When Rebekah Gerard received the call one sunny day she had just finished getting off the phone with Hope and thinking it was her niece again had answered without thinking and picked up the conversation where they had left off.
Instead, it was Caroline with mixed news for the Original. Elena and Damon Salvatore had both passed away, and, if she still wanted it the cure was all hers.
Moving at hyperspeed through the house that Marcel had built her the blonde immediately started throwing things into her suitcase. By the time her husband had found her Rebekah had moved clothes to find those perfect pair of freshly human shoes. Once he had finally gotten Rebekah to calm down enough to tell him what was wrong it only took a moment for Marcel himself to grab an identical suitcase and start packing alongside the anxious blonde.
And that was how the two had started their journey back to Mystic Falls.
The couple arrived the day before the funeral immediately seeking out the headmistress but were refused the Cure because according to Caroline, 'Damon wanted to get the last word in with one Original at least and since Klaus and Elijah are gone …'
It took all of Rebekah's willpower not to go strangle the dead Salvatore's corpse for still being the same insufferable ass she had left behind in her rear-view mirror all those decades ago when she had left for New Orleans.
Caroline took the blondes foul mood with the same grace she always had when dealing with any of the Mikaelson family and explained that once the funeral was over and Damon and Elena's children gave Rebekah what they needed to then the Cure was all hers.
And that was how she and Marcel came to be standing in the Salvatore boarding house, closed temporarily for the funeral, waiting for the guests on honour to arrive.
"There late," Rebekah said looking at her watch again as she paced back and forth in the parlour which had barely changed since she was last here. "Caroline did say four o'clock correct?"
Marcel watched his wife still having mixed feelings about what she was about to do. "Rebekah calm down, these kids just buried their parents I think you can forgive a few minutes."
"Oh, I should have known that any child of Damon Salvatore's was going drive me crazy. It's a good thing Nik isn't here, he would have spirited them away by now just to make me play some twisted game of hide n' seek." Rebekah groaned before realizing what she had said and coming to a complete stop in front of the fireplace.
Since their passing both the remaining Mikaelson family rarely said anything bad about their departed members, even Hope would barely speak an ill word against Elijah despite what had happened to Haley. Sometimes they would complain about how Niklaus and Elijah had acted in the past or would share stories their brothers' strangest moments. So far Nik was still winning in that category for the time he compelled an entire estate to think they served a poor beggar family just because their youngest daughter had complimented a painting of his.
"Trust me, Rebekah, Klaus would have given DJ back the moment he opened his mouth." A voice came from the entrance.
Looking over the pair found a small group of people had gathered without them knowing and well Marcel didn't recognize any of them Rebekah certainly did.
Giving a tight smile the Original turned to the witch. "Bonnie Bennett, as I live and breathe."
"I thought vampires didn't need to breathe?" Bonnie said giving a similar smile as she leaned slightly on a cane.
The air suddenly felt alive with energy, if Marcel looked closely enough he would swear there were some sparks flashing between the women. So, deciding to defuse the situation with the same charm he had used to keep his title of King of New Orleans for so long he walked towards the strangers and offered his hand.
"Marcel Gerard," he smiled pouring every ounce of charm he had into it. "I'm Rebekah's husband."
Bonnie raised one eyebrow as she took the hand. "Bonnie Bennett, I teach magic at some of our sister schools."
Rebekah looked at Caroline in disbelief. "You franchised?"
"I did not," the headmistress denied. "I received a large donation from two wealthy individuals keep the school going. The fact that it was so large that I was able to open up a school in New Orleans and few other locations only seemed natural."
"And the fact that your high success rates among the college and university graduates has nothing to do with the London branch your opening up next year Care." The man behind Bonnie teased.
Looking at Sherriff Rebekah gave him a warm smile. "Hello, Matthew."
"Long time no see Rebekah," Matthew Donovan grinned looking at Marcel and taking his hand. "You must be the luckiest man alive to get Mikaelson's to let you marry their sister or the toughest to kill."
Marcel smiled sensing some history between his wife and police officer. "It's a little bit of both actually."
"Not that this isn't entertaining but we have a bottle of dad's favourite bourbon waiting for us at home, so can we hurry this up?" a dark-haired man complained only to be hit on the back of the head by who the Original assumed was Elena's younger brother Jeremy.
The unnamed male defiantly took after Damon Rebekah observed. And it wasn't just because of the insolent manner he spoke with, he also shared the same handsome features and ice blue eyes that his father had but if she looked closely enough Rebekah could see Elena in him also and not just because they shared the same colour hair. The woman next to him also shared Damon's eye colour but she seemed to favour the deceased woman in looks even though the angry expression on her face made her look more like Katherine's daughter then Elena's.
