It's Not Enough
By:   Morrigan


A/N:  Beta'd once again by the brilliant, Blacknblue2!

Just wanted to give a shout out to everyone who has been reviewing, so far.  You guys are so cool!  Thank you, again!


Disclaimer:  All characters are property of Joss Whedon and ME.  That really sucks.



"Blasted, buggering fuck, Slayer!"  Spike cursed, under his breath before taking a seat on the swing that Buffy had just vacated.

"What ever happened to the good ol' days?  Simpler times when I had no cares other than choosin' which happy meal I wanted to eat, and occasionally killing one of Dru's various slimy demon lovers?  Oh, that's right...  I fell in love with the one woman in all the world destined to destroy me and all of my kind."

Spike fished in hispockets for his smokes.  Pulling one out and lighting it, he took a long drag, exhaling dramatically before he continued.

"Now, she's all about wantin' to save the world, an' I'm sittin'here wishin' I could just save her from herself...  But, I can't even get near her, without settin' off all her blasted bells n' whistles!"

Falling into silence, he took another drag as he gazed out into the starlit night.  It was ironic, really, that she had turned out this way.  He supposed he should have seen it coming.  Even in her natural state, Buffy already possessed many of the same skills and senses as himself.  It only made sense that boosting her demon would further increase those similarities.  He only wished that he had thought of this *before* she had gone through this transition.  Perhaps, if he had, they could have discussed this very possible outcome, and she could have been better prepared to handle it.  But, then, he figured that's why it's said that hindsight is 20/20.

Sighing again, he shook his head.  It was a bit too late to waste time thinking about the what-if's now.  Damage had already been done and he had himself a super slayer to save.  Provided, of course, she didn't stake him first.

'Right then,'  he thought.  'If I were a freshly turned vamp, all alone, burstin' at the seams with new energy, naiveté and bloodlust...  Where would I go?'

Well, that was easy.  He would have gone somewhere were he would find easy prey and lots of it.  Like... the alley behind the Bronze.  Stupid teenagers and young adults just wandering about and indulging in little make-out sessions in the dark.  A place like that was so close to their own ackyard that they would never even see him coming before they were dinner.

'Ok,' he nodded to himself, 'now, reverse the situation...'

A look of disgust crept over his face as the obvious location dawned on him.  Standing and flicking his smoke out across the sand, he strode out of the park and onto the main road.  Once there, he closed his eyes, tilting his head and searched the breeze.

"Fledglings," he muttered, realizing that his hunch was probably right on the mark.  He began walking again, his pace quickening as he followed Buffy's scent which was leading him in the direction of Sunnydale High.


*  *  *  *  *


Somewhere near the outskirts of town, the sounds of pick-axes striking stone and the hissing of blowtorches served as background music for the contemplations of the dark figure who stood silently in the depths of an old abandoned wine cellar, in the middle of a vineyard.

His back was turned to the workers, his eyes were distant and far away, appearing to be seeing more than just the darkened walls of earth and stone that he faced.  His hand came up to straighten the collar that he still wore.  The collar of a priest.

It had been quite some time since he had stood at the pulpit.  Oh, he had tried to make people see the truth of their ways, but they never would.  Human beings, as a whole, were like lambs to the slaughter.  They would follow anyone who just pointed the way, but they had no ability to foresee where they would go.

Ah, but this man... .  No, not him.  He was destined for glory, and he was their shepherd.  Not such an easy job in itself, considering their natural ignorance.  But the women...  Oh, the women were the worst of the worst.  Always coming to him, with various excuses.  Claiming to need his guidance, his counsel.

Hogwash!  He knew what they really wanted, those dirty girls.  Whores, every one of them!  For what was a woman, really?  Mindless lures in pretty packages set upon the earth to trap foolish men into willing defiling themselves, partaking of their flesh and plunging into their greedy, hungry orifices which were nothing more than cleverly disguised portals, designed to suck a man into hell!

It wasn't their faults, really, he supposed.  They couldn't help it.  It was just in their nature, just like it's in a black widow's nature to mate and then kill its partner.  But the way he saw it, those suckers were deadly to a man, and he had no problem stomping upon one when he found it.  Why would he suffer a foul, wretched woman to do unto him what he wouldn't allow the spider?

Ah, yes...  He had to be honest.  He had enjoyed ripping the life out of those girls.  Unlike the spiders, they had no idea what they really were.  So, it was his duty to teach them a lesson before he sent them on their way to the afterlife.  After all, there wasn't any reason why death couldn't be an enlightening and educational experience.

