Scooby Daycare
Sparks flew.
Literally.
Willow sniffed, wiping her nose. "'Scuse me," she said. "Anybody got a tissue?" She took the hankerchief that Xander offered her, blowing her nose loudly, then handed it back to him. He took it between two fingers by the corner, looking at it disdainfully. "Thanks, Xander."
Buffy rushed over to Spike with his flame-retardent blanket and patted out the smouldering areas on his flesh. "Bloody hell, Red, unless you want me to demonstrate what a vampire au flambeau looks like, watch where you're aiming those sparklies."
"Sorry..." she said sheepishly. Her nose started to twitch. "Ah...." Buffy, Spike, Xander, and Anya dove behind whatever pieces of furniture they could. "Ah..." They cowered in fear. "Ah-choo!" A swirling, glittering light filled the room, brightening to near-blinding, then faded quickly. Willow was gone. In her place sat a little redheaded girl wearing a mossy-green jumper. She kicked her legs impatiently.
A thud echoed through the room as the table that Buffy and Spike had flipped on its side and hidden behind fell over. "Bloody hell!" a high-pitched, not so menacing voice exclaimed.
A little boy, clad in a miniature black duster, black jeans, a tiny black tee-shirt, and scuffy Doc Martens, sat next to the fallen table. His bleached-blond locks stood up in all directions.
"Spike said a bad word!" shouted the little blond girl who stood next to him. "Spike said a bad word!" She smoothed down her pink sundress.
A little brown-haired girl popped up from behind the cash register. "Spike said a bad word!" she chanted along with the blond. A little boy wearing baggy clothes, with tousled, dark hair, stood up and started jumping around, joining in the cacophony. The mini-Willow started to run around the room screaming.
"Did not did not did not did not!" mini-Spike yelled over the chanting.
This was the scene that Dawn and Tara discovered when they walked into the Magic Box a few seconds later.
"Oh my god," Dawn said, stifling a giggle. "Tara, what do you think happened here?"
The five kindergarteners shut up when they noticed the newcomers. Buffy launched herself at Dawn, clinging to her sister's leg. "Dawn, Spike said a bad word."
A growl that sounded like something akin to a kitten purring emanated from the miniature vampire. He pouted, stalking over to Dawn and crossing his chubby arms. "Did not." He stuck his tongue out at the five-year-old Slayer. She let go of Dawn's leg with one arm and swung a tiny fist at him. Dawn stopped her fist from connecting with Spike's jaw.
"I think that Willow sneezed a little too hard," Tara said, grinning at the five-year-olds that were staring up at them.
"Jeez, I guess," Dawn responded, holding Spike and Buffy apart.
"Tara, I want cookies," Xander said, looking up at her and grinning, showing off a missing front tooth.
Willow piped up. "I want cake."
"May I have pizza, please?" mini-Anya asked politely.
Who knew, Dawn thought with a small smile. Anya can be polite.
"Spicy buffalo wings," Spike said as he continued to swing at Buffy. His fist connected with her arm, and Buffy cried out. Spike hit the floor as his chip kicked in. He vamped out and began to cry loudly. "I want my mommy!" he sobbed.
Buffy, having not even bruised with his punch due to her still active healing powers, crouched down beside him. "Do you have a boo-boo?" she asked, staring fascinatedly at the tiny ridges that adorned his face. She touched one of them tentatively. "Can I kiss it and make it better? That's what my mommy used to do. My mommy went away to Heaven." The little blond girl turned to Dawn. "Why did mommy go away, Dawn?" she asked with clarity.
Tara shook her head with a small, sad smile. "Dawn, we need a blanket to cover Spike with. Do you think you can handle babysitting them all once we get them back to your house so I can pick up what they want to eat?"
"Sure," Dawn replied. "But I think it would be easier to get mini-vamp here home in the frame-pack that I saw in the basement. I'll be right back," she said. She returned moments later with a large camping frame-pack, and with a bit of wheedling convinced Spike to climb inside. The group was soon off, Spike in the frame-pack on Dawn's back, and one child on each of their hands.
