8

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Angel or Buffy, I just take them out to play from time to time.

Who Could Ask for Anything More?

Sweet Dreams

In another dimension, a high-level conference was taking place.

"It has been a number of years since she arrived," said the Ram. "And we still have no idea who or what Rose Powers is."

"In all this time she has not aged as much as a single day," the Hart remarked. "Nor were we ever able to determine how she and Spike were able to breed, unless it was entirely engineered by.., Them." The last word was said as though it left a foul taste in the creature's mouth.

The Wolf sniffed. "Let us not speak of the benighted Powers. Unless it was they also that orchestrated Rose and Spike's little dance of corporeality and non-corporeality." It paused in thought for a moment. "Does the word 'dance' suggest anything to you? As a way of finding out that which we wish to know?"

The Ram bared its teeth in what might have been a grin. "It does indeed." It looked to the Hart.

"Summon Sweet," it agreed. "Even if he fails to obtain the desired information, the ensuing chaos should be amusing."

"He will require a bride as part of his price," the Wolf reminded them. "Whom do we offer him? Our liaison?"

"No," the Ram replied. "Offer him the vampire girl."

&&&&&&

Mutiny.

"We're thirteen now," Ariel pointed out, pouting.

"We don't need a blo.., a babysitter," Alaric added, scowling, but still remembering to watch his language in front of his mother.

"When are you going to start treating us like adults?" Ariel's voice just missed being a whine.

"We'll start treating you like adults when you start bloody well acting like them," Spike snapped, losing his temper. That had been happening fairly frequently lately.

Rose sighed. She'd been doing a lot of that lately. Ever since the children had passed their thirteenth birthday, they seemed determined to question and argue with everything their parents said or did. Especially in regards to them. "It's not that we don't trust you," she said soothingly, and, surprisingly enough, for Rose, not entirely truthfully. "But it's for your protection."

"We're vampires, Mum," Alaric reminded her unnecessarily. Most of Rose's cooking was for herself again. Aside from the occasional snack, the twins were on a liquid diet now. "We're a lot stronger than humans, and a lot of demons."

"And we've been learning to fight since we were nine," Ariel chimed in. Angel had managed to piss off both parents with that one.

"We can kick anything or anyone's ass," Alaric bragged.

"Alaric, your language," Rose moaned futilely. It had been a losing battle from the beginning, but she still hadn't conceded defeat.

"That's exactly the kind of attitude that will get your ass kicked," Spike declared firmly. He had been going to try to stay out of things and let Rose handle it, she could usually make the twins see reason without losing her temper. But it obviously wasn't working this time. He had a sudden thought, and slipped off his jacket. "Okay, prove it."

"Prove what?" Alaric had a sinking feeling that his mouth was getting him into trouble.., again.

Rose was about to open her mouth to protest, but then decided that much as she disliked the idea, it might be the only way to get through to her increasingly wayward offspring. She resigned herself to losing some breakables though.

Spike gave his son an evil grin. "Prove that you can take care of yourself as well as you say you can. If you can kick my ass, then no babysitter."

"Just me?" Alaric asked, a hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice. "Or both of us?"

Spike considered. Adding his daughter to the equation gave him a disadvantage. She just looked so much like her mum. "All right, both of you," he conceded. "But not in here," he added as they began to move to flank him. "We're not trashing the place just to prove a point."

"The practice room takes forever to get to," Ariel protested. While she was starting to think that this particular showdown had been a bad idea, she knew that Daddy wouldn't really hurt them any more than Uncle Angel did when they were training. But still..,

"Plenty of room in the lobby," Spike conceded. "And it is a little closer than the practice room."

&&&&&&

"What happened to you two?" The first thing Angel noticed when the twins walked in his door was the bruises, of which both kids had an ample supply.

"Ask him," Ariel replied, going and snuggling into her uncle's arms. She was feeling in need of a little comfort right now. "It was his bright idea."

"You backed me up," Alaric said accusingly. He rubbed a sore shoulder. Those marble pillars were hard.

Ariel gave him a look and gave a little sniff. "All I can say is, I'd hate to go up against Daddy if he was trying to hurt us," she grumbled.

"Your father did this to you?" Angel was stunned. The kids had been being a pair of royal pains lately, true, but it was just a phase. And he knew that Spike loved his kids to distraction.

"He said if we could kick his ass we wouldn't have to have a babysitter," Alaric explained, wandering out into the kitchen. They might not eat as much solid food as they used to, but they were teenagers, with the requisite ungodly metabolisms. "I thought the two of us together ought to be able to do it."

Angel sighed as he and Ariel followed Alaric. "Your Dad has been fighting a whole lot longer than the two of you," he pointed out. "Did you really think you could take him?"

Alaric reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle which Angel immediately confiscated. "You're too young to be drinking beer," he scolded his godson. "And don't try to tell me that your parents allow you to, because I'm not buying that one."

