WARNING! This chapter contains a scene of sexual assault.

Just after dawn, two days later, the basement door slammed open and Davenport's heels clicked on the floor as she barreled down the stairs, towards her lab. Since when did she come in wearing heels? She never did that. She was far too professional to wear anything except for lab approved clothing.

"I'll show him. I'll show that smug little bastard what it means to take credit for something I did," Davenport ranted as she stomped around. "I'll show him. I'll show that arrogant, no good, son of a bitch what it means to double cross me. Oh, I'll show him. And I'll use his favorite vampire to do it too."

What was going on? Cold fear gripped the back of Elena's neck. What was Davenport going to do to her? Didn't she still have a few more days before Maxfield's spawn invaded her body?

"Maxfield thinks he can do this to me?" Davenport banged around her lab. "That ass!"

She continued to rant about Maxfield's actions as she worked. So whatever the fallout was, it had to be from something much bigger than a vampire in the basement.

A few hours later, Davenport approached the cells and slapped the wall next to the bars. Vervain perfume invaded the air, leaving Elena feeling lightheaded.

"Get up. We've got work to do," Davenport snapped.

It was time. Davenport was going to insert an alien inside her and force her to incubate it. No. She wasn't ready! Not yet. She still had a few days, didn't she? Davenport never acted impulsively. Everything she did was according to a schedule, no matter what.

Elena felt her heartbeat pick up and she fought to control her breathing. No. No. No!

Somewhere, she was aware of Enzo sitting up with a sharp inhale.

When she didn't move, Davenport reached over and lifted the casing over the button to the sprinkler system.

If she didn't move, Enzo was going to get it. With more effort that should be necessary to make such a move, Elena sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Get. Up." Davenport's voice cut through the air.

Elena heard the click of the button to the sprinkler system being depressed and after inhaling heavily, she stood up. She had no choice. It was time. Either she let this happen, or Davenport would do whatever it took to punish her, including possibly killing Enzo.

She looked up and stared for a second. What was Davenport doing in a red cocktail dress, full make up, and sky high heels? She'd seriously just come from whatever party or bar she'd been to before deciding to do this, simply throwing her lab protective gear over her evening clothes. Davenport hadn't even bothered to go home to change or shower

The good doctor's eagerness to put whatever it was inside her made Elena's stomach twist. The woman either didn't know that Elena could actually feel, or she didn't care, with the latter being more likely. That woman only cared about her own agenda, her own needs, without a thought for the people around her and what her actions were doing to other people.

Not being able to have a child of her own was no reason for her to experiment on Elena until she found a way to have a child of her own. Plenty of childless women went through life without resorting to such cruelty. Being unable to have children didn't make a woman less than. Why couldn't she see that?

The cell door opened and Elena crossed the room, following Davenport into the lab.

When she entered the room her attention was drawn to a small machine that she had never seen used before as clicked away from its place on the counter top. Inside the machine, there was a shallow dish with some sort of viscous looking liquid in it.

The smell was odd, something she'd never encountered before.

She didn't want to think about what it was, even as her mind attempted to supply her with the answer.

"Take off your pants and lie down."

Elena froze, staring at the table, her breath coming in gasps. She couldn't go through with this. She couldn't. No, please. No!

"Get up there, now," Davenport snapped. She reached towards the button to the sprinkler system.

Elena closed her eyes and did as she was told.

Tears started to build she wanted desperately to escape. The problem with that was the rising sun trapped her inside, and if someone came in to find Davenport injured, who knows what they'd do to them?

She remained stiff, gripping the edges of the table. What could she do? She wanted to stop this. She had to stop this. But what could she do? Davenport was too close to the sprinkler system and the vervain perfume made it difficult to think strategically.

"Don't try anything. The sun is rising and you have nowhere to go," Davenport said, as if sensing her thoughts.

Davenport remained by the sprinkler button until she was sure Elena was compliant. The doctor kept an eye on Elena as she moved around the table, securing her to the table. Every breath, every twitch had Davenport looking at the sprinkler system button.

After she was sure the fastenings were tight, the good doctor forced her legs apart, strapping them down.

No, this couldn't be happening. She still had a few days. She still had time before part of Maxfield took up residence inside her body. Why was Davenport going early? Couldn't she wait just a few more days, like she'd planned?

"Maxfield wants to take full credit for something I helped him on, something he wouldn't have gotten anywhere on without me, a project that would have made sure I got tenure at the university," Davenport ranted as she fiddled around with her machine. "So the first guy I could get to have sex with me is going father this child and Maxfield can go screw himself. His embryo has been destroyed and he's too proud to jerk off again."

It wasn't going to be Maxfield's? The spawn they were putting inside her wasn't connected someone who'd done her so much harm? Since they wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted, she could go through with a non-Maxfield spawn. Couldn't she?

Davenport pulled the microscopic glasses down over her eyes and picked up a long nosed pipette. She squeezed the bulb of the pipette before inserting it into the viscous liquid. Then she moved the tip around before releasing her grip on the bulb, allowing the vacuum to pull some of it inside.

"I'm rushing this a bit, but I don't have time to wait. I just have to hope it takes." Davenport was talking more to herself at this point. "There's no way I'm letting Maxfield have any part of this after that stunt. Women have a hard enough time in my field, without an asshole taking credit for my work."

Davenport walked over to her with the pipette in her hand. Elena squeezed her eyes shut.

As the doctor approached her, Elena felt a tear slipped out from under her lids. Even if she wasn't going to fight this, she still didn't have a choice in the matter. She, the man they were using, even the spawn, they had no choice in how they were being used by them.

As Davenport stepped closer, Elena fought the urge to try to get away. There was no way out. She learned that a long time ago. The straps kept her pinned and unable to move anyway and if she tried to fight, it would just make things worse. Because if this failed, it would be Maxfield's spawn they used next time.

This is the lesser of the two evils. He didn't do anything to me. He never hurt me. This will be better. Elena thought, desperate to convince herself to go through with this. She couldn't do this, she couldn't. But if she didn't, they would try again, and this time it would be with Maxfield's DNA.

What sort of person was she, to allow this to happen? To allow herself to be used like this? How far had she fallen to just lie there and take it?

The pipette was inside her now, an invasion so much more intimate, so much worse than anything they'd ever done to her. Being cut up and ripped apart, that was nothing compared to this, nothing at all. She'd take that first torture session with Grayson a hundred times over this.

"No, please," Elena found herself whimpering. "Please, stop. Don't do this."

"Stop complaining. It'll be over soon," Davenport snapped. "It doesn't even hurt. Besides, after everything, this is what you want to whine about?"

No sooner had the doctor finished speaking that Elena felt something spill inside her.

It was done. She was pregnant. At least she would be if the cells took.

Even as she wished that her vampire nature got in the way of that, she knew such an outcome meant going through this all over again. So as much as she hated the idea of being pregnant with a child conceived like this, she only wanted to go through it once.

Once the good doctor was convinced that the cells were sufficiently inside Elena, she released the ties holding her down and stepped back quickly.

"Get to your cell. And don't bother trying anything stupid."

Elena stood up and shuffled over to the cage. Collapsing onto her bed, she curled in on herself, her arms wrapping tightly around her middle as she finally gave in to the swell of bleak emotions hovering on the edges of her mind.

Nothing mattered now, nothing. There was no way out. She was locked up, and the spawn she carried would be sentenced to her fate.

"I'm so sorry, kid."