Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is just a work of fiction which has only been able to come into being because of the universe that Mr. Whedon's created.

Eureka, Illinois, 12:30p.m.

Sarah Maclay couldn't believe what was happening right before her eyes. She had returned from a round of grocery shopping with her husband, Teddy Maclay; only to find that her son Donnie was kissing her niece's, Beth's, neck on his bed while their tops were off. The disgusted, and angry, woman then pulled the young girl away and berated her and her son.

However, she received the shock of her life when her husband, who had crashed on the downstairs couch immediately after the return from the grocery shop and had been drinking beer, which Sarah handed to him earlier… before he ran up the stairs to see the same thing his wife had seen.

It was then that Sarah realized that Teddy knew what was going on between Beth and his own son.

Threatening to call the police on them, she was forced down to the basement by Teddy who threatened her daughter, Tara, with the same type of abuse that Sarah had seen between Donnie and Beth. Down in the basement, Teddy, Donnie and Beth surrounded Sarah and were discussing on what actions they could take to make sure that this didn't get out to the police.

At first, Beth said that she's be the one to kill her own aunt since no one knew that she was in the house. But it was to Sarah's shock when she heard her own son suggest that she shoot herself with Teddy's gun; the same gun that his father had brought down and handed to Beth who was pointing the weapon at Sarah.

""I know something better" said Donnie with a grin as he approached Sarah who had Teddy still holding on to her tightly from behind while one hand covered the petite woman's mouth, "you'll put the gun into your mouth, and then you'll pull the trigger. You'll go back to your master because… well, you think heaven takes in women who commit suicide?"

"I'll kill you" said Sarah as she finally used magic to push Teddy off her. She didn't want to use magic against her own family, now matter how disgusting they were.. but now she had no choice, "I'll kill all of you and…"

"Then do it" said Teddy as she turned Sarah around roughly, "do it then… witch."

"Demon" said Donnie mockingly as Sarah turned to look at him.

"Demon Devil Spawn" said Beth as Sarah turned to her and narrowed her eyes in disgust.

"You're the ones who sinned" said Sarah as she looked at the three of them who surrounded her, "all of you… and you dare call me a sinner? Surrender yourselves to the police. You said you didn't touch Tara, turn yourselves in and… and I'll say that you've got a disease that…"

"No" said Donnie as he walked over to Beth and grabbed the gun away from her, and pointed it at Sarah, "you are going to put this in your mouth, and kill yourself. You've been so depressed lately that you couldn't take it anymore… you wanted to leave the world."

"I…." said Sarah as she looked at the expression of hate on her own son's face.

"Or else" said Teddy as Sarah turned around and looked at her husband.

"Or else I'll suddenly have an appetite for demons" said Donnie as Sarah looked back at him with eyes wide open in shock. Teddy then stood next to Beth before telling her that she knew too much, that she was the bigger danger now.

"Or maybe I'll suddenly crave me some demon too" said Teddy as Sarah turned towards him, her face twisted in anguish.

"Tara's just a thing" said Teddy, "you kill yourself… she won't be harmed. She'll do the cooking and cleaning but she won't be harmed. You think I wanted to deposit my seed in you in the first place? I wanted children who I could tempt away from Satan. I hoped that maybe they'll change you…. but obviously it didn't. You still have the power of a demon and…"

"I'll kill you" said Sarah with renewed resolve as she thought about her daughter while she raised her hand; her pupils turning white, and blue magical energy gathering in the air, before it crackled in the palm of Sarah's hand, "you touch Tara… you even look at her, I will kill you. Then we'll see who goes to hell."

"Try it, mommy" said Donnie mockingly as Sarah aimed the energy at her son, "come on, kill me."

"Donnie" said Sarah as she pointed the blue energy at her son, the one who was holding the gun at her, "please…. Honey… I…."

"I am not your honey, demon!" hissed Donnie as he pulled back the hammer on the gun.

Sarah wanted to fire the energy bolt she was gathering. She saw her son, and she wanted to fire. She then imagined him as a baby that she'd carry in her arms while her husband would just lay about after work and demand beer, food, or attention. As she looked at Donnie, she remembered the little boy whose first words were 'mamma'; she remembered the giggle, and the smile as she used to carry him in her arms. Tears fell from Sarah's face as she looked at her son and remembered his first steps that were towards her, she remembered kissing his first 'boo-boo' and telling him that the pain would go away. It was during his fifth year that things changed.

Teddy had gotten to him and soon the Donnie that Sarah knew was gone.

But he was still her son.

"You're my son, Donnie" said Sarah her voice breaking as she pointed the bolt at her son, "you're my baby."

