FF:The Spiral Cage 16/?

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: The Spiral Cage
Part Sixteen: Mineral Rights
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
Mineral Rights

Joyce woke up early in the morning. She smiled as she watched Dana sleeping
next to her. Dana always looked so peaceful, her little demon hunter. Since
the truth of their children had began to unfold in their lives they had been
revealing secrets to each other. So many secrets. Dana, Joyce had
discovered, had slowly become a kind of demon hunter slash balancer. A
balancer walked between the demon world and the human world keeping the
masquerade in place. Dana had started down this path first with Fox Mulder
on the X-Files. Then when she and Mulder threatened the masquerade, she had
become a target. 

Killers had been sent to her house to remove the threat, to kill her.
Instead they had shot and nearly killed her sister Melissa in front of her
six-year-old daughter. To save her family, to save Willow, Dana had sold out
in a way. She had made a deal to leave the X-files. She had been sent to LA
to work in the occult unit. And from there she had become a balancer. It was
a deal she'd never regretted. Willow was more than worth the price in Dana's
mind and if she was honest, Dana liked the work she did. Sometimes she was
unhappy with her connection to Majestic, but overall they left her alone to
do her job. Dana was meant to be a balancer, and she was very good at it.
(FYI: Majestic is the government agency in charge of keeping the masquerade)

Joyce had revealed her history to Dana as well. Not just the nightmare years
of her marriage to Hank Summers, but her childhood of slayer lore, and the
world of demon hunters and watchers. The power of the truth had brought them
closer together and made their marriage that much stronger. 

Joyce leaned over and kissed Dana softly trying not to wake her lover.
Lover, Joyce thought with great joy, Dana was a passionate lover and always
made love to her every night no matter the time she came in from work.
Smiling again as she slid out of bed, she pulled the covers up over Dana's
naked form before tip toeing into the master bathroom. 

Once dressed Joyce quietly left their bedroom. She could hear Tara humming
in the shower softly to herself. Peeking into Buffy's bedroom she could see
Cordelia and Buffy cuddling under the covers. It no longer bothered Joyce to
see Buffy with her lovers. For a vampire, Buffy was almost a priest in her
love affairs. Seeing how sweetly she cuddled with her lover, it gave Joyce
hope that Buffy would choose the right path when she walked through the
fire. 

Joyce then walked down the hall. Willow's door was open and the bed made.
Tara had slept in Willow's bed the night before, so Joyce wasn't surprised
to see Willow had already gone downstairs. Finally she peeked in on Dawn.
Dawn was tossing and turning in bed talking to herself in a deep dream
state. It was something most emerging slayers did. They dreamed-walked in
the spirit world until they emerged and could control the dreamwalk. Joyce
understood enough about her daughter's condition to leave her alone, it was
not wise to wake a dreamwalker. In fact, some dreamwalkers had slipped into
a coma when awakened too soon from the depths of dreamwalking. With a sad
glance at her daughter she left the room. 

Joyce then headed down the stairs. Even before she reached the bottom of the
stairs she could hear Xander's loud snoring from the living room couch.
Buffy must have brought him home when she returned from her late night hunt.
Buffy could no longer make it through the night without a quick hunt.
Somehow Xander's home was on her hunting route. If Xander's parents were
having another one of their drunken fights Buffy always brought Xander home
and put him to bed on the couch. It was as if Buffy had adopted Xander as
some kind of lost puppy. Joyce and Dana both liked the boy and never minded
him spending the night. 

Joyce did a quick visual scan of Xander to look for visual bruises, then she
went into the kitchen. Willow was working quietly on her laptop at the
kitchen table. 

"How long have you been up?" Joyce asked turning on the coffee machine.

"Tara and I got up at sunrise to do a few spells." Willow said looking up
from her computer for only a second.

"Just spells?" Joyce asked with a knowing leer.

"It was part of the spell." Willow admitted without looking away from her
computer. "Is Dawn still dreamwalking?" Willow asked to change the subject.

