Hello everyone! I'm finally back! Sorry for the wait (Hell, it's been over a month), but I'm finished with exams now and so happy to announce I've technically got enough formation to be a dietitian, and only need to do my internship before I can officially call myself Dietitian.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay and I hope I can make it up to you from now on. Things are going to get pretty difficult from now on, beware. This should be Chapter 61, but it will appear as 62 due to the review answer I did in the previous update.
Thanks so much everyone who is still reading after such a long wait!
Enjoy!
Lil-Randomer: Glad you like it so much!
tycoon-mami: Don't hesitate to tell me when something is wrong, there's a mistake or something specific could be improved, it's what reviews are for! I'm so happy you like it, and I will keep updating now that I finally have free time again!
Lee out.
Being back with Angel was both stressful and comforting. The familiarity, the trust they had on each other, hadn't vanished. And yet, their situations had changed, she knew as much, even if he didn't want to talk about the happenings in L.A. She'd thought he would open up when they were alone, away from Sunnydale, and tell her more about what had been going on, only to later realize she wasn't going to get anything out of him.
Stubborn old vampire.
Spike had taken it hard when she'd told him she'd be gone for a day with Angel. After a talk down in the basement and a good cuddling session, he agreed to let them go. He trusted her and knew she just needed some time to remember the old days before going back to Sunnydale, to him. Closure. That was it. She'd left her life in L.A. hanging when she'd left and never called. She would have closure, peace.
The hunt ended up taking all of two days, and with her phone broken by the demon, no one knew what had happened, just like Ally didn't know how Willow's return had gone.
As she left Angel's car and walked over to the front door of the Summers house, she was in for quite a surprise.
"I'm back!" She shouted as she closed the door behind her, silence greeting her. "Anyone home?!" She asked as she hung her jacket next to the door, glancing toward the dining room, then the living room.
She froze in place when she found Dawn, sitting strangely rigidly in the couch, her eyes the only part of her that moved, and quite rapidly at that. What was more, her left hand was up, the remote control in it, unmoving.
"Dawn? What are you doing?" She questioned as she went into the living room, her sister's eyes following her with urgency, muffled sounds like words coming from her. "What the hell happened to you? Where's everyone?"
"She was paralyzed." Came Spike's voice from behind Ally, making her spin away from Dawn.
He was just standing next to the kitchen, vaguely looking at her before moving his eyes towards the teen, the away from them both to something else. He saw something they didn't.
"Wh-what? How?"
"Gnarl demon. Paralyzing poison on his fingernails. Got a swipe at her far as I know." He mumbled distractedly before focusing his gaze on her again and approaching quietly.
She looked back at Dawn, guilt constricting her chest. She didn't look like the demon had done much, yet she couldn't help but think she should've been with them. Bringing Dawn's remote holding hand down, Ally sat beside her, looking her over and only seeing the think line on her abdomen. Once she was almost sure she would be fine once the poison wore over, she moved her eyes back toward Spike. "Where are the others? Buffy?"
"Went to kill the Gnarl." He stopped walking right beside the coffee table, his baby blues set on her, like he was trying to see through her.
"And Willow?"
"I think she was here, then she left, then she came back, then left again. They didn't see her." As soon as he stopped talking, his head whipped to the side, he mumbled something incomprehensible and shook his head.
"Spike, are you okay?" She asked, while absentmindedly rubbing Dawn's arm in an attempt at comfort.
His intense gaze fell on her again, something flickering in his features, some kind of emotion. Vulnerability?
"You said you'd come back yesterday."
"I know…" She sighed and got up, getting closer to him while his eyes followed her movements. "The blasted demon seemed to know we were going after it, don't ask me how, and managed to lead us into the woods and steal our weapons bag and my phone. We found them later, my phone broken, the weapons scattered." The brunette Slayer exhaled again, her hand finding Spike's and squeezing lightly, feeling him relax under the pressure, most likely taking it as proof of her presence, and not the other one's. "It attacked us, slashed at Angel, and made us retreat before escaping. It was almost sunrise, so we had to hide in a cave so Angy wouldn't turn into a freaking torch." Knowing he was a bit more himself again, she led him to the armchair and made him sit down, settling herself beside him. "I tried to follow the demon's trail during the day, but couldn't get very far from the cave without your blasted grandsire shouting at me to not take one step further lest he tie me to the passenger's seat when the sun set." She accompanied her words with an eye roll, earning a light twitch of the bleach blonde's lips. "So I gathered our weapons back and waited until sunset. It took us the whole night to find and kill the thing, and then Angel insisted I slept a few hours before we got into the car and he drove me here." She leaned against him, feeling his arms wrap around her waist. "I'm sorry it took longer. I couldn't call." She looked over toward Dawn again, finding her eyes focused on her. "Sorry Dawnie, I hope I didn't make you worry. Guess you've had enough as it is."
A muffled hum was her only response, making her smirk. "It's kinda funny, seeing you like this. You look like a doll, sis." A sound of protest answered her, making her chuckle lightly. "Anyways, think it will wear off soon? Do you know where this Gnarl is?"
