FF: The Spiral Cage 8/?

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: The Spiral Cage
Part Eight: And I Talk to You
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
And I Talk to You

Even before Buffy walked out of New Pope High School she could feel Mistress
Jenna's presence. She could literally smell the woman's magic seeking her
out of the crowd of Catholic Schoolgirls. Her eyes began to change to their
catlike form as the magic circled her body sending her Mistress' orders
directly into her brain.

"Buffy, be careful." Willow whispered as she quickly slipped Buffy's
ever-present sunglasses on her face. Buffy just stood there frozen in the
hallway as Jenna's words called to her. Her magical grip was far stronger
today than normal.

"What's wrong? I feel something.... Someone is calling for her." Dawn
whispered as she looked around the hallway and out the door. The younger
Summers girl could hear Jenna's call as clearly as Buffy.

"You hear it too?" Willow asked as she pulled Buffy back inside the high
school and down the hall to an abandoned classroom. 

Dawn closed the door of the classroom and said, "How could I help it? She is
screaming for Buffy, or Beth. Nobody calls her Beth anymore?" Dawn was
trying to block the magic call out of her mind. It was only getting
stronger.

Willow still had Buffy by the hand; she turned her stepsister around and
removed her sunglasses. Willow then let her own eyes change and grow deep
purple with bright purple pupils. The redhead pulled all her own magic deep
inside her body, then she reached out to Mother Earth itself. Willow pulled
as much magic into her own body as she could, then she built up a protective
circle around the three of them. Her shield cut off the magical call that
was coming from just outside the high school.

"Buffy's eyes always trip me out when she changes, and I had no idea yours
could change that much. That was a huge amount of magic you just used." Dawn
said from her spot by the door.

"You knew about my eyes?" Buffy asked as she snapped out of her magic fog.

"You're my sister. It was hard not to notice. I'm pretty sure Mom has seen
your eyes change too. Only I think she is still into denial. Dana knows,
right?" Dawn asked as she checked the hall again. Dawn could still feel the
sender of the magic nearby.

"Actually I'm your half -sister. We have different fathers." Buffy said
slowly just the touch of sadness in her voice.

"That makes sense, Buffy you're still my sister so just deal ok." Dawn said
with a smile before turning and looking back out the classroom door. It was
moving closer to them each minute and Dawn could actually feel the person
moving toward them. Whoever she was, she had been touched by pure evil in
the last 24 hours. 

"Buffy, who did I just put a shield up against?" Willow asked as she sat
down in a nearby desk. The shield was hard work and she was tired. 

"Mistress Jenna. I don't understand why she is here. I mean when she wants
me after school she normally sends Tara." Buffy said, taking a seat next to
Willow and putting a hand on Willows back. The need to touch and comfort the
witch was instinctual. Buffy's eyes were completely cat, and her ears were
now pointy. She was in her version of game face. 

"Long leather coat, leather pants, red silk shirt, walks with
determination?" Dawn asked as she spotted the woman almost at the classroom
door.

Buffy turned her head and sniffed the air. "That's her, Willow let her in."

"What?" Willow asked alarmed.

"She is evil, no wait... not really her, but she has been touched by evil."
Dawn explained as she moved over and opened the door to the classroom.

Jenna started into the room but was stopped by Willow's shield. "Willow,
please just let her in, it will be ok." Buffy said slowly as she stood up
and moved over in front of the door. She was still in game face as she
stopped and waited for Willow to lower her shield.

"This is stupid." Willow said as she stood up and waved her hands and the
magic shield disappeared back into the ground.

Jenna walked into the classroom and quietly shut the door.

"That was an impressive shield. Beth, you didn't tell me your stepsister was
accomplished witch." Jenna said, as she looked Willow over. "And your
sister, she is already on her way to becoming a slayer, that too is
interesting." 

"My sister is a slayer?" Buffy asked looking at Dawn carefully. She let her
own magic out to really look at her sister.

"Not yet, she is very young, but the magic is already inside her. Actually
you both come from a long line of slayers. It's in your blood. Joyce Summers
was destined to have at least one slayer offspring." Jenna said as she took
a seat on top of the teacher's desk. 

Buffy walked over to Jenna, and pulled down the collar of Jenna's long
leather coat. She then pulled lose the 2" by 5" square gauze and looked at
the fresh bite mark. "A gift from my father?" Buffy asked. Buffy was in a
hyper aware state. She could see, hear, smell, and feel everything around
her. Everything was sending her information and her body took it all in at a
rate no human could process. 

