Chapter 1

"Giles! I accidently killed Spike! That's okay, right?" Buffy's barely-sarcastic tone was lost on her Watcher who was in the bathroom concentrating on clearing his vision.

"Just a minute" he called back absently, as the Slayer slammed Spike down onto a chair and picked up the nearby length of rope.

"I get this spell reversed, they'll be finding your body for weeks" he sneered, internally cursing all those stupid commandos that had made him unable to harm humans somehow.

"Oh, make a move, please" Buffy dared him, getting right in his face "I'm dying for a good slay"

- - - - - - -

"I mean I'm going through something, and you'd think once in a while Buffy would make best friends a priority" Willow complained as she paced up and down Xander's basement.

"You know that she can't just let Spike go" the boy was trying to be sympathetic but his best friend's whole 'poor me' riff was getting real old, real fast. She seemed to have forgotten that other things, things that were not Oz-related, were important too.

"Why not?" the red-head was almost yelling now "He can't hurt anyone" she reminded him "I think those two just like being in a room together so they can make trouble. Did you notice the constant petty arguments and stupid comments?" she said, waving an arm in an emphatic geture "Honestly, they're just like five year olds!"

- - - - - - -

Giles sighed as he finally emerged from the bathroom, utterly sick of hearing Spike and Buffy bickering.

"If the two of you could just remain civil long enough to-" the words died on his tongue as he arrived in the living room and took in the sight before him.

"He started it! He's mean!" a little blonde girl of no more than five stamped her foot, folding her little arms over her chest.

"She's was trying to tie me up!" a little English voice complained as a small hand reached out and shoved the girl in the shoulder "She's the mean one!" he complained, as the two began pushing and shoving each other, all the while yelling five-year-old type insults.

Giles removed his glasses, hoping that at any moment his vision would clear and what he thought he was seeing would all be an illusion. He came to realise very quickly that it was no trick his eyes were playing.

"Oh, and as usual, dear"

"Er, Buffy?" her Watcher blinked a few times, crouching down to the small child's level, almost unable to believe what had happened.

"Giles" the five year old Slayer whined "tell Spike to stop being a nasty vampire"

The man frowned harder as he looked over at the little version of the English vamp, complete with bright blond hair and mini leather duster.

"Er, yes, Spike" he found it quite strange that he was reprimanding a child that was in essence a demon almost a century older than himself "now come along, I..."

"M'not listenin' to you" child Spike spat in response "You're not my Dad y'know"

"He's not my Dad either" Buffy shook her head, blonde curls swinging about her ears "but I wouldn't mind if he was...You wanna be my Daddy, Giles?" she asked with a sugar-coated smile. Spike rolled his eyes and looked away as Giles coloured slightly and smiled back at the child.

"Buffy that's very sweet" he said before realising what he was doing "Oh for heavens sake..."

"See" Spike laughed, pointing between Giles and Buffy "Watcher doesn't wanna be your Dad, cos you're just a stupid girly girl" he sneered.

"Am not!" Buffy stamped her little foot indignantly.

"Are too!" came the expected response, and the two kids squared up to each other, "You're a silly little..."

"For God's sake!" Giles exploded getting to his feet suddenly "Shut up both of you!"

The two kids stopped paying attention to each other as they both turned and faced the red-faced British man, the tiniest bit of fear shooting through their little bodies at the volume with which he'd spoken.

"Nice work" the little vampire muttered near Buffy's ear "Now you made him all pissed off"

"Oh!" the little girl gasped, pointing at Spike with her eyes wide as saucers "Giles! Spike said the P word!" she proclaimed, as if it were the biggest crime on the planet. Had she forgotten he'd killed two Slayers? Well of course she had, she was five years old!

"Tell tale!" Spike yelled, giving her a shove that knocked her to the ground.

"Fang-face!" she retaliated pulling herself to her feet.

"Slayer-Bint!" came the reply as she ran at him and wrestled him to the ground, tiny fists and feet flying everywhere.

With an exasperated sigh, Giles walked over and pulled the two apart, fairly certain their flailing limbs caused him a few choice bruises on his legs.

"That is enough!" he told the children as he held them both at arms length "Buffy I want you to go and sit down there" he said, gently pushing her towards the couch, "and Spike you will go and sit over there" he nudged the other child towards the armchair "Now we're going to play a game. Let's see who can stay quiet for the longest amount of time" Giles told them as they pulled themselves into the cushioned seats and glared at each other.

Carefully he stood to his full height and felt his way over to the kitchen counter and then the phone.

"Wha'do I get if I win?" Spike's distinct but higher-than-usual voice called out.

"Erm, a surprise" the Watcher told him "a nice surprise" he lied, since no matter how annoying Spike was he really didn't have the heart to threaten a five year old with a stake.

"I love surprises!" Buffy grinned, clapping her hands together excitedly "I'm so gonna win" she told the vamp, sticking out her tongue.

"No way!" he protested quickly.

"Yes way!" came the rebuttal just as fast.

"Quiet!" Giles yelled from the kitchen and the pair remembered the agreement of a nice surprise if they could keep their mouths closed. Both made a big deal of clamping their lips together and not saying a word though the looks they gave each other were far from friendly.

Giles managed to see the buttons on his phone just clearly enough to dial Willow's number but was disappointed when the answerphone picked up. He left another message and tried to think who else to call. Unfortunately there was only one other option that came to mind.

- - - - - - -

Anya wasn't very happy. Usually when she was kissing Xander she got very happy, because the kissing often led to activities of the bed kind and those were what made her really happy, but right now, her boyfriend seemed a little distracted and this she did not appreciate.

"Okay, what is it?" she asked pulling away from him, "You're not focusing Xander, I can tell, and I don't like it" she said grumpily, sitting up on the edge of the bed with her arms folded.

"I'm sorry" Xander apologised, "It's just...Willow was really upset. I shouldn't have let her go away mad"

"Well if she couldn't keep her boyfriend satisfied that's her own problem" the ex-demon shrugged, before she saw the incredulous look on his face, "Oh, I'm sorry. That was inappropriate for me to say?" she checked.

Xander sighed.

"It wasn't so much with the satisfying issues, it's kinda complicated" he really didn't want to get into the whole thing right now, "I'm sorry if I'm all un-focus-y"

Anya decided to take matters into her own hands. If she wanted his attention she knew definite ways of getting it. She started by kissing him with some passion, and it seemed to work.

"Regaining focus" he mumbled against her lips as they laid down on the bed.

Unfortunately it seemed they were not destined to get very far as the phone rang and Xander insisted he should answer it - just in case it was Willow.

Anya returned to being not happy.

"Oh, hey Giles" the boy was slightly surprised to hear him on the other end of the line, "What's up?"

"Xander, is Willow with you?" the Watcher asked hopefully, trying to focus on the kids in the next room in case they were getting up to mischief. Thankfully they were sitting quietly still.

"No, it's just me and Anya" came the reply to his question, "Is everything okay?"

