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Giles sipped his lukewarm tea and casually glanced around the nearly empty café, watching the door impatiently for a familiar brunette. He was supposed to be meeting with his Watcher contact but she was fifteen minutes late. Already on edge, he jerked and nearly spilt his tea when a small, warm hand landed on his shoulder.

“A little jumpy tonight, Ripper?” a light feminine voice teased. A diminutive young woman slid into the chair across from Giles. She laughed softly at the perplexed expression on the older man’s face. “Come on, Rip. It hasn’t been that long. Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me.”

“Er, Rhiannon?” Giles took off his glass and began polishing the lenses. He held the glasses up to the light to examine them for scratches. Finding none, as usual, he put them back on his face. His gaze was fixed on the long, glittery, multi-colored ponytail hanging down his former protégé’s back. “What horrid thing have you done to your hair?”

Rhiannon Yardley grinned and lifted one bright crimson strand for inspection. “I just got back from a ten-month undercover assignment, you old fuddy-duddy. I haven’t had a chance to dye it back. Besides, I’m supposed to be relaxing by water in Tahiti with some cute cabana boy waiting on me, not sitting here with you discussing my hair color.”

Giles flushed with embarrassment at the not-so-subtle reminder that she was using her vacation time to do him a favor. “Yes and how is it that you were able to be in Baltimore in less than an hour?” He took her silence and averted eyes to mean that it was not a subject she was at liberty to discuss. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed at being kept out of the loop. Once, she would have spent hours relating every detail of the case seeking his approval. He suddenly felt tired and terribly old.

“Tell me more about this problem with Junior. I could only hear every other word you were saying. Damn cell phone kept losing its signal. Travers and the rest of those penny-pinching bastards need to loosen up on the purse-strings a bit,” Rhian grumbled. She ordered a cup of coffee from a passing waitress, ignoring her companion’s look of distaste.

Once the waitress had delivered her drink, he repeated what he’d learned from Angel about the group and Spike’s hypnosis. Rhian borrowed his ballpoint and began jotting brief, coded notes on a white paper napkin. He delved into his theories on the group and the memory suppression. It was a thrill to be part of an investigation again; especially one he had such a personal interest in.

An hour later, Rhian returned the pen and stretched her fingers. Four ink-covered napkins were folded and stuffed in a pocket of her baggy olive cargo pants. She was impressed with the CIA’s advancement in hypnosis and made a mental note to mention the idea to her superiors. His pride in Buffy’s abilities was evident in the way he spoke. She was jealous of the affection he obviously felt for the other woman and couldn’t help but feel like she was being replaced.

“These groups are so paranoid they make the government look sane. It’s not going to be easy for Agent Summers to get in and get out, especially if she’s never done this kind of thing before. Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of this? I can have him back in five days tops,” Rhian inquired. She wasn’t exaggerating about the danger involved. While she’d rather be somewhere sunny and tropical enjoying her time off, she knew Buffy was an important part of Giles’ new life and it would hurt him if anything happened to her.

Giles smiled gently and shook his head. “Thank you, dear, but no. This matter needs to be handled… prudently, and I believe it is something Buffy would like to do on her own. I just need your assistance in finding the location of the group and getting her in. You’ve had experience going undercover in organizations such as these.”

“If you ask me, prudence is highly overrated, but you’re the boss. I’ll see what I can do for your hacker.” Stung by what she took to be rejection, Rhian stood and threw down a couple dollar bills on the table. “You know how to get a hold of me if you need anything. Give Liv my love.”

The uncertainty and hurt in her gray eyes prompted Giles to grab her arm as she moved to leave. He paid the rest of their bill and led her outside. The two slowly strolled down the sidewalk toward Giles’ car. “I do appreciate all you’re doing. I won’t forget it,” Giles said sincerely, drawing her in for a quick - yet meaningful - hug.

Rhian sighed dramatically and blinked to fight back a wave of tears. “Don’t get sentimental on me, old man. Besides, it’s the least I can do for you.”

