Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Also, since this will obviously have a sequel where the Scoobies try to change things, I've named this series 'Paradise Lost', on the suggestion of Rutkowski so thank you to him.
'Paradise Lost' is the name of Milton's famous painting of the Archangel Michael casting out fallen Angels.
And it's a fic about the Scoobies seeing what they perceive to be the fall of Angel, and the City of Angels too.
Hence the name.
Guest: Thanks for the review. Well, that sucks, though I'll be watching it on the weekend probably. My last MCU film...probably.
Chapter 85- Ground State
"Well, stuff gets worse, and here we go", Buffy said as she started the next recording.
At Gills Rock, Wisconsin on October 28, 1985, a white Mercedes drove past a sign reading Thorpe's Academy. A little girl, dressed in a red snowsuit and red gloves stood on the gravel of the academy drive. Behind her a young couple got out of the car and came to stand a few steps behind the girl. A woman dressed in businesslike attire stepped forward to greet them, introducing herself as Lydia Thorpe, the parents thanking her, and after wishing their daughter Gwen luck, left, Lydia welcoming Gwen in. She stopped to look at Gwen's parents who turned away and got in the car. Gwen reached out her gloved hand to Lydia but she batted it away.
"Rude", Dawn said.
"What are this Gwen's special needs?" Willow now wondered.
"You think the hand slapping had something to do with it?" Buffy asked.
A scattered group of kids was playing out in the sunshine behind the academy. Gwen, still dressed as she was, sat under a tree a little ways off, watching. After a moment, she turned to her lunch, pulling off her right glove when she couldn't manage to grasp the spoon in her gloved hand. A boy carrying a little toy and making car noises spotted her. He 'drove' over and stopped by her making the sound of screeching brakes. He asked if she was a freak but she didn't know to which he said she didn't look like one, and she thanked him. The bell rang as Lydia asked all to come inside. Gwen stood up as the boy offered her his car to hold on to. Gwen smiled, reaching for it with her ungloved hand, to Lydia's protests as blue lightning arced from her hand into the boy as she touched his hand, throwing him backwards. A scattered group of kids is playing out in the sunshine behind the academy. Gwen, still dressed as she was, sits under a tree a little ways off, watching. After a moment, she turns to her lunch, pulling off her right glove when she can't manage to grasp the spoon in her gloved hand. Gwen backed away from the smoking ruins of the toy car lying on the ground as Lydia ran to the boy, lying unconscious on the ground.
Now that came as a shock to everyone.
"I take it back", Dawn now said.
"So, she gives out lightning shocks?" Xander asked.
"Looks like it", Giles said.
"So this special needs school is what? For people with powers or something?" Tara asked.
"Oh my God! We have 'Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters' in real life!" Xander said happily. "I'm in nerd's Paradise! I wanna go there!"
"Would they count Demon Magnet as a power?" Dawn asked with a smirk as he sputtered and the rest laughed.
"Poor girl", Tara said about Gwen.
"Yeah, not being able to touch anyone because of that, horrible", Willow sighed.
Buffy nodded in agreement as they moved to the next scene.
In present day, Angel and Fred were in Cordelia's apartment, the place looking nice but empty as Fred explained they'd paid the rent for 2 months but now it was getting worse. Angel asked if Phantom Dennis knew anything but Fred said he was ticked off they hadn't brought her back. Angel and Fred assured each other they'd bring her back soon as they went to the living room where Gunn worked on the TV, Angel asking about Lorne, but was told there was nothing on the psychic front either.
"There could be if he wasn't in whatever trouble he is", Buffy sighed.
"Yeah, that has to suck", Willow nodded.
Angel flipped through a book in the box, asking about the police, to which Fred and Gunn recounted their last 8 experiences, all bad. Angel knew something big had happened to her that night, and he knew why he wasn't there when they'd to meet up. Fred took some books down from a shelf and called Connor an ungrateful snot of a son, adding he needed time but also corporal punishment with a large, heavy mallet. The books were suddenly back on the shelf as Fred snapped. "Damn it, Dennis! She is not coming back!"
That turned the whole atmosphere grim, since they knew what had happened to Cordelia, not the details, but the gist of it.
