Chapter Fourteen

PREVIOUSLY: "I really don't have time for this... Angelus." 'Nuff said.

The dark figure turned his head toward Buffy and Spike, then opened his eyes. They glowed green. "Wrong again," he said harshly. Connor swung the sword, testing its weight. "I got your sword. Easier than it looked. Daddy dearest is upstairs. He's... incapacitated."

"What did you do," Spike asked warily.

Connor backhanded him, sending him flying into a wall. He collapsed in a heap. "Nothing too bad, Spikey dear," he growled.

Buffy took one look at Connor and bolted. "Didn't think she'd give up so quickly," he muttered to himself.

"Ahem," Buffy said from behind him. "I don't give up." She walked toward Connor, broadsword in hand and clucked her tongue. "Connor, Connor, Connor. We seem to have a communication problem here. See, from what I understand, you want to end the world. Now, that's just not gonna work for me. Because I'm not going down without a fight."

"That can be arranged," Connor said as he thrust his sword at him. Buffy deflected the blow easily off her own blade, then attacked, the metal becoming blurry as she thrust and parried quickly. "You're strong. Oh well. You're going to hell."

Buffy scratched her head with her free hand as the fight continued. "Oh, crap. What's my line?" she asked.

Angel, who had regained consciousness, appeared at the head of the stairs. "It's 'save me a seat,' Buffy," he called down to her as he vaulted down the staircase.

Buffy was momentarily distracted by Angel's voice, and Connor took that opportunity to knock her sword out of her grip. Angel caught it and took her place, pushing her toward Spike. As Buffy roused her delirious husband, father and son continued to duel. They were complete equals strengthwise, but Angel had the upper hand when it came to endurance. Soon he had Connor cornered in much the same position he had cornered Buffy a few years before. A metallic screeching caused him to cringe as Connor's sword skidded across the floor.

He drew back his arm to deliver a blow that would render his son unconscious. The color of Connor's eyes suddenly shifted so they were glowing a fiery orange. His lips formed words, but it was not his voice that spoke them. Instead, the room filled with a gravelly, deep voice. "You haven't won," he said. "You'll never win." A light suddenly burst from Connor's eyes and he began to writhe on the floor, limbs flailing and hips bucking.

Connor's mouth opened wide and he screamed, a high-pitched, feral sound that chilled Angel to the bone. The light died from his eyes just as suddenly and he stared unseeingly at the cieling. His limbs jerked a final time and he stilled. Angel listened for a pulse, and deciding that his son was merely catatonic, he picked him up and carried him up the stairs, chaining him to the bed with mystically enhanced manacles, to prevent him from escaping if he awoke.

"Angel," Buffy called from the lobby. "Angel, where's Anne?"

Angel walked out of the room. "She's not down there?" he asked as he descended the stairs.

"Does it bloody look like she's here, mate?" Spike asked him sarcastically, spreading his arms wide. "Unless she has some strange disappearing power that we never knew about, I'd say she wasn't here."

"Where could she have gone?" Angel asked, scratching his head. "I mean, she was passed out on the couch a few minutes ago..."

"Where is the one place nearby that evil seems to like a whole lot?" Buffy asked them. "Hello?! She went to Sunnydale!"

On any other occasion, the trip from Los Angeles to Sunnydale would've taken at least two hours. This trip, however, was made in one and a half. Buffy had called ahead to tell the Scoobies, who were still on the Hellmouth fighting the good fight with the help of a new Slayer, who'd been called when Faith died temporarily of pneumonia. The entire group awaited the return of the three warriors. Upon arrival, Spike and Angel picked Connor up out of the backseat, where he'd been restrained, and carried him inside the Summers home. "Hey, mom," Buffy greeted. "You haven't seen a girl who looks like me with brown hair and blue eyes, have you?"

Joyce shook her head. "Why? And where's Anne?" She looked around for a baby carrier, but saw none.

"That is Anne, mom." Buffy sighed. "Didn't you know by now that my life is never normal?"

