Disclaimer: Only plot and original characters belong to me!

"Dad, have you ever had a woman smash your heart into a million tiny pieces?" Eli asked Edward.

"Yep," Edward nodded. "Every day of my life until I met your mother. Girls your age, for the most part, just don't appreciate an intelligent man." He paused. "Now just so that I know, who was this girl?"

"It was nobody at school," Eli replied. "All the girls at school are idiots. It was Rebecca. She was in love with her brother (which is okay, cause she was adopted), and he likes Vivi, so he broke it off with Rebecca, then called me cause he thought I could cheer her up. But all she did was get angry at me and say she didn't want a stupid kid like me going after her."

"I'm sorry," Edward replied and gave Eli a hug. "But maybe you've underestimated the girls at school. Maybe they aren't as judgmental as you think."

"And I always have my powers," Eli added.

"Eli, my god!" Edward replied. "You shouldn't use your powers to get a girl to like you!"

"I wasn't actually going to," Eli assured his father quickly. "But I'm saying that if I was an unscrupulous person, it would be an option."

"Well, I'm relieved," Edward replied. "Cause I know rejection stings. But it also makes it all the more wonderful when you find someone who likes you for you."

"Yes, yes, I know," Eli nodded. "I get it."

"Good," Edward smiled. "And good luck."

"Thanks, Dad," Eli replied and headed back to his room to get himself in the mindset to actually do what he'd promised his father.

Even though Eli was making a definite effort to obey Rebecca's wishes (as well as maintain his own sense of self-respect), by leaving her alone, he still knew that on some level, he cared about her very much. One night, he went out to a bar with some friends and, just by chance, Rebecca (who was walking as if she were very inebriated already) came stumbling in a few minutes after he did. She saw him and immediately came over. "What are you doing here?" She slurred. "I told you to leave me alone!"

"And I'm trying to!" Eli shot back as he tried to keep her upright. "I didn't come here to bother you. I'm here with friends for reasons that have nothing to do with you! I do have other interests in my life, you know."

"Yeah, right," Rebecca replied and struck him in the face before a large man came up to her. "Is this young man bothering you?" He asked.

"Yes," Rebecca replied. "Get me away from him!"

"All right," The man said and then picked her up to carry her out of the bar. Rebecca was so drunk that she didn't protest right away, but Eli followed the pair, and when the man noticed him, he pushed Eli away, zapped himself into his car, and drove off before Eli could catch up. Swearing and panting, he kicked a fire hydrant and went back to the bar, knowing that even if he had the speed to catch up to Rebecca, he wouldn't necessarily be able to find her yet. And that's what he would do, no matter how cruelly she treated him. Cause he loved her, and his feelings were so much a part of him that it didn't even matter if she didn't love him back. He would rescue her anyway because he wanted her to have a good life, even if it wasn't with him.

When the car arrived at Doctor Vladimir's compound, Rebecca was pulled out of it just as roughly as Regina had been or possibly even more so. Her hands had been tied behind her back, she had been gagged, and a sack had been put over her head. She was bruised and bleeding both from the rough ride and what had been done to her to keep her silent. Finally, her captors let her pause and the bag and gag were removed as a very ruffled Rebecca squinted in the light.

"We got her," the men told Demetri. "You sent us out to look for Gwen, and here she is! She was a lot easier to catch than you said she would be. We were expecting her to resist much, much more."

Demetri barely turned before a stream of swears escaped from his lips. "You idiots!" He cried. "The reason why she was so easy to catch is that this is not Gwen!"

The two goons looked at one another and gulped nervously. "It's not? But you said she was a blonde with blue eyes!"

"And you apparently missed me saying that she was much older than this woman is!" Demetri cried and pulled a groaning Rebecca to himself. "This woman is too young!"

"You're looking for a Gwen?" Rebecca asked, her voice shaking and sounding like she was on the verge of tears despite how inebriated she was. "My mother is named Gwen."

"Ahhh, how interesting!" Demetri replied and then looked at the two men who'd brought her in. "You may not have made as big of a mistake as I originally believed you did," he said, his previously stormy dark eyes lightening a little. "Stay right where you are. Don't move a muscle. I'm going to take her to Doctor Vladimir to see what should be done next. I don't know how mad he'll be that you were stupid enough to get the wrong woman, but just pray he's in a merciful mood."

