Boy, I hope my thought process makes sense. It did make perfect sense in my head, so if it doesn't, just bear (bare? beer?) with me. Also? Thanks for all the amazing feedback. It is truly appreciated :-)
!
"Because you're everything that I want to be. You're loyal, honest, kind. People root for you to succeed. Elena even died for you."
Matt enters the cell with a folding chair under his arm. He closes the door quietly behind him and leans the chair against the wall before he slowly walks up to Hayley, letting her watch him.
He sets her upright again and takes his time going back to the folding chair. Once he opens it up, Matt places it facing her, leaving a few feet of distance between them, and sits down comfortably.
"Do you think you can talk?" He motions towards her throat, were dark purple bruises are already starting to form.
"What is this? Good cop/bad cop?" she asks with a raspy voice.
"No." Matt shakes his head as he leans back and loosely rests his arms on top of his legs. "It's more like nice human bus-boy and insanely angry vampire girls."
"And what makes you think that's going to work on me?" She snarls and tests the strength of her ropes, squirming and twisting as much as the restraints allow.
"Because I'm the only thing between you and them?" He points one thumb back over his shoulder at the closed door behind him.
Hayley rolls her eyes and scoffs dismissively. "Yeah, right. Like you care."
"Actually, I do." Matt says sincerely.
Hayley's eyes narrow as she looks at Matt speculatively. "You think you could really stop them if they try to rip me to shreds?"
He shrugs,spreading his hands palm-up. "One of them is my friend and the other one has a crush on me. I'd say right now, I'm the best chance you've got." He leaves it at that as he calmly rests his hands loosely between his legs.
Hayley stays quiet for a moment, watching Matt carefully as she keeps testing the strength of her restraints. "The ropes are too tight. Can you loosen them a bit?"
Matt chuckles and shakes his head. "Sorry, no can do."
"Why?" Hayley baits him. "Are you afraid of a little girl?" She drawls the insult then pouts facetiously.
Matt ignores the bait with a smile and crosses his arms as he raises his eyebrows skeptically at Hayley. "No, but I have a healthy respect for the strength of a fully grown werewolf."
Hayley chuckles coldly. "You're smarter than you look, Matt."
Matt sighs and rolls his eyes. "I choose to take that as a compliment." He uncrosses his arms and leans towards her, bracing his elbows on his thighs and twining his fingers loosely between his knees. "So, why don't you start by telling me how you ended up in New Orleans the first time around?"
Hayley raises her brows and cocks her head to the side, then winces in pain and straightens her neck. "This is actually my first time. Not as nice as the brochures described it."
Matt sighs and clenches his fingers a little as he looks up at Hayley under raised brows. "Why are you lying, Hayley?"
Her flinch is barely noticeable, but she can't hide her reaction completely.
He deliberately lowers his voice and leans closer. "Is it to protect Katherine? Do you really think she deserves that after what she did to you?"
Hayley snarls angrily and lurches forward in her restraints. "The bitch doesn't deserve anything but a stake to the chest." She catches herself and leans back, glaring down her nose at Matt. "But she's a hell of a lot more dangerous than you and team barbie out there."
Matt nods in agreement. "And yet you decided to work for her. Sounds like a pretty dumb decision to make."
Hayley loses her composure again, growling at the insult. "How was I supposed to know when I met her? She told me she could help me find my family!"
"Ah," Matt says slowly then clucks his tongue. "And I bet she didn't come through on that, either."
Hayley jerks her chin to the side and stares at a blank spot on the wall, refusing to look at Matt.
"Did she actually help you find your parents after you told her about the cure?" Matt presses the question.
Hayley remains silent, but the look on her face turns sour as her brows furrow and she purses her lips.
"She didn't," Matt says decisively. "She used you, pumped you for every bit of information you had and then left you high and dry when it came time to pay up on her end of the bargain."
"Left me?" Hayley whips her head around, glaring at Matt. "I wish!" She snorts. "She sent her damn minions after me to get rid of me!"
"And you didn't have anyone to turn to," Matt surmises, his voice gentle as he spreads his hands.
Hayley ducks her chin, and averts her gaze stubbornly to the floor. "Not anymore."
"Because your pack was already dead." Matt cocks his head to the side as he looks at Hayley contemplatively. Then his mouth drops open. "Except for the alpha."
Hayley raises her chin quickly and narrows her eyes in a poisonous glare. "That's not why I went to Klaus."
