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.

'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 I: Sorry about the delay in updating, it's exam time and studying is taking up more of my time than I would like.

Author's Note II: To Stolen Childe – I was going to do something similar with Wes, Gunn and the zoo. It would be funny to see the dumbfounded looks on Angel and Spike's faces though, so I'll keep it in mind for a future chapter. Thanks for the suggestion.

Author's Note III: To Imzadi – Sorry, I don't have any plans to include Lindsey in this story, in fact, I don't even know what happened to him after the Senior Partners took him – stupid Sky One is weeks behind – but I suppose that he and Fred do look a bit alike. I have started on another gidgetgirl challenge starring Lindsey and Fred as brother and sister so you should check that out.

Author's Note IV: I apologise if the sciencey part is complete and utter bullshit, I know next to nothing about biology.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

*

Chapter 8.

"It's quite fascinating, really."

Wesley wanted to hit the lab tech who, in the absence of the Department Head and the Department Manager, was temporarily in charge of the Practical Science Division.

"We took some blood samples – it's easy when you know how –" None of the Angel Investigations team were moved in the least by the man's ingratiating smile. "And the results were intriguing, to say the least." He switched on the television, displaying a split screen of two blood slides. "Now on the left we have the sample we took from Subject A, Subject B's sample is on the right."

"They have names." Wesley pointed out tartly. Since he and Gunn had returned from the zoo, he had remained glued to the bedside of little Fred, who slept peacefully throughout the conversation.

Little Illyria was similarly dead to the world.

"Right." The lab tech fumbled with a switch, showing a close up of the left hand blood sample. "As you can see, Subj . . . I mean Miss Burkle's blood sample is perfectly normal. Completely human. As for the second," He switched the view to the second sample. "Outwardly normal but," He zoomed in closer. "On closer inspection . . ."

"The blood cells are supercharged." Wesley finished, fascinated by the tiny tendrils of blue electricity sparking between Illyria's red blood cells.

"Precisely." The tech grinned. "Now," he nodded to one of his colleagues. "When we add a drop of Miss Burkle's blood to the sample we drew from Illyria" His assistant did so. "It really turns up the heat."

Wesley, Angel, Gunn, Lorne and Spike all watched, torn between horror and fascination, as the energy crackling between Illyria's cells amplified, until the red of the cells was almost completely overshadowed by a blue glow.

"It's interesting to note," The tech added. "That adding Illyria's blood to Miss Burkle's has no such effect."

"What about growth?" Wesley, who was doing the best job of following the scientific explanation, asked. "Will Miss Burkle age?"

"Yeah." The tech nodded. "Their cell division rates are perfectly normal for a four year old child. They'll age as fast as any other kid."

"I don't get it." Angel, the product of an eighteenth century education system, often had trouble grasping anything beyond the most basic scientific principles. "Illyria becomes more powerful when she and Fred are touching, right?" The tech nodded confirmation. "Then why did we find them passed out on the floor?"

The tech beamed at him, gratified to be asked a question. "That's the really cool part." Catching sight of the expressions on the faces of his audience, the tech blushed. "Sorry." He muttered sheepishly. "Bad choice of words. When Miss Burkle's blood is added to Illyria's, the power boost is only temporary.  Afterwards . . ." He gestured towards the screen, where only an occasional spark of blue energy distinguished the two samples. "The power flow exhausts their physical energy reserves," The tech informed them. "It takes a while for Illyria to recharge."

"Will Miss Burkle be all right?" Wesley demanded, tenderly stroking the hair of the sleeping child. Although the thought of losing Illyria did not bother him (or anyone else) in the least, he would not have been able to cope if he lost the little he had left of the woman he loved.

"Sure." The tech grinned. "Little kids have a tendency to bounce back like rubber. By this time tomorrow they'll be back to running all over the place, driving you all insane."

For the first time since their friend had been torn apart, split into two little girls, the five men found this news more than welcome.

* * *

Nine o'clock, the following night.

"Are the munchkins asleep?" Lorne asked, looking up as Wesley returned to Angel's office, where the other adult members of the Fang Gang had gathered.

When Wesley nodded, his four colleagues breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.

Happily, the two little girls had recovered from their collapse with a speed reserved for small children and Angel.

Unfortunately for their guardians, their day of rest had left them with even more energy than usual and between them, they had managed to thoroughly exhaust their carers.

Angel didn't think he'd ever get over the shock he'd had when he left his office to get a cup of blood and returned to find little Fred building some kind of contraption with half the contents of his weapons shelf.

Wesley, to whom she had run when the brooding vampire tried to scold her, had maintained that it was Angel's own fault for leaving her by herself, then proceeded to lecture him on exposing small children to dangerous circumstances.

Illyria had spent the day sulking over the temporary loss of the few powers she had maintained, demanding to stay with Harmony and amusing herself by systematically antagonising every client that she met.

The High Priest of the Rhomboli Clan had left in fury, swearing eternal vengeance on everyone at Wolfram and Hart after Illyria had insulted both his parentage and his manhood, and then used his ceremonial staff as a javelin.

They'd be lucky if they didn't end up with a feud on their hands.

"Has there been any sign of Knox?" Wesley's lower lip curled in distaste at the mention of the name.

"None." Angel wasn't sure whether this qualified as good news or bad. "He seems to have gone underground."

"Good riddance." Spike commented bitterly.

"I haven't been able to dig up anything with my contacts either." Gunn chimed in. "He's disappeared off our radar."

"Has our resident mini-deity let anything spill on where exactly she sent him?" Lorne asked.

"Not a hint." Wesley answered regretfully. "And Fred doesn't know. Has anyone made any progress as to how to restore her to her original state?"

"Sorry, pal," Lorne patted Wesley's shoulder sympathetically. "I've got nothing."

"I tried to contact Willow." Angel looked ticked off. "She's on an astral plane somewhere. I tried to leave a message with Giles." He scowled. "He hung up on me."

"So no witch coming to save us?" Gunn looked glum. "Figures."

Angel shook his head, torn between sorrow, anger and fear. "We're on our own." He looked up at his friends. "And I have no idea what we are going to do."

TBC.