It took the vampire a moment to understand what was going on, the only thing he could feel, the only thing he could think about where her lips against his, her hands on his face. She was kissing him. Not a brush like that time when she'd taken him home from Glory's mansion. A real kiss, soft yet firm, warm and sweet. Nothing like he had experienced with the bot, or any of his past conquers. Nothing like Drusilla, or Harmony, or any other kiss. He could smell all of her, hear everything, feel what was going on under her skin. The rhythmic pumping of hot blood through her veins, the hint of citrus on her hair, the sweet scent of coconut on her skin. It was overwhelming and inviting at the same time.
And then, just when he started to kiss back and his hands found their way to her waist to pull her closer, she stopped and leaned back, looking straight into his eyes.
"Now," she started, her voice low but demanding. "you're going to stop being a grumpy bitch and quit sulking back here. I'd rather be able to keep an eye on you and Dawn at the same time."
She stepped back and tugged at his hand to follow her before letting go, Buffy coming into the room just as they left, shooting the Potential a weird look.
Time passed, some trying to feed Tara, some talking quietly, some just sitting and waiting. There wasn't much to do. Ben kept an eye on Giles, regularly taking his pulse, while Dawn stood by him. Not much was going on, and Ally wasn't sure what she preferred. Waiting, doing nothing, was insufferable, but the end of that nothingness would sure bring a fight, and pain, and who knew what else.
Just like then, when Ben started freaking out and shouting that they had to let him out, running to the back, all of the after him. His hands flew at his hair, desperate and frantic, begging to be let out.
And, suddenly, it was Glory standing before them, smiling devilishly. "Well, what do you know. Little Ben finally did something right."
"The Beast." The general stated the obvious, catching Glory's attention, who seemed to recognize him.
"Hey, it's Gregor." Next she grabbed a circular metallic piece beside her and threw it at the religious fanatic, burying it deep in his chest, whose head soon hanged limply, dead. "Now it's not."
At that point, Spike charged at her, followed by Xander, only to be hit once and sending him flying into the latter, both crashing against the wall. Buffy then lunched at the god, the hell bitch striking her and throwing her onto the witches, all of them collapsing.
The Beast looked over at Dawn and Ally, laughing, taking in their terrified expression. The Potential stood in front of Dawn, keeping her back with one arm thrown behind her, ready to protect her to her last breath, even if she didn't know why. She wasn't strong enough to take on the god. Hell, Buffy couldn't do it with her Slayer powers, what could she do? She hadn't even been activated. The mini Slayer, sorry excuse for a nickname, if she couldn't live up to the title. Still, she would try.
"You won't take her." The girl hissed, pushing her little sister backwards, away from the bitch.
"Like you could stop me." The Beast countered, chuckling again before running at them, swinging one arm at the only obstacle between her and her Key, sending Ally slamming into the wall, grabbing the Key and dragging it with her.
Ally's back hit the wall with full force, head bouncing back against it, the air knocked out of her, then slumping to the ground. She saw black, the only thing she could only hear a high pitched ringing, and her mind echoed 'Dawn'. She couldn't understand the word for a moment, her mind a jumbled mess, before the lights started flickering. Bits of colour popped out and her confusion lessened to a foggy mix of words and blurred images. 'Dawn'. Her sister. What happened to her sister?
By the time she came to, she was outside of the station, being carried by her vampire. There were bodies everywhere, the corpses of the knights they had been fighting not so long before. The smoke of blood and smoke shouldn't affect her so, she was used to it, but it made her empty stomach flip and churn. Good thing she hadn't eaten in the last... day almost.
Spike soon noticed her eyes were open, barely so, and lightly squeezed her against him.
"Dawnie?" She asked, voice hoarse and broken, half expecting the answer.
He shook his head, to which she closed her eyes and hid her face against his chest, sobbing quietly in his arms.
Her little Dawnie, her baby sister. The Beast had her. She had failed to protect her.
It was happening all over again. She had been there, she had seen it happen. She hadn't been able to stop the evil. She had failed her. She had failed them. She always failed, and her loved ones paid for it.
First, her parents. She lost her family, her childhood, everything she had known. She was the reason they were there, she wanted to go to L.A., go out after sunset to watch Starship Troopers at the movie theatre. They wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for her, and her parents wouldn't have been dead if she had reacted quicker, handed her Dad one of the branches she had used and tell him what their attackers were. She only knew about them because she was a snoopy hid and her best friend was training to get rid of them, all very secretly. She could have told her dad what was out there. She didn't.
Then the other one came and went. She should have been with them. She should have done something to help them. She was home, like they had told her. But she didn't always obey. Why did she had to decide to be good that one time? He shouldn't have died. He deserved to live a long, happy life. She kept playing anything his voice was recorded on for months after, a tear managing to slide down her cheek even year after his death.
Right when she had a family again, she lost mom for the second time. Joyce, who had been so warm and caring for her. Who soothed her when she broke down in front of everyone. Who invited her over at Christmas so she wasn't alone. Who kept inviting her to have some tea with her one day, when the girls weren't there, so Ally could talk about anything that worried her, like a mother would. One moment she was fine, the next she was dead. Cold and empty, unseeing. She could still see her body in the autopsy room, nothing like what she had been. If only she had taken her offer, gone over to have that cup of tea and talk, maybe she could have called the paramedics, get her to the hospital and everything would be okay.
But it wasn't. Because she had lost mom, and she had lost Dawn. And she knew she would lose everyone dear to her, and it would be her fault. For there was always something she could have done, or changed, and things would have been alright. Except she didn't, and someone else paid for it.