"Poor Dennis", Dawn muttered, everyone feeling bad for the poor phantom, who had been so caring to Cordelia, as well as the rest of the gang, this whole time. And now he was all alone.
No one said anything for a moment before Fred apologized to the guys, Angel assuring they'd keep everything at the hotel. Fred asked what happened when one got back and their things were not there, while Angel looked down at the photo of himself, Cordelia and Wesley. "You go find them."
"Things have changed from the time that picture was taken", Tara said sadly.
"The three of them aren't the tight-knit team they used to be, one of them missing", Willow summed up.
Wesley and two other men fought a giant Demon in a sewer, a dropped ax landing on the recently arrived Angel's feet. Eventually, Wesley chopped the Demon in two with his ax, not needing Angel's help, and gave instructions to the two men who left. Angel said he never had a chance to thank Wesley for his actions, adding that must have been hard for him. Wesley started to walk away as Angel hurried after him. "Look, what - what went down between us... - I had a lot of time down there - to think. You know about the way things went, the way they could have gone. I just want you to know as far as I'm concerned...We're okay again."
"For you to be okay again, he needs to agree to it too", Buffy pointed out.
"At least he's trying", Dawn told her. "Not that I blame Wesley for not trying, since Angel could have killed him at the time."
"He is a badass now", Xander commented.
"We know that", Willow said. "You want to be a badass? Go train."
Xander groaned, the rest laughing at him.
Wesley gave Angel a scrapbook, in which he found a picture of Cordelia's car and a map, Wesley telling him this was all he had on Cordelia's disappearance, Angel realizing he'd done his own investigation. Wesley said she wasn't dead but not in their Dimension, so he couldn't follow. Angel noted the mention of a 'Dinza' in the book as Wesley said she was a dark Demi-Goddess of the lost, whose presence only the dead could enter, with the possibility of being trapped for eternity. Wesley pulled up a rope, saying he knew her lair but couldn't enter obviously, and also added she'll only tell Angel where to look for Cordelia, but she wasn't remotely trustworthy. With that, he left, ignoring the rest of Angel's questions.
"He did all of that on his own, quite impressive", Giles commented. "So he did truly care after all then."
"Just too much of a hardass to show it", Xander smirked. "Really hoping this is it."
"Oh no, Dinza is not to be trusted at all, Wesley is right about that", Tara warned.
"He has to be careful", Willow added.
Angel arrived in a sewer tunnel, walking to an open doorway as clawed hands touched him but he only found thin air, till he found Dinza crouched on a pipe behind him, and she knew all about him, saying he looked for lost love, and eventually said she no longer needed him, but Angel needed her. Dinza finally told him about the Axis of Pythia which was an ancient power bridging Dimensions, finding it would find his lost one, and she wasn't lying because she'd love to keep him but he'd much more to lose.
"That was easy", Xander said, creeped out by Dinza, like the rest. "The weird touching and laughing aside."
"But she said he had much more to lose", Buffy added grimly, everyone recovering from Dinza's creepiness. "And we all know he does."
"So, she is warning him about it or what?" Dawn asked.
"More like taunting", Willow told her.
A white limousine sat in front of a hotel entrance. A man in a dark suit sat at one of the tables in the hotel's restaurant. A girl with long, wavy brown hair, wearing tight red leather pants and matching tube top walks down an aisle between the tables, pulling up some long black gloves. All the men turned their heads to watch her as she walked by. The man at the table shook his head with a sigh. The woman sat down in a chair opposite from him.
"Huh! Now who is this?" Xander said, open-mouthed, and before the girls could say a thing, he said. "You all commented a lot on Groo."
That made them stop as Buffy said. "For some reason, she feels familiar."
"Yeah, just can't put together the reason", Tara nodded.
The guy called Elliot wanted the woman to steal the Axis, and during the conversation, she reached her hand to touch his but he jerked it away, asking if he looked like a blue light special to her.
"It's the X-Man from the mutant school!" Xander let out, excited again, before anyone else could say a thing.
"So, she's a contract thief now?" Buffy asked.
"Looks like it", Dawn said. "Guess the schooling didn't work out that well."
"So she is after this Axis too", Giles pointed out, and now all groaned.
