A/N : Sorry this update is later than usual. I haven't been around since the weekend, things got a little hectic, you know how it is. Anywho, here's the next chapter, and thanx as always to the wonderful reviewers :-)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8

"Okay, we're almost ready" Willow told the assembled Scooby gang as she completed the ring of sand on the floor of the training room, all around Drusilla's unconscious form.

"So, what happens now?" Buffy asked uncertainly. As much as she knew they had to identify exactly what Dru was carrying, she hated to think it was something evil. Though she cared nothing at all for Drusilla, Spike meant something, even if she wasn't sure exactly what yet. Realising his child was in fact something terrible might just kill him, she realised, as she glanced over at him and saw definite fear on his features, something that she had scarce seen before when it came to the bleached blond vampire who had been part of her life in one form or other for years now.

"Okay, Tara and I need to be at Drusilla's head and feet" Willow explained, "Two other people need to be either side of her... bump" she said awkwardly.

Spike automatically stepped up, glancing back at Buffy with an almost begging look when she didn't immediately follow. Taking a breath she stepped forward and knelt down one side of Dru as Spike did the same on the other side.

"Now, Spike, you need to put your hand over... here" the red-head told him, placing his hand on Drusilla's swollen belly, "And Buffy, put your hand on top"

The Slayer was a little surprised to find that both her own hand and Spike's were shaking as they did as instructed, their eyes flitting up a moment later to meet. They shared an uneasy smile as Willow went back to her position and looked across at Tara.

"Okay, here we go" she said as they concentrated and began to speak soft words in a language that the others did not understand.

A moment later, as the quiet chanting continued, Spike felt something happening. The magicks that the witches were envoking was working and he knew Buffy could feel it too as she looked at him, and her breath became slightly irregular as some kind of unfamiliar power pulsed through them both.

"Oh my God" the Slayer gasped as a strange red and pink smokey mist flowed up from their joined hands as if they were on fire, and yet they didn't feel hot at all.

The cloud grew larger and rose just above their eye level, shifting and warping for a while before suddenly exploding with a bright white light, that forced everyone to shield their eyes for a second. A moment later when they looked again they saw what the spell had done. The pinkish red mist had taken on the form of what resided inside Drusilla - a tiny baby, a seemingly human child.

"I feel the spirit" Willow smiled as Tara did the same, nodding her head in agreement.

"It's a girl" she told the others in the room, causing Spike to grin and Buffy to sigh with relief.

"My daughter" Spike said softly as he watched the misty picture of the child shift and waver like candle flame.

A few moments later it started to disappear and was eventually gone. As Willow took a step back she wobbled a little and then righted herself.

"Woah, magicks head-rush" she smiled, her hand going to her head, "Always gets me" she said as Tara came to her side.

"You should sit down, sweetie" the other witch advised, helping her lover through to the main part of the shop and seating her back at the table. Anya and Xander soon followed with Giles, wondering if research was still necessary now, leaving Spike and Buffy alone with the still unconscious Drusilla.

"I'm gonna be a Dad" Spike said suddenly, in awe of the very fact this could be happening.

"Looks like" Buffy agreed, wondering why that bothered her so much, still there was something, inside her heart maybe, something that twisted and tore at her, every time Spike looked at Drusilla just like he was right now.

"Spike?" the female vampire suddenly wailed as her eyes flickered open.

"I'm here, luv" he told her, as he knelt at her side, pushing her hair from her face.

"I don't feel it" she said, her hand going to her swollen stomach, alarm visible in her features, "Spike, the fairies aren't singing anymore, their tune has gone, the stars can't shine without it" she rambled, obviously panicking by now.

"Dru, it's okay, 's gonna be okay, I promise you" Spike told her as he tried to calm her down. Buffy's mind whirred as she considered what Drusilla was saying, trying to make sense of it. Taking just the sensible part of what she said and adding in the panic in her tone, one would suspect she meant the baby wasn't moving anymore, and yet Willow and Tara had confirmed with their spell that the child was very much alive just a moment ago.

"Buffy?" a voice called from the door and the Slayer glanced between her Watcher who was standing there and Spike beside her.

"Try to keep her calm" the Slayer told her vampire companion, "I have to talk to Giles"

Buffy scrambled to her feet and hurried to her Watcher who looked less than happy right now. The door was pulled shut and Giles spoke quietly to his Slayer.

"Buffy, I fear Drusilla's pregnancy is a greater problem than we originally thought"

"Tell me about it" the blonde sighed, "Giles, she said she can't feel it anymore, and it doesn't seem like she's having contractions either"

"She's not" the older man shook his head, "Buffy, Drusilla is a vampire, meaning her body is technically dead. She does not have the necessary bodily functions to give birth as an ordinary woman would"

"Giles, what are you saying?" Buffy frowned hard, "That you wanna take Dru to the hospital and get her a C-section? Cos I'm pretty sure they don't admit the undead to the maternity ward!"

"Buffy, what I'm saying is..." the a Watcher never got to actually finish what she was saying as an almighty crash from the back room interrupted him.

"What now?!" Buffy asked the heavens as she pushed back through the door and found Spike alone in the training room, sprawled against the wall and looking dazed.

"Bloody hell!" he cursed as he scrambled to his feet and Buffy ran further into the room glancing all around. The Scoobies were soon by the door, also wondering what on Earth was going on.

"Dru's gone" Spike told them, "Dunno where her bleedin' powers comin' from" he said, wincing as he held his ribs, "But she was never that strong before" he told Giles who did not look anymore happy to hear it.

"She's gone through the basement, taken the tunnels" Buffy told them as she returned from that direction, "Spike, any idea where she was headed?"

