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Chapter 75- Loyalty
"Come on", Buffy muttered and that was when the future people arrived and she sighed in relief. "We were waiting for you."
"Guess you saw 'The Father will kill The Son", Summers noted as they all sat down together to watch.
"Yeah, and we really need to know what happens next now", Willow told her.
"Turn on the next one, we're just here to explain", Maclay said to them all.
"All right then", Buffy said as she turned on the recording.
Fred and Gunn arrived at Wesley's office to see him asleep on the desk as Gunn commented he needed a life while Fred wondered if he'd found anything new about Connor. She reached for the papers on his desk but Wesley jerked awake, stopping her, making an excuse that they were in a specific order. Angel then arrived, carrying Connor, and Wesley then gathered up his papers to go home.
"Maybe instead of keeping to yourself, you can tell", Dawnster suggested.
"He's never been very good at that, he always has to carry the burden of it all", Rosenberg told her sadly.
Angel then said he was gonna show them Connor doing something cool, and morphing into Vamp face, said he was teaching him to die. Wesley was horrified as Angel sunk his fangs into Connor's neck, the baby crying. Wesley looked down at his hands, palms down on the open book in front of him. Blood was seeping out from under them, coating the pages. Fred and Gunn smiled at Wesley as Gunn's voice got weird and echoed while he said Wesley was running out of time. Wesley looked over as Angel straightened up, blood smearing his vamp face, then lifted his hands off the book and stared at his bloody palms. Wesley's head came up from the open book he was sleeping on and he glanced around the office. Angel walked in, carrying Connor, asking if Wesley had been here all night. Wesley just stared up at Angel.
Everyone was horrified by what they had just witnessed. Sure, it was just a nightmare, but it was so disturbing.
"Angel would never…" Buffy trailed off.
"He wouldn't", Harris agreed. "But you gotta know, Wes is paranoid."
"I get that, I am too", Giles said.
"Yeah, but if he doesn't tell this, it's gonna get real messed up", Xander commented and no one could disagree.
Two women were holding babies in a doctor's waiting room, one baby crying as Angel also waited there with Connor and a slightly disheveled Wesley beside him. Angel then gave that woman a suggestion and she thanked him, calling him 'Mr. Dad' before the nurse called her and she went in, Angel happy at being called 'Mr. Dad' before asking Wesley if he was okay, and he said he was just tired, Angel commenting they hadn't seen him for a while as he'd been too much into his prophecies and books.
"Look how happy 'Mr. Dad' is", Dawnster commented with a smile.
"Yeah, that's all good, but it's Wesley we should really be thinking about", Tara said grimly.
"He is gonna do something messed up, isn't he?" Willow asked and got nods.
Wesley said he was working on a difficult translation, and Angel asked if there was anything to worry about when he got called in, and Wesley followed too. Later, the doctor examined Connor, finding everything fine, though Angel had heard a 'wheeze' or 'gurgle' while feeding him, which the doctor called digestion, and Wesley asked if he'd seen anything abnormal but the doctor hadn't. Angel was then told they'd get the results of the blood test in a week, and then he shook the doctor's hand too long before letting go as the two walked out while the doctor looked down at his hand, saying how they bitched about his cold hands.
"Well, you're living, he's not dead, there's a difference", Buffy quipped.
"Not that he knows that", Xander added.
Then the other woman with her baby arrived, looking at a test tube containing blood marked 'Angel, Connor', and taking it away, replaced it with another similar one, before the nurse arrived so she played dumb and followed her away.
"Why did she do that?" Willow snarled, everyone now realizing something was up.
"Guess who's involved?" Summers asked with a raised brow.
"Wolfram and Hart", Giles scoffed as they all groaned.
"4 recordings later, they finally make their return", Buffy sighed.
"Well, we all knew they weren't gonna stay away forever", Tara reminded.
