A/N- Hey Guys,
So this chapter is dedicated to Avalon the Lady Killer who might as well have written it because they gave me the prompt and prodded my muse in the right direction although this does take a little away from MF I'm afraid.
Also is it weird or just a point of their generation that all the supernatural's in Mystic Falls had each other's number? Up to and including Klaus- did they just take a break from their enmity, pull up a table in the Grill, sit down and program their numbers into everyone's cellphones?
Oooh, dibs on that one-shot.
"Caroline, love pick up your damn phone and call me, your mother is fine but you're walking into a trap!"
Katherine stared at the cell phone in her own hand, the moment the explosion had essentially ended the call between Klaus and Sheriff Forbes the Hybrid had tossed the device to her and told her to 'call everyone'
She had tried. Damon wasn't answering his phone, neither was Stefan, Matt or Jeremy.
She had managed to get through to Elena but the reception was so bad she'd only been able to make out that they were at the Lake House.
Not that they would be for long.
The second they heard that there had been an explosion in their town they'd go running back to check the damage and go walking right into the trap.
Probably figuring out full well before they even kicked over the engine that it was a trap but knowing that had never slowed them down any.
In the vain hope that perhaps Elijah's usual proficiency to move heaven and earth for those he cared for had suddenly failed him, Katherine rings her fiance.
"Katerina"
In spite of everything, hearing Elijah murmur her name over the phone gave the worried woman a momentary sense of calm.
Until she remembered the reason she was calling him in the first place, "Stop the plane" she tells him urgently, "Get Caroline back here now, it's a trap!"
She can sense more than hear her fiancé coming to a dead stop,
"I'm at the car now" he says, dread colouring his voice, "The plane took off half an hour ago and Caroline left her phone in the waiting lounge"
She has him on speaker phone so Klaus hears what he is saying and having known the man for centuries, she predicts with perfect accuracy which antique vase he will take from the open glass cabinet and which window he will shatter into smithereens when he hurls it onto the front lawn.
Still, she's annoyed, this is her house too and she's the one who will have to order the repairs.
"We can call the driver waiting for her in Virginia" she points out to the frustrated hybrid,
"Give him a message to relay and have her hop on the first plane back here"
"It'll be too late by then" Klaus roars at her,
"Do you honestly think, knowing full well that her friends could be in danger that she would abandon them? She's not you Katherine!"
"Niklaus!" Elijah's voice rings clearly from the cell phone, "Brother"
Those two words are admonishment but Klaus only scowls and turns away, his silence allows Elijah to take control of the situation,
"Firstly we have to determine who is responsible for this attack against Mystic Falls"
"Who would do this?"
"Tyler?" Klaus suggests, "God knows he hates me and would likely be furious to have found out that Caroline was vacationing here"
Katherine shook her head, "No, even he isn't suicidal enough to go up against you and the entire Mystic Falls coven which is what he'd be doing by luring Caroline into a trap. Besides she received a fake call from a woman, whoever does this has allies and since you and I started working on the same side we've lost a lot of our enemies. Tyler doesn't have access to anyone who'd be willing to confront us both"
She is given a small nod of acknowledgement and can hear Elijah driving rapidly through the streets, she knows that he is trying to distract Klaus long enough for him to get home and will gladly aide him in the charade,
"The New Orleans witches?" Klaus offers "Caroline had been feeling restless all morning"
Katherine waved away that option as well, "The witches have no reason to go after Caroline, those that helped during the Silas debacle owe her their lives or freedom and if they were after you, they would have attacked you here where they can use their ancestral magic"
Klaus swears loudly in frustration and flashes upstairs, returning a moment later with his wallet and keys in hand.
Katherine had already figured where he was headed and, unwilling to physically block the front door lest he literally go through her, follows him to the garage,
"Klaus, we made a deal with Hopkins, if you go barging into Mystic Falls without telling him he's going to gather up a hunting party for the coven"
"He probably already has" he tells her, climbing into his convertible, "Think about it, who else is stupid enough and has a high enough opinion of themselves to break a peace treaty and attack the Mystic Falls coven? Possibly knowing full well that doing so pits him against the likes of Damon Salvatore and myself"
She stopped and considered his logic, it made sense, but the idea of Klaus returning to the place that had seen two of his brothers' die unnerved her.