"I'm afraid not actually" Giles explained, dropping his voice to a whisper so neither Buffy nor Spike could hear, "I think some sort of spell has been cast, in fact I'm certain. I can't see very well, and it's getting worse...and there's something else as well..."

"So spit it out, Giles, what's the deal?" Xander was getting worried now, "Is Willow in trouble? Or Buffy?" he asked agitatedly.

"Not as such, no" he frowned as a noise in the living room caught his attention, "Xander, I have to go" he said hurriedly, "but I would be grateful if you could get yourself here as quickly as possible" he added quickly hanging up the phone and heading for the next room as fast as he could without injuring himself.

"Now, where were we?" Anya asked suggestively as soon as Xander hung up the phone.

"Not now Ahn" he told her, much to her disgust, "We have to get to Giles' something's happening"

"Something is always happening" the ex-demon sighed, pulling herself up of the bed and picking up her jacket.

"Ahn, I..." Xander opened his mouth the speak but was soon interrupted as the window to his left was smashed in by a nasty looking demon. At the same time the door collapsed in and a second monster rushed them. Anya was quick to find a weapon, and was soon attacking the demon with a baseball bat, as Xander grabbed the washing line attached to the ceiling and attempted to strangle or possible decapitate the ugly thing with it.

"No, it's a Pargo demon" Anya rolled her eyes at his attempts at slayage, "Drowning it's the only way to kill it" she yelled.

Between them they managed to force the creatures head into the sink of water and it writhed around til it's life was over.

Just when it seemed the danger was over, the other demon started to climb in through the window, and it wasn't alone.

"Come on" Xander shouted over the noise, grabbing Anya's hand and dragging her out of the door. It seemed Giles wasn't the only one having problems.

"Board up the windows and barricade the doors!" Xander yelled as he and Anya barrelled into Giles apartment.

"Xander?" the Watcher checked, blinking hard. It was no use, his sight had completely left him now, "Really there is no need for over-dramatics"

"No, there really is" Anya told him, "There are demons, they keep coming and coming" she explained.

Giles looked puzzled as Xander rambled on.

"Something seriously weird is going on, Giles, and I don't..."

"Xander!" a little voice shrieked as a small blonde threw herself at the brunette's legs and hugged them tight.

"Hey there, kid" he smiled awkwardly, "Er, where'd you spring from?"

"Ah, yes" Giles said slightly nervously, "There was a reason why I called you..."

"Xander, you don't recognise me" the little girl at his feet looked up at him with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling, "I'm your best friend"

There was something in those eyes of hers, and in the tone of her little voice. He was shocked when he realised who she really was.

"Buffy?" he asked in astonishment, crouching down to her level.

"That's Buffy?" Anya frowned, "Why is the Slayer a five year old?"

"God I hate that name!" a little British voice called from across the room, and three pairs of eyes turned to look at mini-Spike, cross legged on the carpet with an upside down book in front of him and a scowl on his face, "Bloody Buffy, and her bloody stupid name" he cursed.

"Spike I have told you repeatedly, that language is inappropriate!" Giles bellowed in the general direction of the boy he could no longer see. The bleached blond got to his feet, little black coat swooshing round his legs as a defiant look settled on his face.

"Bloody soddin' buggerin' hell!" he announced in a voice loud enough to wake the dead and Buffy covered her ears with her little hands, determined not to be violated by the boys rudeness.

"Buffy and Spike are five year olds?" Anya asked completely confused. She was the only other person willing to speak right now, as Xander's mouth dropped open in shock and Giles covered his face with his hands, feeling both utterly useless and completely at the end of his tether.

"Giles" the young man beside him croaked when his voice finally came back to him, "You wanna tell me what the hel-heck is going on?" he amended as the little Buffy gave him a look. She smiled when he refrained from what she considered naughty words and proceeded to let out a battle cry, running at the still grinning Spike and wrestling him to the ground once again.

"Anya can you do something with those two" Xander urged her, as he took a seat beside Giles.

"I believe some kind of spell has been cast" the Watcher explained tiredly, "My sight has been deteriorating for the past few hours and shortly after I called you it went altogether"

"And the kids?" he asked, watching as Anya pulled the two apart, earning herself a few small injuries as she did so.

"I don't know exactly" Giles shook his head, "I went into the bathroom, I heard Buffy come in with Spike and they were arguing as usual. I came from the bathroom to here and there they stood, three feet tall and yet still bickering" he sighed, reaching to find himself the glass of scotch he'd poured earlier.

"Ow!" Anya yelped as she hopped over to the two men clutching at her ankle, "That little vamp just bit me!" she complained and Xander's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he looked over and saw that mini-Spike was fully vamped out, eyes glittering gold, fangs protruding from his lips, disfiguring his childish smile.

"What?" he asked innocently as three pairs of eyes looked at him in horror, until his vampiric visage faded away again.

"You went all grrr" Buffy told him, "and you hurt Anya...now I'll have to stake you!" she announced with a sigh.

"You can't do that!" he protested, "I was helping" he gestured to the upside down book on the floor, "Gotta help the Watcher remember"

"Oh, yeah" Buffy nodded madly, suddenly remembering what they'd been doing before, "We're gonna help Giles, just like we promised" she called over her shoulder as she ran back over to where she'd been siting on the floor a few feet from her vampire play-mate. She had her own book, a step up from Spike because at least hers was the right way up, but Xander was fairly certain neither of them could actually read what they were looking at.

Anya looked to her boyfriend for explanation.

"Giles is blind" he told her and she waved her hand in front of his face as if to check, "I'm a demon magnet, and somehow Buffy and Spike are five years old..." he stopped abruptly before exclaiming, "Oh my God!"

"Oh your God what?" little Buffy called, not wanting to be left out of anything.

"Er, nothing Buffster, you keep going with your great researching, 'kay?" he told her with a smile. It would be better to figure all this out without telling her too much, there was no way of knowing how well bite-size Buffy would cope with talk of spells and slay-age, though she'd seen Spike vamp out and not been too freaked...

"Xander do you know what's going on?" Anya wanted to know. Whilst it was intriguing and slightly amusing to see the mighty Slayer and a master vampire reduced to smaller beings, she would rather fix Xander's demon problem and go back to having sex with him as soon a possible.

"Willow, she was at my place, talking about Buffy and Spike" he explained, "She said they fought like kids, specifically acted like five year olds, and she said I was a demon magnet"

"Yes" Giles nodded, "and she said I didn't see anything. Everything she says is coming true" he realised, "It was that Will be Done spell the silly girl tried to do"

"The witch did a spell!" Spike sing-songed, he'd been listening the whole time "This is all your mates fault" he told Buffy, "Girls are stupid!"

"We so are not!" the little girl shot back, getting to her feet. Her hands went to her hips and she glared at him, "Boys are so lame they're not even allowed to be Slayers!" she said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Like any proper bloke would want to be a stinky Slayer!" he shot back, also standing up now.

"Here we go again" Xander groaned as the pair of kids launched themselves into battle against each other. Anya looked thoughtful and then added her own opinion.

