Chapter Seventeen

Who Am I?

The three vampires reacted almost immediately to Faith's unexpected interruption. They clambered to their feet, their robes rustling loudly as they moved. They moved intelligently, stepping around to blitz her, one from the front and two from the sides. Behind the one in front of her she saw King raise something to his lips. It looked like nothing more than a plain pewter bowl of some sort, but the mere sight of it infused Faith with a feeling of dread. She would lay odds against evens that Buffy's blood was in that thing, and King drinking it probably wasn't such a good idea given the current state of their surroundings.

Suddenly the three vampires rushed her. Faith back peddled in a desperate attempt to keep the vampires in an arc in front of her. She needed to get to that bowl before he could drink from it. As the vampires closed in she reached for her spare stake, twirling it up into a solid grip before hurling it at the vampire in front of her. It ripped into the creature's heart and the vamp exploded in a cloud of dust. She didn't waste her advantage. Following the stake in, she slipped expertly through the guards of the other two vamps, her stake flying out and catching one square on the heart. At the same time her free elbow swung out and caught the other vampire on the bridge of the nose. The creature reeled back in surprise and as it went she span to catch the thing with a downward sweep from her stake.

With the three vampires gone and her path clear she charged forward for King, leaping at him in an effort to reach him sooner. She grabbed desperately for the bowl as she flew through the air, her fingers snagging it as she hurtled past. King adjusted his grip and clutched the bowl even more tightly. Faith tucked and rolled into a standing position, turning to face him as she did so.

"Don't!" she yelled as he raised the bowl to his lips. He paused, eyeing her warily.

"Please!" she begged him. "Please don't drink." King watched her, the bowl still held quivering at his lips.

"I knew you'd come." He said finally. "I knew you wouldn't let me do this."

"Damn right I wouldn't let you do this." Said Faith moving toward him. "I mean you're trying to end the world! Kind of a bind when I'm on it."

"You're so like her." He said, lowering the bowl slightly, a wistful smile passing across his lips. "So like her, and yet so like me." His eyes darkened at that.

"King please!" she said again, raising her hands pleadingly. "Put the bowl down. I know you don't want to do this." King cocked his head slightly, genuine intrigue showing in his eyes.

"Don't I?" Faith shook her head.

"No, you don't. It's just that, you've had enough. You've had enough of feeling like this, with all the guilt weighing down on you, all the faces tormenting you; it's more than you can stand. But this isn't the way. You've got to face what you did if you want to go beyond it." King smiled sadly as she moved still nearer, the bowl lowering further from his lips.

"Face it? For what? What good will come of my redemption? It would never change the things I did."

"Maybe not, but where's the harm in trying? I can tell you now, spending the rest of your immortal life trying to atone for the wrongs you did certainly ranks higher on the karmic ladder than conjuring up an army from hell."

"What reason do I have to atone Faith? You give me one reason I have to live for? Everything I ever loved, everything I ever cared about is dead and dust centuries ago. I have no life Faith, just an existence and fairly pathetic one at that. Even if I were redeemed, there's nothing left worth the effort."

"And what about me?" Faith demanded. "You think I'm not worth the effort, or Angel, or Xander, or God help me even Buffy? You're going to end the world just because you think we're not worth the time? Or is it really about being alone?" She saw his face sadden at that. She'd found it, the thing she'd been looking for, the thing he was afraid of.

"I know you've lost people," She pressed on, "people who were important to you. I don't know who they were but I know you loved them. But just because they're gone doesn't mean there's nothing left for you! People can still care about you! People do still care about you!" King gave a dry chuckle.

"Who?" he asked, turning to face her. "Who cares about me enough to make my life worth spit?"

"Me." Said Faith. "Haven't you figured that out yet? You think I'd be stood here yakking to you like this when you're about to end the world if I didn't care about you?" Finally she reached him, touching his arm lightly as she did so.

"We both need to atone." She said quietly and began reaching for the bowl in his hand. "And now, we don't have to do it alone." King sagged visibly, a sense of defeat seeming to flood through him.

"You're right Faith." He said sadly. "We both need to atone."

Her hand paused mere millimetres from the bowl as she heard his face shift. She looked up into those feral yellow eyes, and was amazed when she could still see the sadness in them. The arm she was touching tensed beneath her fingertips and reached up to catch her by the throat. She gagged as he lifted her off the ground and hurled her aside as if she were nothing more than a rag doll.

"I'm sorry Faith," He said his voice nothing but genuine, "But this was never about atonement." He lifted the bowl to his lips again.

"This is about who we are." And before she could stop him, he tilted his head back and swallowed the blood in one gulp. Then the tremors started.

*****

The elevator hurtled up the shaft at such speed Buffy could feel her brain sinking into her feet. She ducked low as Shinji's sword swung for her head. As she hit the deck, she heard the blade bite through one of the elevator cables with a disconcerting metallic whipping noise. The elevator groaned loudly and shuddered to a halt, the emergency brakes locking it in position. 

