"Why don't you tell us about work?" Matthew asked Sarah when she got home from work one night and collapsed into a chair. "I'm eager to know about it. Is it fun? Do you meet interesting people?"
"Oh, don't interrogate her, Matthew," Christine told him as she handed Ellie to her mother and Sarah settled her daughter in her lap. "Can't you see she's had a long day and wants to just take a breather?"
"It's okay, Mom," Sarah told her. Then she turned to her father. "I've met some interesting people," she told her father. "I mean, the job itself isn't the most interesting in the world, but…free food, a good workout every day, and an interesting clientele give me something to look forward to every day."
"Good," Matthew smiled. "That was all I wanted to know. Thank you for telling me."
"You're welcome," Sarah nodded and bounced her daughter on her lap. "How's Ellie been doing? Has she been behaving herself?"
"Of course she has," Matthew nodded. "She and I have been spending a lot of time outside. I think the fresh air is doing her a lot of good."
"Yeah," Sarah grinned at her daughter's happy face. "I agree. I don't think she misses me at all."
"I'm glad things are working out for you," Matthew said. "But if you ever need money or anything like that, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you," Sarah told him. "But I know that you and Selina and everyone else I respect have made it through life by doing things their own way and working hard and I want to do that too. You know?"
"I do," Matthew nodded. "It's just that sometimes, when you don't expect it, things can get hard, and I want you to know that when you get to those times, if you ever do, you won't have to handle them alone."
"Thanks, Daddy," Sarah said and hugged him. "Now, I can take Ellie and give her her bath now. I bet after watching her all day, you probably want a few moments for yourselves."
"That can wait," Christine told her firmly. "You go take a soak and relax. You deserve it. Taking care of Ellie is no problem for us."
"All right," Sarah nodded, looking into her mother's brown eyes. "If that works for you, that's what we'll do." As she headed to the bathroom though, she considered all that her parents had done to help her since Ellie's father, the idiot Sean Mikaelson, had ditched his daughter to go back to Europe and finish becoming a doctor when it wasn't strictly necessary for him to even have a career because, just like her, he had easy access to money and the whole reason he'd gone to Europe in the first place was because of his fear of becoming a parent.
"That should have tipped me off right there," she told herself as she ran the bath water, poured some bubble bath in, and then undressed and climbed in the tub. "That should have told me how things would turn out with Sean right there."
As she settled into the warm water and rubbed the soapy loofah over her skin, she thought about the situation with her parents. She was grateful to them for their help, that's for sure. Especially since she had a sneaking suspicion that even her mother didn't quite agree with how soon she'd had Ellie. And she wouldn't give up on their offers of watching her daughter so she could work as much as she needed to without guilt.
But at the same time, she knew she would always have a nagging voice in her head telling her to at least try and give her parents a break. Maybe she could take Ellie to work with her for a day, just to see what happened. She knew she'd have to talk to Patrick or Eric first, or even Dorian. And she would do that. Cause knowing whether or not she could give her parents a break to thank them for all they'd done for her…that was important to her.
"Who's the kid?" Josh asked from his cage as Sarah came striding in with his food a few days later, pushing it on a cart with one hand and balancing Ellie on her left hip.
"Well, remember when I told you I had a kid to support, which is why I couldn't do all those special extra things for you like bringing you another burger because it might get me fired?" Sarah questioned. "This is her. This is my daughter, Eleanor. But we call her Ellie."
"She's so cute," Josh smiled and reached out to pat Ellie's head. "You know, she looks like you."
"I'm kind of glad for that," Sarah nodded. "If she looked like her father, I'd have to think about him and we're not exactly on the best of terms right now."
"You're not with Ellie's father?" Josh asked, leaning his face against the bars. "Are you seeing anyone right now?"
"No, and I'm not even looking," Sarah replied. "And if I was, what makes you think I'd pick you? You're a bad demon who's in trouble for all sorts of things. I want stability. I don't want to be with someone who'll get me kidnapped and separated from my kid."
"You don't know that that would happen if you were with me!" Josh cried. "You're just making a very judgmental assumption and I would like an apology."
"No," Sarah said firmly as he made faces at Ellie and she giggled. "Now eat your food before it gets cold, unless you don't want it and would like me to take it back."
"No, I don't want you to take it back," Josh replied and gestured for Sarah to hand him his plate. "It's the only hot food I get all day. I'm not going to waste it." He took the plate when it was handed to him and shoveled the French fries, applesauce, and chicken into his mouth.
