TITLE: Migraines and Minions
SERIES: Nine Months
SEQUEL: Paybacks are a Bitch [1]; A Few Confessions, Some Confusion & A Conniption Fit [2]; Paranoid Blonde Psychotic [3]; Little Blue Plus Sign [4]; Willow Said [5]; Hormonal Overload #1 [6]; Spell of Seeking [7]; Grossing-Out the Undead [8]; Excuse Me! [9]; Hormonal Overload #2 [10]; Bad Timing Leads to Blue Balls [11].
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: scorpiofic@a...
PREVIOUS CHAPTERS: http://members.tripod.com/sentinel-cat/Scorpio/
ARCHIVE: Scorpio's Constellation, CKoS, Hidden Desires - Midnight Kisses, Mpreg, BtVS Slash, The Den, WWOMB, anyone else...just tell me where.

FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel the Series
PAIRING: Spike/Xander [main], Willow/Tara, Wesley/Gunn, Angel/Buffy[ust], Angel/Delia[ust]
RATING: The gamut... from G to NC-17
CATEGORY: Mpreg, comedy, minor angst, sappiness and moodswings.
WARNING: Mpreg, magic & spells, violence, food cravings, sexual content and silliness.

DISCLAIMER: Josh owns these darlings...however, he might not want them back once I get through playing with 'em... I tend to break toys. ::grins::

SUMMARY: Part 12 of Nine Months. Harmony gets to play "leader of the gang" with some minions while Cordelia has a vision. Angel announces a road trip to Sunnyhell.

Migraines and Minions
Nine Months
by Scorpio

~
When we last left our Intrepid Duo; Xander's hormones were in overdrive and he wanted nothing more than to...uh, *smirks* spend "quality" time with Spike. Unfortunately for them, they kept on getting interupted. Let's all pause to picture a half naked Spike and Xander caught *ahem* red-handed on the couch. Ahhhh.... that's better. Now... on with the show...
~

Hanging back in the darker shadows, Harmony grit her teeth together and narrowed her eyes to gleaming gold slits as she watched her prey sauntering down the street as if they didn't have a care in the world and that no one existed except for the two of them. And that's what hurt the most.

When she had left Sunnydale to go off into the world and try to rediscover the true inner Harmony and make sense of her place in the vastness of everything, she had specifically told Spike that she would be back. She had *promised* that she would return to him. It wasn't that she was breaking up with him by leaving, it was more that she needed to learn about herself and the world around her. She had to, as Spike had so bluntly put it, grow the bloody hell up.

Her trip to LA hadn't gone quite as she had expected, but it had been a huge eye-opener for her. She had reconnected with her childhood friend Cordelia and the fact that the Seer still believed in Harmony even though she was a vampire now had been just the confidence booster that she had so desperately needed. Of course, things had fallen apart and she had realized that she just wasn't meant to be one of the good guys, but she had also figured out that it was okay to be a bad guy...as long as you were good at it.

After leaving Cordelia, which had been harder and more painful to do than she thought it would be, Harmony had drifted in and out of various demon and vampire subcultures, learning what she could and figuring out where she belonged. It didn't take her too long to discover that she enjoyed traveling and meeting new people, but that the philosophy of the Sunnydale demon community was the one that was ingrained the deepest in her. She was, after all, a true childe of the Hellmouth.

So, she had decided to return to her home and continue the relationship with her on-again/off-again boyfriend Spike. Her plan had been to enjoy a nice week long reunion in their bed before they embarked on a tour of the world. Spike had been to a lot of different places and Harmony was certain that she would enjoy seeing everything that he had to show her. The problem was, when she returned to their crypt it was to find the place abandoned and empty because *her* Spike was living with that loser Xander Harris.

She didn't care if Spike wanted to sleep with the guy. Hell, Harmony could sorta understand that urge. After all, even Cordelia had fallen under his spell for a while and she herself could admit that if you peeled away his tacky secondhand clothing he wasn't bad to look at. But Spike wasn't just having sex with Xander, oh no, nothing that simple for the self-proclaimed Big Bad. As far as Harmony could tell, her idiot boyfriend had gone and fallen in love with the big dork. That would never do.

