Know Your Enemy

Nathan was wandering around in the park again. Though he would be loathe to admit it, even to himself, he was keeping an eye open for a familiar face. But it was a big city, and a big park, and his chances were extremely slim, and he knew it. But he found the idea of an unexpected quantity, such as the man he had seen, a bit disturbing. The whole lot of them, Rupert, the Slayer and all her little friends were a particularly meddlesome crew. Couldn't bear to see a chap have a good time and had to come and muck it up without fail. So even though he knew it was probably an exercise in futility, he continued to scan his surroundings. Just in case.

&&&&&&&

"He was pretty far away, Uncle Angel," Alaric said apologetically. "We didn't get a good look at him."

"He had dark hair," Ariel volunteered. Even at her tender age, she realized that wasn't much to go on. "And he was taller than Oz," she added, a little weakly.

Angel chucked her under the chin. "Every little bit helps, honey," he said gently. "Maybe we're doing this wrong. You two didn't get a good look at the outside of him. What did you see inside his head?"

"He thinks it's fun to be bad," Alaric remarked. His sister poked his shoulder and they held one of their silent conferences. "He didn't sound like everybody else when he thinks," the little boy added.

Ariel nodded in agreement. "More like daddy and Uncle Wes," she elaborated.

"He's English?" Now there was something that might help narrow the search down a bit. But neither child answered him. They were busy with another telepathic conversation. "What's up now?"

"We both heard a name," Ariel explained.

"But it's not the same name," Alaric grumbled. "He can't have two names, can he?"

"He might," Oz ventured. "If he was trying to hide who he was."

"Tell me both names," Angel prompted. "Then, we'll see what we can figure out from there."

"Nathan Wayne," said Alaric.

"Ethan Rayne," Ariel supplied.

"Son of a..," Angel broke off, remembering just in time who his audience was comprised of. "Biscuit," he finished lamely.

The twins giggled.

&&&&&&&

In the comforting shadows of the storm drains, a vampire and a demon met.

"Long time no see," Angel remarked.

"I been doing job out of town," the Q'xlzr replied. "Rose okay?" It wasn't all that unlikely a question when one considered all the times that Rose had been far from okay.

"Rose is fine," Angel assured it. "Have you got time to do a quick job for me? It shouldn't last long. It looks like the blue moon is the deadline."

"I no like rush jobs, vampire," the blue-gray figure asserted. "Have to work harder. Eats into I's profits."

"I'll make sure you make a profit," Angel promised. "Someone is cooking up a spell that needs my blood. And I don't know for sure if there's a connection, but the smart money says there is, that a man calling himself Nathan Wayne may be behind it."

"Calls he's self," the Q'xlzr mused. "Not man's real name?"

"His real name is Ethan Rayne," Angel replied. He pulled out a wad of cash, knowing that the sight of it would affect the little demon quicker than catnip on a tabby tom. "Are you in?"

"I in," it sighed. But before it accepted the money, it turned and retrieved something from a nearby ledge. "You give to Rose offspring," it directed, then it took the proffered bills and melted into the shadows.

Angel peeked into the sack he'd been handed and grinned. A whole bag of candy. Rose would have a fit.

&&&&&&&&

Spike strolled into Rose's office. "Hey, babe, quitting time was twenty minutes ago. Or are you looking to pay Oz overtime?"

Rose looked up at him, then shook her head and blinked. Her eyes were practically crossed from hours on end staring at crabbed demon script. "Hello, darling," she greeted him. "I'm sorry, I was kind of preoccupied. What did you say?"

"I said it's time and then some to be calling it a day, pet," Spike said gently. "Time to lock it all up and go home and unwind with the kids."

Rose looked at the time and saw that he was right. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I was so busy I lost track of the time." She hurriedly began tidying up and shutting things off.

Spike noticed that despite her practiced, efficient movements, she looked all in. "Why don't we break the rules a bit tonight, luv?" he suggested. "Order out for pizza or some such. Let you put your feet up and listen to the kids tell you about their day."

Rose was about to protest, but the plain fact of the matter was, she had been working hard. Not physically hard, but a mental intensity that was just as fatiguing. "I suppose so," she agreed reluctantly. "Just don't expect me to make a habit of it."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Spike assured her, wrapping an arm around her and escorting her out of the office. "But you can't always be doing for other people without doing a bit for yourself now and again, sweetheart."

Rose leaned her head on his shoulder, and Spike planted a quick kiss on the top of it. "You're a wonderful mum, luv," he went on. "And the kids won't keel over and die if they have a less than perfectly nutritious meal every once in a while."

"If you say so," Rose conceded. "I don't know if I've mentioned it lately, but I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, as they stepped into the elevator. "This lift does take a while to get to the top," he murmured suggestively. "Don't suppose we could..,"

"Of course not," Rose interrupted, albeit with a giggle. One of the many reasons she loved him, he always made her feel better. "Spike, you're..,"

"Absolutely mad about you," he finished. "Guess I'll just have to settle for a spot of necking then." He pinned her against the wall with his body, and his lips came down on hers.

Rose's briefcase thudded to the floor.

&&&&&&&

Angel had just caught Wesley before he left the office and told him about his interview with the twins.