"You tell me?" Jenna asked just above a whisper. 

"My sister can sense the evil, his touch on you, I can smell him on you. He
did more than just bite. I can feel the new life inside of you. He wants to
control you. Will you keep the child or abort it? I can tell you don't want
to carry it." Buffy said the last part with anger.

"I wasn't sure if... I don't know, Beth. And I can't even make the final
decision. I belong to others; I have never been free. It doesn't really
matter; I have to finish your training. And your training is what I am here
to talk to you about. That and Tara." Jenna said carefully. Things were so
far out of control that she was actually afraid. The stepsister and the
stepmother were both dangerous to the plan. And both knew the truth. And the
sister was already waking to her power. That was unheard of, slayers didn't
wake until their 21st birthday. Yet here were both of them protecting the
halfling. If both weren't so young she would never have gotten past the
door. 
And the girl knew she was carrying a half sister or brother. She wasn't sure
herself about that until Beth had explained it. Lothos had wanted more than
blood from her. When she finally woke from the blood loss, she was undressed
and tied to his bed. He had taken his time; over and over he had forced
himself on her. She was still sore from him. But her body belonged to the
clan. She had no say in her body. 

"What about Tara?" Buffy asked quickly.

"I want you to ask her out. Your father wants your lovers to be female; he
doesn't want you pregnant. He is sending your friend Pike to Denver. The job
is far better than his present one. He will have a future in Denver. And you
father will see he is protected. Lothos doesn't want you upset... yet. So
the boy is safe. He doesn't mind you seeing the cheerleader, Cordelia. And
he also likes Tara. He knows that feral's of your age have large sexual
appetites. I want you to ask Tara out for my own reasons. Tara isn't safe
now. But if you are seeing her, Lothos will leave her alone... mostly. He
doesn't want you upset so he will see your lovers are protected to a certain
extent. If you don't ask her out, Tara is left wide open. Since you know
what your father is capable of doing. I don't want Tara pregnant with your
father's child as well." Jenna said then wrapped her arms around her body.
It was clear Jenna was being honest.

"I don't think Tara likes me like that, what if she doesn't want to go out
with me?" Buffy asked carefully.

"She won't have a choice in the end. She was your father's idea. But I know
you like her, and she likes you. Please Buffy, if you ask her, I will see
she goes out with you. Just be good to her." Jenna said standing up off the
desk. 

"And..." Buffy said pointing at Jenna's stomach.

"Well at least you will know one of your siblings. Beth, you maybe Lothos's
child, but that doesn't make you evil. Your soul is so pure. I can see it.
So can your stepsister. If I teach you nothing else, I want to teach you to
trust your instincts. I have known lots of vampires, and halflings. I am a
halfling. It's what we are but not who we are; what we do with our lives;
the good or evil parts that's all up to us." Jenny Calendar said as she ran
her hand over Buffy's cheek. She had lost all of her Mistress Jenna
personality; she was just plain Jenny now. 

"I thought you were just a witch, you're a halfling too?" Buffy asked but
she didn't pull out of Jenny's touch.

"I am Caird, Roma, my people have hidden so much for so long. Being a
halfling on top of all that, well my people are careful with information. I
am half Cerdac vampire. We are shapeshifters too, wolves. That's why you
were given me as a trainer. That's why I am a trainer. Beth, as hard as I am
on you, I only want you trained. Your family will love you, but the world is
not so forgiving." Jenny said carefully still letting her hand gently caress
Buffy's face and shoulders.

"My mother still wants to meet you. And she is not going to give up on
that." Willow inserted moving quickly between Jenny and Buffy. Jenna just
smiled and moved back a foot from Buffy.

"Yes, your mother, Dana Scully. Interesting woman. I will call your mother
tonight and make arrangements to meet her." Jenna said taking another step
back away from Willow. She was impressed with the girl's power. Clearly
Willow Rosenberg was someone to be taken seriously. 

"Beth if you will please call Tara today. I don't think I am up for a
session after all. Tomorrow I will have Tara pick you up after school. That
is if your sisters will allow her to pick you up. Either way I want to see
you after school all this week." 

"Fine but the S & M games better not leave marks like last weeks!" Willow
said angrily her eye going completely dark purple as she spoke.

