Chapter 21: New Possibilities

******England******

Xander was getting introduced to the new slayers by Andrew. There were three new ones that Xander didn't know. A shy sweet one named Ellen, who was sixteen. A friendly all-American named Kenzy was seventeen. Then there was Katerina. A blonde bombshell of a girl from Sweden. She was nineteen. As soon as Xander said hello, her eyes lit up.

"Xander Harris? The White Knight? The one who saved the Queen Slayer?" she asked eagerly.

Xander glanced at Andrew, who beamed at him. "Ah…well…sometimes…." His voice trailed off.

"Yes, this is the One Who Sees," Andrew said loftily.

"Andrew!" Xander exclaimed in annoyance.

"You may call me Kitty," the slayer purred as she sauntered up to Xander and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Xander put his hand up to push her back slightly. "Respect personal space," he said with a friendly smile.

"Excuse me," she said, giving him a wink and stepping back.

"No problem," Xander said easily.

Elijah appeared next to Xander as the slayers walked away. "Looks like you have a fan," he said dryly.

Xander looked up at his lover. "Some of the newbies get a bit star struck," he said.

"Well, you are their White Knight," Elijah teased.

"Have I told you that Angel was the first one to give me that title?" Xander asked. "He didn't mean it as a compliment! Then that psycho Caleb who gauged out my eye used it. It doesn't necessary invoke warm memories."

"That's understandable," Elijah acknowledged. "But your slayers don't mean it as an insult."

"Yeah, I know," Xander said.

Klaus came up to them. "The slayers are going on a demon hunt," he said, his excitement in his eyes. "In a thousand years on this earth, I have not had the pleasure of such a thing. We have lived in such ignorance."

"We spent so much of our energy running from Father," Elijah pointed out.

"We missed a lot," Klaus said. "Are you going to join us?"

"I will," Elijah said, looking Xander.

"Do you know how many demon hunts I've been on?" Xander asked. "I don't think I can count that high!"

Elijah smiled. "Such a man of the world," he said dryly.

"Where is Oz?" Klaus asked.

"Don't bother asking him to go," Xander said knowingly. "Unless Asha is going, which I doubt, he won't want to be a part of a slaughter."

Klaus looked annoyed. "He's such a bloody saint!" he complained.

Elijah clapped his brother on the back. "He might be the best thing that has ever happened to you!" Elijah said confidently.

"He's not my bloody wife!" Klaus complained as they walked toward the stairs.

"I'll come," Xander decided, following them. "It's good to check out how the new slayers fight. Andrew isn't the best at evaluating them."

They found Oz sitting at Asha's feet while she read a book on demons in the main room. He seemed utterly content.

Klaus was happy for his friend, but he didn't like sharing. His siblings knew this about him. He was unaware that Oz understood this about him, too. "Oz, we are going to go with the slayers on a mission. I would like you to join us," Klaus told him.

Oz had no desire to go anywhere without his new lady. However, he knew that it was important that Klaus not feel threatened by his presence in Asha's life. Kol had told him more than one story of Klaus' interaction with his siblings' lovers. "All right," he said, getting to his feet. Klaus' pleased expression let him know that he'd made the right choice. He turned to Asha. "Do you want to join us?"

"No. I do not want to do any killing unless I have to," she said.

"It's doubtful that I will either," Oz said.

"Oz doesn't enjoy a needless slaughter," Klaus said.

"However, he's good at keeping my brother from creating a needless slaughter," Elijah said with a fond smile.

"Asha isn't ready to go out onto the field yet," Giles said, overhearing them.

"I do not want to anyway," Asha said.

"How long will we be gone?" Oz asked.

Klaus looked at Giles questioningly. "Not too long. The nest is about an hour from here," Giles said.

"I will be back soon," Oz said to Asha who nodded without speaking. She wasn't ready to admit that his presence brought her comfort.

"What are we waiting for?" Klaus asked eagerly.

His brother, Xander, and a reluctant Oz followed him to his very first demon hunt.

******Mystic Falls' Hospital******

Elena couldn't catch her breath. The bridge! Water! She stared wide-eyed at Matt and Dawn. "Matt? What's going on? Why am I on a metal table?" she asked, looking around with a frown. "What happened? I crashed into the water off that damn bridge! It's like I'm cursed or something!"

Matt was crying and moved hug her. "You're alive! Thank God!" he exclaimed.

"She had vampire blood in her system," Damon said from the doorway.

Elena looked up, locking eyes with him. "Damon?" she asked in a scared voice.

Damon, with Stefan on his heel, rushed to embrace her. "It's going to be okay," he told her.

"How do you feel?" Stefan asked her.

Damon helped her to the feet.

"I feel odd," Elena said. "What happened?"

"Why don't we have this conversation outside of the morgue?" Damon suggested, ushering them all into the hallway.

Buffy, Caroline, and Liz where in the ER waiting room, so the hallway in the basement where the morgue was located was empty.

"Damon, what's going on?" Elena asked fearfully.

"You drove your car off the bridge, Elena," Stefan told her.

"Do you remember what happened?" Damon asked.

"I was driving back from the bar where I had some drinks," Elena said.

"When you were supposed to be tuck safely in your bed," Damon said pointedly.

Elena flashed him a guilty look. "Yea, well, I needed to be alone and vent," she said. "There was a woman with long dark hair in the road. I swerved to hit her." She paused, her eyes wide as she realized something. "I drove off the bridge! Am I dead? Did I die?" The panic was obvious in her voice.