"Oh." Joyce looked thoroughly confused. "What happened?"

"New prophecy," Angel said from the couch, where he was crouched next to his still comatose son. "Anne and Connor went from baby-size to adult size yesterday morning. They're looking for the Sword of Rachmad, so they can let loose hell on earth."

"Where is this... Sword?" Joyce asked tentatively.

Buffy whipped a large broadsword, the shining blade engraved with a tribal design of some sort, off a sheath on her back. The engraving appeared to glow. "Right here," Buffy said, testing its weight. "Now all we need to do is figure out how to destroy it."

"On the full moon," Willow gasped as she ran in the door of the house. "You destroy it on the night of the full moon."

"Isn't that--"Buffy began.

Connor's back suddenly arched off the couch, and Angel struggled to hold him down. "Tonight," the gravelly voice came again. "Tonight will be your last..."

"You have got to be kidding me," Xander said as he walked into the room. "We're all gonna die, again, and whoa, I didn't know Deadboy had a twin."

"He doesn't, mate. That's his son."

Xander leapt a foot into the air, having not seen Spike before he spoke. "Sheesh! Don't do that!" He clutched his chest, gasping for breath. "You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, Tanless Wonder."

Spike chuckled. At Buffy's hard look, he grinned sheepishly. "What?" he asked. "Evil, remember?"

"Oh, please. Miss Kitty Fantastico is more evil than you, Spike," Willow said.

Spike scowled. "And if you ever let that get out, Red, I'll scold you severely." He grinned. "Right. So how do we destroy this sword?" he asked.

"Deprimere ille bubula linter," Willow and Tara chanted in the sacred circle. Their hands were clasped as they again spoke the words. "Deprimere ille bubula linter," they said louder. "DEPRIMERE ILLE BUBULA LINTER!" they exclaimed a final time, falling backwards as the last syllable escaped their lips. Their powers, now merged, swirled above them, then plunged toward the Sword of Rachmad. The blade began to glow a quickly brightening orange, and the sword lifted up in the air, beginning to spin on its tip as it floated.

The sounds of a scuffle drew the attention of the onlookers away from the spinning sword. Their eyes scanned the relatively empty field, until they focussed on something very, very wrong. Anne stood directly behind Buffy, her arms around Spike in a half-hug. The only thing wrong with the image was the wooden stake pressed to his breastbone. "Okay, kiddies, we're going to do this my way or daddy dies," she said, smiling unnaturally.

"Spike," Buffy gasped. She stared at the scene wordlessly, formulating a plot in her mind. Spike's eyes widened and his nostrils flared as the tip of the stake pressed into his skin.

"Angel, be a doll and wake up the witches, would you?" Anne asked sweetly. Buffy took a step toward her, but stopped when she pressed the stake deeper into his flesh. "One more step, mother dearest, and daddy gets it."

Angel awoke the wiccans, but not before a white light flashed from the sword. As the sword fell to the ground, Angel caught it by its handle, hissing slightly as the hot metal burned his skin.

"Good. Now bring the sword over here," Anne beseeched, fluttering her eyelashes. Her eyes glowed brighter the closer Angel got to her with the sword. Angel set the sword down and Anne shrieked with laughter of pure evil that would've frozen Death Valley. Time seemed to slow down as she plunged the stake into Spike's heart, then dove for the sword. Angel got there first, however. He caught up the sword and sliced it through the air, the blade singing. Spike's eyes widened as he felt the stake enter his chest cavity.

"I love you," he whispered to Buffy, his eyes locked on hers. He closed his eyes, and--nothing. His eyes snapped open again, an incredulous look on his face. "She missed," he laughed, groaning in pain as the stake jostled his organs.

