The walk from the motel to the store only took about five minutes, but with the heavy paper bag in her arms and the several stops she was making on the way, familiarizing with the streets, she had already wandered for ten minutes when she came to a halt to avoid crashing into someone.

"Sorry." She glanced up at the person, the man, in front of her. She had seen him before. In the alley, a couple days earlier. The vampire who fought vampires. Bleached blond, razor sharp cheekbones, all black clothing, leather and military boots. Kinda hard to miss. She had noticed him pulling a woman away from a group of vamps, and decided that, until she saw him attack humans, he was on the good side. She knew not everything was black and white, heck, she'd lived in the grey area for a while, and knew not all demons were evil. Some were actually good, really good.

Still, he looked familiar. She felt like she had met him before the alley, before she arrived in Sunnydale. But how? Where? When?

"Huh. It's you again." He looked surprised to see her again. He was carrying a similar bag in his arms, the top of a bottle of some kind of liquor sticking out of the bag.

"Yup, me again. Is your head OK?" She tilted hers, looking towards the back of his skull.

His eyebrows furrowed, confused. What the hell was she going on about? Did she know about the chip? "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" It came out worst than he had intended to, but there was not going back.

"Your head. You took a bad hit. I heard it crack the other day. I know that with the vampire healing and all it's not a big deal but still..." She averted her gaze, a bit put off by his tone of voice. Why did he snap like that?

"Oh." His face relaxed and it made him look a lot younger. The girl immediately noticed his change of demeanour. He didn't seem to be annoyed anymore. "Oh, yeah, it's OK."

"Good." She nodded, a bit uncomfortable, a shifted in place, her arms starting to tire from holding the shopping. "Well, I guess... Uhm... Bye." She walked around him, but someone had other plans, as she immediately crashed into another boy in a skate, sending her bag flying and her tumbling backwards. Luckily, an arm caught her before she fell. The boy simply hollered an apology and left in a rush, leaving her groceries lying on the pavement.

She looked over her shoulder, seeing it was the good vampire's hand holding her, and smiled lightly at him. "Thanks." He only nodded while she kneeled to gather her things back into the paper bag.

Soon enough, the man joined her, leaving his bag aside and helping her, yet he almost immediately stopped. He was holding a box of instant baby cereal with a bemused expression, seeing another three identical boxes in the girl's hands.

"Do you have a kid or a day-care centre?" He questioned, glancing up at her. He enjoyed the girl's response, blushing furiously while she picked everything up and shook her head. "Babysitter?" She shook her head again, the redness of her face increasing, again making her freckles less noticeable.

"I really like this stuff..." She took the package from him, trying not to meet his gaze, already seeing him smirk from the corner of her eye. "And it's really convenient." She defended, looking up, seeing his smirk grow.

"Convenient, huh? Sure, love, whatever." He dismissed, flicking his hand and taking his things again.

"It is!" She insisted. "It's not like I can properly cook in the motel room. I only have to pour some water on these and I have a meal. Way better than noodles, if you ask me." She huffed, clutching the bag to her chest.

"I'm not judging you, pet. Everyone has their guilty pleasures." He winked at her, making her blush again. He was thoroughly enjoying this. She was a beautiful girl, and making her react like that made him feel like back in the day, when he was feared and desired.

"I might have a slight addiction." She conceded, shrugging, and smiled back at him. The blush receded, and the freckles popped out again. "It's Ally, by the way."

"What?" He tilted his head, confused at the sudden turn.

"Ally. My name." She explained and looked down at the bag. "I'd hold my hand out but... they're busy." She grinned sheepishly at him, making him unconsciously smile back.

"Spike." Her eyebrows shot up, but didn't comment on it.

"Nice to meet you, Spike. Guess I'll see you around."

She walked past him, smiling one last time, and he watched her leave.

It was nice, being treated like a person for once. It'd been a long time since someone was kind to him. She was already his favourite person on the evil killing side.

Ally. He'd remember that name.


Spike was still at the Bronze, after the troll's attack, the Scoobies had just left to go after it, when he caught a familiar scent in the dust and hormone filled air. He turned around to find Ally walking in, helping people on the way, getting injured ones out from under beams and wooden pieces. He once again noticed she didn't have the strength of a Slayer, so he joined her when she tried to lift a beam to get a teen girl out.

"Hey. What happened?" They faced each other, the teen being tended to by some of her friends.

"Troll."

"You're joking." She scoffed, sending him a disbelieving look. Seeing him dead serious, her face fell. "Troll? Where is it now?"

"He left. But he's being taken care off." Spike shoved his hands on his duster's pockets, looking around to see if someone else needed help and wasn't being taken care of. Wait, what the hell was he doing? He was the Big Bad, he was a vampire. Sure, he killed demons, but that's just because they were the only thing he could beat to a pulp. Bloody chip.

"Oh, well..." She hugged herself, uncertain. She was not used to knowing there was a monster out and not going after it. Letting others take care of it. "It doesn't even seem to really surprise you." She noticed, both walking towards the exit, side by side.

"This is the Hellmouth, pet. There's been werewolves, zombies, all kinds of demons, and even Dracula a few months ago." Her head whipped towards him just as they got out, a cool breeze greeting them.

"You're kidding." Although not as convinced as in their last encounter, she really expected him to say he was. "Huh." She looked forwards, her eyes lost, trying to process the information. "So this is the Hellmouth?"

"Thought you already knew that." He watched her from the corner of his eye, taking it all in. Ally seemed to know where she's going, letting her feet guide her, he simply accompanied her.

"Uh, no, not really. I was just passing by and noticed an awful amount of vampire attacks, be it on the street or by checking obituaries. The death rate here is immense." She murmured, almost as if she was talking to herself.

"Hellmouth." It's a one word explanation, but it's enough.

They walked in silence for a short while, occasionally seeing signs of the troll's path in the form of broken street lights and trash cans. Until, that is, it suddenly started raining, making Spike curse and scowl, getting the girl's attention.

"Shit. Uh, I better run. See you around, Spike!" She took off, sprinting, trying to avoid getting completely wet by sticking close to the buildings.