Disclaimer: Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel', or any of the amazing characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'Mr Spike Challenge' (details below). The kids at the day care centre belong to me.
~*The Mr. Spike Challenge*~
Set in Angel season five. When the head of the Wolfram and Hart daycare service for employee children (both human and non-human) dies, Angel decides to kill two birds with one stone by putting Spike in charge of the daycare.
Requirements:
One of the kids must be a slayer. One of the kids must do magic At least two kids must be entirely mortal. One child should remind Spike of someone he saw a hundred years ago.

Author's Note: To gidgetgirl – I'm afraid that I know next to nothing about small children. Since Livia is just turned two, I've put her as not being able to pronounce 'r's or 'v's. If the baby talk is annoying people, I can write what she means to say rather than a phonetic description of what she is actually saying. Thanks for the tip, and thanks again for the nomination. Oh, and by the way, thanks for your suggestion regarding Delia and her wall art – I'll be using it in this chapter.

Author's Note II: Does anyone know exactly how big the Wolfram and Hart building is?

Author's Note III: Reviewer opinion seems to favour a Buffy visit, so I'll try to work that into a future chapter.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

Chapter 4.

"So, you're telling me that the kids could be anywhere in the building?" Spike's voice took on a panicked edge. "So – exactly how big is this place?"

"Let's see," Fred did some quick mental calculations. "Forty-five floors, with an average of twenty to thirty rooms per floor – huge! We're going to need some help. I'll call security."

"Oh no you don't!" Spike snatched her cell phone from her hand before she could dial. "No one else can know about this – I'm not going to give the big poofter the satisfaction of knowing that I lost all of the kids on my second day of the job!"

"Are you crazy?" Fred stared at the blond vampire as though he had grown three extra heads. "There's no way that we can possibly search the whole building without help. This place is full of dangerous stuff – what if one of them has managed to wander into one of the restricted areas, or the lab!" Her eyes widened in horror as she pictured one of the children taste testing some of the less than nutritious components of the experiments her department was running.

"Let's think," Spike held up a hand to calm the physicist before she could become hysterical. "If I was a little kid looking for a good time in this place –where would I go?"

He met Fred's eyes and knew that they were on the same wavelength.

"Weapons!"

* * *

Antique Weapons Collection.

"Hi-yah!" Bradley hefted the antique sword above his head. "You're dead, Obi-Wan!"

"The Force is with me, Vader – not you!" It was with some difficulty that James managed to lift the mace, which weighed almost as much as he did, of the ground and hold it threateningly in front of him.

Bradley grinned at his friend. "This is the coolest game of Hide and Seek I've ever played."

"Yeah!" James nodded enthusiastically. "Mr Spike is way cooler than Mrs Murray!"

"Hey!" An indignant shout interrupted the boys' game. "What do you kids think you're doing here?"

The two five year olds took one look at the angry curator of the antique weapons collection and raced out of the room as fast as their short legs could carry them.

"Hey!" The curator bellowed angrily. "Come back here with those weapons!"

Wheezing heavily, he took off after the boys, knowing full well that he had no chance of catching them.

Lifting his cell phone to his ear, he dialed the number for security.

"Jackson? Baines here. We have a security breach."

* * *

Wesley's Office.

While Wesley Wyndham Pryce, former Watcher and self styled rogue demon hunter and current resident expert on all things mystical, was not blessed with the heightened senses of Angel or Spike, or with the telempathic abilities of Lorne, he knew as soon as he entered his office, that he was not alone.

"Who's in here? Show yourself!"

A muffled giggle was the only reply to his demand.

Wesley reached into his pocket for the handgun he had made a point of carrying with him since the visit of his 'father' and, holding the gun firmly in one hand, he circled the desk where the giggle had originated and looked under it.

A white face, framed by thick jet-black hair glared up at him, furious at this rude interruption.

"Bestus!"

Wesley stared down in horror at his hands, now thickly coated in pale brown fur. He felt a curious sensation in his ears and when he gingerly reached up to touch them; he discovered that they were now furry, at least six inches long and pointed.

Smiling approvingly at the results of her handiwork, Morgan picked up the old leather bound book she had been reading and skipped out of the room, not troubled in the least by the braying sounds that emerged from poor Wesley's throat when he attempted to yell at her to stop.

She hugged the spell book to her chest.

If this was the sort of spells it held, then she was definitely going to hang onto it.

* * *

"Spike!" A less than amused Gunn stormed up to the vampire, a small Feoral demon slung over his shoulder. He put Chad down and stood glaring at the vampire. "Is there a special reason that I found this kid making a fort in my office?"

"I was hiding!" Chad argued, ticked off at being dragged away from what he thought was a fine fort. "And I'm older than you are, Mr Stinky!"

"Mr Spike!" Bradley raced over to the blond vampire, James hard on his heels. He gestured towards the security guards who were chasing them. "These mean men won't share their toys with us!"

