Elena found herself on her knees, vomiting again into the toilet. Once her stomach was emptied, she dragged herself across the floor and braced a shaky hand on her bed before pulling herself up onto it. She collapsed onto it, trembling with exertion.

"Are you okay, kid?" Enzo asked.

"Do I look okay?" Her raspy voice cracked under the strain of speaking. "I can't even keep blood down anymore. What kind of vampire throws up blood?"

"You're desiccating."

Elena stared at the ceiling, focusing on nothing in her effort to ignore her thirst, when something broke through to her. What was that? She tilted her head, trying to pinpoint the origin of the unfamiliar sound. The soft fluttering, coming from… inside her. The spawn. She could hear its heartbeat.

What was she supposed to feel now? She was starving, desiccating and the spawn was going to die soon because her body couldn't support the pregnancy.

It made her sad in a way, that the spawn had no chance of any kind because of the way it came into the world. But with the sadness, there was a small measure of relief. The fetus would soon be dead and Davenport would be forced to accept that Elena couldn't carry a child to term.

Maybe then, things would go back to the way they were before, of them trying to find a cure for vampirism.

Elena curled in on herself, wishing she could just disappear. The good doctors had literally taken everything that was worth anything from her, including this bundle of cells she wasn't sure she wanted. How could she want to bring a child into a world like this? A world where it would be subjected to the whims of a group of people who saw them as less than animals?

She wanted to end the child's suffering before it began, but how? What could she do? There was nothing. She didn't even have anything she could use to end her own life, much less terminate her pregnancy.

No one knew where she was. People were no longer looking for her. She and the fetus were doomed.

Tears leaked from her eyes and she pressed her cheek deeper against the slab to try to hide them.

"Hey, kid. Elena!" Enzo hissed. "Elena!"

She turned to look at him. What was he going on about now?

"Someone's here. Listen."

Elena cocked her head, and sure enough, three strange sets of footsteps walked across the floor above them, then came down the stairs.

"Get the girl," a woman said. "I'll deal everything everything else."

A second later, a tall, dark haired man in a crisply tailored suit appeared in front of her cell. He dropped the arm of his blonde, female companion as he approached the door. His dark eyes scrutinized her carefully, his expression a strange combination of emotions Elena couldn't name.

Who was he? As fast as he moved, he had to be supernatural, but what? Was he a vampire too? But if he was, how did he get inside the house? Wasn't the house owned by a human so that vampires couldn't get inside?

"What the-?" Enzo sat up.

"Is this her?" the man asked his companion, his eyes never leaving Elena's.

His conflicted expression set Elena's teeth on edge and she felt herself tensing, preparing to spring, to try to run, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to get very far in her condition.

"Yes." The woman held out her hands and closed her eyes. "Hold on."

The cell doors shuddered and bent as they swung open.

Perfect, a witch. There was no way she could hope to get away from a witch.

Elijah flashed over to her side and shed his jacket as he sat down beside her. Unbuttoning his sleeve, he rolled it up, exposing the thin skin of his inner wrist, then cradled Elena's head to his chest before holding his bared wrist to her lips.

"Here."

Elena looked at his face, then at his wrist, confused. Since when did vampires offer each other their blood? Wasn't that supposed to be very personal? At least it was what Enzo had told her. So why was he offering her his blood? Her, a stranger?

"You need to drink from me."

"Trust him, Elena. That's Elijah Mikaelson and his sister, Freya," Enzo said. "If he says you need to do something, do it."

"We haven't got much time, so please, drink."

Thirst overrode her reluctance. Elena felt her fangs extend and the veins protrude from around her eyes as his scent entered her nostrils. She was so thirsty that the offer of blood, even another vampire's blood, it had her reacting and fighting the urge to lunge for the offer.

"That's it, sweetheart."

She sank her fangs into his flesh, the first time she'd ever had blood from the vein. Rich, metallic, sweet, and laced with hormones that sent her body buzzing, she moaned as she tightened her grip on his arm, taking longer draws.

"Take as much as you need," Elijah said softly as he held her close, stroking his hand down over her buzzed head. "Drink."