"What if they didn't set the trap for Caroline?" she argues, placing a hand on the door of the convertible and hoping Klaus won't suddenly reverse and cost her a limb,
"What if she's the bait in the hopes of killing you? Hopkins could kill the entire coven one at a time or he could kill you and wipe out hundreds of thousands of vampires at once"
The engine revved threateningly and Klaus was giving her a look that had made entire armies toe the ground and seriously reconsider their allegiances.
Katherine herself is quickly trying to remember whether or not her new found freedom included freedom from torture or threats of death when Elijah's car shoots down the gravelled driveway, effectively blocking Klaus in.
With a sigh of relief she steps backwards, and allows her fiancé to tag in.
"Brother" he flashes to the car and claps a hand on Niklaus' shoulder, his thumb touching his neck.
He does this more often than people realise.
After a childhood of abuse, Niklaus lost the ability to connect with people using physical contact, Elijah quickly figured out that touching his brother calmed him down.
But Caroline Forbes is halfway to a massacre with a spot already reserved for her in a mass grave.
"Katerina is right" he begins, not having heard anything Katherine had said but knowing her intimately enough that he could predict what arguments she would have used.
"You cannot go into Mystic Falls without giving the Mayor reason to attack you and your death will result in the deaths of the entire coven, not to mention a greater part of the New Orleans faction…however, Mayor Hopkins will likely be expecting you to come to Caroline's aid, not I"
At this point of popular culture, Katherine knows that this is termed as a 'record scratch' moment.
Klaus can't enter Mystic Falls without risk of dying, so Elijah offers to go instead.
"No" she tells him as the two men make tracks to the car,
"I'll be in Richmond" Niklaus warns as Katherine pushes him out of the way to get to his brother,
"Are you insane?! Have you forgotten that Mystic Falls is where all of your family members go to die…Elijah!"
He pulls her into his arms and gives her a quick, hard kiss to her temple,
"I love you my darling, tell Raina that Erik is not to leave her sight until we're safely home. Try to keep our exit from the kingdom hidden until we know when we can return"
"I don't want anyone with the last name Mikaelson anywhere near Virginia!" Katherine exclaimed while Klaus once more got out his phone to try and contact anyone in Mystic Falls.
"I especially don't want the King and Prince outside of New Orleans when half the factions are still in turmoil!"
He hesitates, "Katerina…we can't let our home town be rid of supernatural creatures. If we lose Mystic Falls it makes us look weak, it sends out the message that our friends are vulnerable and so are we. It is an attack on our family and I can't let that happen. Not if we want to rule the Quarter without challenge"
"Fine" she gives him a tight smile, "You go to Virginia, I'll go spend the night with Giacomo"
Giacomo Farnese.
He was one of the greatest knowledge collectors in the supernatural world, if not the greatest. He had been gathering information about every creature, chasing down myths and legends for years as well as compiling compendiums about those he encountered personally.
His love for Katherine was the worst kept secret in New Orleans. His gallantry and chivalry prevented him from attempting to seduce her away from Elijah, hence her fiancé's lack of fear regarding the friendship between him and her.
He grins, "Enjoy the endless poetry about the depths of your eyes then"
"Wait," she grabs his hand, a thought suddenly coming to her,
"In 1864, the Civil War was still raging and slaves were being mistreated worse than ever. I know Damon, somewhere in Mystic Falls there will have been an underground railroad. Find it, it may be your path out of town"
Another fierce kiss and the car is reversing out of the driveway and the sound as it tears along the road roars through the quiet of the Garden District.
She takes a deep breath, wonders if Mother Mary would consider a bribe or the prayer of a lapsed Christian and heads inside.
Raina Lakes, Erik's babysitter, recommended by Cami, hired by Niklaus and interviewed thoroughly by Elijah and herself is in the nursery with Erik, reading to him from a heavy tome of fairy tales.
