I do not own TVD or TO. There would have been some seriously altered plots if I did *cough* ELEJAH *cough* KLAROLINE

I know it's been awhile. Life's been busy the last little bit so I haven't had as much time to write. Add to that that I like to write in a rotation of stories and it takes a few weeks to update every story.

*sigh* I can't wait for summer when I get more time to work on my writing.

This chapter is labeled as part 4 of Nov 12 but it is the first half of La Grand Guignol.

"I was still a little out of it," she rubbed the goosebumps from her arms, "so I just want to make sure I've got this right. The knife the witch gave Cami is inside him?"

"And causing untold suffering every second that it remains," he nodded.

He rolled up his sleeves and lifted a scalpel from the nightstand. His eyes traced the angry line along his brother's chest and tracked the gasping breaths as they raked through his body.

"Are you sure you want to be in here for this?" Elijah glanced to the door.

"I can do it," she stepped up along the opposite side of the bed. "I know you want to find Elena and Hayley."

"You're shaking," he looked to her hands.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he shook his head. "Elena said she felt it when I was daggered, and this blade is much worse; I'd imagine that this is agony for you."

"Am I ruining whatever catharsis this sight brings?"

"A little bit," he chuckled, "rather rude of you."

"Sorry," she smirked.

"I suppose I'll forgive you," he took the small blade and drew it along the scar. "You might want to take a step back…" he cleared his throat when she gave him a look. "Alright then."

Her heart clenched tightly when Elijah plunged his hand into Klaus' open chest before the wound could begin to heal. Her throat constricted as the blade was pulled free.

Elijah glanced at the blood that coated the blade as she pushed Klaus' sweaty hair back. He placed the blade on the nightstand and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket with his clean hand to wipe away the blood.

"I don't think I need to ask," he reached for his jacket.

"I'll stay with him," she sat on the side of the bed. Her fingers traced the angry red line still on Klaus' chest. She reached without looking for the bags she had brought upstairs.

"Caroline."

She looked over her shoulder to the door.

"Slowly please," Elijah nodded to the blood bags, "and try to talk down the inevitable rage when it starts. Try to persuade him not to murder his baby sister."

"It's not like he could," she turned back to Klaus and opened the bag. A line appeared between her brows when he didn't agree with her. "Elijah," she looked over her shoulder, "he can't, right?"

"Of course not," he buttoned his sleeves and pulled on his jacket, "the last of the white oak was burnt to the ground a thousand years ago."

Caroline watched him leave before turning back to Klaus. She jumped when she found his fevered eyes staring up at her. She shook off the shock and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, helping him sit up.

"Okay," she held the blood bag just out of reach, "let's get one thing straight: you're not going to kill Jeremy."

"I," his voice was a weak rasp, "thought you were supposed to talk me out of killing Rebekah."

"We'll work up to that."

"Caroline," he reached for the bag.

She flattened her palm over his chest and leveled him with a stare.

"You might be the big bad hybrid," her eyes flickered over his body, "but I'm pretty sure I can take you, so repeat after me: 'I will not kill Jeremy Gilbert for shoving a mystical dagger through my heart'." She lifted her brows expectantly and jerked the bag back a few inches.

"Fine," he sighed, "I will not kill Jeremy Gilbert for shoving a mystical dagger through my heart. Happy now, love?"

"Ecstatic," she relinquished the bag.

He drained the bag in seconds, but knew he would need much more before he could even stand from the bed.

"How about maiming?"

"No," she reached for another bag.

Elijah stopped when he stepped into the courtyard and spotted Finn entering the compound with a very familiar charge. He felt some of his anxiety recede in his older brother's presence.

"Well," Kol came in from the kitchen, "that's one down."

"Hello, sweetheart," Elijah took Miranda from Finn, "I don't suppose you'll tell me where your mother is?"

Miranda curled her fingers around Daddy's tie and lifted the end to her mouth. She pouted when he took it away.

"I'll take that as a no," he chuckled.

