Standing outside the cemetery, Kol cradled Davina close to his chest. Her fever was spiking and the grass around him was beginning to smoke. "Are you sure, love?"

Davina nodded weakly, forcing her eyes open to look at him. "Don't let them bury me here. Please? I don't want to be anywhere near them."

Kol's brow furrowed. "If you're not buried in consecrated ground …"

"I severed my connection to the coven." Davina said. "I'll find peace outside the cemetery. Consecrated ground can be anywhere."

Kol thought for a second, his eyes falling on the necklace she wore – a Christmas gift from himself. "You have enough in you for one last spell?"

"I think so." Davina said. "Why?"

"We can spell the necklace." Kol said, gently tugging it out from under her shirt. "As long as you're wearing it, the ground will be consecrated."

"Seriously?" Davina asked.

"It's an old spell." Kol explained. "Dates back to before public cemeteries. Witches, obviously, wanted to be buried in consecrated ground, but in those days, you needed a lot of money to be buried in churchyards or cemeteries, so they'd have to make do."

He showed Davina how to spell the necklace and tucked it away in his pocket, where it wouldn't get damaged by the ritual.

Then he turned to face the cemetery gates, stepping right up to the boundary line. "Don't suppose you can invite me in, can you?"

Davina shook her head, letting it loll on to his shoulder. "Not a part of the coven anymore." She repeated, her words slurring. "Need to find Sophie or … someone."

Kol frowned. "Sophie!" He called. "My name is Kol Mikaelson! I need to talk to you!"

A few minutes later, his ears picked up the sound of footsteps and Sophie Devereux (he assumed) rounded one of the tombs and stopped dead. "Oh my God."

"She's dying." Kol said bluntly, pretending the words didn't hurt. "She wants to complete the ritual. You'd better hurry though, or the magic's going to beat you to it."

Sophie nodded, stepping closer and holding out her arms. "Hand her over."

"Oh no." Kol said firmly. "I'm staying with her. She gave me a last request and I am going to honour it."

Sophie sighed. "The elders won't like it."

Kol rolled her eyes. "I don't like them, I'm not fussed. I give you my word that I will not enter this cemetery again without another invitation."

Sophie grimaced. "Alright then. Come in and follow me."

The witches were getting nervous.

Kol lounged against a tomb – the Claire tomb ironically enough – and waited for them to realise what had happened.

Davina and the other Harvest girls were laid out like sacrifices, the other three magically preserved by the strength of the ritual.

Davina's blood was fresh in the air, but hunger was the very last thing on his mind, though he still itched to heal the gash on her neck that had taken her life.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked finally, to one of the elders. "Why aren't they waking up?"

The elder was staring at the girls. "I don't know." She admitted. "Why have the ancestors forsaken us?"

"Because you desecrated a sacred ritual." Kol answered, pushing himself away from the wall. "That ritual is supposed to be an enchanted sleep, not death."

"And what does a vampire know about magic?!" Davina's mother demanded, her voice shrill.

Kol smirked. "I was a witch once, you know. A thousand years ago. I've forgotten more magic than you could ever dream of learning. Now, if you'll excuse me, Davina's last wish was that I get her away from here and bury her somewhere else."

"You can't!" Her mother protested. "She'll …"

"Consecration spell." Kol interrupted, kneeling beside Davina's body. He scraped his finger against the nearest headstone and drew a line of blood along her wound, watching the skin knit together.

For a moment, he half-expected her to open her eyes, but she remained still, never to smile or laugh again.

The beginnings of an aneurism were beginning to creep into his head and he scowled. Thankfully, these witches were used to dealing with regular vampires, not Originals. He scooped Davina up and ran, blurring away faster than the coven could react.

When he arrived at the plantation, Jeanette was outside. He saw her look up, opening her mouth to greet him, when her eyes fell on Davina and her smile vanished.

"What …?"

"Jeanette," Kol interrupted. "Fetch my brother and Caroline. We need to hold a funeral."

Jeanette nodded jerkily, holding her arms out. "Give her to me." She said softly. "Caroline and I will get her changed into something nicer. We can't bury her like that."

Kol glanced down, only just realising that, although the wound had healed, her shirt was still stained with blood. Reluctantly, he transferred Davina into Jeanette's arms, somewhat mollified to see that the hybrid handled her just as gently.

Caroline met them just inside the door, her eyes filling with tears as she choked back a sob. Klaus was at her side a second later.

Catching his brother's eye, Kol began to recount the afternoon's events, his voice flat. When he reached the moment the elder slit Davina's throat, Caroline's jaw clenched and she turned on her heel, beckoning for Jeanette to follow her.

"Are you okay?" Jeanette asked, once the door of Davina's room was closed.

"Witches are supposed to be the protectors." Caroline said darkly. "Not kill the children looking up to them."

Jeanette laid Davina on her bed, gently brushing her hair back from her face. "It was just like Davina to think of the other girls though."

"Yes." Caroline agreed heavily. "They would have taken someone else as well." She opened the closet and pulled out the blue dress Kol had given Davina before the party. "Remind me to send Sophie a condolences card."

