Warning, I know this is classified as M, I did that just incase my story went in directions unknown, I know there hasn't been any M rated content yet, but just incase anybody with deliate sensibilities is reading, there is coarse language in this chapter, the F word is used (Faith, who else). So if that offends please skip it or don't read (It's in Bold) or if you'd rather email me at and I'll send you an edited version. Anyway on with Chapter 6...

Chapter 6:

'We're not friends' God how 3 little words could cause such emotional turmoil in one person. Cordelia experienced a myriad of emotions at Angel's cold remark, anger, pain, fear, despair; she felt them all, simultaneously. But pain seemed to be the overpowering emotion, part of her understood the words, and the purpose behind them, they had a special meaning behind them, after all she used them after Angel left her all those years ago. She recognised that Angel would see her ascension the same way, for the right or wrong reasons she had left, she broke her promise. She understood. That didn't stop the sheer volume of pain that came with the words, the fact that Angel had specifically chosen those particular words to hurt her, broke her heart. Her rational side knew that Angel had a point, more than one, but she still felt and reacted like a human being, right know she couldn't stop herself from reacting like a hurt woman, she snapped and Angel, well Angel got slapped.

'SMACK'

Angel noticed everything and nothing during the few seconds of silence that followed his statement, the first was the brief flash of pain that appeared on Cordelia's face before she could suppress it, he in turn savagely squashed his automatic guilt at causing Cordelia pain, his internal brooding/thoughts were brought to a rather shocking halt as his body registered immediate pain, then rather belatedly he registered that Cordy had slapped him. The shock of the slap released every emotion Angel had repressed since he had found out about 'evil' Cordy and the resulting explosion was like adding napalm to a forest fire, with preternatural speed he was infamous for, he had vamped out and had Cordelia pinned against the wall. He should have backed away, he should have left the room, hell he should have been aware enough to block the slap in the first place, when did she get so quick? So powerful? He should have done a lot of things in the end he did the one thing he shouldn't have, he reacted. "You really shouldn't have done that"

Before Cordy could retract her now throbbing hand let alone apologise she found herself trapped against the wall and staring into a pair of feral topaz eyes. 'Uh oh' a tiny part of mind whispered before she could stop herself. But she had seen Angel's vamp face thousands of times before to let it intimidate her, even if she was the sole focus of his intense glare, her rational side was begging her to placate the vampire, to act like an adult, get some space between them and let them both cool off. Her rational side lost, she was tired, she was hurt, she was angry and she was pissed. And when Cordy was pissed she turned into Queen C, so it had been a while since she had reverted to her old high school persona maybe it was Sunnydale bringing out her old human demon whatever the reason Queen C was back.

"You deserved it, hell you deserve…" she began

"Don't talk to me about hell, it's where I've been the last year" his voice sent tremors done her spine, "I was protecting our…my family andsaving the world!"

"From World Peace, I heard, great job" the words escaped before she could help it, judging from the snarl and the tightening of his hands against her wrists (where she knew she would have bruises) it wasn't the smart thing to say so she carried on "But you did save the world so…well done, too bad evil had another apocalypse scheduled straight after" 'oh god what am I saying, dear goddess someone shut me up,' she could vaguely her a snort from someone in the room (a blonde English someone).

"yeah well if you hadn't caused the first apocalypse maybe we'd be more rested for this one" Angel's icy reply resulted in a gasp from Fred, and he could imagine both Wesley and Gunn wince at his callous words but Cordy's whole demeanour changed, her spine straightened and froze, her eyes hardened and her jaw was clenched in fury. "That wasn't me; you should have known that wasn't me."

"I should have known a lot of things…" he snapped back.

She gasped in pain, but he didn't move, he didn't lessen his grip instead he challenged her with his eyes. She glared back, and then she began to glow. Softly at first but steadily enough to heat up her skin and hurt him back. There eyes were locked on each other both causing each other pain but refusing to yield, to let the other go. It was their weakness.

