Part 3 : Explanation of sorts
"Spike please explain this for us." Giles asked wearily when they
all had settled after the uproar that had been created with the book
and Spike falling to the floor laughing as soon as he realized
Xander had been turned into a baby. They were sitting around the
table, Tara seemed her calm self as usual, and Buffy seemed
confused, as did Giles. Willow on the other hand looked ashamed;
just not because this mess apparently was her fault but also for
standing up and shouting ¢Shut up¢ to everyone when the room had
exploded in questions in the wake Spike's fit of laughter. Dawn
took it all in strides and actually given up the baby to Spike who
was sitting down, carefully cradling Xander.
The sight of a vampire, the Big Bad, so carefully cradling an infant
and looking happy to do it, was a mindboggling sight for most of the
occupants in the room.
"Spike?" the watcher tried again when the vampire failed to answer,
seeming too occupied with staring at the baby in his arms.
"What?" Spike finally responded.
"An explanation if you please. " It was not a question; Giles was at
the end of his patience with this situation.
"Oh.. Right.. What is it you want to know then? Because what has
happened seems pretty obvious don't you think watcher?"
Giles rolled his eyes. "Start with the book; what kind of book is
it, why were you afraid we'd used it and how come *you* own a book
like that and perhaps you have a theory on what went wrong?"
"Oi!" Spike exclaimed, startling the baby who began to whine a bit,
the vampire immediately looked apologetic and started a soft rocking
motion again to get Xander to calm down. When Spike spoke again it
was in a very low, calm voice. "*I* was *not* afraid!"
"It doesn't matter Spike, " Giles said exasperated, "Please tell
your tale and hopefully we'll figure out a way to fix this."
Spike snorted. "I doubt any of you would be able to fix this but
I'll tell you a bit about the book anyway."
"The book is, as Red obviously has figured out, a potions book. A
powerful wizard and potions master gave it to me about 20 years ago.
We were close, very close." A dreamy look came upon the vampire's
face and he seemed lost in memories for a few moments before he
shook it off and continued.
"The potions are powerful and sometimes quite difficult to get
right. Precision is very important. I can think of a few things that
may be the reason Red's experiment went wrong. She doesn't have the
right kind of magic or she didn't make the potion *exactly* the way
the book said. Wrong measurements, wrong time intervals, ingredients
that were substituted. Any of those guaranties a faulty potion."
Baby Xander chose this moment to make some unhappy noises and the
vampire was alert at once. He got up off his chair, motioned for
Dawn to follow him and started walking towards the door.
"Dawn and I will take the baby to the whelp's place, Anya is
probably there and this baby needs to be fed and changed." He said
over his shoulder before turning to Dawn and asking her if she had
all the baby things. She nodded and with a ¢Have fun finding out
what went wrong.¢, Spike and Dawn left the Magic Box with the baby.
Giles, Willow and Buffy sent confused and stunned looks towards the
door before turning to each other. Tara smiled.
Buffy was the first to speak.
"Did we just leave Xander in Spike's care? Did the Big Bad just
leave this shop with a baby in his arms with the intentions of
feeding and changing it?" she asked, obviously having trouble
wrapping her mind around this astonishing fact.
The other three just nodded, not quite knowing what to say about
this development.
******
"Shouldn't we have stayed and helped them with research?" Dawn asked
as they got outside.
"Nah, they'll manage." Spike answered as he tried to wrap the
blanket even tighter around the baby. The sun had just set and he
was a bit worried about the baby getting chilled. Humans were so
fragile, infants even more so.
Dawn smiled at the image of the vampire fretting over a baby, she'd
known Spike could be very caring so it wasn't really a big surprise,
just a bit unexpected; after all the baby was Xander and Spike
wasn't known for his love of the whelp as he often called Xander.
What really boggled her mind was the obvious contentment the baby
showed in the vampire's arms. Xander had made it very clear that he
hated vampires. She thought maybe it was the purring that had
started every time the baby made some unhappy noises. She didn't
think anyone else had noticed, you couldn't really hear it, but
she'd seen the vibrations in Spike's chest.
"You like babies don't ya you big softie?" she asked with obvious
amusement in her voice.