"Ah yes, as a witch you can see behind Tara's glamour spells. That may be a
problem. Beth needs blood sports. There will be times when I need to draw
her blood. And I think you will find Beth doesn't actually mind. It's just a
vampire thing." Jenna said moving closer to Willow. She was back to being
Dominatrix Jenna and she was willing to stand right up to Willow. 

Buffy was blushing bright red, and had shifted back to full human
appearance. "Willow, please just let it go!"

"No! She hurt you. I saw .... your .. and she needs... safety words or
something." Willow half babbled out.

"Will, she is right, I need ... I need what she does. And she is careful. My
father would kill her if she actually hurt me. He is evil. I have never met
him, but I feel him inside me. So please just let it go, for me please!"
Buffy begged as she moved in front of Willow and took her in her arms.

"Just use safety words ok?" Willow said looking down at her feet but she
hugged Buffy and then let her eyes return to a human appearance.

"If she ever hurts you for real, your father won't have to kill her. I
will!" Dawn said suddenly from across the room where she had been quietly
taking in the whole conversation. 

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

Buffy had been out hunting twice but she was still nervous. She wasn't
really sure why she felt that way, but she was somewhere between nervous and
terrified. Dawn walked by her and rolled her eyes again. "Just do it
already," was the younger Summers girls only comment before she returned to
the living room. 

Taking a deep breath Buffy picked up the phone and dialed the number. While
the phone started to ring she held her breath and closed her eyes trying to
calm herself. She heard the click as the phone was picked up and she took a
deep breath. 

"Hello?" came Tara's friendly voice.

"Hi Tara," Buffy said and then felt her mind go totally blank. 

"Beth?" Tara asked.

"Ah, yes, ah... Hi." Buffy nervously replied still completely blank.

"Ah... Hi Beth." Tara replied and then there was almost a complete minute of
silence.

"B.. B..Beth are you ok, are you hurt?" Tara asked concerned.

"No, I am fine, that's not why I called." Buffy replied and then there was
another minute of silence.

"Beth, if you're ok, then why did you call." Tara asked to end the silence.

"Oh yeah, I am.. Well I ah, and then there, I ah well um...." Buffy
stammered out. 

Dawn suddenly grabbed the phone out of Buffy's hand and said, "She is trying
to ask you out, just say yes, so I can use the phone already." Dawn then
handed her sister back the phone.

Taking the phone back Buffy glared at her sister, with her feral eyes, but
she put the phone back to her ear, and said, "I was trying to ask you out."

"I see," Tara replied then she said, "Ok, but I work late on Thursdays. And
I have to be at Jenna's beck and call. So what did you have in mind?" 

"So that was a yes?" Buffy asked carefully. She was bouncing on her toes as
she spoke.

"That was a yes." Tara said and even Buffy could tell she was smiling.

"Ok, to be honest, I hadn't actually planned past the asking you out part,
but I am ok with lots of stuff. I mean we could go to a movie, or go out
dancing or bowling. What do like to do?" Buffy asked as her bouncing just
increase and she was slowly getting tangled up in the phone cord.

"A movie sounds great." Tara answered.

"How about Friday?" Buffy asked.

"Friday sounds good, but I can't make it before 8, so how about a 9 o'clock
movie?" Tara asked. 

"That's great." Buffy said as she bounced around in a circle. 

"How about I pick you up at 8?" Tara asked. Tara had already figured out the
problems of dating a high school girl. Tara had a job, a car and an
apartment, Buffy had a catholic school girl outfit, and parents.

They talked for a few more minutes then Buffy hung up the phone. She looked
up to see Joyce staring at her. "She said yes." Buffy replied as she bounced
up and down a few more times for good measure and began to untangle herself
from the cord.

"That's nice dear." Joyce said, and then she slowly asked, "Buffy, honey,
who said yes?"

"Tara, this girl I know. She is awesome. We are going out on a date Friday."
And with that Buffy ran out of the hall and then out the door to hunt. She
was a happy ball of feral energy, and she needed to hunt to deal with it. 

After Buffy had left, Joyce walked back into the kitchen and wrapped her
arms around her wife. Leaning down she kissed the top of Dana's head. "She
went out to hunt. And she has a date Friday." 

