MAY IT BE

NOTE: I do not own the Scoobies and I do not own AI. If I did then I would be sitting on truckloads of money and hiring someone to do my homework for me.

A/N: This takes place two years after season seven of Buffy and season four of Angel and parts of it are AUed. Buffy and crew went to stay at Angel's hotel, you know since their home went all ka-boom like, and Spike (not dead Spike) is in San Diego. In addition, Angel still owns W&H, just lives at the hotel.

CHAPTER 2: BOOZE PATROL

Nicole appeared at the front door by the trio, her deep blue eyes quickly catching Faith, a grimace crossing her face as she stared the woman over.

"You're one of them," Nicole said, thinking of her father's skanky girlfriends. "You won't last long," she sneered, folding her arms. "But while you're here let me give you a couple of tips. Number one, my name is Harper, not Nic, or Nicky. I do not know you, nor do I want to know you so it would be good if we did not do the woman to woman bonding thing. If you're not sure, don't ask; just don't do it."

Faith shrugged, responding with, "I came here to deliver a wedding invite." She gestured to the envelope Spike was holding in his right hand.

"Oh," Nicole rolled her eyes. "Whatever." The teenager uncrossed her arms and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Just letting you know. I'm going to Dani's." With that, she pushed passed a slightly amused Faith and was out the door.

Buffy sat on one of the couches in the hotel the next night, three-year-old Connor in her lap, reading an old storybook to him. The evening had been quiet; some of the others that stayed in the hotel were out having lives of their own.

The quiet was soon interrupted by Angel's large feet coming to charge down the stairs, followed by Mallory Jones, the hotel's sort of intern.

"Please, Angel," Mallory begged.

"No, Mal," Angel said, reaching the foot of the stairs.

"Please!" Mallory continued, following him.

"I said no," Angel said to her firmly, turning to glance at her then going to the front desk.

"But I said please," Mallory countered as she went after him, going to stand in front of the desk, her light blue eyes looking into his brown ones. "Just give me one reason why."

Angel looked at the fifteen-year-old blonde-haired girl closely. "I'm guessing because I said so won't make you go away."

"Nope," Mallory smirked, crossing her arms.

Angel also folded his arms as he said, "All right. Because I don't want you playing around with magic."

"It's just a spell," Mallory insisted. "I'm trying to work with my powers a little. I'm trying to do good here."

"For the millionth time, Mal," Angel sighed. "I said no and I mean no. Now ask me again and—" The double glass doors of the hotel opening interrupted the vampire. Spike, Nicole, Beth, and Faith stood on the top steps.
Buffy glanced over at the group, holding Connor closely.

"Hey," Faith greeted, breaking the silence, walking down the couple of steps that led into the hotel lobby. "Look what I found."

"Spike," Buffy said softly, standing up with Connor in her arms. "It's really good to see you." She slowly approached the blonde vampire. "I mean it's been... that is it's..." Buffy just stopped talking and suddenly hugged him. "I swear I thought you died back there," she whispered.

"Am I missing something here?" Mallory asked Angel, forgetting what she had been nagging him over.

"That's Spike," Angel replied to her slowly, not at all threatened by Buffy hugging him. "He's... Spike."

Nicole, who wore a large baseball cap over her head, her hair stuffed inside of it, starred in disgust at Buffy. What was she, one of those blondes who just had to jump all over a guy the second they see them?

"Spike?" Everyone's attention went to Buffy. She gestured towards Beth and Nicole and asked, "Who?"

"Oh." Spike turned to his children. "These are my daughters. The little one is Beth and the one with the sour expression on her face is Nicole."

"Harper," Nicole corrected automatically, her arms folded.

"Hi." Mallory walked up to Nicole and held out a hand, a large cheesy grin on her face. "I'm Mallory but friends call me Mal."

Nicole just stared at her. "Let me guess," she said nonchalantly. "Natural, right?" She was referring to the blonde hair Mal had in a ponytail.

Mallory retracted her hand, a hurt look on her face.

Angel walked up next. "Hey," he greeted Spike's girls, not really knowing what to say. "You're both really tall for two years old."

"They're adopted, mate," Spike said matter-of-factly.

"You're huge," Beth said plainly to Angel.

"You're yummy," Nicole whispered to herself, smirking.

"Mommy Buffy," Connor said, tapping Buffy on the shoulder. "Look." He pointed his tiny finger at the hat Nicole wore on her head. "Blue." He reached out for it.

"Hey!" Before Nicole could take a step back, Connor grabbed her hat, allowing her hair to tumble down to her shoulders. Nicole ran a hand through her now black hair, which had blue streaks running down it. "Great," she sighed. "That was supposed to be unveiled the day of the wedding."

"Connor," Angel attempted to chide his son. "We don't take things that don't belong to us." He tried to hide the grin that was threatening to split his face.

Connor, ignoring his father, slipped on Nicole's blue hat. It was too large, as it covered his eyes.

"Explain," Spike said simply, gesturing towards Nicole's hair.

"Oh, please. Like you don't bleach your hair every month," Nicole said with an eye roll.

"Got you there," Angel said to the other man, amused, his hands in his pockets. Nicole gave the vampire a smile and shot a smirk at her father.

"Fine," Spike shrugged. "You can dye your hair back next month, Nicky."

Nicole sneered and turned away from him angrily, much to both Spike and Faith's amusement.

"Faith," Angel said, getting the slayer's attention. "Why don't you show everyone to their rooms?"

"Shouldn't you have people to do that for you?" Faith asked then realized it by a look from Angel. "Oh. I'm the people." She turned to Spike's girls. "Follow me, I guess. I'll show you where Lorne keeps the booze."

"Cool," Nicole smiled as she and Beth followed Faith upstairs.

"Excellent help you got here," Spike said, watching his kids follow Faith. "Because, you know, I need an even more agile Nicole on my hands."

"Glad to know we could help," Angel said as Buffy went to stand next to him, little Connor still playing with Nicole's baseball cap.

Spike looked Buffy, Connor, and Angel over. The trio looked like they were made for each other; just like a little family. Spike really did not know what to make of it.

"So, you two, finally tying the knot, eh?" Spike finally said, making conversation.

"Finally," Buffy replied, feeling awkward, just like she knew she would feel.

"And this must be little Poof Junior." Spike eyed Connor.

"Spike is a pain," Connor stated.

"Connor," Buffy said reproachfully, surprised by the boy she considered her son. "Where'd you learn to say that?"

Connor pointed to his father and started to say, "Da—"

"Shush," Angel quickly hushed his son, holding a finger up to his lips. "Connor, it is quiet time." Connor grinned and shut his eyes, snuggling into Buffy's shirt.

Faith, since Beth was comfortably settled in her room, led Nicole to her own. The black haired teenager laid on the bed on her stomach, a pillow under her chin. She slipped on her headphones and began to listen to her music. Faith just stood there, staring.

"What?" Nic asked, looking up towards the older woman.

Faith gestured for her to take off the headphone and when she did, Faith pulled a chair from the desk. "So," she said.

"So," Nic asked, her finger playing with the wire of her headphones. "What do you want?"

"So," Faith asked, putting her boot shod feet on the corner of the bed. "What's your story kid?"

A/N: You can thank Pyro Bear for this end part with Nicole and Faith. She also named the chapter. Isn't she a creative little thing? If you like what she does in this story then go read the ones she writes. Please review! Also, if anything confuses you then let me know.