Disclaimer: I own nothing, Angel belongs to Joss Whedon and whoever else who owns Angel.

The father will kill the son.

Wes stared at the prophecy in front of him, a feeling of anxiousness overwhelming him. It couldn't be true. No, no, in fact, it had to be completely invalid. He'd already gone over this theory, though, and it was clear that he'd translated it correctly. This was a prophecy. The father will kill the son.

Angel will kill Connor. How could that even be plausible? Angel loved Connor more than anything. He would never, ever, ever do anything to hurt him. There was no sense to the prophecy.

As he knew, unfortunately, prophecies always came true, no matter what. The prophecy from so many years ago about Buffy that he'd heard about, for example. It was stated the Master would kill her, and kill her he did. Xander and Angel were just lucky enough to find her in time to bring her back. Call that luck or a loophole, it didn't matter. As Wes was reading this one now, he could not see how there would be any luck or any loopholes.

Connor would die by Angel's hands. No matter how many times he worded it differently, the meaning was always the same.

He shouldn't overreact. The prophecy would come true, but there were no words as to when. It could be today, it could be thirty years from now. And maybe there'd be a reasonable explanation. Connor's possessed by an evil demon, for example, and the only way to save him is to kill him. That would make sense, right?

Or what if Wes was looking about this the wrong way? What if the demon inside Angel was released instead and Angelus killed Connor. As long as his soul was put back, Angel would always look at it like it was his fault, like he did it; therefore the father would have killed the son.

There was not enough information in this prophecy to deduce anything. At this point, there were an infinite number of possibilities. There had to be a way to narrow it down. Usually signs appeared; signs that the prophecy was coming true, right? Back to Buffy's example, if he remembered correctly, the sign was that the Master was going to rise. What would be the sign that Angel was nearing the time where he'd kill his only son? If he told Angel about the prophecy and the sign, then once Angel saw the sign he'd know he'd have to get as far away from Connor as possible. But what if that was the point? What if seeing the prophecy was the sign which would cause Angel to go on a violent rampage and kill Connor accidentally? How could there be so many questions, so many possibilities? And what, oh what, was Wesley going to do?

"Wesley?"

The voice caused Wes to jump and hit the table. His eyes snapped up to see the beautiful woman that matched the voice. Grabbing a few papers before Fred had a chance to fully walk in; he covered up the translation of the prophecy. He took a large breath, calming himself down.

"Fred," he sighed. "I-I thought you were asleep?" Somehow, in a nearly magical way it seemed, he managed to keep his voice at a calm, quiet level. Wesley the Voice Controller: Hiding the discovery of prophecies that would hurt everyone around him! Okay, he couldn't be stupid now. He needed to focus.

"I was, and I thought you were going to come up so we could talk before I fell asleep," she countered as she sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk. Wes's hands were shaking slightly because of how near she was to the prophecy without even knowing it.

"I'm sorry," Wes apologized. "I got caught up in the work. What are you doing up?"

"A craving for a late night snack woke me, but since there was no more food left in my refrigerator I decided to come down here to look for something and saw this light on. Oh, and its okay. Did you find anything?"

"No," Wes answered much quicker than he knew he should have.

"Okay. No need to go all crazy Mr. Cranky."

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I'm just tired."

Well, it was partially the truth. He was starting to feel exhausted. Albeit for some reason, he couldn't see himself actually getting a good night's sleep anytime in the near future.

Fred smiled at him. Her smile had a mysterious way of brightening the mood. While the despair remained in Wes, the deflation faded. He felt lost, but better now, like he knew he wasn't alone. She reached across the desk and placed her hand on top of his.

"You should go home. You look like you could use a good night's sleep."

It's like you've read my mind, he felt like saying.

"Better yet," Fred continued, "come upstairs." Wesley frowned. "Okay, that sounded way too presumptuous," she backtracked. "I meant that there are so many empty rooms upstairs with beds you can sleep in. You don't look well to drive."

"Fred. Are we…together?"

"Now you want to talk about this?"

