Chapter Fifty-Five: What Do I Do Now?

"Okay," Xander said. "Let me get this straight: Riley and Sam caught you and Spike together, in bed, and then you told him everything? What were you thinking?"

"I don't know," Buffy said, sitting down at the table in the Magic Box. She and Spike had gone straight there after their confrontation with Riley. The rest of the Scoobies were there. "I don't know how it happened. Part of it he figured out on his own and then before I knew it I had blurted out everything."

"How did he react?" Willow asked. "I mean Spike is still here so he couldn't have gotten too mad."

"That's just it," Buffy said, looking at Spike. They both realized that Riley had been too calm. "He was really calm about that whole thing."

"Too calm for my taste," Spike said. "And too interested in how Angel and yours truly were able to successfully reproduce the old fashioned way."

"The Initiative has been doing experiments with breeding vampires," Buffy explained. "Both vampire to vampire and human to vampire, a friend of Sam's has been working with those experiments and Sam seemed really interested in how I was able to get pregnant."

"Did you tell her about the spell?" Tara asked.

"Yes," Buffy said. "But I told her that you'd destroyed it."

"Can she recreate the spell?" Willow asked.

"No," Tara said. "I destroyed all traces of it. I don't even remember exactly how I was able to cast it. It took months for me to make it work for the few seconds that I did."

"Well it did its job," Buffy said. "And now the Initiative is going to try and figure out how."

"What do you think they're going to do?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they'll keep quiet," Buffy said. "They might decide not to tell the Initiative about the baby."

"Right," Spike said. "Captain Cardboard is not likely to keep secrets from his precious government and Mrs. Cardboard is definitely going to tell all to her little government friends."

"They wouldn't do that," Buffy said.

"Right," Spike said. "And they wouldn't bug your house either."

"They bugged the house?" Willow asked.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "That's how Riley knew where to find me."

"Do you know were he put the bugs?" Tara asked.

"I'll do the extermination tonight," Spike said. "Shouldn't be too hard to hear the little things transmitting."

"Fine, but what do we do next?" Dawn asked. "What if they decide to go after your baby?'

"They can try," Spike said. "But I'll kill them first."

"You'll try," Xander corrected. "But the migraine will get in your way."

Spike retort was interrupted by the electronic cries that came from the table. He rolled his eyes and looked over at the doll. Dawn had brought it with her, claiming that she didn't want them to flunk their class. Both Buffy and Spike stared at the doll and then looked at each other, wanting the other one to deal with the doll.

"Oh for crying out loud," Anya said. She walked over, picked up the doll and inserted the key in its back. "There," She said, holding the doll. "It isn't that hard. What are you two going to do when it's the real thing?

"It's not the real thing," Buffy pointed out. "A doll who cries is a lot different than a real baby."

Anya looked at the doll and said, "I don't know. He seems like the real thing." She glanced at Xander, "I want one."

"Sure," Spike said. "They make those dolls by the dozen. You can even have that one."

"No," Anya said. "This one is cute and does resemble a baby but I want a real one. One that arrives after a night of sex, nine months of gestation and hours of painful, excruciating labor."

"Ah could you not mention the hours of labor part?" Buffy asked, wincing.

"And the part about wanting a real baby," Xander added. "We've talked about this. We're not ready to start a family yet."

"No," Anya corrected. "You're not ready so that means I'm not either."

"We're both not," Xander insisted. "Come on, you and I know we're not ready to have kids. The only reason you want to have them is because Buffy and Spike are having on and you think that we're in some kind of competition." Anya started to protest but Xander continued. "Look if you want to have something to take care of then we'll get a dog."

Anya stared at him for a minute. Then she handed the doll to Spike and stormed off to the back of the store. They could hear the sounds of her slamming merchandise around. Spike was the first one to speak up.

"Good one, monkey boy," Spike said.

Xander glared at Spike, "Stay out of this."

"What?" Spike said. "I'm not the one who just insulted his wife."

"She'll be fine," Xander said. "Now can we get back to the real problem, what the Initiative is going to do about Buffy's baby."

