Angel was having difficulty finding areas in the hospital without any direct sunlight. The hospital was a modern one that believed sunlight kept the spirits of the patients up. He found Fred in a spot of the waiting area in the surgery wing that was relatively dark. Fred saw him and got up, giving him a hug that channeled all her frustration and fear. The vampire was touched by her expression, but the moment was interrupted by his ringing cell phone.

"Angel", he answered with some annoyance.

"Angel, it's Wesley. I need you to listen to me. I-"

"Wes, turn yourself in."

"I've been arrested."

"Oh."

"You have to know, Angel. I didn't do this. This is some kind of-"

"Fred saw you."

"It could have been a spell or a shape-shifter demon. I'm guessing Wolfram and Hart are perhaps behind this."

"Wes, just tell me you didn't do this and I'll believe you, but if you're lying you know I'm gonna kick your ass."

"I didn't shoot Gunn. I'm innocent."

Angel could hear Wesley's conviction and went with his instincts, "Ok, we'll work off that assumption."

"Angel, how is he?"

"Still in surgery. Docs say he won't regain consciousness anytime soon, if ever."

"And Fred?"

"She's holding it together. I don't think the sight of you shooting Gunn will leave her mind anytime soon."

"Angel, you have to make her understand, I didn't do this."

"I would think you'd do a better job at that than me, but I'll try. So any ideas? It seems you've had the most time to think about this."

"Well, first you have to talk to Fred and get her to tell you exactly what she saw. Maybe she can give us some clue of what we're dealing with. I would say Wilson's Compendium of Spells and Mystical Chants would be the best place to start. Also there's some shape shifting demons you can look into in the database. Everything's cross-referenced so it shouldn't be hard."

"Sounds good for us, but I doubt that will convince the LAPD."

"Well, I haven't been formally charged yet, but it seems to be imminent. I'm not entirely clear on the legal system here, but I believe at some point I could be offered bail."

"We need your expertise. I'm not exactly the best researcher and Fred's certainly not up to heavy researching. I suppose Cordelia and I can make the best of it until we can get you out of there."

"Angel I don't need to remind you that whoever impersonated me, could perhaps impersonate any of us. Be careful."

"I'm a vampire, remember? Bullets can't kill me."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, listen Wesley I have to go. Do you need a lawyer?"

"I think my public defender should be suitable for now. I'll call again at the next phone time. Hopefully we'll know more then."

"You be careful yourself, Wesley." Angel said with mixed feelings.

Fred was sitting down at the same spot that Angel had found her, pretending not to hear Angel's phone conversation. Angel wasn't sure how he was going to do this, but he had to try.

"Fred, that was Wesley. He's been arrested."

"What.what did he say?"

"He says he didn't do it." Fred didn't respond. "Fred, I can't imagine how hard this must be to listen to, but I need you to hear me out."



Cordelia had never cursed the LA traffic so much before, she surprised even herself. It wasn't as bad as some mornings, but this morning's traffic just exacerbated her anger.

Was she angry? She didn't even know. What was the appropriate reaction to this? She couldn't understand why Wesley would do it. He had had his eyes on Fred- Gunn had pretty much eliminated that possibility for now, but Wesley would never do a thing like that..No, it just wasn't possible. Wesley was the boss. He was the reliable one. The one you could count on to tell you to do the right thing and to always do the right thing. She sounded so sure in her head, but the facts contradicted what she knew.

Finally, the torture ended. She pulled her jeep into the parking lot of the hospital and followed the signs to the surgery waiting room. She saw Angel and Fred in a dark corner of the waiting room. Fred was sitting, staring blankly ahead at the TV hanging on the wall. Angel noticed Cordelia coming in and stood up.

"How is he?" Cordelia said approaching the two.

"Still in surgery."

"Fred, I'm so sorry."

Fred noticed Cordelia's presence for the first time. "Thank you, Cordy, for coming."

"How are you doing? No wait that's a stupid question. Forget I asked."

"It's ok, Cordy." Angel tried to comfort her with some arbitrary statement of ok-ness. Cordy responded with a gentle smile. There was an awkward silence, until Fred returned to her distant stare and Angel pulled Cordy aside.

"I'm not sure how much Lorne has told you-"

"Pretty much everything you told him. Wes shot Gunn."

"Cordy, they arrested Wes this morning. He just called me on my cell about half an hour ago."

"And?"

"He says he didn't do it and I'm inclined to believe him."

"Have you told Fred this?"

"I tried. As you can see she's still a bit shell-shocked, but I don't think she wants to believe that Wes did it anymore than the rest of us."

"So what are looking for here: a demon, evil robot, witch?"

"Something like that. Wesley suspects Wolfram and Hart, but I'm not so sure."

"Yeah, it's not their usual modus operandi."

Angel looked at Cordy with a discerning look.

"Dictionary.com"

"Oh"

"No, I'm not some weirdo doppel-Cordy," Cordelia said in a slightly annoyed tone. "So where do we start?"

"Research. Wes said to start with Wilson's Compendium and the database. We'll see what we can come with. Anything to let us know what's going on."



Wesley started his morning off a little better than he did yesterday's. He wasn't arrested this morning or hung over, but he was still in jail, wearing one of those orange suits that one automatically associated with a hardened criminal or drug dealer. He tried to keep to himself and abstained from shaving to make himself look a little tougher. After breakfast, the boredom was broken by a guard telling him that he had a visitor. Probably his public defender, Wesley assumed.

Wesley walked down the drab prison hall accompanied by a burly guard and into the small equally drab room with a cheap wooden table and 4 chairs. Two men, one in his fifties and one younger, were sitting in the chairs across from him. Wesley was shocked to recognize both of them.

"Hello, father." Wesley said calmly, trying to hide his utter shock. "Lindsey, it's been a while. What the hell are you doing here?"

` "Wesley, Mr. MacDonald is here to help you. He's going to be your lawyer," Wesley's father said with a paternal force that both comforted and commanded.

"This is absurd, I'd rather take my chances with my 20-year-old public defender than this po-"

"You listen to me, boy." Wesley's father interrupted with a fiery and oddly gentle voice. "You've got yourself in this idiotic mess, but I'm going to get you out of it, whether you like it or not. No son of George Wyndam- Pryce is going to prison."

Wesley tried to say something rebellious, but he choked on his first syllable and the fear and self-doubt he had pushed down since his last conversation with his father rose and kept him from saying anything at all.

Lindsey spoke up, "You don't like me and this obviously isn't where I'd like to be, but you're in deep shit and I hate to use an overtaxed cliché but 'beggars can't really choose which lawyer's gonna get them off a murder rap that they're caught red-handed on'."

"I'll have you know, I'm innocent." Wesley said indignantly, trying to regain some confidence.

"Wesley, don't be a idiot. Oh wait. Too late for that. You're the one who shot your employee in broad daylight with your own gun."

"I was asleep in my bed, the whole morning, until the police arrested me."

"How long are you going to keep up this charade, Wesley? The police already know it. Your own employee identified you. Just fess up to us and we can get on with this."

"It doesn't matter if he's innocent or not, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. With the evidence they have, it'll be a challenge either way. But that's why your father hired the best, Wesley," Lindsey said with smug smile.

Wesley stared at Lindsey with incredible loathing, not because he disagreed with Lindsey, but because he knew he was right. It didn't matter if Wesley was sure of his innocence. No one else was; and that made Wesley, for the first time since his rogue demon hunter days, feel incredibly alone.