She was not to read him anything regarding bad wolves but otherwise, she was given free rein with the young prince.
Knowing exactly what the Original family was and showing surprisingly little judgement.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Niklaus hadn't a single idea of what babysitters usually earned and paid her two hundred dollars an hour.
Usually doubling her wage on the nights when the rest of the family were attending parties and Raina got to study while Erik slept, with a guest room right next door to the nursery.
She was going to be one of the small percentile of university graduates in America who left college without crushing debt.
The woman with the raven hair and bright blue eyes looks up as Katherine lingers on the threshold.
Raven hair, red lips, pale skin. She was Snow White personified but never once had she cast amorous eyes at anyone in the house or dressed to entice.
Which essentially is why, after a long day of watching babysitters in various states of decency and dubious qualifications size up Elijah and contemplate seduction as a means of making their way into the vast, glittering world of the New Orleans elite. Katherine had demanded that they hire Raina on the spot.
"Everything okay?" Raina asks, unthinkingly laying a hand on Erik's back, ready to shield him from any threat that might present itself in this mansion.
Katherine smiles, the woman is unflinchingly loyal and devoted to the child.
"For you and us yes, but you're going to need to stay with Erik all day and protect him. No-one is to come into the manor"
She nods, "If anyone asks where Klaus and Elijah are, I'll say their spending the day in the nursery…I could put something out on social media if you like"
Katherine blinks in confusion, "What?!"
"Facebook, twitter or Instagram" Raina suggests, "Something about 'Sitting down to watch Aladdin with Daddy, Uncle and Baby', one of Francesca's employees is friends with me on facebook so she'll at least think that Klaus and Elijah are here and I've made posts like that before so they won't see it as anything unusual"
A fellow schemer.
Katherine grins, "When this is over, I'm going to tell Klaus that you're being underpaid and deserve a raise"
Two hours later, in the early afternoon she receives a text.
Klaus has set up base in Richmond, summoning every last vampire in Virginia who knows who he is to his side so that if need be he can launch the worst offensive the South will have seen since the Union soldiers invaded.
Elijah is enroute to Mystic Falls and would be there in an hour, they hadn't been able to stop Caroline from going home.
The driver meeting her at the airport had warned her but she had simply gone to the car rental office, compelled herself into the fastest car they had on hand and broken every road rule to get back to her hometown as fast as humanly possible.
Elijah would gather up every last member of the Mystic Falls coven still alive- Katherine's heart stuttered at that- and get them to safety.
Kicking and screaming if need be but he had carte blanche to kill anyone who got in his way.
Katherine watched intently as Raina and Erik settled down in the sunroom for a Disney movie. She supposed she wouldn't get another opportunity like this.
"I'm headed to Bourbon St" she announced, "To check on some hunting contacts"
Raina nodded, "Cool, we're gonna watch a movie"
She gets a cheerful wave and a babble of happy nonsense from the baby as she throws on her leather jacket and checks her appearance in the mirror before walking out the front door.
Giacomo Farnese kept a bookstore and café on the corner of Dumaine and Decatur St, on the very edge of the French Quarter and close to Woldenberg Park overlooking Mississippi River which she loved to walk along several times a week.
The bookstore was a front for his supernatural information trading business but he still attracted quite a few regular customers.
Katerina was one of them, he housed the biggest collection of non-English books in the city, his shelves bursting with works from around the world, in their original languages from Chinua Achebe to Tamairangi.
He kept an entire shelf of Bulgarian literature next to a leather couch by the window where, if she so wished, Katerina could spend the afternoon curled up with a book.
She wishes she had that opportunity now, but she steps through the door, enjoying the jangle of the gold bell and sees that the shop has nearly been overrun with Tulane's International student body.
She rolls her eyes and moves around them, ignoring the momentary curiosity of the waitress as she looks for Giacomo.
"Katherine"
The forty year old, prematurely silver haired but still straight backed knight from Renaissance Italy emerges from behind the wooden counter. She smiles and holds out her hand for him to kiss and hold against his heart.