Elena found herself pulling his arm to her chest, drinking deeply. As his blood entered her system, she felt strength returning to her limbs, the ever present thirst finally lessening to something much more manageable. Instead of the nausea she'd experienced for the last three weeks whenever she drank anything, she felt good, strong.

Elijah wrapped her closer, caressing her arms and the flavor of his blood changed as she continued to drink, her body responding to the new hormones in his blood. She ached somewhere low in her belly now, wanting, needing.

"That's it, sweetheart. Drink," Elijah whispered against her skin, the brush of his breath heightening her reaction to his blood.

"I'm afraid the test failed. I'm going to have to alter the algorithms I used and try it again," Davenport's voice floated through the air as the front door opened. "Her illness is a result of a more rigorous hormone regime, nothing to be concerned about. I'll let you know if anything changes."

Elena pulled away from his wrist with a gasp. Davenport was here! The doctor was going to lock up the ones who wanted to save her!

"Relax," Elijah murmured against her temple. "She only knows how to keep younger vampires contained. Also, I don't think she's ever dealt with a witch or a werewolf. Shh."

Elijah ran his hand down her back and Elena sank back into his embrace.

"In fifty years, we've never managed to capture a female vampire before and I'm not interested in losing the one we have. Either you find a way to stabilize her or we will have no choice but to end your program."

"I understand." Davenport hung up the phone and headed for her lab.

Elena gripped Elijah's arm, drawing comfort from this stranger's strength.

Suddenly, Davenport gasped, dropping something in shock, and asked, "Who are you?"

"Elijah, Freya, get the girl and let's go," the woman she'd heard speaking earlier called from the lab. "I think I've got everything we need."

"What about Enzo?" Elena whispered as she looked at her friend and then at the man holding her.

"I'll be fine, kid, once I get my daylight ring," Enzo reassured her with a confident smile, then flashed away towards the lab.

Elijah pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the blood off his wrist before scooping Elena up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. With a gasp, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"If we have everything, let's get going," Elijah said before flashing up the stairs and outside.

Elena inhaled, attempting to take it all in. It was the first time in so long that she'd been outside the cage they'd kept her in, being free, it was an overload of all her senses. The leaves twisting in the soft wind, the brush of night breeze against her skin, carrying the scent of summer flowers and college life to her nose, the stars in the night sky. She thought she'd been overwhelmed when she'd transitioned, but it was nothing on this.

"It's okay, focus on me," Elijah said softly. "Breathe and focus on me. Shut everything else out and focus on me."

Elena did as he said, looking up at him, his heartbeat, his scent, the feel of him around her, it drowned everything else out.

"Shh. That's it, sweetheart, focus on me. Breathe. You're safe."

She pressed her face against his throat, allowing him to fill her senses entirely.

"Is she okay?" Enzo asked as he joined them on the front lawn.

"She'll be fine once we get her to New Orleans."

"Take care of her. She's a rare one."

The brush of wind told Elena that Enzo was gone. Would she ever see him again? Did she want to? After what he'd witnessed, she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him again. But forever was a long time. She might change her mind once she healed.

"Freya, Keelin, we need to get going," Elijah said, barely raising his voice.

"One moment," Freya said. "I'm going to set this place on fire before we go."

"No! You can't do that!" Davenport shrieked, her voice echoing from the basement. "What about all my work?"

"It won't matter in a few minutes," Freya said. From the sound of her voice, she was coming up the stairs now. "I don't think your work will matter where you're going."

"You're not serious!" Raw fear entered the good doctor's voice. "She's just a vampire! How can you take her side over a human's?"

"I'm a witch and you used my vampire brother's DNA to father her child and you expect me to side with you."

"That's not possible."

"What? Not possible that you had sex with a vampire? Or that his genetic material worked?" Freya scoffed. "Hers worked. What made you think his wouldn't."

Elena tensed, shrinking away from the man holding her as best she could. He'd slept with Davenport? It was his- his- his-. She couldn't finish the thought. Nausea curled in her stomach.

"If it wasn't for the fact that that child is connected to my family, we would never have known what you were doing, so you only have yourself to blame for it."

