---

Gunn and Fred enter Wesley's office and find him asleep at his desk. Gunn admires Wesley's dedication to the job, spending the night at the office, doing his research. He thinks on that briefly and realizes Wes really needs a life.

Fred wonders if Wes discovered anything new about Connor as she reaches for some papers on the desk.

Wes wakes up and snaps at her not to touch the papers. He softens his tone, telling her it's just that he has them arranged in a specific way. He doesn't want to get lost. He asks what time it is.

Angel comes into the office carrying Connor. He cheerfully tells Wes it's time to wake up.

Wes gathers up the papers on the desk, saying he fell asleep, he'd intended to go home.

Gunn wonders if Wes has come up with any answers from the books piled on his desk.

Angel says Wes knows the answer, he's just seeking the question. He asks if they want to see Connor doing something "cool", then morphs into vamp face and says, "I'm teaching him how to die."

Wesley responds with "don't!" as Angel buries his fangs into the baby's neck.

Gunn and Fred look on.

Wes looks down at his hands, resting on top of an open book. They are soaking with blood flowing from the pages.

Fred and Gunn laugh.

Gunn tells Wes time is running out.

That phrase echoes with Wes as he looks at Angel raising his bloody face from the baby. Wes lifts his blood drenched hands from the book and stares at them.

Wesley wakes from the nightmare with a start. He looks around the office, composing himself.

Angel enters, carrying Connor. He asks if Wes has been in the office all night.

---

In a pediatrician's waiting room, a young mother laments dealing with a colicky baby as her child fusses. Nothing she's tried has helped. The woman sitting next to her with her own baby has no solutions to offer.

Angel asks her if she's tried the vacuum, sometimes the motor sound will help them get to sleep.

The woman remembers reading something about that but says she couldn't do it because the noise would wake her older child.

Angel offers the idea of taping the noise and playing it back at low volume near the baby's crib

The young mother offers her thanks for the idea as she's called back into the examining room.

Angel is enjoying the dad thing while Wesley sits next to him, lost in thought. Angel asks him if he's okay.

Wes answers that he's just a bit tired.

Angel thinks it's a good thing he got out of the office for awhile after being sequestered with books and prophecies for the past few days.

Wes explains he's been working on a difficult translation.

Angel asks if it's about Connor.

The nurse calls Angel back to the examining room.

Wesley stands up to accompany Angel who is surprised he's coming along. Wes figures it's good to have backup, in case Angel forgets to ask anything.

Wes stands in the background as the doctor checks Connor out with his stethoscope.

Angel hovers, asking about a strange gurgling noise he noticed when he was feeding the baby. He anxiously asks the doctor if he hears anything.

The doctor assures him he only hears the sounds of a normal, healthy heart.

Angel is persistent, telling the doctor he has really, really good hearing and he definitely heard something.

The doctor attributes Angel's concern to new parent anxiety. He confirms Angel's telling him he heard the sound when he was feeding the baby.

Angel wonders if that's bad, he wants to know exactly what's going on.

The doctor offers his professional opinion. It's digestion.

Angel feels a little foolish.

Wes asks the doc if he noticed anything abnormal during his examination.

Angel doesn't think that's an appropriate question but wants to hear the answer as well.

The doctor assures them both the baby is fine.

Angel asks when the results from the blood test will be back

The doc answers it's just a precaution, the results will be back in about a week.

Angel asks again if everything is all right.

The doctor again assures him Connor is healthy.

Angel is happy to hear that as he shakes the doctor's hand and thanks him profusely.

Wes heads out the door, looks back and sees Angel is still shaking the doctor's hand. He tells him he can stop now.

Angel realizes what he's been doing, breaks the handshake, picks up the baby and departs with Wes.

The doctor mutters something about cold hands as he lays the tube of Connor's blood on the cabinet and leaves the examining room.

The mother who was sitting next to the woman with the colicky baby in the waiting area enters the exam room, takes the tube of Connor's blood, shoves it into her bag and substitutes it with another.

A nurse opens the door and asks if the woman got turned around, she was supposed to take her baby to the exam room across the hall.

The woman smiles, acknowledging she got the wrong room.

---

At the hotel, Wes works at his desk while Angel is enthusiastically working to open a recently delivered box.