She had fumed and bitched and ranted about it for several days. She was on the verge of either killing them both or just taking off and leaving when her temper-tantrum caught the attention of a cragthol demon with an unpronounceable name. After quickly dubbing the furry creature "Stephan", she sat down to listen to it's plan. The cragthol wanted Xander for some spell or something that she didn't really understand. Stephan had offered to help her get Spike if she captured the Slayer's friend for him. It sounded like a fair trade, they each got the one they wanted and Harmony was promised that the loser who had so frustrated her all through highschool wouldn't survive Stephan's attentions for long.

Now, she stood with her minions and the humans that she had hired and waited for the perfect moment. They just had to be patient. The Slayer's patterns rarely changed and she followed almost the same routine that she had established back in highschool. The only difference was that now, she had two other teams that helped her patrol during times when demon activity was high. As the group walked through Sunnydale, they would occasionally split into three groups. The Slayer by herself, the two witches together while the last grouping was Spike and Xander. Doing this allowed them to cover more ground faster, but it also left them more vulnerable if you knew their weaknesses. And Harmony knew all of them very very well.

Finally, just as her patience was at it's end, the large group split up into three smaller ones. A grin spreading across her face, she gestured to her minions and the large men that she had hired as muscle to follow her as she stalked after the chipped vampire and his human bedtoy.

As soon as the two men were far enough away from the Slayer and the witches that even if they screamed the girls wouldn't be able to arrive in time to help, Harmony turned to her fighters. "Remember, Stephan wants Xander alive. Knock him out, but don't eat him." She pointed to the humans. "Spike has a chip in his head that causes him pain if he hurts humans, but don't get cocky. He's smart, strong and stubborn so he'll go down fighting. He'll probably try to get his human to switch around with him so that he ends up fighting the vamps instead. Don't let that happen." She frowned. "Xander may be a dork, but he's been fighting against demons for years and he may just surprise you if he and Spike manage to swap places. If Spike gets to the vamps..." Harmony grimaced and turned to her fledges. "Don't let Spike get his hands on you. If you do, you're dead. Simple as that."

Everyone nodded at her and she singled them to go. With a gleam in her eyes and a smirk on her lips, Harmony followed her boys as she stalked out after her ex-boyfriend. She would have her revenge for him not waiting for her to return. Starting now.

*

With a low cry of pain and surprise, Cordelia collapsed to the ground clutching her head. She was vaguely aware of Angel's lightening fast reflexes bringing him across the room to grasp her and cradle her against his chest just seconds before her head would have smashed into the tile floor. She heard Angel's voice, tight and strained with worry and sensed movement off to the side as Wesley scurried towards the cabinet where the first-aid kit was stored. The rushed and tense atmosphere created by her worried coworkers faded away into insignificance as her vision overtook her.

The first thing to register beyond the searing pain was smell. It was a scent that she recognized as Sunnydale. Even though she had grown up with it as a child, she had never really noticed it until she had moved away and it was gone. It was only when she had visited old friends that she had known it for what it was, but she knew that she would never ever forget that scent. It was a sickening mixture of rust, decay, old blood and a hint of sulfur that hung in the air like a miasma of evil. That stench was generated by the Hellmouth itself...and how twisted was it that she would forever connect the smell of Hell and Damnation with "home" in her mind.

Then sound kicked in and her ears rang with the cries of someone she had once loved dearly and who still held a tiny part of her heart. His voice was strained and filled with fear as he called for Buffy to come help because there were humans with the vampires. She didn't understand what that meant and she frowned and shook her head as if to tell the Powers That Be that it wasn't enough information.

Suddenly, she could see what was happening. The images swirled around and wavered in and out of focus. There was Spike in full gameface, snarling and growling as a bunch of large men in leather jackets held him tightly while they dragged him down the street. Spike kept jerking and pulling as he tried to break away, but then he would squeeze his eyes shut as he howled in pain. A group of vampires surrounded them, one of which was holding Xander in a fireman's carry.

Then, the images swirled in a dizzying kaleidoscope of horror and death until it settled on a blurry image of a fur covered demon with long tusks and paw-like hands. It stood before a cracked stone altar set up in a burnt and blackened room. A mutilated corpse lay on the altar and the furry demon held up a newly born infant in it's large paws. The infant opened it's eyes and they glowed a deep burning gold even as it gave out a loud wail of pain and fear.