"So this just got a lot harder", Willow realized.
"I think Angel can take her jolts though, he is a Vampire", Tara pointed out.
Gwen looked through a folder on the table as Elliot gave her instructions, saying he'd expected her to be more professional, to which Gwen said she was, and they didn't like taking the bone. Gwen then dangled a men's watch in Elliot's face, and in spite of its monetary value, melted it with electricity before walking off. She then walked out.
"That went well", Dawn quipped.
"So a Vampire against an X-Man, I have to see this!" Xander said excitedly, to the others' amusement.
Cordelia's face was in glowing white clouds, while Angel, Fred and Gunn were in Hyperion, Fred giving a description as Angel drew a detailed sketch, having gotten it out of a book.
"His drawing is as good as his acting", Buffy said to the rest.
"Definitely not going to deny that", Tara nodded.
Fred described the Axis' qualities to them, while Angel also showed a scratch portrait of Cordelia. Eventually, Fred revealed the Axis was in Chandler's auction house, which was rooted in black market. Angel had the building plans, but Fred and Gunn pointed out all the other logistics. Gunn suggested e-bay but both Angel and Fred said 33 million dollars were involved, so he said he'd coffee in his lungs. Angel said he'd done heists a million times, before saying it was 2 but Gunn reminded him the Shroud of Rahmon had nearly killed them.
"In his defense, the Shroud itself messed up that plan", Willow pointed out. "The heist went fairly well."
"The other heist must be the one where we stole the Mayor's box", Buffy remembered.
"Yeah, I messed that up", Willow said lamely.
"It's all right, honey, messes happen sometimes", Tara assured her as they shared a smile and kiss.
"Well, even that went smoothly, outside of, well, you getting kidnapped, Will, but we don't blame you, don't worry", Buffy assured her.
"In that case, unless Gwen messes it up, the heist can go smoothly", Giles said.
"Which means it won't, because Gwen is definitely messing it up", Dawn told them.
"So we get Vampire vs. X-Man", Xander said again.
Fred left to think of something as Gunn praised her, and Angel agreed she'd stepped up quite well, like Cordelia. Gunn wondered what they needed, and Angel said it could be repelling hooks, and aerosols. During that time, Gwen packed all of that exact stuff, hooked a rope to her body harness, zipped up a case of locksmith tools, slid a shiny dagger into her boot and settled the strap of a shoulder bag in place. A small metal cylinder was brought to her on a shiny silver tray and Gwen took it, thanking the blonde dressed like a butler with a smile. She then walked to the flat screen panel of her computer and touched a button that turned the screen into a mirror. She opened the cylinder and turned its base. It was lipstick. She leaned forward and applied it. She gave her reflection a last look then turned and left with a small smile.
"Wow, she has a whole setup there", Willow commented, impressed, like the rest.
"It looks expensive too, which means she is a successful thief", Giles realized, and that made the mood worse.
"Angel, Fred and Gunn have their work cut out for them", Buffy said.
Wesley slammed Lilah against a wall, pressing in close, and then she pushed him into a table, sending things clattering on the floor, revealing she knew about Justine, whispering in his ear she must have heard a few things. Wesley said the walls were sound-proofed, but Justine had called Lilah impossibly loud as he held her shoulders and twisted so Lilah was on the table with him on top while she bit his ear.
The Scoobies were disgusted again, other than Willow and Tara, who were uncomfortable but more understanding. The appreciation the rest had for Wesley went down.
"Why are you two still seeing each other?" Buffy wondered.
"Well, they seem to only have each other", Willow pointed out.
"Angel is ready to rebuild bridges", Dawn pointed out.
"For that, both need to be ready", Tara told her.
"So he wants to bang the enemy instead of getting back with his friends", Xander scoffed.
"He is betraying them by doing this", Giles agreed.
"They have something, they seem to like it, end of story, and it's not like they are affecting each other's plans so far", Tara now pointed out.
She didn't like it, but the judgmental nature of the rest (other than Willow) wasn't something she liked either. Wesley and Lilah were obviously in a dark place, and could only find some semblance of solace in each other.
