Beatrix was trapped with the Strix for nearly a month.

One agonizing month of torture. Every other day, they pumped her full of vervain, the IV pushing more into her if she struggled against the binds.

On the days the vervain wasn't being pumped in, they tortured her. They sliced and beat her, wanting her to submit, but she never did. In fact, she wouldn't even speak. She just grunted in pain, but mostly tried not to scream. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

Every Saturday, she'd get to rest. No vervain and no torture. But she knew that was only so that she could heal up in order for them to do it again. They didn't want to kill her just yet.

Without her magic, she healed slower. She had less strength, and with the already limited food that they gave her, she was growing weaker every day. They gave her a single drop of blood every morning, just so that she wouldn't dessicate. But it was nowhere near enough.

They hadn't come to save her, and she'd been thankful. How could she vividly tell them that she had heard them saying that anyone who tried to save her would be imprisoned with her, if not killed? She had said there were more important things, which there were, but her true fear lay in the fact that if anyone dared to try and help her, they might all fall victim to the Strix.

The others had been unsuccessful in finding her, either way. Tristan had specifically kept the information from Marcel. Locator spells did not work, not with Beatrix's magic away from her to keep her cloaked better. They couldn't recognize where she was from the background of the video— not even when Freya fixed the film.

They taunted her often enough to rile her up, but after the first week, she no longer let their words get to her. She hardly acknowledged when they came into the room with her. She was tempted to turn off her humanity once more— just for a chance to escape. But without her daylight ring, still infused with vervain and wolfsbane, she could only hope to get out at night, which was impossible, considering someone was always guarding her.

One morning, on a day they were supposed to torture her, the Strix failed to show up. Hours after they were meant to have brutally cut into her, they dragged in two bodies with bags over their heads, forcing them into chairs and connecting IV bags, though they held wolfsbane instead.

When they removed the bags, Beatrix gave a hoarse gasp.

"Recognize them, do you?" said Tristan plainly when the unconscious heads of Hayley and Jackson lolled to the side. "They'll wake up soon, and you can have a civil conversation. They haven't tried to rescue you after your little warning, so we needed more... leverage."

Hayley and Jackson were both covered in blood and bruises, and Jackson's leg in particular was bleeding quite a bit. Beatrix didn't dare speak as the Strix left. She stared at the two, wondering how the hell they managed to snatch them up.

Jackson was the first to wake, half an hour later. He started to struggle against the shackles on his wrists, but Beatrix coughed and waved for him to stop. "Don't," she whispered hoarsely. "It'll pump you with more wolfsbane."

The wolf was shocked to see her. "B-Beatrix?" he whispered quietly. "What—"

"W-What day is it?" she whispered. "What day?"

"The— the twenty sixth, I-I think. December."

The Heretic gave a harsh sigh and let her head fall back. "O-Okay... listen... I d-don't have my m-magic..." she felt herself starting to cry. "I-I'm so sorry, I can't protect you."

Jackson shook his head weakly. "Not... your fault. I'm sorry. We didn't save you."

"I-I said n-not to," she breathed. "D-Don't blame yourself."

"Hayley and I wanted to. We— we were gonna get the wolves to h-help."

"J-Jackson," she said weakly. "I-It's okay. I-I'm fine."

"No you're not. We saw the video. And it's been a month."

"I-I've dealt with w-worse pain."

He let out a raspy cough. "Have you?"

She nodded slowly, her neck aching just from the movement. "P-Physical pain... p-passes. E-Emotional pain... is worse."

There was a small gasp as Hayley awoke. Immediately, she began to struggle against her binds, but Jackson and Beatrix both motioned for her to stop. "Beatrix," she murmured. "You're here... you're alive..."

"I'm f-fine," she said reassuringly, though it was not true.

Hayley looked around, still semi-dazed. Her eyes fixated on the pool of blood under Jackson's leg. "Jack, your leg— are you okay?"

He let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, they worked me over pretty good... with all the... the wolfsbane in my system, I ain't healing so well."

Hayley shuddered, and tried to be calm. "Just... just breathe. When we get a chance to fight, be ready."

Jackson shook his head. "Hayley. Hayley, listen. I don't know if I'm gonna get that chance—"

"Stop," said Hayley sharply. "We're gonna get out of here, Jack. The three of us— we can take them."

"I love you," said Jackson, looking at her affectionately, his eyes brimming with tears. "Okay? I've... I've always loved you."

"Don't—" Hayley began.

"When I first say you, I broke," he whispered. "You broke me, and nothing has ever been the same since. I just want you to know that it was all real. Every moment, every touch, every word..."