They arrived at the Summers home in one piece, surprisingly, and soon the five children were coloring in the living room. Tara had done a quick protection spell on the house so the five-year-olds wouldn't demolish it.
"Buffy, are you hungry? What do you want?" Tara asked her.
Buffy smiled up at her toothily. "I want a peanut butter and banana sandwich on white bread with the crust cut off, in triangles, please. And milk."
Tara left with a grocery list, and returned fifteen minutes later to find that Dawn was watching a Disney movie with the children. "I like Scar," Spike declared. "He's kewl."
"Simba is the coolest," Buffy retorted.
"Well, I like Timon and Pumbaa," Xander stated, not willing to be left out.
"Rafiki is my favorite, Dawn," Anya said meekly.
"I like Zazu," Willow said finally.
Tara grinned and walked into the kitchen. She soon had plates ready for all the children, each with what they had asked for. She pulled a bottle of blood out of a brown paper bag from the butcher's shop and poured it into a glass for Spike, then poured juice for everyone else, and milk for Buffy.
"Food's ready, guys," she said as she carried a tray out to the living room.
Five excited squeals filled the room. "What'd you get for us?" Dawn asked.
"Chinese," Tara replied, handing her a box. "We really need to figure out what happened here," she said as an afterthought. "I think Willow's cold caused her to have some powerbursts. I wonder if that's the reason our friends are midgets." Then, pulling out a Polaroid camera, she began to snap pictures of the children. At Dawn's look of confusion, she explained, "For the memories. And blackmail," she added, grinning wickedly.
"Could be," Dawn replied.
"I love Buffy," Spike announced loudly.
"Eeew!" Anya, Willow, and Xander exclaimed.
"We're gonna get married," Buffy decided.
"Eeew!" the refrain came again.
"Buffy, you can't marry Spike," Xander protested. "He's yucky." Suddenly Anya kissed Xander innocently, and he fell over.
Spike's lower lip trembled and tears sprung into his clear, blue eyes. "I'm not yucky," he whispered.
Buffy walked over to Spike and gave him a hug, her chubby arms comforting the sniffling miniature vampire. "Xander's a big dummy," she said, loudly enough for the brown-haired boy to hear. "You're not yucky."
Dawn's eyes widened. Buffy had always referred to Spike as an evil, disgusting thing, and now she was defending him from Xander's taunts. True, she was a five-year-old now, but five-year-olds weren't very good at lying.
Willow began to sniffle. She wiped at her nose, scrunching it slightly. And then, she suddenly sneezed. A bright light enveloped the five children in the room, and brightened. When it faded, in the place of the five children stood five very confused-looking adults.
Xander stood from his place on the floor. He dusted himself off. "Huh," he muttered. "Pants feel a little tight."
Anya merely shrugged, then leapt at Xander, kissing him thoroughly.
"Excuse me," Willow said, sniffling. She then looked around, realizing that she was no longer at the Magic Box and that Buffy and Spike were hugging. "Wait a minute... huh? Buffy, why are you hugging Spike?"
Buffy and Spike, who were still embracing, pulled away from each other. Buffy looked at Willow for a minute before responding. "Don't know," she replied, shrugging.
Dawn handed a stack of Polaroid photos to Spike, grinning.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he saw the miniature Scoobies. "Aww, I'm a cute little bugger," he cooed at an image of himself. He quickly pocketed a particularly good picture of Buffy hugging him, then handed the stack to Willow.
"Ooh! 'The Lion King!' I love this movie!" Buffy exclaimed, noticing the television. "Wait, I don't remember turning it on..."
"You know, Scar has always reminded me of someone," Xander said snidely.
Spike clucked his tongue. "Now, now, Harris, no need to get rude."
"Yeah, well... you're yucky. And holy deja vu." He shook his head. "Someone better do some explaining..."