Chapter 3

"So, who is this endearing girl, and what's wrong with her friend's hair?" the Master said with what almost was a smile. His eyes went back and forth between Spike and Buffy, and there was an amused sparkle in his eyes as he saw Buffy take one more step backwards.

Vin cleared his throat and introduced them with a respectful voice, but Spike could hear a tint of fear in it. And he couldn't really blame him. He'd met the Master a couple of time's himself in the past, or at least the Master that had been in his dimension, and he was quite frightening. Not that Spike would ever admit that to anyone, of course. But the fact that Buffy so visibly tried to be as far away from him as possible confused him, and it took him a moment to remember that drowning incident several years ago, before he'd even met her. He'd only heard about it from Angel shortly after he'd lost his soul and then some comment's from the Scoobies over the years. He understood her reaction, but felt worried that she would put them in a disadvantage by showing her fear to their enemy.

"This is Spike," Vin said with a deep, serious voice and pointed at the bleached vampire next to him. The Master nodded politely to him as a greeting and gazed curiously at him.

"You're not from around here, are you?" he asked, but it was more like a statement then an actual question.

Spike smirked and straightened confidently, doing his best to make the Master see that at least he was planning to fight back if any such thing would be needed.

"You could say that," he said cockily, still with that trademark smirk on his face.

The master raised an eyebrow, which looked very strange and actually quite disgusting. Then he nodded towards Buffy and looked expectantly at Vin, who once again cleared his throat; that seemed to be a nervous habit of his.

"That's Buffy," he said, and when he saw that his leader expected more information he hesitated and frowned. "Um-I don't really know anything else about them," he added.

The Master was quiet for a while, but his eyes lingered on Buffy's face like he recognized her from someplace but couldn't remember from where. Spike found himself gazing at her as well, and he felt a stab of pain inside his body when he saw the panic rising in his beloved's eyes. That wasn't something he was used to see in her, and he said a silent prayer that she'd be able to keep herself together long enough for them to get out of there in one piece. Quickly he walked up to the desk and stood opposite to the Master, his own yellow eyes locked with the other vampire's much older ones.

"We're stranger's," he said, stating the obvious. He's mind was racing to come up with a believable story, but he feared he might say something that was clearly a lie, things might be a lot more different in this reality then they'd already noticed. Both he and Buffy had noticed how the vampire's were a lot better organized, and a lot richer, then back in their Sunnydale, and the fact that the Master was the town's mayor was just confusing. And they hadn't seen one single human since they'd arrived.

The Master laughed and leaned back comfortably in his large chair.

"I already knew that, young Spike," he said amusedly. "But I want to change that. Why don't you start with telling me where you're from?"

Spike shrugged while his thoughts raced frantically. After a second he blurted out:

"We're from LA,"

He tensed inwardly, and exchanged looks with an even tenser Buffy as he awaited the Master's reaction. When none seemed to come, Spike looked around the room and assessed their chances. The two vampires on either sides of the Master didn't seem too though, but then there was Vin and his two friends. He already knew that they were hard to take, and then there was the Master. Both he and Buffy had gotten out of worse situations before, but he wasn't sure if they would this time. They only had a stake each, none of them had brought any other weapons with them through the portal. But he could see that at least three of the other vamp's had swords, and he had no idea what could be hidden in the drawers on the Master's side of the desk.

The Master must have seen Spike's eyes that darted around in the room nervously, because he almost-smiled again and rose. A single small lamp that glowed golden and gave the vampire a yellowish-gray skin color illuminated his tall form, and Spike had to keep himself from backing away from him.

"Okay then, Spike, could you tell me what you're doing here?"

****

Dawn called out for her sister when she walked in through the front door, as she always did when she came home. When there wasn't any answer she frowned and went into the kitchen to see if there was a note or something. When there wasn't she felt a sting of worry. Buffy hadn't been home when Dawn woke up that morning, and if she still hadn't come home something might've happened to her.

The fifteen-year-old rushed up the stairs and opened the door to her sister's room, only to find it empty. Worriedly she walked over to Willow and Tara's room and pushed the door open. That room was empty as well. Just when she felt the panic rise she heard the door open and then shut again downstairs.

"Buffy? Dawn?" she heard Tara call out. Dawn breathed out in relief and called back to tell the witch that she was home. Soon the blond young woman was headed up the stairs to greet her young friend.

"Where's Buffy?" she asked curiously. Dawn frowned and felt the worry come back.

"I though she might be with you," she said hesitantly. "Isn't she? 'Cause she didn't come home last night, and she hasn't written a note or anything."

"I'm sure there's nothing wrong, Dawnie," Tara reassures her, but she could feel the worry closing in on her too. "I'll just call Willow and ask if she knows where Buffy is, and if she doesn't know, we'll try at Xander's. We'll find her."

****