Thanks for reading. I'm an idiot and started posting another Bonenzo fic, too, but I'm almost done with this one here. Not that there's much interest here, clearly. But hey.
...
As she was walking over the open field before the city, past the deserted camp, Bonnie's skin began to prickle. Stefan shot her a glance that she answered with a brief solemn stare before they continued on. A little to the side of the camp, the man they had all heard and seen before stood waiting, his large troop of soldiers visible in the back. As they got closer, Alaric tapped her shoulder, nodding.
"That's Elijah. And there's Julian. I don't think I've meet either of the others."
You better hurry this up. We have a problem here, Enzo piped up, setting her nerves on edge. She had hoped by now the situation would already have been deescalated.
I'm trying…
They both were.
Right then, Commander Salvatore bridged the remaining distance extending an arm for a greeting. But neither of the Zoners took the offer.
Clearing his throat, he went on to introduce himself, then the others. "I hope we can come to a peaceful agreement," he said, making Elijah smirk.
"I think we might be past that. After what you did, there's nothing you could offer us aside from leaving us your city for the taking." Elijah's grin widened as Stefan raised an eyebrow.
"We can't do that."
"Then, I believe, there's no need to continue this parlay.
Bonnie scoffed disbelievingly. Pushing past Stefan, she walked closer toward Elijah, raising her chin to stare at him with disdain. "After what we did?" she repeated with a challenging tone, her frustration growing. "You went on a crusade to go and steal all remaining Eternal metal. If you hadn't threatened us, we could have examined the site at the Black Ruins more thoroughly and it would have never come as far as it did."
Elijah's gaze rested on Bonnie's stomach instead of her face, irking her, but she forced herself to remain calm.
"You have the audacity to accuse me of aiding in your blunder?" he asked, scoffing. "The metal is not yours for the taking; it never was."
"You're right. It wasn't. Neither was it yours, though. It's no ones, which is why we wanted to destroy it." She paused, sighing. "Elijah, listen." She was going to try a different route, hoping for him to be a rational leader. "The metal is dangerous. For all of us. Let's work together to rid the world of it. We can help you rebuild what was lost—"
He snorted, a mixture of grim amusement on his face. But it was the young woman beside him that spoke. "Rebuild?" she hissed. "We lost lives. People. Those can't be rebuild."
"Katherine." Elijah shook his head at her, and she fell silent. As Bonnie's gaze met Katherine's briefly, she felt a pang and looked down. There was nothing she could say to that. Katherine was right, of course. Both sides had lost so many lives. Rebekah hadn't come home. Tyler. So many others.
Beside Bonnie, Stefan straightened his shoulders, laying a hand on her arm right when she wanted to try and say something, anything to not let the silence take over.
"We are sorry," he said, surprising Bonnie. Wasn't that too much of an admission that they had done something wrong? Had they done something wrong? Looking from Stefan to Elijah, she noticed something passing between them, maybe a hint of respect, she wasn't quite sure, but it gave her hope.
"We can't bring back the dead. We can, however, work on not adding to that number. Alaric." Stefan nodded over to Alaric, who looked at him with an alert expression. "I'm sure we could set up a kind of task force with members of each faction to investigate what really happened at the Black Ruins?"
"Definitely," Alaric was quick to agree, nodding. "I'm sure Julian would like to be part of—"
"Of course we'll leave it to you who you'd like to put on that team," Stefan spoke over him, inclining his head to bow to Elijah. The Neutral Zoners' leader nodded at him, opening his mouth to reply.
"That's all fair and well. But not enough. Give us those former Eternals, too, and maybe we have a deal."
"You know we can't do that. These people are our guests."
"Why don't you let them decide for themselves, then?" Elijah was grinning, and Bonnie had to grit her teeth. The man was smart. He knew they couldn't possibly do that. That at this very moment, despite the truce and everything she and Enzo had accomplished together, the Silveren within Mystic Falls's walls weren't free. And that peace was incredibly fragile because of it.