Elena couldn't breathe, couldn't think. This man who'd shown her kindness, who'd given her the first blood she'd been able to hold down in over three weeks? He'd slept with Davenport? He'd been intimate with the monster who'd raped her, his cells were what created the life now growing inside her.

Her stomach twisted, but for the first time in two weeks, she found herself unable to throw up.

"I'll have you know that my brother is most displeased with you and your actions against him and this girl."

A few moments later, Freya and a dark skinned woman exited the house. Freya snapped her fingers as she walked down the stairs.

"What did you do?" Davenport cried. "Why can't I get out?"

"In a fight between magic and science, magic always wins," Freya replied. "You tangled with us, you'll get the full force of our rage. Best make your peace with whatever god you pray to because fire is a very painful way to die."

It was then that Elena noticed the smell of smoke coming from the house.

"What?" Davenport pressed against the invisible wall holding her inside the building. "You're going to just leave me to burn?"

"You really should have thought about this before harming Elena the way you did," Freya said over her shoulder.

"You don't understand!" Davenport pleaded. "I was trying to cure infertility and I succeeded."

"You succeeded with someone who didn't want the procedures you performed on her. Now pay for what you've done and hope that your god has more mercy on you than I did."

"Please!"

Davenport's desperate screams felt like a small down payment on all the pain she'd caused.

"No one hurts my family and lives." Freya raised her voice just a little. "Get the girl to the car. We'll be there as soon as this place is beyond saving."

Elijah turned away, striding towards an SUV with darkly tinted windows.

"Elena," she whispered. She was so tired of people ignoring her name, her personhood. "My name is Elena."

"Keelin, would you mind telling Freya that the girl wishes you'd use her name, Elena. Her name is Elena."

"Sure thing," the voice belonging to the woman Elena had not seen yet said, before repeating Elijah's request.

"Breathe, Elena." He cradled her tenderly against his chest as if to protect her.

Opening the door, he set Elena down in the seat before closing the door behind her. A second later, he came around the vehicle and sat down beside her.

Once the door was shut behind him, Elena found herself studying the man.

"Why your blood?"

"Because it's my child. If you want to carry the child to term, you'll need to drink my blood. It's the only thing you'll be able to keep down," Elijah said as he stared at his hands. He looked at her for a long moment before speaking again, "I swear I had no idea what she was doing to you or what she planned to use me to do to you."

Elena bit her lower lip hard as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. To need his blood every day just to bring the child into the world, a child she no longer needed to keep the good doctors from harming her again.

"If you want to end the pregnancy, I won't stop you or allow anyone to retaliate against you," his voice shook and he closed his eyes in effort to hide the effort it took for him to say this. "But if you go through with it, I swear you will be protected for the rest of your life. You'll never have to see us again once the child is born, but we'll be there if you need help."

"You want the- the- it?"

"I- yes. Very much so." Elijah looked at her.

Freya and Keelin opened the doors to the front seats and buckled themselves in.

"Let me think," Elena whispered. "Please."

"Of course."

Elena curled in deeper on herself, wrapping her arms around her middle. Freya put the vehicle into gear and they headed towards the entrance.

As they pulled out onto the main road, explosion rocked their surroundings and Elena sat up, looking around wildly. Her eyes settled on the house that had been her prison for so long. Flames poured from the windows and someone was standing a few yards away, a cell phone to their ear.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Elijah said, his voice low, possibly in effort to sooth her. "We're very good at covering our tracks."

"Especially with Freya able to manipulate security cameras." Keelin reached across the consul, taking Freya's hand in hers. The darker skinned woman linked their fingers together and brought the witch's hand to her lips.

"Thank you," Freya whispered and exhaled heavily.

"I love you," Keelin replied, "my Viking Witch."

"What year is it?" Elena found herself asking, just to distract her from the tender scene playing out in the front.

"2012," Elijah replied.

"Three years. He kept me locked up for three years."

Jeremy would have graduated high school by now. Hell, he'd be in college, if he chose to go that route. How many more milestones had she missed? How many more was she going to? Then again, she was dead, so what did it matter?

Now that she was free and Davenport was dead, what did it matter if she continued living? She was frozen, forever seventeen, forever unchanging. So what was the point of it all? Did anything matter anymore?