"She went after Hayley," Finn adjusted the bag on his shoulder. "She said that she snuck out of the compound looking very determined. She didn't call you? She said she was going to."

"No," Elijah frowned. He pressed a quick kiss to Miranda's hair.

"If she hasn't yet then she probably doesn't have reception," Kol held out his hands. "I'll take Miranda, and you can go hunting."

"Alright," Elijah nodded, handing his daughter to Kol. "I can't shake the feeling I'm forgetting something."

"Everything's fine," Kol reassured him. "Caroline has control of Nik for the time being and Finn and I can hold down the compound and take care of Miranda while you hunt down your baby mama."

"Really?" Finn rolled his eyes.

"Twenty-first century brother," Kol smirked, "embrace the slang."

"I'd rather not."

Elena had never been clubbed over the head but she hoped that there was a tiny hammer pounding inside the witch's skull when she finally came to. Actually she hoped it was a sledgehammer as she held little to no sympathy for the vengeful murderess.

She watched as Celeste blinked slowly and groaned, but there didn't appear to be any lasting damage.

Elena turned her head with Celeste when she glanced around at the Crescent clan. A shiver raced down her spine when a grey wolf bared his teeth and snarled at Celeste; she tried not to think about how those teeth would feel sinking into flesh when the yellow eyes turned on her.

"So," Celeste huffed, leaning back against the tree, "what's this?" She lifted her bound hands and motioned to her captors. "Payback? Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I tricked you, but I wasn't after you."

"Really?" Elena scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "It seemed like you were."

"I wasn't," Celeste turned her attention to the slim brunette. It took her a second to place her through the haze of her vision; her eyes widened momentarily when she realized who it was that was addressing her.

Elena's eyes flickered to Eve when she cocked her rifle.

"We were just collateral damage then?" Eve's eyes narrowed in a glare. It took everything she had not to give in to her impulsive trigger finger. "You almost burned Hayley and Jackson alive in that fire."

"If it wasn't for Kol they would have died." Elena thought she saw something flicker in the witch's eyes; remorse, maybe, or perhaps annoyance, as if she hadn't realized anyone would be capable of providing assistance.

"How did he get there so fast?"

Celeste tilted her head in a display of innocence, but Elena had spent enough time with Kol to know when innocence was being faked. There was only so much she was willing to reveal to the woman.

"Kol happened along Elijah," she unfolded her arms, "a locator spell did the rest."

"Ah yes," Celeste's eyes glinted. "How could I forget about the witch in residence?"

Elena frowned. There was something about the way her lips twisted around the phrase that made her skin crawl, as if she knew exactly what she was capable of, but she couldn't understand how. They weren't keeping her nature secret from the family, but the rest of New Orleans remained in the dark; Elijah and she had agreed that it would be for the best with the prophecy about the Mikaelson baby bringing death to all witches. She was starting to love that part of her she hadn't known existed, but her little girl's safety would always come first.

Elena had only used magic once in public, but there had been no survivors; she had killed all four of the hooded figures in the church. There had been four distinct snaps, and four thudding bodies.

Celeste shifted suddenly, struggling against the bonds holding her down. Elena heard the loud thud of her heart when Hayley fired a warning shot.

Clods of dirt flew up inches from their captive's hip.

"Careful, Sabine, or Celeste, or whatever it is you like to call yourself." Hayley cocked the shotgun and took careful aim. "Sudden moves make me jumpy," the used shell clattered to the ground, "and homicidal."

Celeste played off her surprise and went straight for amused scepticism.

"What, you're gonna kill me, honey?" She had learned long ago that when a wolf gave a death threat they more often than not followed through. It wouldn't have been a terrible inconvenience, but she still had things to do before she said goodbye to Sabine.

"Oh no," Elena tilted her head. "We know better than that."

"We know all about you," Hayley lowered her gun marginally as the wolves growled around her. "You like to off yourself and then jump into other people's bodies." Hayley tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow. "That's not going to happen here. I know I can't kill you, but try hexing me, and my friend Eve here will kneecap you. Go for her and I'll make it hurt."

