Buffy was slumped on her sofa, glaring at her switched off television as her mind wandered over the events of her truly sucky day. Definitely a contender for the ‘suckiest day ever’ award. Next to Angel loosing his soul and finding out Dawn wasn’t really her sister and being killed by the Master and, yeah, she’d had some real suckers in her time.
First Spike waking her and forcing her to go to that horrible and dark building. Finding out that disgusting place existed was bad enough, even before Spike had pushed the door open to reveal Riley in the throes of some twisted passion. Then Xander lecturing her about all she’d been holding back and about how much Riley ‘loved her’. As if Xander could ever understand. Then Riley leaving without looking back.
Buffy closed her eyes in exasperated anger. Somehow this was obviously, definitely, *all* Spike’s fault.
As if on queue, a knock sounded from the front door.
For a moment, Buffy let her heart leap at the idea that maybe Riley had realised his mistake and come back to make it up to her by pleading for forgiveness. But she recognised the signature tingle at the base of her neck and she snarled as she got to her feet, ready to scream her heart out at the cause of her misery.
“Spike.” she growled, ripping the door open.
He stood there uncertainly for a moment, looking apologetic and slightly at a loss for words, a most strange and uncommon occurrence, since the vampire always seemed to have *something* to say.
“Slayer...” he started to move toward the door, as if intending to enter her home, but Buffy held up a hand and pushed him back.
“Oh, I *so* don’t think so.” she snapped, stepping out after him and slamming the door, “What do you want *prick*?”
Spike flinched a little at the name-calling, but not because he was insulted by her words, merely because it was clear she was going to hold him responsible for showing her what she needed to see. Damn Slayer, as if she’d have been happier being made a fool of by the stupid soldier boy. She didn’t need him, she could have any number of men, with a certain vampire being at the very top of the list.
Not that she’d want him. The look of fury on her face told him that much.
“What do you want?” she demanded, pushing him backwards again. He stumbled slightly, but regained his footing, forcing a sincere expression onto his face and tentatively checking the hole Riley had left in his chest earlier that evening.
“Just wanted to ‘pologise pet.” he said, eyes casting down. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Just thought you had a right to know what he was up to behind your back.”
“Oh?” Buffy asked, eyebrow quirking dangerously, “And I suppose you didn’t get anything out of it at all.” her voice was suddenly angry, “I suppose you haven’t been laughing about it all day.”
“No I-”
“Poor, pathetic Slayer.” she said in a mocking tone, “Can’t even satisfy her man. Is that what you’ve been saying? Telling the other vampires? Laughing behind my back?”
“Of course n-”
“And I suppose you’re not expecting me to beat the shit out of you for being such a prick.”
Spike looked at her with concern and her hand landed in a stinging slap across his cheek.
“This is *all* your fault Spike.” she told him in a dangerous voice, “I want you out of my town. Now.”
“Hey now-” he protested, regaining some of his internal fire, “That’s hardly fair is it? I was lookin’ out for you pet.”
“Looking out for me?” she repeated, “Spike the only *reason* you took me to that place was to see the look on my face. You don’t care about me- we’re *enemies*, always have been, always will be.”
He looked at her closely; saw the belief she held in her statement, and then dropped his gaze sadly; knowing that, to her, it would always be true. Enemies. It didn’t matter what he did.
“Right.” he said in a soft voice. “Guess I’ll be on my way then.”
“Yeah. Get out of my sight.”
He stood there for a moment longer, basking in the silence she was exuding. Listening closely to her quickened heartbeat, and wondering the cause of it.
“Spike- get lost.”
A slight frown creased his face as he picked up another, slighter, sound.
“Spike?”
His head tipped to one side as he homed in on the sound with all of his senses, dissecting it. It couldn’t really be what he thought it was- could it?
“Spike, what the hell are you doing?” Buffy demanded, frustrated by the fact that he was still standing in front of her, despite the fact that she’d demanded he leave. “Spike!”
He looked up to meet her eyes. His were filled with concern.
“Buffy...” he said, “I can hear...”
“What?” she demanded, angered even further.
“You’re... Well, you’re pregnant love.”
