Hey all, I would like to welcome you to my first crossover fan-fiction. Now I don't know about you all but I just love a good crossover. Its one of the first types of fan-fiction I search for on each and every time I log on to the internet. And I think I have actually taken the time to read most of the crossovers between my favourite characters and shows that are available on the net or on and I must admit, after reading so many good crossovers over the net, I couldn't help but be inspired to take a crack at my little crossover story.

Anyways, before you all start reading my fan-fiction however, I think it's only fair that I mention some of the writers here on whose work in the field of crossovers have truly inspired me to start on my own story. Notmanos, Red Witch, RoguefanKC, Lucinda, Redhead2, Bastille Kain, White Werewolf, Agent-G, JBTheMan, Ascanius, asha-man72, Sinayah, cobra, Gaeriel Mallory, Spanishwon2123, Galahad, and Dylan Clearbrook are just a few of these writers on whose crossover stories have inspired me to try and write a good crossover. Anyone of you who are interested in crossover fan-fictions should really check out the works done by these guys.

Personal thanks to all the abovementioned authors for inspiring me. Keep up the good work that you all do. And keep those great stories coming our way.

With that out of the way, I would like to welcome you to…

GUARDIANS AT THE GATES OF HELL

Timeline of this story will be: -

BTVS Timeline – somewhere around the middle of Seventh Season

X-Men Evolution Timeline – about nine months after the end of the series

DISCLAIMER – The characters of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, UPN, Mutant Enemy, Twentieth Century Fox and others whom I don't know about. The characters of X-Men Evolution are owned by Marvel. I am not in any way affiliated with any of the groups or organizations that hold rights over the characters of Angel or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or X-Men Evolution and neither have I been authorized to write the following story. This is a non-profit fan based effort and no copyright infringement is intended. So, umm… please don't sue.

Summary: Rupert Giles learns of a potential slayer living in Bayville and enlists the help of Dawn to go and retrieve her. Now, all they have to do is convince the girl's family and best friend, who just happens to be the most dangerous mutant on the planet. BTVS/X-Men: Evolution (Pre Chosen/Post Dark Horizons). Crossover

Chapter 1: Potential Discovery

The Summers Resident had turned into the house of chaos, and the latest in the line of apocalypses that Buffy Summers and her very good friends were trying to prevent had zilch to do with their immediate predicament. No, the entity only known as The First Evil was still out there, planning, plotting, and a few other things which will not be mentioned at this point. What the cause of the chaos at the Summers residence was none other than a group of teenage girls, all future potential slayers, all living under the same roof. A situation one British individual was discovering to be even less preferable than an end of the world scenario.

"Kennedy, would you please stop trying to kill Andrew." Rupert Giles, ex-watcher and more of a father figure to the Chosen One than her own biological father, tried his most sternest of voices on the potential slayer with little or no result. A potential slayer, who at that moment had Andrew Wells, 'former' demon raiser and spell caster, not to mention self-appointed 'former' Super Villain, and also at times Storyteller, etc. etc. in a tight headlock.

"Why won't he stop making up stories," Kennedy growled as she put more pressure on Andrew's head. "We were there when Buffy took out that Uber-Vamp, and he's still going around telling his version of what happened."

Andrew in turn just cried out for someone to save him from the psycho potential.

Giles groaned and shook his head before moving on to a different matter that required his attention. After all, loosing Andrew would most probably be not that big of a loss in the end. At least, that was what he was hoping for… or rather, it was what he was trying to convince himself of.

He saw Rona, another potential slayer giving the Chinese girl Chao-Ahn, who just happened to be another one of the potential slayers living beneath the Summers roof, a piece of her mind for occupying the restroom for a very lengthy period of time in the morning.

"Rona," Giles reprimanded the young African American, "would you please stop trying to lecture Chao-Ahn".

As he finished, Rona stopped and glared at Chao-Ahn, who in turn just smiled back brilliantly at the girl and gave her a two thumbs up before walking away cheerfully.

"I don't believe she understood a word you said to begin with," Giles muttered under his breath.

Rona just rolled her eyes, threw her hands up in the air in frustration, and walked away in another direction muttering something under her breath.

