Note: I do not own TWD or TVD… just having fun.
[Warning: The following chapter may not be suitable for all readers due to language, violence and sexual content.]
Chapter Songs:
A Fine Frenzy – It's Alive
Scene: Maggie and Kol at the Grill
Maroon 5 – Harder to Breathe
Scene: Maggie's temper at Lucy's house
Within Temptation – All I Need
Scene: Maggie's memory (Irish Rose Ch. 54)
Voxhaul Broadcast – You are the Wilderness
Scene: Breakfast with Kol (Last scene of the chapter)
Chapter Ten
Kol moved to press his lips briefly into her hair and whisper, "Thank you." Maggie's heart warmed at the gesture, a smile tugged briefly at her lips.
Vaguely, as she felt herself getting tired, she thought of the witch she would have to talk to when they got back. It wasn't actually Lucy, but a different servant of nature that once told her:
"What once was has become and cannot be undone."
A bump in the road and a smack of her head against the window was how Maggie woke up. It wasn't particularly hard, but definitely jarring.
She stirred with a sharp inhale and a groan from the rude awakening. Maggie rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness and disorientation. She realized she was sitting upright, curled up in a slight ball against the passenger door.
"Kol?" She mumbled, blinking and looking around her. The dashboard of the delivery truck stared back at her and trees blurred by the windows as the truck sped down the highway. She looked over at Kol, sitting in the driver seat.
Maggie had Kol's jacket draped over her, like a blanket up to her shoulders. She felt fine, except for a little draft that caused her to inhale quickly in alarm. "Where are my pants?" She blurted out in a rather undignified manner.
Kol snorted with a chuckle, hearing how her heart raced. "Relax, darling," He then patted the space between them on the seat bench.
Maggie looked down and found the rest of her belongings; her jeans, her boots, her hunting knife, house keys and even the cell phone from Elijah.
"Oh," She mumbled shift the jacket around on her to slide her arms through the sleeves properly. "Thanks," She muttered while she quickly and least awkwardly in the confines of the vehicle got to a more dressed and decent state.
Maggie felt Kol's eyes on her while she was shimming the jeans up her hips. She was about to snap at him about staring, but she remembered that she spent the night rather cozily cuddled up to him in less. That kept her mouth shut and her cheeks bright red.
"How long was I out?" Maggie asked, attempting to smooth down some of her hair.
"Most of the morning," Kol answered. He then pointed out with surprisingly no smirk or condescending tone, "You looked exhausted so I just let you sleep." She was out cold when he woke up and he wanted to get back on the road anyway.
Maggie nodded and her eyes wandered out the windows. The terrain looked different. They weren't in Georgia anymore.
"We'll be back in Mystic Falls soon," Kol declared, noticing her inquisitive gaze.
Maggie took a nervous deep breath at that. If she wasn't afraid that he would take her too literally, she would almost suggest not going back.
"Last night," Kol cleared his throat, shifting his attention from the road to Maggie. "You said you needed to talk to Lucy? About what was going on?" He gestured vaguely to his chest.
Maggie nodded shortly, biting her lip.
"Do you know what this is?" Kol asked, perking up in his seat. The genuine eagerness in his tone really made Maggie want to answer him.
First, she ran through the response in her mind. 'I think the reason you have that excoriating rash is because you're mated to me, which shouldn't even be possible because I'm human and the time we bonded supposedly never happened.' Oh, and she would be saying this to an aggressive Original with a general distaste for any human emotion.
Yeah, no, Maggie liked keeping her head on her shoulders.
"I have no idea," Maggie admitted honestly. "But I'm not even sure if I believe it myself. And if it's true, the implications…" Her voice trailed.
Kol's eyes narrowed at that, but he didn't press her further. She looked legitimately worried and even afraid. Afraid of what he wondered.
"I'll tell you," Maggie decided. "But I need to talk to Ayana first, to see if I'm wrong or if it's even possible."
"Ayana?" Kol quirked an eyebrow.
Maggie cringed, biting her tongue and realizing her mental slip. She meant to say Lucy.
"You've spoken to Ayana?" Kol questioned, his eyes lighting up. To her surprise, he didn't sound particularly hostile about it, like he had been with his parents.
Maggie nodded, fidgeting a little bit in her seat.
"How was she?" Kol tried to push for details.
Maggie cocked her head oddly at Kol. He wasn't saying like he believed that Ayana was up to something. There was something really casual about it, but interested. "Umm," Maggie hesitated, recalling her confrontation with the witch. "A little creepy, but mostly terrifying."
An amused grin pulled up on Kol's lips. "That sounds like her," He agreed, turning his head back towards the road.
Maggie's brows furrowed. He sounded like he was recalling a fond friend or something.
Sensing her confusion, he went on to explain lightly, "Ayana was close to my mother… She was," He paused trying to think of the proper term today, "there when I was born." He shrugged his shoulders with his words, "She practically raised me while Esther had her hands full with Bekah and Henrik."
His voice grew a little quieter while he added on, "She knew what I was. She tried to help me."
Maggie knew he wasn't talking about being a vampire and she wondered how far that help went.
Maggie was humbled into silence because it made sense to her all of the sudden. Now she got why Kol never spoke with anything but disdain for his mother. He saw her as the one that brought him into the world as a servant of nature, but also took it away from him. His admiration from witches didn't come from her, but from being raised so closely by Ayana and that was where his affection for the Bennett witches came from. He looked up to his father as a man, but Ayana was the mother he cherished.
A vibrating in her pocket interrupted her thoughts. Maggie pulled out the phone and flipped it open reflexively before she even looked at the name on the display.
"Hello?" She answered without taking her eyes off of Kol, holding it to her ear.
"Maggie?" Elijah's came in a rush, almost like if he wasn't actually expecting an answer. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"
"What? I'm fine," She responded right away, her brows furrowing. Mentally, she was still distracted by Kol.
"You're… fine?" Elijah's voice deadpanned with doubt.
"Yes," Maggie repeated while shooting a glare at Kol, who was failing miserably at hiding a smug smirk.
"Maggie, the Council has you declared missing and the hybrids you were with were found dead," Elijah stated bluntly. "What happened? Where are you?"
Maggie's expression fell with the slapping reminder of reality. There would be quite a mess to clean up after this and one she wasn't exactly prepared in dealing with.
The doppelganger closed her eyes, rubbing at them with one hand while she thought of how to respond to Elijah. "Uh, yeah there was a slight complication with the supply run. I ran into Kol and we're on our way back to Mystic Falls right now," She figured she couldn't skirt around the truth completely.
"Kol found you?" Elijah wanted to clarify. On the other side of the phone, he was left wondering how it was those two always seemed to find each other.
"Yes," Maggie confirmed, chancing another glance towards the Original and knowing he could hear every word.
There was a pause on Elijah's end before he replied in a reserved tone, "That is a complication." He could easily imagine Kol killing those hybrids, simply on a whim.
"Oh, I'm fine too, brother," Kol spoke up with a sarcastic tone. "I'm a little peck-ish from not having fed on anything for a few days, but thank you for asking."
Elijah sighed. Maggie shot Kol an incredulous look and reached out to smack him in the arm. The Original shied away from the strike playfully with a smile.
Elijah chose to ignore Kol, but the aggravation was practically dripping through the phone. "How far away are you?"
Maggie settled back down into her seat, but looked to Kol for an answer anyway.
"About an hour," Kol replied without actually having to raise his voice, knowing the vampire could hear him.
"Then I'm afraid there is more I should warn you of," Elijah declared.
"What is it?" Maggie asked in alarm, wondering what could have happened in the two days she was gone.
"Klaus has returned," Elijah stated bluntly. "And he's not happy about the dead hybrids."
Maggie swallowed thickly and exchanged a look with Kol. The humor and teasing disappeared from his expression as well.
An hour felt like a slow death march with each moment that passed by and they got closer to Mystic Falls. Maggie spent a majority of the time trying to come up with a cover story for what happened, using Kol as a sound board for bouncing ideas off of. Admittedly, her creativity was a little frazzled and shot. Each idea came out worse than the last and Kol didn't particularly bother hiding what he thought of them with the faces that he made.
Eventually, whether it was because he got tired of hearing her bad ideas Maggie wouldn't know, Kol declared that he would take care of it. Of course, Maggie asked how he would do that. Kol just shrugged his shoulders and said he would take care of it. Needless to say, Maggie wasn't entirely comforted by that.
It was too soon before they crossed the protective gates into Mystic Falls. Shortly after the truck with the hitched up SUV passed through, a police cruiser followed after them. By the time they arrived in the drop off area that Maggie had left with the hybrids initially, there was quite a commotion of vehicles and people. Clearly, Elijah had informed Sheriff Forbes he heard from Maggie and therefore Rick was informed along with the rest of her family.
Amongst the Council members including Sheriff Forbes and Carol Lockwood, Maggie spotted Elijah and Niklaus amongst the crowd. The hybrid hung back from the rest of the people. He quietly watched the way people gathered around Kol and Maggie as soon as they stepped out of the vehicle. Elijah made his way to the front of them. He noticed the way that Kol hung by Maggie's side and took on the most questions. Most of the time, he kept a hand on the small of her back, seeming rather casual but making sure none of the humans got too pushy near them.
Tense was probably the best term for the interaction between Elijah, Kol and Maggie. Elijah was clearly relieved to see Maggie was okay for himself, but yet he kept his professional personae in front of everyone else. But at the same time, all Maggie could think of was how the last time she saw him was the point blank rejection she gave for his brother. Kol broke his contact with Maggie to step up to Elijah, putting his hand on his shoulder while he whispered in his ear. Maggie watched Elijah's reaction closely, the way it froze, but didn't seem to flash in surprise.
"And it's gone?" He clarified in a low tone when Kol pulled away. Kol nodded with a dark glare, the tension thick between the brothers.
Klaus heard Elijah turn to address Sheriff Forbes and the other Council members. "Clearly, Ms. Greene has been through a terrible ordeal. We're lucky she is alive and well, surely your questions for her can wait until later? After she has rested and seen her family," He requested, but his tone more like commanded it.
Elijah stepped away with the Council members, conversing with them. Finally, it looked like Maggie was going to get a break. She followed Kol to the back of the truck, where several of the workers had already unhitched the SUV and were deciding what to do with the supplies. She couldn't wait to get in the SUV and drive away.
Klaus took the opportunity to approach them.
Maggie looked up, seeing the hybrid coming towards them. Her mind panicked and for a brief moment, she saw a flash of the night he came towards her with the stake. "Kol," She murmured his name, and reflexively reached out to grab his arm, to get his attention. One hand went to the bend of his elbow and the other grasped his wrist.
Kol followed her gaze and his expression hardened. He squared his shoulders towards Klaus, choosing not to react to the way Maggie subconsciously took a step closer and behind Kol, almost using him a shield. He didn't flinch his arm away from Maggie's touch, but he definitely didn't bring any attention to it.
"Hello Kol," Klaus greeted with his small smirk that always seemed borderline mocking. His eyes flickered over to Maggie, "Maggie," He acknowledged this time her nickname.
"Brother," Kol clipped out shortly. Even though Maggie couldn't see his expression from where she stood, she could already here the slightly disinterested tone in his demeanor. "Back so soon from Maryland?"
"Maryland?" Maggie blurted before she could help it, her natural curiosity getting the best of her.
Klaus' gaze shifted briefly from Kol to Maggie. "Yes, you wouldn't believe how many Congressmen hiding there are werewolves."