"I think they just like to touch each other" she reasoned, "Violence is a classic sign of unresolved sexual tension"

"Ahn!" her boyfriend sounded deeply disturbed by her comments, "For crying out loud, they're five!" he reminded her before he waded in to split up the warring children.

"I cannot cope with this" Giles sighed, finishing off his glass of scotch, "Anya, could you possibly get me another of these" he held up the glass in her general direction and she dutifully went and filled it up again.

"We really must find Willow and soon" he told her as she returned and put the glass in his hand, "There is a reason why I never felt the need to have children of my own, their incessant noise is sufficient to drive the most sane of persons over the edge"

"Any ideas on how to deal with these two!" Xander called in distress as he attempted to hold Buffy and Spike away from each other and failed miserably.

"I have one idea" Anya smiled and nodded.

"Then do it" her boyfriend told her, unable to carry on and letting the two kids go at each other again, "whilst I go find Willow" he said, breathing hard from the exertion of splitting up the little vampire and Slayer. He stumbled out of the door and Giles, more than a little drunk and completely exhausted, took a moment to recline on the couch.

Anya nodded to herself, picking up the length of rope from the floor that Buffy had dropped earlier. She walked over to where Buffy had Spike pinned to the carpet and crouched down to their level.

"Hey kids" she grinned a little too sweetly and they both turned to look at her, "You wanna play a new game?"

- - - - - - -

Xander ran all the way from Giles' apartment to Sunnydale U. It was late now but the halls were still packed with partying students, all still up for a couple more hours of drinking and laughing, kissing and groping, and they didn't care who knew about it.

He pushed past many couples, and those who were suffering from too much alcohol before finally arriving outside his best friends' dorm room.

"Willow?!" he called as he knocked frantically on the door. When he got no answer he tried the door and found it was open. That could be a good thing or a bad thing he realised as he moved inside.

"Will?" he tried again, but she was nowhere to be seen.

It was then he spotted a piece of paper held down by the lamp between the two beds. It had 'Buffy' written on the front in familiar hand-writing - Willow's handwriting. Xander opened up the page and frantically read what it said.

'Buffy, I wanted to talk to you in person before I left but I knew you'd just try to talk me out of it. Truth is I don't know how to deal without Oz. You think you understand because of Angel, and I don't want to sound awful but, you don't. I can't be strong like you, I'm just a girl, I'm not the Slayer. I need to find Oz and make things right between us, then maybe I'll come back to Sunnydale. Tell Xander and Giles I love them and I'll see them and you soon. Love Willow xx'

"Oh no" Xander shook his head unable to believe it, "No, no, no, she can't be gone, not now!" he said running for the door again, only to be faced by two nasty looking demons on the other side.

"Hey" he smiled nervously, "So what do you guys major in?" he asked before slamming the door in their faces and looking around in a panic. The open window caught his attention and he ran over an looked out.

"Ten foot drop" he considered, "Or being torn apart by demons...God save my broken and cowardly body" he said, climbing onto the sill, closing his eyes and swinging his legs over, "Here goes nothing"

Xander rushed into Giles apartment, slamming the door shut. He turned and leaned his back on the door, breathing heavily. Anya glanced up from her magazine.

"Are you okay, Xander?" she checked, slightly concerned that he might be damaged in some way and therefore unable to give her orgasms as regularly as was required.

"I shouldn't be" he told her shaking his head, "I mean, either the demons or the drop should've killed me but..." he honestly could not understand how he'd come through it alive or how he'd managed so many words before his breath left him again. He'd run solidly from the college to Giles' and every muscle in his body ached from the exertion. He bent over double trying to take in sufficient oxygen. It was then he noticed the room was too quiet.

"Where are the others?" he asked with a slight frown. Anya grinned.

"Giles has gone to lie on the bed, I think he's a little drunk" she explained cheerfully, "and I dealt with the kids"

"Dealt with?" Xander echoed, not liking the sound of that. He loved Anya, really he did, but the girl was a former vengeance demon. It was not a good idea to piss her off and if those kids really had got on her nerves... "Ahn, what did you do?" he asked nervously.

The blonde took hold of his hand and pulled him over to the living room area where two small children were sat, fast asleep on two dining room chairs, back to back. That would be fine if it were not for the fact a rope held the two in place!

"Anya!" Xander found his voice came loud and clear now, "You cannot tie up five year old kids!" he yelled, bringing the two little ones out of their slumber. He rushed over to untie them just as they came to.

"Mommy?" the little Buffy whimpered as she rubbed at her eyes with her hands.

"Not Mommy, sweetie" Xander told her as she crouched down to her level, "but I'm here. You remember big funny Xander, right?"

She looked at him and he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way, still her lip trembled.

"I don't wanna play this game anymore" she told him sadly, "It's no fun"

"What game is that, honey?" he asked her, glancing over at Anya who said nothing.

"Bloody stupid bint" little Spike cursed as he hopped down from his own chair and tottered round to where Xander knelt by Buffy's seat, "She said she wanted to play a game with us and then tied us to bleedin' chairs!" he complained, the curse words sounding less threatening and more strangely cute in his five-year-olds voice.

Xander looked daggers up at his girlfriend as Spike folded his little arms over his chest and did the same. Buffy looked like she was going to cry at any second, which was strange since grown-up Buffy almost never did.

"You wanted them still and quiet" Anya defended herself, "I didn't know another way. I never looked after kids before"

"Maybe you never should again" the brunette suggested, shaking his head as he lifted Buffy down from the chair and stood her next to Spike, "You two stay put for a sec and be good, okay?" he told the kids, "Me and Anya have to go talk in the kitchen" he said pointedly, dragging her away by the elbow.

"She's mean" Buffy mumbled, "I wish I were big enough to..." she made punching motions with her little fists and Spike smirked.

"Yeah, that'd be fun" he agreed, "You okay, pet?" he checked when she went all quiet again.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and stayed quiet before running at the sofa and launching herself into one of the cushioned seats. Spike tilted his head as he watched her sit herself up and then decided to join her. He went hurtling into the space beside her, collapsing in a heap with the back of his coat over his head. Buffy giggled.

"You look silly" she told him, reaching out to help him put his coat straight, he had little choice but to let her as he tried to get his bearings back and sit up properly.

"Now what?" he asked her, as they heard the odd word of unpleasant conversation from the kitchen. Buffy winced at the sound of raised voices.

"My Mommy and Daddy used to yell" she said, studying her hands in her lap, "They yelled because of me, and then Daddy went away"

Spike didn't know why but he hated that she looked so sad. It was weird but she was usually quite pretty, for a girl, and when she was all tearful like this she didn't look as good and he didn't like it at all.

"Didn't even know my Dad" he attempted to sympathise, "He died...I think I died too" he said with a frown.

There were thoughts in his head that didn't fit, memories that couldn't be real because in them he was bigger and so was Buffy, but everyone else was exactly the same. Nothing made any sense and he was losing his grip on what parts were real and what parts were not.

