Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Angel. That honour belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and company.

Authors note: Spoilers up to Chosen and Not Fade Away! Please read and review. Please note that the square mentioned in the story is a real place but due to artistic purposes some of the statues described are invented by me.

This story is dedicated to Sonya my dear cousin and friend who inspired this tale. Thanks hun.

Griffins, Warlocks and Slayers

Spike was bored and as anybody who knew the vampire would tell you, that was always a dangerous thing. The bleached blond vampire was furiously pacing the corridors of Wolfram and Hart. He never would have believed that he would have ended up hanging around in the offices of an evil law firm least of all with Angel, the magnificent poof. The only upside to this gig was that it afforded him the opportunity to irritate his grandsire. Spike's whole demeanour changed with the prospect of baiting the other vampire. He headed off in the direction of Angel's office whistling. The corridors of the law firm were almost completely empty but the chance that Angel was still about was quite good. After all as, Spike reflected, the elder vampire was too busy brooding to have much of an unlife. As he neared the office, his vampire enhanced hearing kicked in. He could hear Angel's voice drifting through the corridor. Spike peered in the window but Angel was oblivious to the fact that he was there. Angel was talking to somebody on the telephone.

"You know I would do anything for you" Angel vowed, "Of course I will be there. I will take the company plane tomorrow." Spike watched furious as Angel replaced the receiver. It had to be Buffy. Despite everything that they had said since that disaster in Rome and the first chance Angel got he was off to meet Buffy.

"I just knew that git did not mean it when he said he was moving on. I will show him!"

There was no way Spike was going to let Angel off alone to meet with Buffy. He was not going to be left behind.

The following evening, the private jet was sitting on the tarmac awaiting the arrival of the Wolfram and Hart CEO when Spike arrived. It was night so there was no threat of catching fire so the vampire was able to sneak onto the plane without much effort. Angel had not mentioned a thing but he was able to charm enough details from Harmony in order to find out when and how his grandsire would be travelling. He held a small rucksack in his hand containing a blanket, some whiskey and blood. He was not too enthused about the idea of flying and besides he needed some Dutch courage before he faced the Slayer. Last time he had been on his way he had been wrapped up in saving her from the Immortal to consider the prospect of actually talking to her and this time the fact that she actually asked Angel specifically to come did not fill him with much encouragement. He knew it was irrational to feel jealous as she probably did not even know he was around but still he was not known for acting in a rational manner especially when it came to Buffy Summers. He made himself comfortable for the journey and despite his best efforts to remain and vigilant and awake he fell asleep as they flew over the North Atlantic Ocean.

Spike awoke as the plane came to land. The vampire lingered back a little before he disembarked as after all he not want to reveal his presence just yet. He was surprised to see a sign declaring "Welcome to Birmingham". It was then that he realised that it was not Italy that they had flown into but his mother country.

"Bloody hell" he yelled causing a number of people nearby to stare at him. Had Angel tricked him? He headed back towards the plane and sniffed the air searching out the familiar scent of his grandsire. He was relieved when he caught the odour. Angel had definitely been here. He was not on a wild goose chase after all. The only problem was he had no idea where to start looking. He could follow his nose but it likely would not help especially if Captain Forehead had taken a taxi. Back in the days when he had been a quarter of the Scourge of Europe they had visited the city. He racked his brain trying to think of a place that would be a possible meeting spot. He decided that he ought to check the most famous tourist spots and he might get lucky.

It was in Victoria Square that Spike finally caught up with his quarry. His eyes swept one end of the square to the other and there Angel was standing by a water fountain with his hands in his pockets. The elder vampire seemed to be examining the statue and admiring the craftsmanship. It may have been beautiful but there was only one beauty that Spike was interested in seeing. There was no Buffy to be seen however and Spike frowned. He took a large sniff and could not detect any indication that she been here recently either. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had not missed her. She had not been here yet. He debated whether to keep hidden or to reveal his presence. He quickly decided to go with latter. He had done enough hiding for one day. He came out from behind a statue of a griffin and headed over to Angel.

"So care to tell me when the Slayer will be here?" he asked keeping an even tone.

"Spike!" Angel exclaimed noticing the other vampire for the first time.

"Not happy to see me, Grandpa?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Angel snarled.