Jeanette grimaced. "Don't you think that might come off a little … passive-aggressive? You know, 'I told you so'?"

"Hmm, maybe." Caroline conceded, laying the dress over Davina's empty easel. "I should probably go in person. Here, give me a hand."

By the time Kol knocked on the door, Davina was lying as though in state, her hands resting on her stomach, and Caroline was just finishing braiding her hair.

Jeanette offered him a smile and slipped out of the room. He pulled Davina's necklace from his pocket and Caroline lifted her head to allow him to put it back on.

For a few moments, the two vampires stood in silence, gazing down at her.

"I'm sorry." Caroline said finally. "I know how much you cared about her."

Kol reached out, gently touching Davina's cheek. "In a thousand years," he said softly, "I never met anyone like her." He let out a derisive laugh. "I thought Nik was mad, you know, when he said that. Joke's on me, I guess."

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When Elijah un-daggered us," Kol said, his eyes fixed on Davina, "when Mother threw that party and Nik invited you, I wondered what it was about you that caught his attention. You didn't – forgive me – seem that extraordinary to me. I couldn't work out why Nik was so besotted with you, when you were hostile at best and actively plotting to kill him at worst. Usually when a woman refused him, he moved on or killed them, but he just kept trying."

"I could never understand that." Caroline said softly. "It scared me a little. It still does."

"He said you had a 'light' about you." Kol said, shaking his head. "I didn't understand. Now I do."

Davina was buried behind the plantation house, in the coffin Kol had spent so many miserable years. The fact that Klaus handed it over had come as a surprise to everyone who knew him but (he told Caroline) he could always stick Kol in Finn's old coffin if he had to (Caroline filed that away to deal with later).

The funeral was quiet and private and, in the aftermath, while Josh and Jeanette planted flowers to serve as a headstone, Kol disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived in New Orleans.

Caroline had a feeling he had gone to question his witchy contacts regarding a possible loophole in the Harvest, which made her a little concerned, but as the days passed and the papers remained void of any massacres in the nearby towns, she slowly let herself relax.

Caroline busied herself with college work and networking. She had no luck in finding Sophie – she had understandably taken some time off of work – but Cami was still there. She had broken things off with Marcel, her desire to help overridden by his increased paranoia.

Caroline still stopped by Rousseau's regularly, waiting for Sophie to reappear, and it was on one of these days, while she was sitting in a corner booth with a book and a plate of fried chicken, that the hair on her neck began to prickle.

"Can I help you?" She asked, without looking up.

For a brief moment, there was no response, then a tall man folded himself into the bench opposite her, looking a little put out.

Caroline closed her book. "It's Thierry, isn't it?"

"That's right." He said. "Forgive me, but I got the impression that you were … younger."

"Young enough for you to sneak up on me, you mean?" Caroline asked. "Firstly, it's very impolite to ask a lady her age. Secondly, I grew up in a small town and I was the Sheriff's daughter. You think I don't know when a man is stalking me?"

Thierry smiled and Caroline relaxed a little, sensing sincerity. "Fair enough. I apologise, I didn't mean to … stalk you. I was trying to figure out how to ask you something."

"Go ahead." Caroline prompted, pulling apart a chicken wing.

"Why is Klaus so obsessed with controlling the city?" Thierry asked bluntly. "Why does he want it so badly?"

"It's not so much that he wants it." Caroline said carefully. "It's that he wants it back. His family built this city."

Thierry frowned. "No they didn't. Marcel built it."

Caroline laughed, though not unkindly. "Right, he built it a hundred years before he was even born. That's impressive." She could see the doubt in his eyes, so she pulled out her phone and dialled Jeanette's number.

"What do you need, Caroline?"

"Jeanette, would you please find me something that pre-dates New Orleans and has the Mikaelson family crest on it?" Caroline asked. "Check Kol's room if you're stuck, he's a pack-rat."

"Got it."

Caroline hung up and put her phone away, giving Thierry a smile. "Give her a minute. Anyway, Nik and his siblings came to New Orleans in the 1700s and built the city from the ground up. Marcel was both in the early 1800s and Nik adopted him into the family and raised him like a son. When The Destroyer ran them out of town in 1910, they believed Marcel dead and – well, you know what happened after that."

"I thought The Destroyer was a myth." Thierry said.

"I know he was very real." Caroline said casually. "Nik killed him last year."

This did not seem to make Thierry any less uneasy for some reason. He was saved from having to respond, however, by Jeanette appearing at Caroline's side. "You're right." She said, handing Caroline an ornate sheathed dagger. "He does stockpile. Style suggests early thirteenth century, traditionally used for status rather than duelling."

Caroline flipped it over and showed Thierry the embossed 'M' on the hilt and sheath. "See? It stands for Mikaelson."

Thierry didn't ask many questions after that and Caroline put the encounter to the back of her mind, returning to the plantation with Jeanette, who hastily replaced the dagger before anyone realised it was missing.

