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Author's Chapter Notes:
There should be another chapter posted later today
The Protectors

By Heather Martin

Rated – R

Summary- The monks gave Buffy and Spike one night of fake memories. That would have been enough to change their lives. But when you add a glowing key in the form of an unborn baby, well . . . things wouldn’t just change, they would be turned completely upside-down

Disclaimer- Joss Whedon owns Spike’s eyebrow scar, his bleached hair, his crystal blue eyes, his manly arms, his muscular chest, his tight . . . *cough* Too bad isn’t it? But a girl can dream, right?

Spoilers- Starts during Out of My Mind. The entire Season 5, although I changed it tremendously to suit my own purpose




Chapter 17

The door burst violently open. Spike’s head whipped to the side.

“Oh, you,” he said with little concern.

Xander stalked into the dim crypt, slamming the door behind him. He glared at the vampire. “I saw you . . . in the cemetery with Buffy.”

“Yeah?” Spike dug into his pocket and got out a pack of cigarettes. He tapped a stick out and lit it with his Bic lighter. He took a long drag on the nicotine and blew it in Xander’s direction. “Don’t see how it is any business of yours.”

“It is my business because Buffy's my friend ... She’s pregnant and her hormones are haywire... well, it's affected her, and you're taking advantage of her.”

Spike leaned against the sarcophagus. “I’m the kid’s da. It is natural for the mother and father to-“He narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Get intimate.”

Disgusted, Xander said,” The baby may have your DNA but you are alluding yourself to think that a monster can be a real parent.”

Xander grabbed the front of Spike’s black t-shirt. He tugged threateningly. Spike just chuckled.

“Buffy has lots of friends and we are all willing to protect her in any means necessary. If that means killing you, that’s just a bonus,” Xander warned.

Yet again the door flew open. This time a funny little creature that resembled a hobbit entered. His beady eyes took in Spike and Xander. A whole group of these leprosy demons entered behind the first. Xander immediately let go of Spike.

“Gentleman, I’m sorry to intrude, but I wondered if I could spare a moment of your time.”

Spike turned toward Xander. “Friends of yours?”

The demon punched Xander in the stomach.

“Guess not,” Spike declared. He discarded his cigarette and began to fight the brigade.

It didn’t take long for Xander to fall unconscious. Spike put up a good go but there were too many of them. They were dumb beings but they had tremendous might. They closed in, swarming around him until he hardly had room to move. Spike continued to struggle as a demon prepared to tie his hands and legs.

+ + +

Buffy remained silent the entire journey home. The baby was unusually calm as she rubbed soothing circles over her bulging belly. Giles occasionally sneaked a glance over at her. She could tell that he was curious to know exactly what went on in the desert. He respected her privacy, however, and wasn’t going to press the information out of her. She was grateful for that.

Her mind was a chaotic mess, waging a war over the new data. Could the dream have been a manifestation from the spirit guide? Could it have been a true vision of the future? Death is your gift. Buffy wasn’t even going to pretend to overlook the most obvious meaning to that, not after the episode she saw.

Spike was a vampire. Spike was therefore dead. Spike was her gift. At least, with what she knew that was what made the most sense. Either that or she was going to die. Or . . . Tears threatened to spill. She would have a stillbirth.

“Buffy?”

Giles’s voice startled her. She looked around and noticed that they were in her driveway. Somehow she had blocked out the last half hour of their drive.

“Oh.” Buffy reached for the handle to the passenger door. She halted when her mentor laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” he questioned.

“Oh, yeah. Peachy.” Death is my gift. Why shouldn’t I be okay? Why don’t you throw a party with balloons and streamers? I’m either going to shack up with a vampire, die, or . . . Her throat tightened.

“Did the guide reveal anything to disturb you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it until I have it all figured out,” she said.

He sighed. “Very well.”

Good ol’ Giles. She had the urge to hug him. She probably would have too if her mother hadn’t run out to greet them. It wasn’t a ‘welcome home’ display, Buffy knew at once. Something was wrong. She quickly got out of the car.

“Oh, Buffy, quickly come inside,” her mother said.

Buffy complied, not taking the time to ask questions. Her mother led her into the living room. Xander stood up, a little awkwardly, from the sofa. She noticed that he had a black eye and there were bruises up and down his arms.

“Buff, good thing you’re back. They got Spike,” Xander told her.

She didn’t have to ask who or why. Glory wanted Spike for information. Her eyes became unfocused as she felt the slayer take command.

“Grab some weapons,” she ordered Giles, who had come up behind her. “We have to. . .” Rescue him, Buffy thought.

“Kill him,” soldier slayer said out loud instead.

Would you really? Buffy-Buffy inquired.

If I have to, the slayer replied.

But he is the father of your daughter.

He might endanger so-called daughter by blabbing.

Spike wouldn’t do that.

He’s a vampire.

So? Vampires normally don’t love slayers. They don’t have chips shoved up their brain. They don’t impregnate women.

Slayer Buffy tuned out the girl.

+ + +

Spike could hardly see his face was so swollen. Glory appeared as a fuzzy mass of glob in front of him (not that there would be much difference if he still had 20/20). She had long ago established that he couldn’t be the key and was now digging for its true identity- with a knife.

“Think I can get you in one long strip?” Glory sang.