He felt a slight tap on his shoulder and turned to see Vi and Molly, two more potential slayers, one looking extremely upset while the other was looking somewhat guilty, and knew at once that this was another matter he will have to deal with.

"Molly here finished all the chocolate chip cookies," Vi complained with both her hands on her hips and her lips in a slight pout and then went on to add, "MY Chocolate Chip Cookies… I had it labelled and everything."

"I did tell her I was sorry," Molly tried to defend herself sheepishly; "I saw the packet lying around the kitchen, and just had a craving and couldn't help myself."

Giles massaged the bridge of his nose and looked at the clock on the wall. It was barely 7:45 in the morning and he was already getting a headache. He told the girls that he was going to get Buffy or one of the others in the household to bring in additional supplies when any of them headed out later during the day. Vi asked what she was supposed to eat in the mean time, and Giles's response to that was to grab a passing Willow Rosenberg, witch extraordinaire and best friend to Buffy Summer, and tell her to handle the crazy cravings the two teenage girl's were having. Willow never had a chance to frown at the request; neither did she have time to protest as the sounds of the phone ringing in the hall made Giles literally make a mad dash in the direction to answer it… only to be beaten by none other than the chosen one herself, the slayer, AKA Buffy Anne Summers.

"Hello," Buffy spoke into the receiver, "Summers Residence".

Giles watched as his slayer exchanged a few pleasantries with the person at the other end of the connection before finally handing the phone over to him while mouthing the word, "England".

Giles's eyebrows knitted together in contemplation of whom or why anyone would call him all the way from England even before he relieved the receiver from Buffy's hand, who just smiled at him and went into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"Hello… this is Rupert Giles speaking," Giles greeted the person at the other end of the line.

Upon recognising the individual at the other end, a small smile began to spread over Giles's face as he went on to exchange some small-talk with the person at the other end of the connection. His expression however turned serious as the main reason for why the individual from England had contacted him was finally brought up. Giles just stood in the hall with the handset to his ear as he listened to the information that was being provided to him for a few minutes… his expression becoming grimmer by each passing moment.

His final words before cutting the connection and placing the handset back in its rightful place being, "yes of course, I will head out immediately. Thank you very much Althea… Yes… I realise it is going to be hard to convince her to come back to Sunnydale with me, but I assure you I will do everything in my power to bring the girl back here safely. Yes, you take care of yourself as well… and please… do keep in touch. Good Bye."

Rupert Giles sighed and shook his head in thought and proceeded to just stare at the telephone for some moment before ultimately heading into the kitchen to have a word with the slayer and the rest of the Scoobies concerning the situation that had unexpectedly been dropped on their laps.

As he entered the kitchen, Buffy Summers, who has known the older Englishman longer than almost anyone else, took one look at the expression on her mentor's face and right away realised something was wrong.

"Giles… is everything alright?" Buffy asked the Englishman to which almost everyone, which included Dawn Summers, formerly known simply as The Key, mystically moulded and sent to Buffy as a younger sister so that she will be protected against an all-powerful Hell-God by the name of Glorificus, Anya Emmanuelle Christina Jenkins, former thousand year old vengeance demon and at that moment a human being trapped in the body of a woman in her early twenties who just happened to love money more than most things in life, and Alexander Harris, original Scooby member, now carpenter and construction worker, stopped eating and talking and whatever else they were doing and turned their attention towards the older Englishman, waiting for his reply.

"Well… Hopefully everything will be alright by the time I return," Giles replied his charge's question with a sigh.

"Get Back?" Xander asked the question on everyone's mind. "Where you heading?"

"This has anything to do with the call from England?" Buffy added.

"Yes… it does actually," Giles nodded his head in Buffy's direction. "The coven in England had just a few hours ago established the location of another potential slayer… in a town on the outskirts of New York City."

"So, what's the big deal?" Dawn asked shrugging her shoulders. "Just call her up, explain to her what's going on, and ask her to come down."

Giles just let out a defeated sigh again before saying, "It's going to be difficult because the girl doesn't exactly have any idea about her… umm… special heritage."

