Remember Me

Chapter 34

Saying goodbye was never an easy thing to do, and even though she knew she'd see Giles and Lindsey again, that they'd be in touch, it was still a tearful goodbye. It struck her as odd that she'd think to miss Lindsey considering most of the time she had spent with him she'd been someone else. However, she'd come to think of Lindsey as a trusted ally and she only wished the best for him.

The day before their trip back to the States, Buffy had accompanied the new face of the Council: Lindsey and Giles. They'd ‘stormed' the Council, held a meeting and told the truth of Buffy's past. Some were horrified, some didn't understand why it was a bad thing to take her away from Spike and Angel and some were glad Quentin had gone. The truth of his actual whereabouts were kept hidden. That was something that would stay amongst the group that was there. Giles' plan, until the Council could be reconstructed completely, was to employ a serious weeding method of getting out those that thought like Quentin. Brute force would be employed if need be. It was made no secret that if they wished to keep their position on the Council then double crossing, back stabbing and using demons and Slayers alike for sick methods of testing and possible cloning would NOT be tolerated. It didn't seem, from what Buffy had observed, they had too much of a hard road in front of them. Giles had employed his friends in the process to help him and Lindsey and Buffy had nothing but a good feeling about the upcoming Council.

So now Buffy stood before Giles before the reunited trio chartered the Councils private jet, and threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much," she told him. "What you've done for us . . . I'll never forget it. Anything you need, at all, ever, and we'll do it."

Giles chuckled lightly and stroked her hair in a fatherly way. "You dear are an amazing woman. You defeated Quentin and rocked the Council. Not to mention taming the two most notorious vampires ever."

Buffy smiled. "I didn't defeat Quentin. That was a combined effort."

"If it hadn't been for your pioneering spirit, none of it would have happened."

Buffy blushed, "Thank you." She pulled away and smiled up at him.

"I don't know how you came to have such powers Buffy, but with you out
in the world, I can rest better at night."

Buffy welled up in tears and hugged the man again.

"All right, you're making her all weepy," Angel patted Giles on the back
good naturedly.

Buffy broke away, wiping at her eyes and she noticed Lindsey standing
awkwardly to the side. Looking at him, he met her eyes and smiled shyly.
She flung herself in his arms. "I'm going to miss you too," she told him
honestly.

"Yeah, right," he said lightly, hugging her back.

"No, really Lindsey. I will. You protected me. Twice. If it hadn't been for
you, I might not be standing here right now."

His hold tightened. "Don't say that," he told her hoarsely.

She looked up at him, smoothing a hand down the side of his face. "You're
going to do great. You and Giles make a perfect team and I know you're
going to be the best thing the Council has ever seen. They thought you
were something special under Quentin? Well they ain't seen nothing yet."

Lindsey's eyes welled up in tears. "Buffy, don't . . . "

"And you're going to find someone that's going to love you completely. I
know it. And when you do, I want you to tell me all about it. Your life has
now begun, Lindsey."

"No," he shook his head. "My life began when I met you." He kissed her
gently on the lips, just a quick kiss and although Buffy could swear she
heard twin growls, she knew they wouldn't do anything. It was an innocent
kiss of goodbye.

Hugging her tightly for a second, Lindsey abruptly let her go and strode
away. Buffy watched him go and silently prayed that whatever force was
up there looking out for them would send him someone straightaway.

"He'll be all right, Buffy," Giles assured her. "He's going to have to be.
We've got work to do."

Buffy giggled and Spike grabbed her hand and started tugging on it. "Come
on now luv. We've said our ‘see you soon's' and we WILL see and hear from
them soon, I'm sure. So let's go then. Time to go home."

Buffy beamed at the thought. "Home," she said on a blissful sigh. Giving
Giles one last hug, she bounded up the stairs to their plane. She stood at the
top and watched Giles, Spike and Angel shake hands and hug and then they
too bounded up the stairs to embark on their plane.

Spike let out a whistle, taking in the surroundings of the plane. "Sure am
glad we know those two. We'll be traveling on this from now on."

Buffy giggled and found a comfortable seat to buckle herself into. Spike and
Angel sat on either side of her and did the same. She took their hands as
the plane started its path down the runway. She was almost home now.

"Surprise! Welcome home!"

Buffy blinked, trying to adjust to the light that was flicked on before she
could flick the switch. She jumped back a bit, feeling a little skittish about
anything that could come jump out at her. Angel caught her in his arms and
brought her back against his chest.

"It's okay Buffy. It's Willow and Oz."

Willow looked at Buffy and instantly her smile disappeared. She burst into
tears. "I was so worried about you!" she wailed and flew at Buffy.

Buffy met her halfway and the girls embraced, crying in each others arms.
Oz, Angel and Spike all glanced at each other before heading for the fridge
where Spike handed them beers. They watched the two women hug and
couldn't help but smile. Spike was glad he had the insight to call Willow
before they left to tell her when they'd be arriving. The poor girl had been
beside herself with worry over Buffy and it was made worse by the minimal
phone calls she'd received from Spike and Angel.

"Before I tell you everything, I just really want to walk around the
apartment. I feel like I've been gone for years," Buffy told Willow,
disengaging from her arms.

Spike and Angel couldn't help but feel their own eyes well up seeing Buffy
back in the apartment. Now Spike was wishing he hadn't called Willow. He
wanted some time alone with her, to get her scent all over their space, to
see her brightening each room with her smile. The urge was becoming
overwhelming to ask them to leave and he could see that Angel felt the
same way. They glanced at each other and then looked at Oz.

"Uh, Oz?" Angel started.

Oz smirked. "Say no more. Wills hun? Let's go. You can do catch up later. I
think maybe they all want to be left alone."

Willow pouted for a second and then nodded. "You're right." She hugged
Buffy again. "Call me when you're settled in. I'll give you two days tops,"
she giggled.

"Thanks Wills," Buffy smiled. "Thanks Oz."

"Glad you're back and safe Buffy," Oz told her and gave her a gentle hug.
"See you later."

Once the door closed behind them, Buffy turned to her mates. "I need a
shower. My own water, my own shower, my own shampoo and my own
soap. Care to join me?" and she bounded off, squealing as Angel and Spike
bounded after her.

Smut up next!! :)