FF: The Spiral Cage 6/?

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: The Spiral Cage
Part Six: Greetings in Leather
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Chris Carter owns the
X-Files. 
Rating: NC -17 
Pairing: Joyce/Dana the rest wait and see
Note: This story is in an alternate universe. It does not follow cannon
story lines. The people are different in places because they have lived
different lives. Dana Scully is a lot happier in this world. Dawn was there
from the beginning. And Buffy isn't the Buffy you know. Also there are many
kinds of vampires and demons, mixing them from the X-file world and BTVS,
and other myths. 
Thanks: I can't believe I forgot this: THANKS TO CHERYL HILL!

The Spiral Cage
Greetings in Leather


It had been a long night. A hard autopsy. And the tension between Liam and
Kate could have been cut with a knife. Actually the interaction between them
was interesting. Kate was clearly trying to learn not to hate Angel, or
rather all vampire kind. From what Dana saw it wasn't working out well.
Strangely, Angel actually liked Kate. While she learned a lot more about her
partner and Detective Lockley she learned little more about the killer.

Still the night wasn't a complete bust. She was in bed by 11:30 wrapped in
Joyce's arms. Love making in a house full of teenagers was silent but
tender. There were times when she felt like she would gladly fall into Joyce
and spend eternity. She truly felt like she was with her soulmate. It was
just too easy to make love to Joyce Summers. When she felt her body begin to
fall asleep she felt warm and loved and she simply let herself fall asleep.

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"Buffy come on, you're going in the office one way or the other." Dana said,
crossing her arms and staring her stepdaughter down. 

"Or what, you're going to shot me!" Buffy replied crossing her own arms and
starring back at Dana outside of the office building in the low rent
district of West Hollywood. 

"Don't tempt me." Dana answered pulling her jacket back just enough to
expose the gun and holster under her jacket. 

"I suppose if I don't go in, you'll cuff me and drag me in at gun point."
Buffy said completely defeated. Then she uncrossed her arms and moved to the
door to open it. She walked through the door and let it slam in Dana's face.

'At least she is going inside.' Dana thought to herself as she opened the
door and followed Buffy into the office building. "The suite number is 2B."
Dana replied pointing at the elevator. Buffy followed her over and waited
until Dana pressed the button. 

"So this means I don't have to get my blood taken again at Dr. Webber's
office, right?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"I don't know, Buffy. Your blood levels were really off. I would like
another look at your blood work, even after the healer looks at you. I'm
really not sure what is going on with you medically, it may be nothing but I
won't to know for sure." Dana said slowly as the evaluator opened and they
both stepped inside.

"I thought you said the lab messed up my blood work!" Buffy said looking at
Dana carefully. Mostly she was trying to keep her eyes from changing. Dana
hated for her to wear her sunglasses inside so she was trying to play nice
teenager for her stepmother. 
"Buffy, Dr. Webber did tell me the lab must have messed up your blood work.
The work was not in the human range so he didn't know what else to call it."
Dana admitted. It was the first time she had ever let slip what she actually
thought was the problem. 

"So who is this person you are taking me to?" Buffy asked carefully. She was
fighting the need to flee or change, and she really didn't want to question
Dana too much. She knew her stepmother was close to the truth and she really
didn't know what to do about it.

"A healer. She is a friend of Liam's. And she knows a lot about, what I
think is wrong with you. Maybe not wrong but what is going on with you.
Buffy, see her first, see what she has to say, then you and I can talk."
Dana said as she reached over and put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. It was
meant to be a loving gesture. 

The elevator door opened and Buffy shot out of the door in front of Dana.
Her eyes were in full cat mode so she moved quickly down the hall ahead of
the redhead. If Dana wasn't with her, she would have run the distance to the
office door. 

Buffy opened the door to the office leaving it open for Dana to follow her
in. The office was a typical doctor's office with the exception of the large
purple creature waiting in a chair in the corner. On the other side of the
room was a mother and son; both looked mostly human with pointed ears, and
dark green hair and skin. The mother looked at Buffy or rather her eyes and
picked up her son and pulled him into her lap. Buffy jerked a little
internally at the visible fear from the mother, and from the smell of fear
from the purple creature. Buffy let her eyes slip back into human form and
took a seat close to the door. 

Dana walked into the room and shut the door. She noticed the lack of
reaction to the non-humans in the room by Buffy and decided that was
probably a good thing. A hysterical teen reaction was not something that
would go over well in this kind of environment. Scully walked to the
receptionist desk and tapped on the container. 