Gunn wonders just how Angel manages to order stuff off the Internet with no last name and no bank account.

Fred is holding Connor and offers the explanation it's not too difficult. It just requires hacking into the seller's database, finding someone who ordered what you want and replacing the delivery information with your own.

When Gunn and Angel just look at her in response, she adds that would be "high tech robbery."

Angel tells them he just memorized Cordelia's credit card number

Fred terms that "low tech robbery."

Angel reaches into the box and pulls out a couple of miniature hockey sticks.

Gunn asks if they're "some kind of boomerang vamp stake."

Angel hands him one, reaches back into the box and pulls out a baby sized jersey with Connor's name on the back. He shows it to Gunn who thinks Angel has too much spare time

Fred figures Gunn thinks it's cute.

Gunn smiles, saying that may be so but he's man enough to deny it.

Angel removes a plastic hockey puck from the box and tosses it to Gunn. He notes things have been slow since Cordelia and Groo went on their vacation as he takes a swig from a glass of blood.

Gunn admits it's been a bit dull, he'd actually like to go fight something nasty.

Fred mentions Cordelia hasn't called once with a vision since she's been gone. She wonders if there are phones where Cordy and Groo are.

Angel doesn't figure the two of them would be spending all their time in the hotel room, it's a vacation. He changes the subject to the wonderful game of hockey as Gunn pushes the puck around the floor a bit with the miniature stick. He wonders if Angel realizes hockey is "the whitest sport known to man".

Angel gets that but he points out it's played indoors and usually played at night. He knows he's going a bit overboard but he's enthusiastic about all the milestones ahead he wants to share with his son; his first tooth, learning to ride a bike, picking out a tux for the senior prom.

Wes listens from his office as Angel talks about all the things he's looking forward to sharing with Connor. He looks up from his books, concerned.

In the outer office, Angel and Gunn are playing with the hockey set. Angel takes a shot, sending the puck crashing through the window.

A young woman, Aubrey, enters the lobby, seeking the assistance of Angel Investigations.

As the others listen, Aubrey tells them her son, Timothy, snuck out of the house. He loved to go to the pier, he liked the Ferris wheel lights. She says she went out looking for him, she searched the pier but couldn't find him so she went home and waited, hoping he'd return.

Angel asks if her son returned home just before dawn.

She confirms that, saying there was something wrong with his face and he was violent, calling her names, banging on the door, demanding to be let into the house. She says she was afraid and then her son just went up in flames.

Wes tells her he'd have killed her if she'd let him into the house.

Aubrey answers that he'd be alive.

Gunn offers that what came to her door wasn't her son. It looked like him but it wasn't him anymore.

She wonders if she could have found a way to turn him back.

Angel lets her know there is no going back once someone is turned into a vampire. Even though she wanted to believe there was some part of her son left she could save, there wasn't, there was only an "evil thing."

Wes takes that in then asks Gunn to check out the pier while it's still daylight.

Gunn offers to just handle it if he finds anything.

Wes tells him it's only a reconnaissance mission. If there's a nest, they'll all go together.

Gunn tells Wes he and Fred will do the job.

Aubrey says if she could have found it, she'd have killed it herself. It made her fear her own son. She's distraught, not knowing what to do.

---

A calm, collected Aubrey is giving a group of people the information she's gathered from AI as she displays photos of each of the team.

She identifies Wes, the boss who hands out the assignments and specializes in research and reference. Fred, the science expert. She doesn't know if Fred is a fighter or not. Gunn, big and strong, probably a good fighter but she thinks he's impulsive. She offers they may be able to use that in the future.

Holtz congratulates her on a job well done.

She smiles and thanks the "boss".

---

Holtz's minions practice their fighting techniques. Several vampires are chained up nearby.

Justine wonders how anybody could work for a vampire as she looks over the photos of Angel, Wes, Gunn and Fred.

Holtz tells her he was in league with a demon once.

She thinks that's different since his reason for doing so was to get to Angelus, to kill a vampire.

Holtz assumes the employees of AI have their reasons. He tells her things aren't always so clearly defined as black and white, good and evil.

She asks about Angelus.

Holtz assures her he is evil.

One of the vamps escapes his chains and jumps one of the minions.

