Chapter 10

The entire floor was filled with vampires, almost none of them wore their game faces, but Spike knew. Here and there a human hurried trough the crowd, trying to be as invisible as possible, most of them carrying plates stacked with expensive-looking glasses filled with a thick red fluid that most likely was blood. He drew a deep breath and felt the strong and delicious smell. Yes, definitely blood.

He was a bit uncomfortable in his elegant clothes; they were not in anyway resembling his usual attire, except the fact that they were black. The tuxedo fit him surprisingly well considering that the girl who'd picked it out for him had only seen him for about a second before she went and chose it. Normally he'd refused to wear it, but the stern look he'd gotten from Buffy when the clothes arrived had stopped him from doing more then grumble angrily to himself. Besides, it wasn't too bad. He was sure he'd seen her glance at him appreciatively when she didn't think he'd notice. Not that she looked bad herself.

As they walked deeper into the crowd he had to constantly remind himself not to stare. She was wearing a long, form-fitted deep-blue dress with thin straps and a shining diamond necklace. They weren't sure if it was real, the girl who brought it hadn't exactly been talkative, but it looked real enough. What Vin thought that they'd gain from making the two of them looking like a very wealthy pair he did not know, but there was probably some kind of plan behind it.

'Focus,' he reminded himself as they came closer to their goal. By the heavy red curtains that hung in front of the huge windows there was a large and lavish chair on which the Master sat, with Dinah close by his side. Her cold eyes scanned the assembled vampires, demons and humans, and not even the most tough-looking ones dared to meet her gaze. When her eyes fell on Buffy and Spike she didn't show in any way whatsoever that she knew them. As he always seemed to do when he saw her, he forgot where he was for a moment and thought that Drusilla stood before him, but then he saw her eyes and knew it wasn't his old lover. Dru could never have held so much evil inside of her.

"Focus," Buffy hissed, a tight smile constantly on her face. "You're not supposed to know her, you know."

He didn't know if she was angry with him, or maybe even jealous, because her voice was completely emotionless. But he could always tell himself that there had been a tiny cringe of jealousy in her tone.

When they got to a place where they were in plain view for the Master, Buffy bowed deeply and then kept her head down to show her respect to him. That was a part of Vin's plan that she hadn't liked. Not that she loved any of it.

At first the Master barely seemed to notice them, a quick nod in Spike's direction was the only sign they got, but when Buffy almost decided to give up waiting, he turned his attention fully to them.

"I see you tamed her," he said amusedly, a grin tugged at the corners of his lips.

"And not a second too soon," Spike replied cockily. "She can be amusing at times, and she definitely has spirit, but her talk about being her own started to annoy me."

A buzz of agreement came from many of the vampires that had stopped to watch their Mayor talk with the blonde stranger.

"Where'd you find her?" a young-looking vampire asked with a huge grin on his face. "I'd like to have one like that."

Spike pretended that the question didn't offend him, and just smirked and squared his shoulders proudly.

"I bet you do," he said, intending it to sound amused but the venom shone trough. "I doubt you'll find one, though. Found her walking around loose in London, ownerless and weak. I though her just another pretty face, but when she got her health back, she turned out to be a lot more to handle then your average human. I've considered selling her a couple o' times, but I decided not to. She keeps things interesting."

That little speech had been composed by Vin earlier, who'd been very careful to make sure no one would doubt its authenticity. Many of guests were powerful vampires, and any suspicion from them could get the two of them killed. The Master might not believe it entirely, but he trusted Vin enough to let him handle it as he saw fit. And if Vin couldn't persuade him that Spike and Buffy was harmless, Dinah surely could.

"She doesn't sound British," one of the older-looking vampires (not that their appearance could really reveal their ages) pointed out.

"She came from around here originally," Spike said and quickly changed topic. "Talking about England, anyone heard any news from over there? I've been away too long."

Immediately a low murmur of voices was heard, and no one answered his question. Neither Buffy nor Spike knew what exactly happening over-seas that was so awful, and they were curious. Unfortunately it seemed like there wasn't anyone who dared answer such a direct question, so he decided to change his method.

