A/N: Yep, another sequel. AU, of course. This takes place mostly in the Season 8 comics, though there will be a couple of crossover chapters with Angel Season 5. Timelines will be a bit different: it'll only be about six months since the Hellmouth was destroyed, plus some of the Angel stuff will be switched around. And, of course, the major change will be Spike's presence through the storyline, whereas he was notably absent for much of the comics. Had to remedy that. ;-)

Anyway, on with the story. Happy reading!

(Note: Some dialog taken directly from the graphic novels.)

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.

"The thing about changing the world...once you do it, the world's all different."—Buffy Summers

Hard to believe less than six months had passed since the destruction of the Hellmouth. So much had happened since then. Everything was different.

As the senior-most surviving Watcher, Giles inherited everything left behind by the Council. Everything that wasn't lost in the explosion, that is; which turned out to be a hell of a lot. Giles positively seethed when he discovered just how extensive the Council's financial assets really were. Where was all that money when Buffy was barely scraping by on minimum wage as well as patrolling every night? Well, no more. With the new Council of Watchers' substantial funding, no Slayer would ever have to worry about paying the bills ever again. Not only that, but equipment, weapons, technology, everything they could possibly need was soon at their fingertips. And boy, did they ever need it!

Where once there were hundreds of Watchers and only one Slayer, now there were hundreds of Slayers and only a handful of Watchers. Willow and her fellow wiccans detected over eighteen hundreds awakened Slayers all over the world. So far, about five hundred had been gathered for training, divided into ten separate squads scattered across the globe. Each squad was placed in an area of high demonic activity—mostly in or near large cities—and headed by an experienced Sunnydale alum; either one of the original Scoobies, or a former Potential who'd fought with Buffy against the First Evil. And they were all more or less headed by Giles, who set up his base of operations in one of the Council's numerous mansions in London. He was the one who kept in contact with all ten squads, collected as much occult material as he could find to rebuild the Council's lost library, and trained the new Watchers.

Giles wasn't alone, though. He had an assistant. A very good one, actually. Anya.

Anya was nearly killed in the last battle against the First Evil when a Bringer ran her through with his sword. Luckily, Xander found her when everyone was evacuating the collapsing high school and carried her out to the bus. The former vengeance demon's recovery was long and painful, but she was getting better. She'd recently graduated from crutches to a cane. With time and persistence, she eventually wouldn't even need that. And it didn't slow her down when it came to the acquiring and organizing of rare occult texts and documents. Anya was invaluable when it came to getting whatever research materials were required.

Once the raw new Slayers were suitably trained, the plan was to send most of them back to their hometowns or other suburban areas with small teams consisting of a witch or warlock and a Watcher. After all, one Slayer was usually enough to handle most supernatural problems. And if a Slayer ever needed help, one phone call could easily rally the others to her aid. An army of Slayers was just overkill. They were looking to police, not to conquer.

That wasn't to say working in teams didn't have advantages.

Buffy resisted the urge to whoop as she and her small team of Slayers-in-training leapt from the open helicopter and plummeted towards the ancient crumbling church below. The structure appeared long abandoned; broken stained glass windows boarded up, walls cracked, roof shingles missing. It would have been easy to disregard the place if it weren't for the mystical forcefield surrounding it.

Gripping the ascending line with her left hand, Buffy readied her sci-fi looking gun in her right hand and aimed it towards the forcefield below. She pulled the trigger, shooting out a blinding beam of harsh blue light. When the condensed beam of counter-magic struck the forcefield, the shimmering dome popped like a bubble, and Buffy and her team landed on the church's roof unhindered.

"Field's vaped and we're on the roof," she declared into her headset.

Xander's voice responded, "Access should be right in front of you."

An Irish girl named Leah tore away the weathered boards covering the window in front of them, revealing blackness inside.

"Can't see a thing, ma'am," Satsu, a petite Japanese girl, declared.

Everybody calls me ma'am these days, Buffy thought with dismay. She leaned into the window and wrinkled her nose. "Can smell a thing, though."

It was a smell she was all too familiar with; the stink of death. Without hesitation, Buffy dove headfirst through the window.

"What the hell is she doing?" Leah exclaimed.

"You coming?" Buffy called behind her. After some hesitation, the other Slayers followed. They crept through the empty church with its cobweb shrouds and scuttling rodents, everyone tense and alert to possible danger. Aside from Buffy, none of them had ever seen any real action. This was their first hunt—and, if all went well, their first kill.

