A/N: Thanks to our wonderful beta, Immortal_Beloved :)



“For the love of God, Buffy, *don’t hang up*!”

Andrew’s tone was one of intense desperation, though his words came out in a voice that was barely over a whisper, yet distinct enough to be heard over the international telephone line.

Unfortunately.

Buffy sighed wearily, her fingers twitching with the desire to do just what he was begging her not to do. “What do you want, Andrew?” she asked in a voice of barely restrained irritation.

“It’s not about what I want, or what you want, Buffy…It’s about what is *needed* from you…to stop a terrible crime from coming to pass against one of mankind’s greatest heroes…even if he’s not exactly a part of…mankind…”

“Do you even *speak* the English language?”

“Buffy, you have to listen to me!”

“Okay! But you’re not exactly making it easy,” the Slayer countered.

“I’m trying, but you keep interrupting, and if you’d just let me say what it is I need to say…”

“Okay. You have ten seconds. Talk.”

*Click*.

“Andrew?”

*********************************

Andrew hastily replaced the receiver in its cradle, instinctively moving behind the desk as he whirled around to face the door…and the sound of footsteps he could hear just beyond it. His heart pounding in his chest, he looked frantically around for another exit from the tiny office, but found none.

And the single set of footsteps was gradually moving closer and closer.

*Okay…okay, calm down, Andrew…you have options here…you do!*

*Option number one…act completely normal, like you were just looking for him and he wasn’t here…in which case he’ll probably buy it…until he goes to use his address book and sees that it’s been torn open and comes after you to send you off to the same terrible fate he’s just imposed on Spike!*

*Okay, option one sucks…option two…fight my way out like a hero…even if he’s all quietly powerful and mysterious and possessing a dark past full of dangerous secrets, I could probably get a blow or two in before he managed to knock me unconscious…*

*Um…no…option three…hide under the desk and hope he doesn’t see me…*

Andrew hid under the desk.

When he heard the door to Giles’ office creak open, Andrew had to suppress a powerful urge to scream and completely ruin the entire effect of hiding. Somehow he managed to keep his mouth shut, huddling back in the hollow space in the front of the desk, trying to make himself invisible, but remembering all at once that he didn’t know how to make himself invisible. Instead he tried to take up as little space as possible, hoping desperately that Giles would not notice him if he did happen to move around the desk.

He heard several quiet sounds of papers shifting around on the desk, followed by the sound of the receiver being lifted from the telephone’s base once more. After a few quiet moments, the elder Watcher spoke softly into the phone.

“Yes, Rupert Giles here…I’m assuming you know that what you’ve just seen is highly confidential. No one is to be informed of the vampire’s presence on that aircraft…Yes, that’s right…Well, you needn’t tell anyone anything, because you don’t *know* anything, do you?”

Giles’ voice took on a sharper edge on the last statement and remained severe as he continued, “Yes, that’s right. The entire compound is aware of his arrival. And like everyone else, you are aware of nothing more than that,,,My guest, Mr. Rayne, took his leave of us alone on an airplane which I provided him, and that is all you need tell anyone. Not that that’s anyone’s business. Very well, this should do: if anyone asks you about it, answer them as directly yet cautiously as possible…and inform me immediately. Is that clear?…Good. That is all. Good day, Mr. Osment.”

Andrew jumped as the phone was hung up, inches above his head, and felt his body tense as the older Watcher’s footsteps slowly moved around the desk. He drew in a slow, silent breath, holding it, as Giles stopped directly behind the desk, everything above his waist outside Andrew’s range of vision. He closed his eyes, unable to look, certain that he was about to be found out…or had been found out already.

But then, Giles’ footsteps began to move again, away from the desk and toward the door. Barely daring to hope, Andrew listened to the click of Giles’ locking the door, and the quiet sound of his pulling it firmly shut behind him. Andrew still held his breath -- uncertain as to whether the Watcher had just locked himself in or out -- until he heard the muffled sound of footsteps outside the door, slowly receding into silence.

