Buffy was back. Awesome. She'd gotten back just in time for dinner, apparently, and therefore knew she had spent the night out, with Spike. Obviously, they were all in the living room when Ally got back, and it didn't take them more than five seconds to realize she was wearing Spike's t-shirt. Giles, who was still staying on the couch at night, dropped his glasses, while the witches and Buffy paled.
"Oh, god." Was all Buffy could say, staring at her, wide eyed.
Maybe it was the lack of food, or the still sleepy state, but her mind thought humour was the way to go. "That's what I said."
"Come on, Alls. Spike? What were you thinking?" Buffy asked for the hundredth time as she followed her to the kitchen around mid morning.
Ally, freshly showered and busy making breakfast, rolled her eyes. "Buff, be honest, does it really surprise you?" She looked over the island to her sister while she cut up some fruit and munched on a slice of bread, her stomach growling loudly. Buffy's expression was enough to know the answer. "Exactly."
"Eww." She grimaced, letting herself fall on one of the high chairs. The Slayer couldn't imagine what could have made Ally want to be with Spike, he was annoying and disgusting and he didn't have a soul. Yet, she knew he acted differently around her sister, he'd acted more selflessly than she would have ever imagined a year before, and he obviously cared for her.
"Buffy, he's done more for us, for you and Dawn, than we could have ever asked him to. Cut him some slack, please. I know he's done bad things in the past, but... he's changed. Really." Ally locked gazes with her eldest sister, her big doe eyes strengthening the plea.
She huffed, giving up, leaning her arms on the island and her chin on them. "Just... keep the PDA to a minimum." She glanced up at the clock in the kitchen wall and jumped up from her seat. "Sorry, gotta go. I'm going to class with Tara and Will." She smiled lightly and left her sister in the kitchen, happy that Buffy's reaction wasn't as bad as she had expected, like trying to stake her vampire.
Her vampire was once again in the backyard; only, this time everyone knew he was there and everyone was looking oddly at her. Well, Xander was full-on twitching to grab a stake and go out, but she fixed him with a dry glare before leaving the kitchen, where they were all gathered, and opening the back door.
"Wanna come in? Or are you gonna pretend to hide there all night?" She asked the darkness surrounding the house in a mocking tone, getting a glimpse of a cloud of smoke.
"Not hiding, love." He came out from behind the tree, cigarette in his mouth, hands in his leather duster's pockets.
"Sure. Throw that away before you come in." She smirked, turning back towards her friends and leaving the door open for him.
Buffy had had a strange episode at uni that morning, and they were all discussing what it could have been; whether it was some kind of stress related issue or if something demonic or supernatural was going on. Of course, they all decided to shut up when Spike got inside the house, staring at him as he joined Ally on one side of the island, next to Dawn and Tara.
"Very subtle, guys." Ally praised, rolling her eyes and offering her 'boyfriend' some of the baby cereal she was having.
"You still hooked to that stuff?" He raised an eyebrow, grimacing at the brown-ish mixture.
"I'm not 'hooked'." She denied, taking another spoonful of it.
"It's the third box this week." Buffy reminded her, tilting her head to one side.
Anya frowned, glancing from the senior Slayer to the junior. "It's Wednesday."
"A box per day, more or less." Dawn confirmed, shrugging, her forearms resting on the counter.
"Only when I'm patrolling. Or training." Ally specified. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, judging her, making her shift in her seat.
"Yeah, one bowl before she leaves, another one when she comes back." Her baby sister laughed, focusing back on her blonde relative. "So, what do you think was that thing you found on your jacket?"
No one else paid much attention to Spike for the rest of the night, as he kept unusually quiet for the most part, only mocking Xander a couple times before he and the youngest Slayer left to patrol. Ally was pretty sure he was trying to get along with her friends as much as possible, even though she'd already noticed a change when she was brought back to life. They'd been working together to keep Sunnydale somewhat safe all summer, and she honestly believed they considered him a member of the Scooby Gang, just a special one.
When Ally went back home later and fell asleep, her nightmares came back in full force, truly convincing the girl that her vampire was the one who had kept those memories away for the last couple of nights.
Needless to say, she slept in the crypt much more often from then on.
Halloween was fast approaching, and Ally had no idea what to dress up as. Dawn didn't seem to be interested in costumes, which greatly saddened Ally as she wanted to go out with her sisters; none of them were really up for it. Maybe she could get Spike to go out with her, do something fun, have some fun out of the crypt.
So there she was, in the costume store, looking through the different outfits and accessories. Everything available for girls was just the sexy version of any profession or even cartoon characters, nothing she considered empowering at all. Couldn't there be more comic heroine costumes that weren't overly sexualized? Like a Wonder Woman costume that at least covered her boobs and wouldn't make her freeze her ass.
