Remain silent. Focus only on the target ahead whilst remembering that, at any moment, an enemy could move from behind. Her eyes were lifeless as she concentrated, finger ready upon the trigger as she lined her vision up with the bullseye before pulling down and feeling chills run through her flesh at the sound of the shot, how it splintered through the wooden target perfectly through the centre. She'd been in here for three days, refusing to leave, taking her meals and blood substitutes for the baby when and if she needed them. She just wanted to escape the mayhem, to forget as the gun in her hand made feel strangely whole again, like her three kings did when she was with them.

"Funny... How only weapons and creatures of death can make a monster like me feel alive once more"

Since Daniel's unexpected turning and the incident with Miss Ryder, Skye had begun to realise more and more that, no matter how much she wished it wasn't true, she hadn't changed much since the days she had spent under the command of the General. She had personally seen too it that Miss Ryder's arm was removed from the rest of her body, sent with a note attached to the last location Skye had known the General had worked from. The message would reach him eventually, his contacts within the armed forces more than willing to share Skye's message with him.

'Dear General,

A piece of the gift you sent to myself and subject three.
When next we meet, be prepared for a fate far worse than hers.
There's a special kind of hell I've saved just for you.

Subject Seven'

The rest of Miss Ryder's body had been disposed of accordingly. Most likely via an incinerator but Skye found she couldn't have cared much less by this point. She took a moment to look down at the full bump that formed her stomach, knowing that it was only thanks to her mutation for healing and ability to withstand unbelievable amounts of pain that allowed her to move at all by this point of her pregnancy. She sighed, relaxing the sniper rifle within her hand to place the other hand against the bump where her child slumbered. She was so close to labour, the rate of vampire pregnancy nearly knocking her for six after only a mont

"What god or deity in their right mind would allow me to be a mother?"

"A god that knows we all deserve a second chance at life"

Skye's reflexes reacted automatically as she spun to face the intruder, rifle at the ready and finger poised to pull the trigger, berating herself for dropping her guard even in the sanctuary of her training room. She relaxed only slightly as the realisation that it was merely Daniel and Felix, both holding their hands up in mock surrender, smiles on their lips but worry in their eyes as Skye slowly began to lower the weapon. Though it would have had little effect on them, neither really wanted to feel a sniper bullet bouncing from their skull, and she'd definitely had a perfect line of fire for it.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that. You know how tetchy I can be"

"Sorry, we just wanted to check in on you... You've been locked in here for three days now. Your mates are starting to worry after you told them to give you space"

Daniel was frowning openly now as he took a step closer, felix close behind as he monitored his mate, knowing all too well how a new born vampire could change if the thirst hit them hard enough. Skye rubbed her face, fighting back the tears as all the stress and panic she truly felt finally began to bubble over.

"What am I meant to do Danny? I'm pregnant by three vampires and due to drop any moment and, if that weren't enough to cope with, We're fighting a war that I thought we'd finally escaped, I'm having to take up arms again when I should be preparing to take care of my child... What kind of mother am I going to be?"

Daniel was by her side in a moment, careful not to hold her too tightly as he placed a kiss to the top of her head, a hand resting beside her own above the child that rested within her womb, smiling as he felt a powerful kick and failing to notice the sudden look of pure terror that filled her face.

"You will be a wonderful mother, just because you've convinced yourself that you are a monster doesn't mean you are one... And if all the kicking your baby is doing is anything to go by, I think he or she agrees with me whole heartedly"

His smile began to fade as Skye failed to answer him, her body curling in on itself and a dampness beginning to form on his hand from where it had rested on her stomach. The next few moments were a blur as Felix dashed forward, pulling Daniel away with a powerful shout for help, holding his new born mate with all his might as chaos broke out within the room, his shout for help having caught the sensitive ears of the three kings who had almost ripped the training room door from it's hinges.

"Felix! What is going on here?"

Caius' tone was harsh as he and his brothers moved swiftly to Skye's side, Aro lifting their mate into his arms before noticing the blood that was soaking through her shirt from her stomach, seeing how the flesh beneath seemed to move and become torn. Marcus felt his mind begin to race as the realization hit him like a cannon ball.

"She's gone into labour"