Doing his best not to hyperventilate, Andrew crawled out from under the desk on shaking legs, leaning against the desk for support as he considered the telephone on the desk for a moment before opting against it. He quickly jotted Buffy’s private telephone number on a scrap of crumpled paper from his pocket and hurried to the office door, waiting just long enough to be sure that Giles would not still be in the hall.

***********************************

“Who was that?”

There was clear interest in Xander’s voice as he walked into the room that served as Buffy’s office at the Slayer training center of which she was currently in charge just in time to see her hanging up her cell phone. The number was carefully guarded as Buffy was in high demand lately -- and mostly by people who simply *wanted* her attention, rather than actually needed it. At any rate, it was usually a matter of some importance when the telephone here actually rang.

“Andrew.”

Xander’s single visible eyebrow rose at that as he echoed dubiously, “Andrew?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d he get your number?”

“That’s what I would like to know,” Buffy replied darkly, her lower lip jutting out in a slight pout. “It’s supposed to be a secret, and Andrew is like the *last* person I’d want to have it. I oughta call Giles up and complain.”

“Why don’t you?” Xander shrugged.

“Because he probably wouldn’t call back for a couple of days anyway as busy as he is these days…and by then I won’t be mad anymore.” Buffy’s pout was more pronounced now as she was beginning to talk herself into a bad mood.

Her bad moods were much more frequent lately…ever since Sunnydale, actually. It had taken her a long time to get past Spike’s death in the Hellmouth, but eventually, she had appeared to come to terms with it, to move on.

But it had not lasted long.

The last couple of months, she had become withdrawn and moody again; and though Xander tried hard to make himself believe that it had nothing to do with the blond vampire -- the vampire that she had obviously cared for much more than she had allowed anyone to believe while he was alive -- her behavior now was almost exactly as it had been immediately following Spike’s death.

It was a bit too big of a coincidence to be accepted as…well, a coincidence.

“So…what did he want?” Xander forced a smile as he tried to distract Buffy from the morose thoughts that appeared to have come over her again in the last few moments.

“Huh?” Buffy looked up at him blankly, shaking her head slightly, momentarily at a loss.

“Andrew. What’d he want?”

“Oh.” Buffy sighed as she replied, “He said something about some unspeakable evil…blah, blah, blah…the world needs me…etc., etc….whatever.”

“Hmmm,” Xander frowned, thoughtful. “Maybe you *should* call Giles. Maybe it’s important.”

“If it was important, Giles would have called me himself.”

“Well, Andrew wasn’t supposed to have your number. Maybe Giles gave it to him.”

“No, Giles wouldn’t do that,” Buffy insisted. “Giles would have called me himself. Andrew must have found the number somehow on his own…which is pretty creepy, actually.”

“Oh, Andrew’s annoying, but I don’t think he’d…”

“No, not because of Andrew,” Buffy clarified with a dismissive wave of her hand at the thought of Andrew as any kind of threat. “Because if an inept little dork like Andrew could get his hands on my number…well, obviously, it’s not as well-guarded as I thought. I guess I probably should call Giles after all. Just to let him know.”

Just as Buffy took her cell phone from her pocket again, it rang once more in her hand.

***************************************

Andrew glanced anxiously up and down the hallway for any sign of Giles -- or anyone else, for that matter, because really, how could he be sure who he could trust? -- before ducking into a much-neglected storage room and flipping his own cell phone open.

He hesitated just a moment, considering the monstrous bill that would undoubtedly eventually cross Giles’ desk, as well as the fact that the bill would link his phone to Buffy’s private number, thus incriminating him as the person who had broken into Giles’ address book.

*It’s not like I want to work for the guy anymore, anyway, if he’s gonna do something to hurt Spike…gotta call her, haven’t got a choice…so there’s really no option here. In or out, all the way, *either* way…but make a choice, Andrew, for once in your life, be *not* a total wuss…*

His fingers were trembling, but they managed to dial the number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Buffy, it’s Andrew again…”

“Lovely. What do you need, Andrew?”

