[She can feel it in her bones, a sort of realization that can make her blood freeze up. She wouldn't always call Wesley an optimist, especially in the last few years, but there's something in the way he talks, like all hope is lost. Her jaw tightens, and she takes his hand without any warning or permission.

It's not that she doesn't believe it, but Fred's just never been the type to lose hope.]

We'll figure something out. We always do. [Because they do. That's exactly what they do. They give hope to the hopeless. At least that's what they did as Angel Investigations. How many dire straits did they overcome? How many times did they fight evil and even when it looked like it would win, they would strike back and win?]

Wonder how they did though. [She's momentarily distracted by a thought, still sure of herself. That determination and belief never leaving.] Pull you and me from different times? That's gotta take a lot of power, bending time like that. Although that's only if you believe time is linear and not a product of our own consciousness.

[A minor adjusting of her glasses, because now she knows she has an entire subject to throw herself at when it's an actual appropriate time to hypothesize.]