"If you were trapped in this reality alone without Cordelia, would you consider asking Jo out?" Zoe asked Xander, before he returned to Univille.

"No."

"Why not? On the surface, you two seem like you'd make a great pair. Don't get me wrong, she and Zane are great together and I love that one of my best friends is happy. But why wouldn't you consider asking Jo out? Is it the age difference?"

"No, as Pete and I have explained to Claudia, age isn't an issue if you're attracted to someone. At least not for either of us. Jo and I on paper look like we'd make a great pair. Interest in the military, knowledge of weapons. She's a kick ass bitch who scares most men. We have great conversations about weapons. Calm, rational discussions. No arguing, bickering, flirting or anything else. If I dated Jo I'd be bored before the end of the first date. There's no fire between us. Cordy and I have had fire between us since we were five years old. That's how long we've been bickering with each other. We bicker and we flirt and we discuss our feelings, some times calmly, some times at high volume. We know each other and understand each other. Jo and I could never be anything other then friends because we'd never go beyond the surface with each other. Just no interest in wanting to. How did you even find out I'm from a different reality? I know I didn't tell you."

"I over heard my dad and Jo talking."

"You 'over hear' things alot?"

"Yes. Got to go, bye. Nice to meet you."

Xander looked over at Jack and said. "You want to bet Jo knows every time Zoe 'over hears' something?"

"No. Well, thanks for visiting Eureka. I hope your game of stump the scientist, means I don't have to deal with as many things going blooey as I usually do. Have a safe flight back."

The first thing Xander did was find Cordelia. She was chatting with Myka and Claudia about Myka's recent date with Pete. Xander took a moment to just soak in the sight of her. Even just a couple of days apart had him missing her. She sensed him and looked up and flashed that brilliant smile of hers at him. He was home, because Cordelia was his home.

The next six months were happy ones for both Xander and Cordelia. They investigated cases, they brought back alot of dangerous artifacts and they had fun with the other members of this version of a Scooby gang. They called Thor and Artemis every Saturday when they weren't working a case. All that came to a crashing halt one morning when Cordelia noticed a strange tremor in her hand.

"Xander, something's wrong with my hand." She showed him the odd way it was vibrating.

"It's like you have multiple hands superimposed on each other. I've never seen anything like it. Does it hurt?"

"Yes. Xander, Major Carter said her duplicate had horrific seizures when she came through the Mirror. What if - ."

"The universe is noticing the connection between you and this reality's Artemis?"

"Yes. Does that mean it's time for us to go?"

"I'm afraid it is. We knew our time here would be limited. I think time has just caught up to us."

"You think we can come back?"

"For brief visits, yes. But I don't think we'll be able to stay for long. The universe is aware of you and your connection to Artemis in this reality now. And we can't go back to our own reality until we're ready to be gods, for the same reason. So all we can do is move on."

"We've been happy here, Xander. Both of us have. You could stay if you wanted to."

"Don't ever ask me to leave you, Cordy. It's not happening. You're my home."

She leaned against him. "You're my home too, Xander. I guess we have to tell the others don't we?"

"Yeah, leaving without saying goodbye isn't an option."

They called a meeting at Leena's and quietly informed the others that it was time for them to go.

"You're sure?" Claudia asked. Cordelia showed them her hand which was vibrating again. "Entropic cascade failure. You're right, it's time for you go."

"You're sure it's not caused by an artifact?" Pete asked.

"We haven't had a case in a week. Delayed effects, especially after more then a week are rare, according to the manual." Cordelia said softly. "And I feel like my insides are starting to vibrate too."

"Her hand looks like Claudia started to look when she was trying to save Joshua from the pocket dimension he was trapped in." Artie said. "Because the effects of the artifact were causing them to blend together into one being. Freeing Joshua was the only way to save them both. I think they're right. I think it's time they moved on. Doesn't mean we won't miss you."

"We can come back." Xander told them. "The control device doesn't keep the coordinates of different realities, but since there's a mental component, we can think of you guys and it'll bring us back here. We were discussing it. We probably wouldn't be able to stay long, since the universe is now aware of the connection between Artemis in this reality and Cordelia, but we can still visit."

"Then you better damn well come back for a visit." Pete said fiercely.

"I agree." Myka said.

"So do I." Jinx put in. Artie, Claudia and Leena agreed as well.

Xander and Cordelia found themselves in the middle of a group hug. Then they stepped back and Xander took Cordelia's hand in his. He pushed the button on the control device. An electric tingle and the world shifted.