Buffy's hands went to her stomach, in a protective gesture, "If they even think about touching my baby they'll regret it."

"They won't," Spike said. He tilted Buffy's head so that he could look into her eyes. "Anyone tries to lay a hand on our son.." Spike knew he might not be able to fight any member of the Initiative himself but he knew demons. Several demons owed him favors and he knew other demons that would love a chance to get back at the Initiative.

"Right," Willow said, putting on her resolve face. "Anyone goes after you."

"Thanks," Buffy said. She was grateful for her friends' help but she knew that she and her son were in very real danger. Cordelia had told her everything that that law firm in L.A. had wanted to do to Darla and Connor when he was born. And from what she knew about the Initiative when they wanted something done she didn't expect them to be as civilized.

Buffy stood up abruptly, turned and walked into the training room. She didn't want to have to listen to her friends tell her that everything would be okay and that her son would be safe. She knew, and she suspected Spike knew too, exactly what kind of danger she was in and that as much as her friend wanted to help they really couldn't.

She sat down on one of training mats and shut her eyes, exhausted and drained from the events of the night before.

"You okay luv?" Spike asked, coming into the training room.

Buffy opened her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, just tired."

"Guess I wore you out last night," Spike grinned, sitting down next to her. She leaned again him and he said, "Of course it was your idea." He looked down at her, "Where did you find out about that anyway?'

"Research," Buffy admitted. "I found a book in the restricted section of the store. I was about halfway through before I realized what it really was but some of the images stayed with me."

"Should find that book," Spike said. "Could learn a few things."

"You do that," Buffy yawned.

Spike's look turned from one of amusement to concern, "Why don't you get some sleep, pet? Your mates can manage by themselves for a bit."

Buffy started to protest but than stopped. She was too tired to argue and if she didn't get some rest it would affect both her and the baby's health. She shifted position so that she was using Spike's lap as a pillow and shut her eyes. Soon she was sound asleep.

Spike waited until he was sure that she was asleep, then he carefully stood up, placing his duster over her before he went back to the main area of the store.

"Buffy okay?" Willow asked Spike.

Spike nodded, "Just tired." He looked around, "So, when do we go kill something?"

"We're not killing anything," Willow said. "We don't even know if the Initiative is going to go after Buffy."

"Right," Spike said. "You didn't see Mrs. Cardboard's face when she realized that there was a spell out there to make vamps human. She's going to want to find out exactly what happened."

"Wouldn't she go after Tara if she just wants the spell?" Anya asked. She had returned from the back of the store. It was obvious that she was still mad at Xander but she felt a little better after smashing a few urns.

"Possible," Spike admitted. "But I think they're more interested in the result of the spell, especially since Glinda burned it."

Willow moved closer to Tara and said, "Could they try and pull the spell out of Tara's mind?"

"No," Tara said. "I did a spell on myself to completely erase the spell from my mind. There's no way that the can retrieve it." Everyone stared at her, shocked. They all knew how Tara felt about mind spell. "It was my choice to alter my memory and it was only any recollection of how to do the spell that I erased."

"So they won't go after you, baby?" Willow asked.

"No," Tara said. "I don't have anything they can use."

"But Buffy does," Xander pointed out.

"That's why we have to figure out exactly what the Initiative wants," Dawn said. She'd been working on the computer. Willow had taught her how to hack into files and Dawn was trying to access the Initiative's files. She typed a few keys, "There, got it!"

"What did you find, Bit?" Spike asked.

"The Initiative's main computer," Dawn said, proudly. She read a few lines and then exclaimed, "Hey their new base is in L.A." She clicked on a link and then suddenly the screen went blank. "Hey," She cried. "What happened?"

"Security," said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned and saw Riley and Sam. "The Initiative's computer is programmed to shut down whenever they're visited by any unauthorized person."

"Well well," Spike said. "If it isn't Captain and Mrs. Cardboard, what do we owe the honor of your presence?"

"Save it Spike," Riley snapped. He looked around, "Where's Buffy?

"None of your business," Dawn snapped.

Riley reached down, pulled his gun out of its holster and pointed it at the everyone, "Sorry, but I'm afraid it's been made my business."