Lilah said Wesley had been lying through his teeth, to which he said raising Angel was necessary to fight people like Lilah. They tumbled onto the floor, kissing, with Lilah on top, as she said he'd done her a favor, due to Angel having kicked Connor out, so he'd need someone to take care of him. Wesley twisted and was on top again as Lilah said. "I thought you liked the bad girls, Wes." Wesley retorted. "I don't need to hear evil plans." Lilah countered. "No. It just turns you on knowing I have them." Wesley told her. "Shut up, Lilah." Lilah challenged. "Make me." Wesley moved down along her body as Lilah gasped and chuckled in pleasure.
The Scoobies were left speechless once more, everyone other than Willow and Tara finding the whole thing messed up in every way. Even Willow and Tara found it messed up, but understood the reasoning behind it, unlike the rest.
Gwen scaled a wall with the help of her repelling hook, jogged over to an electric box and picked the lock on it. She picked out two wires and partly stripped the insulation on them. Pulling off her right glove she took a hold of the bared wires. There was a small electric discharge and the lights on the cameras inside the building went dark. Gwen closed the box then walked over to a metal door set in the wall. She lay her hand over the red light bar above the lock and after a moment it turned green and the door opens. Gwen entered. As the door closed behind her, Angel, Fred and Gunn climbed over the metal fencing, Gunn commenting it was harder than it looked on Batman.
"Well, you do have Vampire Batman", Buffy pointed as they chuckled.
"That makes Gwen a combination of an X-Man and Catwoman, because she is a thief", Xander pointed out, and the irony wasn't lost on those who got the reference, which was everyone but Giles, since he knew the Batman character, but not much more about him.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" Dawn asked.
"Hell yeah!" Xander said.
They made it over the fence and to the electrical box. Angel ripped the cover off. He sorted through the tangle of wires inside for a moment. Finally he selected a small handful and pulled them out. The lights in the parking garage went dark. Fred used some electronic gizmo to make the light on the door turn green and let them in. They descended some concrete steps. Fred had the building plans spread out and pointed out where the guys needed to go, and plans were made, as Angel and Gunn left in separate directions but Fred called out to them so they returned and left in the opposite directions. The light on the security camera suddenly came on. The camera focused in close on an eye showing a ghostly reflection of Fred gathering up the plans. It was Gwen, who found it not good.
All groaned as Buffy said. "And now they're going head to head."
Fred walked into a computer room as Gunn knocked out a security guard. Angel sprayed aerosol in front of an open doorway into the vault, revealing green beams when the security door came down on his face. Angel took a hold of the bottom cross bar and started to lift the gate. He fell back as he was showered with electrical sparks and a ceiling panel inside the vault opened, and Gwen's head and upper torso dropped down through it. "You know, I put that down for a reason."
"You know, he tried to lift that for a reason", Dawn countered.
"Finally, head to head", Buffy sighed.
"I'm excited!" Xander said, making the rest groan.
Fred was working on the computers but there was interference on the system, and Gunn dragged the security guard to a closet, only to find 4 more already trussed up. Angel and Gwen exchanged words, Angel asking if she was here for the Axis, and Gwen said she wasn't, to which he said she was lying, but she said she was fibbing, which was lying but classier.
"No, you are lying, you're not fibbing", Willow said to Gwen.
"I don't think she knows the difference properly", Tara told Willow.
Gwen reached down a hand and all the light beams arced up and out of her way, then dropped down into the cleared space, to Angel's shock. Gwen said. "Technically? I'm exciting the subatomic particles with electrical energy and then bouncing them off each other before they hit ground state. I just love that folks go for this high tech stuff. Electricity comforts them. Suckers." Angel asked. "What - are you?" Gwen, holding her hand over the palm recognition scanner said. "I'm a freak." There was an electrical discharge and the lock opened.
"Okay, definitely a mutant, that's what they call themselves in the comics, or are called by others", Xander said.
"Would you stop?" Giles asked, annoyed, as Xander groaned.
"Powers don't make you a freak", Buffy assured Gwen. "But don't take the Axis!"
"Well, she can't touch people, so I don't think she completely likes her powers", Willow said sadly, some sympathy going around for Gwen.
