Disclaimer: Yay, I'm gonna do these all the time now. I own only my delusions, and though these characters may frequent them, strictly speaking, they all belong to Joss and the guys at ME.

A/N: This is a longy. My last chapter was actually this long, so I split it in two. But there's not enough substance in this to split it, it's just silly sweet fluff. I dunno how fluff got to be so long-ish, but it did. Oh well. As always, silly Fred and Wes fluff, plus Fred and Spike reunited for cuteness! (Spike doesn't hang out with his Aunty enough) and the return of that dark haired girl from chapter 4! Yay!

Thank you as always for the reviews, I wish I had more time to write back and say thanks more often (something I will be doing once peak assessment is over at school!). I'm glad I had so many good comments regarding Fred and Wesley. I'm a big ol' fan of that ship =) I'm glad other people are enjoying my little side saga with those too. And also, thank you for the support of my less than kind and fatherly Angel. He's still got a way to go, but he's going to be better from now on.

Chapter 7
Boys and Girls

Spike was in heaven. All around him was clean, pure, unbroken white. The walls, the floor, the benches, all shone with brilliant ethereal light. Gold streamed from above, and bounced off the already glowing surfaces. It was perfect, unblemished, and impossibly shiny. "What's that?" Spike asked unseen companions, "Ninjas are invading heaven?!"

Spike was wreaking havoc and having a balmy time in the Wolfram & Heart science labs, playing make-believe. He jumped to his feet and took up the traditional fighting stance, fists and arms pulled in front of his chest in readiness. "Don't worry sergeant, I'll get 'em!" He lunged forward, kicking the air, making appropriate fighting sound effects. He punched twice high, once low, and swung around for a back kick, disposing of one of the imaginary ninjas. "You'll never take heaven from the angels." He spat at his foes "I'm warrior-angel-Spike, and I'm here to punish you." He struck a pose and flashed his unseen opponents a steely glare. "Come and get me." He let out a piteous war cry and charged forward, punching in quick succession to down the advancing fighters.

"You're pretty good at that." Fred said, looking up from the petrii dish she was examining. "You got the quick punching thing and the low kick thing going on." She smiled a lopsided smile, remembering that the little boy fighting imaginary ninjas had once been a grown up blond vampire who killed two slayers and now fought evil. Little wonder he could fight.

Spike pushed his hair out of his eyes most debonair, and took a small break from assaulting imaginary foes. "Yeah, I just kinda act on instinct. I try a few hits, then a few kicks." He said offhandedly, oblivious to Fred's giggles, "Check this out though." He took a running leap and flew from one science bench onto the other, clattering onto the white table top.

"Careful." Fred said absently. Her lab assistant who was working with the fume cupboard at the back looked over in apprehensive distaste, but Fred didn't notice, she thought Spike was gorgeous. She had offered to watch him for the morning while Angel looked after a new client. Spike had soon taken to cavorting around the science labs, using the various apparatus as weapons in his imaginary play. She had watched, delighted and amused by his antics, even when he had broken a microscope and destroyed the sample slide on it. She was oblivious to the potential damage of a child in the most expensive science lab in LA. All she cared was that Spike was having a good time. And he was.

"Roger Captain." Spike said into his wrist, "The enemy has been neutralized, heaven is safe." He set down the tripod he had been wielding as a club, signalling an end to that particular game, and hopped off the bench. "Fred," He said, climbing onto the stool beside her and looking curiously at the petrii dish she was prodding with a needle. "Is Angel a secret agent?"

Fred laughed, "Why do you think that?"

Spike shrugged, "He wears suits all the time, and he has cool gizmos and he does big special deals and stuff. Plus he has a secret identity."

"True. I s'pose he is kind of a secret agent." She lowered her voice, and said almost dreamily, "I used to think he was a knight, like in fairy tales, who rescued princesses and slayed dragons."

