"I'm still not completely sure you're not a vision, love." Spike joked when Ally finally put the first aid kit away and laid beside him. Everyone had gone to sleep, or at least to their respective sleeping arrangements. God knew those Potentials would stay gossiping for a while. The Vampire and Slayer couple were lucky to have the basement for themselves. It was Spike's area, and no Potentials wanted to go too close to the 'bat-shit crazy vampire' that sometimes lost control of his demon.
"It looked like me again." Ally stated, snuggling closer to him while still avoiding touching his wounds. She was furious with the First, for what it'd done to Spike, but specially because it was done while looking like her. How could he still look at her with such love when her face was connected to such horrible memories? All that time… She wasn't even sure how long it had been. One moment she was dizzy, the next she woke up to a house full of teenage girls her dark side wanted to kill. "How long has it been?"
"You don't know?" He arched an eyebrow and leaned back to look at her better. "I've been chained in a cave all this time, don't have a bloody clue whether it was day or night."
"I've been unconscious until this afternoon, so no idea."
"Unconscious?" His grip on her waist tightened, not enough to hurt, but enough to notice he was getting restless.
"The girls upstairs apparently know me as 'comatose girl'. It settled." She shrugged, but could feel him tense beside her. "I don't know why it took so long to wake up. I only remember… her. Me. With black eyes. We were in the forest, where Buffy and I were buried. Then you came. Two of you. The demon and the human. You became one, and so did we." She looked up at him to find him staring at her in concern, having a hard time understanding her dream, or vision. "We are one now. She will not try to kill my sisters, or the Potentials. So long as she has you. It's the only thing she wants. What we want."
"That's what you did in the fight with the Turok'Han. You let her out. I could feel something, wasn't sure what."
"Yes. It makes me stronger. It makes me more resistant to wounds. Faster. We can fight longer, and better. Oh, god, I sound completely insane. We." She let her head fall to his shoulder, her face buried against his cool skin.
"Not to worry. We can be insane together, love." He murmured humorously, releasing the hold of her waist and caressing her skin with his hand. "You sure you can control her?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Rona and Vi, the Potentials, walked among the trees and gravestones, stakes in hand, looking out for any possible threats. It was quite clear that they were not remotely ready for a real fight with vampires, even less with Turok'Hans, but they had to start somewhere.
A twig snapped behind them and they turned at once, alert, a few feet separating them both, but nothing could be seen. Something sneaked up behind Rona and knocked her down with one hit to the head. Spike, in vampiric guise, stood above her, facing Vi. The redhead reacted, bringing her stake down toward him, but he easily grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, leaving her trapped against his chest, her neck exposed to his fangs
As he made to bite her, Vi screamed, and Spike smiled devilishly before putting his human face back on. He looked up, still holding a scared and frustrated Potential. "Okay, these two are dead. Why?"
Rona stood up from the ground, obviously not happy about having been defeated so easily. "'Cause the black chick always gets it first?"
Vi cried out from her highly uncomfortable position while Buffy and Ally watched from several tombstones away, a couple more Potentials accompanying them. "What was that, Rona?" Buffy asked from the distance, requesting a more serious answer.
"I'm dead because he's a vampire. I don't have slayer strength, slayer speed… It wasn't a fair fight."
Ally scoffed walking closer to the 'dead' slayers and her fiancé. "Please, I slayed for years before being called."
Spike grinned proudly, looking at her from over Vi's shoulder. "Damn right, she could take them three at a time, even."
"You're never gonna be as strong as a vampire, no human can, not if you're not a Slayer. You need to learn to win when you're the one with the disadvantage, when you're the weak one. They take for granted they're gonna win. Vampires, demons… they know they are on top. They've got fangs, claws, super strength… Humans are not comparable. Use that. Surprise them. Sometimes that means you have to train from dawn to dusk to get just as fast as them. Or improve your stamina. Or your reflexes. You are the one with the disadvantage, but that doesn't mean you're bound to lose." She looked each Potential in the eye, making sure they were paying attention. "This is life or death. If you want to live, you have to work for it. Earn it." Ally's gaze went over Vi and found her vampire's. "OK, Spike." She nodded toward the redhead and he let her go.
