[A/N] After I posted "A Twisted Sort of Sister," I got a couple of reviewers saying that I should write some more from Babette's POV - which was kind of funny because I actually was toying with the idea of writing a sequel. So in between writing chapters to "The Bear and the Wolf" and playing more Skyrim than was really necessary in one day, I began writing this.

And yeah, it took me a lot longer than expected. But I had loads of fun writing it and I hope that you'll love reading it as well.

[DISCLAIMER] I do not own The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or anything related to it; that's Bethesda's deal, not mine (sadly). However, Kajsa Red-Blade is my original character and she belongs to me.

CHAPTER I - Inferno

It was the fire that she'd seen first, the shadows of the flames licking at the walls of the tunnels. Then it was the crash of collapsing stone and timbers, the Sanctuary's death rattles. Then it were the voices: rough and angry and unfamiliar. The clang of steel against steel and the last cries of the dying. Gabriella's gasps of pain, Veezara's hisses, Arnbjorn's enraged roars... they had all faded as their spirits left for the Void.

Silence. The music of life and the herald of death.

Never before, in all of her centuries upon Nirn, had Babette felt so scared and helpless. All she could do was crouch in the watery, cobweb-shrouded pit that once housed her beloved frostbite spider, shivering like the vulnerable child she used to be, and wait. For the end, for someone – friend or foe – to come for her.

The rocky bottom of the pool shook under her feet and the stagnant water rippled with the force of another section of the ceiling crashing somewhere. Startled, the vampire fell back on her behind with a splash. Mentally cursing herself for her clumsiness and her inability to remain quiet, she crouched and dove under the stairway, curling up into a tight little ball with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

If they get me, they'll throw me to the flames. I hate fire, I hate fire, I hate fire, she chanted over and over in her head, rocking back and forth in fright. I don't want to die, I don't want to die. I'm just a little girl. Someone please, please help me!

Not for the first time that day, Babette wondered if anyone was still alive. Gabriella's gone, Veezara's gone, Arnbjorn's gone. Lis, Festus, too, and Cicero long before. Gone, gone, gone, they're all gone.

Nazir, Astrid, where are you? Are you still alive? Kajsa, don't come back! They'll kill you and me and burn our bones! Terrified tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous crash, and on the opposite wall, the fire's shadows leaped high for one final time and then died. Trembling, the vampire lifted her head and then ducked it again as a smattering of pebbles rained through the gaps in the stairs and down on her hair; a boulder rolled off the top and crashed beside her. She whimpered pitifully and covered her head in an attempt at protection.

A new, horrifying thought occurred to her. What if no one ever finds me and I'm trapped in here forever? Never able to feed again? Her mouth grew dry at the thought. Would death be a mercy compared to that?

"Babette?" Nazir's deep voice, now hoarse from the smoke, sounded somewhere from the tunnel. "Where are you, my girl?"

For the first time that day, hope fluttered in her heart. "I'm here! I'm here!" she screamed loudly, abandoning all pretense of being brave. "I'm trapped under the stairs!"

Footsteps echoed on the cave floor above and then down the lashed-together wooden logs, stopping at the bottom. Now Babette could see his boots; for some reason, the sight of the scuffed, sun-baked leather comforted her slightly.

"Don't worry. I'll get you out." With a strained grunt as accompaniment, the boulder rolled away as more of the Redguard came into view, pushing against the fallen rock. After a few moments of struggling on his part, the boulder splashed into the water.

Nazir crouched down and extended a hand to her. The vampire grabbed it, and he dragged her out from her hiding place underneath the stairs.

With a little cry, Babette flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. "The others – did you see –?" she sobbed into his shoulder.

The assassin gently lifted her up, striding back up the stairs with the traumatized little girl. "Unfortunately, yes. Kajsa told me that we were betrayed, but she's not sure by whom."

"Kajsa's alive? You saw her?" Suddenly hopeful again, the vampire wriggled out of his lean arms and hopped to the floor.

"She's the only reason I'm still kicking." Nazir touched his bloody shoulder and winced. "We tried to find a way out of the Sanctuary before it fell apart, but... I don't think she made it."

"No. No." Babette shook her head, lip quivering. "Kajsa's not dead. She can't be. She has to be around here somewhere!"

Shaking his head, the Redguard man fell into a chair, exhausted. "What other alternative is there? Most of us are dead, my girl. We're the only ones left alive."