"I dunno" he shook his head as he tried to think, "She was ramblin' about what we'd created, and somethin' about happy homes and burnin' stars" he explained, "You know Dru, never did talk much sense when she got in one of her moods"

"If she mentioned home" Giles considered, "One would think that like most... creatures" he opted for that word, "She would go somewhere she feels safe to deliver her child" he surmised, "Though the problems with her giving birth to the child may be bigger than we thought" he went on to say, "I was about to tell Buffy when this occurred, I don't believe Drusilla has the capacity to bring the child to term"

"What are you sayin', Watcher?" Spike checked, the look on his face far from happy or friendly right now.

"Spike, as you are well aware, a vampire's body is essentially dead" Giles sighed, removing his glasses and waving them about in his hand, "Drusilla simply does not have the means to nourish a baby or give birth to it"

"Giles, before we worry about getting the kid out, let's worry about finding the mother" his Slayer snapped suddenly, not liking the look on Spike's face at all. His mind was whirring at a hundred miles an hour, she could see it all going on behind his eyes. He was realising, same as her, that unless they could find away to deliver Drusilla's baby and soon, the child might not survive.

"Spike!" Buffy yelled at him, "Think! Where would Drusilla go?"

"Er, she was talking about a happy home" he recalled, "Not that I'd call it bloody happy at any time but the old mansion on Crawford Street. Loved that place, she did" he told the Slayer who nodded her head.

"Okay, head down to the sewers, see if you can track her or whatever" Buffy instructed, "You guys stay here, find anything you can that might be useful, and I'll head for the mansion, assuming that's where Drusilla's gone"

"Buffy!" Giles called after her as she went for the door, "Be careful" he said as she glanced back.

"Always" she managed a half smile before bolting out of the door and letting it slam behind her.


"Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch" Dru sang to herself and her unborn child as she wandered through the mansion that had been home to herself, Angelus, and Spike more than three years ago now.

"We were happy" she said mournfully, her hand at her swollen belly, "Happy families, happy home, all ruined by the silly little Slayer girl" she seethed, sadness turning to anger as she picked up a broken wooden chair and threw it at the stone wall where it broke into many shards. Drusilla's expression was suddenly so calm as she stared at the wall and floor, splinters of wood spread all over.

"Oopsy daisy" she said, all innocent as a child, "What a nasty mess we made" she said, looking down at where her child resided, "Such a mess, but such glories shall come" she grinned, "The two, the time, and tea and cakes for all" she giggled madly, stopping suddenly when she felt his presence behind her.

"Daddy didn't ought to sneak up on us" she said, not yet turning around, "We should be very cross with him, we should..." her words left her as a contraction hit, doubling her over with pain. She screamed and Spike was at her side in a second, holding her up so that she didn't fall to the floor and harm herself or the baby.

"Drusilla" he sighed, helping her over to the old couch and sitting her down, "Why'd you run off, luv? We just want to help you"

"Help me" Dru echoed, "Sweet William" she smiled, looking fondly at him as her hand went to his cheek, "No good can come, the devil wants me, I'm no good for anything else" she told him, face crumpling as tears ran down her cheeks, "Look what we did" she said, hand moving to reach for his and place it on her stomach, "A miracle"

"S'pose it is at that" Spike agreed, "Our miracle, yours and mine"

"No" Drusilla cried, shaking her head, wincing as another bout of pain ripped through her, "Not mine to hold. Princess can't be a good girl, can't have a present if she can't play nicely"

"Spike!" Buffy called his name as she appeared in the room, having been stalled on her way to the mansion by a rising fledging who was surprisingly resilient, at least for a while.

"Such a good girl" Dru said as she and Spike both looked to the Slayer, "Does all she's told, a proper princess" she said tearfully, before glancing back at Spike who knelt at her feet.

"You can be a princess too, pet" Spike told her, willing to tell her anything right now. He'd loved her once, a part of him always would, after all she had made it possible for him to live this long, to see the world, and to meet Buffy whom he would love for eternity he was sure.

"Only temporary" she frowned, putting her hands to her head, "Can't see past it, can't get round it, when it's gone, I'm gone too" she told him, eyes staring off over his shoulder.

"No, luv, you don't have to..." Spike began only to be interrupted as Dru put a finger to her lips and shushed him.

"Bad dog!" she scolded him, a harsh yet playful look in her eyes, one he knew so well from days of old, "Did one good thing, William, just one" she said with more clarity than he'd ever known her say anything, "She has to know it" she told him, looking him right in the eye until the last moment when her eyes shifted to her pregnant belly, making it obvious she spoke of their child.

The next few seconds seemed to pass in both slow motion and a super-speed blur all at once. Drusilla screamed as pain ripped though her body once again and in one movement she both kicked Spike away and got up from the couch, a clever manoeuvre for one so emcombered by nine months of pregnancy.

"No!" Buffy yelled as the female vampire ran for the French doors at which thick drapes hung.

It was now clear to the Slayer what Drusilla planned to do and despite the fact she set off at a run she already knew she could never make it in time. Whilst Spike hid in the shadows by the fireplace, Drusilla reached between the curtains and threw open the doors, stepping out into the bright dawn. Her screaming mingled in with Spike's own yelling as Buffy reached the edge of the daylight and gasped at what she found there. Amongst the ash and dust, the remains of Drusilla's undead body, lay a baby.

The tiny girl was perfect, not a burn or scratch on her as she lay on the concrete wriggling and breathing the world's air for the first time, a cry escaping her as she realised things were different and unfamiliar.

"Buffy?!" Spike called frantically as he moved down the side of the room, keeping to the shadows.

Though he heard the cries he had not dare believe it until he saw the Slayer. She returned to his side, half smiling, half crying as she carried his child safely to him.

"Spike" she said, a little emotionally, "Meet your daughter"

To Be Continued...