Gwen walked into the vault as Angel strained to lift the gate, saying she could steal other stuff. Gunn arrived as Angel told him the situation. Gwen returned with the axis and took a hold of the rope she'd used to come down. Angel begged, saying he needed the Axis to find someone important to him, revealing it's a 'her', and Gunn supported him. Gwen asked if Angel loved her, which he did, and then she asked how stupid he thought her from a scale of 1 to 10. Suddenly an alarm went off, the lights began to flash, and the gate slowly rose, courtesy of Fred as Gwen tried to climb up her rope but Angel forced the gate up faster, Gunn rolling through and lunging for Gwen, wrapping his arms around her legs. Gwen reached out and sent an electrical charge into Gunn, who let out a scream. Angel tackled Gwen, breaking her hold on Gunn, who dropped to the floor. Fred came running through the door. Angel had his fingers on Gunn's neck, feeling for a pulse. "He's dead."
"What? No!" Dawn snapped. "He is not!"
"No, he isn't", Willow agreed.
"So, guess its temporary death like my first one", Buffy told the rest.
"It's electricity, this is like a comic book movie, a shock will bring him back", Xander assured them.
"You're still enjoying this?" Giles asked in annoyance.
"Well, Gunn obviously did not die", Tara pointed out to him as Xander gave her a grateful smile.
Fred ran over to Gunn as Gwen flashed back to the boy who'd offered her the toy car before she'd sent him down. Gwen moved Angel out of the way with an electrical charge and kicked Fred away, apologizing, then put a hand on Gunn's chest, as there were some discharges but nothing happened, so she shook her hand. "Just like starting a Chevy." There was another discharge as Gunn gasped for breath. "There we go."
All of them sighed in relief as Tara said. "So she is not all bad then, she has a conscience too."
"I think she's only a thief, not a killer", Willow told the rest.
"And X-Man", Xander added.
Angel tossed Gwen to the side and Fred ran back to Gunn. Gwen kicked Angel in the head as Fred said they'd to get to a hospital. For a moment Angel hesitated, looking from Gunn to Gwen, then he ran to pick Gunn up while Gwen climbed up her rope into the ceiling.
All groaned as Dawn said. "Now they don't have the Axis."
"But Angel did save Gunn, which was the right thing to do", Buffy told her.
"Yeah, that's true", Dawn nodded.
Connor walked through the dark road, finding a make-shift homeless camp, as Lilah watched him via binoculars. "Miss me?" Lilah let out a little gasp and lowered the binoculars, telling Angel. "Only in the sense of- no." After exchanging words, Lilah said Angel had let off Connor easy to which he said he knew he'd messed up, Lilah annoyed by his moral high ground, and then Angel asked her about the Axis of Pythia stolen from Chandler's auction house, as the thief was specialized, and one of their clients could afford that kind. Lilah refused to do his errands to which Angel said she'd run this one, because then he'd ignore just this once that she was within 50 yards of his son. Lilah looked at Connor now rolled up in a blanket between the homeless as Angel whispered to her. "Just this once." Angel walked off as Lilah said it was interesting Angel was coming to her for help, to which Angel said he could smell her and Wesley on each other, and he found that interesting, asking her to start making calls. She'd one hour.
"Of course he'd know! He can smell it!" Buffy said to herself, tapping her head.
"And he doesn't mind?" Xander asked.
"Doesn't look like he does", Willow shrugged. "Guess he doesn't care what his friends or enemies do in their private time, even if it's with each other."
"I think she got lucky he needed her, because Angel loves his son, even if he has punished him", Tara said to the rest.
"Well, he deserved that much", Dawn said with folded arms. "Just hope he looks out for his kid since there are others after him."
"With Lilah on the matter, the one who hired Gwen will be found for sure", Giles said to the rest.
Gunn rested on a bed in Fred's room, making jokes as Fred eventually asked what was being dead like, saying he'd have been dead had Gwen not come back. Gunn said she could have done CPR, but Fred said she may not have been there either. Gunn said Angel could have rushed him over to the ER, but Fred was unconvinced, saying she was sick of holding up everything, and had thought it'd be better with Angel back. Gunn assured no one had forced this on her but Fred asked who would have done it, especially after he died and left her all alone. She started crying as Gunn took her in his arms.