"Yes, tossing and turning in bed." Joyce said sadly.

"And she will do this until she is chosen?" Willow asked.

"She has already been chosen, I hate that term, but yes until she is fully a
slayer, she will continue to dreamwalk at night." Joyce said sitting down
next to Willow. 

"And if she never becomes a full slayer?" Willow asked slowly.

"Then she will toss and turn herself into the grave. She either becomes a
slayer in the next year or two, or she will slowly waste away." Joyce
admitted carefully. 

"The dream world will become more and more real to her, until she can't
separate the two. Her brain functions will become more erratic. After two or
three years of dream walking she will start to have seizures. The seizures
will become so violent they will kill her in the end." Tara said just above
a whisper as she entered the room. 

"So she has to become a slayer." Willow said with complete resolve.

"Did Buffy ever dreamwalk?" Tara asked Joyce pouring herself and Joyce a cup
of coffee.

"I don't know. Buffy hid her ... I have no idea what to call it, but Buffy
hid it well. The first signs I ever noticed were her caged animal behavior.
She still has that at times but it's better. She stopped sleeping a lot at
night. Now she gets maybe 3 or 4 hours sleep at most. You sleep next to her
most nights, well when you're not in Willow's bed, how is she at night?"
Joyce asked taking a sip of her coffee. She was pleased to notice Willow
turning a little red and staring down at her computer. 

"She sleeps very deeply when she sleeps. She never sleeps without checking
on everyone in the house, and well Xander. She checks on him every night on
her hunts. She doesn't toss and turn like Dawn. And she doesn't talk in her
sleep." Tara said rubbing Willows arms at her last remark. Willow talked in
her sleep a great deal as well. 

"But she is a vampire, they tend to be deep sleepers. She could be
dreamwalking in her sleep. I have no way of knowing without entering her
sleep. And that is really dangerous. Willow might be able to do it, but I
don't think I have the skill level." Tara admitted. 

"Why would Willow be able to do it?" Joyce asked with curiosity.

"Willow is a sorceress-level witch. I think she might be a mage. She has
amazing power. Not that power is an issue. It's really the type of witch. I
am an intuitive witch, we are better at healing and sometimes we can be
seers. Willow has control of the elements. She could easily become an
alchemist. She can also dreamwalk." Tara explained before taking another
drink of coffee. 

"I thought mages were demons?" Joyce said then covered her mouth, she hadn't
meant to say that out loud. 

"Mages are part demon sometimes, yes." Tara admitted rubbing Willow's arm. 

"My mother is a balancer, she might have been changed. Joyce, I am clearly
more than just witch." Willow said frankly still typing on her computer. It
was clear Willow had carefully been piecing information together about
herself. 

"Willow, you are powerful, but ... I just don't know." Joyce said still
thinking about it. Willow was more powerful than any witch she had ever met
in her life. And Tara's suggestion of Mage made a lot of sense.
"Merlin. Willow, have you ever researched Merlin?" Joyce suddenly asked. 

"Merlin?" Willow asked confused.

"The legend of Arthur? Yes, I see where you are going with this." Tara said
with a smile.

"Ok, want to fill me in?" Willow said a little frustrated.

"No, you do the research. Look into Merlin and it will come to you." Joyce
said with resolve. 

"Ok, but it will have to wait until I finish my homework." Willow said, even
more frustrated. "And what about Dawn? Do you want me to try and dreamwalk
with her or Buffy?" Willow asked seriously.

"Not Dawn. She has to do it alone. Let me talk to Buffy about her dreams.
She must be having vampire dreams; she certainly speaks with her father in
the dream world. It will take time to sort her dreams out, but I think we
should try talking with her before we do anything desperate like shared
dreams." Joyce stated again with resolve.

"I can help you. She talks to me about her vampire side." Tara said slowly. 