A very small elf looked up from a chair, sitting behind the counter and
said, "Oh a human. Not something I see everyday."

"Cute. I am Dana Scully, I have an appointment for my stepdaughter at 2 with
Tara." Dana said with a smile. She knew elves were sometimes mistaken for
little people but their biology was very different from humans. And while
most elves were harmless, they had a wicked sense of humor. 

"I think I could learn to like you. You're Angel's partner right?" The elf
asked, standing up on the chair and looking over the appointment book. 

"I call him Liam most of the time, I don't think I can get used to people
calling him Angel." Dana replied smiling. Part of her was thinking about the
young doctor that had first joined the X-Files to de-bunk it. 'That' Dana
Scully would never be smiling as she talked to the young woman behind the
desk. But 'that' Dana didn't smile often about anything. Dana Scully had
learned to like her life, and talking with elves was just one reason. She
never knew where her life would take her next. 

"Angel really likes his redheads, the two of you must get on well. Tara has
one patient ahead of you; she will be with you as soon as possible Dr.
Scully. Have a seat and I'll call you when she is ready." The female elf
replied with a large smile, that Dana returned.

Walking over she took a seat next to Buffy and patted her on her leg. "You
doing ok?"

"Fine." Buffy replied in a sulky voice. 

"Have any questions?" Dana asked as she looked around the room. She knew the
office was a neutral zone, even if the people in their room were dangerous,
none of them would attack them here. 

"As you said, I am in the life." Buffy said turning away from Dana and
watching the small goblin child playing on the floor at his mother's feet. 

After a short wait the father goblin came out of the office and the family
of goblins left. The large purple creature went into the office and that
left Dana and Buffy in the waiting room by themselves.

"How long?" Dana asked quietly.

"How long?" Buffy turned and looked at Dana with the confusion written on
her face. 

"How long have you been in the life? Were you bitten, blood transfer, spell?
I guess what I want to know is how you got in the life." Dana asked slowly.

The green creature exited the office and moved out the door stopping their
conversation. The elf opened the door, and called for them to come back into
the off. Buffy sprang out of her chair and moved with super human speed
toward the elf. When she got to the door she turned her head looking back at
Dana with her feral cat eyes blazing, and she whispered, "I was born in the
life."

The elf seeing the girl's change had jumped out of the way and into the
waiting room. She didn't want to be near the feral vampire when it was in
predator mode. The elf was actually a little shaken by the girls sudden
movement and charge toward her. Buffy was already on the other side of the
exam room door while Dana and the elf re-composed themselves.

"She wouldn't hurt you." Dana suddenly said to the young elf.

"That kind of vampire is capable of anything, I wouldn't be so sure." The
elf answered holding the door open for Dana to step through.

"She is my step daughter, I know her, what ever she is, she is still Buffy.
She wouldn't hurt you." Dana said so slowly and forcefully, it made the
little elf jump back a little. 

"Then she knows love, she may be savable, human. I am just glad she belongs
to your clan and not mine." The elf said as she led Dana down the hall to
the exam room. Buffy was standing at the end of hall. She had shifted her
eyes back to human but she was pacing in frustration in a tight circle like
a cat in a cage. 

The elf gave Buffy a paper gown and left them in the room with instructions
for Buffy to get undressed.

"You were born a vampire?" Dana asked as Buffy began tossing off her
clothes. Dana bent down and picked them up as Buffy stripped.

"Yeah, you know Hank isn't my father, right?" Buffy said slowly.

"Your mother told me, but she said she never told you about it." Dana
replied carefully while folding Buffy's clothes.

"They argued a lot before the divorce. When your dad is only willing to pay
child support for one of the kids it's not hard to figure out." Buffy
replied pulling up her paper robe and tying it in place. 

"Do you know who your father was?" Dana asked. She was surprised Buffy knew
about Hank, Joyce had tried very hard to keep the truth from Buffy.

"Does my mom know who my father was?" Buffy shot back letting her eyes blaze
in anger, the cat pupils glowing. 

"Actually no, she was raped." Dana said honestly.

"I wondered, I just knew it wasn't Hank and it wasn't human." Buffy replied
as she jumped up on the examing table. 

"Buffy it doesn't change the fact that we love you. Joyce loves both you and
Dawn so much." Dana said moving toward the girl. 

"Joyce doesn't know what I really am, and when you tell her, she isn't going
to love me." Buffy said as tears leaked from her non-human eyes. 

