Remember Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Joss owns it all damn him!

Here's a short chappie...more coming soon.

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Chapter 17 - Dawn's Early Light

Spike was crying. He tried to stem the flow of tears, tried to keep
from acknowledging them, but it was a losing battle. He'd left Buffy
hours ago, warm and sleep rumpled in their bed. He'd written her a
final goodbye.

He'd gotten on the first plane off the island, not bothering to say
goodbye to his friends or to thank them for helping get Buffy back
safely. He couldn't. He could barely force himself out of that room
and onto the plane. If he'd stopped for anything, he wouldn’t have
been able to go through with it.

God, he was such a namby pamby nancy boy! So what, if he'd given
up the only truly good thing to ever happen to him? So what, if he
knew he was going to be miserable for the rest of his life? That he'd
given up the only woman he could ever love? He didn't have to cry
about it! Did he?

He remembered crying that day he'd arrived on Buffy's doorstep after
having caught Dru with another man, for the second time. The tears
were falling down his face and though he hadn't said a word, Buffy
knew. She took him in and threw her arms around him. She made
him cocoa with little marshmallows and let him talk his brains out.And And then she'd taken his duster, shoved him under the covers of her
bed and then gotten in with him. She wrapped him in her arms, and
kissed him on the forehead. Before lulling him to sleep with words of
comfort and the warmth of her body surrounding him.

That had been a day from Hell, but Buffy had somehow made it
better. Yes, he remembered crying then, but had it hurt like this?
This gut wrenching mind numbing pain that made his chest hurt and
his eyeballs ache? He didn't think so. He hadn't remembered this all
consuming agony. Maybe that was because even though he'd lost
Dru, even though she'd humiliated him beyond belief, he'd still had
Buffy. And now...well now he didn't.

Spike stared out the tiny window listening to the plane's twin engines
hum. He could see the early light of dawn peeking through the
clouds. The sight was beautiful, the colors bright and vivid, but Spike
didn't really see any of it. His mind was a million miles away, or
maybe just a few thousand, in a hotel room with a girl who would just
barely be waking.

***

Buffy couldn't believe it. Will was gone! He hadn't given her a
chance to explain, to tell him that she'd gotten her memory back.
Instead he'd left her. For her own good! Buffy stomped angrily
around the room gathering her clothes. What right did he have to
decide what was good for her? What right did he have to decide that
he wasn't worth the risk?

Men!

Buffy was already throwing her clothes haphazardly into her luggage;
she was determined to go after him. If he really meant to sever all
ties with her, well he better damn well be able to tell her to her face!

Her suitcase was almost full when there was a knock on the door.
Crap. She'd forgotten about the rest of the gang. They were
probably checking up on her to see how she was doing. Buffy hadn't
even given them a second thought! What kind of friend was she?
They flew all this way to help her and she was about to jump on a
plane without even saying goodbye! Buffy opened the door an
apology already on her lips. She frowned when she was met with the
two men she'd never seen before.

"You should really be more careful miss." The one on the left warned.

"Especially after what you've just been through." The other piped in.

"How do you know what I've been through?" Buffy asked
suspiciously.

The two men reached into their pockets simultaneously. "Sorry miss,
we should have identified ourselves first thing. I'm Agent Salazar,
and this is Agent Benson." They showed their IDs to her.

"Oh." Buffy was still a little confused as to what they were doing
there. "Was there something you needed?"

"Actually, yes. We need you to come down to give your statement."
Benson explained. "It's best to get it as soon after the incident as
possible to make sure that the details you remember are fresh."

"It would be helpful if Mr. Huntington could join us as well." Salazar
added.

"Oh," Buffy chewed her bottom lip nervously. "I'm afraid that Will has
already left for California. He had some...business to take care of."

Salazar frowned. "He does realize he'll have to return to give his
statement, and more importantly testify in court?"

"I'm not sure. I'll call him and let him know he has to come back as
soon as possible." Buffy hedged, uncertain even how she was
supposed to get a hold of Will when he didn't want anything more to
do with her.

Benson nodded. "It's still a good idea for you to come down this
morning and give your statement, even if Mr. Huntington won't be
able to give his until he returns."

"Do we have to leave right now? Can I...can I call some friends to go
with me?" Buffy hesitated. She really didn't want to go alone. She
didn't think she wanted to relive the last two days by herself.

"Of course Ms. Summers. Whatever makes you most comfortable.
We just want to get the facts down straight so that we can help the
attorney prepare for trial." Salazar gave her a sympathetic look.

"Thank you." Buffy stepped aside, gesturing for both men to enter the
room. "If you'll just wait a moment I'll call over to my friends' rooms."

Within ten minutes Cordy, Willow, and Tara were all in Buffy's room.
They'd stepped further into the suite to speak quietly to each other out
of earshot of the two lawmen. It wasn't that there was any real
reason to keep the conversation from the two, except for Buffy's
embarrassment at the situation.

"He just left?!" Cordy almost yelled out, but quieted at Buffy's frantic
motioning. "Without saying goodbye or anything?"

"He left a note." Buffy answered.

"That's it?" Willow scrunched her nose up in disgust. "You guys
finally get together? And he just leaves you a note? I mean, you did
get together right?"

Buffy blushed.

"What did the note say?" Tara entered the conversation.

"Will said he loved me, but didn't want to put me in danger. He thinks
loving me will make me some kind of target or something." Buffy
explained.

"That's ridiculous!" Willow yelped in outrage.

"I don't know. I can see why he'd be concerned. You did just get
rescued from a psycho that was out to hurt Spike." Tara played
devil's advocate.

"So you think he's right? To just throw away a chance at being
together just *in case* something might happen?" Buffy queried,
surprised. "He said he loved me. And I told him how much I loved
him last night." Buffy whispered quietly.

"No! I didn't say he was right. I just said I understood." Tara
rebuffed.

"Well, he needs to get his ass back here." Cordy stated firmly.

"Look! I can't deal with this right now. They need my statement."
Buffy glanced over at the two waiting FBI men. "I don't want to go
alone." She bowed her head.

"Honey, we know that." Willow was rubbing circles on Buffy's back.
"We'll all go with you, that's why we're here."

"And as for dealing with Spike..." Cordy glanced up as the door to the
suite opened and Wesley, Xander, and Lorne walked in. "I know just
how to handle it."

***

"I can't believe this! Could we at least have gone first class?" Xander
whined.

"No. You know these were the only seats available on this flight. If
we'd waited, the next flight wouldn’t have left until after dinner."
Wesley answered calmly.

"Why couldn't we just call him? Why do we have to fly all the way
back to Cali just to turn around and fly back?" Xander continued to
grumble.

"You know how stubborn our Spike is." Lorne answered. " And I
don't know about you two," Lorne wagged his fingers at his two
companions. "But I don't intend to sleep on the couch for the rest of
my life."

All three boys sighed as one.