"I think I might be bad" Buffy said sadly, "Do you think I'm bad?" she asked the little boy next to her. At first she was fairly certain she didn't like him, but she was beginning to forget why now.

"You don't look bad" he said, not really knowing how to answer. Something inside him told him he wasn't supposed to like the blonde girl, that she was his enemy some how. It was like he dreamt this other world, where he was taller and so was she, and they fought because they had to. The more time passed the hazier the dream-picture became until he wasn't certain of much at all.

Buffy managed a smile at his words and Spike found himself smiling back until she began to wriggle and he frowned wondering what she was doing.

"Ooh, remote" she announced as she pulled the item out from between the sofa cushions, "Wanna watch cartoons?" she asked with a grin.

"Sure" Spike nodded, smiling just as widely as Buffy pushed random buttons until a picture appeared on the screen.

- - - - - - -

"Okay, okay, I get it" Anya sighed as Xander ranted at her, "It's inappropriate for me to tie children who were formally a Slayer and a Vampire to dining room chairs with rope" she said flatly, like she didn't really care.

"Ahn, I get that there's stuff you don't understand" Xander lost all his fight when his girlfriend folded her arms over her chest and looked ready to sulk, "but there are a lot of rules where kids are concerned, and tieage with rope is never of the good"

"It's not like they're regular kids" she huffed, "That little vamp bit me!" she reminded him, pulling at the leg of her pants to show him the tiny teeth marks on her ankle.

Xander sighed before a thought hit him.

"How did he do that?" he gasped, still trying to keep his voice low so neither Spike nor Buffy heard him.

"He's still a vampire, Xander" Anya pointed out, "and despite being a little guy, he has very large fangs that pierce skin quite easily"

"No, no" her boyfriend shook his head frantically, "the Initiative did something to him, stopped him from hurting people without getting el grando headache, remember?"

"Maybe the spell got rid of whatever those Commando people did to him?" she shrugged, not really giving two hoots what caused it, just angry that she'd got hurt because if it.

"The spell, it's all spells" Xander said in frustration, "We need Willow for this"

"What we need is...sex" Anya said with a weird look that Xander didn't notice since he was leaning on the counter with his face in his hands.

"This is so not the time or place, Ahn" he told her, but he'd missed her meaning.

"Not us, doofus" she said, rolling her eyes as she slapped him across the back to get his proper attention, "Listen" she ordered, "Someone is having sex in the living room"

Xander was stunned and very weirded out when he listened and realised what she meant. Moaning, gasping, and all manner of sounds of the sex-kind were coming from the next room, and considering that they'd left just two five year olds alone in there...

"Oh God, no" Xander hated to believe it but when he stumbled through the door, with Anya right behind him he was proved to be correct in his thoughts.

"Buffy Anne Summers, you give me that remote!" he ordered but the little blonde girl paid no attention, her eyes fixed on the porn show she'd managed to find on TV.

Spike tilted his head as he tried to figure out what the man and woman on the screen were actually trying to achieve. He was fairly certain it was inappropriate in some way but somewhere in the back of his mind it was scarily familiar too...

"You two cannot be watching this!" Xander yelled some more, moving to stand in front of the screen. The kids trying to see around his body, as did Anya who had now perched herself on the arm of the couch to enjoy the show.

"Oh for God sakes!" he said, finally finding the button on the actual set that would turn off the display. Buffy frowned when the screen turned black.

"Hey!" she yelled, "We were watching that!"

"That is not suitable TV for kids" Xander told her sternly, whipping the TV remote from her hands whilst she wasn't paying attention to it, "I asked you to be a good girl, why couldn't you behave!" he said a little too harshly, seemingly forgetting who he was talking to. In seconds Buffy's lips began to tremble, but she wouldn't let the big nasty Xander see her cry.

"You're mean!" she yelled back, standing up on the couch and pushing him in the chest with her little hands. The boy was knocked off his feet by the shove, not surprising since she was the Slayer and she'd taken him completely by surprise. Spike was soon on his feet, bouncing the cushion beside her.

"Yeah, and you can't talk to Buffy that way!" he taunted Xander who looked more than slightly shocked, "You're a very bad man" he continued, pointing a finger "and she's the Slayer, and she can kick your ass!" he said with a grin. The girl beside him spared the little vamp a glance before looking back at Xander and tipping her chin in the air.

"I am the Slayer!" she proclaimed like a war cry, leaping from the sofa with Spike right behind her, little leather duster flying out behind him as he did so. They shrieked and laughed as they ran around and around the room, an open mouthed Xander and unimpressed Anya watching them.

"Now what do we do?" he asked, looking up at his girlfriend with a tired expression as he rubbed a hand over his face.

"Off-load the kids and find out how to get the porn channel back?" she suggested and Xander shook his head in disbeielf.

"Yeah Ahn, great plan" he scoffed, "Who exactly would be willing to play Mom to the Slayer and a vamp..." he stopped short when he had an idea, "Go upstairs, tell Giles we're taking the kids" he told his girlfriend as he scrambled to his feet.

"Where are we taking them?" she asked as she made to do what he said for once.

"Revello Drive" Xander yelled above the children's noise "Who better to look after kids, than a real live Mom?" he smiled.

"Xander, Anya" Joyce greeted the pair with a wary smile as she opened the front door, it was five in the morning after all "What are you kids doing here at this time?"

"Er, funny you should mention kids" Xander laughed nervously, "Um, y’see Mrs Summers...Joyce, er, we have his little problem"

"Two actually" Anya interrupted and her boyfriend gave her a look.

"You want to come inside and explain a little better" Joyce frowned, before suddenly having a thought, "Nothing bad has happened to Buffy, has it?" she checked.

"Not so much with the badness, more kind of with the freaky" Xander explained rather badly, "Maybe you should come see what I mean" he gestured for her to come outside and she looked strangely at both him and Anya before tightening her robe around her body and following them over to the car. She was a little apprehensive as she leaned over to look in through the back window, but was pleasantly surprised to find just two small but squabbling children in there. She had half-expected a demon of some kind!

"Oh, aren’t you two just precious" she said through the open window, until she heard what they were saying.

"Idiot fang-faced poop-head!" the little girl shrieked, shoving the boy next to her.

"Stupid slayer-bint cow!" he retaliated in kind as they wrassled, the seat-belts barely holding them back.

As the girl twisted around, Joyce saw her face and gasped with shock as the two kids finally noticed she was there.

"Mommy!" Buffy bounced joyfully in her seat and even Spike smiled at the woman.

"Buffy?" she asked with wide eyes, "What on Earth happened?"

Of course she was asking how her child had ended up as a five year old, but the little girl didn’t know that, assuming she meant why was she fighting and being naughty.

"Spike was being a mean vampire" she said forcefully, folding her little arms across her chest and giving him a severe look, "he said I smelled good and that he was gonna eat me!"

