Three months later found Amy feeling sick with nausea and a headache.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked her, hovering nervously.

"Oh, I'm fine," Amy replied. "Just a little tired and sick. I think I'll go lie down."

"All right," Klaus replied. "But if you need anything, you just tell me." But he followed her to the bedroom, helped her into the bed, and tucked her in. "You rest," he said. "And take care of yourself." He leaned down to kiss her forehead, and then went to turn off the light. After the door was shut behind him, Klaus started as he turned around and saw Savannah.

"What's wrong with Mom?" She asked.

"I think she has a flu or something," Klaus said. "So I'll just let her rest."

"The flu?" Savannah replied. "Really?"

"Yes," Klaus replied. "Or maybe, just maybe she's pregnant and you'll have a baby brother or sister soon," he bounced on his heels. "Wouldn't that be exciting?"

"Yeah," Savannah replied dryly. "Sure would!" When her father headed away, Savannah darted into her parents' bedroom and knocked on the closed bathroom door.

"Go away!" Amy called. "Klaus, I don't need you!"

"It's me!" Savannah replied. "Are you pregnant? Dad says you're pregnant!"

A pale Amy, her hair wild, and her eyes puffy, poked her head out the bathroom door. "So what if I am pregnant?" She asked. "Is your dad worried? He shouldn't be! This baby's his, cause when I had sex with Robbie, I used a condom, and..." She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You had sex with Robbie?" Savannah whispered, looking horrified. "Move over! I think I'm gonna be sick now!"

"I don't see why you're judging," Amy replied.

"Cause Robbie is scum is why," Savannah replied. "I can't believe you kissed him or slept with him, or did any of the other disgusting things you did! It's indecent! You're too old for him!"

"Excuse me?" Amy shot back. "While we're talking about relationships where people sleep with people who are too old for them, I don't think I have to bring up Jonathan and you, do I?"

"Are you jealous?" Savannah asked. "Are you jealous that I saw him naked and you never did?"

"No!" Amy replied. "Of course not. I don't care about stuff like that anymore!" Just then, she gagged and ran to the toilet.

"What's all this shouting?" Klaus asked, poking his head in the room. "Savannah, are you disturbing your mother? Get out of here, will you? Let her rest."

"Fine," Savannah replied sharply. "I don't want to be around here anyway." She strode from the room just as Amy flushed the toilet. "Well, she's in a mood," Klaus noted. "But no surprise there. She's probably not liking the idea of a new baby."

"Yeah," Amy replied. "That's it." She got back into bed and closed her eyes. "I think I want to sleep now," she said.

"You do that," Klaus replied. He tucked her in, shut off the bedroom light, and went to brag to Elijah about how he'd fathered another child.

Marcel arrived at James and Lenora's and found it empty, except for Max, who was sweeping the living room. "What's happened here?" He asked. "Where are James and Lenora?"

"They've been taken," Max replied without meeting Marcel's eyes. "Gwen Hamilton and her goons have really stepped up their rule, making absolutely sure that they get their way."

"I came to tell them that I was gonna rescue Susanna," Marcel replied. "Now it seems like I have to rescue everyone!"

"Yes," Max replied. "Good luck!"

Marcel gave Max a salute and went on his way. Eventually, he found himself walking amongst the ruins of a city that had been set on fire. Ruins were everywhere and people stood in front of them putting flames out with fire hoses. "Hey," he said, going up to one of them. "What-what happened here?"

"Anarchy," he whispered. "Astrid has been captured, and the council has no leader. No way to function."

"Who-who's that?" Marcel asked.

"Astrid Fale, the head of our government," The man said, looking as if Marcel were stupid. "It's been in the papers every day since the uprising began."

Marcel frowned. "What sort of uprising? I-I haven't read the papers lately."

The man sighed and put his hose down, wiping ash and soot off his face. "There are a group of warlocks and witches who vehemently oppose the rash of vampire-witch marriages that have occurred lately. They want to bring things back to how they used to be, with warlocks and witches marrying each other without bringing outsiders in and tainting the old, magical bloodlines. And they're willing to kill to make their point," he gestured around. "As you can see here."

