Noticing the paleness in Riley's face again, Ally couldn't help but think they were giving him too much information at once. It was too overwhelming, after about four years of not seeing her. After all they both had surely gone through. Want it or not, they didn't know shit about what the other's life had been like all that time. Heck, he was Buffy's ex and she hadn't known a thing for a year.
Still, he was her Riley. Her protector. It felt so good to be by his side, hugging his arm again. It felt right. It felt like... home, and childhood, and innocence.
"You what?" His voice had risen a bit, shock and concern breaking through his usually collected demeanour.
"I died." Ally repeated, smiling sheepishly, like a child that had been caught stealing sweets when they'd told her she couldn't have any more for the day. "But it was only for a few months. I'm alive and much stronger now." As if to prove her point she extended her arms, letting him take a good look at her and dismissing her death.
"When exactly did you come to Sunnydale?" Riley asked, mentally doing the math about her being activated seven months earlier.
"A couple weeks after you left." Dawn answered for Ally, her arms crossed over her chest as she shot a dry look at the man, still pained and ready to make him feel guilty for it.
"Just my luck..." He sighed, shaking his head lightly.
"Back to the matter at hand. Suvolte demon." Ally made him focus, trying to distract him from her death.
Dawn followed her lead, inquiring further. "So, this demon shredded your guys, and now you're looking for a little payback?"
"No. It came here to the Hellmouth to, to spawn." Sam sighed looking at her husband for a second. "But we think it already hatched its eggs somewhere."
"And the plan was to track it. Let the demon take us to its nest."
"And ... now they're gonna hatch a bunch of ... baby demon things?" She grimaced, her face twisting comically.
"Unless we stop it."
"Which means we have to find the nest, and fast, before Sunnydale turns into the Trouble Meat Palace." Every head in the room turned to Buffy, faces blank at her joke. "I wish I'd said something else."
Xander stepped forward and sat down next to Sam. "Okay, so we track down the demon, find the nest, Mr. and Mrs. Finn here make with the killin', and everyone goes home happy. But seriously, married man. If forced to choose between a photographer and place settings..."
Buffy cut him, though. "We can't track the demon. I killed it." This time it was Ally's turn to grimace. "So! Who's hungry? We got, uh..."
"Ice cubes." Dawn supplied, making the other brunette Summers girl snort.
"All you can eat."
"I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry, Buff, I should have done the shopping this afternoon but Dawn and I got distracted skating." Ally apologised, but then her face brightened. "Well, we always have baby cereal."
"Do... do you live here?" Riley asked, once again trying to understand her current situation. There was so much he needed to know, he just had to ask whenever a new question popped into his mind.
"Yeah." She smiled widely, looking up at Dawn and Buffy, who smiled back.
Sam grinned at their exchange before focusing on the blonde, her face turning sincere. "Buffy? It's good that you killed the Suvolte before it killed us." And just as fast as she had turned to Buffy, she looked at Xander. "Disposable cameras."
"Di - wah?"
"Yeah, you, you know, little plastic ones, ten bucks a pop. You arrange them like table settings, guests snap photos breaks the ice, and when the wedding's over, you get to take home the pictures." While she talked, Riley had wrapped his free hand around her knee, Sam unconsciously intertwining their fingers.
Ally sighed happily at seeing this, leaning toward Riley as whispering in his ear so that no one else could hear what she said. "I like her. Good job. She's great."
He smirked at her while they both stared at the soldier-woman, Riley's other hand clasping around Ally's.
"I like it!
"So, demon eggs. Any timetable on when they're gonna hatch?" Buffy wondered, looking a bit put out by the trio on the couch.
"Hatching's not the problem." Riley answered, back to the ever-so-serious good soldier facade.
"We think they're gonna be sold on the black market. There are some foreign military powers that would love to have their own Suvolte. You could never train it, but drop it on an urban population..."
"And it cleanses the area."
"Is that a nice way of saying it kills people?" The teen grimaced again, wrapping her arms around her middle.
