"Hello Dahlia." I gave an obviously forced smile. "Can I ask why you're assisting this immortal pain in the ass?"

"She's very familiar with you Niklaus," she mused. I groaned softly. I'd only heard a handful of people use his full name and they all shared one important trait.

"Well, there's my answer." I looked between the two of them. "Family first, right?"

"Smart too," she commented.

"She can hear you, you know." I snapped, before fixing my eyes on Klaus. "So, is she… your mother? Is that what you've sunk to? Getting mommy to clear up your messes for you."

"She's not my mother," Klaus said. "I would sooner tear open my own throat than work with that manipulative psychotic witch." He glanced at the two witches. "No offense."

"Psychotic? That's rich…" I muttered. "If she's not your mother, who is she? She looks a little old to be your sister."

"None taken, I'm sure" said the woman.

"I don't bother with politeness towards kidnappers. A fact Klaus can testify to."

"She certainly can be a devil with that tongue of hers when she wants to be." He said softly, reclining against a wall. I ignored him.

"What's the answer then?"

"I'm his aunt. And I must applaud you Elena, for dispatching my sister's brutish husband."

"Not a fan of Mikael? No wonder you and Klaus get along." I turned my focus on the young blonde witch. "When we first met you said she was your aunt. Was that a lie or are you part of this crazy family as well?"

"It wasn't a lie. Although sometimes I wish it was," she said. Dahlia glared at her and I saw the young girl visibly flinch. "My name is Freya."

"Freya is my sister Elena." Klaus said.

"And you've not stuck her in a coffin yet? That's got to be a record."

"You are just so chatty today Elena, I honestly think I prefer you unconscious."

"I think I prefer it too. It's better than being part of whatever twisted family reunion thing you've got going on here. So by all means, please go ahead."

"Well if you dislike us so much, why don't you throw us out with your magic hand wave and send us crashing into a dumpster?" Klaus suggested.

"You landed in a dumpster? That's great, I wasn't even aiming!" I couldn't help feeling the tiniest bit smug about that. "But for the record, I can't currently blast you out of the room as much as I would like to. These children clearly take after you because they are having a bit of a temper tantrum and not letting me access their magic."

"Not even born and they're already disobeying you. This bodes well for motherhood."

"Klaus I may not be able to jedi force blast you out of the room but I will slap you."

"I am terrified."

"Maybe we should leave Elena to rest?" Freya suggested. "Stress isn't good for her."

"Indeed but she's still not answered the question of this," Klaus held up the bottle. "Has my big sister been slipping you things you shouldn't?"

"Nope." I lay back on the bed, closed my eyes and resolved not to speak. I wasn't going to get Freya into trouble for trying to help me.

In my head, I saw Kol's face, the night that I'd run and that Klaus and Elijah had beaten me. The fear that I would reveal his secret and the awakening warmth as I defended him.

"You didn't tell them it was me." His words disarmed me as they came completely out of nowhere and left me more confused than I'd been before. Was that his reason?

"Huh?" I frowned.

"When they asked who helped you to escape. You didn't tell them it was me. You could have. You had every reason to. In fact you probably should have. I mean, I would have understood if you had. They would have gone easy on you if you had told them; they weren't lying when they said they'd half your punishment. But you didn't say anything." His tone almost became accusing, as if he suspected me of playing some sort of trick on him by not telling them. Just like I'd thought he was trying to trick me by letting me go and by bringing me up here. Funny that; looked like we had more in common than I'd originally thought.

I heard the door open and close, so I assumed that they'd all left. I opened my eyes. Klaus was still sitting there, watching me.

"Are you planning on staying there?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Well maybe the remainder of your pregnancy if it ensures no more incidents."

"I won't Klaus, don't worry. You've successfully stripped every bit of control I have over my life."

"I don't think that's true."

"You control where I live, what I do, who is in my life, and what happens to my children," He looked at me with dark eyes. I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for how I reacted when you showed up. It was wrong of me to immediately deny you access. But Klaus, I was scared. I still am. This whole situation is terrifying. I'm still a kid and now I'm suddenly meant to be responsible for children? I don't know anything about kids!" I looked down. "I just wanted to protect them and… I thought that I could do that better without you around."