"An' old friend of mine told me that there aren't any way to get over there anymore, is that right?" Still no one answered, and when Dinah finally acknowledged their presence with a warning stare and a raised eyebrow. She clearly didn't like his continuos prodding.

"Let's dance, everyone!" a pale red-haired vampire exclaimed and nodded in the direction of the musicians. Most of those that had been listening to Spike got a relieved look on their faces at the chance to get away without being impolite. Slightly disappointed Spike turn to look at Buffy who shrugged lightly and held out her arm for him to take with an amused grin on her face. He couldn't resist the chance to make a fool out of her - in a friendly way of course - so he took it and led her towards the dance floor. The closer they got, the more horrified did her expression get.

"I can't dance to this!" she hissed close to his ear and tried to make him stop without anyone noticing.

"Calm down, luv. I'm your master, and you do as I say." He had a wide grin on his face.

"You're enjoying this way too much," she whispered in fury, but she put a pleasant smile on her face as she let herself be dragged to the dance floor. "I don't see what you'll win by embarrassing us," she said in a last try to reason with him, but he just kept on grinning.

"Just smile pet," he said with a voice strained by constrained laughter, "you never know who's watching."

"You're so going to regret this," she grumbled while she awkwardly tried to imitate the steps done by the other dancers. Her partner only smiled and moved around in the complicated way that the dance required without any trouble at all. It had been a while since he'd last done it, over a century to be more exact, but he still remembered most of it. Buffy, on the other hand, had more trouble.

Her Slayer reflexes helped to keep her on her feet at the sudden spins and turns, and the music had a steady rhythm which wasn't too hard to move to, but she still manage to step on Spike's feet at least a dozen times before the song was over. Not all of them were unintentional. By the end of the song quite a few people had stopped to watch the odd pair, with the woman who kept stumbling over her own feet as she spun around, and the guy who barely could keep himself from laughter. But to Buffy's defense, she was a very quick learner, and during the last minute of the aggravatingly long song she actually did pretty well. For a first time that is.

With a reddening face and an angry look in Spike's direction she stopped as the music died out. He just grinned at her and pointed towards the long table that was stacked with beautiful wineglasses filled with blood. Without stopping to see whether or not she followed him he started moving towards it, the smell of human blood him drew him closer.

Spike had already taken his first sip from the glass when she finally started walking with a disgusted frown on her face. He didn't pay it any notice; instead he grinned at her and moved the glass in her direction as if making a toast.

"Stop it!" she hissed trough gritted teeth, making sure no one heard her disrespectful tone towards her "master".

"Why would I?" he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "It's free, I didn't have to kill anyone for it. No reason for me not to drink."

She scowled at him and averted her eyes when he took another sip.

"You might not have killed anyone, but the blood has to come from somewhere, or more exactly, someone. Plus, it's disgusting."

"Yeah? And so is most of the stuff you eat. I would never touch some of the junk you put in your mouth."

Buffy rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply, but a light hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Lilly?" a short dark-haired woman asked in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you two were in New York."

Buffy turned and looked at her in confusion. She was most definitely a vampire, but there was no hostility in her dark eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm not Lilly. I don't-"

"Nonsense!" the woman exclaimed in annoyance. "I'm not blind, girl! I've known you and you're master for years, you can't fool me. So, where is he?"

"No, you're wrong, my name is Buffy." She had to fight to keep her voice polite. After a brief hesitation she reached out for Spike's arm and started to turn him around while she continued talking. "Look, you can ask Spike, he's-"

Suddenly Vin was there with a smile on his face. "Lady Viola!" he said with a pleasant voice. "I didn't even know you where here. What a great surprise."

Obviously flattered to be addressed by someone as close to the Mayor as Vin, she forgot all about Buffy and her resemblance to whomever Lilly was for a moment. During the few seconds in which Viola looked away, one of the vampires that had accompanied Vin when they'd first arrived came and asked Buffy and Spike to follow him. When they were out in one of the adjacent rooms he told them to stop and wait.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked when the vampire had gone back in. "I've never seen that vamp before. She looked really rich."

Spike shrugged and leaned casually against the wall.

"D'know, but she was important enough to make Vin not want us around her. I guess we'll just have to wait 'til he gets her, and hopefully he'll explain."