"We are both going to have to talk to her. I am thinking you're thinking we
need to have this talk before Friday?" Dana Scully replied before leaning up
and kissing Joyce on the lips. 

The newlyweds were still kissing each other when the phone rang ten minutes
later. Peeking in at her parents, Willow picked up the phone and said hello.


"Ms Rosenberg?" Jenna asked.

"Well at least you keep your promise, you want to talk to my mom, right?"
Willow asked.

"Yes, please." Jenna asked politely.

"MOM! IT'S FOR YOU!" Willow screamed at the top of her lungs and then just
put the phone down on the hall table.

Dana straightened her clothes as she walked out to the hallway. Willow had
returned to the living room and was watching TV with Dawn. 

"Scully."

"Dana Scully, my name is Jenny Calendar, your step daughter Beth gave me a
message. You wish to speak to me in person?"

"You're Buffy's Sexual Submissive aggressive reduction therapist?" Dana
asked frankly.

"I am surprised at your terminology, but it's basically correct, although I
normally just go by dominatrix." Jenna said completely amused by Agent
Scully.

"Can we meet you tonight?" Dana asked, she knew she needed to meet with this
woman as soon as possible. 

"That can be arranged, when you say we, is the mother now in the picture?"
Jenna asked. She wasn't surprised, the sister and stepsister clearly were
comfortable with the truth. 

"Yes, Joyce and I will meet with you tonight!" Dana said still pushing the
issue.

"You know how to get to my assistant office, Tara's office, correct?" Jenna
said carefully. This was dangerous; mess something up and people would die.

"Yes, I know how to get there." Dana replied back.

"Tara and I are there now, can you and your wife come now?" Jenna asked. She
felt bad; she wanted to explain she was being treated by Tara. Beth's father
had not only left his mark, and a child on her body, but he had taken blood,
and left her body over used and sore. Tara was doing her best to heal as
much of Lothos' damage as she could. 

"We'll be there in 20 minutes." Dana answered and then clicked off. She
didn't want to leave room for doubt, she wanted this meeting. 

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

"So this healer is a friend of your partner?" Joyce asked as they went up in
the elevator in Tara's office building.

"Yes, she seems like a nice girl, Liam says she is owned by some not so nice
people, I have never understood mystic contracts. But the girl's owned by
Wolfram & Hart. And since the money for Buffy's therapy is coming from Hank,
I wish I could pull more strings to find out more, but I can only do so
much." Dana said quietly as they moved toward Tara's office. 

The newlyweds walked into the waiting room, and were met by Tara sitting
cross-legged in the corner eating a large order of Chinese food. She was
shoving the food in like she was starved to death. Looking at her for a
second Dana just said, "You've been healing, clearly you used a lot of
energy." 

Struggling to pull away from the food Tara managed to say in-between bites,
"Sorry, so hungry, pushed myself a little to hard. Give me a minute, OK?"
Then she returned to feeding a body pushed right to the edge. She was
ravenous from energy loss. 

"It's ok Tara, I won't need your assistance. Please Ms and Ms Summers-Scully
come this way." Jenna was completely in her dominatrix mode. She was in
tight leather pants and leather bodice, with a leather whip wrapped around
her body, almost like a belt, and hung at her hip. And to finish the outfit
off was a long leather duster with a high collar. 

A few minutes later they were in Tara's office. One wall of the room was
covered in books. There was a nice large wooden desk and two chairs on the
other side of the desk. The room was not that different from any other
doctors inter office. It even had several diplomas hung on the wall. Jenna
sat behind the desk, while Joyce and Dana were in the chairs on the other
side of the desk. 

"You have questions?" Jenna stated as she leaned back in the desk chair. An
air of smugness danced in her eyes. 

"Who gave you permission to use my daughter this way!" Joyce said angrily.

"The girls' father, and I don't mean Hank Summers, Joyce, I mean her
biological father." Jenna said carefully. 

"Oh, God." Joyce whispered.

"So what is Hank Summers connection to all this?" Dana asked while taking
Joyce's hand into her own.

"He made many of the arrangements. As you must know Tara is owned by his law
firm. She is a pawn. For that matter I am a pawn too. Hank Summers might be
called a pawn, but he did arrange for you to be raped by Lothos. He knew all
about Buffy's real father all along. To be honest I still don't know why
Hank divorced you, it would have worked better in the scheme of things had
you remained married to him." Jenna said.