"Spike?" Joyce frowned in confusion, putting a hand to her head as she felt a migraine coming on, "I don’t understand"

"Willow did a spell" said Anya behind her, seemingly expecting this to be enough information. Mrs Summers looked to Xander for help and he smiled nervously.

"Er, yeah, y’know how Will has been a little down lately?" he explained, "Well, she did a little spell and, amongst other things, it turned Buffy and Spike into five year olds" he said, still smiling and hoping she would to, but Joyce shook her head.

"Can’t she change them back?" she wondered aloud and Anya cut in.

"Willow’s left town to find Oz, she’ll probably be gone for a very long time" she grinned, actually quite pleased that Xander would now be paying more attention to her, since his witch friend was otherwhere!

"Oh" was all Joyce could say as she turned to look back at the kids in the car who stared right back at her with twin smiles on their faces. At least they seemed pleased to see her.

"Joyce, I know it’s a lot to throw at you" Xander apologised, "but me and Ahn, we have no idea how to control two five year olds, and with Giles being blind and all..."

"Rupert is blind?!" she asked even more stunned by that revelation.

"Again with the spell" the boy said awkwardly, "Oh God, as are those demons" he said, frantically pointing over Joyce’s shoulder, "Time to go kids!" he yelled, opening the car door to get little Buffy out, urging Joyce to grab Spike.

As the kids were set down on the pavement beside her, she watched Xander and Anya leap into Giles’ car and drive off at alarming speed, three nasty looking creatures headed after them.

"Should I go slay the monsters, Mommy?" little Buffy asked, looking up at Joyce with wide innocent eyes. Immediately the women felt she’d gone back almost fourteen years, until a frantic hand began pulling at her dressing gown.

"Joyce! The sun!" little Spike shrieked uncharacteristically as he gestured towards the brightening sky, "The suns coming up!"

"Oh heavens" Joyce switched her attention from one child to the other before hurrying them both into the house.

As they arrived inside she shut the door before rushing to close the living room curtains firmly. Even so, she turned back to find Spike smoking slightly as Buffy expertly checked him over for burns, much to his annoyance.

"Get off me, Slayer-bint!" he complained, smacking her hands away, "Don’t want your dirty hands on me!"

"And I don’t wish to hear children using such words as that" Joyce told him as she came over and crouched down to their height, "Now, Spike, are you okay?" she checked, finding that despite the strangeness of the situation she felt she could handle looking after the pair for a while at least. She’d brought Buffy up mostly alone after all, and Spike was such a well-mannered young man when he’d visited her before.

"Fine thankyou, Joyce" he smiled brightly as she affectionately patted his head.

"Okay then, that’s good" she nodded, "but we’ll have no more nasty names whilst you’re staying here with me, understood?"

Spike nodded solemnly and Buffy rolled her eyes before running into the living room and diving on the couch. She grabbed up the remote and switched on the TV as Joyce stood up and followed her with Spike on her heels.

"It’s five in the morning, sweetie" she pointed out to her daughter as the little girl flicked the channels, "and I know you’ve had a tough last few hours so how about we go upstairs and you get some sleep, huh?"

"But I’m not tired" she shook her head, before yawning in spectacular fashion. Spike smirked at her but didn’t like to make a comment, not when Joyce was sitting there. She had saved him from the sun after all, he didn’t want to upset her by calling Buffy a bloody liar!

"I’ll tell you what" Joyce smiled, turning off the TV, as her daughters head lolled back against the cushioned surface of the couch and her eyes strained to stay open, "If you’re a good girl...and boy" she added looking down at Spike, "and you go up and get some sleep for a couple of hours, I’ll take the day off from the gallery and we can do something fun, okay?"

"Really, Mommy?" Buffy grinned, eyes glittering excitedly, "You mean it?"

"Yes, honey, I mean it" Joyce almost laughed till she realised why her little girl was so thrilled. She didn’t have much time for fun in her life these days, and there were few occasions when their schedules matched for them to spend time together.

"Spikey we’re gonna have a fun day with Mommy tomorrow!" the little girl shrieked with delight and the vampire was halfway between smiling at being included and frowning at being called Spikey. Of course, there was something else he realised too.

"I haven’t got a Mum" he said somewhat sadly to Joyce, "I think she died"

The woman on the couch was sure her heart would break as his blue eyes fought to contain tears.

"Well, maybe you could share my Mommy" Buffy considered, "but only for a little while cos she’s mine" she said, crawling onto Joyce’s lap and giving her a big hug as if to mark her territory in some strange way.

"Can I, Joyce?" Spike asked her in this perfect little replica of his voice, only a couple of octaves higher.

"I’d be honoured" she said softly, managing a smile as tears came to her own eyes. ‘How is it possible for such a sweet child to be, in reality, a most vicious vampire?’ she wondered as she stood up, setting Buffy on her feet beside Spike. Together the three made their way up the stairs and Joyce found two of Buffy’s larger T-shirts that her littler self and Spike could wear to sleep in. She helped them change in her room and yawned as she folded their clothes and put them in the chair.

"Okay, er, I guess you two will have to share Buffy’s bed" she frowned slightly at the idea. she’d always suspected there was some kind of attraction between her daughter and the vampire, despite the fact they appeared on the surface to dislike each other so much. Still they were five years old right now and no harm could come out of them sharing a bed, except perhaps a rather violent pillow fight, but she really had no other choice unless she shared her own bed with them and that was not a prospect she relished.

"Do I have to?" Buffy complained.

"S’not like I wanna sleep in your girly bed anyway" Spike shot back and Joyce rolled her eyes. She told them firmly that they did indeed have to and took them off to Buffy’s room, helping them both into the double bed and tucking them in.

"Goodnight, Buffy" Joyce smiled kissing her daughters forehead as she snuggled down under the duvet.

"’Night Mommy" she replied as her mother moved around the bed and made sure Spike was comfy.

"Goodnight, Spike" she said softly, daring to place a light kiss on his head too. The little boy smiled and coloured slightly, hiding beneath the covers.

"’Night Mum" she heard him say as she stood up and made for the door.

"Sleep tight, kids" she said without thinking as she turned out the light and pulled the door almost closed. It sounded ridiculous and the situation was not exactly normal, but Joyce couldn’t help thinking that she liked having her little girl back in the house, and at an age that she really needed her. Then there was Spike, who couldn’t be any cuter if he tried, and he so wanted to be loved. It made things a lot clearer than when he was adult sized. Children of five years found it much more difficult to cover up what they felt, and Joyce felt that gave her an insight into Spike that might come in very handy when they were grown again, especially if that strange attraction between the two of them ever came to a head.

"Spike!" his sleeping companion whispered in the dark, prodding him in the back, "Spike!"

"What?" he asked, turning over to face her. They made a big effort to keep a good couple of feet between them though neither was certain they knew why.

"Did you ever share a bed with a girl before?" she asked him, brow crinkling in concentration. Spike’s did the same as he considered her question carefully.

"I dunno" he said at length, "I don’t remember things right anymore...s’all mixed up" he told her, slightly worried by the realisation.

