Thanks again! Just 100 chapters to go... and a few ficlets.

Hugs!

Thanks again.

Lol! I'd probably say she shared Angel more with Dru but I guess Faith was in there and don't forget Riley's vamp 'ho's... In comparison, one kiss isn't so bad.

I'm really glad you've enjoyed it. Hope you like Angels and Demons just as much.

Thank you! And depending how long it takes me to get caught up on my replies, I may get the first batch of chapters of Angels and Demons posted later today.

Thank you! One more fic to go to complete the series...

Thank you, honey!

And it's been wonderful to have your comments on the story as you've read it.

Hugs!

If I stick to my original plan there should be more next Wednesday, but I guess if I check the hits and it looks like most people who will read it have read it I might post a little earlier.

Thanks, as always. I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far.

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey

Basically, I love Tara.

There'll be some of the older stuff of Buffy's that Faith will be able to get away with. Believe me, my weight has gone up and down and all over the place over the last few years, and generally you can find at least a few things that you can get away with, even if you bought them when you were two or three sizes smaller.

And, Dawn, well, she can be a brat now and again, but she loves her family and when all is said and done, she's Joyce's daughter.

Yep. Last Book coming up in about a week.

Thanks, honey!

I kinda like that chapter, too.

Lol! I always worked on the theory that part of the reason Spike was so keen to call Angel The Great Poof, was that Angel was that way inclined while Spike was, at best, coerced. I've never really read (as in my impression of the character rather than I've never read Spike slash) Spike as anything other than basically hetero. Not to say he wouldn't try it once to see if he liked it, but the whole vampires being bisexual thing was always more Anne Rice than BtVS... So, no, I can't really see Giles as his cup of tea... I think the leeway has a lot more to do with keeping Buffy happy than Spike's preferences, though I can't see Spike going all homophobic on him anyway... and I'm waffling when I should be up to my elbow in fish tank or trying to think up ideas for a Wes fic... Thanks, honey!

Thanks, honey! Yeah, the whole way Giles changed after Jenny's death was something that needed to be addressed, but I'm not one to play the angst card for too long without a little bit of humour in there...

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Lol! Yeah, you have to feel a little sorry for him, but as you say the good Jenny/Giles vibes make up for it... as long as you're not Spike.

Thanks!

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Well, Spike always seems to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop to quote another blonde. As you say, bittersweet for Giles, but hopefully this will set him in the right direction.

Yep, it is sort of hard to imagine ED with blue eyes, but hopefully it'd be enough to throw the police, too.

As for Connor, well, Cordy was just getting ready to take him in hand when she got 'promoted', and I guess Angel has had other priorities, though I bet he still had one of his minions running around fetching his dry cleaning.

Thanks, honey.

Here's hoping it lived up to expectations.

Thanks.

Well, if you do a quick back-track to chapter 4.17, you'll find that Bee won't be having any children at all... And, as you say, I'm not sure Giles would have coped well with partially demon offspring. Even at a quarter demon you just don't know which traits would be dominant. Maybe they'd be able to pass for human like their mother and maybe they wouldn't.

Wes's situation is different because he already knows what Rosa is like - and who could help but love her? - but assuming Giles and Bee could have kids (even though I've made it so they couldn't) then it would be a lottery as to how human or otherwise they turned out to be. I just can't see stuffy old Giles taking that sort of risk.

Thank you!

Thank you, honey! I'm really glad you like her. It's one of the great things about writing a fic as long as this series where you can intigrate original characters without them feeling as if they've been shoe-horned in there.

I guess we'll find out when you read Angels and Demons... until then I'll try not to give too much away.

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Yep, unfortunately things from here on out become so First orientated that I didn't get as much of a chance to explore their partnership as I might have liked, but both of them will be working within the larger group in the next book.

Thanks, as always.

Lol, I think that just seems to end up being how things have worked out...

As for Willow, well I guess you'll find out in Angels & Demons.

Again, I guess you know the answer to that one by now...

Thanks.

Strange... The emails came in back to front. I was expecting to answer a different question first.

I guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens with Giles, but let's just say Buffy and Spike aren't the only ones to get their "happy ever after" by the time we get to the end...

Angel so had that coming. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Thank you!

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it. Giles/Jenny is definitely one of my favourite canon pairings, but it seldom comes up in fanfic, partly because most Spuffy fics are set after Jenny's death but mostly because it's one relationship that the writers did so well that no one feels the urge to 'fix' it.

Hugs.

Yep, whether he likes it or not... but that's family for you.

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it... and, no, he's not got a hope in hell of getting out of this without doing what the women want.

Buffy really has learned not to need anyone. Angel and Giles have both had a part in making her that way, as has Joyce's death. She was forced to stand on her own, and she's learned to cope on that basis, but that doesn't mean that there's no place for Giles in her life if he chooses to stay... though she does need to make sure if she asks him to stay that she makes time for him, rather than forgetting he exists until she wants something like in her first year at college.

He should.

Thanks again.

Lol! And I'm quite relieved not to. Somehow that would just have little lights going off in my brain saying "Not right! Not right!"

Thanks, honey!

Lol! I just don't see Spike as Giles's type somehow... I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Thank you!

Yep, but you have to admit that from her POV that must have sounded pretty bad...

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey!

I figured coming in on that conversation, with all her own issues, there was really only one way that Buffy was going to react initially.

Yep, in the Buffy 'verse it's definitely the women who are in charge, (or at least it is in this version).

Thank you!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Believe me... If Giles was reduced to watching 'Richard & Judy' someone needs to take over his life.

Rosa does have a little general talent, but mostly she picks up on the feelings of those closest to her, especially Marie, so while there's potential for scary power there it'd be quite a drastic development. Having said that, I'd definitely rather have her on my side.

I guess they're just going to have to make her perfectly happy...

Thanks.

Lol! i thought you said you weren't into slash? Or am I getting confused?

Glad you're enjoying it. Thanks again!

Thanks, honey! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

No problem, sweetie! Just glad you're enjoying the fic. Thanks!

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey! I'm glad you liked it all.

You might recall Spike having a go at Angel because he had to sleep with Buffy in order to be perfectly happy rather than being happy because Buffy was happy...

Thanks again.

No, I hate to say it but the poor guy never does.

Harmony and Spike both Angel's grandchilder in this 'verse, so sort of like cousins, but considering Angel was Darla's childe and Spike was Dru's I don't think that sort of thing bothers them.

Thanks again!

She almost certainly will. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Thank you!

Hee! Well, there are some ideas that are just too hard to resist.

Thanks, honey!

Hee! Anything that makes Angel look like an idiot... And, yep, the Jenny vs. Spike argument has to be one of my own favourite moments.

Thanks!

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Joke is definitely on Angel, and I think Wes knows himself well enough to know sitting in an office on his own would be bad.

As for the sessions, Buffy has to join the church before they can get to where they would start couples' counselling, so she and Dawn are doing confirmation classes. William of course was educated in the Victorian era and already probably knows more than your average layperson, hence the fact that he isn't required to attend. One of the bits you missed joining in at Book 3.

Lol! Well, maybe not good for Spike, but fun for everyone else...

Thanks

Lol! Told you you stopped just in time last night.

Glad you're enjoying it. Thanks!

Lol! Nope, I would imagine most people would round about that point... the things we do when we're drunk.

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks, honey!

I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

Okay, I should either be resting my eyes and seeing if I can get rid of this headache or I should be writing, but I admit it, I'm OC about letting reviews pile up... I know I shouldn't be, but...

Glad you like Wes and Marie. They're kind of around to stay.

And, yep, Spike's body is about to become decidedly overpopulated.

Well, as Spike pointed out, between him and Giles they probably forced Angel to drink a lot more than Giles did, but it's still kinda cool...

Thanks again.

Lol! No way? Maybe not quite no way... It's so much fun having Giles and Spike gang up on Angel.

And, yep, there's a spark but Wes still has feelings for Fred and there's Rosa to consider...

Thanks again!

Thanks, honey!

Thank you...

