I opened my eyes to see I was in the back of an SUV with my wrists bound. It was still night. I turned to see Hayley and Nikolas knocked out next to me. I looked around to try and find a way out of here and saw the back window of the car. I kicked at it to escape the vehicle, but the driver stopped the car and got out of the truck as I continued to kick out the window desperately. The driver opened the door and tried to grab me, but I fought back by kicking at him.

"Seriously?" the man asked annoyed and I stared at him in shock.

"Tyler?" I asked shocked.

"You don't wanna fight me, Nikky. You know you can't beat a hybrid." He told me using zip-ties on my ankles.

"Ahh! Let me go, you backstabbing half-breed piece of shit!" I shouted at him.

"Shut up!" he said pulling me out of the trunk and throwing me over his shoulder. He knocked Hayley awake and pointed a gun at her.

"Tyler?" she asked confused.

"Pick up the kid." He told her. She picked up Nikolas and he had her walk in front of him as he angrily dragged me into the Bayou.


Hours later Tyler brought us to some encampment in the Bayou and dropped me on the front stoop of a little shack.

"About time. I probably have a sunburn on my back by now from my layers and morning sun. So, thank you." I said sarcastically before looking around.

"What is this place?" Hayley asked.

"The armpit of Louisiana." Tyler told us before pulling out a knife.

"What are you gonna do with that?" I asked worriedly.

"Depends on you." He said before cutting the zip-tie on my ankles.

"Hey, you attacked me, remember? You ambushed me, in my own backyard!" I shouted at him.

"It's not your backyard, it's Klaus'! You're shacked up in that mansion with that psycho. A long way from the girl I grew up with in Mystic Falls. And you Hayley?! What happened to the girl I met in the Appalachians, helping other werewolves?" Tyler asked.

"I'm not shacked up with him, I'm married to him!" I pointed out to Tyler.

"Tyler, I'm sorry, but a lot has happened since the last time I saw you." Hayley told him.

"You mean that Nicole's pregnant? A hybrid baby, yeah, I know all about it. I've been roaming around the Bayou, asking questions. Let me tell you what I learned!" Tyler shouted at us before grabbing Hayley and handing Nikolas to me and pulling down her sweater sleeve so we can see the birthmark on her shoulder. "This crescent birthmark means you come from a big-shot family. Some kind of royalty for the werewolves of this region. And right here this is all that's left of them." He said and we all looked around to see more shacks and tents made of blankets.

"Hey!" called out and I spotted a blond woman running away from us. "Help us!"

"They can't help you! They're in the woods, hiding, because they were persecuted for decades by vampires." Tyler told us as another man appeared.

"Is that her?" he asked nodding to Hayley.

"No. It's not Hayley. It's Nicole. Get them inside." He ordered and the man did as he was told.

"Tyler?" Hayley asked scared.

"Tyler!" I shouted angrily. "They are coming for me. You really think they're going to let you live for this?" they put the three of us in the shack and zip-tied me to the fire stove with Nikolas in my lap and Hayley was on the other side of the room. I held Nikolas close to me as the two men left the room until they came back in the room.

"Tyler, there's been a wolf watching me lately. Protecting me, like it instinctively knows that I'm part of it's pack." I told him. "You're a hybrid, you can turn into a wolf whenever you want... Was it you?"

"No, but you're right- only hybrids can control when they change." Tyler told us. "And I'm the only one left, besides Klaus. Which is why we're here."

"Whatever you think you're doing, you know that whole Original family has made some sort of pact, or something, to keep Nikky, Nikolas and the baby safe. So, if you hurt them, they'll kill you." Hayley told him.

"What makes you think I'm afraid to die?" Tyler asked and I looked at him confused as the other man walked into the shack again. "You ready for this?"

"Let's do it." He said and Tyler dug into a bag and drew out a syringe and I moved Nikolas behind me the best I could.

"What are you doing?" I asked getting scared for Nikolas. The other man walked over and held me down while moving Nikolas away from me. "No! Leave us alone!" I shouted at him as Tyler crouched down in front of me. "Tyler, please. NO! Tyler!"

"Klaus destroyed everything good in my life! So, I'm gonna take away the thing he wants most!" he told me.

