Ally cuddled up to her vampire. He'd just woken up, but it was still early afternoon and it was light out, so he'd grabbed a book and started reading while she joined him in the mattress for a nap.

His hand tread through her hair, massaging her scalp in soothing motions. She purred and inched ever closer to him. "Not like you to take a nap, Ally Cat."

She sighed and opened her eyes to look up at him, knowing he was watching her. "I haven't been sleeping well these past couple nights. Weird nightmares."

"About the First? Or the Potentials?"

"No. For some reason, even though I'm not sure what I'm seeing, I'm convinced it has nothing to do with… our situation here. I'm kinda waiting for one of those dreams to give me a good clue." She smiled up at him. She didn't want him to worry. "Nothing to worry about, for now."

He sighed and massaged the base of her scalp. "Do tell me if something new comes up."

Ally smirked and lay on her back instead of curling against his side. "I've got gossip, if you want to know. Buffy has a date tonight, Xander has a date tonight and Willow is making googly eyes at Kennedy. She's having a little research party later, I think. Looking into Buffy's date. He's the Principal. My guess is there's some 'wicked energy' involved, and I might get to pummel him."

Spike chuckled at her and shook his head before going back to his book. "Get some sleep, love. You're gonna need the energy if you want to pummel anyone later."

Sounds of people upstairs woke Ally up. She found Spike already frowning at the ceiling, and she slowly sat up and tried to make out what the others were saying. Something about flashcards. Must be some exciting flashcards.

She shared a glance with Spike and they both stood and moved upstairs, where the research party was gathered and Anya and Giles were arguing about something.

"For God's sake! How can anyone think about their social life? We are about to fight the original primal evil. These girls are in mortal danger. Didn't you see the flashcards? This isn't right."

Ally, from the edge of the room, whispering to Spike very lowly. "Maybe we should wait a bit to tell them about us?"

He nodded, wrapping an arm around her waist while watching the scene before them. "Yeah, good idea."

"Hey! Ally!" Willow looked over to the couple watching them, perking up from Giles' scolding. "I looked up Wood. There's nothing on him before he came to Sunnydale. No records, no nothing."

Ally tensed, and the blonde vampire beside her frowned, glancing toward his girl for a moment. "That's suspicious."

From beside Willow, Kennedy nodded and fanned her hand out toward the vampire. "That's what I said."

The brunette Slayer stepped closer to the table, sharing a glance with Dawn and noticing how Amanda squirmed a bit in her seat at her proximity. "You think this date is a setup? He's evil?"

Willow shrugged helplessly, lacking a good answer to that. "I don't know. Could be. I mean…"

"I have to find her."

When Ally turned to leave the house, Andrew was right behind Spike, looking like a little mouse with the way he was squirming and twisting his hands.

"And what's wrong with you now?" The youngest Slayer wondered, bringing her hands to her hips.

"Uhm… I saw him. The First."

Despite knowing her sister could be in danger, Ally also knew Buffy could handle almost any situation thrown at her. Andrew, on the other hand, was telling them the First had quite immediate plans for the Potentials, and that could be nothing but bad news.

It was Willow who suggested wiring Andrew to spy on the First. Ally wasn't quite sure, but they had nothing else to go on. They knew nothing about what they were facing. No weaknesses, no way to defeat it.

Espionage would have to take precedence for the evening.

Later, in the basement, Ally was surprised Andrew managed to deceive the First that long. The boy was turning out to have more guts than she was giving him credit for. And he had been shooting good questions to uncover the First's plan so far. Then he started straight up asking the First to reveal his weaknesses.

Of course, the First figured out what was going on.

"You think this was smart?"

An echoy voice rumbled across the house, and Willow gasped and went back to transcribing what she heard, unaware all of the occupants of the basement could hear it too. "Wait. I'm hearing something."

"You think you can trick me, women?" The voice reminded Ally of a little boy's. Jonathan wasn't much more than that, not in appearance and not in mind-set, she guessed.

Kennedy stood and removed the headphones from Willow's ears. "It's not in the headphones. It's out here." She looked around, trying to pin-point the source of the voice.

"You only hear what I want you to hear. You only see what I want you to see." Jonathan suddenly appeared on the other side of the basement, behind Amanda. His body was rotten, soaked through, decaying.

Amanda screamed and Ally moved to Dawn's side, her protectiveness kicking in.

"So many dead girls. There'll be so many."

Ally couldn't help but think, she would have preferred to see her mother again.

"So, we're thinking it didn't go too well." Willow grimaced from her seat in the living room, Kennedy by her side as was usual by then. The gang gathered around the room, except for the two missing on their dates.

Giles stood to one side, not looking very happy with their plan. At least he wasn't the one taking the wires off of Andrew's chest. Poor Dawnie.

"You should've let me do this fast."

Andrew could barely keep still as the teen slowly unstuck the tape from his chest. "No, no, no. I hate that. Ow." The boy had no tolerance for pain.

