FF:The Spiral Cage 15/?

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: The Spiral Cage
Part Fifteen: Story about a girl.
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
Story About a Girl



I remember feeling low
I remember losing hope
I remember all the feelings and the day they stopped

We are, we are all innocent
Innocent - Our Lady Peace

Buffy returned from her hunt. She had ended up at one of the many blood
clubs in town. She had needed blood and sex badly. Both were easily found at
the clubs. She now subbed for 3 different mistresses at the clubs. They had
picked up the void that Jenny's absence had created. 

She went into the kitchen and looked at her history paper for a few minutes
adding another couple of paragraphs to the paper. She could sense the
presence of her family. Her mother was sleeping quietly. Dawn was talking in
her sleep; something she had been doing since her slayer senses had began to
emerge. Dawn was also not alone and that too was getting to be normal. Tara
and Willow were sleeping together in Willow's bed. Buffy could smell the
remains of their latest spell. They must have done a few spells after their
first sexual encounter. Sex was a needed by-product of the intimacy needed
to do spells on the level Willow was practicing at. Buffy had understood
this before the first spell ever jointly-cast by her healer mate and her
stepsister. 

Their sex life didn't threaten Buffy at all. Instead she saw it as an
advantage. Something that made her pride stronger. She was already beginning
to see her family as her pride. She felt their strength and love and fed off
of it just as she fed off the hunt. And to a lesser extent the blood. Buffy
needed the hunt more than blood, just as she needed her families love more
than the mindless sex of the clubs. The only problem with all of this was
she needed blood to live, and the discipline of the club sex to control her
body. She was a vampire and she had accepted the reality of what that meant.


Buffy headed upstairs, she checked on her mother first, then Dawn. Dana
would be out working on her case until morning. Then she turned and went
into Willow's room. She took off her clothes and then climbed into bed next
to Tara. She rubbed her head on Tara's shoulder, checked the bit mark she
had made on Tara's leg earlier that day. With her eyes in their vampire form
she could see perfectly in the dark. 

Mating with Tara had included a long series of addictive bites. Tara was
actually rather high much of the time from Buffy's bites. The series of
bites were all part of the ritual, and the main reason why it took several
months to complete. It was a careful balance between taking blood, and the
additive parts of the bite. If you didn't take time to complete it you could
easily kill the human involved. 

The advantage to the bite was important in procreation. If a vampire tried
to bread with a human, normally the child didn't live. But if the human were
introduced to the natural chemicals slowly through vampire bites, the human
could then have that vampire's child. The human had to create natural
antibodies to the vampires bite. 

Buffy's mother had been addicted to Lothos before he had raped her. It was
the only way her mother could have carried her to term. Buffy had already
guessed that Lothos wanted Tara to complete the mating ritual with her for
this reason. The spell that would allow her and Tara to have children had
been given to her earlier that week. Buffy had only laughed and sent her
father a note that said, 'Dad, thanks for the spell, but I want to finish
high school first. Let's talk kids when I finish college.'

Buffy looked at the leg bite and smiled, Willow had healed most of it. She
could see the magic signature that was her stepsisters work. Kissing Tara's
leg, she crawled under the covers and spooned into Tara. She was asleep in a
few minutes.

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

"May I help you?" Dana asked the young man on the top of the ladder to her
home.

"Ms ... ah...Doctor Summers-Scully, or is that Scully-Summers." Replied the
young man in a panic, seconds before he fell off the roof. Dana managed to
break his fall with her own body but they were both bruised by the fall. 

"Are you ok?" The young man asked pulling himself off the FBI agent.

"I was going to ask you the same question?" Dana asked as she got to her
feet. 

The young man pulled himself up, but it was clear he had twisted his ankle.
"Let me look at it." Dana said as she bent down and looked over his ankle. 

"Well, at the very least you have sprained it. You'll need an x-ray to make
sure it isn't broken." Dana said factually after a quick examination. She
then leaned into the boy and pointed at the house. The boy was not in any
shape to argue, so he allowed Dana to help him into the kitchen. 

After she had him seated at the kitchen table with his foot up she got him
an ice pack and looked at the ankle again. "Want to tell me why you were on
my roof?" Dana asked.

"Umm, I was umm... No" Xander Harris finally finished. 

"Stay here and keep the ice pack on your ankle. I'll be back in a second."
Dana said before she started up the stairs of her house. Once she was
upstairs she quietly knocked on Buffy's door. 