Maggie wanted to say more, but she felt the subtle shift in Kol's arm before his hand clasped around hers. It squeezed firmly as a warning.
"And then I heard the news that two of my hybrids were dead," Klaus' expression deadpanned into a malicious and displeased tone. "Attacked by a herd of walkers, no less."
"How tragic," Kol responded dryly, clearly bored by the conversation already. His hand quietly dropped Maggie's once he was confident she wasn't going to speak again.
Klaus focused his attention on Kol, clearly not happy with his response. "My hybrids were found… or rather the remains of them. Ripped apart, limb by limp," He recalled what he had discovered since he returned to Mystic Falls. Naturally, he knew they probably knew, but it just added emphasis to his words.
Maggie felt her heart hammering, hearing Klaus of all people recall the horrible thing she had done. She couldn't just remove the heads. Walkers wouldn't do that. It was messy and gruesome.
"It's an alarming prospect to accept; walkers going after hybrids. It would change the way this town survives," Klaus drawled out, as if he really cared about what happened to the residents of this town after everything that's happened to his family. It unnerved Maggie even further.
"At the same time," His expression changed, as if he was seriously considering it but there was one flawed detail about the cover story. "for me to accept that, I would also have to accept walkers have learned to fire a gun…" In a rather executioner style manner, too.
Maggie felt her expression grow pale while Klaus' icy stare moved slowly from Kol to her, searching for who would tell him what he wanted to hear.
"So tell me, what happened to my hybrids?" His expression told Maggie they had only one chance to tell him before his patience wore thin.
And he didn't believe that walkers attacked them for a moment.
Klaus' eyes settled on Maggie. Her fingers dug deeper into Kol's arm. She was busted and she didn't doubt he would hesitate to kill her in broad daylight with so many people nearby to witness.
"I killed them," Kol spoke up suddenly, stating like it was a simple and unimportant fact.
Klaus looked from Maggie to Kol. "You did?" The words were forced between his teeth.
Maggie's eyes grew wide, staring at the profile of Kol's face.
Kol shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to have some fun," He smirked smugly.
"Fun?" Klaus repeated impatiently. "By killing my hybrids?"
Kol slipped his arm out of Maggie's grasp as he spoke, "It was nothing personal, they were just in my way, between me and my real entertainment." As he finished his words, Kol had raised a hand behind Maggie and slipped it to the back of her neck. The contact drew a shiver, just like the way his thumb stroked in an oddly possessive sort of affection.
Maggie stiffened, not liking the way Kol spoke about her. What was he getting at?
Klaus' gaze narrowed as he watched his brother. Kol leaned towards Maggie's ear a moment. He ordered without taking his eyes off Klaus, "Get in the car, darling. Nik and I need to chat."
Kol dropped his hand from Maggie's neck, never once looking in her direction. On any normal Sunday, Maggie would have smacked Kol for speaking to her that way.
But it was Klaus and push against her hip was another reminder to get moving. She darted around to the passenger side of the SUV.
Klaus' eyes never left Kol. A part of him was struggling to remember the last time he had called him Nik. But his expression didn't hold the same level of endearment.
Once safely inside the vehicle, Maggie slipped on the seat belt and watched the two brothers through the windshield. She could see them exchanging hushed words between each other. The tension was radiating off of Kol's shoulders. Meanwhile, Maggie wondered what the heck that was all about. She hadn't even thrown out the suggestion of him taking the blame for her, she wouldn't ask that of him.
Kol was about to dismiss Klaus and get into the vehicle, taking a step towards the driver's seat, when he said something that caught his attention.
"It's interesting, your choice of playthings, Kol," Klaus commented, his hands tucked behind his back. For the moment, he would let it go. Kol had pointed out they were notoriously disgruntled hybrids anyway.
Kol stopped and turned back to him, the confusion starting to show in his eyes.
"After all this time, I can honestly say I'm surprised to see this doppelganger still alive around you," Klaus explained, but didn't help it become any clearer to Kol.
Kol half shrugged, "Who said I was done with her?" He suggested instead, while wondering what he meant by this doppelganger.
Klaus cocked his head, but didn't look convinced. Kol didn't feel comfortable getting into the car until he was.
Kol changed his tactic.
"The doppelganger is off limits. That's what you told me in Denver, correct?" Kol barely waited for Klaus to nod. "You want me to stay away from Elena Gilbert?"
Klaus' eyes flashed at the mention of his future hybrid blood bag.
"Then you stay away from her," Kol pointed a finger in the direction of the doppelganger sitting in the passenger seat.
Having made his point, Kol went to the driver's seat. The door shut quickly behind him and the engine roared to life before the SUV peeled out of the parking lot. It watching the SUV drive away did Klaus realize that Kol didn't know.
Kol was cold and standoffish the rest of the drive to Maggie's house. She wasn't sure if she should thank him or not for taking the heat on the hybrids. She wanted to, but everything in his demeanor screamed it wouldn't be welcomed right now. He refused to take his eyes off the road. Maggie wanted to ask about what the hell it was that just happened back there with Klaus.
The SUV pulled into the driveway of the house. Maggie saw that the Camry was gone. Being the middle of the day, it was likely that no one was home. She had ran into Rick with Sheriff Forbes at the drop off point.
Kol seemed to ease up a bit by the time he cut the engine. "I'll help you with the boxes," He declared while climbing out of the vehicle with Maggie. She had almost forgotten about the possessions they had picked up from the farmhouse.
Kol popped the trunk. He grabbed a box and Maggie grabbed one of the suitcases. They approached the front door and she dung out her set of keys. Maggie let herself into the house, only to turn around and see Kol blocked by the threshold.
Obviously, she wasn't going to go against the wishes her family and invite him inside. "Here, just pass them to me," She said. She would leave the boxes and bags in the living room for now, until they sorted it out later.
It made for quick work because by the time Maggie set one box down, Kol was already waiting at the front door with the next one. She almost expected him to be gone by the time she returned from placing the last one, but he was still there. His hands were on the frame of the doorway, almost leaning against the invisible barrier.
"It would be polite to invite in me after all my help," Kol suggested with a smug smirk. He was back to his normal self that Maggie had witnessed on the road trip.
Maggie rolled her eyes at him, fighting a smile. "You know I'm not going to do that," She replied as she stood with the few inches of the threshold between them.
"It was worth a try," Kol dismissed, clearly having been expecting that response.
Silence fell between them, while one studied the other. Maggie was reminded of the brief moment of vulnerability she saw from him the night before. She bit her lip lightly, thinking about how close they had been. There was just one thing she hadn't talked to him about.
"Kol, about last night…" Her voice trailed, a little unsure of what it was she really wanted to say.
Kol stood upright quickly. He started shaking his head, looking away from Maggie. "Yeah, that's not going to happen again," He decided arrogantly.
"What?" Maggie startled.
"It was touching and all," His tone mocked her heavily and his eyes were closed off emotionally. "But that's not happening again."
He continued to say, despite the obvious hurt in Maggie's expression. "I am an Original, and you're…," His eyes flickered up and down Maggie in a condescending manner.
"Mortal?" Maggie filled in the blank for him. She let out a scoff, "You think that makes you better than me."
Kol just smirked, "Well you said it."
Maggie shook her head, feeling like a fool. Some things never did change.
"Why? Because I haven't had the privilege of living for a thousand years to forget what it's like to be human," Maggie spat out at him. The smirk started to fade off his lips as Maggie took a step back from the doorway, disgust filling her eyes.
She looked him up and down before shaking his head. "No," She corrected him, "That doesn't make you better… That makes you just like every other asshole I've ever dated."
"Oh come on, darling –" Kol's voice was cut off by the slamming of the front door. Kol's jaw rolled into a tight lock as he had nothing but wood to stare at.
He didn't really know why he said. He wanted to take it back as soon as he saw how it affected her and that was such a foreign feeling for him. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but he ended up just curling it into a fist and stepping away in frustration.
"She's just a mortal," He muttered to remind himself while he marched away from the house.
Maggie spent the rest of the afternoon muttering about pigheaded jerks and how all men were the same, regardless of the species. She took a shower and scrubbed the filth of the road trip off of her. After the shower, while she still had the privacy, she sat on the edge of her bed and pulled out the duffle bag she had been stashing underneath it.
Opening up the bag, she was greeted by an increasing array of blood vials. It had grown quite a bit since she stole the first couple of medical supplies from the hospital. This was her insurance policy, she figured. The bag wasn't as full as she wanted it to be. She didn't want to take any samples when she had vampire blood in her system, just in case. But there was still a sizable amount there.
Hopefully, she could leave one good thing behind if something happened to her.
She remembered the look on Lucy's face when she asked her to use a spell to preserve them. Somewhere between appalled and dying of curiosity. Maggie took a few minutes to find a vein in her arm and draw out three more vials of blood before she stashed them with the rest under the bed.
Maggie took the time to eat a decent meal after that and some members of her group came home shortly after that. At least her group didn't interrogate her as much about what happened. They were mostly relieved to see that she was okay and still alive, physically and mentally. She wasn't withdrawing into the shell she was before.
She opted to spend the rest of her day at the Grill, picking up the second half of the afternoon shift. When she got there, Matt had insisted that she didn't really need to be there and she should be resting. Truthfully, after sleeping most of the way back, Maggie was feeling pretty rested and she wondered how much of that had to do with Kol meddling with her head.
That was how Maggie ended up in the Grill's kitchen, preparing the dough for next day's bread. She had the flour, eggs, and the rest of the ingredients spread out around her. Some of the trays were already in the oven behind her while she started to prep the next batch.
She wasn't sure how she knew it, but she knew that he was there before she looked up. A part of her wanted to say it because of that distant bond, but that was the sort of thing if she gave it more credit than it deserved, it would go to her head.
"You can't ignore me forever," Kol drawled out, moving to lean against the prep table opposite from Maggie. His elbows were folded in front of him, trying to drop down to her eye level while her hands beat the dough relentlessly.
"Yeah?" Maggie snapped out. "Watch me." She refused to look up at him. She was still fuming about his condescending attitude earlier.
Kol watched her work, sizing up her fresh change of clothes. It didn't escape his notice that his jacket was hung up on the wall though. So mad at him, she's still wearing his jacket, he mused.
Kol smirked. "Talk to me, lisicia?" He threw out his lower lip in a playful pout, cocking his head at her.
Maggie shook her head and walked away to take one of the fresh trays out of the oven. She tried to focus on the smell of the fresh bread and not the infuriating Original behind her.
He had meant to stay away, he really did. But after their confrontation at the house, he was left agitated and anxious, even after he snapped a neck or two.
Fine, if she wasn't going to talk, then she would have to listen. Kol leaned off the table, walking around it to follow after Maggie. "I'm not very good with these sort of things," He declared, looking like he was sucking on a lemon in the process from doing it at all. "These apologies, regrets," He waved a hand in the air.
Maggie turned around and nearly stumbled over her feet, finding Kol invading her personal space. She stopped with a sigh. "You regret what you said to me?"
"Of course," Kol smirked that he got her to say something.
"All of it?" Maggie rose her eyebrows dubiously. "Even that you're better than mortals?"
Kol made a face of hesitancy, "Well…"
Maggie scoffed and rolled her eyes. She stepped around Kol to get back to the prep table. She started cracking eggs into the mixing bowl a little more vigorously than she should have.
Kol stepped up behind her and placed his hands on either side of her body on the table edge. Maggie grew a little tenser, sensing how close he was standing to her, but she stubbornly kept working. Kol leaned down into her ear and whispered, "Please don't make me beg, darling."
