Terri and Stephen POV
"I'm going to need you to gather all of the supplies for me. I'm going to do a reveal spell. When the incantation is revealed, I need you to write down the words. I can only keep it up for a short while, so you need to be quick and accurate. Once I have the incantation, I will rest day and gather my strength for it to work right."
"Thank you for doing all of this for us. Most witches hate vampires, so we're lucky to have you."
"I don't judge an entire set of people based on the actions of a few. Elijah has given the protection of my family's bloodline as reward. He offered more, but my family is more important than money. He is a good man and I trust him to pull through with his word."
"Nothing is stronger than family to Elijah. I'm sure he appreciates the same value in you."
"Are you ready?"
"Yes"
"Start as soon as you see it."
The reveal spell worked well and lasted longer than expected. The witch looked over the ingredient list to make sure they were given the entire list, as well as made sure the spell revealed was the real one and not a decoy. It was legit. Davina must have been occupied when she did the reveal spell. When Stephen finished writing, he looked back and double-checked every detail to make sure he had everything wrote correctly. He nodded to inform the witch that he was finished. She closed her spell and went about putting everything in one spot for the next day. Then she went to rest, while Stephen left her room. He could place where everyone was, and decided to go talk to Kol and Elijah.
Elijah's Room
"Terri did the reveal spell. Everything is set up for tomorrow. We should have Caroline back then. What else do we need to plan?" Stephen said as he entered the room.
"I was supposed to travel to New Orleans today, after the memory transfer, but after hearing your news, I may hold off a day." Elijah replied.
"Elijah, Caroline doesn't need to wake back up and go directly there. She has to have her mother's funeral service, and get ready for the move. It will take her all week. Plus, Marcel probably knows what she looks like because of Tyler. It won't be safe for her there until he is gone. Remember me telling you about the grimoire earlier? I need you to go ahead and leave to do that. Take Katerina with you, and be quick about it. Only keep the page I told you about and destroy the rest of it before you proceed further. After you get it, go to New Orleans and help our sister take Marcel down. I told you how to do it. Stephen, you will stay here. You're friends with both Caroline and our brother. They trust you and talk to you. Keep working on bringing them together. You know she will be more difficult when she is back in her body. After she wakes, I have to pass on. I've been fighting the pull of the anchor since I've been here and it gets stronger each passing minute. Elijah, this will be the last time you will see me, but I want you to know that I will watch over all of you if I can. If I'm meant for another life, I will try to be close to you guys. Tell our sister than I will always miss riling her up and calling her strumpet. Mostly, I want to give you my love. I won't have another chance, so take it how you please. I will say goodbye to everyone else before I pass through. Stephen, my sister will probably be very vulnerable after Marcel had been executed, so she will need you too. You break her heart, and I will find a way to come back kand take a bat to you." Kol instructed carefully/
"Why do you assume anything is going to happen?"
"Because I know my sister and you both were once in love until Nik took it away. If she's around you and vice versa, you will likely fall in love again. If that happens, don't let anything come between you two."
"Okay, as strange of a request as that is, I will take your words into consideration."
"I think we should all begin with our tasks gentlemen. Kol, I will miss you my brother." Elijah interjected, fighting the pain of saying good bye to his brother for the final time.
"Kol? We never got along, but you shouldn't have died. My freaking doppelganger is really stupid. But, you've helped everybody here out since you showed up. I will do my best by your brother, and help protect your family, as well as Stephen, Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy. Goodbye Kol… I hope you can find some kind of peace after everything."
"So do I Katerina. And, thank you for wanting to help my family. You've actually surprised me. What made you change your mind about us?"
"Caroline actually. I've never done anything that would deserve her to help me, but she did. If she can do that… why can't I at least try to be a better person?"
"Just don't lose your spunk. You're going to need it."
"I never said I was going to be an angel, Kol. I'm just going to do things better." And then Katherine and Elijah left. They stopped only long enough to say goodbye to each person and that Stephen would explain what they had to do.