"You are her mate, speaking of mating has she finished the ritual yet?"
Joyce asked concerned. 

"Basically yes. She is weaning me off the bites. She wants to do it slowly
so she is taking her time." Tara said a little embarrassed.

"That's good, cold turkey off the bites is really hard. Still you need to
get off them, and make sure she doesn't bite you again for a year or two.
The venom in her bites is a really potent drug." Joyce said rubbing her
shoulder were Lothos first left his mark. 

"You've had first hand experience?" Willow asked.

"To carry a halfling child to term you have to build up antibodies to the
vampire. You have to have been marked by the vampire first. Normally you
must become addicted to his or her bite first." Tara explained carefully to
her lover. 

"So Buffy's father?" Willow asked slowly.

"When I was a child, around the age of 13, he dreamwalked with me, and then
I became addicted to his bite. I still have an addiction problem with bites.
Like an alcoholic has with drink, I have gone back several times on my own,
live donor stuff. I take it one day at a time. It really is a powerful
drug." Joyce admitted. 

"Your slayer blood, you can dreamwalk?" Tara asked quietly. 

"Dreamwalk, fire weapons with a good deal of actuary, I was good at sports
in my youth. All the trappings of the slayer line without being a slayer. I
am a breeder in the crudest term."

"And you can't do magic! Slayer bloodlines have trouble with straightforward
magic." Tara said with a smile.

"Which brings us to you, good morning." Buffy said kissing Tara on the lips.
None of them had heard her move into the kitchen. She could move incredible
fast and not make a sound. 

"My family originally gave the slayers witch partners. Slayers can be around
magic but can't do even the simplest of spells. So they hired witches to do
needed spells. Only, in my family slayers and witches inter-married. The
results were weakened slayers with magic skills. Although slayers are rare
in my family, we still carry one of the original slayer lines." Tara
explained.

"And that is why my 'wonderful' father wants us to have a baby. He wants
vampire slayers quite literally. I just wish I understood where he was going
with this." Buffy said before pouring herself and Willow a glass of juice. 

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

Lindsey took a last glance of the contract before opening the door to Lilah
Morgan's office. He never bothered to knock, he knew Lilah could smell him
coming. 

"So are the contracts done?" Lilah asked as she took a seat on her desk with
a cup of coffee in her hand. 

"They are done, I am just not sure Lothos will be happy about them. You left
a rather large loop-hole in the plan." Lindsey said as he handed the
documents over to Lilah. He then looked over at the young woman sitting on
the couch in Lilah's office. At first he thought the young woman was one of
Lilah's never-ending parade of young female lovers. But the woman was a
little too old for Lilah. She looked to be about 19, in a nice looking
evening gown. Something chic and hip that would fit in at a posh LA
nightclub. Her hair was curly, long and blond. Her eyes, hazel, almost none
discript, and she was drinking champagne at 8 am in the morning. 

"Lindsey McDonald, I would like you to met Glorificus. She is the holder of
the mineral rights on Lothos's contracted healer." Lilah said with a smile. 

"Glory for short, mmmn this one is so cute." Glory said moving over to
Lindsey and rubbing against his body. "It's been fun, Lilah, but I must
dash, I need new shoes." And with that Glory disappeared out the door
tossing her glass against the back wall as she left. 

Lindsey remained quiet for several seconds. Lindsey had learned the power of
silence. 

"She's a hell god. Mad as a hatter, but very powerful." Lilah said walking
around her desk and taking a seat. She opened the folder Lindsey had brought
her to go over. 

"Lilah, about the mineral rights. Do you think it's wise to have removed
them from the initial contract?" Lindsey asked concerned.

"Lothos was aware of the mineral rights clause to the contract when he
purchased Tara from Wolfram and Hart. He was interested in breeding her; her
mind was of no concern. In fact it will be easier to impregnate her without
her mind and her magic to stop him." Lilah said with a smile.

"So Lothos is aware of the clause?" Lindsey asked uncertain. 