Maggie bit her lip from the husk of his voice. Her hand paused with the egg in the air. "Is that your apology?" She questioned incredulously.
"Would you forgive me if it was?" Kol countered, still leaning in close to her ear. A glance down, Maggie could see his hands on the table on either side of her.
She moved to set the egg back down in the bowl with the other untouched ones. She thought it was the most pathetic apology she had ever heard and painfully obvious he didn't actually mean it. He was just saying it to appease her.
Carefully, she turned around between him and the table to face him. His eyes found hers with a smirk on his lips. Quietly, her hand behind her picked up two eggs from the bowl.
"You want to know what I think about your apology?" Maggie's voice dropped into a whisper while she took in how close he stood to her. She tilted her head up towards him and she could tell she was drawing him in. The smirk grew on his lips while he hovered in the few inches between their faces.
Maggie's head tilted to the side and he saw the way her eyes were half shut. He inhaled deeply when he felt her hot breath fanning his face.
There was a series of soft cracks in the air.
Kol went rigidly still, his knuckles going white from gripping table edge. He swallowed forcefully while he felt the cool slime ooze down from the top of his head.
Maggie pulled her hand away, wiping her hand boldly against his shirt in the process while she stood upright with a cold stare.
Kol stepped back from the table, feeling it soak through his hair and down into his eyes. His fingers reached up and pulled it away from his brow line. He opened his eyes to stare down in shock at the broken egg shells and yoke on his hands.
Mouth gaping, Kol looked up at Maggie in disbelief. He wasn't sure what stunned him more, having two eggs broken on top of his head, or the fact that Maggie just went ahead and actually did it.
There were very few times Kol Mikaelson was left speechless. Standing with broken eggs on his head in front of Maggie was one of them.
The stubborn doppelganger just stood there too, taking in each glorious moment of it. She folded her arm over her chest and raised a challenging eyebrow at him.
He stared at his hands for so long, Maggie was starting to wonder that she caused serious mental damage before he took a sidestep closer to the prep table. Without saying a word, he reached a messy hand into the bowl of flour.
A white puff cloud later and Maggie let out a gasp, borderline shriek. She took a step back instinctively and her hands rose in the air from the assault.
She opened her eyes to find the front of her work shirt completely covered in white. Most of her face and neck was a nice, puffy shade now. "Seriously?!" She exclaimed at Kol. What was he, 12 years old?
Kol's expression deadpanned into mock seriousness as he still clutched onto the flour bowl, "Oh yeah."
Maggie let out an aggravated groan or growl, it was hard to distinguish. In a snap, she picked up several more eggs and started to throw them at Kol.
The rest she had trouble keeping up with.
There was the throwing of flour here and there.
She darted around the tables in the kitchen to dodge his retaliation.
Maggie caught a handful of melted butter to her back.
Kol got sprayed by the hose from the sink.
"Cheater!" Maggie yelled when Kol started using vamp speed to dodge several eggs.
Somewhere, her shrieking started to twist into laughter. Especially when Kol picked up some of the fresh bread loaves to use as shields before chucking them back at Maggie.
A giggle fell from Maggie's lips seeing Kol dodge one egg, just to turn to see where it went and catch another to the side of his head.
Maggie had to duck and hide under the table at one point to dodge another cloud of flour.
Rising up on her feet, Maggie's eyes darted to the table to find her next ammunition. Spotting a bowl of dough ready to be rolled out, Maggie dipped both hands into. She smirked to herself, imagining how she could get Kol and not seeing the way the Original stepped up behind her.
She had her hands raised in the air with a fistful each when she turned around. She barely caught the way Kol swooped in on her before she felt his lips over hers.
Her eyes widened in alarm at how quickly things had turned. Not deterred, Kol raised a hand up to hold the back of her head as he kissed her lips, fully and eagerly.
There was a splat in the air, followed by another.
The piles of dough sat abandoned on the floor while Maggie's eyes fell shut and she wrapped her arms around Kol's shoulders. He kissed her, not because he wanted to coax her into anything, but the urge came to him while watching her competitive assault, seeing that smile and hearing that rare laugh.
Maggie forgot about being upset with Kol as he did the very thing he promised wouldn't happen again. She clutched to him, through the smeared mess they made. She let him push her back towards the table before his hands grasped under her thighs. She gasped against his lips as he lifted her up, sitting her on the table edge and at a more even height for them.
She turned her head to deepen the kiss, allowing Kol to slip inside and taste her mouth. Her hands moved up to ruffle up his hair, not caring that her fingers felt gritty from the flour and dough. His hands were wrapped around her body, smearing the sticky mess around further.
When she had to breath, Maggie pulled away with a gasp. Kol continued to kiss her, starting at the corner of her mouth and moving down to her neck. He only made it a few short pecks before he pulled away from her neck sputtering.
Kol wrinkled his nose this way and that, fighting the natural urge to sneeze. "Pffth, gah, flour," He muttered and Maggie let out a giggle at the white powder on his nose down to his chin.
"Here, let me," Maggie grinned. She kept one arm hooked around him while her fingers reached up delicately to his face. Her eyes focused on his lips while she wiped away some of the offending substance from his face.
Kol watched the way Maggie stared at his lips. Only when her fingertips stopped at the corner of his mouth, he leaned down to hers, sensing the same desire. He kissed her slowly this time, but more tenderly than before. It was the type of kiss that he wasn't in a hurry and he drew it out for each moment that it was.
It was the type of kiss that caused Maggie's stomach to knot in a flutter. The type that made her want to tell him how much she loved him, but she choose to show him instead.
"Why is it," Kol pulled back to whisper, lingering near those tempting lips of hers. "I can't seem to stay away from you?" He wondered, it was truly maddening to be so drawn to her, mortal or otherwise.
Maggie opened her eyes, feeling his thumbs stroking lightly on her hips and seeing he was looking at her as if she really had an answer. Her mouth parted with silence at the honesty of his declaration. She went with the only response she could think of, "Maybe you should stop trying to."
His eyes flickered with playfulness and a grin grew. He started to lean in towards her again, but he stopped to stipulate in a sensual manner, "Only if you tell me your name."
Maggie had run out of excuses not to. More importantly, she ran out of the will too. "Margaret," She whispered back, enjoying the broad smile she got in response. For a moment, she swore it seemed genuinely happy and not smug or arrogant.
Maggie leaned up and kissed him again. His hand moved to caress her cheek as she did and it felt like she was falling for him all over again.
The couple only got a few moments alone before a voice interrupted from the entryway leading to the front of the house. "How charming."
Kol stood upright and turned to see his sister leaning against the entryway with her arms folded over her chest.
Rebekah wrinkled her nose, looking around at the complete chaotic mess they had made. "And this why I don't let Kol anywhere near the kitchen," She stated.
Maggie bowed her head slightly, feeling her stomach flip at being caught. Her hand covered her mouth immediately, wondering how badly her lips were swollen.
"Bekah," Kol growled with clear annoyance at the interruption, he still didn't remove his hands from Maggie's waist.
Rebekah didn't care though, instead she asked suspiciously, "Does Elijah know you've been playing with his doppelganger?"
Maggie picked her head up, eyes widening at that implication. This caused Kol to drop his hands, repeating with venom in his voice, "His doppelganger?"
"Yes," Rebekah drawled out impatiently. "The Leavey girl… The one you just had your tongue down her throat."
Oh no, Maggie realized with horror, that's what Rebekah meant by Elijah's doppelganger, the one that was created from his sacrifice.
"Leavey?" Kol repeated in disbelief and growing tension, he took a few steps towards Rebekah. "As in Rosemarie Leavey?"
"You didn't know?" Rebekah scoffed, an amused and wicked grin on her face. This was priceless. Maggie felt her blood running cold. Rebekah nodded towards Maggie, "That's the one Nik has been hunting for centuries."
It got Klaus in quite a tizzy that he couldn't get close to Maggie earlier with Elijah and Kol there. But Rebekah didn't realize it was actually Kol that had been hunting Maggie's bloodline and Maggie knew that.
His expression fell into pure adulterated shock as he looked from Rebekah to Maggie in a new light.
"Kol," Maggie tried to plead with her voice, but really unsure where to begin.
Kol blinked and it clicked in his mind. He understood that look from her, one that didn't seem very surprised. "You knew already," He pointed out, his voice hollow with disbelief.
Rebekah sighed and got bored, who knows how long these two would stare at each other without saying anything. "Anyway, Nik is looking for you," She said to Kol. With that, she stood up and left the room.
Kol felt like he had the ground taken out from underneath him. He barely processed retreating towards where Rebekah disappeared when Maggie stopped him.
"Kol," She said meaningfully, knowing she looked desperate. "The idea that I stand for… that's not who I am."
She really hoped that he could see past that. Kol didn't look up fully from the ground or even nod before disappearing from the room.
Maggie hung around the Grill for a couple more hours. She washed herself up as best she could from the mess. Most of the time was spent just cleaning up the kitchen. The tank top she had underneath her shirt would have to do for clothing. At least it didn't soak through, she figured. Admittedly, the look on Kol's face remained forefront in her mind.
He didn't know, which she supposed made sense. They never talked about it, Maggie never tried pursuing it like she did before. And now, she had no idea what would happen next for them, if there was a them.
Coming to the closing hour, Maggie shooed the last couple people out of the Grill, one of them included Seamus. She found the warlock behind her bar, routing around and trying to find a whiskey bottle.
"Seamus, go home!" She pointed a finger towards the door. She had Kol's jacket tucked under her arm with the keys in hand to lock up the place.
Seamus threw two innocent hands up in the air. "Fine, fine!" He pleaded and then looked at Maggie oddly hopeful, "Say you wouldn't mind giving me a ride by Lucy's place?"
Maggie rolled her eyes but agreed to anyway. Better sooner than later talk to Lucy, she figured. Seamus hung around while Maggie closed up the place and turned off the lights.
They were driving in her SUV when Seamus started asking her questions, for once not to be aggravating. "So what do you need from Lucy?" He asked with his feet up on the dashboard. Okay, she took that back, he was still a little aggravating.
"Nothing per say," Maggie said as she drove. "More like, I need her to go with me to the old witch's house."
Seamus frowned slightly, the confusion clear in his face. "Huh, well… she's in Wisconsin right now, she won't be back until tomorrow night," He said.
"Really?" Maggie questioned and Seamus nodded. "Damnit," She sighed, not really wanting to put it off.
"What's at the old witch's house for ya?" Seamus wondered, not too many people had business there.
"There's a spirit I need to talk to," Maggie admitted and gave a side glance to Seamus. "I don't want to do it alone. They're kinda creepy…"
Seamus grinned from her honestly. Cheers to that, he was glad he wasn't the only one that thought so sometimes. "I could go with you," He suggested after a thought. It probably would be good to make sure she had someone to keep them off her back.
"Really?" Maggie perked up, seeming surprised but appreciative at the same time.
With a clean long sleeve shirt on and new jeans, Kol sauntered up towards the Grill, reluctantly following his brother. The hybrid didn't seem perturbed in the least by the lack of lights or cars in the parking lot. Klaus walked straight up to the front doors and gave them a jostle.
"I told you the place was closed," Kol said in a singsong tone, rolling his eyes. He was starting to wonder why he had agreed to this. Apparently, Klaus wanted to go out for a drink, for old times' sake.
Klaus turned to Kol. "When has that ever stopped you?" He asked, while he threw an elbow back into the window pane of the door. The glass broke and Klaus reached inside to open the door from the inside.