Wes knew it wasn't exactly an "appropriate" time. After all, it was late at night and he'd just discovered a life changing prophecy, but he couldn't help himself. The days before all he'd done was think about him and Fred and if it would really happen. And now, as he was separated in the sense that he was the only one to know about the prophecy and didn't know what to do, he wouldn't be alone. He needed to know if he was alone or not.

Fred chuckled. "You're a great big goof, Wesley. We care about each other. We want to be with each other. Is there any explainable reason that we shouldn't be together?"

"No," he told the truth. "But earlier—you said you were worried about the fact that we were always in this dangerous line of work and that everybody else-"

"Gunn already knows. I'm sure Lorne can sense something going on between us. Cordy and Groo are on vacation. The only one who doesn't know is Angel, and he wouldn't mind. Okay, we're in the line of danger, so what? We'll always be strong…together."

"So…we're together."

Fred frowned. "Here I was worried that I'd be the inexperienced one, being trapped in Pylea for five years, and here you are who seems completely oblivious."

He laughed. "You're right. I'm just nervous is all."

He looked into Fred's eyes. Yet all he could think about was the prophecy. He cared about Fred immensely, but this prophecy had the power to change everything, especially with Angel. He couldn't…he couldn't handle this alone. Tell Angel, don't tell Angel, whatever, it wasn't his decision to make. At least, not his decision alone.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to share any news just yet. It was too soon, and too late at night. Trying to get some sleep would help his decision making skills.

"We should go to bed," Wes suggested.

Like he should've done many hours ago, he kissed Fred. It was a soft, sweet kiss. Then he walked her upstairs. For some reason at her room, he walked in behind her. They didn't change clothes or undress, instead they just collapsed on the bed and fell asleep, together, closer than they'd ever been before.

Morning. So much light filled the room. Wes's eyes slowly opened. The first thing he noticed was that Fred was no longer lying on the bed next to him. Wondering where she was, he stifled a yawn. Wow, despite everything he'd managed to sleep fairly well. No nightmares or terrifying thoughts of-

The door to the room opened. Wes craned his neck to see Fred walking in and closing the door behind her with a tray in her hands holding two plates filled with eggs, bacon, and toast, and two glasses of orange juice.

"Oh, good, you're up," she commented.

He stood up and helped her with the tray. He brought it over to a small table that was in the room.

"What is all this?" he asked.

"Well, I thought you'd be hungry, and I was still hungry from last night, and I don't think Charles and I will be going out to breakfast. So, I made some. I don't know how good it is, but we'll try it out."

Wes smiled. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you, Fred." They sat down at the table.

"Yeah, and I made from food for Connor too. Since Angel won't be eating I-"

Wesley gasped nearly involuntary. Angel and Connor! Jeez, how could he have been so stupid? Anything could've happened in the time he was asleep. What if Angel had hurt Connor?

"Fred, are they up? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, Angel's just playing with Connor now. Wesley, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Her eyes darted back and forth. "You didn't see one, did you?"

Wesley shook his head. "Listen, Fred, I uh… I should go. Thank you for the breakfast, though. I just—I need to leave."

"Wesley, wait!" Fred called after him as he hurried out of the hotel room. Downstairs, he saw Angel, Gunn, and Connor playing. Okay. Good. As long as Gunn was with Angel.

Before they could say anything to him, Wes left the building. He couldn't do this. He needed the signs. He needed to know when, if soon, Angel would kill Connor, and if there was a way to prevent it. Until he knew that, he couldn't tell anyone, not even Fred. There needed to be positivity, certainty. Wes needed to know.

So at home, Wes researched. While he researched, Angel, Gunn, and Connor went to the doctors because Angel had a suspicious Connor might be sick. Even though they didn't know it, at the doctor's office Connor's blood was still switched out with someone else's.

Whether surprising or not, it didn't take long. He found a wizard, which led him to a statue that would be called Loa. The statue turned out to be a giant hamburger face with arms and legs at a fast food restaurant. Since it was early enough where no one was around, he decided to talk to the statue right then and there.

