Giles had almost forgotten the difference in climates between California and England. The evening air was far cooler than he had expected and he wished now that he had decided to bring that warmer jacket after all. It had been so long since he had last been to England, roughly four years. It was strange now that his own country felt so alien to him, and California felt more like his home.

The flight to London had been a long one. He was tired and weary, but refused to let himself rest. Not until he got some information about Sunnydale's latest arrivals.

He walked along the London pavement for a while but soon Giles felt droplets of water land upon his head and face. He frowned and looked up at the sky, which was grey, dull and set for rain.

"Bloody typical," he muttered to himself, and he called for a taxi.

Half an hour later the taxi pulled up outside the Watchers' Council HQ. It was a very large, grand building, where Giles had worked for many years prior to his assignment of Buffy. The building had almost become like a home to him then, but for some reason as he stood awkwardly outside it now, it gave him an eerie feeling.

After thanking and paying the cab driver, with the little English money that he had, he walked up to the HQ and entered through the main door.

The main door seemed somewhat larger than Giles had remembered it being. The decoration hadn't changed, but had been so long that Giles had been in such a dignified place. Several watchers were dotted round the main hall, all of them gazing upon the new arrival in the building. Some frowned, some smiled, but Giles figured that the ones who were smiling at him probably didn't know who he was, or hadn't heard of his dismissal.

He made his way to the impressive main desk where a middle-aged woman was ordering some documents into neat piles on the wooden surface. She stopped what she was doing as she noticed Giles' approach.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked, then paused as recognition spread across her face. "Say, aren't you…"

"Yes," replied Giles, "it's me."

"What are you doing here! You were fired!"

"Listen," continued Giles, ignoring the woman's questions, "I need a favour. I need to see Quentin Travers. It's urgent."

"You know I can't," she replied. "You're not a watcher anymore."

Giles leant in towards her and spoke in a hushed tone. "Sophie, something's coming, something big. I need to see him. Please."

She sighed. "Very well, go ahead… but I'm putting my job on the line here Rupert."

"And it's appreciated answered Giles, who was already making his way to the left staircase.

Sophie returned to the many documents that lay in front of her and let out another deep sigh. Well, she thought, I can say goodbye to that promotion

Giles stood before the door that led into Quentin Travers' office. Until recently he had always respected the head watcher, he hadn't necessarily liked him as a person and he had thought his methods ridiculous on occasions, but he had always respected him. When he had worked inside the council HQ, it has always been an honour for him whenever he was called to enter the older man's office.

He remembered the last time he had been invited in. It was when he was assigned to Buffy. He'd never felt so proud before, to be picked out of many was a great honour. Finally he could put all those years of training into practise, however, soon after meeting Buffy he had discovered that it was a lot harder than it looked.

He'd always imagined the slayer as an incredibly serious girl, dedicated to training and her studies and would always obey her watcher commands. Buffy was most definitely not serious, she'd rarely study or obey him, and made fun of his training methods but was definitely dedicated and stood up for what she believed in, and Giles admired her for it. Soon after his arrival in Sunnydale, Giles had discovered that the slayer was a person too. And he'd come to love that person as a daughter, which had cost his position as Buffy's watcher.

Quentin Travers had put Buffy through that ludicrous test, and now all he felt for the man who he used to respect as his superior was searing hate. He put forth his hand and knocked three times on the dark wood.

Giles stood outside for a moment and listened to the sounds of rustling paper and cabinets being shut from inside the office. The finally a voice spoke out. "Come in."

Taking a deep breath, Giles did as he was commanded. The door opened with a creek and he stepped inside the rather luxurious office. Behind the desk sat an ageing man. It had been less than a year since Giles had last seen the old man but during the time he seemed to have aged considerably.

Quentin looked his unforeseen guessed up and down, and after a moment's silence he was first to speak. "Well, I must say Mr Giles, this is rather… unexpected." The last time they had spoken Giles had made it quite clear he didn't want to see him again.

"Indeed," answered Giles, "but I come here at great urgency… of course normally I would have phoned but the council do seem rather reluctant calls from a man such as myself."

"Rupert, you know the council…."

"Let us speak of it no further," interrupted Giles. "I'm not technically a watcher anymore, I know that, but still, I have reason to believe a new evil has arisen. One that we may need the council's resources to fight"

Quentin's brow furrowed. "And what has led you to this conclusion?"

"Are you familiar with the prophecy: 'the ruler will summon his servants and the word will fall dark'."

Quentin gave a tired sigh in response. "Of course I am, as are many others… we are all familiar with this myth."

Giles frowned and his voice. "Myth! Myth! It's written in the Codex, which you have studied… and recently I have reason to believe it's coming true. Buffy's seen the ruler's servants!"

"You have too much faith in the slayer Rupert, this is what I was talking about when we last met. Your affection for her clouds your judgement. What she saw probably weren't even the real servants, if there are such things. I'm sure this will come to nothing. In the meantime I suggest you return to Sunnydale and tell that slayer, whom you are so reluctant to leave, to focus her time on more important issues."

Giles was angry, but also confused. Quentin Travers was head watcher. How could he turn a blind eye to a prophecy in the Codex? It was a disgrace! Without a moments hesitation he stormed towards the door. "You don't give us orders," he snapped at Quentin, and then he slammed the door behind him.

A Dark featured man stepped out from behind the large cabinet Quentin had shut earlier. "You want me to…"

"No," Quentin interrupted, "he knows nothing."

Giles made his way quickly to the council library, full of rage and hate for Quentin. He was going to get more information on this prophecy. Quentin wouldn't be able to stop him…unless he was caught sneaking into the council library.

Checking the coast was clear at every corner, he made his way towards the narrow corridors that led to the library.

He only had a few more bends to go, when he heard footsteps from around the corner. Hurriedly looking around him he found an indent in the wall. The indent was small, but big enough for Giles to fit his whole body into.

The footsteps passed and didn't pause. Giles leant back on the wall in relief…but relief soon turned to shock as he felt his body fall back further than he anticipated and he fell though. As he lay on his back he came to he realisation that the wall, wasn't a wall at all… it was a door.

Giles picked up his glasses from the cold stone floor and slid them back onto his face but the glasses made no difference, as the room was dark. The door had shut after he had fallen through.

After he had got to his feet his hand began to scan the wall for a light switch, figuring he could probably make more sense of his situation of he was able to see. Soon enough he found one and he gave it a hefty pull.

Giles blinked, then blinked again. Slowly the room began to fall into focus around him, every last detail of the room could now be seen. Every dark secret that hid was now revealed.

He scanned through the various documents, files and books that lay in shelves and on tables. He'd stumbled on something big…and he maybe wished he hadn't. He dropped the book he was holding back onto the table and backed up against the blank wall. He removed his glasses. So this was the Travers' big secret.

"Dear Lord."

To be continued...

AN: Review please! tell me what you think!