"But when is everybody going to stop treating us like we're five years old?" Ariel groused. She elbowed her brother out of the way and peered into the refrigerator. "Don't you have any diet soda, Uncle Angel?"

"What do you need diet soda for?" Angel didn't understand that. Ariel was the image of Rose, who, to the best of his knowledge had never had to watch her figure, but had remained wand slim, even after the twins had been born. Not to mention which, a vampire's diet didn't generally lead to excess weight. He deliberately didn't answer his goddaughter's first question.

"Never mind," she sighed, pulling some root beer out of the fridge. "What are we doing tonight?"

"I got a couple of new dvds," Angel said. "And I've got popcorn too."

The twins rolled their eyes at each other. They really did not want to spend another night watching pg movies with their uncle, much as they loved him. Maybe if they could get Uncle Angel to start treating them like adults, their parents would follow suit.

"We've been feeling kind of cooped up lately," Alaric said cautiously. "Couldn't we go out to see a movie, Uncle Angel? After all, we're going to be starting to go to regular school soon, we ought to get used to being around other people." He silently congratulated himself on that particular ploy. Adults were always so much more malleable when they thought you were trying to improve yourself.

Angel considered. He had a feeling that he was being played, but he wasn't sure just what was on the kids' agenda yet. "I'll get the paper and see what's playing," he agreed.

&&&&&&

"You rang?" Sweet brushed a microscopic piece of lint off his shining lapel. The senior partners hadn't had to use the same spell most people did. The difference between their spell and the one that was usually used was the difference between being handed a live hand grenade just before it exploded and having time to throw it. Now he just had to find out where they were going to throw him, as it were.

"Our resources say that you are quite adept at gathering information," the Ram stated. After all, that was the main reason they had summoned the demon.

Sweet gave them a mocking half-bow. "It does seem to work out that way," he acknowledged modestly. "I must assume then, that you want some very specific information."

"We do," the Wolf replied. "But before we turn you loose, we thought it would be prudent to find out the parameters of your sphere of influence."

"I usually say, the more the merrier," Sweet answered. "But I can narrow down the field if you're looking for something particular. That is, if you're willing to meet my price."

"Your price will be met," the Hart assured him. "As for the place, could you confine your activities strictly to our L.A. law offices?"

"Just the one building?" Sweet was a little disappointed. He didn't get out too much, and liked to cause as much mayhem as he possibly could when he did. "You do realize that you'll probably lose a few employees."

"We consider the loss acceptable," the Wolf said as if the employees were of no moment. And indeed, in the eyes of the senior partners, a few employees more or less weren't.

"And my bride?" Even after all these years, missing out on the Slayer's sister still stung. Sweet was determined not to get burned that way again.

"Behold." The Ram made a gesture, and an illusion of a young girl appeared.

"She's a little young," Sweet murmured. A luscious looking tidbit for all that, though. "Luckily, I happen to like them young." He thought a moment. "She'll need the amulet."

The Hart nodded. "It is being attended to, even as we speak." The senior partners had set that part of the plan in motion even before summoning the demon. If he had proved unwilling, it would cause no harm, not that they particularly cared about that.

"You do realize that I can't promise that the information you want will come out," Sweet warned. He'd heard of the senior partners and their methods, who hadn't? And he thought it prudent to warn them before they decided to take out any possible hard feelings on them. "I just light the fuse. I can't guarantee when the bomb will explode." He gave a little laugh at his simile.

"Concentrate your efforts on the senior staff," the Ram directed. The senior partners had agreed that Angel's little inner circle were almost all certainly privy to the information they sought.

"Sounds like it's a deal then," Sweet conceded.

&&&&&&

"Loosen up a bit, babe," Spike wheedled. Rose had never been so distracted when they were on the dance floor before, and it was taking a little of the shine out of his evening. "I was very careful not to hurt them other than a few bumps and bruises. They've done worse to themselves." He planted a kiss on top of her head. "Part of the reason for our nights out is to give us a break from the little demons. It doesn't work if you spend the whole time thinking about them."

Rose looked up at her husband and smiled. He was so handsome that he took her breath away, even though they'd been together for years. "Actually, I was worrying about Angel," she admitted. "He's.., he's not very firm with them."

"You mean he spoils them rotten," Spike corrected her. "His problem. You haven't heard him say he wants off the babysitting roster yet, have you?" He nuzzled at her ear. "Don't we have better things to do than to discuss how my poncey grandsire handles the kids?"

"I'm sorry, darling." Rose snuggled into him. "They've just become so.., willful lately. They've got to know that we're doing what we think is best for them. All they have to do is look in our minds."

"I don't think they do that too much anymore," Spike replied thoughtfully as he led her back to thier table. If Rose was going to insist on discussing the kids, and she obviously was, then they might as well be comfortable. "Anymore, I think all they do is give new people a quick once over and leave it at that."

