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Chapter 5

Half asleep but still fully aware of the words in front of him, Giles rubbed his tired eyes under his glasses, yawning impressively before flipping the page to a new chapter. It was then that he felt fully awake, ready to read for another few hours if necessary. A chapter on a prophecy he’d never heard about.

“Good lord,” he breathed as he began to read. “The child of a vampire and slayer will come to be after the earth has shaken and Hell has threatened to rise.” He pulled off his glasses to clean them and prepare himself for whatever he was about to read. Then he continued. “The child, born of natural enemies, will bring a balance between vampire and Slayer.” He continued reading, hoping for enough proof for himself that he could be eased into the knowledge that Buffy’s child would be of the good and not evil. But as he read, a chill crept up his spine, and then the words that made his heart freeze in fear appeared on the page.

“Buffy,” he whispered.

***

He tossed a small rock over the side of the large crater that used to be Sunnydale, California. As he looked down into the abyss, he imagined where everything used to be. The school with that bloody awful basement, Buffy’s house, the crypt at Restfield. It was all gone now. But the memories were still there, alive and flickering in his mind.

Where was she? Where had she gone? He didn’t even know where to start looking, who to ask. He could try to get a hold of her, but what was he supposed to say if he did? He needed to see her. He needed to look into her eyes and see the same love that he’d seen the moment she’d told him. If that love wasn’t really there, he knew he couldn’t take it.

He lit a cigarette and took a long, slow drag, blowing out the stream of smoke gradually, thinking about what he’d say to her, the things he’d do to her. The things she could do to him to render him completely and utterly impervious to anything but her touch.

He ached for her touch. Just a short time ago, he’d have thought himself whipped, completely under her spell, but it hadn’t been too long ago that he’d realized that he didn’t mind. He would rather be with her and be a better man than be without her and lost. She was his reason for so many of the good things he’d done, and without her, somewhere deep inside, he feared he would be lost.

***

“We’re having a boy,” she said with tears in her eyes, as she stared at him. She was seated upon the bed, looking up at him as he looked down at her, a proud smile playing upon his lips. “He looks like you. He has your nose, anyway. I think he’s gonna have your eyes. I can’t tell, but I think they’ll be blue. Not just the kind of blue a newborn has, but I think…your blue.”

“A boy, huh?”

“Don’t say I told you so. You didn’t know.”

“’Course I did. Vampire.”

“Oh, so being a vampire gives you insight on our fetus now, does it?”

“Sure,” he said with a chuckle, as he knelt down in front of her, placing his hands upon her knees. Buffy rolled her eyes but reached out, gently caressing his cheek, feeling the sharp edge of his cheekbone as he placed his hand over hers, leaning into her touch.

“I miss you.”

“Me too. But I’m always with you. Here.” He placed his hand on her belly. “Our boy.”

“It’s not the same. It’s not you. I need you.”

“No you don’t. You’re a Slayer, luv. You don’t need me.”

“I do. I never really admitted it, but I do. I need you here, because it’s all…dark and scary. I’d rather have someone else…have you…here with me.”

“Things didn’t turn out the way I wanted, luv. If I had my way, I’d be holding you, watching you sleep every night, waking up to your kiss every morning.” He shook his head. “Sounds right nancy boy of me, dunn’it?”

“See, this is why nobody could see you for who you are. You’re not like this with anyone but me.”

“Gotta save the good stuff for my lady.”

“Yeah, but you could…you know, show them a little bit of this, couldn’t you? Maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to think you’re about to go all vampy and have them all as a main course in some sadistic buffet.” Spike furrowed his brows.

“You stay up all night thinking of that one?”

“No, it’s just…word vomit, I guess. I blame the baby. Your baby. Yep.”

“Oh this is my fault?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I guess it is partly, but I didn’t mean to.”

“I think you did. I think you wanted to see me get fat.”

“You’re not fat. You glow. I gotta admit, pregnant’s never looked so sexy on anybody before. Gets me all riled up. You always did that to me.” He moved to sit next to her on the bed, moving one hand up her thigh. She moaned softly, closing her eyes.

“Well, if you’re not bothered by the fact that I’m about as wide as the Hellmouth, then I won’t be bothered by the fact that you’re not really here.”

“Shh, don’t say that,” he breathed against her neck, gently nipping there. “Just let me touch you.”

“Spike…”

***

She sat up in her cold apartment, feeling her heart beating so fast she thought it might break through her chest. She felt tears sting her eyes remembering the words he’d sang to her. ‘If my heart could beat it would break my chest.’ God, it seemed like so long ago.

She got up and rushed over to the thermostat, adjusting the temperature, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that it was broken, and she was in for a long night of coldness. So, she managed to pull two extra blankets out of the closet and bundled up in those as she headed back to the bed. Laying down, she tried to force herself back to sleep, but her heart was still racing. Her skin tingled with the memory of his touch. It had been so real, her dream. As if he’d really been there.

Her thoughts were broken when her phone rang. She picked it up off of her nightstand and saw it was Giles. She sighed, preparing herself for another lecture that she just didn’t want to hear. Still, she answered.

“Giles?”

“Buffy.” His voice was low but shaky.

“Giles? What’s wrong?” She sat up, peering into the darkness as she listened to his frantic words.

“It’s about your son.”

“How…how did you know it’s a boy? I haven’t told anyone yet?”

“It’s written here. In the prophecy. It’s…it’s all here.”

“Giles, you..you’re scaring me. What prophecy?”

“There’s a book. I just received it today, and I hoped that it might help me figure out what’s going on…what may happen. They say to be careful what you wish for, isn’t that the saying?”

“Giles? Tell me. What does it say?”

“It says that the child of a vampire and a Slayer will come to be after Hell has threatened to rise. It says…it says the child will restore balance…the child of two natural enemies.”

“Okay. So…restoring balance. That’s good, right?”

“Buffy, there’s more.”

“Alright…I’m a big girl. Just tell me. And if you leave anything out, I swear I’ll…”

“The son of two powerful beings, mortal himself, will be protected and only brought forth by a death.”

“Someone’s going to die?” Her fingers started to go numb as she held the phone. “Who…Giles, what does it say? It’s…it’s Spike, right? He…he died the moment that…”

“No, Buffy. The death of the mother restores the balance.” He waited for her response, and when he got nothing, he continued. “Buffy, the prophecy says your death…your death will restore the balance that never should have been changed.”

“What…what are you talking about, Giles?”

“It will change everything Willow’s spell did, Buffy. The other slayers will lose their power, and the world will lose its last Slayer…you.”

Buffy hesitated to respond, but she made a small humming noise and then spoke up.

“I think the prophecy wasn’t prepared for a little something called Faith. You know, I died, Kendra became a Slayer. She died…poof, Faith.”

“Buffy, you’re missing the point. If you have this child, you’ll die.”

“No,” she said quickly.

“No? You’re just…waving it off as if…”

“I’m saying no, because we’ve dealt with prophecies before. There’s nothing in the prophecy that says this baby shouldn’t be born, is there?”

“I think the fact that you’re going to die would be a big indicator…”

“I’m not going to die, Giles. We’ll figure something out.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Buffy chewed her bottom lip and then ran her fingers through her hair.


“I guess it’s time to give an old friend a call.”





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