Kol smirked slightly and followed Klaus inside.
"I don't blame ya for not wanting to go there," Seamus said, leaning his head back against his seat. "Every time, I go there… The spirits are always hissing at me about excessive drinking and fornication."
Maggie cringed and shook her head. Was it too late to take back agreeing to go with him? That was a subject she didn't want to go near with Seamus.
Before she could say anything further, there was a resounding pop from outside the SUV and Maggie felt the wheel give a jerk. They were only about half way to Lucy's house.
"What was that?" Seamus asked, dropping his feet from the dashboard.
"I think I popped a tire," Maggie muttered while slowing the vehicle down to a stop.
Klaus and Kol had broken into the first bottle of whiskey when Kol out the real reason he dragged him out there. It was just the two of them standing at the bar. They left the lights fully lit in the place. Kol was leaning with one elbow on the counter while Klaus poured their second drink.
"Elijah tells me that you've flipped switch… And that you've gone soft for a mortal," Klaus was taunting, but his gaze inquisitive, watching Kol's reaction closely.
Any amusement fell off of Kol's face. "He said that?" He had considered that to be a private conversation between them.
"Well, not exactly," Klaus inclined his head before taking a sip, "But something to that effect. Is it true?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Kol chided immediately, hiding the rest of his reaction behind a deep gulp.
He felt Klaus watching him. "I wish I could believe that," He murmured finally, "But I can't after what I saw today."
Kol's eyes narrowed at where this was going.
"Yeah, it's definitely flat," Seamus declared. He didn't even need to get down on the ground to see the front wheel missing air. It was flat against the road.
Maggie sighed from the rear of the SUV. She had the trunk popped open and pulled back the carpeting of the space.
"Hey! Come back here and give me a hand, I found a spare," She yelled up to Seamus.
"I've told you already, Niklaus," Kol grounded out in aggravation. He had told Elijah before too. The tumbler glass in Kol's hand was starting to splinter and a web of cracks rose up from the base. The contents were already gone.
"I can't shut it off. I tried already," Kol stared firmly at his brother before letting an exasperated sound, "Believe me, and I have tried."
"That's where I have to disagree," Klaus no longer shared any fake pleasantry in his voice. "Me personally, I think you can still shut it off when given a reason to."
As he spoke, Klaus reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. Wearily, Kol half watched the movement until he pulled out an object and placed it on the counter calmly, as it was simply a deck of cards.
Kol stared at it for a long while and he felt like the wind had been stolen from his lungs. The silver of the blade caught the light of the room and glistened mockingly at him, just like the intricate designs on the handle. He could etch those designs from memory having felt that blade in his chest so many times before.
It wasn't lost on him how the tip was pointed in his direction. "A dagger," Kol choked on the word before looking up at Klaus with a mix of emotions. Anger, hurt, and resignation. He could try to overpower him, but Klaus was the hybrid. He could try to run, but Klaus was the hybrid.
No, the only way he would be leaving the Grill was in a coffin. It had been trap.
"So what? Another hundred years in a box and I'll be fixed?" Kol sneered bitterly, seeing how Klaus resented the idea of him having his humanity back on.
"No, this is just a precaution if I don't have your cooperation," Klaus patted the handle of the dagger, not removing his hand from the counter. Admittedly, he was disappointed he didn't see more fight in his eyes and that was why he thought Kol was better without it.
Maggie stood behind Seamus with an unimpressed and worried look on her face. Her arms were folded over her chest with one hand against her chin. He managed to get the SUV up on a jack and the old tire off, but she wasn't instilling a whole lot of confidence after that.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Maggie asked Seamus.
The warlock stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at Maggie indignantly. "Should I begin to describe in gross detail how much I hate that question, or would you like me to fix your car?" He shot back.
Maggie sighed. "Yeah, yeah, but can't you just…" She waved her fingers in a theatrical manner towards the flat tire on the ground. "Do something witchy and fix it?"
Seamus balked at Maggie. "What? What is this?" He mimicked her hand movements mockingly. "No! I can't just spirit finger some sealant into it."
He waved an exasperated hand towards the tire, "In case you haven't noticed, the entire sidewall is blown out."
Maggie deadpanned with mock seriousness, "Would you like me to light you some candles to help?"
"I believe you've been going about this all wrong, brother," Niklaus proceeded and Kol really couldn't stand the term of endearment at that moment. The dagger sat on the counter between them. "You need to go back to the source of the problem."
Kol's eyes narrowed. That was fine and all, but he didn't really know what exactly had caused him to turn it on in the beginning. He wasn't going to tell that to Klaus though.
"And you just need the proper… nudge in the right direction," Klaus smiled menacingly at that. It was clear in Klaus' eyes that he was thinking of the mortal Kol had supposedly gone soft for.
"Don't you dare touch Margaret," Kol growled out instinctively and took a step forward towards Klaus threateningly.
In the same motion, Klaus tensed and wrapped his hand around the dagger. Kol only stopped because he saw the motion from his peripheral. The dagger was raised off the counter a few inches, poised in his direction.
Kol cursed mentally, knowing Klaus had caught him on both accounts.
"And see, it's cause of that look right there…" Klaus declared, his tone dropping a level lower. "That is why I already took corrective measures."
Seamus threw his hands in the air. "Okay, maybe I am a little stuck…" He finally declared, pushing himself up to his feet. The old tire was nowhere closer to being replaced then it was a few minutes ago.
"Finally," Maggie rolled her eyes, unable to help laughing at the absurdity of it all. "Come on, just leave it. Lucy's house is what? Only another mile or two away? We can come back for it in the morning."
Seamus gave a dejected pout towards the tires while scratching the back of his head. Being the typical male he was, he wasn't big on the idea of asking for help.
Maggie just shook her head and started to walk around the front of the SUV towards the sidewalk.
"Having car problems?" A male's voice stepped out in front of her. Maggie halted abruptly, wondering where it was that he came from. He was an older man, looking like he was in his late twenties and the sleeve of tattoos set Maggie on edge with his scruffy appearance.
Maggie's eyes widened and she took several steps backwards. She bumped into Seamus, but he wasn't looking at her.
"What do you think, Bradley?" The man addressed, looking past Maggie. The doppelganger turned to see another man, wearing some sort of high school letter jacket and a female approaching from the other side.
"I would say these two aren't going anywhere tonight," The second man replied, eying up the vehicle jacked up with only three wheels.
It took Maggie a few seconds to remember where these three looked familiar. Seamus already knew what they were the moment they approached and now had the two surrounded with their backs to the SUV.
"The first chance you get," Seamus hissed under his breath to Maggie while the distance closed in on them. They could see the arrogant and predatory expressions in the glow of the street lights.
"Run," Seamus said to Maggie. The doppelganger only barely nodded.
Bradley lunged at Seamus first. Maggie barely caught the blur of movement before ducking out of the way. Seamus managed to catch the hybrid and slam him roughly into the side of the vehicle before turning to face the next one.
Maggie sprinted towards the gap that created in their ranks. She only made it a few steps before felt a hand grab the back of her head, yanking her hair. She let out a cry as it jerked her head back and she felt fangs plunge into the side of her neck.
She thrashed against the hybrid's grasp. Her hands came up to his face, clawing at him and leaving deep scratch marks along his face.
The hybrid was ripped off of Maggie by an invisible hand.
Maggie stumbled forward, catching herself on her knees. She reached up to touch her neck and pulled away nothing but blood.
"Run!" Seamus shouted at Maggie.
She looked over her shoulder to see the warlock using his powers to keep one hybrid pinned against the side of the vehicle and the one that bit her on the ground. "Run, Maggie!"
She scrambled back up to her feet and looked over her shoulder one last time before taking off. She only caught a glimpse of Seamus and the female hybrid rising up from behind him, lunging after his exposed back.
Maggie turned her head forward and focused on running as fast as she could towards Lucy's house. They wouldn't be able to get to her there. She pumped one arm forward after the other while her boots hammered against the ground.
Behind her, she could hear the noises of crashing and snarling. They seemed so close, she was afraid to look back and see.
What felt like an eternity was only minutes before there was an explosion that caused Maggie to skid to a halt. She stopped and looked back, seeing a pile of smoke and flames rising into the air above the tree line. She could only guess that was what had been her SUV.
Shit, she thought, she was in way over her head with this. She kept one hand pressed against her neck, thankfully the adrenaline of the moment wasn't letting her process how bad the bite was. Maggie reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the one source of help she had.
She kept moving while she pressed the cell phone to her ear and listened to it ring. Two painstaking rings later and the line picked up.
"Maggie?" Elijah's voice came from the other side.
"Elijah! Elijah," Maggie gasped, panting and the wind grabbled some of her voice from her movements. "I need your help. I don't know what's going on. These hybrids. They got Seamus. I'm bit."
"Maggie, slow down," Elijah urged, trying to remain calm and make sense of this sudden panic. "Where are you?"
"Downtown, near Lucy's place," Maggie huffed out, chancing a glance over her shoulder. She couldn't see anything coming after her, but she didn't trust that they were only a few seconds behind her.
"Go to Lucy's house, get inside," Elijah ordered, knowing the hybrids wouldn't be able to follow her inside. "I'll send help and figure out what is going on."
"Okay," Maggie acknowledged before shutting the phone abruptly, to pick up her pace. She was a little dismayed. It didn't sound like Elijah was close by enough to help her.
"I think it's time you told me what that ritual was really for," Klaus demanded. He had been patient with his brothers for far too long about Rosemarie.
Kol had taken a step back again from Klaus. He just regarded him coldly and said, "What's the point? You're going to dagger to me regardless of whether or not I tell you." And he certainly didn't see the incentive to tell him at this point.
In his eyes, Klaus had just threatened him with a dagger one too many times.
"Only while the doppelganger is still alive," Klaus corrected, looking down at the dagger in question. "I can't have you getting in the way of that."
Before Kol could retort, the doors of the Grill burst open haphazardly. One of Klaus' hybrids stumbled in. He knocked a table out of the way and several chairs, clearly in a state of delirium. Both brothers turned their heads in his direction and Klaus absently set the dagger the down on the counter.
"Bradley?" Klaus questioned, taking a few steps closer to the hybrid that struggled to get up on his feet, using the fallen table as support.
Cold sweat ran down his face and blood was smeared from his mouth down his chin. He looked at Klaus in a pained and frantic manner. "Help me," He barely whispered before choking. Black bile bubbled out of his mouth and he fell over onto his back.
Kol followed the actions, but then cringed. His hand went to his forehead with a sharp mental pain. His vision blurred between seeing the hybrid stumble through the door. Or did he break through the front window? It was hard to tell. There was blood and that black bile. An image of Maggie standing in the window with blood on her neck flashed in his mind.
Kol clutched one hand on the counter for support while he bowed his head, trying to shake the mental assault away.
Klaus didn't see his brother's reaction. He kneeled down next to the hybrid while the creature was choking on his own blood tainted vomit. "What happened?" He questioned, but he was helpless to seeing the man starting to convulse before stilling.
His skin turned to ash and black veins rose around his neck.
"What is happening to my hybrids?!" Klaus snarled out and looked back towards his brother, searching for answers.
Instead, the bar was empty and the dagger was gone from the counter. Klaus only barely heard the sound of the side access door shutting heavily.
Maggie was relieved to spot the familiar brown house. Her legs were screaming and her calves burned from the sprint, but she didn't care. If she could just get through that threshold she would be okay.
