I do not own Vampire Diaries, The Originals or any of its associated characters. Just Tessa and the ones you don't recognize, thank you.

Alright all, this is a crossover story so, this chapter takes place over Ep.10 of The Vampire Diaries, and unfortunately after the last chapter there is a little less Klaus in it than I'd have liked, but I do have to play out everyone else's relationship with Tessa, not just hot Klaus scenes- although admittedly those are much more fun to write. lol. Thank you so much for checking back and being so patient. It is greatly appreciated.

Thanks all and let me know what you think!

BTW; I wanted to say that Tessa character is modeled after a woman, who is a very pretty model that goes by the name of Ebba Zingmark. Just in case anyone was curious. Thanks all, hope you enjoy!

Thanks, guys!

Chapter 7: Christmas Through Your Eyes

Tessa groaned as Alaric entered her one room apartment she'd managed to compel upon her return to the border of town. "Seriously, Tess?" She heard him ask.

Tessa rolled her eyes as she threw the blanket over her head. She'd been trying to avoid calls and texts since the night Klaus had accused her of siding with his mother- which she supposed was a few weeks ago now. She felt the blanket lift, and saw Alaric standing before her in his usual jeans and army jacket attire. "How much alcohol have you consumed here?" He asked his eyes moving up her body before looking around at the empty liquor bottles.

"Enough." She grumbled moving to yank the blanket back. "How'd you find me?" She added after unsuccessfully yanking them back.

"You called me last night. Demanding to talk to Ali, remember?" He replied as he snatched up her whiskey bottle on the floor by her bed. "I suppose not." He added as an after thought then shrugged as he took a swig himself.

"So what happened?" He asked sitting next to her.

Tessa rolled her eyes sitting up now annoyed at his continued presence in her temporary home. "I don't wanna talk about it." Tessa replied sharply standing from her bed, and untangling herself from the sheets. She wasn't proud of the last few weeks, but she couldn't enter the anti magic border to see Ali, and she couldn't just go back to Klaus without any proof of her innocence, she was fearful he'd make good on his threat. So she was here in the middle ground where she could just drink her problems away.

She moved across the room not bothering to cover herself up as she grabbed her jeans she left on the floor from the night before. Alaric simply stared, his eyes moving over her again.

"Oh, c'mon, Ric. It's not like you haven't seen it all already." She told him shaking her head.

"Uhhm, yeah, not in quite a while…" He trailed off uncomfortably, as he lanced to the rather dirty looking mauve rug that covered the floor of the dingy apartment. She sighed rolling her eyes as she put her jeans on.

"What're you doing here then, Ric? If I wanted to be found I'd have called you."

"You did. Not that you can remember any of it." He replied looking up at he with a cheeky smirk. Tessa chuckled shaking her head as she brought her hand up to her forehead.

"Right." Tessa acknowledged.

"Well, I suppose I meant what are you doing here? I can't go into Mystic Falls, and it isn't safe for you to bring Ali out here. So…" She trailed off zipping up her jeans and moving in to take the whiskey bottle from Alaric.

"I-. I don't know. I was checking on you. You failed to mention where you were exactly so, I kinda traced your location from your cell phone."

Tessa paused looking at him, her face deadpanned. "You-. You traced my cell phone?" She asked blinking in surprise. She'd forgotten how resourceful he could be in their time apart. He'll be fun when Ali hit her teens. She thought with a small smirk.

Alaric shrugged with a nod. "You were kinda a wreck. Talking about Ali, and then… Klaus." The change in his tone was evident to her, though Tessa didn't verbally acknowledge it.

"Oh." She told him as she took a bigger swig of the brown liquor.

"It went that well then?" Alaric said moving to his feet. Tessa eyed him up and down. She hadn't been this close to him since before she'd left to hunt down Alarice months ago in September. Before she could stop herself she found her arms around Alaric, as she pulled him into a hug. He was surprised, but didn't pull away. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, slowly, as he pulled her closer.

Tessa felt her eyes glaze over with tears, and before she knew it the whole ordeal from New Orleans was pouring out of her. She told him about Klaus's parents coming back from the dead, about the control Esther exerted over her via a stupid love charm, about being kidnapped, and used as bait. She told him her feelings towards Klaus had grown, and now he wanted nothing to do with her.

Before she knew it an hour had passed of her just explaining things to him, about Klaus, about him losing his own child, about his psychotic parents endeavors for him and the rest of the Original vampires, and how her own safety was at risk because of it.

