Wes

**Wes** is a recurring character on FOX's *The Gifted*. He is a mutant refugee in the Mutant Underground and has entered into a romantic relationship with Lauren Strucker. He has gone on to become part of the Underground's security by using his illusions to hide the mutants from prying eyes.

## Early Life

Wes had been kicked out of his home at an early age and was forced to scrounge around trash bins to find things to eat and stole for his survival. He had been found by some people that saw what he could do and was made to help them run cons and cover for them doing things such as stealing from jewelry stores.

## Season 1

In got your siX, Wes had been taken to the Mutant Underground Headquarters when Sentinel Services started to raid all safe houses and known sympathizers. He quickly noticed Lauren and tried to strike up a conversation by asking if there was another flavor of dry food. When he asked her what her name was, she told him that she was busy seeing to all the other refugees. He then used his power to create an illusion of all the people sound asleep but she quickly saw through it. He then introduced himself but she said that she still had some work to do. He found Lauren later as she was watching her father and brother leave with Eclipse to raid a federal building. She told him that the craziest family outing that they ever had was Six Flags which he was amused by.

When Polaris called on him, Lauren, Skyler and Naya to train, Wes went and used his power to create an illusion to make flowers appear in place of her metal tools. The others in the group were amused but Polaris scolded him for treating this like a game. She told him and the others that they had to look out for one another and try their best against the ones that wanted to hurt them. He then watched as Lauren's mother stepped in and stopped Polaris from including her in the training.

Wes brought Lauren to an unused room where he told her that she should take a break from working. She tried to explain that her mother would be looking for her but he insisted that she stay for a bit with him. She then told him that her mother didn't understand her powers and that her mother only found out about them three weeks ago and she had been hiding them for years. He was surprised that she pretended to be normal and she asked him if he ever wanted to be. He wasn't sure but he felt that her situation of pretending that she was when she knew she wasn't was worse which she agreed to. She said that she had been trying to hold out for graduation before she moved somewhere far like Florence and Wes then quickly created an illusion of being in a city at night. He thought he created Florence but Lauren told him that it was Rome. But, she told him that it was beautiful just the same before she then left to go back to her mother.

When Eclipse and the others were about to be captured by the Sentinel Services, Polaris and the others were worried about how to rescue them. Lauren then thought of Wes and his power and thought it would be the perfect way to help them escape.

Wes joined Lauren and Polaris right where a roadblock had been set to catch them. Polaris asked him to create an illusion to shroud the truck to use on the police but Wes told her that he'd never done one that big before. But Polaris and Lauren told him that he could do it and he nodded. After Lauren used her power to propel the truck over the roadblock, Wes then created an illusion of the truck going down both paths down the street all while cloaking the real truck while it kept driving ahead. He smiled as he showed that he was moving the illusion along with the truck to fool the police.

In eXtreme measures, Wes had taken Lauren out of the main building to sneak out for a surprise. They climbed to the scaffold on the opposite side and asked her to close her eyes. He then created an illusion of being high up in the air over a river in the mountains. They then leaned forward over the edge to make it seem like the two of them were flying. Lauren loved it and the two of them leaned in and were about to kiss but were interrupted by Andy. He teased them about being tested for herpes and Lauren left to go with her brother leaving Wes there to shake off what had happened.

Wes had been taking a break and playing a game when he was then approached by Lauren. She told him that her father had found a criminal file that had his image on it as well as his power. She asked him to be honest about if it was him and he confessed it was. Lauren then asked him if when he told her about embracing their powers if he had this in mind when he said that but he told her no. He tried to explain to her about his past on the streets and that all he had done was to try and survive but Lauren accused him of being as fake as his illusions were. She then stomped off leaving him looking after her downtrodden.

He was sitting outside of the building by himself when he had been found by Reed. At first he thought that he was in trouble for being outside but Reed said that it was nice out here and asked if he could join him. Wes thought that Reed hated him but he said that he didn't and what he thinks didn't matter as much as what Lauren thinks. He told Wes that he believed in society and in the consequences of breaking the rules and though his opinions have somewhat changed, he still believed in the principle. He told Wes that what he did was wrong, which Wes agreed. He wondered what the Underground leaders thought when he told them but Reed said he didn't say anything. Reed told Wes that he was leaving it in his hands and he could either stay quiet and hope they never found out or take a chance and be honest.