Everyone's POV
Bonnie and Jeremy had been talking about their unborn child. They had decided to name Stephen the godfather and Caroline the godmother. At least the child would have someone that could possibly live forever to look after it in the event of their deaths. They decided to wait until the baby shower to give them the news. Jeremy was trying to figure out a way for them to leave town without Elena following them. He loved his sister, but she was too much for him to deal with on top of becoming a parent, and he didn't want to tell her yet. And then there was Bonnie. He wanted to do right by her, and he had planned to ask her to marry him after school was over, but now he didn't want to wait that long. Maybe Stephen could help him when they had some free time for ring shopping. He would have to make it special for her too.
Everyone decided to stay to themselves for the rest of the day. The following day would be a tough one, and they needed to be ready. Stephen went into the kitchen and cooked dinner in case anybody got hungry, and then grabbed blood bags for him and Klaus. When he took the bag to Klaus, he reluctantly took the bag. After finishing the bag, he tossed it in the small waste basket next to the bed. He wasn't going to leave Caroline's side.
"Do you need to talk about anything?" Stephen asked.
"I'm just trying to be there for her as much as she will let me right now."
"It will be okay. The spell is ready for tomorrow. Terri is resting to gather her strength so we're successful. So, Caroline, did you hear that? You get your body back tomorrow…. Is she in here?"
"Yes, she's here. I can feel where she's touching me."
"That's good. Listen Caroline, I know you don't want to talk right now, so I'll be quick. I called the moving company to go pack up your house and get it loaded into a truck. When we go, I will drive the truck myself to make sure it gets where we're going safely. Instead of having a stranger go through your clothes, I ordered a few online and I just have to go pick them up. I made sure to get you something for your mother's funeral. I gave them a cover story for you and Dr. Fell has backed me up. Everything was already planned in her will, so all you have to do is pick the day. We can do it the day after tomorrow or the next day, but any longer and we'll have problems. I can do it for you if you want me to, but I will wait until you're back for your answer. I also called your school to tell them your mother passed. It will give you time to square things away with them. Elijah went to go help Rebecca take care of Marcel. He won't be a problem in a day or two. Bonnie and Jeremy are leaving tomorrow to make sure Marcel passes through Bonnie before he can cause any more damage. After Marcel has been taken care of, Rebecca is going to ask about Lily. Hopefully, she will release her if she has her blocked from leaving. This will all be over soon, and then you can begin living life like you should. If you don't want to go to New Orleans, just say the word; we'll all go anywhere. I've been there before and I think you'll like it. Plus, they have a really good college so you could stay in school. I'm sure Klaus will acquire any kind of accommodations you'd like, or you could just stay with him. But, I'm going to go pester Kol for a while and let you two be alone together."
"Thanks mate… for taking care of everything for her and talking to her. I'm sure she appreciates all of it."
"Well I always wanted a little sister; someone to pick on, but protect all the same. Besides, you and Rebecca make it look so fun." Stephen said with a small laugh. Klaus gave his trademark smirk and went back to his thoughts. Stephen then went to go find Kol.
Kol and Stephen POV
"I think they are okay for now. Like I said; the real challenge will be when she's back in her body." Stephen said as he entered Klaus' room. Kol had decided to linger in there since Klaus had taken up residence in the living room.
"Well then, you better be ready for a bigger workload. I won't be there too long after she comes back. Rebecca can help you with Nik, and Bonnie can help you with Caroline, but this will mostly be on you. Plus, you still have Damon, Elena, and Enzo to worry about. Elena and Damon will hang on to you. Enzo is here because of Damon, so if you can get Damon to leave with him Elena will be less of a problem. She'll go back to the college and find some sap to use until she gets one of you back."
"You're right; about all of it. She'll probably run to that Aaron kid. I felt bad for him already, but now I feel worse. Hopefully he won't let her take things too far with him. I don't know and I have too much on my plate to care."
"Yea, but I know what will make it easier. Enzo already wants to leave. If you contacted him and told him what would help him get Damon out of town, he would do it."
"And what would that be?"
"Elena of course."
"How do you figure that? He already broke up with her."
"Tell her she needs to go back to school because Caroline needs her things from there. Enzo will seize the opportunity and convince Damon to go."
"That sounds too easy. It can't work."
"It's because it's so easy that it will work. They don't have to know Caroline isn't awake yet. She wouldn't be back before she was anyway, and by then, Damon and Enzo would be gone. He'd probably even call her and tell her that he was already gone. Better yet, tell Damon that if he really wanted away from her, that he would take advantage of the time she was gone to get Caroline's stuff and skip town. But before you let them leave, let my brother compel them to never bother or try to kill my family or any of the rest of you guys. It's the safest option. I know they haven't been taking vervain and it would work."
