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As soon as he left the Hyperion, Connor became confronted by the numerous vehicles on the busy LA streets. He leapt up onto the back of a bus and sat down; looking around at the strange world he managed to punch his way through to. He stayed on the bus for the next quarter-mile, before jumping off and heading through an alley to a part of downtown. He was walking along the bridge when he saw a young woman being assaulted by a group of men. Seeing that the woman was in distress and needed help, Connor jumped off the bridge, landing silently, before heading towards the group, just as the leader pushed the woman onto the bonnet of his car
"Hey," Connor called
"Well, lookie at this. You get lost from Neverland?" Tyler asked
Connor gave him a confused look, as the girl, Sunny, slid off the bonnet
"Leave her alone," Connor said
"Stay out of this, Peter Pan," Tyler threatened, drawing a revolver
"I said to leave her alone"
"And I said to stay out of this"
Tyler struck Connor across the jaw with the butt of his revolver. Connor barely flinched, as he hit Tyler twice across the face, knocking him down. Tyler's four cronies moved in to defend their leader. One of them swung a wrench at Connor's head, but he ducked under the weapon, grabbing the guy by his shirt and tossing him aside like he weighed nothing. He had dropped the wrench, so Connor grabbed it and struck a thug across the jaw. He heard bones breaking, as he kicked another thug in the chest, then sweeping the legs out from underneath a fourth thug. Connor quickly defeated the thugs, before slamming Tyler on top of the car, before stripping him of his leather jacket. He went to Sunny, before turning back to Tyler and cutting off his left ear as a small trophy
"What was that for?" Sunny asked
"So he remembers me," Connor replied
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Angel sat inside the hotel, arms crossed and deep in thought as he waited for the sun to set. It had been a few days since he lost Connor to Quor-toth and now; his son was back in his life, albeit now a teenager. He didn't understand how, but decided that it didn't matter, now that Connor was back on Earth, but not quite safe. Los Angeles was a bad place to be if you were alone on the streets at night. Angel figured that Connor would have learned some things during his time in Quor-toth, as Connor was only human. It wouldn't be hard for a hungry demon to easily tear him apart
"Are they back yet?" he asked
"You'd know if they were," Cordelia said, "The sun is nearly set. Head out now. By the time you get to the streets, the sun would be gone"
"I want him back here, Cordy, safe and sound"
"Don't worry, you'll find him. You can't force him to come back, but I know that he will in time. Have hope, Angel"
"That's what I have you for, isn't it?"
Cordelia smiled and leaned over, kissing Angel on the lips
"Okay, now go," she said, breaking away from him
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Connor and Sunny arrived at a small set of apartments. Upon arriving at her room, Sunny began rummaging through a pile of clothes, pulling a long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants out, before handing them to Connor, along with a pair of boots. He glanced at them, before staring at her in confusion
"Well, you can't just run around in animal skins," Sunny said
Connor dropped the clothes and promptly began removing his own. Sunny turned around to give him privacy. A minute later, his hand was on her shoulder, slowly turning her around to face him, dressed in the new clothes with his leather jacket and bandolier of small trophies on as well. Sunny smiled and caught by impulse, pressed her lips to his. Connor was confused by the kiss, but allowed it to happen. After several seconds, Sunny smiled and pulled away
"I'll be back in a few"
She headed off for the bathroom, as Connor sat on the couch and waited. He was feeling restless and alienated by the whole new world he was in. several minutes passed and Sunny didn't appear. Tired of waiting, Connor went to check in on her, finding her slump against the bathtub, a syringe sticking out of her arm
"Sunny?" he asked, gently shaking her, but with no response
He couldn't hear her heartbeat and removed the syringe, turning around and finding Angel standing in the doorway
"She…uh…" Connor started
"She didn't put this crap in you?" Angel asked, the protectiveness overcoming him, grabbing Connor's arm and lifting up his sleeves
"No!" Connor said, indignantly, pulling his arms away, "What are you doing here?"
"I came here for you, son. I want to talk to you. Your mother wants to talk to you"
"I don't have a mother. And I'm not your son"
"Whether you like it or not, your mother is at home, waiting for you," Angel said
Connor grabbed Angel by his coat lapels and ran him across the room, slamming him against the wall, a look of anger coming across his face
"I don't have a mother!"
"Is that what Holtz told you, Connor? That your mother doesn't exist?" Angel asked, "He's pretty good at lying"
Connor struck Angel across the jaw
"Don't talk about my father like that"
"I'm your father, Connor. Not Holtz"
"Stop calling me that! My name is Steven!"
"Alright then, let's go with Steven"
"You're him, aren't you? You're Angelus, the one who killed my father's family," Connor said, "A vampire. Who has a second face for killing. Show me the face!"
"Fine then, son. It looks like this"
Angel reluctantly vamped out, seeing the hatred in Connor's eyes, then shifted back, just as Tyler and two of his thugs burst into the room, wielding handguns
"Where is she?" Tyler demanded, "Where's Sunny? Oh, hello Peter Pan"
Angel stood protectively in front of Connor, as one of the thugs headed off
"She's dead," he said after several seconds
"Anything in that jacket is mine," Tyler said, pointing his gun at Connor
"How about we settle this without violence?" Angel suggested
"Who the hell are you!" Tyler demanded
"I'm his father"
"No you're not," Connor hissed
"Let me handle this," Angel growled back
"This is the police! We have the place surrounded! Come out with your hands up"
Tyler and his thugs responded by shooting through the door, as gunfire was returned, ripping holes through the wall. One of the thugs went down, as Tyler hid behind the TV, as Angel pulled Connor to the floor to avoid the gunfire
"Put down your weapons and come out with your hands up!"
Bullets continued to riddle the walls, as Tyler fired back with his revolver, his second thug getting taken down by three rounds to the torso. The gunfire ceased for a moment, as Angel pushed Connor towards the window
"Go, get going!"
Connor scrambled to his feet and ran for the window, as the door was broken open and a riot police officer entered the room. He scanned the room quickly, before seeing Connor running for the window. Thinking he was one of the crooks, the officer took aim with his shotgun. However, Angel saw this and leapt to his feet, just as the officer fired, blasting buckshot into Angel's back. He stumbled and fell, as Connor turned back, seeing him fall from the wound. A wound he suffered trying to protect him
"Go, now," Angel said, getting back up, "Come on!"
Covering Connor with his body, Angel fell through the window, landing on his feet, as Connor landed with him and they took off, as the rest of the squad entered and seized the room. The pair ran for a couple of blocks, getting some distance, until Angel had to stop from the pain pulsing through his body
"Thank you," Connor said
"Oh, it was nothing," Angel replied, "You should come back home, Steven. Your mother wants to see you properly. We should seriously talk, without cops and thugs"
"I'll think about it," Connor said
He ran off into the darkness, as Angel decided to give him some space and time, before heading off for the hotel. Connor watched him go, then raced off, coming to another alley, as someone stepped out of the darkness before him
"Hello, Father," Connor said to an aged Holtz
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