AN: Hey, guess whose back after a ridiculously long time! Been craving the need to get some writing done and trying to write an original novel, but thought getting back into fanfic would be a good warm up. Everyone seemed to love this story and I really enjoyed writing it, so I'm going to attempt to finish it! I've not watched Buffy in forever, which is tragic, but hopefully you guys will still love this and I'm sure I've watched the show millions of times that this still feels close to the Buffyverse for you guys. Please review as always. Missed my readers, hope you're still out there!

Disclaimer: Joss owns all ... as he should! Such a legend ...

Chapter Five

I'm A Big Girl Now

Phoebe squirmed uncomfortably under her father's unblinking gaze.

"Geez Dad, stare much?" she grumbled, with a typical teenage roll of the eyes.

Spike blinked hard, knocking himself out of his daze. She was bloody beautiful. His little girl, the little bundle of bunny slippers and fluffy pyjamas, was going to look every bit as stunning and powerful as her mother. A smile twitched at the corner of his lips and he ran a hand through his blonde hair, still trying to grasp what was going on. Eventually, the ability to talk returned.

"Sorry luv," he muttered, shaking his head in wonder, "Just can't bloody believe what I'm seeing. My little Bit all grown up and womanly. Makes me feel..." Spike frowned slightly, and then chuckled before continuing, "Makes me feel bloody old."

Phoebe smiled warmly at her father and laughed. She leant forward and kissed his cheek.

"Silly vampire," she scolded playfully. "You can't get old."

She smirked at him and Spike suddenly felt as though he was staring in a mirror. Moments ago she had been every bit the image of his Slayer. She was a Californian beauty with, to his surprise, a British accent. Did that mean they moved to Britain in the near future? He was sure by the time Phoebe was old enough to socialize with others her own age; she would lose the accent she had picked up from Spike and her surrogate grandfather. Interesting...

The door opened behind Spike and Buffy stopped dead in her tracks, almost dropping the phone she had pressed against her ear.

"Giles, I'll call you back," she said absently, hanging up before Giles could even reply. "Where's my daughter?!"

Panic and anger flashed through Buffy's emerald eyes as they darted between the strange young woman and her lover.

"I'm kinda here," Phoebe replied sheepishly, meekly waving in greeting at her mother. "Hi Mum."

Buffy's bottom jaw dropped and her brow creased in confusion. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish gasping for air, before her gaze fixed on Spike, who was smirking at her reaction. A low chuckle escaped him and his rich blue eyes studied her with amusement.

"You alright over there luv? Or shall I call a doctor?" he teased.

Phoebe lightly smacked him on the arm with disapproval.

"Hey! Don't be mean to mum, you were all with the confusion and staring a moment ago," she reminded him with a pointed look.

"At least I didn't look like a bloody guppy," Spike retorted.

Phoebe was about to argue back, when Buffy held up a hand to halt the conversation. Spike and the teenager looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She dropped her hand and sighed heavily, her shoulders drooping in exasperation. She trudged over to the bed, put a few of the cuddly toys on the floor, and perched next to Spike.

"Okay," she finally said, "Someone start explaining to me what is going on."

Phoebe idly flipped through a magazine on the "latest" gossip in Hollywood, whilst the Scooby gang arranged themselves around her in the lounge, varying between giving her looks of disbelief and trying to think of ways to fix the problem and get the right Phoebe in the right time. She laughed to herself a few times, reading about celebrities who had since come out as power-hungry demons and had been slayed by her own hands. It was so weird being in the past.

"Good lord," Giles said for possibly the hundredth time, "This is most extraordinary."

"It's time consuming and preventing my money making," Anya corrected him. "Research and fix it already."

Xander nudged his girlfriend in the side and gave her a pointed look of disapproval. "Ahn, come on, this is serious."

She rolled her eyes and turned the TV on, apparently not interested in the not-life-threatening problem, which was a pleasant change in Sunnydale, she had to admit, but she had had to stop making business plans for the emergency Scooby meeting and that did not make her happy.