"You think?" Ally quipped, smirking joylessly at the redhead. "I think it went really well in pissing it off."

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to wrap his head around what they'd told him. "Why did you try to recall it?"

"To study it. To see if we could figure something out from what it was saying." The witch looked around the people in the room, her face pale. "Because, guys, we have to face it, we know nothing about the First."

Anya, curled on one end of the couch, closest to where Ally and Spike were standing, spoke up. "Well, we know not to record it. That's something."

"Why did it appear to this one, then?" Spike's chest rumbled against Ally's back, who turned her head as much as possible to look at the vampire speak. "I thought it was supposed to be pulling my strings."

Andrew managed to stop whining for a moment. "It said it wasn't time for you yet." As Dawn pulled the last piece of tape from his stomach, he whined and whimpered again.

Ally rolled her eyes at the boy and turned back toward her fiancé. "That means it still has plans for you, right?"

"Or maybe it's because he knows you're around to keep me under control." Spike's hands curled around her waist as if holding a protective talisman.

The brunette leaned further back against him, her back flush with his front. "And vice versa."

Andrew squirmed in place and sat on the couch. "I'm frightened. And my chest hurts where the tape was."

"It's OK, Andrew. You did good. You stood up to it. That's really amazing." Dawn praised, showing more regard for the boy than anyone else had so far.

Andrew seemed a bit surprised at the praise, but appreciative. "Thank you. You're a peach." Dawn smile back at him.

"Yeah." Anya stared at the ex-supervillain. "What did it want you to do, anyway?"

"Shoot all the girls."

"Shoot girls?" Dawn's eyes widened.

"Not you, just the potentials." Andrew assured.

"Oh, well that's something, anyway" Her shoulders dropped in relief before she caught herself. "Something tragic."

Ally shrugged at her sister from her spot on the other side of the living room. "That's a bit more limited than Darth Ally's checklist, at least."

"This proves my point." Giles crouched before the fireplace, drawing everyone's attention. "This time is crucial. We should be circling the wagons instead of doing things like going out on dates when… when gunplay is imminent. Willow, call Buffy. Get her back here." He shot orders, Willow immediately grabbing her phone. "We need to dispose of the gun and-and figure out our next move."

The brunette Slayer straightened, wanting to make sure her sister hadn't been attacked by the highly suspicious Principal. "I'll go get her."

Willow stopped her from marching out. "I'll call." Just then, her phone started ringing.

The new Potential, Amanda, piped up from the couch. "Bet that's her. Sometimes you're thinking about calling someone…"

The witch interrupted her. "No, it's a text message. Oh, it's from Xander. It's one of our signals."

Amanda frowned. "Signals?"

"Yeah, the system we set up a while back. Like codes. Uh, this one's either 'I just got lucky, don't call me for a while' or 'my date's a demon who's trying to kill me.'" She grimaced, unsure.

Kennedy held back a laugh from beside her. "You don't remember which?"

"It was a long time ago."

"Well, if we play the percentages..." Dawn started.

Giles finished for her. "Something's eating Xander's head."

A little smile graced Anya's face. "Say, that's gratifying."

Andrew half-smiled and looked around, avoiding Ally's gaze. "Buffy will know what to do."

"I'll go get her." Ally declared and moved toward the foyer.

"That's ok." Willow stopped her again. "We don't even know where she went." She explains, calling Buffy from her cell phone. Another phone started ringing in the room, and Willow picked Buffy's cell phone from the table beside her. "That's not good."

Spike moved toward the foyer with Ally. "We'll go get Buffy. I can probably still track her scent. She'll be worried about the boy."

Spike led Ally quietly across town, his hand never leaving hers, squeezing every now and then to reassure her. They traipsed through some back alleys that made the brunette's worries increase, until they came across a tiny door to a restaurant, almost hidden from view. The couple ignored the staff and crossed the dining area until they came across Buffy being fed some brandied pear by the Principal, not looking very evil. In fact, they looked cosy. When the dining couple noticed the new arrivals, they stared in shock, almost as much as Spike and Ally at the situation they found themselves in. Ally scrutinised the man with a suspicious glare, and found the Principal's attention diverted to Spike.

Spike's hand squeezing hers brought her back to the why of their interruption. "Buff, it's Xander."

That was enough for Buffy to cut the date short. Wood told them to wait outside while he paid the check and met them soon after, offering a ride in his car. Buffy immediately agreed and got her cell phone from Ally, calling Willow to ask about a locator spell.

The drive to school, where the witch told them she'd located Xander, was quite awkward. Ally noticed Principal Wood kept trying to look at Spike in the rear-view mirror. Not like he could see the vampire's reflection. Maybe that's why he kept checking. She knew he was barely looking at her. Did he know? He seemed to. Why else would Buffy agree to the ride, bringing a civilian along to fight whatever demon was trying to eat Xander?

Finally, the driver spoke up, glancing at the mirror once more, this time stopping on Ally for a moment before looking at the empty space next to her. "How do you guys know each other?"