Angel and Wesley were working as Fred held Connor and Gunn wondered how Angel was ordering stuff from the web, to which Fred gave him a description of 'high-tech robbery', while Angel said he'd memorized Cordelia's credit card numbers, which Fred called 'low-tech robbery', and then Angel held up 2 miniature hockey sticks, and also a jersey that said 'Connor 03' on the back, Fred and even Gunn finding it adorable.
"Oh yeah, that is really adorable", Dawnster said with a smile.
"He's Mr. Dad", Buffy reminded.
"Those small size jerseys look cute on their own", Tara told them all.
"When put on a little kid, they're even better", Willow said.
The future people were sad at this talk, since they knew Connor never got to wear that shirt and look adorable in it.
They talked as Angel drank some blood, Fred wondering if they'd phones but Angel tried to divert the talk to hockey, Gunn calling it the 'whitest sport known to man' but Angel didn't care, and said he couldn't wait to watch him grow up, lose his first tooth, and ride a bike, all the while sipping the blood. Wesley un-hunched from his book as Angel's voice drifted into his office, as he said he wanted to help him pick out a tux for his senior prom, and just couldn't wait to see who he was gonna be, feeling all mushy.
"All of this is really strengthening my desire to find a way to quickly remove that happiness clause", Willow said.
"It can be removed", Rosenberg told her, to her surprise. "You just need to try out a different brand of magic to do it though."
"Really, what?" Tara asked.
"Eldritch energy, try tapping into that, it's not addictive either", Maclay told the two witches, and they were surprised on hearing that.
"But that kind of energy is too powerful", Giles noted.
"Once you get a handle on it, it's much better than what you currently use", Rosenberg explained. "And using that, you can remove the happiness clause too."
"That's something", Willow commented.
"We have to check it out", Tara told her.
Angel and Gunn then started playing but ended up breaking the glass, and then a woman arrived, needing help. Later, Fred put Connor in the bassinet as the woman called Aubrey narrated that last Monday night, her son Timothy had snuck out of the house but she didn't find him and returned home, and then he'd returned home before dawn, his face different, and he was angry and calling her names, before the sun came up and he went up in flames. Wesley said he'd have killed her if let in, and that he wasn't her son anymore but a monster wearing his face, and that there was no way to turn him back either.
"Those evil jackasses", Dawnster snarled about the Vampires, all feeling bad for Aubrey.
"Don't feel too bad for her", Summers said as all turned to her in shock.
"How can you say that?" Xander asked.
"Just wait a minute and you'll know", Harris told him.
Wesley asked Gunn to do recon of the pier, Gunn also deciding to take Fred while Aubrey said she'd have killed those things herself if she could. Later, she reported to a group of people around a seated Holtz, giving information about Angel Investigations- specifically Wesley, Fred and Gunn, with pictures stuck to a board. Holtz complimented her as she thanked him.
Now the past people were really angry as Buffy snarled. "That bitch-"
"She did lose her son, but what she's doing now isn't right either", Dawn snarled.
"Holtz seems to have brainwashed all these people", Giles noted in disgust at Holtz.
"Yes, they are his victims", Rosenberg agreed. "But remember, they weren't mind-controlled or anything. So they may have been manipulated, but what they're doing, they're doing of their own free will."
"So we shouldn't feel much sympathy for them then", Dawnster realized.
"That sounds about right", Harris said.
In a darkened room of an old mansion, 2 men with quarterstaffs fought a chained Vampire as Justine looked at all the pictures, wondering how these people could work for a Vampire, and Holtz reminded of his pact, but she said he wanted revenge, to which Holtz said they believed their reasons to be good too, if misguided, and told her not everything was good or evil, so she asked about Angelus and he said Angelus was evil.
"Way to contradict yourself", Xander quipped.
"He is not one to recognize irony", Maclay told him.
Justine saw the Vampire attacking the two men as the anchor of its chains came loose. While Holtz sat back and watched, Justine jumped up and punched the Vamp, dodging or blocking his blows before knocking him down and pinned him to the floor with a sword. Some men chained the vampire back up. Justine pulled the sword free, stepped back, and looked at Holtz.