"I appreciate that I have the tendency to draw antagonism," he admitted.

"But you were right too. They're your family and you should be part of their lives." He smiled slightly and I held up a hand. "But so are Kol and Elijah. And they deserve to know their children. Please Klaus, we can leave here. We can go home, we'll be a family. All of us. But if you keep me here against my will, I will have no choice but to fight back. I will not allow my children to be raised into captivity."

He turned away, head down. I was almost hopeful, it looked like my words had had an impact on him. He didn't speak, instead he silently left the room. I sighed. Clearly he wasn't going to be any help to me.

I got up and went to the window, looking down. I needed to get out and get somewhere safe. I had to make sure the others were okay.

Klaus had mentioned hybrids, so I assumed there were some dotted around the building, but he'd not mentioned any other witches so hopefully I would only have to deal with Freya and Dahlia. I didn't anticipate Freya stopping me but Dahlia would be a problem, particularly if I couldn't use my own my magic to help me.

"I'm going to get us out of here," I whispered. "But I'll need your help, okay? You guys have to help me on this." Nothing. "Please. I want to get you back to our family."

I just hoped when I needed the magic it would be there. I wasn't going to try and leave until night time. I figured at that point, Klaus and Dahlia would go to bed and then there'd just be whatever hybrids he had on guard. I didn't think they'd be much of an issue. With my magic, it'd be easy enough to dispatch them. Without it, it'd be slightly more difficult, particularly as I didn't have any weapons. I just hoped my strange wolf connection would work on them.

My other issue was that I had no idea where I was in relation to the exit. I had no idea what this building even was. If I did manage to get out, I wasn't sure where in New Orleans the building was, if it even was in the city. With every passing moment my escape plan was seeming less and less plausible but I refused to let that get to me. I had to try at least.

I returned to the bed and sat to wait, deciding it was best to rest up for the night's activity. I closed my eyes and tried to create a fantasy for myself. I saw myself back in the house in Mystic Falls. In my mind they were all there. Elijah was sitting by the fireplace, reading the paper. Klaus was painting. Finn was sitting in contemplation. Kol, sat on the rug, with a young girl sat on his lap. My daughter? Rebekah was sitting with him, helping to brush the girl's hair. I smiled fondly to myself. One day it would be true. Hopefully one day very soon if I had my way.

I stayed carefully locked in my fantasy world, refusing to acknowledge the real world until the sun had set and then I waited until I felt that it was late enough to risk my escape. I got up and took a moment, looking out at the window. I steeled myself, preparing myself for what I was going to do. Unlike the other night when I'd drank the poison, I felt nervous. I'd not felt any nerves that night. I guess the difference was I'd not really been risking anything before. With the poison, I'd accepted death. In my mind, there was nothing that could be done to hurt me. But this, this was worse. I'd chosen life and that was far scarier to me.

I went to the door and carefully tried the handle. It was locked. I grimaced, momentarily disheartened, before realising that I'd never seen a lock stop a vampire before. I took firm hold of the handle and twisted it sharply. It gave a satisfying snap and the handle came free, leaving a small hole in the door. I pushed it open and hesitantly stepped out into the open hall. It was long and didn't look like any sort of house that I'd ever been in. It had a sort of familiarity to it and it took me a minute to realize that it was a hospital. It was very old and appeared abandoned, although here and there I saw updates that were clearly recent. I guessed that they had been put in by Klaus. The door to my room had been a recent addition.

I crept down the corridor. It was pitch black, only the occasional weak beam of moonlight filtering in through a handful of open doors. I moved silently, one arm outstretched, my fingertips brushing against the walls in an attempt to guide myself. There was a smell in the air, a damp emptiness that seemed to have permeated the bricks. I was hoping I'd find a sign that would indicate which way to head but there was nothing, so I just decided to head down. I knew I was a few floors up, based on my view from the window.

I turned a corner and stumbled into a large open ward. There was a makeshift fire in the centre, almost burned out but offering enough light to make out most of the room. There were old rusted bedframes pushed to the edges of the room, piled on top of each other. Stretched out beside the fire was an object and at first glance I mistook it for a bundle of blankets or something similar. As I drew closer I realised it was a figure, lying on their side. I squinted, trying to discern the features in the flickering fire light. Klaus.

