Time After Time
 
 
Author: Alicia
Email: LadyAngel@buffymail.com
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Not sure, but I'll just say everything at the moment...
Summary: Buffy dies before her time and she is reborn, so she can complete her destiny...
Disclaimer: Do I look like Joss Whedon to you???
Notes: The first few parts take place when Buffy was a child...
Notes: This is in response to Kelly Rowe's challenge...
 
~ Piper and Leo (charmed) as Buffy's new parents.
~ New name Elizabeth, but makes everyone call her Buffy.
~ She must be a slayer and have Piper's power (freeze time).
~ Takes place 19 years after 'original Buffy's' death.
~ No one in Sunnydale realizes she's back, until Giles finds a prophecy.
~ She must be fully aware of her past life
~ She must seek out the Scoobies and Angel Investigations gang.
~ Must fight and kill the demon that killed her (with the Scoobies and the gang from LA).
~ Angel must be granted his humanity after the battle.
~ Buffy and Angel must end up together.

Couples: B/A, C/W, W/T, X/A or S/A.

At Least 4 Of The Following:

* Spike complaining there's no wheatbix left for his blood.
* Anya proclaiming all men should be eviscerated.
* Cordy insulting 'original Buffy' in front of 'new improved Buffy'.
* Wesley acting totally paranoid.
* Buffy dropping sarcastic hints about Thanksgiving (IWRY).
*Angel recognizing Buffy immediately, even though she's in a new body.
* Karaeoke and the song 'I wanna go back' by Troy Cassar-Daly.
*Buffy mocking Cordy's acting abilities.
*Buffy accidentally saying she likes her new parents (especially her mom) better in front of Joyce.
* Random Angel nakedness.
*The Scoobies freaking after witnessing Buffy's witchiness.
 
 
Prologue
 
"Come on, Piper!  Just another minute or two..." her husband, Leo encouraged.
 
Piper glared at the Whitelighter.  The doctor chuckled, "Listen to your husband, Mrs. Wyatt."
 
The witch cried out in pain as another contraction hit...
 
*~*~*
 
"Buffy, look out!" Angel screamed the warning to his beloved.
 
Buffy pulled back the stake from the crumbling vampire, turning around at her ex-lover's cry.  Too late was she, for the demon to her rear with the glowing blue eyes took the Slayer's head in his large hands and twisted her neck.
 
The body of Buffy Anne Summers fell to the concrete alleyway, the eyes open and lifeless.
 
"Noooo!" The agonized bellow of the vampire who had loved her in life, and now in death, echoed through the sudden stillness of the night...
 
*~*~*
 
"It's a girl!" came the doctor's announcement.
 
Piper and Leo laughed their joy.
 
A young nurse took the baby to clean her up.  "Have you decided on a name yet?" she asked.
 
The couple looked at each other.  "Elizabeth," Leo answered.
 
"Elizabeth..." Piper whispered in agreement.
 
Part One ~ 5 Years Later
 
For the third night in a row, Elizabeth Prudence Wyatt awoke screaming in the middle of the night.
 
It was her Aunt Phoebe who was the first to burst into the young witch's bedroom.  "Hey, sweetie, what's the matter?"  Elizabeth's youngest aunt crooned.
 
Elizabeth was crying.  "I miss Angel..." the child sobbed.
 
Prue rushed into the room, followed by Elizabeth's parents, Piper and Leo.
 
"Elizabeth, honey?  What's the matter?" Leo rushed forward to hold his only child.
 
The child began sobbing harder, shaking her head.  "Buffy!" she insisted.
 
"You want us to call you Buffy?" Prue asked her niece.
 
"My name is Buffy!" Elizabeth murmured insistently.
 
"Sweetie..." Phoebe began, laying her hand on her niece's shoulder.The youngest Charmed One tensed as an unexpected vision of the past filtered through her mind.
 
~*~Flash~*~
 
A teenage blond girl was wielding a sword against a dark-haired- man.  The two fought, until the girl knocked her opponent off his feet.
 
A sudden brightness in his eyes revealed a change in hi.  "Buffy?" he stood, confused.  "Where are we?"
 
