A/N: I feel a little guilty about how long this has taken, but I feel even more guilty that the sequel I've been talking up is pretty dead in the water not halfway through. I have, however, been trying to improve my writing and working on a bunch of original stuff, which has taken up my time for the last month or so. While that's going well, I'm afraid that my fanfiction has taken a major backseat. Anyway, have fun with this little chapter. It's short, and it's not necessarily action packed, but, upon editing, I realized it does do something to move the story forward. Fair warning, only two more after this one!

Chapter 10

There was quite the crowd in the Mikaelson sitting room. A war council as Caroline liked to call it, even if most of the participants weren't particularly interested in the drama unfolding in the supernatural world of the Big Easy.

Klaus was sprawled across one of the sofas, more interested in his sketchpad than he was in debrief he was getting from his generals. Kol was grinning wickedly and Caroline knew the look had more to do with causing mischief (usually involving flirting with her to annoy his brother) than actually caring about the war they were in the midst of. Rebekah was gazing out of the window into the darkness, clearly bored. Even Elijah was more concerned with flipping through ancient manuscripts than listening to what Marcel, Davina, and Hayley were elaborating on in turns. And Caroline herself found that she was more interested in watching the Original siblings than she was in figuring out what exactly the problem was.

Silas, Josh (the young vampire who seemed to follow Davina around like he was her bodyguard when it was probably the other way around) and Jesse were present as well, and all looked about as interested in the goings on as the Mikaelsons were. Silas kept looking between Klaus and Caroline wearing an unreadable expression that she'd come to associate with plotting on both him and his doppelganger. Josh looked terrified and never took his gaze off of Klaus (who he probably saw as the biggest threat in the room). Jesse was unashamedly flipping through one of his textbooks, definitely doing homework and not listening to the meeting at all.

"The witches are concerned," Davina stated simply. "Nothing has happened, things have been quiet, and by their calculations, Klaus should be on a killing spree after having been stuck as a wolf for over a month." She looked at everyone challengingly, finding that even Camille, who'd been flitting nervously between the kitchen and the meeting, wasn't really listening. "They're going to do something drastic. And soon."

"Let them," Klaus replied flippantly.

"What? Are you close to a breakthrough?" Marcel asked. "Because last I checked, you were still a wolf during the daytime and your little girlfriend is busy gallivanting doing everything but breaking this curse. She's not the one, Klaus. If it hasn't worked yet, it's not going to just suddenly work now."

"It hasn't worked because they haven't had sex," Silas announced bluntly. His statement set off a series of blushes, mostly from the younger people around the room.

"Of course they haven't," Jesse grumbled. "Can you blame her?" he gestured at Caroline. "I mean, he's a total dick most days, and from what I've heard, there's a lot of shit they need to work out before she can admit she likes him, let alone do the dirty so that he can go back to his murdering, massacring ways. My vote is for Care to take her goddamn time."

"And the longer the witches remain ignorant of her presence, the longer Caroline remains safe," Kol informed them, uncharacteristically serious. "I can understand why Nik is reluctant to force the matter. Her safety is more important to him than the bloody curse."

"The wolves—" Hayley started only to be cut off by Rebekah.

"Are the least of our concerns," the blonde stated unkindly. "Each day toward the next full moon brings us a day closer to the return of our mother, father, and Finn, all of whom want us very dead and actually have the power to bring that about. Should that happen, it's not likely any of the rest of you would survive. Nik's death would take Marcel, Caroline, Josh and Hayley with him, and the rest of you would be seen as complicit to our horrors. If Esther and Mikael didn't kill you, the witches would."

"By which, Rebekah means that our first priority is stopping the next month's resurrection ritual," Elijah punctuated. "Anything else is peripheral and this meeting is adjourned."

"Thank Christ," Jesse grumbled. "If it's not my idiot brother, it's these stupid meetings."

"What does she mean, Klaus' death would kill you and the others," Camille asked Caroline as the meeting scattered.

"The death of an Original kills their whole line. Any vampire they've sired and any those vampires have sired, down to the youngest baby vamp out there," Caroline explained. "Some of my friends killed their brother Finn a while back, and then watched as vampires we knew as his direct and indirect descendants died only an hour later. Klaus turned Marcel and Josh, my line starts with him, apparently, and his blood made the child that made Hayley. It stands to reason that the girl was his line and not an Original since Hayley's still alive."

"What about your line? Why is it only apparently?" Camille was clearly interested, so Caroline couldn't help but answer.

"I had the blood of a man named Damon Salvatore in my system when I died. He, in turn, was created by Katherine Pierce. She had the blood of a vampire named Rose to turn her. Rose was made by a crazy old vampire named Mary Porter. After finding out the Finn thing, my friends went to see who we descended from, not that it mattered to me. My boyfriend at the time was one of Klaus' hybrids, so I couldn't want him dead. Kol killed Mary before they could ask her, mostly to keep us in the dark, but all signs point to Klaus turning her. Klaus admitted to it, Rebekah just insisted on it, Elijah didn't contest it, and Kol has been dead." She shrugged. "Klaus Killing as a sport really went out five years ago. And I was never a fan anyway."