And Spike should know about the 'no way to make thing right' situation, given how things were between him and Joyce when Joyce died.

Thanks, honey!

I think Angel finds it convenient to pretend to be too stupid to get it, in the same way that he finds it convenient to parrot out, "but I didn't have a soul when I..." Much like Xander, he always manages to get away without really taking responsibility for his actions. Never is a very long time, however...

Thanks, honey!

I figure that the way things were left between Spike and Joyce, it'd be all too easy for him to imagine how Giles feels.

I'm glad you liked it. More tomorrow. Promise.

Lol, the drunken gentlemen would probably be better off if they were passed out cold, but I guess you'll get to see what they're up to next chapter.

Thanks, honey!

Lol1 I have a funny feeling that might mean the rest of the book. I know I started off proofing the next chapter and then kept going, only I'm pretty sure it was more reading than proofing by the second or third chapter.

Thanks, honey!

Lol! Well, in canon, he never really gave up on her until he fell in love with Cordelia, and he had well and truly screwed with her head to the extent that no one was ever going to measure up before he left...

Thanks again.

Lol! It's chapters like these that make Spike so much fun to write...

And, I'm not sure Spike would have minded a brawl, just so long as it didn't spoil Buffy's "Happy Day".

Thank you, honey!

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks, honey!

Even with a whole bunch of alcohol I still had to work out a way to actually begin to get them talking, 'cause it was far too easy just to imagine them sitting in three of the four corners of the room and glaring at each other.

And, well, if that wasn't Angel's plan, I'd love to know what that whole cookie-dough scene was about, though I'm not sure whether I would have seen that when I wrote this. It seems likely that that might have been what inspired this, though. As for Spiike yelling at Giles, pure wish gratification on my part. Joyce so didn't deserve to be alone all that time.

Lol! Well not quite sure just how far ahead you've read, but, yeah, Spike succeeds in getting everyone's tongues loosened up.

Thanks, honey.

Thank you!

Yep, there's hope that Giles and Spike will learn to get along, yet...

Thanks, honey!

The thing is that I can well imagine Angel thinking like that and talking himself into believing that he was doing Buffy a favour. It certainly fits in with his appearance at the end of S7.

Thanks, honey! The fun's just starting.

Lol! Well, I don't think Giles regards it as one of his finest moments... but he's not getting off that lightly.

Thanks again.

Lol! I finally finished AAD about three months ago now (I think) after almost four years of writing it.

As for hubby, he has a whole room for his toy soldiers... Need I say more?

If it's any consolation what you inadvertantly saw will probably be covered in the next batch of chapters that I post or the batch after that, so I imagine you'll get there fairly soon.

Who the guy is... Well, that'd be chapter 4.02 of AAD if you really want to find out.

And thank you!

It's so long ago that I can't remember if there was any sort of conscious planning, but yeah, getting drunk with two vampires must seem like a doddle compared with facing Dawn.

Thanks, honey!

Thanks, honey!

Dawn has her own special charms.

Lol! I think after the Sam thing Dawn has a licence to be a brat for a while, even if she didn't get one just for being a teenager... and, yep, it might just be that Giles has certain tendencies he'd rather no one knew about.

Thanks, honey!

Well, Giles' little secret was bound to come out sometime...

And Dawn, well, not that she can't do the nasty anyway, but it's only fair to expect that she'll act up a bit after the whole Sam thing...

Thanks, honey.

Thanks, honey. I'm glad you liked it.

Lol! I think you probably stopped just in time. I had people who were determined that they would wait for the updates here switching over to my own site to read the end of this section, so it's probably a good job you didn't get any further in.

Hope you have a good night and probably catch some more of your comments later.

Hugs! Thanks again!

Lol! Why did I suspect that that might be the sort of scene that you'd like.

Thanks, honey!

Hee! Well, he's right, Buffy did promise, after all.

Lol, yep, it definitely is, especially our Spike.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

Lol! Not to mention quite the eyeful as well.

Glad you like it, honey! Thank you!

Lol! I'm sure you've found out by now...

Thanks again.