"Weapons aren't toys." Fred rebuked, seeing that Spike was far too amused by Chad's 'Mr Stinky' crack to say anything. "They're too dangerous for little boys to play with."

"We're not little!" Bradley objected, stung.

"Yeah!" James backed up his companion. "We're five!"

"Well, you can't play with weapons until you're six!" Spike announced. /By then, they'll be somebody else's problem. / He saw Chad's eyes light up. "And if you're a Feoral demon, you have to wait until you're a hundred." He added hastily.

"No fair!" Chad grumbled.

Spike did a quick head count. "Three down, six to go."

"Hold up!" Gunn was appalled. "You lost all of them? How the hell did you manage that?"

Spike just grimaced. "Don't ask."

"Security is on the lookout for them, sir.' One of the security guards reported, bending down to pry the purloined weapons from Bradley and James's unwilling fingers. "Should we let the boss know?"

"No!" Spike insisted, punctuating his command with a low, intimidating growl. "Angel never hears about this."

"He's right." Spike was shocked to hear Gunn, of all people, backing him up. "The last thing we want is for Angel to get too happy."

The blond vampire scowled, but accepted the logic of the other man's argument.

"So where are they likely to be?" Fred pondered aloud. "Where would they be likely to go?"

Spike, to whom this question was addressed, shrugged blankly. "How would I know luv? I met the little wankers for the first time yesterday!"

"You must have some idea." Fred pressed. "One of the kids is a Slayer, isn't she? Where would a Slayer be likely to go?"

"She's two, pet." Spike reminded her patiently. "For all I know, she's after falling asleep somewhere."

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Gunn remarked. "I practically raised my little cousin, and we used to find her curled up and dead to the world in some of the weirdest places – once we found her sleeping behind the refrigerator, covered in dust!" he chuckled briefly at the memory before sobering. "But we'd need half the firm if we were to search every nook and cranny in this place."

"Which brings us back to square diddly!" Spike finished. "Bloody marvelous! So what are we supposed to do?" he turned to the others, an appealing expression on his face, more worried than he cared to admit about his small charges.

"Look," Fred said in pacifying tones. "We'll get someone to take these three" he gestured towards Bradley, James and Chad. "Back to the daycare center and keep an eye on them there – could one of you do it?" She looked up at the head of the security team who nodded his assent. "Then we'll round up the others one by one and take them back – and pray that someone comes across them before they can do any real damage."

A loud, insistent braying heralded the arrival of a Pan-like figure, still wearing Wesley's glasses.

Spike looked across at Fred, whose gaze was fixed on the bizarre figure before her.

"I think that it's a little late for that." He remarked dryly.

* * *

Entertainments Division.

Lorne hadn't had this much fun in months.

The two tiny telepaths, a boy and a girl, were perched one on each knee and the three of them were belting out a rousing rendition of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' at the top of their lungs.

"Sing us another, Uncle Lorne." The little girl demanded, clapping her hands in anticipation. "You know you want to." She added coaxingly.

Lorne wagged a playful finger at her. "Now, now, you're not reading Uncle Lorne, are you?"

"Don't have to." She responded cheerfully. "Sing!"

Lorne could never resist an appreciative audience.

"Say," He said before he started singing, the thought having just occurred to him. "Where'd you kidlets come from anyway?"

* * *

Outside Angel's office.

Harmony was sitting at her desk 'working' – loosely translated as doing her nails and chatting on the phone – when a tiny, scratching sound caused her to look beneath her desk.

A cheeky face beamed up at her.

"Hiya." The little boy waved.

Harmony screamed as loud as she possibly could, causing the boy to cover his ears.

"BLONDIE BEAR!"

* * *

"'Scuse me, Mr . . .Spike?" The mail guy who had replaced the late Number 5 tapped the blond vampire on the shoulder apprehensively.

"What?!"

The man drew back a little at the ferocity of Spike's snap. "Sorry to bother you, sir, but I think that I've found someone that belongs to you."

Without further ado, the man bent down and, shifting a few parcels on the lower shelf of his mail tray to reveal a peacefully sleeping toddler clutching a blue blanket.

"Thank God!" If Spike could, he would have exhaled in relief. "That's eight of them – who are we missing?"

* * *

Angel's Office, Five minutes later.

After what felt like an eternity of early morning meetings, Angel, helper of the helpless ands champion of the Powers That Be, wanted nothing more than to relax in his office with a warm pint of pig's blood and watch a good hockey game.

He was less than amused, therefore, when he entered his office to find it already occupied and by someone intent on destroying the room's décor, at that.

The tiny dark haired sprite looked up from the intricate mural she had improved the wall with and hid what Angel strongly suspected was a permanent marker behind her back, regarding the less than amused vampire with defiant silver eyes.

"I didn't do it!"

TBC.

They're so cute at this age, aren't they?

Next Chapter: Spike decides that he needs some help and the kids hold a Council of War. Plus, more Morgan magic, more Delia and possibly a Slayer tantrum.