005: [Accidental visual/Location: Random rooftop] Remember that Hell thing? Yeah, that happened

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Out of all moments for the Tablet to switch on, and Gwen barely notices.  No interruption of any skulking, or smirking, or stealing, however.  Taxon has caught her off-guard.  She's on a rooftop, staring out into the empty, stormless sky.  In her palm, she's holding a small, black ops device.  LISA, the thing that renders the freak touchable.  And she cradles it gently in her palm.

As if caught by a sudden urge, she rips off one red glove and crushes the thing in her palm, blue sparks transmitting the thing to nothing but an unimportant, indistinguishable scrap of metal.  LISA is no more.  She chucks what's left of it off the roof.

If you're wondering why her eyes are so focused, why her face is bereft of the coy, careless playfulness it usually shows, feel free to ask her, at your own risk.  Memories are flying through her head.  Now she gets what Spike said, when he arrived.  But hell if she's going to lower herself to talk to him about it.  She has an idea of what he'd say.

Cuddling with Nate, just wanting to be held, because she finally can.
The sky lighting up.  L.A. being sent to hell.
LISA malfunctioning.  Nate burnt to a crisp.
A fight in a sewer.  The son of a vampire.  Fighting by his side, fighting by his side.  Gunn, the betrayal, her betrayal.  Cordelia the Dragon.  The rooftop.  Her death.  Her sacrifice.

Every once in a while, Gwen actually yearns for a storm.  This is one of those times.

[ooc: CANON BUMP through the Angel: After The Fall comic series.]

Comments

[visual] / [voice]

[glowingseer.livejournal.com]

Cordelia the what.

Seriously, the what.

Well, this is weird. Cordelia is oh so used to seeing a thoroughly more playful and annoying Gwen, so when the tablet displays her like this... it's unnerving. Kinda like peeking into a private memory, even, if that makes sense.

She immediately turns the visual mode into voice mode, not wanting to actually intrude on Gwen's silence. Cordelia still wants to intrude though.

"Nice day, isn't it?"

[voice]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

[Gwen's now quite annoyed the Tablet once again has caught her unaware, but settles for the voice function. She's not exactly the share-her-feelings chick, especially when the receiving end of feelings is, well, dead. And a dragon. Awkward.]

I'm starting to think this whole clear skies thing sucks.

[voice]

[glowingseer.livejournal.com]

Hard to think of a bright side when there isn't any - that sort of thing?

[voice]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Sure. Only less philosophical.

[A pause, followed by a change of subject.] So your boy's here. You must be so happy.

[voice]

[glowingseer.livejournal.com]

[Cordelia hesitates to answer for a while. Sure, there's that whole patching-him-up episode - seeing him with a metal thingy sticking out of his chest was never fun, even if she was mad at him - but then there's that angle where she was mad at him. Kinda hard to ignore that.]

Sure. Especially when I found out that he's working for the other side now. So happy, really.

[voice]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

[Oh. Gwen didn't think Angel would have the pair to tell Cordelia...really anything of the future. So color her surprised, here. But seeing as she isn't moping around sulking about her own future death like Gwen is, looks like she didn't get the full story.]

Yeah. Black and white, never really that simple. I'm sure the big guy had his reasons.

[voice]

[glowingseer.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Stupid reasons. Angel really isn't big with the thinking. He's just one big, stupid, not thinking thing.

[Well, you brought the topic up, Gwen. Kinda hard to stop her now.]

I mean, one would think that those reasons would be shared with the rest of the class, you know? Except he's all 'no Cordelia, you're better off not knowing. No, Cordelia - I'm protecting you this way.' I'll tell you what I think. I think that's bullshit. If he has his reasons, then okay fine - but keeping them from me isn't really helping his case, you know? And he's not even apologizing! He's just... standing there with his ridiculously expensive suit on and sticking with his stupid plan! Well he could stick his stupid reasons up his stupid ass for all I care!

[visual]

[gating-across.livejournal.com]

It had been awhile since he had talked to Gwen. This Gwen, anyways. Two Gwens made it so he'd have to start calling them by their last names.

"Lookin' for a good jump point, Raiden?"

Said in a completely friendly voice.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

She's a little more than your average law-breaker, isn't she?

She lets a tiny smile slip. "You know, I really didn't turn this thing on."

[visual]

[gating-across.livejournal.com]

She defiantly was. Sheppard was past the part of her being a thief. Now it was going to be a running joke as long as he could stream it. Like Canada sucking at sports with McKay.

"It has a habit of doing that. Kind of creepy, if you ask me."

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Can take the girl out of the profession, but you can't take the profession out of the girl, something like that.

"Kind of annoying." She sighs. "I might be glitching. This has gotta be a glitch." Although, if it is, and she just melted her prized toy and threw it off a building? Well, her life sucks.

[visual]

[gating-across.livejournal.com]

"What's going on?" He asked.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

She hesitates, figuring the keeping-things-close-to-the-sleeves tactic is smart whether you're glitching or not. He didn't need to know details. He probably would have little sympathy for her, if he did know. Who could blame him, really?

"Woke up, remembering about a year of my life. Crystal clear visual, like a bad dream only...not," she finishes, lamely.

[visual]

[lessritual.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, this is rather unusual behavior for the old Gwen. He listens through her conversation with Cordelia and then flips his tablet on. He's still black and blue, but appears to take no notice of it.

"That little gizmo looked important," he says quietly, gesturing with a nod.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Spike's not exactly the person Gwen's been dying to see, but she spares the predictable glare and smart-ass remark for a more subtle quiet.

"Busted my ass to get that thing," she replies.

[visual]

[lessritual.livejournal.com]

"So, what? Did it not do its voodoo so well?" he asks, with a shrug.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

"Funny story. Decided to screw me over when L.A. went to Hell." Karma's a bitch, the cynical Gwen says. Can't change who you are. Even in Taxon.

[visual]

[lessritual.livejournal.com]

"Ah." He took a large breath, then sighed it out. "Sorry to hear you remember it now. Did you get through to the end of it? Because it does get marginally better after the giant god-king bits."

She may have knocked him off a roof, but they were all desperate then. After some time to let it settle awhile, he found he didn't care to hold a grudge.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

"You mean after my big dramatic death?" She says, letting out a little breath of humorless laughter. "I'm guessing since I ended up back where I started, the team came through. And..." she stops, not eager to say his name but unable to keep herself from wondering. "...Everyone made it."

[visual]

[suckmychest.livejournal.com]

"I think you may have voided the warranty on whatever that was."

Helpful and soothing, Eric was not.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Gwen does not appreciate the sarcasm, Eric.

"Think I might've voided that guarantee when I stole it," she answers, not regretfully.

[visual]

[suckmychest.livejournal.com]

Eric is never appreciated. Sigh.

He shrugged. "Larceny is only in the eye of the beholder." He kept it simple, in case someone would like to add a bit to this conversation.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Hey now, he is. Physically.

She smiles a bit, kind of impressed. "Don't forget burglary. Robbery. All the fun ones."

Classy.

[visual]

[suckmychest.livejournal.com]

Not by Sookie. Siiiiiiiigh, with feeling this time.

"Ah, but larceny is the only one that can be grand all by itself." Eric enjoy his wordplay, doesn't he.

[visual]

[freaks-myword.livejournal.com]

Oh, please. Gwen wouldn't need her keen, thief-y skills of observation to see Sookie's non-exemption from his hotness factor. Just let her warm up to you.

Oh, but she rolls her eyes. "Cat burglar rolls off the tongue a lot better."