Title: Unappreciated

Author: Inara

Rating: R (may go up to NC-17)

Pairing: C/A (not at first), F/G, B/S, D/C, and major C/S friendship

Email: Action/Angst/Romance

Summary: The Fang Gang goes to Sunnyhell to help with the first, the Scoobies are losing, Cordy's back and she isn't happy, and the apocalypse is a comin'. Can they save the world, or even stay in the same room? Tune in to find out.

Spoilers: All of AtS season 4, and BtVS season 7 (read AN)

Disclaimer: Angel: The series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon. David Greenwalt and Co. Fox, Mutant Enemy and whomever else Joss says it belongs to. I'm just taking the characters out of the box to play with for a little while, will put them back as I found them, promise. No infringement or breaking of any laws intended.

Distribution: (FSB), AO, anywhere else just email me first and it's yours.

Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated, will try and make this fic as interactive as readers want.

Thanks to cursed girl and Logan alpha30 my first reviewers, Mysticwolf1 (thanks for your comments; they do help in reminding me to be balanced in my portrayals. The reason Buffy is more OOC than anyone else is that I'd like to get the issues out of the way (or at least her issues with Angel, plenty of Spuffy issues to come), most of Angel's problems with Buffy here are because of Cordelia, its just misdirected anger. I do agree Buffy was and is an important part of Angel's life, but he's extremely bitter in my fic mainly due to the powers and their meddling. In my opinion most of the angst related issues that occur in AtS or BtVS are because they don't talk! Well not to each other. And Cordy won't get a warm welcome from Angel; I want their relationship to start like it was after Angel's beige period. So if you or anyone else has helpful comments email me and let me know. And a major thanks to Lea for all your help.

I will try to update every day or so. Let me know if I make any faux pas, I am for lack of a better term a fanfic writing virgin (god that sounds awful) but true lol. I won't be replying to any reviews in the story after this as I don't want to break any rules. If anyone has any questions or comments feel free to email me at and I'll reply to that directly. Please no flames though if I unintentionally cause offence to anyone I apologise, if you don't like this story all I ask is don't read it.

On to the story…finally Cordy.

Chapter 2:

Somewhere in Central LA, in a derelict church:

'Cold, why am I cold? And stiff, where the hell am I?' Cordelia Chase opened her eyes with difficulty. 'Looking around she quickly analysed the situation she found herself in. 'They left me on a stone alter in the middle of what looks to be an abandoned church!' how dare they! Her grievances against her family were stacking up! 'Didn't they even care, it was still her body!' Personal issues have to wait, she was here to do a job, avert an apocalypse, make sure the key and destroyer survive said apocalypse, chaperone aforementioned key and destroyer to ensure they don't inadvertently bring about the end of the world. After that she could rant and rave at her family and most importantly her stupid manpire. She wasn't really angry at her family, just disappointed, and hurt. But then she was honest enough to realise her part in everything, they were all to blame, except Connor. First though she needed clothes, transportation and funds. The first she could find at the hotel, and from there all she needed was the phone number for a Mr. David Nabbit, the billionaire gave millions to charity every year, well this year the white hats needed funding for the fight against the apocalypse. 'Hmm I wonder if that's tax deductible.'

3 hours later…

After making arrangements with David, who had graciously agreed to help, much to Cordelia's embarrassment he paid for everything even as far as a makeover, she didn't realise until she walked past a mirror in David's apartment that her hair had grown past her shoulders and had reverted back to it's natural mahogany state.

Cordy also found that her year in the higher realms had honed her existing power's and developed powers that she didn't even know she possessed, one of these new powers was the ability to sense, Connor and Dawn were especially strong, probably because they were her primary charges. Using her sensing ability Cordelia could tell that Connor and Dawn and probably everybody else was at the Crawford Street mansion, a good site for base she thought to herself. With this knowledge David and Cordelia arranged for a variety of supplies to be delivered to the mansion at regular intervals, ranging from magic supplies to medicinal and from food, blood and clothes to weapons. Cordelia calculated that there would be nearly 40 people based at the mansion, she didn't think any of the others would think of necessary requirements of essentially supporting a mini army, they would be preoccupied by the first evil. So Cordelia used one of her original talents she shopped. She also decided that she would pay a visit to Rondell never hurt to have back up she thought to herself she also decided to have supplies sent to Rondell's base they would need them as well, and Rondell and his crew would a good second line of defence if they failed in Sunnydale.