"Angel?" the girl dared hope.
 
The couple embraced.  "I feel like I haven't seen you in months.  Everything's so muddled...I..."
 
**
 
The man called Angel fell to his knees and stared at his hand where his blood mingled with that of a demon's, then healed.
 
"I'm human..."
 
**
 
Just a touch was all it took to light the fire that had yet to dim, between them.  A meeting of the hands, leading to a thorough meeting of the flesh.
 
Buffy jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist as he backed her up against the refrigerator.  Their mouths devoured each other as they shed all worries and let themselves feel.
 
Angel moved them to the table, Buffy sweeping everything out of their way.  The former vampire fell on top of her as they came together on the very table that had, minutes ago, held them apart...
 
**
 
"I'll never forget..."
 
**
 
"Noooo!" Angel screamed as Buffy's lifeless body fell to the cold, hard ground.
 
~*~End Flash~*~
 
"Phoebe?  What's the matter?" Piper asked.
 
"What did you see?" Prue questioned.
 
Phoebe gasping for breath.  "Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer..."
 
"Vampires?" Piper was skeptical.
 
Leo turned to his wife.  "It's possible that Elizabeth is dreaming of this girl's life..."
 
"And death..." Phoebe whispered.  "She died the day that Elizabeth was born."
 
"So, this girl was really a Vampire Slayer?" Prue asked.
 
Leo shrugged.  "Probably,  I remember hearing about them.  These girls are amazing.  They fight evil until the day they die, then are reincarnated after a time as another Slayer, over and over.  The only power they have is added strength and accelerated healing.  It's a pity that they die so young.  Very rarely do they last more than a year..."  The Whitelighter looked resigned, as if really thinking about it made him depressed.
 
Elizabeth sniffled.  "I was the Slayer for seven years as Buffy Anne Summers.  Angel was a vampire, my lover and eternal love..." the five year old witch murmured in a sad, yet adult voice.
 
Phoebe was first to catch on.  "Oh!  So that's what it meant!"  At the blank faces, Phoebe elaborated.  "I saw a couple of different things.  But one stood out.  This 'Angel', he whispered, 'I'm human,'.  There were a few others.  He and Buffy fighting with swords, then something happened and he couldn't remember anything.  Another was later and he and Buffy were awkward about something, but then they were having sex on a table...
 
"The next scene was this Buffy crying that she'd never forget.  The final scene was of Angel crying over Buffy when she died..."
 
By the time that Phoebe had completely relayed her vision, her sisters looked incredibly shocked as Elizabeth softly sobbed...
 
Leo took one look at his heartbroken daughter and knew that no matter how much they would try to deny it, this was Buffy's soul.  The Halliwell sisters looked to him for guidance.  His face confirmed their worst fears.
 
Elizabeth Wyatt wasn't just a Halliwell witch, she was a reincarnated Slayer, and a Slayer once again...
 
Part Two
 
Leo stood before his superiors.  They considered him sympathetically.  "We had no idea that she was your daughter, Leo, otherwise we would have informed you.  Any Slayer, but most especially the one that is the soul of Buffy Summers is to be protected and properly instructed until the day she is called."
 
"So it is true," Leo murmured.
 
Their spokesman answered.  "Yes.  Slayers usually get a brief respite from their duties between incarnations.  There are five true Slayer souls in this universe, all others are just back-ups.  The soul of your daughter is one of these true souls.  For some reason, and more often than not, a sudden death, the true souls are overlooked, but in the case of your daughter...well, she controlled her reincarnation.
 
"She didn't want to leave her soulmate, Liam Angelus, nor did she want to leave the world unguarded.  It was her express desire to return and complete the battle she had died in, the coming End Of Days."  The higher being sighed.  "She is the purest of the five true souls, and the most dedicated.  Without her to fight the coming battle, our side may very well lose..."
 
He looked at Leo, and it almost seemed if his superior was pleading.  "Teach her, Leo.  Teach her the ways of the Charmed Ones and the ways of the Whitelighters.  Her Slayer self will show itself and she will remember, but it is up to you and the Charmed Ones to teach her the way of the true witch."
 