"You're good."
"No, I've been dead. It does wonders to a person's ability to plot things. You learn how to predict the opposition's moves and how to find out what you need to."
"Well, you're still good at it. I'm going to text Elena what you told me to tell her and when I know she's close to Whitmore, I will call Damon to give him your advice. He'll let me know what he decides. We better go tell your brother what we're doing."
"He just heard everything. I swear I can hear him smiling from here." The laughter they heard from downstairs confirmed what Kol had said. It caused Kol and Stephen to laugh too.
Living Room (The next morning)
Nothing much had happened since Stephen had texted Elena. She had arrived at the college late that night and decided to stay the night. Stephen had called Damon as planned and convinced him to leave. They agreed to meet at the grill, but Damon and Enzo didn't plan on Klaus and Jeremy coming with him. Enzo had agreed to be compelled with no problems, but Damon had been furious. Jeremy and Stephen held him still while Klaus compelled him first. Enzo then walked over to Klaus and let him compel him. They only stayed long enough to call Elena and then ditch their phones. Klaus, Stephen, and Jeremy returned to the house to prepare to bring Caroline back. Elena kept calling Stephen and eventually he answered. Of course she had been crying and told him to get Caroline's stuff himself because she was going to look for Damon. He convinced her to just stay at school and finish because everyone was leaving soon and they would just have Caroline's stuff shipped. Elena wouldn't stop blaming Klaus for everything. She claimed everyone abandoned her and that Klaus stole her friends and brother away from her. Stephen didn't listen too much more after he said what was needed, so he hung up. Everyone had gathered in the living room to wait. Bonnie had given Klaus blood bags for when Caroline woke up, and then took Jeremy to the opposite side of the room. She loved her best friend, but Caroline was still a vampire that hadn't fed for a couple days; she didn't want to take any chances. Klaus had got off the bed, but was standing next to where he had lain. Stephen went to stand on the other side, while Terri stood at the foot of the bed. Kol stood next to his brother. The witch instructed Klaus on how to and when to give the antidote to Caroline before beginning.
"If she starts thrashing, you'll have to hold her down. I have to finish before you can feed her, and it will hurt her. I wish it wouldn't, but it will. Keep her where she is. Caroline, when Klaus gives you the antidote, you'll feel the pull to your body. Don't fight it, or it will hurt more. Get in as fast as you can. Just close your eyes and focus on being back in your body. Let's begin."
Terri began chanting as the candle flames shot high. When she nodded to Klaus, he fed her the antidote and then went to hold her down on his side, while Stephen copied his position. Kol didn't want to risk getting pulled into Caroline so he stepped back and motioned for Jeremy to hold her legs. Bonnie reluctantly let him go, but knew how these kinds of spells could go. If a witch told a person to hold someone down, they better use everything they have. Sure enough, Caroline started trying to move and screaming. Tears ran down her face as she struggled.
"It will be over soon sweetheart. Just breathe. We're right here, Caroline. Breathe love; come back to us. Come on; you can do it."
As the witch neared the end of the ritual, Caroline's screams grew louder. Everyone had begun to lose tears, as well. With one final scream, the candle flames died down and the witch stopped chanting. Caroline hadn't opened her eyes, but she was back. She was trying to calm her breathing when the veins under her eyes began to show. Klaus reached for a blood bag, as Caroline tried to hide her face. She had never liked how she looked with her vampire face out.
"Caroline sweetheart, you need to feed. Here, please take the blood bag. Uncover your face love, you need this."
"Caroline he has a vampire face too. He isn't going to say anything about yours. Now, drink the blood before I bring you a rabbit." Stephen said to ease her nerves. He had almost forgotten that Klaus hadn't seen her vampire face. He knew she didn't like it and didn't show it if she could help it. She ducked her head under the pillow and reached for the bag. When she began drinking, she felt around beside her for Stephen. When she found him, she slapped him. "Hey! I was just trying to help. I forgot for a minute. Okay? I didn't say it to embarrass you; I was trying to get blood in you faster. I'm surprised he didn't realize why you were freaking out after yesterday." When she went to reach for him again, he moved away from the bed.