I retreated, half expecting him to turn and attack me. He didn't move. I circled around, keeping my distance but moving until I could see his face. He was asleep, eyes closed and face oddly peaceful. I felt a pang of longing as I looked at him.

I shook myself and left the room, entering another seemingly endless, identical corridor. I eventually found a staircase and descended gratefully. The lower floor seemed even darker. The moonlight that had filtered through the windows above were blocked by overgrown trees, the little light that did make it in cast skeletal shadows that made me feel like hands were reaching out for me.

I swiftly located the next staircase, mere feet from the first. I guessed that they were in the central area with the wards in the three wings that lead off it and eventually I'd reach the ground floor where hopefully the door would be opposite the staircase.

As I reached the bottom step of this staircase and went to step onto the ground below, I realised that there was something lying on the ground. I froze. There was a large black dog stretched out in front of the step. My eyes swept the room and I spotted several more similar looking animals dotted around the space. At first glance I thought they were dogs but I knew it was more likely they were wolves, although I couldn't confirm that in the limited light. They seemed to all be asleep and if I was quiet I could probably just walk around them… but it was very hard to actually make out where they were, their fur blending into the floor.

I carefully climbed over the first dog and inched my way towards the next staircase, moving slowly and stopping every few steps to carefully examine the space ahead. I drew near to the top of the stairs, my breathing getting steadily quicker as I feared that my slow progress would lead to my discovery. I knew Klaus was upstairs but it wouldn't take him long to reach me if he was made aware of my escape. I didn't know where in this huge place Dahlia and Freya might be lurking. I was close to the next staircase. One of the wolves yawned and rolled over. I decided to risk a dash to the stairs.

I tensed and sprinted for the staircase, trying to keep my footsteps as soft as possible. My foot came down and the second it made contact with the ground, I knew that I'd miscalculated. Almost invisible, tucked against the wall was another wolf. Its body was curled up but its tail was spread out across the floor. My foot made contact with the tail and the wolf vaulted up, letting out a startled pained yelp. It lifted its head, searching for the culprit and its eyes found me. It let out a loud growl, ripping through its body. The sound echoed around the room and the other animals stirred, beginning to get to yawn and open their eyes. They spotted me quickly and the pack of them gathered in front of me, forming a loose semi-circle. I took a step back, arms outstretched.

"D…don't attack…" I said, trying to keep my voice calm. They didn't growl. They didn't make any noise at all. They just stared at me. I rubbed the pad of my thumb against my palm, trying to keep myself calm. I silently willed the magic to come to me in case I needed to defend myself. The small wolf, the one whose tail I'd stepped on, moved first, darting forward in a mock attack. I jerked reflexively and stepped back. My foot slipped on the top step and I felt a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach as I felt myself falling. My body bounced off the stairs, tumbling down, and I landed on the floor below.

I lay there, dazed and sore. My head turned slightly and I saw the large main door. I'd got so close…

I was aware of soft footsteps and the wolves came to my side, circling around me. One of the wolves stepped forward and sniffed at me, its muzzle lightly pressing against my belly for a second, before pulling back. As it did, a pain rippled through my stomach and I felt a strange dampness running down my legs. The pain died and then mere moments later it started again, the pattern repeating in this pattern of pain and relief, pain and relief. The wolves seemed agitated, their fur ruffled and eyes wide. One began to howl, than another joined in until they were all howling around me. I closed my eyes, clawing at the floorboards around me in an attempt to distract myself from the waves of pain.

What was going on?!

I heard louder footsteps and the next thing I knew, Klaus was crouched beside me.

"Elena!" I looked into his eyes. Swirls of yellow were visible in them, in a way that I'd not seen before. He looked scared and concerned and I felt a rush of warmth towards him. There he was, the man I knew and had cared for. I'd begun to worry that he was lost to me. I reached up and touched his cheek. "Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know… it hurts… ahh…"

"I'm going to make it go away Elena, okay? I'm going to make sure you're alright." He reared to his feet. "FREYA!"

I heard the frantic sound of Freya's footsteps and moments later she joined us.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"I… I think she's in labour."