"NO, PLEASE! TYLER, PLEASE!" I begged him before he jammed the syringe into my stomach and drew out a measure of blood as I screamed in pain. Once he removed the syringe from my body, he jammed it into the man's neck and injected the blood into him before turning to Hayley and did the same. "No!" I shouted at him before he snapped both their necks as I watched in horror. Tyler lifted the man's dead body up off the floor and dragged him close to Hayley while I glared at him and Nikolas cried out loudly

"Don't get all judgy! Dwayne knew what he was getting into. He volunteered!" Tyler told me. "Is there any way to get him to shut up?!" he asked me.

"You ripped him from me and you want me to quiet him down for your own sanity?" I asked giving him a look. He pulled Nikolas back to me and I calmed him down with my free hand. "So he volunteered for you to kill him?" I asked getting us back on track.

"Dwayne is a werewolf who died with your blood in his system. The same blood you share with your hybrid baby and toddler." Tyler said looking at me.

"You're trying to turn him into a hybrid? That's impossible!" I told him. "We would need Nik's blood!"

"I've been running with wolf packs all over the country. One of them was tight with a witch. She had nightmare visions about your baby and how Klaus could use its blood to make an army of hybrid slaves." Tyler told me.

"I am sick of these witches and their premonitions about my baby. It's just a baby!" I shouted at him angrily.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He shrugged. "That's where Dwayne comes in. You see, he was happy to be the test case. If you haven't noticed, these people don't have much to live for. They'd all welcome the chance to become the superior species. Trouble is, all hybrids are sired to Klaus. They follow his every move." He grabbed a knife from his bag and approached me. "No way I let that happen."

"And Hayley? What about her?" I asked him.

"She helped kill my friends! She has this coming!" he shouted at me.

"How can you be so sure Nik knows what the baby's blood will do?" I asked him.

"What do you think? Klaus Mikaelson, killer of men, women and puppies, wants to be a daddy? Or, he's got an ulterior motive. Hybrids can walk in the sun. Their bite is lethal to vampires. They'll take over New Orleans by the end of the week. And you know what's going to stop Klaus then? Nothing." Tyler said.

"Nik would never do that." I told him when Dwayne and Hayley suddenly woke up with a gasp and started freaking out.

"You're gonna have to feed on her." Tyler told him.

"He feeds on my blood to transition he will turn into a Hybrid. I'm the doppelganger, remember? It's the same blood that turned you." I reminded him.

"Fine then, the kid it is." Tyler said before ripping Nikolas from me and I screamed at him as Nikolas cried out in fear. Tyler used the knife and cut Nikolas' arm.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted at him angrily hurting myself on the zip-tie trying to get Nikolas back from Tyler.

"Do it." Tyler demanded and Dwayne fed on Nikolas as Hayley did her best to resist, but in the end Tyler forced Hayley to drink just like Bekah was despite my cries to get Dwayne from my son. After a moment, Dwayne and Hayley stopped feeding and fell to the floor in pain. Tyler dropped Nikolas' arm and I quickly reached him and pulled him to me, holding him close as Tyler pushed Dwayne and Hayley outside and left the shack. I saw the knife on the ground and gently moved Nikolas off my lap while still keeping him close to me and tried to reach it. I groaned when I couldn't, but I saw a broken chair leg on the ground and picked it up before sitting up and holding Nikolas close to me again. A few minutes later Tyler walked back into the shack and gave me a grim look.

"It worked." I said looking at him. "They're Hybrids."

"If Klaus gets a hold of you, if he gets these kids? He wins." Tyler said.

"Then help me hide the baby, and Nikolas from him!" I said trying to let us go. "Help us run!" I begged him again.

"He'll find you, he'll take the kids away, and he'll make more Hybrid monsters. Slaves who do everything he says." Tyler said.

"Tyler, whatever you're thinking of doing, there has to be another way. You're not like this!" I said terrified. Tyler shook his head and walked towards me.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted while stabbing him in the gut with the broken chair leg. Tyler screamed in pain and pulled the stake out.

"That was stupid!" he told him. He started towards me again when Dwayne and Hayley rushed in.

