AN: Well, it's been awhile, but I have a new chapter ready. I don't think it's one of my best, but….yeah. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Oh, and everyone give a great big THANK YOU to my lovely beta Afterlife. Without whom, this chapter would not be comprehensible. :-P Thank you, hon.

Now, on with the story.

Part 18: Disturbing the Peace

Dylan walked down the hallway, following behind the old woman who had been assigned as her personal tour guide. The child was tired and wanted nothing more than for this whole day to be over with, but it didn't look as if that would be happening any time soon. There was still so much to do.

She would just have to remember what Grandfather had told her, about why her mission was so important. She couldn't let that child be born. She couldn't let her brother - No, not her brother, that thing – come into being. It had to die, or they were all damned.

As they neared the lobby, Dylan suddenly felt someone wrap their hands around her mouth and waist and pull her to the side. Her first instinct was to fight back and scream. She began to do both, her cries muffed behind the hand that held her mouth, as she was pulled into a dark room. Once she was inside the room, the hands immediately released her, and Dylan quickly spun on her heels ready to fight until she caught sight of who her captor was.

"Bastian?"

The young boy darted his head out in the hall to make sure that she hadn't been missed before turning back to face his friend.

"Bastian, what's going on? Where's Grandfather?"

"Listen to me, there's not much time," he told her, ignoring her questions. "We have to get out of here."

"What?" she exclaimed, causing him to wince at the volume of her voice. He glanced out of the room once more, while Dylan continued to ramble. "What are you talking about? What about the mission?"

"Screw the mission," he bit. "We've got to get out of here."

She stared at him as if he had lost his mind. What did he mean, 'screw the mission?' She couldn't do that! Not with what was on the line!

"What's the matter with you?" she asked him, trying to understand. "Grandfather would-."

"Forget him, Dill. Forget everything he ever told you. We don't have to worry about him anymore."

"What?"

"I'll explain everything, but first we have to leave. Now."

Taking her by the arm, Sebastian lead her out of the room, only to come to an abrupt stop when he saw their escape route blocked by the older woman Dylan had been following earlier.

"Going somewhere?" Emily asked, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow.

Dylan could see Sebastian tense, like he was readying for a fight. Reaching up, she touched his hand as a warning to play along, before turned her attention back to Emily.

"No. Bastian just got a little lost. I was trying to help him find his way."

"Funny, I was trying to do the same thing," Dylan heard him mutter under his breath, but she didn't have time to question what he meant.

Instead, she plastered on the oversize smile that she bore whenever she was sent to the principal's office, trying to play up the cute, innocent little-girl look. Emily continued to glare at the children for a bit, like they were a problem that was keeping her from where she needed to be. Then, with a sigh, the old woman turned around and headed back on her way, expecting the children to follow along.

Dylan gave Sebastian a look, telling him to come along and to let her do her job. Dropping his shoulders, he went with her.

How could he ask her to forget the mission? It was the whole reason she was here! She was supposed to protect the world, and if she left and let this happen, she would fail at that job. This was what she was born for, that was what Grandfather said. He knew what was best and only told her to do what was necessary. She might not like it, but it was always for the best.

They entered the lobby, which was already filled with members of the cult. The upper-level members stood in the front wearing hooded deep red robes. The others stood in the center and were dressed in black clothing that looked more appropriate for clubbing than demon worshiping. Really, what was it about cults and robes and black clothes?

Lit candles had been placed all over, providing most of the light for the ceremony that would begin soon. Any signs of the former hospital had been stripped from the room, making the dusty old place feel even creepier than it had before.

They had dressed Dylan in white, for some reason. The long skirt made a rustling sound every time she moved, and the thin fabric they had used for the sleeves was itchy against her skin. Not to mention that it was far too girly for her taste. In fact, it looked like something Jessie would like to wear, or an outfit her grandmother would buy that her father would make her wear just once to make Gram happy.

Emily ushered Sebastian and Dylan to the side of the room to watch the ceremony without being in the way. She was dressed in a deep red robe with a hood that she drew up to hide her face as Kenneth turned to start things.

"I give greetings to those who follow the faith."

He smiled brightly at the room, scanning across it as the cult muttered back their answer. But when his eyes came to rest on Dylan and Sebastian, for a brief second, his features faltered.

Kenneth recovered quickly though and added, "And our guests, of course."

Okay, that was strange.

"We have gathered here on this day to greet the creator, the one who gave of itself to create two new races. But the races have combined, and the time to return the gift is upon us."

A faint scream of pain echoed through the room, causing everyone to turn towards the opened side doors.

Diana walked in first. Well, truthfully, it was more like she glided. This was her moment, her big day, Dylan could tell by the expression on her face.