"I thought all the potential slayers were in training with Watchers watching over them or something," Xander voiced his thoughts as the watcher leaned back against the wall of the kitchen and waited for the questions to be asked.

"Xander, don't be dumb," Anya said, or rather she scolded Xander in a 'duh' tone. "You can clearly tell from the expression on Giles's British face that the girl never had any watcher or snooty old Englishman smelling like old books to tell her anything about her special heritage." She turned towards Giles and asked with a big smile plastered over her face, "Right Giles?"

Giles cocked an eyebrow at the British and the smelling like old books comments but let it slide. However, he did actually refrain himself from taking a sniff to find out of how he smelled at that exact moment, a task even with all his watcher training he was finding very hard to accomplish. He thought to himself that he should really be used to these types of comments after knowing Anya for nearly four years, but then again, even after a lifetime, he didn't think anyone would ever get used to the ex-demon's words.

He nodded his head to Anya's comment before stating, "Anya is right. The girl never had a watcher to tell her anything about her special heritage. Actually there are a lot of girls in the world who are potentials and have no idea about their heritage." He pointedly looked at Buffy and said, "I mean… even Buffy didn't know she was a potential until she was already chosen as the next slayer."

Buffy nodded at that remark. It was quite true what Giles had just said. Before she had been chosen as a slayer, she hadn't even known about vampires and demons… much less know about the fact that she had been a potential slayer all the while. Even Amanda, who had been staying in Sunnydale all her life, had never known that she was a potential until Willow had found her using that spell to reveal potentials. Buffy then finally turned to Giles and asked, "Giles… so the girl doesn't know she's a potential slayer, but that didn't stop us from finding them and bringing them back here, so… what gives? You seem to be a little down when it comes to this one potential."

Giles sighed… he had known he wouldn't be able to hide much from his slayer. "The coven gave me some information about the girl's past… it may hinder our recruitment process."

The others at the table shared a look but didn't say anything. Giles realised that they were waiting for him to continue and therefore straightened himself before explaining. "From what the Coven has been able to gather... about six months ago, the girl's parents who lived at Beverly Hills in California, were… murdered." A gasp from Dawn followed this revelation. Xander just shook his head and sighed as Buffy's expression turned deathly serious for a slight second before turning back to their neutral state. Anya, having being around more death than most people can count up to just waved her hands for Giles to continue on with the story. Sometimes her actions really proved how much she still had to learn about living as a human being.

"Do we know who did it?" Xander asked leaning forward on the counter.

Giles shook his head before stating, "well, it was not in any way related to anything mystical… if that's what you are asking," he frowned for a second before admitting, "though I wouldn't be satisfied until there has actually been some form of mystical investigation performed on the scene of the crime." The others watched in slight amusement as the older Englishman got sidetracked from the topic at hand and his mind wondered off most possibly to determine the right mystical tools he will need in order to perform such an investigation. Just as suddenly, he was back with them. They knew this as he shook his head from getting distracted and forced himself to address the matter at hand. He finally started once again by saying, "From what the Coven has found so far, the girl was… soon afterwards taken in by the Principal of a private school in a town on the outskirts of New York and has been living there ever since." He let his words sink in before he finally said, "So, now… we have a girl who most likely witnessed the death of her parents… was taken in by someone who has offered her a new home… most possibly a new family… and… will now have to leave her new found family and come back to Sunnydale with me or risk ending up dying like the many other potentials out there… whom we still have little or no clue about."

"So," this time however, it was the younger Summers, Dawn who spoke up, "what's the plan?"

The question had not really been directed at anyone, most of them shared a look with one another. They could now relate to how Giles saw the situation. Most of the other potentials who were living under the Summers roof had not had to go through anything like this, and a few of them even knew about the fact that at any moment, they could have turned out to be the newest in the line of Slayers.

"The plan is simple really," Giles said as his shoulders slumped. He paused for a few seconds before moving away from the wall and standing up straight to meet the eyes of his most trusted and dearest of friends in the world as he regained as much of his confidence as possible before stating, "I will go and speak to the girl and explain to her everything that is going on. Hopefully I… will be able to convince her to come back to Sunnydale with me."