Dana just held Joyce's hand but the room continued to be filled with
silence.

"From your silence I guess some of this you must have suspected?" Jenna
asked quietly.

"Suspected, feared, thought I dreamed up. Yes, I somehow knew Hank was there
when I was raped. I just never wanted to believe it. He had no choice in the
divorcee. My grandfather got a lawyer friend to help me get a divorcee. In
the end we had a quiet divorcee." Joyce said slowly. There was no point in
reliving old information. Now she needed to focus on Buffy.

"Has Buffy meet her father yet?" Joyce asked quickly.

"Not yet, he wants her trained before she meets him. Now she might rip his
throat off one minute and then want to join him the next. Her reactions are
like most adolescents, not clear. Lothos likes certainties. Either way I
personally don't think Lothos is going to be happy with Buffy. Her soul is
too pure. She will never join him. He doesn't know that yet, but he will
soon." Jenna replied. 

"You don't seem like you are serving him now?" Dana asked carefully studying
the woman across the desk. 

"I never wanted to serve him. I loathe and hate the bastard. But, like Tara,
I am owned, my life is not free. Beth's training, ...Buffy's training, in
human terms I will never make you understand. It's not a human thing. But
Beth isn't human. And she honestly needed the training. She still needs the
training. I am very good at this kind of work. I am considered top in my
field just as Tara is one of the cities top healers. Lothos wanted only the
best."

"And this is the part where you tell us we have no choice!" Joyce said
rudely standing up and leaning over the desk. Her anger was clear across her
face as she leaned into Jenna, staring her in the eye.

"No, Ms Summers, you have many choices. But in the end you will allow me to
continue Beth's training. And you know it as well as I do. You don't have to
like it, but you know it. You're not as free as you want to believe you are.
You still have Lothos' mark. I can smell it on you. Even after all these
years. And I was told to give you this." Jenna said taking something out of
the top drawer of the desk and sliding it over to Joyce. Joyce picked up the
small doll with a shaking hand. 

"Oh God it's all real. It was all real!" Joyce whispered as she pulled the
doll close and hugged it. Dana wrapped Joyce in her arms, but the FBI agent
glared at Jenna.

"Agent Scully, the doll was Joyce's as a child. He took it from her when he
first marked her. Long before she was raped. Lothos has owned her for years.
She can't fight this, and if you love her, you'll back off." Jenna said
quietly.

"Dawn and Willow, tell him to stay the hell away from them." Joyce finally
said as she snapped back, she was the granddaughter of Van Helsing. She came
from a long line of demon hunters, of slayers. She could be tough when she
needed to be. 

"Willow should be safe enough. She is a very powerful witch. She sees behind
the masquerade already. She needs training but her powers make her useless
to Lothos; dangerous to Lothos. He doesn't consider her a threat. Which is
his mistake. Either way the girl is safe from him. Dawn on the other hand is
a problem. He plans to breed with her. He likes the idea of breeding with a
strong slayer line. He doesn't know she is more than just a carrier of the
bloodline, Dawn is a slayer. Her powers have begun to emerge. She sensed me
earlier today. Both girls did. I think having a sister that is a halfling
has helped her emerge. I knew today that she knew I wasn't human. Most
people sense my presence as a witch; few sense my vampire half. I hide it
well. Dawn could even sense Lothos' mark. Your children are all powerful. It
may just save your family." Jenna said as she watched Dana and Joyce.

"How can we protect Dawn from him?" Dana asked quickly still holding her
crying wife. 

"I would say kill him, but one of Lothos's children would just take his
place. The truth is you can't protect her, nor can Joyce. Buffy might be
able too, but she will need to finish the training. Presently she can't
control her powers. She must step through the fire. You know what that
means, don't you, Joyce?" Jenna asked the last part staring at the two women
still holding on to each other for strengths.

"I know what it means. I also know she may not care about her family once
she does step into the fire." Joyce answered, pulling out of Dana's arms and
sitting down in the chair. She wiped the last of her tears out of her eyes. 

"That is a possibility. It could also make her a better person. In the end
the choice has to be hers. Agent Scully, I can tell by your expression that
you don't know what the expression means, am I right?" 

"You're right, I don't have a clue. And I still want to know how to protect
Dawn." Dana said sitting down next to Joyce. Joyce reached over and took her
hand.