"Buffy, I need to talk to you." Dana said quietly. There was a huge echo of
sudden sounds; the odd part was the sound started off in Willow's room. Then
sounded like a window opening and closing first in Willow's room and then in
Buffy's room. She was sure she heard Tara trip coming in the window and
Buffy pick her up. Buffy was normally tender with Tara except during her
mating rituals. 

Finally the noise stopped and Buffy peeked out her bedroom door. Dana could
see the girl was dressed in her clothes from yesterday. That alone was
suspect, Buffy normally slept in the nude. 

"Buffy, good you're dressed, could you get Tara up; and ask her to come down
stairs, I found a friend of yours on the roof. He is hurt." Dana said as she
tried to figure out what had just happened. It was a complete mystery to the
detective. 

"What time is it anyway?" Buffy finally asked as her eyes shifted from human
to feral to human again, quickly. At home Buffy's guard was down and the
family were all used to Buffy's quick morphing behavior. 

"A little after 6 am." Dana said before turning around and heading down the
stairs.

Dana had just made it into the kitchen when Buffy sped down the stairs and
joined her. She couldn't believe how fast her vampire stepdaughter had
changed clothes and joined her.

"So what's up? Hi Xander!" Buffy said opening up the refrigerator and
grabbing some juice. "You want some, Xander?"

"That would be great, Buff." Xander said still holding the ice pack to his
throbbing ankle. 

"Buffy, if you and Tara have friends spend the night, you're supposed to
tell your mother and I. He fell off the roof." Dana said patiently.

"Dana, you know we both are trying to follow your rules, and he isn't...ah
wait, I guess ah, oh, I guess we did. And I will so try to do better about
it in the future." Buffy said completely bewildered at first then it slowly
dawned on her what had happened. Dawn was really going to owe her for this
one. 

Dana, who had learned to speak teenager, and more importantly Buffy, caught
on to Buffy's confusion.

"Ok, if he wasn't here to for you or Tara, who was he here to see?" Dana
asked looking Buffy up and down. She already knew the boy spent the night in
the house. She was a FBI agent; small signs pointed to the truth.

"Oh good, Juice, now if I can just get some coffee it will be perfect." Tara
said as she entered the kitchen and Buffy poured her a glass of Juice. Buffy
then handed both Xander and Tara a glass. 

"Xander, let me take a look at that. Your ankle is pretty swollen, I might
be able to fix that after I eat." Tara stated, letting her healing skills
examine the boy. 

"So everyone knows this boy but me?" Dana asked as she poured Tara a
much-needed cup of coffee.

"Xander is Dawn's boyfriend. She hasn't introduced him yet?" Tara stated
still looking at the boy's leg and failing to see all of Buffy's body
gestures to keep quiet. 

"I didn't know Dawn was dating? Xander, how long have you two been going
out?" Dana asked letting her gun and badge show unconsciously as she leaned
over the boy and handed Tara some coffee. 

"Two months." Xander screeched out. His ankle hurt like hell and he hated
family confrontations. In his household confrontations lead to him being
hit, or beaten. Both his parents drank a lot and when they drank they were
often violent. 

"Hi Xander, are you ok?" Dawn asked from the kitchen door where she had been
listening. She had followed Buffy down the stair but she had stayed in the
hallway listening. 

"I just twisted my ankle." He tried to say bravely. 

"I detect at least one hair line crack. But I can fix it as soon as I eat. I
need fuel first." Tara said pulling her hand away from Xander's leg. 

"Where is Willow?" Dana suddenly asked. Her absence seemed suspicious. 

"Still in her room. She has locked it with magic again. I tried to check on
her. Now, does someone want to tell me why everyone is up before 7 on a
Saturday?" Joyce asked as she entered the kitchen.

"I had a friend spend the night last night." Dawn admitted. 

"This is the friend." Dana said pointing at the boy in the chair.

"At least you know she likes boys." Buffy said trying to put a positive spin
on things.

"And you knew about this?" Joyce asked pointedly. She couldn't believe Buffy
would allow this. 

"Maybe," Buffy admitted. "Mom, I either had to approve of it or kill him.
And killing every guy Dawn wants to date for the rest of her life seemed a
little over protective even for me." Buffy said letting her frustration show
and letting her eyes go feral for just a second. Xander saw her eyes change
and tried to jump out of the chair causing himself more pain. Then he looked
at her again and her eyes were human. 

"I didn't just imagine that!" Xander asked as Dana and Tara helped him back
into the chair. 

"There are some things about my family that are different, but you don't
have to worry about it, ok." Dawn said before kissing him sweetly on the
cheek. Any question that Dawn was sexually active was answered by the kiss.
It was very sweet but spoke of intimacy and tenderness; mostly it spoke of
experience. 

