Title: A Second Chance
Author: Sweetness
Rating PG
Pairing: Just read it … don't want to give it away too soon J
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.
Distribution: BTVS Inspiration, otherwise ask.
Notes: In response to Challenge #13: A fic with Warren in it.
Set sometime after BTVS Season six.
Feedback: Yes Please.

Warren woke up with a start; he had had the strangest dream
possible. He had been dreaming that he was Willow, or more accurately
that Willow and him were sharing the same body, and they had both
done something horrible and they had to repent for it. He wasn't
quite sure what the dream was, hell to be more accurate he wasn't
quite sure who Willow was, or even who he was. He had known when he
had woken up but it was all gone now, it had escaped him just like
the dream was beginning to escape him.

He dragged himself out of the warmth of the bed and walked to
the bathroom. He noticed that he was naked and he wondered if it was
something he did on a regular basis. Although he knew where the
bathroom was, it seemed that whenever he thought about where
something might be, he couldn't remember. But his body seemed to know
where it was going so he decided to follow it. Nothing in the bedroom
that he had seen so far really seemed familiar to him, nor did
anything in the bathroom. There was sunlight filtering in from the
frosted glass, but he still turned on the light. The bathroom was a
standard issue bathroom, or so he thought, it had a nice white tile
floor, a nice white tub and matching sink and toilet. The towels on
the towel rack were a nice navy blue, with a white trim. On the
sink's ledge there was a glass with two toothbrushes in it, one was
pink and the other was blue. He looked briefly in the mirror and the
face that looked at him seem familiar enough, so he opened the
medicine cabinet to see if there were any clues in there. There were
three shelves on the medicine cabinet, again he thought that it must
be standard issue, on the bottom shelf there were common first aid
things, like band aids and polysporin, the second shelf had a razor
and some shaving cream, while the top shelf had woman's makeup on it.

He pulled down the tube of lipstick and looked at the color of it.
It was a soft pink; it didn't really make him think of anything in
particular. For all he knew a thousand girls could wear it, or maybe
just one. It meant nothing to him. He sighed and put it back up on
the shelf. Obviously the medicine cabinet was not going to give him
any answers. He decided that he might as well shave since there was a
razor and shaving cream. Once he was done, he brushed his teeth with
the navy blue toothbrush and then put everything back where he had
found it. He took one last look in the mirror and noticed that he had
a few scars. He was positive that the scars had not been there when
he had first looked in the mirror. But he must have been wrong
because the scars were there plain as day. The first one was a series
of scars around his lips, almost as if someone had clumsily stitched
his mouth shut, he didn't quite know what to think of that. The
second one was a bigger scar on his right shoulder, and it looked
like a handprint as if someone had tried to rip his flesh off. He was
worried that he might be a bit of a fighter or in trouble or
something, but he decided there was no point in worrying about it.
Whenever he tried to worry about things that were blank in his mind,
he seemed to make his head hurt. He looked down at his hands and
noticed that there was a black scar on his index finger, like it had
been burned. The scar was very tiny but it was still there. He sighed
because he didn't know what was happening, he was worried that he
might be losing his mind.

He walked back into the bedroom and decided it was time he
put some clothes on. He opened one of the seven drawers on the
dresser and found a bunch of woman's underwear. He picked one of the
panties up and looked at the pair of lavender panties as if he had
never seen woman's underwear before. Perhaps he hadn't, he held them
up to his nose and inhaled the scent of jasmine. He put them back
before he was caught doing something perverted and tired another
drawer, this drawer had men's underwear in it, and he picked up a
pair of navy blue boxers and grabbed a pair of socks. He put them on
and then found a pair of jeans and a dark shirt. He put those on as
well and the pair of shoes he found by the closet. After he had
finished dressing, he opened the closet and found a few dark suits
hanging in the closet, but mainly the closet was full of dresses,
skirts, and blouses. Obviously he lived with a woman, but who was
she? He looked at the bed, half fearing that the mysterious woman
would be in it. But was relieved to find the bed empty. He quickly
made it and then approached the closed door that he assumed led to
the rest of the house or apartment that he was in. He was nervous
about opening the door, he didn't know why but he had a feeling that
once he opened that door, something permanent would happen. He was
tempted to lie back down and go to sleep again, but decided that he
had to be brave. He didn't want to be a coward like before. He
wondered where that thought had come from but the harder he thought
about it; the more it hurt his head.