"Yes," Stefan said sorrowfully.

"Did you save me?" Elena asked him. Stefan had done so last time.

"Actually, Stefan's hero hair didn't get to you in time," Damon said. "But lucky for you, my blood was in your system. You're in transition."

"What? I'm going to have be a vampire or I'm dead forever?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"You get to make whatever decision is best for you, Elena," Stefan assured her.

"You get to drink Donavon's blood and live," Damon said, grabbing Matt's arm.

Dawn moved away quickly to go get Buffy. This was going to be ugly really fast, she felt.

"She gets to do what's best for her, Damon," Stefan said, pulling Matt away.

"Guys, chill out!" Matt exclaimed in annoyance. "Look, no one is happier than I am that Elena's alive. But you need to give her some space."

"Please, Damon, back off," Elena said. "I need to think."

"What's to think about?" Damon asked. "This sucks. I wished it hadn't happened to you, but it did. So we gotta deal with it. If you want to live, you have to drink."

"Don't you mean that if I want to live as a vampire?" Elena said bluntly.

"At least you'll be alive!" Damon said, grabbing her hands and putting them against his chest. "You have to be alive!"

Elena's eyes looked at his for a long moment. Finally, she said, "Damon, I have to make this decision for me. You can't make it for me."

"You know, Damon, how it feels to have someone make the decision for you," Stefan reminded him.

"I got over it!" Damon said hotly, fear for her driving all other thoughts from his mind.

"Damon, back off!" Buffy yelled, marching toward them. Caroline and Liz a step behind her.

Buffy pushed both men away from Elena and pulled her in for a hug. Liz and Caroline did the same.

"Let's get you out of here," Buffy said.

"I'll take you home while Damon compels the medical staff that knew you were dead," Caroline said, giving him a look.

"Fine," Damon said, letting her go and walking off.

"We can go out the exit on this floor. It's that way," Liz said, pointing. Caroline kept her arm around Elena's waist.

They walked toward the exit.

*****The Mikaelsons'*****

Rebekah stared in dismay at her mother. "Are you a ghost?" she finally asked.

Her mother laughed. "No, dear. It is I," she said, stepping forward and putting her hand out for Rebekah.

Rebekah hesitated a moment before reaching out and touching her mother. She was real. "Mother? How can this be?" she asked as she pulled her mother close.

"Magic. Very powerful magic and the will of the ancestors," Esther explained.

Rebekah pulled back and looked at her mother. She still looked exactly as she remembered. Long hair, beautiful face, and intelligent eyes mirrored her memories of her mother. "You look the same," she said.

"I look the way I did when your brother killed me," she said frankly.

"Nik and Elijah are in England now," Rebekah said, ignoring her remark.

"Yes, I know. I've been on the Other Side watching you and your brothers for centuries," she said.

"Then you know how well we're doing?" Rebekah asked, smiling. "Nik has been contained by Willow and Buffy."

"Yes, you've aligned yourself with someone very powerful," Esther said thoughtfully.

"A whole group of powerful people, Mother," Rebekah said. "Buffy has hundreds of slayers."

"What kind of slayer is she that she allows you and your brothers to live?" Esther asked.

Rebekah felt a flash of hurt. "One that doesn't kill creatures with a soul indiscriminately," she replied, giving her mother a cold look. She stepped away from her mother. "Have you come back to harm our family?"

"I've come back to save you," Esther assured her. "We can be a family again."

Rebekah smiled in relief. The front door opened. "Rebekah? Are you here?" Willow called out. "Elena's been killed!"

"What?" Rebekah said in surprise as she stepped out of the kitchen to greet her girlfriend.

"Buffy just called me. She says Elena drove of Wickery bridge and drowned!" Willow shared.

"Oh God!" Rebekah exclaimed.

"But she had vampire blood in her system," Willow said.

Relieved, Rebekah smiled. "Well, that's good!"

"How is it good? Your friend will now become a vampire, surviving off the blood of others," Esther said, stepping into the room. Inwardly, she fumed as it became clear to her that she could not use the blood of the doppelganger to aid her quest.

Willow looked at the strange woman, sensing power. "Who is this, Rebekah?" she asked.

"It's my mother!" Rebekah said excitedly. "She's come back to us!"

Willow frowned. "It would take some very dark magic to raise her," she said.

"Or the power and will of hundreds of witches," Esther said.

"Maybe," Willow acknowledged.

"This is Willow, Mother," Rebekah said, reaching for Willow's hand. "My love."

Willow smiled warmly at Rebekah, squeezing her hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said, turning back to Esther.

"Anyone that can make my daughter so happy is a welcome addition to the family," Esther said, nodding her head regally. However, she did not extend her hand.

Willow felt a deep misgiving fill her as she stared at Rebekah's mother. For some reason, she felt that her appearance was a herald of something big about to happen. Although her lover seemed happy at her arrival, Willow knew that Mother Dearest did not seek a happy family reunion. However, the look of joy in Rebekah's eyes kept her silent.

Instead, she said, "As the witch that created the vampires like Rebekah, maybe you know a way to save Elena? I know her. She won't want to be a vampire. She has a pure soul."

Esther smiled as her plans began to shift. "I will definitely do what I can to help your friend," Esther assured them.

The blood of the doppelganger might be salvaged after all.

*****Chapter End*****

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