Author's Note: Here's chapter 3! Please read and review! If by any chance a Port Charles fan is reading this, I based the character of Rob roughly on the vampire-book store guy that Jamal gets info from during Tainted Love. Note I said roughly. It just gave me the idea. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Searching for Answers

Vampire Dimension

Two hours later Angel and Wesley walked into the Magic Box. The Sunnydale gang looked up from their research. Buffy stood up and just looked at Angel. Wordlessly he walked to her and gave her a hug.

"We'll get her back," Angel said quietly. Buffy just quietly enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her for the second time in a day. Everyone else fidgeted a little, trying to ignore the private moment that was happening between Buffy and Angel.

They pulled apart somewhat reluctantly and faced the others. "Hey everyone," Angel said.

"Hi Angel," Willow said with a smile. "Hi Wesley." Wesley nodded and smiled.

"So what do we know so far?" Angel said, pulling up a chair next to Buffy.

"Unfortunately not much. We don't even know what dimension Dawn is in," Willow said.

Wesley began unloading books from the bag he had brought. "I brought some of my reference materials from Los Angeles. Maybe something can be of use," he said.

Giles picked up one of Wesley's books. "Where did you get this? This volume has been on back-order for 3 months now," he said, somewhat jealous.

Buffy gave Giles a look. "Giles?"

"Oh, sorry," he said. He began to look through the book.

"Has anyone checked Dawn's room for clues as to how the portal might have opened?" Wesley said.

Buffy shook her head. "Not really. We've mostly just been researching."

Giles stood up. "That's a good idea. Buffy, why don't you take Angel back to the house, and the rest of us will continue looking for a way to reopen the portal."

Buffy nodded. She felt excitement inside at getting to spend some time alone with Angel, but also slightly uncomfortable at the same time. "Okay. Give me a call if you find anything," she said. Buffy and Angel walked outside.

"We can take the car," Angel said, gesturing to his black convertible.

Buffy climbed in the passenger seat. Angel put the keys in the ignition and began driving to Buffy's house. Minutes passed in total silence.

"It's going to be okay," Angel said. "I'm not leaving until we get Dawn back."

Buffy gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I just feel so helpless. My sister is trapped in some dimension that we don't know squat about, for all we know it could be some kind of-" her voice broke off. She felt tears begin to form. She looked down. "Dawn is all that I have left," she whispered.

Angel's heart was breaking for his love. "And you have nothing to worry about because we are going to get her back," he said firmly. He hesitated. "Last spring when Cordelia was taken through the portal, I was terrified that I would never see her again. But we got her back. It wasn't easy, but that's what you do for the people you care about," he said.

Buffy looked at him curiously. The way he talked about Cordelia almost made it sound like...she shook her head. No. And even if he did, it was none of her business. But it still bothered her.

All of a sudden Buffy realized something. "Spike!" she said suddenly.

Angel snapped his head around to look at her. "What?"

She blushed, embarrassed at her outburst. "Sorry. I just realized that Spike doesn't know what happened to Dawn. Someone should let him know, he could help."

Angel raised his eyebrows. "Spike? Help?"

Buffy looked down. "You know he is harmless now. And besides, he gets along pretty well with Dawn. He would want to know."

Angel was about to say something about letting Dawn spend time with Spike, but he thought better of it. He hadn't liked the way that Buffy had talked about him. Was it possible that...he shook his head. Buffy would never do that. But then again she did that with Riley. But then again Riley wasn't Spike.

"Um, Angel," Buffy said, gesturing out the window. They had arrived at her house.

"Oh!" He put the brakes on quickly, jarring himself back to reality. They climbed out of the car and walked up to the house. Buffy opened the door and they walked inside.

"Just let me call Giles to tell him that someone should go get Spike. You can start checking her room if you want." She headed for the phone.

Angel nodded and headed up the stairs. He tried to forget the jealousy and turn his mind to the task at hand.

He entered Dawn's room. It was quite obvious where the portal had opened, because most of the items in the room had gravitated toward an area near the bed. He walked over slowly. If he could find what had opened the portal, they would be two steps closer to getting Dawn back.

He began to sift through the stuff. Most of it was just random items, clothes, makeup, photos. But then he noticed something lying underneath everything. He picked it up carefully. It was a necklace, a blue pendant. He fingered it slowly.

"Find anything?" Buffy said from behind him.

He stood up, frowning slightly. "Just this." He handed her the necklace. "It was lying underneath everything, I think it was there before the portal opened."

