Title: A Bun in the Oven
Author: Am-Chau Yarkona
E-mail: amchau@popullus.net
Summary: A challenge response fic. Buffy is pregnant- and the child is Spike’s.
Rating: fairly harmless
Pairing: Buffy/Spike. Some others mentioned, but not the focus of the story.
Spoilers: general season 6 Buffy (esp, trying to tell you what without actually giving spoilers: Tara, Spike, Willow, Giles), season 3 Angel (Darla, Connor).
Warnings: Pregnancy, silliness, dog-Latin.
Distribution: fanfic.net, Enchanted Ivy’s Place, BFA (list and archive). Others welcome, please ask first. E-mail above.
Many thanks to Fernando for the beta read.
Author’s Notes: (Spoiler!)
By phone or other means, Buffy knows what has happened in L.A., but Angel doesn’t know what happened with Spike re. his soul, or the chip not working with Buffy. He didn’t even hear about her dying. Angel has been rescued, Cordelia’s whereabouts are unimportant, and Angel and Wesley are back in friendly contact. Yes, this is quick. It is, however, good enough for now.
It should be said here that my personal vision of ‘souled Spike’ is a cross between Spike as we know him, and William. He has lost the desire to kill everybody, but his urge to annoy them, Xander-style, remains, as has some, but not all, of his affected lower-class accent. He has, bizarrely, become Buffy’s accepted boyfriend and a ‘mate’ of Xander’s.
Note the second: I've uploaded these as chapter of a single story for convience. That's why they have sperate headers.
Part 1: The Summers/ Rosenburg residence, late evening, August 2002.
Buffy emerges from the bathroom, looking at a strip of paper. “Oh my God! Willow!”
Willow opens her door, looking sleepy and tousled- she was in bed. “What is it, Buffy? I was just drifting off.”
“Sorry, Will. It’s just…I don’t believe it- I thought vampires didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?” She looks at Buffy, at the strip of paper, thinks a little, and says: “But, Buffy, Angel did- with Darla, you know.”
Downstairs, unheard, the door clicks open, and vampire ears strain to hear the Slayer’s voice.
“That’s true. It must be right then. Oh, Willow, I’m pregnant!” They share a hug, and Willow asks, “Are you sure it’s Spike? I mean, a human would be more likely..”
“No. It’s Spike’s, and it’s since he came back to Sunnydale. Let me see- it must have been soon after he came back, late June, early July.”
“It’ll be due in March, then, in the spring. Oh, Buffy, this is wonderful, but..”
“You’re looking all serious and thoughtful suddenly, Will. Spit it out, whatever it is- I don’t want it to spoil my happy, normal-time.”
“I’m just thinking, patrol, and slaying. I mean, it’ll slow you down, and when I’ve not got the magic any more, and no Buffy bot…”
“Don’t worry, Willow.” She puts her hands on her friend’s shoulders and looks into her eyes.
At the open front door, vampire ears burn and Angel slips away into the night, bent on killing the soulless demon that has put his Buffy (as he still thinks of her) in this position.
“You’re still good without the magic, and Giles, and Xander, and Dawn now, and Anya too- we can cope. If it gets really bad, we can always ask the L.A. folks for help. I think my real problem, now, is what order to tell the others in. Spike first, of course, but then who? Xander? Giles?”
“I should ask Spike. Once you’ve told him, the two of you can tell the rest together. And I can help, as well.”
“Yes. Tell you what, you go back to bed now, I’ll pick up Spike and tell him while we’re on patrol tonight, and then we can speak to the others tomorrow. Okay?”
“I’m good with that. Goodnight, Buffy. Have a good patrol.”
“Night, Willow.” The bedroom door closes behind her, and she’s asleep again within minutes.
***
2: Spike’s crypt. As Buffy sets out into the starlit night, heading for the graveyard and the crypt, Angel has already arrived.
He bangs the door open, and shouts: “Spike!”
Spike looks up from sorting through his record collection, and is surprised to see his grandsire. He recovers quickly, though- unlife is full of surprises, especially when you unlive on a hellmouth.
“Hey, BroodBoy. What brings your hair gelled ass to this part of the world?”
“To Sunnydale in general, or to your crypt?”
