A/N.- This is chapter Six of the ENOUGH series. And yes, this story has revenge written all over it. Just not yet.

Disclaimer.- You all should know this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting this show   on the air.

Feedback.- As you wish.

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The Plan.

It had been some weeks since those kids had begun bothering the slayer. She had suffered some mild annoyances and some deep disturbances because of their childish games. He had thought of them as a minor inconvenience and he had even recurred to them on one ocasion in order to have his chip examined. But they had outgrown their stage of fleas and now were becoming pests. His brain was in shambles but he was coherent enough to think about ending their threats to the slayer.

'Soddin' fools.' He thought, 'They have done too much, and Bu...the slayer has suffered them for too long.'

He reprimended himself for his near slip. He had to stop thinking about her as a woman. She was the slayer to him, now and forever. Nothing else, nothing more.

But that didn't make him stop loving her. He had hoped against hope that it had been the chip which had made him love her. Not anymore, for the piece of metal was gone and he still loved her. His feelings were incredibly mixed up and his personality was no better. However, he had known about such side effects from his recent trauma.

'Enough brooding,' He thought, 'time to think about the way to get rid of those wankers.'

His mind travelled back to when he had entered their home, and he tried to recall any significant evidence which might help him in his plan. They were only kids, about 20 or 21, the same age as the slayer and her friends. They knew how to use magic and had a lot of technical knowledge. For what he knew, the three of them had some individual talent which when combined with the others made them a somewhat formidable group.  Warren was the one who knew a lot about technology. The short one always smelt funny, just like Red did after performing a spell, so Spike guessed that he was the magic part of the trio. And the other one, well, he only seemed to be a geek. The unknown quantity. Maybe there was his opening. Since he had already surprised them once, he guessed that maybe they had taken precautions against him. And his reputation as the slayer's lapdog didn't help at all.

He supposed it could be so simple as to hunt them in the dark and kill them all. Drain them dry and pull their bones out and eat their marrow. Or maybe he'd eviscerate them or impale them, while drinking their blood with a straw. And yet, as satisfying as the fantasies were, he just knew that he wouldn't kill again. Perhaps in self defense or if someone tried to hurt Dawn. He assumed that his no-kill policy was a part of his lobotomy. Another annoying side effect.

Back in track, he had been walking from the hospital towards his crypt. He had to stack up and plan his next move. He took the essential in a duffle bag. He ate all the blood he could, he needed all his strenght. If his mind was in not top shape, at least his body could be. He threw a few clothes in the bag and left everything behind. He patted his front pocket, remembering that the only thing he wanted was still there.  And there were other things he had stolen in his way home from the hospital. That would be arranged after he completed his plan.

What could make them slip? They had been very thorough in their attacks and had managed to fool everyone. He thought he could ask Red for help but he didn't want the slayer's friends to know about his plans. He could handle this by himself. At least he hoped so.

'I should laugh out.' He thought, 'They're only three kids and they're giving us so much trouble.'

He would have smiled but he didn't feel like it. He had his feelings back but he had no control over them. He would be normal at one point, then he'd be brooding the next, and then he'd be laughing out loud the next. But having no chip was worth it all.

'I'm drifting again.' He thought and began thinking about his problem again.

They had killed a girl, and had framed the slayer for it. Maybe he'd change the roles. He'd frame them for something they hadn't done. It was so ironic and so perfect. He'd have to act quickly. He didn't want to give them the chance of hurting the slayer again. He knew where they lived so he began in there.

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Some time later, Buffy entered his crypt, totally furious. Xander had found a camera inside an ugly elf figure in her front lawn. And the primary suspect was Spike. The vampire who didn't leave her alone. She looked around and found no one. She couldn't even feel the bleached vampire in the vicinity. She sighed, he probably was up to another stakeout in her house. The camera in her hands was proof enough for it.

'I'm getting tired of this games.' Buffy thougt as she left the crypt.

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He had placed a deadline on himself. He only had 24 hours to plan and take down those kids. And he had spent already an hour and a half by pacing around in the sewers. He just kept dissing plans as none seemed keen enough to make those fools pay. A day would be enough, or so he hoped. He expected that the three idiots wouldn't do anything to the slayer on the remaining 22 and a half hours. His plan had to involve a way of getting these idiots out of the way forever. Bury them in jail for the rest of their life. However, Warren could build something with a simple radio and escape. The midget could conjure something with a few ingredients and pull a spell.

'They must be incapacitated,' He thought, 'but jail isn't enough.'

There had to be a place where they'd be guarded and yet couldn't do a thing. An asylum. A mental institution. Yes, that was it, they'd be locked and heavily sedated. No hope of ever getting their thoughts coherent enough to escape. He smiled a bit. He wasn't so far off that he couldn't help but feel a little joy. Now, how could he get them  in the looney bin? He'd have to prey on their fears in order to get them to screw up. His main target was the blonde wanker. He seemed to be the weakest link, and he had no discernible talent. A plot to get them against each other was slowly forming in his mind. The human mind could be easily influenced, so if he planted a doubt in the blond jerk's mind, he'd separate them. Yet, he only had a few hours, and he was determined to end the whole deal in his remaining 22 hours. He had torn a group apart before, with the scoobies and the slayer in the whole Adam incident. But he had no time and no such knowledge about the freaks. It would be a hit and run affair. In his 127 years of unlife he had never taken the time to plan. He had always acted upon impulses, and it was really hard to go against his gut.

He needed evidence for his plan. And a gruesome act needed to be done. But he had done a lot of things which could not be even measured in the gruesome scale, so he had no worries about the idea. He hoped the weakest link was indeed the one who'd crack. He had to run through the sewers to avoid being caught by anyone, most likely the slayer or her friends. After he settled everything in place he'd have to hide. His crypt was commonly known and he guessed that'd be the first place they'd look. The slayer's house would be also visited, which was helping in his now developing plan. He'd hoped for Dawn to help him, but he had to do this alone. He was sure that if any of the scoobies found out about his missing chip, he'd be sucking the floor in a dusty way.

'No point thinking about it,' He bitterly thought, 'even after this they'll probably still hate me.'

He ran ahead, repeating in his mind the ideas he was suddenly having, discarding those involving brutal violence and settling with those of thoughtful meaning.

He had an outline by the time he reached his goal, now all he had to do was hope that things would work out as planned.

End of Chapter.