Leo nodded solemnly and orbed home.  Prue, Piper, Phoebe and 'Buffy' were seated in the living room waiting for him.  He sat down on a chair and beckoned his daughter over to him.  "Come here, sweetheart."
 
Buffy toddled over to her father and sat in his lap.  "Los Angeles..." she whispered.
 
"How did you know?"
 
She grinned up at her father.  "You're my Daddy, and I know that you wanna protect me...It's called 'Angel Investigations'..." she kissed his cheek and went back to Piper.
 
"I'll be back soon,"  Leo told his family as he orbed out.
 
*~*~*
 
In Los Angeles, a vampire sat in his office and was brooding for days on end.  He picked up a photograph of a beautiful, blond, laughing girl, maybe in her early twenties, and regarded it with a sad and longing gaze.
 
A brunette walked into the office and caught him staring at the picture.  She sighed sadly, then quietly backed out of the room.
 
One word escaped the vampire's lips as a lone tear escaped his eyes.  "Buffy..."
 
*~*~*
 
Leo left in seconds, the scene before him too painful to witness.  It hadn't sunk in that this vampire and his daughter were soulmates, not until he'd seen the depths of Angel's pain.
 
The Whitelighter knew what he had to do, but somehow, the thought of going through this demon's recount of Buffy's death seemed invasive to him.
 
*~*~*
 
The diary of the vampire known as 'Angel' disappeared seconds later as the demon in question left to see to a case.  The diary was returned before sunrise...
 
*~*~*
 
The Whitelighter placed the diary in front of him, before holding his hands high over the book, palms down, and waited.  Within seconds, the diary opened, page after page turning at high speed as the extremely personal information burned itself in Leo's memory.
 
Even he as Buffy's father, couldn't deny the bond that kept a tight hold on the couple.  Leo knew, that no matter what the future bought, that he, along with his wife and her sisters, would do whatever they could to ensure Buffy's continued safety, training and happiness were foremost in their minds...
 
*~*~*
 
Elizabeth 'Buffy' Wyatt sat in her bed, cuddled up with her bunny, Missy Erin.  The young witch cried silent tears into the soft fur of the stuffed animal she'd had since birth.
 
She remembered everything from her previous life as Buffy Anne Summers, but she didn't really understand it.  When she first woke up and remembered everything, it was Buffy Summers, Slayer, not her, Elizabeth Wyatt, witch, that spoke.
 
Buffy wasn't sure what was going to happen.  She knew that one day, she would be a Slayer again, and to a five year old, that was terrifying.  She remembered the vampires, the demons, all of the nights she had to go out and fight things.  To her young mind, as much as she wanted to help people like her Mommy, her Daddy, and her aunts, she didn't know if she wanted to die again, like last time.
 
One thing she did know, in this life, she was really loved.  She had her family to help her, not just stand around and scream at her.  She had a power, just like her Mom, so she could freeze the bad guys, and most importantly, she had a second chance with Angel.
 
Buffy wasn't quite sure what that meant, yet, but she knew that whatever happened, her life was set.  In just over a decade, she would be called again, but this time, she knew what she would fighting, and she would be more than prepared to kiss some demonic ass...
 
She wasn't going to let them get the better of her this time.
 
She'd bet her life on it...
 
Part Three ~ 14 Years Later
 
Buffy Wyatt concentrated on the dark being before her.  Her mother and her aunts were grouped behind her, waiting to back her up if need be.
 
Not that she ever did, anymore...
 
She kicked to large demon in the stomach and sent it flying.  She held up her hands and froze the thing and began to recite the spell that her Aunt Phoebe had written.
 
"Before me stands the seventh
Creature of the night.
Cease all visions of death,
And be gone from my sight."
 
Buffy repeated the spell four times before the demons head exploded and it's body disappeared.  She turned to her family.  "You know, I can't believe I spent years physically kicking ass, and now, all I have to do is say a few words and burn a few candles and herbs, and voila!  Instant dust.  Hmm...maybe I should have handed the Slayer gig over to Willow and just did the Wicca thing..."
 