"No!" I whimpered. "Too soon!"

"Elena, like it or not, you are in labour," she told me. She turned to Klaus. "We should get her into her bed."

Klaus went to lift me and another wave of pain hit me. I screamed. The wolves snarled and snapped at him and he recoiled sharply.

"We may have to rethink moving her," he said, looking startled by the actions of his wolves. Freya looked at the wolves and nodded.

"Okay, she's having the twins here then." She rolled up her sleeves. "Klaus, fetch towels. And get the cooler with the blood. She might need it."

Freya removed my underwear and carefully separated my legs. I stared up at the ceiling, letting out howls of pain that were echoed by the wolves. They stayed at my sides, forming a warm barrier around me. I gripped hold of their fur, finding it comforting in some strange way. Freya examined me, her hands cool on my heated skin.

Klaus returned with a pile of towels and knelt beside me, shuffling as close as the wolves would allow.

"We should call Dahlia," he said.

"No. I studied medicine Klaus, I can do this. At the rate these babies are coming, they'll be here before she'd have time to get here."

"Klaus…" I whimpered, my hand seeking him out. "It hurts…"

"I know… there's nothing I can do Elena." He squeezed my hand. "I'm here, hold on."

It was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I felt exhausted and I just wanted it to be over although something told me it had barely begun. The door the hospital blew open with a loud bang. I turned my head and saw more wolves gathered there. They came over and joined the first group, who gave them a warning growl. Freya and Klaus shared a nervous look, clearly unnerved by their arrival. The wolves around me pawed and licked at me gently, each touch seemed to alleviate a little of my pain and my cries faded a little.

"Klaus I'm going need your help down here," Freya said.

"No… don't…" I whimpered, reluctant to let go of him. He gave me a sympathetic smile and released my hand, moving around to join Freya. I kept my eyes locked on the ceiling, focusing on my breathing.

"Elena, you need to push for me, okay?"

I tried. I felt like all the energy was being sapped from my body leaving me drained and limp.

"I can't do it! I can't!"

"Elena, listen to me," Klaus said. "You are strong, you can do this. You are the girl who challenges hybrids and fights vampires, you can do this I promise you!"

I let out a strangled cry, trying to push. Surely it wasn't meant to hurt this badly? Something had to be wrong!

"You're doing great," Freya assured me. "Just a little bit more. Two more. Come on."

It was all too much. I found myself longing for some relief. Anything to end this.

A shrill scream pierced the air and I vaulted upright at the sound. Freya took a towel and carefully wrapped it around the tiny pink bundle in her arms. The infant screeched.

"Klaus, do you have a knife?" she asked. Klaus pulled out a penknife and Freya helped him cut the cord. She turned to me and smiled. "You've got a little girl Elena."

I reached out for her but Freya pulled back.

"Please…"

"I know you want to hold her but you still have work to do. Let's bring her little brother or sister out shall we?"

I felt tears of frustration and exhaustion in my eyes but nodded. I could do this, I had to do this. Freya handed the baby to Klaus and her cries faded. The pain, which had died down, began up again. I pushed.

The second came easier than the first. A few pushes and I heard a cry, weak but unmistakable. I slumped down, burying my face into the fur of a nearby wolf. Klaus and Freya cut the cord and wrapped the second child. Freya moved round to my side and I felt her hand on my arm.

"Elena, do you want to meet your daughters?" I looked up at her. Klaus carefully placed the two tiny infants into my arms. I looked down at my children. They looked back up at me, eyes bleary and unfocused. One was larger than the other, with a patch of dark hair on her head and two wide deep brown eyes. The other was far smaller, skin slightly paler, with only a few sparse blonde hairs on her head. Her eyes were closed but as I looked down, they opened slowly and I let out soft gasp. Her eyes were different colours, one brown, the other a blue-green colour. I smiled to myself and held them close. I didn't speak, there was nothing to say. I just closed my eyes, letting my exhausted body rest. I silently promised myself that I would never let anything harm my children. I was strong, I would take care of them and protect them.

Around me, the wolves began a chorus of howls, soft and almost melancholic, their voices mingling into a beautiful song that I felt was their way of celebrating what come to pass.