Disclaimer: I do not own any of the BTVS characters.

Authors Notes: The story is going to venture away from the show and comics from this chapter on.

I hated going back to Sunnydale and confronting all the people I failed. It was crazy how much had changed. Xander and Giles just seemed so much older and so weary. Buffy was with yet another vampire and seemed so hard, not the valley girl I remember, Mrs. S is dead and Willow is a lesbian and a recovering murderer now. How the mighty have fallen. I thought I would feel vindicated to see their lives screwed up but it just made me depressed. I actually felt bad for them. I was hoping my being there would help ease the burden. I wasn't going to push this time. I know this isn't really my place, that I am just here as extra muscle. That's fine. This is what I was made for. No more of that emotional wanting a family and a place to belong crap from before. I belong wherever I am needed in the fight and I am finally going to do what's right.

Easier said then done.

I screwed up again and got some girls killed. I am a fighter, a killer, not a leader. I never wanted to lead. I was just trying to help. Stupid! What the hell is wrong with me! It stung that Buffy just strolls in and saves the day and I failed...again. I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it, we still had to defeat the First. Let me just tell you that was one intense battle. For a minute there I didn't think we were going to pull it off but we did it. The First is gone or at least out of commission for a while. Sunnydale is gone too. Gotta say no big loss there. That place was nothing but bad memories.

I'm going to do the roaming slayer thing for a while, with Los Angeles and Angel being home base. I know I can't stay with the scoobies. I hear them making plans for vacations and starting a new council for all the new baby slayers. I know I am not a part of that. With them I will always be the unstable murderous psychopath. I am better off by myself. It makes it easier not to hurt anyone or be hurt by anyone. So I help the new slayers when needed and report to Giles and go wherever I am told.

Giles POV:

Its has almost been a year since the battle with the first and the fall of Sunnydale. The slayer council is up and running and based here in Cleveland. It is run by Buffy who is head slayer, Willow who is head of the magic department, Xander took to traveling and recruiting new slayers, while Dawn is training to become a watcher and I find myself in an advisory position and head of research. Everyone has come so far and matured greatly. I couldn't be more proud of any of them. We are a family and I believe we are stronger then ever.

Part of my job being head of research is to help compile files on all of the slayers. There are so many around that not everyone can have a watcher to record their slayer diaries so we have the slayers keep a diary of their own. We are also building a database to track and keep a record of all the slayers. We now have a background for almost every slayer in North America and quite a few other nations. We know where they are from, have a medical history on them, as well as a history of their education. It is going to take time to compile a file for everyone. Some are easier than others. Some of their histories are easier to deal with then others. The abuse that one human being can bestow on another is atrocious. We have arranged counselors and therapy for our more troubled girls.

Faith believe it or not has a knack for dealing with the more troubled slayers. She was reluctant to help at first. She said she was better suited to fighting actual demons not the demons that some of these girls carry around with them. But she has that hard edge that a lot of the girls can relate to. She has helped so many girls. Helped them accept who they are and to find a place within our group to grow and thrive.

Gathering some background on Faith herself was easier then anticipated. We hadn't even known her real last name. We assumed her records were lost with her watcher. But the original council had quite the dossier on her. Really I just think it produced more questions. It was a textbook case of a child in need, lost in the system. The signs that she was in danger were all there if anybody had bothered to look. She went from a good student on honor roll to always getting in fights, constant tardiness, having a bad attitude, and a delinquent that was soon labeled a lost cause. And if that wasn't enough her medical history sent up some serious red flags. By the age of twelve she had a file longer then most people acquire in there life time. From broken bones and burns to self mutilation. She was in the emergency room twelve times the year she turned eight alone. And that was only reported injuries. I don't like to think about all the times she didn't go to the emergency room when she probably should have. Her watcher didn't get a hold of her till just after she turned fourteen. By that time a lot of the damage had already been done. In spite of all that, her watcher had high hopes for Faith. She said she had the desire and the potential to be great and to do amazing things. That with the proper guidance Faith could be one of the best slayers that we have seen for quite some time. Diane, Faiths watcher, said that Faith thrives on encouragement and praise. She needs a purpose and to feel like someone actually cares about her. Diane was working on giving Faith this when she was killed and Faith was again alone and fighting to survive.

We failed Faith. I failed Faith. There she was, a child no older then fifteen or sixteen years old. Alone and on the run from one of the oldest and worst monsters ever to walk this earth who also just happened to have brutally murdered the one person to ever show her any care. And she was left to deal with it all alone.