Alaric sighed heavily by the time she finished her story, he downed the remaining shot left in her bottle. "Well, as much as I'd like to give you some enlightening advice on how to fix everything, my life isn't going all that well myself, so who am I to talk?" He asked as he put the bottle down on the table they were sitting at. Tessa scoffed at him with a smirk.

"If you told my last year I'd be sitting here with you talking with you about the problems I'm having with, Klaus Mikaelson of all people… I'd have called you crazy."

"Well, that's not too far from reality." Alaric admitted with a shrug.

"That's not true. Seems to me, you've been handling things really well, what with you returning as a vampire, and than becoming human again. Plus, you've had Ali for the last few months." Tessa pointed out. "Which is more than I can say for myself…"

"Yeah. Well, I've had help. Besides, you sending her into Mystic falls with us was the best decision for her, it kept her safe, Tess." Alaric becoming more serious by the end. She felt his hand hover over hers, before he pulled back. "Speaking of that…" He trailed off his voice taking on a different tone entirely, more urgent. Tessa was picking up on his nerves. "I-I need you to watch Ali. Jo is missing. I haven't heard from her since yesterday night." Tessa paused at his words. Her mind seemingly clearing up the fog within at the mention of her seeing Ali again.

Tessa paused, she almost forgot Alaric was seeing someone given how close they'd been in the last hour since he'd arrived. "Well, what makes you think she's missing? She's a doctor right? She could still be-?"

"I had Elena check earlier, she's not at the hospital. Not too mention she kinda has a psycho twin brother on the loose from his prison world that he was thrown into 18 years ago."

"I-I'm sorry-? Psycho twin? Prison world?" Tessa questioned.

"It-it's a long story, and I'll explain when I can. For now, I just really need you to come to my place to watch Ali. It-It's not within Mystic Falls."

"But, I thought-."

"We do live in Mystic Falls, but I didn't before- when I wasn't-."

"Human. Right." Tessa said with a nod.

"I can bring Ali there, and-and-."

"You don't have to say anything else. I want to see our daughter, Ric." Tessa said standing quickly.

"Well, alright. Let's go then." With that said she and, Ric moved quickly out of the studio apartment and down the stairs towards his jeep. They took the short drive closer to Whitmore college, Tessa became more and more restless the closer they got. It was clear she was nervous, and excited to see her daughter again.

Alaric's jeep made the slow crawl up the drive way, Tessa quickly hopped out before he even stopped the vehicle, she was at the door to the house within seconds, pushing it open to find Elena sitting on the couch besides Damon, she was holding, and playing with Ali. Tessa halted at the door, her eyes moving to take in her daughter's small features. The light blue eyes, the cute button nose, her small pout of lips, and narrow chin. Tessa took in all of it, her daughter was definitely taller than she remembered, and that fact alone broke her heart. She noticed Ali's chin length brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail atop her head. Tessa moved in quickly as she held her arms out expectantly. Elena handed her off wordlessly with a smile. "Hey baby." She greeted softly as Ali said 'mama' and her hands reached up towards Tessa's face. Tessa was so absorbed in staring at her daughter she neglected to see Damon stand up.

"Hey Tess." Damon greeted with a very Damon-like smirk. Memories hit Tessa like a ton of bricks. Damon had been her rock when she had to leave town. When he'd had to tell her Ric was gone. He helped her through everything, whether it was finding a place to live, or accompanying her to doctors. Once Tessa had Ali, thought regrettably, she'd strayed away from any and all things supernatural. She'd had a fantasy of being able to raise her daughter in a world not immersed in beings and creatures with powers, but given their lineage she knew it was nothing more than a dream.

"Damon." Tessa said with a warm smile. "I'm glad to see you back among the living." She finished with a hug to the man before her.

Elena had a confused expression as the pair exchanged words- none of the rest of the gang had known of Damon's involvement partly due to Tessa not wanting to be found, and partly because Damon usually kept his good deeds under wraps from those around him. He grinned down at Tessa, and Ali with a shrug, "At least someone is." He joked with a smirk.

"You ready?" Alaric asked, clearly antsy to get going.

"Where're-?" Elena began but, the ringing of her phone cut her off quickly. She answered it as she walked off into the adjoining bedroom. Tessa turned to talk to the guys, but found them gone quickly. She huffed sitting with Ali unsure what to do now. A few minutes passed when Elena emerged from the bed room muttering about meeting Caroline at the hospital- something about her mother. Tessa wasn't sure, but she acknowledged it anyways as she watched Elena left.

Tessa was left for some serious self-reflection as she pulled the diaper bag closer, and plucked a couple of toys from it before leaving them besides her daughter on the floor. She debated calling anyone from New Orleans just to get any updates on Elijah- sure, her and Klaus weren't exactly talking, but she was still worried for the others. Her ringing cell phone pulled her from her mind, moving quickly she half-expected to see Ric or Damon's number glowing across the screen, but she was pleasantly surprised to find a different one entirely.

