Disclaimer: Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel', or any of the amazing characters associated with either show belong to me. This story is a sequel to ‘The Happiest Place On Earth’, which was a response to gidgetgirl’s ‘Mr Spike Challenge’. The kids at the daycare centre belong to me.

Author’s Note I: This story takes place about six weeks after the end of ‘The Happiest Place On Earth’.

Author’s Note II: For those of you just joining us, and for those of you who have forgotten, here’s a list of the kids from the first story, their ages and any special abilities.

David, aged three, werewolf

Delia, aged three and a half, Seer and link to the Powers That Be

Damien, aged four, telepath

Sarah, aged four, telepath

Morgan, aged four and a half, witch

James, aged five, human

Bradley, aged five, human

Chad, aged sixty eight, Feoral demon.

Sarah and Damien are twins, but apart from that none of the children are related.

Author's Note III: I've had this in my Document Manager for months, intending to post it but never doing so, but in honour of Write A Sequel Week it's finally going to get posted.

Prologue.

The shrill blast of the whistle reverberated through the large playroom of the Wolfram and Hart Daycare Centre.

“Alright, children.” Margaret Winslow, the director of the daycare center, raised a hand for silence. “Quiet playtime now, boys and girls.”

None of them had to ask what she meant.

Miss Winslow – they didn’t like her enough to give her a nickname – was a great believer in routine and the daycare centre was run according to a strict timetable, their days punctuated by the sound of her silver whistle, like a bell in a convent calling the nuns to prayers.

Grumbling a little, they obediently collected picture books or jigsaws from the toy cupboard and sat down, some of them on the couch, others on chairs around the art table, doing their best to absorb themselves in their activities, trying not to let their resentment over this interruption to their previous games show.

Miss Winslow’s assistants, unkindly dubbed ‘Dumb and Dumber’, smiled at the picture that the children presented.

“They’re so well-behaved, aren’t they?” The female carer, deemed by the kids to be only slightly more intelligent that her male counterpart, said in an undertone.

“Little angels.” The male carer, dressed in a colourful outfit that would have made even Lorne shudder, nodded benignly.

Morgan scowled as the three adults moved towards the kitchenette for their morning cups of coffee.

Ordinarily, she and the others would have made short work of these annoyances with a well-chosen prank or two to teach them who was boss, but Miss Winslow, although kind, possessed a will of iron, and had no qualms about resorting to such torturous methods of discipline as time outs and no dessert.

Livia had screamed for a solid hour when she had been told that she wasn’t allowed have ice cream after her dinner as punishment for throwing a tantrum and attempting to rip Dumb’s hair out of her head.

The two to six year old division of the daycare centre, whose members had been the envy of the older children during Mr Spike’s reign, had gone from being the happiest place on earth, to the dullest place.

Bradley and James were starting to look forward to starting school in September, and their promotion to the after school programme, something that they would have deemed a fate worse than death less than two months ago.

The young sorceress was convinced that the new director intended to bore them to death.

They weren’t even allowed to play with weapons anymore.

In her defence, Miss Winslow was convinced that she was acting in the best interests of her small charges, whom she felt had been given too much freedom to do as they pleased.

All of her childcare training told her that young children thrived on routine, that discipline and authority made them feel secure.

The idea that theory and practice were two different things was almost a foreign concept to her.

“This sucks!” Bradley, not wanting another lecture on the evils of using vulgar language, kept his voice low.

“Yeah.” James seconded glumly. “It’s no fun here anymore.”

“Even Miss Winslow’s secrets are boring.” Sarah complained. “She never thinks anything interesting, like Mr Spike did and she never thinks cool words like he did.”

“Livvie want Mr Spike.” The two year old Slayer pouted.

“Me too.” David wrinkled his nose. “Dumber tasted really bad and he didn’t even turn into a wolfie or nothing.” He sighed nostalgically.

A werewolf mightn’t have been as entertaining as a pair of vampires, but it would have been better than nothing.

Mr Spike, true to his word, had visited the daycare centre a couple of times, as had Miss Harmony, but Miss Winslow, together with Dumb and Dumber, had made it perfectly clear that they did not approve of these visits, that they weren’t in the best interests of the children.

Miss Winslow seemed to have the strange idea that the ‘Big Bad’ would have a negative influence on his former charges and therefore Delia was the only one to have much contact with him.

“Maybe Livvie should have her demon friends kidnap them, or even torture them.” Even Chad, who, despite his Feoral heritage, was one of the gentlest children in the group, wanted nothing more than to be rid of their new carers. “That’d show them.”

Livia, happily conscious of her privileged status as former Leader and present Friend and Ally of the Grerrach, grinned manically at the thought.

“But then they might find someone else, someone even more boring, to take over.” Morgan pointed out pessimistically. “Else I’d have turned Dumb and Dumber into mice, and Miss Winslow into a cat, ages ago.”

All of the other children smiled at the less than charming mental picture Morgan had painted for them.

“We don’t want a new person.” Although Delia’s tone was soft, her silvery eyes sparkled with determination. “Out with the new, in with the old.”

“Delia’s right.” Bradley concurred.

“Yeah!” Sarah and Damien spoke in unison.

Morgan smiled. “We have to get our Mr Spike back.”

TBC.

Author’s Note: Next Chapter: Another Familiar Face In The Daycare Centre. Until then, please review and let me know if there are any requests. Activity suggestions are, as always, most welcome.