"Same for me" she told him, pausing before asking, "Does it bother you, that you don’t remember?"

He shook his head at that.

"I don’t think I wanna remember" he said, sitting up and not looking at her, "I think I did bad things, Buffy, and I don’t think people like me"

The mini Slayer felt bad for her ‘friend’ and shifted across the bed towards him, getting herself into a seated position too.

"I think sometimes I like you" she told him, a hand on his arm, making him look up at her in surprise.

"Sometimes I like you too" he smirked slightly, "You’re alright, for a girly Slayer-bint" his smirk grew wider when she shoved him playfully and made a face like she was going to be mad at him, before changing her mind and giggling.

"You’re not bad either" she decided, "For a fang-face boy" she told him stretching and yawning once again. She wriggled back down under the bedclothes much closer to him than she had been before and closed her eyes to go to sleep, but Spike had one more thing to say.

"Does that mean, we’re friends?" he asked her, tilting his head and her hazel eyes popped open again to look at him.

"I guess" she shrugged sleepily as Spike joined her beneath the covers.

"Goodnight Spike" she whispered, reaching a hand across into the space between them, offering it to him.

"Goodnight Buffy" he replied just as softly, putting his hand in hers as he closed his eyes, and the two drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 6

When Joyce came into Buffy’s room in the morning she was a little surprised to find her smaller-than-usual daughter underneath little Spike’s arm. She was just having one of those Mom-patented ‘Aaaw’ moments when the kids started stirring. They sat up almost as one, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

"Good morning, sleepyheads" Joyce smiled as she moved to open the drapes. Immediately Spike scurried down underneath the covers, uncovering Buffy in the process.

"No Mommy!" she complained, "No sunshine!" she reminded her and Joyce cursed under her breath as she pulled the drapes closed again, blocking out the direct light.

"Oh, Spike" she said guiltily, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed next to where he was hidden, "I’m so sorry"

He didn’t come out and Buffy decided to investigate. She lifted up the top of the duvet and stuck her head underneath.

"Spikey, stop being a scardey-vamp!" she told him, "Mommy didn’t mean it"

Cautiously he pulled the duvet back off his head and looked over at Joyce who smiled apologetically.

"You okay, sweetie?" she checked and he nodded solemnly.

"Wasn’t really afraid" he shook his head, trying to cover for his little display. Despite his being a small child version of himself, Joyce was amused to note that he still wanted to keep his tough guy reputation intact.

"Of course not" she said as seriously as she could before helping the kids to get back into their day clothes, before taking them down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"So, cereal or toast or something else, what do you kids feel like?" she asked as she helped them up onto the two stools by the counter and put on some coffee for herself.

"I want these!" Buffy grinned, reaching past Spike for the box of cornflakes. When Joyce turned around to see what her daughter was doing she screamed at the sight she saw. The cup in her hand went hurtling towards the tiled floor, smashing into many pieces on impact.

Buffy sat up straight at lightning speed before she realised what had frightened her mother. There sat Spike (version : five year old) in full vamp face, licking his lips around the side of his fangs.

He hadn’t meant to scare anyone, he wasn’t even sure how his face had changed since he couldn’t see it, but it felt different and it had happened when Buffy reached across the counter, putting her neck near his face. He could smell her blood, practically feel her pulse inside his own head and it made him hungry to the point where his vampiric features slipped into place without him really knowing it.

"I think I know what Spikey wants for breakfast, Mommy" Buffy said making a face at the very idea, and leaning away from him slightly. Joyce was still back against the opposite counter top, hand on her chest and breathing unevenly from the shock of seeing the childs face so disfigured. Of course she’d seen vampires before but never one so young, it was a very disturbing sight.

Spike tried to think of other things beside the blood, but it was as if it was calling to him, from both Buffy and Joyce now. He tried really hard to remember they were nice people, that Joyce was being his Mum for a while and that Buffy had said she was his friend. He was more desperate to hold onto that than he was to feed and eventually he felt the demon slip away for a while.

"I’m sorry" he said guiltily when it was gone and Joyce felt bad for her reaction. It seemed that mentally both Spike and her daughter were getting muddled, and whilst they retained some knowledge of the lives they had led, a vast amount of their younger personas were showing through. He may be a vampire, but Spike was also a young child right now and he didn’t want her to be mad at him.

"It’s okay sweetie" she smiled, "You just surprised me is all...I suppose Mr Giles might have some blood at his house?" she looked to Buffy who nodded.

"Alright then, how about we get a few things together and go have breakfast with him? I’ll bet he could use some company right now"

- - - - - - - -

"Oh good Lord" Giles groaned as he awoke to banging on his front door, making the banging he already had in his head ten times worse. Dragging himself from the bed, still wearing yesterdays clothes, he opened his eyes and was mildly surprised to find he could see nothing. His memory rushed back to the surface then, Willow’s spell, his lack of site, Xander’s demon attracting skills, and Buffy and Spike’s throwback to childhood.

Giles felt as if going back to bed and hiding might be a terribly good idea, until another round of banging started up on his front door. Keeping a hand on the wall he guided himself to the stairs and then gripped the banister for dear life as he made his way down.

He managed to trip on the rug and bump into two chairs on his way to the front door and when he eventually arrived there he was unsure as to what he was going to do when he’d got it open, it wasn’t as if he would know who was there.

"Who’s there?" he called cautiously, hands still on the handle and lock.

"Rupert, it’s Joyce" she called back, and she was so relieved when he opened the door quickly. Giles was almost knocked off his feet by the two children as they ran into the apartment, Spike throwing a small blanket off his body and hiding in a shadowy corner. Buffy went straight to the window and tried to pull the drapes over to no avail.

"Buffy, sweetheart" Joyce sighed, closing the front door and helping Giles over to the couch, "You go check on Spike, I’ll do that"

The small blonde scampered off to find her friend as her mother did as she said she would.

"How are you, Rupert?" she asked the Watcher as she returned to the couch and sat down beside him, hand on his arm so he knew she was there.

"Oh, fine" he smiled, clearly lying as he looked straight past her without realising.

"I doubt very much that’s true" Mrs Summers half-smiled herself, "but we’re going to fix all this. I know I don’t usually get involved in your work, but even if Buffy is still the Slayer she’s hardly in a position to research"

"Joyce, I do appreciate your kind offer" Giles told her, "but I’m not even sure anything can be done to resolve this until we locate Willow. Xander tells me she has left town indefinitely. She has gone after Oz, you see"

Joyce was about to answer when Buffy and Spike came bounding back into the room from the kitchen.

"Hey Giles" the little girl grinned as she stood beside him, little hands resting on his knees, "How are you today?" she asked politely and he smiled in what he hoped was her general direction.

"I am better than I was" he told her, "and very pleased that you came to visit me" he half-lied.

"Oh we had to" Buffy told him, remembering why they’d originally come here, "Spikey got hungry and Mommy doesn’t have any blood at our house"

"Oh goodness, yes" Joyce gasped in realisation, "We came here for...well, breakfast" she said uncertainly as she got up and headed for the kitchen, "Would you like me to get you something Rupert? Perhaps some toast and tea?" she offered.