Tristan chose this moment to come back into the room, clapping mockingly. "How absolutely darling! Or pathetic. I suppose it's all relative."

Hayley sneered up at him. "You let us out of here, or so help me, I will kill you!"

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Hmmm. Somehow, I doubt it. I mean, this Heretic here, even without her magic, is much older than you, and she's stood no chance." He dipped down to Hayley's level. "I've been pondering this moment since you tortured me—"

Hayley interrupted him with an angry grunt, struggling desperately to break out of her shackles.

"—what's the best way to truly hurt a hybrid?" he continued. "Surely, not the meager torture methods we used on the witch here. And then... it came to me."

He grabbed Jackson by the hair and yanked his head back, plunging his hand into his chest, eliciting a groan of pain from Jackson, and a scream from Hayley. "NO!" she screamed. "NO!"

"T-Tristan— STOP!" cried Beatrix as loud as she could muster. "K-Kill m-me instead!"

He shook his head and tore out Jackson's heart, causing Beatrix to let out a scream— though hers was nowhere near as loud as Hayley's.

It reminded Beatrix of how she'd reacted when Kai had been killed. Hysteria, fury, and grief meshed into one, and all one could do was scream. "AHHH!" screamed Hayley thrashing in her seat. "NO! NO! AHH— AHHH— AHHH!"

Tristan cast her a look chock-full of sadistic mirth as Hayley began to hyperventilate, her eyes wild and her screams fueled with pain. He faced Beatrix and smirked malevolently— the Heretic was crying, head turned away to not see Jackson's eyes wide open.

"Dear, were it not for the fact that your lover was already dead, we would have killed him right in front of you, just like this," he crooned maliciously. He beckoned for his Strix to follow him out of the room, and Hayley let out a series of shaky sobs.

Beatrix could just barely hear what Tristan was saying, but she knew it had to do with Jackson's heart, which was still in his hand. "Get a box ready," he said. "Write a note. Send this to the Mikaelson compound."

She shook her head angrily, squeezing her eyes shut.

For a while, all Hayley could do was cry. Her mouth trembled, wanting to speak, but no words would come out. It was clear she couldn't breathe from how much wolfsbane was in her system, but she wouldn't stop struggling against the shackles. She was in disbelief, and she couldn't look up at the body for more than a few seconds at a time.

Beatrix wished there were a way to comfort her. She wished there was a way to make time turn back. A way to change the outcome. But how could one lessen such pain? Beatrix had practically lost her mind when Kai died, and even now, that pain hadn't fully subsided. This terrible event was bringing back the memory of what Damon Salvatore had done. It reignited the murderous desire to skin Bonnie Bennett alive. And now, she was expected to study and go back to Mystic Falls to help Caroline? For the sake of redemption?

"J-Jack," Hayley whimpered between tears once she could finally speak. "I'm so s-sorry... I never s-should have brought a-any of this into y-your life... I was so s-selfish... I never met a-anyone who was always j-just there for me. Y-You... you let me feel what i-it is to b-be l-loved..." she choked and shook her head before looking up at him, her voice as steady as she could muster it to be. "But I will make them suffer for this, I promise you. I will make all of them suffer."

She burst into tears once more, and all Beatrix could do was gulp and shake her head.

A terrible few hours passed just listening to Hayley crying and muttering to herself, trying to make sense of things. The hybrid shook, wolfsbane being pumped in continuously from how much she was moving. All the Heretic could do was lean back and close her eyes, trying to burn out the memory of Jackson's death. Brutal and wrong. Jackson had never done harm to anyone— not the way the Mikaelson's had. He was terrible collateral damage. He had not deserved to die. Beatrix couldn't imagine how they were going to tell Mary...

When the doors opened again, Hayley's face was stiff with tears, and Beatrix could barely feel her limbs. Wordlessly, two Strix members came and each pumped the rest of the vervain and wolfsbane into the women, before another pair came in and unshackled both. They placed different shackles on them— heavier ones, then picked them up and took them out of the room they were in, carrying them to the back of a car and laying them beside each other.

They were barely conscious, but looked at each other sadly, comforted at least by the other's presence while the car bumped along the roads. Beatrix weakly reached her hand to Hayley, taking her fingers and squeezing them as tightly as she could muster, which was really more of a small tap with how little strength she had.

When the car stopped, they were yanked out, and the brightness of light inside of a warehouse they were in blinded both. They were shoved forward in front of Elijah and Klaus, but neither woman could stand on their own, and thus, they collapsed onto their knees.

"Hayley Marshall-Kenner, only slightly worse for wear. You'll have to forgive her if she seems a bit off. There's enough wolfsbane in her system to kill an entire pack," said Tristan from behind them. "However, here she is, as requested."