Justine takes him on as Holtz watches. She pretty much dominates the fight. She grabs a sword and rams it into the vamp, suggesting to the others it would be a good time to bring the chains. Others chain the vampire back up as she pulls the sword out of it.

Holtz is impressed with her skills. He tells her they need to get things moving, events are happening more quickly than he'd hoped.

Sahjhan materializes in the room, thankful things are finally moving. He was getting bored.

Justine slashes him with the sword, which just passes through him, doing no damage.

He quips that his barber has the same problem with the scissors, which explains his hair.

Sahjhan would like to speak to Holtz privately.

Holtz refuses to send Justine away.

Sahjhan reminds Holtz he is owed one dead vampire.

Holtz wonders what Sahjhan intends to do about it. He knows Sahjhan can't do anything himself or he wouldn't have needed to bring Holtz there. He tells him to let him handle it.

Sahjhan doesn't like the way Holtz is handling it and lets him know it. He calls him a coward, saying he thinks Holtz's wife Caroline would agree. He reminds him of his dead wife and dead children, asking just how it was they died, who swore vengeance. He wonders if any of this is sounding familiar.

Holtz tells him to leave.

Sahjhan doesn't figure Holtz can do much about it if he doesn't go Holtz can't kill him.

Holtz concedes that's true, but he can trap his "interdimensional essence" in a mystical urn that lasts for eternity.

Sahjhan assures him they aren't finished, then disappears.

---

In his office at the hotel, Wes is on the phone with a wizard telling him he doesn't care if it's dangerous. He tries to convince an apparently reluctant wizard that he should cooperate because it's the right thing to do. When that doesn't seem to sway him, Wes offers the reminder he's paying a large sum of money and he expects it done. He tells him to "do it and call me back" then hangs up the phone.

Fred comes bounding into the office, smiling.

Wes curtly asks her what she wants.

She notices his mood and offers to come back later.

He asks her what she needs.

She says she just wanted to compliment him on the way he dealt with Aubrey. She knows Wes has been working hard, buried in his books. She understands that can drive a person a little crazy. She suggests he get out for a bit, go for a walk, take some time for himself. She thinks he deserves that. She thought maybe he could call Aubrey. She noticed from her paperwork that she's single and Fred thinks she could probably use a friend.

Wes tells her they aren't there to date, they're there to do a job. He suggests she go to the pier and do hers.

Fred, dejected, quietly turns and walks out of the office.

---

At her desk at W&H, Lilah is on the phone with her mother who's apparently confused. Lilah identifies herself, telling her mother who she called. Lilah asks if she's all right, if there's anything she needs. She gently tells her she can't come over, she's in LA. She reminds her mother she knew that. Lilah tells her not to cry.

Sahjhan materializes in Lilah's office.

She hangs up the phone and points out he has no appointment.

He notices she's not surprised by his arrival.

She assures him it doesn't come as a surprise, her firm is very thorough.

Sahjhan is familiar with Wolfram and Hart, "in this and other dimensions."

Lilah does the exposition by way of apprising Sahjhan of what she knows. He's a time shifter who recruited Holtz in the 1700's and brought him into the present so he could dust Angel when the time was right. She assumes since Angel isn't dead yet, Holtz isn't working fast enough to make Sahjhan happy. She figures Sahjhan is there to enlist the assistance of W&H in moving things along.

Sahjhan confirms that's basically why he's there.

As Lilah writes on a legal pad, she says she's sorry to disappoint but informs him that her firm's policy is to let Angel live until he's useful to them. She has to abide by the policy. She asks if there is any other way the firm can assist him as she holds up the legal pad for Sahjhan to read on which she's written "Count me in."

Sahjhan looks around, clears his throat, realizing the office is being monitored. He tells Lilah he has a plan but he needs a rare and valuable ingredient to make it work. He tells her getting it will be difficult, maybe impossible. He needs the blood of Angel's son.

Almost before he finishes his sentence, Lilah answers, "Got it."

Sahjhan is taken aback by that, asking how she got a hold of it

She fills him in, the blood was taken from the office of the baby's doctor. She doesn't know what use it will be however, since it was tested and it's completely normal.

Sahjhan tells her they were looking for the wrong thing.

---

Fred and Gunn walk the pier, surrounded by amusement park activities. Fred looks around, pondering what she's supposed to be looking for; small dark places, vehicles with blacked out windows, people with "bumpy faces and sharp teeth."

