Angel, barely supporting himself whirled around to face a triumphant Wesley. Wesley walked up to Angel, laughing loudly as he exclaimed his victory.

"Outstanding Angel, I must say, a wonderful job of taking care of that annoying preacher. As for our friend Robert, I gave him a little parting gift. It's the same poison Faith used when she tried to kill you back in Sunnydale, the one that only can be cured by the blood of the slayer. It's quite nifty how it works on demons in the same way as vampires, I knew the man had to have an Achilles' heel and the wounds left by Micah Luke's sword on him reified my theory."

Angel lost his temper and socked Wesley as hard as he could, and sent the former watcher sprawling against the hard floor. He kicked the crossbow away and savagely kicked Wesley in the solar plexus.

"You're a disgrace Wesley, you always have been. I should have abandoned you to your fate years ago, but I felt like being compassionate. And look how you repaid me? You repaid me by descending into madness and vengeance, following the commands of the First Evil!" He spat directly into Wesley's face, the watcher winced as it landed in his eyes.

Buffy and Faith suddenly appeared out of the darkened corridors to the catacombs. Both were exuberant and exhausted from the night's constant fighting, their faces cheerful but their mirth vanished as they saw La Morte laid out cold against the wall while Angel stood over a defiant Wesley.

"Oh my God, what did Wes do to Robert?" Faith screamed as she ran over to her lover's limp form.

"He poisoned him with the same poison you tried to kill me with; Angel spoke softly, "I'm afraid we might lose him." His sad brown eyes stared into Faith's. Faith looked down at her lover and instantaneously slit her wrist before Buffy or Angel could stop her. She forcefully opened his mouth and pressed her slit wrist against La Morte's tongue.

Buffy tried to run to Faith and stop her, but Angel put his arm in front of her to block her. He looked down at her concerned face.

"The Powers told me that La Morte must be kept alive because he has a role in the apocalypse," Angel muttered to her. Buffy returned the glance and then stared over at Faith who was holding her boyfriend and kept her wrist to his mouth. She saw an anguished Faith, a woman she had never seen before.

"Reminds me of well..me," she said nonchalantly, "Faith's never loved anyone like that. I've never see this before in my life." Buffy looked up at Angel. "It's like you and me back in Sunnydale."

Angel looked down at her, his eyes tender and anguished. "Yes, it is," he answered her as they watched Faith try to revive her boyfriend as she was strained almost to the point of breaking down. Giles and the others soon appeared beside Buffy and Angel. The tall watcher stared down at Micah Luke's corpse, then to the wounded Wes who lay on the floor licking his wounds and then over to Faith huddled over La Morte with her bleeding wrist against his mouth.

"Wesley- he did this?" Giles looked shocked and stared at the carnage around him.

Angel nodded, "La Morte saved our lives and this is how he repaid him. He used the same poison in the arrow that Faith tried to kill me with a long time ago."

Giles stared down in shock, his face astonished and strained. Willow stood next to him, her eyes almost strained to the point of tears at the pathetic sight. Kennedy stood next to her, trying to offer her comfort. Oz and Xander stood off to the side, Oz sighed and walked away, followed by Xander who shot a quick glance of sympathy over to Faith before he walked out of the cathedral.

Angel let go of Buffy and walked up slowly to Faith. He put his strong around Faith, whose body was heaving with grief. He stroked her strained face gently, trying to comfort the dark slayer. She looked up at him as if to implore him to help her. He returned the favor and helped her pick up and support La Morte's limp body. They carried him up to the waiting faces of Willow, Buffy, Giles and Kennedy. The others followed them, Willow and Buffy offering their services to Faith. The procession passed Wesley, who lay on the floor out of breath and nursing his wounds.

Faith shot him a look of pure hatred; Wes returned the favor with an evil smirk on his face. He spoke up loudly, "the monster deserved it. I gave him justice! Now he shall pay for his crimes!" Wes managed a gleeful laugh, "will someone help me up?"

