Xander looked up when the door to his shop opened. To say he was surprised to see himself standing there with a vampire was an understatement. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that his lover had also seen the two enter. It wasn't that they didn't get the odd vampire in here from time to time, it was just that this was only the second time Xander had seen himself come through that door, and this time his double wasn't a vampire, and he hadn't accidentally summoned him.

"Okay, I know I didn't summon you, so who are you, why are you here, and why are you with Spike?"

Ethan came out to stand with Xander and looked over at their visitors. He leaned down and whispered in Xander’s ear.

"He's not a vampire; what do you suppose he's doing with William the Bloody?"

Spike snorted and elbowed the Xander next to him.

"Well, I must say I'm disappointed. I was expected babbling and death threats and possibly some fainting."

"Yeah, well. Sorry to disappoint, oh bleached one. Looks like this Xander is used to having himself walk in here, or something that sounds less stupid."

The Xander on the other side of the counter smiled. At least this one wouldn't want to turn him. He nudged Ethan and nodded toward the shelf behind him. Ethan turned and picked up a small orb before handing it to him. Xander addressed his double.

"So, what brings you here? And what's his deal, ‘cause I have to warn you, I have an orb of Thessula here and I know how to use it. Any trouble and your fanged friend there gets his soul back."

Spike gaped and surreptitiously slipped behind Xander. He had enough problems ta very much; he didn't need a soul on top of everything else.

"Hey, no worries. We come in peace. I just wanted to talk, maybe ask a favour?"

"Alright, we can go in the back. The vampire tries anything funny, he gets souled and you ... well lets just say green could be a very good colour for you."

Xander nodded mutely. He wasn't sure if he liked this possible version of himself. He was cocky, arrogant, and sure of himself. He reminded him of someone, he just couldn't grasp who it was.

Once they were all seated at a small table in the back, the Xander of this world spoke up.

"So tell me what brings you to my dimension."

After explaining how he ended up there, how Spike had been taken with him and what he was hoping his double could do for him, Xander sat back and rubbed his temples, he had a hell of a headache. Spike saw the pain on his face and scooted his chair in behind him and took over rubbing his head for him. Xander sighed in relief; Spike’s cool hands felt wonderful.

"I can do the spell you want, but first I have to know what kind of magic is affecting you. Do you mind if I do a revealing spell on you? It won't hurt, it'll just tell me if you are under the influence of any other magicks and what their intent is."

"Sure, do I have to move or anything?"

Xander chuckled at his double. He might not have any magical abilities, but it seemed he was able to charm a vicious vampire into caring for him.

"No, just sit and relax. I'll be back in a minute."

After Xander left the room, Spike stopped his soothing ministrations and turned Xander’s chair around to face him.

"I don't know about this pet, can we trust him?"

"Spike, we don't have much choice. It's either we trust him, or we get joined at the hip. That's the only way to assure that you come with me when I leave, and somehow I don't think that option would work out very well. I mean, I'm lucky I haven't shifted during a shower yet and ended up in some new world completely naked."

Spike shrugged his shoulders and spun Xander’s chair back around.

"If you say so."

Xander came back in, followed by Ethan. The two began setting up the spell while Spike went back to his earlier job of soothing Xander’s headache. He had started out doing it as an automatic response. He had done this back in Sunnydale for Riley; of course then it had been because he was ordered to do it. Now he did it because he wanted to, regardless of what Angel had said to him, he was not transferring.

"We're ready. Just relax and stay still. Spike you'll need to remove your hands from him."

Spike moved his hands and slid his chair back around beside Xander. He wanted to watch this spell and make sure nothing happened to his new-found friend. It had been a long time since Spike had had a friend, and he wasn't about to let some wonky spell take him away.

"It's done."

Spike had been so caught up in making sure Xander was okay, he hadn't heard the two warlocks casting their spell. He dubbed himself ten kinds of stupid for not paying more attention to what was going on around him.

"And? What kind of spell is he under?"

Xander and Ethan exchanged a look before Xander answered Spike’s question. Spike didn't like the look one bit. They knew something, something not good from what he had seen.