Gunn doesn't figure they have to worry about seeing actual vampires since it's daylight.

Fred thinks as professionals they should be aware of their surroundings.

Gunn's attention is on a ring toss game. He smiles and asks her if she'd like him to win her a prize.

Fred starts to object.

Gunn playfully grabs her by the arm and pulls her over to the game, telling her she can win him something then. He wonders if she thinks she can get the stuffed bunny.

Fred is uncomfortable, telling him this is wrong

He agrees, he doesn't really want the bunny.

She reminds him they're supposed to be working.

Gunn says they're on a recon, that's not the same as working.

Fred reminds him it's still their job.

Gunn offers it was actually his job, Wes didn't tell Fred to come along. He figures Wes wanted him out of the way so he could spend some time with Fred.

Fred doesn't think that's true. She asks why Gunn didn't tell her that Wesley knew about them.

Gunn doesn't see the big deal, saying she knew Wes was interested in her and now he knows they're together. End of story.

Fred points out Wes is the boss and she doesn't think he likes them dating while they're working together.

Gunn wonders if Wes said something to her.

Fred doesn't answer, but her expression says yes.

Gunn is irritated by that. He lets Fred know he hopes she stood up to Wesley and told him they're adults and their personal lives are their business.

Fred hesitantly answers that she didn't. She says she likes Gunn, she doesn't want things to change.

Gunn doesn't see why they should.

Fred thinks maybe they should keep it strictly business when they're on the job.

Gunn disagrees with that, telling her he wants the "great girl and the great job." He doesn't care what Wesley says, he'll fight for both. He smiles at Fred. She giggles. They kiss. He suggests they continue their vampire hunt as he puts his arm around her and they continue walking on down the pier.

---

At the hotel, Angel is playing with Connor. A ragged looking Wes walks in, looks at the baby in his crib for a moment, then curtly says he's going out for awhile.

Angel takes a drink from a glass of blood and asks Wesley what's up. He's noticed he's been edgy for days.

Wes answers he just wants to be sure everything is all right.

Angel figures he means with the baby.

As Angel goes back to focusing on Connor, Wes heads out the door.

Angel calls after him and thanks him for being a good friend.

Wes pauses a moment, looking troubled. He leaves as Angel's attention returns to his son.

---

At the pier, it's now dark. Fred and Gunn are still checking out the area. Gunn senses something.

Fred thinks he's coming on to her again, reminding him they were going to try to leave the personal stuff out of work.

Gunn tells her it's something else as he looks around.

Fred joins him in scanning the area, noting she doesn't see anything suspicious. She then notices a guy trying to break into one of the buildings that houses the carousel.

Gunn notes the carousel has been closed for hours as the guy enters the building. Gunn and Fred follow him in.

As the guy climbs a ladder to an upper level, Fred wonders if he's a vampire.

Gunn pulls a stake from his pocket and figures they'll find out soon enough

Fred wants to know what he's planning to do.

Gunn says they've been walking the pier all day, he'd like to finish the job rather than just go back to the office and file a report.

Fred isn't sure this is a good idea.

The carousel suddenly powers up. A door opens on the other side of it and some vamps enter. Another drops down behind Gunn and Fred from the upper level.

Hiding in the distance, Justine and a young man watch, videotaping the action.

Gunn tells Fred to run when he gives her the word as he begins taking on the vamps. Fight ensues. He yells to Fred to get out.

She hesitates, he repeats his order to get out of the building. Fred runs out the door as Gunn continues the battle.

The young man looking on figures Gunn is going to get killed.

Justine isn't so sure.

As Gunn dusts one of the vamps, he's pulled up from the floor from behind by another. The stake goes flying across the floor. As the vamp holds him up by the throat, Justine's companion wonders if they shouldn't intervene.

Justine reminds him that's not the reason they're there.

Fred returns to the building, retrieves a wooden post from the floor and stakes the vamp from behind.

Justine is impressed as she and her companion depart.

Gunn wants to know why Fred is still there.

Fred tells him she was looking out for him.

Gunn is relieved, smiles, thanks her. They embrace and kiss.