Faith and Angel walked right past him, ignoring his plea while they supported La Morte.

Wesley shot an imploring look over to Willow and Kennedy. Willow shook her head and walked off, followed by Kennedy. They turned their backs on him and followed Faith and Angel out of the cathedral.

Giles was the only one left in the cathedral besides Wes. The two fallen watchers exchanged glances, Wesley opened his mouth in a smile, "c'mon Rupert, lend some aid to your fellow watcher." He raised his hand for Giles to grab.

Giles stared back at him with an icy expression on his face. He seized Wes' arm and twisted it severely, spreading a wave of pain across the other's arm. Wesley gritted his teeth as Giles applied even greater pressure almost to the point of shattering the bone. Giles' reply was stone cold, "the Wesley I knew is gone. And you're far worse than the monster you stabbed in the back."

He released Wesley's arm and stood over him while the fallen watcher clutched his twisted arm. He stared back at Giles in hatred, his unshaven face accentuating his bruised and wounded look.

Giles raised his voice, "and if ever see you try to kill Faith or Robert again, you have my word that I will personally tear you limb from limb. And if I don't, then you know Angel or Buffy will. And I hope to never see the sorry sight of you again in my life."

He was about to walk off before Wesley tried to plead with him, "Giles, you and I both know that the Watcher's council needs to be rebuilt. We're just about the only ones left and we can work together and build a new order!" His eyes lit up with the thought of being reinstated as the head of the council.

Giles turned around and faced him, "Sod off." His remark stung Wesley as the other former watcher walked out of the cathedral, shutting the doors behind him, leaving Wesley alone with the corpses of Micah Luke and his fanatics.

Or so it seemed. To Wesley's mind he was surrounded by the bloody forms of Gunn, Fred, Wood, Lorne and Connor. Connor stretched out his hand for Wesley to grab and the Irish tracker helped the former watcher up onto his feet.

He spoke to Wes, "it is as we feared, and I believe La Morte is going to survive, thanks to the intervention of that pesky traitor Faith."

"What? That's impossible! I put in a large enough dosage to kill Angel five times!" Wesley snarled his face a mask of rage.

"Unfortunately, it seems that that wasn't enough to kill him. But never mind, it's only a temporary setback Wes. You know what you have to do," Connor eyes bored into Wesley's face, filling the watcher's thoughts with the happy memories of Connor and the others while they were alive. Then, his mind flashed back to each and every one of their murders. He watched again as La Morte skewered them with his blade, laughing savagely as he did that.

"You must avenge us Wes, we cannot rest until you have brought the black knight to justice," Connor's face was a mask of pain and sorrow. He whispered sharply into Wes' ears telling the fallen man that Faith and the others would travel to Cleveland over the next few days.

"The monster has a weakness. If you have a weapon enchanted with demonic or holy magic, then you can kill him easily. Just make sure you bring something to take care of the meddling slayer and her friends," Connor-the First snickered before he vanished, leaving Wesley alone and standing upright in the church.

"Yes, I know the right tool to take care of them indeed," Wesley smiled as he walked up to Micah Luke's disemboweled corpse. He picked up the preacher's holy blade and smiled as he admired its serrated edges. "Now all I need is a gun to take care of Faith," Wes smiled as he slung the sword over his shoulder and headed out of the silent cathedral.

The Hyperion Hotel loomed in the distance, its edifice bleak and desolate in the silver moonlight. It had been a dark, harsh day for everyone, but luckily, thanks to their perseverance, they had once again prevailed over great odds and avoided another apocalypse. But not without great cost, several members had died horribly, including almost all of Angel's friends; Wes had been alienated by the rest of the group and now seemed to be consumed with hate and vengeance. La Morte was gravely wounded and near death while Buffy was consumed in self-doubt. It had been a difficult victory indeed.