"You're five-by-five, Buff," Xander stated calmly, his uncharacteristic professionalism making Buffy smile, "Satellite has them clustered by the altar and our psychics read them as unaware. Soon as Rowena's placed, we're go."

Nothing between her and the next fight to the death except a flimsy door. Buffy readied herself for the go-ahead.

"Okay, Buff. Game on."

One good kick and the door splintered. Buffy and her team rushed into the nave. Standing at the altar were three massive reptilian demons. The bodies of two young men lay at their clawed feet. There were a couple of gasps from the new Slayers; none of them had ever seen victims before. Buffy knew she had to keep them moving or they'd choke.

"Flank 'em! Now!"

To their credit, the girls were quick to obey. Meanwhile, Buffy ran towards the largest of the demonic trio. The creature spread its claws in anticipation. "Thisss one looksss tasssty," it hissed.

Buffy grinned and kicked it in the underside of its jaw, causing its mouth to slam painfully shut. The demon countered with a sweep of its broad tail. It was faster than Buffy anticipated and she found herself flying into the altar, sending wood fragments and votive candles tumbling.

"Sssad little girl," one of the other demons rumbled a laugh, "Lossst the element of sssurprise."

At that moment, Rowena and her team appeared outside the windows behind the two demons, suspended from ropes tethered to the roof. They fired their crossbows, the reinforced metal darts penetrating the backs of the creatures skulls and bursting through their gaping mouths. The demons dropped like felled trees.

"That went well," Rowena declared with a smug grin.

The remaining demon charged at Buffy. Thinking fast, she grabbed he first object that came to hand; the large crucifix from the altar.

"Ssstupid human!" the creature snarled, "I am no vampire. You think I fear the cross?"

Buffy leapt and slammed the base of the crucifix into the crown of the demon's head. She put all her considerable strength behind the blow, which resulted in the creature's skull caving in like a crushed egg.

"Might wanna start," the Slayer quipped.

"That were a wee bit repulsive," Leah declared. She and the other trainees took in the green-tinged carnage with varying degrees of disgust.

Buffy just shrugged. "Went okay, 'cept I feel a little weird about using a crucifix to kill someone."

"You don't know much about religion, do you, pet?" a familiar accented voice purred through the headset.

A wide grin appeared on the blonde's face. "Hey, you."

"Ran off without me," Spike accused good-naturedly, "Just had to hog all the fun for yourself, didn't you."

"Yep. Just me and half a dozen other heavily armed Slayers. How ever did we survive without you?"

The vampire chuckled. "Beginner's luck."

"Ma'am," Satsu called out, "Sorry to interrupt, but I think you need to see this."

The girl was standing by the two human bodies. Buffy joined her and stared down at the victims. They were young, late teens, probably. Wearing simple gray robes, dark pants, and they were barefoot. Their exposed chests were covered in weird symbols, either red paint or blood. Buffy glanced at an arrangement of black candles and a bowl of some kind of smoldering incense. There was also a dead raven with its throat slit; blood it is.

A summoning gone horribly wrong. Two idiots greedy for riches or power or both, and instead they wound up slaughtered by the very monsters they'd called.

Buffy had Satsu take pictures of everything to send to records. All the Slayers then disposed of the demon corpses, dragging them outside and dousing them with plenty of gasoline before they torched them. Once that was done, an anonymous call was placed to the local authorities so the two men's bodies would be found, then Buffy and her team boarded the helicopter and headed for home.

Buffy loved Scotland. Sure, the weather was colder than she was used to, and finding decent Chinese takeout was an epic challenge, but the countryside was beautiful, the neighbors (the nearest of which were miles off) were friendly and knew when to mind their own business...

...and they lived in a freakin' castle!

A real, honest to god, King Arthury, medieval castle. With a moat and everything!

Okay, it had a lot of modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and wi-fi. But still...castle!

To top it off, Buffy's very own knight in black leather was waiting for her when the 'copter touched down. His long coat flapped behind him like a superhero's cape in the wind kicked up by the rotors. Buffy hopped out of the helicopter and trotted over to him, her broad smile matching his.

"Miss me?" She put her arms around Spike's neck and rose up on her toes to kiss him. Spike's arms wound around her waist, pulling her flush against him. When the kiss ended, he gave her a mildly admonishing glare.

"Thanks for askin' me along, by the way."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You were busy with Dawn. Besides, it was in a church!"

The vampire snorted. It was a lame excuse, considering crosses no longer bothered him; a delightful benefit to the Claim that bound his existence to hers. Crosses, holy water, sunlight; none of those things harmed him anymore. If it weren't for the lack of a heartbeat and the fact that he still needed to feed on blood, he might've thought he was turning human.

