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Warning: This piece of literature contains scenes with violence, strong language and
religious references that may be considered offensive. Parental disgression should be
applied.

Chapter 6: Third chance…


Angel hammered both stakes home as the vampires tried to rush him again. They
turned to dust.

"Ohhh, my head", Xander moaned from the ground in front of the vampires car.

"Are you sure you`re okay", Cordy asked and helped her boyfriend to his feet.

"Yeah, they just dropped me like I had never fought a battle before", Xander complained
and leaned against the big car. Cordelia suddenly eyed it greedily, while Angel stepped
up to stand behind her.

"Were those the last for the night?", Xander asked the vampire.

"Yeah, I think we should get home now. You both have classes to attend and Willow
could need my help researching the reason for the large number of evils in LA", Angel
suggested.

"Couldn`t we keep their car?", Cordelia whined as they walked away.

"I don`t think that is a good idea. There are probably a lot of criminal acts associated
with it. I don`t want the police to look to close at my detective agency. I am not really an
american citizen you now", Angel explained, while they walked towards his car.

"I thought Doyle was creating a safe front for you", Xander commented.

"Doyle is barely mentally capable of walking upright most of the day. He couldn`t create
a false ID, unless someone gave it to him", Cordelia despised the demon man with a
passion bordering on homocidal after he had made a pass at her. "Why couldn`t the
powers that be send Whistler like they did the last time?", she said. They had met the
much more powerful rogue demon, when Acathla had popped up over a year ago.

"I don`t know. Maybe they had something important, which needed doing", Angel said.

On a rooftop overlooking the scene of the battle a cloaked figure disappeared back into
the night. Carrying news for it`s master.

Faith lived in a rundown motel in a badly kept room. Buffy didn`t really care though. The
Slayer had offered her to bunk on the floor there, while she went about her usual night
patrol.

"Finally a moments peace", Buffy thought and sat on floor. She was getting ready to
sleep, when a strange feeling overcame her. It reminded her of the strange fuzzy
feeling, she experienced, when having prophetic dreams back when she was still alive.
Suddenly a white glow shone upon her and voice spoke: "Are you well my earth bound
sister?".

Buffy recognized the voice of the one who had helped her with the decision to become a
warrior for the forces of good. She also knew that it had spoken the truth. She was no
longer entirely human, but a mighty force of good set in a human form. "I am feeling
good yes. You wanted to speak to me", she said and looked at the woman no one but
her could sense.

"Yes. Your mission doesn`t seem to lay here in Sunnydale. What do you have in mind
Buffy", it glided closer and sat besides her.

Buffy smiled and looked at the woman. Buffy saw the life this woman had lived before
choosing the path of light. "I will seek out the people important to me, before I died.
Then I will guide them towards their individual purpose, while defeating all evil that I
encounter on the way", she explained lapsing into the mode of speak common to the
Others.

"Good. What about your mother?", she asked.

"I know that I`ll see her again soon, but it won`t be here in Sunnydale. My friends and
family has all moved to Los Angeles. I will seek her there", Buffy explained.

"You have always been blessed with prophetic senses. What does the near future
hold?", the woman asked.

"I don`t know. The visions have never come to me by my own will before. But I think I`ll
try to invoke them after our conversation is over", Buffy explained.

The white light dimmed. "Goodbye my sister. We will talk from time to time", the Angelic
being said and Buffy felt a warm hands caress her chin, before the room returned to
normal.

Buffy looked around and smiled. "Let`s see if I can tune in to the future", she joked,
closed her eyes and relaxed. Soon she fell asleep. And a vision came to her.

Buffy walked atop a high rise building the street far far below her. She was walking
along side clear plate glass windows. The curtains were drawn. A window was open.
She walked inside the dark room. People in suits were having a meeting. A demon sat
at the end of the table. Buffy looked at a letterhead of the papers they were all either
carrying or looking at. "Wolfram and Hart" stood at the top. "You!", someone said. Buffy
wheeled about. Now she was standing in an alley. Demons were advancing upon her
friends. They wouldn`t be able to win. Angelus and his lady Darla lead the attackers.
The dream accelerated. It was coming to her in flashes now. Pictures of old enemies,
friends and family. Flames and screams resounded. Everything stopped. She was
standing and looking at small monument. "To the brave souls, who fought and died at
the Stand of Los Angeles, 1999-2000", below hundreds of names of people she knew or
should have known was written. Buffy turned slowly and looked upon a world ruled by
Demons. Red clouds filled the sky and human souls screamed in unison at the demons
passing below their prisons in iron cages. "You must listen. You must not be blinded by
your new self. Be Buffy", a voice said.

Buffy awoke with a surprised gasp. She knew that time was short and of the essence.

"Wow, peace", Faith yelped in surprise as Buffy jumped to her feet and grapped her
bag.

"I have to leave. Thanks for letting me stay", Buffy said and went into the bathroom.