And then she found it. It looked like the real thing, not conservative but definitely not overly sexualized, with the protections in place and a skirt that would let her move if she needed to. She could even complete the costume with some weapons from Buffy's chest.
She would be Xena, the Warrior Princess, for Halloween.
Every Scooby was helping at the Magic Shop, filled to the top with customers looking for an extra something to go with their costumes. Only Giles, Anya and Xander were in their Halloween attires, Dawn thinking she was too old for that lame game, Ally saving hers for the night.
Giles sent the eldest Summers girls to the basement to look for some mandrake root, something none of them really knew where was, carrying some boxes with them. The rest of the Gang, specially Giles, really liked the fact that the girls could carry twice or three times their weight in their arms or shoulders, making them perfect when moving things around.
Perks of being a Slayer, she guessed.
"You still keeping your costume a secret, Alls?" The blonde asked as they went downstairs. "You're not dressing up as a vampire, are you, 'cause that's just... Oh!" The senior Slayer came to a halt as Captain Peroxide made his appearance, Ally almost bumping into her. "Bell. Neck. Look into it."
"Come with a nice leather collar, does it? Hello, love." He looked over Buffy towards the brunette, a light smirk playing in his lips.
"What are you doing lurking down here?" The blonde got his attention back, still not accustomed to her sister's relationship with the vamp.
"Came through the tunnels." He held a handful of brown vines up, looking down at the tiny blonde. "Running low on burba weed. Stir it in with the blood. Makes it all hot 'n spicy."
Buffy made a disgusted face, turning to place her box on a nearby table where Ally had placed hers.
"Some like it with cayenne pepper. It's a big hit at demon bars." Ally supplied, approaching her vampire. The identical shocked looks she got from both of them made her stop her movements. "What?"
"Demon bars?"
"How do you know about demon bars?
Their questions came rushing together, both of them advancing on her as one, wide-eyed and menacing.
"I used to go to one in L.A. It was cool, there was karaoke, and I knew the owner. And it wasn't dangerous at all, it was a sanctuary, no violence was allowed inside the bar!" She assured, trying to make them calm down, let them know the bar was fine and she was always safe there.
"You've sure had a weird life in L.A., Alls." Buffy stated, shaking her head and looking around.
"Tell me about it." Ally agreed, catching Spike's frown.
However, he didn't try to pry for any more information with the other girl there. Instead, he helped them find the mandrake root and held the brunette back when Buffy went to give the jar back to Giles, leaving them alone.
"Feel like a bit of the rough and tumble?" He asked lowly as one of his hands found her waist, checking a couple times to make sure no one else came down to the basement. "Me ... you..."
"I wanted to go out first, I got a really cool costume!" She whined, pouting like a child.
"I meant patrolling, Ally Cat." He clarified, smirking again and brushing the hair out of her face and behind her ear with his free hand.
"Oh, sure, yeah. I can patrol on my costume. I'll take a sword too, for your information." Her bright smile, excited and plain happy to go out with him, made him have to hold back a chuckle. She was like a big ball of cheery energy, jumping around all day, untiring.
"And then some more of the rough and tumble." He winked before kissing her and going back to the tunnels.
She saw Spike before he noticed she was there. He was near the entrance to one of the cemeteries, trying to light a cigarette, lying against the stone wall. His vampire senses were failing.
She silently approached him, her own steps lighter due to her Slayer powers, and snatched the cigarette from his mouth just as it lit up, throwing it to the ground and putting it out with her boot clad toes.
He frowned at seeing his vice under her feet, his eyes following her leg, sliding over the almost knee high brown boot, to her thighs, to her Xena costume. His gaze turned darker, the annoyance leaving room to desire just as he reached her face, taking in her satisfied smirk.
"You look ravishing, love." He drawled huskily, closing the distance between them, his hands finding her waist.
"Let me guess, you're going as Billy Idol?" She teased as her arms went around his neck.
"He stole my look!" He defended, frowning once again. He was such a kid...
"Sure he did." She pecked him to make him stop pouting and smiled up at him. "Come on, let's go to the Bronze. I wanna dance."
The Bronze was crowded, yet Spike managed to scare most of the ones near them to let them dance without being pushed by other couples. His hands were joined behind her back, her arms locked around his neck, foreheads touching, eyes closed. They were a normal couple right then, no crypt, no slaying, no sacred duty or blood hunger. They were just two people in love, enjoying their date, enjoying each other's feel.
That is, until Willow and Tara came, telling them Dawn had lied about staying at her friend's house and was therefore out there; she could be in danger.
A cold feeling spread across Ally's body. Dawn. In danger. Again.
She could not let anything happen to her again. She'd failed once. She wouldn't let herself fail twice.
