FF:The Spiral Cage 18/?

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: The Spiral Cage
Part Eighteen: Sky Dancing
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
Sky Dancing

Willow sat quietly on a cloud looking down at the nightlights that made up
the City of Angels, Los Angeles. She set quietly, watching over her
hometown, lost in thought. She was so still she might have been in a deep
state of meditation. Beside her, puffs of clouds circled and turned making
themselves into a set of screens and eccentric monitors, not that different
then those you might find at the Houston Space Center where they monitor
Space Shuttles. While the screens made up of clouds were modeled after
Houston, their purpose was to monitor things on earth, not in space. 

Willow was brought out of her thought-fest by a single form on her monitors.
Willow pulled a piece of cloud onto her lap and it turned into a copy of her
favorite laptop. She pressed a button and she could see her bedroom on the
screen. She looked down on her own body and Tara's wrapped together in a
peaceful sleep. The scene made her smile as she remembered their pre-bedtime
spells followed by lovemaking. Willow was quickly growing to love Tara. She
always slept better next to the healer. 

Willow watched as Buffy tossed off her clothes and left them is a messy pile
on her bedroom floor. She knew Buffy was completely silent as she moved in
the darkroom. Darkness wasn't a problem for Buffy she could see perfectly in
complete darkness. Buffy slipped onto the bed just a quickly and moved to
Tara. The vampire then began her nightly ritual. She carefully checked Tara
over, rubbing her head up and down Tara's body in a catlike fashion. Even
from her seat on the cloud Willow could hear her loud purring. Finally Buffy
checked her last bite mark to make sure it was healing. Buffy was really
trying to wean Tara off her addictive bites. 

Willow often wondered how Tara slept through this nightly ritual of Buffy's.
With her ritual done Buffy smoothed the bedspread out and then shapeshifted
in to a panther. Willow's stepsister was fast a sleep in a matter of second
after she shifted. 

"I know you're there. I feel your presence." Willow said still watching her
bedroom on the screen. 

"Are you sure you wish me to come out?" The voice in the clouds echoed in
the sky. 

"Yes." Willow stated putting the laptop back into her many monitors and
standing up on the cloud.

"Interesting office you have made for your work." The forming shape on the
end of cloud said.

"It works, Gabriel." Willow said facing the still-forming shape. She
watched, as the form became a human male shape in a gray suit. 

"Yes it does. Actually I know several angels that would like to copy your
ideas." The man said.

"I see you have picked a human form." Willow said pushing a few buttons on
her control panels.

"Well, I still remember your first reaction to my true form." Gabriel said
making a chair out of the cloud across from Willow. 
"I was six, Gabriel. Name a six-year-old that wouldn't wig. The whole four
faces, Bull, eagle, man, snake thing is pretty scary." Willow said in an
irritated tone before pushing several more buttons.

"Willow, it isn't time yet. You are too young to take over this job. I know
you think you're ready but..." Gabriel said gently putting a hand on Willow.
Willow just shook his hand away and turned back to her monitors. 

"I haven't taken over yet. I am just doing some prelim work. As you said, I
need to finish my PHD, and get married at least once. Wasn't that your exact
words?" Willow asked rudely. 

"Since you lost your virginity you have been nearly impossible." Gabriel
replied throwing his arms up in the air. 

"Maybe it's not my virginity, but the fact I thought you were a dream."
Willow pointed out as she pushed several more buttons and then frowned. 

"I wish you still thought that. Remember it's you who sought me out. I had
planed to allow you your childhood." Gabriel explained carefully. 

"Be careful what you wish for... Got it Gabriel." Willow said rudely,
pushing past the man to check several more readings on the other side of the
cloud. 

"Your mates are both so beautiful." Gabriel said from a panel where he had
tuned in Willow's bedroom. 

"They aren't my mates. Tara is Buffy's mate and my sometimes bed buddy.
Buffy and I aren't.... Why the hell am I explaining this to you? You already
know." Willow said completely frustrated.