She bounded down the sidewalk and turned abruptly, almost knocking herself over from the momentum down the front walk.
The front porch steps were only a few dashes away when she felt a hand grab her upper arm. "No!" Maggie shriek, her body jerking violently in the process and nearly popping her shoulder out. Her attacker caught her other arm, pulling her back swiftly from the steps.
"No, no!" She threw an elbow back towards his face and he barely dodged it.
"Hey! It's okay," He said to her in a quiet rush tone. "Margaret, it's me!"
Maggie stopped moving immediately at the sound of his voice. She twisted in his grasp to see his face. "Kol," Her voice came out hoarse and winded, but the recognition was clear in her eyes. He nodded and loosened up his grip on her arms.
A blink later and Maggie turned towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder, inhaling his scent deeply and trying to push back the hysterical sob that threatened to boil up. "Thank god, you're here," She cried in relief, thinking this was the help that Elijah had sent.
Kol was a little taken back by the abrupt hug, but just went with it. He only partially returned the embrace because he was looking over her shoulder down at his own hands. There was a dark stain smeared all over them. His eyes flickered towards her neck, seeing the open bite mark and wondered what happened. His nose wrinkled slightly from the fresh blood that held no appeal to drink.
For a few short moments, he just stood there while Maggie clutched to him like a lifeline. He felt her fingers grasping on hairs at the back of his neck and the way she held him fiercely.
"Putting aside the fact you're hugging a vampire with an open neck wound, we should probably get inside," Kol suggested stiffly.
Maggie pulled back abruptly. "Right," She muttered bashfully and Kol nodded. He stepped towards the house and opened the front door, letting her step inside first.
The house dark and deserted, which made sense when Maggie remembered that Seamus said Lucy was in Wisconsin.
Kol shut the door behind them and took a moment to peer through the window, making sure no one followed them. Maggie watched him and then noticed the hilt sticking out from his jeans. If she hadn't seen it before, especially from stashing six of them, she wouldn't have recognized it right away.
"Kol," Maggie startled, trying to ask about it without it seeming too obvious she knew exactly what that was. "What are you doing carrying a dagger?"
He looked away from the window, his eyes flickering briefly towards Maggie before marching down the main hallway.
His hand reached back to pull the dagger out of his waistline. "Let's just say you're not the only one having a bad night, darling," He said entering the kitchen with Maggie in tow.
Kol set the dagger down on the counter next to the sink while he crouched down to open the cupboard underneath. "What happened?" He asked while his head routed around inside.
"I don't know really, some of Klaus' hybrids came out of nowhere and attacked us," Maggie shook her head. It didn't make any sense. She had provoked Klaus' attack in some way or another before. "I just don't know why he came after me right now…"
"I believe he's still a little peeved about those hybrids," Kol declared while finding the first aid kit he was looking for. He nodded towards the kitchen island. "Sit down and take that jacket off," He ordered.
Maggie blanched a little at the order, but followed it anyway when she spotted the med kit in his hands.
"But he doesn't know I did it," Maggie protested while stiffly shrugging out of the jacket. It clung to her frame from the sweat and she tried not to move her neck too much. She was really starting to notice how much it ached and throbbed.
"No, it's just one of his grievances with me," Kol said while stepping in front of Maggie. He set the orange box down next to her. She watched his movements and noticed how blood smeared on everything that he touched. He flicked the latch open and exposed the pristine white contents.
"Sometimes, when he goes after someone," Kol explained with while trying to find some gauze to put over that bite mark. "He doesn't go directly after them, but what they…" His voice trailed, finding it hard to believe he was in this position. Of all the years they spent terrorizing people, he didn't think he would ever be on the receiving end of it.
Maggie knew for sure then. She wasn't sure how to happened, but seeing that anguished hue in Kol's eyes and the way his hands shook, Maggie knew. She had an idea before with the times she caught him talking about his human life and the little things he did for her without realizing it.
"He went after me because he knew you care," Maggie murmured in a quiet, awe-filled tone. Kol looked up slowly to her face. His throat knotted tightly and he didn't say anything, because he heard her words and her eyes also said, 'And now I know you care, too.'
His lack of denial was the closest to an admission. The fact he didn't scoff in her face or dismiss her as a being ridiculous sank it even further home. He stared back her in a guarded manner, like someone that had just been caught, but was afraid they would be shocked in response.
A ringing from Kol's jean pocket ripped through the air. He startled and looked like he had never been so relieved to have an interruption. He stepped back from Maggie, pulling out his cell phone in the process, looking at the name.
He raised a finger to give him a minute and Maggie nodded. "Elijah, how convenient that you called," Kol slipped into his fake antagonistic charm as he stepped out of the kitchen.
Maggie looked to the first aid kid and pulled out the gauze, figuring she would put some pressure on the wound while Kol was on the phone.
"Kol. Where are you? Are you near downtown?" Elijah's voice came into a determined hurry while Kol walked back to the front of the house.
"I don't see why I would be inclined to tell you that," Kol shot back hotly, stepping into the living room.
"Kol, I don't have time for your games," Elijah's voice came out warningly, in a low and controlled manner. "Something has happened –"
"That you're right!" Kol's voice rose with irritation and anger while he parted some of the curtains, peering out the window to make sure no one was out there. "Do you have any idea what our darling brother has been up to?"
There was a hesitant pause on Elijah's end. "What are you talking about?" He had an idea, but maybe there was more to it.
"I'm talking about how he just lured me to the Grill as a trap, to dagger me!" Kol struggled to keep himself from shouting.
"What? How –" Elijah barely could get a breath in.
"Don't play coy with me, Elijah," Kol snapped. He wouldn't put it past his siblings to concoct this plan. Yes, let's put Kol down for a while because he's too unstable and he's killing too many people lately. It wouldn't be the first time. "He knew all about our conversation. I know you told him," He accused harshly.
"Kol, I…" Elijah struggled, but gave up and started back pedaling. He didn't have time to explore the deep seated mistrust with his siblings. "Yes, I told him, but with no malicious intent. I swear. I give you my word. Please believe me, I can't waste any more time, it's about Ms. Greene."
Kol was about to rip into him further, but he lost his steam at the mention of Maggie. He could practically feel Elijah anxiously awaiting his response on the other end of the line. Kol glanced towards the kitchen, he could hear the human at the sink attempting to clean the blood of her arms and neck.
"Go on," Kol granted permission.
Elijah sounded relieved to have him at a calmer level and explained quickly, but precisely, "She was attacked by several of his hybrids moments ago. I told her to take cover in Lucy's house and she's hurt. I'm on my way to stop Klaus, but I need you to find her –"
"And just why I bother to do that?" Kol cut him off, his voice shifting into one of disinterest and boredom. He couldn't recall when he signed up for mortal protection services.
Elijah had to contain himself from gripping his phone too tightly and breaking it. "It's Maggie, Kol," He emphasized, trying to get through to his little brother.
"And your point is?" Kol challenged, still aggravated he had a dagger threatened against him because of her. "She's just another pathetic mortal. More trouble than she's worth, if you ask me," He rattled on, staring aimlessly out to the street and the few lights that lit it.
"Surely you don't believe that," Elijah was appalled and beginning to panic. This wasn't the side of his brother he needed right now. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed the brother that chased Maggie out into the rain and kissed her.
"Would you like to find out?" Kol taunted with a dark smirk on his features. His siblings really should know better than that to tempt him like that.
Kol heard an anguished sigh from Elijah's end. He took a moment to collect himself before saying in a pleading tone. "Kol, please…" Kol didn't know the last time his brother sounded so openly desperate. "I know you believe there is nothing good left about your humanity, but I don't. I beg you, as your brother – not the one who daggered you, but the one who was always there to pull that dagger out." Elijah wished he was standing before him, to show him how sincere his words were.
"If you don't do it for her, do it for me," Elijah begged finally.
Kol's gaze faltered. He hadn't wanted to appear he was more involved than he already was. It would be easy to tell Elijah he was on his own and part of him wanted to.
The silence from Kol itched at Elijah. All he could hear was Kol's faint breathing from the other side. He didn't see the way the Original looked over his shoulder for several long moments towards the kitchen.
Kol could hear her heartbeat if he focused enough on it from where he stood. It was steady, stubborn and strong. In a way, a little bit like him.
"Margaret's fine," Kol admitted in a quiet and subdued tone. "A little shaken up with a few scratches, but otherwise she's okay."
Elijah blinked in pure, stunned confusion as he barely processed Kol's words. There was a pause before he replied hesitantly, "Wait, you're already with her?"
The phone call cut off abruptly from Kol snapping the cell phone shut.
Kol stepped away from the sheer curtains of the front window. He glanced down to the phone in his hand. Some of the displayed was clouded by the smear of blood from his fingertips. Shaking his conversation with Elijah off his mind, he moved through the shadows of the house back towards the sole light in the kitchen.
Maggie caught a sight of Kol from her seat on the island. She winced slightly from the pressure on her neck and the gauze that was sticking to the blood of her wound. In silence, her eyes followed Kol's movements towards the kitchen sink. He put the phone down on the counter next to the dagger and her eyes settled on his hands.
It looked like he was wearing gloves from a distance, but she could see the red ting. He threw on the water and the gloves started to come off slowly.
"Are the hybrids dead?" Maggie asked in a quiet tone, not wanting to raise her voice too much. She could feel the muscles in her neck cramping a little.
Kol just gave a short nod. He fixated on the soap and getting rid of the blood. He couldn't clean up her wound until he did.
"And what about Seamus?" Maggie asked, recalling the last look she got of the warlock and the hybrid lunging after him.
"He didn't make it," Kol said quickly, in a flat and automatic tone.
Maggie frowned. He was a warlock, a powerful one, there was no reason why he wouldn't be able to handle a few baby hybrids. "You killed him, didn't you?" Maggie accused softly.
Kol's lack of answer was all the confirmation that she needed.
Maggie sighed, trying to picture the Yankee lying in the street somewhere with his heart ripped out. "Yeah, I didn't like him that much either," Maggie admitted. He was annoying.
Kol smirked to himself while he shut off the water and dried his hands.
The silence of the house seemed louder than normal with darkness coming from the other rooms and just her and Kol. Maggie could hear the hum of the refrigerator and the occasional drop of the ice in the freezer.
Kol approached Maggie without actually looking at her, focusing on her neck and the first aid kit next to her. "Let me have a look," He said.
Reluctantly, Maggie pulled the gauze away, cringing from the blood that was starting to become tacky. She remained still while Kol took the time to clean up the rest of the blood from her neck. He picked up the disinfectant from the kit and Maggie gave a faint hiss from the stinging.
The whole time she watched him. She marveled for how of the Originals he was considered the wreck loose and most impulsive, but he didn't flinch once at the sight and smell of her blood. A thousand years of experiencing bloodlust allowed for it to only control him when he wanted it to.
"It's not deep. It'll close up on its own. It's mostly surface damage, he was either an amateur or not actually trying to kill you," Kol snapped her out of her thoughts with his final assessment.
"Great," Maggie muttered dryly while Kol gathered up the used bandages and threw them in the trash. "Thanks," She added on, at least appreciative of the fact that Kol was taking care of her this far.
Kol closed up the first aid kit and slipped it back under the kitchen sink.
"What did Elijah say?" Maggie's curiosity couldn't keep at bay anymore. She kept glancing to the windows, almost expecting Klaus to show up any moment.
