Bollocks, Babies and Birthrights

Chapter 1

Giles sighed as he sipped his tea, his fingers busy going over the occult trade magazine laid open before him. It wasn't so much the sound of the bell on the door that made him look up, but the sound of a infant sighing rather loudly. Of course once he did look up he was captivated by the woman standing in the doorway. She was tall with the sort of face all men dreamed about. Her eyes though, they were so deep but also so pale at the same time that Giles thought for a moment that she might have been blind. That thought vanished though as she smiled at him, beaming almost as if Giles were some knight in shining armor. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew he was alone in the shop Giles might have looked behind him, certain that this woman couldn't be staring at him. As she walked toward him Giles noticed that her hair seemed to move like water freely behind her. When she was close enough for him to pick up the details of her face, Giles noticed that her violet irises were ringed with gold. If they had been darker it might have made you think she was wearing contacts with her tanned skin tone. Her clothing had a fine layer of dust on them, as if she had either been walking for some time or had been walking through a set of dusty rooms.

“Are you Rupert Giles?” Her voice was think, with a hint of a purr.

Catching himself Giles nodded and set his teacup down, “Uh yes yes I am, what can I do for you today, Miss?”

“My name is Iden. I need to speak with the slayer and her friends,” Iden shifted the infant in her arms. The blanket had the same look as her clothes and it was then Giles took notice of the abrasions on her wrists as if she had been held captive.

Why did she want to Buffy and the others? “May I ask what this is about?” Giles wasn't going to let a pretty, no beautiful face distract him from the fact she had asked for the Slayer.

“William. Or rather as you know him, Spike. The initiative have him.”

~0~

Half an hour later Giles and Iden were seated at the table and he was pouring her another cup of tea. The infant, a boy from the looks of the faded blue knit cap on his head was fast asleep against her shoulders. It had taken some time to reach everyone, but Iden had been insisted that everyone, especially Xander be present for what she had to say. Giles had simply assumed that the young woman hadn't wanted to repeat whatever it was she had to say about Spike to everyone. It had almost been a year since the blonde vampire had suddenly gone missing. The Scoobies had looked everywhere for him, tried every locater spell there was and not one single clue. Xander surprisingly enough had run down every snitch and underworld informant he could get his hands upon and wrung every bit of information from them about Spike's possible location. Just like the spells it had lead to nothing.

“May I ask one thing?”

“Of course Rupert?” Iden sipped her tea, her right hand steadying the sleeping child.

“Is Spike still alive? I mean was he well when you last saw him?”

“Yes,” Iden closed her eyes with a small nod.

The door to the Magic Box bounced on its hinges as Xander beat the others inside. Making a beeling straight for them. “Where is he? Where's Spike?”

“Xander wait a second,” Buffy called out as she closed the door behind Dawn Willow and Tara and then flipped the “Gone to Lunch” sign over in the window.

Xander looked back at Buffy ready to explode with the fact that he couldn't wait. Spike was just a friend to them. To the young man Spike had been...was his entire world. If this woman had information on Spike, he wanted it and wanted now. Taking a deep breath he sighed and grabbed a chair, the others following suit. The fact Iden watched Xander and none of the others wasn't lost on anyone.

“You said you had information about where Spike is?” Buffy beat Xander to the punch, eying the woman up and down as she spoke. There was something about this woman, something she couldn't really put her finger on, but was making her Slayer senses go off none the less.

“Yes. The Initiative have him.” Th expected explosion of questions from the five young people had been expected, and Iden let it roll over her shoulders. At the same time she rubbed circles against the infant's back. The boy barely did more than let out a sigh and settled back down. Giles was busy trying to bring them all back to order.

“Let her finish.”

“What do you mean the Initiative have him? We kicked their collective butts.” Xander's hands were gripping the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles were almost white.

“Its a shadow operation with the backing of the government to experiment and torture the supernatural beings of this realm and others. Do you really believe they only had one base? Only one group of soldiers and madmen to do as they wished?”

“Ok, but how do you know this? Are you one of them? The Initiative is uber paranoid about remaining unseen and out of human sight.”

“I don't believe I said I was human, Slayer. To answer your question though,” she took another sip of tea slowly, “I spent the last 10 and half months sharing a cell with Spike. He's told me about all of you.” Iden looked at Xander as she spoke. “If not for that and the favor he asked of me I wouldn't have come here.” This time she locked eyes with Buffy, “You are after all the Slayer. 'Slay first ask questions later'.” Iden's impression of Spike was so dead on it was almost scary. Buffy had the decency to look at least mildly embarrassed.

“But you..you don't look...”

“Like a demon? That's because I am only half demon. I look more like my father.”

“What was the favor?” Xander spoke up finally. He could care less about what the woman was or wasn't. “What did Spike ask you?”

Iden got up in a smooth movement of flesh and bone. Shifting the child back into arm, the demoness crossed the distance between them and laid the sleeping child into Xander's surprised hands. “William asked me to bring his son here. To you, his father.”