"Uh-huh," Matt says slowly. "Then why did you go to him?"
"Because I could tell from how much Katherine wanted the cure that Klaus really wanted her dead." Hayley shrugs. "I figured he was my best chance to get rid of her before she got rid of me."
Matt jerks his head back, his brows furrowing in surprise. "Katherine told you about Klaus?"
Hayley rolls one shoulder in a shrug. "She didn't use his name. She just said she had an old enemy who can't be killed so she needed the cure to get rid of him for good. Oh, and she did call him a hybrid once or twice. Not too many people around that fit that description, are there?"
Matt nods in agreement. "So you went back to Klaus and offered him information on Katherine in exchange for protection from her?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Hayley's voice is flippant but her face is a grim mask of self-loathing.
Matt snorts quietly at the answer but otherwise doesn't comment on it. "And then what happened?"
Hayley snorts in return as she trails her eyes over Matt's body lingering over his crotch before she raises her gaze again. "What do you think happened?"
He raises one brow and leans back with his arms crossed. "You slept together."
Hayley grins. "Sleep had nothing to do with it." She licks her lips and starts rolling her hips. "We rutted like animals." She lowers her voice to a seductive purr. "Nothing but mindless clothes-tearing, furniture-smashing, back-scratching, licking, biting and sucking all night long." She spreads her legs invitingly and smiles seductively at Matt. "A fun time was had by all."
Matt shifts in his seat, moving his eyes away from her spread legs to look at the floor. He swallows, sucks in a breath and releases it slowly before he looks back at Hayley with a hard stare. "That's definitely a good way to end up pregnant."
Hayley's expression falls immediately at the reminder and she closes her legs and sits up straighter. "Not really when you're dealing with a vampire." She shakes her head, looking blankly at the wall over Matt's shoulder. "I had no idea hybrids were different."
Matt nods understandingly."After you slept with him, did you come straight back to New Orleans?"
Hayley shrugs. "He actually ended up giving me more information about my family than Shane or Katherine."
Matt frowns, not following the mental leap. "What are you talking about?"
Hayley smirks. "After we 'slept' together, he noticed my birthmark and told me that it belongs to this special werewolf clan down here in New Orleans. So I came back here to ask the locals some questions, but I got stonewalled by pretty much everyone. And then I ended up in permanent custody of the witches what with being the incubator to Klaus's bastard child."
"Wait, back up a step. How did you go from asking a couple questions to being in permanent custody?"
Hayley frowns as she tries to remember. "I was out in the bayou, trying to find the roux-ga-roux. And then the witches knocked me out and kidnapped me."
"Hrm. And who sent you out there in the first place?"
"Jane-Anne, she told me where to find the pack and gave me a map."
"Who's Jane-Anne?" Matt cocks his head to the side in curiosity.
"Jane-Anne Deveraux. She was the bartender at that place where I first met Katherine. Course it turns out she was also just another-" Hayley's eyes narrow as she pauses before she finally finishes. "Witch."
"Do you think she purposely set you up to get captured by the other witches?" Matt asks, arching an eyebrow.
"No shit, Sherlock." Hayley's head falls forward as she looks at him condescendingly.
"Tell me more about that." Matt sits up straighter and crosses his arms, bringing one hand up to brace his chin.
"Why should I?" Hayley asks defiantly.
Matt doesn't miss a beat and doesn't react to her attitude. "Because I think there's more going on here than meets the eye. And I think the only way we'll figure it out is if we compare notes." He smiles.
Hayley huffs out a breath and stares at him for a long moment before she finally decides to speak."I remember parking in the middle of the damn swamp somewhere."
Matt remains quiet, listening intently to Hayley's story.
Hayley frowns and bites her lip. "Suddenly the map I had just up and incinerated inside my hands and when I tried to start my car the engine blew. Then there was this high-pitched whistle, like a dog whistle? And then I passed out."
She shakes her head and continues. "Anyway, next thing I knew I woke up in a freaking witch-hut in the middle of the bayou with a dozen witches around me, looking at me like I'm Frankenstein's monster or something."
She lets her head fall back and stares at the ceiling for a moment. "They kept me there for days. I was in and out for most of it, but when I was in?" She rolls her neck to look back down, staring at Matt. "It wasn't fun. You'd be surprised how much magic hurts."
