The orange sun rose across the horizon, bringing the city out of darkness. The residents of the Hyperion gradually awoke each slowly becoming aware that a new day had arrived. This day felt different, it felt empty and different than any others before. It would be a day of change, new courses were to be laid out and new champions would rise to the call of duty. Unnoticed by the others, they were absent two members.

Giles was the first to rise, he slowly ambled down the stairs to the kitchen where he perused the pantry for his breakfast. He made himself a cup of warm tea before he sat down on the table and read the latest issue of the LA Times. Giles tried to forget the deaths of friends and allies of the night before and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. The Watcher's Council in England had been effectively destroyed and the survivors were scattered across the globe. Their own arrogance and hubris had lead to their downfall, and now with slayers scattered across the globe, Giles knew that the council had to be rebuilt and reconsolidated in order to protect and guide these slayers. There definitely had to be some drastic alterations in the traditional Watcher's policies, but Giles was aware that most of the dogmatists had perished along with Quentin Travers and he knew he would have to start from scratch anyway.

His mind darted further to other thoughts and he realized that he needed the others to help him, especially Buffy. The combined strengths of the scoobies had assured his survival along with Buffy's, and their talents would be essential to the revitalization of the Watcher's council. He knew it would be rebuilt in England, but it would avoid the supercilious British identity that caused the council's downfall.

His thoughts were interrupted by a groaning Willow, who joined him at the table, followed by Kennedy. Willow and Kennedy were having a heated discussion, the red-haired witch looked worried and in some state of shock about something. Giles turned from his thoughts over to their conversation and listened in.

"I can't believe she would do such a thing! Buffy could never do a thing like that!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes almost to the point of tears.

"She tried to last night, and if those fanatics hadn't attacked us, I'm sure that would have been the last we'd have seen of her," Kennedy fired back, her voice sarcastic with bitterness.

"Pardon me for interrupting," Giles spoke up, "but what exactly is going on?"

Willow and Kennedy paused for a moment and stared at him for several seconds. Both hesitated slightly, exchanging glances between each other as they pondered who should break the news to the man sitting with them.

Finally, Willow reluctantly spoke up, "Buffy's gone. She took Dawn with her and all she left us was a note on her bed. I just don't understand -"

Giles stared at her as if the world had gone mad. He was at a loss for words, his eyes bulged slightly at the thought, but he tried to retain his composure. However, his mind was fluttering like crazy, trying to come to all sorts of conclusion about his prized slayer's sudden departure. One side of him felt torn about her unannounced disappearance, he loved her dearly and couldn't fathom why she would abandon him and her friends, the very same friends she had fought alongside for over six years without any apparent cause or reason. Yet, he secretly knew that it was time for her to leave, she had been through enough and she was no longer the chosen one, that there were now slayers a dime a dozen to save the world. She had always wanted a normal life for her and her sister, and Giles realized that the recent events had given her no choice but to leave the group. He pondered over this for several minutes while Willow and Kennedy watched him apprehensively, their eyes reflecting their sadness at his apparent despair.

Xander and Oz came down, both were quite sullen after the fight of the night before. They were tired of enough violence and death for one night, having lost friends and allies among the dead. They both were aware of Buffy's departure, Xander having discovered it as he walked past Dawn's room and saw an empty bed and a bare room stripped of all of Buffy's little sister's things. Neither of them wished to speak up, instead preferring to remain respectively silent because they knew that the loss was probably too hard for Willow and Giles to take, since they had been the closest to Buffy out of everyone in the group. Xander sat at the end of the table, woofing down a bowl of cereal while Oz sat on the other side of Willow and joined in with her silent conversation.

The last to arrive at the table was Faith, who looked bedraggled and exhausted from the night's fight and huddling over her delirious boyfriend for the rest of the black evening. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from a lack of sleep and the brutal battle first against La Morte, then the vengeful Buffy and Angel and finally against Micah Luke and his cronies. She spent the night watching her boyfriend, hoping for his speedy and recovering and trying to recover from her own loss of blood. Wes had tried to kill the death knight with the same poison Faith had tried to slay Angel with years ago, she knew that only the blood of a slayer could cure her lover of the otherwise fatal poison, and she slit her own wrists and forced him in his comatose state to drink as much as he could. Luckily her slayer powers had enabled her to heal quickly, but she was completely exhausted from a night of hard tribulation. Nothing could have prepared her for the surprise she was about to receive.