Stepping forward, her gaze locked on Elijah's. "They can make their decision. But not while they're still in our city. Not while you are still at our doorstep with an army, threatening to storm us. If you back off, send your troops away, I can assure you we will let the Silveren leave and contemplate your offer. However, we will still advise them against it. And we will still continue on our mission to destroy all Eternal metal. If you are not going to support us there, fine. But don't stand in our way…"
"Bonnie." Stefan's tone was cold, anger discernible in his features as he now grabbed her arm to stop her from saying any more. She was a little surprised he had let her speak for so long to begin with. His mission was much more diplomatic than hers. She just needed to deflect Elijah's attention from the city, from the dangerous standoff that was happening around Enzo at this very moment. If the Zoners got so much of a whiff of it, they could rush over to try and help the Silveren from the outside, and then…
Suddenly, a loud yelling sound came from somewhere behind the hills, and they all turned their heads to look, hands going for their weapons.
Elijah hissed, glaring at Bonnie. "If that is you trying to ambush us, Golden, let me tell you now that I don't care that you are pregnant. Warrior is warrior, and I will fight you as such if you don't call your people off." With that, he pulled his sword on her, which she quickly evaded by stepping back, baring her teeth in an angry grin.
"This is not us," she said, holding her dagger at the ready, her feet in a fighting stance as she faced both Elijah and Katherine.
Somewhere to her side, Stefan and the General who had been rather silent until then, readied themselves for a potential fight, too. "Please," Stefan was saying, raising one arm appeasingly, "We can still talk about this…"
Bonnie, however, wasn't so sure anymore.
When she looked around, she saw some of the Zoners at the city gates, banging against it from one side, while Silveren were trying to open it from inside. Shots were fired, and suddenly, the world turned completely wild.
She had no idea any more what was happening. She saw the Silveren as if she was in their midst. Saw Klaus trying to keep them away while at the same time telling his fellow guards to not shoot! Not shoot. She felt the heat of too many bodies pressing against her from all sides, but it wasn't her. It wasn't her this was happening to. It was Enzo.
Enzo!
You gotta get out of there, Bonnie—
Then she was back, back out in the open, her dagger barely deflecting the attack of Katherine's baton as she whirled around, ducking to the ground.
More Zoners were trying to get to the gates. Elijah was grinning, yelling something. Alaric tried pushing Bonnie away, trying in his own way to protect her.
"Come on, kid," he hissed, "we gotta get you out of this mess. Abby will be livid if she hears you were even out here in the first place..."
"I'm fine," she countered angrily, trying to push him off and failing.
Alaric shook his head. "And Enzo will kill me if I let anything happen to you. It cost me too damn much to get that kid back in one piece for you, I'm not gonna let you be stupid now."
With that, he manhandled her away, while they heard the sound of a hundred or more hooves shaking the earth, making them all stop in their tracks and stare as a wall of dust and ashes came down the hills like an avalanche, rolling into the valley Mystic Falls was built into.
It couldn't be their reinforcements yet, Bonnie knew that much. It was days before anyone would reach them.
"What the hell," it escaped Alaric, then he pointed, one arm still wrapped around Bonnie, but she didn't even fight him anymore. They had lost sight of Stefan and his people, only saw glimpses of Elijah and Katherine a little further away, all of them staring half shocked, half awed at the approaching number of riders on horses, spearheaded by something fast and blazing.
Someone.
…
From up above on the hills, Rebekah had a good glimpse of the valley below in which Mystic Falls lay nestled like a giant bird's egg. But what had once been a seemingly great defense for the city, now showed its weaker side. The Golden capital was surrounded by enemy forces, like a cauldron everyone wanted to dip into, and now here she was, staring down at it all, exchanging an awed glance with Tyler.
"Look."
Her gaze wandered toward where Qetsiyah beside her was pointing, and she clutched at her horse's reins a little harder when she saw what the warrior woman meant.
A tumultuous looking situation over by the city's gates, a group of people pushing into it from outside, Zoners by the looks of them, then others pulling from inside. To open the doors to the enemy troops.
"That's ours…" Tyler's voice was small, and Rebekah knew all too well how he felt. Her throat was tightening, her fists clenching around the bridles until her fingernails dug into her palms. Her people were really trying to help the enemy? How the hell could it have come so far after everything they had accomplished in the last year?