Phoebe walked over to her niece and held her in a head lock.  "One of these days, kid, you're going to take being a witch seriously..." she chuckled.
 
Buffy flipped her aunt over onto the grass.  "Yeah, like you do, huh Aunt Phoebes?"
 
"Hey, I take it seriously!" she complained good-naturedly.
 
"Yeah, Phoebe, when you've got a seven foot demon chasing your butt around the house and you can't remember the spell..." Prue jumped in with a smile.
 
The four women started walking back to the car, their arms all linked, walking in a line.  "So, Buffy, what do you want for Christmas?" Phoebe asked with an impish grin.
 
Buffy laughed.  "We just had Christmas..."
 
Phoebe shrugged, still grinning.  "Oh well, I might actually buy presents early this year..."
 
"Or buy them late for last year..." Piper chuckled, it being traditional for Phoebe to send cards for birthdays and Christmas, always three days late.
 
The four woman got in the car, still laughing at joking at their own expense, but congratulating themselves on yet another job well done...
 
*~*~*
 
Buffy sat in her bedroom and looked around at the toys she still kept.  The all sat on shelves, or hung from on the window, smiling down at her.  There was one that caught her attention.
 
For as long as she could remember, she'd had that angel.  It wasn't your typical, run-of-the-mill angel with long blond hair.  No, it had short, dark hair and it was male.  It hadn't been store bought, she knew that.  Her family had made it for her, a charm for protection and good luck.
 
Buffy smiled at the thought.  Just the doll brought good luck.  Her guardian Angel.  Even though he didn't know it, she was coming home...her real home, in his comforting embrace.  That little doll that hung from her window was like a sign of hope for her, it always had been...
 
Her Aunt Phoebe had been the one to design the doll, knowing that her niece would like it.  The three sisters, the Charmed Ones, and their guardian, Leo, each contributed to the charm.  It had to be replaced each month, but it was always the same.  Just looking at the poppet, or just thinking about it, always made her feel safe and loved.
 
Sometimes, Buffy would compare her lives, just little things, like what she liked to eat for breakfast, or the different toys she'd liked growing up. 
 
But other times, she'd be in a full brood-mode, just like she remembered Angel doing so well.  Then she'd think about the difference between her family, this family, and her previous family.  She'd sit on her bed, holding Missy Emily close, and she'd compare them.
 
Who treated her better?  Who understood her better?  Who loved her more???  And no matter how long she thought about it, how many different things she compared, it was always the same.  This family treated her like one of them, not just a child, this family understood what she had to do, this family loved her more.
 
In time, Buffy had begun to understand the differences in this life and her last.  Maybe it wasn't that she was loved more by her family in this life, but more accurately, it was everything.  All the little things that had changed made up her new life in sharper focus.  This time around, she knew what she was destined to do, and this time, she knew how to do it.
 
There would be no more running around trying to learn how to fight, how not to die.  This time, she would be the pursuer, not the pursued.  She would hunt them down before they even had the chance to destroy the world.
 
Buffy Anne Summers, Vampire Slayer, was now back as Elizabeth Prudence Wyatt, Junior Charmed One, Vampire Slayer extraordinaire, and she was back with a vengeance...
 
*~*~*
 
"I'm looking for Elizabeth Wyatt," the young woman at the door told Phoebe.  She was accompanied by a man, not much older than her, and she had a British accent.
 
The witch was a little anxious about inviting the two people in.  They had all been in the living room, just having a family chat about whatever it was that was the current line of gossip in the realm of the witch, when the doorbell rang.
 
It being a Monday afternoon, they hadn't really been expecting any visitors.  Phoebe had taken to answering the door.  More often than not, she was able to tell who was on the other side, and whether they were friend or foe.  It was a change from the early days, when they answered the door, then ran for cover when there was a bad guy on the other side...
 
Phoebe knew who they were, all right.  She knew that Buffy was ready, but still...
 
"Come in," she told them quietly.  The couple followed her into the living room, where the others were seated.  Everyone was there.  Piper and Leo, Buffy and her fourteen year old sister, Melinda, Prue and her husband, Daniel, with their twelve year old son, Andy, and Phoebe's thirteen year old daughter, Penny.  Phoebe's husband, Cole, had been killed by another of his kind, five years ago.  Penny barely remembered him.
 