Rebekah was still in the room, listening closely to their conversation, watching along in interest. Caroline chose to ignore this as Cammi asked her next question. "Do you ever regret turning?" she switched topics abruptly.

Caroline laughed at the question. "You didn't know me before. No one here did, actually, now that I think about it, but trust me, I'm better like this. My friends thought I was going to be the worst kind of person to become a vampire, when, it turns out, I'm one of the best. Being a vampire may amplify everything, but the insecure girl that I was, she strangely became a strong, confident woman as I became a vampire."

"Thinking about becoming a vampire, Cammi?" Rebekah asked in her taunting voice. Caroline suppressed an eye roll, mostly because she didn't think the Original Mean Girl was in a giving mood and Caroline was against dying again.

"What? No!" Camille countered.

"Shame," Rebekah stated lazily. "Killing you sounded like so much fun."

Caroline wanted to snap something back at Rebekah, but really she knew she shouldn't. Klaus loved his siblings, especially Rebekah, and Caroline recognized that if she was going to spend an eternity by Klaus' side, she'd have to make an effort to get along with his siblings. Elijah was pleasant enough, and Kol was fine if kept well enough entertained. It was Rebekah that was proving a problem.

"I'm sure it would be a lot less fun than you think," Caroline told her. "You already hate me. Why would you make my replacement immortal too?"

"She wasn't a very good replacement if you're here too," Rebekah pointed out.

"I never said Klaus was good at picking girls to forget me with. I'm just saying he's pretty obvious about his type," Caroline replied.

"Oh, I missed this good-natured jibing between us." Rebekah smiled the predatory smile Caroline was coming to associate with the Mikaelsons. "Agreeing with you has been so disagreeable."

"Why? Because I actually have good ideas?" Caroline scoffed. "The Mystic Falls crash course in being a supernatural requires a high stakes test in plotting and scheming before completion."

Rebekah watched in amusement as Cammi blinked in confusion. "Tell her, Caroline. Tell her all about the Mystic Falls Academy for Young Vampires, Werewolves and Witches. And don't forget to mention the final exams."

"What's she talking about?" Camille asked.

"In Mystic Falls, you either learn the most byzantine plotting skills imaginable, or you die horrifically, painfully, and repeatedly. Bonus points if it's your own parent on the Founder's Council trying to get you killed." Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Oh, that's not fair," Rebekah pouted. "I was daggered and undaggered more times in that godforsaken town than I was in most centuries. Usually to amuse Nik."

"He really needs to work on his sense of humor," Caroline agreed. "I never had any siblings. How am I supposed to learn what that's like if he goes and daggers you guys all the time?"

"You don't want to be sisters, do you?" Rebekah looked at her in disgust.

"Want? No, not really. But there's only two ways this goes: I break this curse and I'm with your brother for the rest of my unnaturally long life, and we're forced to deal with one another; or, I fail and probably I end up dead or pulling a Katherine."

"I don't think Nik would hunt you down," Rebekah admitted quietly. "I don't think he would kill you because you couldn't fall in love with him."

Caroline wasn't as sure as she was, but she didn't say that. "Well, in the event that you and I are forced to share company for all eternity, I'd really rather this not be like the last Thanksgiving my parents were married for the rest of time."

"It can't have been worse than my parents' marriage," Rebekah shrugged lightly.

"My dad was gay," Caroline responded. "My mom was Sheriff. To say things were frosty would be an understatement. Guns and Jim Beam do not mix."

"I feel like I'm watching the world's highest stakes game of tennis." Camille looked more than a little terrified.

"Mean Girls. You're watching Mean Girls," Caroline groaned. "God, I'm Regina, aren't I?"

"That's conceited," Rebekah scoffed.

"I cast myself as the villain," Caroline scowled at her. "You're just jealous because you're Gretchen Wieners."

Camille, at least, laughed at that. "I wouldn't laugh at that," Rebekah countered. "You're Karen." Caroline laughed at that. "The real question is: who is that tramp who's the heroine of the movie?"

"No, the real question is: why do you two hate each other?" Camille asked.

Caroline figured she'd let Rebekah field this one. "She was complicit in Kol's death," Rebekah announced after a few moments thought.

"I was complicit in Kol's death? I didn't find out it happened until after the fact. Probably because everyone knew that if I had known the plan, I would have shot it down. Quickly. Because I would have been Klaus' distraction once again. And I probably would have told him the plan. Instead, I was consoling my grieving boyfriend because Klaus had just killed his mother." Caroline shook her head. "You're just feeling guilty because in your desperation for the cure, you were more responsible for his death than I was."

It was Rebekah's turn to scoff.

"Plus, you were jealous. You wanted everything I had. Or, everything you thought I had," Caroline pointed out. "Perfect life as a normal girl. Do you know how much work it was? Being perfect? Insecure, neurotic, control freak. That's what I do. I plan and I control until everything goes my way."

"I thought I made it clear we weren't going to have a moment," Rebekah retreated back inside herself.

Camille chuckled darkly. "You are the one who stuck around to torment us. I think you wanted the moment."

"Doubtful," Rebekah sneered at them. "Try to remember you're only alive because you're not worth the trouble of me killing you."

"And none for Gretchen Wieners," Caroline muttered darkly as Rebekah sauntered off.

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