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Chapter 16

“Oi! Open up!” Angel looked up from the prophecy text he was reading, and realizing it was Spike calling for him and banging on the door, he tossed the book aside and rushed over. When he opened the door, he found Spike wincing in pain, but more than that, his eyes were full of worry. Immediately, he knew.

“Where is she?”

“Our room,” Spike said, taking off down the hall. Angel felt his chest tighten at those two words. Our room?

“What happened?”

“She had a…a pain. A contraction, that’s it.” Angel swallowed hard, trying not to think about the prophecy, but it was difficult not to. Destroy, before the child’s first breath is taken, the child or his mother. “Maybe Percy…er…Wesley can fix it.”

“Spike…”

“And Fred. She’s book smart too.”

“Spike…”

“We can help her, and…I’ll…”

“Spike!” Spike spun around at Angel’s tone. “Spike. You know about the prophecy.”

“Sure I do, but we don’t have to…”

“It says the only way to stop it is to kill either Buffy or the baby before…”

“I bloody well know what it says, Peaches, and it ain’t gonna happen.” Angel felt himself growing more and more irritated, but he knew he had to stay calm and try to speak so that Spike could understand the rationale.

“Spike, if the prophecy is true, the minute that baby’s born, the world could be thrown into complete chaos.”

“It’s too soon to worry about…”

“It might not be. We need to be prepared. Spike, if the prophecy’s true, the baby has to…” Without warning, Spike turned, taking Angel by the collar and pinning him to the wall.

“Nothing is gonna happen to them. If you try anything, I’ll make sure you have a one way ticket to the next high noon, if you get my drift.”

“Spike, listen to…” Spike let go of Angel and headed off down the hall. Deciding not to press the issue anymore for the moment, Angel followed in silence. When they reached the apartment, Buffy was seated in an oversized chair with her feet propped up. Her face was pale, and her hands were clutching her stomach. A look of concentration and worry creasing her brow.

“Buffy?” Buffy looked up at Angel’s voice, and she smiled a little.

“I told him not to get you. I’m fi-ow!” She sucked in a sharp breath, and she let it out slowly. Spike moved to kneel down next to the seat, while Angel knelt down at the other side. The two stared at each other for a minute, and Buffy would have rolled her eyes if it wasn’t for the intense pain raging through her body.

“I’ll get Wesley up here. He…he knows a thing or two about mystical pregnancies, and he might be able to check you out and see what’s going on.” Buffy nodded, trying not to show how scared she was, but when Spike placed his hand over hers on her belly, she started trembling.

“It’ll be alright, pet. You’ll see. Everything…” He cleared his throat. “Just…don’t worry about it right now.”

“What if it’s true, Spike?” Angel watched as Buffy directed all of this emotion and worry at Spike and not at him. It wasn’t very long ago that he’d been the only one that she could bear her soul too. Just days ago, she’d come running to him, needing help, and when Spike returned, it was as if a line had been drawn between Buffy and Angel.

“I’ll go get Wesley.” Angel stood and left the room, and Buffy focused on Spike.

“I…thought it was just a cramp at first, but it’s really starting to hurt. Spike, I can’t have this baby now. It’s too soon, and…and the prophecy. We have to find a way to stop…”

“Shh, luv. It’ll be alright.” Truth be told, he was a nervous wreck. He knew nothing about being a doting, what, boyfriend? And more than that, he knew nothing about being a father. He hadn’t even known his own father growing up. He’d died after being run through with a knife during a bar fight a month before William-the-future-bloody was born.

“You’re right. You’re…oh!” She clutched her stomach again. “Something’s very wrong. Very…very wrong.” She winced, and Spike knew absolutely nothing that he could do for her. But within a few minutes, Angel and Wesley were rushing in, and Wesley looked very grave, and this worried Spike more than anything.

“You better have a fix to this problem,” Spike warned. “If something happens to…” He felt his worry and anger at this entire situation rising. “Just see to it nothing happens.”

“We should take her to a hospital,” Fred said, hurrying in the room.

“And tell them what, exactly?” Angel wondered. “That the baby can’t be born yet, because we don’t know if it’s going to reverse one of the only spells ever known? Or that it’s going to kill its own mother?” Fred scratched her head.

“Okay, let me get up to speed.” She began pacing the room. “Buffy’s death is supposed to usher the baby into the world, and all the slayers will lose their powers.”

“Except for Faith, apparently,” Buffy said slowly.

“I think we should hurry,” Wesley urged at that statement.

“But,” Angel pointed out, “it said something about killing either the baby or the mother before the baby’s first breath is taken will stop it all from happening.”

“That’s not bloody going to happen,” Spike warned.

“So killing Buffy would prevent her from dying?” Fred said skeptically. “That makes no sense. We know prophecies aren’t always what they seem.” She cleared her throat. “But I still think she needs to get to a hospital. The baby’s human, so a hospital’s exactly what we need. If it is born, it’s too early, and we don’t have the equipment to keep a baby that little alive.”

“Guys,” Buffy murmured. “I think it stopped.” Everyone turned to look at her. “I think…” She slowly began to stand, and Spike helped her. Nodding, she took a deep breath.

