I love, absolutely love the plan the gang has put together. Of course, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, but here's hoping they are mostly successful.

Oh boy. I'm not sure which is worrying me more, the ambush...or parent teacher night. o_O;

To quote a certain Mon Calamari Fleet Admiral...


ITS A TRAP!!!

Spike kicking Angel's butt certainly changes things. I can't wait to see where you take this next. I also loved Joyce confronting the troll.

This is really great. I love the blending of the three universes together. You've done a great job of that. I love how Sentinels have an automatic hate for vamps and demons. It totally fits them being protectors of tribes and stuff.

I'm also glad you had Jim & Jon pull Giles head out of his ass. We know from canon that he at least gets part way there on his own, but this kick in the ass really made a difference for him...and the Scoobies are reaping the benefits.

Also, thank you for pointing out that Angel isn't up to the fight in the way Spike is. His diet (while more socially acceptable) is the nutritional equivalent of someone that lives on fast food burgers and his lack of being in the fight in any real and meaningful way for over a century means that his skills are rusty. In canon, Angel didn't really get involved in the fight seriously until after he got back from his trip to hell (apparently it was a very motivational place).

I can hardly wait to see where you go with this next. Will Angel return to the family that seems to be accepting of him and his soul issues...or stick it out with the Slayer and her team that hates him? Will Joyce & Jim stomp Snyder into a mudhole? Will Spike attack on Parent/Teacher Night or wait till St. Vigeous day? Will Sam develop anti-vampire bullets?

Sentinels in BTVS-verse just made *sense* to me. Like you said, it fits very neatly with their canon purpose in ancient times.

I have always liked Giles. And felt bad for the guy. Deprograming yourself is all but impossible, and that's essentially what he'd been trying to do in canon ... deprogram himself from the Watchers' near-brainwashing (possibly full-on brainwashing). Having outside help pointing out the logic fails in the Watcher party line helps immensely.

Exactly! Angel is in no shape whatever to fight another Master Vampire, or even a competent, older Childe, and win. Much less Spike, who is unusual as vamps go. He got his first slayer before he'd celebrated his second decade as a vampire, for goodness' sake, and while he might not have been a Master at the time, was essentially acting as one shortly thereafter, when both Angel and Darla took off, leaving Spike with Dru. Which meant Spike had to grow up FAST, because Dru wasn't anywhere near capable of acting as a 'responsible adult', and in fact needed someone to keep her safe.

I won't tell about the rest, but yes, Sam will develop anti-vamp bullets. Wood bullets used to exist, actually fairly recently (the World Wars), so she won't even have to invent the things, just find a way to make producing them for a gun practical in the modern age.

Uh oh

There's a lot on the web on wooden bullets.

Here's one article
http://suite101.com/article/wooden-bullets-used-in-peace-and-war-a141786

Oh, I know wooden bullets exist, but they're not exactly common, or easily obtained, which is where Jon was coming from. They need to figure out a way to get a supply of the things.

Intriguing finish. Makes you wonder if Angel is gonna run, join Spike or actually defy him by sticking with the Scoobies...

Canon Angel stuck by the Scoobies until he became Angelus, but canon Angel didn't get badly wounded and publicly humiliated by Spike either...

Trust me, Jon and Xander won't lose a *second's* sleep if Angel leaves. Neither of them trust him as far as they can throw him. *snicker*. Though I think Angel will stay, if only to be a thorn in Spike's side and try to work against him.

Unfortunately for him, Spike is sort of figuring that will happen, and planning accordingly.

Is it wrong that i giggled at the fact that Spike kicked Angel's ass. great update. can't wait for more.

No, no it's not wrong. Not at all. God knows I did. Hell, I was more than half tempted to have Spike kill Angel outright, to be completely honest.

Absolutely loved the battle between Spike and Angel. ^^

always fun to see Spike added to the mix.

I’m continuing to enjoy the way you have brought Joyce into 'the know' early and put her in the position of a support person. It makes for a much better mother/daughter relationship as well as a stronger slayer. I love the way they are forming an effective team while avoiding the standard Buffy (often supported by Giles) ‘only I can fight evil’ nonsense.

The way you wrote Spike’s first interaction with the Scoobies was a thing of beauty. I’ll look forward to seeing how Angel handles his reunion with Spike and Dru.

Nice couple of chapters.

I so wish you could have Jim and Joyce tag-team Snyder. The little troll of a principle would be waving the white flag of surrender in thirty seconds if he came under verbal attack from them. Or rather verbal attack from Joyce with Jim just standing there using his size to intimidate Snyder and only speaking now and again.

*laughs* While Jim will miss the initial chew-out, he will be meeting Snyder and will be in the same room with Joyce and Snyder, and knowing Snyder, he will just have to say something, so ... there's a damn good chance of them getting to tag-team the troll.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Judge shows up.

Jon: General Hammond, may I borrow a rocket launcher?

Regarding the ban on swords, would that include machetes?

EDIT: They're not exactly standard military equipment for Jim or Jon to think of them,
Don't forget Jim's time in the jungles of Peru. He wound up using a lot of non-standard weapons.

*laughs* Yeah, that will pretty much be how that one plays out. If it happens. I know a lot of stuff's been fairly similar so far, but it's still close to the 'jumping off point'. Things will get more and more different the further out we get.

Swords aren't banned, really, just dismissed as largely impractical for day-to-day patrolling, as they're a bit harder to hide under a jacket or whatever than something shorter. They'll still be used in non-patrol fights (that is, when they head somewhere specific to kick something's ass, rather than wander around hoping to trip over something).

That said, a machete would, no, not be 'banned'. They're short enough to qualify as an overlong dagger, and would be easy enough to conceal. They're just not on the list of usable weapons because nobody's thought of them yet. They're not exactly standard military equipment for Jim or Jon to think of them, and while Blair has doubtlessly had to use one in the past to get through jungle on some pre-Cascade anthropology expeditions, he doesn't necessarily think of it as a weapon, but as a tool to clear brush with. *grin*. It might come up at some point ... we'll have to see.

Edit: Yeah, the Peru thing, which will make Jim the most likely to think of them as an option, just not right away, as his stint in Peru is NOT something he likes to think about/remember because he, you know, got doublecrossed and lost his entire team.

Wow, that was fast...and a very close call for Spike...is Spike gonna end up dusted?

*laughs* Not as fast as it looked, actually. I'd written the previous chapter a while back, and forgot to load it to the site. *shakes head at self*

As for Spike ... you're going to have to wait to find out. *evil laugh*