Buffy was the only one whose gaze wasn't questioning.  In fact, it was Buffy who was the first to comment on the two visitors.  "Since when did they start sending you in groups of two?" she asked with a chuckle.
 
Part Four
 
"I beg your pardon?" the man asked, quite stunned that the young lady would speak to them as such.
 
The woman raised a brow.  "I believe you have us mistaken for someone else.  Elizabeth Wyatt, I presume?"  At Buffy's nod, she continued.  "May we speak to you privately?"
 
Leo was starting to catch on to just who it was that had been invited into their home.  Piper turned to him.  "Leo, what's going on?"
 
Buffy continued to stare at the couple.  "My family are privy to everything that I'm involved in, and that includes whatever the Watcher's Council of Britain has to say."
 
"You know, then.  Good," the woman said.  "My name is Marina Russell, and this is Reginald Wyndam-Pryce.  Obviously, we represent the Council in the matter of your recent calling.  The previous Slayer was killed last night."
 
Reginald took over.  "We were unaware of your knowledge of your duties.  Dare I ask that it is too much to ask that you have been trained?"
 
Leo stood.  "She's been trained since she was five years old.  And I wouldn't take anything for granted, Mr Wyndam-Pryce, because this family has seen more evil than you'll ever know."
 
"I doubt that," Marina told him, hautily.  "No matter, let us just see how well Miss Wyatt has been trained.  Care to take me on?"
 
"Since when are Watcher's capable of taking on fully-trained Slayers?" Piper asked, more concerned about how much of the Watcher's blood she'd have to get out of the carpet, then Buffy's.
 
"Number one, I highly doubt that Miss Wyatt is at fully-trained capacity, and two, Watcher's are better trained than they were a few years ago.  We have to be, to properly train our Slayers."
 
Buffy laughed.  "And just how much has the life expectancy of a Slayer risen, Ms Russell?"
 
"It was once three years, it is now five," she told Buffy proudly.  The woman was truly offended when Buffy began laughing.
 
Buffy stood.  "Let's move this to the backyard," she told them.
 
Wyndam-Pryce argued when he saw that everyone was standing and getting ready to follow.  Prue tried to keep a straight face.  "Believe me when I say that we can more than adequately handle ourselves..."
 
"Most of us, anyway..." Andy said with a pout.
 
Prue pulled her son to her with a laugh.  "One day, Andy...maybe..."
 
Andy put an arm around his tiny mother's waist.  It was a standing joke between them.  Andy was a male Warren, so he wouldn't be inheriting any powers, but his Aunt Phoebe was teaching him what she knew about martial arts...
 
Reginald sniffed in obvious disdain.  "Yes, well...I suppose that it would be all right.  But the Council will not be responsible should anything happen..." he hastened to add.
 
Buffy rolled her eyes as she walked through the kitchen and out the back door.  Over the years, the family had discussed living arrangements.  Phoebe and Cole had moved out for obvious reasons, but still stayed close.  After his death, Phoebe had moved back in with her daughter.
 
Piper and Leo had stayed at the manor.  It was their base, plus, Prue had left with her husband when she had married, choosing to marry the 'guy down the street', so she was only a few houses down if problems arose.
 
Deciding to give the Watchers an out, Buffy made sure that she was in full view before talking a few steps outside, them doing a flip over the lawn furniture and landing easily on the other side, not touching the furniture at any stage.
 
Marina arched a carefully plucked eyebrow, the look on her face, unimpressed.
 
Buffy shrugged.  Her family sat down on the lawn, grinning, just waiting for their teenage hurricane of a Slayer kick the nice British guys on their stuffy asses.  Buffy took up a defensive position.  She waited until one of the Watchers came at her.
 
To her surprise, they both rushed her, one holding a dagger.  Buffy nearly huffed in boredom as she kicked the dagger from Marina's hand, then kicked her onto her ass, then flipped out of the way as the other tried to attack her from behind.  She soon had him on his knees as she delivered a sharp blow to his solar plexus.
 