"And her?" Celeste cast her eyes to Elena. "It seems rather foolish for a vampire to wander into a wolf den."

"I'm here to make sure Hayley stays out of trouble," Elena smirked, "and for the moment I'm perfectly content to let these lovely ladies handle things." Something dark flickered in her gaze. "However," a vein throbbed beneath her eyes, "if you go for either one of them they won't need their bullets because I will turn your bones to dust. I'm very protective of my family."

Celeste turned her attention from Elena to Hayley because it was clearly the wolf who had organized their current party.

"What do you want?"

Hayley looked her over slowly as she lowered her gun, confident that the pack, Eve and Elena would jump in if it came down to it.

"Back in the 90's you inhabited a witch named Brynne Deveraux. Do you remember her?" She waited for Celeste's nod. "Marcel had her; well you really, put a curse on a group of werewolves so they'd only turn human on the full moon."

"Yeah," Celeste's reply came slowly. "That was me. Let me guess," she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, "you want revenge."

"I want you to undo the curse."

Elena felt a chill run down her spine when the bound witch offered a smug smile that made her skin crawl. Celeste's eyes found Elena and for one brief moment she felt like she was the one tied to the tree.

"You know," Caroline opened a new blood bag, "if someone had told me I'd be helping you two years ago I would have called them crazy."

"You would have said that last week, sweetheart," Klaus hummed. The blood flowed through him slowly as he grunted around the pain.

"Doesn't that burn?" Caroline frowned. She'd had every intention of bringing fresh blood bags upstairs slowly, but Kol and Finn had beaten her to the kitchen and tainted every last bag in storage. She knew they were just trying to protect Rebekah, but a part of her thought that they were enjoying bringing their brother a small amount of pain after the countless years he had let them both lay daggered in boxes.

"You're young yet love," he dropped the empty bag on the nightstand, "and haven't realized that the line between what sustains us and what brings us pain is far thinner than one imagines."

"Maybe so," she drew her legs up on the bed and watched him, "but I think I'll stick to the untainted blood myself."

"Yes," he shook his head, "I heard you giving Kol a good tongue lashing."

"He's gone out for fresh blood bags," Caroline smirked.

"Good," he sat up, "I'm going to need proper sustenance for…"

"Hunting down some of the people you love most in the world?" She guessed, cutting him off.

"Not now Caroline," he closed his heavy eyes. "I haven't the strength for this conversation."

"She's your sister, Klaus, you can't hate her."

"I think you'll find I can," he growled, staring up at the ceiling. "She did the one thing nobody has managed to do in a thousand years…" he sighed before answering her questioning look, "… rip my heart out."

He could still remember the swing music as he'd approached the bar nearly a century before. He could still see the look in her eyes when he'd kissed her cheek and told her the true reason he'd held for thwarting her past loves, when he'd wished her happiness.

"I let my guard down," he opened his eyes, "and given in to happiness… it was foolish because they had already betrayed me and brought to town the one thing I'd been running from for centuries." He sat up and started buttoning his shirt over the red line still prominent on his chest.

"Anyone ever tell you that you've got some serious daddy issues?" Caroline tilted her head. She turned towards the door when a tiny voice piped up.

"Daddy?" Miranda teetered into the room in her bare feet towards Auntie Caroline and Uncle Nik. "Daddy?"

She dropped Ella and held the edge of the bed and stretched as far as she could to tug on Uncle Nik's pant leg.

"Daddy's not up here," Caroline shook her head.

"No Daddy?" Miranda tried to see higher.

"No," Caroline shook her head. She stifled her giggle when Miranda slid to the floor and lifted the bed skirt so she could peek under the bed and call again.

"Yes," Klaus looked down to the floor where his niece was starting to crawl under the bed. "I'm the one with daddy issues."