"He's on his way to talk to Niklaus, to see if he can get him to back off," Kol answered her, moving to stand next to her at the island. Her feet dangled off the counter and her hands hung in her lap.
"Do you think it'll work?" Maggie wanted to know the real truth, her eyes searching Kol's expression. Was there really much of a shot of that happening?
Kol pressed his lips together tightly in thought a moment before shaking his head. "Honestly, no," He replied. Look at Katerina, he never stopped chasing her. "But it'll buy some time to get out of here and figure out what to do next."
As soon as Maggie heard no, she clenched her teeth together and started to shake her head. By the time Kol finished talking, she slid off the island counter and her hands knotted in her hair. Kol followed her back into the living room. He could hear her sharp intakes and see the muscles in her shoulders go taunt.
Kol fidgeted uncomfortably while she started to pace in the living room. "I would say it's a little understandable to be upset…" But he really didn't know what else to say, he wasn't good at these things.
Maggie froze and let out a strangled sound, like a bark of a laugh. "Upset?" Her voice rose.
She turned around slowly. Kol didn't see tears running down her cheeks or smell salt in the air. "Upset, no," Maggie grinded out. Her eyes blazed with a poisonous venom. "Now I'm just angry," She declared.
She pulled her hands from her hair, she could see her fingers starting to shake from the adrenaline building in her veins. "I am done crying," She reached her limit, her frustration starting to cloud herself from really seeing Kol in front of her.
"I am so sick of feeling pathetic and weak!" She shouted. Kol took a step back when the vase of flowers on the coffee table was sent across the room before shattering against the opposing wall.
"I am done with feeling sorry for myself," She continued. She grabbed a plant from the bookshelf and a loud shattered reduced it to a pile of ceramic and dirt.
"I am tired of running from death, always running, just to survive!" A swoop of her arms sent the piles of books and papers on the coffee table into the air. "Just to see tomorrow!"
Kol's eyes widened while he took in the sight of the doppelganger starting to trash the room. She smashed the floor lamp against the tall bookshelf.
"Running from walkers!" She threw a grimoire from the shelf, ripping pages in the process. "Running from Klaus!" Another was sent shortly after. "Running from being able to live!"
It was impressive to Kol, seeing this feisty little thing with so much rage and energy. A wicked sort of grin grew on his face as he watched with morbid fascination.
Maggie's hands wrapped around the backing of the bookshelf. "I'm not running anymore," She snarled out while she threw her weight into the action. "This has got to end!"
"I've had enough!" She shouted while the rest of the bookshelf groaned and fell forward, into a cracking mess of ancient texts, broken trinkets and cracking as some of the hinges came loose.
Maggie turned on her heel, her eyes seeking out the next object in her path of destruction. Before she could take a step forward, hands tried to pull her arms down to her sides from behind.
"No!" Maggie screeched, thrashing to get away from the restraint. She threw an elbow back, causing his grip to slip momentarily. "Let go of me!"
Kol got the advantage on her, he pulled her arms down against her sides. Despite that, he still felt her body try to jerk to get away from his, like a wild animal.
Maggie kicked out when she felt herself lifted up in the air briefly. Her human eyes struggled to keep up with the blur of motions, her hands pushed against his shoulders until she felt her back slammed against the wall. Her head jerked back and cracked sharply against the drywall.
It was shocking enough to stun her thoughts and she gasped from it.
Kol mashed his lips against hers before she could recover. His teeth nipped harshly against her lower lip. Her eyes snapped open, seeing that she was pinned by his body against the wall where the bookshelf had been a moment ago.
Her hands on his shoulders balled into a tight fist and she had to use most of her strength to push him off of her.
He only let her because of how fiercely she was fighting him. It was admirable, seeing something so fragile and breakable with such coursing power and energy completely unbefitting of her.
Her hands clutched his shirt, just to turn him around and push Kol back against the wall where she had been. Maggie's eyes fell shut and she tilted her head to the side, pushing his tongue back into his mouth to take control of the situation.
Kol let out a growl from his lips and his hands went to her rear, grasping firmly each cheek as he pulled her up against his body.
Her hands yanked roughly at his shirt, some of the buttons popping before it gave way to exposing his chest.
[Warning: The following scene may not be suitable for all readers due to sexual content.]
Maggie gasped loudly from him grinding up against her and her fingers dug into the back of his scalp. She kept her ankles hooked around him tightly while she felt his hands under her thighs, clutching her tightly to his torso.
Kol pulled his lips away from ravishing hers a moment to look at her. He smirked and then kicked a foot firmly in front of him. The hinge of the door cracked from the strike before the guest bedroom door snapped back and the doorknob caught in the drywall by punching a hole.
Maggie heard the ripping of fabric and felt the chill on her back as Kol walked them into the room, towards the bed she had slept in before.
Kol let her fall back against the comforter of the bed, leaning over her shortly after while his hands removed the remains of the offending tank top from her frame.
Maggie's eyes blazed from the heat of the moment and a shirtless Kol leaning over her. Being hunted by Klaus and everything else fell way to getting what she really wanted and that was Kol. His body settled down over hers, feeling his weight against her hips as she spread her legs for him.
Her hand went to the back of his head, commanding him down for another kiss. She moaned into his mouth, feeling his hands run up her sides while hers got reacquainted with the planes of his chest. A taunting squeeze of her breast and Maggie rolled them over so that she was atop of Kol. She pushed the kiss back into his mouth, still fighting for dominance of the moment.
She pulled his hands from her sides and pressed his wrists down into the comforter to keep them pinned above his head.
Kol growled, figuring what she was doing. He broke the kiss, "I don't think so, darling." She was trying to get him to submit to her, but that wasn't going to happen. He would make sure she submitted to him.
His hands slipped down swiftly to grasp at hers before Maggie could question what he meant. She was rolled over onto her back once more. This time, Kol moved down her body and in a blink she felt her boots removed from her feet.
Then she was on her stomach, her cheek pressed into the blanket. She gasped and panted from the rush of motions. She could feel his hands running up the back of her legs, to her rear and the waist of her jeans. Maggie pushed herself up on all fours, looking of her shoulder and catching a glimpse of his dark and hungry eyes.
One hand kept on the small of her back, keeping her from getting up completely while the other slipped in front. It ran boldly over her heated mound, earning a slight whimper, before her zipper ripped through the air.
A harsh tug on her jeans caused Maggie's knees to slip and she was on her stomach again. Her legs were forced together briefly while Kol pulled her jeans down to her knees before yanking them off completely in one more motion.
"Get on your knees, Margaret," Kol ordered in a husky tone.
Maggie gasped, feeling her hands shaking with excitement. When she took a moment too long for Kol's patience to move, a hand knotted at the back of her head and pulled on her hair. Maggie let out a cry, wincing and arching her head back. Naturally with the action, she rose up to support herself with her hands.
His hand loosened up to slide down her spine, for the moment ignoring her bra. As Maggie slowly followed his order, she heard the yanking of his belt through the loop of jeans. She looked over her shoulder to catch a brief glimpse of his jeans dropping before the mattress dipped as he kneeled behind her.
His hands caught her hips, grasping her firmly and confidently. Maggie briefly felt a tug on the sides of her panties before they ripped too, digging into her skin on the opposite side. Kol tossed the remains of the useless, already soaked fabric away from her body and into the room carelessly.
"Kol…" Maggie wasn't sure if her voice was more of a whimper or beg when she felt his tip rubbing against her, feeling how wet she was and lining himself up against her. "Please," She needed to feel him now, to fill that ache in her core.
Without hesitation, he thrust into her and relished the sound she made in response. He didn't give her a chance to adjust to the feel or size of him before he started to pull out, just to roll back into her.
Maggie's knuckles went white as she clutched the comforter. Kol's fingers dug into her hips, keeping her in place as he took control of her. Her moans and cries were joined by the sounds of slick skin slapping against another. The bed creaked at the hinges and the head boarded butted back into the wall.
She didn't know how long it was or how to describe what she felt. It eventually got to the point each wave of sensation ran into the other. She had trouble discerning from the pleasure of feeling him and the nails that dragged down her back or pulled on her hair. She didn't know when her knees and elbows started shaking so much she had trouble keeping herself up.
Kol pushed her down onto her stomach when she couldn't support herself. He pushed one leg up, bending at her knee. In this position, Maggie's eyes rolled to the back of her head repeatedly at the new sensation. She felt his teeth on her shoulder, not breaking the skin but adding a sharp and jarring sensation to her nerves. His hands wandered constantly over her body while not letting her return the favor.
At least, until he finally decided it was okay to flip her over onto her back, slipping into her in the more traditional position. Maggie's panting complimented the way he grunted into her neck animalistically. Her fingers grasped at his shoulder blades, her sweat mixing in with his while she heard him starting to get close to his finish. Her legs had gone mostly numb from the sensations and her hips screamed, but she didn't want it to stop.
His lips moved to her neck as he felt himself begin to spill into her. She moaned his name into his ear. She could feel his teeth scraping against her skin.
Maggie's eyes shot open when she felt them skin down though. "Kol?!" She cried, feeling the sharp pain from the skin breaking while his hips bucked against hers. "No!" Her pleasure quickly turned into panic. She whimpered from the unnerving pull of blood from her veins before the pain started to go numb.
"You can't, don't!" Her hands slapped against his shoulders, trying to push him off of her. He couldn't drink her blood, not when she was human. Her mind came back with sobering clarity, but the vampire on his ecstasy high wasn't going to move.
She was useless against him. The weight of his body was too much to push him off her. His arms were still trapped around her, bracing himself on his elbows. His hips stopped moving against her while he took several gulps, a humming purr of satisfaction rising from his chest at the taste of her blood and feel of her body.
A rush of lightheadedness hit Maggie. She found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. The bit of energy she used to push against his shoulders, she found extraordinarily draining. Her hands fell back weakly against the mattress when he finally removed his lips from her neck.
"You can't," She murmured over and over, her head lulling from side to side. Her vision closed in on her quickly. She saw the veins under his eyes and the red stain on his lips.
She stayed awake enough to see those veins start to fade and his tongue dart out to lick the remains.
"Tell me, darling," Kol's voice came as a soothing temptation. "Have I won over your heart?"
The thrumming of the strings and the female singer's voice carried through Maggie's memory. She felt the blur of fine gowns and suits dancing around them. She only remembered the way Kol looked at her, tempting her to admit what he already knew in front of all these people.
She felt his hand on her waist and hers clutching to his as they danced. She barely recalled herself responding to his teasing. She repeated her actions and responses in the same precision as they had happened, while her mind was consciously aware of the events repeating themselves.
She still felt the flutters her chest and the way it warmed her to have him looking at her like that. Her feet felt light and carefree in that moment. She listened to the way he declared he intended to hold her affections solely.
When the song came to an end, Maggie stepped back from Kol. He was supposed to place a kiss upon her hand, but instead he pulled her back to him. She caught herself against his chest, her hands running over the fine suit as he kissed her.
She lost herself for a moment in that kiss, the cherished memory. It felt so vivid having his lips, kissing her in a way that he hadn't expressed to her in a long time.
He pulled away from her and whispered tauntingly, "I believe this is the part where you're supposed to slap me."
Maggie's eyes widened with embarrassment and she looked away from Kol, around to the people. She caught glimpses of the other guests. She spotted Stefan Salvatore standing off to the side. She briefly saw Elijah standing and moving to converse with Niklaus, both who had been left without their dates on the dance floor. Rebekah was scoffing and rolling her eyes at how her choreographed dance had fallen apart.