The Slayer sighed.  "You Watcher's never did have much skill in the hand-to-hand department...why don't you try using a weapon?" she grinned, looking at the fallen dagger.  "A bigger one..."
 
Reginald looked over to Leo and Piper in disgust.  "This is the kind of child you've raised?  She is rude and insolent.  A disgrace to the Council!"
 
Piper got mad.  No one criticized her daughter!  Don't you talk about her like that!  I'll have you know that my daughter is one of the kindest people on this earth, and if you can't see that, then that's just your loss..."
 
Leo stood by Piper's side, gently rubbing her back as he addressed the Watchers.  "Whether you like it or not, Elizabeth Prudence Wyatt is now the Slayer.  One thing that I can guarantee you, though, is that my daughter is a credit to the Council, in this lifetime, and every other..." he added, holding back a secret smile.  One look at Buffy had the girl cracking up, though.  She never had been able to keep a straight face around her Dad...
 
Phoebe was grinning from ear to ear, one of those 'I know something you don't know...' grins.  Buffy caught and mirrored it.  She turned to her new Watchers.  "SO, you think you guys can handle lil ole me?" she asked, her tone just like Phoebe's when she was younger.
 
"Easily."
 
Buffy rolled her eyes at Marina's remark.  "You'll learn..."  She soon lost interest in her female Watcher as she noticed something.  She looked around her, frowning.  "Mom?"
 
"Yes, honey?" she asked, still glaring at the two Brits.
 
"When did we get a dozen cats?  Is there something you haven't told me about our family?"
 
Everyone suddenly noticed the numerous cats that were sitting on the fence.  The group was weary, except for a certain child...it was Buffy who noticed.
 
"Andy...what did you do???" Buffy drew out the question.  They all turned to her younger cousin.
 
He fidgeted with the material of his jeans, refusing to look anyone in the eye.  "I just wanted a kitty to play with..." he mumbled.
 
Prue looked at her son with a mixture of surprise, awe and accusation, an interesting combination.  "How?  Only the females of the Warren line have...uhh..."  Prue suddenly remembered that they had company.  She looked to Leo.
 
"Go ahead, they'll find out eventually..."
 
"Dad, are you sure?"  Buffy cut in.
 
Leo smiled at his daughter.  Everyday, he thanked whatever powers there were that he had his family, but most especially his eldest daughter.  She was definitely the apple of her father's eye.  She was his gift...  "I'm positive.  It'll make them easier to deal with, too." He indicated for Prue to continue.  He was also curious as to how the young boy had done what he had done.
 
Andy hesitantly looked up at his mother, then shrugged.  "I just wanted to try it and see what would happen.  I wrote a spell like you said Aunt Phoebe used to, then I tried it.  I thought that it didn't work, because it didn't work when I asked it to."
 
Leo looked at his nephew curiously.  "Did you specify a time, Andy?"
 
He nodded.  "Within twenty-four hours."
 
"When?"
 
Andy frowned.  "Umm, two days ago."
 
Part Five
 
"Delayed reaction..." Leo surmised.  "The males of the line mustn't have active powers, but still have a limited or diluted ability to cast..."
 
"I beg your pardon?" the female Watcher asked, thoroughly angry at being snubbed.
 
Leo turned to her.  "This is a family of witches, including Buffy.  There's nothing that you can teach her that she either, doesn't already know, or can't learn from us."
 
Marina stiffened.  "I can hardly believe that you or your family are capable to fully train a Slayer.  It is bad enough that she will have to be retrained to suit the Council, but she is rather old for a Slayer..."
 
Buffy laughed.  "Haven't you read your Watcher Diaries?  Don't you know that we Slayers tend to do better when we don't follow the Council...or it's handbook?"
 
"Buffy," Piper frowned at her daughter, not wanting her to give too much away.
 
Buffy smiled at her.  "Don't worry, Mom, in time, they'll find out on their own.  That's the way of things.  We've known for fourteen years that this was  coming, but these people have to know that they're not dealing with an ordinary Slayer."
 