"We gotta stop this," she said, raising her chin, taking a deep breath to fill her lungs with the cool fall air. There was still a faint smell of ash, even this far from the Black Ruins, but maybe it had settled in her hair, in her pores and she had brought it here. It didn't matter.
"How." Tyler gave her a look, shaking his head. It was so obvious that he had no idea what to do, that he'd rather be anywhere but here.
Shrugging, she said, "I don't know. Get down there, ride into them, I don't care. We cannot let them do this. They'll all get killed. And over what?"
The longer she looked at him, as if he had an actual answer for her, she watched something transform in him. It started behind his eyes, like a flicker of light in the darkness, then his body tensed, his shoulders squaring.
"You are the risen," Qetsiyah told him, looking to him as if even she, the proud forester warrior, was waiting for his signal.
You can do it, Tyler, Rebekah thought but didn't say, and then he nodded at her, just a brief jerk of his chin, and dug his heels into his horse's flanks. For a moment, she sat watching him, not sure what she should do, what any of them should do, but when she moved to get her horse to follow, Qetsiyah held out a hand to stop Rebekah, stop her own people, too.
"What the hell?!" Rebekah whirled to glare at her mentor, and tried to shove her arm out of the way as Qetsiyah implored her to "Wait."
A shuddering breath escaped her but something in the other woman's demeanor did make her stop and follow her gaze, the jerk of her chin. Then they watched as Tyler made his way down the slope, straight toward the entrance of the city, then stopped a good few hundred feet away from it, his horse whinnying as he reined it in with a yell, then raised his left arm, his weapon arm high.
"Stop!" he yelled, having the attention of them all for a moment before the people began moving again, began pushing and shoving at the gates.
Someone called out to them, encouraging them to continue, and even from where she stood waiting, Rebekah could see that it was Elijah.
"Keep going! Let us in and you can all have your powers back, your Eternal status. You can be whole again! Not live in tents and serve those that call themselves your allies."
Rebekah looked at Qetsiyah again, growing nervous. Her braids flew as she turned her head, glaring between the scene down below and the forester beside her.
"We gotta do something. Help Tyler. He can't do this alone."
"He is not alone."
Rebekah scoffed, rolling her eyes. As much as she loved and respected the older woman, sometimes she felt the deep urge to slap her so she would talk some sense. And stop being so enigmatic about everything.
"I get it," she hissed. "You think he's the risen, here to save us all, but he's just one guy! Against so many more. We need to get down there and try to clear the gates."
"Give it time, Captain's daughter. Wait…"
Huffing, Rebekah forced herself to do just that. If only for another minute or so. Down there, not too far away, Tyler was holding up his arm, weapon attached, gleaming so bright like she had never seen any Eternal Weapon gleam before.
"Don't listen to him," he now yelled, staring hard at the people inside, their people, while a few of the Zoners slowly started to close in on him.
"Why would they?" Elijah, who had appeared out of nowhere, stepped before him, looking up. Rebekah couldn't see his features too well from where she was, but she assumed he had a grin on his face. His tone was condescending. "You already got what they want. You got your powers back, didn't you? Why won't you let them have theirs, too?"
Tyler shook his head, pulling down the collar of his shirt with his free hand. His blazing arm, his weapon - so bright they could all see it from a mile away - was only part of the truth of course. Rebekah knew that. Elijah too. But their people needed to see, to be reminded.
His shoulder was burning just as bright, the spot where the sheen connected under his clavicles visible now as he grinned humorlessly at Elijah and his people.
Abruptly, the commotion seemed to slow down as the people within the city walls froze, and Rebekah up on her horse felt a cold ripple across her body. Giving Qetsiyah one last look, she saw the woman nod, then she sped down, dust flying up where her horse was going, and she rode as fast as she could until she arrived right by Tyler's side.
"Captain's daughter," some hissed, a murmur spreading, and when she got close enough, she saw Elijah look at her with something like amused resignation.
"You?"
