily as he gave up and threw the cigarette to the ground, "Today is not my soddin' day" he complained as he strode off down the street, black leather duster swooshing out behind him. He looked fairly intimidating to most people but one little boy who spotted the man in the coat was fascinated by him, thinking he looked like some kind of superhero with a flowing cape and cool hair.

"Mommy?" the little boy whined as he pulled on the bottom of her long skirt, "Mommy, look!" he urged her but she was too busy paying the cab driver to pay proper attention right now.

"Just a minute, sweetie" she told him as she fought with her purse and all the bags she was already carrying despite the fact she was only half done shopping. She didn't notice her son start to wander off down the street and worse she wasn't watching as he came to the edge of the busy street. He looked down the road a few feet where the cool super-hero guy was walking and decided he wanted to get closer, maybe say hi and ask if he had any cool super powers to go with his outfit. Mommy said not to talk to strangers but this was different. She was just a few yards away and this man was like Superman or something so he wouldn't hurt him.

With a grin on his face the little boy headed towards the man, crossing the road without looking at all. As the cab pulled away from in front of her, Buffy looked around and realised her son had gone. Then she saw him.

"Michael!" she screamed as she realised he was in the middle of oncoming traffic, though her warning only served to make him stop walking right as a lorry came at him, "Nooo!" Buffy yelled, her bags falling from her hands and everything from tin cans to oranges rolling down the street discarded as she pelted down the road, still there was no way to make it to her son in time. Thankfully Spike had spotted the child too and dived into the road, pulling Michael back just a split second before the lorry passed by, horn blaring as the driver cursed and gave an unpleasant hand signal to the idiots in the road.

"That was cool" Michael grinned as he clambered off Spike who barely believed what he was hearing. He sat on the edge of the pavement, breathing heavily from the shock and adrenaline and staring at the little boy who looked thrilled by the experience of almost dying!

"I knew you were a superhero" he gushed just as Buffy found her way across the street and scooped the child into her arms.

"Oh God, my baby" she cried as she held him tight, "Michael, sweetie, what were you doing! You don't ever run away for me like that! Oh darling, are you hurt?" she checked, alternating between mixed panic and worry about her boy's welfare, and anger at his stupidity.

"I'm okay" Michael told his frantic mother as she checked him over for injuries, "He saved me, the super-hero" he grinned as he pointed over her shoulder. Buffy couldn't believe it when she turned around and her eyes landed on Spike.

"You" she breathed, still holding onto Michael tightly, "Spike?"

"Buffy?" he echoed back, feeling similarly breathless both from the incident and now seeing the very woman he'd been searching for, standing right in front of him, holding a child that was... calling her Mommy?

"You're... He's yours?" Spike said confusedly, glancing between Michael and Buffy as he pulled himself to his feet.

"He's mine" she agreed, feeling sick for a hundred different reasons right now, "Are you okay?" she checked, the memory of what he'd just done seemingly coming to the surface in her mind once again.

"Yeah" he nodded, "Er, nothing a needle and a thread won't fix" he shrugged, noting the rip he'd made in his jeans when he'd landed.

"Mommy, do you know the superhero?" Michael asked her excitedly.

Spike finally tore his eyes from Buffy's long enough to glance at the boy and answer the question on the blondes behalf.

"'M not a superhero, mate" he told the boy, "Just a... well, I know your Mum a little bit"

"Oh" Michael was a little disappointed that this guy wasn't the big hero type he thought he was, just another friend of Mommy.

"Maybe not a superhero" Buffy agreed, "But a hero anyway. Spike, you saved my son's life" she told him, putting a hand to his arm, "How can I ever thank you for that?"

"You already have" Spike smiled, "Seein' you again's the best prize I could've won... not that I saved your boy for that, obviously" he back-pedalled, "Didn't even know he was yours, how could I?"

It was at this point that the small crowd of people around them seemed to come into focus, all checking Michael was okay, and praising Spike for his act of apparent heroism. After a few minutes, everyone had satisfied their concern and/or curiosity over the incident and had gone back to their lives, leaving Buffy and Spike, and little Michael still standing there.

"I should really take Michael to the hospital, get him checked over" his mother told the bleached blond, "I know he looks fine but... I should go" she said, quickly turning on her heel.

"Buffy" Spike called as he ran after her, grabbing her arm and making her turn back, "Please, luv" he begged her, "My car's just round the corner, let me give you a lift"

After a moment she sighed.

