Monday was a beautiful early November day. It would have been nice if that beauty could have followed them into the school. Instead they found the teachers overcompensating in an attempt to forestall any potential bullying by announcing Faith's condition in each of her classes by very publically pointing out where her very obvious new desk was and promising, in front of her classmates, 'to help her ensure a smooth pregnancy.'
It didn't take long for word to begin to spread. While the braindead moron known as Harmony Kendall was planning how to use Cordelia's friendship and support of Faith to try to take over as Queen of the school, someone else was plotting something much different.
"I think I've found her." Catherine fumed when she arrived home after school. "Drusilla said she was right under my nose and it seems she may have been right!"
"Who, Mom?" Amy dreaded the answer and was horrified with her response.
"The Slayer and her baby! A girl at school is pregnant and no, it's no one you know, she moved to Sunnydale after we switched bodies. Although you might find it interesting that Cordelia Chase has become her best friend and is putting the Chase social power around her. And that Xander Harris is the father of this baby. If Drusilla's right, the Slayer's baby is a danger to me. I can't prove she's the Slayer with Magic because the baby seems able to hide both itself and the Slayer from me. But if she is the Slayer than there's other ways I can get proof."
"How?" Thanks to her mother Amy could identify vampires on sight, but her mother kept her in the dark about Magic. Probably because she was afraid Amy could and would use it against her.
"They're mystical warriors, Magic makes them stronger than most vampires, not to mention they can sense vampires. It's too bad Drusilla and Spike left town one step ahead of that hunter's son, whoever he is, she did say we might work together again someday. No matter, I'll just use another vampire and get it to confirm she's the Slayer. Then I can destroy both her and her brat before it's a danger to me."
"How can a vampire prove she's the Slayer?"
"They can sense her same as she can sense them. I'm going to borrow your friend for awhile."
"Red isn't my friend, Mom." Amy muttered, but her mother ignored her and headed to the basement where the vampire known as Red was imprisoned. Red, a vampire who had taken over the body of Willow Rosenberg, sister-friend of Xander Harris and Jesse McNally.
"Do you want to get out of here for awhile, vampire?" Catherine asked the creature sticking to the shadows in the basement. "Temporarily. I have some interesting news. There's a Slayer in Sunnydale."
"Slayers are someone a vampire should avoid, if they're smart. Sadly, most aren't. Why should it interest me if there's a Slayer in Sunnydale?"
"Two reasons, one she's pregnant. Which I believe should slow her down a bit. Perhaps make it easier for a vampire to catch her."
"Slayer blood is powerful and delicious or so I've heard. Before you captured me. It is a bit of a temptation, I'll admit. What's the second reason I might find it interesting that there's a Slayer in Sunnydale?"
"The father of her baby is Xander Harris."
Red went still, if she needed to breathe, she'd have been holding her breath. She remembered Willow Rosenberg's life and how Willow Rosenberg had silently pined for a boy who never saw her as anything more than a sister-friend. "Is that what he's been up too since Willow died and I set up shop in her old house, meeting and screwing a Slayer? Which would imply that he knows vampires exist as well. Now this I do find interesting."
"You might find it even more interesting that while he's helping and supporting her, he's not dating her. He's dating Cordelia Chase, who's ignoring her popularity and become Faith's best friend."
Red snarled. "He's come up in the world since his friend died. Very interesting, indeed."
"A Seer informed me that the baby of the Slayer is a threat to me. I need to know if she's the Slayer, since it seems she can hide from my Magic. But she shouldn't be able to hide from you."
"Being a vampire who can sense Slayers, yes, I see where you're going. You want me to sense her, point her out to you, so you can kill her and her baby so the baby can never be a threat to you. Or will you let me kill her? I can just imagine Xander Harris' face if a vampire wearing Willow Rosenberg's face drained his baby and her mother to death in front of him. So much fun. Amy's right, I do enjoy pain and misery."
"As long as she and the baby are dead, I don't care which of us kills her. So are you interested in getting out of here for a little while, vampire?"
"You know I am."
"Then I'll let you out for a little while, but only a little while. A leash on your collar, to reminds you that you're a dog and I own you."
"I can hardly forget." Red said flatly. "Especially since you like to remind me. You could give vampires lessons in inflicting pain and misery. But only as long as you're alive and have your Magic. Humans die so easily. Trip and fall, bump your head. Get run over by a drunk driver. An endless number of ways to die and I dream a different dream every day of just how you'll finally die. I'll be free on that day."
"But not today, vampire, not today."