Kennedy stared at Ally from her place sitting on a tombstone, eyebrows high on her forehead. "You must have had a really good Watcher."
"Never had an official Watcher. I had a vampire. And then a former Watcher who taught me a couple things more, but those were theory. It was mostly the vampire." The brunette Slayer shrugged before patting Vi on the back as the redhead made her way toward her eldest sister.
"You're right." Buffy agreed with Ally before looking at Rona once more. "You don't have slayer strength. But that doesn't mean you're not strong. You have inherent abilities that others do not have."
"Not like you do." Molly quipped, looking up from her notepad.
"No, not yet, but it's there. You have the potential. You have strength, speed, instinct. You just have to learn to trust yourself. Rona, what did your instincts tell you to do just then?"
As Buffy gave the Potentials a speech about trusting themselves, Ally approached Spike, standing away from the group, but still watching them. He was almost completely healed, but not quite. It'd just take a bit more time.
"You're their training vampire now." She whispered jokingly.
"Don't compare me to the Poof." He whined, but still smirked lightly.
They both stood side by side, listening to the lesson, until Buffy called the bleach blond. "Spike, what did your instincts tell you to do?"
"Hunt. Kill."
A thrill went through Ally, Darth Ally rejoicing in those words. That was the part of him the dark longed for. Even "Good" Ally had to admit it was quite hot.
"Go at Alls," Buffy ordered, crossing her arms over her chest. Spike rose his eyebrows, smiling lightly at the idea. "full speed." The senior Slayer turned toward the Potentials, making a point. "He needs to kill to live. That tells you everything you need to know."
Ally had just take a couple steps away from the vampire when he growled and lunged at her. She moved sideways, but she was still too close to avoid his attack, so she used his own weight and threw them both to the ground, rolling and pushing him away from her. She got into a crouched position, her fingers grasping bits of grass from the ground, knees bent, ready to jump.
"Use his own strength to your advantage. I barely had to push him. That's physics." Ally spoke over the sound of Spike's growls, right before he moved toward her again. This time, she avoided the attack and sent him crashing into a tombstone, before jumping on top of him, straddling him, and getting her stake from behind her back as she grabbed his throat. "Instinct. Understand his, but trust yours. You were chosen for a reason." Spike's game face morphed into his human one, flinching and groaning softly. "Are you Ok?" She released her hold on his throat, scanning his upper body to see if she'd hurt him.
He tried to sit up, but stopped. "I'm fine…" His forehead pinched for a second, contrasting with his words. "Couple of ribs ain't quite set right since… I'm fine." He assured her, seeing as she was getting worried once more. She'd been coddling him like a baby, according to him, since she'd gotten him out of the First's cave.
She moved lightly backward and tried to lift his t-shirt. "Lemme see."
"No, it's just…" He objected half-heartedly, trying to prevent her from seeing the damage. He held her hand and pushed it away from his torso, smiling lightly at her concern. "I'm gonna be okay." He reaffirmed, trying to sit up once more.
"That's hot." Rona commented, leaning against a gravestone as she watched the scene.
Molly, still taking notes, frowned at them lightly, confused. "So, we're supposed to, like, make out with them or something?"
"Works for me." Ally smirked as she stood, pulling Spike up with her.
"Careful, Ally." Vi warned, holding her arm against her chest. "Just when you think it's part of the lesson, he'll hurt your arm."
Buffy rolled her eyes at the couple on the floor, a light smile tugging at her lips before turning toward the Potentials. "Molly, Kennedy, let's go. You're up. Next lesson."
There was never a moment of silence in the house anymore. Buffy was at work. Dawn was in class, and Spike was sleeping in the basement, but the Potentials never seemed to stop moving around and shouting at each other. Still, Ally tried to push the noise to the back of her mind and focus on the screen of her laptop.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Vi entered the dining room from the kitchen, a packet of crisps in her hands.
"Reading a bit. I thought you'd be out back with Kennedy and Molly." Ally smiled at the girl. She was probably the least annoying one of them all. Sweet, shy, a bit insecure, but a good girl.
"I got hungry." Vi smiled and approached the table. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Ally closed the laptop and folded her arms on the table, giving the redhead all her attention. "Shoot."