"Okay, yes, thank you" she conceded, holding tight to Michael's hand as they followed Spike to where his car waited. Buffy was a little surprised to find he drove a 1958 Dodge DeSoto Fireflite, a car she could only identify since Angel had wanted one when he was a teen, that or a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX Convertible. It was funny the little things that stuck in your head like that, Buffy thought as she helped Michael get strapped into the back of the car and then got in beside him. Thinking about Angel's old love for cars just reminded her that when she finally had the now inevitable 'big talk' with Spike she would have to tell him not only about Michael, but also about her husband back in LA, not to mention the baby she carried inside her right now that was half his own.

"So, little fella, you got a name?" Spike asked Michael as he glanced at him in the rear view mirror. The boy glanced at Buffy for confirmation that it was okay to tell before answering.

"Michael James O'Reilly" he announced, "What's yours?"

It took a few moments for Spike to recover enough to answer the kid's question. He had expected Summers to be the boy's last name and if it wasn't that could really only mean one thing.

"Er, William Armstrong" he said eventually, "but my mates call me Spike"

"That's cool" Michael grinned, "Why do they call you that?" he asked a moment later and Buffy told him to hush and not ask so many questions that weren't his business. Still, she couldn't help but think maybe if she'd been as quizzical as her child she might not be in a situation where she was falling for a complete stranger.

"Not really a story I can tell you, mate" Spike smirked, "'S one for when you're older I reckon" he said swiftly changing the subject, "Do we need to call anyone, about the accident?" he asked Buffy, "I mean, Michael's father or anything?" he checked, really just digging for information, like if his suspicions were true and Buffy really was a married woman. Now that he thought about it, she never had actually agreed with him when he said they hadn't cheated on anyone that night in the Sunnydale hotel.

"No" Buffy answered fast, "but I should probably let Giles know we'll be late home" she realised, as she rifled through her purse for her cellphone. It was the only bag she hadn't dropped as she'd run to Michael's aid, and then only because she had the strap crossed over her body.

Spike listened intently as Buffy dialled the number and talked to this Giles person. He knew how wrong it was to eavesdrop on another persons phone conversion, but he had to know what was going on and the blonde seemed less than forthcoming with the info, something he understood more now he knew she had a child.

"He's fine, at least he seems fine" Buffy said in the back, as she held the cell phone to her ear.

"I'm okay, honest" Michael called in her other ear, "Mommy, tell Grandpa Giles I'm okay!"

"I guess you heard that" Buffy smiled as she talked a little longer and Spike also smiled to himself when he realised that Giles was clearly not a boyfriend or similar to Buffy but more likely her Dad or at least a father figure of some kind if Michael was calling him Grandpa.

The trip to the hospital continued in silence, once the phone call had ended. Spike went in with the mother and son, even when Buffy told him it was unnecessary. He was so determined to get some answers from her, even if this was a bad time. He was so afraid of letting her walk out on him again and not being able to find her a fourth time. The first three chance meetings were miracles all by themselves, but clearly fate intended something more to happen between them.

Spike winced a little when Buffy gave her name to the nurse at the desk as Buffy O'Reilly. Before she'd apparently been Summers, which seemed now to be a lie. Spike was seriously beginning to wonder if she'd been trying to tell him to get lost by giving him a fake person to search for and yet when they'd kissed in his classroom, no-one could fake the way she reacted, the look in her eyes. She felt things for him, the same things he felt for her, he was almost certain. He just wished he could get a chance to ask her what the hell was going on before he went crazy!

"Are you okay?" a kindly looking nurse asked him as he sat in the waiting area with his head in his hands.

"Oh, yeah" he nodded, as he looked up, "I'm just waiting for my... friend, and her son" he explained.

"The blonde with the seven year old boy, seeing Dr Pryce?" the nurse checked, "He's fine, they're just on their way back to you" she smiled, glad to see the man do the same.

"Thanks for that" Spike was saying just as he spotted Buffy coming through the double doors towards him. He quickly got to his feet.

"Hey" Buffy greeted him before looking down at her son, "Sweetie, don't you have something to say to Sp.. Mr Armstrong" she corrected herself.

"Thank you for saving me" Michael said dutifully, looking up at Spike who crouched down to his level to save the kid breaking his neck.

'S alright, mate" he told the boy, ruffling his hair, "Glad to be of service, but here's a tip, don't go walking out in the middle of anymore roads any time soon, eh? Reckon you scared poor Mum here half to death"

"Sorry, Mommy" Michael said, shifting his gaze up to Buffy who smiled at him.

"It's okay, baby" she assured him, "but like Mr Armstrong said, no more running in the road like that, it's not safe, you know that"

"Can I go to the bathroom now?" the little boy asked, looking a little ashamed of himself and the same nurse from before pointed out that the bathroom was just a few feet down the hall. Michael went off by himself and Spike got back to his feet facing Buffy who really had nowhere to run now.

To Be Continued...