Wes then approached the Strucker family as they were sitting for dinner and told them that he had news for them. He told them that he informed Sage and the others about what he had done and that he was trying to be a better person and they chose to give him a second chance. He also told them that he was going off with some of the other refugees to a new outpost the next day.

When Wes was getting ready to leave with the group the following day, he was approached by Lauren. She went and gave him a kiss goodbye before he climbed into the van and then left.

    In 3 X 1, Wes was maintaining an illusion of a vocational retreat manor for the Mutant Underground safehouse when the Struckers had arrived from Atlanta. He was happy to see Lauren again and she was happy as well as they rushed to embrace one another. He explained that he was in charge of security for that safehouse and his illusion was to help through off trespassers. Reed told Wes that he was happy to see him again and they were there to get transport to Mexico. Wes said that they were aware as there was a transport getting ready to try and get over a dozen mutants transported there and they would love to have them. He and Lauren then left to catch up with one another.

Wes was maintaining their supplies with the help of Lauren but he told her that she didn't have to help and to get some rest. She said that she liked to help as keeping busy helped her deal with what was going on around her. He told her that he had heard about what had happened to her at Trask and that what happened to Sonya wasn't her fault. Lauren thought that it was but he told her that it was normal to feel that way as he felt responsible for all the bad things that happened around him as well. However, he told her that going through all that helped to make him stronger and be the person he was now and what she went through will make her stronger too. She reminded him that she would be leaving with her family soon but he told her that he was happy as he needed to see her again, even if it was for a while, before the two started to make out.

    Wes was listening in when Lauren's parents told her that a trucking company would be helping them but it would still be a while before they left, which meant they might stay for just a little while longer. However, there was an explosion where Sentinel Services had started to attack the safehouse with two Hounds. Wes quickly moved to cover up the breach with an illusion for cover while Lauren reinforced it with her shield. Wes kept maintaining his illusion through the blasts, so that the Hounds wouldn't see where the people were, but a random one managed to knock him away and his illusion fell exposing them all.

The other mutants from Atlanta arrived through one of Blink's portals and moved to get them all out of there. Lauren carried Wes, who was feeling weak from maintaining his large illusion for so long, and escaped through a portal that took them all to the woods outside the safehouse. They ducked through Sentinel Services but they realized they were surrounded. However, Andy got a telepathic message from the Frost triplets that took them to the Sentinel Service vans. Lauren helped him inside one and they all escaped to Atlanta.

Wes was being watched over by Lauren as he rested in bed. Caitlin was treating him and told her that he was just drained from using his power for so long and that he would be okay after a day of rest.

After he had recovered, he had gone off to a weigh station over in Amorosa.

## Personality

Wes presents himself as a confident individual who tends to be somewhat cocky at times. However, he cares about people and will do what he needs to do to help them out. It is also shown that he has a vulnerable side as when Lauren confronted him about his criminal past and rejected him. Wes also does what he feels he has to do in order to make things right as when he confessed his criminal past to Sage and the others but told them that he wanted to be better. Wes has also shown that he is quite brave as when Sentinel Services attacked, he quickly moved to shield everyone with his illusions even during their relentless attacks and didn't stop until he was knocked out.

## Physical Appearance

Wes is a tall teenager of hispanic descent that has dark, curly hair and dark brown eyes. He has a casual attire consisting of jeans plain shirts and sneakers.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Illusion Manipulation:** Wes has the power to create illusions of whatever he wishes for people to see. They appear within window like mirages of varying sizes that he can move at will and appear to be somewhat tangible, as Lauren touching a mirage caused it to distort and vanish. These illusions are limited by what Wes can envision in his mind, leaving them open for mistakes, such as when he created an illusion of Rome believing it was Florence based on seeing it in a commercial. His illusions are capable of simulating movement as he was able to make the waters in his illusion of Rome move like a real current. Wes can also use his illusions to cloak desired targets simulating invisibility as when he cloaked a truck so the pursuing police could not see it. Wes has shown great potential with his illusions even creating multiple illusion windows to give the police false targets to chase while cloaking the original.
* **Weaknesses**: He has difficulty projecting his illusions for extended periods of time.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* *got your siX*
* *eXtreme measures*
* *3 X 1*
* *eXtraction* (mentioned)