"So what's with all the long faces? Did I miss something?" Faith tried to keep an upbeat manner, but she felt a sinking feeling inside that something terrible had just occurred.

"How's Robert doing?" Willow spoke up, evasive and trying to avoid the subject as much as possible.

"He's five by five, a little delirious but he'll be better in a few hours or so," Faith answered Willow's question hurriedly, irked somewhat by the red-haired witch's evasive behavior.

The room was silent for a moment as Faith searched the cupboards for some cereal. She loudly filled her bowl full of cereal and sat down at the table with the others. She started eating, and noticed that the others were staring at her as if she were totally oblivious to them.

"Okay enough, what's going on that has you guys hushed up?" She looked pleadingly at Giles, who seemed as if he had been broken in two by something. "Buffy left several hours ago while the rest of you were asleep.she took Dawn with her," a voice answered from behind all of them. Faith's head turned around to face Angel, who stood in the dark corridor behind the pantry. Shadows covered his form, masking him in darkness; he seemed even more morose and brooding than usual.

"Guess it looks like I'm the chosen one," Faith smirked, "Didn't think B had in her to abandon her friends." Her words stung everyone in the room, even herself. She tried to conceal her grief through rejection and sarcasm, but she felt as if she had been torn apart.

"How dare you say such a thing! Buffy's been through enough without you criticizing her!" Xander snapped at Faith, "And frankly, I've been through enough too, Anya's gone, Buffy's gone, Dawn's gone, Wood and the others are dead and Wesley's gone insane. My whole stupid life has descended into chaos and I'm sick of this endless fight." He rose up from his chair and stormed out of the room.

Faith tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Xander, I didn't mean what I said-" She pleaded to him, but he was already out of hearing range, or he had decided not to listen to her.

"So where do we go from here?" Kennedy piped up, her voice shrill with frustration. "Our leader's gone, so who's now going to lead us?"

"I don't know," Faith answered, shrugging her shoulders and looking off to the side, "I don't know."

Willow tried to comfort Kennedy, "don't worry; we could go reestablish Angel Investigations at Wolfram & Hart. At least that building's still standing. And Faith can be our leader, I'm sure she's up to the task."

"I'll never follow a slut who's going to betray us for some demonic monster!" Kennedy spat, her voice full of anger.

Faith slammed her hand down on the table, shattering her bowl of cereal as her hand collided with it. "If you don't want to listen to me, then fine, go your own way. Of course, I never wanted a rich brat on my team."

Kennedy clenched her fists in response to Faith's stinging comment. Willow grabbed Kennedy's free hand and started caressing her forehead, trying to calm down the hot-blooded potential.

Giles spoke up, he remained calm despite the obvious tension in the room, "I'm afraid that there are grave matters that require our attendance. Right now, the Watcher's council has been obliterated, Angel investigations is in disarray and Sunnydale is no more. However, it is necessary that there should be Watchers to guide the slayers around the world, those that will be or have been already called, that is. Now, I know that some of my associates are still alive back in England and if I receive enough funding, I can rebuild the Watcher's council."

"Consider it done," Angel answered him, "Wolfram and Hart has a lot of money at their disposal. I'm sure I can allocate some funds to your name, how does five million dollars sound?"

Giles mouth opened wide as he sat in shock at Angel's announcement, "thank.you Angel that will aid us greatly. He regained his composure and continued, "But I can't do this alone. I'm going to need some help. But there are other matters besides the Watcher's council. I have received eerie news that a new hellmouth has appeared in Cleveland, Ohio. So, we have no choice but to divide our group up. Most of us must go to Cleveland to handle the new threat, but I will need experienced fighters to help me train new sets of Watchers and Slayers. I know I'm asking a lot, but is there anyone who would be willing to help me?"

Kennedy chimed in, "I'll join you."

Willow joined her, "Giles, you count me in."

Giles paused for a moment as he reflected, "no, Willow, I'm afraid that you'll have to go to Cleveland. I'm sure Faith will need all the help she can get from a powerful magic user like you. And- I don't want to split you and Kennedy up, but I fear that it is necessary. I am in desperate need of a trainer who has physical skills on par with the other slayers, which is where you come in Kennedy, but I'm sorry but you two will have to part." He sighed as he watched the lovers react in shock.

Willow squeezed Kennedy's hand and Kennedy nuzzled against her, their eyes pained with sorrow at the thought of separating.

