Nightmares

The Zerg were swarming over Korhal, and at their head was the Queen of Blades herself. It had been a bloody slaughter of millions, and at last, the planet was theirs. The Queen laughed to herself at the sight of such destruction and death. She reveled in the power that coursed through her. The ability to destroy entire worlds on a whim, and now, the Dominion itself.

However, in the back of her mind, in a small insignificant part, Sarah Kerrigan was screaming at her oppressor. God, how did she end up back here?! She had beaten the Queen of Blades! She had been free! "Foolish human," the Queen sneered at Sarah's feeble attempts to free herself. "You were never really free of me. We are one and the same. No, as long as you live you will never be free. Forever a monster among men. No one will ever accept you. I won't let them."

Suddenly, they were not on Korhal anymore. Instead, they were on the Hyperion command deck, which was now a smouldering ruin of corpses and electronics. The Queen looked around at the dead, among them were Matt Horner and Swann, some of Sarah's closest friends. Oh, god No! Sarah beat harder against the intruder in her head, but it was no use. The Queen simply ignored her this time, taking her time to step over the corpses until she arrived at one in particular, lying near the communications table.

Sarah recoiled in horror and despair while the Queen just laughed. For they were looking at the empty dead stare of James Raynor. "You see? You only cause pain and death to those around you. You think that saving those civilians on that dirt ball of a planet you call a home will get them to accept you? You are only fooling yourself. Death and destruction is the only thing you know how to do. " The Queen laughed again as she examined the corpse of Sarah's husband. "Look at your dear husband now." She spoke aloud this time as she leaned forward and looked into Jim's empty eyes. "This is how it is going to end, and you know it." Sarah was sobbing internally now. This was just too much, she wished she were dead. "Oh, don't start crying now, this isn't even the best part yet."

"Mommy?"

No… GOD NO STOP! Sarah screamed and lashed out with every bit of strength she had, but it was like pounding a brick wall with her fists, nothing made any dents in her mental prison. The Queen smiled evilly and turned around to look at Claire and Mathew who had suddenly appeared on the deck. No! I beg you stop! Anything but them! Sarah screamed again. The queen smiled at Sarah's useless struggle. "You forget, they are technically my kids now. Pity, I have no idea why you would have settled for such weak Terran children. How useless. Perhaps we should start from scratch."

Claire and Mathew just stood still looking hopeful as the Queen walked up to them. "You know, kids, you should have listened to your mother." The Queen said as she raised her blade wings. "She is truly the worst person in the universe." The Queen brought her wings sweeping down towards Claire and Mathew. Sarah wailed in sorrow as she watched the realization dawn on her children's faces at what was happening. Claire screamed….

Sarah bolted upright in bed screaming. Realizing where she was, she looked around the room that she and Jim shared in their house. God, another nightmare. They had been becoming less frequent the past few years, but they still made her wake up in a panic and cold sweat.

This one had been the worst in months. It always was when the darkest parts of her mind decided to throw her kids into what was already a steaming mess of post-traumatic stress disorder. It just loved to turn every good thing in her life against her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested against the headboard, crying silently to herself. She looked over to Jim's side of the bed. Of course he had to be on a business trip at this time. God, she felt so alone right now.

Sarah had been sitting huddled on her bed for a few minutes when she heard a creak from the doorway. Wiping her face, she looked up to see Mathew looking concerned. "Mommy? Are you okay? You were screaming." Sarah tried to put on a smile for her son. "It's okay Mathew, just a nightmare. Go back to bed." Mathew put on a pouty face and jumped up on the bed. "It is not okay mommy. Daddy always helps you when this stuff happens, and he isn't here." Crawling up to sit on Jim's side of the bed, Mathew wrapped his small arms around his mom's waist. "So I am going to sit here and be daddy until you feel better." That melted Sarah's heart. She hugged Mathew back and brought him onto her lap, clutching him against her as if he were the only good thing left in the world.

After a few minutes, Mathew turned to look up at his mom. "Mommy? What were you dreaming about? Was a giant spider trying to eat you? That's my worst nightmare." Wow. Sarah thought. What she would give to have only that to scare her in the night. The world of a child truly was a simpler place. However, Mathew's prodding only brought back the horror of the dream, and she suddenly didn't feel as comfortable holding him so close to her. She carefully lifted Mathew off her lap and set him on the bed beside her. Maybe the Queen is right, Mathew shouldn't trust me so much. Not when a single misdirected thought can so easily kill him and all of those I love. That's why I'm an orphan after all. And that was when I was just a human psionic. Couldn't control myself. It would only take one slip-up… Ugh! Get a grip! She clenched her fist in frustration. He is your son for F*** sake. You're exaggerating.

Mathew looked a bit hurt at being pushed away. "I'm sorry mommy. Was it something I said? If it is I'm sorry and won't say it again. Please don't be angry."

Sarah just looked at him sadly. She had hurt his feelings. Damn it, why can't I do anything right? Still, something was bothering her. She felt that she needed to ask him a difficult question. One she really didn't want to know the answer to. "Mathew, have I ever scared you?"