"Get away from them!" Dwayne ordered him as Hayley came up to me.

"What do you care?" Tyler asked him.

"I said get away!" Dwayne said in a warning tone.

"You got what you wanted, now get lost!" Tyler ordered him.

"Dwayne, he's gonna kill us! He said that hybrids are too dangerous to live and he's going to kill me, the baby and Nikolas! You have to stop him!" I told him.

"SHUT UP!" Tyler ordered me. Dwayne came up behind Tyler and tossed him across the room making him land on the floor. Tyler got up, and Dwayne ran and tackled him. I saw Tyler's dropped knife within reach and Hayley used it to cut me free before running out the shack. We ran as fast as I could through the woods holding Nikolas with Hayley behind me, Tyler's knife still in her hand before hiding behind a tree. As we caught our breathe, I checked Nikolas' arm and ripped up my shirt and tied it around his arm, trying to get it wound to stop bleeding. We heard someone approaching and I nodded to Hayley who nodded back. We braced ourselves for what was to come and she readied the knife and turned to attack and sighed when she saw who it was. I peeked out to see Elijah and sighed in relief before smiling.

"Forgive me! I thought you two were in danger. It appears I was mistaken." Elijah said making Hayley sigh in relief before diving into his arms. The two hugged for a long moment before Hayley eventually pulled away.

"You will not believe the crap day we're having." Hayley told him.

"Hey, can I have some healing over here, please." I asked impatiently.

"You're not healing?" he asked me worried.

"It's not me I'm worried about. That Hybrid bastard cut Nikolas' arm. No offense." I told Hayley and Elijah quickly bit into his wrist and gave his blood to Nikolas, who healed right up, while giving Hayley a confused look.

"I'll take you home." Elijah said turning to leave before Hayley stopped him.

"Elijah, there's something you need to know about the baby." And with that we explained everything that happened to him before he began to pace anxiously. Nikolas fell asleep in my arms having been up half the night when Tyler kidnapped us from home then dragged us through the Bayou.

"Klaus must have known, that's the only explanation! He could care less about the baby and Nikolas. He just wants her to be born so he can use them to make more sired hybrids." Hayley said looking at Elijah and they shared a look before he turned away.

"How can you think that?" I asked her. "Nik's been there for us when we needed him. But... the way that Dwayne was acting... it was more like he was sired to me. Either way, Nik wouldn't do that to our children." I said as we all thought about what this could mean.

"I should take you two home." Elijah said.

"Are you serious? Home to what?" Hayley asked him.

"Home to my family. You are more than welcome to stay out here." I told her angrily.

"Look, regardless of my brother's intentions, mine remain the same." Elijah told us. "I said that I would protect Nicole and now you Hayley, even, if need be, from Klaus himself."

"Nik would never hurt me or our children. I have nothing to be protected from." I told him before heading off towards the shack.

When we got back to the shack Nik was waiting one the porch with him shoving Dwayne's dead body to the ground.

"There you are! I see you've found our wandering stray. Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation. This appears to be a hybrid." Nik said kicking the body.

"His name was Dwayne." Hayley told him angrily.

"Well, whoever it was, I didn't sire him. Any idea how that's possible?" Nik asked. I was about to answer when Hayley spoke first.

"As if you didn't know!" Hayley said before stomping forward. Elijah held Hayley back before standing in front of both of us as if to protect us from Nik. I pushed past both of them before standing beside Nik giving them both a dark look.

"Well, aren't you two fast friends? Oh, come on, then. What kind of horrible accusation have you conspired to levy against me?" Nik asked him wrapping his arm around my waist holding both Nikolas and I to himself.

"Tyler Lockwood brought Nicole, Nikolas and Hayley here to test a theory." Elijah said and Nik nodded to him to continue. "That the blood of Nikolas and your unborn child could be used to sire hybrids. He claims that you knew that. Furthermore, that you intended to use this knowledge to build an army."

"Do you believe this, Nicole? That I would us our children like this?" he asked me hurt and angry.

"Of course not." I told him leaning my head on his shoulder.