"If you can't kill me, then kill yourself" said Donnie as Sarah cried, her heart breaking as she realized that if she killed her family, then she'll be the prime suspect and Tara would be taken away from her, and put into the foster system while she served time in jail. She could just freeze them all in place, but that would only be temporary. They would go to the police and say that she kidnapped Tara, and Sarah would be looking over her shoulders for the rest of her life; that was not the life she wanted for Tara, neither was this.

'I have no family' thought Sarah to herself, 'no other home, what will we… me and Tara do… where can we go? If I do what they say, then Tara will be alone and.. and I don't trust them. Oh goddess, I don't trust my own family. If I… I kill myself, and they…"

"Will you leave Tara alone?" asked Sarah, her hand still up at Donnie as a swirling blue ball of energy was gathering above her palm.

"You kill yourself" said Donnie, "and then yes."

'Kill them and be on the run forever?' thought Sarah to herself, 'or… or kill myself and Tara remains safe. She'll have a home and… and food, and a life before she moves out of here. I could injure them but… but then where do I go? Where do we go? Tara has school and… what do I do? Can I live with looking over my shoulder? Or…'

"Well?" asked Teddy as he stood next to a smug Beth, "you…"

"No" said Sarah as she fired a powered down magical blast at Donnie that sent him flying to the surprise of Beth and Teddy. It was chaos as Beth screamed and rushed Sarah while Teddy ran to him groaning son and picked up the gun that was on the floor. Sarah saw what Teddy was going to do as he picked up the weapon, so she grabbed the collar of Beth's shirt after she gave the young woman a slap, and then pushed her towards Teddy. Sarah turned and rushed up the stairs as Beth hit Teddy and the both of them stumbled back. Teddy then pushed Beth away and raised the weapon and fired at Sarah who was already out of the door. He ran up the stairs and continued to fire his weapon through the wooden door that led to the basement while his niece was coaxing his son awake.

"Sarah!" shouted Teddy in anger as he pushed the poke marked door open and looked into the living room, and then at the dining room, "Sarah! Where the fuck are…. Shit… no!"

Teddy noticed that his car keys, and Sarah's purse that she always kept at a side table near the front door, was missing. It was then that the brown haired maniac rushed out of the front door of his house and screamed at Sarah who was reversing his blue sedan onto the main road. Teddy then threw the empty gun at the car as she drove off.

Sarah was sobbing as she continued to drive while looking at the rearview mirror at the image of her husband getting smaller and smaller. She was wiping her eyes, and her nose, before she stopped the car at the side of the road once she was far enough and cried.

She slammed her fists on the steering wheel and screamed as she thought about what happened.

She thought about her son; the son she had given birth to.. the same son who just wanted her to commit suicide and her heart broke.

Sarah covered her eyes as she trembled while parked on the side of the road.

It was a few minutes later that the woman closed her eyes while tears were still flowing down her cheeks and leaned back on the seat. She knew that there were some things that she needed to do. Teddy was the one who controlled everything in the family, from what she and Tara would have to cook for him and Donnie, to the home purse strings.

He controlled all the money.

At least the account he knew about.

Sarah had the account that her own mother had set-up for her under her maiden name; an account that Sarah was planning to hand to Tara on her eighteenth birthday. But now she had no other choice. It was an account that Teddy had no idea existed. But Sarah knew that even with that money, she would be looking over her shoulders. She knew that the police were aware of what was happening in that home, but there had been no proof of abuse; and Sarah knew that they wouldn't believe her if she gave them a story about them wanted her to kill herself. She had to get out of the city, she had to get out of the state as far away from the Maclay clan as possible.

"Where do we go?" asked Sarah to herself as she bounced her head on the seat back, "where? Where?"

"First things first" said Sarah as she sat up and pressed on the accelerator, "take Tara out of school. I…. I can use magic and… goddess, I'm doing the same things mother never told me to do; never use magic for personal gain."

Sarah silently apologized to her dead mother; asking her for her forgiveness in having to do something that she believed would protect herself, and Tara.

"This is the one time, momma" said Sarah to herself as she continued to drive, "I swear. A forgetting spell and… and… new identities for myself and Tara, new names, new passports, driver's licenses, birth certificates. Everything new. I.. I'll pick up Tara, then empty out the account, then I'll buy us a bus ticket and.. and then we'll get out of here. Once we reach our new destination, I'll create the new I.D's and we'll have a new life away from this hell. Momma, I... I know it's unethical but… but I'm protecting the one person important to me. Forgive me, please."

Sarah screeched to a stop in front of Tara's school and then rushed out of the car. She placed a cloaking spell and readied a forgetting spell for the student body.