The door to the examing room opened slowly and Tara walked in wearing a
white lab coat, looking very much the doctor in charge.

"Beth?" Tara asked puzzled by the girl on the exam table.

"Tara, this is my step daughter Buffy Summers, Buffy this is Liam's friend
Tara McClain." Dana said as she took Buffy's hand.

"I didn't realize Beth was your step daughter. We know each other." Tara
said carefully. This was not a good situation. Dana would not like the
treatment the Counsel was paying for. And Beth was Jenny's patient, she was
just along for the ride incase things got out of hand. The kind of treatment
Beth was getting could get out of hand in a blink of an eye. 

"You have been treating her already?" Dana asked looking at Buffy and back
at Tara.

"Not exactly, she is seeing someone else for treatment. It's up to Beth to
tell you the details. But under the circumstances I can't really help you
Dr. Scully." Tara replied trying not to back out of the room. Buffy just
pulled the paper gown tighter around her body. The glamour spell was still
hiding her bruises from Dana. 

"Can you at least tell me what we need to do to help her. Buffy told me she
was born with this condition; I believe she has been having trouble with the
adolescent onset of a non-human condition. Your receptionist called her a
feral vampire. I believe it's a form of shapeshifting vampire, one that can
take the form of a large cat. Buffy is clearly suffering some kind of
effect. It's almost like drug withdrawal at times, nervous behavior, and
that is only a few of the symptoms I have observed. If it is a condition she
was born with then there is the problem with being half-human and half
vampire. DNA instability maybe." Scully asked calmly. 

"You are very good. Yes as she passes through adolescents her body is having
trouble with the changes. Partly because she is half-human. She won't be
able to shapeshift until she is in her early 20's, 19 at the earliest, but
her body will want to shape shift. And she needs blood. Not often and not a
lot, a cup full once a week. But I believe she is getting that now. The need
for blood, or more precisely the hunt, is causing the addictive like
behavior. The need to hunt is very powerful. She will have it all her life.
She roams a great deal at night now, it will only increase. As long as she
doesn't kill, she will be happy with just the hunt. So the only thing you
can really do is let her hunt. She is stronger and faster than any human;
the danger for her is much less than a human child running around in the
middle of the night. She also needs less sleep than a human, so she can
still deal with school work fine." Tara said carefully

Buffy shifted in her seat, Dana was still holding her hand, which surprised
her even more. "Glasses, I need to wear the damn glasses too." Buffy said,
staring down at Dana's hand in hers.

"To cover the eye shifts, she is still working on keeping them human. It's
not easy. Yes, the sunglasses must be a big help." Tara added. 

"Can you give me the name of the healer she is seeing, she is still a
minor." Dana said carefully. 

"No, and I don't think Beth will tell you either. You just have to trust her
at some point." Tara replied evenly.

"I trust her, it's you I don't trust." Dana replied. 

"I don't blame you. But let it go. Trust me, it's better for you, and for
Beth." Tara said carefully. She was actually scared. Terrified. Jenny at the
least would beat her over this incident. 

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They were in the car heading back toward home. 

"Are you going to tell mom?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Not right away. Which is not a good thing in a marriage. But Joyce needs to
know the truth, the rape was very brutal, and she still has nightmares. She
thinks some of what she saw was just her mind playing tricks with her. She
remembers being attacked by a large black panther that turned into a man.
Buffy, who or even what your father was doesn't matter. You are a good
person. Don't let anyone tell you differently. I have known a few vampires
over the years. Some are killers like the one I am tracking now, but most
are just like humans, they just want to live a good life," Dana said
carefully.

"But you don't want to tell mom because of the rape." Buffy said evenly. She
had heard her grandmother talk about her mother's rape; she never really got
over what happened to her. And before Dana came into their lives her mother
often woke up screaming from her nightmares.

"It's more than just the rape, the masquerade, the life as you call it,
people don't want to believe in it. I had a hard time when I first found out
that things-that-go-bump-in-the-night were real. My job depends on keeping
the masquerade a secret. No one has ever told me that, it's just implied.
And once I figured that out, it was better for everyone to keep it a secret
and I went along with it. Your mother isn't ready to see beyond the
masquerade. But she doesn't have much of a choice now. So give me some time,
ok?" Dana asked.

"I am happy if she never knows the truth." Buffy said flatly.

"Truth is a funny thing, Buffy. If we don't tell her, she may find out the
wrong way. Someone will see that she knows the truth. How are you paying for
your healer?" Dana asked.