Caroline returned to her office to edit an essay before turning it in. Klaus appeared in the doorway just as she was beginning to contemplate dinner, but said nothing.

So Caroline followed his lead, submitting her essay and turning off her laptop. Only then did she look up to meet his eyes. "What did you do?"

"Caroline!" Klaus said, with feigned shock. "I'm hurt."

"You're watching me work and not making any snarky remarks." Caroline said. "You must have done something."

"Well, watching you work is one of the more satisfying things to do with my time." Klaus said. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner."

"Proper dinner?" Caroline asked. "Or 'I just compelled a couple of tourists' dinner?"

"Proper dinner." Klaus elaborated. "I thought we could order in from that restaurant you're so fond of."

Only knowing him for as long and as closely has she had allowed Caroline to recognise the nerves he was displaying.

"That sounds good." Caroline agreed, only just catching the knock at the front door she wasn't listening for. "Did you already order?"

Klaus frowned, turning towards the direction of the front of the house. "No."

Josh appeared a second later. "Sorry to interrupt, but a couple of Marcel's crew are here. They say they want to speak to Caroline."

"Thierry?" Caroline asked.

"No." Josh answered. "Diego and Felicia. Why?"

"No reason." Caroline said, turning to Klaus. "You know we need to …"

"I know." Klaus said, offering her his arm. "United front?"

Caroline gave him a smile. "As always."

Josh had showed the two vampires into the living room and they were perched, rather uncomfortably on the edge of the couch.

"Please don't stand on ceremony." Caroline said warmly, gliding into the room on Klaus's arm. "Josh said you wanted to see me?"

The two exchanged a glance and the female – Felicia, Caroline assumed – took a deep breath. "You spoke to Thierry today."

"I did." Caroline said, putting a warning hand on Klaus's arm. "Why?"

"He came back shaken." Felicia continued. "He went to speak to Marcel but … he lied. He told Marcel he hadn't told anyone about going to speak to him, but he told us, we were listening. He asked Marcel if it was true the Mikaelsons built New Orleans."

"I thought that was common knowledge." Klaus said.

"Apparently not." Caroline said. "Although I did give Thierry a history lesson earlier. How did Marcel take that?"

"He … He …" Felicia was shaking now, and Caroline rose instinctively, crossing the room to sit on the arm of the couch beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright." She said softly. "We aren't going to tell him."

"You don't understand." Diego said softly. "Marcel has always preached loyalty. You keep to the rules of the city, you're fine. You kill another vamp, you get killed. Anything else – you betray Marcel, you attack a local, anything; you get a century in the Garden."

Caroline sighed. "I'm going to regret this, I know I am. What's the Garden?"

"It's a prison." Klaus answered. "Marcel told me at the time that it was a home he was building for himself and Rebekah."

Caroline snorted. "Already planning a coup, obviously. So, what, vampires get bricked in and left to desiccate?"

"Something like that." Diego agreed flatly.

"But Thierry didn't betray Marcel." Caroline said with a frown. "He just asked a question."

"Right." Diego said. "He's always operated like that. You have a problem, you're worried about something, you go to Marcel. He'll help, he'll listen. Asking questions is not a crime."

"But he's getting paranoid." Caroline said with a sigh. "And he locked Thierry in the Garden and told everyone else he … what?"

"Attacked a local." Felicia said angrily. "Like Thierry would do that – he's not an idiot!"

"But they all believe him." Diego said, scowling. "Because …"

"Because Marcel has never given them any reason to doubt him." Caroline finished. "When did Thierry start doubting?"

"We were talking to a guy at Christmas." Diego answered. "Told us he was a hybrid. Marcel said he was making it up, but it seemed like a pretty big lie to tell."

"It wasn't a lie." Caroline said. "You were talking to Tyler, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Diego said, looking surprised.

Caroline gave him a smile. "I grew up with Tyler. He was Nik's first hybrid."

"I was the illegitimate child." Klaus said, sounding bored. "Son of a werewolf. After Mother cast the immortality spell, turning us into vampires, I trigged my curse and became a hybrid. She cursed me so the wolf side remained dormant, I killed her, Father became the Destroyer and tried to kill us, I broke the curse and killed him."

"And that's a thousand years of supernatural history in three seconds." Caroline said dryly.

"But why would Marcel lie to us?" Felicia asked.

Caroline shrugged. "Maybe he's worried that your loyalty to him isn't absolute. I mean, Nik has an army that could kill you all with a bite – maybe Marcel's worried that will tempt you over."

"It wouldn't have been," Felicia muttered, "but Thierry was his best friend. And look where that got him."

"Well, in Marcel's defence," Caroline said, "it does run in the family."

"Caroline!" Klaus protested.

"He gets it from you, dear." Caroline said with a grin. "You don't react well when you get paranoid either."

"Then, no offence," Diego said, "what makes you the better option?"

"Well, I have something Marcel doesn't." Klaus said. "Aside from the aforementioned hybrid army, that is."

"And what's that?" Caroline asked, frowning. "Because I thought you were talking about them."

Klaus smiled at her. "I have you."