Part 3
Buffy and Faith were out patrolling. Buffy was talking a blue streak and Faith didn't seem to be listening at all to her girlfriend's babbling; it didn't take long for the blonde slayer to realize that
"…and then I told him to come and fuck me senseless" she snickered when she saw Faith's head jerk up
"What?"
"Ha…glad you decided to join the conversation" Buffy replied cynically
"Sorry, B" she sighed deeply "I was just thinking about something"
"Care to share?"
"It's probably nothing" Faith shook her head trying to dismiss her thoughts but Buffy knew something was bugging her girlfriend and decided to pry. She stopped walking and turned to look at the brunette; she waited until Faith looked at her eyes
"Talk to me, baby" releasing another sigh she asked
"Have you noticed anything weird about Tara lately?" she asked
"Tara? No, why?" Buffy furrowed her brows
"Well…it's just…" she stopped talking and lifted her head looking past Buffy; Buffy did the same and looked past Faith's back
"Two behind you" she informed the brunette
"Three behind you" Faith smirked at her
"Let's dance" moving forward they met their respective group of vampires. Faith punched one and kicked another; a third one came and grabbed her from behind, she snapped her head back and hit him in the face, he stepped backwards and she kneed him in the gut; she moved back to the first vamp, raised the stake and jammed it into his chest; she moved to second and repeated the process. Buffy fought two vamps at the same time; she did a high side kick to the first vampire's jaw, grabbed onto his shirt and neck and threw him to the ground. The second vamp whirled around and tried to kick her, but she easily ducked it. She punched him in the gut and then again in the face sending him to the ground as well, she then used a stake to dust both of them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark figure approaching from her left, with pure reflex she turned, grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto the ground, she was about to strike him but froze in middle action
"Spike?"
"Hello pumpkin" he said smirking at her
"What are you doing here?" she asked stepping away from him
"Well…it's nice to see you too" he said while standing up and cleaning some dirty from his clothes. Buffy eyed him suspiciously but didn't say anything, he then started to move towards her "actually, it's really nice to see you" he walked around her ogling at her body "you're more beautiful than ever…your hair grew longer, your curves are…"
"Very well treated by the person who sleeps with her" Faith said narrowing her eyes at him and dusting the last vamp without even turning when he tried to attack her from behind; she then jerked the stake out and moved closer to the blond vampire
"Who happens to be a vampire slayer holding a…spike" she lifted the piece of wood threateningly at him.
"Okay, I got the message" He put his hands up in a surrender manner and stepped away from Buffy "I didn't come here looking for trouble"
"Then why are you here?" Buffy asked in an annoyed tone
"Something bad is coming" he answered seriously
At the magic box, the gang were together listening to what spike had to say
"Okay…and why do we believe him?" Xander asked suspiciously
"Because we've learned that scum always floats to the surface" Buffy lifted her eyebrows mockingly at him
"So do you have any idea of what this big bad is?" Willow asked trying to make any sense of this conversation
"No…but I can feel it on the atmosphere…it's like an…energy or something" he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up
"Well, I think it can be just your paranoia talking" Tara said mischievously. She then stood up, reached over to his cigarettes and snatched the pack out of his hands; she sneered at him, lifted the pack to her lips, pulled one out and lit it up. She dragged it and puffed out without breaking their gaze
"Thanks" she said returning the pack to him
"Tara, what are you doing?" asked an astonished redhead
"What?" Tara asked and saw her friends staring at her with their mouths agape
"You never smoked" Willow said surprised by her girlfriend's behavior
"well, that's not entirely true" she answered shaking the cigarette that she was holding between her index and middle finger "I've had my rebel days" she took another drag of the cigarette
"Rebel, you?" Spike snorted not buying her behavior "please…I bet the most dangerous thing you've ever done was crossing the street without checking both sides" he said smirking
"I may surprise you" she answered challengingly
"Don't get me wrong bird…but your soul is so pure that you might get a pair of wings after you die" he said locking eyes with her
"Baby, are you okay?" Willow asked softly placing a concerned hand on Tara's shoulder
"yes…I'm okay" she smiled at her girlfriend and the redhead could see all the softness back in her baby's sapphire blue eyes "I'm sorry…I don't know why I lit this…" she showed the cigarette in her hand "but if it bothers you I'll just put it out" she then threw it on the floor and stepped over it "okay?"
"Thank you" Willow whispered with a worried smile; sensing her girlfriend's uneasiness Tara caressed Willow's face
"Will, you and Ariel are the most important things in my life…I love you" she took Willow's hand in hers and pulled her into a loving hug
"Is there room in this hug for an old watcher?" they all turn to look at the front door
"Giles?"
"Oh my god" Tara ran to meet her father figure with a tight embrace
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Buffy asked replacing Tara in the watcher's arms
"I'm sorry…I left in a bit of a hurry"
"Why, is everything okay?" Willow asked sensing trouble ahead
"Actually that's what I was going to ask" he said moving around the shop "how's everything around here?"
"Well, you know, the usual…no apocalypses" Xander answered "why?"
"I was at the council and some seers started to get…restless about their visions" he removed his glasses and started cleaning them
"Why? What did they see?" Tara asked furrowing her brows
"The future…a very chaotic one" he tucked his glasses back on "they said something about darkness"
"Funny…Ariel has been dreaming about, like she said, dark" Willow commented
"Yeah, and to make weird weirder, Spike shows up talking about sensing a bad energy in the air" Xander observed
"Do you think there's a connection?" Buffy asked concernedly
"I'm afraid so"