"I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong." Rose knew that remark would probably prompt Spike to scold her, but she just couldn't help but feel that the change in the children's demeanor was her fault.

But Spike didn't scold. Instead, he took one of Rose's hands in his and looked into her eyes. "You're not doing anything wrong, pet," he said softly. "You're an absolutely wonderful mum, just like I said you'd be." Serious as he was, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He was so proud of her that sometimes he could hardly stand it. "It's just a phase, luv, that's all. Most teenagers go through it."

"Really?" Rose looked immensely relieved. "But how do we deal with it? You can't keep beating them up."

"We just go on live we've been doing," Spike replied firmly. "We set the limits and make them stick to them whether they like it or not." She still looked way too serious for his tastes though. This one night out a month had become even more necessary to his mental health since the twins had entered this particular phase. "Cheer up, babe. It won't last forever."

"As precocious as those two are, I'm surprised they didn't got through this phase when they were five," Rose remarked with a half smile. No matter what was troubling her, Spike always made her feel better.

Spike grinned back, glad to see her perking up. Maybe the evening out wouldn't be a total loss after all. "This one didn't hit early because you can't rush puberty, sweetheart." He pulled his chair away from the table. "You ready to dance some more?"

&&&&&

"Out of the question," Angel said as firmly as he could manage. "That film has an R rating."

"But we're very grown-up for our age," Ariel pointed out. "Everyone says so."

"What's in there that we haven't already been exposed to?" Alaric inquired. "Violence? We do live at Wolfram and Hart, so that's old news to us. "Bad language?" He gave his uncle a look that said volumes. Anything Spike hadn't said out loud, they'd long since picked out of his mind. "And as for sex..,"

"I really don't want to know how much you know about sex," Angel interrupted. He knew that they'd telepathically listened in on their parents love-making when they were small. He doubted that there was much they didn't know about the subject. Which didn't mean that he wanted to have his suspicions confirmed.

"Then we can go?" Ariel asked hopefully, giving Angel eyes for all she was worth. Uncle Angel always caved after a dose of eyes.

"No," Angel repeated. "If it's higher than PG-13, forget it. Now either pick something suitable or we'll just turn around and go back home."

'Is he kidding?' The twins might not read other people's minds as much as they used to, but they were usually in telepathic rapport with each other.

'I don't think so.' That was Alaric. 'When Uncle Angel says no, it usually means no.'

'Maybe we could give Uncle Angel the slip and go by ourselves.' Ariel was actually rather proud of the idea.

'That wouldn't be that hard,' Alaric conceded grudgingly. 'But what would be the first thing Uncle Angel would do when he couldn't find us?'

'Look for us?' Ariel suggested, but even in mind-talk, there was a feel that she didn't really believe it.

'How about calling Mum and Dad?' Alaric asked. 'Do you want to have to face Dad after we've interrupted his night out with Mum?'

Ariel gave a mental shudder at the thought. 'PG-13?'

&&&&&&

Sweet considered as to just where he should set up shop. Near to the action, that went without saying. Out of the way, but accessible for that seemingly inevitable final confrontation.

He thought of the roof of the law firm, but only briefly. Hell of a view, and being in southern California meant that the weather wasn't much of a factor. But he decided against it. Too far away from the fun. He wanted to see it and hear it so well that he could do the dances and whistle the tunes.

He finally found himself an empty office somewhere in the middle of the building. Despite the fact that it was as scrupulously clean as the rest of the place, Sweet had a distinct feeling that this particular office hadn't been used in quite a while.

"Could use a few homey touches," Sweet mused aloud. "Definitely a bit on the utilitarian side." He gave a short laugh. "But I guess it will have to do." His eyes suddenly gleamed with mischief.

"It's show time."

&&&&&&

Ariel was finding sleep to be elusive tonight. For some reason her mind just kept focusing on one thing and wouldn't veer away from it for anything. She couldn't even work it out by discussing it with her brother. It had been niggling at her for weeks now, and maybe a bit more than a simple little niggle, but the one time she had mentioned it to Alaric, his reaction had been such that she had backed away from the subject with a hasty fib that she had just been joking. Alaric had been sufficiently disturbed that he hadn't looked into her mind to any further on the topic.

Ariel though, was in love, or an unreasonable facsimile thereof, and she wasn't sure if it was merely that she was in love that bothered her twin, or the object of her affections.

With a sigh she snuggled down under the covers and thought about him. The way he looked, the sound of his voice, his scent, how good it felt to be held in those strong arms of his and how safe she felt with him. True, she wasn't sure the feelings were reciprocated, yet. In fact, she was still pretty certain that he still thought of her as a kid. But that would change. Soon, he would see that she was a woman and respond to her as such.

One last sigh, then Ariel cuddled up to her pillow, calling up the image of him in her mind's eye and willing herself to dream sweet dreams about him.

About Angel.