When Maggie looked back to Kol, he was gone. For the first time snapping out of the motions of her memory, Maggie turned around on her heel in a panic at what was going on. Kol was nowhere in sight. She darted around people to try to find them.
It wasn't until a few couples parted ways did she spot him standing near the entry way of the Mikaelson ballroom.
Except, he wasn't wearing his formal suit. He had on a long sleeve shirt and a pair of casual jeans. The same ones that she barely recalled ripping off of him. His hands were in his pockets while he stared at her with an impassive and stern expression.
Before she could say anything, Maggie gave a cry as a searing pain ripped through her skull. Her eyes clenched shut and her hands went to her temples. She fell forward onto her knees. The ground shifted before her, fading from the polished hardwood floor into rough and untreated cement. Her gown disappeared into threads of jeans and a casual shirt.
But she didn't pay it any attention, she was leaning forward with her forehead against the pavement. It felt like the nerves in her brain were exploding in a series of pops.
"Bonnie, don't!" A voice shouted.
There was a brief period of relief, Maggie forced herself to look up through tears of pain. She barely caught the sight of Glenn collapsed on the ground a short distance from her. More importantly, there was the witch standing before her with the cold and unfeeling glare.
The words fell from Maggie's lips with such venom, "You filthy, witch whore, I will rip your -!" The vampire fell to the ground with another scream of pain, clutching her head. Bonnie continued her mental assault, raising her chin with her hands clutched tightly at her sides.
"This is what vampirism does to people, Glenn. It changes them," Bonnie declared darkly while she watched the vampire writhe on the ground. Her spine jerking and twisting, trying to get away from the pain.
Maggie shook and let out strangled cries. Distantly, she could hear Jeremy yelling at Bonnie. "Bonnie, stop!"
"You're killing her!"
Kol ran his hands through his hair repeatedly as he slammed the front door behind him. The morning sunlight was mockingly bright. He had blurred to get his clothes and the hell out of there. He didn't know which way was up anymore.
Everything had spiraled out of control.
He just wanted to know more about her. He was willing to swallow the fact she was Rosemarie's doppelganger. There was a very easy solution to that. She intrigued her with her medium gift. He wanted to know more.
It was because of that, when she was soundly asleep and he lay beside her, he wanted to see what she dreamt of. All he urged from her subconscious was one happy and one defining recent memory from her.
He wasn't prepared in the slightest bit for what he found.
Kol blurred in aggravation towards the Mikaelson mansion while he tried to sort out what he had saw. So many impossible things though.
She was a vampire. But how? She was human. And then his family, all of his siblings were there. Him and her… They were intimate, and not in the toy with your food before eating it type of way. He could see that in his own eyes. He looked at her like she was the fucking world and it made no sense to him.
The human, her ex-lover. How was he alive? How could he possibly know the Bennett witch? Maggie was so torn up about his death, but yet she so clearly despised him in that memory.
Coming up the driveway of the Mikaelson mansion, he noticed that it was full. Apparently all of his siblings were home.
Kol paused at the front door to get his composure. He didn't need his siblings to see how shaken up he was by what he saw. He threw on the indifferent smirk that he had perfected over the years and stepped inside the house.
He could hear the voices from the living room and wandered that direction out of curiosity.
Rebekah was lounging on the sofa with an outdated magazine in her hand. She looked up from it at Kol's arrival. "It's about time you got back," She drawled out in annoyance and then glanced towards her other brother. "I thought for sure the carpet would catch afire from his pacing."
Elijah ignored Rebekah's slant and approached Kol quickly. "How is she?" He pressed anxiously.
Kol just rolled his eyes. "Oh, relax. She's fine." He almost commented on the fact Elijah was wearing the same suit from yesterday, but he couldn't throw any stones with his outfit. "She was sleeping rather soundly when I left," He smirked and moved to step around his brother.
He wanted to head into the kitchen for a well-deserved blood bag.
Kol was about to pass by Elijah's shoulders when he was stopped by a hand against his sternum. Sensing the rising tension, he looked towards Elijah. His head was bowed and he had gone rather still. Kol heard him inhale the air in a few short breaths.
Kol smelled of sweat and other pheromones, but most importantly of all, Elijah could smell Maggie all over him.
"When I asked you to look after her," Elijah's voice dripped formidably as he ran his other hand across his chin. He looked up to Kol slowly, a lethal anger in his eyes. "That was not an invitation to take advantage of her." He could only imagine the emotional state she must have been in.
The smirk slipped off of Kol's face. He shrugged the hand off of his chest and turned to Elijah, going nose to nose to him.
"Funny, the way I see it," Kol taunted darkly. Elijah couldn't believe him, while he was trying to plead for Maggie's safety, that's what happened. "She's not yours to look after."
Kol went and twisted the knife even further with a smug look in his eyes, "In fact, I'm pretty sure it was my name she was moaning over and over –"
Kol's words were choked off by Elijah's hands wrapped around his throat, pushing him back against the wall with a resounding impact.
Rebekah's mouth fell open and she stirred up from the couch, quick to get out of the way from Kol pushing Elijah off of him. She blurred out of the room to dodge them.
The brothers collided into the mantelpiece on the opposite side of the room, cracking the rich stone and intricate patterns.
Elijah's eyes were black with the sort of rage that Kol or Niklaus nearly carried. Kol took a rib cracking punch to the stomach before Elijah caught a jaw dislocating right hook. Both of the Originals recovered quickly enough from the injuries before going in for another strike.
He knew he was angry when Elijah was too preoccupied with striking Kol, he didn't even bother to say or taunt him in any manner. There were just the grunts and snarls shared by each.
The house creaked and groaned. The living room sofa got smashed as collateral before Kol was able to get the upper hand on Elijah, forcing him back against the wall with his hands on his throat.
"You forget your place, Kol," Elijah snapped out, trying to keep his windpipe from being crushed under the force.
"Enough!" Rebekah cried, entering the room again but she went ignored.
"I'm well aware of it, brother," Kol sneered out the word. "It's you that's forgotten who's the better fighter." He moved a hand down from his throat to his stomach, plunging it harshly into the cavity. He couldn't kill Elijah, but he could make him suffer and the hissing cry through his teeth attested to that.
"Stop it, the both of you!" Rebekah shouted, tears filling her eyes at the savage way her brothers went at each other. She expected better from Elijah.
"Listen to me!" She demanded, coming up behind Kol.
Kol's back went rigidly still. Elijah saw the way his eyes widened and felt his hand freeze around his intestine. "Bekah…" Kol murmured warningly, feeling the sharp point against his lower spine.
"No! You listen to me, both of you," Rebekah commanded. "I am sick of these doppelganger whores tearing this family apart." She had seen it too many times with Niklaus and Elijah. She couldn't stand by and do nothing this time with Kol.
"I'm not going to let it happen again," She decided. She would do what it took, even if that included pointing her dagger into Kol's back like right now.
Kol pulled his hand from Elijah's body and moved it against the wall, following by the one from his neck on the other side. He didn't dare move his back though, being forced to stare at Elijah through all of this.
Elijah saw how the fire died immediately in Kol's eyes, reduced to a smothered ember.
"Rebekah…" Elijah looked to his sister, trying to urge her. "Put the dagger down." He had his anger towards Kol, but after everything that had happened to their family, he didn't want to see another sibling in a coffin.
"No," Rebekah demanded stubbornly, knowing she should just do it already.
"Go ahead," Kol spoke up in a dejected and hollow tone. His gaze didn't leave Elijah as he spat out, "After all, that's what this family has been reduced to, hasn't it? Attacking and daggering each other when one sibling doesn't agree with you?"
"Kol…" Despite himself, Elijah saw the hurt and disgust fill his brother's expression. For once, he believed it to be completely genuine too.
"I guess we really are no better than Niklaus," Kol stated with malice, directed more at Rebekah. She had been daggered by him just as much, if not more.
Rebekah faltered, wincing from that implication. The dagger lowered just a bit from his back.
It was enough for Kol. Enough for him to slip out from it and shrug off dismissively the hand Elijah tried to put on his shoulder. Without looking back at either one of his siblings, he left the room.
Kol grabbed a couple of blood bags from the kitchen and a fresh shower. In his room, while changing into some fresh clothes, he rummaged through the drawers of his dresser. He found the old wooden box, which was faded and an antique by today's standards. He was just grateful to still have it.
He opened it, picking through some of the contents before finding what he wanted. It was small and cool to the touch. He slipped it into his pocket before finding a shirt and heading out to find his other brother.
Kol found the Hybrid in the garage of the massive home. He was leaning over the open hood of one the black SUVs.
"I must say, I expected you to have fled halfway to Canada by now," Klaus acknowledged Kol coming into the room, barely glancing up from his work. He thought for sure he would have at least left Mystic Falls after the dagger threat.
"The thought may have crossed my mind," Kol replied coolly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "What are you doing?" He directed the attention to Klaus.
"Just going through my preliminary travel to-do list," Klaus spoke calmly while grabbing a new container of motor oil. "Fill the gasoline tanks. Check the oil. Pack some blood bags. Kill the doppelganger. The usual," He smirked faintly.
A brief snort came from Kol before he went to say, "Then it sounds like you and I have a mutual interest."
Klaus' hands halted for a moment before he shot back, "I think you can figure out how to change your own oil."
Kol frowned at the sass, choosing to correct him seriously, "I'm talking about the doppelganger."
Klaus stopped what he was doing and looked up at Kol from under the hood. "You want to kill the doppelganger?" He repeated dubiously. Kol nodded once. "I have trouble believing that after last night."
Kol let out a pronounced sigh, his gaze wandering away while he admitted casually, "Yes well, that was before I had my fun with her… then Elijah attacked me and Rebekah put a dagger to my back."
Klaus' brows rose in a rather morbidly impressed manner at the second half of his statement.
"So you can see, she's more trouble to me alive than dead," Kol stated.
Klaus stared at his indifferent expression and borderline aggravated glare. He was weighing how legitimate his claim was. The brother, the one with his emotions off, he remembered would be willing to snap the neck of such a troublesome mortal without consulting anyone. The one he saw last night could barely entertain such a conversation. So it left Klaus torn on what exactly he was dealing with.
"And what are you proposing?" Klaus wondered, knowing Kol didn't come out here for idle chit chat or risk being so close to him again after the dagger threat over nothing.
"It's simple, really," Kol shrugged his shoulders. "You back off, no more daggers… in exchange, I'll kill the doppelganger myself."
"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it? That you're going to do this?" Klaus countered dubiously. He also really wanted to get his dagger back, but at least he had three more.
Kol thought it over a moment, pursuing his lips as he did.
He added on, "And I'll send you proof when it's done."
Klaus mulled it over, sizing up his brother and looking for any fracture in his demeanor. Finally, a slow smirk rose up on his face.
Maggie woke with a sharp inhale. The memory of Jeremy shouting and the pain from Bonnie's attack was still fresh in her mind. She turned her head to the side and winced greatly from the action. The muscles in her neck were stiff and it throbbed.
Many parts of her body screamed. Her legs were stiff and tight as well. She felt the sharp, taunt pain in her groin and the back of her thighs from the exertion of the night before. There was a heated throbbing coming from her shoulders, breasts, and neck, particularly when she moved and became acutely aware of the bruising there.
It wasn't quite like the cold reality of realizing she was waking up alone though. The blankets of the bed were in disarray and Maggie had one sheet tucked over her naked and battered body. For several moments, she just laid in the bed, trying to sum the energy to get up and recall the last thing she could remember the night before.
