Author’s Note: An extra big thank you to my beta Kar, whose idea for Anne’s maternal unit was much better than my original plan.

In our fifth installment Buffy learns more about Anne and Xander opens another can of worms.


Chapter Five


Spike didn't say anything on the walk to Connie's house to drop off Tashi. He didn't say anything on the walk from Connie's to his apartment. Buffy was starting to get worried, and Spike just clenched his jaw and refused to look her in the eye. At his place he continued to ignore her, but when he pulled a bottle down from the cabinet he also put two glasses on the counter.

She tried to sit down, but the waistband of her jeans cut into her skin, no matter how much she wiggled. Picking up her drink, she wandered around a little while he sulked. "This place has two bedrooms. She lived here with you, didn't she?"

"Yeah." He filled the glasses until the liquid sloshed over the sides.

"You didn't tell me about her," Buffy said slowly, hesitantly taking the glass. He didn't tell her about his daughter, which meant he didn't want to tell her about the mother. How the hell did a vampire even become a father in the first place? "Are you going to tell me how?"

Spike made a mean little noise and tossed back his drink. "Not in the traditional way. Still dead, sweetness, every bit of me. Only exist in the conventional systems thanks to your Watcher's guilty conscience." He refilled the empty glass. "I was only her father on paper." He smirked. "Taking my cues from Harris. Never thought I'd see the day."

She took a careful sip of her drink. It burned her throat and she struggled not to cough. "Just spill it, Spike."

"Dawn's car accident. Bit had the doctors call me. I took the overnight to Barcelona. By the time I got there, she was already gone. No idea what possessed her, but when I got there I found Anne in the NICU and my name on the birth certificate."

Buffy poured the rest of the drink down her throat. She was getting well and truly pissed off. "So you lied to me? I asked you point blank--"

"I didn't lie exactly," he hedged. He poured another drink, emptying the bottle. "Christ. It's bloody painful to talk about, all right, slayer? Didn't exactly relish telling you I failed taking care of another little Summers. You daft bints keep entrusting them to me, and I always bollocks it up!"

The anger drained right out of her. With a sigh, Buffy put down her glass and took his out of his hand. "I'm sure you did your best."

"Never fucking good enough though, is it?"

Buffy didn't think she could take it if he started crying. It was too disconcerting, seeing him this way. She'd never seen him upset like this, except when her mom died. Vampires weren't supposed to behave like this. Was in the soul or just Spike? She rubbed her thumb across his knuckles. "She got sick, Spike. That's not your fault."

"Right." He ripped his hand away and started banging around in the cabinets. He pulled out another bottle and filled their glasses again.

"Spike, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," she demurred.

"Don't want to be talking about this any more or thinking about it either." He pushed her glass toward her. "And you need something to keep from tearing the skin off your arms."

She looked down and realized he was right. She's been scratching again. "Fine. Let's talk about something else." She threw back her drink and caught his fleeting smile when she winced and shivered at the burn of the alcohol.

"Just so you know, the Scoobies didn't know where she'd come from. So no need of going thundering after Dr. Quinn about it."

That took her a minute, which was a bad sign. She hadn't exactly had a high alcohol tolerance before she died, and Spike's glasses weren't small. "I'm not going to yell at Tara. Or you. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Like what, slayer?"

She shrugged, struggling to think of another topic. There was so much she wanted to know, about Faith and Dawn, and hadn't Tashi said something about Drusilla? But none of that was what he needed to dredge up right now. She remembered something she'd seen on patrol to ask about. Something nice and benign. "When did they rebuild the school?"


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Xander carried the cup of coffee in to her and watched her struggle to take a sip. "You gonna make it?" he asked quietly. She'd been in bad shape when she'd finally staggered in the door, ranting about Spike and her niece and confusing the hell out of him. "Do you want some water?"

"Stop shouting," she pouted.

He remembered the feeling, so he just smiled and took a seat across from her. He didn't want to think about how she'd walked across town blasted. Slayer or not, that was an extremely unwise thing to do in Sunnydale.

"At least I know Spike must be feeling worse," she groused, finally managing a good swallow of java.

He wouldn't bet on it; vampire constitution and all, so he changed the subject. "I wish he had told us about Anne. But things were pretty crazy then."

"Where did you guys think she came from?"

Xander sighed. "Honestly? We thought maybe it had something to do with Drusilla. She'd pop up occasionally, and she always managed to get away before anyone could get to her. So yeah, I admit, I figured she had some help vamonosing, especially because when it was time to hunt down the immortal nutcase, he was conveniently out of reach."

"But two vampires and a baby?"

"It's happened before," he countered, realizing too late that she would have no idea what he was talking about. And that he would have to explain. Shit.

"It has?"

"Yeah. Um, Angel and Darla. I really don't know the details, and I don't want to know."

Buffy blinked at him for what felt like an hour. "Angel has a kid."

Angel had a couple of kids, actually, but Xander didn't want to have to tell her any of it. But he'd brought it up. He'd spoken the name. He knew she was going to have questions. Frankly he was a little surprised that it hadn't come up before.

"Is Angel still..." Buffy uncrossed and crossed her legs a few times and rubbed vigorously at her ankles. "Is he still around?" She sighed. "This is going to sound... anyway, I guess that I somehow expected him to know I was back, you know." Her voice dropped. "I thought he'd care."

Xander rubbed his forehead. "I'm sure he'll care," he assured her. "But he probably doesn't know. I can call him, if you want to talk to him, or see him, or..."

"Yeah, I guess so. If you think he'd want to see me."

"Of course he will." She seemed a little happier at that thought, which just made him feel crappier. He should have known she'd wake up still thinking Angel was The Guy. It still broke his heart. "But, Buff, you should know..." How much should she know? How much to tell her? "Angel? He's human now."


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Feedback, please. I felt like I had to just get to Angel, not realistic for Buffy not to wonder what’s up with him. Posting on this fic will likely continue to be a little slower than usual. Day-to-day has just gotten busier lately. Thanks for reading!