"Honey, make me some toast and eggs, and I'll heal Xander." Tara replied
interrupting everyone's thoughts. 

"While you do that, I think Dawn and I should have a talk. A long overdue
talk." Joyce said pointing to the living room. 

"I am going to check on Willow unless you want me to..." Dana said quickly.

"Mother daughter talk first, then we can go over some ground rules with
her." Joyce said before kissing Dana on the cheek. Dana slid her hand down
into Joyce's and held her hand for a few extra seconds. 

$%$%$%$%$%$$%$$%$%$%%$$%$$%$%$%$

"Willow, honey, open the door." Dana ordered after knocking on the door to
her daughter's bedroom.

The door swung open to reveal Willow sitting in the floor with a large
candle burning brightly in front of her. It was clear she had been
practicing magic. The room was in the normal state that Willow kept it in,
everything perfect and nothing out of place. Buffy and Dawn's rooms were
always clean but they had a lived in feel about them. Things were stacked up
or moved around. Willow kept her room perfect. 

"Were you and Tara practicing magic this morning? Some kind of sunrise type
spell?" Dana asked as she came in the room and took a seat on the bed.

"Not exactly, it really doesn't matter I was just doing some simple spells."
Willow stated before she blew out the candle. 

"Will, we can't keep going on like this. You need to talk to me. I am your
mother, I know you're going through some tough stuff, but I am here." Dana
said slowly holding an arm out to Willow. 

"Mom, it's nothing, ok." Willow said as she put the candle away. 

"How long have you been sleeping with Tara?" Dana quietly asked.

"Ah... why would you...? How did you...? Not long." Willow replied without
going into babble mode.

"Because of the magic?" Dana asked crossing her arms and still looking at
her daughter.

"That's part of it. I know it's stupid, she belongs to Buffy. But it felt
great. At least I know whether I'm gay or not now." Willow reasoned.

"I know that's been a big problem for you. Because your father and I are
gay. Honey, your father and I, and Joyce we will love you no matter what.
You must know that by now. It really doesn't matter whether you're straight
or gay or bi, or a witch. We love you." Dana said slowly smiling. 

"Will you love me if I am evil?" Willow asked slowly.

"We will always love you but if you use your power to hurt others, we will
have to stop you, yes. It's my job. It's who I am, and I can't betray that,
not even for you." Dana said frankly.

"So you've thought about it, mom?" Willow asked surprised.

"Joyce and I have been talking a lot about Buffy. You must have realized she
can no longer think like a human. It's not her fault and it doesn't mean she
is evil. She just isn't human. We still love her. But she has the potential
to be very evil, like her father. Joyce comes from a long line of Slayers,
and Dawn is becoming a slayer. Joyce worries that Dawn may have to hunt down
her own sister. It's a real possibility. Buffy is still becoming a vampire.
She hasn't completed the transformation. At this point it is only a matter
of time. She can still go either way. She could join her father."

"I have seen witches go bad before. One of my first cases at the X-Files
involved a Mage named Ethan Raines. He cast some very wicked spells on a
small town in Southern California. He worshiped Chaos and his spells really
hurt a lot of people. He put a spell on the high school band candy. Mulder
and I stopped him. Actually Mulder stopped him; I just examined the Candy
for added Chemicals. After we captured him he was turned over to the
military. He was erased. I don't know if they killed him, although it is a
possibility. I have heard rumors that they keep the magicals and do
experiments on them. Try to turn them into super soldiers or something.
That's just one of many secrets I have kept from you, Willow." 

"Magic is dangerous. It's a trap. At first it all seems great. Then you
start to use magic to do things for you. Little things at first. Cleaning
your room. That's the first trap. After a few months or years, you can't do
simple things like cleaning your room without magic. You need the magic and
you are its prisoner. It's additive too. I have seen black magic
practitioners strung out on the magic like junkies. Tara probably treats
many sick witches. Ask her about it." Dana said quietly, staring at the one
person she loved more than anyone else. 

"Tara introduced me to a few of her strung out clients, mom. You really
don't think I can just quit at this point?" Willow asked with her full
resolve face on.

"No, you're too powerful to ever just quit. You just have to use discipline.
You have to set limits for yourself. Lines you won't cross. And rethink the
lines when you do cross them. I have crossed many lines in my life. Things
change all the time, and you have to re-examine your lines all the time. God
I wish I had known that you were in this deep, I might have been able to
help you." Dana said pulling Willow into her arms.