He came over and put his hands on Beatrix's shoulders, making her nearly sink fully to the ground. "Itza Beatrix La Salle, uncooperative as ever but still alive, despite quite a bit of damage. She's got quite a bit of vervain in her system, so she might be a little... droopy." He nudged at her cheek ever so slightly, and Beatrix's knees gave out, causing her to fall completely to the floor, closing her eyes to avoid the light. "Now, where's my sister?"

"She lives," sneered Klaus from above her. "You can thank Elijah for that. I wanted to flay her and hang her skin as a flag. Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let's conclude this tedious business, shall we?"

"My sister first," demanded Tristan. "And, if you're tempted to argue, consider the numbers."

Beatrix forced her eyes open as Klaus walked backward toward a rusty green shipping contained. He opened the door and revealed Aurora was inside, sitting with her wrists bound and a black hood over her head.

"If they try anything, attack," she heard Tristan say. He then sped into the contained toward Aurora, removing the hood. She started to wake, and smiled up at him. "Oh, brother, you came for me."

"Always," he whispered. He pulled her to her feet. "Come on... come on..."

As they embraced, the redhead reached into his pocket and extracted none other than the Serratura. She yanked herself out of the hug, ignoring the confused look on Tristan's face and slapping the Serratura against the shipping contained wall, causing the whole building to tremble. Tristan looked horrified. "No... Aurora... what have you done to us?"

"Not to us," she said sympathetically, walking out of the container. "To you."

And then, suddenly, it was no longer Aurora standing there, rather, Cami. She glared at Tristan, who was shocked. "What is this?"

"You know what they say," said Cami. "Payback's a bitch."

"How is this possible?" breathed Tristan, the Strix tittering nervously all around.

Klaus had a smug look on his face, apparently having been awaiting this moment. "The Serratura creates an impenetrable boundary. Nothing living or dead can pass through."

"And, thanks to your lunatic sister," said Cami, "I'm neither."

Tristan obviously didn't like the idea of being trapped. "No— no— NO!" He looked around at the Strix. "What are you waiting for? Take them! NOW!"

They were about to obey— Beatrix could sense them moving forward, but Elijah came forth and pulled her and Hayley to their feet, holding them protectively in his arms so that they could stand. "Before you rush headlong toward almost certain death..." he began, "as your sire, I would like you to employ just a little bit of common sense."

Aya scoffed across from them. "We are ancient vampires, Elijah— each of us almost as strong as you."

Elijah shrugged. "You might almost be successful in subduing us, but at what price? Most of you will die in the process, and for what? To avenge a fool marching you headlong toward your very extinction in the name of a witch's prophecy? You do realize he engineered absolutely all of this purely to satisfy some petty grievance against my family?" He released the two women, who grabbed onto each other for support. Walking toward the shipping container, he cast a fake smile to Tristan, leaning menacingly on the metal door. "Tristan doesn't care for any of you."

"Stop listening to them!" Tristan fumed from the container.

"The only danger here is the choice that you must make," continued Elijah. "You see, I am not your enemy. It's true, I delivered you into this existence. I can just as easily pluck you out of it. The choice is yours to make."

It would appear his words had had no effect, because as Beatrix let her head turn slightly, she could see Aya didn't look about to stand down. Marcel moved to stand in front of her, and she barely heard him whispering in her ear, "It's done. The moment has passed. Be smart, Aya. Smarter than Tristan. Don't waste any more of our guys."

Though Aya did not seemed pleased at having to acknowledge Marcel was right, she turned back to the rest of the vampires. "Stand down," she commanded.

This only infuriated Tristan. "You will not abandon me!"

Aya strode toward the container. "It's a shame it has to end like this."

Tristan's eyes widened in fury. "Aya, this isn't over!"

She simply placed her right hand over her heart. "May the ghosts of our fallen keep you company."

Beckoning for the others to follow her, the Strix made to leave the warehouse. "Aya!" yelled Tristan angrily. "Aya! AYA!"

Elijah came back and held Hayley and Beatrix up. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

They both shook their heads. Beatrix looked over at Klaus, who was speaking to Cami, who was walking (more like wobbling) away from him.

"Where are you going?" he demanded. "Are you so eager to die?"

"I'm already dead," Cami answered.

"Well, at least let me thank you," Klaus insisted.

Cami seemed to be angry at this. "Do not mistake me helping your family with forgiveness for what you tried to do! My choice in this is the only thing I have left, and no one is taking that away from me. You need to get that."

Klaus blocked her way. "Camille, I'm begging you. Don't leave me."

She cast him a look and brushed past him. Elijah beckoned Klaus over, which made him frown. "I won't let her die," he muttered as Cami left.