She raised an eyebrow, shooting him one dismissive glance before she focused on Tyler. With one arm she reached out to touch him, make him let go of his collar. She smiled, nodding her head, then turned to look over to where Qetsiyah was still waiting, and waved.
Tyler sighed, following her gaze briefly. Then he turned to look at their people, asking with a tone so weary that it made Rebekah's heart ache, "Do you really want this back? This?! Don't you remember the pain? What it did to you, to the others? If you honestly want this back, fine. I'll find a way. But this is not it. You're ruining the peace. And I'm done with war. - Aren't you?"
As he said it, a loud noise crescendoed behind them all, making everyone turn their heads once again. Shocked faces stared at the oncoming cloud of dust and horses as hundreds of foresters followed Qetsiyah down the slope until they all reached Rebekah and Tyler in the middle of the commotion by the gates, the Zoners quickly backing away a few feet to make room for the bucking animals.
Above their heads, Rebekah stared over at the gates, her heart skipping a beat when her gaze locked on Enzo's.
He was alive.
A fleeting smile crossed her features, mirrored by his, then her gaze wandered over a shocked looking Caroline beside him, to a grim Klaus, and back to Tyler.
"Here with you," she muttered, leaning in slightly, and he half snorted.
"I have no idea what I'm doing…"
"Sounds good enough to me."
A genuine smile played across his features for the briefest of moments. Then Silas behind the gates seemed to be the first to focus back on Tyler, and he jolted them back with a hissed, "This is easy enough for you to say."
Rebekah could see her brother try to push past the man, her throat clenching as she saw him.
"It's not freaking easy," Tyler's angered voice rang out as he hopped off his horse, despite his previous words looking rather determined and sure of himself as he did, and Rebekah couldn't help but feel strangely proud of him as he took a few steps, seemingly not at all intimidated by the Zoners, by anyone. And strangely, no one dared get to him, either. Maybe they were afraid. Maybe in awe…
...
"You want this?" Tyler continued, holding out his arm, "I'd give it to you if I could. Hell, I'll cut into you with this weapon right now if you really want. All you have to do is put your arms out through the gate. No need to open it. - So?" He had found Silas in the crowd and was zoning in on the man. "You wanna go first?"
Everyone seemed to be looking at the man for a reaction, Zoners, Silveren, and Golden alike.
"It's a trick," Silas said, backing away slightly, while Elijah appeared on the other side of the gate, stepping closer and closer to where Tyler and Rebekah stood.
Tyler whirled around and grinned at the man, who squinted at him, drawing his weapon. "I'm not afraid of you, Eternal, and neither are these people. They want more than just the old powers back. They're done living like refugees. Can you give them back their stable homes, too? Because I can."
Tyler chuckled, though this was far from amusing. In fact, he was damn tired of it all. He didn't even really have a clue what he was doing here. But people counted on him, for whatever reason even believed in him. The forester clans counted on him, Qetsiyah, even Rebekah, and so he squared his shoulders once more, accepting the role of the mysterious Risen as if he knew what it was all about.
Keep these people from fighting, from destroying all chances of peace. He could do that, right?
"Why would anyone believe you?" he thus asked Elijah, raising his chin as he stared at the man with a now cocky grin. "Did you also tell them that you tried to keep us locked up so you could get the location of more Eternal metal out of us? So you could experiment on us and later-on on them, too, to create an army of your own Eternals? That doesn't exactly sound very peaceful to me…"
Elijah huffed, wiping his brow with one hand before looking back up at Tyler.
"And you? You brought an army of your own, didn't you? What for if not to fight?
As he shook his head, Tyler's gaze wandered over the crowd, briefly landing on Caroline, Caroline behind the gates, pressed against Klaus Mikaelson in a rather intimate way, next to her Enzo, all of them alive, all of them trapped between two sides. An ache spread inside of him at seeing Caroline there, still looking exactly like before, her hair coming undone, her cheeks flushed, eyes wide and full of a panicked anticipation. He still loved her, he always would, but he realized right then that his feelings had shifted somehow just like hers seemed to have done. They were both free of each other now...
Smiling, he turned to face Elijah again, then searched the crowd for someone else. Listening inside as best as he could, he tried to think a name, not knowing how it really worked.