As she walked through the halls of the two story school, Sarah was mumbling a spell that would make people forget about Tara once they had left the premises. Sarah first headed to the administration office where the people were surprised to see her. However, the only reason that Sarah was there was to magically change the name on all of Tara's records; after which she made the entire office forget that she was ever there. The older woman then rushed out of the administration office and reached Tara's classroom. Standing at the door, Sarah snapped her head to the left when she heard a sound. Her heart pounding in her chest when she thought that it could be Teddy, Donnie, or Beth coming to forcefully take her away… Sarah sighed in relief when it was just something that the school janitor dropped onto the floor.

Sarah then turned back to the glass panel on the classroom door and looked at Tara who was sitting in the back of the class. She could tell that her daughter was feeling alone, even though she was surrounded by people all around her. Sarah could see that Tara's hair was partially covering her front while she was slouching slightly; then, with a smile, Sarah knocked on the glass panel and Tara looked at her mother and gave the widest smile.

"Mrs. Maclay?" asked the homeroom teacher as she opened the door, "is everything alright?"

"Yes" said Sarah, "there's been an emergency with Tara's cousin and… well, she's been in a terrible accident. She may not make the night so…"

"Oh my" said the teacher as she made a motion towards Tara to pick up her bags before turning towards Sarah, "we'll need to get to the administration office and…"

"Forget" said Sarah as she pulled a started Tara out of the classroom while the homeroom teacher looked back into the class confused. She felt as if she should be remembering someone, or something…. It was right in the back of her mind but she couldn't reach it… every time she did, it would go further away into the depths of her mind. The teacher then shook her head and closed the door while a surprised Tara, who was holding onto Sarah's hand, ran with her mother while wondering what was going on. The younger girl could see that there was something seriously wrong from the expression on her mother's face; and then she heard it.

The forgetting spell.

Tara looked back in surprise as her mother closed her eyes and mumbled a spell as soon as they exited the building.

"Momma?" asked a shocked Tara, "that was a forgetting spell and…. Momma? Why? I… I like my teachers and…. I mean I don't have friends but my teachers are nice and…"

"Tara" said Sarah as she looked at her daughter, and then looked around. Sarah then turned back to her daughter again and told her the truth about what happened. The older woman had been thinking about what to tell Tara, she thought at first about lying but knew that Tara would be able to see her aura; a technique that Sarah herself had taught her daughter. Tara listened in shock as Sarah told her about what happened, while wiping her eyes, as they headed to the car.

"I'm sorry, momma" said Tara softly as she sat in the passenger's seat of the car, "this happened because of…"

"It's not your fault" said Sarah as she kissed Tara on her cheek before she drove off from the school and headed towards the bus station. As she was driving, the two of them sat in silence as cars drove the opposite way… the both of them in fear that maybe Teddy had gotten a neighbours car and was coming after them, or he called the police; which made Sarah expect to hear sirens at anytime during her drive to the bus terminal.

But there was no Teddy, nor were there any police.

Sarah still wanted to take Tara out of the state.

While on the drive to the bus station, Sarah told Tara that what she had done was wrong… that even if she did it for what she thought was the right reasons, it was still unethical.

"I never want you to do what I did" said Sarah as she looked at her daughter, "never play with someone's memories. Promise me, Tara. Never do what I did to anyone."

"I won't" said Tara.

"Magic's supposed to be used as a last resort" said Sarah, "for the protection of others. That's how I trained you, I… I don't know if what I did was right. I did it to protect you… but I also did it for selfish reasons; to get away from Teddy."

"It wasn't a selfish reason, momma" said Tara as she looked at her mother who wiped her eyes, "daddy hurt you, he called you a demon… he called us demons. I.. I don't know if that's true or…"

"It's not" said Sarah as she looked at Tara, and held her hand tightly, "what we have is a gift. It depends on how we use that gift; for good, or for evil."

"You are still good, momma" said Tara with a wide smile, "the most powerful witch; the most amazing mother. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie" said Sarah as she looked at Tara before they turned into the parking lot of the bus station. Sarah told Tara to get her bag, while she picked up her purse… and then they got out of the car. Sarah told Tara to lock the door before she locked the drivers side door, and then just before closing it; Sarah threw the car keys inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut. She then held Tara's hand before she reached into her purse and took out the bank card that belonged to her account. The both of them walked to the ATM in the corner while Tara looked around the station which was about half full of people, while there was a bus being boarded on the far corner. Tara tried to take a looked at where if was heading but she couldn't make out the destination.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as she took out a thousand dollars before she and Tara headed to the counter.

"We need two tickets on any bus that's getting out of here" said Sarah as she used her magic to disconnect the security camera that was above her, "any bus… any destination. It's a.. random trip."

"Ok" said the man behind the counter as he looked at the two of them, and then looked at the screen in front of him while typing on his keyboard. She then looked up at the two women and told them that there was a bus leaving for Sunnydale, California, "it's the one that's boarding right now."

"We'll take it" grinned Tara as she tightened her hold on Sarah's hand, "we'll take it."

TBC.