Phoebe smiled warmly at her aunt. It was nice to be around her family, whether past or present. She didn't see that much of her Uncle and Aunty since they started their own family and moved away from the Hellmouth. Usually only an apocalypse brought them all together, which wasn't the most pleasant of times.

A silence fell over the room when suggested ideas to get Phoebe back to where she belonged and get their mini version home safely, all seemed to fall flat. Everyone sat dejectedly, trying to rack their brains for a solution. Phoebe, who had always been empathic and fed off of others emotions, began to feel the heavy pressure of the room and it made her uneasy in a way that a normal human would not understand. Negative emotions got under her skin. They made her feel fragile. They made her powers feel drained. She had always been that way. When she was little, she would just transport herself to another room, but her mother and father had always told her off for that. It was dangerous to be alone.

In a desperate attempt to lift the mood, she thought of the one good bit of news that her unfortunate time travel could bring to her family.

"Oh, hey guys?" she said cheerfully. All eyes snapped up to her in surprise. She had been mostly silent all afternoon. "I have good news!"

"What's that sweetie?" Willow asked softly, smiling at her niece.

"Everyone is still alive in my time," Phoebe replied encouragingly.

"Woo hoo!" Xander cheered, fist pumping the air.

"Yay for the Scooby gang," Buffy laughed.

Phoebe sighed with relief, the tension lifting immediately and removing the unease that had been pressing down on her.

The room fell into a more comfortable silence just as the phone rang. Spike was closest so took it upon himself to answer it. It didn't take a genius to work out who was on the other end.

"What the bloody hell do you want now?" Spike sighed, his hand tightening around the phone.

"Is Buffy there?" Angel replied shortly, wanting to talk to his grandchilde about as much as Spike did.

"Maybe," Spike replied childishly.

Buffy rolled her eyes, watching Spike smirk immaturely. Clearly a certain other soulled vampire was on the line. When were those two going to put the past behind them? Hmm, maybe they do... she wondered, biting her lip in thought. I'll ask Phoebe. No harm in a little more future-y knowledge.

"Spike, grow up," Angel growled. "Pass me to Buffy."

"Look, Captain Forehead, me and the slayer are a team, yeah? Whatever you have to say, you can bloody well say to me as well."

Angel sighed loudly down the phone, but decided not to argue. Spike and Buffy was concept he would have to accept – eventually.

"Fine. Wesley did some research, said there would be an outburst of energy. I'm giving you a heads up in case anything out of the ordinary happens."

Spike's gaze unconsciously fell on his daughter, who was watching some chick flick with the ex-demon girl. He frowned with worry.

"Right," he replied cautiously, "This outburst of energy... is it a bad thing?"

"Doesn't seem to be, doesn't even seem to be permanent. Whatever happens should restore itself after a few days, so the books say." Angel informed him vaguely.

Spike smiled with relief, the frown melting instantly. So Phoebe's little cold had caused the power scales to go all wonky and she somehow teleported herself through time. No big deal. A few days with the teen and the threads of time should knit themselves back together and she'll be safely on her way and the Little Bit will be back to bouncing on his knee in no time. Problem solved.

"Bloody brilliant," Spike said cheerfully and hung the phone up before Angel could reply.

The brunette vampire stared at the phone in confusion.

"Over two hundred years with that pain in the ass, and I still don't understand him," he grumbled, before putting the phone down.

Phoebe felt the sudden surge of happiness instantly and looked to her father in bewilderment, waiting for the reason.

"I presume that was Angel?" Giles asked.

"Unfortunately," Spike answered, before grinning. "Good news from Peaches though. Phoebe is a temporary guest. Few days and this lovely lady will be shooting off through time and space again and we'll have our little bundle back."

Everyone sighed with relief. No more researching necessary. Now they could have fun and try and find out little secrets for the future, even though Giles had warned that would not be wise.

"Cool," Dawn chirped, sitting next to her not-so-little niece. "So err, Phoebe? About those lottery numbers ... "

Phoebe rolled her eyes. She had a feeling it was going to be a long few days before her return back to the future.

TBC...

AN: If it's a bit disjointed, massive apologies, just trying to get back in the flow... Hope it was OK. Let me know... Will update again soon! (I mean it this time hehe)