"What do you know about a girl named Susanna?" Marcel asked him. "She's a relative of Astrid's."

"Well, if she's a relative of Astrid's, she's probably been captured too. The group has made their home in the old Council headquarters."

"Thank you!" Marcel replied. "I'll go look for her there."

"You won't find her!" The man called after him. "She's probably been killed by now!"

Knowing he had no time to lose, Marcel began looking around for the Council building. It wasn't hard to find, as it seemed to be the only one that was still in one piece. He got inside and was immediately confronted by men with guns. "What do you want?" They asked.

"I don't want any trouble," Marcel replied. "I just need to get someone from inside here."

"Who?" The man asked. "What do you want with an enemy of the state?"

"I need her because I can't let her die," Marcel replied and gave the man a punch before sticking his fangs into a couple of the others, getting them dazed enough so he could get past them and further into the building.

Behind a door marked "Jail", he heard wails and cries. He forced the lock open and walked inside. Every jail cell was full of frightened, sobbing people, except for the one at the end of the row. In that cell was a crouched young woman, her face obscured by a curtain of long, dark hair. He knocked on the bars to get her attention. "Susanna?" He asked. "Is that you?"

He heard a chuckle and she stood up. "Funny, isn't it?" She said, working the lock of the cell with a pin she held in her hand. "You would think that since I have a grandmother who's head of the council, and a father who upholds the law, I'd be safe, but no. It just makes me more of a target." She worked the lock and it popped open, allowing her to exit and shut the cell door as she came to face him, her hair out of her face now and showing big blue eyes. To his surprise, she then threw her arms around him. "Thank you for coming for me," she said. Even more shocking, her words were followed by a kiss. "You didn't have to come, you probably shouldn't have, cause the civilian vampires are treated the worst. But you came anyway. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Marcel replied. "Now, what do you say you make us disappear from here?"

"I can't," Susanna shook her head. "You can't do magic in here. But we could probably just walk right out. The guards don't expect people to know how to escape using human methods. But be prepared to punch, hit, and bite as much as you need to."

"You're taking this very calmly," Marcel said with admiration. Just then, a racket started up and then guards came bursting in. Together, Marcel and Susanna fought them off, leaving a pile of injured bodies behind the cell block door.

"I-I didn't expect..." Marcel began, feeling stunned. "You really can fight, can't you?"

Susanna grinned, showing her teeth. "Well, my father didn't call me 'Monster' for nothing. Now let's go outside. Not to say it'll be any better than in here. Then, when things have calmed down, we can come back, and rescue my grandmother and the others, all right?"

"All right," Marcel nodded. "Lets go!" They ran until they found an abandoned house with broken windows and the front door boarded up. Marcel got the boards off and then helped Susanna into the dark house, trying to keep her from tripping over the brick-a-brac hidden in the darkness.

Once they were on a relatively clear section of floor, Susanna materialized a flashlight in her hand, turned it on, and trained it around the room. The house they were in was old, and seemed as if it hadn't been occupied in awhile, although there was a pair of reading glasses atop a cobweb covered book next to a half-drunk glass of sherry on the table that had a small spider crawl up out of it.

"Well, that's disgusting," Susanna observed, her nose crinkling. She cleared her throat and cleaned the cup up with a flick of her hand. "How long do you think it's been since anyone has lived here?"

"I don't know," Marcel replied, sneezing as he kicked up dust from an old blue Persian rug. "But it'll give us a place to hide out for awhile, at least." He headed over to a sofa and sat down. "Come sit," he said. "And maybe you could get some light in this place?"

"Yeah," Susanna replied. "I doubt it has any electricity of its own." She whispered a spell and the room lit up. They weren't surprised to see that everything was dusty, cobwebby, or dirty, and that every piece of furniture looked ancient and dangerous, like it would collapse or break any second.

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Susanna asked. "Cause I'm sure there are much cleaner houses somewhere else."

"I've lived in worse," Marcel replied and patted her knee. "And given the circumstances, I think this is the best we can do for now. It's not gonna hurt you. Let's go see what the bedroom looks like."