Spike picked up a pipet lying on the bench and brandished it like a sword, "I could do that!" He said, lunging forward and sword fighting his foes once more. "I'd stab all the other knights good and proper, and then I'd go visit my lady, and she would faint at how brave I was." He said. She stopped fighting the shadow knights and sat down again. "I don't think that's Angel though. I think Angel is a super hero."

"Yeah," Fred smiled, "He saves to world."

"Well, I could be his side-kick!" Spike said excitedly. "I could help him fight baddies and put them in jail. He'd be the hero, so he'd get the girl, but that's ok, 'cause I don't really want the girl she might give me cooties or something." The words tumbled out of Spike's mouth without pause for breath, which was of corse unnecessary for the little vampire. "But the best bit would be hanging out with Angel all the time. And we could fight crime together, and have cool code names. He'd be 'Super-Angel' and I'd be 'Super-Spike.' We'd be the baddie killing team." Each time Spike said Angel's name his eyes lit up with egger excitement.

"That's sounds great." Fred said, "Can I help too?"

"Well," He considered. "Ok, but you can't come with me and Angel. Only we get to stop the baddies. You can stay at our secret base and test the clues we find for radio activity."

"Ok!" Fred clapped her hands enthusiastically, "Can I have a super hero name too?"

"You're... The Amazing Aun'y Fred." He offered. "And you can bring Wesley if you like."

Fred smiled, a childish blush creeping over her cheeks as it always did. "Why would I want to bring him?" She asked, her tummy warming at the subject.

"Because you're in love with him. I figured you wouldn't wanna be apart from him." Spike shrugged.

Fred put a hand to her warming cheek, "What makes you think I'm in love with him?"

"You smell like him." Spike stated "You always call him on your phone. When he's around you hold his hand, or tug at his clothes and pat his collar, or worse kiss him. And when you talk about him you smile, and your voice goes all high. Plus you talk about him a lot."

"That's very observant." Fred blushed, wondering if it really was that obvious. Spike's description made her sound like a school girl.

"He's in love with you too." Spike rattled off his evidence disregarding the privacy of his subjects. "He never smiles; accept when he talks about you. He watches you all the time until you leave the room, and then he looks at the door where you left. He makes up excuses to go to the lab and find you. And, worst of all, he has a picture of you on his desk, and I've seen him look at it all lovey dovey when no one's around."

"Spike, you shouldn't just watch people like that." Fred said mortified to find her feelings and Wesley's where so obviously on display. "It's not polite. And don't tell other people how we behave." She hid her red cheeks, "It's embarrassing."

"I'd be embarrassed," Spike said, "Being in love with a girl is the most embarrassing thing there is. You act all mushy and gross, and then you kiss them, which is worse, and then you have to get married and have babies all the time."

Fred laughed nervously, "Looks like my secret is out. But don't tell too many people ok?" Hopefully Spike wouldn't share anymore embarrassing observations.

Spike nodded enthusiastically, "It's ok, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine." He suddenly blushed and looked away. He opened his mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out. He clearly wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how.

Fred put down her pointer and pushed her slide away, "Well, before I keep you're secret, I gotta know it."

Spike beckoned Fred closer. She obliged, leaning her ear close to his mouth. "My secret is," He whispered, "I'm... a vampire!" He leapt back quickly and waited for Fred to react.

"Oh, ok." She giggled.

"Aun'y Fred!" He cried. "Be serious!"

"I am." She said, "I think it's ok that you're a vampire."

"It is?" Spike asked, still unsure. Angel had said that people didn't like vampires, so Aun'y Fred should be mad or scared. "I... I'm telling the truth." He said. "I really am a vampire. This isn't make-believe."

Fred pulled him of his chair into her lap and wrapped her arms around him. "I know you are." She said, resting her chin on his shoulder, "And though it's a little scary, I'm ok with that. You're a good kid, and I know it. If you're a vampire, then I know you're a good one. No matter what you are, I love you."