"She's good", Buffy noted. "Really good. Now if only she was a good guy."
"Yeah, she wasted all her potential working for Holtz", Summers agreed sadly.
Holtz was impressed when Sahjhan arrived, not in a good mood as he wanted a little privacy but didn't get any. Holtz told Sahjhan he'd done his part so now he'd do his, but Sahjhan wasn't impressed, saying even Caroline would call him a coward now, but then Holtz threatened he'd trap his dimensional essence in a Resikhian Urn, making Sahjhan shiver back out of existence.
"Why didn't he do anything about it?" Dawnster asked.
"I believe there is something about him we do not know yet", Giles realized.
"Yeah, that Urn is a real threat to him", Dawn spoke up.
Wesley was looking at 'The Father will kill The Son', talking to a wizard on the phone and convincing him to do something, and then hung up as Fred arrived, smiling. She first decided to go away since Wesley looked busy but he didn't mind so she said she was impressed how Wesley had been there for Aubrey, and also by his hard-work with the book staring, so he could go out for a walk. Wesley looked away as Fred grinned and suggested he try it out with Aubrey, but he said they weren't here to date but do a job, so she should go to the pier to do her job, and so she walked out of his office.
"When you like a girl, it's only the girl who can't tell", Xander said with a sigh.
"Yeah, he'll date if it's you", Buffy spoke up.
"She doesn't know that yet", Willow added.
Lilah was talking to her mother on the phone, and her mother seemed to have dementia and was taken care of in a hospital. Her mom eventually started crying when Sahjhan appeared so Lilah cut the call.
"What happened to her mom?" Tara asked.
"Wolfram and Hart offered her medical care in exchange for Lilah working for them", Maclay revealed to them. "That was when she was a semi-decent person."
"But now I guess her moral compass points only where the firm points it", Willow realized and got nods. "Guess I feel a little bad for her since under different circumstances, she could have not been this bad."
"Probably, but we'll never know, just know this, she also loathes herself, even if she doesn't show it", Summers told them. "Not that it makes her a good person, because she's not."
Lilah said Sahjhan didn't have an appointment and he was offended she hadn't been surprised by him, but she'd done her homework on him, and realized he wanted her firm to expedite the process of Angel's death. She then said company policy was to let Angel live till he became useful and she was sworn to obey the policy, but then she scribbled on her notepad, showing him 'count me in', and asked any other way of helping him as he said he wanted the blood of Angel's son, which Lilah already had, but it was completely normal, to which Sahjhan said they were looking for the wrong thing.
"What's in his blood?" Xander asked, gulping.
"You will see why he wants it real soon", Dawn told him.
"So now he has joined with Wolfram and Hart, I do not think this will end well for anyone", Giles noted grimly.
Fred and Gunn were in the pier, Gunn wanting to have some fun but Fred wanted to work, and then Gunn revealed this was his job and he'd just brought her because Wesley might want to chat up his girl without him, and then Fred realized Wesley knew and Gunn knew he knew and hadn't told her. Gunn said Fred knew he was interested in her and now knew they were together, no big deal. Eventually, they agreed they could work and date and it wasn't Wesley's business, and so they kissed and walked off together.
"They aren't wrong about that", Willow said. "Fred and Gunn dating is none of Wesley's business."
"As long as it doesn't get in the way of work", Tara added. "Since last time they kind of lost their guy."
"I'm sure they can handle it", Buffy said confidently.
"Yeah, they could, for a while", Summers told her.
Angel was playing with a stuffed animal that had a rattle inside in front of Connor, and then Wesley arrived, saying he'd to make sure all was okay with Connor, and Angel noted he was on edge, cooing at Connor that he didn't meant to give his Uncle Wesley a headache. Wesley assured he wouldn't be long as Connor gave them a smile on Angel's request, and then Angel thanked Wesley for being a good friend. Wesley left as Angel went back to playing with Connor.
"That smile was so sweet", Dawnster said, loving the cuteness once more.