“Either—no, both.”
“I’m here to save Buffy from the next big demon guy, and to kill you for raping her.”
“Um- Angelus? I didn’t notice raping happening. She seemed to want it, once I got back, anyway.”
“Oh- and which hell raising adventure were you back from?”
“Not hell raising. Went and got meself and brand-new soul, that’s where.” Spike looks so smug as he imparts this information that Angel assumes he has to be lying, playing mind games with him.
“Soul, eh? I don’t believe you. And now..” He raises a stake, poised to strike.
“Slow down, Angelus. Isn’t that what you were always telling me to do? Slow down?”
Angel pauses, and waits. Spike moves back, and keeps talking.
“If you won’t trust me, who will you trust? The Slayer? Red? The Watcher?”
No reaction, save a slight relaxing when Giles is mentioned. Spike leaps at this chance. “The watcher? Okay then, let’s go ask Giles. He did some fairly nasty tests to make sure, I can tell you. Come on!”
He inches round Angel and heads for the door, his Sire following closely. They set off into the night, Spike walking so fast it’s almost a run, and Angel striding behind him on his longer legs.
Soon after they leave, Buffy arrives, and is very puzzled to find the place empty, the door open. She locks it, with her own key, and heads off on her normal route, staking to newly risen vampires as she goes.
***
3: Spike doesn’t know, and is understandably confused. Spike runs to Giles. Angel tells Giles about Buffy, and gives him the prophecy, which refers to something about the child of the Slayer being or bringing or becoming a demon.
Giles’ apartment, minutes later. Spike and Angel arrive, and Spike steps straight up and bangs on the door, Angel preferring to have a quick lurk in the shadows behind him.
“Watcher!” Spike cries when Giles opens the door, “Save me! Angelus is back in town.”
“Don’t be melodramatic, Spike,” Angel chides. “Hello, Giles. Um, can we come in? I think you might want to sit down before we do this.”
“Yes, I guess you can come in. I’ll, err, put the kettle on. I have a feeling I might desire tea soon. Can I get either of you anything? I don’t have blood, I’m afraid.”
“What? You’re a terrible host, you know.”
Giles just sighs at that, fed up with Spike’s attitude, and puts the kettle on. While it boils, he comes to stand in the doorway, looking at the two souled vampires, one bleached and sprawled, feet still on the sofa, and the other dark and perched on his second-best chair, pulling a slim but old volume from inside his coat.
“Right then. Why are you here, and what do I have to do to get rid of you?”
“He’s..” and “I…” they say at once.
“One at a time, please.”
“I’m…”
“He…”
Again, they begin talking together. Giles raises his eyebrows in exasperation, and says, “Oh, for the love of God. Alphabetically, and for you, Spike, that means Angel first.”
“ I came to Sunnydale because of this prophecy. Wesley found it- I think he got into Wolfram and Hart’s prediction database somehow- but when I got here, well..”
Angel suddenly realises that his has jumped to conclusions based on an overheard conversation which Giles is very likely unaware of the contents of. He is immediately glad that vampires cannot blush, and tries to bluff his way out of it, by not mentioning some things- thus attempting to save his ego.
“Yes?” Giles prompts.
“Well.. I ran into Spike..”
“You broke into my crypt and tried to kill me.”
“An understandable reaction. Go on, Angel.”
“And he claims to have a soul now, but I don’t trust him, so I thought- well, I was going to show the book to you anyway- the Latin’s very odd- and you’d be able to, well…, if he has got a soul…”
“Is ‘well’ the word of the month is Los Angeles?” Giles asks, mildly teasing. “I’m afraid that what Spike says is true. He has a soul now- I’m not sure how or why, but it seems to be of his own free will, rather than a curse. He got it..”
“To please Buffy?”
“As I understand it, yes.”
“And now he’s pleased her so much she’s pregnant. I think they’ll..”
“What?!” Giles and Spike shout, the picture of classic shock; their mouths hanging open. Giles sits down, hurriedly, and Spike swings round to face Angel, taking his feet off the sofa in the process. He doesn’t even notice that he’s doing what Giles wants him too.
“She hasn’t told you yet?”
“Err, no…” in unison, British accents almost identical.
