A Little Less Sixteen Candles... Continued

Breakfast Is Served

"Okay," Andy tried hard to sound as though he was really giving Joe a chance to prove himself, but even he could hear the clipped and sceptical tone. Joe would just have to accept it. "Talk."

Joe stared back, uncertain of what to say. All he knew was that Andy had been told that he had betrayed them and the information was personal and detailed enough to be convincing. He swallowed hard, more than a little scared; someone had managed to convince Andy that he had turned on them. But, without the knowledge of what he was said, Joe wondered what his chances were of convincing him otherwise.

"Go on!" Andy pressed as Joe paused for a few moments to gather his thoughts. "Or are you busy concocting a lie to get you out of this?"
"What can I say that you'll believe?" Joe finally snapped in return. "I don't even know what you've been told."
"Just..." Andy's voice softened slightly, "just tell me the truth."
"I will... Andy, I can only tell you the truth, but it may not be enough, I don't know what's been said."
"Just tell me!" Andy almost sounded tired instead of angry.

Nodding, Joe began with the night of the trap, explaining how he had woken tied up in Andrea's home. Going on to detail her connection to them, the failed first rescue attempt and their lucky escape, Joe paused for breath.

"Then?" Andy prompted.
"Then we went back home, ours, not hers. I needed equipment, even for a daylight raid, I knew some would still be awake."
"How did you know?"
"Sometimes, I read Trick's notes. If something... if... if I've screwed up on a hunt, I discuss it with Patrick and we go over his notes. I learn what I can so I don't make the same mistake twice."
"Except trying to rescue us," Andy replied kindly. "You did that twice."
"That wasn't a mistake," Joe answered with a smile. "I got caught, but it wasn't a mistake. You... you believe me?"
Andy sighed. "I'm not sure yet, keep going."

Joe nodded; there was light at the end of the tunnel. He knew from Andy's reaction that his belief in him was out of sheer wanting to believe than him being actually convinced.

"I gathered things we could reasonably carry; tasers, one of Patrick's guns with the wooden bullets, crosses, as much Holy Water as I could carry and, of course, several stakes."
"What did you say?" Andy cocked his head to one side, suddenly hearing something he hadn't expected to.
"Uh... which bit?" he asked with uncertainty. Acutely aware that he was virtually on trial, Joe had no desire to condemn himself accidentally and from Andy's tone there was no way to be sure if what his friend had heard was detrimental to his case or not.

"The equipment you took. Why did you take the Holy Water?" Andy replied, finally deciding to be a little more specific.
"Well..." Joe frowned. The answer should have been self-evident, especially to Andy, but there was really only one way to answer – state the obvious and hope it wasn't so obvious after all. "Well, it burns them. I know you have to get pretty close, or they've actually got hold of me, so it's a last resort thing. More desperate than practical really."

The tension in Andy's shoulders gave way to relief, but now his brow creased and his eyes welled. At first, unable to speak, Andy reached out and dragged his shocked friend into a hug. Uncertain over Andy's reaction, Joe was prepared for a fight and took a few moments to realise that this was just the opposite. Slowly lowering his arms, he allowed them to settle on Andy's back as his friend repeatedly apologised.

"I'm so sorry! Oh, Man! I can't tell you how sorry I am! I kicked you, a lot! I can't believe I did that. Most of all, I can't believe I listened to Brendon!"
"Brendon? Brendon told you I betrayed you and you believed him?" Joe pushed back and stood open mouthed.

Already racked with guilt, Andy felt the hurt and disappointment in Joe's tone all the more. It seemed so unreasonable, so stupid.

"He told you that I wasn't captured because I'd set you up?" Joe asked.