"He and Wesley gonne be in a mess, right?" Xander asked.
"Yes", Harris sighed.
"It's a total mess", Rosenberg muttered.
"If only he had told them instead of taking the burden on himself", Tara said sadly about Wesley.
"Sometimes, we Watchers really believe we know best without consulting others", Giles told them in a self-depreciating tone.
Fred and Gunn were walking through the dark and deserted pier when Gunn got a tingle, and then Fred noticed a guy trying to break into a building as Gunn said carousel had closed hours ago. So they entered the dark building housing the carousel, spotting a figure, and Gunn then pulled a stake in spite of Fred's protests. The carousel began to turn silently. A door in the middle column opened and a growling vampire stepped out between the turning figures. Behind Fred and Gunn another vampire dropped from the ceiling, and a third came up from the other side. Fred and Gunn exchanged a look.
"This is why you should exercise patience", Giles counseled while rolling his eyes.
"Gunn is good, but he's impulsive, it's his biggest flaw", Summers said with a sigh.
"And we all know what impulses can do", Dawn muttered.
Justine and another man watched from an opening in a wall as Justine also recorded, while Gunn took on 2 Vamps, hitting them both before one hit back, but then he ducked as a 3rd leapt at him and instead it fell into its fellow Vamps, all 3 falling down. Gunn had Fred run off as he continued to fight, Justine not caring. One of the vampires had Gunn down on the ground. Gunn hit it across the chin, then catapulted it off over his head. It flew into the wooden railing surrounding the carousel, breaking it. Gunn picked up his dropped stake and rans after it, plunging the stake home. But even as the first vampire turned to dust, another one threw him across the room. Gunn's stake skittered across the floor as he lost his grip on it. Gunn got back up to resume the fight. After a few blows the vampire grabbed him by the throat and lifted Gunn clear off the ground, Justine still not caring.
"What's gonna happen now?" Dawnster said in fright.
Fred came back in just as the second vampire came up behind Gunn, warning Gunn before she tossed Gunn one of the broken spokes of the wooden railing, while picking up another for herself. Gunn caught it and staked the vampire coming up behind him, while Fred dusted the one holding him as Justine and the guy left, while Gunn was shocked Fred was still here. She assured she had his back, or the Vamp's, and then they kissed each other before standing and holding each other as the carousel turned silently behind them.
"She can do more than just talk science", Summers told the past group.
"We can see that", Buffy said. "But then again, 5 years in Pylea, we shouldn't be surprised at what she can do."
"Yeah, she's quite something", Willow nodded.
Wesley was searching for something via an electronic compass and then found himself in front of a giant hamburger face with arms and legs and an 'order here' speaker for a nose, outside of a fast food place. The lights went out as 2 guys walked out and Wesley noted this thing was a statue in a way as the guys walked off while Wesley pulled out a leather bag, saying he'd kill the wizard if this didn't work.
"What's he doing?" Xander asked.
"Making the hamburger talk", Harris quipped, surprising the past gang.
"A Loa resides inside it", Rosenberg revealed to them.
"Ah, right", Giles realized.
"What's that now?" Buffy asked.
"An oracle-like creature who resides in any statue he pleases", Tara explained to Buffy.
Wesley sprinkled powder over the statue and chanted something as the hamburger came to life, growing bigger as its eyes glowed red. Wesley begged for answers but Loa said Wesley wanted the question, and Wesley asked if Angel will kill his son like in the prophecies, to which Loa said it was certain the Vampire would devour his child, and Wesley's only question was 'when', but Wesley instead asked how to stop it, to which Loa said it couldn't be stopped. Wesley was persistent but red lightning from Loa's eyes knocked Wesley down as it called him insistent while Wesley got back up, sarcastically telling it to try chatting with a cranky hamburger.
"Talking hamburgers, my life is now complete", Xander joked.
"Please don't make a joke right now", Dawnster told him so he sighed and shut up. "Is this Loa telling the truth?"
"He is being cryptic", Maclay said. "It's in their nature. Note he never gave any exact details."