"If you make one for smart ass remark DJ I swear I will make your next hangover look like something out of dad's revenge stories," the woman hissed carefully moving the box in her hand so she could extend it. "I'm sorry about him we're just … well, you know."
"No, I'm the one who should apologize," Rebekah said taking the handshake. "I was so focused on finally getting the Cure that I forgot what that meant for you."
"Don't worry about it Dad made sure we knew exactly who we were dealing with before Aunt Bonnie extracted it from him. I'm Stefanie by the way, Stefanie Salvatore" The woman replied looking at her brother and giving him a quick kick to the shin.
"Damon." He grunted.
Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "As in Damon Junior?"
Jeremey smiled and placed his hand on the younger male's head. "Actually, it's Damon Jeremey but we call him DJ for short."
Shaking the offending hand off DJ grabbed the box from his sisters' arms and held it out to Rebekah. "Here package delivered, I'm off to get a drink."
With that, the man turned and walked away.
Stefanie gave an apologetic smile saying it was nice to meet one of her dad's weird frenemies finally before she hurried after her brother. Rebekah didn't need to have supernatural senses to know the face of a young woman plotting vengeance and listened as Stefanie mumble threats under her breath as she chased after DJ.
It made Rebekah realize once they were gone that Klaus would have absolutely loved Stefanie for nothing else than her creative mind when it came to revenge. Elijah would have adored DJ because of how similar he was to his father, no matter how much he tried to hide it Elijah had always secretly liked Damon despite how different they both were.
"We should probably head after them before Stef sedates him," Matt said looking at Jeremy before his attention turned back to Rebekah. "You should both come to see me before you leave, my wife makes the most amazing doughnuts."
Rebekah laughed. "What's the old saying about cops and doughnuts?"
"That when they are as good as my wife's you and the other officers pool your money together so she can keep your supply fresh." Matt joked back.
After giving one last handshake the pair left in search of the newest Salvatore sibling leaving just Caroline and Bonnie. Turning her attention towards the box she had been handed Rebekah opened it expecting to find a red vile within, instead, she got a little Dracula figure staring up at her with cartoon eyes.
"What is this?" the Original hissed dangerously.
"Damon's last words," Bonnie stated grabbing the cartoon vampire and pulling off its head showing that it was actually a USB drive. "You know Damon, always loved the sound of his own voice."
Seeing that Mt. Rebekah was going to erupt Caroline put her hand on her fellow vampire's arm. "I know it might seem stupid but Damon knew how much you wanted to be human, he wouldn't do this just to mess with you."
Throwing her hands up dramatically Rebekah relented and went to sit down on one of the couches with Marcel well Bonnie and Caroline took the other.
Once the video was loaded onto the laptop Damon appeared on the screen, older and with a bit of silver starting to show in his hair but still as handsome as always. Elena sat next to him looking older as well but still just as beautiful.
"Greetings from the other side, Damon Salvatore here with a few short messages for Rebekah Mikaelson," the man grinned waving at the screen. "Hi Bekah, did you miss me?"
Rebekah gave an unladylike snort well Marcel looked at the man closely. "Wait so your Damon is also my Damon."
"You knew the arrogant prat?" Rebekah asked wondering how she had never connected the Damon from Marcel's stories to the older Salvatore.
"We partied back in the day with this girl he sired," Marcel smiled before it suddenly dropped as he noticed the unhappy looks he was getting from Bonnie and Caroline. "Sorry."
Looking back towards the video they noticed the couple arguing.
"- dead at this point, I can tease her to my blackened heart's content."
"Because you not the one having to sit there with her well she waits for you to give up the location to the cure." Elena argued.
Rebekah's head snapped up towards the two women who just shrugged before looking back at the screen.
"Hey Rebekah Elena here, obviously," the doctor said getting the Originals attention again. "Look I know this is late but about Elijah and Klaus. I'm sorry for your loss, they might not have always been my favourite people but they were your brothers and I know you loved them."
Damon rolled his eyes dramatically. "I honestly raised a glass with Ric when I heard the news, you know toasting to the death of a worthy foe and all."
"And then four bottles more rehashing stories." Elena retorted before she got up saying something to Damon as she gave him one last smack on the arm.
Damon smirked at the camera as soon as his wife was gone. "I knew bribing DJ would work so let's get down to business."
"Right now, the Cure has been hidden until you hear some words from yours truly," Damon said looking serious now as. "And don't even think of hurting BonBon or Blondie to find out where it is Barbie Klaus. Now first things first, before you take the Cure make sure that you have everything set up so that you can start a new human life, I'm talking birth certificate, social security, money to survive on. You know, the works."