'Oh Shit!' 'Fuck' 'Oh Dear Lord' 'Holy Crap' 'What the…'

The exclamations all ran over another so it was quite impossible to discern who said what. Although Angel and Cordy seemed to have forgotten where they were, they're captive audience most certainly hadn't. The room at large watched the pair argue as though watching the match point at Wimbledon, they witnessed the warrior and seer wound each other verbally, ripping open old wounds and hurting each other as only they could. As anxious as the group was at the verbal battle, their collective heartbeat rose when Angel manhandled Cordelia, so fast that even the superhuman quota of the audience were taken by surprise. However when Angel, tightened his grip painfully causing Cordelia to gasp and glow in retaliation were they truly afraid. At once Spike, Buffy, Faith, Gunn and Wesley sprang to action separating the pair, it wasn't an easy task.

"Woah, Woah, Woah…Timeout guys, back to your corners" Gunn yelled as he, Wes and Faith tried to restrain Cordelia, whereas Spike and Buffy had their hands full with Angel. The rest of the room looked on in confusion and fear; it was Wesley's calm voice that brought the champion and seer back to reality. "Enough, I know you two have many issues that need to be resolved, but not like this, right now we are in the middle of the apocalypse so can you refrain from killing each other until afterwards. Angel, Cordy is family, don't forget that, and Cordelia stop baiting Angel, the past year has not been easy on any of us. Now I have had the privilege of seeing the two of you at your best and the worst, you know that together we are unstoppable, so please can we be adult about this and call a truce." The scoobies and the potentials were amazed at how the former watcher calmed the situation down; it wasn't his words but the familiarity of the situation that seemed to decrease the tension. After both Angel and Cordelia had nodded their assent Wesley carried on "Now we were interrupted earlier by you vision Cordelia, but if you're not too tired we still haven't discussed what you did on your…sabbatical, and how you found us".

"I'm fine Wesley, and you're right we have quite a few things to discuss" Cordelia replied, "but I need to clean up, so why don't we meet back here in half an hour and while I take a shower, you can catch the rest up, and the girls can go relax." At Wesley's nod, she picked up her bag and left the room without a single glance at Angel.

30 minutes later, main room, Crawford Street Mansion

Andrew and the potentials had gone to relax, and give the adults a chance to catch up at the behest of Giles, Dawn however was currently in the middle of an argument with Buffy, she was determined to stay, but Buffy wasn't sure if she was old enough.

"She stays." Cordelia's voice from the doorway broke the argument. She had brought a tray of drinks in from the kitchen and then returned with a second. 'A peace offering and courage in one' she thought to herself.

"What do you mean she stays? Dawn is my sister; it's up to me if…"

"Dawn, is sixteen, the same age as us when we got dragged into this, she's old enough, and she could help"

"She is my little sister"

"She's an asset or she could be if you let her, anyway she has just as much right to be here too, as it involves her too. She stays"

Buffy just sat down, Dawn who was grateful for Cordy standing up for her muttered a quick thanks and sat next to her sister, and gripped her hand under the table to show her that she was still with her, Cordy witnessed it all with a small smile and started handing out drinks "I thought we could all use a drink, while we rehash everything from the last year" she gave the fang gang their drinks, Spike and Angel their blood and apologised to the others for not knowing their preference and handed out the rest. She didn't want to admit it but she had shed a tear whilst preparing their drinks, it had been such a normal act that she had missed so much.

Spike was shocked at the mug of blood in front of him that he looked at Cordy in confusion, at Cordelia's raised eyebrow he took a sip and promptly choked "what?"

"It's cinnamon" said Angel.

Spike looked at Angel, "she adds cinnamon to the blood, why would she…"

"For variety, duh" At Cordy's comment Spike noticed that the scoobies had heard his query, "Why, don't you like it?" she asked with a slight frown.

Spike looked at Angel who had a mini smirk on his face, "no, no, it's terrific pet, lovely" he then downed the mug in one, "the perfect temperature too", he was rewarded with a blinding smile as she took her seat.

"So do you want to know what's been happening here and LA first or shall we tackle your year away first" Willow began.

"Er, I know what happened here, already, the power's filled me in,"

"How?" Giles asked

"Vision, how else, I got the last year for everybody in my head"

"Everything?" Wesley queried.

"Everything" she replied looking at Wesley and Gunn, the latter blushed. "We will talk later" she remarked to the pair, Gunn ducked his head whilst Wesley merely met her stare.

