Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

August 7th, 2008
Council Headquarters
London, England

"Ms. Rosenberg?" She asked, in a tiny voice, prepared for the consequences of calling the older woman out.

"Yes," a tired voice replied, turning around.

Sally suddenly didn't know what to say. The other girls had chosen her as the one to approach their teacher, simply because she had the unfortunate pleasure of drawing the shortest straw. She fidgeted with her hands and moved from one foot to the other, unsure of how to phrase her request.

"Um, some of the girls and I were wondering... maybe we could do some training... um, I know Ms. Lehane isn't here, but..." and that was all she could get out.

Willow sighed. "Sure, Sally, why don't you go get the key from Giles' office, he's not in there right now. Just remember to write up what you do, so Faith can see your improvement when she returns." She didn't bother to wait for a reply, before moving into her office.

With wide eyes, Sally nodded to the air in front of her and scurried down the stairs to tell the other girls the good news. Of course, Ms. Rosenberg didn't have to know that they had no intention of actually training. They just needed somewhere private to talk and the adults had been known to barge into their rooms, without knocking.

Most of the school was off on summer vacation, spending some time with their individual families, before all the hard work started up again. However, those that had no home to return to, were the ones now seated on the floor of the training room.

Some had their family murdered by either Bringers or other evils over the years, or had simply come from a shitty home. One of the reasons why Faith had been made this groups trainer as she knew what it was like to have a past you wanted desperately to forget ever happened.

Sally closed and locked the large door and took her place in the circle. She looked at the five girls surrounding her and wondered just when her life had taken such a turn. Sally Landon was only sixteen years old and from a rather boring small town in Minnesota. She had jumped at the opportunity to go to London and experience actual adventure.

Of course, it might have had something to do with her father, who had decided to use her as his own personal punching bag after her step-mother was killed in a car accident.

"Okay," Sally said, as no one else was going to speak up first. "So, we're sure no one will surprise us in here?"

Rhonda rolled her eyes and snorted, but it was Tandee that answered. "Sally, come on. First off, Ms. Lehane won't be back from Bath for another two days, no doubt. And we all know that, unless they're called down here, our grand leaders won't go anywhere near the training room."

"Yeh," Maggie said, "they're too busy cryin' their bloody eyes out, to worry 'bout us chits," she never looked up from her cracked nail polish.

The others agreed and Sally sighed, having honestly known that these were the facts, but wanted to hear it out loud any way. Of all six girls present right now, only Maggie and Cherie had been around, before the three elders lost their way and reason for being.

Before The Chosen One, Buffy Summers, had been killed in action, exactly three years and ten months ago.

The resident Witch, who had trained with the Devon Coven for two years, pulled out her bag of goodies. Anna had been with the Council for close to three years now, after Mr. Wood found her on one of his patrols through Cleveland. She had been cornered by a handful of Demons and had held her own, through the use of magic. Up until that moment, she had been self-taught.

She was the only one in this group, who wasn't a Slayer, but she still played an important part.

Rhonda pulled a glass bowl out of her bag that she had purloined from the kitchen less than ten minutes earlier and set it in the middle of the circle. She dug her elbow into Tandee's side and the girl responded by pulling her water bottle out from her pocket and handing it to Anna.

Just as the Coven had taught her, the young Witch was creating a dimensional window.

This was something that she had been taught, time and time again, should only be used in the utmost emergency. But apparently the elder Witches had forgotten that they were dealing with a teenage girl and it was far too tempting, especially after Anna had told her friends about the spell.

It was endlessly intriguing to see what other worlds there existed.

Except for that one time, six months ago.

It had been Maggie's turn to put her index finger in the bowl of water and mentally choose a dimension. They'd all studied them, with Ms. Summers, before she had left to go back to Rome. The blue-haired Cockney had unknowingly had a small wound on her finger, that hadn't healed just yet, despite the Slayer package.

Thanks to her blood, the dimension chosen was one with Maggie's counterpart. And in this one, she was a ruthless Vampire, who had cared none for the sanctity of human life. All six girls had been shocked and scarred and it had left Maggie with no friends for a few weeks, as everyone gave her a wide berth in the halls and on patrols.

After a while, things had died down and they had all talked it through, salvaging their friendship. But it still stayed with them and from then on, they had taken many precautions, before going through with the spell. Even if they couldn't make themselves stop completely, which was probably the safest route.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Anna spoke, looking around at her friends.

Since it had been six months since the incident, there was no hesitation, as all five heads nodded at the same time. Anna bent over the bowl and slowly began to pour in the bottled water, while murmuring the incantation under her breath. No one moved, spoke or even thought too loudly, knowing that she needed absolute concentration for this to work.

