Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me.

Travelodge Hotel LAX – Los Angeles – March 8th 1999

Wesley-Wyndam-Pryce returned to his hotel room after a light lunch. He had wisely decided it would not do at all to be arriving at Sunnydale with jetlag when meeting his new charges so a day spend recuperating from his long flight from Heathrow was very much the way to go. He wanted to appear well-rested, efficient and sharp when introducing himself to both the Summers girl and the reputably unruly Miss Lehane and this establishment was both reasonably priced and merely a stone's throw from the airport.

In the morning he world hire a suitable automobile and then make his way to Sunnydale but until then he would spend his time constructively he decided. There were still passages of the latest addition of the revised Slayer Handbook he had yet to commit to memory and his pocket copy of Bristow's Demon Index was always worth a leaf through he thought to himself as he unlocked his door and stepped inside his hotel room, the bounce in his step and the smile on his face immediately coming to an abrupt end when a hand holding what appeared to be a damp rag clamped itself over his face. "Chloroform" he realised as he sank swiftly into unconsciousness.

Waking up some time later, sat on the floor propped back against the bed and finding himself nauseas, bound and gagged Wesley wished he had taken his mother's advice to be more careful in America. His imagination began to run wild as he recalled hearing urban legends of unwary travellers having their kidney's surgically removed and he dearly hoped that the next time he woke up it wouldn't be lying naked in a bath full of ice-cubes.

'Don't bother struggling' a slightly gravely but strangely familiar voice with a fading clipped British accent spoke up from the small en-suite bathroom. 'We're much too good at tying knots after all those years in the Boy Scouts' it said as a figure stepped out rubbing its hands on a small towel which it carelessly threw back into the bathroom after finishing with it.

Almost petrified, Wesley stared and tried to say something but his voice was completely muffled by the gag. "Imposter" he thought, some kind of magic glamour or perhaps even a shape-changing demon he reasoned looking at his near-doppelganger. It wasn't hardly a perfect likeness however, his double looked years older, unkempt hair, world-worn with a couple of days stubble on his face and a shocking scar around his throat.

'I was originally just going to kill you and hide the body but it seemed a tad too cold-hearted even for me' the scarred duplicate of Wesley told the real one tied up on the floor. 'I'll still need rid of you permanently however which I'm afraid means you'll be going on a one-way trip to another reality' he continued apologetically. 'Don't worry, I'm fairly adept at opening mystical portals these days and I'll send you on your way with a survival kit, some basic weaponry and of course some reading material' he said. 'The collected works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy's War and Peace and a few other lengthy classics that'll help you while away the years' he went on. 'Oh, and I think you'll find the recipe book "1001 ways to cook shrimp" particularly useful' he added with a smile.

Wesley struggled against his bonds quickly finding it a futile effort. Yes those were very good knots he was forced to admit as he returned his attention to his captor who was now pacing the room.

'They were only supposed to send me back a few months' the other Wesley said, almost as if he was talking to himself, which he was of course in a way. 'And they call themselves wizards' he said bitterly. 'When I arrive I buy a newspaper and I'm back in the last century' he growled. 'Well at first I considered just laying low for a few years but that got boring fast let me tell you and then finally I thought, what the hell I might as well begin again from scratch, do it all right from day one' he said.

Clearly the ramblings of a madman, Wesley thought, trying to see if he could chew through his gag.

'Well after I made the decision everything really slid into place' the doppelganger said, nodding to himself. 'I made a few plans, re-established some old contacts, who had of course never actually met me before as far as they were concerned, and then waited for you to arrive so we could swap places as it were' he told the Wesley on the floor. 'I just can't pass for you perfectly in the physical sense any more though which would have been a bit of a bugger if I hadn't remembered about Draconian Katras' he continued, picking up an artefact which had been resting on a small chest of drawers. 'You get my body and I get yours, don't be too put-out though, this body is in rather better shape than yours despite a few more years and the odd scar, it's going to take me months to build up some decent muscle again' he observed. 'Oh and for the record you were going to be a bloody awful watcher' he stated before looking at the artefact again. 'Right then' he said brightly, 'let's get on with it shall we' he declared. 'I'll try and remember to send you a few more books and supplies every so often and I am sorry that you're mostly getting the raw end of the deal here' he apologised.

Wesley put all his strength into once again trying to loosen the ropes that tied him but failed just as miserably as before, this must be some kind of strange dream he considered. Perhaps I'm still sleeping fitfully on the plane to America and my mind is generating this bizarre scenario he wondered.

'I'll send most of your clothes with you' the other Wesley told him. 'My fashion sense has changed over the years' he said, opening the wardrobe where Wesley had carefully hung all of his suits and casting a disparaging look over them. 'I nearly forgot' he exclaimed suddenly. 'You'll find a copy of my journal amongst the items I'm sending you through the portal with, it'll answer most of your questions as to why it all came to this and I think you might enjoy the passage where I describe emptying an automatic pistol into father' he said with a chuckle as he went to retrieve the book of spells he had stolen from arch mage Cyvus Vail a few weeks ago. He had made sure to frame that other odious tosspot and sorcerer Greenway for the crime of course. 'Don't worry, portal travel looks far more dangerous than it really is' he told his younger more naive and probably saner self as he opened the book and started reading through the required incantations needed to carry out the rest of his plan.

He would head for Sunnydale this evening, he had a few things to deal with before meeting the slayers at the school tomorrow and there was no sense in wasting time.

Note from the Author:

I know Peggy Sue fanfics are hardly original (my Compelled stories are basically those at first) but Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Series 5 Angel takes the place of his earlier self in Series 3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer... just think about it! I've got enough story sketched out for the first few parts which might end up being the entire Fic but if there is enough interest I may continue the tale, albeit intermittently.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce first appeared in BtVS episode 3.14 Bad Girls and he was a long way from becoming the man he was a few years later. Here we get to see how the most ruthless son-of-a-bitch in the Buffyverse does things if thrown back to a far less dark period of his life (although he was about as much use as a chocolate teapot).

Faith used a Draconian Katra left to her by Mayor Richard Wilkins to swap bodies with Buffy in BtVS episode 4.15 This Year's Girl. Here Wesley is using one to swap bodies with his earlier self before dumping the version of him who should be in 1999 through a portal to another dimension. Cyvus Vail was a sorceror with strong links to Wolfram & Hart and the Circle of the Black Thorn. Greenway was another sorcerer (and W&H client) who escaped justice in AtS episode 5.12 You're Welcome by ritually murdering five nuns as a means to open a portal to an alternate universe.