Sometimes he missed those days.  They came before he was shown the true path that he was meant to follow.  Before The First evil had seen his works and offered him the opportunity to be its vessel.  But, alas... even he had his weaknesses.  His own, still human desires that were hard to ignore.

A soft smile played about his face as he looked down upon the young, petite, blond woman, who now lay on the ground before him, her blood pooling at his feet.

Leaning down to look into her glassy, hazel green eyes, he whispered, "Do it again!"


*  *  *  *  *


"Ok, Buffy, you can do this.  You're gonna get some of this juice out of your system, and then go home."

Buffy was standing just in front of the bleachers in the high school football field.  She knew that she couldn't keep running all night long.  She was needed back at the house, and freaking out over the things that were going on with her now was just defeating the whole purpose of taking the upgrade to begin with.  So, falling back on the old tried and true method, she had gone to seek out some slayage.

It seemed like a good plan.  She had gone to the high school because she knew that being that close to the hellmouth for some evil vampire would be as tempting to them as a 95% off sign in the window of Bloomingdale's would be to her.  And, she wasn't wrong.  Her tinglies had hit her before she even reached the school's parking lot, and she had followed them here.

The funny thing was how she was buzzing like a livewire, but she couldn't make out exactly which way to go now.  These feelings were so strong, it was if they were coming from everywhere!  And, she could hear them too.  Yeah...  There were 3 of them, she was sure of it.  But, just like her senses were screaming, her enhanced hearing was giving her more trouble as well.  Everything was so loud, it was more of a distraction than it was a help.

She couldn't find any focus, and fear began to creep it's icy tendrils around her heart, once more.

'How is this going to help me?' She wondered.  'I feel more like a spastic basket case, than a lean, mean, killing machine!'

She could feel her body twitching in anticipation, and found it very hard to keep still.  She figured it was that pesky new demon, trying to make her decisions for her again.  She was going to have to get that under control!

Resisting the urge to head back into the field, she stepped around to the side of the bleachers, and after peering underneath to be sure that nothing was under them, sat down on the bottom bench.

She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the hushed voices coming from the vamps.  They were moving...  She thought that they sounded much closer now, but the sounds were so clear to begin with, that she found it difficult to tell just how close.  And...  'What was up with the smell, out here?'

Upon opening her eyes, she still didn't see anything...  Until it was too late.

"Well, hey there, cutie!"  A boyish voice piped up from right next to her, on the bench!  'Where in the hell did he come from?!'  Came to mind, before a she took a hard blow to the face from the other side.


*  *  *  *  *


By the time Spike had reached the corner block leading to the new high school, he had broken into a dead run.  He was fast regretting letting her get such a head start on him, to begin with.  He'd had time, during his trip here, to get himself worked into a mild state of panic.

Upon being turned, Spike's first feelings were those of power and elation.  He was finally free from the confines of his strict Victorian upbringing.  But, in truth, he was over-confident in his abilities.

As much as he hated to admit it to himself, there had been times that, were it not for Dru and his miserable grandsires, he would have been staked due to his brash choices.  He truly believed himself to be invincible and would attack in broad public view, if the fancy struck him.  More than once, he had caused himself and his little dysfunctional family to have to live underground in order to hide from the angry mobs, who's attention he had drawn.

Spike was not worried so much about Buffy getting hurt, originally, as much as he was about her mental state.  She hadn't expressed any excitement or over-confidence in herself.  She had, instead, expressed sadness at the monster she was afraid she had become, and didn't want to hurt anyone that she cared about.  But, once he was certain she had headed for the high school, he was reminded once again, that The Slayer and himself were
much more alike than she would ever like to admit.

If Buffy really was thinking like a new vamp, she had no business being out tonight at all.  She was going to get herself killed.

Following her trail, he sprinted past the school's front gates, heading instead around to the back, where his fears were reaffirmed by
the mingled scents of blood, dust and panic that assaulted his senses.

He spotted her before he reached the gates.  She was near the bleachers, held by either side by two large vamps, while a third advanced upon her.

'Damn it!'  He had failed again!  His slayer was going to die...  But, not this night.  Not like this.

Pushing himself harder than ever before, he wasted no time in fumbling with the latch on the gates, opting instead to smash them open, getting the attention of Buffy's captor's, and never losing speed as he charged across the field.

'No way, am I gonna fail her again,' he thought.  'I'm goin' to save her scrawny, high and mighty ass!  But, when I'm done, she'll be lucky if I don't kill her myself!'