Spike slung an arm around Buffy's shoulders and walked with her into the castle. The place was bustling with Slayers-in-training headed for their rooms to bed down for the night. Spike was looking forward to the peace and quiet.

"You should talk to Dawn," he abruptly suggested.

Buffy winced. "She's just gonna whine."

"Well, she's got a lot to whine about, luv," the peroxided blonde reasoned.

"Can't we just wait 'til Willow gets here?" Buffy wheedled, "Or you could talk with her some more. She likes you more than me, anyway."

Spike sighed, "Buffy, she needs her sister."

Her shoulders slumped. She hated it when he was right. "Fine," she huffed, "I'll go. But she's not gonna tell me anything helpful, y'know. She's just gonna be all woe-is-me and probably find a way to make it all my fault."

"That's the spirit." Spike gave her a peck on the lips and headed for their room.

Grumbling, Buffy made her way to the castle's courtyard. It was the only place big enough to hold Dawn since her unfortunate...condition.

"Hey," Buffy forced a cheery tone, "Thought I'd come and see you."

The fifty-foot-tall giant that was once her ordinary teenaged sister sat morosely on the lawn with her back to the nearest sturdy wall. Dawn didn't even look at Buffy when she responded in a dull (yet booming) voice, "'Cause Spike made you?"

Buffy feigned ignorance, "What're you talking about?"

"Has Willow called?"

"I'm sure she will soon," Buffy reassured her, "But if you told me about it—"

"I'm not talking to you about it," Dawn interrupted.

The petite blonde frowned. Even though she hadn't really wanted to talk, she still felt the sting of her sister's rejection. "But you'll talk to Spike and Willow."

Dawn glared down at her. "They understand me. You just act like it's my fault."

"Well, you were dating a Thricewise!" Buffy snapped in exasperation, "What'd you expect?"

Instead of bristling defensively, Dawn merely hugged herself and slouched even more. Not that slouching made her tower any less. "It's frickin' freezing," she complained, "Why do we have to be in Scotland?"

"You don't have to be in Scotland," Buffy retorted, "You have to be at Berkeley." Figuring out how to transport the suddenly super-sized Dawnie across the pond had been quite the headache. Thank god they lived in the middle of nowhere. Dawn could at least get out once in a while and run around on the moor.

"Believe me," Dawn muttered angrily, "as soon as I'm person-sized, I'm outta here."

"Fine. I got things to do." Buffy headed back inside, as frustrated as she always was after trying to deal with her recalcitrant sister.

"How'd it go?" Spike asked as soon as she stomped into their room.

Buffy scoffed, "Like you have to ask." She stripped off her uniform top and flung it into the hamper with unnecessary force. "I just know Dawn had sex with that Thricewise Kenny and won't say anything to me. But she'll tell Willow," her pants quickly joined her top, along with her bra. She stormed over to the dresser and yanked open the second drawer, almost tipping the whole thing over with the violence of her actions.

Spike reclined on their king-sized bed and watched her rummage for a nightgown while she continued to rant.

"Fine, her first time and it all goes wrong, which I'm totally well versed in. And anyhow, Willow's the expert on boys since when, now?" Buffy finally yanked out a plain white nightie and slammed the drawer shut. "God! I can't even feel sorry for myself in a linear fashion." She managed to angrily dress herself without tearing the nightgown, then stomped over to the bed and flopped herself down beside the silent vampire.

Spike waited a few minutes until he sensed she'd calmed down a little before turning onto his side and gently pulling her to him. Buffy sighed and buried her face in his chest. "I just wish she'd trust me," she lamented, voice muffled.

Spike placed a soft kiss on top of her head. "She will eventually. She just needs to know you're there for her."

Buffy drew back just enough to meet his gaze. "I'm not, though, am I? Ever since..." she let out a humorless laugh, "Y'know, I thought after activating all the Slayers, my life would get easier. It wouldn't just be me carrying the whole world-saving load. I could finally take some time off, relax, maybe take a long vacation with my boyfriend." She snuggled against said boyfriend with a smile, which quickly faded. "But instead I wound up with more responsibilities than ever."

Consequences. Almost two thousand girls and women suddenly blessed with unbelievable power, and none of them knew what to do with it. Someone needed to teach them. Someone needed to be their role-model. Otherwise, the world could end up overrun with a bunch of Evil Faith wannabes.

"I changed the world," she murmured.

"Yeah," Spike gently stroked her hair, "For better or worse."