The Scooby Gang gathered in the Magic Box right after closing time, Willow and Tara sprinkling colourful dust over a huge cup filled with water, crystals set around it, low candles forming a circle surrounding them all.
"Is it ready?" Buffy asked, approaching the witches, stiff as a wooden board.
"Relax, Buffy." Giles advised, wiping his glasses while trying to ignore Anya talking to Xander about something that should be reserved for their alone time. "We haven't come up with anything that should make you believe this... Ally is evil. This is just a... a safety measure."
"Well, that's putting it nicely, Rupert." Everyone jumped out of their skin when Spike arrived through the back door, glaring at the Slayer as per usual. "You're literally gonna stalk the girl and to hell with her privacy." He scolded, making the witches look down.
"Keeping Da... the safety of this town is more important than her privacy." Snapped the blonde, shaking herself for almost saying her sister's name. Only Giles and her knew. She certainly wouldn't let Spike know, no matter how many times they'd worked together. "And since when do you give lessons of morality? How do you know what we're going to do?"
"The Little Bit told me, she heard you planning it. Just thought you ought to remember you're supposed to be the good ones." He shot back, turning to face the witches.
"It's ready." The redhead announced, trying to stop the argument. Buffy could easily resort to violence and she wanted to avoid any possible damage to the spell.
Everyone got close to the table, including the vampire –under the excuse that whatever they were going to find out, he should know too, as Ally was his friend–, where Tara started chanting, followed by her girlfriend, while the rest leaned over the cup, watching the surface start to form waves, then colours explode like fireworks. By the time the chanting stopped, the surface was shining, a white light making them all squint, before dimming and showing the inside of an apartment.
The apartment seemed to be quite new, with while walls and shiny wooden floors. One big cream coloured rug covered part of the floor, set in front of a white couch with several colourful pillows and a silver coloured laptop on top. A light wooden coffee table held a few books near the couch, not far from two huge bookshelves covering a wall.
Behind the couch was the kitchen, an island separating the living room area from the counters and appliances. Every single piece of furniture was either white, light wood or silver, making the room look bigger than it was.
And there, in the middle of the kitchen, was a girl in a big black t-shirt that barely reached her thighs and let them catch glimpses of pink underwear. Her hair was let loose and long, a rich brown colour similar to Dawn's, bouncing around when the girl shook her head, her back to them.
When the cup and crystal started trembling and ringing, letting them listen to what was going on in the apartment, they realized she was dancing.
They all recognized Old time Rock and Roll, Spike even snorting at the song, but no one said a word.
When Ally turned, they saw she was holding a bowl of salad and potatoes, making her way to the couch. She let herself plop down on the white seat, but winced, making the spectators inch closer. She left the bowl of food on the side and carefully lifted the t-shirt, revealing a big purple bruise on her side, near her hip.
"See. Human." Spike recalled, shooting a death glare at the Slayer.
"Shut up." She hissed, eyes fixed on the cup.
The girl had gotten up from the couch and taken a bottle from a cupboard with some cotton. The bottle contained a clear liquid that soon Tara recognized as alcohol, probably with rosemary, a useful ingredient for bruises.
Ally pressed the cotton to her side, flinching at the coldness, before putting the bottle back in the cupboard and sitting on the couch again, this time more carefully.
She proceeded to have dinner while using her laptop, where a document with a long text made the Slayer exchange a look with her Watcher.
But the girl seemed completely at ease, erasing and rewriting paragraphs, occasionally reaching for a book from the coffee table titled Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist. Everyone looked at Giles then, hearing him sigh and shake his head.
"She's not writing some evil spell or ritual or anything like that. She's writing a book, probably some kind of fiction, or researching on signs of different causes of death. A really practical skill for a Potential or a Slayer, truly, I did go to a few seminars on the subject years ago, in London." He explained, reaching for his glasses but deciding against taking them off yet.
"So what? She's just an amateur writer?" Buffy wasn't going to let the girl get off the hook so easily. There was something about her she didn't like, and she was going to find out what. "And the fighting skills? The knowledge?"
"Buffy, you need to understand that there's more than one way into this life. The girl seems to be perfectly normal. We have no reason to believe she's a threat and, honestly, we would be better off researching about Glory, this... Beast." Giles' intention was to calm Buffy down but seeing everyone agree with the Watcher, seeing Spike's smirk, it made her furious. There was something more going on, and she was going to find out what.
Thinking the spying was over, Willow tried to finish the spell, turn the water back to normal. Instead, it started shining again, way more brightly than before, a screeching sound joining it, until the cup blew up, soaking them all. But nobody commented on the water, as they were all lying on the floor, knocked out.
"Hey, Spi... Whoa." Ally stopped as soon as she stepped into the crypt, seeing three people more that she expected in front of her friend. One of them was holding a crossbow aimed at the vampire, another one had a crucifix raised and the last one, the only woman, was taking notes on a pad. All of them were wearing suits, very professional looking, except if you hunted vampires.
When they heard her, the one with the crossbow pointed at her, making Spike take a step forward.
"Careful with that, mate, she's not a vamp." He warned, making the man face him again.
The woman, though, looked at her, cowering between the other two. They were all trembling with fear, which was both amusing and sad.
"What are you?" The woman asked in a clipped voice, trying to sound way braver than she looked.
"Well, that's a rude way of starting a conversation." The girl fully entered the crypt, closing the door behind her, the three suited humans stepping aside to be able to watch the vamp and the new girl. "What's going on? Are they... from the police department or something like that?" She asked her friend, standing next to him and assessing the visitors. "Did you steal something?"
"I always steal things, but that's not what they're here for, love." Spike crossed his arms over his chest, looking back at the tiny group. "They are here to interview me."
"Huh, really? And what's with the crossbow? Doesn't look very friendly."
"We're from the Watcher's Council." The woman spoke up, clearing her throat when she almost croaked. "We will need you to identify yourself, Miss."
"Ally Finn." She answered briefly, glaring at the man with the crossbow. "Care to point that somewhere else? Your hands are trembling, you might hit the trigger unintentionally."
"Worried about me, pet?" Spike teased, nudging her with his elbow and making her roll her eyes.
"Miss Finn, we're here to interview Mr. Spike on his relationship with the Slayer. Are you acquainted with her?"
"There's a Slayer here?" The young girl's eyes shot back up to the vampire, surprised, widening when he nodded.
"So you don't know her." The woman muttered something to herself while writing down on her pad. "What is your relationship with Mr. Spike? Are you two involved romantically? Are you acquainted with any other of the Slayer's friends?"
Both of the interviewees shared the same quizzical expression at the woman's questions, briefly exchanging a look, before looking back at the visitors.
"We're friends." The girl snapped, making the woman lower her gaze while taking notes, avoiding her eyes. "And I don't know any of... the people you refer too."
"Are you aware of your friend's... condition?" She questioned without looking at them.
"You mean vampire? Yeah, and even if I didn't, your little... safety measures would give it away."
"So you are human, you know a vampire that usually works with the Slayer and her group but you don't know the Slayer?" The librarian looking woman dared catch her eyes for a second before focusing on her notes again.
"Exactly. I'm new in town." Ally narrowed her eyes, glaring at the two men and making Spike smirk at the air of authority she displayed. It was quite a sight, to be honest.
The Watcher's Council ended up letting Ally relax, sitting on top of the tomb while Spike finished his interview, even though she still sent death glares at the man with the crossbow. The young girl caught bits of information about the Slayer and her friends, who Spike called the Scooby Gang, wondering what she would be like.
Slayers were legends. Heroes. One girl in every generation. She was quite eager to meet this one.
