"Master…"

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

PG-13/Borderline R

Summary: An alternate series one story, just before "The Harvest"...What if the Master had learned about...The Jacket...? And had more flexibility in his ability to adjust his battle plans...?

Spoilers for Him...

Part I

Word was passed to the semi-divine Master of Vampires, Heinrich Nast that his devoted Luke had returned to the central lair, with captives...And a new female member of the "family".

A bit odd...He was not under orders to return until later that week...Had something gone wrong with his scouting and surveillance mission? A serious concern so close to the date of the great Harvest...

"Have him enter..." the Master nodded to the minion who'd brought word.

Along with the new vampiress, three human women had followed him...Oddly enough, unbitten as yet...Though clearly in some kind of ecstatic thrall...

"Welcome..." The Master nodded to them.

Much to his shocked surprise they backed away from him in fear...Clustering around his worthless minion, showing him no deference...Even the vampiress was clearly under Luke's grip.

"Luke, who is this guy?" one human girl turned to him in fear...

It's alright, he comforted her...and the rest...

This is my Master...My chosen leader...

They stared...

"My dad, you might say."

Oooh...they now showed a little less disrespect...

"You're His dad?" one breathed gently.

Sorry, another smiled at him...

"Luke?" Henrich frowned. Very strange...

Luke's hold over them was obviously not due to his Master's Gift...

Though Heinrich was understandably curious, decorum first...This was an unprecedented insult...

"Luke...? How dare you bring humans here under your influence and not mine..."

"Hey..." the vampiress growled.

"I realize you're the Master of us all and all...But this is LUKE! And no one speaks to Him like

that."

"No one..." the three human females echoed...Looking at him grimly.

"Please, ladies..." Luke was all smiling charm...

"You mustn't offend the Master. I insist that you treat him...As you would...Me."

Heinrich choked on that one!...His minion ordering females, human no less, to "treat him as they

would..."! Oh...This merited extreme prejudice...

Still...Curiosity and an experienced awareness that something was up won out over angry vengeance...For the moment.

"Luke! What is this?" Heinrich narrowly eyed him...

Or Him...If one went by the females' pov...

"And what is that strange jacket you've got on...?"

"So...You're telling me..." Heinrich fingered The Jacket...A little out of date even for this time, a large S on the left side...

"This piece of cloth is capable of controlling the minds of females...Our own as well as human?"

"More like their hearts...And souls..." Luke noted.

Forgive me my foolish and childish display, Master...he noted. As they fed on the remains of the three girls...The female vampiress now frowning in a corner at the worthless Luke...Her sire perhaps but one who'd placed her in a rather embarrassing light with the Master of all.

"I sought only to demonstrate the power in this garment. After I saw the females around him spring to the defense of the boy who formerly wore it, and my...er...our Marie here." He eyed the vampiress. "…join in after looking a moment at him...I knew there was something powerful at work..."

And the boy himself proved worthless...His hold on the females breaking the moment I took the coat off him...

After quite a battle he did not say...And only with luck catching the boy after stunning two of his women. Not even mentioning that several of the ladies had actually held him off long enough for their mate to flee...

Hmmn...Heinrich held The Jacket up to the electric light in the room...

"Seems rather ordinary..." he stared at the S.

"Say...?" he nervously dropped it. Staring at Luke...

"You did have it cleaned and checked for possible negative effects on its owner...?"

Especially the cleaning...You never know what those humans are carrying...

"Ummn...A thousand pardons, Master..." Luke nervously eyed him.

"I thought it best to bring it straight to you..."

Well...Heinrich sighed. "Give me a coat or something to wear under it...And send Simon down to look this thing over..."

And...he grinned a moment.

"Send Darla to me as well..."

….

"Yes..." Darla twisted ecstatically... "Oh, yes...I was planning to betray you at the first opportunity once we'd seized power over Humanity...If I could reach Angelus through that idiot soul of his..."

Oh, Master...she sobbed. Eyeing the Jacket he now wore, over a long topcoat...

Let my sufferings be horrendous and Eternal…

"Kill me, resurrect me, and kill me again...Over and over...Just so long as I may gaze upon you from time to time…And..."

"Let me kill her for you, Master..." Marie whined. Groveling...

He removed the coat...And handed it back to Luke...Who at his request, put it on...

Immediately, Darla and Marie turned to the younger vamp...

"Luke, let us kill this fool for you..." Darla pleaded.

You are the only true Master! They both knelt before him...

He took The Jacket off and handed it to the watching Simon, a vampire with some ability in occult research, having once been a Watcher, decades ago.

"Well?" Heinrich asked, noting Darla and Marie continuing to plead with Luke...

