A/N: For the purpose of this story I am going to ignore the fact the Buffy died at the end of season five on BTVS. Because really, it is already confusing enough without throwing that in the mix. Questions and comments always welcome. Hope you enjoy!

Angel, Gunn, Wesley, Cordelia, Lorne and Fred walked through the back garden of the Hyperion Hotel. Angel rushed in front of the gang "Oh, let me I wanna say it" he reached for the back door and walked in, the rest of the gang following right behind him. "There is no place like…" He stopped short when he saw what was before him. It was him, only slightly heavier and much more beat up. And as if that wasn't enough to cause immediate panic he then saw Spike walk out from behind the front desk.

"Whoa, what the hell is that about?" Spike asked swinging his head back and forth between the two Angels in front of him. "Frankly I am still having a hard enough time dealing with one of you." Then he saw the rest of them walk in. He turned to Angel "Not to mention…" He paused, pointing over to Gunn, Wesley, Lorne and Fred, took a moment then continued softly "….Well…the rest of them." The site of them standing there threw him for a loop. His first instinct was to run up and grab Fred in a big hug, swing her around and thank the heavens that she was there. Hell, he even wanted to hug Wesley. But they were different somehow, certainly not the people he remembered. So he held back and looked at the floor in silence unsure of how to react.

"Did something go wrong when we came back?" Cordelia asked "Maybe ended up in some sort of weird dimension where Angel and Spike are like…together…or something." That caused Spike to pick his head up and shoot her a look 'Not that much different from what I remember though' he thought. She looked over to see Spike and the other Angel starring at her like she was completely nuts.

"And they what, pass their time by kicking the crap out of each other?" Gunn added looking at the two battered vampires.

"Well it's not like Vampires are known for the soft touch, and if that is like their thing or whatever, I'm not one to judge." She said holding her hands up trying to reassure them that it was OK. Her mind then shifted gears and she added quickly, "Hey, do you think maybe I'm a princess here too?"

"Ok, look that is not our thing and Spike and I are NOT together. Something is clearly wrong here." The more beaten of the two Angel's said.

Lorne went to open his mouth just as everyone's attention turned to someone entering the front door of the Hotel lobby. "Well isn't this an interesting turn of events." He said to himself more than anything else when he found himself looking at a very blue, very Fred-like creature.

"I deposited Gunn at the hospital as you requested." She looked around, and looked back at Spike clearly confused. She started to say something but Gunn cut her off. "Hold on a second there Blue Steel, I ain't at no damn hospital. I'm right here. And I don't know you, so don't go using my name."

Cordeila stepped forward "Hey did anyone else here notice…" She pointed her finger back and forth between Fred and Illyria with one eyebrow raised. "…Cause I'm saying, like except for the whole leather clad bringer of a an icy frozen death look, these two could be twins."

"Trust me, these two are not twins" Spike said dryly.

Still standing in at the back door, completely shocked Angel went on the defense. "Yah, and how would you know. You are probably here to torture me again. And why are you…" Pointing to the other Angel "…With him?" pointing to Spike. He glanced over at Illyria and then at Fred. "Oh God, I'm evil again. That has to be it. They are our evil twins. There is just no other reason I would be with the blonde crusader over there."

"Hey!" Spike looked up at him with an irritated glance

"Well look, I'm not really in the mood to get my throat ripped out right now." Cordelia said, holding her hands up to her neck as if demonstrating the international sign for choking "So how bout we just, you know, hold off on the killing for a while. It's been kind of a long day." Then as an after though added "Hey, where is my evil twin? How come I never get to be evil?"

Her words caused Angel to cringe inside. He missed her desperately. But he was also happy that she hadn't been there for the battle. If she was still alive he wasn't sure if he could have done what he did knowing that she might not have made it. Not that it was an easy decision with out her there. Then again if she had been there, there was a good chance that none of this would have happened at all.

Fred's words broke his concentration on the subject "I know I've been away for a while and all, but I don't remember being blue? Am I blue, cause sometimes in Pylea you just don't see things right, and it's possible I just forgot. But when I look at you, none of you are so that would mean it is just me and…." She trailed off as Illyria approached her. She hid behind Wesley, holding on to his waist. She muttered into his ear "But I don't think I'd wear that."

Illyria walked towards them, but she wasn't threatening. She walked past everyone until she reached Wesley and Fred. She cocked her head to the left and looked over at her world's Spike and Angel. Then back at Wesley, studying him with great intensity. He tried to back up, but Fred was still holding on to him. After a long pause Illyria looked back at Angel and Spike "He is not complete. His memories have not developed to the level I know." She said in a very matter of fact tone then turned her attention to Fred. She looked at her for a moment and then closed her eyes moving them back and forth behind her eyelids rapidly as if she was reading a book in her mind. After a long pause she opened them and looked right at her. "This was before." Then turned to Angel and Spike "I see it in her memories."

"And what exactly are you? A mind reader of some sort?" asked Wesley

She ignored Wesley's question. Looking to him and Gunn she continued "She views you as protectors" then turned to the other Angel "And you she desires." Fred whimpered, embarrassed.

Cordelia spoke up "Hey there now hold on just a minute…"

Illyria cut her off "You as a princess."

"Oh…really?" She beamed "Well, I mean I do possess several qualities one might find in royalty." She noticed that Angel was glaring at her "What?" she asked innocently.

The beaten Angel was getting annoyed with this situation. "Look, me and Spike, we're not evil. Sometimes I might question his sanity, but we are not evil."

"All evil people say that just before they eat you." Cordelia spat at him.

Angel shot her a look, rolled his eyes at her and then continued "But I think I figured this out. You guys just came back from Pylea, right? Through a portal. Well, we got here through a portal as well. The similar events must have linked us together somehow."

"You fancy yourself a portal expert now, do you mate?" Spike asked

"Oh and what you have a better idea as to what happened? I remember all of this. I remember coming home after out trip from Pylea and Fred being with us. We landed in Lorne's club. I've already lived this once before." His eyes fixated on Cordelia. When she caught him staring at her he reverted his gaze to the floor.

"That doesn't help explain why you are here." Replied the other Angel

Fred finally stepped out from behind Wesley "No, no he could be right, I mean if you guys really did come through a portal. If you factor in the energy it takes for the dimensional walls to shift along with redundancy rate of the interdemensional time flux, it could happen." She noticed everyone was staring at her. "I mean in theory." She finished quietly holding her hands up to her face, slipping back behind Wes.

"So are they evil or not?" Gunn asked "Cause this is getting old. And by the looks of them, they just got run over by the Mack truck from hell. And I've had just about enough of Hell for one week. Not to mention some form of me is in the hospital, which I gotta say is a little disconcerting."

"Ok, fine, if you already lived this before then you are basically the future of our Angel." Wesley reasoned. "So then you tell us why exactly are you with Spike, because if I do recall, he doesn't exactly fight on the side of good. And if you guys are from the future were is everybody else? Why is Gunn in the hospital?" He stopped and stared at them, waiting for answers

The two vampires looked at each other uncomfortably. There were just no words for what the truth really was. Both stood in front of the crowd with intense gazes locked on them. Spike's heart sank and he could tell from the look on Angel's face he may probably felt even worse.

After a long moment a very confused Fred spoke quietly. "And can one of yall tell me why the other me is blue, cause I'm still a little confused about that."

This was not going to be easy.

TBC….