She was carrying a strange-looking dagger that, for some unknown reason, sent a chill down Dylan's spine. The item looked familiar though, like something she had seen in a dream she couldn't quiet remember anymore.

Several robed figures followed behind her, dragging Buffy with them. She could hardly walk and was in some major pain. Sweat caked her body and every few seconds she pulled them to a stop to scream once again. Still, that glint in her eyes, the one that said 'come near my baby and I'll kill you', remained.

They dragged her to the altar and placed her in the middle of a circle they had created with candles in front of the altar. Inside the circle, they had painted a symbol that Dylan had never seen before.

Dylan knew that if her mother was not in labor, she would have easily fought her way out of there; but as it were, she could do little more than clutch her stomach while the cult went about their ceremony.

When the pain let up a little, Buffy lifted her head slightly and let her eyes rest upon her first child. Dylan tried her best to squish the shame she felt for doing this, but it wasn't as if she had a choice. She had just been following orders. Someday, she hoped her parents would understand that.

Kenneth walked to the edge of the circle and stood near Diana. He took the dagger from his wife and placed it right on a small altar that stood behind the circle. He took a step back, careful not to disturbed anything around him, then turned to face the followers.

"The time is drawing near," he said. "Time for the pure to bleed."

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"I think it's time you stop sounding like some B-movie villain reject," a woman's harsh voice cut through the room.

Faith stood in the middle of the room, her face even from having long grown tired of Kenny's ramblings.

"'The time is drawing near?' Please. Who talks like that? All that's missing is that Reaper song playing in the background." She took a few sniffs of the air. "Oh, and maybe a tad bit more of incense to complete the effect. And maybe some fake smoke. That always screams crazy, satanic cult."

"Kill her!" Kenneth barked.

Several of the hooded members took off after the slayer. Faith grinned, then lifted the small crossbow that she had been holding at her side and fired at the closest cult member. His body jerked back, and he fell. It hadn't been a kill shot, but one intended to stop him. She dropped the weapon to the ground, then went into hand-to-hand with the others.

The not-so-devoted chose this moment to flee, not wanting to chance the wrath of not only an angry slayer but that of her friends as well, because, like pack animals, where there was one Scooby, there were usually more nearby. Their fears quickly turned out to be justified when the rest of the gang decided that it was time to end their little charade, and pulled back their hoods to reveal themselves.

Faith had to give it to Xander. Every once-in-awhile, he did come up with a pretty good, hairball scheme. Even if he did get it from some sci-fi movie he had seen.

They had taken the guards out and stolen their robes, allowing them complete access to the hospital. Well, that would teach these stupid people about having costumes that hide people's faces, now wouldn't it?

Balling her fist, Faith backhanded one of the cult members. She then spun around on her feet to execute a roundhouse, flinging the man into the air before he fell to the ground unconscious.

Bouncing lightly on her feet, Faith eyed the other members surrounding her. Her fists were raised and ready to strike, while a wicked grin grew on her face.

Yeah, this was going to be fun.

One of them dove at her side, knocking himself and Faith to the ground, while his friends advanced on the fallen slayer. Grabbing the top of his robe, she placed her foot in the center of his chest and pushed with all of her might, causing him to fly backwards into part of the on-coming crowd. She rolled back onto her shoulders, and did a hand-spring back to her feet.

After barely gaining her balance again, Faith did a side-kick into one of the cult member's stomachs before blocking another follower's punch to her head. She easily knocked the fist away and came back at him with one of her own. The blow caused his head to jerk back, before she followed with another punch, and finally finished with a sweep-kick to knock him off his feet.

As the brunette slayer came back up, two members grabbed her from behind, holding her arms, as another made a rush directly at her with his fist raised high. He was just about to strike when a large hand seized his and stopped him midway through.

He glanced over to see Angel grinning back at him.

"Three against one. Doesn't seem fair," the vampire mused to himself.

Faith grinned at him, swaying a bit in her captor's hold. "Yeah, for them."

She kicked upward, nailing the guy Angel was holding in the chin, knocking his head back with a sickening jerk. Spinning on his feet, Angel took advantage of the distraction and attacked one of Faith's captors, hitting him in the face with the back of his fist. The man's hold on the slayer broken, Faith brought her now free arm around the front of her body, grabbed the other member who had taken her by the neck and threw him over her shoulder. He landed on the floor with a hard thud before she kicked him across the face to knock him unconscious just as Angel finished off his opponent.

The two looked up only to found themselves still surrounded. They took nearly identical fighting stances and moved back-to-back to wait for the next attack.

"You okay?" Angel asked her over his shoulder.

The grin on her face still remained as she answered, "Five by five."

"You know, someday you're going to have to explain to me what that means."

She snorted a laugh. "Only if you tell me how you get your hair to look like that without usin' a mirror."

From behind her, Faith swore she heard him growl.