"Oh, he is aware. He just doesn't believe anyone has the guts to use it."
Lilah said with a smile.

"But you sold the rights to a hell goddess?" Lindsey asked still thinking
this all over.

"Yes," Lilah said still looking over the contracts.

"So Ms Summers is going to get her mate as a birthday present, only to have
the girl lose her mind?" Lindsey asked summing up the events to come.

"Yes!" Lilah said with a laugh.

"What did this girl do to you?" Lindsey asked still studying his boss.

"She made me pay for healing services. Oh, she has to pay. She really
thought I didn't have a claim to her still." Lilah said with such hate that
Lindsey took a step back. 

"Are the contracts to your liking?" Lindsey asked to cover his backward
step.

"They seem to be as Lothos asked. Two year contract with a child clause, she
will be enslaved until she bares Buffy a child. It's fairly straightforward.
Buffy signs this and at midnight on her 18 birthday Tara's body is hers. But
only her body, well and her soul. But her mind is Glory's." Lilah said with
a smile. 

"Our seers sent a warning. Elizabeth Summers truly mated with the girl, body
and soul. Tara is already hers in normal terms. She loves the healer. And
she is a powerful child of Lothos. She may be able to defeat him in ring
combat. Our seers say it's possible she could win leadership of Lothos'
Pride. She will not take the loss of her lover's mind without a fight."
Lindsey said frankly.

"Then she won't to be able to beat Lothos. She can't afford a side battle.
She will lose if she goes up against Glory." Lilah said with glee.

"You want her to lose?" Lindsey asked.

"Elizabeth Summers as leader of Lothos' Pride! Lothos serves the dark
master. Ms. Summers will be a warrior for light; she will change Pride
Lothos. The senior partners don't want that to happen." Lilah said with
great delight.

"So you set her up to fight a hell god!" Lindsey asked amazed. 

"Yes, it's brilliant isn't it." Lilah said still reeling with delight. 

"One question?" Lindsey said moving toward the door. "What happens if she
does beat your hell goddess?" 

"It's a hell god, Lindsey." Lilah closing the door with her mind and
shutting Lindsey out. 

&%&%&%&%&%&%&

Somewhere in Wolfram and Hart's baseman rooms a seer looked up and smiled.
She remembered her time in Lilah's bed and her blood oath contract to
Wolfram and Hart. Things were finally working out the way she wanted them
too. She was finally going to enjoy the future. 

&%&%&%&%&%&%&

"May I have another pancake?" Xander asked politely as Joyce tried to feed
her large family. She had to smile at that. Somehow they had adopted poor
Xander. And Tara held a kind of daughter-in-law place in the household. It
was growing very clear that Buffy had mated with Tara for life. Ok they both
slept with other people but they had the demon equivalent of a solid
marriage. Joyce wasn't sure how Cordelia fitted into the family role; the
term 'second wife' kept popping into Joyce's head. The fact that as Buffy
got older she would take a second wife was a certainty in Joyce's mind.
Shaking off the visions of life years from now, Joyce returned to passing
out more pancakes to her hungry mob. 

"Honey, sit down and eat. I'll cook the next batch." Dana offered getting up
and kissing Joyce before taking over at the stove. 

"Thanks. So what is everyone going to do today, since it's a non-school
day?"

"I have to go into the office, I have several clients to see." Tara said
with a smile.

"I have to finish some paperwork this afternoon too, I was hoping to take
Dawn into the range. I thought she could practice with a few weapons while I
worked on my paperwork." Dana said from the stove flipping more pancakes.

"Cool, is Lance going to be there?" Dawn asked. She was a regular at the
range. Dana could just drop her off at this point.

"When is Lance not at the range. Actually, I talked to him yesterday, he
said you could come in today." Dana admitted. 

"Maybe Xander could go along and watch, unless you need to go home?" Joyce
said politely, she could tell Xander didn't want to be left out and going
home after his parents drunken bouts was best done a few days later. 

