Ally went with them to choose a casket. She didn't really voice her opinion, she didn't have one. She didn't bury her parents. She was there for her sisters, Dawn, specially. In the last day, she had spent every waking second with her. She stayed over at their place, next to Dawn when she fell asleep, tears streaming down her cheeks even then. She just held her, the teens head on her lap, Ally's hand on her hair.

She still hadn't uttered a word.

Giles was trying to be their pillar. He took care of as many things as he could, but Buffy knew that she was the one who had to take care of Dawn. He could only do so much. She was her sister. She had to be strong for her.

Then dinner came around. Willow and Xander joined them at the Summers residence, where none of the sisters ate much. Buffy was busy, making the arrangements for the funeral, and Dawn was still trying to work through the idea that her mom was not going to be there anymore.

They were all talking, quietly, but talking. Ally couldn't really follow the conversation. There was something about the girls' dad, and flowers, and a line to inform about the wake. She could perfectly hear what Dawn said, though. "What are we gonna do? After, I mean. Are we just gonna ... come back here?" Ally looked up at her, who was staring at the blonde, who kept going on about the wake. "I don't wanna be here." Dawn added, and the other brunette placed a hand on her arm in silent support. "Can I go to your place tomorrow?" She paused blinking a couple times. "After everything."

Ally nodded, her apartment was always available for the teen, but looked over at the Slayer, just in case.

"Can I?" The teen asked, taking Buffy by surprise for a moment, mouthing 'Huh?'. "Can I go to Ally's tomorrow after the service?"

Buffy looked at her new sister, uncertain, but the latter only nodded. It was no problem. "Um ... i-if you want to. I guess so."

Dawn got out of her seat, not very excited, still keeping quiet. "I'll, uh, get my sleeping bag out of the attic."

Sometime later, Ally could hear Xander's voice outside, but it was not nice. She raised from her seat and went to the door to see Spike standing in front of Xander and Willow, a bunch of flowers in his hand.

Her eyes watered again. The last day, they had only done that when Dawn cried. It was a bit of a domino effect. Dawn cried, Ally started crying, which only made Dawn cry more and hug her. At least they had each other's support.

But she hadn't seen Spike. And she had to admit, if only to herself, that she had missed him.

She could hear him and Xander argue then. "You actually think you're gonna score points with Ally this way?" How had he known about Spike's feelings? She hadn't told them. Maybe Dawn had?

"This isn't about Ally." The vampire assured, walking closer menacingly.

"Bull. We're all hip to your doomed obsession." The dark haired man continued to provoke him, not missing the hurt expression on the bleach blond's face.

Spike shook his head, wondering what his Ally Cat had told them about him. He thought they didn't know. Why would she tell them? To ridicule him? That was so not like her. "They're for Joyce." He corrected, pushing his worries to the side.

This made Xander spat. "Like you care about her."

Spike sighed angrily, about to lose it when Willow stepped between them, trying to keep them apart.

Why was Ally not moving from the other side of the door? Why didn't she go out, stop all that?

"Care? Joyce was the only one of the lot of you that I could stand." The vampire's voice raised, making the brunette flinch. The only one? Did he hate her now, after their last encounter in his crypt? Get over it. Maybe he had. Maybe he went from loving her to hating her. "I liked the lady. Understand, monkey boy? She was decent. She didn't put on airs. She always had a nice cuppa for me. And she never treated me like a freak."

"Her mistake." Xander muttered.

That was enough. The Potential opened the door just when Spike was about to throw the flowers to the ground. She slowly walked down the steps, everyone watching her quietly, but her eyes were set on the vampire. He didn't seem to hate her. No. She knew he didn't.

He was hurt. So was she. They were all mourning. Only her mourning carried a very unfortunate mutism, so everything was dead silent. She could only hear Xander's sharp intake of breath when she hugged Spike, burying her face on his chest, not even bothering to take in their reactions.

She had missed him.

When she stepped back from the hug he handed the flowers to her, whispering 'For Joyce'. She only nodded and went back inside, Spike marching back to his crypt, probably.


The funeral was solemn. It was a nice day out, clear skies and a gentle breeze blowing through the cemetery, so different during the day. There was a small group gathered around Joyce Summers' casket, her two daughters on the first line, their friends behind them. No one but the priest spoke. No one needed to.

Dawn and Ally walked to the latter's apartment once it was over, leaving Buffy alone. She wanted some alone time with her mom for the last time. She had to say goodbye.

