I am sorry for the long delay. This chapter was a bitch. I had to rewrite it several times. In addition to that, I found out that I had forgotten a very important bit of canon that was integral to my plans for the plot. So I got into an argument with myself. I lost and had to change my plans. No one was happy. Especially not Elijah, or Caroline. But it is what it is. See, I thought I could skirt the whole Tyler issue, just sweep it under the carpet and not bring it up at all. Apparently so did Caroline. I guess we were wrong. Well, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think. As always, no fowl, now harm.

~!~

"We stick together as one. Always and forever."

When the Porsche rolls to a stop in front of the plantation house just before dawn, all the lights are on in the entrance hall.

Rebekah flies out of the driver's seat to open the door in the back before anyone else has the chance to take off their seat-belts.

Caroline gets out of the passenger side and closes her door, hovering beside the car as she watches Klaus and Elijah slowly climb out of the back.

Matt throws open the front door before they make it to the stairs. He takes one look at them and his brows furrow deeply over his nose. "I knew this was a bad idea!" He pulls Rebekah in as soon as she's within reach. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Rebekah closes her eyes as she is enveloped in a crushing hug. "I'm fine." Off of Matt's look at her bloodstained dress she rolls her eyes. "It's not my blood." She fends off his arms to glance back over her shoulder and her expression turns cold.

Elijah is struggling to stay on his feet, leaning heavily on Klaus.

"Take him to my old room," she tells Klaus. Her voice brooks no argument."They'll be staying with us," she tells Matt in the same tone before she brushes past him into the house and storms off towards the servant quarters. "Maria!"

Matt flinches as her shout reverberates through the marble foyer. He turns his attention to the rest of the group. "What happened?" he asks again as he closes the front door behind them.

Klaus and Elijah ignore him completely and trudge on towards the grand staircase.

Caroline takes a stuttering breath as she combs her hair back from her face. "Werewolves." Her hands are shaking. "They got the baby." Her eyes flit back and forth, avoiding Matt's gaze. "Hayley's dead." Her voice cracks over the word as tears start to fall.

"Shit." Matt pulls her into a bear hug and holds on tight.

Caroline sags against him, buries her face in his chest and grabs fistfuls of the shirt at his back. Her whole body shakes as she takes a sobbing breath.

Matt rests his chin on the top of her head and rocks her gently, rubbing one hand soothingly over her back as he hums comforting noises into her hair.

When she comes up for air, her cheeks are a little damp. "Elijah's hurt badly." She wipes her face and puts on a determined expression. "He's going to need blood. A lot of it."

Matt nods and lets go of her with a last comforting rub to her shoulders. "There's plenty in the fridge." He sneers in distaste but then schools his expression into indifference. "I'll go get it. You go on ahead," he says calmly as he cocks his head in the direction of the stairs behind him.

Once Elijah is put to bed in his old room, Caroline and Matt give the Mikaelson siblings some privacy. Klaus and Rebekah stay behind to force-feed their older brother several glasses of Klaus's blood while Klaus helps himself to the blood-bags from the fridge.

The house is quiet when they finally step out into the hallway.

Klaus puts on his jacket and starts to leave, taking a couple quick steps in the direction of the stairs.

Rebekah bursts into vampire speed to block his path with a hand to his chest. "Stay."

He sucks in a sharp breath and cocks his head to glare at his baby-sister. "I've done all I can do. There's no reason to hang around."

Rebekah's expression hardens as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm not letting you leave."

Klaus suppresses a smirk before he looks down his nose at her. "Do you really think you can boss me around, just because..."

"Nik, please!" Rebekah's voice is shrill and her face is starting to crumple. "For once in your life, will you just..."

"What?" Klaus pulls himself to his full height as he narrows his eyes at her. His nostrils flare as a muscle in his jaw twitches.

Rebekah's eyes go wide and start to brim with tears as she tightens her arms around her chest. "We almost lost him tonight, because we weren't there." She glances towards the door to Elijah's bedroom. "I can't... I need us to stay together. At least until all this is over." Her eyes plead with Klaus, her lips trembling, until she presses them tightly together.

Klaus stays silent for a long moment as he looks at her with a blank expression on his face. Finally, he huffs out a breath. He ignores Rebekah's flinch as he lays his hand on the back of her neck and pulls her close to press a firm kiss to her forehead. "Always and forever." He mutters the words between them before he releases her.