"So we can work out what it's saying in any way?" Willow asked and got nods. "Doesn't sound easy."
"Because it's not", Dawn sighed. "And he's a jerk too."
The Loa said perhaps Wesley wanted death, and he said only death would stop him, to which Loa said his pain was just beginning and betrayal and agony lay in wait, and Loa finally revealed that earthquake, fire and blood will be the signs, before asking Wesley not to trouble him as the hamburger shrank in size and was a lifeless statue again.
"Yeah, his pain is just beginning", Willow sighed, remembering how he'd looked when she'd seen him.
"What happens?" Buffy asked.
"Don't ask, just watch", Summers told her.
Lilah sat in a bar as a guy sat down next to her but she said he wouldn't get her on his best day so he got up and sat next to some other woman, while Sahjhan arrived, saying it was ironic he was late as he was a time shifter, and wanted a conversation so Lilah asked why he wanted Angel dead, to which he said he had his reasons, and asked Lilah her reasons too, to which she said they'd history, and Sahjhan said it was the same here, but he wasn't afraid of Angel, before asking about the plan as Lilah said it had already started.
"What has she done?" Dawnster asked.
"She's gonna make the signs come true", Rosenberg said grimly.
Wesley sat in Hyperion, looking at Connor in his bassinet when someone knocked on the counter and he saw Aubrey as they walked to his office, Aubrey saying she was grateful that the monsters had been taken down, handing him a check. Wesley said he hadn't mentioned more than one but she said he'd mentioned a nest so she figured, and then Wesley decided to mail her the receipt before Aubrey noted he seemed rough around the edges, to which he said he wasn't sleeping well. She then asked if he'd like to go out for coffee with her, saying it got lonely, and then Wesley said she was good, surprising her as Angel said from behind 'lonely' was a nice touch and she spun around to see Angel behind her.
"What? You thought you could fool the world's best actor?" Buffy asked with a smirk.
"She never had a chance, and once she mentioned 'monsters', it was even less than that", Harris told Buffy.
Aubrey's hand dived into her purse and came out with a stake. Angel caught her upraised arm and sent her stumbling to the side, making her drop the stake, then followed her, wrapping one hand around Aubrey's throat, commenting she moved like a fighter rather than victim, Wesley agreeing as Angel was angry at her for his friends almost getting killed but she said they were alive, her son wasn't. Angel let go of her and took a step back, apologizing for her son as Wesley realized that's how Holtz had found her. Aubrey just looked from Wesley to Angel who said. "You're right to protect him. Holtz is one of the good guys. He has every right to hate me. And if he ever - comes close to one of my people ever again, or tries to touch a hair on my son's head - I'll kill him - and anyone who gets in the way. You might wanna mention that." Aubrey took one last look at Angel and ran out.
"Doubt it would stop him, but good threat still", Xander quipped.
"They better do well to remember that", Dawnster agreed.
Angel turned to look at Wesley. The book on Wesley's desk started to rattle as the whole hotel began to shake from a minor earthquake. Angel hurried out of Wesley's office, but by the time he got to Connor, everything was stable again, and he picked Connor up, saying this was his first earthquake. Wesley looked quite shocked.
"The Loa said this would be the first sign", Buffy remembered with wide eyes.
"Lilah caused this", Summers told her. "They know about this too."
"And that means Wes is gonna…" Willow trailed off as all had a sinking feeling.
Justine's recording played on a TV screen where Fred tossed Gunn a stake, and Holtz said she was outsized, outmatched and outnumbered, but still survived because of her will to die for the cause rather than abandon her comrade, and they needed to do the same, plus they might be fighting these two soon so he asked them to study the recording carefully, and then heard footsteps, saying it might be sooner than thought. They turned to see Aubrey arrive as she apologized for being caught but Holtz was annoyed she'd allowed herself to be followed. "Don't blame her." Aubrey and the rest spun around to face Wesley in the doorway. "I would have found you eventually."