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“Buffy, you need to listen to me love.”
“Get *lost* Spike!” she cried, stalking forward as she tried to continue with her evening patrol. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Don’t be stupid.” he said, trying to grab her.
“I’m not the one being stupid here Spike.” she argued; her facial expression set as she flinched away from him. “You know that you risk all your parts-”
“I’ve heard that one pet.” he interrupted, dismissing her comment off-hand. “But this is serious.”
“No.” she said, “It’s not serious, because it’s not *real*.”
“Buffy, you were stabbed love,” Spike argued, trying to draw near to her once more, “Someone’s gotta check that your baby’s okay.”
“Woah,” Buffy said, “Look Spike, just... Back off, will ya? I think it’s quite obvious that I’m not pregnant. Firstly, hello! Relationship issues; I haven’t had sex with Riley in weeks.”
Spike sucked in his breath, feeling like he’d been clobbered by that remark. “It’s perfectly likely the baby’s been around a bit longer than that Buffy.” he said, hating having to admit that the child she was carrying had to belong to Captain Cardboard, “Months maybe. You’ll have to get a scan if you want to find out for sure.”
“This is ridiculous!” Buffy cried, throwing her arms up, “Spike, there *is* no baby!”
“Oh really?” he asked, his face setting with determination, “Then how do you explain this?”
He drew his fist back and slammed it down towards her womb; smiling with satisfaction as she leapt back instantly, her arms forming a protective barrier over her unborn child.
“Believe me?” he asked as she looked back up at him with glaring eyes.
“No.” she spat. “But you can stay the Hell away from me anyway.”
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She saw him three times after that, and each time she ignored him vehemently. He’d yell and she’d turn the other way, pretending his words were having no effect on her whatsoever.
Secretly... Secretly, she was afraid that what he was saying could be true. More than just afraid in fact... Terrified.
She didn’t know how she would cope if she had a baby. For one thing, she was alone, *really* alone now that Riley had left. And for another, she was the Slayer. Her life consisted of blood, guts and danger; not at all the kind of world to bring a tiny, helpless baby into.
But more than that, she was scared that it was everything she’d ever wanted. And she didn’t want to risk believing him, just to have it all torn away.
“Slayer!”
“I told you to *leave me alone*!” she cried, not even bothering to turn around. “Do you want me to break your spine?”
“Not particularly.” he replied.
“Well I will so just-” she finally span around, “So just back off.”
He held his hands up defensively as she pointed an angry finger at him.
“Back off.” she repeated.
“Slayer,” he said softly, “I know you’re scared, but you don’t have to worry about this. You have friends, you have a loving family, it doesn’t matter that-”
*Slam*
Spike staggered back as her fist connected with his face in a vent of rage and he looked up at her with imploring eyes.
“You-”
“Don’t.” she interrupted. “Don’t tell me what to do Spike. You don’t know me.”
“Please just-”
“*Don’t*!” she yelled, “Just leave me alone or I’ll...” her eyes glowed like angry fire, “I’ll kill you. I swear I will!”
Spike watched as she stalked away angrily and he almost chuckled to himself as he muttered; “Hormones.”
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“Let the conjuring be undone. Return the beast to native form.”
“Witch stop.” Olaf demanded, threateningly approaching Willow who continued her spell in a shaky voice;
“Keep him far from us and ours as long as my voice shall sound.”
Olaf looked down at himself as the nervous red-head completed her spell and he chuckled as he realised; “It did not work.”
“Okay, wait.” Willow said, flipping quickly through several centuries old pages of the book she held, “Let the conjuring-”
Buffy strode forward, landing a hefty kick to the troll’s stomach and a punch or two to his square jaw. She sensed Spike coming into attack from behind her, and she flinched, only slightly, when Olaf beat him back down to the ground.
She flung the troll onto the table and struggled to rip the impressive looking hammer from his grip, only to be thrown, full power, backward into the recovering Spike, forcing them both back down to the ground again.
Olaf began instantly trashing the club, his hammer wreaking havoc on the pillars supporting the balcony as the terrified civilians tried to scurry out of his way.
Momentarily winded, Buffy let Spike’s arms wind around her and help her back to her feet again, a strange stabbing pain in her stomach was making her falter.
