A/N : Thanx as always to myfab reviewers. A couple of notes - as I said before, the baby won't be Dawn, it seems that impression was given, but she's gone for good, whatever is inside Dru is a seperate entity. Also, I'ma little worried that I apparently write Dru so well. Is it a compliment to be told you write a good crazy person? haha
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7

"Dru? Drusilla, pet? Can you hear me?" Spike asked her as he knelt beside her.

Though her eyes were closed he was almost certain she was awake, just in terrible pain.

"Who is this screaming woman on the floor?" Anya asked, glancing between a baffled looking Giles and Xander.

"It's Drusilla" her boyfriend explained, still staring at the vampires before him, "But she... Giles how is she pregnant?" he checked with the Watcher who shook his head, "I mean vampires can't... with the babies and all..."

"Sh-she's a vampire?" Tara asked her girlfriend worriedly.

"Well, yeah, she was" Willow agreed, "She's Spike's sire and he loved her but she dumped him a couple of times for other demons... Buffy how did this happen?" she asked the Slayer, and all eyes turned to the blonde who had called them here as Dru kept up her moaning and wailing and Spike attempted to calm her to no avail.

"You guys really need a diagram?" Buffy asked with a look as she went over to crouch down next to Spike, seeing if she could help at all.

"Buffy, I'm sure we're all very aware how children are conceived but it is unusual I'm sure you'll agree for such things to occur between a vampire and, well, whatever Drusilla has made her child with"

"The kid's mine" Spike said suddenly paying attention to the group, "Dru came back last year, flying visit was all it was but, well, we clearly had more fun than I bargained for" he said with a slight frown before turning his attention back to his screaming sire, "'S alright, pet, come on" he said gently, pushing her dark hair off her face, "'S gonna be alright"

"It hurts" Drusilla moaned, "Spike, it hurts and she feels it, she feels the power and there'll be two in the morning, a bright light and... aaaargh!" her mad ramble turned into a scream and Buffy frowned.

"Two? Did she just say two?" the Slayer checked as she scrambled to her feet, "There are two in there?"

"No" Spike shook his head, "No, there can't be, I'm only getting one heart beat. If it were twins I'd pick up on both, even if one were fainter than the other, there'd be something"

"A heartbeat?" Xander echoed, "There's a heartbeat now? In Drusilla?"

"In the baby, you stupid git!" Spike yelled at him, "Dru's a vampire, the baby isn't"

"Good Lord" Giles repeated his earlier sentiments as he tried to take all this in. His glasses were soon off and being polished vigorously as he thought about what all this might mean. It was Willow who voiced one of his own worries though without knowing it of course.

"So, the baby's human?" she checked, "Or...well, something else that's all heartbeaty?" she wondered.

"That's what we were trying to figure out" Buffy told her, "Before the crazy happened"

"Things weren't already crazy?" Anya asked with weird look on her face as she took in the sight of Spike and Dru both on the floor, the former trying to stop the latter from harming herself or her unborn child as she writhed wildly and wailed like a banshee, "I'm sorry but I still don't understand how this woman is both a vampire and pregnant. Isn't that impossible?"

"It ought to be" Giles admitted, "I would say we should research the matter but I fear it's too late for that"

"Too late?" Buffy looked less than impressed, "How can it be too late? Giles, we need to know what's going to come out of her before... something comes out of her" she told him, none to calmly.

"I understand your concerns, Buffy" her Watcher assured her, "In fact I share them but to discover the origins of this child or creature, whatever it is, through book reading alone could take days, weeks, even months. We simply don't have time for that"

"I-I think you'll be lucky if we even have hours" Tara chipped in as Drusilla screamed again and the Wiccan checked her watch, "If those screams coincide with contractions, she's almost ready to start pushing"

"Pushing?" Willow's eyes went wide at the thought of it and Tara's words seemed to catch Spike's attention too.

"How do you know so much about it, Glinda?" he wanted to know and thought the girl looked sheepish about explaining herself, she did too, since she seemed to be the only one who knew anything at all about pregnancy.

"M-my neighbour, when I was little, sh-she was a midwife" Tara explained, "After my Mom was gone, I spent a lot of time with her, when Dad and Donny were busy..." she went on, more telling Willow than anyone else, and trailing off when she realised the rest of her trip down memory lane was irrelevant.

"William!" Drusilla wailed, grabbing at his coat and pulling him close to her, "The stars would tear right through, rip my insides all out" she cried.

"'S alright, pet" he tried to comfort her, "It'll be alright" he swore, though in all honesty he was petrified.

He'd never seen Dru look so scared or be in such pain that she didn't want. She'd always been so strong, even during her sickness when her physical strength waned. Her spirit was strong, even stronger than his own, Spike thought, but now it was as if it were breaking into fragments, as if this were too much for her.

"Dr-Drusilla" Tara said nervously as she came forward and knelt beside the vampire woman.

Willow looked panicked and made to step forward, but Buffy's hand on her arm held her back. A look from the Slayer promised her friend nothing would happen to Tara. Spike was right there, and she had some trust in him at least also it was unlikely in her current state that Drusilla would attack any of the Scooby gang.