Spike started to look offended but a glance down at the baby wiped
that expression off his face.
"Not really, they're such a small mouthful." He said jokingly.
Dawn hit him on the arm. "I didn't means as food you moron."
"I know. No, I don't really like babies but right now the whelp
reminds me of another baby I met once. Something about the way he
feels, like he's got magic. The other baby was a wizard; sort of
Sev's nephew."
"Sev?"
"Yeah, the wizard who gave me the book."
Something in his voice and the way he smiled every time he mentioned
this wizard made her ask.
"This Sev was special for you huh?"
"Yeah, yeah he was."
They walked towards Xander's apartment in silence; both lost in
their own thoughts.
"You know," Spike said as they came to the entrance of Xander's
building. "If the watcher is unable to find a way to fix this, I
could take the baby and try and find Sev. If anyone can fix this, he
can."
Dawn nodded. "Good idea, think we should keep that in mind."
They went inside. As they were climbing the stairs Spike thought of
something.
"Little bit, has anyone told demon girl what happened?"
"Oops…"
"Thought so. Well she's certainly in for a surprise."
"Yeah."
With that they knocked on the door, hoping Anya wouldn't too angry
at the chain of events.
******
"So Giles, what do we do now?" Buffy asked as soon as they had got
over their shock of them leaving a baby in Spike's care.
"First we need to find out exactly what Willow did, which means we
have to go over the recipe with a fine teethed comb."
Giles motioned for Willow to come sit next to him so they could go
through the recipe together. Willow slowly got up; she looked even
more ashamed than earlier.
"What is it Willow?"
"I.. I think I know what went wrong." She said hesitantly.
"Well? Tell us."
"You know what Spike said about substituting?" Everyone nodded.
"Well, I may have substituted fairy dust with elf dust."
"Willow!" Giles was ready to roll his eyes at such an elementary
mistake.
"I know, I know. One really shouldn't substitute ingredients, but I
really thought it would be OK, fairies and elves are practically the
same aren't they?"
This time Giles did roll his eyes, but it was Tara who answered.
"No honey, they aren't the same even though they have similar
magical qualities when used in spells or potions."
Giles smiled at the blond witch. "Tara is right. If I remember
correctly, elf dust is more concentrated than fairy dust and that
should explain why the potion still worked as a youth potion, just
so much stronger thus making Xander younger than intended."
"But it'll still wear off after 48 hours right?" Buffy asked.
"I honestly do not know Buffy. We can only hope."
"This.. This might be permanent?" Willow's voice sounded small and
fearful.
Giles sighed and answered sadly. "Not permanent per se, Xander will
grow up, it's just a question of how fast it'll happen. Or so I
think."
"Oh God, what have I done?" Tears were once again threatening to
spill from the red headed witch's eyes. This time it was Tara who
moved to offer some comfort.
"It'll be OK, Willow. We will find a way to fix this." Buffy said
confidently and looked at Giles for reassurance.
"We will certainly do our best," he offered.
Buffy nodded, she was sure this would be all right, after all they
had been in far worse situations than this and managed. The faith
she had in herself and her group of friends was great.
****
When there was a knock on the door, Anya frowned before she went to
open it. She wasn't expecting anyone and Xander would have a key.
Opening the door just slightly so she could peer out to see whom it
was, she was surprised to see Dawn and Spike. Looking a bit closer
she actually raised an eyebrow when she saw that the vampire was
cradling a baby in his arms.
"Dawn, Spike. What are you doing here and who is that?" she asked
when she'd opened the door properly and stood to face her guests.
"Well.. We're here to tell you that something happened at the Magic
Box today." Dawn started and was cut off by Anya wanting to know if
her boyfriend was OK.
Spike did the talking this time. "Red played with magic and the
whelp got turned into a baby. Here he is." He said not so gracefully
and handed the baby over to Anya.
Stunned she accepted the baby and then proceeded to sit down on the
floor right where she stood.
"*What*?"
"Oh yeah, way to go with the sensitivity Spike," Dawn drawled before
moving to the stunned Anya. Spike just muttered something about
being a vampire and vampires were not sensitive.