All looked at the screen sadly, Willow relating, since she too had tried to hold up everything after Buffy's death.
"She is…something", Xander said lamely.
"Gunn, start taking life and death seriously", Buffy told him. "Because now you made Fred cry."
Gwen, wearing tight, black leather pants and a red, leather spaghetti top walked across the lobby of a high rise, carrying a bag. She pushed the up button on the elevator and checked her lipstick in the mirror inset in the doors. "Nice color." Gwen spun to find Angel standing behind her. She looked back at the mirror. There was no Angel reflected in it. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Gwen was now confused.
"So she knows now", Dawn commented.
"Well, she doesn't know exactly what Angel is, but she does know", Buffy pointed out.
"Finally, we're gonna get Vampire against X-Man!" Xander now cheered.
Gwen swung the bag in her hand at Angel's head. Angel ducked. Gwen kicked him and tossed the bag she was holding into the elevator. Gwen then kicked Angel with a leap before he grabbed her hand, and she tossed him to a wall. She punched Angel and flipped him down. Angel then blocked some punches and returned his own. Gwen went at it again, supplementing her punches and kicks with some electrical discharges. Angel blocked some, took others. Gwen spun him up against the wall. "Why are you not toast?" Angel grabbed her and slammed her up against the wall instead. "I'm not even warmed up." Gwen punched Angel across the jaw, sending him rolling to the floor. As Angel picked himself back up, she pulled off the long black gloves covering her hands and arms. They fought, Angel punching her and tossing her half into the open elevator. She kicked him and he fell inside. Gwen straddled Angel, ripped his shirt open and rested both her hands on his bare chest. Blue light and sparks arced from her fingers. "Warm enough?" Angel's heart suddenly came to life under the electrical charge directed at it. Angel sat up, grabbed a hold of Gwen and pulled her into a deep kiss.
"Okay, what?" Buffy asked, clearly shocked by what she was seeing. "They're….kissing?"
"Calm down, Buffy", Giles told her.
"Why are they kissing?" Buffy asked.
"Let's see, last time his heart beat was 3 years ago which got erased, and she can't touch anyone, so when his heart started beating, he got excited, her touch didn't hurt someone, she got excited, excitement lead to a kiss", Willow explained to Buffy, who was jaw-dropped completely.
"Oh!" Buffy said, now understanding.
Xander started. "So, Vampire and X-Man start fighting, it ends in-"
"Okay, stop!" Dawn said with a raised hand and he stopped.
"Well, this should be interesting", Tara simply said.
Angel and Gwen were still kissing. A set of thick bars slid across the exit of the elevator and they broke apart. Gwen said. "You're alive." Angel asked. "You felt that? My heart…" Gwen realized. "It was beating. It doesn't, does it?"
"No, it doesn't", Buffy sighed sadly.
Elliot appeared on the other side of the bar as Angel realized it was a double cross, and it was made clear he was neither on Gwen's or Elliot's side. Elliot said Gwen's job had been a train wreck due to the noise and publicity, plus her stunt at the bar, which he wasn't amused by. She wasn't a professional but a freak, and the door was retrofit with six inches of plexi-glass separating Gwen from any available current. Angel realized he'd turn on the gas as Gwen asked if he was Lex Luthor.
"No, he's not even bald!" Xander said. "Besides, only Michael Rosenbaum should be called Lex Luthor from now on."
"I don't think the gas is doing a thing to Angel", Willow pointed out.
Gas came into the elevator as Angel tried to get Gwen to sit, saying he didn't need to breathe as Gwen quipped it must be a turn-on for the girlfriend.
"They do breathe out of habit, they don't need to though", Buffy clarified to them.
Angel eventually pounded the plexi-glass with his fist, cracks appearing, as Gwen gasped if she could get a last kiss before death. Angel finally broke through, reached into the panel, and grabbed a hold of some wires, holding them out to Gwen who took a hold of his hand, electricity arcing across their hands. Elliot looked up as Angel walked out of the elevator, carrying Gwen.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" Dawn asked with a smirk.
"Well, time for a beatdown now", Xander quipped.