There had been enough duds the first time, to teach them that lesson.

While they waited for Anna to finish, knowing it would take her a while, as it was a very intricate spell, they all let their minds wander. And, as it had since arriving in this place, they simultaneously thought of their three leaders, who could bring a joyful spirit down in record time, just by being in the room.

Cherie, who had moved to London four years ago from a small town in the south of France, remembered the giddy and babbling Ms. Rosenberg she had first met. A woman who was full of life, despite all the hardships she had seen and the fact that the day Cherie met her, the redhead had only just ended things with Kennedy, one of the Sunnydale Slayers.

Due to a happy upbringing and a good life, before the Bringers ruined it, Cherie had easily been taken in by Ms. Rosenberg's bright spirit. She had never imagined that the loss of her best friend could bring her down, when even losing her soul mate had been something she survived from. But then, Cherie had never known friendship like the one the two women had had.

She had seen how they could have silent conversations and had wished for it herself.

It was a beautiful thing to witness.

Ms. Rosenberg had been a woman that all the SIT's liked. She would sometimes come into the gym, while they were training with Ms. Summers, and chat with the girls who were waiting for their turn or just taking a breather against the wall. Her spirit was bubbly and erratic, often getting laughs out of the younger girls.

And then their trainer had died and everything had changed.

Rhonda, who was born and raised in Africa, had first been introduced to this world when Mr. Harris came for her, two years ago. She had been doubting her choice to join the Council training academy, at first, because of how hardened the older man had been. Until she learned why. The only reason he was still being sent into the field, even, was because she had been from the one continent that he knew the best.

After arriving in London, some of the other girls had informed her that, after the Fall and losing his girlfriend, Mr. Harris had spent almost two years traveling Africa, looking for newly called Slayers. Rhonda was no fool and could easily figure out that it had been a way for him to escape his past and all the loss. Later on, Ms. Lehane had told her, in private, that Mr. Harris had been the first one to lose someone to the fight. His best friend, Jesse McNally.

After that, she had given him some slack, thinking that all he needed was time. Unfortunately, Rhonda never got a chance to meet the careless, goofy man that the older SIT's talked about, as her arrival to the academy happened after Ms. Summers untimely death. And just as with Ms. Rosenberg, it had killed him. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Maggie was the only one, of the six girls, who was a native to the country. She was born and raised in Bristol, another big city, though not nearly as large as London. The rebellious girl had been raised by her older sister, who was killed five years ago by Bringers. She had been preparing to travel to Sunnydale, with all the other Potentials, when everything had gone down.

Having felt the power bubbling up inside her, she had gone to the site of the old Council instead and waited. Within days, one of the surviving Watchers had found her and brought her to a safe spot. The next person she met, was Rupert Giles, who was their Head of Council now. She had been surprised by how stuffy he wasn't, compared to the handful of Watchers she had met so far.

She could tell that he believed, more than anyone, in what they were doing. Believed that someday, the results of their endless battles would finally be rewarded. He was strong, sensible and had an authority that no one questioned. He could be strict when the situation called for it, but was also capable of laughing and joking with them, every once in a while. He was both an enigma and at peace with himself and it drew in most of the SIT's.

Many of the girls had crushes on him, despite the fact that he was past fifty.

And then his charge, his daughter, had died and everything changed. Like Ms. Rosenberg and Mr. Harris, their fearless leader changed. Where before he would often spend time with the girls, sharing stories of the Hellmouth and his own rebellious past as Ripper, he now locked himself in his office, for hours upon hours, hardly ever leaving.

It affected Maggie and the other older Slayers the most, as they had been with him from the beginning. The atmosphere in the academy was brought down, and fast, not long after the funeral. At first, the three of them had kept pretenses up, convincing everyone that this was just another loss they would get through, that it would only make them stronger.

But, little by little, they had lost their leaders and was now left almost to their own devices.

It wasn't long after that, that Ms. Lehane had left her post on the Cleveland Hellmouth and come to London to train the SIT's. Not only because she was now the oldest Slayer in history, with Ms. Summers gone, but also because the other three weren't doing their jobs. Oh, they got things done. They researched and created spells and taught their classes.

But the passion was gone. The fire had died out.

Unlike her friends, Tandee wasn't thinking about the three that had lost their way. Instead, she thought of the one who had actually been strong enough to muddle through the loss and make a life for herself afterward. Dawn Summers. Despite losing first her mother, then her best friend and then her sister, the younger Ms. Summers had actually made it through.

However, it wasn't long before she had enough of the emotions of her pseudo-family and returned to her old life in Rome. After graduating from high school, the former Key had come to London to train as a Watcher. She was incredible with languages and Mr. Giles had said that she was the second best translator the Council had ever seen. But unfortunately the very best died in battle, one year after the Fall, in Los Angeles.