"Hel-hello?" Tessa asked, didn't mask her surprise as well as she'd hoped.

"You sound surprised, love." Came that voice she knew all too well.

"Well, given the that last I heard of your voice, my life was being threatened, so me saying I'm surprised to hear it again would be an understatement." She quipped from her end. She heard Klaus chuckle on his line before taking a quick breath, "What do you want, Klaus?" She interrupted, her tone suggesting she was not in the mood for playful banter.

"I-I was wrong, Tessa." He admitted

"Oh, were you?" Tessa asked, her bitterness slipping through the tone in her voice. She was waiting for an actual apology.

"I need your help." She paused turning back around to face her daughter now playing with a musical toy before her. She just got her back, did she want to leave so soon? "If it wasn't serious, I wouldn't ask. I've been told your near Mystic Falls again." She heard Klaus's tone change slightly at his last statement.

"You were having me followed?" Tessa asked sharply. Her eyes glancing to her daughter as she paced the length of the living room.

"You can't have expected that I just send you from the city with no protection. Once I was informed of everything the next day I-."

"I'm sorry. Informed?" Tessa cut him off. "Who are you working with now, Klaus?"

"Seems the night of our fight some weeks back, my allies rounded up my now not-so-traitorous brothers." She could practically hear the smirk on his face. "Kol told me everything, love. Whereas I assumed you were working with my mother out of paranoia. Kol told me she forced your hand. I'm sorry, love." Tessa paused thinking things over in her head. As much as she wanted to help everyone in New Orleans, she still wanted to spend a couple more days with her daughter.

"What is it you need from me, Klaus?"

She heard the hesitation on the other end before he continued, "The stake."

"What?" She asked sharply.

"Klaus. Me having the stake may be the only thing keeping you and your family alive-."

"We shall return it right after. We have a plan to take down my incessant mother, and the plan requires the stake…" He trailed off seemingly expecting her to put up a fight.

"Fine." She agreed. She could remember their mother telling her she had no intentions of harming them, but she also recalled their mother's intentions of killing off every other vampire on the earth- the only way to do that would be to stake their bodies as she vacated their souls. "Meet me half-way to New Orleans. It's in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Erwin Marine Riverfront at 9 o'clock tonight. Do not be late." Tessa said deciding if he had a plan to take down Esther, and she had to give him the stake she'd be leaving with him.

"Course, love." He said to her. Tessa hung up quickly his voice only bringing her back in time to when she'd been at her happiest. She breathed out a sigh turning to face her daughter.

"Hey sweet girl, want some lunch?"

Time had passed quickly throughout the day Tessa was losing track of it as she watched over at her child in wonder, and contentment. Tessa had just finished cleaning up lunch for her daughter when the front door opened, and Alaric walked in followed by a dark haired woman with blue eyes- the same one that had come with him to New Orleans.

"Where's Ali?" Alaric asked looking around.

"Napping." Tessa told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She scooped up some left over toys on the floor and put them in the diaper bag. Alaric glanced in the direction of the bed room, before nodding.

"Listen, thank you for-."

"She's my daughter too, Ric. Don't thank me. It's kind of our job to watch over her." Tessa told him with a pointed look.

"Right." Alaric agreed as the woman came up beside him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Tessa; this is Jo. Jo. Tessa." He introduced. Tessa looked over the woman before her, she looked pretty beat up. She was cradling her arm, and was wrapped up in a flannel blanket. "Hi" She greeted her eyes moving over Jo's body.

"You uh- You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just need to treat my arm is all." She said with a half a smile.

"Yeah, you should go rest." Alaric said as he made a move to push Jo towards the bedroom.

"I-uh-I could help you with that, you know." Tessa offered as the pair paused.

"No, I'm- I'm a doctor. I can patch it up." Jo assured.

"Yes, well, Doctor. I just put my daughter to sleep in there, and unless you have a PhD in sleeping toddlers, I recommend you just take my blood."

Jo glanced up at Ric, who shrugged as he let go of her moving towards the nearby couch. "O-okay. That's true." The woman relented. Tessa bit into her wrist and, moved into the kitchen grabbing a glass from the one of the cabinets. She poured in a bit of her blood, before filling the glass up with some red wine left out on the counter. One of the many tricks she picked up along her many extended stays with the Mikaelson's.

"Here you go." Tessa said handing off the glass to Jo, now seated next to Alaric.