Reginald Wyndam-Pryce piped up.  He raised an eyebrow.  "Yes?  And just what are we dealing with, Ms. Wyatt?"
 
It was Prue who answered, with an innocent grin.  "When you deal with a Halliwell, you deal with the Charmed Ones.  Now leave..."  the witch moved them in the back door, through the house, and out the front door, slamming it shut behind them.
 
Phoebe stood and grinned at her family.  "Anyone up for a coffee?"
 
*~*~*
 
Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, a group of people sat in the living room of their old friend, and partial mentor, Giles.
 
"It's entirely possible, I mean, when I was a demon..."
 
Xander cut his wife's speech short.  "Okay, honey.  We've heard pretty much every story from when you were a demon."
 
She shrugged.  "I was just trying to help..."
 
Tara shook her head with a smile.  This was the first time that the gang had come together in nearly ten years.  But one thing was for sure, Anya had not changed.  She looked around her.  They were all in their early forties, save for Giles and Spike.
 
That left her, Willow, Xander and technically Anya.  She and Willow had been together for nearly twenty-one years, now.  Xander and Anya for twenty-two, married, with four beautiful children who had grown up on stories about Mommy's and Daddy's adventures on the Hellmouth.
 
Their children were all adults now, and were the next generation of the Scooby Gang, along with Cordelia and Wesley's brood of three.
 
Right now, though, all of the children were in L.A, helping Angel with a rather large nest of demons.  And unlike the original Scoobies, they had help.  Willow, Tara and Anya had seen to it that all of the children had learnt the basics of witchcraft, but two of Anya and Xander's children, Zoë and Elizabeth, as well as Cordelia and Wesley's daughter, Meredith, Merry for short, had a talent for it, and had been taught everything that the elder three women knew.  And in Anya's case, that was a lot.
 
Willow and Tara had wanted to adopt a child, but it hadn't worked out.  Even though they had moved out of Sunnydale, their reputation for getting into trouble had been documented and put onto a permanent file.  But the two women had found that being doting aunts to seven children was almost enough.
 
"We understand, Anya, but maybe we have misunderstood, and maybe we haven't," Giles told her.
 
Willow spoke up.  "But that would mean that she was reincarnated the very day she died, Giles.  She'd be nineteen now..."
 
"And don't forget that 'once a Slayer, always a Slayer' thing...she could already have been killed by now," Xander added sadly.
 
Giles removed his glasses.  "You're right, of course.  And because the Watcher's Council refuses to converse with either myself or Wesley, we don't have access to the Slayer records."
 
"Would they even tell us what we want to know?" Tara questioned.
 
Giles frowned.  "From what I remember, each time a Slayer is reincarnated, she becomes stronger, and as far as I know, Buffy was the strongest on record...I haven't heard of a Slayer who was as strong as Buffy..."
 
Spike sat up.  "I have..."
 
They all turned to him in surprise.  "I beg your pardon?"  Giles stammered.
 
"I said: I've heard of a Slayer that's supposed to be stronger than Buffy..." he repeated.
 
"Good Lord..." Giles murmured.
 
*~*~*
 
Cordelia moaned as a vision took over...
 
They were everywhere...they outnumbered them, three to one.  The Scourge, led by a large demon with glowing blue eyes...
 
Then a close-up of a newspaper, dated three days time, the name 'Elizabeth' coming into focus...
 
She gasped for breath as a glass of brandy floated toward her.  "Thanks, Dennis," she breathed as she took the drink.
 
"Mom?  What's the matter?" came the quiet question from behind.  Cordelia Wyndam-Pryce turned to see her fifteen year old daughter, Michaela, standing in the kitchen doorway.
 
"Don't worry, honey, it's just another vision."
 
"You've been having a lot of them lately...it's time, isn't it?" she asked, her eyes daring her mother to lie.
 
But Cordelia didn't dare.  Her children knew the truth, and they had to be prepared.  She didn't want her children to end up like Buffy...  The thought didn't ease Cordelia's mind, because it was what she feared most.  The End Of Days was finally approaching...
 
And it was the demon that had killed the most powerful Slayer on record, that was leading the army...
 
Continue