Chapter 5 – Bloody Hell

"You have got to be kidding me," Dawn said as she waited for the blinding light to disappear so that they could see who the new four figures were. They didn't have to wait long.

The light cleared pretty quickly and everyone braced themselves, on the lookout for anyone else that may have been from Buffy3 and Angel3's world.

"Oh great…perfect," Angel said sarcastically as he finally got a good look at the four figures standing confused before them.

The four figures were all Spikes. Every one of them looked around with extreme confusion. "Where the bloody hell am I?" one of the Spikes asked.

"It's a long story mate," the original Spike responded with a sigh.

Buffy4 looked at all of them very closely and then a giant smile appeared on her face. She rushed to one of the Spikes and enveloped him in a tight hug.

"Spike, I'm so glad you're here," she said softly with a smile appearing on her face that she was unable to hold back.

Spike4 smiled back at her as their hug broke so they could look at each other. The blonde vampire brought his hands to his slayer's face and pulled her in for a gentle hello kiss.

"Well I haven't the slightest clue were here is, but if you're here then I'm glad I'm here too," Spike4 said with a smile. "You had me worried pet. When I saw you get pulled through that portal I didn't know what to think."

"So you know him then?" Xander asked Buffy4 as if he didn't already know the answer. "He's the Spike from your reality?"

Buffy4 nodded her head with slight excitement. "I'm positive."

"Well then it might be a good idea for the rest of you to point out your Spikes so we can figure out which one belongs to vamp world," Gunn suggested while the remaining Spikes were still looking around dazed and confused.

"The Spike from our world has a soul," Angel2 explained.

"This is very odd, and I'm extremely bloody confused, but I think I'm the guy you're looking for," Spike2 responded. "With the soul having and all."

"He's the one," Buffy2 confirmed with surety in her voice.

"Well you see now," Spike started proudly, "This isn't the only universe where I've got a soul. Guess it was meant to be."

"I've got a soul also, mates," Spike4 said as he raised his hand slightly.

The original Spike's smile brightened even wider at this statement.

"Well I've got a chip," Spike1 offered defensively. "No soul, but I don't kill humans anymore. My lady wouldn't quite like that," he added with a small smile.

"Bloody wankers," the final Spike responded with a disappointed shake of his head. "I guess I'm the only one proud to say that I've got no soul and no bloody chip in my head, although I did have both at one point in my unlife."

"Spike you idiot," Angel3 snapped. "Why didn't you try and run. You saw Buffy and I chained up, and now you're going to be in the same boat…moron."

"Yes," Spike3 responded, "I did see the two of you chained up over there, but what was I supposed to do with a bunch of bloody slayers around and these other soled yous and soled mes? I wouldn't stand a chance captain forehead."

Angel3's temper began to rise. He turned to Buffy3. "We really should have just staked him instead of removing his damn soul."

"Oh piss off," Spike3 retorted.

"Both of you just shut up," the original Buffy yelled in annoyance.

Angel1 and Angel4 took hold of each of Spike3's arms to contain him while Buffy1 stood at the ready if they needed backup.

Buffy slowly walked to Angel and whispered to him softly. "This is getting out of hand. We don't even have anymore restraints for Spike and if alternate us' keep coming out of that portal there's not even going to be enough room for us all in this warehouse."

Angel nodded his head. "We need to get everyone back to Wolfram & Hart. We have several holding cells and plenty of research material so we can figure out what's up with this portal and what we need to do about it."

"Agreed," Buffy responded. She then glanced quickly around the warehouse at the seemingly massive amounts of people crowded there. Then she turned back to Angel. "How are we going to get everyone out of here?"

Angel thought for a moment, and then looked over to Fred. "Fred, call the offices, get us some vans. We're taking everyone back to Wolfram & Hart where we can lock them up and figure this thing out," he instructed, shrugging his head towards Buffy3, Angel3 and Spike3 when referring to, 'them.'

Fred nodded her head as she took out her cell phone and dialed the number.

"I think that's a rather good idea," Wesley agreed. "Getting away from this portal may be exactly the right thing to do."

Angel and Buffy looked at him and waited for him to explain further.

"There's no way to be sure right now but I have a hunch that the reason alternate reality Buffies, Angels and Spikes are appearing from that portal may very well be because the three of you have been in this area the longest. You were all the first to arrive to check out the portal and it's entirely likely that your presence is what's pulling these people to us."

Fred nodded her head in agreement as she put the person she was talking to on hold for a moment. "Of course. This makes perfect sense. And if that's true, that also means that if we all continue to stay here we're most likely all going to be faced with our alternate selves in a matter of hours, or possibly less."

