It's Not Enough

By:  Morrigan


A/N:  I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone, again, for their support of my ficlet, I posted a couple of weeks ago.  I never expected such great reviews!  You guys are great!

Special thanks goes out again to Blacknblue2 for her continued support of this fic.

Please review, guys and share your thoughts with me.  Thanks, again!


Disclaimer:  All characters are property of Joss Whedon and ME.  Blah de blah blah blah!  *L*




Within minutes, everyone in the house had gathered together in the basement, where Dawn was setting up the shadow puppets.

Buffy had chosen this location in order to reduce the chance of escape for any creature, who happened to cross through the portal after she went through.

Buffy stood in the center of the circle that they had created, and tried to concentrate on calming her nerves.  She didn't know if this was going to work, and although she was firmly convinced that this is what she had to do, a small part of her still rebelled in fear.

She looked around at everyone, starting with a small smile and a nod in Spike's direction, and ending with a pointed sober look to Giles, before turning back to watch her sister as she set the last of the figurines into place.  Check that...  She wasn't nervous.  She was positively terrified, but she was determined not to let it show.

"Ok," Buffy said, as she stepped a little closer to the center of the circle, "Let's do this."

Dawn stood up, and held the book to her chest as she looked into her sister's eyes.  "It's going to be alright," she told Buffy, softly.  Dawn realized that she was saying it more for her own peace of mind than for Buffy's.  But she could see through her sister's facade. One can only act so tough, after all, before it becomes obvious to anyone who's really looking, that it is, in fact, just an act.

"I know,"  Buffy replied, and hugged her, briefly, before allowing her to step back among the others.  Once there, Dawn opened the book, nodded to Buffy once more, in assurance, and began to read.

"First, there was the earth..."


*  *  *  *  *


The sounds of drums and other sounds filled theroom, just like before.  The fact that it was familiar didn't really make it any less creepy, however.

Dawn continued to read the words as the shadows played out their story on the walls.  A howling wind started up within the basement, strong enough to ruffle their hair and clothes, and Dawn had to raise her voice in order to be heard.

And that wasn't the only difference.

"You can't just look, you have to see," Dawn read, just like before.  But, after a second's pause, she continued, saying,  "But you are blind."

The book fell from Dawn's hands, and onto the floor.  Everyone looked to her, in surprise, as she turned her eyes to Buffy.  Dawn's large expressive eyes had been replaced by blazing green orbs of light.

"You deny your true self,"  Dawn said.  Her words seemed to be blended with another's voice, which sounded as if it were part of the wind that whipped more violently around them.  "So afraid of what you will become...  What you are destined to be..."  Dawn shook her head and stepped closer to Buffy as she finished,  "Who you, Slayer, already are."

Willow noticed that Buffy hadn't moved at all since Dawn had dropped that book.  She was standing so still, in fact, it was as if her body had been frozen in ice.  She shouted Buffy's name, but realized that either she couldn't be heard over the wind and noise, or Buffy was on vacation for the moment.  Fearing for both of the girls, she pulled herself to her feet and began to approach the two of them, the beginnings of a spell coming from her lips.

Spike, who had been standing behind the group, was thinking much the same as Willow, and he began making his way through the group from the other side.

As Spike and Willow reached the outside of the circle, Dawn threw up her hands, pointing to each of them.  "Exsisto sessio!" She exclaimed, causing them both to drop, instantly, to the floor, along with everyone else standing behind them.  She then waved one hand above her head, chanting a few more words, before standing still, once more.

Xander leaned over Willow's shoulder and asked, "What the hell was that?"

Willow sat there, stunned, and didn't turn to face him, as she replied,  "She told us to be seated...  And, I think she just put up a barrier to keep us out!"

"Well, bloody do something about it, Red!"  Spike shouted to her.  He was struggling to get back on his feet, but to no avail.  He realized that the potentials, and the rest of the group, were just discovering their inability to stand as well, and a rising smell of fear and un-ease began to fill his senses.

"OK, Ok...  I'm working on it!"  She called back.  She closed her eyes in an attempt to tune out the chaos so that she could focus.

A light flashed inside the circle.  The portal had opened.  Buffy saw this; she had seen everything, but she couldn't move.  She couldn't even blink!

"You think yourself strong, but you are weak,"  The thing in Dawn's body said to Buffy, as a black fog began to emerge from the portal.

"Fear clouds your mind with thoughts of losing yourself to the unknown, never allowing you the clarity to understand the truth of your path."

The fog began to swirl and separate, forming into snake-like coils as it surrounded them.

Buffy shook within her paralyzed frame.  She swallowed, and tried to steel herself for the inevitable.  She now recognized the speaker for who and what it was.  The shadow men may have wanted to turn their backs on her, but the demon, itself, had sought her out.

"You are incomplete, as am I."  The voice said.  Buffy had stopped looking at Dawn, staring, instead at the creature who's words her sister spoke.  "You are but one half of a whole, as also, am I," It continued.