"Lots of 'em. Money's been exchanged. There's a dealer in town, calls himself the, The Doctor. Willow, you think you can help with a little locating spell?"
Ally tensed just as Willow averted her eyes. Touchy subject.
"I can't do the magicks."
"Oh, Riley says you're comin' on as one major-league Wicca."
Ally tried to shake her head lightly to make the couple understand, but they didn't even glance at her. Bad. Bad.
"I got addicted. The way addicts do." And with that, the redhead left the living room.
"Two teams. No civilians. I'll, uh ... I'll go out and look for our Doctor. You two find that nest." Soldier-boy decided, looking from Buffy to Sam and making Ally frown.
"Me and Sam together?"
"I'm not staying behind. I'm going too."
His protective side wasn't going to give up that easily. He had made a promise and had not been able to fulfil it until then. He couldn't just let her go knowing it could be dangerous. She was his baby girl. "Ally..."
"I'm a Slayer, Riley. Not a kid. I'm going." She fixed him with a firm glare, making him sigh and nod once. This was not the same Ally he knew four years before. She was grown up, more than he would have liked her to.
He agreed, squeezing the brunette's hand again before glancing at Buffy. "You come across a Suvolte nest, you're gonna want backup."
Sam didn't look so sure about the teams, though. "You know, I don't wanna be dragging down the Slayers. You've got speed, and power I can't even..."
The blonde cut her off before she could continue. "Let's go. Xander, are you okay to stay with Dawn?
He nodded, walking over to the teen. "Yeah."
"I'll check out some bars. Willy's, some, uh, crypts that I know. Ally, I want to talk to you for a minute." Riley shook his head toward the door and got up from the couch, dragging her behind.
Once they were both alone outside, he let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his chest.
She knew that stance. He was going to scold her for something. For wanting to go out to find those demon eggs, maybe? It was her duty. She wasn't going to be left behind.
"Riley, I am not going to stay here while..."
"I know. You're a Slayer, even if I don't like it. You're supposed to be there as much as Buffy."
That threw her off balance. If it wasn't that he was going to tell her off about, what was it?
Oh, no...
"Why are you here, Ally? Where have you been all these years? I was looking for you, the police was looking for you." His voice turned accusing, but never louder. He had that ability to never shout at her, never raise his voice. He could make her feel like a three year old just by changing his tone.
"L.A." She answered briefly, looking down at her feet and shifting uncomfortably. Here it comes. She knew what he was going to ask her about.
"How is it that no one find you?"
"I changed my last name, laid low for a while. I was careful. I didn't want to be found." She hugged herself, her eyes gazing around the front yard.
"Why?"
"I had things to do."
"Like what?" He snapped.
"Like fight evil. I was trained. Not like you trained me, with the army weapons and a few basic fighting techniques to spend some time and protect me from possible molesters. I was really trained." She finally looked in his eyes, trying to transmit the intensity with which she felt her words. "Three hours every day, for two years. Extra hours I did by myself. I found out I was... skilled. A Potential, as they are called. I had a knack for slaying demons and vampires. I started truly slaying at sixteen. Been doing it ever since."
"Why? Why couldn't you come back? Do you know how worried I was? How devastated everyone was?" His body was awfully tense, his arms tight against his chest.
She flinched at his words. She knew she had hurt him. She knew she had made him suffer. "I needed to do it, Riley, and you would have never let me. No one I knew before would have ever let me. For God's sake, most people don't even know demons exist!" She could feel her control slipping. Her hands were moving on their own accord. "I couldn't not do it when I knew I could save someone from going through the same shit I went through. I saved people, Riley. I save people. I couldn't save my family, but I sure as hell saved others."
It seemed his control had left him too, as his voice started rising with hers. "And what about the rest of your family, Ally? What about your brother?!"
Silence ensued. You could hear a pin drop. And the worst came when the door slowly opened, revealing everyone staring at them with wide eyes. Except for Sam.
