Disclaimer: Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Angel' and all the characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from gidgetgirl's 'Twice The Trouble' Challenge, posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive. I also don't own any of Disney's films, or the concepts behind said films.

'Twice The Trouble' Challenge

A Fred Throwback. In season five of Angel, Illyria's attempt to takeover Fred's body is thwarted by the Powers that Be, and the result is that, when Illyria enters Fred's body, the body splits in half: into two identical little girls, save one has blue hair. The Angel gang has to keep little Illyria (if that's her name...) from taking over the world, and take care of little Fred. You take it from there.

Requirements:

The evil one must have blue hair.

Harmony must make an appearance in the fic.

Both Gunn and Wes must babysit... one of the girls must like each of them better than the other.

Author's Note: Turns out that Illyria is a Shakespearean name. I wonder who picked it out.

Word in / / = Thoughts.

Chapter 4.

Fifteen minutes later, Angel's office.

Angel regarded his two small charges with a wary expression. They had been unusually quiet and well behaved since Wesley and the others had left.

He suspected that that was not a good sign.

He fussed around for a few minutes, laying out glasses of juice and a plate of cookies on the small table in front of the television where one of the Disney movies Harmony had very thoughtfully picked up the previous night was playing.

Little Fred, engrossed in the film, barely registered his presence and even Illyria seemed interested in the deer frolicking across the screen.

Heaving an inward sigh of relief, Angel headed back to his desk, confident that the movie would keep the two little girls occupied, for a while at least, and proceeded to deal with his least favourite thing in the world; Paperwork.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later.

Illyria was becoming thoroughly sick of being trapped in the body of a four year old human.

It was bad enough that her powers had been severely depleted since her transformation and that the humans had the temerity to talk down to her as though she were nothing more than a mere child, but worst of all in the little goddess's opinion was that she was actually starting to enjoy some of the games that her counterpart insisted on playing, even the video they were watching, featuring species that she knew did not speak English, appealed to a part of her.

She had to get out.

Fast.

/My Qwa'ha Xhan will know what is happening. / Little Illyria mused. /He will find an adequate shell for me. He must. /

* * *

Ten minutes later.

Angel signed his name in his old fashioned copperplate and added the thick document to his 'Out' tray before taking another from the huge stack in his 'In' tray.

/Seventeen down, one rainforest still to go. /

Angel flipped open the document and began to peruse it carefully, checking the small print with meticulous are before he added his signature.

You could never be too careful in this place.

He glanced up from his work to check on the two little girls, who were curled up on the couch, still watching the video.

There hadn't been a peep out of either of them in half an hour.

/I guess that babysitting isn't as bad as I thought. /

* * *

Five minutes later.

/That's it! / Illyria had had enough of childish pursuits. If I cannot sense my Qwa'ha Xhan, then I will just have to search for him myself. /

* * *

Ten minutes later.

"Angel?" A tearful Fred ran across the room to the dark-haired vampire, distraught.

"Fred?" Angel lifted her into his lap, concerned. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did Illyria . . .?"

"She's dead!"

"Illyria?"

"No!" Fred buried her head in Angel's shoulder. "His mommy."

"Whose mommy?" Angel was completely confused.

"Bambi's."

"Who's Bambi?" He didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Little Fred gestured in the direction of the television. "Bambi!"

The penny dropped.

/Next time, I find out what the film is about, before showing it to a little kid. / He vowed.

Fred continued to sob heartbrokenly.

Angel was at a loss as to how to deal with the crying child in his arms.

"There, there." He patted her shoulder awkwardly. "It's alright."

"No it's not." Fred's words were barely audible. "Now Bambi doesn't have a mommy." Tears coursed down her soft cheeks. "I want my Mommy."

/Great. / This was the last thing that Angel wanted to deal with.

He was willing to bet that in another few minutes, half of the firm's staff would be bursting into his office, thinking that the little girl was being tortured.

"Shh, it's alright." He rocked her in his arms for a couple of minutes, until her sobs had died down to an occasional hiccupping cry. "It's not real, Bambi's mother is alright. She . . ." he racked his brains, trying to come up with a story that would satisfy her. "She lives in the zoo now, with lots of other animals." He announced at last. "She's very happy there. The silly man who made the film made a mistake, that's all."

"Really?" Fred looked up at him trustingly. "You promise?"

"I promise." Angel was relieved to see that she had stopped crying.

"Can we go see her?"

"Uh. . ." Too late he spotted the flaw in his cover story. /I doubt that the zoo keeps the deer in a nice, indoor habitat. Or that they're open at night. / "Not today, okay? You can go tomorrow with Wes or Gunn."

She pouted. "Why can't I go today?"

"Because Wes and Gunn are busy."

"Why can't I go with you?"

"I'm . . ." Angel tried to think of an explanation that didn't involve the 'v' word. "I'm allergic to the sun." He told her after a moment's deliberation. "So are Spike and Harmony. If we went outside while the sun was shining, we would get very sick.

Little Fred patted his arm sympathetically. "Poor Angel." She commiserated, her own and Bambi's troubles forgotten. "Is that why you haven't got any freckles?"

He suppressed a laugh at her remark, standing up and lifting her into his arms. "Come on." He made a face in a successful attempt to make her laugh. "Do you want to finish watching 'Bambi'?"

"Uh-uh." Fred shook her head decisively. "Too sad."

"Okay, we'll find something else." Angel headed over to the television and the two beanbag chairs if front of it.

Two empty beanbag chairs.

"Shit."

* * *

Angel marched out of his office, little Fred still held securely in his arms.

"You there," he accosted the first security guard he saw. "We have a Code Red. We've got a potentially dangerous entity roaming loose on the premises. I want every single member of the security team on it, sweep the building from top to bottom. I want . . ."

"Boss?"

"Not now, Harmony."

"Boss?"

"I said, not now."

"Boss?" Harmony's voice became louder, more insistent.

"What?!" Angel whirled around to face his secretary.

Harmony gestured to the little brunette sitting at the desk with her. "Is this what you were looking for?"

Had Angel been human, his face would have been a bright shade of scarlet.

He offered the security guard a sheepish smile. "Cancel the Code Red."

"Will do." The security guard responded with a barely concealed smirk.

Illyria regarded Angel with an icy expression. "Was there something you wanted?" She asked in chilling tones.

"Not really." Angel settled Fred into a more comfortable position in his arms. "Are you okay with her?"

Harmony, to whom this question was addressed, waved a dismissive hand in her employer's direction. "Yeah, we're fine, bossy."

Not wanting her to change her mind, Angel headed back into the office with Fred. "So," He racked his brains, trying to remember which of the Disney movies was the least likely to upset or frighten. "Do you want to watch 'Beauty and the Beast'?"

The beaming smile Fred gave him was all the answer he needed.

"So," Harmony turned to little Illyria with a smile. "Where were we?"

"My Qwa'ha Xhan." The miniature deity reminded her patiently. "I need to find him."

"Sorry," Harmony shrugged. "They never tell me where they keep the important people. Who is this Quasimoto anyway?"

""Qwa'ha Xhan." Illyria corrected with some asperity. "He is the priest of my order."

"Oh." Harmony brightened. "You mean he's your minion." She sighed wistfully. "I used to have minions."

"Where did you get them?"

"Oh, sweetie," Harmony patted the child goddess's head. "There's a world full of demons and vamps out there just waiting for someone to guide them. Any of them could be a minion."

"Really." Illyria's smile was sly and secretive. "Tell me more."

TBC.

That's all for now, folks. Please keep the reviews coming, let me know if there's anything in particular you would like to see.

Next Chapter: Lunchtime and one of the girls throws a tantrum.