DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.

A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (6.1-2) "Bargaining, 1 and 2" written by Marti Noxon & David Fury, (7.17) "Lies My Parents Told Me" written by David Fury & Drew Goddard, (7.18) "Dirty Girls" written by Drew Goddard, (7.19) "Empty Places" written by Drew Z. Greenberg, (7.20) "Touched" written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, (7.21) "End of Days" written by Jane Espenson & Doug Petrie and (7.22) "Chosen" written by Joss Whedon. The Angel episode used was "Orpheus" written by Mere Smith. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, you just suck).

Epilogue:

Rome, Italy: October 24th

In a dark alleyway, a lone figure crept about. He was restless and tired. Tired of running, tired of being afraid, tired of being hunted. He rest his back against a wall and looked up at the sky as a semi-full moon glittered down on him, passing clouds briefly casting shadows on his face. The weary man with pale white skin looked back down at the ground, his hunger overtaking him.

If only I could find something… he thought to himself. Something or… someone.

His nose twitched and his pupils dilated as he gazed down into the darkness of the alley. There at the end of the narrow alley, all by himself, was a teenage boy who sat motionlessly with his head up at the sky. A smile stretched across the face of the dark-eyed man who lifted himself off of the wall of the alley and silently stepped towards his unsuspecting prey.

As he approached the boy, he could smell the scent of human blood running through its veins. He was still unbelieving that such a fresh, young piece of meat was sitting before him all alone, just waiting to be snatched and eaten. The moon illuminated the vampire's path and shined on the teenager's white shirt, acting like a heavenly spotlight on that which he longed for so much.

The eyes of the man filled with hunger as his face morphed into its demon form; his dark eyes becoming a light yellow as he licked his sharp, jagged teeth.

"Am I interrupting something?" a peppy, feminine voice asked from behind him. The vampire's eyes went wide with terror. Oh, no. Not her. "Because," Buffy Summers continued with an innocent expression on her face, "I could make this really quick, if you'd like…"

The vampire turned towards the Slayer – the Slayer of all the Slayers – with wide eyes of horror and doom. "I-I'm sorry…" the vampire began to beg. "I wasn't, I-I didn't mean to…"

"Yeah, sure," Buffy affirmed with a roll of her blue eyes. "I've heard that one before. Next thing you're going to tell me is that you have a soul, too."

"L-look," the vampire struggle to reason, "what-what happened back there… it was an accident. In fact, it-it wasn't even me; it was one of the other guys…"

"And let me guess," Buffy sighed, crossing her arms as she threateningly stepped towards the vampire, "Quija board just didn't do it for ya and you guys decided to kick it up another notch?"

"W-well…"

"See? That's what happens when you start playing around with magical forces. And now… you've got to answer to a higher power."

The vampire swallowed hard as sweat began to bead off of his face. "What… what are you going to do to me?"

"Oh, no," Buffy shook her head with a smile. "It's not me you've got to worry about."

A stake slammed through the vampire's back and pierced its heart. The demon howled as it gazed down at the wooden weapon sticking out of its chest. Seconds later, the vampire exploded into a cloud of dust that drifted and settled on the ground as peacefully as a breeze of wind.

Buffy looked up at the teenage boy just a little over her eye level as his blue eyes gazed down at his kill, feeling the Power running through his veins as he held the Scythe tightly in his hands.

"Not bad," Buffy observed with a grin. "I think we can work with this." She took the Scythe from him as she gazed down at the dust. "One question on my mind," she began with a contemplative expression, "why the hell did he keep calling you the Immortal?"

"Not sure," Frodo answered as he gazed down at her, then looked back at the dust he left behind, still in awe of himself.

Buffy joined his gaze. "You hungry?"

His eyes widened as he turned to her. "Starved."

The End.

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---Natalie