"It hurts" she moaned, tears streaming down her face, a strange sight to all those that would watch, including Spike, who's hand she had a death grip on.

"I know it does" Tara said, in her usual soft voice that ought to be comforting, "I know it hurts but it'll be better soon, just try to breathe through the pain" she advised.

Dru stared at her, eyes flashing yellow before she laughed long and loud. Her cackling turned into a scream as she kicked out at those who would help her, sending both Tara and Spike sprawling.

"I don't breathe!" she yelled, loud enough to wake the dead, as Willow ran to her girlfriends aid and Spike scrambled to his feet.

"You okay?" Buffy checked with the vampire who nodded before crossing past her and crouching down next to the fallen Tara and Willow who was holding her, checking she was okay.

"You alright there, pet?" he asked with a frown, "I'm sorry"

"I-It's not your fault" Tara told him, wincing a little as she tried to get to her feet and found it hurt in several places where she'd bashed into the wall and floor so hard on her landing, "Sh-she has a point anyway, I for-forgot you don't have to breathe" she admitted, managing half a smile as Willow helped her through to the main part of the shop where she could sit down and where she'd be away from Drusilla.

"We need to do something here" Buffy realised, "Spike, we can't just let her go on screaming"

"What can we do, pet?" the bleached blond shrugged, "I mean, I'm the last person who wants to see her suffer y'know, but women have been giving birth for centuries, right? This is how it's supposed to be, all pain and screaming, and then hey presto, a baby"

"If in fact what she is carrying is a baby" Giles pointed out.

"Yeah" Xander agreed, "I mean, what if it's some green slimy wriggly thing or something" he said, earning himself a glare from Spike, until Anya spoke up and all attention refocused on her latest distasteful and unhelpful comment.

"It's not an alien is it?" she checked, "Because alien births are not pleasant" she told the assembled group, "What with the bursting out of the stomach the way they do, they made a movie about it you know"

"Somebody get her out of here" Spike said, through gritted teeth and as he re-took his position beside his sire and did his best to calm her.

Worried about what might happen next, Xander took the advice and escorted Anya through to the main part of the shop once again, leaving Giles and Buffy by the door, watching the two vampires.

"Giles, we have to find out what she has in there" the Slayer told him, eyes fixed on Spike and Dru, "If it's something bad, I wanna know how to deal"

"A child or creature, born of two soulless vampires" Giles considered, "I can't see any way for it to be something good or pure" he told her, "Although it is such an unprecedented occurrence, I really wouldn't know where to begin on researching" he confessed, "Besides which, I doubt very much we have time for extensive book reading. As Tara quite rightly said, the rate at which Drusilla seems to be experiencing contractions, I fear whatever is inside, will soon be out"

As Buffy and Giles looked on, Spike still attempted to calm is ex-lover down, not an easy task at all.

"Drusilla, luv, can you hear me?" he asked her as she kept her eyes closed and groaned, "Gonna help you through this, pet, I promise you"

"I can feel it, Spike" she told him hoarsely, "Feel the thing we made, part of you, part of me" she told him, eyes finally opening as she took his hand in hers and placed it over her swollen belly, "I can see her" she said with a slight smile and Spike looked at her a moment before he spoke.

"Her?" he echoed, "You know it's a girl?" he checked.

"Pink and white, all peaches and cream" she nodded, "Pretty, pretty little thing she'll be" she said, as a tear crept out of one eye and ran down her cheek.

It was so long since Spike had last seen her cry at all, she was always so strong... Another scream made him literally jolt out of his daze as Drusilla howled like a werewolf might at a full moon.

Back across the room there was a tap on the door and Giles opened it to reveal Willow standing there.

"Giles, we had an idea" she told him, "Tara and me, we think we know how to do a spell so we can find out what Drusilla is carrying"

"That's great, Will" said Buffy as she stepped out of the training room with her Watcher and closed the door behind her, "Is it going to take long to set up?"

"Just a few minutes" she explained as she went back over to the research table.

Xander and Anya had a book each and were researching already whilst Tara brought ingredients over in preparation for the spell. Despite the pregnant vampire attacking her she did not seem at all unwilling to help with the current situation.

"Buffy?" Spike's voice from the door startled the Slayer and she spun round to look at him. In all the the years they'd known each other, from enemies, to allies, to whatever the hell they were now, Buffy had never seen Spike look so worried, almost scared about what was happening.

"We found a spell" she said as she walked over to him, leaving the rest of the gang to their plans, "It should tell us exactly what Drusilla is carrying"

"She thinks she knows" Spike explained, "She told me Buffy... It's a girl" he smiled, finding he liked the idea of playing Daddy to a daughter. Still, his happy expression didn't last long and the frown appeared across his face once again, "She passed out again, I think the pain's too much for her"

"We'll figure this out" the blonde assured him, putting a hand on his arm, almost without realising she'd done it, until Spike's eyes shifted to look at the point of contact. He opened his mouth to say something when Giles walked over and interrupted the semi-moment that was occurring.

"Willow and Tara are ready" he told the pair, "I suggest we get started as quickly as possible, so we know what we're dealing with"

To Be Continued...