The only problem with finding Elijah was that Sera couldn't think of anything she had that belonged to him.

Sera had decided to keep her new plan to herself, for now. Until she could actually find Elijah, there was no point in letting anyone in on her idea. Plus, Sera wasn't even sure that Elijah would be willing to help but, given how Klaus betrayed Elijah so soon after Elijah saved him, Sera had a feeling that the odds were in her favor. So, Sera had set about trying to find something that belonged to Elijah so that she could perform the spell to find him, rather than continue to track Stefan.

"What are you doing?"

Sera was on her hands and knees and had her head buried in her closet when she heard the familiar voice come up behind her. "Caroline!" Sera exclaimed. "Hey!" Sera stood and brushed some of the dust off of her clothes. "Everything alright? I've been trying to get a hold of you."

"Yeah, I got your messages," Caroline said. "Sorry for not answering but I was…tied up."

Sera's eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

Caroline sighed and went through the whole story as the two of them sat down on Sera's bed. She talked about how she had gotten kidnapped by Carol Lockwood and tortured by her own father, just because she was a vampire. When the story was done, Sera hugged her friend. "Jesus," Sera swore. "I can't even imagine how horrible that must have been." She pulled away and looked at Caroline. "If I had known what was happening…"

"I know," Caroline interrupted. "Believe me, I do. But, I heard that you had quite the experience in Chicago."

Sera rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, it was wonderful."

"How is Stefan?"

Sera sighed. "I don't know," she said. "I didn't see him this time. I saw Klaus, though. That was ever-so-much fun. Fortunately, our fight this time didn't end with too much violence. Just a bit of damage at a bar...which we were promptly told to leave afterwards."

Caroline laughed. "Sera Salvatore got kicked out of a bar?" She teased. "Whatever will her father think?"

Sera started laughing too. "Oh my god, don't tell my dad!" She said, in a mock panic. "He'll ground me for like…ever."

Caroline and Sera both started laughing harder. "Hey, are you going to the party at the Lockwoods?" Caroline asked, as the laughter died down a bit. She nodded towards the mess coming out of Sera's closet. "Or, are you too busy trying to find the passage to Narnia?"

Sera smiled and looked at the mess before looking back at Caroline. "I could use a break," she said. "You're talking about the Founders Party, right?"

Caroline nodded. "Everyone will be there," she said. "Believe it or not, Xavier even said that he was going to go."

"Damn," Sera said. "That's actually amazing. Xavier has always hated the Founders Party."

"Why?"

"He got dumped by a girl there once back in the 1880s," Sera said. "He's still bitter."

"I'll say," Caroline said. "Bonnie and I are going to head to Elena's before the party. Want to come?"

"Sure," Sera replied. "Help me pick out something to wear, will you?"

Finding Elijah would have to be put on hold, temporarily. Like Caroline said at Elena's birthday party, Sera did need to have fun once in a while, despite all the crazy stuff that was happening around her. Besides, it was one day. What could possibly go wrong?


When Elena's necklace started burning her in the middle of getting her chili ready for the party, Sera automatically confiscated it.

Upon further investigation, Sera realized that she had seen this necklace before, and not just on Elena's neck. It had, once, been Rebekah's. Sera had never really payed much attention to the necklace upon her return home to Mystic Falls, only knowing that it was a gift from Stefan to Elena. But, now that she knew that Rebekah and Stefan once dated, Sera understood how a Mikaelson family heirloom came to be in her father's possession.

Sera was twirling the necklace around her finger, as she sat at the party with her friends. Something told her that the necklace was the key to getting a hold of the Original Witch and that was why Gloria needed Rebekah before trying to contact her. Now that Sera had it, she had a bargaining chip with Klaus.

Though she was at the party, Sera stepped away to make a phone call. Damon and Xavier were standing and talking to each other by the table of chili, and the girls were sitting just far enough away from the rest of the people so that no one could hear what they were talking about. Sera looked around her quickly before dialing the number.

"This is quite an interesting surprise. I never expected you to call me."

"Something tells me that you're looking for a necklace," Sera said. "Extremely old. Silver. Last seen on Rebekah's neck. Ring any bells?"

The silence on the other end of the line indicated that she had struck a chord. "You have it."

"Yes, I do," Sera said. "And, if you plan on using it for any reason, I am more than willing to strike a bargain with you."

"Even knowing what I plan on doing with it?"

"You want to contact the Original Witch to have her help you with your hybrid problem," Sera said. "And, I want my father back."

"So, you want to trade."

"Tell her that I want my necklace back or else!"

Sera rolled her eyes, realizing that she was now on speaker phone. "Aunt Rebekah. So lovely to hear your voice after so many years."

"It wasn't enough what you did to me back at the turn of the century. But, you left me to rot in a box for almost a century and now you took my necklace!" Rebekah said.

"I did nothing to you!" Sera exclaimed. "What happened wasn't my fault! And, I did not take your necklace. I found it."