As Buffy met the eyes of her mentor she said, "I wish I could come with you… you know… to talk to her if…" she trailed off as Giles nodded his thinks to her sentiments. True, having Buffy around would have been very helpful but he couldn't risk Buffy stepping out of Sunnydale, even if it was for just a day or two. The forces of the First were still waiting to see if they would let their guard down… and without the Slayer around to protect the potentials, he shuddered to think what could happen.

"I should be back tomorrow evening," Giles said as he started to head out of the kitchen. Dawn Summers, who had been watching the silent interactions taking place between her sister and Giles and asked Giles something that made him stop and turn to her. "Umm… Giles… just how old is this girl?"

Giles paused for just a second as the question caught him slightly off guard before finally answering, "I believe she should be about fifteen now."

Then Dawn spoke up in a tone that stated she did not want anyone arguing with her, "Then let me come with you."

Of course, it didn't mean there weren't going to be objections.

"Dawn, no," Buffy said immediately but Dawn just held up her hands and then went on to explain her reason. "Buffy think about it, you guys are acting as though you're not really sure if Giles will be able to reach this girl… I mean… its not every day that a guy walks up to you to tell you that someone is trying to kill you because of something you are probably likely to become in the future… I mean… all I'm saying is that who better to talk to the girl than another girl who was around the same age as her?"

Buffy hated to admit it but Dawn actually had a sound idea. Giles saying "That… actually is the best idea I've heard so far," didn't help her resolve either.

"Plus," Dawn continued, "its not like he can take one of the potentials with him to explain things on the count they become moving targets as soon as they step outside this house and it turns dark."

Buffy had to agree on that also. And then Dawn added once again, "and it's a Saturday morning, I'm sure we can go today, convince the girl to come with us and be back here tomorrow in time for me to attend school on Monday," she smiled at her sister. "See, I won't even miss any classes."

Buffy was still processing everything her younger sister was saying. One could tell this was happening by the way her head would tilt to the side and her nose would scrounge up as she would try to think of a way to counter her sister's suggestion. It was rather interesting to watch that when Dawn brought up a good idea, it actually takes Buffy a little longer to process everything unlike when Giles, Xander, Willow or even Anya suggests something.

"So I'll go with Giles to New York, find the girl, talk to her, and hopefully bring her back," Dawn said resolutely as she looked towards her sister for her approval of this plan… who at that moment still seemed to be having an internal debate.

Xander finally asked Dawn what she was going to do if that fails and Dawn replied nonchalantly. "If that doesn't work, we knock her out, put her in a box and mail her over here to Sunnydale using some Express Service," she finished bobbing her head resolutely.

Almost every head at the table turned to look at her in a very comical fashion. Dawn just smiled and said with her hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender, "guys… I was just kidding."

A chorus of relieved ohs, of course, and I knew that escaped from the collective group as Dawn settled down to finish the rest of her breakfast. Giles finally looked towards Buffy to ask for her consent in taking Dawn with him to New York. Buffy looked up at Giles and then at Dawn before finally nodded her head in agreement of the plan of action. Dawn squealed in delight at her sister's approval and went over to give her sister a big hug. Buffy returned the hug but made Dawn make a promise that she was going to be extra careful on this trip. Also, if the girl decides for some reason not to come along with them, to be respectful of her wishes and not to force her to change her decision. Dawn reluctantly agreed to her sister's second request. It was not like them to know that someone was in a life and death situation and leave the person to fend for themselves. But after what the girl had already been through in her life, it would actually be most cruel to take her away from her new found family.

Exactly at that moment, Willow walked into the kitchen and looked at everyone which included, Buffy hugging Dawn, Giles leaning back against the wall, Anya and Xander arguing about something as usual… she thought that they have been getting into more arguments since Xander had walked out on her at the alter. She finally diverted the group's attention by asking, "So… guys, what's going on?"

Nearly everyone gave her an incredulous look before realising that Willow had actually been missing during the entire Scooby meeting that had just taken place. They looked at each other to see who was going to repeat the entire story once again when Anya spoke up.

"Willow, it is so good to have you finally join us… even though you missed the entire meeting. I'm sure someone here will be more than happy to fill you in." Anya got up from the chair, went over to Willow, and patted the red haired witch on her shoulders a few times before walking out of the kitchen.