---

Wes is walking while monitoring a GPS, seeking the latitude and longitude he's looking for. He stops, looks up and finds himself standing outside of a fast food place, directly in front of a large plastic hamburger figure that houses the drive-through ordering apparatus.

The lights go off inside the restaurant, a couple of employees exit the building and stop to notice Wes who's rather irritated, telling the smiling plastic hamburger it was "supposed to be a statue".

The employees laugh and depart.

Wes takes a pouch from his pocket vowing serious harm to the wizard if this doesn't work as he sprinkles the contents of the pouch onto the plastic hamburger.

After he dusts the figure with the powder, he holds out his hands and recites some words asking for an opening to the "gates of truth."

Lights flash, electrical current moves over the hamburger figure as it comes to life and grows larger, its eyes glowing red. A booming voice comes from the figure who isn't happy to have been disturbed. It refers to itself as the "Loa."

Wes refers to it as the "Great One", telling it he has come for answers only it can give him.

The Loa tells Wes he already has the answers, he's now seeking the question.

Wes wants to know if the prophecy is true, that Angel will indeed kill his son.

The Loa tells him it is a certainty "the vampire will devour his child", the question Wes wants answered is when.

Wes replies that his question is how can he stop it.

The Loa tells him firmly it cannot be stopped.

Wes intends to argue the point, sure there must be a way.

The Loa has had enough. Electrical current shoots from its eyes, knocking Wes flat on his back. It doesn't like Wesley's attitude.

Wesley's response as he gets himself back to his feet, "You try chatting with a cranky hamburger."

The Loa tells him he has risked his own life calling on it, perhaps it is death Wes is seeking. It knows Wes has a heavy heart and figures maybe he wants to end it.

Wes tells the Loa to do it. It's the only way he'll be stopped from seeking a means to keep the prophecy from coming to fruition.

The Loa responds, "Your pain is just beginning. Betrayal and agony lie in wait and time is running out." It points out Wesley is still avoiding the question.

Wes asks when.

The Loa answers that the first portent will be the shaking of the earth. The second will be the burning of the air. The third will be the sky turning to blood.

Wes figures the first portent is an earthquake and isn't impressed, pointing out they do live in California. It's hardly an unusual, or apocalyptic, occurrence.

The Loa repeats the portents; earthquake, fire, blood, and tells Wes to be mindful of the signs. It warns him not to bother it again as it morphs back into its previous form as a plastic drive-through window ordering adornment.

---

Lilah is sitting in a bar, ordering a drink. A guy walks up to her but before he can say anything, she lets him know he stands no chance with her. He leaves.

Sahjhan enters and takes a seat next to her. Nobody seems to notice the demon sitting at the bar. He apologizes for being late, noting the irony of that considering he's a time shifter.

Lilah tells him things are a go.

Sahjhan isn't sure what she's talking about.

She tells him their "Angel plan" is on. She got help from outside of the firm and buried the costs. She doesn't figure there will be any problems with W&H. She finishes her drink and gets up from the bar, ready to leave.

Sahjhan stops her, noting she likes to skip the conversation and get down to business. He tells her he just time shifted 133 years and wonders if a little chit chat would kill her.

Lilah informs him they aren't on a date. She met him there so they'd be free to talk.

He suggests they do that then. He wonders if she'd be impressed if he told her he invented Daylight Savings Time.

Lilah asks why Sahjhan wants Angel dead, saying it was the only thing she couldn't find in the firm's archives.

Sahjhan assures her he has his reasons. He wonders why she'd risk losing everything to kill Angel.

Lilah answers they have a history.

Sahjhan tells her it's the same for him.

She wonders if he's afraid of Angel.

He indicates he's not.

She wonders just what he is afraid of then. Even though he lacks physical substance, she can smell the fear.

Sahjhan figures it's time to leave as he gets up from the barstool. He asks her when the plan goes into effect.

She tells him it's already begun.

---

At the hotel, Wes is sitting behind the desk in the outer office, staring at Connor in his bassinet.

Aubrey enters and knocks on the counter.

Wesley's reverie is broken. He tells her he didn't hear her come in as he invites her to come on into the office.

She tells him she got his message telling her everything was taken care of. She lets him know she's grateful as she hands him a check, telling him she knows it's too late for Timothy but the monsters won't have a chance to take anybody else's son.