One hour after meeting Rondell and promising to update him and to tell Gunn to call him Cordy was on her way to the hellmouth in her new all terrain jeep another courtesy of David (that man was a godsend), for a brief moment she thought about a cute little roadster but her common sense over road her thoughts, roadster would look good but it wasn't appropriate to fight the minions of hell. She took with her the supplies she could round up in LA, her personal belongings and weapons, the first shipment of supplies would arrive in the morning. As it was she wouldn't arrive in Sunnydale until after sunset. She just hoped that she had enough strength to survive the night. A reunion with her family in front of the Scoobies was not her idea of fun.

Sunnydale: the morning after the night before.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

BANG!

'That's better' thought Willow, she'd need a new alarm clock but at least destroying her current alarm clock was cathartic if nothing else. Goddess was she tired, not for the first time in her life did she truly detest her role of peacemaker 'I went evil! For Goddess' sake, I've killed, flayed alive even, tried to destroy the world. Yet I'm still the peacemaker'. Willow wasn't normally this morose in the mornings, she tried to be positive, she missed Tara, and had to control her magic every second but she did it with a smile on her face, for Tara. But not even the thought of Tara would make this morning happy. Actually she defy anyone to wake up happy after spending the better part of night calming down a furious and possessive Angel and trying to stop his from painfully killing Spike. Her thoughts turned back to last night…

"SPIKE!" Angel roared, as he stomped downstairs.

Spike couldn't stop himself from stepping back, the poof a little to like Angelus for him to control the fear that Angelus had spent decades instilling in him.

"What? I didn't do anything! Christ Peaches you only just went upstairs" he tried to appease the enraged vampire.

Willow looked at the two vampires and realised that only a couple of potentials and the 'brain trust' were left in the room, Buffy and Faith took a group of Potentials patrolling Spike was left guarding the mansion. Damn that meant she had to sort out this new development, she was the only one available the others were knee deep in research.

"My Room" was Angel's only reply to Spike's query.

"Oh" a look of understanding crossed Spike's face, "I tried to explain but…"

"You need to educate your chit better William" Angel's cold tone raised the hairs on Willow's arm and caused Spike to flush slightly.

"You were together how long? I thought after dating one vampire Buffy would understand, and she does but…"

"…she doesn't think the rules apply to her" Angel finished off for him, he knew it wasn't that big of a deal, but it was another part of his life that was taken away from him, again without his consent.

"I don't understand, Angel what's the matter, don't you like the room I set up for you? I know it's not much." Willow's soft spoken reply got Angels attention and brought back from the edge again.

"It's not that Willow, I appreciate the effort you've made for us really I do, but I already have a room here but it's currently occupied by Buffy." Angel said trying to explain.

"But what's that got to do with Spike?" Dawn's comment surprised the three of them; the two vampires at least should have noticed her approach.

"And before when you first came, you went straight for Spike, you even ignored Buffy." Willow added seeing what Dawn had noticed.

"Is it because Spike's your childer? And he should know better. The rest of us are allowed to be ignorant, but Spike ignoring your status as Master is like a challenge. Is that it?" Dawn offered, she had been thinking about Angel's behaviour for most of the evening, well his and Wesley's. Wesley's new attitude would take a while to get used to.

Angel was amazed at Dawn's insight, she had managed to see what everyone else had missed, including her sister whose business it was to know. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Dawn, and to tell Wes in the morning, she could be useful. He doubted whether anyone noticed that Dawn had grown up.

"I wasn't challenging him!" Spike replied quite defensively and "how did you know all that, if you've been talking to strange vampires"

Ignoring the strange vampires comment, he really was over protective of Dawn sometimes. Willow asked "yes, how did you know all that stuff".

Dawn just rolled her eyes, "God, I do read you know. So was I right about Spike I mean." She asked Angel

"Yes, to a degree. Vampires are territorial and possessive creatures, Master vampires more so. To see my property being trespassed is hard for my demon to ignore. Spike may not like me but he should at least respect my position as Master of our Order." He said with a glare a Spike so he understood. Angel decided that he would educate one of the Summer's sisters to avoid more misunderstandings.