"She's got missing daddy issues," Caroline rolled her eyes. She dropped to the floor and took Miranda's hips, pulling her back and into her arms. "Isn't it possible that Mikael would have caught up with you eventually anyway?"

"We were safe here," he snapped and immediately felt guilty for it when Miranda whimpered and twisted to hide in Caroline's arms.

He straightened up with a soft grunt and pulled Miranda from Caroline; she kept her eyes squeezed shut when he turned her around.

"Come on, sweetheart," he tugged on her hand gently to get her to lower them from her eyes, "I didn't mean to scare you. Come on, love, look up." He sighed when she didn't look up and set her on his lap.

Miranda shook her head. She wiggled when long fingers started wriggling over her tummy and giggled. Peeking through her fingers she looked back down and shook her head again, but couldn't stop from laughing when Uncle Nik tickled her a second time.

Klaus grunted when a tiny foot hit his stomach.

"Ow?" Miranda's eyes went round. She wiggled forward and poked Uncle Nik's tummy making him groan again.

Caroline covered her smile with her hand when Miranda startled babbling a mile a minute and pointing for Klaus to lie down. She caught the flying elephant and smirked when Miranda set Ella on his chest and began tugging on the throw at the end of the bed; she gleefully helped the toddler lift the blanket up and over him.

"Really?"

"You scared her," Caroline snickered when Miranda kissed his stomach, "now you get to be nursed by a toddler."

"I much preferred my first nurse," he sighed.

"Oh I'll still be here," she sobered. "Got to keep you from running off and hunting down Rebekah."

"I don't have to hunt them down, sweetheart," his eyes darted to the side when Miranda curled into the crook of his arm as Finn flashed into the room looking for her. "There's only one place the lot of them can go if they've any hope of eluding me."

"I'm telling you he's going to chase us to the ends of the earth, and he will find us," Rebekah shook her head. The last of the venom had been all but burnt out of her system but her paranoia had only risen in the wake of the rescinding hallucinations. "Nobody can hide forever, especially from an angry Mikaelson."

"There's only one way we'll be able to truly hide from Klaus forever."

"What witch in her right mind would help us?" Rebekah frowned.

"Your sister," Marcel tapped the steering wheel.

"To get to Freya we'd have to go through Nik," Rebekah worried her bottom lip, "and Davina has no magic."

"Then we get it back."

Marcel's grip on the steering wheel was white knuckled; Jeremy worried he would break the wheel in two.

"I don't want to hide," he decided.

"He will kill you," Rebekah twisted in a blur of motion and grabbed his arm before he could push open the door. She fixed Jeremy with a frantic look.

"I'm not leaving my family behind; unlike you I don't have a potential eternity with them. Run and hide if you want, but I won't."

"Jeremy," she moved to follow when he slipped from her grip and stepped out of the car, but was stopped when Marcel took her upper arm.

"He'll be fine," he watched Jeremy take the path back through the Bayou, "it's not like Klaus can kill him."

"He could compel someone to," Rebekah shook her head.

"What are the odds that Elijah would let Klaus kill Elena's brother?"

"What are the odds he'd let Klaus hurt me?" Rebekah countered. "He will do everything in his power to protect Jeremy and me, but there is only so much he can do."

Her chanting cut off abruptly when she heard the approaching footsteps. Sitting up she saw her suspicions confirmed.

"When order is restored," she stood in her circle, "your kind won't be allowed here."

"Fortunately for me that day has yet to come," Elijah met her flashing eyes. He would have much sooner gone to Freya but when he arrived at the church he found only Father Kieran in the attic. "I require your assistance in locating Sabine. I believe she's taken some people who are very important to me."

"Do you really think I'm going to help you?" Monique picked up a few candles. "Sabine is one of us, committed to the rise of the witches." Turning back around she met his eyes once more.

"The only thing that Sabine is committed to is the destruction of my family," he ran his finger along the top of a stone sarcophagus.

"I fail to see how that's a bad thing," Monique scoffed.