"What was training with a vampire like for you?"
"Tough. He did not go easy on me. I was probably a walking bruise the first couple of months." She laughed and looked down at her hands. "But it was voluntary. I basically forced him to train me. I wanted to protect the world from evil. It was not my life I was trying to save. I could have stopped any moment." She found Vi's gaze once more and her voice gained strength. "Being a Slayer is not about staying alive. It's about fighting those who threaten to take the lives of those who cannot defend themselves. You're not the victim. You're the protector. Slayers, Potentials, Watchers… We're all the same. We are the protectors of this world. We're here to stop evil, to stop the First, from spreading. We're not here to survive, or to fight to stay alive. That's why there's a Slayer and there are Potentials. Slayer dies, a Potential is called, a new protector is awakened."
"But the First is after the line of Slayers."
"And that's why we need to protect each other. We need to protect you. You're the legacy. Buffy and I are temporary. The line is forever. Without that legacy, the world is doomed. People would be left unprotected. We need to protect each other so we can protect them." Ally sighed and smiled lightly at Vi. "Those girls out there, everywhere," Ally rolled her eyes and looked toward the ceiling as she heard a couple girls screaming at another one to leave the bathroom already. "you need to focus on them. They are your friends. Your sisters at arms. Do you want them to survive?"
"Of course." Vi nodded, eyes wide, hanging onto each and every word.
"Focus on that. When you train, when you fight, know that you're fighting for them."
"What do you think about?"
"Dawn. Buffy. Spike. My world is nothing without them. I fight for them. My life is theirs. I want to make this world safe for them. Or as safe as possible." Smiling once again, Ally took Vi's hand and squeezed it lightly. "I want to make this world safe for you. For people. For future generations." With one last squeeze, Ally released the redhead's hand and stood from the chair, stealing some crisps. "Of course, there's also that other thing inside me that wants to kill you all, but she's cooperating so far." She joked and made her way toward the basement.
After nightfall, the Slayers and Spike took the Potentials to a demon bar. Get-to-know-the-enemy kind of fieldtrip. Of course, the enemy factor was a bit lost when Clem turned up, hugging the Slayers like old friends.
They moved to part-two of the fieldtrip soon after: a crypt.
Buffy stood in front of the group, Ally right beside her, Spike a bit behind. "Vampires can live anywhere. Any way they want. Taste, fashions, living conditions… they can vary. The animal inside, always the same."
Ally frowned, a similar expression on Spike's face. "I beg to differ. They can be as different as people can be. It all depends on what they were like before, and the strength of the demon. Some have very twisted demons. Some are milder. Some… are stupid. But, mostly, they want the same. Kill, eat, survive."
Buffy locked gazes with her, lips pursed, but not about to disagree right then.
Molly broke their stare down with a question toward the bleach blond vampire. "Where'd you live?"
"What, you mean before? A crypt actually, but nicer. A bit more… I don't know if posh is the right word, but it was more like…"
"Comfy." Ally finished, eyeing the crypt with distaste. Spike's was much better.
Kennedy tried not to laugh, holding back a chuckle. "Excuse me? When did you find it comfy?"
Buffy prevented Ally from answering, shaking her head at her sister. "Moving on. You want to stay alive, you have to spot and identify a nest on site. Look around, all of you. Look for signs that just last night maybe a dozen, two dozen vampires were right where we're standing. Go ahead."
Spike threw an arm over the brunette Slayer's shoulders, smirking at the eldest blonde girl. "Work, work, work. This little excursion was just in danger of being interesting."
"You know what, Spike…" Buffy started to counter, only to stop when she spotted Rona and Molly near a huddled form in a corner. "Interesting is not a problem."
"Buffy, I think we found something." Rona called to them.
"It's a body." Molly announced,
Ally neared the body, but didn't touch it, using her dark side to reach out for any demonic power in the corpse. Same way she could feel Spike wherever he was, just more faint. "It's not a body. It's leftovers."
The brunette and soulful vampire took a step back, letting Buffy, her stake raised in front of her, deal with the newbie.
Ally watched the Potentials move away from the vampire, sighing before speaking. "No one's safe. Not here, not ever. See this guy?"