Lol! isn't it good when kids amuse themselves (not that I have any. Technically, a 39-year-old husband doesn't count.)

Beginning to look like there's a good chance you might get this book finished later today.

Glad you enjoyed it, honey. Thank you!

Thank you, honey!

Lol, well, I really couldn't see Buffy passing up the opportunity for a little bit of payback, and a whole lot of making sure Faith knows Spike's taken.

Thank you!

In the long term i.e. in the fifth book in the series, Angels and Demons, they have to deal with The First. In the shorter term Buffy has other priorities.

Thanks, honey!

I'm glad you liked it. This section is really more about another couple than Buffy and Spike, so make the most of those dreams, but I guess you'll find out where this is going in a chapter or two.

Have added you to my LJ FL as well. Look forward to spotting your posts.

Yep, I guess this is where the it really begins to become a war... And, no, I don't imagine Faith getting much sleep with those two above her... Guess Buffy isn't quite as magnanimous as she might want people to think.

Thanks again.

Lol! They might. I honestly can't remember, though I suspect it was probably to tell them thanks for the warning and that Faith got out of prison.

Thank you, honey! I'm just glad you're enjoying it so much.

Gah, could have sworn I was half way through replying to this before...

Thanks, honey, I'm glad you're enjoying them. Hopefully the Scoobies dealings with the AI crowd will live up to expectations.

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Hey sweetie!

This is it for Section 4, but there's still Section 5 (another 13 chapters) to go before we go onto the next and last book, so you can look forward to seeing what happens when Spike, Angel and Giles have that little drinking session that Spike and Buffy were talking about.

No problem with answering the reviews. You take the time to comment, so it's only fair that I take the time to reply, and you do get to feeling like you begin to understand and know each other when you start to know what we both like or don't like about the various characters. I guess this is where I should ask if you have an LJ (or GJ though I'm not so good at remembering to check there) account? (My ID on both is talesofspike.)

You can look forward to about another three and a half months of daily updates on this and the last book before it all winds up. There are, so far, three short ficlets set in the future of the 'verse and after that, I guess it depends what people ask for in the way of birthday treats whether I end up adding some more.

I'm really glad you've enjoyed the series so much and it's been great getting a fresh viewpoint on the stories, eapecially some of the earlier bits where it's so long since I wrote them that I could barely remember them.

*hugs you right back*

Thanks, honey! I'm glad you enjoyed it... Compared with the other characters it's always more fun to write Spike... JM made him such a wonderfully charismatic, but also lovably(sp?) flawed character, and I guess the extra anjoyment shows.

As for the next section, it does have its serious side in a way, but hopefully you should get some laughs too... And after that we hit the last book of the series.

Good wrap-up of this section.
Thank you, honey! Thirteen more chapters and we're onto the last 'book'.

Yeah...Holtz wasn't really concerned with teaching Connor the finer bits of charm...the kid has a lot of catching up to do. Always felt sorry for the life he missed out on.
Not to mention the fact Holtz indoctrinated him with a hatred of anything even remotely demonic. So much bigotry hammered home for so long at those sort of ages is going to take an awful lot of deprogramming.

Classic Spike - hates to be hovered around, especially in public...William might have been okay with the extra mothering, but the Big Bad loses too much face around so many people.
William might have been okay, but I rather think that after spending so long with no one other than his mother giving a damn about him he'd have been hard pushed to know what to make of it. Could imagine him being way flustered.

Tara's such a good mediator.
She is. She would be anyway, but one of the things I wanted with this AU was to build a solid brother/sister relationship between her and Spike... Once the fight against The First really gets going they didn't get as much together time as I hoped, but that was my original intention at least.

Thank you, honey!

Xander's still being an idiot
Unfortunately, even though Anya might eventually train him out of his more bigoted tendencies, there's nothing she can do about his IQ, so I'm afraid it can't be helped. He'll always be an idiot.

Poor Wes, being sacrificied up like the slaughtered lamb.

As for Bee, she'll be around for the rest of the story. It actually feels quite strange from my perspective to realse that we were so far through the fourth book before she made her first appearance. Hope you like her as you get to see more of her.