Dell?
Risen, this is not our fight.
I know. But it is mine. And I could use some help.
Out of the shadows of the foresters, the tall gleaming woman approached him then, her fellow Blazing by her side. She stood proud, towering above most of them, but she looked at Tyler as if for guidance.
Gasps could be heard everywhere, people raised their weapons, but he waved at them, extending both arms. "These people have lived by the Eternal sources for centuries. We can't just keep destroying them, and we can't raid them either. It's their place to be and not ours. It's—"
…
Caroline never heard the rest of Tyler's words, because as soon as those blazing, gleaming creatures appeared, a ripple went through the crowd on either side of the gate, and she briefly saw Elijah give his people a sign.
Then all hell broke loose and everyone began running in different directions, panicked faces looking to the strangers as if they were devils. But all she could do was stare in awe, her thoughts going a mile a minute as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that there were people out there that had survived with what looked like a tremendous amount of nanobots in their bodies.
That Tyler had survived, and was still walking around even though his entire arm and shoulder were infected with bots, too.
That Rebekah was alive, too, and Qetsiyah. And a horde of foresters was sitting on horses right outside the city, staring on as the Zoners rather abruptly turned away, as if completely forgetting why they had come out here in the first place.
It was bizarre. But she didn't care. All she cared about was that there was a technological mystery for her to figure out, and that her people at the gates were beginning to lay down their make shift weapons, talking among each other with awe in their eyes.
"Freaky," Klaus muttered, standing close to her, one arm still draped across her, though a lot of tension had left his body. Then he gave her an odd look, and she frowned at him briefly, only half paying attention when he suddenly asked, "So, now that he's back…" He trailed off, looking rather self-conscious, and it took her a minute to put two and two together.
"Tyler?"
"Will I have to ask him to duel?" He made her smile. Her hands found his jacket lapels, pulling him closer. She rolled her eyes at him.
"You think I'm just gonna dump you now, Klaus Mikaelson?"
"Not if you're smart..."
Shaking her head, she didn't let him continue. "Tyler and I… I'll always have a spot in my heart for him, I'll always love him, but… I've moved on, and I think so has he…"
Klaus's eyes widened, a half smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Caroline Forbes, you are indeed a smart woman."
She leaned closer, her lips almost grazing his. "Uh huh…"
...
"They're leaving," Alaric stupidly noted, while Bonnie was still slapping his hands away, and finally, he let go of her completely. Angrily, she stomped away with a last glare in his direction.
"Not because of anything we did," she hissed, but he didn't seem to pay much attention to her upset tone. With an offhanded nod, he walked after her in the opposite direction of most everyone else, making their way through the receding crowd.
Rebekah and Tyler were back. They had seen it with their own eyes, and Bonnie wasn't sure what to feel about the entrance they had made.
What the hell was that? she asked Enzo, but he didn't have any answers for her. His excitement over his sister's return washed over to her in a wave, and her own chest tightened with emotions.
She's… really here. She's alive, he said, and all she did was nod, as if forgetting that he couldn't see her.
But he could, couldn't he? Right there were the gates, becoming visible ahead as almost all Zoners had cleared the area right around them, and his smile was the most beautiful thing she had seen all day.
You okay, love? I was worried about you…
Bonnie was about to reply when she spotted Elijah just a few feet away, accompanied by Julian and Katherine. Following a sudden impulse, she jogged over to Zoner leader, roughly grabbing his shoulder, making him whirl around, sword coming dangerously close to her throat.
What the hell are you doing, Bonnie? Enzo sounded alarmed. Shutting him out, she focused on the grim looking man before her.
"What do you want?" he challenged, his sword still at her throat, and she could feel Enzo's concern grow, could hear Alaric behind her say, "Please, drop the weapon. We're not here to attack you. Right, Bonnie?"
She grinned at Elijah, shaking her head as much as the tip of his sword allowed. For some reason, she was not afraid.
Elijah eyed her warily, his second in command close by his side, urging him to go on.
"You're afraid of these… gleaming people," Bonnie noted, "Why?"
He scoffed, but didn't answer.