She wishes he loved her a little less so that it might not cause him so much emotional distress but never does he show her even the slightest disappointment.
He tucks her hand under his arm,
"How wonderful to see you today my dear, would you like me to close the shop? Send these ramen eating, op-shop trend setting philistines out onto the street"
She laughs and shakes her head, enjoying the appreciative glances of the men on her long, denim clad legs and the women on the five hundred dollar high heels.
"It's fine Jack" she tells him, "I'm only looking for a distraction, Elijah and Klaus are spending the afternoon watching cartoon characters sing songs and weave magic on a hundred inch screen with Erik"
"Bah" he waves his hand in distaste, "Children…all they do these days is watch television screens and play war games. In my day we had to use our imagination, we wanted to run outside and play"
She snorts, "In your day, in my day, we thought bleeding a person excessively would cure a fever"
He shrugs, "Eh, so a little progress has been made for the better"
She sits down on her couch, the warm leather comfortable as she shrugs off her jacket and lets her mostly bare back rest against the plush seat.
Giacomo admires her exposed skin before clicking his fingers, "I have just received a new order" he tells her, stepping over to the shelf which is already near to overflowing with books, "Under the Yoke by Ivan Vazov" he proudly holds up the shiny cover,
She frowns, she knows the book of course, she bought it from him several months ago. She opens his mouth but he sits down beside her on the couch, pressed up against her as he opens the book and begins reading to her.
He has a charming voice, somehow retaining his Italian accent from all those years ago. She places a hand on his and his green eyes meet hers,
"I was actually here…" she swallows and lowers her voice as much as possible, "I'm looking for someone new to the city, they're looking for me as well"
"Nadia" he interrupts her, lowering his eyes to the pages in front of him. To anyone else they would appear as two people reading together.
"She doesn't use a last name" he whispers, keeping his gaze on the book, "She has your hair and eyes, but she's taller and her gaze could cut through a man's heart at fifty paces"
Katherine feels light headed, "You've…Giacomo?"
He shrugs, "The entire town knows that I am in love with you my sweet lady, she sought me out for information, which had I not given willingly she probably would have tortured from me…feisty as her mother she is"
His tone is light and jesting but Katherine still feels chills run down her spine at the thought of Giacomo Farnese being threatened with torture or any sort of injury. This was a man of peace, even during his human life he'd been a humanist and a diplomat rather than a soldier. As a vampire, he'd refused to kill, preferring to feed from a dozen humans rather than drain one, he was courteous to all and because he refused to consider anyone his enemy no-one would think of acting like one to him. Even when Elijah had confronted him after his declaration of love to her, he'd been satisfied to only speak harshly to the man and at worst had menaced him with the idea of exile.
Her daughter was clearly determined to reach her and apparently didn't care who she hurt along the way.
Giacomo takes her hand and caresses her palm, "I am alright sweet lady"
She nods and swallows, "I don't suppose that my…Nadia…that she left you with contact details"
He grins, "But of course, I insisted on her number and told her that I would send her a text the very second you walked in her unaccompanied"
The doorbells jingle and Katherine is facing away but somehow, she knows.
She takes a stuttering breath but can't bring herself to turn around, as long as she continues staring out the window, with the glimpse of the wide river before her she can exist in this moment, this moment of infinite hope and fear.
Giacomo jerks his head and she can hear the sound of the heeled boots as her child slips through the door into the staff area, the stairs creaking as she climbs up into the private office.
Katherine is trembling and Giacomo smiles emphatically,
"It's alright" he takes her hands and leads her casually to the backyard, to the backstairs which provide a second entrance to the office.
"Go on now" he gives her a gentle push on her back and she sets foot on the first old and rotting step before turning back and giving him a grateful smile,
"Thank-you my friend"
He puts a hand to his heart and bows, "Of course"
The door to his office has been left slightly ajar and Katherine hovers outside it, trying to calm her frantic heart.