The men nodded and still looked frightened as Demetri pulled Rebecca along after him, and they plodded behind, only pausing when they reached the doctor's office door.

"What is it?" Doctor Vladimir called after Demetri knocked. "Has Gwen arrived yet?"

"Not exactly, Doctor," Demetri replied. This caused Doctor Vladimir to open the door immediately. "What do you mean 'not exactly'?" He asked. "You promised me that you had competent help, Demetri. We can't afford to mess up now!"

"They brought Gwen's daughter instead of Gwen herself," Demetri replied, wincing and stepping away as Rebecca threw up on the floor. "And she's either ill or very inebriated."

Doctor Vladimir sighed. "Get her to a cell," he said. "Maybe the one across from Regina so the two of them will have some company."

"Yes, sir," Demetri nodded. "And what about those two?" He gestured at the henchmen, whose heads were hung in shame. "What should I do with them?"

"Don't punish them," Doctor Vladimir said, causing them to bring their heads up. "Their mistake could be a blessing in disguise. Instead of wasting time capturing Gwen, who is very strong and smart, and would waste a lot of time fighting us rather than acquiescing immediately, all we have to do is tell her that we have her daughter and will harm her if she doesn't do as we say. We get what we want without any death or bloodshed. Believe me boys: nothing inspires selfless heroics in a mother like knowing that her child is in danger."

"So you want us to contact Gwen right now?" Demetri asked.

"No, not yet," Doctor Vladimir shook his head as Demetri's goons took Rebecca to her cell and locked her in while Regina looked on, worried but unable to help, her face pressed against the bars hard enough to make impressions in her cheeks. "We'll wait until she realizes Rebecca is missing. There's no use playing our hand too early."

"Yes, Doctor," Demetri inclined his head. "What would you like me to do now?"

"Go talk to Declan," he said. "I want to make sure that Regina is being taken care of just as I requested."

"All right, Doctor," Demetri nodded. "I will."

"What's that face?" Selina asked, noting Elijah's sour expression when he returned home from Klaus' after his brother had called, wanting to share some news a couple hours before. "Did your brother say something that upset you?"

"Yes," Elijah huffed, sitting down heavily on the sofa. "Apparently, Amy is expecting. That sneaky woman made a deal with Astrid and now she's as fertile as she was before Niklaus killed her!"

"Oh, so your winning that silly competition between you and your brother about who can father more children is no longer a guarantee," Selina smiled. "I'm sorry."

"I know you said you wanted to wait until Ethan was eighteen to have children, but can we start now, please?" Elijah asked. "This is very important!"

Selina sighed, but gave him a small smile. "Oh, fine," she said. "We might as well. I knew you were gonna ask sooner than I planned. That's why I didn't take my pill this morning. And yes, I know I'm wonderful, but feel free to mention it…several times would be the ideal amount."

"You're wonderful!" Elijah replied. "You don't know how happy you've made me."

"It's no problem," Selina told him. "But why you're so eager to deal with me when I'm fat, moody, pushy and more than willing to eat you out of house and home is beyond me."

Elijah smiled and gave her a hug. "Don't be so hard on yourself," he told her. "You're none of those things. I think you're as beautiful when you're pregnant as when you're not."

"Oh, you flatterer!" Selina smiled. "And remember your promise to be more involved with this next kid. Don't forget it."

"Oh, I won't," Elijah replied. "Don't worry."

"Good," Selina nodded. "You know, it's sorta fun that me and Amy are gonna be having kids around the same time. We can raise them together and exchange outfits if they're both girls or boys, and they'll be best friends…I've not had that with anyone since Astrid had Helene."

"You see?" Elijah replied. "This pregnancy won't be good for just me. It'll be good for both of us."

"Well then, what are we sitting here talking about it for?" Selina asked. "Let's get in bed and fucking do it!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Elijah replied. Then he picked her up, carried her to bed, locked the door, and hoped that no one would come home unexpectedly and interrupt them.