"She has a pretty mean slap doesn't she? I've recently learned about it myself. Caroline? It's good that you're back. Bonnie, I hate to ask this, but can you try to avoid me until later. I'm having some difficulty keeping myself from passing through you." Kol spoke.
"Oh, I'm sorry Kol. How far do I need to keep away?" Bonnie asked.
"Let's try as far as possible in this room. I will stay in the corner and you can take the farthest seat from me."
"How long do you think you have?"
"Not long."
"Kol?" Caroline got his attention before looking up. Her face was back to normal and her eyes were close. They were only a little darker than normal. "Thank you again; for everything. I meant what I said when I told you that you should be able to stay." She said before returning to her blood bag.
"You're welcome and I just want to be able to tell you I told you so, now that I won't feel it if you hit me." He said and then grinned. She only met his eyes for a second before looking down again.
"Do you feel better? Do you need anything; maybe more blood?" Klaus asked. He was more relieved she was back than irritated that she had talked to his brother first.
Caroline looked to Bonnie and Jeremy and took a cautious breath. She was fighting her face from changing and her thirst from controlling her. "Probably a couple more bags. I'm barely holding control." She didn't show how much it took foe her to control herself. Klaus reached down and picked up 2 more bags, and then handed them to her. "Thank you." She could only look at him for a second. Until she was in control again, so couldn't afford to look at anyone. She drained both bags and concentrated on controlling her body. The veins were trying to come back and she still wanted blood. She began to panic for Bonnie and Jeremy. If she couldn't control herself, she might hurt them. "Bonnie, Jer? Get out of here. It's not stopping." Bonnie and Jeremy quickly left the room, but she was still slipping. Stephen went back to her side.
"Caroline, it's your emotions. You HAVE to calm down. You're in control. You had them leave the room, which means you controlled yourself enough to get them to safety. Now breathe, and focus on calming down."
"No no no something's wrong."
"Terri? What's happening to her?" Klaus asked the witch.
"She went without blood for days and her body was detached from her. There will be an adjustment period, but it won't last long. It will be like being a newborn vampire at first, but she will get her control back in the next couple days."
"Why didn't you tell us about this?"
"Would you have changed your mind? You wanted her back; all of you. This is the price that the spell requires to work. She has to get used to being her again."
"Brother, the longer she was like that, the worse it would have been. She would have begun to fade to where even I couldn't have seen her and she wouldn't have been able to communicate. That's why I relayed messages so often. I tried to get her to save her energy because I knew she would need it. Now it's up to you guys to help her get used to the physical plane again. Stephen, you taught her how to be a vampire once, so you can do it again. Nik, all you can do is keep calm and be there for her. You would bring out too many of her emotions if you tried to help her get used to being a vampire again." Kol explained as quickly as he could.
"I can't do that again. I was by myself in the beginning. Stephen, it's worse than the carnival."
"Terri, you need to go join Bonnie and Jeremy. The less fresh blood she has around her, the faster she will calm down." Klaus said as he jumped into action. "Wait, would compulsion work? Would compelling her to believe she is in control work?"
"NOOOO!"
"Klaus, compulsion is not control. It seems she wants to do this on her own. She hates compulsion. She only ever uses it herself if she needs to. Compulsion would only give her the illusion that she is under control."
"I know that mate, but I don't want her in pain. I was trying to think of anything that could help her."
"I know that, but mentioning compulsion is NOT the best way to calm her down."
"That was really stupid of me. Caroline, listen to me sweetheart. I'm sorry I brought it up. I'm not going to compel you, I promise. Unless you actually tell me to compel you, I won't do it; ever."
"She's calming a little. Caroline? Do you need another blood bag?" She only shook her head. She didn't want to risk getting high on blood. She really would lose control completely if she went too far. She couldn't talk either. All of her energy was being spent on breathing and trying to filter through her emotions. What scared her ore was flipping her switch. She had almost done it without thinking to get all of her emotions to calm down, but she held on as much as she could. "Caroline, would you like some whiskey or regular food?" She nodded her head and Stephen blurred to the kitchen. She flinched when he moved so sudden. Klaus sat back down with her and reached for her. He noticed her breathing pick up and pulled back. He knew it was nothing to do with him so he stayed where he was.