~0~

The blood was roaring in Xander's ears as he stared into a pair of eyes the same shade of blue as Spike's that they might as well have been plucked from his skull. The infant also had Spike's pale skin but he had Xander dark brown hair. He'd plucked the cap from his son's head, wondering if there was anything of his human father other than his nose and lips. His son...how was this even possible. In the background he was faintly aware of Buffy, Giles and Iden arguing about how such a thing was even possible. It took Xander a moment to realize that Dawn, willow and Tara had come over by him and were doing the same thing he was doing. Looking for the parts that were Spike and the pats that were Xander.

“Giles you can't tell me you actually believe this bullshit. I mean the Initiative being around still is one thing, but that, that SPIKE, a VAMPIRE and a MAN at that had a child is another.” Xander looked up in time to see Iden give Giles a look as if to ask, 'Is she really this stupid?'

“Well the thing is Buffy,” the Englishman pulled his glasses off and polished them before putting them back on, “There are some types of demons and beings in which both males females can carry offspring as well as those that are both sex at one point or another in their life cycle.”

“Fine, but that doesn't explain how SPIKE gave birth. Not to mention she said his child with Xander? Hello since when does Xander do guys let alone the undead. I don't know what her angle is, but there is no way in hell that Xander and Spike had a child together.”

Both Xander and Iden were cut off when Willow pipped up, “We could always do a paternity spell .I mean it wouldn't hurt the baby or anything and we'd know for sure if she was telling the truth.” She had seen the way Dawn had laid her hand on Xander's when Buffy had started in about Xander sleeping with Spike. While the redhead didn't know the full story, she knew that something was going on that they couldn't just dismiss Iden's story.

The idea seemed to molify Buffy and Iden simply nodded. “That is fine with me. I have nothing to hide.” Willow got up and started gathering supplies.

“So what sort of demon are you? You look more human than anything I have seen short of vampires without their Game faces.”

“I am half Tresela demon. Humans called us Oracles long ago.” Giles nodded in understanding. “My eyes right?”

Giles nodded again, “Yes, I thought you might have been blind when you first came in until you smiled at me.” He turned and headed to the bookcase, still speaking. “With the exception of some truly gifted humans that the Powers That Be have favored or wished to work through, every Oracle, Seer, Visionary in recorded history or lore has been a Tresela demon. An all female species of demon, hey are a direct line to the Powers.”

“Well that's only half right. We're both male and female, it only depends on where we are in our cycle. Tresela's only shift into the male side every couples of decades. At that time those in their male phase are usually busy servicing any of the females who are currently fertile, so they are hardly if ever seen walking about. Our male forms are also not that much different from our females ones so it would be easy to mistake them for female none the less.”

“Right of course,” Giles nodded. “Ah here we go. Tresela Demons.” He handed the open book to Buffy, showing her the entry. “Iden's kind are quite benign. Something like this as a lie is of no interest to them.”

“Keeping the world spinning and maintaining the natural order however is.” Iden said as Willow came over with a small wooden bowl and started adding various crushed herbs to it. The water began to swirl softly in a whirl of colors.

“Xander could you bring the baby over here? We're going to need a piece of his hair.” They all watched as Xander snapped himself out of the stupor he was in and carried his son over to where everyone was quickly gathered. Willow took a small snip of hair from the back of his head, before Xander cradled the infant to his chest as she sprinkled the hair over the water as she intoned, “Patefacio consanguinea!”

There was a small puff of white and blue smoke. As it rose from the bowl letters began to form and spelled out the following names, “William, Xander.” Further down in a smaller cloud the smoke spelled out the name, “ Rupert.”

“RUPERT?!” Everyone looked from the smoke to Giles, to the infant and Iden and then back again until Xander looked at her and asked, “What the hell? I know you said the baby was mine and Spik's but why is the G-man's name under ours?”

“Xander you had sex with Spike?!” Buffy's voice seemed to hold but shock as well as anger, or was that jealousy? Her and Spike's relationship, such as it was was long done.

“Actually they've done more than that, but right now I think I should tell the entire story. As to your question Xander. Consanguinea means blood relations. Rupert is a descendant of William.”

“Bloody hell.” this came from Giles as he poured himself something a bit stronger than tea to drink.

“Xander why don't you sit down, you look like you are going to fall over and I don't think Willam would appreciate you dropping Nathaniel.”

“Who?” The brunette looked at her confused.

“Your son. William named him Nathaniel. Nathaniel Jessie Pratt Harris.” Idecould help but smile as Xander looked back at his son, who by this time had woken up fully and was trying to look around.

“Nate Harris.” It all came crashing down at that moment. “Wills? I have a son. A son with spike. I don't know how to be a dad. I mean look my own father for christ's sake. What am I going to do with a baby and what about Spike and how did this even all happen.”

“Xander breath. You are babbling. That's my job. Sit down and let Iden explain.”

“Yes, let's let her speak.” Giles had seemed to calm down somewhat as he sat back down. Buffy was scowling slightly and Dawn was busy making silly faces at Nate after Xander sat back down.

“Iden. Story. Right. So, explain to me how two guys, one of which is a vampire and thus undead, had a child together and what the Initiative have to do with this.”