"Why," she repeated, squinting at him with suspicion.
"There are legends. When the sun walks the earth again, the end will be near for all that get close enough to get burned," he told her, his face way too earnest, "Run - before you get burned, too…"
With that, he turned away, nodding to Katherine and Julian by his side, ready to walk away, following their people. Julian exchanged a glance with Alaric, a wry expression curling his mouth.
"You should leave, too," he advised them, making both Bonnie and Alaric frown.
"Over some childish myth?!"
Julian glared at her, his tone sharpened when he replied. "It's not just a myth. These people are infected. Your… friend," he nodded to where Tyler was still standing by the gates, still busy talking with the Silveren, Rebekah close by his side. "It's already started in him. Soon, the infection will spread, and he'll turn into one of them."
"That's not how this works," Bonnie began, but Alaric quickly shook his head at her, before looking back at his former friend.
"You think we'll all turn into these shiny people?" he asked and Julian gave a half nod, making Bonnie scoff.
"Don't let him into your city," he told them. "Or you'll all turn." With that he eventually walked after the other two, quickening his pace to keep up.
...
For quite a while Bonnie stared after him with an uneasy feeling, until Alaric gently grabbed her arm, shaking his head. "Let's go," he said, pulling her with him, and eventually she followed, not sure what to make of Elijah's or Julian's strange words.
"He knows about the bots, doesn't he?"
Alaric shot her a glance. "Julian? Yeah. But I don't think he ever told Elijah or the other Zoners…"
"What if he's right? What if there is an infectious component to it all? I mean… Could he be right? These people are different. And Tyler and Rebekah seem to have spent time with them..."
Alaric scratched his chin, thinking about it before he said, "There very well could be. So far all we know is that it needs at least a cut, an injury sustained through contact with Eternal metal to transfer the Silveren bots into our blood streams. Which is rather different than the Golden bots, which are already inherently there. At least as far as we know. These people… seem to have way more bots in them than anyone we know. Maybe they'll let us examine them, see whether it stems from any type of injury. Though I doubt it. This level…" He trailed off, shaking his head, and Bonnie understood.
There were still so many mysteries revolving around the bot technology, and now they had encountered another one, with yet unknown consequences.
What if Julian was right? What if they'd have to quarantine Rebekah and Tyler?
We'll talk about it when you get back here, Enzo chimed in, and she gave a sigh.
Alright. Until then, don't…
... let them in. I know...
…
The Silveren had eventually calmed and laid their weapons down, allowing Klaus to take a deep breath, then sigh. Exchanging a glance with Caroline, he smiled.
She was still here, after all, by his side, rather than halfway out the gate to get to her boyfriend of old. She had said that she had moved on from Tyler… Klaus's smile widened, then he scoffed in disbelief as everything fully sank in.
They had just averted a Zoner attack, helped by a ridiculous deus ex machina apparition of Rebekah St. John, Caroline's broody former boytoy with an army of foresters and a bunch of shiny freaks, and Caroline Forbes was still by his side, smiling.
"What's going on up there?" she asked now, tapping against his forehead, and he shrugged.
"Just… glad it went down the way it did, I guess…"
"Yuh…" Her features had darkened as her gaze was wandering now, finding Enzo, then Tyler, and Klaus grimaced on her behalf. This couldn't be easy. She had fought so hard to come to terms with the fact that the kid had been gone, that she had been relieved about it, and now he was back.
"Excuse me for a sec?" she said, then kissed him softly, her hand wandering over his chest for a moment before she was off, walking toward the gates, where Enzo St. John was already standing, discussing something with his sister. It all looked way more heated than a happy reunion should probably be. But he didn't pay much attention to them, his head still filled with strange thoughts as the adrenaline slowly left his body.
…
All Enzo really wanted to do was open the gates and pull his little sister in for the biggest hug. He had come to terms with the fact that he'd probably never see her again, that she was dead, but here she was, had appeared out of nowhere, at the most crucial moment. She had helped them ward off the Zoners, and now he was supposed to just leave her out there?
But he knew he had to. They couldn't let anyone in until they had made sure that whatever these Blazing people carried in them couldn't be spread.