Gabriel shifted forms to that of a true Serphan. His four faces shifting and
forming over and over around his head. His wingspan spreading over the whole
of the large cloud formation. Gabriel then waved his hand and all of
Willow's monitors and cloud formations disappeared into nothingness.

"Now what is wrong with you? You are not like this normally, you're acting
like a rebellious teenager." Gabriel stated in frustration. 

Willow just burst out in deep laughter. "I am a rebellious teenager or have
you forgotten." 

Gabriel looked at the red-haired girl in front of him and began laughing
himself. "So you are. Maybe I expect too much from you," He said kindly. 

"Everything is just so hard now. And I am not talking about the dozen or so
lighting bolts that have hit me this week. It's just all so hard. Being a
witch was one thing. But this whole mage thing..." Willow said slowly.

"Wizard, you're a wizard." Gabriel corrected. "Mages have demon blood. You,
my daughter, have the blood of the Serphan in your veins." 

"Ira Rosenberg is my father, you're just someone who stepped in and played
genetic scientist with my mother when she was stoned out of her teenage
mind." Willow said calmly.

"Ira is a good man. A good father, yes Ira is your father in all the ways
that count." Gabriel said slowly. 

"You know I am never calling you dad, right?" Willow asked as she looked
around the cloud. She missed her monitors and flow of information. 

"I never expected you to. Willow, I am here to help guide you. The choices
are still yours, good or bad, right or wrong. Willow, I am very proud of
you." Gabriel said slowly. 
"I have to end the dreamwalk. My body needs sleep." Willow said as she felt
the tether of her mortal body pull on her. 

"Yes, return. Sleep well my child." Gabriel said as watched her soul return
to the earth. 

"Is she close to being ready?" A second angel asked, stepping out from
behind the clouds.

"No, not even close. She is still a child, how could she be." Gabriel said
sadly. 

"Do you still want the lighting strikes to continue?" The second angel
asked.

"Yes, the only chance she has, is to absorb enough power to make the
transformation." Gabriel stated.

"So far we have kept the strikes secret. If we speed them up to the power
levels she needs, someone will learn of them. At least her family." The
angel asked.

"Yes, I know. Just continue them." Gabriel said. 

^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

Buffy and Willow were both sitting outside eating lunch in the football
stand. "Where are Dawn and Xander?" Willow asked looking around for her
stepsister.

"Do you honestly want to know?" Buffy answered before biting into her apple.


"Right, stupid question. Is she still feverish and overly hormonal?" Willow
asked concerned. 

"Yes, and Sister Sarah Michelle is guarding Xander like crazy. She doesn't
want him to spend the night anymore, so Dawn is not doing all that well."
Buffy admitted.

"I wish I could speed up the change for her. It doesn't seem fair." Willow
admitted. 

Both Buffy and Willow suddenly stopped. Both were looking at the sky.
"Something is wrong." Buffy said just above a whisper.

"Run, as fast as you can." Willow said quickly running from the stands.
Buffy took off running in a complete blur. Buffy was at the other side of
the field when the first lightening bolt hit Willow in the center of the
field. She was knocked off her feet. She struggled to get up before the
second bolt hit; she got her shield up before the third on hit. She was on
her feet for the fourth one. After twenty or more strikes the sky returned
to the normal sunny California sky.

Buffy ran to Willow's side and caught her in her arms before she fainted.
Buffy carried her over the smoldering grass into the woman's locker room.
Electricity danced over Willows body making it hard for Buffy to carry her.
If Buffy were human she would not have been able to do it. 

Laying her down on the bench carefully, she began to check for damage. "I'm
fine. I am always fine afterward. Just really weak." Willow said sitting up
as the electricity danced over her body like a Tesla ball. 

"This has happened to you before?" Buffy asked a little shocked.