"Of course that's what you'd say," Susanna replied. "All this horror going on, and you want to see the bedroom."

"I didn't mean it in a Casanova sort of way," Marcel protested. "I just...I want to see if the bed's safe to sleep on! If not, we'll have to do sleeping bags on the floor, which I really hope is not what will happen."

Susanna rolled her eyes and they headed up the creaky, steep, twisty stairway, with Marcel going up first and Susanna following behind, clutching his hand tight while she tried to see in what little light they had.

Luckily for them, the bed, although it was dusty and the sheets were torn and dirty, was very stable, and when they climbed in it and pulled the covers over themselves, it was clear that it wouldn't collapse or break. However, Susanna fell asleep just soon as she was tucked in, fell asleep, her breathing even and calm.

"You poor kid," Marcel whispered and kissed her forehead. "I bet this is the first decent sleep you've had in awhile, huh?" He didn't get a reply, but he'd expected that. Instead, he pulled a rocking chair to the side of the bed and watched her sleep, not moving until a loud bang sent him scrambling into the bed beside her to shield her, even though the source of the disturbance was luckily nowhere near the house. After things had calmed down again, Marcel got out of the bed and tried to control his breathing. He was hungry, but he didn't want to leave Susanna to go feed. Instead, when he heard the squeaking of a mouse a few rooms over, he went to grab it and, wincing, sucked deeply until it was just a crumpled up animal. Wincing, he thought to himself, "At least this place is full of rats. I won't have to worry about going hungry."

There was a knock on the door of the office and Gwen took her feet (clad in ice blue pumps) of the desk and straightened her back. "What do you want?" She yelled. "I'm busy! riots and anarchy can't start themselves, can they?"

But the door opened anyway, and when Gwen saw it was Mikael, she rolled her eyes. "Well, look who it is," she said. "Miss me?"

"No," Mikael replied. "But I heard about your little reign of terror and I thought I might come and congratulate you. I've caused mayhem in my time, but not this way."

"Are you giving me an actual compliment?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," Mikael admitted. "I am."

"It's not some ploy to get me to release some of the people I've caught?" Gwen pressed.

"No, I don't care who you caught," Mikael replied. "They aren't my family. Hell, I'll help you catch the rest if you want."

"Why would you care?" Gwen asked. "What do these people mean to you?"

"Like I said, they don't mean anything to me," Marcel repeated.

"They have to mean something, bad or good, cause otherwise, you wouldn't care about them so much," Gwen replied. "So what's going on?"

"None of your business," Mikael replied. He snatched a paper off her desk and read it. "These are all the people you've captured?" He asked.

"Yeah," Gwen chuckled. "Big bunch, isn't it?"

"Notice anything interesting about them?" Mikael asked. "Like how a lot of them have the same last name?"

"Well, of course a lot of them have the same last name, you idiot!" Gwen snapped. "They're a family! A family that is irritating me beyond belief. Going against the traditional unspoken rule that witches marry warlocks, except in desperate cases where they can marry humans, and feeling no shame about it whatsoever!"

"And if you have a problem with people from other species marrying, what about you and me, then?" Mikael asked. "I sense hypocrisy."

"Oh, my god!" Gwen gagged at this statement. "There's nothing wrong with you and I getting drunk and having the occasional fling. It's not like we're gonna get married or anything. I'm holding out for someone very special."

"Are you?" Mikael asked, his eyebrow raised. "And just who are you going to trap in your web and devour?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know him," Gwen replied. "He's a vampire. One of the first ones there was. I hear he's incredibly rich. Just the kind of man I want."

"Is that so?" Mikael asked. "Well, I might know him. But my question is, how do you?"

"My daughter, Rebecca got pregnant by his son," Gwen replied. "They're gonna get married, and that's how I'm gonna meet the man I'm gonna marry."

Just then, Mikael burst out laughing.

"And just what is so funny?" Gwen asked, eyes narrowed. "I'm good enough for him! I can make him fall in love with me!"

"No, you can't," Mikael replied. "You had your chance, but you did something a few months ago that made him very unhappy."

"Oh?" Gwen asked. "And just what was that?"