“Buffy, this is an emergency, really! I need your help…and not just me…someone very important -- a hero -- is going to be in serious danger very soon…maybe already is…if you don’t help me…”

“Who?” Buffy demanded, sounding impatient. “Who’s in danger? And I’m asking you again, Andrew, how did you get this number? I need to talk to Giles. Is he around?”

Panic seized the boy, but he valiantly fought through it, his mind racing to come up with an explanation that would both satisfy the Slayer and keep his secret for just a little longer -- hopefully for long enough to save Spike. After all, he highly doubted that the Slayer would believe him if he told her that Giles was fighting on the wrong side in this particular instance.

He hardly believed it himself.

“N-no, he’s not. He’s…really busy right now. Helping. With this…um, this case. So he can’t…talk to you…on the phone. He -- he gave me your number, Buffy, so I could call you, since you…can’t talk to him right now…”

“I’ll just call his cell; wherever he is, he’ll pick up…”

“*No*!” Andrew yelped out his protest, and he could almost hear Buffy’s blink of surprise on the other end before she responded.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s…deep under cover. If you call his cell phone, and it rings, it could…could give him away and place his life and countless others in terrible danger.”

Buffy was silent for a long moment, and Andrew held his breath, sure for a moment that she had not believed him. She would call Giles anyway, and the older Watcher would make him “disappear” somehow, to silence him, because he knew too much…and no one would ever help Spike…

“Oh.”

The Slayer’s simple, single word response was not spoken with any suspicion, although perhaps with some surprise and concern.

“Is he…is he okay, Andrew? I mean…‘deep under cover’ sounds kind of dangerous for Giles…”

“Oh, he can handle himself. He’s fine, but listen to me, Buffy…There’s this guy…Ethan …Ethan Rayne…and we need you to…”

“Ethan Rayne?” Buffy echoed, and Andrew was unsurprised to hear her voice darken with anger. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Um…he’s…he’s…” Andrew’s voice trailed off as he realized that he had no idea what exactly to tell Buffy that the man had done.

What did he really know after all? Not much. He was going almost completely on instinct here…though he was certain that his instincts were right. Whatever this Rayne and Giles had planned for Spike, Andrew knew that it could not be in the vampire’s best interests.

What was he supposed to tell her when he knew so little in the way of details? He had to get more information, he realized, his heart sinking at the thought of returning to Giles’ office to look for more evidence. By this point, however, he was certain that that was exactly what he was going to have to do. But even then, would Buffy believe that her Watcher could do something as underhanded as this seemed to be? Would she believe him about any of it? About Spike?

She didn’t even know that Spike was alive.

*Thanks to me.*

The sound of footsteps in the hallway made his heart lurch with fear, and he whispered loudly into the phone, “Gotta go, Buffy…I’ll call you back. Don’t do anything…don’t call anyone…we’re all in danger if you do…”

“Andrew, wait! *Andrew*!”

He quickly closed the phone, afraid that the Slayer’s voice was loud enough to draw the attention of whoever was making their way down the hall. But the footsteps moved briskly on past the door, and Andrew’s panic subsided…a bit faster than it had the last time.

*I’m getting pretty good as this undercover agent stuff.*

************************************

Once he was sure that the hallway was empty again, Andrew made his way back down the hallway to Giles’ office. The door was still closed, but unlocked as he had left it. He knocked softly, just to be on the safe side, before sliding the door open and slipping inside.

He locked the door behind him as Giles had left it earlier, thinking that doing so would buy him at least a few moments’ warning if the Watcher should return. Then, he made his way to the desk and began carefully searching through the drawers.

It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for.

In the lower right drawer was a collection of manila file folders, each marked with a name. Many of the names Andrew recognized as enemies that the new Council had faced or from stories that had been told to him by Giles or what was left of the former Scoobies.

One was labeled simply, “R., E.”

*Rayne, Ethan?*

Once again, his impressively developing instincts proved beneficial to him as Andrew found that the file did indeed contain many documents on one Ethan Rayne, detailing the various contacts that Giles -- and Buffy as well -- had had with the sorcerer over the past few years.