"So what do you want to do about the room?" Willow asked getting back to the problem at hand. She could feel a migraine coming on, she was grateful that Buffy was absent, the blonde slayer seemed proficient in pissing of Angel and his tolerance of her 'mistakes' were at an all time low.

"It's alright Willow I'll stay in the new room." It's too late anyway Angel thought privately, Buffy's scent was all over the master bedroom. It angered him that he felt guilty about Buffy's scent on the same bed as him, like he was cheating on C- Damn it! So much for not thinking about her. His private musings were cut short as the patrol group entered bruised and bloody.

Willow had spent the rest of the night, taking care of a dozen injured girls, they were mainly bruised the worse injuries were some cracked ribs and a broken wrist, thank the Goddess. They also updated the map to mark the new area that the ubervamps were fought against in. Then after all that the core scoobies and the now unpacked Fang Gang had a 'discussion' on what to do next, Giles frustrated when the discussion escalated into a yelling match between Buffy and Kennedy told everyone to go to bed and that they would finish the meeting in the morning. So at 1.45am Willow Rosenberg fell into bed only to hear her 7am alarm go off. She was not looking forward to the meeting today.

The meeting was surprisingly civil and most of all productive. The Fang Gang were happy to focus on something other than their own angst, and the Scoobies were buoyed by the Fang Gang's help. Fresh blood and a new perspective really did help. They divided their forces into 3 groups: Research/Magic with Giles, Wesley, Willow, Anya, Lorne and Dawn. Buffy, Spike, Faith and Angel would train the potentials and patrol. Gunn, Xander, Connor, Fred and Andrew would concentrate on creating weapons and defences. Both Gunn and Connor had lived under attack, Gunn on the streets with his crew and Connor in Quortoth. Fred's genius and time in Pylea coupled with Xander's construction abilities meant that they could focus on keeping everyone safe in the base as well as creating weapons to help with the fight against bringers and ubervamps. This left Buffy, Faith, Spike and Angel free to train the potentials, the groups were flexible so that they could rotate members, Fred could research and Gunn or Connor could train potentials so that Angel or even Andrew could cook. But the creation of a system boosted moral, the white hats began to feel like they were actually doing something in the fight against the first evil.

The rest of the day was spent with everybody acquainting themselves with each other, or in some cases reacquaint themselves.

Wes and Molly had a heartfelt reunion, both felt happier knowing that they weren't alone in their grief. For Molly, did Wesley's softer side show. The only tense moments occurred when Molly asked why Wesley hadn't contacted them for nearly a year, no Christmas or birthday cards. To which Wes replied that he had been extremely busy whilst unconsciously touching the scar on his neck. The most awkward moment occurred when Molly innocently asked where he got the scar on the neck from. Wesley's reply of "from my own stupidity" left the room in a stunned silence, then Gunn spoke up "You made a mistake Wes, forgive yourself already, we have." Gunn comment elicited a soft "have you?" from Wes who looked stunned, the two former best friends exchanged small smiles, back on the path of true brotherhood.

When Angel replied "yes, Wesley we have. I haven't forgotten, I don't think I ever can, but if you had been right…I understand you trying to do the right the thing and failing in the process." The relief on Wesley's face was obvious, and both Fred and Lorne had broad grins.

"I don't understand, what mistake?" Anya's question reminded the Fang Gang that they were not alone in the room.

The next hour was spent with the Fang Gang explaining Connor's existence from conception to his sending Angel to a watery grave. They left nothing out, painful as it was they learnt their lesson about secrets being bad. The scoobies were shocked, but not as much as expected. They calmly asked questions and seemed to accept Connor's existence as one of the many bizarre things in their world. Angel was relieved, he was honestly worried about how the Scoobies would treat Connor once they knew. Connor was still fragile, and had slowly begun to accept Angel as his father. Angel even thought Connor looked amused and slightly pleased when Angel refused Connor any alcohol. The fact that Angel had the opportunity to act like a father was not lost to both. They appreciated moments like that, as they didn't often occur.