Miserable again, the little girl crumpled to her knees, eyes welling up with tears. Kajsa – sister, oh, my sister – you've got to be alive – you've just got to be – you're a survivor –

Suddenly, a thought came to her. "Nazir... she's the Listener."

The assassin gave her a slightly disparaging look. "I know that. We all knew that."

"But the Night Mother talks to her, right? So maybe the Unholy Matron guided Kajsa to safety somewhere!" Babette leapt to her feet, brushing off her dusty skirts. "Where did you last see her? When?"

"By Sithis, I don't remember," Nazir said irritably. "One of these hallways... they all look the same when they're burning and falling to bits."

Without further ado, the vampire turned on her heel and ran from the room, stumbling down the stairs to the dining hall, and then sprinted across the room and back up another set of stairs to the stone overlook.

The Redguard followed behind her. "Babette? Where are you going?"

"I think I know where Kajsa is!" she shouted as she ran through a doorway and into a low-ceilinged, blackened hallway, her voice echoing strangely in the empty, ruined Sanctuary. Turning a corner, and then another one, she burst into the small, private chamber.

Like the rest of the Dark Brotherhood's former hideout, it had been wrecked by the invaders. Rubble lay strewn on the floor and the shelves that had been up against the wall had fallen over. The circular stained-glass window depicting Sithis, the one she had loved so much, lay shattered in little pieces of colored glass on the floor. The Night Mother's coffin seemed to be the only thing left unscathed – but the way to it was blocked by some fallen boulders.

Nazir leaned against the doorway, panting with the effort that the running had taken on his injured body. "You... think she's in here?"

"Yes! I know it sounds odd, but..." the vampire wrung her hands piteously "... can you please move some of the debris around the coffin?"

The assassin stared at her in disbelief, then just shook his head, walked over to the mess, and started to kick aside some of the smaller rocks. Leaning against the biggest of the boulders, he applied all his force against it, but only succeeded in moving it a little ways.

"Hurry, Nazir!" Babette cried. "I'm telling you, she is in there! If she suffocates..." Her voice trailed off into a little moan.

"I'm going... as fast... as I can, you stupid she-devil," the Redguard retorted through gritted teeth. "I don't see you... helping..." He suddenly staggered and nearly lost his balance as the boulder gave way.

"I'm not exactly built for manual labor," the little girl sniffed. "Now, come on: you've almost got it!"

Nazir straightened up and then, with a disparaging look at her, began to push aside the other large rock barring the entrance. "One... more..." With a grunt, he heaved it aside. "There."

"Can you get it open?" Babette asked timidly.

"I think so. Just hold on a moment." The assassin took a moment to catch his breath, and then dug his fingers behind the elaborate metal door and pulled with all the strength he had left.

With a creaking of hinges, the doors opened wide. Hands planted firmly on either side of the curved walls to keep her upright, a sooty, bloodied Kajsa stared out at them with dark eyes.

"Sister!" The vampire ran for her, throwing her arms around the Listener's legs and hugging her tightly. "You're alive!"

"Thank – someone that you found me." Her voice sounded even hoarser than normal. "I don't think I could have lasted much longer in there." Gently prying Babette away, the Nord woman staggered out of the Night Mother's coffin, coughing violently.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down" Nazir grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from falling. She clung to him for support, and he patted her on the back in what the little girl judged to be a rare show of affection. "It's all right. You've been through a lot. Maybe you should just sit down for a bit..."

Kajsa shook her head weakly and forced herself upright, letting go of the Redguard man. "I'm fine. But the Night Mother has another task for me."

"She spoke to you?" When she nodded an affirmative, he continued. "Well, in that case, lead on. I'm right behind you."

"Me, too," Babette chimed in. "What do you have to do?"

"I have to speak with Astrid. She's here, in the Sanctuary... somewhere."

"She's here?" Nazir echoed in incredulity. "By Sithis, I thought we'd lost her! Let's go!"

The Listener turned away and clambered over some fallen boulders that partially barred one of the entrances. Her footsteps clattered down the stairs, then stopped abruptly. The vampire heard her mutter some curse words under her breath and then shout: "FUS – ROH DAH!"

There was a massive crash and then Kajsa continued on. The other assassins rapidly followed her down the narrow corridor of stairs, past the splintered boulders that had formerly blocked the end of the passageway and into the vast main cavern, and then up the stairs that led to the first chamber in the cave system. It had been burned as well, the spotless shelves and the bone-white table charred beyond repair.

