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Gwen dropped from the cable and pressed her hand to Gunn's chest. Nothing happened, as she flicked her hand and tried again. This time, Gunn gasped, his heart beating once again as he took in a deep breath. Relieved that he was alive, Gwen then shimmied up the cable, disappearing from sight, just as the alarms went off. Angel helped Gunn get to his feet, before leading the two out of the building
††††††††††
"How'd it go?" Cordelia asked, "Did you get it?"
"No. Some chick with electrical powers took it first," Angel replied as he flopped onto the bed, "Now I'm gonna have to track her down and force it off her"
"Well, how are you going to do that?"
Cordelia placed Ashleigh in her cot and tucked the blanket around her, as Angel got up from the bed and headed over to the window, thinking about his son. He was out there somewhere in the city. Angel had a feeling that kicking Connor out was for the best. The teenager had to learn someday. Shaking his mind free of Connor, Angel kissed Cordelia on the cheek, before setting out to find the electric woman
††††††††††
Gwen Raiden arrived at the elevator and stopped before the mirror nearby, checking on her make-up. She was on her way to make the sale of the Axis and briefly thought about the trio that had confronted her the previous night. She shrugged, thinking nothing more about it, when a voice stopped her
"That's a nice shade"
Gwen whirled around to face Angel, before looking back at the mirror, seeing that he wasn't reflecting. She looked back at him again, seeing his smile
"What are you?" she asked
"I'm a freak, like you," Angel replied, "Where is the Axis?"
"I sold it"
"You're lying"
"I'm fibbing. Much classier. What do you need it for?"
"You know what it does. I need it to find a friend of mine"
"Sorry, I don't feel like sharing right now"
Gwen turned to enter the elevator, but Angel spun her around, scoring a blow to the face. He growled, as she punched him again, delivering a kick to his chest. Angel rolled back onto his feet, as Gwen came at him with a roundhouse kick. Angel ducked under her leg, blocking her left backhand, before ducking under her backhand. Gwen slammed her palm against Angel's chest, knocking him back a few steps and moved in with a blow to his face. Angel blocked her arm and cracked her across the jaw. Gwen reacted with another blow at Angel's face, but he ducked under her arm, moving around to behind her, only to get kicked in the stomach
"Damn, this woman is fast!"
Gwen smirked as she slowly removed her long-sleeved gloves and tossed them aside, flexing her fingers as electricity crackled along her knuckles. She lashed out, but Angel blocked and struck her, as she then punched him in the stomach, before throwing him against the wall. Electricity sizzled as she kicked him in the face, followed by a punch. Grabbing her arm, Angel punched her in the face, followed by a kick to her stomach, throwing her back. Gwen slammed her palms against Angel's chest, throwing him towards the elevator. He got up, blocking Gwen's punch and striking her, then grabbed her by the head and tossed her into the elevator
"Time for a little talk"
He went into the elevator, reaching down to grab Gwen by the throat, but she kicked him in the back, throwing him over, before quickly straddling him and ripping his shirt open, then pressing her hands to his bare chest
"Why won't you fry?" she demanded
She channelled more of her electricity into his body, even managing to restart his dead heart. Angel felt his heart beat briefly and overcome by it, he grabbed Gwen, pulling her lips to his in a passionate kiss. But then, Cordelia flashed in his mind and he quickly broke away, panting heavily even though he didn't need to
"Well, that was interesting, you little freak" came a voice
Angel and Gwen looked up to see her client and three other men standing outside the elevator. Gwen's client was holding the bag containing the Axis and wearing the cat-that-ate-the-canary smile, as bars appeared in the elevator doorway, preventing the pair from leaving, as the thick doors then closed
"Damn it!" Gwen cried
Gas started to pour into the elevator, as Angel forced Gwen to the ground
"Stay there. It'll take a while for the gas to reach you"
"What about you, moron?"
"I don't breathe"
Angel then ran his hands along the walls, before stopping and punching a section of the wall. He kept punching and punching, even as his knuckles started to bleed, but he kept striking the wall, breaking through and grabbing hold of the cables, before reaching his hand out to Gwen. She grabbed his hand, channelling her electricity through Angel's body to the cables, shutting off the gas and opening the doors
Angel burst through the doors, striking one thug, uppercutting him across the room, as a second thug grabbed Angel from behind. The vampire elbowed the thug, throwing him over his shoulder, then delivering two swift kicks to the third thug, taking him down, as Gwen confronted her client, an angry look on her face
"You can call me whatever you want, but don't call me a freak"
She raised her hand to electrocute him, but Angel quickly stopped her
"Don't kill him"
"I wasn't"
"Don't fib"
"Fine"
Angel let Gwen go, then swung his fist, knocking her client out
††††††††††
Later that night…
"Wow, that's bright," Gunn said
"Let's hope he finds her," Cordelia said
The bright light soon faded from under the door, as Angel exited the room, while Gunn took a quick peek inside the room at the Axis
"Well, how'd it go?" Fred asked
"She's not here," Angel replied, "She's in a different dimension. She's happy where she is. And she's watching over us. I want to bring her home, but the truth is, she already is home"
Meanwhile, far away in a different dimension, but watching over Earth, Piper Combs listened to her friends discuss about her whereabouts. She had seen Angel use the Axis to find her, but was a little annoyed that he was going to leave her wherever she was. Truth is, Piper had become bored since coming to the realm of the higher beings
"If you can here me, Angel, get me the hell out of here!"
††††††††††
The next night…
"How are you feeling?" Cordelia asked, after putting Ashleigh to bed
"I feel fine, Cordy, thanks for asking," Angel replied
"You don't. Ever since returning from the ocean, you've been a bit off"
"Well, my own son did sink me to the bottom of the ocean"
"And then you kicked him out of our house. It's probably a lot to take in"
"Yeah, sure, it is. But I'm trying to deal with it. One day, Connor will learn what's right and wrong and he'll admit his mistakes and come home to us. I'm just…I'm just not ready to forgive him just yet, Cordy"
"And it's weighing on your mind. I know in my heart that Connor will be fine and he will come back to us," Cordelia said, "But you're the one who's not fine"
"Okay, so I'm a little unsure about what to do now. I never thought being a parent could be so tough. I never expected Connor to grow up so quickly like that"
"And it's affecting your work"
"So, I've kinda lost my calling a little. Don't worry, I'll find it"
"I know a quicker way. We'll go see Lorne. We haven't seen him in a while. We can take the whole gang. It'll be a little vacation for us all"
"Alright then, Las Vegas it is"
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