Part 13
Tara began to stir in bed; she felt her body aching and her muscles sore; she slowly opened her eyes and felt her head throbbing
"What the fuck?" she winced and used her hand to massage her neck and shoulders; turning to the side she was startled by a pair of sad blue eyes staring at her
"Morning mama" the little girl whispered quietly; the blonde witch groaned and rolled over in order to get up
"What time is it?" she asked crankily
"It's late…you slept the whole day" she informed sweetly "the sun has set already"
"Fuck" she mumbled "explain the sore muscles" the door opened and a redhead witch walked inside
"Hey you're awake" she said hopefully, expecting her soul mate to be back to normal
"Yeah…that pathetic excuse of a slayer hit me pretty hard" she said rolling her head and shoulders making Willow's hopes fly out of the window "I'll break that bitch's face"
"Tara…" Willow reprimand
"What?" she barked annoyed and saw the witch nodding to their child's direction "whatever" she shrugged and moved to the bathroom
Willow ducked her head and covered her face with both hands in a exasperation manner, she then felt a pair of arms hug her legs tightly; she sighed and knelt in front of her daughter; she locked eyes with the little blonde and smoothed her hair
"It's ok baby girl…we'll bring her back, I promise" she swore and the little girl nodded "now, why don't you go downstairs be with your grandpa, huh?"
"Okay" she agreed and left the room. The moment the door closed, Tara came out of the bathroom taking her top off, Willow watched her fussing in her drawer and picking up a clean onyx ribbed v-neck tank
"Are you going out?" Willow asked tentatively
"Yeah…I'm starving" she answered putting the new top on
"We have food…all kinds of goody-goody yummy edible stuff" the blonde applied some lipstick and turned to her
"I need fresh air" she grabbed her coat and left the room
Downstairs the gang was all together in the living room
"So what do we do now?" Xander asked "how do we prevent her from going out?"
"You don't" Spike said coming from the kitchen "any attempt to lock Blondie here will just make her become more rebellion"
"You should know what you're talking about" Xander teased
"I've always been a bad boy" he sneered at him
"Spike has a point…we can't simply lock her in the basement" Giles offered
"You betcha" Tara said coming down the stairs "try something stupid like hitting me again" she glared at Buffy "and I'll show you what I'm capable of"
"And what are you going to do?" Buffy stood up squaring her shoulders "turn me into a toad?"
"That's not a bad idea" Tara charged in the slayer's direction
"Hey, hey…whoa" Faith said jumping between the blondes "you two need a time out"
"She's right…there will be no transformation of any kind" Giles scolded in a fatherly tone; Willow came downstairs and watched the interaction from the last step
"Tara, please" she said touching softly the blonde's arm "we are not the enemy…we just want to help you"
"Help me with what?" the blonde snapped "I'm fine…I've never felt so free in my entire life"
"Tara you don't know what's happening to you…you're not yourself" Giles tried to argue
"Look…you can all stay here and debate your…fantastic theories" she waved a hand at them "but I have better things to do, so…seeya" she turned and walked out of the front door
"Tara…" Willow called but it was too late
"Don't worry…I'll follow her" Spike offered "I'll keep an eye on her"
"Here" Faith tossed him her cell phone "call us in case of 911" he nodded and left after the blonde leaving the gang exchanging worried glances and sighs
Tara walked along the dark streets of Sunnydale, she didn't have a specific destination she was just wandering around and enjoying the feeling of freedom, but she could sense somebody on her tow
"Why are you following me Spike?" she asked without turning around
"Well…I thought I should hang with the likes of me" he answered cynically
"I'm not like you" she answered resuming her walking
"Oh…I beg to differ" he smirked and offered her a cigarette "let's see…you'd rather be out here roaming alone in old dangerous Sunnydale than stay at the house with that bunch of losers" he said lighting up her cigarette
"What's with you Spike?" she asked dragging and puffing the smoke out "did you wake up chatty today?"
"No…I just like your new…you" he smirked and checked her out; she released a throaty laugh
"Come on…let's have some fun" she offered and went looking for trouble
A couple of hours later the gang was still in the Summer's living room engrossed in research when Buffy's cell phone rang
"Hello" she answered iding Faith's number
"I think you would consider this a 911" Spike announced from the other side of the line
"Where are you?" she asked jumping to her feet making the gang get into alert mode "I'll be right there" she hung up and turned to the others
"Let's go" in a flash, Willow, Xander, Giles and the slayers were out of the house and inside the car
No longer than ten minutes latter they pulled over at the address Spike had given them; when they got out of the car their eyes went wide at the sight of Tara fighting four demons at the same time; Buffy and Faith charged forward immediately in order to help the blonde, the others ran to help Spike who was fighting a strong male vampire and two female ones at the same time; together they dusted all three of them
"Spike what happened?" Giles inquired
"Well…me and bird were minding our own business when she saw that bunch threatening the little boy over there" he pointed to a small boy and a woman crouching trying to hide behind a dumpster "she suddenly moved into their direction and started beating the tar out of them" he explained "the problem is that there is a demon bar right on the corner and the next thing I saw it was raining demons"
"Alleluia" Xander joked and received annoyed glares from the other three
"So you're saying that she jumped to protect the little boy?" Giles tried to understand
"hum-hum…that's correct" the blond vampire nodded
"What is it Giles?" Willow asked sensing that the watcher was up to something
"I think we might have a chance to bring her back" he answered cryptically and watched Tara, Buffy and Faith chase the demons away and help the little boy and his shaken mother to their feet