Tara and Willow stood, clasping their hands tightly. They raised their arms as they froze Anne in place, then bound Connor as well in case he had any intensions of awakening. "Spirits of darkness, come forth and be known to us," they called as one. Anne and Connor began to writhe uncontrollably, their faces shifting back and forth from their own, to their infant faces, to faces of hideous demons. Two essences escaped their bodies and merged, slowly solidifying. A large dinosaur-like creature stood before the group, hissing and spitting as it tried to free itself from its magical bond. "We implore you to be still," Tara called. "Find it in your hearts to leave our friends' vessels."

Angel came up behind the creature, still holding the sword. "Kinda fitting," he mused as he tested the blade's weight. "Me killing you with the sword you were gonna destroy the world with." Angel's eyes glinted evilly for a moment, and everyone shuddered at the memories of his evil other personality. "Considering, you know, I tried to do the same thing once." He brought the glowing blade down on the demon's neck, cleaving its head off.

"FIRE!" Willow called, her gaze locking on the creature. A high column of fire engulfed the demon, destroying its body.

Buffy ran over to Spike, who was on the ground, his unneeded breath coming in short gasps. "Can't... move... the... stake..." he panted, groaning again in pain.

Angel approached them. "On three, Buffy..." he said to her softly. "You know what to do..."Angel closed his eyes, then shoved his hand in Spike's mouth. "One... two... three." Buffy yanked the stake from Spike's chest, causing Spike to scream in pain and clamp his fangs down on the hand in his mouth, which in turn caused Angel to shout, "Holy shit! Get him off me! Get him off me!"

Buffy unlocked Spike's jaw and removed Angel's mangled hand from the blond vampire's incisors. A sudden windstorm kicked up, swirling around the fallen Anne and Connor. The others shielded their eyes, and when they uncovered them, they noticed that instead of the possessed adults, two baby-sized people lay on the ground, looking groggy and disoriented.

Connor and Anne were immediately picked up by doting, albeit maimed, parents, and the entire group watched as a greenish-blue flame swallowed the Sword of Rachmad. They staggered toward various vehicles, driving sluggishly home to tend to their wounds.

"Let me check your dent, baby," Buffy murmured to Spike as she pulled him into a sitting position. She unwrapped the ace bandage she had secured around his torso, then pulled back the thick pad of sterile gauze. The hole that the stake had left in his chest had nearly completely healed over. She reached over and grasped a glass bottle filled with a pale yellow liquid that had herbs floating in it. Pouring a bit onto Spike's skin, she rubbed it in gently. The healing sped up, courtesy of Willow and Tara. Soon all that was left was a tiny white scar, just to the left of where the heart was. The scar clashed only slightly with Spike's pale skin.

"Hmm. All better," Spike commented.

Buffy looked at his face, and then allowed her gaze to travel down his body. "All better," she murmured in reply, an impish grin brightening her features. She leaned in for a soft kiss, nibbling on Spike's cool lower lip lightly. Spike deepened the kiss only slightly, probing her mouth with his tongue. His arms wrapped around her as they kissed, and they rolled so Spike lay half-atop her. Breaking apart for a moment, they gazed deeply into each others' eyes. Buffy suddenly adapted a very serious expression. "I almost lost you today," she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. "Our own daughter almost killed you."

"No matter. I'll always be with you, Buffy. I love you too much to die." He grinned devilishly. "Now where were we..." he said as his mouth closed over hers.

The cries of a baby filled the room.

End

Final Note:Okay. I think I'm finally done here. Yay! Now I can write some actual season 6 and 7 stories! Whoo! I have this great idea about DMP and... well, I won't bore you with the details. For those of you who don't know, the dialogue from the sword fight ['you're going to hell', 'save me a seat'] are from one of the greatest BtVS episodes ever: Becoming, II. The Latin chant that Willow and Tara use to de-mystify the Sword of Rachmad was first heard in What's My Line, I ['It... It could be... deprimere... ille... bubula... linter...?', 'Debase... the beef... canoe... Somehow that strikes me as not right.']. And the spell that Willow and Tara use to get the demon inside the babies to show its true self is from Where the Wild Things Are. Hope you enjoyed, and make sure you click that review link before you get out of here. ~*~ Magz :)

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