*SPOILER ALERT* This story contains many spoilers about the Dark Brotherhood, mostly about the task "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood". But, if you do not like spoilers, I guess you should not have visited a fanfiction site… Anyways, you have now been warned.

A/N: And here I am with a multi-chapter story. You see, as I read about the task "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood" (I would never complete such task, therefor I only read about it), I suddenly realized that Babette was the only assassin not to be killed by the Dragonborn. A plot twist! Seriously, how could I not make a story out of it? Poor Babette…

I do not own The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bloodstained Smiles
Child of Death

-apparently the rumors must have spread far. Hidden in the shadows I saw her enter the Aretino's house, and followed her from a distance as she travelled to Riften. The assassination was quick, but properly done. She entered the orphanage disguised, but did not hesitate stabbing the old hag in the heart the moment their eyes met. Nevertheless, Grelod the Kind was our target, and so the interesting part takes place. Should she be seen as a potential threat or a new member of our family?
It took quite some time before I had gathered enough information, and still she is quite the mystery. One of the reasons why she should join. I have my doubts about her loyalty, though. Her Nord belief is strong; so is her admiration for the Stormcloaks. Watching her slaughter a group of Imperials on the way back the Windhelm, I wonder why she has not volunteered to fight for Ulfric yet. But she does have her connections; from what I get from rumors, I hear she has friends from both the Companions and the Thieves Guild. Perhaps I should have asked Delvin for information while I found myself in Riften? But I never liked the stench of the Ratway, and Dagmar left just after the murder. I first caught her name once we arrived in Windhelm; I overheard her talk with the innkeeper after having received her payment from the boy. What little silver she got will not bring her much money, but it is not the coin she owes us.
For a notice; if I heard correct, then she was being called "Dragonborn". I am not a big believer of the old tales (though, I do trust my ears the times I have heard the dragon roar; I do not like how close the beast is to the Sanctuary. I will have to discuss this problem with Nazir soon; I have no plans of any of us ending up as dragon food), this is a matter I want to follow up closely.
I have already given the courier the letter; I will leave tonight to give her the offer. A carriage will be waiting for me outside Solitude once I manage to carry her body out of the city. It will not be that hard; she is a slim but strong Nord. However, the travel through the marsh will be the biggest challenge; the carriage will not be any help there.
Of course I will place the prisoners in the shack before she wakes; this is just the perfect moment to let the pathetic souls get what they deserve. Good thing they have many enemies; it would be too tiring to capture all three by myself.
Hopefully the outcome will be advantageous; either way it will be a quite amusing scene once she will make up her mind.

Babette looked up from the journal, her lips curved into a small as she finally found the answer she was looking for. Of course Astrid had been careful of where to hide her journals, but the vampire had been living in the Sanctuary way longer than the leader.

Of course she knew of the secret room. Not that she had ever thought of entering before; Astrid was allowed to have some secrets. But now, with the task Babette had granted herself, she would need all the information she could get.

A part of her did not want to leave the small room, as she knew of what sights that awaited her once she was back in the center of the Sanctuary.

None of them had survived. The realization had hit her when she had found Lis; not even the pet had been spared.

It was such an ironic situation; the assassins had been assassinated. By who, Babette was not sure of, but she was starting to get an idea.

She was glad she always had extra big pockets; it had always been necessary for her to bring her poisons with her. Now, instead of bottles, she was carrying the many journals with her. The vampire had remembered to close and lock the wardrobe after leaving; too many of the Brotherhood's secrets were hidden in there, so it was important that no strangers would find it.

But they had always felt safe at the Sanctuary. The safest place in all of Skyrim, as Astrid would say. But now someone had managed to get past the Black Door and had entered their home.

And now everyone was dead.

Babette understood how lucky she had been. Being trapped in the body of a child, she had never had the strength her comrades had possessed. Her weapons were her fangs and the poisons she had mixed at her alchemy lab.

Of course her childish charm had helped her when she had been given a contract, but she doubted that the killer would have left any mercy for her.

At least, that was what she believed after glancing at the gruesome remains of the battle. Arnbjorn was the only person who did not lie dead by the pool; from what she could see, he had only barely managed to wake and leave his bed before three arrows had pierced his chest, his neck and finally his head.