"Enough with the stupid hair joke!" he yelled, before diving head-first into the fight, the slayer following close behind.

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Spike pulled back the hood of his robe and glanced over at Xander just as he did the same. Faith was already in the middle of the wasp-nest, thanks to her grand entrance, and the poof had wasted no time in going to help her. From the far side of the room, Peaches Jr. launched an attack on the reinforcements that were coming in from outside. Looks like the three had things under control there.

"Come on," the vampire said, pushing the whelp towards the front of the room.

As the two headed for the altar where the screaming slayer lay, Kenneth made his way around the circle in an attempt to stop them. Xander clung tightly onto the sword he had brought with him, the blade barely peeking out from the side of his robe.

"Get to Buffy," Spike ordered, never taking his eyes off the rapidly approaching man before him. "I'll take care of Kenny here."

Xander nodded, handed Spike the sword, then took off to go around the cult leader. Mr. Shelton paid no mind to the young man, feeling no threat from him. Spike was his concern.

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Xander leapt over the candles that formed the circle and skid to a stop next to his friend. Buffy had curled herself up as much as she could, clutching her stomach while tears dripped down her face. Kneeling down next to her, he timidly touched her, afraid that any pressure he applied would cause her more pain.

"We have to get out of here," he said.

Tearful eyes looked up at him. God, he hated seeing her in this much pain. She was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer; she could take on anything. But here she lay, as helpless as a kitten. Xander found it unnerving that he was going to have to be the strong one here until Spike showed up.

"Can you stand?"

Swallowing hard, the slayer nodded and let her friend help her to her feet before they started looking for a safe place to go.

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Spike stood still, waiting for the cult leader. The sword Xander had given him swung upward with a swoosh sound, preparing to strike at the man when he arrived.

"You can't stop this," Kenneth told him, stopping just a few feet from the vampire. "The spirit is going to enter my son's body, as it should be."

"He's not your son. He's mine. And there is no soddin' way in hell I'll let you have him," Spike growled. Then, his trademark smirk appeared on his lips before he said, "Tell you what, though. You can have this."

He tossed the sword at Kenneth, who instinctively reached to grab it. Using the distraction, Spike stepped forward and hit the man as hard as he could in the face. The leader's head popped backwards before, with a stupefied look on his face, he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Idiot wanker," the vampire muttered, before heading to meet with Buffy and Xander, who were stumbling towards him. "You alright, luv?"

"Do I look alright?" she snapped back.

A ghost of smile crossed his lips.

That's his girl.

"Right," he nodded before turning back to the carpenter. "Xander-."

"We're on our way out now."

Spike opened his mouth the say something more when he heard the floor behind him creak. Quickly, he dropped towards the ground just as the sword swung right over his head, barely missing him. The sharp edge of the weapon was just out of range of Buffy and Xander, who ducked back at bit.

As he came back up, Spike's elbow shot out and hit Kenneth in the stomach, causing the leader to groan before the back of the vampire's fist knocked him in the face. The middle-aged man stumbled backwards from the force, but he quickly recovered. He raised the sword before him and gripped the handle like he was some sort of samurai master.

"You let him have the sword!" Xander yelled at the vampire.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I knew bleach had to cause brain damage," Xander said more to himself than anyone. "And this just proves it."

Spike rolled his eyes just as Kenneth struck at him again. The vampire jerked his body back, the tip of the blade cutting into the damn robe he still wore. The fabric ripped from the slice, and Spike could feel the cool air rush through the inside of the robe.

Damn it. Harris just had to grab the sharpest sword they had, didn't he?

The swords blade came back in a lower swing, causing Spike to leap up into the air.

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While Kenneth was occupied with Spike, Xander ushered Buffy towards the doors in hopes of getting her out of danger.

"No," she said, trying to pull him to a stop. "We have to go back and help."

"Buffy, if you want to help, don't fight, okay."

"But, Xander-."

Her protest died in her throat as another contraction hit her hard. They had just made it to a waiting area connected to the lobby when her legs gave out from underneath her, nearly dragging the slayer and the construction worker to the floor. Xander bit the inside of his lip while she clutched onto his shoulder, praying that she hadn't cracked the bone. The pair stumbled over to the wall, which Buffy slid down the second her back hit the hard surface.

"He's coming," she said through her labor breathing.

Xander's eyes grew wide at the statement. "What? Now?"

She glared at him.

"But-But he can't come now! I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies! Anya always had C-sections!"

"It's not like I can tell him to stop!" Buffy replied.

"Why not? You're his mother! Make him stop!"

"How!"

"I don't know." The panic was evident on his face as Xander suddenly exclaimed, "Cross your legs!"

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Spike's feet had no sooner touched the ground again when Kenneth drove the blade straight towards his chest.