"Caroline, let my brother help you. Your body will react towards him because of the time you've shared together this week. Caroline, I know what's going on, he will help you."
"What's happening to her?"
"She's fighting her switch. That's why she pulled back. She's trying to keep everything at a limit." Kol explained and Klaus reached and pull her into his embrace. She buried her head into his chest and let him rub her back. "When Stephen comes back with her food, you both need to step out of the room for a minute and let me talk to her when nobody is listening. It will help her and it will help you two help her."
"I don't want to leave her."
"You will only be in another room. Go eat or shower or something. She's already calmed a little bit, but you two are not helping when you're both panicked for her. I can help with this."
"Alright." He said as Stephen came back into the room and placed a full plate of food, some soda, and a bottle of whiskey next to Caroline. "Kol needs to speak with her alone. Let's go eat or something. You have 10 minutes Kol." Klaus said as he stood and walked out of the room with Stephen.
"Alright Caroline, I know you don't feel like talking so you can move your head. If you can talk back, I will listen, but just save your strength. I know that flipping your switch has never been so tempting, and you're doing a good job fighting it now, but you could be fighting it for little while. Nik and Stephen will be with you the whole time. Even Rebecca, Elijah, and Katerina will be helping you when you leave. Just remember that you are not alone this time. Now, when you finish eating, you'll feel a little better. I want you to get a shower, put on something comfortable, and just lie down. Nik and Stephen will be with you. They may switch out, but one of them will be with you at all times. Neither of them thinks you're weak either. They're panicked because they care for you; not because you're a burden. They only want to be there for you like you are there for everyone you care about. You may get irritated with them while you're getting better, but it will pass. I'm going to talk to them while you're in the shower and let them know what to expect. But, until you're in control, try not to speak. It will help you. When you begin talking again, take it slow. Now, finish your food and I will call Stephen in here to gather everything for your shower. Nik isn't going to like the idea of Stephen seeing some of your clothing, but you've been comfortable with him longer. Nik can help you get up there."
Caroline nodded, finally looking him in the eyes. She began eating again. Oh how she had missed food. Stephen had brought her favorite snacks, as well as leftover dinner from yesterday. Kol had gone to give Klaus and Stephen directions, and she ate everything before they even made it back in the room. She looked at the whiskey and then took a few drinks to at least curb her craving for blood. It helped, but only a little. She figured she would need a lot until she was better so she placed the bottle down next to her bed. The pain had subsided a little bit, but not completely. She could feel where her body hadn't moved for days. She was stiff all over. She tried to get up and stand, but fell. As she tried to push herself up off the floor, Klaus had come back in and picked her up. He sat her in a sitting position on the bed.
"Nice and slow love. You've been in the bed for days. Kol, go tell Stephen that it would be best if she had a bath instead of a shower. I don't know how long she can stand on her own, and I don't think she wants us in there helping her stand." Klaus said. When he finished talking, Caroline shook her head no to indicate she definitely did not want either of them to see her showering.Klaus put an arm around her waist, and helped her move to the stairs. She grabbed a hold of the banister and looked up. She dropped her head and pushed her foot to the first step. It took a lot of energy with just one little step. How was she ever going to get all the way up? She looked up again and held up a finger. "Do you want me to carry you to the bathroom?" She debated it for a minute, but decided it would be okay, so she gave a resigned nod. Klaus scooped her up and carried her bridal shower to the door. He walked at a human pace, so she wouldn't be overwhelmed and set her down right outside the door. Stephen opened the door after turning the water off.
"I put your clothes on the chair right next to the tub, as well as your towel. There's a handrail in the bathtub, but if you need help, just wrap the towel around you and one of us will help you up. I even put a towel on the floor outside the tub so you wouldn't slip if you managed to get out on your own. But, you're really going to love your favorite pajama set. It's all ready for you. What do you want for dinner tonight? I'll make something special; whatever you want." Stephen gave a genuine smile, trying to cheer his best friend up, pulling at her positive emotions. She gave him a shrug, and moved towards the bathtub. She sat on the empty chair next to the bathtub and waited on them to leave. When Stephen realized she wasn't going to talk, he shut the door and headed towards the kitchen with Klaus following him.