"Precisely," Wesley confirmed with a small smile.

"Well I vote we get the heck outta here then," Faith joined in. "Looking back on how I used to be as a person…I really don't think I wanna meet myself as a vampire."

"We can't just leave the portal unguarded though," Gunn insisted. "What if it's too late and the other us' come out anyway and we're not here to greet them. That could create some big problems."

"He's right," Angel4 agreed. "We shouldn't leave it unguarded. It's not safe."

Angel nodded his head in concurrence. He turned to Fred and luckily she was still on the phone. "Fred, tell them to also get a few teams out here to guard the place."

Fred nodded her head and continued her phone conversation adding what Angel had told her.

"Goody, guess we're goin on a road trip," Angel3 said slyly.

"Oh and Fred," Angel got her attention once again, "Tell them to bring tranquilizers. I don't want to take any risks with these three."

Buffy3 frowned and sent Angel3 a pouty face. "This world's no fun."

XXXXXX

When Angel's people arrived he instructed them to guard every entrance to the warehouse and to not go inside. He told the teams that if they heard anything out of the ordinary they were to call him immediately and not let anything in or out of the warehouse. When the objectives were clear Angel had Buffy3, Angel3 and Spike3 knocked out with tranquilizer guns and everyone proceeded back to Wolfram & Hart.

When everyone arrived back at the law firm the three dangerous vampires were immediately locked up in separate cells next to one another. Luckily the tranquilizers were still in effect.

Wesley and Fred immediately went to work on researching the portal, trying to figure out what they should do with it, and how they could send the alternate Buffies, Angels and Spikes back to their realities. Dawn, and even Xander and Andrew, had offered to help but Wesley and Fred assured them that they had it under control.

Gunn and Lorne both had some work they needed to get done, and frankly they were all too eager to do it. Like pretty much everyone involved they were a little creeped out about the whole situation.

Buffy also wanted Andrew elsewhere. The whole ride back consisted of nothing but annoying questions that no one could answer. Luckily, Robin offered to take him out. They decided that they would go somewhere and order some food to bring back for everyone.

Everyone else managed to cram into Angel's office. Luckily he had a fairly large office so everyone was fairly comfortably fit in. Angel, of course, sat at his desk with Buffy leaning against the wall right next to him. Dawn also stood next to her sister. Faith and Xander stood against the wall a few feet away on the other side of Angel's desk. Angel4 also stood a few feet away from Faith.

There was a couch at the far end of the office where Willow, Kennedy, Angel2 and Buffy2 all managed to fit. Angel2 had his arm protectively around Buffy2 as she laid her head on his chest. Kennedy and Willow were also snuggled up as close together as they could be, hand in hand.

Angel1 sat on the floor, leaning against the wall with Buffy1 sitting next to him. Buffy4 and Spike4 were also sitting on the floor against the wall but Buffy4 was sat in-between Spike4's legs. His arms were wrapped around her and even though they were sitting on the floor they both looked perfectly content.

Finally, the three remaining Spikes, Spike1, Spike2 and the original Spike, stood a few feet away from each other against the wall near the door. Even though they were all without a doubt Spike there were still subtle differences between them.

Spike1 was easy to spot because he was the only one of the four in the room that didn't have a soul and it showed in the way he dressed and the way he carried himself.

Spike2 was easy to pick out as well because he had slightly different hair from the others. Rather then having his hair slicked back and short he wore his slightly longer and let it curl out a little like it had when the original Spike had first gotten his soul back and become slightly insane.

Even Spike4 was easily distinguished from the others and it wasn't just because he was the one with Buffy. Spike4, along with Buffy4 and Angel4, had very dirty and tattered looking cloths. They all looked like they had been through hell. They're faces were hardened and the entire time since they'd come through the portal it was as if the three of them were all on high alert.

After everyone got as comfortable and as settled as they could, they got down to business.

"Alright," Angel began, "Wesley said that it might help things along if we find out exactly where things changed to make our lives different in your realities. He also said that figuring out more about the differences between all of our worlds could turn out to be of some help."

"Well I guess we already figured out where the change happened in vamp world," Faith offered. "I guess I never took the Orpheus when I fought Angelus. That must have been the change."

Angel nodded his head in agreement. "Right, so at least we know that one. I'm not all that eager to find out more about them just yet anyway."

"I second that," Buffy added.

"Well, we also know what the change was in their world," Dawn pointed out as she shrugged her shoulders towards Buffy1 and Angel1. "Faith never killed anyone."

