A/N: A lil' reminder for those who forgot: Max and Alec are going back to Seattle coz' there gonna have their own lil' war there too...

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Chapter Sixteen: Remember Us Always

It must go to your champion...

Angel's words echoed in her head as she stared dazedly at the amulet, entranced by its spellbinding beauty. How does this thing work? Buffy asked in her head, doubting it's safety.

When in doubt. Go to Giles.

She allowed herself a small smile and headed down into the basement where she knew Giles would be poring over books, books, and more books.

He looked up the minute she arrived. "Buffy," he greeted her, sipping on a cup of tea.

"Honestly Giles, don't you ever get tired of drinking tea?" Buffy asked, exaggerating an exasperated tone.

Giles arched an eyebrow. "Somehow, I don't think that you came down here just to criticize my choice of beverages."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Your read me like a book Giles." She settled herself beside him and handed him the amulet. Her Watcher took it, his brows furrowed in curiosity.

"Where did you get this?"

"From Angel."

Giles' eyebrows shot up. "Angel? He was here?"

"He left a few minutes ago," Buffy answered with a small shrug. "He wanted to stay actually – to help fight the new Big Bad in our life. But – I didn't let him." The Slayer met her Watcher's eyes, and there she found understanding. "There's a chance that we may lose this battle, Giles. And if we do – lose," she bit out the word with much difficulty. "...at least Angel would still be here to fight the other baddies that'll try to cause havoc in this lil' world of ours."

Giles nodded and focused his attention once more on the amulet, casually flipping through the pages of his extremely large and antique books. "I haven't really seen anything like this before," He remarked, holding up the amulet up towards the light, and they both watched it reflect against it's smooth surface. "Nor have I read anything about it."

Buffy shrugged again. "Angel said it had some sort of cleansing powers and that it must be worn by my champion."

"Which I'm guessing," interrupted a new voice. "Would be me."

Spike came trotting in, his face unreadable.

Giles took one last look at the amulet before giving it Spike who slipped it around his neck. It glimmered mysteriously against his black t-shirt.

"Nice to know the Poof cares about me," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Cut it out, Spike." Buffy said in a firm tone. "You're acting like a jealous jackass. I may still love Angel – but not in a way that I love you. Alright?" She took a step towards him, and placed a hand on his cheek. His skin was cool to her touch. "Is that clear?"

Giles cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uhh, I'll be leaving now..." and he hurried out of the room.

Neither heard or noticed him leave. All that mattered was the two of them. "Crystal clear." Spike said with a grin. "Now let's go up there now shall we? The transies are getting fidgety. They said they needed to tell us something."

"What?!"

Max allowed herself a small smile as she watched Buffy's face transform from shock to denial, then back to shock. It was amazing how a mere couple of hours could do to a few people. The battle with the Familiars seemed like days ago. Yet, it was only a few hours ago. And within that short span of time, Max had been able to create a very special friendship with Buffy and her gang.

This was the first time in her whole, entire life that she was able to give her total trust to someone she knew in less than two days. With the past she held, it was almost impossible to trust just anyone – even her own kind. But then here comes a group of extremely extraordinary people who understood what she was going through in her life. Who understood what it felt like to have a destiny.

Buffy's destiny was to save the world.

Max's destiny was to save her own race.

It was simple really.

Yeah right, she thought with a grimace. Life is anything but simple. Her whole life was a roller coaster of risks and dangers. An exact replica of a Slayer's life.

"You – you can't just leave!" Buffy protested in a whiny tone.

Alec smirked. "Sorry to break your heart sweetie, but I'm afraid we have no choice."

"Yeah," Max agreed with an apologetic grin. "As leaders to TC, we are absolutely required to be there."

"Leaders lead," Jewel chimed in. She paused – thought back on what she said and smiled sheepishly. "Heh, that pretty much is obvious, huh?"

------

Buffy nodded slowly, her mouth still slightly agape as the three transgenics as they informed their latest news to her. They were leaving. The rest of the Scooby gang were stunned as well. They knew how valuable these X5s were to the team. The played a major role during the fight with the Familiars, if it weren't for them, much more of them would've been lost. They were needed for the fight with the First Evil.

But they have their own war to fight too. Buffy reprimanded herself. But she tried asking them to stay anyway. "Why don't you guys stick around for a while?" she asked lamely. "Maybe after the fight with the First. We could help you guys too."

Alec shook his head, a grim smile on his face. "Our family may be dead by then," he said bitterly. "We can't risk it...and besides, we protect our own."

She hated to admit it, but he was right. And so she nodded. "Okay then," she hugged them both. "Take care...and if you guys need anything...feel free to drop by."

"If we still have our heads connected to our bodies," Jewel chimed in, earning a glare from everyone in the room. She shrugged. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit pessimistic right now."

Buffy smiled. "Hey, at least you won't be facing extremely ugly monsters, like we will."

"I guess you haven't seen the cops at Seattle," Jewel said with a weak grin. "They're way ugly when their angry. And one look at our beautiful faces and poof! They go off like a rocket."

Buffy had to laugh. "Well, guys. I guess this is it." She held each of the transgenics' gazes for a few moments before tossing them each a pointed wooden stake.

"What the hell's this?" Jewel asked, staring down at the piece of wood. "A twig?"

"It's a stake," Max said rolling her eyes. "You use it to kill vampires."

The raven-haired X5 looked at Max in confusion. "I didn't know there were vampires in Seattle."

Buffy grinned. "Hey, you'll never know."

"You're right," Jewel smiled.

"Well, we'd better be going." Alec said glancing at the clock hanging on Buffy's wall. It was already seven in the morning. Bright rays of sunshine were slowly filtering through the half-opened curtains. He flashed them all a cocky smile. "We'll keep in touch."

"See ya'll soon," Max said waving as they prepared to leave.

"Alec! Alec!" Anya was waving wildly at him.

The X5 lifted an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks. "What is it, Anya?"

"When Max goes into heat again, don't forget to have tons and tons of orgasms and have a really, really good sex, alright?"

Everyone groaned save for Alec who burst out laughing. "I'll be sure to remember that."

They climbed up their bikes. Max and Alec on Alec's bike, and Jewel on hers'. Buffy then watched them drive down the empty road, wondering if this was the last time she'll ever see them.

Or if this was the last time they were going to see her.

A/N: Okay, so that pretty much ends the crossover part...but keep reading guys!! The battle is about to start!!! AND i might just write a sequel...a reunion or somethin'...hehehe...tell me what you think!!! :-)