She can hear the footsteps and the creak of aged leather as the woman inside sits down and waits expectantly.
She wanted this.
She's always wanted this.
Trying to capture her usual façade of a powerful woman without a concern in the world and failing spectacularly she pushes open the door and slips inside, her eyes immediately locking onto the only inhabitant in the room.
She glimpsed her when she was only a few seconds old, she caught a glimpse of red skin and dark hair.
She had often wondered what her child would look like.
Whether she would resemble her image or the features she should have had if there had never been a doppelganger curse. She had tried to merge her face and the face of her lover to see what the result would be.
Nadia is more beautiful than she could have imagined.
She is all sharp lines and angles but her eyes, she has her mother's eyes and hair, just like Giacomo said. She is staring at her now and Katerina smiles nervously,
"Hello Nadia" she whispers, "It's really nice to meet you"
A tear runs down her daughter's olive toned cheek and suddenly Katerina is tripping over her own feet so she can pull her child into her arms, she nearly falls and topples them onto the armchair but they keep themselves upright despite the ten inches of heels between them. They are giggling and weeping, overwhelmed with the situation but both determined not to let go of the other for a good long while.
Raina looks up from the television as she hears the footfall in the backyard. Reaching over she grabs the remote and pauses the movie, rousing Erik who had been staring intently at the screen,
"Come on sweetie" she stands up and helps him to the floor, "Break time"
He burbles and walks to the table where she'd already set up a juice box. He unwraps the straw clumsily and drops the plastic back on the table, he's drinking happily as she leads him to the backyard.
Cary Boyd is perched on the hot tub, studying his surrounds curiously,
"Must be nice to be able to compel yourself the best of everything" he remarks drily as Raina helps Erik across the marble patio,
"I wouldn't sit there if I were you" she warns, "The only time that's used is when Elijah and Katherine get bored of bathtub sex"
He shoots up and brushes down the back of his jeans before dropping into a crouch and smiling at Erik,
"Hey buddy" he speaks in the higher tone everyone always used around children, "How's it going?"
Erik releases a squeal of delight and runs across the marble into Cary's arms, clapping his hands on the man's face and babbling away.
Raina watches the scene intently, "You think he knows you?" she asks wonderingly, "Or maybe he just mistakes you for his father?"
Cary shakes his head, "Nah, I did some research, a kid at this age knows his parents faces, or well…parent"
Everyone knew that Erik was motherless, that Hayley Marshall had been murdered by Tyler Lockwood's pack as an act of vengeance against Klaus.
"I think he just recognises one of his own" he makes a funny face at the child who giggles and continues talking his two year old nonsense.
"Where is everyone?" he asks, "I mean, I know Rebekah is sleeping with that Crescent mutt in his trailer but where's everyone else?"
"Mystic Falls" she answers, "Apparently something big is going down there and they're the rescue brigade, well Elijah is, Klaus is Plan B in Richmond. Katherine's off somewhere scheming away"
He nods, "And his girlfriend?"
"Caroline?" Raina shrugs, "I haven't really met her she hasn't come by to see Erik yet but so far no evil stepmother vibes"
Cary sighs in relief, "Good, how about you? You're safe"
She grins, "Yeah, as far as I can be protecting our little hybrid heir. Klaus hasn't picked up on me yet"
He frowns, "He doesn't recognise his own?"
Raina shakes her head, "The white wolf might have been able to tell a werewolf and their clan from a scent alone but Klaus…I'm dormant so he can't pick up on my supernatural heritage"
"Okay" Cary hands Erik back to her, "I better make tracks, keep an eye on him though and guard him with your life because someone somewhere is cooking up something catastrophic and if they're gonna move against the royal family, they aren't gonna leave an heir alive to unleash hell when he comes of age"
Erik waves his pudgy hand as Cary hurries across the lawn and Raina sighs,
"I hope our pack beta is just over-reacting sweetie"
She feels a thrill of unease when the young boy shakes his head.
A/N- While the mother/daughter reunion in season 5 was sweet, it could have been more, there should have been more mother/daughter bonding.
