[He's a bit blindsided by this, but he recovers relatively quickly.]

I presume you've been talking to one of the Salvatore brothers.

[Very dryly.]

I assure you that it's very much on subject. So what exactly were you told about me? They have a tendency to gloss over some very important facts when recounting their side of that particular melodrama.

[Wes sighs. Are you sitting down Buffy? You may want to make yourself comfortable.]

Damon was in a tailspin. Within several weeks he'd attacked Illyria, Angela and slaughtered some poor girl in town. The attacks were escalating in severity, with no end in sight. He glamoured them too, Buffy. Made Angela think it was Angel who'd so brutally attacked her and he riled up the network, trying to get everyone to mobilise against Angel.

I began to suspect what he was doing and the only way to know for sure was to get the glamour removed from one of his victims. Willow helped me to do it via her magic. What I hadn't known was for how long this had been going on. He'd been feeding on Lilah against her will for months, even forcing her to have sex with him and then compelling her to never speak of it to anyone.

I knew that Damon would only deny what he'd done. Claim that I was a jilted lover of Lilah's stirring trouble, or that Lilah herself was making false claims to get back at Damon. So, yes, I took matters into my own hands to remove him temporarily so that he couldn't harm anyone else and in order to get a signed confession from him as proof of his crimes.

And I achieved that by dosing myself with vervain and waiting for Damon to come to my house and viciously attack me. Which he inevitably did, in order to prevent me from getting the truth out once he'd heard from Lilah that I knew everything.

Yes, he was.

And Stefan used his vampiric mind-control to put a compulsion on me to cover it up. I was made to drop the case completely and never to speak to or contact either of the Salvatore's or any of their friends again. I didn't remember any of this, of course, until Willow removed the compulsion from me.

You need to understand that I don't have any solid proof. Only what Damon has said to me, which he will deny. Lilah would probably refuse to testify and Angela hasn't believed my explanation and is reluctant to allow Willow use magic on her.

I've been told that should I pursue this any further, Fred's life will be forfeit. I've also been given assurances that Damon will now be on his best behaviour. And so we are at something of an impasse.

I'm not proud of what I did, but I was still trying to protect the community at large.

I doubt it was planned from the beginning, but presumably Angel's a convenient scapegoat because he's a known vampire, with a history of having gone on psychopathic rampages. He also, as you may have noticed, keeps to himself mostly and isn't likely to just publicly denounce the allegations.

Damon would want to cast suspicion away from himself and any of the other Mystic Falls vampires, so it makes sense he would target someone outside his social sphere.

[He's a bit blindsided by this, but he recovers relatively quickly.]

I presume you've been talking to one of the Salvatore brothers.

[Very dryly.]

I assure you that it's very much on subject. So what exactly were you told about me? They have a tendency to gloss over some very important facts when recounting their side of that particular melodrama.

[Wes sighs. Are you sitting down Buffy? You may want to make yourself comfortable.]

Damon was in a tailspin. Within several weeks he'd attacked Illyria, Angela and slaughtered some poor girl in town. The attacks were escalating in severity, with no end in sight. He glamoured them too, Buffy. Made Angela think it was Angel who'd so brutally attacked her and he riled up the network, trying to get everyone to mobilise against Angel.

I began to suspect what he was doing and the only way to know for sure was to get the glamour removed from one of his victims. Willow helped me to do it via her magic. What I hadn't known was for how long this had been going on. He'd been feeding on Lilah against her will for months, even forcing her to have sex with him and then compelling her to never speak of it to anyone.

I knew that Damon would only deny what he'd done. Claim that I was a jilted lover of Lilah's stirring trouble, or that Lilah herself was making false claims to get back at Damon. So, yes, I took matters into my own hands to remove him temporarily so that he couldn't harm anyone else and in order to get a signed confession from him as proof of his crimes.

And I achieved that by dosing myself with vervain and waiting for Damon to come to my house and viciously attack me. Which he inevitably did, in order to prevent me from getting the truth out once he'd heard from Lilah that I knew everything.

Yes, he was.

And Stefan used his vampiric mind-control to put a compulsion on me to cover it up. I was made to drop the case completely and never to speak to or contact either of the Salvatore's or any of their friends again. I didn't remember any of this, of course, until Willow removed the compulsion from me.

You need to understand that I don't have any solid proof. Only what Damon has said to me, which he will deny. Lilah would probably refuse to testify and Angela hasn't believed my explanation and is reluctant to allow Willow use magic on her.

I've been told that should I pursue this any further, Fred's life will be forfeit. I've also been given assurances that Damon will now be on his best behaviour. And so we are at something of an impasse.

I'm not proud of what I did, but I was still trying to protect the community at large.

I doubt it was planned from the beginning, but presumably Angel's a convenient scapegoat because he's a known vampire, with a history of having gone on psychopathic rampages. He also, as you may have noticed, keeps to himself mostly and isn't likely to just publicly denounce the allegations.

Damon would want to cast suspicion away from himself and any of the other Mystic Falls vampires, so it makes sense he would target someone outside his social sphere.