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



“Good evening, Mr. Giles…I need to talk to you about…”

“Not now. Can’t you see I’m terribly busy?” the senior Watcher snapped.

“Yes, Sir…sorry, Sir…”

The senior Watcher brushed carelessly past the young man standing almost but not quite in his path as he strode swiftly down the hallway that led out of the office building of the compound. The young man moved respectfully back out of his way, though his expression was a bit troubled, and it crossed Giles’ mind to wonder briefly if what he was going to say had perhaps been important.

At the moment, it did not seem to matter much.

“Of all the times for that boy to choose to disappear, it would have to be the one time I *don’t* wish that he would!” Giles grumbled aloud as he made his way out of the building and crossed the breezeway leading to the residential section of the new Council’s property.

For the last two days, he had been looking for Andrew, searching the grounds for him, calling his cell phone, all with no success. Usually, the eager boy was annoyingly underfoot, almost unavoidable. Now that Giles, for once, actually needed him, he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

“Well, he’s got to bloody sleep, doesn’t he?” Giles muttered as he made his way down the hallway toward the rather lavish apartment that was Andrew’s. “At some point, he’ll return to his quarters…and then, I’ll find him…and perhaps my mind can finally find some peace.”

Someone had gone through Giles’ office, his personal possessions. At first, he had not noticed, until he had taken his address book from its drawer in preparation to make a call and found that its lock had been broken, the leather torn in someone’s haste to open it. Alarmed, he had inspected the office, but had found nothing else out of place. Apparently, whoever had been there had been in search of nothing more than a phone number or address.

It would not have been such a dangerous situation had the invasion of his privacy not taken place on the exact same day that he had sent Spike away with Ethan Rayne. Giles wanted to believe that it was nothing more than coincidence, but he could not quite bring himself to accept that.

He had seen Andrew in the hallway minutes before it had to have happened. Giles frowned as his suspicions returned with renewed strength, heaving a weary sigh as he hastened his pace toward Andrew’s apartment.

*He may not have been the one to do it…but perhaps he saw something,* he reasoned, hoping that that was the case.

If Andrew had somehow managed to happen onto knowledge that he had no right to…well, it could complicate matters, to say the least.

*He could be easily silenced…the boy has the courage of a mouse…not that it’d be much of a sacrifice to lose him entirely…*

He shook his head, feeling a moment’s uncomfortable guilt for the things he was considering…not that he would ever actually harm the young man. He knocked impatiently on Andrew’s door, then used his master key to open it and walk inside. There was no sign of Andrew inside, and nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.

With a heavy sigh, Giles headed toward the couch, intending to have a seat and wait for Andrew to return. As he passed a small table between the door and the sofa, however, his attention was drawn to Andrew’s forgotten cell phone, vibrating and emanating a weak, tinny version of the theme to “Mission: Impossible”. It was mere passing curiosity that caused Giles to glance at the number flashing on the tiny screen.

It was alarm and dismay that caused him to snatch the small object up and stare when he recognized the number.

Someone from Buffy’s group in Scotland was calling Andrew.

It was just one more uncomfortable coincidence that was unfortunately probably much more.

Giles hesitated only a moment before pushing the button to retrieve the call and holding it to his ear. “Hello?”

There was a moment’s total silence on the other line before Xander’s familiar voice spoke incredulously…and far too loudly…into the phone.

“*Giles*? Oh, my God, Giles! I’m so glad it’s you! I’m so glad you’re okay! We were so worried! Buffy thought you’d gone off and gotten yourself killed! You have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice!”

“Actually, I’m afraid I rather do,” Giles replied dryly, smiling in spite of himself at the concern and relief evident in the young man’s voice. “Which is fortunate as I doubt I’ll be able to hear at all much longer due to your shouting in my ear.”

“Oh…sorry…it’s just…you’re okay!” Xander explained in a marginally quieter voice.

“And just why did you think I might not be?” the Watcher inquired, a frown creasing his brow, though he kept his tone mild and vaguely amused.

“Well, Andrew called and said that you’d gone off on some secret mission that was very dangerous, alone, and…and…and why exactly didn’t we get the fact that that was a total and complete lie?” Xander finished in the same tone in which he had begun. “He must have made the whole thing up, the creepy little geek! I swear he needs to get off the video games and role playing junk because he’s losing the ability to distinguish between them and real life! He said you were in Ireland and deep undercover, and that’s why we couldn’t talk to you, and he said that you said for him to tell us that Buffy needed to go there and help you…she’s on her way now…”

Giles felt the blood drain from his face, a cold sensation creeping over him from his head to his feet, as he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He was grateful that Xander did not seem inclined to stop talking because, for a few moments, he felt completely incapable of speech. A feeling of cold, deadly rage began to wash over him as he realized that Andrew must have somehow caught on to his plan and had, at the very least, made an attempt to inform Buffy of it.

Just how far his attempts had gotten remained to be seen.

“Xander, I have no idea why the boy would have made up such a tale, but he did in fact make it up. I’m right here at Council Headquarters, not by any means in Ireland…and if Buffy’s on her way to Ireland, I’m afraid Andrew’s sent her on a wild goose chase, Xander.”