"Well, that would be very kind of you, Joyce" he told her, "but you really don’t have to..."

"Nonsense" she interrupted, pulling up her sleeves and taking the kids into the other room with her, "It’ll only take a minute"

- - - - - - - -

It was an hour later, when Xander and Anya arrived at Giles’ home. Everyone had eaten breakfast by now even Spike, and Joyce was quite proud to say she’d barely even flinched when she was required to microwave some blood for him. She showed nothing but affection for him even when he was vamped out and drinking down the red substance hungrily.

Buffy kept her distance when Spike fed, sitting on the other side of the room til he was done, but she was right by his side in a flash when Xander and Anya arrived. They had to stick together against the mean grown-ups.

"Hey, Little Buff" Xander smiled uncertainly at her as she stood at Spike’s side. The child vamp gave disturbingly evil looks for someone so small.

"I don’t like you" Buffy told her supposed friend, sticking out her tongue and turning her back on him. Spike did the same for the sake of five year old solidarity and Joyce sighed.

"Xander, what on Earth did you do to offend my daughter?" she asked the boy as he took a seat on the arm of the chair that Anya had placed herself in. Mrs Summers joined Giles on the couch once again.

"Er, well she was...it was nothing" he decided to say, thinking perhaps it was best not to mention that Buffy and Spike had found porn yesterday during his time looking after them. When Anya opened her mouth to fill in the blanks he gave her such a look that she closed it again immediately.

"So, G-man, hows that vision thing?" he asked, desperate to change the subject.

"No different I’m afraid" the Watcher sighed, "and you know Xander, just because I cannot see you does not make it any more acceptable for you to use that confounded name for me" he said with agitation, reaching for the tea cup that he knew must be somewhere on the table. Joyce noticed what he was trying to do and handed it to him. He thanked her with a smile.

"So I suppose now would be when we start researching spells to reverse everything Willow messed up?" Anya asked, "I mean a five year old Slayer is not exactly useful and frankly without your sight you’re pretty useless too" she told Giles matter-of-factly.

"Anya, I don’t think you’re helping" Joyce told her a little sternly as she aided the Watcher in placing his now empty tea cup back on the table. He smiled once more and she patted his knee before getting up to take the dishes to the kitchen.

"Buffy" Spike nudged her, eager to get her attention off whatever boring thing she was doing.

"Spike!" she complained as the pencil in her hand skidded off course, spoiling the picture she’d been drawing, "You messed up my picture!" she whined.

"I’ll help you do another one" he assured her, "but look!" he pointed at Giles and Joyce across the room as the woman patted the man’s knee before she stood up and left the room, "I think Mum likes Giles" he whispered like it was a big secret and Buffy made a face.

"I think they liked each other before" she tried to remember but found her jumbled memories, whilst becoming more clear now, no longer contained many things she felt they should.

"Grown ups only keep touching each other and smiling if they love each other" Spike said like it was some great fact that Buffy was too stupid to know and he was so intelligent for saying it. The mini Slayer was only half listening now as she turned over the paper she’d found and started her drawing over on the other side. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated hard.

"If grown ups love each other and touch each other a lot, then they have babies" she recited like she’d learnt every word exactly without really understanding it, "Oh" she gasped suddenly, non-drawing hand going straight to her mouth, "Mommy and Giles are gonna have a baby" she whispered and Spike looked fairly shocked at the revelation. Truth was, it wasn’t the fact Joyce might be having a baby made him gasp, it was finding out where babies came from in the first place...although he was fairly certain he used to know, once upon a time.

"If they have another baby and get married and everything" Buffy said, breaking his train of thought, "they won’t want us around anymore" she said sadly.

"Why not?" Spike frowned, sitting down beside her and watching her continue to draw her picture.

"Being married and having babies make you busy, like our old neighbour Miss Mason. She met a man, changed her name and had a baby. We didn’t see her much after that, she was always busy" she said with a sigh.

Spike was worried by this. He so enjoyed spending time with Buffy and Joyce, it was like he had a proper family again. It had been so long since he felt he belonged anywhere. He felt bad for Buffy too as he looked over at her and saw her trying not to cry, still a tear dripped onto her paper, smudging her second attempt at a picture. He put a hand on her arm and she looked over at him.

"If Joyce marries Giles, and they have a baby and get too busy for us" he told her solemnly, "I’ll marry you, and we can be busy on our own"

Buffy couldn’t help but smile at that as she nodded in agreement.

"Okay" she told him, before leaning over her picture and adding the finishing touch. She held it up for Spike to see and he frowned.

"What is it?" he asked and Buffy rolled her eyes.

"That’s me" she pointed to a funny little figure in a skirt, "and that’s you" she pointed to a similar figure next to that, this one in a coat like Spike’s, "and we’re in a big heart" she smiled as she showed him, "cos that means we’re gonna get married" she grinned.

"Buffy, Spike" Joyce called to the kids that sat on the other side of the room, "Didn’t I promise you both a fun day out today?" she smiled, and grins spread over both the mini Slayer and mini Vampires face at the reminder.

"Can we have ice-cream, Mommy?" was Buffy’s first question as she bounded over with Spike at her side.

"I’m sure we can" Joyce smiled, ruffling the little girls hair, as Xander made a face and looked away.

"Whatever’s the matter, Xander?" she asked him and Anya sighed heavily.

"It disturbs him to see Buffy and Spike holding hands" she explained, "It’s ridiculous really"

"Absolutely" Joyce agreed as the kids shared a look and shrugged because they didn’t see the problem, "Spike, sweetheart, pick up your blanket" she told him, before turning to Giles, "Rupert, we’ll be back by four, and Xander and Anya are going to stay to take care of you til then"

"Really, Joyce, I don’t need to be watched over like a baby" he told her, as she got up to leave, though he was truly touched by her concern.

"It’s no big, Giles" Xander cut in, "We need to be here with the books anyway, if we’re gonna reverse Will’s spell"

"Wouldn’t it just be easier to get her to do it?" Anya asked, "I mean, she finds people with her computer all the time, can’t we do that?"

"I do believe Willow left her computer last time she was here" Giles realised, "It’s on the coffee table over there, I think" he gestured in the rough direction that he thought it was in and Anya went to fetch the laptop.

"I’m not so much Net-guy, Giles" Xander frowned, "That was always Will’s thing"

"Perhaps Anya might try?" the Watcher suggested, "She can hardly make things worse by trying to locate Willow, or Oz whom she is chasing"

The boy shook his head.

"You don’t know Ahn like I do"

Joyce got Spike into the car and told him to stay down whilst they were on the road. Buffy was strapped in next and told to keep an eye on her friend.

"Where are we going, Mommy?" the little blonde asked as they hit the road. She leant in close to the blanketed form of Spike before adding, "Spike wants to know if it’s an indoor place"

"I think I know the perfect place for us to have fun" Joyce smiled as she glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Buffy put her head under the edge of the blanket.