"Cave in the woods." Spike answered for her sister, as she clearly wouldn't be able to understand Dawn anyway.
That brought a groan out of her, her face hiding in the crook between the vampire's neck and shoulder. "Ugh, no more caves in the woods, please… Can you tell me where? I don't want to leave Dawn alone."
"No need to go. Your big sis, the wanker and his ex went to take care of it. Should be over soon." Spike assured her, his hold on her waist tightening a bit.
"Xander and Anya? Together? Hope they don't kill each other and put Buff in danger."
Sounds coming from Dawn made the couple look over once more, only to see her fall over to her side like a dead weight. Ally jumped to her feet and rushed to her sister's side, helping her sit up and checking to see if she'd hurt herself anymore. Dawn's movements were less stiff, meaning the poison was probably wearing off, and soon she could talk and scold her for not taking better care of her phone.
Ally just smiled and hugged her, knowing that concern hid behind her rant.
"Will!" Ally sprinted to the entrance as soon as she saw Buffy and Xander help the redhead inside, but stopped just a couple feet from them. "Oh, shit, what happened?" She asked, eyeing the blood seeping through her blouse, close to where Dawn's own wound had been. The teen had gone upstairs to clean herself and cover the wound before changing into her PJ's. Spike, meanwhile, had retreated to the basement.
"Oh, Ally, you're back." Willow's face lit up despite the pain she must have been in, making Ally smile again. After all the witch had gone through, Ally was more than set on trying to make life better for her.
"Yeah. Glad to have you back too. I was gonna hug the life out of you, but we better patch you up before that." The brunette decided, running upstairs to get the first aid kit while Buffy and Xander took Willow to Buffy's old room.
Everyone was exhausted by the time they secured the bandage around Willow's abdomen, so after a quick explanation to Buffy as to why she was a day late, they all went to bed, except for Ally, who made sure Spike was alright in the basement before going out on patrol. Buffy had been busy with the Gnarl to do it, so she might as well do her job and get a couple rounds before going back home. Besides, she'd slept in the car, so she wasn't that tired.
It'd been a weird couple of days. With Angel coming back, getting Spike home, her first slaying with Angel in a long time and coming back to find Spike worse than when she'd left him, Dawn paralyzed and Willow injured by a skin-eating demon, she needed to clear her mind before going to sleep.
Instead of clarity, what she got from the patrol was the constant sensation of being watched, observed from the shadows by something she could not see. She was certain there was someone, something, following her, yet she could not catch any glimpse of it no matter how fast she turned or how much she waited around a corner for someone to move closer.
She did find two pairs of vampires around the graveyard, one pair first, looking like they'd been waiting for someone to stroll around the cemetery to get a snack, only to find themselves dusted by the Slayer. The second pair, though, had been about to eat a young boy Ally could have sworn she'd seen before, yet only got to shout at him to run before she faced the snarling demons, her favourite stake clutched in her right hand.
On the way home, again, she sensed someone was following her, a cold shiver running down her spine, like a foreboding sensation. Something bad was coming. Really bad. And it was coming to get her.
It was only once she'd closed the door to the Summers home behind her and headed toward the basement that she felt safe again.
She walked downstairs as silently as possible, but it proved in vain when she found Spike still awake, sitting in his mattress, his right knee bent close to his chest as he stared into space. She fell to her knees on his bed and crawled to his side, only pausing once to take her boots off before lying beside him.
"So, tell me, what's wrong?" She wondered as she played with his fingers between her hands, watching his face as he turned to look at her.
"Wrong?"
"Did something happen while I was gone? You seem to be more… absent."
"You were gone." He repeated, his eyes dropping to her hands on his.
"Yeah, did something happen whi…?" She stopped, realizing what he meant, her eyes widening noticeably.
"You were gone. And she was here."
She stiffened, sitting up tensely, thinking of his time alone here these past two days. "What did she do?"
"She sang."
The other doesn't sing. And she doesn't punch Peaches, either. She doesn't touch me. That was one of the ways he knew she was her, how he could tell it was not the other messing with his head.
"She still can't touch you, right?" Ally needed confirmation, a plan already forging in her mind.
The bleach blond vampire shook his head, clearly hating his situation. He didn't want to have those other voices in his head, those other people that looked like his love talking to him, tricking him. He didn't want to bother her with all this shit. But he needed her.
"Alright, listen to me. I won't let that bitch hurt you anymore, you hear me?" She took his face between her hands, softly caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. "Every time you are not sure it's me here with you, don't hesitate to touch me, okay? Every time I come here, take my hand, or something. If you need that to be sure, do it. Never, ever, trust what she says. I'll be here if you need something, you know that, right? Just take my hand. I'll be right here."
His eyes were so vulnerable, so hurt, so full of love, she couldn't stop herself from touching her forehead to his and brushing her lips against his own, breathing from him.
"She can't mess with you if you don't believe her." She whispered as his hands rested on her back, surrounding her with his arms.
He could be certain it was the real her there.
