People were running away when Angel arrived on the scene. He'd heard the fighting from a mile away and burst into a run. He hoped he'd get there in time, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be in time for. It couldn't have just been to save someone. The noises didn't sound like vampires munching on victims. It sounded like vampires getting their asses handed to them.

That thought had made him think that he was finally close to Faith. Maybe that fighting was her. Maybe she was doing her Slayer duty and taking out vamps left and right. He'd gotten a call from an informant that claimed to have seen her in Boston and had taken the first flight out. He didn't give anyone else time to catch up with him. He just boarded the Wolfram & Hart jet and took off.

He was starting to get disheartened over everything. Every time he thought he was on Faith's trail, she disappeared. It was as though she felt him coming and instantly took flight. Back in L.A., Cordelia was no closer to coming out of her coma than she had been in months. The two women that he most wanted to help, he couldn't. There was nothing he could do for either of them and that didn't make him feel much like a Champion. The only thing that kept him from going insane with frustration was the joy he got out of driving Spike to the city limits, then jumping over the line while Spike stayed behind with a scowl.

When he arrived, the runners were gone, and he knew that none of them could have been Faith. She wouldn't have ever run away from a fight. She would have stood up and stared it down until her last breath. That knowledge is what made him believe that something had come into the Hyperion and stolen Faith away. She wouldn't have run from the fight ahead of her. She would have faced the Big Bad and made it wish it had never laid eyes on her.

He stepped in a pile of ash and looked down. "Looks like somebody got lucky," he said with a smirk. The others started to rise from the ground and rushed him. Angel flicked his wrist and a stake appeared in his hand. He whirled and drove his arm backwards, piercing the chest of a vamp behind him. Dust fell over his arm. He dropped down in a spin, sweeping the other's legs out from under him. The vampire fell to the ground and Angel staked him.

The final one was still on the ground and Angel stalked towards him. He hadn't found Faith yet, but at least he could have a little fun. Deep down in him, Angelus still screamed his outrage over his own body being used to destroy his people. However, Angel's soul was overjoyed by the burst of dust that fell to the ground and settled on his clothes.

Angel raised his arm, and the vampire yelled, "The Slayer! I know where the Slayer is!"

Angel's arm froze. He stared down at him as he slowly lowered the stake in his hand. He gripped the vampire by the shirt and jerked him to his feet. "What are you talking about? Which Slayer?"

"The rogue one. The dark one." He blinked rapidly and his eyes darted quickly from side to side. "The one you're looking for."

"Where is she."

"She... she..."

Angel shook him. "Where the hell is she!"

"She was here!" Angel dropped him and before he could run away, he grabbed him again, his hand wrapping around his throat. Angel squeezed and the brunette vampire opened his mouth, trying to speak. He couldn't get the words out around Angel's grip until it was loosened. "We attacked her and some friends..."

"Faith..." He started to say that Faith didn't have any friends, but thought better of it. He didn't need to show the enemy that there was anymore issues where Faith was concerned. "What the hell do you mean you attacked Faith?"

"We didn't know it was her." His eyes were wide. "We didn't recognize her at first, but it was her. She's here, Angel, in the city. She just ran off. You just missed her. I... I tasted her friend! I can find them for you if you just let me go. Please, Angel, just let me go and..."

Angel cut his words off as he drove the stake through his chest. Dust fell on his hand and his arms dropped to his sides. His head turned and stared in the direction of the people he'd just watched run away. "Dammit!" Angel growled. He had been so close. If he had just called out to her...

But, why did she run? It wasn't like Faith to run off like that...

He pulled out his cellphone and made a quick call. When Giles answered, he explained to him what the vampire had told him. Giles listened carefully, then said, "And you're sure that he wasn't lying?"

"Why would he? He thought the information would save his skin."

"Why would Faith run?"

"That's what I'm wondering. We've all been assuming that more than likely, someone snatched her but... what if she's just fed up, Giles? What if she really did run away when she woke up?"

"Faith wouldn't do that."

"She ran tonight, Giles. Yeah, she fought, and she took one out, but then she ran. Did she run because she sensed me around and doesn't want to come back? I'm the reason she's in this, Giles. I'm the reason she broke out of jail. I'm the reason she was in that coma. We all know that she's not a team player. What if she just doesn't want to come back?"

"She's still a Slayer, Angel!"

"And she's still Slaying. She's just doing it on her own. If she wants to do it that way, then maybe we should let her."

"But will she keep running?" Giles sighed and Angel could almost picture him as he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If we're going to allow her to go on her own, we have to be sure that it's safe, Angel. Faith is unstable, and we can't leave her out there if there's a chance she might hurt someone."

"This guy said she had friends, Giles."

"All the more reason to be sure that it's safe. She's had friends before, Angel, and we both know how that turned out." Giles took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Find her, talk to her, and if you can't bring her back, make sure that she at least knows that we care. If she's going to be on her own, make sure that she can handle it. Otherwise..."

"What?"

"We'll have to bring her back, whether she likes it or not."