A/N : Big thanx to my reviewers; spuffy4eva, demonica mills, Hellmouth2, PltnmDancer, Robin93, Brunettepet, kim, Torrchy, vanillagigglez, Moluvsnumber17, Ape18, Anyanka0705, Arisluv, nikstarr, lil-leti, and Daniel Wesley Rydell. So glad you all love this fic so much, but I have to tell you we're very close to an ending. This is the penultimate chapter, so just one more and an epilogue after this. Hope you like.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14
"Y'all wanna tell me what I'm doin' here now?" Isadora demanded to know and little Anya pushed through the crowd of grown ups to stand before her old acquaintance.
"I summoned you" she said brightly, "Halfrek says she didn't fulfil the tall, loud one's wish"
"Hey!" Cordy protested at that but the mini ex-demon paid her no attention as she continued.
"Did you do it?" she asked simply as Isadora's eyes narrowed, "Issy, did you?" she repeated when she got no answer.
"Anyanka?" she gasped suddenly, "Damn it, girl, is that you in that teeny tiny little body?"
"Oh for bloody hell's sake!" Spike exploded angrily, "Yes, she is soddin' Anyanka, reduced to bite size by your friend over here, along with the rest of this bleedin' mob!" he explained, overly loudly, "You seem to have been playin' copy cat and turned this one here's two work mates into sprogs too, so would you kindly both just change everybody back to their proper height, before I lose my soddin' temper!" he bellowed, clearly having passed Reasonable-ville about two exits back.
"Okay, first off, who the hell does this guy think he is?" Isadora asked the assembled group, pushing her hand out palm facing Spike as she turned away from him, "Second, she ain't no friend of mine" she pointed out, gesturing vaguely at the still bound Halfrek, "and third, you really so dumb you think I'm gonna reverse wishes just cos you say jump? Not a chance in hell, baby" she snapped.
"I could give you a chance in Hell if you want" Buffy said angrily, "I'll slay you if you don't do what Spikey says!" she yelled up at the large dark-skinned demon, who looked human enough right now.
"Damn, child, you got some power packed in that little body, dontcha?" she smiled, "Still you start throwing any little punches my way I still gonna land you on the other side of this building"
"You come near her, and I'll kill you" Spike said, side stepping in front of the mini Slayer, eyes flashing gold.
Isadora looked like she was about to laugh and Hallie shook her head.
"He will, Isadora" she warned, "When he loves he does so fully, and will die before he allows anyone to harm those he cares for" her tone was less the Americanised demon she'd become and so much closer to the young Englishwoman she'd once been, it took Spike by surprise and when he turned to glance at her, Isadora saw her opportunity and smacked him across the face, sending him reeling back.
As the vampire made to come back at her, the demon woman began muttering something foreign to almost everyone else in the room. With a flourish of her arms she seemed ready to disappear, to teleport away as Vengeance Demons are want to do, but she didn't go anywhere.
"What the...?" she swore, finding herself still in the lobby of the Hyperion when she opened her eyes. Spike was equally as stunned to find he hadn't needed to stop his advance on her, she wasn't going anywhere after all.
"Who's messing with my mojo here?" Isadora demanded to know, swinging around and looking nastily at the group. Joyce and Cordy held all the children away from her, hoping to keep them safe but ultimately knowing there was very little they could do against the demon woman.
"Angel, no!" Cordelia made a grab at him but he moved too fast and ran at Isadora's legs. She batted him away with ease and he went crashing into the wall with a thud. Cordy ran to check on him and something made Buffy follow to make sure he was okay. Nobody had yet realised that Willow, Tara, and Wesley were slightly less quiet than they had been behind the counter. Joyce had thought it best not to draw attention to them, since it was less likely they'd get hurt that way, still she stood in front of the counter just in case and suddenly realised they were not just talking softly anymore, but chanting something.
"What?" Spike said suddenly, looking around as if trying to locate a person that might have spoken to him, but no-one had, "Bloody hell, how did you...?"
"Spikey?" Buffy frowned as she ran back to his side, satisfied that Angel was fine in Cordy's care, "What's wrong?" she asked him desperately, tugging on the bottom of his coat when his attention did not immediately focus on her.
"Gettin' real bored, real fast, kids" Isadora pointed out, speaking to the whole room more than just the children - they were all so insignificant to her.
"You really are some piece of work, y'know that?" Spike said suddenly trying not to grin as he wound her up, "Vengeance Demons, think you're so bleedin' high and mighty" he continued as he walked around her, taking her attention with him. The rest looked on wondering what he was doing, all accept Joyce who had since caught a little of what the kids behind the counter had been saying. It was all starting to add up for her.
Willow and Tara were still witches no matter how small, and between them and Wesley they'd come up with a plan to stop Isadora, and Halfrek too. For the second part of the spell they needed to get within throwing distance of the demon women, and that was why they'd had to tap into Spike's mind and talk to him telepathically. He was the only one who could safely distract Isadora. If she turned on him it was unlikely she could kill him, the others were not so invulnerable.