Yes...Simon nodded...Definitely magical...Rather nice little spell, considerable power but limited range...

"Which is probably all the better...If all a silly human wants is to attract a few mates...Less danger of being exposed..."

And...He nodded at the females. "Its effects seem to last beyond the initial enthralling...Until the garment has a new owner..."

"Which it now does..." Heinrich pointed and Simon handed it over...

But...he paused.

"You're sure there are no side effects for the wearer...?"

"None that my research has revealed, sir." Simon noted.

"But I will continue to check and to monitor you..."

"As for your other question...I would recommend not cleaning it until we know more...Even a dry cleaning might have a detrimental effect on the spell..."

Though my examination suggests it is free of most insect and germ infestations...

Ah, well...the Master sighed...

One must take chances in a bid for world power...

"And..." the key question...He gave his researcher a frosty look...

"It will work on a Slayer? As on any female...?"

I've no doubt about it, sir...Simon bowed.

Excellent...Heinrich beamed...Putting The Jacket on...

"Now the Slayer can be killed easily..." Luke nodded happily. Watching Darla and Marie swing

allegiance yet again...

"Kill our dear Slayer…?" Heinrich shook his head solemnly...

My dear Slayer...he corrected. My servant in the light of day...Assisting me in my Ascension, protecting my empire when we are trapped by the light...Killing any foolish member of the Council of Watchers or other human who dares seek us by day...? No...

"Miss Summers and I are going to have a very special relationship...The one human I allow life..."

Until she ages and a new Slayer must be enslaved...

"Darla...?" he called gently.

You do consider yourself already destroyed, don't you...?

"Oh...Yes..." Darla moaned. Awaiting the blow in rather good spirits...

"Well, dead and destroyed as you are...You may yet serve me, girl..."

Oh...? she blinked up at him...

At least until alls set with my ascent...he noted.

"I have a special job for you...And our dear Luke..."

"The Harvest...?" Luke beamed eagerly.

Screw the Harvest for now...Heinrich waved a hand...

"It's time you got to know the Slayer better, my son..." he smiled.

And introduced her to your "father"...

"Ok..." Buffy nodded to Willow and Xander...As they strolled cautiously through Greenwood Cemetery...

"If Giles is right, the Master's guys are getting ready for this "Harvest"...

So, hopefully...Tonight will be a leetle more quiet than usual...A good night for you guys to learn a little more about Slayage."

Slayage...? Willow blinked.

"Quiet...Quiet is good..." Xander noted.

"Though, Buffy..."...he eyed her firmly, grasping his stake...

"This boy's ready and able...For anyth..."

Three vamps, males, emerged from behind three monuments...Large ones...Both monument and vamp...

Ummn...Xander blinked...But held his stake out...

"Look what we got here..." one of the vamps grinned.

"Three girls..." he sneered.

Hey!...Xander glared...Waving his stake...

Oooh...One laughed.

"Careful you don't hurt somebody with that shar..." he dusted…Buffy emerging from his cloud...

One grabbed at Willow, Xander nailing him as Buffy took the last of the three...

"See..." she noted.

A quiet night...

A harsh scream...They looked across the cemetery and raced towards the sound...Now sounds of a struggle...

"Help me!" the short dark-haired girl cried as she fought the tall vampire...That Luke, Xander and Buffy recognized.

With several helpers...All males...

Luke glanced at the charging Slayer and broke off, racing for the depths of the cemetery...

The others engaged Xander and Buffy as Willow reached the girl...Whoops...

Darla grinned at Willow, removing her wig...

"Hi..." she vamped.

"Hey, Buf!...Xander!" Willow called.

Much to her surprise, Darla turned and fled...Racing in the direction Luke had taken...

"Well..." Willow beamed.

Guess the word about Willow Rosenberg, assistant Slayer, is starting to...

Oh, please...she shook her head at herself...

Buffy and Xander came over, Buffy dragging the last survivor...

"That looked like the one who..." Xander looked after the fleeing Darla...

Yeah, Buffy nodded.

"You guys wait here..." she paused to look at her captive...

"You refuse to tell me anything, you'd never betray the Master, your lord...yadda-yadda-

yadda...Right?" she eyed the large vamp...

Actually, Miss...he began.

"I'd be quite willing to..." And dusted as she staked him...

And headed off after Darla and Luke...Leaving Xander and Willow staring...

"You know..." Xander shook his head as he gathered up their stakes...

Interrogation and information gathering are not that girl's strongest points...

Hmmn...Willow nodded. As they set out after Buffy...

The Slayer had reached the center of the cemetery and spotted a large mausoleum at the entrance of which Luke awaited her...Smiling cheerily...Darla apparently off to safety...

She halted in battle posture...