Willow and Faith had matching expressions of relief, they didn't like keeping secrets, but they didn't know how to approach the situation. Giles was still absently obsessing on 'Vampires can reproduce', Xander was shocked, ironically he was shocked that he wasn't shocked. Dawn however was in deep thought, she could not deny that she found Connor attractive, but she had felt connected to him. He felt like 'kindred' but not, she didn't understand, the fact that he been raised in a hell dimension and grew up in a matter of weeks was comforting probably because she thought to herself I'm not the only 'miracle' anymore. She looked at Connor who was standing against the wall, with his arms crossed defensively across his chest, she sent him a small smile, he looked at her with a confused expression. To which she replied "So you're the miracle child huh," he nodded warily, "I was an ancient ball of mystical energy that could used as key in and out of dimensions, some monks sent me to the slayer in the form of a sister for protection." The Fang Gang looked amazed at her blasé attitude, Connor gave a true smile and said "Cool".

"Angel can we talk? Upstairs." Buffy's comment broke the teenager moment.

"Sure." They both left the table and went to Buffy's Room.

"So."

"So." Angel replied.

"We should really talk more, you know. At least births, deaths and marriages." She tried to break the atmosphere with humour.

"I know you're upset and you have every right to be but…"

"Angel I'm not upset, well not at you having a child with Darla" she amended as she scrunched her nose at Darla's name. "God Angel, you had a child you never thought possible and lost him due to a betrayal from your best friend all in a year, and you didn't call, I could have helped." Buffy explained.

For the first time since he had arrived in Sunnydale Angel saw the Buffy he fell in love with, the girl that lived her life according to what was best for the world and her friends. He gave her a small smile of relief. "I know you could've, but Buffy when Connor was born we were so busy protecting him from the people trying to kill him, I mean there were cults that wanted to worship him, some wanted to kill him, Wolfram and Hart wanted to dissect him. God Buffy there was a site on the internet auctioning him! And for the first time in my life I had this truly innocent creature that I loved unconditionally, was loved by and had to protect from the world I fight in. I was so scared but…"

"but what, you could have called, I would have helped." Buffy once again tried, if things were that bad why hadn't he called?

"I know, but C-Cordelia reminded me, that Connor was relying on me, and that I had a family I could rely on. And we were happy Buffy, for the first time in a long time my family was happy. But then we lost everything, I lost everything." Angel finished off.

"I understand, actually I don't, the closest I have is Dawn, and when Glory took her I was catatonic, so I'm in no place to judge. But I'm here now, if you need a friend that is. I think it's about time we started talking to each other. We've known each other nearly 7 years have we even had a conversation that wasn't about slaying or our relationship in so form." Buffy said with a slight grin.

"You're right, I appreciate the offer but my head is a confusing place right now. Buffy we don't have any issues, what I'm trying to say is that my problems aren't about you and I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you, but I've changed." Angel replied.

"I can see that Angel, you've grown…"

"I'm NOT FAT, its muscle damn it!" Angel interrupted her.

Buffy was stunned, then she burst out laughing at his hurt expression. She couldn't help it, she had never seen this side to Angel before, this insecure and to be honest slightly dorky Angel. "…as a person, you've grown as a person Angel. I swear I wasn't calling you fat. Why did someone say…" she broke off, never in a million years did she think she would be having a conversation with Angel about his weight.

"It's all the 'big dumb vampire' and 'big fat vampire' comments, I mean I don't have a reflection so…but I don't think that…I exercise" he finished lamely.

Buffy however was in tears, she couldn't believe it, but then she felt sorry for him "No of course you're not fat Angel, who said…"

"Cordelia" the expression on Angel's face was unreadable.

"Oh, so.." she left it open not quite sure of how to broach the obviously sensitive topic with the vampire.

Angel however decided to change the subject completely "So why aren't you with Spike? He has a soul now."

For not the first time since the conversation began Buffy was lost for words "how did you…what?"

"I'm still the Master of my Order, Buffy I get updates on all members regularly, as for Spike's soul, that I could sense when I first looked into his eyes. So what's the problem? Did he do something? Do you want me to beat him up for you?" Angel for the first time in a while felt light hearted, other peoples problems tended to do that.

"It's complicated, but we'll sort it out." Buffy said defensively, ignoring Angel's teasing.

"As long as it doesn't affect…" Angel began

"Angel you know me better than that." Buffy reprimanded him.

"Ok so truce I won't get involved in your business with Spike and you…" Angel offered a compromise.

"And I won't bring up Cordelia…deal?" she counter offered.

"Deal." Angel accepted.

They both returned downstairs with lighter hearts.