Kennedy watched the eldest Slayer and her opponent with wide eyes. "B-but he was dead a minute ago.
"That was a minute ago. Now... he's the enemy." Buffy declared, punching the vampire, who immediately attacked. "You can't think too much. Reacting's better. Could be the difference between staying alive and that other thing."
Ally leaned against her fiancé and grabbed hold of Kennedy's arm when she tried to intervene, shaking her head so she wouldn't interrupt Buffy.
"The question is never 'what do you think,' it's always 'what do you know?' You gotta know it. If you don't, if you make one mistake, it takes just one vampire to kill you." Buffy kicked the vamps head, sending him rolling to the ground, closer to the group of Potentials.
Ally stepped forward, grabbing the vamp by the back of his jacket and punching him several times in the face, making him dizzy, lost. "Always fight like they've got the advantage. You gotta turn the situation so if fits you, not them." With one last punch, she sent him back to Buffy.
"So you've got to know you can take him. Know your environment. Know what's around you, and know how to use it." Buffy lost her stake, but didn't let that stop her. She kicked the vamp once more, pushing him away and over a stone bench.
"In the hands of a slayer, everything is a potential weapon. If you know how to see it." The brunette continued, walking behind her sister, around the crypt, closer to the vampire.
Their opponent jumped toward the blonde again, completely ignoring Ally. She could feel the dark inside her stirring. She knew the demon could feel it too. It made him less likely to attack her, to identify her as the enemy. She was just as dark. Buffy was the enemy. "When you're fighting, you have to know yourself, your brain, your body. Know how to stay calm, centered. Every move is important, every blow's got to be part of your plan 'cause you make that one mistake, and it's over. You're not the slayer. You're not a potential."
Ally sneaked behind the vampire once more and pushed him away from her sister, locking gazes with him for a second. "You're dead."
Buffy moved beside her, both blocking the vampire from facing the Potentials. "What do you know? Right now, the only thing you know for sure is you got me." And with that, the blonde dropped her stake and both Slayers moved away and toward the entrance, Spike right behind them, before closing the gates, locking the Potentials with their enemy.
They would have to deal with him on their own.
They went back home to find Dawn was a Potential, that she'd escaped, and the Bringers were probably looking for her.
Not their little sister.
Xander led them to the high school, where they found Dawn with another girl, Amanda, facing the Bringers and a vampire.
Ally watched Amanda stake the vampire with a wooden pole just as she snapped a Bringer's neck, recognizing a Potential facing her first vampire. Instinct. Nature. Still not polished, but it was right there. Destiny.
It wasn't Dawn. Dawn didn't have that feeling. Ally would've noticed. She felt the presence of Potentials in the house when she woke from her coma. She never felt that with Dawn. Her sister was definitely special, and able to take a vamp if she had to. She could be trained. But she wasn't a Potential.
Ally preferred it that way.
When they got home that night, Ally noticed her baby sister standing aside, away from the group of Potentials. She was letting Amanda get to know them, become one of them. Not long ago she thought that was her. She looked forlorn.
"Dawnie?" The eldest brunette approached her, sitting on the edge of her bed in their old shared room. They'd barely spent any time together lately. Ally was too afraid to hurt her.
"Oh, hi. I didn't see you there." The teen smiled lightly, only to drop the smile soon.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing."
"Huh-huh." Ally crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the door frame with an arched eyebrow. The message was clear: you're not fooling me.
"It's just… For a moment, I thought I was a Potential. I thought I was special."
Ally dropped her arms and stepped toward the bed, frowning. "And you think you're not 'special'?" Forgetting about her fears for a moment, she sat beside her sister. "Dawn, you've been facing demons since you were… what, thirteen, fourteen? Tell me how many people in the world can say that." She brushed a lock of hair away from Dawn's face. "Not being a Potential doesn't mean you're not special. And being a Potential is not better. It means death, fixed destiny, early expiration date. Look at you. You're taking all that, facing evil, fighting the First, without being a Potential. You're not tied to that destiny, yet you are doing it." She lifted Dawn's chin up, making her stand upright, look her in the eye. "I personally think you're much cooler." She smirked and kissed her baby sister's forehead. "Sleep. It's late. We've got work to do in the morning."