The two young brunettes didn't say anything either, just walked, had some dinner and changed before going to bed. Dawn's sleeping bag was there, but she wasn't really going to use it. She felt safer with her head on the Potential's lap, her new sister's hands scratching her scalp, soothing her to sleep. Sometimes a tear escaped her eyes, and Ally's eyes watered too. Sometimes her lip trembled, and Ally's thumb stroke her temple.

How could they not have known each other for more than three month? How had they lived without their sister so long?

When Dawn's eyes had fluttered shut and her breathing had become even and slow, the eldest switched her bedside lap off, staring at her blank wall even though she couldn't see anything. Eventually, she followed the teen's example and closed her eyes, letting sleep take over.

Dawn woke up in the middle of the night. The sound of her and Ally's breathing ringing in her ears. She couldn't just leave things like that. She couldn't give up on her mom. She needed her mom back. She was going to get her back.

Ally didn't need to know. She was still dealing with her own parent's death. As far a Dawn knew, she hadn't attempted to bring them back, so it was safe to think she wouldn't like the idea.


Breakfast was quiet. Dawn was still thinking of ways to bring her mom back, planning on where to look for resurrection spells, who she could tell. Ally was just quiet. She kissed her temple when Dawn joined her in the isle for breakfast, before setting the plate with pancakes down in front of her and digging in.

Giles was going to pick Dawn up later, take her to the store until Buffy called to get her home. She could look for a spell in his books. He had to have something useful.


Night fell and found the youngest Summers kneeling next to a patch of ground that recently been stirred, pouring the contents of a blue flask over it.

"I hope it's just dirt you're after." A deep British voice made her jump in place, turning to find the black leather clad vampire she was so familiar with. "If the spell calls for anything more than that, you're into zombie territory, and that's bad news."

"Spike, I-I wasn't..." She stuttered, her hands trembling, fear taking over. Fear of being discovered by someone else.

"I know good and well what you're up to. That book you've got is infamous." His gaze made her cower, he was unaffected.

"Please ... don't tell Buffy and Ally. I just ... I have to get her back." Her voice broke, turning into a sob. "I have to."

"I'm not gonna tell, little bit." He assured her, jaw setting. "I'm gonna help."


Later that night, vampire and teenager walked through the streets of Sunnydale, the sound of raindrops hitting the ground their only company.

"I've never used this bloke's services myself, but there's talk. Word is he knows everything there is to know about resurrection spells." The bleach blond explained, looking over his shoulder at the kid. Dawn seemed to be a little nervous, unsure. "Come on now, no worries."

She almost rolled her eyes at this. "You don't have to be all nice to me. I know why you're doing this." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you now? Enlighten me." He shrugged it off, not really caring about it.

Dawn frowned at stopped walking, staring at the neutered vampire. "Spike, I'm not stupid. You're, like, stalking my sister." The soulless demon stopped, turning to glance at her. "Ally." She cleared up, just in case. She had taken to calling her 'her sister' in her mind, but not everyone would understand it. "You'd do anything to get in good with her."

Spike stepped closer, his face firmly set. "Ally never hears about this, okay? Found out what I was doing, she'd drive a redwood through my chest." It hurt to think of his friend doing that, but he knew that he was doing something big.

The brunette, on the other hand, was thoroughly surprised. "Then, if you don't want credit, why are you helping me?"

His gaze fell, feeling inadequate, for all his evilness that he claimed to have, this went against everything he had stood for before. " I just don't like to see Summers women take it so hard on the chin, is all. And Ally Cat is one more of you, I know." He stared at her again, voice raising in anger. "And I'm dead serious. You breathe a word of this to Ally or Buffy, I'll see to it that you end up in the ground. Got it?" Not like he would ever really do that. He liked the little bit, and it would break his love even more to lose her sister.

"Yeah. Got it." The teen accepted, eyes going from the ground to the blond.


They arrived at a run-down office kind of room, full of books and dirt, black cat included, smelling of something old. Inside, a toad like faced old man welcomed them, babbling about how he knew Spike, but not as a vampire and with another hair colour. They told him of the teen's situation and he at first said it wasn't something they wanted to mess with, but eventually gave in and started pacing around the room, humming to himself.

The old man explained what they needed for the spell, how to do it, and finished off with a warning. " It's a tricky spell, girl. I can't say for sure your mother will come back exactly like she was. Sometimes these ... things ... get a little off."

"But she'll still be my mother." That was all Dawn could think about, yet doubt was starting to get in her, making her frown. "Won't she?"

The man glanced at the vampire, then back at the girl. "More or less."

He told them were to find one of the ingredients, very rare, a Ghora demon's egg, and they were on their way.