"Also, important safety tip, you can't use compulsion for this. Once you take the Cure any you've done will immediately end and people get their memories back and Donovan can tell you first hand that it's a nightmare when people start remembering all the nasty things you've done to them."
This was news to Rebekah, she had been expecting Damon to call her all the things she and her family had done bad things they had done well in Mystic Falls but the man was honestly trying to help her, obviously, Elena had been a better influence on Damon then she had thought.
"Next you need to go someplace where no one knows you," Damon continued. "Find a nice small town like the Falls or a big city like New York but make sure that no old enemies can track you down and interrupt your new human bliss. Hell, I bet if you even asked nicely Care Bear could set you up in one of the Salvatore schools."
Rebekah could see Caroline nodding out of the corner of her eye. "Now I know you might want to stay as far away from the supernatural as possible Original Barbie but take it from someone who knows, once you know there is no unknowing so its best to act in the shadows as support, like Donovan or Little Gilbert."
Now Damon was grinning again. "By the way, I've met your niece Hope. She might go by Marshall but I can tell she's a Mikaelson what with having Klaus's eyes and all which leads me to my last condition, you have to live a long life and do all the things you haven't been able to before."
"Have an actual hangover, feel sick from eating to much chocolate, enjoy a lazy day where its just you and the person you love swinging back and forth on the porch swing talking about how to shock your nosey neighbours next," Damon was smiling now, a true smile like the one Rebekah had been him give Elena and Stefan in the past. "Have some kids yourself and maybe a few grandkids to, and become this old woman who can look back on her millennium's old life and say 'I now have no regrets'."
"I want you to live Rebekah Mikaelson, to live a long and messy human life like I'm doing. And when you finally find peace, you come look me and Stefan up in the next world. Hopefully by that time I'll have hunted your annoying ass brothers down by then and we can all share a bottle of my best bourbon."
Damon said finally giving the camera one last wave. "Good-bye Rebekah and be happy."
The room was silent aside from the occasional crack of the fire, but despite its heat, Rebekah was shivering. Noticing the wife streaming down his wife's face he took one of her hands well the other handed her the handkerchief from his pocket.
Once she was calm enough to form words Rebekah looked at the other women and gave a watery smile noticing that they were crying also. "Who knew Damon had such a way with words?"
Caroline laughed and dabbed her eyes. "Where do you think Stefan learned it from."
"Under all that snark and sarcasm, he actually did know exactly what to say ... sometimes." Bonnie said wiping her own tears away.
Everyone laughed a little before Rebekah looked at Caroline. "Is it .. I mean I know I came for it but now,"
"You need to get your life in order?" Caroline finished.
Rebekah nodded thinking about all the things she would have to do before taking the cure. Luckily, she was immortal so a little while longer as an Original vampire wasn't the worst trade off she supposed.
"If your willing to take them I have some positions that I put off hiring for at any of our schools for the both of you," Caroline offered to take both Gerard's by surprise. "You'd have to get the appropriate degrees or diploma's and obviously with compulsion out it make take time, but you'd have your pick of any of the American or European locations."
"You'd really hire me?" Rebekah said looking honestly stunned by the offer. "After everything I've done to you."
"I know how much being human means to you Rebekah and how hard adjusting to it again can be," Caroline said as Bonnie nodded next to her. "So, this is me extending the olive branch."
Rebekah took the offered hand of friendship and gave it a firm shake. Even though the pair had been on relatively good terms for decades now it was still nice to make it official.
"And well Caroline takes the role of carrot I'm taking the stick," Bonnie said banging her cane once on the ground. "I see you doing something stupid and tell you."
"Glad to see that age hasn't dulled your fire Bonnie." Rebekah said.
"So, you're really going to do this?" Marcel asked his wife seriously.
"As soon as everything is set I'll take the Cure," Rebekah nodded looking at Marcel squeezing her loves hand more firmly knowing that this was going to be just as hard for him as it was for her. Once he returned the gesture the Original looked back at the headmistress with a sly look. "Now then why don't we get started and you can tell me what it takes to run a school. Obviously, if you can do it, it can't be that difficult."
After watching the end of The Originals, where my heart was once again broken into a million little pieces, by the way, I had wanted to write something for Rebekah. This mostly comes from when Klaus mentions the Cure himself in their good-bye. I also tried to use some of the things from both series in it to give it a realistic feel, like how Rebekah asked what it takes to run a school, it comes from her having this rivalry with Caroline when they were both in high school.
Stefanie is the older of the Salvatore siblings well DJ is the younger if anyone was wondering and they're my first attempts at OC's so please if you send me a review let me know what you thought of them.
I hope everyone enjoyed this story and if they have a few minutes would please let me know what you thought about it.