Episode 19: Steppin' Out Under the Moon

Part 2

Mikaelson Compound...

Klaus was in his art room at the compound, where was furiously painting an abstract piece. He covered a large canvas in dark red, gold, brown and green paint.

Elijah entered the room, looking for his brother, only to find Klaus absorbed in his artwork. Elijah gave Klaus a concerned look while Klaus didn't even turn around to look at Elijah, though he did know he was there.

"You do understand there is no time?" Elijah asked.

Klaus turned his head, looked at Elijah for a moment, and glared at him before going back to work, Elijah letting out a sigh. "Niklaus, Dahlia killed one of our more powerful allies the other day, the witch elder Josephine LaRue."

"Where are you going with this Elijah?" Klaus said as he continued to paint.

"While our aunt did give us until tomorrow night to meet her demands, It has occurred to me that she will continue to make moves against us before then, she doesn't particularly strike as the honourable type. Now it is no secret that you often strategize while painting. I assume you have a plan, here."

Klaus smirked bitterly. "You ask that I share my strategies so you can run straight to Freya and bring her into the circle of trust? I think not."

Elijah grew a little frustrated. "It is too dangerous for you, brother. You cannot do this alone!"

Klaus fully turned around to face Elijah, his wet paint brush still in one hand. "And who should I trust to protect my daughter? Hmm? Our new-found sister Freya with duplicitous motives of her own? Our father, who has tried to kill us all on more than one occasion I might add. Our brother Kol who has ended up dating the witch that resurrected our murderous father? Our sister Rebekah who has betrayed me for the romantic love of another in the past? Or, how about Jackson, self-declared King of the Wolves?"

"You need only trust me," Elijah insisted.

Klaus paused, clearly considering Elijah's words for a moment. "I would love to, Elijah. Now more than ever, I need my older brother, my closest ally, my blood," Klaus hesitated for a moment before frowning in frustration. "But you have been the same ever since Mother got inside your head."

Elijah looked a little hurt as he turned around and began to walk away from Klaus. "Your judgment is not what it was. You are not what you were! The Elijah I know would never have clung so desperately to the word of a duplicitous stranger telling him what he wants to hear!" Klaus complained, calling after Elijah.

Reluctantly, Elijah turned around and stopped in his tracks, sighing once more. "I have doubted Freya, just not as much as you have. But you know what I remind myself? That she has every reason to want Dahlia's demise. Our distrust of her – perhaps it is unfair."

"Unfair? Freya vanquished Finn, yes, but only after she herself resurrected him. Only after he became so much of a nuisance, even she didn't want anything more to do with him. And, though she may have saved Rebekah from Eva Sinclair, we've been given reason to suspect that she had a hand in waking that demon, in the first place!"

"Niklaus. If we cannot trust one another, we cannot work together."

Klaus sighed and returned to his painting. "No, we cannot," he replied grimly.

Elijah frowned, upset by his brother's apparent distrust of him.

The Claire Tomb/Kol's Playhouse...

Kol, now in his original body and no looking longer desiccated or weakened, was standing by the couch in his tomb next to Davina, who was holding a newspaper. On the couch was Kaleb, who was just beginning to wake up. He yawned and stretched his arms as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Davina and Kol, staring at him. He jumped a little, both startled and confused as to where he was. "Where am I? Who-who are you lot?" Kaleb asked, his heart pounding against his chest.

"Name's Kol. Kol Mikaelson. Original vampire. And this here is the lovely Davina Claire," Kol replied, gesturing over to Davina, Davina smiling a little. "Long story short – you missed out on roughly ten months of your life," Kol continued, Davina handing him the newspaper she was holding, Kaleb taking it reluctantly, looking a little disoriented and confused by what Kol was telling him. "Check the date."

Kaleb looked at the newspaper, searching for the date with his eyes. As soon as he found it, he gasped a little. Kol wasn't lying. It's like he travelled ten months into the future. "What the hell did you guys do to me?!"

Davina quickly became uncomfortable, while Kol remained somewhat calm. "Well, you see, Kaleb, I died a while back and was in need of a new body. My mother decided to place me in your body. Wasn't anything personal lad, just I needed someone who wasn't close to anyone, someone who no one would question if they started to act a little differently. You fit the bill perfectly, being a bit of a loner and all. But fortunately for you, I decided to reconstruct my original body and vacate yours. So you're free to go."

Kaleb was still trying to absorb all the information that Kol had just given him. "I know this is a lot to take in," Davina added, sitting down next to Kaleb on the couch. Kaleb didn't try to move away from her and didn't seem oppose to having her so close to him.