Wes walks away, turns back to her, notes she said "monsters" yet he doesn't recall mentioning there was more than one.

She answers he did tell her before there could be a nest.

Wes puts the check in the desk drawer and thanks her.

She asks him if he's okay, explaining she's not trying to intrude, he just looks a bit worn out.

Wes quietly answers that he hasn't been sleeping much.

Aubrey asks him if he'd like to go out for coffee.

Wes wonders if she's asking him to accompany her.

She says she could use a friend, since she lost her son, it's been lonely.

Wes is on to her game, complimenting her performance, especially the "lonely" part.

She tries to bluff, acting like she doesn't know what he's talking about.

Angel appears behind her, telling her the lonely part was a nice touch.

She pulls a stake from her bag and tries to stick Angel with it.

He easily deflects her attempt, sending the stake flying across the floor. He grabs her by the throat and backs her up against the file cabinet. He observes she moves more like a fighter than a victim.

Wes agrees with that.

Angel lets her know he's aware she set up Gunn and Fred to walk into an ambush, pointing out they could have been killed.

She answers that they weren't, unlike her son.

Angel backs off of her and tells her he's sorry for her loss.

Wes wonders if that's how Holtz found her, because of what happened to her son.

She doesn't answer.

Angel tells her she's right to protect him. Holtz is one of the good guys and he has every right to hate Angel. He warns her that if Holtz comes near any of his friends again or tries to harm Connor in any way, he'll kill him along with anyone that stands in the way. He suggests she might want to mention that to Holtz.

The woman runs out of the hotel.

A small tremor shakes the building. Wes looks around, fearing the first sign.

Angel rushes to pick up the baby who's been awakened by the shaking. He assures him it's okay as Wes looks on, troubled.

---

Holtz is instructing his minions using the videotape of Gunn and Fred in the vamp fight. He points out that Fred is outmatched in every way, yet she survived because she was willing to die for the cause rather than abandon her companion. He hopes they learn from the example, pointing out they will have to be willing to do the same, only more so. He suggests they study the tape carefully because they'll be fighting Gunn and Fred soon. He hears footsteps and notes that perhaps the fight will be sooner than he'd expected.

He turns to see Aubrey enter. He looks at her.

She says nothing.

Holtz knows she was busted by Angel.

She apologizes.

He assures her it doesn't matter but he is annoyed she allowed herself to be followed.

Wes enters, telling Holtz not to blame her, he would have found him eventually.

One of the minions pulls a knife and stalks toward Wes, suggesting they cut out his tongue and send Angelus a message.

Wes decks him and suggests the guy spend some time on the floor. Wes says he's not there for a fight, he's not the enemy, but he's noticed they have trouble seeing the difference. He tells Holtz he's fighting the wrong man.

Holtz answers, "Angelus."

Wes says, "Angel" and points out he's a good man now, he's not Angelus anymore.

Holtz reminds Wes that Angel isn't a man at all.

Wesley points out Angel has a soul now.

Holtz knows the purpose of the soul is so Angel will know the pain he's inflicted on his victims. He muses that it's a brilliant curse, really. Gypsies are good with creative vengeance. Where he figures they fail is in the administering of justice. He assures Wes he will have that.

Wes tells Holtz if he needs a sacrifice, he can take him. Angel is no more responsible for the actions of Angelus than he is.

Holtz wonders if it was Wesley's hands that held down his wife as she was "violated and murdered", or snapped his infants son's neck or turned his daughter into a vampire. He tells Wes that Angelus is in Angel's nature, the beast will reemerge, Wes has seen that, he knows it and Holtz figures that's why Wes is there, because he fears Angel will kill his son. He tells Wes his fear is justified.

Wesley acknowledges Holtz's infiltration was more effective than he'd suspected.

Holtz assures Wes he doesn't need prophecies to tell him what's obvious. Connor won't be safe as long as he's with "the demon."

Wes sarcastically notes he misunderstood. He thought Holtz was all about a vendetta, now he realizes he just wants to protect Angel's son.

Holtz asks if Wes doesn't believe him.

Wes answers that he's having some trouble with that, perhaps it's Holtz's ominous tone of voice that's giving him pause.

Holtz suggests it's time for Wes to take a stand, saying his army is growing in number and strength. That will only continue. He assures Wes if he fights a war, "it will become a bloodbath."