Faith couldn't help but smile inwardly at the thought. At least in one world she hadn't screwed up. It felt somewhat comforting to know.

"Good point," Willow agreed.

Kennedy started gently stroking the red head's hair. Willow smiled sweetly at her and in response Kennedy pulled her in closer.

Spike1 had been watching all of this very carefully and seemed to be getting a little agitated. Before anyone else could speak he broke from his position against the wall and spoke up first.

"What's all this then?" he asked slightly irritated as he pointed to Willow and Kennedy.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked with confusion.

"You two," Spike1 continued. "What the bloody hell is with all the touchy feely stuff between you two?"

Kennedy sent the vampire an annoyed glare. "She's my girlfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Spike1 responded. "You're a lesbian in this world?"

Before Willow could answer, Buffy1 also jumped in on the conversation. "You are?" she asked with interest. Then she turned towards the original Buffy. "Well that must have made things a lot easier for you. I wish my Willow was gay."

"Huh?" Willow and Buffy both asked in unison as they looked at each other with confusion and then back at Buffy1 and Spike1.

"Oh," Buffy1 said as she realized what the two friends might be thinking. "No…I didn't mean that the two of you are together in my world. I meant it must have been easier for you with Willow going through the same thing you were going through…yah know…with coming out and all."

"What?!" all three of the other Buffies asked in unison.

"Wait a second," Xander interrupted. "Coming out…as in gay coming out?"

"You're gay?" Buffy2 asked with shock.

Buffy1 looked around suddenly feeling a little self-conscious as everyone continued to stare at her. "Ok then," she said nervously, "Guess I'm the only one of us who is then."

Faith couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face. She glanced over at the original Buffy and said, "Dang B. You're like the last person on earth I'd ever expect to swing that way."

Before Buffy could defend herself, Buffy1 spoke up again. "And you're the last person I'd expect to be surprised about that," she said to Faith with a slight scoff.

The dark slayer looked slightly confused at first but then realized that the remark was most likely implying that she was also gay. She quickly raised her hands in defense.

"Hey tootsie roll I'm as straight as it gets," Faith responded defensively.

Buffy1 shook her head slightly with a sly smile. "Not in my world you're not."

Faith and Buffy quickly looked over at each other as they both realized what Buffy1 might be implying. Then an uncomfortable tension immediately started to build between them.

"Wait just a second here," Xander spoke up again in regards to Buffy1. "Are you saying that in your world, not only are you gay, but you're gay with Faith?"

Buffy1 rolled her eyes at Xander's way of putting what he was trying to ask. "If your asking me if Faith is my girlfriend in my world then the answer is no," she responded in a bitter ton.

All three of the other Buffies and Faith all seemed to exhale with relief at the exact same time.

"At least…not anymore," Buffy1 added with a little more bitterness, but also a hint of sadness that went undetected by most, just when the other Buffies and Faith thought they were off the hook.

"You've gotta be kidding, right?" Buffy2 asked with disbelief. Of all of the Buffies and pretty much everyone else in the room she seemed the most shocked, which was a pretty big deal considering that everyone else in the room was also extremely stunned.

"Of all people? After everything she's done?" Buffy2 continued.

"You've gotta remember though luv, she didn't do any of that stuff in our world," Spike1 reminded everyone. Then he changed his attentions once again to Willow and Kennedy. "Now can we get back to the fact that my girlfriend has a girlfriend in this world?"

"What?!" Willow, Kennedy and a few others said at the same time.

Xander shook his head back and forth intensely. "No…no there is no way that Willow would ever date you," he insisted with a not so nice emphasis on the word 'you.'

Angel2 nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, Willow is gay in our world too…and even if she wasn't she wouldn't give you the time of day."

"She's with Kennedy in our world too," Buffy4 added.

"Well then my Red must be entirely different from all of yours, mates, because there is no way that she's into woman, and she did give me the time of day," Spike1 challenged. "We've been together for about three and a half years now. On and off a few times that is."

All of the others, aside from Buffy1 and Angel1 who had already known all of this, being part of the same world, were completely baffled. In one world Buffy was gay and had dated Faith, and Spike was with Willow. In another, Angel was human, married to Buffy and they had a son. In the third they were all vampires and in the last it looked as if showers and laundry machines didn't exist.

The last reality was the one that they all knew the least about but they were all quickly learning that all of their worlds were completely different. Some of the differences were good, some were bad, and some simply kept them all wondering how and why.

There was a lot that these people didn't know about each other, but curiosity was causing them all to want to know more and more.