Angel put Gwen down and fought Elliot's thugs, ducking one's swing and smacking him down before blocking the next one's swing and punching him down. He spin kicked the next one out and blocking the final one's swing, punched him twice, throwing him off. He ducked the previous one's swing and kicked him before throwing him off. Another one returned but Angel grabbed his arm and slammed him into the wall, taking him down.
"That was so cool", Dawn said.
"His fighting style has improved a lot over the years", Buffy nodded.
"Who do you think will win between him and Spike?" Willow asked.
"Okay, don't ask that again", Buffy said with a raised hand so Willow did a zipper motion, the rest chuckling.
Angel saw Gwen advancing on Elliot, who said she didn't mind double crosses but she hated being called a freak, since it was her word and she got cranky when people like him used it. Gwen said she'd been struck by lightning 14 times as she attracted it, and maggoty norms like him attracted it too. Angel pointed he wasn't normal either, so they got to let go sometimes. With that, he punched Elliot out, offending Gwen, but he pointed out she was gonna fry him.
"Don't call people with powers a freak unless you too have powers, that's like day one stuff", Xander said to him.
"I think turned out not too bad", Tara said to the rest. "She has a conscience, and Angel has the Axis."
"Which he will use to find Cordelia, yes, it turned out just fine at the end", Giles nodded.
Gwen reached out to turn Elliot over but Angel took a hold of her arm and held her fast. There was a low electrical sizzle. Gwen asked. "You're really gonna use that Axis thing to find her, aren't you?" Angel just looked at her. Gwen quietly said. "Figures. Anyone that bad at stealing stuff has got to be doing it for love. - Bummer." Gwen walked past Angel and out the door.
"So she wasn't too bad after all", Buffy smiled.
"Well, she can be an X-Man", Xander quipped again.
"Find Cordy now", Dawn sighed.
At Hyperion, a window radiated a bright orange glow, with Fred and Gunn standing outside Angel's apartment where the light was illuminating the place. The glow died and Angel finally walked out. Gunn noted the Axis was still on the table as Fred later asked Angel if Cordelia was beautiful, and he said. "God. - There was all this light around her. And the light seemed to be made up of - pure joy - and warmth." Gunn asked. "You think higher beings get to take vacations?" Angel said. "The way I saw it - it felt sort of permanent." Gunn sighed. "Too bad. We could've all gone to Vegas." Fred commented. "I guess we should have known that when she started that glowy thing that the Powers were up to something."
"Except it wasn't them", Willow sighed sadly.
"What do you think Angel actually saw up there?" Buffy asked but got no response.
Gunn asked. "Yeah, but who would have thought it would have been this?" Angel told them. "Tell you the truth it doesn't surprise me. In some small way, maybe it even makes it easier. Knowing the good she's doing up there. Even if I can't see her or talk to her, it's like she's still on my side." Fred pointed out. "Doesn't mean you miss her any less." Angel agreed. "No. - All those months under the water I kept thinking to myself 'I got to get home to Cordelia.' I get back and I find out that she's gone. I keep thinking 'I got to get Cordy back home.' Finally I find her and I realize - she already is home", the three looked dejected as Angel finished, "where she belongs."
"No, she belongs with you guys, not up there!" Dawn denied, clearly not in the mood for it.
"The Universe keeping them apart", Tara sighed sadly.
"All those months in the water, and they still can't have that talk", Buffy muttered.
In the clouds and white light Cordelia was present. "What are you? Deficient? Get me out of here!" The screen went black.
"Okay, that was unexpected", Buffy said.
"So, Angel says something else, we see something else", Xander noted.
"The mastermind behind this would not want to be exposed so early, they would have done something to fool Angel", Giles pointed out to them, and they sighed.
"Well, she clearly isn't happy, and it clearly is not home", Dawn shook her head.
"I think it is best to see what's next tomorrow", Willow suggested.
"Yeah, it's getting late", Tara agreed with a nod.
"Let's go then", Buffy agreed as they got up and walked off.
Well, Gwen was a fun character. An X-Man (or Woman) in the Buffyverse, LOL! She and Angel could have been a fun couple IMO, even if I prefer her with Gunn at the end of the day. Wesley/Lilah continues being awesome.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!