He was ready to give Tyler's condition the benefit of the doubt. After all, Enzo himself had suffered from a spreading of the sheen before. Chances were, Tyler's could be healed as well, potentially quicker now that Alaric had so much more practice using his cure.
But it was too dangerous. He owed it to the people inside the city walls to look out for them. If anything, he would have to go out there. To them, to his sister, who had apparently spent a lot of time with this kid lately.
When he suggested it, however, opening the gates to come meet her outside, Rebekah shook her head.
"It's alright," she said. "I don't want to make this worse. - You're right. Abby or Alaric should probably take a look at us first." Her smile was a bit wan where she stood a foot or so away from the gate, Tyler just a little further from her, talking to some of the former Eternals inside, still calming them down.
Enzo shot the kid a sideways glance, then focused back on his sister. "He's changed," he noticed, nodding over, and Rebekah's smile grew more sincere.
"I guess so," she said, and Enzo frowned. She had changed too. Something had happened to her, to them, and while his sister had always been fierce and independent, she suddenly seemed more mature, more weathered, too.
"What happened to you guys out there?" Enzo rested an arm against the metal wiring of the gates, and Rebekah briefly reached out, almost touching him. Then, with a sigh, she pulled back.
"I thought you were dead," she whispered, her voice so quiet he could barely make out the words. She looked tired, sad…
"So did I." He chuckled sadly, a wistful halfsmile flicking across his features at the memory of all his anguished thoughts and the pain that still lodged in his back, if slowly getting better. "I saw you limp," he noted, pointing at her leg, and she grimaced.
"Yeah. That was right at the start," she muttered, absently rubbing her knee as she fell silent. The way her gaze cleared, then blurred over, Enzo felt a sudden pang of recognition. He hadn't been the only one she had lost - or had thought she had lost…
"Is Marcel…" He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, open wounds that were still not healed, because he already knew the answer. Then, when she looked up, shaking her head, unshed tears in her eyes, all he wanted to do was hug her. But he couldn't. Not yet…
"Can I tell you a secret?" Rebekah abruptly said, changing the topic, and he raised his eyebrows in a question, then nodded, briefly looking behind him to see that everyone was still in line, no one trying to leave anymore, or fight. But they had all calmed down, even Silas now silently listening to whatever Tyler had to say, and he was surprised to see the kid take on the role of someone these people were looking up to, and he couldn't help feeling a little relieved that for once it wasn't him, that he could step into the shadows again.
"What secret?" he now asked his sister, and she leaned forward a bit, until their heads were almost touching. Then she bent down a little to lift the bandage around her leg to reveal a soft shimmer, softer than anything an Eternal weapon inflicted, but definitely there. His eyes shot up to her face, alarmed. "The hell is that?"
"No idea. I wasn't injured that way," she said, implying that it hadn't been through Eternal metal, "not like Tyler… But the Blazing treated us both with some of their own medicine and… then this happened."
He nodded, trying to wrap his mind around it, trying also to not freak out. "Okay. We'll… we'll have them look into it, too. Maybe these… Blazing?" He looked at her questioningly, and she nodded. "Maybe they can show us what they did?"
"The thing is… they communicate mostly telepathically, Enzo. It's… bizarre. I don't know what kind of Golden bots could have survived in them with the amount of Silveren bots they should have in their bodies. I mean… just look at them. It doesn't even make sense."
"How come we've never seen them before?"
She sighed, wiping her face with her arm to clear away any traces of tears. "They're furtive. We found them by accident, really. Walking into one of the buildings at the Black Ruins…" She chuckled softly as her brother made a face, eyes widening.
"Are you insane?!"
"It's not that different from when we all camped out in that ruined city last year," she defended herself as he ran a hand through his hair, just glad that she had come back from that at all.
No one knew how stable those buildings from the before even were.
"Those were not due to one of the Big Ones hitting."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, big brother, calm down. We made it back from there, as you can see."
...
His grumbly face made Rebekah smile with a sudden surge of fondness. She had missed him so much, even his obnoxious big brother attitude.
