Title: Unforeseen (3/?)
Author: Fia Reynne
Fandom: Angel
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: pre-Angel/Wes
Summary: (AU) Wesley continues to run away from Angel - straight to Sunnydale, in hopes Giles can offer some solution to the visions that are killing him.
Disclaimer: Joss thunk them all up, I just play with them when I'm bored.


His cell phone was sitting on the table, turned on but set to vibrate, and Wesley watched as it inched itself along the table for the fifth time in two hours. He very nearly didn't bother checking the caller ID, assuming that it was Angel, as it had been the last four times he hadn't answered, but something made him look. Perhaps he was flattering himself that anyone else would bother to ring him, but sure enough, it was Cordelia. "Hello?"

"When I get my first big check from Until Forever, I'm totally getting you guys GPS."

Wesley frowned. "What?"

"Until Forever and a Day? My soap?"

"Soap? GPS?" Wesley frowned. Perhaps the sun had got to him while he'd been riding; in any case nothing she was saying was making any sense to him.. "Cordelia, was there something you wanted?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm..." Wesley hesitated. "I don't know, exactly. The desert."

"That's helpful. Here's a thought, let's try for something a little more on the vague side."

Heaving a sigh, Wes moved the phone to his other ear. "I'll come home when I'm ready," he said firmly. "Tell Angel to stop calling me." He heard Cordy speaking to someone in the background and then the voice in his ear was Angel's.

"We need to talk, Wes. Don't avoid me. There's stuff, and I need to explain."

"Explain?" Wes snorted. "There's nothing to explain, Angel. You want me gone, but the visions are a valuable resource and you can't risk losing them. How better to become a self-reliant loner again, hm?"

"It's not like that. Wes... I need you."

Wes waved away the waitress' attempt to top off his coffee. "Didn't take, eh? Yes, I thought it was lacking a certain mystical whammy." Mystical whammy, their kiss had none, but other kinds of whammy... Wes didn't want to think about that. "Tell you what. Next vision I have, I'll give you a call, shall I?" He flicked his wrist and the phone flipped shut.

"Was that enough?" Angel asked. "I kept him on the line as long as I could."

"That was perfect," Detective Kate Lockley said, nodding. "What they'll do now is triangulate his position based on the cell towers his signal's bouncing off of."

"That's amazing," Angel looked relieved. "I don't know how to thank you. He has this condition, gets terrible headaches and -"

"Visions?" Kate asked. "That's what he said. Visions."

Angel looked like he was going to make something up, but didn't. "Yeah. From the Powers that Be. He's kind of like my dispatch; they tell him where I need to be, who needs saving."

"He's Robin and the Bat Signal wrapped up in a neat little sullen but remarkably attractive package," Cordelia butted in.

"How... efficient," Kate muttered.

"Here," one of the other officers said, handing Cordelia his card. "There's only two things located in the area he's in, a truck stop and a chintzy motel. Directions are on the back. Good luck finding your friend, and if you need anything gimme a call."

"Thank you," Cordelia said graciously, though she planned to throw the card away as soon as Wes was found.

~*~

The truck stop's parking lot was empty save for two big rigs that pulled in right after Angel did, and the Big Dog motorcycle Wes rode was nowhere to be seen. When he got inside, the waitress was really helpful - she gave Angel Wesley's cell phone with a cheerful grin, and mentioned how she didn't really understand why, but he'd said to make sure she gave it to Angel specifically, no one else.

The motel clerk said nobody with Wesley's description had checked in, either, but the sun was about to come up, so Angel booked himself a room and holed up for the duration of the day. He couldn't sleep, though, just sat on the bed, fiddling with Wesley's phone and wishing life had a rewind button. Things had been simple - he and Wes were a team. Cordy helped out in the office when she wasn't busy with her acting gigs and her social calendar, but mostly it was Angel and Wes. Wes and Angel. They spent nearly every waking moment in one another's company, and Angel wasn't even really sure when he'd started thinking of Wes as his. He hadn't even realized it until he started thinking about Wes dating. And now it was so complicated. Wes was dying - that much hadn't changed. But every day it seemed like Wes was a bigger part of him, and now it just felt like if Wes died, there wouldn't be enough of him left to continue.

The phone in his hand buzzed, and Angel dropped it as though he'd received an electric shock, which - for a brief moment - he thought he had. He opened the phone and put it to his ear. "Wes?"

"Why did you do it?"

Angel was silent. There were a lot of different answers - some true, some he wanted to be true, and some he thought Wes would probably prefer to the truth. "Wes, are you okay?"

"Angel, I need you to answer me."