"Girls, please, this is not the time to revive old arguments. Now, Serafina, how can I trust that, should I allow Stefan to return to Mystic Falls, you would do your part and return Rebekah's necklace to us?"

"And, how can I trust that, if I give you the necklace, you will allow him to come home?" Sera responded. "It's a simple trade, Klaus. The necklace for my father. Surely, you would be willing to do anything that is necessary to get what you want."

"Now, tell me, why aren't you bothering to bargain for Elijah?"

Sera took in a breath and let it out slowly and silently. She couldn't let Klaus or Rebekah know that she was planning on finding and releasing Elijah, because that would ruin her plan. So, she had to pretend otherwise. "Because you won't kill him. The worst you can do is leave him daggered for a hundred years," she said. "Besides, he deserves it after betraying me at the sacrifice."

"There's a little hint of the Mikaelson in you. I'm sure it's been waiting for ages to make a reappearance."

"Wait, she's told everyone?" Rebekah asked.

"Do we have a deal or not?" Sera said, trying to get the conversation back to its initial starting point.

"I think that we might. We are currently still in Chicago, but I will let you know when we are on our way to Mystic Falls."

"Or, I could come back to Chicago," Sera said. Even if the necklace was what Klaus was focusing on now, he still couldn't know that Elena was alive.

"Even better. We can have a nice little family get-together in the Windy City."

"Sure, whatever," Sera said. "It'll be a couple of days but I'll let you know when I am on my way." She hung up the phone and walked over to her uncle and cousin. "I have a plan to get Dad back."

Damon and Xavier looked at each other before following Sera away from where they could be overheard. "Alright, I'm listening," Damon said.

Sera held up Elena's necklace. "Klaus is looking for this."

"How do you know that?" Xavier asked.

Sera explained the whole story, about how the necklace started burning Elena and how Klaus needed it to continue on with his hybrid plan. "So, we're going to trade," Sera concluded. "Klaus gets the necklace and Dad gets to come back to Mystic Falls."

"You're not going back to Chicago alone," Xavier said. "I'm coming with you."

"We're both going with you," Damon chimed in. "Stefan would murder us if we let you go by yourself."

Sera shook her head. "Neither one of you are coming with me."

Damon and Xavier looked at each other, again, and then back at Sera. "Why not?" Xavier asked.

"Because this is my family that we're dealing with," Sera said. "I know, more or less, how they operate. Klaus may see it as a threat if I come with back up and I certainly don't need him changing his mind about our deal. I am going to go back to Chicago with the necklace to get Dad and you two are going to stay and make sure that everything stays fine here."

"I don't like it," Damon said. "You've already had three run-ins with Klaus and all of them have ended with a fight. Two of them even saw you get hurt, despite your magic."

"Klaus will never go as far as to kill me," Sera said. "In his own twisted way, Klaus still respects the bond of family. My Mikaelson blood is going to work in my favor every time."

"And the time that it doesn't?" Xavier asked. "I'm sorry, Sera. But, Klaus has daggered his own siblings for decades at a time. Their Mikaelson blood isn't doing them any favors. Why should yours?"

"There is a big difference in those two situations," Sera said. "They're not dead. Not really, anyway. If Klaus were to ever dagger me, I would actually die. That's why he will never do it."

Damon sighed. "It's worth a shot, at least."

"Dad!"

"She has a point, Xavier," Damon said. "She does know them better than we do. Plus, none of the plans that we've come up with have worked so far. But, what happens when Klaus gets the necklace and uses it to help with his hybrid problem?"

"We'll deal with that later," Sera said. "The main thing is to get Dad back to Mystic Falls. Once that's done, then we can deal with the next problem."

Damon nodded. "When do you leave?"

"I told Klaus in a few days," Sera said.

"Good," Damon said. "Make him wait."

Damon turned and walked back to the party. Xavier looked at his cousin. "This is ridiculous."

Sera rolled her eyes. "This is the least ridiculous thing that has happened since we came home."

Xavier followed Sera as she walked back to the party as well. "How do you know that Klaus won't trick you somehow?"

"I don't," Sera said. "But, since I have what he needs, the odds are in my favor."

Xavier stopped and shook his head as Sera headed back over to where she had left Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie. He stood there for a moment before continuing on after her. Sera took a seat in between Bonnie and Elena as Xavier grabbed one between Bonnie and Caroline. "Sorry about that," Sera said.

"Everything alright?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, fine," Sera said. "What did we miss?"

"We were on the topic of 'Switching Salvatores'," Caroline replied.

"Ha! Yes! I win!" Xavier exclaimed. He extended his hand to Sera. "Pay up!"

"Wait, what?" Elena said. "You two had a bet going?"

"Yup," Xavier replied, as Sera slapped ten dollars into his open palm. "We started it after your birthday party. I said that we would hear of such an occurrence before the end of the summer, but Sera said that it wouldn't happen at least until the fall."