"I'm not." Buffy admitted.

"Then the people who are paying have a motive to heal you. Buffy, I know a
lot about vampires. I know, or I think I know, what kind of treatment you
are getting. Let me guess, it involves a lot of leather?" Dana said evenly. 

"You are a strange person, you know that right." Buffy stated.

"Sexual Submissive aggressive reduction therapy. You teach the person or
vampire to be a sub, to reduce aggressive behavior. In short you whip them
until they behave." Dana said bluntly. 

"You forgot about the 'when they are good you give them a big happy'." Buffy
said looking out the window. 

"Orgasm or Blood, which is the big happy?" Dana asked. 

"Orgasm, I still like the hunt more than the blood. They mix my blood up in
juice. I don't really like the blood part." Buffy said honestly. 

"I want to meet your Dom. And that isn't up for discussion. Do you know who
is paying for your therapy?" Dana asked quietly. She was in detective mode,
not showing any emotions. She didn't dare, she was pissed as hell, and not
at Buffy. Someone was using the girl and she wanted to find out who.

"I'll give you time with mom, you give me time with Jenna. But I'll arrange
a meeting. She said my dad was paying. Hank, not my real dad." Buffy said
carefully.

"Hank!" Dana said surprised as she swerved the car back on the road. 

"Yeah, surprised me too. Hank said I had to get it under control. He didn't
want Dawn hurt because I went all cat in a bad mood. He set up my therapy. I
needed blood so bad, and he knew what I needed, I would have agreed to do
anything then. You and mom were planning the wedding, buying the house and
stuff." Buffy admitted. 

"Buffy if you need blood, you tell me. I am a doctor, I know how to get what
you need." Dana said sternly.

"I get it at the blood bars in town. I know how to get blood on my own now,
so don't sweat it. I am going to have to deal with the blood problem for the
rest of my life. But thanks." Buffy said quietly. If she hadn't liked Dana
before she loved Dana now. It was nice to know someone knew your deepest
secret and still cared about you. 

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Jenny Calendar stood with her hands on her hips in the center of Tara's exam
room. "So the step-mother knows everything."

"She knows a lot. She seems to really care about Beth." Tara said quietly.
She knew Mistress Jenna was pissed as hell. She was going to be lucky to get
off with just the spanking she had just received at the end of Jenna's
leather belt. Her ass stung from the belt and she was wiping a few tears
from her eyes.

"You're lucky your witch skin is a frail human shell. If you were demon I
would skin your hide every day for a month." Jenny said pulling Tara to a
standing position off her exam table she had been bent over. Tara quickly
reached down and pulled her pants up, zipping them quickly.

Being assigned as Jenny's assistant had entailed being a sex toy to the
Dominatrix from time to time. She could stand a beating or two. She had been
beaten by almost everyone in her life in one form or another, but she
honestly didn't care to have sex with Jenny. It was too much like her
relationship with Lilah Morgan and she mostly wanted to forget about that
part of her life. 

"Are you fucking anyone now?" Jenny, or rather Mistriss Jenna, asked. Jenny
Calendar was in full Dominatrix mode and her personality tended to change
when she was Jenna. 

"Not really, I pick up someone up at the clubs, there is a Ersonalinan witch
at the Bel-Trol I hook up with about once a month, but it's not a full time
thing." Tara said slowly. She knew better than to lie to Jenny.

"Amy, the blond, her mother is on the local counsel Catherine Madison's
daughter right?" Jenny asked. She actually knew more about Tara than Tara
knew about herself. Tara had been chosen very carefully for this job. 

"Her name is Amy, yes, she never talks about her mom, other than to say she
is a real witch, only I think she meant with a B." Tara replied rubbing her
ass. She really didn't want Jenny to beat her again or worse. And Jenny
could do worse, much worse. 

"Catherine Madison is a real bitch. Dangerous woman. She works in the black
arts. Her daughter is following in her footsteps. Causal sex is fine;
goddess knows you need a good screw. But stay away from her as a full time
lover. She could make Lilah look like a saint." Jenny said sitting down on
the doctor's stool in the room. 

"Oh for goddess-sake I am not going to fuck you. Stop trying to figure out a
way of getting out of it. I know you compare me to Lilah. I have kept the
sexual part of the arrangement to a minimum for a reason. I don't normally
like having sex with people that don't need my services or at least enjoy
them. Now have a seat on the table and let's think." Jenny said carefully.
"We are going to have to speed up Beth's training. The counsel needs her
fully trained."






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