***
"Spike please explain this for us." Giles asked wearily when they
all had settled after the uproar that had been created with the book
and Spike falling to the floor laughing as soon as he realized
Xander had been turned into a baby. They were sitting around the
table, Tara seemed her calm self as usual, and Buffy seemed
confused, as did Giles. Willow on the other hand looked ashamed;
just not because this mess apparently was her fault but also for
standing up and shouting ¢Shut up¢ to everyone when the room had
exploded in questions in the wake Spike's fit of laughter. Dawn
took it all in strides and actually given up the baby to Spike who
was sitting down, carefully cradling Xander.
The sight of a vampire, the Big Bad, so carefully cradling an infant
and looking happy to do it, was a mindboggling sight for most of the
occupants in the room.
"Spike?" the watcher tried again when the vampire failed to answer,
seeming too occupied with staring at the baby in his arms.
"What?" Spike finally responded.
"An explanation if you please. " It was not a question; Giles was at
the end of his patience with this situation.
"Oh.. Right.. What is it you want to know then? Because what has
happened seems pretty obvious don't you think watcher?"
Giles rolled his eyes. "Start with the book; what kind of book is
it, why were you afraid we'd used it and how come *you* own a book
like that and perhaps you have a theory on what went wrong?"
"Oi!" Spike exclaimed, startling the baby who began to whine a bit,
the vampire immediately looked apologetic and started a soft rocking
motion again to get Xander to calm down. When Spike spoke again it
was in a very low, calm voice. "*I* was *not* afraid!"
"It doesn't matter Spike, " Giles said exasperated, "Please tell
your tale and hopefully we'll figure out a way to fix this."
Spike snorted. "I doubt any of you would be able to fix this but
I'll tell you a bit about the book anyway."
"The book is, as Red obviously has figured out, a potions book. A
powerful wizard and potions master gave it to me about 20 years ago.
We were close, very close." A dreamy look came upon the vampire's
face and he seemed lost in memories for a few moments before he
shook it off and continued.
"The potions are powerful and sometimes quite difficult to get
right. Precision is very important. I can think of a few things that
may be the reason Red's experiment went wrong. She doesn't have the
right kind of magic or she didn't make the potion *exactly* the way
the book said. Wrong measurements, wrong time intervals, ingredients
that were substituted. Any of those guaranties a faulty potion."
Baby Xander chose this moment to make some unhappy noises and the
vampire was alert at once. He got up off his chair, motioned for
Dawn to follow him and started walking towards the door.
"Dawn and I will take the baby to the whelp's place, Anya is
probably there and this baby needs to be fed and changed." He said
over his shoulder before turning to Dawn and asking her if she had
all the baby things. She nodded and with a ¢Have fun finding out
what went wrong.¢, Spike and Dawn left the Magic Box with the baby.
Giles, Willow and Buffy sent confused and stunned looks towards the
door before turning to each other. Tara smiled.
Buffy was the first to speak.
"Did we just leave Xander in Spike's care? Did the Big Bad just
leave this shop with a baby in his arms with the intentions of
feeding and changing it?" she asked, obviously having trouble
wrapping her mind around this astonishing fact.
The other three just nodded, not quite knowing what to say about
this development.
******
"Shouldn't we have stayed and helped them with research?" Dawn asked
as they got outside.
"Nah, they'll manage." Spike answered as he tried to wrap the
blanket even tighter around the baby. The sun had just set and he
was a bit worried about the baby getting chilled. Humans were so
fragile, infants even more so.
Dawn smiled at the image of the vampire fretting over a baby, she'd
known Spike could be very caring so it wasn't really a big surprise,
just a bit unexpected; after all the baby was Xander and Spike
wasn't known for his love of the whelp as he often called Xander.
What really boggled her mind was the obvious contentment the baby
showed in the vampire's arms. Xander had made it very clear that he
hated vampires. She thought maybe it was the purring that had
started every time the baby made some unhappy noises. She didn't
think anyone else had noticed, you couldn't really hear it, but
she'd seen the vibrations in Spike's chest.
"You like babies don't ya you big softie?" she asked with obvious
amusement in her voice.
