She knocked on the metal door, waiting for him to open, yet no answer came from the other side. She knocked again, only to get the same results. Why wasn't he opening the door?

"Spike?" She called out loud, leaning her forehead against the cool material, trying to convince him to let her see him. "Spike, please, open the door. Please." There was a shuffling sound, but the door didn't budge. Well, at least he'd moved, right? That had to be something. "I know something bad has happened to you, Spike. Please, let me help you. Open the door." The door vibrated, letting her know he'd at least touched it, that maybe he was leaning against it as she was. "I've missed you. I... Dawn told me she went to see you after I'd left. I know it should've been me, but I had to leave very quickly. Only had two hours to get everything packed and get into the helicopter. I went back home. A friend of mine died. A good friend, from before I came to the states. I barely made it to his funeral. And then... I had to explain things to my family. I had to stay a while to make things... more or less alright. It was... hard and long, and I missed you every single day." She breathed deeply, closing her eyes and thinking back to the days back home with her brother and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. "You know, I took some pictures with me, photographs, from the Gang, and my sisters, and you. Remember that photograph Dawn took of us when you came to my late-birthday party?" She smiled lightly, leaning more heavily against the door, her side flush against the cool metal. "I've missed you. Let me see you."

And even if the door vibrated, shifting noises came from the other side, he never opened it. So she slipped down to the floor, her back against the door, and sat there, patiently waiting. He wasn't well. There was something messing with him, and she had to be there for him. She really didn't care about him being the Doctor, or any of that shit anymore. She needed him and she'd failed him. Something had hurt him beyond recognition. Something had broken him. She had to be there to put him back together.

Eventually, she started humming, her voice slowly gaining strength, the humming turning into the lyrics to Baby, I love you by The Ramones. His taste in music was a bit too hard for her, she didn't really get what he liked about punk music, but that was one song she had loved from his collection.

And so she started softly singing for him.

"Have I ever told you, How good it feels to hold you. It isn't easy to explain." She closed her eyes, imagining them both back in the crypt, his head on her lap as she sang to him. The words started flowing, verse after verse, until she got to the part she wanted to sing in his ear, every night, as a lullaby. "Baby, I love you. C'mon baby. Baby, I love you. Baby, I love, I love only you."

Every single word from that song was perfect, it portrayed her feelings for him so accurately, yet so simply, she could barely stop herself from shouting it out. "Oh I'm so glad I found you. I want my arms around you. I love to hear you call my name."

And she sang the chorus all over, and over again, like a prayer, a plea for him to open the door for her.

After some time in silence, she checked her phone and decided it was time to leave. She didn't want Buffy and Dawn to worry, and Spike wasn't going to open the door. She'd come back, though. Another day. Maybe he would be feeling more sociable then.


Every day after that, she went to the basement and sat next to his door for a couple hours while Dawn was in class. He never opened the door, but she could feel him sitting on the other side. He was close, so close, yet out of reach. She could only hope he wasn't trying to hurt himself anymore.

She was worried, but still didn't tell anyone about him. She didn't want them sending her pitying glances. Her boyfriend was locked in a basement, probably a bit insane, and didn't want to see her. She knew that at least Dawn was going to pity her, and she didn't need that. Moreover, she didn't want Dawn getting distracted. She had just started school. Ally wanted her to be a normal teenager for as long as possible while she could still control it.

And then the dream happened. From beneath you, it devours. Her attempts at keeping Dawn from worrying were squashed when both Slayers started screaming in their sleep. The teen had no idea what to do, who to help, who to wake. Luckily, both Slayers woke soon after that, the youngest two moving into Buffy's room to discuss the prophetic dream.


When Buffy started working at the high school, Ally had to reduce her visits to Spike, also due to the fact that because Buffy had even less time, she started doing more of the house chores, shopping, cleaning and cooking. It wasn't an everyday thing, but it was enough to keep her busy. Xander started driving them to school, like a big ol' family and she had to admit it felt nice.

While the blonde met Principal Wood, both brunettes walked to Dawn's locker, Ally feeling unusually affectionate, her arm locked with Dawn's and her head on the teen's shoulder. "I'm seriously thinking about home schooling you. We wouldn't have to worry about this place trying to kill you." She mumbled as Dawn stopped near a locker and got her arm free, smiling softly at her.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that you are alone during class hours now?" The teen guessed, her eyes sympathetic.

"I just miss you two. And it gets boring pretty fast. Maybe I should start going to the Magic Box to train while you are here. We could use the afternoons to train you."

"It's a good idea. Do you think...?" Dawn started, only to stop mid-question.

"Do I think what?" Ally insisted, helping her sister hold her bag open while she shoved a couple books inside.

"Uh... nothing. I was just wondering... Will I ever fight like you did? I mean, before you were the..." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned closer. "Slayer. When you were a Potential."