Mathew looked puzzled. "Mommy why would you ask that? You already know the answer. I have never been afraid of you." Sarah was relieved but also a bit conflicted. The words of the Queen in her dream came back to her. You are only fooling yourself. Death and destruction is the only thing you know how to do. Sarah turned away from her son. "Maybe you should be…" She said quietly. Mathew had many objections to that statement. "Hey! Don't say that! Why would you scare me? You're the best mommy in the world!"

"Mathew… You're too young to understand. You don't know about what happened in the last decade. I…" She struggled for the right word. "Hurt, a lot of people. I hurt your father. I hurt him, and others, a lot. Sometimes I wonder if it was a good idea deciding to be a mom. Not because I don't love you. I do. I want you guys so badly. It's just, I don't trust myself to not hurt you, or screw up your childhood. All I have ever been good at is hurting people. Even as a kid that was all I was good at." She recalled all of the brutal training in the ghost program. Kill or be killed. Fight or die. It was all she had ever known. "I know nothing about being a normal person. Even less about being a mom. Your dad is the one that's good at that stuff. I'm basically the new-age space Hitler…" Sarah caught herself ranting. "But you don't know who that is either. God, look at me. Giving an emotional dump to a 4 year old!" Sarah groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. Nice parenting Sarah.

Mathew looked confused, but still he persisted. "Mom, I don't know about this Hitler guy whoever he is, but you are a good mommy." He sat down on his mom's back, playing with the nerve cords she had for hair even in her human form. "Nobody is normal, and if they are, they're boring. And you're not boring." Sarah's mood lifted just a bit at that. Well, at least I'm not a bore.

Mathew continued to speak as he tried to braid his mom's 'hair'. "You're not scary. Those hybrid thingies 2 weeks ago? Those were really scary. But it was all better when you came and saved us. You're so cool." Mathew became a bit unbalanced as Sarah couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Mathew took a second to balance himself again and continued. "Mommy, you are like, the coolest person ever. Lots of those bug things follow you around and do whatever you tell them! You can move stuff with your mind! You have like, those blade wing things that you can cut stuff with like Whoosh!" Mathew made a bunch of slashing motions with his hands and became unbalanced, falling off his mom's back onto the bed. "Oops, well you get it." He said giggling.

Sarah slowly sat back up, feeling a little better. She scooped up her little boy in her arms. "When did you become so mature?" She asked as she hugged him close. "When daddy left for work and I had to replace him! Duh." Mathew giggled.

Yes, this felt right. Queen of Blades to hell, she wasn't going to let that bitch get in between her and her family. Nightmares are bad, she reminded herself, but they are just dreams. Dreams that can be terrifying and prey on your every insecurity, but still dreams. This, this right here, holding her son in her arms, was reality. Her reality. She just sat there, holding her little bundle of joy, when there was another creak in the doorway.

Turning to look, it was none other than Claire. She looked like she had been crying. "Mommy? I h-had a n-n-nightmare… it was so scary!" Claire ran into the room and jumped on the bed, hugging her mom tightly around the waist. "You and daddy died and I was all alone! Don't go mommy, I need you!" Sarah stroked her daughter's hair with her free hand. "Shh… It's okay. It was just a dream." That's right, just a dream.

Sarah set Mathew down on her right and Claire on her left, hugging them both tightly. "Mommy's right here." She said quietly. Insecurities be damned, this was how things were supposed to be. She had done so much killing in her life, caused so much pain, and yet these two little bundles of joy trusted her completely. It reminded her that despite what her nightmares told her, the Queen of Blades was dead. And she had been ever since the artifact fired on Char. Sarah was in control now, and she was going to make this work. She had the life she always dreamed of within reach, even if it had a bit more Zerg in it than initially anticipated. Sure it was rough. People avoided her like the plague and she was fairly certain that since the incident two weeks ago some of her co-workers had rallied to get her exiled to the edge of the sector, but she was still holding on. She needed these two bundles of joy, now more than ever. And no dead Zerg Queen, space Hitler rip-off would tell her otherwise.

She looked down lovingly at her kids once more, and said with more conviction than ever.

"Don't worry you guys. I'm not going anywhere."

A/N: Hey guys! I had just enough time to get this chapter out before I really have to get down to summatives. I also apologise for the darker tone of this chapter, but I was inspired to make a really meaningful one this time. Thanks to thekellin for giving me some constructive feedback.

On another note, I am sorry to say that I am running low on StarCraft hype right now. I regret starting this fic so late into my StarCraft phase. Unfortunately I go through phases in different fandoms, and I actually haven't played StarCraft all week. That being said I plan on continuing this fic, I may just not update as often as I have been. The love I have for this couple will outlast the hype that I have for the game, don't you guys worry.

That being said, what did you guys think of this chapter? Too dark? Want just comedy? Did I get the character's right? Please review!

Until next time.

-epiclink8480