"I could ask you the same thing" the younger vampire retorted, "Making secret plans with Buffy and keeping me out of the loop"

"Buffy? I did not come here for Buffy you idiot!" Angel roared exasperated.

"Well who else would you be swearing to doing anything for?" Spike retorted.

Angel suddenly realised that the bleached pest must have been listening into his phone call.

"You should not listen into other people's conversations but then again you never held much for common courtesy"

"See you are avoiding the question" Spike declared triumphant, "I am right."

"No as usual you are wrong. Faith asked me to come." Angel snapped.

Spike was taken aback.

"Oh" he replied.

The bell chimed ominously interrupting their thoughts and there was a loud noise as if something large was moving. Suddenly something loomed out from the shadows.

"A griffin!" Spike bellowed recognizing the familiar shape, "A bloody griffin in the middle of Birmingham! What the hell is going on?"

Angel opened his mouth to respond but had to roll out of the way instead in order to avoid the large talon of the griffin. Spike looked around the square and could see other creatures lumbering in the darkness. It was not until he spotted the large figure of a former Queen heading in their direction that he realised what must be happening.

"The statues are coming alive" he hollered at Angel, "We just need to smash them!"

They were being surrounded by the stone monsters and took up a defensive position back to back.

"This is your fault!" Angel roared at Spike.

"How you twit? How could this possibly be all my fault?"

"I do not know how but I know it is your fault"

Spike rolled his eyes but he did not have much time for a rejoinder as the griffin like creature made another swipe and the effigy of Queen Victoria attempted to hit him with her sceptre. Angel took the opportunity to grab a sportsbag at his feet and pulled two swords throwing one to his besieged grandchilde. Spike took the sword gratefully but he could not help but feel an axe would make a much better weapon than a sword on a block of stone. The two vampires slashed through the air at their stone enemies but not making much progress. The fetching statue of the woman that Angel had previously been admiring was doing almost as formidable job as the griffin.

"Any chance you have a rock hammer in that bag of goodies?" Spike asked Angel desperately.

"No" Angel replied swinging his sword at the griffin and connecting with its head..

"Paper, then?" Spike asked abandoning his sword and grabbing the head and flinging it at the statue of the naked lady. He felt a sense of achievement when the stone cracked and he threw himself at the statue to finish the job. This was the stuff.

"I have no idea what you are on about!" Angel replied following Spike's lead in using the remnants of the defeated statues to pelt those advancing on them, "How about you shut the hell up!"

"I always hated Paper, Rock, Scissors." Spike continued, "The niblet loved it though so I always had to let her win."

The tide was turning in their direction and Spike was loving every minute. Just then the statue of the Queen managed to catch him unawares and belted him with her sceptre. He was about to jump back up into the fray when he was joined by a familiar figure. The statue of the Queen exploded from the force of a god-kings blow.

"Hey, you just smashed Queen Victoria!" roared Spike feeling an untimely sense of patriotism. Illyria merely tilted her head in confusion.

"Do you wish to perish? You forget your responsibilities. It would be rather inconvenient. You serve as a good pet"

"I am not your damn pet your overgrown smurf" Spike muttered but the old one was back in fray and did not hear his murmur. Spike shook off her irritation and threw himself back into the fight. He really missed the feeling of euphoria which accompanied a good brawl. He was in danger of going soft. Getting involved in the dealing of Angel and his gang was not giving him enough violence. With Illyria on their side it did not take long for the trio to defeat the remaining statues. This was not before Angel managed to accidently on purpose impale Spike with the Queen's sceptre. He had been finishing off one of the smaller statues when Spike in his excitement had gotten in the way and his grandsire had gleefully taken advantage of the fact.

"You did it on purpose!" Spike accused pulling the sceptre from his chest while Angel just grinned mischievously. The younger vampire was sore but elated. A little thing like getting impaled even on purpose could not ruin his cheer.

"That was fun!" Spike declared, "Can we do it again?"

There was a boyish grin on his face. Angel glared at his grandchilde. Spike simply whooped in response much to Angel's chagrin. The three were exhausted and were sitting on the ground recovering when Faith Lehane's voice interrupted them and the trio rose to their feet.

