Well, it seems I've made a huge mess of things. Leave it to me to screw up the universe, eh? Thing is, I don't regret it. I know if I hadn't landed on Spike, hadn't taken him with me, he'd be back in the loving custody of one Riley Finn and the Initiative. So how can I regret it? I am so glad Riley took off for the jungles of South America or wherever. I hate to admit that he had me fooled - he wasn't the country bumpkin I had him pegged for. Spike saw through his act, though, and maybe Giles a bit. I'm glad Buffy missed his chopper.

We have Faith the vampire slayer on this world. She got out on early parole - supposedly for good behaviour. If you ask me, though, the council had to have pulled some strings after Buffy died. Seems Willow never brought her back in this reality. Of course in this reality she's still dating Oz, and I apparently live here in L.A. and run a magic shop with Ethan Rayne - my lover.

Yeah, that's what I said, my lover. What the hell? I mean okay; the only woman I've been with in these other worlds is Faith? Is there no reality out there where I get a shot at happiness with the Buffster? (Buffy? If you ever read this, forget you just read that okay? You're my friend and I love you, but the 15-year-old that I was is still yelling foul!) I've been paired up with Spike, Doyle, Wesley, possibly Angelus - I didn't exactly want to know about that one (Yes I read the watcher diaries and I know what the sire/childe bond entails, I just refuse to think about it!) and now apparently, Ethan Rayne. I wonder what the Giles of this world thinks about that? Oh yeah and I'm a warlock or something here as well. Cool huh? And Giles thought my magic skills entailed setting books on fire by speaking Latin to them… Showed you huh, G-man!

I still have the bag that the last Angel gave me so I now have more than just the clothes on my back. Unfortunately Spike doesn't. He's lucky he was wearing his boots and duster when he got hit, or rather I'm lucky. If he hadn't been I would have to listen to him complain forever.

Angel was good enough to offer us a place to stay, on the condition that Spike doesn't bother his employees and we tell him the full story of what's happened so far. I don't know if Spike is ready to tell anyone his story yet, and certainly not Angel. I told him mine, minus the gory details of course. He had the grace to look guilty for the whole Acathla fiasco, at least. I think I might just get in touch with the Angel of each new world I visit just to make the asshole feel bad. Yeah, so I'm bitter. Fuck off, you weren't there.

Spike and I are gonna go out once the sun sets. I want to meet myself in this world, maybe he can teach me a spell to bind my belongings to me. That way I won't have to worry about carrying this damn bag wherever I go. Plus, I just want to get away from Deadboy for a while; he still gives me the wiggins. I know he's just one happy away from being Angelus again and that just does not inspire trust. Especially with both Cordy and Faith staying here; can you spell temptation boys and girls? I knew you could.

Xander put his journal away and went in search of his new travel buddy. That was another thing he had to figure out, what to do about Spike. He felt kind of responsible for the vamp; he was, after all, the one who dragged him into a strange new world. Could he just abandon him here? If you had asked him that before this whole mess started, Xander would have answered with a heartfelt yes. Of course that was before he had gotten to know Spike better.

"Hey Fan ... Blondie! You in there?"

Xander winced at his first choice of nickname for the vampire, he didn't think he'd ever be able to use that one in good conscience again. He heard a shuffling noise behind the door just before it swung open. Spike stood there in his jeans - unbuttoned, a towel over his shoulders, barefoot, with his hair still damp and tousled.

"Yeah? What's up?"

Spike motioned for Xander to come in and once he was in the room he closed the door and headed for the bathroom. He left the door open while he combed his hair back and applied gel to it. Xander was strangely fascinated to see Spike stand in front of the mirror while he groomed himself, as if it were of any use to him. He always thought it would be strange, trying to get your hair done, or shave or whatever without being able to see yourself.

"Hey Spike? Random vampire question - do you have to shave?"

Spike chuckled at him. He rubbed his smooth face as if in thought before answering.

"Not often. I never had much in the way of facial hair before I was turned, and of course afterward our hair grows so slowly it's not much of an issue for me. Angelus though, he grew a goatee and a moustache at one point. Darla hated it, plus it took him well over a year to get the thing to come in all the way. Funny as hell though whiles it was growing. Never seen anything so stupid."

Xander tried to picture Angel with a moustache and goatee. He couldn't help but snicker at the image. Spike knew what he was laughing about and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You should ask him to see the sketches. He had to know how it looked so he paid a local artist to draw him in various poses. ‘Course he ate the poor bugger afterwards, but the pictures were a riot. Bloody poof thought he looked good though."

Xander couldn't see himself asking Angel anything about Angelus. Hell he had spoken to the vampire more in the last two days than he had the entire time they lived in Sunnydale.

"So, besides random vampire questions, what brings you to my room?"

Spike pulled on a shirt and sat on the bed to put his socks on. Xander fidgeted with the gym bag on his lap and stood up. He began to pace as he tried to think of a way to broach the subject. He just couldn't find a way of asking that didn't sound like a cheap come-on. I mean 'hey Spike, do you want to be my travel buddy and keep me company on the long lonely trek across dimensions?' sounded like a pick-up line. Besides, Spike might not even want to come, he knew about the place Xander had been before his world. He wouldn't blame him if he just decided to stay here. Of course, the more Xander thought about having a companion on this trip, the more he welcomed the idea. He hated travelling alone, and having someone to share this with, someone who would understand, was an appealing idea.

"When we go to see the me of this world tonight, I was gonna ask him to put a spell on my things for me. You know, so that whenever I shift they'll come with me so I don't have to carry everything around all the time. I just wondered ... do you want to stay here? When I shift out? Or do you want to come too?"

Spike looked stunned. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He blinked a couple times and then tilted his head slightly to the left.

"You serious? You'd take me with you if you could?"

Xander shrugged and looked at the floor. He was somewhat embarrassed about wanting Spike to come with him.

"Yeah. So? Do you want to? I mean, we can ask him for a spell breaker or something if we end up somewhere you want to stay. You don't have to come home with me if you don't want to. That is, if I ever get home."

"Sure, mate. I got no reason to stay here, and my home world was no fun anyway, can't say I'll miss it. So why not? Could be fun."

Xander smiled and headed for the door. He turned back and looked at the vampire lounging on the bed. Who knew he would one day be travelling across dimensions with William the Bloody. Life was funny sometimes.

"I'm heading downstairs to eat before we go, you coming?"

"Sure, I'm a bit peckish."

The two headed for the hotel kitchen, both happy about the decision they had come to.