The stench that Cordelia had grown up with intensified and a loud rumbling echoed through her ears. Horror flooded her mind and soul. She didn't need to see the cracked ground split open wider to know what was happening. She had seen it once before in real life. It was the Hellmouth and it was opening. She couldn't contain her own terror and helplessness at this vision. Shaking in Angel's arms, she threw back her head and screamed out in denial.

"NOOOOOOO!"

*

Angel carefully laid the last weapon into the large bag and then closed it. He looked up and across the room as he watched Wesley pull another book off of the shelf and glance at it briefly before tucking it gently into the small box in front of him. Cordy was upstairs gathering clothing and personal items together. They had all ready called Giles and told him about her vision and informed him of their plans to head for the Hellmouth.

Still, Angel was worried. Despite all of the danger that Buffy and her friends faced on an almost daily basis, the Powers rarely sent a vision to him concerning them. He could only assume that it was because his ex-lover was more than capable of handling the Hellmouth all on her own or with the help of her friends. That meant that this current crisis was something that she *couldn't* fix without either himself or one of his staff at her side. And that was enough to worry him. If *Buffy* couldn't fix it, then what the hell was going wrong?

Perhaps it was because of the fact that Spike and Xander seemed to be caught up in it and were at the heart of it all. While not close to Spike, Buffy might be thrown off balance because of her long-term friendship with Xander. It was very possible that she would be too upset and frightened to think clearly or act decisively. Angel knew better than most that Buffy sometimes faltered when her heart was involved and to his eternal shame, Angelus had used that fact ruthlessly.

Angel, on the other hand, was able to admit that his relationship with both men was somewhat...restrained at the best of times. While both he and Spike weren't at the point of wanting to stake each other, they were both most comfortable with a bit of distance between them. Hence, Spike stayed in Sunnydale while Angel stayed in LA. His estranged childe knew that he could call on Angel in an emergency or vice versa, but neither wanted to spend any amount of time in the other's presence if it wasn't necessary.

Then there was Xander. He and the sharp tongued boy had never gotten along and would most likely never be what one could call friends. Yet they had both put aside their personal feelings to work together for the greater good in the past and they would both be willing to do so again. Angel was confident of that. Despite their mutual animosity, they both respected the other's desire to keep Buffy, Willow and Cordelia safe from harm. Angel also believed that if he ever turned into Angelus and harmed Cordelia that Xander would find a way to put a crossbow bolt in his chest before anyone else could slap his soul back on. After all, Angel didn't spend five hundred years suffering in Hell because *Buffy* wanted him to. He was in Hell because *Xander* told her that she had no choice and she believed him.

And now that boy was a pawn for some demon that wanted to open up the Hellmouth. Angel would do everything in his power to stop that...not just because he didn't want the Hellmouth opened, but because it was Xander. That boy, and a boy he was at the time, had done the one thing that no one else had the ruthlessness and the raw guts to do. He had forced Angel to suffer and truly repent his evil. Before Angel's sojourn in Hell, he had scuttled about the shadows leaving cryptic messages and offered the occasional help to his beloved Buffy, but he didn't believe that he could ever be a *true* force for goodness. Five hundred years of torment later and Angel was positive that he could fight the good fight and win his redemption. He didn't just watch from the sidelines anymore.

His chance at Heaven was a real possibility now...and it was only because that one terrified and angry boy made sure that he was punished for his sins. Absolution is not a quick thing and it requires pain and suffering. Angel didn't want to know how a young boy, even one raised on the Hellmouth, could know that so instinctively.

Angel wondered how Xander would feel if he knew just how much of an inspiration he was to the vampire. Angel watched him struggle to protect his friends with no gifts or abilities while facing enemies that were smarter or stronger or faster or more powerful and still prevail. Somehow, it made the whole package of limitations that he suffered under as a member of the undead a little easier to bear. He always sort of thought that the day that he had *Xander's* forgiveness was the day that he had proved his worth to the Powers That Be.

So, he was off to Sunnydale. To rescue the childe of his blood and the most annoying scrap of humanity ever. The boy who could forgive Anyanka...but not Angelus.

*fini*