"Mom you knew, you were in denial, but you knew. I saved Aunt Melissa. That
was the first time I used my powers. That's why she taught me. She should
have died when they shot her, thinking she was you. They might have shot me
too, but I used my shield to protect us after she was shot. I didn't get it
up in time to stop the first bullet but I got it up in time to stop the rest
of them. And then I healed Aunt Melissa. I just knew what to do." Willow
babbled out comfortable in her mother's arms. 

"I know, you have always been special." Dana said kissing her daughter's
head. 

"Good, then understand this, mom, you can't protect me anymore. I was 6 when
I saved Aunt Melissa. I am a senior in high school now, I am a lot stronger
now and I can protect you." Willow said straightening up her clothes.

"Willow you still have a lot to learn. And I want you to only use your
powers for good." Dana said frankly.

"Understood." Willow said smiling at her mother.

"And this Tara thing, we are going to talk about it." Dana said pushing away
and crossing her arms as she looked at her daughter.

$%$%$%$%$%$$%$$%$%$%%$$%$$%$%$%$

"Buffy has sex all over the house, all the time, with lots of partners."
Dawn screamed at her mother.

"Buffy isn't that bad. And she is going through some issues. Besides, I
don't want to talk about Buffy, I want to talk about you." Joyce said
sternly. 

"Mom, I have a boyfriend, get over it." Dawn screamed back, flopping down
into a soft over-stuffed chair in the living room.

"That's fine. I have nothing against you having a boyfriend. But why hide
him from Dana and I? We are still your parents." Joyce said crossly.

"When would I get a minute in, to introduce him. Everything in this house is
all about Buffy being a vampire. Or Tara moving in. Or Willow using magic
too often. Or Buffy's father trying to kill us. Well guess what, life goes
on. And I moved on with it. Deal." Dawn said behind gritted teeth.

"Do you practice safe sex?" Joyce asked carefully.

"Yes, Willow and Buffy have been all over that issues." Dawn said throwing
up her hands in complete frustration.

"How old is he? Where did you meet him?" Joyce asked still looking at her
youngest daughter.

"He is 16, and he is in the same grade as me. He goes to New Pope. I'll be
16 in 3 months." Dawn said slumping in her chair a little.

"Well from now on, I want to meet your boyfriends first. And he will use the
door, not the roof." Joyce said quietly.

"You don't meet all of Buffy's people." Dawn said a little defensively.

"I meet all the important ones. And you're right I don't meet her blood club
partners or her casual sex partners. And I think you understand why, so
don't try and make an argument about it. I have met all of the people in
your sister's life that are important to her. Pike, Cordelia and now Tara.
And I want to know all the people in her life that are important just as I
want to know the important people in your life and in Willow's, I love you
Dawn, so deal." Joyce said imitating her daughter's earlier speech. 

Willow and Dana came into the living room at the tell end of Joyce's speech.
"How are things going?" Dana asked putting a hand on Dawn's head.

"We made a good start. But I think further discussion can happen after
breakfast." Joyce stated as she held out a hand to Dawn in the chair. Dawn
took her mothers hand and stood up. Dana and Joyce then held hands and
walked into the kitchen leaving Willow and Dawn staring at them as they
entered the kitchen.

$%$%$%$%$%$$%$$%$%$%%$$%$$%$%$%$

"That is amazing, and you've never fired a gun before?" Dana asked Dawn. The
girl had managed to hit the target in a close cluster right in the center of
the brainstem. Dana had changed the target point to the base of the skull at
the neck. It was the best point to kill most vampires.

"Honestly, this is the first time." Dawn said smiling. Firing a gun came
very naturally.

"Not to put a downer on this, but Slayers are naturals with most weapons.
Dawn, you need to really learn the best targets for each type of vampire and
Demon." Joyce said before firing her crossbow into the center of Dawn's
cluster 50 feet away.

"Who knew mom was that good with a crossbow." Buffy replied from beside
Tara. Tara was not doing as well. It didn't take long to figure out that
Tara really couldn't fire to kill. She needed to stop, but not kill. It was
hard for her to just hold the gun. 

"I am not a slayer but I still have slayer genes. And my parents taught me
to use a cross bow when I was very young." Joyce replied firing a second
arrow into the target. 

Tara fired her gun into the target, missing it badly most of the time. Buffy
just rubbed her arm when she put the gun down and kissed her shoulder.

"Willow, you want a turn?" Dana asked her daughter.

"Sure, but I don't really need a gun. Ignite!" Willow stated extending her
arm. The target burst into flame as the group watched. "Cease!" Willow then
stated waving her hand again and the fire stopped. There was nothing left of
the target.

"Well that's effective too." Joyce said before firing into Tara's target. 