"Dylan!"

As the vampire leaned back as far as he could, the unexpected shout of Dylan's name caught him off-guard long enough to allow the tip of the weapon to dig deep into his shoulder, extracting a strangled cry from Spike's throat. But before the weapon could be pulled from its painful spot, Spike clasped his hands around the edge of the blade and pushed it towards Kenneth as hard as he could. The handle violently shot back and hit the middle-aged man square in the face.

The cult leader fumbled backwards in a daze from the blow, allowing Spike to jump up and kicked him in the chest, jolting Kenneth to the ground with a painful thud. The vampire lunged at him, ready to end the fight, but Kenneth struck back by swinging the sword again. The brunt side of the blade struck Spike in the side, bringing him down to the ground next to the middle-aged man. Kenneth leapt to his feet, and was standing over Spike in a second flat.

The vampire looked up at the leader, who had the side of the sword risen just a bit above Spike's neck. If he pushed down, it would have decapitated the vampire.

"I'll be sure to give my son your regards," Kenneth grinned, starting to push.

A blur dove into the cult leader's side, bringing them both down. Angel rolled in the fall, coming to a crouching position when he stopped moving. Kenneth remained on his back, stunned by the surprise attack. Spike jumped to his feet, snatched the sword that had fallen to the side, and ran the man through before Kenneth even had a chance to realize what had just happened. His body spasmed for a moment, the surprise of the loss evident in his eyes, before the vampire saw the light die from them.

Though he didn't need to, Spike drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to his grandsire.

"Thanks, mate."

"Yeah, well, if anyone is going to kill you, it's going to be me," Angel shrugged as he stood upright and brushed some imaginary dust off of himself.

"In your dreams, you poof."

Faith joined the group once she had dispatched the last of her adversaries to dreamland. The slayer looked a bit worse for wear, but nothing that wouldn't be healed by morning. The brunette looked down at the body that Spike still stood over, then up at the vampire. He could see it in her eyes and her smile. He knew what she was about to say and it made him shudder.

"Oh my God! You killed Kenny!"

"I know. I'm a right bastard," Spike deadpanned, then glanced around the room for the others.

He had no more turned his head when he caught the scent of her blood. Oh, God.

Then, they all heard the Diana woman say, "An angel's blood will welcome him."

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Diana had watched the exchange with a triumphant grin on her face: Faith fighting a group of their members, Angel joining her, Connor fighting off the reinforcements by the door, and even the two younger children joining the fray in a vain attempt to try and help. She even smiled when she saw the vampire and the carpenter coming at them while her husband went out to meet them.

Yes, this was going exactly as she foresaw. This was how it was supposed to be.

She glanced at Buffy, who was still clutching her stomach from the labor pains. Soon, so soon, Diana would have her son.

The dark-haired woman turned her attention away from the slayer to the two children who were fighting off to the side. It looked rather comical, really. Two young kids fighting as if they were adults. It was even funnier that they were actually winning.

Having retrieved her weapon, Diana stepped down from the altar and walked towards the children, the dagger she had brought for this very purpose swinging at her side. Her dark eyes turned to Emily, who was cowering against the wall, trying to stay out of this.

Emily, Diana whispered in her mind, causing the old woman to look up at her. When their eyes meet, the follower knew what she had to do. She came forward, and took the blade from Diana.

Dylan stumbled backwards from a hit, while the boy quickly took over her fight as she tried to regain her senses. As he fought, Emily stalked up behind the girl.

"Dylan!" Connor yelled from the side.

The girl turned just as Emily swung the blade at her. She jumped back just in time for it to barely miss her. But Emily continued to mindless swing it at the child, never giving her an opportunity to counterattack, but forcing her to stay on the defensive. Finally, Dylan stepped wrong, and the blade cut down the girl's chest and to the top of her stomach.

Emily had no more finished the slice, when a small form attached itself to her back. Before the old woman even knew what had happened, her neck snapped, and she fell to the ground. Sebastian momentarily stood over her, and then turned his attention to the bleeding girl.

Dylan was on her knees, clutching her abdomen. The front of her white dress was quickly staining red from the rapid flow of blood. It was obviously to Bastian that the cut was not a shallow one. He hurried to his friend's side, just as Connor finished off the last of the cult members before joining them.

As Bastian held her, Connor ripped a long piece of cloth from his robe and pressed it against her wound, before gently pushing her to lay down flat on her back.

"Just be still, okay," Connor ordered.

Meanwhile, Diana calmly walked over to Emily and pulled the blood-soaked dagger from her dead hand. She briefly smiled at her distorted reflection in the blade, then slowly walked back to the circle. Reaching over, she let a few drops of blood drip onto the symbol Buffy had been on moments before.

"An angel's blood will welcome him," she said.

And the world trembled.

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