"Hey don`t mention it", Faith yelled and fell back onto the bed. She needed sleep. The
last patrol had been rough. There had been a lot of vampires around.

A little later Buffy walked out of the motel. She needed to go to LA and help her friend
and her one true love before evil forces destroyed the hope of the world leaving it
without human defenders.

Two nights later.

"Listen Xander. I am not liking this one bit. We moved here, so that we could get away
from the demons and evils in Sunnydale. Then Angel gets into the detective business.
And I am down with that. But why does he and Doyle constantly need our help. And why
are we even helping?", Cordelia whined like she always did, when they were on their
way into some unknown situation.

"Because he doesn`t ask us to pay rent", Xander answered and looked to the silent
redhead. He felt that separation from Oz wasn`t doing Willow any good. She had thrown
herself into intensive academia at day and studying the black arts at night. Willow was
becoming like Angel silent and brooding. She had no other friends than Angel, Cordelia
and himself. Just like Cordy she couldn`t stand the visionary halfdemon Doyle. And
worse they didn`t spend time together either, because of their conflicting schedules. In
fact this excursion was the first time he had seen her all week.

"So how are you?", he asked Willow as they walked towards the dark and hopefully
abandoned building.

She smiled slightly and said: "I`m okay. I miss home a little but I am mostly too busy to
notice". Xander nodded. They reached the old wooden door. It was open.

"He`s here. Just as Doyle thought he would be", Xander said.

"If those strange blue demons hasn`t also attacked him like they tried to do with Doyle
and Angel", Cordelia said and reminded everyone why Angel and Doyle wasn`t with
them. Doyle had been attacked by a large group of blue scaly demons on the way out
the door of the agency, while they had tried to do the same trick using Angel`s sewer
entrance. But Willow`s protective spell had blocked their entrance on the sewer side
and Angel had been able to save Doyle from getting killed on their doorstep. But the
demons had lingered in the sewers and now lay siege upon their home. Angel had
called the University. Now they were hoping that Whistler, Angel`s old ally, would be
able to help them. Either with information or physically the last option being preferred.

The three friends walked inside and looked around. The strange being was rumor to
have a lair on the first floor. Xander walked up the creaking old wooden stairway. "I
hope, we`re not walking into a trap", Cordy whispered again. Willow responded by
drawing a pouch of spell components.

They opened the door and looked inside. Someone had lived in the room and not to
long ago. A still smoking cigarette lay in an ashtray and several half full bottles of
alcohol stood on a small fold out table besides an old bed.

"I don`t think he`s home", Cordy said and turned to leave.

"Cordelia stay here", Xander said harshly and she sneaked back inside.

"We`ll wait for him", Xander declared and sat on the bed.

"I`ll go move the car into the alley, so that no one recognizes it", Willow said and turned
to leave.

"Willow, we shouldn`t split up like this", Xander cautioned.

"I can take care of myself, my magic is very strong. We really don`t want any of the
demons to find us or track us here do we?", she asked. Xander shook his head.

"Good. I have some stuff in the car, which can make this room demon proof until
Whistler gets here. I forgot to bring it", Willow smiled in apolegy and left.

"If he`s still alive", Cordy whispered and rolled her eyes.

Willow walked quickly down the alley. She wasn`t as confident as she had tried to
convince the others she was. She was in fact very afraid. However she really needed
the things in her car. She once again wished Giles and Jenny had come home from
their holiday, but that would take a few days. They would have been able to help them
immediately. Suddenly two dark shapes jumped down from above. One landed in front
of the young witch, the other behind her.

Willow recognized the blue things. She had seen Wendy fight and nearly lose her life to
one of these a few months before her death. Willow Rosenberg had only one chance to
survive. Quickly she reached into her pocket to gather the components. She opened her
mouth to speak the lethal incantation, when the front demon punched her in the gut.
Willow screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground in burning pain. Then an almost
inhuman scream of rage resounded throughout the alley.

Willow heard light feet landing in front of her. The demon growled deep and yelled in it`s
inhuman language at it`s enemy. Willow found hope. Maybe Faith or Whistler or even
that new Slayer had come to save them. Maybe they would live to survive this attack.
Willow heard the demon behind her jump. There was the sound of someone moving
and then a mighty crash. Then someone punched the demon hard. Willow could clearly
hear it`s surprised gasp, followed by deeper gasps for air. She could hear something
that more or less sounded like a rattlesnake, followed by a deep sigh. Something fell to
the ground in front of her. She still couldn`t move for the pain.

Buffy let go of the demon she had just strangled. It`s partner was no smarter and tried to
rush her as well. She had thrown it into a dumpster, but it simply ignored the pain and
ran towards her. It opened it`s large toothy maw and jumped forward to bite a large
chunk out of her. But Buffy was ready for it. She quickly stepped forward with her arms
held out in front of her. She easily caught each of the monster`s open jaws. For a
moment her new muscles struggled with the very very strong jaw muscles of the
monster. Then something snapped. The demon howled as it fell to the asphalt. Buffy
walked behind it and casually took the cover of a manhole. Using it as a blade she
hammered it into the demon`s neck until it stuck in the asphalt.

