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Connor was lying on his bed, playing with his Gameboy when Fred entered the room, bringing in a plate of sandwiches for him
"I have your favourite here"
"No tomato?" Connor asked, putting his Gameboy aside
"None. Now, what do you say?"
"Thanks"
Connor took a sandwich and began eating it
"I can't believe you done that, Connor," Fred said slowly, "I can only imagine how he suffered. All because of what you did"
Without warning, she jammed a taser into his chest. Connor groaned as the shocks ran through him. Fred jabbed him again, making sure he was down and out. When Connor woke up later, he found himself tied to a chair in the office, Fred, Gunn and Cordelia standing before her, his mother holding his sister on her hip
"How could you do that, Connor?" Cordelia asked, "How could you have done that to your father?"
"See, we got a call from an old friend of ours," Gunn said, "Said he has something for us. Yeah, that's right, Sparky. Daddy's coming home and I'm guessing there's gonna be a spanking"
"He deserved it," Connor said, "He killed my…Holtz. He killed Holtz"
"No, he did not," Cordelia said, "Your friend, Justine, killed Holtz. Killed him with an icepick and made it look like Angel killed Holtz"
Connor looked away from his mother, as the front doors to the Hyperion swung open. Cordelia, Fred and Gunn headed into the lobby, as Wesley handed the weak Angel to them. Cordelia put Ashleigh in the bassinet, before helping Angel to the couch
"Thanks for your help, Wes," Fred said
Wesley simply shrugged and left the hotel, as a noise came from the office. Gunn and Fred rushed in, getting struck by the taser. Connor kicked Gunn aside, as Cordelia entered the office. Connor shoved her aside and headed for the door…only to find Angel standing in the doorway, an angry glare on his face
"Sit…down"
Connor begrudgingly sat on his chair, as Angel sat on another and crossed his arms, glaring at his son, as Cordelia slowly got to her feet, Gunn and Fred laying on top of each other on the floor, but otherwise conscious
"So, how was your summer?" Angel asked, "Mine was great. Saw some fish and hallucinated a whole bunch"
"You deserved it," Connor muttered under his breath
"Yeah, except I didn't kill Holtz. Justine did"
"You still deserved it"
"What I deserve is open to debate. But understand, there's a difference between wishing vengeance on someone and taking it. So now the question becomes what do you deserve?"
Connor leapt up from his chair, rushing to the doorway. Angel was faster, rising up from his chair and slamming his palms against Connor's chest, throwing him against the wall. Connor sank to the floor as Angel stood over him
"Daddy's not finished talking. Wesley told me everything that's been going on, so as far as I'm concerned, what you deserve rests on one answer. Did you do something to Piper Combs, our friend?"
"No," Connor replied
"He's lying," Gunn said, "No way she happened to disappear the same night"
"I'm not lying," Connor protested
"I know, I can tell. You've done enough lying for me to know the truth," Angel said, "The truth has a better sound to it. Less nasal, you know?"
Connor tried to shrink against the wall under the glare from his father
"What you did to me… was unbelievable, Connor. But then, I got stuck in a hell dimension by my girlfriend one time for a hundred years, so three months under the ocean actually gave me perspective. Kind of a M. C. Esher perspective — but I did get time to think. About us, about the world. Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be. You're not a part of that yet. I hope you will be. I love you, Connor. Now get out of my house"
Connor slowly got up from the wall and left the hotel, as Angel fell to the ground. Gunn and Cordelia were instantly by his side, helping him to his feet
"Wow, talking really takes a lot out of you"
"Did you just kick our son out of our home?" Cordelia demanded
"He has to learn, Cordy," Angel replied, "Connor has to learn someday"
"Now that we've got you home," Gunn said, "What's next?"
"We search for Piper," Angel replied, "After I have a lie down"
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Two days later…
Wesley sliced the demon in half, as his men started on the cleanup. Angel arrived at the industrial site, looking around and admiring how far Wesley had come
"Angel. What can I do for you?" Wesley asked
"I just wanna, you know, thanks for helping me out," Angel replied, "I had a lot of time to think down there and as far as we're concerned, we're okay"
Wesley didn't answer as he handed Angel a thick manilla folder
"You've been doing your own search," Angel said
"Soon after I learned that Piper had gone missing, I went looking into things. And I believe that she is longer in our dimension anymore. This is what you'll need to find her. It's the Axis of Pythis and you can find it here"
"Heavily guarded, security cameras, laser trips, the whole works and jerks," Angel said, "Thanks a lot, Wesley"
He turned to face him, but the ex-Watcher was already gone
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Later that night…
"Damn, this is so much harder than it looks on Batman," Gunn huffed and puffed
He, Angel and Fred were currently climbing up the side of the building that housed the Axis of Pythis. Cordelia was staying at home with Ashleigh while the trio relieved the company of their artefact. They were geared up and ready to rumble, as they reached the rooftop and skimmed across to the door. Fred went to work on the electrical box, disarming the security alarms and cameras and they slipped inside
"Watch out!" Gunn cried, before knocking out a guard, "I told you to watch out"
He then dragged the guard to the nearest room, opening it to find several more unconscious guards. Meaning that there was someone else on the job here. He quickly dumped the guard inside and raced off to find Angel and Fred
"There it is," Angel called, seeing the Axis
"Angel, wait, I need to tell you something," Gunn called
Angel was about to enter the room, when steel gates suddenly closed off the room, revealing the numerous laser trips, as the cover to the airshaft was knocked off
"There's somebody already here," Gunn told Angel
A woman dressed in black tights and with red streaks in her brown hair descended into the room. She placed her hand amongst the lasers and they arched up from her
"Who are you?" Angel asked
"A freak," the woman replied, "What are you doing here?"
"I want that artefact"
"Sorry, but someone is paying me a lot of money for it and I've got it"
"I need it to find a friend"
"Give them a call"
Angel and Gunn used their combined strenght, as Gwen grabbed the Axis and began climbing back up the cable. Fred overrode the wires, opening the gate, as Angel and Gunn rushed in to tackle Gwen. However, she placed one bare palm against Gunn's bare throat, delivering an electric shock into him. He fell to the ground, unmoving, as Fred raced in and fell beside him, checking his pulse
"Oh my God! He's dead!"
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