"Cool, great idea, mom!" Dawn said excitedly. You could almost see Xander
beam. 

"Thanks I would like that!" Xander said with a smile.

"Well I have homework today. I am going to the library." Willow said
quietly.

"Funny, Melissa called and said she was going to pick you up and take you to
a Wicca festival today. Willow don't lie to me." Dana said pointedly.

"I am going to do homework at the library before she picks me up." Willow
said flatly. She was becoming very disconnected from her family at times.
Dana put the frying pan to the side and walked over to Willow. She turned
her head carefully and looked into her eyes. Willow's normally green eyes
were now lavender. They were lavender often now. 

"Willow, honey, change your eyes back." Dana asked her daughter, still
holding her by the chin and looking deep into her eyes.

"I can't, not for a few hours. Still channeling magic from this morning."
Willow admitted.

"Willow that was a simple spell, it was more a connecting spell. It
shouldn't. ..Not after we..." Tara asked completely confused. She still
didn't feel anything wrong with Willow and their earlier morning magic was
more about sex than magic. 

"What kind of connecting spell?" Dana said pushing Dawn out of her chair and
sitting down next to Willow still holding her by the chin and watching her
eyes.

"I don't sense anything wrong either, just normal Willow?" Buffy asked
confused. Joyce had seen Tara's crystal glow for just a second. She and Dana
had long ago picked up on Buffy and Tara's telepathic communication skills.
Skills that Willow also shared. 

"And you don't sense anything either?" Dana asked turning to Tara.

Tara let her eyes slip in to full witch-mode. The whites of her eyes became
dark green, and her pupils became a glowing green the color of Kentucky
bluegrass. With that done she let her hands begin to glow as well. A kind of
bright white light surrounded her hands as she moved them over all of
Willow's body. "Nothing, I feel her magical power, like a twinge, but
everything else is a healthy woman." Tara explained and then powered down
letting her hands and eyes return to normal. 

"Like I said, I sense nothing either?" Buffy said puzzled.

"That's because I am fine." Willow said but she didn't try to pull out of
her mother's hands. 

"The spell this morning, was it a new one?" Dana asked Tara.

"It's a simple connection spell. A kind of pre-sex spell. This one is a
sunrise one, that also connects you to the.... Oh goddess... The Merlin
thing. Joyce, you don't think?" Tara suddenly said turning to Joyce. 

"Dana, let her go, she is fine. She has a strong connection to ... She is
just going to have to be careful doing spells that connect her to certain
elements. Do you think I could tag along to the festival with you and
Melissa?" Joyce asked Willow as she pulled Dana away from her daughter.
Joyce guided Dana back to the stove and started helping her make more
pancakes. Dana gave Joyce a couple of death ray looks but she began making
pancakes again. 

"Well, Buffy is taking me shopping for shoes!" Cordelia stated in an almost
tactless way. Only her statement had the desired effect to get the group
back to less serious talks. 

"Oh that sounds like so much fun. Buffy should really love that!" Tara said
with so much sarcasm Buffy burst out laughing. 

"We are going to the clubs after we shop. I need a blood fix, and Cordy has
this need to wear leather and show off, but I'll try and be home for
dinner." Buffy told her mother still laughing. 

"Fine, take her side, but when we get to the club, you are so punished."
Cordy said with a pout. 

"I think that's the idea, Cordelia." Tara said passing over some bacon to
Cordelia. They had an interesting relationship. Sometimes they seemed like
they hated each other, at other times they got along like best friends. 

"Do you need any money, of course you need money." Dana said as she turned
off the stove and brought the last batch of pancakes to the table.

"Blood isn't cheap, I am sorry." Buffy admitted.

"I know, that is why I asked." Dana said smiling and putting a comforting
hand on Buffy's shoulder. She had grown to love both of Joyce's daughters as
much as she loved her own daughter. 




Carol Clarke

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