"Thanks." Jo replied as she winced leaning forwards to take it.

"Not, that I want to rush you or anything, but shouldn't you, and Ali be heading back into Mystic Falls? You know, where magic can't get to you?"

"No, Kai is near there. It's better for them to stay out here." Ric cut in quickly.

"Kai? Who the hell is-?

Jo's quick intake of breath cut Tessa off as she set the wine glass down. "Why did that seem different from when Elena did it-?"

Tessa opened her mouth at the same time as Alaric did quickly cutting his answer. "It's a long story." Alaric shut his mouth giving her a pointed look. She didn't want to get into the Faerie aspect of things- although to be completely fair her powers weren't the same since that fateful day with Esther. She had put that on the back burner for the last few weeks, but it was still alarming.

"O-kay." Jo said as the blanket slid down her shoulders and she flexed her arm. Tessa knew her blood was different from that of a typical vampires, but the only other human that had consumed it was Alaric, and the only known side-effect was the unusual spike in their libido, and she intended to be long gone if that need arose.

"Well, I don't wanna leave Damon in charge too long. Things tend to take a downwards spiral with him left unsupervised." Ric said as he kissed Jo quickly before moving to stand.

"Hang on. Maybe I can help?" Tessa asked as she was quick with following Ric out of the house.

"You couldn't make that anymore obvious Tessa?" Ric asked as they both climbed into his jeep.

"What?" She asked, her eyes wide with faked confusion. While she never admitted it out loud, she never liked the idea of Ric bringing a girl around her daughter, granted in this scenario it was helpful to have someone there to keep her safe from the looming danger.

"You bolted out of there without so much as a goodbye." He pointed out bluntly.

"Well forgive me, Ric, for feeling just a tad uncomfortable around your new girlfriend. One, that seems to have no problem fulfilling the role as mother to our daughter." Tessa snapped as Ric took a sharp turn.

"She's just trying to help!" Ric hollered as the four wheeler picked up speed down the winding road. "No one said you had to go off gallivanting with Klaus freaking Mikaelson!"

"I knew it! I knew that's what your bad attitude was about…" Tessa trailed off grumbling as she crossed her arms.

"Of course that's what this is about, Tessa." He muttered glancing over at her darkly. "One minute you were in Mississippi with our child and the next you're gone for a month. A whole month without a word. Then it all comes out that you've been with the freaking guy the whole time. So sorry if I dislike him, and the stupid decisions you make around him."

"I told you. Ali was taken-."

"Yeah, yeah, by witches. Who's to say it wasn't Klaus that sent them, hmm?" Alaric asked as he pulled the jeep off the road turning down a path surrounded by woods.

"You didn't meet with Esther." Tessa said aggressively. "Klaus wasn't even aware of my presence until the day I called you, Ric. It had nothing to do with him. It was all me."

"Yeah, whatever." Ric told her as he put the car in park, and cut the engine only to get out quickly. Tessa sighed as she slowly made the exit via the passenger side door. She heard Ric snapping at Damon yelling about keeping someone alive. She turned to see someone tied in chains around one of the bigger gravestones in the cemetery. Tessa tried moving in closer to get a look at whoever it was, but she had no luck.

She jumped when Ric's car groaned as air flew out of the tire given the fact that Damon threw a rock at it out of frustration. She smirked to herself when Damon said, "You should probably go change that tire."

Alaric's previous attitude was still gnawing at Tessa internally so when he walked by her towards his car she simply took a step back and moved closer to Damon offering no assistance. She chatted with Damon briefly asking about who was tied up, and why. The guy before her was apparently, Jo's twin who'd actually been sent to a prison world after murdering four of his siblings just out spite from his terrible upbringing, and resentment. Tessa paused as Damon's head snapped in Kai's direction suddenly.

"He's stopped talking." He muttered as he took a couple steps closer towards the cemetery. "He never stops talking…" He trailed off. Tessa noticed Ric step away from putting his flat tire in the trunk also looking over at Kai with interest now.

"What happened to his chains?" Damon hollered over the sudden gusts of wind.

"Is he chanting?" Alaric asked.

"Uh oh." Tessa muttered softly, she heard the guy's chanting intensify, and within minutes he stood up- no longer attached to the chain cuffs.

"You little magic sucker…" Damon began, "You sucked up all that magic from the traveler's spell." Wordlessly, Tessa watched the guy levitate Alaric before flinging him into the nearest tree.

"A lot of magic." She heard him mutter with a straight face before his eyes met her and Damon's. Damon moved quickly and pinned Kai back against the headstone, but within a blink of an eye. The Kai guy was gone.