"Ethan Rayne?" Wesley echoed. "The name does seem to ring a bell. There was something about it in Giles' notes. I have a copy somewhere about, I'm sure."

"Get together every bit of information you can find on him," Angel ordered. "I don't know what he's done lately, but I've seen some of his handiwork. The man is bad news."

"Now that we're more or less on speaking terms," Wesley mused. "Perhaps I should ring Giles up and ask him directly."

Angel looked at the time and did a little mental calculation. "Why don't you do that in the morning, Wes?" he suggested. "It's the middle of the night there. We still have a few days."

"A few days may not be enough," the researcher pointed out. "For a problem of this magnitude, I think that perhaps a call in the dark hours might be excused."

Angel sighed. Though they were on slightly better terms now, since Giles had delivered Rose's twins, and talked with Rose herself, about what exactly, she would never say, relations were still a bit strained. Maybe they always would be. Giles could be damned stiff-necked sometimes. He shook his head. "Just hold off till morning," he reiterated. "A few more hours isn't likely to make that much difference."

"Did you ever consider the obvious?" Wes asked.

"Which obvious?" Angel queried.

"If they need your blood for their spell, and it has to be performed under the blue moon," Wesley replied. "Then the solution is simple enough. Don't go out that night. Stay here, where it's safe. Once the blue moon has passed, they won't be able to perform their spell."

"We don't even know for sure that the spell has to be performed under the blue moon," Angel pointed out. "It's just a working hypothesis. Besides, whoever had Ethan Rayne let him go, and I don't like the idea of him being at liberty to menace the public."

It was Wesley's turn to sigh. "Fine," he conceded. "I'll call Giles in the morning and get whatever information I can on Ethan Rayne. Is it all right if I go home and get a few hours sleep now?"

Angel nodded. "Go," he answered. "I have the feeling that I'm going to need you sharp and on the ball, Wes. So get rested up."

&&&&&&&

Oz met them at the door. "You're supposed to go right into their room," he started right in. "They have a surprise for you."

Spike and Rose exchanged glances, wondering just what sort of surprise it could be. Out of habit, Spike took her briefcase and put it on a shelf, out of the reach of curious little hands. Then, the two of them went to the twin's bedroom.

Alaric and Ariel had, of course, 'heard' their parents arrive, so they were prepared. They were standing dead center of the room with their handiwork held out, proudly displayed. The letters were ill-formed, but quite legible, so the first thing that Spike and Rose saw was their children, each holding a piece of paper that expressed their love for them.

The last fleeting reservations Rose had had about whether or not Oz would take her place in her children's affections vanished on the spot.

Spike was about floored. He knew the little nippers were smart as all get out, but even he would never have guessed that they were up to this. "Did you two do those all by yourselves?" he asked in awe. He knelt down in front of them and touched one of the papers as if it were incredibly precious.

"We made them for you and mummy," Ariel piped up. "Do you like them?"

"They're beautiful," Rose said. Her eyes began misting over. "They're wonderful."

"If mummy likes them so much," Alaric asked his father. "Then why is she crying?"

"Oz is leaving," Ariel said softly. "He doesn't want to int'rupt us."

Rose put a hand on Spike's shoulder. "Stay with them," she told him. "I'll be right back." She rushed out into the other room.

"Don't you dare leave yet, Oz," she ordered. The effect was somewhat marred by the fact that the happy tears she was crying showed in her voice as well as her face.

Oz turned slowly from the door, wondering what he'd done now, and was in no way prepared when Rose flung her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"You really are a dear man," she said. "I don't know what brought you to us, Oz, but I hope you'll be staying around for a long time."

"I can't make any promises, Rose," Oz said quietly. "But if I do leave, I'll be back from time to time. Those kids are incredible. I'm kind of interested in seeing how they turn out."

"You macking on my girl, wolf-boy?" Rose should have known better than to give Spike orders. He emerged from the children's room with a twin in each arm.

Oz was pretty sure that the Spike of old would have been ready to tear his head off, just for touching Rose, even if she had been the one to initiate the contact. But he didn't sound mad or jealous, more like teasing. Since Rose hadn't let go of him yet, he returned the hug, and the kiss. "I'm trying to persuade her to run away with me and get away from all this." He carried on the jest.

The twins exchanged glances and confirmed that the men were just joking. Leaving Rose the only one who didn't get it, and it showed on her face, plain as day.

"Just having you on, luv," Spike explained, leaning around Ariel to kiss her. "If I didn't trust him, he wouldn't be looking after our kids."

"You men and your silly games," Rose muttered, taking Alaric from Spike. "I wonder that I put up with any of you."

&&&&&&&

Lorne was sitting in a bar, tossing down a few before going home. Lately, home had been getting kind of depressing. Empty, really. He hadn't really noticed it before. But he was really feeling the pressure from work, and was thinking it would be nice to have someone to come home to. Forget it, he thought. You don't have the time to work on any kind of relationship right now, even if someone dropped into your lap out of the blue.

"Hi there," a voice beside him said. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Lorne turned and saw a pretty brunette with cascades of waist length hair sitting next to him. "Not at all, pretty lady," he said. "What are you drinking?"