"Give it up Slayer." Shinji hissed. "My master has had ample time to complete the ritual by now! There's no way your little friend can have stopped him!" Buffy rolled aside as the sword slammed hard against the roof of the elevator in a shower of sparks. She swept her legs around above her as she rolled up for a back spring. The moment she was up again she was forced to lean straight back as the sword lashed out again.

"You know that toy of yours really is getting on my nerves!" she yelled at him, cart wheeling aside as the sword swept for her legs. "Its hardly fair to bring it to the party and then not share!" Shinji smiled.

"I always was a selfish little boy." He said, his sword flashing forward, little more than a wailing silver blur as it cut through the air. Buffy dodged expertly aside as the sword moved in. Shinji tried to adjust, but he'd forgotten about the cables. The swords forward thrust halted abruptly as it slid between the inch thick support cables. With a grunt Shinji twisted the blade in an attempt to work it free. Two of the cables ripped apart and lassoed up out of sight. The elevator shuddered slightly as the safety breaks strained to accept the new weight. The shaking sent them both off balance, but Buffy recovered quicker. She leapt forward, grabbing the blade on either side with the flats of her palms and bending it. The steel creaked and finally splintered in two, a shower of sharp metal splinters spilling out through the air.

Buffy winced as the blade slipped in between her hands and bit deeply into the flesh of her right palm. She let it slip from her grasp to clatter loudly against the elevator roof.

"My sword!" yelled Shinji. "My sword!"

"Boy, you and King really have a thing for swords don't you." Buffy taunted. "Is it an inadequacy thing or just the opportunity to own something big and shiny?" Shinji turned furious eyes on her.

"You arrogant little bitch!" he roared with a voice that seemed out of place coming from his small frame. "I'll make you pay for that!"

"Here we go again." Buffy muttered reaching up to block the punch he'd aimed at her. To her surprise his hand opened into a flat palm, his fingers wrapping around the wrist she'd been using to turn the expected punch aside. With almost no effort, he used the power behind her own block to flip her over onto her back.

"At last." He hissed, pressing his foot down on her to hold her still. "Even my master could not defeat you, but now I will! I shall prove that I am the truest vampire by doing what he never could! You will die at my teeth Slayer!" his face crumpled into its feeding mode and he ducked low, readying his fangs to tear her throat open.

That was when the tremors started. The first one hit the elevator like a cannon shot, throwing Shinji off her to slam heavily against the walls of the shaft and causing the elevators emergency brakes to groan loudly. Buffy rolled, grabbing hold of the remaining cables in an attempt to steady herself as she slid back to her feet on the shaking elevator. There was a muffled creaking from one of the safety brakes followed by the sound of it snapping free of the walls as the tremors intensified. The elevator carriage plummeted a good thirty feet straight down. Buffy clung grimly to the cable as they fell. Shinji let out an ear splitting roar as the rough brick wall of the shaft he had been balancing against sliced his back to ribbons as it rushed past. Finally the carriage shuddered to a stop as the remaining emergency break managed to reassert itself. The elevator quivered uncertainly. There was no telling how long it was going to hold for, minutes, or maybe just seconds. Buffy had no intention of hanging around to find out. Hurriedly she grasped the elevator cable as tightly as she could and began to shimmy up it. She didn't get very far. Ice-cold fingers wrapped around her ankle and heaved her clear of the cables, slamming her hard against the elevator.

"You're not leaving Slayer." He hissed. Buffy sprang back to her feet for what seemed like the hundredth time and backed away from him. She needed to end this, but there was nothing on the elevator she could use as a weapon against him. Even a fall to the bottom of the shaft wouldn't kill him. Then it hit her. Her foot was resting against the piece of his sword she had broken off.

With a roar Shinji sprang.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion for Buffy. As Shinji leapt the tremors suddenly stopped causing him to stumble slightly. As he moved toward her, no longer able to stop, she dipped her toe under the edge of the piece of metal and flicked it up into her hand. She ignored the pain as she grasped it by the blade and swung it out in a wide arc. The blade bit through Shinji's neck as if there were nothing there, neatly severing his head. As the now separate parts of his body turned to dust, the blade continued in its arc slicing neatly through the remaining elevator cable. Buffy reached out and grasped it as it snaked up into the darkness of the shaft and watched as the final emergency brake, no longer able to hold the elevator gave up its one sided fight and buckled. With a final mournful sigh the elevator plummeted into the depths of the shaft.