"And you're lucky you did," he now said with a reproachful look, when she saw his gaze move to the side. Following it, she saw Tyler appear next to her, looking somewhat tired, but still standing tall, with a halfsmile curling the corners of his mouth.
"Hey you," she said, nudging him lightly, then leaning in to quickly whisper an apology. "I hope that didn't hurt."
He shook his head. "I'm fine."
"We all know how true that has been in the past…" She raised an eyebrow at him, then chuckled softly as he rolled his eyes. Her hand found his as if of its own accord, and though she saw Enzo notice it, frowning at her briefly, she didn't let go, just met his gaze head on, proudly.
"Things are different now," she muttered, whether to explain herself, she wasn't sure. But she felt good, and this felt right, and no matter what else happened, what Abby and Alaric would find when they examined them, she was just happy to be back, and be back with Tyler.
…
Caroline had watched Tyler for a while. How he talked with their people, getting even Silas to eventually understand. Only once they had backed away completely from the gates had he left to go over to where Rebekah was talking to Enzo. And Caroline was still just standing there, proud of him, and a bit wistful.
She still loved him, was glad that he was back, but things had indeed changed, and so had her love for him. Like a memory of days gone, it had turned into a fondness, had lost all romantic undertones of old, so it didn't even hurt to see the way Rebekah held his hand, or how he looked at her.
No, it felt… good. Liberating. And Caroline smiled.
Walking over to the three of them slowly, she waved a hand in greeting. The smile on Tyler's face widened.
"Hey Care…"
"Tyler. I barely even recognized you…"
He winked, looking at her a bit shily. "Yeah, well…"
She wanted to touch him, make sure he was really there, but when she stretched an arm out, Enzo pulled her away just as Tyler backed away.
"What?" She glared at either of them with annoyance, but it was Rebekah who explained.
"We don't know, yet, whether our Blazing friends could have spread something contagious, so we all agreed to check that first before we get any closer to you guys…"
Caroline made a face, but she understood and nodded. Already her mind went over things. "I should get a mobile lab ready. Bring some gloves and kits to take samples. I'm afraid I'll probably have to poke you guys a bit. I'll…" She rubbed her forehead, trying to think. "Let me get Abby. Alaric still out there, Enzo? Is he okay?"
He swallowed, nodding. "He and Bonnie are on their way." His eyes lightened, a smile spreading on his face. "Speak of the devil," he said hoarsely, just as Caroline saw Bonnie walk toward them, Alaric in tow, but also Stefan.
The commander was shaking his head. "Good job out here," he told them, nodding at Enzo, then moving to pat Tyler on the back, but Rebekah quickly shook her head, pulling Tyler away with her. There was a familiarity between them that gave Caroline both a pang and a feeling of relief.
They had both moved on, in ways they might not know or even understand yet, but she had fallen in love with Klaus Mikaelson, the stupid idiot that he could be, while Tyler clearly had at least found someone to rely on. That it was Rebekah St. John of all people was a bit of a surprise, but hell if Caroline herself hadn't made an equally… startling choice.
Forcing herself to focus back on the here and now, she addressed Stefan. "I would keep my distance, Commander. We don't know yet whether the contact with these new Blazing people could have… contaminated Tyler and Rebekah and the foresters so we'd suggest you keep your distance until all that is sorted out."
He nodded, a bit dumbfounded perhaps, but understanding.
"Let's get on that, then. Has someone sent for Abby?"
"On it," Caroline said, but before she left, she took a few steps toward the gate, grabbing it with both hands, smiling at Tyler. When he smiled back at her, her heart almost melted.
"Glad you're back," she whispered, and he gave the briefest of nods.
"Yeah…"
Then he averted his gaze and Caroline rushed back into the city, in search of Abby until a voice rang out behind her.
"Caroline! Wait up!" Klaus came jogging after her, finally falling into a trot beside her as they made their way.
Shooting her a sideways glance, he asked, "You okay?"
When she turned to look at him, there was genuine compassion in his features, and an earnestness she rarely saw on display, and she smiled at him and nodded as he put an arm around her. Because she really was okay. No matter what would come of all the loose ends they'd still have to deal with, she was okay.