The spirit began ghosting around her body, as it had done before, when she was in chains.

"A balance, we create,"  It said.  "Apart, we are all but ineffectual..."

The lights in the basement grew brighter.

The demon encased Buffy within its coils and began it's invasion, seemingly with every breath she took.

The basement lights began to flicker.

"Together, we are strong!"

The flickering of the lights grew faster, giving a strobe-lighting effect.

The green light in Dawn's eyes faded, returning them to her normal state, before they rolled back in her head, as she fell, unconscious, to the ground.

"Do you understand, at last?"

Only Buffy heard the last thing the demon said to her as the lights went out, leaving them in blackness.

"We are one."

The spell holding the group vanished along with the lights.  With nothing else to fall back on, panic and confusion, naturally, ensued.

"Fuck!"

"Where is Buffy?"

"Shit, I've got' the wiggins!"

"I can't see anything!"

"Oh, Good Lord..."

"Ok...  Calm down...  There's got to be flashlights down here, right?"

"OW!  I stubbed my toe on something!"

"Yeah, that something was me!"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, would everybody just stop scramblin'about for a moment!"  Spike bellowed, loudly, momentarily quieting most of their exclamations.

"You'd think not a one of you have ever been in a blackout before...  It's just a little dark!  Now, before you all go trippin' all over each other, try to remember that I.  Can.  See!"

He had slipped into game-face after his initial curse, so that he could better focus on his surroundings.  He could clearly see Dawn, lying on the floor where she had fallen.  She was moaning softly, and looked as though she were waking up.  But, he didn't see Buffy anywhere.  He stepped around a few of the girls and went to kneel by Dawn's side.

"Red, can't you do a spell to - "

"Already on it."  She answered.  An orange light began to glow from the far side of the room, near the ceiling, giving off a candle-light sort of illumination.  

"Little ball of sunshine," she said.  "Don't worry, Spike...  It's too small and far away to dust you.  How is she?"  Willow nodded to Dawn, and then scanned the room behind Spike, as she asked,  "Where's Buffy?"

"She's here somewhere," he said.  "I can feel her."

"Oh, God, my head..."  Dawn sat up slowly, with Spike's assistance, and looked around in the gloom.  "What happened?"

letting his features settle back into their human guise, Spike smoothed his hand through Dawn's auburn hair, and noted to himself that she had quite a big lump, but she would live.

"A whole lot, Little Bit.  And, I'm sure Rupert or one of the Scoobs would love to tell you all about it."

Xander made his way over to them, as Spike said this, and slid an arm around Dawn, letting her lean on him, as he helped her stand.

"I'm goin' to go an' take care of Big Sis, alright?"  Spike winked at Dawn, hoping to hide the worry that was gnawing away in his gut, in hopes that she wouldn't ask any more questions before they got her up those stairs.  He hadn't lied to Willow when he told her that Buffy was still here, but he hadn't shared with any of them the sickening feeling that told him something about her wasn't right.

He waited until Xander had escorted Dawn, Andrew and the potentials out of the basement and into the house, but, Willow and Giles stayed behind.

Spike rolled his eyes to the watcher, as Willow called out Buffy's name and began to head into the darker recesses of the basement.

"Buffy..."  She called, before Spike caught her by the arm.

"Not so fast, Red,"  He said to her, softly,  "She's... skittish."

"What on God's green earth are you talking about, Spike?"  Giles asked him, as he stepped up beside the two.  "Why would Buffy be afraid of us?  We are her friends, after all!"

Spike raised his chin and looked defiantly at the watcher, while biting back a few nasty replies he was itching to make in reply to that statement.

"Friends?"  He whispered.  "Alright, Rupes.  Well, if you care about your friend, then - like it or not - you are going to have to trust me for once."  He cast Willow a glance before continuing,  "Red does."

Vampire and Watcher locked eyes for a moment, before Giles finally nodded his agreement.  They were at a truce.  For now.  He fell in beside Willow as they followed Spike further into the basement.

Spike could hear Buffy's heart hammering.  It seemed to get faster with each step they took.  He had to agree with Giles that he didn't quite understand why she seemed to be afraid of them, but it didn't matter, right now.  What did matter, was finding her and making sure she was alright, and helping her to feel safe again.

For all his vampiric senses were worth, there was no way that they could tell him just where he was wrong.  Buffy wasn't afraid for
herself.  She was afraid for them.

He heard a tiny noise coming from behind some boxes and turned in that direction.

"Buffy, love?  You alright?"  He asked, as he stepped around to look behind them.

She was curled up in the corner, and upon seeing her, Spike froze in place, unsure of what to do next.  Willow looked around Spike and put her hand over her mouth as she
gasped.  Squeezing in behind them both, Giles also found that he had no words for what he saw.

Spike swallowed and tried his best to look as non-threatening as possible, as Buffy's angry glowing eyes locked with his, and she began to growl.