BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

ODIUM

EPILOGUE: UNDER THE STARS

King stared up, watching the stars glittering across the black night sky. The chill air on top of the dilapidated hotel Angel called his home made him shiver slightly. LA was remarkable at night, especially from this height, a huge, shimmering cityscape of glass and steel shining brightly under the glow of thousands of lights. It didn't compare to the beauty of his home though. He remembered that city as clearly as if it he had only been there yesterday. But he hadn't. His home was gone three thousand years, and nothing he could do or say would take him back there. For the first time in his immortal life, King felt old.

He turned to glance briefly at Angel, before staring back up at the stars. The vampire with a soul. That brought King a wry chuckle, the vampire with a soul, now no longer the only one and both of them in this predicament thanks to Buffy. The thought of the little blonde Slayer brought the voice from the back of his head where it nested. It was screaming at him, screaming for death and carnage, for blood, murder and mayhem. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm himself. The voice withdrew, all the while hissing and cursing him.

"How do you stand it Angel." He said finally. "How can you live like this, like a man possessed." Angel shrugged.

"It's what I am." He said. "I learned to stop fighting it, stopped trying to atone for it, because that way, there lies nothing but madness." King chuckled.

"You and your quest for redemption. You'll never learn will you?" Angel frowned at that.

"What do you mean?" he said, sounding confused.

"You've fought for so long Angel, do you really think you can just turn away from redemption like that. You're trapped on your path and you'll never let it go."

"So what if I am?" said Angel. "I've no regrets about the path I chose. Maybe I regret some of the things I've done while I've been on it, but I don't blame the path for that." King straightened and began to stride away.

"Then I suppose we have nothing more to say to one another." Angel reached out and caught him by the arm as he strode by.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the path we walk Angel." He said with grim determination. "I'm approaching the same crossroads you did. The crossroads where I choose the path the rest of my life will take. You chose to care for them, to protect them, to help them when they needed you." He shook his arm free of Angel's grasp.

"I on the other hand, am choosing a different path. I don't care what happens to these people, these sheep, so long as they stay out of my way." Angel shook his head.

"I don't believe that. You have a soul, you can't just stop caring for them like that." King looked at him for moment.

"Angel," he said, with an air of resignation in his voice, "I'm three thousand years past caring. Unlike you, there is nothing left in this world that holds interest for me. It has forgotten my time, my people. I am truly alone here."

"You don't have to be." Said Angel. "No one has to be alone." King ignored him. The only person he had ever truly cared for was three thousand years dead and the only memento he had of her was now just a pile of molten slag. He turned and strode away, alone with his thoughts.

AUTHORS NOTE: Well, that's that. Took me while (god damned writers block!) but I finally finished it. Now I can get down to work on the next in my King series, the one I've been working toward since I started writing Buffy fan fic. If you liked this (hey, it could happen) then you should keep your eyes open for it. I haven't thought of a title yet but its going to be good, writers block permitting :  )