"Spike trusts you to think of a good place, Mommy" she reported back, "and me too"

"Thankyou" the older woman almost laughed, "Both of you, I hope you’re not disappointed"

"Oh Spikey!" Buffy shrieked, as Joyce pulled into the parking lot and she looked up at the building in front of them, "The ice rink Spikey! We’re going skating!" she bounced up and down in her seat, alternating between clapping excitedly and peeking under Spike’s blanket to grin at him!

Joyce smiled to herself. She remembered when Buffy had really been five years old, and even older than that, she’d been so obsessed with Dorothy Hammil and ice skating. With the rink being indoors, in made for the perfect venue for Spike as well as Buffy, and Joyce silently congratulated herself on a decision well made.

Bundling the kids complete with blanket into the building she was only slightly surprised to see they were holding hands again within moments of entering. Still, she was just happy they were suddenly getting on so well and not fighting about anything and everything.

"Look Spikey!" Buffy pointed out across the ice to all the people already skating around, "Isn’t it pretty?"

The little vampire swallowed hard and squeezed the mini Slayer’s hand tighter til she yelled.

"Hey!" she shoved him in the shoulder and pulled her hand from his, "That hurts, Fang-face!" she complained, rubbing one hand with the other.

Joyce was paying and getting skates but she sighed when she heard the squeaky sound of Buffy’s angry-girl voice.

"What happened, sweetie?" she knelt down to her level and asked.

"Spike tried to break my hand" Buffy complained, showing Joyce the damage which was actually invisible. Spike rubbed his shoulder where he’d been shoved and looked daggers at the little Slayer.

"Now listen to me the both of you" Joyce told them in a low voice, holding onto one of their hands in each of hers, "Today is supposed to be fun but it won’t be if you two can’t behave. So I don’t wanna hear who started it or why, I just want you both to apologise and be friends again. Can you do that for me?"

"But..." both Buffy and Spike said together but the look on Joyce’s face made them stop and turn to each other.

"I’m sorry, Buffy" her companion said solemnly, reaching for her ‘damaged’ hand and kissing it better.

"I’m sorry too" she nodded, pulling him into a hug and Joyce was pleased to see it. She was slightly surprised however when she moved to stand up again and Buffy shyly asked;

"You’ll still marry me won’t you, Spikey?"

"Course, pet" he promised, "You’re still my favourite Slayer-bint" he smirked, looking so much like his older self it was almost scary.

"And you’re my favourite Fang-face boy" Buffy giggled as they resumed their hand holding and followed Joyce over to the seats to put on their skates.

- - - - - - -

"Oh, penis!" Anya complained, hitting the side of the computer screen in frustration.

"Ahn, maybe you should give it a break with the computer" Xander suggested, "How about some book reading, find a reversing spell or something?" he tried but her fingers began hammering at the keyboard once again.

"This shouldn’t be so hard" she said frustratedly, "Willow does it and it’s not like she’s a genius"

"Computer-wise, she actually kinda is" Xander told her and she gave him a nasty look for that.

"I am quite capable of working out how to use this machine" she insisted and her boyfriend sighed tiredly as he flipped open another spell book. Giles had been half asleep on the couch until now but Anya’s loud voice and smacking of the computer had soon brought him round.

"Xander?" he checked and the boy went to his side.

"Still here, Giles" he told him, "How’re those peepers of yours?"

"Sadly Xander, my magic-induced blindness is no better for my having slept" the Watcher snapped, immediately regretting having been so harsh, "I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so abrupt, but I can’t stand this, being useless..."

"I know how you feel" Xander sympathised, "I’m not doing so good with the spell find-age and Ahn..."

At that moment the lid of the laptop was flung down with a loud snap as Anya stormed over to the table, sat herself down and opened up a book without a word.

"And Ahn didn’t have so much luck with the Willow find-age either" he added quietly.

"This is hopeless" Giles shook his head, wishing he had his glasses on hand to polish, "I really can’t believe Willow could be so irresponsible"

"She was hurting so she did a little spell, I really don’t think she meant for any of this to happen" her friend defended her, though Giles already knew blame should not really be put on anyone. The young witch made a mistake, something that everyone did from time to time, it just so happened that hers had caused a chain reaction of problems.

"I suppose we must look on the upside" the older man decided, "I am not completely incapacitated, Buffy and Spike are safe with Joyce, and it seems your demon problems have ceased to be"

The sound of breaking glass made a liar of Giles as the face of a demon appeared where the living room window used to be.

"Spoke too soon" Xander said with some panic, yelling at Anya to grab the books and the computer and get out whilst he helped the blind Watcher.

"Where will we go?" Anya asked frantically as they flew out the door.

"We’ll know when we get there" was all Xander could give as an answer.

- - - - - - -

Spike stood by the wall at the edge of the ice rink, watching Buffy as she danced rings around even some of the adults out there. Joyce had given up on trying to stay with her, preferring to stand at the side with Spike when it became clear he was not at all comfortable on a pair of ice skates. Buffy it seemed grew bored of dancing by herself though and was eager for her little friend to join her.

"Did you see Mommy?" she grinned excitedly, "Did you see me when I twirled and I didn’t fall down?"

"I saw, honey" Joyce nodded, so happy to see her little girl so thrilled over simple things again. Monsters and slaying didn’t fill this child’s head, and it was a pleasant relief even if it was only temporary.

"Spikey, why won’t you come skate with me?" Buffy’s grin turned to a pout when she realised her companion still had a death grip on the wall. He just shook his head and swallowed hard as a couple flew past them at high speed.

"Are you scared, sweetie?" Joyce asked him and Spike was quick to deny it, even if that denial was an outright lie.

"Not scared of anything" he said indignantly and Buffy looked at him strangely, not quite accepting that as the truth.

"Then come on" she said, holding out her hand to him. He eyed it carefully then glanced up at her face.

"I won’t let go" she promised and cautiously Spike took his hand from the wall and reached out to Buffy who wrapped her fingers around his and held on tight. It took everything he had to dare to take his other hand off the wall, but when he did it and allowed himself to move across the ice it wasn’t half so scary as he thought it would be.

"See, Spikey. Skating is fun" Buffy told him with a giggle and he smiled back at her as they moved faster towards the opposite side of the rink. He was starting to believe her until his hand accidently slipped from hers and he went hurtling off to the side, only just managing to stay on his feet. Buffy tried to turn and check he was okay but completely lost her balance in the process. Joyce, who had walked around the outside of the rink, saw Buffy fly back towards her, until her back hit the wall right by where she waited.

"Oh sweetheart" her mother cried, reaching her arms over the side of the wall.

Buffy’s eyes had closed as she skidded back and hit the edge. Two arms reached down to grab her as a frightening scene shot through her mind. It was like intense deja vu as a demon-man hauled her off the ice and in her mind she saw a vampire come to her rescue, pain in her body, blood spilt on the surface of the rink.

She screamed.