"Leave it to Anya to take the easy way out," Xander commented as he watched the retreating figure of his ex-fiancée. At that very moment, Buffy got up from her seat saying she'll help Dawn pack a few things and Giles also followed the two sisters out of the kitchen saying he needed to pack a few things himself as well as make ticket arrangement for himself and Dawn… leaving Xander alone with a very expectant Willow Rosenberg.

"So," she asked her best friend after pausing for a few seconds and then finally taking a seat at the counter. "What'd I miss?"

Defeated, Xander Harris smiled at the red head before starting with what was discussed at the meeting.

Both Dawn and Giles were ready to leave the house within the hour. After exchanging a few words with the rest of the potentials, Giles headed out with Xander, Buffy and Dawn in tow. Xander was to give them a lift to the airport and much to Dawn's dismay, Buffy had decided to tag along… which meant she was going to be drilled in each and every safety precaution she was supposed to abide by while being on this trip. Dawn of course, zoned out after listening to her sister for about… twenty seconds. And the smile that both Giles and Xander seated in the front seat were trying to hide was more than enough to tell Dawn that they were completely sympathetic towards her situation. Yet they were not crazy enough to stop Buffy Summers from doing what all sisters were probably going to do given the same situation. The fact that she had superpowers was also another factor that made them think twice before interfering.

They reached the airport and Buffy and Xander followed Giles and Dawn through the check-in and then to their boarding gates. Buffy hugged her sister one last time and told Giles to take care of her before they finally departed for their flight.

"Buff," Xander told Buffy after staring at the departing plane, "I think we should head back now."

"Dawnie," Buffy sniffed.

Xander placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the exit while comforting her by saying, "Oh come on Buffy…she's going to be back tomorrow… I mean, what's the worst that could really happen in forty-eight hours?"

Buffy stopped dead in her tracks and gave Xander a look that made him wonder if he was still as good at running away as he was when he was back in high-school.

"Xander," Buffy growled at her best friend in a low menacing voice, "you do realise you just jinxed her… right?"

Xander just gulped.

As the plane took off from Sunnydale, Dawn Summers turned to Rupert Giles on the seat next to her and asked, "So, you never told us the name of the girl."

Giles looked at the younger Summers seated in the seat beside him and realised that he really hadn't mentioned the girl's name when they had been talking about the girl back at the Summer's residence. "Sorry Dawn," Giles apologised to his young charge, "must have slipped my mind. Guess the girl's situation became more important than her name."

Dawn had to agree with her sister's mentor on this occasion.

"Jubilation Lee," the elder Englishman stated. "That's the name of the potential we are going to have to bring back to Sunnydale with us." He paused for a second before adding. "I think the seer told me she was living in a town called Bayville… its apparently right on the outskirts of New York."

Dawn just nodded as she finally turned her attention to the window to watch the many landmasses passing below. All the time hoping she was going to be as helpful as she had suggested she would be in recruiting the girl. True, the girl hadn't asked to be special, but the fact was that she WAS special, and she needed to know. As the aircraft soared over the clouds, Dawn just prayed this Jubilation Lee was going to make the right choice and come back to Sunnydale with the two of them.

'After all, what kind of protection could a fifteen year old hope to get from an all-powerful entity by staying at a private school in Bayville?' Dawn mused silently.

To be continued…

OK, so there you have it, the first chapter. Giles and Dawn are heading to Bayville to recruit the X-Men's resident firecracker. How will their first meeting go? How will Giles and Dawn react to finding out Jubilation Lee is part of the X-Men? What will the X-Men in return think of Giles and Dawn?

Some of the questions above will be answered in the next chapter. To find out which ones, please be sure to check the update page in a week or so to read the second chapter of this story. I will try to update sooner but I won't guarantee anything. Take care and enjoy.

Oh yeah... and those of you who are waiting for me to update my And Hell Will Come to Earth story... well... sorry for the delay but I've just been a little busy concentrating on this and another story over summer... I am still working on that one and will hopefully be able to post a new chapter within the next month.

Now before you leave however… PLEASE REVIEW.