Angel and Faith carried La Morte upstairs to one of the rooms left untouched by the bloody confrontation and deposited him in bed. Faith stripped off his black armor to reveal the extent of the poison's reach and the wound's severity. Angel winced as he watched Faith uncover a gaping hole in the man's chest from which blackish red blood seeped out.

She had bandaged her wound, but she realized that more of her blood was needed in order for La Morte's body to battle the fatal poison seeping through his veins. She tossed the bandage aside and placed her wrist back beside her lover's mouth, gritting her teeth as she squeezed her arm with the hope of drawing blood outside her wound into his gaping mouth. Luckily, the black knight was conscious enough to lick up the blood and swallow it, Faith persisted with draining herself until she felt too weak to continue and fainted next to him from the loss of blood.

Angel hurried over to her and revived her, worried that her sacrifice may have cost her life, sending her into a coma from which she would never recover. He felt her wrist to check for a pulse, he felt relieved when he discovered circulation in the artery. Angel lifted Faith and set her down on a chair next to the bed. He looked back at La Morte who lay on his back, his eyes closed and his mouth left gaping open. Angel walked over to him and checked for a pulse, expecting nothing. He was astonished to discover a faint but still beating pulse.

"Incredible," he shook his head, "he must play a very important role indeed." He shuffled out of the room, closing the door and shutting of the lights as he did so. The souled vampire then walked downstairs to find almost everyone else laid on either the couches or the floor in a deep sleep. With one exception in the form of a petite blonde who paced by the window, watching the first signs of dawn appear on the horizon. Her little sister lay cuddled up next to her.

Angel walked up as close as he could to her while he avoided the sunlight. He stood several feet away from her and stared at her. She returned the glance, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones.

Buffy spoke up, her voice mellow with depression, "Angel, I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore. I know I'm the slayer, but there are others.and Faith is supposed to become the new champion for the light. As for me.I don't know, but I want to settle down with Dawn somewhere where there are no demons or vampires. It will be a place where no one cares about mystical keys, cryptic prophecies or slayer's destinies. I love you Angel, but you have a destiny that awaits you, that I have no control over and I'm tired of the good fight, I need to settle down and enjoy a normal life."

Angel shrugged, "I don't know Buffy, and we still need you. Not just me, Willow, Faith and Giles respect you and still need your leadership. I don't have anyone in the world right now, Connor and the others are dead, Wes has gone insane and your friends probably don't want my company. You're the only one who still cares for me Buffy and I still love you, I'll always love you." "But there's the curse Angel-"

"I don't care Buffy! I want to be with you, we'll overcome this curse, I know we can!" exclaimed Angel, his eyes brimming with sadness. He tried to reach out to Buffy with his hand, ignoring the first rays of sunlight piercing through the dark sky. He ignored the pain as his arm started to smoke, hoping Buffy would take it and they could share one last embrace.

But Buffy just shook her head and walked away. She turned around to face him briefly, her sad eyes meeting his.

"I'm sorry Angel, I love you, but Dawn needs me and we need to just get away from this endless string of death and apocalypse, we need a normal life." Her face looked melancholy as she shared several moments with Angel, then she turned away and she went down the corridor past the lighted window.

Angel withdrew his arm, flinching as he felt a stabbing pain shoot across his arm. He sighed softly as he wandered off as the orange sky glowed in the horizon. Angel ignored the open window and walked away, leaving the window open as he ventured off.

"It's not meant to be, it's just not meant to be," he gritted his teeth as he muttered the phrase to himself, shaking his head. He walked off into the dark corridors of the Hyperion where he could hide from the piercing sunlight.

He still longed for the lovely blonde slayer, but she seemed to no longer care for him nor anyone else except for her sister. She had changed and had no place for him in her life, it felt as if Angel's life was meaningless but he tried to force those thoughts out of his head, concentrating on his duty as the chosen champion for good. He knew there were others that needed him and he would be there for them, even if Buffy had abandoned him, he would not abandon those in need.