Willow heard the huge snap and then a series of wet sounds followed by a strange
clang of metal against stone. She was able to move. But she had spots before her eyes
and was very whoosy. A warm hand grabbed her shoulder and very carefully lifted her.
Willow felt like the warmth of the touch was spreading all through her body.

Xander and Cordy ran out the door, knowing that they could be running to their deaths,
but caring too much for their friend to not do it. They were met with the prone form of
Willow and two massacred demons. A longhaired blond girl was kneeling over Willow.
They stopped dead in their tracks. They had a deeply ingrained sense to keep veil of
secrecy about their nightly adventures and the existence of demons in the world.

Willow felt much better very suddenly, the pain subsiding. She rose helped by her
mysterious savior.

Xander and Cordelia saw Willow rise from the ground as they got closer. Xander felt
shiver run up and down his spine. And Cordy gasped as she recognized the moves and
hair of the girl.

Willow lifted her eyes to look at her savior. And almost fainted on the spot again. Before
her stood an impossibility. A girl long dead. A girl, who had returned from the dead once
before as some kind of unnatural born again punisher of evil. A girl, who was standing
before her and smiling.

Xander couldn`t believe his eyes. This girl was almost godlike. He had seen her drown
and revive only come back stronger and able to slay the Master. He had seen her
second death in a meaningless fire, only to meet her again as a force of retribution
returning to slay Spike. And now in the very moment he had expected Willow to be
dead. She had returned again. Buffy simply wouldn`t stay dead.

"Hi, Will", Buffy used her favorite nickname for her best friend and gave her a hug.

Willow almost forgot to hug her back in surprise. Her friend`s body was warm and
somehow she felt like something she had missed for a long time had returned to her.
Suddenly Xander yelled in surprise: "Damn it Summers, don`t they teach you in dead
school to not come back and haunt your friends".

Buffy turned and saw a geeky boy turned to nice looking man. Besides him stood a
slightly more subdued in dress quality if not person Cordelia. They were both older and
had gained some of that strange confidence that surrounded grownups. She looked at
Willow again. Her hair was short and a more carrot like red than she remembered.
Willow seemed not only mature but also wise and cool in a strangely aloof way.

Willow looked at the girl. She seemed not a day older than when she had died. Her hair
was much longer reaching all the way down her back but otherwise it was the same
Buffy. Only her eyes were really different. If eyes were mirror of the soul, the
Messenger`s eyes had felt intensive, powerful, sad and angry all at once or at least that
was what Angel, Xander and Giles had agreed upon. This girl eyes carried instead
Buffy's good old sense of humor, fake innocence and very early maturity but
somewhere along the way that had been combined a deep wisdom and sense of
purpose. There was power and confidence in there, more than in her Slayer days in
fact. Willow`s hyperactive mind went into overdrive. "How is it possible? Is the
Messenger needed more than once?", she blurted.

Buffy smiled her trademark crooked smile and looked at the girl. Xander and Cordelia
also stood in clear attention awaiting her explanation. Buffy took a deep breath.

"I am not the Messenger anymore. It`s not a time limited mission this time, quite the
opposite actually. I was sent to Earth because of several things. The forces of good
decided that it was time for them to have more than just two warriors of good on the
world. And they wanted to send someone, who had experience as a Slayer, but hadn`t
been meant to die so early. Wendy didn`t want the job, so I choose to do this instead",
she explained.

"So you`ve gotten a new lease on life. Man Buff, I want your lawyer, when I get to
heaven", Xander quipped.

"Not like that. It`s not a new life. I had to give up my human existence and life in that
fire. No, I am what you in biblical terms would call a Warrior Angel. I think I like the term
Seraph the best. Even if they destroy this body I would have to return to fight on Earth
again and again. I am here to protect and guide humanity. And I`ll continue to do so
until the day the forces of evil are banned from this world forever", she said and walked
out of the alley towards Willow`s car.

"And you just happened to be here doing you mission fighting evil", Cordelia asked
pointedly.

"No, I have been trying to track you down for days. I finally got wind of you, when I was
torturing one of those blue things that infest this town. He told me, whom they thought
you`d run to. But also that you would be too late, because they have kidnapped
Whistler, he knows too much. Someone is pissing off the Powers That Be very much
right now", Buffy explained.

"Yeah, we guessed as much. They also tried to kill Angel and his demonic seer Doyle.
But we have no idea, what`s going on and they have harried us too much for us to have
a chance finding out", Willow explained and leaned against her car.

"How come it`s always worlds hanging in the balance, when we meet", Xander quipped
and smiled at Buffy. He always handled surprises with dark humor.

"So what`s up?", Buffy asked and sat on the hood of the car.