"But, of course, you, brother, assume it's true. I mean, why else would I show interest in my own flesh and blood? A heartbroken little crybaby points his finger at me, and my own brother falls in line, eager to believe it! How quickly you believe the worst, especially when it comes from her." Nik said pointing at Hayley.

"Oh, spare me your indignation. When have you ever demonstrated any kind of concern towards Nicole or her children, beyond your own selfish pursuits? And what was it you once said to me? "Every king needs an heir!"" Elijah asked impersonating Nik.

"How about when he married me?" I asked Elijah and he shut his mouth quickly. "Or when he plays with Nikolas so I can sleep, especially now that I'm pregnant again? He's done more for me than you'll ever know, Elijah."

"My big brother. So, you doubt my intentions? Well, I can't say I'm surprised, standing next to the noble Elijah, how can I be anything but the lesser brother? A liar, a manipulator, a bastard." Nik said and the two brother stared at each other. Nik unwrapped his arm from me and approached Elijah and I saw the elder sibling seemed to be reconsidering his position. "That's all I am to you, isn't it? And Rebekah. And, judging by the way Hayley hangs on your every word, it's clear she feels the same way!" Nik paused in his words before looking up at me. "At least I know my wife and children won't see me as the villain at every turn."

"Brother, if—" Elijah tried speaking kindly, but Nik interrupted him.

"You've said all that needs to be said, brother." Nik said before stepping back a few steps and holding his arms out in defeat. "I'll play the role I've been given." He turned back towards me and I watched as his face changed to his Hybrid one and he quickly turned back and vamp-ran over to Elijah before biting him savagely on the neck. Hayley screamed in horror and ran to Elijah as Nik joined me on the porch again while wiping his mouth on the back of his hand..

"You two enjoy each other's company. You'll have much to bond over, once the hallucinations and dementia set in. Consider that bite to be my parting gift to you both." Nik told them before picking me up bridal-style and leaving Elijah and Hayley to fend for themselves in the Bayou.


After we got home I put Nikolas to sleep in his own bed and smiled down at him before walking to the living room and wrapping my arms around Nik's middle as he stared out the window drinking scotch. He placed his arm on mine and smiled down at me as Bekah entered the room.

"I thought you were leaving us." Nik said to her.

"We both know this family can barely function without me. Where are Elijah and Hayley?" Bekah asked.

"I left them in the Bayou." Nik told her.

"Why?" she asked frowning.

"Elijah and I had a bit of a row." Nik laughed bitterly. "Hayley's conspired to turn him against me. You know our brother was never one to resist a pretty face! So, one thing led to another, and I bit him, left them both stranded in the swamp."

"Daggering, biting, deserting. Does your wickedness ever end?" Bekah asked him furiously.

"My "wickedness" is self-preservation! And I wouldn't have to go to such lengths were I not presented on all sides with ignorance and treachery! Now that Elijah's abandoned me, I'll be needing you in my plot against Marcel." Nik told her and she glared at him resentfully. "Don't expect to be leaving town anytime soon." He said unwrapping my arms from him and pouring himself another drink.

"Why should I help you, after what you did to Elijah?" Bekah asked him sitting at the couch.

"Bekah, Elijah was in the wrong on this one. Even Elijah knows it." I tried to explain to her but she just turned her glare on me before softening it.

"You're my family." Nik said hurt by her words. "Besides, who better to spy on Marcel than the girl he so clearly loves?" he asked sitting on the coffee table in front of her. "You can tell me all his secrets. Like, how did he find us here? Huh, any idea about that, little sister?"

"How should I know why Marcel does what he does?" she asked anxiously making me look at her confused.

"You think I don't know about your engineered run-ins all over the Quarter? I know you've had private chats with him! Just tell me what secrets he's confided to you. Is he plotting against me?" Nik asked her.

"My poor brother, so paranoid." She said glaring at him and getting in his face. "Marcel knows nothing! He's not plotting against you, he simply thinks you're in a quarrel in need of making up."

"Perhaps we will." Nik sighed. "After all—" Nik pointed and leaned in aggressively towards her. "- you know I'm capable of forgiving those who disappoint me. As soon as they've seen the error of their ways... and suffered for them. You'd do well to remember that." Nik put his drink down before grabbing me and using his vamp speed to get us to our room.