"Anyway" Buffy began interrupting their staring contest. "So where'd you go?"

"What did you do?" Faith jumped in.

"Why'd you leave" it was so soft she could have missed it, but she heard, his voice rang clear in her ears and in her heart. The table froze at Angel's question.

"I was needed…they told me I was needed more somewhere else and that I had out grown my life here."

"So you just left" Gunn asked in a hurt voice, "without telling anyone"

"There wasn't any time, and you know the mission…"

"Comes first" Angel finished off for her.

"They told me that it would only be a week, on earth"

Angel scoffed.

"Anyway, when I had completed my mission, they told me that Earth was in trouble and that I was needed here, then they told me that I had actually been gone for nearly a year, and that a rogue power had taken over my physical body to take over the world and remove free will, then they decided to speed up the process by showing me everything that had happened, and told me that I had to help stop this apocalypse, I woke up in LA, then I made my way here for the family reunion, and that's my story" the entire table could hear Cordelia's bitterness, and hurt.

"So you met these Powers'? What are they like?" Dawn asked tried to change the subject.

"You met the powers! Oh my God, no human has ever…" Giles was astonished

"I'm not human, not anymore"

"It's still unheard of Princess" Lorne tried to show the importance of the meeting.

"They owed me" Cordy shrugged it off,

"So where did you wake up in LA" Faith asked

"In some abandoned Church in Central, that reminds me Gunn, Rondell told me to tell you to call him soon."

"You saw Rondell? When? Why?" Gunn asked in confusion.

"Look when I woke up this morning, I knew that you guys were at the mansion, but you needed help, so I went to the hotel to get David Nabbits' number, cause I thought maybe he could help, you know financially. He did, we've got supplies coming in from tomorrow morning, medicine, weapons, food, books, clothes, we have nearly forty people her and we needed supplies, so then I had some stuff delivered to Rondell, in case we fail in Sunnydale, I thought LA would be a good second line of defence." Seeing the looks of astonishment on everybody's face she let out a defensive "what? I thought it was a good idea."

"No, No, it was a great idea, and it is very much appreciated I guess we're in shock, you've managed a lot in a small space of time." Giles rushed to reassure the young woman.

"Damn, C. You did all that and you only woke up this morning!" Faith was impressed

"Well, you know me champion shopper" Cordy dismissed the dark haired slayers praise.

"So what did the power's think of our situation, did they give any help at all?" Wesley brought them all back to the dire situation they were in.

"Do you know why the first is attacking now," Cordy began, trying to find out exactly how much they knew.

"We think it has to do with Buffy's return from heaven, that there was an in balance" Giles said with an apologetic look to his slayer, Willow shuffled in her seat, feeling guilty.

"That's close, but the in-balance wasn't just caused by Willow resurrecting Buffy, but rather a collection of events, that were ironically prophesised to occur, Angel's ensoullment, Buffy's first death and Xander saving her, Angel's return from a hell dimension, multiple slayers, my receiving the visions, Darla's rebirth, Connor's conception and birth, his kidnapping, Dawn's transformation from energy to human, Buffy sacrifice, and resurrection, Willow's addiction, my demonisation, ascension, the rogue power taking over my body. All these helped create this in-balance, it's been building up for centuries, right now the First Evil is still stuck in an incorporeal form, so we still have time, as long as there are no more major shifts and in-balances. All these events had to occur, it was no single person's fault, and I'm here because the powers' don't understand human emotions and they don't understand how we can sacrifice everything for one person and sacrifice ourselves for the world, they can't comprehend our actions especially in these situations. So here I am."

"Here you are". Angel replied softly, they gazed at one another.

"So they didn't actually say exactly how we were supposed to stop this apocalypse, typical" Gunn's comment brought the duo out of their staring contest.

"We work together, as we always do" Willow's heartfelt statement was met by stares of disbelief and snorts from both Spike and Faith.

"What? I know I'm not the only one thinking it! Look around the table Red, have you seen so many issues in one place outside of Jerry Springer, if the fate of the world rests on us all getting along like a friggen Julie Andrews movie then the world is screwed."