"Slow down," Sarah remonstrated. "Or you're going to choke. What do you want me to get you for a drink?"
"I want a soda," he said with his mouth full. "And you can leave the kid here while you get it. I'll watch her."
"Thanks for the offer, but no," Sarah replied dryly. "I think you're a terrible influence."
She took Ellie out of the room and the little girl smiled at him over her mother's shoulder, something Sarah, of course, didn't see.
On the way back to the snack bar, Sarah ran into AnnaLynne. "How's Josh?" AnnaLynne wanted to know. "Is he behaving himself? I've noticed that he's developed a kind of fondness for you."
"I don't know if you could call it that, but if you want me to spy on him for you, you'll have to pay me more than they do at the snack bar," Sarah told her.
"Would you be open to that being an option?" AnnaLynne asked.
"Why?" Sarah wanted to know. "Why would it be an option? You have him caught and locked up. How much more trouble could he cause?"
"Don't ask that," AnnaLynne begged. "Just don't. His dad is out and about and he's trouble. We don't want him coming to get his son free."
"Ah," Sarah nodded. "Okay. So…will I be paid extra to spy on him? It'll be worth it if I am. Plus, I think he doesn't mind Ellie."
"There you go!" AnnaLynne smiled. "Wonderful! Thank you for doing this for me."
"You're welcome," Sarah smiled. "And…thanks for letting me bring Ellie to work with me today. It was a big help. Thanks for putting in a good word for me with your dad."
"You're welcome," AnnaLynne smiled and reached out to hold Ellie for a moment. "It's my pleasure."
Sarah left Ellie with AnnaLynne while she went to get Josh's drink, and when she returned with it, she found him tossing a phone on the floor of the cage beside him and crumpling up what looked like a map.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"It depends," Josh told her. "How much did you see?"
"Why are you so defensive?" Sarah questioned. "Are you doing something you shouldn't?"
"Don't you figure I am since I'm a bad person?" Josh asked. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be locked up like an animal, would I? You think I like being caged like this? Can you blame me for wanting to get out?"
"No, but if you just learn to behave yourself, I'm sure they'll let you free," Sarah told him.
"Oh, I don't think it'll be as simple as that," Josh sighed.
Sarah gave him a long look and then ran to tell Klaus and AnnaLynne. "I think Josh is trying to escape!" she said. "What are you going to do about it?"
"How do you know he's trying to escape?" Klaus asked. "What clues are there?"
"Well, I think he was talking on the phone to someone before I came in with his drink." Sarah remarked. "And…and I saw him trying to hide some sort of map. But I admit he didn't actually say that that's what he plans on doing."
"Of course not," Klaus scoffed. "He'd be a fool if he did, wouldn't he?"
"So what are you going to do?" Sarah asked.
"I think the question is, what are you going to do?" AnnaLynne corrected, a smile on her lips. "His escape is going to be connected to whatever he's planning, right? So if, oh, he escapes and decides to take you along for the ride, we'll have someone on the inside."
"You want me to be bait?" Sarah's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever be paid enough for this."
"Well, it'll be more than what you get for working at the snack bar," AnnaLynne told her. "That's true."
"Yeah, but still!" Sarah told her. "You want me to be okay with possibly being kidnapped by a man, however attractive he may be, who could very well be a lunatic!"
"Oh, he's not," Klaus tried to reassure her. "He kidnapped another girl, AnnaLynne's brother's girlfriend. And she just…she just really gave him the business. He came out of the whole thing more wounded than she did. If you have even the least bit of knowledge of any sort of self-defense, you should be fine."
"I hope you're right," Sarah sucked in her breath and reminded herself to grab one of her father's pistols and stick it in her purse before she came to work the next day. "Cause if you're wrong, things will not end well."
"Well, what do you think?" Josh asked when Sarah came to work the next day and found him out of his cage and walking around as free as a bird.
"Nice," Sarah told him. "How in the world did that happen? When did they let you out?"
"Klaus came and let me out this morning first thing," Josh smiled. "I don't know what it is that I've done to make them change their minds about me, but whatever it is, I'm glad for it." He smiled. "Now that I'm out and safe…would you go out with me? Please? Just this once? And if you don't have a good time, I'll leave you alone, I swear. You can even bring your daughter if you want. I don't mind. I like her."
"Okay," Sarah nodded. "I think that might be best."