"Bloody wish givers, think you're so much better than the rest of us with your 'powers'" Spike air-quoted, "Gotta work for a bleedin' boss though haven't you, luv? Gotta do your bit, fill your quota, or it's..." he made a slicing motion with his finger across his throat to illustrate his point and Isadora tilted her chin in the air.
"You don't know nothin'" she said firmly, "What we are, what we do, it's for a greater purpose than you'll ever have, BloodSucker" she sneered, but Spike just smirked, not caring what insults she threw at him right now.
"Greater purpose, eh?" he echoed, keeping her attention and signalling in his head to Willow that now would be the time to execute her plan.
With an unexpectedly loud war cry Wesley came hurtling around the side of the counter towards both Isadora and Halfrek, flinging his arms out as he reached them. Some sort of dust or powder flew out of his hands, getting on both the Vengeance Demons. They were too stunned to realise what was happening, as Willow and Tara stepped into view, hands clasped as they looked towards the assembled group of people and demons, chanting softly.
"What the hell is this!" Isadora demanded to know.
"Demonstration of our greater purpose" Spike told her smugly, as Willow and Tara completed their words and an orange mist swirled around first Isadora and then Halfrek too. The two little Wiccans grinned happily as the mist wound into rope-like strands, tying tight around the two demons bodies until they could not move.
"Good heavens" Giles said astonished at what was happening as the rest of the group looked on.
"Oh, pretty" Anya smiled as the orange bounds around her former friends flashed darker and darker, turning to red and then black as they became solid, tying arms and legs down, making it impossible for Isadora to move and strengthening Halfrek's bonds.
As Willow and Tara finally went quiet, Wesley rushed back from his hiding place. Though he had every faith in his little witch friends he hadn't fancied being in the firing line had the spell not worked. He had thrown the powder on the demons, they might want revenge for that - they were Vengeance Demons after all.
"Well, aren't you two just the stars of the show" Spike smirked at Willow and Tara, the first of whom looked terribly pleased with herself, the other blushing from embarrassment as she kept hold of her friends hand and practically hid behind her.
"What exactly have they done?" Giles was keen to know as Buffy went towards Isadora and poked her in the knees, amused by the fact the demon seemed to be completely stuck in one position, not only held by ropes but glued to the one spot on the ground where she stood.
"Get away from me you little runt!" she yelled, making the Slayer jump. Over her shock fast, Buffy's face hardened and she kicked the demon woman hard in the ankle, knowing she couldn't hurt her back.
"Little Wiccas here did a bit of mojo for us" Spike smirked as he watched the little Slayer messing with Isadora, "With help of their Watcher friend of course" he added as he spotted Wes carefully weaving his way through the many people in the lobby, towards Willow and Tara.
"It worked" he said delightedly as the red-head nodded.
"It's a binding spell" she smiled, as she looked over at the grown-ups, "We wanted to help... We did help, right?" she checked.
"Yes, sweethearts, you did" Joyce assured them with a smile, "Having them still is very helpful"
"But it doesn't get our wishes reversed" Cordy pointed out, earning a scathing look from Mrs Summers as Tara, and Willow too, looked a little tearful that their efforts meant so little all of a sudden.
"But you did a great job" Cordelia back pedalled. She could do without the hassle of an argument, and crying kids right now.
"We could do more" Wesley said excitedly, "A controlling spell!" he cried in an almost-Eureka like moment that lasted just a second before he turned to Willow and whispered, "Can we do that?". She glanced at Tara before nodding it was totally possible and Wes went right back to grinning when he found that he'd said something useful and that the whole room's attention was on him, in a good way.
"You sure about this, Little Bits" Spike asked, crouching down in front of the two girls, "Bloody powerful even in bite-size, I know that, can see it from here" he smirked, glancing over his shoulder at the bound demons whom Buffy and Angel were having great fun torturing, "but this is a big ask"
"W-we can do-do it" Tara stammered, much more confident in her magic ability than anything else. Willow nodded her agreement and Spike got back to his feet, looking over at Giles and Joyce.
"What say you, Watcher?" he asked him, "Reckon you wanna take a shot at having the Wiccas and Watcher Jnr go abracadabra on Pinky and Perky over here?"
"Well" Giles removed his glasses and polished them on the edge of his shirt, "I cannot see how they could make matters worse" he mused, "After all, neither Halfrek nor indeed Isadora seemed likely to reverse the wishes by any other means, and Willow and Tara have more than proven their, er... abilities have not been affected by their, well, condition as it were"
"Reckon that means yes, Mum?" Spike asked Joyce with a amused look, she smiled herself as she nodded.
"I would think so" she agreed.
"Right then" the vampire clapped his hands as he turned back to the kids, "Let's get to it"
To Be Continued...