The second Lucien's heart hits the ground, Hayley's defiant stance crumbled and she collapsed hard to her knees, violently vomiting blood. Klaus and Elijah are at her side in an instant, the elder brother going to the ground, pulling her into his arms. Klaus, face etched with concern tugged at the sleeves of her leather jacket, pulling it off to examine her wounds.

"She isn't healing, did he bite her?" Klaus growled as he pushed up the fabric covering her arms, searching for any signs of Lucien's bite. Elijah, his face grim and unreadable, gently pushed her forward, holding her head as it rolled forward as she slipped into unconsciousness in his arms. His free hand pulled gently at the neckline of her shirt, peeling the blood soaked fabric away from her back. Elijah hissed quietly in anger at two gaping wounds, one along her side almost closed, and the other leaving her ribs and heart frighteningly exposed. Despite the size of the jagged wounds there was barely more than a trickle of blood seeping from them.

Finishing his exam, he exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Leaning her back against his chest, he gently pressed her head back so it rested comfortably in the crook of his neck.

"No, she has just lost too much blood. Most of it is on the side of the road, the rest is in this field." He bit down on his own wrist to let his own blood flow, pressing it gently to her lips. "She will be fine." His voice was thick with emotion, and he wasn't entirely sure if he was convincing Klaus or himself.

After a long moment, pure instinct led her to lap at the blood he offered, and then finally he felt her own fangs descend into him, taking long deep swallows of his blood. Klaus squeezed Elijah's shoulder.

"Freya and I will see to Rebekah, I leave Hayley in your capable care brother."

Elijah nodded, feeling Hayley's hands come up to hold his wrist as she began to regain consciousness. He felt her body shiver slightly as his blood in her veins began to allow her to heal.

With a violent twist of her head she pulled herself off of his wrist, veins receding from her eyes. He frowned, knowing she had taken the barest minimum of what she needed to begin healing.

"Hayley." He admonished gently. "Lucien is dead, I can manage some weakness until we get home if it means you are well. Please, take what you need." He nudged his wrist to her again, resting his cheek against the top of her dark hair, allowing himself to indulge the contact-if only to assure himself that she was well. Too weak to protest his offer, she bit down again, taking long slow draws until he could feel the pang of his own strength diminishing.

In the warming light of dusk he could see that the tinge of grey that had begun on her limbs replaced with her normal healthy olive tone. Hayley withdrew her fangs, licking once along the inside of his wrist to clean it before moving his arm to rest across her waist with a long slow exhale. He moved his hand beneath her shirt, fingers tracing along her back, pleased to see that the two wounds were already closed.

They sat in silence for a long moment, looking at the foe fallen before them. Finally, Hayley made a disgusted sound.

"That asshole literally turned me into a hand puppet."

Despite himself, Elijah chuckled, the comment being the last thing he had expected. Removing his hand from beneath her shirt he pulled her leather jacket over her chest.

"Yes, well were it not for my respect of Klaus' love for Camille, I would have preferred to kill him myself for that particular transgression."

With a small huff, Hayley laughed. Wincing as the last of her bones knitted, she allowed herself to nestle a little deeper into Elijah's arms. Turning her head slightly so her forehead rested against his throat, she looked up at him with a smile.

"Remind me to remind you to get in line."

Elijah smiled, remembering his fevered time in the bayou, seemingly a lifetime ago. He squeezed her just a little bit tighter, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

The End.