“I knew it…I knew it from the start, but Buffy thought maybe you were in danger, so…”

“Well, I’m not. Xander, you need to call Buffy right away and let her know that it’s all been a mistake. There is no need whatsoever for her to be in Ireland. I’ll find Andrew and deal with him myself. Just let Buffy know that all is well here, yes?”

“Okay. Good to hear your voice, G-Man…”

“And yours as well, Xander…though I’d still quite prefer you did not call me that.”

Giles’ mild voice did not change as he exchanged pleasantries with the young man who had been like a son to him for so many years and hung up the phone. He stood there for a long moment, his mind racing with the various possibilities and implications of what Xander had told him, his tension building and his blood boiling with rage at having his well-laid plans revealed to the one person in the world from whom he most wished to keep them…

And the tiny plastic cell phone snapped in two in his hand.

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

Buffy sat on the bank of the lake, staring off into space, lost in her own thoughts.

The other Slayers had caught up to them mere moments after she had demanded an answer from Melinda, and the younger girl had promised to tell her everything if she would first help her get the other girls settled back on the bank -- farther from the ominous stone building that was in plain view of their current location.

Buffy had grudgingly agreed, ignoring the other girls’ questions as to why she had jumped out of the boat as they walked back toward the lake. Once there, Buffy instructed the younger Slayers to take out the provisions they had brought along with them in their packs and eat while she and Melinda moved a little ways away to talk.

What Melinda had to say was devastating to her.

The idle chatter of the girls, only slightly muffled by the warnings she and Melinda had both given them about being too loud and giving their location away, did little to distract her from the horrific mental images that filled her mind following Melinda’s story.

“Spike. A slave,” she murmured as much to herself as to Melinda, who was seated quietly beside her. She shook her head in dismay. “I just…I just can’t believe it.”

“I had no idea he was here,” Melinda stated softly, nervously picking at a blade of grass on the ground between them. “I mean…Andrew didn’t tell me much more than he told you…just that…that there was a hero in trouble…who’d been sold to this slave ring…and we needed to help him. I had no idea that it was the same vampire who saved me…or the same Spike he’d told us about so many times…or that the two were one and the same for that matter…”

“How was he?” Buffy cut her off, looking up at her anxiously, and the abrupt tone of her voice told Melinda that she had not even realized that the other girl was talking. “When you saw him in that demon’s apartment? How was he? I mean…was he hurt? Hungry?” She swallowed hard, and Melinda could see tears glittering in her eyes as she added in a whisper, “Afraid?”

A sympathetic grimace crossed the girl’s pretty features as she replied, “All of the above. But…but he still managed to save me…to get me out of there. He was…was so brave. I tried to get him to come with me, and he was suddenly so terrified…like he just knew that, if he tried to get away, they’d catch him, and he was so scared of what they’d do to him…but…but he risked it to save me, a stranger to him.”

Her tears fell as Buffy listened to the words, which were not in the least surprising to her, really, and in spite of her fears for Spike, a faint smile of affectionate pride rose to her lips.

“That’s my Spike,” she murmured, her throat and heart aching as she turned her tearful smile on the other girl. “Always the hero.” Her smile faded into a worried frown of confusion as she shook her head and added softly, “I don’t understand, though. You said you guys got him out of there…the L.A. group of Slayers. Andrew was there. So…how’d he end up here? Was he kidnapped?”

Melinda opened her mouth to respond, though the beginnings of a helpless shrug indicated to Buffy that she likely had little idea of the answer. At any rate, before she could speak, Buffy’s cell phone began to ring in her pocket. With an impatient sigh she took it out and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Buffy, it’s Xander. You’re going to have to kill Andrew.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well…at least beat him to an unrecognizable pulp…”

“Xander, what are you talking about?”

“The little geek lied to you…sent you off on a wild goose chase. I don’t know what his deal is; he’s playing some kind of weird game or something. I called his cell phone, and Giles answered it. He said he’s still in London, he’s just fine, and he had no idea what Andrew was talking about. So, you can come home anytime now because this whole thing -- whatever this ‘thing’ is -- has been orchestrated by Andrew for no good reason. And I can just imagine how well *that* might turn out. You know, he *was* evil at one time,” Xander finished by reminding her matter-of-factly.

Buffy felt an uncomfortable sick sensation building in the pit of her stomach as her frown deepened. Andrew had been right about the slave ring, apparently, and its location. He had been right about the hero being in trouble, though he had not seen fit to tell anyone that the hero in question was Spike. It was obvious that at least parts of his story were not made up.

But why did Giles not know anything about it?

Or…*did* he know about it? And just not want *her* to know about it for some reason?

“Um…okay…thanks, Xander…”

“Buffy? Are you okay? You should be furious. Why aren’t you furious?”

“I’ll call you back when I’m on my way home, okay? ‘Bye, Xan…”

Against her friend’s slightly muffled protests on the other line, Buffy absently pressed the disconnect button and replaced her phone in her pocket, her mind racing as she tried to put together a puzzle that seemed to have more than a few pieces missing. But despite her confusion, one thing was clear.

Something was off about this whole thing.

“Buffy? You okay? Who was that?” Melinda asked her, concern in her dark brown eyes.

Buffy slowly turned to face her, a troubled expression in her own emerald gaze.

“Melinda…when you guys rescued Spike…are you sure that it was *Giles* you took him to?”