"Damnit." Damon swore. "I really, really hate that move." He muttered. Tessa was by Ric's side quickly trying to help him up.

"You okay?" Damon asked as he jogged over. Alaric nodded waving him off as Damon and Tessa tried to help him up.

"How're you two not dead?" He wondered aloud as he glanced at the ground a few feet back. Tessa and Damon followed his gaze to a line drawn in the dirt, undoubtedly where the border of town began. Crap. Mystic Falls is no longer a magic free zone. Tessa thought darkly.

"What do we do about Ali?" Tessa asked immediately her head turned to look at Ric, her eyes filled with worry.

"Well, I suppose I keep her with me and Jo more now. Unless… you're staying." He tacked on the last two words in a hopeful voice, but she knew she had one last thing to attend to now back in New Orleans.

"I-I want to, but-."

"You can't." Alaric said simply. "You know, it would be nice for Ali to actually get the chance to spend some time with you before you run off again." He told her, his voice angry.

Tessa rolled her eyes at him, trying to hold back, but self-control wasn't her strong suit recently, "What is your problem? Jealous?" She asked. Damon had taken his leave quickly once the pair began to argue. Tessa was pretty sure she knew where he was headed given the last however many months he wasn't able to go home.

Ric scoffed, "No. I just think this whole situation is unfair to the person that matters the most. Ali."

"Once it's safe, I will be able to bring her-."

"You. Will. Not." Alaric cut her off fiercely. Tessa was surprised by the animosity in his glare at her.

"You cannot tell me what I can and can't do with my daughter."

"Our daughter!" Alaric yelled as his hands slammed against his car on each side of Tessa's head.

"Yes. Our daughter, Ric. I do not need you permission to take her to live with me." She replied, Tessa's voice was calm yet laced with an underlying threat. Had she been speaking to anyone else, they'd have probably backed down, but Ric knew her well. He simply paused, his eyes narrowing on Tessa's.

"Actually, you do." He challenged with an eyebrow quirked up. Tessa huffed as she pulled her phone out and checked the time.

"I have to go." Was all she said to him as she gave Ric a shove away from her. She hated having to leave her daughter without saying goodbye, but she couldn't be around Ric for another minute longer. "We'll talk about this some other time." She finished shaking her head as she walked off.

Tessa was moving at vampire speed through the woods, back in the direction of her recently rented apartment, quickly hopping in her Nissan she made the 5 hour drive down to Tennessee. Lucky for her, she was able to leave right around 4 o'clock. So she had a little time to spare. She waited around the metal docks over the river simply looking around for Klaus's presence. Tessa pulled her body length pea coat around her in the late December breeze brushing over the river, a black SUV pulled into the gravel parking lot some feet behind her, turning towards it she watched Klaus's dirty blonde head emerge from the driver's seat.

"Evening love." He greeted with that wily grin she'd grown so accustomed to in the weeks back as he walked down slowly over the downwards slope towards her at the beginning of the docks.

"Klaus." She said in way of greeting with a nod. She felt awkward standing before him, but it was obvious not much had changed for him. His eyes looked over her, slowly taking her form in. He made a rather obvious attempt to look her over. Of course it didn't. She never once threatened his life. Tessa thought begrudgingly. She slid her hand in the deep pocket at the front just under the belt tied around her waist before pulling out the white oak stake.

Klaus's eyes moved down immediately taking it in, "Thank you-." He began reaching out for it.

"Oh no, don't thank me just yet." Tessa told him yanking the stake back. Her eyes undoubtedly flashing at him. "I'm going with you. Back to New Orleans."

"Tessa. No." He told her his face changing over to a serious expression. "You can't-. Think of your daughter-."

"I am. Klaus." She hissed, her tone sharp as she slid the stake back in her pocket patting it gently. "In order to protect my daughter from being threatened again. I am going with you to take down your bitch of a mother." She finished her voice fierce. "Besides, either include me in the plan, or I leave here stake still in hand." She bartered.

Klaus looked as though he were going to put up more of a fight, but she watched the fight drain from his face as he relented. "Okay, fine. Fine, but do not hold me liable if you get maimed or injured." It was obvious he didn't have the time to sit here and argue with her.

"Unless it's by you, Klaus, then we won't have a problem." She quipped back to him as she brushed by him. She was holding him at arms length again, although after the way he acted towards her weeks ago felt she had no other option. She still cared for him, but it was different, especially without the love charm releasing her original reservations about him.

Tessa was quick to get into his SUV, and within minutes they started on the long trek back to New Orleans to look forwards to together.

Thank you for your views! Hope you enjoyed the read.

XXTigerXEyesXX