He received what he was searching for. It could not be stopped, according to Loa. Wes felt defeated yet again.

But the signs were given.

"The first portent will shake the earth. The second will burn the air. The last will turn the sky to blood."

Wes wasn't entirely sure about the earthquake thing, but oh well. He had signs. That was good, right? A step up. If any of these things were to happen, he would know the time was coming. Potentially, if he decided the best decision was to tell someone, then they would all know the time was coming.

Would he tell someone? That was the big question, if nothing else. On one hand, Angel needed to know. He needed to. On the other, for a reason he couldn't particularly explain, he was afraid of telling Angel. If the prophecy was inevitable, didn't Angel deserve this happy time with Connor now? Or was that not the right way to be thinking?

Gunn or Lorne he could tell, perhaps. Not that he didn't trust them, but what if one of them blabbed to Angel though? And Wes was still undecided if Angel should know.

Fred. Sure, okay, maybe still a possibility of her telling Angel. He trusted Fred, and presumably she trusted him. He could tell her, if necessary. If he decided to. If that was the best move.

Fred was worried. The way Wesley had stormed out...well; it was like something was terribly wrong. As much as she didn't want to be like a stereotypical mess, she couldn't help but ask the question: Is it me? Did he run out because of us and our relationship?

She liked to believe not. They had something. Didn't they? She cared for him so much, and he cared for her.

Or was that the problem? Did he not realize she cared for him?

Because she did. Maybe it did come about in a sort of inconvenient way, being possessed by spirits and all, but that didn't make it any less real for her. She liked Wesley a bunch, cared for him more than she could ever realize. The spirits didn't make her this way; they awakened these feelings inside of her.

That was why, out of worry, when Angel, Gunn, and Connor were at the doctor, Fred was considering snooping around Wes's office. Maybe he'd written down why he was acting so weird or something like that.

She entered her office and then walked back out. She didn't have to be like this, shouldn't be like this. She wasn't some psycho girlfriend who needed to know everything about everything.

Why did he have to storm out like that? She was so worried now.

Okay. No. Fred wasn't going to go into his office and look through his papers. That was wrong. But what if she was looking for some records of clients and was moving some papers around and just happened to read something?

Stop! She begged herself. Going into his office was not an option. She just needed a distraction until Wes returned.

Just as she was thinking that, the door to the Hyperion opened. Fred turned, and was more than thankful to see Wesley walking in. He looked a bit shocked, like he'd received a piece of bad news. In fact, she recalled he had a look similar to that last night before she had called his name to get his attention.

"I'm sorry," were the first words out of Wesley's mouth. Fred felt like he'd said that so many times in the last twenty four hours that it was getting redundant.

"Wesley, what was that? Why did you just leave like that? It's not…me, is it?"

"Fred, no, of course not. It's never you. I have discovered something, Fred, and it's too big to keep on my own, I think. I think I need help."

"You can tell me anything. What is it?"

Wes paced a little bit. "I don't know if I can. It's frightening."

"You're scaring me."

"That's the last thing I want to do. Fred, I translated the prophecy. I know I can trust you, and I hope that you feel that you can trust me."

Fred's heart skipped a beat. The prophecy. "Wesley, what is it? What did you discover?"

Wesley took a deep breath.

Vail watched on, like he'd been doing. As he watched what transpired in front of him, a smile broke out on his face. Just like he'd anticipated. Things were changing, probably better than he could have ever imagined. Already they were one step closer to changing the future of Illyria rising.

Although, unknown to Vail, he wasn't the only powerful force watching what was happening.

There was supposed to be a plan. Certain rules, certain steps were supposed to be followed in order for Jasmine to get the results she wanted. She'd carefully orchestrated so many events to happen at one time and then another. This, though, this relationship between Wesley and Winifred was never, ever a plan. How had it happened? How had she allowed this to slip through her fingers? Obviously there was another force at work, here. Someone was trying to change the events of what was to come. Someone was ruining Jasmine's plan.

Did the mysterious force really think she was going to just sit back and watch the changes unfold in front of her?