Because you're my friend. Because I can't stand seeing you in pain. Because watching you die is going to kill me. "Because I wanted to," Angel blurted out, and there was silence on the other end of the line. "Wes?"

"My mother had such high hopes for me. With the marks I received, I should be well on my way to running my own department within the Council. Instead I'm living in America, drinking myself stupid and snogging vampires."

"Snogging still just means kissing, right?" Angel asked. "Because if there's someone else..." He trailed off, and Wes made a strangled sound he guessed was a laugh. "There isn't anyone else, is there?"

"I had a vision, Angel. Before I left. Before... before what happened."

Angel winced. "Was it bad?" Well, it sure wasn't puppies and flowers, was it?

"It was you."

There was a weight to Wesley's words, even as faint as they sounded over the phone. "Why did you leave your phone with the waitress?" There was an amused chuckle from the other end of the line.

"Because I knew you'd come looking for me, and I knew you'd forget yours at the office. Angel, I don't know why, but you aren't meant to have these visions. I've seen what would happen to you... and if you meant what you said, about wanting to, I can't be sure I can be around you without it happening again, and I'd rather die than see you... like that. Go home. Don't follow me any further, Angel, I mean it. I'll come home when I'm ready to."

"Where are you?" Angel knew Wes wouldn't answer him, but he had to ask anyway. "Never mind. Just... call me tonight?"

"I will," Wesley vowed. "Sleep well, Angel." He placed the phone in its cradle, and sagged against the wall.

"Does snog mean what I think it means?" Xander asked, popping a cheese curl into his mouth. "Because if it does, Buffy's totally going to slay you."

"It means kiss," Giles replied impatiently. "Have you no common courtesy? That was a private conversation."

"That's what I thought it meant!" Xander protested, looking relieved. "Although, she still might slay you."

Wesley tried not to be confused by Xander's logic and failed miserably. He gave Giles a helpless look. "Have mercy on me, please," he said dryly. "My brain's being liquified, and I haven't the mental capacity to translate American teenager to English."

"Mine isn't, and I haven't either," Giles smirked. "Xander, anything Wesley has said this morning does not leave this room, do you understand?"

Xander looked somewhat disappointed, but he shrugged. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Listen, sad as this is gonna sound, I'm just glad to be one of the guys right now, you know?"

"Xander's suffering from an overexposure to estrogen," Giles explained, and Wes nodded. "Let's see what we can't uncover regarding your particular affliction, shall we?"

~*~

Dusk was falling, and Wesley was sure if Xander said "Eureka!" one more time, only to show them yet another spell that was completely useless, he was going to strangle the boy with his bare hands. His head was throbbing, and he desperately wanted a stiff drink, but he didn't feel comfortable asking Rupert for alcohol on top of everything else he'd already done.

"That's it," Xander said, putting the book he'd been looking through off to one side. "I'm starving. I'm calling for pizza, you guys want anything?"

"Sausage, no peppers," Giles announced. "It's bloody ridiculous how these Californians put so many green things on perfectly good grease."

Wes smiled. "Mushrooms?" he asked hopefully.

"Sausage and mushrooms, no peppers," Xander recited. "Got it. Hope you guys don't mind ham. I can never get ham when I split a pizza with Willow. She's not kosher, but I guess it's a guilt thing."

"My people are big into guilt," Willow agreed, pushing through the door with Buffy in tow. "Hey, research session and no one called me?"

"Hello, Willow," Wesley said meekly. "Buffy."

"Wesley!" Willow exclaimed. "How are you? How's L.A.? How's Cordy?"

"Um," Wes began, slightly flustered. "Cordelia's just been hired to do something with soap."

"What's he doing here?" Buffy asked Giles, as though Wesley couldn't hear her.

Giles shifted nervously. "Wesley, didn't you have a phone call you needed to make? You might use the extension in my bedroom - upstairs - if you wanted some privacy to do so."

"Yes, of course," Wesley said, grateful for the escape.

"Here's a plan," Xander suggested. "How about me and the Buffster go in search of greasy discs of carbohydrates for everyone, and Willow can take over my spot as official research assistant."

"I wanna know why he's here," Buffy demanded.

"He's dying," Giles said plainly, daring her to say something rude in response.

Buffy didn't disappoint. "Good."

"About that pizza," Xander said nervously, glancing up the stairs and hoping Wes hadn't heard that, because hello, harsh and unneccessary.

"I think you're forgetting which side Wesley is on," Giles said patiently. "He did stand with us, at graduation, did he not? You've forgiven people with less pure intentions for far greater transgressions than he's guilty of, Buffy. He is a friend, and he needs my help."

"Giles," Willow piped up hesitantly, gaping at the open book in front of her. "Why is Wesley researching demon transformation spells?"