"Most of the vampire races have a kind of shared vision when we are becoming
adults. While the visions vary by subspecies, one thing is always the same,
the fire. Beth's vision has her in a spiral cage, the cage winds down toward
hell. A tiger trapped in a cage. And she is pacing back and forth in the
cage wanting to be free. And at the end of the spiral cage she can't see
past a fire. On the other side of the fire, the cage maybe open or it could
be locked. She can't see whether it's open because of the fire. She needs to
jump through the fire to find out if she can be free. The fire is there in
all our visions when we are in our teens. And for each person what happens
when you embrace the fire is different. No matter what I do, at some point
Beth will walk through the fire." Jenna explained.

"And what happened when you walked through the fire?" Dana asked.

"I found I was in a much smaller cage. Walking into the fire doesn't always
make things better." Jenna said with a smile.

"Dawn! What about Dawn?" Joyce asked.

"Strangely enough the only person I know who could save Dawn at present, at
least until Beth can deal with the problem, is Willow Rosenberg. The shield
she put up today at the school was very effective. With a little help from
Tara she would be able to keep Lothos at bay until Beth can handle the
problem. You will need to hire Tara as a trainer. Your sister, Melissa, did
amazingly well, but Willow's power is out of her league." Jenna explained.

"We'll find someone else, Melissa has friends." Dana said rudely.

"Fine, but until you do. Hire Tara. Willow needs training yesterday. She has
to be playing around with elements. And that can be dangerous." Jenna said
patiently.

"Fire and Water, I don't think she has gone onto air yet. Tara is good?"
Joyce asked.

"Tara is very good. She is young but her skills are excellent. And while we
are on the subject of Tara, first I don't want her hurt. I may have to kill
her, but I want to avoid that. She is to start dating Beth soon. It's in
both Beth and Tara's interest to date. Lothos wants her to only have female
lovers for a while. She is feral; her sexual appetite is strong. Tara will
be good for her. And Beth is what Tara needs too." Jenna said slowly.

"You may have to kill her?" Dana asked with alarm.

"Yes, Tara is not human by normal terms. She is basically human but there is
enough difference that your Majestic will see her as part of the masquerade.
No one will miss her. No police reports. In short no one will care, except
possibly me. I really don't want to kill her. But I will kill her rather
than let one of Lothos' people do it. I'll do it quickly." Jenna said not
even batting an eye. 

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

Beth was sitting close to Tara helping her eat Chinese food in the waiting
room of her office. Beth's step sister and sister where also sitting in the
waiting room, waiting across from her, talking quietly. Honestly Tara didn't
really know how it was all going to work out. 

Jenna had been back in her office for almost an hour with Beth's parents.
She really didn't think this was going to work out but she kept her doubts
to herself. She heard the door open and the three of them heading out to the
lobby.

"Girls?" Joyce asked as she looked around the waiting area. They thought
they left the girls at home.

"Look mom, Dana, we kinda took a vote. We were starting to forget what
information we were supposed to know, and what we weren't supposed to know.
It all got so confusing. And you two were keeping secrets, and well we kinda
like being a family." Buffy replied.

"She is right, Mom, Joyce, all the stuff was just kinda getting out of
control. Like my bedspread. I feel bad about it. I should have told you I
was a witch, I just didn't want you to get mad at me." Willow admitted.

"I think everyone knows I'm not human. So we can all give up trying to
pretend I'm just on drugs or whatever." Buffy said before she put a hand on
Tara's knee. Joyce arched an eyebrow as she watched but she didn't say
anything. 

"What's a slayer, and why did Buffy's Dominatrix evil woman call me one? And
while we are at it, I can sense stuff. Things like Willow can, I think. And
Mom, I want to study witchcraft under Melissa like Willow does." Dawn said. 

"So this is the Tara you have a date with on Friday." Joyce said to change
the subject.

"Mom, Dana, this is Tara." Buffy said in way of introduction. 

"How old are you?" Joyce asked Tara.

"I am 23, I know I am kinda old to be dating your daughter." Tara said
quietly looking at the floor. She was still having hunger pains but they
were leasing.

"You're a healer? This is your office?" Joyce asked.

"Yes ma'am!" Tara answered looking up and then back at the floor.

"Come to dinner Friday night before you go out with my daughter, be at the
house at 6." Joyce ordered and then just walked out of the office into the
hall. Dana and the girls had to rush to catch up to her. 



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