"She's got to be here somewhere!" Babette cried. Sithis, please let Astrid be alive, too...

"Perhaps in her rooms." The Nord woman skirted the ruined furniture and the other wreckage, and she entered into the next chamber, scanning it for any sign of life. Suddenly, she paused, her face drawn and even paler than it had been before.

"What is it, Listener?" Nazir asked, one hand on his scimitar in case of trouble.

Solemnly, Kajsa stepped into the last room. It was ringed with furniture crumbling into ashes, embers of the fire still crackling and smoke hanging in the air. In the very center of the floor, within a ring of flickering candles and beside the fallen Blade of Woe and an iron dagger soaked in nightshade juice, Astrid's burned body lay: limbs splayed and blackened, raw muscles exposed.

The vampire gasped in horror and clung to the Redguard assassin. Mouth tight and standing still, the older man placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. Together, they lingered outside, not willing to go any further.

"Alive..." Astrid coughed, her once-seductive voice now scratchy and distressed. "You're alive... thank Sithis..."

Face pained, the Nord woman knelt by the leader of the Sanctuary's side. "Oh, Astrid..."

"Ssshhh... please. There is much... I have to say. And... not much time." As if to confirm her words, the other broke into a fit of coughing that shook her body, then carried on weakly. "I'm sorry. So very sorry. The Penitus Oculatus... Maro... he said that by giving you to them, he would leave the Dark Brotherhood alone. Forever."

Babette's eyes widened. Astrid – she was the traitor? She – she's the reason that everyone's dead? That the Sanctuary's destroyed?

"By Sithis, I was such a fool. All of this... it's all my fault." Astrid's voice was full of regret. "You are the best of us, and I nearly killed you... as I've killed everyone else..."

"You will be judged by Sithis in the Void," Kajsa whispered, her voice breaking. She reached out to the nearly-dead woman and touched her hand. "I pity you."

"No!" the other rasped. "Don't pity me. I deserve whatever fate the Dread Lord has in store. I betrayed you... and now Maro has betrayed me. Fitting..." She tried to laugh, but it turned into a peal of coughing. "I just wanted things... to stay the way they were. Before Cicero, before the Night Mother. Before... you. I thought I could save us. I was wrong.

"But you're alive... so there's still a chance. A chance to start over, rebuild. That's why I did... this. Don't you see?" she croaked desperately. "I prayed to the Night Mother. I amthe Black Sacrament."

"What are you saying?" Kajsa's face had turned grim.

"I'm saying you were right. The Night Mother was right. The old ways... they guided the Dark Brotherhood for centuries. I was a fool to oppose them.

"And to prove my... sincerity, I have prayed for a contract. You lead this Family now. I give you the Blade of Woe, so that you can see it through. You must kill... me."

The Nord assassin looked as if she'd been slapped: upset and unbelieving. "Astrid, I –"

"Do it, Listener," Astrid pleaded. "Kill me."

"Astrid did the right thing, and now it's your turn," Nazir said quietly, his deep voice grave. "End her suffering."

Slowly, Kajsa lifted up the burned woman's head and cradled it in her lap. With her free hand, she drew Mehrunes' Razor from its scabbard on her belt. Babette wanted so badly to cover her eyes, to bury her face in Nazir's tunic, anything but watch the killing... but it was if she was frozen in place.

"I forgive you, Astrid," the Listener whispered, her voice low and aching, "even after all you've done. I thank you for making me a member of your Family, and I hope that you will find peace in the Void." With those final words, she drew the Daedric dagger across the woman's throat in a straight, precise line, her face like stone.

"Thank... you..." Astrid's body slackened and she stopped breathing at last.

Babette tried not to cry, but the tears came before she could stop them. Letting go of Nazir, she stumbled away, rubbing her eyes in a vain attempt to quell them.

"Babette..." Kajsa's broken voice called to her. "Babette..."

Sobbing harder than ever, the vampire fled. Gone. Astrid's gone.

My Family is gone.

[A/N] Yeah, I realize that when you wake up during the "Death Incarnate" quest, the Night Mother's coffin is actually by the pool and it's implied that it fell out the stained glass window into the water while you were inside. I didn't realize that until I had written half the chapter, and by then, I didn't really want to change anything - because it seems to me that if that actually happened, Kajsa would get one hell of a concussion and probably get severe brain damage. And that wouldn't work out well. :)

Feel free to review with constructive criticism and/or witty comments!