"Maybe Tara should try another weapon, her emotions are too conflicted to
use a gun." Buffy said slowly as she loaded Tara's gun. 

"I think Beth is right. I can't stop my emotions. I seem to be very anti
gun." Tara said slowly backing away from the cubical at the shooting range.
Buffy recalled the target Tara and her mother had used and put a new target
on the clip. She then pushed the target all the way out. One Hundred yards,
then she fired the gun. Her bullet clusters were as well grouped and actuate
as Dawns were. 

"I see you have slayer genes as well, honey." Tara said proudly from beside
Buffy. 

"Well you know, the family that shoots together." Buffy said but kissed Tara
on the cheek. 

"Now we just need to go over how to kill each sub species." Dana said after
putting a new target up for Dawn. Dawn had reloaded the gun. "Dawn, try your
left hand." Dana added before getting out of the way. Buffy reloaded and
she and Dawn fired into the targets. 

After they'd both finished, Buffy turned to Dana. "How would you kill me?" 

"Like most vampires, beheading is always good. But in the textbooks, a
blessed silver knife that cuts out your heart is best. Blessed silver is an
interesting term. It's not a Christian ritual, but instead it's a Wicca term
for a 3-day ritual. The silver knife has to be blessed by a priestess at the
full moon. My guess is Willow and Tara know more about the ritual than I
do." Dana said slowly. She remembered a time when she was all science, and
science was her only religion. She had been so young then. It was before she
learned to believe in all the things behind the masquerade. Before she was
part of the masquerade. 

"Can you get Dawn one of those blessed knives? I might go evil, if I do, I
want you to kill me." Buffy said in full game face looking at her sister.

"Oh sure Buff, I just kill you just like that." Dawn said snapping her
fingers. 

Buffy was on her in a second pinning her to the ground, still in full game
face. "Dawn, do you think this is going to stop me?" Buffy said forcing Dawn
to release the pistol in her hand. "If I go evil you have to be ready to
kill me. You have to protect them!" Buffy said pointing to the rest of their
family. "This is what I want from you, because you love me." Buffy then let
go of Dawn and moved so fast that no one in the area saw her move. She was
at the other end of the target range before anyone realized.

"Try to shoot me." Buffy said taking the place of the target.

Willow took the gun that Buffy had left on the ground by Dawn. Dawn was
still on the ground unwilling to get up just yet. Willow then walked over to
her mother reloading the gun as she moved. "Mom, go ahead, try and shoot
her. It will be alright, just try and hit her." Willow stated handing the
gun over.

"I'll aim at your legs, Tara should be able to heal you if I hit you." Dana
said taking the gun. Dawn started to stand up but Joyce stopped her. Joyce
just pulled Dawn into her arms and turned them both around to watch what
Dana was about to do.

Dana aimed her 45 at Buffy's right leg and fired. Buffy moved so fast the
bullet didn't stand a chance. "I'll fire a series, I'll aim low, but try and
keep ahead of my shots, I am not stopping until the clip is empty." Dana
said slowly taking aim at Buffy's legs again. This time she fired the
complete clip trying to hit Buffy. It was almost a joke. Buffy could move
faster than the bullets; she moved back and forth around each shot. And it
was clear Dana was trying to hit her.

"One thing is for sure, Lothos doesn't know about this yet. You're faster
than he is." Willow said with a smile. 

"Is this your doing, Willow?" Dana asked dropping the empty clip out of her
gun and starting to reload it. 

"No, I think this is what happens when you mix a slayer with a vampire."
Willow said as Buffy moved back to her family at normal speed. 

"So both my daughters are slayers?" Joyce asked Willow.

"I think so," Willow said slowly.

"That would also explain the Watchers counsel not wanting to send a watcher
for Dawn. Those bastards had to know about this. They have more than a dozen
seers on payroll." Joyce said in frustration. 

"You have been trying to get a watcher for us?" Dawn asked surprised.

"For you, yes. You need a teacher, Dawn. You all need teachers. You three
have so much power. Lothos is not going to be the only one to come after
you. And there are other problems as well. Dawn, the reason I didn't totally
wig this morning over Xander is because I expected it. Magicals have
heightened ability but there is a price. For slayers it's a constant battle
of being hungry and horny. You all have been around Tara enough to realize
how out of control she is when she is hungry and how often she is hungry.
Slayers have the same battles all the time. They have to learn balance.
Willow, this applies to you as well. We will all have to start being honest
with each. No more secrets. All our lives depend on this one principle."
Joyce said as she reloaded her cross bow. 



Carol Clarke

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