"Correction," Sera said. "I said that it wouldn't happen before Christmas."

"Why would you make a bet about something like this?" Elena asked.

"Because we have eyes," Xavier replied. "We've seen how you two have acted around each other. We're not stupid."

Elena shook her head. "Well, the bet's off because it's not true," she said. She stood. "I've got to go."

The four of them watched as Elena stormed off back towards the rest of the crowd. "Ok, Xavier, I think that could have waited until after the party," Bonnie said. "Perhaps once you two were back at home?"

Xavier shrugged. "Caroline was talking about it," he said, putting the money in his pocket. "Why couldn't I?"

"It's something Elena needs to face, at any rate," Caroline said. She turned to Sera. "So, what's going on with the necklace?"

"It would be better if I kept the necklace," Sera said. "Just in case."

"Is it serious?" Bonnie asked.

Sera shook her head. "Not really," she said. "Just better safe than sorry, right?"

"Come on, guys," Xavier said. "This is a party. Can we stop talking about our current drama for at least a few hours?"

"Xavier's right," Caroline said. "So, tell us about the time that you got dumped back in the 1880s."

Xavier glared at his cousin, who had started laughing. "Seriously? You told her?"

Sera talked through her laughter. "Oh, come on, it's not that big of a deal."

"Alright, fine," Xavier said. "I'll remember that the next time the opportunity arises for me to tell an embarrassing fact about you." He turned back to Caroline. "I dodged a bullet in the end," he said, beginning his story. "She turned out to be one crazy woman…"


Things, of course, could not go without a lot more drama.

Not only did Damon and Caroline have a fight after he attacked her father, but Damon also felt the need to snap Alaric's neck so he could do what he wanted. Fortunately, Sera and Xavier had gotten Alaric back to the Boarding House without anyone noticing and he woke up the next morning with no problems.

Now, Sera was back in her bedroom, rummaging through her belongings for anything that might have even once belonged to Elijah. Rebekah's necklace was in a box on her bed, ready and waiting for the trip to the Chicago. She was, once again, on her hands and knees, going through old boxes.

Then, it hit her.

She might not have had anything in her closet, but her mother certainly did. Celia's old house was still standing and had been turned into a historic landmark a century ago. Sera grabbed her coat and car keys and rushed out of the house without anyone noticing.

Getting into the house was not difficult. Sera used compulsion to send the staff away until further notice. The staff did so quickly, leaving Sera alone in the house that she had been born and grew up in. It had been years since she had stepped across its threshold and it took her a moment before she continued on with her mission, the memories washing over her like a waterfall.

She went into her mother's old bedroom. All of the original furniture still remained in the house and Sera was amazed by how perfect everything still looked. She opened her mother's closet and searched for the loose floorboard. Sure enough, just underneath, she found an old box, covered in dust and cobwebs.

Sera pulled the box out of its hiding spot and got rid of the debris. Opening it, she smiled when she found what she was looking for: an old pocket watch that Celia had given Elijah one year for Christmas back in the 1890s. Celia had been a cautious woman, which was to be expected given the life she had led and the family she had come from. So, when Elijah had accidentally left his pocket watch behind after one visit in 1900, Celia had put the watch in a box and hid it under a loose floorboard in her closet so that no one else would find it and use it to track Elijah down. But, Celia died before she had a chance to give it back to him and it had remained in it's hiding spot ever since. Silently thanking her mother, Sera closed the box filled with her grandfather's watch and headed back home.

Xavier was heading upstairs when Sera came through the front door and took off her jacket. "Hey, where have you been?"

"Just had to run an errand," Sera replied. She casually hid the box in her jacket as she joined her cousin on his trip up the stairs. "What's up?"

"Nothing really," Xavier replied. "Dad left. Not entirely sure where, but he said that he wouldn't be gone for too long."

"And, you didn't go after him?"

"I don't think he's in a bad state of mind, not like the night we first arrived home," Xavier said. "He just said that he needed to clear his head or something like that. If he's not back by the end of the week, I'll track him down."

Sera nodded. "Let me know if you need me to do a locator spell."

"Will do," Xavier said, as they reached his bedroom. "Night."

"Night."

Sera continued on down the hall and back into her own bedroom, closing the door behind her. She sighed and placed her mother's box underneath her bed until she could find a safer spot for it. She threw her coat on her desk chair and turned to find that the box with Rebekah's necklace in it was no longer on her bed.

Sera frantically looked everywhere in her room for the box, but it was nowhere to be found. Now what was she going to do? She was supposed to meet Klaus and Rebekah in Chicago in a couple of days for the trade. How could she go through with the trade if she had nothing to exchange? Who would even take it? Sera sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. Her plans to wake Elijah would have to be pushed up. He would be able to intervene on her behalf.

At least, she hoped so.


I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think!