Spike started to look offended but a glance down at the baby wiped
that expression off his face.
"Not really, they're such a small mouthful." He said jokingly.
Dawn hit him on the arm. "I didn't means as food you moron."
"I know. No, I don't really like babies but right now the whelp
reminds me of another baby I met once. Something about the way he
feels, like he's got magic. The other baby was a wizard; sort of
Sev's nephew."
"Sev?"
"Yeah, the wizard who gave me the book."
Something in his voice and the way he smiled every time he mentioned
this wizard made her ask.
"This Sev was special for you huh?"
"Yeah, yeah he was."
They walked towards Xander's apartment in silence; both lost in
their own thoughts.
"You know," Spike said as they came to the entrance of Xander's
building. "If the watcher is unable to find a way to fix this, I
could take the baby and try and find Sev. If anyone can fix this, he
can."
Dawn nodded. "Good idea, think we should keep that in mind."
They went inside. As they were climbing the stairs Spike thought of
something.
"Little bit, has anyone told demon girl what happened?"
"Oops…"
"Thought so. Well she's certainly in for a surprise."
"Yeah."
With that they knocked on the door, hoping Anya wouldn't too angry
at the chain of events.
******
"So Giles, what do we do now?" Buffy asked as soon as they had got
over their shock of them leaving a baby in Spike's care.
"First we need to find out exactly what Willow did, which means we
have to go over the recipe with a fine teethed comb."
Giles motioned for Willow to come sit next to him so they could go
through the recipe together. Willow slowly got up; she looked even
more ashamed than earlier.
"What is it Willow?"
"I.. I think I know what went wrong." She said hesitantly.
"Well? Tell us."
"You know what Spike said about substituting?" Everyone nodded.
"Well, I may have substituted fairy dust with elf dust."
"Willow!" Giles was ready to roll his eyes at such an elementary
mistake.
"I know, I know. One really shouldn't substitute ingredients, but I
really thought it would be OK, fairies and elves are practically the
same aren't they?"
This time Giles did roll his eyes, but it was Tara who answered.
"No honey, they aren't the same even though they have similar
magical qualities when used in spells or potions."
Giles smiled at the blond witch. "Tara is right. If I remember
correctly, elf dust is more concentrated than fairy dust and that
should explain why the potion still worked as a youth potion, just
so much stronger thus making Xander younger than intended."
"But it'll still wear off after 48 hours right?" Buffy asked.
"I honestly do not know Buffy. We can only hope."
"This.. This might be permanent?" Willow's voice sounded small and
fearful.
Giles sighed and answered sadly. "Not permanent per se, Xander will
grow up, it's just a question of how fast it'll happen. Or so I
think."
"Oh God, what have I done?" Tears were once again threatening to
spill from the red headed witch's eyes. This time it was Tara who
moved to offer some comfort.
"It'll be OK, Willow. We will find a way to fix this." Buffy said
confidently and looked at Giles for reassurance.
"We will certainly do our best," he offered.
Buffy nodded, she was sure this would be all right, after all they
had been in far worse situations than this and managed. The faith
she had in herself and her group of friends was great.
****
When there was a knock on the door, Anya frowned before she went to
open it. She wasn't expecting anyone and Xander would have a key.
Opening the door just slightly so she could peer out to see whom it
was, she was surprised to see Dawn and Spike. Looking a bit closer
she actually raised an eyebrow when she saw that the vampire was
cradling a baby in his arms.
"Dawn, Spike. What are you doing here and who is that?" she asked
when she'd opened the door properly and stood to face her guests.
"Well.. We're here to tell you that something happened at the Magic
Box today." Dawn started and was cut off by Anya wanting to know if
her boyfriend was OK.
Spike did the talking this time. "Red played with magic and the
whelp got turned into a baby. Here he is." He said not so gracefully
and handed the baby over to Anya.
Stunned she accepted the baby and then proceeded to sit down on the
floor right where she stood.
"*What*?"
"Oh yeah, way to go with the sensitivity Spike," Dawn drawled before
moving to the stunned Anya. Spike just muttered something about
being a vampire and vampires were not sensitive.
***