Having reached Giles’ rental car, she spun on her heel and headed back to the café. “How exactly would you have taken care of this?” Giles’ voice stopped her after she’d walked a few feet.

Rhian paused and turned her head to smirk at her mentor. “I would have beaten Brennan ‘til he sang like my parakeet, then played it like a routine high-risk rescue op. Once we got him back I would have… encouraged the doc to fix his head and hand Junior over to you with a pretty pink bow on his head. What can I say, Rip, you taught me well.”

“Yes I did, Rhiannon, yes I did.” Giles watched as she disappeared back inside the café before getting into his car and driving away. The atmosphere in the house was no warmer than it had been when he left. Willow and Tara were still diligently working on their respective projects while Buffy paced back and forth between the two, peering over their shoulders. Buffy looked over at him and pointed up stairs when he asked where his wife was. The two other girls greeted him softly, their smiles strained. He made a mental note to speak with Buffy about her behavior before she alienated her friends.

He found Olivia in their bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bed holding a picture frame in her hands. A chubby ten-year-old Spike was grinning up at her. “Remember when all the wanted was to be a poet?” She ran one perfectly-manicured nail along the edge of his face.

Giles smiled wistfully and joined her on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her closer. “Was that before or after he wanted to be a race car driver?”

Olivia sighed heavily and set the photo on the bed. “Do you feel like this is our fault, Rupert? If we hadn’t exposed him to this type of lifestyle so early on in his life, maybe he would have chosen a different career.”

“Possibly, but at least we prepared him well. He’s a strong-willed, stubborn man, love. With Buffy’s help, he’ll come out of this just fine.” Giles wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself. He had no doubt that his son would be rescued; he was just concerned that there would be no way to break through the hypnosis.

Sensing that it was best to change the subject, Olivia inquired about Rhiannon. Though she adored Spike, she’d often longed for a little girl. Fortunately Rhian, and more recently, Buffy and Dawn, had become her surrogate daughters. She frowned when Giles started explaining Rhian’s role in the rescue. “Yes, sweetheart, I understand that she’s going to help, but how is she doing?”

“I – er – didn’t actually ask. She looked fine,” Giles responded, a bit ashamed that he hadn’t asked about his friend’s wellbeing. “She did seem a little tired, but she’d just returned from an assignment. And her hair was a ghastly mix of colors.”

Olivia shook her head in dismay before kissing her husband on the cheek. “You’re such a fuddy-duddy, dear.”

“Funny, that’s what she said, too,” Giles murmured. The couple sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in thought. Olivia, remembering a time when she was Spike’s biggest hero and everything could be fixed with a band-aid and kiss. Giles was replaying his conversation with Rhian, hoping there hadn’t been something about her he’d overlooked. After a while, he was satisfied that Olivia would be all right on her own, and went in search of Buffy. One look at the worn expressions on Willow and Tara’s faces convinced him that it was definitely time to have a talk with her. He smiled apologetically at the other agents as he pulled Buffy into the kitchen.

She hopped onto the counter and picked up an apple. “You okay, Giles? You were gone for over an hour,” she inquired. He’d mysteriously disappeared before she’d had a chance to ask him to help with the research.

“I had to meet with a friend, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Buffy, I couldn’t help but notice some tension between –” Giles started, carefully choosing his words so as not to offend the young woman.

“Between Dawn and Olivia? Yeah, I noticed it, too,” Buffy interrupted smiling broadly. It wasn’t often that she thought of something before he did. “Don’t worry, Dawn and I worked it out. She was a little hurt, but everything’s great now.”

Giles removed his glasses and wearily massaged the bridge of his nose. “Thank you. That wasn’t what I meant, though. I know this is a very difficult situation, and you’re handling it quite well –” This time he was cut off by Willow’s triumphant cry of “I got it!”

Buffy jumped off the counter, kissed Giles on the cheek, and dashed off for the dining room, calling over her shoulder, “Thanks Giles, glad we could talk!”

“– but you shouldn’t take your frustrations out on your friends,” Giles finished lamely. He replaced his glasses and stuffed his hands into his pockets, slowly moving to join the others.





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