“It’s over.” Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Let’s get her downstairs for an ultrasound, anyway.”

“You have a doctor’s office here?” Buffy asked Angel.

“We have everything,” Wesley replied. “Come along, then.”

***

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re now flying over the Panama Canal. If you look to your left…” The voice of the pilot faded out as Willow went back to her old spell book. She had been reading for hours. She’d read through her several hour wait at the airport, through her layover, and all through the flight so far. She hadn’t gotten anything out of it except for some very strange stares from people who happened to glimpse the title of one of her spell books.

“Come on. There has to be something.” She tossed yet another book aside and picked up another. The book opened easily to the center, where something was caught in between the pages. She froze for a moment. It was a very dry, very flat, very old portion of a Lethe’s bramble. Her heart skipped a beat and, and then a dull ache was left there. She couldn’t help it, but the tears flooded back. Holding the bramble up to her lips she kissed it softly and whispered, “Tara.” Shaking her head, she put the bramble aside and went back to the text. Focus, Willow. You’re supposed to be helping Buffy.

It was then, on the very page the bramble had been marking, that she saw exactly what she needed to fix everything, save the slayers from becoming potentials again, and prevent anyone from dying…except for, well, Buffy.

***

“There’s the head.”

“It’s huge,” Spike remarked.

“Yeah, I blame that on you.”

“Hey,” Spike pointed out. “Can’t blame me for that. Wasn’t like…”

“What’s that?” Angel asked, pointing to the screen.

“That would be the amniotic sac. The fluid level is good. Nothing wrong there. Everything looks normal.” Buffy eyed the former watcher.

“You’re full of surprises, Wesley. I never knew you were so good with an ultrasound machine.”

“I have many skills.”

“Wesley: Warrior Princess,” Spike murmured, eliciting a slight giggle out of Buffy.

“Would you stop making jokes?” Angel asked. “This is Buffy’s life on the line here.”

“Angel…”

“Trying to lighten the mood, mate. She’s feeling better, aren’t you, luv?”

“I am, Angel. We’re going to figure this out. We just need…”

“What’s this?” Wesley asked, breaking up the conversation.

“What’s what?” Buffy wondered.

“Something wrong?” Spike asked.

“It looks normal to me,” Fred pointed out, stepping closer to look at the screen, tapping a pen against her lips as she studied the screen. “Oh…oh my.”

“What?” Angel asked. It looked normal to him, too; very similar to what it had looked like during Darla’s ultrasound. Of course, Wesley and Fred wouldn’t remember that.

“It appears…well…” Wesley said slowly. Buffy half expected him to pull off his glasses and start cleaning them like Giles.

“What is it?” Buffy asked. “What’s wrong with my baby?”

“Nothing. I…I don’t suppose, Angel, that the prophecy said anything about twins?”

“What?” Spike and Buffy asked at the same time.

“What? No. It said something about the son. It didn’t say anything about two.”

“There can’t be two, can there? My doctor in New York didn’t say anything…”

“You’re sure it’s not just two-headed?” Spike wondered, getting an extremely annoyed glance from Buffy. Spike shrugged and gestured toward himself. “Well? I am a vampire.”

“Great. Your demon-ness made our baby two headed.”

“It’s not two headed,” Wesley promised. “But it’s not one baby either. I believe you’re having twins, Buffy.”

“Two boys?”

“I can’t tell from this angle.” He moved the wand around, but he shook his head.

“I can’t tell.” He looked at Angel. “I don’t think this prophecy is anything we’re expecting it to be.” He looked at Buffy. “But just to be safe, we’ll keep looking for answers.”

***

“Twins? Great, so not only am I having a giant baby, I’m having two giant babies. With large heads. Thanks to you.”

“Hey, I didn’t know it was gonna happen, luv.”

“Yeah. I guess not.” She slipped under the covers. “I’ll feel better with Giles gets here. Maybe he’s found something.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. Buffy eyed him.

“You surprised me tonight. You weren’t slinging around names or…”

“I was worried about you.”

“Me too.”

“I guess when we do something, we do it well, eh pet?”

“I guess so. I can’t believe this. Spike, what are we going to do with two babies? I mean, we’re not the most parental people in the world. I couldn’t even get my fifteen year old sister to go to school on time? How am I going to…”

“One step at a time, Slayer.”

“Yeah. One step at a time.” She shook her head again. “It’s just starting to feel like these steps are starting to get farther away. I don’t feel like this is real.”

“Does this feel real?” he asked, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. She closed her eyes and nodded slightly.

“That feels real. I just…” Spike’s hand had moved and was now caressing her thigh. His gaze had traveled there too, but when Buffy stopped speaking, he looked up, only to find that she had gone pale again. Now, when she looked at him, her lips trembled, and she tried to speak.

“Buffy? Buffy? What…” And without a moment’s notice, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed against the pillows. “Oh God. No. No. Buffy!” He knelt over her, gently shaking her shoulders. “Slayer! Damn it, stop it. No games. Slayer? Buffy?” She was unresponsive, and he couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. God, he wanted to breathe life into her, but he was damned. He had no breath. He couldn’t help her. “Buffy!” He had lost her once. He wasn’t going to lose her again.





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