Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters of BTVS. I am not making any money off of this fic. Please don't sue me.

Challenge details at the end.

by Jackofspikes

A/N: The term Wonder Twins for Xander and Willow was coined by and will be used with the permission of AtheneHahn.


Chapter 11.

In the wee small hours of the night on Revello Drive, a sleeping green empath demon was rudely awakened by loud and insistent hammering on the front door. Slowly sitting up, he was chagrined to note his relief that he wasn't going to be the one answering the door when a disheveled and disgruntled watcher marched down the stairs.

Mumbling all the while, Giles unlocked the door and swung it open. "Pray tell what you are doing here at four a.m., Angel?" He all but snarled at the hulking brunette vampire.

Instinctively stepping back from the furious watcher, Angel replied earnestly; "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important Giles. You know how much Buffy and I mean to each other. I wouldn't cause her pain by choice.

Willow and Xander called me, I know she's back and I know she came back wrong. I'm here to help, Giles." Giles mentally rolled his eyes and bit back his anger at being unnecessarily woken.

"Yes Angel, Buffy is indeed back. No, she didn't come back wrong, and therefore, does not require your assistance. In the future, perhaps you could try to visit at a more appropriate time, thus ensuring that you don't wake people out of a sound sleep for no bloody reason." The watcher hissed.

"But Giles, she has to have come back wrong...she mated with Spike!" Angel responded, urgency intermingled with whine.

Giving the vampire a hard glare, Giles mildly replied, "She wasn't mated to Spike when she went to bed tonight, Angel. Why would you think she was?"

"Ah...Cordy has visions..."Angel stumbled.

"Yes...and?" Giles replied, his features carefully schooled.

"Well, that's how I know." Angel stated cautiously.

"Because, Cordelia has visions?" At Angel's hesitant nod of conformation, Giles clarified, "So you are saying that Buffy and Spike are mated and you know this because Cordelia has visions. One would assume, she told you this. Is that correct, Angel?" Angel again nodded in conformation.

"When did she have this vision, Angel? And when were you informed?" Giles' bland demeanor was beginning to unsettle the large vampire.

"Ah...just after Xander and Willow's call." Giles just stared at the vampire for a moment.

"Good night, Angel" he said with finality, as he moved slightly to the right to reveal an extremely pissed off Cordelia Chase.

"Cordy, I..." was all he got out before the door slammed in his face.

*******

"I'm wearin' a skirt, Slayer! Don't tell me to bloody well calm down! I'm wearing a bloody skirt!" The blond vampire panicked.

"I'm telling you, it's just what they wear in this realm. There's no need to get all upset." Buffy patiently explained to her agitated mate.

"IT'S A BLOODY SKIRT!!" He cried out in dismay.

"And it looks lovely on you too, dear"

Buffy giggled and Spike let out a very unmanly 'eep' as he jumped behind Buffy, placing his hands on her shoulders as if to hold her in place.

"Hi, mom."

*******

Giles reentered Buffy's room, scratching his head as he yawned, his body exhausted. As he neared the bed, he stiffened, the hairs on the back of his neck standing. Giles got the distinct impression he was being watched.

Turning slowly towards the window, where a large dark shadow appeared, Giles took a step back in momentary trepidation. Breathing out a sigh of relief and irritation when he realized the shadow was Angel.

Taking note of Angel's slightly green complexion, the painfully sick little chagrined smile on his face and the pathetic little wave he was giving the watcher. Giles deftly closed the curtains before making his way back to bed.

"Pillock." He grumbled, tossing a blanket over the window for good measure.

*******

"So...let me get this straight...you die. You go to heaven, but you make such a noise about the Powers-That-Like-To-Mess-With-Everybody, that you get booted upstairs to see the Big Boss, who promptly decides that you have great spirit and hires you to be Its bloody gopher. Making you act as go-between for Itself, the Powers and the Guardians." Spike summarized, still safely sheltered behind Buffy.

"Yep." Joyce grinned. Spike mused that her resemblance to her daughter, in giddy high school mode, was truly amazing.

"And you're here to tell us what's goin' on." Spike questioned further; "With none of that cryptic rubbish, that helps no one."

"I am...but first, I want a hug from my favorite vampire." She opened her arms, expectantly.

"But Mum...I'm in a bloody skirt." Said vampire whined, dropping his head onto his mate's shoulder, in embarrassment.

*******

Angel stalked the halls of the old mansion. Stopping as an idea would come to him, then shaking his head angrily and resuming his walk as each idea was dismissed. The same questions and thoughts playing over and over in his head: How did Buffy get back? Where was she? What happened to make Buffy come back so WRONG? She's mated to Spike! The claim had always worked, so why didn't it work this time? Why did Giles say there was nothing wrong with Buffy? It's Spike! Spike's an evil soulless demon, don't they KNOW that?! It's Spike!

Angel froze in a moment of epiphany. "It's Spike, Spike did this. I KNOW Spike did this. God DAMMIT SPIKE. I'll kill you for this." Angel's rage knew no bounds. Motivated by fury, he searched the mansion for weapons.

*******

"Everybody has a path to follow and while you may not understand the larger picture, the part each of us play, is important." Joyce began. "Most of the people in the original dimension didn't get the opportunity to complete their parts because of Angel's actions. It's now your job to see that those people get their chance."

"How, mom?" Buffy asked.

"By working together to ensure that nothing evil gets an opportunity to take over the new dimension too. Balance must be restored." Joyce told them, gravely. "You're abilities can easily be focused to do this, but you need to watch for potential problems."

"So we just like, hold hands and focus?" Buffy interpreted, disbelieving.

"More likely, focus through the bond, luv." Spike smiled at his mate, Joyce nodding in agreement.

"Okay...sooo what I meant." Buffy retorted, disgruntled.

*******

"Angel, are you here?" Willow called out loudly, on entering the mansion.

"Of course he's here, his car's out front and it's daylight, isn't it." Xander snipped. "The question is, why is he here? Shouldn't he be at Buffy's, fixing what ever's wrong with her? It's why we called him in the first place."

"What happened?" Angel ground out from behind them.

Jumping in unexpected shock, both spun around to face the fuming vampire. Willow's 'eep' drowned out by Xanders response, "Aargh...don't DO that, deadboy. Haven't you got a bell you can wear, or something?"

"Don't call me that, Harris." Swinging between irritation and anger, Angel then repeated his original question. "Now, what happened?"

"It's not our fault. We thought Buffy was in a hell dimension, so I did a spell to get her out and it worked. It really worked and she came back but she was all angry and mean and really big with the meanness and all we did was try to help and now I have no magick and I can't fix it, because that would be of the good, cause it's all really bad and...and...and Buffy was really mean." Willow finished off, breathing heavily.

"Okay...so you did a spell to bring her back. So what exactly, did Spike do to mess up the spell?"

"Spike? The bleached menace wasn't involved with the spell. He didn't even know that we were doing it." Clearly confused at where Angel had come up with the idea of Spikes involvement, Xander took a moment to think. Jumping up an down and from one foot to the other while pointing his finger out towards Angel, Xander disclosed his epiphany , "Ooh...ooh...ooh, he was all quiet and not insulting and Spike NEVER misses a chance to be all insulting. He must know something. He probably did something. I KNEW that bastard couldn't be trusted!"

*******

After discovering all the new abilities that they now shared, the two champions were returned to their bed. Giving her naked mate a slow once over, Buffy asked innocently, "So, would you have preferred mom to see you in what you had on, or what you don't have on now?"

Spike's look of horror was a Kodak moment.