Kai returned to his empty living room and opened the door to his bedroom. Ash was standing inside, looking wide-eyed.

"I wouldn't have believed that if I hadn't seen for myself. You just disappeared... like magic!" He hesitated. "It wasn't just a magic trick, was it?"

Kai smiled ruefully. "I thought you might wonder something like that. Here's an object I brought back from my world," he said, holding out his mobile phone with a flourish. "I bet you won't have seen one of these before."

Naturally enough there was no Wi-Fi reception but there was enough to see to convince Ash he was looking at something alien. He handed it back, reluctantly. "I wish I could go to your world, it must be wonderful."

Kai grimaced. "Earth is probably like anywhere else. Some of it is wonderful and some of it isn't! We have some amazing technology, like the phone, but we also have a lot of wars and violence. I think this world, here, is pretty good, actually," added Kai, looking at Ash as he spoke.

Ash was looking down at the phone and didn't notice. "Is there any way of discovering whether I have a double there or not?"

"There are a couple of ways. I can take a photo—an imagegram—of you and run it through our facial recognition program. That only works, of course, if your double is in our system somewhere."

Ash was staring at him with a blank expression, and Kai hurried on, unwilling to embark on detailed technical explanations.

"And there's another way, which we could try if you like. Oddly enough, this method was the one being tested when the Butcher escaped."

He picked up the transporter and stood with his back to Ash. "Press your finger, here on this button. There's a tiny needle which will take a blood sample and analyse it. If you have a living match on Earth, the light should glow red. Don't press too hard though, or you'll activate the machine."

Ash didn't hesitate. He pressed his forefinger to the button, wincing as he felt the needle. The light glowed red. Ash stared.

"Try it again!" pressed Kai, trying not to get too excited. Visions of them travelling together, between Earth and Gaia flashed into his head.

Ash tried the test with the forefinger of his other hand—with the same result. He didn't look as thrilled as Kai had expected.

Ash looked at Kai and chewed his bottom lip. "Actually, now that I know there's another me somewhere, it feels really weird. I'm not sure that I like it."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, from what I've seen it's only the physical aspects which are identical. The personalities can be quite different. Opposite, almost. Just look at Kayden and me. He's obviously in love with Sandra, and I'm-" Kai broke off abruptly, his cheeks flushing pink.

"Yes? You're what?" asked Ash, his gaze very intent.

"I'm in love with you," confessed Kai, looking directly at Ash.

"Are you? Truly? I wasn't sure... I mean, I wasn't sure how much was real and how much was..." Ash's voice trailed away.

"Here, let me show you," said Kai, putting the transporter back in the leather bag and kicking it under the bed. He took Ash's face between his hands. "This is real," he said, and kissed him, hard.

~~~

The Butcher had got bored waiting in the street for either Calvin or Ewans to leave the building. What the fuck were they doing in there that took so long?

To fill in the time, he broke into one of the apartments on the ground floor. Disappointingly, there was no-one home but at least he was able to make himself a cup of tea and a sandwich while he waited. A bottle of whisky on the sideboard provided a quick pick-me-up.

Eventually he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He peered out through the narrow gap between the door and the frame.

It was the detective.

Damp hair and a satisfied smile on his face were dead giveaways as to what he had just been doing. The Butcher hesitated as Calvin crossed the hall to the front door. He would be easy prey, totally unsuspecting... but then, so would the other man, upstairs.

Calvin's hand touched the doorhandle and the Butcher let him go.

This was too good an opportunity to miss. Ewans would be alone in his apartment, and with any luck, he might even be in the bath. The Butcher grinned widely at the thought.

He waited impatiently for the door to click shut behind the detective, then quickly mounted the stairs, keeping carefully to the outside of the tread. He paused outside the door to Ewans' apartment, listening. Silence. He took a quick look up and down the corridor, confirming the absence of any witnesses and gently turned the door handle.

He smiled, his blood heating in anticipation. This was his lucky day, the door was unlocked. He slipped inside the room and closed the door behind him, turning the key in the lock. His eyes took in the empty room at a glance. The door to the tiny bathroom was ajar, showing another empty space, though he could see the floor was wet and a towel hung over the side of the bath. That left the bedroom. Too much to hope for, that Ewans would still be lying in bed, but... The Butcher crept forward.

The door was not latched. Silently, he eased the knife from its sheath and prodded the door inward with the toe of his boot.

Ewans was standing in the middle of the room with his trousers on and one arm in his shirt. He turned around, alerted by the movement to greet his visitor, the welcoming smile wiped from his face by appalled recognition.

To the Butcher's astonishment, he dropped immediately to the floor and wriggled under the bed. What did the idiot think he was doing? He was hardly going to escape that way. He bent down and reached under the bed, grabbing for Ewans' foot. He kicked out and caught the Butcher on the nose, which was annoying but hardly effective with bare feet. The Butcher grabbed again, getting a firm grip on his ankle this time and yanked hard, dragging his victim out into the open. But instead of getting ready to fight him, Ewans was hanging on to some object he'd found under the bed. A leather bag. What-?

Fuck! He had a projector in there!

The Butcher slashed down with his knife, but it glanced off the projector, and spun out of his hand, landing on the other side of the room. There was no time to retrieve it, he had to stop Ewans activating the machine. He flung himself on top of the other man, hearing him grunt under his weight and grappled for his wrist.

They were nose to nose, each breathing heavily, in a travesty of an embrace.

Ewans was struggling, stronger than he had expected, but he was outmatched. The Butcher's powerful fingers tightened around his wrist, squeezing hard and banging his hand against the floor in an effort to make him drop the machine. He would smash it to smithereens and then he would take his time with Ewans. The man deserved a slow death.

Finally, he felt the bones break in the other man's wrist and heard his gasp of pain. Ewans dropped the device and stared defiantly up at his captor.

The Butcher smiled.

~~~

Down in the street, Ash was all the way to the corner before he realised he had left his pocket watch in Kai's bedroom. Damn, he really needed that watch. He turned back, smiling to himself. Maybe Kai would be ready for another round. Ash picked up the pace.

He was surprised to find the door locked, but he was certain Kai was still inside. He'd only been gone a few minutes and he hadn't seen him leave. He knocked on the door softly, then again a bit louder, but no-one answered.

"Kai? Are you there?"

"Ash? Help!" The last word was muffled but there was no mistaking the urgency in the cry. Ash put his shoulder to the door. Once. Twice.

Someone screamed.

Now frantic, Ash rammed the door one more time... and he was in.

Heart pounding, he raced into the bedroom but there was no-one there. The only things in sight were an empty leather bag and three drops of blood on the floor. His pocket watch was on the stand where he had left it.

Kai and his attacker had gone.

(Author's Note: Only one more chapter to go! Whoo Hoo!)