*****

Faith watched in horror as King swallowed the blood. The effect was almost instantaneous. The whole room, maybe even the whole building began to shake as it was hit by tremor after tremor. Around them, the blood painted symbols and triangles erupted in flame. Faith had to leap aside to avoid becoming a crispy barbecue snack. She watched, as the air around King seemed to ripple and contort. At first she thought it was just the haze from the fire, but she quickly realised it was nothing so prosaic. It was as if something was pushing from behind, trying desperately to tear its way through from somewhere else, which she realised, was exactly what was happening. King's inner demon, empowered by the mystical energies of the ritual and the inherent strength and power of the Slayers blood, was hammering at the boundaries of reality, trying desperately to break through. It twisted and turned, stretching the fabric of reality to breaking point, and then Faith could see it, or more precisely, she could see its outline. The thing looked hideous, its face twisted and scaly, long spines creasing off its head and lashing at the air as it tore this way and that.

Then Faith realised there was something wrong. The creature was having too much difficulty. It couldn't break through. Its mouth opened in a silent howl of impotent frustration as the boundary began to harden, pushing it back into King, back into its prison. Then as suddenly as they had began, the tremors stopped and the fires died away.

King collapsed to his knees as the power of the blood ebbed out of him, its strength and energy spent. Slowly he began to clamber back to his feet. He seemed weakened and disorientated, but it was passing quickly. Slowly his eyes came to rest on her, and she saw something there, something she didn't like. It was intent. Intent she knew all too well. Then it dawned on her what had just happened. There hadn't been enough blood. What they'd had wasn't enough to give the demon the power to break through the barrier. He needed more blood, and she was the most abundant supply in the room!

"No…" she said disbelievingly. "You wouldn't!" King's brow creased with sorrow.

"I'm sorry Faith." He said, advancing toward her, "I don't have a choice. I want to be with you, to live a good life at your side and see the world the way you see it." There was a long pause.

"But I can't. No matter how much I try Faith, I can't fool myself and I can't pretend to be something I'm not. I can't pretend to be a good man anymore."

"But you are a good man!" Faith insisted. King shook his head.

"I'm not even a man Faith." He said miserably. "I've been a vampire longer than I was ever a man. It's all I've ever been and all I ever can be. I know what I am, and now I need you to be what you are!" Faith shook her head, suddenly realising what he wanted.

"I won't do it." She said. He was almost on top of her.

"Then I'll make you!" he snarled. His hand lashed out and caught her by the arm. With practically no effort he swung her out across the room, letting her go at the apex of her flight. She hurtled across the suite to slam hard against the partition wall and felt it buckle under her weight. She slumped dazed to the ground and tried to clamber back to her feet. Her legs were barely working.

"Please Faith!" he begged her as he began to walk back toward her again. "Don't make this harder than it already is!"

"I can't!" she said. "I can't be that again!" King looked at her sadly, his heart seeming to go out to her.

"You won't." he said finally. "Faith, we each play out the roles that fate gives us. We can't hide from them. Stop hiding Faith!"

"Don't make me!" she yelled at him, her voice breaking, to become little more than a sob. "I can't do it, not to you! Not anymore!" King moved up to her and grabbed her hard, slamming her back against the wall again. His hand snaked down and pressed into the still painful wound Shinji had given her. Her scream of agony was ear piercing as his fingers dug deeply into her side.

"DO IT!" He roared at her, his voice full of desperation. "DO IT FAITH! DO WHAT YOU WERE BORN FOR!"

"NO!" Faith screamed back at him through the sea of tears that stained her cheeks. "I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!" He hauled her out into the middle of the room, back to the centre triangle. His hand snaked up and grasped a handful of her hair, pulling her head up straight so that he could reach her neck easier. He spun her round so she had her back to him and leaned in close to her face.

"Listen to me Faith." He whispered in her ear as she wept. He reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "No more tears. I need you to be strong. I need you to do this. The world isn't safe while I'm in it." He reached down and grasped her arm tightly at the bicep. She felt a lone tear from his eyes drop down into her hair.

"You've got nothing to be afraid of Faith. You know what you are." She felt him lean in close, felt his breath on her neck. She closed her eyes and squeezed the last tears out of them. With a cry of sorrow and anger at the world and the man who would make her do this, she ripped her head free of his hand, feeling hair tear away as she moved. She stepped out away from him, twisting in his vice like grip to face him. She felt her skin burn under the friction but she ignored it. She ignored everything as she pulled her third and final stake free. It slipped comfortably into her hand and she brought it up. For a moment her arm hovered in the air.

Then she brought the stake down…

…And plunged it into King's heart. He made no noise as the stake slid into him, just watched her silently. Slowly he tumbled back to the ground, the stake sticking up out of his chest. Faith fell to her knees alongside him, cradling his head in her arms.

"I…" she began, but the words stuck in her throat. He smiled sadly at her one last time.

"Th…" he began, swallowed hard as if it took great effort to say, and began again. "Thank you." He said. Then it was as if he just stopped trying to live anymore. His body relaxed in her arms, and crumbled gently away as if it had never been.

Faith sat there for a long time crying silently, her tears settling gently in the dust.