She shook her head. "I've never seen it before. But it's a good lead. We'll bring it to the Magic Box." She carefully put it in her pocket.

Angel continued to sift through the items on the floor, and Buffy wandered over to Dawn's dresser. She casually looked through the stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then she noticed something.

The drawer of Dawn's jewelry box was open. It was full of stuff Buffy had never seen before. She immediately noticed a gold chain with the tag still on it. She lifted it out of the box, and noticed that almost everything in the drawer still had the tags on. There were lipsticks, jewelry...suddenly Buffy realized what the stuff was. "Oh no," she said.

"What?" Angel said from behind her.

She gestured to the drawer. "It's a whole drawer full of stolen stuff."

Angel stood up quickly. "What?"

"It still has the tags on. And I've never seen it before." She lifted a small talisman. "This is from the Magic Box. I remember helping Anya unpack it." She felt tears come to her eyes, and she sat down heavily on Dawn's bed. "Why would she do that?" she said, trying to fight back the tears. She was so stupid. Dawn had obviously needed her, and she must have been too preoccupied with coming back from the dead to notice.

Angel sat down next to Buffy. "It's not your fault you know."

She looked at him through her tears. "But it is! I was gone for so long, and since I've been back, I know I've been distant."

"She just doesn't understand. No one else knows...what you are really going through," he said.

Buffy looked down. Angel was under the assumption that he was the only one she'd told about where she had really been over the summer. She wasn't about to tell him that Spike also knew. She looked at him through her teary eyes. "Angel, can you just...just hold me?"

Angel wordlessly put his arms around her, and she relaxed against him. They sat there like that for a few silent minutes. They could both feel the sexual tension, and Angel began to realize that they SO should not be doing this. After a moment Buffy slowly turned her head around so that her face was only inches from Angel's. Angel knew he should pull away, but he couldn't. "Buffy..." he whispered. "We shouldn't-"

She put her finger over his lips. "Just one kiss. Just let me feel something," she said quietly. She leaned in closer. Despite his better judgement, Angel pressed his lips against hers and they shared a passionate, tender kiss. After a long moment, they reluctantly broke apart. Suddenly Buffy stood up and walked away quickly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you-"

Angel quickly walked over next to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't say that. And it's not like kissing you is a chore," he added with a small smile.

Buffy smiled. He quietly wiped away the tears that were on her cheeks. "Now let's go to the Magic Box and research the necklace. We have to hurry, because the sun is coming up soon. If you don't want to tell the others about what you found, just wait, it's not important right now." He smiled gently. "Okay?"

She smiled back. "You're the best." She reached down and took his hand in hers. "Let's go." Together they walked down the stairs and out to the car.

"Normal" Dimension

The next morning Dawn walked down the stairs, bookbag in hand. She had actually slept pretty well, for being in a different dimension and all. But a few more questions had come to her mind. Like, what had happened to the other Dawn? The Dawn that had been here until she had come through the portal? Wherever she was, she hoped she had done her homework before disappearing. She was also concerned about going to school. Hopefully it wouldn't be too different. But she had come up with an idea that could possibly help her get some answers. It was a long shot, but it was all she had right now.

She walked down the stairs to see Buffy and Angel giggling in the kitchen. They were feeding each other pancakes. She paused a moment to smile at the adorable sight. After a moment, she walked into the kitchen. She almost asked where Tara and Willow were, but realized that they wouldn't be living here in this dimension, because Angel would have been there after Joyce's death, giving them no reason to move in.

"Hey Dawn!" Buffy giggled through the pancakes. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Dawn said.

"You want some breakfast? There are some extra pancakes here," Buffy said, trying to ignore Angel, who was kissing her earlobe.

"No, it's okay. I'm not that hungry." She took a breath. "Is it okay if I go over to Janice's after school?" she said. This was crucial to her plan. She just hoped that she was friends with Janice in this dimension.

"Sure, that's fine with me," Buffy said with a smile. "Tell her I said hello."

"So are you ready to go?" Angel said.

Dawn blinked. Then she realized that in this dimension Angel probably drove her to school. "Yeah," she said, trying to hide her surprise.

Angel smiled. He kissed Buffy goodbye and walked to the door. "After you," he said, holding it open.

Dawn smiled. She was starting to like this dimension.

