Disclaimer: Everything belongs to its rightful owners.

Chapter Twenty Five

Tallie was no less conflicted when she awoke the next morning. But she decided to push her mess of emotions aside for her friends. Not that any of that mattered. Klaus was gone. Alaric was dead. It was over.

Or, at least, that was what she thought. Until she arrived at the Elena's house to see Klaus standing on the porch with a gas bottle and rolled up scorched newspaper lying next to him. It seemed Klaus just never gave up.

"What is going on here?" She demanded, running towards the door

"The spirits made Bonnie feed Alaric, so now he's a vampire." Damon said, "And now he's keeping Elena and Caroline hostage at the school."

"And he's got an indestructible white oak stake, and seemingly can't be killed." Klaus added,

"That, is very bad."

But the situation was far worse then she was letting on. There was no way Alaric was truly immortal, there was a way to kill him. Original vampire's one weakness was the white oak stake, but it didn't work on him. And the only other ingredients in the spell, was Elena's blood.

That was his weakness. Elena. Esther connected his life to hers.

But this realisation was hidden under a mask of true concern. Klaus may value his hybrids, but he placed far greater value on his own life. And if she was right, he would not hesitate in taking her out. Nor would any of his family, bar possibly Elijah.

"I might have an idea." Bonnie said, stepping into the doorway, "My mom used a dessication spell on Mikael that immobilised him for over fifteen years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric."

"If and might," Klaus repeated, "Your words inspire such confidence."

"When and will." Tallie said, "There, does that make you feel better?"

Klaus simply glared at her, but she couldn't ignore the flash of confusion in his eyes. After all, they had ended on good terms. And yet, here she was, being catty towards him because she was confused. It wasn't fair, and she knew that. Which just made it worse.

"Even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down." Bonnie pointed out, "Including yours."

"Just so we're clear," Klaus said, "The sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena'll be dead, I'll be gone, and the rest of you'll be left to fend for yourselves."

As always, Klaus was a constant source of comfort and encouragement. Though, the way he'd looked at her after his statement unnerved her. It was like he was trying to send her a secret message. That his words didn't apply to her. That he would keep her safe.

Originally, Tallie had wanted to go with Bonnie to find out about the spell from her mother, but Klaus had insisted that she accompany him and Stefan to the school. Knowing that arguing with him was of no use, she didn't put up a fight. But neither did she speak to him. And when they arrived, she wandered off, but not too far, leaving Klaus and Stefan to debate Elena's love life.

Personally, Tallie thought that love triangles were completely overrated. Not that she wouldn't mind having two totally gorgeous guys fighting over her. It was just that no fight would be fair if Klaus was involved, considering he'd most likely murder the competition.

"If this plan doesn't work," Klaus said, walking up to her, "I want you to come with me."

"What?" Tallie asked, folding her arms, "You, what?"

Did Klaus just invite her to run away with him? They'd only ever kissed once, and hadn't even defined their relationship before Klaus went and screwed things up. The offer was tempting, however. She could see the world. Go to new and fantastic places. But with Alaric out there, she'd spend the rest of her life running. And living a life of constant fear was not what she wanted.

"Alaric will kill anyone that gets in his way, including you." Klaus pointed out, reaching out his hand to stroke his thumb against her cheek, "I can keep you safe."

"I know you can." She said, taking his hand, pulling it away from her face, "But I can't abandon my friends."

"You could die."

Just as she was sure he intended, the warning hit a little too close to home. And for all her bravado on the night of her death, she was actually terrified of dying. The idea of being here one day, and then gone the next, was paralyzing. But Klaus didn't need to know that. Her strength was in her ability to fake strength. To be strong when others couldn't, even if all she wanted was to fall apart. That was her talent.

"Then I'll die for my friends." She replied, "Better that then run away."

"A foolish sacrifice."

