The youngest members of the Scooby Gang, also the ones not allowed to get in fights with evil crawlies yet, spent the evening watching chick flicks at the Summers residence. Buffy was out patrolling and Joyce was probably in her room, reading or whatever she did when she had alone time. Spike had accompanied Ally to the house when it got dark, having ran into her on the way and insisting she shouldn't be alone on the street when he could go out, and therefore all vampires of Sunnydale. They wouldn't even let her train, not even abs and some kicks until at least a week later, so Ally was aching for something to distract her. She hadn't been seeing Dawn as often as during the break, now that she was back at school, so they had arranged a girls' night at her place.
"You know," Dawn started, watching a teen with bleached blond hair, strangely similar to a certain vamps'. "Buffy still thinks that hanging out with Spike is not cool. She says it is dangerous, icky." She leaned her head against her friend's shoulder, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Spike's not icky. He's just a bit... out of the box for human standards." She brushed it off. She didn't expect the Slayer to befriend a vampire easily. And the fact that they were always at each other's throats didn't help, even if Spike was on their side.
"Yeah, exactly! That's what I told her. I mean," She straightened, fully turning towards the elder, and her face lit up when she thought about him. "he has cool hair, and he wears cool coats and stuff. And he doesn't treat me like an alien like the rest of the Gang..."
A small smile tugged at Ally's lips, realizing what that was about. "You have a crush on him."
"No, I don't!" But her face said otherwise.
Ally's smile vanished and she copied Dawn's posture. "Dawn, you shouldn't have a crush on him, you're only fourteen. It won't take you anywhere. Believe me, I've been there."
"I like hanging out with him, is all." The teen reassured, shaking her head. "And even if I did have a crush on him, he wouldn't notice in a million years. Not with you around." She shrugged, looking down at her hands.
"What does that mean?" Ally asked, a bit taken aback.
"Spike's totally into you." The youngest declared, matter-of-factly.
Ally was left speechless until Joyce came down the stairs and into the living room. "What are you girls talking about?"
"Boys." Dawn replied, letting herself lean back into the couch, focusing on the movie again.
Needless to say, it was not so easy for Ally.
Ally arrived at the Magic Box, newspaper clutched in her good hand, looking for a certain tiny blonde girl. She only saw another blonde girl and an old man, both attending customers. Shit, it was too early.
"Oh, good morning, Ally. You're early today. Is something wrong?" Giles spotted her and approached, gesturing at the customer to head to the cash register.
"Morning. No, well, yes. Have you read the newspaper today? I need to talk to Buffy." She showed him the first page, where 'METROTRAIN MURDER. Six Found Murdered on Train at Sunnydale Station.' was written in big bold letters. "'Six found murdered on train at Sunnydale Station. Unconfirmed reports of severe trauma to the throats of one or more of the victims.'" She recited, after having read the article several times over.
"Vampire." The Watched muttered, nodding at her. "Yes, we should contact Buffy, but she's at the university right now. We'll tell her later."
"I could go take a look at scene..." She was cut off my the old British man's hand, knowing what was coming.
"No. You are on a break, you-you need to focus on getting better, not going after vampires. Buffy will deal with this, don't worry."
But she was bored. She hadn't been able to write in quite some time, Dawn and Buffy were in class and it was the middle of the day, which meant Spike would be asleep. Not like she wanted to go there. Well, she did, but… She hadn't seen him since the movie night with Dawn, when she had dropped the bomb. What was she going to do with Spike? She wasn't ready for a relationship, she had broken up with her previous boyfriend not two months earlier.
And she was aching for some action. She had to do something. Six people had been killed in that train, and she was sure the killer wasn't going to stop there.
She went back home and trained, trying to get the tension out of her system. She didn't even realize what time it was until someone knocked on her door. She certainly didn't expect the whole Gang to be there, even Spike, Dawn and Joyce.
"What the... What's going on?"
For a second, everyone was quiet. Buffy was at the front of the group, her eyes sliding from the brunette's flushed face to her feet, taking in her sports bra, shorts and trainers, the sweaty skin and, finally, the angry red tissue on her shoulder. "Were you training?!" She yelled, face contorting in anger and concern. "We told you still had to let it rest, you are not fully recovered!" The Slayer advanced on her, making her step back.
"Fuck, Buffy I needed to do something. I've been sitting on my ass for two weeks. For God's sake I'm not made of paper!" She exploded, letting everything she hadn't got rid off before out.
"Buffy's right, Ally." The Watcher intervened, standing next to his protégée and taking his glasses off to wipe them. "The-the wound is still recent and you shouldn't be fo-forcing it, it could make it worse or even prevent full recovery." His expression was soft, fatherly, but Ally could only hear disapproval.
"I can't sit back anymore! There's some mass murderer vampire out there!" She held her arms out brusquely, holding back a wince to avoid being scolded again.
"And that is Buffy's job as a Slayer, not yours." The man reminded her, said Slayer nodding in agreement.
"It's not enough!" She roared, old memories resurfacing, threatening to overwhelm her. "There more evil out there than a Slayer alone can handle. I can't stand back, pretend it's not happening. If I do, people die!" At first she didn't notice. She didn't feel the tears running down her cheeks, spilling from her reddened eyes. It was only when everyone went silent and observed her face that she realized she was crying.
"Ally, honey, what's happening?" The motherly side of Joyce took over and she pushed herself to the front of the group, speaking quietly and surrounding the girl with one arm, leading her to the couch to sit down. "Is there something else bothering you?"
"I can't just do nothing." She sobbed, embarrassed at the show she was putting on, everyone following her with their eyes. "I can't."
"Why? What happened?" Joyce knew there was something more behind her attitude, her need to take care of what was out there.
"People die. I can't let them die. Not again." Her voice had dropped down to a broken whisper, her emotions overruling her. She wasn't really thinking what she was saying.
"Again?" Buffy crouched in front of her, taking Ally's hands in hers. "What happened, Alls? Who died?"
"My parents." She wept, a new stream of tears leaving her eyes, shoulders trembling and hands shaking in Buffy's hold. "They were killed in front of me and I couldn't save them." Her confession sent a wave of anguish to every occupant of the room, now aware of the guilt that plagued her. But she was not responsible for what happened to her parents, they knew it.
"How old were you then, honey?" The eldest Summers woman asked, rubbing soothing circles in the girl's back.
"Fifteen."
"Oh, sweetheart..." Joyce couldn't imagine what it could have been like. Fifteen and witnessing her parents be murdered.
Giles made his calculations, taking into account what Ally had told him about her life, although it was not much. He immediately reached a conclusion that broke his heart. "That's when you started. That's when you started you-your training regime. You wanted revenge."
She shook her head, leaning forward, resting her forearms on her thighs. Buffy squeezed her hands in support, smiling lightly at her. Dawn sat on the other side of her, placing a hand on her shoulder carefully. "Not revenge. Six vampires attacked us. I killed three before someone else arrived and took care of the other three and got me out of there. I already had my revenge." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to prevent others from suffering like I did. That's why I started slaying." Her voice was a tad more calm, yet she was still trembling.
"You need to understand that you can't do your job, our job, if you don't let yourself heal first." The short blonde girl explained gently, her thumb caressing her hands. "Doesn't mean you sit back and do nothing. It means that you do other things while you recover. Right now, we need you to look after my mom and sister, we are going to get with the train's case and I need to know they are safe."
"I'll take care of them." Ally softly smiled, feeling a bit better now that she could at least help with something.