"Because, like your mother, mine was also a witch: a very powerful witch. And because of my family, her power now flows through your veins. Now," he lifted his gaze from the coffin, "once Sabine is done manipulating those around her, she will do what she has always done. She will jump into another body and disappear, leaving your witches powerless."

"She has the faith," Monique shook her head stubbornly. "She will see our power restored."

"Perhaps," he nodded, reaching into his pocket, "but there is a way to guarantee it. It will have the added benefit of securing your own safety." He handed her the spell. "This is from my mother's grimoire. Celeste used a similar spell to body jump. If what Sabine says is true, when she sacrifices herself, all of her power will flow back into the earth. However, if she lied and tries to take another body, this spell will deliver her to a very different destination."

"Now," he watched her read the spell, "please locate Sabine."

"Davina?" Kol paused on the cobblestones when he heard her steps falter. Caroline had sent him for new blood, but he had decided to take his good sweet time with the task by detouring to aid Freya in her quest to save the priest.

Freya paused as well and looked back at the girl; she was turned towards the left staring between two towering mausoleums. Before she or her brother could repeat the call Davina took off at a run; it was the fastest they had seen her move since rising in that very cemetery months before.

She didn't go far so Kol didn't have to resort to vampire speed to catch up with her. She stopped just inside the shadows and wrapped her arms securely around a girl who resembled a pixie in one of Miranda's picture books.

"Let me guess," Kol crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall while nodding to the girls, "mortal enemies?"

"This is Cassie," Davina made the quick introduction.

"Hi," Cassie shivered. Her eyes darted from Kol to Freya.

"Another Harvest witch," Kol mused. "That means someone's dead. I wonder if you might be able to help us, darling. You'll be able to get the job done a lot faster than Freya."

"Papa Tunde's dead," Rebekah rubbed her upper arms, "Genevieve is dead. That just leaves Bastianna and Sabine." Kol had messaged her to inform her of the latest risen witch.

"We want to kill them both," Marcel took the offered drink. "The second Davina has her power back we take her with us and get out of town."

"Great," Jeremy rolled his eyes, "more murder."

"Content yourself with the knowledge that each one of them is supposed to be dead already," Rebekah turned on her heel. "We've only got one shot at this, and our chances are sweet bugger all, but we've got to do it."

"No we don't," he shook his head. "He's your brother Bekah, he won't hurt you."

"You are basing that assumption on your own sibling relationship, but Nik has hurt me time and time again over the centuries," she glanced over her shoulder. "Marcel is one of the few former lovers to escape unscathed."

"Until now," Marcel downed his drink. "Klaus won't let this go, Jeremy. We called Mikael."

"Father nearly killed Nik when he got to town."

He sat up when he was certain Miranda had nodded off and stood from the bed. His legs shook beneath his weight and buckled. He was halfway to the floor when a slim pair of arms wrapped around his torso.

"You're still weak," Caroline helped him stand back up.

"I'm still hungry," he shook his head. He had heard Kol return briefly to the compound before rushing out again. "There's fresh blood in the kitchen."

"You'd be lucky to make it to the door," she rolled her eyes. "Be a good little boy and get back in bed."

"Oh," he chuckled weakly, "if I had a quid for every time a woman has tried that line."

"You'd be bankrupt," Caroline rolled her eyes. She guided him back against the pillows.

"You know, some women actually find me quite charming."

"I've noticed," she gave a pointed look to the tiny bundle in the bed.

"Jealous, love?"

"You know," she carefully lifted Miranda into her arms, "I would be, but I've got no hope of competing."

She flashed from the bedroom and came to a stop when she reached the nursery, biting down her exasperated sigh she kicked at the invisible barrier and turned around.

"Finn?" Her voice was little more than a whisper so she wouldn't wake Miranda. He was at her side a moment later. They did the careful shuffle and Caroline watched as she was lowered into her crib and Finn returned with the monitor.

Celeste tightened the lid on the Mason jar. It hadn't been easy with her hands bound together, but the six inches she had gave her the capability needed to mix the herbs together.