Spike wiggled uncomfortably, "Aun'y Fred, that's embarrassing." He giggled.

Fred only held him tighter, "No, I'm sorry, it's true. I love you."

He stopped wriggling and looked up at her, his bright blue eyes wide as saucers "I...I love you to."

The sweet moment was spoiled by the phone ringing. Fred sighed, and lifted Spike off her lap, "I'll get it." She muttered. She skipped over to her desk, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

Spike took up his pipet again and practiced thrusting.

"Wes!" Fred squeaked into the receiver, "Uh-huh. I'm taking him back to Angel for lunch...Well, it's almost time now, so I can meet you in reception...Ok, great! I'll see you then...Uh-huh. Love you." She hung up the phone and bounced over to Spike. "That was Wes, I'm meeting him for lunch. Angel said he'd be back around now, so I'll take you up with me and you can have lunch with him 'kay?"

Spike smiled his bashful little grin, "You're doing it."

"Doing what?" she asked.

"That happy thing you do when you talk about Wesley." He said.

Fred blushed deeper than the sunset, "Come on, lunch time." She said, taking his arm and leading him out of the sparkling white lab towards the elevators.
"Oh, hey Fred!" Harmony called out as Fred and Spike stepped out of the elevator, "Hey, I have to talk to you about something major important."

Fred hurried over, "What? Is something wrong?"

"Duh, yes!" Said Harmony, "See, I have this date with this chaos demon tonight, and I have like nothing to wear. You've got to help me decide."

Fred's shoulders slumped, slightly annoyed at Harmony's shallow problem, but mostly relieved that there wasn't some big apocalypse coming. "You're big important thing is a date?" She sighed, "Why do you want my help choosing an outfit?"

"You're kinda right, it's not like your taste is great." She said, looking Fred up and down.

Fred checked her knee length rose print skirt and her frilly pink blouse, "What's wrong with this?" she asked offended.

"C'mon Winni, it just screams nerdy book girl." Harmony scoffed.

Spike wriggled his hand out of Aun'y Fred's, and wandered a little way away. She was talking about boring things with that excitable blond woman. He sniffed his way around the reception desk. Aun'y Fred had said Angel would be here, but Spike couldn't see him, or smell him. There was something though, a familiar smell. A girl smell. Spike furrowed his brow, who could he smell?

"Hey! Over here." A voice whispered from the other end of the desk. Spike scrambled hurriedly over, to discover a familiar face poking out from between the inside fern. It was the dark haired girl who had talked to him the other day when he got lost.

"Hi!" Spike said.

"Shh!" She hushed him, pressing a finger to her lips to indicate silence. "Be quiet, I need to check if the coast is clear." She brushed her dark hair away from her eyes and looked nervously around.

"Who are you looking for?" Spike whispered, kneeling down beside the fern.

"Nanny Lil. My nurse." She whispered, "She's tallish, thin. Old, but not old lady, just a grow-up. She has black hair, and she wears a white coat all the time."

Spike looked around but didn't see anyone matching that description. "I don't see her. Why are you hiding?"

"If Nanny Lil finds me, she'll take me back, make me stay in my room. I'm escaping see?" She got out from behind the fern, and brushed her self off. "Ok, coast is clear."

With a flurry of denim overalls and black wavy hair, the girl sprinted away and hopped onto one of the lobby couches. Once there, she began to jump up and down, laughing with glee as the springs pushed her higher each time. Spike hurried over to her and watched her bouncing up and down. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Bouncing...on " She said breathlessly.

"Why?" Spike asked.

"It's...fun." She said, "You...try."

Spike climbed onto the couch and began to jump up and down too. "Hey," He laughed, "This...is...fun."

"My...name...is...Matilda" She said between jumps. "But you... can call...me Tilly." She sat down hard, causing Spike to fly twice as high as before. He landed next to her on the couch with a whump and a squeal. "It's what my friends would call me. If I had any."