"I'm surprised...I thought chivalry was dead..." she eyed him.

"Well..." Luke grinned at her.

"I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy..."

Uh-huh...she stared at him...Feeling for her stake...

Jacket Theme (A Summer's Place)

"Nice jacket..." she noted.

"Thanks...Buffy..." he smiled.

You...Ummn...Wear it well...she continued.

"I try to keep in shape...Eternity's a long, long time you know. And a spare tire for all time's a drag."

Yeah...she smiled.

"But...There's no danger of that with you..." she beamed.

"Thanks..." he nodded.

"You know...Buffy..." he smiled.

"There's no real reason we have to fight...I don't plan to kill you...Right now...And I have this sudden feeling...The last thing in the world you want right now is to kill me..."

Ummn...she stared at him...Him, she thought, blanking a bit...

She blinked. A vamp, Buf...Get a grip...

But such a hot one...

And he said he doesn't want to kill me...How can I not believe such an honest face? A devastingly handsome honest face...

And what's Death really, to a Slayer...So I die now and transform? It's gonna happen anyway, eventually...If I let Him take me, I'll be with Him...And a new girl will come soon enough to deal with His boss...

And kill Him...Oh, no...I stay Slayer.

"Look, Buffy...If we hang around here...Your friends come up...I'll have to kill 'em while you watch...Or they might kill me..."

NO!..she cried...

I'd stop them!...she hastily noted.

"You might have to kill them..." he eyed her.

Well...I could probably restrain them...Talk them out of it, knock 'em unconscious...she smiled eagerly.

"But...If it did come to killing them...I don't really know them yet all that well..."

"That's sweet of you...But, why don't we go and avoid all that trouble?" Luke suggested...Offering a hand which she happily took...

"I want peace between you and my Master. And I'm sure you and he can work things out between you if the two of you would just sit down together and talk things out..."

Yeah?...Buffy smiled, nodding.

Peace...That's the way...Luke is such a great guy...If he says the Master can be reasoned with...Well...

I have faith in your negotiating skills, Slayer...he continued.

"If you think you could just trust me a lit..." he started...she interrupting him...

"With my life, Luke!" she embraced him...Kissing him passionately.

Take me to your Master...she smiled.

…..

"And you say, Buffy simply followed this Luke...Into a mausoleum..." Giles eyed Xander and Willow at a table in the library...

Yeah...they nodded.

Leaving out the fervent embrace and kissing thing they'd seen as they'd raced up just as Buffy and Luke had disappeared into the crypt. Where they'd followed to find no trace...

The Watcher eyed them sternly...

"Had he bitten her?" Giles asked.

Ummn...Well...

Not that we could...Tell...

Except...Xander added.

"Yes!..." Giles snapped at him...

"She was kinda all over him...With the hugging and the kissing..."

But it could be a very clever ruse...Willow noted solemnly...As Giles put his head in his hands...

…..

"So...Miss Summers..." Heinrich smiled at a nervous Buffy...

"You came all this way to talk to a lonely old fellow like me...In the interests of peace...?"

Why, I call that...Kind...Compassionate...

Servile...he eyed Luke...As she did...

"And you took this brave chance...All for my Luke's sake, eh?"

She bit her lip a little...Ummn...Maybe he wouldn't go for this. And she'd never want her Luke to be in hot water with his boss...

Well...she began...

"Tell him the truth, sweetheart..." Luke grinned at her. Darla, Marie, and various other vamps now having entered and watching...The females riveted to dear Luke...

"After all..." Luke explained with a smile...

"The Master is like a father to me...And you'd want my father's blessings on us...For my sake, right?"

Oh...Yeah...Buffy nodded.

Please...Ummn...Sir...she eyed Heinrich...

"I did do it for Luke here...I love Him...And He loves me. So, if you could see your way clear to

making peace? And letting us be married..."

My demon God...The Jacket is something...Heinrich grinned at Luke...

"You know that you'd have to die and transform to be his...Always...Slayer. And allow me to proceed with my plans..."

Kinda was hoping to avoid the mass murder thing...she sighed to him.

"But if I have go along with it...To be with Luke..."

"It's not like I know all these people...And my Watcher will probably get a lot of them outta town before things get really bad."

Ummn...Heinrich frowned. Your Watcher is a problem, my girl...

"Giles...?" Buffy stared.

"Giles is a great guy...A little British and all but..." she stared at the Master.

"I won't let you hurt him..."

"Really?" Heinrich smiled.

Well...he soothingly noted...Perhaps it won't be necessary...

She smiled a bit, glancing to Luke...

You're right, he can be reasonable...her look said.

"Luke...Might I see that fine Jacket of yours...?" the Master smiled.