"Did they know you were pregnant at that point?" Matt asks disbelievingly, his hand dropping from his face.
Hayley barks out a raspy laugh. "They were the ones who told me. Sophie, Jane-Anne's sister, said that Jane-Anne did some sort of spell that confirmed I was pregnant. And then the rest of them started badgering me about who all I slept with."
Matt raises an eyebrow and cocks his head. "And what did you tell them?"
"The truth," Hayley says bitingly. "The only one I screwed around with was Klaus."
"So what happened once they believed you?" Matt asks her calmly.
Hayley shrugs. "They dragged me in front of Klaus and threatened to kill me and the baby if he doesn't do what they say."
Matt winces sympathetically. "I imagine that did not go over very well."
Hayley's eyes darken as she stares straight at Matt. "He told them to kill me and walked away."
"But you're still alive," Matt says, leading her into an explanation.
Hayley shrugs again and looks to the floor. "Elijah stayed and struck a deal with them. I guess, he got Klaus to change his mind."
"Alright," Matt says finally and gets up from the chair. "Thank you."
"What?" Hayley snaps out of it and jumps in her chair, pulling at her restraints. "Wait!"
Matt stops, folding the chair shut as he looks at Hayley. "Yes?"
"You said you would share your information. Quid pro quo!"
Matt smiles and nods. "And I will, once we actually find out something that you don't already know."
Hayley snarls and rips at the ropes binding her wrists and legs. "You bastard, you freaking liar!" she screams at the top of her lungs.
Matt stops smiling and leans heavily on the folded chair, pinning Hayley with his gaze. "I am not lying," he barks loud enough to shut up her hysterical screeching.
She sucks in a deep breath through her nose, glaring at him so hard her eyes start to water.
Matt continues in a much calmer voice. "All we know for right now is what you've told us and the fact that Katherine was the one who sent Klaus to New Orleans. But if we find out anything else, I will come down here and share it with you."
Hayley does a double take and blinks rapidly. "You mean it?" she asks disbelievingly.
"I generally mean what I say," Matt responds with a shrug.
He leaves the room and quietly closes the door behind him while Hayley is still staring after him. He places the chair against the wall outside of the impromptu cell and sinks back against the door.
He closes his eyes for a moment, exhaustion clearly written on his features, before he opens them again to look at Caroline and Rebekah across from him. "Did you hear everything?"
Rebekah is leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed and visibly impressed by his interrogation skills. "Every word," she says with a proud smile.
Caroline can't take the time out from her thought process to answer Matt because something is niggling at her and she can't figure it out. She shakes her head and plays with her fingernails as she tries to focus.
Part of her mind is still screaming hysterically about the fact that the girl on the other side of the door is pregnant with Klaus's baby. But most of her is fiercely holding on to the bone-deep knowledge that vampires cannot have children.
Aside from that, Katherine's name seems to come up in connection with this whole mess an awful lot. Katherine was in New Orleans when Hayley came to the city the first time around. Katherine was the one who reeled Hayley in with promises to find her parents in exchange for learning about the cure. And when Katherine wanted her dead, she practically drove Hayley into Klaus's arms. Then Katherine's plan to use the cure as leverage for her freedom didn't work, so she sent Klaus to New Orleans to follow up on some witch conspiracy.
Matt exchanges a worried glance with Rebekah when Caroline still doesn't say a single word.
Rebekah shrugs and twirls one finger next to her temple as she rolls her eyes in Caroline's direction.
"Care?" Matt asks carefully. "Are you alright?"
Caroline ignores Matt's question, holding up a warning finger to shush him as she blinks rapidly in thought.
Katherine did in fact mention Jane-Anne Deveraux by name in her letter. Katherine didn't just send Klaus to New Orleans, she sent him straight into Jane-Anne's arms. And it just so happens that Jane-Anne, and her sister Sophie, were the ring-leaders in capturing Hayley. Not to mention, Katherine is the one who benefits the most from this unnatural pregnancy. For some reason, the witches here don't seem too disturbed, either, that this pregnancy is breaking the basic rules of nature. And if there's one thing Caroline knows about witchcraft it's that breaking the natural order of things is a big no-no. Unless...
And suddenly it all makes perfect sense. All the random puzzle pieces come together to form a single perfect picture. Katherine Pierce.
"That manipulative bitch!" Caroline shouts loudly as she smashes her fist against the stonewall beside her.