"Seems like all the time. Really I am fine. I just need to go back outside
and ground myself, bleed off the extra zap." Willow said trying to put her
feet on the ground.

"Willow, first you need to change clothes. Those are fried." Buffy said
helping Willow to sit up. 

"Really, well that's a first. Normally it's just my shoes." Willow admitted
looking at her clothes.
"I counted 20 strikes, is that normal?" Buffy asked still concerned as she
started to help Willow change clothes. Her cloths were nearly burned off her
body. 

"That many, wow, normally it's like 2 or 3. Explains why I feel so damn
drained." Willow said moving her arms to help Buffy take what was left of
her shirt off. 

"I can't believe your skin is fine." Buffy said looking over Willow's back
after she removed her shirt. 

"Yeah, freaked me out too, the first time. Buffy, you can't tell my mom,
ok." Willow said weakly as she fell back into Buffy's arms. Buffy
straightened her up but held on to her stepsister. Willow was clearly weak
from the strikes. 

"Great, it's the Lesbo contingent." Harmony said as she walked past Willow
and Buffy, followed by her sheep. 

"That's not what you said in my bed last night." Cordelia Chase replied as
she moved over to Buffy. Harmony started to say something but then blushed.
Both Willow and Buffy realized Harmony had indeed spent the night in
Cordelia's bed. 

"How can I help?" Cordelia whispered as she looked over Buffy and Willow. 

"I think you already did." Buffy replied with a wink. "Open my locker and
get Will out some clothes." Buffy said as she lay Willow back down on the
bench. 

It was hard to get Willow changed. Only Buffy could touch her. After she got
her changed Buffy carried Willow back outside. Once there, Willow put her
hands in the dirt and released all her built-up electricity. Then she passed
out.

^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

"Twenty strikes?" Tara repeated as she looked over a still-unconscious
Willow. "She should be dead."

"Great bedside manner." Cordelia replied from the chair in the corner of the
examining room. 

"You should hear me when my patients are awake." Tara replied back and then
stuck her tongue out at Cordelia.

"Don't stick it out unless you plan to use it." Cordelia shot back with a
smile.

"GrrRRRRRR" Buffy growled in full game face at her two lovers.

"Honey, I can't do anything until she wakes up. And she will wake up. She
seems to be fine." Tara said before kissing her mate. 

"She is going to need some serious conditioning. She has fly away hair."
Cordelia said looking at Willow's hair. 

"Try a glamour spell." Willow said trying to sit up. 

"Easy, don't try and sit up. Willow, can you tell me what happened?" Tara
asked letting her hands glow green and scan Willow's body. 

"Look, I will shoot you. Now let me in." Dana Scully replied from just
outside of the door.

"I thought I asked you not to tell her." Willow said angrily looking at
Buffy. 

"That was before you passed out. Willow, twenty lightening bolts struck
you." Buffy said opening the door and pulling Dana into the exam room. 

"Dana, you can put the gun away." Buffy said to her stepmother. 

"Baby, are you ok?" Dana said in complete mother mode. 

"I am fine mom, honest. I wish you would all stop making such a fuss."
Willow said shyly. 

"Tara, how is she really?" Dana asked as Tara continued a slow scan of
Willow.

"Fine, over charged. She needs to bleed some of this energy off. But my scan
says she is fine. Well, except for her hair. Cordelia is right, you have fly
away hair." Tara said first kissing Willow, then pulling way from and
getting several crystals out of the drawer.

"Buffy, I want you to take Willow outside to the park across the street.
Willow, do you need any help if Buffy can get you outside?" Tara asked as
she continued to set up many rocks and crystals. 

"I know what to do." Willow said sitting up and hoping off the examination
table. Buffy hovered and tried to be ready to catch Willow if she fell.
Willow just pushed past Buffy and left the room. 

"Buffy, bring her back when she gets it out of her system. I am going to
clear her charka points." Tara said still laying out the needed stones. 