"It can even be a group date if you don't want to be alone with me just yet," Josh continued.
"You just know exactly what to say, don't you?" Sarah told him. "Not that I would be afraid to be alone with you now, but my dad's a bit conservative and it will probably comfort him to know that I'll have others with me."
"Anything I can do to please," Josh shrugged. "So…you want to meet me here after you finish with work?"
"Sure," Sarah nodded, making a note to call her father at lunch and tell him not to wait dinner cause she'd be going out instead. "That sounds great. I would love to. And…thanks for inviting Ellie to come along too. That really makes things easier for me."
"Where's she now?" Josh asked. "Did you bring her?"
"Yes, I brought her," Sarah nodded. "But she's with Klaus and AnnaLynne right now."
Josh raised an eyebrow. "You're okay with your daughter being around a lot of demon prisoners?" He asked.
"Well, AnnaLynne promised she wouldn't let her get hurt, so I'm not worried," Sarah said. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I gotta get to work. See you tonight?"
"Yeah," Josh nodded and smiled at her. "See you then."
It was right after she got off work that Sarah went to get Ellie. "What are you gonna do now?" AnnaLynne asked when she handed her over.
"Josh and I have a date," Sarah said. "He told me Ellie could come along too, but I just…I have no idea what we're going to do, and I'm a bit scared. He said it was a 'group date'. Something tells me it doesn't quite mean what I think it does. What if he just gets a bunch of demons together and tries to kill me?"
"Well, I hope you're going into this with a weapon," AnnaLynne told her. "Or at least some knowledge about how to fight."
"I have a pistol in my purse," Sarah told her. "Don't know how well that will protect me against a demon, but it makes me feel more secure at any rate."
"If it makes you feel any better," AnnaLynne told her, "Josh was getting a bit cocky today and Klaus got a good look at that map he had. We know the basic idea of where he'll probably take you. He's really not the brightest, is he?" She shrugged. "Oh, well. At least he's got his good looks. Good luck, Sarah."
"Thank you," Sarah told her.
"No," AnnaLynne shook her head. "Thank you." She then ran to the room where Josh was waiting for her with a bouquet of flowers and a little teddy bear for Ellie.
"Well, aren't you sweet?" She smiled as he gave her and Ellie both kisses on the cheek. She tried to be relaxed and not grab the gun in her purse and pistol whip him. That would ruin everything. She followed him out to the car and after they strapped Ellie in, Sarah tried to go and sit next to him in the passenger's seat, but he shook his head.
"No, you want to sit in the back," he told her. "It's much roomier back there. Gives you more space to stretch out."
Sarah thought this was very odd, but after resisting a little, decided to play along. "All right," she said and got in the backseat next to her daughter. "I'll sit back here with Ellie." Then, as he sat in the driver's seat, she asked, "So…where are your friends? Are they going to meet us wherever we're going?"
"Yes," Josh grinned at her in the overhead mirror. "You could say that." She then noticed a burly man rising up from the trunk behind her and placing a rag covered with chloroform over her mouth until she passed out, the last thing she heard being the sound of Ellie's sobbing in her ears as she was presumably quieted as well and they were driven out of the gym parking lot.
"Where am I?" Sarah asked as she came to, her head throbbing and her vision blurry as she felt around for her purse and her gun but found nothing.
"Glad to see you finally woke up," Josh's voice sounded in her ears. "I was worried you wouldn't. We can start our date now. Why don't you meet my friends?"
Sarah blinked a couple of times and looked around, a feeling of déjà vu coming back to her. She was in a cave or underground or something, just like she had been with John when Ellie was born, surrounded by evil looking men. Lots of them, and probably all intent on doing her harm. "Where am I?" She asked. "What am I doing here? And what in the hell did you do with Ellie? She better not be hurt, or I swear…!"
"She's not," Josh told her as he cuddled the little girl who was writhing wildly in his grip. "She's fine."
"She doesn't look fine," Sarah snapped. "Give her to me."
Josh smiled. "I will," he said, and gestured around the room. "But not until you say hello to my friends: Jim, Tom, Billy, Bruce, Jack, John, Wayne, and Roy."
"Hi," Sarah said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she greeted Josh's cohorts. She wondered what kind of demons they were.
"Hi," they all greeted her at once.
"Now that we're all acquainted, we're gonna have a good time down here," Josh remarked and, to her relief, handed Ellie back to Sarah. "We certainly are."