"Looks like you brought reinforcements" Faith said indicating her head towards Spike and Illyria. It was not until she got closer that she noticed that the lithe figure she had taken for someone who looked a little like the fallen vampire they had left behind in the Sunnydale hellmouth. Her mouth formed an o with surprise when she realised that it actually was Spike.

"I really hope Buffy whales on your ass when she finally discovers you are undead again but having said that Blondie I am glad to see you man"

Spike was stunned as she embraced him warmly. Angel coughed to bring the two back to the situation on hand.

"Are you going to tell us exactly what is going on here?" he asked a little irritated. The sound of police sirens rang through the square and suddenly the dark haired slayer was all business.

"Lets go, there's a quiet bar nearby" she ordered ushering them away from square. She looked behind her and there were two girls with her that they had not noticed earlier. "Witches I'd wager" Spike thought.

"Take care of this, ladies" she demanded and he was proved right when the two quickly went to work restoring the statues to their former unanimated glory. They soon reached the pub in question. Faith turned to Illyria curiously and offered her hand.

"I am Faith" she prompted when there was no response.

"I am Illyria, God-king and I do not shake hands with mere humans" the old one declared, "I shall go now but shall return with you to Los Angeles. I go weary of this city already".

As Illyria left, Faith turned to the two vampires for an explanation.

"It's not just you pet. She is like that with everyone" Spike reassured her.

Faith shook her head sadly.

"I knew who she was but well it is weird knowing that was what was killed Fred"

"You knew Fred" Spike said surprised, "She was a great bird."

"I would not say knew her exactly but I had met her" Faith corrected his mistake.

The three of them silently reflected for a moment on the bubbly scientist. It was Spike who broke the silence.

"So how did Blue end up here?" Spike asked Angel, "I can't imagine her stowing away quietly.

"I brought her on the jet" the elder vampire answered.

Spike raised his brows in surprise and turned to Faith.

"So pet care to tell a fella why he found himself fighting statues?" he asked.

"There's this mage. He goes by the name of Ethan Rayne.." Faith began but was soon interrupted by Spike.

"Ethan Rayne" Spike smirked, "I have always wanted to buy him a drink."

Both Faith and Angel starred at him.

"He turned Rupert into a Fyarl demon once" Spike explained his voice taking on a reminiscing tone.

Angel rolled in his eyes but Faith laughed.

"He also turned Sunnydale's children into a pack of monsters so that shows how dangerous he is" Angel reminded him.

"Our man has been using the spell as a distraction while the local criminals are getting in some action and robbing the joint." Faith explained.

"Bugger, why didn't I think of that when I was evil!" Spike lamented.

"That was my first thought too!" Faith said smiling, "Anyway we managed to capture him but he had already sold instructions for the spell to some local criminals. They were planning on robbing a museum so they activated the spell in Victoria Square hoping to distract us but you guys took care of that and we managed to lock them inside and called the cops."

"Is the Council of Wankers now taking on police work as well, pet" Spike asked. Faith simply grinned in response.

"If we want to get back to the jet before first light, we need to be leaving now" Angel said to Spike. He got up and hugged Faith and she thanked him. She turned to Spike then as Angel hurried out the door. She hugged him for a second time that night.

"Nice to see you again, pet" Spike said

"It is none of my business but I hope you are planning on telling B" Faith whispered in his ear, "I know she can be a bitch but she deserves to know why the man who was over her like a rash in Sunnydale is keeping his distance now."

Spike did not get a chance to reply as his grandsire had come back in the door.

"Do you want a lift or not?" Angel demanded.

"I'm coming" Spike replied and rushed out the door but not before Faith passed a piece of paper into his hand.

"Thanks" he said over his shoulder.

He did not open the piece of paper til he got to the jet and Angel was occupied. Sure enough it was what appeared to be Buffy's address and phone number. Faith had scribbled "Call her Blondie!" on the top of the page. He was confused as it appeared that Buffy was living in Scotland now instead of Rome. Faith's words rung in his head. Buffy may have a right to know but he had obligations in LA now and there was trouble brewing. He could feel it in his bones. He was needed back there for now. There were bad things coming and maybe when it was all over then he could call Buffy and hope she would not stake him then and there.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Constructive criticism is welcome. I am not entirely happy but I figured I had better post or I never would. Thanks for reading.