Wes knows it's not about war, it's about vengeance.

Justine wonders what's wrong with that. It's all some of them have now.

Wes tells her he can't know what it's been like for any of them.

Holtz offers he may know sooner than later. He walks up to Wesley and tells him that he had to open the coffin when he buried his infant son, to be sure he was in there. He suggests Wes may also discover a child's coffin weighs next to nothing.

---

Gunn and Fred are at their usual restaurant. Fred notices Gunn hasn't eaten much, she wonders if he's all right.

He tells her he's okay, he's been thinking about what happened yesterday and he's not really upset with Wes.

Fred admits Gunn was right, she should have stood up to him.

Gunn understands that Wes is the boss, they have to respect that. There's a lot of responsibility that goes along with that position, a lot of pressure.

Fred looks concerned, not sure what Gunn is getting at. She asks if he's changing his mind about wanting both the relationship and the job. She figures as long as they don't bring their personal stuff to the job, there's no reason not to go for it.

Gunn is concerned what happens if they can't manage the romance and the work, noting that emotions can be unpredictable. Their judgment can be impaired, as it was the previous night at the carousel. He wonders what happens if things don't work out.

Fred wonders what happens if Wes makes them choose between the job and their romance.

Gunn says he's been fighting demons since he was a kid. He's always had the feeling of waking up in the morning and making the world a better place.

Fred's expression is disappointment, thinking he'd choose the job over her.

Gunn eases that fear, telling her he's "never had a Fred before." He smiles.

Fred smiles in return.

Gunn assures her if forced to make a choice, he'd choose her. He pauses a moment, fearing he came on too strong.

Fred assures him he didn't.

Gunn suggests they try not to worry about things too much. Wes is a good man, he'll do the right thing. "He always does."

---

Wes walks down the hall of the Hyperion, stopping outside of Angel's door. He knocks.

Inside, Angel invites him in as he puts Connor down in his crib.

Wes enters as Angel lights the burner on the gas stove, heating water for a bottle for the baby. He asks Wes how he's doing, really.

Wes answers that he's had better days.

Angel knows how that goes. He says he understands now how he knew about Aubrey, the pain and rage, her only way to deal was to join forces with Holtz to extract her revenge. He wonders if Wes knows how he knew that.

Wes knows it's what Angel would have done as well.

Angel admits he's scared by that. He doesn't know what he'd do if anything happened to Connor. He loves his son.

Wes offers that "love can be a terrible thing."

Angel says he used to think that "love was something that swallowed you whole, ripped you up inside" but in what he feels for his son, even with the fear, it's not a terrible thing. It's something beautiful.

Wes looks quietly at Angel a moment then starts laughing.

Angel smiles and asks him what's funny.

Wes answers, "Life."

Angel gets up and moves to the stove to check the water heating.

Wes is still laughing, saying life is funny, "listening to stupid people talking to hamburgers is funny" as is worrying about things that won't -- He stops and sums up that it's all just funny "and beautiful".

Another, more violent, tremor shakes the building.

In her office, Lilah sits at her desk and smiles as the tremor sends furniture and people tumbling.

The tremor rattles Holtz's place and his minions.

In his room, Angel notices the gas burner still on. The stove turns over causing an explosion and fire that knocks him across the room. The room is engulfed in flames as a burning beam falls from the ceiling.

Wes looks at the destruction around him. The first two portents evident; earthquake and fire.

At Holtz's, he rushes to push Justine out of the way just as a large cabinet crashes to the floor where she'd been standing.

Angel rushes to the crib and picks up Connor. He leaps over the downed ceiling beam blocking his exit.

Wes stands transfixed, staring at the flames.

Angel notices Wes isn't following him out, goes back and grabs him, throwing him roughly out into the hall just as more debris crashes down from the ceiling.

Out in the hallway, Angel assures Connor everything will be okay as blood drips from a large gash on his head down onto the baby's blanket, which has a blue sky with white clouds pattern.

Wes looks on and repeats the portents to himself, "earthquake, fire, blood."

Angel is relieved to be out of there, he thought they were going to be trapped. He looks at the baby in his arms, smiles with an eerily Angelus-like smirk and muses, "Well, at least I would have had something to snack on."

Wesley looks horrified.