"You are certainly learning fast. Just... keep in mind that it took me a couple years of really intense training. I trained three hours with... a very experienced man, every day, did ballet five hours a week to strengthen my legs and gain flexibility, and ran or did cardio for an hour to an hour and a half every day." She sighed, her eyes drifting to the floor between them. "I lived for the slaying and training. I don't want that to happen to you."

Dawn didn't add anything but brought her in for a hug, rubbing Ally's back softly. It was just what the eldest needed then, and therefore held her sister longer that in a normal hug.

"Hey, Summers." A voice said from a few feet beside them, making the sisters pull back from the embrace and look over at the boy standing there with a smirk adorning his face. He was cute, yet a bit overconfident if Ally had to judge from his expression.

"Uh, hi, Justin." Dawn greeted back awkwardly, a bit miffed he'd interrupted their sister-bonding time, but he could get away with it, because he was really cute.

"New girl?" He asked, glancing over at Ally as his smirk grew.

"What? No. This is my sister Ally. Ally, this is Justin. He's in my physics class. Ally's nineteen, she's just waiting with me until the bell rings."

"Twenty." She corrected, smiling softly at Dawn. "Missed it again while I was away."

"Oh, no!" The teen pouted, looking apologetic, before glancing back at the boy watching the exchange. "Uh, did you need something?"

"Uhm... Did you do that problem on page twenty-four? It took me all night long and I'm still not sure it's right." He took his physics book out to show the other teen the problem, Ally peeking over Dawn's shoulder.

"Oh, it's that one you helped me do!" Dawn recognized, smiling at her sister, just as the Principal rounded the corner, this time without Buffy.

He approached them, nodding in greeting at Ally. "Still around, I see, Miss Summers."

"Just spending some time with Dawn before she goes to class. You kidnapped my other sister." She joked, knowing Wood did have some sense of humour.

"I'll make sure she is returned to you in one piece." He retorted, the corners of his lips twitching upwards before glancing at the teen boy with the physics book. "Working hard, Smith?"

"Yes, sir. I was talking to Dawn about our physics homework."

Ally glanced at the paper where the boy had written his answer to the exercise and frowned. "It's wrong. You didn't take into account the coefficient of friction."

He blinked at her and then looked over the exercise, confused, before cursing loudly.

"Smith." The Principal scolded before turning his gaze upon the eldest brunette again. "That was fast."

"She's a genius. She has a doctorate in Physics from Caltech." Dawn informed Wood proudly, elbowing her sister lightly.

"Huh, aren't you Summers girls full of surprises." Wood praised, eyebrows high up on his forehead.

"You don't know half of it." Ally replied sarcastically before turning toward her baby sister. "Well, I should get going. I'll come pick you up later." She hugged the teen girl quickly before nodding at the Principal and Justin. "Bye."


Later that day, when Ally met Dawn at the front steps of the high school and they both waited for their blonde sister to get out, the youngest remembered their last conversation, and the revelation that Ally had reached the start of the third decade of her life. "I'm sorry, Alls. I'll tell Buffy and we'll have a party, I promise."

"With whom? Giles's not here, neither is Willow, or Tara, and we shouldn't get Xander and Anya in the same room, that could get ugly."

They both sighed, saddened at the situation of the Scooby Gang, both thinking of the member that hadn't been mentioned.

Ally didn't say he was closer than Dawn thought, and Dawn didn't reveal that he had wanted to propose to Ally. She hadn't told. She couldn't.

"I'd rather just watch a movie with Buff and you and eat lots of popcorn."

"Consider it done." Dawn smiled at her, wrapping an arm around her and resting her head on her big sister's shoulder.


That night, Xander came over to the Summers home with a pretty brown-haired woman named Nancy with an open wound in her hand and scared out of her mind. Something had just made her doggy disappear in a hole in the ground. Something big and strong.

Typical Sunnydale stuff.

"So, you say this thing just came up out of the ground without any warnings or signs or anything?" Dawn asked, sitting right next to Nancy, sandwiched between her and Xander, while the Slayers sat on the coffee table in front of them.

"Just this kind of rumbling, you know, like just before an earthquake."

Ally and Buffy looked up, recalling their prophetic dreams. "From beneath you it devours."

Nancy looked at them like they were crazy, although it wasn't surprising, given they had just talked in creepy unison. "What?"

"Nothing." They shook their heads, dismissing Nancy's worries.

Dawn sighed unenthusiastically. "Nothing good."

Xander seemed to agree with her. "Sounding monster-ific, all right."

"Should we round up the gang?" Dawn suggested, already used to taking active part in Scooby businesses.

The dark haired man looked tired already. "Good thinking, except... this is the gang."

Ally couldn't take the pessimistic air that seemed to be setting on the group, and empathetically looked at Nancy. "Look, Nancy, we're going to get into this. And I promise you, if your dog is alive, we're going to find him. The only thing that I need is a little..."

"What you need is help." A voice interrupted her, making everyone look at the man standing on the doorway to the living room. "Fortunately, you've got me."