Spike wasn't at the crypt and Ally was disappointed. She wanted to see him. But he could be anywhere, after all, it was night time. That was stroll time for the vampire.

He had to come back sometime before the sun rose again. She could wait. She laid down on the couch, tired, yet still reluctant to fall asleep. She had been training almost all day, getting the sorrow and despair out of her system through the punching bag. Or at least trying to. She knew her arms would be sore after that, specially her left shoulder. She had put too much pressure on it.

The door opened with a bang and she rose from her makeshift bed, looking over the back to see her vampire stumbling in.

He was wounded. Actually, physically wounded.

She shot up, hurrying over to his side to find him holding his right hand to his left side, were there were several visible tears on his t-shirt, forming a half circle. What the hell had he been up to?

She helped him to the couch and took his coat off, looking around for a first aid kit or any kind of bandages. There was one white box next to the fridge, it had to be it. Once she was back on the couch, she took his shirt off, ignoring the sly look he shot her before wincing when she pressed a few clean sanitary rags to his gashes. They were perfectly shaped, like a crescent moon. Was it a bite mark? Huge demonic dog bite mark?

Soon the bleeding stopped, thanks to vampire healing, and she wrapped his torso in a few bandages, still not gazing up at his face. She could feel him watching her every movement, knew he was going to question her later, but she couldn't care at the moment.

Once he was all taken care of, she got up from the couch and looked for his ever present bottle of liquor, usually whisky, and gave it back to him, letting herself fall down on the couch next to him.

All was quiet for a few moments, but you couldn't really expect Spike to keep that up for long.

"What...?" He started, only to be interrupted by the girl shifting closer and resting her head on his shoulder, snuggled up to his good side. She shushed him, placing one hand on the other side of his neck, her arm laying across his bandaged chest.

She had been awfully quiet the last couple times he'd seen her, after what happened with Joyce. Was it some kind of coping mechanism? Why didn't she say something?

He waited for her to decide to start talking, if only to ask him what he had been doing to end up like that. Yet, she didn't. He couldn't think it was because she didn't care, after all she just taped him, he had seen the concern in her face.

About an half hour later he realized she had nodded out. She was comatose, curled up to him. He decided to enjoy her warmth while he could.


She just up and left. He couldn't believe it. He was not a bloody pillow for her to use whenever she felt like and then not even say goodbye! He was furious. Was he just a commodity for her? Just a shoulder to cry on? What the bleeding her was wrong with her?!

He jumped down the hole that led to the lower level, seeing red, not even noticing the note that had flown from the couch when he got up and was then beneath the piece of furniture, its corner sticking out from under it.

He was so gonna get her, either if she realized or not. His order was already in place.


Her mutism had lasted a full four days. Her first word after the long silence was 'Dawnie'. Most days were spent in the Summers' residence or the Magic Box, she barely set foot on her apartment anymore, choosing to stay with her sisters even at night. She only stopped by to pick up clean clothes, do laundry and make sure the food she had didn't go to waste. Luckily, she didn't have companion animals to feed and play with.

She had seen Spike once in the last ten days. He seemed a bit off to her, only helping her deal with a group of vampires before stalking off. But she had been with Xander and Giles then, patrolling instead of Buffy, so she didn't go after him. The men accompanying her were looking at him a bit too seriously. What was going on with them?

Giles had been assessing her abilities as a Slayer during the patrols. He was pleasantly surprised by her skills, yet he tried to make sure she didn't overexert herself, as she had been spending a lot of time training lately.

But Buffy needed time away from the slaying, and she needed to be up for the job when she wasn't there. She had to give her best to even be able to compare herself with the true Slayer.

She seemed to be doing a good job, as she had heard the vampires refer to her as 'the mini Slayer'. She hated the nickname, but it also brought a certain satisfaction at having earned a reputation among the evil crawlies of Sunnydale.


There she was. Same dark wavy hair, even the freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her attire looked like any other of her outfits; military boots, dark jeans and a blue t-shirt, topped with a black informal jacket. She was standing in front of him with her eyes closed, preventing him from seeing if they were her same bright grey eyes, but judging from the rest, he would go with yes. "Some say it's better'n the real thing."

Warren, the twitchy tech genius next to him, immediately agreed. "Better than the real thing."

