Author: Cynthia Taz
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence)
Disclaimer: All characters, sites and such from 'Buffy, The Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel' belong to Joss Whedon, UPN, WB, and et al. All characters, sites and such from 'Grand Theft Auto' series belongs to Rockstar Games and Rockstar North. No copyright infringement intended. All new characters and storylines belong to the author (Yah me!). This story is not sell or for any profit.

Locking up her car, Tara stepped into Miyuki's condo with a sigh. While the blond did not look forward to another day of working for Miyuki, she was glad at least she would not have to go shopping with the 'sluttish woman' (as Tara had taken up the habit to call) any time soon - Willow had came to the condo after all the excitements yesterday and

Moving towards the living room, Tara's eyes couldn't help but stared at the only closed door in the condo. From what she had heard, it was the master bedroom that once belonged to the old waka-gashira, aka Willow's lover Asuka Kasen. The room was now locked, forbade from anyone's entrance except Willow. "You."

"You."

Tara almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Miyuki's voice. She turned towards the sluttish woman, and nodded.

"That pig in Squid disrespected me yesterday. I want you to burn down his store!"

The blonde blinked. "Um... don't you think it's a bit... over-reacting?"

Miyuki narrowed her eyes. "You dare to question me?"

"N-no."

"Though so." Miyuki snorted. "I want nothing left except smoke and fire, understand?"

Tara nodded, and sighed.

Tara sighed again as she reached the Squid at Bedford Point. Stepping out of the landstalker she had carjacked earlier, the blond pulled out a handgun and a Molotov Cocktail, before rushing into the store. "OUT! OUT!" She screamed, waving her gun like a mad-woman.

The people in the store screamed and cleared out. Once Tara was sure that everyone had left, she moved herself next to the exit before throwing the Molotov Cocktail towards the stack of clothes at the corner. Immediately, the clothes caught on fire, and Tara pulled out another Cocktail and threw it towards another stack of clothes at the opposite side, before running out of the store.

To Tara's horror, two police cars were already there, greeting her as she reached outside. "POLICE! FREEZE!" Tara did not even think about it as she jumped into the landstalker, dumped the clutch and launched the car, trying to escape from the police.

As Tara drove the car around the city, trying to buy herself sometime to think and shaking the police that were right on her tail, she silently cursed herself for stealing a landstalker. While this type of cars did have a good speed, it was not as stable as other builds and the tires skipped easily, causing it harder to control.

Turing the radio station to the police channel (which most car radios managed to do nowadays), Tara was surprised that the little fire she had started had awarded her two warrant stars. Of course, it might have been due to the fact that she had to knock down one of the police cars when she tried to get away, but that would also mean that the police would not give up any time soon. Usually, with only one warrant star, the police would at most following her couple of blocks before giving up, as most LCPD officers tended to do.

Sighing, Tara drove herself back to Newport, before quickly turning into one of the allies - where the Pay 'N' Spray located in. It took less than a minute for the workers there to re-paint the car, and when the blond drove the land stalker back on the street, all the police were gone. Sighing for like the hundredth time, Tara drove back to her apartment.

Locking up the door to her apartment, Tara turned on the light, and almost jumped out of her skin when she spotted a familiar figure sitting on the couch. "Faith!"

"T." Faith greeted, taking a slip of the can of coke in hand. "You're out of beer."

"You know I don't drink." Tara answered with a frown. "And what are you doing here anyway?"

"Can't I visit my friend?"

"Faith..."

"Fine." Faith finished her soft drink and but the empty can onto the coffee table. "I'm worried."

A soft smile touched Tara's lips. "I'm fine, Faith." She said, sitting next to her friend.

"Are you?" Brown eyes met blue. "I know you helped clear out the Espresso-2-Go in the city, and were in the Squid shooting yesterday. But you never report back. It's not like you at all."

"I was-s bus-sy."

"You never been that busy when you were working for little Jo or Toni." Tara's head dropped a bit. "Tara..."

"I am s-sorry."

Faith sighed, her hand traveled through her thick long hair. "That woman's dangerous, Tara."

"Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about. That redhead. The Yakuza you're supposed to be working for."

Tara looked away.

"I did a bit more digging on her. That woman isn't exactly sunshine and puppy, T. You don't wanna get too close to her."

"I'm working for Miyuki now."

"But she's the one who actually do the planning, right?" Tara looked away again. "Look, this woman involves dozens of murders, and most of them ain't pretty either. There's whole lot of chicks out there for you. You don't need her-"

"What are you talking about? I don't have any relationship with her except a professional one."

"But you want to." Tara frowned. "Don't tell me you aren't. I know you long enough to catch the look on your face when I mentioned her. And you wouldn't be protecting her if you don't have strong feelings for her."

"I'm not protecting her!"

"Whatever you say." Faith stood up and moved towards the front door. "You're my friend, T. I just want the best for you." She opened the door and paused. "Just... watch yourself, 'kay?"

Tara did not get to reply as the door closed quietly, leaving Tara alone with her own thoughts.