"You forced him to wear your panties and locked him out of your house so he had to take refuge with his son and less than favorite daughter-in-law," Mikael said.

Gwen's eyes widened. "But wait a minute!" She cried. "That was you!"

"Yes," Mikael crossed his arms and grinned. "It was me."

Gwen paled and backed away. "You mean, you're..."

"Yes," He said, pulling Gwen to him and whispering in her ear. "I am. And I'm not happy."

"Well, just a minute," Gwen cried. "It's not my fault! I didn't know! Don't leave!"

"Who said I was planning on leaving?" Mikael asked. "Like I told you, I didn't come here to fight. I came here because I want in on what you're doing, and if you let me take control of your little operation, I'll consider you forgiven."

"Let you take control?" Gwen swallowed. "You mean, of the whole thing?"

"Why not?" Mikael asked. "I have much more of a reason to hate all these people than you do." He paused. "And by the way, by virtue of the fact that I know the wives of my living sons, I have to tell you that the one your daughter was impregnated by is the bastard son of my wife. She had an affair with a werewolf who lived in our same village, and he was the result."

"Werewolf?" Gwen asked. "Really? How intriguing!"

"You don't seem worried about this," Mikael replied. "You're so intent on dictating the behavior of others, yet you don't wish to do the same for yourself."

Gwen smiled. "Well, that's the good thing about being in charge, is it? I can do what I want, and no one will stop me."

Just then, a buff, bronzed young man wearing a red speedo came in the room carry a massage table. "You need a break?" He asked Gwen. She stood up and grinned. "Yes," she said. "That would be lovely." To Mikael's irritation and dismay, she began stripping down while the young man set the table up, then she got up on the table, rested on her stomach, and he put a towel over her while he massaged her back. She moaned and groaned, crying "Yes, yes, harder!" While Mikael braced himself against the wall, feeling hardness in his trousers.

"It's a wonder anything at all is getting done here!" He snapped. He then strode over to the young man and shoved him to the ground. "Get out of here!" He barked. "And put on some clothes. You look ridiculous!"

The young man struggled to his feet and ran out of the room, while Gwen sat up, pouting. "What's wrong with you to ruin my fun?" She asked. "Roberto wasn't done with me yet!"

"Why are you letting nearly naked men who are way too young for you prance around this office?" Mikael asked her.

"Well, it's been three months since I heard from you," Gwen pointed out as she zapped up a white terry cloth robe and put it on. "You didn't expect me to wait, did you?"

"And I can't believe you expected I would call you back after you got me drunk, tricked me into putting on your underwear, and locked me out of your house!" Mikael replied.

"It was just a little joke," Gwen replied. "When I came to let you back in, you were already gone."

"Of course I was already gone," Mikael replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I apologize for that," Gwen replied. "It won't happen again."

"You're only apologizing cause you know I'm important!" Mikael replied.

"Well, of course," Gwen said. "I wouldn't give a shit if you were nobody. But as you can see, I found ways to occupy myself without you."

"Yes, much younger men," Mikael nodded. "The modus operandi of the aging, desperate crone trying to convince herself she's young. So pathetic."

"Oh, yes?" Gwen asked. "And how did you fill your time?"

"A gentleman doesn't share," Mikael replied, but gave Gwen's bottom a squeeze. "Get dressed," he commanded. "We have work to do."

"So soon?" Gwen asked. "But you just got here!" She undid her robe. "Don't you want me to help you relax a little?"

"No," Mikael said without looking up. "Work now, relaxing later."

"Fine," Gwen said and came to kiss him. "I suppose I could use a second in command."

"'Second in command'?" Mikael repeated. "No, no! I'm taking charge of this operation, now that I've seen how you manage. Shirtless men and massage tables. Pffft! I'm gonna go check the security of the prisons."

"Fine," Gwen replied. "Go. But who knows how generous I'll be feeling when you get back?"

MIkael peered out the office door and saw more handsome, bronzed young men in speedos. "Oh, I'm not worried," he said, turning back to her. "It seems you've been more than generous lately, you harlot!" He grinned. "See you later."