The rest of her comrades were no better. Veezara, her dear brother, had a gaping hole in his chest. The Shadowscale still looked like he was in pain and Babette had to look away to continue walking.

She could handle their deaths; she had done it before, though it was always difficult; but the thought of their agony made her still heart burn and sting.

Gabriella almost looked like she was sleeping; the red eyes were closed with a little stripe of blood making its way down to her cheek. Nazir was still clinging unto his scimitar, his face twisted into an expression of absolute pain.

She walked past Festus Krex's severed head as made her way up the stairs. The hundred blank eyes of Lis were staring at her as the vampire by habit returned to her alchemy lab. She was always best at thinking when she was doing something.

Besides, Babette suddenly had the need of mixing some very lethal poisons. Whoever had done this was going to pay. Deeply.

It was mostly the shock that had affected her the most. Without sounding cruel, the vampire had forced herself to get used to the passing of her comrades. Being as old as she was, she had survived a lot; wars, tragedies, sicknesses… But the mortals had not.

Being 300 years old, Babette had been through a lot of friendships. She had been the only survivor. Now, another era began. An era without her fellow assassins.

Of course it hurt. Badly.

Babette looked away from the bloodbath behind her and focused on her mixtures. She was grieving, her heart aching by the thought of Nazir never giving her another contract, of Veezara never asking her to tell him about her past as if it was an story, of Festus never calling her offending names, of Arnbjorn never snarling at her doggy-jokes, of Gabriella never being able to tell her to wipe the blood off her cheek…

She poured the mixtures into bottles, keeping her mind empty until she reached her room. The stone bed felt harder than usual.

The journal had given her some clues.

When she had finally risen from the ground, being sent down on her knees by the painful grieving, she had realized there was still hope.

Astrid was not here; Babette had found no trace of the Nord's body. Knowing the leader was gone on a mission, she had hoped that the leader had not been able to return yet; that she was just as lucky as Babette had been.

And now, reading the journal, Babette understood that Astrid had travelled to the marshes of Hjaalmarch, and she knew of the shack Astrid had written about. She also recognized Astrid's game with the three prisoners; the vampire's lips formed a small smile again. Astrid was always so sinister.

And that was one of the reasons why she needed to find her. Now was the time for revenge as there was no way the murderer was just getting away with all this.

If Astrid was still alive, if their leader was still alive, then there was still hope for the Dark Brotherhood.

Babette had decided a long time ago that she was no leader; if it had been that case, then she would have started leading the Brotherhood a long time ago. After all, she was the most experienced one.

But right now, in situations like this one, she was unable to collect her thoughts. Perhaps she still had some childish fears. But she had been able to come up with one plan; to find Astrid.

Her thoughts were still racing about who the murderer might be.

You would need the password to get inside. The Black Door could not be broken or tricked.

She suspected this new recruit. This Dagmar. But if that was true, then what had happened to Astrid? Babette was basically counting on her to be alive; Astrid was the Brotherhood's last chance of survival. She had to be alive.

Besides, who was even powerful enough to beat Astrid?

"The same person who killed them," her dark thought reminded her bitterly.

Babette ignored it, and decided that the Penitus Oculatus could be suspects as well. The order had been breathing down their neck the last months; even Astrid had started to get just a bit nervous. Though, when Babette had mentioned it, the leader had promised to take care of it soon; they just had to put some fear into the hearts of the agents.

Perhaps they had been the ones storming the Sanctuary while she had been out hunting.

The little vampire tried to sleep; she would travel to Hjaalmarch tomorrow, but now she was just exhausted to the bones.

For the first time in decades, Babette truly felt lifeless.

It was the smell of smoke that woke her up. Reacting by instinct, she jumped off her bed and started running. The kitchen was already enveloped in flames, but as she entered the main center, she found coughing guards, all holding a torch each.

The vampire squinted as she watched them lit her friends' bodies on fire. Unsure of what to do, she just stared at them from above them.

One of the guards coughed, "I am not going any deeper. We will just end up like that," he said, pointing at the pile of burning bodies.

