"Oh, Ana... What have you done to yourself?"

Ana stirred, feeling the soft fabric of a blanket underneath her skin "Elijah...? Wh-Where am I?"

"You know I won't tell you that." Elijah stated, sitting at the end of the bed that Ana was snuggled into.

"I can't figure why." Ana stroked her chin in fake thought, trying to sit up and realising she was handcuffed to the bed. "Enlighten me, Elijah. Why have you chained me like an animal?"

Inside, the word animal stung Elijah, reminding him of what he was and what his mother had taught him, but the original remained expressionless, explaining "Why, your humanity switch is off, Ana. I've answered one of your questions, now you'll answer mine. Why did you turn it off? You seemed content when I last saw you in Rose's mansion."

"Ever heard of pretending?" Ana asked, laughing dryly, still struggling against the chains around her wrists. "Maybe I like being this way, not caring. I think it suits me. Makes me look hardcore, right?"

Elijah shook his head, frowning at the vampire "Niklaus wouldn't like to see you this way. To see what you've become."

"Who cares what Niklaus thinks?" Ana said, wiggling her eyebrows at Elijah. "I bet you'll tell him about me, you little snitch."

"No, I won't." Elijah stated, brushing off his suit and looking away from Ana. "Go back to the old Ana. The one who was caring, selfless, with emotions. You were stronger before."

Cackling like a maniac, Ana confessed through giggles "No, I wasn't. 1492 to 1703... that was how long I was 'off the wagon' for. Katerina destroyed me, my humanity was frazzled. Then again, 2001 to just a year ago. I give up, Elijah... it's time to have some fun."

"I don't understand... you've turned your switch off before?" Elijah asked, his concern growing for the vampire as he watched her in bed.

Ana nodded enthusiastically, grinning so Elijah could see her fangs. "Many, many times." Noticing the hunger burning in her throat, Ana leaned over and smiled politely at the original. "Hey, 'Lijah... be a sweetheart and get your ex-sister-in-law some blood."

"Do you not get the point of this!" Elijah's voice rose, and he stood from the bed, his eyebrows knitted as he stared at Ana, feeling conflicted over how broken the Petrova really seemed. He knew the vampire fairly well, and he knew that her way of coping with emotions was just to, well., turn them off. "I'm trying to revive your humanity and blood will not help that. I'm sorry, Ana, but as long as that switch is off, so is your blood supply."

Elijah strolled out the door, his fists clenched as he listened to the erratic screams of Ana Petrova.

"No... ! Get me my blood! Elijah Mikaelson! I hate you! I you!"

★·'¯'·★

[A/N...Surprise, surprise!]

"Alas, the witches were true."

A familiar voice rang through the apartment, but Ana didn't wake, sleeping off her hunger. And God, was she hungry. Her throat felt raw, partly from screeching and partly from lack of human blood.

"Jesus love, wake up."

And this time, she did.

Squinting, Ana watched the blonde vampire in front of her. "Niklaus Mikaelson. Fancy seeing you here." Although something paused inside her, the switch remained stuck on off.

"Ana?" Klaus brushed a finger against her cheek, his blue eyes knitted in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Elijah, this is a terrible attempt to get my humanity switch back on." Ana pulled on her restraints, laughing loudly. She shouted out "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

Klaus frowned at his ex-fiance and pulled his hand away from her face. "This is worse than I thought... your humanity is off."

"It's not hard to guess." Ana replied, looking into Klaus' eyes. "I know you're fake, and I know that I was broken once for loving you too hard, but god dammit, I miss you. Sometimes I imagine moving on with someone else, but then I come back to the thought of you. The thought of being with you again, and... back in England before all of this."

Smashing his lips against hers, Klaus rellished in the kiss, wrapping his hand around her head and placing their foreheads together afterwards, while they both panted heavily. The blond original could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears, but he ignored it, pulling Ana close once she broke away from their explosion of passion.

Running his fingers through Ana's thick hair, Klaus whispered, his british accent still thick as ever, "I'm sorry, Ana, but I promise... I am real, and I am coming for you. This is a projection of me while I attempt to locate you. Just, before I go, I want to know one thing. How have I wounded you, love? Please... I need to know."

"Fine." Ana muttered, resting her head on what she thought to be an imaginary Klaus. "That night, when Katerina took me from my room and forced me to flee with her, I overheard you talking to Elijah before we left."

"All that stuff I said about love being weakness-"

"Was fake, I know. Klaus, I know how you feel about love, have you forgotten the countless nights you preached to me about the importance of love, and soulmates? No, what got under my skin was what you said to Elijah about Katerina. Is it true you were willing to sacrifice her, despite there being another way to save her?"

Silence consumed the room, and Klaus nodded slowly "Yes, love. But I swear, I only wanted her dead because it hurt me to see how she would treat you. How selfish she would be, and how she was, when she decided to rip you from your happy life and turn you into this, this... monster."

Ana bit her lip, closed her eyes, and let it all back in.

★·'¯'·★

Sobs wracked against the chest of Ana Petrova, and Klaus held her close, whispering soothing words to her whilst she broke down in his arms.

"I... I killed someone!" Ana yelped, wriggling in the bed. "I broke her neck like she was worth nothing, Nik!"

Klaus' chest felt tight as he could feel his love's pain, and he whispered "It's alright, love. It's alright. This is good, you're feeling something. I'm so proud of you, Ana, and I will find you again. Always and forever."

"No, ! Come back, Nick. I... I love you!" Ana sobbed as the vision of Niklaus disappeared, and in his place was air. Nothing but air.

★·'¯'·★

"Alright, ready for round two? I don't have long this time, Ana, so we're going to-" Elijah stopped speaking once he saw the distraught sight of Ana.

She had puffy, bloodshot eyes, her skin was graying and her wrists had gone red raw from how hard she had been trying to escape.

Ana smiled slightly at the sight of Elijah, greeting "Good to see you again, 'Lijah."

Cautious about the sudden change, Elijah approached the bed slowly, his eyes scanning over the small figure of Ana. "Hello, Ana. Are you okay?"

"Can you just let me go now?" Ana said, pausing afterwards and frowning. "Sorry for snapping, I just..."

"How do I know your humanity is even on? This came on suddenly." Elijah stated, his hands in his coat pocket as he watched the weak vampire. Suspicion was laced in his tone, but Ana could understand why. He did still think she had her humanity off, and this probably looked like pretending to Elijah. But it wasn't.

Playing with her fingers, Ana looked up at Elijah nervously, saying "I... I saw Nick. He was here, I swear. The things he said, they triggered my humanity. He's on his way, Elijah.."

★·'¯'·★