Now the past people were horrified again as Buffy asked. "What is he doing here? Does he want to die?"
"No, he's here to talk", Rosenberg told her.
"He sure has changed a lot", Giles noted, as he remembered how frightened Wesley had been when they'd been captured back when he'd first come to Sunnydale, and now he had ventured into the enemy's lair alone without any fear.
"For better and worse", Willow sighed.
One follower drew a knife and walked closer, saying they could cut out his tongue to send a message to Angelus, but Wesley hauled and hit his throat, sending him down and saying he could gag on the ground for a while instead.
"Go Wes", Dawnster said, everyone impressed by how fearless and efficient he was now.
"Hold your tongue, there's more, he did not come to destroy them all alone", Summers told her.
"He came to talk", Dawn reminded.
Wesley said he hadn't come to fight and wasn't the enemy, noting they'd trouble making the distinction, and said they were fighting the wrong man. Holtz called him as 'Angelus' but Wesley corrected it was 'Angel' now, and he was a good man. Holtz said he wasn't even a man but Wesley pointed out he'd a soul, which Holtz knew about, noting the gypsies had a knack for vengeance but failed in deliverance of justice, which he'd do. Wesley offered himself instead, saying Angel was no more responsible for Angelus' crimes than he was.
"Holtz won't see it that way", Tara said grimly.
"Yes, his mind is clouded with vengeance now, and he's too far gone already", Maclay told her grimly.
Holtz asked. "And was it your hands that held down my beloved Caroline as she was violated and murdered? That wrapped themselves around my son's neck and snapped it like kindling? Where yours hands that clutched at my daughter as she was turned into a creature damned for all eternity? - Angelus is in his nature. The beast will re-emerge. You've seen it. You know it. And that is why you are here. - You're afraid he's going to kill the child." Wesley looked from Holtz to Aubrey. "And you're right." Wesley realized Holtz's infiltration was worse than thought as Holtz said the child wasn't safe as long as he remained with the Demon.
"What? You think he'll be safe with you instead?" Buffy scoffed.
They all felt horrible at what had happened to his family, especially after his description, but what he was doing was wrong nonetheless, especially since he wasn't just going after Angel but others too. And also brainwashing people to join his cause.
"Wouldn't surprise me if he's that delusional", Xander muttered.
Wesley realized Holtz did want to protect Angel's son but didn't believe him still as Holtz told Wesley to make a decision, because his army would grow stronger and this war would be a bloodbath. Wesley called it revenge but Justine said that's all some of them had left, and Holtz revealed when he put his son's body in the ground, he had to open the coffin to see if he was really in there, and said Wesley might discover a child's coffin weighed nothing. Holtz walked off as Wesley stood silently.
"He really thinks he will be the one to protect Angel's son from him? He's even more delusional than I thought before", Dawnster said with a scoff.
"He only has his revenge left, that's all he can think about", Tara counseled Dawn. "He won't be thinking too rationally about these things."
"And now he has manipulated Wesley with his words too", Giles noted.
"His words of manipulation were as strong a weapon as his actual weapons", Rosenberg told the past people.
Fred and Gunn were in a diner as she asked if he was okay and he said he wasn't mad at Wesley but still understood his position, and they had a lot of pressure. Fred wondered if he was changing his mind and Gunn said maybe they couldn't manage, but finally said that while he'd been fighting since he was a kid, he never had a Fred before, so he would always choose her if Wesley made them choose, and wondered if he'd come on too strong but she said he'd come on just right, and he stole a fry from her plate, assuring Wesley was a good man who'd do the right thing.
"Good man but really conflicted", Willow noted grimly. "And he really doesn't wanna talk about it either."
"Yeah, all of us should learn to talk more", Harris agreed with a nod. "Would prevent a lot of disasters."
"Tell me about it", Buffy sighed as she thought of the time she'd pushed her friends away after her resurrection and pursued a toxic relationship with a soulless Spike, which would be around this time being shown in the recordings.