"So what really happened?" Dana asked in a hurry. Tara just turned and
stared at Cordelia. 

"Fine, I get the hint." The cheerleader replied and walked out of the exam
room.

"She was hit by lightening, according to Beth, 20 times in a row. And it's
not the first time. That's all Buffy knew. Willow wasn't exactly helpful or
awake. She was just about to tell me when you barged in waving your gun.
Dana, the only way this would happen is if she is causing the lightening to
strike. Somekind of elemental spell, but on a scale I have never heard of.
Not that Willow does things on a normal scale. There is another possibility.
She is being attacked by something very powerful. Only she doesn't seem to
be harmed so the attack seems strange." Tara said as she lit a candle with
magic.

"Jesus." Dana said taking a seat in the chair Cordelia had just left. 

"It's connected to her recent behavior. It's just a guess, no proof.
Actually I was thinking about asking Cordelia. She should emerge as a seer
when she is 20, but she has some intuition, a little magic. It's like Willow
is trying to become... to emerge. I no longer think she is just a witch. Do
you?" Tara asked frankly.

"I don't know. Not all the facts are in. But there is reason to believe she
is changing. Her blood type changed recently." Dana admitted. 

"Many demon races are like that. Blood types appear to be human until they
emerge. It's part of the masquerade. No one knows why. Honestly I am not
surprised." Tara said slowly.

"Why? Why are you not surprised?" Dana asked as her fist almost drew blood
from her hands.

"I share ... the spells with Willow are amazing. It's like casting with an
experienced crone. She does with ease what others struggle their whole life
to learn. There is a reason why magic is not practiced by everyone. It's
very hard to master. And there is ... the sex. That too is amazing. So
different from Beth. When I couple with humans, they have... they can't
last as long. I am mostly human, but not completely human. I know the
difference. Willow lacks experience in the bedroom, but her raw abilities
tell another story. She isn't completely human." Tara explained carefully as
she made her crystal wand glow.

"You're sure of this?" Dana whispered.

"Yes, I think Willow has to know too. I don't really know what she is, maybe
mage, but even that seems wrong. She is an elemental being. I have had to
lead her away from spells that connect her to the earth. Actually from most
elemental spells." Tara said as her crystal around her neck glowed. "Beth is
bringing Willow back in the building now. She is really worried." Tara said
closing her eyes and talking to Buffy telepathically. 

^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

"Rupert, I want you to make an appointment with my daughter. Her contracts
for her birthday are ready at Wolfram & Hart. You'll need to get her in to
sign them. I want you to take her personally." Lothos said just before he
came in Giles' mouth. Giles dutifully swallowed all his masters' cum. Lothos
pulled out of his mouth and Giles began to clean his master with a warm
towel. 

"Rupert, that's enough, now go and make arrangements for my daughter."
Lothos said dismissing his assistant. 

After Rupert Giles had left the office, Lothos turned to his guest. "So, you
own my daughter's whore's mind?" 

"Delightful girl. Actually I find your daughter to be the real prize. Oh and
her seer slut. That girl is wonderful and she has great taste in shoes."
Glory said looking down at her new shoes. 

"I haven't met the seer yet, but I have been told my daughter has good taste
in woman." Lothos said proudly. 

"What do you know about the stepsister? The little red head?" Glory asked
still admiring her shoes.

"The balancer's daughter. Actually nothing. It's her mother that's the
problem. Although not a big problem, she may be a balancer but she is still
human." Lothos said before kissing Glory's feet.

"The mother looks like fun, but the girl is interesting, I can't read her.
Not at all. And I can read everyone." Glory stated as Lothos continued to
kiss her feet. 

"The mother is a balancer, it may be that simple. The daughter is too."
Lothos said moving up her calf with his tongue. 

"You're right, enough talk." Glory said as she shifted to show the underwear
she wasn't wearing underneath her thin cocktail dress. 



Carol Clarke

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