Chapter 1: Of deeds not done

Devon James Masters was lying in bed, waiting for Death to come. No one had come to visit him in his final hour, and he found himself somewhat lonely. He had lived for 85 years and had done a fairly decent job. He had earned his education and made a reasonable living, but where it mattered; he had been kind and helped those in need where help was needed. But in the end, here he was in his final moments, waiting for his body to give up the ghost and all he could do was reflect on what he had not achieved.

Devon gave out his last breath, his final thought before his heart gave out and his brain started to shut down was, 'if I could do life again, with what I know now... '

"Care to take that wager?" A voice said out of nowhere. Devon looked up, time seemed to have frozen, "In a manner of speaking, we are in between moments, between life and death." A figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows of the hospital ward, oozing and drifting like mist out of the shadows.

"Who are you?" Devon exclaimed.

The figure looked thin and was dressed in dark robes with a large cowl over his head, he turned towards Devon and the old man saw a pale looking man with thin lips and eyebrows and a gaunt face. The skin looked like it was painted on to the skull, stretching in horrible yet fascinating ways. Just as if witnessing a train wreck, Devon couldn't drag his eyes away from the stranger in his room. The cold dead brown eyes stared at Devon as though looking into his very soul, he probably was Devon thought. "I go by many names; my most commonly known name is..."

"Death," Devon breathed, finishing the sentence. The Grim Reaper turned to the window, "Not exactly what I was expecting."

The God like being chuckled, "So, about that last thought?"

Devon's eyes widened in surprise, "Seriously?"

Death nodded his head.

"If I could do it over," Devon paused and closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts, "God yes, I'd take the chance."

"Consider it your reward," Death said with a smile, "But there's a catch."

"Always is..." Devon grumbled.

Death nodded his head, "What do you know about Buffy?"

"Who? What? As in "Buffy" the vampire slayer?" Devon asked and received a nod in return, "It's a kid's TV show."

"In some realities, in others it is real life," Death answered. The cloaked figure carried on, "Unlike this life, you will have more to fear from vampires, demons, werewolves and all other manner of supernatural beings plucked from the very folk lore of this reality; more worries than that of a meagre heart attack."

Devon stared at the pale god for a moment "That doesn't seem much of a loss for you, either I die from a heart attack or by some random monster out for its Friday night fast food run" he replied.

Death shrugged "I'm bored, and somebody very high up likes you"

Devon chuckled at the thought that some almighty being liked him, let alone knew he existed, and yet none of his friends or family was there for his death.

Pausing in his thoughts Devon considered the situation. Die of a heart attack ... or by some random monster that he couldn't possibly be beaten by any mortal means.

An idea began to form.

"I have a trade to offer you..." he began. Death frowned at him, but curious to see what this mortal could come up with, he nodded for Devon to continue "This plane you'll send me to ... I doubt you can do your job very well with all those souls stuck in undead bodies, pacts of immortality with demons, that kind of thing you see in movies..."

The frown remained on Deaths face but again he nodded.

"What I want is for you to grant me knowledge of the entire Buffy and Angel, television shows. That way I can be of use to this world you send me to, and maybe make your job a little easier. What do you think? You give me a second chance, and the knowledge to survive it, and I make your day job easier"

Death stared at Devon for several minutes, mulling over what he had proposed. It was true, the balance within that plane was well and truly out of proportions, the cycle of life and death not as firm as it should be, and the only slayer currently around was some blonde teenage brat.

"Very well ... I will grant you your request" Devon gave out a sigh of relief, he had been nervous about the god's reply, but what could he do; kill him?

"Thank you, if I'm going to have a second chance, I'd like to make a difference," Devon replied

"Indeed. Now, you will be returned to the age of fifteen, and your house will be as you remember it, but in Sunnydale. Your mother will be who you knew, but the time will be that of 1997."

Devon nodded in understanding, "Sure thing, it beats dying, and I get to see my mom again."

Death turned to Devon and cracked a smile, showing some pearly white teeth. He stood up and raised his hands and clapped them together.

Devon woke up with a start.

He looked around the bedroom and smirked, it was how he remembered it. His childhood heroes up on the walls with a nice light blue paint behind them, he had a computer with internet connection and a crap load of books and dirty laundry lying everywhere.

Devon stood up and marvelled at his body, he dropped his boxers and grinned at the size of his dick. 'Nice one death.'

Once done he went to the bathroom and washed up, Devon went back to his room and tidied it up and put all of his books away; he had forgotten just how messy he had been. Devon checked over his homework and completed everything that wasn't finished. He then booted up his old computer and went down into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee, while it went through the slow Windows 3.1 start up.

He took his coffee up the stairs and sat down in front of his computer; Devon then logged onto the internet and scowled. 'Freaking dial up.'

1997 and broadband had yet to be in general use, he sighed as the page started up slowly and went to Yahoo. He had to laugh that Yahoo was founded in Sunnyvale, and here he lived in Sunnydale. He thought, well some people always did say that those big tech companies were evil, so maybe there was something to compare between the two towns. Once online, he searched for information on the general area he was in and the time zone, the biggest shock was seeing his mother in the morning when she got up. She was his height with long curly brown hair, medium sized breasts and slightly large hips; her ass was as gorgeous as he remembered.

"Morning Devon," she mumbled as she came down, her nostrils flared as she smelt the coffee and went to it.

"Morning Mom."

"You're up early?" She poured the coffee, went to the fridge, grabbed some cream and poured it into the coffee.

"Couldn't sleep," Devon said with a smirk.