Willow answered him with firm resolve, "Giles, as much as I love Kennedy, you're right. Faith and La Morte are going to need a lot of help in Cleveland, and I have a duty to help them, regardless of their pasts. And I'm sure Kennedy can handle herself without me," she smiled as she glanced over at her lover.

Kennedy nodded in response but chose to keep silent.

They heard Xander call from the room across from the pantry, "G-man, count the Xander in as well. I'm not sure how much I'm going to like England. I heard it rains a lot there, but it sure beats California and Ohio."

"Thank you Xander, and will you stop calling me that stupid nickname? It's getting on my nerves!" Giles called back to him and then he spoke to Faith, who stood staring at them. "Faith, you're going to have to head over to Cleveland. You are now the chosen one, there is no Buffy to bail all of us out. You will have to assume the full responsibilities of a slayer, and you will be without a watcher. But I trust that Willow and La Morte would be fitting companions for you, and you are a natural born leader, regardless of what I might have said before. You're different than Buffy in many ways, but that doesn't necessary have negative connotations. Understand that you are more advanced and skilled in other areas that Buffy could barely dream about. There's a spark within you Faith that can be used for good or for evil. I know there's good inside of you and you must lead the others to the new hellmouth to battle the next wave of evil. I will try to assist you as best I can, but training a new set of slayers and watchers will take time, at least a year or two before they are fully ready. Until then, you will have to wait it out and fight on your own, but I assure you, that you are more than capable of handling whatever apocalypse comes your way."

Gile's speech stirred up something inside of Faith, although she didn't express it physically, Faith felt a surge of confidence that she had never truly felt before. Willow's sacrifice on her behalf had also made her think clearer, that the red-haired witch that Faith had never really thought highly of seemed to possess a great deal of respect for her.

Oz spoke up, having remained respectively silent for most of the meeting, "I'm sorry about what happened last night Faith, I wasn't quite myself. But the only way I can make it up to you is to fight at your side in Cleveland. And hey, I'll go where Willow's going too." His words warmed Faith up, cleansing her mind of the loss of Buffy and Kennedy's bitter insults.

Angel also spoke up, "I can divert funds as well to Faith and the others. Faith, once you guys set up in Cleveland, give me a call and I'll take care of everything. I'm also planning on relocating Wolfram & Hart to Cleveland, since demonic attacks have pretty much ceased to occur. Micah Luke wiped most of them out before he attacked us, and whatever few survived have gone East since the hellmouth in Sunnydale is gone. Keep in mind that this will take a few weeks at least, with all the bureaucratic paperwork I have to do, but I guarantee that I will join you there."

"Excellent," Giles said, his eyes glittering with newfound joy. "We have a plan indeed. And right now, I am going to purchase plane tickets to England and notify my associates of our impending arrival. I can buy tickets for your group as well Faith."

"Nah, I dig road trips a lot more than I do planes. The whole lifting up into the air thing kinda makes me a bit queasy, but going by car is fine. All I gotta do is tell Rob," Faith answered, a smile coming across her face.

"Then do that, I'll tell Xander to start getting packed. Hopefully, I can secure a flight out to Heathrow tonight and we can depart promptly. And I suggest you do the same as well, Faith."

"Sounds good," Faith answered as she sat down to finish her cereal.

It had been a long morning, and even though her spirits had been relieved, Faith still felt a sense of emptiness inside of her. She had lost Wood and others, all of whom had respected her and treated her like a warrior, but she had betrayed them by falling in love with their murderer. And she loved him for it; she knew deep down inside, that Robert La Morte's darkness and vile demonic nature had turned her on.

But, now, her boyfriend was suffering through pangs of guilt far greater than Angel ever did, she knew he despised himself and was in danger of falling apart. She loved him still, her sensitive side did at least, but she feared that a part of her wanted his old self back, along with her own old self. And she promised herself that she would never venture down that path to darkness again. Willow and Oz, two people she had never imagined really caring about her, had just made incredible sacrifices in order to fight alongside her. Faith realized that it was time for her redemption and for Robert to attain retribution from his past sins.

It was time for both of them to forget their dark pasts and venture out into a new life, they would suffer great trials and tribulations ahead, and she knew it. But she also knew that the love bond between her and the death knight was too strong to be broken, and along with a werewolf and a powerful wicca, they would be a force for any evil to be reckoned with.