Angel stumbled down the Hyperion's grand staircase and into the lobby. Lorne was sitting at the counter drinking a mug of steaming coffee and reading the paper. Angel smiled and nodded in greeting before making his way into the kitchen for his morning glass of blood.

Wesley was faffing about on the computer typing something and muttered a feeble "morning" in the vampire's general direction. Angel shook his head and heated his blood. He'd never understand why humans (and Spike for that matter) had such an interest for computers. What did they do that was better than a simple pen and paper? However, he had a feeling Spike liked them because they had shiny insides...Spike was weird like that.

Give Spike a sheet of tin foil or a piece of sparkly jewellery and he was quiet for hours. Angel had no idea why the vampire had such a fascination with shiny things. Maybe it was because of the way they caught the light and nearly blinded you at a certain angle? Or maybe Spike was just weird.

Angel was interrupted from his musings when he was walking across the lobby. Being deep in his thoughts about how his childe found the inside of a crisp packet interesting, Angel didn't notice the slime covered floor until he slipped in it and felt his head crack against the tiles. Lorne and Wesley were quickly by his side and helping him to regain his footing as Conner came downstairs.

Angel was cursing and Lorne was helping the vampire to sit down whilst Wesley looked over his head for any sign of lasting damage. Conner shook his head and went into the kitchen only to come back put with an ice pack for his dad. "You alright?" He asked cautiously. There was no telling what kind of mood his dad would be in after injury.

"Yeah." The vampire groaned and held the cool package against his head. There was a dull throb but that would subside in a couple of minutes. His wound from last night had healed completely at least, so there was some good news this morning. "I'm fine. What was that I slipped in?"

Conner went over to the floor and studied the slime for two seconds before returning to his father's side. "It's the slime that Spike was covered in last night." The boy smiled slightly when he saw his father visibly tense. He was gonna be mad...

"What slime? When did this happen?" The vampire growled evenly. It may not have been obvious to an outsider, but to anyone that knew Angel, it was clear that the vampire was in a rage on the inside. Conner knew exactly whom he was going to explode at. He was just glad it wasn't him.

"Last night." The boy replied smoothly. If he acted the perfect son then Angel would be even more furious with the other vampire. "Spike came in late and I saw him go to his room covered in that stuff. I was going to come and tell you, but he threatened me...again."

Angel growled out loud and stalked towards the stairs. God he was going to kill his childe. How many times had he told him? Clean up your messes. It was simple. He could have dealt with this last night if Conner had told him. But Spike had threatened his son...again! How many times had he told him not to? God was Spike going to get it! Conner was a fragile human, and he'd been through enough in his life so far. He didn't need chipped vampire's threatening him every five minutes. Especially when said vampire doesn't make idle threats and is looking for a way to get rid of said chip.

Climbing the stairway and an alarming pace, Angel carefully avoided the path of slime he could now clearly see. It was amazing he hadn't slipped in it before. Following the trail he wasn't surprised when he ended up right outside Spike's door. Trying to fight off his game face, he didn't even knock. Angel stormed into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. It was loud enough to wake up one severely pissed off vampire who was clad in only a towel.

"Oi! I was having a kip!" Spike called from the bed and glared at his sire. Angel was about to yell back when he noticed. The disgruntled vampire covered only by a navy blue cotton product was...smaller. And thinner. Angel rubbed his eyes in case any sleep had been caught there and looked again. Nope, still small. "Angel?"

"What the hell?" was the reply. Spike watched as his sire checked him over with his eyes. Something was wrong if Angel wasn't talking. "Spike why are you..." Spike looked on as his Sire sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over him. Okay, now was the time to be freaked.

"Why am I what Peaches?" Spike pushed himself away from his looming Sire and back into the pillows at the head of his bed. Angel just caught his hand and held it up in front of his childe's face. "That would be my hand."

"It's...small." Angel pressed his palm against his childe's as Spike rolled his eyes to look at the ceiling.

"Well done Angel. It's taken you a century, but you've finally realised that I have smaller hands than you. Well done." Spike didn't take his eyes off the ceiling until he felt Angel bend the tops of his fingers over his own. He'd never been able to do that...had he?

"They're smaller." Angel sounded flabbergasted. "So's the rest of you..." he pointed out and grabbed Spike's hand to pull him to his feet. The younger vampire stood a little unsteadily next to his Sire holding the towel firmly in place. Spike nearly fell back on the bed when he realised it was true. He was smaller. Instead of being about a head shorter then his Sire, he now only came up to his chest. He was also a lot scrawnier than usual.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike whispered and sat on the edge of his bed. He was smaller. But...why? Did he shrink? "Why am i...Angelus?" He stopped from talking when he felt his voice go suddenly higher. Not good...

"Spike? I think you're...you're younger..." Angel spoke evenly and brushed his fingers through the now even younger vampire's hair. The blond's locks were now slightly longer and curled more around his digits. A few strands were absent of gel now and were falling above his eyes to brush his forehead.

"How much younger?" Spike whispered, hoping his voice wouldn't crack like it did before. God that was weird. It was like it was when he was...

"A teenager." Conner spoke from the doorway. He had followed his father upstairs when he didn't hear any yells from either vampire. He assumed his father was gagging Spike or staking him, and he didn't want to miss it. So he'd come upstairs for the show and found a smaller looking 'brother' instead. "You're smaller than me now. Probably younger too." He grinned and looked down at the vampire. Spike glared back.

"I'm not younger than you." He sneered and turned his attention back to his Sire. He did not need Poof Junior to be here right now. Not when he was...different. "Angel what happened to me? Why am I like this?" He was not impressed when his Sire shrugged and went to stand in the doorway with Conner.

"I don't know. We'll try and work it out. Now get dressed, we need to show the others." Conner gave one last smirk to Spike before going downstairs like an obedient idiot. Spike gritted his teeth and thought about every nasty way he could hurt the boy without his chip going off. He was cut off by Angel's voice. "And next time, don't threaten my son." Then he was gone.

Threaten his son? Threaten his son? When had he done such a thing? Not counting when he first met him. Or when he stole his CD's. Or when... When had he threatened him recently? That little twerp had lied! The little...bastard! God he'd get him back!

Spike threw the towel across the room to the laundry basket and pulled on his jeans. He was not impressed when the skin-tight effect was lost on his smaller legs. They now resembled baggy jeans and he had to turn up the end so they didn't drag along the floor. Even worse, the waistband was too big and he had to fix his belt to the tightest, yet they still slipped to rest on his hips.

"Bloody hell." He muttered and moved to pull on his shirt. The fabric didn't fit as well as before and was now resting about an inch above his elbows instead of midway up the top half of his arms. Being a teenager, he didn't have as much muscle as before and the shirt was loose enough to hang from his body. He sighed and began the walk downstairs. This was going to be humiliating.

Aw, poor Spike! He always gets the worst end of the bargain doesn't he? More excitement next chapter. How will the others react? Will there be laughter? Screams? What will happen? Find out...whenever I feel like writing the next part!

Luv Higgy xxx.