"If you care for her, you will let her choose," said Elijah.

Beatrix let out a hoarse gulp. "Is she—?"

"In transition?" said Klaus a bit harshly. "Yes! And I will not lose her because of your stupid principles, Elijah!"

Elijah pursed his lips. "Allow her the dignity of this choice, Niklaus. You force her, you lose her forever."

Klaus gritted his teeth and moved forward to Beatrix, pulling her to be more upright, leaning against him as they approached Tristan, who looked resigned to his fate. "So, this is to be my end?"

Elijah cast him a patronizing smile. "No, no. This is the very beginning! You are going to the bottom of the ocean, where you will drown in darkness again and again and again over the course of centuries. This will be your splendidly horrific and perpetual end."

"What have you done with my sister?" he demanded.

Klaus smiled at this. "Nothing... yet. But, I assure you, her death will be spectacular."

Elijah moved to close the container door, but Hayley staggered forward, urging them to wait as she moved forward to look Tristan in the eye. "You took a very good man from this world," she said venomously. "He will be with me forever... but you? You will be forgotten. And as you rot in the ocean, remember my face. Because it's gonna be the last one you ever see."

She slammed the container door shut in his face.

They made their way out of the warehouse. Hayley let out a shaky sob. "W-We need... w-we need a proper f-funeral for J-Jackson."

"I will retrieve the body," said Elijah. "We received the address where you were being kept."

"I will take them home," said Klaus, which his brother nodded to. Elijah sped off, and Klaus gripped both women's hands before speeding away.

Hayley had healed (physically) by the time they arrived to the Mikaelson Compound. The wolfsbane was purged from her system, and with minimal injuries, she felt better. Beatrix, on the other hand, could still not want properly.

"I-I'm going to bathe," said Hayley quietly when they got there. "For... the funeral later."

Beatrix nodded as she left, and leaned against Klaus. "I-I think I-I'm going to n-need help," she managed weakly. "Y-You can tell F-Freya, if you don't w-want to..."

"Nonsense," Klaus muttered. "I can do it."

First, he let her bite into his wrist, drinking some blood so that she might feel better. He retrieved one of her blood bags and let her drink that next as he helped her to undress. He turned on the shower and left the door open as he helped run the water over her body, her wounds healing now little by little as he helped to gently scrape the dirt and dried blood from her body.

He held her steady to wash her hair, and soaped her down, not scrubbing until all her wounds had disappeared. When she was cleaned, he draped a robe around her, tying it loosely to not hurt her as he brought a towel to dry her hair. He helped her back into her room and helped her lotion her body, going to her closet to bring out some clothes for her. Though she was able to move on her own again, he made sure to help her until all that was left to do was her makeup.

"I'm sorry about Cami," said Beatrix softly when he helped her settle into the chair in front of her vanity. "I know you care for her."

Klaus simply turned away from her. "I thought Aurora had gotten you killed," he murmured. "I thought you were no longer alive. When I found out Camille was in transition, and when she refused to feed off of human blood... I thought I'd lost you both. I..."

He trailed off, and Beatrix winced. "You have to respect her choice, Klaus. She will do what's best for her. And even if it's terrible to think that she will let herself die... you have to know that it doesn't mean she didn't care for you, too. It just means that she didn't want to be a vampire. And no one has the right to take that away from her."

He let his palm rest against the wall. "What would you have done?" he murmured quietly. "If someone told you before you drank from that carton, what would happen?"

She hesitated. "I don't know. I might not have done it. After all, everyone knew up until then that witches lost their powers if they turned. I didn't learn until after I left that for me, this would not be the case."

Klaus came back toward her, standing behind her and glancing at her through the mirror. "Do you regret this?" he murmured. "Any of what happened between us?"

"I don't regret it," she said honestly, turning back in her chair to look him in the eyes. "You're a lovable person, Klaus. Cami may not be willing to turn into a vampire, but it doesn't mean she doesn't care for you the way I did."

"Did?" he whispered, crouching down to her level. "Or do?"

She blushed. "You know I still care for you, Klaus. But I meant—"

"I know what you meant. And I was asking if you cared about me like you did before. In that same manner."

She looked away. "Those types of feelings don't just go away. But I don't want to get in the way of you and Cami."

"Beatrix," he whispered. "There's no getting in the way. She and I are very good friends. Nothing more. We discussed it. After what Aurora did, there would have been no hope for us. She... has encouraged me to pursue you. She believes you will be good for me."

He slipped his hand into his pocket and handed her the piano key. She took it, and encompassed it in her palm, feeling a rush as the magic flowed back into her body.

He chose that moment to kiss her, and she did not pull away.