“You okay Slayer?” Spike asked her.
Buffy didn’t reply, pushing him off of her and charging back toward the huge, ugly troll. Spike looked up just in time to see the balcony’s last pillar being smashed, and the whole thing coming crashing down on top of his Slayer.
“Buffy!” he yelled as she disappeared beneath the rubble with a distant cry. The troll laughed as he headed toward the exit, and Spike let him go, more interested in making sure the Slayer was unharmed. “Pet- where are you?”
He heard the sound of her muffled grunt, and eventually spotted her struggling with a heavy looking piece of balcony that was pinning her to the ground. She pushed it up slowly, the muscles in her arms straining. Spike ran to her and grabbed the heavy slab and wrenched it off of her. The winded Slayer remained on her back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She was seeing spots. The searing pain was practically blinding her.
Something had to be wrong.
“Spike...” she said, wishing it was one of her friends, “Spike my stomach hurts.”
He knelt down and quickly laid his head on the flattened expanse of her stomach, pressing his ear to her womb.
“Baby’s fine.” he said in a hushed voice.
The statement brought fresh anger back into Buffy, and she pushed the vampire as far away from her as her strength would muster.
“I’m *not* pregnant!” she hissed, leaping back to her feet, only to find herself doubled over with pain again, “Oh... My God this hurts!”
“Take it easy.” Spike said in an exasperated voice as he made his way back over to her, “Do you *want* to miscarry?”
“This is ludicrous.” Buffy protested, her hand working its way down to lay flat above her stomach. “We’re not even talking about this Spike.”
“Buffy- face the facts!” Spike cried.
“No.” she said, shaking her head to emphasize her denial. “Riley *left* Spike. He *left*. I cannot be pregnant, it’s just... Not fair.”
“Life’s not fair pet.” he said, somewhat bitterly. “Just be careful with yourself.”
She glared at him for a moment, annoyed that he would pretend to care. Then she turned back around, scanning the room for her friends or Olaf.
“Where is he?” she asked, as she ran towards Willow.
“Gone.” the red head admitted.
Buffy frowned, a twinge in her stomach making her heart ache a little. She quickly snapped herself out of it though. “Xander.” she said, “Follow him. Willow, Anya. Go back to the magic box; find a spell that will stop him.”
The various group members all nodded, running off their separate ways.
Buffy looked to Tara who was desperately trying to make the wounded civilians more comfortable, tucking her jumper under a woman’s head and removing the debris from around her.
Buffy bent down to pick up a beam that had fallen on top of a man who looked as if he’d seen better days, but a searing pain shot through her abdomen and she let out a cry of distress as she doubled over.
“Buffy?” Tara asked, turning around to look at her girlfriend’s best friend with concern, “Are you okay honey?”
Buffy collapsed to her knees, arms gripped around her stomach as she shook her head, speechless. The word she needed to use was stuck to her tongue; *Spike*
He seemed to hear her anyway, whipping around to see her collapse to the ground.
“Slayer!” he roared, running to her side and catching her before her face could hit the splintered floor.
“Spike?” Tara asked, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing pet,” he said, “Slayer took a bit of a bad fall earlier. I’ll get her home.”
“But the Troll-”
“Run to the shop and help Red out with the spell,” he said, “The two of you can handle it.”
Tara nodded quickly, rushing from the busy disaster site as ambulances and police cars began to arrive.
“She okay?” one of the medics asked Spike as he carried Buffy toward the door.
“She’s pregnant.” he said instantly, “I think the baby might have been harmed. Can you check her?”
“Pass her over.” the medic said, holding his arms ready. Spike gently placed her into the other man’s arms, following him out to one of the ambulances. “Do you want to go with your girlfriend to the hospital?” the paramedic asked as he placed Buffy down on the stretcher.
Spike nodded, not bothering to correct the man on the fact that he and Buffy *really* weren’t an item as he climbed in beside her still form.
“I told you.” he murmured to her unconscious form as the ambulance ground into life and began speeding toward the Sunnydale memorial hospital, sirens on full blast.
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A/N: Thank you again to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :]
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