Andy's good mood from her dinner with Elijah lasted approximately ten minutes into her shift the following day. She was working the day shift at a place that, if she was being perfectly honest, catered primarily to alcoholics and they were usually out bar hopping in the evening, so why was it so. Damn. Busy.

By the time she was three hours into her shift, her work shirt was splashed with beer and her hand wrapped with a bandage because some asshole had thrown a bottle at her, she had a raging migraine, and to top it off there was a group of assholes in the corner booth who would not shut the fuck up.

So, the day was going absolutely fucking stellar. But it was time for her fifteen, that was something at least. Andy wet one of the spare towels and held it to her forehead in a valiant attempt to lessen the pain as she shuffled over to the computer to clock out.

"You doing alright?"

That was her boss, Sam. Andy let her hand hover over the punch out button and bit back a sarcastic response. He didn't deserve it, he was just being nice. And also, he was her boss so she couldn't mouth off.

"I gotta migraine."

He reached out and laid a hand on her extended arm that was still hovering over the computer. Andy didn't flinch, but it was a near thing. He was just being nice, there was no need to bite his head off.

"Hey, you can lay down in my office if you want?"

Andy punched out and brushed his hand off. Her skin was crawling right now, she really didn't want to be touching anyone right now, much less her boss.

"Nah, I'll just nap in my car or something."

"You sure? I have Advil."

Andy shook her head, and then regretted it a second later. Advil wouldn't do shit for her - she recognized this kind of migraine. She either needed to stop suppressing her visions, or she was going to drop into a trance. She needed to leave. Stat.

"Thanks for offering Sam, but I just want to be alone right now."

She beat a hasty retreat after that, not wanting to bear any more of his concern. She knew what Sam was like - he could get very, very overbearing if she didn't leave now.

Andy just made it outside before her eyes started to burn, and she was swept away by the future.

She was running through back alleys near her apartment, eyes darting from shadow to shadow as she searched for her pursuers. She heard something skid across the ground behind her, and then a burst of pain bloomed at her back.

She tripped, and fell to the ground from the force of whatever object was thrown at her.

She began to push herself up, but it was too late. An unnaturally strong hand hauled her to her feet, and she looked up to meet the fanged grin of a vampire. Andy realized with a start that she recognized him - he was from that annoying group at the bar earlier.

"Y'know you're pretty hard to catch for a human. I'd be impressed if it wasn't so annoying. But your sister did say that anything went as long as you were alive."

Andy made a useless attempt to flinch back as the vampire's vision flooded red and he lunged for her throat.

Andy snapped back to the present. She stumbled briefly and realized that breath was coming out in pants. She shakily raised her hands to her eyes to wipe the liquid streaming from her eyes - blood, of fucking course - off of her cheeks.

Okay. Okay. She needed to recalibrate.

She was about to be pursued by vampires. And judging by the time of day in her vision, it was going to be soon. The sun was only a little higher now than it was in what she had just Seen.

That meant that she could still get a head start. And find…somewhere safe.

Andy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Alright. Safety. She needed her to go somewhere safe.

She reached out with her Sight and concentrated on the concept. She didn't know where her sight would lead her, but wherever it was would be safe.

Andy felt the pain in her eyes increase slightly as she fell into a half-trance. She could still react to the present, but she had one foot in the near future.

Hopefully, it would be enough to keep her ahead of her pursuers long enough for her Sight to lead her somewhere secure.

Andy started walking.

No, not her car. Her car had a dead battery, a hand breaking her window, reaching in as she -

The trick was to stay with where the humans could see here. Andy made to take a left but stopped as the light turned green, cars sped across the street, a hand reached out -

She picked up the pace and kept going straight. And then turned right at the intersection by the boutique.

The same vampire walked by her car mere minutes behind her -

Andy ducked into a store selling perfumes. The vampire scented the air, brows furrowed. After a few moments, he went straight.

Andy selected a peppermint perfume, not the rose, the vampire would find her faster with the rose -

She left the store a minute later, bearing a slight scent of peppermint. She intentionally melted into the crowd and took a left, another left and then a right, she just needed to keep walking…

A powerful hand landed on her shoulder.

Andy froze, the future flashing across her eyes nearly too fast to keep track of. Her scream echoed across the alley way, she felt a pain in her neck, tasted blood in her mouth, and then the vampire was gone…

"You are a damn pain in the ass."

Andy didn't resist as she was herded - dragged - off to the side, into a secluded area. Into the alley way she had just Seen.

The vampire pushed her away from him, annoyance clear on his features. He was saying…something, but her heartbeat was pounding too loud in her ears to hear it.

The vampire's expression went from irritation to anger, and he lunged forwards.

Andy screamed.

The vampire's teeth were in her neck a second after, his clamped roughly around her mouth. The pain of the bit radiated down into her shoulder and back, as she struggled fruitlessly against the preternatural grip.