"Wow, Spike that was almost inspiring do you do graduation speeches as well?" Cordy snarked at him. "Actually the fate of the world depends on you Spike" Seeing the look of utter confusion on Spike's face and the shock on everybody else she couldn't help it, she burst into peals of laughter. "Sorry, I couldn't resist, you guys should have seen your faces only Fred looked like she wasn't having a heart attack."

"Ha Ha, very funny cheerleader, do you do stand-up?"

"Just for you, cause you're family an' all"

Spike glowed at being referred to as family again, and Angel well Angel growled.

"Oh stop growling Angel, it's not nearly as scary as your Barry Manilow fetish" Cordy's reply garnered a 'Amen to that sister' from Lorne, nods of agreement from the Fang Gang, Faith and Spike, and looks of shock and astonishment from the rest.

"Hey! If you just listen to the lyrics…" Angel drawled off "anyway I'm not the one who can't appreciate the finer arts, and you drool, more than Connor did." Angel tried to rebuild his ego which had been smashed by a Queen C driven Mack truck.

"Whatever, Sir Broodsalot"

Wesley once again tried to reign in the bickering for one painful moment he felt a pang of remembrance, he quashed it down, that Wesley was dead, cold and distant Wesley was required, and because of this his reprimand came out sharper than originally intended. "Children please".

"Woah, Wes, what happened to the tea drinking, nerdy ex-watcher I so fondly remember" Cordy tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"You know what happened." His glacial reply sent shivers down everybody's backs, and Faith tensed.

"Wes-"

"Don't Cordelia, now is not the time for our issues, we'll deal with it later"

"When, exactly Wes, you give me a time and I'll be there." Cordy snapped back, she was getting angry at this new Wesley, first Angel then Wesley was anybody the same? She didn't think so; the last year had wounded them all.

"I think you'll find the problem was that you weren't there, you were busy." Wes' tone made the word 'busy' sound like the dirtiest word in the dictionary.

Cordy's spine stiffen at the implied dig, then she softened, he was right. Twice he had needed her and twice she had let him down, first time when she went on vacation whilst her family was destroyed, the second time she had concentrated her guilt and time on Angel, not once visiting her best friend, brother in hospital or at home.

"Woah, hang on there dog, that's past-"

"No Gunn, he's right, I should have been there, and there's not a day go buy that I don't regret it, and when I came back I was so focussed on being there for- Angel, because he needed me and I ignored the fact that my best friend was lying in the hospital, I was so angry at losing Connor that I blamed Wesley, because it was easier to blame Wesley than to-"

"We all make mistakes" Wesley offered, after finally getting out some of his repressed anger at Cordelia he found that he didn't need it any longer, he was glad she was back, he missed her, and they needed her. It never occurred to him to think that his family needed him to.

She couldn't help it; she got up and hugged him-hard.

"God, I missed you." She said fervently.

"And I missed you, and you're poorly made weak tea" He replied as he hugged her equally hard.

She snorted, "I'm sorry for everything, and Lilah- I know it wasn't me, but. I'm sorry, I won't pretend to understand, I know you cared-loved her, and-"

"Lilah, who is Lilah? Not that she-bitch that worked for Hell Inc." Faith's exclamation drew everyone's attention from Cordy and Wes to Faith, who had blushed as she realised that her silent thoughts were not so silent-'Damn'.

"Yep, that she-bitch" But it was Fred's vocal agreement to Faith rather descriptive terms for Lilah that shocked the group.

"Fred!" Cordy was interrupted by a scream from upstairs.

AN:- Hey it's me again, here's the thing, I'm trying to all the characters as much as I can, but obviously there's only so much i can do, some character's I gravitate to more than other's, such as Cordy, Fred. Angel etc. As this is an Angel fic I will be focussing on the Fang Gang and bring in the Scoobies on the side, the exceptions being Spike, Dawn and Willow. (Faith I count as part of the fang gang). I may not have mentioned it before but this fic is an AU, as it veering off the show. I have one tiny request (well two), the first is any of the potentials names, ecluding the ones I've already got, I have no access to BtVS s7. The second is more of a poll, if you guys could let me know of some of your favourite AtS villians, dead or alive to make a cameo, I already have plans for my favourites, Thanks, and let me know what you thought of this chapter, am getting any better. I just re-read some of my earlier chapters, so many typos, I apologise. Anyway thanks for your time. Inara