"He better," Buffy muttered sullenly. "I'm getting really tired of all of this secrecy. If that guy doesn't put all of his card up on the table soon, I won't care about him helping us, I will just kick his ass."

"Do try, missy," an amused Vin said from the door opening. Neither Buffy nor Spike had heard him come in. "Lady Viola suddenly felt very dizzy, and had to be excused. Of course I made arrangement for a car to come and pick her up immediately."

Spike tilted his head and gazed at the other vampire with a raised eyebrow.

"Suddenly felt dizzy, huh?" he asked with a voice tinted by disbelief. "Does this have anything to do with some girl called Lilly?"

Slightly annoyed by Spike's questioning, Vin purposely placed himself in front of him, his gaze staring down on the slightly shorter blonde.

"I've got to be honest with you now," he said with a calm but cold voice. "I don't like you, and I doubt I ever will. At first I was amused by you and her," -he pointed at Buffy dismissively - "but I'm starting to get bored. It just so happens that you're needed for our plan to work, but if that wasn't the case you wouldn't be here now. But if we're going to do this, no one can suspect that something's strange with you." Vin went quiet for a moment, and there was a brief hesitation before he continued. "I've kept something from you," he said while he took a step back from Spike and started pacing thoughtfully. "There is a vampire in New York, a poet if you could believe it, whom allegedly holds a striking resemblance to you, except for the hair of course. And I haven't heard anything about a scar..." He paused again and for the first time since he came in turned completely towards Buffy. "He has a girl, whose name I think you can figure out for yourself."

"Lilly," she breathed out, seeing the connection. "But how."

"The Master," Spike stated out of the blue. "He was in our dimension too, so it only makes sense that 'we' could be here, it just never crossed my mine until now." He paused and looked at Buffy with a sly grin. "Ain't it funny how my alternate self and yours are connected? Someone could think it was meant to be."

She snorted and scowled at him.

"And ain't it funny how your alternate self is a poet? How are you going to keep up your bad ass image when this comes out?"

If he took offence from her comment he didn't show it, he just shrugged and turned his attention back to Vin.

"Why didn't you tell us this? It might have saved us some trouble out there earlier."

The vampire shrugged and gazed towards the door, as if worrying that someone might be eavesdropping.

"I didn't think there was any need for it. I wouldn't have found out about it unless one of my servants had worked in one of the bigger houses in New York before. She had seen this William perform, with his human girl by his side." He gave a content grin. "Naturally I had to kill her to prevent the rumour to spread. You can never be too careful."

Before Buffy had time to say anything, Spike turned the subject of discussion away from any dead humans.

"You say it's so important that no one suspects that something is strange about us? Well, I don't know how you're thinking, but this far two different persons have recognized us, or at least thought that they've had; and we've been here for what? Three days? You really think it'll be possible to keep the Master from suspecting us? He already knows that we lied about where we're from when we first met."

"The Mayor wont be a problem," Vin answered shortly. "I wouldn't worry so much about him if I were you."

"He's not stupid," Buffy exclaimed in irritation. "He might not be the exact same vampire as he was in our dimension, but I don't think that we should underestimate him."

"You forget your place, human," Vin growled at her. "Dinah has the Mayor under control, he'll believe anything she says. If she tells him you're not a threat, he won't think of you as one."

Buffy stalked up tom him furiously and took a firm grip around his neck and pushed him hard against the wall.

"You can't tell me what to say and what not to say. I do as you tell me when I'm around others because I want to get back home, but that doesn't mean that I'll let you treat me like I'm less then you, because I'm not. You should be happy I haven't killed you."

Vin stared back at her with yellowing eyes and changed into his game face.

"Let go," he hissed threateningly, "or I'll make you regret it."

She only made her grip firmer.

"Enough quibbling or you'll both regret it," Dinah suddenly said from on of the dark corners. She had sneaked into the room unnoticed, and now stared at the two angrily. "We don't have time for this. It has started."

A/N: Here ends this chapter. I'm starting to get to the end, and hopefully I'll have enough access to a computer in the next couple of days to finish it, but I can't promise anything. Until then you'll have to settle on writing long, fun, supportive and constructive reviews (*hint hint*) ;)