"The herbs are ground into a paste; it'll act as a conduit for the spell. On the next full moon, your people will become human; feed them this and the curse will be broken."

"Seems like a great way to poison us all at once," Hayley cocked an eyebrow.

"I know you've got no reason to trust me, but I actually like you Hayley. I was like you both, caring for an Original. They always care more for each other than anyone else, so I ended up dead, as did a lot of others." Celeste waved the jar gently. "Call this a chance for me to give you what I was too in love to give myself; a chance to free yourself from the Originals."

Elena stepped closer and reached for the jar. Her skin tingled when Celeste took the opportunity to grasp her wrist.

"If I were you," her voice dropped to a hiss, "I'd be trying to find a way to free myself as well."

"Do you two believe her?" Eve looked to Hayley while steadying her shotgun.

Elena pulled her wrist free, but before either of them could answer Eve one of the wolves growled; the sound was followed by a rush of wind announcing the arrival of a vampire.

"Whatever she's promised you is a lie," Elijah glared at Celeste. "She can't be trusted."

"She's the only one that can help my pack," Hayley plucked the jar from Elena's hand.

"Do you have any idea what she has done to our family?" Elijah's voice rose. Out in the Bayou he felt no need to temper his tone.

"Not yet," Elena ran her thumb over her wrist, "but I'm looking forward to the play by play. Jeremy?"

"Safe for the time being." He glanced at Elena but the majority of his attention was on Celeste. He was ready to strike at the slightest movement or barest whisper of Creole.

"I really am sorry about that," Celeste turned her attention to Elena and felt the woman's glare, "your brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Hayley noticed the way Elena's eyes narrowed and the way Elijah's jaw ticked. She jumped in before either of them could lash out.

"I know you both want revenge, I get that, and come the next full moon, once I'm sure the cure works, she's all yours."

"Are you suggesting that we keep her…?" Elijah took a step forward and gestured to the bound witch, "… her, captive for an entire month? That would take an army."

"Lucky for me that I've got one," Hayley held out her hands to encompass the howling wolves. "So help me or get out of my way."

Elena called it a split second before he moved. Instinctively she sidestepped to give him a little more room when he sped between her and Hayley, grabbing the jar and Celeste. She saw him pause long enough to get a good grip before vanishing. She knew it was unlikely that the wolves would find them before Elijah did whatever was passing through his mind.

"You said I could ask you for help," Hayley twirled on Elena. "Celeste is the only one that can help my people, so I'm asking."

"You tricked her," Elijah pushed her into a tree. He could vividly recall the last time he had felt that furious when Dahlia had come for Miranda.

"It's not a trick," Celeste gasped, drawing in quick breaths and wincing at the bruises she knew were forming along her back. "You're holding the only cure for Hayley's clan in your hand. If her wolves take that elixir then their curse is no more." She drew herself up to her full height and stared into his eyes. "They're free."

"You condemned her people to decades of agony," his eyes narrowed, "and now you just break their curse without so much a whimper. Why?"

"Because it's the best thing I could do for her, and one of the worst things I could do for your family," she smirked.

A breath of wind announced the arrival of Elena.

"What do you mean?"

"That you've lost her," Celeste glanced at the brunette and the way she rolled her wrist. "If you destroy that jar, Hayley will hate you for snatching her family from her, but if you give her the jar, we all know she'll leave the lot of you in the end to be with them, and she'll take her child with her."

"That's assuming this," he waved the jar, "is not some type of trick."

"We can always have Freya check it out," Elena wrapped her fingers around his wrist when she saw his grip tighten; much tighter and he would have broken the glass. She hadn't recognized all of the herbs Celeste had used and wasn't confident she could recreate the elixir if it came down to it, but she had enough knowledge of magic from Freya that she knew it wasn't poison.

Elijah met her eyes when she held him and nodded when she glanced at the jar. Loosening his grip he let her take the glass.

I love hearing your reviews. I wonder if anyone can guess where things are going next.