Buffy was finally asleep. She'd cried her grief out for hours, unable to break the spell. Spike snarled and hit the punching bag. Sophie watched him from the corner. He could feel her worry, like a living thing with them in the room.
"The witch has issues." Sophie sighed. "She isn't at all apologetic."
"Red won't see the error of her ways." Spike snarled. "I think Angelus broke something deep in her, but she isn't reliable. She does what she wants first and always."
"Rupert is still talking with her." Sophie shrugged one shoulder. "Oz made himself scarce."
"He knows a lost cause when he sees one." Spike spun up and kicked the bag. "He's been hurt by her nonsense, too. More than this. The power's there, but the humanity is weak. Balance is a bitch."
"Buffy will be okay." Sophie worried the hem of her shirt with her fingers. "Rupert isn't the one that needs to talk with the witch. It should be you."
"I'm too tempted to kill her." He punched the bag and watched it swing.
"Buffy loves her." Sophie shrugged. "Buffy loves them all."
"Trust and love do not go hand in hand." Spike grabbed the bag to stop its motion. "The wtrust makes bad choices. She always thinks she knows what's what."
"Her hatred for Angelus is useful." Sophie stood up and spuI, knocking Spike back a few feet.
"Funny, Pet." Spike bounced on the balls of his feet. "I won't be sparing with you, and you know it."
"Why?" Sophie tilted her head.
"Because there are two of us in this room and there are three heart beats. One of them is rapid. It's a familiar sound." He smirked at his pun. "Your heartbeat has been constant for some time."
"What are you talking about?" Sophie looked around the room.
"You don't hear it?" Spike shook his head. "Must be your own heartbeat marring the sound. You're in the family way. I had to stop Drusilla from eating pregnantbwomen often enough to know the signs."
"How is such a thing possible?" sophie clutched her abdomen.
"We need to get your mate to research that." Spike raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
"I'm a vampire. Dead bodies don't make babies." Sophie crossed her arms over her chest.
"Your heart beats, your blood flows. How dead are you anymore?" He smiled. "Hell, you eat human food."
"It tastes so good." Sophie rubbed her hand over her stomach. "How long have you heard it? Why hasn't Buffy or Rupert noticed?"
"They might hear it, but would they know what it is?" Spike chuckled. "Hard to believe old Rupes knows what a quim is."
"He knows more than enough for me." Sophie smiled and licked her lips. "They called him Ripper for a reason."
"Not something I needed ringing in my ears, Pet." Spike shuddered and glared at him.
"Prudish Victorian." Sophie smiled and flipped him the bird.
"Picking up bad manners from my mate, I see." Spike stuck his tongue out at Sophie.
"You'd best get some French letters or your mate's mother will be removing your bits in bitty pieces. If I am pregnant than she could wind up with her oven stuffed as well." Sophie swallowed and backed away from his panicked expression.
"She'll kill me." Spike stood perfectly still and stared off into space while visions of Buffy round with his children played through his mind. It was too tantalizing. Buffy was enough. Her love and acceptance was all he needed.
"She's seventeen. In this day and age, she's too young to be a mother." Sophie smiled. "But, in a few years, maybe."
"Pregnant slayers die." Spike swallowed and rubbed his hands together, trying to ward off the thought. "At least, most of them do."
"Slayers fight alone." Sophie moved toward him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Buffy had us to guard her back."
"I can't lose her." Spike felt the panic crawling through him keenly. "She's part of me."
"She's part of us all." Sophie rubbed her thumb in a small circle on his shoulder.
Marcus paced through the town, leaving a clear scent trail. He trailed his fingers along benches and touched lamp posts occasionally. It was necessary, but so tedious.
Angelus would have to come to him. The upstart bastard would seek him out and ask him for help. Spike's public death assured it. He considered the choreographed battle as he strolled. Spike was far stronger than he appeared. The young vampire was flexible, physically and mentally. In a true battle, Spike would have beaten him soundly. It was a good thing that they had pluton such a dramatic show. The witnesses would embroider on it until it stood as an epic battle between titans. Marcus grinned. It was good to be a god like being once more. One should never deal with Angelus from a position of weakness.
A car sputtered down the road. It was late. He had to head two wards the hotel. Marcus grimaced. The dry California air did not appeal to him. The small town was quaint, but it wasn't home without his Joy. Rome wouldn't be home without her.
He pictured her in his mind. Her soft lips were parted and swollen from kissing his. Her warm breath flashed across his cheek. Her hair curled around his fingers. Closing his eyes, he forced his mind away from the future.
The here and now needed him.
He stalked along sidewalk, ignoring the other demons on the prowl. Dawn was coming. He could feel it like an itch at the back of his skull. He turned and sought out the hotel.
He looked at Sunnydale's poor excuse for a hotel. The place was unremarkable. A tall mess of glass and concrete. His lip curled in disgust. It would have to do. He needed a base. This poor excuse for a high end accommodations would suffice. He pushed in through the doors, wondering what had become of true civilization.