Title: Postcards from Far Away

Author: Froxyn

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Buffy/Giles

Timeline: Two months after A Whisper.

Synopsis: The Leoprish are searching for Giles. Can Buffy stop them?

Author’s Note: Album fic. No lyrics, as this song is an instrumental. Song can be found here.

Willow watched Giles as he prepared the tea and snacks, humming as he worked. She caught Buffy’s eye and raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?” Buffy asked quietly.

“I found some more information about the Leoprish…”

Buffy swallowed and glanced in Giles’ direction, relaxing when she found that he was preoccupied with tea preparation. “Not now, Will.”

“Isn’t this hard for you? I mean, knowing where he was and what he’d been through…and him not remembering?”

“Of course it is.” Buffy answered quickly. “But, what do you want me to do? ‘Oh, I know you don’t remember, but a funny thing happened a few months ago’…”

“Buffy…”

“He couldn’t even tell me what they’d done to him, Will. I’m not putting him through that again if I don’t have to.” Buffy stated firmly. “If that means me knowing something and keeping it from him, then so be it.”

“You’re keeping something from me?”

Willow and Buffy both looked at Giles, who was standing in the living room with a concerned expression on his face. Buffy shook her head quickly…a little too quickly for Giles’ taste.

“No. No, I’m not keeping anything from you.”

Giles stared at her for a moment and then turned, slowly making his way back to the kitchen. Buffy cursed softly and ran after him, leaving Willow sitting on the couch biting her bottom lip.

“Giles…”

Giles shook his head, refusing to look at her, and opened another box of Jaffa Cakes. Buffy couldn’t help but notice his trembling fingers.

“Giles…”

He finally looked at her, eyes dark and jaw clenched. “You lied to me. I don’t know what you lied to me about, but you lied. You are keeping something from me.”

“No, I – ”

His eyes blazed with a sudden flash of anger, Jaffa Cakes spilling onto the tray and then rolling off onto the floor. “You are the worst liar I’ve ever known, Buffy.”

He pushed his way past her, grabbing his car keys from the countertop. She grabbed his wrist just as quickly.

“Where are you going?”

“To pick up a box of doughnuts.”

Buffy narrowed her eyes. “No you’re not.”

“I’ve never been a particularly good liar either.” He pulled his arm free and glared at her. “When I come back, I expect the truth.”

Buffy’s eyes glistened as Giles turned and made his way to the door. Willow spoke in a rushed tone, pleading with Buffy and causing Giles to stop with his hand on the doorknob.

“Buffy, we have to tell him. It’s not fair to him, to you…any of us. Please…”

Giles turned slowly and fixed his gaze on Willow. “What are you talking about, Willow?”

“I…well, she…we…” Willow floundered, darting her eyes between Giles and Buffy.

Buffy sniffled and sat down heavily on one of the bar stools. “I was just trying to protect you.”

“From?” He prompted as he turned towards her, crossing his arms over his chest. “What could be so important that you’d lie to me?”

Buffy met his eyes…and let her tears fall freely. “They hurt you…and you don’t remember.”

Giles absently glanced in the mirror kept next to the doorway. Seeing no bruises or marks, he lowered his arms and inspected his hands. He shook his head in confusion.

“No one has hurt me…”

Buffy and Willow exchanged a look and then Buffy took a deep breath.

“Two months ago, you were abducted by a group of Leoprish demons.”

Giles stared at her, swallowing hard as he slumped against the door. “Oh my God.”

* * *

“I couldn’t tell you.” Buffy whispered, holding his hands in hers as she sat on the coffee table in front of him. “I’m sorry, Giles…I thought I was doing the right thing.”

For the past two hours, she and Willow had been talking…telling him everything about the three days that he had been missing. Three Sunnydale days…over six months in the Leoprish dimension. And for the past two hours, he had been staring at their hands as his memories began to resurface…a result of the details Buffy was providing.

“They took my watch.”

Buffy choked back a sob, nodding as her hands tightened around his. “That was one of the first things you said to me.”

He looked up at the sound, pulling his left hand free and placing his palm on her cheek. “You came for me. I thought I’d lost my mind…that I’d finally been broken…but, you came for me.”

“I love you.” She whispered emotionally, leaning into his touch. “And when I realized that you had forgotten, I thought it was a blessing…that you wouldn’t have to remember…”

Giles swallowed and turned his eyes to Willow. “You’ve blocked the Leoprish from returning to this dimension?”

Willow nodded slowly. “That’s why I wasn’t here when you got back. Xander and I were researching how to keep them out. I performed the spell the following morning…after Buffy called to tell me she’d gotten you back.” She smiled softly. “You were still asleep.”

Buffy glanced at Willow quickly, suddenly remembering something she had said earlier. “You said that you’d found something else out about them…”

“Oh…um, yeah…” Willow wrung her hands nervously. “I, uh…well, I found something in an older book…written by someone who had escaped the Leoprish and had written down his experience. I think the Leoprish figured out how to block the memories after his escape…”

“Jacob Miller.” Giles stated softly.

“Yeah.” Willow affirmed. “They, uh…they did some really horrible things to him.”

Giles met her eyes briefly before lowering them, sliding his left hand from Buffy’s face to rub the side of his neck. “That’s what they do. Horrible things, that is.”

Willow’s eyes widened at the simple statement. “Did they…to you, I mean?”

Giles gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Buffy moved to sit next to him, pulling him into her arms as he fought the tears.

“What did they do to you?”

Giles shook his head, wrapping his arms around her tightly as a single tear escaped. “Buffy…”

Willow sighed sadly. “The Leoprish are masters of emotional torture. They will result to physical beatings if need be, but…mainly, they rely on breaking the minds of their victims.”

“What?” Buffy whispered in a shocked tone. “But, why?”

“Knowledge.” Giles answered, his voice trembling. “They break the mind…steal the knowledge. Use what power they find in that knowledge for evil.”

Giles looked into Buffy’s eyes and read her unasked questions easily. He licked his suddenly dry lips and exhaled shakily.

“The easiest way to break me…was to take you from me.”

Tears filled Buffy’s eyes again. “Giles?”

“They nearly broke me. If I hadn’t gotten away when I did, I have no doubt they would have. And then…the thought of coming home to you was the only thing that kept my mind intact…relatively.”

“That’s why you were reluctant to make love with me…”

Giles nodded slowly, wiping his thumb through the moisture on her cheek. “Until I forgot, yes.”

Willow wiped a tear from her eye as Giles tenderly kissed Buffy’s lips. One day she’d ask Giles more about his time in the Leoprish dimension. But, not today.

She smiled as the kiss deepened, standing and quietly making her way into the kitchen. She picked the Jaffa Cakes up from the floor and chuckled to herself when she heard Giles whisper his desire for Buffy.

Maybe the Scooby meeting could wait another day.

~ End

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