"It, it is. My dad-"

"Isn't anyone worth worrying about. He was almost as terrible as my own father, just my opinion of course," Kol paused, looking at Kaleb and Davina for a moment, then letting out a sigh. "He hasn't come looking for you in the ten months you've been missing. So congrats, you don't have to see him ever again. I wouldn't."

Davina looked at Kaleb with sympathy, to Kol's mild jealousy. Davina was physically attracted to that body after all, considering that was the body he was in when they began their relationship. He didn't like the idea of Kaleb being competition for Davina's affections. Not one bit.

"So where am I to go then?" Kaleb asked, looking at Kol, then at Davina.

"I don't know. I could use my power of compulsion to fix you up with an apartment and a steady job. If you're up for it," Kol offered. He hoped Davina would see it as him being kind to the confused boy, but in reality, Kol was just looking to get rid of Kaleb as fast as possible. Unless he wanted to possess him again in the future, in which case he would just look him up. "Consider it a thank you for letting me borrow your body."

Kaleb considered Kol's offer, still looking more than a little overwhelmed.

St. James Infirmary...

Hayley and Hope were happily sitting together on the stage of the jazz club, Hope really cuddling up to her mother. Hayley lifted her head for a moment, her eyes widened as she saw long, thick green vines magically creeping up the inside walls of the building. They quickly became so thick and numerous that within ten or so minutes, they completely covered the windows, to Hayley's horror.

Impulsively, Hayley stood up, holding her daughter protectively in her arms. A handful of werewolf guards came in to join her in investigating the vines, which were now beginning to bloom with blood-red flowers.

"They're dahlias," Hayley stated, terrified. "She knows we're here."

Hayley took her cell phone out of her pant pocket, went through her speed dial and called for Klaus, but the call didn't look like it was going to go through.

Hayley turned to one of her guards. "I need you to go get help. Now."

Outside the Infirmary...

Dahlia walked down the stone stairs that led into St. James Infirmary, a patient look on her face. She spotted a nearby werewolf guard attempting to call someone using their cell phone. She rolled her eyes. "Vidau," she whispered, flicking her fingers and knocking out the cell service, to the werewolf's confusion.

The werewolf slowly took the phone away from his ear and stared at it, a puzzled expression on his face.

Dahlia kept her eyes focused on the werewolf guard holding the cell phone, extending one arm out and flicking her wrist. Suddenly, the werewolf collapsed on to the ground, dropping his phone, his neck snapped. Dahlia sighed as she stared over at the now dead werewolf.

Marcel's Loft...

Rebekah was pacing around Marcel's apartment while Marcel himself was playing a game of darts by himself, not looking the least bit panicked, unlike Rebekah. "And Nik doesn't seem to be taking Dahlia very seriously at all. It's like he's just- fiddling away while Rome burns!" Rebekah complained.

Marcel turned and walked towards Rebekah. Rebekah stopped pacing, looking at Marcel and meeting his eyes. "I get your concern for your niece Rebekah, but you know as well as I do, Klaus is at his best when there's an enemy he needs to take down. I guarantee he's got a plan."

"What if that plan doesn't bear fruit before nightfall tomorrow?"

Marcel sighed. "We've been through worse, right? We'll get through this."

Marcel went back to throwing darts at his dartboard, while Rebekah went back to pacing around the apartment, frustrated. "I wish we could just ship him off to bloody Sardinia or somewhere, with all his paints and his wine cellar, until this all blows over and Hope is safe again," Rebekah vented.

"Off topic but those eight children you were linked to, how's that coming along?" Marcel asked.

Rebekah shook her head. "Fine. I'm no longer linked to any of them. I could leave this body at any time and jump back into my old one without fear of eight kids dying because this body would no longer have a soul to inhabit it."

"Then why don't you go back into your old body? You're stronger as an original vampire than as a witch, you'll be able to help Hope better."

"I know," Rebekah admitted. "I've just..." she paused, stopping in her pacing once more, Marcel turning around again for a moment. "I've wanted to be mortal again for a while now, I'm sure you remember me telling you as much."

"I do remember. I guess I just never understood why. Maybe because I never cared much for being human myself."

"And that is something I cannot understand. As a human, I could live life knowing that each day mattered, that one would day it could all end. I could maybe get married to someone who loved me the way I loved him, and then someday have his children. I have a chance to have all of that now, in the body of Eva Sinclair. I don't want to pass that up. As selfish as that may sound."

Marcel smiled half heartedly. "It's not selfish."