"Weren't you the one that said you admired my loyalty?" She asked, "I can't run with you, because I'm done with avoiding my problems. I won't be that person anymore."

Klaus seemed torn between being proud of her, and his almost instinctual hurt as a consequence of being rejected. Conflicting emotions were the very definition of their relationship. It was practically mandated by this point.

Luckily for her, she was given a distraction from her relationship woes, when Stefan approached them to explain the plan. It wasn't a very good plan, and she didn't like it. But there was no other way of removing Alaric from the situation. That is, without killing Elena. Not that anyone besides her was away of that. At least, not yet. Which was why she wasn't telling anyone. The best secrets were the ones nobody knows.

And once Jeremy arrived, with Bonnie and Damon in tow, the plan could be put into motion.

"Look at this," Klaus said, as the three of them joined the group, "One big happy family."

Bonnie simply rolled her eyes, pulling out a vial, "Drink this," she instructed, handing it to Damon, "It bridges us all together, so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's." She explained, "You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream. A vein, an artery, something connected to his heart."

"If one of us gets a clean shot," Stefan said, taking the vial, "Take it. The other two hold him down."

"Before we all walk through these doors, let's all get on the same page, shall we." Klaus said, as Stefan passed him the vial, "I was the one who created your vampire bloodline. Therefore, I am the one responsible for your lives. And Tyler's life. And Caroline's life. And, of course, Abby's life. Should anything go wrong."

"Or you're just lying to save your ass." Damon suggested. Which was perfectly reasonable of him

"I'm not lying." Klaus said, "But go ahead, call my bluff, let the teacher kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter."

"Okay then." Tallie sighed, turning towards Bonnie, "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing." Bonnie answered, and she raised her eyebrows, "Abby said I can't channel your magic to do this. I have to use my own."

"Great." Klaus said, "You can go home then."

"No chance in hell." Tallie muttered, "I'm going with Bonnie. End of story."

Klaus was not pleased by this, but she didn't care. He didn't tell her what to do. She wouldn't let him control her in misguided attempts at protecting her.

"Let's just get this over with," Stefan said, backing away towards the school, "Shall we."

Tallie shared one last look with Klaus, which she hoped conveyed how she didn't want him to die but not too obviously, before he followed after the Salvatore brothers. Her, Bonnie and Jeremy settled down into a spot in the woods beside the school. Jeremy laying on the ground, Bonnie kneeling beside him, whilst Tallie paced around them.

The first attempt was a bust. The connection wasn't maintained long enough for the spell to take route. On the second attempt, they succeeded. But Tallie was only further convinced of the dangers of the spell, as she watched Bonnie's veins darken. No matter the intentions of the spell, Bonnie was using some very dark and deadly magic to complete it.

But they couldn't be sure of anything until it was confirmed. Which was why one of the first things Bonnie did was to call Stefan. During the phone conversation, Tallie had taken back to pacing, and her unease was not settled by the look on Bonnie's face.

"Did it work?" She asked, "Did we do it?"

"There was, a change of plan." Bonnie said, looking at Tallie with what she could only guess was pity, "It wasn't, Alaric, that we dessicated. It was Klaus."

"What?" She breathed out, "He's,"

"He tried to kill Elena." Bonnie said, "Esther linked Alaric with Elena. They didn't have a choice."

"What, are they gonna do with him?" She asked, "With, the body?"

"Dump his body in the ocean." Bonnie said, and Tallie's breath hitched in her throat, "I'm sorry. I know how you felt about him."

"I didn't," she started, but found she couldn't stop, "I, I think I'm gonna head home."

The whole drive home, only one thought reverberated in her mind. Klaus was gone. He may have been leaving already, but this was different. Before, there was the possibility that she could see him again. Now there was none.

She knew she should be glad. After all, now Caroline, Tyler, Stefan, Damon and Abby were safe. But she just couldn't find it in her to be glad. All she could feel, was an aching, for someone, and something, that she'd never have.