Disclaimer: The characters of BTVS and ATS are Joss’s, Ariel and Cat are mine.
__________________________________________
Chapter 19 : Toddlers soothe the savage beast.

Buffy woke up that night around 3 am to Cat’s crying again. Her headaches were coming roughly every couple of days now. Buffy brought the crying child down stairs to get away from Dawn, who had a Chemistry test the next day and Ariel, who had a history presentation. Buffy seated herself on the couch in the darkened living room and rocked the whimpering child, who was sucking from her arm.

This was the only time of day that the house was ever quiet, what with all the people what were coming and going on a daily basis. Dawn had been right, Cat had gotten Xander wrapped around her little finger right away. She was quite the charmer. Buffy worried about what would happen when she got into high school. Buffy heard a noise outside like a car door slamming and turned to look out side.

Buffy exhaled. Her house was about to get even more crowded. Buffy rushed up the stairs to put Cat back to bed and then rushed back down stairs to answer the door before anyone could knock or ring the door bell.

Swinging the door open Buffy took in the five individuals standing on her porch.

“Angel,” she greeted.

“We have a problem,” he said harshly. “Drusilla is in Cleveland.”

“And you felt the need to bring your brigade of demon hunters to my house in the middle of the night?” asked Buffy.

“I thought you’d want help?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. Buffy moved back to let the group in. “If you don’t come in, Mrs Morganson from across the road will start telling tales. Keep your voices down I’ve got teenagers who have academic achievement to do in the morning.”

Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Kennedy walked past Angel and into the house. Buffy guided them to the living room.

“Uh? Buffy?” asked Angel still at the doorway.

“Can you go around to the side door. I need to do something before I let you in...” said Buffy.

“What could you possibly need to do?”

“Wake up Spike.”
__________________________________________
A very sleepy Spike walked into the kitchen. Buffy had woken him up with the most unpleasant words he could think of: “Angel’s here, get up or I’m inviting him in.”

Spike stared at his grandsire who was leaning against the barrier on the kitchen door.

“Oh come in already ya big poof,” said Spike getting himself a mug of blood. “You’re letting all the heat out. This isn’t soddin’ California.”

Buffy chuckled as Angel fell to the ground.

“You did that on purpose,” spat Angel.

Spike just snickered. “So what brings your over gelled hair to Cleveland’s fair shores?”

“Drusilla is in town. I’m here to contain her.”

“Oh isn’t that sweet. You didn’t think that the Slayer could take care of my loony sire?”

“I don’t want Dru dust Spike.”

“Of course not, compassionate fellow like yourself.”

“Can we go into the living room and talk about this?” asked Buffy. “I don’t want people waking up.”

“That’s right...Got Bits that need their rest.”

Buffy led Angel to the living room, where she announced that the kettle was on.

“If I never see the inside of that car again, I’ll die a happy woman,” said Kennedy.

Buffy glared at the former potential. She didn’t want her in her house. She had caused Willow pain.

“Let us get directly to the point,” said Wesley. “We’ve been tracking Drusilla for about 2 weeks now. She is responsible for the massacre at three day cares in LA, one in Las Vegas and one in Denver. We believe that she is now in Cleveland and will strike again. The victims have all been toddlers.”

“We don’t know why she’s going after children, toddlers specifically.”

Buffy’s hand flew to her mouth and gasped. Buffy flew up the stairs.

“What was that about?” asked Gunn.

“We know why she’s gone after the lil’uns,” said Spike sadly.
__________________________________________
When Buffy didn’t come down stairs after half an hour, Spike went up in search of Buffy. He had spent the past half hour deflecting questions about how they knew about Drusilla’s targets and why Buffy ran up stairs. He wasn’t about to tell the magnificent poof that he had fathered Buffy’s children from the future. Especially not without Buffy in the room to defend him.

Spike found Buffy curled around Cat, lying on their bed. Buffy looked so peaceful, asleep. Shaking his head, he left them asleep and closed the door to the room.

“She’s asleep,” said Spike simply. “And I won’t have the rest of you waking her up. We’ll talk about this in the afternoon. We’ve got 2 bedrooms free and there’s the training room, the office and the couch here, divide yourself accordingly.”

After some debate, Spike found the extra linens and made up beds for the impromptu guests. Angel in the training room, Kennedy in the Guest room, Fred on the couch and Gunn in the office and Wesley made do with Andrew’s bedroom in the attic.

Spike briefly apologized for the mess of the attic and made his way back into his own bed, and his lover and child curled up on it.
__________________________________________

The first thing Buffy heard the next morning was Dawn’s scream from the basement. By the time she got there herself, Oz and Xander were already there and equally perplexed as to Angel’s presence in the house.

“Buffy I came down to do some laundry and Angel was all sleeping on the mats!“ exclaimed Dawn.

“Spike had to put him somewhere,“ muttered Buffy, “He’s here cause he think we need help with Drusilla. Fred, Wesley, Gunn and Kennedy are here too.“ Buffy said the last name with a sneer.

Sleepily Buffy trudged up the stairs and back to her bedroom.
__________________________________________
Spike was in the kitchen making breakfast for his Bits, so they could get a good start on their day. It was the smell of cooking that brought up Xander and Oz from their subterranean rooms. Eventually all the chairs of the dinning room were filled with Scoobies or wannabe scoobies. Dawn was having a discussion with Fred about her chemistry test, Wesley was discussing the new council with Xander and Oz and Kennedy were giving each other the cold shoulder. The problem was that Ariel hadn’t come down stairs yet.

Angel made his way up into the kitchen and helped himself to blood after looking disgustingly at Spike who was eating scrambled eggs that had blood poured over them. Most of the others just thought it was really runny ketchup.