The goddess pulled his head back and sliced at his bared chest. He hollered in pain.

In all his vampiric years he had never felt a threat to his existence, not even when he had fought the slayers. He was so wrapped up in the glory of the dance that he never thought about the outcome. It didn’t really matter before. But now, hung from the ceiling by chains, helpless, he had more than enough opportunity to consider the possibility. He very well might not make it out of this one. And it scared him . . . because he had something to loose this time round.

He wondered what she looked like, his daughter. His lips twitched. He could picture her now, bright golden ringlets, just a little bit of a curl from his side of the family. He wondered if she’d have Buffy’s green eyes, or if she’d adopt his blue ones. Either would be right beautiful. He could even hear her childish laughter. Oh how he wanted to experience it for real.

Spike forced his eyes to slit wider, and they stringed with protest. He had to make an attempt to get out of here. He owed it to his daughter.

“Enough. I’ll tell you who the sodding key is,” he choked weakly.

She let him go, grinning. He wanted to smash her face in until she looked worse than he did, to make it so she would never grin like that again. He twisted at the chains that bound his hands.

“Yeah, okay, the key . . .”

Glory leaned forward.

“It’s that guy . . . on the TV.”

“On the television?” Glory stepped back. She frowned, uncertain.

“On the price show. What’s his name?”

“The price is right!” a demon minion shouted in triumph.

“Bob Barker!” Spike had overheard that this demon’s name was Jinx. He seemed to be Glory’s favorite.

“It’s not Bob Barker, you scabby morons. The vampire is lying to me. The key is new to this world, and Bob Barker is as old as grit.”

A chuckle escaped Spike. Okay, he thought, no more laughing; it hurt too much.

“Yeah . . . but it was fun. And guess what, bitch? I’m not telling you jack. You’re never gonna get your sodding key, cause you might be strong, but in our world, you’re an idiot.”
Glory glared. “I am a god.”
“The god of what? Bad home perms?” he threw back.
“Shut up!” She held her head as if his words caused her physically agony.
“Mark my words, the scoobies are going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass back to whatever place would take a cheap, whorish, fashion victim ex-god like you.”
Glory spun kicked him in the chest with tremendous force. His hands suddenly broke free and he tumbled to the floor, sliding into the door. It crashed off its hinges and he ended up in the hallway. Spike groaned as he scrambled up.
“Good plan, Spike,” he mumbled.
+ + +
Buffy put her high SAT score capability brain to work and figured out the section of town Glory must live in. The snake had been heading back to its master when Spike killed it. She deduced from Glory’s brand named clothing and heels that she considered style to be number one. So, the hell goddess must live in a well-to-do place.

Go Buffy! Those SAT scores weren’t an accident.

Sure enough, Glory ended up being in the largest mansion in Sunnydale. The rotting demons met them at the door. Buffy made good use of her sword, decapitating the morons one by one. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she reveled in it. It had been so long since she had been in battle. Giles and Xander circled her and she pouted at how they took the majority of assault. Oh come on! These guys weren’t any danger.

The elevator dinged and its door opened. Out spilled Spike. His battered body and ripped clothing made her gawk in horror. She evaded Giles and Xander, and made a path through the demons to get to his side.

“Buffy!” She ignored Giles’s warning.

Buffy knelt down beside Spike and scooped up his head. He groaned. She’d never seen him so messed up.

“Oh God, what did she do to you?” Buffy whispered.

She would have lifted him if Xander hadn’t come and beat her to it. She glanced around to discover that the room was devoid of any moving demon. They hurried out before another band of recruits could replace the fallen. Buffy kept beside Xander, her eyes glued to the beat-up vampire.

As soon as Spike was laid down in his crypt she demanded that the others leave.

“Do you think he told?” Xander questioned.

Buffy shook her head. “I’ll stay and find out.”

“You look tired. One of us could stay in your place,” Giles said.

She shook her head again. “No, it has to be me.”

Her friends reluctantly left her. Buffy kept vigil, intent on any indication that Spike was waking up. Her hands traveled over his bloody and blackened skin. Wetness accumulated when she found the hole in his stomach that looked like two fingers had forced their way inside.

“Buffy?” It was a weak moan.
She ran a thumb gently down his cheek. He let his left eye peer up, the better of the two. They gazed silently at each other. And Buffy knew. He had kept their secret. There was too much love there for anything else. Her lips wobbled.

He would have died for her- for their baby. How could she have doubted that? Maybe she hadn’t, deep inside her core. Maybe she had known.

“What you did was rather heroic,” she said.

Spike forced himself into a sitting position. He stared at her quizzically.

“I won’t forget it,” she added.

“I would never hurt you or the nibs. ‘Ever’. Even if I got this chip –“

She pressed two fingers to his chapped lips. She gently smiled and leaned down to press hers against them. It was sweet and chaste.

“Thank you.”

He seemed stunned.

“I invite you to be a part of the baby’s life . . . “She took a moment to breathe deeply. “As well . . . as well as mine.”

When he finally moved he wrapped his arms around her waist. Then he pressed his face against her bosom. It took her a moment to process that he was crying. He made no sound but she could tell by the shake of his shoulders. Her heart split open.

“Thank you,” he sobbed. “Thank you.”

Buffy closed her eyes.





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