Chapter Five:

Sunnydale:

Angel stood frozen in the mansion holding an unconscious Cordelia, he looked torn not knowing whether he wanted to drop her or never let her go. Instead he opted to place her exhausted body on the chaise lounge. He was quickly replaced at her side by a concerned Connor, "What's wrong with her? Is she okay? She was fine before…what happened?" his distress was relieved by Lorne who ensured the apprehensive boy that Cordelia had merely overtaxed her personal energy reserves, "she just needs to recharge and then she'll be fine".

"She was fine before? When before? When did she arrive?" Angel's icy tone brought Connor's attention back to the vampire and he remembered that only the researchers, Gunn and himself were present earlier to witness Cordelia's return. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fred approach Angel and lay a soothing hand of his arm, trying to calm the vampire as they all knew he would not take the news well.

"Angel, she just showed up at the door about an hour after you all left earlier. At first Gunn was worried bout her not being Cordy again but we asked her questions and she answered them all right. It's her Angel; she's back, Cordy's finally home." Fred couldn't contain her happiness at the situation, she tried to soften the shock for Angel but her elation was apparent to all. Whereas Angel's senses were still overloaded from holding Cordelia, he could still feel her, smell her. He'd never hated and loved something so much at the same time. He could still see the shock in her eyes as they made eye contact again for the first time in months. He didn't know how to deal with all of the emotions that came with Cordy, and he was too shattered to try, his body ached from the fight earlier that evening, even with his superhuman abilities fighting at a 5:1 ratio was incredibly hard, it was only after Connor, Gunn and Wes came to help with their potentials that he could start an offensive attack as opposed to the defensive he had been forced to, as he tried to protect the girls. Once the other 3 groups had joined the fray the tide turned and the more experienced fighters began to pull together and defeat the demons and hold their lines. Most of the severe injuries came from the start of the fight, the rest of them were covered in bruises and gashes but Angel had been fighting all out for the longest and was beginning to feel the pain. So he decided that he would drink some blood, take a hot shower and go to bed and deal with resurrecting best friends tomorrow, maybe it would be dream…he could only hope. The Fang Gang and Scoobies just watched the stoic vampire shrug off Fred, go into the kitchen, he re-emerged soon and without a glance at anyone went upstairs.

"Damn it! Why isn't he happy? He's supposed to be happy!" The tiny Texan's outburst was coupled with a stomp with her foot. Gunn simply took her in his arms as he watched Cordy recharge. The entire situation was a mess, was he happy-of course, he was ecstatic at Cordy's return but he couldn't help but worried about the timing, the Power's sick sense of humour, to return the one person who had the power to save or destroy his family in the middle of what was shaping up to be hardest apocalypse he'd ever faced. With his human immune system it would take his body day's to be back at full strength, the uber vamps were aptly named.

"Fred, honey give him a break it can't be easy for him, seeing her again."

"Since when has our life been easy? Huh? It's hard for everyone, I know he's hurtin' but I thought he'd care about where she's been, what she's been doing? I mean what could be so important that Cordy left Angel, left us? All that time we've been wondering, and know when we have a chance of finding out he runs away! Like a chicken!" Causing Spike to snort, this chit had called Angelus a chicken, hah, and soul or no soul Angelus always was a fearless bastard.

"Since when has Cordelia told us anything?" Angel's comment caused multitudes of gasps and jumps even Spike was caught off guard by the stealthy vampire. 'That has to be the fastest shower the poof's ever taken'.

"I mean she didn't even tell us she was dying for Christ's sake, Dennis had to tell you remember." Angel finished off savagely.

"Cordelia has never been one to share, I know she talks a lot, but not about the important stuff especially if it has to do with her." Wes added.

"Wesley Wyndham Pryce, I think you are the last person to judge about keeping SECRETS, don't you think." Cordelia's voice although under-laced with exhaustion was still heard by the entire room, which had fallen silent at the double intrusion.

At Cordy's statement, Wes flushed, and looked chagrined whereas Angel was surprised at the sudden burst of rage, after all that time of silently worrying and brooding about if she was okay, to see her now standing in front of him with her trademark raised eyebrow, made him angry, didn't she know what they had been through, what she had put them through. All that came out was a disinterested "So your back? For how long this time? Nice to know you still remember m-us."

'How dare he' who the hell did he think he was! Cordy thought. After everything she had been through to get here, he was being a jerk! Striving for the same nonchalance as the vampire she bantered back, "Oh you know, just a flying visit, fight an apocalypse, catch up with old friends and the fall collection from the 'House of Choo'."

"Oooh I love Jimmy Choo! He has the best shoes" Anya's outburst received various expressions of shock but that was nothing compared to the shock Cordelia felt at Angel's reply. He had moved right in front of her and with his eyes never leaving hers in a cold tone that surprised even her.

"You and I, we're not friends." said Angel throwing her own heartbreaking words back at her. God could her heart take anymore tonight, she only woke up from her prolonged stay in the higher realms this morning, spent the day organising supplies and discussing logistics, coupled with her first crystal clear vision on earth, finished with an exhausting healing. And that didn't even include all the emotion filled conversations, having to face Angel in this mood was too much. But her soft reply as they locked gazes burned Angel more than those words originally did almost 2 years earlier.

"Were we ever friends? Some days I just don't know. Could… friends do what we did...do to each other?"

Angel was silent; he had thought they were best friends that after everything they had been through together had made them stronger. But would best friends lie about their health? Would they not notice there friend had been replaced by an evil Power? 'Were they ever really friends?' The question haunted his very soul. 'were they ever really friends?'

AN:- I am so very sorry about the delay, to be honest I wasn't very happy at all with this chapter, at first I couldn't get the bitter snarky season 2 vibe between Angel and Cordy that I was striving for, then after watching a borrowed version I attempted another draft. However due to the nature of the scene and it's pivotal role I had higher standards set for this moment, I imagined it in so many different ways that I overthought it, in the end (after God knows how many rewrites) I decided to keep it simple, I'd rather have a slow build up of tension than immeadiate fireworks, and I admit to chickening out by having Angel leave the room early but I felt that both he and I needed to step, coupled problems with my broadband and real life intruding I sincerely apologise about the delay, I hope you don't find it anticlimatic (that was a real concern).

PS: was I the only author pd off about the hit reset, I was 2 hits away from 700! It really is morale diminshing to see the numbers reset, but at least the problem is fixed. For all I know I could just have a score of enthusiastic readers (and If I do I am grateful). So let me know if your reading this thanks to my new reviewers (pru, Si.crazy and justawritier), your comments made my day.

And finally...some of the dialogue was from Disharmony AtS season 2, obviously these are not mine, but they were added specifically, to circle back to those unresolved issues, so this is a mini disclaimer and to state I am aware of similarity, it was a deliberate choice.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the delay again, hope you enjoyed the rather short chapter, let me know, you all know how.

Sincerely,

Inara:)