"It's vengeance magic. You mentioned you dated a vengeance demon?"

"Anya, yeah. We were engaged."

Xander sighed. He'd really hoped that Anya wasn't behind this, after all he had tried to explain to her why he'd done it. He was surprised to hear Ethan speak; the man hadn't said a word to him since he and Spike had shown up.

"Anya? I'm not familiar with that name?"

"Anyanka, actually. The patron saint of scorned women. There was an incident, long story. She became human, we dated, fell in love, got engaged and then I left her at the altar."

Ethan cringed at the idea of what that woman was capable of. He had heard tales of men who had been horribly disfigured or worse by the demoness, all in the name of justice.

"I must say, I think you got off easy, lad. I've heard tales of her deeds. You are either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to have pissed that woman off."

Xander snorted. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his double.

"I don't suppose you can break the curse and send me home?"

"No. Sorry dude, but your stuck on this crazy roller coaster ride. But now that I know what I'm dealing with, I can do the other spell. You sure you want to take the vamp with you? I could think of less homicidal travelling partners."

"I'm sure. I dragged him into this after all. It's the least I can do, and we're friends."

What they weren’t saying was annoying Spike. He knew there was more to this and he wanted to know what else they saw.

"Tell him the other thing."

Xander looked at Spike, confusion on his face.

"They know something, luv. Something they aren't telling you."

Xander looked at his double and the wizard. He scowled slightly and his double sighed in defeat.

"Fine. It's not like I wasn't going to tell you. I just thought you might like some privacy when you found out."

"Found out what? Besides, obviously both of you know what it is so why the need for privacy?"

Xander looked over at Spike and then it made sense. Whatever it was they weren't saying, it was because of Spike.

"Okay, give me the basics and I'll decide whether or not I want this made semi-public knowledge."

Spike didn't have a clue what could be so secretive that the warlocks wouldn't want to say it in front of him. He was a bit concerned about Xander, and he wanted to know what was going on so he was relieved when Xander didn't automatically ask him to leave so he could find out in private.

"There is a second spell on you. Ethan recognised it right away, as it is identical to one I had on me when we first met. It's Wiccan in origin, Willow's work. Shall I go on?"

"Willow put a spell on me? Why would she do that? What is it for?"

The other Xander scrubbed at his face with his hands. He went through this a few years back; it wasn't going to be pretty watching his double go through it now. Thank God Ethan had been there to help him through it. Maybe Spike would help Xander to deal with the betrayal of a friend.

"Do you remember your birthday party that Willow and Jesse threw you - remember what happened that night? With Jesse?"

Xander nodded and blushed. He'd already had this conversation with himself once before.

"Yeah, and?"

"Have you ever thought about doing that since then?"

"Doing what?"

Xander raised his eyebrow at his befuddled double.

"Oh! No, um not since high school. Why?"

"That's the spell’s influence. It basically blocks those thoughts and urges. You know Wills was in love you, don't you?"

"Yeah. I know. But that was along time ago, why would she do that, and why not remove it by now?"

"She couldn't put a love spell on you, she wanted you to love her for real so she did the next best thing, she made it so she had a better chance by stacking the odds. As for why she didn't remove it? I don't know. I never asked her. I can remove it if you want."

Xander thought he was prepared for anything, but to find out that his best friend had fundamentally changed his whole life, taken away his choices, it shook him to his very core. No wonder his other selves were happy, they had the freedom of choice, something he didn't. He thought over his relationship choices. Cordy - well he wasn't under a spell's influence there. Was he? Just when had Willow done that spell anyway? The French teacher was definitely all him though, so was Impata. So really, it was just Anya, and possibly Cordelia that had been influenced by the spell.

His other self that was involved with Faith was probably under a spell; he couldn't see himself willingly choosing to date the crazy slayer. But the others that he had met: the him that was so happy in his relationship with Spike, the one dating Wesley, and now this one who seemed to be doing well for himself out here in L.A. with Ripper's nemesis, they didn't act like the bumbling fool he knew he was. It was as if by having choices, they had been allowed to grow and mature as people - okay that crack about leaving Spike in Sunnydale wasn't really mature, but on the whole, they were more confident than he was.

