To say that Willow was pleased to see him was an understatement; of course, she thought he was her Xander at the time. Once explanations were given, she was still happy, but not as much. Apparently the Xander in this world had left SunnyD and never looked back. After learning about the spell, Xander didn't really blame him.

Dawn was thrilled at the prospect of two Spikes - at least she was until she realized that the other Spike didn't like any of them, other than Xander. She understood why after they gave a brief explanation of his recapture by the Initiative, and subsequent enslavement by Riley - and the gang by default. Willow was horrified by what she had heard. Spike just snorted.

"Oh, please. Just because you lot don't drag me around on a leash don't make it any better. If I don't have the information you're looking for, I don't get fed. If I don't play nice and do as you say, I get beat up. Not so much now that Buffy isn't here to do it, but it still happens."

Spike looked pointedly at Oz. The werewolf had taken it upon himself a few times to rough Spike up after Buffy's death. He wasn't happy about it, but it was what the slayer had always done, and it was the only thing he knew for sure that worked.

"If it weren't for the bit here, I'd leave you all to rot in this hell hole. I'd get better treatment from Angel than I do you people."

Willow looked down guiltily, and Oz nodded. He knew it was the truth, no point in denying it. He had wondered why Spike had stuck around after Buffy's death, now he knew. Dawn started to cry and flung herself at Spike. Spike held her and petted her hair.

"Hush, luv. Didn't mean to upset you. It's all right. Stop crying."

Dawn sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She lifted her head to look at Spike but didn't let go of him.

"I'm so sorry, I don't want you to stay here just for me. I'll understand if you leave, really."

"Not gonna happen, luv. I made a promise to your sis to look after you till the end of the world. I keep my promises."

Xander and Spike had crept towards the door during the previous conversation. This was way too personal to be intruding on as far as Xander was concerned. Spike just wasn't comfortable in the room with these people. He had only seen the werewolf the once since he'd been chipped, and that was when he'd tried to eat the blonde witch. He didn't trust the man.

They were almost at the door when Willow spotted them.

"Xander Harris, what do you think you're doing trying to sneaking out of here without saying goodbye?"

Xander sighed in defeat. He had really hoped to get away from her. He wasn't all that comfortable with any version of his best friend right now. After the nightmare, and then learning about the spell, he was on edge.

"This is personal, we shouldn't be here."

"Well, will you come back? I mean before you... shift?"

Xander shrugged his shoulders before replying.

"I can't really say; I don't know how long I'll be here. Could be weeks, could be a few hours."

"Oh, well where are you staying then? I'll come and check on you guys tomorrow."

"We're a few crypts down from Spike; I'm sure he'll let you know where it is."

Xander steered Spike toward the door. He had his hand on the doorknob when Willow spoke up.

"You can't stay in a cemetery! What kind of person would I be if I let you sleep in a cold, damp crypt?"

Xander didn't say anything but Spike looked over at his double - who was still crooning softly to the distraught girl in his arms, and then looked at the woman scowling at Xander.

"You tell me, ducks. Seems you don't have any problems with that at all."

Once again, Willow's eyes teared up and she looked down at the floor. Oz growled at Spike and put his arms around the redhead. Xander stepped in front of Spike and stared hard at Oz. He made his position very clear: if Oz wanted Spike, he had to come through him first.

"He has a point, Wills. Spike might be a demon, but that's not all he is. Look at him over there with Dawn… Does that look like a cold-blooded killer to you? Think about it. I'll come and see you again tomorrow if we're still here, but right now I think we should go."

Spike looked at Xander and then nodded to his double. Xander knew that Willow and Oz wouldn't do anything to Spike, but all the same he called out to him.

"Hey, Spike? We're heading out, you alright here or you wanna come with?"

Spike looked over and shook his head. He hoped he managed to keep the shocked _expression off his face. He hadn't expected to be asked along.

"Nah, you two go on. I'm gonna stay an' visit for a bit."

Once outside, Xander shook off the tension he'd been feeling since they stepped inside the house and pulled out the rest of the cash they had stolen that night.

"Looks like we have enough for a room tonight, what do you say Spike? Crypt, or live it up at the old Sunnydale Motor Lodge?"

"Hotel. We can get more dosh tomorrow night if we're still here. That floor was bloody uncomfortable."

"I agree. I think we should leave the bike where it is though and walk over. No point in drawing attention."