Rebekah's shoulders sag with relief and her tightly crossed arms loosen a little as she smiles shakily at her big brother. "Thank you, Nik."

Klaus shrugs it off with a grumbling noise in his throat and turns around to head in the opposite direction of the stairs. "Let me know if he needs anything."

Rebekah nods and watches Klaus walk away as she puts her hand on the knob to Elijah's door. Her mouth drops open before Klaus makes it around the corner. "Oh, Nik!"

Klaus pauses and looks back with an exasperated grunt. "What?"

Rebekah bites her bottom lip and looks at him with big doe eyes. "You'll have to pick a different room."

His eyes narrow as his jaw stiffens. "Why?"

Rebekah tucks in her chin and her brows are furrowed with an apologetic expression, but a smirk twitches at the corner of her mouth. "Because Caroline took yours."

Klaus does a slack-jawed double take. He closes his eyes, turns his face to the ceiling and sucks in a deep breath before he drops his head back down with an explosive sigh. His fists are clenched at his sides as he disappears around the corner without another word.

It's late in the morning by the time they come together in the formal dining room. Breakfast is a mixture of coffee, orange juice and bagged blood with a side of bacon and eggs.

Elijah still looks worn out from fighting the werewolf venom in his system, but the bruises and bite marks have already faded. He sits at Rebekah's left with a glass of blood in his hand, not bothering with the pretense of food.

Klaus is slouched on the chair next to him, chewing on a strip of bacon dipped in blood and studiously ignoring Caroline's intense stare from across the table.

Matt is the only one with a plate in front of him, picking at the last few bits of scrambled eggs. He shakes his head and looks disdainfully at Klaus and Elijah. "You guys were around during World War 2, right? You remember what happened when the Germans decided they could fight on two fronts?"

Rebekah narrows her eyes and purses her lips. The whole table rattles with the kick she delivers to Matt's ankle.

Matt suppresses a grunt of pain but holds his ground as he turns his head to glare at her. "You know it's insane."

Rebekah's face is still pinched as she leans forward. "Not if we go with the plan," she says as she raises her brows in emphasis.

Matt shakes his head fiercely. "They'll never agree." His gaze flits over Elijah and Caroline.

"We've gone over this, Matt," Rebekah says insistently. "It's the only way."

Matt's frown deepens. "Rebekah, don't."

Klaus rolls his eyes. "This is why I hate pillow talk." His fingers drum impatiently on the table as he cocks his head in Rebekah's direction. "What are you two on about?"

"Hybrids!" she says triumphantly. "We'll fight fire with fire."

Klaus falls back in his chair and wipes a hand over his face in exasperation. "Brilliant," he says sarcastically. "And where exactly do you propose we get the werewolves necessary to create those hybrids?"

Caroline goes pale as she shifts her stare from Klaus to Matt, her lips pressing together in a hard line.

Elijah places his glass on the table and leans forward with a frown. "There is also the not insubstantial problem that we lack a doppleganger, seeing as both of them are vampires now."

"Actually," Rebekah says with a facetious smile. "Your information is a bit outdated on that."

"I beg your pardon?" Elijah's eyes are fixed on Rebekah as his face goes perfectly blank.

"One of them is human. It's just not the one you'd expect."

Elijah closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he opens them again. "Katherine took the cure?"

Rebekah shrugs dismissively. "More like Elena shoved it down her throat, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that she's alive." Rebekah's expression sobers up as she turns to look at Caroline. "And that someone here can get a hold of a whole pack with just a phone call."

Matt's eyes are glued to his plate as he mutters an apology under his breath, shoulders hunched over under Caroline's razor-sharp glare.

Klaus is still not looking at her, but his eyebrows rise in curiosity as his fingers cease drumming on the table. "Tyler's found another pack?"

Caroline's eyes flick to Klaus. "Yeah."

Elijah shifts in his seat to look at Caroline. "And he would just hand them over if you ask?"

Caroline turns her glare back on Matt in the chair next to her. "I don't think so."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Come on, I'm sure there's nothing he wouldn't do for you. You're each other's one true love, after all. "

Caroline's lips thin out as she avoids looking at anyone. "It's complicated."

Klaus's head snaps around to stare at her, brows raised almost to his hairline.

At the same time Matt slowly raises his head with a confused frown on his face.

Rebekah raises a single brow as she purses her lips. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"