So the question stood, did he want his double to remove the spell? On the one hand yes, he hated not being in control of his thoughts and feelings. But on the other hand, he was scared. He wasn't so sure he could handle having his entire world turned upside down. He snorted; he wasn't in his world, though, was he?

"Do it. I might as well face everything at once. I work well under pressure, go ahead and tighten the screw."

Xander nodded and left the room, Ethan followed behind him. Once they were gone, Spike put his hand on Xander’s shoulder.

"Want to tell me what that was all about?"

"No, but I will. If you're going to be travelling with me you should know the truth."

Xander closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. He let it out slowly and began.

"When I was fifteen, my best friend Jesse and Willow threw me a birthday party, I stayed at Jesse's that night and he kissed me. I pretended to be asleep and once he fell asleep I went downstairs and spent the night on the couch. We never talked about it, and after that he threw himself into the pursuit of one Cordelia Chase. I never forgot the kiss though, I was just scared."

"You were young, it's normal to be scared."

"I was scared because I liked it. See, my father wasn't a nice man and he'd get drunk a lot. He used to call me names sometimes, like ‘faggot’ and ‘no-good queer’. Once I realised what they meant, I was determined to never become what my father called me. So even though I loved Jesse - he was my best friend - I never acted on the feelings that kiss produced. After a while, after Jesse died, they just seemed to fade away. I never thought about why. Now I know."

Xander was trying not to cry as thought about all the pain and misery he might have been spared if he hadn't had this done to him. Would he even be in this hellish situation? Spike wasn't sure what to do to comfort the boy so he just waited in silence for Xander to continue. Eventually he did.

"Willow was in love with me, or thought she was. She put a spell on me to block my... bisexuality I guess. I mean, this isn't the first dimension that I've been gay in, obviously. Why would she do that to me? She saw how miserable my life was, how I was constantly struggling to fit in somewhere. I've always felt like I was missing something; I just thought it was because I didn't have super powers like all my friends, now I know that isn't it. She took a piece of me; she made me less than who I should be. Xander is going to remove the Spell; I'll probably change. I don't know who I'll be when it's done."

"You'll be who you were meant to be, Xander. That's all you can be. And hey, I'll still be here. I don't care if you're straight, gay, bi, whatever. I'm a vampire; we'll do just about anything. Take Dru, she really goes for the slime-and-antlers crowd. Not my cup of tea, mind you but to each his/her own."

"Thanks, Spike. I feel better."

Xander and Ethan, who had been listening outside the door, came back in with several jars and books. After arranging things the way they wanted them, Xander had Spike stand to one side of Xander while he bound them with magic.

It took several spells, but eventually Xander was free of Willow's spell and had both Spike and his possessions magically linked to him. Ethan gave him a small jar of oil and told him to dab it on anything else that he wanted to link to himself. Before they left, Xander stopped his double and pressed something into his hand. Spike stepped outside and lit a cigarette while he waited.

"In case you shift when you’re outside in the sun."

Xander looked at the ring in his hand and then looked back at his double.

"Is this...?"

"Yeah, it is. Take it. The damn thing has been nothing but trouble for me. You look like you could use it."

"How did you get it? I thought Buffy sent it to Deadboy?"

"She did, but Oz is a smart guy. Angel in the sunlight equals joy, which could lead to perfect happiness. So he gave to me instead. Could you imagine the carnage Angelus could cause if he were unstoppable?"

Both Xanders shuddered at the very idea of it. Xander stared at the ring; it was so small to be able to do so much. He wasn't sure if he should give it Spike, but after everything the blonde had been through didn't he deserve some reward? Besides, the sunlight was going to be an issue. The only problem was not letting Angel see it.

"Thanks man. You've been a big help. I wish there was something I could do to repay you."

"Don't worry about it. I've been there, sort of. Take care, and I hope you make it home, Xander."

"Thanks, me too."