Spike agreed and they set off on foot. The walk over was surprisingly uneventful, and after stopping off at the crypt to get Xander’s bag, they headed for the hotel. They only had enough for a room with one double-sized bed but they figured since it wasn't the first time they had shared a bed it would be fine. Of course, that was before Xander knew he had a spell on him that prevented him from being attracted to men. Now he knew, and the spell was gone.

Xander showered while Spike flicked around the television stations. When he was finished, he loaned Spike a pair of sweat pants so the vamp would have something to sleep in, and waited for him to go shower before pulling out the ring and looking at it. It still seemed so small, so unimpressive. It was hard to believe that this little piece of jewelry could make a vampire invulnerable. He wondered what Spike's reaction would be when he gave it to him. Also he wondered what he should say to Spike when he handed it over.

Spike was thinking about the way the humans and his double interacted. He could see straight off that this Spike had it a lot better than he did back home. Even still, the other vampire had a point. They did mistreat him, and it was obvious that they knew it. The girl - Dawn, loved him though. That was the strangest thing he had ever seen. The Dawn in his world wasn't allowed within ten feet of him. She never spoke to him or even looked at him. If she saw him, she turned away and left the room. Maybe she was saddened by what she saw? If the girl in his world was anything like the girl he had seen tonight, he wouldn't be surprised if she was.

By the time Spike came out of the bathroom, hair damp and wearing nothing but Xander’s sweat pants, Xander had decided to just give Spike the ring and see what happened. He waited until Spike had seated himself on the bed and leaned up against the headboard, then he turned off the TV.

"I have something for you."

Xander held his closed hand out and then opened it slowly. He watched as Spike's eyes widened, became glassy and then closed. He didn't understand why Spike hadn't taken it yet. His Spike would have snatched it out of his hand immediately. Then he noticed the tears on the vampire’s cheeks and the fact that he was trembling ever so slightly.

Xander closed his hand and sat down on the bed next to Spike. He wasn't sure why the man was upset but he felt awful for making him cry. He reached out for him and sighed in relief when he didn't pull away.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I thought it would make you happy. I didn't mean to make you cry, really. If you don't want it, that's okay. I can keep it in case you change your mind."

Spike shook his head and held Xander tightly. When he spoke it was muffled by the fact that his face was buried in the other man’s shoulder.

"It's not that; I am happy. Really. It's just too much. You've done so much for me, been so nice to me. After ... After everything else, it's just overwhelming I guess. I didn't mean to cry to like some silly bint."

Xander chuckled and gave Spike a squeeze. He was just relieved he hadn't inadvertently hurt him somehow.

"No worries, I'm used to people going all emotional on me when I give them a ring. At least you didn't slap me."

Spike pulled away and looked at Xander; he wasn't sure what the man was inferring here. What exactly did the ring represent here? Xander caught the worried look on the vampire’s face and reviewed what he'd said. Whoops, he hadn't meant it to sound like that!

"Sorry, bad joke on my part. The ring is yours because I want you to be safe, that's all. I don't know what you were thinking, but I don't expect anything from you, I'm not like that. I like you; we're friends right?"

At Spike's nod Xander continued.

"Well as your friend, I want you to be safe. If we shift in the daytime, and I'm outside, you'll be dust. This way you won't."

"Where did you get it?"

"The other Xander; he got it from Oz when Buffy sent it to L.A. for Angel. Neither one of them trusted Angelus with the knowledge of the ring’s whereabouts so he ended up with it instead. He thought I should have it - said that I could use it more than he could. We have to be careful though, I don't want the others to see it. Oz would recognize it right away and so would the other Spike."

Spike thought about that for a minute; his double would have no qualms about taking it from him, hell he would if he were in that position. He wanted to put the ring on so badly, but what Xander had said made sense. They had to be careful.

"Maybe you should hold onto it until the next world. We'll figure out what to do with it then."

"Alright. But just to be sure, I treated it with the oil, if it's ever taken it'll come back."

"Thank you, Xander. You know, the Spike in your world is sure lucky to have such a good friend. I'm sure he misses you terribly."

Xander snorted.

"I may have been a bit ... misleading when I said we were friends. Don't get me wrong - I like Spike, it's just, in my world, I wasn't any better than Willow and Oz were with this Spike tonight. I just didn't understand. Now I know better, and if we ever get to my world, I plan on making it up to him. I owe him an apology - for a lot of things."

"Well, you've proven yourself to me. I'm proud to call you my friend."

Xander smiled and closed his eyes. He felt better now that the truth about his relationship with the Spike of his world was out in the open. He didn't want there to be any lies between them. Not if they were going to be stuck together for some time.