"She looks good, but what about the rest?" He asked, still staring at the AllyBot. "A little walk, a little talk... perhaps a zippy cartwheel..."

"Hey, she's, uh, great. You'll be real happy, I swear, she's got everything you asked for. All the extra programming, tons of real-world knowledge, the profiles you gave me about her friends." The creator assured, standing a bit behind the vampire.

"All the extra programming, right?"

"Ah, the, the stuff that you wanted, the, uh, scenario responses, you know, the, uh, uh, special ... skills ... All of it. Now, you said that I could leave-" He made for the door, but Spike grabbed his arm, preventing him from escaping.

"Wait. I'm not sure I'm a satisfied customer. She looks a little shiny to me, you know, uh... touch of plasticine..." The bot's eyes popped open, looking straight at him. They were just the same, just like he thought.

"Spike?" Her voice sounded so hopeful, her lips stretching into a huge smile, it was hard to miss the falseness. Yet the vampire did. "Oh, Spike!" She hurried over to him, putting her hands on his shoulder and kissing him on the mouth, soon pulling back with the same huge smile.

"She'll do". The bleach blond declared.


Back in his crypt, Spike faced the AllyBot, sitting on his couch, holding a book in her lap. Nevermind the book was turned upside down, she was just pretending to read. It was part of their game.

"What you reading, Ally Cat?" He asked, smirking, knowing how the game would go.

"I'm studying." She asked in a very even voice, similar to AprilBot's.

"Studying what?" He could feel the anticipation for her words, his needless breath catching in his throat when she looked up and gave him a seductive look.

"How to please you. In every possible way." She left the book on the side and got up, nearing him like a panther stalking its pray.

"You should be afraid of me. I'm bad." His voice had turned rough, husky, his eyes trailing her body, following her curves.

"You are. You're very, very bad." Then she grabbed him and threw him to the couch, jumping on top of him, straddling him.

"And you like that." He whispered in her ear before lifting her with his hands beneath her thighs, her legs holding onto his waist.

"There's not one thing I don't like about you, you fiend." She half-moaned while he took them to the tomb-turned-bed, comforter and all. He left her on top of him, climbing after her and kissing her passionately, making her mewl before his tongue dipped into her mouth.

His lips moved to her neck, sliding down her body, making her moan with every flick of his tongue. "Ally..." He almost prayed, lost in the moment, completely forgetting it was not the real her.

He would take what he could.


Ally was in her apartment, getting ready for the patrol that night. Buffy was out of town with Giles, in some kind of Slayer retreat in the desert, and the rest of the Gang was taking care of Dawn, even though a couple of them were going to go out to stake some vamps too. She was the one who was meant to do it in the absence of the real Slayer, anyways. She was a Potential. It was her duty, even without being activated.

Maybe she could drop by Spike's place. See what was wrong with him.


Spike and the AllyBot were on the floor of the crypt, his hair all messed up, both covered with a comforter. "You're evil." AllyBot said, laying on her side, her back to the vampire.

"And that excites you?" He asked, head lifted and resting on his hand, elbow to the ground so he could look at the copy of his love, his arm going around her waist.

"It excites me, it terrifies me ... I try so hard to resist you and I can't."

"Yeah?" He grinned, licking his lips.

"Darn your sinister attraction." She lightly cursed, not too convincingly, except for the lovesick man who only had eyes for her.

He, on the other hand, lost his grin, turning serious. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Yes." She replied with a big smile, chiselled to perfection by the tech genius.

Spike's voice dropped down a notch, his face getting closer to her. "You know I can't bite you."

"I think you can. I think you can if I let you, and I want to let you. I want you to bite me and devour me until there's no more."

He smiled at this, boosting his confidence. "Like this?" He bit her neck lightly, making her moan again and smile.

"Oh, Spike, devour me!"

"All right." He agreed pulling her on her back and looming over her, facing her completely.

"Spike, I can't help myself. I love you." Those words, those three words had him going insane, fire raging through his veins in a wave of possessiveness.

"You're mine, Ally."

The Bot had to go an ruin the moment. "Should I start this program over?"

He shushed her, frowning at the AllyBot, which was only that, a robot. He hated to be reminded of that. "No programs. Don't use that word. Just be Ally."