“Oh- um, I suspect I may have said too much. I’m not even sure- I just assumed- um, can we talk about the prophesy. I think it might be urgent.”
“Oh, yes.” Giles recovers himself, and takes the book from Angel. Spike shuts his mouth, but remains staring at Angel. After a moment, his grandsire can’t ignore him any more.
“I’m not sure I’ve got all the facts here, Spike.”
“I’m sure you haven’t. Vampires can’t get a girl- so the bint must have been sleeping with some other…” Spike rushes out of the apartment, heading blindly into the night.
“Let’s keep such speculations in check until we’ve spoken to Buffy properly, shall we?” Giles says to Angel. “And in the meantime, let’s look at this book here.”
***
Later:
“It could be ‘father’ or ‘herb-bush’- depending on which letters that stain is hiding.”
“Yes- not that either would make much sense.”
“No- only ‘child’ or ‘baby’ fits the context, really. Whoever wrote this must have been pretty strange- or on drugs of some sort. Angel, are these red stains blood?”
“I don’t think so. If they are, they’re very old, but I think they’re more likely to be wine.”
“Not the authors work, I hope.”
“If he was drunk, then the whole passage could be…”
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
“Your phone, I think, Giles. My cell phone has more bleep than ring to it.”
“Yes. Hello?”
“Oh, Buffy. No, Spike isn’t here- he was earlier, he came with Angel, but- look, Buffy, I need to talk to you…” Pause. “You may have done, but at your house- okay. Excuse me. Angel, did you go to Buffy’s house this evening?”
Angel mumbles an affirmative, not looking at Giles.
“It would seem he was. Yes, come and tell us your news- but Buffy, I ought to warn you that I suspect we may have heard it already. Angel…. Buffy, don’t swear like that. Buffy? Buffy?” he puts the phone down. “She hung up. Now, where were we with this drunken Latin abuser?”
***
4: Outside a pay phone somewhere near the cemetery, Spike sees Buffy walking down the street towards him. He hesitates between running away and hiding, and hesitates too long: the Slayer has seen him.
“Hey, Spike!” He decides in favour of running, but she is quicker than he is, and soon he has been caught and wrapped in warm human arms.
“Why’d you run away, Spike? I don’t want to play games tonight- I’ve got good news.” Her grin makes him want to kiss her, but he tries to resist the temptation and hold onto the nice betrayed streak he had going.
“Oh yeah? It’s good news that you played with some human guy, and now you’re pregnant? It’s good news that you’re still using me, soul and all?” Spike breaks the embrace, and begins to walk rapidly away down the pavement, frowning, his head down, hoping that Buffy will respect his privacy when she has cheated on him- and that she won’t see his eyes filling with tears again.
“No, Spike- I don’t know how you’ve heard, unless Willow told you or Angel overhead a private conversation, but yes, I am pregnant, and it is good news, because it’s yours, I’m sure of it.”
“Mine? You’re sure?” He turns to face her, confused. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t possible.
“Yes, Spike, I’m sure. You- William the Bloody, Layer of Slayers- is going to be a father, although hopefully without the nastier consequences of Connor’s birth, what with the mother being a slayer, not a vampire, and all.”
“Too bad he has to have done it first. Still- yeah, I think that’s good news. How many people know?”
“You now, Willow first, Angel apparently, I suspect Giles…”
“Yeah, Giles has heard the Angel version.”
“I think that’s about all. You can tell Xander if you like- I think I or Willow should tell Anya. Make it a girls thing.”
“Perhaps that’s for the best. What do you want to do to celebrate, luv?”
“What I do every evening, only better. I’ve already staked two stray vampires tonight- I want to stake a few more, tell Giles properly, and then go home with you and have wild, younger-sister waking…”
“Behind you, Buffy!” Buffy whirls round, to see a young vampire in full game face heading for her. She punches, kicks, and stakes, and turns back to Spike, smiling still.
“Shall we be going, then?” she asks.
Spike has a moment of confusion at how quickly that went- he had expected to have a chance to help her- but recovers and smiles back. “If pregnancy speeds you up that much all the way through the next nine months, Angel’ll have to watch out for you going slaying on his patch.”
They move off into the darkness, arms wrapped around each other.