Buffy had been required to fight him, despite his human status, on numerous occasions when his worship of chaos had led him to make some very inventive trouble for her and her friends. On all of those occasions, Giles had assisted her in stopping the schemes that Rayne had come up with.

But those occasions were not the only connection Giles had with Ethan Rayne.

Andrew’s eyes widened with dismay as he read some yellowed pages he had found, apparently torn from a journal of some kind, tucked in the bottom of the file. Giles appeared to have written them, some of them very long ago, while others appeared to be more recent.

All of them detailed the less than professional relationship that the Watcher had had with his old college friend over the years.

There were also various clippings, transcripts of telephone conversations and such, which told Andrew of the activities in which Ethan Rayne had been engaging over the past few years. None of them seemed very reputable, and many of them were out and out disturbing.

Andrew felt his heart drop to his stomach as he reached the last of the records in the file, detailing Rayne’s activities over the past three months.

Suddenly, he understood with horrible clarity just how thoroughly Giles had betrayed the one-time savior of the world.

His hands were shaking so badly that he could hardly dial the numbers as he called Buffy again. “Please answer, please answer…” he whispered as it rang…three times…four times…

“Andrew, what is going on over there?” Buffy’s voice sounded worried and tense.

“Buffy, you need to listen to me. I don’t have long to talk. You need to get on a plane to Ireland. Use your Council expense credit card and buy a ticket on the first flight leaving…um…”

“Scotland. Why didn’t you know that, if you know so much…?” Now she sounded just a little suspicious.

*Not good, not good…*

“I did know that, I just…can’t think…This is serious, Buffy. Please listen…”

“Listening.”

Andrew breathed out a sigh of relief that she had let the question go so easily as he continued, “You need to get there as quickly as possible. Don’t let anyone know where you’re going, though…It’s…it’s not safe. We don’t know for sure who…who we can trust…”

“Andrew, what are you talking about?” Buffy sounded utterly bewildered…but no longer suspicious.

“There may be a spy in your group,” Andrew blurted out off the top of his head, just trying to come up with something to keep her from telling the wrong person…any person who might contact Giles. “You have to keep this quiet. Just fly to Ireland…I’ll be…um…gathering intel here, and when you get there, call me…but only on this number! I’ll have more instructions for you then.”

Buffy was quiet for a long moment before she finally spoke, her voice low and controlled, “Andrew. Are you *sure* that Giles told you to tell me this?”

“Buffy, I’m telling you the truth. You have to believe me!” Andrew insisted, wincing at the outright lie he was telling. “Giles would tell you himself if he could, but he can’t…Please, Buffy, please believe me…” Andrew was not terribly ashamed to realize that he was on the verge of tears.

If nothing else, at least it made his story a bit more convincing.

“Okay, Andrew. I believe you. I’ll do it, just…just know one thing.”

“Thank you. Thank you,” Andrew breathed out in relief. “What one thing?”

The Slayer’s voice was saccharine sweet as she replied, “If this is just some crazy idea of yours and you’re sending me on an international wild goose chase…I’ll personally tie you up in the middle of a cemetery in the middle of the night and leave you for the vampires. After inflicting hundreds of tiny paper cuts all over your pale, tiny body. You know. So they’ll come to the scent of blood.”

Andrew swallowed hard, though he was almost certain that she was joking.

Almost.

“Okay,” he nearly whimpered. “Got it. I’m -- I’m telling the truth, Buffy.”

“Okay,” the Slayer agreed with a heavy sigh of resignation. “So what’s Ethan Rayne doing in Ireland?”

“He has to be stopped, Buffy,” Andrew replied, the tremor in his voice no longer out of fear for his own safety. “He can’t be allowed to keep on doing this…to keep operating this…this…”

“What, Andrew? What’s he doing? Operating what?”

Andrew’s voice was quiet with repressed emotion as he answered, “A slave ring, Buffy. An inter-species slave ring.”