She could still smell Kol on the sheets and felt like his sweat was still dry on her body.
Her head throbbed from the dehydration combined with the dizziness from all the blood loss. Maggie pushed herself up on her side and she cringed when she felt the pillow case sticking to her neck. Looking down at where she had been, she saw the dried blood on the mockingly white cotton.
She touched her neck and hissed from the action, but she could feel the blood caked around where Kol had bitten her.
Maggie moved stiffly and slowly out of the bed. She could tell it was late in the morning, but the house was silent.
She moved around to salvage what she could of her clothes. She found her jeans okay, but her top was another story. Now it was just a cotton rag, thanks to Kol. She would have to raid something out of Lucy's closet in the meantime.
She stepped into the guest bathroom in the hallway. Flicking on the light, Maggie let out a gasp at her own reflection. She looked awful and not lying in the hospital bed under bad florescent lights, but literally awful.
There were two bite marks, one on each side of her neck. She could tell which one was the hybrid's, since it wasn't as clean as Kol's, but Kol's still had dry blood running down from it. Her expression was pale and sickly from the amount of blood loss.
That didn't startle her nearly as much as the amount of bruising. She could see teeth marks all along her shoulders, particularly on her shoulder blades when she turned in the mirror. There were even several on her breasts, some that oddly matched the indentations of fingers. Her neck was the worst and had the heaviest shades of purple, almost wrapping in a complete band around her neck.
She looked… well, like Kol had fucked her thoroughly and nearly bled her dry.
Maggie cringed as that thought came to her mind. "What the hell was I thinking?" She muttered out loud to herself. Why did she have to go and lose her control of her emotions? Better yet, why did she just let him use and abuse her body like that?
The fact he wasn't standing with her now spoke volumes about what it meant to him. He was gone before she even woke up.
Maggie attempted to wash her face a bit, but she found herself getting dizzy from standing too long. Maybe she should eat something first and rest. Later she could wash the rest of her self-respect down the drain in a shower.
She moved on to Lucy's closet after that. She felt bad about going through the witch's possessions, but she didn't have any other options at the moment. She found a white tank top, which hung a little larger on her unnourished frame. Over that, she found a casual green blouse. She buttoned it up half way, leaving the top open before she made her way down the stairs.
Maggie stopped for a moment when she spotted the living room from the main hallway. "Shit," She muttered. Lucy was going to kill her when she sees what Maggie did to her living room. It looked even more trashed in the broad daylight.
The smell of something being cooked caught Maggie's attention. It smelled oddly like butter and eggs. Maggie followed the scent into the kitchen.
To her surprise, the small dinette table was set up with a plate of food already. It didn't stun her as much as seeing Kol standing at the kitchen counter, mixing up some sort of drink or concoction.
Kol looked up at Maggie shuffling into the room with about as much life as a walker.
"Hello darling," He greeted with a smirk, moving to toss the last frying pan that he used into the sink to wash later.
Maggie's mouth hung open and she forgot her manners. "You're okay," She pointed out numbly.
Kol stopped and furrowed his brows oddly at her. "Yes…" He confirmed, glancing around him and wondering if there was a reason he shouldn't be.
"But you…" Maggie reached up and barely touched her neck, gesturing towards the bite.
"Ah, that!" Kol perked up, picking up on her line of thought. He briefly turned back to what he was doing while he spoke, "No worries, I was aware of your peculiar little defense mechanisms before I did that."
"Defense mechanisms?" Maggie repeated with confusion and wandered into the room fully.
"I only had theories about it before, I had never seen a successful doppelganger before you… But I knew it was true when I saw that hybrid drop dead in the Grill last night," Kol explained and then turned back to Maggie.
He paused his explanation to nod towards the plate of food, "Are you hungry?"
"Yes," Maggie responded, feeling her stomach grumble. She moved over towards the table, seeing a plate of toast and what looked like scrambled eggs. "Did you?" She asked in wonder, unable to help checking to make sure the microwave was still intact.
Kol nodded while Maggie took a seat.
Maggie was starting not to feel so bad about waking up alone, especially if he had been downstairs cooking her breakfast.
"Anyway, these defense mechanisms… your inability to be compelled, no doubt so that no vampire can influence your decisions and I'm sure that direct relates to your intolerance for vervain," Kol rattled the first one off in a matter of fact manner while he went back to the drinks he was preparing.
"Your blood has a defense mechanism too, if it's taken unwillingly it's a poison to your attacker. But willingly given, then it's a cure for the werewolf curse…" Kol paused in what he was doing to look over at Maggie with a smirk before adding, "And last night I would say you were quite willing."
Maggie felt what little blood she did have left rush to her cheeks. She buried her attention by picking up the fork and digging into the food. She supposed she never thought of it that way. She had never offered her up her human blood before and last night she had reacted out of fear for Kol when he bit her.
Maggie took several bites of food. It tasted delicious, buttery and flavorful on her senses and her stomach grumbled for more.
"What about Klaus?" Maggie changed the subject abruptly.
"Packing his bags and heading out of Mystic Falls as we speak," Kol declared smugly and grabbed the two glasses from the counter. One was remarkably darker than the others, but still shades of red. The one had a tomato and vodka smell coming from it, the other had a coppery must.
Maggie frowned in thought, wondering how Elijah and Kol had managed to get rid of Klaus.
He walked towards Maggie at the table and held the first one out to her. "Bloody Mary?" He offered with a smirk.
"Really?" Maggie questioned incredulously, especially the irony of a vampire offering her that. She was pretty sure alcohol was the last thing she needed right now.
"I thought you would prefer this over the alternative," Kol said darkly and then took a very pointed sip from the glass of human blood in his right hand.
"Screw it," Maggie muttered and took the glass from him.
Kol moved to take a seat in the chair opposite from Maggie while watching her take a gulp from the glass.
She choked a bit at first before swallowing it down. "It's a little strong," Her voice came out hoarse, covering her mouth.
"Sorry," Kol shrugged unsympathetically. "I've forgotten how weak human tolerances are."
Maggie bit tongue at that comment and took another sip. Once she got past the initial burn, it was actually a pretty good drink. She found herself taking several long gulps between making quick work of her plate of food.
The part that unnerved her was the silent way Kol watched her the entire time. He leaned back in his chair with one arm draped on the back while calming taking sips from his drink.
Something was off, Maggie realized. While the morning breakfast and sticking around for her to wake up was sweet, there was something standoffish about him.
She couldn't get a good read on him either. She hated how well he could mask his thoughts right now.
The longer the silence dragged between them, the more Maggie felt subconscious. Maybe she was being paranoid? Was she expecting too much?
"Kol," Maggie finally said, setting down the fork. The plate was mostly empty and two-thirds of her drink was gone. "About last night…"
"It's funny you should mention that," Kol suddenly snapped out, almost harshly and cutting Maggie off.
He sat upright in his chair, putting both elbows against the table. "I saw the most fascinating dream of yours," He confessed without regret. "I was in it too, dancing with you… at a party that I'm pretty sure that never happened. It was quite strange and a little bit perverse, I might add."
Maggie felt her stomach knot uncomfortably, especially with the food she just ate. But she didn't tear her eyes away from Kol for a moment. If she went any paler, she would pass out.
She knew what real horror was then and there, realizing he had been inside her head and could have seen any number of things. Dancing at a party? Which time? There were several and many implications.
Maggie shook her head. "I don't know, it was just a dream…" She said weakly. Right? People had crazy dreams all the time, that doesn't mean it had mean anything.
Kol stared at Maggie long and hard.
While her expression didn't give away much, her heart rate betrayed her. "See, the remarkable thing about being a vampire for a thousand years is not only can I tell when you are lying…" Kol proceed with a low and ominous tone, briefly glancing at the glass of blood in front of him.
He looked back up at Maggie pointedly before nearly hissing, "I can also tell the difference between a dream… and a memory."
Kol rose up to his feet, pushing the chair back.
Maggie rose up quickly, matching his movements. Her heart fell and she felt like she had been caught in the headlights of a fast approaching vehicle. "Kol, wait…" She struggled to begin while Kol closed the distance between them.
"How could you have been a vampire? How did I see someone who is dead already?!" Kol's voice rose, almost into a shout, thinking about all the impossible things he had witnessed in those two short memories.
"Kol, wait, let me explain," Maggie's words became choked as Kol descended upon her. He wrapped one hand around her neck easily. Her hands pulled at his wrist helpless.
"Quick!" He barked at her. "I've given you enough chances." He couldn't take any more of her lies. He felt his rage building up, coursing like acid through his veins.
Maggie gasped, struggling to get a decent breath of air. She rose up on her toes, to match the way his hand pulled her up. "You turned me!" She cried out.
"Impossible!" Kol snarled, giving her a violent shake in the process. They had never met before! Not since that day in Chicago, it couldn't be true. She was still lying to him.
"I swear!" Maggie's nails dug in vain into his wrist. For once, she was truly afraid of those black eyes staring down at her. She could already see the veins starting to move under his eyes and the fangs seemed more pronounced than ever.
"You turned me," Maggie tried to plead the truth with him. "Then I died, but then I came –"
Crack!
Kol had enough. He could listen to this woman try to deceive him any further. Before he could think better of it or control him, his wrist gave a twitch.
That was all the fragile human neck needed before it broke. Maggie's words were silenced in an instant. Her head was left twisted an awkward angle in his grasp. Her eyes were still open, wide with the terror he had instilled in her in her last moment.
Kol let go of her abruptly, almost as if she had shocked him.
Truthfully, he hadn't meant to kill her so soon. But these damn emotions, they were getting the best of him lately.
Her body dropped to the ground with an unceremonious thud. He stared down at her crumpled form. Her head twisted in a way it shouldn't have been. His bite mark was exposed obviously to the sunlight and the bruising accented the dry blood around it.
She had lied to him so many times and he still didn't know the truth.
Kol took a few deep breaths to calm him down. He quickly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He didn't take his eyes off Maggie while he pressed the call button.
The phone was answered on the first ring. "Kol? Where are you?" Elijah's voice came filled with concern.
"Elijah," Kol said flatly. "Is Nik with you?"
There was a scuffle noise and a couple of hushed voices on the other side. "Right here, Kol," Klaus' answered for him. His voice was muffled. Kol could tell he was likely standing in the same room while Elijah held the phone.
Kol declared in a voice lacking emotion, "The doppelganger is dead."
Author's Note: Uh oh, Maggie's dead.
But is she dead dead? And how did she get vampire blood? ;) Can you figure it out?
I'm really curious to hear what you guys think Kol's motivations are and where you think his head is at!
Anyway, this is the longest chapter I've ever written and there's a lot going on so you all better take some time to leave a review and tell me what you think, hahah!
Review responses –
M: You wanted more steam this chapter, you got it. ;D
Ellie: I'm glad you liked that make out scene, let me know what you think of the ones from this chapter. There wasn't a whole lot left to the Georgia trip, I hope the rest the chapter makes up for that.
Kellie: I'm not sure if you saw my post on Tumblr but that comment on Maggie totally cracked me up! And yeah I think you are kinda right. I'm hoping with IRR it shows that Maggie has matured a bit since then and she's a little more human in this one. She's just been put in a really crappy situation.
Guest: I know how you feel! Sometimes I just want to push them towards each other and tell them to kiss and make up. But they have a lot of hurdles to overcome.
Anyway I love the reviews! Thank you for all the wonderful feedback. I do take it to heart and I hope it shows in my writing. Keep it up, love you guys!