The grip around her jaw tightened, and in a moment of reckless fear and fury, Andy did something very stupid. She bit the vampire.

The vampire stopped feeding from her in shock, and Andy had just enough time to think oh fuck , before he was violently ripped away form her.

Andy landed on her ass with her hand clasped to the wound on her neck. There was a short scuffle that she decided to not watch ended by the thud of a body hitting the ground. A familiar debonair voice spoke.

"Andromeda."

She flinched back at the sound of her name. Elijah's voice was soft, but coloured with hints of a fury far more terrifying than that of the vampire who had attacked her. She didn't look up.

She had no desire to be the object of any vampire's fury, much less that of an Original. And she doubted that Elijah was pleased with the fact that he'd had to intervene yet again to keep her safe.

He had said that she was under his protection, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Humility and caution were always the wiser options in situations like this one.

Andy heard a sigh, and finally looked up when Elijah crouched down in front of her. She cautioned a look behind him, and saw the vampire's limp body on the ground. She looked away when she saw the unnatural angle of his neck.

Elijah moved, making her attention snap to him. He offered her a bloody wrist.

"Drink, please."

She took a quick glance at his face. He…looked worried, actually. Not angry at all.

So she did what he asked, and brought his bloody wrist to her mouth. His blood tasted…not metallic as human blood did. It was - tangy. That was the word. It held a taste of what could only be magic.

She felt his wrist flex as he clenched his fist to force more blood through the deep bite, but obediently kept drinking until all she could feel under her tongue was his skin.

Andy sat back once Elijah's wrist healed. She grimaced as she felt her skin reluctantly start to piece itself together, but the bleeding stopped.

She'd be right as rain in a few days. She was lucky that Elijah was The Vampire, for all intents and purposes, and that his blood was powerful enough to somewhat work with her Oracle healing factor and not against it, as some magic was wont to do.

"What happened?"

There was no anger in his voice now. Only concern. So Andy found it within herself to speak.

"I Saw him at work, and I've been running ever since."

Elijah's jaw worked, and a flash of… something not particularly nice stole across his face for a second, before it was hidden behind his normal unflappable mein.

He stood, and offered her a hand up. She took it, head swimming as she did. Fuck her eyes hurt. Half-trances were a bitch to deal with.

"Stay with me tonight. I will take care of… this. "

Andy's head snapped up at that sentence.

"What, no - I need…"

Elijah, in a rare display of less than gentlemanly manners, cut her off. "I really must insist."

There was a whole mountain's worth of steel in his voice. Andy stopped protesting.

He shrugged off his suit jacket and offered it to her. She donned it, and let herself be led out of the alleyway.

People would probably just assume she and Elijah had just had a tryst, not that her shirt was soaked in her own blood.

They made it to his penthouse merely a few minutes later, and that was when Andy realized then her Sight had been leading her to him.

The silence between them was charged with something , but Andy didn't dare break it. Instead, she let herself be led to Elijah's sinfully soft sofa and put a hand over her aching eyes.

She heard the faucet run, and a moment later, a clink as something was set in front of her. She reached out blindly, now waiting to open her eyes just yet. If she did that she would have to acknowledge her godawful migraine.

The glass was placed in her hand. She drained it, relishing the blessedly cool water sliding down her throat.

Right. She needed to stop being a coward.

"Elijah, why are you helping me?"

Because what he was doing…it was above and beyond merely taking care of an ally.

"I think you know why."

At that sentence, Andy's Impressions went wild - hands running through her hair, pleasure so deep she swore she could feel it in her fingertips, his voice whispering her name - much to the protest of her aching eyes.

And then they stopped, when she felt Elijah's surprisingly rough hand land on her own. His touch warding her unwanted visions away.

She opened her eyes, and was met with a hunger in Elijah's gaze that she now knew that he had been keeping at bay. Until now.

"That - you can't…"

"I am."

That was when Andy understood that she couldn't live in denial any longer.

And Elijah must have noticed that, because he kept talking.

"I knew that you were my mate from the moment you bled in front of me. If not for the fear I saw in you, I wouldn't have let you leave."

Andy was helpless under his gaze. She wanted to push him away. She wanted him to hold her closer. She wanted…she didn't know what she wanted.

"You're right to fear me. I've done monstrous things. And I will continue to do monstrous things, especially to that vampire who dared taste your blood. You are mine. I am yours. And I will not allow anyone, not even you, to deny us this."

He said it so gently, but his grasp on her was resolute.

And Andy…wanted to protest. To push him away, to go back to her life firmly away from the supernatural world.

But she knew better than anyone that fate could not be denied…and if she was to be honest with herself, she didn't want to fight against it. She didn't want to keep running. To keep being terrified of a bond that should be a blessing.

So she nodded wordlessly. Cautiously.

And allowed herself to hope.