"Do I really have to do all the tough work again?" a guard said, appearing from Lis' nest that now was burning as well. Babette gasped silently as he knocked down what still remained on the table. The books were now destroyed by her potions, staining the pages. The guard walked through the broken glass from the bottles as if it did not bother him.

"Tough work?" another Falkreath guard mocked him. "Like putting this place on fire is anything compared to killing the monsters!"

"Just get it done already. I am missing the clean air."

Many things happened at once; the guard stepped towards the stairs so he could get to the remaining part of the Sanctuary; Babette did not move but met his glance; they drew their weapons while she rushed down towards them.

Babette was no warrior and she was very well aware of that. She only missed the first swing of the sword by leaning forward; she sprinted towards the opening, but her way was blocked.

One of the guards grabbed her arm tightly; it hurt enough to make her wince. "They did speak of an undead child," he growled.

Babette hissed, and before he could react, she had raised her free hand, only to bring down a dagger into his arm; just where the armor had stopped, leaving the flesh unprotected.

Though the wound was not lethal at all, she had poisoned the dagger a long time ago. The only reason why she as always carrying around that weapon was because of how useful it was when it came to buying time.

The guard loosened his grip on her arm, gasped and fell back onto his back; paralyzed.

Babette had to jump aside as an arrow flew past her. "Die, you beast!"

Unfortunately as she jumped, she came too close to the second guard. Though, instead of taking another swing with his sword, he used the torch. Babette shrieked as the bottom of dress burst into flames.

Her only thought was to get rid of the fire; and so she did. Leaping again, she sprung into the pool, smoke rising around her as the fire died.

She screamed angrily as the guard grabbed her by the hair. "I never thought I would be the one to kill a vampire," he said, pulling her towards the burning pile in the middle of the room. "I did not know there were small ones."

Babette shrieked again before twisting around to sink her fangs into his arm. The shock was visible on his face. His comrade was aiming his bow at them while the third guard was still lying on the ground.

The vampire was then slapped across her face, causing to fall backwards. The blood was dripping from her lips as she regained her composure.

"Damn…" the guard stuttered, looking at his wound. "Damn you!"

Babette was panting, licking the blood from her mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she made her decision; while the guard still was distracted by the bite, she leapt at him. Planting the blade in his neck, just where the armor ended, she forced him downwards. Not wasting time, she bit him again before he lost all his blood.

The only standing guard let out a strangled scream and fired his arrow. Luckily for Babette, his hands were shaking too much to aim properly, and the arrow hit the nearly dead guard in the chest instead of the vampire.

Hearing her victim take his last breath, Babette woozily rose. The room was filled with smoke and her instincts were screaming; she hated fire. Her whole being hated it.

But the blood had given her new strength. She noticed that the immobilized guard was slowly starting to move and the other one was readying his bow.

"You are dead!" he snarled at her. "You hear me?! You're dead! Just like the rest of your kind! All of you will be the destroyed! The Dark Brotherhood is no more! All thanks to the Dragonborn!"

Babette decided it was time to leave and rushed towards the exit. The arrow grazed her arm, but she did not slow down. The Black Door was open, allowing dark smoke to spread from the Sanctuary.

Her skin stung as the sun had just risen, but having fed twice, first on the hunt that had saved her life and just now with the guard, the mortals' blood protected her.

The burned legs hurt and the wound on her arm was as well, but Babette made sure that there was a great distance between her and the burning Sanctuary before reaching down in her pocket to find some healing potions. Though, before her hand touched the smooth glass of a bottle, she felt the leather that covered Astrid's journals.

Well, at least she was following the plan.

She had left the Sanctuary, though her heart still ached by the memory of the burning bodies, and now she was travelling to Hjaalmarch.

One thought was filling the vampire's tired mind,

"I have to find Astrid."

A/N: Dagmar is an old Danish name (I live in Denmark) and is pronounced "Dow-maar" in Danish (kinda). One of its meanings is "the glorious one". Of course we will hear more about her later, along with Cicero and Brynjolf.

Poor Babette. For those who know how this quest begins, well, they kind of know how the next chapter will start.

Please tell me your thoughts about this story. This is my first try for a long Skyrim story, so I am very excited to see how it goes. I hope you like it; I have been working on this story for months, as I rewrote the first chapter 5 times.