"Ok...I'm Spike." Spike said.

"Cool." Tilly said, "You wanna play this game, commandoes?"

Spike jumped of the couch eagerly, "Ok, how?"

"Well, we're on a team, and we have to get out of the enemy's base, but they're all around us. So we have to be careful not to get spotted." She looked around, "Ok, there's the escape." She pointed at a door by the drink vending machine across the lobby. "Lets go." Tilly crouched low and scuttled across the floor towards a column. Spike hurriedly followed her, slipping into stealth mode.

"Quick, behind you!" Spike hissed, pulling Tilly away and over behind a fern.

"Few, that was close. Good call." They waited for their imaginary adversaries to pass. Tilly set her sights on the column, narrowing her gaze and gritting her teeth. "Ok, one two three, quick!" The two children jumped out of the fern and scampered towards the column, avoiding the passing lawyers.

"Captain Tilly," Spike said, as they hid back to back behind the column, "I think there are ninjas coming."

Tilly narrowed her eyes, "Man, I hate ninjas."

"What should we do?" Spike asked.

"Take 'em out lieutenant Spike. Take, 'em out." She jumped forwards and kicked the air next to the column. Spike in turn lashed out at his imaginary foes, punching in quick succession to dispose of his attackers.

Spike felt his limbs working on auto pilot, moving without him. He remembered fighting, kicking, punching, slamming. Visions of a dusty temple and a young Asian girl filled his mind. Block, punch, punch, kick, block. The moves came easily. He was fighting to the death. He knew he was going to win. He had to win. The battle infested his blood, the need to kill rising in him. This was what he had waited for, the thrill of the battle. As he lunged forward kicking up a storm of dust as he did. The slayer was strong, but not that strong, he could beat her. He felt her giving in to him, letting go. She wanted to die. That was the secret to killing the slayer that no other vampire had fully grasped. You cannot kill the slayer, unless she wants to die. Here was a girl ready to die. Spike was only too happy to oblige. She yelled fiercely as she punched him hard on the jaw, and again on his nose. There was a crunch as something broke, but Spike continued, the pain giving him renewed vigour. He charged forward, the moment had come. Spike felt his teeth grow longer, pushing past his bottom lip, and the surging power coarse through his veins. He stopped dead, the dusty temple vanishing, and the lobby of Wolfram & Heart materializing again. He shook his head violently, willing the vampire face away. There was the faint echo of a voice, whispering something in an unknown language, and then it was gone.

Spike hurriedly checked his face. The demon had gone. He was a boy again. "Mine down lieutenant" Tilly said.

"Err...yeah, me too." Spike mumbled trying to clear his head and make sense of his strange vision. "Yeah, got the ninjas!"

"Lets make a break for the exit." The two children ran towards the vending machine and the door beyond that lead to freedom. Skidding and sliding, looking out for their adversaries, they cavorted past the glum faces of the lawyers around. They where meters away from their goal, when someone walked through the door, and grabbed the pair by their shirts.

"Spike," Wesley said, setting the vampire down. "Going some where?"

"We were running from the ninjas" Spike said.

"Right. Carry on." Wes caught sight of Fred and went over to greet her.

"Is that you dad?" Tilly asked.

Spike straightened his ruffled shirt. "Nah, that's... Uncle Wes." He pointed to Fred who was skipping to greet Wesley. "And that's my Aun'y Fred." Tilly and Spike watched as the pair kissed hello, once, twice, three times. "They're in love." Spike added.

Tilly wrinkled her nose, "Gross."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Spike agreed. "They're always kissing."

"I think it's to stop conversation." Tilly said. "Grown-ups are so bored by each other they kiss so that they both shut up." The children watched Fred and Wes for a while longer, "You're Uncle Wes must be pretty boring." Tilly concluded.

"Yeah, he is." said Spike.

"Matilda." A woman's voice echoed around the office, "Matilda!"