When finally Ariel entered the dinning room for breakfast she had the whole population of the house, except her mother and sister to witness the entrance.

Oz vacated his seat for her and she sat down with a thump, everyone looking directly at her.

“Hi!” said Fred pleasantly. “I got here last night, you may not know me. I’m Fred. Winifred Burkel.”

Ariel tried to smile. “Hi,” she grunted.

“Ooh introduction time!” said Xander far too perky for early morning. He was eagerly waiting for the reaction on Angel’s face when Ariel introduced herself.

“Wesley Wyndem-Price,” said Wesley nodding.

“Charles Gunn,” said Gunn.

“Kennedy,”

“Stuck in the 80’s?” came Buffy’s voice from the doorway to the living room.

“Hornhouse,” muttered the former slayer.

Snickers erupted from around the table.

“Did you say Pornhouse?” asked Spike, entirely seriously.

The laughter got worse.

“HORNhouse” repeated Kennedy, her face red.

“Angel,” said the elder vampire, sticking his hand out to shake the preteen’s.

“Oh I know who you are,” said Ariel sullenly.

“Manners,” cautioned Buffy.

Spike took the opportunity to whisper in his daughter’s ear that he didn’t care if she was polite to the great poofter. So Buffy mock swatted him.

“I guess Buffy must talk about me all the time,” continued Angel.

“Not so much,” said Ariel.

The rest of the people at the table, and Oz standing to the side were silent. The Cleveland crew was waiting for the revelation that Ariel was Buffy and Spike’s kid and the AI group just wanted to find out why everyone else was silent.

“Then how’d you find out about me then? You a potential Slayer? Done your vamp research?”

“I don’t know if I’m a potential. Potentials are only identified at age 15, I’m 12. And no I didn’t do any research on you, didn’t have to. I got the first hand accounts when my Da wanted to scare me.”

Spike snickered.

“Don’t you think you should tell them your name?” asked Buffy, trying to keep from laughing herself.

“Do you really think that’s wise? Peaches won’t like it,” said Spike.

“What won’t I like?” asked the broody vampire.

“Can we just get it over with. Someone has to drive us to school in 20mins,” said Dawn.

Ariel exhaled.

“I know you because I’ve met you before Angel. You are my great grandfather. I’m Ariel Dawn Summers-Graves, the daughter of Buffy and Spike. I’m from the future.”

At which point Cat came running into the dinning room, clad in yellow ducky pjs calling “Mummy! Mummy!”

Buffy scooped up the toddler. “Do you want breakfast Cat?” asked Buffy.

“And that’s my two year old sister Catherine Drusilla.”

Buffy cringed as she waited for Angel to hit the roof. Angel’s forehead was moving of it’s own accord, indicating that the vampire was holding in quite the pocket of rage.

“Dawn, Ariel, get in the car we are going now,” said Xander, practically leaping out of his chair.

Buffy made an exit into the kitchen to get Cat set up with her breakfast.

“What do you mean you are Spike and Buffy’s daughter?” roared Angel.

Ariel rose from her chair. “Just that, great grandpa.”

“She does look like Buffy,” said Wesley.

Buffy came back in with Cat and set her up in her high chair, with her plate of scrambled eggs.

“And Catherine looks like Spike,” said Fred.

Cat looked wide eyed at all the people in her dinning room. “Hi!” she beamed.

“Hello Catherine,” said Wesley pleasantly.

Cat turned her head to look at Angel who was still in the doorway to the kitchen. “Pretty,” she said looking directly at him.

Buffy snickered.

“Aww,” said Fred, “She likes you.”

Angel calmed down at the presence of the toddler.

“Cat always had a thing for Angel,” said Ariel coming into the room with her book bag.

“Is she the reason why Drusilla’s eating toddlers?” asked Gunn.

“Grandma Dru would NEVER hurt us,” said Ariel defiantly.

“The fact remains Ariel, that Drusilla is in Cleveland and has been feasting on toddlers for months,” said Wesley.

The Summer’s car honked from outside.

“Drusilla would never hurt us,” muttered Ariel as she walked out of the room and towards the front door of the house.
__________________________________________
“You are cookies aren’t you?” asked Angel while Buffy was washing up after breakfast.

“Huh?”

“Cookies, you’re baked and you’ve decided who gets to enjoy cookie you...”

Buffy laughed. “I thought you hated the cookie analogy.”

“I do.”

“Yes Angel, I’m cookies. I was cookies even before I finished the cookie analogy. I just didn’t know it yet.”

“And it’s Spike.”

“It’s Spike, Angel. I thought I explained this to you in LA before I left.”

“You did, but that was before he miraculously reappeared. He is still a vamp right?”

“Yes, he’s all fangy and everything.”

“Then how...?”

“I don’t know how he gets me pregnant Angel. Ariel wouldn’t say, I don’t think she even knows. She’s from the future, but she won’t say how far into the future.”

Buffy pulled a slip of paper out of a junk drawer and handed it to Angel. It was the letter her future self wrote.

Angel stood there reading it for a while.

“This is ridiculous!” he shouted. “How can you possibly believe that they are actually your children?”

“Cause Giles checked it out while he was here. I know they are mine Angel, there’s this feeling that I can’t describe when I hold Cat or when I hug Ariel. They are mine, and they are Spike’s. Please don’t make a bigger deal about this than you already have.”

“Angel!” cried Cat as she bounced into the room. “Up!”

Reluctantly Angel scooped the little girl up into his arms. Cat cuddled into Angel’s arms.

“Looks like you’ve made a new friend.”
__________________________________________
tbc...