Does the hand-holding not give you a clue? She wanted to retort, but settled for: "He's my boyfriend."

Wood frowned, remembering the last time she'd mentioned him. "Captain Peroxide? The photosensitive one? You do look very pale."

Buffy's eyes widened, realizing then that Wood knew about vampires and would make the connection.

Spike turned toward his girl, cocking an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the Principal to know anything about him. And photosensitive? "You told him about me?

Ally shrugged and pursed her lips, shooting a wary glance toward the driver. "It was just a mention one time I went to see Buffy at her workplace."

Buffy herself seemed quite uncomfortable with the reminder. She laughed it off, gesturing with her hands. "He works with us. Uh, you know, in the struggle against evil."

"Mm. Cool." Wood glanced toward the back again, watching the brunette, then his eyes widened. "Wait, your sister works with you too? I hope it's from the side-lines?" His eyes moved from the road ahead to Buffy, and back.

Ally frowned, realizing Wood knew what they did. How? Was a date enough for Buffy to spill their secrets, or did he know before?

"Uhm, I know it'll sound strange, but she's a Slayer too." Buffy supplied, shrugging and then avoiding his eyes, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"What?"

Ally stretched her legs in the backseat, her thumb rubbing circles into Spike's hand. "Long story, for another time, when we can hear yours too."

Awkward silence followed them all the way to school.

"Xander!" Buffy screamed when they reached the basement room where the seal had been uncovered. Where Andrew had killed Jonathan. A dark skinned girl was there, Xander's date. She was pretty, but evil. Just his luck.

Buffy went straight to fighting the girl wielding a knife. A knife covered in Xander's blood. Ally rushed after her, Spike on her heels. The bitch was strong, and both Slayers tumbled back for a moment, giving Lissa, the demon, a chance to push Spike back toward the wall and hit him square in the face.

Ally saw red and recovered faster, tackling the demon away from her vampire and punching her face repeatedly. Lissa managed to kick her in the stomach, Ally's back hitting the dirty floor with a thump. Spike and Buffy rushed over, but the vampire ended up being strangled on the floor, his features changing to game-face.

Wood, just then reaching the doorway, stared. "He's a vampire." Xander's plea for help wrenched him from the scene, hurrying to untie the man dripping blood onto the seal.

Ally grabbed Lissa from behind, arms around her neck, tugging her away from her vampire once more. Buffy snatched the knife that Lissa had been using early on and exchanged a look with her sister. When Buffy swung the knife, Ally let go of the demon and ducked, avoiding the blade slashing clean across Lissa's neck.

A head tumbled down next to the crouching Slayer, one that looked nothing like it had before.

Just Xander's luck.

Ally and Buffy rushed to Spike's side, a little streak of his own blood escaping from his mouth.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ally helped him sit up, Buffy crouching near his legs.

Spike nodded, taking Ally's hand once more and sending a grateful look toward Buffy. The blonde nodded back, then glanced toward where Wood was staring at them from beside Xander.

Buffy moved to check on Xander, Ally helping Spike stand up and moving behind her.

"I think your friend is gonna be okay." The Principal informed them when Buffy crouched next to him, but stood up and moved away when he saw the vampire getting closer. When he wasn't noticeably looking away, he was glaring at Spike.

Ally stepped between them, catching Wood's next glare.

The Principal stared at her for a moment, then shortly glanced toward Buffy. "How are you a Slayer?" He questioned the brunette.

Buffy answered for her, not sure how Ally would react. "Glitch in the line. I… kinda died. For a couple minutes. And then I died again. There's three active Slayers right now."

Realization fell on Ally like a stone in her gut. Her eyes widened, unfocused, and she gasped. "No, four. There should be four. My god! How did we not think about it sooner?"

"What do you mean, there's four? It's the Chosen One." Wood interjected, confused.

"Yeah, but Buffy died, another one was called. Then that one died, and another was called. Then Buffy died again, and I was called. I died immediately after, so another one should have been called!" She looked toward her sister, her voice rising.

Wood stared at them. "You've died?"

After a scolding from Giles to get their priorities straight in the face of their deaths, and those of the girls staying with them, Ally and Spike retired to their basement. She still had a bad feeling about the Principal, but he seemed to stay back so long as Buffy assured him Spike was on their side.

She cleaned the bit of blood on the side of his mouth and kissed it better, getting a warm smile from the vampire as strong arms wrapped around her.

He was safe. Ally had seen it that night. Even if she couldn't help him, Buffy would. She knew that now.

"Sleep." She whispered to him, hoping he at least would rest for the next of the night. She wasn't sure she would.

Ally was sick of the dreams. She knew they'd keep coming, but unless they gave her something clearer to go on, she could do nothing. That night, the only clear thing she could get was a boy's face, bruised. The boy was wielding a sword, and yet… he seemed so young. There was fire all around, casting eerie shadows, and sirens in the distance.