Rebekah smiled briefly at Marcel. "So can we get back to Nik and what we're going to do about him?"

"Do what?" Marcel replied, going back to playing darts. "We can't go up against him, we've got no way of putting him down-"

"No. Instead, here we are, gearing up for the fight of our lives, and all anyone can worry about is his next move."

An idea popped into Marcel's head, but he didn't share it with Rebekah, keeping it to himself. He threw one last dart at the dartboard, hitting the bullseye right in the center.

The Bell Tower of the St. Louis' Cathedral...

Freya was in the bell tower of the church, standing before a table filled with lit white candles, a troubled look on her face. After a moment, she paused, sensing someone behind her and calling out to them without turning around. "Father, you're back."

"I am. Are you... alright Freya?" Mikael asked in a concerned tone.

Freya slowly turned around to face him, putting on a fake smile. "I'm fine. But I appreciate your concern."

The Lyonne Tomb, a couple of days ago...

"Why did you wake me? Freya have you not gone to great lengths to prove you have no love left for your mother?" Esther asked, standing a few feet away from Freya, a confused look on her face.

Freya flashed Esther a cruel smile. "I wanted you awake – because I plan to end your wretched existence tonight. And I want you to be awake for when it happens," Freya stated, Esther gasping, tears starting to form in her eyes. "But before I kill you, there's just a couple of questions I have for you. And I want you to answer them, truthfully," Freya continued, starting to become more emotional and vulnerable herself.

"...Ask away."

Present Day, The Bell Tower of the St. Louis' Cathedral...

"Have you heard any more from your siblings concerning Dahlia, perhaps what the latest plan is to dispatch that witch?" Mikael asked Freya.

Freya appeared distracted for a moment before nodding, answering Mikael's question. "I received a message from Elijah earlier, apparently Dahlia came to the compound. She gave Niklaus a deadline to hand over his child to her. Tomorrow at nightfall. As for a plan... it doesn't appear anyone has one right now."

"Knowing the bastard I imagine he's been scheming ever since his defeat at her hands in the church. He probably does have another plan in mind on how to deal with the witch, he's just refusing to share with anyone out of pure paranoia," Mikael suggested.

Freya grimaced at the mention of the word bastard. "You speak of him with such disdain. You'll hardly ever refer to him by his name, a name you gave him I believe. Can I ask why?"

Mikael grew a little angry at Freya question's, but because it was Freya, he tried his best to calm himself. "My youngest son died because of him. Your brother."

"Henrik."

Mikael nodded. "A thousand years ago, Niklaus invited him to come watch the werewolves turn on the night of the full moon. One of the wolves killed Henrik. Niklaus, survived."

Freya acted as though she accepted her father's response. But the truth was, she didn't. She saw inside Elijah's mind, watched as Mikael beat Klaus, when Klaus was only a child, long before Henrik ever died. That wasn't the reason why Mikael hated Klaus so much, it was only a contributing factor. But she didn't care to question her father further on it. She had a feeling it wouldn't end well.

Mikaelson Compound...

Klaus was continuing to paint the same piece he was earlier when he was talking to Elijah, still more or less completely absorbed into his work. "Bad time?" a feminine voice asked coming from behind him.

Klaus immediately turned around, recognizing the voice as Camille's. He saw Cami standing in the door way, a friendly smile on her face. "Camille. Ah, yes. As I've recently proved disagreeable, I assume Elijah brought you here to play therapist to the savage beast."

Cami maintained her smile. "Actually, I was just gonna say you look like you could use some fresh air. Maybe we could go for a walk? You can spend, oh, five seconds not obsessing about who not to trust, and who you're gonna murder next?"

Klaus laughed a little. "I quite enjoy my obsessions, thank you very much," Klaus replied, turning around and returning to his painting. "Fear not, I shall tell Elijah you came as asked, and you may leave assured your duty is fulfilled."

Cami gave Klaus a worried look. "Klaus. Talk to me. And not because Elijah sent me," Cami pleaded.

Klaus sighed in frustration before nodding at her.

Author's Note: Thus ends the latest chapter. I'm glad there's people who are still enjoying this story, it really helps motivate me to keep writing. I know the second season of TO wasn't that bad that it absolutely needed a retake, but what can I say, there were a few things that happened that I didn't care for, and there were things that I wished happen but never did (like Kol surviving his hex or coming back at all for starters, or Hayley kinda becoming subservient to Jackson towards the end of the season). If I had time, I would write a alternate season six of vampire diaries, but writing this story has taken longer than what I thought it would so that's more or less out of the question.