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Angel arrived back at the Hyperion late at night, surprised to see that no one was around. Dumping his coat on the counter, he headed upstairs, leaving his shirt on the handrail and smiling slightly when he saw the light on in Fred's room. He then headed over to Connor's room and checked on his son, seeing that he was sleeping peacefully. Angel then headed to his own room, seeing that Cordelia was asleep. He sat down gently on the bed and removed his shoes, followed by his pants, as he got in under the covers and curled up around Cordelia
"How'd it go?" she asked sleepily
"Complicated…as usual," Angel replied, "She wanted me to come back"
"Doesn't she understand that you have a kid, a second on the way and you're need here?" Cordelia asked, becoming more awake now
"She's a little messed up following her resurrection. She's a little unhappy because she was in Heaven, but I think she'll be fine. Give it time, she'll be good again"
"Good, cause there's no way you're going back there"
"Okay then. Now go to sleep"
Cordelia kissed him and rolled back over, before falling asleep, as Angel drifted off
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A man and a woman are arguing in a shopping centre. A husband and wife. Their yelling increases and the husband lashes out in fury. He then starts pummelling her
Cordelia cried out and fell back into Angel's arms as he supported her to the couch, as Wesley and Gunn join her side
"Shopping mall. A husband and wife are arguing. He hits her," Cordelia said, "I think he's going to kill her"
"We're on it," Gunn said, "Might be possessed"
He and Wesley left the hotel, while Angel stayed by her side, as Connor joined them
"Mommy okay?" he asked
"Yeah, Mommy's fine," Angel replied, "You'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just get me a glass of water"
She rested a hand on her swollen stomach, as Angel picked Connor up, before getting Cordelia a glass of water. He stayed by her side, playing with Connor for the next hour until Wesley and Gunn arrived back at the hotel
"We arrived there just in time. The husband has been taken into custody," Wesley said, "But there's no demonic possession involved"
"How do you know?" Angel asked
"Wes tried some fancy power or whatever," Gunn replied, "Whatever was supposed to happen didn't and the guy wanted to slug us"
"So maybe he was just a violent guy," Cordelia suggested
"Well, we did manage to get a video tape recording," Wesley continued, "Wasn't easy though, but we managed"
He slid the tape into the video machine and pressed play. The video showed the couple just talking normally to each other as they browsed through the clothes. Then the husband all of a sudden starting attacking his wife
"Hold it," Angel said, "Rewind and pause"
Wesley did just that, as Angel headed over to the screen
"Recognise him?" he said, pointing a man out, "He's the guy we saved from Hell"
Sure enough, it was the very same man Angel had rescued for Wolfram and Hart
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"What are you doing?" Lilah demanded
"Just having a chat with young Billy here," Gavin Park replied, "About not wandering out alone"
"He's my client, Gavin, so back off"
Billy smiled at the pair as they glared daggers at each other. At that moment, Billy's uncle arrived to take him back home, as Billy shook Gavin's hand
"Thanks so much. I'll see you guys around then"
Billy smiled and left with his uncle, as Lilah rounded on Gavin. Their boss, Linwood Murrow, had brought him in in order to replace Lindsey McDonald. However, according to Lilah, he wasn't matching up to his predecessor, although the only useful he had ever done was bug the Hyperion Hotel
"Where do you get off messing around with my client?" Lilah demanded
"Why don't you just shut your big fat mouth?" Gavin asked
Lilah was quite taken back by this. Never once had an underling spoken back to her like that. She opened her mouth to retort, but Gavin struck, his blow sending her reeling into the wall. Before Lilah could recover, Gavin slung her to the ground like a rag doll and started pummelling her
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"Hey, are you okay?" Angel asked
"Yeah, I'm fine," Cordelia replied, watching her son
"No you're not. I can tell. Wanna tell me what this is about?"
"All those people. They're getting hurt because of me"
"No, it's not because of you, Cordy. It's because of him"
"Because of me, he's free," Cordelia said, the tears threatening to spill over, "Because of me, you had to free him. All to save me"
"And I'd do it again," Angel said, earning a smile, then kneeling before her, "Look, it was all about what was at stake. You were at stake and I was willing to do anything for you. You know that. I'll do anything for you and our kids"
Cordelia managed a smile and kissed him, before looking over at Connor, her hands clasped over Angel's, which were resting against her stomach
"What now?" she asked
"Now I find that guy and I tear him apart," Angel replied
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A few hours later…
Wesley looked up when Angel arrived beside him. A police car had been crashed into a pole, while the female officer was taken into an ambulance, her male partner placed inside a body bag and carted away
"Any sign of Billy?" Angel asked
Wesley shook his head
"Damn. And I was so close"
"We have to find and stop him soon," Wesley said, "The officer here was lucky. She managed to shoot her partner. Billy must be-"
"Blood"
Wesley followed Angel to a handprint of blood on the wall, as he took a rag out of his jacket and placed it over the blood
"Whatever he is, he's not human," Angel said, "I was able to get into his house without any invite"
"Well, I'll take this back and see what we can find out about our friend"
He looked up to see Angel was already on the other side of the street, leaping up a building wall. Wesley sighed and placed the rag in his jacket, before heading off
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Cordelia had enough sitting around at the hotel. She wanted to find Billy and make him pay for what he was doing to the women. So far, there were five women in hospital and another woman dead. Feeling the guilt, Cordelia loaded up a crossbow, before taking Connor with her, as Wesley arrived back at the hotel
"I've got a blood sample," he said, heading over to the counter
"I'm going out. Don't wait up for me"
With Connor by her side, Cordelia set out to find the one person who had started all of this. And she found her, knocking on her front door and waiting a few moments before Lilah opened up, her face heavily bruised from Gavin
"Hi, Lilah. Can I come in? Oh wait, I'm not a vampire," she said, walking in
"Please. Come on in," Lilah said sarcastically, closing the door
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Wesley looked up to see Fred pouring over a book, helping in figuring out Billy's race from the blood sample. So far, Wesley had concluded that Billy's power extended beyond a simple touch of his skin, embedding in his sweat and blood, something that had made Fred start to worry and she was slowly backing out of the office
"Where are you going?" Wesley asked in a low voice
"To get – more books – yeah, need a few – from upstairs," Fred rambled
"Don't lie to me, Fred"
"I'm not lying"
Wesley rose up slowly, placing his glasses on the desk and glaring at Fred menacingly. He stalked over to her, a hungry look in his eyes
"Wesley?"
"From now on, you'll no longer wear this…provocative clothing," he said, touching her bare shoulder
"Provocative?" Fred cried
Wesley struck her, knocking her down. Fred scrambled to her feet and hurried off, as Wesley sighed, loosening his tie, before grabbing an axe from the cabinet
"You forced this upon yourself, Fred"
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