Ms. Summers had enjoyed her job very much, not to mention the fact that she was surrounded by many girls her own age, including Maggie, who had been told that she reminded the brunette of a certain bleached Vampire. With all of the sacrifices the infamous Spike had made, in that final year, Maggie had been honored to be placed next to him.

She was still fighting to live up to it.

Yes, out of them all, Ms. Summers had handled the loss the best, despite the fact that she was the one actually related to the blonde Slayer. But perhaps that was why she had survived enough to move on. Because she had gotten the most time with her and, because she had already said her goodbyes, the last time Ms. Summers died, back when the Hell-God made her presence known in Sunnydale.

They had all heard the stories.

Sally wasn't thinking of the ones left behind. No, the young girl was instead thinking of the one who was lost. The greatest Slayer in history, Buffy Anne Summers. Unlike Maggie and Cherie, she'd never had the pleasure of actually meeting the blonde and that didn't sit well with her.

Sure she had had the pleasure, and still did, to be in the presence of Ms. Lehane, who had only been the the Slayer for two years less than Ms. Summers. But it wasn't the same. Besides, the dark-haired woman frightened Sally and it wasn't just because of the tales of her past as an evil Slayer. It was the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, hell, even the way she fought.

It all just screamed delinquent.

Ever since befriending Maggie and Cherie, Sally wanted to meet Ms. Summers, hearing all the stories of what she was like. If only to see for herself. According to the two girls, the blonde Slayer had been a lot like what their three leaders were like now. From that, Sally had figured that Ms. Summers was grieving.

What none of the SIT's could figure out, was why?

Two floors up, completely unaware of what six of their girls were doing and thinking right now, sat three dejected souls.

Willow had been unable to contact Dawn, though that didn't truly surprise her. Over the years, the three of them had slowly lost contact with the younger woman, who hadn't been able to accept how they handled Buffy's death. What Dawn didn't know, was that there had been a mutual epiphany, between the three, not long after she left.

They had been sitting in this very room, three empty bottles of Scotch between them, when the realization had arrived.

Buffy had, with all of her heart, loved Spike.

It was difficult for all of them to swallow, but after they had gotten through the anger at Buffy, knowing she had let herself die because she had nothing to live for, a light had shone through them. Xander had finally admitted to feeling pride at having known a creature like Spike, who had changed so much, because of love. Especially in light of the fact that Xander couldn't even marry the woman he loved, because he feared change.

Giles had admitted to making many mistakes, concerning his charge and her Vampire protector. He also admitted that the worst hadn't even been his conspiracy with Wood. No, the worst he did was not believe in the bleached man. It hurt to acknowledge, but he saw now, how much he could have changed, by simply believing in the changing man. Perhaps the whole world would have been different, had that been the case.

Willow felt like an awful friend. She thought back on the innocence of her youth, how she had practically pushed Buffy into Angel's arms, because she believed in true love. But with the release of Angelus and her own bitterness at losing Oz, she had grown cold and her heart had hardened and it meant not believing in Spike, when his love for the Slayer was brought into the light.

All three had reluctantly agreed that they had a big hand in ruining things for the woman they claimed to love.

It had taken another year and a lot more booze, to actually accept Spike for who he was and not just what he did, or was capable of. Another year passed by, before Xander admitted to actually liking the Vampire and citing that that was why he had pushed him away. He felt as if he was blackening Jesse's memory, by befriending not just a creature like the one that had killed him, but one who was of the actual line, as well.

With time, Giles also came to the conclusion that, if he hadn't been so desperate to push Ripper down, he'd been more acceptable to the changes in Spike. After all, he himself knew what it was like, to go from one extreme to the other. He knew now that it shouldn't have mattered that the Vampire did it without the help of a soul.

Willow was the one who pointed out that it wasn't just Angelus that had changed their whole world view. Angel had a hand in that, too. Because of his cursed soul, they had been convinced that Vampires needed one, to be on their side and Spike was the one who had suffered through those consequences. And perhaps even the rest of the world, too.

It was a hard pill to swallow, as they all tried hard to remain in denial, but now, five years after Spike gave his life to save the world and close to four years since Buffy let a Vampire have his one, good day, they could no longer deny the facts.

Thanks to them, the world had lost two of their greatest fighters.

All because of their refusal to see the gray.

Well, no more.

Things were about to change.

Authors Note; Some of you may be confused about the first part of the prologue, introducing original characters that will not be a part of the rest of the story. For me, it was important to see the grief that Willow, Xander and Giles were going through, through the eyes of others. People that didn't really know them as well as Dawn and Faith, or even us readers. Hope you understand and don't get too confused :)