Ensouled Spike would have been a great partner, but soulless Spike was not.
Wesley stopped in front of Angel's door as he was carrying Connor in his crib when Wesley knocked and came in as Angel tried to get some food for his son, asking Wesley how he was, and he said he'd better days. Angel agreed, saying he'd figured it out as he folded Connor's laundry, saying he knew about Aubrey because he'd have done the same in her position, and it scared him if anything happened to Connor. "I love my son." Wesley said. "Love can be a terrible thing." "I used to think that. I thought love was - something that swallowed you whole, ripped you up inside, but, you know, what I feel for Connor, even that fear... - Wes, it's - it's not terrible", Angel sighed and looked down. "It's beautiful." Wesley looked at Angel, then looked down and began to laugh quietly. He looked back up at Angel, grinning. Angel smiled back. "What's so funny?" Angel got up and went to check on the bottle. Wesley said. "Life. Life is funny. Listening to stupid people talking to hamburgers is funny. Worrying about things that will never... - It's all so incredibly funny and - and beautiful."
The past people seemed relieved now for a second, forgetting the warning of their future selves.
Angel was drying off the bottle as a second, harder earthquake hit. Pots and pans fell out of the cupboards. Lilah was looking around her shaking office, a smile on her face. Justine was standing in Holtz's mansion, legs braced against the shaking. Holtz turned and looked at her. The lit stove in Angel's suite toppled over. A huge column of flame shot out, throwing Angel across the room. A burning beam dropped from the ceiling between Wesley and Angel. Holtz tackled Justine out of the way of a shelf as it came crashing down. Justine looked up into Holtz's face as he was lying on top of her. Angel ran to Connor's crib and gathered his son up in the sky-colored blanket he is lying on. He jumped over the burning girder and headed for the door. Looking over, Angel saw that Wesley was just standing there, staring into the flames, so he grabbed a hold of Wesley and tossed him out into the hallway before hurrying after him.
"Well, crap!" Xander spoke for everyone, as the past people now had that sinking feeling in their gut again.
"Remember, it all goes downhill from here", Summers warned in a grim tone, and none of them doubted her.
Angel, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, looked back into his apartment as another chunk of ceiling crashed down where Wesley had been standing. Wesley, coughing, sat up against the wall. Angel said to Connor. "It's okay. It's okay. It's alright." Wesley looked at the blood from Angel's head wound dripping down onto Connor's blanket. A light blue blanket with fluffy white clouds on it. Wesley whispered. "Earthquake. Fire. Blood." Angel breathed hard. "I thought we were gonna be trapped in there, huh?" He looked down at the bloodied blanket, then smiled at Wesley. "At least I would have had something to snack on." Wesley looked horrified as the screen went black.
"The signs all came true", Giles said in horror, speaking for everyone. "And now Wesley believes-"
"That the father will kill the son", Buffy finished for him.
"Why isn't he talking to anyone about this?" Dawnster asked.
"He feels lonely", Rosenberg told her. "Angel is the subject of what he's onto, so he can't talk to him about it, Fred is with Gunn, so that's hurting him, and he doesn't want to talk to them, and Cordy is gone."
"So he feels he cannot confide in anyone", Tara realized now why Wesley was keeping this to himself.
"Yes, that's how he feels", Maclay sighed in sadness.
"And because of all this, a bad decision is gonna be made", Summers told them all.
"Yeah, I get that", Xander muttered.
"Really don't wanna watch the next recording right now", Willow said with a gulp, having an idea of what would happen.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, you have to", Dawn told her.
"We saw it once, and you need to see it too", Harris nodded.
"Yeah", Willow nodded lamely.
"Let's see", Buffy said, her heart pounding faster as she came onto the next recording.
Next chapter, the clusterfuck grows bigger in size.
When Wesley went to confront Holtz and his thugs in his lair and punched that guy, that was when I properly noticed how much Wesley had changed from when he'd been introduced, because this was badass.
Who would have imagined BTVS Season 3 Wesley being in control of such a situation?
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!