Tilly look petrified. "Oh no! It's my Nanny Lil. I have to go." She looked worriedly at Spike, "Listen, will you be my friend?"

Spike nodded enthusiastically, "Of course! I mean, yeah. Sure." He was suddenly stricken "But Tilly, I've got a secret-"

She hurriedly shushed him, "S'ok." She winked, "So have I." she was off in a flash, scampering over to her nurse. "Nanny Lil." She said, grabbing hold of a young woman's arm.

The dark haired nurse turned around, visibly glad to have located her charge. Spike guessed she was about the same age as Aun'y Fred, but she was taller and looked much more stressed. "Matilda!" she cried in relief, taking Tilly's arm.

"I'll see you again Spike." Tilly called back to him.

"Wait when? Where do you live?" Spike asked.

"I live here silly." called Tilly. "I'll see you next time I escape."

"Who was that?" Fred asked as Spike made his way over to the grown-ups.

"A friend." Spike said proudly. "Her name is Matilda. I call her Tilly because we're friends. Friends use short names,"

"You can tell Angel all about her if you like." Fred said, "He's just coming down to meet us. He'll only be a minute." Fred turned her attention back to Wesley who was hovering by her side. "Wanna get ice-cream for lunch?"

"You always want ice-cream." He said, "I'm putting my foot down, we're going to get hamburgers if it kills me."

"Alright." Fred sighed, "But can we get ice-cream on the way back? I need my freezing sugar fix."

"Alright. Nice blouse." Wes said, tugging and the frilly sleaves of Fred's shirt. "Very sexy."

"Ha!" Fred cried, turning to Harmony, "hear that, not nerdy book girl, but sexy."

Harmony scoffed, "C'mon Wesley can't judge. One, he's smitten with you, so he's a biased judge, and two, he's a nerdy book guy, so of course he finds the nerdy book girl thing sexy."

Wes grinned "She has a point."

"Yes, I do." Harmony said, "But enough about Fred, what about me? I have a problem and no one will help!"

"What's the problem?" Wes asked.

"I'm going on a date with Larry the chaos demon, and I have nothing to wear." She whined.

"Have you actually seen a chaos demon?" Wesley asked.

"No," Harmony said, "We met over the internet. Demon Singles chat-room."

Wes smiled, "I'll give you a tip, wear something you don't mind getting slime on."

"Angel!" Spike cried, tuning out from the grown-up talk and running to meet his guardian at the elevator doors.

"Hey Spike." Angel said, patting the child's head.

"Hey Angel." Fred said, giving him a wave.

"Everything go fine with the new client?" Wesley asked.

"Yes, we've worked something out with a Chinese spirit guide, I'll give you the details later. Was Spike ok this morning Fred?"

Fred nodded, "Great, he fought of ninjas and dragons and a couple of the x-men."

"Wolverine," Spike said, "With his claws. And Storm."

Angel looked slightly puzzled, "Um, good. I think."

"And I made a friend! Tilly, she's my friend. But you have to call her Matilda. That's what her non-friends call her ok?" Spike said hurriedly.

Angel considered this. He had told Spike not to make friends with anyone around here. This Matilda could be a demon... but then, so was Spike. He sighed. Spike probably needed a friend. Demon or otherwise. "That's great, and I'll remember to call her Matilda." he said. "Ready for lunch?"

Spike nodded "Ok, carry me?" He held up his arms and waited for Angel to lift him up.

Angel looked around awkwardly, before bending to heave Spike into his arms. Spike wrapped his arms around Angel's neck and rested his head on Angel's shoulder. Angel nodded curtly to his staff and headed back towards the elevator, Spike peeping over his shoulder.

"Is it just me, or was Angel kinda cute with Spike just now?" Harmony asked.

Wes shrugged, "Looks like Angel's coping after all."
Yay, pointless! Review me? Please? I live of reviews.... You want me to die?! ='(