Author: Crimson Vampire Goddess
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Okay, so I borrowed most of the characters and the plot. But the new settings came from my own mind! *indignantly*

Darkness. It enveloped her, it possessed her and it scared her. The last thing she remembered was standing at the top of the stairs reaching for the knife in her son's hand and then a sharp pain and then the darkness had closed in on her. She looked around but the darkness surrounded her and she couldn't see anything else; yet somehow she knew exactly where she was going: to him.

The paramedics had arrived and were working on Willow while a police officer tried to talk to Tara.

"Miss, are you alright?" The officer asked squatting down in front of the giggling blond.

"Willow fell down." Tara said in a childlike voice.

"No, ma'am, she didn't. Someone hurt her and they are going to take her to the hospital but right now I'm more concerned about you. Is there anyone I can call for you?" The officer asked.

"No..." She looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again.

"I was making chicken for dinner...I didn't finish...I need to go finish dinner before Willow wakes up. Come on, baby, let's go finish dinner." Tara said picking up Connor and shifting him onto her hip.

"Buffy, I think we're gonna need a little help." The officer said turning to her partner who was speaking with one of the paramedics.

"Why?" The short blond officer asked following Tara with her eyes as the taller blonde disappeared into the kitchen.

"I think she might either be um...challenged...or having a mental breakdown." The brunette officer whispered.

"Faith, you aren't a psychiatrist, you don't know that." Buffy said.

"Talk to her, B, she's not making any sense." Faith said motioning towards the kitchen. Rolling her eyes, Buffy made her way into the kitchen where Tara was humming and busily "cooking" the already burnt chicken.

"You want extra gravy, baby?" Tara asked Connor who was perched on the sink watching Tara.

"Ma'am, can I talk to you for a moment?" Buffy asked stepping towards Tara.

"Would you like some chicken? It's almost done." Tara offered cheerily.

"Err...no thanks." Buffy said glancing at said chicken.

"Ma'am..."

"Call me Tara; it's my name after all." Tara said with a smile.

"Okay, Tara, can I ask what your relationship with Miss Rosenberg is?"

"Willow is my wife." Tara said stilling her movements and staring blankly into the pan.

"Tara, are you okay?" Buffy asked noticing a change in the blond at the mention of her wife.

"I...I..." Tara seemed lost in thought for a moment before she went back to "cooking".

"I need to feed Connor, he must be starving." She said absently. Looking over she smiled at her son before focusing once again on the chicken.

"Okay, well, we'll let you finish...cooking. We'll talk to you again later." Buffy said before exiting the kitchen followed closely by Faith.

"Well?" Faith asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

"We'll have another bus come and take her to the hospital." Buffy said.

"And the kid?"

"I'll call children's services." Buffy said clicking on her radio.

It seemed like she'd been walking forever, but then again, time meant little here so it really didn't matter. 'I've been walking so long, I should be tired.' She mused as she continued walking through the darkness. 'I wonder what Tara's doing right now?'

"LET ME OUT!" Tara shouted but it was no use the rooms in the psychiatric ward were sound proof and she was the only one in the room. After the social worker came they had given her a shot of something that knocked her out when she awoke she was laying in a cold hospital gown strapped to the bed by thick leather straps.

"LEY ME OUT OF HERE, I NEED TO FIND MY WIFE AND MY SON!" She half shouted half sobbed. When she'd woke the first things she had remembered were Willow laying in a pool of blood and Connor being taken from her and driven off in an unknown car and the only thing she knew was she had to find them, had to know they were safe.

"Please, I just want to see my family." She cried quietly.

She was just about to give up when the darkness thinned and dissolved like a fog being lifted to reveal a grave yard. 'This is just like Tara's nightmare.' She thought as she made her way through the empty graveyard. Something caught her eye a few yards away. 'No, it can't be.' She thought as she moved to get a closer look. She couldn't believe it she was standing right in front of the headstones from Tara's nightmare. Kneeling down she traced the seemingly newly engraved names: Willow Danielle Rosenberg and Tara Alexis Maclay. 'I won't let it happen' She silently vowed. "You don't have a choice." Said a voice from behind her.