The door opened up into an apartment, he sighed a sigh of
relief when he found out that the rest of the apartment was as empty
as the bedroom had been. He decided to explore the rest of the
apartment. He didn't really find anything except more evidence of a
woman who lived with him, and a wallet. He was afraid to open the
wallet and he sat at the kitchen table debating whether or not he
should open it. Finally he opened it up. The driver's license said he
was from Sunnydale, California and that his name was Warren Meers.
The wallet also contained a set of four photos from a photo booth, in
the photos were there young men making silly faces. He was one of the
three men, and when he looked at the back, he saw the
inscription "Jonathon, Andrew and me." The other two in the pictures
meant nothing to him, just as the driver's license had. There was
another photo in the wallet; this one was of a pretty dark-haired
girl. There was no name on the back, but the girl seemed to be
smiling directly at him. He sighed and wished that he had someone who
looked at him with as much love as this girl obviously had.
He was still sitting at the kitchen table, saying his name
quietly to himself, when the door opened. He turned to look at the
door and the person coming in. It was the person from the picture in
his wallet; she looked at him and smiled.
"Warren, you're up. I was so worried that you were going to sleep
forever."
"Who are you?"
"Warren, don't you know who I am?"
"No, I don't even know who I am. I woke up and I don't remember
anything." He sighed in frustration, hoping that the girl would
provide answers.
"I am Kennedy, your fiancé, we're getting married two weeks from
now."
"Oh."
"Maybe you should lie down."
"No, I don't think that would be a good idea right now."
"Hmm… well maybe this will help you. It's a letter from your old
hometown Sunnydale. Maybe it might have some answers for you. I am
going to call the doctor."
"Ok."
He took the letter that Kennedy held out to him. And looked
at the envelope, it was a dusky pink and there was a faint scent of
vanilla and roses coming from it. He opened it out and pulled out two
sheets of paper in the same colour. The scent was stronger on the
paper. He was afraid to read it but maybe Kennedy was right, maybe it
would help him.

"Dear Warren,
This is so strange to be writing this to you. I don't know
how to explain this but we've been given a second chance. The both of
us. Buffy and the others don't know and I think it might be best if
we keep it that way. I don't know how much you remember and how
little you don't. All I am going to say is this; we both committed
very violent acts out of rage and ended up hurting one another. I am
sorry for my actions and for what I did to you. I recently did
something that allowed me to atone for my actions, and by doing so
the Powers that Be decided that you needed a chance to atone as well.
And this is your chance. The only thing that hurts is that they (the
Powers that Be) decided you needed someone to help you with this. And
they decided that the person to do so was the person who helped me
get over my grief. She was important to me and I beg that you take
care of her for me. Remember this is a second chance; don't repeat
the mistakes of the past. Be happy with who you are and don't try to
mess with things you shouldn't.
Willow"

The letter didn't really answer much but it explained why he
didn't remember anything. He decided that maybe he should lie down
again, and stood up. He shoved the letter in his pocket, deciding
that Kennedy should never see this letter. The contents might hurt
her.
"Kennedy?"
"Are you feeling any better? I can't seem to get a hold of the
doctor."
"Yeah, I think I am going to lie down after all."
"Wait. I will lie down with you." Kennedy smiled at him with such
love in her eyes.
"Ok."
The two walked to the bedroom together with their arms
clasped around one another's waists. Warren sighed in relief; he was
beginning to remember things about his life. He had a nice job at the
university library, it was where he had met Kennedy, and she had been
a student there. They were going to be getting married in two weeks
time, and it was a second chance for him. As they laid down on the
bed, he remembered what had happened in Sunnydale, including what
Willow had done to him. And he decided not to remember it; he didn't
want to know about monsters in the night, and about Slayers. He
decided that even if the woman in his arms had once been one, it
didn't matter. For whatever reasons a higher power or the Powers that
Be had decided to grant him a second chance. He would take it and try
to live a better life.
** End **