"Oh my God, I hate this dimension!" Dawn muttered to herself seven hours later. She had a horrible school day. The day had started with an early morning run-in with Kirstie, which had proven that some forms of evil still exist, even in the "normal" dimension. Then she had realized that this Dawn's schedule was entirely different, and included honors classes. Maybe the Dawn that was usually here could handle it, but to this one it was exhausting. And she had a boatload of homework that she had no idea how to do. But the good news was that it was time to get some answers.

Dawn grunted as she lifted her heavy bookbag onto her back. "Here goes nothing," she said, walking outside.

"Thank God some things never change," Dawn said to herself. She was standing in front of the Magic Box. Well it wasn't the Magic Box, it was much different, but still, it was a place where she could find what she was looking for.

She walked in the door. The first thing she noticed was that it was much smaller. It was also totally empty. I suppose in a dimension with no evil there aren't many customers, she thought. She approached the counter. There was an eccentric looking guy standing behind it. He had long dreadlocks, and wore several amulets and talismans around his neck.

"Hey. Can I help you?" he said excitedly. Dawn supposed he didn't get a customer very often.

"Yeah. I am looking for any information you might have on alternate dimensions," she said.

The guy winked at her. "Alternate dimensions, huh? Let me guess, you are from one and you are looking for a way home?"

Dawn's eyes widened. "How did-"

The guy laughed, and headed for the bookcase. "Just kidding." He began pulling a few books off the shelves. "I understand that most people don't believe in the supernatural. But I have always been a believer." He set a few books down at a table. "I'm Rob by the way. What exactly did you want to know?"

Dawn smiled. "I'm Dawn. I am looking for information on traveling to other dimensions. Like, how you get to one," she said carefully.

"Well I can tell you that. Basically there are believed to be thousands of dimensions. You reach another dimension by opening a portal. It can be done in various ways. Incantations, talismans..."

Talismans, Dawn thought. It must have been the necklace.

"How do you get back from one? Like, if someone accidentally got sent to another dimension, how would they get home?" she asked casually.

Rob looked at her suspiciously. "Why exactly do you want to know all this? And don't tell me it's for a school project, because I've never met one teacher who would assign a project on alternate dimensions."

Darn. That was the excuse she'd been planning on using. She began to feel a little exasperated. "Look. I've had a really long day, so I am just going to be perfectly honest with you. Just promise not to send me to the looney bin?" she pleaded.

Rob was intrigued. "I promise."

She sat down in one of the chairs. "I am from another dimension. But there, vampires and demons were real. My sister was a vampire slayer, actually. Everything was really messed up. So I started stealing some stuff. Yesterday I was trying on the necklace I stole from this shop. Except in my dimension my friends run it. And the next thing I knew, I am in this dimension, where there are no such thing as vampires, my sister is happily engaged to her boyfriend, who is a vampire in my dimension, but he has a soul, so it's not as creepy as you think. And I need to get back home," she said, all in one breath.

Rob blinked at her. "Seriously?"

Dawn looked him in the eyes. "Dead serious."

"Wow. So...you mean it's all real? At least somewhere?" he said excitedly.

"Yup. All of it. Okay, I have tons of questions. First, the portal opened because of the necklace, but when I got here it was gone. Where is it?" she asked.

Rob paused a minute. "I know that some objects are unable to go through portals, and can only exist in the dimension they originated in. It is probably back in your home dimension."

Dawn nodded. "And what about the Dawn that used to be here? Before I came through the portal?"

Rob began flipping through a book. "I know that only one form of a soul or being can exist in the same dimension at the same time. When you came through the portal, the Dawn that was previously here was probably forced out."

Dawn frowned. "But where is she now? Will she come back if I find a way home?"

Rob shrugged. "I don't know for sure. But I would assume that she is in limbo, stuck between dimensions somehow. I would guess that she would come back if you found a way out."

"Wait a minute. If?"

"Opening portals to dimensions is a very complicated process. It requires dark magic. And pinpointing which dimension you will end up in is near impossible." He looked at Dawn's annoyed face. "Hey, it's not like I've ever done this before."

Dawn sighed. "I know. And I really appreciate you trying to help me." She looked at her watch. "Crap. I have to go home." She paused and frowned. "Well not home, home, but you know." She picked up her bookbag. "Can you research for me? Try to find any sliver of a chance that I can open a portal to my dimension. I am going to come back tomorrow at the same time."

Rob still looked a little in shock. "Of course. I'll get all the information I can."

Dawn smiled at him genuinely. "Thank you so much."

"It was my pleasure." They exchanged smiles, and Dawn walked back outside. Maybe there was hope after all.